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Chapter Text

CRASH!!!

The metal of that colorful train rumbled when it collapsed on the tracks, causing that roar to be heard throughout the Playtime Co., places whose location was the most strange.

Underground and at the bottom of a cave, a giant metal dome sat in all its glory, within this gigantic structure were the remains of what was once a beautiful orphanage.

“Playcare”

That rumble would reach the ears of a feline creature covered in dark purple fur who was previously prowling the place in search of food.

He stops short and immediately raises his ears, such an action confuses his companion.

-Catnap? – A voice speaks that came from his back while a hand approaches to caress one of the shoulder blades of the bony being. – What's wrong?

Catnap looks over his shoulder at the dog with floppy ears and orange fur for several seconds, then returns his gaze to the entrance of the dome, the canine imitates the movement.

-Oh... I see, someone arrived.- The dog murmurs, then adjusts his posture in a way that allows him to avoid falling. -Come on, we better hurry.

With a slight nod from the cat, he fluidly climbs onto the tram rail, beginning their journey to the surface.

Both thinking that with this offering they will make their god very happy.

Chapter Text

He was aware of the pain it would bring once he regained consciousness, but he never imagined that the throbbing in his head would be so intense, a whimper of pain escapes Yuu's lips, stopping a train traveling at high speeds is on the list of things he would never do again.

-Be careful, we don't want our precious offering ruined. -A voice is heard.

This alerts the human who opens his eyes with a start.

Now that he is awake, he watches as the concrete floor decorated with blood moves under his body as a pair of legs with purple fur and sharp claws move in front of his field of vision, the breath on the back of his neck only confirms the fact that he is being carried by someone.

It doesn't take long when the being holding him by the collar of his shirt stops, looking up he could see another creature in the shape of a canine covered in orange fur, its floppy ears, hands, feet and part of its face was pigmented a darker orange while the front of its torso and muzzle were yellow; Finally a zipper ran across from its belly to its chest where a sun pendant acted as the slider.

Those colors would have shown his warmth had it not been for how dirty he was.

Yuu tries to move but his limbs don't respond, once with the upper half of his body inside they give him a little push, making him slide down the rusty metal tube.

Yuu regains control of his body belatedly, limiting himself to only watch behind him as he let out a muffled scream, glimpsing those glowing pupils disappear into the darkness.

The human didn't have to wait long to reach the bottom of the container, entering what seems to be a strange room. With a thud he lands on a pile of toys whose parts were missing, with erratic movements, he stands up.

-What? -Yuu mutters as he looks around.

However, before he even wonders where he is, a loud alarm suddenly sounds.

The room is painted red by the light of the lantern as the walls begin to move with a clanking noise, slowly closing in, taking the shattered toys with them.

Yuu curses silently.

This place is actually a trash compactor.

Adjusting his GrabPack over his shoulders, his eyes search erratically for an exit. He notices a pile of boards leading him towards a broken opening, so without wasting any time he runs, jumping from the hole he falls to the back of the dumpster where he simply dodges the large pistons pushing the metal plate. It doesn't take long to find a handle on the roof, using the GrabPack he manages to reach the top railing finally getting to safety.

Yuu lets out a relieved sigh, for the moment he is safe but he must keep moving, he walks down the small hallway reaching an area where large pistons were going up and down.

This was going to be a long walk.

Yuu sits down on a couch, at the same time heavy gasps were coming from his lips, jumping through pistons of immense size and sliding down the vent while carrying the heavy Grabpack on his shoulders didn't help at all.

He glimpsed the room where he decided to catch his breath, and although the idea of taking a break was tempting, he couldn't afford that luxury, he needed to be cautious, to have all his senses alert.

And even more so if that room was the same one where those creatures had been.

But for the moment, the only audible thing in that place was his agitated breathing and a phone ringing in the distance.

A telephone...

A telephone!

Yuu erratically gets up from the furniture, observes the corridor where he thought he heard that miraculous sound, if the phone is ringing that means only one thing...

Somewhere in these ruins there is a human.

A feeling of hope begins to invade his chest, he will be able to communicate with that person and together get out of this hell. Without wasting time, he runs into the hallway, up the stairs until he finally reaches an office where on the other side of the room was perched that device, with a trembling hand, Yuu takes the tool to slowly rest the speaker to his ear.

-Hello? -He murmurs.

-Hey, can you hear me? -A childish voice sounds on the other side.

That stops the man's heart, is there a child trapped in this dangerous facility?

-You look kinda lost. -The little boy continues with concern, cutting off the adult's thoughts.

-Well... something... But I've managed to find some exits! -Yuu says as he scratches the back of his neck. -Still... it seems to be leading me deeper into this place.

-I´m gonna help you! -Exclaims the boy happily.

-Huh? -He mumbles in confusion.

-Listen, do you see that tube? -He points to the little voice on the other end of the line.

Yuu looks around the office before catching a glimpse of the pipe, in fact, a transparent tube was sticking out of the concrete ceiling, attracting the adult's curiosity.

-Just wait and... BOOM!

An object descends through there, landing on a metal plate.

-Now you can use that battery to open the door! -Exclaims the boy with remarkable joy.

Yuu, hesitating, takes the battery to immediately place it in the opening that was installed in the wall, thus opening the door, once the adult crosses, he stops in his tracks. The train he had once been traveling on was in flames, buried almost entirely by large pieces of debris.

The adult could only wonder... How did he survive that?

-Woah, did you do that? -Gasps the surprised infant. -I guess that´s where they found you.

-They? -Yuu says in a whisper.

Only answered by the silence on the other end of the line, with a sigh, he decides to move along the train tracks.

-You're probably mad at Poppy for not letting you escape. -The boy begins.

-Oh, I'm more than mad at her. -Yuu growls. If it wasn't for that doll I'd be on my way out by now... The real way out!

-But she needs you... – The mysterious boy adds. -We need you... You are our mission!

The adult frowns as a knot begins to form in the pit of his stomach.

-Together, we can save a lot of people, including you.

Yuu continues on his way dodging the debris blocking the rails, after several minutes in silence, and not having the slightest idea of where he is going, he decides to speak:

-Do you know what's straight ahead?

-Playcare. -The little boy answers hesitantly. -But... it's the home of them... home of the two members of the Smiling Critters.

-Huh? -The adult doesn't avoid questioning.

-Well... I think there used to be eight, but now it´s just only them... the leaders.

The human can only nod his head, it doesn't take him long to observe a station ahead, he decides to speed up his steps but still listening to the boy.

-Playcare is their church... their hunting ground... whatever they wants it to be.

The adult stops at the entrance.

-In that case I'll have to move quickly. -He murmurs.

The infant hums in affirmation.

-We'll keep in touch. -Finishes the child.

-Wait! -Yuu exclaims, stopping the one on the other end of the line. -Umm... Thank you...

-Oh, my name is Ollie -The boy introduces himself in a more cheerful tone. -Nice to meet you!

The human smiles.

-Hi Ollie, I'm Yuu.

A chuckle is heard from Ollie before he hangs up.

Yuu can only stand for a few minutes before walking into the station.

As he climbs the stairs he finds an aerial cable car, it doesn't look safe but he couldn't find any other means of transportation available, taking a breath he decides to get on the vehicle sitting on one of the mint green armchairs, with a metallic creak, the cabin starts to move.

-Hello -A voice suddenly sounds.

Yuu lets out a shout as he looks around.

-My name is Elliot Ludwig.

The adult looks up at a television set that was installed at the top corner of the cable car.

-Oh, it's just a tape. -He sighs, placing a hand on his chest, feeling his heartbeat increase.

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

That intrigued Yuu.

-You see, not one of them could muster a smile.

The scenery suddenly changed as they left that concrete tunnel, a huge subway cave was revealed, Yuu looks around, noticing that in the distance, a metal dome sat silently.

He does not avoid opening his eyes in surprise.

-A smile is hope, a smile is love, a smile is understanding. And there is nothing more gratifying to my soul than being the reason for a child's smile, to be the spark that ignites all their hopes and dreams, for it is only through hopes and dreams that we may create a better world.

Yuu leans out of the window, resting his hands on the glass.

-One where our children need not be afraid, one where they are protected; after all, this company and its toys are nothing without them. These children deserve to smile, they deserve love and they deserve a safe home.

They crossed the entrance where a bright red light greeted the only passenger on that aerial cable car, forcing the human to squint.

-That is why, it is with enormous pleasure that as the founder of Playtime Co., I announce...

PLAYCARE! 

Chapter Text

PLAYCARE!

Yuu opens his eyes slowly, getting his eyes used to the lighting, once done, he peeks out the window again only for a gasp to escape his lips as he witnesses the area.

The ceiling had an artificial light where a large fan is visible as clouds and stars hung from the ceiling, the false walls surrounding the interior were painted in such a way to simulate the sky outside.

In the center he glimpsed a large round platform where seven statues in the shape of different animals were perched, however there was an eighth that sat on the floor next to a fake cloud, Yuu guessed that cloud must have knocked it down.

-Our very own onsite orphanage. But it's not only that, it's a school, a playhouse, a place to belong.

Yuu looks at these locations, all decorated in bright colors.

-Our very own ecosystem beneath the surface is dedicated in every inch and detail to ensuring a child's smile.

Now that he mentions it, there are artificial grass, trees and plants that decorated the whole place, completing the illusion that it is located on the surface and not in the depths of a cave. The human had never felt so nostalgic before.

-It´s teachers and counselors, mothers and fathers, until such a time they have all of that in you. -The recording continues to play, bringing Yuu out of his thoughts. – May Playcare bring joy, inspiration and smile to all who enter these doors... For what gives life meaning, if not a smile?

With that, the cable car stops with a metallic noise as it pulls into the station, Yuu slowly steps out of the cab, once on the concrete platform the air gets stuck in his lungs, still in ruins, the orphanage showed its beauty.

He carefully descends the stairs entering the place, he observes his surroundings allowing his eyes to admire the scenery feeling the warmth of the artificial light as if it was the sun itself, and, if Yuu closed his eyes, he could feel the cool breeze blowing lightly.

¨RING¨

His thoughts are interrupted when the phone rings, he pulls his cell phone out of his pants pocket and answers:

-Hello? -Yuu says.

-Psst, it's me again, Ollie. -The boy announces.

-Oh, hello little one. -The human replies with a smile.

-Cool place, right?

-Yes, I must admit, it's not bad at all. -Agrees the adult who was still observing the surroundings.

-The kids used to live here, now look at it... –Ollie adds sadly.

Oh, right... Yuu almost forgot. This beautiful place had become the playground of those monsters.

-Anyways... -The kid decides to change the subject. -Do you see that statue in the middle of the room?

-Yes. -Yuu looks at them.

-Take the stairs that go under it. There's a really cool room in there that powers literally all of Playcare, I can give you a key down there. -Indicates the infant.

The adult heads towards the structure where he quickly discovers that at the base of the statues there is a podium with the description of each of the characters, the famous Smiling Critters, each plate had a button that allowed him to listen to an audio file.

He goes around the platform and comes across a door which he opens, discovering the stairs Ollie mentioned and, without wasting any time, he goes down.

Completely ignoring a pair of eyes that watched him in silence.

The pair of shadows were crouched on the roof of one of the buildings, the violet furred beast lets out a low growl as he shifts his position slightly, a bit of red smoke escapes from his mouth; He was about to run towards his prey but is stopped by a gentle pat he receives on his noticeable ribs.

-Be patient Catnap. -The canine speaks. -Let's enjoy our little game, shall we?, After all, we haven't had a good hunt for a long time. -He lets out a light chuckle.

Once Yuu went down the stairs he saw what appeared to be a warehouse where large boxes rested on shelves next to a machine that is responsible for keeping Playcare's energy active, he walks through the room finding a grate next to what appears to be a control panel.

He opens the metal door revealing another transparent tube.

It doesn't take long for a key to slide out, Yuu takes the object and puts it in his pocket.

-Well, I have the key. -The adult announces. -What's next?

-Head back out, you should find a door just to the left of the cable car you took down here.

Nodding silently, Yuu returns to the square once more to then head towards the vehicle station, noticing a red light where a metal door protruded from the colorful wall, he decides to move faster.

Once in front of it, he takes the key out of his pocket and inserts it into the keyhole, unlocking it with a creaking sound, putting the key back into his pocket, he enters.

Yuu is greeted by a gigantic room where a huge machinery was perched in the center, it showed a black screen indicating that it was currently turned off while several metal pipes were running through the place, Yuu also noticed that a soft jazz song was playing in the background.

-Welcome to the Gas Production Zone. -Says Ollie. -The beating heart of the whole evil Playcare system, all that gas you see coming from the machine is made right here in the factory.

-Hmm, and does that substance have a name? -Yuu points to the mist that was in one of the containers.

The boy hums in affirmation.

-It's called "Red Smoke.

-It makes sense. -The adult murmurs.

-Right now, it´s all headed off to the right. -The child continues. -We need to make that red smoke go left instead.

Yuu nods. – And I guess that's how we can get to them.

-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 finishes before hanging up.

The adult decides to prowl around the room, following the tubes which were connected to the walls, one of them had a slot where a battery was missing. He turns his head and notices a door already open, allowing access to the next room.

Without wasting time, he enters.

As he arrived, he noticed a circular metal plate on the ground, large enough to hide something, he decided to ignore it for the moment. However, not far from the entrance, a green battery was lying on the ground.

-Oh, here it is. -He whispers.

He picks it up and returns to the machine to immediately place it in the slot.

Yes, he activates the machine, but also a nearby door opens, he looks around before going to investigate noticing a small room, he was about to leave but something catches his attention.

Another GrabPack was waiting on a shelf.

-Huh? -Tarrying curiously.

He decides to take a closer look, at first glance it looks like the original, the shape of a backpack with a retractable cable and two hands attached to it, however, one of the hands was different as this one is a purple color with a high-tech look.

That gives him an idea.

Quickly, he swaps the tool noting that the new GrabPack was lighter being a great relief to his shoulders, he notices a VHS tape not far from the shelf.

-He reads, "GrabPack 2.0 prototype.

He places the video in the player, showing what appears to be an instructional tape where he pointed out the updates, it had a hand-switching system along with a flashlight.

Satisfied, he leaves the room.

He goes back to the huge computer looking at the control panel, being visible only a big red button in the middle next to some buttons, he presses it resulting in the machine turning on, the screen shows the company logo for a few seconds before revealing the filtration system, he selects the container on the left and then presses the button again.

-That should do it.

The machine begins to do its job by transferring the red smoke to the middle container, however, before it could even begin the exchange....

The power suddenly cuts off, enveloping the room in darkness.

-What?! -Yuu shouts as he walks away from the computer.

Under the statues, the creature with the solar charm was admiring his latest masterpiece while trying to calm his breathing, in his hands he held a now battered metal tube tightly.

He had just destroyed the main battery of the orphanage.

The machine was beyond repair, only throwing sparks every few seconds, satisfied, he threw his improvised weapon to a random side of the room and then returned to the surface where his feline companion was patiently waiting for him.

-Let the game begin. -The dog announces, climbing onto his partner's back.

Catnap's smile grows before he hides in the shadows.

Yuu quickly pulls the colorful phone out of his pants, luckily it only rings twice before the boy answers.

-Ollie, what happened? -exclaims the adult.

-Someone killed the power. -worries the infant.

-What are we going to do?

-Okay, I sent you another key.

With that, Yuu runs to the outside while turning on the flashlight, absolutely everything was submerged in darkness making it difficult for the human to move while trying to dodge the thrown objects and debris, he goes down the stairs again being careful not to stumble, finally arriving to that transparent tube.

-Use it to get into ¨Home sweet home¨. Then once you´re inside, find the backup generator of the building, good luck.

-Thank you. -Yuu says before hanging up and going to "Home sweet home".

Yuu climbs the last step in front of the building, its small two-story exterior had a balcony where a statue of Poppy stood in all its splendor, the roof had some poppy flowers next to a fireplace, finally, the walls were painted blue with red making it look like a dollhouse, it would have been nice but for the walls that were beginning to rot and the blue paint was peeling.

With a sigh, the adult inserts the key in the keyhole to open the doors, and the first thing that greets the human is a flight of stairs. Yuu looks back one last time, once armed with courage he descends.

It doesn't take long to reach the second floor, this was decorated with green wallpaper with curtains and lamps hanging on the walls, at the end of the room there was a wooden door, however, what intrigued Yuu the most were those pictures that contained photographs of some children.

Children who had once lived.

Yuu's heart clenches at that thought, he shakes his head, no time to be distracted.

Reaching the other side of the room, he opens the door....

He glimpses a thick layer of smoke.

Red smoke.

That haze engulfed the entire room, making it impossible for him to see what lay beyond the threshold.

-It's just smoke. -Yuu mutters in an attempt to calm himself before entering the area.

Bad decision.

He is greeted by a blast of gas that directly hits his face causing some enter to his lungs causing the human to cough erratically, he needed to get out of this place before he drowns, he decides to run.

Another terrible decision.

He ends up falling down some stairs that were a few meters away, Yuu's world spins for several seconds until it stops when he crashes hard on the wooden floor, a moan of pain escapes from his lips. Carefully he gets up while smoothing his shirt with his hands but in doing so he discovers that on his shoulders something is missing....

The GrabPack.

-What? -Exclaims the adult.

He looks around but does not find the backpack, his gaze follows the flight of stairs where he can still see some of the red smoke seeping; clearly, he is not willing to go back, turning around his breathing stops.

A long hallway stretches in front of him, the lighting from the small hanging lamps was opaque giving it a dark appearance, its walls contained several images of different infants spanning all ages, from teenagers to newborns.

Yuu feels the pressure in his chest growing.

Slowly he advances, without his backpack he was an easy prey to catch so he better be careful and have all his senses alert; When he reaches the end of the corridor, a radio was on but it was only transmitting a blank sound, he decides to ignore it while he turns left.

At the end of the new corridor, the same radio was visible, but now it was on, transmitting a newscast where it narrated the discovery of a corpse that belonged to a child in the outskirts of the company, that makes Yuu uncomfortable who decides to accelerate his steps, however, as the corridors continued, these became darker and darker.

¨RING¨

The phone rings.

Instinctively he reaches into his left pants pocket, but the cell phone was not there.

Erratically he pats all his pockets, but none of them contained the cell phone.

It takes him a few seconds to realize that it was ringing in the distance making the human nervous, with no other choice, he follows the sound arriving to a small room where an old landline phone was responsible, he frowns before picking it up with a trembling hand.

-Ollie? -He murmurs.

-YOU NEED TO RUN! -Warns the boy before hanging up.

Confused, he puts the phone back on its cradle, only to hear a small tinkling sound behind him, turns around, just in time to see a pair of heads turn away from the door frame.

He doesn't avoid letting out a small gasp.

Fearfully he leaves the room, observing only the loneliness of the corridor again, he needs to get out of here as soon as possible. He still hears that news from the radio but is interrupted by a distorted song.

He decides to walk faster.

A door near him starts to be pounded hard, as if someone from inside desperately wants to get out.

Now he decides to run.

But as he turns the corner he stops dead in his tracks....

There, at the end of the corridor, the same creatures that had thrown him into the trash compactor were standing watching him like a prey, the dog-like creature gently stroking one of the sides of the feline whose size was so tall that the bones of its back were brushing the ceiling.

Trembling and apparently with nowhere else to go, he decides to keep moving, luckily, those creatures decide to move away, the dog moves first being followed shortly after by the feline, both disappearing around the corner.

Yuu goes the same way.

His skin bristles, as much as he advances it seems that this place only takes him in circles, he feels his sanity disappearing as he turns around more and more, watching every damn corridor. Desperate, he decides to run in a feeble attempt to free himself from the maze.

WAKE UP

A voice suddenly sounds, but Yuu keeps moving forward.

WAKE UP

He sees the shadows of those creatures advancing down a corridor.

WAKE UP

He hears childish cries and screams.

Yuu stops dead in his tracks, feels his heart sinking as an uneasy feeling grows in his stomach.

He moves forward slowly.

As he gets closer a door opens silently making those sounds only intensify, but the one that stands out is that of a baby crying at the top of its lungs.

He closes his eyes tightly.

When he least expects it... He has already entered the room.

He looks around, the place seems to be a small infirmary, with three stretchers and curtains, he notices a videotape on one of the beds, curious, he takes it and places it in the player located in the corner of the room.

Yuu watches silently.

-Greetings, employees! -Begin the audio. -And welcome to your first day here at Playtime. We're certain that in the days to come you´ll find your new family here every bit as loving and supportive as your own.

-Feel free to wander the halls. -Continues. -Sit in the mess for lunch, or watch our children play and learn to their little heart's content. Join the innovationist, where the bounds of science are continuously pushed, or join the counselors of Playcare, whose diligence and care for our children will help shape a brighter future, just you see…

Yuu crosses his arms.

-Now, every one of you has your part in that future, so should you come back tomorrow feeling unhappy for where you are or what you´ve done.... -The man in the audio says the last with a somber tone making the human frown.

-Worry not, for your supervisor is here and happy to listen!... And... Should you come back... years later... your conscience finally getting the better of you.

The voice resumes the dark tone, causing Yuu's breath to be cut off.

-May you descend into darkness and dust, finding all that awaits you are incomprehensible horrors... -The man on the television speaks slowly. -Each hungry for your return, each eager that they might find you.

Huggy's face slowly distorts, revealing a sadistic smile with hollow eyes.

-Perhaps they´d smile at you from a shadow, their smiling mouths full of teeth and meat and plastic, watching and waiting patiently for their turn at a warm welcome. Or perhaps, they won´t allow you such time to figure your place in the world you´d left....

The human slowly steps back from the television, his body beginning to tremble as his breathing quickens.

-A world that´s theirs now... Welcome home...

With that last one, that Huggy comes out of the screen letting out a distorted roar, Yuu lets out a scream, stumbles with his own feet forcing himself to retreat from the floor while he watches as that being comes out of the screen materializing, looking at him with those totally dark eyes.

Reacting, Yuu erratically gets up and then runs into the hallway, starting the hunt.

Although... Something was wrong...

No matter how much he ran, he was not advancing, it was as if a force was preventing him from reaching the end of the corridor, he decides to try. He listens as the heavy footsteps of the beast gets closer and closer, he doesn't dare to look over his shoulder.

At least not until he suddenly feels a pair of arms wrap around his torso, lifting him up to face Huggy who roars in his face.

-No... No... No... NOOOOOO!!!-He lets out a piercing scream.

Everything gets dark abruptly.

Chapter Text

-AH! -Yuu screams, opening his eyes with a snap.

With erratic movements he sits on the wooden floor while his eyes clouded by tears observed his surroundings, his trembling hands ran over his body looking for any sign of damage and his breathing was accelerated, he could feel the sweat running down his forehead and his heart was pounding.

After several minutes, Yuu manages to calm down, wiping away the residue of tears, he returns to check his surroundings now calm.

He was in a small room, the few lamps did not let him see further, so he uses the GrabPack's flashlight, the area still had some images of some infants, but there was almost no furniture.

Yuu stands up, due to the red smoke some of his limbs were still a little numb causing him to stagger a little, luckily, he manages to recover, once stabilized he adjusts the GrabPack on his shoulders before moving towards the door.

-Okay, let's get that generator. -He whispers.

When he opened it, he was received by the main room of the Home Sweet Home, the interior had three floors high, all decorated with the same green wallpaper while more pictures of children decorated them, while in the center, some lamps in the shape of moon and clouds hung.

At the back of the room, Yuu could glimpse the power generator, however as the human approached he noticed that it was blocked by a metal door where a sun symbol was drawn.

-Great. -Grunts the adult. -I have to find a way to open this.

Turning around he sees a hole in the center of the room, he looks around again, seeing no other available way he decides to go inside, landing in a room where a small toy cart was parked. Curious, the human pulls the rope that was sticking out of the back of the vehicle observing how the toy is activated by moving the wheels, upon releasing it, the cart starts at full speed crossing a corridor that was previously blocked by boxes until it finally crashes into the brick wall at the back, the noise makes Yuu shrug his shoulders, fearing that he has been heard.

Although that fear is replaced when he sees how a red mist begins to seep.

He curses under his breath, he can't inhale that toxic gas again, so he quickly decides to look around in search of something to help him hold his nose.

Luck smiles on him when he sees a gas mask hanging on one of the boards of the hole in the ceiling.

-Perfect, just what I need. -Yuu says excitedly.

Using his GrabPack, he takes the tool and holds it in his hands, then places it over his face, although the mask's vision was limited it didn't matter, after all, he only needs it to avoid inhaling the reddish smoke.

With a sigh, he enters trying not to trip over the pieces of boxes and debris that covered the floor, reaching the end of the corridor, he uses the purple hand to propel himself upwards reaching another room, not seeing the red mist he removes the mask resting it on the top of his head.

The area he reached appeared to be a laundry room, after all, there were washers and dryers along the wall, Yuu even noticed some children's clothes on the floor, to the right side, a hole in the wall opened up to the next area, so being careful not to splinter he crosses it.

He removes furniture, opens doors, crawls on the floor before the boards that were nailed to the frames to make his way to his destination, although on his way, he comes across a tape, one in which Yuu heard how they deceived a child by telling him that his friend was ¨Sick¨, with a frown, he moves forward.

He reaches a corridor where he could see how several pieces of furniture and boxes were piled up serving as a security barricade. Just when he reaches the middle of the area, he hears footsteps approaching, one heavy and the other soft, he curses under his breath, turns off the flashlight and quickly drops to the floor where he rests his back on one of the boxes.

He closes his eyes waiting for those footsteps to move away, but great is his surprise when they stop right in front of his hiding place, opening his eyes slowly, he peeks out.

There they were again, the pair of beasts.

Yuu can't help but let out a gasp as his body trembles.

-Catnap -The canine begins to speak, observing his companion. -I think it would be better to divide us, you search on the west side and I search on the east side.

The feline flattens his ears against his head, then approaches leaning a little and rubs his cheek against the sun dog's cheek, earning a sad sigh from the latter.

-I know, I know... I don't like to be separated from you either. But we need to cover more territory, it's the only way to find our offering faster.

There was a brief moment of silence between the two creatures.

-Catnap, look at me. -He softly indicates the sun bearer, but his command falls on deaf ears. -Look at me. -He says again.

The moon cat decides to obey, the sun dog holds the cheeks of the feline and caresses him with his thumbs.

-I promise you that after this hunt I will spoil you a lot, okay? -He says as he gives him a gentle smile.

That seems to cheer up the mood of the purple fur, who raises his ears and his smile grows a little, the sun dog places a small kiss on his nose before letting him go.

-Good boy, now let's go, the faster the better.

And with this, the feline walks away leaving the dog alone in the aisle, Yuu tries to move away from there, but one of his hands ends up slipping landing on a piece of paper making it rustle, immediately gaining the attention of the canine who looks at the source of the sound, Yuu quickly hides behind the boxes while praying silently.

After several seconds, he hears footsteps walking away.

-Damn stuffed animals. -Mutters the dog.

When silence returns to reign the place, the human releases a sigh of relief, with trembling legs he stands up, however, the paper remains stuck to his hand, so he takes it, curiously glimpses the content discovering what seems to be a post of the famous Smiling Critters, the group that used to belong to the two creatures.

The names of each of the characters were visible.

-Catnap and Dogday. -Reads Yuu identified the two beasts.

Tossing the paper to the ground he decides to continue.

Yuu was crawling through a ventilation duct, he managed to activate the first panel of the generator successfully, now he only has the other one left and he will be able to give ¨Home sweet Home¨ for finished; He goes down the ventilation carefully, but when he looks at his new surroundings he doesn't avoid to let out a gasp of surprise. 

Yes, it was another hallway in the orphanage, but it wasn't just any hallway.

-I... I remember this place. -Whispers the adult.

The area looked in the best conditions, making the human's chest tighten, he advances slowly while his eyes rest on a specific door, when he arrives he takes the knob to turn it, when he observes the inside of the room his tears don't avoid to show.

The shared room showed was just as he left it twenty years ago. His side showed with the drawers open and the bed neatly made up, while the other half still held the small trunk closed and the bed blanket crumpled.

His roommate had stayed here the longest.

Yuu sits on the edge of his bed causing the springs of the trunk to creak under the weight, the adult picks up the frame that was lying on the floor revealing a photograph of himself when he was three years old.

The adult caresses the photograph with his thumb as tears begin to flow, he closes his eyes and lets his memories come to the surface.

Yuu swears to feel the presence of the children who lived there, sleeping peacefully in their respective alcoves.

Having had enough, he gets out of bed with a sigh and then places the photograph next to that of his roommate on the small bedside table, wiping away his tears he leaves the room.

He prowls the corridors until he finally arrives at the station where, again, he has to look for a couple of batteries to activate the generator, luckily one of them is near the vent where he came from, so he only has to look for the missing one, he opens each door observing inside the now abandoned furniture.

Until, upon reaching a room at the end of the corridor, it is flooded by that dreaded red smoke.

Without having any other option, he puts on the gas mask and then goes inside, observing a vent, he squats down to open it in order to move forward; as Yuu suspected, the person responsible for filtering all the gas was nearby, at the end of the vent he could glimpse Catnap, however, as soon as he saw him the feline disappears.

It doesn't take long to get to the end being greeted by another room, but compared to the others this was an office, not seeing the smoke anymore he removes his mask and looks around, on one of the tables was the precious battery.

Now it only remains to place it in the slot and thus he will be able to activate the generator, using the blue hand of the GrabPack, he opens the door returning to the station, when placing the battery, the crowing of a rooster sounds, giving the indication that it is active and working.

-Finally! -Yuu exclaims.

Not wanting to waste any more time, he runs to the main room noting that now the metal door protecting the generator was open, he places his hand on the plate behind the machine, revealing a brick corridor that surprises Yuu.

Carefully, he walks avoiding the pipes hanging on the ceiling until he finally reaches the other end being greeted by a small elevator which only had a button on the wall, he presses it to activate it, taking him to the same room where he woke up. Ignoring the nightmare, he decides to leave the room by climbing the stairs quickly, ending the mission.

It takes him a few seconds to reach the upper floor, he crosses the main entrance stopping to breathe the clean air of the ¨Surface¨, observing the place with his new perspective as he remembers the moments he lived in Playcare.

With a sigh, he goes down the stairs ready to return to the statues, but suddenly, he feels as someone grabs his shoulder turning him and then he is held by the chest and is knocked down to the concrete floor taking all the air out of him.

Yuu opens his eyes and his body freezes while from his throat comes out a choked scream.

Above him, a lanky blue furred creature watched him as it let out a low growl and revealed its sharp teeth.

-Huggy?! -Yuu exclaims in his mind.

Chapter Text

Yuu's breathing trembles as well as his body, his hands cling to the concrete floor in an attempt to remain calm, however at this point it was impossible, as he feels how the blue beast increases its grip on his shirt while pressing on his chest as it approaches the man's face revealing even more of its sharp teeth and letting out a low growl.

The adult closes his eyes letting out a choked scream, this is how he was going to die, being devoured by one of these cruel beasts posing as toys, after all, it was his sad fate.

-NO, NO! -suddenly exclaims a little female voice. -Let go!

The growls ceased at the intervention, surprising the human.

Yuu opens his eyes slowly, wanting to see the owner of the voice and his savior.

Great is his surprise to discover that, on his chest, there was a certain porcelain doll with reddish-tan hair and a little blue dress with ruffles...

Poppy.

She was holding out her little arms in a desperate attempt to get the creature, who was now looking at the doll, to kill the man.

-He didn't do anything wrong! -Poppy speaks again, then turns to the human with a soft smile. - He's actually here to help. -she clarifies.

That seems to calm the creature who releases Yuu to stand up, thanks to Poppy's flashlight, Yuu discovers that the beast was not Huggy Wuggy, just his female counterpart Kissy Missy, that calms him down a little.

He returns his gaze to Poppy who was still wearing her smile, but it doesn't take long for it to disappear as soon as she lets out a sigh.

-This place makes her tense... -Explains the red-haired doll.

-And I don't blame her. -Yuu says, propping himself up on his elbows. -I'm the same way, this place... It brings me back bad memories.

A brief second of silence passes.

-By the way. -Yuu continues. -How did you manage to find me?

-Ollie. -Poppy answers. -He's the reason we found you at all.

A small smile spreads across the adult's face.

-That kid, he really doesn't lie about wanting to help his friends.

With a slight smile, Poppy steps off the male's chest to walk away a bit being followed by Kissy, Yuu takes a sigh before finally standing up as he adjusts the GrabPack on his shoulders, once done he rests his gaze on the doll duo, watching the tall pink doll perch Poppy on her shoulder.

-Looks like the train crash hurt us both -The porcelain doll says sadly. -You've been through so much...

This time Yuu has nothing to say, he just hugs himself caressing his biceps while his brow frowns slightly, the one in the little blue dress notices this gesture.

-You deserve an explanation, come on.

With this last, Kissy starts walking towards a specific part of the dome, Yuu having no choice but to follow them silently.

- Hey, you'll be okay. -The little doll murmurs to her companion, in an attempt to comfort her. - We'll be okay.

They both stop in front of a small hatch which Poppy opens to reveal a small board where she presses some buttons and then lowers a lever, this activates an elevator that releases a slight metallic creaking sound, once on the ground, the trio of survivors gets on the platform that almost immediately begins to rise.

Poppy takes a look at the human, quickly noticing how he was frowning and trying to avoid making eye contact, a clear sign that Yuu was angry with her.

-Listen. -The redhead begins. – I'm not your enemy, but I can't just let you leave! What's happening down here is bigger than all of us!

 -But why? -The human answers in a whisper. -What do I have to do, Poppy? What's so important for you to keep me in this hell?

-I need you... So we can get revenge on those monsters who´ve tortured you! -The doll exclaims. -who've tortured us!

Yuu can only look at her in silence.

-They didn't act alone -The redhead continues. - They're disciples of the original… "The Prototype".

It doesn't take them long to reach the upper platform, there, a panel was located at the end where several buttons and electric meters were visible along it, in the center, a big button was what stood out of everything.

-Do the honors? -Poppy says once the elevator stops.

Hesitantly, Yuu approaches the control panel, he takes one last look at the doll duo, only to watch Kissy take a seat on the metal transport, letting out a sigh he presses it only to hear a motor start up.

Playcare fills with light seconds later, causing the human to let out a grunt at the sudden change in lighting, he blinks trying to re-accustom his eyesight to the light. He hears Poppy let out a chuckle.

Once his vision is restored, he returns to the elevator and begins their descent.

- The Prototype knows we're coming by now. -Poppy says, breaking the silence.

-Can't we just try to escape? -Yuu suggests.

-He'll kill you before you ever reach that front door.

-Ah, I see.

-He's the reason I was trapped in that... god-awful case for so long. You have no idea the things he's done... Let me help you kill him, let me help you save everyone.

-But why me? -Yuu says with a frown. -You still haven't told me why?

-We've all seen you. -interrupts the porcelain doll. – We know how capable you are.

Yuu's stomach clenches.

-You killed Huggy, you killed Mommy, you freed me... You're perfect for this. -She affirms.

The human can only watch Poppy with wide eyes, he suddenly feels all the weight of the world settle on his shoulders... Did she really have all her faith in him?

The elevator finally stops when it reaches the bottom floor, Yuu steps off the vehicle, however, just as he steadies himself on the artificial grass, footsteps on the cable car rails alert him.

-They are coming. -Yuu whispers.

-They are the final obstacles the Prototype has placed against us. -Poppy says. – We can't stay here, keep yourself safe! Ollie will call you.

Yuu nods before walking back into Playcare, he didn't have to wait long for the colorful phone to ring, pulling it out of his pocket he picks up.

-Hello? -Yuu says.

-Hey, it's me again! -The boy greets cheerfully. - Seems like Poppy explained everything now. And she turned on the Dome's backup power!

-Yes, I'm already somewhat informed. -Yuu says. -Okay Ollie, now what's the plan?

-Is pretty simple- we need to restore power to the Gas Production Zone.

Yuu hums in affirmation.

-First, go back to the "Home Sweet Home" building you were just in. -Ollie indicates. - You should be able to find a big power cord somewhere around the porch. Grab it and plug it in underneath the statue.

Following the infant's indications, the adult returns to the dollhouse, standing outside the main entrance, just as Ollie said, he found the cable, so he takes it and then goes to the Smiling Critters statues, goes down the stairs to the panel, where he connects it, ending the mission.

-Wow! -Yuu gasps in amazement as he sees the energy percentage increase.

-Remember that generator you turned on inside of Home Sweet Home? -says the boy.

-Yes?

- Well, that was a backup generator for just that building. And every building should have one! -The boy reports. - Now you've just taken Home Sweet Home's backup power and routed it here. 

-It seems that those who designed this place thought of everything. -He murmurs.

-We're already halfway done! -Ollie cheers.

-That's amazing. -Yuu says with a smile, however as soon as he's happy he's also worried, so a frown comes across his face. – But… where to go next?... everywhere is pretty dangerous around here.

- That Playhouse especially. -Adds the infant. – So... your best bet is probably the School.

-Uh?

-Catnap and Dogday usually leaves that place alone. -He explains. -I'll send you the key now.

That seems to calm the nerves of Yuu who lets out a sigh, shortly after, a metallic sound sounds capturing the attention of the adult, observing the source of the sound, he finds the key hanging in the transparent tube, ready to be used.

The human takes it and immediately returns to the surface.

The outside of the school looked like an ordinary building, walls with brick texture while the edges were painted blue and at the top of it was a small tower where a bell hung, however, thanks to the years it was now dirty.

Yuu arrives at the entrance, stopping at the double doors that made it up, between the handles was a chain with a padlock, clearly someone had blocked it, but the reasons remained anonymous. The adult uses the key to get rid of the security, letting the chain fall to the floor with a metallic sound finally gaining access to the area.

He frowns a little before entering.

Just like ¨Home Sweet Home¨, the first thing to greet him were some concrete stairs, fortunately, Yuu saw no sign of the red smoke, so he can rest assured.

-For a school, the decoration is sad. -Yuu murmurs as he sees the gray walls with some of the company's emblematic mascots on them.

It doesn't take long to arrive at the facility, the school hallway was full of lockers decorated with eyes on them, each with a different color, red, blue and yellow, the adult could also see more school things scattered on the floor, such as backpacks and notebook pages, all while some pieces of debris and blood were scattered.

The adult pulls the colorful phone out of his pocket to dial the infant, who answers after two rings.

-Okay, I'll make this quick, I don't like the atmosphere of this place. -says Yuu.

- Be careful in there, I don't think I can connect to you on that side of the dome. -Answer the kid. - And you won't be alone, there's someone else in there too.

The call begins to fill with static.

-They´re not your...

And without giving him time to finish the warning, it cuts off, leaving the human worried.

The call abruptly cuts off leaving.

-Ollie? Ollie, Buddy? -He is silent for a moment, but he hears nothing from the boy, with a grunt he puts the cell phone back in his pocket. -Great.

He enters the corridor observing the doors that were along this, his curiosity does not avoid ignoring them so he peeks in one by one glimpsing the classrooms, it is not until he finally reaches one in specific.

This one had a few circular tables where various toys, chairs and craft materials were scattered on the colorful floor, in the back was a small bookcase and a dinosaur sofa, both were missing some objects, however, that didn't stop Yuu's mind from remembering this classroom.

The activities he did like drawing, listening to the stories the teacher told him, playing in his free time with the colored blocks or with the toys, even taking a nap.

All while being together with his best friend.

Now that he thinks about it... What happened to him?

- This is Miss Delight speaking, please excuse the interruption! -A female voice suddenly sounded from a loudspeaker, pulling Yuu out of his thoughts. – Students, remain in your seats until the bell has rung, and no going in the halls without a hall pass!

With that, the teacher ends her announcement by turning off the microphone, the adult can only frown before leaving the classroom, he continues his search opening more doors noting that each one contained a different room for each subject, such as music, math, art and more.

He finally arrives at a room that appeared to be a teacher's office, however, before he exits the room and continues on his way, the speaker again transmits a static noise followed by the female voice.

- Wait, I recognize you... -Says the woman. -Yes! I remember! You used to live here!

-What? -The adult mumbles, noticeably confused but at the same time astonished.

-How are you... alive?

There was a brief silence.

-Hmm? Barb? -The girl makes a pause. -Oh... Barb says you're looking for the co-workers.

Yuu's brow furrows even more, how does she know all that?

-Catnap and Dogday wouldn't like that you're here! You should leave, for your own safety. -The teacher indicates before hanging up the intercom for the second time.

With a sigh, he continues deeper into the corridors in the hope of finding the damn generator once and for all.

¨TAP, TAP, TAP¨

Some footsteps echoed in the corridors, causing the fear of being discovered to dominate Yuu's body, looking around, he discovers a handle just above him so he doesn't think twice to use the GrabPack and thus climb into the vent closing the hatch, just in time to see a silhouette cross quickly below him.

He needs to get out of here and fast.

He begins to crawl down the duct, looking below him every time, he passes through a crack to see if that creature is nearby, but it doesn't take long to reach the end of it, arriving at another office.

He descends carefully.

- Not a good listener, are you? -The female voice chastises, causing the adult's body to freeze. -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."

-Crazy bitch. -Yuu mutters before moving quickly through the corridors.

Yuu looks around before opening a new door, finally revealing the power generator, it makes him very uneasy, after all, the trip was surprisingly uneventful.

-That was... very easy. -Yuu whispers, turning on the machine. -Too easy.

Once the machine is running, he turns around, ready to leave and connect the cable to the power room, when suddenly, he hears a loud bang behind him, turning around immediately, he discovers that the generator was destroyed.

The person in charge looks Yuu straight in the eye.

Miss Delight.

She was worse than Yuu vaguely remembered, she was so totally ruined that he was sure her shattered face would follow him in his nightmares, Yuu's breath catches in his throat, his legs trembled as did his hands and his whole body was filled with horror. He expected the teacher to move forward but great was his surprise to see her there... Standing still like a statue.

His first instinct was to run, he heard her footsteps getting closer and closer... and closer... and closer, until he felt her fingers brushing the collar of his shirt.

-NO! -Yuu screams in horror.

But once he makes eye contact with the creature again, it freezes again.

She didn't move if she kept eye contact; breathing heavily, the adult advanced backwards with his fingertips groping the concrete walls, walking very carefully to avoid tripping over the objects that were scattered on the floor.

He advanced corridor after corridor, opened door after door and when it seemed that there was no end to it, his hands felt the handle of a door, and, judging by the metal it was made of, Yuu knew immediately that it was his way out of this hell.

As he arrives, he observes his surroundings erratically, a lever being the first thing within his reach, with trembling hands he grabs it and strains to pull it down.

With a metallic creak he succeeds.

Just in time to watch as the metal curtain comes down slamming down crushing the teacher's head, splattering her blood on the ceramic floor and on the adult who stands there trembling.

Yuu feels his breathing accelerated as well as his heartbeat, he observes how the blood slowly accumulates under the woman's corpse, he closes his eyes, he doesn't want to see more so he decides to leave the facility at once, however, just before leaving the school and entering a dark corridor, there was a small locker with a missing door, revealing inside it an accessory.

An orange hand.

-Huh? -That attracted the attention of the human who slowly picked it up.

The shape of it was unusual as his fingers made the gesture of a gun, curious, he installs the new hand to the GrabPack to then test it by pressing the trigger, he had an immediate reaction.

¨BANG¨

-AH! -Yuu shouts at the explosion.

A flare shot out, lighting up the hallway.

That reassures the human, after all, he didn't know how to handle a real firearm, so he could use the flares to his advantage by scaring off the beasts that would get in his way.

Moving forward down the now lighted hallway, the human comes to what appears to be a subway cave.

-Wow... -Yuu gasps as he takes in his new surroundings.

It may not be much, but discovering Playcare's infrastructure encompassing most of the area is the most amazing thing the adult has ever seen; however, he notices that some areas have crumbled, revealing the dark abyss beneath him, with that in mind, Yuu carefully steps onto the small metal bridge.

The human walks, propels himself into the air with the help of the purple hand, and even restores energy in order to access the elevators which will allow him to continue on his way.

However, when he reaches the top of the infrastructure, something catches his attention.

There, in a small corner of the caves was a pile of garbage surrounded by some candles, this intrigues Yuu who stops walking, squints his eyes while leaning a little on the bars in an attempt to see the sculpture better.

He could see some Smiling Critters stuffed animals impaled on crudely arranged metal tubes, while on top of it, a human skeleton was inside the mouth of a Pj Pug-a-pillar doll and...

Wait a minute...

A skeleton.

Yuu's eyes go back to the top of the statue, that skeleton was wearing a company helmet and, now that he looks at it in detail, its hands were firmly tied with a rope, he even swears to see that the corpse's face was stuck in an eternal scream.

That wasn't a pile of garbage... It was a pile of corpses.

And if there were corpses... Dogday and Catnap must be close by,

-This is bad... -Gasps the adult, backing away from the railing. -Very, very bad, I need to get out before they...

¨Ding, Ding¨¨

A small tinkling sound echoing in the cave.

Yuu's first reaction was to crouch down while bringing his hands to his mouth choking his accelerated breathing.

Catnap fluidly climbs onto the shrine, then lowers his upper body allowing Dogday to climb down from his back, once the solar dog touches the ground, the purple furred one steadies himself on his hind legs, then stretches out his arms in worship.

On the other hand, Dogday kneels down to rest his forehead on the ground and begins to pray in a whisper starting the ritual in which they show their loyalty to their God.

The prototype.

Just as Dogday was in the middle of the praise, he hears a piece of metal rustling which echoes, the canine raises his head towards the source of the sound, just in time to catch a glimpse of the silhouette of his prey moving in the darkness.

His smile grows, with a fluid movement he rises from the floor to immediately approach to his partner, catching his attention by gently patting his thigh.

-Catnap. -Whispers the canine.

The named one lowers his gaze.

-Take me home, I have a feeling we're going to have visitors. -Dogday indicates with a mellow tone.

The feline gets the message, gets back on all fours, the solar dog climbs on his skeletal back, once settled, the feline can start his way to ¨Playhouse¨, disappearing into the shadows.

Chapter Text

Yuu enters a small room, inside, he is greeted by several childish objects which seemed to be broken or simply waiting to be used as replacements; to his left, the human glimpses a television showing static, curious, he enters the room.

However, once he sets foot inside, Yuu hears something crawl between the walls as it lets out a high-pitched giggle, the human readies the flare hand, just in time to watch as a mini Bobby Bearhug emerges from a hole.

The adult wastes no time to shoot the doll, the flare lands right in front of the teddy bear, causing it to let out a small squeal before running back to the hole it came from.

Yuu sighs in relief.

Turning his attention back to the television, he presses the "Play" button to start the tape that was already inside the VHS player, the tape began with what looked like a "static" before it started.

The video began with brief static before moving to a shot of a cell in which a pair of glowing eyes peered out from the darkness as silhouettes were huddled together at the bottom of the cage.

-Okay -A male voice sounded from behind the camera. -They are… Dogday and Catnap, better known as, uh... Experiments #1188 and #1189... What´re their real names again?

The man asks, Yuu hears a muffled voice answer him, however he doesn't catch anything he says.

-Oh, okay. -He continues, before clearing his throat. -Heya, Aiden! Hi, Theo! How ya two doin'?

A brief silence ensues.

-Normally, I'd have Dr. Sawyer do this, but he's... let's say out, so you two got me until they find his replacement

One of the silhouettes shudders a little.

-First off: congrats! -Exclaims the adult. –This is officially your 4th year in your new body and you've made some real progress pals; I was told that when you and the other smiling critters, y'know, Bubba Bubbaphant, PickyPiggy, yadda yadda yadda, were added into Playcare, that you two weren't really getting along too well with the kids like everybody else was. But look at you now! The kids love ya, and Catnap, that red smoke of yours, I mean, that’s fantastic isn't it?!

Another silence.

The silhouettes haven't moved an inch, they just stare at the human behind the camera without taking their eyes away.

-Are their… uh… voice thingy still broken? -The man questions.

-Only Catnap's. -Another person replies.

-The prototype will save us. -Says one of the shadows ominously.

-Aiden. -Says the adult. – Nobody's gonna save you, this prison is where you belong, we'll let you two out here and there to go see the kids in Playcare, but your home is here. And as for 'The Prototype', his home is in the labs.

The pair of silhouettes are pressed into the back of the cell.

- THIS is your life now. Get used to it

With that, the tape stops turning static, Yuu's breathing shakes softly, with his trembling hand he turns off the TV, once the screen darkens, it reflects Yuu's face who was now silently crying.

It couldn't be the Aiden he remembers... could it?

With a sigh, he wipes away the tears that had slipped down his cheeks then fully entering the new facility heading to a small door, where he opens it revealing inside a colorful padded wall, on his right side he glimpsed a tunnel, the human adjusts his GrabPack before crouching down and starting to crawl, arriving to another small section where another mini Smiling Critter emerges, Yuu shoots him scaring him.

This is going to be a long trip.

Yuu spent several minutes crawling through colorful plastic tunnels, going down slides and even shooting at the dolls, until he finally reaches what is the main attraction of ¨Playhouse¨, a padded maze of two floors high in which they were connected to each other by tunnels.

On his way, the adult discovers a gigantic button, curious, he places himself on top of the plate, hearing shortly after that characteristic sound of something being activated, satisfied, he gets off the platform, but great is his surprise when the sound of the machinery working is turned off.

-What? -Yuu mutters.

He stands back on the button, the sound of the active machine returns.

-Hmm, I see, it needs to be kept pressed.

He looks around looking for something to help him, to his luck, a cube of immense size was right above him, so, with the help of the GrabPack he attracts it to then place it on top of the button.

-One down. -He says before going back into the labyrinth.

Great is his surprise to see the path now infested with mini Critters, all letting out little grunts and giggles as they approached the adult like the predators they are, Yuu doesn't avoid letting out a gasp as he quickly shoots a flare into the ground, immediately scaring off the herd of stuffed animals.

Clearly that was his cue to hurry.

He crawls through the small maze, narrowly dodging the dolls, to his luck, the area wasn't that big, so it doesn't take him long to find the second button, as expected, the cube was right on top of him, so he lowers it with the help of the backpack with hands.

Never before had he been excited to hear the machinery work.

Now all that was left was to activate the generator.

Moving back into the game, he climbs up to the second floor through a tunnel, he can hear behind him as the shrill laughter increases, but he doesn't dare look back, at least not until he steps out of the plastic tube and looks down below him, discovering that they now have him surrounded, some even trying to climb the padded wall.

-Shit. -Yuu mutters.

In front of him he observes the machinery that, hopefully is the one that activates the backup generator; Using his GrabPack, he presses the last button causing it to release a buzzing sound.

It had been activated, he can finally get out of this colorful hell.

Yuu lets out a sigh, he feels the platform he was sitting on move to the left side, pulling the human away from the horde of mini Smiling Critters who just stared at him with hunger in their eyes.

The platform stops in front of a gray door which had a sign "Staff only", the adult descends carefully to slowly open it, being greeted by some steps of which, the side that leads up is blocked by debris, without choice, he descends arriving in a few seconds to some abandoned pools.

The environment was unusually quiet, being Yuu's breathing the only audible thing, he advances towards the bottom of the area where a double door gave him access to a corridor with several cells inside, at the bottom of it, there was a gate that indicated the exit.

Just when one of his hands was about to make contact.

¨THUD¨

He observes how a silhouette is holding itself against the bars of the door, Yuu lets out a scream going back a few steps.

-You... You´re the one they call "Poppy's angel" -A voice sounds- Come to save them.

Yuu looks up being now in front of Dogday, he observes in detail, the creature was taller than he thought, he could also see his ribs, but compared to Catnap, Dogday's ribs didn't stand out so much.

-Aiden... -Yuu whispers.

-There's nothing left to save, at least not here. -Dogday's voice echoes in the place.

-And how do you know that? -says the human.

The canine only lets out a low chuckle before opening the door, removing the only shield dividing the two.

-You're in Catnap's home, our home.

Yuu's body fills with fear.

-A million pairs of eyes are on you now. -Dogday continues as he enters the corridor. - Watching... Waiting... Hungry, 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.

The adult observes his surroundings, in fact, between the holes in the walls he can see small white orbs as the chuckles resound, echoing in the place.

-You are fucking sick… you and that... thing... -The human shivers.

-Catnap. -Dogday corrects firmly. -We live to serve our God and that's what we do to heretics.

The orange fur points to a specific prison in which the adult slowly looks, now that he mentions it, Yuu notices how a mini Dogday was hanging inside, the lower part of his body was missing so his stuffing mixed with blood was visible.

-These little toys follow our orders to avoid the same fate, and in return, they are fed. -Dogday says.

Fearfully, Yuu looks up where he glimpses six different shaped charms hanging like trophies, and, if his memory serves him correctly, they were the necklaces of the other members of the group.

Dogday notices the human's curiosity.

- They tried to fight The Prototype's control, now Catnap and I are the last of the Smiling Critters. -The dog explained calmly.

Yuu does not avoid letting out a scream, the minds of those beasts were so corrupted, they could do anything just to please their God, even murder their friends.

What happened to Aiden in his years of absence?

-No... no, you are mentally deranged. -He exclaims. -YOU'RE INSANE!

He turns around ready to escape, but is abruptly stopped by the solar dog who holds him by the arms, lifting him up and bringing him face to face with his childhood ex-friend.

-LISTEN TO ME! -exclaims Dogday. - You're not getting out of here, you're not going to live, you and Poppy can't fix this, end our freedom, go back to torment, Not with....

¨BANG¨

A shot echoes through the place followed by a scream.

Yuu had fired the flare towards Dogday, causing his arm to accidentally catch fire forcing him to let go of the human to attend to the fire that was beginning to consume his limb, the human on the other hand takes the opportunity to escape, however, before reaching the exit, the ground breaks leading him into a labyrinth of tunnels, being his only way of escape available.

It doesn't take long for Dogday to suffocate the flames, once the problem is solved, he looks at the hole where his prey went, lets out a low growl and then gets down on all fours.

-Oh, of course not. -Dogday announces sombrely before moving deeper into the tunnels.

Yuu's panting echoes through the colorful pipes, he crawls as fast as he can while looking behind him.

every few seconds, he can hear Dogday's footsteps approaching, looking over his shoulder, he glimpses the canine appear around one of the pipes to run towards the human, the human acts by firing a flare at him.

As expected, the bullet lands in front of the solar dog, momentarily blinding him and forcing him to take another path to avoid making contact with the fire.

However, Dogday was not the only danger, Yuu narrowly dodged the mini Critters who blocked some possible exits, leading the male to take paths that led to dead ends, luckily, he managed to make his way through thanks to the fact that the games were not designed for adults, so his weight allowed him to collapse some parts of the game.

His improvised path leads him to a corridor, where three slides awaited, due to the pressure he takes the one right in front of him sliding into a play area, gets up quickly and runs.

As if it were a miracle, at the end there is a light that illuminates the desired exit, his escape from this hell.

With a fluid movement, he changes the orange hand for the purple one, just in time to push himself with the help of the plate, he rises in the air for a few seconds and then lands in the elevator. He quickly uses the same hand to press a button and close the metal door in front of Dogday.

Such a sudden action causes the sunbearer to hit the curtain, the last thing Yuu hears before ascending was a loud bestial scream...

Dogday is clearly not happy to lose his prey.

Yuu's body trembles, his heart pounding, he never felt so close to dying before, not even when he faced Huggy Wuggy or Mommy Long-Legs, he knows this is a different danger. Finally, the elevator stops in the upper room, where a slide indicates his exit.

With a sigh he steps inside, ending the mission at the Playhouse.

On the other hand, Dogday was panting in front of the door, he could not believe that his prey had escaped from his hands again, they must act fast. He snaps his fingers then points to the ground right at him, out of the darkness, a pair of white eyes emerge and slowly get closer, once it makes contact with the light, a mini Catnap is revealed.

Dogday takes the doll between his hands.

-Send a message to Catnap. -The canine orders. -Tell him to go to the counselors' office and capture our prey, this game has to end now.

With a nod from the doll, Dogday releases it to begin its journey, the mini Catnap enters one of the tunnels to quickly start moving through the rubble, it seemed that everything was going well, but not until it reaches a crack too small for it to continue its journey.

This doesn't stop him though.

The minis are known to work in a group, so he lets out little squeaks trying to catch someone's attention, luckily his call is heard as he sees a small Bobby approaching the crevice, mini Catnap makes some sounds communicating with the teddy bear transmitting the message, once received, Bobby continues the journey.

The message begins to travel by word of mouth when one of the little teddy bears has trouble continuing, either because the slots were too small, or debris got in the way, but thanks to teamwork, the message will be successfully delivered.

Mini Kickin passes the message from a fence to Mini Dogday, who is now in charge of getting it to the lunar feline, the little stuffed dog travels through the pipes until he finally reaches Catnap's nest.

The purple one was lying on his bed sleeping peacefully, however, his ears reacted to the sound of soft paws approaching, at this, Catnap opened his eyes while raising his head, just in time to see the little Dogday get on the mattress.

The bearer of the moon takes the doll by the scruff of the neck positioning it close to him, with his front paws he holds the little body and, immediately after, he starts to groom it, Mini Dogday starts to let out little squeaks stopping Catnap's action, because, although he likes to be pampered, it was not the moment. Mini Dogday fulfills his mission of conveying the message through growls and high-pitched squeaks.

Catnap for his part just remains silent for a few seconds, then gets up leaving the doll alone on the bed and finally makes his way to the counselor's office.

Chapter Text

The rays of the artificial sun tinged orange and red simulating sunset is the only clue to Yuu's noticeable absence on the surface,.

As he emerges from the colorful slide the adult stands upright while breathing in the Playcare air, allowing his previous adrenaline to subside. Yuu notices how the clouds slowly rise to make way for the stars, he also discovers that the temperature becomes freezing simulating the arrival of night.

¨RING¨

The phone rings suddenly startling Yuu a little, the human takes out his cell phone from his pocket to answer the call.

-Yuu, are you alright? -The kid exclaims hurriedly -No ouchies or lost body parts?

-Ollie, Ollie, hey... I'm fine. -Yuu answers. -I'm complete and healthy.

That seems to reassure the boy who lets out a relieved sigh.

-I'm really glad to hear that... It's just... I don't want to lose any more friends in this place. -Ollie says with sadness in his voice.

Yuu remains silent, after all, he can't blame the little boy for his constant worry, who knows how many friends he has lost throughout his life. The adult takes a breath and then starts walking towards the Playcare center.

-Hey, little pal. -The human begins, trying to fill the silence. -Do you... know anything about something I saw in the caves?

-Oh, yeah... The shrine, Catnap and Dogday made it for The Prototype. -The infant replies fearfully.

-What? -Yuu gasps.

-See, before Catnap and Dogday turned into... Well... Catnap and Dogday, there was some pretty serious accident, they almost died but... they say that The Prototype saved their life, giving up his own freedom in the process.

-So... Are you telling me that in their eyes, that thing is like a superhero? -Yuu mutters

Ollie hums in affirmation

-It's more than that... They treat him like a god, killing everyone that opposes him. Us included, if we're not careful.

Another brief silence.

-That shrine... Did it scare you? -Ollie whispers.

Yuu lets out a shaky breath before speaking. -I'll be honest with you... It terrified me, I never in my life thought I saw so many impaled bodies, or a human skeleton.

-If that was terrifying, just wait until you see the real thing.

Yuu gasps, he feels his chest tighten as his free hand trembles, he knows that sooner or later he must face that thing.

-Anyways. -The boy decides to change the topic. –We're really close to the end, I sent you a new key.

Yuu descends the stairs located under the statues to go to the transparent tube, just as Ollie said, a small key was waiting, with a fluid hand movement he takes it, holding it firmly in a fist.

-Okay, I've got it, now where do I go? -Says the man.

-You're going to the Counselor's Office. -Says the child. - It's not ideal, but it should have enough power to turn on the generator, plug it in and BAM, we'll be done.

Yuu doesn't help but let out a soft chuckle at the infant's cheerful explanation, before heading up the stairs, Ollie continues talking.

-Oh, and keep your eyes open.

-I know... Catnap and Dogday. -Says the adult. –I´ve notices that those two use every shadow and every flickering light as a hiding spot.

-It's the way they torture their prey. -Ollie explains. - They always stalk first, taking away everything you have to defend yourself, and, when you're at your most vulnerable... They kill you.

Yuu frowns, no doubt the pair lives for the hunt.

-Good luck, talk soon. -Finishes the boy, cutting the line.

Yuu puts the cell phone in his pants pocket then heads to the giant marble building, as he climbs the stairs, he notices an engraving which was written in blood.

"THE HOUR OF JOY."

That confuses the human, but for the moment, he decides to ignore it.

Once he reaches the top, he uses the key to open the wooden door and finally goes inside; all this was witnessed by a certain solar dog who was watching from the top of the statues.

-Don't fail me, Catnap. -He speaks to himself.

When Yuu enters, he is greeted by a small hallway in which, not only had a few vending machines, there were also some office supplies lying on the floor such as chairs, papers, and more. Not to mention the many doors lining the area.

Advancing cautiously, he walks for several minutes opening doors and looking inside the offices to find something useful, obviously failing, it is not until he reaches the back that he stumbles upon a closed door next to a large hole in the wall, in the background he could glimpse a green battery.

Carefully, he points one of his hands towards the object, but just as he was about to shoot.

He hears someone start to choke.

Confused, he looks out the window of the door, discovers a small Bunzo Bunny doll walking around the room while suffocating on the smoke that was coming out of a pipe. The bunny becomes weaker and weaker as his breathing becomes harder.

It doesn't take long before he collapses to the floor.

Yuu was about to help it, but quickly a huge silhouette rushes past snatching the little doll in the blink of an eye.

Catnap is close by.

-Fuck. -Growled the adult.

Reaching for the battery, he moves as fast as he can away from the place, he'd better start moving faster if he doesn't want to end up the same way as Bunzo.

His path led him to a small office.

The environment gave off some tranquility, everything would look in good condition if it were not for the pile of papers that were scattered on the floor, in the background he could see another television showing static.

Curiosity never leaves Yuu's body, so he takes a chair to take a seat, then, with a sigh, he presses the button to start the tape.

The video begins with the sound of someone turning the pages, seconds later, the door which the camera was focusing on from the desk opens revealing a couple.

-Oh, Mr. and Mrs. Hartmann. -Exclaims the girl in charge with remarkable joy. - Come on in! Please, have a seat!

Obeying, the couple walks to a pair of seats in front of the desk.

-How was your ride down? -The woman behind the camera says.

-It was... Nothing like we were expecting. -The man answers as he sits down. -Mr. Ludwig's speech was... Well, it just confirms for us that you're the orphanage we want to go through.

-It's a truly magical place. -Complements the caretaker. -I felt right at home from the second I entered, you open the door the first time and you just know, you're never going to leave... Kind of like finding a home as a child, and always thinking of it when you want to feel comforted.

There was a brief silence, the girl notices her unprofessionalism, so she decides to clear her throat in an attempt to pick it up again.

-I understand you want to give Jeremy that home.

-Yes, and we would like to adopt. -Mrs. Hartman speaks softly.

-Amazing! You'll be perfect for our little boy Aiden. -The other woman exclaims, her silhouette cross before the camera and then she walks over to a file cabinet at the back of the room.

The couple looks at each other with a bright smile.

-At the moment he's a little rebel, you know, teenagers, but I can tell you that the boy has a good heart. -The manager continues. -After all, we don't call him sunshine for nothing.

The girl opens the file cabinet and begins to look for a specific folder, once she finds it she opens it and leafs through it. However her once smiling face changes to a surprised one as she just looks at the paper.

-Oh...

-What? -Mrs. Hartmann says with an uncomfortable giggle.

-Well, it appears there´s... been some complications. -The woman mumbles, going over the papers again and again.

-Complications? What kind of complications? -The other woman says again, noticeably confused.

-I don't know. Uhm… the form says 'Reassigned'.

-What does that mean?... Tell us, what does that mean?! -The woman gets upset.

-Mrs. Greyber, we deserve a better explanation than that, don't you think? -Mr. Hartman continues, visibly furious.

-You're in charge of all this, how could you not know! -His wife stands up.

-And why are we only finding out about this now?!

-I... I don't... I'm sorry. -That's the last thing the manager says before the tape ends.

Yuu's breath trembles, but it's not because of sadness... it's because of fury, he feels his blood boil under his skin, his fists clench, he quickly turns off the TV and then rests his head between his hands.

Aiden was about to have his chance to leave, to have a happy family, but of course, destiny had other plans for him and it had to be taken away from him.

He takes big sighs in an attempt to lower that feeling, after all, it was not time to collapse, he must continue. Standing up, he leaves the office and crosses the door, arriving at another corridor which was totally dark.

He reached the end of the corridor and found a dead end, however, when he looked up, he noticed that the ceiling had collapsed, being in sight a handle, he used his GrabPack to reach the ventilation system; he crawled for a few minutes until he reached a trap door which he opened with a kick, only to see that red smoke.

He climbed down from the vents once he put on his mask, upon landing, he was received with distorted jazz music, clearly the radio that was playing it was affected by the years. The hallway he was in was unusually quiet; Yuu knew this signal.

Someone is nearby and waiting for the right moment to attack.

The only exit was behind him, but it required a battery to open it, so he decides not to waste time, he peeks into every available room, until, almost at the end of the place, his precious object was on the floor, Yuu takes it with the help of the GrabPack, ready to run away, but just when he turns around.

He is abruptly knocked down.

Yuu feels his world spinning for several seconds until finally he hits the wooden floor, he lets out a grunt of pain that quickly turns into a cough, such action causes him to see red smoke dancing in front of his face.

He had lost his mask.

He looks up, there, in front of the door frame was Catnap, under one of his paws he was holding his gas mask so it is a hopeless case to try to recover it. He notices how the feline crouches, he was about to attack again.

Acting fast and with his vision starting to darken, Yuu shoots the GrabPack to a random place in the room, once he feels that he grabbed something, he pulls it.

Yuu had locked himself in the room, blocking the door with a filing cabinet.

The adult begins to hyperventilate, the gas invading his respiratory system little by little, slowly taking him into the world of dreams.

When he least expects it, he has fallen asleep.

Chapter Text

Yuu...

Yuu...

Wake up

This isn't a place you come back from.

Yuu takes a huge gasp of air, his lungs expanding as oxygen fills every corner of his being, feeling immediate relief after nearly drowning from that red gas. His eyes snap open but a bright light hits his eyes forcing him to close them tightly, a grunt escapes from his lips as he instinctively covers his face with his hands, when he finally dares to open his eyes again the glare has subsided.

The slowly spinning Playcare fan is the first thing Yuu notices, but now it's not the old worn out machine he saw before, the rust was completely gone and the creaking sound it emitted from the motor is no more, it was as if someone had restored it. Said device provided a gentle breeze in the place keeping it at a refreshing temperature.

Confusion envelopes Yuu as his gaze wanders around, he watches the children run, play and laugh in the schoolyard which now showed a new look, the walls were no longer crumbling, it bore a clean paint and the bell hanging on the ceiling was no more dusty, the adult also glimpses Miss Delight who was taking care of the little ones, the teacher conveys the kindness that any mentor can offer.

The other buildings also looked in perfect condition, ¨Home Sweet Home¨ was now the place where any child would go to sleep feeling completely safe, ¨Playhouse¨ showed the joy and its bright colors invited the little ones to have fun, finally, the counselors' office reflected the authority and warmth emitted by the temporary parents.

A smile peeks on his lips as he gazes at the place he never thought he would see alive again, but when Yuu's head turns his head to the right, that's when surprise envelops him completely.

There, next to him, a 3-year-old boy is lying on the grass while fiddling with the edge of his shirt with noticeable nervousness. The adult's eyes widen in pure surprise, for that child was none other than himself.

-Tomorrow is the big day, right? -Says another child, breaking the silence with his squeaky voice.

Next to his “I” from the past, there was a boy a year older whose appearance easily stood out among the other orphans, his hair was a wavy reddish orange, his complexion was light brown with some white spots along his face and body thanks to his vitiligo and, finally, his eyes were a honey color, almost golden.

The adult's breath trembles, for it was none other than his former childhood friend.

Aiden Henson.

His heart pounded as tears began to appear in his eyes along with a small smile, unable to contain the nostalgia that began to grow in his chest.

-You'll eat ice cream, see animals, and best of all... You'll have a real mommy and daddy! -Aiden rambled on.

However, the little black-haired boy simply remains completely silent, he can't help but feel a pang of worry for his friend, yes... He was happy to be adopted, but his friend will be alone... Maybe for weeks... or years... or his whole life.

-Yuu. -Aiden's voice pulls him out of his thoughts. -Are you okay? You're crying.

His little hand wipes away the tear that had managed to escape and was starting to slide down, with a trembling sigh he sits up and then hugs his knees. 

-I am afraid. -Says the young Yuu, looking at his friend. -You're going to be alone when I leave.

The duo remains silent for several minutes, the only thing audible at the moment was the noise of the other orphans playing in the background while the wind blew gently shaking the leaves of the artificial trees, they would have stayed like that for longer but for the laughter of Aiden which broke it, resounding in the ears of the adult echoing.

For that would be the last laugh he would hear from the little boy.

The red-haired boy, with a quick movement, stretches an arm around his friend's shoulders and then pulls him into a hug, such action catches the little Yuu off guard, who opens his eyes in surprise.

-What are you saying! I'm not going to be alone, Yuu. -he exclaims. -I'll be waiting for you, you know, in case you come to visit me.

Such a statement makes the boy think, in fact his friend is right, they get visits from adults all the time, so... So, can he!

A smile appears on his face.

-Of course! I'll come every day.

Aiden doesn't answer, instead, he just tightens his hug which is reciprocated by Yuu, sealing their promise in which nothing or no one could break it... or... At least that's what those two innocent children thought.

-Yuu? -Aiden calls, breaking the silence once again.

-Yes?

-We'll always be friends, right?

-Always.

Aiden never knew that when Yuu walked through the Playtime Co. doors, he and his new parents had moved to another city.

The memory vanishes in a whirlwind of red smoke, Yuu quickly scrambles to his feet at the sudden threat, however, this cloud takes him to another stage which was again the outside of Playcare, except now he was standing in front of the Smiling Critters podium, which, like the rest of Playcare, this one looked clean, almost as if it had just been put up.

Do you have any idea what you're doing?

A voice whispers in his ear, causing a shiver to run down his spine.

Suddenly, a gentle strumming of a pencil on paper followed by a barely audible humming catches his attention, Yuu frowns before walking around the statues, slowly approaching towards the source of the sound which only gets louder and louder.

There, sitting under the statue of Catnap, was a small 7-year-old boy with light skin, brown hair, and brown eyes. He was doodling on some loose-paper with crayons and seemed to be immersed in his own world, completely ignoring the laughter of the other children echoing in the dome.

-Huh? -Yuu mumbles in bewilderment, not knowing who this little guy is.

Suddenly, a shadow falls over the infant, he stops drawing at the sudden change of light, with a slight frown he looks up to see the person responsible for interrupting his creative aura.

Only for his angry face to quickly change to one of surprise.

In front of him, a red-haired boy with a big smile was standing while radiating an aura that resembled the sun... or well, the artificial light gave him that angelic appearance.

-Hello! -Exclaimed Aiden cheerfully. -I noticed you were alone, so... I came to give you some company, is that okay?

The boy just observes him in silence, after several seconds without making any noise, he finally decides to nod his head slowly, the two-colored skin gives a little laugh before taking a seat next to him.

-Oh! Do you like painting? -Asks the red-haired child once his eyes contact the papers scattered on the grass. -Me too! But I'm not really good at it, at least not like you.

The fair-skinned boy's cheeks are tinged with a slight red, he quickly turns his gaze to the other side, such action worries the other kid.

-I'm sorry! -Aiden says fearfully. -I shouldn't have seen your drawings without your permission.

-No, no... It's okay. -The little boy whispers,

Theodore settles back to return his gaze to the redhead, but when he does, he discovers that Aiden's face was inches away, causing their noses to meet and both look each other straight in the eyes, quickly their surroundings begin to fade, enveloping them in a bubble where the only audible thing was their hearts beating in sync.

After what seemed like an eternity in silence, Aiden decides to speak.

-By the way... My name is Aiden. -He finally introduces himself softly. -What's yours?

-Theodore... -He murmurs. -Theodore Grambell.

Yuu gasps when he hears that name.

-It's a pretty name... -Theo.

Quickly, the adult approaches the papers scattered on the floor with the intention of seeing the drawings, some were just simple doodles which have no form... However, one of them completely catches his attention; this was a violet child sitting on a bed, under the furniture a skeletal and crudely drawn hand was peeking out from the shadow.

The revelation hit the adult like a bucket of cold water, this was not another lucid dream... Catnap was showing him moments that marked Aiden's life.

Again, the red mist envelops Yuu's body taking him to another completely different scenario, ¨Home Sweet Home¨, being more exact to an area of the bedroom which Yuu doesn't quite recognize.

-What? -he murmurs confused.

Do you know what's happened here?

The corridors were enveloped in complete darkness along with a silence which was only interrupted every second by the soft " Tick Tock" of the clock hanging on the wall, 1:30 A.M. was what the needles pointed out, confusing the adult even more, according to his memories, at that time everyone should be deeply asleep.

Why would Catnap want to show him this?

Suddenly, the sound of the clock is slightly interrupted by the soft sound of a kiss, such sound not only echoes in the hallway, but sends a shiver down Yuu's spine causing his body to freeze immediately, he turns his body slowly towards the source of the sound encountering only the frame of the door, Yuu assumes that Catnap removed the furniture to give him a better glimpse of the inside of the room.

Fearful and letting out a sigh, he slowly approaches.

The area was dimly lit by a night lamp on the wooden bedside table, on the bed, two teenagers were cuddled on top of each other, the one on top was distributing kisses on the face and neck of the boy underneath resulting in him letting out a few chuckles.

-Aiden. -Theodore, now 13, murmured as he tugged at the redhead's shirt. -Aiden, stop that tickling me.

Aiden, 14 years old, also let out a playful giggle, ending that bath of kisses and then leaned back, resting his head on the chest of the brown hair boy and wrapping his arms around his hips.

-One of these days we're going to be discovered because of you. -Theo complains, giving him a soft smack on the head.

-I love you too. -Aiden answers flirtatiously.

The boy sighs as he rolls his eyes, however, a smile doesn't avoid showing on his face as he adjusts his grip. The couple remains silent, allowing the sound of the clock to be the only thing to be heard in the place along with their breaths, during this small lapse, Theo was in charge of caressing his boyfriend's wavy hair while he just listened to his heartbeat.

-Hey, Aiden. -Theodore whispers, breaking the silence.

He hums.

-I remembered something. -The light-skinned boy begins. -Today in the morning I saw Jake giving the paper flower we made in art class to Heily... They both looked so happy.

Aiden, for his part, is just silent, he also watched the teenage couple show their affection in public on more than one occasion, shouting to the four winds through their actions how happy they are in their courtship and that they shouldn't worry about its consequences, while he and Theo have to hide their relationship in the darkest shadows.

Because a boy shouldn't love another boy.

Slowly, Aiden lifts his head up leaning on his elbows, his heart clenching as he sees the sadness and jealousy in his boyfriend's eyes.

He lets out a sigh.

-You know? -The red-haired boy whispers, caressing the fair-skinned boy's cheeks. -The teachers are right when they say that a relationship like ours shouldn't be public.

Theo opens his eyes as tears begin to form.

-Imagine that. -Aiden continues. -People like Jake and Heily would die of jealousy at the sight of a couple as perfect as us.

That only causes Theo to burst out laughing and then slaps him on the shoulder.

-Don't do that, you almost scared me to death! -He exclaims between laughs. -You're a fool, Aiden.

-But I'm YOUR fool!

The brown-haired man grabs the two-colored skin's cheeks to quickly pull him into a quick kiss that they both share on the lips, Yuu doesn't avoid smiling at the pair of teenagers showing their love.

After several brushes of lips, the youngsters snuggle back into the sheets allowing the new silence to fill the room.

-Although, I'm not going to lie. -Aiden says in a whisper. -I'd like the rest of them to accept what we are someday.

-What if... That " Someday" is now? -Suggests Theo.

Such a comment earns the full attention of the two-colored skin who raises his head in shock, but on Yuu's part this only ignites a red alert.

-What do you mean? -Aiden says.

-My friend, the one I mentioned to you before.... He just got in touch with me. -He confesses. -He told me that he can help us in exchange for something small.

A shiver ran down Yuu's back at Theo's words, after all, he already has an idea of who he's referring to. Aiden for his part frowns slightly in utter confusion.

-And... What does he want in return? -The red-haired boy whispers.

-Freedom.

Aiden ponders for several seconds in silence, Yuu shakes his head in denial, begging his friend to react to the multiple signs of danger, trying to at least change a bit the cruel end that awaited the redhead....

Unfortunately, his fate was already written in stone.

-Okay, let's do it. -He says with a broad smile.

The pair of teenagers give each other one last kiss before cuddling and sleeping peacefully, again that memory vanishes like red smoke, swirling around them again.

Do you know who we once were?

The voice echoes in Yuu's mind, however, now it sounds somewhat familiar... but he cannot detect who it belongs to.

The smoke disperses again revealing now the inside of a classroom, the adult observes one of Miss Delight's sisters writing something on the blackboard followed by the students who take notes in their respective notebooks... All except for two teenagers who were sitting in the back.

Theodore and Aiden were communicating with each other by writing on a piece of paper, thanks to the fact that they both shared a desk it was easier to transmit their messages without raising suspicions, they swapped the paper quickly, Yuu swallowed saliva and then peeked over the shoulders of the teenagers.

¨We are close" That was written in clumsy letters due to the hurry. ¨My friend just passed me his location, and, as far as he knows, we only need a couple of GrabPacks and some green hands to gain access¨

Aiden bites down on his pencil a bit, then writes, then slides it back to his partner, who reads the response.

"But how are we going to get the stuff without arousing suspicion?".

Theo looks at the two-colored skinned one, bites his lower lip thoughtfully, then writes.

"We can go at night after bedtime, usually the guards don't pay as much attention to the cameras."

¨Let me guess" The red-haired man writes immediately. ¨Your friend told you?¨

Shyly the brown-haired nods with a smile being greeted by a happy sigh from Aiden, he continues writing.

"We can hide in ¨Playhouse¨, with so many orphans, it will be impossible for the adults to notice our absence.".

The two-colored skinned one nods his head.

The bell rings announcing the end of classes, quickly all the students get up from their desks immediately putting away their things, the teacher announces the homework, however, that doesn't matter for Theo and Aiden.

Because tonight will be remembered as the moment when their lives change forever...

Too bad not in the way they planned. 

Smoke blurs Yuu's vision again.

Do you see why we have to end this?

 Deep inside the Playhouse, hidden beyond the colorful plastic tubes and inside the cells near the pool area, the pair of teenagers sat facing each other, their faces dimly illuminated by the light of a handheld flashlight held by the brown man, around them, some basic tools like a screwdriver, a crowbar and a map which had the path they should follow written on it were scattered on the floor.

-Here we are. -Theo points to a specific point on the map. -According to this, there is a door that leads to the caves on the other side of Playcare, if we get there we can find some extra GrabPacks.

The red-haired man nods.

-I know you said the guards don't pay much attention to the cameras at this hour... But how are we going to evade them in case they decide to make an exception.

-We'll use the shadows. -Theo says as he rolls up the plan and then puts it in his backpack. -My friend sent a couple of mini Critters to bring the green hands.

Aiden frowns, despite blindly trusting his partner, he couldn't help but feel an uneasiness growing in his stomach and slowly consuming his chest.

-Are you sure your friend is someone we can trust? -He decides to ask.

The light-skinned guy nods his head quickly, the redhead lets out a sigh in an attempt to leave that annoying feeling behind, if his boyfriend trusts that mysterious entity....

Then he should too.

Determined, he helps his lover to put the tools into the backpack, where the red-haired man immediately slings it over his shoulders.

-Well, let's free your friend. -The red-haired man says with a determined smile.

Theo smiles, quickly kisses him on the lips to finally both teenagers stand up, starting to enter the playhouse facilities, but in the distance, Yuu, a silent witness, feels a lump in his throat as he watches the departure of the young people.

Despair takes over his body, with trembling breath he takes a step....

-No...

Then he takes another...

-Aiden...

And another.

-AIDEN!

When he least expects it, he was already running after them while extending a hand in a vague attempt to stop them, to his bad luck his efforts were in vain as darkness began to completely embrace the youthful silhouettes.

Slowly the stage turns to smoke, but it was no longer red, instead, it is only replaced by a layer of shadow where the only audible thing was his footsteps along with his breathing. Finally, the adult slows down his steps little by little until he stops in the darkness, big tears flowed uncontrollably down the adult's cheeks, sobs shook his body at the same time as moans escaped from his throat.

He could not hold back any longer.

he let out a heartbreaking scream to burst into tears in complete loneliness.

Do you even know what's real?

That voice sounds right behind him.

Quickly Yuu raises his head, the darkness was already slightly illuminated by a flickering bulb hanging above him, allowing him to glimpse in front of him a pair of silhouettes holding hands.

-What? -whispers the adult as he squints his eyes.

One of the figures releases his hand and immediately approaches the source of light, Yuu remains motionless, feeling his heart pounding every time the entity takes a step, it doesn't take long for him to reach the illuminated area.

Yuu's eyes widen as the air gets stuck in his lungs causing him to let out a shaky gasp.

It was Aiden, but he looked a little different, what was a brown skin with some white spots on his face and body, he had added some dark marks along with some stitches which were covered with gauze and white bandages stained slightly with blood, his amber eyes which shined like the sun became dark and glassy, not to mention that his playful personality was gone.

He looked like someone else.

-No… You don't. -He mutters bitterly.

-Aiden... -Yuu whispers.

A brief silence is formed between the two men, the adult comes a little closer to the teenager while extending a hand in an attempt to caress his cheek. However, the redhead discovers his intentions, so with a low growl he slaps Yuu's hand causing him to pull back.

-How could you? -Aiden exclaims.

-What? -The elder is confused.

-You abandoned me, you forgot me... You forgot our promise. -His bitterness is replaced by sadness.

-I'm sorry, but being adopted and moving to another city was something I couldn't control. -Says the adult as he approaches the teenager. -But I swear I....

-Is it because of me? -The red-haired boy suddenly interrupts.

That question catches the adult off guard.

-Is it because of my appearance?... Because of my skin?... My hair color?... Why am I not like a normal person? -The questions come quickly from his lips and at the same time he ducks his head trying to hide the tears that were beginning to show in his eyes. -The adults who came to the meetings were disgusted by my vitiligo... They said that because I had red hair I was the devil... such primitive thoughts... that's why they ended up choosing another child.

-Aiden, Aiden. -Yuu hushes him in a whisper, he kneels down in front of the red-haired boy and takes him by the shoulders. -That had nothing to do with it, it was just a silly decision of theirs.

-Then explain to me why you turned me into this?

...

...

...

...

-What?

Yuu pushes away the hair that had covered his friend's eyes, only in doing so, he gets the surprise that his once amber eyes were replaced to black with white pupil, such a revelation causes Yuu to gasp and let go the boy.

-Your actions led me to this... -Aiden continues speaking with venom in his voice. -You were adopted, you were able to get out of this hell to have a happy and full life, you grew up under the light of a real sun, you saw things that here are just plastic... while I... I just saw how kids came and went... every friend I made was adopted, it was like destiny wanted me to be alone until I turn 18 and get thrown out on the street... or at least that's what I thought until I met Theo.

Yuu just watches him with wide eyes.

-He was with me every step of the way. -His tone of voice softens. -Theo understood my loneliness perfectly, he complements me... He is my light, my moon... And, of course... as you must know... The sun must take care of the moon.

Although tears were streaming down Aiden's face, a smile could not avoid to appear on his face.

-No matter how hard you try to fix this, it's too late, Yuu... Your actions led me to this... It's all your fault.

The adult can't believe his ears, why is his friend blaming him for something he clearly had no control over?

He tries to speak but his throat has become a lump and the pressure in his chest prevents him from breathing, tears run down his cheeks, and his body does not cooperate. The light bulb above them begins to flicker, each flash changing the young boy's appearance, until finally it explodes, enveloping the adult in darkness. 

-But I thank you... -A deep, distorted voice is heard right in his ear. -In spite of everything, I was able to meet him....

An alarm suddenly starts to sound making Yuu startled, then, he feels how people start pushing him from one side to the other, the screams were present and soon after, a red light illuminates the place.

The adult glimpses the crowd running, on the floor some bodies covered with blood were scattered in the room, Yuu's heart beats strongly in fear, his eyes move erratically in search of the origin of that stampede, to his good, or bad luck, he finds those responsible.

On a pile of corpses, Catnap watched his prey run while in his muzzle he held the decapitated body of a woman, her blood covered part of his face, on his back, Dogday looked intensely at Yuu, the human can see the hatred in those white rings.

Slowly a third figure approaches the area, a skeletal metal hand descends through the hole in the ceiling quickly, without even giving the human time to react.

Because when he least expects it, everything goes black.

Chapter Text

Yuu opens his eyes.

The adult stands up as he feels the adrenaline rushing through his veins, his breathing is accelerated and his heartbeat is strong, with his eyes he observes his surroundings in an attempt to wake up and connect to the ground, which he does after a few minutes, because Yuu manages to hear the sound of the phone.

With trembling hands, he takes the cell phone out of his pocket and answers.

-Ollie, I...

-Yuu... -A deep voice sounds on the other end of the line. -Since you were my childhood friend, I'll be generous to you... LEAVE PLAYCARE, OR I’M COMING FOR YOU.

The call cuts off shortly after the warning, that threat echoes in the mind of the adult who only remains silent in the middle of the room, finally Aiden... or rather... Dogday, has the courage to threaten him.

His brow furrows as he slowly puts the phone in his pants pocket.

-Let's end this nightmare. -He says with determination.

He firmly takes the trigger of his GrabPack to then point it towards the locker he used as a barricade, then he takes it out of the way, takes the green battery and with a strong kick towards the door the door opens it, at the end of the corridor he observes the slot where he has to place the object, which he does without problem, having access to the exit of the counselors' office.

Just as expected, Yuu notices that Playcare is in total darkness along with fog, quickly the adult goes downstairs but it wasn't when halfway down the stairs the colored phone rings.

-Something gone wrong! -Ollie exclaims in fear.

-I know, and I plan to fix it. -The adult man answers earnestly. -I'll take the wires from the Counselors Office and Playhouse and plug them in. We need to reach 100%!

-In that case, good luck. -says the child.

The adult cuts the call to then go to the side of the building, there he immediately saw the cable, taking it, he runs to the elevator where he last saw Poppy, he observes the door that was already open having access to the missing plug, with both connectors in hand, he quickly runs to the Playcare center where he goes down to the warehouse.

Once in front of the panel, he connects both cables, ending the mission. The computer beeps, a clear sign that the gas machine has reached 100% power.

-Okay, that should be enough power. -Yuu announces into the phone.

-Perfect, now I send you the last battery, you have to take it to the Gas Production Zone so we can get out of here, Good luck. -The infant speaks excitedly.

With that, Ollie ends the call, seconds later, an immense blue battery comes out of that glass tube, the major takes it with both hands and without time to lose he heads towards the door next to the cable car.

The steps resound in the gigantic room as an echo, the human observes the machine and on his right side the slot where he must place it, such an object causes an immense relief to run through the body of the major and at the same time a small smile appears on his lips; He stops in front of the panel, but when he was about to finish the mission...

¨Creeekkk¨

The metal door sounds taking the human by surprise.

Yuu steps back forcing himself to release the battery and thus hold the trigger of the GrabPack, he watches as the door slides revealing the solar canine crouching down to cross the frame of it, shortly after Catnap comes out behind him.

-You should have left, just like you did a long time ago. -Dogday says with venom in his voice.

As if it was a signal, Catnap exhales the smoke immediately covering the room of that reddish haze, Yuu having no other alternative decides to run to an elevator that was on the other side of the room, he hears how the soft steps of the duo become big footsteps, he tries to see behind him but the gas does not allow him to see further.

Arriving, Yuu presses the button that allows him to open the gate thus accessing the elevator, then presses another button that was inside to start the platform and at the same time close the metal fence.

But once the beasts come out of the smoke, Yuu's breathing stops.

Catnap and Dogday’s fur turned a sickly gray color along with a skeletal appearance, the limbs of both appear to be simple bare bones that ended with elongated fingers, without any semblance of flesh or fur, Yuu could observe how Dogday clings to Catnap's back as if his life depended on it.

As if he doesn't want the feline to leave him behind.

Another thing the major notices is how the zipper on Dogday's chest was open, revealing a damaged heart covered in stitches. The beasts torso let protrude some faces and hands of people, children and babies, they desperately wanted to escape from inside; However, the most dramatic part of the transformation can be seen in their faces, the feline's mouth has elongated alarmingly exceeding the length of its torso giving it the appearance of a sadistic smile, on the other hand, Dogday's permanent smile changed to a grimace of sadness and pain, he could even see how some tears slid down his cheeks.

The amulet of both of them had joined, transforming into an eclipse emitting reddish light.

Yuu does not stop watching these hallucinations with surprise and fear, however he resumes his frown not to appear weak in front of his nightmares, he glimpses how Dogday removes the belts that surrounded his arms and quickly fastens them forming a single improvised rope, then, he throws the buckle under the cat's torso to quickly take it and fasten the belt hitch behind him, finally he adjusts his position.

-What are you...? -mutters the confused adult.

His thoughts are interrupted when in one fluid motion, Catnap jumps towards the fence protecting the elevator, starting to climb in an attempt to reach the human on the upper floor, such action catches the human off guard who recoils letting out a muffled scream. However, Catnap's path does not go far, as he runs into the ceiling of the room, forcing him to stop and watch as the human disappears from his sight, silently swearing to find him.

The elevator stops when it reaches its destination, without wasting time, Yuu enters the hallway reaching a slightly smaller room, in the background he glimpses some battery stations next to some plates where the energy must be deposited to activate it, while in the front he notices a panel and four slots with an outlet now turned off.

Suddenly, he hears his phone ring, snapping him out of his thoughts, and quickly decides to take the call.

-All right, there's no time to waste. -To his surprise, Poppy is the one on the other end of the line.

- Catnap and Dogday are on their way, tell me what this place is and what I have to do. -Yuu speaks.

-The room you're in used to be a sort of panic room. -Explains the doll -It's... not what it used to be, but it can protect you. Try putting the batteries in the different glowing spots.

Following the porcelain doll's orders, he begins to assemble the batteries in the slots located at four different points in the room.

-Good! Okay… Now, in between the hallways, there's those two side rooms, on the left and the right. -She indicates. - There'll be green power receivers in those little rooms. They can block off the hallways before Catnap and Dogday get to you.

Yuu looks to the sides, he notices that one of them was blocked by a metal grate which he must open with the help of the GrabPack while the other one he must propel himself with the purple hand, it will be difficult, but not impossible.

-You´re probably already under the effects of the smoke. -Poppy adds. -So it´ll be hard to tell what´s real and what´s fake, so try using the flares.

-Understood. -The human replies. -I think I can figure out a way to neutralize Dogday and Catnap, if I can resist.

-If you kill them, it will be much better. -The redhead thinks.

That idea only makes Yuu's heart sink, Aiden and Theo may have become the monstrosities they are now, but the teenagers are still there and he is determined to bring them back.

-No, I'll find another way.

It only earns a sigh from the doll.

-Whatever. -She decides to change the subject. -Do you see that computer terminal? Progressively use the batteries to fill the surrounding slots… and please… Don't die.

With that, Poppy ends the call, just in time to hear Catnap's footsteps and Dogday's breathing slowly approach, lurking in the mist.

Yuu peeks down the hallways slowly, first checking to the right and.... Yes, there is Catnap, now he runs to the left only to see the silhouette of Dogday, they were surrounding him, he quickly assembles the orange hand and immediately shoots into the corridors, discovering that the figure of the solar dog had vanished, he was the hallucination, using the green hand again he opens the door to reveal the receiver thus transferring the energy to the panel, as a result, hot smoke is expelled from the tubes driving away the feline immediately.

Seconds later, an alarm starts to sound from the machine, now it demanded him to add another battery to continue with the process. He looks around in search of a leftover, but to his bad luck he can't find one, so, with no other option, he takes a battery out of the slots to use it.

Now he only has to repeat the process two more times.

He doesn't know how long he has been fighting these hallucinations.

His breathing has now become agitated from running around the room, the atmosphere has become hot from the smoke coming out from the metal pipes, and the worst thing is that these beasts don't seem to give up easily.

Fortunately there was not much left for the machine to be completed, one more battery and he will be able to take care of them.

A loud alarm begins to sound from the ceiling at the same time that bright lights pointed to the place, Yuu looks up only to see how the feline was peeking out of a door, acting fast, he uses his GrabPack to grab the handle and close it.

During this act, he observes the silhouette of Dogday approaching quickly through one of the halls, already with the gate closed, he runs while changing the green hand for the purple one, he propels himself over the indicated plate landing on a pile of boxes, he reinstalls the green hand to quickly shoot the panel and collect energy, finally, he places it on the receiver thus managing to successfully scare the dog away.

The machinery sounds, demanding that another battery be installed, without wasting time Yuu gets off the boxes and runs to the slot where the object was located, then, he goes to the panel and finally... installs it.

Immediately he observes how the machine begins to spark while the hum of electricity increases, this worries the human who does not know what to do with the overload, taking a few deep breaths, he gets up the courage to point the GrabPack towards the panel.

Closing his eyes, he fires.

The green hand can't handle the excess electricity, so it produces a short circuit that pushes Yuu's body backwards, the human lets out a scream as it hits the ground, he hears the roof hatch open with a creak followed by Catnap's silhouette descending, thanks to the hit the effects of the smoke are gone, so now he can see the beast duo in their real form.

Yuu gasps as he watches the moon cat approach, his eyes had that thrill of murdering the human with his own claws, but Yuu won't let him have the easy task, so he quickly stands up and raises the electrified hand, such an object causes a reaction on the cat who upon seeing the tool his eyes of joy are replaced to ones of horror, his fast trot stops abruptly as his muscles tense up.

Dogday notices this behavior of his partner, however he doesn't have time to speak when Catnap begins to back away while kicking the ground hard, from his throat escaped growls, snorts and even small whimpers, his body wanted to turn to move away but he feared that the human would attack him the second he turned his back, so he could only move his body from side to side.

Such action causes Dogday to lose his balance and fall face first to the ground, he doesn't avoid letting out a whimper when he hits the concrete floor, he quickly stands up and poses in front of the feline extending his arms, clearly wanting to put distance between his boyfriend and the now armed adult.

-Listen. -Yuu begins in a soft voice. -I need you two to calm down.

In response, a brief silence forms in the room, the only thing audible was the labored breathing of the three members along with the hum of machinery. Yuu takes this as a signal to continue.

-Aiden. -The adult begins, lowering the electrified weapon. -You can no longer cling to the past.

The solar canine just frowns.

-I understand that there were many things that hurt you but... You mustn't let that haunt you for the rest of your life. -He continues, his eyes searching for the spark of what used to be his friend, however, he sees nothing.

Instead, he only glimpses hatred and resentment in those white orbs; The sun dog lets out a growl before speaking.

-And how do you think I do that?! -He says with venom. -All my life I've been pushed away, no one would approach me just because of my skin, and the few that did were adopted within days, it was as if fate wanted me to die alone.

Yuu lets out a sigh.

-I know... But you know that not everyone is going to abandon you, just look around. -The human extends his free hand towards the lunar feline. -You have Theodore, I'm here, isn't that enough?

Dogday observes Catnap who was still tense behind him, and, for the first time in years, his expression softens as he lets out a trembling sigh, Yuu slowly approaches the wearer of the sun charm, he was about to make contact with the shoulder of the orange fur, but suddenly, Dogday lets out a low growl to immediately push the adult who hits the ground with force letting out a scream.

-That's not going to change anything, Yuu! -Dogday says with total bitterness and resentment. -Now I have to bear the consequences of your actions!

The human instinctively starts to back away when he sees the solar dog approaching with heavy stomps.

-Aiden! -He exclaims in an attempt to talk some sense into him.

But Dogday wasn't willing to listen to him, that name only caused his anger to rise as another growl formed deep in his throat.

-SHUT UP! -His shout echoes in the place with force. -Things aren't that easy! I can't forget what you did to me... What they did to us!

The canine prepares to attack, he gets on all fours while his pupils disappear leaving his eyes empty, even Yuu can see how his smile gets slightly bigger.

-But now they have paid for their mistake... The only one left to eliminate IS YOU! -he growls fiercely.

The solar dog lunges towards the adult with a scream of rage, acting fast, Yuu grabs the trigger of the GrabPack immediately firing the green hand.

Everything unfolds in slow motion, Dogday reacts by moving nimbly to dodge the electric projectile, but Catnap being paralyzed by fear and anguish, stands still, causing him to be unable to move out of the way in time, the hand clings to the feline's shoulder sending electricity throughout his body, thus suffering a convulsion before collapsing to the ground with a thud.

-CATNAP! -The dog exclaims in fear as he runs to the dog's aid.

Dogday struggles desperately to free the strong grip on the tool, but it had stuck holding itself deeply embedded in the feline's shoulder, leaving him with no choice but to pull hard on its fingers to loosen the metal hand. Catnap, for his part, observes the now disarmed, helpless and shocked adult, and since his partner was busy with GrabPack's hand, decides to do something about it.

He extends one of his trembling paws towards the human as he releases the red smoke from his mouth, the scent of the poppy flower filled the air, causing Dogday to turn his head quickly as soon as his nose catches the distinctive aroma, that look of fear transforms to horror as he lets out an anguished gasp, realizing the danger involved if gas and electricity were to meet.

-CATNAP, WAIT! -Warns the dog.

But it was too late.

It only took a small spark to fly into the smoke, quickly turning it into fire which completely covered the feline's body, Catnap lets out a desperate scream from the deepest part of his throat as he feels the flames coming down into his lungs, now burning him from the bowels.

Dogday recoils in horror, his heart clenches in his chest as he watches his partner fight for his life, Catnap's eyes reflect the pain and panic as his body writhes on the ground. With erratic movements, the bearer of the moon charm lunges forward trying to escape the flames, each step was torture but his survival instinct propelled him forward, his run leads him to hit a wall.

The crunching of metal brings Dogday out of his shock, unable to do more than follow his partner in the midst of the chaos, he shouts desperately:

-CATNAP, GET DOWN, GET DOWN! -He indicates.

Fortunately, despite all the panic that filled the feline's mind, he manages to grasp the order in his partner's voice obeying it without hesitation, he drops to the ground and immediately begins to rub himself frantically to suffocate the fire that enveloped him.

-Catnap! -Exclaims the canine running towards his beloved with his heart still beating in horror.

Without wasting a second, the orange furred one kneels down next to the cat and then begins to check it with trembling hands, great is his relief to discover that, although his fur had been consumed by the fire and lost the ability to exhale the poppy gas, his skin did not show serious wounds.

With a sigh of relief, Dogday takes Catnap's face in his hands and deposits several kisses on his cheeks, forehead, the tip of his nose and finally his lips.

Yuu for his part could only watch silently with a mixture of happiness and guilt.

However, the moment that had been tinged with brief intimacy is immediately broken by the sound of a metallic rustling from the ceiling.

The trio focus their gaze towards the cause of this sound, and there, majestically emerging from the shadows, appears that metal deity, The Prototype, his pin fingers moved gracefully as he descended from the hatch, stopping just above the couple, the arrival of that sacred figure caused the beasts' eyes to light up with excitement as their smiles widened.

Catnap quickly stabilizes on his knees preparing to receive this divinity, meanwhile Dogday extended his arms as an act of devotion towards the celestial being that now contemplated them from above.

-Oh, my lord! -Exclaims the canine with joy. -You have arrived at an opportune moment.

With firm steps, the orange-furred one approaches Yuu and takes him under his arms, lifting him into the presence of his god. This action catches the adult unawares, who only lets out a gasp.

-See, we have a beautiful gift for you as a token of our joy and faithfulness to you.

However, the divine being does not react to the human, instead, he simply extends his hand towards Catnap. Such a gesture confuses the couple who frown.

-What? -He mumbles in bewilderment, releases his grip on the adult and then approaches the one with the moon charm. -My lord... I don't understand.

A brief silence forms between The Prototype and his followers, they seemed to be having a silent conversation, finally the fingers of the metal being move, and with a quick movement...

The grotesque sound of flesh being pierced echoes through the place.

Dogday's eyes widen as his white pupils disappear from his eye sockets, leaving only that black void in his eyes, his body tenses and his permanent smile falters as he witnesses the floor become stained with blood and Catnap's body go limp all at once.

His god had just murdered his mate by driving his sharp hand through his head.

Dogday stands there with his eyes lost and his mind unable to assimilate what happened, the last thing the divine being's hand does is to tighten its grip to then slowly carry the corpse through the roof hatch.

But not before, as if it were a cruel joke, The Prototype left him that lunar charm as a souvenir.

The object descends rapidly until it hits the concrete floor with a metallic clink, bringing the solar dog out of his shock when that symbol lands a few meters from his feet, a brief silence is formed in the area.

After what seems like an eternity, Dogday begins to take shaky steps towards the object, he feels his chest tighten as his breathing became heavier and heavier, finally, a pang attacked his heart as if someone was stabbing him. Once he was close enough to the saying, his legs gave way under the overwhelming weight of the loss forcing him to fall to his knees against the concrete floor.

-No...  -His voice is barely a whisper.

He holds the pendant in trembling hands.

-No... -Murmurs that mantra, refusing to accept reality. -No, No, No, No, NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, NO!

Dogday's chest constricts with a sharp pain, each inhalation making his body tremble, he wanted to calm the pain by resting the charm of his beloved on his chest, but instead of the longed relief, he only finds a horrible emptiness and the coldness of the metal, a constant reminder of what he has lost.

He lifts his head to the sky, and in the depths of his heart....

-AAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!

That sound of pain emerges from the depths of his being, this piercing cry filled the room and traveled to Playcare in an echo, which the mini Smiling Critters were able to hear, stopping dead in their tracks and turning their heads towards the source of the sound.

Dogday folds in on himself as he can no longer bear the weight of his recent loss, his tears cascading down creating a small puddle on the cold concrete. In the midst of his torment, Dogday clings to the moon charm with desperate strength.

Yuu's heart clenches as he watches the solar dog suffer, not to mention that guilt begins to invade his body, slowly, the human begins to approach, once he is in front of his friend, he extends a hand.

-Leave me... -Murmurs the dog with his broken voice.

This catches Yuu off guard.

-What? -He whispers in bewilderment.

-Leave, please. -He repeats.

The older man is speechless, he tries to obey, but his legs don't respond and his heart screams at him to ignore the canine's order and stay to comfort him, after several seconds in silence, Dogday raises his tear-stained face.

-JUST GO!!! -He shouts. -RUN BEFORE I CHANGE MY MIND!!!!

The pain of loss hits the canine's chest again, so he collapses back to the floor sobbing louder now, Yuu decides to obey, he leaves the room letting his footsteps fade into an echo.

-I'm sorry. -This is the last thing the human says before leaving the place.

After what seems like a long time, the dog manages to calm his cries to then glimpse the pendant he holds in his hands, little by little his brow furrows as a flash of anger is born in his eyes, he directs his gaze towards the path where the adult left, letting a flame of rage be born in his chest.

Letting out a barely audible growl, Dogday rips a thread from one of his limbs causing a bit of blood to seep out, however he doesn't take any notice as he uses that strand to fasten his mate's necklace around his own neck, already with the charm on, he stands to his full height having only one goal in his mind.

That human must die.

Chapter Text

Yuu goes down the elevator in complete silence, the silence was only interrupted every few seconds by the creaking of the machinery and the whirring of the engine. His mind still replayed the scene of Dogday crying for the loss while his ears echoed that heartbreaking scream.

He can feel the guilt begin to take over his mind and body, tears begin to slide down his cheeks as his lips whispered over and over again a sincere "I'm sorry".

As the elevator continued its descent, Yuu felt more and more trapped in a whirlpool of mixed emotions; he finally reached the lower floor, the elevator doors open with a metallic creak forcing the adult out of his thought bubble.

With a shaky sigh, Yuu gets off the elevator to slowly approach the panel that was on the other side of the room, he observes the blue battery lying on the floor not far away to immediately take it between his hands and place it in the slot. Once this is done, he goes to the main machine, and in front of it, he presses the red button, glimpsing how the screen lights up revealing the logo of the company to then begin the process of changing the direction of gas, taking all the smoke to the left container which immediately begins to filter and purify the air.

Immediately, the lights come on, indicating that power had finally been restored.

Hearing a noise to his left beyond the door, the adult steps into the next room to see the hatch, which was closed, begin to rise revealing a small elevator.

-Good, you're here... - A little voice echoes. -And you've done it again, the impossible, just like I knew you would.

Yuu frowns slightly as he catches a glimpse of Poppy coming out of one of the vents standing on a metal platform, he expected the little doll to know about the feline's death and be satisfied.

-Catnap´s gone, the red smoke is diverted.... Everything is falling into place, thanks to you.

-You're welcome. -Yuu replies with a slight sarcastic tone while crossing his arms, after all, her relaxed way of talking makes him pissed off. -But if you want me to keep going with this then… you must tell me the truth.

A brief silence formed in the area.

-I came back for the employees. -The grown-up continues. -I want to know what happened to them and why they decided to send one of their orphans a package.

Poppy lets out a shaky sigh.

-Well, I think you've waited long enough. -With a slow motion she reveals a bright red VHS. -This… This is your answer, we called it... "The Hour of Joy".

The redhead inserts the tape into the video player, immediately, a television that was under the platform turns on showing for a few seconds a little static, it does not take long for a text to appear on the screen.

The hour of joy

The video clip begins with the security camera shot of the main lobby, several employees were walking around the room going about their routine while others were simply talking to each other, in the center, Huggy Wuggy was standing on his platform, it was just like any other work day...

But, in less than a second, the calmness vanished starting the chaos, the blue beast ambushes a man who was nearby to immediately bite his head off, the now decapitated body falls to the ground alerting the rest of the humans who were already running to survive, Huggy on the other hand observes this as a simple game, so it does not take long to go hunting down the employees one by one.

Static

Next, Mommy Long Legs is chasing a group of people in the Game Station, once close enough, she wraps one of her long arms around the small crowd while with the other she uses it to reach one of the ceiling beams and rise into the air taking the employees with her, it doesn't take long to see how Mommy throws the group from a lethal height, killing them instantly.

Static

Another employee, who apparently belonged to the water treatment area, is seen being knocked down the stairs and seconds later, his body is wrapped and possibly devoured by a multitude of mini Critters and Mini Huggies.

Static

Then, the scene cuts to a school hallway where a group of Miss Delight chase a man, both paths were blocked leaving the adult with no choice but to hide in a classroom, unfortunately, he fails to close the door in time causing the teachers access to the classroom.

Static

Kissy Missy is the next to appear, she was in one of the train cars, she doesn't take long to attack an employee, knocking him out immediately and then chasing another one who had escaped.

Static

Boxy Boo is then portrayed in a corridor of an unknown area, breaking an employee in half by biting him, then he sets his sights on another target which he does not hesitate to attack.

Static

Finally, the Playcare security camera is shown, there Dogday walked next to several bodies that were scattered, the solar dog stops right next to a man, with one of his feet moves the human observing that this one shuddered a little, before this the canine raises one of his hands calling the attention of his partner to seconds later point to the employee. Catnap soon arrives, the feline grabs the man by the collar of his shirt and immediately throws the body onto the stairs of the Counselors' Office, resulting in the adult's death as he crashes into the concrete staircase.

Static

The final part of the tape shows several locations in the factory, including Make-A-Friend, Game Station, Playcare and the walkway leading to Poppy's room, each of which was littered with dead bodies littering the floor along with blood, all while a music box played in the background.

Once the video ends, the television turns off reflecting on the screen Yuu's face whose tears were sliding down his cheeks in silence, slowly the human wipes the residue.

-I remember hearing every moment of it... -Poppy speaks in a whisper. -It went on so long, so agonizingly long. They tried to hide, to run, anything to stay alive...

Yuu can only watch her sadly.

-I remember their cries… -She continues in a trembling voice.  - "What's going on?", "Why is this happening?", "What are those things?".... Senseless slaughter, that's all it really was. They killed everyone... The guilty, the innocent, didn't matter.

-All that death didn't fix anything. -The older one mutters.

-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. -She finishes with fury in her voice.

The man is speechless, this is all undoubtedly the Prototype's fault, he influenced the toys to murder on a false promise of freedom and now, they must fight to survive.

-The Prototype has to die... He has to pay for everything! -Yuu declares, earning a nod from the doll.

Then, a gate opens allowing Kissy to arrive to the room, the pink plushie approaches the porcelain doll to then hold her in her hands, then leads Poppy towards the elevator while Yuu follows them silently, finally, Kissy bends down to place the redhead very carefully on the metallic platform.

However, none of the three were aware of anything important.

Dogday watched their every movement.

The canine was hiding in the door frame, watching with hatred the human who was getting on the elevator in a calm manner, that only fueled more the fury of the sun who tightened his grip on his improvised weapon which he created with a piece of rusty pipe, tape and pieces of glass stuck on one of the ends, while his breathing accelerated, releasing growls deep in his throat.

-´soon as we get downstairs, we'll send the lift back up. Just hold thight, okay? -Poppy says.

Kissy responds with a nod and then turn to a control panel.

-After you! -says the doll playfully in an attempt to lighten the mood at least a little bit.

Yuu lets out a small chuckle, he follows the order by getting on the small elevator, once this is done, the duo watches Kissy as they give her a slight nod, a clear sign that they are both ready, with this, the pink plushie lowers the lever thus starting the descent.

The human lets out a sigh as he releases his grip on his GrabPack and then leans on the railing of the elevator.

-Alright, here's the plan. -Poppy begins. -Once we hit the ground, we need to be cautious, there's something…

-EEEEEKKK! -A high-pitched scream suddenly sounds.

This interrupts the little doll who, together with the human, raises her gaze towards the source of the sound.

-What? -Poppy mutters in confusion.

That shriek echoes around the place for a while longer, but before the duo can wonder what's going on up there, other noises join in.

It sounded like Kissy was struggling with someone, as several footsteps are heard, some grunting and what scared them the most, a sharp object being stabbed into the flesh.

-AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!! -Finally, the enemy's scream echoed loudly in the room and it was much louder. 

-Dogday? -Yuu recognizes that sound.

Poppy and Yuu look at each other with noticeable concern, only for seconds later they both put the pieces together.

Dogday was attacking Kissy

-No No NO NO! -Exclaims the little doll in horror.

Acting fast, the human pressed the buttons on the board in front of him to change the direction of the lift, unfortunately, it was not working properly, so it was very slow, so they could only stand there while they heard the scream of both creatures fighting.

-We're coming, just hold on! -The redhead shouts.

-Dammit, go faster! -Yuu exclaims while hitting the board, but nothing changes.

A cracking sound is heard over their heads stopping their actions, the pair watches as the hatch began to close rapidly, causing the beasts' fight to sound in an echo.

They feel a lump form in their throat as their stomachs sink, helpless to do anything to save the pink stuffed animal, Yuu feels his heart pounding and unable to do anything else... He just screams in horror.

-AIDEN!

Chapter Text

Inside the colorful Playhouse tent it was deathly quiet, the only audible sounds were the high-pitched giggles and creaks of debris being disturbed by the mini Critters as they moved within the walls, along with the monotonous hum of light bulbs dimly illuminating the maze of slides. Some of the small stuffed animals peeked through the cracks, others watched from the plastic pipes and ventilation slits, all focusing their tiny eyes on a silhouette walking in the forbidden area:

Dogday.

The dog of the solar charm moved slowly and carefully, for all along his body he had multiple wounds, one of them on one of his legs making him limp as he walked, his fur previously covered by dust and dirt had been joined by large traces of blood, as his own as well as from his now prize, which he was dragging with effort.

Kissy Missy.

Dogday takes the body of the pink stuffed animal to a specific area, a place he knows perfectly well that no other mini Critter would dare to enter without his permission or if it is just an emergency... The room. Dogday turns the previously golden doorknob to immediately open the door with the creak of its hinges, quickly his nose is flooded by the scent of lavender, of course, he knew that Catnap's scent had been impregnated in the place, after all, the moon cat spent his free time sleeping and that was most of the day.

Unceremoniously, the canine drops the corpse with a thud, then takes a breath and loudly lets out a whistle, it doesn't take long to watch the thousands of tiny creatures come out of their hiding place to quickly pounce on the corpse of the pink plush toy, thus beginning the great feast; The dog walks over to the bed, where he slowly sits cross-legged taking care of his injuries.

The crunching of jaws filled the room, the canine silently glimpses how the small stuffed animals devour the meat with voracity, tearing off pieces of meat that could not even fit in their small cheeks, Dogday also observes how others were fighting each other for the big pieces, this was a small entertainment for him, so Dogday decides not to intervene.

After the passing of minutes, a mini Catnap fills the emptiness of his little stomach being satisfied, he moves away from the group to slowly approach the mattress sitting next to the orange fur, the kitten begins to groom himself cleaning the remains of the blood. Dogday notices the presence of the doll, so he doesn't hesitate to take him into his arms, starting to give him small caresses on his little battered head.

-Feed well, my little ones. -Whispers the canine. -Because once I'm cured of these lesions...

We're going to hunt a human.