Work Text:
Player, atop a ledge: Give up, CEO! I've already passed all your previous defenses!
Truthfinder and Huggy Wuggy: Player!
Player: I've already gotten through your maze, your security guards, and your pit full of spikes. Release Huggy Wuggy and Truthfinder!
James (CEO): Sure, as long as you get through this... Wilson!
Wilson: Okay.
Wilson presses a button and a lethally dangerous obstacle course presents itself. (It's the same one as in the original episode)
Truthfinder: Just leave us, Player; it's a trap. I left behind most of my equipment for a reason.
Player: Are you giving up?
Truthfinder: No. I just anticipated getting captured. You can still continue my efforts and save them.
Player: No, I'm not leaving you behind. You came to the factory to save me, so the least I can do is help you save others. Now let's see... the timing of that blade... NOW!
Player goes through the obstacle course with perfect timing.
James: What? Go back, you have to do it again! A bomb was supposed to go off at the end!
Player: Looks like your trap didn't work. Now release them!
A light rumbling on the platform alerts everyone; a bomb goes off, launching Player onto a conveyor belt.
James: There's the last bomb.
Bunzo: Quick, that conveyor belt leads to the trash compactor!
Bunzo leaps off the ledge to grab an injured and disoriented Player off the conveyor belt. Huggy Wuggy frees himself and Truthfinder to help. They're too late. In a flash, their friend is reduced to flayed wires, shredded cloth, and crushed circuitry.
Truthfinder: NOOOOOO!
Delilah (the Head of Security): Well, won't you look at that. For once, things went according to plan.
James: We... we actually won! We did it Wilson, we got him!
Wilson, unresponsive and horrified, can only stand and stare in realization that he has allowed a horrible thing to happen to a kind person.
James: You don't look too well...
Delilah: It's probably just the shock of seeing someone brutally die.
James: In that case, why don't we just send him over to human resources? That should at least patch him up well enough to keep working.
Player: ? Where am I? Xavier?
Player looks down at his hands.
Player: I'm... human again?? This is great! I've gotta tell the others!
Xavier: Wait, I have something to tell you-
Player has already gotten up and left. He hears and follows the sound of the other toys' voices.
Player: Guys, guys! Look! I'm human again!
No one notices.
Player: Come on, guys. Can't you see me?
Kissy Missy: Our next speaker will be Bron.
Bron: Thank you, Kissy Missy. I've never been good at speeches, only jokes. Even so, here's a joke in our friend's honor. Knock knock.
Bunzo, bereft: Who's there?
Bron: Not Player anymore...
Bunzo: Don't remind us!
Bunzo clings to Bron's leg. He is on the verge of tears. Bron hangs his head in grief.
Huggy Wuggy: Mommy Long Legs... do you have anything to say?
Mommy Long Legs: In fact... I do. Player was one of the few people in this factory who treated me with kindness after becoming a toy. He showed genuine sympathy for being bullied and turned into what I am now. No one else had gone out of their way to help me when I was being held captive by the ruthless Playtime Co. higher-ups. After all I put him through, Player still extended his kindness to not just me, but all of us.
Daddy Long Legs: He helped me reconnect with my lost love, Molly. If not for Player, we wouldn't be the happy family we are today.
Baby Long Legs: If not for him, I don't think I'd have been able to save Mama. He was one of the first toys outside of my parents to actually be helpful. Not only was he kind and compassionate to all of us... but... he was my first friend! It feels like an integral part of me is missing now.
Baby Long Legs breaks down into tears; Mommy Long Legs scoops her son up in her hands and into her lap. Mommy and Daddy brace each other, holding their son in an effort to comfort him as well as themselves. They have all lost a dear friend.
Boxy Boo: I've had similar experiences with Player to you, Molly. He would tell me that no one deserved to go through what I did. He told me:
"It's a shame your father didn't support your love of music boxes. I bet they still sound beautiful." and "You actually died that way? That's horrible! No wonder you couldn't move on."
No one else defended me against the torture I was subject to. If not for him, I might not have been here today.
CatNap: I haven't told anyone here yet, but I actually knew Player back when I was human. His real name is Michael Connors, and he was my childhood friend. It's devastating to have lost someone so close to me.
Flashbacks to Player and CatNap's past show on screen as CatNap continues to speak.
Catnap: He was a very kind individual who didn't seem to care whether other people thought I was weird. You could be yourself around him, free of judgement. He didn't laugh at me when I stumbled; sometimes he stumbled himself. He didn't make fun of me for carrying around a Huggy Wuggy doll. In fact, he had one, too. We also both had CatNap toys at our bedside to help us sleep at night. It was like I found a version of myself, like he was the twin I never knew I had. No one else, I feel, understood me so perfectly.
Catnap sinks to his knees, one paw on the coffin.
Catnap: It feels so lonely without you, Mikey.
Dog Day comforts Catnap, giving his friend a hug.
Dog Day: Everything's going to be okay, Theo. Keep holding out hope. We can still work everything out.
Hoppy Hopscotch: Poor Catnap. I've never seen him so sad.
Kickin' Chicken: Player- or rather Michael- would be devastated to see everyone here so down.
Bobby Bearhug: He's an angel now.
Player: What do mean? I'm right here!
Bubba Bubbaphant: It's okay, Lil' Mogus. We can still be there for you, little buddy. He would want us to keep our hopes up.
Xavier: This is what I tried to tell you: You're dead. They can't see you.
Player: What?! How am I supposed to save everyone now?!
Elliot Ludwig: There is still a way. Let us teach you.
Tony (head of HR): So, what's the problem, man?
Wilson: I went with James' plan thinking Player would get through it like usual. I believed he could make it past anything thrown his way. If not for James and his father's influence, a lot of people would be living happy lives. I don't condone his or Delilah's actions. They're taking things too far in the name of profit. If they valued people at all, they wouldn't have overworked people to the point of insanity, attempted to kill literal children, or perform unethical and illegal experiments on people.
Tony: That sounds like a real problem, alright.
Wilson starts to see a bloody figure behind Tony. This bloody figure behind Tony causes Wilson to violently hallucinate about what happened to various Playtime Co. workers.
Tony: What's wrong, dude? Why are you staring above my head like that?
Wilson: He... h-he's behind you...
The bloody figure lunges at them both and Wilson passes out. Wilson wakes up on a surface that seems like dusty gray dirt. Before him is a young figure with brown hair. Hands in his pockets, he stands with an inert face and closed eyes. This boy seems familiar...
Messages in white text appear in Wilson's mind:
WE ARE SUFFERING
SO WE PRAYED FOR DELIVERANCE
GOD ANSWERED
HE SENT AN ANGEL
YOU MIGHT THINK THIS ANGEL FOUND THE FACTORY BY CHANCE
BUT GOD SENT HIM FROM HEAVEN FOR THIS PURPOSE
HE HAS HEALED US
HE HAS FOUGHT FOR US
THIS IS OUR ANGEL OF SALVATION
Following the white text is pale red text:
WE ARE IN PAIN
HE WAS A KIND MAN
HE WOULD GRIEVE FOR HIS VISION OF LOVE HAVING BEEN CORRUPTED BY GREED
Xavier's voice is then heard:
You're just like me. We both did things we wished we'd never done. Guilt haunts you, but there is still a way for us to fix our mistakes. Find him.
Wilson wakes up in... his own office? More confused than ever, the chief financial officer finds a memo on his desk from James. It's an invitation to a party in the break room.
Wilson: Of course James is celebrating his death.
Wilson decides to go to the party anyways. He could take his old friend aside and confront him.
James: Ah, there you are, Wilson! Come on, have yourself some punch.
Wilson looks at him unresponsively.
Delilah: He looks better than he did before we sent him over to Tony.
James: Come on, cheer up! Our jobs will be so much easier now that Player's gone!
Wilson, sarcastically and with no energy: Yeah... woo-hoo.
James: What's not to celebrate? We're rid of that nuisance and now we can be more productive.
Wilson: Is it worth it?