Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

You knew you should have never come back to this place.

Adrenaline coursed through your veins as you tumbled down the conveyor belt and into a stack of boxes that, for some reason, was blocking the only way forward. You ignored the pain and clumsily stood up; eyes fixated on the steel door that slammed shut behind you as soon as you took the swan dive down the vent to end up where you are now.

But that door was slowly losing its strength as some ungodly monster contorted it from the other side.

You were shaky, your head was pounding, and your palms were sweaty as you gripped the handles of your grabpack with a strength you didn’t even know you were capable of exerting. With each pound on that door, you felt your heart stop beating. Your eyes darted around wildly and your body swung, looking anywhere and everywhere for a chance to escape as you knew there was no way in hell that…thing…was going to give up anytime soon.

There was no time to climb up or move the objects you crashed into, and leaping over the edge would be suicidal. However, perhaps falling to your death would be better than being eaten by what you have now realized to be the…less tame…aspect of Playtime’s security. For what it’s worth, Huggy was doing a hell of a job from keeping intruders at bay.

BANG!

What to do? Where to go?

BANG!

There’s no way out! Nowhere!

BANG!

I don’t want to die here…I don’t want to die here!

Your eyes then made contact on a large crate that was sitting on a conveyor belt just above your head. There were two handprints on it, almost a sign. There were only milliseconds for you to react to your find as the door burst open, banging off the walls and falling into the abyss. Time seemed to slow down for you as Huggy Wuggy’s long form lunged from out of the vents. He maneuvered towards you like a rampaging ape; clambering on all fours, teeth showing through that unnerving smile, yet his eyes showed nothing but pleasure at the thought of devouring you after toying with you for so long. Huggy loved the chase, and he was quite intelligent.

But you’re intelligent too.

Before Huggy took one more step towards you, you fired the palms of your grabpack towards that large crate. The adrenaline coursing through your veins made you stronger than possible as pressed the buttons and pulled back on the handles of the grabpack to bring the hands back to you, which were gripping the crate. The timing could not have been more perfect.

The crate fell just as he made his way at you, hitting the conveyor belt that both you and Huggy were on, breaking it. A large crash echoed throughout this part of the factory as the belt broke, causing you (and Huggy) to fall. You landed with a hard thud, your lungs straining for breath as your adrenaline wore off. Things were quiet, too quiet. You slowly got to your feet, grabbing the handles of the grabpack as you accessed your surroundings.

Huggy Wuggy was nowhere in sight.

“I’m glad that’s over…at least for now.” You said to yourself as you turned to continue down a new path. However, a distraught whimpering caught your attention. Immediately you stopped in your tracks and spun on your heel. After what you just went through, any sound made you nervous. I mean, as far as you can tell, the only things here were you and…Huggy.

Cautiously, you maneuvered over to the edge that was barricaded by a yellow railing. A flimsy yellow hand was just barely gripping onto it. Leaning over slightly, you saw that Huggy Wuggy was holding on for dear life.

You could just step on his hand; let him fall into the abyss, die, and never bother you again. Payment for all the grief he had just caused you, and the fact that he enjoyed the prospect of killing you. It would take less than five seconds to do it, to end him.

So, why couldn’t you bring yourself to do it?

You were peering over the edge now and you could see his face. His eyes and lips didn’t move like a humans’, so it was hard to read his expression. His large red lips were turned down and quivering ever so slightly and his eyes were darting around before they landed on you. You couldn’t quite explain it, but it softened you a bit. For some reason, Huggy’s actions were reminding you of a frightened child, hoping for someone to help.

You tried to look away, but his eyes were still on you.

You tensed and held your ground, really not wanting to believe that this would be a good idea. However, Huggy just sounded so scared, and you gave in.

“Here!”

Kneeling down, you grabbed onto his furry blue arm with one hand and outstretched the other. Huggy flailed his other arm until you were able to grab it. Then you used all your strength to pull, feeling your back nearly give out.

He weighs a ton! I wish the grabpack was automatic…I could use a set of extra hands!

You pulled and pulled with all your might, gritting your teeth. Once halfway, you let go of his arms and used the grabpack, figuring it would be stronger. As soon as he could, Huggy helped pull himself up with his now free arms and was soon even able to get his legs up. Eventually, you were both up on stable ground. Catching your breath, your brain didn’t even register that Huggy was standing right in front of you, and was fully capable of biting your head off. Once his long blue legs came into your sight, your breath hitched in your throat and you looked up to see his full height.

He had to be somewhere around 20 feet tall. Tall enough for you to practically walk under him without ducking.

Huggy was giving you a toothy grin; his sharp white teeth were in stark contrast to his cartoony red lips. You really hope that his smile wasn’t meant to be threating, but you couldn’t stop your heart from pounding.

“Well…I’m just going to-Ack!”

Before you could turn and leave, Huggy had grabbed you and wrapped his arms around you, pulling you into a big hug. In your eyes, however, you thought you were about to die. But Huggy was really just, well, hugging you. It was soft, warm, and pleasant; everything that Playtime Co. advertised his toy to be. You also could feel a gentle vibration coming from within him, something akin to a cat’s purr. You relaxed and smiled in spite of yourself. It was hard not to feel comfortable.

“Heh…You’re welcome, big guy.” You said gently, moving to pat his back like a mother would do to a frightened child. Huggy then set you back down, and gazed at you with his neutral expression that met you when you first walked into this factory.

“Did all you want was a hug?” You said, mildly amused. There was no response.

“I’m assuming you can’t speak.” You then commented, more to yourself then to him. Huggy tilted his head and chirped before bringing you in for another one of his famous hugs. This was so not the same monster as before.

When Huggy put you down, you glanced back up at him. He was still giving you what you would call an affectionate stare. Perhaps pulling him up from certain doom was the best decision you ever made.

You made a choice.

“C’mon, big guy, let’s figure out what’s going on here.” You said before walking off to the path you were initially going to go. His loud steps sounded behind you, and you eventually felt his soft yellow hand land on the top of your head. He affectionally patted your head while making a purring sound; his way of showing once again how grateful he was.

Huggy wishes he could speak and tell you about everything that had happened here. Give you the answers you are risking your life to find. About how you saved him not just from falling, but also from, well…he’d rather not say.

All that was left to do now was go towards the flower; you have gained a powerful friend for the road ahead.

And his name is Huggy, Huggy Wuggy, when he hugs you, he’ll never stop. Your friend Huggy, Huggy Wuggy…

Chapter Text

He stood above you like a predator cornering its prey; a cat that has cornered the mouse if you will. CatNap loomed over you in a very intimidating manner, and you could see in those glowing pale eyes that this was the end of the line for you. You should’ve listened to his warning. You should’ve left PlayCare well enough alone. This encounter you were facing right here was scarier than any of the others you’ve faced in the past. His claws, his eyes, that smile…it made your heart pound with great fear.

But despite all that…you still had an unmistakable desire to live.

Looking past CatNap’s shoulder, you saw the flickering blue-green light of one of those power outlets. If you were fast enough with the grabpack…

CatNap’s massive paws and titanium claws were pining you, but you had just enough wiggle room to move and fire your green hand. Before CatNap had any time to react, you were able to contain that electricity within your green palm and fire it at your assaultant.

The screams that emitted from CatNap would haunt you always. It was just like a little boy.

Sparks flew from his purple body as he convulsed around in obvious pain. He thrashed around before collapsing, CatNap reached a paw out towards you, eyes full of hate, before he suddenly combusted. Fire lit his body into a mountain of agony. CatNap ran out around the panic room before he finally collapsed and rolled on the ground, putting the fire out. He lay there for a while, the only signs he was still alive were the shuddering rise and fall of his side.

You were still hesitant to get up.

But before you could make any decision, the door on the ceiling opened, shining a light on CatNap’s burned body. The creepy skeletal hand that you’ve come to recognize as The Prototype extended down from above. CatNap looked up, raising his body with a shaky arm, eyes full of hope. His god had come to save him.

But he knew he was beyond saving.

The Prototype extended his hand towards his loyal slave. CatNap got to his knees and raised his arms up, lowering his head.

Perhaps now was his time to pay his god back. He will become a part of The Prototype. CatNap wasn’t afraid. He welcomed the sweet release of death after the Hell he has lived through for over a decade.

You, on the other hand, weren’t so eager to let CatNap go.

Despite all the evil he has done, all the lives he had taken. Your thoughts drifted back to DogDay, who suffered the most tragic of deaths after years of torture. Your jaw clenched as you fought back tears at the loss. However, even if CatNap deserved to die, it was not going to be at the hands of this monster. You quickly got to your feet, the sound of your movement causing The Prototype’s hand to retreat back to wherever it came from. Aiming for the handle, you slammed the door shut and the light dimmed, leaving just you and CatNap alone.

Said smiling critter was still kneeling, more lost and confused than he ever has been. But that quickly turned to rage.

Rage that he was too injured and tired to express. Instead, he just flopped onto the ground and sighed in misery, a bit of red smoke leaving his gaping mouth.

You wondered if it hurt?

Seizing this moment, you gingerly walked over to CatNap. Your own body hurt too after all. He looked defeated, flopped over and charred like this. But his eyes were still alert, watching as you walked over to him.

“CatNap.” You acknowledged the toy who’s tortured not just you, but many others. Your steps echoed through the room.

“You hunted me down…” You said while taking a step.

“You killed your friends…” You gripped your grabpack.

“You murdered DogDay.” You then growled at him, anger taking over all your other emotions as you thought of the other smiling critter. CatNap’s eyes continued to follow you as you moved to stand in front of him. Yet, he still made no move towards you, making you feel a little tense despite the rage you felt.

But then he did something you weren’t expecting.

He cried.

CatNap curled up in a fetal position, like a distraught child, and you could hear the distorted wails that emitted from him. They were as silent as he could make them, either by design or on purpose. Due to his broken voice box, you couldn’t really tell. You also could tell he was trying to say something, but the heavy breathing and shuddering made it hard to say. However, to you, it sounded something along the lines of “I’m sorry…so sorry…”

But again, you couldn’t really tell.

“You are now the last of the Smiling Critters…” You said solemnly yet strongly.

CatNap flipped over till he was facing the ground, still trying to keep himself together in some form.

“I am…alone…again.” He rasped, voice all static-like.

A few tears fell to the cold ground, and you looked to see all the moisture that has accumulated under his eye sockets. But one thing you noticed above all was that his glowing white eyes had dimmed into darkness. It was like how DogDay first was until the critters possessed him. Perhaps CatNap was under some sort of influence as well, and you got rid of it?

You shook your head at that. Wondering about all that has happened could wait. Right now, you needed to deal with CatNap. And you had an idea, but you didn’t know if it was a good one or if Poppy would even agree with it. That said, if CatNap will listen, you are going to offer.

“Look…” Your voice got his attention, and he perked his ears while his head still remained down.

“I know you don’t deserve forgiveness and I know we were enemies, but trust me…join us.” You told him and that’s when CatNap looked up.

You were sure he was absolutely stunned. Yet, a few tears were still welling up under his eyes.

“You won’t ever feel lonely again.” You said with a slight smile, understanding that CatNap, be it he did horrible things, was still feeling the pain in some ways.

Taking a risk, you walked up and placed a hand on his head. His fuzzy purple fur was strangely warm to the touch until you remembered the burns he suffered at your hand not too long ago. You winced at that, feeling slight shame when you remembered that CatNap wasn’t just a monster.

He used to be a child. You saw the tape.

“Don’t cry. I won’t leave you.” You promised him.

He looked up at you, those dark sockets held some strange sense of life, and you could sense the hope radiating off him. You knew he’d be uneasy around Poppy and Kissy—that was a given—but you hoped that he would join your group to stop The Prototype. It might be hard to convince him of his god’s cruel ways, but those tears were true guilt and remorse. Perhaps your words already struck a religious revolt inside him.

CatNap then got to his feet, seemingly ready to follow you wherever you will lead. His hesitance matched yours as you guys were ready to kill each other mere moments ago. But you still smiled as you knew, despite DogDay’s warnings of CatNap, he could be saved. You also hoped that somewhere DogDay was relieved and proud that you managed to save his once best friend from The Prototype. CatNap on the team would be a big advantage.

As you moved to walk towards the elevator, you heard the distinct sound of CatNap’s claws hitting the metal floor as he followed you. A sound that once filled you with dread now filled you with hope. At least for the time being. You sincerely prayed that CatNap wouldn’t betray the others.

You placed a hand on his side as you and CatNap squished into the tiny elevator. He flinched lightly at your touch, but soon melted at the human contact that he’s suffered without for years. A small smile came to your lips.

“C’mon Theo…let’s go home.”