Chapter Text
It was a beautiful sunny July morning. Like most teenagers, Harold McGrady didn't want to spend it alone, so he invited his best friends Tyler Oldring and Ezekiel "Zeke" Potenza, as well as his girlfriend Leshawna Edwards and Tyler's girlfriend Lindsay Mills. The latter, unsurprisingly, decided to invite one of her friends. What really surprised everyone else was that it wasn't her best friend Beth Gadon, but Katie Aponte, whom the Dumb Princess had recently befriended. When Zeke curiously asked why Sadie hadn't come with her, the Sweet Girl explained that her best friend had been hospitalized with a broken leg, and during her last visit, she had suggested hanging out with someone else.
"So, what are we going to do?" Tyler asked after the six had sorted out all their burning questions.
"I was thinking about going somewhere with you," McGrady replied, adjusting his glasses. "I haven't decided where exactly yet, but I'd love to hear your suggestions."
Leshawna opened her mouth to voice her ideas, but the doorbell rang before she could.
"I'll get it," Harold stood up from the table and headed for the front door.
A small box with the Playtime Co. logo on it was waiting for him. The company where the Dweeb's late uncle Ben McGrady used to work. The redhead teen picked it up and examined it from all sides before carrying it inside.
"Did you order something?" Edwards asked.
"No," McGrady shook his head. "It's for my uncle Ben. The problem is, he passed away a year and a half ago."
"Maybe it took too long to get here?" Lindsay innocently suggested, "Or maybe the senders didn't know about it?"
"That's what we're going to find out," Harold placed the package on the table, took a utility knife from the nightstand and carefully cut the tape. Inside was a dirty, corn-yellow VHS tape with a Vintage Poppy Commercial sticker, under which was a piece of paper. Frowning, McGrady carefully removed the contents of the package and placed it next to the box.
"You have a VCR, right?" Ezekiel asked, noticing the tape.
"Yeah," the Dweeb nodded, "I'm not sure it works, though," he said, leaving the room and heading for the attic.
"Playtime Co.?" Zeke noticed the logo, "What kind of company is that?"
"This company used to make toys," Katie quickly explained, "I even have a few at home, including Mommy Long Legs," with that, she pulled out her phone and showed pictures of the toys, "Unfortunately, around 1995, they closed down and all the workers disappeared without a trace."
"Except for Hector's uncle," Lindsay added. Feeling the puzzled looks on her, she continued, "I just think he used to work at this factory, right? Because I don't think they would send a package to a stranger."
"That's true," Leshawna shrugged, "But why now?"
"Wait, there was some paper in there, right?" Oldring remembered, then walked over to the table and pulled out a sheet of paper from under the cassette.
"I have good news," Harold announced as he came back into the room, "The VCR is fully functional," he set it on the nightstand and plugged it in, turned it on and inserted the tape, then played it.
"You are about to see the most incredible doll ever invented," a man, who Harold assumed was the factory's founder, Elliot Ludwig, began as he walked into view of the camera, "Her name is Poppy, and she is the first truly intelligent doll in the world. A little girl can talk to her, Poppy gives her answers. She is the first doll actually able to have a conversation with a child. Hard to believe? Just watch."
The advertisement for the doll itself began with a demonstration of the toy's appearance.
"Poppy's as lovable as a real girl, and she talks like one, too!" a woman explained off-camera.
"Hello! My name is Poppy! I love you. Can you help me polish my shoes?" the doll looked like a little girl with pale skin, azure eyes and curly red hair, gathered in two low ponytails and decorated with silky bows, dressed in a cornflower-colored dress with a fluffy skirt, decorated with lace and iridescent ribbons, as well as black shiny shoes.
"Why, of course, Poppy! Just like a real girl, Poppy always wants to look her best!" while the narrator described the toy, the process of cleaning her shoes was demonstrated.
"Perfect! Thank you!" the doll thanked.
"Her hair is sturdy and won't come out when you brush it, and smells just like a poppy flower!" this time it was demonstrated how the toy's hair was combed, "Is there anything else you'd like to say, Poppy?"
"I'm a real girl, just like you," the last line seemed a little creepy.
"What's the time?"
"Playtime!"
"And, if you've ever wanted to see how all of the nation's favorite toys were created, Playtime Co. is now offering factory tours at just $2.99 a person," the founder continued after the commercial ended, while a conveyor belt with doll heads moving along it was shown in the background. "An entire hour in the most magical toy factory on Earth. What are you waiting for? Come visit the factory! We can't-" then something strange happened. The screen went black, showing catwalks over a dark abyss below. A giant red flower was painted on the wall, and several blurry objects were attached to the ceiling, hanging on strings. The screen glitched again, and then went black, signaling the end of the recording.
"You know, I think this Polly is incredibly creepy," Lindsay admitted, "She looks kinda..." The Dumb Princess hesitated, trying to find the right word, "Unnatural."
"First of all, her name is Poppy," McGrady corrected her, "And secondly, there's something called the 'uncanny valley' effect. It's the phenomenon that a robot or other object that looks or acts like a human, but not exactly like a real one, evokes aversion and disgust in people who observe it."
"Oooh!" Lindsay muttered, adjusting her hair.
"Tyler, you said there was some paper in there, right?" Katie, who had been silent until then, recalled.
"Huh? Yeah, right!" the Jock placed the paper on the table, showing it to everyone else.
The note was written in red marker, and at the bottom was a picture of a poppy flower.
'EVERYONE THINKS THE STAFF DISSAPEARED 15 YEARS AGO
WER'E STILL HERE.
FIND THE FLOWER'
There was a strange stain in the lower left corner that the six took for ink or paint... though Harold couldn't shake the thought that it was blood.
"You thinking of going over there and finding out what happened?" Potenza asked cautiously, looking at his thoughtful friend.
"Well, yeah..." McGrady admitted, "I know it's not my best idea, and that inform the police about it would be the right thing to do, but..."
"But?"
"I doubt they'll do anything about it," McGrady sighed, "My uncle, who worked as a toymaker, once mentioned Playtime Co.'s habit of sweeping complaints and lawsuits under the rug. And there's a pretty good chance it'll end the same way this time."
"That's stupid and risky," Leshawna stood up.
"Just like everything we went through in Total Drama," the redhead retorted.
"Then I'm coming with you," Ezekiel announced, causing everyone to turn their looks to him in surprise, "What? He's my best friend, and friends always help each other out, right, eh?"
"I'm coming too," Leshawna straightened up, "No offense, sweetie, but you might get carried away and start getting on everyone's nerves. And since Zeke isn't as good at reading social cues as he'd like, you're going to need someone to calm you down. Plus, I'm not abandoning you."
"I'm coming with you," Tyler began massaging his shoulders, "I'm not one to leave my friends in potential danger."
"If Tyler's coming, so am I," Lindsay announced.
"Well, I guess I'm coming too," Katie decided, a little hesitantly.
Harold looked around at his friends, uncertainly. On the one hand, he didn't want to involve them in this, not least because of the possibility that they might get hurt. On the other hand, it never hurt to have some support. Finally, a decision was made.
"Okay. But first, we need to figure out where exactly we're going."
"I'm already figuring it out," the Sweet Girl said, typing the name of the factory into Google, "Found it. Thebes, Illinois."
"Wait, Illinois?" Lindsay asked, confused, "Isn't Thebes in Greece?"
"First of all, Thebes is in Egypt," the redhead began to explain, "Second, it used to be called Waset, and now it's called Luxor, and the name was given to it by the ancient Greeks. Third, several cities can have the same name, Gosh!"
"Oooh!"
"So we'll have to get there by plane or train?" Tyler suggested.
"I guess so," McGrady was a little deflated, but he was not in a hurry to back down, "Well, I guess we'll figure something out."
had managed to figure something out. Having bought train tickets for six, he told his parents that he was going to visit his friends, and asked the rest of the teenagers to follow his example. The group took money with them, enough food in case they had to spend a lot of time there, flashlights, batteries, batteries for phones, books to read on the road, and first aid kits.
"So, here we are," sighed the Dweeb, when he and his friends arrived in Thebes and approached the factory. The closer they got to the factory, the more their enthusiasm evaporated, but it was too late to back out.
"Who's going in first?" Ezekiel asked cautiously, looking at the building with some apprehension.
"I'll do it," McGrady decided, walking up to the front door and placing his hand on the handle. Taking a deep breath and bracing himself for whatever might come his way, he pulled the door open and paused. After checking inside to make sure the coast was clear, he sauntered inside, motioning for his friends to follow.
As expected, the lobby was incredibly rundown. The tiles on the floor were dirty, the paint was peeling, some of the light fixtures were broken, making the lighting less than a flunky would have liked, and the amount of dust on the front desk would have given any neat freak a heart attack. On the wall was a mural of Playtime's mascot, Huggy Wuggy, with his arms drawn in such a way that they seemed to hug the room. Ahead were two turnstiles, blocking the passage forward, deeper into the factory. There were two rooms on either side, the security room on the left and the gift shop on the right. As they approached the turnstiles, they noticed that the doorway leading inside was blocked by an iron shutter, with what looked like a blue palm scanner above it.
"Where to now?" Lindsay asked, taking out a pocket mirror and opening it, but to her disappointment, realizing that it was too dark for her to know whether she needed to apply extra makeup or not.
"I suggest the gift shop," Ezekiel said, "At least we won't have to dial a color combination to be able to get in like the security room," they all exchanged glances and decided to do just that.
The room was a real mess: shelves were overturned, boxes were open and torn, large glass containers were broken, shards of glass were lying on the floor, and there were some strange dried stains on the walls, ceiling, and counter, the nature of which the six did not want to figure out at all. Hearing some strange sound above their heads, they all looked up and saw a toy train traveling along the ring railway. Having studied it more closely, Lindsay turned her gaze back to the door behind which the security room was located, or rather, to the panel next to it.
"I think I know the code!" exclaimed the Dumb Princess, after which she jumped out of the store and ran to the panel.
"Lindsay, I don't think that-" Leshawna was interrupted by the sound confirming the correctness of the entered code and the opening door, "Nevermind."
In stark contrast to the previous room, the security room looked surprisingly decent, if you didn't count a couple of dried red-brown stains on the floor. Computers and monitors were set up on the tables, presumably connected to the surveillance system. Zeke sat down in one of the swivel chairs and began to spin around in it, causing Harold to roll his eyes in amusement.
"I wonder if the equipment works?" Tyler asked himself, walking over to one of the computers.
"Look, there's some kind of container," Katie caught the others' attention, pointing at a glass cube containing a peculiar backpack with stretchable arms.
"A GrabPack," McGrady said, causing his friends to cast puzzled glances at him, "My uncle mentioned them a few times in his stories, but if you take his word for it, he's never used one himself."
"That's great, but how do we get it out of there?" asked Edwards.
"Look, there's a videotape!" Mills pointed at a blue object lying on the corner of one of the tables. The VCR was found immediately, right under the plugged-in television next to the Grabpack. Without thinking, Lindsay picked up the tape and inserted it, starting it up.
The recording began with the Playtime CO. logo appearing on a purple background. The logo almost immediately moved to the upper left corner of the screen, giving way to an image of the GrabPack, accompanied by depressing music. Next came an image of a yellow mannequin wearing the GrabPack, with the caption "Tighten your straps!" On the next slide, guns with hands descended into the mannequin's palms, and the caption changed to "Hold both cannons." The dummy then fired its right hand at a box, while the sign stated that the trigger had to be pulled to fire, and again to release. In order to grab onto an object, the trigger had to be held down. The sign also stated that only small objects and handles should be fired at, and under no circumstances should co-workers be shot at, which was followed by launching the hand at another dummy's head, then ripping it off, and stating that this could cause serious injury. Last but not least, the information was that the wire was conductive and could be used for rewiring, which was followed by another demonstration.
"Am I sure that I want to know where they got the information that the GrabPack can rip a person's head off, eh?" Ezekiel asked.
"They probably did some calculations," the Dweeb explained, "According to research, it takes 5,000 to 15,000 Newtons of force to rip a person's head off. If the GrabPack can apply more than 15,000 Newtons of force, then it can decapitate a person. Or they tested it on dummies."
"Hey, the container opened!" Aponte called everyone's attention, pointing to the now accessible GrabPack. Harold, who was standing closest, put it on, making sure the straps were tight.
"Do you think there are more of these GrabPacks around here?" Lindsay asked.
"They probably are," McGrady looked down at his equipment, and only then noticed one problem: his GrabPack only had one, blue, arm. For now, they could make do with just that, but the sooner they found a red arm, the better. After leaving the security room, the six headed forward and noticed another tape on the registration desk, this time a green one. Tyler picked it up, looked around the room and, finding a VCR with his eyes, inserted it inside.
"Hi, my name is Leith Pierre," a male voice said as the TV screen showed a furry blue hand ending in a yellow mitten-like palm, "And I'm the head of innovation here at the Playtime Co. factory. If you're seeing this, then you're trespassing. Yeah, we play this little tape on loop whenever we close the factory for the day. So trespasser, just to make you aware. While we pride ourselves primarily on our high quality toys and excellent childcare, we also pride ourselves on our security. For example, this facility is full of hidden motion triggers which, once set off, will turn on the factory's emergency alarms and directly contact the authorities! And that's one of the more tame aspects of our security system. No spoilers... So, you've got my warning. It's not too late to turn around. I just hope you're certain whatever you're doing is worth it."
"I don't know why, but I kind of want to punch that Leith Pierre guy," Leshawna admitted as she studied the screen.
"Look, should we get out of here before we get arrested?" Katie offered hesitantly.
"Gosh, in fifteen years the security system could have easily failed," Harold shook his head, "And besides, in for a penny, in for a pound," climbing over the turnstile, he fired GrabPack's hand at the scanner. After waiting for the system to recognize him and open the door, the black-eyed man waved his hand at his comrades, calling for them to follow him.
In the lobby, they were greeted by a giant statue of Huggy Wuggy, the factory mascot, a vaguely primate-like creature with thick, bright blue fur, large yellow hands and feet, a heart-shaped head with large eyes that had dilated black pupils, and cartoonishly large, bright red lips that were spread into a smile, a slightly rounded torso that was disproportionately small compared to its long limbs, and a blue bow around its neck. The mascot stood on a plinth surrounded by cardboard boxes with his name written on them in black letters, and packages of smaller versions of Huggy, raising his right hand in a greeting gesture, with Velcro attached to the back of it. His palm was resting on the company banner hanging directly above him.
"He looks weird," Ezekiel remarked, "But it's kinda cute."
"Hello, big guy," Harold, meanwhile, used GrabPack to high-five the statue. After studying the toy's history on the plaque in front of the pedestal and pressing a button to play a melody, the six began to look around.
There were several closed doors around them, which, according to the plaques, led to the testing room, the innovation department, the theater, and the cafeteria. Unfortunately, there were no scanners near them, meaning they wouldn't be able to get in even if they wanted to.
"Hey, look, there's a scanner," Lindsay pointed to the scanners above the door that blocked off the entrance to some room. It was probably an office, but without a plaque, it was impossible to tell. "We can use GrabPack to open the door."
"We can't," Potenza countered, "There are two scanners, one blue, one red. And all we have so far is the blue arm, eh."
"And this one?" Tyler pointed to a lone blue scanner, located above some arc.
After examining the wires coming off the scanner and heading towards the power room, the red-haired man nodded and pulled the trigger. However, there was a disappointment waiting for them: the scanner shorted out almost immediately, depriving the six of the opportunity to enter the room they needed.
"Great," Leshawna sighed, "And how are we g-" a soft jingle of keys was heard, causing her to freeze and carefully look over her shoulder, and everyone else to follow suit. Imagine their surprise when they saw a key in Huggy's hand.
"When we came in, it didn't have a key, did it?" Tyler asked cautiously, not taking his eyes off the statue.
"No," McGrady agreed, "But I suppose we should get it," he took aim, shot his hand into the palm, and took the key. Walking up to the door, the Dweeb opened it.
"Thanks, Honey," Mills thanked the statue.
"That's Huggy," Katie corrected her.
Inside the power room, the group was greeted by several pillars and broken toys scattered around, with splashes and puddles of suspiciously red liquid nearby. On one wall was a poster of Kissy Missy, a female version of Huggy with pink fur, describing what to do and what not to do.
"'Do not hide behind the door to scare Leith Pierre'?" Edwards asked, reading one of the points, "I didn't know he was that skittish," she shrugged, stepping aside and noticing a broken Boogie Bot lying in the same red puddle. There was some kind of fuzzy drawing on the wall next to it, as well as some writing.
"Wonderful? Well, if you insist..." The Sistah with Attitude decided not to argue with the author of this drawing.
After walking around the room, the teenagers found a metal hatch with handprints, hinting that it could be opened. Harold couldn't think of anything better to do than use his GrabPack, which resulted in him accidentally tearing off the hatch.
"Honestly, accidentally tearing off a head seems pretty plausible..." Tyler muttered uncertainly. The Dweeb nodded silently in response, acknowledging the Jock's rightness.
"Are you sure you can use a GrabPack has that only one arm?" Ezekiel asked as McGrady aimed his blue hand at the outlet.
"Honestly? No," Harold confessed, "But it's worth a try," pressing the trigger, the redhead launched his hand and was pleasantly surprised by the fact that his idea worked.
Having restored power, the six headed for the exit and froze, seeing one strange detail: the statue of Huggy had disappeared without a trace.
"What?" the group looked around, but the statue was nowhere to be found.
"Maybe we hallucinated that there was a statue here?" Lindsay offered innocently.
"A group of people couldn't possibly be hallucinating the same thing," McGrady countered.
"I have two theories," Katie began, snuggling closer to Potenza, "One: the statue is actually alive. Two: a gang of thieves with a fetish for giant dolls snuck in and stole it while we were busy. I'm really hoping for the latter."
"Your theory about thieves just made it to number three on my list of weirdest things I've ever heard," Tyler admitted.
"Do I even want to know is what the top two are?" Leshawna asked.
"Umm, where to next?" Ezekiel asked cautiously, feeling extremely uneasy.
"Well, I'd suggest heading out," Harold sighed, glancing toward the front door, which was closed, "But I guess that's not an option." Using the scanner to open the door, the teens walked forward down the hallway, with McGrady leading the way and swearing he saw Huggy's hand slip inside one of the doors.
Convinced that only one door was currently open, they cautiously walked inside, coming across a long, dark hallway.
"I wonder if this place can get any more sinister?" Leshawna asked ritotically, before one of the pipes they passed burst, causing them to yelp in surprise and Lindsay to jump into Tyler's arms, "Forget what I said, okay?"
They eventually reached a warehouse of some sort, where they found another VCR hooked up to a TV, this one yellow. Deciding to first climb the grated stairs and examine the warehouse from a high enough altitude, they came across a panel with several missing fuses, one of which was literally two feet away. They also noticed the red GrabPack hand locked in a glass case that held the crane. After exchanging glances and splitting into groups of two, the teens went down, not forgetting to insert the fuse they already had.
Ezekiel was looking through the shelves for fuses, a tape, or any other interesting things. His search was going rather slowly, not least because he kept glancing back at his partner, Katie. Homeschooled Kid wanted to apologize to her for his unintentionally sexist comments he made during the first season of Total Drama, but he wasn't sure if she would accept his apology. Finally, after some thought, he decided it was worth a try.
"Katie?"
"Yeah?" Sweet Girl looked up from her next container and turned to face the boy.
"I wanted to apologize," he began, looking at her uncertainly, "You know, about the comments about guys being better than girls. I... wasn't very good at understanding how society worked," Potenza really wanted to pull his toque down over his eyes.
"It's okay," Aponte smiled, "I can't stay mad at people for long. And anyway, that was in the past."
"That still doesn't excuse what I said," Zeke shrugged carefully, "I should have shut up, eh."
"What matters now is that you regret what you said. We all make mistakes, the important thing is that we learn from them."
"You're right," Ezekiel smiled, "Thanks for understanding..."
"Don't thank me," Katie started to turn around, when she noticed something else, "Hey, I found VHS."
"Where?" Potenza looked where the Sweet Girl was pointing and noticed an object lying on one of the shelves of the leaning rack. Coming closer to it, the Home-Schooled Guy picked it up and was about to leave, when he saw a green fuse behind one of the boxes, "I found a fuse, eh!"
"Tyler, do you remember what we're supposed to be looking for here?" Lindsay looked at the contents of another shelf, confused.
"Fuses," Oldring explained, "They look like little cubes with a handle on top, and they can be red, yellow, or green."
"Like this?" the blue-eyed girl picked up a yellow fuse from the bottom shelf and showed it to her boyfriend.
"Yeah, like this," Tyler tried to approach her, but tripped on something and fell, unintentionally knocking over one of the boxes.
"Are you okay?" Mills helped the Jock up.
"Yeah," he straightened up, looking at the box and noticing a small red part sticking out of it, shaped like a GrabPack's hand. Walking around the box, he confirmed that it was indeed the device they needed, "Well," Tyler picked up the GrabPack, walked over to Lindsay and handed it to her, helping the Dumb Princess put it on, "I think I found a way to make our way deeper into the factory easier."
Returning to the rally point, the duo noticed the other teenagers, who had already managed to collect the other two fuses, as well as find a tape. Deciding to listen to the last one first, they glanced at the VCR hooked up to the TV in the corner, next to the stairs that led to the panel, and started the VHS.
"Ugh, Rich, where are they keeping the Huggy boxes?" asked the man, who according to the label was named Avery.
"I don't know, I couldn't tell you!" Rich replied, "Remember when maintenance last did a sweep of this place?"
"No."
"Exactly! Nobody in this stupid company knows what they're doing. Aw, I swear, I haven't seen a single box in its place since they started flooding the storehouse with orphanage junk," Rich continued his rant.
"Right..." his colleague sighed.
"I get it, it's a nice program and all, on-brand, but," he continued with a sigh, "It's just hard to be happy about it when manufacturing is on OUR NECKS about it, cause we can't find the stupid Huggy boxes!"
"Rich..." Avery tried to reassure him.
"You're right... You're right..." Rich sighed, "It's... It's for the orphans... I just wish there were less boxes. Anything less would be more abidable.. Is-is that even a word? Abidable," the recording ended with that question.
"Rich... I swear my uncle mentioned him once..." Harold muttered thoughtfully. Shrugging, he began to climb the stairs, forcing the others to follow him. When they reached the panel, the teens were preparing to install the fuses, when Katie let out a startled sigh and froze in place. Looking in the same direction, they noticed Huggy staring at them from the conveyor belt.
"W-What the?!"
"Huggy?"
As soon as Leshawna and Tyler spoke, Huggy disappeared, causing the six to stumble back.
"Is it too late to turn back and leave this to the police?" Aponte asked cautiously.
"I'm afraid it's too late," the Dweeb sighed, sliding the fuse he'd found into the correct slot, with Ezekiel and Lindsay following suit. This caused the crane to move toward them before stopping mid-flight and dropping the crate containing the arm, shattering it. Lindsay tested her GrabPack by using it to pull the arm in and handing it to McGrady, who attached the part to the remaining pipe.
Descending, the six headed toward the open door that led to a conveyor belt. After wandering around for a while, they came to another electrical puzzle that required them to connect two connectors.
"I thought we were exploring a factory, not learning to be electricians," Ezekiel commented.
"Gosh, was it that hard for them to install normal generators?" Harold asked himself before shrugging, "Oh well. At least now I can add this to my list of mad skills."
Having solved the puzzle in just under a minute, the redhead activated the conveyor belt, which sent him and the other teens to the Make-A-Friend workshop, which looked extremely clean compared to the rest of the rooms. The attempt to leave the room stalled the moment the group came across a locked door, a scanner, and a sign underneath it informing them that no one would leave this room without a toy.
"Seriously?" Leshawna scoffed, "They want us to make a toy to get out of here?"
"Well, it's not like we have a choice, eh," Potenza shrugged before turning around and inspecting the large machine, "And something tells me we're going to have to restore the power to do that."
Unlike his friends, who automatically raised their heads and discovered the catwalks with another electric puzzle located above them, Tyler began to turn his head in different directions until his gaze fell on another GrabPack. Easily lifting it and putting it on, the Jock fired a couple of times at the wall to check the functionality of his hands, and then turned his attention to the pile of boxes.
"Hey, guys, look what I can do!" Coming close enough, Oldring fired at one of the boxes and pulled it towards himself. Unfortunately, instead of pulling it, he somehow threw it into the wall, from which the box bounced first into the ceiling, and then into the chestnut-haired teenager's head. Ouching from slight pain, the Jock rubbed his head.
"Tyler, no offense, but you better not use the GrabPack unless necessary for now," Harold sighed.
Being the only ones who could use the device reliably enough, McGrady and Mills climbed the stairs, finding a pink VCR along the way. The puzzle was simple, just a short section had to be pulled out to safely pass one segment, while trying to use the longer, safer route, the cord was missing. The solution was quick, with Lindsay pulling out the section while Harold started the machine.
"Hey, I found VHS," the blonde informed the Dweeb as he restored power.
"Great, let's go down and see what's on it," McGrady glanced at the pink object in Mills' hand and walked past her, heading for the stairs.
After going down and informing the others of their find, the duo waited for the others to come closer. Looking at the label, Lindsay learned that it was a recording of an interview with one Stella Greyber. As the remaining four huddled around the TV, Lindsay inserted the tape into the VCR. An image of what looked like a hand appeared on the screen.
"So, Stella, what made you want to work at the Playtime Co. factory?" a male voice asked.
"Playing with toys when I was young was so magical," Stella immediately began explaining, "I could go straight from my bedroom floor to anywhere in the world. It was such a great feeling. And... being able to work at a toy factory... somewhere that can provide kids with that same experience... That's a pretty great feeling too! Sometimes though... I really, really wish I could go back. To being a kid, I mean," she explained, "And it's weird, 'cause... adults are just kids, but older! I don't think anyone ever really feels like an adult? But your body just gets older... and older... and then you die. Poof! Haha... Human bodies just can't stay young forever. There's things though, like some trees that can stay alive even while being way older than a person! I mean, the oldest people to ever live are STILL younger than those! So I guess everyone is always young relative to something... Right?"
"Okay, I guess we're getting a little off-track," the interviewer decided.
"You have no idea," Leshawna muttered, shaking her head, "This girl is definitely weird."
"Um, should we just turn the equipment on and get out of here?" Ezekiel asked hesitantly. The others looked at each other and nodded silently, agreeing with him.
Soon they had a miniature Cat-Bee toy in their hands, which Lindsay and Katie looked at with affection, commenting on how cute it looked. Six placed the toy in the scanner, which checked its authenticity and, having confirmed this, opened the door.
Another dark hallway greeted the teens, forcing Harold to take out his flashlight and shine it ahead. So far, he saw nothing unusual.
"Stairway to hell?" Ezekiel read the sign above one of the doors, "I doubt it."
"Why?" Leshawna asked.
"Because it's not like these stairs are going to lead us to the set of the new season of Total Drama, eh," he shrugged.
After exchanging glances and finding no flaw in his logic, the group moved forward. However, they were not destined to pass through the archway that presumably led back to the lobby.
Huggy came out to meet them, his mouth wide open, revealing a row of sharp teeth dripping with drool, giving the mascot a maniacal look.
"OHMYGODWHYTHEFUCKTHEYWOULDDOTHIS?!" Potenza screamed in one word, jumping back and knocking over Harold, Katie, and Lindsay.
"H-Huggy?" Tyler stepped back in horror as the creature slowly approached the group of teenagers. Taking a few more steps back, the Jock remembered he had a GrabPack and began firing his hands at Huggy with a war cry. Unfortunately, the only effect that was achieved was that the creature's gaze changed from mad to skeptical, as if it was wondering if the teenager really hoped to stop it this way.
"Calm down, everyone," Harold began as calmly as possible, having managed to look around, "I have a plan."
"What is it?"
"Run for your lives!" jumping up, he pointed to the opened door to the ventilation, making it clear where they should run. Luckily, his friends did not slow down and quickly rushed to the hole, practically flying inside. When Tyler, who climbed inside last, turned around to see if the monster was chasing them, he noticed that the hatch closed by itself. Breathing a sigh of relief, he headed after the rest of the teenagers.
Moving forward, they reached the grate, where they heard some noise. Soon, the source itself appeared in the form of Huggy moving along the ventilation. As soon as the monster disappeared, the six accelerated their pace, not wanting to run into him again. Having zigzagged along the ventilation for a minute, they reached a small fork.
"Where to next?"
"Forward," as soon as Leshawna answered the question, Huggy appeared, crawling towards them, "Nevermind, to the right!" the six immediately turned to the side.
The floor beneath their feet changed from hard conveyor belts, which didn't cause them any problems, to rollers, on which they almost slipped several times. There were also some writings on the walls, but the teenagers didn't have time to look at them.
"Gosh, can't we just talk about this peacefully?" Harold yelled, looking over his shoulder for a split second.
"L-Look, Huggy, right? I-I have a whole bunch of makeup with me! If you want, I can give it all to you! Just please don't kill us!" Lindsay almost crashed into the wall on one of the turns, but managed to brake.
"What the fuck?! Why couldn't it have been a gang of fetish thieves?!" Ezekiel yelled.
If anyone in the group had turned around at that moment, they would have noticed that Huggy froze for a moment and tilted his head in confusion, and a puzzled "What?" could be read in his eyes.
As they moved deeper, the six froze, realizing with horror that the way forward was blocked. Luckily, an alternative in the form of a small hole that led to another shaft was found almost immediately, and they immediately climbed inside, but there was one small problem: Leshawna was fat enough and got stuck.
"Oh no! This sistah is not going to die like this!" suppressing her panic, Edwards began to twitch, trying to break free. Harold, Lindsay and Tyler grabbed her arms and pulled her towards themselves, while Ezekiel and Katie began to push from behind. By the time they finally managed to move her deeper, Huggy was already close.
Zeke quickly followed after pushing Leshawna into the hole, but Katie wasn't so lucky: Huggy caught up with her just as she was halfway into the shaft. The girl, screaming in fear, was pulled out and, despite her attempts to break free, was pinned to the floor.
"Let her go!" Before the mascot could eat the Sweet Girl, Potenza reached him and punched him between the eyes, causing him to stumble back and hit the wall. While the monster was recovering, Zeke grabbed Aponte, quickly shoved her into the shaft and followed.
"Thanks," Katie thanked him.
"You're welcome, eh."
Finally, after what seemed like an eternity of running through the vents, the teenagers managed to get out onto one of the catwalks, where they tripped and fell in a big heap. To their relief, the vent door closed, separating them from the crazed toy.
"Harold..." Leshawna croaked.
"Yes?"
"When we... leave this factory... please remind me... to join a gym... and stop... eating so much sweets..." Sistah With Attitude tried to catch her breath.
Bang!
The group jumped, horrified to see a dent in the metal door. Huggy was trying to break through their only line of defense! They turned and tried to run, but they ran into a barricade of trash blocking the passage.
Bang!
Tyler looked up, trying to find something that would allow them to escape the monster, and noticed a crate.
"I have an idea!" Oldring aimed the GrabPack's arms at the crate, "I'm going to use the GrabPack to throw the crate into the trash and destroy the barricade, clearing the way for us to escape!"
Bang!
"Tyler, physics don't work like that!" McGrady yelled, but the Jock didn't listen anymore and fired at the crate.
BANG!
Knowing that the door wouldn't hold for long, Tyler pulled the crate with all his might. Finally, with the crate half hanging off the catwalk, Huggy kicked the door out. In surprise, Tyler loosened his grip on the GrabPack's triggers for a split second. That was enough for the crate to fall onto the conveyor belt, breaking it and sending the group into free fall. However, while the six fell on another catwalk, the mascot wasn't that lucky: he landed on the railing and, unable to hold on, slid down, counting with his body every pipe he fell on.
"Well, that can work too," Harold decided, getting up and going to the railing, but noticed a suspiciously red stain on the pipe, "Is that blood?"
Approaching the railing, Ezekiel leaned over it, making sure he wouldn't fall down after Huggy, sniffed - if there was one thing he was grateful for in his temporary feral state, it was the increased reflexes and senses - before voicing the terrifying verdict: "Yes. It's blood."
After taking about ten minutes to calm down and stop freaking out, the group looked around to see what they should do.
"Hey, look, there's a flower like the one in the letter," Katie pointed to one of the walls, causing the other teens to turn around. Sure enough, there was a poppy flower painted on one of the walls.
"You sure this is a good idea, eh?" Potenza asked.
"Do we have a choice?" Leshawna countered. Deciding not to argue further, the group headed towards the flower, but along the way they found another VHS, this time a black one. A quick search of the area revealed a VCR of the same color, as well as another GrabPack with a slightly chewed-up right cannon, which Katie immediately privatized.
"Final log. In relation: 1-0-0-6. The Prototype," the man on the recording began, as a metal hand with thin, needle-like fingers appeared on the TV screen, "Coordination and cooperation is evidently within his skillset, as well as the skillset of all other experiments of his type."
"Experiments?" Tyler asked, confused, causing Harold to shush him.
"Though still missing, today's events are no doubt in relation to him. His absence was a flaw in the scientific process, which should have under no circumstances been left unaccounted for. That's why I'm making this log: So that the same mistake won't be made twice."
There was a sound in the background, like something slamming against a door. Just like when Huggy tried to get to them.
"Any future experiments will need to be contained and disposed of in a secure location."
Another slam, this time accompanied by someone else's scream. This caused the employee who had spoken to pause for a moment, as if he were afraid.
"I'm not worried about myself. One breakthrough and I'll be back. We must forge onwards in the name of science," the barrier gave up after another blow, "Whether those who are beneath us understand it or not. End of-" at this point, the log cut off, allowing the teens to look at each other and react in a completely rational manner.
"What the hell happened here?" the Home-Schooled Guy asked, looking over at Harold, who shrugged in confusion.
"I... I don't know..." McGrady answered, trying to process the information he had received, as well as asking himself a bunch of questions, such as whether his uncle knew about the experiments.
"Well, we're not likely to find out the answer to that question standing here," Aponte shook her head, moving closer to the boys, "So I suggest we go ahead and try to figure it out. What do you think?" the teenagers exchanged glances, nodded, and walked towards the flower, unaware that the security camera was watching them.
Sawyer had been watching the teenagers' movements through the factory. In truth, he hadn't had any expectations when they'd snuck in; after all, what was the point of expecting anything if they'd end up as Huggy's food, just like the ones who'd snuck in before them?
Imagine his surprise when the six of them not only emerged from the vents in full force, but also managed to defeat Huggy, inadvertently sending him plummeting into the depths of the factory. After laughing at their shock at the fact that their pursuer was not some sort of a robot, but rather a living being, the Doctor dialed a number.
"Hello?" a mechanical voice answered, sounding like several people were talking at once.
"We have guests," the answer was followed by a silence, followed by a disgruntled sigh.
"Seriously? You really decided to bother me over such a trifle? Leave them to Huggy-"
"They managed to get past him," Sawyer interrupted his new boss.
"...What?" the speaker asked in disbelief.
"They managed to defeat one of your guards, Prototype," Harley chuckled, "Right now he's lying somewhere down under the catwalks - where exactly, I don't know, since I haven't looked yet."
"I see..." Prototype made some strange sound, similar to a clatter, "In that case, inform Mommy that she will soon have visitors."
The hallway the teenagers were walking down looked extremely homey and was covered in floral wallpaper, which, combined with the scattered furniture and the music box playing somewhere in the distance, created an unnerving impression.
"Guys?" Katie asked tensely, "Am I the only one who feels like it's a horror movie?"
"Well, it kind of does remind me about them," McGrady admitted.
"What do you think the odds are that we'll find another living toy at the end of the hallway wanting to rip our throats out or something?" Ezekiel's question made everyone think for a moment.
"It'll be fine," Leshawna shrugged, walking past the closet blocking the door, "We'll figure it out."
Finally, after another minute or so, they reached the end of the hallway and came across a door. Opening it, they entered a room that looked like a hallway, only with pillows instead of furniture and a ceiling light that cast a red glow. In the center was a glass case with a Poppy Playtime doll locked inside, her eyes closed.
"You wanna say that we came all this way here just for some doll?" Leshawna asked with mixture of disbelief and annoyance, looking at the case.
"I have an idea!" Mills snapped her fingers, "We free the doll and ask her for directions!"
"I'm not sure that will work," Zeke tried to stop her, but it was too late: the Dumb Princess managed to open the case.
As soon as the girl opened the door, the lights in the room flickered several times, and the teenagers inhaled some strange gas with the scent of poppy. Despite their efforts, one by one they lost consciousness and fell onto the numerous pillows. The last to fall was Ezekiel, who, before losing consciousness, heard a female voice.
"You opened my case."