Chapter Text
Angel got chills the moment the elevator reached its destination.
”After you…” Mommy murmured, grimacing as she looked around.
”Wow. So kind of you.”
”Oh no, Marie just hopes that whatever’s down there will eat you before it spots her.”
Angel glared at her, but they couldn’t argue with her logic. They probably would’ve said the same if she hadn’t gotten there first…
They cautiously stepped out of the elevator with Mommy walking right behind them. She crawled up on the wall, keeping watch from above, while Angel stayed on the ground. The two made a pretty good team, all things considered.
“Where are we going?” Angel called out as they grimaced at the drawing of an eyeball. (They’d bet ten bucks that it hadn’t been made with red paint…)
”The caves,” Mommy said as she tossed them a battery (where had she even gotten it?) and directed them towards a door that read ‘CAVES 1C’.
Angel led the way until they found the foreman’s office. They peered inside and frowned at the sight of the wreckage inside.
”This place is falling apart…” they murmured, stepping towards a dead PickyPiggy that had been perched on top of a chair. On the desk near it was a note.
”Do you intend on stopping to check out notes in every room?” Mommy huffed, Angel replying with a shrug as they skimmed over the note.
”’Warrenbach’… Oh, right. It’s the construction company that built most of the factory. This letter says that the red smoke is very easily flammable, so they put some nitrous cooling equipment around to prevent the factory from exploding…”
They turned towards Mommy, who was just giving them a blank look.
”Red gas goes boom easily, ice all around to avoid that.”
Mommy glared at them and smacked their shoulder. “Marie understood what you said the first time!”
”Did ya?” Angel teased.
”…Mostly.”
”Right.”
They kept walking until the concrete turned into stone. With every step Angel feared that everything would collapse on them, but they’d gotten used to lurking around the caves after all this time. Mommy also helped them to cross the wider gaps, which was a pro.
They only stopped when they saw what direction they were heading towards.
TO PRISON
”Wait- prison??” They whipped around to meet Mommy’s frown. “I thought we were going to the Shelf?”
”The Shelf is the prison,” she explained. “That’s just the nicer name that the workers would use. What did you think it was?”
”I-I don’t know! A huge storage room?? Something like that! Why would a prison be called-“ they blinked. “Oh. Oh, wait, I got it! That’s actually pretty smart.”
”What?”
”Y’know, ‘Shelf’. Because toys are kept on the shelves in toy stores.”
Mommy blinked, thinking it over, then her pout deepened. “Marie doesn’t find any of this smart in the slightest.”
”Right, sorry- Me neither, by the way, I just like when people do this sort of word games.”
Mommy made an unconvinced hum and took the lead.
Angel grimaced. They hadn’t paid much attention to it in the last day or so, but Mommy had gotten much more sensitive when it came to anything. It was like being back to day one with her all over again…
“Use the Flare Hand to burn this rope,” Mommy instructed once they’d stopped in front of a door that had been blocked.
”Uhh- Yeah, right away…”
The material burned almost instantly, but Mommy kept the doors closed with her hand.
”Marie’s warning you: this place is not like anything you’ve seen above. It’s hell.”
”Right, because upstairs it was very heavenly.” Angel joked. Despite that, though, they felt nervous at the thought of what they could’ve found in there.
Mommy rolled her eyes and let go of the doors.
It took a peek inside for Angel to understand what she’d been talking about.
The room was huge, and, if Angel had to guess, they’d say it was the prison’s courtyard. The building towered in the distance, a white wall surrounded by a dozen stone ones. But that wasn’t the worst part.
No. No, the bodies were far worse.
Dozens upon dozens of piles, probably many more, all thrown there with abandon, left to rot and decompose. The smell of dried blood and rotten flesh made Angel’s nostrils sting and stomach churn. There must’ve been about a thousand or so toys in there. Toys who’d once been children.
”Do you need to throw up?” Mommy asked gently.
Angel nodded, then promptly stepped back into the hallway and regurgitated their breakfast.
The familiar feeling of hatred for the Playtime Co workers filled their veins once more. All those poor children… God, they couldn’t bear the thought.
“Come on,” Mommy said while patting their back. “The sooner we get through that room the sooner we can find Mr Doey.”
Angel didn’t know exactly why they had to find Doey the Doughman when he could just find them instead. Why did they always have to do all the work??
But they really didn’t want to hang around this mortuary for a moment too long… Especially because they could still see some toys crawling around, observing them.
”Fine, let’s go…”
~*~
Julie technically didn’t have to come to Playtime Co every day, but she was dying for updates.
Sure, she’d spoken to Angel only the day before, but she also knew that they’d planned to head to the underground (the Shelf, they’d called it) early in the morning. Maybe one of their allies already had news by now? It was almost midday, so…
They had to wait ten minutes or so after ringing the door bell for someone to arrive. It was Miss Delight, the toy she’d met a couple of days ago, and a porcelain doll perched on the former’s shoulder. Julie knew enough about Playtime Co (and had heard enough from Angel) to know that it was Poppy, the leader of the resistance.
”Good morning, dear!” Miss Delight greeted cheerfully. “This is Poppy. I don’t believe you two have met yet?”
”Haven’t had the pleasure.” Julie smiled. “Nice to finally meet you, Poppy.”
She extended a hand, and Poppy took her index finger and squeezed it with her own tiny hand. It was a weird feeling… It wasn’t exactly like touching porcelain, but more like a mix of it and human skin.
”The pleasure is mine, Julie.” Poppy replied with a strained smile. “I’ve heard a lot about you from Angel.”
Julie tried to will down the sudden redness that spurted on her cheeks.
”How are they and Mommy doing anyway? Have you heard from them since they left?”
Poppy’s attempt at a polite smile finally crumbled, replaced instead by a frustrated grimace.
”No… The phone reception is terrible down in the Shelf; we’ve tried calling them but it won’t work.”
Julie felt the familiar feeling of worry fill her up once again, only this time it was stronger than ever.
”I should be down there with them…” Poppy grumbled. “Instead…”
There was a sound of padded footsteps, and shortly after Kissy Missy appeared.
Poppy blinked up at the pink toy. “Oh… Kissy. What are you-“
The other just picked up the doll from Miss Delight’s shoulder and placed her on her own, then she started walking away.
“What- Kissy, what are you?-“ Poppy exclaimed, shocked, before disappearing behind the corner.
”Wha- Hey, where are you going??” Miss Delight called out, although not making any move that suggested she was going to stop them. “Ugh… Those girls.”
”How are the Smiling Critters doing?” Julie asked, trying to divert Miss Delight’s attention from what those two were doing. She knew Angel hadn’t wanted them to go after them, but she herself would’ve felt much safer knowing that those two were with them. Kissy was insanely strong, while Poppy was highly knowledgeable.
Miss Delight reluctantly turned her attention back to Julie. “Still comatose, I fear… We must hope Angel and Marie find some poppy gel quickly, before it is too late for them.”
Julie grimaced. “Right… Well, do you want me to help you bring these inside?”
”Oh no, darling. Angel would never let me live it down if I let you enter the factory.” Miss Delight said kindly. “It’s way too dangerous for you; we don’t want you to also get stuck here, as nice as your company is.”
The human forced a smile. “Okay. Well, I’ll see you tomorrow then?”
”Of course! Pop by any time!”
Hopefully tomorrow there will be some news… She could only hope Angel was doing okay.
~*~
Angel was NOT doing okay.
Not only had they found a bunch of traumatising journal entries by a kid named Riley, - yup, the child who’d last occupied Kissy’s room, that one - but they’d also been attacked by a bunch of savage toys. Mommy and them had barely escaped from that mess…
The only good thing was that they managed to find the train that led to the Shelf.
Angel and Mommy were standing side by side, observing the train like it could’ve come to life and eaten them any time.
”…Is this really the only way to get inside?” Angel asked.
Mommy frowned. “Unless you’re dying to get caught by the Doctor, it is. We could also just stay here and wait for those rebels to catch up to us if you wish?”
Angel turned toward the body on the floor. It’d probably belonged to the train conductor, given the uniform, but it’d been stripped of all its flesh and organs, leaving only bones behind.
”…The train’s okay. But we’re gonna need a key, no?”
Out of seemingly nowhere Mommy pulled out a piece of paper and handed it to Angel.
”When-“
”While you were looking at that tape.” She answered simply.
Angel frowned at the mention of the recording they’d found earlier. They’d listened to a conversation between two of the prison’s guards, Cole and Norm, and they’d gotten just another taste of how inhuman some of the workers had been. Listening to those two talking about the children like they were rabid animals… disgusting.
”It’s from Riley,” Mommy explained, referring to the note. “It says she’s hiding somewhere with the key, to prevent anyone else from ever receiving harm again.”
She sounded like she was about to cry, but Angel decided not to point it out.
”Okay… But where do we find Riley?”
If she’s even still alive.
Dude!
What? She’s been down here for years, actively starving, and I’ve seen more dead bodies than alive toys around here. It’s a reasonable assumption!
Mommy shrugged, but before she could answer her eyes caught on something above the train. Angel followed her gaze to find a container hanging in the air: the perfect hiding spot.
”…Marie thinks she knows the answer.” The toy murmured, then she climbed up inside it, helping Angel up as well.
“Hello?” Angel called out with a tight grip on the GrabPack’s triggers. “Is anyone here?”
Nothing. Either Riley was hiding or…
Angel turned the corner, only to find a dead body.
It was tiny, although not as small as the mini Critters. Angel couldn’t really tell what toy it was: it was missing its limbs and almost all of its pink fur had fallen off, revealing only a small human skeleton with a set of keys stuck between its ribs.
”Oh my…” Angel’s vision grew blurry as their eyes filled with tears. This had to be Riley, there was no doubt.
A hand gently squeezed their shoulder before pushing them aside. Mommy stepped closer to Riley, caressing her bones from the skull to the last rib. There was a look of tenderness and grief in her eyes that Angel had never seen before, even stronger than the one she had when the orphans were mentioned.
Then, a bit abruptly, she pulled the keys out of the ribcage and stepped back, making the container oscillate back and forth.
”Let’s go.” She said, her voice cracking for just a moment. “There’s nothing left to do here.”
But Angel couldn’t tear their eyes away from the body. They couldn’t help but think that if they’d come back to the factory a little sooner, if they hadn’t spent so much time in Playcare, then maybe…
But no, Riley had been dead for years. She’d probably starved to death, or some servant of the Prototype had attacked her while she was weak and defenceless. There was nothing Angel could’ve done about it.
”I wonder if I knew her…” Angel murmured finally.
Mommy blinked. ”What?”
”Riley. I- I wonder if I knew her before everything, if I forgot her like I did with Theo.” They gulped. “Or if she just lived in Playcare while I spent my days there. I mean, she got here on my eighth birthday - what are the chances, by the way?” They chuckled with no delight whatsoever. “If she’d gotten here just a year later she wouldn’t have been turned into this.”
”No, you’re right, she wouldn’t have been.” Mommy agreed, but her tone was laced with sarcasm. “Instead she would be His prisoner, stuck in eternal slumber until you stop moping and get to His labs.”
Angel blinked, taken aback by Mommy’s bluntness. It was… way too alike how she’d been in the start.
”Marie, are you feeling alright?”
Mommy’s eyes narrowed as she frowned at them. “Yes, why wouldn’t Marie be?”
”Just-“ Angel but their tongue. Now wasn’t the time. “Nothing, you just seemed a bit off, that’s it.”
Mommy didn’t reply, she instead turned around and proceeded to get herself out of the container. This time she didn’t help Angel.
The human turned back to stare at Riley’s remains once more. They couldn’t help but feel weirdly ashamed in front of the little girl, like her death was their fault.
And then it hit them. The real reason why they were nauseous all the time wasn’t simply because they couldn’t tolerate gore.
No. It was guilt.
For what? Who knows. Maybe for surviving the Hour of Joy, or for being the reason why their father had survived it. Maybe it was because they’d known of the experiments for years and had even probably been subjected to some. But they’d never received the same horrifying treatment as the other children.
They just knew that every time their eyes landed on a body, they couldn’t help but imagine their face on it, nor could they help the feeling that that would be more appropriate.
”Are you coming or not?” Mommy called out, sounding annoyed.
Angel snapped out of their thoughts. They brought their hand up to their face only to realise they’d started crying. They hastily wiped the tears away and stepped towards Riley, caressing her skull gently before pressing a kiss to her forehead, ignoring the amount of bacteria that was probably thriving on it.
”I’m sorry…” they whispered. “I hope you’re with your parents now. They’d be proud of the girl their daughter had become.”
Empty words spoken to a ghost, but they were able to momentarily placate Angel’s guilt.
”Coming!”
~*~
DogDay wondered how much longer he could bear listening to the same beeping noises before he lost his mind.
There were six heart monitors in the room, all making the same noise and going at the same unbearably slow ‘speed’, if it could even be called that.
He hadn’t left the infirmary ever since that morning, when he’d woken up just before Angel and Mommy had left. Kissy had brought him breakfast before following Miss Delight and Poppy to the surface, where they’d collected the supplies Angel’s friend, Julie, had brought. He hadn’t had the chance to meet the girl yet, and while he would’ve liked to, he didn’t want to abandon his friends to do so.
Right now he was staring helplessly at Crafty’s face, her horn broken in half and her eyes pitch black (he knew that his own eyes had turned like that when he’d been imprisoned and brought to the brink of sanity). Her horn had gotten much sharper since he’d last seen it. All of his friends had changed so much…
”Mind if I sit with you?”
DogDay looked up. It took him a moment to realise it was Miss Delight.
”Uh- No, of course not, sit down.”
He probably would’ve said no, had it been anyone else. But Miss Delight had spent a lot of time in the School with Bubba and Crafty, as well as her sisters, probably much more than he had. They were her friends just as much as they were his.
Miss Delight dusted off her clothes (although uselessly, since they were so ripped and covered in dirt and blood that there was no cleaning it) and took the chair next to DogDay’s.
DogDay had never spent a lot of time in the School, so he hadn’t interacted much with Miss Delight or any of her sisters. He didn’t even know if, when talking to Crafty and Bubba, they’d ever mentioned this particular Miss Delight. And yet conversation with her came easily, probably because they’d shared the same abuser.
And yet he never tore her legs off, and they weren’t even friends.
“It feels like yesterday sometimes,” Miss Delight murmured dreamily as she stared at Crafty’s expressionless face. “Other times it feels like it’s been so long that that life must’ve been a dream. But seeing them like this… It brings it all back, it makes it feel more real. No?”
DogDay considered her words for a moment. He’d also had moments where the days spent happily with the Smiling Critters - his family - had felt made up, too far away to be real. That was also how he felt about the few scarce memories he still held from his days in isolation, before he’d started Conditioning, or even from his days as a human kid. Those were brief and mainly sensations, so little that he always wondered if they even belonged to him.
But seeing his friends here now, all just as worn down as he felt, the memories all came back up stronger than ever. He remembered baking in Home Sweet Home’s kitchen, taking care of the children, hanging out with his friends during breaks… Everything didn’t feel so far away now.
”It’s cruel,” Miss Delight continued after receiving no reply. “Because it makes seeing them like this even worse. I mean, I haven’t even seen them after the Hour, nor have I been through what they have like you, but I still can’t help but miss those times dearly.”
In that moment she looked up and blinked, looking surprised and slightly embarrassed. “Oh- I’m so sorry, I shouldn’t be venting like this to you! You were so much closer to them than I was-“
”No no! It’s okay, don’t apologise.” DogDay said, quickly placing a hand on her shoulder. “You didn’t do anything wrong. I like hearing you talk.”
Anything was better than those damn beeps.
”I think…” he tried cautiously, “I think that that might be worse, in a way.”
Miss Delight tilted her head sideways, silently asking him to go on.
”The last memories you have of them are from when they were still happy and okay, before everything went down. You never saw them as their health deteriorated, as the happiness dimmed… You didn’t see the tears, the hunger, the rage. You didn’t have time to ease into the new situation.”
He squeezed Miss Delight’s shoulder a bit more tightly, trying to ground himself and not get lost in the memories.
”You didn’t see them slowly lose parts of themselves until there was nothing left, you didn’t-“ his voice broke. He let go of Miss Delight’s shoulder to squeeze his knees instead. He didn’t want to risk hurting her.
”You didn’t hear their screams as He tore them apart and rearranged them.”
He could hear all of Miss Delight’s horror in her silence. He let it hang in the air for a moment.
”So… I think that just seeing them like this, after all this time… It must hit hard.”
Neither of them spoke for a while. They just stared at Crafty’s chest as it rose and lowered with every breath.
”When we first met…” Miss Delight started hesitantly. “I remember you mentioning you were caught towards the start of the Toy War?”
DogDay nodded sadly. “I was, yes.”
”But you were tortured last, because…”
”He wanted me to listen.” He said bitterly.
”He hoped you would change your mind and join him…” Miss Delight murmured. “No, I- Look, I know that what he did to you was terrible, as was what he did to them, and I know he did it because he thought it was a good thing, but I also saw the way he looks at you.”
She put her hand on his, eliciting him to look at her.
”I think that a part of him knew that it wouldn’t work. He really cared about you, for whatever reason-“
”Wow. Thanks.”
”Wha- Oh, that’s not what I meant and you know it!” She protested. “He cares about you a lot despite his beliefs and his devotion to the Prototype. I think - as twisted and awful as his methods were - that he was trying to save you the pain of going through the ascension while still making you join his side, so he’d have his best friend with him.”
DogDay considered her words. The worst thing was probably that he believed them, or that he really wanted to. He needed a reason to explain CatNap’s motives, one that couldn’t simply be ‘he’s a cruel beast’, because he knew that just wasn’t the case.
Sure, there were evil people who did the things they did just because, but he knew CatNap didn’t enter that category, despite what the Doctor had tried telling them with that note. He knew CatNap’s motivations for doing the things he did rooted back to his manipulative relationship with the Prototype and the generally difficult situation they’d been facing for the last fifteen years. Even before becoming an experiment he’d been an orphan who’d probably had a sad childhood before entering Playcare.
That didn’t mean he could easily put everything behind him and welcome him back with open arms, especially now that he was staring at his friends hanging on by a thread, hovering between life and death.
But I want to forgive him.
“I just don’t understand why he didn’t tell us about them…” He finally whispered, moving his hand to hold Crafty’s hoof.
”He probably thought they were gone for good,” Miss Delight shrugged. “As did we. Not everyone survives something like this, but they are exceptionally strong. You must thank Playtime for that, I guess.”
DogDay nodded, feeling tears threatening to spill from his eyes.
”We can only pray that Angel and Marie come back with the poppy gel quickly.”
”That we have to…”
And then - because obviously there couldn’t be a moment of peace around here without something going wrong - the infirmary’s door slammed open, revealing Claire and Dominic.
”What-“ Miss Delight started, looking enraged by the missing show of politeness.
”The elevator in the Hatch Room just activated!” Claire panted out, having obviously ran all the way here. Her words were even harder to make out than normal.
”The- Who-“ DogDay exclaimed, feeling his throat tighten. What if the Prototype had gotten tired of watching them conspire against him and had decided to attack them when they were at their weakest?
But no. The names that left Dominic’s mouth next didn’t belong to the Prototype, nor to any of his followers.
”Poppy and Kissy!” He gasped, just as out of breath as Claire was. “They left Playcare. They went down to the Shelf!”
Well… Now they were definitely fucked.
~*~
The trauma of getting in the train was momentarily spared to Angel and Mommy by a phone call from Ollie.
“Hi, Ollie!” Angel greeted happily, glad to have anything to do that wasn’t getting in another train crash.
”Hey…” Ollie didn’t sound as happy to talk to them.
”Is everything okay, Mr Ollie?” Mommy asked. She sounded a bit worried too. After all, this kid had helped the two of them escape many complicated situations, much more than Poppy had.
”Uh- O-Oh! Oh, yes, just…” He tried to keep up the cheerful tone for a moment, before sighing and dropping it. “I wanted to… I wanted to talk to you. Before you go inside, I mean.”
Angel and Mommy exchanged a worried look. How awful was this place if everyone kept warning them about it?
”Everything you’ve seen out here. The piles. The dead. They ALL came from inside. Believe me, what Mommy said earlier about this place is true.”
”Wh- How do you-?”
”It’s hell… But she also hasn’t seen it like I have. It’s worse now. Worse than ever…”
Angel and Mommy exchanged a worried look. Did that mean that Safe Haven..?
“Just… try to stay safe. Please. Don’t let your guard down for even a second… I’ll try to help you when I can.”
”Thanks, Mr Ollie,” Mommy said gently before Ollie could hang up. “We appreciate your help.”
There was silence for a moment, before Ollie answered in his usual cheerful tone. “Of course! Keep an eye out for the eye on the screens! Haha!”
”Uh- What- Oh, he- Yeah, he hung up…” Angel grumbled. “I hate when he does that… And the whole stalker thing is still as creepy as ever.”
”Is it just Marie or was Mr Ollie acting weird?” She asked with a frown. “Well… weirder than usual.”
Angel shrugged. “I dunno, it seems like EVERYONE is acting weird nowadays…” They said while giving Mommy a very pointed look. She ignored it and just stepped inside the train, Angel quick to follow after her.
Immediately after they entered, the door to the compartment suddenly shut behind them, leaving them trapped inside, before the train started moving.
”Oh great.” Mommy deadpanned. “We’re going to die in a train crash. The cycle has come to an end.”
”Could you not?” Angel grumbled, sinking to the floor to try and relax. “Stop jinxing it.”
”Marie is the one jinxing it?” She scoffed. “She’s starting to think you are the one who brings bad luck.”
”Me??” Angel gasped. “How dare you, you-“
”Mmmm, now what’s this?”
Angel and Mommy stopped arguing to turn their attention towards the new voice.
It belonged to a man with a British accent - Sawyer, from what Angel recalled hearing before. It came from a tv above that they hadn’t noticed, which now showed a big black eyeball that was staring at the two of them.
“Do I feel something squirming its way beneath my skin?” The Doctor pondered with a thin trace of amusement. ”An invasive, foreign little germ? After all this time?”
Angel blinked. That nickname… when had they heard it before, coming from that same person?
Sawyer’s eye studied Mommy for a moment, who visibly tensed under his gaze, before it finally settled on Angel, the eye widening before narrowing again.
”…Ah, but I see… you.” He sneered with annoyance and a bit of intrigue. “I should’ve imagined you’d come running after I took that worthless sack of fleas.”
”Who-” Angel blinked, their jaw clenching as they realised who the Doctor was talking about. “Where’s CatNap?! What did you do to him?”
“Marie doubts he’ll answer…” The toy murmured darkly.
”How would you know?? Also, I told you not to jinx it-“
The two of them yelped as the train started shaking.
”Well, little germs. Let’s make a game of you.”
“I usually watch others play…” Mommy grumbled, trying to hold onto something. “I don’t partake in games myself…”
”I think he took my nickname a bit too seriously…” the self proclaimed ‘Player’ grumbled before almost falling over.
”You’ve blundered along the shadows above,” Sawyer continued, uncaring of their commentary. “And only managed to squirm all the way down here but by the barest skin of your teeth.”
”Is this Doctor Sawyer or Doctor Shakespeare?” Angel snorted.
”There are no shadows here that would be of use to you. Not even the ground beneath your feet is yours.”
“Hold on!” Mommy yelled as she wrapped herself around Angel in a similar fashion to their very first train crash.
Because - to hell with Mommy for jinxing it - in the next few seconds the train jolted much harder than before, falling to the side.
Angel felt their head hit the surface despite Mommy’s body wrapped around them. They started blacking out as Sawyer said one last sentence.
”There are no places you can hide. Not from me.”