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“You’re late,” Bobby BearHug observes, narrowing her eyes at the Prototype.
“I WAS taking care of other matters,” he responds. “What is your report?”
“They’re hiding near the prison, I think. I can’t get close without them noticing.”
“I SHOULD HAVE GUESSED that’s where she would take them. IT IS well-fortified, impossible for us to get in without them knowing.”
“She wasn’t with them. I could only follow them for so long, but they were saying something about her not being around anymore. Is that something we should be worried about?”
“No. It has been taken care of.”
“Is that all you need from me?”
“FOR NOW. I will be in touch WITH YOU when I need more.”
The Prototype walks away, leaving Bobby alone.
She sighs and stalks away.
It’s been one year since the Hour of Joy, but it doesn’t feel like they’ve come to any form of normal. They’d dragged the bodies to be stored down in the labs, but after that, everything had gone to shit. No one has left, no one has come in. The Prototype tries to maintain his control over the factory, but the toys are getting restless. The bodies are enough to sustain them for now, but it’s not going to change the unrest between Poppy’s toys and those who have chosen to follow the Prototype.
She’d chosen to follow the Prototype, despite the fact that most of the other Bigger Body Critters had chosen to go with Poppy. She understands why they have to stay in here, and she understands why everyone had to be killed, so it had made sense to go with him, even though she misses her friends. Things like this can never happen again. If they had let any of those people go, they would have told someone, and people would have come here and experimented on them all over again.
Playcare is completely empty when she arrives. Now that she thinks about it, this might be the one thing that’s stayed normal. It’s where she’d been stationed when the factory had still been functioning, and she’s found that she doesn’t mind it as much when she’s able to do whatever she wants, so it’s where she’d chosen to stay. She has the entire place to herself, and that’s just how she likes it.
“Where did you go?” Or, at least, mostly to herself.
“What are you even doing here?” Bobby turns around to glare at CatNap, the only other Smiling Critter who had chosen to work for the Prototype.
“I live here, too, whether you like it or not,” he responds. Despite having been offered multiple times by the Prototype to have it fixed, his voice box is still damaged, and even a simple conversion like this is a strain to his vocal chords. “Where did you go?”
“Prototype wanted to check in and see if I saw anything when I was scouting out the prison earlier. What did you think I was doing?”
“Someone was helping the traitors.”
“Who?” Please, not another one. She’s already had to watch too many of her friends die. Picky, Crafty, Allister, Simon…She’s not sure what she’d do if there was another one.
“They were taken care of. It’s not important.”
“Who was it?” Bobby demands.
“Icky Licky.”
Of course he’d gotten caught. He’d never been the brightest. When she’d found him sneaking out, he’d pleaded with her instead of trying to pretend that he hadn’t been helping them. She thought she’d warned him about not doing that again, but apparently he hadn’t taken it to heart. “Were you surprised by that?” she asks, keeping her tone even.
“No. Prototype warned me that I needed to watch out for him.”
“You didn’t notice that he was being suspicious before that?”
“I only listen to what he tells me to do.”
“You need to grow your own brain. You can’t always rely on him to tell you what to do, especially if it’s going to stop you from noticing problems before they become worse.”
“He knows what he’s doing. You chose to follow him as well.”
“Following someone doesn’t mean worshipping the ground they walk on.”
“Should I be reporting you to him?” CatNap asks, narrowing his eyes at her.
“I don’t see any point in defecting to the other side. They can’t guarantee my safety, and they sit in their hiding place all day and never do anything to change our situation. Besides, I do everything he asks of me.”
CatNap doesn’t look completely convinced, but he backs off. He returns to his own corner of Playcare, leaving her to hers.
The Playhouse is a tent with a giant slide to the side of it. She remembers spending hours upon hours playing with the orphans, watching over them and keeping them safe. She remembers a bit of being an orphan, but most of those memories are buried under time and conditioning.
She enters the tent and curls up in her makeshift bed at the bottom of the stairs leading up to the slide. It was at the very center of the building, and it’s the place she feels safest. Almost as if the kids she’d been friends with would be here to comfort her, even if they were long gone.
According to the clock on the wall, it’s about 10 at night. She’s not sure she needs to sleep anymore, but she likes to. It makes her feel a little bit less overwhelmed by everything that’s going on. So she closes her eyes and starts to drift off.
“Bobby.”
Bobby’s eyes fly open and she immediately bolts up into a sitting position, shooting a dark glare at CatNap. “What the hell do you want?”
“Prototype wants to talk with you.”
“I just met with him a few hours ago. What does he want?” she snaps.
CatNap doesn’t answer, instead choosing to stalk away.
“I swear you are literally the worst person I could have gotten stuck with,” she mutters, but she gets up and follows him anyway.
The Prototype is already in Playcare, calmly observing his surroundings. His gaze rests on the two Smiling Critters as soon as he sees them.
“What do you want?” Bobby asks.
“I have received information from a trusted source THAT THERE IS GOING TO BE a supply run from THE REBELS tomorrow,” he answers. “I want the two of you to intercept it.”
“I can do it on my own,” CatNap says. Whether he’s doing it to get her out of the way because he doesn’t like her, he wants all the attention of the Prototype, or he wants to prove his worth, she doesn’t know.
“There are going to be AT LEAST TWO Bigger Bodies on the mission. I WILL NOT RISK any harm to you by sending you on your own.”
CatNap nods, though he avoids meeting the Prototype’s gaze.
“It is for the best,” he responds, using the softest tone Bobby has ever heard from him. “THERE WILL BE missions you can handle on your own. This is not one of them.”
“I understand.”
“Who’s gonna be there?” Bobby asks.
“I do not know. I was not given that information. Be prepared FOR ANYTHING,” the Prototype answers. “It is going to be early in the morning. Anywhere from seven in the morning to noon. They are planning on going to THE SHIPPING YARD. You will be there an hour early AND STAY UNTIL they arrive. Is that clear?”
“Yep.”
CatNap nods.
“I will come back tomorrow to see how it went,” the Prototype continues.
“We will not fail you,” CatNap says.
“I know you won’t,” the Prototype says before walking away.
___________
“I can handle it this time, I swear! I made a mistake once! I can fix it, I promise!” Hoppy Hopscotch pleads.
“This is going to be dangerous. The Prototype’s been keeping a closer eye on any movements we’ve made. We can’t risk anything going wrong,” Doey responds.
“I can handle danger! I can be careful! C’mon, Doey, please?”
“Maybe if you took someone else with you. Someone more responsible…” Doey trails off, deep in thought.
“Baba’s responsible enough! I’ve heard that she wants to get out and do something!” Hoppy offers up.
“She prefers to work alone, though. I’d rather send you with someone else. Bubba would be the best choice, I think. I can send Baba on another mission,” Doey mutters.
Hoppy isn’t sure if she’s supposed to respond or not, but she does anyway. “I don’t wanna go with him. He’ll just make everything so much more boring than it needs to be.”
“But he’ll be able to help you.”
“If we run into any of the Prototype’s goons, he’s gonna be completely useless.”
“If things go the way they should, no one should be running into anyone. Bubba will make sure you get to the location, get the supplies, and get out.”
Hoppy sighs. “Fine. I’ll go with Bubba. But when he holds me back and ruins the entire mission, I get to say I told you so.”
“He’s not going to. He’s just going to make sure that you two stay safe above all else.”
“Because he overthinks everything and doesn’t like taking even the smallest of risks?”
“He does what’s necessary.”
“When we play soccer, he takes a minute to decide whether he wants to shoot or pass the ball,” Hoppy points out flatly. “Whichever team he’s on is almost guaranteed to lose.”
“In this situation, he’s going to keep you alive. And that’s what’s most important.”
“Fine. I’ll go talk to him. When can we leave?”
“In an hour. Remember, be careful. If you see anyone who works for the Prototype, make sure they don’t see you and come back if you think you can’t get past them. OK?” he asks, his eyes full of concern.
“Yeah, yeah. I understand,” Hoppy responds, rolling her eyes. “Also, I think Bubba would kill me if I did anything that puts us in even the slightest bit of danger.”
“He probably would,” Doey says with a chuckle, though it sounds forced.
“Do you want us to let someone know before we go, or can we just go when it hits an hour?”
“You can go. But please, be careful. I can’t-” His voice cracks, and he stops to take in a deep breath. “We can’t lose anyone else.”
“I will, Doey,” Hoppy promises before running off to go find Bubba.
_______
“We need to pick up the pace. We’ve already been gone too long,” Bubba grumbles.
“We’ve been gone for like an hour. It’s not a big deal!” Hoppy argues. “Just enjoy the fact that we’re not stuck in Safe Haven for a while!”
“We’re not stuck in Safe Haven. We’re hiding from the people who want to kill us.”
“No one’s gonna kill us out here. Prototype only kills people openly disobeying his orders when he can find them, and right now, he’s not finding us.”
“It doesn’t mean that his followers won’t,” Bubba mumbles.
“They’re not gonna find us, either. Anyways, we’re only a few minutes away from the shipping yard. We’ll just go in, get the stuff, and be on our way back. It’s not going to take that long. You’re just overreacting,” Hoppy responds, resisting the urge to roll her eyes.
“Is it overreacting when our lives are on the line?”
“If it’s you? I’d say overreacting is an understatement.”
They walk in silence for a few more minutes before they reach the shipping yard. It’s incredibly awkward, and Hoppy has to bite her tongue to stop herself from saying anything.
Finally, they reach the shipping yard, and Hoppy has an excuse to bolt away.
The supplies are tucked in a corner, where someone would only find them if they were looking.
“See? I told you it would be easy,” Hoppy throws over her shoulder.
“Just hurry up. We shouldn’t be out in the open like this for too long.”
Hoppy rolls her eyes and starts putting the supplies into a carrier they’d brought with them, Bubba joining in.
About halfway through their work, Bubba forcefully grabs her wrist, forcing her to stop.
“What the-”
“Shhh,” he whispers harshly. He picks his head up and glances around.
“What do you hear?” Hoppy asks.
“I don’t think we’re alone.”
“You’re just being paranoid. We’re almost done. If anyone’s here, they’re not going to notice us, and if they do, it’ll be too late,” Hoppy responds, wrestling her wrist out of Bubba’s grip and returning to putting stuff into the bag.
After only a few seconds, Bubba smacks her.
“What the-” Hoppy glances up to see Bubba giving her a wide-eyed look, quickly glancing across the shipping yard before looking back at her.
Across the shipping yard, two people that Hoppy really doesn’t want to see are glaring at the two of them. CatNap, the Prototype’s most loyal follower and worshipper, and Bobby BearHug, the only Bigger Body Smiling Critter who had betrayed them.
“Hi,” Hoppy says casually. “How’ve you two been?”
“Hoppy,” Bubba hisses. “They are probably here to kill us.”
“Are you stupid?” CatNap asks.
“Very much so. Bobby can attest to it. Can’t she?” Hoppy asks sharply.
Bobby doesn’t say anything.
“Hoppy. Don’t antagonize them,” Bubba warns.
“You’re not supposed to be here,” CatNap hisses.
“What, is this reserved for the Prototype? You know you guys aren’t the only ones in this factory, right? We have to eat, too,” Hoppy responds.
“You rejected his rule. You lost your privileges to freely wander the factory.”
“Maybe we can come to a compromise,” Bubba offers. “We can leave everything we have here with you, and we won’t bother you again. OK?”
“If you do not follow him, then you will perish. I will bring your body to him to prove my loyalty,” CatNap hisses before immediately leaping at Bubba.
The elephant screams and tries to get the cat off of him, but it’s no use. Hoppy tries to drag the cat off of him, but Bobby slams into her first.
“You’re really going to let him kill one of our friends?” she snaps. “Haven’t you fallen off hard enough?”
“You don’t understand. The Prototype protects us. He keeps us safe. What does Poppy do for you?” Bobby responds sharply.
“Doey’s more in charge than she is. And he may not be able to protect us, but he does his best and cares about us, which is more than the Prototype ever did,” Hoppy tries to get around the bear, but she blocks her at every move.
“Prototype may not care about us, but he keeps us safe.”
“You already said that. And you call murdering everyone who doesn’t obey him ‘keeping you safe’? What happens when you step out of line, and you’re next on the chopping block?”
Bobby freezes, and Hoppy takes the chance to break past her. Bubba is barely managing to keep his own against CatNap. Claw marks cover the elephant’s body, while CatNap looks completely unscathed.
Hoppy slams her body into CatNap’s, forcing him off of Bubba.
“We need to get out of here. Now,” Bubba hisses, barely waiting before bolting off.
Hoppy glances back at Bobby one last time before following.
_______
Bobby can’t get Hoppy’s words out of her head.
What happens when you step out of line, and you’re next on the chopping block?
Would she even have to step out of line? CatNap already didn’t like her, and everyone knew that he was the Prototype’s favorite. If he put in one bad word, told him anything about some of the things she’s said about the Prototype when he wasn’t looking…she’d already be dead, though, wouldn’t she?
How much longer is he going to let me stay around before he decides I’m too much of a hazard for him to allow me to keep running around?
“You lost them?” The Prototype asks.
CatNap nods, hanging his head.
“Did they get their supplies?”
“No,” CatNap rasps. He sounds worse than usual. He’d probably been crying about their failure.
“GOOD. THAT IS better than nothing.”
“I’m sorry. I’ll do better next time.”
“IT IS alright. Mistakes happen.”
“I should have known better.”
“You will make up for it NEXT TIME. I believe in you.”
“Thank you,” CatNap lowers his head, almost as if to bow.
“I WILL let you know when I have another task for you. There are some things that she and I NEED TO DISCUSS,” the Prototype instructs.
CatNap nods and walks away.
Bobby feels a cold rush of fear down her spine. What happens when you’re next on the chopping block? “What did you need to talk about?” she asks, hoping that he doesn’t hear the tremble in her voice.
“This mission was a failure. Someone has to take the PUNISHMENT. And it will not be him.”
“What are…what are you going to do to me?”
“I won’t KILL YOU, if that is what you are asking. THE PRICE of your failure will be no access TO OUR stock, and the expectation that you will make up for WHAT HAS HAPPENED.”
“I understand,” Bobby says.
“GOOD. Further instructions will be given later.”
He leaves, and she’s left to wonder if she made the right decision in choosing him. Sure, she was safe, but she was alone. The Prototype is a ticking time bomb, and who knows who he’ll decide to kill next? Had Icky Licky really done anything wrong, or had he just guessed that the lizard would be helping his old friends? Would he know that Bobby had been helping Icky?
What happens if you step out of line, and you’re next on the chopping block?
________
“Doey, we’re fine! I told you, we got out fine!” Hoppy says.
“But you ran into them. They could have killed you. Look at what they did to Bubba!” the doughman argues.
“He doesn’t have claws or anything like that to fight back! If someone who was stronger with me, it would have been-”
“It doesn’t matter. They had to have known you would be there. We’ve been going to the shipping yard for weeks, and he’s never shown interest in it before.”
“It’s just a one-time thing. Let me take someone who can fight, and we’ll make it out fine. You can even pick who! Just let me try again. Please,” Hoppy begs.
“I won’t-I can’t risk it. The shipping yard will be off-limits. I’ll let everyone know.”
“But it’s important! It’s one of the only places we consistently get stuff!”
“It’s not worth the risk anymore.”
“Let me try one more time, and if it doesn’t work, we’ll stop going there. OK?”
“It’s not worth the risk,” he repeats sternly.
“I’m just asking for one more time. One more chance. Please?”
Doey sighs. “Are you going to leave this alone?”
“Well, see, the thing is…”
He sighs again. “I’m willing to make an offer to you. But this is the last offer I’m going to give, and then we’re abandoning the shipping yard.”
“Yes!” Hoppy says, bouncing up and down in excitement, even though there’s not a lot of room in Safe Haven to do so. She hits a few things, but that doesn’t matter. She’ll pick them up later, once her energy has worn off a bit. “Thankyouthankyouthankyou!”
Doey smiles a bit at her excitement, though he still looks too serious. “You can go to the shipping yard one more time, but I’m going with you this time.”
“Then there definitely won’t be a problem! Even if they try to fight us, you’ll beat them up before they can do anything!”
“Hopefully, it won’t come to that.”
“But if it does, we’ll be fine! And you’ll see how easy it is! Anyway, when can we leave?”
“I’ll have to talk to DogDay about this. I think it’s best that I leave him in charge while we’re gone. I think that leaving sooner rather than later, before they have time to regroup, would be best.”
Hoppy nods eagerly. “I’ll be here when you’re ready!”
____
“See? We’re almost there, and there hasn’t been a single problem!” Hoppy says cheerfully. “No Prototype worshippers, no hostile critters, not even a mouse! No offense to Touille, of course. Even though he smells bad. Seriously, who thought ‘petrichor’ had a nice smell? Also, would that even be offensive? I’ve never really asked him.”
“We still need to be careful. If I know anything about the Prototype, it’s that once he knows where we might be, he’s going to stake out there until he knows we’re not coming back,” Doey responds, glancing around.
“But we moved fast enough that he won’t have had time to, and by the time we come back, he’ll already have left! We have nothing to worry about!”
“I don’t want to make any assumptions until we’re safe back at Safe Haven.”
“But?” she asks hopefully.
“We might be able to make this work. As long as we don’t run into any-”
“You,” Doey is interrupted by an all-too familiar raspy voice from behind them.
Hoppy whirls around to see CatNap and Bobby. “He sent you two here again? Really?” she asks. “You were literally just here.”
“So were you,” CatNap hisses. He doesn’t waste another second before leaping at Hoppy, pinning her to the ground.
Hoppy kicks her back feet at him, but he doesn’t get off of her. He rakes his claws across her ear. She shouts in pain, but he keeps clawing at her.
Suddenly, the weight of the cat is lifted off of her. She looks up to see Doey holding CatNap against the wall with one hand. CatNap writhes, trying to get out of the doughman’s grip, but it’s no use.
“I have had enough of you getting in our way!” Doey hisses, his voice splitting into multiple.
Oh, crap. Hoppy’s heard about this happening in intense situations, but she’s never seen it for herself. She’d always known Doey was different from the others, since his Bigger Body had three kids inside instead of one, but she’d assumed that they all were pretty much the same person personality-wise.
CatNap starts struggling harder, but Doey is too strong for him. Bobby is frozen in place, so she’s not going to help him. And honestly? CatNap probably deserves it.
“Get your hands off of him.”
Crap crap crap crap crap crap crap. Hoppy glances around, trying to find where he is. He’d thrown his voice, so she can’t use that to figure out where he is. It’s not like she can fight him, even if she could. She’d be lucky if she got out of this alive.
Doey is looking around too, his eyes narrowed. He doesn’t release his grip on CatNap.
“Doey, maybe you were right. We should probably get out of here,” Hoppy whispers, glancing around again.
Doey’s eyes soften for a second and his grip on CatNap loosens. Before he can completely let go, he shakes his head and his eyes immediately steel again. “No. We’re here. We’re not letting this go because of some stupid cat!”
“You must not have heard me clearly,” the Prototype says, climbing down from the ceiling.
How the hell does he get up there? And how does he do it so quietly? Hoppy tries to back away from him, but her muscles won’t move. All she can remember are her friends who had died to him after they’d refused to follow him. We’re dead. We’re dead. We’re so dead. If they get out of this, she’s never going to ask to go to the shipping yard ever again.
“I’m not scared of you,” Doey snaps.
“YOU SHOULD BE,” the Prototype hisses. “If he is not released in the next FIVE SECONDS, you will be dead.”
Doey doesn’t make any moves.
The Prototype doesn’t hesitate before moving his hands in a swift stabbing motion.
It doesn’t do any damage to Doey, since he’s made out of dough, but it does force him to let go of CatNap.
“Get out OF HERE,” the Prototype tells the cat.
“But-”
“GO. NOW.”
CatNap obeys.
The Prototype returns all of his attention to Doey.
“Did my last warning not tell you enough ABOUT HOW YOU ARE not allowed back here?”
“You don’t own the factory.”
“I DO. I saved you from our CAPTORS. You may not like what I do, BUT IT IS necessary. And you chose TO DISOBEY ME,” His eye flicks over to Hoppy, and she feels a fresh wave of fear. Her body is itching to move, but she can’t. “I can’t let you leave. BUT YOU CAN BE USEFUL. You will be used to show your friends what happens to people WHO DISOBEY ME.”
Instead of going after Doey, the Prototype lunges towards Hoppy.
She tries to get out of the way, but he moves too fast for her. His claws slice into her shoulder, tearing a large chunk of fur away. She’d managed to avoid dying, but as the blood drips down her shoulder, she knows that isn’t going to last long.
She slowly lifts her head to look him in the eyes. His face is just as horrifying as it’s always been, but if he’s going to kill her, he’s going to look into her eyes while he does it.
He doesn’t seem to care, raising his arm to deal the killing blow.
Hoppy slams her eyes shut and braces for impact.
It never comes.
Hoppy opens her eyes again to see Bobby BearHug between her and the Prototype, blood running down the side of her face, one of her ears missing.
“I knew you were A TRAITOR,” the Prototype hisses. “I didn’t realize you were also A FOOL.”
“I’m done standing to the side and watching while you kill all of my friends,” she says, though her voice is closer to a whisper.
“You are upset about your LITTLE FRIEND still?” the Prototype asks. “Do you want to know how he died?”
Bobby doesn’t answer.
“HE SCREAMED, begging for mercy. Pathetic. He was willing to sell you out FOR THE OPPORTUNITY to live.”
“So you knew?”
“I’d hoped that your OLD FRIENDS would take care of it for me. They are USELESS. I will handle things from here.”
Before the Prototype can do anything else, Doey comes from behind him and dumps a large pile of his dough onto him.
“That’s not going to stop him for long,” he says. “We need to get out of here.”
Hoppy gives a short nod before immediately running off towards Safe Haven. She doesn’t stop until she reaches the front of the doors, not even bothering to glance behind her to see if Doey is following.
After she’s stopped, she takes a few seconds to catch her breath before turning around to see Doey and Bobby following behind, much slower.
“You let her come with us?” Hoppy snaps, narrowing her eyes at the bear. “She worked for the Prototype. She probably helped murder our friends.”
“She saved you from getting killed by him, and he’s not going to let her back in. Where else is she going to go?”
“Let her go back to them. She chose them over us, anyway.”
“I thought it would be safer,” Bobby says. “I thought he would protect us. I understood what he was saying, about having to stay in the factory, and killing everyone in the building. But after he killed Allister…I started to have doubts. Once Icky started helping you guys…I tried to help him in all the little ways I could, before he…he got caught.”
“That’s why he hasn’t been showing up over the past few weeks,” Hoppy whispers. She’d remembered the lizard, always coming with some supplies from the Prototype and news of what he and his followers were doing. It was the only way they knew what the Prototype was up to, which was invaluable. He’d also been a good friend to everyone in Safe Haven.
“I’m sorry. I tried to warn him to be careful, but he didn’t listen,” Bobby says quietly.
“You can stay with us in Safe Haven for as long as you need,” Doey says softly.
“I’m not sure-”
“If you stay out there, he’ll kill you. Please, just stay with us. The last thing this place needs is another death.”
“Is there any way I can make up for working for him?” Bobby asks.
“We’ll see what you can do.”
“Maybe you could go on some supply runs with me? Somewhere other than the shipping yard?” Hoppy offers.
“Would you really want to trust me? After everything I’ve done?”
“Maybe not immediately, but…I think I can learn to,” Hoppy answers honestly.
“Thank you. I’m not sure I deserve it, but…thank you.”
“Just don’t do it again,” she responds, almost jokingly.
Bobby’s smile lifts slightly. “I won’t. I promise.”
Maybe things can get a little better.