Poppy Playtime: What is My Purpose?
Run, run as fast as you can, little one! I'm coming after you!
I chased my prey down the narrow passageways of the conveyor shafts. Normally toys on the assembly line were supposed to pass through here in an orderly manner. But that had not been the reality in ages. It had been years since anyone stepped foot into or out of the toy factory. Was it coincidence that I had found this intruder stepping foot into my domain this evening? No, I think it was fate. Poppy had told me to stay put, keep watch. So I did. For years and years. And she was right, somebody did finally come. Now it was my job to drive this person to Poppy. It was the order I had been given.
My prey looked back at me as I began to gain on it. The person looked frightened of me. It probably noticed my uneven rows of teeth hanging from my open, smiling mouth.
"Stay away from me, you monster! Why are you trying to kill me?" It yelled at me. The intruder wasn't watching where he was going and ended up dropping down a hole in the floor. It gave a quick yelp of surprise as it disappeared from my sight. I proceeded to follow it down without any hesitation. My long, gangly limbs tucked in towards my body as I dropped down after it. I followed it down on this lower level. My organic heart pounded in anticipation of catching this intruder. For I would give them a nice big hug when I caught them….and maybe just a little nip on the neck to keep them from struggling. That wouldn't kill the person, would it?
A door closed in front of the intruder, forcing them to come to a quick stop.
"Oh, come on! Open up! Open up!" The person panicked and banged on the door. They looked back at me, as I continued to advance on them. A gurgle of anticipation rose in my throat as I envisioned wrapping my arms around it.
"Nyaah!" It screeched. The door began to open. It was a slow and agonizing few seconds for my prey. "Come on, open faster!" He commanded it. The door did not obey and continued with its slow ascent. It was mere seconds away before I would be able to reach the person. The intruder began to perspire out of utter fear and urgency. They slipped under the door as soon as the opening was big enough for them to fit through. I growled in frustration and nearly ran into the door. My yellow fingers slid down and grabbed the door's edge, prying it up and open.
I continued forward, finding the person running down a long and straight stretch. There were no doors or turns in this corridor. The intruder seemed to be slowing down. I could hear him panting. My furry body was definitely gaining on him this time. Just when I thought I was going to catch him, my prey dropped down another opening in the floor. My arms closed around nothing but air. That was very disappointing…
Nonetheless, I wouldn't be dissuaded. With a clear goal in mind, I let myself fall down after it. It was a steep grade going down. I was gaining a lot of speed. Suddenly a door closed between me and the person. I put out my arms and let my yellow fingers slide along the metallic walls. The contact made a bit of a screeching sound that sent a chill through my body. One might compare it to nails on a chalkboard. My body came to a stop just before face planting into the closed door. This was not good! My prey was getting away! No, I couldn't let that happen… I had to complete my mission! I just had to! That was my one and only purpose at this moment.
Flinging myself at the door shoulder first, a loud clang echoed through the halls. It began to bend and give under my strength. Two more hits like this and I would be through!
On the third whack, the door came off its hinges and fell away. I barreled toward the creature in front of me. It seemed to be cornered. There were pieces of conveyor belts stacked every which way, blocking the bridge that would have been the creature's escape route. The shaft had opened up into a room in the factory with walkways suspended and going in every direction possible. It was an ominous place where the air hung still. Even the sound of a pin dropping would echo through the entire place. I had him now for sure! Or so I had thought…
The intruder had grabbed a device from the factory called a Grab Pack. It was essentially two artificial hands attached to a yellow pipe structure that curved around the person's body and stayed on via straps like a backpack. Using buttons on the device, they could shoot out those artificial hands to…well…grab things. The red hand was situated on the right and the blue colored one on the left side.
I saw the person look up and send the Grab Pack hands to latch onto something above. Having complete tunnel vision at this point, looking up did not seem like an option. It never even crossed my mind. The intruder retracted those arms and pulled something down. I shrieked in surprise as a big heavy crate came down on the platform between me and the creature. The walkway collapsed under its weight. Luckily for my prey, it landed feet first on the platform below. I, on the other hand, was met with the metal railing to my stomach. Boy did that hurt! My body went numb as it lay suspended for a second. The upper half of my body spilled over the walkway but the lower half dangled down towards the nothingness. The weight of my long legs began to drag me down. Something wet pooled under my thick blue fur. No doubt I was bleeding. I closed my eyes and braced for the impending fall and crunch that would end my life. My body slipped off and began its plummet. I had failed in my mission. What would Poppy think? Would she know that I had tried my hardest?
Something grabbed my hand and pulled me to a stop. I slowly opened my eyes. My first sight was the endless void of the factory to which I would have fallen. I couldn't even see the bottom. Only a white smoke that clouded over everything below. I then looked up. The person had used their Grab Pack hand to catch me. That blue hand held mine tight.
"I've got you, Huggy! Hold on!" It said. The mechanical arm started to retract like a fishing pole. It slowly lifted me back up to the platform. My prey backed up to make sure my tall gangly body had room to collapse. And that's exactly what I did when the hand let go: collapsed onto the walkway and panted.
"Hey there, you look hurt." I heard the person say. It took a step towards me. Instinctively, I growled at the intruder, warning him not to come any closer. My right arm wrapped around my torso to protect my injured and very vulnerable area. "Easy there, big guy." It said and motioned its hands for me to calm down. The intruder reached around to a bag that he was carrying around. "Here, take this toy repair kit that I found down in the factory." A red box was set down in front of me. This toy repair kit was essentially a first aid box for us toys. "I'd help ya, but I'm afraid you'd try to bite my head off if I did. Well, good luck, Huggy." He said and waved a hand as the person continued on their way.
Why did this person save me? I didn't deserve to be saved. Not after all the people I had killed in my lifetime. My whole existence was a lie. To the public I was the lovable and well-known Huggy Wuggy. Designed to give hugs and make children happy. Always forced to wear a smile on my face. Never able to show my true emotions. The truth was that PlayTime Co. was a horrible place.
During the day, it was all smiles and happy, do anything and everything for the children's happiness. But once the lights went out on the business day, that's when their true intentions came out. The scientists would perform horrible experiments on us toys. Although we weren't truly toys. We were in fact living, breathing creatures made from artificial materials and human souls. PlayTime Co. had created life. But they weren't going to stop there. No, they had to experiment on us. Find out how to make us better, make the perfect specimen. They poked and prodded at us each and every day. Gave us "conditioning" to act a certain way. If they weren't prodding at me with long sticks or giving me controlled shocks, they would have me muzzled and chained to a corner. We were becoming aggressive towards the adults. That's why they often stuck us to care for the orphan children: because they knew we cared about the young ones and would not act out in front of them. It gave us a special feeling making the children happy. Like we had something to live for.
It's been years since anyone has stepped foot into the factory. And now that they have, why did that person help me? They had absolutely no reason to after I had chased them down and tried to catch them. I didn't understand anything that had just happened between me and the intruder. But this random act of kindness did something inside me. It seemed to alleviate some sort of weight that was on my heart. For once in my life, I did not feel obligated to carry out a command that was given to me. I had decided to let this person go and not pursue them as Poppy had instructed me.
All my life I had been conditioned to obey orders. Over time I had learned to obey or otherwise get punished in very inhumane ways. But now there weren't any PlayTime Co. employees left to hurt me. Did I really have to follow orders anymore? Perhaps now I could follow something different…my heart. And then it dawned on me: I don't have to depend on others to decide what I should do. Not any humans, or even Poppy for that matter. I can – and will – make my own decisions from now on.
My first and foremost decision was to use the toy repair kit and fix this wound that was still bleeding. I reached for the kit and let my yellow fingers drape over it. Dragging it closer, I slowly stood up, not having let go of my bleeding torso. My tall, gangly body instinctively trudged back to my hideout that lay deep in the factory's depths.
Tucking myself into the familiar large and hollow red pipe, I opened the toy repair kit. I took out the needle and thread. For this wound was open and needed to be closed before I kept losing more blood. I had never done this myself. If I was ever injured, the PlayTime Co. employees would muzzle me and strap me down on a table…like I was some sort of Frankenstein's monster. It always used to hurt. I think they were supposed to numb me before they operated, but they always seemed to either forget or not give me enough. I had seen the employees perform the procedure enough to know what to do. But this would be challenging to do it myself.
Pushing the needle through my fabric on each side of the wound, the thread began to pull my furry material back together. I cringed and tried my best not to cry out in pain as I continued to skewer myself with the needle. Tears started to come to my eyes. It became increasingly difficult not to make too much noise. I think I might have bit my lips a little in the process to help keep myself quiet. With a whimper of pain, I finished up threading the wound and bit off the excess string hanging from the needle. A long, slow sigh emitted from my lungs.
My relief did not last long. A low moaning sound filled the area. This was accompanied by the pitter-patter of metallic hands and feet. Had I been too loud? Did he find me? I slumped down in the pipe, hoping he would not see me. The shadow of a skinny metallic hand raised up as if it were the head of the beast. It sat there taking in the environment, trying to sense movement. I stayed as still and quiet as I could. The Prototype sat there for a good long minute, waiting for some sort of noise or movement. It didn't sense me and eventually moved on.
Everyone feared the Prototype. He would scavenge for parts to add to his body. If he found you living, he would take you and rip you apart, eventually turning you into something else. I'm not sure what the scientists' goal was when they created it. But it didn't seem to be anything close to a toy like the rest of us.
I didn't dare breathe a sigh of relief right away. If I was unlucky, the robotic creation would hear even a small noise such as that. I stayed hidden in my hole for a little while. Had to make sure no one was around when I eventually did decide to come out.
As I sat there, thoughts came flooding into my head. Thoughts of the past, what I had done, what was happening now, and what I would decide to do in the future. As I dwelled on my thoughts, I realized I didn't know who I was or who I was supposed to be. The PlayTime Co. employees always just used me as their mindless lackey. Told me what to do every step of the way. Whether it was to smile and be happy for the children or punish those that had done something that management didn't like. I had lost count of how many times my fangs sank into the flesh of humans. There was a short time where I would've said that the salty taste of the blood gave me a rush. But that didn't last for long. The taste eventually became stale; just a bad aftertaste that reminded me that I was doing something wrong. But I had no choice in the matter. Not if I valued my own life or the lives of the other toys that I had come to be friends with. As of now, I had been free from the awful punishments of the PlayTime Co. employees for years. Yet I still relied on others to decide what I should do. Perhaps that was because that was all I ever knew, all I could remember. But all of that was about to change. For I would walk my own path now. Figure out who I wanted to be and what I wanted to do. I sat there pondering all these thoughts, getting lost in the flood they brought.
A little later on, a scream echoed through the factory. That voice belonged to the intruder that had saved my life. He sounded scared. Who else had he met? Pretty much any toy in here would cause an unsuspecting person to elicit that kind of screech. Perhaps I should go check it out. Poking my head out of the pipe, I looked left and right, up and down to make sure no one was around. I began to wander about after deciding that it was safe to emerge from my hiding hole. My footsteps treaded lightly, careful not to make a lot of noise and alert the Prototype to my location.
Another scream bellowed its song. This one was different though. It was clearly not the intruder. This particular screech sounded like Bunzo the rabbit. His screams were accompanied by lots of crashes and bangs, as if he were struggling with someone. I turned myself toward the Game Station where I could reach Bunzo's territory. Perhaps if I could find the rabbit, I could also find the person I was looking for.
A third – and different – set of screams reached me as I was on the way to the Game Station. These cries sounded a lot like mine, only smaller and a higher pitch than I could do. All these cries of agony shook me to my core. What was going on in here? I would soon find out as I stepped into the Game Station.
At the back of the Game Station stood the train that used to transport the orphans to and from their destination. Around the room was playground equipment. Designed to keep the kids busy as they all waited their turn to participate in the three games that they were required to complete. There were stairwells that led to each of the games. And they were all to be completed in a certain order: Musical Memory, Whack-a-Wuggy, and Statues. Based on those screams I heard, I could tell that someone had gone into Musical Memory (Bunzo's game) and Whack-a-Wuggy (the mini Huggy Wuggys). But why did the game mascots seem so scared? The intruder couldn't do that kind of damage to them, could he?
But then my attention was diverted upward. High above all the playground equipment was Bunzo and the mini Huggy Wuggys strung up in a large and thick spider web. They were all motionless. Hung in uncomfortable positions. This webbing could only mean one thing: Mommy Long Legs. She used to be so protective and caring of the other toys. What had happened to her? She was clearly very angry. If Mommy Long Legs was around, I wasn't sure that I wanted to get involved. She could be very hostile and aggressive to anyone that gets in her way. I've seen what she does to people that cross her path and defy her wishes. My mind raced back to the time when she crushed a human's skull with her bare hands. Or when she strangled somebody with her stretchy hair. Mommy always gets what she wants for sure. Maybe I should just go and mind my own business…
I went to turn around and crawl back into my hole when a blood-curdling screech of rage sounded in the distance. That was definitely Mommy Long Legs and she did not sound happy one bit.
"I ASKED YOU TO PLAY FAIR AND YOU CHEATED! I HATE CHEATERS! AND NOW WE ARE GOING TO PLAY ONE LAST GAME! IT'S CALLED….HIDE….AND….SEEK!" Mommy shouted in an utmost irate tone. I didn't have long to wonder who she was talking to. Along came the scream of terror from the very person I was looking for. I was very at war with myself as to what I should do. Part of me said I should help the person that had saved me and the other part of me said to run away from the scene as fast as I could. Helping the intruder would mean confronting Mommy Long Legs. She would no doubt hurt me if I stood in her way….if not kill me. To help or not to help? Every inch of my fur stood on edge at the thought of confronting Mommy. For no toy had ever defied her before. Only the humans had been foolish enough to argue with her….and they all met an untimely end at the hands of Mommy. The intruder would likely meet the same fate as the PlayTime Co. employees if I didn't help him.
My gaze turned back to Bunzo and the mini Huggys. They didn't deserve this kind of treatment. They had all looked up to her, respected her. And look how she had repaid them.
Get it together, Huggy. Are you really going to let her bully your friends and get away with it? No, she had gone too far this time. I squeezed my hand into a fist, making my final decision to take action and not run away like a coward. This was my first step in changing myself into the person I wanted to be. I had to make my own decisions, regardless of what anyone else might tell me. Fear ran through my body as the reality of my choice settled in. I was headed right into the fangs of danger itself. Nonetheless, I made my way to the vent system where I could navigate quickly. Following the person's screams and Mommy's malicious cackles, I was able to find a spot to exit the vent and cut across their path.
I cautiously poked my head out of the vent to see the intruder desperately running for his life. Following close behind was the ravenous pink spider. It was kind of dark in this part of the factory. It was likely one of the many warehouse-like hallways that the employees used to navigate the factory behind the scenes. You know, shortcuts and paths that the normal bystander would not know of. I only knew of these myself because I was often kept back in this kind of environment when PlayTime Co. locked up for the night. Where they would contain us in cages so we could not cause damage or harm while everyone was away, sleeping soundly in their homes. How on earth could they sleep at night knowing what they had done to us? It proved one thing for sure: that they had no conscience.
Pipes ran along the walls, some spitting steam from cracks that were long overdue for an inspection. Even when this place was up and running I don't think routine inspections were included in the CEO's routine day-to-day operations. He certainly couldn't have the public find us. PlayTime Co. would have been shut down for good. Murdering and harboring souls was definitely not legal. Not to mention the fact that we would be set upon them so they could never leave and end up like us.
Mommy Long Legs' pupils had dilated so big from her adrenaline that her green irises could not be seen. A pink ponytail whipped around on her round head as she moved her stretchy limbs at a faster pace than I had ever seen. Her two legs ended in feet that were shaped as a boot-like shoe. Her two arms ended in hands with four fingers. Every part of her body she could stretch out to an unnatural length; limbs, fingers, neck, toes – wait, does she even have toes? Despite the darkness, I could see that Mommy Long Legs looked a bit dirty. Like she had not kept up her personal hygiene. She used to be much more concerned with those kinds of things.
The person took a glance over his shoulder to see how close she was. He wasn't watching where he was going and ended up tripping over a pipe on the ground and falling down. The intruder yelped and tried to block their face with their arms from the impending strike from Mommy. She took a jump, her arm and fingers continually stretching toward her prey. It was now or never for me to act!
I emerged from my safe place in the vent and jumped toward Mommy. My shoulder collided with her torso. The strike caught her off guard and knocked her away. She quickly shook off the hit and looked back at me in utter confusion.
"Huggy, please step aside, dear. Mommy has to teach this cheater a lesson." The pink spider said in her innocent voice. But I knew she was anything but innocent at this point.
Meanwhile, the intruder finally dared to lower his arms and see what was going on. He was sure surprised to see that I was blocking Mommy's way.
"Wha-? Huggy, you saved me….thank you! You're not so bad after all." The person realized. I took a quick glance over my shoulder at him, making sure to acknowledge his words. But I had to be careful not to take my attention off Mommy Long Legs for too long. Knowing her, she would probably take advantage of any opportunity she got to go after the humans or anyone she perceived as a threat.
"Step aside, Huggy and I'll let this….incident between us go."
I stayed absolutely still. Every fiber in my body told me to move, but I held firm in my decision.
"Please move, Huggy." She reinforced. "You wouldn't want to be helping the enemy, would you?" I cocked my head to the side, unsure of what she was talking about. "Oh, you didn't know? He used to work here, dear. No doubt one of the many that did us wrong. He deserves to be squished." Her voice growled a bit as she said this.
I looked back at the intruder in disbelief. Was all that true? The person gave a squeal of panic as my black eyes locked onto his.
"I promise I didn't come back to hurt you. I'm just looking for-" He began to explain, waving his hands around like he was trying to calm the situation. It was clearly not working.
"Silence!" Mommy Long Legs roared and pounded her fist down on the ground. "You're going to get everything you deserve….and more. Come, Huggy. Let us teach this intruder a lesson!"
"Huggy, please don't!" The person pleaded. I merely looked from the intruder back to Mommy. My feet still had not moved from that spot.
"Why are you still standing there? I said to attack the intruder!" I stood there, not reacting or responding to her. It was clear that she was getting angry with me. "You're supposed to be obedient! Now…obey my commands!" She tried to order me. I swallowed my fear and began to open my mouth, showing my fangs.
"How dare you?" Mommy hissed at me. The spider reared up onto her legs and threw one of her arms forward. My body froze as it came towards me. But then I realized it passed right over my shoulder. She was aiming for the person! Mommy Long Legs would certainly grab him if I didn't do something…and quickly! In the blink of an eye, I turned my head and chomped down on her skinny arm. Mommy screamed in agony as my fangs drew blood from her. The spider quickly retracted her arm and clutched it close.
"I suggest you get out of my way, Huggy." She was giving me every opportunity to back down from this confrontation. Her mercy was surely running out at this point. I responded with a gurgle rising in my throat. Mommy Long Legs lunged at me, limbs and neck stretched long. I was still standing firm as she came towards me. It was like my body wasn't registering what was going on. That was until the person called out to me.
"Huggy, you gotta move!" He called. I woke up from my trance just in time to get out of the way. My body took a plummet to the left and down to the ground to avoid her wide range. Mommy kept charging forward. The pink spider had gotten me to move and was now going toward the intruder again. Mommy Long Legs was nearly at the person when I wrapped my long arms around her torso and pulled her back. The intruder ended up being just out of her reach, which made them flinch. She grumbled angrily at me. Without saying a word, she reached her arms up and over my head. Her elastic-like arms bent backwards in an unnatural fashion. She grabbed tufts of fur on my back. Mommy slung me over her head and let me fall onto the floor. Ripples of pain danced through my back, making me squeal a bit.
"Do yourself a favor and stay down." Mommy Long Legs hissed at me. I panted a bit as she left my side to get to her prey. She sure was hell-bent on getting to him. Perhaps my current strategy wasn't getting my point across. I had been silent for long enough. Shakily, I stood up and prepared to say something.
"Mommy Long Legs, I order you to stop." I said firmly. It sounded a bit funny since my voice had been designed to sound deep and bubbly that would make the children laugh.
"You don't give the orders around here, Huggy! You're supposed to obey them." The spider whipped around to face me.
"Whoa, I didn't know you could talk, Huggy." The person said in awe.
"Be quiet!" Mommy hissed at him over her shoulder. "Don't stand in my way, Huggy. Or it won't end well for you."
With a slow blink, I composed myself so I could explain my reasoning to her. With any luck, she might actually listen. But then again, that was probably a slim chance. This was Mommy Long Legs we were talking about. And she didn't take well to others' opinions.
"That person saved my life. He gave me another chance. And because of that, I believe he deserves another chance, too. But I need him alive to do that." I defended my decision.
"You know as well as I that death is not permanent here. And if he stays quiet," Mommy chuckled. "I'll make it quick." Webs shot from her abdomen and wrapped around the intruder to prevent him from escaping. "Now if you don't mind, I have vermin to eliminate."
The spider turned her back to me and advanced on her prey.
"No!" I cried and leapt forward. My arms wrapped around her again. She screamed in utter pain as my fangs clamped down on her thorax. Mommy Long Legs thrashed around wildly, trying to throw me off. Her arms bent backwards toward me again. One of her hands grabbed me by the scruff of the neck and the other continually punched my head. To her, I was like a big shark that had taken hold of her. She eventually did pry me off after delivering a few good whacks to my head. I sprawled on the ground as she threw me off.
We both stayed in our spots as we panted from the struggle. The spider curved her neck back to take a look at the wound I had given her. Her green eyes took in the bloody mark. I saw her eyes dilate back again as she looped her neck back upright.
"I didn't want to kill you, Huggy. But you're not leaving me much of an option." She said creepily as her body stretched tall and long. "You have chosen your path. And now you will be dealt with based on what you have chosen to be….a traitor!"
Letting out a battle cry, Mommy Long Legs lunged toward me. I rolled myself out of the way and got up. My long blue arms took a lash at her. My goal was to land a blow to her head. Mommy, however, easily dodged my clumsy movements. She laughed at my feeble attempts to land a hit. For the spider knew she had the advantage over me. Mommy launched a punch at me. I dodged, but then her arm curved back. It ended up landing a solid blow on my head. I flinched and stumbled back a step. Mommy Long Legs continued to throw these types of attacks; letting me believe I had evaded them before they rebounded back. Her fists became a blur as they pounded me. I desperately tried to block my face and torso with my long arms. Mommy laughed maniacally knowing that she had me cornered. One of her fists made its way to my torso, colliding with my homemade stitches. I screamed in pain as the blow threatened to open my wound back up.
"Bite her, Huggy! She deserves it!" The person egged me on. I forced my eyes to stay open and concentrated on a particular strike that was aimed for my head. Prime biting range for sure. With the speed of an alligator, I clamped my fangs down on her fist. Mommy Long Legs screamed and attempted to retract her hand. The spider got it back but succeeded in making the cuts longer. When she yanked, my teeth slid along the back of her hand. Her bloody wound distracted her for a moment, giving me a chance to get in another attack. I evaded an uncoordinated strike from Mommy and got in close. My fangs sunk into her thorax again.
Mommy Long Legs gave an agonizing scream. Something about the tone of this one seemed familiar. Where had I heard it before? Could it be that I had killed her back when she was a human? Yes, I think I remember that day. PlayTime Co. had caught her snooping around where she shouldn't have been.
"So tell me again why you were snooping around my office?" The CEO had questioned her.
"I….I just got lost." She shivered.
"Likely story." The CEO responded sarcastically.
"I promise it won't happen again. Just please let me go. I'm sorry." She begged him for mercy.
"Oh, you're not sorry….but you will be." The man in the suit said sinisterly. His right-hand man let me out of my cage.
"Go on, Huggy. Go and teach her a lesson." The employee said and zapped me with a taser stick. I roared and spazzed about from the pain. Running away from the awful employee, there was nowhere to go but toward the cowering lady. She cried out in agony as my teeth tore into her. After a few seconds of mangling her body, the CEO ordered me to stop.
"That's enough, Huggy. We need her alive. I have a special project for her." While she might not have died directly by my fangs, I certainly sealed her fate. And perhaps death would have been a better fate than the option she was forced into.
I realized what I had done to her and immediately felt bad. Mommy felt my grip easing up and took advantage of it. The pink spider took a violent roll, throwing me off. We both stood up and faced one another.
"Mommy Long Legs, please! We don't have to do this. We're more alike than you think." I tried to reach her once more.
"Alike or not, you caused me pain and suffering, Huggy! You're the reason I got stuck here." She hissed at me.
"I'm sorry about what happened. But we can start over. We can be friends." My yellow hand extended toward her, offering a peaceful solution.
"Or you can shut up and take your punishment." Mommy said, doing a quick turnaround. She unleashed a shot of her webbing at me. It plastered to my mouth and sealed it shut. My yellow fingers reached up and desperately tried to remove it. The webs seemed sticky but not impossible to get off. It would just take a little time. But that was not something that Mommy Long Legs would allow me to have. She took a sigh of relief as I struggled.
"There, no more teeth. And no more teeth means you're helpless." The pink spider tackled me. She promptly wrapped her elastic limbs around me. They wound around my legs, up my torso, and tightly on the arms. I could feel my hands getting pried away from my face and forced towards my sides. A sharp pain engulfed my left shoulder. On top of those limbs constricting tighter by the second, she was now biting me with her spider-like fangs. I had to do something quick!
I realized I could still move my legs for the time being. Her grip tightened as I took a couple steps forward. Before long she would restrict my movement completely. Desperate to get the spider off, I ran towards a wall. My body spun around at the last second, letting her take the force of the impact. Mommy screamed as she got slammed. I could feel the spider's grip ease up a bit. It was working! I rammed her into the wall a couple more times before she let go completely. Her body collapsed to the ground, arms and legs stretched out like limp spaghetti noodles. Mommy Long Legs seemed to be unconscious for the time being. This was my chance to go help the person out of her webbing and far away from here.
I ran over and began to unwrap him from the webs. His struggling had loosened it up a bit by the time I got there.
"Phew! Thanks, Huggy." He thanked me as the last of it fell away. "Now let me help you with yours." It used the Grab Pack to pull my webbing off with one go. I took a deep breath after it was yanked off. For it would have eventually suffocated me if it didn't come off.
"Thanks." I said. "Now you need to run! Get away from here while Mommy Long Legs is still down."
"But what about you?" The intruder protested. "I can't just leave you here with her." I was touched that this person was showing concern for my well-being.
An angry cry came from behind me. I felt the spider's limbs wrap around me again. They pulled me away from her prey and tossed me aside. Bouncing off the nearby wall, I collapsed to the ground. My body could not get up fast anymore. Mommy now took advantage of me being down and grabbed the person I had been trying so hard to protect. He squealed as a bloody hand lifted him off the ground.
"Before I kill you, I want you to tell me something." She said to him. "Why did you torture us so?"
"But I didn't torture you! I didn't even know things like you existed!" The person insisted.
"Lies!" Mommy Long Legs hissed. "Perhaps I will have to squeeze it out of you." The pink spider began to squeeze him. I eventually made my way up to my feet and tackled her away. The unexpected hit caused her to drop her prey. I knew he was watching as Mommy and I viciously got into a tumble with one another. Both of us were trying to deal damage that would restrict each other's movements.
Our long arms lashed out at one another. For every one hit I landed on her, she retaliated with at least one – if not two – hits back. I tried to use my teeth on her when I could. At one point, I felt a painful kick hit me in the shin. It nearly made me collapse. Mommy Long Legs realized I was slowing down and would keep pummeling me until I would eventually give in. The spider stretched her fingers out thin to the point they were almost like claws. They raked against my body and even hit my previous wound, nearly opening it back up again. I shrieked in pain and recoiled back. This gave Mommy a chance to get her limbs around me again. They began to restrict my limbs much like last time but kept going and wrapped around my neck too. I instinctively tried to reach up and remove the arm that began to suffocate me. Unfortunately, she saw right through that and began to pull them away. With most of her weight on my back, Mommy Long Legs slowly forced me flat on the ground.
"Nighty, night, Huggy." She hissed by my head. I could feel her hand pushing on the back of my head. Had I opened my mouth, I would have been eating the dust off the floor. The world slowly began to fade before my eyes.
"Oh my god! She's going to kill Huggy!" The person panicked. "I've gotta do something! But what can I do?" They realized there wasn't much time to be thinking about that. With little other option, the intruder launched its Grab Pack hand at Mommy. "Let go of him you monster!" That blue hand landed a solid hit on the spider's face.
"Ugh!" She grunted as the strike knocked her off me. Unfortunately, the hand was not big enough to cause any considerable damage. Only to anger her even more.
"I'm not a monster!" She pouted back at him.
"Well, you're certainly acting like one. You should really apologize to Huggy for what you did to him." He pointed to me as I was still collapsed on the ground recovering from the pink spider's death grip.
"What I did to him? He's the one who doomed me to spend an eternity here!" Mommy Long Legs was not easily swayed.
"Huggy's already apologized for whatever happened between you two in the past. Why can't you just let it go? Why do you have to be so stubborn?" But Mommy Long Legs didn't have answers for all his questions.
"Rrrrgh!" She grumbled angrily at all the person's interruptions. "Why am I still talking to you? I should have killed you already. Well, no more delays…" Mommy began to crawl toward him.
"You're not who you used to be….are you?" The intruder disrupted her again.
"What do you mean by that?" She demanded and stopped moving forward.
"I mean….the people at PlayTime Co… they hurt you…and tortured you. Caused you to change. You used to be a very kind person, didn't you?" He probed.
"Stop it!" She screamed, clearly not wanting to remember those memories filled with pain and misery.
"You loved children and the other toys. You even protected them, didn't you?
"And what do you care about that?" Mommy hissed.
"Because I believe that person still exists somewhere in your shell. I beg you to dig deep and find what's left of that person…Marie."
"What? How do you know that name?" She seemed angry that someone had used her human name.
"I found it on some paperwork about how they experimented and transformed you into Mommy Long Legs." He explained.
"Y-you're wrong." The spider closed her eyes and shook her head. "Marie doesn't exist anymore. It's just Mommy Long Legs now!"
The mention of her human name made me start to wonder what my real name was. Who was I before I was Huggy? I have no memory of anything before this body. Clearly I was somebody, right? How and when did I get caught by the CEO of PlayTime Co.? Perhaps one day I would remember…
"Forget about that quick death I mentioned earlier. Yours will be slow and painful." Mommy Long Legs advanced on the person. He didn't move from that spot. The fact that her prey was not running away greatly confused her. All that time the intruder had been distracting her as I found the strength to get up once more. Now back on my feet, I took advantage of her being distracted by the person. For she had not realized that I was back up again. I grabbed ahold and attempted to pin her. Mommy thrashed around like a fish out of water. For a few seconds, I thought I had her. But then she turned her wrists backward, grabbing onto my arms and pushing me off her. Those arms kept bending and stretching until I was flat on my back, pinned by my long arms. Mommy Long Legs looked at me upside down before rotating her body right side up.
"Oh, Huggy dear, you never stood a chance against me." She said in an innocent manner.
"Oh, yes he did. You're just too scared to admit it." The person argued back.
"I was not scared!" The spider hissed at him, craning her neck around and stretching it closer to him.
"Oh, I think you were. You should've seen your face!" He laughed at her. I took this moment of distraction to chomp down on her arm. Mommy gave a quick yelp of pain but then growled angrily at me.
"I've had just about enough of you, Huggy!" She wrapped her arms around me and lifted my body off the ground. "You are going to rot in the pit of this factory like all the other traitors! Raaagh!" The pink spider exclaimed and threw me to the corner. Something seemed to give way under my body weight. I think I crashed through a few pipes. It felt like I was laying on even more pipes. These ones felt large and thick. My whole body was throbbing with pain at this point. I slowly raised my head to see the predicament I was in. The pipes under me were old and rusted. They groaned under my weight.
"Huggy, don't make any sudden moves." The person said to me. But that didn't help. For the pipes started to collapse under me. With a loud creak of the pipes, I started to fall along with the metallic structures I was on. My yellow hands reached out and caught a smaller pipe attached to the wall. The large pipes continued to fall down to the depths, making loud crashing sounds. Mommy and the intruder thought I was crashing down with them.
"Huggy! No!" The person cried out. Mommy Long Legs, on the other hand, cackled maniacally.
"There's no one that can save you now…you're mine!" She hissed as she turned toward her prey. I heard the person take off screaming down the hall. Now I was alone. My grip was starting to slip.
"I can't….hold on…much longer!" I said to myself. Before I had lost grip on the pipe, it broke off. My gangly body fell toward the depths. "Aaaahh!" I cried as I plummeted toward the PlayTime Co. abyss. My furry body collided with a few things on the way down. It happened so fast that I didn't know what the objects were. By the time I was done hitting things, my speed seemed to be slowing down. My body physically shook in pain as I made contact with the ground. All I could hear was a ringing noise and my desperate gasps for air. The world around me threatened to go dark. My surroundings were all blurry. A red liquid pooling on the ground caught my attention. I had my yellow fingers touch my torso and then bring them up into view. They were not yellow anymore, but sopping with that red liquid. There was no doubt that it was my blood and the wound had been reopened. It was probably even worse than before. Completely numb with pain, I blacked out on the floor as I continued to bleed out.
I'm not sure how long I was out for when a noise woke me up. I quickly recognized it as the skittering of the Prototype. Had it found me? If so, there was no way for me to get away or defend myself. For I was just too weak to move anymore. I barely had the strength to move my arms and lift my head to look for the source of the noise. It was coming closer. My eyes frantically looked around for any trace of it. And then I saw it. Its skinny, metallic hand reached up over my body from behind. The Prototype slowly closed its cold fingers around me. I panicked as much as my body would allow, but it did nothing to deter the ravenous creature. My yellow fingers felt along the ground. I was desperate for something to cling to. But even if I did find something, I would probably not have the strength to keep hold. It started to drag me away. No doubt to its lair where it would pick me apart. And I was going whether I wanted to or not.
Just when I thought all hope was gone for me, someone had come to my aid. A wrench was tossed and it got lodged in the Prototype's arm between the wires and bone that held it together. It shrieked and let go of me. The metallic creature skittered back to the shadows from where it had come. I heard footsteps coming. My eyes shifted in the direction I had heard them. Long pink and furry legs came into view. I followed them up and met the gaze of my female friend that looked a lot like me. Kissy Missy stared down at me. She cocked her head to the side as if she were waiting for me to do something. I tried my hardest to drag myself toward her. My furry body didn't make it far – maybe only a foot or two – before I stopped and panted. Kissy approached me. She reached down and grabbed my arm, trying to pull me along. Not having much strength in her arms, my body did not budge.
"Just leave me here, Kissy. You don't want to be here when the Prototype returns." I huffed, ready to accept my fate. The female let go but still stared down at me.
"No toy left behind." Kissy Missy said and looked over her shoulder. All of the toys that Mommy Long Legs had hurt in her rampage emerged from their hiding places in the dark corners of the factory. This included Bunzo, the mini Huggys, and even PJ, who was a large hybrid of creatures mixed together. Being part pug and part caterpillar, he had the face and friendly demeanor of a dog. His body was stretched long like a caterpillar, boasting probably 50+ legs. His tongue hung out of his mouth as he breathed.
"Mind giving me a hand, PJ?" She asked the hybrid. The dog-caterpillar shuffled all his legs and came over by my side. He tenderly picked me up in his mouth and curved himself around to place me on his back. His blue and purple patched fur was soft and fluffy. Barely having any grip left in my hands and arms, I did my best to hold on as the group began to move forward.
"I know a place where everyone can be safe. Follow me." Kissy Missy said. Everyone followed, having complete trust in her.
