Welp. This took forever to get sorted and figured out. But, I did it. That's all that matters.

Forewarning: There is some dark shit here, like, holy hell I felt uncomfortable writing it but it was necessary for THE LORE.

Anyways, enjoy!

"CatNap!" Andrew shouted as he entered the Gas Production Zone, lugging the large battery behind him. "I'm here! Show yourself, you Cheshire Cat knockoff!" Andrew, what are you doing? Why are you calling him out?! Do you seriously have a death wish?

Apparently so. Andrew surveyed the spacious room for any sign of the purple feline lurking in the shadows, waiting to pounce on him when he'd least expect it. Despite CatNap's deceptively large size, the monstrous cat could easily blend in, and even the most sharp-eyed individuals would miss him at first glance. But Andrew was determined to make sure that didn't happen to him. He had gotten this far through trial and tribulation; he couldn't turn back now.

With no sign of CatNap but remaining wary of him nonetheless, Andrew made his way to the battery terminal beside the door, where he got the GrabPack 2.0 at the beginning of this mess. But just as he was about to insert the battery, the corrugated metal door suddenly slammed open. CatNap emerged, the Red Smoke pouring from his open, permanently grinning mouth until the entire room was filled with the hallucinogenic gas. Andrew dropped the battery and began backing away from the feline as the fog completely enveloped him. Alarms sounded above him, followed by a loud, almost deafening stomp in front of Andrew. And that's when he saw it.

CatNap…he wasn't CatNap anymore. This…this thing, whatever it was, was horrifying. It was almost nothing but bones. Its previously grinning mouth and skeletal hands, legs, arms, and body were elongated and malformed. CatNap was also colorless; the purple fur once covering the creature was now absent and replaced by sickly gray skin.

Andrew screamed and spun on his heel, sprinting for the exit on the other side of the room. But it was shut tight, blocking off the human's escape. Andrew whirled around when the thumping of the walking nightmare grew louder as CatNap rapidly closed in on Andrew for the kill. But the human dodged at the last second, narrowly avoiding CatNap's claws as he swiped at the human. Andrew rolled across the floor, his GrabPack clattering and partially hindering his movement, and ran straight for the lift he recalled seeing in his earlier endeavors through the Gas Production Zone; Andrew hoped it would be his ticket out of here and away from CatNap.

He then spotted a console with a large conspicuous button and quickly pressed it with his Green Hand. The safety gate opened with metal clinking, and Andrew stepped inside. Once on the lift, he pushed the button inside the lift, the gate closing just as CatNap charged, and began ascending with the sickly thin and gray feline creature following. It climbed the chain-link wall, wide, white-pupiled eyes fixed on him as it crawled after him. But then it stopped, tracking Andrew with its eyes when the lift entered the ceiling. Andrew sighed in relief, partially glad that that was over, even if it wouldn't last forever.

He just had to open his big, damned mouth.

Andrew cursed as he pulled a battery from its socket, disabling the wall of steam on his left, and inserted it into the last open slot next to the terminal behind him. The warning beeps of the machine immediately ceased as the timer resumed its countdown. Sixty seconds later, Andrew mentally spat, shooting a flare at a moving shadow, and a haunting shriek followed shortly afterward. A whole sixty seconds before this is over. What am I even doing anyway?

As time slowly, painstakingly ticked away, Andrew ran around the room like a headless chicken as he fought to keep CatNap at bay until the timer reached zero. It was a tedious process, and Andrew prayed it would end soon. He didn't know how much longer he could keep this up. His legs were beginning to ache, his lungs burned as they struggled to provide him with air, and the mental strain of playing this…game was starting to take its toll on Andrew. After closing the vent cover overhead, Andrew quickly glanced at the terminal and felt his heart jump: 10 seconds left. It was almost over! Soon, he'd be able to get out of here and—

The panel overhead opened again, and CatNap immediately jumped down instead of waiting, knocking Andrew to the ground. He was back to his standard form, but it wasn't any less disturbing or unnerving even as the room cleared itself of the Red Smoke. He stood over Andrew, raising a four-clawed hand as he prepared to finally strike the human down. Andrew attempted to dodge out of the way, but CatNap was quicker and managed to catch his arm with a single claw, tearing the right sleeve of Andrew's jacket and drawing blood from a (thankfully) shallow gash. Andrew cried out and hissed through his teeth as his wounded arm burned, but he kept moving despite that.

CatNap tracked him and remained tense as the two circled each other, the feline waiting to pounce on the human at any moment. Then the alarm blared again, drawing the two's attention to the terminal where the green power outlet was sparking. Andrew immediately shot his green hand at it impulsively, acquiring the charge just as CatNap launched himself at the human. He pinned Andrew to the floor, raising a clawed hand once more.

"Goodbye, 'Angel.'" he rasped, bringing his hand down on the human. Andrew closed his eyes and pulled the trigger on his green hand, launching the overcharged appendage at CatNap's face. The feline stiffened and convulsed violently as electricity coursed through his body. He then fell to the floor on his side, still twitching and shaking. Then the Red Smoke poured from his mouth, and before Andrew knew it, the sparks still clinging to CatNap ignited the apparently flammable gas, which - in turn - ignited CatNap himself.

Andrew winced as the creature violently shrieked in pain, rolling across the floor as flames engulfed his body. When the fire died down, CatNap became still, the putrid smell of burnt flesh and fur forcing Andrew to wrinkle his nose and choke back a gag. Then, the human steadily rose to his feet, keeping his eyes locked on CatNap as the feline lay motionless. Andrew wasn't sure if he was dead or not, but he erred on the side of caution as he slowly backed away from the smoking Critter. However, it appeared that CatNap was not down and out yet as he shakily pushed himself off the ground, limbs quivering from the effort, and landed his wrathful gaze on Andrew.

He began approaching the human, hellbent on ending his life, but his legs suddenly gave out, and he collapsed to the floor with a wheeze. CatNap remained there, his hate-filled gaze fixed on Andrew, but unable to move and carry out his revenge on the human. Andrew gulped air as he bent over, planted his hands on his knees, winded from the exchange with CatNap. He locked eyes with the incapacitated feline and felt the purple cat's unbridled fury directed at him.

"You…" CatNap suddenly spoke, his voice raspy and strained but also slightly off. "...Didn't…listen…"

Andrew quirked an eyebrow as he straightened out. "Really? It took you being nearly burnt to death to realize that? Not when I returned to the gas room, called you out, and challenged you to a final battle like an idiot?" CatNap remained silent, and Andrew took that as a sign to continue. "Listen, Mr. Purple People Eater." CatNap narrowed his eyes at the title, but Andrew ignored him. "I don't want to be here anymore than you want me to. But I didn't have a choice. Poppy forced me down here and crashed my only ticket out of here." The human sighed as he took several steps back until his back hit a wall, wincing as his arm burned, and he slid to the floor, his gaze no longer on CatNap.

"I only returned to the factory because I was promised some answers. Not only that, but because there was the slightest bit of hope I held onto that some of my fellow coworkers survived whatever the hell happened all those years back." Andrew shook his head and ran a hand through his messy brown hair as he stared at the floor. "But with all that's happened since I arrived here, I'm starting to think that there isn't anything left for me to save, just like what DogDay told me before I pulled her out of that prison cell and—"

"DogDay…is…alive?" CatNap interjected weakly, his raspy voice conveying genuine surprise with his words.

Andrew noticed this and raised his head to look at the purple cat perplexedly. "Yeah? You…you didn't know that? DogDay told me you tore her in half and strung her up like a piece of meat because she was a 'heretic.'"

Suddenly, as if gaining a second wind out of nowhere, CatNap staggered to his feet, his arms and legs quivering as he rose to his full height and stumbled over to the seated human. Andrew yelped and attempted to crawl away, but he was stopped as he was lifted and dangled before CatNap's face. He expected the feline to devour him on the spot, but his expectations wavered as he noticed what looked like tears streaming down CatNap's face. Before Andrew could question this, CatNap nearly screamed his throat out as he demanded, "THEY DID WHAT TO HER?! WHERE IS SHE?! WHERE. IS. DOGDAY?!"

DogDay remembered when she lost her legs as clearly as day, all because she stood up against the madness that resulted from the so-called "Hour of Joy." The Prototype had Theodore, transformed into a monstrous, nightmarish mockery of DogDay's closest friend, hunt down anyone who opposed him, including the other Smiling Critters. When Theo found DogDay, he ensured that her suffering and inevitable death were slow and painful.

First came the belt, wrapped tightly around DogDay's waist, almost constricting her abdominal organs, while she was held down by swarms of her miniature brethren, former children. Then Theo ripped her in half; the sounds of sinew and flesh tearing apart mixed with her agonizing screams, all while Theo stared down at her with his permanent, toothless grin. It went on for so long; the pain, the burning, the feeling of being eaten from the inside, all of it unbearable and making DogDay wish she was dead, that Theo would just kill her on the spot. Instead, she was forced to endure it all, and the Mini Smiling Critters devoured what was left of her legs, and the bits of raw, tender flesh grew back in.

That was one factor that made Theo's torture of DogDay all the more brutal. Unlike the other experiments, DogDay and the Smiling Critters were their own entity, created and grown in a rudimentary and twisted underground lab separate from the main facilities. They were the peak of human innovation, the creation of a new species. But they weren't without their quirks, with limb regeneration and growth being the most prominent of them all. As long as they had enough sustenance, the Critters could regrow any lost limb in a matter of days. And it was the ultimate form of torture for the leader of the Smiling Critters that Theo could think of for a heretic like her; to partially regenerate what once was lost before being subjected to a million hungry mouths undoing all that progress.

DogDay was shaken from the dark memory by a gentle hand landing on and squeezing her shoulder. She swiveled her head to look at Poppy, who gave the Smiling Critter a worried expression.

"Are you okay?" the doll asked.

DogDay closed her eyes and sighed, looking away from Poppy. "No. Not in the slightest."

"What's wrong?"

DogDay hesitated before saying, "What do you see in that human, Poppy? What about him makes him an 'angel' or makes you think he can save us? He's just a single human, after all."

"He's capable," Poppy said simply. He killed Huggy and Mommy; he's resourceful and smart."

"But he used to be an employee here," DogDay said darkly, side-eyeing the doll. How do you know he isn't one of those monsters who helped The Doctor?"

Poppy opened her mouth to debunk DogDay's accusations, to tell her that she was wrong. But she stopped short as the Critter's words struck a chord in her. What if he was one of those 'employees'? Who's to say that he didn't have a hand in all the sick and twisted procedures that took place all those years ago? But then again, he looked a little young to be on the science team, especially if one accounted for the five years that have passed since the Hour of Joy. Not to mention that he was very familiar with the Make-A-Friend room and was especially attached to the Cat-Bee toy he made until it was lost during his encounter with Mommy.

Nevertheless, Poppy was certain that this human would put an end to the Prototype's reign of madness and free everyone from his clutches, former employee or not. Poppy sighed and shook her head. "It doesn't matter. What does is that he is here, and he's not leaving until this is over."

DogDay looked at her critically and frowned. "Why? Because you forced him to come down here in the first place? Didn't he come here to look for answers regarding his 'missing' coworkers? Aren't you going to tell him that they're all dead and that his original purpose was all for naught?"

"I'll tell him when the time is right!" Poppy snapped, glaring at the Critter. "If you don't like it, then you can just leave! We don't need your help! The human is all we need for defeating the Prototype once and for all!"

DogDay snarled at the doll and did just that. Without another word, DogDay used her arms to pull herself along the ground and left the room with no particular destination in mind. It was a tedious task, forcing her to use what little strength she had saved up since the Angel rescued her from that hell. But DogDay was determined and didn't give up; she wasn't the de facto leader of the Smiling Critters for nothing. Still, it wreaked havoc on her nerves as she dragged across the floor, the 'phantom limb' syndrome bringing a numb, tingling sensation to where her lower abdomen was absent, violently separated from her by the Prototype's "disciple", CatNap.

And not her closest friend, who was shy but very protective of the children and her fellow Critters, but the monster that was created in her likeness. His name was Theodore, and rumor had it that the Prototype "saved" him after a rather nasty accident that resulted in the boy's transformation into another CatNap. Several hours after the "Hour of Joy," he was the one to separate the Critters and pick them off one by one until DogDay was the only one left.

At least, that's what she was led to believe. During her days spent in that godawful cell, Theo liked to come and visit her, only to gloat and brag about how he made sure her fellow 'heretics' suffered a slow and painful death, all the while the Mini Critters were picking away at the scraps of DogDay's regenerating tissue… DogDay quickly shook her head and pushed the dark memories aside, focusing all her thoughts and efforts on pulling herself across the floor towards the Gas Production Zone. She could only hope that the 'Angel' had succeeded in his task to restore power and divert the Red Smoke, and they'd be on their way to bringing the Prototype down once and for all.

Clank!

And speak of the devil…

DogDay perked up upon hearing the generators start again and the telltale hissing of the Red Smoke finally being diverted. If she still had a tail, it'd be wagging, as the thought of seeing her 'Angel' filled the Critter with a sensation she thought was lost shortly after the Hour of Joy. As quickly and carefully as she could, DogDay crawled toward an elevator that would bring her down to the ground floor of the GPZ and into a room with a massive lift that led to the underground labs below. Once onboard, she reached up and pressed the button, beginning her descent.

That familiar sensation, an intense fluttering in her chest, grew as she neared the ground floor. Then she caught sight of her Angel through one of the openings, and her heart soared. DogDay couldn't explain why she felt this way about some human she barely knew and had just met. Perhaps it was the fact that he saved her from those disgusting little freaks in the Playhouse instead of leaving her to her fate. Or maybe it was…

DogDay's thoughts came to a screeching halt when she noticed that her Angel was not alone. Not only that but one of his arms was coated in blood. His blood. A large gash torn through the right side of his jacket was stained with the crimson liquid. Her hackles raised, and a rumbling growl ripped from her throat as the lift reached the bottom.

There, standing just behind her Angel and towering over him, was none other than Theo. Except…it wasn't at the same time. The canine's confusion grew when she saw that the purple feline made no move to attack her or the Angel and cowered slightly behind the human while avoiding any and all eye contact with either of them. However, DogDay remained on edge as she cautiously crawled towards the Angel and Theo, keeping her hate-filled eyes on the monstrous purple feline until she sat before the Angel.

"Angel," she said, not taking her eyes off of Theo. "What is he doing here? Why hasn't he eviscerated you like he has me?"

The human glanced up at Theo with a neutral expression before looking down at DogDay. Then he knelt on the ground and said, "Because that's not Theo, DogDay. He's been dead for a while now."

DogDay's eyes widened, and her eyebrows shot up in surprise as she turned to the Angel. "W-what? Then who…" She looked back at Theo…Not-Theo, who still refused to meet anyone's gaze. If what the human said was true, and Theo was genuinely dead, then that could only mean—

"C-CatNap?" DogDay choked, her vision slowly turning blurry. "Hon, is that…is it really you?"

The purple feline finally looked at the canine Critter, stared briefly, then nodded solemnly. "It is," it rasped hoarsely, its voice now carrying a slight feminine tone to its words. Then, Red Smoke spilled from its permanently grinning mouth, covering the feline head-to-toe in the stuff until it finally dissipated, and a new figure stood in place of the lanky cat monster from before.

CatNap towered over the Angel by at least a foot, with the human coming up to just beneath her breasts. The permanent, toothless grin was gone, replaced with a sad frown spread across CatNap's face. Once again, she avoided eye contact with DogDay, rubbing her arm shamefully as she turned away from her best friend.

DogDay couldn't believe her eyes, and her wide-open mouth was a testament to her disbelief. It couldn't be the real CatNap; after all, she was torn to shreds and made one with the Prototype, or so Theo told DogDay before letting the Mini Critters have their fair share of her for the evening. And yet, here she was, face to face with an old friend she thought was dead. The canine shook her head and turned to the human, who approached and stood beside her.

He gently nudged DogDay with his elbow and nodded towards CatNap. DogDay swallowed the growing lump in her throat; he wanted her to talk to CatNap. But how could she? After all that's happened, and after believing for nearly a decade that she was the last of the Smiling Critters, only for her best friend to show up out of the blue, how can DogDay interact with her supposedly dead companion?

The Critter looked at CatNap, the purple feline still staring off to the side somberly, and took in her ragged, dirty appearance. Like DogDay, CatNap sported a figure generally unsuitable for a younger audience. But the visual lack of explicit features gave Playtime Co. an excuse to continue their twisted dealings in science. Blood, dirt, and grime coated her once pristine, violet coat of soft, velvety fur; a pair of breasts, more prominent than DogDay's, hung from CatNap's chest and swayed and jiggled whenever she moved, her waist narrowed before flaring out to wide hips and thick thighs, and created a sizable thigh gap, and a long, flexible tail swished agitatedly from side to side as if it had a mind of its own. Finally, white dots were set inside a pair of black, void-like sockets and acted as her eyes, which were fixed on anything but DogDay and the Angel.

"You…" DogDay began, still unable to come to terms with this newest development. "You're alive."