Light.

That was all that Molly could see. All around was light. Light so bright that everything else was blotted out by it. Even when she tried to look at herself, all she could see was white light.

"Hello? Anyone there?" she called out while looking around. "Huggy? Where are you?"

"There you are."

Molly perked up at the sound of a voice. She turned and saw a little girl with red frizzy hair standing next to Huggy Wuggy, who smiled down at her.

"Is that...me?" Molly asked herself as the girl giggled while holding up... "Is that a toothbrush?"

"Come on, Huggy. You know you need this." the little Molly playfully scolded Huggy, who was now hold his hands over his lips.

"I don't wanna! That stuff tastes nasty!" Huggy complained.

"I hate it too, but it's better than letting our teeth rot. Plus, the others all say that you'll bite anyone else who tries to brush your teeth. Now come on. Get down here and open up." the little girl ordered.

"No! I don't want to!" Huggy refused while crossing his arms, his smile still present on his face.

"What is this? It feels so familiar. Is this a dream...or a memory?" Molly asked herself as she watched it all unfold.

"Huggy! If you don't get down here, I'll tell Kissy you were misbehaving!" the younger Molly warned, making Huggy flinch.

"You wouldn't!" he said before reeling at the little girl's glare. "You would...Oh, fine!" Huggy huffed before he bent down to her eye level and opened his mouth wide, revealing his sharp teeth to her.

"Good Huggy! Now hold still!" young Molly said with a smile as she applied the toothpaste and began to gently brush his teeth. "One tooth, at a time~"

"Brushing 'till all of them shine." Molly sang along with a chuckle. "I remember now. I always brushed Huggy's teeth since he couldn't hold the toothbrush with his hands. And if I recall-"

"Eww! Your breath stinks, Huggy! When's the last time you brushed your teeth?"

"You're the one who brushes them for me!" Huggy laughed.

"Right. His breath always stank. Never did answer what he ate." Molly said to herself.

"Okay! The front row of teeth are done! Now for the back row~" younger Molly sang as she put more toothpaste on the toothbrush.

"Heheh. Easy with the toothpaste, Molly. You want to brush Huggy's teeth, not drown him in fluoride."

Molly froze at the sudden new voice. Her eyes widened as a tall figure suddenly walked towards the younger Molly, making the little girl look up at him while Huggy started to growl. She couldn't see their face, but she could tell that they were a man, were African American, and that his voice, for some reason, filled her with warmth and comfort.

"Easy, Huggy. I come in peace. I just came because it's time for Molly to join the other kids." the man said before looking down at Molly. "After you brush Huggy's teeth, it's time to go."

"Aww. Do I have to, Mr. ********?" younger Molly asked with a pout, making the man gasp dramatically and look away.

"No...Must...resist...puppy dog eyes!" the man grunted out while acting like he was in pain.

"Pfft! Who is this goober?" Molly chuckled before they all faded. "Wait. Where'd they-"

..k..p

"Huh? Who said-"

"Hey, Mr. ********. Why do all the workers here have to do these big puzzles?"

Molly turned and saw her younger self standing next to the mystery man, a Grabpack on his shoulders as he launched the hands somewhere.

"It's a security measure to keep bad people from getting to places they shouldn't be. Plus, the puzzles were made to keep our minds sharp. Plus, they're fun!" the man answered with a laugh before he took her hand and lead her off towards the white light.

"Weird security measure. Still, I won't deny, they were a bit fun." Molly admitted.

..p

Molly whipped her head around to try and find whatever made that noise.

"Is that a voice? Who is it this time?" she asked. She tried to step forward, only for the area to suddenly dim, a rumbling noise coming from everywhere. "What now?! An earthquake?!" she yelped before the whole area started to flicker and distort, make the whole place look like a TV screen full of static. "What is this?!" she yelled before a giant picture of Huggy was shown looking down at her, along with many other shapes and figures all around. Even though he was still smiling, she felt nothing but sadness as she passed by him. "What's...going on? Why are you staring-"

"Be good...Molly."

Molly gasped before she grabbed at her chest, her heart feeling like it was being squeezed in a vicegrip. Her legs buckled and she felt like she couldn't breathe.

"What...What's...What's happening? Why...Why does...it hurt so much?!" she wheezed out, tears starting to flow from her eyes as the world around her started to fade away into darkness.

wake up

Molly stopped breathing and sat up straight, her spine stiff and her nerves frazzled. She slowly turned and her eyes wided at the sight of Poppy's image slowly appearing from within the darkness, her eyes locked firmly onto hers.

"Wake up!"

Molly jolted and sat upright, sweat coating her forehead as she struggled to get her breath back. She looked around to find herself back in the room she was in before. The only difference she could tell was that the case that previously held the Poppy Playtime doll was open, the doll itself missing.

"What...What happened? Was that a dream?" Molly asked as she got up on shaky legs. She checked herself to see that all her belongings, plus the Grabpack, were still with her. "Good. Nothing's missing...except for Huggy. Huggy? Where'd you go?!" she called out. She walked back out of the door she came in and started heading back to the entrance, only to find it sealed by a massive mountain of items. "What?! Who did this?!" she yelled before she tried to move the items, only to find that they had been assembled in a way that they were wedged into place. "Crap! I can't move them!" she huffed. She looked around the area before finding the door that was previously blocked was now open. "Well, if I can't go back, then I'll just move forward." she declared before she walked through.

The scenery changed back into the familiar hallways of Playtime Co., with painted characters on the walls and pipes running up into the ceiling. "Huggy! You down here?!" she called out as she kept on walking.

...this way...

Molly paused for a second before she resumed walking, her pace a little slower than before.

"I could do without the whispered voices, thank you." Molly called out. She kept on walking before the path split into two. The left was blocked by a door that had hand scanners, but no power. The right lead to who-knows-where. And in the middle was a door with the name 'Elliot Ludwig' above on a plaque. "Elliot Ludwig? The founder of Playtime Co.?" she said before she tried to walk in, only to find the door locked. "Great. Two paths unavailable. Guess that leaves option three. To the right." she decided before she walked off to the right and towards a hole in the floor. It wasn't too deep, but she couldn't jump high enough to get up the ledge to the other side. "How do I get across?" she asked herself before looking up at a pipe sticking out of the ceiling. "That's convenient." she said before launcing a hand at it, grabbing it and swinging across. "And fun." she giggled.

Keep going...

"Stop that!" she snapped before continuing onwards before finding the path boarded up. "Who put this here?" she wondered before she looked around. The only things there were another door blocked by metal barrels and a cardboard cutout of Huggy holding a Grabpack, a big red button and a speaker attached as well. She walked towards the barrels to move them before stopping, her eye going towards the cutout. She flicked her gaze between the door and cutout a few more times before she rolled her eyes and hit the button.

"Hehehahaha!"

"That is not how Huggy sounds. Idiots." Molly huffed before she pushed it again.

"Does someone need a hug?"

"Honestly? Yes." Molly admitted before pushing it again.

"Give me a biiiig squeeze! I promised I won't bite."

She chuckled and hit it again.

"Come closer, friend."

And again.

"I'll squeeze you until you...HONK HONK!"

Molly jumped back in shock after the cutout let out a staticky honking noise.

"What the heck?!" she yelped. She carefully reapproached the cutout and hit the button again, only to get the same laugh from earlier to sound out. "Guess it's a loop." she said before shrugging and heading for the door. "Still, I wish the real Huggy was here. Where did he go?" she asked as she moved the barrels and opened the door. It was a small storage room of sorts. Nothing impressive...except the giant flower key hanging on a hook in the back. "Wow. Big key." she said as she took it. "I wonder what door it opens." she said as she fiddled with it, making a normal sized key stick out of the tip. "Why...forget it." she said before she walked back out and headed back the way she came. "I hope this opens Mr. Ludwig's door." she said as she stopped in front of it. She then aimed the key, put it in, turned it and was rewards with a 'click' sound. She then slowly turned the knob and opened the door, revealing the office of the fouder of Playtime Co., Elliot Ludwig.

"So this is his office, huh? Not bad." she said as she walked in and looked around. "Books, child drawings-Oooh! Video tape! And lookie here. A VCR." she said before she popped the tape in. "Hope it's something better than those other tapes I've seen." she said before the tape started to play.

"Playtime Co. is the product of a great man by the name of Elliot Ludwig." a voice narrated as a man appeared on the screen, his face completely blocked by a black square.

"No image of his face? What's with that?" she asked.

"Divorced, but a family man at heart. His sights were always set on bringing amazing toys to amazing children around the globe. Ludwig spent countless hours in the factory, working overtime relentlessly in an attempt to continuously innovate and surprise." the voice continued as it showed more pictures and video of Ludwig working, his face blocked out each time.

"He sounds dedicated." Molly mused.

"In the 1960's, an unfortunate family death had pushed Ludwig down to his lowest."

Molly let out a small gasp before sagging in minute sorrow. To hear someone in your family died was tragic. She may have been an orphan tossed around in foster homes, but that still hit her where it hurts.

"But, with so much ambition, he rose back up and continued to fulfill his vision for the Playtime Co. toy factory. Ludwig could never be content leaving a project unfinished. But just how did one man come to create such an astounding empire? How did he manage to stay determined, even after suffering such a tragic loss? It all began in the fateful year of 19-"

Without warning, the tape cut out, leaving nothing but a black screen.

"What?! Come on! You can't just say all that and not explain the rest!" Molly whined before groaning. "That's going to drive me crazy!" She huffed before looking around again and saw a note on the desk. "Huh? Must've been under the tape." she said before picking it up and reading it.

Experiment 814

Notes:

This experiment utilized a live rat.

Rat was fed 3 portions daily for 2 weeks.

At the end of the two weeks, the rat was killed and submerged into a poppy flower and preservative gel mixture.

1 week later an electric shock was applied to the rat (still in the gel) in an attempt to revive it

The rat remained unresponsive

Analysis

I still believe in the potential of the poppy flower. Its unusual properties lend me to believe that the proper mixture and procedure could have life altering properties. The poppy flower for a long time carried heavy symbolism and I don't believe this is for no reason. Perhaps something larger than a rat would yield different results.

Molly looked at the note before she rubbed her eyes, then read it again. Then a third time before lowering the note and looking at nothing.

"Experiments? Poppy gel? Life altering?! What the heck is all this?!" she asked herself. "This sounds like mad science stuff!"

She stared at the note again before she violently shook her head.

"No...There's gotta be a reason for this. Maybe it was...a new idea for a toy! Yeah! That must be it!" she said with a nod before she put the note in her backpack. "I'm just overthinking things. I need to keep moving! But...where do I go?" she asked herself. She looked around the room before she stopped at the grate on the wall in the back that was slightly ajar. "That vent shaft is big enough to walk through. Maybe I could..." she trailed off before grabbing the vent with both Grab hands and pulling, which wrenched it out before it fell to the ground, acting as a ramp to get into it. "Alright! Now I'm getting somewhere!" she said before she started to walk through. "Let's just hope something else doesn't start chasing me through this thing." she grumbled before popping out into a new room. "What's this room?" she asked herself after jumping down and looking around. She could see two tesla towers that could be charged with electricity, but there wasn't any spot visible to connect the hands too. "Hmm. Maybe it's behind a box in here?" she wondered out loud.

CRASH!

If anyone had ever asked her, Molly wouldn't be ashamed to admit that she nearly jumped a foot off the ground while shrieking at the top of her lungs. She whipped around to see a crate had fallen from a higher ledge.

"OH! Uh...sorry! I didn't mean to scare you!"

Molly looked up at the catwalk above to see, to her surprise, a Poppy Playtime doll looking back with an apologetic look. The teen rubbed her eyes before looking back at Poppy, who looked from side-to-side before she waved at Molly.

"How...why...who?" was all Molly could say.

"For the who, I'm Poppy Playtime!" Poppy introduced. "I'm the one that was stuck in that case before you freed me. Thank you so much for that!"

"Uh...you're welcome?" Molly answered.

"For the how? That's a...very long story. But for the why? I'm up here trying to get the power back on." Poppy continued before she moved out of the way of the electrical outlet. "If you use this, you can power up the security get that was near Ludwig's office. You...mind giving me a hand?"

"Not...at all?" Molly said before shaking her head. "I'm sorry. I'm just...It's been a long day." she said as she launched a hand up and began to walk around the towers.

"It's okay. If our roles were reversed, I'd probably be just as confused as you." Poppy said as Molly connected the power, the machine coming to life. "Perfect! Listen, I want to thank you for letting me out." she said before turning and walking through a tiny vent, her voice bouncing off the walls as she move through them. "There's a train station nearby. It needs a code, and I have it. We're gonna get out of here."

"You mean you want to leave?" Molly asked.

"Yes. And you can too." Poppy answered from near the larger vent Molly came in from.

"But...I don't want to leave." Molly said, making Poppy look at her in confusion from out the other end of the vent she walked through.

"Really? You want to stay here?" Poppy asked.

"Well, not forever. Just until I can find the answers I'm looking for." Molly answered as she hoisted herself back up into the vent.

"Answers?" Poppy asked as they both travelled through their own vents. "What kind of answers?"

"To a whole heck of a lot of questions I have." Molly said.

"And you think this factory has them?" Poppy asked.

"I'm hoping it does. And if I find them, then maybe I can finally get on with my life." Molly said as she reached Ludwig's office. "However, I've been finding more questions than answers since I got here."

"Such as?" Poppy spoke up from the vent entrance she was standing in.

"For starters, who sent me this letter alongside a videotape?" Molly answered while pulling the paper out of her bag and handing it to Poppy. The little doll read the words before giving it back to Molly.

"I'm afraid I don't know. I haven't been out of that case in a long time." she answered before noticing all the toys in Molly's bag. "Are you collecting toys as well as answers?"

"No. They've been with me my whole life. I got more back home." Molly explained. "And that's another question. Why can't I be away from these toys? Every time I try to distance myself from them, or if somebody tries to take them, I either cry or get violent."

"I heard that children do love toys, but that's a little much." said Poppy.

"Yeah." Molly said as she gently pet one of the toys before looking up at Poppy. "Hey, I just remembered. You seen Huggy?"

"Huggy? No. Not since the just before the lights went out in that room earlier." Poppy answered. "I'm just glad he's gone. That monster would've killed you if he got his hands on you-

"HUGGY'S NO MONSTER!" Molly yelled as she got up in Poppy's face, making the little doll fall on her butt and scoot away from the angered teen. Molly was breathing hard as she glared at the freak out Poppy. "He's one of the kindest, sweetest, most gentle people I know! And I won't let you badmouth him!"

"W-What?! What are you talking about?!" Poppy asked. The little doll was so confused as to why anyone would stick up for something like Huggy Wuggy.

"Huggy is...He's my friend. He...cared for me...He..." Molly got out before her eyes started to water. Poppy noticed them long before Molly collected herself and rubbed them away. "A-Anyway, don't say mean things about Huggy! Got it?!"

"...Got it." Poppy answered with a nod.

"Good." Molly said before heaving out a sigh. "I just really hope he's okay."

"Huggy's not a weakling. Even I admit that." Poppy said as she got up and straightened her dress out. "Listen, if you want answers, then we'll have to travel deeper in the factory. But I'm warning you. There are others deeper down. They're bigger, stronger and...Well, I'll just say that they're more dangerous than Huggy when angered. The gate out of the office and to the right should be usable now. I'll meet you there, Miss...Oh dear. I've forgotten to ask your name."

"My name's Molly." Molly answered before she left out the door.

"...Molly?" Poppy whispered with wide eyes.

Molly quickly made her way through the gate and over the chasm, which seemed to have no bottom, before making her way through the halls. She tried the doors as she passed them, but found only the one at the end was unlocked. She opened the door to find Poppy staring down a huge hole in the middle of the room, all the other areas being blocked off by security gates with no way to open them.

"How'd you get here so fast?" Molly asked as she stepped inside.

"Helps to know one's way through the factory's ventilation system." Poppy answered before turning and looking up at Molly. She looked uncertain about something as she fiddled with her fingers before looking back up at the teen. "Listen...I'm going to need you to trust met-"

Molly's eyes widened as, without warning, a giant pink hand reached out of the hole, grabbed the little doll and pulled her down, making her scream the whole way.

"P...Poppy?!" Molly said while blinking before her mind clicked. "POPPY!" she yelled before she leapt in after her. "AHH! WHAT WAS I THINKING?!" she screamed before she continued to fall. Her shrieks of terror bounced around the area before they turned to squeals of joy as she fell herself sliding further down, tiny lights allowing her to see a little before she popped out of the bottom. "That...was so terrifying! HAHAHAHA!" she laughed as she got to her feet. "I thought I was dead! Why am I laughing?!" she giggled before looking around. "Right! No time for fun! Gotta find Poppy!" she said. The only place she saw that was accessible was the power room, so she ran in.

"Okay. Let's power you up." she declared. She launched one hand and dragged it to a nearby tesla tower, only for her hand to release when a gate shot up the moment the electric current ran through the tower. "What the-?" she yelped before she tried again, only to have the same thing happen. "I guess the puzzles here are more complex the deeper you go in the factory." she mused before she reconnected the hand and dragged in around in an attempt to figure out the puzzle. Luckily, it only took her seven tries before she finally figured it out.

"Finally!" she huffed as the power surged through the wire into the door blocking off the Game Station. She walked through and down the hall towards another door, a red hand scanner above being the only way to access it. She aimed her hand, shot it towards the scanner...and froze in terror as the same pink hand from before stretched out of the darkness and grabbed the red hand.

"A new playmate!" a female voice full of excitement said before the pink hand disappeared into the darkness above, pulling the red hand until it disconnected and leaving Molly with only the blue hand. The teen swallowed the lump in her as four pink, stretchy limbs descended from the shadows above, with the right hand holding a gagged Poppy firmly in it's grip. Soon the owner of the limbs descended, revealing a massively huge Mommy Long Legs.

"It's been so..." Mommy trailed off, her smile dropping when she saw Molly staring back up at her. Neither human or toy moved or said a word, allowing silence to fill the area. The only movement at the moment came from Poppy, her eyes shifting back and forth between the teen girl and the giant spider woman. Her eyes stopped shifting and honed in one Molly, who was still silent despite the few tears running down her face. After a moment, Poppy's eyes softened.

'So...it is her.'