Chapter 5: Kissy's Playtime History
The Critters were amazed to see how Kissy Missy-sized everything was in the house. It was like a normal household with a fireplace and a comforting atmosphere. Ms. Pecky Missy placed the groceries on the table. Smacky Missy was carrying some pillows and blankets. Smoochy Missy was folding laundry while she was cuffed by the ankle. Kissy Missy set the table for her family and the Critters.
"You came inside. Mother is going to make some lunch for us. How does my family's famous Meaty Spaghetti sound?" Kissy said.
The Critters blushed and squealed with joy as they wagged their tails.
"Hooray! Mrs. Missy's Meaty Spaghetti," DogDay cheered.
"She only makes it once a week back at Home Sweet Home," said Baba Chops.
"Mmm. The ground meat sauce and the super soft Neapolitan noodles cooked al dente," PickyPiggy said.
"Even the parsley and parmesan cheese helps deepen the flavor. Such smooth and mouthwatering taste," said Maggie Mako.
"Plus, it's a food that's not sweet, which is rare for Maggie," said Rabie Baby.
"Then we shall dine on it for lunch," said Bubba Bubbaphant.
"Oui. That and scraps for me," Touille nodded.
"Before you eat, you should settle in. We got a guest room upstairs," said Smacky Missy.
Smoochy Missy shows up behind the guy Critters and Poe with a slobbery but toothy grin and says, scaring them, "I'll show to your rooms…especially for the gentlemen of the group…"
But Kissy, with a smile, hits Smoochy on the head with a rolling pin, scaring the Critters into a group hug.
"I'LL show you to your room, Critters. It's just up the stairs. Follow me, children," said Kissy, leading the way.
The Critters follow her to see a staircase, but the steps are slightly bigger than themselves.
"Crap," Poe yelled.
"Language," Kissy's voice heard.
At the top of the stairs, Kissy looks over the hanging portraits. She sees her mother and a Blue Wuggy cradling her baby and her baby sisters in their arms, showing that she and her sisters are triplets.
"Hi, Dad," she continued while speaking to the portrait. Things are going wild now. I don't know what to do with the children I swore to care for until they're ready."
But she frowns before taking a photo of her wedding day. Huggy Wuggy, in a tuxedo, is carrying Kissy Missy, who is in a wedding dress. Both are wearing matching wedding rings.
She thought of seeing Huggy being grabbed by the Prototype's Claw, and right before her eyes, Kissy witnessed him being clouded by the Red Smoke and turned into the bigger body hostile Huggy Wuggy.
In his last words, he said, "Kissy…RUN!"
"Mrs. Missy!" CatNap's voice broke from Kissy's thought.
Kissy looks down to see the Critters crawling toward her, looking tired.
"Sorry, I forgot the steps are bigger than you," said Kissy.
"Yeah, a good excuse for us to be tired as heck," Icky Licky said sarcastically.
"So tired…," Allister Gator panting.
"You said it, brother," said CatNap.
"Here's where you will be staying," said Kissy, opening a door.
The Critters stood up to see a bedroom so big for Missy size. But they were so in shock to see a Missy-size bed. CatNap and Allister squeal like fangirls before throwing their backpacks at DogDay and Baba Chops and jumping onto the bed.
"Yeah! A real bed! Ahhh," said Allister before falling asleep.
"Sweet dreams," CatNap said before falling asleep.
But their backpacks were thrown at their faces as the Critters got on the bed.
"Don't think of your leaders as bellhops," said Baba Chops.
"I must say: this is worth king size for my taste," said Simon Smoke.
"At least we can share one big bed," Bobby BearHug smiled.
"Ha, good luck being able to sleep with Nightmare Critters, who are giving you nightmares," said Rabie Baby, giggling.
"Oui. Curiously, were you Critters able to have dreams?" Touille asks.
"We're good," KickinChicken answered.
"We never had nightmares when you guys are near us," said Hoppy Hopscotch.
This surprised the Nightmare Critters to look at each other.
"Now that is new. Others say nightmares come when they sleep because we're close by," said Maggie Mako.
"Who would say that? Just because you're called Nightmare Critters, it doesn't mean you can make nightmares," said PickyPiggy.
"I never thought I lived the day to see you Critters getting along," Kissy commented before sitting close to the bed.
"Now that we're settling in. Mrs. Missy, do you have any information about Playtime Land's Princess Poppy?" Bubba Bubbaphant asks.
"You've seen her?"
"Kinda. But she was shrouded in shadow and the sun behind her back."
"But we were able to get a clue from Pianosaurus," said CraftyCorn, holding her sketchpad.
"Pianosaurus?! He's back to normal?!"
"Yes. He recalled being ordered to gather Brontosauruses for the enemy's army and mentioned seeing this Claw."
When CraftyCorn showed her Claw drawing, the sight of it caused Kissy to scream and fall out of her chair.
"Mrs. Missy, are you alright?" DogDay asks while the Critters look down.
Kissy stood up and said, "So, he's real and alive?! After all these years…"
"You know who this Claw belongs to?"
"Not much about him, and even mere mention of him was only told in legends. All that was known about him was that he was ambitious yet mad at the mind for his ultimate goal to obtain immortality. His real name is unknown, but we call him the Prototype."
"The Prototype? Lamest evil name ever," Simon commented.
"I thought I was imagining seeing his Claw when he…"
Kissy begins to cry, causing the Smiling Critters and the Nightmare Critters to look sympathetic.
"Did he…do something to you?" CatNap asks.
"He took control of my husband, Huggy Wuggy," Kissy says as she shows her wedding picture to the Critters.
"Woah, you were married, Mrs. Missy? I thought we only called Mrs. because it made you sound professional," said Baba.
"He wasn't the only victim, was he?" DogDay asked.
Kissy answered, "Yes. I witnessed the Terror of Joy. The sky went red. The air went toxified by the Red Air. Some of us escaped…others were unlucky when he caught them…They were either killed, became spare parts or be in control of the Prototype…But what really ran my blood cold was seeing our once fair princess standing upon the balcony of Playtime Palace and watching us all suffer…Not even showing any concern or regret for what had happened."
"Some princess she is. Uncle Bron said she blessed us and the Nightmare Critters when we were born," Kickin said.
"Bron made it out too?! Anyway, there's Wuggy and Missy tradition that a Wuggy would come from Wuggy Prairie to Missy Meadows to look for a wife, go into the Crave Cave and leave the crystals that would give them children and travel the world to find a place for their true home. When Huggy came, he promised a life that I would never imagine. In the end, we never had the children we wished to have. So, he took me to Playtime Land, and we lived happily for a long time until the Day of Terror."
"Tragic," Poe commented.
"This Prototype sounds way worse than my Critter Crew and me," said Icky Licky.
"Idiot! Now's not the time for acting jelly."
"Who's got jelly?" Maggie asks.
"He means jealous," Bubba corrected Maggie.
"Correct me again, and I'll shove marshmallows in your nose!"
"And when I finally thought you would get along. Anyway, come downstairs when you're ready to eat, Critters," said Kissy, leaving the room.
"So, we're dealing with Princess Poppy and the Prototype," said Bubba, writing down in his "Journey to Playtime" notebook.
"Talk about a letdown name. I was expecting a sinister name like the Demon, the Litch, and the Mad Mortal who wishes to be Immortal," said Rabie.
"Well, it appears from what Mrs. Missy said. This Prototype was around a long time ago and was believed to be dead. Since it's possible that the Prototype was able to achieve immortality," said Bubba.
"Yes, but when was he around? He could be a century old or a thousand years old," said Touille.
"Hey, don't go that far, Touille. It's impossible to live that long."
"Bubba, I'm a unicorn. Simon is a dragon. And we're all talking animals that can walk on two feet. We are the definition of impossible," said CraftyCorn.
"You got to put the limits on something, including immortality and eternal youth."
"Shut up! I'm trying to sleep," said Allister, throwing a pillow toward Bubba.
But Bubba ducked for it to hit Hoppy.
"Hey!" she yelled and threw back at Allister.
But it ended up on Icky.
"How dare you?!" Icky throws at her.
But she ducked, and Kickin took the hit.
"Take that back, froggy!" Kickin yelled, throwing the pillow back.
But Icky slides away so Baba would get hit.
"Uh oh," her friends said.
"Extreme Pillow Fight to the Death?!" Baba yelled while throwing the pillow back.
But when it hit CatNap, DogDay said, "Yes! Pillow Fight."
All Critters pull out pillows and begin to go in a fight cloud to hit each other with pillows and do battle cries. Kissy Missy was listening to what they were doing with her head against the door.
"And this is why I have to bring the Nightmare Critters back to Critter City. They'll distract the Smiling Critters from their journey with their constant bickering," she said while descending the stairs.
But when she makes it down, she finds her mother and sisters are nowhere in the house.
"Mommy? Smacky? Smoochy?" she called.
She looks in the kitchen to see the ingredients for the Missy Meaty Spaghetti are out.
"Mommy never leaves ingredients out when gone," Kissy said.
She then went to the living room and found the sheets on the couch, with folded laundry still in the basket.
"My sisters never leave chores undone. Where did they go?" Kissy questioned while the evil daisies appeared behind her.
Back upstairs, the Smiling Critters and Nightmare Critters still engage in their pillow fight. Kickin and Icky stare at each other down while twirling their pillows—Hoppy hits Allister, who is lying on the floor with a pillow. Simon is holding a pillow and looking for CraftyCorn. She came out of hiding in a pillow pile to hit him from behind.
"Oh, I like that in a princess, full of surprises," Simon smirked.
But he notices Crafty running off, so he flies after her. Poe is pulling Bubba's trunk while laughing. But Bubba opens the blinds for sunlight to come in. Poe screeched from being blinded by the light while Bubba prepared to whack them with his pillow. Bobby and Rabie are having a standoff with pillows at hand.
"Come on, Bobby. I know your nasty secret when brushing your friends and collecting their shedding. You don't have the guts to hit the person who knows your secrets," Rabie mocked.
But Bobby shows a sinister smile before throwing a pillow onto Rabie's face and pounces on her to continue in a fighting cloud.
Maggie cracks her knuckles and says, "Can't hide from me, pork chops!"
She turns around to show PickyPiggy hiding behind her before hitting her with her pillow. Picky quickly runs away before Maggie realizes what Picky did and gives chase. DogDay and Baba are on all fours.
"You shouldn't have done what you did, Baba. You never learn when someone messes with CatNap," DogDay growled.
"If it means getting you all to myself, I really don't care," Baba answered.
"You should care when you become my new chewing toy!"
Both leaders pounced on each other to create a tornado-fight cloud. CatNap witnessed it and thinks it's going too far. He was about to his Red Smoke to put them to sleep until Touille kicked his butt. CatNap hissed at Touille before enlarging his claws with an evil smile. Touille screamed as CatNap chased him. Soon the leaders' tornado fight cloud sucked up everyone to be part of it. However, DogDay poked his head out of the cloud and looked at the door.
"Wait a minute! Stop! Stop! EVERYONE, STOP!" DogDay yelled.
The fight cloud disappeared to show Maggie biting Picky, CatNap with Touille's tail in his mouth, Simon on top of Crafty, Poe pecking Bubba's head, Bobby holding Rabie in a bearhug, Icky with Kickin wrapped in his tongue, Hoppy holding Allister by the neck, and Baba on DogDay's shoulders.
"What is it now, doggy treat?" Baba asks.
"Mrs. Missy hasn't returned for a whole minute," he answered.
Touille came out of CatNap's mouth by opening it to say, "Le what?! Elephant, is he right?"
CatNap spat Touille out and said, "Yuck! Trying to eat you was the biggest mistake I ever made."
"You never tried to eat me before, catnip. Why now?!"
"Animal instincts? I don't know why I just did that."
"DogDay's right. It only takes Mrs. Missy for a couple of seconds, either 20 or 30.9 seconds, to be exact," said Bubba.
"Do you have to be that literal?" Rabie questioned.
"Rabie, he's serious. Mrs. Missy hasn't come back yet. We should check," said Baba.
The Smiling Critters and the Nightmare Critters jumped out of the bed and left the room.
"Mrs. Missy!" Kickin called out.
There was no answer, and the Critters slowly approached the staircase.
"Ms. Pecky? Is there something going on?" Hoppy called out.
Still no response, the Critters hopped down the stairs to check. They got a good view and saw no one was there.
"They're gone?" Icky questioned.
"Maybe they went on another shopping spree," PickyPiggy asks.
"But after being crushed by the huge shopping bag, I don't think they would need another shopping spree," said Simon.
When the Critters reached the floor, they went to the kitchen and found no food prepared.
"Something is really wrong about this place. I don't smell lunch being made yet," said Maggie.
"It's like the Missy Family disappeared," said Bobby.
"Wait…If they disappeared without explanation, that means the enemy is here," said Allister.
"Yeah, my Father warned me. We better be careful," said CatNap.
The Smiling Critters and Baba summoned their magical weapons.
"Finally, a good reason to do some violence," said Simon, opening the front door.
"I'd rather do negotiation, but confrontation can be necessary when used," said DogDay.
The Smiling and Nightmare Critters run into the light of the outside to fight.
Back with Daisy, she gathered to the trap flower Missy Family.
"Huggy…Oh, how I miss you…," Kissy said,
"I finally have some grandchildren…," said Ms. Pecky.
"I finally opened my lipstick shop…," said Smacky.
"So many men…Yes, come to me…," Smoochy said.
"I'm never getting anything out of them. They must have the Critters somewhere," said Daisy.
So she walked away until she saw the Smiling Critters and the Nightmare Critters now trapped in her dream daisies. Seeing this caused Daisy to laugh happily in victory.
"Yes! I won! Oh, wait until the bosses hear this," said Daisy, taking out the Playtime Telephone.
At Playtime Palace, the chained Bigger Body Smiling Critters were shocked to see their children and the Nightmare Critters already trapped by Daisy's fantasy flowers.
"No…," said BB Bobby Bearhug,
"My baby," said BB CraftyCorn.
"Daisy's fantasy flowers trap those caught in their fantasies," said BB Bubba Bubbaphant.
"If they stay stuck there forever, they'll never reach Playtime Land," said BB Hoppy Hopscotch.
"And the world is doomed to be toxic in Red Air forever," said BB KickinChicken.
Unaware of them, the Bigger Body Nightmare Critters overheard them and became concerned about their children.
"The only thing we can do now is wake them up through our sleep," said BB CatNap.
"We'll it even work if their minds are trapped in that state," said BB PickyPiggy.
"Their medals weren't caught in the outcome. This is our chance to help them. Quickly, CatNap the 29th, put us all to sleep so we can free our children," said BB DogDay.
Hearing this, the Bigger Body Nightmare Critters left and thought, "Children…We'll save you…"