The Playhouse

"Oh no, the Playhouse!" My friend gasped. "And we just sabotaged our way back! I guess the only way to go is forward… and find out what horrors are in there." I nodded as we apprehensively approached the entry. Along the left side of the opening was a black and yellow warning sign that said "Do Not Proceed" that was turned 90 degrees clockwise so it ran parallel with the doorframe. Another scream of agony came from within. It sounded like the same voice from before. A concerned gurgle rose in my throat. My body instinctively began to move faster.

"Slow down there, Huggy!" The man cautioned. "I know you want to help whoever that is, but we still need to be careful. Don't just rush into danger." I took a breath, trying to calm my nerves. He was right. I needed to be calm and cool about this. Forcing myself to stop, I ushered the human in first with his light. It was very dark in here, too.

Between the light on the GrabPack and the occasional flare gun usage, we were able to see our environment. Square patterns blotched the walls that used to be bright and multi-colored. But now all the colors were faded. They were also well padded so the kids would not hurt themselves when running and pushing each other around. There were various holes in the walls. Most notably at the bottom like oversized mouse holes.

Something seemed to be moving inside the hole next to us. We heard some shuffling noises followed by squeaks. Two little white pupils glowed from within. Our bodies tensed as the eyes stared us down. For we didn't know if those eyes were friendly or not. A gurgle of warning rose in my throat. Something small shuffled out of the hole. It was a little white unicorn plushie with a big smiling mouth. Her white fur was tarnished with black smudges all over. The dirt even bled over into her sky blue mane, tail, and rainbow flower pendant she wore around her neck. She came out, stopped, and stared at us. The unicorn had similar big black eyes to Catnap. It was unsettling when she cocked her head and studied us with that big, gaping smiling mouth.

"Aww, a little unicorn!" The human cooed. "Do you know her name, Huggy?"

"CraftyCorn." I said, still growling. Something told me we shouldn't trust this little one. That it had a dark secret. The plushie squeaked and shied away at my growling. Her little ears curled down as her blue hooves backed away.

"Huggy, you're scaring her!" He admonished me. But I didn't care. I was sticking with my gut. "It's okay, little one. Come here, CraftyCorn." He coaxed her over. She let him pat her head and then pick her up. "See? She's cool, Huggy."

CraftyCorn sniffed at the man's arm. There was a greedy spark in her eyes. And then she bit down on my friend's arm.

"Yowch! Get off! Get off!" He panicked and flailed his arm around. The little unicorn held on good, making him use his other hand to yank her. Eventually, he did pry her off. The plushie bounced on the ground and landed on her back. Her enlarged head and stubby legs made it hard for her to get back up. She flailed about like a turtle stuck on its back. CraftyCorn thrashed around enough that she was able to make it back up on her hooves. She now growled at us too. That was when I escalated my vocalization to a roar. But it still didn't deter the stubborn unicorn. CraftyCorn began to inch forward again.

"Stay back!" My friend said and fired the flare gun. It landed right next to her. The sight of the fiery object made her squeal in fear and run away back into the hole.

"Yeesh, that really hurt." The man whimpered and rubbed his arm. "For something that didn't look like it had teeth, that was really sharp. I'm surprised she didn't draw blood from me. No more touching those things for sure."

From then on, the human used his flare gun upgrade to keep the Smiling Critter plushies away. There were eight different faces that came at us and multiple copies of each. The Smiling Critters included the unicorn, cat, dog, bear, rabbit, elephant, chicken, and pig. Each of them squeaked and growled greedily at us. We did our best to evade them as we navigated the small, tight spaces of the Playhouse. There were a multitude of slides and tubes for the kids to play and get lost in…. and it was definitely the latter for us.

"Haven't we been here before? I feel like we've been through this circuit already." My friend complained. We had been on our hands and knees for who knows how long.

"Is there an opening on the left?" I asked. He launched one of his flare gun turrets down that way. It bounced far into the tube, scaring off two Smiling Critters that were looming at the exit. They squealed and ran away.

"A new path! Good call, Huggy!" The man rejoiced and eagerly went down that way. It was very cramped in those tubes , especially for me. My long limbs had to crunch up and wrap around the circular structure. I certainly couldn't move very fast in that position.

As we kept going down that tube, the material changed from solid green to clear. We could now see our surroundings. This long tube encircled the edge of a large room that was open in the center. A nice big area for the kids to run around in. There appeared to be a figure collapsed out there plain as day. Was that really a good idea with all those bitey plushies around? I stopped for a moment and looked closer. My breath fogged up the tube for a second as I pressed my face close to the material. I squinted my eyes and was able to make out who it was.

"Friend, I think I know who made those screams." I got the human's attention. He stopped and turned around to come look with me.

"Oh yeah, who is it?"

"Over there. DogDay. He looks pretty hurt."

Out in the middle of the room was the bigger bodies version of the Smiling Critter DogDay. A tall gangly creature like Catnap but based off a dog instead. The orange canine was collapsed on the ground, but he seemed to be missing a few limbs.

"Yeah, I'll say. Poor guy doesn't have any legs or tail anymore. Is he even still alive?" The man inquired. But I could still see his arms and ears twitching.

"He is! We should help him!" I encouraged.

"Can we even help him in that condition? I mean, is he even a good person?" My friend questioned.

"DogDay has a reputation for being a good friend and leader among the Smiling Critters. Despite what the humans did to him, he was always pretty tolerant of their treatment and did well with the kids. I had always been on good terms with him whenever our paths crossed. It wasn't often that we got to interact with one another. My station was usually far away from here back when the factory was open. It was only on special occasions that I got to move and see the other mascots."

"Huggy, I don't know how long he's going to last like that." He seemed to be trying to talk me out of it. But this was someone who would be thankful for the help, I just knew it. So I had to be firm with my decision.

"An unprovoked act of kindness." I said sternly.

"Huh? What?" The human looked back at me.

"That's what you did for me….and it changed my life. It'll do the same for him, too." I motioned to DogDay with my head. "You didn't have to save me but you did. Please….we have to at least try to help him."

"Oohh, okay fine. Let's just try to make this quick before those little stuffed animals come back." So we stumbled our way out of the tube and turned back around to go see about helping the Smiling Critter.

As we approached the mortally injured critter, we could hear quiet whimpers coming from him. I could smell his blood from the open wound, too. My furry body stayed back and let the human approach first. He caught onto this and stopped.

"Come on, this was your idea." My friend turned spat at me.

"You should offer the help." I whispered to him.

"What? Why?" He gave an exasperated shrug.

"As a human, it will look good coming from you. All he's known is cruelty from humans – like most of us. Be the first one to be different. Show him he can trust you." I used my yellow fingers to push him closer to DogDay. The human took a gulp and looked over his shoulder at me.

"What's his name again?"

"DogDay." I answered. He nodded and cautiously stepped forward. My friend reached out and nudged the dog's arm.

"DogDay? DogDay, can you hear me?" He said in a hushed voice. The canine's eyes started to flutter open. His little pupils darted around, clearly having trouble focusing on anything.

"A human…?" He whimpered out. But then DogDay realized there was an actual human within reach. "Human!" The oversized puppy said in alarm and attempted to reach for my friend. I watched as the man yelped and jumped back. But poor DogDay's reach was short lived as his arm collapsed back to the ground. What was left of his body began to tremble terribly. He whined loudly in his pain and suffering. I don't think neither of us could imagine the pain he was in. If I thought a fall was painful, I don't want to know being ripped in half feels like. When it was clear that DogDay could do no harm, my friend approached and gave the dog a pat on the head.

"Hey, take it easy. You're really hurt. We're gonna try to help you out of here." The man cooed gently.

"You-you're the one helping Poppy, aren't you? I've heard rumors about you." The poor dog barely panted out his words, his voice shaking with each breath.

"Please save your strength, DogDay." I added to the conversation, too.

"I-is that Huggy, too? Long time no see, friend." He barely had the strength to look up at me. "I-I'm glad I got to talk to some friendly faces…before the darkness takes me."

"Don't talk like that, DogDay. There has to be something we can do to help." I was desperate to save him, but didn't quite know how.

"Why do you want to help me? You should get out of here before those little monsters come back." The canine panted.

"Because it's the right thing to do." The human said, giving him another gentle pat on the head.

"I-if I had a tail, I'd wag it for you right now." The puppy then gave a wet cough. "M-maybe….just maybe….if you could find my legs and reattach them, I'd have a chance to recover."

"What happened to them? Where are they?" The man asked.

"Th-those little demons….chewed off my legs and took them away. *cough* They have a…pile of junk and scraps that they save for later. If my legs are still around, they would be there."

"Then that settles it." I said. "I'll go look for DogDay's legs and you stay here to keep the plushies away from him with your flare gun."

"Sounds like a plan." The man said and gave me a thumbs up.

So I walked off to look for this pile of junk that DogDay mentioned. I had a good feeling that he and the human would talk and bond while I was gone. We needed all the friends we could get for our cause. Any help against the Prototype was a great advantage. And it was likely he knew a few things about Catnap, too since the Smiling Critters used to be together often.

I followed my sense of smell over towards the garbage chute for the Playhouse. Perhaps they would like to keep their junk in an appropriate place? Or in their case…I guess it would be food. Just my luck, there was a pile of toy pieces there. Arms, legs, torsos, all parts that used to be attached to full bodies. Blood still oozed from some of them, indicating that they were fresh kills. Or worse, left alive like poor DogDay. Wallowing in their pain and misery.

"Legs…legs…" I said to myself as my vision scanned over the heap. And then I saw the long, gangly legs poking out. The tail was still attached too! I reached down and plucked them out. They felt a bit soggy and chewed on, but still intact. As I picked them up, there was a little Critter clinging to it. A little red Bobby Bearhug clung to the right leg, still gumming on it.

"Shoo, shoo! Get off!" I said and flicked her off with my yellow fingers. The little teddy bear gave a shriek as she plummeted to the ground. Bobby sat up. That big grin turned down into a frown. The eyes seemed to water a little. There was even a whining noise coming from her. I had a bad feeling about what she was going to do.

"Please don't do it…." I pleaded with her.

"WAAHHH!" Bobby threw back her head and cried. Hundreds of little white eyes appeared in the shadows and stared me down. I quickly slung DogDay's legs over my shoulder and turned around.

"I think it's time for me to go!" I said as I ran away. A flood of little stuffed animal feet stampeded behind me. There were so many of them that it sounded as if a big toy like Boxy Boo was following me. I took a small glance back. Bad idea. Their beady little stares shook me to my core. They started a chorus of growls after I looked. It was as if they were saying: "Thief! Kill him!" I rushed back to my friends as fast as I could go. If the Smiling Critters were after me, they likely knew about them, too. Their radar seemed pretty sharp. And one noise from a single Critter could alert the whole colony.

DogDay and the human came into sight. The plushies were starting to swarm them, too. It was starting to get too many for the flare gun to hold them off for much longer. I saw my friend turn to DogDay and pat his head. "Hang in there, DogDay. You won't die here, I promise." I heard him say to the shivering puppy, whose whimpers were louder now. My yellow feet skidded to a stop next to the pair. Without delay, I slung DogDay's other half to my remaining shoulder.

"I found his legs. Lead the way out of here." I told the human. He nodded and started to clear a path with the flare gun. A dozen critters squealed and bumped into one another, trying to get away from the projectile that bounced on the ground. We simply ran by while they panicked and climbed over one another.

We ran and weaved throughout the environment, trying to find the exit. This continued for a couple minutes. I could tell the human was getting pretty tired and worn out at this point.

"I can't find the way out!" He panicked. "What do we do?" I was at a loss for words too. All we could do was keep running.

"Th-through the employee office," DogDay breathed out as he trembled on my shoulder. "Past the jail cells, down a hole in the floor, t-take the green slide." Good thing the oversized puppy knew how to get out. We would have been dead for sure without his instruction. So we followed his directions and found the employee office. There was a restricted door that we had to bash through since it was locked. But that led us to a prison block, just like DogDay had said. Eight cages, just like the number of Smiling Critters.

"This is where they kept you guys when the factory was open?" My friend huffed out as he ran. "That's awful!" Each of the cells looked trashed. One in particular had a bunch of scratch marks all over the floor and walls. It had to be Catnap's old cell. The scratch marks looked to be the right size.

At the end of the hall, was a hole in the floor we dropped through. There was some more ducking and weaving around before we hit a room that had a trio of slides. We headed for the far left one per DogDay's instruction to take the green one. The slide turned in a tight loop and dropped us off a level lower. We slid off the slide and bounced on the ground. I heard the sound of something small clang to the ground as we hit it. My furry body immediately got up and kept running, not knowing what it had been.

"H-Huggy, please! My pendant! I need that!" DogDay whimpered to me. So that's what it was: the sun pendant that hung around DogDay's neck. Without hesitation I turned back around to get it. The flood of Smiling Critters plushies loomed ever closer. I wasn't sure that we were going to make it to the pendant before they did. This fear came true as they stampeded around it, flooding the trinket from my view. I kicked out with my long leg, sending about five of the ravenous stuffed animals flying away. My gangly legs continued to kick at them to try and find the pendant somewhere under them. Thankfully, my friend had seen it and used the GrabPack to reach over and grab it.

"Huggy, I've got it! Come on!"

I gave a sigh of relief and went to turn around. It was one second too long though. The monstrous stuffed animals clamped their big mouths down on my legs.

"Ow! Ow!" I squealed and tried to shake them off. A couple fell off but at least three were still stuck to each of my legs. I had no choice but to keep running and hope they would fall off. Those little demons weren't letting go….and their grip seemed to be getting tighter. They kept biting until their little gums felt sharp. I screeched in pain as I felt blood trickling down my legs.

"Quick! Let's get in that elevator over there!" The human said. I kept running as best I could following him. But my legs were starting to go numb from the sharp pains shooting through them. I wobbled and realized I was going down. Thankfully I was able to turn myself around so I didn't slam DogDay into the ground. The poor dog had been through too much trauma already. I ended up landing on my back and sliding into the elevator due to my speed that I had built up. My head lightly touched the railing of the lift as my body slowed to a stop. My friend punched the button to close the door and get the contraption going. He gasped as he saw two little Smiling Critters latched to my legs. The elevator lurched and began to move down.

"Hey, let go of him!" The man yelled at the pig critter gnawing on my right leg. He tried to pull the persistent piggy off me. When the elevator began to move a few inches, the little ones seemed to realize that they would be leaving their domain and let go. They jumped up and squirmed over the railing. Back to the group that growled at us and watched us as we descended. Disappointed that their dinner got away, I'm sure.

We all took a sigh of relief as the elevator took us away from the cannibal toys. I panted, still feeling the sting from the plushies' bites.

"Man, they really got you." My friend said as he studied the bloody marks on my legs. "Looks painful."

"It is." I squeaked out. "Let's get to the infirmary where we can rest and be safe. I think we all need it right now."

After we got off the elevator, there was one more red colored slide we had to take to get out of the Playhouse. I winced as I forced myself up on my bloody legs. They shook horribly as I stepped forward, but I knew that I had to get to the infirmary. I realized that DogDay did not whimper loudly anymore. He still made sounds, but they were getting quieter. That was not a good sign.

"Hurry, friend! Go knock on the door and tell them you're here with me." I urgently told the man. For I wanted the door to be open so I could just go in. DogDay needed immediate attention. I did my best to push through each painful step.

"Hey, open up! Huggy and I have someone that needs immediate medical attention!" The human frantically banged on the door. It began to open. My friend tried to run in and grab some supplies. But he bounced off something and fell back out. Someone in fact. He had ricocheted off of Boxy's sturdy torso.

"Hey, watch it, pipsqueak!" The monster roared at the man. "Who do you think you are trying to barge in here?"

"He's with me, Boxy. Please step aside. We need to get in there. DogDay is fading fast."

"Hmph, guess you didn't die. Looks like a lose a bet." The jack-in-the-box scoffed. "Come in…I guess."

We rushed in despite Boxy's resistant remarks.

"Help! Somebody help! Grab kits! Anything we have!" I yelled into the lobby. The little toys scattered about to find me what was needed. I gently put each half of DogDay down and rushed off to find Poppy or Kissy. But I didn't get far. My legs buckled and didn't move, causing me to come crashing down. The mini Huggys rushed to my side, noticing that I was hurt. But I wasn't worried about myself at the moment.

"Don't worry about me. Please…go help DogDay." They looked to one another, unsure of this request. "I'm begging you." I pleaded. They gave little gurgles of agreement to one another and went to help the canine. My furry body stayed down on the ground for a few minutes. I took some deep breaths. Deep down I hoped and prayed that we had not been too late to save DogDay's life. And then I felt somebody tugging on my arm. It was the human trying to get me up.

"Come on, buddy. You gotta at least turn over so we can treat your wounds." He said to me. So I did my best to get up. Using mostly my arms, I lifted my torso. My long legs curled under me and tried to support my weight. They shook as I went to put weight down on them. Once again they buckled and I began to fall backwards.

"I've got you, Huggy." Came Kissy's voice from behind me. I felt my weight come down on her. "Oof!" She grunted and fell down with me. I felt her breath on my head. The fact that my head seemed to move up and down meant it was on her chest. Her fur was even softer than I'd imagined it would be.

"Sorry about that, Kissy. We can get him off you." Poppy's voice sounded.

"No, that's okay. I don't mind if he uses me as a pillow for a little while." She said gently. I felt her yellow fingers stroke my head a little. My face heated up in a blush. I couldn't believe this was happening right now. She was so comfortable and her touch soothed me. Soon enough I was falling asleep as the other toys worked on the wounds on my legs.

A ringing noise awoke me from my deep slumber. My body flinched as its shrill scream reached my hearing. Kissy pet my head to keep me calm. I had almost forgotten that I practically fell asleep on top of her. It was a warm and welcome reminder. I looked down to find my legs bandaged where the little critters had bitten me. Off to my right was the human, who also seemed to have been startled awake. It was their phone ringing. The man sleepily answered the phone and sat up.

"…Hello?" His drowsy voice drawled out.

"Hey, it's Ollie again." Came the chipper voice. "I heard from Poppy that you ended up in the Playhouse. You got out okay? No major injuries?"

"Huggy and I are recovering fine." My friend answered as he rubbed his eyes. "But we did find a friend that was in critical condition in there."

"Who was it?" The child's voice probed.

"DogDay. He had been chewed in half by those little critters. I'm still not sure whether he's going to make it or not. He's been in the ER room for hours now."

"That's….unfortunate. Give him my best wishes." Ollie told him. "How did you even get into the Playhouse?"

"We had found some underground cave system that had a direct line from the school."

"Wait….does that mean you saw the shrine of the Prototype? I've heard it's scary. And if you think that's terrifying, just wait until you see the real thing." This made my friend take a big gulp. "Anyways, we're really close to the end. When you're ready, I'll send you a new key. It will unlock the Counselor's Office. It should be enough juice to finish powering the gas production zone. If you can get that generator going and plug it in…I think we'll be done! And keep your eyes open for Catnap. Every shadow and every flickering light is a hiding spot. He always stalks his prey first."

"Yeah, I think we've already experienced that. Had a little run-in with him in the caves." The human mentioned.

"He'll also take away anything you have to defend yourself. And when you're at your most vulnerable…he'll kill you. Catnap lives for the hunt. Good luck, talk soon."

The man put the phone away.

"Well, Huggy, looks like we have our next assignment….when we're ready, that is."

We stayed resting for a while longer. But eventually it was time to get back up. Kissy helped me up and made sure I wasn't going to wobble over again.
"You sure you're feeling okay, Huggy?" She asked me.

"Yeah, feeling a lot better. Got some of my energy back for sure." I turned to her. My peripheral vision saw my human friend make a motion as if to say something to her. I stepped a little closer to her. "Kissy, I just wanted to say…..thank you for being there for me. Comforting me like that really meant a lot to me. More than you know."

"And…?" The man probed.

"And…that I-" My knee locked up as I went to take another step. I ended up falling forward and into Kissy. Instead of pulling away from her, I took that opportunity to give her a big hug. I felt her hug me back. Our heads nuzzled up against one another. A warm feeling filled my heart. I could tell Kissy could feel the same thing. My head pulled back a little so that we looked each other in the eyes. Our foreheads touched as we got lost in one another's eyes. I never wanted this special moment to end.

"Be careful out there, Huggy. Make sure to come back to us alive." Kissy said softly. We started to pull away from one another. Our hands met for a moment as we locked fingers with one another. My hand still reached out for her as we parted ways. She gave a warm smile and wave as I followed the human out of the infirmary. And just like that, me and the human were out in the darkness again.

"That was great, Huggy! She definitely knows how you feel now." He praised me.

"Y-you think?" I asked nervously.

"Absolutely! She'll be waiting right at that door for you to come back."

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's get that last generator so I can have some more time with Kissy!"

My friend chuckled and said: "That's the spirit! You two are so cute together. If I didn't know any better, I'd say you two were made for each other."