(Catnap's POV)
I can't believe I'm going to face the Prototype. All these years, he's been lying to me. Thanks to DogDay, I now know the truth. And I won't stand for his lies anymore. No longer am I going to be his puppet. But the Prototype is dangerous. He has to be killed quickly…otherwise it'll be the end for all of us.
I looked back to the three friends that were following me. They all gave me confident nods of approval. How did I get so lucky to suddenly have such good friends? I smiled back. Did they really understand what it meant to face the Prototype though? One little mistake or slip-up and we would all be dead. They've literally just agreed to throw away their lives to help me. It was such trust and responsibility thrust on me so suddenly. A feeling that made me nervous. The fate of these people were in my paws because I was bringing them along with me.
We continued down the empty factory halls. The signal in my head told me which way I should be going. Led me where the Prototype wanted to meet up. It was a ringing in my head that got stronger as we got closer. I knew this place. We were coming toward one of the main generators for the back rooms. A square room with hallways extending off each of its corners. There were plenty of battery sockets and charge ports scattered about to power the generator. Perhaps that was how we could do it? We could charge up a powerful surge and send it directly into the Prototype. This could work…as long as all the pieces fell into place correctly.
The signal was getting strong as we approached the square room. I stopped and turned to my friends.
"I have an idea on how we might be able to defeat the Prototype." I said to them quietly.
"Great! Let's hear it!" DogDay rejoiced.
"First off, I need you three to stay back here until I give a signal. It's best if you hide and then come surprise him at the right time. A surprise will catch him off guard for sure. I'll go out first and talk with him a bit. Keep him distracted. DogDay and Huggy will come out and help me hold him down when I give the signal."
"Got it!" The two of them affirmed.
"And you, human – is there something else to call you? This feels weird not calling you by a name."
"No, just human or friend is fine." He said tersely.
"Are you sure?" I asked. Huggy made a motion with his hand over his throat as if to say not to pursue that path.
"Yes, I'm sure. What is it that you need me to do?"
"Well, you have a big responsibility. I'm trusting you to use the batteries scattered around the place to charge up the generator. And when it's done, use your Grab Pack to absorb that charge and then fire it at the Prototype. It should be enough charge to at least incapacitate him if not kill him. Do you think you can handle it?"
"I'll do my best, Catnap. After all, I'm a battery expert by now." He winked and gave me a thumbs up.
"All right then." I took a deep breath and turned around. "Wish me luck." I'm gonna need it, I thought.
"We're all right here for you, Catnap. If you need help, just holler." DogDay assured me.
"Thank you again." I nodded before slowly prowling into the room.
It was all quiet. There were remnant particles of old bouts of red smoke flooding the area. It had all been moved, likely due to Huggy and his human friend. I looked down each of the hallways. Which one would the Prototype come from? Depending on which one he came down, it could change the plan a little bit. My paws shook under me. Was I really ready to do this? I had to be. I had made the choice to do this.
Where was he? The signal in my head said he was basically next to me. Why couldn't I hear his footsteps anywhere? And then a creaking noise came from above me. There was a hatch on the ceiling! It opened up and poured a bright light down on me. From within that intense yellow light, I saw two red dots. The Prototype's eyes. I went to look away as they flashed white for a second. My ears twitched as I heard DogDay gasp from their hiding spot. Hopefully that wasn't loud enough for the Prototype to hear.
"Gah!" I exclaimed as some of the light still pierced into my soul. My eyes rapidly blinked, trying to adjust my vision. It was trying to pull me back into that obedient state. Thankfully I had looked away so I did not get the full blast. Instead of making my mind go blank, it triggered a multitude of images to come rushing to me. They were memories from when I was under his influence. All of those times I suspected I was harming the Smiling Critters were just confirmed to me. How I incapacitated them with my red smoke, chased them down many times, and then…. something even worse.
The memories forced me to relive the moments I tossed my friends to their deaths. For example, when I tossed CraftyCorn to the plushies after ripping her arm off, how I plucked Kickin Chicken's feathers, and then held down DogDay as the Prototype brutally ripped Bobby Bearhug apart. I was afraid I was going to cry from these memories. The one that really tried my will was just from earlier today: when I pounded my claws into DogDay and saw the pain written on his face. I took a big gulp and ultimately turned my head back to the Prototype.
"Catnap, I've been waiting for you." He drew out with his mechanical tone. That skinny, metallic hand reached down toward me. I wanted to jump back, arch my back, hiss, and spit at it. But I knew I couldn't react like that. He needed to believe that I was still faithful to him for now. "I have a new task for you." Those sharp fingers came dangerously close to my chin. They gently grabbed it and made me look straight up at the hybrid. All I could really see was his small red eyes. The bright yellow light drowned out the rest of him from view. "I need you to bring me DogDay now. His presence is required for my next experiment."
"But sir, he's all the way in PlayCare. Do you really need him right now?" I asked, playing the card that the puppy was still strung up in the Play House.
"Yes, right now, my kitten. It shouldn't take long. Just turn around and drag him over from that corner." The Prototype had foiled my plan. There was no way we could surprise him now.
"I…don't know what you mean." I said, still trying to play dumb. But the mechanical menace was too smart for that.
"Oh, don't play me like that. I know that you want revenge on me now that you remember everything." His metallic hand grabbed me by the throat and started to lift me off the ground. Talking was difficult with the hold there, but he had not tried to suffocate me…yet. I pawed at the grip. But the mesh of metal and bone did not budge.
"But….how-?"
"How did I know about your so called friends and change of heart? I could sense it in your brainwaves. After all, a piece of me is always with you." The Prototype chuckled, knowing that he had the upper hand. He dropped me back to the ground. My skinny body collapsed on its side and shook. What were we going to do now? Without the element of surprise, we didn't stand a chance against him.
"So…traitor, we can do this the easy way or the hard way. The easy way being you drag your three friends over here and I deal with each one of them accordingly. The two traitors will have the harshest of punishments of course." He explained.
"I'm the only traitor here. If anyone gets that punishment, it should be me." I argued with him. The hybrid merely laughed at me again.
"Oh, sweet Catnap. If only that were true. You see, Huggy over there used to work for me, too. He obeyed my call for some time. Unfortunately, he was one of the first to resist my will. All thanks to Poppy and her kindness conditioning methods. Now…bring them to me and we can be friends just like I promised….Theodore." His hand turned open for me to accept his offer.
"No!" I hissed and swatted it away. "Thanks to you, I remember more than just my life as a Bigger Bodies Project." I pushed my body to sit up and look back at him. "We were never friends. It was always your fault. Back when I was Theodore, you had convinced me to use a Grab Pack to help you escape containment. You had rigged that power box to go off on me, damaging Theodore's body beyond repair. But your plan ended up backfiring on you, too. Instead of opening your containment, it spread to your cage and infected you too."
"Yes, it had damaged my neural circuits. Thankfully, those scientists fixed me up, not knowing their error at the time." The Prototype admitted. "Now…which is it that you choose?"
"I won't just hand them over to you." I said confidently. "Not now, not ever."
"How unfortunate…." The Prototype groaned. "I was hoping it wouldn't come to this, Catnap….but you have forced my hand." An audible whistling sound came from the hybrid. The thump, thump of large paws came from the two hallways I was facing. "Meet my new creations. Bigger and better than you in every way. I call them…BoneNaps. All of your strengths and none of your weaknesses." The two bony cats emerged from the dark hallways, poking their elongated heads out. Small puffs of red smoke emanated from their mouths. I tensed and got up on my paws. "They will now be in charge of your punishment. Unlike me, they don't know what mercy is. Have fun with them, Catnap." He chuckled as he retreated back into the hatch and closed the door.
Great, there goes my chance to kill the Prototype without much trouble. Those BoneNaps still lumbered forward. They were definitely looking for a fight. I crouched down like I was going to pounce at them. They were going to have to go through me if they wanted DogDay and the others. And then my friends appeared at my side. DogDay came up on my left and Huggy and his human on the right.
"What are you doing? Get out of here while you still can! I'll hold them off for as long as I can." I hissed at them.
"No way, Catnap. We're sticking with you until the end." The orange dog assured me. I then looked to my right. Those two gave me a nod of agreement as well.
"You guys…." I gaped at their dedication. But then I pulled myself together. "New plan: DogDay and I will take the one on the left. That leaves Huggy and the human to fight the other one. Human, do you think you can still charge up that generator? It might be useful to have in case of emergency."
"You got it, Catnap." He replied.
"All right, everyone….give it your all!" We all gave battle cries as we rushed our targets.