Since it debuted, I have become weirdly fascinated by Poppy Playtime. Maybe it's because of its similarities to FNaF—or something else—I'm not sure. Either way, here's my attempt at doing a prequel to the events in Poppy Playtime and combining it with the story of The Promised Neverland Season 1. And I will only be covering Season 1, since I've heard Season 2 is a mess. Hope you enjoy!

Chapter 1: Morning Routine

May 8th, 1995

"Time to start a new day!"

Hearing a familiar female voice from the loudspeakers, Elli got out of bed and rubbed her eyes. Parting her short brunette hair, she noticed several other kids still sleeping in identical bunk beds to the one she slept in.

"Get up, guys!" Elli cried. "We don't want to keep Mommy waiting!"

This got the other kids stirring as they slowly climbed out of their beds, all wearing matching yellow pajamas and nightgowns. From there, they shuffled to the bathrooms where they freshened up before getting into their uniforms which consisted of yellow t-shirts with the logo 'Playtime Co.,' printed on the front and tan shorts. Next, the kids made their way into the dining hall where the table had full plates of eggs, bacon, toast, and tall glasses of orange juice.

"You almost slept in again, Rez," a blond-haired boy said to an African-American boy with thick locks of black hair held back by a white headband.

"Lay off, Nathan," Rez said in an annoyed tone. "You're not my mom."

"Well, we do have a mom and she doesn't like it when we're tardy," Nathan reminded Rez.

"Knock it off, you two!" Elli warned.

"Or what?" Rez taunted.

"I'll tell Mommy!"

"Tell Mommy what?" a sweet, smothering voice cooed.

Elli, Rez, and Nathan looked up and saw a large pink toy resembling a woman with elastic pink hair and stretchy limbs that she used to crawl down from the ceiling above the dining hall. She landed on two feet covered by pink boots and stood up straight like a person.

"Mommy, Nathan and Rez were fighting again," Elli said to the pink-haired toy.

"Were they?" Mommy looked between Rez and Nathan. "You two know better than to fight."

"All I did was remind Rez not to sleep in, and he told me to 'lay off,'" Nathan answered.

"Did you sleep in?" Mommy asked Rez.

"No, I didn't!" Rez said defensively.

"But you almost did!" Nathan snapped.

"Enough!" Mommy raised her voice, causing the two boys to be hushed into silence. But seeing the children's terrified faces, Mommy cleared her throat. "Sorry, but Mommy doesn't like it when two of her favorite children are fighting. It makes her feel sad, and everyone else too. Now be good little boys and apologize."

Rez glanced at Nathan. "I'm sorry."

"Same here," Nathan responded.

"Very good!" Mommy beamed. "Eat your breakfast quickly, children, for the train to the Game Station will arrive soon!"

The other kids cheered when they heard that and finished their meals in a flash before leaving the Home Sweet Home house in the Playcare orphanage. Following Mommy, they took a cable car out of the dome-like structure the Playcare was located in up to a platform in a concrete tunnel next to a red sign that said, 'Playcare' in white letters. A few minutes later, a blue-and-yellow train pulled in with steam billowing from the top of the smokestack. From the engine waved a person in a yellow hazmat suit wearing a red gas mask, whom Mommy glared at.

"Watch your step when you board the train, children!" Mommy advised. "Mommy will meet you at the Game Station shortly."

Mommy then used her limbs to crawl along the top of the tunnel before disappearing from the light of the train's lamp.

"Ever noticed Mommy doesn't like the factory workers?" Elli said as she, Rez, and Nathan boarded the train with the other kids. "I wonder why…."

"Well, they are pretty creepy," Rez said, convulsively shivering.

"I'm sure they're just normal people," Nathan figured. "But that doesn't explain why they wear those get-ups around us, or never talk to us for that matter."

A whistle blew from the engine as the train suddenly lurched forward. The kids held onto their seats for deal life out of instinct, though none of them fell to the floor while the train picked up speed chugging through a series of dark tunnels. Soon, the train pulled into a platform that overlooked a giant room filled with playground sets and high rafters. Mommy was already standing at a control panel next to the platform and pulled one of the three handles on it.

"Hi kids!" said the female voice Elli heard earlier from the loudspeakers. "Welcome to the Game Station! I'm Stella and we've got three super, duper fun games to play! These little tests show us just how crazy strong and smart you are! Follow Mommy Long Legs down the stairs and we'll start by playing Musical Memory! See you in a bit!"

"Do you think Stella's a real person? Or just a recording?" Rez whispered to Elli.

Mommy turned her long neck all the way around to look back at Rez. "Did Mommy say you could talk?"

Shocked, Rez averted Mommy's eyes.

"That's what Mommy thought." Standing upright, Mommy walked down the stairs from the platform to a doorway that had a sign with a yellow rabbit on it as the kids followed her. "When your name is called, you will step through this door and play the Musical Memory game. The rest of you may use the playground sets while you wait for your turn. Have fun!"

As music blared over the loudspeakers, the kids squealed with delight as they took to the playground sets scattered throughout the Game Station. Mommy occasionally broke up their fun by calling one kid at a time to the Musical Memory door. Then just as quickly, each kid emerged out of it looking embarrassed. But Elli didn't let this bother her when Mommy called her name.

Down another flight of stairs from the doorway, Elli walked down a concrete hallway into a chamber with various buttons on a circular platform and screens on every wall. Hanging from a rope above the platform was the same yellow rabbit from the sign, only it was life-sized and held a pair of cymbals in its paws.

"You're not going to get me today, Bunzo!" Elli shouted at the yellow rabbit.

To be continued…