Chapter 71: They Live In Troubled Times

A flashback occurred 18 years ago.

"18 years ago…" CatNap's narration said, "I was born into this world, specifically in Eastern Crittopia. I had no real visions on my parents' faces, since I was crying my eyes out upon being born… But all I know is that I'll never see them."

A baby CatNap was born into Eastern Crittopia in a hospital. Everything seemed normal around him.

"But then, tragedy strikes." CatNap's narration continued,

An explosion went off outside of the hospital.

"Mass bombings occurred at Helping Hand Hospital, which is where I was born at…" CatNap's narration continued, "Outside and inside, explosions went off."

CatNap, as a newborn baby, was seen being carried under the arms of a nurse out of the hospital after being separated from his parents.

"I don't know if my parents survived the bombings in there… But all I remembered was being carried under a nurse's arms and she whispered to me the following…" CatNap's narration said,

"I'll get you to a happy family that will take good care of you…" The nurse said in the flashback,

"She took me to Home Sweet Home and left me there for the orphanage to take care of me throughout my life… And as for my parents… That remains an unsolved mystery for me…"

The flashback ended as CatNap was sitting on the ground next to a barber shop. Hoppy and KickinChicken were sitting next to him.

"God…" Hoppy said, shocked, "There were mass bombings in Helping Hand Hospital? Why?"

"No one knows why." CatNap replied, softly, "It just happened. Hell, even the masterminds behind the bombings said the same thing on why they planned the bombings…"

"And that's how you end up in Home Sweet Home, huh?" KickinChicken wondered,

"Yes… It was all so stressful for me… I never fit in with the others in the orphanage… They think I was weird only because I "watched over people sleep" at night… and I was hanging out with you guys throughout my life… I just wish… I had a good life… If the bombings never existed… I would have lived a better life with my parents, but… then again, I wouldn't have met you guys… But then the nightmares… I just wish all of the bad memories and nightmares I've been experiencing would just go away…"

Hoppy patted CatNap on the back.

"We're glad you told us about it…" She said,

"Yeah…" KickinChicken said as he patted CatNap on the back as well, "I can tell it was hard to tell the others about it, including DogDay…"

"But DogDay… Even if I did tell him about my life, although I have, but not the bombing part, he kept telling me to stay positive and smile everyday…" CatNap said, "Even through the darkest times. Like, it's ok to act depressed every now and then. Not everyone is perfect, yeah?"

"That's true…"

"Yeah…" Hoppy said,

CatNap sighed heavily as he looked up.

"I'm sorry, guys…" He said, "Sorry if I'm pulling you guys down with me under my depression…"

"Don't worry about it." KickinChicken said, "You told us about your troubling past."

"Besides, what made you wanna tell us about it?" Hoppy wondered,

"I don't know…" CatNap replied, "Maybe, when Touille told you about how he lost his parents… It sorta… triggered me to remember a part of my past, like way back, when I was born into this world…"

"Huh…"

"Odd…" KickinChicken said,

"Yeah, I don't know, you guys…" CatNap said as he got up, "But I'll find a way to figure all of this out. With or without help, I don't care. I need to get these nightmares out of my mind, find my parents, and start over on life."

Hoppy and KickinChicken got up as well.

"You do you, dude." KickinChicken said,

"Yeah, we'll be there to support you." Hoppy said,

"Appreciate it." CatNap said,

DogDay meanwhile was on the phone with Poppy back in his apartment.

"Don't worry, Poppy, I'm fine!" He said, "Seriously!"

Poppy was on the phone with DogDay at her home.

"DogDay, everytime I hold a meeting with Trey and his friends, you tend to cancel out your and your friends' time with us." She said, "What's going on? Did your attitude change or something?"

"No, Poppy!" DogDay replied, "I'm fine! I just thought that it would be fine for me to do this unsolved mystery on the missing 4 critters myself would be a good idea! I just need to do it at a snail's pace!"

"Well if you're doing this at a snail's pace, then Trey and I would probably be done by now."

DogDay laughed a bit.

"Good one, Poppy!" He said, "But who knows, maybe we might be on the same climatic point of solving the mystery or something, I don't know."

Poppy was concerned.

"I'm worried about you, DogDay." She said,

"I'm fine, Poppy!" DogDay said, "Trust me! I gotta go! Bye now!"

"Wait, DogDay!"

DogDay ended the call. Poppy put her phone down on a table and sighed.

"Just what the hell has gotten to you all of a sudden, DogDay?" Poppy wondered,

DogDay meanwhile sighed as he lie down on his bed.

"I know you're one of them, Baba…" He said, "You're behind it all, aren't you? You set up the kidnappings of you and 3 other critters, didn't you? Just to get on CatNap's bad side… And on the bad sides of my friends. I'm already figuring it out so quickly, but I don't care… This is for my critter crew."

Allister meanwhile went to a rehab center. He went to the front desk to meet with someone, who turned out to be Howard Howler.

"Hey." Allister said to Howard,

"Oh, hello, how can I help you?" Howard asked him,

"Do you, uhh, you know anyone named Simon Smoke?"

"Simon Smoke? Hmm… Let me chat with someone. Can you stay put for a bit?"

"I gotcha."

As Howard went into the back, Allister waited as his phone started to ring, which was a call from Baba Chops. He accepted the call.

"Hey, Baba, I'm in the rehab center you told me to go to." Allister said while on the phone, "Which reminds me, are you sure this is a good idea? Are you sure that this is where Simon went before he and the other 3 got kidnapped the first time? I mean, he did have a weed addiction…"

Howard came back.

"Hold on, I gotta go." Allister said, "Once again, I'm trusting you, Baba. Goodbye."

Allister ended the call as he focused on Howard.

"I'm back." Howard replied, "And yes, we did have a record of Simon Smoke scheduling an appointment here for rehab on his weed addiction, but we haven't seen him since."

"Alright, that's all." Allister said, "Try and put it on hold until I get everything clear with him."

"Gotcha."

As Allister left, a familiar spider critter with 4 arms and 4 legs went to Howard.

"Howard?" She said to him,

Howard turned to the spider critter and gasped.

"Winnie?" He said, shocked, "Is that you?"

"Yes…" Winnie replied, "And I want to get into rehab."

Poe meanwhile saw Touille walking alone back to Sunshine Valley and met up with him.

"Are you ok, Touille?" Poe asked him,

"Oh, hey love." Touille replied, "I guess… I just need someone to talk to after a rough day…"

"I get it… Your father's death… Baba Chops and her issue with this DogDay individual and, of course, our friends…"

"They're so full of shit to us! Before they got kidnapped again! Like what the hell happened to them?! We used to be a group of 8!"

"I don't know… But all I know is that we will solve this mystery together, no matter what they throw at us."

"...Appreciate it."

Poe then lowered down to give Touille a kiss.

"Come on, let's go find Baba and wait for Allister." They said to him,

"Gotcha." Touille said as he held one of Poe's feathered hands, "By the way, do you think we'll trust this Trey individual?"

"I'm sure we will. Besides, he's got DogDay on his side. What could go wrong?"