Alex looked at the toy in front of him. Mommy's face was now twisted into a frown, and her whole body was covered in dirt and grime. She definitely didn't look happy.
"I ASKED YOU TO PLAY FAIR AND YOU CHEATED! I HATE CHEATERS!" She yelled, walking closer to him.
"No shit! Did you expect me to phase through walls?!" That wasn't a good way of earning her favor, but Alex had blurted it out without thinking.
One of Mommy's eyes twitched. "Mommy's going to enjoy ripping you to shreds, because now, we're going to play one, LAST, GAME."
She stretched her limbs until she barely fit in the hallway. "It's called… hide…"
Her fingers stretched and turned into claws. "and…"
Her pupils dilated until there was only black in her eyes, and her frown turned into a creepy smile. "SEEEEEK!"
A pause. "I suppose there's no way we can talk this out?"
No response.
"Ten. Nine." Mommy began counting as the door behind Alex opened.
"Come on, for the love of God! Can't you just listen to me?!"
"Eight. Seven. Six."
"Ugh, God fucking damnit!"
Alex turned around and ran. Ran until he couldn't hear Mommy counting down anymore.
"You guys heard that, right?" Bunzo asked the other two toys, who nodded.
Ruby let out a worried growl as they climbed upwards through a vent they found. "Exactly! We have to find him quick!"
PJ let out a small whine.
The three crawled through the vents, until Bunzo managed to find an exit. "Over there! Come on guys! I see something!"
Bunzo hit the grating until it broke, letting them out. He looked around the room, seeing it was some sort of control room. He didn't know what any of the equipment was for, but he didn't need to, because he saw someone on one of the shelves, trapped in Mommy's webs.
"Hey, that's-!" He exclaimed, before PJ pushed him off on accident.
As Ruby and him got down the vent, they too seemed to realize who they had just found.
The three looked at each other, nodding in silent agreement.
PJ used his long body to act as a sort of stair, letting Ruby and Bunzo climb up to the shelf, where they could see the prisoner fully.
Just as the human had told them, there she was, Poppy Playtime herself, trapped by Mommy's webs.
She couldn't move, but her eyes turned to look at them. At least that meant she was still alive. Whether that was a good thing or not was up for debate.
Bunzo sighed. "Let me make this clear before we do anything. We are not doing this because of you." The bunny said, with Ruby adding a growl.
Poppy didn't say anything, mostly because she couldn't. "Alright, how are we going to free her?"
Ruby simply began using her fangs to try and break the web. "I don't think that's a good idea..."
Ruby turned to look at him with an annoyed look. "Ugh, fine! PJ, make sure no one gets in here!"
He nodded.
With big displeasure, Bunzo helped Ruby break the web using his teeth. It was definitely not a pleasant sensation, and the web was most likely going to get stuck in his mouth for a while after they were done, but he had to do it.
He would never believe he would be in this situation. Helping someone he really didn't like, just because a human asked him to.
After a while, he felt the web breaking and Poppy squirming, just before the small cocoon broke and she was free.
Bunzo immediately began spitting. "Ew..." He groaned with his mouth half open.
Poppy meanwhile was looking at the toys that saved her in confusion. What were Bunzo, one of the mini Huggies and PJ doing there? How did they escape their game areas? And most importantly, why did they free her?
"Care to explain what you all are doing here?" She asked.
Bunzo spit one last time before looking at her. "Don't think that I want to, you backstabbing traitor!" He replied, angrily. "I'm doing your friend, if you don't consider him one of your little tools, of course, a favor."
Poppy widened her eyes. "You're talking about Alex?!" Her surprise quickly turned into smugness. "I thought you guys hated the workers. Did you finally realize we were right?"
Bunzo seemed offended. "Never! He's just different!"
Poppy rolled her eyes. "I know that."
A few minutes of tense silence later, Bunzo suddenly gasped. "Oh no! I forgot about the human! We have to find him!"
"Is he getting chased by Mommy?" Poppy asked. "I may know where they are."
"We don't need your help!" Bunzo exclaimed before turning around.
Poppy raised an eyebrow and shrugged. "This factory is very big and full of hallways, but I'm sure three toys that never left their game areas can find a human running around this labyrinth."
That made them stop in their tracks. Poppy let out an exasperated sigh. "It's been years since that, Bunzo. You can't still be angry."
The bunny didn't reply, instead sighing too. He turned around to face Poppy. "Give me a reason to accept your help."
"We both want that human alive."
Bunzo looked at Ruby, who was still glaring at Poppy. He frowned. "Listen clearly, this is an alliance to save the human. Once we're done, I don't want to hear you talking to me, got it?"
"You're very stubborn." The doll said, rolling her eyes. "Fine."
"Alright then. What do you have?"
Alex ran and ran, until his legs couldn't anymore and he had to stop, panting. Shitshitshitshitshit! I have to get out of here!
Alex was currently making his way through a vent with a conveyor belt system, and he didn't know where he was headed, just that he had to keep moving.
Alex suddenly fell down another hole in the system, causing him to yelp in pain. As he stood up, groaning, he noticed another paper laying around.
"Warrenbach Construction Company,
This is Eddie responding once again on behalf of the Playtime Co. toy factory. Yes, it must be in complete secrecy. This project should only be known about by those with the authority at Warrenbach, and those with the authority here at Playtime.
As promised, you will be compensated very well for this secrecy. Upwards of $100,000, keeping in mind that this is a ballpark figure. We're willing to provide the proper equipment needed for excavation; however, the more independently you are able to work, the more compensation I can offer.
We'd still like to see the lab completed in 12 months time, but what's most important is that it's done right. Let me know if these terms work for you, I'm happy to negotiate until we find something that both parties can be happy with.
Take care,
Eddie M.N. Ritterman"
Alex frowned. Constructing a laboratory underground in complete secrecy, for what? Just to experiment on people?
Alex ripped the paper in half and threw it away. He had to keep moving.
There was a lever next to a gate, but pulling did nothing. Alex decided to walk the other way, through an open door, into more dark and long hallways. He was sure he never felt that scared in his whole life.
He found a dark room with four levers, colored red, blue, green and yellow. He tried pulling all of them, but he realized that when he did, some of the already pulled levers went back up. There had to be a pattern for it.
Alex saw there was a handle he could grip onto, so he raised himself up, finding that there was a small space, in which there were a few metal cubes with numbers on them, connected to cables with the same colors as the levers.
He pulled them in the order the numbers dictated, and sure enough, the door forward lifted.
As he walked through the lightless hallways ahead, he suddenly heard a sound in front of him. He screamed when he saw one of Mommy's hands appear from somewhere in the darkness.
Without thinking twice, he ran back where he came from. Hearing Mommy's distorted laughter behind him wasn't exactly a pleasant thing, much less when he realized the way he was running towards was a dead end.
How could he manage to lose Mommy? He remembered the handle, and an idea formed in his head. It was a big risk, yes, since Mommy would simply find him if she looked up, but there was nothing else he could do.
When he saw the colored levers, he fired both GrabPack hands to the handle and lifted himself up. He held his breath when he saw Mommy running just below him, and he didn't dare breath until he didn't hear any footstep sounds.
Slowly, he let himself fall back onto the ground, running through the hallway before Mommy decided to turn around and go for him.
He found a room that seemed to be some sort of incinerator room. He saw that the door forward was locked, but he didn't know how to open it.
Alex also saw what looked like a machine missing a gear next to a lever, with a note saying to replace it as soon as possible.
When Alex took notice of a mold in the shape of a gear, he immediately knew what to do.
He walked up the stairs, and saw a small slot for a mold, so he inserted it in and closed the door. He then used his green hand to get a charge and hit the green receiver, causing the big furnace to start working. After a while, the fire subsided, and the doors to the furnace opened, revealing a yellow gear inside.
Alex wasn't stupid, so he waited a bit for it to cool off and then grabbed it, inserting it in the machine and pulling the lever, opening a small door.
It was then that he noticed a poster that warned people to be careful around fire depicting Mommy, though her face was burned down.
He decided to leave the poster be and keep moving.
There was a small passageway that led to a catwalk, and just when Alex set foot on it, he heard that same sound from before. Before Mommy could even climb onto the catwalk, Alex had already turned around and was running away.
He knew that he couldn't hide in the same spot as before. He couldn't risk it. So he instead tried to think of another way to lose the toy.
And then he remembered the furnace. Maybe he could hide in there.
As fast as possible, he got inside the furnace and used the hands of the GrabPack to close the big doors of the furnace. He heard Mommy's loud footsteps and distorted laughter as she ran past him, her stomping becoming weaker.
Alex opened the doors once the coast was clear. Another close call. He was getting really lucky with these hiding spots, but he didn't want to push his luck.
He got back to the catwalk and ran forward, finding a room full of spider web with a lever. He pulled it, Mommy suddenly appearing from the darkness once again.
"Oh, come on!" Alex exclaimed, running away once again.
He went to try and hide in the furnace, but it was blocked by more spider web, so he couldn't do that. He tried going back through the long hallway, but that too was blocked off.
A light suddenly lit up and Alex saw a door he didn't see before. He burst through and ran as fast as he could, the toy stomping and laughing behind him.
He found a dead end, but looked up and saw a handle, which he used to lift himself up before Mommy could catch him. He kept running through the narrow path trying his best to avoid certain death.
He found himself running through tunnels and ruined hallways, all sorts of paths simply to avoid getting caught by Mommy or her infinitely stretching limbs. If only I had someone that could tell me where to go...
He found a hole and dropped through it, realizing he was right where he started, at the gate with the lever. However, there was a beeping light on top of it, so Alex pulled it and the gate opened, revealing a yet another long hallway.
It seemed Mommy couldn't fit through the hole, so Alex had a bit of time to figure out a plan.
Which was to keep running towards that hallway.
Far in the distance, he saw another closed gate with a scanner on top, so he fired his blue hand at it the moment he was in range.
This scanner seemed to work pretty slowly, as it took a few seconds for the progress bar to reach a quarter.
Geez, it's just a plastic hand. How does it take this long?
He felt his heart skip a beat as he heard a sound and saw Mommy running after him through the hallway.
"Shit! Come on!"
Once the door began lifting, Mommy was a small distance away from him. He crouched below the gate and saw a lever, pulling it, thinking it was the way forward. The door didn't open.
Alex banged on it, desperately trying anything to make it budge, but nothing worked. He turned around, waiting for the inevitable.
I'm sorry, mom and dad. I'm not the man you thought I am. Hopefully I'll be able to beat the shit out of those monsters when I see them in hell.
Mommy suddenly burst into the room, ready to catch Alex as he closed his eyes. I hope the other toys will be okay on their own.
But the attack never came. Alex opened his eyes and saw that one of Mommy's hands was stuck in the machine to his right.
It turned out, the lever wasn't to open the door, but to turn on the grinder to his right, which was slowly pulling Mommy inside, since her arm was stuck.
She let out a horrified scream, as she tried to grab onto anything, to no avail. "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!" She screamed as she managed to free her hand, only for one of her legs to get stuck in its place.
"HE'LL MAKE ME PART OF HIM!" Now both her legs and a hand were inside the grinder, her body just about to get crushed.
"YOU..." She tried to scream, before another sound replaced it.
A sob. "You can't do this to me..." Mommy cried, looking at Alex.
Her previously crazed out looking face had turned back into a more regular one, almost like when Alex had first met Mommy. There were tears in her eyes as she was being pulled into the grinder.
"I don't want to die." Bunzo's words echoed inside Alex's head. Then the mini Huggies' fear, and PJ's desperation to get out of the statues room.
None of the toys wanted to die. They wanted to survive, and Mommy wasn't any different. She had tried to hurt him, sure, but all of the toys had, and he gave them a second chance.
Then he remembered. Mommy wasn't just a toy. She was a person that had gone through countless abuse, mistreating, and then forced to take care of whoever knows how many children in the Game Station, and all of that after being forced to become a toy. A monster in all the scientists' eyes.
She didn't want to die, because she had already gone through enough, just like all of the rest.
She wasn't Mommy Long Legs. She was Marie Payne.
Mommy let out one last scream as the teeth in the grinder touched her abdomen. She closed her eyes, ready to accept her fate, only for the machine to suddenly stop.
As the giant toy looked to see what happened, she saw Alex having pulled the lever back up, shutting off the machine. The two stared at each other for what felt like ages before she dared to crawl out of it and open her mouth. "Why...?" Was all she said.
"Marie Payne. Experiment number 1222." Alex began, causing Mommy's eyes to widen. There was a pause in which Alex took a deep breath. "Why. Why the fuck didn't you tell me?!" He yelled, causing Mommy to flinch slightly.
"What-"
"You thought I had any idea of what was going on here, did you?! Just like everyone seems to think?" Alex kept speaking.
He took a deep breath, readying himself to say what he wanted to say for so long. "Did you really think I would have worked in this fucking place if I knew THAT THEY USED PEOPLE TO MAKE GIANT LIVING TOYS?! DO YOU REALLY THINK THAT?!"
Mommy was speechless, only staring at Alex as he rambled. The human felt small tears appearing on his eyes. "I didn't know my research was being used for... this."
He felt to his knees, feeling himself start to cry. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry..." He sobbed. "I didn't want any of this... I thought I was making kids happy..."
He didn't realize he needed to let it all out that much, but it was a very welcome relief.
Mommy looked at the sobbing mess that was Alex with a face full of confusion. She didn't know what to think. What to do.
She had him right where she wanted. He didn't have a way to run away, and he couldn't do anything to defend himself. She could give him what he deserved, and yet... she couldn't.
She had heard fake cries and apologies a lot of times for as long as she could remember, and those words the human had said weren't any of those.
It was then when the realization hit her. He truly didn't know anything about this factory. He didn't come back because of cocky arrogance like he had told them all.
He just wanted answers. Answers about what happened to his coworkers, because he wasn't playing dumb.
He genuinely, really didn't know anything other than what he let out.
"You... really don't know?" Mommy asked, barely above a whisper.
That caused Alex to slowly raise his head and look at Mommy. He slowly shook his head.
After another silent staring contest, Mommy began chuckling, which turned into a laughter fit after a few seconds. Alex was stunned to see Mommy laughing, more tears appearing in her eyes.
"I can't believe that doll was right after all..." She said.
Is she talking about Poppy? Alex thought, tilting his head.
But it didn't matter at that moment, as Alex only thought of one possible thing to do.
He got up and walked next to the toy, giving her a well deserved hug. "I'm sorry you had to go through so much, Marie."
Mommy stood there, simply taking everything that was happening in. Just a moment ago, she was about to die, and now, the exact person she was hunting down was hugging her.
"I'm sorry for not wanting to listen." She said.
They spent a few minutes of silence, until there was a sudden bang on the gate behind them followed by the sounds of voices and growls.
It seemed the door wasn't as sturdy as Alex had first thought, because there was a second bang on the gate before the lower section of it broke down.
Alex widened his eyes when he saw the ones responsible. Bunzo and Ruby were riding on PJ as if he were a horse, a determined look on their faces.
Bunzo gasped when he saw Alex 'tangled' in Mommy's arms. "The human is getting eaten!" Bunzo yelled. "ATTACK!!!"
As he said that, PJ raised a few of his front paws and began charging in towards the two, followed by the seventeen mini Huggies entering and following them.
Alex scrambled to his feet, waving his hands in the air. "No, no! Stop! I'm not getting eaten!"
That made all of them stop. "What?" The toy bunny said, confused.
"It's alright! We figured it out! Most of it..." Alex explained, looking behind him.
Mommy was looking away, ashamed. Alex frowned but decided to leave her some time. "How did you find us?"
"That was me!" A familiar voice said.
Poppy suddenly appeared from the hole in the gate, a small smile on her face.
"Poppy! You're alright!"
"Don't worry about me! What the hell happened?" She exclaimed, obviously not expecting both him and Mommy to be alive at the same time.
That question managed to wipe the smile from his face. "What happened? What happened?! What didn't happen is the question!"
Poppy wasn't expecting that reaction coming from him. "Why didn't you all tell me you were people that got experimented on?! "
That caused all of them to widen their eyes, Poppy specially. "And don't you go and try to hide it from me. I read a document about someone with the words 'test subject'."
"How much do you know exactly?"
That only managed to confuse Alex more. "What do you mean 'how much'?"
Poppy sighed. "Nevermind about it. Yes, we were people that got turned into toys."
Alex gulped. "So I was right..."
"Listen, I don't think this is the best time to talk about this."
"So when will it be? When I inevitably find out the actual truth that you all are hiding?!" Alex yelled.
All the toys watched him in shock. "Sorry. I'm still on edge."
Alex turned to look at Poppy. "You told me you had the code for the train to escape, right?"
"I did, yes."
"Did? "
"Someone stole it from me."
Alex turned to Mommy. "Do you still have the last code piece?"
She nodded.
"Great. Alright. Everyone, get moving. We're getting on that train and getting out of here."
"Woah, we? You truly meant it?" Bunzo asked.
"Of course. Do you expect me to leave you here? I'm getting you out." Once again, he turned to the bigger toy. "All of you."
Mommy let out a bitter chuckle. "I don't deserve it."
"Bullshit. Don't make me drag you."
"Have you seen what I've done? I almost killed them because I was angry." She turned to look at the toys beside Poppy. "They deserve someone that will actually care about them."
"But you do care. I read that note, Marie. You care about the toys. Why else would you have kept them alive? I'm not saying that killing them is a good way of punishing someone, but I get where that anger came from."
"Yeah!" Bunzo suddenly interjected. "I..." He turned to all of the toys. "We miss you, Mommy. We don't want to go without you."
She looked genuinely surprised to hear that the toys she had tried to kill were now hugging her, which finally caused her to break down into tears.
Alex backed down until he was next to Poppy, both looking at the scene in front of them.
"Hey Poppy?"
"Yes?"
"Promise me that when we board that train and get out of here, you'll tell me the whole truth."
Poppy froze for a split second before nodding. "I promise."
"Something tells me you're lying to me again."
The doll didn't reply.
What if Bunzo is right after all? What if I can't trust her?
Alex shook his head. Now it's not the time to think about that.
"Hey Poppy, did you have a name before you were turned into... you know..."
"I don't remember it." She simply said. "And by the way, don't try and ask that to a toy. Most won't react well."
"Oh. My bad."
Finally, the toys in front of them let go of each other, wiping their tears.
"Does that mean you'll be coming with us?" Bunzo asked Mommy.
She looked down as her frown came back. "He won't let us escape."
That seemed to cause the smaller toys to gasp before they too looked down. "I forgot about that..." Bunzo whinned with Ruby doing the same, followed by PJ and the rest of the mini Huggies.
"Excuse me, but who's 'he' exactly?" Alex asked.
"The one that's keeping us all trapped down here. The original one. The Prototype." Poppy explained.
"The Proto- Is that the weird hand I've seen in the VHS tape before getting you out? That Prototype?"
The doll nodded. "He's behind all that happened here. All that happened to us, and your friends."
Alex raised a brow, feeling his heart race. "What are we waiting for then? Where's that bastard hidden?"
"Wait, what?" Poppy exclaimed.
"You're not planning on going after him, are you?" Mommy asked him. "You won't make it out alive."
"Yeah! He is super strong and smart! You'll have a hard time reaching him, and even a harder one fighting him!" Bunzo chimed in.
"That's if we don't count the fact you still have another, very dangerous area ahead of you if you want to reach him." Poppy added. "Are you sure of what you're saying and what it implies?"
"Listen Poppy. I came back here because I wanted answers. And since apparently I now learnt that the people I worked for were doing what they were doing to people and I still don't have an idea of what happened to my friends, yes, I am sure." He replied. "I have nothing more than a job to go back to, so what's the point of backing down?"
Poppy seemed surprised to hear that.
Alex turned around to look at the toys. "We go out, and if that Prototype wants to keep you all in here, he'll have to face us all at the same time!"
Poppy was looking at Alex with a stunned look, just like the other toys. After a while of considering the idea, Mommy sighed. "We... can't do that."
Alex deflated. "What? Why?"
"You don't understand. He's not like any of us. He won't hesitate to kill you if you show up to get him." She explained. "It's the same for us."
Alex frowned. "He's that fearsome, huh?"
He nodded his head, understanding they must have been very scared of him. "Alright then. I won't force you to come with me."
Alex once again turned to Poppy. "Are you sure he was the one behind what happened here? Like, a hundred percent sure?"
"A hundred and one percent sure." She replied.
Alex nodded, shivering slightly. "Then you can leave getting out of this factory for later. I said I was getting you out, and I'm getting you out. If that means getting revenge on the one behind my friend's disappearance, then I'll have to do that. What's our next step forward, Poppy?"
She widened her eyes. "Just like that?! You're really giving up your chance to leave just to help us?" She yelled.
"Please, don't make me reconsider it."
All the toys looked at each other, really wondering if they were dreaming. "Like a guardian angel!" Bunzo chuckled. "It seemed my intuition was wrong!"
"I take you all will stay here?" Alex asked the toys.
"I will." Mommy said. "I won't force any of the others to stay if they don't want to."
The mini Huggies and PJ shook their heads in unison. "No way! We won't leave you alone here, Mommy!" Bunzo said.
Despite trying to hide it, Alex was sure Mommy was trying her hardest to fight back the tears. "Okay. If that's what you want..."
"Let's get moving back to the Game Station." Alex finished, walking through the gate that the toys had broken before.
They arrived at 'Bay 09' where they climbed a stair upwards, jumping over gaps in the catwalk. Alex drank a lot of his water bottle. He was sore from all that running.
On the group's way up, they found a tape laying on the floor next to a TV, so they started to watch it. The moment the screen once again showed that Prototype's hand, Alex knew he was most likely not going to like what he was going to hear.
"Log Code 08502. In relation: Experiment 1-0-0-6, 'The Prototype.'
A close call occurred this week, in which he nearly breached containment.
The Prototype seemingly disassembled the digital alarm clock within his room, and utilized the battery along with several other components to create a laser pointer, which he then fired into the security camera, disabling it.
These actions allowed him 28.3 seconds completely unmonitored.
Once function returned to the camera, the room appeared to be empty.
One surveillance specialist went in to confirm his absence.
However, upon opening the door, she realized that the Prototype had hidden in one of the camera's blind spots.
The Prototype attempted to escape through the open door; however, another surveillance specialist was able to remotely re-lock the door, despite the other specialist still being inside.
One casualty occurred.
The Prototype seems to possess an unprecedented level of intelligence beyond that of all other test subjects, as well as an alarming willingness to commit violence.
Further suppression treatments will need to be enacted to ensure that no other experiments develop these qualities.
Experiment 1-1-7-0, 'Huggy Wuggy,' remains the optimal outcome due to his sufficient intelligence paired with maximum obedience.
End of log."
He didn't comment when Mommy threw the TV and the player down the stairs. So we have an aggressive guy, huh? And that guy talked about Huggy. So they are just... using them to work for them? Huggy as the security system, and Mommy as the caretaker of the children?
After more walking through hallways, they arrived back at the Game Station, only this time they were in one of the raised platforms.
"The control room is just over there. Just pull both levers and the train should be powered." Poppy told Alex. "I'll board the train and put the code in. We need to leave as soon as possible if you want to reach the Prototype."
"Got it. I'll be down in a minute."
There was nothing much inside the control room, other than the two levers Poppy mentioned, and two papers. One was the instructions for employees that had to use the train and the other was a formal transfer request.
The instructions were nothing too out of the ordinary, but one line stood out to him. 'Record each child's performance as it is relevant to each game.'.
I get they had to keep control of them, but why record how they did at each game? This makes no sense.
He read the other paper, which was a request to add fake windows into the Game Station.
Leaving the two papers aside, he saw the levers Poppy had mentioned and pulled both down. He then exited the room and saw a slide.
He went down and saw the toys talking to Poppy.
"-tter not let anything happen to him. He's too perfect to lose." Mommy growled at her.
"I won't, you have my word." The doll replied.
Bunzo blew a raspberry. "As if that means anything." He groaned before seeing Alex walking towards them. "Oh, hey human!"
Everyone turned their head at him.
"Good, you're here. Come on, say goodbye to them and board the train. We have no time to lose." Poppy said, entering through one of the windows.
Alex turned towards the group of toys. "Well, I suppose this is a goodbye for now."
Bunzo, the mini Huggies and PJ all jumped onto him, the latter causing him to fall onto the ground. "Promise us you won't die!" The bunny cried.
"I... won't! PJ, please, let... me breathe!"
As everyone let go of the very tight hug, it was Mommy's turn to speak. "Alex, right?"
"Correct, ma'am."
She nodded. "Thank you. For everything. I won't forget this. And I'm sorry."
"You have nothing to be sorry about. I can't even imagine what you all must have gone through because of my coworkers."
He turned around, scanning the green GrabPack hand to open the door of the train. "I'll be back as soon as possible, and if I'm not, it's because I'm dead. Take care of yourselves while you wait, okay?"
"Kick his butt for me, okay human?" Bunzo said.
Alex laughed. "I will." He said, entering the train.
"Alex."
He turned to look at Mommy. "Yeah?"
"Where you're going next is a very dangerous place. You need to be ready, both physically and mentally. You may find some of the answers you want down there, and it's not going to be pleasant." She warned him.
"Has anything in this factory been pleasant?"
Mommy nodded with a chuckle. "Good luck, Alex. I wish there were more people like you."
"Take care, Marie. Or Mommy? Which do you prefer?"
She seemed to think the answer to the question for a long time. "Mommy's fine."
"Alright then. Take care, Mommy. And you guys too! Take care!"
As he inserted the code and pulled the accelerator of the train, he heard Bunzo yell something. "WE'LL BE ROOTING FOR YOU, OKAY?"
All the toys waved goodbye at him, and Alex did the same, waving until they were out of view. He sighed.
How long had it been since he arrived at the game station? He felt hungry, and was about to open a pack of crackers before Poppy interrupted him.
"I've never met anyone like you." She said. "You're either too brave, or too stupid by doing what you're doing." She told him, changing the tracks away from the exit and into somewhere deeper inside the factory.
"Do you know how long I've been stuck in that case? Well, too long... I had so much time to think and reflect. Time to figure out exactly what I would do when free."
"And what have you thought about?"
"We'll set things right." She said after a pause. "Terrible things have happened inside this factory. Things that you can't even begin to imagine."
"I have some idea." Alex laughed, grimacing.
"I had my doubts, but after seeing what you did with Huggy and Mommy, I know that whatever I need you to do, you're capable. I promise you, Alex. We will-"
Suddenly, an alarm started beeping, as Alex felt the train start to speed up.
"What?" Was all that Poppy could say.
"Poppy what's going on?!" Alex cried out, seeing how the vehicle headed for a downwards slope, getting even faster.
"I don't know! This shouldn't be happening!" She looked to her side, horrified. "The brakes! Pull the brakes!"
Alex took notice of a lever with a flashing sign that read 'stop train'. He immediately fired both of his GrabPack hands onto it and pulled with all his might, seeing the sparks flying out of the tracks into the air.
It didn't work all too well, it seemed, as the train was too fast, and the sudden try to stop it was enough to cause it to tilt, derailing itself.
Alex fell to the side, his head hitting something that caused him to start losing consciousness.
He felt the train slow down until it stopped. Alex didn't see or hear Poppy, but he couldn't care about that right now.
The last thing he saw before his eyes shut was a sign pointing to the right that read 'Playcare'.
...