"Alex!"

Alex yelled at the sudden shout before turning to the source of it.

It was none other than Poppy, who along with Kissy, stared at him with a surprised yet worried expression.

"Someone told me you were worried." Alex smirked.

"We were! Goodness, I'm so glad you're okay." The doll replied with a sigh.

Kissy let out a sound that seemed to be another sigh.

"Yeah yeah, nice to see you again, Poppy." He tilted his head so that they could see who was behind it. "By the way, we've got a new member for our party!"

"Hello again, Poppy." Dogday smiled.

Poppy widened her eyes. "Dogday?! You're alive?!"

"Didn't Ollie tell you about him?" Alex confusedly asked.

"He told me you were bringing someone ! Not that you were bringing Dogday!"

"Didn't know you hated me so much…" The dog laughed.

"You know it's not that!" Then she noticed Dogday's missing body. "Wha- Did Catnap-?"

"Yes, he did." The dog interrupted. "It's fine. I've grown used to the pain."

"Wait, it still hurts?" Alex shouted, horrified.

"My guts are swinging with every movement, Angel. Of course it would hurt."

"And you didn't think about telling me that?!" He yelled.

"It didn't occur to me when my focus was hanging on to you." The dog stated.

"Fair."

Alex looked around the area for a place where he could leave Dogday. He decided one of the rolling chairs was good enough, as he groaned.

He then sat on the other chair, leaving his GrabPack on the ground. His back really appreciated that.

"So, what happened, Alex?" Poppy asked him.

"Boy, it's a long story. You see…"

Alex went on to explain everything. From the School's events and how he narrowly avoided Miss Delight, to finding himself at the caverns after that, then seeing Catnap praying, and then the Playhouse, the mini critters, the Smiling Critters, the chase…

"And that's basically why you all are going to pay my psychiatrist once we get out of here. Joking, of course. About the paying part. The psychiatrist is something I'll really need." The human sighed.

"Alex, I…" Poppy began, but stopped. "I didn't know you'd have to go through all of that. I'm sorry. Really sorry."

Alex's phone began ringing, and he pressed the button. "Hey! I just wanted to join the conversation to say I'm sorry too." Ollie said.

"Don't be sorry, guys. You didn't know I'd be forced to go through the Playhouse at all. And hey! If I didn't, I wouldn't have freed Dogday!"

"I'd have preferred if you hadn't put yourself in so much danger for me." The dog butt in.

"Okay, what did we say about saying those kinds of things?" Alex reprimanded.

It was then that Alex felt one of Kissy's hands touching his pants, making her tilt her head asking a silent question.

"Yeah, they're wet." Alex explained. "While we were escaping from those mini critters, I had to go through an artificial river, and kind of got some water in my pants."

"I have just realized your clothes look horrible." Poppy spoke.

Alex looked at his reflection. True to her words, he was covered in dirt and grime, his pants wet and his shirt ragged, both covered in dried blood, as his bandages were. That didn't matter too much to him, however.

"You think my clothes are the problem here? May I remind you we have someone missing his whole lower body?" He half yelled. "Ollie said you knew a way to fix Dogday. Is it true?" He added.

She hummed in thought before nodding. "I do. But it's really hard to pull off."

"Poppy, I just survived a half crazy teacher and a horde of cannibalistic plushies. Whatever you think is hard, I'd like to disagree." Alex frowned.

"Maybe it's not hard for you, but as you said, you have barely avoided getting killed twice . You need to rest."

"Poppy, I can see Dogday's intestine from here. Do you think I can rest knowing he's like this?"

"Angel, I've been hanging from a cell for years. I can take the pain for a few hours more. You focus on resting. You've done enough for me." The dog spoke.

"Yeah, and the toys have a better ability to ignore pain than humans do!" Ollie added. "He'll be fine, Alex."

Kissy also seemed to agree.

Alex looked at each of the toys before sighing. "Okay, fine! If you say you'll be fine, I'll rest."

"Good." Poppy sighed, jumping into one of Kissy's hands. "We'll try to get you two some food and water. Stay here until we come back, okay?"

"I think I'll go for a stroll while I wait." Dogday rolled his eyes.

Everyone chuckled. The two girls then left, leaving Dogday, Ollie and Alex alone.

The human was the first one to bring up a topic to talk about. "Hey Dogday, I've been meaning to ask you. How does it feel to see mini versions of yourself running around?"

Dogday raised a brow in confusion before understanding what he was asking about. "The mini critters? They have nothing to do with the bigger versions of the Smiling Critters, so I suppose I don't feel anything."

He then frowned. "Well, actually, I do feel something. Hate."

Alex chuckled, shaking his head. "That makes two of us."

"I thought they were cool at first! At least before I found out what they did…" Ollie added.

"You mean follow Catnap around? I mean, I think they are just trying to survive. I've come across some toys that were in a similar situation." Alex stated, remembering his time at the Game Station.

"You're talking about the ones at the Game Station?" Ollie asked him. "I'm pretty sure there's a difference between them and the mini critters."

"Yes, the fact they don't kill for fun while the minis love doing that." Dogday huffed.

"You guys know about Mommy and the rest?" Alex questioned the two.

"How would we not know about Mommy is the question." Dogday bitterly chuckled. "I'm surprised you and her are alive at the same time."

"Angel magic." Alex did a gesture with his hands. He was obviously not going to tell them how he broke down in front of her.

"You know I could see the cameras of the Game Station too, right?" Ollie told him.

Alex turned to look at the phone. "Wait what? You could?"

"Mhm."

Alex didn't know how to feel about that.

He then remembered something he had had in mind for a while now ever since he had first seen the telephone. "Hey Ollie, is there by any chance a way to make a phone call to the Game Station?"

Ollie stood silent for a while, seemingly thinking. "Umm… I guess, as long as there's a phone somewhere in there, I could probably do something. Why do you want to do that?"

"I have to make sure the toys don't think I'm dead."

"Hmm, okay! Hold on, let me check if there's a phone you can call in there."

"Angel, did you save every toy you've come across?" Dogday asked.

"I said not to- Whatever, I give up. Yeah, I did. Why?"

"How did you do at Mommy's games?"

Alex tilted his head slightly. "How did I do? What do you mean? Enough to survive, I suppose. Why?"

Dogday looked conflicted between saying what he was about to say or not. "Did you find out why those games exist in the first place?"

The human sighed. "I may have an idea. Enlighten me."

"They were used to track which child was good at what, so the scientists could decide which toy to turn that child into."

Alex gave a deadpan stare at Dogday. "I don't even know what I expected coming from this company." He said, though his head was thinking about a lot of other things to say. "That's so fucking dark."

"You think?" The dog ironically asked. "But when you find out about it, it's too late." He felt Dogday's face begin to look sad.

"Hey, come on. Let's talk about other things, shall we? I don't want you feeling sad."

"It's okay, Angel, just…" He saw the faintest of tears in one of Dogday's eyes before he wiped it with his hand and smiled. "Bad memories, that's all. And I walked straight into those myself, so there's no one to blame except me."

"Dogday…" I'm sorry.

"Hey, it's me again!" Ollie thankfully interrupted. "I think I found a phone you can call, Alex. It's in the control room of the Game Station! But I'm not sure anyone will pick up. There doesn't seem to be even a soul around."

"We won't lose anything for trying, right?" Alex tried to sound calm, but his eyes kept drifting to Dogday.

"Exactly! I'll put you through, okay? See you in a bit!"

Ollie hung up the call before another sound coming from the phone came. It was calling someone.

The room fell into an eerie silence, with the only source of sound being the telephone. After at least thirty seconds, it didn't seem there was a response.

Alex sighed, and was about to hit the button to end the call, until there was a sudden sound of someone picking up the phone.

"-like this? What? Oh, that's it?" A familiar voice spoke, albeit a bit distorted.

There was a growl on the other side of the line that Alex knew very well. "Oh, the other guy can hear me now ?" A small pause. " Hello? Other guy? Who are you?"

"Bunzo! Is it you?" Alex spoke.

"Yes? How do you know me?" There was a long pause before a gasp was heard. "Wait… Human?! Is that you?!"

Alex laughed. "God, it feels like ages since the last time I've seen you… And is Ruby with you? I think I heard her."

A growl of confirmation. "Yeah, she's here! Human, you're alive! See, I told you he wasn't going to die!"

Alex sighed. "Glad to hear you believed in me so much…" He joked. "How are you guys doing?"

"Good! Now that you helped us all get out of our games, we've been playing in the Game Station all the time! It's just like before we-" He stopped himself. "I mean… Uh…"

Alex frowned slightly. "Don't sweat it. I already know."

There was a long pause. "Oh…" Was the only thing the toy said. "Sorry for not telling you before."

"You kidding? Of course you wouldn't. But let's not talk about depressing things like those. How did you pick up the phone? Where's the rest of the toys?"

"Oh, okay! Well, me and the mini Huggies are actually playing hide and seek. That's why we managed to hear the phone ring!"

"Hide and-"

Alex stiffened, remembering the last chase in the Game Station. It's just regular hide and seek, Alex. Calm down. They are not getting chased by a giant angry spider.

"That's… great!" He said through gritted teeth.

"Yeah, right? About the others… I think PJ is sleeping somewhere, and Mommy has been worried about your safety ever since you left."

"She what?" Dogday whispered. It seemed he didn't want Bunzo to hear him. "Angel, what did you do to her?"

He shrugged. "Well that's… unusual?"

"Right?! We told her that too, but she kept asking if we didn't have anything else to do before she shooed us off."

The file said she was hostile towards all staff… Huh. Well, looks like that's outdated now.

"Do you know where she could be by any chance?"

"Hmm…"

There was another sound coming from Ruby. "You think? I mean, it makes sense."

"What did she say?"

"Ruby says that Mommy may be doing one of her 'unwinding walks' around the floor, and that no one knows where she is." Bunzo explained.

"'Unwinding walks'?"

"Yeah. She's been doing that for a long while, long before you even came here. I mean, I won't complain. It's better for us if she goes to let off some steam somewhere where we aren't." There was another pause. "Don't tell her I said that."

Alex chuckled. "I won't. Well, anyway. I just wanted to call to see how you were doing, so unless there's something else you wanna talk about…"

"Not really. Nothing too interesting has happened ever since you left…"

Ruby said something. "Oh yeah! Ruby beat your score in Musical Memory. She wanted me to inform you about it."

"Ha ha, really funny." Alex shuddered. "It's not the same when she isn't under the threat of being eaten by a certain rabbit toy."

"Nah, I think you just have to get better. On another note, I'm up for a rematch whenever you want to!"

"I think I'll pass, thanks."

Both toys on the other end laughed. "Before you go, human. How's the Playcare? I don't remember the last time I saw it."

"Abandoned, ruined, empty, and home to a giant purple cat that wants me dead."

"Yup, sounds about right."

"Well, I think it's time we say goodbye. Say hello to the other toys for me, okay?"

"Alright! I'll tell Mommy you called too! Maybe she'll feel better like that."

"Yeah, do that too. Thanks, Bunzo. Take care, you two!"

"See you next-"

Suddenly, there was the sound of a vent opening and a growl that didn't sound like Ruby's.

"Wha- Hey, no fair! We were on the ph-"

And the call ended.

Alex chuckled with a shake of his head. "Kids, am I right?"

"You seem to have a good relationship with those toys." Dogday commented with a smirk.

"Well, they kind of helped me and saved my life, so…" Alex replied, picking the phone once Ollie started calling. "Welcome back, Ollie. Thanks for helping with the call."

"No problem! But just so you know, Ruby and Bunzo got caught because they were speaking to you."

"Oh man… Do you think they hate me now?"

The three shared a laugh.

Alex stood up and looked at one of the doors. "Where are those two at? They've been out for a while now."

"Finding food that's edible for a human is not easy, Alex." Ollie commented.

"Yeah, I guess. I'm just worried about them."

"Don't be, Angel. Those two are a dangerous pair." Dogday told him.

"Dangerous? Poppy? Forgive me if I don't believe it."

"You better hope she doesn't find out you said that!" Ollie added, making the three laugh.

This was good. No running for his life. No facing toys. Just three friends sharing a laugh together. Alex made sure to treasure the moment, as he was sure it wouldn't last long.

Especially with what he was about to ask.

"Hey Dogday. Can I ask you something? It's kind of a tough question and I don't want to sour the mood, so it's okay if you don't feel like answering it. I don't want to make you sadder than you already must be, so I can wait for another, more appropriate, moment."

Dogday seemed to ponder for a bit before sighing. "It's fine. Just tell me."

Alex had to be careful with his words. "Okay, so… before any of this happened, was Catnap always, you know… a cultist?"

Dogday's look changed, but it wasn't sadness or anger, no. It was something else.

Nostalgia.

"No. No he wasn't. The exact opposite."

"Huh?" Alex was actually surprised.

"We… Before all of this madness happened, me and the other seven critters took care of the children in Playcare. Us eight. We were like a small family. And Catnap…"

The words seemed to be stuck in his throat. "Catnap… He was my best friend."

There was long buried melancholy coming from his words. "All the Smiling Critters are my friends, obviously, but Catnap… When he first arrived, he was so shy. He never talked, and he rarely came with us, some of the critters even said he was weird."

He paused for a second. "But not me. I could only see a really shy person, scarred by what he had gone through, dare I say even more than the rest. Scared to use his red smoke at all on anybody." He looked to the side. "I never knew why he was like that."

"I read his file." Alex interrupted. "The boy, Theo, got hospitalized because he was electrocuted while using a GrabPack. I guess the scientists seized that opportunity to get a new child slave."

"I see… That makes sense, actually. Well, the point is, slowly, I managed to integrate him with the rest of the group, and he even became really good friends with Bobby and Bubba. I remember when one day he walked to me and just started crying, muttering 'thank you's over and over again…"

Alex had trouble imagining that giant feline crying , no matter how much he tried.

Another pause, and now actual tears began appearing in Dogday's eyes. "But one day, it started happening again. He began isolating himself, slowly becoming as distant as he was in the beginning, almost never coming with us… We were all worried, but we just shrugged it off. We thought it would be over soon…"

Dogday began crying. "I wish I did something. Maybe he wouldn't be following him if I did… If I was there when he needed it…"

The room fell into a tense silence, with only Dogday making any sound.

"I-" Alex began. "I didn't mean to- Fuck, I should have just shut my mouth." Alex groaned, standing up and approaching Dogday.

He immediately wrapped his arms around him, giving him a hug. "Shit, I'm so sorry Dogday. I just blew the good mood away with this."

"It's- It's not your fault, Angel… I- I-"

"Shh, you don't need to make excuses. Let it out. You've been holding it for years, so just let it out."

Dogday sobbed loudly as his bottled up emotions were all suddenly allowed to come out.

They spent minutes like that, before Dogday's crying slowly came to a halt. Alex wanted to do anything to make the toy feel better, but he didn't know anything about him, and he was scared of saying something that would make things even worse, so he opted to try and gently pet Dogday's head, hoping it would be slightly similar as with PJ.

He looked confused for a second before lifting his head to look at him. "What are you doing?" He asked, with a mixture of sadness and amusement.

"Uhhh… Petting… you?"

"You do realize I'm not an actual dog, right?"

Alex cursed under his breath. "Shit, sorry, I didn't mean to-"

"Hey, who told you to stop?"

Alex deadpanned before he began laughing. "I should drop you right now for that one!"

After that little moment, Alex let Dogday back on his chair, the toy looking a lot better than he did before.

"You feeling okay, bud?" Alex asked.

"A lot better, Angel. You can't even imagine." Dogday replied.

"Good. Can't stand seeing you sad. Come on, you're a 'Smiling Critter', not a 'Frowning Critter' or anything like that!"

Dogday shook his head with a weak smile. "I don't know how you do it, but you managed to cheer me up again."

"Angel magic." Alex added.

"Sorry to interrupt, but Poppy and Kissy are coming back!" Ollie, who had respectfully kept silent all this time, spoke.

True to his words, loud footsteps sounded nearby, before the figure of Kissy with Poppy riding on her shoulders could be seen. They carried another food can and some water, most likely from the workers' emergency supply.

"This is all we could afford to bring. There's not a lot of food left, and we need to ration it properly. You two will have to share."

"Thanks, you two." Alex nodded, grabbing the two things before taking a few sips of water and offering the rest to Dogday. "I'm not too hungry, don't worry. You can have it." He offered.

"Alex…" Poppy said. "I said share."

"Poppy, he needs it more than I do."

"You both need it." She simply told him. "Toys need less food than humans, and I'm not going to risk you starving. Eat ."

That last word made it clear she wasn't giving him any other option.

Alex sighed yet again and resigned to comply. "Fine…"

He opened the can using his knife, looking at what was inside. It was canned meat, though despite being in good condition, it didn't look too appetizing.

At least for Alex.

"Smells delicious…" Dogday spoke.

"Can't say the same about the looks of it…" Alex added. "Still, food is food. And considering I got my own supplies stolen, I'm not going to get picky about it… pun not intended."

Alex once again pushed the can towards Dogday. "You first."

"Angel-"

"It's not negotiable."

Dogday looked worried for a second before grabbing the can and eating really slowly. Poppy walked towards him. "You are slowly sounding more and more like a parent, you know?"

Alex laughed. "A parent? Me ? You can't be serious."

The doll shrugged. "Just stating the facts."

Kissy looked like she agreed with her.

"Yeah, yeah. I suppose that when you have to take care of twenty or so toys for hours, that's enough for anyone to sound like a parent."

The room then felt silent for some minutes, as they waited for Dogday to finish eating. All the while, Alex could feel Kissy's gaze on him, as if she wanted to say something, but was scared to do it.

Finally, after some time, the pink giant whispered something to Poppy's ear, making the doll widen her eyes.

"You really want me to ask that?" She asked.

Kissy nodded, making Poppy sigh.

"What's the matter?" Alex asked.

"Kissy… She wants to know what the outside is like."

"The outside?" The human raised a brow. "Like, out of the factory?"

Kissy nodded. "Well, with how long I've been in here I've almost forgotten!"

He shook his head. "Jokes aside, I don't know what to say. It just looks… normal? I live in a house that's a long way from the closest town, so there's lots of grass, trees, and empty space for as far as your eyes can see. And when night falls, you can see hundreds of stars in the sky."

As he said that, he realized how lucky he was to be able to experience those things that he thought were mundane. The stars, the grass, the fresh air, or just not being trapped in general.

All the toys listened to him with all their attention on him. "It's kind of hard to describe it if you've never seen it, so that's the best I can do. Don't worry, you'll all get to see it once we're out of here."

"Not with him still alive, that's for sure…" Poppy groaned.

"Still believe I can kill that thing, huh?"

"I don't believe you can, I know you can."

Alex couldn't help but shake his head.

The sound of a can getting left back onto the table snapped Alex's attention back to Dogday, who had just finished eating.

The toy let out the longest sigh that Alex had ever heard. "It's been so long since I ate non-toy meat…" He said.

"This canned meat must have tasted so good to you, huh?" Alex laughed. "Are you sure you don't want more?"

" Alex. " Poppy frowned.

"Alright, alright! You win!" Alex raised both his hands with a smile before grabbing the can and eating the rest of the contents.

He wasn't sure if eating so soon after that much running was a good idea, but he didn't complain.

Once he was done, he started to feel the exhaustion of his previous chase kicking in, making his legs numb and his head hurt. He really wanted to sleep, but when he remembered the last time he tried that, he decided to go against it.

"You look tired, Angel."

Or he would have, if Dogday hadn't noticed his expression.

"I'm fine." The human said before a long yawn interrupted him.

Kissy giggled and Poppy shook her head. "Really, Alex. If you're tired, you should just try and sleep." She scolded.

"I did that after exiting the school and I felt worse than before I did, so don't judge me for not wanting to."

"Well, and that's the exact reason you should try and take a nap now." The doll insisted. "Seriously, why are you so stubborn?"

"Yeah, and there's another generator you'll have to activate. And you have to fix Dogday too! You can't be walking like a zombie while you do that!" Ollie added.

It was true that Alex wanted to close his eyes and catch some Z's while he could. After all, his adventure wasn't over yet, and he didn't feel like going for another generator in his state.

And that's why, with a deep sigh, he finally gave in. "Fine, but only if you all sleep too. I don't want you feeling tired later either."

"Alex, I-" Poppy began, but a yawn interrupted her. "Fine, you're right."

Kissy also nodded, opting to sit down in one of the room's corners with Poppy. Dogday also tried adjusting himself into a more comfortable position to sleep.

"There we go." Alex sighed. "Come on, let's rest. We really earned it."

"Sleeping without being hung by my arms feels weird…" The toy dog commented.

"Well, if you want, I could find you a giant fuzzy pillow like our friend Poppy did." Alex smirked at her.

"You're just jealous." She smiled back, Kissy agreeing with her.

"I'll be on watch! Nothing will sneak on you while I'm here!" Ollie added.

"Thanks buddy."

And with that, everyone closed their eyes and dozed off, getting something not very common inside the factory.

A moment of rest.

Still ten pages left?!

Alex scrambled to finish his report about the information he had gathered about the poppy flower, just as the higher ups had asked him to do.

He had been tasked with doing that that very morning, and its deadline was the afternoon, so he was kind of in a rush.

"Doctor White!" A voice suddenly yelled from behind him, making him choke on his coffee.

Just what I needed…

Alex turned around and was met face to face with Leith Pierre, who had quite an impatient look on his face. "What's the progress of the report I asked for?"

Alex suppressed a frown and tried his best to smile. "Half done, sir. I am working hard to get it done."

"You better be! You know what happens to the idiots who can't get even one task done!" He quite literally spat on his face.

"They get fired. Yes, I know, sir. So if you'd be so kind as to let me go back to work to avoid that awful fate…"

Thankfully, it seemed that Pierre was in a good mood today, as he backed away and let Alex continue with his task.

Before he disappeared from his office, he told him something else. "Once you're done with that, meet me at my office. And bring your friends Alan and Grace with you. I need to speak to you three."

By the tone in which he spoke, it seemed something serious had happened.

"Alright." Can you piss off already?

Finally, Pierre disappeared behind the door frame, letting Alex get back to work. He wondered what that annoying little grown kid would want to talk about, but to be honest, he really didn't care. He'd cross that bridge when he got to it.

God, I swear it's like I'm back in school again.

Alex, Alan and Grace knocked on Pierre's door.

"Come in!" He declared rather roughly.

The three friends silently looked at each other before Alex slowly opened the door. He found out that Leith wasn't alone, as a woman stood next to him, waving at them when they entered.

"Take a seat, please." Pierre pointed at three chairs in front of him.

Hesitantly, the three sat down. They were nervous. They knew that even a simple mistake there could cost them their post.

"Do you know why I wanted to talk to you?" Leith asked.

"No, sir." Grace replied.

"No idea." Alan added.

"If it's about the report, I've-" Alex tried to say, but was interrupted.

"No, doctor White, it's not about the report." Pierre sighed. "There's two things I'd like to speak about."

He pointed at the woman. "Firstly, this is Stella Greyber, head of Playcare."

"Hi!" Stella added, waving.

"You see, Playcare, as you know, is our on-site orphanage, which requires tenths or even hundreds of staff to maintain." Leith explained. "Unfortunately, we've been short on that front. However, I believe one of you is suited enough to cover that lack of personnel."

He looked at Grace. "Miss Taylor, would you like to, along with Miss Greyber, help with keeping all the children organized? It's quite a different kind of work from your current one, but I believe you can manage."

Alex and Alan's heads both turned to look at their friend, who looked like she didn't believe it at all. "I… Are you serious?" She stuttered.

Leith nodded slowly. She turned to look at Alan. "What are you looking at me for? Go for it!"

Then at Alex. "Absolutely! You always had a special touch with children!"

She smiled and turned back to Pierre. "So? What will it be?"

"Okay. I'll do it."

Pierre nodded again and extended his hand, Grace shaking it. "Miss Greyber, if you would, take Miss Taylor with you to fill all the paperwork necessary."

"Alright!" The woman smiled. "Come on, Grace, was it? It won't take too long."

She stood up from her seat, excitedly following Stella. "We'll see each other later!" She exclaimed before leaving the room with Stella.

Alan and Alex were both alone with Leith now.

"So, are we getting a promotion too?" Alan chuckled.

Leith's smile immediately fell as his look turned dead serious. "No."

That made Alan and even Alex flinch. "As I said before there's another thing I'd like to talk about, and it's of utmost importance you do not lie, do you understand?"

Alex shifted uncomfortably. What's going on?

"We do." He nodded, Alan following suit.

Without skipping a beat, Pierre placed on the table a bunch of document folders, all reading 'Confidential'. "Someone has opened these folders and read the contents within them." He narrowed his eyes. "I want you to tell me what you were doing yesterday at 15:23 exactly."

So that's why he looks so serious… "Well, I was… uhhh… I think I was in my office, doing some research for a project of mine?" Alex said. He wasn't sure what he had been doing at that exact time, only that he hadn't read any confidential folders.

"I was helping Avery with some boxes in the warehouse! You can ask him!" Alan exclaimed.

Pierre stood a long while looking at them both. Judging. Analyzing.

Finally, he sighed. "Alright. I suppose that a quick check of the security feed will confirm your innocence. I really hope you haven't broken a rule of such caliber." He leaned forward. "Because if you have, you are going to regret it."

Alex and Alan gulped. "Now shoo! Back to work!" Pierre waved his hands dismissively.

Without another word, Alan and Alex both left the office, closing the door behind them.

"What even is inside that folder?" Alex exclaimed once they were out of earshot.

"Did you see that face he made? I knew he was scary, but woah…" Alan shuddered.

Alex only sighed. "Nothing we can do about it. We haven't done anything, so we are innocent. Let's not give Pierre an excuse to think we have touched any of his fancy folders."

Alan nodded. "Just, what could there be inside them?"

"Keep working hard and maybe you'll find out. If they ever give you a promotion, that is."

"Yeah. Lucky Grace…"

"Well, see you later, Alan."

"Later, dude!"

The two friends went their separate ways, all the while Alex thought about what could be inside those folders for Pierre to be so scary about it. He wasn't even sure he wanted to find out.

After that face Pierre had made, he had a hunch the one that actually read those files wouldn't just lose their work.

Alex groaned as he slowly opened his eyes.

Great, he had to go through one of his memories of working at Playtime Co. At least he now knew what those folders must have contained. Whether that was a good or a bad thing was up for debate.

Glancing around, he saw all of the toys still fast asleep. Not wanting to wake them up, Alex stood seated on his chair, trying hard to get more sleep. That only lasted for a few minutes before he gave up and slowly stood up.

He felt the need to get a bit of fresh air, but since that wouldn't be possible, he'd have to do with just going out of the statue's room. He took his GrabPack with him, just in case.

Cautiously, Alex opened the doors to the main area of Playcare, ready to…

He wasn't sure what to be ready for.

For the last however long it had been, he had always been ready for anything to happen. Well, everything except finding out what in the world Playtime Co. had going on.

Now that he had a moment to relax… he just couldn't. He didn't know how long it had been since he had gone to sleep after eating. He looked up, towards the fake sky and clouds, stained with indistinct grime and other things.

To think this had once been such a happy place… Grace always said she was so happy working with the children. Alex really hoped she hadn't been told about what happened to them.

Wait, Stella was the head of Playcare. Did she…?

It was a possibility. He hated it, but it was.

There had to be a way to fix everything, right?

But he was just one person. One man. One human in a world of giant toys. There wouldn't be any way he could manage alone.

His telephone snapped him out of his thoughts, reminding him that he wasn't alone. Not at all.

"Yes, Ollie?"

"Alex, what are you doing? You've been staring at the ceiling for ten minutes!" The boy told him.

"Huh? It's been that long?" Alex shook his head. "I was just thinking."

"Outside?"

"Yes, I know it's not the best of ideas, but I didn't want to wake up anyone by accident."

"Oh. Okay! I thought you were planning on running off somewhere!" Ollie laughed. "I'll leave you to it."

"Okay. Thanks Ollie."

And the call ended.

Alex sighed. He really didn't know what he could do. Even if he managed to win against the Prototype, he still had over twenty five toys to get out of the factory, not counting the smaller ones he hadn't met yet.

How would he explain to the rest of the world what the hell they were? Who they were? What if other scientists decided to kidnap them and experiment on them again? And even if that didn't happen, where and how would they live their own lives?

Too many things to wonder about, and so little motivation to do so…

Alex shook his head. Focus on small things, Alex. First, get Dogday back on a good shape and then fix the generators. Then Catnap and then the rest of-

Dogday. Dogday's legs. Focus on that.

Carefully glancing around to make sure no one was nearby, Alex began walking around the statue, taking a better look at his surroundings.

Nothing had changed since the first time he had set foot inside Playcare. The blood was still dry, the toy corpses hadn't moved (he'd be very concerned if that weren't the case), and the bron-lights were still functioning fine.

After a few minutes of silent walking and hearing the echo of his own footsteps, he decided not to risk his luck and get back to the statue.

He carefully opened the door and left the GrabPack on the ground. No one woke up. He sighed and walked back to his chair, grunting and once again trying to sleep a bit more.

A startled gasp immediately snapped his eyes open, his head turning to the source of the sound.

He wasn't too surprised to see the responsible had been Dogday, who was clutching his heart as his breathing slowly slowed down.

Alex slowly made his way towards the big toy with a worried expression.

"What's wrong, bud?" He asked.

Once the toy's breathing had finally steadied, he took a deep breath and spoke. "It was just a nightmare, Angel. Don't worry. I've learned to cope with them."

"Are you sure? I've heard telling your nightmares to someone actually helps."

Dogday gave as much of a smile as he could. "Don't worry, Angel. Really. You wouldn't be interested anyway." He laughed.

"Dogday, we're supposed to be trying to get you better. That also means psychologically."

He looked a bit reluctant, but finally sighed. "It's just… Memories. Of when we all were living happily in Playcare. But then… everyone starts screaming, and there's massive panic and-" He forced himself to stop.

Alex sighed again. "Okay, okay. I get it. Don't worry. It's over now, just remember that."

Dogday slowly nodded. "I know. I'll be fine, Angel. I appreciate your concern, but it's not the first time it happened."

Alex wasn't sure whether that was good or bad.

It seemed the sound of their talking had managed to wake up the other two toys in the room, as Poppy and Kissy both stirred and stood up from their spot.

"Hey, good morning!" Alex smirked. "How did you sleep?"

Kissy let out a tired groan as Poppy yawned. "As good as this situation allows to…"

With a quick shake of her head, Poppy clapped her hands. "Okay, let's get back on topic! I suppose you want me to tell you how to get Dogday fixed!"

"Oh, yes, absolutely!"

Poppy nodded. "As you know, the Smiling Critters, along with some other toys that directly interacted with children, were thought to be mascots or robots. That is why the scientists couldn't let anyone notice if, for example, one of them fell on the ground too hard and part of the synthetic skin broke away."

"Like with Hoppy almost everyday after playing football, or when Crafty accidentally cut herself with some scissors." Dogday said, smiling. "Oh, and how could we forget that time when Picky almost burned herself alive along with the entire kitchen after she forgot to turn off the stove, or that one experiment Bubba performed that exploded in his, Miss Delight's, and the children's faces, and when Kickin had the brilliant idea of trying to set Catnap's gas on fire with a match… That was the first time I ever heard Catnap scream."

A pause, where he chuckled. "You can imagine the scientists weren't very happy about any of those."

"Yeah, real troublemakers, I see." Alex rolled his eyes.

"The point is…" Poppy interrupted. "For any of those cases, there are hidden closets where spare parts for all the toys are stored. One in the upper floors for Huggy, another one in the Game Station for Mommy and the rest, and one here, in Playcare, for the Smiling Critters."

"Oh, so we just need to find it?" Alex hummed. "Sounds easy."

"We have to find it, but that's not all." The doll sighed. "They didn't want anyone accidentally coming across the closets, so they locked them with a special key that was stored in different locations on each floor."

"So we need to find the key and the door? Is that the difficult part?" Alex raised a brow.

Poppy looked away. "No. Dogday knows where the closet is, and I know the key's location."

"Then what's the catch?"

The face of the doll wasn't a good sign.

As Alex stood in front of the School for a second time, he really wished he had the strength to break that closet door down without the need of a key.

At the very least, Poppy had equipped him with a walkie talkie she claimed to have found 'somewhere' so her, Kissy and Dogday could communicate with him as he faced the dangers of the building once again.

Ollie had told them all that he had to be away for some time, so it was just them for now.

"Radio check, is anyone there?" Alex talked to the device.

"We're here." Poppy replied from the other side. "It's a shame Ollie can't be with us and we are forced to use this instead." She sighed.

"I mean, it's not that bad. At least I won't feel alone." Not like I was going to in the first place, anyway.

"Okay, we know exactly where the key should be, so follow our directions and do it fast." The doll told him.

"Be really careful inside, Angel. Miss Delight is really dangerous." Dogday's voice called out. " I really wish I could be there with you."

"That's why I'm here, Dogday. So Poppy doesn't need to carry you in the wheelchair she conveniently found. Seriously, how do you do it, Poppy? You always seem to have whatever we need."

"I've got my own tricks." She chuckled. "Now, get inside the School and go right on the first turn you find."

With a gulp, Alex pushed the doors of the School once again, crossing the all too familiar hallways.

Come on, Alex. Just be quick and nothing will happen.

He found the turn Poppy had told him about, but it led to a dead end. "Poppy, there is no way to go!"

"Look up! There should be a vent."

True to her words, there was a half opened vent in which he could barely fit. He groaned and squeezed inside.

"Now where?"

"Keep going straight and then left! You should end up in one of the bathrooms."

After following her directions, Alex found another vent cover. It didn't budge, but a swift punch caused it to break and fall to the ground.

Alex jumped down from the vent onto the ground, finding himself inside the aforementioned bathroom, which smelled horrible .

"Poppy, please tell me where to go next."

"Get out of the bathroom and go to your right and then right again. You should enter one of the classrooms."

"Sure."

Alex quickly exited the room and followed the instructions. This is good. So far nothing seems to go wrong! Maybe Delight will actually leave me al-

The sound of the School's intercom switching on made Alex frown. Damn it.

However, no voice came out of it, confusing Alex. Did it accidentally switch on by itself?

"Why are you back?"

Nope. Delight just needed some time to think. "I said I wouldn't give up on you, didn't I? Plus, I'm looking for something here."

Silence, but there was no sound of the intercom being switched off.

"I tried to kill you twice."

Alex resisted the urge to laugh at that. "And Mommy tried four times."

Another pause. No more words came from the intercom for a while, so Alex decided to keep walking.

Two turns right, and he ended up inside one of the classrooms. By the looks of it, it seemed to be an arts and crafts classroom, mostly because of all the drawings made by the children of various mascots… and a crude drawing of a yellow anthropomorphic chicken wearing sunglasses and doing a thumbs up.

He didn't need too much time to piece together whose drawing that was.

"Poppy, I'm in the classroom. What's the next step?"

"If I remember correctly, the key should be laying around somewhere inside that classroom's teacher's desk's drawers."

"Looking for it right now."

Alex walked to the desk in question and looked through all of the drawers he could find, but there was nothing.

"Poppy, all of the drawers are empty." Alex talked to the walkie talkie.

"It's not there?!" She exclaimed. "Ugh, we have a real problem then. I have no idea where it could be! If it isn't there, someone must have taken it!"

"But who would want to do that?"

"Hmmm, are you looking for this?" Delight spoke from the intercom before the sound of a key jingling was heard.

Alex immediately frowned.

"Poppy, Delight has the key."

Collective curses came from the other side of the line.

"I heard you managed to get out of Catnap's prison in one piece…" The teacher commented. There wasn't any malicious intent behind her words, in fact, they sounded… impressed.

A welcome change from the first time Alex had set foot inside the building.

"I did, and I need the key you currently have to help somebody."

Alex could swear he heard an amused giggle. " Well, if you want it that bad, come get it~ "

And the intercom switched off.

"I hate this factory with every single ounce of my being." Alex groaned before he picked up his walkie. "Change of plans, guys. I'm finding Delight and getting the key back."

"Angel, that's suicide!" Dogday yelled.

"He's right, Alex! Being forced to fight her is one thing, but voluntarily looking for her is a very bad idea!" Poppy added.

Kissy agreed with the two.

"Then what do you suggest? Leaving Dogday as he is? I refuse."

There was a long sigh coming from Poppy. "I don't know what to do with you…"

"Just hang on tight. I'll be there soon."

Alex left his walkie in his pouch, sighing. "Now, if I were a teacher, where would I be?" He wondered out loud.

There had to be some sort of principal's office somewhere, right? It was the most likely location to have the microphone for the intercom.

Without missing a second, Alex began searching every room he could access, opening some closed gates with his green GrabPack hand, finding nothing.

Is this building really just classrooms?!

Alex entered inside another room, finding tons of scientific equipment, adapted for children. It seemed it was the lab.

Seeing the poster forbidding Bubba from entering made him chuckle. "Hey Dogday." Alex called to the walkie talkie. "Did Bubba get banned from the School's lab by any chance?"

"Hah, he did. From what I heard, they had to close it for about half a month because of toxic gases, or something of that sort, and not even the children pleading for Bubba to come and perform another experiment changed the School's principal's mind." The dog laughed.

"Sad." Alex giggled. He then looked around and whispered to the walkie. "You guys won't happen to know where the principal's office is, right?"

"If you're in the lab, turn left and it should be the last room of the hallway." Poppy said.

"Okay."

Exiting the lab, he found out the hallway was blocked by another gate, and the receiver was on the other side. He tried entering a classroom to cross through another room, but there was no way to do it.

How am I going to reach the office?

Alex looked around until his gaze stopped in a half opened vent in the ceiling. It had a handle he could hang onto, so he used his GrabPack to lift himself and enter a vent.

Trying to navigate without having a clear idea of where he was going exactly was not an easy task, and he was sure he was going to get lost.

At least, until he started hearing something. It was someone talking.

"I just don't know what to do anymore, Barb…"

Following Delight's voice, Alex came across a vent cover, from which he could see the toy with a really exhausted look as she spoke to that weapon.

"I know! Do you think I forgot what Catnap will do to us if he finds out we didn't tell him the human was here?"

Alex widened his eyes. She didn't say anything?

A loud groan escaped her as she laid her head on the table. "Why did I even let him go? I had him right there! Am I really that desperate to leave this place?!"

There was a long pause before Delight raised her head with a shocked expression while looking at Barb.

"Maybe… you're right Barb… But do you really think that human can kill him? Get us out of here?"

There was another pause. Then, a silent chuckle. "Maybe I have really gone insane…"

Alex was having second thoughts now. Delight wanted to leave the factory as much as the others, and she went as far as not telling Catnap that she had seen him.

Maybe it was actually possible to talk to her.

Taking a deep breath and preparing himself for any sudden throw of Barb in his direction, Alex kicked the vent cover, breaking it down and causing Delight to flinch and turn to look at him as he dropped to the floor.

"I came to get the key." Alex simply said.

"How long have you been there?" The toy asked.

"Enough to hear your rant." He sighed. "Listen, I don't want to fight."

"Then what are you here for?!" She yelled back, grabbing Barb.

"As I said, I need the key, Delight. A friend needs what's locked behind the door it opens."

"And who is that friend you speak so much about, hm?"

"Dogday."

That immediately made her lower her weapon in shock. "Dog- Dogday…?" Before raising it back up. "Impossible! Catnap said he had taken care of all the Smiling Critters!"

Alex grabbed his walkie. "Hey, Dogday, you there?"

"What's wrong, Angel?"

Delight widened her eyes.

"Yeah, I need you to confirm that you are alive right now. Someone doesn't believe me."

"What? Who doesn't-?" Dogday stopped talking suddenly as he realized what he meant. "Angel, you better not be referring to who I think you're referring to."

Delight dropped Barb. "He's… You're…" It sounded as if she really didn't believe Dogday had been alive for all this time.

Silently, Alex handed her the walkie, and she hesitantly grabbed it. She pressed the button to talk. "I… I didn't know you… Dam-"

"Do NOT dare utter that name!" Dogday quite literally growled from the other side. "I don't want ANYTHING to do with a traitor like you! If it wasn't for you, Delight, Catnap wouldn't have found out about us! And I swear to every almighty being that if you do as much as think about putting even a finger on Alex, I will crawl all the way to the School and rip you to shreds. DO YOU UNDERSTAND?!"

The room fell silent for a long while. Alex got the walkie from Delight as he got it a bit closer to his face. "Okay, thanks for… proving you're not dead." Alex spoke.

"Glad I could be of help." The dog replied through gritted teeth.

With a sigh, Alex turned back to Delight, finding the faintest of tears appearing in her eyes.

Alex was about to say something, but he was interrupted when Delight shoved the key in front of his face. "Take it."

Alex caught it just as she dropped it, putting it in his pouch. Mission completed. He could leave now.

Except…

"What… happened?" Alex dared ask.

There was a long silence that followed. Delight simply crouched to get Barb back onto the table with a sad look.

"After the Hour of Joy, the School's exits were all locked." She explained. "Me and my sisters tried everything we could to get the doors open, but nothing. Eventually, food run short and I-"

She looked away, thoughtfully. "I had to eat them. I had to survive. I was so hungry I couldn't think straight…"

Another pause. "After I was the only one, the door was unlocked. It was Catnap. He had been the one that locked the door. He proposed a deal."

A scoff. "Deal… That's what he called it. He said that I had to report everything I saw to him so he could later tell him or, as he said, I would meet the same fate as my sisters."

"And you told him where Dogday and the others were hiding? Or something of that sort?" Alex asked.

She nodded. "I was scared. I didn't want to die! But in the process, I lost one of the few toys that I was still friends with…" Delight looked away, thoughtful.

"What did you tell him exactly?" The human asked out of curiosity.

"I heard a passing conversation between Dogday and Craftycorn once. They were talking about how they hated being on the same side as him and that they couldn't take it anymore. I think it was Dogday who said that, and Craftycorn was hesitant, but also agreed with him."

Alex raised a brow almost immediately. On the same side as who?

Dogday? Allied with…? He couldn't have done that…

Right?

The teacher walked to the door with a quiet sniff before Alex could ask, opening it. "Leave. You have the key. I need to think." She said as she gestured for Alex to go away.

With a nod, he walked out of the office. Just as Delight was about to close the door, he spoke. "Be strong, okay?"

Delight stood still for a while. "You too, Angel."

And she closed the door.

Did she just call me…?

Did that mean Delight was now on his side? He wasn't sure, but he wasn't going to risk getting attacked by her anytime soon, so he did as she asked and left the School, hopefully for the last time, ready for the next step of his plan.

Alex saw the shadow of Kissy's tall figure worriedly shaking her hands as she bubbled some incoherent words in the distance, accompanied by actual arguing.

Peeking his head around the corner, Alex gasped as he saw Dogday trying to crawl away from Poppy and Kissy with an angry look.

"Dogday, stop that right now!" The doll yelled as she tried to tug him back, along with Kissy.

"Let me go! I am not letting that bastard lay her hands on our Angel!" Dogday spat back.

"We all knew he was going inside the School and we knew he would eventually come across Miss Delight! What did you expect?" The doll asked him.

"What the hell is going on here?!" Alex yelled, walking towards the group.

"Angel!" Dogday exclaimed while Poppy and Kissy both let out a sigh of relief.

"Alex, you couldn't have arrived at a better moment." The doll shook her head.

Alex simply took a deep breath before looking at Dogday. "Dogday, I appreciate you being concerned about me, but you can't just crawl while being like that!"

"Angel, I-"

"Dogday, I know what happened between you both. She told me." Alex interrupted. "I'm not going to discuss who is right or who isn't, but I don't want you to try and get out of your wheelchair until you aren't missing your legs, okay?"

Dogday frowned. "She told you what exactly?"

"That she ratted you and the other Critters out after hearing you because Catnap had her pinned against a wall… metaphorically."

Alex grabbed the toy dog and left him back on his wheelchair. He scoffed. "I couldn't care less. If she were a real ally, she would have risked shutting up, just as we all did."

"Does that 'risking' have to do with 'being on the same side as him'?"

The moment those words left Alex's mouth, the three toys looked at him with a dead stare.

"How did you find out about that?" Dogday asked slowly. Really slowly.

Alex gulped. That was a bad idea.

"Uh… Delight said it?"

Dogday looked like he was about to explode because of everything he wanted to say about the teacher, but thankfully, Poppy gestured him to stop. "In due time , Dogday."

Then, she turned to Alex. "There's something else I haven't told you, Alex. About us. About your coworkers. Why Bunzo didn't like me. After you get the generators fixed, I'll show you what I mean, and you'll understand everything. But please, don't speak about that."

The human took a deep breath before nodding. "Okay. Okay, okay. Sure." He sighed.

Dogday and the others following the Prototype? Yeah, Alex. Nice one.

With a quick shake of his head, he took out the closet key from his pouch. "Okay, let's get back on topic. Where is the door?"

Kissy pointed at a section of the wall that seemed separated from the rest. Upon closer inspection, Alex saw it wasn't part of the wall, but a door. And the lock was painted the same color as it.

Looking back, he inserted the key and heard a sound. Then, the door opened on its own, letting out a loud creak. It was clear it hadn't been opened in a long while.

The inside wasn't dark, but Alex couldn't properly see inside, so he took out his flashlight and entered, motioning the others to follow.

For being called a 'closet', it sure was a big and wide room, filled with shelves and sealed plastic boxes with labels. At the end stood what seemed like a hospital bed, a light shining on it, brightening up that part of the room. It was too big for a person, and was equipped with leather straps that were most likely used to tie someone. It really wasn't for a human.

"We'll get Dogday on the bed." Poppy spoke. "You go search for his spare parts."

"Yes, ma'am."

Alex began his search for the dog's box, looking across all the different labels. They were all almost illegible, but he could make some of the names. 'B…ba Bu…nt', 'H…y Hop…', 'Ki…n Ch…k…', and so on for each of the Smiling Critters. However, he also came across other boxes labeled with names he wasn't sure he'd heard before.

'Ba…a C…', 'P…', 'Ra… Ba…', 'Al…r …tor', 'Ma…i… Mak…', 'Tu…i…', 'Ick… Li…' and 'Sim… Sm…'

Who were those? Alex had never heard of more Smiling Critters, much less of eight more of them.

He decided he could ask later, and resumed his search for Dogday's box.

Thankfully, after a few minutes of looking around, he found out the leader's box had been hidden behind one of the shelves. Alex rolled his eyes and opened the box.

The smell from quite literally a few pieces of body parts left inside a box for years almost made him throw up, and he decided it would be best if he carried the entire box to the hospital bed. Closed.

He arrived back at the center of the room, and saw Dogday already lying on the bed, trying to calm down, both from being nervous and excited.

"Okay, I don't know how we can fix him, so I just brought the whole box." Alex sheepishly sighed.

"Don't worry, I'll take it from here." Poppy replied as Kissy handed her a needle and thread. "You focus on keeping Dogday distracted. It will hurt a bit."

The human nodded, bringing a chair close to Dogday as he held one of his hands while Poppy and Kissy rummaged inside the box. "This place brings back memories…" The toy sighed.

"Good or bad?"

"Both."

Poppy got onto the bed with the needle while Kissy held the piece of Dogday's body, which seemed to be the part between his legs and torso.

"Ready?" The doll asked.

"Do it."

Poppy gave a nod to Kissy, and she inserted the body parts where it belonged. Dogday let out a groan and a shiver as he squeezed Alex's hand with enough force to break it, causing a tear to fall from his eye.

"Dogday… You're crushing my hand…" Alex muttered.

He barely reduced his grip, muttering an apology. Alex then began speaking, ready to distract the dog. "Dogday, are there more Smiling Critters apart from you eight?"

"What? No. Why do you-" Another wince. "Why do you ask, Angel?" He said.

"I saw boxes labeled with names I hadn't seen before, and since you guys said this closet was for the Smiling Critters, I assumed there had to be more."

In between all the pain in his expression, Alex caught a hint of disgust after he mentioned that. "Ugh, I suppose you must be talking about Baba's bunch." He groaned. "I don't know where they are, but hopefully not anywhere near here."

"'Baba's bunch'? Who's Baba?" Alex asked.

"You'll meet her soon enough once you get out of Playcare." Poppy said, giving the last stitch to Dogday's pelvis.

"If she's even alive." Dogday rolled his eyes.

"Oh, I'm sure she'll be."

Alex didn't know who they were talking about, so he decided to leave it be. As Kissy handed Poppy one of Dogday's legs, Alex decided to switch topics.

"So, Dogday. Tell me something about you. Any hobbies you had? Skills? Something you liked to do with people?" An evil smirk crossed his face. "Maybe any crushes~?"

The toy rolled his eyes. "That last one is not something you'll ever hear me say out loud." He chuckled before he winced again. "As for the rest, what is there to say? Lead the Smiling Critters, be positive, all that."

"Okay, I know Dogday's answers , but what about your answers?" Alex clarified. "What did you like to do?"

Dogday frowned in thought, understanding what Alex meant. "I… don't remember much about my life before the experiments…" He spoke with a somber tone. "I can barely recall my old name. And you can see how much that helps now, hah…"

"Oh."

The room fell into a tense silence with only Poppy's stitching and Dogday's winces breaking it.

After a while, Dogday finally spoke. "I think I liked dancing."

Surprisingly, it was Poppy who chuckled. "Dancing? Really?" She smiled as she finished with one of the legs.

"Hey, I never messed with your hobbies!" Dogday laughed back.

"Maybe you could teach me some dance moves when you're better?" Alex suggested.

"I doubt I'll be able to do a backflip with this body, Angel." The toy dog replied.

"What?! You could backflip?! I won't believe it until I see it."

"You'll have to take my word for it, because it's not going to happen anytime soon!"

The room erupted into laughter.

As Poppy began stitching the last body part, it was Dogday who asked Alex a question instead. "Angel, what about you? Do you have any hobbies?"

"Me?" He didn't expect that question. "Well, I used to go to the gym a few years ago, but gave up on it. It just wasn't my lifestyle, so I decided to try cooking a few months ago. My stuff is barely edible, but hey, at least it's something!" He hummed in thought. "Though, when I get out of here, I'll probably take on gambling, seeing all the luck I'm having in here!" He added with a laugh.

"What's 'gambling'?"

Alex looked confused for a second before realization hit him. "Oh, right. They probably wouldn't teach you about it here…" He muttered sheepishly. "Sometimes I forget you aren't actually adults."

Kissy made a sound akin to a question. "She wants you to explain what gambling is." Poppy translated with an amused 'hmph'.

"Well, uhhh… Let's see… There's this place called 'casino' where there are lots of… How to explain it…" He thought of an idea. "I'll use an analogy! Okay, so imagine the Game Station, but instead of just three games, there are a lot more of them, and repeated. Like, for example, ten Musical Memory's, another ten Whack-a-Wuggy's, etcetera."

"That sounds like a big building." Dogday commented.

"It is, and really crowded too. Now, let's use a simple game inside a casino. The roulette. Firstly, you know what a roulette wheel is, right?"

They nodded. "Okay good. So, that roulette is divided into different squares. Each marked with a color and a number. I don't know the range of the numbers, so let's use just the colors. Some squares are marked red, and some black, and one of them green. Following so far?"

The two nodded again. "Okay. The game consists of trying to guess in which square a ball, which is thrown into the roulette when the game starts, will land. Either red, black, or green."

"Huh. That sounds like a harmless game." The toy dog hummed.

"Yeah, but that's because we are missing the most important part of the game. The money." Alex cut. "Before you play, you bet a sum of money into a 'prediction' of where the ball will land. If it lands where you said, you get double your money, or… uhhh… I'm not sure how the green works. But if it doesn't land where you said, you lose all the money you bet before."

"That… sounds too easy? A one in two chance to double your money?" Dogday wondered out loud.

"That's because it's almost always rigged so you lose money and you keep playing, and the game is far more complicated than what I told you." Alex finished his explanation. "The point being: Don't gamble. It can give you serious problems in your life."

"...Okay, I suppose." The dog laughed. "Just don't let Kickin or Hoppy find out about it. They would for sure spend their entire life savings on that."

"You know, when I said 'distract Dogday', I wasn't expecting you to teach us how to play casino games." Poppy commented.

"You knew about this?" The toy gasped, Kissy doing the same.

"As I said before, I have my tricks." She replied, cutting the thread for a final time. "There we go."

Dogday tried to stand up, but Poppy immediately stopped him with a startled yelp. "Don't! Your body needs to get used to having legs again! You'll have to stay there for a while."

Dogday sighed but nodded. Alex took the opportunity to look at the full Dogday. He was tall , probably slightly more than Catnap, but he was on all fours, and he was sure that when he wasn't, Dogday would barely reach his chest.

Still, he was okay now. No more open insides, and according to Poppy, he would be able to walk after a while!

Dogday was okay now.

Alex let out a deep sigh of relief. "Thank God you're okay…"

"It feels weird for my intestines not to move around…" Dogday shivered. "Still, I can't thank you all for this. I never would have thought I'd be able to walk ever again!" He added with a laugh.

"Poppy, how long will he need to rest?" Alex asked.

"Until he can walk? Maybe an hour, two at most. But he'll probably need to practice walking again after that if he wants to have a chance to survive Catnap." The doll explained.

"I'm still amazed how you just sewed some new legs and now we just need to wait like if he was some… clay doll." The human smiled. "Forgive me for saying this, but it's amazing! How does that even work?"

"I don't even want to know, Angel…" Dogday spoke before he yawned. "I'm feeling sleepy now…"

"See? Your body is already trying to recover." Poppy giggled. "Now rest, Dogday."

"You've earned it, bud." Alex added.

Kissy did the closest thing to a thumbs up she could manage.

Dogday turned to look at Alex. "You truly are a blessing to us all."

Alex scoffed. "Don't be ridiculous. If I'm a blessing to you, then you all are a blessing to me. Wouldn't be anywhere near here if it weren't for the few toys that have helped me."

Dogday shook his head with a laugh before he actually closed his eyes, falling unconscious almost immediately.

And that was that.