CHAPTER 13: Explosive Decompression

The moment Alex reached the bottom of the stairs, he was almost mobbed by the child-sized Critters. Especially Bobby who embraced his legs tightly.

"I was so afraid you'd never get here," she whimpered. "I thought he was going to get you!"

Alex reached down and gave the frightened toy bear's head a gentle rub.

"Huh? Who's that? Who said that?" Dogday quickly asked.

The other critters looked up and took notice of the large orange and red lump slung over Alex's shoulders.

"Who's that?" Craftycorn asked.

"What did you bring?" Hoppy wondered, circling around to get a better look.

"Wait! Is that…" Bobby asked.

"H…Hoppy!?" Dogday cried in disbelief the moment he saw her.

"D-Dogday?!" the green rabbit cried in surprise and horror. "Wha- what happened to you!?"

"DOGDAY?!" Bobby screamed in shock.

"Y-y-you're alive!" Craftycorn whimpered.

"Who… who did this to you?!" Kickin' cried.

"Hold on everyone, let me sit him down first!" Alex huffed as he shuffled his way past the critters who began to dart around to see their battered leader.

"Bring him over here!" Bobby shouted.

"No, over here, Angel!" Craftycorn shouted. "There's more room!"

Seeing the white unicorn standing by a bunch of pillows, Alex made his way over to her. He then kneeled down to flop Dogday over his shoulder. The other critters swarmed in to help. Dogday didn't help as he seemed overwhelmed to see his friends. His gaze locked on three in particular. After sitting him down, the critters parted slightly to take in his physical state in full. Needless to say, they were in shock to see what Catnap had done to him and how awfully thin he was. He looked terrible.

"My God…." Hoppy gasped silently looking at him.

"Bubba, where is that first aid kit?!" Bobby cried, pulling herself away. "Never mind, I'll find it myself!"

"It's over in that corner, Bobby!" Craftycorn called to her.

"I got it, make way!" Bubba shouted as he pushed his way past Craftycorn and Picky. "I need to check his injuries! If there is an infection…!"

"Okay, guys; let's give the doc some room, and Dogday too. He… he's not looking good," Kickin' ordered, spreading his wing-like hands to push the other critters back a couple steps.

The orange dog stared, his gaze laser focused on Picky, Hoppy and Kickin'. He slowly sat up, brought his trembling hands up and gave their shoulders a couple squeezes and their faces a gentle rub as if he couldn't believe his eyes and needed to check that they were real.

"Picky…Kickin'... H… Hoppy….." he said quietly.

There was a long pause before a truly bright smile broke on his permanently smiling face and tears streamed down his furry cheeks. The three critters then received a big tight hug from the tall canine who sobbed and held them like a father embracing his children.

"Hoppy! Kickin'! Picky! Oh my God, you're both alive! Oh my god…I thought I had lost you three!" he sobbed in relief and joy.

"Hey, sit still, please!" Bubba grumped while he inspected the ends of Dogday's legs.

"You nearly did. But…" Hoppy said slowly before turning and smiling at Alex. "He saved me… he saved us."

"He did, I thought we were going to be trapped out there forever," Kickin' said.

"And… me too," Picky said sadly. "Catnap would have gotten me if he'd not saved me. Oh Dogday, I'm so sorry! I shouldn't have left you! I should have stayed! I was so stupid…"

"Shhhh… Picky, it's okay. Oh my… You don't know how happy I am to see you," Dogday said to the pig. "And you two…" he said, turning to Hoppy and Kickin', "I thought we'd lost you… I'm sorry I wasn't the leader I should have been. I was such an idiot! I should have gotten us out of here sooner…"

"No Dogday, it was my fault! I thought I could find a way out on my own," Hoppy said mournfully.

"We were going to come back for you," Kickin' said. "But… but we got stuck… Catnap… I should have stayed… I should have stayed…"

Dogday huffed and hugged the two closer, nuzzling them gently.

"I… I can't believe it… I'm… I'm just so happy you're both okay," he sobbed happily.

Bubba breathed a sigh of relief as he stepped back from his task.

"It's not pretty to look at but I don't detect any infections despite how long it's been. We're in the clear now. Just need to…" he said happily before his head snapped toward the console.

"To what?" Bobby asked.

"Wrap them up, Bobby, I… I have to check something," he said as he pushed past Bobby, who began to do as he'd asked.

Dogday then looked at Alex who was watching this reunion unfold with a sad tired smile.

"Thank you, Angel," he said tearfully.

"Thank you, Angel," Kickin' said with a grateful sigh.

"Thank you Angel," Bobby said, her tone betraying her attention to Dogday's wounds.

"Thank you, Angel," Hoppy said with a smirk in her voice.

"Thank you, Angel," said Picky gratefully.

"Thank you, Angel," Crafycorn said half distractedly.

Alex gave a small nod. He'd not really felt he deserved the name at first; he certainly didn't feel like much of an angel. But now, after all he'd been through, he was starting to feel it. He might still have a task ahead to finish, but for the first time he was starting to feel confident that something good may come out of this nightmare. Maybe… just maybe …

A sudden tugging at his pants leg got his attention. He looked down to see it was Bubba, looking up at him.

"Hey, Bubba. What-"

"Over here. Now," he said bluntly.

Confused, Alex followed the blue elephant a distance away from the group who began tending to their leader as Bobby came back with a first aid kit and an extra pillow. The blue elephant was walking in a very agitated manner before he turned to face Alex, his eyebrows set in a scowl, even if his mouth was stuck in a constant grin, much to Alex's confusion.

"What is it, Bubba? What's wrong?" he asked.

"What's wrong? What… UGH… you idiot! Why did you have to go and do that?" the blue elephant snapped.

"Wait, what? What do you mean?" Alex asked, confused. He thought he'd be happy with this.

"Why did you have to go and steal Dogday away? Do you realize how angry you've made Catnap?! I just… come here," the blue elephant said, directing his attention to one of the screens.

The screen displayed a still image of some kind of store room looking space.

"I heard more before this, this is just when I hit record," Bubba explained, pointing a hand to the screen, which began to play as if he'd pushed a button on a remote control.

The screen began to play as Catnap shrieked and bellowed. The volume was turned down, Alex could tell as the yelling was all he could hear. Nothing else like the sound of items crashing despite seeing things flying past the cameras as they switched following Catnap as the big feline destroyed everything in his way with a ferocity that said he was PISSED.

"I've seen him angry before, but this… oh he's apocalyptic! And look, listen!" Bubba demanded.

"RAAAAAAAAAAWWWWWRRRRRR! THAT RAT! THAT FILTHY RAT! HOW DARE HE TAKE FROM ME! HE WAS MINE! MINE TO KEEP SO HE WOULD BE SPARED! I CRIPPLED HIM TO SAVE HIM AND NOW HE'S GONE!"

Catnap then ran up to a door and smashed it down with all his might. But then he did the unthinkable, he stopped. He stood frozen like a statue for a moment. Then, from the hole, popped up a lot of little heads as up sat HUNDREDS OF MINI SMILING CRITTERS! They swarmed around him like a flock of sheep.

"MY FLOCK! AWAKEN! I HAVE MEAT FOR YOU TO FIND! FIND HIM BEFORE ME AND IT'S ALL YOURS AFTER I'M THROUGH WITH HIM! IF I FIND HIM, I'LL FEED HIM TO ALL OF YOU! AND FIND THOSE HERETICS! DEVOUR THEM ALL!"

The screen then stopped as the hoard began to advance down the hallway. Bubba tugged on Alex's shirt with his trunk, which was remarkably strong.

"Do you understand what he's going to do to us now if he finds us?" he hissed, dragging Alex back across the room.

"He was going to kill him! I couldn't leave him down there!"

"Oh god… why are you so dense? If Catnap really had meant to kill him, he would have done so already! Now that you stole him, Catnap's going to start tearing this place apart until he finds all of us! He might even be thinking of a way to break in right now! I thought you were supposed to be helping us, not making things worse!"

"Catnap's angry that I'm here in the first place! Is that also my fault?"

"N-no, but you're making it worse! You should have just left him there!"

"Is that what this is about?" Alex asked, getting angry. "You think I should have left Dogday alone in that…that HELL? Isolated? Alone? Abandoned? You KNEW he was down there. Why didn't you do anything to help him? How could you do that to your friend?"

"Catnap killed my friend! Look at him!" Bubba said, pointing an arm at the haggard canine still surrounded by the other critters. "He used to be as strong as Catnap. Big, strong, powerful! And look at him now! Catnap destroyed him, Alex! The day I saw Catnap drag him into the Playhouse, I knew he was dead and we'd never see him again!"

"He was still alive, and you left him to die! And you're angry that he didn't!"

"Don't you dare accuse me of that! You weren't here for the past ten years! You don't know what it's been like down here!"

"Bubba, what's wrong? Why are you shouting at Angel?" asked a voice.

Alex and Bubba turned to see Craftycorn coming up and looking nervous. The blue elephant scowled.

"Alex and I are talking, Crafty. Go away," he said.

"No," Craftycorn said in a whimper. "Why are you yelling at him? What's wrong?"

"I said go away, Crafty. I'm handling something important," he said, his voice straining to reign in his anger.

"Hey, don't you talk to her like that," Alex said, but the blue elephant ignored him.

"Shut up!" Bubba snapped.

"B-b-b-but y-y-you sh-shouldn't b-be y-yelling at A-a-angel," the white unicorn whimpered. "H-h-he saved D-D-Dogday. He-"

Bubba then turned to face her, his anger clear on his face. Alex feared he was going to hit her!

"I said go away! If I want to see another useless scribble or to hear you cry about another broken crayon or dried out paint bottle, I'll ask! Do me a favor, Craftycorn; go away and just leave every single thing to me! You did that for ten years, what's another day?! JUST! GO! AWAY!" Bubba snapped.

If the discussion between Alex and Bubba hadn't been heard by the others earlier, it was certainly heard now! Everyone stared at the trio, shocked by what had just unfolded. Craftycorn stood staring for a moment before she turned and ran crying to the other end of the room. The other critters ran up and surrounded the elephant.

"Bubba! What the hell man?! Why did you do that?!" Kickin' cried.

"I told her to stay out of our conversation, and she couldn't take the damn hint," the blue elephant stated, still seething.

"You can't talk to Crafty like that!" Bobby shouted, marching up to him, and grabbing him by the trunk. "What's wrong with you!?"

"AHH! She doesn't get it!" Bubba said, wiggling himself free from the bear's grip. "No one does! LOOK! Look at this!"

He hurriedly pointed at the TV screens, which quickly all flashed to show the same static image. Hoppy and Kickin' hugged each other in fear, memories of the last time they'd met Catnap's flock of mini critters. Bubba huffed, content as if he'd made his point clear, he turned to the others. One by one the screens all turned off.

"I'm the only one doing anything to make sure we survive," he growled at Bobby," and then this human comes in and destroys the safe security I've been ensuring you and her!"

"But you don't talk to Craftycorn like that, man!" Kickin' said. "That's like, beyond uncool!"

"Yeah!" Picky cried.

"What the heck happened, Bubba? I thought you were smarter than that!" Hoppy growled.

"Oh shut up, Hopscotch! You didn't live my life, you don't know what I've been through!" Bubba shouted.

"Well, tell us then."

Everyone turned to see Dogday, the large toy dog having dragged himself over from the pillows a couple feet. He stared down at Bubba and Bubba shrank back a step. Even Alex felt a little nervous as this was the first time seeing Dogday upset.

"Tell us what your life has been like, Bubba. You were one of the best teachers in school next to the Delights. Teach us," he said.

"W-well, WELL, for the past 6 years, it's been just me doing everything! When I saw Catnap drag your body away, I had to step in! Half of us were dead, and Catnap had his flock of insane toys and crazy teachers, all of them worshiping that monster! Someone had to fill in your shoes, Dogday, and I had no choice but to do that! Craftycorn and Bobby were not up to it."

"That's not true," Bobby cried. "I could have helped!"

"It took 10 years and Alex to pull you out of that shock you were stuck in! And Crafty… she's a great artist, but survival is not in her skillset! You weren't going to come up with a plan, and she sure as hell wasn't going to either! It all fell to me to do something to keep the rest of us alive!" Bubba cried, before he paused to regain his composure, his voice starting to crack.

"I've been doing all I could to keep us safe down here. I tried for a year to think of a plan to escape. Maybe even two years. But every plan would mean leaving the bunker. And maybe being caught by Catnap or his flock. I couldn't put either of you two through that if I died. If you died, I'd never forgive myself. So I stopped thinking. There would be no escape. All we could do was try to survive."

He turned to stare at the corner of the room Craftycorn had retreated to. The white unicorn was out of sight, only the sound of her cries could be heard, followed by a crumpled paper ball being tossed out.

"She was content to dream her life away in fantasy," Bubba said before turning back to Bobby. "And you were so far gone, I didn't know who you were anymore. I had to do it all… for years… With only Poppy's vague promises that she'd bring someone to help us. Someone who could be our "avenging angel" as she put it. Someone who would set us free for real. Her plan was the only plan I could see working, but I gave up on the hope that would ever happen when she vanished. Until today. When I heard that crash and saw a human on the monitors, I started to believe that maybe her promise of an angel could be true."

The elephant then turned to Alex and pointed at him.

"Instead she sent us this… this agitator who makes everything worse! Catnap was never this angry before he arrived, hell, he was content to have us hiding from him! He knew sooner or later we would all starve to death or join him in the hopes of being fed! Everything has only gotten worse! It was supposed to be simple: this human comes in, opens the way forward, and then we all escape and leave Catnap to rule this little prison for the rest of his miserable life till he runs out of mini critters to eat and dies or his God kills him! Now, if Catnap or his flock finds us now, we're all dead without fail!"

"Bubba, my man, we are in a concrete bunker! Or did you not notice?" Kickin' said, waving his hands to indicate their whereabouts.

"A lot of good that'll do! All he needs to do is be motivated to smash the door down!" Bubba countered. "He's done it before! And now with his prisoner stolen, he'll have all the motivation he needs!"

"You want real problems, brainiac? Try being stuck on a ledge for years. Having to be silent every time you hear that monster patrolling around the outside. Surviving on the literal trash the employees threw away cause we had NO supplies and NO protection at all," Hoppy said, poking a finger into his chest.

"Keeping the rest of us alive is a lot harder than looking after yourself, you coward!" Bubba snapped back.

"COWARD?!"

"Whoa, hey, look, can we all chill out here? Please?" Kickin' asked.

"Yes, coward! You and Kickin' took off and left us behind to suffer at the hands of that lunatic! And for what? Your own selfish desire to get yourselves out, and leave us behind! Like you always have!" Bubba said, ignoring Kickin'.

"Take that back, Bubba, you filthy liar," Hoppy growled, the electricity on her hands starting to crackle.

"I'm not taking back the truth," the blue elephant growled.

The green bunny gave an angry roar and she charged at Bubba. But a big orange hand grabbed her and hoisted her up before she could get close. Another orange hand grabbed Bubba who was just turning around to run away.

"ENOUGH!" Dogday shouted, holding the two angry critters up off the ground.

The room fell into deafening silence. For a couple moments all that could be heard was the soft breathing of the critters and Alex. Everyone stood waiting for what was going to happen, except Hoppy who was glaring daggers at Bubba.

"Let me hit him, Dogday," she growled. "This smart ass thinks I'm no better than that purple monster out there, I'll-"

"No, Hoppy," Dogday said, his voice firm, "you will do no such thing. We are NOT fighting about this. This is exactly what got us separated in the first place."

"What do you mean?" Bubba said, still glaring back at Hoppy.

"We'd all hoped we'd be free, but things only got worse when we separated. It took me far too long to realize that we were all lied to. It took the loss of three of us to make me see that. I had hoped Catnap would relent and allow us to leave. In the end I unintentionally left the burden and stress of responsibility on you, Bubba. And for that, I am sorry."

The blue elephant gave an agreeable huff.

"However," Dogday continued, "that does NOT justify you snapping at your friends! Craftycorn is a gentle soul, and I say thank God she's still that way!"

"But that way doesn't help us survive!" Bubba protested.

"Maybe not, but making her cry doesn't help either! My God… has survival cost you your kindness?"

"Something had to go, Dogday! You tried kindness and understanding with Catnap and look what he did to you! He destroyed you! Killed you and dragged your body off, never to be seen again! I had to keep what was left of the Smiling Critters alive, and that kindness could only go so far! I can't extend kindness to Alex anymore because he's gone and made things worse! Catnap can now kill all of us at once because of him! Kindness is what killed you, and his kindness will kill ALL OF US!" Bubba shouted, pointing at Alex.

There was silence. The critters stared at their two leaders, wondering just what would happen next. Slowly, Dogday brought Bubba close to his face and stared hard into his beady white eyes. When he spoke, his voice was soft but firm.

"I didn't ask for Alex's kindness, Bubba. Honestly, I don't think I deserve it. I was ready to die down there so he could survive. So he could do what I failed to do; protect you, save you. All he had to do was turn around and leave me there to die. It would have been the easiest choice to make, it may have even been the smarter choice to make. But he refused, even after I begged him to toss me aside like the trash I am. That kindness is why I am free from that prison. That kindness is why Bobby is back to her old self. That kindness brought Picky, Kickin' and Hoppy back. That kindness… brought us back together. And you're tearing it apart."

Bubba stared, his mouth hanging open a bit more; it seemed he'd never considered that. Slowly Dogday sat him and Hoppy back down.

"Now I will say this only once. You are justified in your stress. You've kept yourself and the others alive all this time, and that's commendable. But it has cost you your ability to be kind. We're all trying to survive down here, and you can't snap at your friends like that. We need to stay united or all your efforts will be for nothing. There is more than Catnap we have to worry about, and you damn well know it."

Bubba didn't respond, but the look on his face hinted at deep shame.

"You clearly have a plan; you always were the best planner, far better than me. First, you are going to explain this plan to me, then we are going to continue on with this plan as normal. Things have changed and gotten more dire, yes, but we are going to plan around it. Do I make myself clear?" the big orange canine said firmly.

"Yes," Bubba said, lowering his head in defeat.

"Now there's the rad pup I know," Kickin' said quietly, before getting an elbow from Hoppy.

"Read the room, Chick," she huffed.

Feeling the tension was finally settling, Alex finally allowed himself to relax as it seemed a crisis had been averted. He took a couple steps away as it seemed his intervention would not be needed. Most of the critters returned to huddling around Dogday, trying to help him be comfortable on the floor as Bubba began to re-explain the plan.

"God, that could have been nasty. I know what I did was probably wrong. But if I hadn't… ugh… my head hurts," he thought.

Just past the thumping of his headache, he noticed Bobby leave the group and head towards the back of the room. For a moment he wondered why before the sound of the soft crying reminded him.

"Oh… Crafty…"

He soon followed after the bear who vanished behind a support column. A second later there was a crunching noise followed by a wadded-up ball of paper being thrown out that bounced against his worn-out shoe. He picked it up and gently uncrumpled it, to reveal itself as the picture the unicorn had been drawing when he first spoke to her.

"Oh goodness," he sighed under his breath, before speaking a little louder, "Craftycorn?"

A sad sniffle answered him. Leaning to look around the support column, he found Bobby gently embracing the unicorn. Craftycorn had curled into a ball and was softly crying into her lap. It was enough to make his heart ache. Slowly Alex had a seat on the ground in front of the two critters.

"Shhhh it's okay," Bobby said to Craftycorn. "I'm sure he didn't mean it."

"But he is right, I can't do anything to help us. I can't do anything. All I do is talk about art, I shouldn't even be here! I'm useless!" Craftycorn sobbed.

"No Crafty, you're not useless," Alex said.

This made the unicorn look up in shock as she'd barely heard him approach.

"But I am, Alex!" she sobbed. "Bubba's right, I could never do anything to help us survive. I couldn't have ever made a plan to escape! If I left, nothing would be lost. The only thing I did was write the note that brought you here, and even then it was a plan someone else made."

"Crafty, we love your art, you know that," Bobby said.

"But it doesn't help. They just… hang on a wall and look stupid," Crafty moped.

Bobby hugged in closer, but it didn't seem to help much. Alex, too, was at a loss. He wanted to help her feel better, but he wasn't sure where to start. Of all the critters, he'd spoken with her the least it seemed. Looking down at the crumpled drawing of herself in a flowery field, he thought. Soon a question came to his mind.

"Craftycorn, why do you draw these pictures?" he asked.

The sobbing critter quietened down a bit, as if she were pondering it.

"I… I just…" she started before pausing.

"It's okay, sweetie," Bobby said gently. "You can tell us."

"I…. I just want to remind myself that beyond this nightmare is somewhere better… a place with real grass, flowers, the sun, the clouds… That paradise beyond this place… the one… HE… had promised us. Where the kids who came here came from. I… I think about it so much and I sometimes feel like we'll never, ever be free. But when I draw the places I see in my dreams… it feels… real. I can leave this place and feel happy… even if it's just for an hour," she whimpered.

Neither Alex or Bobby said anything for a moment. Soon Craftycorn sighed and just held her head in her hooves.

"But what good does that do? It doesn't help us get out. It just… keeps us… it keeps me dreaming," she said with a sad sigh.

"Sometimes dreaming is the only thing that keeps you going forward," Alex said.

"What do you mean?" Craftcorn asked, looking up slowly.

"When I was a kid, I was... an orphan. But I didn't go to an orphanage, I was placed in foster care."

"What's that mean?" Bobby asked.

"Foster care is where you're given to a family who will look after you and raise you like you're their kid," Alex explained. "But it's not like being adopted, the parents can return you to the system if they have an issue with you. I know there are good foster parents, but all the ones I had were never nice. They mostly pretended I didn't exist except at meals. I wanted nothing more than to give up sometimes. You… you don't know how many times I thought it'd be easier to just… stop living."

This earned a gasp from the two critters.

"But… how did you go on?" Craftycorn asked.

Alex sighed and continued,"I dreamed Craftycorn. I dreamed of my life as an adult. What I would do with it, how I'd be a better parent to a child. How I'd love them and care for them, no matter where they came from. I would be better than the people who looked after me. That dream is what kept me going. And your dreams, Craftycorn, of being free… I am going to make those dreams a reality. For you, and the others. I just need to know if you can keep dreaming a little longer, for all of us."

The white unicorn didn't speak for a moment. Alex held his breath. Eventually Craftycorn spoke.

"Do you promise? That we'll… get out?" she asked.

Alex shuffled over a little closer, wrapped his arms around her and held her close. Craftycorn gave a surprised "Eep!" but she relaxed as he looked into her black eyes.

"I promise," he said.

It took a moment for her to comprehend but the moment she did, the white unicorn critter hugged into him as tightly as she could.

"Thank you," she said through happy tears. "Thank you, Angel."

.

.

After helping to uncrumple her drawings, Alex and Bobby left Craftycorn to work on a new drawing. She had become inspired and Bobby mentioned it was best to let her work as, once she had an idea, it was hard to pull her away.

"Thanks for helping Alex," Bobby said once they were a distance away. "I... I don't think I could have done that on my own."

"I'm sure you would have. You're Bobby Bearhug after all," Alex said.

"Yeah… I am… But I… well I feel a little out of practice," she said sadly, one hand clutching at her pendant. "But… I can only get better, can't I?"

"Of course you can," Alex said. "I wouldn't expect you to feel instantly better after talking with me."

"Yeah," Bobby sighed. She then turned and gave Alex's leg another hug.

"What's this for?"

"For coming back… for surviving… and for bringing everyone back," she said, casting a look at the critters gathered at the other side of the room.

Bubba was busy at his desk working on something while Dogday sat next to him. In his arms he held Hoppy and Kickin, with Hoppy furthest away from the blue elephant. Picky was sitting at another table, working at making some simple meal of re-hydrated fruit, and a couple cans of something. Pleased with her efforts she carried the bowl over to Dogday and immediately began to insist he eat something. The dog tried to politely decline, but the pig critter insisted so firmly he folded.

"Well… almost all of us," Bobby said with a sad sigh.

Alex knew who she was talking about. As he looked at this group of toys acting like a family, he wondered if there had been other toys like them.

"There had to be others, other good souls down here. But they were removed by others like Mommy… and Catnap…" he thought.

Catnap… that cruel beast… Alex felt his anger rising. The scientists of this company were to blame for what they did to the children here, but didn't excuse Catnap. He had become worse than them. His friends, even other living toys, were disposable in service to his "god." Evil people had destroyed their lives, but Catnap had purposely made their lives a living nightmare.

"It has to end."

Slipping free from Bobby's grasp, he walked over to Bubba. The blue elephant leaped in surprise when Alex turned him around to face him.

"Okay, where to next?" he asked.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I've updated the story with chapter titles and given it a better title for the story as a whole as I felt "Deep Sleep AU" was too generic. Sorry this chapter took so long to post. I needed help proofreading it to make sure the characters actions weren't too, well, out of out of character.