CHAPTER 12: Playhouse Prison

Hung from leather straps that were secured to the wall of the cell with massive nails, was the sunny orange canine, leader of the Smiling Critters, Dogday. Or what was left of him. A bloody bandage was wrapped around his middle, and his legs just ended in bloody stumps below his hips that had similar leather straps cinched around them.

"Possibly to keep him from bleeding out," Alex thought with horror.

The dog's head shuffled tiredly, his frame looking horribly emaciated, his breathing came in sickly gasps. But this didn't seem to deter the canine who spoke to him slowly.

"You're in Catnap's home, Angel," Dogday said with a cough. "There's nothing here to save… not anymore…"

"My god…. W… what happened? What… who did this to you?" Alex asked, his voice having gone hoarse with shock.

"That… thing…. Catnap," Dogday coughed, struggling to speak. "The prototype is his god… and… this is what he does to heretics… if you don't see his way… I tried to convince him there was a better way, that we could leave this place. But he refused to listen no matter what I said, no matter how many friends we lost… I tried to force him to let us go. We fought… but… he won. Broke my legs, then ripped them right off. I thought this was it… my time was over at the hands of someone who'd once been my friend…"

The orange dog paused as his voice nearly cracked and tears began to trickle down his cheeks. He gasped a couple times, sounding like he was struggling to hold a sob in check. He was silent for a minute before he continued.

"Instead, he brought me here… stuck me in this cell… in the dark… forever. I'm so weak I'll never be able to match his scale… and if I were to take a smaller form… if I could… I imagine I'd perish. And so, I'm trapped here. He told me I wouldn't be alone for long as the others who remained… who refused to join him… would join me instead… But that was so long ago… and my friends are smart… they'd never join him. Unless… they did… or they are all gone…. and l….. failed them… I failed them all…"

This last sentence came out as a heartbroken whimper. Alex just stared. This… this was beyond horrible. Huggy Wuggy had been a monstrous toy with a mouth full of teeth. Mommy Long Legs had been a deeply disturbed monster that hid her insanity under a sickly-sweet voice. She'd killed the toys who'd failed to kill him, but this… this was worse. Mommy Long Legs toyed with her victims and made their end brutal but quick. Catnap… he kept his victims alive and suffering, in more ways than one. And he'd betrayed that trust Dogday held for him.

"N-no… no you didn't! Your friends… the other critters are still alive, and they don't serve Catnap at all! It's thanks to them I've even gotten this far! They are all in hiding, hiding from Catnap," Alex said. "They... they never told me what happened to you, but the way they do talk, they still respect you. I dare say they miss you."

Dogday said nothing for a moment before he sighed heavily.

"That's a small blessing… to know they are still alive… and… not siding with… him…" Dogday said before his voice changed from ragged to as commanding and serious as he could muster, "Listen… you need to get out of here. You need to survive! Ahhh… You and Poppy… ahhh.. can fix this…"

"B-but what about you?! I can't-"

"Forget about me, Angel! Ugh… You're our last hope! You're… my last hope… I've already lost 4 friends; I can't lose the rest! We can't lose you! You need to save the others! Y-"

Dogday suddenly paused, his eyes widening to see the white pupils and turned to Alex.

"Oh no! He's coming! Hide!"

Alex didn't question it and saw an open cell behind him. He quickly pushed past the door and squeezed behind a couple play blocks that had been left inside. A minute passed before the sound of a door being thrown open was heard, followed by the heavy foot falls of the tall purple feline who came into view. His immense frame was suddenly wracked with sickening bone cracks as it shifted, shrunk and compacted into a smaller… adult size. Then, Catnap stood up on his hind legs, his front paws shifting into hands. He turned to regard the strung-up canine.

"Ah, hello, heretic," he said… in a voice that sounded… human.

"Ugh… wh-what do you want?" Dogday gasped and groaned.

"Oh I think you know. We've got an intruder in our sanctuary. I've tried my best to dispose of him but somehow, he keeps getting away. Our savior grows increasingly angry with his presence. I'm certain he could have come this way as he's not left the school. I'm certain you've heard something; you've had a long time to get used to the silence. All you need to do is tell me, and perhaps our savior will find mercy in his heart for you."

Dogday gave a strangled sigh that sounded like a cough.

"Savior? What savior makes you hurt your friends, and slaughter innocent lives? What… savior keeps us imprisoned in this hell?"

"This is OUR HOME! The ONLY home we can ever have after what they did to us! Filth like those rats are to be removed, disposed of, cast off! I am the only one who's trying to achieve that while you and your heretical friends continue to get in my way. Certainly, you couldn't have forgotten this? After all, last time we had this discussion, you could stand on your own two feet," the purple feline hissed in horrific glee.

"I… I was once like you, Catnap," Dogday said tiredly, "We all were like you… how can you do this to your friends?"

"Simple," the purple feline said, "They are lost, confused, adrift. I'm trying to give them a sense of direction. A sense of direction without the oppression of those bastards who did this to us! Made us into these… monsters…If only you could see my way…"

"Your way? Your way made our friends hide in fear! Hoppy and Kickin' vanished completely! Then Picky disappeared! I tried to be reasonable with you and you refused! How in the name of God is your way better?" Dogday cried.

Catnap growled and clutched his hand around Dogday's neck, he snarled, his fur standing on end. His voice was low, and threatening.

"It's the only way. My path keeps all of us alive in OUR home. Your way makes us enemies of Our Divine Savior, and thus we are to be consumed by him if I don't tow the line. You were our leader once but when you failed to lead, I had to step up!"

Dogday gasped before he was let go as the feline forcefully shoved him into the wall. The tattered dog uttered a pained moan.

"You talk about leaving this factory, finding freedom out there… filling their heads with these delusions… poisoning their minds with these dreams that we could ever have a place in their world! And don't think the failure to convince complete devotion to the Original was your only failure. Who should have been keeping an eye on Hoppy and Kickin'? You were. Who should have watched Picky Piggy to make sure she didn't stray? YOU. You had your job, and you failed 3 of our friends. You failed to keep them safe, and they've been gone ever since. Especially Picky, you failed her the most."

Dogday looked up, wondering what the crazy feline was getting at. Catnap reached behind his moon pendant and pulled out another one. It was a small red apple.

"I found THIS in Home Sweet Home. That rat did away with her, gutted her, and left her for dead. All because she got in his way. Don't you see? This is all your fault. If only Picky weren't missing, she wouldn't have been slaughtered by the intruder your opposition to the Original allowed in. He even killed the last Ms. Delight. I was going to see if she had dealt with him, as per an agreement we had. Instead, I found her ground to paste!"

He then wiggled his finger to drop the pendant to the floor. Dogday's eyes followed it as it fell to the ground beyond the stumps of his legs.

"Hoppy… Kickin'... Picky…. and now Ms. Delight. You're no leader, heretic. All you've done is destroy it," Catnap said venomously. "Dare I say… you killed it."

Alex felt his blood pressure rising. How dare Catnap say this. None of it was true, he knew it. And yet here he was feeding Dogday vicious lies to destroy him. Lies the toy was starting to believe by the huffing sobs he was struggling to hold back.

"I really should just destroy you now and spare you the punishment of living; knowing the complete disgrace you've brought here; of those you sentenced to die with your poisonous beliefs. The only bit of mercy you truly deserve," Catnap growled, bringing a hand up to Dogday's face. His claws glinted in the candlelight. Then, he retracted them and continued, "But, instead I'm going to offer you a chance to save yourself. That's all you can do now."

Dogday started to look up a bit, and Catnap's hand brought it up the rest of the way so he could look into his eyes.

"You're a smart puppy… strong sense of smell…and excellent hearing. There aren't many pathways the rat could go from the school. Maybe he's coming here to slit your throat just like he did for Picky. If you heard him down here, and you tell me, I'll grant you the mercy of letting down so you can rest your arms at last. Spare you the fate of feeding you to my flock, the only thing you're really good for anymore. What do you say, Dogday? Want to help your good friend Catnap?"

The canine looked up at the purple feline, looking at him with sad hope. Alex could tell, that was probably the first time in forever he'd been called by his name or reminded of his friendship. Fear gripped his own heart, worrying that he'd be given up. He looked up into the darkness of the cell he was in, hoping for a hole in the ceiling or something. Maybe he could pull the door closed, and that would keep the monstrous feline at bay for a while? Thoughts swirled in his mind about what he could do when Dogday spoke, in a sad and defeated voice.

"I heard one of the doors open at the far end of the Playhouse, followed by a crash. I don't know what happened, but I've not heard anything since. Perhaps he's trapped. Or dead… hopefully… dead. A mercy from his sake."

Catnap brought a finger under the dog's chin and lifted it up.

"Now was that so hard? I knew you'd start to see my way eventually," he said.

Then came the sickening bone cracking as the purple feline started to stretch out back into his monstrous form.

"But if you're lying… my last bit of patience for you will be at its end!" he snarled as his voice dropped into that inhuman beast.

Then quick as a flash the purple feline turned and took off down the hallway where Alex had come from. Alex held his breath until the sound of footsteps faded into the distance. Only after a minute of silence had passed, with only the sound of Dogday's raspy breaths, did he slip out from the cell. He walked up to the hanging canine who looked up at him sadly, his filthy ears flopping over.

"He'll be gone for a while, you must run now, angel. You need to live," he coughed out.

Alex gulped, this poor toy dog looked in such a terrible way. He'd heard of what he had supposedly had to do to one of his friends and still he was willing to help. He still thought of Alex as an angel. Dogday seemed to notice this and spoke again.

"Picky was my friend… but what became of her… I only hope she is now at peace. She was never bad, Angel. Just know that. This place… it makes you into a monster," he sighed. "Leave me, Angel. I'll die, but at least I'll be free…"

Alex looked at this toy dog who's body deflated into a limp bundle of fabric, the only sounds coming from him being tear filled gaps of air. So much pain and torture, and yet his sanity remained. But this was at a terrible cost to himself. Slowly a thought came to Alex; his fellow workers might be dead now, and a lot of the toys were too far gone, but he could save someone. Kissy, Poppy, Hoppy, Kickin', Bubba, Bobby, Picky, Craftycorn… he could save them maybe. He had to try to save one more.

"Just one more…"

"You will be free," Alex said as he grabbed the apple pendant and stuffed it into his pocket. "I'll make sure of it."

Dogday looked up through eyes filled with tears, his attention piqued. Before he could ask what he meant, Alex stepped into his cell, placed an arm under him, taking the dog's weight, and fired one GrabPack hand at one of the bolts holding the chain in the wall. Bits of concrete fell to the floor from around it, followed by the sound of metal scraping on concrete.

"W-what are you doing?!" Dogday cried.

"I'm getting you out of here," Alex said firmly.

The winch on his back whirred loudly before the massive nail was wrenched free from the concrete. The toy dog became heavier in his arms, but Alex took up the strain. He shifted his arms around and quickly began to repeat the same thing on the other pin.

"No, you can't!" Dogday pleaded. "You have to run, Angel! I'll only slow you down! You have to leave me!"

"I can't leave you suffering here! Grrr…" Alex grunted as the winch strained on the last nail.

"Angel, I'm not worth it. I'm… I'm no saint. This is where I belong; I failed to keep my friends together and worse, I was once loyal to the Prototype! I'm a monster, just like the rest! Just look at me! I'm a shell of who I used to be! I'm of no use to you; I can do nothing in return. You need to leave me, for your own safety. I can't let you do this!"

The other pin came free, and the dog became limp in his arms. He did weigh a bit, but Alex was surprised how light he felt… he must be starving. And yet he was still human, not a monster. Gently he sat the dog on the floor, his breathing becoming deeper and less strained. He looked into the toy's black eyes.

"There is no discussion here! I'm not leaving you to die alone! And you… You won't stop me," Alex declared firmly, before reaching under the dog and slinging him over his shoulder, letting the left grab arm dangle freely.

Huffing a couple breaths for energy, Alex headed down the dark hallway, shooting flares as he went to illuminate his way. Dogday said nothing as he was carried along, stuck in his thoughts.

It took longer to get out of the playhouse than Alex thought. His way had been hampered by cramped crawling, dark spaces that still stank of decaying meat and iron, and lots of dead critter toys. So… many… critter toys… Sliding down one of the slides, they arrived in a room that was all blocked off. The only way out seemed to be up a basket elevator on the other side of a massive chasm. It stretched forever into the darkness. Alex thought it wouldn't be a surprise if this hole fell right out the bottom of Playcare to the caverns below. He needed to think how he'd get himself across as well as his new canine companion.

"This is as far as I can go, Angel," Dogday said as he slipped himself free from his shoulders to sit on the ground. "You need to go on without me. You'll never make it out with me holding you back."

"I said there is no discussion about this," Alex said firmly.

He'd come so far, this couldn't be where he'd have to admit defeat. He'd gotten Dogday out of his prison and if he left him behind now, Catnap would slaughter him. He'd crossed a threshold where there was no turning back. He had to figure the path forward for both their sakes and soon! He looked down at the pit and thought. He waved his hand over the space, his mind mentally calculating. This wasn't the kind of engineering that he'd been hired for, this… this was all guessing and hoping he was right.

"Dogday, how strong are you?" he asked.

"I... I don't know… I… I've been hanging so long I don't think I can do much. Why?"

"I'm thinking if you could use all your upper body strength, you could launch yourself part way across this gap."

The orange dog's head snapped up to look at Alex with a look of shock, which was pretty easy to portray with how his face looked normally.

"Angel… that... that's crazy! I'd never make it!"

"I would be on the other side to catch you. I mean, look; it's impossible for me to do it, but you're bigger and stronger than I am. I think you can do it."

The dog looked towards the gap. Alex knew what he must be thinking. It was a large distance to cover. It was thanks to his GrabPack he was able to clear gaps like this. But a big toy who had no legs to jump with, that might not be possible. Catnap could probably clear it with ease. But then Dogday didn't have his legs to weigh him down. Perhaps that was the edge he needed?

"Angel…"

THUD BANG CRASH!

A distant ruckus from up the slide drew their attention. It was distant. As if somewhere behind them. Then… came the sound they dreaded.

"WHERE IS HE?! THAT DAMNED RAT! THAT THIEF! DOOOOGDAAAAY! WHERE ARE YOOOOOU?!"

"It's him!" Dogday whimpered. "Angel, you must go! Now!"

Alex quickly sprung himself across the gap and landed on the other side. He then turned back.

"Dogday, hurry!" he cried back.

"I can't do it, Angel… I can't!" Dogday whimpered.

The crashing and smashing was getting louder. Alex knew that Catnap was coming, smashing through the play structures to get to them. This was not the time to be hesitating!

"You have to try! Please!" he begged.

"I'm not worth your trouble, Angel!" Dogday whimpered. "You need to live! You need to survive!"

"I'm not leaving without you! Please jump! I'll catch you!"

"Angel… I c-"

"Dogday, for the love of God, please try!"

The orange dog looked at Alex and paused as if considering it for a second. A SMASH and an avalache of rubble and plastic play structure suddenly exploded behind him. A flash of purple started to pull itself clear of the mess it was tangled in.

"WHERE IS THAT THIEVING RRRRRAAAAAT!?" he snarled.

This broke the paralysis. Dogday flopped onto his chest, dragged his body the last couple feet to the edge of the gap, and without stopping to think, propelled himself forwards as hard as he could! He brought a wide orange hand out…

….felt the terror of gravity starting to drag him downwards…

…had a moment to think this was the end…

"…it's over… I dared to even hope… and now it's all over…"

…then he felt Alex's hand close around his own.

Alex grabbed the orange canine and braced for the weight. Dogday's body thudded into the wall of the gap, but his other hand quickly grabbed the edge. Heaving with all their might, the ragged toy dog was lifted up and over to solid ground. Dogday collapsed on top of Alex, who fell back on his rear. It was thanks to this he looked up to see a large hand shaped button. It wasn't a scanner as it was pure white and from the lighting around it, it looked more like a button. Catnap was already shaking off the rubble as he turned, and their eyes met.

"YOU!" Catnap screamed.

Alex raised up one of his GrabPack hands.

"THAT'S MINE!"

Catnap started to charge!

Alex fired!

The GrabPack hand shot out and pressed the button! It changed from white to green.

The door dropped down and landed with a THUD! It closed just as Catnap started to clear the gap in mid leap. There was an almighty THUMP then a series of shrieks and bellows as the furious purple cat pounded on the door and clawed at, screaming like a wild animal.

Not wanting to stay around, Alex quickly shuffled onto the elevator, pulling Dogday with him. The orange canine didn't speak, but he gasped and moaned, so he still lived but was in shock. Pulling the gate shut, the elevator shuddered into life and began to rise. The shrieking and roaring faded by the time they reached the top. The gate slid open but the two didn't get off. Alex tried to get up but Dogday's big arm suddenly wrapped around him and yanked him down into a crouch.

The poor dog was in tears, and it made Alex's heart break to hear what sounded like an adult so broken. It was heavy, deep sobbing… the kind of sobs that came from a deep well of pain. He'd restrained his pain and suffering behind a dam, and now it had been overtopped and collapsed, and all Alex could do was help him weather the flood. He needed a rock to hold onto.

"...no… he needs a friend…"

He slowly reached up and returned the hug. Dogday was surprised at first but only hugged Alex tighter as he wept into his shoulder. His whole body shuddered with each sob.

"I… I th… I thought that was the end," the toy whimpered through sobs. "I thought my dream to be free was over… that this was all I deserved… That I… I'd die in the dark… and cost you your life, Angel. Oh… Oh I might have done that already! You should have left me! You didn't need to risk yourself for a broken monster like me! I'm nothing! Why?! Why did you do that?! I don't deserve this! I- I- I-"

"Shhhhh….. Dogday, it's going to be okay," Alex said, gently shushing the crying canine. "I made a choice to save you. I wasn't going to abandon you to him. Not like some of the people here did to you all."

"But… Angel…"

"But nothing, Dogday. You and the others are the few sane toys I've met down here. I couldn't just leave you behind. I'd be no better than Catnap if I did! I've come too far to leave a good soul to die in vain… in this hell… at the claws of a monster like him!"

Dogday said nothing more, and continued to cry softly. They held the hug for a while, the two just sitting in the dark. Eventually they parted once Dogday had regained his composure, his sobbing calming to a couple shudders.

"I…. I'm….. sorry…. you… you had to… see me… like this….. S-some leader I am," Dogday whimpered.

Alex just returned a gentle, "it's okay," as he looked around the area they were in. This room was small but another slide seemed to lead the way out. Before he could mention that, a memory he'd pushed aside returned to him. He turned to look down at the battered orange dog.

"You were loyal to the Prototype?" he asked.

Dogday looked down and held his head in his hands again as he began to cry again.

"He promised us we'd all leave this place. We just wanted to be free… all of us," he said through tears. "We all tried to put the children at ease, telling them living here until they could be adopted was a blessing…. but you can lie to children for so long before they stop believing you completely. We all heard the Prototype's promise, to free us and the children. Some of the adults would… pay the price… but only those who had done this. I believed him, I believed his lie for four years. I believed one day he'd speak to us, tell us the way out, and we'd finally leave… but that never came. Because of me…. we lost Hoppy and Kickin', then Picky… Catnap was right… this is all my fault."

Alex opened his mouth to speak when from the slide came a smash, followed by Catnap yowling and bellowing. He froze and listened. The sound continued for what felt like forever before it eventually went silent. The silence didn't last long before the phone rang in his pocket, startling him and nearly making him drop it down the slide as he tried to answer it. After everything he'd just been through, he'd completely forgotten he even had the phone.

"Alex?! Alex, are you there?!"

"I'm here Bubba, what's going on out there?"

"Catnap's VERY angry! I don't know why. He just smashed his way out of the playhouse! Where are you?" He then paused and asked in an accusatory tone,"What did you do?"

"Uh, answer to the first, I am in a bit of a small room here in the playhouse. Long story short, I had no choice but to go this way. I took a small bucket elevator and ended up in a room with only a slide for an exit. Do you know where that is?"

"Hold on," was the huffy reply before there was only silence. In the background Alex thought he could hear Bobby crying, followed by Kickin' saying something, which he assumed was trying to comfort her. Alex sighed, it seemed Kickin' and Hoppy had made it back to the bunker safely after all. It took a moment before Bubba came back.

"Okay, it looks like you're in the exit slide. Kids used to leave the playhouse that way because it was the longest one. Hoppy said she'd take kids up there when the Playcare was running. The path became unsafe one day so they were going to close it off but they never got to doing that."

"Okay. What about Catnap? Where is he?" Alex asked.

"He's gone back to the toy store. You should hurry and get out of there while he's gone! But what did you do to make him that angry?! And why did you think it was a good idea?!"

"Better for you to see for yourself," Alex said.

"Bu-" Bubba started to say before Alex cut the call off. He didn't want to say, but it felt a bit satisfying to cut Bubba off instead of the other way around.

"Wh- Who were you talking to, Angel?" Dogday asked.

Alex turned, walked back to the elevator and picked up the toy dog over his shoulder ever so slowly.

"Just a couple friends who really want to see you," he said.