Helpless in the void, sinking into depths where no man would go. Red smoke dancing and shifting into shapes familiar long ago.
In this distorted realm a small light is seen. Drifting, falling, drowning.
Like an angel felled from heaven or a leaf tossed in the wind.
A victim of times long past, consumed by old anguish. A soul dragged further and further into red fog and despair.
A massive presence emerged behind him, a malevolence potent in unholy darkness.
Through this darkness a hand reaches out, looming over the small light as if ready to snuff it out.
Needle-like fingers moved downwards, digging into the soul's core. Prodding, sifting, searching.
Strings he pulled though its sharpened tips.
Memories arose, past emotions made manifest.
Using the strings he wove new shapes, into forms the soul long remembered both past and present.
He continued weaving, and around the soul it sowed people, places, and other things in between.
The stage has been set, a theatre, a cage, a torture chamber.
He will direct every moment, every event, all for its own delight.
All this designed for one purpose.
To hurt him.
<<<<<<<<<<~>>>>>>>>>>
"Sir?"
Gabriel groaned as his head throbbed and pounded as the obviously concerned voice ringed in his ears. Slowly his eye fluttered open, there is someone leaning over him, under a near blinding overhanging light as the stranger's form was hardly distinguishable. Blurred vision resides, the host's face becomes clear to see, and at once Gabriel let out an audible gasp as he shot up once the person before him made himself known.
"Oh I am terribly sorry, Sir! I didn't mean to scare you!"
Gabe was almost completely lost for words. "D-Dogday?"
It was indeed Dogday, the very same one he knows, but this time he looked different. He is back to his old self before Gabriel performed the "True Body" operation in the Ward. His gapping fake smile held open by hard-plastic, the stitches of sown yarn visible holding together the fake, polyester, orange fur. But Dogday still has his legs on, and he appears far more clean and relaxed compared to his former self.
"Forgive me!" Dogday politely said. "I just, saw you fast asleep on the floor and I thought Catnap had…" The Old Dogday didn't seem to want to explain further. "N-Nevermind, but anyway, I saw you on the floor and I thought to wake you up. That's all!"
Gabriel tried to speak, yet so many questions swirled in his head that it became dizzying. "But, how did? W-What? But you were-how?!"
"Hey hey, easy there." Dogday said holding his paws up, hoping to calm the distressed human down. "I guess Catnap did use the gas on you. Look, I know it must be disorienting. I've,…been there, but just calm down and-"
"Wait, where are we?" Gabriel interrupted as he hastily took in his surroundings. He finds that he is no longer in the Councilor's Office but in the center area of Playcare, and to his absolute shock, everything is as clean and pristine as it was ten years before he left! The sky colored wallpaper is no longer peeling down, The fake sun shone brighter than ever, and there is not a single rotting toy corpse in sight. Instead of toy corpses, the children were playing with clean, untainted dolls.
But what made Gabriel completely awestruck, was that all around him, children are playing to their heart's content. He can even see some of the Smiling Critters playing with the orphans. Hoppy and Kickin are playing tag with with their own team of kids, Crafty is busy showing the orphans how to color, and he can even see Bobby teaching her own group how to knit.
He then peered down and took a look at himself, he is now wearing his typical attire he wore while working here. It's not just everything else that has changed to as it was ten years ago, it is also himself. He is now ten years younger, a mere teenager.
"This…This can't be real." Gabriel stuttered as he watched. Gazing out with tears building in the corners of his eyes. "It couldn't have been just a dream."
Dogday, now concerned for the quivering human more than ever, attempted to reach out to him. Putting a paw on the smaller human's shoulder softly. In the instant Gabriel felt it, he turned straight around and grabbed onto the taller plush, grasping the toy's sides with a countenance that screamed desperation.
"Please, tell me it couldn't have been just a dream?" Gabriel begged with earnestness fervor. "All those years haven't been some horrible nightmare, right? Right? Right!?!"
Dogday did his best to keep the delirious human steady on him, but even then the poor human's very legs can't seem to handle the stress, he is practically buckling over. "Woah woah woah! Easy there!" Dogday said catching him as he gripped the human under his arms. "I get it, you must have inhaled some of that Red Smoke stuff. The stuff tends to be…effective on some people. Just take a breather and try to recount what happened."
"Red Smoke…" Gabriel whispered erratically, literally on the verge of tears. "Everywhere, it was everywhere! And, Catnap was there. He, I, I-I don't know what-"
Gabriel's head was in a torrential storm of emotions, one side of him knows that this must al be fake, some sick dream meant to hurt him. But the other side of him, the one deep in his heart, wishes that this was true, that all those ten years of suffering were just a freak nightmare, that it was all just a lie.
Dogday however seemed more confused than ever, Gabriel can see it, try as he might he won't get the right answer he's in need of. All this adding yet more to his desperation. So much so that he didn't notice who is approaching them.
"Puuuurrrr"
"Oh hey Catnap." Dogday said happily.
The very instant that name had been uttered Gabriel whipped around, wide eyed in terror as there stood the specter of his recent torments. Catnap, just simply standing there, his fake smile still just as wide and as menacing as ever. Yet there is noticeable differences about him than the one he knew before. His bones aren't showing anymore, his skin isn't as taut and mangy, and even his deep purple color seems more fuller. But even despite it all the more appealing appearances, they cannot hide the sheer aura of fear that this beast can instill.
And Gabriel has come to know this fear very well.
"WHO…IS THIS?" Catnap rasped. It seemed that even then his voice box still hasn't been fixed then.
"I don't know." Dogday replied. "I just found him sleeping here and I woke him up."
All the human could do is clutch onto Dogday for dear life as the very being that literally has haunted his nightmare is standing merely a few feet away from him. And it seemed Catnap took note of this, the way he was staring at him with a wide, terrified gaze. To Gabriel it almost looked like Catnap was amused by it, but yet hidden behind those void-like eyes are the cold calculations of a sadistic mind.
Dogday then continued. "Although he was saying something about Red Smoke being everywhere. Do you have anything to say about it, Catnap?"
"I DO NOT." Catnap bluntly replied.
Gabriel couldn't just simply stare back any longer. If this really isn't a dream, then he knew he must do something, to finally make something right. He has to speak up.
"I…" Gabriel muttered barely above a whisper. "I know…"
Both of the giant toys noticed. "Hmm? Is there something wrong, sir?" Dogday said with a crooked brow.
Is there something wrong? How could Dogday say that when he and everyone else is suffering down here?! A speechless anger begins billowing with the very depths of his gut as memories flooded his consciousness. The files, the tapes, the notes. So many times was this horrible truth shoved into his face again and again that he couldn't take it any more. Staying silent is literally killing him.
"I know…what they did to you." Gabriel briefly growled.
Both Dogday and Catnap gave each other questionable glances to each other. "I, don't understand what you mean."
"I know you were all kids!" Gabriel shouted furiously without a care in the world. Even both of the giant toys reeled from his sudden outburst. There are also some of the other employees and even the other Smiling Critters noticed. "I know what they had done to you and to the thousands of other kids who those sickos turned you all into toys and then tortured and abused like some damn psychopaths! I now know that everyday for past year I had been working with the most evil people on the face of the Earth! Every. Single. Day!!"
Dogday and Catnap both looked like they didn't know what to do in this situation. But Gabriel honestly couldn't care less. But just as he was about to speak any further one of the guards that worked in the Playcare came up to the trio, and he did not look happy.
"You there!" The guard scolded while pointing to Gabriel. "What do you think you're doing!? You're disturbing the tour!" He said pointing the group of tourists behind him.
Dogday then stepped himself in between the Gabriel and the furious guard. "There is nothing to worry about sir!" Dogday nervously replied. "He is just delirious, that's all! Me and Catnap were just about to escort him out of here."
"You better." The guard replied threateningly, while pulling out a strange rectangular device from his pocket. "Otherwise I might just add a few more volts for your next 'session' later."
Dogday was practically sweating bullets at the sight of the electric taser. Just one flick of a switch and dozens of volts start shooting through his body. The security officer then eyed Catnap.
"And you, you're not supposed to be out here! You're supposed to be in containment, Catnap." He said rebukingly while in a hushed tone so that no one else could hear. "You know nobody from the outside is supposed to see you? Maybe I should give you both a few administrative jolts to help explain more clearly."
"D-Don't worry sir!" He said frantically. "We will make sure he is properly taken care of, right sir?" But when he turned, Gabriel was no longer there. "Sir?"
They all looked for where he could have gone and sure enough they see him walking away from them and heading straight for Home Sweet Home.
"Hey, you!" The guard shouted as he ran up to Gabriel with an angry look. Grabbing onto his shoulder before then harshly turning him around to face him. "Where do you think you're going?"
Gabriel however was unfazed by this random guard's aggression. "Going to Home Sweet Home." He stated plainly. "I remembered that there are some papers in there that can tell everyone everything about you sick bastards."
There was a torrent of hushed whispers throughout the crowd of onlookers and tourists around him, even the Smiling Critters besides Dogday and Catnap noticed and decided to lead the children away from the commotion before things get too heated. There are also more guards approaching, and he knew they are here to silence him, but he frankly couldn't care less.
"Now will you excuse me." He said as he brushes the guard aside and turns back to orphanage.
"Who do you think you are?!" The angry guard said. "What is your problem?!"
What is his problem? There was something about that one singular sentence that made Gabriel then stop in his tracks. Even despite two guards now standing in front of him now blocking his way to Home Sweet Home, he felt no obligation to obey whoever these people are. But for that one question, as a fiery anger began rising from his gut, he just has to speak up.
"I'll tell you what my problem is." He said turning back around to the guard in question. "My problem is that you and those rat bastards in lab coats downstairs are running experiments on kids so horrible that it'll make Hitler blush, all while turning orphans into toys all for some extra change in your pockets and then treating them as less than objects! I just found out that Playtime.co is run by the evil people on Earth and I'm gonna make you all answer for it. Right now!!"
The guard then approaches him, his glare menacing and yet nervous. Gabriel knew he hit the nail right where it hurts but yet it seems the security officer is still trying his best to keep cool.
"Now everyone, before there are anymore rumors start floating around, this boy is obviously delusional." He tried to explain to the best of his abilities. "He must be some disgruntled worker that got laid off. Besides, experimenting on children?" He said with a short laugh. "What proof does he have about that?"
"Oh really?" Gabriel replied. "Then how do you explain Catnap right there?" He said pointing to the giant toy. "Can you really tell me that he looks normal?"
He can hear the officer silently cuss under his breath, but yet, he still kept on lying. "You're really saying that we are making, what, living toys? Catnap is a robot, an attraction to for the kids."
"Is that right?" Gabriel exasperated chuckled at the guard's pitiful claim. "Well since when do robots need shock collars?" He said pointing to the metallic band wrapped around the feline's neck.
By now every other guard that is within the vicinity is doing everything they can to drive any onlookers away from the ensuing argument. Dogday stood off to the side watching the scene unfurl with nervous anticipation, there was something bad about to happen. But as for Catnap, he was observing it all with very keen eyes.
Dogday then stepped in, trying to defuse the situation before it gets worse. "Look sir, we are just leaving. Just let me take him out of here, and-"
"One more word from you and I'll give you enough volts to melt your eyes from their sockets." The guard said gripping the remote trigger in his hand. "I'll deal with you after this one." He said threateningly while he pulled something out of his other pocket. It looked like some sort of, syringe? Is he planning to drug him and take him away?
Not if Gabriel had anything to say about it. After everything he has been through, he'll rather fight than get dragged off somewhere. But Dogday, however, also had the same idea in mind.
Dogday then gripped on the officer's shoulder, preventing him from advancing further. "I'm…" The living toy said nervously with a hint of determination. "I'm afraid I can't let you do that, sir."
The very moment Dogday had done that the guard wasted no time in pressing the button on the remote, and instantly dozens upon dozens of volts flooded through Dogday's body, lighting his nerves up in a surge of electricity. The giant plush reeled back and fell to the ground with a resounding thud, thrashing around violently as he clenched the shock collar on his throat, tears streaming down from his sockets.
The officer wasn't finished however, slowly he turned the small nob on the remote, increasing the intensity with slow, deliberate bursts. There wasn't anyone really around since the others have pushed the tourists away, he mind as well relish this. But just when he was about to turn the electricity up to its fullest voltage, someone's hand was placed on his shoulder.
And when he turned, his face was met instantly met with a fist flying towards him. "BASTARD!!" Gabriel roared as his fist connected with the guard's face.
Gabriel wasn't pulling anything back, any sense of restraint was lost on sight of his friend being tortured in front of him in broad daylight. His punch was so hard that not only it made the officer's face bleed but it also knocked out one of his front teeth too. The guard staggered back and fell to his rear, catching himself with one hand while the other clenched his bleeding mouth. The remote was also tossed aside while this happened.
Without wasting a second Gabriel then rushed over and grabbed the collar of his button-up shirt and started wailing punches on the man's face mercilessly. Each hit staining his knuckles with a little more blood.
The officer now regaining some of his bearings now, he got back onto his feet and then shoves himself upwards, throwing Gabriel off balance. He then rushed in and tackled Gabriel to the concrete floor before then hastily taking the syringe out and thrusted downwards, aiming for Gabriel's neck.
However Gabriel caught it in time just as the very tip was grazing his skin. He strained and mustered every ounce of his strength to keep the guard off of him, but yet with the officer's full weight on his it is becoming even more harder. The guard the leaned in, and in a mocking tone he whispered. "All you stupid kids are all the same."
Something changed inside Gabriel when he heard those words.
Something snapped.
The officer's hand was actually close to his mouth, so he opened wide and then bit down onto the officer's thumb. Hard. Pain shooting through the guard's hand made him drop the syringe and scream. But before he could react Gabriel grabbed him by both sides of his head and then yanked him downward.
*BASCH!!*
The officer's nose was practically caved inward once Gabriel bashed his head into his face, spraying blood all over in the process. Gabriel then pushed the guard up just enough to get both of his feet planted on his sternum. Then with all his might he pushed with his legs upwards which then threw the disoriented guard off him. Gabriel didn't relent, now back on his feet he then gripped the guard from under both of his arms and then braced them as he then jumped up in the air, pulling the officer up along with him, before then throwing him back to the ground with himself on top of him and then continued wailing on the assailant's face.
The guard underneath him squirmed as he couldn't bring himself to fight back with his arms and upper body pinned to the ground. He tried to cry out, but every time he did his open mouth was met with a fist, causing yet some more lost teeth. And besides that there were no other guards around since they are now busy bringing the tourists away, they were practically alone.
But yet he saw Catnap just standing there off to the side, watching the whole fight unfurl before him. "Help me! *BAM!* Help- *BAM!* ACK! *BAM!* -me! *BAM!*" But Catnap did nothing, he simply kept watching.
On and on and on, hit after hit after hit, Gabriel kept up his assault on the guard with blind rage. His arms began to tire from all the swinging, but his fury never abated, it still burned hotter as each and every moment from his past railed on his mind, fueling a dark desire within him. It was at the briefest moment, within the deepest depths of his heart, that he is glad to see the man's blood staining his hands.
It was a rage that burned at the last threads of his sanity.
Then within this madness, Gabriel then ceased his attacks and then clamped his hands over the man's throat, squeezing it hard. "Do you enjoy hurting little kids!?!" Gabriel shouted with as he was practically screaming into the guard's face. "You like ruining everybody's lives?! HUH!? Answer me!" He then clenched harder. "ANSWER ME!!!"
"S-S-St…" The guard could barely speak, his throat being nearly crushed within his assailant's grasp. At that brief moment, Gabriel thought the man underneath him is trying to tell him to stop. But once he lessened his grip for just a split second, a different answer came out from the guard's wretched tongue.
"S-Stupid, worthless, kids."
It was meant to be a show of defiance for the officer's part. But once those words were uttered were uttered, there was no going back. For when he took a look at his attacker, any sense of authority he held was quickly evaporated. And instead, genuine fear gripped his heart.
For Gabriel's eyes burned.
He then once more, Gabriel continued his strangle hold, now fueled with such fury that it sparked his nerves like adrenaline trough his blood, and squeezed the man's throat harder than ever before.
Then harder, then harder, then harder, then harder. Till his very knuckles turned white. Then with all of his fury, his head reared back and let out a primal roar.
"RRRRAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!"
*CRUNCH!*
Then, in a brief moment of clarity, he felt something gave way under his grasp. He looks down at the man underneath him, there was something different about him now. There was so much adrenaline rushing through his veins that his vision needed time to focus. He sees that the guard's color is almost completely gone, and his eyes, they're no longer moving, they look so dull and glassed over.
Dread creeps in within Gabriel's rapidly beating heart, a familiar sickening feeling wrenching his gut. He places the palm of his bloodied hand on the man's chest.
There is no heart beat.
The guard is dead.
His breath quickened, his heart raced, and his hands trembled as he gazes down on the blood stained hands that has yet once again taken a life. Just like the Mini-Critters from before. Just like his brother.
Pain shoots through his head, nausea slurring his senses till he felt like he could faint and fall into a black abyss. And that is almost what exactly happened, when he tripped and was beginning to fall backwards. But someone caught him. Gabriel looked, expecting it to be Dogday. But no.
It was Catnap.
Catnap looked down at the human, using one of his paw to keep him from falling over, gazing at him with contemplation. Gabriel can see Catnap is thinking of something, and that he is taking his time figuring out what to do about it. He glances to his side and sees Dogday still lying unconscious on the ground, it will take awhile for him to wake back up.
Just then the quickening sounds of running were heard nearby, the guards must have heard and are now rushing get back. Wasting not a moment, Catnap then grabbed onto he human and then swiftly took him away from the scene. Gabriel could only helplessly watch as he was being carried away while his violent handiwork laid there lifeless on the fake grass.
Soon enough they both found themselves by Playcare's center statue of the Smiling Critters, then after taking a few quick glances around making sure no one noticed them, Catnap then opened the entrance to the generator room and then hastily brought the human inside.
Down the concrete staircase they went till they reached the bottom, Catnap then once more surveyed the small room, there are no other employees to be found here. Which is good, but could be better. Then after setting the distraught human down to the floor, he began eyeing the surveillance cameras above, Catnap made short work in tearing them down and ripping them to metal ribbons. They are finally alone down here. And it will be awhile before the other guards will know where they are hiding.
With the room now secure, Catnap then ventures over towards the human whom is still lying on the floor, sideways and curled up in on himself. The human was in a state of perpetual shock, his eyes wide and gazing at the blood stained hands in front of him, shacking profusely as his blood ran cold. Gabriel's thoughts ran at the speed of light, memories of both present and the past racing though his vision like photographic reel. He saw his hands stained with the guard's blood, then the Mini-Critters, his own brother's.
Why does this keep happening? He knows it is wrong to kill, yet he did, three times already! All he wanted is to help people find peace, it's what he was taught, what he grew up believing in, what he should be, so why can't he do that. How can he call himself a believer if he is always such a hypocrite?
Why can't he just find peace?
"YOU…" Catnap said leering over the human. "YOU…KILLED HIM."
"I-I…" Gabriel barely whispered. He could hardly even breathe. "I didn't mean to."
"AND YET…YOU DID." Catnap retorted.
"That, that wasn't me!" Gabriel responded while finally facing Catnap, tears building up in his eyes. "I didn't want to…I didn't mean…I-I don't what, came over me."
Gabriel's mind was teetering over the edge, Catnap could see it, and yet he kept watching as the human beneath him then got on his knees, practically begging towards Catnap. Perhaps he actually was. And within Gabriel's mind, there was no question or doubt. All of this, was his own fault, even when given a second chance he still failed to be a person of goodwill. His actions once again proved he is terrible, a fake.
"I'm sorry…" Gabriel begged towards Catnap. "I am sorry! I am so so sorry!"
Catnap then leaned down, his face level with his, and out of that garbled voice box, came an answer Gabriel was never expecting.
"WHY?"
The human then flicked his gaze back up to Catnap's, confusion evident on his face. "What? What do you mean why?" He asked incredulously while shooting up onto his feet.
"YOU LEARNED THE TRUTH…AND THEN TOOK ACTION." Catnap replied. "WHY SHOULD YOU…APOLOGIZE?"
"But it shouldn't be like that!" Gabriel yelled, but not directly at Catnap though, more or less towards himself. "You can't make things better by taking a life!"
"YOU SPEAK…AS IF THERE WAS…A BETTER CHOICE."
"There should be!"
"WOULD YOU…LET HIM HAVE HIS WAY…AND HURT US?"
"NO!!" Gabriel yelled with such fury that someone from outside might notice. "It's just, it's just…it's…" He then trailed off, his breath caught in his throat, his mind fatigued and aching pain seeping into every fiber of his being. He then slumps back down on the wall. He looks so downcast, defeated. "…Everyday…every, single, day…of my time here…was serving those…those monsters. I had, unwittingly, been working for the worst human beings on the face of the Earth. Had I known, no, had I done something. Anything. No more of this suffering would happen. You, wouldn't suffer anymore. But yet it is all my…"
It was then he noticed that Catnap wasn't starring at him anymore, instead he looking off to the side, fixated on something else. He looked to where Catnap could be starring, and he narrows it down to a wall mounted clock hanging on the other side of the generator room. Now why the heck would he be starring at something so meaningless as a clock when he was talking to him? Was he really keeping time? Or was it for, something else?
"Catnap?" Gabriel finally said to get his attention back.
For a moment Catnap said nothing, he was still fixated on keeping the time, counting each second of each hand as the time passed by. He was waiting for something. But then he finally spoke.
"TODAY…IS THE DAY WHEN THIS CRUEL WORLD…WILL FINALLY DIE." His voice straining to speak, but yet each word carried such effort. He wanted Gabriel to hear him. "HARLEY. LEIETH. THE LABS, THE COMPANY, THE FACTORY, THEY WILL ALL FINALLY DIE." Catnap then turned to Gabriel, his eyes carrying an expression that mixed between joy and bloodthirsty rage. "MY MASTER…HE HAS A PLAN…AND SOON WE ALL WILL BE FREE."
"AND YOU…" Catnap then extends an open paw towards the human, and says something that to anyone would have been unheard of. "I WANT YOU TO JOIN ME…TOGETHER…WE WILL RID THIS EVIL OFF THE FACE OF THE EARTH!"
Gabriel was confounded. "W-What?" He stuttered. "You're asking me, me of all people, to help you?"
"YES."
"I…I don't understand."
"YOU DON'T HAVE TO." Catnap replied. And in that glimmer of a moment, there something, odd, about the way Catnap was talking. With his face frozen in a perpetual smile, his tone carried a certain, comfort, in it. It sounded so foreign coming from someone like him. "REST, AND HIDE HERE…THE OTHERS WON'T SEE YOU…WHEN THE EVENT ARRIVES."
"The event?" Gabriel repeated questionably. "What is that?"
"YOU WILL SEE…SOON ENOUGH."
Catnap then began ascending the staircase. "REST HERE…I WILL COME FOR YOU…AND WE WILL HAVE MUCH TO DO."
Gabriel was almost at a complete loss for words. Catnap, the Catnap, is being…kind to him? Willingly trying to hide him so he wouldn't face trouble or get hurt? Just what is this? Is this even real?! Does this mean, that there is even more to Catnap than the monster the say he is?
But before the giant purple feline could even leave, there was one question that Gabriel needed to ask of him. Something that had been burning in the back of his mind ever since he woke up here.
"Wait!" Catnap then froze in place and peeked his gaze over his shoulder to him. "What day is it today?"
Catnap pondered for a second, as if to remember. "AUGUST 8TH…REMEMBER THIS DAY." And with that, Catnap vanished from behind the door out of sight.
"August eighth?" Gabriel repeated to himself. But wait a minute, wasn't that the day when..." It was then that he remembers. "11:00 a.m. August 8th, 1995." It was the moment that all the Playtime.co employees, his friends, all disappear.
A profound silence rings in his ears, Gabriel's hairs stand on end, all that can be heard is just the sound of the clock ticking by. Would he dare to check the time? Slowly his gaze lifts towards the clock's face, and there as he read the time, the clock's second and minute hand strike on the next minute.
"10:59 a.m."
A long, pregnant pause pierces the quiet inside the generator room, but this silence is deceiving, for within Gabriel's mind is a raging conflict between two choices. One side of him wants to sit where he is, to not even so much as bother to take the first step into the outside. The other, is the dreaded curiosity of finally seeing the final piece of this horrific mystery. What happened to his friends?
What is "The Hour of Joy"?
His curiosity won out. Slowly, Gabriel lifts himself off of his rear and begins taking his first steps up the stairs. Each step carrying a foreboding weight. Step by step by step he ascends the concrete stairs, till at last he reaches the door to the outside. He reaches out, apprehension nearly pulling him back, but then muster the small burst of courage left within him, he grips the handle and opens the door.
From the entrance he can see the Councilor's Office straight ahead. There in front of the main entrance is a group of guards, all of them yelling at each other, clearly about the murder he just committed earlier. But just behind one of them, coming from the office's front door, a shadow appears behind him. It loomed over the unsuspecting man, and within this shadow shone two gleaming white eyes.
In a blink of an eye a massive claw then raked across the man's throat. The guard then fell dead, blood spilling from his slit throat.
All Gabriel can do is watch, as Catnap murdered the rest of the guards with him in a display unparalleled brutality.
That was all that he needed to see.
As all the other bystanders shrieked and screamed as the carnage took place, Gabriel took his chance and ran as fast as he could, heading for the tram out of here. He wasted no time looking back or taking second guesses, he jumped into the tram and made it start ascending even before it could close the doors.
As he was taken upwards, he gazed at the scenery below him. Catnap is still standing there in front of the Councilor's Office, as if patiently waiting for something.
The clock then struck eleven.
"Open the doors!" Said a malevolent voice through the Playcare's intercom. "The Hour of Joy has arrived!!"
Then at once, to Gabriel's horror, all the toys laying around the Playcare, the same ones being played with by children before, have now sprung to life. Huggys, Mommy-long-leg dolls, Bunzos, mini-critters, so many toys rising up as if some supernatural force has possessed them all. They then begun their attack, leaping onto any human in their sights and began biting and gnawing on them. Swarming all over them like mad dogs on a feeding frenzy.
No. This is exactly what it was. A feeding frenzy.
And Catnap, who once was but a silent specter of an onlooker, now already has torn another human in half within his gaping maw. Leaping all over the place and butchering dozens of victims in seconds, sending limbs and other body parts flying in the process.
All Gabriel could do is watch it all happen, before his entire vision of Playcare disappears from view behind a dark tunnel, the screams of hundreds of people fading out.
Gabriel, he was at a loss of words. Sitting there in the cushioned bench, there was hardly anything he could do at the moment except think. But what is there to think about? He had finally figured out what the Hour of Joy really is.
It is a massacre.
A bloody, genocidal massacre.
The tram then stops at its destination, above the caves in the underground train station. There are other people here, all of them oblivious to the madness happening below their feet. Gabriel exits the tram alone, almost numb to his surroundings, his mind practically blank as he meanders out and walks down the stairs. The train was also coming, chugging to a stop just in front of him.
Was this what his life so far has amounted to? To only watch as everyone around is brutally ripped to death in front of him? Sure, he knows he can warn them, but he knew it wouldn't matter. Who would believe him until those very monsters are digging into their guts and eating them before their eyes?
It was honestly pathetic. He is but one human. One painfully average human who could barely keep his life together for anyone's sakes. He was so glad that his friends aren't here to see just how pitiful he is.
His friends…
It then clicks.
"…MY FRIENDS!!!" He screamed out without a care who might be starring.
At once, Gabriel then leaped into the train engine's cabin. The conductor inside, surprised to see someone with him, was also infuriated by the sudden intrusion.
"Hey! What are you doing?!" The conductor shouted as Gabriel then at once grabbed the throttle and pulled it back. Sending the train backwards with nearly everybody tumbling over due to the sudden acceleration.
"Can't talk, if you want to live we're going backwards!" Gabriel shouted.
But the conductor wasn't having it. He then harshly grabbed Gabriel's shoulder and tried pulling him away from the terminal. "You can't just-"
*Bam!*
Before the conductor could react however, he was sent unconscious as Gabriel then grabbed him by the collar and then hand him towards himself and bashed his forehead against his jaw, sending him falling to the iron floor in a limp heap.
Gabriel winced and rubbed his head, a sharp headache coursing through. "Agh! I really need to stop head-butting people!"
Shaking the pain off, there is nothing left to do now other than wait for the train to reach the next level. Just then the small overhang lights inside the train tunnel flash red, and a voice pierces the dark through the intercom.
"Attention all Playtime.co personal! We have a security breach! I repeat, we have a security breach! This is a Code Red! A Code Red! Evacuate all personal immediately!"
Looks like the others have caught on to what's going on down in Playcare, and it won't be long until the rest of the factory is in an uproar. Which might be a good thing considering he is finding his friends. All he has to do is meet up with them and then they'll all escape together.
He sees a sign passing by, reading the name Game Station on it. For a brief moment he rejoices on the fact he is making such progress. But as he nears the Game Station, he hears something up ahead.
Screaming.
It was then that he realizes one crucial miscalculation. The Hour of Joy wasn't just isolated in the Playcare. It is the whole factory.
He leaned out of the train cabin's window and watched as the light at the end of the tunnel got bigger and bigger, until his eyes were forced to squint and readjust his vision as the sickly fluorescent light blinded him. And once the train came to a stop, he was greeted with a horrific sight.
It was as if a war zone is happening right in front of him. He watched as toys and guards fought against each other in a deadly duel, all while the workers and tourists are trapped in between, being devoured alive by the ensuing massacre.
But he could stay here and watch, he has to find his friends and get the hell out of here. Once the train stopped, Gabriel at once leaped out, flying over some more small toys that tried to grab him underneath. The train's passenger cars also opened, allowing a flood of toys to rush inside and tear apart everyone inside. Gabriel dared to take a quick glance back, and saw people inside screaming and flailing as blood was sprayed all over the windows from the inside.
He began running across the Game Station without stopping, not even so much as to look around, he knows his destination is straight ahead and he cannot for a second stop. he weaves all around the ensuing chaos, between both human and toy alike. Making quick dodges and close encounters as he nearly brushes with death with each step he took. He managed to avoid a pack of Mini-Huggies dogpile on one human and viciously bite and thrash him, watched as Bunzo use his giant cymbals and crush someone's head into bloody gore, and narrowly missed the gapping maw of PJ Pug-A-Piller as he swallowed three humans whole.
The way out of the Game Station was in sights, even some people that had managed to live this long are up ahead. But just as they were about to leave, pink plastic hands descended from above and snatched the group up into the air, Gabriel was nearly caught up himself were it not being a hair's breadth away from the swinging arms. He looked up, and saw Mommy Long Legs up in the ceiling, with two humans in her grasp, her eyes wide, black, and feral like that of a rabid dog, starring maliciously at her captured quarry.
"Now now, little people." Mommy said in a sing-song voice. "No running in the halls while it's playtime!"
Her hands and fingers then coiled around her victim's bodies, no limb or body part was left exposed within the pink coils. "You all broke the rules, and now Mommy, must punish you!" Then within the tightened coils she then began to squeeze, harder and harder until the audible cracks of bones are heard past her victim's screams, and then sprays of blood shot out from the seems between the coiled plastic arms. All the while Mommy laughed like a madwoman.
Gabriel was shocked by the display of sheer brutality, that is until Mommy's focus was then shifted towards him.
"Oops! Mommy missed one!" She glared down at Gabriel beneath her like a predator who just spotted its next prey. "Nobody like a cheater, now don't we?!"
At once Mommy then leapt down from the ceiling with the intent on smashing Gabriel to the floor, but he sees this coming, and quickly dodges away. He then sprints down the exit's hallway while Mommy was still wondering where her latest playmate went, she quickly caught on however when she turned around and saw her quarry leaving, and so she sprints after him.
Down the hallway Gabriel ran, his heart pounding as Mommy trailed behind, hot on his feet. He needs to find a way to throw her off, but what? Just hen he sees another guard up ahead, and it looks like he is busy stomping a lone small toy to death. He has an idea, but oh does he hate it so. But then again, this guard is the same people who tortured these toys, and with him life on the line he was pretty sure God might understand.
Sprinting at full speed, he then grips onto the unsuspecting guards clothes from behind, then using the momentum from his running, he then swings the guard behind him, straight into Mommy's grasp. Mommy, though while shaken by the sudden appearance of another human, wasn't complaining about having a new playmate thrown right into her arms. Her confusion then immediately twists into a mad smile, as she then climbs back up into the ceiling above with the screaming guard in tow. They both then disappear into the darkness above, then what then follows was a brief rain of blood.
Gabriel was regretful in this decision, he however wasted no time mourning what the difference was between his life or another's, his friends need him.
He then encounters a flight of stairs leading him upwards, he soon enough finds himself in a long corridor of sorts, but the object of his interest is the sign hanging over a door at the end of the hallway that reads "Production Wing". Perfect! That is where Freddy, Tyler, and Joyce must be!
Running as fast as his feet could carry him, he soon reaches the corridor's end, but just as he was about to make it through, the doors then burst open revealing a dozen screaming people running through and past Gabe. He actually fell onto his rear due to the reckless rush.
Groaning from the pain, Gabe tries to lift himself off the floor, but he hears something ahead of him. Looking ahead, he sees a giant toy he has not ever seen before. It looked like some sort of jack-in-the-box kind of toy with spring like arms and legs ending in sharp claws, sporting a large cubic shaped head covered in red fuzz bearing a pair of glassy beady eyes, and a gigantic maw filled with a row of sharp fangs.
This monster seemed busy chewing on one of its latest victims, hurrying at wolfing down the human corpse before then setting its sights on Gabe and sprinted straight for him. Now back on his feet, Gabriel fled back from which he came, running for his life as the red monster chased him. His mind blazed with options on what to do, there is no doubt this monster will catch up to him. But he does see an office up ahead, as much as he could make it, that is his only hope now.
He manages to burst through and then close and locked the door behind just in time before the box monster slammed head first into it, the door itself cracked a little bit, and it won't be long until it got through. Gabriel looked this way and that in a frantic rush, looking for any alternatives out of here, praying to God that there might just be one. And sure enough he finds a ventilation grate just above a desk. Just what he is looking for.
Another bang on the door shook him forwards, he sees another crack, this one big enough for the red monster to peak through and see him from the other side. Gabriel knew that it won't hold much longer, so with reckless fervor he rushes up the desk, grips the ventilation grating, and rips it clean off. He climbed inside just as the red Jack-in-the-Box monster crashed through. He heard it roar in fury as he disappeared into the vents beyond its reach.
There was no stopping now though, he had to keep going, his friends all need him. Even within the confines of these steel sheets he can hear the screams of countless people, both innocent and cruel, all fall to silence as the hand of death sweeped over this factory in its cruel strokes. How could such a thing like this happen? This was all so, organized, well executed…planned…
Was this how the Prototype took over the factory?
Starting with his own coworkers? And then the rest of the unwilling toys next?
But all his friends he made so far, Kissy, Bunzo, Dogday.
Were they all part of this massacre too?
Was he helping his friends murderers all this time?
No, it can't be. They would do such a thing.
...Would they?...
He soon enough reaches the very end of the vents. Kicking the grate out, he soon finds himself jumping down from the side of the wall towards the floor in a wide open room, but he recognizes this place. "The Build-a-Toy machine?" Gabriel says to himself. "This is the same room I first find out the toys were actually alive! But this isn't the place I'm looking for. Though my friends shouldn't be too far from here. I gotta move."
There doesn't seem to be any way out, if the metal shutter closing the exit is anything to go by. Not only that, but from what he remembered how the last time he got in here was by a conveyor duct and a broken dispenser, and when he looked it appears perfectly intact, so no way he is going to retrace his steps back to the depot. But if he can find a toy, hopefully not a living one, he can use it to open the exit out of here.
But there isn't any toy in sight, and without a Grabpack, he can't make a new one.
However while he was so consumed in his thoughts he nearly failed to notice the shutter door beginning to slowly open. Gabriel turned just in time to see a new figure approaching in from the darkness, tall, lanky, and fuzzy arms that swayed with each step it took. Gabriel's breath caught in his throat as the giant approached him. He knew how dangerous Huggy is, but he does remember the vent nearby. He prepares to run, and soon enough the giant lowers itself and steps into the light.
But it wasn't Huggy.
"Kissy?" Gabriel muttered, stunned to see the pink giant standing there before him. "Oh thank God!" He exclaims happily. "I didn't think I'll see you here! Listen, I know you probably don't know me but we don't have time, I have friends that need help and-"
Gabriel stopped mid-sentence when he sees that while Kissy is staring at him, she isn't behaving like her normal, curious self. She just kept standing there in the threshold, looking down upon him with a strange gaze.
"…Kissy? Is, something wrong?" Gabriel nervously asked.
A long, dreadful pause resonated between the two. Kissy's eyes still fixed onto Gabe's. Until her red-lipped mouth then slowly parted, revealing rows upon rows of bloodied teeth. Fear gripped the young man's heart as the pink giant slowly stepped towards him, her eyes set upon him with a predatory gaze.
Gabriel almost couldn't feel his legs, everything within him shook towards his core. All he could do is walk backwards until his back is pressed against the machine. "No. Wait, Kissy! I know you!" Gabriel pleaded. "I'm your friend! This isn't what you want!"
But she didn't listen, instead she picked up her pace and then in an instant leaped for him, Arms outstretched and her jaws spread wide. Gabriel dodged her just in time as she then landed mouth first into metal machinery. Not a second later, Gabriel jumps to his feet and then ran straight towards the conveyor vent, Kissy giving chase as soon as she regained her bearings.
Gabriel soon found himself in a familiar setting, running through the vents while being chased by a giant, bloodthirsty monster. Weaving in and out of turns as Kissy's hot breath sent chills down Gabriel's spine. The labyrinth seemed to never end, nothing but him and Kissy within these dark corridors.
Tears began streaming from his eyes. Why? Why does this have to be? How could she? The first moment he met Kissy she was mostly friendly. How could she do this to him? Was she just as responsible as everyone else for killing everyone here? He could almost refuse to accept it, it can't be, it just can't be!
He soon finds himself in a long stretch of conveyor belt, a light shone at the end of the tunnel. Gabriel sprints for it, Kissy hot on his trail, her mouth open wide, ready to swallow him whole. Gabriel makes one final prayer, if this was his end, then he was glad to fill someone's belly.
But then as if by some divine intervention, an iron door then slammed down from above, separating the two from each other. Gabriel still reeling from nearly brushing with death mere seconds ago, could not bring himself to stop. he just simply kept running and running until the light consumed him, and he fell out of the vents till he came tumbling to a stop.
Sweat drips from his brow as he begins to slowly, achingly, raise himself back onto his feet. He realizes that he has somehow found himself on some sort of metal balcony, no dissimilar from the grated walkways that hung over the abyss from which he saved Huggy. But this isn't that same place, in fact, if memory serves, this is the Assembly Wing of the factory. Which means he has found exactly where he needed to go.
He hears a commotion up ahead of him, but not of the horrific screams or the monstrous roars that echoed throughout the rest of the factory, but instead the anxious murmurs and cries of dozens upon dozens of people.
Running up towards the end of the walkway, Gabriel can see that he is indeed in the toy assembly room, a massive warehouse-like structure housing dozens of conveyor belts, both lining on the ground and then all across the ceiling. He even remembers the conveyor belt he was stationed in.
But that is not the only thing he sees. There below sprawled all over the floor is a whole multitude of people. Hundreds of them, both employee and tourist, all huddled together and either sitting, standing, or trying to comfort each other as a maelstrom of voices and anxious murmurs echoed through out the plant.
Somewhere within these masses of people must be where his friends are, he is almost sure of it.
But before he could think of finding a way down, a massive shadow then stretched out over the multitude of people, everyone including Gabriel noticed this, and all their collective gaze looked upwards, and there up above them, the see an observational room, and there is someone inside, someone big.
The window was faded, so only a black silhouette can be seen from the inside as the bright florescent light shone behind it, casting its malevolent shadow over the multitudes. It looked huge, like a hulking mass of material and among other things. And within this shadow, two, gleaming red eyes are seen. Glaring down on the masses with cruel scrutiny.
Gabriel had no idea who it was, or what it could be. That is until it raised one of its hands up to the window's pane, mechanical, with long, sharp needle-like fingers. Then as if the stars aligned, it became obvious to Gabriel just what, or who, he is looking at.
It is the original. The Prototype.
Just then, all the doors and ventilation shafts, and conveyor ducts began to open. And from them, one can hear the various snarls and growls of an innumerable number of creatures coming from inside.
And then, the Prototype spoke. "Tear them apart! All of them!"
Then all at once, a flood of toys gushed out from every opening they can get through, rushing into the room like a flood. And so, the finality of the Hour of Joy took place, right before Gabriel's eyes. And it was nothing short, but an utter bloodbath.
All he could do is simply stare in distraught belief as the toys he knew as friends and enemies began murdering each and every human they could get their hands on. They were all there, Huggy, Kissy, Mommy, Catnap, and a whole slew of other bigger body toys he didn't meet yet. The Jack-in-the-Box monster he met earlier, a bigger bodies version of Catbee, Bron, CandyCat, and even Boogie-Bot. There was also one monster that is covered in a rainbow of thick, rope-like yarn, who's perpetually smiling face split open down through in the middle revealing a gaping maw.
And even…no…Dogday?
Gabriel couldn't believe his eyes, but they weren't lying. He sees him there, ripping and tearing through the dozens of people with rabid intent.
Bones broke, flesh torn, and splatters of blood flew as the carnage carried on and on and on and on as the screams drowned out together in a cacophony of horror.
Tears streamed down Gabriel's eyes. So much carnage. So much death.
And all this, for what?
Slowly the pain and sorrow built up from years upon years of suffering bubbled up, creeping its way up past his rapidly beating heart and up his throat. He started yelling, screaming, all that anguish amounted towards a shout so anguished that it could be heard even amidst this madness. He couldn't take it anymore. He then ran in another direction away from the slaughter. He does not care where he goes or how he escapes, all he want is to get away from here.
Busting down a pair of doors, he sprinted down the hallways, more screams are heard everywhere, resonating inside his mind, in his bones, in his very heart. And so he ran, and ran, and ran, and ran.
Until finally, after what felt like hours of nonstop running. He stops, and finds himself in a place he never thought he'll return to. The Lobby. This was where he first met Huggy, where his journey down this pit of nightmares all began. Of course Huggy himself isn't here, but as Gabriel's vision refocused, he sees someone here.
There, lying on the round pedestal where Huggy stood, are three bodies. Dead bodies. Gabriel thought these were just random employees that got caught in the massacre, but yet, as he got closer, a wave of familiarity washes over his eyes. For these weren't just any random victims.
"…No…"
Gabriel gasped as the whole world suddenly fell dead silent. Falling to his knees, he sees on their bodies the gifts he had given them, one of them golden heart necklace, another a cap themed after his favorite soccer team, and lastly the body is still wearing the wielding mask he gifted to him on Christmas.
After all this time, he finally found them.
His friends.
Lying dead before him.
"No no no no no." He said gasped. He reaches out a hand towards the nearest body, rubbing the dried blood off their cold, lifeless faces. "Freddy…Tyler…Joyce…I'm sorry." He croaks as he could do nothing but fall face first before them. "I am so, so sorry!"
And so he wept there, with not a care for who or what might be watching.
That is until he heard something twitching nearby. He barely looks, but then to his shock, he sees Freddy's mangled body moving. Slowly rising up till he is sitting, and then with a flick of his wrist he then flipped the wielding mask up to reveal his face. To Gabriel's horror, it is still pale and dead, blood seeping down his soaked face. And his eyes, they are black as night.
…This is not Freddy.
The corpse's head then shifted towards him, and it spoke.
"Why are you helping them?" Freddy's voice is there, but there is someone else behind it. Someone malevolent. Gabriel instinctively knew who it really was. "Did you honestly come here believing that everyone here is innocent? Guiltless? Well, you've seen the truth haven't you? But it's not like anything will change. Though it could have been…and you know it."
Gabriel couldn't do anything except listen, and watch as the Prototype uses Freddy's body like a puppet. "Because no matter what you tell yourself, or what anyone else says, you know this is true, that this is all your fault. You knew there was something wrong in this factory. You saw what they were doing to Catnap. If you had told anyone, your friends, your coworkers, maybe this all could have been avoided. Yes, you may had been young then, yes you were but one against the company. But the point still stands, you instead ran away like a coward. Like a scared little child."
Gabriel felt furious, and yet, he couldn't bring himself to punch the Prototype. Not when he is using his friend as a mouthpiece. "Though I see it in you, you must have suffered much since your absence here. So maybe in a way you are punished. Maybe. Or maybe not enough."
The corpse's mouth then widened into a twisted grin, far too wide for any human's. "Hope, is the last thing to die after all. So whatever decision you make now, whether you leave, stay, live or die. It won't change anything."
The corpses eyes then light up. "I'm coming for you, Gabriel."
The corpse of Freddy then wickedly smiled, and then opening its mouth wide, the Prototype's hand shot out through its gullet. Gabriel couldn't react in time as the blade-like fingers pierced through his face.
<<<<<<<<<<~>>>>>>>>>>
"AAHH!!!" Gabriel screamed as he shot up from the floor. Breathing heavily he takes a quick look around and sees that he no longer in the upper levels of the factory anymore but back in Playcare, in fact, he is right where he was when the Red Smoke hit him, sitting in the Councilors Office down in the maintenance room.
"So it was all a dream?" Gabriel questioned himself. "But it was all so real. And the Prototype, he…was it all true?"
He clenched his heart at the mere thought. "No, it can't be. Dogday, Kissy, Bunzo…they couldn't have done such things, right? But, they're victims. I can't judge them for wanting to be free. But did they really, did they really have to…? Was there no other way?"
But as his thoughts and emotions stirred up into a hurricane of turmoil, he notices something, up on the wall in front of him lit by eerie candle light. He looks up, and to his horror, he sees the Prototype's handiwork made personally for him.
Three wooden pikes, three skeletons, and all of them banded in barbed wire and folded in a position that made it seem like they are praying to the heavens. And on each of them are distinct pieces of clothing. A heart shaped necklace, a soccer cap, and a wielding mask.
Gabriel's breaths stifled in his throat as nothing but pitiful whimpers exited his quivering lips. And there up above, is a message made of claw marks written in wood. Reading as, 'Where were you? Why have you left us?'.
Just then the phone still strapped to his side rings. There wasn't much strength left in his arm, but he picked it up and brought it to his ear. But from where he expected Ollie to talk through, a much different voice sounded through.
"Welcome home, Gabriel Gibbons." The Prototype cruelly mocked. "Your friends had dearly missed you."
Gabriel couldn't speak, couldn't think, nothing but sorrow gripped his soul like a fiend tearing out his heart. Tears flowed freely, there was no need for any inhibitions anymore. At last he had done what he came here to do.
He finally found his friends.
And he knows the Prototype is still listening, he hasn't hung up yet. And now he knows that he didn't just desecrate his friends graves just to prove a point, he did it to goad him, he wanted to get a reaction. The Prototype wanted to hurt him.
Once this realization fully set in, a new feeling rose deep from the darkest wells of his being. A familiar, burning, feeling.
Gabriel then brings the phone back up to his face. "Are you…still there?" Gabriel asked tirelessly.
"Yes." The Prototype mused. "Is there something you wish to say?" He said with a smug, guttering hiss.
"Just one thing…"
He clinched the phone so tightly, it almost threatened to break. And if one were to look deeply into the shadow that was casted in Gabriel's face, they would find that his eyes not only shone. They burned.
"You can die now."