Chapter Text
Are you proud of yourself?
Go on. Be honest. Are you proud of yourself?
Ten years. You left this place ten whole years ago, and now you came back like a lost dog after running away from home. Except a dog has some sense of dignity, and you are nothing but a husk of something that could be called a person. An ugly, cruel, cowardly husk that knows nothing but to whine and destroy everything you touch.
Honestly, you should be amazed for lasting this long. The few workers of Playtime that weren’t there when everyone was gone all shut up or moved to somewhere far, far away from that godawful factory, but you stayed, not only at the same city, but at the same goddamn house. The authorities hated you for demanding an investigation for what happened there, and you were sooo proud to be a stubborn one, but you weren’t stubborn for that. You shut yourself up, you stopped investigating what happened to everyone, you, like the coward that you are, whined and cried about it for an entire decade instead of doing something.
And now, the question still remains:
Are you proud of yourself?
You almost died so many times in the past decade. Failed on being there for your family, became a lonely nobody on a shitty job, gave up on everything, and then thought you could actually be some sort of hero just because of one stupid letter telling you to come back.
You feel so terribly stupid right now.
They can’t be alive, it’s been an entire decade, nobody can survive this long in a single factory. Of course, of course that letter was fake and you were just stupid for falling for it. A trap, a very obvious trap that you fell for.
The grabpack in your hands shakes. Your throat feels raspy with the scream that came out of it when a very much alive Huggy Wuggy appeared on your way, rows of sharp teeth directed at you. You would wonder how was this even possible, if it was some kind of bad prank, but his teeth and his smell of something rotten makes you kinda not want to do that.
You get in the vents, and, surprise surprise, the thing may be tall and lanky but it’s fast and it is growling.
“Mas que porra…?!”
You slam your head against the wall as you make your escape, and curse once again in Brazilian Portuguese. Huggy comes closer, and you instinctively try to use your grabpack against it.
It hits Huggy’s head and comes back to you.
He pauses, confused. And then growls louder.
Ah, great, looks like you offended the guy. Maybe next time you should try getting inside Hanna Barbera Studios and volunteer as a new cartoon character? Oh, wait. They closed down four years ago. There goes another career opportunity…
You are still running. Nothing makes sense and your legs are giving up on you. You are stiilllllll running. For how long will this go on?
Wait– light! That’s the exit! HAHAH!
You jump outside, hitting your head once again, this time against some railings. You run, turning back to see a giant, shiny box full of handprints just above the railings. And, on the door you just came back from, the monster follows suit.
You grab the box with your grabpack without thinking, hoping blocking the way will help you.
The box falls, and the creature screams in pain as it hits its head.
The creature screams in pain as the railings are torn apart.
The creature keeps screaming in pain as the world slows down.
Nononononono, this isn’t what you wanted, what you– what have I done?!
Nononono– jump ahead, yes, just like that, use your grabpack, use it– yes, grab him, grab him.
The grabpack’s colorful hands grab Huggy Wuggy’s arm, and you use all of your strength to bring him up.
“Got you, got you–”
Your feet slip, and you almost fall towards the abyss. You put your feet against the railing, and use all the strength on your hands to make the grabpack keep on dragging the giant towards you. Your hands hurt, but it doesn’t matter. No, no, it doesn’t matter at all.
“Got you!”
You grab his arm with a hand, and, with your free one, you start dragging the two of you upwards. You feel your stomach against the cold floor, and the creature’s fur as it crawls alongside you.
You keep going until the two of you are far, far away from the railing’s edge, and only then do you let him go. Thankfully, you’re still on the floor, so no need to collapse. Just rest your face against it and breathe.
“I…”, you gasp for air. “Shit, I’m so sorry, I-I–”
You stare at the monster.
He isn’t moving. His eyes are closed.
Oh, what have you done?
You crawl towards him and cradle him on your lap, desperate. He’s still breathing, but– his head, it’s bloody, he got hurt. Shaking, screams of pain still echoing inside your mind, you start dragging him through.
What have you done?
XxX
You’re thankful the grabpack is still working after that.
Your hands tremble as you finally finish wrapping bandages around the creature’s head, thankful you had a first-aid kit with you. Your face is wet with tears, your throat is sore, and your body hurts, but Huggy is still alive and breathing and that’s all that matters. You don’t know how much time has passed since he passed out. Maybe you should call an ambulance. Maybe you–
!!!
He’s awake? Oh my God, he’s awake! How– okay, whatever, it doesn’t matter. You cradle his face, still shaking.
“T-there you are. You okay?”
He blinks. Once, twice. Looks around. Opens his mouth. Immediately tries to bite you.
“Hey!”
You fall against your back as he suddenly gets up, growling, only to start stumbling around like his legs are made of pasta. Huggy growls louder, hands now on his head, and this is a good enough motivator for you to get up and grab his arms.
“No, no–”
He growls louder, trying to bite you, only to wobble around. You grab-hug him – ironically enough – in order to stop him from falling, and then help him get back to the ground.
“Don’t do that, stop trying to bite me!”, you warn him. “You’re hurt, dude, if you get up like that you’re gonna fall!”
His response is a growl, once again trying to bite you.
“Nononono! No!”, and now you’re rapidly moving your hands around so he won’t try biting them. “Stop that! Bad boy! Bad boy!”
This is exactly like trying to help a terrified dog in the worst way possible.
He growls louder at you.
“Ah, garoto, pelo amor de Deus– STOP. BAD BOY. BAD BOY!”
He whimpers at your yelling.
“Oh, fu– shit, sorry!”
He stares at himself, and at his bloody hands. Then touches his bandages, then stares around him, and growls again, softer than before. Is it a friendly growl, or–
Uh, were his eyes this shiny? He isn’t crying, right?!
Another growl.
“Oh, nono, d-don’t cry–”
He’s sobbing.
“Oh I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry– there, there?”, you pat the side of his head that isn’t hurt, trying your best to be gentle. “Not a bad boy, no, no, good boy, there, there, good boy, good boy…”
… Aaand now he’s looking up to you.
“Oh, you’re just… A baby, aren’t ya?”, you mutter, still petting him. “There, there, baby, it’s okay, it’s okay, I’m sorry, I’m really sorry…”
Oh, that guy is shaking. Fuck, uh– your bag! Yes, good idea. You grab your bag and yoink a sandwich you forgot to eat earlier and your water bottle, turning to him and offering him the food.
“For you, big boy”.
Huggy blinks, staring at the offer, then at you.
You jump when he grabs the sandwich via a bite, and consumes the whole thing in one go. Damn, this one is hungry. Poor thing… He opens his mouth, and you pour water all over it. He shakes his head, and then curls around his legs, staring at you with his big eyes, eyeing the room. You were lucky there was a comfortable place around here, despite the weird poppy drawing on the door.
“Does it hurt?”, you ask the big guy, but he doesn’t respond. Instead, he stares at a door. You tilt your head, getting up. “Is there something there you want me to see?”
He growls, squeezing his legs.
“Are you… Scared?”
No response, except for him still fixated at that door. You grab the handle, and he growls louder, desperate.
“Bad door?”, he growls. “Hey, it’s okay, it’s okay. I’ll protect you”.
He squints his eyes.
“I’m serious!”
He shakes his head.
“Look, I’m sorry for hurting you, okay? But I’m going to protect you. Promise you that”.
He doesn’t squint this time; instead, he covers himself with the pillows and blankets you gathered for him, looking at you before softly growling. You approach him, sitting close, and give him your best attempt at a warm smile.
He hesitates before moving. He covers you with a blanket, then curls all around himself once more, staring at the door with what you can only guess is fear. He seems big and scary, so what the hell is scaring him…?
You sight.
“Do you want me to check the door for you?”
Huggy seems to blink in surprise, but you’re already up, using the blanket he gave you as a cape. Like a knight in shining armor, you walk towards the door, and, ignoring his scared growls, open it all in one go, being met with a truly awful room:
Pillows, blankets, a cabinet, and a single Poppy doll inside a well-made glass case.
“Well, there’s no monsters here, it seems… Irk!”
You can’t help but jump when Huggy is suddenly behind you. The hell? Couldn’t even hear him getting up! At least he isn’t groggy, but– oh, he’s entering the room to… Growl at the doll in disapproval. The sound isn’t even remotely as angry as the one he did to you, and his headshake only adds to this feeling much more comedic than it should be.
“Bad doll?”
Huggy excitedly nods, almost smugly. You cross your arms:
“What did she even do?”
He opens his mouth. Closes it. Growls.
“… Huggy – if that’s your name –, what did that doll do, uhm?”
He stares at the floor, and you roll your eyes. You remember the letter: Find the flower. This entire room was behind a flower painting, yes, but this is a Poppy doll. Maybe she is the flower the letter was talking about.
So, like a fool, you approach the case and open it. Huggy growls in surprise, and… Oh wow you are feeling drowsy…?...!
Drowsy… What a weird w… Ord…?
Drowsy… You and I are both drowsy. Drooowwwsyyyy… Very sleepy, indeed. Oh, wow, this feels aw-ful…
It smells like poppies. Hah, hah. Why are we like this…
“What did you do…?!”
A voice is echoing. Can you hear it…? I mean, understand it, not hear… It…………
Drow. Syyy….
“How did you do this…?”
Hah, hah.
Good naitiiiiiiiii….,.,..
[bam]
[you and huggy both fall unconscious on the floor]
[oh, well…]