TW: Mentions of Attempted Child Molestation
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When the duo entered the main area, they saw Hoppy Hopscotch with small bandages on her arms and legs sitting in the tent beside KickinChicken, lying on his back with rolled gauze wrapped around his left leg and large red spots on it.
The duo was shocked and approached the duo inside the tent. "What happened to you two?" Michelle asked.
Hoppy Hopscotch looked at the duo. "The Doctor's minions, along with his pet, ambushed us while gathering supplies," she said.
KickinChicken slowly sat up with a slight grunt. "That multicolored bastard bit down real hard on my leg," he said before looking at Hoppy Hopscotch. "If Hoppy hadn't intervened, I would've lost it."
Hoppy Hopscotch looked down with somber eyes. "Yeah, but we still lost the supplies..." she said, lowly.
Michelle looked at Hoppy Hopscotch before letting go of Jack's hand and approaching her.
When Michelle was close to Hoppy Hopscotch, she placed her hand against her leg, which made her look at her. "While it's sad that the supplies are gone, I think the most important part is you two coming back to us alive; don't be hard on yourself," she said.
Hoppy Hopscotch stared at Michelle before chuckling a bit and rubbing the back of her head. "Y'know, Doey said the same thing you did," she said.
Michelle giggled a bit. "Great minds think alike," she said before looking at Hoppy Hopscotch. "Speaking of Doey, where is he?"
Hoppy Hopscotch looked down. "Well..." she said, lowly, before pointing near the storage area.
When Michelle turned to the back, she saw Matthew inside a tent, sitting next to Kissy Missy, reading 'The Adventures of the Word Wizard' to most of the smaller toys with CraftyCorn, Miss Delight, and PickyPiggy standing behind them, and CatNap lay on the ground close by with his eyes closed.
Hoppy Hopscotch looked at Michelle. "Matthew is reading one of the books you brought over to the smaller ones," she said.
Michelle nodded before looking at Hoppy Hopscotch. "And Kevin?" she asked.
Hoppy Hopscotch pointed to the opposite side of the storage hallway. "Over there," she said.
Michelle looked at the back and saw Kevin sitting in the corner of the tent with her belongings in the corner, his arms wrapped around himself, which made her hum a bit before looking at Jack. "Why don't you join the larger group? I'm gonna talk to Kevin," she said.
Jack nodded. "OK..." he said, lowly, before approaching the large group.
Michelle smiled a bit before approaching the tent Kevin was in. As Michelle entered the tent, Kevin glanced at her. "Hey... mind if I sit in here?" she asked.
Kevin stared at Michelle before glancing away. "Even if I say no, you're gonna do it anyway," he said.
Michelle gently smiled before approaching her bag and unzipping it; when Kevin glanced at her, he saw her pull her Doey toy out of her bag, which made him look at her. "You still have that?" he asked.
Michelle sat next to Kevin. "Of course, I still have it; it brings me comfort," she said before looking at him and holding her Doey toy out. "Wanna hold it...?"
Kevin remained silent and looked down. "I'll take that as a no," Michelle continued.
Michelle placed her Doey toy in her lap before looking forward. "Y'know, I've killed someone in here too..." she said.
Kevin was shocked and looked at Michelle. "It was an accident; Mommy, Miss Delight, and I were running away from Miss Delight's sister," she continued. "When we reached the end of the hallway, I grabbed the lever with the green hand and..."
Michelle looked down with a frown. "She got crushed under the shutter; it was... an instant death," she said. "And even though Miss Delight forgave me... the guilt of it still haunts me..."
Kevin stared at Michelle. "Why are you telling me this?" he asked.
Michelle slightly smiled at Kevin. "Not everyone is pure-hearted, but they can have pure intentions," she said. "You were probably twelve when that incident happened, right?"
Kevin looked away before nodding. "You did something you thought was right, but in actuality it wasn't," Michelle continued. "I can't really speak for the other two, but I believe you had good intentions for them after you three were turned into Doey."
Michelle smiled at Kevin. "If my group was able to give me a second chance for killing someone close to them... then you should be given a second chance as well..." she said.
Kevin looked down and clenched his arms tightly. "I-I..." he said, lowly.
"Michelle," a female voice said, which surprised the duo.
When the duo looked forward, they saw Poppy standing before them; Kevin glared at her. "What the hell do you want?" he asked.
Poppy approached the duo. "I was hoping to hear Michelle's answer to my plan after she cooled down and was awake," she said.
Michelle remained silent and looked down. "Have you come to a decision?" Poppy asked.
Michelle took a deep breath and exhaled before looking at Poppy. "Let me ask you this... did Ollie help you come up with this plan?" she asked.
Poppy nodded. "Yes, he did..." she said.
Michelle stared at Poppy before looking away. "Then I'm not doing it," she said.
Poppy was shocked. "What? Why not?" she asked.
Michelle looked at Poppy. "I don't trust a damn word that kid is saying," she said. "He may have helped me during my time in Playcare, but there is something off about him."
Poppy looked at Michelle. "There's nothing wrong with him; he's helped us," she said. "If not for him, we wouldn't be HERE."
Michelle sternly looked at Poppy. "If there's nothing wrong with him, why hasn't he shown his face to us?" she asked.
Poppy tried to say something, but nothing came out of her mouth, and she looked away, which made Michelle look away. "Exactly! He can't be trusted," she said.
Poppy groaned and looked at Michelle. "Why must you make things so difficult? What you're doing is selfish," she said.
Michelle mockingly laughed before glaring at Poppy. "You did not just call me selfish!" she shouted. "If anything, you're the selfish one here!!"
Michelle roughly poked Poppy's chest, which pushed her back a bit. "I could've left you in that box, but I didn't and chose to free you," she said. "And what do I get in exchange for freeing you? A task to kill the Prototype and free the orphans while sacrificing you and the others."
Poppy started getting angry and clenched her fists as Michelle leaned toward her. "The only reason you're making me do all the dirty work is that you're nothing but a selfish coward!!" she shouted.
Poppy growled a bit and slapped Michelle, which left a small red hand mark on her right cheek. Poppy tried to catch her breath before she realized what she had done and held her right hand before stepping back a bit. "I... I'm sorry... I don't..." she said, lowly.
Kevin snarled at Poppy with his fangs showing, and his body started bubbling, which made her flinch. "You have some nerve doing that..." he said.
Before Kevin could do anything, Michelle firmly placed her hand on his shoulder, which surprised him and made his body stop bubbling. "I'm fine, Kev," she said.
Kevin turned his head to Michelle. "But she—" he was interrupted when she looked at Poppy. "If anything, it felt more like a love tap than an actual slap."
Poppy looked away with a frown, which made Michelle sigh. "Listen, Poppy... I know you have good intentions," she continued. "But I don't want to see you being manipulated by some voice on a phone."
Poppy sternly looked at Michelle. "And how would you know that?" she asked.
Michelle remained silent before looking down. "Because I know what it feels like to be manipulated..." she said.
Poppy stared at Michelle, surprised. "You remember what I said back at the Game Station, right? About what I hated the most?" she asked.
Poppy nodded. "Besides the company, you hate liars," she said.
Michelle nodded. "That's right..." she said before looking away. "And that makes me the biggest hypocrite in the world."
Poppy looked at Michelle, shocked. "What? When did you lie to me?" she asked.
Michelle looked at Poppy. "Back at Playcare on the lift... when I said I haven't hurt a fly..." she said.
Poppy stared at Michelle. "So then..." she said, lowly. "You actually..."
Michelle frowned a bit and nodded. "I've kept this secret from you and my group..." she said.
Michelle turned her head to Kevin as he looked at her, concerned. "I even kept it a secret from one of my closest friends..." she continued. "That is... until now..."
Michelle turned her head to Poppy. "I was taken to a lot of foster homes at a younger age and then taken back to the orphanage," she said. "They said I was misbehaving or not getting along with the other kids... but I've never physically hurt them... that is... until I was around ten."
Michelle looked down. "This couple took me into their home: a large man with brown balding hair and a woman with blonde hair and dark brown roots; they looked like a happy couple, so in turn, I tried to be happy as well," she continued.
Michelle looked at her hand. "When I would do my schoolwork from the orphanage or finish doing a chore... the man would say... good girl..." she said before shuddering at the phrase at the end of her sentence. "At the time... I thought nothing of that phrase, so I went along with it..."
Michelle smiled a bit. "Those two were super kind and super caring, and they bought me whatever I wanted..." she continued. "In the back of my mind, I thought, 'This is it... this is how a family should treat you.' I thought everything would be normal..."
Michelle frowned and looked down. "That is... until one night... when my throat was dry, and I couldn't sleep..." she said. "As I was heading to the kitchen, I saw... a light... in the garage..."
Tears pricked Michelle's eyes. "My curiosity got the better of me, so I opened the garage door..." she continued before she started trembling a bit. "And I saw... disgusting things... things no normal child should see..."
Michelle quickly picked up her Doey toy and wrapped her arms around it while looking down, trembling. "They had... adult toys... scattered around the room..." she said. "Along with a video camera connected to a computer on a small desk..."
Tears landed on the ground. "I tried to run, but the man was already in the room..." Michelle continued. "As I backed away, the man said things like... 'There's no need to be scared... be a good girl for Daddy.'"
Kevin frowned and retracted the claws on his left hand before gently stroking his hand against Michelle's back. "When I was backed into a corner... my eyes caught sight of a metal baseball bat..." she said.
Michelle gritted her teeth. "If that... bastard... had actually read my document from the orphanage... he would've known I was combative..." she continued.
Michelle clenched her Doey toy. "Out of pure instinct... I grabbed the baseball bat... and swung it at the bastard's head... knocking him down to the floor," she said.
Poppy was mortified, tears pricking her eyes. "I kept hitting him... and hitting him... and hitting him... until he was twitching and I saw blood on his head and the floor..." Michelle continued. "At that moment... I thought I just killed a man..."
Michelle sniffled. "I screamed like I've never screamed before and was in a panic attack... the woman came in soon after and screamed in horror before calling the police afterward..." she said. "When the cops and an ambulance arrived at the house, she tried to make them arrest me for attempted murder."
Michelle wiped some of her tears with her sleeve. "However, one observant cop saw the computer... they were apparently filming me for some... dark... twisted website..." she continued.
Michelle looked at the duo. "Both of the couple's names were on the account, leading the cops to arrest her while the paramedics took the man with handcuffs on the stretcher's handles..." she said.
Michelle looked down. "One of the cops approached me and told me I've been a good girl... but that just made my panic attack worse, and I screamed..." she continued. "Soon after, a different cop shushed me, told me everything would be alright, and that I did the right thing defending myself..."
Michelle unwrapped her arms around her Doey toy and looked at it. "After the cops returned me to the orphanage, the caretakers praised me for doing what I could to protect myself and would purchase whatever toy I wanted on my first visit to the toy factory..." she said.
Michelle placed her hand against her Doey toy's head. "I chose this one because out of all of the toys in that Gift Shop... nothing brought me more comfort than this one..." she continued.
Michelle heard sniffling, which surprised her; when she looked forward, she saw tears falling from Poppy's eyes. "I had no idea... you've been through so much pain..." she said, lowly.
Kevin nodded in agreement. "And those fuckers are lucky the police took them..." he said before his body started boiling. "Because I would've done something much worse..."
Michelle wiped her remaining tears away with her sleeve before looking at Poppy. "I may not know Ollie as well as you, but I know a manipulator when I hear one... and he reeks of one," she said.
Poppy wiped her tears away with her hands before looking at Michelle. "But... what if he isn't?" she asked.
Michelle looked at Poppy with serious eyes. "Then we test him," she said before standing up.
Poppy looked at Michelle, surprised, as she approached her bag and placed her Doey toy inside it. "Test him?" she asked.
After Michelle zipped her bag, she looked at Poppy and Kevin. "We shouldn't discuss it out here," she said.
When Michelle glanced at the storage hallway, she noticed CatNap's eyes were open, looking at them in the distance. "In fact... let's talk somewhere private..." she continued before gesturing to the room on the right.
The duo nodded as Kevin stood up before the trio approached the room on the right. After the trio entered the room, CatNap stood up and approached the door before lying next to it.
A few mini Smiling Critters looked at CatNap as he lay his head near the door. "What's he doing?" a mini Bubba Bubbaphant asked.
The mini CraftyCorn stared at CatNap as he faced the door before he talked. "I'm not sure..." he said, lowly.
A mini Picky Piggy was scared as CatNap lay his head near the door again. "I hope he doesn't eat us..." she said, lowly.
CatNap's ears twitched a bit before pulling his head away from the door and stepping to the side of it. Soon after, Michelle opened the door before the trio left the room; Poppy looked at her. "And you're certain this'll work?" she asked.
Michelle sighed a bit as CatNap lowered his head. "It's a fifty/fifty chance, but I'm willing to take that risk," she said before looking at Poppy. "Are you?"
Poppy remained silent and looked down in thought; soon after, she sighed and looked at Michelle. "I am," she said.
Michelle smiled a bit before looking at CatNap and whispering into his ear. CatNap nodded before walking toward the storage hallway and entering it. "The main focus right now is getting the Omni-Hand from the Doctor; then, we'll go from there," Michelle said.
Poppy nodded. "Very well..." she said.
"Emergency!" a female voice shouted, which surprised the group in the main area.
The group turned to the infirmary hallway and saw Bobby BearHug, looking down and panting a bit. Matthew closed the book and stood up. "What's wrong, Bobby?" he asked.
Bobby BearHug looked at Matthew with panicked eyes. "We have a Code Pink!" she shouted.
Michelle turned her head to Kevin. "What's a Code Pink?" she asked.
Kevin looked at Bobby BearHug. "It means someone left Safe Haven," he said.
Matthew approached Bobby BearHug. "Who is it that's missing?" he asked.
Bobby BearHug was nervous. "W-Well..." she said before glancing in Kevin and Michelle's direction.
When the duo realized Bobby BearHug's gaze, their eyes widened, and they looked at one another. "It's Suzy!" they shouted.
DogDay sprinted toward Matthew with Scout on his shoulder. "Matthew!" he shouted, which made him look at him. "At the front gate, you have to see this!"
Matthew looked at Bobby BearHug, CraftyCorn, and PickyPiggy. "You three, take the smaller toys and the injured to a safe place," he said.
Bobby BearHug, PickyPiggy, and CraftyCorn nodded. "Right," they said before guiding the smaller toys and the injured ones away from the main room.
Matthew looked at the remainder of the group. "The rest of you to the front," he said, which made them nod.
Michelle picked Poppy up before the group ran toward the front; when the front gate opened, they entered the shower area and saw one of the Doctor's mechanical bodies with a blank screen. "What the hell is that?" she asked.
Matthew approached the mechanical body and examined it. "One of the Doctor's robotic bodies; if I'm honest, I've never seen it in person before," he said.
Kevin glared at the mechanical body. "Like any of that matters; let's just smash the stupid thing," he said.
The screen on the mechanical body lit up, which startled some of the group and made Matthew quickly back away.
Soon after, the group saw the Doctor's eye before looking at Kevin. "Now, now, 1322B... if you were to destroy me, you won't know what will happen to 1332," he said, which made the group freeze up.
Michelle stepped forward and glared at the Doctor. "What the hell have you done with Suzy? I swear if you hurt her—" she was interrupted when he eyed her. "Worry not, little germ; she's unharmed..."
The Doctor's screen turned to static before it showed Suzy in a cage with liquid nitrogen blowing on her, which froze part of her body. "At the moment, she's cooling down..." he continued.
The group watched in horror as Suzy slowly looked up with black slime tears falling from her eyes. "Big... Brother..." she said, lowly.
Kevin glared at the screen and angrily growled. "You son of a bitch!!" he shouted.
Before Kevin leaped toward the Doctor, Matthew wrapped his arms around him before pulling him away. "I'll kill you for this!!" he shouted as he struggled.
DogDay glared at the screen. "What do you want from us?" he asked.
The Doctor's screen switched to his eye before looking at the group. "All I want is an exchange," he said. "You come to my lab, and I'll let 1332 free."
Jack looked at the Doctor. "You want Doey, right? We'll—" he was interrupted when he shook his head. "I don't want you, you brutish glob of clay; what I want..."
Soon after, the Doctor pointed at Michelle, which made her eyes widen. "Is her..." he continued.
The group's eyes widened. "If you value 1332's life, which I know you do, you'll come to me unarmed," the Doctor said. "Meaning no GrabPack and that knife you keep in your right pocket."
The Doctor looked at Michelle. "Afterward, head to No Man's Land; there you'll encounter Yarnaby," he continued. "He'll take you to my lab where the exchange will happen."
Michelle glared at the Doctor with gritted teeth. "The clock is ticking, little germ; the quicker you come to me, the quicker you can save 1332," he said. "Or perhaps, you wish to see her suffer."
Michelle looked down as the Doctor mischievously chuckled before Kevin punched the screen hard, which shattered the glass before the mechanical body hit the ground.
Kevin continuously punched the mechanical body until it was destroyed. Kevin was enraged, and his body boiled. "That fucker thinks he can get away with this! I'll track him down and kill him!!" he shouted.
"That's not for you to decide," Michelle said, which made Kevin freeze up, and his body stopped boiling before he turned his head to her. "That bastard wants me..."
Michelle kneeled and placed Poppy on the ground before standing properly and looking at the group, determined. "So, I'll give him what he wants..." she continued.