The Heretics from Up Above [🄿🄾🄿🄿🅈 🄿🄻🄰🅈🅃🄸🄼🄴]

Chapter 21: Angels

I found a VHS tape that went to a corresponding TV, and I ran back, putting it into the player. It showed Catnap's face. "Okay... this is... Catnap. Uhhh... experiment 1188... What's his real name again? Ah! Okay. *Ahem* Heya, Theo! How ya doin' bud? Normally, I'd have Dr. Sawyer do this, but he's uhhh... out, let's say. So you got me until they find his replacement. First off; congrats! This is officially your 4th year in your new body. And you've made some real progress, pal," the person said.

"If that kind of a mother-fucker spoke to me like that, I'd smash his head between my two cymbals," Bunzo commented.

I bit into my Sno Ball while listening to the VHS. "I was told that when you and the other Smiling Critters, y'know, Dogday, Picky Piggy, yadda yadda yadda, were added into Playcare, that you weren't really getting along too well with the kids like everybody else was. But look at you now! The kids love ya, and that red smoke. I mean- that's fantastic, isn't it?!"

We all shook our heads, even though the man wasn't talking to us. "Is his uh, voice thingy still broken-"

"The Prototype will save us."

WHEN I TELL YOU I ALMOST FELL BACK. Charlotte grabbed my arm, eyes wide in shock. "Theo. Nobody's gonna save you. This prison is where you belong. We'll let you out here and there to go see the kids in Playcare, but your home is here. And as for 'The Prototype,' his home is in the labs. THIS is your life now. Get used to it."

The TV turned off. "SO WHO TOLD US THAT DEHYDRATED-ASS CAT CAN TALK???" I exclaimed.

"Nobody did," PJ commented.

"No shit!!"

Charlotte and I entered a door which led to the Playhouse, seeing colored tiles and walls. They were slightly cushioned, which felt kinda good for my feet. And almost in an instant, the plush critters began to stalk us. Their low growling signaled us to run, going up ramps, sliding down ramps, and crawling through tunnels. "Do you still have Electrolyte with you?" I asked, crawling into a tunnel.

"Yeah. But we won't have a break for a while," Charlotte said.

"At least I don't think so."

We slid down the tunnel, ending up in another part of the Playhouse. Using our flare gun, we were in a maze of some kind. One where the walls were made of cushioned blocks. We kept wandering around, all while shooting at the critter plushies. I managed to get one, watching as it shot upward. WHEEEEE!!! Bunzo and PJ laughed while the Huggies mimicked the motion. "Guys, I'm calling Floptropica," I said.

"What–"

"Nothing."

But we kept walking, avoiding critters, and lighting the way. As we walked through the halls of holding cells, we stopped. Charlotte and I stared to the left in disbelief. Hanging by leather in one of the cells was Dogday. His legs were torn off from his main body. We couldn't see his beady white eyes. "You... You're Poppy's angels..."

I tried to hold the tears in my eyes as I looked. He looked terrible!! "Come to save us. Nothing left to save, not here... You're in Catnap's home, angels. Their home."

His voice... A tear rolled down my face as I listened to him. Even Charlotte was tearing up. "A million pairs of eyes are on you now. Watching, waiting, hungry. They want nothing more than to crawl beneath your skin and eat away at you bit by bit– fill what's empty inside themselves. That... thing... Catnap. The Prototype is his God, and this is what he does to heretics," Dogday explained.

He explained that the little toys that we were being stalked by followed the big purple cat to avoid the same fate. In return, the creatures are fed. Charlotte's hands trembled as I shakily put a hand on his head. "What... What are you doing?" he asked.

"Giving you love," Charlotte said, wiping her tears.

Dogday hung his head and chuckled silently. "But... we tried to fight it, the Prototype's control. I'm... the last of the Smiling Critters. Listen to me. You need to get out of this place. Both of you. You both need to live. You two and Poppy can fix this, end this madness, the torment, the–" he said, trying to fight the leather restraints.

But before we could do anything to help him, we heard squeaky sounds, followed by snarling. The little Critters were here. They began climbing into Dogday's body as Charlotte and I cried for him. "No!!!" Charlotte sobbed.

"Dogday, please!!" I cried.

From our earpieces, we could hear the Game Station group panicking. "OH MY GOD!!!!" the Huggies exclaimed.

"La potenza di Cristo ti costringe!!" Bunzo yelled.

"AAH!!!" PJ screamed.

And so we hurriedly made a plan. Charlotte ran away, luring Dogday to her while I ran and searched for his legs. They had to be somewhere. If we could find them, then we could bring him along with us to defeat his best friend. As I ran, I could hear Charlotte's choked sobs and breathing as she pleaded for her life. "SISSY HE'S CATCHING UP!!!!" she sobbed.

Her voice echoed throughout the Playhouse. She ran through different cells and hopped across the debris, tossing things behind her to try and stop Dogday. As for me, I tossed things around with my GrabPack's hands, trying to search for a pair of long orange legs. My vision was blurred from my tears. I used my flare gun hand to look under the shroud of darkness, looking under toy blocks, blankets, and other cells. As I kept searching, I heard a squeaky sound. I screamed, turned, and pointed my flare gun behind me. But I still couldn't see. I staggered to a wall of the Playhouse and leaned against it, slumping to curl into a ball, sobbing. "Just kill me...! I don't care what Critter you are, just KILL ME!!!" I sobbed.

But when I opened my eyes after 10 seconds of silence, there was a small Catnap plush sitting there. He wasn't afraid of the gun being shakily pointed at his face. "Are you... gonna kill me?" I asked, wiping tears and the cold sweat off my face.

Slowly, I lowered my red flare gun hand. The plush shook his little head and pawed at my leg. I picked him up and let him sit on my head while I got up. "Wanna help me find my friend's legs?"

Squeak.

I grinned weakly and kept walking, using the flare to light the way. As we neared the entrance to the Playhouse, the Catnap plush squeaked. I turned to my left and saw a waist and legs. Bingo! I ran and picked them up, wheezing. "Lord– They're so fucking heavy!!" I gasped.

Squeak squeak.

The plush hopped onto my shoulder and nuzzled into the crook of my neck. I don't know what he was trying to tell me, but I assume they're squeaks of encouragement. Soon, I got the legs onto my other shoulder with the plush on my head again. As I carried them back to Charlotte, who must have escaped without a problem with how agile she was, I could hear something. "You..."

I turned and saw nothing. Nothing but darkness and colorful blocks. "YOU..."

My eyes widened. This was the same voice from my dreams. My arm and leg muscles burnt as I continued to carry Dogday's severed legs. "Heretics... Both of you..."

The voice could've been referring to Charlotte and me. I clung to the legs, refusing to look behind me. A cold sweat broke out again, just like when I had been running away from my little sister and Dogday's possessed (half) body. Slowly, I turned to be met with beady white eyes in the darkness. My breath got caught in my throat as I froze. My eyes widened in horror. My head began to spin as my knees gave out. I fell to the floor, passing out. My Catnap plush squeaked in distress as he hopped into my sweatshirt hoodie. That's when I could feel myself get picked up, warmth wrapping around me. "You care about them... But that everlasting kindness... will be the key to your demise..."