"The Hour of Despair"|Smiling Critters Apocalypse AU

Chapter 3 - The Hour of Despair is Upon Us... (Prequel Arc - Part 4)

Location: Home Sweet Home - Playcare - Playtime Co.

Date: March 24, 1987

Time: 11:55 PM

No POV

5 Minutes Until the Hour of Despair Begins

As the days went by, all of the Smiling Critters are now ready for the Hour of Despair as they made sure that everyone including the children and the workers are in bed sleeping peacefully and they all have to meet inside the Playhouse, where Darku has placed a Dark Zone Pentagram in the middle of the Playhouse, where the Mini Critters live as their home and they all seemed to be excited for this amazing event.

However, as the Smiling Critters are waiting for Darku to arrive to complete the ritual to become the Dark Creatures, the Prototype was really getting impatient after he waited for CatNap to accept his offer to join him until he later found about the Smiling Critters' plan to form their own group to take over the Toy Factory without the Prototype's help.

This is not good for the Prototype as is now furious about CatNap betraying him as he plans to kill him and his friends for stabbing him in the back.

Prototype: That ungrateful feline and his vile friends. I can't believe he would betray me like that. I'm going to find him and kill him in his sleep and then I will do the same to his friends for ever messing with me.

???: Not if I had anything to say about it.

Prototype: Huh? Who's there? Show yourself!

???: Very well then.

Then suddenly, the Prototype soon found himself in the Dark Zone as Darku kept his promise to the Smiling Critters that he will take care of dealing with the Prototype and what better way to do that than doing it in his own domain, the Dark Zone itself. It's the place, where all the multiverse's evil and all things negative reside in as the ruler of the Dark Zone appeared from the shadows to face off against the infamous Prototype.

The Prototype was shocked to see a demonic being like Darku show up in his own domain as the Prototype demanded Darku to know what's going on here.

Prototype: What the hell?! Who are you?!

Darku: I am Darku, ruler of this shadowy realm, the Dark Zone and I am here to execute you.

Prototype: Execute me?! For what reason?!

Darku: You know why, Prototype. You were planning to make a truce with CatNap and betray and kill him at the last minute just so you can take what's left his body for yourself. So I decided to make a deal CatNap and his friends after I showed them their future if CatNap accepted your offer and they immediately accepted my offer to join forces with me and I promised them that I will deal with you, which is why I brought you here into my domain to execute you to prevent you from interfering with our plan to begin the Hour of Despair.

Prototype: The Hour of Despair? How is that any different from the Hour of Joy?

Darku: The reason why it's completely different from the Hour of Joy is instead of killing everyone in cold blood after all of the toys have suffered so many years of being abused and tortured by Playtime Co. own cruel and unusual experiments just for creating the perfect children's toy, than what better way than to kill them, but to make them become like them.

Prototype: Become them?

Darku: That's right. If those scientists think they can just use innocent children and adults to make toys in a toy factory like Playtime Co., then we will give them a taste of their own medicine by turning them into toys as well. However, to make sure they have no free will against me and the Smiling Critters, all of their memories of their human lives will be erased from existence, and they will remain loyal and obedient to their new masters, so they will not show any signs of free will whatsoever. And once the Smiling Critters, now known as the Dark Creatures, take over Playtime Co. with an iron fist, they will spread their evil upon the rest of the world and with you gone, the Dark Creatures and I, Darku, Lord of the Dark Zone will take over this world by storm with one less annoying hunk of scrap metal from foiling our plans.