Overdue Check-Up (Poppy Playtime) [On Hold]

(Chapter 4) Part 25: The Foundation Ep. 1

After recording the two tapes the brothers previously found within Safe Haven, they now wait at the infirmary tunnel alongside Dogday and Catnap. Standing before them were CraftyCorn, with Marie on her shoulders, both nervous but also hopeful for the events to come.

"Be careful out there," Crafty says.

Dan nods, "We will."

Dogday pats his son's head, "We'll keep an eye on this one too, make sure he doesn't get himself hurt while he still recovers."

Nearic huffs with a small smile as he shoves his father's hand away, "Stop it."

Catnap chuckles, "Yeah, don't worry," he turns to them, "He'll be safe with us, I promise."

Crafty eyes him warily while Marie pipes up, "I just hope nothing goes wrong."

"Something will always go wrong in some way," Nearic replies, "But it's how we respond to those incidents that help us survive."

Crafty scoffs with a shake of her head, "You're trying to hard little prince," she puts a hoof to her hip, "Now get out of here, will ya? You got a job to do."

They all chuckle, "Yeah, yeah, I'm on it," Nearic says as he turns around.

The others follow after him, "Take care you two," Dan calls back with a wave.

Marie waves the radio in her hand, "We'll keep in touch!"

Crafty sighs as they turn the corner, "Now to keep up appearances," she mutters, getting a nod from Marie.

The four walk down through the tunnel while Nearic analyses the walls, "Whoa, how long do you think it took for them to dig this out?"

"Months," Dan replied, "Maybe longer."

Catnap, who is practically crawling through the tunnel, brings up an important question, "If something goes wrong, either on our end our theirs, how are we going to fix it?"

"We can't," Dogday answers, getting everyone to look at him, "We're far too apart for us to be able to help them if things go wrong. We just have to hope that the toys of Safe Haven can work together well enough to keep each other safe and alive. That's all we can hope for."

Catnap looks down, "Why did I think following that monster was a good idea?"

"It's not your-"

"Stop it Catnap," Dogday interrupted, getting everyone's attention, "I know I wasn't able to get to my point last time, so I'll speak it here: It's not your fault. You were tricked, used, manipulated, that's no one's fault but his, so stop it."

"But-" Catnap starts.

"But nothing!" Dogday raises his voice, "You were a kid, you looked up to him for years, he saved you. You couldn't have known he would trick you like this."

They eventually exit the tunnel and turn to follow the sewer, "I should've known better."

"Yes, you should have," Dogday agrees, "but we should've pushed harder, we abandoned you when you needed us most. We failed, simple as that. You may have made mistakes Catnap but so did everyone else. We gave up on... I gave up on you, when you needed me most."

Everyone had stopped just before the second turn in the sewer, processing Dogday's words, before Nearic spoke up, "As much as I like seeing you two getting along, we need to hurry, who knows how much time Doey can grant us before the Prototype gets wise to our plans."

"Nearic's right," the older brother agrees, "We need to move."

The canine sighs, "Right, so where do we go?"