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

(Chapter 5) Part 22: Clash of Ideals

Giblet runs up to her and kneels down, "How...how..." Dan and Nearic wince at the scratchy voice of Poppy, "How... bad... is it?" Nearic goes to his knees and reaches out, only to flinch back as the doll easily snaps a piece of porcelain off her head.

"Oh my god..." Dan covers his mouth shock.

Catnap closes his eyes and looks away while Dogday sighs and looks down. Nearic reaches out and cups her hand, making the doll look at him. Her face was shattered, littered with cracks that exposed muscle underneath her porcelain skin, her hair wasn't growing out of her right side, and the pigtails they were had unfurled, and worst of all, she was missing her right eye, leaving a large gap into her head, which looked to be hollow.

He looked her over before looking back into her eye as he revealed his damaged one himself, "Nothing that can't be fixed."

She glances at the still red scars before looking him in the eye, "You sure?" she asks quietly.

Nearic nodded firmly, "Yes, I'm a doctor, remember? A good one, not just in skill, but in morals. I will never treat you like they did, and I will put you back together. I will not let the Prototype scar anyone else in this place."

"He's right," Giblet says, touching her shoulder, "You're gonna be okay, Poppy. We'll find a way..."

Poppy looks down in thought, before looking at him, her eye widening as she gasps, "Giblet? I-is that you?" she asks in bewilderment, pulling her hand away from Nearic.

He looks away shamefully as she looks him over, "What did he do to you?"

The other toy picks up his cane before waving her off, "Don't worry about me." There's a beat of silence as everyone just... processes, before Giblet speaks again, "The things they did to us... That doesn't have to be who we are."

He looks away for a moment before shaking his head and looking at Nearic, "Look, the pan's... still the plan, right?"

Nearic nods, "Right, we need to find that back-up for the formula."

Dan blinks, "Formula?"

"Next stop is the tram here in reanimation," Giblet says.

Nearic stands up, "Got it, we'll meet you at the tram then."

The teen turns around and finds a damaged vent, so he uses his Pressure Hand to break it, "Uh," he looks at Dan as it charges, "What is the formula you two are talking about?"

"The Negation Formula," Catnap reiterates.

"That sounds important," Dogday replies.

"It is," Nearic confirms as he releases the hand, shattering the vent as he braces his arm, "It supposedly deactivates the Poppy Gel's hyper regenerative properties." He turns and faces Dan and Dogday, "The plan is to use this formula to remove the Prototype's immortality and kill him once and for all."

Dan whistles, "Alright, I'm game. I still got to pay him back for impaling my shoulder."

"If we've truly got a chance to take him down, then I've got my own score to settle with the lunatic," he punches a fist to his palm.

Nearic hums with a nod before the looks at Catnap, "Stay with the others, none of them are in a good state to fight, keep them safe." He turns and starts walking to the vent with Dan following him, but Catnap huffs in annoyance.

"No."

Nearic freezes, "No?" he repeats as he turns his head to the side, and he would've been looking over shoulder if he weren't using his left eye to do so.

"No," Catnap confirms, "we still have to talk about Gracie."

Nearic's face hardens, "Later," is all he says before turning around.