I Think You Need Some Therapy.
Catnap slowly awakes feeling quite refreshed and relaxed, but he doesn't find Dogday by his side, nor does he find himself in his bedroom. He finds himself in darkness, which could only mean one thing. The Prototype wants to talk. Catnap was feeling incredibly anxious and nervous now, he had just gotten used to him being ignored by the Prototype. But now he was just about to talk to him, at this moment.
"Catnap." He said. Catnap tried looking around but he couldn't find him. Eventually, after looking around so much that he turned a bit dizzy, he found the Prototype. In all his metallurgy. He was always just a mess of metal, gears, and wires. He was a prototype. There wasn't much to look at, the mass of parts just looked like an extremely large human that was made primarily of metal. Catnap, after enough ogling, bowed his head in response.
"Your next assignment is here." The Prototype said. Catnap looked up from his bowing to look at the Prototype. He couldn't see any eyes to look into and just decided to unfocus his gaze and stare distantly at the blurry shape that is called his God.
"And what would you ask of me?" Catnap said on response.
"There are many mini-critters that hide amongst Playcare and all over the facility, round up as much as you can and make them your minions." The Prototype ordered Catnap. Catnap just nodded as he just wanted to leave this dark domain of the Prototype, but he didn't leave yet, for the Prototype had one more question.
"What is your relationship with your prisoners? I know when you're lying to me." The Prototype said. Catnap felt like he was gonna throw up. He didn't know if he should lie or if he should tell the truth. Would the Prototype really know if he lies? How much does he know? Does he even know that he's planning to betray him later? Catnap took a big gulp as he also took a deep breath.
"I love them all very much, that is why I wanted them to live." Catnap slowly responded, which got a low and gutteral noise coming from the Prototype.
"How about Dogday? Do you consider him special? A potential mate?" The Prototype said. Catnap felt angry by this, the fact that he knew Dogdays' deepest secret, and that he only thinks of him as someone that can bear children. Though, Catnap doesn't know if he could bear children, that's still just one thing on a whole that Catnap had fallen in love with.
"My lover. He's mine." Catnap said with a snarl, getting the Prototype to have a gutteral chuckle by the remark. It didn't even sound like laughter, more like an irritating high-pitched static that just makes one shiver.
"You are so foolish to rely on such childish emotions like love. Cease all of this immediately and treat your prisoners like prisoners. If not, you will receive punishment. Now BEGONE!!!" The Prototype said as Catnap felt himself get pushed away and fly for a long time before he felt himself land back on his bed. He quickly opens his eyes to see his Dogday by his side, still sleeping peacefully. Catnap breathes a sigh of relief as he gently goes down to kiss Dogday on his muzzle, making him chuckle a bit in his sleep, bringing a smile to Catnap. He thinks about what the Prototype ordered him to do while waiting for Dogday to wake up, recruiting a bunch of mini-critters? Easy enough. Destroying the relationships that Catnap has and is currently fighting for? Fuck no! Catnap will never let any of his friends go! Sure, that might be selfish of him, but right now, it's the only thing that's keeping him from just killing himself. So, his answer is already made up. Just then, Dogday seemed to be stirring awake from his inner monologue. Dogday looked to Catnap at his side and smiled.
"Good morning, Catnap." Dogday says softly and lazily, having just woken up. Catnap in turn, smiles and goes to briefly kiss Dogday on the lips.
"Good morning, Dogday." Catnap said after breaking the kiss. The two then got up and got out of their bedroom, seeing that they were the only ones still up, they decided to fix up breakfast for themselves and the others. But while grabbing some cereal and milk from their storage, Catnap got to talking.
"So, the Prototype talked to me." Catnap said as Dogday was pouring himself breakfast. Dogday stopped pouring his milk and slowly set down the bottle as he took a deep breath.
"And what did he talk to you about?" Dogday asked as he was taking a bite of the cereal.
"Well, two things. The first thing was that the Prototype has given me an assignment, to find and round up as many mini-critters that I could find, and turn them into my minions." Catnap explained while Dogday wordlessly chewed and nodded.
"The second thing was that I actually treat you all like prisoners and not be so nice and lovey-dovey or else I would be punished." Dogday widened his eyes at this before looking away for a moment, looking back towards Catnap with a sense of resolve.
"Before you say anything else, as the leader of the Smiling Critters, I would happily take all of the burdens and punishment that you receive if I could. But I know that I can't, and this is only for you." Dogday said. Catnap nodded while smiling at Dogday. This gesture of kindness really pushed Catnap towards doing the right thing. Even if it would hurt very much. Once the rest of the Smiling Critters showed up, and Catnap filled them in with the events that transpired, Catnap's new assignment, their next possible ally, and how Catnap is gonna refuse the Prototype, likely naming Catnap as disobedient, or worse, a traitor. The plan that they had was simple, break the Smiling Critters off into multiple teams, while Catnap and Dogday go off and recruit Huggy Wuggy. One team will be in the vicinity of Playcare, while the other will be outside of Playcare, since realistically the mini-critters could be hiding literally anywhere that they can crawl inside of.
"Yes, this is quite straightforward. Catnap and Dogday will go off and find Poppy Playtime and Kissy Missy on the train so that they could go and try to recruit Huggy Wuggy. Me, Crafty, and Kickin will stick around Playcare and it's general area, while Hoppy, Bobby, and Picky will all go and follow Catnap and Dogday for a while before splitting off from each other." Bubba said as he re-explained the plan to the others, but mostly for himself to remember. Eventually, the plan was now in action, with Catnap, Dogday, Hoppy, Bobby, and Picky all going into the tram together, leaving Bubba, Kickin, and Crafty in Playcare. Then once the group that ventured out of Playcare had arrived at their destination, Catnap and Dogday broke off to the train station where the train was just stationary, Poppy and Kissy nowhere in sight. They looked towards the train control panel and found a note stuck on it with tape, the handwriting was written with a red pen and in fancy and elegant cursive. The almost hard to read kind.
"Dear Catnap and or Dogday,
If you're reading this, then the train wil be right here and ready for you to operate. Why me and Kissy aren't here is because we are currently trying to establish a Safe Haven with another toy by the name of Doey further down in the facility.
Good luck with Huggy!
Regards, Poppy Playtime."
After reading the note, Catnap and Dogday looked at eachother before looking at the console in front of them. How hard could this be? Surprisingly easy. Before long, the two were barreling forwards on the tracks pretty damn fast. And only in a few short moments, they reached the main train station in Game Station once again. From here, they will walk until they reach the main entrance.
"Do you think Huggy Wuggy will just be standing there? On the podium? In the main lobby?" Dogday asked while they walked through the yellow and white hallways.
"Probably, we saw him on the security cameras, and he was just standing there." Catnap replied. It was just strange that Higgy seemingly didn't need to consume anything, move, nor sleep. But if he was just gonna stand there all the time, then they at least have a pinpoint location on where would be. Eventually, they are able to see Huggy Wuggy in the main entrance, unmoving, like a statue. Catnap moved to right in front of him and stood up on his hind legs, getting him a tiny bit taller than the blue-furred and lanky creature. Dogday was astonished about the height of Huggy, but with Catnap being the smallest bit taller made him quiver a small bit. Slowly, Huggy's eyes move to stare at Catnap's.
"Good Morning." Catnap says as he goes back on all fours. Huggy Wuggy looks down in his unmoving smile, switching back and forth between Catnap and Dogday.
"We want to make a deal with you, is that okay?" Dogday said as Huggy nodded. Catnap decided before hand that Dogday should do most of the talking, since he has more social skills.
"Alright then, we're gathering allies for a separate mission that doesn't include the Prototype, are you still interested in this?" Dogday said while clasping his hands together, putting on his best business smile. These small negotiation tactics seemed to work, as Huggy nodded again.
"Okay! That's good! Now, before we do anything else, we just want to know how....loyal, you are to the Prototype, just to know how willing you are for any order that the Prototype will thrust upon you." Dogday didn't exactly know how Huggy would answer this, but it was a question they needed an answer to. Huggy simply shrugged with both of his shoulders, slightly tilting his head. Catnap and Dogday looked to each other, seeing if the other has any idea on what that meant. Then Dogday had an idea, Dogday quickly turned back to Huggy to ask another question.
"Does that mean that you don't feel obligated to follow his orders unless it benefits you personally?" Dogday asked as Huggy seemed to agree, nodding his head while tilting it to the side.
"Okay, so you're not opposed to maybe betraying the Prototype in the future?" Dogday asked which got Huggy to excitedly nod his head. Huh. Who knew that Huggy could be so reasonable?
"So would you be good with being allies with us when we're allied with Poppy?" Dogday asked as Huggy nodded excitedly again. Well that was easy. Once they officiated the deal with a handshake, Catnap and Dogday were now going back to the train. Once they arrived there, Dogdays' radio started to crackle out a voice.
"Dogday? Catnap? Are you guys there? Hoppy's voice called out as Dogday grabbed his radio from his belt.
"Hoppy, what's happening?" Dogday said as both of them stopped their walk.
"We've found quite the large hiding spot that's chock full of mini-critters. We're a bit of a ways away from the Playcare train station." Hoppy said just as Catnap and Dogday hopped on top of the train and started it up. It only took a few minutes until they arrived back at the train station at Playcare, where Picky was already waiting for them. Catnap and Dogday hopped out and followed Picky where she led them to a Hoppy and Bobby outside of a broom closet with a large hole in the door.
"This is where they're hiding." Hoppy said as she and Bobby backed up from the door. Catnap slowly and silently walked towards the door and put his ear right up to it, hearing some light skittering, whispering, and laughing? Yes, it's definitely laughter that he's hearing. If these guys are laughing when they're gonna get found by Catnap, then he needs to get a big enough of a first impression to get them to follow.
"You might want to brace yourselves for this." Catnap said as he puts one of his paws on the door and closes his eyes. He thinks about the Prototype and his words. "You are so foolish to rely on such childish emotions like love. Cease all of this immediately and treat your prisoners like prisoners. If not, you will receive punishment." No. Fuck you, I'll do what I want. Catnap then curls his paw into a fist, bringing it back before sending his limb and himself forward, busting the door open and leaving it barely hanging onto it's hinges. The light goes into the dark room, to reveal dozens of small and multicoloured critters, mirroring the Smiling Critters. Catnap walks forward and readies something deep inside of him as the mini-critters and his friends back away with a palpable fear.
"ALL OF YOU! YOU ALL LISTEN TO ME NOW! YOU GOT THAT!" Catnap shouted out as deep, loud, and as intimidating as he could, everyone seemed to shake and tremble from the change in character that Catnap went through. All of the mini-critters started to aggressively nod out of fear, while a few started to cry and whimper.
"Good. Now all of you find your way to Playcare. I don't care how you get there, just make it there, or else. Now get out of my sight!" Catnap shouted a final time before moving backwards, making room for all of the mini-critters to scurry out and away from the room. Once Catnap was done sounding and looking intimidating, he quickly relaxed and breathed a sigh of relief, while Dogday went up and put his paw on his shoulder.
"Are you okay?" He said slowly, softly. He was scared of Catnap, along with everyone else. Catnap felt like a monster again. He didn't even try and do things semi-peacefully, he just broke down the door and shouted at the mini-critters. Like how the Prototype would do it. Like how a monster would do it.
"I'm gonna take a nap. Let's get back to Playcare." Catnap said as the group followed him back to the tram. He saw the mini-critters quickly crawling up the tram and running across the lines. Of course, they obviously don't know how to operate a tram. With the way that this specific tram works, Catnap and everyone else can ride it without interfering with the mini-critters, so that's what they did. After riding the tram all the way back to Playcare, Catnap immediately ran past everyone, ignoring their calls for him, and found himself back at his cell. Looking inside, he sees that the vomit still hasn't been cleaned up. Good. Catnap sat down and got out his syringe, tourniquet, and a vial at random. Morphine. Well at least he won't nearly kill himself with this one. Even though he's breaking Dogdays' promise, he doesn't want to feel like shit anymore. After doing the process that he's now all familiar doing, he stops himself.
"I promise that I wouldn't get myself in a position like that again." Catnap said out loud as he poured out the contents of the syringe onto the floor and he loosened his tourniquet, putting it all back in his satchel. If he's gonna feel guilty, then he's gonna take it how it's meant to be, let it all wallow and let himself immerse in his shittiness. And after a while of staring at the ceiling, he slowly drifted to sleep...
...
...
"Welcome back." The Prototype said. Catnap stared at the Prototype with an enveloping feeling of anger.
"Now, what about the mini-critters?" The Prototype said.
"Fuck you." Catnap said, ignoring the original question.
"Excuse me? Who do you think you're talking back to? Catnap?" The Prototype asked in an increasingly intimidating voice.
"I'm not following your orders now tou big pile of scrap! Dogday and the rest of the Smiling Critters are my friends. And there's nothing you can do about it!" Catnap shouted back. There was a moment of silence before the Prototype said something again, but this time, he answered with laughter.
"Do you perceive me for a fool?! I knew that you were planning to betray me the whole time! I have eyes and ears everywhere, and the only person I told of this was Mommy Long Legs, so she could give you an easier challenge." Catnap's heart dropped from his words. Was there really no way to defeat the Prototype?
"Don't get so gloomy so quickly. Because I implore you, to get as much allies as you want and can get, because there is no way that I will lose this battle. And as for your punishment, every single time you wake up, you will feel the pain, on top of what your original punishment was. Now BEGONE!" The Prototype said as Catnap felt a growing dull pain all over his body. Did he just mess this up for all of them? He can't think about that for too long, however. Since now he woke up and is immediately screaming from the aching, burning, stinging, piercing, pain that would make anything insane.