As Michelle slowly entered the small room, she looked at Doey. "So we finally meet in person, Doey," she said. Doey nodded. "Yes, I—" he suddenly shifted a bit before smiling at Michelle. "So you're the friend Kev was talking about!"
Michelle looked at Doey, surprised as his face shifted to an angry expression. "Jack, don't you dare," he said.
Soon after, the yellow dough on Doey's midsection started pulling on itself before the yellow and blue dough split off him. Michelle was shocked as the yellow and blue dough landed on the ground.
As Michelle looked at the yellow and blue dough, it shifted and formed a small dough toy with yellow dough covering his right arm with a small yellow hand forming in his midsection, and a splotch of yellow dough on the right side of his neck and the left side of his cheek.
Link to the pic: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GkMWwUOW8AAk0li?format=jpg&name=4096x4096
The small dough toy approached Michelle with a smile. "This is awesome! It's nice to finally see you in person!" he shouted. Michelle smiled a bit. "I'm gonna take a wild guess and say you're Jack," she said.
Jack giggled and held his right hand out. "Yep, that's me!" he shouted. "Jack Ayers is my full name." Michelle smiled and placed her hand in Jack's. "Michelle Mercia," she said as they shook hands. "But I let those close to me call me Misha."
Jack smiled at Michelle. "Nice to meet you, Misha," he said. As the duo let go, Jack examined Michelle. "I've heard many stories about you from Kev," he continued. "You're very pretty." Michelle giggled a bit. "Thank you for the compliment," she said.
Jack was thinking. "If I remember right, Kevin would always say how pretty you were when—" blue hands with red claws quickly covered his mouth before he was pulled.
Kevin sternly looked at Jack when he was close. "That's enough out of you!" he shouted. Michelle tilted her head as Kevin nervously chuckled. "Ignore what this pipsqueak is saying," he said.
Jack got one of Kevin's hands off his mouth. "But you always said she was the prettiest girl in the—" he blushed and roughly rubbed his fist against his head again with a glare, which made him yelp. "I said shut up!"
Jack extended his teeth and bit Kevin's hand, which made him flinch and growl before they started rough-housing against one another.
As Michelle giggled at the interaction, a large figure stood behind her. "I apologize on their behalf..." she turned around and saw a large dough toy with orange dough covering his left arm and shoulder, with a large orange hand forming in his midsection wearing a bowler hat.
Link to the pic: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GkMWxCVXkAAr7US?format=jpg&name=4096x4096
Michelle stared at the large dough toy. "You're..." she said, lowly. The large dough toy knelt to Michelle and took his bowler hat off. "Matthew Hallard, at your service," he said before bowing with the arm holding the hat.
Michelle looked at Matthew as he put his hat back on. "Oh, uh..." she said, lowly, before bowing a bit, "Michelle Mercia, or Misha if you'd like, at your service as well." Matthew chuckled a bit as he stood properly. "It's nice to meet you as well, Misha," he said.
Matthew turned his head to Jack and Kevin as they rough-housed. "Jack, we should let Kevin rest," he said, which made the duo stop. "He's been away from us for a while; he hasn't fully recovered yet." Jack pouted a bit. "Aw... I wanted to talk with her a little longer," he said.
Matthew smiled a bit. "You'll have plenty of time to talk to her later," he said. Jack sighed as he and Kevin approached Matthew. "OK..." he said, lowly. When the duo was close to Matthew, they fused back into Doey. "Does doing that hurt you at all?" Michelle asked.
Doey looked at Michelle. "Back when we first tried that technique, it was painful," he said. "However, as time passes, we don't feel it anymore."
Michelle hummed a bit as Doey looked at her. "Anyway, back to the topic at hand..." he continued. "I've heard what you've done above... what you've been through... and the lives you saved."
Michelle looked at Doey. "Since I've seen some of your group with my very own eyes confirming that... then we need your help," he said.
Michelle crossed her arms. "As you're aware... the voice out there— the one in the prison... they call him 'The Doctor'..." Doey continued. "Doctor Harley Sawyer... he was the scientist in charge of creating..."
Doey turned his head away as his face shifted into anger. "Us..." he said. Michelle was concerned. "Kevin..." she said, lowly. Doey faced Michelle. "We don't know what he is, how he's still alive, but he works with the Prototype," he said.
Doey was getting angrier, which made Michelle step back a bit. "Hunting us. Starving us. Making us sick and—" he pulled back with a grunt before sighing and shaking his head. "Sorry about that..." Michelle shook her head. "It's fine, Doey," she said.
Doey smiled a bit before looking at his hand. "He controls it all with an Omni-Hand, we think," he said. Michelle placed her hand on her chin. "I've heard that name before; the Warden apparently had one along with the executives," she said.
Doey nodded. "It can be a battery, a key, the master control to anything in the entire factory," he said. "And with it, the Doctor commands everything down here..."
Doey turned to the generator. "Everything but this..." he continued before kneeling and placing his hand on top of it. Michelle slowly approached the generator. "A generator?" she asked.
Doey nodded. "Runs completely on a separate grid away from the prison," he said. "For a time, it kept us safe. But now..."
Doey turned his head to Michelle. "I need you to stop the Doctor— to take his Omni-Hand," he continued before tapping at the generator's door. "We'll need it for the generator."
Doey looked down. "And if you want Red Smoke in the foundation," he said before pointing at Michelle. "You'll need it too..." Michelle looked down and crossed her arms. "About that..." she said, lowly, which made Doey look at her. "Poppy's plan... I don't like it one bit."
Michelle looked at Doey. "I mean... blowing this place up and taking all of you down with it," she continued. "The toys that are with me... Huggy, Mommy, Bunzo, PJ, Miss Delight, the Mini Huggies from the Game Station, and CatNap... they're all like family to me."
Michelle looked down and clenched her fists. "I'd rather die than sacrifice my family to erase this cursed place," she said. Doey stared at Michelle before standing up and approaching her.
Soon after, Doey held Michelle's hands, which surprised her and made her look at him. "I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks that," he said with a smile.
Doey looked at the door. "The toys in Safe Haven and the larger Smiling Critters... they're like family to me too..." he continued.
Soon after, Doey let go of Michelle's hands. "I understand what Poppy wants... what she believes is right..." he said. "Destroy the factory... destroy him..."
Doey looked at Michelle. "But I ask you to consider: If we throw everything away. Everyone... just to kill the Prototype... how much do we waste?" he asked.
Michelle looked down with a slight frown. "I know the others might believe it's right... that we should bury everything, but..." Doey said as he took his hat off and looked at it before sighing. "Let's just think about it..."
Michelle remained silent as Doey put his hat back on. "Head for the Infirmary whenever you're ready to—" his face suddenly shifted to an angry expression. "Hold on a damn minute!" Michelle looked at Doey, surprised, as Kevin split from him.
Soon after, Kevin glared at Doey. "Were you really gonna send her out there, Matthew?!" he shouted as he pointed to Michelle's right foot. "Especially since she has a broken ankle!"
Michelle deadpanned Kevin. "It's sprained, not broken," she said. Kevin rolled his eyes and pointed at Michelle. "Don't be a smartass," he said, which made her stick her tongue out.
Doey looked at Kevin. "I was going to tell her about a safe path through the Sewer Access to No Man's Land, but..." he said before looking at Michelle. "If you want to catch your breath or rest... our Safe Haven is also yours." Michelle nodded. "Thank you, Doey," she said.
Kevin placed his hand on Michelle's shoulder, which made her look at him. "Now that we've got all that dealt with, I'm gonna—" they heard knocking. The group turned to the back and saw DogDay near the entrance. "I hope I'm not intruding," he said.
Doey shook his head. "Not at all; we just finished talking with her," he said. Kevin helped Michelle to the door. "You can talk to her whenever she's—" DogDay placed his hand on his shoulder, which made him stop, "Actually... I wanted to talk to you specifically."
Kevin sternly looked at DogDay. "Huh?" he asked. DogDay leaned close to Kevin. "It involves her..." he whispered, which made him tense up. Michelle looked at the duo before quickly getting out of Kevin's hold. "Then I shouldn't keep you two waiting," she said.
When Kevin looked at Michelle, she smiled. "I'll be fine; I need to check on my group anyway... see how they're doing," she continued. Kevin stared at Michelle before looking at DogDay. "Alright, let's talk," he said.
DogDay nodded before gesturing to the door on the right. "Follow me," he said. Kevin nodded as the duo walked to the right; when he turned his head to the back, Michelle smiled and waved.
Kevin turned away as the duo entered the room; Michelle sighed and rubbed her head. "I hope he doesn't kill DogDay..." she said, lowly. Michelle felt arms wrap around her, which surprised her. "You're OK!" she turned her head to the back and saw Suzy smiling.
Michelle smiled and petted Suzy's head. "Well, besides the sprained ankle, yeah... I'm OK," she said. Michelle turned to Suzy after she let her go. "How is my group adapting to this place?" she asked.
Suzy smiled. "I think they love it here!" she shouted before pointing to the back. "Take a look at this." Suzy guided Michelle to the back and saw Bunzo Bunny and the Mini Huggies playing with a mini Kissy Missy and a few mini Smiling Critters.
Michelle smiled. "That's good..." she said, lowly. Unbeknownst to Michelle, PJ Pug-A-Pillar got close to her face and licked it. "Ah! You got me good," she said while laughing.
Suzy looked at PJ Pug-A-Pillar as he happily panted. "Some of the toys were worried that it would be too crowded for him, but he likes hanging on the rooftop," she said.
Michelle petted PJ Pug-A-Pillar's head, which made him make happy dog noises. "I'm glad to hear that," she said. When PJ Pug-A-Pillar went back up, Michelle looked around and noticed something, which concerned her. "Where's CatNap?" she asked.
Suzy frowned a bit and looked away. "I'm not sure... the toys in Safe Haven are afraid of him..." she said, lowly. Michelle hummed. "I guess it'll take a while for them to trust him," she said.
Michelle looked around the room and saw Miss Delight watching a few of the toys play soccer. Michelle slowly approached Miss Delight, which made Suzy follow behind her. "Miss Delight," she said.
Miss Delight turned her head to the back and saw Michelle, which made her stand up and approach her. "Miss Misha," she said. When Miss Delight was close, she hugged Michelle. "I'm so glad you're back here safely," she said.
Michelle smiled and returned the hug. "Likewise..." she said. After Miss Delight let go, Michelle looked at her, "Have you seen CatNap?" she asked.
Miss Delight looked down before turning to the hallway with 'Storage' on top of it. "He's in the storage room..." she said. "I think the residents staring at him made him feel... uncomfortable."
Michelle nodded. "Thank you, Miss Delight," she said before turning to the hallway and slowly walking toward it, which made Suzy follow.
Miss Delight looked at Michelle. "Also, I placed your bag in one of the tents," she said. Michelle gave Miss Delight a thumbs-up before they entered the hallway.