He didn't think.
Running like a madman, Andy throws himself into the tunnel without any form of hesitation; the fear of seeing his only source of information disappear overwhelms him in an emotional state that makes him tremble.
He was terrified to see how easily he could be captured or killed if he ever relaxed for even a second here.
He was also angry with Poppy and her reckless nature; if he ever saved her, he would give her a good talking-to about never straying from him again.
Then he felt a surge of rage at seeing someone take away his ally right in front of him, growling as he descended, the young man stared at the end of the slide with a look bright with determination.
"I'm coming, Poppy!"
Upon arrival, Andy quickly landed on his feet, rising rapidly with a sullen expression. He looked around for possible exits, seeing a poorly closed metal shutter. He leaned underneath, believing it to be the lead to the one who had kidnapped his red-haired friend, but instead he simply saw a section of destroyed corridor with, in its center, a toy resembling a flower except that the petals around its head were torn off and it was missing an eye. Standing up with a disgusted expression, he looked at the door leading to the Game Station and then into the room where he once again distinguished Playtime's wacky electrical installation.
Entering eagerly, Smith grumbles and almost gets angry at the security gate which is forcing the current to shut off, then by twisting and thinking he finally finds the right way to restart the current.
"You'd think the guy who designed this liked puzzles," he muttered, watching the door open onto a corridor.
At the end he looks at the sign asking for the red hand of his Grabpack, he was quite tempted to just rush over wanting at all costs to find Poppy and saved her.
...
Something wrong.
He doesn't move, his blue eyes observing the corridor lit by the red hand-shaped sign. He senses that someone is watching him. Slowly raising his eyes to the ceiling plunged in darkness, he breathes heavily, realizing that he is once again ambushed. Moving forward gently, the young man fixes his gaze on an imaginary point as he grasps the handles of his Grabpack. Miming the movement to aim, he stops in the middle and holds back a smile as he hears a held breath above his head.
"..." he calms his breathing as best he can as his body tenses with the stress of what he is about to do "...I know you're there..."
Finally he looked up at the sky and waited... then a chuckle.
"Hehehehe! What a clever little fellow!" said a female voice laughing with a joy that did not please the blond at all.
He watches long limbs advance like a hunting spider, pink hands supporting the stranger who turns out to be a life-size version of another toy.
Mommy Long Legs
Andy restrains himself from retreating, calling it male pride or stupidity, but he refuses to give in to fear; his breathing only quickens for a moment when he sees in Mommy's right hand his accomplice tied up and gagged with...canvas?
That's when an old commercial came back to her mind; after she was taken out, Mommy was then joined by Daddy and Baby Long Legs, and with them came an assortment of novelties, such as Mommy being able to shoot spider webs from her hands.
If before he found it cool in a toy initially intended for girls, now he can only curse to see that the giant toy in front of him can web him whenever she wants.
"It's been sooooo long!" she said, alternating between a soft, warm tone and then a higher, almost frantic voice as she looked at Poppy and shook her like a...doll. "Isn't that exciting, Poppy?!"
Then she started using it like in a ventriloquist's act, and this made the human groan, who could no longer bear to see the redhead being humiliated to this extent.
"STOP IT!"
Her scream reverberates off the walls and echoes through the factory. Mommy stops moving, but her eyes fix on the human breathing fiercely while clenching his fists together. Barely distinguishing his blue eyes under his cap, she finally sees their angry glare, which takes her slightly by surprise.
"I forbid you to treat her like that!"
He won't accept that! This whole factory can try to take away what matters most to him, but he will never accept anyone being belittled or humiliated in front of him!
"...you're very rude," she said, her pupils narrowing and her smile becoming more fixed as she let out a darker giggle, brandishing Poppy out of her reach. "You really want me to believe you're worried about her?...you nasty little liar! And you're trying to run away too? This isn't funny!"
She moves like a predator, each of her movements calculated to stay out of the hands of her Grabpack, turning her head upside down she made it go down a little lower staring at the scowling face of the young man who is holding back with all his might from jumping on her and saving Poppy, he knows that she dominates him in this confined space and that the redhead's safety is her priority, even though she looks crazy Mommy seems smart enough to set up an ambush.
"...what do you want?" he finally asked through gritted teeth.
Not killing him, she could have done that before and he probably wouldn't have had time to retaliate, nor prevent her from leaving or progressing, she only had to destroy a door, which leads him to think that she is looking for something from him and that doesn't reassure him.
Not at all.
"Why don't we play a game? The Game Station still works! It'll be like the good old days!" she chuckled, amused by the stormy expression on the human's face, who knew he was overwhelmed by the situation. "If you win, I'll give you the code and..." she turned her gaze to Poppy's terrified face. "I'll let her go... Ooh! You'll have so much fun! Go to Musical Memory and Mommy will take care of everything!"
(So she wants to have fun at my expense) the human mentally concludes, trying to think of a way out without having to confront the enormous toy with the elastic arm (Gn! Very well! Let's play along and hope she lowers her guard...once Poppy is freed, we'll have to rush to Playcare without looking back)
"...okay, I accept," he said, maintaining his stiff posture while staring at Mommy's face as she drew closer and closer.
"But be careful..." his expression freezes and his voice becomes more distant and especially deeper "Obey the rules...otherwise I'll cut you in two and devour your organs while you're still alive!"
...
"Pff mmmm hahahahahahah!" she laughed madly, quickly stepping back.
His burst of laughter echoes in the mind of the blond man who expels his anger at his powerlessness by hitting the wall next to him.
"Good heavens!..." he raged, seeing that he could do absolutely nothing against the grand lady with the extensible limbs "...what to do?!"
He had read enough stories about Batman and the Joker to know that generally those who laugh like mad are rarely the ones who keep their promises to the end, knowing this he straightened his cap and then started to walk forward while mentally swearing not to fall into Mommy Long Legs' trap.
The gate finally opens, and advancing with a determined step, he looks to his right at the mural of most of the Playtime toys, most of which he recognizes. His eyes fix on the Mommy in the background, who uses her arms to surround the whole group.
"I would have preferred that version..." he said with a touch of humor despite the critical situation he finds himself in.
Glancing at the opposite wall, he looks at a fairly faithful representation of the Game Station from the time when the place was full of life and not murderous toys. Finishing his observation, he pulls the lever, watching the gate open slowly, he feels a wave of nostalgia wash over him.
Eleven years earlier
He can barely stay still! He jumps on the spot while his mom smiles at him like only she knows how, it's like the sun except that instead of sending heat Andy feels love, his eyes wide with wonder look at the hundreds of children having fun throughout the Game Station, laughter and more laughter this place is just happiness for all the children who live at Playtime.
Andy just wants to run and play with the others, but the hand squeezing his reminds him just in time to be good and that it's better not to upset his mom who doesn't like to scold him.
"Andy, take it easy," said his mother, bending down to his level. She smiled as she watched her son try to look over her shoulder at the playground. "No need to rush, sweetheart."
"But I promised Anaïs I would play with her!" replied the little blond boy, looking for his friend.
"Oh? My little boy has a girlfriend?" Sonia wonders, her laughter echoing as she sees her child's sulky face.
"Mom!" he complains.
~Present~
Andy Smith never thought he'd come back here. His eyes swept over what had once been the happiest place he'd ever known. Back then, the sound of children's laughter filled the air as they played on the swings and slides. He'd play with his friends, his mother always keeping a watchful eye on him, even as she chatted with her colleagues. Now, the place resembled a tomb. Looking around, Andy felt uneasy at the silence, broken only by the sound of his footsteps. In his memories, the ceiling lights had been set to make them forget they were inside a factory. Now, he felt as if clouds of darkness were floating above his head. A grimace of discomfort crossed his face at the sight of the pools of blood at his feet. Unlike the ones he'd seen before, these were much wider, almost...
(Someone fell from a great height...) his blue eyes looked at the ceiling and the beams supporting the roof, then he remembered Mommy's ability to move like a spider (...or maybe he was dropped)
Too bad, Andy hoped she wasn't a killer but he doesn't know the whole story that happened within these walls so he'll have to investigate and understand why Mommy seems half-crazy.
Walking around the area, he rediscovered with mixed emotions the playgrounds, slides and merry-go-round were his world at one time, then his eyes saw a drawing surely made by one of the children, on it we see Mommy crudely drawing with a message of love for her, curious he began to explore the area to discover other drawings of the same kind with different toys drawn all hanging in a web surely made by the giant toy, just next to the benches he found another drawing of Mommy, on this one she is embraced by a child.
"So at one time they were with the children like mascots in an amusement park?" Andy wondered, looking at a drawing of Huggy and Kissy holding hands. "So the children knew... well, not me, but I guess that's why I didn't come often..."
His mother must have planned their visit to Playtime on days when the toys were not present at the Game Station; this also meant that she knew enough at the time. The thought irritates the human, who, to clear his head, approaches the box with Mommy and Boogie Bott, but even after pressing it several times, there was background noise. Moving forward, the blond looks up at the sky and discovers a kind of room suspended above and connected by platforms. His first idea was to climb up there because he has a feeling that this is where Mommy is hiding and watching him, but he cannot risk Poppy's safety given how the rose threatened him to follow the rules.
Upon reaching the end, the human looks at the train, which appears to be in good condition despite the ten years that have passed.
"Funny how magical it used to look," said the human distractedly, observing the inside of the locomotive from the window. "Colors? Why would an engineer make it so easy?" he sighed, looking at the panel with the green hand to the side, trying the blue and red ones available. The blond clicked his tongue when he saw that it didn't work. "Very well Andy, let's look for the green hand...after saving Poppy and also beating Mommy...I never thought I'd say that one day," he laughed ironically.
In a corner of his vision he distinguishes dismembered toys trapped in a web, clearly Mommy has no pity for humans or toys, not very reassuring for him and the redhead but well Andy prefers not to think about it for the moment having other fish to fry, heading towards the control panel equipped with three levers he lowers the first one.
The company's music began to fill the empty playing space, then Andy heard a familiar voice.
"Hello children! And welcome to the Game Station!"
"Hi Stella...you look fit," the young man sighed with an amused smile.
"I'm Stella, and we're going to play three super fun games!"
"These little tests will show us how strong and intelligent you are!"
"Strange," said Smith softly, frowning. "I don't remember that."
"Follow Mommy Long Legs down the stairs, and we'll start playing Musical Memory, see you later!"
The voice faded, leaving the blond boy with his thoughts as the door leading to the test lit up. What could Playtime possibly be doing with this kind of test? Was it a way to check if the children were healthy back then while making it fun? Perhaps. Another detail is that Mommy participated, if the recording is to be believed, so that means she knows a lot about this place, which doesn't work in her favor. He straightened his shoulders and stepped forward, telling himself that brooding wouldn't do him any good.
Descending to the start of the Musical game, Andy made a macabre discovery. Under a poster, lying in a pool of dried blood, lay the body of a Bunzo, left there, one eye gouged out, swallowing its saliva and praying that it wouldn't jump on him. Andy touched it with his GrabPack. The body barely moved, but that was enough for the blond to approach closer. He already noticed a smell of rotten meat emanating from the body. Then, touching it with his bare hand, he noted that the sensation was truly strange; it wasn't as if someone had put on a costume. By feeling the joints and then the neck, the young man realized that this Bunzo was a living being, but its fur was synthetic and attached to real skin.
Smith did not want to desecrate the body, but he wanted to understand who he was dealing with here in this factory that had conducted experiments beyond his logic. His finger touched Bunzo's remaining eye and he noted that it looked like a lens to protect his real eye. His other observations were the rigidity in certain limbs like the legs and elbows. He tried to unfold them a little, and Andy concluded that Bunzo's joints had been modified, preventing him from moving other than like an automaton. His mouth, or rather the inside, was strange: two large front teeth like a rabbit's, and all around them a pair of retractable, pointed teeth. He finished his examination of the body by trying to remove his hat and cymbals, but they were grafted directly to his skin.
"...it's monstrous..." concludes Andy, now sitting against the wall, one hand supporting his face and masking his tears as he sees what has happened to this toy, left for dead in a grotesque posture as if it wasn't even alive. Taking a deep breath, the blond looks at the dead toy with sorrow, then he stands up with a clear intention in mind.
He used the empty box next to it as a coffin, then placed it inside after removing its instruments and hat as carefully as possible. He managed to close its mouth and eye and put its little arms on its stomach, placing it under its poster. Andy stood up with his hands joined in prayer. He didn't know if God heard the prayers of a man who had never believed in Him, but for this toy abandoned in the darkness, he hoped with all his heart.
"I don't know who you were..." he said softly, holding back a sob, "...nor why you ended up like this...but you certainly didn't deserve to be left alone in the dark...may you find peace, and wherever you go I pray that the angels sing for your joy and bring you the love you deserve, Amen."
Looking one last time at the lifeless body, Andy swallowed his tears and continued on his way.
As he walks through the hole in the wall, Smith thinks about all his other toys treated this way; they were living beings reduced to an existence of entertainment. This thought fills him with rage against whoever created living toys and let them die in a way that revolts him. He swears that if ever there remains a trace of this person, he will burn everything from floor to ceiling.
Walking underground through an old tunnel, Andy emerged into a room plunged into darkness. Turning on his flashlight, he observed the place without fear of Mommy falling on him; after all, she wanted to play with him. Almost smiling at the thought, he picked up a green cassette. Finding the player, he listened again to that music, which was anything but joyful for him.
The GrabPack's green thumb allows it to store electricity and then redistribute it within ten seconds.
Putting aside the fact that the engineers here must have been having fun with this kind of gadget, Andy set to work making a green hand. First, he turned the lights back on in the room, then he went behind the control panel, which was so simple it could surely have been operated by a child. By pressing the beeping buttons, the human encountered two problems: first, a pipe that he had to straighten, and then he had to climb up to put more green paint in the machine, which refused to give him the hand if it wasn't painted.
"Who cares if it's green or not?" grumbles the young man, placing his hand on his Grabpack. "Well ahead!"
Opening a very familiar door, he entered the conduits.
"Huggy?" he asked ironically, a smile playing on his lips. "Yeah, I thought so."
Once outside he came across the corridor which he could not reach because of the metal shutter, his eyes fixed on the cardboard image of Bunzo all smiles then through the opening he saw the one he had put in a box with a sigh of sadness.
#PRESS#
"I know your birthday!"
"August 22nd!"
(Laugh)
...
Andy's expression became one of fear, his eyes fixed on the cardboard cutout that had just revealed the exact date of his birthday, bringing his hand towards him, he squeezed it against himself and tried to understand how it was possible.
(A coincidence?...no, that's too precise. The chances that whoever designed this years before I came here could put my date in just by chance are too...too...wait)
Maybe it's Mommy trying to unsettle him before the games? That makes sense, but...no, she didn't seem to know who he was. Besides, only one person would know that kind of information...his mother? No, it wouldn't make any sense to leave that kind of information here. Maybe at Playcare. No, his mother wouldn't have done that. Or is someone else trying to scare him?
That's when Andy noticed a small red light in the other room, squinting, he looked at the camera lit up and focused on himself, moving from left to right he had the displeasure of realizing that yes someone was watching him.
(Is it Mommy? I could believe it, but...if it's not her trying to scare me...then who is it?)
Not wanting to stay in the same place forever, Andy walked into the room, which lit up as he arrived. Then dozens of small TVs stuck together, forming a wall of screens, lit up, and with them the factory song.
Welcome to… Musical Memory
Watching the images projected on the screen, Andy keeps one eye on the camera behind him.
This game has been specially designed to stimulate the mind. Observe carefully the colors that appear before you… and repeat the sequence exactly as you saw it.
The voice continues, too soft, too neutral, contrasting with the heavy atmosphere of the room.
Each time you succeed, a new color will be added to the sequence. The further you progress, the more complex the challenge becomes.
Bunzo will gradually descend towards you.
If you recreate a sequence correctly, Bunzo will reappear.
If you complete a sequence incorrectly...Bunzo will approach more quickly.
If Bunzo catches you, your test is over.
Honestly, the blond boy with pink bangs didn't listen to the end, far too busy observing the giant yellow rabbit suspended above his head, and he notes to himself that what falls at his feet is indeed drool, proving to him that toys are true carnivores and that he resembles a choice dish.
"Oh! Isn't that incredible?"
Looking up at an observation room above, Andy was almost reassured to see Mommy there, then his thoughts returned to the camera behind him, stimulating the young man's thought rhythm.
(Someone is watching my every move, and it's not Mommy. Given her strength and the way she acts, I doubt another big toy is on this floor, so we can rule that out...Huggy? No, I doubt it. Same for Poppy, she'd have to be free, so there's definitely someone watching from the shadows...Is it the one who sent the letter to Grandpa?...Probably, but why lure me here if it's just to watch me? What does he want from me?) Smith thinks at lightning speed.
"Mommy hasn't seen this place in working order for years. Mommy can only imagine how excited Bunzo must be!" she exclaims with a joy he would like to share with her.
Staring at the giant rabbit above his head, the human tenses as he sees it approaching, lowered by a cable.
"It's been so long since he's been able to play...to have fun...to eat."
Bang! Bang!
The noise resonates with the heart of the blond man who looks at the rabbit with mixed feelings after having encountered a dead Bunzo.
"It's the dinner bell!...Good luck!"
The rabbit climbs back up, and Andy watches four buttons emerge from the ground, his hands tighten on the handles of his GrabPack, he stabilizes his breathing, his goal in mind.
(Win, free Poppy, reach Playcare...discover the truth!) He thinks, listening to the frantic beating of his heart. (Come on Andy! It's just part of Simon!)
#Blue#
"Come on !"
#Tape#
# Blue, Green#
"Quiet," he repeats, tapping the correct colors, trying to ignore the sound of Bunzo hitting his cymbals above his head.
The first round wasn't anything crazy in the end, the colors were easy to remember.
#Round Two#
#Blue#
#Tape#
#Blue,Blue#
#Tape,Tape#
#Blue,Blue,Red#
#Tap,Tap,Tap#
"In the end, it's not so horrible," the blond man sighed, his voice more confident.
#...Yellow,Violet#
"Wh-what?!" he said, bewildered, then he tried to press the blue and red buttons at the same time, but he heard the horrible beeping indicating that he had made a mistake. "But how do I...wait!"
Turning around quickly, he looks at the button on his back, cursing, quickly restarting the sequence he just missed, finishing with a Bunzo halfway through, grumbling about this sadistic game.
"Okay, not a classic Simon...but he's not going to get me like that," he swears, glaring at the colorful pimples.
#Round Three#
"Go on, swing!" said Andy, imitating a boxer about to fight by hopping.
#White#
"By Zeus!"
#Tape#
#Orange#
"Good heavens!"
Fortunately it was less difficult this time, although he swore he would never play Simon again in his life after that.
Panting but still motivated, he looks Mommy straight in the eyes and gives her a smug smile; well, it's not very mature of him, but being someone's entertainment is not in his nature.
#Round Four#
#Blue#
#Tape#
Already convinced that the game would not get any easier, Andy spun around completely to memorize the colors once again.
#Blue, J#
"Wed...Wednesday!" yells the blond boy, searching for the cursed button.
And it became a mess, a heart, a vaguely Chinese symbol, words in the wrong color, it went on for a while before Smith finally saw the end of it, then other buttons were added to the others making his head spin because of the words written on them and the varied symbols.
"Are you kidding me?! How is this a game for children?!"
He ignores round five which begins as an impossible ordeal, in fact he ignores the screens watching the satisfied smile of the pink toy that annoys him, his anger pushes him to press the emergency stop button without removing his hand from his GrabPack projecting the piece of scrap metal directly into the camera that has been watching him from the beginning, growling as he looks at the smoking remains of his anger the blond calms down by taking a long breath, largely satisfied to have solved two problems in one go.
"Oh..." said a heavily disappointed voice.
The human's blue eyes return to Mommy and for the first time he notices a difference in her voice, far from the syrupy and crazy tone he now knows, it really sounds like a natural voice coming from a real person.
(Weird...)
"You broke it...it's not funny" his more cheerful tone returns but even from here the blond sees the trembling of his eye.
"Sorry about that," he said, shrugging, not really sure if she heard him.
"Don't be...Mommy has planned other games for you...hehehe" she giggles madly.
"Great..." he sighed, then stared at her, hands on his hips. "Hey! Is Poppy okay?"
The question made the giant toy freeze slightly, its green eyes staring intensely at the human, then it displayed a colder expression, and said between its pursed lips.
"...you're still acting, huh?...tsss...they're all the same..." shaking her head, she resumed her Mommy voice. "But I suppose for such good work you deserve a piece of the code, here."
Andy watches with morbid fascination as the rose's hand disappears from his sight and then returns a moment later, having easily found a way out. Taking the piece of paper hesitantly, the human watches the pink hand disappear into the darkness.
"It's a shame the game ended so quickly...but don't worry...Mommy has other ways to play with you..." she said, finally leaving the control room.
Once he was sure that he was no longer in the presence of the crazy toy, Andy released the breath he had been unable to hold, then he let out a small cry of joy at having succeeded in the first test.
"Much more than two and-"
#Dingdingdingdingding!#
Looking up, Andy felt her eyes widen as she saw Bunzo Bunny moving like an animal caught in a trap; the most disturbing thing was the expression on the big toy, which seemed to terrify.
"Hey!" he didn't stop, even closing his eyes at the sound of her voice, but that didn't stop Andy from insisting, "Hey! Bunzo! Stop moving like that! You're going to fall if you keep going!"
This calmed the toy a little, but when its eyes opened, the human felt bad for it, seeing its fearful gaze; even though he tried to kill it, he couldn't leave it like that.
"Can you talk?"
Bunzo kept his lips closed.
"Okay, I see..." Smith muttered, looking critically at the tube, then he had an idea. "Listen, don't move, I'm coming," he assured, aiming his GrabPack at something. The hand was pulled and caught on an old foundation support bar. Once sure of his grip, the human pressed on the handle to pull himself up.
As he approached, Sonia's son's heart rolled with anxiety; he hadn't forgotten the little rabbit's hungry mouth during the game. The closer he got, the more that feeling remained. Arriving just below Bunzo's feet, he looked behind him at what he was holding and was only half surprised to see a cable attached to the straps of his overalls.
"Okay, I see the problem," he said, taking out his knife. Seeing the blade, Bunzo flails frantically, tears welling in the corners of his eyes. "Hey! Hey! Everything's fine!" Andy said, raising a hand while keeping his eyes fixed on the Rabbit's face, which was about to cry. "I'm not going to hurt you, okay?...Bunzo, look at me." Timidly, one eye was opened, and this time Andy heard his voice.
"P-promit?" he moaned.
The voice was not that of an adult.
It was the voice of a child who is afraid of the dark and is asking his parents to sleep with them.
Hearing it almost broke his heart, but it strengthened Smith's determination to help the rabbit.
"Promise Bunzo," the blond assured him with a smile, then he frowned slightly. "Okay, here's what I'm going to do. First, I'm going to cut the cable, then you're going to hold onto me, okay? Then I'm going to get us down and that'll be it."
Bunzo nodded frantically, not wanting to keep the child waiting. Andy got to work, bringing his body closer to make a barrier preventing the rabbit from falling anywhere but on him. Passing one hand around the small silhouette of the toy, he cut the string with the other. The cymbals were released and fell to the ground as Bunzo encircled the young man's body with his arms and legs. Once the string was cut with his free hand, he pulled the trigger of his Grabpack to bring Bunzo's trembling little body down against his chest.
"There, there, it's over," he reassured her, gently stroking her back.
As soon as her feet touched the ground, Andy finally felt lighter, well, if you forget the giant rabbit that refuses to let go of her.
"Hum Bu-
"Why...why did you do that?" asks the muffled voice from the toy against his chest.
"Huh? What are you talking about?" said the blond, raising an eyebrow. "I wasn't going to leave you up there all alone."
"B-but Mommy said humans are the worst..." whimpered the toy, finally raising its head.
By studying his face, Andy notices differences from the one he encountered at the start of the game.
(To put it bluntly, he looks more...real? His face stretches better and he doesn't seem to have the same movement restrictions. Is it because he's taller? ...hmm, we'll see about that later, though...)
"Speaking of her...why did you look so terrified?" the human simply asks, feeling Bunzo's back stiffen.
"She-she told me that you-you shouldn't win...if-otherwise she..." his voice breaks at the end but Andy didn't need any more details, hugging the little rabbit close to him.
He knew, the toys hanging from the Game Station were there to remind him, pinching his lips together Andy stood Bunzo up while he sat in front of him, he didn't want to scare or intimidate him, call it fatherly instinct but Andy didn't want this little bunny to be scared.
"Bunzo, is Mommy often angry with you?" asks the human softly, watching the rabbit hold his elbow with one hand.
"Sometimes...but that's because she's worried about us!" he said quickly, then his eyes dropped to his feet "...but now she hates me because I didn't manage to kill you..."
(Ouch...but at least it shows she's not completely crazy if she takes care of the other toys...well, in her own way)
A noise interrupts his thoughts; he looks at the yellow rabbit's belly with a bewildered expression, as the noise resembles an angry growl.
"Well, I know someone who's hungry," joked the blond boy, taking off his backpack and pulling out packets of cookies and bottles of water. Looking up, he stifled a laugh at the toy's amazed expression at the feast. "What are you waiting for? Come on, eat!"
Unlike Poppy, Bunzo has no restraint, devouring the biscuits in a few minutes, nearly choking if Andy hadn't given him water to wash it all down.
"Aaah! That was so good! It's better than meat!"
(...meat? But the factory has been closed for ten years...don't tell me that)
"Bunzo, where do you find the meat?" the human fearfully asks the living toy, which tilts its head to the side.
"Well, Mommy told us that the bigger ones have to eat the smaller ones to survive," he replied innocently, which chilled the human's blood as he massaged his forehead to absorb the news.
(That explains the dismembered toy bodies...good grief, it's like Toy Story meets horror movie) laments Sonia's son, taking a deep breath. (Well, that's one less mystery...toys don't kill for pleasure but because they're hungry...yet it's strange according to what I found in Ludwig's office...or maybe they don't know? Yes, that would be more logical than becoming cannibals on a whim.)
"Human?" the timid voice of the giant toy pulls him from his thoughts. "Why are you being so nice to me?"
He doesn't like the question, nor does he like seeing Bunzo fidgeting uncomfortably under his gaze; he doesn't dare imagine what Mommy has told the little toys since the factory closed; ten years locked up and forced to eat their own kind to survive must leave their mark, and given Mommy's character, Andy doubts she has portrayed humans in a good light.
"Well, because my mom taught me to be kind to others," he said simply, then his eyes narrowed. "Why? Were the humans here mean?"
"...the worst villains..." he confesses, clenching his small fists.
(I kind of suspected as much; those who experiment to create man-eating toys are rarely saints) Smith thought darkly as he stood up. (Well, now let's continue...but...)
"Bunzo," said Andy, getting up. "I'll have to keep going." Seeing the rabbit's face fall, Smith felt a pang in his heart, which he transformed into a smile. "Will you come with me?"
Bunzo quickly raised his face towards him, visibly stunned.
"Are you serious, human?" asked the yellow rabbit. "Even after..."
"Obviously, otherwise I wouldn't be asking you," he assured, rolling his eyes, not wanting to overwhelm the child who was only following orders. "And stop with the 'human' thing, my name is Andy, understand?"
"Yes, okay...Andy," Bunzo agreed with a smile.
"Good," he glances at the cymbals on the floor and frowns, remembering how little Bunzo couldn't take them away. "Are you planning to leave them there?"
"Yes, I hate his stuff," he said, rubbing his hands together.
"So why keep them until now?"
"Well, for the game! You're not very clever, are you?"
Smiling at the cheekiness of his new friend Andy, Bunzo headed towards the exit.
#Squeaking#BOOM!#
Then, falling on their backs when the cursed platform gave way under their weight, the human silently cursed as he got up, massaging his lower back.
"Okay...the guy who was supposed to maintain this thing must not have done it recently," Andy said sarcastically with a groan of pain.
"Hmm! Isn't it more likely because you're too heavy?" joked the yellow rabbit.
"Ha ha, laughing my head off, well let's find a way out" he said, squinting towards a gate, aiming with his GrabPack he pulled out a hand which dislodged the piece of iron in one push.
"Wow!" exclaimed the giant toy. "That's so cool! Can I try it?! Please!"
"Bunzo, this thing is dangerous, did you see what I just did? All you have to do is aim at someone and it could end in tragedy," he explains, placing his hands on his hips. "You have to undergo training before you can use it."
"And did you take that training course?"
"...enough dragging, I'll go ahead"
"Hey! Wait for me!"
The unlikely duo began crawling through the ducts, giving Andy time to consider Mommy's reaction to the rabbit's disappearance. He sincerely hoped that despite her mental instability, she-
*MUDDLED SOUND*
Raising his head upwards, he listens to the crashing and distant howls with the certainty that this is the true reaction of the giant toy to his success as well as Bunzo's escape, turning his head back he watches the toy tremble at every noise shaking the walls above, accelerating the movement Andy does not wish to remain within reach of Mommy's extendable limbs.
Having reached the end, he lets himself fall to the ground, puffing, he straightens up, brushing the dust off his sweatshirt while looking ahead at a...deposit?
Overturned shelves, those still standing overflowing with toys, some with a "Rejected" label like an oven that apparently causes third-degree burns, and a cat toy on a toilet? Okay, he doesn't want to know.
"Andy..."
Bunzo's moan pulls him from his thoughts, raising his head he notices the little guy's trembling and concludes that he must not like heights, approaching as close as possible he opens his arms wide showing him a smile as reassuring as possible, hesitating and clinging firmly to the pipe the giant rabbit finally jumps into the arms of the blond who gently pats him on the back.
"Well done, mate," he congratulated him, setting him back down on the ground. "We should be able to relax here."
"Hmm..." Bunzo looks around curiously, which of course intrigues the human.
"Do you know where we are?"
"No...Mommy doesn't like us going out, she says we might get lost and starve to death," he explains, walking cautiously.
"...that's a defensible point," he admitted, walking between the Bunzo aisles beside him.
Very quickly the duo stumbles upon a cardboard cutout of Bron the dinosaur, exchanging a glance Andy finally presses the big red button.
"Do you want to hear a dino joke?"
"Oh yes," said the blond with a smile, thinking that Bunzo might like it.
"What does a dinosaur say when it doesn't understand a conversation?"
"You know that, Bunzo?" asks Andy, turning to the yellow rabbit who shrugs shyly, smiling as the human presses the red button.
"I don't see the raptor! Woohoo!"
"Pff!"
Gently at first, Bunzo began to laugh loudly, holding his belly under the tender gaze of Andy, who watched the little toy approach the cardboard cutout to listen to the other dinosaur jokes.
"Glad to see you like it," said the blond man softly, turning his flashlight on another walkway. "Bunzo? I'll take a look, okay?"
"Yes yes!" said the toy rabbit happily, continuing to listen to Bron's dino puns.
His smile faded as he resumed his exploration of the depot, the abandoned toys, some broken and covered in blood. Grimacing, he began to examine the soiled toys and discovered with relief that they were real toys and not corpses. Relieved, he resumed his search for an exit. On an overturned shelf, he found a sky-blue cassette. Knowing that he needed to find a player of the same color, he climbed onto the platform. Now a little higher, he saw a kind of clamp mounted on a rail on the ceiling. Turning his head to the left, he jumped in fear when he saw a giant, blood-covered Bronx staring at him despite the absence of eyes.
"Great Scott!...pfffff I'm going to end up with white hair at this rate," sighed the human, who also noticed a cardboard cutout of a flower. "Uh, I don't think I know you?"
At the same time he can't know all the toys at Playtime, curious as always he presses the button.
"You make me FLOWER blue! Do you understand? Flower!"
"...okay, I'm starting to understand why I don't know you," said the human slowly, straining to hear hurried footsteps. Turning around, he looked at Bunzo standing there, his eyes fixed on the cardboard cutout with...disappointment? "Hey, how are you, Bunzo?"
"I heard her voice and...I thought she had come back..." the toy sighed sadly, looking at the floor. Andy moved closer to pat its back to comfort it.
"So you knew her?" he asked curiously.
"Hmm hmm...that's Daisy, she was my friend, but one day she wanted to leave and...Mommy told me she would never come back and that you should never try to leave the factory," the rabbit explains, sniffing.
(That's strange...) Andy thought, frowning as he stared at the cardboard face of the flower (I understand that after a while someone tries to escape but not them? Is it Huggy who is preventing them from leaving? Pfff...another question for amateur detective Andy Smith) the blond joked.
"Oh, that's right," he said, reaching into his overalls pocket and pulling out a VHS tape. "I found this."
Having some time to kill and wanting to distract Bunzo from his gloom, he put the cassette in the player.
"Well, it finally happened."
"After years of indifference, the company has finally listened to all my complaints!"
"Yes, they listened very attentively."
"I guess my words really did motivate them to act, because the next day I was demoted here. To this goddamn island of abandoned toys!"
(a dull thud of something being angrily overturned.)
"Why am I talking to myself...?"
"...let's get the hell out of here," Andy finally said, with Bunzo nodding in agreement.
Then he started cursing because of another Bron statue preventing a platform from being lifted; Andy alone could just jump over it, but with Bunzo he had to find a way to move the obstacle which appeared in the form of a crane which he had to relight and then place just above the comical dinosaur.
"Bunzo, step back," the blond man simply ordered, lifting the statue and moving it to the side; when it fell back down, it created a slight tremor. "There! Now we move forward."
Climbing onto the freight elevator, the duo plunged into the empty corridors of the factory. From time to time, Andy looked at the yellow rabbit, which, for its part, approached him at the slightest noise. A little further on, they came across a new puzzle, which Andy understood very quickly because, by dint of doing so, he ended up understanding the logic of this place.
A little further on, a pipe lets out a hissing sound that makes Bunzo jump, who quickly grabs onto Smith's leg, who reassures him with a caress, then he took his hand, which quickly calmed the toy, who lets himself be led to the next door, blocked by a chair.
"I'll take care of it!" said the rabbit proudly, removing the obstacle and then opening the door. "Let's go!"
Seeing that they were back at the entrance to Bunzo's game, the blond had a panicked expression as he tried to catch up with his friend.
"Bunzo is waiting!"
Rushing out, he ignores the canvas-covered entrance on his left. His steps slow, his expression turns sorrowful as he sees Bunzo looking at the toy he's placed in a box. Approaching slowly, he hesitates, unsure of what to say or do. What should he say? Bunzo is looking at someone with the same face as him, in a deplorable state. Andy feels helpless; he wants to comfort him, or at least know what to do to help.
"...Bunzo I..." the human ventures, taking a step closer but not daring to touch him for the moment.
"..."silently the yellow rabbit kneels and looks at the little toy that resembles him. "It's you who..."
"Y-yes...I...I don't know if it was the right thing to do but..."
"THANKS..."
The atmosphere doesn't really improve, even when Andy comes to take Bunzo in his arms who started to tremble, gently at first, then his little hands clung to him and he soon felt his sweatshirt becoming damp because of the toy's tears.
"T-thank you..rsssni mmmsnifhic hci snif..." repeats Bunzo, moved by the human's act to the point that he began to sniffle while crying against the human's chest.
Bunzo's tears continued to flow, while Andy promised himself that he would protect him from all the dangers that Playtime had in store for him.