As the couple entered the room, they saw some of the smaller toys were playing tag while some of the larger toys were talking. As Michelle looked around the area, she noticed Katelynn was next to Bubba Bubbaphant.
Michelle spotted Doey talking to DogDay in the corner before looking at Kevin. "You should probably return to the other two," she said. "You've been separated from them for a while."
Kevin nodded before approaching Doey; Michelle looked at the smaller toys as they played until a mini CraftyCorn tackled a mini PickyPiggy, which made some of them stop and look at them.
Soon after, some of the smaller toys started laughing, which made Michelle smile. "Hey, lady," a male voice said, which surprised her.
When Michelle turned around and looked down, she saw some of the Nightmare Critters looking at her. Michelle kneeled before the Nightmare Critters. "Is there something I can help you with?" she asked.
Icky Licky looked at Michelle. "This place is boring; there's nothing fun to do," he said.
Michelle tilted her head. "You don't want to play tag with the other toys?" she asked.
Allister Gator groaned a bit. "Too much of a hassle..." he said, lowly.
Michelle placed her hand on her chin with a hum. "Well, I could read one of the books I brought from my orphanage to you," she said.
Baba Chops crossed her arms. "Too boring..." she said.
Michelle sighed with a sweatdrop. "Well, what do you guys want to do?" she asked.
Maggie Mako looked at Michelle with sparkling eyes. "Can we have more of those sweets?" she asked.
Before Michelle could say anything, Touille hit the back of Maggie Mako's head with his tail, which made her yelp a bit and rub the spot she was hit. "You idiot, we 'ave to save those for the entire group," he said.
Maggie Mako glared at Touille. "You wanna go, little mouse?" she asked rhetorically.
As the duo glared at one another, growling, Simon Smoke stood between them with his arms out. "Hey, not in front of the Boss," he said.
Michelle sighed and looked at Maggie Mako. "If we had more bags, I wouldn't mind sharing, but we have a limited amount," she said. "We shouldn't finish all of them in a day."
Maggie Mako stared at Michelle before sighing and looking away. "I suppose that makes sense..." she said, lowly.
Michelle rubbed the back of her head. "So, you don't feel like playing tag, and you don't want to listen to me reading a story," she said. "What else can I do?"
Rabie Baby got on Michelle's right side before climbing onto her shoulder, which made her look at her. "Why not tell us about the outside?" she asked.
Michelle was surprised. "The outside?" she asked.
Poe nodded. "All of us have been inside these walls for a long time," they said. "Since you're the only one who knows about the outside, we would like to hear about it."
Michelle looked at the other Nightmare Critters. "And that's fine with the rest of you?" she asked.
Baba Chops looked down with a slight hum. "Well... it's not a terrible idea..." she said, lowly.
Allister Gator nodded in agreement. "And I can lie down and listen while you talk," he said.
Michelle felt a paw on her leg, which surprised her; when she turned her head to the back, she noticed most of the smaller toys staring at her.
Rabie Baby looked at Michelle with happy eyes. "Seems like we aren't the only ones that want to know about the outside," she said before getting off her shoulder and landing on the ground.
Michelle hummed a bit. "Well, if you guys want to know more about the outside world, I don't mind telling," she said before standing up.
Most of the smaller toys were happy as Michelle approached the seat on the left before sitting in it, which made them gather around. "So what do you guys want to know?" she asked.
Lucas raised his paw, which made Michelle look at him. "Yes, Lucas," she said.
Lucas lowered his paw. "Is the sky outside similar to the one in Playcare?" he asked.
Michelle placed her hand under her chin. "Somewhat," she said. "Though the clouds on the outside look a lot fluffier than the ones hanging above Playcare. And the sun outside is so much warmer, too."
Some of the larger toys looked at the group before approaching them and sitting down. "What about the sky at night?" a mini CraftyCorn asked. "Is it the same as daytime?"
Michelle chuckled a bit. "Actually, the sky outside is completely different when it's nighttime," she said.
Michelle looked at the roof. "While it's completely dark at night, bright little lights called stars are scattered across the sky, and the light from a large rock in the distance called the moon brightens it," she continued.
The smaller toys were amazed while the larger toys smiled. "What else is on the outside?" a mini PickyPiggy asked.
Michelle was thinking. "Well, some parts of the town I grew up in have a lot of trees and animals," she said.
As Michelle talked to the group, Giblet observed them with a smile. "She's a good kid..." he said, lowly.
"Indeed, she is," a male voice said, which made Giblet flinch.
Giblet turned his head to the source and saw CatNap. "Apologies if I scared you; that wasn't my intention," he continued.
Giblet sighed and moved his hand a bit. "Eh, you're fine; it's gonna take some getting used to now that you're an ally instead of working for the Prototype," he said.
CatNap lay on the ground. "I suppose that's fair," he said.
Giblet looked at CatNap before placing his hand against his throat. "Your voice box... did she—" he stopped midsentence when he nodded. "Angel was responsible for fixing it; I owe her my life and then some for all that she has done for me."
Giblet hummed a bit and looked at Michelle as she was talking to the group while the Mini Huggies were climbing on the chair. "Y'know, Playtime's Hero isn't the only nickname for her," he said, lowly, which made CatNap look at him. "Others call her by another nickname..."
Soon after, the Mini Huggies got on Michelle's shoulders and purred, which made her look at them before giggling and petting Rose's head with her finger, smiling. "The Angel of Hope," Giblet continued.
CatNap hummed. "A fitting name for Angel," he said before looking at Giblet. "Why didn't you call her that instead?"
Giblet looked down, and his ears drooped. "While it's true that hope is a strong power in this place, I don't want to jinx it for all of us..." he said.
Giblet smiled at CatNap. "Plus, you saw her reaction to the first nickname," he continued before crossing his arms. "If she heard the second nickname, she would be cringing for hours."
CatNap chuckled. "You do make a fair point..." he said before looking at Michelle. "Although... the Angel of Hope is a better title than the Angel of Salvation..."
At the workbench, Katelynn was tying the purple beaded bracelet's elastic string against something with her tongue sticking out a bit. When Katelynn finished, she smiled and stepped away. "It's done," she said.
As Michelle and some of the toys looked at the workbench, Bubba Bubbaphant grabbed something off it before turning to the group, revealing a rustic prosthetic with the red hand attached to it and the purple beaded bracelet on the wrist part wrapped in his trunk.
Link to the image: https://www.dreamstime.com/detailed-d-rendering-bronze-black-robotic-arm-showcasing-intricate-mechanical-details-weathered-texture-posed-image367676631
(Imagine the hand part is the red hand.)
Bubba Bubbaphant looked at Michelle. "This prosthetic is a little rushed, but it should still have the same functions as the old one," he said.
The smaller toys stepped away as Bubba Bubbaphant approached Michelle. "All we have to do is reattach it to the stump and make sure it's on there tight," he continued.
Michelle looked at Bubba Bubbaphant as he kneeled while the Mini Huggies got off her shoulders. "How exactly does it stay in place?" she asked.
Bubba Bubbaphant gestured to the base of the prosthetic. "There's a mechanism near the base of the prosthetic that connects to the stump's nerves and allows you to move the fingers and other things a normal hand can do, and sticks to you whenever you have to swing or stay in place," he said.
Michelle hummed a bit. "Now then, let's place this back on your stump," Bubba Bubbaphant continued.
Michelle nodded as she held her stump out; Bubba Bubbaphant lined the prosthetic on her arm and held his arms under it before his trunk put it inside. After Bubba Bubbaphant's trunk let go of the prosthetic, it reached for the base of it.
Michelle looked at Bubba Bubbaphant with a sweatdrop. "Uh... on a scale from one to ten, how painful is this going to—" before she could finish her sentence, he twisted the prosthetic's mechanism to the right.
The prosthetic tightened onto Michelle's stump, which made her feel a large jolt of pain. "Fuck!!!!" she shouted.
The smaller toys looked at Michelle, worried, as she gripped her right prosthetic and the fingers on the red hand wildly twitched while making pained grunting noises.
Doey deadpanned at Bubba Bubbaphant. "You could've given her a warning before doing that," he said.
Bubba Bubbaphant was nervous and looked away with a sweatdrop. "My bad..." he said, lowly.
Katelynn looked at Michelle, worried. "You OK, Big Sister?" she asked.
Michelle took a deep breath before shakily exhaling as the red hand's fingers stopped twitching. "I'll be alright..." she said before looking at it and moving it a bit. "The pain is starting to die down..."
Michelle looked at the wall above the vent before aiming her right arm; soon after, the red hand shot from her wrist and touched the wall.
After the red hand retracted back to Michelle's wrist, she looked at it as she closed and opened it. "Rushed or not, it still works the same, and I'll take what I get," she said before looking at Bubba Bubbaphant. "Thank you, Bubba."
Bubba Bubbaphant nodded as Michelle looked at the others. "Now that I have a right prosthetic, we need to discuss our current situation," she continued.
The smaller toys looked at Michelle, while the larger toys stood up; CatNap approached the group while Giblet approached the other chair before sitting inside it. "Ready when you are, kiddo," he said.
Michelle nodded before looking at the group. "Alright then, let's start with the cassette tape we found in that small room," she said. "From what we gathered, Poppy and Kissy woke up in that elevator before all of us and were luring the Prototype's hunters away," she said.
Michelle looked down. "However, as they were luring the hunters away, something happened to them between then and the time we woke up," she continued. "It wouldn't be far-fetched to assume that they might have been caught."
DogDay nodded. "That is a fair assumption," he said.
Bobby BearHug sighed and placed her hand against her head. "I swear she creates more problems than solving them," she said.
Michelle placed her hand against her chin. "If we think they've been captured, who was the one that caught them?" she asked. "The Prototype? One of his hunters?"
Hoppy Hopscotch was uncomfortable before looking at Michelle. "There... might be a third person that hasn't been said on the cassette tape," she said.
The group looked at Hoppy Hopscotch. "Oh, you mean..." KickinChicken said, lowly.
Hoppy Hopscotch nodded. "It could have been Lily Lovebraids," she said.
Michelle remembered the Lily Lovebraids banner before holding her hands together. "Right... Crafty and Picky mentioned her a while back," she said before looking at Hoppy Hopscotch and KickinChicken. "Is she another Bigger Bodies like all of you?"
KickinChicken looked at Michelle. "Kind of..." he said. "She is a Bigger Bodies, but... she was made after the Hour of Joy."
Michelle looked at KickinChicken, shocked. "Who was she then?" she asked.
Most of the group were uncomfortable. "Before she became Lily, she was a woman named Ms. Gracie," Hoppy Hopscotch said. "She was the lead counselor in the Wellness and Integration sector."
Mommy Long Legs clenched her fists. "She created these videos to brainwash the mind and force us to accept that we're no longer human," she said.
Huggy Wuggy snarled. "Evil woman..." he said, lowly.
CatNap nodded with a slight growl, and his ears pointed back. "For once, I agree... she is evil incarnate," he said.
Michelle hummed a bit. "And when the Hour of Joy happened, she was captured, turned into a toy, and had to listen to her own videos; does that sum it up?" she asked.
The group nodded, which made Michelle sigh a bit. "Alright, now that we know who she is and her past self, do we know where she's at?" she asked.
The group shook their heads before Michelle looked at Giblet. "Got any ideas, Giblet?" she asked.
Giblet crossed his arms while humming a bit. "Nothing comes to mind..." he said before looking at Michelle. "But if I recall, she was in a secluded area as a sort of punishment for what she did to us."
Michelle placed her hand against her chin. "So there's a chance that we might encounter her?" she asked.
Giblet nodded. "It's possible," he said.
Michelle nodded. "Alright..." she said before looking at the group. "Then I think we should form two groups."
Michelle held one finger out. "The first group is a search party of sorts; they will traverse through the Labs searching for Poppy and Kissy while finding a way to kill the Prototype and saving the orphans," she continued.
Giblet flinched and looked at Michelle as she held another finger up. "The second group will follow Giblet and act as protectors to the smaller toys," she said before placing her hand against her chest. "And I'll be going with the first group."
The group remained silent, which surprised Michelle. "There are no objections to this?" she asked.
Doey looked at Michelle. "As much as we would like to, your plan makes sense," he said. "Though if I may ask, how many people will you bring for the search party?"
Michelle hummed in thought. "About five or six people," she said before looking at Doey. "We want the search party to be small, but I don't mind the extra company."
Jack split from Doey before smiling at Michelle. "You know the three of us will always go with you," he said.
Michelle chuckled a bit and petted Jack's head. "I kinda had a hunch you three would," she said.
Katelynn smiled as she raised her hand. "I volunteer for the search party too," she said.
CatNap bowed his head. "I would also like to volunteer as well," he said.
Huggy Wuggy raised his arm. "Huggy find Kissy with search party," he said.
Mommy Long Legs smiled. "More time spent with my little Misha is always a plus for me," she said.
Michelle nodded. "That makes five; that should—" before she could finish her sentence, Yarnaby pressed his face against her cheek, which made her glance at him. "You wanna come too?"
Yarnaby pulled away and looked at Michelle as she rubbed the back of her neck. "I don't know..." she said, lowly.
DogDay looked at Michelle. "If I recall, whenever the Doctor was turned into an experiment, Yarnaby fell into a grief-stricken state until the Hour of Joy happened," he said. "It might be in the second group's best interest if you take him with you."
Michelle hummed a bit. "I get it, because I'm not part of the second group, he might not respond to any of you because I'm far away from him," she said before looking at Yarnaby. "Alright, you can come with me."
Yarnaby had bright eyes before lying in Michelle's lap, purring, which made her smile a bit and pet his head. DogDay looked at Giblet. "The search party will also need a rendezvous point to meet up with us," he said. "Any ideas?"
Giblet placed his hand under his chin. "We can meet up at R&D," he said. "The search party will have to go through the Boilers to get to it, while the larger group can hide in the shadows."
Michelle hummed a bit as Yarnaby stepped away. "Then we should head off soon," she said before standing up.
Before Michelle approached the small group, Miss Delight placed her hand on her shoulder. "Not so fast," she said.
Michelle turned to Miss Delight. "You should at least take another water bottle and a couple of the cookie bags you brought with you," she continued.
Michelle was hesitant and looked down. "I don't know... the smaller toys might need the food more than us," she said.
Izzy got up and approached Michelle before wrapping her arms around her ankle. "It's fine," she said, which made her look at her. "We've always been patient waiting for food; two bags gone won't bother us."
The smaller toys gathered around Michelle, saying, 'Take them,' which made her sigh. "Alright, alright, I'll take a couple and a water bottle," she said before approaching her bag.
The smaller toys cheered as Michelle unzipped her backpack before digging her hands inside. After Michelle grabbed the water bottle and two cookie bags, she turned her head to Doey. "Catch," she said before tossing them.
Doey caught the cookie bags and water bottle before they went inside him. "And I still have the other water bottle and the bottle of painkillers in case the phantom pain comes back; that should be enough supplies," he said.
Giblet quickly got out of the chair and looked at Michelle as she zipped her bag. "Before you go, there's something I should say... about the orphans..." he said.
Michelle turned her head to Giblet with a stoic face. "Go on," she said.
Giblet looked down, and his ears drooped. "Don't get your hopes up about them..." he said. "There's a chance that they might not be here anymore."
The group went silent until Michelle nodded. "I'll keep that in mind..." she said before looking at the smaller group. "Let's head to the Boilers."
The smaller group nodded before approaching the hole; when they were out of sight, DogDay looked at Giblet. "What do you mean by that statement?" he asked.
Giblet sighed and looked at the group. "You guys haven't seen what I saw..." he said before looking at the hole in the wall. "Compared to here and the floors above... up there was Purgatory while this place was true Hell."