Chapter Text
Angel sighed as she entered her small apartment, glad to be home after a long day of work. As much as the teacher loved caring for kids at the daycare, it sure took a lot out of her. As Angel changed out of her work uniform, she smiled as she saw a framed picture on the wall, showing a younger her with a group of children. This picture was taken back when she worked as a care taker for the orphan's at Playcare, the onsite orphanage at the old Playtime company toy factory. She could still remember each little child that had been in her care; affectionate Jeremy, who was always happy to give his friends a hug. Shy, yet imaginative Theodore, who usually kept to himself, but enjoyed drawing with Angel. Mature, sweet Matthew, who always offered to help Angel watch over the younger children. Timid Marie, who had always gone to Angel for comfort after having one of her awful nightmares. Creative Quinn, who had scared the other counselors by ripping the heads off his toys and reattaching them to other toys, but Angel knew he was trying to design his own toys, and would encourage him to bandage the toys 'ouchies' after rebuilding them. And finally, aggressive Kevin, who had been seen as a 'problem child', but Angel had looked through his files and knew he had suffered a lot of abuse from his birth parents, leading to his anger issues. Whenever Kevin would have one of his tantrums and none of the other teachers wanted to deal with it, Angel would be the only one able to calm him down, teaching him breathing exercises to calm his temper, or showing him different outlets for his anger.
Angel had been happy that each of these children had been adopted, but also sad to see them go, having loved each child as if they were her own. And, of course, there had been the last remaining orphans before Playtime had closed down; three-year-old Bubbles, five-year-old Charlotte, and twelve-year-old Sammy. Had she been able to afford it, Angel would've adopted them all, but even with the money, she wouldn't be allowed to. For some reason, Playtime had a strict policy against employee's adopting the orphans. Why, she had no idea. Now dressed in more comfortable clothes, Angel started going through her mail, soon finding a mysterious package. Inside was an old VHS tape and a letter with a drawing of a poppy flower, and the words " Everyone thinks the staff disappeared ten years ago. We're still here. Find the flower."
Angel thought back to when the company shut down; She had gone in to work after having a sick day, only to find the factory surrounded by police cars and reporters, with no one willing to tell her what happened. Angel had tried calling her coworkers later, but no one answered. It was as if everyone had just disappeared off the face of the Earth. Curious, Angel put in the tape, smiling when it showed a commercial for the old Poppy Playtime doll. She still had her Poppy doll from when she was a little girl. Angel's smile fell when the video showed an image of a poppy flower painted on the wall. Was that inside the factory? It didn't look familiar to her. Looking back at the letter, Angel looked over the words. Were there really still some employee's trapped there that got left behind? Maybe she could finally find out what happened there and where everyone had gone. She did love a good mystery. Having made her decision, Angel packed a bag of things she believed she would need; flashlight, first aid kit (in case anyone there was hurt), blanket, loads of snacks, phone, extra clothes and pepper spray (in case she ran into anyone aggressive). It was finally time to return to the Playtime Company!
Within an hour, Angel had arrived at the abandoned factory and entered through the (surprisingly) unlocked front doors. Seeing an old tape at the receptionists desk, Angel put it into a conveniently placed video player. Hearing the voice of her former boss, Leith Pierre, Angel scowled. She had never liked that guy, and not just because he would constantly hit on her and the other female workers. There had always been something... unsettling about the CEO. Ignoring the warning, Angel continued on. It wasn't long before she found another tape, this one instructing on how to use the employee grabpack. Angel had never used one herself. They were mainly for the people who worked in storage, but it could come in handy later, pun intended. She was soon proven correct as she had apparently had to use the blue hand to open the next door. Seeing a familiar blue figure as she entered the room, Angel beamed from ear to ear. It was a statue of Huggy Wuggy, Playtime's most popular toy! Out of tradition, Angel wrapped her arms around the statue's leg. It was something she did every morning when she first came in for work. Her coworkers would tease her about it, asking why she did it, and Angel would always answer "He wouldn't be Huggy Wuggy if he didn't get a hug."
This time, the hug proved to be beneficial as a key fell from the statue's hand, allowing her to enter the power room. It was then that Angel remembered how many of the factory doors could only be opened via puzzle, not that it bothered her. Angel loved puzzles! But as she reentered the main room, Angel grew concerned when she saw the Huggy statue was now gone! "...Okay, that's not creepy at all." Deciding to ignore it for now, Angel continued, going through more doors and puzzles. It wasn't long before she found yet another tape. How many of these things were lying around in the factory? The recording played a conversation between two men, one of them Angel recognized as her friend, Rich, who had been head of shipping and storage. Although a little gruff at first, Rich was a real sweetheart once you got to know him. He would often drop by Playcare to visit the orphans and deliver old toys that had been abandoned or forgotten in storage. A few days before the company shut down, Rich had told Angel that he and his wife, Ann, were considering adopting one of the kids, despite the company policy, but obviously that never happened. A few days after the shut down, Angel called Ann and was relieved to find out that Rich had made it out. Unfortunately, whatever had happened at the factory had been too traumatizing for the man to cope, and he had been admitted into a mental asylum. However, Ann claimed that the company executives had placed Rich there to 'keep him quiet', but Angel figured that was just the grief talking.
After obtaining a red hand for her grabpack and sliding through a conveyer belt, Angel found the old Make-A-Toy machine, along with yet another video recording. Angel couldn't help but shed a tears at the familiar voice of her best friend, Stella. The two had worked together to maintain the children's happiness and safety, and Stella shared Angel's childlike wonder and love for toys. Ann had told Angel that Stella had also survived, but whenever Angel tried to call her, she never got an answer. After powering on the machine and making her own cat-bee (which Angel made a mental note to take home later) Angel was about to enter the next room, when, to her shock and horror, she was blocked by the Huggy Wuggy statue, now moving on its own, and with a mouth full of razor sharp teeth!
Thinking fast, Angel hopped onto the conveyer belt and started running as fast as she could, making several turns to try and lose the monster, but Huggy stayed hot on her trail. For something so big, he was surprisingly fast! Before she knew it, Angel was on a catwalk and saw a large crate overhead. Thinking she could use it to block Huggy's path, Angel used her grabpack to pull the crate. But she miscalculated just how fast Huggy was running, and instead of blocking him, the crate fell right on the monsters head! Angel's horror grew when the catwalk they were standing on broke, and while Angel fell on another catwalk, Huggy continued to fall! Without thinking, Angel reached for Huggy with the grabpack and pulled him back up.
Once the two had caught their breath, Huggy looked at Angel in astonishment. "You... you saved me? Why? I...I was going to kill you!"
Still panting from the chase, Angel said "I was (pant) only trying to (pant) block you (pant) not hurt you. Why were you chasing me, anyway?"
"Because you were trespassing! And..." he looked away sheepishly "I was hungry." The teacher pulled out one of the many snacks from her pack and handed it to the giant plushy.
"Next time, just ask. You don't need to scare people like that." While Huggy enjoyed the first meal he had in days, Angel noticed the bleeding wound on his head caused by the crate. Gesturing for Huggy to bend down at her level, Angel pulled out her first aid kit and wrapped bandages around the plushies head. Huggy looked at the woman in surprise as she placed a small kiss on his head and gave him a hug. There was something familiar about her...something that reminded him of someone from his human life, but he couldn't put his finger on it. Angel turned around and was pleasantly surprised to find the poppy mural she had been looking for. "Oh, I guess all that running was good for something, after all." She turned back to Huggy. "Do you want to come with me? I don't know what else awaits me in this factory, but I could probably use the help." Huggy considered it. If the prototype found out that he had helped an outsider get through the factory, the giant plush would be in big trouble! Then again, what had the prototype ever done for him? Kept him and the other toys trapped in this nightmare factory? Force him to stay in one place all day to keep lookout? This woman had shown Huggy more kindness in the last few seconds that the Prototype had ever given him in years! Huggy decided that the Prototype could go to hell.
Seeing the blue toy give her a thumbs up, Angel smiled and the two continued down the cat walk and went through the door, entering a hallway that looked like it belonged in a grandmothers house. At the end of the hall, Angel could see a red light shining under a door and opened it, revealing what appeared to be a child's bedroom. At the center of the room, was a glass case with a Poppy Playtime doll inside. Angel gave Huggy a questioning look. "Is this what I was supposed to find?" The toy shrugged. Huggy honestly had no idea why Angel was here in the first place. Not knowing what else to do, Angel opened the case, and it was then that she remembered that the Poppy doll's hair was poppy flower scented, and apparently, after being in a glass case for who knows how long, that scent had become overpowering. Before passing out, Angel heard a little girl say "You opened my case."