A/N: This chapter is from an old chapter so that the word count wasn't over 3500 (This one and the one before were close to 3800); I apologize if you were expecting a new chapter.
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On the catwalk, Poppy was against the wall with her body and mouth covered in spiderwebs, and the final train code piece beside her. Poppy looked down with worried eyes. Please be OK, Michelle; you're our only hope, she thought.
Poppy heard footsteps on her left side, which made her flinch; as they grew near, she turned her head to the left with scared eyes.
Soon after, Poppy saw Mommy Long Legs carrying Michelle, which shocked her, before she lowered her hand to the catwalk. "Poppy!" Michelle shouted before getting off it and quickly approaching her.
When Michelle was near Poppy, she grabbed the webbing on her mouth and tore it off before she looked at her, baffled. "What are you doing up here? And why is Mommy still alive?" she asked.
Michelle stared at Poppy, confused. "Why wouldn't she be?" she asked rhetorically before turning her head to Mommy Long Legs. "She chose to come with me."
Poppy looked at Michelle, shocked. "She did?" she asked.
Michelle turned her head to Poppy and placed her left hand under her feet. "We can talk about it later if you want to, but right now, let's get this webbing off you," she said before grabbing part of the webbing and pulling on it.
Soon after, Michelle pulled the remaining webbing off Poppy, which made her land on her hand before placing her other hand on her side. "There we go..." she said.
After Michelle placed Poppy on the ground, she turned to her. "Did she actually say that?" she asked.
Mommy Long Legs crossed her arms. "I can answer for myself," she said, which made Poppy look at her.
Mommy Long Legs stretched her head toward Michelle before rubbing her cheek against hers. "And yes, I decided to join my little Misha," she continued. "And whatever gets in our way, I'll deal with it."
Poppy stared at Mommy Long Legs in shock before looking at Michelle. "You... are amazing," she said. "Not only did you tame Huggy, but you tamed Mommy too."
Michelle eyed Poppy. "I didn't 'tame' them," she said while making quotation marks on the tame part. "I became friends with them; that's a huge difference."
Poppy flinched a bit and looked down. "R-Right..." she said in a low voice before stepping back a bit.
Michelle looked at the train code piece on the webbing before grabbing it and pulling it off. When Michelle looked at the train code piece, she saw the numbers four, three, one, and two. "The last train code piece..." she said.
Poppy smiled at Michelle as she put the code piece in her right pocket. "That's great! You can use it on the train so we can find your friends and escape this place," she said.
Michelle remained silent until she slightly turned her head to Poppy. "Don't you mean so you can use me for whatever end goal you have?" she asked.
Poppy tilted her head. "What do you—" Michelle turned to her with stern eyes, which shocked her before she stopped talking.
Michelle knelt at Poppy's level. "Let's make something straight," she said. "Much like how Mommy hates cheaters, the one thing I hate the most besides this factory is liars."
Michelle pointed at Poppy, which made her step back a bit. "I may be young and too nice for my own good, but I'm not stupid," she continued. "That's one of the reasons why I like hanging around Kevin a lot; he doesn't beat around the bush."
Michelle lowered her hand before sighing. "However, our goals are kind of correlated to one another," she said before sternly looking at Poppy. "So I'm taking this train to Playcare to find my friends and whatever you're planning."
Michelle clenched her fists. "But if I so much as hear a small amount of deception... I'm leaving with my friends and the toys I encounter and leaving you behind to deal with your mess," she continued. "Am I clear?"
Poppy stared at Michelle with a slight frown before nodding. "Crystal," she said.
Michelle stood up. "Good," she said before walking past Poppy. "I'll see you in Playcare."
When Michelle was near Mommy Long Legs, she looked at her. "I'm sorry you had to see that, Mommy," she said.
Mommy Long Legs smiled at Michelle and scooped her in her right hand. "No need to apologize, my little Misha," she said before glancing at Poppy. "Sometimes people need to hear the painful truth."
PJ Pug-A-Pillar barked twice, which made Michelle smile a bit. "Thanks... now let's head back to our friends," she said, which made Mommy Long Legs nod before walking forward, which made him follow.
When the trio was out of sight, Poppy stared at the catwalk before facing the vent and approaching it. I might have to go about this another way... she thought before entering it.
...
...
...
At the center of the Game Station, Huggy Wuggy and the Mini Huggies stared at Bunzo Bunny as he frantically paced around. "It's been too long for her; what if something bad happened?" Bunzo Bunny asked.
Huggy Wuggy looked at Bunzo Bunny. "Misha will be OK," he said, which made him stop pacing and turn to him. "Misha very smart."
Bunzo Bunny sighed a bit. "I know she is, but still—" he was interrupted when the group heard barking, which surprised them, before Huggy Wuggy quickly got up and looked around with a slight growl while Sunny and Lilac climbing to his shoulders, trembling.
When the group looked up, they saw Mommy Long Legs lowering herself while carrying PJ Pug-A-Pillar around her. Michelle poked her head from Mommy Long Legs's right hand, smiling and waving. "Hey, guys!" she shouted while PJ Pug-A-Pillar barked.
After Mommy Long Legs landed on the ground and retracted her arm, the group approached the trio. "Big Sis Misha!" Bunzo Bunny shouted.
Mommy Long Legs lowered her right hand to the ground, which made Michelle get off before Bunzo Bunny hugged her. Michelle looked at Bunzo Bunny as he trembled a bit. "I missed you so much," he said. "I thought the worst had happened to you."
Michelle gently smiled and petted Bunzo Bunny's head. "Well, I'm alright now..." she said. "And I brought new friends with us too, just like I promised."
After Mommy Long Legs placed PJ Pug-A-Pillar on the ground, Huggy Wuggy approached her and stared at her with weary eyes, which made her look at him. "I, uh..." she said nervously.
Mommy Long Legs remembered something before holding her enclosed left hand out and opening it, revealing the open bag of mini cookies. "I come in peace..." she continued with a nervous smile.
Huggy Wuggy stared at the bag of mini cookies before raising his arms and carefully grabbing it between his hands. Huggy Wuggy looked at the bag before turning his head to Sunny and holding it out to them.
Sunny chirped and stood on Huggy Wuggy's shoulder before digging their hands inside the bag and pulling a mini cookie out of it.
Sunny hopped into Mommy Long Legs's hand and placed the mini cookie in her palm, which surprised her, before hopping toward Huggy Wuggy and holding onto his shoulder again.
When Mommy Long Legs looked at Huggy Wuggy, his eyes relaxed. "Friend..." he said in a low voice.
Mommy Long Legs stared at Huggy Wuggy in shock before smiling a bit. "Thank you, Huggy," she said before eating the mini cookie in her palm.
Michelle approached the duo. "It seems like you two are finally getting along," she said.
Mommy Long Legs looked at Huggy Wuggy. "Well, since the guard dog has been protecting you all this time, I can tolerate him... for now," she said.
Huggy Wuggy rolled his eyes with a low huff before kneeling. "Thanks, bud," Michelle said as she unwrapped the toy's arms around her upper arm.
Michelle approached her backpack and grabbed the zipper tab before unzipping it and putting the toy back in her bag.
Michelle grabbed the zipper tab and zipped it before taking a deep breath and exhaling. "Alright, gang, we got all three pieces of the code," she continued before looking at the group. "I think it's time we board this train and head to Playcare."
The smaller toys cheered while PJ Pug-A-Pillar happily barked, which made Michelle smile before she approached the front of the train. Michelle grabbed the right arm cannon's handle before aiming it at the green hand scanner and pulling the trigger.
The green hand shot forward and touched the hand scanner, activating it; after it finished, the front and carts' doors opened. "All aboard the Playtime Express!" Michelle shouted, smiling.
As most of the group entered the carts, Mommy Long Legs stopped near the door before looking at Michelle. "Are you sure you'll be alright at the front?" she asked.
Michelle smiled a bit. "I'll be fine; trust me," she said. "What's the worst that can happen?"
Mommy Long Legs stared at Michelle before sighing and nodding. "Very well... just stay safe," she said before ducking her head and entering the cart.
Michelle smiled as she let go of the right arm cannon's handle and entered the locomotive. Michelle looked at the front and spotted four icons next to a lever on the left and a hanging side handle above it: a red Cat-Bee, a red Mommy Long Legs, a blue Bunzo Bunny, and a yellow Kissy Missy.
Michelle dug her hand inside her right pocket. "Now for the code pieces," she said before pulling the code pieces out of it.
After Michelle lined the code pieces above the icons, she looked at them with a hum. "Let's see... the icons should be a red Bunzo Bunny, a yellow Kissy Missy, a red Cat-Bee, and a blue Mommy Long Legs," she said before looking at the button with a left arrow and pressing it, switching their positions.
After Michelle pressed the left arrow button again, the icons were set in the right place before looking at a button with red, yellow, and blue under Mommy Long Legs's icon before pressing it, changing the color from red to blue.
After Michelle did the same thing to Bunzo Bunny's icon, she nodded. "And the order for it is Mommy Long Legs, Cat-Bee, Bunzo Bunny, and Kissy Missy," she continued before pressing the icons in order.
Soon after, the train started up, which made Michelle smile and grab the right arm cannon's handle. "That should do it," she said before aiming it at the side handle and pulling the trigger.
The green hand shot forward and grabbed the side handle before pulling it, which made the train move forward.
Michelle retracted the green hand back to her and let go of the right arm cannon's handle before looking forward. "Hang on, you two... I have to be close to you soon," she said.
The intercom turned on, which made Michelle look at it. "Michelle... I'm sorry about my actions," Poppy said. "I didn't mean to lie to you."
Michelle crossed her arms and looked away. "I feared that you wouldn't stay in this place if I told you the truth," Poppy continued. "You're perfect... too perfect to lose."
The train tracks switched to the left. "I'm very sorry..." Poppy said. "I've never met anyone as compassionate as you."
Michelle looked at the intercom, concerned. "My time inside the case gave me so much time to think and reflect... time to figure out exactly what I would do when free," Poppy continued. "We'll set things right; terrible things have happened while you were gone."
Michelle stepped back a bit. "But I know that whatever I need you to do... you're capable and reliable," Poppy said.
Michelle was uncomfortable. "We will—" Poppy stopped midsentence when she heard a beeping noise in the background. "What is...?"
After the intercom turned off, the train started speeding up, which surprised Michelle and made her look around. "What's going on? Why are we picking up speed?" she asked herself.
Soon after, the train started going down the slope, which made it go faster. As the train shook, Michelle tried to balance herself, with worry. "We're picking up too much speed; I have to slow it down," she said.
Michelle heard a beeping noise, which made her look forward; she saw a flashing red light next to a lever. "That must be the emergency brakes," she continued as she quickly grabbed the left arm cannon's handle before aiming at it and pulling the trigger, launching the blue hand.
After the blue hand grabbed the lever, Michelle grabbed an intercom speaker piece and pressed the button. "Hang on, guys! It's gonna be a very bumpy ride!!" she shouted before pulling the trigger, pulling it in the process before retracting it back to her.
The train brakes started shrieking, which made the train shake before it leaned to the right, which made Michelle yell before hitting the wall hard.
When the train came to a complete stop, Michelle groaned a bit before glancing to the left with blurry vision; she saw a sign through the opening that said 'Playcare'.
Michelle slowly sat up a bit and held her left hand out to the sign. "You... guys..." she said weakly before collapsing against the wall, unconsciousness.