Location: Playcare - Playtime Co.

No POV

As the Hour of Joy was about to commence, a mysterious person quietly enters the Smiling Critters room to get Y/n to a safe place to hide in before timer runs out, letting all of the toys to run all over the entire factory and kill anyone at sight with no conscious or mercy.

???: (Quietly) Hey, kid. Wake up.

Y/n: (Slowly waking up) Wha- Huh? What's going on?

???: Listen, kid. There's no time to explain. We need to get you somewhere safe.

Y/n: (Yawns) Can we just wait until morning?

???: (Sighs)

Then the mysterious stranger gently picked up Y/n into their arms, not wanting to wake up the other Smiling Critters from their slumber as Y/n is being taken out of PlayCare and was brought into a room, where a bunch of cryogenic chambers were built into the room in case there are kids with an incurable disease when they teamed up with a company that are currently researching for a cure for the disease.

So, the mysterious person carefully placed the sleepy Y/n into the cryogenic chamber and made sure that he is carefully placed inside the chamber and is strapped in comfortably before closing the hatch and activating the cryogenic freeze, putting Y/n into a frozen slumber.

Jack: I'm sorry that I had to do this to you, kiddo, but I had to make sure that you don't end up like the others during the Hour of Joy.

Jack's Narration POV

It happened so long ago, longer now than it seems.

My last day at Playtime Co...Everyone's last day at Playtime Co...

Well...not for Y/n...Because I had to put him inside the factory's own cryogenic chambers after I was given a task by an anonymous stranger as putting the boy in the cryogenic chamber will keep him safe from the events of the Hour of Joy that happened around Playtime Co.

August 8th, 1995

The day it all fell apart...

The day it all went wrong...

Who am I you may ask?

I am Jack [REDACTED]. I'm the Janitor of Playtime Co.

You see, I'm not like every other employee here at Playtime Co. because they don't seem to care about kids at all, except for me.

And possibly some coworkers I knew that don't mind the happy face of children of Playtime Co.

In fact, I didn't expect all of the toys including the Smiling Critter warm up to Y/n since he didn't have any friends to play with him.

Well, almost all of the kids.

Theodore Grambell was the only kid in Playcare that cared about Y/n as he treated the kid like his older brother.

Until the day of the operation that turned Theodore into a toy.

Better known as CatNap.

That oversized purple furred feline can't seem to let go of Y/n as if the brotherly love between him and Theodore was still inside that cat's toy heart.

In fact, all of the toys at Playtime Co. all loved Y/n and they would do anything to keep the boy safe and sound.

And they all took that seriously.

One time, Huggy Wuggy bite off part of a kid's head after he gave Y/n a black eye and is still alive, only to be left with severe brain damage and Mommy Long Legs broke a little girl's arm after she pushed Y/n into the train tracks and Mommy Long Legs managed to get the kid out of there just in time before the train came by.

But what Y/n doesn't know is that the toys of Playtime Co. along with CatNap and the Smiling Critters have planned something special for him once Y/n gets released from the cryogenic chamber...

And once they get their hands on Y/n that they all see him a special kind of toy to play with that should never be broken or torn apart...

He will never leave this accursed toy factory ever again...

As for me telling this story, I might as well tell you what happened to me after the Hour of Joy began at Playtime Co.

I was doing my usual night shift at the factory, making sure that everything is in working order until I was something going on from the television hooked onto the room as the many toys of Playtime Co. are all dancing on the TV singing that same song over and over again that was driving me insane.

Jack: What are they doin'? S-Singing a song? (Confused by the lyrics of the song) The path that we trod? That's the best rhyme they could come up with for "God?" What idiot wrote this song?! (Sees all of the toys running down the hallway) Okay! Whoever wrote these lyrics needs to be fired, because these are the worst lyrics in the history of lyrics.

Despite of me hating that song along with the lyrics, I soon realized that things are going downhill for Playtime Co. as I soon see all of the toys began attacking and killing everyone roaming around in the factory.

Meaning that the Hour of Joy is upon us...

Jack: What the hell?

There were dead bodies...

Dead bodies everywhere...

Every area of the factory is filled with so many dead bodies...

It was a f***ing massacre out there...

Jack: Holy shit! This- T-this can't be happening!

Soon after seeing all of my co-workers die at the hands of the toys of Playtime Co., I knew that someone within the shadows of the factory has given them a chance for revenge against everyone that tormented them.

But to make things worse, I watch my best friend, Michael strapped into an operating table by a couple of Huggy Wuggys and after it fast forwarded a few hours later, he was turned into a rabbit plush doll.

A Rabbit Smiling Critter, but with yellow fur.

He was turned into a toy like them.

That got me thinking that any of the co-workers that were completely different from the ones that treated the toys horribly gets turned into a toy like them by force.

Then I soon realized that I treated Y/n like I was his own father instead of being an abusive parent and getting Y/n safe inside that cryo-chamber while he was asleep, means that I'm next in line of becoming a toy like them.

It was exactly what my fortune cookie from my Chinese food that I had for lunch last week warned me about before this all happened.

Fortune: Evil toys will kill everyone at your workplace, but you will be spared and be turned into a toy like them.

I had no other choice but to find a way out of the factory before they could get to me as I was scared out of my own mind after witnessing what's going on during the Hour of Joy happening inside the factory.

Right now, I am with a friend that went with me as we traveled down the hallway while keeping an eye out for any hostile toys that could attack us at any time.

Jack: (Scared) Holy shit...I...I can't believe it...They killed everyone...

Unnamed Co-Worker: I swear to God if we that pink bitch again, I'm ripping her legs off, one by one!

Jack: You need to keep your voice down, or we're both gonna end up everyone else. Plus, you shouldn't say all of those things out loud, she could be hiding anywhere to attack us out of nowhere.

Unnamed Co-Worker: Oh yeah! I like to see that Pink Bitch try!

Jack: (Turns around and see's Mommy Long Leg's hand reaching to him from behind) Hey! Behind you!

Then she grabbed him by the head and pulled him up the ceiling and took his own life in cold blood. That's what he gets for insulting Mommy Long Legs. She may be a motherly figure to the kids especially, Y/n, but she will definitely kill you if you insult her like that unlucky guy just did before he died.

Mommy Long Legs: (Laughing Evilly)

Jack: Are you okay?

Mommy Long Legs: Oh...it broke...

Jack: Nope. Not okay.

Eventually, I had to run as fast as I can away from Mommy Long Legs chasing me down until I made my way over to the Game Station before she cornered me and pinned me to the floor with that bloodthirsty look in her eyes.

Mommy Long Legs: Do you like to play games? How about you play some games with Mommy?

Jack: Sorry that I had to do this to you, Mommy Long Legs, but... (Pulls out a Grab-Pack Hand Cannon) TALK TO THE HAND!

Then I slapped her in the face with my trusty Grab-Pack Hand Cannon that threw her out of the room, just like that. I thought I was a goner for sure, but I feel like she really wants to play games with me. I don't know.

Mommy Long Legs: Ow...

Soon after I got away from Mommy Long Legs, I found myself at the Playhouse in Playcare and they soon played that stupid song again along with the blaring sound of the alarm and the phone going off that can really give you a serious headache right about now as I soon came face to face with Huggy Wuggy at the doorway.

Jack: Oh, you gotta be freakin' kidding me! (Hears the song again) Ugh...and of course they're singing the song, too...

Then suddenly, a bunch of those Mini Smiling Critters were crawling towards me as I aimed my Grab-Pack Hand Cannon to the ceiling to get me to higher ground.

Jack: Well...I always wanted to try this.

Then as soon as I was high up from the ceiling thanks to my Grab-Pack Hand Cannon, I watched those Mini-Critters crawl to the doorway with one of them stopped to look at me for a moment until they continued walking before Theodore aka CatNap showed up as he stopped and looked at me before I feel back down to the floor and CatNap looked down at me with his soulless black eyes and permanent smile.

Jack: Look, Theo....Nappy Cat! You and I are cool, right?

CatNap: (Purring)

Jack: Listen man, your little brother is safe. He's sleeping in the cryo-chamber just what your "friend" told me to do before you and your friends started killing everyone. I'm just the janitor. You know that I care about Y/n as much as you do, right? I ain't got nothing to do with you, Y/n or the other evil toys. Could we just, like...pretend we never saw each other?

CatNap looked at me for a moment before moving on as he still remembered how I cared about him and Y/n like the other toys that shared the same feelings towards Y/n, and I was off the hook for now as CatNap just walked over me without crushing me with his big feline feet.

Jack: (Phew!) Thank God! He still remembers me! It's a good thing they didn't give the cat a pe-

(Clears Throat) Moving on...

After that brief interaction between me and Nappy Cat, I continued finding a way out of the factory before I end up in a dark hallway, still thinking about those lyrics to that song stuck in my head after listening to it one to many times.

Jack: It just doesn't make no sense...all facades are inherently artificial. To say: "Artificial facade". I-It's redundant! What a stupid song. One thing for sure, I'll be dead before I ever sing that song.

As I continued finding my way out, I radioed Kate that is still out there and alive, trying to find a way out of the factory before the toys could get to her to see how's she is doing out there, surviving the chaos withing the factory.

Jack: (Radio) Kate, do you copy? Over.

Kate: Jack? Oh, thank God! What the hell is going on?!

Jack: (Radio) First off, are you okay?

Kate: Sure...

Jack: (Radio) Good. Most of the others weren't so lucky. What's worse, Michael was turned into a toy like them.

Kate: (Shocked) What?!

Jack: (Radio) It's fine. They only did that to those who don't treat these toys with disrespect and cruelty, especially with that kid named Y/n. And I'm next in line to become one of them, so listen to me, Kate. Y'know those evil, man-eating toys we made?

Kate: Yeah? What about them?

Jack: (Radio) Well...they're killing and eating everybody! Except those who are not like them, so they can take them away and unwillingly turn them into toys!

Kate: What?!

Jack: (Radio) I know. Nobody could've foreseen such a thing happening. I had to get Y/n into one of those Cryo-chambers before this all happened. I didn't expect something like this happening the moment I saw everyone on the floor dead. Listen, you need to get to the supply closet in the basement. There's a device there that can help you.

Kate: The basement, a device...Jack, what am I looking for? You can't just throw this on me and expect me to understand!

Jack: (Radio) You'll know it when you see it. Listen-

Kate: (Worried) Jack? (Tries to contact Jack again) JACK! JACK?! (Growls) Shit...God damn it, Jack! If I ever get out of this alive, I hope you and that stupid kid will die and f***ing go to hell.

???: What did you just say about Y/n?!

That was her biggest mistake of her life as she quickly turned to see DogDay charged at her in a fit of rage when she insulted me and Y/n like that. But as I continued moving on down the hallway, I soon encountered Kissy Missy, thinking that maybe she's one of the evil toys trying to hunt me down.

But I soon found out that she's not as evil as I thought she was.

Jack: Jesus...How many of you God damn evil toys are there?

???: No! No!

Then I was confronted by the company's first toy, Poppy Playtime as she stopped me to say that she's here to help me and the other survivors that might still be alive in the factory.

Poppy: We're actually here to help!

Jack: Yeah. The cat said the same thing, and then he ate everybody. Along with the rest of the Smiling Critters and the other evil toys. Plus, they're looking for me to turn me into an evil toy as well.

Poppy: Listen...I'm not your enemy, but I can't just let you leave! What's happening down here is bigger than all of us!

Jack: It's certainly bigger than you, bitch.

Poppy: You deserve an explanation. You wanna know what happened...and why.

Jack: I mean, I assume that you evil toys got fed up with us constantly experimenting on you and hit and so you decided to kill everybody. But then you guys started turning everyone that has sympathy to you evil toys into toys like all of you, which is gonna happen to me if I don't get out of here. Like, I wish you guys wouldn't and I've gotta stop y'all, but...y'know, I understand where you're coming from.

Poppy: I'm going to need you to trust me.

Jack: Nope. Sorry, but I think I should stick to finding a way out of here. (To Kissy Missy) Hey, uh, Kissy. I'ma let you go, because I'm pretty sure you're retarded.

What? It's 1995 - Everybody says that!

So, I turned around and walked back and I figured that I would find another exit somewhere else. I didn't want to hit Poppy with my Grab-Pack Hand Cannon because I knew Kissy would attack me if I hit Poppy's face with the Grab-Pack Hand.

Unfortunately for me, CatNap was already there, and I can already tell that he is hunting me down like we're both playing a game of cat and mouse as I can see CatNap in a more nightmarish form as he stepped out of the red mist, sending shivers down my spine that I've never felt before in my entire life.

CatNap: Jack....you will not escape this factory...you will join us no matter what...you have no choice but to stay...here...with us...

This is the first time I ever heard CatNap speak normally and the sound of his voice as I immediately turned around and began running as fast as I could to get out of the hallway, but unfortunately, as I was about to make my way out of the hallway, I was pushed away by a nightmarish version of Huggy Wuggy, he is now much scarier than he was before.

I think the red smoke must've made me hallucinate as I soon as CatNap confronted me in the hallway and it's already too late for me to continue running away as CatNap soon loomed over me like he just caught his prey.

CatNap: I told you, Jack...you can't leave this place...you belong here with us...the Prototype will save us all...now...it is time for your punishment and reeducation.

And with that, I was caught and taken away to meet up with the Prototype and somehow, I found out that Kate made it out, but it was soon short lived, and she was taken back to the factory and was eaten alive by the Mini Critters.

Guess she got what she deserved for insulting Y/n, and she would've been one of the few lucky ones to make it out of the factory alive if she didn't say anything about Y/n getting killed and go to hell.

And after the Hour of Joy ended with everyone now dead and a few dozen of them were transformed into toys like them in all shapes and sizes. All of their humanity was all gone, left with no memory of their past lives and were given new identity from the Prototype as the toys now live in the toy factory as their new home.

No evil and cruel mad scientists or greedy corporation fat cats to ruin their fun and happiness and being used for profit or for their own cruel and usual experiments.

Me, on the other hand...

My fate...

Was different...

I was now a Smiling Critter like them...

My mind was perfectly fine, but my sanity and my spirit were shattered to bits...

Not to mention that Stockholm Syndrome got the better of me too...

I was forced to live the rest of my own existence as a child's toy, waiting for Y/n to make his return once the timer of that cryo-genic chamber was up to release him...

On the bright side of things, at least CatNap and the other Smiling Critters still cared about me and took me in as their own, despite of how small I've become since I was stuck as a Mini Smiling Critter for the time being before I could get a new and bigger body for my soul to reside in. Plus, I don't have to listen to that song anymore since it did annoy almost everyone in the factory once the Hour of Joy has ended.

But I still can't forget that I put Y/n in that cryo chamber to keep him safe and young, but I knew that once he is out of there...

He's in for a rude awakening that will scar him for life.

Y/n...

If you are still there, sleeping away inside of that ice-cold chamber you're in...

I just want to say...

I'm sorry...

I'm sorry that I had to do this to you...

But it's for your own good...

I was forced to do this by the Prototype to keep you safe and by the time you get caught by your own "family" that loved and cared about you...

You will be forced to...

SMILE FOR US!

Song Plays - Sleep Well by CG5 - Poppy Playtime: Chapter 3

https://youtu.be/TbWV7gCPiYc

Come along, down with me
You're not alone, you will see
The children, they have each other
And each other is all they need

In the hour of joy in this paradise
I thought about all that could have been
If we had never done the things we did
If we had realized all our sins

Come along, down with me (come along, come, come along)
You're not alone, you will see (come along, come, come along)
We children, we have each other
And each other is all we need
In the hour of joy, in the hour of joy

In the hour of joy, in the hour of joy
In the hour of joy, in the hour of joy
In the hour of joy, in the hour of joy
In the hour of joy, in the hour of joy

Artificial façade from a fraud of a God
All due to the path that we trod
We just wanted to heal, but now our nightmares are real
And now we'll never wake up, for we've torn apart
We want freedom, freedom
Freedom, freedom, freedom (we all fall down)
We'll sleep well now, dream dreams knocked out
New blooms when Playtime sprouts

Come along, go to sleep (come along, come, come along)
And leave here without a trace (come along, come, come along)
Though life in the shadows isn't much
It's better than living in a cage

Can you see us?
Can you hear us?

Artificial façade from a fraud of a God
All due to the path that we trod
We just wanted to heal, but now our nightmares are real
And now we'll never wake up, for we've torn apart
We want freedom, freedom
Freedom, freedom, freedom (we all fall down)
We'll sleep well now, dream dreams knocked out
New blooms when Playtime sprouts

Artificial façade from a fraud of a God (la-la-la-la, la, la-la)
All due to the path that we trod
We just wanted to heal, but now our nightmares are real (la-la-la-la, la, la-la)
And now we'll never wake up, we've torn apart

Artificial façade (la-la-la-la, la, la-la)
(La-la-la-la, la, la-la)

-End of Song-

END OF PREQUEL ARC

TO BE CONTINUED IN TIGHT SQUEEZE ARC