Chapter Text
Lower Elevator Shaft
The lift continues its decent as the first four of the gang were waiting for it to come to a stop. Matthias, Ollie, who now has Catnap's grabpack due to the feline being nervous about using one from the last time he did before he became the feline he is now, Catnap, and Dogday were running a quick review of their gear as Poppy remained by the controls.
"I don't like this. I figured the prototype would try something but, so far it's all quiet. Go on without me, I'll take the lift right back up to get the others. Just becareful down here, it's not like what you seen upstairs. It's hell" Poppy stated.
Theo snorts "hell is too nice a word to describe this place" Berry nods in agreement as the lift finally reaches the bottom into what seems to be a warehouse. The four critters step off the lift and Poppy starts going up "be careful and find safe haven!"
The four then continue up into the warehouse going up a set of stairs to the right, a door locked by a blue hand scanner. The scanner itself unpowered. Berry looked over to the other side of the room and saw a battery behind a fenced off corner.
"I see it" he called out and ran across the containers, using the new grabpack to swing across a hook above to clear a gap. Staring at a hole in the fence he used the grabpack to acquire the battery. "I got it!" He exclaimed as he tried to swing back across only for the hook to break off. Berry braced himself for the fall. Only to stop midair as a long purple tail had wrapped around him. He was pulled back up into Theo's arms.
"Please be careful Berry, you just got used to this body and I don't want to see you hurt" the cat purred to as he held the dog in his arms. Berry blushed and chuckled as Theo let him go and the two went back to the door. Matthias chuckled at their antics as did Ollie. The battery was inserted and Matthias used the scanner to open the door. The four would proceed forward only to be stopped by a wall.
Using the grabpack Matthias moved a box out of the way to reveal a hole they can crawl through. They do so and emerge into what seems to be a narrow passage, it was the only way forward. They followed the path eventually having to use the grabpacks to swing across a gap, well Theo used his tail. They kept moving till they saw writing on the wall.
TO PRISON -->
They squeeze between a wall and some rubble to approach a door locked by a piece of rope. Ollie used the flare gun to burn the rope away, allowing the door to open. Beyond it a sight that made Matthias recoil in digest "a-are those..." he didn't finish as he was looking at mounds of toy corpses. "As Poppy said, it's hell down here" Ollie muttered as the began to move forward. They started to be approached by mini toys, torn up, damaged. They put the flare guns to use and noticed that Tom had somehow made them brighter which was good.
Then they arrived to a set of gates only for bright light to blind them and a alarm to sound once. Many toys came at them then, they worked in tandem. Matthias, Ollie, and Dogday scaring them off with flares, while Theo bashed him with his custom made bat. It didn't take long at all and the toys stopped coming. The went up to the sealed door only for it to not open.
"Damn, we need a other way" Matthias stated. He looked around and noticed Ollie climbing up one of the mounds "this way" he called. The other three climbed up to see a hall in the wall. Going through they would come across a purple launch pad, the three grabpack users used their grabpacks while Theo used his cat like agility and stretchy tail to get by the pads and a hook along the way.
The entered a room when the phone rang. Matthias picked it up to reveal Poppy on the line. "What's the time?" he asked her "Ink time" she answered. A bit of a code phrase to ensure the prototype isn't in the line.
"I got the others and heading back down. Surprisingly enough the prototype hadn't started anything yet. It just makes me more suspicious, we'll take a different route to Safe Haven, where are you now?" She asked.
"The prison, we're in a big room with what seems to be...train cars" Matthias answered. "In one of them is going to be a key, you'll need it. Be careful as you'll be encountering the doctor very soon" she stated.
"Got it, we'll get through him" Matthias said ending the call. Ollie had climbed up to get the key while Matthias was on the phone. Dogday proceeded to solve the puzzle and power the train. The raccoon blinked "jeez guys, you are turning into speed demons" he stated.
"It's best to get this over with quickly, trust me" Ollie said apprehensive. Matthias nods and the four pile into the open train car. It closes shut and the train begins to move. It moved for a good minute before it came to a stop. In the corner the TV screen flickered to life.
"It's him" Theo announced. The screen revealed a digital eye as a voice draws out from its speaker "ahhh the nightmare reject, it seems you took my threat seriously, and you have brought the other experiments with you" Matthias found himself growling immediately. Berry and Theo being called experiments hurt but, Ollie being called one? Boris would've bashed the TV just for that.
"Let's make a game of you four" the train buckled as the doctor said that. Matthias quickly found himself thrust back into the wall from the shake. The impact dazed him and he fell to the floor. He heard for a brief moment, Ollie calling out to him before he passed out from the bump to his head.
End Chapter