Rip Off (Poppy Playtime Shortfic)

(8.) Catching Glimpse.

Disclaimer: I don't own Poppy Playtime (Video Game). I don't own the picture (cover). Or the song.

(qwertuno and SilentReadersMatter)

(I couldn't find mini/toy version of them all so bare with me on that, please.)

(Hope you enjoy.)

We searched the factory for the location Stella mentioned ambiguously. Her message left us stunned into silence and we had no idea where we were doing and who happened to be ahead.

I heard their whispers.

"They're coming!"

"Huggy's gonna be happy~"

"I heard Bron's going to eat human alive!"

Personally, I called them minis. Little versions of the toys in the factory replicated to little ones the children would find cute.

Kissy's words, not mine.

"Human?" I whispered cautiously, grasping your arm. "Stay close. The minis are tattling."

It may not sound so dangerous. Trust me, it definitely us. If the mini told the others where we were or heading any location, we'd be ducking doomed. We can two, three, but not all of them.

"Don't worry." You gulped fearfully. "I will. Little shits are watching us, aren't they? Remind me of someone way back when."

I didn't ask and you didn't answer.

They'll all be here.

Even Poppy would get involved. And she wasn't one for personal interaction. In this specific scenario, I think she'd be willing to make an exception.

For now, we're having to wait. I know the others are stalking us in the shadows-

As if in cue, we heard a demonic giggle. We flinched in fear, you automatically ducking behind me as I peered in the darkness, faintly able to see shadows figures sneaking their way owner toward us.

Little sneaky shits.

They were minis. Huggy and Missy's little servants. They didn't work alone, always needing the orders of their masters to complete a simple mission. Without a purpose, they found no will to live in this factory.

I once tried setting them free. My attempts were futile. They were took broken and too...vain to leave Huggy and Kissy. I think they considered them their parents.

Creepy, I know.

"We're coming to getcha~"

That whisper breathed in my ears. Spotting you turning pale as a ghost, I didn't even need to look behind myself to know who happened to be stalking us here.

"Cuddly." It seemed you warned me. "Run."

That was our usual strategy. You grabbed my wrist and we sprinted away from the little minis who were running after us so they could keep tracking us for the others. They were their eyes and ears when not around their designated areas.

"HUGGY!"

One yelled through the vents. A banging sound erupted, your hand tightening around my wrist. I was injured, you were injured, and now we were being fucking chased without a plan.

Real. Fucking. Great.

"Human." I hissed distressed. The fur on the back of my hair stood and know I understood why you humans used that phrase. "The hell do we do? Shit. Shit. Shit."

"Just keep running."

Your eyes glazed as your throughts processed the areas we currently resided in. A Bron mini chomped my arm and I cried out in pain as it took a piece of flesh from the humerus.

"FUCK!" My voice glitched accidentally, causing a flinch from the creatures nearby. "Shit. Shit. Why'd YA HAVE TO DO THAT?"

It unleashed the monster hidden beneath the mask. Suppressing the thing the scientists made me become had gotten relatively easy over years passing. Constant emotional and sometimes physical made it hard, but I avoided it's persuasive voice whispering one sentence—

LET ME OUT.

I HAD NO CHOICE.

The beast had awakened. As a consequence of disturbing its nap, it decided it was taking control of the body I currently inhabited.

I wasn't the true owner in this case. They had once ruled his mind, body, soul. The scientists created me and merged our souls into one entity.

"What do you mean? I'm human."

It slept whilst I ruled. In some ways, I felt sorry for them all. Poppy forced Stella in her mind watching everyone agonising moment as she tortured us all into doing her bidding.

"There must be a way outta here."

"Don't know, human."

As for the others, I had no clue. They kept their spirits a secret. I wondered who yours would turned out to be...

An orphan? Worker? Hell, a boss? Only Poppy would tell. She knew us all better than we knew ourselves, including yourself.

CLANG

We ran from the minis after hearing the pipe colliding on the ground. You could say we noted the fuck out that area no one conveniently resided as ran as cowards from a war battle.

You don't realise, do you?

For a few moments, Poppy connected my vision to hers. Through her eyes, I saw something in your body you probably had never been told or aware of in your entire existence.

You...were like me. Not human.

"You don't remember?" Slipped out my throat by accident, drawing your curious gaze. "Nothing, let's quickly leave before they appear."

Someone sleeps inside them, Cuddly. Hehe, but sadly, I can't say. He, she? Or they? I don't want to be what they call...offensive nowadays?

Fuck you dying brand of old time shitty vintage doll who is too intelligent for their own good.

Aww, WANNA PLAY?

I yelped as Poppy left my mind. Every time she'd leave a burning sensation as she literally forced her spirit into our heads in order for communication to be possible.

Poppy's weakness is she loved the game. And now we have her a thrill she hadn't experience ever since controlling us to kill whoever stood in her way.

"Cuddly?" You panted, a look in your eyes I was all to familiar with. The other held the same expression when finding out their origins. "What the hell am I?"

Your held out your arm. My eyes widened in shock and resolution. A tear in your skin revealed metal under the bone of manmade experiment.

"We are a company of the greatest toys! Even some of the most advanced."

Elliot once mentioned offhandedly. Oh, shit. I recalled someone those events escaping that day. It wasn't me, it wasn't Huggy, it wasn't Poppy.

"Today's incident was caused by the problem experiment. By the time if this recording, they are long gone. Hopefully to return."

It made too much sense.

"Human. Your not human." I stated bluntly. No time like the present. "Your A.I."

"Who's inside my body?"

"A spirit laying dormant."

She'd fess who slept inside your heart.