Pediophobia

Chapter Eleven: Family History

Warning: Swearing imminent.

I could not contain my anger or shock. "Okay, lass. Can you explain to me what happened? What case? How? Who did it? How are you talking to me like a real person? And what exactly does Huggy Wuggy want from me?" I peppered the little doll with questions faster than I could run. I didn't realize that the tea kettle was going to spill.

Poppy placed a small, porcelain hand up as if to signal me to shut up. I obeyed, seating myself cross legged on the ground. "I'm sure you have seen the VHS tape. But you don't know what sort of shady things my company did." She stated in a blunt manner, her voice even. "But that's not important. What is important is that I was asleep for a long time, and I woke up to this little girl grabbing me. I was held inside of a glass case, like I was an extinct, exotic butterfly. I was placed in here by Leith Pierre after Elliot Ludwig... huh?" She cut herself off, her realistic blue eyes widening in confusion.

"What?" I asked, placing a comforting hand on her. She had her blue eyes trained on something behind me. I glanced over at Mary Anne's window to see two lanky figures walking out from one of the loop the loops. I squinted. The figures appeared to be vaguely human, but I couldn't make out any details. They were too far away. Then I realized that Poppy might be seeing my true form. "Oh, are you talking about my reflection? It's just me." I reassured her, hoping that the figures were just figments of my imagination.

Poppy shook her head as if to clear the cobwebs from her glass looking head. Then she continued, "Anyways, Playtime was starting to sink, and Leith came up with a new character to act as my dad. He called the creature 'Project Daddy Long Legs.' Every time I tried to ask him, he told me that he was making two parental figures for me. He never referred to the toy by its' real name until 1984. I met my father, Huggy Wuggy on that day... and the whole world instantly fell in love with him, too." She sighed, seemingly saddened by something. "Leith worried about someone trying to steal things from him... and what was worse was that Huggy emotionally bonded with a skinny boy and my Mommy over the course of the year. I never liked seeing Huggy with that boy, since he had a gleam of mischief in his blue eyes."

"Boy?" I asked, then I instantly felt stupid for asking. I knew exactly who Poppy was referring to before she even said anything.

"Yes. His name was Daniel Mark Black, and I hated him with a deep-seated passion." Poppy grumbled, tugging her dress. "I thought I could try to get him fired, but I couldn't. He was always a resource to us, that was, until the scientists tried to make him an experimental toy. He actually quit before he was due to be an experiment." I could hear bare traces of anger in her soft voice. "Huggy snapped when he saw his 'favorite-est employee' shout that he was quitting. He tried everything in his power to get him to stay. But that Danny was too quick. He was out the door and driving away by the time Huggy made it to the lobby area." She scoffed, then she squinted at my face. "You bear a striking resemblance to Danny. But your eyes are green. What are you?"

I replied, waving a hand, "They used to be hazel. But that was before Sonic transferred me to being an elite student. Now I'm a hedgehog, much like Dad. Except I have the ability to shapeshift and run at the speed of sound." Now my stomach was in knots. Daddy... what did you get yourself involved with? I wondered silently. Then I straightened myself out and decided to focus on my next task: convincing Poppy to go back to Playtime Company. "But now I have to address the Dr. Eggman figure in the room: I have to give you back to Huggy Wuggy tonight."

Right away, the mood shifted in a horrible way. The doll begged, her blue eyes wide with horror, "No! I don't want to go back there! Mommy and Daddy will punish me in the most horrid way for running off with your children! Don't send me back! They'll lock me in that case again!" My stomach twisted at the sound of that. I had a feeling that this 'Mommy and Daddy' are a pair of certain long-legged toys that I didn't particularly want to meet. "Mommy doesn't like guests. Daddy absolutely hates them, but somehow let you escape alive. Could you be related to Danny?"

I nodded, knowing that the doll is going to connect the dots eventually. "I'm one of his three daughters." I told the doll, and I noted a whole flurry of emotions fly across her face. Then Mary Anne screamed and hid in a closet. I turned towards the window, wondering what caused my daughter to scream like a banshee. My face paled at the sight of a pink face staring back at me. I swore, knowing exactly what was staring back at me.

Before you ask if it was someone that I know of who works at STH Academy, no, it was not Amy Rose. This face had red, plastic lips with a wide, sharp toothed grin. The eyes were pitch black with the whites barely showing. They also wore mascara, meaning that the creature was definitely feminine. Her head was triangle shaped, and she was pink. Like, I'm talking pink enough to make Amy jealous. We locked eyes with each other, and it felt as if time moved in slow motion. Then I noted that one yellow hand had somehow managed to open a window. I snapped out of my trance when the creature sang in a falsetto voice, "Come give me a kiss, dear~! I promise it won't hurt~!"

I knew what I had to do: I had to piss off a pink, fuzzy monster. I yelled, "Poppy says that your mascara is striping! And she says that your lipstick is smeared!" The pink creature froze, then her grin became gigantic, all of her deadly pearly whites flashing. It was at this moment that I knew I fucked up.  The monster started moving towards me in a strangely organic gait. If it was not real, I'd be laughing at my absurd situation. I felt a little guilty for throwing Poppy under the bus, but if she had tried to hurt my biological dad in the past, then she deserved it (kind of).

"Nice try, dear~!" That falsetto voice sang at me, "Come give Kissy Missy a big kiss!"