I didn't sign up for that shit

A backpack is probably not the safest way to travel

The next morning came way too fast if you ask Night. Especially after what happened yesterday. The staff had been in a particularly bad mood that day. Something about an inspection? Night wasn't sure. But anyway, he could watch the staff dressing up any sellable bitty. Maybe this inspection-or-whatever-was something special? Maybe this time they could let them be part of it! Night knew, no matter how well the others hid it, that they were lonely in a way that only a human or an actual monster could fill. And the staff here avoided as much contact with them as possible. It wasn't fair that they weren't eligible for adoption just because they didn't look right or maybe they had made a mistake or two. Night had also made some mistakes for which he wasn't flagged as broken! He had to check himself in here. Though he hadn't planned on Star following him here. On the other hand, he and Star were soulmates. It's only natural that Star follows him everywhere, just like Night would follow him everywhere.

So, out of curiosity, Night hid near the ajar door. He really wanted to know what this inspection was about!

"How far are we?" One of the employees, a pretty middle-aged human lady, asked her other employee, a young rabbit monster.

"Almost through. The Sansys and Lil Bros still need to be made ready. Their laziness makes it a bit more difficult, but we'll make it in time.” The lady nodded happily before her expression turned serious.

"Have you already taken care of the defective ones?" the lady asked, whereupon the rabbit just shook their head. The look the lady had gave Night a bad feeling.

“Jeff is sick today. He should actually take over the defects. His representative is doing it now.” And as if the rabbit had conjured it up, a skeleton in the store's uniform came around the corner. It was a huge, backward-bent horned skeleton with a long tail topped with small spikes. The skeleton had dark bones with light gray spots - Hey, that on the left side of the face looked like a crescent! - which were scattered all over the bones, with the bones appearing a dark gray rather than black. Somehow, however, Night had the impression that these bones shouldn't be gray. The eyes were a dark blue that contrasted heavily with the black of the eye sockets, though it didn't detract from the slight under-eye circles that also worried Night. Each of the Bitties had dark circles under their eyes and Night knew this could be from either lack of sleep due to nightmares or low magic levels. And neither of them were healthy. But what also caught Night's attention were the intense purple rings around the dark blue eyelights. And while the skeleton must have had two horns once, there was only one. The right horn appeared to have been broken, with a crack running down to and beyond the eye socket. The left horn didn't look any better itself, missing a large piece in it. And even the left eye socket was not spared. It looked like a part broke off, like someone pulled on it too hard.

Night's first instinct when he saw this monster was to wrap him in a bunch of blankets and make sure he was okay. Because at the moment the skeleton was not doing well. He could taste the negativity coming off the skeleton in thick waves. Every Nightmare bitty should be able to feel this large amount of negativity. He hoped the Dream bitties were okay. Too much negativity wasn't exactly good for them.

But Night couldn't waste much more time listening. He had to tell the others. He had maybe a minute before this new monster came into their room.

"Guys! Guys, it's important!” Night shouted as soon as he got to the sleeping places of the others. But fortunately he had been loud enough, because slowly the others climbed out of their makeshift beds. Night almost felt sorry for depriving them of their sleep, but this was important.

"What are you making such a noise about so early in the morning?" came from a grumbling Sun. Night would later help him with his wings as an apology for waking him up so abruptly. He knew how much Sun hated it when he was forced to wake up with loud methods. Also, it was always nice to take care of each other's wings.

"There's a monster coming in here any minute. Apparently he's supposed to be looking after us for the inspection, but that's not important. The thing is-!'

"Night, do you understand what you're saying there?! If an inspection takes place, they will simply throw us "defective" Bitties away! We would ruin their reputation, especially since there are so many of us!” Sombra interrupted the smaller Bitty, his magic rolling off him in waves of anger, the sour undertone of corruption running high. And Night understood his objection! He wasn't stupid. He knew what fate most likely awaited them. But they had to help this monster!

"I know, I know! It's never good when they plan to do something with us bitties. But still! We have to help this monster, he-!” Night wanted to say even more, convincing the others that this monster needed their help rather than being seen as a threat! But unfortunately he really didn't get very far, because before he could even say another word, a wave, of what was probably the strongest wave of negativity he had ever felt, rolled over them all. It was almost too much even for him, a Nightmare Bitty. And a quick glance at the others showed that even they were overwhelmed by it. Even Solar, who had the strongest positive aura as a Dream Bitty, was heavily influenced by it and seemed to cling to Rotten as if the other Bitty were his lifeline.

"Am I disturbing you?" It came from the door and when Night was finally able to turn around, the black skeleton was standing there, a backpack in hand. And while it appeared calm on the outside, Night could feel the waves of anger emanating from the monster. But something told him that anger wasn't directed at them. "I'm really sorry that this is coming so suddenly, but could you all climb into this backpack here? I know it's weird, but this way I can easily get you guys out of here before the real stand-in for this Jeff comes along and then there'll be nothing left of you."

The doubts were clearly legible on the faces of the others. Even if this monster was badly injured and seemed to genuinely care for their well-being, they couldn't be sure that they would survive like this. It wouldn't be the first time someone has faked their emotions only to betray them afterwards. But against everyone's expectations, Dark stepped forward first and looked up at the dark skeleton.

"I trust you. So please, get us out of here.”

The look of glee on the monster's face was something Night wanted to see more often. He had the feeling that this monster didn't have something that gave him happiness nearly often enough.