Overdue Check-Up (Poppy Playtime)

(Chapter 4) Part 1: New Ground

The hatch closes above the group, causing the lift they were taking to suddenly stutter before going down again. Catnap hops from platform to platform to keep up with them while Poppy and Nearic shout to the heavens.

"KISSY/AUNTY!!!" Nearic runs to the controls, pressing buttons, flipping switches, desperately trying to force the lift upwards.

"No, no no no no!" Poppy cried, "Hold on, Kissy! I'm coming!"

Dan turned to his brother, "Nearic, get us up there!"

"I'm trying!" the boy shouted, "but nothing's working!" he slams his only free fist onto the controls in frustration.

Dan turns around, "Damnit!" he looks at the toys, "What do we do now, what was that thing, what happened?!"

Dogday releases a shuddering breath, "No idea, but there's nothing we can do now."

Nearic spins on father, "What?! We can't leave them up there, we have to help them!"

"And we will," Poppy interjects, "Listen, go on ahead. Don't wait for me. I won't leave Kissy or Hoppy behind, and I won't sacrifice our plan. Not because of..." she pauses, closing her eyes as she composes herself, "Because of me."

Nearic opens his mouth to argue, but Catnap in front of them, landing on a pipe, "She's right Kit, we can't help them right now. We need to keep moving and get to a safer place; besides, Hoppy can defend herself quite well, we've fought on a few occasions, and she always got away in the end."

Dogday steps up and adds, "And Kissy is no pushover either, they'll be alright."

Nearic looks down, gritting his teeth as he clenches his fists, grimacing as his right arm flared with pain, prompting Dan to speak, "Besides, we can't risk putting you in danger of fighting whoever or whatever that was. We need to keep moving, backtracking now will only hurt us."

The boy growled, forcibly relaxing his shoulders, "Fine, but we need to hurry," he turns to Poppy, "All of us."

She nods, "I will just... be careful. Down here, it's..." she pauses, "It's not like anything you've seen above."

Dan and Nearic glance at each other nervously upon seeing the fear and anxiety behind her gaze, "I-it's not trying to hide wat it is."

"It's hell," Catnap growled, his tail lashing wildly behind him as he leaps down to keep up with them, "and Playtime wanted it to be."

Nearic gulped, biting his lip as Poppy continued, "But we have allies down here. Get to them."

The lift finally hits the ground just as Catnap land son the ground ahead of them, "Come on, we should hurry, we don't want to delay Poppy's rescue mission."

Dan, Nearic, and Dogday agree with a nod as they left the platform, the gate to it closing behind them. The lift quickly rises up afterward, the four watching the lift rise as Poppy begins to speak.

"There's still time to save the orphans. Follow the Red Smoke! And look out for-" a loud hiss form a nearby pipe interrupts the living doll, her advise unheard; then she's too high up to repeat herself.

Dan takes a deep breath while Nearic stares at the lift, contemplating something, but is interrupted when his brother speaks, "We need to get moving, now. We can't wait a single moment down here, who knows how far these 'allies' are, so we need to find them as soon as possible."

Dogday nods, "Agreed," he looks ahead, "Let's take a look around, maybe we can find some schematics about this place."

The family of four walk into the next room. The wall opposite of them has large white bold words that spell out, 'Loading Bay 1E', the room appearing as such. Large crates with colourful squares painted on them, pallets scattered around, metal shelves fill with open and closed cardboard boxes, and even some forklifts were left abandoned here. Several pipes worked their way through the ceiling, a thick red one pumping Red Smoke through it, glowing an ominous red. Across the room as well were catwalks that led to three areas: the one on the far left appeared to be lit, the one in the middle was dark, and the right lead to a door connected to some sort of interactive screen and a battery slot.