A/N - I rewrote the cassette tape a little bit, in case it did take place when they were hiding in Shelf Ventilation Block B6 in Chapter 4.
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The group entered a large room and looked around. Michelle spotted a lever before approaching it; when she was close to the glass, she spotted a key hanging on a pegboard. "That key has to be important," she said.
Michelle grabbed the lever before pulling it down, which turned the light on. As the group walked past a large tube-like home, they saw an Outimal near the door.
Michelle turned her head to the right and spotted a glowing red light in the other room before entering it through the broken window. When Michelle stepped to the right, she aimed her left arm at the lever.
The blue hand shot from Michelle's wrist and grabbed the lever before pulling it down, which turned the light on and made the Outimal run away.
After the blue hand retracted back to Michelle's wrist, she approached the door as the group entered. After Michelle opened the door, she spotted the lever near some hanging hooks before approaching it.
When Michelle was close, she grabbed the lever before pulling it down, which turned the light on and made the Outimal run away. As the group entered the room, Michelle spotted a yellow pen-like gadget with a five-pointed star connected to it before approaching it.
When Michelle was close to the gadget, she crouched and picked it up; the smaller toys gathered around her. "What is that?" a mini CatNap asked.
Michelle examined the gadget. "It's a Glowby," she said. "It acts like a flashlight, a cassette player; it even has a blacklight because of the invisible ink it uses." The smaller toys were amazed. "Is it usable?" a mini KickinChicken asked.
Michelle looked at Glowby's screen and noticed it was blank. "Not this one, unfortunately..." she said as she placed it back on the ground. "This one is dead..."
The smaller toys were upset as Michelle stood up. "Thinking about it now, having a Glowby would be a good idea," she continued. "If I'm in an area filled with Outimals and no standing lights around me, their light will help a lot."
Michelle looked at the door on the left before approaching it, which made the group follow. After Michelle opened the door, the grouped walked forward until they saw a red light turn on and spotted an Outimal near the door.
Michelle looked around before spotting a lever on the left and junk covering the path. "If one way is blocked, there's always another," she said before walking forward a bit and turning left.
When Michelle was close to the shelves near a conveyor belt with hanging hooks above it, she got on the shelves before crouching and moving forward.
When Michelle was on the other side, she stood properly and approached the lever before grabbing it and pulling it down, which turned the light on and made the Outimal run away.
After Michelle caught up with the group, they approached the door; Kevin opened the door before they entered. The group looked at the conveyor belt with hanging hooks on the left before approaching it.
When Michelle was close to the end, she spotted a few Outimals in their small homes. As Michelle got out of the tunnel, an Outimal with orange fur sticking out of it roared and leaped toward her.
Before the Outimal got too close, Kevin's claws sharpened before shooting his arm toward him, which stabbed it in the chest before it hit the wall hard.
Kevin pulled his claws out of the dead Outimal, which made it hit the ground before giving the other Outimals death glares. "Who else wants some?" he said with his fangs out.
The other Outimals were terrified before they hid in their homes. "Thanks, Kev," Michelle said, which made Kevin nod as he shook the blood off his fingers.
Michelle turned her head to the back and spotted a lever before approaching it. When Michelle was close to the lever, she grabbed it before pulling it down, which turned the standing light ahead of them on and made an Outimal run away.
As the group walked forward, Michelle opened the door; she spotted an Outimal near a cardboard home before looking at the conveyor belt and getting on it. Michelle crouched before moving along the conveyor belt and spotting a lever.
After Michelle got off the conveyor belt, she approached the lever before grabbing it and pulling it down, which turned the standing light near the double doors on, and a corpse hanging by their arms on hanging hooks.
When the toys were near the doors, Michelle walked past the hanging corpse before she got close to one of the doors. As Michelle opened the door, she heard noises, which surprised her. "That noise..." she said before looking around.
Soon after, Michelle spotted a Glowby in between gears as it made noises. "A functioning Glowby; nice," she continued before looking around. Soon after, Michelle spotted the lever and a button next to it before approaching it.
When Michelle was close to the lever, she grabbed it before pulling it down, which turned the light on and the button to make noise. When Michelle pressed the button, the gears moved, which made Glowby fall out of it, and the light short-circuited.
Michelle looked at the conveyor belt and noticed the Poppy Gel. "All I have to do is not touch that gel," she said before stepping to the left. When Michelle spotted Glowby, she aimed her left arm at it.
The blue hand shot from Michelle's wrist and grabbed Glowby before it retracted back to her wrist. The group gathered around Michelle as she examined Glowby; their screen booted up before it made happy chirp noises.
Michelle smiled a bit. "Welcome to the group, Glowby," she said before examining Glowby. "I personally have never had one, but if I remember correctly..."
When Michelle pressed the green button on Glowby, the light turned on, and their screen turned the smiley face into a sun symbol with a smiley face. "Alright, we now have a functioning flashlight," she continued. "Now then, let's find the room that leads to that key."
The toys nodded before approaching the door and turning left; when they were close to the double doors, the light from Glowby pointed at the Outimal, which made it run away.
Michelle looked at the double doors. "I'd like to check out this room; see if there's something important here," she said. Kevin nodded before approaching the double doors. "Roger that," he said.
When Kevin opened one of the double doors, a couple of Outimals growled at the group; when Michelle aimed Glowby at them, they made pained noises before running away.
As the couple entered the room and looked around, Michelle spotted a note on the ground. "There's a note on the ground," she said. Kevin approached Michelle and picked the note up before looking at it as she held Glowby out. "Are these instructions?" she asked.
Kevin gripped the note, and his body started bubbling, which made Michelle look at him, concerned. "These bastards... they treated us more like livestock than people..." he said. "If they were still alive, I'd kill them again."
Michelle frowned a bit before wrapping her arm around Kevin's arm, which made him look at her. Kevin looked forward and closed his eyes before taking a deep breath. After Kevin exhaled, his body stopped bubbling. "I'm fine now; thanks," he said.
Michelle smiled a bit and looked at the note. "As for this... we could hold onto it," she said. "Let the public know this company's dark side." Kevin chuckled a bit. "I like the way you think," he said as he folded the note before they approached the door.
After the couple left the room, Michelle looked at Miss Delight. "Hey, Miss Delight, we need to place this note in my bag," she said. Miss Delight nodded. "Of course," she said before approaching the couple.
After Michelle unwrapped her arm, Kevin unzipped her bag and placed the note inside before zipping it. "Let's move," he said, which made the group nod. As the group left the room, they heard growling. "I think someone is lost..." an Outimal said.
Glowby made an alert sound, which surprised the smaller toys; Michelle looked at their screen and noticed a lightbulb symbol with an exclamation mark in the center. "That's supposed to indicate that I should use the blacklight," she said. "If I press the green button twice..."
Michelle pressed the green button twice, which activated the blacklight, and Glowby's screen changed to a smiley face wearing sunglasses.
When Michelle aimed Glowby at the ground, the group saw symbols on a poster and an arrow pointing forward, which amazed the smaller toys. "We'll need to go back the way we came," she said before the group walked to the right.
When the group was near the conveyor belt with hanging hooks, Michelle spotted hopscotch on the ground. Even though they appear like monsters, they were once children too... she thought.
A couple of Outimals growled at the group; Michelle pressed the green button twice, which changed the blacklight to regular light, which made the Outimals run away.
After the group went through the conveyor belt, Michelle pressed the green button twice, which changed the light to the blacklight before they entered the other room. The group spotted an arrow pointing toward the door before approaching it.
After the group left the other room, they spotted another arrow pointing toward the door; they looked past the standing light and saw a Huggy drawing before leaving the room.
As the group walked forward, they spotted another arrow near the large opening before they went through it. Michelle looked at the ground before spotting an arrow on the right; she turned her head to the right and spotted an Outimal growling at her.
Michelle pressed the green button twice, which changed the blacklight to regular light and made the Outimal open the door.
Michelle looked at the door on the left. "Before we go through there, let's check the room on the left," she said. The group nodded before approaching the door; after Kevin opened the door, Michelle walked forward and looked around.
When Michelle stepped to the right, she spotted a red cassette tape on the ground. "There's a cassette tape," she said. "Might have something important." Kevin entered the room and approached the cassette tape before picking it up.
When Kevin was close to Michelle, she turned Glowby to its back. "If I remember correctly, you just press the white part on Glowby," she said.
When Kevin pressed the white part on Glowby, a slot opened before he put the cassette tape inside; after he closed it, Michelle turned them around. "And if I press this red button..." she said, lowly.
When Michelle pressed the red button, they heard Poppy making a shush noise before they heard noises in the background. "Keep looking; they couldn't have gotten far," a male toy said.
The group stared at Glowby as the audio started going quiet. "I think they're gone," Poppy said. "And hopefully, they're far away from the others..."
The group heard chirping. "It was an ambush. I... somehow Prototype's hunters knew that we'd be there. All we can do is keep them away while the others—" they heard crying, which broke some of their hearts. "It wasn't supposed to be like this... I'm supposed to be..." Poppy said, lowly.
Michelle stared at Glowby. "Hey, I... I'm here for you... I feel it too," Poppy continued. "Let's be scared together; you and me. I hold onto you, and you hold onto me, just like always. Let's... let's just wait it out a few more minutes; until we know it's safe and we can regroup back with the others."
When the cassette tape ended, the group stared at Glowby as the white part on their back opened. "So Poppy and Kissy were going to come back to the elevator," Doey said. "Then what happened to them?"
Michelle remained silent and looked down; Katelynn looked at her, worried. "Big Sister?" she asked. Michelle gripped Glowby a bit. "She was protecting us... and I was blaming her for being selfish..." she said, lowly.
Kevin pulled the cassette tape out of Glowby. "Well, as you said, the past is the past; we worry about right now," he said, which made Michelle look at him. "So, what do you want to do right now?"
Michelle stared at Glowby before taking a deep breath; after she exhaled, she closed the white part and looked at the group, determined. "We move forward; if they've been captured, we will find a way to rescue them," she said.
The group remained silent until Kevin smiled a bit. "Sounds like a good plan," he said. The others agreed before leaving the room and approaching the open door.