Starlight Needs a Hug 2: A Web of Lies

In Poppy's Room

Starlight, Trixie, and Huggy Wuggy all woke up in the room where Poppy slept in her case. Starlight struggled to get to her feet as she looked around the room. Poppy was no longer in her open case, and a door down an adjoining hallway was wide open. Starlight shook the sleep from her mind and looked to Trixie and Huggy.

"Are you two OK?" Starlight asked.

"Sleepy as hell, but happy to be alive," Trixie replied.

Huggy simply nodded groggily. The trio got to their feet and looked at the open door outside the room.

"Where'd Poppy go?" Trixie asked. "Did she see Huggy here and bolt in fear?"

"Maybe. Anyway, we have to follow her and see where she went," Starlight replied.

When they exited the room, they saw a huge red door flanked by two angling hallways. The door had a sign hanging above it with a familiar name engraved on it.

"ELLIOT LUDWIG"

"Is that the legendary Elliot Ludwig's office?" Trixie asked with a wide smile. "Oh! We have to go inside!"

"Trixie, as adorable as you look when giddy like this, we have to focus on finding Poppy," Starlight said with a suppressed giggle. She then tried to open the door to Elliot's office only to find that the door was locked.

Starlight looked away just in time to not see Trixie blushing from being called "adorable" to look for Poppy. While there was no living doll, she did still have her handy-dandy GrabPack. She looked down the left hallway and saw that the gate was closed, so Poppy couldn't have gone through there. That only left the other hallway for Poppy to go down. She turned back to Trixie and Huggy.

"You two stay here and I'll scout ahead to look for Poppy. If something goes wrong, I'll head straight back here," Starlight said.

"I think Huggy here will be able to handle any threat that comes our way," Trixie said. Huggy Wuggy screeched in approval.

Heading down the hallway, Starlight's mind raced with thoughts of what's happened since they arrived at the factory. They were expecting to see a nice abandoned toy factory and some form of evidence as to what happened to Starlight's mother and the other employees. Instead, they find an actual living Huggy Wuggy creature and vague tapes about what happened in this factory.

"Mom, where are you? And what happened in this factory?" Starlight asked in her mind. "I just hope I can get some answers from this place."

She continued her way down the hallway and saw something she wasn't expecting to see. Laying on her righthand side was a bloody CatBee. Starlight walked over to the poor creature and examined it closely. Its abdomen was torn open and the inside of it looked scooped of everything inside. Inside the toy's body was not plastic or stuffing, but white bones and desiccated flesh. Starlight was shocked by this grisly discovery.

"These toys are... organic? How? How is this possible?" Starlight asked. "What the hell is going on here?"

Before she could get any answer to this question, she saw something laying on the floor across a hole in the floor. A large red key lay on the floor within reach of her GrabPack. She knew that had to be the key to Ludwig's office, so she grabbed it easily. Starlight made her way back to the others with the key in hand.

"Guys, I got the key. I also saw something really disturbing," Starlight said.

"What is it?" Trixie asked.

"I think that these toys are actually living creatures and not animatronics or something like that. I saw a dead CatBee and saw body parts inside. I think Playtime Co. was somehow making living toys."

"How... how is that even possible?"

"I don't know. If we can find Poppy or my mom, then maybe we can get some answers."

"Then let's just get into Ludwig's office and find out what's going on."

Starlight unlocked the door to Elliot Ludwig's office and opened the door to look inside. It was a relatively small office space for someone of Ludwig's importance. There were a small bookshelf on the righthand side of the office, a large rug, a few large vents, a mahogany desk , a TV and VHS player, and two other leather cushion chairs for people meeting. Hung up on the wall were several drawings from kids who visited the factory in the past. Starlight and Trixie looked at the drawings with nostalgia on their faces. Trixie gasped at one she saw on the far left.

"Star! I drew that one when I was 6!" Trixie said.

A crayon-drawn picture of a smiling 6-year old Trixie holding hands with Huggy Wuggy and Kissy Missy was hanging on the wall with a small message below it.

"I LUV HUGGY ANT KISSY"

Trixie continued looking at her drawing, Huggy Wuggy was waiting outside, and Starlight was looking around the office for anything that could be used as a clue. The VHS player had a tape sitting on top of it and Starlight picked it up to look at it. It looked like it was a documentary about Elliot Ludwig himself. She put the tape in and the TV hummed to life.

"That was sad to watch," Trixie said. "At least he was able to pick himself back up."

"Yeah. A family death would break anyone," Starlight said. "I hope he and his family member are reunited in the afterlife."

Starlight looked to Ludwig's desk and saw a single piece of paper on it. She picked it up and read it aloud for her and Huggy to hear.

-

Experiment 814

Notes:
- This experiment utilized a live rat.
- Rat was fed 3 portions daily for 2 weeks.
- At the end of the two weeks, the rat was killed and submerged in a poppy flower and preservative gel mixture.
- 1 week later, an electric shock was applied to the rat (still in the gel) in an attempt to revive it.
- The rat remained unresponsive.

Observations:
I still believe in the potential of the poppy flower. Its unusual properties lead me to believe that the proper mixture and procedure could have life-altering properties. The poppy flower has for a long time carried heavy symbolism, and I don't believe that's for no reason. Perhaps something larger than a rat would yield different results.

-

Trixie and Starlight looked at each other in confusion.

"Why would a toy company be performing experiments like this with poppy flowers?" Trixie asked. "That's really weird."

"The note says that poppy flowers carry heavy symbolism, and poppies have been used to symbolize things such as peace and death," Starlight replied. "In Greek mythology, poppies were linked to the goddess of harvest and agriculture Demeter. Were they... trying to revive the dead somehow with poppies? And if they were, what did the toys have to do with it? And what if my mom was involved with these experiments?"

"Maybe we'll find an answer by looking more around this place," Trixie said, putting a hand on her friend's shoulder.

As Starlight was about to thank Trixie, a vent cover fell off and Poppy herself appeared in the vent. She looked down at the startled human girls below and spoke in a kind voice.

"Oh! Sorry. I didn't mean to startle you," Poppy said. "I was trying to remember my way around in these vents."

Trixie pointed to Poppy with a smile on her face. "You... you're the real Poppy Playtime! The doll that started it all!"

"That's me. I want to thank you all for saving me," Poppy said. "I know a way out of here. There's a train in the Game Station that we can use to get out of here. It needs a code and I have it."

"Wait! I have a reason for being here!" Starlight said. "My mom used to work here, and she disappeared along with the other employees 10 years ago and I have to get answers!"

Poppy looked at Starlight analytically for a moment before her eyes widened somewhat in what looked like realization. Then she gave her a small smile.

"If that's the case, then I can guarantee that the Game Station's train can take you to different places throughout the factory. It's your best bet of covering ground quickly and helping you find answers," Poppy said. "I'll do my best to help you all with whatever you may need."

Starlight smiled at hearing that. "Thank you so much, Poppy. I have to find out what happened to my mom."

"I understand. Now let's head to the Game Station. I should be able to follow you through the vents," Poppy said, walking back into the vents.

The girls left the room and rejoined Huggy Wuggy and the trio walked down the hallway after Starlight opened the gate with her red GrabPack hand. It was easy for them to follow Poppy through the vents by listening for her humming. Starlight was happy to see that someone in the factory was actually willing to help her find answers to the questions buzzing in her mind like a nest of angry hornets. The group walked in silence until they opened a door to find Poppy standing in front of a large hole in the ground. Poppy turned around to face her saviors.

"Listen everyone, I'm going to need you to trust--," Poppy said before being cut off by something.

A large pink hand attached to a long pink arm suddenly grabbed Poppy and pulled her towards the hole. Trixie lunged forward immediately to help Poppy.

"Poppy!!" Trixie called out.

Trixie grabbed Poppy and tried to pull her away from the hand grabbing her.

"Help me! Please don't let go!" Poppy cried out.

"Guys, help me!" Trixie yelled to Starlight and Huggy.

Before the two could help, another pink arm shot out of the hole and grabbed Trixie, too. They were pulled into the hole in the blink of an eye. Starlight and Huggy just stared into the hole in shock.

"Huggy, buddy, we have to go down there and get our friends back!" Starlight said.

Huggy Wuggy grabbed Starlight and held him to his fuzzy chest as he jumped down the hole where the arms came from. They found themselves sliding down... an actual slide. The slide went on for several moments until they shot out of the other end. Huggy set Starlight down and she looked up at her blue buddy with gratitude.

"Thanks, Huggy," Starlight said, petting his head. That earned her a purr from Huggy. "Now let's go get our friends back!"

Starlight and Huggy made their way down the hallway to a closed gate with a sign above it labeled "Game Station" and seemed to require a red hand to open. Starlight fired at it, but a familiar pink hand grabbed it from the shadows in the ceiling.

"Ah! Some new playmates!" a cheery voice called from above, ripping the red hand from Starlight's GrabPack.

Descending down from the ceiling was another large toy creature. This toy was another toy that Starlight recognized from her past with the factory. This was Mommy Long Legs, a spider-lady toy popular in the 90's. Mommy Long Legs looked down at Starlight and Huggy Wuggy with huge green eyes.

"It's been so long!" Mommy said, bringing down one of her arms to reveal Poppy and Trixie with spiderwebs covering their mouths and muffling their screams.

"Isn't this exciting, Poppy?" she asked Poppy, before speaking in a higher tone to mimic Poppy's voice. "Very exciting, Mommy! Mommy heard that Miss Poppy was going to just give you the train code to escape. Now how is that fun? Instead, why don't we make a game out of it?"

Starlight wasn't having it. She wanted to get answers and this huge living Mommy Long Legs was distracting her. Mommy smiled as Starlight glared up at her.

"I don't want to play games with you, Mommy! Just give me my friends back!" Starlight called out. "Just let us look for my mom and we'll leave, I promise!"

Mommy Long Legs stared at Starlight for a good minute before her smile grew even wider. "Now that I get a better look at you, you kind of look like that mean doctor I've seen a lot here in the factory. If you are her daughter, that will make these games all the more satisfying!"

"Wait, you knew my mom? What was she doing here?" Starlight asked. "Please tell me!"

All Mommy did was shake her head. She than lowered her head down to them by stretching her neck.

"That wouldn't be any fun at all. Instead, I'll make you a deal," Mommy said. "If you can play my games and win them all, then I will not only give you the train code and give you your friends back, but Mommy will tell you about your own mommy. Do we have a deal?"

There was no way out of it. Starlight had to accept the deal with Mommy if she was to move forward. And Mommy had a look of madness in her eyes, so Starlight didn't want to test her patience and set her off. Steeling her resolve, she looked up at Mommy with determined eyes.

"Deal. I'll play your games, and I'll win them," Starlight said.

"Excellent! Head to Musical Memory, and Mommy will get things started!" Mommy said before dropping her voice and staring right at Starlight. "Obey the rules, or I'll tear you apart and eat your insides... while you're still alive."

With a manic laugh, Mommy scurried her way back up the wall and disappeared into the shadows above with Poppy and Trixie in her grasp. The gate to the Game Station opened to reveal the Game Station itself. Starlight was in awe of the place as she never saw this place whenever she took the factory tours back in the day.

The Game Station looked like a kids' train station. To the left and right were two areas of playground equipment of all kinds and there were three doors in the ground as well as a raised train platform with a colorful train with a control panel in front of it. Starlight knew she and Trixie would've loved this place if it was on the factory tour. Made her wonder why it wasn't.

"Huh. Why would Playtime Co. build a kids' play area and not include it on the factory tour?" Starlight asked, only for Huggy to give her silence. "They would've loved this place!"

Huggy Wuggy nudged her towards the control panel on the train platform as if to tell her to stay on track. Starlight giggled to herself.

"Ha! Thanks for reminding me, Huggy," Starlight said. "Let's see what games Mommy wants us to play."

They walked up tp the train platform and Starlight pulled a lever that had a flashing light in front of it. The PA system rung to life and a weirdly familiar voice came on. She later recognized the voice as belonging to Stella Greyber, a co-worker that her mom enjoyed working with.

"Hi, kids! Welcome to the Game Station! I'm Stella, and we've got 3 super-duper fun games to play! Just follow Mommy Long Legs down the stairs, and we'll start by playing Musical Memory. See you in a bit!"

"I... think I met Stella Greyber before while my mom was watching me," Starlight said. "She said she needed mom's help with something, but I can't really remember what it was exactly."

The door leading down to Musical Memory opened up for the girl and toy monster to go down. Starlight looked up at Huggy with a determined smirk.

"Alright, Huggy! Looks like it's playtime!" Starlight said. "Let's go!"