UglyDolls 2 (Fan Project)

Chapter 5: The Grand Escape

"Ohh, no." Lou waved his hands around, clearly signaling he wasn't interested in heading inside. "No way. I ain't going in there. There is NO way I'm going in there and messing up my perfect-"

A little later, the two of them are shown traversing through the sewers, walking on the edge of the walls to avoid getting wet. "I don't know how in the world you talked me into doing this," muttered Lou, a disagreeable look on his face. The two of them continued to travel through the large tube that stretched out ahead until finally, they would reach the other side.

The two dolls climbed out, stealthily creeping out of the sewers. Cosette and Lou made their way into an alleyway between two buildings, staying out of sight from the humans. The doll duo navigated their way around the constructions, finally arriving at the hardware store's back entrance. Noticing a cracked window, Cosette reached into her box of supplies and pulled out a grappling hook made up of a bent paper-clip and thick thread. She tossed it up over their heads, aiming for the edge of the window. She allowed Lou to climb up first, following carefully behind him after he made it to the top.

When they successfully arrived, Cosette leaned against the window, peeking inside. She witnessed a man wearing a headset, singing loudly to himself as he swept the floor clean. He was obviously not paying attention to his surroundings. No one else was present inside the shop. Cosette took a step forward, but she was stopped in her tracks by Louis. "I got this," said the blond-haired prototype. He took the grappling hook with a swift motion and tied it firmly to the other side of the window, sliding down gracefully. He made sure he was behind the employee at all times as he climbed up onto the counter.

Louis ducked down as he slid onto a kiosk containing several different types of batteries. He swung from one metal price tag to the next, his movements fluid. He finished his performance with a solid double somersault, landing directly onto another metal tag. While he held his posture upright, balancing elegantly atop it, Cosette watched with her mouth agape. Lou faced her for a moment, giving her a cocky smirk before bowing. Lou selected a packet of lithium polymer batteries and made his way back towards the window.

Heart pounding rapidly in his chest, Lou held tightly onto the batteries as he made his way up, up the thread, headed for the window. Cosette was waiting for him, her fists balled in anticipation. Lou soon made it to the windowsill, and Cosette gave him a thumbs-up. However, as Louis pulled the grappling hook back up, he lost his balance, and it hit him directly in the eye, causing him to trip and fall backward.

"Lou!" Cosette cried. She rushed over to his aid and lunged over the window, barely gripping onto his hand in time before he'd fallen any further. The two of them smiled at each other, but their moment was abruptly interrupted when they noticed the employee wearing the headset had taken it off and turned around, startled by the commotion. "RUN!" Shouted Cosette, helping Lou back up again. The two of them sprinted in the opposite direction as quickly as possible, making a leap of faith down onto the drone below. They successfully landed it, and Lou and Cosette replaced the dead batteries as quickly as they could. Starting the ignition, Cosette stomped down onto her accelerator and took off, rapidly shooting upward towards the clouds.

The silver-haired doll continued to fly over stores, lakes, and parks until she knew she was out of sight. "Thank goodness, we've lost him," said Cosette, relief in her voice. "No kidding," Lou retorted, panting heavily from their excursion. Cosette made a u-turn, heading in the other direction. She flew until she landed in between two buildings. She'd arrived at the dirty alleyway from before, where the hideout was located. Lou waited patiently near the drone as Cosette made her way to the brick wall where the secret entrance to the doll hideout was. 

She climbed up the pipe and entered the hideout, showing up just as another therapy session regarding Lou was ending. Nolan, Babo, and Wedgehead were sitting at the table, accompanied by a few more dolls. One of them had purple hair; the other was blonde.

When Cosette was out of sight, Lou followed her, hiding at the pipe entrance again, listening in on the conversation. Nolan was sobbing again, and a female blonde doll next to him was complaining about how Lou told her she had a crooked, ugly nose. Cosette began rummaging through boxes until she pulled out a rolled-up map. She pocketed it and let out a soft sigh of relief.

Suddenly, Nolan slammed his fist onto the table. "I can't stand it anymore!" He exclaimed. "When I return to Imperfection tonight, I'm talking to Ox. Lou's actions were unforgivable, and he deserves much worse punishment than the one he's got!"

From where she was, Cosette felt her heart sink. She turned to face the other dolls, a concerned look on her face.

"Yeah!" Shouted the blonde female doll. "Let's throw him in the Incinerator!"

"Let's have him recycled!" Another doll chimed in. A third one added, "Honestly, they SHOULD have had the stuffing ripped out of that traitor!"

"Let's talk to Ox!" Nolan shouted confidently. "Who's with me?"

From where he was standing, Lou could make out everything that was going on. He gasped quietly to himself and watched as everyone spoke.

Cosette's eyes burned with a luminescent flame as she butted into the conversation. "Now, hold on a minute!" Shouted the pilot.

"Stop right there!" Cosette went on. "If you do something THAT cruel to him, how does that make you any better?"

All the dolls went silent.

"Find your humanity!" Shouted Cosette. "Sure, he might've done wrong in the past, but have any of you considered the possibility of, I don't know, giving him a SECOND CHANCE? Two wrongs don't make a right."

Cosette was angry as she continued, "Sure, he may have done wrong in the past, and I'm NOT going to stand here and justify what he's done. But the sheer fact you're trying to make his life MORE difficult than it already is, tells me everything it needs to. Maybe if you'd actually taken the time to listen to him, none of this would've happened."

The dolls looked at her with guilty expressions as her eyes welled up with tears. She wiped them away and headed in the opposite direction. As she walked towards the exit, she added something, her voice but a mere whisper. "You have NO idea what he's been through."

One of the dolls called out for Cosette, but she didn't respond. Meanwhile, Lou was frozen in utter disbelief over what he'd heard. Had someone seriously just stood up for him? The now disheveled janitor, the laughing stock, the most hated doll in all of Imperfection?

"Lou?" Cosette's tears ceased as she saw the blond-haired prototype. "What are you doing here? I thought I told you to wait at the-" Lou took a finger and covered her lips, taking her hands into his. "Cosette," he answered quietly, gazing into her orange-colored eyes. "We don't have time to waste." He gave her an alluring smirk, taking the map from her. "I have a Factory to show you."

Cosette's eyes filled up with glee, and she hugged him. Then the two of them ran as fast as they could, sliding down the pipe. They made their way back to the drone, taking off for the skies once more. The drone flew up high, soaring above the clouds. For the first time in what felt like an eternity, the two dolls' expressions shone with newfound excitement, hopeful for what the future would bring.