~Chapter One~

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(Lou's POV)

I sat on the cold, slightly wet, metal floor, staring at the ground. My legs were crossed beneath me, my hands folded in my lap. I looked up at the dolls who came up with the painful idea, the burnette who decided to put me in the wash. He looked down at me, our eyes met for a moment. His multicolored eyes looked almost... sympathetic? I rolled my eyes. 

Why would he care?  I thought to myself, looking over at a wall. 

"Just get it over with already." I said bitterly. I got no response. 

"Didn't you hear me?! I said-" But when I looked up, he was gone. And he had left the door wide open. I poked my head out and looked around. Everyone was collecting portal shards, and nobody was paying attention to me. 

What an idiot!  I thought. Leaving the door wide open?  I carefully sild out of the machine, smiling to myself. I hopped off the platform and ran off into a dark alleyway nearby. My first though was to go back to my home, but I knew that's the first place anyone would look. So, I thought of my next best option.

The storage shed.

The thought of staying there gave me chills, but I had no other choice. I made my way to the small wooden building, making my way inside. It was a mess, somehow worse then it was before. I knew those sock puppets must have done this. I sighed. 

"This place needed to be cleaned anyways." I said to myself before grabbing a broom from a wall nearby.

(Nolan's POV)

I watched Lou run off as I hid behind the machine. I smiled to myself. 

At least one thing in my life worked out. I thought. You see, I had created a plan in my head. I wanted to help Lou, but I knew nobody would listen to me, so I suggested the washing machine instead. Then, when nobody was looking, I would leave the door open and hide so that he could escape. And my plan worked! It actually worked!

I stepped back out into the open and saw the other dolls were putting the portal back together. I sat down on the edge of the platform and watched as they all worked together to piece the portal back together.  I watched carefully as the last piece was slowly placed in. Suddenly, there was a bright flash of blue light. The only thing I remember after that was flying backwards and banging my head on something. Then I blacked out. 

I woke up many hours later to find myself laying inside the washer. I sat up, rubbing my head. I had the worst headache known to man, but I crawled out anyways. My heart dropped when I saw the state of the town. It was an abandoned wasteland. The streets were empty, the sky was dark, the only light was a faint blue glow coming from the portal. I saw that there was five giant pieces missing. The light flickered every now and then. I saw how there was blue lines, like veins, running through the rim and the ground around it. 

Robots wheeled by every now and then, but their eyes were a bright blue, and they seemed... different. Just then, I heard a small whimpering behind me. I turned around, surprised to see the robot dog curled up behind the machine, seemingly shivering. I slowly stepped closer to it. It looked up at me and scooted away, scared. 

"H-Hey, it's alright..." I said nervously as I walked closer. I kneeled down in front of it. 

"I'm not going to hurt you..." I carefully stuck out my hand. The dog sniffed me for a moment, before nuzzling its head in my palm. I giggled, smiling. 

"What are you doing here?" I asked, petting the dog. It looked over at one of the passing robots and whimpered. 

"Oh, I see..." I watched the robot wheel away. I stared at the robot dog, sitting on my knees. 

"Do you know what happened?" I questioned. It shook it head. I sighed. 

"That's f-fine..." I shivered. It was surprisingly cold out here, much colder then it had ever been. The dog reached over to the other side of itself and pulled a black cloak out from somewhere. It brought it over to me, holding the cloak between its teeth. The dog dropped the cloak in front of me and I smiled. I pulled it on, it was actually pretty warm. I pulled the dark hood over my head and hugged the dog. 

"Thank you." I smiled. The dog pulled me closer and placed it paw over me. 

"Oh. well, I guess this is okay..." I laid my head down and quickly fell asleep.

(Third Person POV)

The sky was dark, the ground dimly lit by the flickering portal and the stars above. both towns were wastelands, empty and abandoned. Most dolls were either hiding, under some strange trance, or just... gone... However, one doll still roamed the streets. She dragged her feet behind her as she walked through the bare streets. She yawned, adjusting her glasses. It was late and she needed sleep, but she was determined to find a doll who could help her. 

She stood in front of the portal, but making sure to keep a safe distance. Whenever she stepped to close, she started to feel dizzy. She saw the five holes in the glass. 

"If I those pieces, I could fix the portal...." She muttered to herself. She yawned again. 

"It's late..." She mumbled. "I should head home..." Mandy turned around and made her way back to her house. She passed Lou's house on the way. She stopped in front of it. She stared at the building run down, destroyed state. It was covered in paint, some of the windows were broken, and there was caution tape covering the hole where the door once was. Out of pure curiosity, Mandy stepped through the tape and walked in the house.

Lou's house was covered in paintings and sculptures of himself. Mandy scoffed. 

Classic Lou...  She thought. That's when she spotted something on the ground. It was a plain, black book. It seemed out of place, just laying on the floor. She picked it up and opened it to the first page. This is what it said:

"I'm so excited! It's my very first day as leader! I've been through lots of training and the factory thinks I'm finally ready! I hope I do well! Don't tell anybody, but I'm actually really nervous... What if they don't like me? Everything seems to be going well so far, but what if something happens?

I should stop worrying, everything's going to be fine! I just know it! :)

- Yours truly, Lou"

Mandy closed the book and sighed. 

"Lou used to be so kind, what happened...?" She asked herself. She too remembered the days when Lou was still sweet. She couldn't help but miss that version of him. Then, she got an idea.

"Lou! He could help me!" She gasped. She looked out the shattered window at the night sky. 

"But it's late... So I'll talk to him tomorrow!" She turned around, tucking the black book under her arm. 

"If I can find him..." She muttered as she walked out of the building. 

[Meanwhile]

Lou placed the broom back against the wall, sighing. He looked around at all of his hard work. The once dirty and messy shed was now a perfect living space! Okay, some of the windows still had cracks in them, the bed was still unstable, there were still cracks in the walls, and there were still boxes in every corner, but it was better then before! The blonde walked over to the only window and stared at the dark wasteland outside. 

He sighed so and closed the blinds. He walked over and sat down on the bottom bunk of the bed. It swayed when he sat down. He looked around at the small, run-down shed and sighed.

"I guess this is my life now..." He muttered to himself before laying down to sleep.

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