The Smiling Cat: Experiment 1188

Chapter 16: Betrayal

CatNap stood guard in the room, looking around.

In the blink of an eye, the human had vanished, leaving CatNap with a sense of bewilderment.

His stitched eyes widened as he surveyed the empty room. It was as if the human had melted into the shadows, leaving no trace behind. CatNap, his feline senses tingling with both curiosity and concern, decided to seek assistance from the Mini Critters.

Leaving the room, he traversed the eerie corridors to find his imprisoned comrades. The aggressive plush creatures, who obeyed CatNap to avoid the same fate as the Smiling Critters, listened as CatNap relayed the mysterious events that had transpired. Together, they formulated a plan to search for the elusive intruder.

Hours passed in the pursuit of the missing human. The Smiling Critters, guided by CatNap, scoured the labyrinthine passages of Home Sweet Home in a silent quest. Yet, the intruder remained elusive, slipping through the shadows like a phantom.

It wasn't until CatNap was in the Counselor's Office, looking at the dead body of a miniature version of Bunzo Bunny, that he spotted the human watching him in the distance.

Their eyes met with CatNap's stitched gaze. Panic flashed across the human's face, and without a moment's hesitation, they fled from the Counselor's Office.

The chase was on.

CatNap, fuelled by a blend of loyalty to the Prototype and a newfound sense of duty, pursued the elusive intruder through the darkened corridors, a smoky trail of red gas pouring from his mouth. The human, aware of the relentless feline guardian on their tail, sprinted desperately, manoeuvring through the labyrinth of nightmares.

With agile grace, CatNap closed the distance. The shadows seemed to dance around them, echoing the urgency of the chase. In a burst of speed, CatNap lunged at the human, overtaking them in a mid-air pounce. The human was knocked into a small room, and CatNap stood at the door breathing rapidly.

Before the human could react, CatNap exhaled the red poppy gas once more, enveloping them in the tranquilizing mist. The human, overpowered by the feline guardian's unexpected assault, succumbed to the sedative's effects and descended into a blissful unconsciousness.

As CatNap watched the intruder succumb to sleep once more, a mixture of triumph and uncertainty played across his stitched features. The enigma of the human within Home Sweet Home deepened, their presence now a haunting riddle that lingered in the air.

"You're good at this game..." CatNap whispered to the sleeping body, "Let's have a bonus round before you leave..."

CatNap walked away, eager for the human to wake up for one last chase...

Behind the Counsellor's Office, CatNap watched as the human left, holding a PlayPhone. They were in there for about 10 minutes.

CatNap calls the human on their PlayPhone and says, "Let's have one last game... LEAVE PLAYCARE, OR I WILL GET YOU."

CatNap jumped out from behind the building and sped after the human, who was already running.

After powering the Counselor's Office and redirecting its backup generator to Playcare's statue, the human has the final battery required to power the Gas Production Zone a second time.

As the human attempts to place the battery into its respective socket, CatNap catches them off-guard, and they run into an elevator.

CatNap presses on and climbs up the railing on the other side of the elevator, making chase.

During this moment, the Red Smoke follows behind him and the side-effect of hallucination begins to kick in, and in the human's eyes, CatNap's body is now horribly distorted.