Maya and Oscar ran to meet their brother and DogDay.
Austin had called them, because they had to know the news.
Maya: What's wrong, Austin?
Austin: We got new info! Guys, the Critters are alive!
Oscar: What? Didn't they die by CatNap?
DogDay: That's what he made me believe. But I heard their voices on the phone. Now I know they are still alive...but where can they be?
Oscar: Is it possible that they left PlayCare to escape from CatNap?
DogDay: I don't know...is it possible that there are clues that they could have left?
Austin: I don't know. How could we find out?
Maya: I have an idea, but Austin isn't going to like it.
Austin: Say it, we have nothing to lose by trying.
Maya: We have to get back into school and Home Sweet Home. Seems good to you?
Austin: Absolutely not! I'd rather face Mommy Long Legs again!
DogDay: You faced Mommy Long Legs?
Oscar: Yep! We ended grinding her up!
DogDay: ...Wow, angels.
Austin: I suggest another alternative; Let one of us go outside of PlayCare to look for the Smiling Critters, and two others stay here with DogDay and look for them in PlayCare.
Perhaps they're hidden here this whole time.
Oscar: Hm, sounds kinda good! Who will go outside?
Maya: Austin, you go out.
Austin: Why me? I have no problem going on my own, but anyway...
Maya: I saved your ass from being eaten by stuffed animals. You owe me!
Austin: ...Alright, I'll go.
DogDay: Are you sure of going alone, angel? Maya, he could use a second person's help. I believe he can't manage with just one person.
Austin: It's okay, I can do it myself.
*Whisper* If someone comes with me, then she will end up reminding me forever and ever...
Maya: Alright, get the cable car, Austin.
Austin headed to the cable car. He hit the button and the doors closed. The cable car began to move. Austin looked out from the broken window. Oscar ran to the cable car station.
Oscar: Be careful, brother!
Austin: Don't worry, I'll be! Maya!
Maya: Yes!
Austin: Take care of Oscar and DogDay!
Maya: Don't worry, I will!
DogDay: Angel! Be very careful, for God's sake!
Austin: Don't worry, I'll be fine!
The cable car rose slowly and disappeared from PlayCare.
Maya, Oscar and DogDay waited for the cable car to disappear. The canine looked down, somewhat worried about Austin, the angel who pulled him out of that hole of torture and pain.
Maya reassured him.
Maya: Easy DogDay. Austin is a bit surly, but he is a very helpful guy. He won't stop until he solves the problem.
DogDay: I know...but he worries me a lot. CatNap can be very violent...if it catches your brother or anyone, it's a game over.
Oscar: Is CatNap very violent...?
Maya: You just have to look at his legs.
Oscar: I would see his legs... if I didn't have spots in my visual field, Maya!
Maya: Oh, right. Sorry, little bro.
Oscar: And now that I think about it...what could have happened to your legs?
DogDay: I don't know. He would probably feed it to the mini Smiling Critters...
Maya: I don't think it's as easy as that. CatNap is much more twisted than that...
Oscar: And what could he have done?
Maya: According to Ollie, CatNap would be able to do something to mess with your mind and make you unhinged.
Oscar: That's true... what if he hid them in plain sight?
DogDay: That makes good sense...they're most likely hiding in the cells.
Oscar: I'll look for them!
Maya: Oscar, are you sure?
Oscar: Of course! Give me a chance, please?
Maya: Um...not sure.
DogDay: Oscar, I appreciate your persistence, but those stuffed animals are somewhat aggressive.
Maya: I can leave you my GrabPack.
Oscar: I have a better plan!
Maya: Are you sure you're going alone?
Oscar: Sis, you have been protecting me for 16 years through thick and thin. I don't think anything will happen because I go alone for an hour in those cells!
Maya remained very quiet at those words.
She realized how overprotective she was of Oscar. She always loved him with a mother's affection, defending him like a lioness and not tolerating anyone having an opinion on their lifestyle and way of education.
She had not realized that little boy with the distracted look had dissapeared completely, and was now a young man capable of taking care of himself.
He grabbed his shoulders, looking at his brother with her blue eye, the only one that survived their first madness in that hellish factory.
Maya: You're right. Go there and do the best you can.
Oscar nodded. Maya kissed her brother on the forehead and stroked the curls on his head.
DogDay looked at this without saying anything. He began to remember the good times in which he advised and talked with the children, and above all, his moments with his friends.
Oscar went to PlayHouse. Maya didn't calm down even when he disappeared from her sight.
Maya: I hope it goes well.
DogDay: Sure; I remember when you came with him, he was a reasonable and independent child.
Maya: I remember too. He has become a man and I haven't even noticed...
DogDay: Those were good times, right...?
Maya looked up, as if instead of seeing the sky dome, she was actually seeing the real sky.
Maya: Yes...I always remember this place, and the good times...
Maya sat on the floor with her legs crossed. DogDay was next to her and for the first time looked at her.
He saw her from a profile, and he saw her dark face, the mole on her cheek, her blue eye, her long hair, disheveled, brown and abundant, with straight bangs that covered her ears and forehead. She seemed to him as young and pretty as she had been ten years ago, when she played with the children and guided them to the different PlayCare places.
He remembered her sitting on the lawn, braiding the girls' hair, playing princes and princesses with the boys, and running around with them on piggyback rides.
She had only lost one thing from her previous personality; her smile.
That fresh and bright smile that was what the children, the Smiling Critters and the rest of the staff liked the most.
It was time to return that smile!
DogDay: ...Do you remember when we played with the kids? How much did they like it when you picked them up and played with them?
The kids used to ask me about you once you left. You were so kind, so amazing...they had enormous affection for you.
It seemed to work a little. Maya smiled slightly.
DogDay thought about what else to say.
DogDay: And when Oscar came, he also brought enormous happiness. The children adored Oscar. I remember how much they missed you guys.
Maya: I've missed you a lot too. I haven't stopped thinking about you for a single day since I left.
DogDay: And...why did you leave?
Maya: Austin was scared by the mascots' strange behavior. To this day I still think that what he did was unnecessary.
DogDay: I don't agree, if my opinion is worth it...
Maya: ...Why?
DogDay: Maya, I have learned that if someone does something sudden that you don't want, it is not because he wants to bother you or displease you, but he wants to help you.
Your brother was not wrong, although it is true that he should have consulted you before doing something so drastic.
Still, one way or another, he was only looking to protect and help you. In the long run, he did the right thing. Retreating on time is a victory.
Maya: ...Yeah, maybe you're right. Maybe when he comes back, I'll ask for forgiveness. I've been angry with him for 10 years for something he perhaps didn't want to do to hurt me...
Maya looked DogDay squarely in the face, and wrapped the orange dog in a warm hug.
Maya: Thank you very much, DogDay...I needed someone to listen to me.
DogDay trembled a little. It had been years since he had received a hug. He returned the hug.
DogDay: Y-You're welcome, Maya...you're welcome...
Maya: ...You're shaking. Are you okay?
DogDay: Yes, yes I am...
Maya: You're tired, I guess. It's better that you rest a little...I'll keep an eye on this place, okay?
DogDay snuggled his head into Maya's chest. He noticed one of her arms on his shoulder and another on his head, stroking the fur behind his long dark ears.
DogDay felt Maya's calm breathing and calmed down.
Since he was imprisoned, his posture did not allow him to relax much, because if his body relaxed, his crucifixion posture suffocated him.
If by great luck he managed to fall asleep without drowning, CatNap would return shortly for another round of torture and pain.
That thought made him tremble. Maya noticed it.
Maya: Are you okay?
DogDay: Yeah...I just can't get used to it. I haven't let my guard down in a while.
Maya continued to stroke his head and whispered to him.
Maya: Calm down; I will never let anything happen to you.
DogDay: Thank you so much, Maya. The three of you are the purest angels...
Maya smiled and continued caressing him until he calmed down. He stayed awake for a while, his eyelids slightly drooped due to him getting relaxed. Finally, DogDay closed his eyes and managed to fall asleep.
Meanwhile, Oscar had arrived at the cells again.
He already saw a stuffed animal, a yellow chicken, and although it was distracted, it was a threat that he had to get rid of. But he had a plan.
He grabbed the utility knife, cut his palm and took off his glove before it soaked with blood.
Immediately afterwards, he passed the blade and his hand until he made a red circle on the ground with his blood. He then hid in the first cell.
The stuffed animal approached the blood, and...
*BAM!*
Oscar approached and stomped on the stuffed animal; He deformed its face. The sole of his miner's boots filled with a viscous black liquid that smelled rancid.
A retch shook his insides, but he did not vomit.
The investigation continued.
In the first two cells there was no luck. However, the third one did have something, although it wasn't the legs.
It was a pendant. It was a little dirty, but when he cleaned it he saw that it was a beautiful yellow and orange sun.
He remembered that DogDay had a sun around his neck when he was a kid, but he couldn't remember if it was true or just a false memory. He put the pendant in the pocket of his jacket and continued the investigation.
The fifth cell, which was full of rubble, gave him hope. The debris was strategically placed, as if it was hiding something.
With a strength that he never suspected he had in his body, he began to remove all the garbage and debris from the cell. He managed to pull out something...
Oscar: ...Bingo!
Indeed, he had took out a pair of long legs, which had been brutally torn out from the other half, but had the texture of fabric and a faint smell of vanilla. Fortunately, they were intact and not destroyed.
In euphoria, he ran out of those cursed cells, eventually ending up on the slide they came out of.
He returned to see Maya petting DogDay, who was already dozing on Maya's chest.
Without making a sound, he showed her the newly recovered legs. She smiled and gave a thumbs up so as not to wake DogDay.
Maya: *Whisper* Leave those under the statue and rest for a while until he wakes up.
Oscar: *Whisper* On my way. I'll stay down there. Gotta heal a...tiny scar I got.
Meanwhile, Austin suffered a slight setback.
The cable car ride went well at first. It was very slow and boring. All Austin could think about was poor DogDay.
He was extremely sad to know what happened to the poor mascot. He had been imprisoned, tortured and manipulated as a torture toy for an agonizing decade. Fortunately, he now had hopes of continuing to fight for his friends, who never died in the first place.
Absorbed in those thoughts, he was unaware of the movements of the cable car, until it stopped abruptly, almost sending Austin to the ground.
He looked at how high he was off the ground, and then at the distance to the other side. He had stayed several meters away.
That frustrated him a little. Why did this have to happen now?
The ringing of the phone unnerved him a little. He picked up the phone.
Austin: Ollie?
*Bobby Bearhug: Hello, Austin. I think you already know the truth; You should know that my real identity is Bobby Bearhug. I am a friend of DogDay.*
Austin: A...pleasure, I guess?
*Bobby Bearhug: I hate that this conversation is colder than expected, but there's something you should know. CatNap knows everything; Now, the Smiling Critters are being captured. And probably, being taken to lower floors. Where hostile monsters are.*
Austin: Really? Oh shit...And where are you?
*Bobby Bearhug: I managed to escape with another Smiling Critter. We are headed to the cable car to go to PlayCare. Apparently-*
Austin: The cable car? I'm using it myself. It's stopped here, and the doors won't open!
There was silence. Heavy breathing approached the phone, and a male voice answered.
*???: Get out of there! That cable car was sabotaged by CatNap. If it stops, it will explode!*
Austin's blood ran cold, but he knew he had to react quickly!
Austin: No, fuck, shit! This has stopped meters from the other side!
*???: Listen, don't panic! Try to get out of one of the windows and grab the rope! There must be an emergency hammer in there! Break the glass!*
Austin: Dude, I gotta fucking panic!
*???: Listen for a second! Break the glass fast! At least get to the rope, and get away! We're going there!*
Austin: Okay, okay!
Desperate, he managed to break the glass, using his own fists. His knuckles were bleeding, but he ignored the pain and held himself to the cord.
He tried to go towards the other side, but fear had him stopped in one place.
He managed to get to the edge, and there, he jumped forward, reaching safe land.
And then, the explosion happened.
The explosion was way stronger than expected, and propelled Austin into a wall. He hit his head hard, and something caused a slight pain in his hand.
He fell to the ground with his arms aching and his head spinning.
The last thing he saw were a pair of elongated, purple leg with sharp claws, surrounded by a red mist...