The chicken pulled out a drawer, throwing everything out of it, already beginning to make a mess of the place. Luckily, Bobby came with them.
She grabbed the items Kickin threw, organizing them into neat piles to be returned to the drawers afterwards.
"Kickin, I told you not to make a mess!"
"I know but this is taking forever! I just want to find that watch already! Or...not find it. Whichever happens."
"Patience Kickin, if you rush too much, you may miss it regardless of whether it's missing or not."
The chicken sighed, having gone through the drawer he picked out. Nothing in this one either. This was...what? His fifth drawer by now?
Who knew that Catnap kept so many things in his house?! He flopped down onto Catnap's head, letting out an annoyed groan.
"Come onn, there has to be a better way to do this."
The elephant looked over at the chicken, letting out a soft sigh himself. To be fair, the three were making a mess, and taking a long time, too.
"Wait...I have an idea."
The elephant glanced at the watch on his wrist, navigating through it with his hooves. Kickin and Bobby stared at him, a little confused.
"You see, I remembered that I planned to make an application of sorts, a simple one really. Basically, one that allows me to track other watches like mine."
"Now, I just have to hope that I actually made it, or else we're gonna be here for a while..."
The elephant searched through the menus on the watch. Kickin groaned.
"Come on...please be on the watch, please be on watch..."
Anticipation grew with a brief moment of silence from the elephant, before he spoke, his face lighting up a bit.
"There! Found it!"
Kickin let out a sigh of relief, standing up from the bed and walking towards the elephant. Bobby followed alongside him.
"Oh thank goodness."
Bubba let out a soft chuckle, tapping onto the app. It seemed to have a map of the entire area the critters lived in, as well as some basic things a digital map would have, of course!
He tapped on a button, one that Kickin could only assume was made for the watch tracking feature.
A small pop up on the screen came up, which said "One watch found!" In purple text. The pop-up disappeared, as the map moved to Dogday's house, giving the three some hope for a moment...until it went to Picky's.
Then Bobby's.
Then....the ocean?
Then Catn-
Wait no Kick-
Wait no the soccer field-
"What in the-?! It's acting as if it can't trap Catnap's watch! But...but how? If Catnap's here...then it should be close enough to track."
Bubba asked himself in confusion, the map continuing to freak out on his watch. Even the distance to the other watch didn't make any sense. It said it was millions of metets away, which obviously shouldn't be the case if Catnap was here.
And obviously the idea of him placing the watch somewhere super far away was not only bizzare, but wouldn't make any sense as Catnap was, of course right here with them for the past few days.
"My only guess as to why it's acting like this is because the watch is somewhere far away? Or...I don't know."
Bubba tapped off of the application, the three staring at each other in concern.
"But...Catnap would never do that! It's not like him to throw out a gift. Plus, he clearly had no issues with you Bubba. Only with Dogday, but even that's been resolved now...I think?"
"Yeah dude...I dunno, I think you may be onto something. Catnap and Dogday have been acting pretty weird as of late, and I have a feeling that you're onto something."
Bubba nodded.
"Right. They must know the answer. They have to."
"Let's go."
Bubba walked out of the house, Kickin following alongside him. Bobby glanced at the piles of Catnap's stuff, smiling a little.
"I'll come back to fix this up later."
She said before shutting the door behind her, being the last critter to have left the house.
Dogday's House...
The canine and feline sat on the ground together, discussing Catnap's vomiting...? From earlier. Even the cat seemed to be just as confused about it as Dogday was.
"I don't know...I know that The Prototype had a strong influence on me, there's no doubt about that. But would it really be enough to do...that? It feels as if there's something we're missing..."
The canine nodded. His tail swayed a little for a moment, before he wrapped an arm around Catnap.
"Right. If anything, I'd assume that whole gas thing could be related to him, rather than...that. But...perhaps it has something to do with those Mini Critters? They did come out when you...ya know."
SLAM!!
The two immediately darted their eyes to the door, which Kickin kicked open. He was accompanied by a couple others; Bubba, and Bobby.
They walked up to the two. Kickin seemed a little angry...ish? It may not have been anger exactly, it was hard to tell. Bubba meanwhile seemed determined while Bobby seemed concerned.
"Listen dudes. We've figured it out. You know something we don't, and we need you to tell us the truth. If you don't, then...well, we can't trust the two of you anymore."
"Wait wait Kickin! We don't have to go that far! They're probably hiding it for a reason, you know!"
Bobby argued, standing in front of the two. Dogday and Catnap watched, standing up themselves as they held the others hand, to reassure the other that they were there with them.
It made them feel...safer, somehow.
"Yeah, but how bad could it be? It's not like...I dunno, Catnap killed someone or something!"
What a poor choice of words...
Catnap let out a soft gasp, his eyes widening as Dogday felt his hand grow warm. The feline began to sweat nervously.
He looked at him, concerned. The two continued to argue regardless.
"Kickin! Why would you say that?! Can't you see how insensitive that is?! Catnap's clearly guilty for something, and you throw out an accusation like that?"
Bobby didn't exactly sound angry, more...surprised. She was always good at controlling her emotions, for the most part. Kickin on the other hand...
"I mean, for all we know it could be possible!! But we'll never know unless that cat chooses to fess up NOW."
Catnap began to breathe heavily and fast. He was starting to hyperventilate. I wanted to say something, but I wasn't sure what. I glanced between the two and Catnap, deciding to pull the cat into a small, subtle hug.
I whispered as quietly as I could into his ears, hoping that I'd be lucky enough for the two not to hear me.
And for Bubba to intervene.
"It's okay Catnap, it's okay. I won't let them hurt you."
Was the best I could come up with, admittedly a little overwhelemed by the situation myself.
Of course...it was clear by now that Catnap felt a great amount of guilt for his actions, but of the course Kickin wouldn't know that.
Nor would he understand...would he?
I glanced over at Bubba for a moment, who seemed a bit concerned himself..he gave me a subtle nod as he stood between the two.
"Now now, we haven't give them a chance to talk. And yes, while I understand Kickin's concern, at the end of the day, they're still our friends, no matter how bad...whatever they're hiding is. You're both right...mostly, but we have to remember that they're still our friends at the end of the day."
Kickin's expression softened a little, a small bit of guilt building up inside him. He guessed that he got a little too caught up in everything.
"Sorry Bobby. And...Catnap. I didn't mean to...do that, I was just...scared I guess. Just, please tell us the truth, dudes. We'll do our best to understand, no matter what happened."
Catnap's breathing slowed, returning to a normal pace as I smiled warmly at him. Good...that's better.
Bobby smiled, nodding as the three stood together, awaiting our response.
Once Catnap was certain that he was calm, he glanced towards Dogday. Seems like he wanted him to start.
"Okay...so, this might sound crazy, but you need to know this before anything. As you may have noticed, Catnap and I may have been acting a little...different than what you're used to. And, the reason why is..."
The canine paused for a moment, as if deciding whether this really was the right thing to do. But...they didn't have much of a choice, did they?
"...We're not your Dogday and Catnap."
The three gasped, staring at the two as if they were aliens of sorts, but Bubba didn't seem to be quite as surprised compared to the other two.
"That...actually makes sense. The sudden fight, Catnap's random drawings...it all kind of adds up when you really think about it."
"Hm...you know, Bubba's right. It'd explain why your relationship is different from our Catnap and Dogday's. But...where's our Catnap and Dogday? And...what in the world did this Catnap do?"
Well...that's the thing. The two didn't have an answer to one of those questions, and while they did have the answer for the other...
...Well, it may cause Catnap to be isolated from the other critters. But if they lied...they'll only begin to lose their trust in Catnap, or perhaps both Dogday and Catnap.
They didn't have much of a choice...did they?
But...then again...Catnap is much, much more aware of the influence The Prototype had on him. And hey, Bubba's here. He's smart. He could explain it to the others if they don't understand...right?
"Okay, well...I'll leave it up to Catnap if he wants to tell you what happened. But to answer your first question...we have no idea."
"We were from another world, basically. We just...suddenly arrived here when Catnap used his Poppy Gas, which also affected him for some strange reason. And once we arrived here I suppose that we kind of...took the place of your Catnap and Dogday?"
Bubba nodded, taking out his notepad as he wrote the information down in it.
"Alright, that sounds about right...although crazy. So...then that brings us to you, Catnap. Are you willing to share what happened?"
Bobby asked in a soft, gentle voice. It was clear that she didn't want to pressure Catnap into saying the truth. At least she understood...that's good.
"Well...I.."
The cat began, his tail wrapping around his legs.
"Catnap, if you're not comfortable, you don't have to tell us. But...if you do want to, maybe you could just give us an idea of what happened? We completely understand if you're not comfortable giving us the full story, of course. Besides, if what you stated is correct, you've only been with us for...what? A week or two?"
Catnap nodded, a soft smile on his face, which faded quickly.
"Well, there was this..."
The cat began, only to stop once again, he opened his mouth to speak once more, but Bubba stopped him.
"Look Catnap...you seem to be very uncomfortable. Remember...you're not forced to share this. You're our friends after all."
A small smile grew on Catnap's face. He nodded.
"No, no it's fine. I....I have to. It's the best I can do, to make up for–."
The cat paused, taking a deep breath he held onto his long tail for comfort.
"Well, there was this expirement; what Dogday and I are back in our world. His name was The Prototype. One day...I nearly got myself killed but...he saved me. Since then..."
The cat glanced towards Dogday, a hint of guilt in his expression.
"I began to worship him, as if he were a god. It got to the point where I would do anything he said, which eventually led to..."
The feline stared at the ground. He didn't want to see the critters' reactions, even if they weren't the ones he knew from the factory.
"It led to me killing all of the other Smiling Critters. All, except Dogday."
The three gasped, tears beginning to well up in the cat's eyes.
"And even in Dogday's case, the only reason why he is still alive is because...we ended up here."
"I...I could've killed my last, and only friend I have left!"
Dogday pulled Catnap into a small hug, holding him close as the feline cried. The others remained silent. Bobby held her hands over her mouth, while Bubba just seemed...shocked.
Kickin, meanwhile actually seemed a little afraid. He didn't think that his prediction would actually be proven right.
"But...why is Dogday friends with you now? Shouldn't he...hate you?"
Kickin asked, the fear clear in his voice, even though he tried to hide it. Catnap felt as if he had been stabbed in the chest, an extra wave of guilt hitting him.
The chicken's fear reminded him of the fear that his Kickin felt during the Hour Of Joy, adding to his guilt.
"Well..."
Dogday spoke up, wiping some of the tears from the feline's eyes.
"From what Catnap told me, and from what I've witnessed myself, I feel that The Prototype used him. Held him by a string of sorts, if that makes any sense."
The canine gently rubbed the cat's back a little, a small, quiet purr coming from the cat as he did.
"Ever since he met The Prototype, his behavior began to change. He became someone who was almost...unfamiliar to me, yet the same cat I knew at the same time. And now that he's been seperated from him.."
Dogday gently held the cat's face, smiling warmly at it. A small smile crept back into the feline's face. Dogday's tail swayed slightly.
There's the adorable face he loved!
"He's back to being the same old kitty I once knew. So...if anything, I think The Prototype is to blame. Besides...Catnap isn't the only victim of his manipulation. Countless other toys followed through with his plans."
Bubba nodded, writing some information down. Kickin stared at the two, admittedly still a bit wary.
Well...Catnap did seem friendly enough...sort of. But the fact he had killed another version of him, and the others still creeped him out a bit. But...
Then again, if this 'Prototype' used the cat, and turned him into a monster like him, well...
Perhaps it's The Prototype that he should be afraid of, not Catnap.
He smiled, feeling as if he were put at ease by the explanation. Well...that explains the depressing drawings the cat drew.
Honestly, if he were in Catnap's place...he wasn't sure if he'd even be able to live with himself.
"So...at the end of the day, I forgive him."
Bubba and Bobby smiled a little.
"Well, I'm glad that the two of you are friends again! However...I'm still worried about our Catnap and Dogday. I mean...we have no idea where they could be! Or if they're even...alive."
Right...they didn't think about that.
"Hm...what about the day Catnap and I arrived? You know, when we fought? Do you remember what your Catnap and Dogday did that day?"
Kickin scratched his head a little.
"Uhh...no idea dude, I was kinda just skateboarding for fun..."
Bobby shook her head, a small frown on her face.
"I was busy helping Picky pack and prepard for a picnic with her, Hoppy, Crafty, and I..."
Shoot...did they have any leads? At all?
Bubba thought deeply, letting out a small 'Hmmm...' as he did, before coming up with an answer.
"Oh right! Now I remmeber!"
Great! Kickin knew they could rely on him!
"Haha awesome! What do you remember Bubba?"
"Well, if I recall, Dogday told me that he and Catnap would be back soon. They were just going to explore around a forest a bit. You know, for fun of course."
"But then...I didn't see them afterwards. I don't think I did, at least."
So they disappeared in the middle of day...and if anything, only they know how they disappeared.
Great...
"Aw man...this almost seems like a lost cause dudes..."
Dogday gently placed a hand on Kickin's shoulder.
"Hey! Don't say that! I mean, look at Catnap and I! Normally, anyone would say that our friendship was a lost cause, but look at us now! There's always a chance, Kickin! Even when things seem hopeless!"
Kickin smiled, staring into the dog's eyes. His words of encouragment reminded him of his own Dogday's, in a way.
In fact...the four were quite similar to each other, although with their own set differences of course.
In particular, this version of Catnap seems to suffer from his past actions.
And this Dogday seems to struggle with fear, and in some cases controlling his emotions judging by one of Catnap's drawings.
Honestly...he finds it kind of inspiring how the two have managed to begin working past those issues in the first place. If he were them, well...he probably would've either given up, or isolated himself, hiding away from everything in fear.
"Okay, how about...we search around for some clues? Maybe we can figure out where they went! Or at least, a hint towards it."
Bubba nodded. Pulling Kickin to him with an arm. The chicken blushed a little when the elephant did that.
Catnap smirked a little.
The two were definitely a couple, weren't they?
It actually kinda made sense. Despite being opposites, they were pretty close to each other. Even back in his world.
He had to wonder...if things had turned out differently...could they have been more like these cartoon versions of themselves?
"Right! I think Kickin and I could go exploring, and Bobby could probably go report this information to the others."
"On it!"
Bobby said before leaving the house to find the others. Which left Catnap and Dogday to...?
"You two can relax a bit. And as I said, the two of you should stick together. I don't know what's going on with Catnap's body, but the last thing we need is for him to be alone and...you know."
Bubba hinted, not wanting to outright state the possibility of the feline dying. Dogday nodded in response.
"Oh! And one last thing. In case of an emergency, try contacting me. It'll connect to my watch, and I'll make sure to always keep it on. Just in case!"
That was the last thing the elephant told the two, before he and Kickin left the house themselves, to explore a bit in search of any potential hints.
Catnap let out a loud yawn.
"Sleepy, huh kitty?"
Catnap felt his face flush red a little. He let out a soft chuckle, the dog walking to his bed with his arm around the feline.
"Dogday!! Don't call me that haha!!"
The feline responded playfully. The dog smirked a little.
"What? It suits you! You're cute, adorable, and a cat! Just like a kitty!"
Catnap let out a soft chuckle, before crawling into the bed. The canine tucked the other in, lifting the bed sheets over him.
"Dogday, two of those are the same thing!"
The feline chuckled, before the dog crawled into the bed next to him.
"Well, that just means that you're twice as adorable."
The canine said with a proud smile on his face, the feline laughed, wrapping his long tail around the canine.
He missed this....
Playtime Co. Factory
"Catnap! Look! It's another TV! Like the one we came out of!"
A certain orange canine pointed to the tv, running up to it. He tried to put his face in, only to hit it against the screen.
"Darn it!"
He took his face off of the screen, letting out a gasp once he saw what was on it.
Was that...Kickin and Bubba? What were they doing in the middle of a field? It was as if they were searching for something.
Catnap sat down next to the dog, eyeing the screen curiously.
Dogday decided to call out to the screen.
"Bubba!! Kickin!! Guys!!!"
The elephant and chicken began to look around frantically, Bubba's large ears twitching a bit.
"Kickin, did you hear something?"
"I don't know dude...it's kinda freaking me out.."
Dogday called through the screen again, Catnap awkwardly watching. He frowned a little.
'So they can hear us, but not see us through the screen?'
He thought to himself. Still, the dog tried, not quite getting it yet.
"Come on, it's me, Dogday! I'm right here!!"
The canine called out once again, his tail wagging out of pure excitement. All he needed to do was figure out how to get back into the TV again!
Then they'll get out of this strange, creepy place and be back with their friends!
"Dogday? I mean...I guess you sound like him, but I don't see you anywhere!"
Bubba yelled out, hoping that the dog would hear him once again. He and Kickin continued to look around, even looking at the sky at some point.
The canine's wagging tail slowed as his smile faded a little. They couldn't see him..could they? And he didn't know how to get through the screen either.
...But he could at least communicate with them.
"I guess you two can't see me, but you can hear me! Listen, Catnap and I are in some other...weird place. It's all dark and gritty for some reason. But we're okay! We just need to figure out how to get back!"
Bubba's eyes widened. He and Kickin stared at each other, as if the two knew something the other two didn't.
"Okay, uh Dogday! Mind telling me what happened? How you got there or...at least what happened while you were gone?"
The canine nodded slowly.
"Right...so it all started when Catnap and I went into the forest..."
☆