He hurried down and plugged the blue battery into the control panel, restoring electricity to the Gas Production Zone.

The machine rumbled to life, the three large tubes before him flickering as the systems rebooted. His eyes locked onto the red button.

He slammed it.



The red gas, once concentrated in the center tube, began diverting—hissing violently as it was redirected into the third chamber.

The toxic haze thinned, then vanished.

A door hissed open.

He stepped inside.

---



The vents above echoed with movement, followed by a familiar voice.

Poppy sighed, her voice coming through a nearby speaker.

"Good, you're here... and you've done it again. The impossible. Just like I knew you would."

Her voice wavered slightly.

"CatNap’s gone. The red smoke is diverted... Everything is falling into place, thanks to you."

A pause.

"But if we’re going to keep going... then you deserve the truth."

A metallic clang sounded overhead. Poppy emerged from the vent, landing lightly in front of him.

She turned to face him, her expression unreadable.

"You came back because of your co-workers. You want to know what happened—and why."

Her gaze darkened.

"This... this is your answer. We called it:

The Hour of Joy."



The CCTV footage flickered, its grainy quality doing little to obscure the sheer horror it captured.

The Hour of Joy had begun.

The first scene unfolded in the Hub. Huggy Wuggy lunged at the nearest employees, his massive jaws snapping shut around their heads.



Blood sprayed across the walls as he ripped and tore through them with unnatural strength. In the background, others scrambled to escape—only to be cut down one by one.

The footage cut to the Game Station.



Mommy Long Legs was hunting.

A terrified man tried to run, but she snatched him mid-stride, stretching him apart until his body split in two.

She hurled the remains aside like discarded toys before reaching for more victims, lifting them high—then letting them plummet onto the unforgiving metal floor below.

Next, the camera switched to Water Treatment.

An employee, panicked and desperate, tripped over a railing. Before he could rise, the shadows swarmed.



Ruined Critters and Mini Huggies poured over him, a writhing mass of teeth and claws. His screams faded too quickly, lost beneath the grotesque sounds of flesh being torn apart.

The footage jumped again—now to the School.



A lone man ran down a long, dim hallway. Behind him, shadows spilled like ink as Miss Delight and her sisters emerged, their eyes gleaming with predatory hunger.

They pursued him relentlessly, herding him like prey until he stumbled into a classroom—the door slamming shut behind him.

The screen cut to black.

Then—Kissy Missy.



She was inside a transport bay, her restraints shattered. The employees moving her had no time to react—she struck fast, brutally. Their bodies crumpled to the ground, lifeless. In the distance, another worker tried to flee. She chased.

The tape shifted to Boxy Boo.



An employee barely had time to scream before Boxy’s jagged jaws clamped down, cleaving him in half.

Another worker tried to run, but Boxy sprung forward with terrifying speed, his mouth stretching impossibly wide—

Static.

The scene switched to Playcare.

CatNap moved through the halls, not hunting—but searching.



For what, the footage didn't say. A lone survivor cowered behind an overturned table, clutching an injured leg.

CatNap found him.

Without hesitation, the feline grabbed the man and hurled him violently onto the stairs leading to the Counselor’s Office. His body hit the metal with a sickening crack.

The tape flickered again—now showing The Shelf. Employees screamed, their voices swallowed by the chaos.

Experiments lurked in every shadow.

Yarnaby’s twisted form moved unnaturally fast, tearing into those too slow to run.

Huggy Wuggy reappeared, dragging someone out of frame. The victim’s scream cut short before they could beg for help.

Then, the final segment.

The footage displayed familiar places, now unrecognizable, corpses lined the conveyor belts, their lifeless bodies caught in the gears.



The once-colorful Game Station was drenched in blood, its floor slick with the aftermath of slaughter.

The orphanage that should have been a sanctuary was now a graveyard.

The catwalk to the Poppy Area, the bridge where everything had begun... littered with the remnants of the fallen.

Over it all, the emergency alert flickered on-screen.

A warning. Too late.

The last thing heard before the footage cut to static were—

The screams.

----

"So it was a fucking massacre??!!!!!"

He watched, numb, as the footage unraveled the truth.

Employees scrambling for their lives. A desperate, hopeless struggle. Voices filled with terror.

"What's going on?"

"Why is this happening?"

"What are those things?!"

Poppy’s voice broke through the silence.

"The slaughter didn’t stop. The guilty, the innocent... it didn’t matter. They were all wiped out. I remember hearing every moment of it..." she murmured.

"It went on so long... so agonizingly long. They tried to hide. To run. Anything to stay alive."

Her blue eyes burned with something raw.

"I remember their cries... senseless slaughter—that’s all it really was. They killed everyone. And then... once it was over... they dragged the corpses below where they’d never be found."

Her voice lowered, barely above a whisper.

"And they… ate the bodies. To stay alive."

She lifted her gaze, eyes locking onto his.

"The Prototype has to die... for this. For everything."

---

Suddenly, the floor trembled.

The center of the room lifted, revealing a hidden elevator.

The platform ascended.

Poppy turned to Kissy Missy, her voice soft.

"As soon as we reach the bottom, we'll send the lift back up. Just hold tight, okay?"

Then she faced him.

"After you."



He stepped onto the platform, the elevator humming to life as it began its descent.

Poppy exhaled, preparing to speak.

"Alright. Once we hit the ground, we need to be cautious. There’s something—"

A sudden growl cut her off.

From above—a struggle.

A snarl. A scuffle. Something was wrong.

Then—

"What? What’s she doing? This isn’t—"

Poppy’s eyes widened in panic.

"No! No, no, NO! We’re coming, just hold on! C’mon, c’mon, go faster!"

Her voice broke into a desperate scream.

"KISSY!!!"

But the elevator was already nearing the bottom.

Poppy's breath hitched, her voice trembling.

"Hold on, Kissy… I’m coming."

Then—she turned to him.

Her expression had hardened.

"Listen. Go on ahead. Don't wait for me."

He blinked. "What? Poppy, no—"

She shook her head sharply.

"I won't leave Kissy behind, and I won't sacrifice our plan. Not because of… because of me."

She clenched her fists.

"Just... be careful. Down here, it's not like anything you've seen above. It’s not trying to hide what it is."

Her eyes darkened.

"It’s hell. And Playtime wanted it to be."

She took a deep breath, steadying herself.

"But we have allies down here. Get to them. There’s still time to save the orphans."



She turned away, already preparing to run back to Kissy. He went out of the lift and she slowly ascended back to the top.

Now he had to find her allies.

"Follow the Red Smoke!" she called over her shoulder.

Then—she hesitated.

"And look out for—"

But he did not hear the next since the lift was already far.

"Damn look out for what??!!! Another Killer Monster????"

The lights flickered. A distant metallic groan echoed through the abyss below.

Then, silence.

He was alone.

This was wrong.

Everything about this was wrong.

"Dammit, Poppy..." he muttered under his breath.

He clenched his jaw, forcing himself forward.

Poppy made her choice.

Now it was his turn. With one last glance at the vanishing light above, he stepped forward—into the darkness.