The Game station is utterly massive, much bigger than Gabe thought it would be. It was like a warehouse that had been repurposed into a train station slash playground. And there are indeed enough playground assemblies to keep a whole army of children happily preoccupied with fun. Where tile met squishy foam floor, there were platforms, slides, and monkey bars of every shape and color all around.
Along the path there are also some benches with curved overhangs on top, just like those found in an actual train station. And nearly everything all around him is colored from top to bottom with the same bright reds, blues, and yellows.
But strangely, despite all these colorful playgrounds and kid friendly activities, the Game station felt rather, hollow. A cold shell that has just been painted with rainbows. The roof was designed with little interest, with catwalks and iron bars lined all around. And the only light within the room are the windows, but the term windows is a bit of an overstatement since it never shows any of the outside world, but rather shown through some of the broken glass they are just disguises for the fluorescents underneath. They didn't even chose any warm colors to emulate sunlight, just the painfully stark glow of soulless white.
And as he made his way to the other side of the building, he found the one thing that will take him out of this strange nightmare, a train. But not like any of those fake trains found in amusement parks and such where they're really just cars modeled like locomotives pulling a bunch of carts tied in a row. This an actual, real working, steam powered locomotive. Built on tracks and everything.
Which surprised Gabe, because he initially thought the train was actually going to be just a set of rail carts. Built specifically to take kids, parents, and orphans down to the Playcare just a short ride below. He didn't think that there would have been a real train just sitting here this whole time. As a matter of fact, Poppy told him there is a whole fleet of these here! It's almost no wonder the company fell into a financial crisis awhile back.
And to think, he always wanted to ride a train. He didn't think taking one would mean the difference of life or death. But right now the train is locked for now, however Mommy Long Legs did mention something about a train code, which she is willing to give if he participates in her games.
"Now which is it?" Gabriel mumbled to himself. After looking around for a moment he eventually finds it. Musical Memory, that is where Mommy told him to go first. But when he passed through there the entrance is blocked, so how is he going to get in?
Just then he hears something beeping, up on the platform where the train is. Walking up the small flight of stairs he finds a control panel with three large levers on it, they have indicator lights near them, and one of them is flashing red. He then pulled it, and on came the intercom with a prerecorded woman's voice sounding through.
"Hey kids, welcome to the Game Station! I'm Stella! And we have three super-duper fun games for you to play!" The intercom blared with the woman's happy voice. "These games will test how crazy strong and smart you are! Follow Mommy Long Legs over to musical memory and let's get started! See you a bit!"
After that he hears the large door blocking musical memory begin to open. "Guess now there's no time like the present I guess." He knew there is a chance he will get harmed in one of these games. Or most likely worse. Descending the stairs he finds the direct way forward blocked by rubble, guess he has to take a different route.
Moving along through he eventually finds himself in another room. Left with no light on, he flips a switch and sees he is in some sort of molding room. He then finds out that the machine creates new hands for the Grabpack. Great news! He can now replace the one Mommy took from him.
Then after a few more minutes of melting, molding, and painting, he eventually obtains a brand new Grabpack hand. But not like the red one, this one is green, and as he comes to find out from a VHS tape nearby, this green hand can store electricity in it for a brief while. He comes to like this new gadget as he then uses it to unlock the next door. "Nifty!"
Opening it he finds himself in yet more conveyor ducts, even though he is probably a mile away from him by now, he can't shake that horrific feeling of Huggy pursuing him, it still sends chills down his spine. But thankfully this duct was short, and sure enough he finds himself on the other side of the rubble that blocked his way.
Gabe, now emboldened with new gear, continues on into the next room. There wasn't much light in the room to keep it fully lit, but Gabe sees that it is a chamber-like room with a circular platform sitting in the middle. He also observed that there are many monitors around, but arranged in rows and groups so that the monitors looked like three individual giant screens. There is also a vent above him, and he could have sworn he'd seen a familiar figure in the very top end.
Just then the catwalk he took while coming in recedes and the door closed behind him. What few lights remained on dimmed to near perfect dark as the monitors lit up to life, displaying Playtime.co's logo and motto. The presentation for the Musical Memory game then plays.
"Welcome to Musical Memory!" A male voice said through the intercom. "This advanced memory and cognitive recognition test is designed to stimulate several sections of the brain, allowing us to see how quickly and efficiently your brain works. There will be a sequence of color patterns shown on screen, you must recreate the exact sequence using the buttons around you."
The instructor continued. "As the you play the game, Bunzo will slowly lower towards you."
"Wait, Bunzo?" Gabe said to himself. "Isn't he that-OH!" And it just so happened as he looked up, he saw said toy just dangling at the very top of the vent. "You kidding me? They added sharp teeth to Bunzo?! He's a party bunny with cymbals for God's sake!"
The instructor continued. "If you guess a color pattern correctly, Bunzo will rise back up. If you guess it incorrectly, he will lower faster. If Bunzo reaches you, the test is over. As the test continues, the test will become increasingly difficult, with longer patterns with quicker succession."
"Oh, how comforting." Gabe sarcastically replied.
"That is all. Good luck!" And the screens cut to black.
"Oh isn't it amazing!?" Said the cheerful voice of Mommy Long Legs. Gabe turns to find her peering down at him from a control room up above him, her whole figure sticking onto the glass like an insect would. "Mommy hasn't seen this place up and running in years!"
"Well, glad to be of service then." Gabe said politely yet sheepishly.
"Well good." She replied. "Because Mommy can only imagine how excited Bunzo must be too!" He then watched as Bunzo was lowered directly towards him. Just mere feet above him. "It has been so long since he was able to play. To cheer. To eat."
Just then Bunzo clanged his cymbals together. He looked just as eager as Mommy said he would be. "Oh! That's the dinner bell. Good luck."
And with that, Bunzo was raised back to where he was lowered from and a series of overly large colored buttons are raised up in front of him. The screens then flashed back to life, displaying a single color and word with it. Gabe now knows what to do as he readies his Grabpack as he faced the music.
"Red."
Repeat.
"Red. Green."
Repeat.
"Red. Green. Green."
Repeat.
"Red. Green. Green. Blue."
Repeat yet again.
"Red. Green. Green. Blue. Yellow."
Gabe repeats the pattern to its fullest without breaking so much as a bead of sweat. This is surprisingly easy. And Bunzo barely even lowered no more than a few feet down. He feels more than ready to face whatever is next.
The music plays again, and the next level of the challenge begins.
"Yellow."
Repeat.
"Yellow. Green."
Repeat again.
"Yellow. Green. Blue."
Repeat yet again.
"Yellow. Green. Blue. Red."
And repeat again. Though the pace of succession is becoming slightly faster, it is by no means too fast to read. So far, it seems like this challenge is getting too easy.
But then the curveball hits.
"Yellow Green. Blue. Red. Violet."
"Wait, violet?" He looks around but no matter where he looks he can't find it. "But there's no violet here!" Now Gabe's panic mode kicks in, there isn't any button like it and Bunzo is still lowering towards him. He then suddenly turns himself fully around and finds it. Turns out there was a fifth violet colored button that was raised just behind him out of sight. "Oh! How cute Mommy! Very cheeky!" Gabe yells frustratingly.
He then repeats the pattern as needed. The round then ends and Bunzo ascended back to starting position. Round three begins, and things get harder from there.
"Green."
Repeat.
"Green. Violet."
Repeat again.
"Green. Violet. Orange."
Gabe quickly looks around and finds the orange button. Looks like Mommy is starting to ramp things up. He repeats the pattern and continues on.
"Green. Violet. Orange. White."
Another button found. Another pattern repeated.
"Green. Violet. Orange. White. White."
Repeat.
"Green. Violet. Orange. White. White. Blue."
Gabe repeats the pattern, but misses.
"Dang it! I was supposed to hit white two times!" Gabe curses to himself.
Bunzo then lowers faster, Gabe can practically hear the soft growling coming from the living bunny doll. The pattern repeats itself, and which Gabe carefully made sure not to mess up this time. Thankfully he completes it without any issue, but this time Bunzo made it down three quarters of the way.
He wonders how many more rounds there could be till the game is accomplished. But for all he knows, Mommy could keep him in here for as many rounds as she want. Which is a terrifying aspect considering she's most likely not above cheating.
Round four begins.
And this time it wasn't just colors.
"Red. Violet. Green. Pie. Heart. Smiley face."
More and more buttons appeared, each adding more to the confusion. And if that weren't bad enough, now the very screens are starting to send him false signals. Displaying a different color other than the right instruction displayed. He messes up three times this time, bringing Bunzo dangerously close. Gabe could have swore for a moment that he could feel the rabbit's hot breath just tingling his hair.
He thanked God that he finished this pattern just seconds before Bunzo was fully lowered.
But when round five began…
"Red. Heart. Pie. Yellow. Organs. Turquoise. Hour. Green. Massacre. Blue. Violence. Joy."
Suddenly there appeared so many buttons that it was disorienting to even look at. That combined with the impossible to memorize sequence of patterns showing on screen creating a psychotic display of bewildering colors. And as for Bunzo, he was descending so fast that he was border-lining free falling at this point. All the while Mommy was just simply watching it all, smiling an expectant grin.
This was it, this is how he's gonna die. Eaten by a living stuffed animal.
But then another button was raised, this one spun around the room quickly but he can tell what the symbol is on it. An emergency button. Without wasting so much as a second to think he rapid fires his Grabpack as fast as he could, desperately trying to press that button. He didn't bother to glance up to see that Bunzo is already through the opening, and is just within grabbing reach of his cymbals.
Gabe keeps firing, and Bunzo pulls his arms wide, ready to slam hard. But then Gabe manages to finally hit the button. Forcing the entire game to an emergency shut down. He sighed, glad it was all over.
"CLANG!"
His eyes went wide as saucers as he stood stone still. Slowly, he looks up to meet Bunzo's cymbals. A literal hair's breadth away from taking him.
"Oh. It broke." Mommy disappointedly said. "That's no fun."
As Mommy was talking, Gabe watched as Bunzo was then slowly raised back up through the vent. He can see that despite the lack of definite facial expressions he can tell that Bunzo was nervous, scared about something. He was even whimpering by the time he was engulfed in the darkness above.
"For doing such a splendid job, Mommy has decided to give you part of the code to the train." She said.
Gabe didn't know why, but something compelled him to make a different choice. "Wait, wait. I want something else."
"Hmm?" Mommy hummed rather annoyed.
Gabe can already tell that simply asking her would be a bad move. He needs to be more convincing than that. "Actually hey, how about this. I have a proposition."
"A proposition?" Mommy chimed. "And what would that be?"
"I uh, I have an idea." Gabe said carefully choosing his words. "How about instead, you keep the entire train code for now, and instead give me a small prize for right now."
"A small prize?"
"Yeah! So that way I will have to complete all your games, and the whole train code will be the grand prize! Wouldn't that be fun?"
Mommy seems to approve of this idea. "Hmmm. Mommy likes this idea! Mommy accepts! So tell me, what is this little prize you want for right now, little angel?"
"Bunzo."
Mommy was actually surprised. "Huh?"
"Bunzo. You know, the party bunny with the cymbals?"
"Yes yes, I know." She hissed. But was still rather perplexed by her new playmate's reasoning. "But Mommy asks why?"
"Weeell. I just, like him?" Gabe says shrugging his shoulders. If he were honest, he doesn't truly know why he wanted Bunzo, he just didn't like the idea of what that bunny was so scared about.
However for Mommy's case, she might not know why the little angel would want the toy for, but she soon realized that in wait her way, she would still get what she wanted. "Oh, OH! Well then…" She then grinned wide. Her tone changing to a more mischievously sinister one. Gabe then looks up to see Bunzo again, this time being hung by on of Mommy's four hands. "Enjoy your prize."
She then let the bunny toy go, allowing Bunzo to free fall towards the waiting human. It was then that as he watched the toy hurtling towards him with his cymbals outstretched wide and his wide mouth full of sharp teeth agape that he realized something.
He might have made a big mistake.
Bunzo then crashes on top of Gabe, shrieking so loud that it hurt his ears. He barely had time to catch him and grab hold of the toy to keep an arms length distance between his face and Bunzo's snapping jaws. Gabe inwardly knew he should have seen this coming, but maybe if he can get the creature to calm down maybe the toy can be reasoned with. But as Bunzo realized that trying to bite him is not going to work, he then starts crashing his cymbals on both sides of Gabe's head over and over and over again.
Though the toy bunny wasn't strong enough to crush his head it was still painful none the less, the cymbals hitting his head sent such force and noise through skull that he felt like his brain would bleed. All the while Mommy watches above with glee, hysterical laughter slipping past her lips. Though the human might be stronger than Bunzo, soon the bunny's cymbals will tire him out, and he'll have the dinner that was promised to him. And the best part to her, is that she gets to watch it all happen. She wonders which he'll eat first, the heart, or the lungs.
But to Mommy's surprise, it was not the human that tires out first. Bunzo, though after years of waiting to crash his cymbals for so long, he felt tired and exhausted. His arms begin to slow and his crashing less forceful, till finally, Bunzo stopped hitting all together and lowered his cymbals in exhaustion. It had been too long since he has had any nutrition to fuel his vitality.
Now Bunzo was even more scared, if it wasn't bad enough that Mommy would have rip his arms off and eat them right in front of him, now he is at the mercy of the human. He could easily be beaten to death, right here and now, with nothing to stop him. Bunzo winces away, preparing to except his fate. But instead, the human lets him go. The toy bunny looks at him, the man is on his knees before him, gazing at his with a dizzying expression.
"S-so you'v-vve finally. Ugh, got t-that,..out of-f,..system?" The human stuttered, the sides of his face are completely red and sore. With his eyes unfocused and mouth hanging loose. He looked like he was going to pass out any second.
This was Bunzo's chance. But the more he gazed at the dazed human, the more he didn't feel like hurting the nice man. He suddenly, even after all these years, didn't feel hungry anymore.
Mommy was disappointed. "Hmm. Well then, I guess that is that." Both the human and toy gazed up to her. "Mommy was hoping that this game would continue on just a little longer, right Bunzo?" The toy bunny then hid behind Gabe's back, out of sight of the pink spider. "But don't worry little angel, Mommy has more ways to play." And with that she crawls away out of sight, leaving the human and toy alone.
The doors then open along with the catwalk extending. "Hey, good game." Gabe said raising a hand to the bunny. Bunzo didn't understand it at first, but gets the memo and gives the human a high five with one of his cymbals. They both then proceed across the catwalk. "Now let's get out of here and-" But then the catwalk collapses, bringing both man and toy down to the floor below.
"Agh! Dang this stupid, shoddy, construction!" Gabe said getting back up. Looking to Bunzo, he helped bring him up as well while dusting him off. Taking a look up to the open door he can tell that it is too high to climb up. But he can get Bunzo to reach up there. "Say, do you wanna get out of here? I can push you up there."
But Bunzo nodded no to him, he didn't want to leave the nice man alone down here. "Ok then." Gabe replied. "But I don't see any other way out of here though." He said while looking around for another way out. "Got any ideas?" He turns back around but doesn't find him there by him. "Bunzo?" He looks around and then finds the toy bunny standing near a grated vent. "Oh right, when in doubt, take a vent."
Gabe then pulls the grate out and they both proceed through the air ventilation duct. Bunzo allowed Gabe to go first since he's the largest. Thankfully for Gabe's case this isn't like the vents that Huggy chased him in, too narrow for the likes of him to crawl through. He never thought he'll suddenly find claustrophobia comforting for his psyche.
As they made their way through crawling on their stomachs, about halfway through the vent Gabe then notices that Bunzo has stopped abruptly. He peeked over his shoulder to find him shaking a bit in place. "What is it?"
Just then he hears something, the distant and muffled noises of pounding, smashing, and crashing. There was also another more distinct noise too, a feminine voice screaming and shouting out filled with unholy rage. It was obviously Mommy Long Legs, and it seems she's putting some stress off after failing the first of her games.
Gabe looks back to Bunzo, who pulls one of his paws over his mouth, silently telling him to be quiet. Gabe wordlessly nodded in agreement, his expression filled with terror saying it all. It is best to leave Mommy to her temper tantrums.
Soon enough the noises faded, and they both made it to the other side. A grate blocks their way out, and Gabe being in first has to peek out first. He removes the grate and looks this way and that, they are back in the Game Station. "Alright, looks like the coast is clear." He said crawling out. "Now I think the playground area is the best place to hide in. You can stay there until I'm finished with Mommy's other games."
However when he turned back to look he finds Bunzo is still in the vent. Gabe leans down to look at him. "You don't want to come out?" Bunzo nodded no, he still seems scared even more so out f the vents. "Oh I see, the vents are a safer place to be in, right?" The toy nods yes. "Ok then, just sit tight then buddy. Once I beat all the games and get the code, Poppy is gonna help us get out."
To Gabe's confusion, as soon as he mentions Poppy, Bunzo suddenly skitters further back into the vent. "Huh? Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you." Gabe tried to comfort. "Is,..is it Poppy? Does Poppy scare you?"
Bunzo nodded no.
"Oh, then is it Mommy? You're scared Mommy will try to stop us?"
Again he nods no.
"No? Then, what are you afraid of then?"
Bunzo couldn't really respond to that question. He wished he has a voice box like some of the other toys had. He would tell him that none of it was the case. He's not scared of Poppy, not at all. Nor is he scared of Mommy too much. No, he knows that the nice man will handle her. But it's when he finds out that he's leaving. He will come for him. And after he kills the nice man, he will remind him that he doesn't belong out there. He belongs here, with all the other toys, with him.
But Gabe doesn't understand yet.
"Hard to say, huh? Ok then, but still, the offer still stands. If you change your mind just wait for me at the train, alright?" Bunzo looks back to Gabriel one last time, and then turns back around and crawls back into the safety of the maze of vents.
As for Gabe, despite nearly dying moments ago, he felt rather good about himself. Now with one game down, it was time to face the next challenge in Mommy's games. He heads back over to the control panel that is by the train and sees the indicator light for the second lever is beeping. He pulls it and Stella's voice is heard once again. Gabe then wonders which game Mommy has in store this time.
"The next game will be Whack-a-Wuggy! Follow Mommy Long Legs and I'll see you there!"
Whack-a-Wuggy?
"…"
"Oh God no."