After Michelle entered the room, the door closed behind her before she looked at Doey. "So, we finally meet in person, Doey," she said.
Doey nodded. "Yes, I—" he suddenly shifted a bit before smiling at Michelle. "So you're the friend Kev was talking about!"
Michelle looked at Doey, surprised as his face suddenly shifted to an angry expression. "Jack, don't you dare," he said.
Soon after, the yellow dough hand on Doey's midsection started pulling on itself before the yellow and blue dough split off of him. Michelle was shocked as the yellow and blue dough landed on the ground.
As Michelle looked at the yellow and blue dough, it started shifting until it formed a small dough toy with yellow dough covering its right arm, a small yellow hand forming in its midsection, and a splotch of yellow dough on the right side of its neck and the left side of its cheek.
Link to the pic: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GkMWwUOW8AAk0li?format=jpg&name=4096x4096
The small dough toy approached Michelle with a smile. "This is awesome! It's so nice to meet you in person!" he shouted.
Michelle gently smiled at the small dough toy. "I'm gonna take a wild guess and say you're Jack," she said.
Jack giggled. "Yep, that's me!" he shouted before holding his right hand out. "Jack Ayers is my name."
Michelle smiled and held Jack's hand in hers. "Michelle Mercia," she said before they shook hands. "But I let those close to me call me Misha."
Jack smiled at Michelle. "Nice to meet you, Misha," he said.
After the duo let go, Jack examined Michelle. "I've heard many stories about you from Kev," he continued. "You're very pretty."
Michelle giggled a bit. "Thank you for the compliment," she said.
Jack placed his hand under his chin with a hum. "If I remember right, Kevin would always say how pretty you were when—" he was cut off when blue hands with red claws quickly covered his mouth, which surprised Michelle, before he was pulled away.
When Jack was close to Kevin, he lowered his head and angrily looked at him. "That's enough out of you!" he shouted.
Michelle tilted her head, which made Kevin look at her with a nervous chuckle. "Ignore what this pipsqueak is saying; he's got a wild imagination," he said.
Jack grabbed one of Kevin's hands and pulled it away from his mouth. "But you always said she was the prettiest girl in the—" he blushed before roughly rubbing his fist against his head again with a glare, which made him yelp. "I said shut up!"
Jack opened his mouth, and his sharp red teeth extended before biting Kevin's hand, which made him flinch and growl before they started roughhousing against one another.
As Michelle giggled at the interaction, a large figure stood behind her. "I apologize on their behalf..." a male voice said, which surprised her.
When Michelle turned around with the crutch's help, she saw a large dough toy with orange dough covering its left arm and shoulder, and a large orange hand forming in its midsection, wearing a bowler hat.
Link to the pic: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GkMWxCVXkAAr7US?format=jpg&name=4096x4096
Michelle stared at the large dough toy. "You're..." she said in a low voice.
The large dough toy gently smiled and knelt before Michelle while taking his bowler hat off with his left hand. "Matthew Hallard, at your service," he said before bowing with his left arm.
Michelle flinched a bit as Matthew put his hat back on. "Oh, uh..." she said in a low voice before bowing her head a bit. "Michelle Mercia, or Misha if you'd like, at your service as well."
Matthew chuckled a bit as he stood properly. "It's nice to meet you as well, Misha," he said.
Matthew turned his head to Jack and Kevin as they roughhoused. "Jack, we should let Kevin rest," he said, which made the duo stop and look at him. "He's been away from us for a while; he hasn't fully recovered yet."
Jack looked at Matthew with a sad pout. "Aw... I wanted to talk with her a little longer," he said.
Matthew smiled a bit. "You'll have plenty of time to talk to her later; right now it's business talk," he said.
Jack sighed before he and Kevin approached Matthew. "OK..." he said in a low voice.
When the duo was close to Matthew, they placed their hands on his arms before fusing back into Doey; Michelle looked at him. "Does doing that hurt you at all?" she asked.
Doey looked at his hands. "Back when we first tried that technique, it was painful," he said. "However, as time passes, we don't feel it anymore."
Michelle hummed a bit as Doey shook his head. "Anyway, back to the topic at hand..." he continued before turning to her. "I've heard what you've done above... what you've been through... and the lives you've saved."
Michelle looked at Doey. "Since I've seen some of your group with my very own eyes that confirm your story... then we need your help," he said.
Michelle held her left arm. "As you're aware... the voice out there— the one in the prison... they call him 'The Doctor'..." Doey continued. "Doctor Harley Sawyer... he was the scientist in charge of creating..."
Doey turned his head away with a scoff as his face shifted into anger. "Us..." he said.
Michelle looked at Doey, concerned. "Kevin..." she said in a low voice.
Doey looked at Michelle. "We don't know what he is. How he's still alive, but he works with the Prototype," he said.
Doey was getting angrier, which made Michelle step back a bit with the crutch's help. "Hunting us. Starving us. Making us sick and—" he stopped himself and pulled back with a grunt before sighing and shaking his head. "Sorry about that..."
Michelle shook her head. "It's fine; your anger towards him makes sense. I'd be just as pissed off as you are," she said.
Doey smiled a bit before looking at his hand. "He controls it all with an Omni-Hand, we think," he said.
Michelle remembered the video in the Warden's office before placing her hand on her chin. "I've heard that name before; the Warden apparently had one along with the executives," she said.
Doey nodded. "It can be a battery, a key, the master control to anything in the entire factory," he said. "And with it, the Doctor commands everything down here..."
Doey turned to the generator. "Everything but this..." he continued before kneeling and placing his hand on top of it.
Michelle crutch-walked toward the generator. "A generator?" she asked.
Doey nodded. "Runs completely on a separate grid away from the prison," he said. "For a time, it kept us safe. But now..."
Doey turned his head to Michelle. "I need you to stop the Doctor— to take his Omni-Hand," he continued before tapping at the generator's door. "We'll need it for the generator."
Doey looked down. "And if you want Red Smoke in the foundation," he said before pointing at Michelle. "You'll need it too..."
Michelle looked down and held her left arm. "About that..." she said in a low voice, which made Doey look at her. "Poppy's plan... I don't like it one bit."
Michelle looked at Doey. "I mean... blowing this place up and taking all of you down with it," she continued.
Michelle looked at the large door and gestured to it with her right hand. "The toys that are with me... Huggy, Mommy, Bunzo, PJ, Miss Delight, the Mini Huggies from the Game Station, and CatNap... they're all like family to me," she said.
Michelle looked down and clenched her right fist while gripping the crutch's hand grip in her other hand. "I'd rather die than sacrifice my family to erase this cursed place," she continued.
Doey stared at Michelle before standing up and approaching her. When Doey was close to Michelle, he gently held her right hand in both of his, which surprised her and made her look at him. "I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks that," he said with a smile.
Doey looked at the door. "The toys in Safe Haven and the larger Smiling Critters... they're like family to me too..." he continued.
Soon after, Doey let go of Michelle's hand. "I understand what Poppy wants... what she believes is right..." he said. "Destroy the factory... destroy him..."
Doey looked at Michelle. "But I ask you to consider: If we throw everything away. Everyone... just to kill the Prototype... how much do we waste?" he asked.
Michelle looked down with a slight frown. "I know the others might believe it's right... that we should bury everything, but..." Doey said as he took his hat off and looked at it before sighing. "Let's just think about it..."
Michelle remained silent as the large door started opening while Doey put his hat back on. "Head for the Infirmary whenever you're ready to—" his face suddenly shifted to an angry expression. "Hold on a damn minute!"
Michelle looked at Doey, surprised, as Kevin split off from him. Soon after, Kevin glared at Doey. "Were you really gonna send her out there, Matthew?!" he shouted before pointing at Michelle's right foot. "You do realize she has a broken ankle, right?!"
Michelle deadpanned at Kevin. "It's sprained, not broken," she said.
Kevin rolled his eyes and pointed at Michelle. "Don't be a smartass," he said, which made her stick her tongue out.
Doey looked at Kevin. "I was going to tell her about a safe path through the Sewer Access to No Man's Land, but..." he said before looking at Michelle. "If you want to catch your breath or rest... our Safe Haven is also yours."
Michelle bowed her head to Doey. "Thank you, Doey," she said.
Kevin placed his hand on Michelle's left shoulder, which made her look at him. "Now that we've got all that dealt with, I'm gonna—" he was interrupted when they heard knocking, which surprised them.
The trio turned their heads to the back and saw DogDay near the entrance as he pulled his hand away. "I hope I'm not intruding," he said.
Doey shook his head. "Not at all; we just finished talking with her," he said.
Kevin placed his hands on Michelle's shoulders before helping her walk toward the opening. "You can talk to her whenever she's—" DogDay placed his hand on his shoulder when they were near him, which made him stop and made her look at him, surprised. "Actually... I wanted to talk to you specifically."
Kevin sternly looked at DogDay. "Huh?" he asked.
DogDay leaned close to Kevin. "It involves her..." he whispered, which made him tense up.
Michelle looked at the duo before quickly getting out of Kevin's hold with the crutch's help. "Then I shouldn't keep you two waiting," she said.
When Kevin looked at Michelle, she smiled. "I'll be fine; I need to check on my group anyway... see how they're doing," she continued.
Kevin stared at Michelle before looking at DogDay. "Alright, let's talk," he said.
DogDay nodded before gesturing to the door on the right. "Follow me," he said.
Kevin nodded as the duo walked to the right; when he turned his head to the back, Michelle smiled and waved. Kevin turned his head away as DogDay carefully twisted the doorknob and opened the door before the duo entered the room.
When the door closed, Michelle sighed and rubbed the back of her head. "I hope he doesn't kill DogDay..." she said in a low voice.
Michelle felt arms wrapping around her, which surprised her. "You're OK!" a young female voice shouted.
Michelle turned her head to the back and saw Suzy smiling, and her tail wagging. Michelle smiled and petted Suzy's head. "Well, besides the sprained ankle, yeah... I'm OK," she said.
After Suzy let go of Michelle, she turned to her with the crutch's help. "How is my group adapting to this place?" she asked.
Suzy smiled. "I think they love it here!" she shouted before pointing to the back. "Take a look at this."
Suzy guided Michelle to the back until they saw Bunzo Bunny and the Mini Huggies playing with a Mini Kissy Missy and a few mini Smiling Critters, which made her smile. "That's good..." she said in a low voice.
Unbeknownst to Michelle, PJ Pug-A-Pillar lowered his head and his front segment close to her before licking her face, which made her laugh. "Ah! You got me good," she said.
Suzy looked at PJ Pug-A-Pillar as he happily panted. "Some of the toys were worried that it would be too crowded for him, but he likes hanging on the rooftop," she said.
Michelle petted PJ Pug-A-Pillar's head, which made him make a happy whine noise. "I'm glad to hear that," she said before pulling her hand away.
After PJ Pug-A-Pillar raised himself back on the roof, Michelle looked around and noticed something before looking at Suzy, concerned. "Where's CatNap?" she asked.
Suzy frowned a bit and looked away. "I'm not sure... the toys in Safe Haven are afraid of him..." she said in a low voice.
Michelle hummed. "I guess it'll take a while for them to trust him," she said.
Michelle looked around the room before spotting Miss Delight watching a few of the toys play soccer. Michelle crutch-walked toward Miss Delight, which made Suzy follow behind her. "Miss Delight," she said.
Miss Delight turned her head to the back and saw the duo, which made her stand up and approach them. "Miss Misha," she said.
When Miss Delight was close to the duo, she hugged Michelle. "I'm so glad you're back here safely," she said.
Michelle smiled and wrapped her right arm around Miss Delight. "Likewise..." she said.
After Miss Delight let go of Michelle and stepped back, she looked at her. "Have you seen CatNap?" she asked.
Miss Delight looked down with sad eyes before turning to the hallway with the word 'Storage' on top of it and pointing at it. "He's in the storage room..." she said before turning her head to the duo. "I think the residents staring at him made him feel... uncomfortable."
Michelle nodded. "Thank you, Miss Delight," she said before crutch-walking toward the hallway, which made Suzy follow.
Miss Delight remembered something and looked at the duo. "Also, I placed your bag in one of the tents," she said, which made Michelle give her a thumbs-up before they entered the hallway.