Ugly Dolls 2: Meet the Maker
Trigger Warning: some extreme profanity and emotional abuse
#3 and the others staggered as they were aggressively shoved into a tall concrete room that she and Lou unfortunately recognized. And to their surprise, it wasn't just them in the room. Sitting at the center of the cold floor was the rest of the friend group who were supposed to be in Imperfection: Wage, Lucky, Babo, all of them.
"Guys!" Moxy exclaimed, happy to see the rest of her friends' faces. The Spy Girls also bounded up to the others with open arms, but the same couldn't be said for Ox and Mandy who already knew this wasn't a good sign at all. They turned to #3, who stood staring at the addition of new faces for a moment before quickly darting her head to the robots that brought them there. They returned her gaze with those empty smiles of theirs.
"Hildegard will be with you at 6:00am." The Puppets lifelessly informed.
"W-wait no, let me-" #3 begged but it was already too late. The room's door slammed shut on her face with a thundering bang, which regained the attention of the others. "... explain..." She sighed as she bowed her head in despair. Moxy, quickly realizing the potential direness of this new situation, crept up to the prototype and gently placed a hand on her shoulder. The prototype didn't acknowledge her, she instead just stared at the ground for a few seconds with her back turned to them... before slamming a fist into the concrete wall, giving everyone else heart attacks. "SHIT!!!"Ā she shrieked furiously. "HOW THE HELL DID THEY KNOW??!!"Ā
The purple prototype paced around briefly before giving the wall a few more strong hits while screaming though her teeth, her punches leaving impressive indents in the concrete surface. Eventually, she tired herself out from her violent outburst, but now she was left as a quietly sobbing mess that was crouched on the ground. Lucky Bat slowly walked up to her.
"Miss, It's gonna be okay." He tried to reassure, placing a wing on her hand but she immediately pulled away.
"NO, THIS ISĀ NOTĀ OKAY!! YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT THIS MEANS FOR US!! DO YOU HEAR ME!!?? NO! FUCKING!! IDEA!!!" She roared in his face but it didn't take long for her to understand what she just did. Her melt down only became worse. "I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! I just-... I-" She tried to speak but her words became lost as her head became light and her heart heavy. All she could really do now shrink back into herself into a fetal position. Hands clutching at her hair.
The sight broke everyone's hearts as well as frightened them. Here they were, stuck in a new, probably even more dangerous place and the only doll who had any ability to do something was basically having a melt down. And there was nothing any of them could do to help her... Well, except for one. Lou tugged on the back of Mandy's shirt.
"Mandy, bring me to her, please..." He requested in a quiet voice. Mandy didn't think he could do anything in his current condition, well... he could still speak and move a little bit. And as #3's brother, he knew her better than the rest of them. Someone had to help her and Lou was the best option for that. The pretty doll convinced herself with that logic and complied.
Once he was set down beside his sister, Lou used his good arm to stroke her bangs behind her ear. He then settled his arm around her shoulders pulling her into a secure embrace. It would've helped more if he had both arms, but it was still a start. Once he felt her breath evening out, he utilized what he remembered from their past and hummed a tune only familiar to him and Loa. At a certain point in the song Loa joined in, resulting in a quiet, imperfect duet.
"Times get bad and then I worry"
"How I'll ever see it through"
"But candy hearts and paper flowers"
"Will always keep me close to you..."
They finished the last lyrics together in harmony and Loa was somewhat at ease again. Enough for her to pull back from her brother while wiping her tears away. Despite the damage that was done to him, he was still able to give that reassuring smile he always used to give her, which she did her best to return. Still, she couldn't leave him all like that.
"Guys, do any of you have scissors or a knife?" She requested. The others were so enamored by the sight that the question caught them off guard.
"Uh... what for?" Babo inquired.
"To remove these stitches over his mouth." Loa explained.
"Oh, um... hold on." Babo proceeded to pull out a whole manner of random objects from his pockets, some of them should have been impossible for him to have kept easily. Eventually, he was able to pull out a pair of sewing scissors to hand her.
"Okay, hold still, Lou. This will probably hurt." The blonde complied. Yes, it did hurt mildly but he was able to be still enough for her to swiftly remove the loose threads. "Feel a little better?" he replied with a nod and a smile. It was enough for her to want to move on to the next ailment. She shifted to kneel in front of him. "Okay, is it alright if I remove the needle too?" He had to think for a moment, knowing that would hurt even more, but he trusted his sister to be quick and careful with it.
"Yeah, go ahead." He confirmed, shifting his position to be more comfortable. Loa stood and walked to the head of the needle when Ox approached.
"You-uh...need help with that?" he hesitantly asked.
"Um... are you sure you want to?" It would probably be easier for her with an extra pair of hands but she couldn't help but worry about Lou and his feelings regarding the green bunny.
"Yeah, I wanna help, please." Ox looked into Lou's eyes with a tender smile when he confirmed this, but the blonde didn't return it. In fact, he simply averted his gaze away from his old friend, his expression being that of hurt, which Loa noticed.
"Um, it's alright. I got this. You've been around enough viscera for one night." Ox's ears lowered at that, knowing that wasn't the real reason she rejected his offer of assistance. Nevertheless, he backed off, and Loa was able to remove the needle smoothly.Ā
"Are you sure you don't want help with anything else? I actually have some sewing supplies on me." Mandy offered but Loa sadly shook her head.
"Yes, this is most that can be done, right now... It's mainly just to get him a little more comfortable." Loa knelt back down beside Lou, taking hold of his hand. "Hildegard will meet us here in the morning and if she sees that we fixed him fully without her permission, she'll just break him again... and send him back into the chest."
"Are you serious?" Mandy felt her heart sink upon hearing such a statement.
"She was already willing to hurt him like this in the first place. She's not above doing it again just to spite us." Loa explained with bitterness in her voice. Ox and Mandy turned their gaze to Lou, who returned it with a confirming nod. Ox again desperately wished this was just a bad dream, but it wasn't.
"So... what do we do now?" The bunny asked. Loa's eyes went to Kitty, who's eyes were barely staying open.Ā
"Rest and wait." She checked her watch. 1:36am it said. "We'll be dealing with Hildegard in the morning and we'll need all the energy we can get for when that happens, which is in 4 hours and 24 minutes. Let's use that time to sleep." Loa unbuttoned her blazer and draped it over Lou's shoulders before pulling him in to lean him against her side. She hoped it would provide him a little more warmth against the frigid, concrete floor.
The others turned to their mayor upon hearing that, wondering if he had anything to say against it. "And we can't break out of here?"
"Knowing Hildegard, she probably has Puppets stationed just outside this room. In case we try that." Ox had to accept it. Once again, they had hit a dead end to the mission of getting things back to normal. Only this time, things were worse. So, he let out a defeated sigh.
"Well, ya'll heard the woman. Let's get some rest." He announced tiredly. The group turned to one another, worried, then complied.
Loa watched as Babo laid himself down first beside her and Lou as everyone else basically piled themselves on to him and around him. The dolls who she hadn't met until now darted their eyes between the ground and Lou, unable to take their attention off him, more specifically his current condition. Their faces contorting into that of disturbance and and guilt. At least that's what she interpreted. Ox caught her watching.
"You know there's room for you guys, too." Ox told.
"We call it a doll pile. It's pretty comfortable and it helps us stay warm." He assured, patting the spot beside him while glancing towards Lou. But again, the blonde wanted nothing to do with him as he closed his eyes and continued leaning against his sister. Loa caught on to this.
"Uh... We're good... but thank you." Ox's small smile dropped in disappointment but he had to let it slide. This simply wasn't the time to try and reconnect with his brother. Even if it was, it wasn't going to be that easy. And so, he allowed his eye to close and he drifted off into a deep slumber. With no more movement detected, the lights in the chamber roof steadily dimmed to black.
Loa was awoken by a sudden flash of light, but the dolls quickly went back to sleep. The light switching on meant only one thing. Somebody had entered the room. It took a moment for her to process her surroundings, which wasn't helped by the brightness of the room. But when she did all warmth drained from her face. Lou was being carried away against his will in the arms of someone she had only met once in her life...Ā
Puppet Playmate, mascot of the company that owns the factory, Head of the robotic staff and Hildegard's right-hand man. There were no other robots in the chamber; there didn't need to be when he was around. She got up hesitantly then looked around more. Prototype #11 was also there in the chamber a distance away, along with their other siblings.
"Guys?!" Her shocked question arose Ox and the others from their sleep finally. "What are you doing here?" It took a second for Ox to regain focus and when he did, he had a mini heart attack from the sudden presence of even more unfamiliar dolls and a robot. His attention then immediately shifted to Lou, who was in the arms of the new robot. It looked like one of the Puppets but its golden color and crisp suit indicated a higher level of status.
"Hildegard summoned us all here. And from the looks of things-" #11 looked over at a distressed Lou. "It seems that it has to do with you... all." As the grey bear turned to the rest of the crew, he locked eyes with Ox who then awkwardly waved a hand at him.
Ox turned his attention back to Lou who was notably struggling against the hold of his golden captor. Having enough of seeing his brother being in danger, the bunny began stalking towards the robot.
But then a muffled metal clanging resonated from the walls of the chamber asĀ an opening from high above the ground formed, stopping the bunny in his tracks. There was nothing but a black void at first. Then, from within the darkness came a sound, a slithering, serpentine noice that was combined mechanical clicking. Then, two pairs of clawed hands with exposed joints emerged from the dark. They clasped the sides of the opening as the being from within pulled itself out. It's bone-white exterior glistened by the light of the high chamber.
"Hildegard..." Loa tearfully whimpered as she shifted into a professional pose facing her mother, her body trembling. The other prototypes did the same.Ā
The uglies couldn't believe what they were seeing. Yes, Loa specified that the maker was a robot, but what they were seeing was not what any of them envisioned. She was larger than any living thing they'd seen so far and had a human-esque design that made her feel... wrong to look at. They couldn't explain it but just looking up at her, directly towards that emotionless mask that was her face, sent shivers down their spines. It didn't help that she didn't have legs, just a large bundle of black cables that kept her tethered into the wall presumably to keep her connected to the factory system. It was like whoever made her couldn't decide if they wanted her to be human or not so they went with a strange compromise.Ā
The robot in question turned to Puppet Playmate and transferred a signal to him. No one in the room had the pleasure of knowing what it was. Suddenly, all the devices back in Imperfection projected the scene in the chamber live for all the citizens to see, ugly, pretty, and robotic, without the group nor the prototypes knowing. Hildegard wanted them all to see that this confrontation was the consequence of their existence. No one was allowed to look away.
"Good morning, everyone..." She greeted but there was no feeling in the statement. Like she was obligated to say it. Though, her jaw made no movement. Her voice instead disembodied, emanating from whatever speakers surrounded the dolls while the back of her head gave off a white light as she spoke.
"Good morning, Hildegard." The prototypes replied together. The natural unison of their greeting made the other dolls even more disturbed by the situation, especially Ox. Was all this really normal for them? For Lou? The masked robot stiffly turned her head to the dolls, letting out a sigh.
"... And you lot... you've proven to be more trouble than I anticipated." Hildegard lowered herself to their level to meet them face to face, her size compared to them becoming more apparent. "I mean, tricking one of my children to rebel and plot against me? Was corrupting one of my Quality Control Centers not enough for you?" She spoke in a weirdly calm tone with only the slightest annoyance being present in her words.Ā
"'Rebel? Plot against you?' Lady, you were going to recycle us all! Loa was just going to help us leave! Not only that, but you practically tore Lou to pieces and left him like that for over 24 hours! And you expected no one to do anything about that?! What kind of a person are you?!" Moxy berated fiercely. Her anger held for a few seconds before turning to Loa, who was looking back at the pink doll with a mixed look of shock, fear, and fury. It was then that Moxy remembered the last time she let her anger get to her at the wrong time, and she nervously looked back up to the giant android.
Hildegard stared back at the little doll with her voids for eyes... then chortled, then laughed. Her mask for a face and bodiless voice making the amusement all the more eerie. "Now that's quite a lot coming from you, young lady!"
"What...?" Moxy quietly gasped.Ā
"Now, don't tell me you don't recall whatĀ youĀ have done." Hildegard had now suddenly inched closer to Moxy in particular, causing the doll to jump back a fair bit. Still clearly confused, she didn't say anything. "Goodness, you really don't, do you?"
The robot elevated herself back into the air and, without motioning, summoned a TV monitor from out of the wall and had it lowered to the level of her guests. It was the moment of Lou's defeat. The screen played.
"So where do you want him, Boss?" Lydia playfully asked Moxy. The doll in question tapped her chin with her finger, a devious smirk forming on her face. A look that was surprising to Loa.
"Hmm, I haven't decided. ANY SUGGESTIONS?" Moxy shouted to the crowd around her with much enthusiasm in her voice.
"TEAR THE STUFFING OUT OF HIM!!!"
"SHRED THAT LIAR, HONEY!"
"GIVE HIM BACK TO THE BABY!!!"
Hildegard allowed the recording to play until it got to the part where the dolls noticed that the portal was broken. She then fast forwarded to even more instances of the dolls' mistreatment of Lou. Dunking paint and dirty water over his head, the repeated cycles in the wash with increasing speed and decreasing temperatures to wash off said filth, chucking objects at his head, elaborate pranks, everything that he himself subjected them to and much more. And throughout all of it, not a word was said against it, not a finger lifted by Moxy, Ox, Mandy, the robots, no one. Not then or now while the footage played. After all, they were busy partying and enjoying their lives, weren't they?Ā
Finally, after what felt like an eternity, the recording reached the latest incident prior to Lou's leave and the TV shut off. It was then tucked back into the wall. The chamber was deafeningly silent. The dolls were no longer staring at anything but the floor. Some of them had tears streaming down their cheeks, faces stained with remorse. The others were trying desperately to keep a stoic face, but instead of that they were just silently wearing a face of severe discomfort. Either way, none of them could look anyone in the eye, especially Ox. Their silence and avoidance wasn't enough for Hildegard, though.
"Well? Do you have anything to say to me, Moxy? Care to defend yourself?" The addressed said nothing. "Go on, give me your big sell, Dear. Go ahead and say that he had it coming. That after everything that he put you through, you deserved to do the exact same thing and more to him. You are the hero of the story, right? So, your actions are always justified, are they not? Go on, I'm listening." Hildegard spoke with mocking encouragement. Moxy was quietly crying now, her head bowing with every word like a guilty child being scolded. "Oh, come now, Dear! Where's that spirit that made you live up to your name, Huh?? Are you really just going to stand there and cry? Or are you truly just a coward??"
"What about you?" Asked another voice. Both Hildegard and Moxy turned to the source of it... Mandy began to walk in between the two women. An arm extended to protect Moxy from the Hildegard. The pretty doll then turned her gaze to Lou who was still in the arms of the golden Puppet, looking back at her with a look that was a mix of fear, uncertainty... and what might have been guilt. "Look at him.Ā WeĀ didn't do that.Ā YouĀ did." Even though she tried to give off an air of defiance, there was a slight hinge in her voice that could be heard.
Hildegard turned her gaze to her son and stared at him for a minute or two before she let out a sigh, her balled fists letting go of their tension. "You are right about that." She admitted in a soft voice while extending a hand to the golden puppet, signaling him to give Lou to her. The blonde doll showed clear apprehension but didn't try to fight when he was placed in his mother's grasp. What could he have done, any way? Once in her hand, she held him with more care than any of the attendance in the chamber cared to acknowledge. "I did do this..." she breathed out, gently brushing some of his hair out of his face with her other hand while using her thumb to stroke his cheek. Honestly, for a fraction of a second, Lou felt somewhat at ease by this gesture. "But here's the thing..." Hildegard added, snapping her attention back to Mandy. "I knew what I was doing when I was doing it."
"What?" Mandy asked. 'Is this your way of defending your actions?' She wondered internally.
"What I did to him, I did it with purpose. I hurt him to make him understand the seriousness of the situation we are now in as a collective." That last bit had the Mandy and the others turning to each other in confusion. Hildegard made it sound like she herself was scared of something... Was she? "It wasn't out of my own enjoyment but what I believed was necessity. I was wrong in the end and I understand that. What about you?"
"Uh- wh-wha- bu-..." Mandy sputtered.
"What was going on in your mind,Ā allĀ your minds-" The robot gestured to the crowd. "-when you and the other town's folk were punishing my son? Hm? Justice? Anger? Revenge? Plain ignorance?" Hildegard's voice was shifting into a growl. "... Or perhaps even enjoyment?"
The dolls racked their brains for a good defensive answer... but failed. They couldn't think of one instance where they came to Lou's aid. They collectively cheered when he was placed in the washing machine. And when some of the town's people continued harassing and mocking him, they stood by. Taking enjoyment from it at the start, but as the days went by did the remorse slowly creep in, especially for Ox. Even then, nothing was done on their part to stop it. Hildegard was met with deafening quiet once more.
"Hm, that's what I thought." Hildegard sighed. "You see, children? Yet another reason why these defects are no good to keep around." It was then that the dolls were reminded of the presence of the other prototypes. That they were finding out about all of this. Moxy and Ox turned to them, noting their reactions. A majority looked back at them with cold, guarded looks while a few, particularly the prototypes who interacted with the pretty and ugly dolls such as Loa and 11, were looking at them with surprised and hurt looks. None of them said anything. "Mr. Playmate." Hildegard commanded.
"Yes, Ma'm." The gold robot replied. Without needing further elaboration, he summoned blades of blue light from both of his arms, startling almost everyone in the room. The group knew this meant danger but weren't sure what would happen exactly, so they huddled up against one another for some semblance of protection. The puppet then pointed a blade towards the chamber doors with his gaze fixed on Ox, who stood between the group and the robot.
"Wh-where are we going...?" The bunny asked timidly.
"Where you belong." It explained flatly. Ox took a few seconds to compute what that meant, before coming to an obvious conclusion.
"B-but... NO! Can't we work something out??" He pleaded while looking up at Hildegard. "I'm sorry for all that we've done! For changing the institute, for hurting Lou! As Mayor, I'll make it all right! Please! Just..." He had collapsed to his knees, tears cascading down his face. "Please don't recycle them..."
Everyone else looked towards Hildegard with bated breath, her stone face once again sending chills down the dolls' faces. "Go..." She ordered.
"Right." The golden robot was now striding up to them in a controlling manner with no sign of halting, the blade now directed to the group. Instinctively, Moxy and Wage grabbed Ox and pulled him back up to his feet. The group backed away slowly from Mr. Playmate, understanding now that it didn't matter what they tried. They could plead, bargain, fight all they wished. This whole factory was against them, and as long as they didn't live up to its standard, it would want them dead.Ā
Ox looked back up at Lou one last time. The doll's old friend mangled and clutched in the grasp of his mother, unable to do anything himself... at least not physically. But there was still one more thing that Hildegard herself didn't consider. That he did.
"Mother, wait!" Lou pleaded.Ā
