Without knowing the full story and only going by what was posted here and what you said in other posts. There is one thing that you are skimming over...
The take down request.
You say making this post puts you in a bad light, but the flip side to that coin is Strange Girl not saying anything and suddenly going dark because Itch took the game down. Thus putting them in an even worse light (and potentially ruining all future good will as I've seen other creators lose all will with their fans for going dark on a project thanks to similar issues)
Honestly making this post was the best option as it tells us why the game might disappear.
However your group putting in the request is quite poor form. At the start yes the game was very much a copy of your original, but it very quickly gained more features than your game had (levels, unlocking new positions, and recently gaining different types of lockers) and by this point is different enough that it is an homage more than a copy.
With you recently making Tentacle Locker 2 it actually comes off more as you or a member of your team panicking about competition and aiming to shut down the competition instead of learning from each other.
Competition in games can only improve the end product while blind copying (most phone games) or destroying your competition (AAA publisher that will go un-named to not burn future bridges) will only cause stagnation and a worse end product.
Look, I've played your original, loved it, played your recent sequel and I can see how it could grow. But I could also see the route this game was taking. There exists room for both, and while both teams merging could be cool, its not the only route.
Being competitors would help improve both games as you aim to cover weaknesses and flaws in the other ones game. Similarly collaborating would also improve both games as those flaws would start to get ironed out quicker in both.
Ultimately I hope that all of this works out and both games can build and grow along side each other.