"The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong."
Chapter 9: Forgiveness?
Jeremy stepped out of the car, slamming the door shut. Golden morning light played on the overgrown parking lot. The man stared at the Pizzeria, the place that very nearly killed him many times over. A place he dreaded.
Windows shattered, graffiti sprayed on, vines clinging, tiles uprooted. This place was in dire need of repair.
"Are you sure they'll be here Jeremy?" Mike asked. His voice quivered in anxiety and Jeremy would have avoided this place if he could have.
"Only place know well enough so they should be somewhere around here," Jeremy replied. He began walking towards the pair of peeling red doors and pushed it open. Just as he did, sirens scared off a flock of birds that had rested on top of the roof.
Jeremy turned around to see a cop in his early twenties step out of the police car. He cursed remembering that he sped to get to Mike before the Animatronics could and now he was paying for it. The cop pulled out his pistol aiming it at Jeremy.
"Hands where I can see them!"
Jeremy and Mike had no choice, but to comply. They reluctantly raised their hands. The police officer then ordered them to get onto the ground which they did. Quickly, the officer pulled out two handcuffs and placed them around the duo's wrists. While they were being arrested, the cop read off their rights and sat both Jeremy and Mike up.
"Officer, I can explain why I was speeding," Jeremy said.
"What? No, you're trespassing on condemned land and we got a report that someone entered the Pizzeria during the night. You are to stay here till further notice!"
"Good luck with the murderous furries then," Mike chuckled earning a questioning eyebrow from the officer.
"People these days," the cop muttered. He began walking towards the door when something large, purple, and shiny burst through them instead. It ran passed the startled cop towards Jeremy. Seeing it, Jeremy had to guess it was Bonnie.
Bonnie stopped and spoke,"Jeremy you won't believe what happened! Theothersareplanning onkillingyouandMikeonceyouenter. Idon'tknowwhythoughandFreddy'seyesareblackandChica tookoutherbeakandeyes. FoxyIhavenoideawheresheisbutpleasedon'tgointhere!"
Jeremy was lost when Bonnie started spitting out the words rather than try to piece them together to form a sentence. Jeremy looked over at the now confused cop who was scratching his head. Poor man had no idea of what is going on right now.
"Bonnie, calm yourself first because it didn't make any sense whatsoever," Jeremy said.
Bonnie, somehow, took a breath, "The others are planning on killing you for whatever reason, but I know they're not like this!" Bonnie's voice then dropped to a whisper, "I think they're acting like this because of him."
"Him?"
"The Purple Guy," there was fear in Bonnie's voice.
"Alright, I have no idea what is going on right now, but you're under arrest for trespassing on condemned land!" The cop shouted. He whipped his gun out towards Bonnie and pulled out another pair of handcuffs.
"Another?! Does this guy have a bondage fetish?" Jeremy thought.
Bonnie, on the other hand, was confused. His programming told him that the police were supposed to be the good guys. Maybe the police man was just angry? If so, the purple bunny didn't know what he did wrong other than just visiting his home.
"Police Man! I have friends in there that aren't acting right and we need your help!" Bonnie pleaded. He got onto his knees and clasped his hands together. He began begging for help from the cop.
The cop stood there baffled. Seeing a man running around in a furry suit was weird enough, but now he was on his knees begging for help. He was tempted just to slap the cuffs on him and call it a day. Yet, something prevented him from doing so, like someone was directing him to help this 'Bonnie' and his friends. Then an old memory came back.
"Wait, you can't be THE Toy Bonnie can't you?"
"Yes."
"Holy hell, I still remember you from when my mum took me to this place. I hated it when you guys were scrapped for 'possible malfunctions', you were the best!"
"Mr. Police Officer, thanks for the compliments, but my friends are acting strange and I reaaaaaaally need their help," Bonnie pointed a finger at Jeremy, then at Mike.
The officer stood there mentally debating. If he released them then there was a decent chance that the chief would have his ass by Sunday. If he didn't, he would be letting down his childhood heroes and if the other Animatronics were acting hostile then people would get hurt or killed. The choices didn't look too bright. However, the officer came to a decision and begrudgingly he walked over to uncuff his two captive.
"Thanks," Jeremy nodded. He rubbed his wrists as the cuffs were hitched back onto the officer's belt.
"Don't thank me; you still have to explain why you are doing here."
Jeremy shrugged, "I'll explain proper about what happened after we get this sorted, but me and my friend came across the animatronics. They were acting weird, we tried to fix them, and now they're here for whatever reason. I just hope they're not planning revenge."
"Revenge?" The officer cocked his head, confused," but they're robots."
"Oh trust me, they're quite smart," Jeremy chuckled," and if they've discovered they were replaced, then hell is gonna break loose."
"They did replace us Jeremy!" Bonnie shouted. His eyebrows pitched inward trying to form an angry expression, but given the makeup and permanent smile, Bonnie failed miserably.
"Well, crap. Alright, do you know where they would be waiting for us Bonnie?"
"Well, Freddy decided to split us up in different areas. I was supposed to be in the Reception area while Chica is in the kitchen. Freddy told Foxy to guard the Parts and Service room, but she disappeared shortly after that. Freddy is on the Show Stage. Please Jeremy, we have to help them! Freddy's eyes are black and they only do that when he's really angry. Chica took out her eyeballs and beak for some reason as well. I don't want to hurt them, but I'm really scared they are going to hurt someone."
Mike stood apart from them, a grim look on his face. This was all his fault. If he hadn't struck Foxy with a crowbar the other Animatronics wouldn't be acting up. Why did he have to be so stupid?
Mike was snapped out of his self-blaming by a pat on the back. He turned his head to see Jeremy grinning.
"Mike, quit being so hard on yourself," Jeremy soothingly said, and before Mike could respond Jeremy continued," and yes, you acted selfish. However, if you keep beating yourself with a monkey wrench then you'll be deep. It's no use brooding. That's batman's right anyway."
"Jeremy, tell me, what do I need to do?"
"First, we subdue the remaining animatronics, remove these," Jeremy's hand went into a pocket and pulled out a cylinder-shaped object with four protrusions sticking out and a single, thin, silver, wire."Found it while digging through both Bonnie and Foxy. Bonnie's was damaged, and after a bit of digging, I discovered these are hacking devices. Even after all these years they're still working."
"So someone hacked into the animatronics! I knew it! Now we can find the bastard who did it!" The cop exclaimed. He looked ready to do a happy dance.
"Yeah! Watch your mouth!" Bonnie gasped.
"Uh, sorry Bonnie, forgot the whole 'cussing is bad' thing. Those words actually mean goods things like fuck means-"
"I do not see how this is going to help in the long run," Jeremy interrupted," so we get to work, now."
The group nodded. They obediently followed Jeremy into the Pizzeria. Once they entered, the cop whipped out his flashlight and shone it. The moldy, humid air assaulted their noses making them gag. Bonnie soldiered on since having no sense of smell was great! At least to the humans.
Jeremy looked at the crumbling Pizzeria, a frown on his face. How he longed to see this nightmare ended. Now, it was rotting, a husk of its former glory. He should have been happy to see the place that tormented him for a week in such a state of disrepair. Yet, this place once meant something to the children and even adults. Even now its memory lived, evidenced by the officer who would point at various objects like an arcade machine and share stories of when he came here.
Bonnie was also deeply saddened. Jeremy couldn't blame him. Sleeping for a decade and then waking up only to find you've been replaced and your home in ruins.
Mike, though, didn't show any emotion. His face focused on the task at hand. Jeremy knew Mike well enough, however, that a fire raged within him. He was probably still battling doubt. Mang-Foxy would forgive him, Jeremy knew that. The vixen was designed specifically to watch kids, and one doesn't go after revenge so easily with that kind of personality.
"Also, note to self, come up with nicknames for each animatronics," Jeremy thought. He was about to begin arbitrarily nicknaming them when a plate clattered when it hit the floor.
"That sounded like it came from the kitchen," Bonnie said wearily.
"Alright, here's the plan, we sneak in and surprise Chica and pin her down. Then we rip the device out. If things go south, our best bet would be to deactivate Chica and then get the device out."
"Uhh, where's Mike?" Bonnie rubbed his head.
"Mike? Grr, I really want to rip him a new one, but at the same time I don't want Chica surprising us."
"I like surprises!" Bonnie chirped.
"I don't think Jeremy means it like that, Bonnie. More like 'forced happy times'," the officer corrected Bonnie. It took a moment for Bonnie to catch the meaning, but his eyes widen in realization.
"Oh."
"Let's just go," Jeremy chuckled.
The trio crouched and crawled into the dark kitchen. The years had not been kind leaving a rotten pizza smell in the air making the humans pinch their noses. The once vibrate wallpaper a decaying brown and cobwebs littered the room. Most of the appliances also were removed save for a few random ovens and counters.
The trio managed to hide behind a counter hearing the soft hum of Chica. Jeremy peek his head over seeing that Chica was trying to gather ingredients for something. Though, the collection was pitiful, compressing of only a few things, and looked as if rodents got to it first.
"Alright, Chica's busy trying to do something and-"
"Bonnie! I thought you were supposed to be in the reception area?"
Jeremy ducked, casting a glance at Bonnie. He nodded, but before he could reply to Chica, the cop bolted out and shouted, "Surprise motherfuc-"
Before the cop could finish, Chica backhanded him and sent him tumbling to the ground. The force was powerful enough to render him out cold earning a curse from Jeremy.
"Youth these days, so stupid," Jeremy silently growled.
"Why hello there, I see Bonnie has gotten some new friends. What, your old friends aren't enough?" Chica sneer.
Jeremy felt Bonnie flinch at the insult. The bunny looked confused as what to do.
"Well, now or never," Jeremy muttered and leaped Chica.
Chica simply sidestepped the lunging Jeremy who had to wheel about. The chicken turned. Her black, endoskeleton eyes trained on Jeremy. He lunged once more rewarding him with the same result. Clearly, Chica was much smarter than what Jeremy gave credit for so instead of lunging, he feinted.
Expect this time Chica's hand shoot up like a bullet and grabbed Jeremy's throat. The crushing grip collapsed Jeremy's windpipe starving him of oxygen. Jeremy gasped like a fish out of water as he tried sucking in air. After several pitiful tries, he looked over to Bonnie who had stood idle all this time debating on who to help.
"H-help," Jeremy gasped rewarding him with only a tighter grip.
Chica didn't say anything, only letting a threatening growl at Bonnie. Jeremy pleading eyed the bunny, who was torn between two sides. Finally, after seeing too much suffering, Bonnie charged headbutting Chica's side.
The force sent all three down. Chica was only seconds behind Jeremy who was quick enough to get up and tackle the chicken.
"Let me go you traitorous shitshack," Chica growled as she struggled against Jeremy.
Somehow Jeremy had summoned the strength to hold down a 400 pound murderous stripper chicken.
"Bonnie, I see the device, but it's in her head so I need you to remove Chica's head!"
"What?" Bonnie gasped. Removing any part of an animatronic's suit was like stripping down!
"No you don't!" Chica's thrashing intensified, clearly not wanting her head piece removed.
"You heard me Bonnie! Remove the head!"
Bonnie hesitantly wrapped his paws around Chica's head and forced it off. What lied underneath made him take a step back. In place of the head piece was a rectangular block with two thin rectangles. Teeth filled the gap between them and Bonnie could see two pin-sized white dots of the blacken eyes. To think that was his head was scary to Bonnie.
Bonnie then watched as Jeremy grabbed the device that was just at the base of her head and ripped it off.
"There!" Jeremy exclaimed. He got off Chica who stood up in a daze.
"Whoa, what happened?" Chica asked. She looked around and saw a head much like her own."Bonnie, why do you have a head?" Chica's hand went up to scratch her head and even though she could feel, she knew something was wrong the moment her hand went further than usual.
"Here's your head!" Bonnie held out the head, offering it to the dumbfounded Chica.
"WHAT?!" Chica screeched. She yanked the head out of Bonnie's grasp and frantically placed it back on before growling," Don't ever do that again! I feel naked when you do that!"
"What?" Jeremy frowned. How did a robot feel naked?
Upon hearing Jeremy, Chica turned and said,"Jeremy! Why are you here?"
"We're here because… well we think the reason why you were replaced was because you were hacked."
Chica stood there for a moment processing what Jeremy said. That would explain why she blacked out sometimes and what the man did to her.
"So, where's Freddy?"
"Show Stage," Bonnie said.
By this time, the cop began to stir. He pushed himself up, nursing his cheek. It felt like he was slapped by a noodle whip. He then saw Chica and immediately forgot the pain. He whipped out his handgun and shouted, "Surprise!"
"Hello there Mr. Cop!" Chica chirped her greeting.
The cop was baffled. Moments ago he was sure the robot wanted to kill him, but now it was waving! It even slapped him like she owned him!
Jeremy saw the confusion in the cop's eyes. He held up his hand and opened his palm showing the device.
"We found this on you Chica. This device changed your programming into a murderous robot."
"Oh my," Chica's eyes widen.
How the robots were able to widen or shorten their eyes was beyond Jeremy.
"Ready for Freddy?!" A voice rang out throughout the Pizzeria followed by a tone that Jeremy, nor any of the others, could place a finger on.
Elsewhere in the Pizzeria, Mike was sneaking through the decrepit rooms. He heard Freddy's voice echo throughout the Pizzeria and a tone he didn't know. Now he was debating his decision.
"Why am I doing this? Jeremy needs me with him! But what if Freddy goes after Foxy? After all, she did 'disappear' for whatever reason. I can't bear the thought of what I've done. Besides, Jeremy has a cop and an animatronics with him. Surely they will be fine!"
Mike's thoughts were then interrupted when a metal-like clang emanated from the Kids Cove. That was where Foxy was! Mike had to get there before Freddy could. He rushed towards Kids Cove and stopped just at the Entrance.
He leaned in and felt nauseous. It smelled like someone died here and left to rot. The place didn't look pretty either. Much of it seemed to have been removed or maybe even looted evidenced by a trail of broken toys and other crap that was sold here. The trail lead out of Kids Cove, but that was not Mike's goal so he leaned in again and saw the dark form of Foxy nested in a corner.
Mike took a breath and took a step in. A squeaking sound came from beneath him and Mike looked down to see a Pirate Foxy toy under his shoe. It gave a 'yar' that alerted not only him, but also Foxy. Her head rested on one of her paws staring at Mike.
He was ready to hightail it out at that moment. What if Foxy attacks? Alone, he couldn't fight her. Worse, Foxy might call for help. But they also got rid of the device. Surely Foxy wouldn't want to hurt anyone again?
He sighed. Life was a gamble and risks had to be taken. So, Mike stepped in.
"Ah, yeah Foxy," Mike blurted out the first thing that came to his head," how are you doing?"
Mike mentally slapped himself. Of course she wasn't fine after he butchered her.
Foxy replied, almost as if crying," I'm so sorry."
"What? I'm supposed to be the one saying sorry!"
"For what?" Mike asked. He took another step towards her.
"I attacked your mother and- I- I killed her!"
Mike took another step and relied in a soft tone," No, you didn't. She's fine Foxy!"
"Went from vengeful murder to soft-spoken man in a day flat," Mike chuckled.
"She's… alive?"
"Yep, though she's still in the Hospital recovering and I know you didn't place her there."
"I did though!"
"No," Mike growled causing Foxy to flinch," a person did this. A fellow human! He, she, it, hacked into you guys and made you like this! That bitch caused all this!"
Foxy tried thinking something to counter it, but there was logic in Mike's response. The way the others have been acting, it was as if they weren't themselves! As if someone did hack into them.
"Mike."
"Yeah?"
"Can you forgive me?"
A part of Mike didn't want to forgive her, but he knew it was not her fault. Someone did this, that someone would pay. Right now, however, this needed to be done.
"Yes. Now I ask, can you forgive me for what I did?"
Heavy footsteps echoed into Kids Cove and Foxy's jaws unhinged. Her eyes suddenly became blacken, but she wasn't looking at Mike. Fearfully, he turned around to see a tubby, brown bear with dreadful black eyes. The bear stood in the doorway staring directly at Mike, as if it wanted to rip him apart.
"Hello Mike, are you ready for Freddy?"
A/N: Uh, oh. Cliffhanger! I'm evil, I know. And I am sorry for not updating this sooner, but things have been chaotic as of late. I won't bore you with the details about my problems. However, though, finals are coming up and I need to catch up on some school work. It might be another few weeks for, but, Allah willing, I'll be able to update this.
Besides, Summer is coming.
ZebraFinch: While I thank you for the comment, it's not the best way. However, if you want, you can use it. In fact, anyone who is looking for an idea or two for a FNAF story, you can use mine. I don't even care if you credit me or not. Anyways, thanks and good day!
ZombieSlayers: Another update for you!
VolcanicPizza: Thanks! Anyways, what you've asked is a good question. Though, if I was a murderous human that knew hacking and wanted to cause trouble, what would I do?
