Triggering Emotions
A few hours had passed while the two bunnies remained incapacitated in their rooms. The others kept close watch over them, looking for any noticeable changes in either of them. Shonnie was still unconscious, while Bonnie had simply fallen asleep. Hoping for the best, the group believed that at the moment, rest was the best thing for the bunnies.
Freddy sat with Mike, Thomas, and Rick in the dining room, his head hung low as he thought deeply about what occurred around him.
"I'm truly worried, you three…" The bear spoke up in a low and concerned tone. "I don't know what's going on and I don't know what I can do for them. I'm really worried."
"Fred, just relax. Everything's gonna be fine." Mike told the plump bear, "You all have been through much worse than this."
"Senpai's right," added Thomas, "You guys are beyond strong. Some weird occurrence isn't going to stop you guys." Freddy smiled minutely in response, finding pride in Thomas's statement.
"I suppose you're right…" He murmured, "However, I can't shake the feeling that something is off…"
"Like what?" Rick asked. Freddy began to answer, only to be interrupted by a sudden groan. The four looked over at the direction of the noise, Pirate's Cove entering their field of vision. The groan sounded once more, this time more painful.
"Foxy?" Thomas called the fox. The groans resumed, each sounding more painful and forced than the last. The four made their way toward the Cover, a few others walking in the same direction. Freddy pulled the purple curtains apart to find Foxy on his knees with a hand over his mouth.
"Foxy? What's the matter?" The bear asked him, resting a hand on the red foxes back. Foxy's large tail sprung upward as he gagged loudly, coughing afterwards.
"Foxy!" Freddy called, lightly shaking the fox.
"F-Fre'..." Foxy choked out, looking back at the bear. "It h-hur's, lad…"
"What hurts, Foxy!? What's wrong!?" The brown bear asked frantically, lowering himself to Foxy's position. Foxy didn't answer. He gazed at Freddy with a dull and painful expression, his eyelids drooping. The golden yellow color of the fox's eyes now a much lighter tint. Freddy watched fearfully as the fox continued to groan, now gasping as if the life were literally being drained from him. Tears began to form in the corner of the bear's eyes, frightened and unsure of what to do. Moments later, the fox laid in the bear's arms, unconscious, but breathing.
"This isn't right…" Freddy sighed, "I don't know what in the world is going on, and I don't know why this is happening, but it is worrying me to death!" The bear stood up with Foxy in his arms, "I am going to get to the bottom of this, Michael, with or without your help."
"Okay, I get it l, Fred. You gotta protect your family." Mike responded, placing a hand on the bear's shoulder. "And I understand too, this is starting to really worry me too." Freddy nodded firmly, his expression stern and determined.
"I'm going to take Foxy to his room, once I return, we'll get started." Freddy said as he headed toward the stairs. Suddenly, there was a loud scream from the kitchen, earning everyone's attention. Freddy hurried to the kitchen, Foxy still in his arms. He and the other anthrotronics quickly made made their way into the kitchen, finding Chica and Chira with petrified expressions, and Roxy on the ground.
"Roxy! Roxy answer me!" China shouted, kneeling beside the pink and white fox. Tears fell down both of the girls' cheeks, fear and worry in their eyes.
"What happened!?" Teddy asked.
"W-w-we w-we're working on s-s-some n-new recipes and sh-sh-she started c-c-convulsing! A-all of a sudden she was groaning in p-p-pain! Sh-she couldn't tell us wh-what was wrong!" Chica explained with a heavy and fearful stutter, "Th-then she hit the ground and the next thing we knew she was unconscious!" Teddy looked to Freddy, noticing the Foxy in his arms.
"Did something like that happen to Foxy too?" The light brown bear asked. Freddy nodded slowly, biting his bottom lip with his right incisor.
"This is weird… What's going on here?" Blu muttered in question.
Freddy shook his head, "I don't know. I honestly don't, and that worries me to death. But we all will get to the bottom of this and fix this problem."
"Brother…?" Goldy called the brown bear.
"Yes, Goldy?"
"...What if all of this is happening because… because of our past?" The gold bear murmured in question, his tone was low and worried. Freddy lowered his gaze, a sorrowful expression on his face.
"If our past is the cost of this endeavor, then so be it. We will face the consequences." The bear answered, "But we will not approach this in a lackadaisical manner. Whatever the cause of this is, we will not go down without a fight." The others were silent, but agreed. Trepidation filled their hearts, unsure of exactly was going on. Nonetheless, the family had endured and suffered too much to lose what they have.
"Are you going to assist us, you three?" Teddy asked the two guards and technician.
"You can bet your butts we're gonna help!" Mike answered enthusiastically, "No way we're letting you guys face this on your own!"
"Heck yeah!" Agreed Rick.
"Ride or die, y'all!" Added Thomas. Freddy smiled at the three, nodding as well.
"Then it's settled. But we must inform Mr. Reynolds of what we intend to do as well." The brown bear said.
"What do we intend to do…?" Chica asked in a low and frightened tone.
"Well, first of all discover what the cause all of this is." Explained Freddy, "Then, we solve it. Simply put."
"But it's not going to be that easy…" Murmured Benny.
"Undoubtedly, but that will not deter us." Teddy spoke, clenching his fist, "This family will not be destroyed by this endeavor. And we have to he determined to make sure that it won't."
"But all this talkin' about it ain't gonna do sh*t!" Tg shouted, "We've got four of us unconscious all this pride sh*t ain't helping!"
"He's right. LET'S GET TO WORK!" Shaddy exclaimed, pumping his fists. With that, the group rushed to Mr. Reynolds office and quickly informed him of their predicament. The manager understood, and said he would give them as much time as they needed. He even agreed closing the restaurant for the day, if need be. Once this was through, the group decided to search the pizzeria as their first action. They had previously found clues to their current problem around the restaurant, including Shaddy and Shonnie. The anthrotronics searched about the restaurant, looking cautiously and thoroughly. Ultimately, the group unfortunately never found anything within the walls of the pizzeria. This left them moderately confused, though they weren't prepared to drop it there. However, their confusion intensified when the group heard movement upstairs. Freddy made his way to the stairs, looking toward Bonnie, Shonnie, Foxy, and Roxy's rooms.
"Bonnie? Shonnie? Foxy? Roxy?" The bear called each of their names, waiting for an answer. There was another soft rustle in one of the rooms before one of the doors opened. Bonnie then walked out of his room, rubbing his eye as if he had just woken up from a long nap.
"Bonnie?" Freddy called the bunny's name once more.
"Hey, Fred." Bonnie replied with a yawn. "What's up?"
"H-how's your head?" Freddy asked in a mildly timid tone.
The purple bunny rubbed his head, smirking a bit, "Feels fine, actually. No pain." The others crowded Freddy with similar expressions on their faces. "What's with you guys?"
"Listen, Bonnie:" Freddy spike, "We're in some type of predicament. Although, with you waking up, we're even more confused."
"Okay…?" The purple bunny returned, raising an eyebrow.
"You, Shonnie, Foxy, and Roxy have each passed out in various ways." Freddy continued, "You, with your headaches. Shonnie with literally no sound whatsoever. Foxy seemed as if he was choking, and Roxy convulsed until she was unconscious." Bonnie's expression changed to one of worry.
"We don't know what is causing this, but we are in the middle of trying to figure it out." Added Teddy.
"But, why does my waking up make it more confusing?" Bonnie asked.
"We actually thought you weren't going to wake up anytime soon, to be honest." Chira answered.
"Dang… this is weird…" Kin sighed, rubbing his head.
"Wait, does that mean Shonnie should be waking up too!?" Shaddy asked rapidly.
"Go look." Freddy said, "Bonnie, would you come down here please?" Shaddy sprinted up the stairs as Bonnie made his way down. The shadow bear rushed into the room, disappearing into the room.
"Shonnie!" Shaddy cried from the room joyously. The shadow bear came running from the room with his bunny brother in his arms. "Look guys, Shonnie is alright!"
"Shad… can you put me down…?" Shonnie murmured in a melancholic tone.
"Have we just been making this a bigger deal than it actually is…?" Blu muttered in question.
"No…" Shonnie sighed as his shadow brother placed him on his feet. The lavender purple bunny rested his arm over Shaddy's shoulder as the shadow bear helped him stand.
"You… had the right… to worry." Continued Shonnie, "What's happening isn't a really great thing…"
"Wait, you know what's wrong?" Teddy asked, his eyes widening.
Shonnie nodded slowly, "Shaddy should know too… but he's probably too freaked out to remember anything… as usual."
Shaddy blushed lightly before he spoke, "Wh-what do you mean?"
"Come on, dude… you're a shadow. You know exactly what's going on." Shonnie said to his brother in a disappointed tone.
"Do you mind telling us what it is!?" Freddy asked, raising his voice.
"It's a process." Shonnie answered calmly, looking to Freddy, "A process us shadows called the 'darkening.'"
"The darkening…? Sounds like a horror movie." Bonnie snorted.
"It might as well be. The process hurts those it affects. Some worse than others." Shonnie explained. "It occurs majorly with beings like us, who bend the rules of physicality. It's triggered when someone fears you."
"Someone fears us?" Teddy murmured in slight shock.
"It could be one person, or a multitude of people." Continued Shonnie. "But the point is that you're feared, in this causes nightmares. These nightmares could eventually create negative entities, negative versions of you. And it could be one or multiple, depending on how many times the dream was had. The resulting versions of you are called by the dream they are had, nightmares."
"Nightmares are shadows, like us," Shaddy piped in, "Only they hold the negative qualities of you, plus the reason you were feared."
"Now you remember, bro?" Shonnie snorted, to which his shadow brother responded with a blush. "But he's right. They also are bound only to their nightmare form, unlike us shadows. Shadows can freely switch between physical and spectral forms, while mean are bound only to their spectral forms. They can take the form of physical appearance, and even gain physical bodies if they are strong enough. But they eventually have to return to their spectral form before they dissipate."
"Nightmares thrive on the fear they were created from." Added Shaddy, "And while they are physical forms, they're unable to absorb the negative emotions. Which is why they can't stay in physical forms."
"So wait, all of this means the we inflict fear on others?" Teddy asked, practically dumbfounded.
"That's not a surprise, Theo." Interjected Tg, "Especially when you consider that we used to kill people for a living."
"Y-yes, but that was years ago! Why hadn't any nightmares of us been created then?" Teddy countered.
"Simply because the fear wasn't strong enough." Shonnie answered, his tone still possessing a low and pained pitch to it. "Those who knew your secrets never lived to actually have nightmares of you."
"Wait wait, what about you then?" Blu asked. Shaddy and Shonnie both chuckled simultaneously, grinning at each other.
"Don't be silly," Shonnie finally said, "Nightmares can't be created from shadows."
"Yeah! We're basically the same entities, think about how redundant that would be!" Added Shaddy with a lighthearted tone.
"If that's the case, then why'd you fall unconscious like Bonnie?" Goldy implored, tilting his head in confusion. Shonnie froze upon hearing the question, thinking carefully. The shadow bunny was unable to come up with an answer.
"I… I don't know." Shonnie murmured, glancing in Bonnie's direction. Bonnie shrugged his shoulders, of course, not having an answer either.
"Do you think you might get a nightmare too?" The purple bunny asked.
Shonnie shook his head, "Even if the process occurred to you, and is somehow connected to me, a nightmare can't be created from a shadow."
"So, now it's just a waiting game…?" Freddy asked.
"Yeah, that's about it." Affirmed Shonnie.
"Ughh, I hate waiting." Wan groaned.
"You might want to wait. You never know how those nightmares might end up like." Shaddy said.
"And be glad there aren't any nightmares of you." Riomei snarled at her brother.
"How long does this process usually take, Shonnie?" Teddy implored.
"It's actually really quick, most of the time." the shadow bunny answered, "The symptoms of the process are even faster. They're created from dreams mostly anyway."
"But, what will we do about them?" Kin asked, speaking in a soft tone. "And what will they do when they're created?"
"Nightmares do what they want, just like us shadows do." Answered Shaddy, "All we can do is hope that none of them are created from your hatred, anger, or any other emotions that can drive them to kill."
"This isn't going to be fun…" Tg groaned, lowering his arms and shoulders.
"But we can expect for them to come here first." Added Shonnie, "Nightmares are attracted to who they were created from. It's kinda like their first objective. After that, they're pretty much free to do whatever."
"At least we get to meet them." Goldy said with a shrug and a smile, attempting to lighten the mood, "And who knows, maybe they'll be nice~."
"Let's really hope they are…" Freddy sighed, "I'm certainly not looking forward to another predicament like the Puppet…"
A/N: Gooooooood day to you, readers of fan fiction! I deeply apologize for the long pause. As you all should know by now, I am indeed in college. It is quite difficult to write stories when you're a student-athlete. Nonetheless, these things in my life will slow down my chapter posting, but definitely not stop it. I hope you all are still enjoying the story! I will be spamming chapters as quickly as I can while my break from school continues. Love you guys! Thank you so much for being patient! Enjoy! Until next time, live life like an Xplosion! JFlare out! And happy new year!