Flashbacks in italics.
Nothing to say this time. Read, review…enjoy.
When Shadow passed through the portal, the first thing she heard was the distant clash of metal and angry snarls. The next was quiet skittering as Plushtrap came running down the hallway. Leaning down, she picked him up with a smile and sat him on her shoulder.
"Heya Plush. How have you been?"
The small rabbit just made a clicking noise and shrugged. Shadow laughed and nodded.
"Me too buddy, me too. Nightmare and his brother in the usual place?"
Plushtrap rolled his eyes and nodded.
"Well come on then. I need to talk to them."
Making a discontented noise, Plushtrap flicked one of his ears and tugged on Shadow's hair, getting another laugh out of her.
"No, it can't wait. I'm in a bit of a rush Plush."
Mimicking a sigh, Plushtrap moved over to Shadow's other shoulder and pointed down the hall, towards the sounds in the distance. Grinning, Shadow tugged gently on his paw and started walking, absentmindedly talking as she went.
"I've had a fun past few weeks…got news that the grocery store I work at is closing, so I need to find a new job now. My mother tried calling again, pretended I wasn't home and let the answering machine pick up. She sounded a bit upset with me. My little side project is almost done, I just have a few touch ups to do, and Nightmare's approval."
She paused, a thoughtful look on her face.
"Maybe I should see if Nightmare will let me bring you with me for a little while. I'm sure it isn't any fun being stuck here in the dark all the time."
Shadow grinned when Plushtrap started bouncing excitedly on her shoulder.
"Don't get too hopeful buddy, I need to ask first. I'm sure there won't be a problem, but you know how they are."
Plushtrap rolled his eyes, making Shadow giggle.
"Exactly! They're like overprotective uncles. Heaven forbid their precious little Plushtrap or Shadow get hurt."
Passing through the veil of darkness that separated the house from the rest of the nightmare realm, the sounds went from quiet background noise, to extremely loud. She could pick out which snarl was Nightmare's, and which was Fredbear's, solely from the pitch. Nightmare's was a bit deeper, while Fredbear's was higher, but quieter. Frowning, she walked a bit faster, Nightmare's snarl sounding pained. Slipping through the small opening in the gate, she was greeted by the sight of Nightmare and Fredbear locked in a stalemate. The bottom half of Nightmare's jaw was missing, while Fredbear's left leg looked damaged at the knee joint, bent at a strange angle.
Crossing her arms and clearing her throat, she grinned when the two massive bears jerked in surprise. They separated, Nightmare looking sheepish as Fredbear's leg collapsed underneath him, sending him tumbling on his backside.
"You two look like you're having fun. Destructive fun, but fun nonetheless."
Shadow snickered when Nightmare attempted to answer her before realizing he was missing part of his jaw.
"I see now why you two are always in such a mess. Is this really how you spend your time when I'm not here?"
Fredbear chuckled.
"Usually, yes, unless we're messing with mortals. I do believe I threw Nightmare's jaw into the fountain by the way…I see you looking for it."
Ignoring the sound of Nightmare smacking Fredbear in the head, Shadow wandered over to the fountain, pulling the bottom half of Nightmare's jaw out of the murky water. Turning around, she rolled her eyes, both massive bears now on the ground, Fredbear sitting and Nightmare on his back.
"Honestly, sometimes you'd think I was the immortal fear being and you two were the mortal idiots. I get that you've only taken the forms of animatronics, but doesn't shit like this hurt?"
She brandished Nightmare's heavy jaw, eyebrow raised and gestured at Fredbear's leg.
"You two are lucky I took the courses I did, or you'd be stuck waiting for these to heal instead of me being able to repair you."
She walked over to Nightmare first, pulling a set of tools out of the shadows, and began to work on reattaching the jaw. She could practically feel Fredbear's calculating gaze and started counting quietly in her head. She had almost finished reattaching Nightmare's jaw when Fredbear finally spoke.
"Usually you don't come to visit without warning unless you have something to ask us."
Shadow snickered.
"You almost resisted your curiosity for a full minute! Not very patient, are you?"
At the annoyed growl from behind her, and the eye roll from Nightmare, Shadow couldn't resist falling into snickers again.
"It is way too easy to get you worked up. But yeah…I've got some things to ask. Only came to ask one, but I got talking to Plush here and thought of a few more things I wanted to discuss. Let me at least finish fixing Nightmare's jaw before I start asking questions, because some of them are for him."
Humming quietly, Shadow finished tightening the bolts and stood up, brushing the dirt off her knees. Sitting on the edge of the fountain, she rubbed her face and sighed. Sharing a look with each other, Nightmare narrowed his eyes and made a subtle gesture at Shadow, and Fredbear nodded before shrugging. Nightmare rolled his eyes and crouched down in front of her.
"What has you so worried little Shadow?"
Looking up at Nightmare, Shadow frowned.
"I got news earlier this morning that the grocery store I've been working at will be closing soon. It's time for me to go back, isn't it…?"
Standing up, Nightmare held out a paw, helping Shadow up when she grabbed it.
"It's been 10 years since the incident little Shadow, you knew this day would come sooner rather than later."
Glancing sideways at Fredbear sitting on the ground, twisted leg stretched out in front of him, Shadow sighed.
"You'd better sit still while I take a look at that knee joint, unless you want me making it worse."
Fredbear snorted, giving Shadow a pointed look.
"You're avoiding the question."
Kneeling down and pulling out a wrench and screwdriver, Shadow started tinkering with Fredbear's knee.
"I knew I'd have to go back…especially after what you two told me…it's just…it's so close to the anniversary, I was honestly expecting that I would have had to go back earlier than this. Before the memories would haunt me again…"
Sitting on the fountain lost in thought and playing with a purring Plushtrap's ears, Shadow didn't hear Nightmare approach. When he crouched down in front of her, she startled, eyes wild and panicked before she recognized him.
"Oh…hello Nightmare. I'm sorry, I was thinking about something…"
Nightmare chuckled.
"Must have been something pretty terrifying, to make you startle like that. Not much can scare you, after training with Fredbear and myself for so long. What could be scarier than a pair of beings that exist to create fear?"
Smiling ruefully, Shadow shook her head.
"No…just…it's almost been a year since that night. I haven't really thought about it, about the fact that so many innocents are dying in a pizzeria with no warning. What's supposed to be a simple job, turned into a deadly game of cat and mouse. Now though, it's all I can think about…all I can see is my friend, again and again, dying in that suit. Dying at the hands of robots made to entertain children…"
Shadow frowned.
"I wish I could do something..."
Nightmare smirked, causing Shadow to look at him warily.
"I don't like it when you get that look on your face. Last time you did, I ended up with my hair dyed PINK for a whole week. I hate pink."
"I'm afraid you're going to hate this too little Shadow. It will take time, but Fredbear and I shall also train you how to fight with your abilities, once you finish learning the basics. In time, you shall return to Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria and…deal…with the problem. One way or the other."
Shadow sighed.
"You're right. I do hate that…but if it ends this madness, this senseless slaughter…then yes. I'll return one day."
Sighing, Shadow stood up.
"That should be it Fredbear. Can you two maybe stop going at it for ONE day? I'm getting tired of having to reattach missing pieces!"
Nightmare chuckled, helping the other bear up.
"I'm afraid not my dear. One tends to get on each other's nerves when you're stuck together for eternity. Now, I do believe you said you had more than one question?"
Shadow brightened, smiling widely.
"Oh yeah! It's just…I remembered that you said one of the things you were reluctant to teach me was to bind my soul to something, like, say…an animatronic?"
Fredbear narrowed his eyes, crossing his arms.
"Of course you would remember that."
Shadow shrugged, smiling innocently.
"Well see, I've been working on a little project since I got out of school, and I'm finally done! I uh…just need some help carrying it here. It's really, really heavy."
With a sigh, Fredbear waved a paw at Nightmare.
"She's YOUR student brother, you can help her."
Nightmare rolled his eyes and followed the excited human through the portal, arriving in a small room. Flexing his claws, Nightmare looked around the little area, taking in the tattered brown couch, and tv leaning haphazardly on a stand. At the surprised squeak from Shadow, he turned to look at her with a questioning look. She blushed, talking quickly.
"You're…uh…smoky. I wasn't expecting your form to kinda…fall apart? I can see right through to your endoskeleton underneath! Is that because you're in the mortal realm? Is it an unconscious choice or can you be solid if you wanted? Is your energy limited at all in the mortal realm? Are you even solid at all any more?"
Nightmare chuckled.
"So many questions, so very quickly. I look like this in the mortal realm because I choose to, little Shadow. I assure you, I am just as solid as before. Now, where is this project of yours?"
Smiling brightly again, Shadow dashed out of the room and down a hallway, sticking her head out of the room when Nightmare didn't follow.
"It's down here! I couldn't keep it in the living room, someone would have seen it if they came to visit me…not that anyone does. Better safe than sorry I always say though."
Ducking slightly in order to fit down the hallway, Nightmare followed, squeezing carefully through the doorway. Tilting his head slightly, he watched as Shadow leaned over something in the corner, singing quietly to herself as she pulled back a sheet, revealing her project.
Leaning against the wall was a bear animatronic, light reflecting off the half-lidded golden eyes. Its fur was black, much like his own, the belly and muzzle a shade of grey. Its cheeks were a rosy red, as well as red covers for the knee joints, and a red top hat and bowtie.
"I uh…hope you don't mind. I kind of based it off you. Both you and Fredbear have done so much for me over the years, but you're the one that's always there for me if I need help, so I wanted to kinda pay tribute to you when I designed it."
Smiling softly, Nightmare placed a paw on Shadow's shoulder, silencing her.
"I'm honoured little one. Now let us get this back to the realm of nightmares, this mortal realm is extremely loud to my senses."
Nightmare picked up the inactive animatronic, stepping through a portal and Shadow darting in behind him as it closed.
Finding herself back in the courtyard, she grinned at the disgruntled look that Fredbear gave the inactive animatronic.
"C'mon Fredbear, don't be jealous! I made its eyes gold to match your fur."
Fredbear snorted.
"I'm not jealous. I just find it a bit ridiculous."
Shadow snickered.
"Sure you're not. You wanna teach me how to bind myself to it then?"
"No."
Nightmare chuckled.
"Though he has aided in some lessons, I am technically your teacher little Shadow. Before we begin, I would like to know why you wish to learn this. Even one small mistake can leave your soul drifting, or trapped eternally here with us. I see that look on your face child, and it as not as wonderful as you might believe. As much as we enjoy your company little Shadow, being trapped here eternally would leave us no choice but to do to you what we do to others."
Looking at the ground, Shadow frowned.
"It's a backup plan. If I can't do anything at the pizzeria with plan A, plan B is to pose as a new animatronic and do what I need to."
Sighing, Nightmare nodded.
"Very well. I shall teach you. Listen carefully…."
Cya next time guys! Don't forget to leave a review to let me know what you thought!