Greeting: Looks like the animatronics are going to the factory. Electra won't have to bring Dust anywhere.
He is just where he needs to be. Hopefully everything will go fine.
Enjoy!
( Faith and Eclipse. Getting ready to leave. Outside the front door)
Shadow came to them as Eclipse was talking to Faith.
" Are you up to the task, Faith? I know you are exhausted and tired", asked Eclipse.
Faith had barely been able to transform from a kitsune into a dragon. She had been out so much that her wires had broken.
" Mike and Michelle can fix me up when I come back. I think I just might be able to.. Oh, hi Shadow", Faith was interrupted.
Shadow looked alerted and for a second, Eclipse thought something bad had happened.
Shadow rushed through the door.
" Guys? Are you going to the factory to save Leslie?", Shadow asked them in a shocked tone.
Eclipse shrugged at him.
" I don't know. This job came on a very short notice. I'm not even sure how they came up with this conclusion.
Storm Jr. ran to us and tried to explain it further but I understood none of it. You know, she was so excited and skittish", explained Eclipse.
" Shadow. I doubt they are sure about this. How do we even know that there is anyone at the factory. This may end up being a wasted trip", warned Faith.
Shadow realized that Eclipse didn't know much.
He and Faith had just been asked to take the others to the factory.
Shadow glanced at the ground like he was expecting the answer to jump through it. His fingers bent slowly as he made a fist.
" So what? I'll come anyway. It is my responsibility. I'm a guardian", Shadow looked up at Eclipse.
Faith glanced at Eclipse and he glanced at her.
" I don't think we can stop you. It's your choice even though I think you should stay here as you are good with kids", Faith told Shadow.
The grey fox chuckled at her.
" Felix can do my job, we aren't gone for long", he corrected.
" Unless we are killed. Then we won't be back home very soon", Eclipse had a weird smirk on his face.
" Natural disadvantages of our job", shrugged Shadow.
" Yeah. Disadvantages indeed", Faith glanced around.
It made her think about the danger they were in.
The others came shortly, Storm Jr. came first, and were ready to go.
Shadow talked to Marionette a bit, he wanted to know what was going on.
Crystal was listening as well even though Foxy had told her a thing or two. She was a little bit afraid of what might come.
The school had been scary but how about the factory. She had to go to the belly of the beast.
In other words, she was feeding herself to the monster.
Crystal gulped and looked around. Her dad was there to comfort her.
" Get on, lass. Time to sail with Ol' Foxy", Foxy told Crystal.
It made her giggled just like always. It reminded her that she was a pirate and afraid of nothing.
" Aye, aye! Ready, Captain", replied Crystal.
Shadow glanced at her and smiled. Maybe Foxy could keep Crystal calm.
Foxy picked up his daughter and carried her to Faith's back.
" I can walk on my own, dad", Crystal was embarrassed.
" Nonsense, my little girl. The world is dark but why should it stop me from playing with my baby", asked Foxy.
Shadow and the others chuckled.
" He will definitely be useful today. Or wait! Is it night?", thought Shadow.
It was hard to tell the whereabouts of the sun. Foxy put Crystal down and patted her head.
" There, there", he said in baby talk.
Foxy had seen fear in his daughter's eyes. All of that was for calming her down.
The animatronics chuckled, even Crystal.
Faith coughed after she had chuckled. Her strength was almost gone.
" Are you absolutely sure you are up to this? It will be a long flight", Eclipse got worried.
" Don't worry, Eclipse darling", coughed Faith.
She tried to sound adultlike. Eclipse patted her and trusted her.
Faith could do one more flight.
If Faith failed on the way, they would be stuck.
Eclipse was counting on Faith with his life. Just like he was relying on his friends.
Eclipse didn't know why they seemed to be in such a rush but he didn't need to know.
All the information he needed was where to go and when to go.
Shadow sat down next to him and Storm Jr. went to the other side.
Her happiness had partly gone away. Storm Jr. was serious and ready to save her boyfriend.
Storm Jr. knew that the others were mostly thinking about the supernatural benefits of getting Leslie back.
Marionette would have been lying if he had claimed that he wanted to save Leslie and nothing else.
He wanted to get the powers away from Elleroth and Black.
Saving Leslie was just a way of accomplishing that. Storm Jr. was the exact opposite, she wanted to save Leslie and the rest didn't matter.
Even if it hadn't affected the Apocalypse, she would have saved him.
Even if it had made the Apocalypse worse, Storm Jr. wouldn't have hesitated to save her loved one.
Shadow, Eclipse and Storm Jr. were at the front.
Foxy and Crystal were behind them with Storm. They were safely resting in the middle of Faith's back.
Golden freddy and Marionette were near the tail. They were planning and calculating.
The others let them do what they wanted to do.
Faith managed to take off and fly towards the factory.
Crystal was cold so she was leaning into Foxy's shoulder. The wind was merciless and it worried Eclipse.
No matter how strong and determined Faith tried to sound, she was weak.
Golden freddy saw Faith's tail move with the wind. Usually it was wagging from side to side.
Faith had no strength to keep it steady. She saved the strength for flapping her wings.
" Faith. You should rest those wings of yours", suggested Eclipse.
Faith shook her head.
" I don't want to crash to the ground like a shot bird", she protested.
" We won't fall. The wind is going to the same direction as us. Try to glide, Faith. You need strength for getting back", replied Eclipse.
Faith hadn't realized it herself but it was true. The wind was taking them to the right direction.
Someone was helping them. Someone who wasn't from that world.
It could have been a convenient coincidence but something told Eclipse that was not the case.
He shrugged it off anyway, it was probably paranoia.
Faith let out a relieved sigh and her wings relaxed. Eclipse felt that Faith was happy or at least relaxed.
It felt good not to flap the wings, they were so sore.
Eclipse fixed the course every once in a while by gently pulling the reins. He needed to be extra careful and gentle.
Faith's neck was tender after all the pulling she gone through. The reins had hurt her neck badly.
Also, Faith's wings were really tender and pulling the reins might have forced her move them quickly.
The wings couldn't bare any more quick moves.
They had to take it slow and be careful.
" Perhaps we should have fixed you before this. You are in so much pain", Eclipse was worried.
Faith disagreed.
" I can do this. Believe me, Eclipse. I'm not too exhausted to help my friends", she told Eclipse.
Faith was sure about that but Eclipse had his doubts. Faith looked so tired and wounded.
Eclipse had never been truly worried about Faith before. He had never even considered that flying could be hard for her.
Flying required energy too, just like any other type of moving.
The wind had gone crazy after the Beginning. It was due to the hurricane that was coming towards them.
Eclipse tried to ignore the hurricane, there were enough things to worry about.
Faith had had to fight her way to every single destination. Bonnie's group had been all over the place and Faith hadn't gotten much rest.
Eclipse was grateful to the winds, they were helpful for once.
If they hadn't been, Faith would have surely passed out.
The animatronics had no idea of how painful flying was to her.
" Just let the air carry you, Faith. There you go, girl", Faith muttered to herself.
The flight went well, Faith was proud of herself as Eclipse patted her head.
" The forest starts right here. Good job, Faith", said Eclipse.
" Are we there yet? I can't see the factory", asked Storm Jr.
Eclipse and Shadow glanced at her. Now that Storm Jr. had mentioned it, they didn't see the factory either.
Eclipse tried to recall when they had seen the factory before.
Had it been before or after the lake, in the forest?
Eclipse's core stopped for a second.
Had he gone the wrong direction?
Faith had made the right moves in order to stay on course. The wind hadn't been taking them straight towards the factory but Eclipse knew that.
He had counted that in.
" Let's go forward, we'll see it eventually", Eclipse told Storm Jr.
Shadow glanced downward to see the forest. He tried to look for any landmarks.
" We may not see it because it is dark. A building is easy to miss when there are black clouds on the background", suggested Shadow.
Storm Jr. and Eclipse took Shadow's word for it. He was the master of darkness, he had been trained by Antonio.
" I think I see it", Storm Jr. looked forward.
" It seems to be covered in something, plants maybe", Shadow peered at the thing in the distance.
Eclipse happened to think about the amount of enemies they could be up against.
" Go lower, Faith. I know it forces you to flap your wings to stay afloat. We just have to go lower before we are noticed", ordered Eclipse.
Faith retracted her wings a little and descended. She tried not to moan in pain.
At that point, she wondered if she should have just refused to leave. It would have made Storm Jr. crazy but this might kill her.
Faith stayed away from the trees but tried to fly straight. She groaned as she flapped her wings.
" A little more, Faith honey. You can do this", Eclipse was determined.
Everything was going well and for a second, Eclipse thought they would make it without any accidents.
Golden freddy and Marionette were still at the back. Goldie wasn't paying attention to the ground.
If he had, he would have seen an incoming threat.
" What? What was that?", asked Crystal.
She could feel Faith shake. It came out of the blue, no one could have predicted it.
" Did you hit a tree?", Foxy asked Eclipse.
" Faith. What was that?", asked Eclipse.
Faith was breathing heavily.
" I hit something. I couldn't feel it very well since it hit my fur but I hit something. I think something's stuck on my fur, it hurts", answered Faith and groaned.
" Christ. Oh gosh. Goldie! Could you glance under Faith and check out if she's wounded?", Eclipse shouted to Goldie.
Golden freddy heard it and looked at Eclipse.
" I can", he promised.
Marionette held onto Goldie's leg as he peeked around the edge.
Golden freddy was about to fall when he saw Faith's underside.
" Is it bad? She's in pain", asked Eclipse.
" It is bad, guys. We've got company!", shouted Golden freddy.
It was a monster that had latched onto Faith's belly. Faith groaned as it sank its claws into her.
" Shake it off or kick it, Faith", Eclipse told her.
Faith was ready for the pain. She tried to kick the monster off and shake at the same time.
It was painful and definitely everything but working.
" More incoming", informed Marionette who could feel them.
Faith was close to the trees. A patrol had noticed them and started chasing them.
Faith felt more claws sink into her belly.
One managed to get around the edge and came face to face with Storm Jr.
" I'll devour you, little one", it smiled at her.
" No! I'll get my boyfriend and you can go to Hell", Storm Jr. said angrily and kicked the monster.
It didn't do much so the monster charged.
Shadow's katana came out of nowhere and impaled the heart.
" Use your claws or ice", he told Storm Jr.
One monster climbed around the edge and attacked Shadow.
Storm Jr. froze her hand and decapitated the monster.
" Okay. Can do", grinned Storm Jr.
Faith could feel as the monsters started tearing her belly open.
" Hold on", she told the others.
Faith flew so close to a tree that her belly scratched it. It took out some of the monsters.
One climbed around the edge and was taken out by Marionette's mind blowing energy.
He made the monster brain-dead. The last one was wounded and about to die.
It could feel its soul starting to leave the body. It let go of Faith's underside with its feet and held on with its claws.
The wind pulled it down towards Faith's tail. The claws were nasty and had gone deep.
Faith's belly opened like a zipper. She moaned in agony as the monster slid down.
As it reached the tail, its body failed and it died just like the rest.
It had done its job nonetheless.
Faith was wounded and oil was bursting out of her open belly. If she had been organic, her insides would have fallen out but luckily she was an animatronic.
She was still losing oil at a fast rate and her vision was going dizzy and blurry.
" I'm sorry, Eclipse darling. I can't do it", she whispered with a dying voice.
Faith was shaking like a leaf in the wind. Foxy and Storm embraced Crystal protectively.
Shadow and Storm Jr. grabbed Eclipse and embraced him.
" Brace yourselves!", shouted Eclipse as Faith touched the top of a tree.
In that fight, gravity had come out on top. Faith ate dirt and needles and crashed like a plane.
Her wings hit a few trees as she slid forward. Her momentum was huge and she came face to face with rocks.
Faith couldn't slide over the rocks but the momentum was too big.
It caused her to start rolling forward like a snowball. The animatronics were getting mangled by the ground and Faith's body.
It felt as if Faith was rolling in the forest for five minutes.
It was only about ten seconds but panic made time slow down. Faith hit her head on one last rock and it caused her to be catapulted right against a tree.
Her belly hit it first and a branch went inside her wound.
Faith stopped like she had been emergency braking or something.
Then Faith fell on her back, it made a loud thump. The animatronics got crushed underneath Faith's enormous body.
Her head was pummelled and her wings hurt like hell, they had gone through so many trees.
She inhaled in dying panic and then closed her eyes as she passed out.
Faith was out.
As she had been rolling, Marionette and Golden freddy had fallen off. They came to the crash site as fast as they could.
" Are they alright?", grinned Marionette.
He could feel life under Faith's crushing body. The absence of death's stink was a good sign too.
They weren't dead but wounds could have been great. The first thing to come out was the hand of a fox.
Crystal had been the most protected.
" Crystal. Grab my hand, I'll pull you out", said Golden freddy when he noticed her.
He grabbed the hand and pulled the dirty fox out of the crushing trap.
" Thank you, Goldie. I thought I was done for", thanked Crystal.
The animatronics were dirty but fine for the most part. Storm Jr. and Foxy had sustained the most damage out of them all.
They couldn't heal like the others.
Foxy was fine nevertheless, he was just worried about his daughter.
Storm Jr. could have been beheaded and she would have continued, she had the spirit of a monster.
Foxy and Storm Jr. got out without a problem. Shadow was stuck but Marionette pulled him out with his strings.
Eclipse was pulled out before Storm. She was the last one.
Storm Jr. helped her mother.
At the same time, Eclipse ran to Faith's head to check her out.
" Faith. Are you alive? Say something", panicked Eclipse.
He tried to get Faith to open her eyes. She was so weak after her belly had been torn open.
Marionette was already on the case, he used his strings to close the long wound.
Eclipse tried to open her eyelids with force. Golden freddy grabbed his arm.
" No. Do not forcefully open her eyes. She needs to rest. We are in a dangerous zone but she can't move", Goldie told Eclipse.
The wolf was worried about his pet but believed Goldie.
" She can't die now. If she dies, it's my fault. I let her come without getting repaired first", whimpered Eclipse.
" Marionette can feel life inside her. She won't die. Faith has lost oil but she will make it", assured Golden freddy.
Marionette closed up the wound in no time and checked the others out as well. They were fine but Faith was not getting up, the branch had done great damage.
" Are we going to have to leave someone here? She can't stay out here in the forest all by herself", asked Storm Jr.
Marionette looked at the others and wondered who should stay.
" I can stay here with her. I'm her rider and mom would want me never to abandon her", said Eclipse.
They had to sacrifice one so it didn't really matter who that animatronic would be.
" Okay. Stay with her and if anyone comes, take them out before they can alert the others. There must be tons of monsters in here", Goldie looked around, stressed.
" I think there might not be", corrected Foxy.
" Why do you think so?", asked Goldie.
Foxy glanced at his surroundings.
" There are many monsters around here. Only a fool would hide right beside the lair of monsters.
That's why it is the safest spot, no one will ever expect someone to be here", explained Foxy.
" I hope you are right", Eclipse was terrified.
" We did make a lot of noise", Storm pointed out.
The others glanced at her. Storm didn't understand why they were staring at her.
" I have to be here, monster or not. It doesn't matter how many of them there are", sighed Eclipse.
He was scared but couldn't leave Faith behind. Marionette and Goldie explained their plan to the other animatronics.
Crystal couldn't help but glance at Eclipse.
" He and his stupid dragon. Eclipse always gets to hide with Faith while we risk our lives.
Hmm. This could be a trick. Faith pretends to be exhausted and wounded so Eclipse can cower with her", thought Crystal.
She realized that her idea was silly. Eclipse would never voluntarily allow others to risk their lives while he hides like a coward.
Crystal focused on the mission ahead, it was more important.
She got to go with Storm Jr. and Shadow. Golden freddy thought that splitting up would be wise in that case despite what Shadow said.
Shadow had of course mentioned the fate of people who split up in any horror film ever.
Smaller groups have a lesser chance of being detected.
Crystal remembered what had happened the other time when Freddy had decided to split up the group.
She grinned at the thought but Goldie and Marionette were the wise ones.
She and her group went around the back to get in.
Before that, Crystal, Shadow and Storm Jr. helped Eclipse hide Faith. It took a while to cover Faith with fallen branches but it was worth it.
From far away, Faith looked like a nice hillock.
Eclipse wished them luck as they left him and Faith.
Marionette and Goldie would make distractions so their job would be more dangerous than that of Crystal and her friends.
Storm and Foxy had the job to join Crystal's group inside. They were going a different way.
It was a plan but everything could go wrong. Eclipse was alone in the dark with the defenceless Faith and Crystal's group consisted of younglings.
They were in a dangerous situation but it had to be done.
" Follow me", gestured Storm Jr. as she led the group behind the factory.
They stayed low and the darkness was alive around them.
" Let's hope we can do this. If Leslie isn't here, I swear if the monsters don't kill Storm Jr., I will", Crystal shook her head.
Farewell: Time to go. It has been delightful to write this chapter for you.
The next chapter will be about seeing if they can indeed do this.
Creepy mode: Engaged.
THE ONLY WAY TO LIVE IS TO WRITE.
