-Halloween Is Coming-
Daniel continues to stare at the wall, seemingly lost in his own world. It was confusing.
"Kid!"
Daniel jumps when he hears Nightmare's voice again. "You're still here?"
"Of course I am. I ain't leaving this dump of a head for any reason."
Daniel, as is his nature, couldn't resist a little jab. Even if it was Nightmare. "You sound like you care about me."
"W-What?! Of course not! I am Nightmare, the almighty ruler of the dreamscape. I care for no one!"
Daniel smirks at the obvious undertone of embarrassment within Nightmare's voice. Daniel chuckles as Nightmare's rant turns into grumbling.
He slowly gets up and walks over to the door. Just as he touches the door knob, another rush of cold air hits him. His sense snap into attention and his body tenses. He quickly turns around, but no one is there. He raises an eyebrow, but his suspicion never leaves.
He opens the door and steps outside. He quickly grabs his tablet and checks the time. When he sees that it was 12:00 AM, his eyes widen. He stares at the screen wondering if something busted it. He pulls out his phone and checks there for confirmation. When his phone also says 12:00 AM, his eyes widen more. But what takes the cake was the date he saw. It said October 31. It was October 2 when he last checked!
Deciding he needs more help, he asks mentally. "Nightmare. You seeing what I'm seeing?"
"Yes. But this doesn't make sense. While Nightmarionne is stronger on Halloween, he can never change the day to Halloween. Something is up here."
Daniel nods grimly, knowing that something big will come. He slowly makes his way down the hallway, being as cautious as possible. Once he makes it into the dining hall, alarm bells go off in his head. No one was present. Not even on stage.
Daniel checks the time again and finds it to still be 12:00 AM. He puts his phone down again, more alert than ever before.
He slowly slips into the shadows, using the training built up over the past year. He sneaks his way across the room, using any form of darkness as another spot to hide. After traversing the room, he quickly opens the door to the Toys area and slips inside.
Daniel's ears twitch when they register a soft sound, almost like sobbing. Despite his want to help, he knew to be cautious. He silently glides his way down the small hallway and into the office.
He looks around, the sound louder than before. His ears pivot to the right and he looks in that direction. His eyes widen in surprise. There in the corner, seemingly sobbing, was Ted!
Daniel almost rushes forward to ask what's wrong, but something stops him. He knows something is up, and he doesn't want to chance it. Instead of getting close, he sends out a small tendril of shadow energy. Once again, he is thanking Nightmare for these abilities.
The tendril of energy slowly moves forward. It is now within a couple feet of Ted. Daniel's eyes narrow when he sees faint wisps of smoke around the proximity of Ted.
"Kid."
Daniel doesn't register Nightmare's voice. He is too focused on the task at hand.
"Kid! Don't!"
This time Daniel does register Nightmare's voice, but it is too late. The tendril touches Ted, and Ted convulses violently. Daniel backs up quickly, forgetting about his stealth momentarily.
To his disgust, Ted begins to morph and reshape himself. He begins to grow larger, and his suit gets torn up. His body color begins shifting from light brown to a bright orange. His body also begins to glow an ominous yellow color.
"Kid! Get out of there!"
Hearing the urgency in Nightmare's voice, he doesn't think twice. Daniel quickly moves past Ted, running into the Toys' main hallway. Right before he turns the corner, he takes a glance back. He wished he didn't.
Slowly getting up within the office was a glowing, orange version of Nightmare Bonnie.
"H-Hey there! W-Wanna play w-with some f-fire!"
Daniel's eyes widen when the orange Nightmare Bonnie lifts his hand and conjures a bright orange flame. He quickly ducks behind the corner, barely avoiding the fireball.
Not wanting to stay near here, he quickly moves forward, blending into the shadows.
He enters the dining hall, his sense on full alert. He looks around, watching for anymore nightmares.
Right as he is about to continue searching, he sees a faint glow. Realizing it is coming from behind him, he turns around. He blanches when he sees an orange glow coming from the doorway into the hall, getting brighter every second.
Needing no further motivation, Daniel slips into the dining hall and quickly tries to find a good spot to hide. Just as he manages to hide in a spare box, Orange Nightmare Bonnie comes around the corner.
The nightmare looks around, confused as to where Daniel could've gone.
"W-Where are you k-kiddo? I want t-to show you s-something cool!"
Daniel stares at the glowing nightmare in disgust. He knows that all nightmares are sneaky and accustomed to shadows. The fact this one glows means that it wasn't acting on its own. No, it was being controlled. Or worse, its memories were wiped.
Daniel follows the orange nightmare with just his eyes, staying completely still. Suddenly a raspy female voice calls out.
"J-J-Jack O' B-B-Bon! W-W-Where are y-y-you?"
The nightmare, or Jack O' Bonnie, calls back. "I-I am in the d-dining hall, Jack O-O' Chica! I'll c-come to you!"
Daniel watches as Jack O' Bonnie moves towards the hallway again, heading off in the direction of the office. Daniel breathes a sigh of relief and slides out of his box silently.
He glances around for any more dangers. Content that he is safe for now, he moves quietly across the dining hall.
He reaches his destination in a few moments. Daniel peers inside Kid's Cove, seeing if anyone is present. He doesn't notice anyone, but he does register a faint noise. It sounded like static.
Making sure not to be taken by surprise, he glides into the room, his feet making zero sound. He quickly goes to a corner of the room, looking for the source of the static noise.
Just as he begins to think it was his imagination, he notices a small movement in his peripheral vision.
Snapping his gaze over to where he saw the movement, he stares. Watching for anymore movement. After a few moments of nothing, Daniel almost looks away to soon. Just before he does though, he sees something. A gleam of metal seemed to appear from the darkness, illuminated briefly by the bright lights in the dining hall.
Wait, bright lights? Looking out into the dining hall in confusion, his face pales in fear. Walking into the dining hall was not only Jack O' Bonnie, but also who he assumed was Jack O' Chica. Deciding that being caught in a small room that could be illuminated easily, he maneuvers back to the door quickly.
Just as he reaches the door, he sees another flash of metal. Quickly freezing as to not be seen, he glances back with his eyes. Despite his wanting otherwise, his eyes widen in surprise and slight fear. Hanging on the ceiling was a beaten, mangled version of Vixey. Not only that, but she also had razor sharp claws and the sunken eyes that most nightmares have.
Not wanting to spend anymore time in that confined room, he makes his way out of the room. He moves silently, making sure none of the nightmares can see him. Carefully avoiding the glowing nightmares' light, he makes his way to the stage. He hides in the corner of that stage, content with his spot for now.
"Kid. Look to your left."
Despite being startled by Nightmare's sudden voice, he looks anyways. His eyes widen when he sees a door with an EXIT sign on it. "An exit? That wasn't there before."
"No it wasn't. But that is your ticket out. Hurry over quickly!"
Trusting Nightmare's knowledge, he moves forwards quickly. He reaches the door and grabs the handle. He turns the handle, but stops instinctively. He turns around and sees Nightmare Vixey, or Mangle, rushing towards him. He pales in fear and quickly opens the door. Just as Nightmare Mangle reaches the door, he shuts the door in her face.
He breathes out a sigh of relief and turns around. What he sees makes him freeze in shock. The area was completely black, no features anywhere. The only thing he could see was another door a small distance away.
"Nightmare. What is this place."
"I was afraid of this. Nightmarionne is going full out. You'll need to use those stealth skills of your for this."
Daniel raises an eyebrow, the knot in his stomach growing. "Why do I need my stealth skills? I escaped the nightmares, didn't I?"
Somehow, despite not being able to see him, Daniel knows that Nightmare shook his head.
"If you think you won just like that, then you are more naive than I thought."
Daniel frowns, but doesn't respond to the supposed insult. "So then what do I do?"
"Go to the other door. You need to start the next night."
Daniel's eyes widen. "The next night?!"
Nightmare nods.
"Yes. This is only the first night."
Daniel pales in fear. He had hoped to leave theses games behind him when he came back. Obviously though, that was too much to hope for.
Daniel sighs and begins making his way to the door. He stops in front of the door, not sure why he won't open it.
"You ready kid?"
"Yeah. As ready as I'll ever be."
"Then let's go."
Daniel nods grimly. He reaches out his hand to the door knob. He twists it slowly until it doesn't move anymore. He breathes deeply, then opens the door. Only one thought goes through his head as he steps inside. "This is going to be a nightmare."