Note: This take place five years later.
The end of sophomore year marks the beginning of summer vacation. A few people may think about how much sleep that he or she will get, others may contemplate about the things that they will get into with their friends, but for T.K. Mutombo-Loud, he just thinking about what job he could find now since he went through at least three jobs already. He was seeing off his beloved girlfriend, Krystal Reyes, who was going back to Rio for the summer to see her relatives.
"Ugh, you really have to stay in Rio all summer, Krys? Why don't you just stay with me and the others?" T.K. pried in mild sadness. He didn't want to admit to anyone but he would truly feel alone without his Brazilian sweetheart, even though he has Lincoln and the girls. He switched out his huge headband for a smaller navy bandana. He wore a navy short sleeved dress shirt with a flashy design, khaki cargo shorts, and white slip-on skate shoes. His dreads grew past his chin and he had a small goatee. He bulked up considerably due to his daily exercise.
Krystal shook her head with a sad look, "Sorry, querida, but you know how my papa is." She looked towards her left to her father, Ramone Reyes, who was giving T.K. the stink eye and gave him the "eyes on you" gesture until his wife, Reyna Reyes, popped him over the head. Krystal cupped her hand on the left side of her mouth, "He's still mad about catching the two of us making out." Krystal had lost a considerable amount of weight thanks to Lynn. She wore a cobalt blue dress with white floral designs and white low heeled sandals.
T.K. rolled his eyes, "My god! He's still on that!? He really needs another hobby along with cooking because spying on us ain't cutting it. Besides, he can't do any better with your mo-"
"TERRI!?" Krystal squealed with embarrassment, clasping her hands over her snarky boyfriend's mouth. She looked back towards her father, who was busy talking to Reyna. Sighing, she turned back towards back T.K. with a mild glare. "I swear that mouth of yours is going to get you into trouble one of these days," She scolded. T.K. chuckled and gave her a cheeky grin.
"Butcha love me for it," He pointed out cockily. Giggling, she gave him a quick peck on the cheek.
"So bullheaded. Seriously, be careful and good luck on finding another job," Krystal said, hugging him tightly. T.K. returned the hug with a sad smile.
"Thank you, sweetie. Have a great time in Rio," T.K. responded as the Reyes' SUV started up and began to drive forward. Krystal leaned out and waved to T.K. He waved back as the SUV grew smaller and smaller until it was out of sight. T.K. began to walk the opposite way of the SUV. He looked towards the reader.
"Summer, the long period of freedom and relief from the dreaded six-letter word: SCHOOL. While most of everyone is using the time to relax, Lincoln and I will this opportunity to earn some money and stay ahead of the cool kids. …Needless to say, Lincoln had his first job ever since he turned sixteen two months after I did, while I'm looking for my fourth one. Fourth one, you may ask? Yeaaaah, it hasn't been goin' so well for me. Example #1,"
Three months ago…
T.K. had a Burpin' Burger uniform with a visor and a headset. He worked at the drive thru. He heard a vehicle pull up. "Welcome to Burpin' Burger! Home of the Big Burp! Can I take your order?" He asked kindly.
"Yeah, can I literally have two Big Burps with large fries and a large shake?" A female voice ordered. T.K. recognized the valley girl dialect, especially the use of literally.
"Lori? Lori Loud, that you?" He pried in confusion.
"T.K.?" Lori called out in similar confusion.
T.K. squinted his eyes, "Lori! I thought you were on one those health food kicks? The hell is your lyin' fatass doin' over here!?" His answer was the sound of a car peeling off. What he didn't know was that manager was passing through but stopped and listened to T.K. When T.K. turned his head, his eyes met his manager's glare. "Ugh, I'm fired ain't I?" T.K. sighed, rolling his eyes.
"Yeah, he fired me on the spot and on top of that, Lori didn't speak to me for a good while. Then again, I called her a fatass and girls tend to be super sensitive about their weight. Example #2!"
Two months ago…
SLAP!
"Here's what I think of you and your stinky tuna casserole, Dave!" T.K. shouted angrily, slapping a obese man repeatedly with his sandwich. Dave was notorious around the paint shop for bringing his tuna casserole sandwich, which stunk to high hell. It's even worse as Dave intentionally used 'h' words around any unsuspecting victims. The manager was trying to pull the two apart.
"Terrence, he's tapping out!" The manager pleaded, desperately trying and failing to pull T.K. away.
SLAP!
"No, Boss! DAVE needs to learn not to open his stinky ass mouth and not say things like 'hhhhhhhello!,' or 'hhhhhhhhow you doing', or my personal favorite 'HHHHHHHHHI!'," T.K. mocked sarcastically, continuing his sandwich slaughtering. Dave kept screaming like a girl.
"I think you broke the skin," The manager paled, eventually pulling T.K. away; however, T.K. got in one more hit.
SLAP!
"And screw your casserole!"
"Yeah, I was lucky to walk away with only community service after pleading my case, but that douche nut was askin' for it. Now, for the final one, …I just let the flashback explain everything."
One month ago…
It was a dark day at Dairyland as a row of roller coaster carts with screaming riders zoomed by on the ground but not on the tracks. Fire was everywhere; even the cotton candy machine was on fire. Amusement rides going haywire, moving too fast for anyone unlucky to be on! This was Dairy-pocalypse 2020. T.K. looked at the madness with a dismayed look. He practically sensed the manager glaring supernovas at him. "Yeah, yeah, I'm fired, shit!" T.K. growled, walking out of the park.
"In my defense, I had to study for a huge test and I didn't get a lick of sleep at all. I aced the test if your wondering, but I got blacklisted from Dairyland for a year," T.K. finished, walking up to a pizza place that had seen better days. The paint was chipping, the lighting was flickering on and off, and certain parts of it was rusting away. Nonetheless, it was still bustling with customers. "Well, Lincoln said that this was the only place that it would take me," T.K. groaned, opening the door.
Inside the run down pizzeria, there was kids running all over the place, animatronics strumming a merry tune, and a foul smell that was potent throughout the pizzeria. A kid bumped into T.K. in attempt to get away from having pizza smoldered all over his head. "Hey, watch the hell you going, you freakin' pipsqueak!" T.K. warned, shaking his fist threateningly.
"Ha, ha, ha! Quite the attitude you got there, son! You're Terrence, I presume?" A deep voice pried, catching T.K.'s attention. He turned around see a lanky, older male. He wore a colorful but tacky, expensive suit. His black, stringy, greasy hair covered the smug grin on his face. He chomped on the cigar as he waited for T.K. to answer.
"Uh, yeah. My brother, Lincoln, told you about me?" T.K. retorted with his own question.
"Yes, sir. I'm Dwayne Leroy. Proud owner of Leroy's Whimsical Pizza. Whatcha think, great huh?" Dwayne demanded with a smug look.
"It looks like a cut rate Cheesin' Chucks. …No, no, no, don't talk shit about his…'business'. YOU need this job more than he does," T.K. thought with a warning tone. He gave a fake, cheesy grin, "Yeah! It sure is stunning!"
"Now, lets get down to business because we have something in common: that is NOT to waste time. You here for the night guard shift, right?" Dwayne questioned with a knowing look.
"Yes, sir. So, do you have a application or somethin' for me to fill out or what?" T.K. pried, looking around the pandemonium that was currently going on.
Dwayne waved his hands crazily in front of him, "No, no, no, no, no. We don't need to do any of that mess. You're hired!"
That threw T.K. off. Now, in a normal situation, he would just walked away, but he burned through all of the available jobs in Royal Woods. So, T.K.'s kinda desperate at this point, but he has to be sure that he's making the right choice. "Hold up. That's it? No interview, no long tedious wait, nothing?"
"Yes, but there's a reason for all of this, son. People has been cooking up urban legends about my establishment since the Chomp of '18. Those so called legends about my animatronics being haunted and vengeful is soiling my reputation as a businessman!" Dwayne pictured dramatically, causing T.K. to raise an eyebrow. Dwayne noticed this and cleared his throat. "Ahem, and making it hard to find brave night guards willing to take the daunting task."
T.K. thought this long and hard. In the midst of this, the lead animatronic, a bull, eerily turned his head towards T.K. and gave him a glare. He gave a simple but a sinister thought, "Yes, he's the one. He'll be our beacon."
Finally, T.K. made his decision. "Well, I have no other choice since I'm kinda blacklisted. What the hell, I'm in. What I got to lose, my life?" T.K. joked with a shrug of his shoulders.
Dwayne let out a deep cackle, "That's the spirit, son. Ok, here's you uniform," He gave T.K. a guard uniform with a nifty hat, "You'll get your instructions and equipment when you return here later. If you don't have any more questions, then I'll see tonight, Terrence!"
"You too, sir!" T.K. responded, taking the uniform and walking out of the door.
Two hours later…
The Louds were having a relaxing dinner, which they were also celebrating another successful end to school. T.K. grabbed a two slices of pizza before sitting with the family. Leni gave him a warm smile. Throughout the years, their relationship evolved more into a motherly sister and brother relationship. She gave him the love and care that his mother neglected for so long. T.K. didn't even asked her to do that, she just want to.
Leni wore a sea foam green crop top, a faded blue jean skirt, and white gladiatior sandals with sea foam green bows. She had a new pair of sunglasses because her old pair broke. "So, Tee Kee, are you totes excited for your job tonight?" Leni beamed, grinning at him.
T.K. chuckled while biting, "Yep, lets just hope I won't blow this all to hell like Dairyland." He felt his ear pulled roughly, "Ow!" He looked up and saw Rita give a disapproving look. Some strands of her hair was graying due to age. She wore a salmon dress with white flats.
"Language, Terrence. You know how I feel about that. Now, I find it wonderful that you keep bouncing back after you lose job after job. You really are a determined young man ," Rita smiled, letting go of his ear.
T.K. shrugged, "Yeah, you know me. Getting back on my feet after being knocked down multiple times."
"Hm, let see if you mouth of yours causes you to lose yet another job," Lori sneered jokingly, sitting down with her phone. She needed glasses because of one too many nights on the phone. She wore a baby blue t-shirt with navy jeans and baby blue low tops.
T.K. rolled his eyes with a blush, "My God, woman. I said I was sorry about calling you a…" He eyed Rita's glare, "…uh you fat."
Lori giggled with a smirk, "I know, T.K. I just wanna see that adorable face flustered."
"So, T, now that you're working at Leroy's Whimsical Pizza, can you give me some free tokens?" Lana beamed with a large grin. She opened up a pet sitting gig during the weekends and it quickly blooming into a small, successful business. She still wore her baseball cap, but she ditched her overalls for a pair of jeans.
Lola cringed at her twin's love for the pizzeria, "Ew, Lana. Why you wanna go to that place? It's all run down and disgusting. Now, Cheesin' Chucks is were TRUE partygoers go to have a good time." The pageant queen has been keeping her word about not being a tattletale and she also is trying to change her attitude by molding herself after Leni. She wore a light pink designer tank top with a dark pink body clinging skirt and light pink pumps.
"Sorry, Lans. That'll get me fired because that basically stealing," T.K. answered, eating the last of his pizza.
Lana pouted, "Aww, well congrats on getting the job anyway."
"Thank you, grease monkey," T.K. responded, yawning. He stood up and walked towards his room, "Now if you excuse me, I need to recharge for tonight."
Six hours later…
Vanzilla, with Rita manning the wheel, stopped in front of the now closed Leroy's Whimsical Pizza. TK, fully decked out in his guard uniform, stepped out of the antique van and closed the door. "Alright, Terri, have a great first night!" Rita spoke with a proud smile.
"Thank you, Mama Loud. See you in the morning," T.K. expressed, waving at his mom as she drove off. He turned towards the pizzeria and walked to the door. He opened and walked inside. "Shit, this place had seen better days and what the hell is that smell!? It reminds me of rotting meat!" T.K. groaned, plugging his nose. Yes, the place was popular but it could as much of a renovation on the inside as much as the outside. The paint was fading, the wooden stage that the animatronics was on was rotting, and were spills that were long over due for a clean up.
Dying to get away from the smell, T.K. speed walked away from the huge hall and down to the office where he would be for the night. It had two doors on the left and right side with a control panel that had two buttons. Against the wall, there was a lone table with various objects sprawled all over the table. The one object that interested T.K. was a huge tablet. It reminded him of the tablet that Lily had when she was a baby. How a baby was able to operate one is beyond me.
RING! RING! RING!
T.K. jumped a bit from the loud ringing. To be honest, it was kinda sketchy being in a huge restaurant at night alone. The only companions were the animatronics but they looked too freaky to be around for even a few minutes. T.K. grabbed the phone and answered it, "Yeah, sorry, ma'am or sir, we're closed for the ni-"
"Hello, h-hello? Is this thing, uh, on? Oh, it's recording. Salutations and welcome to Leroy's Whimsical Pizza! Where joy and kids are the number one priority for us! Now, I know you're VERY anxious to get to work, so, uh, I'll be quick about it."
T.K. gave a look of boredom to the reader. "Overstatement of the freaking year," T.K. snarked, shaking his head.
"Now, your primary goal is to guard this establishment with your life! You have your flashlight, pepper spray, and keys so that you can locked the place up if any emergency arises. Warning, Bartholomew and his friends, Raymond and Daisy, are currently adjusting to a new software in their systems. They used to wander around all day until the Bite of '17. Now, they only wander around during the night.
"There they go with that Bite thing again. Is this some type of hazing the new guy?! Now, if I had to guess, Bart's the bull, Ray's the raccoon, and Daisy's the duck," T.K. wondered, remembering the animals of the animatronics. As his hazing fears were subsiding, the piece of info sent chills down his spine.
Now, if one of them somehow got into the office and see you, they may not, uh, recognize you as a human; they'll recognize you as a endoskeleton. Kinda still working out the kinks about that. They will attempt to take you back to the storage room where they"ll stuff you inside the vacant suits. Now, it seem cute to you but I don't think those suits were emptied out due to time constants. With all those pointy thingmajigs and sharp goo gags, it could, at worse, kill you or, at best, fatally injure you.
"…Your jokin', right? Ok, y'all, come out, the joke is over! You got me, you got me. I gotta say, that was a very elaborate joke, fellas! They can't be serious, right, right!?" T.K. asked the reader, letting out a few laughs.
"We never joke at LWP. I guarantee that every is 100% true. The Bite, the guards' disappearances, the 'pizza sauce' caked around the animatronics' eyes, and the disgusting smell of rotting meat! EVERYTHING! …Now, with all of that said, it should be a breeze for you. Be safe, use that tablet and look through the cameras, and watch your back, ok? Alright, good night."
The phone emitted a dial tone as the message ended. T.K. put the phone up and sat down, digesting the bizarre information that was bestowed on him. It's one thing for the animatronics to actively think that the guards are naked endoskeletons, but it another for Bart and the gang to basically kidnap said guard against his will and stuff him in a suit that could pass for an iron maiden.
"Ok, at this point, I don't what to believe what is true or not. …Gotta take my mind off of it," T.K. enforced, taking out his phone and going on Metube. He gave the reader a glare, "What!? It's twelve twenty seven in the morning. No one's gonna try and rob the place! Besides, there ain't much to take anyway."
Two hours later…
T.K.'s nerves were calmed significantly as he watched numerous funny videos. He honestly forgot about the warnings he got from the message earlier.
CRASH!
"What the hell!?" T.K. jumped out of his chair. He landed roughly on his bottom, wondering about the loud noise. T.K. got up and walked towards the doorway into the hallway. He couldn't see much due to the narrow hallway blocking most of the view of the pizzeria. T.K. couldn't risk himself to the unknown assailant so he headed back inside the office. He grabbed the tablet from the table and turned it on.
The screen displayed an image of himself looking at the tablet. He looked back towards the camera, which it was sitting in a corner high above him. Pressing the right arrow button, he switched the camera to the east hall, the hall he checked beforehand. He pressed the arrow again, and it switched to the men's restroom. One more push of the button, it zipped to the dining room where Bart, Ray, and Daisy were at; however, something was amiss.
"Wait, where's Ray?" T.K. asked himself, zipping through the camera feed. Storage room, no. Backstage, Nuh uh. Kitchen, the damn camera's broke anyway, so nope. "Bruh, where is that fucking raccoon!?" T.K. growled, sniffing the air. "Ugh, that freaking smell is back!" He switched the camera back to the office, which the mere sight nearly scared the shit out of him.
The animatronic in question was towering behind him, waiting for T.K to turn his back. Taking a calming breath to gather his wits, T.K. slowly placed the tablet down. He searched his pants and grabbed the flashlight, which was big and heavy but he isn't sure if it was enough to fend off Ray. Gripping it tightly, T.K. turned and swung with all of his might. Ray was too focused on capturing T.K. to know the flashlight careening towards his head.
SMACK!
"Back off, you big ass vermin!" T.K. roared, pelting the raccoon hard with the flashlight. Ray wasn't really hurt but he stepped back to avoid his future victim and his onslaught. Finally, T.K. managed to back Ray out of the room. Looking at the panel, T.K. pressed the button to closed the door. "Ha! Take that, Ray! You and Bart ain't claimin' th-"
SCREEEEEEEEEECH!
T.K. stopped his showboating the second he heard that awful, ear bleeding screech. Turning on the light in the hallway, T.K. saw Ray giving him the mother of all death glares. Ray pointed to T.K., slid his finger smoothly across his throat, and lumbered away. Gulping nervously, T.K gave a scared gaze towards the reader, "Heh, I, uh, guess Ray doesn't take too kindly to losing."
Four hours later…
DING, DONG!
The sound snapped T.K. out of his terrified pose. He checked his watch, which read six A.M. "Huh, morning already. I guess time flies when one's too scared to even think straight," T.K. muttered, rubbing his eyes. Ever since Ray attacked him, the teen had been on high alert. The animatronic hadn't made another move since then but T.K. wasn't taking any chances. He stood up, pushed the open door button, and peeked his head out.
The rising sun was the only thing to greet him as there was nothing else in sight. He crept out of the room, looking around cautiously. He pulled his phone out and called Rita, "Mama Loud, my shift ended. Could ya come and pick me up? …Ok, thanks, bye." T.K. hung his phone and placed it back into his pocket. Feeling braver, he walked out of the hallway and into the dining room. He looked over to the animatronics, who were acting like if there wasn't anything amiss. Shaking his head, T.K. walked out of the restaurant and locked the door. He hid the key underneath a specialized rock for Dwayne to find and headed over to the bus bench to wait on Rita.
Thirty minutes later…
"Dude, are you ok? Not to be joking but you really look like crap," Luna asked, giving a worried look towards T.K. The rockstar became a worrywart for T.K.'s safety ever since that dancing incident of hers landed him in the hospital. She cut her hair into a more half shaven look, dyed her tips in a purple color, and she was wearing a long purple night shirt.
T.K. turned towards her with a confused look, "Hm? What do you mean? I'm fine. Just a little tired."
"Well, I guess work has T.K. wheelie tired? Hehehehehe, get it?" Luan quipped, drawing in everyone's groans. Her comedic skills improved greatly but she still gave bad puns for the hell of it. Her ponytail was now a poofy bun and she wore a yellow night dress. After getting her laughs in, she too gave her adopted brother a worried look, "Seriously, though, are you ok?"
"Yeah, your eyes are red and your movements are jittery," Lincoln pointed out, sitting down next to T.K. The white haired boy grew up into a great and awkward young man. He wore a simple orange shirt and white boxers. He started to draw comics after Ace Savvy discontinued after the owner died.
T.K. tried to ease the sibling wildfire, but they grabbed him by the arms and dragged him to his room, "People, people!" They mean well but they were taking smouldering to a new level. They didn't hear him as they were getting closer and closer to his room. He found the strength to wiggle out of Lynn's and Lana's grasp. "HOLD IIIIIIT!" T.K. roared, startling everyone.
He took a deep breath to calm down. 'There's nothing to be frettin' about. I'm ok, y'all." T.K. gave a smile that did nothing to ease the tension.
"Are you sure, T.K.? You don't look like it to me," Lori piped with a skeptical tone.
"I'm sure. I'm one hundred percent sure," T.K. answered with a nod.
"You want to come down there with you tonight, Tee Kee?" Leni asked in concern.
T.K.'s eyes widened, "NO!" Everyone gave shocked looks from his outburst; T.K. realized this and calmed down. "No, not to be rude but I don't need your help, peeps. I got this; I just need to get a feel of the ropes."
"Ropes? Are you a cowboy, Tee Kee? I thought you worked as a night guard," Leni pointed out absentmindedly, causing everyone to groan in irritation. "What?" Leni asked, confused about the reactions she's getting.
"Leni, he IS a night guard. Tee Kee, are you absolutely sure that you don't want any help?" Lola insisted, placing her hands on her hips.
T.K. nodded, "Yeah, umm hmm. Now, I need my sleep if you don't mind." He headed down to the basement while Lincoln and the girls gave worried looks.
Fiftteen hours later…
T.K. founded himself in a black void. There was nothing in sight as he walked aimlessly, hoping to find help. "Hello, anyone?! Hello!? Damn, just how big is this place?" T.K. wondering, looking around. He then began to hear something; he thought it was just the wind but it sounded like a ominous whisper.
"The beacon…"
"What?" T.K. turned to whoever was saying the phrase.
"The solution…"
T.K. growled as he tried to find the source, "To what!?"
"The key to our vengeance…"
"What is with the cryptic messages!?" T.K. shouted, looking around frantically for the trolling culprit. He didn't find him or her but he found a weird contraption in front of him. The machine looked like a large mechanical scoop. The sccop machine began to whir to life as it beeped. The last thing that T.K. saw was the machine lunging at him.
"AHHH!" T.K. screamed before covering his mouth. With these thin ass walls, the last thing that he need was everyone worrying again. He checked the clock; an hour left until he has to go back to that death trap disguised as a pizzeria. Sighing, he got up and slowly dressed for work.
Six hours later…
"For the love of God, they won't go away!" T.K. yelled, tapping the tablet screen furiously. Ray and Daisy stood by the doors and glared at the cameras as T.K. switched back and forth and back. The reason that he is scared shitless is that the message for the night distinctly told him that the doors and the lights use up power and there's ANOTHER animatronic; however, this animatronic hasn't been active for two years, so that's something to not worry about, I guess.
They kept on glaring as the power drained rapidly. 6%...5%...4%. "Oh my god, I'm 'bout to die! Death by animatronics! What a freakin' way to go!" T.K. bellowed as the tablet displayed a message about the low power and the eventual shutdown. "Oh, the hell with this! They gonna have to work for this kill!" T.K. growled, leaping from his chair. He grabbed his flashlight, his only, ineffective weapon, and hid under the desk. He waited and waited…and waited. "What gives?! Ain't the power going off so-"
HUUUUUMMMMMMMmmmmmm!
Just like that, EVERYTHING went dark. T.K. clutched his flashlight tightly close to him, "I-I guess this is how Lincoln felt when he went to see the Harvester." He expect the two robots to bum rush him and get the killing over with but T.K. heard them walk away. "Wait, they not gonna kill me? Huh, guess I just-
"Hehehehe…heheheheHAAAAA!"
T.K. stopped dead in his tracks as Bart's deep chuckles echoed throughout the pizzeria. He then heard loud, lullaby-esque music and the room was lit with strobe lights. T.K. ducked back under the desk as the bull himself lumbered ominously into the room. Bart scoped the room slowly as he searched for his soon to be victim. "I guess when the power goes out, Bart wants the guard for h-himself," T.K. thought fearfully. Bart began to look through the lockers; this started to put even more fear onto T.K. There are not that many places for T.K. to hide, so it's only a matter of time.
Bart closed the locker door roughly and looked around again. He lumbered over to the lost and found box and looked through that. Bart let out a irritated roar as he stomped the box. With no other hiding place left, Bat looked towards the desk. T.K. paled as he saw Bart's hooves turning towards him.
STOMP! STOMP! STOMP!
"OH…MY…GOD!" T.K. whispered, petrified out of his mind. Bart was now in front of the desk. T.K. was wishing every deity and his own father to let him live through this. Before Bart could claim his prize, he heard footsteps, rapid determined footsteps approach the office.
T.K. heard and peeked from under the desk as Bart looked towards the left doorway. A heavily damaged wolf animatronic with a knight motif stood there and glared at Bart. He raised his lancer towards Bart in a threatening manner. Bart glared back but he slowly retreated into the darkness. The wolf animatronic looked towards T.K. as he looked back at the wolf. T.K.'s eyes widened in fear as they shared eye contact. Finally, the wolf animatronic walked back to where he came. "What? He…saved me?" T.K. spoke to himself. The bells rung, letting him know that his shift is over. He sprinted out of the office and out of the pizzeria.
Sixteen hours later…
"Wait, dude, why don't you just quit?" Tane stated obviously. Rita couldn't drive T.K. to work this time, so Tane had to help out. T.K. explained everything as soon Tane asked about his odd behavior. At first, Tane thought that T.K. was simply out of his mind but he could how serious his friend is and he doesn't make up anything.
"Believe me, I would if I could but everyone at home already think I'm a slacker; furthermore, no other job would take me," T.K. answered, clutching his head. He had the same nightmare from the other day but this time, he caught everyone's attention with his screaming. He lied to them about a mouse crawling in his room but T.K. know that they probably didn't believe him. On top of that, Lincoln and the girls are acting very weird. Knowing Lincoln, T.K. suspect that they have a plan; that scares him greatly.
"Hmm, well, I could pulls some strings at my job so that I could get you one as well, dude," Tane assured, pulling into the pizzeria's parking lot. He looked towards the entrance and raised his eyebrow in confusion, "Hey, isn't that Lincoln and the girls?"
T.K. looked towards the same direction. Lincoln and the girls were waiting around at the locked door, "Wait, what!? What the shit are they doing here!? Tane, you can go on ahead home." He got out of the car and stomped right up to them.
"Hi, Tee Kee!" Leni chirped happily, waving at him.
T.K. glared at them, "WHAT are y'all doing here!?" They flinched at his angry tone.
"Wow, that's not ungrateful or anything. We literally come up here in the dead of the night to help you out and this is the thanks we get?" Lori snarked, giving him a glare of her own.
T.K.'s eyes widened, "Wait, what?!" "YOU! EXPLAIN! NOW!" T.K. punctuated, focusing his glare towards Lincoln.
"Well, uh, we had a sibling meeting earlier this morning after your nightmare. We all agreed to lend you a hand and possibly find out why are you acting so strange. Your boss let us help you for free, so yeah," Lincoln explained awkwardly. Oh god, why of all ideas did they had to agree upon, they agreed on this!? T.K. appreciated the gesture but there were too many lives at stake for his sake.
"NO, nuh uh! Y'all are not staying here. It's too dangerous here!" T.K. warned, trying to scare them away. Luna gave a confused look.
"Wha? What could possibly dangerous about a kids' pizzeria, dude?" She questioned. That threw a wretch into T.K.'s plan.
"Uh, it's that, erm, you see…UGH, it's just dangerous, alright!" T.K. shouted, slinding his hand down his face.
Lola gave an irritated look and placed her hands on her hips, "Look, Terrence, like it or not, you need us more than we need you! Now, you are gonna open that door or we're gonna force you!" You gotta respect this tenacity from the girl.
"You know what, FINE! Do NOT say I didn't warn you cause I DIDN'T!" T.K. snarled, grabbing his key and opening the door. They all walked in the pizzeria. T.K. looked towards the stage and found something very wrong. All three of the animatronics were missing. "That's not good. Where the hell are they?!" T.K. thought. He felt something grasped his leg and he jumped with a unmanly squeal. He looked down and saw Lily looking up at him with a scared look.
"Kelli, where's the light? It's too dark," Lily whimpered, lip quivering.
"Yeah, uh, everybody, follow me to the office. That's we'll be for the night," T.K. ordered, catching everyone's attention. They headed down to the office.
Five hours later…
"This sucks, dude," Luna groaned, banging her head to the wall.
Leni nodded while filing her nails, "Totes
"'Ey, y'all wanted to help, so you have no one to blame butcha 'selves," T.K. reiterated, cycling through the cameras. "Hm, they haven't made a move all night. Maybe Dwayne founded a way to shut them all the way down," T.K. thought as he heard a chair scraping along the chair. He turned to look at Lynn who was heading towards the left exit. "Where you going, Lynn?"
Lynn groaned as she did a potty dance, "To the bathroom, why? I've been holding this in since dinner. Speaking of, you know where the bathroom is, T?"
"Down the hall on your left but I wouldn't go out there. They could get you," T.K. warned ominously, catching everyone attention.
"What? Who are THEY, T.K.?" Luan piped.
"Bart, Ray, and Daisy. There's a fourth one but he saved me last night," T.K. answered with a serious look. This tidbit of information caused everyone's to widen in surprise. Seconds later, they all busted out laughing. T.K. groaned and shook his head. Well, it had to come to light one way or the other.
Lori took off her glasses to wipe her tears, "Those robots!? That's literally the most ridiculous I've ever heheheheheheard!"
"Ohohoh man, killer animatronics!" Lana cackled, holding herself on the wall.
Lisa let out a few chuckles, "Adopted sibling, the odds of that happening is like trying to mix water and oil."
"I'm serious! They are no joke!" T.K. defended, rubbing his temple.
Lynn continued to walk out of the office, "I'll be sure knock out the big, bad animatronics for you, Terri." T.K. ran after her.
"Lynn, come back! Damn it!," T.K. growled, walking back into the room. He took up the tablet and cycled through the camera to the girls bathroom. On the camera, Lynn walked in the bathroom and to the stall. The flickering lights made it hard for him to see.
"What are you doing, big brother?" Lola asked, peeking over T.K.'s shoulder along with the others.
"I'm making sure Lynn comes back in one piece," T.K. answered quickly. The flickering lights pestered on. T.K.'s eyes squinted at this, "These lights are pissing me off!"
Leni patted his shoulder reassuringly, "Calm down, Tee Kee. I'm sure she's fine." As soon as she said that, the bathroom light went off for a undetermined period of time.
"Ugh!" They all groaned. A few seconds later, the lights finally came back on but SOMETHING else was in there with Lynn.
"Uh, dudes, who or what is that?!" Luna shrieked fearfully, pointing frantically to the screen.
The THING was a huge endoskeleton that was composed of many other endoskeletons. It had metal tentacles sprouting from his back and there were eyes in various sizes all over its body. It hid its face with Bart's head. It replaced Bart's square teeth with sharp screws. It waited for Lynn to walk out of the bathroom.
As soon as Lynn walked out of the stall, it grabbed her by the shoulders and placed her on its shoulders. It gave a dark glare towards the camera before lumbering out. Lynn kicked and screamed as she tried to escape. The situation had everyone on red alert.
"LYNN!" They all yelled
"We need to do something!" Lucy shouted, breaking her monotone act. Everyone but T.K. discussed how can they can save Lynn. T.K. was petrified yet again about the huge monstrosity presented before. How could he beat something like that? He looked back towards the group, who were arguing about how should they save Lynn. T.K. began to feel a new emotion: anger. It may be just the stress of the job that's making him act this way but he'll be damned if anything harms a member of the family that gave him a home.
He stood up and walked towards the lost and found box. He searched through it and found a crowbar. …Well, he and Lincoln founded a shop that sells cattle prods and other junk. Placing his index finger and thumb to his mouth, he let out a loud whistle that caught everyone's attention. "Alright, everyone, lets roll! Stick close to me 'cause there's no tellin' if there are more around here," T.K. ordered with confidence. He walked out of the room with Lincoln and the girls following after him.
T.K. and the group founded Monster Bart and Lynn as they were heading towards a room, "Hey, Bart!"
The behemoth turned around and glared at T.K. while Lynn looked on.
"You and your gang of demented robots can scare me all you want, BUT it's REALLY pisses me that you wanna bring my family into this mess," T.K. glared fiercely, practically strangling the crowbar in anger. "Now, it's time for you to put up or shut the hell up!"
Monster Bart tossed away Lynn as he growled and glared back. T.K. began to step forward until a hand stopped him. He turned back to find that the wolf knight animatronic was giving him a determined look as if he wanted to join the fight against Monster Bart.
Lana scratched her head, "Wait, where did the knight come from?"
"Beats me, sis," Lincoln responded, shrugging his shoulders.
T.K. gave the wolf a nod of approval. They both stood side by side against Monster Bart, who was ready to pounce. They both charged Bart with their crowbar and lancer respectively. Monster Bart sent two of his tentacles towards them but they batted them away. T.K. swung his crowbar to Monster Bart's left knee while the wolf knight jabbed his lancer towards the right knee. They kept up their assault as Monster Bart screeched in pain.
Second, T.K. gave a good swing to Monster Bart's chest, knocking most of the metal off. The wolf gave a huge stab to the exposed spine of Monster Bart. The damage caused Monster Bart's torso to sway uncomfortably; he really didn't take account how many years since they had a reinforced endoskeleton. Quickly, he wrapped his tentacles around T.K. and the wolf, and tossed them away.
They crashed through a table. Due to T.K. being only a human and the wolf not having a reinforced endoskeleton, it took a lot out of both of them. Seeing his opportunity, Monster Bart rushed to finally kill T.K. The wolf raised up first and saw that Monster Bart was gunning for T.K. Closing in, Monster Bart sent a tentacle to impale T.K., who was still regaining his breath. Lincoln and the girls screamed out T.K.'s name as the wolf jumped in front of T.K.
STAB!
The wolf looked down to the huge hole in his torso as Monster Bart's tentacle slithered out of it; it fell to the ground as Monster Bart focused on his final prey. T.K. tried to stumble up to his feet but Monster Bart grabbed him by the ankle and opened his mouth. He moved T.K. closer and closer to his lethal mouth. T.K. struggled and struggled but it was no use. He was going to die. Finally, T.K. closed his eyes and waited for the embrace of death.
STAB! RIP!
A crowbar impaled through Monster Bart's head and was pulled back, ripping the head in half horizontally. Sparks flew out as Monster Bart toppled over like a sequoia tree. T.K. dropped to the ground as he looked his savior. "Lynn?! Oh my god, thank you!"
Lynn tossed the crowbar skillfully up and down in her hand, "Couldn't let you and your friend have all the fun, baby bro. Also, that bucket of bolts walked in on me while I was finishing; talk about rude, huh?" They both shared a laugh as everyone else group hugged them both.
"Thank god that you two are literally ok," Lori sighed in relief, squeezing them tightly.
Leni refuse to let them both go, "We thought we, like, lost you both!"
"Kelli…I wanna go home," Lily whimpered, clutching T.K.'s leg like it's a life line. The bells ringed again as all of the watched the sun began to rise.
T.K. rubbed her hair with a chuckle, "You know…I feel the same way, Lils." He surveyed the damage that occurred in the brawl, "Judging all the damage, I'm so freakin' fired…again.
Leni also looked towards the destroyed animatronics, "No, I don't think it's worth it."
"Yeah!" Lola and Lana added.
T.K. nodded, "Hm. Come on, peeps, lets go home." One by one, they all head out of the restaurant. T.K. was the last to leave but he heard something moved. Quickly, he turned his head towards the wolf, who was using his last of his strength to look at him. The wolf gave him a smile and a thumbs up, "Thank…you. You finally…freed us. All of…us." The wolf dropped to the ground for the final time as he shut down permanently.
"Heh, you're welcome, big fella," T.K. responded, closing the door behind him.
A/N: Yeah, I have nothing to say about my absence. My slient deletion of 'A Fighter's Wounds' was simply because I lost interest in it and it was kinda of cringey. I will say this though: When you sign up for college and then you have to withdraw a week after, it kinda sticks with ya for a little bit. Alright, hope you enjoy this and I'll try to upload more often. REVIEW, review my pretties! Also, spare me the details about I should upload more often 'cause I DON'T want to hear it.