Chapter 10 : 5:00 am
After arriving in the atrium, Jeremy got a message on his watch.
"'Princess Quest is the answer'. Huh, wonder what that means," Jeremy said.
"It's a trilogy of arcade games. I beat one and two earlier today, but I couldn't find three." Gregory said.
Jeremy thought for a moment, maybe it was the cure for whatever virus was going around. But how can an arcade game stop a virus?
"Okay it's a shot in the dark, but I think I know what it means."
"What?" Gregory and Roxanne said in unison.
"I think those arcade machines might be the cure for the virus. If we can find the final one, whatever power here will be gone."
"I guess it's worth a shot," Gregory said.
"Alright, since Gregory couldn't find it in the arcade, we should check Fazer Blast first."
They all walked to Fazer Blast. When they got to the elevator entrance, the ticket bot was still destroyed. Gregory was in shock.
"What happened here?" Gregory said.
"Chica charged into it. I was fighting both her and Monty. Then I ran to Roxy Raceway, where I met Roxanne." They went in the elevator, and ascended to Fazer Blast.
The inside of the briefing room looked like a spaceship interior. There were laser guns and helmets on two different tables. A robot was telling them how to play the game, as well as safety rules. The objective was to capture the base and shoot other robots. Only they weren't there to play laser tag, they needed to find Princess Quest III. They went down an orange tunnel and into the arena. It was a big arena, and had large cutouts of the mascots in space helmets and holding blasters.
They walked around the maze, until they came upon a large lighthouse shaped staircase. It led up to the catwalks above the arena.
"Let's see where those stairs lead to," Jeremy said. He hopped over the railing and helped Gregory. Roxanne followed suit and they walked up the stairs. On the other side of the catwalk was a security office. They walked over to the door, and peeked inside. It was a complete mess, there was garbage everywhere, and the mattress inside was disgusting.
"Someone must be living here. Cause there's no way a security office would be this dirty," Jeremy said. He looked to the left and noticed writing on the wall. He was shocked to see what it said. "Guys, we've found Vanny's lair."
Gregory went into panic mode. "Oh my gosh, what if she's in there?"
Roxanne used her eyes to scan the room. "It's empty, but I did notice something that looked like an arcade machine."
"That could be Princess Quest III !" Gregory said.
"Only one way to find out." Jeremy grabbed his key card and swiped it. It surprisingly worked, and he opened the door.
The room looked even worse than what he saw through the window. There was a tower of pizza boxes in a corner of the room. Jeremy thought the desk looked like Dennis Nedry's workspace from Jurassic Park. But the moment of truth came when Gregory took a closer look at the arcade machine. It was Princess Quest III.
"Found it !" Gregory cheered. He pressed a red button and the screen lit up. It was a similar loading screen to the other two, only the music sounded glitchy.
"Way to go, Rockstar!" Roxanne said while ruffling his hair. Gregory smiled and began to play the game.
The game left off from number two, but the setting was different. Instead of a castle, it looked like a dilapidated restaurant. The yellow princess sprite was the only light illuminating the room. Gregory controlled the princess down the checkered halls, killing enemies as he went. Then he went inside another room filled with conveyor belts. It was a challenge for Gregory, but he completed the level.
He found a purple chest and opened it. He collected what looked like a green bunny plushie. Gregory then went back to the main area of the restaurant. He opened up a door and the room looked like a giant maze. But there was an animatronic that looked like a fox in a pirate outfit.
Roxanne instantly knew who it was. Although she never met him, she felt a strong connection to Foxy. Especially since his kind words Kept her going through hard times. Her attention was brought back to Gregory as he completed the maze and opened another chest. The item collected was a rabbit mask that looked exactly like Vanny's.
'Why is Vanny's mask in the game?' Jeremy thought. Maybe this game wasn't meant to hold a virus, but something else.
Gregory left the maze and back in the main room. He went through another door, but this room was small and had a single chest. Gregory opened it, then a purple key sprite popped up on screen. 'I wonder what this key opens,' Gregory thought to himself. He went back to the main room and walked to the stage that was surrounded by a hole. The curtain opened when Gregory inserted a key he found earlier.
He walked down the hallway. He killed a few enemies and found a big door. It was surrounded by a purple substance and the keyhole looked glitched. Gregory inserted the key and the door opened. The screen went black and a scream erupted. Everyone covered their ears, and shook in fear. But nothing else happened.
"I guess that's the end of the game," Gregory said.
Jeremy took a moment to compose himself after being startled. "I guess now we will find out if this worked or not."
Roxanne's ears perked up, and turned her head in that direction. Her eyes picked up a large animatronic heading towards the office.
"We're about to find out, because Freddy is coming."
Jeremy turned to Gregory. "Gregory, I want you to stay hidden. Roxanne and I will confront Freddy. Hopefully he's not evil, but we need to be sure." Gregory nodded and hid behind the arcade machine.
The silver wolf and Jeremy went outside the office and onto the catwalk. Freddy was at the other end, surprised to see the two. Jeremy and Roxanne noticed his eyes weren't purple, but light blue. They were still skeptical, as the bear walked slowly towards them. Then he gave a soft laugh.
"Look who decided to show the new guy and the rabbit killer."
Jeremy had a whirlwind of fear and confusion. "You're not infected are you?" Jeremy asked Freddy.
The bear gave him a malicious smile. "That's right, Mister security guard. I was never infected, I'm doing this on my own free will."
"Wait, Freddy, why are you doing this?" Roxanne said.
Freddy smirked, "I might as well tell you, since you're going to die anyway."
Jeremy and Roxanne prepared themselves for his monologue.
"When I first came into existence, it was originally myself, Bonnie, Chica, and Foxy. We were like a family looking out for each other. Bonnie was the one I was closest to. We did everything together and we considered ourselves brothers. Then the company introduced Monty and eventually Roxanne. Although I did miss Foxy, Bonnie was irreplaceable to me.
"I didn't think Roxanne would become so popular with fans, that her attraction would beat my attendance record. And when that happened, Bonnie's popularity dropped so low, barely anyone went to his bowling alley or bought merch. Then that fateful day came when I got word he'd been decommissioned. I was so sad, I couldn't perform like I used to. But that all changed when a voice inside my head said that it was all Roxanne's fault. I asked what that voice was, and it called itself the Master.
"It told me I could have everything I ever wanted. Including bringing back Bonnie and getting rid of that pesky wolf. He offered me to join him, or go back to being a lousy performer. Since then, I have been doing his dirty work alongside Vanny. We caught lost kids and brought them to the Master. He only needs one more child, and you're going to give him to me."
Jeremy gripped his ax, while Roxanne balled her fists. "Like hell we would, you psycho."
Freddy cracked his muscles, "Aww, the fighting type, I like that."
Jeremy and Roxanne charged at the bear, but he saw it coming. He dodged Jeremy's ax, while punching him in the face. It was really painful, but it didn't break his face. He fell onto the catwalk, barely conscious. Roxanne growled at Freddy. "No one hurts my friend!" she yelled.
She clawed at his face, sparks and shrapnel flying. The bear screamed in pain, then he grabbed her arm. He flung her to the other side, and slammed her on the catwalk. He proceeded to pin her and reached for her eyes. But Roxanne freed her left arm, and took off one of Freddy's ears.
"That's it, you stupid wolf!" Freddy screamed.
He grabbed her left arm and pulled it out of its socket. Roxanne screamed, then Freddy grabbed her eyes. He held them in his paws, then crushed them. Roxanne couldn't see anything and only had one arm. She tried to get up, but he pinned her again. Then he grabbed her hair, and began to pull.
"Any last words, wolfy?"
"Go to hell, loser."
"And I'll see you there without a head!" he began to cackle uncontrollably. But it was interrupted by Jeremy.
"It's decommissioning time!," Jeremy said and swung his ax blade through Freddy's head. Freddy convulsed for a few seconds, then rolled under the railing. He fell and landed face up when he hit the ground.
Jeremy rushed to Roxanne's aid. The sight of her eyes and arm missing definitely made him cringe.
"Roxanne, are you alright?"
"Well with the exception of missing an arm and going blind, I'm fine."
Jeremy sighed in relief. "Ok, I'm going to get Gregory and we're getting you fixed."
He went to the office to get Gregory. Thankfully, he warned Gregory about Roxanne's condition. If Jeremy wouldn't have said anything, he would've been terrified. Jeremy grabbed Roxanne's good arm and lifted her up. Fortunately she can walk, but needed assistance. Jeremy grabbed her hand and walked to the stairs. Getting Roxanne down the stairs was going to be difficult.
"Ok, I'm going to wrap my arm around you and help you keep balance. I will also tell you what foot to put down. Gregory, stay behind Roxanne so if she falls, you won't get hurt."
Jeremy and Roxanne started their trek down the stairs while Gregory followed. It did take a long time to reach the bottom, but it was better than risking injury to Roxanne or Jeremy. When they reached the bottom, Jeremy freed his arm, then pulled out his watch to find a route to parts and service. Once he found out where to go, he grabbed Roxanne's hand and led the way.