Chapter 2: Furious Rage
"Let's talk somewhere privately," the Hispanic man suggested, wrapping his hand around Fredi's shoulder. "We wouldn't want to cause a scene, eh, amigo?"
Once the rain stopped, Fredi was dragged away from the hot dog stand by the Hispanic man while the green-haired girl kept the knife pointed at Fredi's back. They walked a few blocks away from the square and entered another alleyway. A large dumpster had its flap open, which was propped against the wall behind it creating a makeshift shelter. From this shelter emerged four guys, with one having a blue and green eye, the other having a red flower in his black vest, the third having unusually large ears, and the fourth wearing a red plaid tie that matched his fedora hat.
"Chips, Hari," the man with the red tie said, addressing the Hispanic man and the green-haired girl respectively. He then looked at Fredi. "And who's this?"
"A potential customer, Nate," Chips said, pushing Fredi forward. "He's got a fancy camera that he doesn't want to part with. So we brought him here for further negotiation."
"If that's the case, the choice is simple," Nate said, taking a small handgun from his tan pants. "Either give us the camera, or we'll take your life."
As Nate pointed his gun at Fredi, the guy with the mismatched eyes took out a metal chain while the big-eared guy grabbed a metal pipe from the side of the dumpster.
"Now, guys, let's be practical for a moment," said the guy with the red flower, who had a distinctly British accent. "I mean, do we really have to overwhelm this guy with our weapons? We could just sit down and have a nice cup of tea with biscuits. That coffee shop near Freddy's Cafe has good biscuits, and their tea isn't half-bad either. Reminds me of this one time when I was strolling down the street, minding my own business, when I spotted a Lonely Freddy bear. Or was it a Plushtrap doll? I'm not sure.
"But anyway, I stare down at this thing and I swear it stares back at me. And I don't mean the deadpan stare that toys give you, but in the sense that I felt like the toy was alive. 'Well, that's not possible,' I says to myself. Toys aren't alive — at least, not in the sense of how we're alive. Course, everything is alive to an extent according to some persons. Even inanimate objects can be alive, though whether it's because we've assigned human traits to them or believe they have genuine souls is debatable. Now this toy is staring right at me when—"
"Shut up, Hip!" The guy with the mismatched eyes interrupted, having a slight drawl in his voice. "You're rambling again."
"Oh, dear," Hip realized. "I'm sorry, Patches. My mind does wander sometimes."
"Sometimes?" The big-eared guy laughed. "You ramble every time you open your mouth."
"Really, Orson?" Hip looked concerned. "I've really wasted everyone's time, haven't I?"
"No shit," Hari said, and prodded the tip of her knife softly against Fredi's back without breaking the skin. "So what have you decided, big guy?"
"I don't understand why you want this camera so badly," Fredi said.
"Because it's a newer model, we could get a lot of money by selling it," Nate explained. "And once we have that, we can finally get out of this stinking town."
"Then couldn't we all benefit from selling the camera by sharing the profits?" Fredi suggested.
"We're not planning to split the profits with you," Patches said to Fredi. "All you have to do is give us the camera and walk away. Otherwise, we will take it from you by force."
Fredi looked around for Glenn, and found him casually leaning against a nearby wall.
"These guys are definitely itching for a fight," Glenn said. "So they'll probably kill you regardless if you give them the camera or not. Will you fight, or run?"
"How can I do anything?" Fredi responded in an exasperated tone. "I'm surrounded, and have a knife poking into me."
Chips looked at the wall Glenn was leaning against and back at Fredi. "Who are you talking to? There's no one there."
Forgetting that Glenn was imaginary, Fredi gave Chips an awkward smile. "I was just…saying my thoughts out loud."
"Your talking days will be over unless you give us that camera," Chips responded.
Putting up his fists, Chips moved at lightning speed and punched Fredi in the face. Fredi reeled back from this as Nate backed up, still having his gun pointed at Fredi. Then Hari, Orson, and Patches moved closer to Fredi while Hip stayed behind. Hari attacked first by slashing the bridge of Fredi's nose with her knife, followed by Patches whipping his chain at Fredi while Orson hit Fredi in the gut with his metal pipe. As Fredi doubled over from the pain, Nate walked up and pressed his gun against the back of Fredi's head.
Fredi gritted his teeth as he felt a burning rage build up inside. He was frustrated by not knowing who he was, but also unsure of what to think of Glenn. Because even though he seemed friendly, Fredi sensed Glenn knew more than what he was saying. Clenching his fists, Fredi made a backwards arching punch. This hit Nate in the groin, who was caught off-guard to the point of dropping his gun and falling to his knees.
While the gun didn't go off, Patches growled in anger and whipped the chain at Fredi. But this time, Fredi caught the chain in his hand and pulled Patches towards him before punching Patches in the abdomen causing him to fall. Orson then attempted to hit Fredi with the pipe, though Fredi blocked the pipe with both hands. Standing up, he used all his strength to wrestle the pipe out of Orson's hand and hit him in the ribs.
"Dios mío (My God)," Chips remarked as Fredi glared at him and Hari. "His eyes are glowing. That means he's an animatronic, just like us."
Holding the pipe like a sword, Fredi charged at Chips. But Hari blocked the pipe with her knife, causing her hood to be removed. From the top of her head emerged a rod with a yellow ball attached to it.
"What did your friend call me?" Fredi demanded.
"An animatronic," Hari said in a confused tone. "How can you not know what those are?"
Instead of answering, Fredi used the pipe to hit Hari in the face. She was so surprised that she dropped the knife and ran off crying while putting her hood back on. Chips decided to follow her, which left Fredi standing triumphant with Nate, Orson, and Patches lying on the ground. Hip then briefly tipped his black top hat to Fredi, revealing a pair of small hippo ears, before running after Chips and Hari.
"Impressive," Glenn remarked as he suddenly appeared next to Fredi. "Who knew you were such a good fighter."
Fredi dropped the pipe and felt the bridge of his nose. His fingers were tipped with blood. "Do you know what an animatronic is?"
To be continued…
