Chapter 18: Chickens and Gators

"Hey, Freddy," said a familiar high-pitched voice.

The STAFF Bots backed away as the lights in the mansion turned on. Fredi was briefly blinded, but his eyes quickly adjusted. Standing between him and the STAFF Bots was the short white-haired woman Chicana Gladstone wearing a loose-fitting pink T-shirt and gray pajama shorts. A large bandage covered her nose while a metal pizza cutter was gripped in her right hand, which she was pressing against G's neck.

"Chica," Fredi addressed. "Let the boy go."

"Why should I?" Chicana questioned. "He tricked me into letting him in by claiming he needed to borrow my phone, and then he pointed a repairmen gun at me. So I used my quick reflexes to knock the gun out of his hand and subdue him with my impromptu pizza cutter weapon. He's obviously working for the Night Watch Repairmen, meaning they've discovered who I am."

"I don't work for the Night Watch Repairmen any more!" G argued. "How many times do I have to tell you?"

"Shut up, Gregory!" Chicana snapped. "I knew who you were the minute I opened the door. We animatronics are equipped with facial scanners and internal databases that allow us to instantly recognize a person after looking at them once. Plus, it's hard to forget the face of the kid who stole my voice box and left me to get crushed in a trash compactor. That's why you and Freddy are here, isn't it? To steal my new voice box."

"No, we're not here to take your voice box," Fredi insisted. "We just want answers."

"For what?" Chicana asked.

"The stress experiment, and where you got the camera you used to record it," Fredi said.

"Sunny gave me the camera, which he got in his mailbox right after the email from Bernstein was sent."

"What was the return address on the package?"

"I don't know. Sunny never told me."

"And the email? How can you be sure it was sent from Bernstein himself?"

Chicana groaned. "Do I have to answer any of these questions? I'm the one with the hostage here! So why don't you start answering me some questions, like why you have Roxana's eyes?"

Fredi tried to come up with a good answer, but he couldn't articulate the words to describe the situation. Just then, the words 'Power-Saving Mode Engaged' appeared in Fredi's vision and he collapsed onto the floor. Chicana was initially confused, but then she laughed.

"Looks like my electric door completely drained your battery," Chicana said as she walked up to Fredi's limp body, dragging G with her. "I guess I'll just let Monty dispose of you when he gets home, while Gregory and I will catch up on some things before I inevitably kill him."

Then Chicana proceeded to kick Fredi several times while laughing maniacally. G tried to get out of Chicana's grasp, but she was surprisingly strong. After the sixth or seventh kick, Fredi caught Chicana's foot and glared up at her.

"Oh, I guess you're not done yet," Chicana said, tossing G off to the side. "You're more stubborn than I thought, Freddy."

While Fredi got to his feet, G noticed that Fredi's eyes had gone from amber to purple. But G put that thought aside as he ran back into the kitchen to retrieve his repairmen gun from the floor while Fredi and Chicana wrestled in the living room as the STAFF Bots were on standby. By the time G returned with the gun, Fredi was already on top of Chicana tearing out her throat with his bare hands and retrieving her voice box.

"Fredi!" G said, trying to get Fredi's attention. "What are you doing? I thought you promised you wouldn't maim Chicana."

But Fredi didn't listen as he tried to rip his own throat out to replace his voice box, though G intervened and stopped Fredi's hands. Fredi was stronger, though, and swatted G's hands away. Suddenly, the front door to the mansion opened.

"Chickie!" a gruff voice called. "It's me, Monty! Are you home?"

Around the corner emerged a tall hulking man wearing a tan policeman uniform with a red mohawk wearing dark shades and leather gloves. G instantly recognized the man as Monro Jacaré, the chief of Endopolis' police force. When Jacaré saw Fredi and Chicana's body on the ground, he dropped his Chinese takeout boxes instantly.

"Fredi!" Jacaré exclaimed. "What are you doing hovering over my girl? And…little guy?"

"So you really are Montgomery Gator," G confirmed and pointed his repairmen gun at Jacaré. "He was the only animatronic who called me 'little guy.'"

"I should've known you would be helping Freddy in his killing spree, Gregory," Jacaré said, removing his leather gloves.

Underneath, his hands had black fingernails that instantly sharpened into claws. Then from Jacaré's back emerged a long green mechanical alligator tail that slammed the floor, cracking the clay tiles.

"Maybe I should've killed you when I had the chance, Freddy," Jacaré remarked as he took off his shades. His eyes were glowing red. "You could've joined Bonn and Redd in the afterlife instead of being a major pain in my ass right now! Time to rock n' roll!"

Jacaré then rushed toward Fredi. G got out of the way just in time, but he couldn't find an opening shot to hit Jacaré as he and Fredi struggled against each other on the living room floor. Meanwhile, the STAFF Bots were still stationary. This gave G an idea as he went back into the kitchen. After searching through several drawers, he found a remote with a button shaped like a bear's head.

Coming back to the living room, G held up the remote. "STAFF Bots, disassemble Monty!"

G pressed the button, which turned from green to red. Instantly, the STAFF Bots' eyes changed to red from their previous black color. They reached out and grabbed Jacaré, throwing him off Fredi. While Jacaré writhed on the floor, the STAFF Bots tore him apart with their robotic arms till he was nothing more than a tangle of artificial flesh and wires.

To be continued…