CHAPTER ELEVEN: UNSETTLING REVEAL

I groaned as I slowly regained consciousness. I shifted and noticed something right away. Two things. I was lying on something soft and my body felt strange. The best way I can describe it was this feeling of being powerful like I just gained newfound strength.

I slowly opened my eyes, my vision being assaulted by neon lights. I blinked a few times in the hopes of regaining my vision. It felt like an eternity, but my vision slowly returned to me. Once it did, I looked around to see where I was. The familiar purple walls, the large star hanging from the ceiling, and the purple couch I was lying on was all I needed to know to put together where the heck I was.

'Roxanne's green room?' I thought to myself. 'How the hell did I get here?'

Some movement from the corner of my right eye caught my attention. I looked and felt a scream build up in my throat. Roxanne Wolf was sitting up from the chair that usually faced her vanity desk and was heading over to me.

I pressed my back against the couch and whipped out my dad's gun from the holster, pointing it at her. I didn't want to shoot her, but after all that's happened to me so far, I wasn't going to let my guard down one bit.

"Freeze!" I shouted. "Don't move!"

Roxanne stopped in her tracks, holding her hands out as if to tell me to calm down with an expression of fear plastered on her face. I didn't know if life flashed in a mascot's eyes, but if it did, that might be happening for her right now.

"Mihael, calm down please!" Roxanne pleaded. "I'm not going to hurt you!"

"Bullshit!" I shouted. "You tried to kill me earlier! How do I know this isn't some kind of trick?!"

"Mihael, I swear, I'm not trying to trick you!" Roxanne cried out. "If I wanted to kill you, I would have by now! I brought you here to my green room since it was the safest place in the Pizzaplex for the moment! Please, Mihael! You gotta believe me!"

I eyed her for a moment, trying to see any signs of deception in her eyes. People say the truth always lingers in the eyes. It is also the key to finding deception in somebody, especially those who mean harm. I found no such thing in her eyes. There was truth deep in them.

To top it off, I noticed that the aura surrounding her was much different from the one back in the utility tunnels. This felt much like the Roxanne Wolf I knew for a short time, a feeling of safety, security, and trust. More importantly, what she said was true. If she wanted to kill me, she would've done it while I was unconscious rather than sit and watch over me. Plus, it made the feeling of being lifted off the floor before blacking out.

I sighed before putting the gun back in the holster.

"Okay," I said slowly. "I believe you."

Roxanne relaxed, a sigh leaving her lips as she lowered her arms down to her side. She began walking over to the other side of the couch, a concerned look plastered on her face. She sat down next to me, patting down on the couch, signaling for me to sit down next to her. I hesitated for a moment before doing so.

"So, how are you feeling?" Roxanne asked gently.

"Aside from the confusion I am feeling right now, I feel alright," I said. Something clicked in my head when I realized something. I had no idea what time it was or how long I had been out. I looked the wolf dead in the eyes. "Roxanne, what time is it?"

She hesitated for a moment. "About 1:13 AM. You've been out for a good 27 minutes."

1:13 AM?! 27 minutes?! I was surprised at the time and for how long I was out. I was expecting maybe an hour or 2, but holy shit. I couldn't wrap my head around that. Speaking of which, I was very curious about one other thing, a question that would nag at me from the back of my mind if I didn't get an answer for it right away. To top it off, I wanted to know what the hell was going on. Why any of this was happening to begin with? I had to know.

"So, what happened?" I asked. "I don't understand what the hell is going on?"

Roxanne looked down at the floor, probably thinking about what she was going to say. I had no idea if she had any clue as to what may be happening, but I hoped that would be the case. Any answer would be better than having none at all.

"I hardly understand it myself, Mihael," she replied. "But I do know that something terribly wrong is going on here. I remember the feeling of being trapped before you shocked me with the taser and rebooted my systems."

"What do you mean by that?" I asked, curious as to what she meant. "Do you remember anything?"

She didn't say anything. I waited for her next move, studying her face for any signs of remembrance. I watched as her face changed from frustration, horror, to regret for a few moments. I had no idea what was going through her mind, but if I had to guess, it wasn't anything good.

After what felt like an eternity, she sighed and looked me in the eyes.

"I do remember what happened before I… lost myself," Roxanne said. "I remember getting ready for the show to perform that special performance we had in store for your sister. I was excited when we got on stage and did it. While I was performing, I was looking for you and Lisa, hoping to see you both there. But…"

She looked away, a disheartened expression forming on her face. "I couldn't find you. Aside from your parents, there were no signs of you two anywhere. I planned on asking you the next time I saw you, but I didn't know when that would be. Well, now that you're here…" She turned to face me. "I do want to ask before I continue; where were you and Lisa? How come you two weren't there to see me and my friends perform?"

I stared at her for a moment, taking in what she said and the expression on her face. I felt a twinge of pain in my heart when I remembered thinking about how she felt upon seeing that I wasn't there to see her perform. Something told me she believed that I'd missed out on the show on purpose.

I sighed, mentally preparing myself to tell her what took place during the show, doing my best to keep the tears at bay. I could only pray that she would believe me.

"You see," I began. "Lisa had to use the restroom so our parents wanted me to go with her to make sure nothing bad happened. I guess some time after we left, you guys showed up on stage and began to perform. At the same time, I was outside the bathroom waiting for her to finish her business for 15 minutes before noticing anything wrong. I went inside and saw the place empty. Somehow, Lisa had disappeared while in the bathroom. I ran out and headed back to the Atrium. That's where I informed my dad what happened, and the rest is history."

Roxanne gasped, her hands over her mouth. An expression of horror formed on her face as her eyes widened.

"Lisa has gone missing?!" she cried out. I nodded. She looked away in horror. "Oh my God… And for it to happen on her birthday. Why…?"

"I wish I knew…" I whispered. "That's why I'm here. To look for my sister and bring her home safely despite the dire consequences for sneaking out while my parents are still asleep."

None of us said anything for a little while. Both of us took in everything that we mentioned to each other, all of it being a slow process like a printer printing out a 10-paged document.

"So… what happened after Freddy crashed?" I asked. Roxanne looked at me with surprise. She opened her mouth to say something, but I held out my hand to stop her. "I overheard Vanessa talk about it with Freddy while I was in the utility tunnels. So, care to explain to me what happened?"

She hesitated for a moment.

"Well," she began. "After what happened, I was in my green room, minding my own business as usual, though I couldn't understand why I didn't see you and Lisa. I was crushed. I was excited to show you what we had in store for her. That was when I heard a loud shout coming from outside my room. I looked and imagine my surprise when I saw you on the floor… and Freddy walking over to you. I couldn't make out what you two were saying but after a while, you two began to head in the direction of the door leading into the tunnels.

"I was very confused. At the time, I didn't understand why you were here at the Pizzaplex so late at night, especially when it was getting ready to close. However, I was feeling both happy and upset to see you at the same time. Happy that I got to see you sooner and upset at you for not seeing us perform. That was the last thing I remember before something got a hold of me and I was shut off.

"When I was powered back on, I discovered I wasn't myself. I had no control over my body and felt trapped in my own mind, like it was being controlled by something else with only one objective; find you and that kid and kill you. I tried to fight it but it was futile. I was trapped, forced to obey whatever was controlling me. When I saw you and that kid down in the utility tunnels, all I could think about was harming. The worst part was knowing that it wasn't really me.

"Then, when we got to the Daycare and I pinned you down, I tried so hard to regain control, screaming and crying in my own mind, but I couldn't. I was about to witness myself hurt you and that alone… hurt a lot… broke me even. That was when you pulled out the taser and tased me. I remembered the pain of being tased before powering down.

"I came to a moment later and found that I was myself again. By some miracle, the taser removed whatever was controlling me and I was able to regain control of my body. When I stood up, I saw two things; you on the floor unconscious and some strange bunny talking to herself. It was saying how it killed you and that it was going to do… something to you. I didn't pay attention to that. All I cared about was getting you out of there safely so I picked you up and snuck out of the Daycare, carrying you to my green room without it noticing." She paused. "Now, you know everything."

I stared at her, stunned at what she told me. The thought of her being trapped in her own mind while having no control of her body, being forced to obey whatever was controlling her must've been a very traumatizing experience for her. Thinking about that, it now made sense about the aura of danger that emitted from her back in the utility tunnels. No one deserves for something like that to happen to anyone, even my own hated and worst enemy.

"That's terrible," I finally said. "For something like that to happen to you must've been terrifying."

"It really was, Mihael," she replied. "Just the thought of hurting someone, especially you, makes me shudder. I would never forgive myself if I ever hurt you. After all…" She rested her right hand on top of my left. "You're my favorite."

I felt my heart skip a beat at the gesture. What in the heck was Roxanne doing? Why was she resting her hand on mine? Was this very normal behavior for her? I thought about what my mother said before the catastrophe that was dinner time, her words echoing loudly in my head. The words I didn't think and refused to believe that were true.

"Roxy has a crush on you."

Was my mother right? Did she really? I didn't want to believe it. I didn't think it was possible. After all, she was a sentimental mascot with the ability to do anything a human can do. Well, aside from not frying when wet. The thought brought up another big question, one that had been in my mind after recalling her words from the other day.

"Roxanne, I want to know," I began. Roxanne looked at me with a very curious expression. "Why am I your favorite? I'm not anyone very special or cool. So… why?"

The curious expression washed away from her face and was replaced with an expression of surprise. From the look alone, it was clear Roxanne wasn't expecting such a question to come out of my mouth. She looked away, a shy smile forming on her face.

"Well… um…" she stuttered for a moment before regaining herself. "Let's not talk about that, Mihael. Right now, we have to get going and find Freddy and that kid."

"Gregory," I said, unimpressed with her decision to change the topic. She gave me a funny look. "The kid's name is Gregory. Freddy and I are trying to find a way out so he can escape and I can go looking for Lisa. Is he okay?"

"Last I checked, he was heading for the Atrium with Freddy," she replied before getting up from her spot on the couch. "Let's go."

I wanted to ask her how she knew that, but I decided not to ask. Right now, I wanted to make sure the boy was okay. However, another thing popped up. Something that kept me glued to my spot. Was she going to help us? I couldn't help but feel the need to ask her to get some clarification.

"Wait, you're going to help us?" I asked, realizing too late how dumb the question sounded. My need to ask prevented me from even noticing that.

She turned to look at me.

"Of course, I'm going to help you," she replied. "You saved me and now I learn your sister has gone missing, I want to do everything I can to help you find her and get Gregory out of here. It's the very least I can do for all the things you've done for the Pizzaplex for the last 2 years. I want to pay you back."

That last part caught me by surprise. What the heck did she mean by that? All I've done for the last 2 years? I tried to recall all that happened for 2 years, but all I can think of were all the kids going missing and watching families being torn apart because of the disappearances. The last 2 years have been absolutely terrible for us so what else happened?

"Roxanne, what do you-" was all I was able to say before something crazy happened.

Roxanne grabbed me by the arms, pulled me close to her, and planted her purple lips onto mine, mimicking the sound of kissing. I tensed up, my brain spacing out from the sudden action Roxanne pulled on me. My heart burst with my chest, but from what I couldn't tell. It was all so sudden. Out of all the times for that to happen, I was not expecting it to happen so suddenly, especially right now at this very moment.

Roxanne removed her lips from mine, a warm smile spread across her face.

"There," she said. "That's one of my ways to pay you back. Now, come on. Let's go find them."

Roxanne walked over to the door and it slid open. She stepped out without so much as looking back. I touched my lips where her own touched. I couldn't believe what just happened to me. Roxanne Wolf had just kissed me. It felt like I was in a dream, even though I knew I wasn't.

"Come on, Mihael," Roxanne called out. "Let's go."

I snapped out of my trance and walked over to the door. I looked in the mirror… and stopped in my tracks upon seeing something very strange. In the reflection, I could that my muscles were much a bit more fined, like I had just worked out. I wasn't buff, but I was a little more bulky.

'What the hell…' I thought to myself as I looked over, wondering how the hell this happened.

"Mihael!" Roxanne called out, snapping me out of my thoughts.

"Coming!" I called out back, stepping out of the room, the door closing behind me.

Author's Note:

Surprise! Here is the 11th chapter to Robotic Night! :)

The events of this chapter have been in my mind since the beginning of writing this book, which is why this was done so quickly. This was one of the easy ones and quite frankly, I am very happy with how this turned out.

Aside from that, it looks Mihael got a new ally in the form of Roxanne Wolf. From this point on until close to the end of the night, Roxanne will be aiding Mihael, Gregory, and Freddy survive the night. And from the looks of it, Roxanne is hiding something from Mihael, but what can it be? All of it will be revealed in a future chapter. That I promise. ;)

That's all for now. Keep an eye out for Chapter Twelve. Constructive criticism is appreciated and I will see you guys in the next chapter! :)