A/N: Sorry for the long wait, everyone. As I've mentioned previously, my work schedule at the hospital has only gotten rougher, and I'm not even in one of the more intensive rotations right now. I can't necessarily even guarantee a chapter every 2 weeks now, simply because real life writes the timetable. Add the fact that I've currently become obsessed with Persona 4 Golden and I have another fic that I'm writing at the same time, and my time is very limited right now.
But enough about that! We've got more Curse of Dreadbear coming, including what I think is probably the most legitimately terrifying minigame in the entire DLC, and a strong contender for one of the most terrifying minigames in the entire Help Wanted set period.
Mario RPG Joke: That's definitely one I look forward to as well, especially since it's the only set of minigames that will contain all four Halloween animatronics at the same time.
1 A: I haven't really put too much focus on what they do on the Internet since other things have taken priority and I have less time compared to when I first started this fic. They more or less do things that you'd expect kids to do on the Internet, and this isn't a huge security risk since people go online all the time without ever being discovered. I might touch on this a little more in a filler chapter later on down the line, but I make no promises since I have to cut down on the filler chapters over main story-based chapters because of the time constraints imposed on me by my job.
FrostTheFrozenFox: Keep in mind that Mike lives in a small mansion/large fancy house with decently-sized land around it. There's no danger of anyone ever hearing anything that they shouldn't. As for Rockstar Foxy's right hand…Mike probably had that hook replaced with another hand, either with a spare that Henry made or one made by Melody or some other friend at Eisensteel. Having someone run around with a sharp hook, especially someone like Fritz is…inadvisable, to say the least.
LittleGhostCat: They're demons from Hell, what did you expect?
Jack0Lanterns: The Nightmares are easily some of my favorite side characters to write. And as bad as Fazbear Entertainment are, I'd assume that they're not stupid enough to create demonic flaming animatronics in a kid's ride…hopefully.
MothraRanger: Glad you enjoyed both chapters! I didn't really pay much attention to Fritz's swearing, to be honest. As for your other questions, I'll probably be featuring maybe 1 or 2 Easter Eggs per chapter. Dreadbear probably (and regrettably) won't be making any appearances past Curse of Dreadbear (there's actually a reason why that I'll get into this chapter). And I don't think I'll be putting in Princess' Quest. I actually incorporated the main highlight of that minigame back when I had Mike beat the shit out of Glitchtrap, as his assault was so devastating that it caused Glitchtrap to collapse into his "true form", that massive shadowy blob with the purple faces.
MegaMaster78: Glad that you're enjoying it so much!
Qxr: Thanks!
Fnaffan418: Eh, I've picked on Fritz enough. This was me throwing him a bone every once in a while.
AlchemyWriter: As epic as that kind of universe sounds, I really wouldn't want to live in it lol.
Thanatos D.E.M.: Yeah, it's surprisingly complex for being the one level that you can't die in unless you go into the backrooms or are staggeringly incompetent at the game.
Chapter 141 – Curse of Dreadbear Part 3
"So how many levels did you play?" Rockstar Freddy asked as Rockstar Foxy took off the headset.
"Just one," Rockstar Foxy replied proudly. "I played the Pirate Ride level over and over again."
"Really?" Rockstar Chica asked incredulously. "Just one level? You took just as long as Liz!"
"There was a LOT going on in that level," Rockstar Foxy defended.
"I'm not complaining. That means there's more levels for everyone else," Rockstar Bonnie pointed out. Ironically, he would be the only one who wouldn't play any levels in the DLC before anyone else did, as he'd already played a few levels featuring the Nightmares even if they weren't actually part of the Halloween DLC.
"Can I go next?" Rockstar Golden Freddy asked eagerly. Rockstar Foxy shrugged and handed the headset over to him, since he was the first to ask. "Sweet!"
"Don't do any more than 2 levels," Circus Baby advised. "We want to make sure everyone gets a chance to play." Granted, there were only seven levels to begin with, but since the Security Puppet had abstained from playing there should theoretically be enough for everyone to get their fair share.
"Gotcha," Rockstar Golden Freddy acknowledged as he put on the headset. A few seconds later, Cassidy found herself back in the game world, and she was just as awestruck by the new Halloween DLC as her siblings had been. As she looked around the abandoned farmyard, her eyes caught sight of the distant ship to her left. To her surprise, large greenish tentacles began to wrap around the ship, pulling it into the depths and out of sight. "Whoa…" she breathed, before giggling a little. "Man, Fritz is gonna be so disappointed he missed out on that. Should I tell him? Eh, maybe after I play my games."
The Easter Egg being completed, Cassidy turned back to the games. With Afraid of the Dark now completed except for the locked final level, she switched over to the Spooky Mansion set. This time, instead of transforming into a werewolf, Helpy had transformed into a vampire. She smiled at how cute the bear looked despite trying to be frightening, then promptly grimaced a little when she saw a dark hallway in the first level icon, in which she could barely make out a figure that looked disturbingly like a Nightmare version of Foxy. "This is gonna be scary, isn't it?" she groaned. It wasn't something she was looking forward to, but she refused to run away from it like a coward. "Let's get this over with…" she sighed.
She reached out and pressed the screen, waiting as the world faded to the black void with the instruction screens. This time, the instructions were fairly simple: all she would need to do is "walk" with the controls, though she had the ability to turn around if she desired. Given that the hallway she had seen in the icon had just gone straight down, Cassidy doubted that she'd need to go in any direction other than forward.
The location that loaded around Cassidy was easily creepier and more disturbing than the FNaF 1 office could ever be. She was in a dark hallway in a house of some kind, only able to see a short distance in front of her before the hallway was consumed by the shadows. She was standing next to two windows, one to her left and one to her right, providing the only illumination through bolts of lightning. The wind howled in the distance, penetrated only by blasts of thunder that struck at the same time as the lightning. "Oh, God…" Cassidy groaned. "This is going to suck, isn't it?"
She advanced a few steps down the hallway, passing through a set of doors, one on either side. She noticed that the hallway seemed to alternate between door and window on both sides. "What the heck would this house even look like?" she wondered. "It must look so weird from the outside!"
Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of heavy footsteps. A short distance in front of her, two of the doors had opened. From the door to the left appeared a hideous, monstrous version of Bonnie, looking hungrily out into the hallway with glowing yellow eyes. From the door to the right, an equally grotesque and mangled Chica stepped onto the threshold, her actions mirroring Bonnie's and her expression just as menacing. There was little doubt in Cassidy's mind that these were Nightmare Bonnie and Nightmare Chica, brought to life in the game through Nightmare's work. The two of them glared out into the hallway, hunting for someone. Hunting for her.
"Okay, I think I know where this is going now," Cassidy muttered. "And I REALLY don't like it." She was afraid that Nightmare Bonnie and Chica would turn their heads in her direction and step out to attack her, but instead both Nightmares simply retreated back into the doorway and shut the doors, causing the former Golden Freddy inhabitant to sigh in relief. "Okay, so they'll only catch me if I'm in front of them when they open the doors. Thank God."
Her relief would prove to be short-lived, however. As she took a few more steps forward (making sure to pass by the next set of doors as quickly as possible), the lightning flashed again. And this time, there was another Nightmare animatronic in the hallway directly in front of her.
"Aaaaack!" Cassidy exclaimed. This time, the animatronic in front of her was a horrific and monstrous version of Foxy, his eyes trained directly on her. Having been caught off guard, her reflexes were too slow to stop herself from moving forward…
…and that was all the opening Nightmare Foxy needed. The animatronic rushed down the hallway towards her like a wolf charging at its prey. "Crap…" Cassidy groaned, guessing what was about to happen. Sure enough, the demonic Foxy reached her location and jumpscared her, roaring right in her face as his head shook frenziedly like a rabid animal.
"IT HAS BEEN SO LONG SINCE MY HOOK HAS TASTED BLOOD," Nightmare Foxy's guttural voice growled. "SO TONIGHT, SHE WILL DINE ON YOURS!"s
"But I barely moved!" Cassidy complained, before a light bulb went off in her head. "Ohhhh…" she realized, "Nightmare Foxy attacked me because I moved. So if I see him in the hallway, I should stand still." That should be simple enough to remember…though she would need to make sure that she wasn't standing in front of the doors if she saw Nightmare Foxy. It wouldn't do her any good to hold off Nightmare Foxy from attacking if Nightmare Bonnie or Chica could get their claws on her instead.
The vast graveyard that made up the Game Over screen appeared, and she was immediately greeted with the mocking laughter of Dreadbear and Grim Foxy.
"I GOT MY CLAWS ON YOU RATHER QUICKLY, DIDN'T I, LASS?" Grim Foxy asked with a sinister grin on his face. Cassidy whirled around and saw a demonic Foxy very similar to the one that she had seen in the hallway just now, only this time he was burning with hellish flames. "BARELY A FEW STEPS INTO THE HALLWAY AND YOU FELL BY MY HAND. HA HA HA HA HA!"
"Oh, come on!" Cassidy protested. "I didn't know how you guys worked! You can't laugh at me for failing on the first try!"
"PERHAPS IT WOULDN'T BE FAIR," Dreadbear acknowledged…before smirking, "BUT WE CAN AND WILL LAUGH AT YOU ANYWAY."
"You guys are assholes," she pouted.
Grim Foxy let out another bark of laughter. "WE'RE DEMONS, LASS. WHAT THE HELL DID YOU EXPECT?"
"…I really want to argue that point, but I honestly can't," Cassidy admitted. "Also, why aren't you guys on fire in the hallway?"
"THE HALLWAY CRAWL IS A LEVEL OF DARKNESS," Dreadbear answered. "THUS, IT IS MUCH MORE SENSIBLE FOR US TO ADOPT FORMS OF DARKNESS RATHER THAN FORMS OF FLAME. THE FORMS YOU SEE US IN NOW FIT THE LEVEL MUCH MORE THEMATICALLY…AND MAKE IT HARDER FOR YOU TO SEE US BEFORE WE ATTACK."
"…I guess that makes sense," Cassidy reluctantly agreed, before sighing. "Well, time to try again, I guess. Probably gonna die again at least once, but oh well."
"OH, YOU MOST CERTAINLY WILL, LASS, IF WE HAVE ANYTHING TO SAY ABOUT IT," Grim Foxy "helpfully" supplied.
"Thanks," the former Golden Freddy inhabitant sarcastically retorted before pressing the replay button. When she found herself back in the hallway, Cassidy started walking forward again, this time paying more attention to the footsteps, the doors, and the halls.
When Nightmare Foxy appeared in the hallway again, Cassidy stopped moving, having maneuvered herself into a position where she was next to the windows. As Nightmare Bonnie and Nightmare Chica opened the doors in front of her, she waited for all three of them to disappear. The two Nightmares disappeared back into the doors and Nightmare Foxy's eyes disappeared a few seconds later, signaling to Cassidy that it was safe to continue.
A few steps further down, Nightmare Foxy appeared in the hallway again with another flash of light. This time, however, Cassidy was standing in front of the doors, a position that she most CERTAINLY didn't want to be in. "Oh God, they're going to kill me!" she briefly panicked, before a thought suddenly occurred to her. "Wait a minute…can I move forward with Nightmare Foxy in the hallway if there isn't any lightning?" With very little time, Cassidy hesitantly took a few steps forward, just enough to be out of the way of the doors, before stopping a second before the lightning flashed.
Her gamble had paid off. Nightmare Foxy hadn't attacked her while the hallway had been dark despite still being in the hallway, and the few extra steps she had taken had been just enough to be out of harm's way when Nightmare Chica opened the door behind her. "Phew…" she sighed with relief. "I'm out of danger, for now." Another worrying thought suddenly occurred to her. "But…how am I going to get to the end of the hallway if Nightmare Foxy's always going to be there?"
It wasn't a question she had an answer to, and right now she didn't have any choice but to continue down the hallway and pray that Nightmare Foxy wouldn't kill her on the spot if she got close to him. She progressed further down the hallway, getting closer to Nightmare Foxy even as she watched for appearances from Nightmare Bonnie, Chica, and Foxy. Then, as she got close to where the animatronic had been standing, Nightmare Foxy inexplicably shrunk down and transformed into a Foxy plushie that lay harmlessly on the ground in front of her.
"What the fuck?" Cassidy muttered as she stared blankly at the innocent Foxy plushie that had only a few seconds ago been an unholy monstrosity of an animatronic. "Why the hell did Nightmare Foxy turn into a freaking PLUSHIE of all things? Is this a joke? Am I missing something?"
The sound of footsteps reached her ears, and Cassidy barely had any time to make sure that she wasn't standing in front of the doors. Part of her was wondering (and hoping) if maybe another one of the Nightmares would turn into a harmless plushie, but sadly that wasn't the case. Nightmare Bonnie and Nightmare Chica were still opening the doors and glaring out into the hallway, looking just as predatory as ever.
"Maybe this won't be so bad," she thought, slowly starting to get her confidence back. "If Nightmare Foxy turning into a plushie means that he's gone, I can just wait until Nightmare Bonnie and Nightmare Chica aren't in the doorways before making my way to the end!"
And then, as she stepped forward, Cassidy heard Freddy's rumbling laughter, deeper and more distorted than she had ever heard it before.
"Oh no…" the former Golden Freddy inhabitant whimpered. She slowly turned around…and saw another Nightmare at the end of the hallway where she had started. The lightning flashed, and Cassidy could clearly see the new arrival for a brief moment before the shadows of the hallway returned. Though he was still too far away for her to make out too many details except for his glowing orange eyes, it was enough for Cassidy to see that he was a Nightmare version of Freddy…and that he was marching straight towards her.
"Crap, crap, crap!" Cassidy exclaimed in horror. "I've got to move!" She moved forward, but she'd been so distracted by Nightmare Freddy's arrival that she hadn't been paying attention to the rest of her surroundings. She stumbled forward, trying to put as much distance between herself and Nightmare Freddy as possible…
…only to position herself in front of a doorway right when Nightmare Chica opened it and peered out into the hallway.
"Aaaaagghhhh!" Cassidy yelped as Nightmare Chica roared in her face, attacking her with the same viciousness and savagery that Nightmare Foxy had displayed.
"I WILL SHOW YOU THE ONLY TRUTH THAT MATTERS HERE," Nightmare Chica hissed her as the screen dissolved into static, "THE COLD EMBRACE OF DEATH."
"Dammit!" Cassidy groaned. "I forgot about the other Nightmares." A few seconds later, she found herself back in the Game Over graveyard, with Dreadbear and Grim Foxy both looking at her with undisguised amusement.
"SO YOU'VE MADE IT PAST THE FIRST STAGE," Grim Foxy drawled. "CONGRATULATIONS. BUT AS YOU HAVE JUST SEEN, LASS, WHEN ONE NIGHTMARE DEPARTS…"
"…ANOTHER WILL TAKE HIS PLACE," Dreadbear finished, both of them chuckling darkly.
"I didn't realize there was going to be a fourth Nightmare coming up from behind," Cassidy grudgingly admitted, earning more grins from the Nightmares.
"ISN'T IT QUITE FASCINATING, LASS? HOW QUICKLY TIME CAN TURN FROM A FRIEND INTO AN ENEMY," Grim Foxy commented.
"GIVE IT ANOTHER RUN, IF YOU DARE," Dreadbear invited mockingly.
Cassidy shook her head in bemusement, but did as Dreadbear suggested and restarted the level. The dark hallway was no longer quite as terrifying as it had been when Cassidy had first entered it, but it still gave off an incredibly grim and foreboding atmosphere made only worse by the monsters that she knew lurked in the shadows beyond what little she could see.
Despite the dread that permeated through her, Cassidy was able to maneuver through Nightmare Foxy's half of the hallway without getting jumpscared. And once again, shortly after she passed by the plushie that Nightmare Foxy had transformed into, she heard Nightmare Freddy laugh once more in the place where she had started.
"Aww crap, here we go again…" she mumbled. With the demonic animatronic behind her, Cassidy could no longer take her time in the hallway and would have to constantly be on the move, even if it meant risking death at Nightmare Bonnie's or Chica's hands instead. What made things even more aggravating was that Nightmare Chica was currently staring out into the hallway from the right door in front of her, forcing her to stay put even as Nightmare Freddy marched closer towards her.
Once Nightmare Chica was gone, Cassidy rushed forward as fast as she could, able to barely make it past three doors (including the ones she had been stalled at) before Nightmare Bonnie opened the next door in front of her, forcing her to stop. She could hear the sounds of shrieking faintly in the background, an unholy noise that sent shivers down her spine. As she waited for him to retreat, Cassidy looked back to see where Nightmare Freddy was…a decision that she quickly regretted.
Nightmare Freddy had gotten closer in the seconds that had passed, and while he wasn't moving particularly quickly he would definitely catch up to Cassidy if she stalled at the doors for too long. What really disturbed Cassidy was the demon's appearance, which she could now see more clearly in the flashes of lightning. He had the same horrific appearance as the other Nightmares, down to the razor-sharp fangs, claws, and mutilated metal body. But unlike the others, Nightmare Freddy wasn't alone. She could see three other…creatures…of some kind, tiny monstrosities that looked like smaller versions of Nightmare Freddy either holding onto or extending out of his body like unnatural growths. Unlike Nightmare Freddy himself, all three of the small Nightmare Freddy-esque creatures were incessantly moving their jaws, and now Cassidy realized that they were the source of the endless shrieking that was growing louder by the second.
"God…that thing is terrifying as hell!" Cassidy exclaimed. Out of the four Nightmares she had seen in this level so far, Nightmare Freddy easily took the cake for the most terrifying one out of the bunch. The sound of a shutting door snapped her back to the fact that Nightmare Bonnie had retreated, and she stumbled forward. Unfortunately, she had reacted too slowly that time, and was only able to make it passed two sets of doors before both Nightmare Bonnie AND Nightmare Chica opened the doors in front of her, forcing her to come to a complete stop. She didn't turn around this time, but she could hear the shrieking of the small Nightmare Freddies getting louder and louder, a sure sign that her doom was gaining ground on her from behind.
Once both Nightmare Bonnie and Nightmare Chica had retreated, Cassidy made her way as fast as possible. But this time, however, luck was not on her side. She was only able to pass through two set of doors before Nightmare Bonnie opened the doors right in front or her, forcing her to come to a complete stop. This time, she took a look back to see where Nightmare Freddy was, and was horrified to discover that he was merely a few steps away, and now she could see his grotesque body even through the shadows. The demonic bear had a predatory look in his eyes, as though he knew he was a few steps away from Cassidy and would get his claws on her soon.
"Nope, nope, nope! Get away from me!" Cassidy babbled. She rushed forward in an attempt to get away from Nightmare Freddy, not realizing that Nightmare Bonnie hadn't closed the door yet…and that she had walked right in front of him.
Nightmare Bonnie roared in her face, causing the former Golden Freddy inhabitant to scream in shock and terror as the demon attacked her just as viciously as Nightmare Chica and Nightmare Foxy had done.
"LOOK DEEP INTO MY EYES," Nightmare Bonnie growled as the screen faded to black. "THE FINAL LIGHT YOU WILL EVER SEE BEFORE THE ETERNAL DARKNESS COMES."
"Dammit!" Cassidy pouted. "I was close to the end, I could feel it!" She scowled as she was taken once again to the graveyard, where Dreadbear and Grim Foxy were waiting.
"ANOTHER FAILURE, LASS?" Grim Foxy asked mockingly.
"SO CLOSE AND YET SO FAR," Dreadbear added with a rumbling laugh.
"I have a question. Actually, two," Cassidy began. She turned to look at Grim Foxy. "Why the hell do you turn into a freaking PLUSHIE in your non-fiery form?" Before the demon could answer, she turned back to Dreadbear. "And why do you look like a Frankenstein? I mean, you're plenty scary and all, but your normal Nightmare form is way more terrifying! Why these random things that you've changed just for that one level?"
Neither Dreadbear nor Grim Foxy said anything for a few seconds. In fact, Cassidy could have sworn that both of them looked almost sheepish, if such a thing were even possible.
Two weeks ago, in Hell
"THIS GAME IS OVER!" Infernal Foxy declared triumphantly. "WITH MY CYBER DRAGON AND MY MOBIUS THE FROST MONARCH, I HAVE MORE THAN ENOUGH TO WIPE YOU OUT. I ATTACK WITH BOTH MY MONSTERS DIRECTLY!"
A malevolent, twisted grin appeared on Infernal Chica's face. "OH, YOU POOR, DELUDED FOOL. YOU MIGHT HAVE WIPED OUT TWO OF MY BACKROW WITH YOUR MOBIUS, BUT YOU MISSED THE MOST IMPORTANT CARD OF THEM ALL." She took the one card remaining and flipped it up. "THE ONLY THING YOU FOUND WAS YOUR OWN DEATH!"
Infernal Foxy stared at the card in disbelief, and roared in fury. "MIRROR FORCE?" he howled. "I HIT TWO OF YOUR BACKROW, AND THE ONE CARD LEFT IS YOUR FUCKING MIRROR FORCE? FUCK THIS GAME!"
Infernal Chica cackled at her brother's outrage. "OH, AND IT GETS EVEN BETTER," she added. "I'LL ACTIVATE PREMATURE BURIAL, SUMMON MY JINZO, AND ATTACK FOR GAME. YOU LOSE, FOOL!"
"ARRRRRGGGGGHHHHH!" Infernal Foxy snarled.
"WE HAVE A LOSER!" Nightmare declared, his red eyes glowing with amusement. "ACTUALLY, WE HAVE TWO LOSERS, TO BE PRECISE!"
Infernal Freddy and Infernal Foxy both scowled, while Infernal Bonnie and Infernal Chica both had incredibly satisfied and smug looks on their faces. "WHAT WAS EVEN THE POINT OF ALL THIS?" Nightmare Freddy demanded. "WHAT IS OUR PUNISHMENT FOR LOSING?"
Nightmare's grin widened. "YOU WILL SOON SEE," he beckoned for Nightmare Freddy to follow him out. The demon reluctantly did so, and the other Nightmares waited for minutes for them to return. In the distance, they could hear shouting and furious protests from Infernal Freddy, though none of them could make out any details. After some time passed, Nightmare finally returned, and after him followed…
"BWA HA HA HA HA!" Infernal Bonnie roared with laughter. "WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?"
"I AM SO HAPPY I DIDN'T LOSE THAT GAME NOW," Infernal Chica cackled, just as caught up in her mirth as her brother was.
"YOU LOOK STUPID AS ALL HELL," Infernal Foxy commented, though he wasn't as amused as his siblings. After all, he had been a loser too, and would likely suffer something just as humiliating.
Infernal Freddy, now in the form of Dreadbear, glared out at his siblings. "I HATE YOU ALL," he snarled, even as he wrestled with his humiliation.
Back in the Present
"THE AFFAIRS OF DEMONS ARE NOT FOR THE MINDS OF MERE MORTALS TO KNOW," Dreadbear declared imperiously.
Grim Foxy sneered at him. "OH, YOU ARE SO FULL OF SHIT," he growled, not even bothering to keep in character. "YOU JUST DON'T WANT HER TO TELL HER THE REAL ANSWER TO HER QUESTION!"
Not one to take an insult lying down, Dreadbear fired back, "AT LEAST OUR MASTER DIDN'T SEE FIT TO TURN ME INTO A FUCKING PLUSHIE! AT LEAST HUMANS UNAWARE OF OUR TRUE NATURE WILL STILL FEAR ME EVEN IN THIS FORM. WHO THE FUCK'S GOING TO BE SCARED OF YOU?"
Cassidy snickered as the two Nightmares broke out into an argument. "God, this reminds me of every time I get into arguments with the others," she thought dryly. Rolling her eyes, she pressed the restart button and forcing herself back into the dark hallway. By now understanding the rules of the hallway, she was able to maneuver through the first half of the hallway and past Nightmare Foxy relatively easily. This time, when Nightmare Freddy arrived, Cassidy moved slightly more aggressively than she had before, trying to make it as far as possible down the hallway before being forced to stop by Nightmare Bonnie or Nightmare Chica.
Still, it wasn't easy, even with all the knowledge she now had. Despite all of her best efforts to make as much headway down the dark hallway as possible, there were times when she would have to stop by necessity, and Nightmare Freddy would take full advantage of her forced stalling to get closer and closer to her. By the time she reached the last stretch of the hallway, the demonic animatronic was almost upon her. The shrieks coming from the miniature Freddies were all but earsplitting, and as she looked back in front of her she could see Nightmare Freddy's shadow covering the walls, towering over her like the Grim Reaper himself.
"Not now!" Cassidy pleaded as she waited for Nightmare Chica to retreat. "Not when I'm so close!" She waited with bated breath as Nightmare Freddy approached her, but just as it seemed as though he were only two or three steps away from grabbing her, the demonic chicken retreated back into the door and closed it shut. "YES!" Cassidy exclaimed as she advanced down the hallway as fast as possible. She could see no more windows further ahead, which ironically was an encouraging sight to see rather than a disturbing one. "Please, let this be the end!"
The former Golden Freddy inhabitant gave Nightmare Freddy one last look, and as she passed the last set of doors the demonic bear animatronic suddenly disappeared. It wasn't just him, either, as the entire hallway seemed to dissolve into darkness. Cassidy looked nervously back to where she had been walking, wondering if she was about to get jumpscared despite making it to the end. Instead, however, a new door appeared, and for the first time she could clearly see the green wallpaper of the wall it was attached to. To her left, Cassidy could see down the hallway where she had come from, and as she approached the door it swung open, revealing a bedroom of some kind. Though Cassidy couldn't have possibly known it, this was the very same bedroom where her father had dealt with Nightmarionne and Nightmare Fredbear, and where Liz had dealt with Funtime Freddy and Circus Baby.
"Oh, thank God!" Cassidy breathed a huge sigh of relief as the sound of cheering children played around her. "I made it. I'm done." She looked up as lightning flashed in the room, still illuminating Nightmare Freddy's shadow from when she had been fleeing away from him down the hallway. She wasn't sure if this was a deliberate feature on Nightmare's part, or an unintended bug. Either way, she didn't care. She was safe, and she had won. "I don't know what the rest of my family played, but that was easily one of the scariest levels I've ever seen in my entire life!" she mumbled.
The room faded away again, and instead of the graveyard she found herself in the Game Won! Farmhouse for the first time. "Ooooh," Cassidy took a moment to marvel at the room around her. "I wouldn't mind having a party like this! Hopefully not in a farmhouse though."
She turned the crank on the gift box, and when it unfolded she was rewarded with the figurine of Nightmare Freddy. "I can't really say I'm surprised," Cassidy muttered as she turned the figurine around in her hand. "Even when I win, this guy's trying to haunt me. Definitely one of the better prizes though, from what I've seen."
Cassidy returned to the main menu screen, and when she came back she noticed that the second level of Spooky Mansion had been unlocked. Like Pirate Ride for Afraid of the Dark, this level seemingly had absolutely nothing to do with the Hallway, or even the Nightmares at all. From what little she could tell, the level seemingly took place in a factory, one in which she could see a large fiery furnace.
"Build-a-Mangle?" Cassidy read the level name, puzzled. "Like, that broken-up Toy Foxy, Mangle? What does she have to do with anything?" After a few seconds of thought, she shrugged. "Is there a factory in this mansion or something?"
She giggled at the idea of Mike having an entire factory in the basement of his house, before pressing the button and beginning the level. The instructions were only page, telling her to "Grab and Release" with her hands, whatever that meant.
When the level loaded, Cassidy was surrounded by almost complete darkness, though she could make out 4 TV screens hanging from the wall in front of her and 1 glowing white button on each side with the word "SHOCK" on them. There was also a glowing yellow button in front of her with markings on it, and she could barely see the faint outlines of machinery and conveyer belts to either side.
"Welcome to the Fazbear Entertainment Fulfillment Center," HandUnit abruptly greeted her without any preamble whatsoever, causing her to jump a bit. "Today we are assembling animatronic performers. Each animatronic will bring joy to the children at one of our many Freddy Fazbear locations."
"Considering that we're building a MANGLE of all things, I doubt that," Cassidy muttered. Then again, from what little she could recall, the kids in the past had enjoyed playing with Toy Foxy…even as they tore it apart. Which was sad and messed up in its own way.
"Just place the necessary components in the assembly chute conveniently located at the front of your work station," HandUnit instructed, oblivious to her thoughts. "Each work order is unique, so gather only the components as shown on the quad monitor array. Use the high voltage shock buttons to gently remove any unwanted critters that stumble onto the assembly line. Now, let's get to work."
The quad monitor array in front of her suddenly lit up, showing the numbers 3…2…1…
"Gah!" Cassidy blinked furiously as the room suddenly lit up with a large BEEPING noise, and she could now clearly see the room she was in. It was most certainly a factory of some kind, and just like HandUnit had told her there was a large chute right in front of her where she was supposed to throw the animatronic parts in. To each side were now-moving conveyor belts that extended from a metal tunnel, passing by her station and leading to fiery furnaces where the parts would no doubt be destroyed. The panel of her had also changed, transforming into a timer that counted down from 60 seconds…and had already gone down to 55.
"Oh crap, I have to get moving!" she exclaimed. Cassidy looked up at the quad monitor array to see what parts she needed to throw in. Some parts were easily distinguishable, like a Foxy head and a Bonnie leg, while others seemed to be generic metal pieces that would be much harder to throw in.
"Uh…uh…" Cassidy's eyes fell on a Foxy leg that had been on one of the monitors and she threw it in, rewarded with the sounds of whirring machinery and then a melodious chime as the chute accepted the piece she had thrown in. Her eyes fell on a metal part that was shaped like an M that she thought she saw on the monitors, and she threw that in as well.
This time, however, she was rewarded with a harsh alarm sign and a red X appearing over the monitors, as well as a metal thumping sound. For the first time, Cassidy noticed that there was a metal vent hanging just above the quad monitors…and she could see Mangle waiting for her deep within the vent passage. "Oh no…" she groaned, "I can't more wrong or I'm in trouble!"
Her irritation only grew as a miniature Freddy monster looking disturbingly like one of the creatures hanging from Nightmare Freddy's body passed her by, attacking her by jumping at her face. "Ack!" Cassidy exclaimed as the Freddle let out a static-like noise, though he soon disappeared shortly after and left Cassidy back to her own devices.
"I need to concentrate!" she thought. She diverted her attention between the quad monitor array showing the correct animatronic parts and the conveyor belts, trying to find the same pieces as they passed her by and throwing them into the chute. When another Freddle passed, she zapped it with the shock button and then tossed it into the chute, rewarded with an incredibly satisfying shearing sound as the Freddle was torn to pieces by the machinery, a tiny piece of its body flying out of the chute. "That's what you get for messing with me!" she taunted.
Unfortunately, Cassidy's sense of satisfaction would prove to be very short-lived. She'd been caught off-guard by too many things at once, and she had a sinking feeling that she hadn't gotten a lot of animatronic parts into the chute. Before she knew it, the timer had reached 0, and the conveyor belts stopped moving. "Well done," HandUnit greeted her, "let's see how you did."
A platform suddenly rose up in front of her, and Cassidy could only stare in stupefied silence at the absolute monstrosity that she had created. She could barely make out the Foxy head, the Bonnie and Foxy legs that she had thrown in, the head that looked like Bidybab's, all barely connected together with a metal frame. It was an abomination, not terrifying in the sense of the Nightmares, but something that looked just plain bizarre and made the original Mangle look normal in comparison.
Cassidy's eyes fell on the panel in front of her, and she saw that she had only reached 50% progress. "I just lost, didn't I?" she mumbled. If she remembered correctly, she needed a minimum of 70% to pass.
"Oh no," HandUnit announced, confirming her worst suspicions. "It looks like there aren't enough components. Perhaps the instructions were not clear. Perhaps you should seek employment elsewhere."
"Well, crap," was all Cassidy had time to say before Mangle jumspcared her out of nowhere, biting down on her head with her powerful metal jaws. The screen dissolved into static, and she found herself in the graveyard with Dreadbear and Grim Foxy once again. A location that by now she was very familiar with.
"WERE YOU SURPRISED?" Dreadbear asked, amusement clear in his voice. "THE LEVEL YOU HAVE MOVED ON TO IS VERY DIFFERENT FROM THE ONE THAT YOU JUST LEFT."
"YET IN THE END, YOUR FATE WAS THE SAME, LASS," Grim Foxy added with his now-familiar growl. "THERE IS ONLY ONE CONSEQUENCE FOR FAILURE."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, I lost," Cassidy pouted. "It was my first time playing the level! You don't need to rub it in!"
Grim Foxy laughed. "OF COURSE WE DO, LASS!" he replied mockingly.
"YOU MAY HAVE FORGOTTEN, BUT WE ARE DEMONS," Dreadbear pointed out. "WHAT DID YOU EXPECT?"
Cassidy opened her mouth to say something, but couldn't find a good rebuttal. "Dammit," she sighed, giving the demons an ultimately powerless glare. "You guys are dicks."
"YOU SHOULD SEE SOME OF THE OTHER DEMONS, LASS," Grim Foxy commented. "THEY MAKE US LOOK NORMAL BY COMPARISON."
"I'll take your word for it," Cassidy muttered. She wasn't really in the mood for any conversation with the two "transformed" Nightmares, so she simply pressed the restart button to get back into the Build-a-Mangle level. When the level reloaded, she pressed the yellow button to skip the dialogue, in no mood to listen to HandUnit's entire welcome speech over and over again. "Thank God a skip button was in there," she commented.
The countdown began immediately, and when the factory room lit up and the conveyor belts started moving, Cassidy had a better idea of how to play through the game. This time, she only paid brief attention to the more "obvious" parts, the more unique animatronic heads/arms/legs, storing them in the back of her mind while still keeping an eye out for them.
Instead, the former Golden Freddy inhabitant focused on some of the more "generic" body parts, the ones that made the main body of the "Mangle" and were harder to identify and remember. There were things like a long metal piece shaped like an M, a metal claw that looked suspiciously like a Nightmare's, and others that she all but forgot about the moment she tossed them into the chute. Cassidy was also able to remember the "unique" parts despite not giving much attention to them, parts that included an actual Mangle head this time around, a Freddy leg, a Baby leg, and Toy Chica's head. By the time the minute ended, she was feeling much more confident about this attempt than she had the last one, even though she was certain that she had not put in all of the correct pieces in. At the very least, she had made no mistakes, which was already a significant improvement compared to her last attempt.
"Well done," HandUnit greeted her. "Let's see how you did."
The Mangle-like abomination with all the mismatched parts appeared on the platform again. It looked much more complete compared to before, and the panel showed that she had gotten an 80% score. It wasn't perfect by any means, but it was good enough. And as far as finishing the level was concerned, that was what mattered.
"YES!" Cassidy pumped a fist into the air in victory. "I did it!"
"Oh no," HandUnit interrupted, cutting off her victory cheer. "It looks like there aren't enough components. Perhaps the instructions were not clear. Perhaps you should seek employment elsewhere."
"Wait, what?" she exclaimed in disbelief and a hint of anger. "But I won! I got over 70%, the game said I needed that to win! Is this game bugged? What the hell?"
"Piece of cake!" HandUnit suddenly declared, completely contradicting what he had just said seconds before. "Animatronic engineering is just that simple! See you next time!" he said his farewells as the sound of children cheering played in the distance.
"Oh," Cassidy let the word fall out of her lips, before breathing a sigh of relief. "Oh, okay. I still won. Thank God, I was gonna be really pissed if the game was bugged and I had to get a hundred just to win."
The world faded around her, and she found herself back in the Game Won! Farmhouse. This time, when she opened the gift prize box, she was rewarded only with a purple candy with the name "Lavender Dollop." "Really?" Cassidy asked, thoroughly unimpressed with the prize she had just won. "I beat that level on the second try, and all I got was a piece of candy? Boooooo!" She studied the candy critically in her hand. "What would this taste like? Probably grape-flavored, I guess?" She shrugged and "ate" the candy in the game before moving on.
With two levels completed, Cassidy knew that it was time for her to pass the VR headset to someone else. But before she did so, she took a quick look at the icon for the next level. The details were difficult to make out, but she could see Withered Foxy prominently to the right, and what looked like a chandelier of all things faintly in the background to the left. The level name read "Trick or Treat", which most certainly fit in more with the Halloween theme compared to Build-A-Mangle, but didn't give any real hints to the nature of the level. "Aww, I kinda wish I could've played this level," Cassidy commented, before sighing. "But it's someone else's turn now."
The former Golden Freddy inhabitant gave one last look over at the level that she had just unlocked, as well as the still-hidden level next to it. "I have no idea what Nightmare made for those levels," she thought. "Whoever's playing this game next will be in for a big surprise, that's for sure!"
/
A/N: It's really amazing just how long these chapters can be when I'm only doing two levels at a time, isn't it?
Hallway Crawl is really one of the scariest minigames in all of Help Wanted, if you ask me. The atmosphere of the hallway is creepy as hell, and you have to deal with the Nightmare animatronics in their own exclusive minigame for the first time since FNaF 4 (not counting UCN). And by far the worst of them is Nightmare Freddy. The way he just keeps getting closer and closer to you once he spawns, the way the Freddles start shrieking louder and louder as he gets closer, is downright terrifying. You might have noticed that, unlike in most of their appearances so far and except for their jumpscare quotes, the Nightmares were completely silent during the entirety of that minigame. That was entirely on purpose, for the Nightmares are fully aware that sometimes the best way to instill terror is to be silent and let their actions do the talking.
Before you ask, yes, the reason for Dreadbear's existence in-universe is because Nightmare Freddy lost a card game tournament and was forced to wear that costume as punishment. And yes, the game that the Nightmares were playing in Hell a few weeks ago was Yu-Gi-Oh! Why, you may ask? Because anyone who has ever played that card game knows that Yu-Gi-Oh! is the official game of sadomasochists everywhere, making it perfect for the demons XD
That's all I have for now. Hope you guys enjoyed!
