"Interestingly enough, Freddy himself doesn't come off stage very often. I heard he becomes more active in the dark though-"
-Phone Guy.
VANESSA
Something in her back popped, the woman crying out as he spine met metal. The force of the blow had been so powerful, she'd seen only stars for a solid half a minute- precious time wasted trying to sober up to danger around her.
Her chest shuddered; lungs punched inward by bruised ribs and her spine biting her every time her musculature bunched around it. She pressed a hand to the spot where it'd made contact with the railing; and while Vanessa knew nothing was broken, it damn near felt like it. She couldn't get up- and its because of this she could only helplessly look on as Gregory was surrounded by the tiny music men.
Bonnie said he'd contacted their friends, so no doubt they'll swing by. They just need to buy time. But how to defend against the DJ, the tiny menaces and Vanny?
She started to crawl towards Gregory, shivering as the boy backed from the mini music men. To Vanessa's horror, she saw some of them had wrenched pieces of metal over their heads like crude bunny ears- indicating their alliance to the masked rabbit. No doubt these are the same fellows whose taken Roxy's ear off. What's worse, they had metal blades tied to their legs now. It looked crudely done; with industrial ties being used to keep the smooth metal sheets adhered to their numerous limbs. Needless to say, if enough of them jump Gregory, they'll cut him to pieces before he can take another step.
Now she looked at Bonnie- and noted the rabbit valiantly stopping the DJ from crushing him. He was holding DJ's hand up easily- making it look greased and practiced. The only problem? Well, his chest was roaring with heat from the M.X.E.S and the music was keeping Bonnie from concentrating on using the program to disable DJ. He couldn't hold the giant spider-bot back for long- and the instant his servos falter (which seemed the most likely to happen- as servos are limited to a certain weight and pressure limit that exceeded Bonnie's own weight), his body will force him to dance or cave in- and DJ will finish him off in a blink.
Vanessa had to think fast. She had to help Gregory AND Bonnie. But how-?
She felt around her sides; lamenting the lack of tools save for one thing: She had her own animatronic taser at least, thank god. Vanny had taken Gregory's own and hadn't figured on taking his weapons like the fazerblaster and fazcam. She wondered why. Oversight? Or was this on purpose? She briefly shelved that however; brandishing her taser and levelling it at DJ's face. She put the setting to MAX- something that's meant to erode function in a sturdy bot DJ'S size. His durability was markedly better than any other bot in this place; and this particular setting was specifically because of him and his glitchy Bouncer mode. In case of emergencies, the taser was necessary for stunning him.
"Bonnie! Roll out of the way!"
The rabbit flicked an ear; then pushed DJ's hand off and rolled in a way that looked like a break-dancer's move; albeit it might've been in hindsight. Bonnie sadly got right back to groovin' it as soon as he straightened up, helpless to the DJ'S next attack-
But the taser did it job: She hit the over-sized music man and it punished. DJ jerked wildly and spazzed out; smoking from certain regions across his immense body. He flopped fully out of the hole- revealing the extent of the damage he was already suffering from thanks to neglect here. He too had bunny ears now, horrifically enough. He was also missing some piano keys across his jaws, had several dents and scratches across his body and he was missing one of his right limbs. His nose looked like it'd come off at some mysterious point.
Vanessa huffed and flopped over, watching as Bonnie danced his way across the distance. She had to credit the mad rabbit for his use of the song; as his dance moves nearly looked like combat moves. She would've giggled under different circumstances.
The blue buck had cart wheeled- yes, cartwheeled- over to Gregory and snatched the boy as he righted himself; dodging out of the way of the music men as they leapt for him. The tiny toys snapped their jaws crazily, pursuing the boy and bot at they danced out of their range temporarily. Bonnie ended up depositing the boy and sadly couldn't get much further before his body prompted another move that anchored him in place. Frustrating, but at least Gregory was safe!
"Go!" He snapped at the boy, unfortunately throwing his arms up into air and bending backwards for a dramatic and rather unusual combination of the Happy Feet and some other move that seemed to echo the Rockin' Rabbit. Vanessa couldn't make heads or tails of it but poor Bonnie couldn't budge after that.
Gregory blinked at him incredulously- no doubt baffled by the silly sight of a bot stuck in some sort of terrible bug. He turned to leave, stared, and threw Vanessa the fazcam- thank the gods he still had it! "USE IT!" He shouted as he bolted away.
Vanessa inched her way to where the camera landed; hesitating when a few of the tiny toys started to make their way to her instead. Her back killed her, but she managed to crawl over and snatch it. She pressed the button and managed to stop all of them at once!
-And it included Bonnie.
Whoops.
"CAN'T SEE, DUDE!"
"Sorry!" Vanessa babbled as he froze. She blinked in shock when he actually stopped however- her mouth coming open as an idea dawned on her. Bonnie wasn't dancing anymore! He was in a system restart now but, but at least he wasn't heating up!
SWEET.
The wind-up toys started to wake up as he did; and Bonnie was right back to bustin' it-
Vanessa snapped the picture again as soon as it recharged. And as expected, all bots in the vicinity froze. Bonnie's motor stopped smoking as much; even though the poor rabbit was fighting his bug and the system restart now.
"Bonnie!" She called out to him as soon as he started to wake up again. "I'm going to keep doing it! I'm sorry ahead of time!"
"That's okay! I think-?" He trailed off uncertainly as he was forced to dance again. He seemed to get what she was doing though, and while there's no denying the grimace on his face, he accepted that the camera was saving him from a total heat increase and subsequent shut-down. If such a thing happened, his motor's heat ranges would force him to stay shut down until it cooled to regular ranges again. It's a safety measure installed in all the bots here, but it would be REALLY bad if Bonnie passed out from it now. He wouldn't wake up for several minutes at least, and that's time that they just didn't have.
Vanessa crept away as the music men began to march over to her- but she snapped another picture as soon as she was able. Every bot wound down, and she was able to brace herself on the guard rail shakily. Her eyes swapped to DJ next, noticing the giant spider bot was slowly stirring back to consciousness. He was still smoking somewhat, but it didn't look like he was suffering any permanent damage. He shook his massive head; one hand over his face as if shouldering a headache. She snapped a picture again; and this time, made sure to include DJ.
Vanessa was satisfied about the sight of all bots freezing in place; and while saddened about Bonnie, at least he wasn't heating up anymore thanks to both M.X.E.S and the dancing. She watched the music men, got another idea, and brandished her taser anew. As soon as she snapped another picture, she went to reach over for one of them-
She picked up one of the wind-ups, and then hurled it over the guard rail. She watched it go and hit the floor so hard it shattered. She could take them out, and its something she was taking advantage of now.
Bonnie saw what she was doing, and he couldn't help grinning even though he was still forced to dance or restart. Systematically, Vanessa kept this up too- and DJ himself couldn't do anything but attempt to reach over to snatch her. Vanessa threw herself to the side and her back flared up; but at least she got out of his range.
"Bonnie! As soon as I polish the tiny ones off, I'm going to stop using the camera! Dance down to Gregory and see what's taking him! I can hold DJ in place," She threw at him as soon as he sobered from another system restart.
"Got it!"
Vanessa would keep spamming the use of the camera and the taser; she'd use it on DJ or use it on the tiny bots to fry their systems so bad they wouldn't reactivate again. It was over in all of a few minutes- and all too long for Gregory to be doing whatever he's doing. This issue now left both of them rightly concerned; with Bonnie swearing up a storm that wasn't anything for polite company. And as soon as he was able to move again outside of the system restart, he'd straight jumped the rail- sadly leaving Vanessa to tend DJ alone. Vanessa wasn't concerned though. As long as she had the fazcam and the taser, she can keep him preoccupied.
Her only concern now, was how Bonnie could help Gregory if he kept stopping to dance every couple of seconds.
GREGORY
Gregory ran down the stairs; and not two seconds into doing so, had seen from his peripheral the flashes of Vanessa's camera. He'd been glad to have taken it and the fazerblaster with him; and he was a pretty good shot with the blaster. Vanessa irrefutably needed the camera more- especially with the music men and DJ to worry about. And with Bonnie, he couldn't help but be further gladdened that its use will save the rabbit from a total failure of his systems and shut down.
He managed to make it to the lower level; and already the boy was scooping up a piece of metal from some debris nearby and launching himself crazily at the sound booth. He wasn't going to be fussing with the buttons today- no sir. He didn't know what to press or use, and weirdly enough all of DJ's controls were elaborate and expansive. Worse yet, the buttons were huge, and likely too hard to slide around for a tiny human boy. The whole set-up was designed to tolerate the strength of a bot like DJ, and no doubt Gregory would find moving the dials impossible anyways.
He began whacking everything like a caveman having a temper tantrum and subsequent meltdown. He didn't care what he was hammering; he was just pounding it. His metal rod kept striking every other large dial and doo-dad; the sound booth sparking and hissing but refusing to quit. Further incensed, Gregory went over to where he saw some wires, and started trying to throw concrete slabs on it to damage its connection or following it to the wall and hoping to find a plug- ANYTHING to make this stubborn thing STOP.
It was too resilient; and all made to tolerate higher damage and tension from a bot DJ'S size maybe accidentally stepping on it or applying torque. Gregory was just too small to damage the thick wires! In fact, some of the ones leading from the sound-booth were thicker around than his own arms! So it prompted the boy to return to the stand and kept whacking at the buttons-
And what he hadn't noticed in his frantic attempts, was a shadow lingering behind him.
The only thing Gregory could say was what saved him that day was instinct; and even then, it wasn't perfect. Hairs spiked on the back of the boy's neck; and then he turned to face them-
And a single knife lodged itself into his shoulder.
He didn't scream. One would think a normal person would or could- especially a child. But Gregory wasn't a normal boy by any means; he barely ever let himself emote in ways that's supposed to be normal. He whimpered and sobbed ever-so quietly; but no actual crying or screaming or thrashing happened. He was just shocked, and that was that. His hand went over the hilt of the blade; and it held in place the owner's hand-
Cassie.
She was wearing the V.A.N.N.I mask; its mad sneer a permanent fixture in Gregory's mind. The girl was pulled when Gregory slumped, trying to retrieve her blade; but Gregory kept it in place, grimly acknowledging that the girl was weaker than himself. In fact, the knife wound, while deep enough, wasn't as deep as it would be if Vanny had been possessing Vanessa. Cassie was weak from her ordeal here; and her footing was clumsy. Her swing had to compensate for the fact Gregory had moved. If he hadn't moved, it would've lodged right into his spine and killed him.
"Ca- Cass-" He moaned, gently creeping to the floor all the while.
The girl tried to release her hold on her knife, but Gregory held it tight- and again, its worthwhile noting he was stronger than she was. She hissed and spat like a drenched, feral kitten; then focused her glare onto the boy with nothing less than malice.
"You little BRAT. Lemme go!"
Gregory numbly shook his head, then, did something impulsive:
He lashed out at her. He never wanted to ever hurt Cassie, not by any means; but he did so here for her own sake. He actually punched her in the face, hoping to get the mask off- and the mask no doubt smashed her nose from the force applied. Vanny was forced to let go; the mask cracking across its mad visage. She kept it in place however, the girl stumbling backward while holding her face. Her weak leg crumbled beneath and forced her to fall onto her rump. Gregory hit the floor meanwhile; and couldn't move from there.
Vanny stood up; then she was throwing herself at Gregory again-
Only for a pair of blue arms to wrap around her.
Bonnie suspended the girl; but his body kept jerking like he wanted to keep dancing. The girl twisted and fought in his grasp; her limbs flying in ways like she's gone feral. She pulled out her borrowed taser, then wrenched in his arms and jammed it right into his motor thanks to the breach in his breast plate. He growled, but couldn't do more than that when she turned it on-
She had it set on MAX setting. The rabbit SCREAMED out; the noise so raucous his voice box cut to static and fizzled as if it didn't know how to convey what he was projecting. His body smoked; and then- he jerked backward and right into the sound booth behind him. Cassie dropped from his arms, but she hadn't let go of the taser. She kept on applying the shock; with Bonnie crashing heavily into the DJ's belongings but subsequently cutting the music off. He kept spasmodically twitching as if his servos had locked up in his shoulders or arms; limbs curled disturbingly at his chest like he wanted claw his own innards out-
The image would stay with Gregory after this encounter- and it prompted for something vicious and wild inside him to snap. The boy snarled and picked up his bar of metal from earlier- He couldn't move too much, but he did hit Cassie right in the shoulder. The mad rabbit hissed and caved beneath the blow, the taser thankfully stopping its surge as her finger released its trigger. Bonnie was out cold, but at least she wasn't frying him into a crisp and killing him. He was smoking like nuts however; and no doubt if it had been any longer, his personality chip would've melted into molten metal slag right inside his reader.
Cassie- or Vanny, Gregory had to remind herself, turned her attention to the boy and caught the next strike; yanking it from his hands and readying the taser for HIM- Just to stop cold and tilt her head at something. She paused, and then gazed in the direction of the Fazcade entrance. Right then she turned on her heel to leave down the DJ'S main tunnel. Gregory could only watch her go in a helpless stupor, his hand still bracing the knife in his shoulder.
Above, he can hear Vanessa still dealing with DJ. The noises had him worried, and more so than the alien feeling of cold metal being lodged into his thin shoulder. He intrusively pondered just how bitter the sensation was in terms of temperature variance; its chilled surface eating into warm flesh. Who knew that the temperature itself was so poignant beyond the actual puncture? He'd recount this in distant detail, as if not worried- his eyes grew heavy, and his breathing jerkier-
Then he felt more cold metal gently cusp him; and Freddy's voice broke through his fog.
"Get... Vanessa-" Gregory attempted to push the bear off. He jerked a single arm up; but it failed halfway into the motion. "Get her! SAVE HER!"
Freddy was a rudely orange, weirdly fuzzy blur in front of him. The bear's face itself still stood in relatively stark contrast to the foggy outline of the world around them; clear against the backdrop. He was seen nodding and gesturing to another figure over his shoulder, his voice wasn't clear or discernable however. Beyond him was the even blurrier outline of a mass of gray and a jut of green lightning above her head- Roxanne. Gregory watched Freddy pass himself into the wolf's paws; then he was surging up and out of sight-
He felt Roxy's borrowed paws gently pat him; her voice was weirdly distant though, like she was standing on the far other side of the arcade and speaking through water. He couldn't make out any of it- just that the tone was supposed to be calming. Her borrowed eyes shone a reassuring and gentle blue- something in which Gregory couldn't help but fix on-
That is, until he slumped over and passed out.
VANESSA
The woman had wore out her taser.
How in the world does one wear out a taser?
Even WORSE, her camera ran out of image slots! She couldn't take anymore pictures. And because of both of these things, she couldn't fight back anymore- on top of her spine still refusing to cooperate beyond a point. So here she was hobbling away from DJ just as he recovered from his last camera flash. She had to brace herself along the guard rail; throwing her weight into her arms to support the bulk of her weight as she slid across the west side of the arcade.
Thankfully, the taser caused quite a few issues with his systems; preventing the level of mobility he had previously. His legs jittered with every motion; head bobbing as if he couldn't hold it up. His first set of hands hit the ground hard enough as if to prevent him from toppling over; the motions unpredictable as he lurched towards her. He extended a single arm, in which Vanessa was able to throw herself ahead of him and start crawling-
Once she got to the stairway however, she couldn't go much further without lamenting her own limited mobility. Her back cramped and pulled; muscles bunching and her breath fell short. She sputtered in swears, then tried to go down them- and slipped.
She tumbled to the first landing; having rolled to a stop with enough force to briefly knock her out again. Her eyes fluttered; ringing ears just catching the scrape of worn gloves meeting hard floor and slipping. Another noise accompanied it; the DJ having similarly lost his own footing and jerking as one of his limbs lost its grip on the railing. It caved and warped beneath his considerable weight; the bot quickly taking his limb back before he set the rest of his bulk down. Vanessa could see through cracked, bleary eyes that he was trying to come down after her, but he wasn't as coordinated as he used to be.
But it hadn't stopped him from coming down anyways.
As soon as one his limbs hit the landing where she was, he was reaching out again-
And then something huge, orange, and fast was racing past her to swat the spider-bot right in the face with enough force to stop a car going 40 down the highway. DJ forcibly backpedaled and attempted to catch himself on his newly clumsy footing- just for the bot to stumble off the first landing and fall to the ground floor only a story below. It wasn't a huge fall, but enough to jar the already addled bot further and prevent him from getting back up too quicky.
Freddy stood over her, his voice box a rolling series of growls that more or less sounded like an ancient, immense engine starting up and stalling. The sounds got richer, louder, deeper and steadily more intense- a grumbling resonance that can be both felt and heard. His compressor hissed and produced whooshes of air like hurricane wind gusts grating over rusting steel- breaths sharp and rasping as they escaped his parted muzzle. He bared his borrowed claws and puffed out his nearly repaired breast plate, opening his ugly, realistically toothed maw as DJ got back up and started to reach for him-
And he ROARED.
It was legitimately the most terrifying noise Vanessa has ever heard in all her time here- she doubted Monty had anything on THAT. And truly, it's a no-brainer why Freddy never roared for the kiddies, no matter how much they've begged him. Whoever programmed Freddy to have a bear's realistic roar must've been someone who WANTED the pink slip with a sick sense of humor because it sounded like recordings of the actual extinct animal cranked to an 11 and 3 times its actual size and weight. And combined with the odd, static-edged screech of Chica's voice box, left an ear-grating effect that her covering the sides of her head with both her hands and cardigan sleeves.
The arcade around them shook; debris rattled from the unseen ceiling and lights flickered. DJ fell backward as the effect stunned and broken him, falling onto his back and twitching spasmodically.
Freddy wasn't done there.
He leapt from his defensive position in front of Vanessa with his terrible claws bared and his maw WIDE open. His talons latched onto DJ's belly and started to tear into him in a mad frenzy- the spider bot writhing obscenely with his many legs flailing as if in genuine pain-
One limb bent and swatted Freddy; but the bear caught it. He stayed latched on though as DJ rolled back onto his proper footing, having recovered only marginally and enough to understand his life was in peril. He rattled the limb around; whacking Freddy repeatedly into the wall. Vanessa was shocked by the bear's fanatical ferocity and his lack of care of the damage. He even bit into the DJ'S wrist and wildly shook his head; and the force applied was so powerful metal sheared like old fabric.
Who the heck made these bots this STRONG? She couldn't help wondering. Who seriously thought this was a good idea to give Freddy a voice like THAT? The lead singer of all things!
He actually ripped the DJ'S limb off and fell to the floor; then rolled as the spider bot slammed one of his remaining limbs where he just was. Freddy snapped his teeth and chuffed; his engine-like growls a fearsome thing that would invoke the flight response in any warm-blooded prey animal like Vanessa herself. He launched himself at DJ again and stuck himself to the bot's face; tearing his eyes out with Monty's claws.
Vanessa never knew Freddy had this kind of wildness to him. No one has ever seen something so ludicrous and obscene- and he's never showed ANY signs of this at any point in his time here. She knew the Glamrocks were hard-wired to act a bit like their animal variations in some respects; and in truth, it paid off when Roxanne had her smell and Bonnie had his hearing for detecting intruders-
But Freddy. Who thought giving him this was a cute idea? She would've loved to meet the asshole who made him like this. He's never shown this behavior before- not even the slightest inclination. But she supposed with M.X.E.S interfering with his behavioral blocks and reforging his security mode, this unleashed a side in all the bots that'd make a normal person wilt just from a glance. Under normal circumstances, Freddy couldn't lift a talon to hurt even VANNY back when she was Vanny herself.
Vanessa felt a hand go to her mouth as she watched Freddy clamber atop the opposing bot and start ripping into his skull casing; as if he was trying to search for something- was he actually trying to locate something in particular?
DJ went to ram his head into the wall; but Freddy of course anticipated and felt the motion. DJ wasn't fast anymore, and he knew it. It was a losing fight. But he rammed anyways; and Freddy resumed his frantic rending of the bot's head. He even anchored himself into the DJ with his talons and started biting into this head- What the heck WAS he doing?
Vanessa had her answer in another few seconds; when Freddy was seen actually braining him and ripping out was what no doubt DJ's personality chip reader and the wires holding it. He crunched sickeningly into the wire to sever its connection to its owner; with DJ stopping so suddenly it nearly jerked the bear off. The spider bot lurched and fell over; with Freddy jumping off with his coveted prize.
Vanessa felt her mouth had fallen open at some point. She wasn't sure when, but it remained that way as Freddy was seen tucking the device into his stomach hatch and running back over to her.
When he said no one gets left behind, he meant it, She'd later muse to herself. He wasn't going to leave DJ here either. But DJ is just to big to take with us. But in this form- maybe we can make him a new body too? Outside of the PizzaPlex.
She didn't think this right this instant however; still pondering what she just witnessed from the bear. Freddy meanwhile was bent over her; scooping her up into his arms bridal style and rushing back over to Gregory. Vanessa clung to his bow tie and rested her head against his shoulder, in awe of just how strong these bots were.
They had no reason being this frightening, and it's no wonder why Vanessa hadn't liked them in the past. She'd never say this to them now, but they all, no matter who it was, terrified her in some sense. Why were they party bots? Why make them this unreasonably powerful? Was it just to remove intruders? That was too extreme. But still... it wasn't beneath Fazbear Entertainment's M.O to want to defend their premises and their property so fiercely if they didn't have secrets to hide.
The latter thought made gruesome sense. Of course these bots were so ridiculously powerful. Mostly, its to intimidate intruders to vacating the area super fast. But gods help them if they remain. Its bad enough that the bots' Security mode was buggy to hell and back and it was never corrected... which lead Vanessa into one twisted and intrusive thought:
Just how many human lives have these guys possibly fetched for themselves and just don't talk about it- Or don't even remember doing so? Did Freddy and his friends kill even before Vanessa came here? And if so, how many more disappearances go unaccounted for outside of Vanny? How many skeletons sit inside this place's numerous closets?
She felt her breath leave her body shakily as she hovered on that, but it's a thought she'll have to later revisit-
Especially once she saw her boy in the state he's in.
"OH MY FUCKING GOD! GREGORY-" She tried fighting out of Freddy's grip, flopping partially out of it and stumbling swiftly to Roxanne and the boy.
Her breath grew rapid, the woman borderline hyperventilating as she touched the boy's face and pulled him to herself. Roxanne bent with her, the wolf looking helpless as she sized up what to do with the wound.
"I know its sounds insane, but leave it in," Freddy rasped behind her, his voice torn and reflecting his own worry within itself. he'd reached out as well, a single naked talon very gently caressing Gregory's cheek before pulling away. "If we remove it now, he'll bleed out. We need to get to a medic kit in Parts and Services or meet Eclipse halfway. Then we'll have to find a way to staunch the wound and close it as we remove it. Roxy-" He glanced at her. "Start trying to wake him up. He can't stay out like this or he won't ever wake up!"
Vanessa and the wolf nodded numbly- this was a procedure she knew already, but still didn't like to acknowledge. She touched her forehead with Gregory's, then retreated back to the ursine bot. Freddy picked her up again while Roxanne got Gregory and started tapping his face and moving his other arm, raising her voice enough to hopefully be heard through the black thrall he slept under. The wolf looked at Bonnie briefly, then kicked his leg lightly.
"What about him?" She asked, then she was right back to Gregory.
Freddy frowned, then urged Vanessa to hang on to him. While holding her in one large arm, he bent and pulled Bonnie by his damaged collar into a better position. From there, he got a hold of the rabbit's arm and dragged the bot over one of his shoulders. Bonnie's feet dragged, but at least it wouldn't be too bad.
The group left from there, their movement swift as they headed back to Parts and Service.
Vanessa doesn't remember too much from there.
She was laid down in the padded room, and Bonnie was dropped near her. Roxy stayed with her and attempted to help Gregory. Eclipse was back before Chica was; and he was on top of the boy like flies to a carcass. There was too many panic-riddled moments to recount from there- with Vanessa considering getting up to leave the PizzaPlex outright and take Gregory to a hospital-
But she couldn't even sit up at the steering wheel. She wouldn't be able to drive, and while Freddy could possibly know how to drive from watching her do so now many times over, she doubted he could do so safely without feeling it out. He was also too big for her seat on the side, and he'd still need to be instructed while on the fly. None of the other bots besides Roxanne may know how. She hazarded the idea as is, but there'd been other problems that arose-
On their way out of the Fazcade and into the atrium, they've all heard it: The blustering, bilious menace of the underground crypt burrowing its way around near where they are. The DJ's music had attracted it; the sound loud enough and no doubt a beacon to it. The amalgamation rose from somewhere within the atrium, its white Freddy-head scanning the second floor-
Freddy and the group ducked and slithered away- the amalgamation slithering its way up and essentially blocking the exit to the PizzaPlex lower down. Forced to retreat, they HAD to go back to Parts and Service and get as far from that thing as they could. That's not even including the fact that there was no medical pack in Vanessa's car, and Gregory needed to be tended NOW and not just on the way to a hospital.
So they were stuck, good and proper.
Meanwhile, back in the present, Gregory was stirred back to the world of the waking. As it were, the removal of the knife no less caused a lot of grief for him as it was eased out. He whimpered the entire time, crying once and prompting for a stop of the motion. Freddy was heard producing a series of pained noises himself as if to echo it. At least the shallow nature of its bite was a mixed blessing; and it looked like it didn't hit anything vital. Closing it and applying pressure however was still a daunting task and required the entire group's efforts.
Freddy had stayed bent over the boy with Vanessa very near, having taken out DJ'S personality chip from his stomach hatch and putting it aside. He cradled the boy and had a paw on Vanessa's shoulder, thumbs tracing along both of them and his nose in Gregory's face. The boy reached out feebly sometimes, indicating his level of wakefulness as he touched Freddy's cracked cheek and patted it. He muttered something unintelligible, but at least he wasn't staying asleep.
Bonnie woke up eventually- his motor back to regular ranges and his face abjectly and rightly horrified as he beheld the scene before him. He ran M.X.E.S but wondered how he can help beyond that- in which there wasn't anything he can do but stay out of the way and scan for Vanny. So he scanned for her while his friends tended the boy; and he commented on her lack of presence in the AR world. It seems Vanny was hiding again. Worse yet, he noticed some irregular trips in the security system and M.X.E.S went right into fixing it-
And then Bonnie froze on one instance, his maroon gaze fixed on some sort of foreign point inside his Hud. His visage grew concerned, then he was looking up at the others with this detached, almost fascinated air-
"I found the Mimic..." He said.
Freddy snarled; the sound thunderous and promising violence had Bonnie been anyone else. He turned towards his friend but said nothing. He was hunched over the somewhat addled Gregory still, his paw holding the boy's head up and thumb tracing hair out of his face.
"Its... its in the power room," the blue rabbit continued. "-Right by Rockstar Row. Right by us."
"WHAT?" Roxy spat. "NOW? NOW IT SHOWS UP WHEN WE DON'T NEED IT TO?"
"Why the power room?" Chica muttered.
She literally asked- and they all got their answer when everything around them, including the cylinder in the next room over, went out. Every single place in the PizzaPlex was plunged into abyssal darkness; alongside cutting the air flow. And seeing as they were in an underground facility, having it go out now couldn't have been worse.
"Why'd you ask that question? SERIOUSLY?" Roxy spat at the hen. Her LED eye lights blinked furiously at a pair of purple ones.
"I'm sorry, OKAY?! Get off my tail feathers, Rox!" Chica hissed back.
Seems like everyone's on edge, Vanessa inwardly noted. And rightfully so.
"Its trying to make sure the M.X.E.S stays out... it doesn't know its running off of Bonnie's systems though, thankfully," Eclipse supplied in a calm manner- he was probably the ONLY composed individual in the room. "That's my guess, anyways."
"That's so specific," Roxy went on to say. "I didn't even know it can plan like that."
"How else could it have gotten free," Bonnie scathingly stated. "Now seriously, we need to send someone over there to restore it before it does more damage. I can't track it adequately without the cameras! I can follow it in the AR world, but if it jams my signal, I'll lose it."
"No jammer yet?" Freddy asked, his tone harder than steel.
"No. Not this instant, but that will change in a few minutes. Its been taking the time to move around and do what it needs too while I was unconscious," Bonnie supplied. "It knew M.X.E.S turned off for a short while."
"Shit- Okay, Freddy? You and me wanna go again?" Roxy queried.
"I think that's best, yes," he nodded, his eyes bobbing in the darkness. "The rest of you stay here and tend Gregory and Vanessa. After that, we'll discuss what else we can do. At least like this, even Vanny will be set back while we're in this darkness. She can't work without the electricity." The bear turned to Gregory, his voice lowering and turning gruffer and hoarse in a way indicating both his affection and worry for the boy, "I'll be right back, superstar. Can you be good and hang on for me? I promise I won't be long."
Gregory's eyes fluttered weakly, but one opened and caught Freddy's own. He put a single thumbs up, and it couldn't have gladdened the bear more. Freddy grabbed it and gave it a gentle but hearty clench.
"I love you, cub," He dead-panned as if it was the most natural thing to say.
Some of the bots in the room tilted their heads at him, with Bonnie leveling a smile the bear's way. Gregory was heard producing another indecipherable noise, but his good side found itself wrapped around Freddy's offered head like it's a hug. Freddy bumped his face into Gregory's own; then gingerly put the boy down next to Vanessa and withdrew as quietly and and gently possible.
His paw reached out on once occasion, grazing alongside the woman's cheek too in clear affection. Vanessa couldn't help but hum a little at that, eternally thankful for Freddy's silent cheer and grabbing his palm in a squeeze, "Don't be long," she puffed somewhat breathlessly.
"I won't be. Just don't move, okay?"
"Ain't plannin' on it," The former guard muttered.
The blue eyes and amber ones floated out of the room, all the while Eclipse's own bi-colored set found the supplies bag Vanessa owned and pulled out her spare light. He turned it on and angled it towards the ceiling; and while it was still hopelessly dark, they can now see a bit better. He turned to them, "I'm going to keep tending Gregory here. I got him. Can one of you check the repair ward and see if there's a generator there? For the cylinder. The sooner we get Monty up to help, the better we'll be. I don't feel alright with us pairing off like this all the time. Its gonna get us killed! Our numbers ain't enough as is."
Chica hesitated, glanced at Gregory then back at him, "You sure you got him?"
"We got the knife out and the wound closed. I'll take watch. Just get Monty going again and make sure those endos stay locked up. We can't lose those or we can't repair ourselves at all- and then we'll REALLY be useless."
Chica sighed, the sound betraying the fact she'd rather stay with the boy and woman, but she relented and turned to leave. She turned to Bonnie first, "You need any repairs? That taser's charge was... it didn't burn anything out, did it?"
"I'm alright. A little frazzled but alright. And even if I wasn't I'll tend it myself," Bonnie stiffly but not unkindly returned. "Just get out there. I'll stay with Eclipse and the humans."
The hen gakeled, then left.
"I'm sorry," Vanessa breathed, at length. She reached out for the boy, her hand grabbing his and clenching. Gregory hardly reacted beyond a knotting of the brows- it was hard to tell how awake he was some moments. "I just can't believe this shit. I should be driving him to a hospital. Now staying here!"
"Not like you can do anything in this state and that THING blocking the exit," Eclipse allayed. "You can't even sit up to see the road. I don't know what you did, but I wager its a sprain. And if it is, you need to rest and have some ice on it... not that there's any ice around. I have some pain meds here, actually. How bad is it?"
Vanessa considered, winced, then nodded. "I'll take 'em," she said breathlessly. She felt unable to move beyond a point anyways, but wasn't keen on moving away from Gregory, regardless. She kept a hold of his hand, her thumb rubbing it as she watched Eclipse's eye lights bob and weave around. His silhouette was seen in the paltry lighting of the flashlight's glare; stooping to the spare kit and retrieving a bottle. The bot groaned as he checked her Chica-themed bag next.
"Circuits... you're low on food, I hate to say."
"I thought I shoulda packed more... I didn't think we'd be here so long," She mumbled.
"At this rate, one of us could attempt to drive you? Or help you in some manner to the hospital. Staying here isn't going to do you or Gregory any good. And you're no good to Cassie in this condition," He returned pragmatically.
"But- leaving you guys here-" She started.
"We'll be fine, by all rights. You and Gregory have helped us enough already. Honestly, staying here in this state won't help you improve or help us in our endeavors."
Vanessa huffed, but then supplied, "While I couldn't agree more, I dunno if we can even move to get to the car out front. Its too far away... and moving Greg and me around more than you already had to isn't going to improve our conditions. Especially Gregory-" She forced another breath; finding it extraordinarily hard to do so. Did back sprains include breathlessness? She should double check that. "I don't fucking know... making it through this mess when it isn't a straight shot to begin with, and in DARKNESS no less, and after the amount of noise made by the DJ and Vanny... I wager that big... wiry thing is gonna stay on the hunt for a while."
Nearby, Bonnie harrumphed, "We should've just brought you to the car... The Fazcade wasn't that far from the main entrance..."
"All the medic kits were here," Eclipse supplied. "AND that thing showed up way too fast! Gregory wouldn't have been able to make it to the hospital with no kits and a way to close the wound!"
"Enough," Vanessa bit, her voice whispery but authoritarian. "Just... 'nuff. I can't take this... just, no more. We're here now, and we're stuck. Bon, you seeing anything at all?"
The rabbit was quiet for a moment, then huffed, "Freddy and Roxanne are making it to the power room still- they're letting me see through their eyes."
"You can do that-?" She muttered.
"Yeah. Anyways, they said its quiet for now. I don't sense the Mimic at the moment... but it feels like it disappeared. M.X.E.S is relaying a jamming signal now-?"
"Looks like it activated it. Quadruple crap baskets," Vanessa spat. "You think its still near Freddy and Roxy?"
Bonnie shrugged, "I wager it is, but I don't know if it'd wants to tangle with them when it appears to have a mission in mind. Whatever that is."
Gregory opened one eye meanwhile, passing Vanessa a bleary, but studious look. "Freddy. N'take it," he puffed on a single breath.
"Yeah, he can totally take it," Vanessa agreed. "I wish you saw him fight DJ. He's better than he lets on."
"Kinda. Hard. To miss. Roar," Gregory smiled. "Sounded cool."
"Freddy would disagree," Bonnie told them with a smile on his own face. "He doesn't want to scare kids with it. There's been a lot of tots whose asked him, and Freddy would just clam up and make himself smaller each time they asked."
"Want me to be real honest?" Vanessa snirked ironically. "I'll hafta admit, he scared me with it. I don't know who gave him an actual bear's roar but I hope they got fired after making him. I don't wanna say this but I damn near pissed myself."
Gregory blinked at her and raised a brow, "M'thought it'd cool."
Vanessa squeezed his hand, "You'd think a dinosaur cool if it was chewing on your leg, you weirdo."
Bonnie continued to smile at them, shuffling over at length and sitting nearer. Eclipse watched him with some apparent confusion. "Hey kiddo," he started.
Gregory's hazel eyes focused on him, his tiny hand clenching again on Vanessa's own.
"Thanks, for saving me. I owe ya big," The rabbit said in a reverent tone. "And... I'm sorry. About not helping with Cassie better. I... I'm sorry. I'm making sure to look for her, even now."
"Not your fault. S'mine for. Not paying attention," Gregory sighed.
Bonnie shook his head, then extended a paw and took some of Gregory's hair out of his face, "Well, whatever the case. Whatever you want, kiddo, I'll pay it in full. Beyond saving Cassie and getting out of here, of course."
Gregory wore a look of mischief there; as best as he can manage it in this state. Vanessa almost felt sorry for Bonnie once she read it.
"Gimme yer famous ice cream. Your BEST. The Chunky Bonnie. Make it from scratch. When we leave. For free. Then we call it even-steven," Gregory immediately shot. "Make it double too. For Cassie!"
Bonnie laughed outright, then winked. "Done deal!"
GLAMROCK FREDDY
Freddy was not a happy bear, and that's putting it mildly.
He's never felt so... he supposed the words were cranky, volatile, and on edge. He's never imagined himself capable of such feats of extreme violence neither; having felt himself come undone at the site of the knife wound in Gregory. He'd taken all his rage and fury out on the poor DJ, who was naught but a victim of circumstance. At least it gave him the energy he needed to take the DJ down and take his personality chip. Vanessa had fried it good, but he believed they can still salvage what they can from it and eventually make him a new and more wieldy body in time.
Meanwhile, he was leading Roxy forward as they crept through the unerring darkness. His muzzle was open somewhat; his nose working overtime as he eyes the environment and loathed what he saw around him: So much damage everywhere. He knew the Mimic hadn't needed to work too hard to get a lot of the main panels undone and rip everything apart. And with how close it was and the amount of time passed, it couldn't be far. The amount of damage here was reversible in some quadrants of the PizzaPlex. At the very least, he wanted to get Parts and Services working again.
"Vanny could easily come through here and do the same," Roxy commented as they looked around. "Could stand to have someone come patrol through here, maybe."
Freddy only grunted, a gust of air rushing out of his nose forming steam around his muzzle.
They found the room; with the two parting ways briefly to find the breaker for Parts and Services and start making the necessary adjustments in order to fix it. Freddy was alarmed to see that the Mimic was actually targeting some of the breaker switches, not all. The bear scanned it, then chuffed in annoyance. It was definitely planning now, and learning to move around this place more effectively. Why it was active now after all the time its spent being relatively passive was beyond him.
"I had the kid pegged all wrong," Roxy said from nearby suddenly. "He's full of spunk. I could smell it; he wrestled Vanny briefly on his own while injured. And while no doubt a little punk, he's the kind of punk you can't help but admire."
Freddy glanced at her briefly, blinking once and returning his attention to the breaker panel and taking it off so he can see the wiring beyond. He went to fixing it; taking some of the wires from the other quadrants of the PizzaPlex and using them instead for Parts and Services.
"I called him a loser that night. And friendless," Roxy continued to admit, her tone deferential. "I couldn't be more wrong. The kid's got this kinda... altruistic bone in him that I didn't expect. Cassie tells me Gregory made her birthday better after she left here... he hung around her, dried her tears when none of us could be around for it."
"You didn't think him possible of kindness?" Freddy would've raised a brow, could he do so.
"You saw Chica. You saw how the rest of us looked. How bad we were. I know being terrified for your life is one thing, and defending yourself from them. But in the case of us not being to help it- I felt some of the crap he did was still extreme," Roxy harrumphed. "But, I can forgive it. In time."
Freddy passed her a contemplative side-eye, before resuming his work. He knew Roxy and the others hadn't been in their right frames of mind, and Gregory hadn't known they'd been under the virus' influence immediately. He sighed, the sound betraying his feelings on the matter. "We've covered this before, Roxy. No one's to blame for that night. I don't think you would've told Gregory he was a loser under normal circumstances, and I wager he knows that."
She harrumphed there, arms folding across her breast plate.
"Anyways, I'm going to only power up Parts and Services and ventilation. Nothing else. The PizzaPlex is coming apart as it is, and I don't want those loading bay doors unlocked by the Mimic remotely. I'm glad it didn't try hacking those before doing this." The bear sighed, then passed Roxy another apologetic glance, "You know, I should be giving you back your eyes. Sorry I haven't done so."
"Its okay. They're been useful in your hands. And really, your paws have been...nice, to use for the kids," Roxy commented. "I couldn't imagine carrying Vanessa in Monty's naked hands like yours was that comfortable for her. PLUS Bonnie."
"I ripped a bit of Vanessa's clothes, and some of Bonnie's shell got scratched... I don't much care for the weird, almost chainsaw-like look of the digits. It feels like overkill," Freddy went on. "When we get a minute, I want to get some finger chassis for them. I don't care about the color at this point- I don't want to keep hurting you all by accident."
"It's a weird design choice... the finger... teeth? I just don't get why they gave us some the features they did and just impose blocks- not just the physical stuff but the behavioral too? They knew they coulda just not installed those features instead of going through the extra effort of programming the blocks to stop some of the installed features," The wolf sighed. "Its stupid."
"Not if you consider the levels of their depravity," Freddy dead-panned, vaguely reminding her of what else they could do in Security Mode. He dropped the subject though as he eyed the newly redone circuitry. He "aah'ed!" next and pushed the panel back in. "Wiring job finished. Watching Vanessa work has paid off."
"That was fast..." Roxy folded her arms.
He flipped the switch, and was gladdened to see the lamp lights in this room flick on. He could hear the current running, and no doubt it lit back up in Parts and Service. Freddy chuffed, then was seen walking over to Roxy. "Let's get back to them. Bonnie will supervise this room. I also re-enabled the wiring to the camera system," he flicked a talon over his shoulder. "Bonnie will be able to catch the Mimic and the amalgamation on visuals at least. Dunno about Vanny though."
Roxy nodded, with Freddy stopping to briefly gaze around for any more sign of the Mimic. Using her eyes, he was able to see through the walls, noticing nothing afoot immediately. It seems they just missed him, but perhaps it was for the better. If Freddy had to be honest with himself, he felt stupidly confident in taking it right now- perhaps a bout of reckless bravery. But it went back to him feeling glad for missing it, as he knew he was likely to do something incredibly senseless while fighting it.
"It knows it can't take more than 2 of us at once," Roxy said, upon noticing his expression. "Even when I was blind I was able to hold it off for a solid minute. And Cassie said its arm came off so, it ain't that much of a threat unless you consider its digital prowess. I think if we ran into it, we can beat it easy!"
Freddy frowned, blinked, then glanced back at the other room. He jerked a thumb over his shoulder again. "I- you said it had one arm?"
"Yuh?"
He blinked again, frowned, then turned to look back again. He backtracked to the room, baffling Roxy. The wolf followed, tilting her head at him as Freddy hovered around the power room and sniffled. The bear paused before the panel, letting his eyes scan the region around it and the number of digits used to pull the panel out-
And found not one, but two sets of fingers had caused the damage it did.
Roxy saw it too, her muzzle coming open and her own borrowed paws tracing along the damage as she counted the number of claw marks in the panel and surrounding wall. She passed Freddy a horrified expression, her ears flat to her skull and her eyes slanting into clear concern.
"Its... repairing itself," She mouthed.
Freddy blinked, then rapidly turned on his heel to leave. Roxy followed after him, sealing the room behind them and letting Bonnie electronically seal it.