.....Help us....

......Hurts so much.....

....Please....make the pain go away....

Poke.

Sea-blue eyes snapped open.

Cry stared up at a grey sky.

"He's alive!"

"Told ye so!"

"Guys, that wasn't very nice to poke him!"

The brunet bolted upwards and whipped his head to the source of the voices.

Cry blinked.

'......Kids?'

One was a boy with brown hair and blue eyes; he was wearing a brown hoodie with bear ears on it.

The second, another boy with purple hair and autumn-red eyes; he was wearing a lighter-shaded purple jacket that had bunny ears on them.

The third, a blonde girl with magenta eyes; she wore a yellow sweater that had a ducky in the center.

And the fourth, a short redhead with golden eyes; he had a black, pirate bandana wrapped around his head and wore a ripped, red jacket.

The brunet kid smiled sheepishly.

"Sorry, Mister!  We thought you were dead, so we decided to wake you up or something.  Plus, it's snowing!"

Cry blinked once more and rubbed his shoulders, watching his breath fog up in the air.

The girl looked at him with worry.

"How about we bring you inside.  My house is the closest!"

The redhead scowled at her.

"Oi, lass!  'Aven't ye 'eard of stranger danger?"

The blonde pouted at the other.

"Oh, stop it with your pirate accent, Crevan!  And look at him!  His fingers are starting to turn blue from the cold!"

The redhead child, Crevan, frowned.

"But look at 'im!  This 'ere stranger 'as some sort of weird mask on his face!"

The purplenet on the side laughed cheerfully.

"Aww~come on!  I'm sure he means no harm!"

The brunet child sighed loudly.

"Crev, let's just bring him inside for now.  Anda's right--he looks like he'll freeze over!"

Crevan looked at Cry with distrust before backing down.

"Hmph." The redhead made a 'I'm-watching-you' motion at Cry. "I'll gouge yer eyes out with ma' trusty 'ook if ya' do anything funny, ya' 'ear!?"

The brunet child sighed even louder, smacking Crevan on the back of his head.

"Stop making empty threats!  Your hook is plastic by the way!"

"But he doesn't know that, lad!"

Cry chuckled softly and raised his hands in surrender.

"Don't worry--I won't do anything to hurt you guys.  Plus, I wouldn't like to get my eyes gouged out!"

The blonde girl, Anda, blinked before giggling.

"I like him.  He seems fun--despite his mask~!  What do you think, Leve?"

The said purplenet grinned.

"Absolutely!"

Cry slowly stood up, dusting himself off; Anda quickly climbed up and latched herself to his back.  The gamer reflexively gave the child a piggy back as she quickly settled herself down.

"Wee~!  I'm so high up!"

The brunet kid on the ground sighed exasperatedly before looking up at Cry sheepishly.

"Anyways, I'm Arthur, but you can also call me Artie.  This purple-haired guy over here is Leveret, but he prefers Leve.  And the fake-pirate is Cervan, and the psychotic girl on your back is Anda."

Anda huffed and pouted at Arthur.

"You're so mean sometimes, Artie!"

~~

Cry sneezed quietly...before sneezing again.  The brunet huffed before sniffling.

"Woah.  Double sneeze."

Anda burst out in a fit of giggles.

"Hahahaha!  Yo-Your sneezes!  They're.  So.  CUTE!"

Cry moved his cup of hot chocolate to the side before it could get split as Anda glommed him.

"Hey, hey, chill, kiddo!"

Arthur moved in and grabbed the girl.

"Anda!  Seriously!  This has to stop whenever you see someone or something that's cute or amusing."

Cervan snorted.

"Lad's right!  You psychotic chicken!"

Anda pouted fiercely at the redhead.

But then the group of children started to burst out laughing; Arthur sighed.

"So many banters...."

Suddenly, all four children looked at Cry; the gamer stilled at the sudden attention.

They shut their eyes before opening them.

Cry jumped when he saw....small, white pupils surrounded by black.

Blood-red tears fell from their eyes.

".......Help us."

~~

Bam, bam, bam, bam!

"--RY!  CRY!  Wake up, d*** it!"

Sea-blue snapped open; Cry felt hands on his shoulders, shaking him.

Scott was apparently the one shaking him.

"Jund?  What?"

"We need help to stop the guys outside these doors!"

Cry blinked and turned his head.

'.....Oh sh**....I recognize this place...'

A small office--a familiar small office.

Two metal doors were present on the sides of the small office.

Pewds was keeping his hand pressed against a button on the left while Mark was doing the same to a button on the right.

Snake was pressing against the door as it was trying to get kicked in.  Russ was on the other side, using his gravity powers to keep the door shut.

Cry quickly sat up and dashed over to the others.

With his sharp eyes....he saw something outside.

Beady, red eyes gazed back through the window.

"Aww~come on!  I'm sure he means no harm!"

Cry blinked at the memory.

"....Leve?"

The robotic bunny outside paused and stared at Cry; even the pounding on the doors halted.

'.....You....kn...ow....me........'

Another voice in Cry's head--not very surprising anymore with all that's happening.

Cry merely stared back before cracking a smile; the others were looking at the brunet with shock.

"Well.....I can't be for sure...."

Cry then saw the magenta eyes peeking out from behind the bunny robot.

"Anda."

'.....Y...ou...kn..ow...us......bu..t...we.....aren't....hu...man.........we....are......Bonnie.....Chica....Foxy....and...Fred...dy.......how...do you...know...us?'

Cry grinned.

"I met you in a dream, kiddo."

"Th-This is pathetic."

Sea-green light briefly filled the room.

A brunet with glasses stepped out of the flash of light; on the side, Russ froze.

"You!"

When the light died down....it revealed....Russ?

'Russ' opened his eyes.

Instead of the usual chocolate-brown orbs....they were two, glowing, sea-green irises.

'Russ' grinned.

"H-Hey, trooper!  Y-You didn't think you co-could get r-rid o-of me that easily!"

'Russ' then turned to look at Cry, grin widening slightly.

"Y-Yo!  I'm gonna b-borrow y-your captain f-for a b-bit!  Have fun w-with the a-animatronics!  A-And maybe, I might return him a-alive."

No one had time to react as 'Russ' grabbed Cry by the throat and pulled the brunet into some sort of black void.

Cry was surrounded by darkness.

"L-Let's....go!"

The brunet was suddenly flattened against the ground; gravity pulled on him, hard.

Cry tsked and called up his Okami sword, sending slashes into the darkness.

The gravity lessened and Cry was able to breathe easier; the brunet narrowed his gaze as he looked at the darkness surrounding him.

"Who....the f***...are you?"

"....Me?  Th-That's pretty easy, S-Sir Trooper!  I.  Am...."

Suddenly, green 1s and 0s appeared and lit up the darkness.

Cry stared with wide eyes at the the other brunet--familiar, yet not--before him.

The other grinned maniacally.

"...Russ.  Y o u r   b e s t   f r i e n d ."

Cry was suddenly sent flying backwards when 'Russ''s fingers glowed bronze.

The masked brunet tsked and skidded backwards, stepping on the invisible ground beneath him.

"Bullsh**, man.  You're not Russ."

'Russ' raised an eyebrow.

"Aw, m-man.  That's c-cold."

Cry was sent flying across the void-like space once more--this time he slammed into a wall of 1s and 0s.

Cry coughed and landed on the ground before being further pushed to the ground by 'Russ''s gravity power.

'Russ''s eyes glowed a bright, sea-green as he slowly walked over to Cry.

"I-It's been getting a-a bit boring l-lately.  Pl-Plus, Virus sent m-me to g-get rid of you.  He s-said it's ta-taking to long ta' k-kill you."

Cry huffed and activated his left hand.

Lightning sparked across the ground in a ten meter radius, causing 'Russ' to retreat.

Cry stood up and cracked his neck.

"Hey, bozo!  I ain't going down with a fight, so you can f*** off!"

'Russ' narrowed his gaze before grinning once more.

"W-Well....at l-least you'll m-make this m-more interesting....."

"Darn tootin' he will!"

'Russ' was sent flying across the void, but he regained his balance and looked at the person that interrupted him.

Cry blinked in surprise.

"Buddy?"

In a flash of bronze, the real Russ stood there, one hand raised as the fingertips glowed.

Russ made a peace sign back at Cry, chocolate-brown eyes sparkling.

"Yo, Sir Trooper!  Your captain is here!"

'Russ' gazed at the real Russ with shock.

"Y-You....shouldn't b-be here...."

Russ smirked and pushed his glasses up slightly.

"Well, buddy, I learned something from that last time you dragged me into this place.  There's this tiny door in space that you and me can open.  Since you say you're me....I'm you, right, buddy?  So I can appear in this void that you have and do whatever the sh** I want."

Russ then turned to look at Cry.

"Let's finish this sh** and go help the others."

'Russ' twitched and suddenly...his eyes became completely black.  A wide grin formed on his face.

"D o n ' t   t h i n k   t h a t   y o u ' v e   w o n   b e c a u s e   y o u   o u t n u m b e r   m e ,   y o u   l i t t l e   s h * * s."

Cry didn't know what to expect, but he suddenly felt one of his ribs crack.

As if it were a late reaction, Cry was thrown back much more roughly.

Russ widened his eyes before quickly leaping up, catching Cry before he could hit a wall of numbers.

'Russ' lost his form and became a mass of 1s and 0s.

"Y-You just don't u-understand....a-all of y-you guys w-will die."

Slash!

'Russ''s arm fell to the ground before bursting into a cloud of 1s and 0s.

Cry stood up, wobbling slightly as he stabbed the Okami sword into the ground.

"We....won't die.  I'll make sure of that."

'Russ' gazed at Cry with shock.

Cry looked over at Russ and grinned.

"Hey, buddy, help me out, will ya'?"

Russ grinned in return.

"Sure thing."

Cry's sword glowed green; his right hand channeled wind into the blade.

"Let's go!"

Russ clapped his hands together and made a ball of bronze-colored gravity between his hands.

The glasses-wearing brunet shot the bronze orb at 'Russ''s chest.

'Russ' blinked in confusion before he felt his entire body get flattened to the ground.

Cry ran up towards 'Russ' and raised his sword high.

'Russ' growled and used his gravity powers to form two blades at his arms.

He lashed out at Cry, who couldn't really dodge in midair.

Suddenly, there were four flashes of light.

"Mr. Cry!  We got this!"

"Aye, matey!  Get yer booty out of yee way!"

A shield formed in front of Cry; it stopped 'Russ''s blades.

Red, purple, blue and magenta lights circled around Cry; the brunet could see the faces of the children in his dream.

Artie grinned.

"You're friends helped us get out of those old suits--they managed to talk us down, especially Mr. Felix!  Thanks to them, our souls are free!  Anyways, let's take this guy down!"

Cry smiled.

"Thanks, kiddo."

The four souls then circled around Cry; the brunet looked back at Russ.

"Hey!  Throw me into the air--last shot, Russ!"

The glasses-wearing brunet huffed before letting his hands glow bronze.

"Alright!  Go for it!"

Russ set Cry flying towards 'Russ'.

Cry looked at the souks that were flying beside him.

"Cover for me guys, please!"

"You gotcha!"

'Russ' used his blades to attack Cry, but the souls were there to protect him.

Cry smiled apologetically at 'Russ'.

"I really wouldn't want to kill ya', buddy.  But hurting my friends....gives me the right to kick your a**."

Slash!

'Russ' was cut in half and.....Cry felt something lift in his chest.

He could breathe easier.

'Tsk......l-looks like s-some of your b-burdens have been t-taken away.  H-Heh......looks l-like you w-won't die s-so soon......'

Cry blinked in surprise and darted his gaze around; the real Russ was gone, leaving Cry in the darkness with the four souls.

"....Well....Mr. Cry....I think this is it."

Artie appeared again--as did Crevan, Leve and Anda.

Anda drifted over and hugged Cry tightly.

"See you, Cry!"

Levi smiled sadly.

"Be safe, Mr. Cry."

Crevan huffed and punched Cry's arm playfully.

"Be a good lad and try to not get killed."

Artie then tapped Cry's left wrist; a circle with four orbs appeared.

"....We'll come back anytime for ya', Mr. Cry.  See you later...."

There was a flash of white.

~~

Warm.

Cry felt warm sun rays on his face.

The brunet snapped his eyes open and immediately touched his face.

'My mask.....gone again!?  What the he**..........wait.......my hands.....'

When he saw his hands......they were......tiny....

'......What.....the f***......"

Cry dropped his hands to his sides and found that he was sitting.....in a bed of golden flowers?