3
Freddy Fazbear Pizzplex
Ken's POV
I stared back at Freddy, whose glowing eyes never left my face as I told him my name. I braced myself for his reaction - would he try to be responsible and tell the main office I was here? Or would he play the part of a worried adult and check my well-being? I really hoped it was the latter...
"Ken Me-DOE-ree," Freddy said thoughtfully, sounding out my name; I could practically see the wheels turning in his head as he submitted the syllables to memory. "I will notify the main office."
Fear tensed my body as he said the one thing I'd hoped he wouldn't. "No no, that's really not necessary," I tried to stop him, but the sound of whirring coming from his head killed my wish.
Then another noise that almost sounded disappointed came from his head. "Huh... connection error," Freddy noted, sounding surprised. "I cannot connect to the main network."
Relief filled my body even though I knew who had done so; I thanked my lucky stars that my kidnapper had also made it harder for herself to locate me. "It's her," I informed Freddy. "She must have cut you off. She's not going to let you call for help until she finds me."
Freddy blinked curiously at me. "Who?" He asked politely. "Who is looking for you? Your mother?"
"Oh, I wish-" I started to say dejectedly, then noises coming from outside the room drew my attention. "Shh! I hear footsteps!" I told Freddy, rushing over to the large window that looked back out into the hallway. I noticed that the maintenance workers had taken the time to pull thick red curtains over the glass - probably didn't want "nosy" kids to try and sneak a peek at Freddy. Through the gap in the curtains, I saw the sweeping gaze of a flashlight, and the lean silhouette of a woman followed soon after. I couldn't see much to be able to pick her out in a crowd, but I could tell she had long blonde hair in a ponytail under a sports cap, and was wearing a black and white uniform.
She didn't look threatening, but I'd sworn to not trust anyone just by appearance in this place.
"That is the security guard," Freddy told me gently; I could sense he was looking over my shoulder at the woman. "She can help!"
Security guard? That meant she had access to the security room.
Which also meant that she could have been the one that spoke to me over the intercom.
"NO!!" I cried, yanking the curtains even further together when the woman disappeared from sight. Realizing how harsh I sounded, I tried to stutter out an apology, "I-I'm sorry, but I don't trust her."
"Why not?" Freddy asked, sounding even more confused.
"I... I can't really explain it," I admitted to him - to be fair, I didn't really know what was going on, either. "But she or someone else is trying to get me! And no offense, but that loud voice of yours is a dead giveaway." I inwardly cringed at the word dead. "Is there anyway we can talk to each other without alerting security?"
Freddy looked off to the side, seeming to think for a second. "Take this," He finally said. "It is a novelty Freddy FazWatch." The sound of whirring mechanics came from inside his body, and his stomach hatch opened once more. This time, I saw what looked like a colorfully wrapped birthday gift snuggled in the back of the hatch.
How did I not notice that the first time I climbed inside? I thought bewilderedly. Well, that would explain the back pain. "So, you just... carry this around with you?" I asked Freddy, peering inside his stomach hatch at the present.
"I always carry at least one FazWatch if the need arises that a guest should have one," Freddy boasted; the two halves of his stomach hatch moved slightly as he puffed out his chest.
Grinning slightly at his display of chivalry, I looked back inside the hatch at the present. I would be lying if I said I didn't feel weird about the whole thing - reaching inside someone just sounds plain wrong. But if it meant receiving something that could help me get out of here, I couldn't be picky about the delivery.
My hand found it's way inside the hatch to the colorful box, where I discovered it wasn't really a typical present - there was a metal handle along the side that made it a kind of festive Jack-in-the-Box. My other hand reached inside to steady the box while the hand that was already there took hold of the handle. Slowly, I wound it around and round; all the while, the box emitted a string of notes that I guessed were meant to be cheerful, but only served to give me the chills.
Just when I was thinking of ducking out of the hatch just to make the music stop, the bow-wrapped top popped open to the congratulatory sound of trumpets. Out sprang a few coils of wire, just like a true Jack-in-the-Box; only instead of a felt jester whose only purpose in life was to give children nightmares, there was an orange wristwatch entangled in the coils. A mixture of curiosity and trepidation moved me to gently pry the tech from the box and take it out of the shadows of Freddy's stomach hatch, holding it up to the light. To my delight, I noted that the color not only matched Freddy's exterior, there were also two little bear ears and his signature top hat and bow tie lining the sides.
It was indeed a FazWatch.
With one hand, I removed the now empty present from the hatch while still holding the wrist device in my other hand. When both of my hands were free, I secured the FazWatch to my wrist with shaking fingers. As I was positioning the last strap, a high pitched beep rang out and the screen of the device lit up a bright green. Gasping slightly, I jumped back and held the wrist with the watch far away from my body. "What was that?" I asked aloud, half expecting the device to burst into flames. It wouldn't be the weirdest thing that happened tonight.
"I am sending you an encoded message," Freddy told me patiently, having closed his stomach hatch after I'd removed the box.
With Freddy watching me curiously, I swiped up on the FazWatch screen. To my relief, it turned out Freddy was telling the truth about the message, because there was a notification on the homepage. I selected the message, and Freddy's voice soon broadcasted from the wrist device:
"Hello, Ken! It is me, Freddy. I will escort you to the main entrance. However, I am unable to leave this room. You should have no problem. There is a button on the wall that will open the door to the back room. I will make it accessible to you now."
The volume was still louder than I would have liked - how am I supposed to get around with Freddy broadcasting my every location - but it was better than running around the pizzeria blind.
I swiped out of the message and went over to the back wall to find the button. I had obviously already known about the door to the back room, but it hadn't occurred to me that I wouldn't be able to open the door without some kind of pass. For the first time in what I could feel would be numerous times, I was glad Freddy was helping me.
I found the button that Freddy was talking about next to the back room door; it was kind of hard not to, because it was a considerably large, glowing green button that was shaped like Freddy's head, complete with his hat and bow tie. I gently pressed it until it was even with the wall, and the back room door easily slid open beside it.
"Well done, Ken!" Freddy commended me - his voice came out of his own mouth this time, not the FazWatch. I turned and saw him standing where I'd left him, next to the vanity table. "There is an open air vent inside the maintenance room. You will have to climb through the ventilation system and release me from the outside."
I stared blankly at him. Open air vent? Ventilation system? Climb? You? The implication that I had to go through all those things just didn't match up.
But if it got me one step closer to getting out of here...
Sighing, I mentally resigned myself to my fate and faced the shadows of the back room once more. I had already been in this room, already seen these shadows - it shouldn't bother me. I had never been afraid of the dark before. Though for some reason, the realization that I was truly alone this time around - no slumbering animatronic bears to wake up and have help me - made the shadows seem even longer. Made the darkness seem as if it was reaching out to grab me.
It made me realize something else: this was where my adventure truly began.
If you could even call my situation that.
Freddy must have some sort of programming that allows him to sense changes in body heat, because he spoke up once more, gently, "There is nothing to be scared of, Ken. You can do it."
It may have been from an AI animatronic who was literally programmed to make kids feel better, but I had no one else in that moment. That one encouragement meant the world to me. I glanced over at Freddy and gave him a shaky smile, trying to portray my gratitude in my expression; pretty sure I came off as looking constipated.
Then I turned back to the dark doorway, swallowed my fear, and forged ahead.
Like before, the door closed behind me. I tried not to notice the shadows as I explored the back room for the air vent. I found a lot of curious items - including a weird looking Freddy-head-shaped box mounted on the wall that I wondered about the use for - before finding the square hole in the wall. It was mounted pretty close to the ceiling, so I had to push a few boxes together to act as stairs in order to climb up. I still had to crouch down on my hands and knees in order to fit through the opening. From there, I made my way through the ventilation system, crawling little by little.
For some reason, I never thought that the air duct was connected to the other animatronics' rooms. That's why I felt myself tense up when I heard a metallic female voice echo through the ventilation: "Your performance was PERFECT tonight! Thank you."
I felt my hair brush the top of the duct as I tilted my head in confusion. It sounded like one of the animatronics was having a conversation with... themselves?
A few more twists and turns, lit along the way by fluorescent lightbulbs, and I found the air vent that the voice was coming from. Unlike the air vent in Freddy's back room, this one was blocked by a duct cover. Curiosity got the better of me and I got closer until my nose was nearly touching the covering. Through the slats, I saw a room similar to Freddy's, only the walls were painted a bold purple instead of a cheerful red.
The voice was coming from below me. Looking down, I saw another vanity table with a different animatronic in front of it. A gray wolf with a thick mane streaked with green, wearing a red two-piece outfit with tiger-striped purple gauntlets on her forearms and calves.
It took a few seconds, but I recognized the new animatronic as Roxanne Wolf, the keyboard player of the Pizzaplex band. She got mostly positive reviews about her playing skills in the newspaper, but there were also stories of mothers harassing Pizzaplex workers about changing her appearance. "The way they designed that thing is scandalous - what are they trying to teach the children?" A particularly rude mother reportedly complained.
It seemed like Roxanne was telling herself the same things over and over in the vanity mirror: "Your hair is beautiful. Your tail is beautiful. Everyone was watching you. Everyone loves you. Everyone wants to be you. You are the best!" Then she'd respond with a grateful nod, "Thank you. I am the best. I am the best."
Remembering what all the mothers had said about her appearance, I kind of felt bad for Roxanne. She must receive so much slander for her design everyday, and she's still only a side character in the main band; she doesn't have the protection of being the main character, like Freddy. I wondered how many times she'd had this conversation with herself - I wondered how many times she had to convince herself that she was "the best" before she felt better about herself.
I'd had many of the same conversation with myself before.
I seriously considered speaking up and telling Roxanne that I heard her and understood her, but I remembered that I'd already gotten Freddy involved. No sense in getting any of the other animatronics in trouble.
So I sent a silent wish for Roxanne and continued through the air ducts.
Though as I left, I could have sworn I heard her add, "Your fans are watching you right now... I know."
As I got farther away from Roxanne's room, her voice faded and was replaced with the rumbling sound of things being broken. My pace slowed, but I eventually came across the source: another room, this one painted a deep green.
Well, what I could see of the room was deep green. There was a covering on this air vent too, but there were was something else that was obstructing my vision of whatever else was in the room. Either the lights were off or there was something on the covering itself, I couldn't tell. Probably for the best - from what I could hear, something really angry and really strong was rampaging through the room. Each crash and every inhuman growl made me grit my teeth and sent shivers down my spine.
Based on the color scheme I could see, I guessed that this was Montgomery Gator's room, the bassist of the band. According to the newspaper reviews, his playing skills were a sight to behold, but he had a haywire temper that made several parents nervous about having their kids near him. He was infamous for smashing tables with his large fists during birthday parties - the kids eat it up, though the adults debate if it's done purely for entertainment.
Needless to say, I didn't feel bad about leaving his room behind.
The crashes and growls faded behind me, giving way to the wailing echo of a guitar solo. Twisting and turning through the ducts once more brought me to the heart of the sound: one last room, this one painted a peppy pink. Nothing blocked my view of the room besides the covering this time, so I had a full view of the resident animatronic, who was grinding away on a pink guitar. A pure white chicken with a feather-style mohawk, wearing a pink and magenta leotard with animal style leg warmers above her three-pointed feet.
I recognized her as Glamrock Chica, the guitarist of the band. She was also known as the most confusing character of the band, because she was supposed to be associated with fitness, yet she was discovered on multiple occasions to have terrible eating habits. One mother even complained to the pizzeria that she'd found Chica eating her son's pizza after he'd supposedly thrown it away.
People who try to focus on fitness often find themselves tempted by sweets and savory snacks, I thought. It must be even harder for her to resist the urge, since she lives in a place where those "dangerous" snacks are the main dishes.
To be one thing while you're made out to be something entirely different to the public... it must be hard. But Chica looked entirely at peace with both the world and herself as she strummed her guitar, playing a song that only she could hear.
And me, obviously.
Which is why I felt bad when I left her room.
A few seconds later, I reached an air vent that had no covering. Peering out, I found myself back in the main hallway, where I was before I hid with Freddy. The light of the bright neon signs against the black walls did a good job of hiding the security cameras, but I knew they were there. Always watching, always searching.
Searching, on this particular night, for me.
Well, it's time to put them to the test.
I dropped the few feet to the ground and took a few seconds to stretch out my limbs after being on my hands and knees in the air ducts for a good five minutes. I found a nearby potted plant and crouched behind it as I considered my next move. Freddy said he could escort me to the main entrance, but in order for him to do so, I had to let him out of his room. Cautiously peeking out from my hiding place, I found his room at the other end of the hall - the ventilation system had spit me out all the way opposite of where I'd started.
Which meant I'd have to be extra sneaky in order to get back over there.
As I ventured a few careful paces out from the potted plant, a voice came over the intercom - a man's voice, not the voice of my kidnapper, thank the First Spinjitzu Master. "Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for visiting and we hope you enjoyed the show! Freddy and the gang are pretty tired, but they'll be back again next week after a few days of scheduled maintenance! Please make your way to the front of the building where you will be given novelty glasses, a voucher for one free soda refill, and where you will sign a legal disclaimer releasing us of all liability for anything that might have happened during your visit. Have an awesome night, and we'll see you again soon!"
I groaned at that last part. If you want people to come back, never imply that something may happen to them during their stay! That's Running a Business 101!
Then I realized the meaning of the man's announcement. He was telling people to start heading towards the front of the building - that meant that the Pizzaplex was going to close for the night soon.
That meant I was running out of time.
Hoping I was wrong - it felt like I had only been running around for about half an hour - I all but jerked my wrist to my face to check the time on my FazWatch. It was 11:30 pm; it was well known that the Pizzaplex closed at midnight.
Anger flashed through me as I realized that my kidnapper didn't like to play fair. She'd told me that she'd give me until closing time to find my way out of the Pizzaplex using conventional means, all the while knowing full well that I had only had an hour to do so. It also made me wonder exactly what lengths she'd gone to in order to keep me asleep until then - my school had gotten out at 3:15.
In short - this game had been rigged against me since I woke up.
My breath was coming out of me in short little bursts and I was positive that I was on the verge of a panic attack, but I forced myself to breathe and calm down. "Get a hold of yourself, Ken - it's only 11:30," I reminded myself, pressing my fingertips to my temples and closing my eyes in concentration. "The Pizzaplex closes at midnight, right? That means you have a half hour to get Freddy and then get the heck out of here. You can do this."
I pictured someone fierce saying that to me, like PIXAL or Ben - I'd even take Lui at this point. It wasn't the same as having them here with me, but it calmed my nerves a little bit.
With that positive thought, I made my way over to Freddy's room, jumping behind objects to hide when I could and keeping to the shadows when there wasn't any. I passed by all of the animatronic's rooms once more along the way. I saw Chica and her guitar again, though she was turned away from me and the window to her room did a great job of muffling the song. I also passed by Montgomery's room, though the window was still covered and now I knew the reason why. There were even signs that blared THIS ATTRACTION IS TEMPORARILY CLOSED / PLEASE ENJOY ANOTHER ATTRACTION and OFF LIMITS. One sign had Montgomery's face done up with a cheerful smile with his fist up, next to words that claimed, SORRY - NO AUTOGRAPHS / MONTY NEEDS TO REST UP FOR THE NEXT SHOW.
I had to snort at that particular sign. I'm sure Monty did have to rest up, but not for the reason they were making it out to be.
Next was Roxanne's room. She was still in front of her vanity mirror, seemingly having the same conversation with herself once more. The entire picture was just sad. It's not worth it, I wanted to tell her. Telling yourself that you're the best is only half the battle. Actually feeling GOOD about yourself is an entirely different fight.
But I couldn't risk saying that to her. I doubt she would even hear me through the glass.
So I moved on.
I finally got back to Freddy's room with the heavy red curtains still drawn over the window. As I passed, though, the curtains parted slightly and Freddy's face appeared between them. When he saw me, his jaw moved in the imitation of a grin and one of his arms came up to wave ecstatically at me. Was it possible that he was excited about the night ahead? Wish I knew the feeling.
I shot him a weak grin and a wave of my own, then went around the corner to the waiting area in front of Freddy's door. I found the panel that the maintenance workers had used to open it, but when I pressed my hand to it, nothing happened. I pressed it again and again, yet the door remained closed.
My breathing quickened again. I didn't have time for this - the Pizzaplex was about to close! I was about to call for Freddy through the door, then remembered at the last second that he'd given me the FazWatch so that we didn't have to raise our voices. "Freddy," I said into the device. "I'm outside your door right now; I'm pressing the panel, but it won't open!"
"Oh?" Freddy said through the FazWatch. "You are going to need a Photo Pass to open the door. Apologies, I assumed you had one already."
How would I have one already - I was brought here against my will! I wanted to scream, but Freddy didn't deserve that; I just looked at the ceiling and forcefully exhaled through my nose.
"Well, you should be able to find one at a convenience counter," Freddy supplied helpfully.
"Okay... now where would the convenience counter..." I started to ask, then trailed off as I noticed a wall very different from the others. It was painted in a unique way and looked like the roll-up door of a garage, whereas the other walls looked like your average stand-still walls. That wall had to lead somewhere new. "Hold that thought," I told Freddy.
As I headed over to the new wall, I noticed two... I honestly didn't know what to call them. Robots? Animatronics? Either way, they basically looked like CAUTION: WET FLOOR signs with wheels and eyes. They seemed docile as they were stationary in their corner of the hallway, though I couldn't help but wonder what they would become when the pizzeria closed for the night.
I couldn't help but wonder how much the pizzeria would change once all the guests left.
I didn't want to stick around to find out.
Keeping an eye on the... I'm going to call them Sign Bots, I regarded the roll-up wall. Like a typical garage door, there was a handle on the wall centered near the bottom. I grabbed the handle and was able to pull it up a few feet, though something stopped me from raising it even higher. Deeming it high enough, I ducked my head under and was able to pull my entire body through before the wall slammed shut behind me.
I found myself in another dark hallway dimly lit by numerous neon signs, though this one was slimmer than the one I just left. I saw even more cartoon cutouts of the animatronics up and down the hall. One of Freddy in a heroic pose, wearing an astronaut-style helmet, was directly in front of me; I was more interested in the speech bubble above the cutout, though. In cheery red-and-orange words, it claimed: 1 FREE* PHOTO PASS!
A Photo Pass?
That's what Freddy said I needed to unlock the door to his room.
There wasn't anything that resembled a convenience counter below the Freddy cutout - only another one of those creepy musical Jack-in-the-Box presents. It looked tiny compared the vast space of the hallway; why the pizzeria even had it out where any child could accidentally or purposely kick it over, I did not know.
Meh, it's a place meant for elementary school kids, I thought to myself, shrugging slightly. I'm almost in my teen years - what do I know?
I crouched down and grabbed the handle with one hand while bracing the box with my other hand. A few quick turns released the ominous music notes and sent chills down my spine, then the trumpets sounded and the top popped open. This time, there was a paper ticket with the bubble letters PHOTO PASS and a picture of Roxanne pierced in one of the coils of the box. I gently pried it off, took the time to look it over in my hand, then lifted my wrist to my mouth to contact Freddy. "Hey - I found a Photo Pass!"
"Good job," Freddy told me, sounding relieved. "Now, please come let me out."
"On my way," I told him, feeling ecstatic knowing that I was one step closer to getting out of here. I turned around and went back under the roll-up wall back to the original hallway, then rushed back over to Freddy's room. This time when I got to his door, I held up the Photo Pass to the panel, and it slid open with a beep to reveal Freddy in his full glory.
"Way to go, superstar!" Freddy commended me. "I knew you could do it." I felt myself flush with pride under his praise; I could see why the newspapers claimed that Freddy was the favorite animatronic of the children - his positivity was infectious.
"I know how to get you out of here," Freddy continued, his tone turning serious. "Climb back into my chest cavity. There is still time, but we must hurry. If we are spotted, I will surely be taken back to my room. I will escort you to the main exit through the utility tunnels. It is the safest path."
His stomach hatch opened, and I found myself looking once more at the inside of Freddy. I felt my own stomach turn as I processed his words. If we were spotted, we would be taken back to Freddy's room and we'd have to start over at Square One; I'd never be able to get out of here, and Freddy would get in a lot of trouble. Plus, who knew just how the game would change once the place closed.
Would it get even more dangerous for Freddy?
With that thought, I realized that Freddy knew just how hectic this could get, or at least had an idea. The fact that he was helping me in the first place meant he prized my safety over the consequences of his actions. He was saying that we were in this together, whether I was okay with it or not.
That meant more to me than I could say.
"Okay," I told him with a bracing sigh. "Just please try not to move around too much. The last thing I need is to be twisted into a human pretzel."
With that, I climbed into Freddy's stomach hatch once again.
—————
Monastery of Spinjitzu
No One's POV
Everyone was quiet for a few seconds after PIXAL announced that she'd received an SOS signal from Ken. The atmosphere in the courtyard was so heavy, you could take one of the swords from inside the Monastery and slice through it.
Then everything quickly went South.
"What do you mean you got an SOS signal from Ken?" Honcho exploded, full out sprinting from his place in the courtyard to directly in front of PIXAL. "How is that possible?"
PIXAL started to explain, "Well, you remember how I told you that your collapsible headsets-"
"Can send SOS signals by pressing them three quick times, three slow times, and three quick times - we know!" Yugo broke in, rubbing his temples. "But what we don't know is... why Ken?"
"Yeah!" Quon exclaimed disbelievingly. "He's the least threatening out of all of us!"
Kit and Fubuki perked up. "Excuse me?" Fubuki asked, looking as though he'd been blasphemed.
"What about us?" Kit added, gesturing between the two of them. "You mean to say you look at us and don't feel the need to squeeze our cheeks?" He wrapped an arm around Fubuki's shoulders and pulled him until their faces were smushed together; they gazed at the others with adorable angelic expressions.
Quon stared at the two of them blankly, blinking a few times before turning back to PIXAL. "My statement still stands."
The Nindroid sighed and waved her chrome hands to quell the rest of the outbursts. "I don't know why Ken sent an SOS signal," She said slowly. "All I know is he sent one via the headset, and now I can't contact him at all. I've tried the headset, his phone - nothing."
The others glanced at each other uneasily. "So... what do we do now?" Shu asked her.
"Luckily, when he sent the signal, he also activated the tracking device in the headset," PIXAL told him. "So we know his last known location was here." Her green eyes shone brighter, and a projection beam shot out of both of them. A large image of a street system made entirely of blue light illuminated in front of the boys, with a green dot steadily beeping in the center. "He may still be there, he might not be - either way, we need to get to this location and find out what we can about what happened."
While most of the boys nodded affirmatively, Lui and Free looked apprehensive. "We? Why do I have to go? I don't know the guy that well!" Lui objected.
"Yeah, and I was hoping to get a nap in..." Free spoke up, scratching the back of his head.
"Too bad - you're coming with us!" Xander and Honcho exclaimed, working together to herd the two out the Monastery front doors.
The rest of the gang started to ferry out after them. Before they left, though, Valt grabbed Shu's arm and forced their eyes to meet. "Do you really think Ken is trouble?" He asked his boyfriend in a small voice.
Shu stared for a minute at Valt's big brown eyes, shining with the proof of his worry. Ken was one of his closest friends, and one of his favorite people to battle. It would absolutely kill him if anything happened to the ventriloquist.
It would kill all of them.
Shu sighed and patted Valt's hand on his arm. "For all our sakes, Valt, I really hope not."
—————
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