Animatronics' New Ninjago Residence
Ken's POV
When I woke up, my face was smushed against something soft.

And my temples were pounding.

Wincing, I tried to roll over and discovered that I was being pressed against on all sides by numerous bodies, both warm and cold. For a split second I feared that I was in the middle of a murder scene and shot straight up. My head was fuzzy and bright light painfully assaulted my wide eyes, making me fall back down onto whatever I was using as a pillow to block it all out. When my head felt clear enough to take in sights without shutting down, I tentatively raised my head again and cracked open my eyes.

At first everything was blurry, but what I could make out made me confused. Why was Valt sleeping on one side of me with Freddy sleeping on the other? Why were they both dressed in Christmas garb? Why was everyone I knew sleeping in various positions all around me? Why were my parents sleeping on the couch? Why was there garland attached to the ceiling, and why was it the only source of light at the moment?

And why did my mouth taste dry with an aftertaste of cocoa and cinnamon?

As my tongue worked to wet my parched lips, my memories slowly came back to me. Shortly after I'd told PIXAL that I was "exhaustedly happy", I'd helped myself to a cup of hot cocoa with some sweets and tried to join in on the festivities. The sugar had given me a rush, but it had quickly turned into a crash. The stress of the past few days must have caught up to me, and I must have nodded off sometime after. I remembered laying my head down on what I thought was a coffee table - maybe someone took pity on me and laid me on my side?

I took another look at the room and had to gawk at the capacity. Was everyone involved with the party sleeping in here? It didn't look like there was a single free space on the floor. And when there wasn't any space, they made up for it by laying on other items, like chairs and side tables and each other. A lot of their positions didn't look comfortable, but they were still sleeping and snoring like babies.

Ya know. Flesh, metal, and plastic (I think) babies.

But something was off. Everyone looked like they were sleeping soundly, with no indication that they were waking up. So what had woken me up?

I carefully sat back on my calves, popping my back in the process, and evaluated my senses. No pain other than the typical post-nap soreness. No bad tastes in my mouth other than the hot cocoa I'd drank hours ago. No obvious disturbances in the room that could have woken me.

That was touch, taste, and sight. That left the other three senses.

I closed my eyes and listened with all my might. I tried to hear past the soft snores of those around me, past the natural sounds of the old building, past the sound of the wind outside. I put PIXAL's training to the test and tried to listen to what was in the shadows, what I couldn't see...

There! Someone or something was moving around in the kitchen, clinking together pots and pans. The subtlety of the sounds told me that whoever was in there was trying to be quiet, but with an unobstructed doorway, that was pretty much impossible.

That would explain what was being picked up by my fifth sense: smell. My nose could pick up a sweet scent coming from the kitchen; it was potent enough to overpower the scents still in the air from the Christmas party last night. Someone had just made it, or was at least in the process of making it.

Then my sixth and most secretive sense: my sense of Metal. An expansion of that sense revealed a large presence of metal in the kitchen, so it couldn't be Dani. But it seemed too... large to be a maintenance bot or an endo, or even PIXAL. Was it one of the animatronics? No, it couldn't be... I could see all eight of the main animatronics from my vantage point on the floor.

So if it wasn't any of them... who could it be?

Curiosity drove my body to move. I slowly, carefully extracted myself from the limb trap that was Valt and Freddy, bringing myself to my feet and standing up. From there, it was a roller coaster ride that consisted of climbing over bot and boy alike, and I honestly felt a little nauseous when I was past it all. The smell coming from the kitchen doorway, though, perked me right up.

When I got there, I was greeted with a peculiar sight. There, working in the sparse lighting from the kitchen windows, was an animatronic I'd never seen before. I could only see them from the backside and the lighting wasn't the best, but I could make out a tall figure with a thick waist, a large black cloud that resembled an afro, an orange plaid dress, and a shiny tail with a matching black plume that winded in a lazy circle. All around them on the counter were plates and trays of different kinds of muffins, steaming slightly and filling the air with a divine aroma. A clinking sound revealed that they were already mixing up another batch.

"Um... hello?" I dared to speak up.

The new animatronic lifted its black mane in surprise and turned around, revealing the face of a deep brown canine with large chestnut eyes and fuzzy black triangles for ears. Pale orange dots decorated their cheeks and a black button nose edged its long snout. Brown paws held a glass mixing bowl and a wooden spoon stuck in a pale batter. A lemon yellow apron that immediately brought Dani to mind cinched around their waist, already speckled with flour and sugar.

A female black poodle.

A baker female black poodle.

"Why, hello there, sugar!" She said in a honeyed tone, heavy on her vowels. "Did ya sleep well? Are ya hungry?" She let go of the spoon and pushed one of the muffin trays towards me. "You passed out before we served the main course last night, so I couldn't be sure." At my stunned silence, she gestured towards the tray. "Go ahead, early bird gets the worm, after all."

She wasn't wrong - all the heavenly scents were making my stomach growl. I muttered a weak thanks and timidly walked up to the counter. "What... kind is this?"

The poodle squinted dramatically at the tray, her hands resuming their mixing of the batter. "Oh, I believe that is the vanilla blueberry muffins!" She declared definitively. "But if that's not what you're hungry for, I also have-" She turned towards the other trays and pointed to them as she started to list their contents. "Chocolate blueberry, cinnamon, brown sugar, chocolate chip, double chocolate chip, banana, and I think I have a batch of macadamia nut somewhere..."

"You sure have been busy," I said, taking one of the still-warm blueberry muffins. "How long have you been at this?"

"Well, I guess it's been since..." She paused, lifting one of her paws and flexing it slightly. "Since I was made, as a matter of fact."

We both let that revelation sink in; I guess we were both unbelieving of the current circumstances. We sat in silence for a moment , her mixing and me just standing there, awkwardly holding my muffin. It was another second before I felt uncomfortable enough to break the silence: "So... what's your name?"

The poodle glanced up, as if surprised to see that I was still there. "Good question, sugar!" She commended me, setting down her bowl. She wiped her hands off on her apron before gesturing to herself proudly. "I am Betsy Poodle, and I'm the new on-site baker of this fine establishment! Which..." She set her forearms on the counter and fixed me with what I guessed was meant to be a serious expression. "I really do have to thank you for, really! The place-" Her paws were flung out to her sides as if she were in a play. "Is adorable! And it's all for us!"

"No problem," I said offhandedly before her name and appearance registered in my brain. "Wait... Betsy as in Miss Betsy's Baking for Beginners? You're the endo that was baking with Danielle?"

"I'm no endo anymore," Betsy told me with a conspiratorial wink, picking up her bowl again. The way she was stirring the batter showed no jerkiness of the night before. "And your Danielle friend is a life saver! She may not know it at the moment, but she helped to inspire my design!"

My head was having trouble wrapping around this new information, and I found myself gripping onto the counter surface for support. "Okay... do you mind starting from the beginning? Explain how..." I loosely gestured to her appearance, to her general existence, with my muffin. "This happened?"

"Certainly!" Betsy obliged as she pulled a paper-lined tray towards her. She seemed more than happy to get into story mode as she poured the batter into the linings. "I suppose it all started when your friend Danielle arrived at the party. She was waving around that cookbook with the lovely lady and adorable little pooch, saying that she was going to bake everything in there just for us, and I guess I just got curious. I followed her into the kitchen and she gave me a few jobs, and as I was doing the jobs, I realized that I liked it. I liked baking!

"And then..." She continued as she opened the oven to pop the tray in. "That wonderful jazz music started playing, and I realized that I liked that too! And then Danielle started dancing with me, and I realized that I liked that even more! I realized that those were all things that I enjoyed, so I started getting inspired.

"While you were out for the count, I was doodling the design I wanted on a napkin. Not the best, let me tell ya!" She laughed at her own expense. "I'd show you what I drew, but I already threw it out. Besides, I like you, so I don't want to scar your little brain for life!"

I found myself laughing along with her, the ice having officially been broken. "So what did you do next?"

"Well, I wanted my design to be a surprise, so I waited until everyone was nodding off before I approached that teacher of yours... PIXAL, was her name?" When I nodded, she continued. "I went up to her with my design and a note that said I NEED YOUR HELP. She took one look at the note and my design and said 'Alright, let's do this.' So that's exactly what we did!"

"Yeah, that's what I don't get," I admitted, peeling back the paper lining of my muffin. "How did PIXAL do your shell? Where did she even get the materials?"

"Oh, there's a Parts and Service set up in the basement," Betsy revealed, sounding surprised. "Didn't you know?"

I nearly dropped my muffin in shock. "No I did not!" I told her, fumbling with the paper lining. "I guess she set it up without me knowing." Though it makes sense that PIXAL would take care of all the technical stuff, I thought dejectedly. Still, it hurts that she didn't at least run it by me first.

"Oh, don't feel bad, sugar!" Betsy told me with a smile. "She probably just wanted it to be a surprise as much as I did. And who could blame her?" She gestured to herself again proudly. "From the look on your face, I'd say the surprise was a success!" Her gaze went behind me to those still sleeping in the main room. "Ah, I can't wait for the others to wake up. They're probably going to be as surprised as you were!"

I nodded, once again taking in this animatronic with new eyes. She'd started out as a plain endo, then discovered things that made her happy and used their influence to make a new image for herself. She'd quite literally made herself.

This is what I wanted for them, I thought with a smile. I wanted them to find things they enjoyed, and then make an image for themselves that they also enjoyed. This is good - this better than good.

This is the future for the animatronics.

"Ah~" Betsy drew out, pointing one of her thick fingers at my face. "I see you smiling, and I know it's not because of my baking skills because you haven't even take a bite of your muffin." She placed one hand on her hip and the other on the counter. "What's going through your mind?"

A little embarrassed at being called out, I quickly took a bite and forced a smile. "It is now," I rebuffed with a mouthful. Soon I didn't have to force my smile as I chewed. "Oh wow, this is good! You have a real talent with this!"

"Thank you very much, honey!" She told me warmly, taking out another tray. She didn't even have to look as she poured more of the batter into the tray, glancing at the walls of the kitchen. "Ya know, I haven't selected my room yet, but do you think I can have whichever room is closest to the kitchen?"

I shrugged, swallowing my first bite before I could go for another one. "I'm cool with it - you'd probably have to fight Chica for it, though."

Betsy barked a laugh. "That little chicken? I wouldn't worry about her," She boasted, setting down her bowl and picking up a hefty rolling pin, hoisting it like a scepter. "Here ye, here ye!" She declared dramatically, spreading her arms like she was addressing her crowd. "This kitchen is hereby the domain of the great and mighty Betsy Poodle, and all those who oppose shall face the wrath of her rolling pin!" She smacked said item against her palm with a devilish grin.

I couldn't keep my laughter back. "Why do you have a rolling pin out - muffins don't require those!"

"Shush, child!" She claimed, pointing the rolling pin at me. "Questioning the baker is the same as opposition!"

I laughed again and held up my hands in mock defense, my half-eaten muffin dropping a few stray crumbs on the floor. "Okay okay, I yield!" I took another bite and held onto my smile. I could only imagine how crazy things could get from here on out.

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2472 words.

Short chapter, I know, but I really wanted to introduce you guys to Betsy! And good news - there's only one more chapter before the end of the Ken arc!

There should be a character sheet for Betsy coming up right after this!