I woke up after a long and satisfying Nightmare Night with autumn in full swing. After such an uplifting night, I honestly felt a bit depressed waking up in bed despite Fluttershy being at my side. I cannot stand the onset of autumn. The world feels like it is dying with the lowering temperatures. I know that is not the case with the flora around Ponyville with things always staying vibrant and green throughout the year, which does create a strange dissonance when winter snow blankets the town. But I am reminded of it whenever I look out the window and see the Everfree Forest. That wild stretch of untamed wilderness still experiences the full effects of winter's cold, the trees becoming increasingly bare with all that green turning shades of yellow and then into red. It would not be that much longer before they became bare. At least it is safer to reach Zecora's home during that time since I suspect the timberwolves go into hibernation. I have never encountered one during the cooler seasons.

            A nice hot shower helped get me going that morning. The bathroom became thick with steam in response to the cool autumn air trying to creep in. I tried to channel some creative energy during breakfast by using old leftover bread that was about to be thrown out and turning it into pancakes. My family and our young guests really enjoyed those, so I felt quite proud of myself afterward. Kind of tasted like French toast... But not quite.

            Smolder and Ocellus headed out afterward to meet up with Gallus. They said something about...hunting for leftover Nightmare Night candy that was dropped around town. And with it being a Sunday, there would be little in the way of competition with other kids. Almost everyone was probably taking it easy that day. Big parties and holidays are usually followed by a day of relative silence. And I have to wonder if Gallus picked up that habit during his younger days in a bad home environment...

            Fluttershy took care of the dishes after breakfast and Scootaloo was playing with Gladesong in the living room. Alone to my devices, I went into the nursery. And there I was reminded of something that I have failed to mention sooner. There in the corner... Preparations were being made to cut a hole in the wall to the outside. I examined the corner of the room, a little disappointed over some of the mural on the wall being ruined to make room for this addition. It was all Fluttershy's idea and I was still uncertain if that decision really was a good idea in the end.

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            My wife soon entered the nursery and came up to me with a smile on her lips. She was actually pretty excited about where this addition would lead to. "It should be done in a matter of days. They'll probably have it all done next time they come over. We'll just have to get Gladesong out of the house for a full day to let them work."

            I knew exactly what this new addition to the room was supposed to be. I turned to my wife and asked, "Are you sure it's a good idea to install a beehive into the house? Let alone the nursery? I mean I've never had a fear of bees, but... Really?"

            "Of course! I personally know the queen. They're very gentle and happy bees. And they're looking for another place to move their hive before winter gets here. The old tree hollow they lived in partially collapsed a few weeks ago and they won't survive the winter if they stay there. I promise they'll be very good neighbors. And Gladesong will be able to watch them all the time through the glass." Fluttershy explained with a big smile on her lips. I knew she was good with animals. But even insects? Very impressive. She then ran a hoof over the exposed woodwork and added, "They even promised to let us have some of their honey from time to time. They get a permanent home, Gladesong gets new little friends to talk to and watch, and we get fresh honey. Doesn't that sound nice?"

            I crossed my arms while observing that spot in the corner. I had seen those kinds of indoor hives before. The kind that is basically a box with glass walls that let one observe the workings of the hive and the countless bees inside it. "It does sound like a good deal. I mean bees are cute and it'd be nice to see a bunch of them coming and going from the place as long as they never sting. I just don't want to risk Gladesong getting stung, especially at an early age. I was given a lot of trouble by hornets and wasps as a kid and I've never really gotten over my fear of them."

            "Oh dear, they can be mean. Bees are sweet and gentle, but wasps and hornets only look out for themselves. Even I just can't be friends with them." Fluttershy replied with a certain lamenting in her voice. I suppose some creatures are just too belligerent by nature for even her to really be diplomatic with. She then nuzzled her head against my leg and said hopefully, "At least I know our new little neighbors will be nice to us. Don't worry about them. I promise those little things will be very happy here. They needed a place to go where the winter cold wouldn't get to them. And we'll all be better for it. Just another day of saving the bees."

            "In that case, I hope this works out for the best. Tell the queen I said hello next time you see them." I replied while stroking my wife's silky mane. Although I soon heard Gladesong calling for me. Sounded like she needed a diaper change.

            I have grown more tolerant of the act of changing diapers over time, but it is still the one part of infancy I cannot see come to an end soon enough for my daughter. Once that was done, Fluttershy and Scootaloo stepped away to gather up some things for a little get-together with Rarity that they had planned. I rested on the sofa at the back of the living room with my precious baby girl cradled against my chest. I stroked her little wings as I whispered to her, "This is your first autumn, isn't it? All those flowers you love might not be here for much longer. And even if they're still around, all that winter snow will bury them until spring gets here. Maybe we'll have to start keeping potted flowers indoors soon."

            My daughter had little in the way of understanding most words. Certainly not a full conversation. But she liked hearing me talk and looked up at me with those round eyes of chocolaty brown. It still gets me how that lovely little filly has my eyes. A testament of how two lovers from entirely different species can still partake in the miracle of having children together. Where I come from, our genes would never allow such a thing. There must be a certain magic in the world that allows such a thing to be possible, even if unlikely. This thought filled me with a sudden realization. I smiled proudly at my daughter while gently caressing the underside of her jaw. "I don't think you understand just how many siblings you're going to have."

            While she may not have understood my words, something about what I said caught Gladesong's interest. She quietly babbled while gazing up at me for a moment. Seeing her smile so happily filled my heart with hope. I continued to whisper to my child while making sure she was comfortable. "You know you have several mommies beside Fluttershy. Rarity, Mama Novo, and your favorite dra dra and love bug, right? And maybe there's more you just haven't met yet."

            I think saying 'dra dra' really caught her attention. Gladesong squealed a bit while still keeping her voice down. She always loved that sweet little dragoness and Smolder more than answered the call to be a mother to her as well. And Novo spoiled her silly the last time she was here. But I knew there were more wonderful women in my life. Wild and loyal Rainbow Dash. Serene and beautiful Rain Shine. The strong and unyieldingly devoted Dragon Lord herself... They would all become a part of Gladesong's life in due time. I sighed in longing as my thoughts went out to the beautiful beloveds I had not seen for a while. I love them all... And I missed them dearly.

            "Sweetheart... I really hope you'll be a great big sister to all of your baby brothers and sisters. You and Scootaloo." I whispered to my newborn daughter while gently stroking her mane of bright pink and chocolate brown. I was almost in the mood to put together something made of raspberries and chocolate after staring at it for too long. I then whispered to her once more, "Some will be little fillies and colts like you. Some will be covered in fluffy feathers. Some will even sometimes breathe fire. And some might even turn into other creatures now and then to play and hide. But no matter what they are... Or who they are born from... You'll always be their big sister, sweetheart. And you will have so many to get to know. You understand?"

            She may not have understood every individual word, but Gladesong was still happy about what I said. I suppose it helped that she was never an only child to begin with. And that her big sister had always wanted a family to be a part of. I had hope in my heart. I knew my family would only grow in time. And I was dearly anticipating the many beautiful children that would be born into it. When the time comes, I hope my children will come to love this wonderful world of Equestria as much as I do. And may they never know the world their father left behind.

            Not much longer went by before Fluttershy headed out with Gladesong and Scootaloo to meet up with Rarity. Ladies only, so I was told. It still must feel strange to Scootaloo to have Rarity essentially being a second mother. As for me, I did not mind staying behind. It is not often I have the entire house to myself. Alone on a quiet Sunday in autumn, I contemplated what to do with my time.

            My thoughts went back to the little conversation I had with my baby girl. And I remembered one beautiful mare who stood out from the rest. My beloved bird of paradise. Novo... We had not seen each other since that victory celebration in Canterlot. And before that, not since she departed for home after bringing me back to Ponyville. My heart ached for her now that my memories of her held my full attention. I fell in love with that beautiful hippogriff queen so hard.. There is not another mare like Novo in the world. Truly one of a kind. And she is mine while I am hers.

            If only Novo was there with me at that moment. She would surely capitalize on me having some time to myself. We would share a bottle of wine...and she would most definitely drag me into bed for some tender lovemaking. Would she be in heat next time? Would we finally have the chance to create the child we both desired?

            I took a seat on the sofa and lamented the circumstances. So far away out on an island in the ocean... I was so in love with that wonderful woman, yet there was no easy or expedient way to be with her. She must have been pining for me at that very moment, wishing I was at her side on the throne, even if I was not fit for a crown. It is an unfortunate downside of this relationship... To be in love and be loved by many, but not being able to be there with them at any time I wish.

            I suddenly had an idea. We were so far apart...but communication was not impossible. And I knew who could serve as the middleman. But firstly, I had something to do. I started to head over to my typewriter. But...no. Not that time. I instead fetched a scroll and a quill. If I was going to send her a message this time, it would be written by hand and not by the workings of a typewriter. I wanted this to be special.

            Alone in the kitchen, I began to write out my message to Novo while being careful to keep my handwriting as neat as possible. "My dear Novo... How I wish I could see you right now. I still remember our times together so fondly, from when we first met on Capricorn Island to your routine visits during the war. And now that things have gone back to normal... It hurts. I wish we could see each other more often, even if that is just the way things have to be for now. No matter how far apart we are or how much time passes, I have never stopped loving you. I miss you, my queen. And I can't wait to be back in the embrace of your magnificent wings. I will continue to wait very impatiently for that day to come. But until then, please know that I am still so madly in love with you. You will always be my bird of paradise, my love. Your beloved king-in-waiting, James."

            I rolled up the scroll and secured it with a band. Writing my feelings out on paper and knowing Novo would see it filled me with a sense of accomplishment. And I would be heading up to Canterlot next Sunday. Surely Celestia had a means of reliable communication with her best friend. If there was anyone who could get my message to that wonderful queen in a timely manner, it was her. Until then, I kept the scroll upon the fireplace mantle. It would be hard to miss there.

            My thoughts of Novo did not remain fixated on just her though. There were two others during the War of Preservation who came into my life. Both of arguably royal linage who became good friends with each other and Novo herself. A sort of royal ragtag trio of vastly different origins. The beautiful kirin queen Rain Shine and the ineffable and stalwart Dragon Lord herself. Easily two of the best things to ever happen to me out there on the Empty Plains, my heart reached out to those two wonderful women. And...how I had little in the way to reach them.

            The Grove of Silence was tucked away out on the western edge of the Empty Plains and I could not precisely recall its exact location. And the dragon lands were hardly a hospitable place for anyone who is not a dragon. One would need to bring their own supplies if they wanted to visit for an extended time. My eyes happened to gaze out the window to the east and saw some of those wildflowers growing around my home. The kirin and their connection to the natural energies of flora... I suddenly found myself longing for that wonderful creature.

            While I confess that Ember left a stronger impression on me in the war than Rain Shine, I will not understate how much I value that beautiful mare of the east. It was...such a bizarre feeling to feel my very soul being at ease in the presence of a kirin mare. It was startlingly. My heart dearly desired her as hers longed for me. Such a unique almost symbiotic connection between mare and man... All of the kirin I met made me feel welcome, but Rain Shine was the first I...wanted.

            I almost regret being compelled to use discretion in spite of my heart's desires. Rain Shine was so eager to be mine. She has known herself for far longer than I have known myself. And yet, experience demanded that I wait and see. I could not have known that my decision had already been made. For I do love that wonderful mare. I just wish I could reach her more easily... Even trying to send her a message likely would not get results. They had been so isolated for so long...

            Watching the wildflowers outside the window was proving to be too much. They reminded me too much of those mares of nature. But when I turned away from the window... When did that get there? A pale blue bellflower was growing out of the top of the sofa's back and was hanging over the rest of it like a reading lamp for whoever was lying down upon it. I raised an eyebrow in confusion. I mean I know plants have an impressive tenacity that can cause them to grow in some very unlikely locations, but...

            That was when it struck me. It was a bellflower. And whenever I had seen a kirin summon a plant from the ground to serve as a conduit for sound, whether it be for listening or for speaking to other kirin far away... It had always been with the use of a bellflower. As if concave shape of their petals served as a means to project and receive sound in a manner similar to a megaphone. My eyes opened wide in epiphany. Was someone trying to talk to me?

            I knew that some of the kirin had listened far to the west to directly check on the area around my own home. And much of the cottage I was living in was made up largely of wood. A material closely connected to nature and its energies. Could a kirin potentially project their influence into such wooden structures through nothing more than its contact with the earth? Whatever the case, I approached the sofa. I was certain I was being called.

            "Hello...?" I asked once I was standing beside the sofa. I lowered my head and tried to speak right up into the bellflower directly. "Can I help you?"

            No response. Not that I should have been surprised. Even if whoever was listening in could hear my words, I had no such connection to the natural energies of the earth and flora around me. I was deaf to whatever sound was being projected through the bellflower. It have been anyone on the other side. Cheeky and chatty Autumn Blaze. Perhaps the dutiful and gentle Winter Flame. Or maybe...Rain Shine herself?

            "Rain...?" I asked as I wondered if she had been listening in at that moment. Even when not speaking, I am certain she could sense my spiritual energies reacting to my emotions. I lied down upon the sofa so that the bellflower was dangling above my face. And so I asked again, "Rain... If you're listening, could you please show a sign? Anything so I know it's you..."

            And I did indeed receive a response. The pale blue petals began to give off a subtle glow. My eyes widened. She really was on the other side of the vine. Although my heart sank as I realized that I could not hear her. She always had such a lovely voice... "Rain Shine... Were you watching me just now? How'd you know I was thinking of you?"

            The flower's vibrant petals only glowed brighter. She was probably having  a chuckle at my realization. I made myself more comfortable as a smile returned to my lips. It was an entirely one-sided conversation, but I was hopeful I would not bore her. "Autumn is here now... And yet most of the flora around Ponyville remains vibrant and full of life. Is it the same out there with you? I think I recall hearing that you let nature take its course out there on the Empty Plains? What do you kirin do to deal with the winter doldrums when the forest around you goes bare?"

            Still no answer. I wonder if Rain Shine was actually speaking to me in response. Remembering what likely prompted her to reach out to me to begin with, I raised my hand to the bellflower. My fingers gently cupped the petals as I imagined doing the same to Rain Shine's face. "I guess...that's not really why you made this flower grow out of my furniture, is it? You... You could sense it, right? How badly I'm longing for you right now..."

            The glow of the petals dimmed. As if in response to a shift in her mood. And I decided to not beat around the bush. "I wish it was easier for us to see each other. And I'm sorry I kept you waiting as long as I did. I love you... I know that now. I'm not a kirin. I can't sense things like you can. I can't read myself like you. And I want to be able to hold you in my arms again soon..."

            I can only imagine what wonderful thing that glorious mare was saying on the other end. The glow returned to the petals of the bellflower. Rain Shine was never one to hide her heart from me. She was always so open. So much conviction in knowing that we were meant to be. She understood well the natural attraction between man and kirin. And I did not finally accept that until the war had ended. Just before we had to say goodbye. Our time together in Canterlot that fateful night was a welcome miracle for the two of us. But now... When would I ever lay eyes on that beautiful creature again? "It shouldn't have to be this way... We shouldn't be kept apart."

            My other hand rose to the bellflower as  I caressed it from each side. I closed my eyes and tried to picture Rain Shines face, my hands sliding along the underside of her equine jaw. I could almost smell that natural pine scent in her emerald mane. I whispered to her, "We'll make this work... We have to. I didn't fall in love with you just to only be able to see you once in a blue moon."

            I noticed the blue light trying to shine through my eyelids glowing brighter. And when I opened my eyes, I was stunned by how brightly that bellflower was glowing. Almost...defiantly. As if Rain Shine shared my frustrations over the distance between us. I was filled with a bit more confidence as I felt determined to make this relationship work. Although I then sighed in some disappointment. "I'm sorry, it's... It's just that... I'm not so sure what to say when I can't hear or see you, right? I've always listened better than I talk. I want to hear you..."

            The flower's petals dimmed once again. Perhaps Rain Shine understood the silliness of having that conversation being entirely one-sided. I sighed while tempted to laugh bitterly. I then caressed the flower again and said, "But...I do appreciate you taking the time to reach out to me. I know you're still out there. And we'll make this work in the end. We have to. I won't keep you, all right. Just know...that I love you. We'll endure this. Take care through winter."

            My hand brought the bellflower to my brow and I closed my eyes. And then I felt it. Through that flower's very long connection, I sensed her. Rain Shine's intrinsic aura, detectable only to a human. I could sense her as much as she could sense me. And for a moment, I was at peace. But it was still too fleeting. The bellflower pulled itself up out of my grasp. I watched as the whole thing retracted into the wooden frame of the sofa. Just...rewinding its growth down to nothing. It shrank further and further until...it was gone. There was not even the slightest trace of anything having grown there was present. I pondered this for a moment and muttered, "I have to wonder if there's any kirin in service to the royal guard's intelligence agencies... They would make for untraceable eavesdroppers."

            My thoughts about the capabilities of kirin did not go uninterrupted for long. I had prepared a message to Novo. I had finally been able to speak with Rain Shine. But...there was still one other. The Dragon Lord herself. And my heart ached as I remembered that beautiful blue dragoness. A grumpy facade around her own people that hid a fiery passion for one very special man. And I was oh so blessed to be that man.

            Even with my worst memories of the war reduced to a dull image with muffled sounds, I never forgot about our times out there on the Empty Plains. Ember was with me for the good times and bad time. And through the worst times. She was...the most important player in that war when it came to what affected me. She was prepared to fight and die with me out there. There was no denying she. She was madly in love with me, even if she could never say it. At least not yet. And that love was mutual, for I was just a painfully in love with her.

            I lamented more than just the distance between us. Unlike Rain Shine, Ember was fortunate enough to have wings. And she had found her way to Ponyville once before. If she wanted to see me, nothing would get in her way. All she would have to do is take to the sky and soar west. She knew where to find me and a visit was for certain. What I lamented most...was knowing I could not tell her what was in my heart.

            Dragon courtship is unlike any other. Where words mean everything. And I have tested Ember too often already. Telling her what was in my heart well before she was ready to decide. She resisted the choice to decide then and there each time, but...I could see how hard it was for her to wait with such an offer in her hands. She commanded me to not say it again. And I will honor that request. And yet... Why is it so hard to wait?

            The answer was obvious to me by then. I love her. I am just so madly in love with that glorious dragon queen. All the times we have held each other... Kissed each other... Pleasured each other... The only thing getting in the way now is her own blood. I cannot rush her. I must let Ember decide when is the proper time to say yes. Even if it means I cannot tell her in a message on parchment...

            My heart demanded closure as I gazed out the window to the east once again. Ember was out there somewhere. Presiding over those brutish boulderheads. And no doubt longing for me just as much as I was desiring her. I wanted to tell her. Take her into my arms and whisper my heart out into her ear. But I had to wait... Or did I?

            I had a sudden realization. I could not tell her yet. But I could plan in advance. Inspiration struck and I snatched up another blank scroll with a fresh quill in hand. I would not tell her then. But I would tell her later. At the right time. I and I was going to prepare those words for that future date.

            With the scroll set out before me, I began to pour my heart into my future message for my beloved. "Ember... I know you have told me to wait. And I will. But my heart will not. And so I am writing this for the day where you can safely see this. Because I am just so in love with you, you glorious blue rose. There is not another dragoness in all the land like you. No, there is not a single woman like you on this planet. You are the best the dragon lands have ever had to offer. A shining diamond in a sea of stones. And I was blessed to have found you when I did. Many new friends and allies came into my life during the War of Preservation, but none were like you. My memories of you are the ones that shine the brightest. Let it be known that you were the single best thing to hapen to me out there. Without you, I would surely have not had the courage to see things through to the end. I lived to see Equestria saved because of you."

            There was no stopping my hand. I had to grab another scroll with how much prose my heart was putting out. "I love you. And I will say it a thousand times, you amazing dragon queen. I love you and I am honored to know that you cherish me just as dearly. I understand that you cannot say or accept those words as easily as other races can and I will honor your desire to wait. I will only give this message to you when the day truly comes and not a moment sooner. Because...you need to know this. My heart burns for you. And I can barely wait to welcome you into my family. I do love others, as you know. But I will always love you just as dearly. My blue rose, my blue angel, my shimmering sapphire of a queen... There will always be a place for you in my heart. All I can do is wait for you to come home. Until then... Your little warrior poet, Sir James of Ponyville."

            I felt silly for tying to sound profound towards the end there. Part of me felt it would be proper to address a bold warrior queen with as many of my own honorifics as possible as well as the very loving pet name she chose for me. It is easy to forget that I was officially knighted not long ago. Pride and accomplishment filled my heart, but also an uncertain giddiness. Should I ever show her this message? Whatever the case, it would have to be tucked away for now. I rolled the scrolls up before binding them together and placing them on the desk shelf in the master bedroom. It would not be getting lost anywhere if I kept it there.

            With my heart satisfied for the moment, I found that I had worked up a thirst. And seeing Gladesong's pink and brown mane for so long before she left the house with her mother and sister had left me with such a desire for something sweet. I needed something to help take my mind off of my heart's longing for my more distant beloveds anyway. And so I raided our liquor cabinet to put together a most fitting cocktail. Sweet raspberry liquor mixed with a whipped cream and chocolate flavored vodka. I did not even drink it chilled. With my sweet tooth satisfied for the moment and now being slightly more loosened up than before, I pulled out my 3DS and continued on with the newest game I had received. I am still amazed with just how well Vinyl Scratch fixed it up to the point of making the device very resistant to wear and tear.

            After an hour or so, I set aside my gaming device and got a little writing done at my typewriter. It was around then that Angela woke up from a nap and came over to me to just snuggle and preen my fingers. She constantly cooed deeply in joy, just being so happy in my presence. I knew I had chosen well when Fluttershy helped me pick out my own personal pet two years ago. Everyone in the family loves little that precious little dove.

            I allowed Angela outside to let her go mingle with the other birds who frequent the meadow nearby. I can only imagine what they chitter and twitter about up on those branches. Angela must talk a lot about the new baby in the house and how proud she is of her. The two of them always get along so well.

            I stepped into Scootaloo's bedroom now that the house had gone quiet. She had made her bed before heading out, but the two air mattresses on the floor were not so tidy. I sighed at the sight of Smolder and Ocellus' humble excuse of bedding. At least it was only temporary. I have heard that their new home down the road will be complete by the start of winter if the crews stay on schedule. Those two little ladies deserve the best after all the hardships they went through just to make it to Ponyville at all.

            One item on Smolder's mattress caught my eye. It appeared to be a comic book and was obstructed by the blanket she always uses. Something she borrowed from Spike? I reached out and took it in hand out of sheer curiosity. And I was very surprised by what I found. "New Project H issue, huh? Wait a second..."

            There was something different about that issue. The cover was not properly numbered in the corner. It was not part of the main series of Project H. And it was thicker than expected. That was when I realized what it was. It was the first of a series of specials and was a full forty-eight pages in length. I quickly realized what a big deal this meant for the Project H series and had some familiarity with the concept from back home. "Heh, brings back memories of Archie's Battle Royal issue. What do we have here...?"

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            With how the issue had only just been released, I was not surprised to see that the cover seemed fitting for a special released around the same time as Nightmare Night. It depicted Hunter facing the viewer from roughly the knees up with his pale armor and glowing red crystal components and orange visor contrasting the shadowy dark background behind him. He had the H-Buster armed with his left hand resting on it, the barrel's mouth giving off a pale blue glow to signal that he was readying a shot for a possible threat that was clearly behind him. "Wait a minute... That's not any of Alpha's enforcers."

            Four silhouettes loomed over Hunter in the shadows. Not one of their outlines resembled any enemy he had faced prior in the series. It was not Aries, Orion, Corvus, Aquarius, or even Alpha himself. These were a new threat. Something special just for such a spooky event. The only thing about them that I could make out were their four sets of eyes. They were...too round to belong to any character I was familiar with in EAC's expanded universe. And while the silhouettes differed with what little I could make out, each of those uncannily round and almost lifeless white eyes shared a feature. The irises were filled with a malevolent purple glow. Clearly a sign that the Alpha Virus had sunk its hooks into them. "That's ominous. Definitely looks like this one leans into some horror elements here... Curious. Very curious."

            The cover of this special issue demanded my attention. What did the events of this issue bring to the table that made it significant enough to release it in time for Nightmare Night? I took the comic book to the sofa in the next room and got comfortable. I was ready to start looking through those first few pages, but...

            Temptation was hitting me hard. Why read through the comic book the old fashioned way when I could experience it directly? I lifted the back cover of the book and saw exactly what I was expecting. That cluster of tiny text in the corner that served as the key to the gate between the real world and an adventure within the pages with a defined beginning and end. 

            Nearly every time I had been drawn into the world of Project H and the Power Ponies, it had been by accident. And while certainly thrilling and memorable, the experiences there were often quite harrowing. The kind of experiences I would not want to go through twice. And yet...there was no risk of any real consequence. I would return from that world in the same state as when I entered. I am not the kind of person who seeks out trouble for kicks, and yet I could not deny how tempting it was to place myself inside the armored hull of Hunter again for the first adventure of its kind.

            "Man... Should I? I mean Hunter can handle just about anything. Will I be OK?" I gazed upon the inside of the back cover. My brow furrowed as I pondered whether or not I wanted to do this. And in the end... The call was just too loud to ignore. "Screw it. You only live once."

            Throwing my caution to the side, I brought the page right up to my face in order to read the tiny text in the corner. And no sooner had I processed those words did it happen. A swirling portal of white light burst forth from that page, pulled me into it and...

            It had been some time since I last experienced that phenomenon. I almost forgot how it felt. Like almost entering a trance before immediately coming out of it. My vision cleared as I found that I was no longer inside the living room of my own house. I was atop a skyscraper looking out over a vast metropolis far more advanced than anything Equestria actually had. And it sounded like some sort of festival was under way. I could vaguely make out music and even skylights of varying autumn hues shining into the dark starry sky.

            I looked down at my hands as I realized I was no longer compelled to breathe. Human hands coated in a layer of flexible white material. Instead of being alarmed, I had started to grow comfortable in the robotic body of Project H's namesake. It felt familiar and it was a body I was intimately familiar with how to operate. I took a few steps forward to the edge of the skyscraper's roof with my foot panels carrying me forward. "Maybe this won't be so crazy after all."

            I tried contacting Hunter's primary ally. Operating my body's internal communication functions felt like second nature to me by then. A channel was opened as I sent out a call only to be answered by a prerecorded message from Doctor Luminous himself. Either he had gone to sleep for the night or was out enjoying the holiday at a party with his colleagues. I rolled my eyes while I disconnected from the call. "Guess I'm flying solo tonight... Maybe that's a good thing. The first guy who separates from a group tends to find trouble really fast in horror settings."

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            My gaze turned about as I pondered exactly what I was supposed to do to continue this story. If Doctor Luminous was not available, how was I to know where any trouble would be found? Experience has taught me that he is something of a partner to Hunter and serves as his spotter from within his lab. Was I supposed to wait for directions? Could my systems even detect viral presences throughout the city?

            With nowhere to go and with no leads to follow, I decided to just go on a joyride. The folding wing frames on my back opened and flared up before carrying me high over the city's skyline. But I went at a more leisurely pace this time. Just patrolling from overhead. And I had forgotten just how dazzling a metropolis can look at night with all those lights blanketing the city. Such a shame those lightshows are much more beautiful from a distance than up close. As if they are trying to hide the darker side those industrial settings tend to have. I certainly hope the big cities of Equestria are not like those from back home on Earth.

            Barely five minutes went by as I soared over Maretropolis before I finally got a hint of where to go next. A beeping sound went off in my head and I pulled back to come to a hovering stop. My visor slid into place over my face as my full sensor suite came online. A display of the city's layout came up before zooming in on a specific spot. I assumed that Hunter's systems were connected to some sort of wireless surveillance program that monitored the city since text then popped up to confirm exactly what I was expecting. "Viral presence detected, huh? It's go time."

            The flight thrusters on my back flared up as I shot through the sky to reach my destination. This felt too meaningful. Only a single location displaying the presence of the Alpha Virus? There was no sign of a widespread outbreak. And it would be especially tragic for it to happen on a holiday. Although I had to wonder what Alpha's subordinates were up to... Were they having a good time somewhere while laying low?

            I followed the signal to a quiet part of the city. Once I was right over the location, I descended and found myself in a large and mostly empty parking lot. And before me was what seemed to be a very large mall. At least from the outside. My eyes narrowed as I pondered if this location was even present during any of my previous excursions into the world of the Power Ponies. "Was this here before? Someplace new?"

            Going in blind felt like a bad idea. I tried contacting Doctor Luminous again with my visor properly displaying the call trying to get through. "Come on, Doc. Pick up. I got a bad feeling about this tonight."

            I immediately got the voicemail again and disconnected before it could finish. I can only imagine that scowl on my face as I slouched in front of my destination. Perhaps I could have tried contacting the Power Ponies, but I doubt they were even present at their headquarters at the time. Certainly when Hum Drum would absolutely be out and about in town to enjoy the holiday with some of his older partners watching over him. "Ugh, I guess it wouldn't be the same if I had a whole squad backing me up. This isn't Left 4 Dead here."

            My eyes turned up at the structure as I drew near. My visor was still confirming the presence of the Alpha Virus somewhere within the complex, but I could only get a surface level reading. Beyond that... Was something scrambling my sensors beyond the surface? It was so vague. A viral presence was in there. I just could not pinpoint where. Although the complex did not appear to be a shopping mall. More like...something else. An indoor stadium? That could not be right. I had already experienced an event at an indoor hockey rink in Maretropolis once before and that was not the same location. And it was larger still.

            Multiple glass sliding doors served as the entrance to that location. I almost expected them to remain shut and to force me to find another way in, but I was surprised to find that they still opened when I approached. And once inside... I was pleasantly surprised by what I saw. The interior design, while dimly lit in a way one would expect for an establishment at night after closing, was brightly colored in a manner that brought to mind the arcades of the 90s or 80s. I quickly determined that this new location was an entertainment complex. "Wow, I thought these places were a thing of the past... Sure takes me back."

            Neon light fixtures gently glowed to add plenty of color to the place. Animated billboards displayed whimsical advertisements and I could even hear a certain synthwave style ambience playing that really tickled my nostalgia. I completely forgot for a moment that the location was probably not safe to explore as the kid in me started to come to the surface. The lobby was vast and had a second story floor visible above similar to a mall layout. I was only at the entrance lobby and I was already impressed by what could be seen. Shops for souvenirs, snacks, toys, and even prize counters. "Brings to mind the underground arcade at Northwest Plaza, except if it took over the whole building. Such a shame the whole place got demolished..."

            Tracking down the source of the viral detection could wait. I almost never got to see places like that both back on Earth and in Equestria. That place was a visual treat and I wanted to see what it had to offer. But just as I started to venture a little further in, a prerecorded voice spoke up over an intercom system that seemed to come from all directions. "It is now midnight. This location is now closed. Initiating nighttime protocols."

            "Protocols...huh? HEY!!!" I noticed all too late that there was a sound coming from the entrance. A wide steel shutter device was being lowered over the doorway! I sprinted over to try and stop it, but it reached the floor and became locked in place. It looked light at first glance, but my visor detected it was actually made of a surprisingly sturdy alloy. Even more so was that some sort of energy shielding was being projected over the shutter. I was doubtful even the H-Buster could blast its way through. Some very sophisticated security features for a place built around just having fun. "The place goes into complete lockdown at midnight? If someone was trying to sucker me into getting stuck in here for the night, mission accomplished."

            I turned around and scanned the lobby. The place was much too quiet to have all of the attractions still running and the dimmed lights confirmed that the place was in a low power setting. I expected an ambush right then and there...but nothing came. No one called out to me. Nothing began to approach me. There was no sign of danger at all. I was just...locked in. I suddenly had an epiphany. What if this was just a way to keep me out of the way while something else happened out in the city?

            I scowled at nothing in particular as I contemplated what I saw on that issue's cover. Of course there was nothing happening on the outside. The danger was surely in that darkened complex. And even if it was not, the Power Ponies were out there. If duty called, they would answer. And it was the perfect time to be a costumed hero. With nothing coming to get me and having nowhere to go, I ventured on into the vast entertainment complex to see what there was to discover.

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            Bit by bit, I strolled through the halls and along the balconies to take in the dazzling neon lights and delightfully retro decor. I even started to notice some recurring motifs and visual designs that appeared to be displaying stylized and even cartoonish depictions of what I assumed to be a quartet of animal mascots. But they did not look like they were any creatures or races I was familiar with in Equestria. They literally looked like characters from a Saturday morning cartoon. And the way they were designed... They looked all too fittingly like glam rock musicians. More than fitting for the retro 80s aesthetics I was seeing everywhere I went.

            I almost resented being a machine at the time when I found my way to the food court. Impressive varieties of food were present on the menu boards behind the counters. I even noticed that none of the shops had shutters keeping anyone out. The security at the entrances and exits of the building were enough to keep anyone out entirely and no one wants to be stuck inside a building all night where they would surely be found and arrested as soon as someone showed up in the morning. Not that they would mind one of the sentinels of Maretropolis coming by to investigate a disturbance.

            "What I'd give to have a proper stomach right now..." I grumbled while scanning the very diverse menu of food. Although what caught my eye the most was the pizza parlor. It seemed to have the largest of the choices available and probably drew in the most customers. I even recalled seeing some of those mascot displays depicting the characters partaking in pizza placement. "Heh... Pizza. The ultimate 80s food."

            I started to search for any directories that could point me to where I really wanted to go. The entire complex had a classic arcade vibe to it and that was what I wanted to see the most. Examining the first directory I saw made me realize just how vast that complex was. It appeared to take up an entire city block and had more to offer than expected. An indoor golf course, kart racing, multiple arcades, a concert hall for live performances... It completely surpassed anything I had ever experienced. "I definitely would've heard about this place from Hum Drum if it had been around last time I saw him. This place must've just opened."

            With my destination plotted, I decided to forego using my body's advanced mobility and just carried myself around on my own two feet while using the odd elevator and escalator. There was no security to be seen, which both relieved and unsettled me. The complex was not entirely silent thanks to the musical ambience that was present in most places while even changing depending on location, but the utter isolation and lack of anything or anyone to engage with left me feeling like I could get jumped from the shadows at any moment. Relaxing, yet uncomfortable. It was why I kept my visor up at all times. I needed to have access to my full sensor suite in case whatever was in there would try to get the jump on me.

            Several hallways adorned with neon lights later, I found what I was looking for. One of the complex's arcades lay spread out before me. Many of the arcade cabinets were shut off, but just as many were online and ready to be used. I strolled about for a while just to take in the sights and sounds. I almost felt...melancholy after having gone years without seeing such a perfect arcade. It completely dwarfed the arcade in Ponyville. As a 90s kid, it was a beautiful experience revisiting something that was relatively commonplace during my childhood. "I'm glad I came here tonight... Brings back memories."

            Just about every arcade game one could imagine was present. Even some that provided tickets for prizes. Ball games, crane games, coin games for the gambler at heart... But I finally decided to try my hand at one of the arcade cabinets. I pulled up a stool that was provided for taller patrons so I could bring myself lower to the ground and took a look. It was nothing I had ever seen before, but it looked like it did not require coins. It appeared to be in a debug state. Probably something it was set to do after business hours in case someone needed to perform maintenance. To anyone else, this basically meant I could play without inserting tokens first. And I was quick to exploit that. My visor retracted back into my helmet as I finally allowed myself to relax. "Let's see what Maretropolis has to offer."

            I pressed the button to get the game started and rested my hand on the joystick. But it did not respond. I pressed it again a few times, having once played something where one of the buttons was damaged and required several taps to start getting results. But just when I thought I was getting somewhere, the screen started to glitch. Large purple pixels began to pop up all over until the entire screen was covered. And then... In bold golden letters spread across the screen...

            ARE YOU READY TO HAVE SOME FUN?

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            Then it happened. The subtle ambience beyond the interior of the arcade began to be filled with a thumping beat heavy on bass. Many of the arcade cabinets around me had been shut off for the time, but then suddenly turned on. Lights that had been turned off brightened around the arcade as if business hours had suddenly resumed. The ceiling lights remained off or very dimmed, resulting in the more colorful decorative lighting stealing the show and bathing the area around me with strobe lights and even moving lightshows. I suddenly felt like I had walked into a trap and the entire complex was waking up. Tension filled the air as I rose to my feet. "Here we go."

            The arcade had become noisy with so many cabinets and parlor games competing with each other on an auditory level. I scanned the area around me and saw no movement that could be an intruder. While somewhat tense, I did not feel in danger. Not yet. I kept my visor retracted for the moment and even kept the H-Saber in its holster and my right hand active instead of arming the H-Buster. With no sign of trouble, I departed the arcade. And that was when I was greeted by the glory of a bass thumping melody.

            A heavy rave tune was blaring throughout the entire complex with countless colorful lights waving and glowing all around me. The place had truly come alive with little in the way of ordinary fluorescent lighting brightening up the place. If it was trying to take my mind off of any possible danger, it was starting to succeed. I was much more entertained than alarmed. I even found myself bopping along with the beat echoing through the building, head bobbing to the rhythm. "Yeah! Let's get this party started! It's show time!"

            I did not completely take leave of my sense of self-preservation. I carefully scanned my surroundings without activating my visor. For all the movement that was coming from decor, I did not see anyone there approaching me. And I had to actively remind myself that this was not a time for fun. That location did have an unidentified threat lurking within. And for all I knew, it may have just waken up and was on its way to find me.

            My first instinct was to find the most open location possible to maximize my ability to survey my surroundings and minimize any collateral damage. And the first location to come to mind was the lobby. Some towering support pillars and concession stands and equipment aside, it was fairly vacant. If something wanted to bust me up, that was the best place to see them coming. And so I began to retrace my steps as I made my way back through the newly awakening entertainment complex. All while marching along with a whimsical spring to my step as I all but danced along to the beat filling the halls.

            "Ha! Get jiggy with it! I'm actually having a good time here!" I laughed while waving my arms and grooving freestyle to the funky beat thumping against my auditory sensors as I descended an escalator. I may not be a good dancer, but anyone can boogie to a great beat when no one else is watching. I even began to walk with an exaggerated strut while continuing to take in the colorful sights around me. It was like a rave in there with me being the only person on the dance floor, beams of neon lights waving about as display monitors showed animated advertisements. I even saw animated depictions of those mascots from time to time looking like they were bopping along to the music too. And not a soul to be seen. Then again, anyone in there would likely be grooving to the tune as well.

            "Jump!" I chanted as I launched myself off the second story walkway that loomed over the lobby. Granted, that line did not really fit the melody I was hearing, but I was having too much fun by then and was really getting into the 80s vibe my surroundings were giving off. I landed with a clank before approaching the middle of the very wide lobby. While the colorful light displays were dazzling, they were not as effective in brightening the place up. And I was still locked in. The security shutters were firmly locked in place over the exit and there was no way I could bust through them. Regardless, I stood where I was and looked back into the vast complex I had just exited. What a sight I wish I could describe, even just from the lobby. "I may be a 90s kid, but I wish I could remember the 80s. Glorious times, I'm sure."

            "Is that so?" A smug voice spoke out from seemingly all directions at once. That voice quickly snapped me out of my fun as I immediately recognized it. A very haughty tone I was quick to recognize, but also oozing with a certain...playful sinister inflection. At last, the mastermind had decided to play his hand. "It's so good of you to have gotten my invitation, Hunter. You do know what day it is, right?"

            "Nightmare Night..." I muttered as I was reminded of the ominous cover of the issue of Project H that I was now inside as well as the very specific timing of its release. For as funky and fun as the atmosphere was at that moment, I needed to stay sharp. This was a horror themed story I was now partaking in. Just in time for the spookiest night of the year.

            "Correct, old friend. And I must say... This holiday really does resonate with me." The voice spoke out to me as the previously bombastic and fun atmosphere started to become thick with tension. Like the neon light displays were nothing more than smoke and mirrors hiding a threat just under the surface. Such a premise clashed hard with the feeling of fun I was getting from my surroundings at the time, resulting in a very complicated sense of tension that was creeping over my senses. And it reeked of 1980s campy action flick scenarios.

            Now that the threat had revealed itself, I was no longer compelled to goof off and enjoy myself. It was time to get down to business. I looked around quickly and called out. "Yeah, sure! I get it! Time for spooky shenanigans, right?! Where are you, Alpha?!"

            "Why, I'm over here!" I heard his voice call out from the far end of the lobby. A large electronic display panel set high on a wall suddenly turned on. But I barely had time to focus on it before I heard his voice behind me. "Oh, and over here!"

            Another display panel activated to depict the robotic tyrant sneering down at me. One by one, more and more screens much larger than myself turned on in quick succession around the lobby while I tried to keep up. Until maybe a dozen display screens set around the lobby were displaying the same broadcast of the same villain having a little too much fun with me. "And up here. And over there. And over here as well. I'm EVERYWHERE, Hunter!"

            I gazed up at the largest screen above me. Indeed, it displayed none other than the robotic maverick king himself. Alpha gazed down upon me from so may screens, his mechanical alicorn head set atop some broad armored shoulders that were reminiscent of the last time I saw him. A form more befitting a human giant than a stallion.  But the background... Just a wall of twitching purple static. I suddenly realized that Alpha was not simply broadcasting himself to me through a camera feed. I flinched in realization before pointing up at him. "You're in the mainframe itself?!"

            "That I am, Hunter! You saw it that night. I have transcended the realm of the physical and now see everything within the codes! I am the virus and the virus is me! I am here and there and everywhere tonight, my friend!" Alpha cackled with a sinister glee as if he was the host of his own dastardly party. And I was the only guest on the VIP list that night. No one would be coming to save me. I was on my own.

            I steeled myself and glared up at the sneering machine alicorn. The thumping melody echoing through the halls was still firing me up enough to not let myself be intimidated. As long as I had that backing beat playing, I might even be able to enjoy myself against whatever threat was coming. Especially now that it was clear Alpha lacked a body to attack me with. "OK, fine. So you snared me in your web tonight. I'm game. This whole place sounds like a fun time already."

            "It is, isn't it? The flash and flair of this establishment... It's put me in a festive mood this evening. And what better person to share the festivities and some brand new toys with than an old friend?" Alpha said mockingly while he continued to smirk down at me. He really was having too much fun at the time. His usual haughtiness had been replaced by an almost comical type of villainous facade. "This will be the night of your life, Hunter! You're taking the stage for one night only! But before the show can begin, I have one question left for you."

            Just as he said that, it reached me. The sound of some very heavy metallic footsteps were coming from far behind me. And more than one set. As I turned around to look back into the vast entertainment complex behind me, Alpha asked the piercing question that hung over the special's conflict. "Can you survive the night?"

            There they were in the shadows. The four sets of piercing white and perfectly round eyes I had seen on the cover. And like I saw before, their irises were all filled with the telltale purple glow of the Alpha Virus. These four entities marched towards me in a row while giving off a very stiff and robotic kind of stoicism. I quickly assumed that these four robotic shells were empty husks that Alpha had managed to locate. They were too quiet... Empty and emotionless instead of wildly aggressive like many of the mavericks I had encountered up to that point. And the eyes... They never blinked once.

            I was quick to realize why those four sets of eyes looked so uncomfortably round and white. As they drew near with only the glow of neon lights illuminating them, I could make out the general build of these bipedal machines. They bore an uncanny resemblance to...vintage animatronics. A perfectly fitting aesthetic for an establishment deliberately designed to invoke the era of the 1980s. But despite their intentionally antiquated design, I was quick to see these machines were every bit as state of the art as every other robotic entity in the world of Project H. Not puppets operated by devices attached to them in the floor, but fully autonomous androids. Even so, I was still taken aback by the unexpected wave of nostalgia I felt upon realizing what I was seeing. "Oh man, I only visited Showbiz Pizza once as a kid..."

            There was no time to let myself be taken in by the sight before me. I had to stay on my toes. And as they drew near, I had another realization. The four of them... These were the mascots I had seen stylized illustrations of plastered everywhere around the complex. And I could make out what they were designed to resemble. A bear, an alligator, a bright white hen, and a wolf. The former two were very masculine in design and with quite the macho and muscular proportions. The latter two were designed to appear female with...bewilderingly feminine and curvy proportions. I was momentarily stunned with how these four animatronic style robots looked a little...too good. So good in fact that I started to wonder if older patrons visited the complex just to...appreciate their designs.

            These four robotic entities definitely had the general look of glam rock performers, all of them sporting angular shoulder pads and studded black arm bands with most of their shins colored in a way that brought to mind leg warmers. Each stood taller than me somewhere between six and seven feet in height, although the more feminine of the two were slightly shorter than the others. They also shared the design trait of having three toes on each foot and four fingers on their hands. Although the alligator and wolf also sported design features that veered into punk rock territories as well, especially with that bright red Mohawk hairstyle on the gator and the large lock of dyed green hair contrasting that long wild mane of silvery hair on the wolf. She even had a matching tail that appeared to be made of synthetic hair indistinguishable from the real thing. The chicken even had several false feathers set on her head swaying with every step that looked like they had been bunched together to resemble the form of a sporty ponytail.

            I was thoroughly intrigued by their designs as these infected husks approached. My optic sensors went to work scanning them. The bear was largely orange with a tan chest, belly, and muzzle. Red and electric blue performance paint was applied around the eyes with a blue strip on the chin that turned into a jagged lightning bolt on the chest. The shoulder pads and shins were a matching red while the little claws on the toes and fingertips were a matching shade of bright blue. The bear was also wearing a hardened prop black bowtie and miniature top hat with a single red earring on its left ear. The hat was even slightly off center with a blue band around the base and appeared to be secured in place with a magnet present under the shell's scalp. I raised an eyebrow at the false clothing with the attire choice simultaneously clashing with and complementing the quirky style of glam rock aesthetics in general.

            My eyes checked the alligator next. The shoulder pads, feet, and hands were a shade of purple except with the hands designed to resemble fingerless gloves since the shell around the last segment of the fingers were the same shade of green as most of the rest of its body. The chest and belly section were yellow, as was the lower jaw, while the rest of the body was a shade of green lined with spots of darker green that invoked the many tough scales of a crocodilian. The jaws themselves were even lined with hard false fangs that left me concerned if they were capable of doing damage to my robotic body. The body even had an impressive tail extending out the back that was covered in segmented plating of green and yellow. Combining all that with the stiff Mohawk hairstyle on top gave this animatronic husk a fairly aggressive presence that left me wondering if I should keep a closer eye on it.

            The next choice was the chicken and I was left momentarily stunned by how...feminine its design was. Displaying proportions reminiscent of a very physically gifted human woman, the torso was colored in a manner that made her look like she was clad in a sleeveless pink leotard. The hands resembled entirely fingerless green gloves while the fingers stayed white before I noticed the mismatched legwarmer patterns on the shins. The feet components below them had toes that were narrower than the others while colored a shade of yellow that brought to mind the correct appearance of a chicken's feet. The right shin had a green leopard skin pattern while the left was pink with tiger stripes. A short stubby beak tipped with what appeared to be a lipstick served as the mouth while I also noticed two swaying triangular green earrings affixed to the sides of its round head. Little pink triangular face paint patterns were just under the eyes and I noticed a pink stain set around only the right eye with there even being a rather cute pink bow set at the base of the ponytail atop the head. Between the leg warmers, the leotard aesthetic, and even the visibly feminine eyelashes along the edges of the eyelid hatches, I had to wonder if this particular animatronic pulled double duty as an aerobics or jazzercise instructor somewhere in the building. Did they have a fitness club available?

            The last target for my evaluations was the wolf. And while the hen looked very feminine in an almost cute and girly way, this animatronic she wolf was the polar opposite. I was getting some serious bad girl vibes from this one. Along with the aforementioned punk rock aesthetics, its muzzle was also lined with tough artificial fangs. Even if not quite to the same extreme as the alligator. Those white eyes popped especially hard against the gray colors of its exposed 'fur' to the point of instilling a certain wariness in me. A pair of ears were affixed to the top of its head with a pair of matching earrings wiggling with every step. Both the forearms and shins were covered by matching legwarmer and armwarmer designs that bore black tiger stripes over a purple base. The claws on the fingers and toes were mismatched, the former being colored green with the latter being purple. I noticed that the wolf's fingers, muzzle, and exposed belly were a much paler shade of gray than the rest of the 'fur' I could see with the muzzle even having false purple lipstick plastered on the front. I was also taken aback with just how...immodestly dressed the wolf looked compared to the hen. The red shoulder pads were not even connected to the part of the torso that resembled clothing. The torso was designed to look like a very short set of red shorts and crop top combo that left a lot of skin exposed, the half of a jagged black star patch contrasting the red. Not that the hen was bad to look at either, but the wolf left me wondering if whoever designed it was even aware of how...sexy they were making it look.

            The four of these infected futuristic animatronics were definitely giving off the kind of creepy factor one would expect from them in a horror setting. But as they continued to approach, I had a sudden realization. These were animatronics. Stage performers. There was no possible way that quartet of clunky machines could possibly be a threat to a proper combat robot... Right?

            I had to make certain this was not some ridiculous bluff on Alpha's part. My visor closed over my face as the HUD full sensor suite was booted up. I needed a more in-depth look at this threat. And I was shocked by what I was seeing. The display quickly detected some unexpected design features. The endoskeletons of these machines really were as tough and modernized as I suspected, being composed of tough alloys and able to output tremendous levels of strength in their limbs. But even more startling were their exoskeleton casings. They were not simply flashy and appealing to the eyes. They were composed of an exotic polymer composite that my HUD suggested provided extreme resistance against energy and heat based weaponry. A means of protecting the performers in the event of an attack on the complex? Would the H-Buster be any good against them?

            There was one last feature that my HUD detected. And it was something it could not get a full reading on. As if something in their bodies was partially blocking my scans. Something was detected their limbs. The bear, alligator, and wolf appeared to have something present in their hands while the hen had something installed in its feet and legs. Did Alpha install new weapon systems in them?

            Letting my guard down against these things would be a mistake. Even if not designed for combat, Alpha would not unleash them on me unless he was convinced they could tear his enemies apart. The four infected husks came to a stop before me, the lobby now set to serve as the battleground. Those round eyes filled with a malevolent purple glow never once blinked as they just...stared. And they were completely still. Too still even for machines. I took a step back as my eyes narrowed. "There's nothing in there... You guys are just...empty shells."

            "That they are. Empty. Completely free of anything that might resist. Not so much some of our machine brethren as much as toys to play with." Alpha replied smugly from all around us. Aries, Corvus, Orion, Aquarius, even most of the lesser mavericks I had dealt with in prior issues of Project H felt alive and aware in spite of being entirely mechanical. These infected husks though... They combined the seemingly sentient appearance of most robots in Maretropolis with the empty and soulless visage of the faceless industrial mechs I had faced in the pilot issue. It created a jarring dissonance that made me not want to get anywhere near them.

            I could not let the tension get to me. Even if these animatronics were tougher than one would expect, they were still just robotic stage performers. I could not believe for an instant that they could overwhelm me. I held out my right arm tot he side as I armed the H-Buster, my hand retracting into my forearm as the cannon inside activated. "Right then. Night of the infected puppets, huh? I can take them."

            "Or can you?" Alpha chuckled smugly before I glanced up at the large screen displaying him above the sealed entrance. The thumping bass of that melody that was echoing through the halls also began to fade out with a twinge of fear filling my heart. And even then, I could hear it beyond the walls. Rain. A thunderstorm was beginning to rage outside with the rumbling of lightning reaching my auditory sensors. It was getting too quiet, yet not quiet enough...

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            I turned to face the four haunted puppets once more as they stood their ground. Just staring while not at all looking like they were ready for a fight. And amongst that silence... A new melody began to rise throughout the entertainment complex. With neon lights illuminating the darkness and waving beams of stage lights bathing the ceiling and walls in color, Alpha must have been trying to be quite the accommodating host for his arch nemesis. Doing his best to make sure I would go out in style. For at that moment, I could hear an almost spooky...80s rock ballad starting to be broadcast through the halls. One fine example of retro synth-rock. With the stage set, Alpha made his declaration. "The sun's gone away. And the moon's come to play. Strike up the band to send out a dirge! Tonight is your first and last Nightmare Night, dear Hunter!"

            I rested my left hand upon the H-Buster and took aim. No matter how resistant those outer shells were to my primary weapons, I had to at least try. I stood ready, took aim...and then they charged.

            The four infected husks sprinted towards with gaits that were jarringly stiff while simultaneously swift. And I unleashed a quick flurry of shots from the H-Buster to try and take them down from afar. My HUD was not incorrect in its observations. Those colorful husks did not even flinch with every shot. Barely any sign of imperfections were left on their exoskeletons. I only then realized how situational these animatronic threats were and just how lopsidedly the odds were stacked against me. "Oh, this is gonna suck!"

            The four of them moved as a team. Almost as if they shared one intelligence. And there was a certain order that they followed. The hen led the charge and lashed out at me with swift sweeping kicks. I kept hopping back to stay out of the way and knew that the sheer power output of their endoskeletons were definitely capable of inflicting damage on my robotic body. Not to mention that utterly killer synth-rock beat blaring throughout the halls was helping me find my rhythm and managed to downplay my fear by supplementing it with the thrill of a wild time. If I was not so genuinely in danger, I would probably have thoroughly enjoyed myself.

            My visor suddenly locked onto a threat suddenly coming out from behind the kicking hen to my left. The gator had stepped around its avian comrade and lunged at me with a solid punch. I got my arms up to block the blow, but the sheer force behind that hit knocked me right off my feet! I was sent sprawling several feet away and had to quickly hop to my feet. But at the moment, I only just had enough time to see something leap high into the air from behind them. The wolf had launched itself high to come down on me from above. And...that purple glow on the tips of those four fingers...

            My eyes widened suddenly as my visor detected something activating. Plasma emitters! With the four fingers on the wolf's right hand locking in place while pointing directly forward, the four claws on the tips sudden projected plasma cutters that suddenly extended and expanded to merge into a single purple plasma blade! The triangular blade extending from the wolf's very fingertips quickly brought to mind katar daggers in shape and length and I was only barely able to jump back in time. The wolf came down in front of the gator and hen with the blade plunging deep into the floor with no resistance. I scowled in annoyance now that I realized each of these animatronic threats had likely been outdated with lethal weapon systems that could not possibly have been part of their original design. "Alpha gave you guys a few upgrades, huh?"

            Mute as always, the wolf responded with actions instead of words. It charged at me from its crouched position with that blade dragging right through the floor along the way. I had enough sense to get my shield generator online as that glowing blue barrier was projected from the back of my left arm. The plasma blade swung up at me and raked itself along the barrier while the wolf's left hand also suddenly generated another matching purple plasma blade from its fingertips. I anticipated this and reached for the holster on my right thigh. Once the H-Saber was in my right hand while I held off a quick flurry of slashes, I activated my boot thrusters and hurled myself into the wolf with my barrier shield shoving it away and far across the floor. The glowing orange plasma blade of the H-Saber burst forth from the scabbard as its bright glow contrasted the malevolent purple glow of the wolf's blades. I stood ready as the gator and hen charged me from both sides. "Two can play at this!"

            I activated my boot thrusters again and zipped out from between the hen and gator with the two of them even striking each other in the process. The wolf got back on its feet and successfully parried a slash of my blade by crossing theirs to catch it from above. There was no fear in those unblinking eyes. No possible way to be intimidated. With my blade pushed aside, the wolf went right back on the offensive. It lashed out with many quick slashes that raked across my shield. I had to resort to banking around my opponent and shoving its blades away with my shield just to safely get a slash in. And after a few more scorching cuts to its torso, my eyes widened with a sudden horrifying discovery. "This isn't working either?!"

            The worst I had done was leave vague lines of carbon residue along where the H-Saber had struck. The outer casing had reacted to the intense heat of the blade, but had resisted any actual damage. Whoever had designed those robotic glam rock performers to be able to survive acts of violence in a worst case scenario, I hope they got a raise because of just how well they had nailed the results. I got in a few more slashes as I shouted, "Come on! What do I gotta do to OW!!!"

            I paid the price for focusing on only one opponent at a time. The hen had come up from behind and brought its heel down right onto my head! The sheer force of that blow staggered me and almost forced me to my knees as I was locked in between the two females. The wolf lashed out with a quick slash from each hand as those plasma blades raked along my helmet. I resorted to a panic option to get myself out of there as quickly as possible and fired up my boot thrusters to launch myself skyward with a massive jump. But as my upward momentum began to run its course, my eyes widen to see the gator having just made an equally impressive leap right towards me! And...in its hands...

            The gator had its palms facing outward with arms held out wide to the sides as if ready to give me a shove. And installed in the palms were... Round...audio speakers? They generated an ominous purple glow just like the eyes and my HUD quickly detected them quivering with a high frequency charge ready to explode. With no time to react, I tucked and rolled while keeping my particle shield between us as I hoped for the best.

            The gator's hands thrust forward right when we were about to collide. And while its hands did not make contact, it did not need to. A massive burst of sound and even a blast of electricity exploded out from the gator's palm speakers, combining a sonic boom with a lightning blast that sent me flying back and crashing hard into one of the massive support pillars in the lobby. I heard Alpha cackle from nearby as I fell back to the floor. "Having fun yet, Hunter?"

            "What the hell did you put in these things?!" I shouted as I eyed the gator and wolf. Claws that had become plasma blades and sonic lightning cannons in the hands of the other. And now the hen was charging right at me before making another jump towards me. But as it rose high and looked ready to bring its heel down on me again, I noticed a purple glow coming from the back of the leg. Just above where the ankle would be. "I had to ask..."

            Thinking quickly, I threw myself to the side as the hen came down with its hell smashing into the floor. Except it had adjust the angle of its leg to plunge a new plasma blade into the floor instead. Basically a leg-mounted equivalent to the wolf's plasma blades, the hen was now emitting a pair of curved claws on the back of its heels that strongly brought to mind rooster spurs. The hen suddenly turned its head to look at me with those unblinking empty eyes before suddenly hurling itself at me with a surprisingly acrobatic reverse roundhouse kick. The blade on the back of its leg raked along my shield before I threw myself backwards with another boot thruster flare. "They just keep getting more dangerous... Wait, where's the bear?!"

            As if to answer my question, I noticed another purple glow coming from farther away. Not from the gator, hen, or wolf. The bear was coming for me. I saw the distant animatronic swing its arm as something was launched. A whirling wheel of scorching purple plasma... It could attack me from a distance?!

            The bear began to swing its arms in wide sweeps as if hurling a discus. And with each swing, plasma rings were launched from its hands. My HUD detected some sort of emitter in each hand. Every last one of those animatronic threats had been outfitted with weapon systems for different situations. The wolf and hen were arms to close combat, the bear could attack at range, and the gator was somewhere in the middle. And with their exoskeletons beign specifically designed to resist such weapons, friendly fire was not a concern. And I was at a devastating disadvantage against this team of deadly puppets sharing one simple intelligence.

            "Get away from me!" I shouted before finally unfolding my flight thrusters and taking to the air. I just needed some space to think. I began to drift around the lobby, trying to keep myself a moving target since I knew those things could jump high enough to reach me. I sheathed the H-Saber now that I knew it was not going to get me any results. And most of my options with my Variable Weapon System would not be of much help either. Plasma could not burn its way through. Let alone convention fire, electricity... But...what about concussive force?

            A smirk of confidence spread across my lips. Those outer shells may have been resistant to the sci-fi weapons commonplace in the world of Project H, but what about blunt or concussive trauma? I had already gone up against a threat in that world once before were heavy brute force was a better option than trying to blast it. I quickly scanned my Variable Weapon System selection and found a familiar old favorite in there. With my armor's colors changing accordingly, I took aim at the four infected husks below and charged up for the best results. "Let's crack you bots open! Homing Torpedo!"

            I fired as a cluster of small rockets burst from the mouth of the H-Buster. There was no way those clunky animatronics could dodge those. But as my explosive projectiles swerved in flight as they picked their targets, the hen had another surprise for me. It threw its head back as its beak parted and let out an awful shriek that reverberated around the lobby. Even if it only lasted for a few seconds. And while I was able to tolerate it, even if it made me cringe with my auditory sensors trying to adjust its settings to make the volume more bearable, the frequency of that sonic attack scrambled my Homing Torpedoes' guidance systems!

            I could only watch in disbelief as the cluster of rockets went spiraling out of control and off in random directions. All I got out of that attack was some collateral damage as fiery explosions went off around us. One of those Homing Torpedoes even flew into the security shutters before exploding and confirmed how tough that barrier was. There was not even the slightest dent on that layer of metal. I looked at one of the display screens where Alpha was watching from and saw the smug bastard giving me an almost cheeky smirk. He knew what I had just discovered. And I was too annoyed at that moment to care about making a mess. "Screw you!"

            A single Homing Torpedo shot later and that display screen was blown apart with bits of debris scattering along the floor below. And yet Alpha cackled with genuine amusement with his voice coming from everywhere. And there were still plenty more screen for him to watch from. Not only were these animatronic threats all but immune to conventional weapons fire. One of them even had a means to negate the threat of ballistic weapons? I was forced to suddenly descend and land as the bear suddenly lunged at me with a massive jump and had a pair of whirling plasma discs under its hands that it was ready to try and slice into me with.

            I landed with a heavy clank as I quickly considered my options. Energy based weapons were useless. Ballistic weapons were useless. All that left...was raw brute force. I would have to literally beat these things physically until they broke. I launched myself to the far end of the lobby to get me some more distance. With the infected bots closing in, I drew the H-Saber again and pointed it skyward. I browsed my Variable Weapon System options again and found what I was looking for. I spoke confidently as my armor's hardened components turned a shade of dark azure. "Let's try some Metal Anchor."

            Instead of a glowing orange plasma blade, writing wires of cybernetic magic burst from the emitter above the hilt and suddenly generated a flash of light. When the light faded, a massive blade of purest steel stood atop my sword's hilt that was much better for smashing than cutting. My enemies suddenly came to a stop in their tracks and silently stared. This reaction filled me with some relief. They may have been empty, but they could still recognize and react to danger. And their sudden hesitation in getting near me meant I had found a weakness to exploit. My massive blade was just what I needed.

            Now feeling pretty good about my odds, I let my arm relax and allowed my massive sword to drop right into the floor with a thunderous crash. It even smashed into the floor with its sheer weight. "Right. Now I've got you freaks scared. Ready for this?"

            My HUD displayed adjustments being made in my body as my gyrostabilizers were overclocking their output as a means to counteract the ridiculous amount of force swinging around such a heavy object would generate. Something only the union of science and magic could provide. I quickly took my sword's hilt into both hands now that it had extended to allow for a superior amount of leverage. With my boot thrusters flaring up, I charged into the fray.

            The four infected animatronics quickly spread out a I came in with a wide circular swing. I whirled in place for a moment before stopping and going for the wolf. It did not even try to counter my swings with its own plasma blades. Even if those blades damaged the edge of my sword, it would not matter. I was aiming to crush instead of cut. They did not even try to get close to me as I alternated between one target to the next. If I take even one of them out, I would be much better off.

            There was a sudden change in their tactics after only a moment. While the rest of them kept going on the defensive, the gator started to become bold. It started retreating less and looked like it was waiting for a chance to get by my blade. I was much faster with my swings than I should have been and left little room for my enemies to get close. I finally stopped swinging out to the sides and tried to smash the gator with an overhead swing. And when I did...

            My blade suddenly lost all its momentum. And I was quick to see why. It caught it. The gator had caught that massive hunk of steel between both hands. Just how strong would those endoskeletons need to be to withstand the amount of force under that swing?! Was the gator physically stronger than the rest? Those bulky animatronic hands held my blade firmly as I tried to pull free before the rest of its allies could gang up on me. "Hey, gimme that! Hands off, gator!"

            For all my struggling, the gator did not release my weapon. And yet... Its allies did not approach. It was a perfect opportunity to attack me from behind now that I was not able to use my sword against them. Although I did start to nothing a faint sensation in my hands. A subtle...vibration. "Huh? Wait, is it supposed to do that?"

            I had momentarily forgotten what was installed in the gator's palms. A few seconds later as it continued to keep my sword's massive steel blade above it... It all happened so fast. With a single sonic blast from both sides, the gator utterly shattered that entire mass of steel. Countless metal shards went flying all over the lobby while only the base of my sword's blade was left, leaving me with what looked like an absurdly makeshift axe. All I could do was stare as my last hope of having any chance against these freaks was blown apart. I looked down at the pathetic excuse of a weapon in my hand and muttered, "You can't be serious right now..."

            Now that the threat had been neutralized, the rest of the gator's allies rushed in at me. I came back to my senses quickly enough and jumped away while dismissing what was left of my blade into nothing but dissolving light and returned the H-Saber to its holster. My armor's colors returned to its default white before I just went on the move. Rushing about the lobby as the four infected mascots pursued me. Just to try and buy myself some time to consider my options.

            I decided to test exactly how little damage the H-Buster could do. It began to whir as it charged up before I turned and unleashed a fully charged blast of bright blue plasma into the wolf as it came charging in with blades ready. And while that blast did hit hard enough to send my opponent flying back and flopping around the ground, I still detected no real damage done to the outer shell. And the wolf only got right back up and charged me again like nothing happened. Even disabling my body's limiter would not improve things. All I would do is send them flying farther with each shot. I suspected an overwhelming exposure to concentrated plasma weaponry might be able to wear down those outer shells, but setting my H-Buster to that setting would require me to be stationary due to the massive recoil. Targeting one of the infected bots would leave me wide open to attacks from the rest. And hearing Alpha cackling as he watched me run for my life was not helping...

            The only other option on my mind were my advanced modes. Shadow Mode, Lancer Mode, and Jetstream Mode would not help due to their very specialized means of attack. Breaker Mode might work due to its means of bare knuckle beatdowns, but I would be easily swarmed by the four of them at once. Those four animatronics were far too coordinated. If I could separate them and pick them off one at a time...

            That was when it dawned on me. With most of my weapon options being virtually useless against these threats while those that actually would get me results could be easily countered, there was only option I had. I could not win this fight alone. I needed help. A team. And I knew exactly who to call. The Power Ponies were out there.

            A huge grin crossed my lips while I made a huge thruster jump away from my enemies. Even if that security shutter could take whatever I could throw at it, it would never hold against the might of Saddle Rager. And once she busted through that front door, the team would surely decimate this threat with me. I reflexively brought my left hand to the side of my helmet while activating my communication channels. "Hunter to Power Ponies HQ! Come in, this is Hunter! I require assistance! I am located at..."

            I suddenly paused when I realized that my HUD revealed I had not yet made a connection. And I really should have by then. Why was there such a lag? It was not that I had connected through the call and they were simply not responding. It was like...there was no connection at all. A sense of panic started to settle over me as I glanced back over at the quartet of infected glam rock performers rushing towards me. "Girls, pick up! This is Hunter! I'm in the new entertainment complex in town and... Gah, get away from me!"

            My flight thrusters unfurled once again and carried me into the air as I rushed to the far end of the lobby again. It was then that Alpha chuckled at my misfortunate and said, "What's the matter, Hunter? Too much interference in the midnight quarantine?"

            My eyes widened as I suddenly realized just how through the energy shielding around the exterior of the complex's confines actually were. "You mean to tell me I can't even send out wireless transmissions?! Does this place even have landlines?!"

            "How should I know?! Maybe if you last long enough, you can hunt one down." Alpha laughed as I snarled more out of frustration than fear. Although he then smirked down at me as the four infected husks slowed their approach. Possibly responding to Alpha's will now that he and I were conversing with each other. "But if you can't handle my toys here... You could simply stall for time until the clock reaches 6 AM. Only then will the lockdown lift and even I can't interfere with that. And for the record... The clock struck 1 AM just a little while ago."

            "I'M STUCK HERE FOR THE NEXT FIVE HOURS?!" I shrieked as that bit of information registered with me. Five hours fending off four threats I literally could not fight?! It sounded like something out of a horror story, which was all the more fitting when given when that special was released. Completely out of patience, I sharply glanced at the sturdy shutters locked over the entrance. "Yeah, screw that! I'm done here!"

            I rushed over to the point where the lobby opened up into the rest of the complex and stood right at the center. There was a clear line of sight between me and the entrance. And I was very relieved to find the Nova Strike option in my Variable Weapon System catalog. Hunter must have gotten that off of Alpha the last time around. The four terrors of the evening were already charging me at a swift pace as if knowing I was about to escape. I readied myself as extra vents all over my body opened. "It's been fun, but I'm not sticking around for the rest of this."

            A fierce plasma aura surrounded me the instant all of my body's thrusters launched me straight ahead at top speed. I shot by the four infected husks with them having no way to stop me. The Nova Strike was arguably the best shot I had at busting through the gate. So sure of myself, I even laughed on my way forward. "Later, creepers! I'm outta here!"

            I really should have known better than to try that. In hindsight, it was a really dumb idea. I rocketed headfirst into the shutters with a thunderous clank and... I actually felt that one. It felt like I had ran headfirst into a wall of concrete with my plasma aura fading in an instant. Gravity even took a few seconds to catch up to me. "Aahahoooow!"

            My body fell flat on the floor with the reinforced shutters being no worse for the wear. Not even a Nova Strike could put a dent in it. And I think I legitimately damaged myself with that impact. And Alpha... That maniac was utterly howling at my misfortunate. His laughter started becoming shriller and more raucous to the point where I think he even fell over and out of sight for a minute. He completely disappeared from the screen displays around the lobby even though I could still hear his uncontrollable laughter. I weakly started to climb to my knees as my vision was even lined with a thin layer of static for a moment. "Oh god... Ow... Just...ow. Why did that not work?"

            There was little time to grovel over such an embarrassing failure. They were already drawing close. Those clanking heavy footsteps and even the vibrations through the floor caught my attention. I only had a few seconds to get back on my feet and turn around before the gator was upon me. That hulking brute shoved its left forearm right between my jaw and chest before keeping me pinned right against that unbreakable barrier of reinforced metal. And with how much taller it was than me, I could not even get my feet on the floor for leverage!

            I was helpless. Pinned with no way to even damage this robotic threat, fear began to sink in as the horror elements of that special's storyline began to really hit me. Those empty unblinking eyes filled with the purple glow of an evil virus... That soulless husk stared at me from just inches away while its comrades watched motionlessly from nearby. I struggled in vain to wiggle or pry myself free, but... It was just so strong!

            The gator made its next move by raising its right hand with fingers spread wide. And I saw that weaponized sonic emitter in its palm. I bit my lip in dread as the gator clamped its bulky fingers over my head with the emitter right in front of my face. I could hear and feel the subtle vibrations of it charging up for maximum output. Would my head be blown apart by a shockwave of that magnitude at point blank range? As this concept dawned on me, I heard Alpha cackle in victory. "And so the Hunter falls to the terrors of one very special Nightmare Night! Time for the curtain call!"

            "No... No... NO!!!" I made the only move I could possibly think of. I curled my legs up and planted my foot panels against the gators chest and desperately flared up my boot thrusters right into it. Even if the scorching rocket exhaust would not really damage that outer shell, the force of those thrusters' output was enough to suddenly push the gator away from me. And not a second too soon. Barely one second passed with it been pushed several feet back before the sonic emitter in its palm went off. The gator had no time to brace itself with the recoil throwing it right off its feet! The shockwave and lightning blast from that emitter only barely went over my head as I slumped to the floor and still failed to deal any noticeable damage to the shutters behind me. Relief began to counteract the sheer terror I had felt a moment earlier as I stumbled to my feet. That was far too close.

            My mechanical heart jumped into my throat again. The four infected husks were drawing near again from four angles in a unified approach. The wolf had its plasma blades ready to lash out with a cross slash, the hen was almost stepping sideways to keep its plasma spurs ready to lash out, the gator had both hands raised with palms facing forward, and the bear had both hands near each other to combine its projectile emitters together. They never blinked once. Never said a word. Their movements stiff and soulless, it finally dawned on me. "I can't win..."

            Only one option remained for me. I threw myself straight up with my boot thrusters providing me with a massive jump. At the height of that leap, I opened my wing thrusters and rocketed forward in flight. I rushed into the entertainment complex among the countless neon light displays and echoing synth-rock melody filling the air. I could not fight this threat. I could only run and hide.

            "This can't be happening... I'm Hunter! I should be able to handle these things!" I scolded myself for fleeing from that fight. With all means of attack I had access to being useless, My best bet was to wait out the night until the place's security lockdown lifted. Only then could I escape, round up the Power Ponies, and return to put those infected freaks to put them down for good. And that was only if I could last the next five hours. "This is gonna be the longest five hours of my life..."

            I was confident I had put enough distance between myself and the lobby. Even if I could not fight them, I could definitely outrun and outmaneuver my enemies. With no idea of where I was in the complex, I found a photo booth that was large enough for me to duck inside. I ducked inside and made certain the curtain was completely covering the only entrance. Now I just had to mind my patience.

            A certain giddiness came over me as I hid. For as frightful as the situation was, that rocking beat filling the complex was creating a very special kind of thrill. I was anxious, but also kind of having fun all the same. My HUD detected only mild damage on my body at the time. I was still in decent shape. And between the music and my lack of breathing, there was no way those four infected husks would ever hear me in my new hiding spot. They would have to turn the entire complex upside-down before they would find me in a seemingly random spot. Even Alpha did not seem to know where I was. Regardless, I still kept the H-Buster on my right arm ready just in case something went wrong.

            After several minutes, my auditory sensors started to pick something up over the music. Heavy metallic thuds. Many of them. They were drawing close. All I had to do was be still. And even so, they still came closer. Tension filled my senses as a new sound joined those heavy robotic footsteps. The whirring of the limbs' servo motors with every movement. If I could even hear that... How close were they?!

            I remained entirely still with my eyes focused on the curtain to my left. Even if they had no way of knowing my exact location, the sheer proximity to me was anxiety-inducing. All I could do was wait for them to go away. They were getting even closer. And I could swear one of them was now standing right outside my hiding spot. I pleaded internally, begging them to just go away.

            No such luck. I noticed a sudden purple glowing line slice through the entire top of the curtain for just an instant before it fell to the floor. And standing on the other side was the horrifying sight of the wolf with eyes locked onto me. Reacting almost on impulse, I charged up the H-Buster behind me. I then shouted more of frustration than fear, "Do you mind?!"

            A fully charged blast from the cannon on my arm launched the wolf far away from me. But I had to once again take to the air as I found the other three right outside. They hurled themselves at me just as I shot up into the air and rocketed off down the vast halls to find another spot to hide. "That couldn't have been a lucky guess... Did Alpha spot me?"

            I admit I was not paying as much attention the various display screens set on the walls around the rest of the complex, but Alpha's visage was hard to miss. I would have noticed him if I spotted him and I doubt he was really directly controlling his new minions. He was just watching the show from afar. I began swooping down and checking everything I saw that looked like a directory and suddenly had an idea. If wireless communications were not possible, then a direct call through local landlines could still reach the Power Pony HQ. There was no way I would be able to separate one of those freaks from the rest of the group to take it down one on one. They were too coordinated and functioned as a group. I needed to fight numbers with numbers.

            I was fortunate enough to locate an office meant for daytime surveillance. There were even some monitors connected to camera displays around the complex. And I flinched when I saw the four of those four infected husks marching along below one of them. I had to act fast. They had no idea where I was and there were enough walls between me and them on top of the music to keep them from hearing my voice. I picked up the phone, checked company instruction on making outgoing calls that was pinned on the wall, and spoke into the receiver. "Operator, please connect me to the...what was it... Right, please connect me to the Power Tower."

            It took me a second to actually recall the exact name of the Power Ponies' home. Simply calling it their headquarters would be too vague. But instead of an automated message confirming a connection, a very familiar voice I had heard several times that night spoke up instead. "They are not taking calls at this hour, but I can connect you to an early doom!"

            "Oh you son of a...!" I yelled into the receiver before stopping short upon hearing a pounding sound from outside the office. A window was present in the wall that let me see the rest of that office and the door I had locked leading out to the halls. And I looked just in time to see the hen kick the door right down. The four of them began to file into the office with all eight eyes looking at me trough the window. I abruptly set the phone back down and stared at them blankly before running right out the other side of the office. "Nope!"

            The chase was on again. And I had to accept that I was truly on my own. If Alpha had sunk his hooks into the complex's entire mainframe so hard that he could even intercept outgoing calls, then there was literally no way for me to call for help. All I could do was find a new spot to hide. I made my way back to the food court and was quick to see Alpha's sneering face looking down at me from the largest display screen high up on a wall. But instead of calling out to his minions, he raised a finger before his lips. "Shhhhh... It's more fun if I let them find you themselves."

            "I never took you for a guy who likes to play fair, but if you say so." I grumbled before finding a concession stand off to the side for ice cream. I had to duck low after vaulting over it, but I was a little more confident with its location. I was very out of the way instead of hiding in a box right in the middle of a walkway. And I could start to hear their footsteps clanking about in the distance.

            The they drew closer. And closer. And finally close enough to the point where I could once again hear the horrifying whirring of their limbs. They were literally right on the other side of the stand. I commanded myself to be still. And I let myself crawl just a little bit forward. But a mere second after I began to move, one of the wolf's plasma blades pierced the countertop and nearly sliced my neck! I jumped up behind the counter with my nerves on fire from that extremely close call. The wolf still had its claws plunged into the counter as it and the three others stared at me from the other side. This could not have been a coincidence. And I knew Alpha did not tell them where I was. "How the hell do you guys always know exactly where I am?!"

            My pursuers provided no response. But they did try to throw themselves at me as I once again went on the run. I rushed through the air on my flight thrusters and escaped the food court before setting down back out in the halls. I snarled in irritation and dread. If I tried to hide, they would just find me. I had no idea how they always located me so quickly, but they had their ways. I could not hide. All I could do now was run.

            My foot plates carried me through the complex at a swift stride. My robotic body would never tire, so spending the entire night literally just sprinting through the halls was a viable option. And with the colorful lights glowing in the darkness and that admittedly awesome melody filling the halls, it was almost fun too. "Ha! So much for running in the 90s. Now I'm just sprinting in the 80s!"

            I never stopped once. And I did catch sight of the four infected glam rock performers more than once. They always noticed me and would come running for me, even if we were on different floors. But this tactic would only last so long. I eventually came running along one of the second story walkways that overlooked the lobby and was about to reach the other end when the gator and the wolf came running around the corner. I did a quick about-face and ran back down the way from where I came from only for the bear and hen to come out from behind that corner too! Were these soulless husks really adapting to my tactics?!

            The four of them began to slow their approach once it became clear I was boxed in. I fired off a few desperate shots from the H-Buster at them in vain. I was cornered from both sides. And if I tried to fly away, they would probably jump right up at me and drag me out of the air. I needed to think fast if I was to get away.

            Then...out of nowhere... The sound of breaking glass. The bear suddenly flinched as it was struck in the head with...a light bulb? The four of them responded to this interruption by all looking up in the direction it seemed to have came from. And I saw it too. Someone...or something was high above in the distance while hanging from a light fixture. Was I not alone in there after all?

            From what I could see up there... It almost looked like some harlequin jester with those pants. And it was wearing a hardened stylized theater mask over the face that resembled a smiling sun. And I heard it call out to us as it swayed up there in the light. "Bad guys! We've got bad guys over here! SECURITY ALERT, SECURITY ALERT!!! WOO WOO WOO WOO!!!"

            This ridiculous intervention ended as quickly as it began. That weird clown swung off the light fixture and out of sight behind the corner. I tilted my head to one side as I muttered to myself, "Weirdo... At least stick around to help me out or something."

            With the distraction gone, the four infected husks turned to me. I had to quickly go on the defensive as the hen and wolf charged me together while I kept my particle shield up to ward off their slashes and kicks. The bear and gator stood back for the moment as they waited for the right opportunity to come in for me.

            I was locked in a hopeless situation. My best bet at that point was to throw myself over the edge of the walkway and back down to the lobby in order to escape and let the chase continue. But I almost did not notice a large shutter door starting to rise back into the wall at the other side of the walkway. And I only barely noticed the sound of approaching metallic footsteps that were identical to those of my pursuers. During the briefest lull in their assault on me, the wolf turned away from me as a woman's voice let out a fierce growl.

            The wolf turned to face the incoming interloper...and was promptly tackled by a leaping shove that sent it falling right over the side of the walkway! But...it was the wolf! Another wolf! Even my pursuers halted their assault on me to watch as the infected wolf was tackled by a doppelganger who fell right off with it! I suddenly realized what this meant for me and shouted in exasperation, "Aw hell, there's two of them now!"

            The gator promptly got my attention by blindsiding me with a heavy punch across the face. But even it was not left alone for long. More of those heavy metallic footsteps came close as I turned just in time to hear a much more macho and masculine voice. "PARTY TIME!!!"

            With a single surprise uppercut squarely into its chest, the gator was launched skyward and out over the lobby by another matching gator. And my unexpected rescuer was not satisfied with that one blow. He made a massive leap towards his target while letting out a cackling laugh. I looked up in time to see him grab the other gator by the legs and bring it down hard into the lobby floor somewhere below. Now more confused that afraid, I called out to no one in particular. "The hell is even going on anymore?!"

            The remaining bear and hen paid absolutely no mind to their comrades getting forcefully separated from them and resumed their assault on me. The bear was quick to remind me of the threat at hand by launching a quick double volley of whirling plasma discs at me from its hands only for the hen to lash out with a reverse roundhouse kick afterwards. I had a much easier time fending off just two with my particle shield up. But this barely went on for another five seconds before yet another rapidly approaching sound of metallic footsteps reached my auditory sensors. And another womanly voice called in as the hen turned just in time to see it coming. "Now it's our turn!"

            Another doppelganger had arrived as was sprinting right for the hen. But instead of looking eerily lifeless, the approaching hen's eyes displayed a determined glare with the eyelid hatches angled inward. This new arrival displayed an impressive display of acrobatic prowess as she suddenly hurled herself forward and onto her hands before flying forward feet first and ramming into the infected husk of a hen with a devastating dropkick. She wasted no time in leaping over the side of the balcony to pursue her target as they both fell to the floor below.

            Now it was just me and the bear. And without the gator and the hen to provide protection from my less conventional means of attack, I found myself smirking as I selected Metal Anchor from my internal armory. "Finally... Now I can start getting somewhere!"

            I pointed the H-Buster upward and launched a shot above before the resulting construct came back down into my reassembled right hand. That sturdy weapon reminiscent of a pickaxe would definitely ravage that outer shell. But as I stood there with weapon in one and particle shield ready on the other, the bear made an unexpected move. With no one around to cover it while it attacked from a distance, it charged me instead for a direct assault!

            This sudden shift in tactics was enough to force me to go on the defensive with my left arm up. But just as the bear threw a punch right for my face... One last intervention arrived. Someone got between me and the bear before firmly catching its fist in its hand. Another matching bear stood before me.

            No words came this time. I stepped aside to get a better look at my rescuer as the two animatronic bears remained lock in place. While the infected husk's face remained frozen in a cold mechanical lack of life, the other's eyes displayed a firm glare that matched the one the hen had displayed a moment earlier. My enemy's fist quivered in the grasp of the other bear's hand, trying to force its way through or pull free, but the sheer ursine strength of the towering bear before me was a perfect match.

            The doppelganger bear finally made a move. He firmly took a step forward, forcing the infected bear husk to step back. I too took a few steps back as I expected a drastic move. After another step, the bear made his move. He suddenly swung his arm to one side and swept the infected bear off its feet with a whirling spin before suddenly releasing its fist and sending it cartwheeling over the balcony and down to the lobby below with a crash.

            I finally had a moment of respite. I watched the bear before me as he stood with his back turned. Was he another infected husk too? I stood ready with my shield up and my Metal Anchor in my right hand. But when the bear turned to face me, I saw his eyes as they relaxed. The irises contained no trace of a purple glow. They were instead glowing a bright blue. As our gazes met, he then reached for the little lopsided top hat on his and lifted it with too fingers for a rather gentlemanly greeting. He then spoke with a very gentle and friendly tone in spite of his rather deep baritone pitch and electronic audio filter. "It's a pleasure to finally meet you, Hunter. I'm just sorry it had to be under such dire circumstances."

            After spending the evening trying to escape this bear's infected ilk, I was more than a bite apprehensive about this towering animatronic ursine before me. And yet... His gaze could hardly be considered lifeless. He also was not as stiff as the others while remaining still before me. In spite of being deliberately designed to invoke the image of vintage animatronics, this bear looked and felt...alive. As alive as any sentient machine being in the world of Project H. Just to be sure, I set my HUD to work. "Uh... Hm. Viral signs negative. OK, you're not one of them."

            "I certainly hope I'm not infected with anything. I really shouldn't be vulnerable to viral infection in the first place. Not with the most recent advances in anti-viral technology currently installed in me." The bear replied with a very pleasant sincerity in his tone. I found myself relaxing in his presence as he loomed over me. It was so relieving to have finally found a friendly face that night. Although the bear then began to turn away from me to face the edge of the walkway's railing. "Anyway, you'd best find someplace to hide for now. We'll take it from here. There's bad guys to deal with!"

            The bear quickly ran to the edge of the balcony and made an impressive leap over the side before dropping out of sight and landing with a clank. Despite both groups of animatronic robots being together below, it sounded...worryingly quiet in spite of the rocking music track playing throughout the entire complex. Should I let them be? "Ugh... This night just keeps getting weirder. Synth-rock backing tracks, neon lights, arcades, spooky glam rock animatronic musicians, and an overenthusiastic bad guy... Could this night get anymore 80s than this?"

            While I could have just left them alone, my gut told me to not run from this fight. I strongly doubted my animatronic saviors were outfitted with the same weapon systems as their infected brethren. Even if they had all of the defensive perks as the others, my rescuers were still at a disadvantage. And with that rocking tune keeping my confidence up... "What am I doing? I'd be stupid to pass up a chance like this."

            The anchor in my hand vanished in a flash of cybernetic light as I reverted to my default settings before I jumped over the side of the balcony to join my new companions below. I landed behind the lot of them as they stared down the opposition. The wolf was at the head of the pack, having been the first to get down there, and was down on one knee as if ready to pounce from a lower position. The four infected husks were grouped together and made no attempt to attack just yet. Now that they were outnumbered 5-to-4, they could not be reckless.

            I glanced back and forth between the four animatronics that had been harassing me all night and the ones who had just joined the fight. Their designs were entirely identical aside from the gator, who was sporting a pair of sunglasses with star-shaped lenses. Despite lacking external ears, the yellow temple arms still clung to his head by slightly wrapping around it and resting atop the contours of his cheeks. Their glowing eyes also lacked the telltale purple stain of the Alpha Virus. The irises of the hen were of a slightly different purple hue, the gator's were orange, and the wolf's were yellow. And while I had not noticed at first, one way they differed from the infected doppelgangers were that any parts of their bodies that resembled clothing or makeup had a dazzling glossy finish to it. A feature that would probably sparkle under stage lights. The infected animatronics were also showing some minor scuffs and even cracks in their exoskeletons after just getting roughed up out of nowhere.

            There were answers I needed before the situation could escalate. The four glam rock performers who had just assisted me must have been the true mascots of the entertainment complex. I called out from behind them, "Fill me in here! If you guys are the real deal, then what are those?!"

            "Just a bunch of spares!" I heard the wolf call out with a rather deep tone in her voice complete with a snarl. She sounded every bit as tough as her design suggested. She then added, "Looks like they hadn't gotten the full treatment. Easy pickings for whatever sank its hooks into them."

            I had to assume the endoskeletons of these robots, no matter how advanced, had certain weaknesses that simply could not be phased out while maintaining the animatronic aesthetic. The spare endoskeletons inside the scuffed up shells ahead of us were probably just that. Just spare parts left in storage that Alpha assembled and then uploaded the virus into. No wonder they were so lifeless and stiff. They lacked the sentience and identities of the performers before me. But...what about what the bear said? That they...should not be susceptible to infection by the Alpha Virus? I glanced back and forth at them and asked, "Wait... Full treatment? Something about anti-viral software?"

            "Oh, it's a lot more than that!" The hen replied with a very peppy and happy voice. And when she turned to me, her movements were lively and exceedingly feminine. A very peppy girl as opposed to the bolder and more aggressive demeanor the wolf was displaying. "We're the first in a new generation of robots designed to be compatible with the latest in experimental hardware!"

            "Hardware? I thought anti-viral stuff is software." I replied before I decided to let my HUD answer my questions. It performed a deeper scan on the four glam rock performers around me. And it detected...something. Something it currently had no data on. "I'm detecting some very unusual tech in you guys... What did they install in you?"

            The bear turned to me and said, "Um... How do I describe it? It's basically a combination of anti-viral software and the artificial equivalent of...let's say...an organic immune system. Working in tandem together to detect a viral presence and quickly update itself on the fly to produce antibodies."

            The wolf then looked back at us and said, "Yeah, basically that. They're considering exploring other fields for that kind of tech, but anti-virus purposes take priority for now. I mean you've seen what happens when the worst virus out there gets a hold of someone."

            "The way you describe this stuff... You sound less like androids and more like cyborgs. Is that even possible?" I asked while wondering just what kind of new miracles the fusion of science and magic was even capable of.

            It was only then the gator finally spoke. And he spoke with a noticeable Cajun accent that felt rather fitting for the reptilian behemoth. "Hey, it's not like we've got any of that squishy meat stuff in us. Kind of... I mean some of that stuff is kinda soft, come to think of it..."

            Seeing that we were getting far off topic and that there were four exceedingly dangerous threats ahead of us, I tried to remind us all of why we were there. "Anyway! Those things. You sure you guys are up for this? You don't look like you're designed for combat..."

            The hen brought a hand to her beak as she let out an unexpected giggle. "Of course we are! We've been programmed to be the first line of defense in the event of a hostile attack on the complex! If there's trouble, we have to protect the guests!"

            This sounded...hilariously unconventional. I looked back and forth at the four colorful mascots before me and asked, "You serious? If trouble shows up, you guys pull double duty as security?"

            "Well, you tell us. If you show up with blasters zapping, would you expect the band on stage to be the first ones to jump ya?" The gator asked with a sly chuckle. And he certainly had a point. Literally no one would see that coming.

            "OK, that's a good point..." I retorted as a snicker escaped my lips. Those four were just... I could not believe I was literally having a pleasant conversation with next generation animatronics. These four mascots were nothing like the performing puppets of old. They felt alive and full of zest. It was easy to see why they were the stars of the show in that entertainment complex. Although I then had to bring up what I knew so far. "Before we get started... These things are extremely coordinated. They function as a single unit. You won't get anywhere fighting them all at once. Divide them up and take them on one on one."

            "Yeah, I was getting that impression... Let's go for our own fakes, all right? I don't like seeing that look on my own face..." The wolf growled while her tail slowly swished from side to side a bit.

            But before anything else could happen, the hen sudden spoke up with her impressively expressive eyes displaying a certain excitement. Despite their animatronic faces and jaws being too stiff to frown or smile, the pivoting of their eyelid hatches did an astounding job at conveying emotion. I could literally almost see that beak curling into a smile with those eyes looking at me. "Ooh, wait! We haven't introduced ourselves! We know who you are, Hunter sweetie. But do you know us?"

            I cracked a crooked grimace at that question and said the only thing I could think of. "Know you?! I had no idea this place even existed until tonight!"

            The four of them responded with varying degrees of laughter. And the hen continued to speak, "Wow, then we gotta make a good first impression! Just call me Chica, all right?"

            The gator then tilted his head down to better show his eyes while he also lowered his sunglasses down his rigid snout. The guy even gave me a wink with one eye. "Montgomery Gator!"

            The wolf then looked back at me and displayed a thumbs up gesture while her eyes conveyed she was genuinely smiling. "Roxanne Wolf!"

            Lastly, I turned to the bear. And he once again tipped his hat to me as he told me his name. "Freddy Fazbear."

            The sheer flair they displayed with that introduction really confirmed that the four of them were natural performers. And they clearly loved their job. Just seeing that colorful crew giving such a warm welcome as if I was just any other guest really put a smile on my face. After a night of feeling helpless and having to run for my life, I finally felt secure amongst a quartet of genuinely friendly faces. "It's good to be here, guys."

            "What do we have here?" A voice echoed around us that I really was not in the mood to hear. We all glanced up as all of the display screens in the lobby once again began to display Alpha all at once. He scowled down at us and said, "The lot of you managed to make it up here after all? I thought for certain I had the passage up here thoroughly locked down."

            I quickly deduced that Alpha had already tried to infect the four of them at first before discovering their anti-viral safeguards were too advanced for him to bypass on short notice. With no other option, he opted to infect a quartet of spare empty endoskeletons and outfitted them with those colorful and functional exoskeletons before sending them after me. Montgomery then pointed defiantly at one of the screens and shouted, "Yeah, so what?! We had to take a lotta detours, but now we're up here and ready to rock! What about you, big man?! You just gonna watch us wreck your toys?!"

            "That is a very fine question, my crocodilian friend. A very fine question indeed." Alpha said with a smug sneer forming on his face. Almost as if he mistook Montgomery's response as a challenge. Alpha tilted his head to one side as if to look down at his minions and at us from several directions at once. "I suppose it's hardly a fair fight now. Four against five? That won't do. Not at all."

            Freddy clenched his fights as I saw his eyes narrow in suspicion. I too did not like that inflection in Alpha's tone. "And what would you suggest?"

            Alpha smirked playfully as he dropped a line I did not expect. "The only answer I see is...I shall just have to even the odds a bit. Entertain yourselves with my new toys for a little while. I'll be right...up."

            Our eyes all widened as Alpha suddenly disappeared from every screen in the lobby while leaving behind what appeared to be the entertainment complex's personal screensaver. Just white logos flowing over a blue background. And while Alpha's four infected puppets stood their ground while waiting for us to make the first move, we all looked at each other with Chica speaking first in shock. "Alpha's in the building?!"

            "God, I hope not! I thought he only uploaded himself into the mainframe here! I didn't think he had a body ready somewhere!" I replied while dreading what sort of horror show the mastermind of that comic book's conflict had in store for us. Even the cover did not hint that Alpha would directly participate in the plot!

            Freddy seemed especially confused and even lightly rubbed a finger along his head. "Uploaded himself into the mainframe? Can he do that?"

            I suppose the true identity of the Alpha Virus is not common knowledge in-universe. And so I had to explain the situation to them. "Yes, because Alpha IS the virus. The virus he first created that caused the original maverick outbreaks merged with his own programming. The virus is Alpha and Alpha is the virus. He's...transcended us."

            "That's...way too creepy. Like complete supervillain creepy. Isn't that like fighting a ghost? A ghost that can be everywhere? Can we even win?" Roxanne asked as she started to lose her snarling scowl.

            "We can win tonight. As for later... We'll see. We'll get rid of Alpha someday. As for tonight, let's just focus on what's actually here." I replied as my HUD focused on the four infected husks ahead of us. They still stood stationary and waiting, not daring to strike first while at a disadvantage. I looked around at the four performers who had come to my aid. They were not the team I wanted, but they were the team I needed. "I don't know what you guys are packing, but I'm confident we can pull this off. You guys lead and I'll assist where I can."

            Montgomery audibly cracked his knuckles as he started to psych himself up for the imminent brawl between them and their infected copies. "Right. So then... What's the word, Fredbear?"

            Freddy's eyes began to emit wide and narrow beams of light as some sort of sensor function activated. The beams of light panned up and down as he appeared to scan the four infected husks ahead of us. The scanning rays soon faded before he spoke much more methodically. "Viral presence detected. Alpha strain recognized."

            The eyelid hatches of the bear narrowed while also tilting inward to convey a focused scowl. He then raised his fists and assumed what appeared to be a type of boxing stance. "Security protocols activated. Lethal force authorized."

            "Music to my ears." Roxanne spoke lowly as she made a full rotation on her one foot before assuming a crouched and almost feral position with both hands on the floor. She sounded fearless and fierce. As any wolf in a fight should be.

            Montgomery pounded a fist into his open palm before keeping his arms held out wide with fingers curled and palms facing forward. It appeared to be a type of grappler stance, maybe even for wrestling. Strangely fitting for a gator. "Aw yeah, gonna boogey like back in the bayou!"

            Chica hopped in place a few times before assuming a stance with her arms near her body, one hand higher than the other, and with one foot set out before her with her eyes displaying a determined glare. I assumed it was a kind of kickboxing stance. A more than fitting style for her fighting fowl image. But what she said next was...just too perfect for the premise of where we were. "Right! Time for us to get us a pizza the action!"

            I had to make a double take as I wondered if I actually heard that right. Eyebrow raised and puzzled grimace on my lips, I looked at Chica a few seconds later and asked, "Wait, what was that?"

            I was not the only one to notice that play on words from that cheeky hen. Roxanne brought a hand to her brow and groaned, "Chica, come on! That's way too cheesy for right now!"

            "Hey, cheesy's just the way I like it! I could really go for a supreme when we're done here!" Chica replied with absolutely no shame. That lingo... Far too perfect for something out of a Saturday morning cartoon. Although Chica then looked my way and asked, "Wait, Hunter! Did those things bust you up before we got here? You need a pick-me-up? I'm pretty sure Freddy's got something for that!"

            She was not wrong. I had sustained some light damage up to that point. It would be wise to get a recharge if possible before continuing. "Yeah, they did. Anyone got something for that?"

            "Now that you mention it, I do! And we didn't finish our recharge cycle either!" Freddy replied before I stared in bewilderment at what happened next. His chest...opened outward with a plume of frigid mist being released. And tucked inside were five cans of that liquid energy beverage I remember having during the Project H pilot. Something like that would quickly generate repairs to my internal systems. Freddy began to toss one can to each of us before saving the last for himself. "Drink up, gang! We need to go into this on a full tank!"

            "Ooh, and it's chilled! You got that thing on cheesecake settings, Freddy?" Roxanne replied with her eyes brightening up. What is that space inside him even used for? Cakes and ice cream for parties?

            We all pulled the tabs on our drink cans simultaneously. And just like if we were performing for a beverage commercial, we all chugged it down together quick. That healthy green outline briefly surrounded our bodies as that energy went to work on our internal systems. Montgomery was the first to sigh in satisfaction while crushing his empty can in his palm. "Aaaah, recharged!"

            Chica was the first to notice our synchronized drinking and responded appropriately. "Ooh, did we just go in sync right there?! Maybe we should consider expanding our brand! Should we strike up a deal for some drink commercials?"

            The four of them momentarily forgot all about the threat at hand as they started to banter more about possible business ventures. I crossed my arms and shook my head while not following what they were going on about at all. I was too entertained to be annoyed. And our opponents were still not daring to strike first. Although...what did Freddy say about a recharge cycle?

            This realization made me ponder exactly what kind of power supply these four glam rock performers were running on. A quick scan from my HUD revealed that the four of them were being powered by a sophisticated high-capacity battery system. And they had just reached a full charge. Scans indicated that they could last a full twenty-four hours at most. While inferior to what my body was being powered by, they at least did not carry the risks a micro fusion core has. The four infected copies of my new companions were powered by identical battery cores and had already burned through some of their power supply. Their weapon systems most likely ate up extra power and I noticed that the hen and wolf were constantly draining energy by keeping their plasma blades and spurs active at all times. I suppose we could have stalled for time and waited for the four of them to literally run out of juice, but time was not on our side. Not when Alpha was on his way up from wherever he was hiding.

            I was not the only one to come to that epiphany. Montgomery suddenly spoke up, "Hey, wait! We gotta get going! The big man's on his way up from somewhere, right?!"

            "Right we gotta thin out their numbers! We're going for our own fakes, right?" Roxanne growled as they all assumed their prior stances. Recharged and repaired, we were at the top of our games. And they were all assuming different stances for different fighting styles. Each of them programmed with fighting knowledge for different approaches.

            There was still one thing that needed to be done before we got started. Now feeling much more confident than before, I spoke with a smirk as we faced the enemy. "Hang on. My weapons don't work well on these things. I take it your outer shells have the same pros and cons as theirs. Any advice on how to break through?"

            Montgomery was all too happy to give me some pointers while he slapped his chest with an open palm. "Yeah, our exoskeletons are designed to let us keep customers safe from most weapons. You wanna break these open? Blow 'em up or beat 'em like a drum!"

            "Thought so. And I've got only one idea of how to do that." I retorted as I cycled through my Variable Weapon System selection. I promptly selected Rocket Tackle and Rising Fire. My HUD then displayed an alert that detailed adjustments being made to my functions. Some were strengthened while others were disabled. And as my hardened armor turned a bold shade of red, I raised my arms high and brought them back down hard to my sides as vents opened at the sides of my forearms to release a veil of fire.

            The four glam rock performers looked back at me with eyes wide in excitement. Roxanne's stiff jaws opened wide as I could tell she was beaming with a joyful smile. "Aw yeah, Breaker Mode is here!"

            "Yep! And I'm gonna break SOMETHING here!" I laughed as I assumed my own familiar fighting stance. New instincts awakened in me as my reflexes sharpened. If explosives and heavy blunt weapons were useless against this very situational threat, then heavy blows from my bare fists would just have to do. "Let's get going! Let's take out what we can before Alpha gets here!"

            We all stood in a row with me in the middle. Although Montgomery then glanced at my from my right and tilted his head down to look over his sunglasses at me. "Hey, Hunter. When this is all over, mind if I ask ya to autograph my bass for the stage? I'm a big fan."

            Seeing the biggest bruiser of the crew literally confessing to looking up to the hero I was currently emulating was more than just a little unexpected. It was actually flattering to see that hulking gator, who had to bow slightly to bring his eyes down to my level, actually admired the robotic sentinel of Maretropolis. I was left momentarily speechless before I cracked a crooked smile. "Really? Well...sure! Assuming we all get through this in one piece."

            Montgomery parted his jaws while giving me a big thumbs up. I quickly realized it was his way of showing a big smile. "Rock on! Now I got something to look forward to tonight! Let's finish this up right quick!"

            All eyes faced forward. But not before Freddy offered one last line of encouragement to all of us as he glanced over at me with his scowl fading to show a much happier gaze. "Well said! Look alive, team! We have a real superstar with us tonight!"

            Man, just being with that crew made me smile. We felt unstoppable as I let the four of them charge first while our battle was serenaded by one of the finest synth-rock tracks I had ever heard. The four infected doppelgangers ahead of my new allies suddenly adjusted their stances as they locked on to their individual opponents. No longer able to fight as a group, they would have to modify their tactics now that they had to face off against a single opponent each. As for me, I watched and waited. It all came down to who needed help first.

            Chica responded to her target by performing a great leap before coming in for a diving kick. Her opponent jumped to the side while Chica came out of the dive with a brief slide on her feet before lashing out blindly with a reverse roundhouse kick behind her. She almost never lashed out with her hands while her legs did all the work. Her doppelganger did the same, lashing out with kicks alternating between striking with the front and back. That brave little hen was wary of those plasma spurs and always focused on evasion whenever her infected copy lashed out with a reverse kick. Where Chica's kicks were more direct, her doppelganger more often than not lashed out with wide sweeping kicks. At one point, they mirrored each other perfectly with their legs colliding with each other hard and briefly locking together. Chica squawked in surprise as she said, "Yikes, am I always this scary when I don't blink?!"

            She was not wrong. The contrast between these four animatronic teams was stark. One truly felt empty and lifeless, their movements being noticeably stiffer than their opponents. The others looked and felt so alive that they may as well have not been machines at all. Regardless of the disadvantage Chica had in terms of weaponry, she appeared to be evenly matched against her opponent. She did not need my help for the moment.

            My gaze turned to monitor Montgomery. His fighting style was very much reminiscent of a wrestler, relying more on grappling and strikes with open hands instead of punches or kicks. He even at one point turned suddenly and struck his opponent with his sturdy segmented tail. My eyes widened when the two gators locked arms while trying to grapple with each other. And this was the point where Montgomery learned what his opponent was packing. The infected gator husk suddenly got its hands on Montgomery's sides and ran forward to pick up some momentum in lift its opponent off the ground! Being the biggest bruiser of the quartet, Montgomery was clearly not used to being picked up and carried around by anyone. "Whoa, hey, put me down!"

            With both hands holding Montgomery up, that infected husk unleashed the weaponry installed in its palms. A massive shockwave laced with lightning exploded into Montgomery from both sides and sent him into the air before landing with a crash. While his exoskeleton endured the blast well enough, I could notice a few cracks had formed in his chest and sides. But instead of being frustrated, Montgomery looked and sounded more intrigued as he climbed to his feet and saw exactly what was in his opponent's palms. "Hey, wait! You got boom boxes in your hands?! Where can I get some of that?!" 

            Montgomery's opponent provided no words, but it did provide a very dangerous response. It suddenly charged forward and tried to unleash a shockwave right into his face. The wily gator saw this coming and ducked low with that blast of lightning and compressed sound going just over his head. He responded with a wicked haymaker to the side of his doppelganger's head while throwing the full force of his body into that blow. Fired up, Montgomery then grabbed his stunned opponent around the waist before expertly bending over backwards and brutally supplying his opponent right into the floor! "Rock and roll, lil' lizard!"

            Seeing that Montgomery was doing very well for the moment, I turned my attention to Freddy. He appeared to be having the most success with his opponent while the boxing bear pressured his opponent with jabs and hard crosses. And I could see why. The infected bear had been the one providing support from a distance and was not equipped for direct confrontation. It clumsily lashed out with punches and kicks while Freddy suddenly got in a very hard jab right to his doppelganger's lips. This left a noticeable crack at the front of the upper and lower jaws before the infected husk tried to improvise by briefly conjuring a pair of whirling plasma discs in its palms and flinging them at Freddy from close range. It may have been at a disadvantage, but it was still trying to adapt. Freddy even took note of his condition with those plasma discs not doing much to his exoskeleton. "Huh. Am I really just that good tonight?"

            "You think you're better than me, you freak?! I'm the best!" A frustrated roar reached my ears. The starkest contrast between means of combat turned out to be between Roxanne and her doppelganger. The wild wolf's fighting style was very hard for me to pin down and appeared to be extremely heavy on improvisation. She would often strike with lunging blows and even launched herself with feet first from a low position for a spiraling drop kick at one point. As for her opponent, its means of attack was obvious. It relied on slashes from its twin plasma blades. And while they would still struggle to cut through Roxanne's exoskeleton in the same manner as my own H-Saber, those slashes did appear to sting whenever that infected she wolf would land a strike. Those scorching purple blades also provided a range advantage that surpassed Roxanne's bare fists while she also appeared to be trying to keep her long flowing hair and tail out of range. She was all too aware of her disadvantage while growling, "Ugh, who brings knives to a fist fight?!"

            I understood immediately who was struggling the most. And so I watched and waited. The instant Roxanne reeled back from another slash to her chest, I acted. My boot thrusters flared up and launched me forward at high speed while I readied a punch of my own. My right forearm was engulfed in a fiery aura as I rushed at my target from the side. Just when it detected my approach and started to turn, I slammed my fist into its chest followed by a fiery burst that sent it sprawling far away with a crash. I quickly turned to Roxanne upon coming to a stop on my feet and asked, "Mind if I step in?"

            "Whoa, sweet entrance! Ready to rumble Roxy style?" Roxanne replied with her fanged jaws parting to display her attempt at a smile. Her doppelganger had already climbed back onto its feet and was rushing back at us with blades ready. Roxanne then glanced my way and said, "You're the pro here. You lead."

            "Roger that." I said with my left arm ready. A part of me wanted to make sure Roxanne got a good piece of the action with how eager she sounded to bust up her infected copy. As that corrupted husk came in with plasma blades swinging, I threw myself into it with my particle shield up and shoved it back as hard as I could. "Roxanne, get in there!"

            "Right, this one's mine!" I heard her call out before suddenly feeling a lot of weight on my shoulders. That wild wolf had suddenly hopped onto me before vaulting forward with a lunging leap as our target nearly fell right over. Its fingers being locked in a perfectly stiff position resulted in it having to sacrifice some dexterity for sheer lethality. And Roxanne came right down on it with her hand grabbing its face. The two animatronic wolves crashed to the floor with a very heavy clatter while Roxanne had her target pinned right under her. "Gotcha now, you freak!"

            I stood back and let Roxanne go to work on her enemy. She pounded its face with punch after punch for several seconds as I started to hear what sounded like audible cracks forming in the shell of its head. But even then, that infected killing machine was not going to let itself be scrapped so easily. It suddenly raised both hands and crossed its blades to block a direct punch from Roxanne. The scorching plasma blades clearly did some light damage and Roxanne recoiled from that stinging burn. I was not able to intervene and flinched as the infected husked lashed out with a few slashes. One of those looked exceptionally painful since it prompted Roxanne to hastily retreat onto her feet. The way she clutched at her waist... Right where the components for her torso and pelvis met...

            My HUD quickly detected light damage under Roxanne's endoskeleton. That narrow blade had managed to slip between the exoskeleton segments and hit something underneath. With Roxanne visibly staggering, I had to act quick. I readied my right fist as I charged up the H-Buster inside. I charged the instant Roxanne's infected double was back on its feet and slammed my fist right into its gut from below. "Rising Fire!"

            With a leaping uppercut, I threw that soulless killer skyward as a massive burst of flame exploded out from my fist and carried it high. A fiery explosion soon followed with the infected husk being thrown far across the lobby and hitting the floor with a crash. I strongly suspected damage was still light and had only managed to give us a moment to regroup. I turned to Roxanne as she continued to rest a hand over her waist. She wheezed audibly and grumbled, "Ow... I felt that one."

            Concern got the better of me in spite of how light the damage to her internal structure was. I reached out to Roxanne and asked, "You need to sit this one out? I can handle it solo if that thing doesn't receive backup."

            "Heh... You're sweet, Hunter. But no, I'm good. I'm not outta the fight yet. Seriously, you have no idea how much punishment our bodies can take." Roxanne chuckled with her eyelids narrowed in a manner that displayed some minor discomfort. She grunted before adjusting her posture and removing her hand from her side. "Besides, you know you can't keep a good wolf down. I've been waiting for this."

            I raised an eyebrow at the use of those words. "Waiting? Waiting for what?"

            Roxanne's pained gaze suddenly became much more defiant. Her eyelid hatches turned inward to show a fiery scowl before she raised a clenched fist. "Waiting for the chance to take on the bad guys with the best guy!"

            I came so very close to laughing at that statement, but stopped when I suddenly recalled some of the trash talk she gave her opponent right when their scuffle started. "The best guy? Wait, I thought you just said that you're the best a minute ago?"

            "Uh... Ah... I... Eh... I meant to say... Um..." Roxanne very quickly lost that glare with her eyelid hatches opening completely wide as she suddenly began to stammer and gesture in a manner that almost looked like she was malfunctioning. I failed to suppress a snicker as the bad girl of the bunch was at a complete loss of how to explain herself. At least for a moment. "I mean... I'm the best. I am the best. Really, the best. I'm the best at what I do. Always have been. But...well... Hey!"

            A welcome interruption came in the form of rapidly approaching metal footsteps. It seemed Roxanne's doppelganger had a very one-track mind with who its opponent was. But just when I started to turn to face it, Roxanne grabbed me, pulled me hard to the side, and used my moving body for leverage to fling herself through the air for a full-body kick squarely into the side of her imposter's head! "Hands off our superstar!"

            If that was not enough, Roxanne then quickly snatched up a heavy steel signpost nearby and smashed it over her imposter's head. The sheer ferocity and fearlessness in that she wolf was inspiring and her opponent only barely managed to get back on its own feet while warding off heavy blows. Now that Roxanne had the range advantage I felt comfortable in letting her fend for herself for the moment.

            The sudden burst of another localized sonic boom rang out across the lobby that mixed with that rocking melody serenading that Nightmare Night battle royale. I quickly scanned my surroundings and located Montgomery as he suddenly punched his infected double across the snout. It astounded me at just how much physical punishment those exoskeletons could take. Surely he should have snapped that thing's jaw off by then.

            "Get your boom boxes outta my face already, my ears are ringing!" After another near miss was directly at his head. Even close calls were probably hard on his senses with the sheer shockwaves going off right next to him. He quickly put the grappler in him to good use by grabbing the infected gator by its arm and promptly swinging it over his head and right onto its back with a crash. The infected doppelganger used the sonic emitter in its other hand to force Montgomery to let go and back off as another sonic boom and lightning blast exploded into him. The electric bursts did not seem to be doing much to Montgomery's exoskeleton, but those trembling shockwaves appeared to be rattling his outer shell too much. I could see it starting to show a few cracks by then.

            Montgomery's infected double rushed back onto its feet with unexpected speed and even tried to slam both open palms into his chest for a double sonic boom. I watched in awe as those two reptilian behemoths kept trying to get an advantage, although Montgomery was quicker on his feet. When his opponent's hands went high, he went low with an almost breakdancing maneuver before rising and slamming his powerful tail into his opponent with a quick spin of his body. But just when it looked like his opponetn was open to anther attack, my eyes widened as Montgomery's double displayed an unexpected tactic.

            The sturdy gator had his arms out wide that had me expecting him to grab his opponent to set up another suplex, but it left him wide open to an attack directly from the front. The infected husk suddenly turned back to Montgomery while bringing its fist down hand and smashing it onto the gator's head. The Mohawk on him probably provided some modest padding, but the force of the blow forced Montgomery to hunch over for just a second. That instant was just what the infected husk needed as it them brought its other hand up into his chest from below and unleashed a devastation shockwave that launched Montgomery high!

            My jaw dropped as I saw the gator of the gang sent spiraling into the air while letting out a startled yell. And his opponent did not even wait for him to hit the ground before making its next move. The infected gator copy suddenly leaped high into the air with arms outstretched as it followed Montgomery's trajectory. The bespectacled gator landed flat on his chest when he hit the ground and did not even have a full second to react before his opponent came right down onto him with a belly flop of a body slam! Montgomery let out a very pained roar as the full weight of his opponent came down on him. I even winced hard and cringed as I could almost feel the sheer force of that impact. "Ooooooh, that's too much!"

            Montgomery was now in the worst possible position to be. Pinned under his foe, he was helpless as the infected gator above even restrained one of his arms behind him before its other burly hand closed its fingers over the top of his scalp and pulled up to keep Montgomery very uncomfortably curling backwards. He writhed and clawed at the ground with his free arm, but he just could not get enough leverage to get free. And I suddenly knew where this was going when I realized the infected gator's weaponized palm was pressed right down atop its prey's head. I only barely managed to get away when it happened to me, but there was no such hope for Montgomery. I heard Chica suddenly call out from somewhere closely, "Monty's in trouble! Hunter, do something!"

            "Yeah, I got it! How about some Speed Burner?!" I charged up the H-Buster in my arm as my body adjusted itself for a differently type of fiery assault. My boot thrusters flared up hard and launched me right into Montgomery's captor while shrouded in a scorching flame aura. The fiery blast my tackle generated into the infected gator sent it sprawling with the recoil of its own misfired shockwave only sending it tumbling further away. I turned to Montgomery as he started to roll over. "Close one! Don't let that thing grab you! You OK there?"

            "Man, that was close! I felt that thing vibrating! Was gonna split my head like an axe, right?" Montgomery growled before he looked up at me from a seated position. Even though his sunglasses were still hiding his eyes, Montgomery still laughed with his lower jaw opening wide now that he could see who rescued him. "Ha ha, my man! Ya came through for me! You're the real deal here!"

            I reached out to my new companion and let him close his big sturdy fingers around mine to help him up. "Hey, I'm used to collaborating with others. I team up with the Power Ponies all the time... Wait, which is it? Montgomery? Monty? What do I call you anyway?"

            The grateful gator laughed again as I pulled him up onto his feet. And I really was not expecting him to be as heavy as he was. Those animatronic style robots were probably heavier than I was at the time. "Ha, just call me Monty! My full name's got too many syllables anyway... Hey! I think someone needs ya!"

            Montgomery... Actually, I will stick with Monty. It saves me on ink. Monty then pointed beyond me to reveal that Chica appeared to be struggling against her doppelganger. Those wide and wild swings with its legs while almost constantly trying to strike with the backside was hard for Chica to get around due to the sheer coverage such moves provided. And even if the plasma spurs alone were not likely to get by her exoskeleton, the sheer force behind each kick would probably have those blades strike like a pickaxe. I think I even noticed a puncture point in the side of her upper torso. But before I could rush over to assist her, Monty and I heard his infected double rushing back our way. And it was jarringly startling to see that thing lumbering at us with a very heavy gait with glowing palms and eyes shining in the dark. Monty then adjusted his sunglasses and said, "I got this."

            The wily gator made a very sudden move before his target could come within range to grab him. He suddenly lunged forward and slammed his forearm squarely into his imposter's throat for a lariat! I watched in awe as the wrestler of the gang very nearly knocked his imposter off its feet with that blow. And before it could right itself entirely, Monty's opponent was caught in a double clothesline lariat move as he suddenly spun in place with both fists held out straight from his body. Several bows across the left side of the infected gator's face later...

            I heard a crack just before Monty came out of that spiral. And the posture of his imposter... It was shaky and twitchy for just a moment. As if that barrage of blows to the head had knocked something loose. And then I saw it. The left side of its face at the base of its upper jaw had some of its outer shell broken off. And the lower jaw was now hanging open loosely. A quick scan revealed that the jaw's hinge on the left side had been busted and even its left eyeball had been knocked out of its place and was rolling around in its socket. While Monty laughed at his opponent's misfortune, I was...unsettled by this jarring change in the enemy, even if it was only a subtle one. Between the unblinking glowing purple eyes and one of those eyes now unable to stop rolling about loosely and its toothy jaw constantly hanging open in a slightly lopsided fashion, the infected gator husk was starting to look...undead. At least now its combat damage made it easier to tell it apart from the genuine article.

            Being distracted by the sudden damage to Monty's doppelganger gave Chica's infected copy enough time to land a brutal hit that set her up for additional damage. I looked just in time to see it jump back from another kick towards its head before unleashing a wide circular kick that struck Chica hard square in her gut from below. The helpless hen was launched shockingly high, leaving me fearful that hitting the floor from that height would only cause greater damage to her exoskeleton. I reacted quickly with my boot thrusters launching me towards her right at the peak of her climb. "I gotcha!"

            Chica's greater height caught me off guard as I cradled the hen in my arms and I had to ready myself for her full weight to hit me pon landing. While my robotic body was more than strong enough to carry her around, the unexpected weight still almost brought me to my knees upon landing. And I only then noticed that she had her arms around me for extra support. I looked at Chica out of the corner of my eye when I noticed her big round eyes looking right at me. "Uh... You OK there?"

            "Oh my gosh, you really saved me there... I was a damsel in distress and Hunter saved me?!" Chica squealed with her eyelid hatches vividly displaying her giddiness over being in the arms of the premier robotic sentinel of Maretropolis. She then very quickly brought a hand to the other side of my helmet and brought her beak to the side of my cheek...for a kiss? The outline of that false lipstick on her beak did vaguely feel like a pair of pursed lips... She then giggled as I was sure she would be blushing madly if her face could show it. "That's two off the bucket list! I won't ever forget this, Hunter sweetie!"

            "I...uh...didn't know I had fangirls in town." I stammered while completely taken aback by such brazen admiration from that admittedly beautiful robotic hen. Now that she was in my arms, I did a quick scan of her through my HUD and was relieved to see that any damage on her was minor and entirely external. Chica was lucky to have not suffered any internal damage yet. And the heavy clanking of her imposter's feet was quick to get our attention. It had broken into a sprint and was surely going to try and go for another heel drop on us. I glanced at Chica and asked, "Time to split?"

            "Yep! I'll go left!" Chica retorted while getting back onto her feet. We both stayed low to the ground and waited. Sure enough, the infected husk jumped with leg held high and plasma spur ready to come down. Chica and I both jumped in opposite directions as the heel and spur smashed into the floor, but Chica responded before I could. She suddenly charged and performed a quick hop before performing a flying kick squarely into her opponent that sent it flopping far across the floor. She ten lifted her knee high and slapped her hand against her thigh while giving me a bit of a flirty wink. "I'm doing pretty good here, right? This bird's all about legs!"

            "Uh... Yeah. Some really nice legs too." I muttered before Chica ran off to resume her duel against her infected copy. And I was left shaking my head in disbelief. "Ugh, how the hell do you make animatronic robots come off as that hot?! That girl's got some looks! I can't be the only one who's noticed..."

            I stood ready to jump in now that Chica had resumed her brawl with renewed vigor. For being such a peppy girl, she was all business when it came to a street fight. I stared in awe as her body displayed its shocking display of flexibility with the long reach of her legs. But the contrasting wild kicks of her opponent suddenly exploited another hit to her abdomen that resulted in a very different move. The foot of the infected husk snagged Chica just enough under her breastplate and lifted her high and bringing her down hard onto her back behind it!

            The impact clearly knocked Chica for a loop since she stayed down for a moment. The infected hen lifted its foot very high and adjusted its aim to bring its plasma spur down. But just when I was readying another Speed Burner to intercept it, Chica surprised me yet again. That brave little hen suddenly lifted both legs high and back before locking her ankle sections on both sides of her opponent's head. "How about some of this?!"

            I flinched at this brutal acrobatic move. With Chica halfway into a handstand, she brought both feet down hard into the floor and carried her opponent with it. A thunderous crash rang out as the infected husked was smashed headfirst into the floor! Chica quickly rolled back and was up onto her feet a second later while her imposter fell onto its back. It appeared to have been briefly stunned and I could see a large crack right down the middle of its scalp. The false feather ponytail that had been secured there fell right out with that infected husk having lost a solid chunk of its feminine appeal. Chica even took notice and said, "Uh oh, bad hair day? I bet Roxy can fix that!"

            The infected hen quickly resumed its assault as if nothing had happened to it. It truly felt no pain and had no fear. It rose from the floor and performed a whirling handstand kick for a second with Chica having to jump back. I felt confident in Chica's ability to handle her opponent solo. Especially after what happened next. Mere seconds after having to duck and weave around several more lethal spur slashes, Chica gave her opponent a taste of its own medicine with a sudden reverse roundhouse kick of her own. And it struck home right across its face as...

            Something shattered. I distinctly heard something break as the infected husk's head made a half rotation with its head completely on backwards. And bits and pieces of its out shell went flying away from it. And it was mostly yellow. Even Chica looked concerned as she started to reach out to her opponent as it twitched erratically in response to...some sort of internal malfunction. "Whoa, uh... Did I hit it too hard?"

            "Looks like you did something severe to it..." I replied upon rushing to Chica's side just in case her opponent would suddenly lash out like a wounded animal. But then... Its head suddenly rotated in place to face us again. And I recoiled at the twisted makeover Chica had forced onto her opponent's face. "Gah, what the hell?! What did you do?!"

            The beak was gone. Torn and shattered off the infected hen's face with cracks left around the edges of the new orifice. Even worse than that was the sight of the underlying exoskeleton's jaws. Steel jaws that should not exist inside a bird's face. That sudden rotation probably even damaged the neck's joint and one of the eyes was also knocked out of place and rolled loosely around in its socket. While Monty's doppelganger started to look undead with its jaw and eye damaged, Chica's copy looked utterly ghoulish with the damage done to its head. It suddenly threw its head back and briefly let out another distorted shriek as it revealed that its vocal modifications were still intact. Like the call of an undead horror. Chica reeled at the sight of her opponent's face and was quick to share my disgust. "Ewww, did I do that?! And is that what I really look like under my face?! No, no way! That's just sick!"

            Disgusted as I was, Chica was taking it much worse. She looked very unwilling to take on her opponent while it looked like that. Probably instilling some sort of existential horror into her. She kept stepping back like she just wanted to get away from that thing. I quickly reached out to her and said, "Hey, how about you take five for a bit? Let's tap out. You wanna go team up with Roxanne for a bit?"

            Chica looked at me with her beak opening to show a relieved smile. She quickly nodded and said, "Ooh, good idea! Sure, I'll go back Roxy up. Go get 'em, Hunter! Love you!"

            She was all too ready to make a run for it. But Chica's doppelganger was not about to let its prey escape so easily. The instant Chica turned her back on it, her imposter lunged. It had a hand raised to try and grab the back of her head, but I anticipated this and intercepted it with a fiery punch into the gut that stopped it cold. Its head lurched downward and I found myself glaring right up into its glowing soulless eyes. "Oh no you don't! You're gonna have to rock-a-doodle with me!"

            I quickly followed that blow up with an uppercut to the husk's already battered face that sent it flying upward and landing onto its back. But I then suddenly realized exactly what I had said. Overcome with a twisted fusion of amusement and embarrassment, I yelled out in laughter. "Oh god, now I'm getting all over this 80s cheese! Thanks a lot, you weirdoes!"

            "Now you're getting into it, superstar!" I heard Freddy laugh before noticing him smash his fist into that of his opponents as their punches met. They appeared evenly matched for the moment, so there was no need for my assistance. I had my war to fight.

            I faced down Chica's infected double as it rose to its feet with a noticeably wavier stance. All Chica did to it was make it even creepier than it already was. I stared down my foe and readied my fiery fists. "You're no Burn Rooster, but let's see how you are without your buddies backing you up."

            The fiery flares enveloping my forearms, I tried going for a short dash with my boot thrusters and trying to go for a rising uppercut. What I did not expect was that the infected husk's less stable stance improved its ability to react and weave around incoming blows. My fist rose high without making contact while my opponent lashed out with a quick kick to my side before quickly rotating its leg and dragging its plasma spur along my pelvic armor. I winced as that grazing slash connected. "Gah, you vintage pieces of junk should not be giving me this much trouble tonight!"

            "Hey, we're all state of the art here! Haven't we proved that enough to you tonight?!" I heard Roxanne call out while she and Chica were trying to gang up on the infected wolf of the enemy quartet. A quick glance in their direction revealed that Roxanne's double even had both eyes separately tracking its targets with each plasma blade ready to defend itself from both directions. As derpy as those eyes looked, it only made it look even creepier and more soulless.

            "Right, sorry! It's just so...deceptive, you know... Hey! Back off!" I retorted before having to go on the defensive as the infected hen tried to blindside me. I kept backing up with my left arm's particle shield up. Those kicks were wilder than ever with the hen often making full rotations of its body that bordered on dancing. Kicks and slashes raked across my shield as I waited for an opportunity. Trying to swing at the hen with a blow that would go off to the side carried the risk of missing. Perhaps a direct approach would be better. And as I readied my right fist, I finally got the chance when the hen's right foot came at me. I forcefully shoved it away to my left and forced the hen to stagger as it struggled to not fall. "There!"

            My fist rammed hard squarely into the chest of my opponent. And with that blow came a fiery burst that forced it back. My eyes widened as this blow did indeed confirm the weaknesses of those infected husks and their outer shells. A full fracture had formed in the chest to reveal some of the underlying endoskeleton. "It's working! Hit them 'til they break!"

            For just a moment, things proceeded like clockwork. I even continued to make progress against my target by baiting it in with my shield raised. I tried going for a fiery heel drop in an attempt to further damage to its head's outer casing. One more solid bow to the top would have probably split the casing right open down the middle and reveal the endoskeleton's skull. All I would have to do then is swap back to my default settings and blast it off. But rather than risk a direct hit, the infected hen leaned back while throwing up its left arm instead.

            The results from that blocked blow were not at all what I expected. I brought my heel down into the hen's arm so hard that the entire thing was torn from its socket! The sudden loss of resistance caused me to almost slip and fall to the floor. My opponent did not even seem to comprehend at first that it was now missing a limb, sparks flying from under its fractured left shoulder pad. It did turned its head to suddenly survey the damage while I quickly backed up in a n attempt to regain my footing. And then it just...stopped.

            My eyebrow rose when I saw the infected husk become perfectly still. Its outward appearance was easily the most ravaged of the four imposters at that moment. Those lifeless eyes remained half-closed even while the telltale purple glow of infection remained in its irises. My HUD tried to scan it thoroughly, but could not come to a conclusion on why it appeared to have shut down. Its power supply had not run dry and it by all rights should have still been functional. "Huh... Did that sudden damage cause a system crash?"

            Now that I had a moment to breathe, I survey the action that was going on around me. Monty and his doppelganger were still wrestling loudly like the behemoths they were while Roxanne's double was trying to hold her and Chica and bay like a cornered snake making quick bites. That only left...

            I heard a loud crunch that caught my attention. Freddy and his opponent had simultaneously landed a jab into their faces that left they staggering for a moment. I was wondering how the mighty ursine of the band had managed to escape my attention thus far. At least until I remembered that boxing is a very simple style of bare knuckle combat with only four types of punches to throw. So simple, yet so effective.

            I noticed Freddy adjust his tactics a second later. He suddenly raised his fists together and in his general direction a few times. As if daring his opponent to approach. And the infected bear did oblige. Its closed fists open as a whirling disc of purple plasma formed over the palms. The husk quickly ran up to Freddy and began to perform alternating slashes with those whirling circular blades. And Freddy...

            Something felt wrong. The way Freddy had his fists very close to his face... And the way his upper body kept dancing around each swing with his head moving in a figure eight pattern... This felt deliberate. Freddy was getting a feel for the rhythm and building up momentum for something. And at last, he finally made his intentions clear. "Time for the Fazbear Flurry!"

            And what a flurry it was. After bobbing to his right to avoid another slash, Freddy put his momentum to use and slammed his fist hard across the infected bear's face. And then with the left. over and over, Freddy rained thunderous blow after thunderous blow across his imposter's face with so much force that the infected husk was trapped in a back and forth pummeling. Now that it was trapped in that rhythm, there was no way out and no opportunity to counter. And while I have never had much knowledge about boxing in general, something about this technique clicked with me. "Flurry...? Wait, is that the Dempsey Roll?!"

            After what felt like a small eternity of a few dozen brutal punches that must have been wreaking havoc on the infected bear's cranial systems, something finally gave. With one last punch, Freddy slammed his fist across his opponent's head and...something went flying off to the sidelines. And even Freddy backed away from his opponent in shock. "Oh... Oh my, I didn't mean to go that far!"

            Even my jaw dropped when I saw the magnitude of damage Freddy had unleashed upon his opponent. Largely because it no longer had one! The lower jaw of the infected bear's head had been completely torn off! And that was without mentioning the rest of the damage. One of its ears was gone, many cracks lined the casing, and the very middle of the upper jaw's lip had been cracked open to fully reveal the fangs underneath. The longer this battle went on, the ghastlier our opponents became.

            The infected bear was not at all aware of the damage to its face. Not like it made a difference anyway. But it did suddenly change tactics. Instead of lashing out at Freddy, it suddenly ran across the entire lobby. In fact, all four of the infected husks just bolted from their respective opponents. Chica's doppelganger even suddenly came back online and was making a beeline for Freddy. I suddenly realized what had happened. They were not making progress against themselves, so they were going after different targets hoping for better results. Freddy figured this out before I could say anything and called out, "Heads up, team! They're tapping out! Who's going for who?!"

            "The wolf's coming for me, Fredbear! Big mistake!" I heard Monty laugh while the wild and lethally armed wolf came charging for him. That could not have been a good idea. If he got that thing trapped in his grasp, it would be crushed. And Monty knew this too. He just stood his ground and let the wolf lash out rapidly with those blades raking over his sturdy exoskeleton with about as much efficiency as my own weapons had done earlier. It was a total stalemate. At least until Monty grabbed one of the wolf's arms and started slamming it all over the floor like a helpless rag doll. And once he brought it down one last time that left it lying prone, he jumped and came down onto its torso with a smashing elbow drop that left a large fracture in it. "Hahaha, how do ya like me now, mutt?! Who's the real alpha here?!"

            There seemed to be a certain vindictiveness to Monty's aggression towards the wolf. Like it had suddenly gotten a little too personal. But while he was utterly dominating the wolf, Freddy had to contend with the hen. Those wild kicks gave the infected hen a distinctive range advantage that Freddy's arms lacked. He went heavy on defense with both arms up to block those brutal kicks and only managed to land a mean cross into the hen's head by taking a hit regardless. And with one arm missing, the hen's defenses were weak as it struggled to block Freddy's quick jabs. The heavy punishment its remaining right arm was taking began to show as the casing around it started to splinter away. Freddy took no pleasure in who his opponent was and even started to sound apologetic about it. "I'm so sorry about this, Chica! It just doesn't feel right hitting a girl with your face!"

            "Don't worry about me, big bear! My pretty face is still intact... Whoa!" Chica called out while having to contend with Freddy's double. It must have taken notes from her imposter's range advantage and was resorting heavily to flinging plasma discs at her from a safe distance. And at such a rapid rate too! With those purple wheels of doom coming for her, Chica responded with some impressive footwork that bordered on dancing. The sheer limberness of her animatronic style body was impressive to behold with her even performing a leaping cartwheel to the side. "Woo! Those jazzercise subroutines are really coming in handy! Can't touch this!"

            "You're not gonna intimidate me! I'll skin you for a new purse!" Roxanne roared as Monty's damaged doppelganger also tried to play it safe by staying just out of range. It went heavy on the sonic emitters in its palms and alternated with each hand lashing out for open palms strikes. Each thrust of its palms unleashed lightning-charged sonic booms that Roxanne had to desperately weave around. One of them almost got her and only managed to snag her long flowing head of silvery hair which waved gloriously through the air in response. Roxanne was aggressive, but she was smart enough to not get too bold. After one more failed hit from her enemy's sonic boom attack, Roxanne swiftly grabbed its outstretched arm and swung it around off its feet before hurling it away. The gator did not entirely go sprawling and managed to drag its claws along the floor to slow itself down. "This thing's a lot meaner than Monty usually is."

            I was quick to notice how Roxanne appeared to be struggling against the behemoth of the four infected husks. They were all pretty big compared to me, but the gator was deceptively more imposing. I called out to her and asked, "The gator looks like it's too much for you! Want me to handle it?"

            Roxanne was surprisingly dismissive towards my concerns. She lifted her jaw and waved a hand at me in such a cocky manner as she said, "Relax, I beat Monty up all the time. I can take this guy."

            "Only cuz I always go easy on you, ya dang mutt! Don't wanna wreck that pretty face!" Monty yelled out from across the lobby as he had Roxanne's imposter firmly pinned under his foot while pulling hard on its head of hair. With its fingers locked in place, it could only hopelessly claw at the ground with no way of getting free. Monty did not appear to be trying to damage Roxanne's double as much as he was trying to humiliate it. "Ha, see what happens when I stop holding back, mutt?! Who's your daddy?! Who's top predator now?!"

            Roxanne and I just stared at how much satisfaction the gator of the group was getting out of just messing with his opponent. I looked at Roxanne while she stared with eyes wide open. "Man, he's just being a dick to that thing now. Do you always piss him off this bad?"

            "If that's what Monty's like when he really starts trying..." Roxanne grumbled while stroking her fingers along her hair. Seeing her band mate thoroughly manhandling her imposter's hair so cruelly appeared to be making her uncomfortable. At least until we both heard the heavy tread of Monty's double approaching from behind. We only had enough time to turn as it blasted Roxanne back with a direct hit from a sonic boom. I noticed a few cracks form on her exoskeleton, but she at least managed to stay on her feet. "Now you're pushing it, lizard boy! Don't mess with the wolf if you don't want the fangs!"

            I stood ready to jump in with fists raised. The change in targets was starting to get better results for our opponents. Roxanne was noticeably outclassed while Chica was doing all see could to weave around the bear's ranged attacks with some ridiculously fluid acrobatic leaps. The wolf and the hen eventually got backed up against each other with their opponents ready to catch them in a pincer attack. But they suddenly did not seem worried as Chica looked over her shoulder at Roxanne. "Hey! Ready for some girl power, Roxy?"

            "You know it, girlfriend. Let's show the boys how it's done!" Roxanne snarled with quite the glare on her face. I watched with my interest piquing now that the two ladies of the band were starting to look a lot more confident. With a sudden switch, the two of them flung each other at their partner's opponents with Chica landing a brutal kick on the stomach of the gator while Roxanne launched herself horizontally and tackled the bear to the ground before proceeding to pummel its face. "I got this one! Hunter, back Chica up!"

            "You got the legs! I'll be the fists!" I replied now that I had a chance to join in on the fun. I came in low to unleash a rapid flurry of fiery punches into the gator's torso that left a worsening fracture on it. But when I dealt the final blow and sent it back a step followed by Chica trying to rush in, we were both subjected to a sonic boom from each palm that forced us back. "Gah, that always hurts!"

            When the two of us found our footing again, we were faced with an odd sight. The gator was not moving at all. It was just standing there with arms outreached and palms facing us. It even moved each hand to follow our movements to make certain Chica and I were being targeted. It could not handle us simultaneously, so it was holding us at bay while waiting for one of its partners to come over to assist. Just stalling for time. I narrowed my eyes in some frustration as I grumbled, "It'll just blow us away... We need a third wheel."

            Chica nodded and looked behind herself. "Sure do. Roxy, you done over there? Can you give us a hand here?"

            "Sure, just a second!" Roxanne replied as she stood up from the bear. It looked like she had knocked it offline for the moment. She then came running our way and shouted, "Hunter! Get ready to give that thing some airtime!"

            "Right, gonna send it high!" I replied as the H-Buster in my right arm began to charge for my best Rising Fire uppercut. Roxanne suddenly jumped forward to draw the gator's attention as it moved its hand to track her instead of me. With the use of my boot thrusters, I closed the distance before it could readjust its aim to focus on me and slammed my right fist hard into its abdomen. "Let's fly!"

            With a huge leap, I threw the gator high as my Rising Fire attack launched. A fiery burst rose from the vents on my forearm and carried the gator ever higher before exploding with so much force that it launched the gator almost to the ceiling. And even then, Chica and Roxanne were well on their way to join in.

            "Go get 'em, girlfriend!" Roxanne called out as she jumped straight up right when I first landed that blow. Chica jumped just after her and landed on Roxanne's shoulder pads right at the peak of her ascent. She then leaped again and past the rising gator and rose so high into the air that she came very close to touching the ceiling high above us. The acrobatic hen even went into a stylish tumbling roll during the ascent. But once she began to descend, she came out of that roll and brought her heel right down into the gator's back and sent it crashing back into the floor at max speed! Bits and pieces of its exoskeleton scattered as that hard collision with the floor did a lot of damage to the outer shell on its torso. Chica even landed quite gracefully a second later. She and Roxanne were quick to share a high five with Roxanne showing such a happy look in her eyes. "Best legs in town! Am I right?"

            "You bet! That felt good... Whoa, it's still not done?!" Chica recoiled at the sight of the gator starting to climb to its feet again. With the fractures in its casing combined with its unblinking glowing eyes and its long jaw constantly hanging open, Monty's double was truly starting to look the part of a robotic corpse.

            I was just appalled with how little progress we were making against what should have been rather fragile robots on principle. Even if the exoskeletons were showing their decline, the sheer amount of damage to their internal components caused just by the shock of so many hard impacts surely must have broken something by then. I turned to the two ladies of the band and called out in exasperation, "I refuse to believe you animatronics can really take this much of a pounding! What gives?!"

            "Told you we're state of the art. At least that means we won't be broken so easily either." Roxanne said smugly. Although her eyelid hatches did narrow while angling inward to display a glare of frustration. "But you've got a point. I'm getting way too insulted that these fakers are outlasting us so bad."

            The gator began to wave its arms around constantly as if to be ready and catch anyone who would dare approach. Although I soon heard Freddy call out from nearby. "Monty, I can't handle the wrong Chica here! I just...can't punch that face!"

            "Peh, ya always were too much of a teddy bear! Fine, Fredbear! Just keep the old girl busy!" Monty growled before completely abandoning his harassment of Roxanne's double. Freddy was going hard on defense as the one-armed hen lashed out with the spurs on the backs of its legs. And it was soon grabbed from behind by Monty as he prepared another suplex. "I'm taking this bird to the slaughterhouse!"

            The grappler of the gang once again pulled off a beautiful backwards suplex and slammed Chica's imposter squarely into the floor. That gator was such a powerhouse that it looked outright unfair to have a simple chicken trying to take him on. But I then noticed something kind of roll away once the infected husk fell onto its side. And it still was not done. It slowly climbed back onto its feet before I noticed what came off of it appeared to be shaped like a bowl. Like...half of the outer casing around the head. And then I saw it. Half of Chica's imposter's head on the right side was gone and had revealed the skull of its endoskeleton underneath. It was...a ghastly contrast to their colorful exoskeletons and was boxy and gray steel. It only further reinforced the undead implications of these infected spare shells. Chica especially recoiled with disgust as she suddenly stood on one leg. "Eugh, that's too much! What did you do, Monty?!"

            Roxanne stared with wide eyes and brought her hands to the sides of her head. Even though that was not her double, she looked especially disturbed while she muttered, "Is that what I really look like under my face...?"

            They had never seen what their own endoskeletons look like? Perhaps they were always kept deactivated during maintenance just to not let them get creeped out by what would be the mechanical equivalent of a mad scientist's stash of spare human limbs. But even I was unsettled by the false Chica's skull now exposed on one side. "This night just keeps getting creepier the longer it goes on! That shouldn't be so disgusting!"

            Monty did not sound quite as disturbed as the rest of us. He then pointed my way and said, "Hey, I bet your insides isn't exactly pretty either!"

            "When considering that you're not even supposed to see the skeletons of creatures to begin with... Yeah, I guess it's natural to find this disturbing regardless." I grumbled as I tried to adapt to the ever dilapidated state of our opponents. Whether composed of bone or metal, skeletons are supposed to be creepy to the living. Although I was then distracted as I quickly noticed the glow of two purple plasma blades rapidly approaching me. "Hey, the wolf got out! And it wants a piece of me!"

            With the band dealing with the other three of their infected copies, I readied myself for a clash of fists against blades. I had to rely heavily on the particle shield generator on my left arm to ward off those searing blades of death and only barely managed to kick the wolf away with a fiery roundhouse kick. But upon landing, the wolf tried a new tactic that I was not prepared for. It locked the joints in its ankles before launching itself perfectly horizontally at me and slashing me on the run. It kept launching itself back and forth from new angles and even managed to get through to me several times. "Too fast! Gotta... Come on!"

            The only thing I could think of to get away was to go straight up. A huge leap powered by my boot thrusters sent me up and away from my very speedy opponent. It responded by an equally speedy jump right at me with blade outreached. I got my shield up in time as we collided and desperately grabbed and tossed the wolf back into the ground. I had to think fast upon landing on how to get some distance. And then it hit me. I readied my right fist and charged up for another Rising Fire shot, but with an adjusted output. "Let's try some Melt Creeper!"

            I punched my fist into the floor as a rising trail of fire shot off in two directions. The wall of fire quickly encircled the staggered wolf and rose too high for it to see past. I took this opportunity to retreat and ducked behind a long mural that also displayed the general layout of the entire complex. Hoping that the interference had weakened now that Alpha was no longer manning his post, I tried once again to establish contact to my most powerful allies. "Come on... Power Ponies HQ, please respond. This is Hunter. I need... Oh, come on!"

            No good. I still could not connect. But while I kept trying, I suddenly heard a voice call out to me from across the lobby. Roxanne shouted over the noise echoing around us, "Hunter! That thing's got my optic upgrades installed! IT CAN SEE YOU!!!"

            Optic upgrades?! Just when I started to take a step forward, one of those purple plasma blades plunged through the thin barrier to my left and just barely missed my neck! "Now you tell me!"

            I ran. Sprinted down the length of the cover I had ducked behind as the infected wolf perfectly followed along at full stride. It kept the blade perfectly aligned with the back of my neck as it pursued me from the other side. Its aim was too good. It absolutely could see me. And then it dawned on me. "This is how they always knew where I was tonight?!"

            I immediately turned and slammed my fiery foot into the wolf the instant I got sight of it after escaping my hiding spot. Its glowing purple eyes locked onto me as my own narrowed. If that thing's eyes had a special function that essentially granted it x-ray capabilities, then my first course of action should be to target its optics. But were even those white eyeball attachments resistant to my weapons?

            I was not the only one who had that idea. The infected wolf reacted too late as Roxanne came up behind it and suddenly grabbed it from behind with a restraining arm lock. She hand both arms hooked under those of her doppelganger. It struggled in turn, but could not break free or lash out. It was a stalemate with neither able to harm the other. Not that she needed to. Roxanne peeked out from behind her imposter and called out to me. "Come on! It's wide open!"

            "Sweet! Hold her steady!" With how the wolf was arguably my most dangerous opponent, I needed to cripple it first. And Roxanne was giving me a prime opportunity to target its greatest strength. My HUD locked onto the wolf's face and targeted the gap right between the eyes to guide my aim. The H-Buster in my right arm began to charge for another Rising Fire burst at maximum power. With my target incapacitated and no one else coming to help, I rushed forward with my fist ready.

            "All yours!" Roxanne suddenly let go of her imposter and shoved her foot into its back to push it my way. She quickly retreated backwards while the wolf had no way of recovering in time. I threw myself forward and slammed my fist squarely between the wolf's eyes, sweeping it off its feet and right down into the ground. My Rising Fire shot was release in the form of a towering flame geyser rising past me as I smashed the wolf's head squarely into the floor. My punch crushed into its face with such force that the wolf's two eye covers literally popped straight out!

            The flames faded as the wolf below me became unresponsive. And I was astonished by the damage done to the face. The muzzle was still intact, but the rest of the face was completely caved in to reveal the underlying endoskeleton skull. The eyeballs were gone and I saw no trace of any optic sensors remaining in the not empty sockets. As ghastly as that sight was, it looked like I had caused critical damage to the head that resulted in a total shutdown. "Looks like that did... Gah, why?!"

            The wolf very suddenly came to life and lashed out with a sudden slash to the side of my helmet. Its full head of thick synthetic hair must have provided a lot of padding when it struck the floor. I hastily jumped back and watched as the now blinded wolf rose to its feet. Roxanne stared with her jaws parted wide at the disturbing site of her own face smashed in. And then...it looked at us. That thing was blind, and yet it still knew where we were?! I gestured with my hands curling their fingers as I yelled, "How?! How is this thing still alive and kicking?!"

            It responded to my voice almost immediately. The wolf charged and lashed out with a flurry of slashes that I was not ready for. I had to slam my foot squarely into its abdomen just to push it away. But once it regained its balance, the wolf did not charge. It waited and with plasma blades ready. And the ears atop its head... They were constantly swiveling.

            An idea formed in my head. I looked over at Roxanne and asked, "Hey... Roxanne. How good is your hearing?"

            She looked my way for a second before closing her eyes. The ears atop her head swiveled about in an oddly cute manner before Roxanne opened her eyes again. "Pretty good, really. I once ran a lap around my racecourse with my eyes closed just to see if I could."

            "Then...that thing's auditory receptors are keen enough to navigate entirely by sound? Terrific..." I grumbled as I wondered if I might have ended up making Roxanne's imposter more dangerous instead. Although I did take note of the various fractures in its exoskeleton and now the gaping hole in its faceplate. Its endoskeleton was now exposed and it lacked the resistant properties of its exoskeleton. "Think you can keep that thing distracted for a minute? I think I got something ready for it."

            "Gotcha. Hey! Ugly! Come get me!" Roxanne barked before letting out a rather convincing wolf howl. The blinded wolf's ears suddenly twitched before it turned to face Roxanne. It then bolted for her with its arms wildly swinging its blades around in an erratic fashion. Roxanne made no attempt to lash out at her double, doing everything she could to lead it around by the nose.

            "I suppose I'm legally required to use this technique at least once an issue whenever Breaker Mode gets involved anyway." I muttered as I placed one palm over the other. I watched my target carefully while trying to position myself with the most open area available in the lobby. A surging orb of flames began to form between my palms as I readied a familiar attack. Once the rest of our allies an enemies were behind me and Roxanne had lured my target out into the open, I called out as I brought my hands to my side. "Here it comes! Rekka...HADOOOUUUKEN!!!"

            Roxanne was quick to jump far back with her doppelganger only detecting a massive wave of fire coming right for it. It turned to face me and was promptly engulfed by that focused horizontal column of surging fire. My lupine companion raised her fist as she beheld the fiery end of her infected double. "Wicked way to wrap this up, Hunter!"

            "Yeah, gotta say I love this move. That's one dow... Oh come on, really?!" I said as I lowered my hands to let that column of fire fade out. Only for my eyes to open in shock as I saw the infected wolf still standing! Even worse was that it was coming right for me with blades swinging. All I did was make the situation worse. That thing's exoskeleton and even its exposed endoskeleton components were barely charred by the flames. All I really did was set its mane and tail on fire! "Gah, that's too freaky! Get it away from me!"

            "Hunter, these things are scary enough as is! You think setting them on fire would make this any easier?!" Roxanne yelled while utterly revolted by her ignited double chasing after me. It was like the wolf had been upgraded into a robotic hellhound!

            Even the rest of our allies reacted with horror as they saw that thing coming while it chased me around the lobby. Monty and Freddy slammed their fists into the infected bear's chest simultaneously to send it sprawling before they looked over yonder and quickly backed away. The gator called out, "Whoa, who set the mutt on fire?! Ain't no way I'm getting near that!"

            "Hunter, put those flames out! We can't risk having a fire hazard running around the place!" Freddy called out to me as even the other infected husks were staying well out of the ignited wolf's way.

            "I don't have any water weapons! Unless... Tch, this is the only thing I can think of!" I grumbled before I came to a stop and turned while exiting Breaker Mode. My hardened armor components turned a silvery gray as I accessed the only weapon I had that might put out those flames. "Let's give this a try! Storm Tornado!"

            A roaring vortex of wind exploded from the H-Buster and engulfed the burning wolf. It struggled to maintain its footing and I hoped it would not be blown away. Anything too heavy to be swept off its feet would literally be torn apart by the vortex. But just when I thought the wolf way about to have its limbs ripped off, it went tumbling through the air and was blown all the way to the other side of the lobby. At least I got the results we wanted. The intense wind robbed the flames of oxygen and snuffed the fire out. But the results were still ghastly. The once majestic synthetic mane and tail of the wolf was heavily charred with even the underlying robotic limb of the tail being partially exposed. The wolf had easily become the most disfigured of the four infected imposters at the time. Roxanne, while still disgusted by the state of her other self, found a certain dark humor in its physical state. "Ha! Still think you're better than me? At least my hair and tail's still beautiful."

            "Looks like all of our fakes are showing a lot of damage. We shouldn't have too much trouble finishing ow!" Freddy began to say before he was suddenly blindsided by an attack from nowhere. I barely caught sight of it. A narrow purple laser launched from...somewhere beyond the lobby. From within the complex. We all turned to face the direction it came from as Freddy's eyes widened with his jaw lowering open. "Oh no... Wha... What is...that?"

            My HUD scanned ahead into the darkened corridor as the four infected husks also responded. They began to regroup in that direction as something shambled forward. Something tall... Vaguely humanoid. And utterly overflowing with the presence of the Alpha Virus. But the shape and outline of that form... It could not have been him. Alpha's bodies had always been rather majestic in design up to that point. But that... "That...can't be him."

            My allies gathered near me in response to this unknown threat making itself known. It only barely resembled the visage of Alpha that had been watching us not much earlier. A pair of glowing purple lights that were clearly eyes gazed out at us. And a very familiar voice we had not heard in a while called out to us. "I hope I'm not late to the party, my friends. This body...is still taking some getting used to."

            It was then that I could see him. Bordered by his infected puppets reduced to what could only be described as tattered zombified robotic bodies was the mastermind of that night's terrors. Alpha stood before us, illuminated by neon lights as he stood tall as always. But his body... His underlying endoskeleton was intact, if looking a bit ramshackle as if hastily repaired from a prior encounter, but the entire thing was coated by a layer of metal tendrils. Like a layer of rippling muscle. Only his head was fully intact, his long horn standing proudly atop it. But almost as if to fit with the aesthetic of his puppets, his lower jaw had been disconnected entirely and now hung loosely while moving much like that of a classical puppet. Thoroughly unnerved by what I was seeing, I said what little I could. "Sizzling circuits, what did you do to yourself?!"

            "I'm simply dressed for the occasion!" Alpha laughed with his lower jaw flapping with every word, his polished white equine head clashing hard with the dark steel grays of his ghastly body. Like some sort of...robotic tentacle monster. He then sneered at me as he lifted a large hand made entirely of those tendrils and asked, "How do you like my new look, Hunter? Festive, wouldn't you say?"

            "You're definitely getting into the holiday spirit." I retorted while taking note of how Alpha was clearly having way too much fun. While always prone to grandiose dialogue and gestures, he was totally grandstanding now like a truly dastardly villain. Even his four puppets responded to his presence. The cracks and fractures in their exoskeletons began to generate an ominous purple glow that made them look nothing short of haunted. So many horror story genres mixed into one night!

            "That's Alpha?! He's...more frightful than expected. This is turning into a real mechanical monster mash!" Freddy muttered as we all beheld the story's true villain beside his cadre of infected monsters. The leader of the group then looked my way and asked, "Hunter... Now that there's five on each side, I recommend we focus on one opponent each. We can't handle someone like Alpha, so should we leave him to you?"

            "Yeah. Alpha's mine. You guys handle your imposters. Take those out first and help me out with Alpha when you can. I think this is gonna get tricky." I muttered as I once again reactivated Breaker Mode. The climax of that story's conflict was about to begin. "You all ready to wrap this up?"

            "You bet, Hunter sweetie! Those things shouldn't take too much longer to break apart now! They even look like they're just barely holding themselves together." Chica replied as they all stood ready to resume the brawl.

            "Right! Let's tear 'em up!" Monty growled before they all charged. Their four infected imposters did the same while I went straight for Alpha.

            Unable to focus on my allies for the moment, I came charging in for my hardest punch and smashed it directly into that tangled mess of cables. And I quickly found out that Alpha's lack of trying to intercept me was a sign that I was making a mistake. I am not certain if I even did any damage as those cables immediately ensnared my arm and kept my fist firmly pressed against Alpha's underlying body. My eyes widened in horror before glancing up to see Alpha grinning down at me wickedly. "This was a bad idea!"

            "You don't say?!" Alpha laughed as he raised his hands of tendrils. Each cable serving as a finger suddenly emitted purple plasma blades before he grabbed me and let those blades dig right into me. He did not let go as those searing blades began to burn into my hardened titanium armor. "Now you are mine, Hunter! Perish in my grasp!"

            I gritted my teeth as pain radiated throughout my body. I was literally trapped in the clutches of a mechanical horror story monster! My HUD immediately drew attention to the rapid levels of damage being done to my body. I would not last long if I did not break out quickly. My only option was to charge up my H-Buster and unleash a maximum power Rising Fire at point blank range. The resulting fiery explosion blew me clear and pushed Alpha back. The tendrils covering Alpha's torso were left dangling for just a few seconds to reveal his tough endoskeleton, but they quickly pulled themselves back together. As if...repairing themselves. Alpha, completely unfazed by my hasty escape, loomed over me with a noticeable grin. "Yes... Struggle, Hunter. For tonight, the Hunter has become the hunted!"

            "Just when I thought you couldn't become a bigger freak!" I growled as Alpha raised his right hand. The metallic tendrils covering his body began to reposition themselves. Making his left arm smaller and more exposed while adding much more girth to his right. Extra 'fingers' were added onto the hand as each fingertip generated much longer plasma blades that immediately made it look like Alpha's hand had been converted into a plasma-tipped cat o' nine tails! I only barely got my left arm's particle shield up in time to ward off that lash before I had to go on the defensive.

            Alpha's movements were unlike anything I had ever seen before. Each swing of his arm felt too loose and fluid. So wobbly and lacking in solid construction. It felt too unnatural, even by robotic standards, and was starting to mess with my head. A form of psychological warfare? Regardless, I understood that Breaker Mode was at a critical disadvantage against an opponent that could literally entangle me just by making contact. Unless I was in a state where I could not be grabbed. I promptly abandoned Breaker Mode and once again hurled myself at Alpha with a Nova Strike.

            I was so sure that the lack of a tough titanium exoskeleton would leave Alpha's endoskeleton far more vulnerable to damage. As my surging plasma aura tore through that body of metal tendrils, I noticed a distinct lack of a collision with a hardened structure. I came out of that rocketing tackle and landed back on my feet only to turn and see Alpha's body of metal vines pulling itself back together. Had he literally rearranged his own inner workings to evade a direct hit?! How much of his underlying body was even solid to begin with?! Alpha's head even made a full rotation to look back at me as he said, "I'm sorry, was that supposed to hit something?"

            "What even are you anymore?!" I shouted while firing off a quick burst of shots from the H-Buster. Each hit caused the tendrils to unravel only to pull themselves back together. His body possessed a very twisted self-repair function that I had never seen before. Even if the tendrils themselves were damaged, it did not matter if they could stay on his body.

            "What am I? I am the last thing you will ever see, Hunter!" Alpha cackled before striking me square in the head with purple laser beams launched from his eyes. Whether up close or at a distance, Alpha was a constant threat. But keeping my distance was more ideal than letting myself get close. He suddenly tried to narrow the gap by very suddenly dumping most of the tendrils on his body into an extending grab as his arm rapidly grew in length. But with so many of those tendrils leaving the rest of his body, I saw an opportunity. I made a quick sliding dash to the side and quickly drew the H-Saber from its holster and cleaved the whole thing off in one stroke! And Alpha...did not sound as unconvinced as I expected. "Ah, drat! Disarmed! Or am I?"

            The entire cluster of metal tendrils very suddenly sprang to life and began to slither back over to Alpha in a manner that deeply unnerved me. They rapidly coiled around his body once again as I made a very startling realization. They were not directly attached to Alpha's body. They were being controlled wirelessly. A mass of individual cables that could literally return to their master if severed. And many of them could serve as weapons in their own right. I could slice them up a thousand times and they would still reassemble themselves. What was I supposed to do?!

            "You couldn't beat me as the king of machines, so you became a real monster tonight! Fine, come get me!" I shouted before deciding to take to the air. My flight thrusters unfolded before flaring up and carrying me high in the lobby. But Alpha was quick to respond as well with my eyes noticing strands of those tendrils extending from his back. They vaguely resembled stiff wing frames while many tendrils were stiffly pointing downward. I scowled in annoyance as I saw where this was going. "Oh come on..."

            Each of those tendrils suddenly began to forcefully emit purple rocket exhaust as Alpha suddenly shot up into the air on his wobbly wings. He took great delight in my expectations being dashed as he cackled at me. "The fly thought it could escape the spider on its wings. Too bad for you, Hunter! For this web carries many uses!"

            My immediate assumption was that Alpha world try to get in close and ensnare me in his tentacled grasp again. My only hope was to outfly him. And I had an idea of how to do just that. I quickly equipped Strom Tornado and Sonic Slicer with my HUD displaying the resulting changes in my body's functions. My hardened armor turned a vibrant green while my softer components became a complementing yellow. The H-Saber in my hand briefly deactivated before modifying itself in my grasp. I pulled it apart as the hilt became two, the resulting plasma blades taking on a bold pink hue with a distinctive curve to resemble the twin sabers of the speedy Orion. "Fine. Let's see if you can keep up with Jetstream Mode!"

            "Bold, Hunter! Very bold of you! But keep in mind you do not have the boundless sky at your disposal here!" Alpha laughed before his wing thrusters threw him at me. I was promptly reminded of my vastly increased aerial speed output as I rushed out of the way and had to plant my feet against the wall to avoid crashing. While the lobby was very large with a lot of space between the floor and ceiling, it was still much too cramped for a mode designed for mach speed combat in the endless sky. I swiftly left my landing spot as Alpha's laser optics tried to shoot me down on the move.

            The sturdy support pillars provided some handy cover as I flew circles around them. The ghastly flying mass of tendrils launched sweeping purple lasers at me from his eyes while his horn remained worryingly inactive. Was his offensive energy output being forced through just his optics? I when on a strafing run as I swung my swords in alternating patterns. The Sonic Slicer functions went to force to unleash crescent plasma waves from each blade. It was mesmerizing to see that cluster of metal vines pull itself apart to minimize how much of its would be struck by the waves before they could dissipate. Like an expanding and contracting mound of slime.

            I lost sight of Alpha for just a moment as the battle raged below me. After taking my eyes off him for just a second, Alpha was gone. At least until I saw him stick his white polished head out from behind one of the support pillars. He appeared to have lost sight of me as well and had not yet spotted me. I smirked to myself as I suddenly rushed forward on my supercharged wings. "Gotcha now!"

            "Oh please!" The instant Alpha glanced my way with a maniacal smirk on his crooked jaw, I knew I had screwed up. While I went for his head on the right, the rest of his coiling body shot out from behind the pillar on the left and formed a plethora of plasma emitters that blasted me for a full body burst! I was slammed into the far wall and brought to my knees while Alpha beheld me from afar and high above. That body of metal tendrils made him utterly unpredictable and he could generate whatever weapons he needed. The twisted tyrant cackled from on high, "Speed isn't everything, Hunter!"

            Frustration started to take hold of me. Although I was suddenly distracted as Chica was sent flying backwards with a mean kick from her doppelganger right ahead of me. But instead of charging back into the fray as her infected double shambled closer, she stood low and scowled at her imposter. "Man, I am so done with this thing! OK... Gonna try to finish it up right now!"

            Chica very suddenly charged forward and beat her imposter to the punch. She lashed out with a sudden straight kick to its abdomen, but then started to lash out with alternating kicks to its head, legs, and torso while remaining balancing on just her left foot. Over and over with machine precision, Chica smashed her right foot into her opponent with an ever increasing frequency. Bits and pieces of its exoskeleton were gradually chiseled away with the sheer recoil of each blow keeping it from breaking free. All action in the lobby stopped as the sheer clamor of those jackhammer blows echoed around us.

            I am sure Chica was kicking that thing a dozen times a second once she reached the peak of her rhythm. The sheer frequency of her blows was well beyond anything any organic martial artist could pull off. When she finally stopped and took a step back, her quivering double looked as if it was about to fall apart. Chica was not about to let it do so and used a bit of forward momentum to smashed her foot directly through the imposter's torso to utterly shatter it. The whole thing just fell apart with the purple glow oozing out of it slowly fading away. And she still was not done!

            The infected hen's mangled head was the only intact part of its body and it had been launched straight up into the air. And Chica saw this as the perfect moment for a true coup de grace. She reached back with her right foot as if readying a winning field goal kick before suddenly kick upward so hard that she ended up doing a full backflip. In the process, she booted her imposter's head skyward and right into the ceiling. The first infected husk to fall had its head utterly explode into scrap upon contact and was scattered across the lobby. Chica, more than satisfied with her victory jumped high with hands reaching for the sky and did a very cute dance. "Woo, first point goes to me! That's one down!"

            I could scarcely believe what I saw. Despite being a robot designed to perform instead of fight while having a deliberately antiquated design, Chica utterly mangled her opponent. Even Monty was just staring motionlessly at his bandmate before his jaw abruptly dropped open. The animatronic gator then lifted his sunglasses to look directly at Chica as he said, "Dang...! Now that's some Kentucky-fried kung fu fighting!"

            "Monty! The other you is coming for you!" Freddy suddenly called out right when I noticed the other hulking reptilian behemoth charging in at its dedicated opponent. And right when Monty turned, it thrust one hand into his face for a direct hit from its sonic emitters. We all watched in horror as Monty got a full lightning-charged sonic boom to the face and nearly got thrown off his feet. But when he lowered his face back down, Freddy's tone changed. "Uh oh..."

            I too noticed a drastic changed in Monty's face. Namely that I could see one of his eyes. The left lens had been torn from his face with only the right half still hanging on. And even that did not stay on for long as the ruined frames of his sunglasses fell to the floor in a matter of seconds. Monty stood very still, eyelid hatches tilted inward to display a fierce scowl. "Those were my favorite shades."

            Even Monty's doppelganger did not immediately react. It could sense a change and was hesitant to charge. With newly awakened rage, Monty sudden charged at his soulless imposter. "YOU'RE IN TROUBLE NOW!!!"

            The infected gator tried to get out another sonic boom only for Month to swap its hand aside. He proceeded to beat it across the head with very heavy blows before suddenly grabbing its left arm and tearing it straight out of its socket! We all watched in disbelief, even Alpha being left speechless as his burliest puppet was rapidly being overwhelmed. And once the gator's other arm had been removed while it could only stagger about helplessly, Monty grabbed it by both sides. "Ain't done with you yet!"

            With a mighty heave, Monty tossed his double straight towards the ceiling only for him to leap after it and catch it upside-down in what was clearly a piledriver pose. But he then managed to get it going into a increasingly speed spiral to really add some power to the impending impact. As they both came down in an awe-inspiring wrestling move, Monty roared his parting words. "Gonna rock ya like a hurricane! My Hurricane Hole-in-1!"

            And with that one move, it was over. Monty crashed his doppelganger headfirst into the floor with a thunderous crash that even left a sizeable crater in the lobby's floor. I could see the purple glow leaving the fallen gator's corpse, but even that was not enough for Monty. He stood up and pulled his mangled imposter from the hole. Everything above the waist was almost nothing but exposed and mangled endoskeleton. Monty effortlessly held his imposter above his head and let out an anguished yell as he ripped that thing in two at the waist. The poor guy... He dropped to his knees and continued to yell to the heavens with fists held high. Those must have been some amazing sunglasses...

            "Most impressive! Most impressive indeed! Overcoming your superior copies with brute force! I commend you, my metal brethren!" Alpha laughed while hardly sounding annoyed over two of those infected husks being utterly annihilated. He even applauded with many of his tendril tips clapping together like several sets of hands.

            Monty was far from amused. He suddenly rose to his feet and pointed defiantly at the mutated machine monarch high above us. "Don't gimme that, big man! I ain't done with you! Get down here already so I can death roll ya!"

            Alpha took a good look at himself before looking back at Monty. "My, I am curious of how that would go. Think you can slurp me up like metal spaghetti?"

            "I said GET DOWN HERE!!!" Monty roared before pulling a drastic move. The guy grabbed an overturned table and hurled it high enough to actually hit Alpha! This was so unexpected that the impact caused Alpha to lose his grip on the pillar and come crashing down. "Yeah, that's the way we do it around here!"

            "Hold Alpha off for a little longer so Roxy and I can finish up here! Maybe all five of us at once can take him!" I heard Freddy call out from nearby. It sounded like he had his hands full with his own double and Roxanne was not faring much better. I noticed how Roxanne's double was completely unable to detect her own attacks due to lack of sight, but this only made it all the more dangerous as its plasma blades lashed out constantly. Just trying to get close would basically demand her to take a hit and risk a slash to one of her more vulnerable locations.

            "Sure thing, big bear! Hunter! Monty and I've got your back!" Chica replied before she quickly took her place to my right. Alpha was already reassembling himself to assume a grounded biped stance like before as he shambled towards us.

            Monty pounded a fist into his other open hand for a second before he happened to glance my way. And his anger all but disappeared when he noticed my change in appearance. "Hey! You're mean and green like me now, huh?! Even got some yellow thrown in for good measure."

            "Yep, that's Jetstream Mode for you. And don't worry, I know I still owe you an autograph when we're done here." I replied while starting to feel more fired up now that the battle was going much more in our favor by then.

            "My man! Let's finish this up quick, yeah?" Monty laughed before remembering what he had just lost. That scowl returned to his eyes as he snarled at Alpha. "And you owe me a new pair of shades, big man!"

            "Then tear them out of me if you can!" Alpha laughed before Chica struck first. She rushed ahead and tried to deliver a flying kick into Alpha, but was promptly snatched up by his arm of writhing metal tentacles. "Poor decision, my pretty!"

            "Ack! I can't handle this guy! Help!" Chica shrieked before getting slammed into the floor. Alpha did not release her and did so again. We had to act quickly or Chica's exoskeleton would be shattered and leave her much more vulnerable to damage to her inner workings.

            "I gotcha!" I replied before putting Jetstream Mode's speed to good use. My wing thrusters flared up and sent me rocketing past Alpha's arm as I cleaved it all off with a passing slash. Chica quickly got away as the tentacles unraveled from her to return to Alpha's body. I then made a quick U-turn and came back to slash through Alpha with a whirling spin with both blades. "Woo, I gotta use this mode more often!"

            "What a pest! Fall to me!" Alpha roared as his eyes launched concentrated purple lasers along with several more on his body being exposed. He got me a few times while I went on the run, but we were both reminded of who else was in on the fight. Alpha suddeny halted his barrage and asked, "Wha... Who's there?!"

            "Gotcha now, big man! Don't mess with a gator!" Monty cackled as he grabbed a trail of Alpha's tentacles and began to swing him all around in a circular fashion. Teh sheer strength Monty was displaying was spectacular to behold. After building up enough momentum, Mont hurled Alpha into one of the lobby's thick support pillars and got him wrapped all around them. I think this did not do as much damage as he was hoping since Alpha literally slithered his way up to the top before unleashing more potshots of lasers at us. "Gah, whaddya gotta do to take that freak down?!"

            While Monty and Chica when running to make themselves a harder target, I happened to notice Roxanne nearby. She was backed up to one of the support pillars that had a vending machine at the base. And when her blinded doppelganger came in for an impaling strike, she dove to the side as its plasma blade plunged into the control panel. The machine promptly malfunctioned and dumped all of its contents onto the floor, which the blind wolf did not see and began to immediately trip and fall on the sturdy cylinders. It was a lot funnier than it should have been and I got a good laugh out of the sight.

            "Hey, wait..." Roxanne muttered as she took an interest in the many beverage cans on the floor. Her infected imposter was flopping around on the cans for the moment, so she had earned a brief break to plot an attack. Roxanne took one in hand, examined it, and then ran up to her downed opponent before jamming the can right between its jaws! It was such a tight fit that it would never fall out on its own. "Suck on that for a minute!"

            "Wha... Hey, what's that gonna do to it?!" I shouted while Roxanne had to jump back from her imposter's twin blades. It did try to chase her, but immediately stepped on another can and fell flat on its face while shoving the can in its jaws even deeper.

            "I know what I'm doing here?! Now, where are they?!" Roxanne yelled back before she began to just look around. My HUD detected some sort of function activate in her optic sensors. Was that the upgrade she had mentioned? The one that allowed her imposter to track me down no matter where I went? Her eyes then suddenly widened before she ran over behind another support pillar. "There's one!"

            Roxanne's infected double had regained its footing by then and pursued the she wolf's heavy footsteps with blades swinging. When Roxanne emerged from behind the support pillar, I saw something in her hands. It looked distinctly like some sort vintage sci-fi laser pistol from decades old TV shows. It was clearly just a toy meant for maybe a game of laser tag. Or was it?

            The wolf defiantly stood her ground and took aim with both hands. I could see the emitter on the front beginning to glow brightly. Roxanne's double literally could not see that she was holding it at gunpoint and continued to charge with blades slashing wildly through the air. When it was finally maybe ten long strides from Roxanne, the she wolf fired. And what a glorious display she got out of it. She shot the beverage can with a supercharged shot, causing it to instantly explode in a geyser of burning fluid and obliterating the infected wolf's head from within. The headless wolf slowed to a shamble as the glow filling the fractures in its body and the plasma blades on its fingers began to fade away. Finally, it fell flat on the floor with a crash, another threat down for the count. The burning energy fluid from the can was scattered and began to burn away to nothing. Roxanne then proudly twirled the laser pistol on one finger before declaring, "And that's why I've got the top score in Fazer Blast!"

            "Woo! Crackshot Roxanne Wolf strikes again!" Chica applauded from Roxanne's spectacular finishing shot on her doppelganger. She then turned to Alpha and assumed a defensive stance. "Now it's four against one!"

            Alpha scowled now that only one of his toys remained intact. "Resourceful troupe of mummers you are. It seems upgrading those empty husks was not enough of a... Agh! What was that?!"

            Did Roxanne literally shoot Alpha in the face with her toy pistol? Roxanne was approaching at a leisurely pace while firing off shot after shot. While not particularly damaging, the narrow beams of light were very uncomfortable for him. She then called out, "Safety's off, freak show! That's gonna sting!"

            "Not as much as this!" Alpha yelled before retaliating with a laser shot of his own. If Roxanne was firing off a laser at the time, then Alpha's own laser optics cut right through it and destroyed her pistol in a flash of fire and sparks.

            Roxanne shielded her eyes from the blast before looking at her empty hand. She clenched her fingers into a fist and growled in annoyance. "Well, so much for that!"

            "Huh?! Wait, what's wrong with you?!" Freddy asked from nearby. He was starting to back up from his opponent as it seemed to be malfunctioning. Twitching rapidly as bits and pieces of its already fractured exoskeleton began to fall free. Was it desponding to its comrades being deactivated?

            "Yes... Yes, come out, my minion! Unleash the gifts I have bestowed upon you!" Alpha cackled as I watched the imposter of Freddy literally tear itself out of its shell! Much of its exoskeleton was shattered as its arms split in two down the middle to become four. The casing around the hands shattered as the four hands modified themselves into what appeared to be the source of its plasma discs. Circular plasma emitters that that replaced the hands with purple plasma saws! Alpha dropped back down to the floor now that he was no longer really alone in this fight. "I've saved the best for last, my friends!"

            Freddy looked genuinely disturbed at seeing a physical copy of himself be mutated so thoroughly to the point of looking the most monstrous out of the four infected imposters thus far. He looked my way and called out, "Hunter, I don't think I can handle this alone!"

            "Yeah, my thoughts exactly! Guys, handle Alpha for now!" I shouted before rushing over to Freddy's side as his mutated imposter loomed over us with four plasma saws whirling. I glanced back and forth at the two bears before disengaging from Jetstream Mode. Now that most of its exoskeleton was gone, perhaps my primary weapons would get some results.  "At least now we can really tell you two apart. You think you can handle those blades?"

            "I would assume so... But if those dig into me long enough, my exoskeleton's integrity could be overtaxed. It'd be best if we avoid contact entirely." Freddy said rather methodically while keeping his fists up. He was easily the one with the coolest head out of the four glam rock performers. Perhaps that was why he seemed to be the leader of the group. Freddy then suddenly gasped and jumped before me. "Hunter! Get behind me!"

            The brave bear of the band got between me and his doppelganger as it launched a barrage of whirling plasma discs with a swing of each limb. He stood his ground and took those hits with arms up without fear and seemed to be enduring the brief impacts from the plasma discs quite well. His exoskeleton was holding up well, but how long? I was compelled to ask, "Doesn't that hurt?"

            "Actually, yes. It does sting a bit..." Freddy groaned as he continued to endure the barrage of discs. Now that I had some cover, I took the opportunity to arm my H-Buster and charge up for a powerful shot. I activated my boot thrusters to quickly get some distance between me and Freddy before unleashing a fully charged shot. That huge ball of scorching blue plasma slammed hard into the mutated mechanical bear and nearly threw it off its feet. I just impressed that it remained standing. Its torso took the brunt of the blast and was showing some signs of damage through the almost gaseous purple glow oozing out of it. Freddy was especially pleased and waved at me. "Good shot, superstar!"

            "Yeah, feels like I'm actually getting somewhere with this oh god!" I started to say before being interrupted. The infected bear before us suddenly made a swift leap at me and tried to bring all four plasma saws down into me. I barely got my left arm up in time to block them with my particle shield, but it was bearing down on me too hard to try and get around it. "Freddy! A little help here!"

            With no means to attack from afar, I was unsure of what Freddy could do to help me out. And he still exceeded my expectations. That burly bear hurled an ice cream cart at the thing! The gruesomely mutated false Freddy was knocked hard to the floor by the heavy metal cart and had to carve it apart with its plasma saws just to get free. "How was that?! I'm not sitting this out!"

            "Nice throw there, Fazbear!" I replied in turn while just very impressed with how hard he hit that thing. The terrifying infected husk tried to attack us from both sides by having its entire upper torso rotate in place with its four arms whirling with its plasma saws trying to slash us up. And just when I thought it was only attacking at arm's length, it suddenly launched more plasma discs from the saws that circled it and struck us both. I could not even try to pull the H-Saber on it. Those four saws would make it nearly impossible to cut my way through. I did try to muscle my way through after that blow for a direct shot up close, but I was not ready to have all four of those plasma saws slashing across me.

            I was brought to my knees after that last one. Between that and the other three of our team keeping Alpha preoccupied, there was no one backing Freddy up. I looked up just in time to see him come running in to help me, but his eyes went wide as his imposter brought all four saws together and combined their output. Those four smaller saws merged to form a much bigger whirling wheel of purple plasma and tried to bring it down right into him. Freddy only barely got his hands up and caught the giant plasma saw and was only barely able to keep it at arm's length with it ready to slice into him. The casing around his hands was enough to hold it up, but it would not last forever. Freddy called out to me as I heard his voice straining under his imposter's attack. "I...don't know how long...I can hold this! Hunter, please!"

            "Hang on a second, Freddy! I got an idea!" I thought fast and placed myself a good distance behind Freddy's imposter. My hardened armor turned a shade of purple as I accessed a familiar function from my Variable Weapon System. I took aim at Freddy's assailant from behind and charged up the H-Buster for the best results. "Strike Chain!"

            A rapidly extending tendril was launched from the mouth of the H-Buster that ended in a large grasping claw. That great pincer clamped firmly around the unsuspecting mutated bear before I lifted my arm high for my strongest swing. Freddy's imposter was swung high through the air and came crashing down hard nearby and was left thoroughly stunned for the moment. But the plasma disc held between its hands was left behind in Freddy's grasp. And as he continued to hold it between his hands, it responded to his presence. The whirling plasma wheel shifted to a more heroic pale green hue now that the plasma saw was not being stained purple by the Alpha Virus. With my Strike Chain releasing my target, Freddy glanced my way. "I think I know what to do here! Get clear, Hunter!"

            I took his word for it and got out of the way. Freddy turn to face his distant doppelganger as it struggled to get to its feet. He held his whirling plasma disc high before reaching back and hurling it across the lobby like a champion discus thrower. "Returning to sender!"

            Freddy's aim was true and his infected cop had no hope of stopping a projectile that large. The plasma disc dug into its belly for a few seconds before exploding outward into a spherical bright green blast. Many bits of scrap were sent flying with the mutated bear's entire upper body launched skyward before landing flat on its face afterward. The purple glow in its eyes soon faded away as it finally shut down for good. I glanced over at Freddy while he looked very proud of himself. "And then there was one."

            It was finally done. The tables had turned completely on Alpha now that it was us against just him. Freddy's comrades had been tossed around quite a bit in the meantime, but they were at our sides now that Alpha's toys had been wrecked. We all approached at a leisurely pace now that we had the machine king cornered. No words were said at first. We had him backed into a corner. Roxanne snarled with a searing glare in her eyes, "Finally... You're next."

            With the five of us closing in, Alpha hardly seemed fazed. I swear I could even see him trying to smile as he just stood there. The tattered tyrant then spoke out to us. "I must confess... I was hoping it would come to this. I hope my new toys gave you all a memorable evening... Because now..."

            We all stopped where we were. A tremor ran through the ground. And it began to grow. Eyes aglow with purple malice, Alpha cackled in triumph. "It is time for the main event!"

            With those words, the floor under him split open. Countless metal tendrils burst from the great fissure in the lobby's floor and began to ensnare Alpha's body. Merging with it... Growing as every last bit of scrap metal in the complex's storage warehouses were summoned to him! The tendrils even reached out across the lobby and began to collect and assimilate the scattered remains of the four infected husks we had just destroyed! The writhing mass of metal grew before us with Alpha's head situated properly atop it as he cackled madly atop his new monstrous body.

            We all stared up at Alpha with wide eyes and mouths agape. A bizarre fusion of awe, disgust, and growing fear began to come over me. I was not prepared for this metal blob loaded down with lord knows what in its writhing mass of scrap and metal tendrils. The growing mass of metal finally exceeded a full story in height as Alpha loomed over us with many tendrils carrying it forward at a lumbering yet menacing pace. Chica held out her hands cautiously as she stated the obvious. "We can't fight that!"

            "Then don't! I'm the one he wants!" I shouted as I hastily discarded Strike Chain and took to the air aboard my body's wing thrusters. I fired off a rapid barrage of plasma shots from the H-Buster as I called out to my allies. "Get outta here!"

            And they did. All four of the glam rock performers made a mad dash to the nearest way out while Alpha barely paid them any mind. Even if I was doing damage, the countless tendrils would just put themselves back together. Alpha's metallic amorphous body lifted itself higher like a towering serpent ready to snatch me up. "Scared yet, Hunter?! I advise that you make this a little more interesting and...run!"

            "Oh my god, you freak! Get away from me!" I finally cut my losses and fled. If those tendrils got a hold of me, I would surely be dragged into Alpha's body and torn apart. My wing thrusters carried me back into the complex, but I was horrified to see Alpha pursuing me at speeds I never would have expected such a massive makeshift form to reach! The way it rapidly crawled over everything in its path atop countless skittering limbs brought to mind a fusion of an amoeba and a centipede. And all I could do was run!

            I soared as quickly and as reasonably throughout the complex as I could manage while desperately trying to not place myself into a corner. And the music that was still being broadcast throughout the complex was only adding a certain frantic tension to the situation. Alpha sounded like he was having the time of his life as he scampered along after me as his body twisted and turned to navigate or even just trample everything in his path. I could only imagine the mess he was leaving behind. Although I finally received a transmission from somewhere inside the complex. "Wha...?! Who's there?! Come in, this is Hunter!"

            I should not have been surprised that the call came from somewhere inside the complex. "Hunter, this is Freddy! Get to the concert hall! If you can reach it, we should be able to help you! I'm transmitting a complimentary map layout of the facility now! We'll see you there!"

            "Concert hall... Gah, fine! Whatever works!" I had no idea what was going on anymore, but Freddy sounded very sure of this plan. My HUD suddenly displayed a full map of the complex, which was even bigger than I had expected and revealed there was quite a bit of the place I had not yet seen. And the concert hall was very far off. "How many city blocks does this place cover?!"

            With my destination determined, I adjusted course and rushed off with Alpha still in hot pursuit. And as the music hit some sort of crescendo, he began to...sing? No, it sounded more like he was chanting along with the melody and was having way too much fun with himself. "Darkness falls across the mall as metal mascots stalk the halls! More marvelous with each defect and out to prowl the megaplex!"

            The tone and pitch of Alpha's voice was absolutely diabolical as he chanted from right behind me. And it was doing a fantastic job of instilling fear in me. This was the climax. Do or die. Would this horror story have a happy ending? There was only one way to find out. And Alpha did not miss a beat as he continued to chant along to the melody. "And whomsoever shall be found by infected husks that roam around must then escape the Alpha's wrath! Or rot inside a stomach hatch!"

            Using elevators was out of the question. I had to take the scenic route to reach my destination. And at the last stretch, I could hear Alpha sounding like he was getting closer. "The air is thick with pungent reek of robots oiled in pizza grease! And terrors bathed in neon light are on the hunt to grab a bite!"

            I saw it. The concert hall's massive doors hanging widen open. But just when I thought I was home free, I felt dozens of plasma blades slam right into me that sent me tumbling out of the air and crashing across the floor of the empty auditorium. My HUD confirmed that I had suffered a steadily growing amount of damage that night. I would have to be cautious during this last stretch of the story. But as I staggered to my knees, Alpha began to loom over me with his own chanting reaching its own climax. "But no amount of birthday cake, piñatas, games, or fanfare..."

            My left hand grasped the H-Buster on my right arm as I took step after step backwards. The tension in my heart was beginning to transform into actual fear as I beheld that twisted metal monstrosity looming higher and higher over me. And in that mass of tendrils... I saw them. The eyes of the four false performers peeking out from within the metallic blob of tendrils. The glow of the Alpha Virus had returned as they all gazed down upon me in robotic undeath. Alpha sneered at me with his voice dripping with a dastardly malevolence as he finished his chant. "...will help a lonely Hunter survive one night...at Freddy Fazbear's."

            Alpha lifted his head high and cackled darkly like a true horror story villain. I glanced around at the dimly lit surroundings. The glow of neon lights and waving pivoting lamps was not present in that massive hall. It felt wrong being there with nothing going on. I saw the central stage consisted of a single large circular platform surrounded by four smaller ones that had hydraulic lifts attached to the underside. A few massive display screens were behind the stage, but...where were they?! "Guys, I'm here! What now?!"

            The voice that did respond to my call was not what I was hoping for. It was the same automated voice I had heard when the lockdown first began. "Hostile activity detected. Activating quarantine procedures."

            The doors leading out to the rest of the complex slammed shut. My eyes went wide as my HUD detected a layer of energy shielding all over the auditorium. A security measure to keep dangerous felons contained until law enforcement arrives? But instead of being relieved, I was instead on the verge of panicking. I was trapped in there with the monster of the evening! Alpha even looked behind him at the sealed doors before sneering down at me. "Quarantine, eh? How lovely. Now we have the rest of the night to ourselves."

            "Freddy, I'm in the concert hall. Where the hell are you guys... Freddy?" I spoke with my left fingers touching the side of my helmet. I tried to reestablish contact with my previous caller, but it immediately failed. The quarantine procedures appeared to be interfering with my call. "Freddy, are you there?!"

            I glanced up at Alpha while beginning to rapidly tap my fingers on the side of my helmet in the vain hopes of getting something or anything to happen. Alpha began to chuckle at my misfortunate as many tendrils reached out from his body before emitting plasma blades from their tip that burned with a purple glow. I started to step backwards as I began to utterly plead into my failed transmission. "Freddy Freddy please Freddy now now Freddy now now Freddy NOOOOWWWW!!!!!"

            Alpha lunged with his many blades trying to slash me as I only barely threw myself away from him in time with a boot thruster jump. And I still continued to screech into my communication system. "FREDDYYYYY!!! FREDDY, GET UP HERE NOW!!!"

            "Having fun yet, Hunter?!" Alpha cackled as laser emitters tried to cut me down on the run. I was in an utter panic! Just doing whatever I could to keep some distance between me and that insane machine king!

            "I'm actually scared, what the hell?! When I came here for some Nightmare Night shenanigans, this is NOT what I had in mind!" I screamed and shrieked while Alpha ran me ragged all over the auditorium. Whenever he was not trying to zap me with lasers, he was coming in close with dozens of tendrils tipped with plasma blades. I continued to plead with my words starting to trip over themselves as I did whatever I could to hold onto my sanity. Pleading in the hopes that the four glam rock rescuers would hear me. "Freddy Freddy help me Freddy please now now Freddy please Monty where are you Monty save me Monty Monty mega Monty Roxy Roxy come take me home Roxy Roxy Roxy save me Roxy help me Roxy please please now now Chica Chica sexy tits HELP!!!"

            There was just no end! That had to have been the longest five minutes of my life! Any attacks I did unleash were virtually useless. And after another good lashing by too many plasma blades to count, I was trapped between the stage and the giant blob machine. I wheezed and whimpered in delirium with Alpha smirking down at me. "I can keep this up all night, Hunter. What about you? Shall we wrap this up? Call it a night? The last night of your life!"

            "This can't really be happening... I can't handle this freak..." I muttered in utter disbelief. The mighty Project H holding on by a thread against this improvised horror. Even Shadow Mode would not help me if every severed tendril would just be put back together. How was he even controlling all of them without actually being attached to them?! But just as I wracked my brain for ideas on how to buy myself more time, something happened. The entire room suddenly went completely black as the music also faded away to silence. I could still make out Alpha in the dark due to the many disembodied eyes on his coiled body glowing a hellish purple, but even  Alpha seemed confused by the complete darkness around us. "Hey, what gives?! This isn't helping!"

            Light suddenly returned in the form of a great ring of white lamps positioned up on the concert hall's. And then rays of stage lights rose from beyond the stage itself. The ceiling began to scatter falling sparks as the display screens activated to reveal waving lights of pink and metallic blues that immediately brought to mind music videos of the 1980s. And finally... The floor of the central stage opened to reveal something rising up out of it. An elevator platform. And standing there in the open... "You guys made it after all?"

            Freddy. Monty. Roxanne. Chica. Battered and battle damaged, but still standing. With the lights and the screens putting on the glamour that glam rock is known for, I saw that the four of them had arrived while back in their element. Each of them was carrying an instrument with a colorful 80s aesthetic. Chica was hold an electric guitar with a light blue star shape to its based, Roxanne was carrying a green keytar that piqued my interest the instant I saw it, Monty was holding a bass guitar with an orange finish, and Freddy was holding a microphone affixed to a stand. And...they looked like they were trying to not laugh as they looked at me. My face tensed up as I suddenly realized why they looked so amused in the glow of the stage's lights. "Don't tell me you guys heard me screaming for help."

            "Yep. Funniest dang thing we've ever heard. We tried talking back, but I guess it was all a one-way call." Monty snickered before he glanced at the girls on stage with him. He then noticeably raised an eyebrow as he said, "So, what's that about Chica's sexy tits?"

            "Gah, forget it! Forget it, I never said that! You heard nothing!" I shrieked while rapidly waving my hands at them as a very different kind of fear filled my gut. That was all it took for the four of them to stagger about onstage while howling in laughter. At least they were being good sports about it.

            Alpha was hardly intimidated by the presence of the glam rock quartet up on stage. He sounded more perplexed than anything. "And just what do you mummers expect to do here? You come to the battlefield with musical instruments in hand? Are you simply here to strike up a dirge for your comrade?"

            Freddy of all people reached for his hat and adjusted its angle. His kind glowing eyes projected a much firmer gaze as his eyelid hatches turned inward. "More like providing a proper battle ballad for the finale! We can't fight something like you. So we'll do what we can from here."

            As much as I appreciated them playing a rocking theme to psyche me up as a means to try and overcome my apprehension against Alpha's horrifyingly effective body, that alone did not sound particularly helpful. But Chica then glanced at Roxanne while I am sure she would be smirking if her beak could show it. "And let's just say Roxy here noticed something...weird about how you sound."

            "I beg your pardon?" Alpha asked with a shift in tone. A chink in his emotional armor that caught my ear. He sounded just vaguely alarmed and I listened closely.

            Roxanne brought a hand to the top of her head and lightly tapped one ear. Her eyelid hatches narrowed as she said, "Let's just say I don't just look the part of a wolf. I hear something coming from you. Some kind of weird frequency. So we're gonna make some noise of our own!"

            Sound? Was Alpha manipulating all that scrap metal around him with an audio signal? Even so, how would they disrupt his control over them? Regardless, the mad machine king scowled defiantly at the four of them and regained his cocky dastardly facade. "Ha! Do what you will! Just stay out of my way. It's time for the curtain call!"

            "Sure thing, big man. We know we can't tangle with ya. But we're still gonna rock your world." Monty retorted before strumming his bass a bit with a few tweaks of his claws. The low frequency sounds of his instrument was broadcast throughout the auditorium. "Let's rock!"

            "Hunter." Freddy suddenly spoke out from on stage. I looked up at him while even Alpha paused in curiosity. The band's vocalist looked kindly upon me and said, "I know you're scared of this guy. We heard. But you can do this. You've beaten Alpha before. And you do it again. Do you know why?"

            I just shrugged my shoulders at this impromptu pep talk. And Freddy's bandmates just looked on patiently while ready to jam. The big bear of the band then pointed at me with his spare hand and spoke proudly while even winking one eye. "Because tonight, you are the superstar! Let's finish this, friend!"

            I am not sure what it was about those words, but...it really got to me. I found myself smiling as the four of them smiled at me while showing varying forms of emotional support in their body language. While Alpha merely snorted at this camaraderie, a genuine warmth filled my human soul. "You know what? When I came here, I didn't expect to be making new friends tonight."

            "Awww, we love you too, Hunter sweetie!" Chica squealed while propping up her guitar against herself for a moment to free up her hands. She then brought them together to display an adorable heart shape between both hands with fingers and thumbs touching. What a sweet hen she was. The band's guitarist then snatched up her guitar again and stood with her eyes narrowing with a surprisingly determined glare. "Anyway, who's ready to bring down the house?!"

            "Rock on! Here we go! This song's for you, Hunter!" Roxanne replied as they all took their positions on the platforms bordering the center stage. The stage lights and display screens went to work as they all started to set the stage for the finale of the story's conflict. But the music... It was the exact same song that had been serenading the brawl all night. Except now it was being played live. And Freddy...

            Alpha and I gazed upon the bear as he brought his microphone to his lips. I was especially surprised to hear him adjust his vocal pitch to sound like someone else entirely for this 80s action anthem. As the intro set the stage for the rest of that fantastic melody, Freddy began to sing along. "So you're trapped after dark in the park and you're tasked with surviving the night!"

            Between the lightshow that was beginning to illuminate the concert hall and the presence of my new friends cheering me on through what they do best, I turned to face Alpha with a smirk forming on my face. How could I not be fired up by that point? I had my own concert for myself serenading this duel! All the while, Freddy continued to sing along with that melody while energetically raising a fist. "So your ma and your pa have departed the party and left you to fight!"

            I raised the H-Buster at Alpha as he too smirked down at me deviously, his form as diabolical as it had been since the moment I first saw it. My HUD recalibrated itself to try and detect a weakness under that mass of metal tendrils to no avail. The presence of the Alpha Virus was thick and looked like a cloud of purple to my sensor suite. All the while, Freddy serenaded the buildup to our showdown. "So hang tight to the tickets you've won and your toy laser gun. Set your Faz-watch to FUN 'cause it's hide-and-seek hunted by musical monsters, ain't that what you wanted?! You came for some games and a bite!"

            Brutally effective lyrics that sounded like they were telling the tale of my struggle throughout the evening. Instead of feeling like they were trying to beat me down, the tone of the song was uplifting and even inspiring. I stood ready with my wing thrusters opening to prepare for quick maneuvers as Alpha readied many plasma blades atop tendrils rising from his mangled mass of a body. The last lyrics from Freddy I remember hearing before I had to focus exclusively on my enemy were as follows. "The doors have all closed, but the stage has been set! So on with the show, no escaping it yet! The night is still young and the fun's just begun! You've been played like your grave of arcade cabinets!"

            The battle began with a volley of plasma shots from the H-Buster before I shot up into the air with Alpha trying to slash me with that thicket of plasma blades. I went on a strafing run with rapid shots while Alpha tried to cut me out of the air with all of his laser emitters panning across the place and raking the walls beyond me. Trying to target his weapons specifically was impossible with them constantly shifting around in that mass of metal tentacles. I had to keep my distance.

            Or at least I tried to. Alpha suddenly sent out many of his metal tendrils to try and snatch me up as they rapidly extended. He had so much length coiled around him that there was probably enough tendrils in him to wrap around the entire auditorium several times. I swooped through the air to stay ahead of them only to be stopped short as I had to abruptly hit the breaks once a wall of purple lasers shot in front of me to form a wall. This was just the chance Alpha needed to snatch me up and start dragging me into that blob of metal horror. "You're mine now, Hunter! Come closer! Don't you want to know what it's like to see the beast from within?!"

            "No no no no no!" I squirmed and struggled with my limbs restrained while even my wing thrusters were being pinned shut to keep me from flying away. My boot thrusters just could not propel me hard enough to break free, like I was trapped in the clutches of the Mane-iac all over again. A mass of metal tendrils filled my vision as i was pulled in. Thinking fast, I used the only trick up my sleeve I could to break free. Vents opened along my body as I unleashed a Nova Strike and tore myself out of that forest of metal vines and right to the ceiling. Alpha yelled in pain as that plasma aura scorched his inner functions. I must have come dangerously close to hitting something important on the way out. Feeling pretty good about myself after that, I nervously laughed at my foe down below. "Ha! Probably shouldn't try that again!"

            "Indeed I will not! But I don't need to devour you to triumph here tonight!" Alpha snarled before he bounced right up at me on many tendrils coiling and releasing all at once like a bed of springs! His many tendrils whirled around himself to created a web of slashing plasma blades and forced me to just barely evade with a quick dash off to the side. But when he landed, I was surprised to see the impact with the floor caused his metallic blob of a body flatten out more than it probably should have. It was even a little slow to pull itself back together. And Alpha noticed too. "What the... What is this?! Why so unresponsive?!"

            I was just as confused as Alpha by then. Why was he having greater difficulty in controlling the mass of scrap metal around him? And then I noticed. My auditory sensors were adjusting themselves automatically to filter the music around us into being heard at the correct pitch. Because...the pitch was gradually shifting. The sound was becoming shriller over time. The frequency of the sound waves heightening... My eyes suddenly widened as I realized exactly what the glam rock quartet were doing. "High frequency sound interference?!"

            They really did figure it out. Alpha was not simply manipulating the mass of metal scrap around him with a wireless signal or even magnetism. He was using an audio system to send out commands. And the high frequency noise in the aid was beginning to hinder those signals. With the quarantine in effect over the concert hall, the sound waves filling the air were bouncing off of each other to gradually turn the place into a giant echo chamber! I called out to my allies, "He's starting to fall apart! Keep it up!"

            Time was not on Alpha's side. All I had to do was outlast him until the white noise around him became too overwhelming for him to control his body anymore. And rather than go after me, Alpha quickly turned his attention to the greatest threat in the room. "Is that your game?! Silencing my own voice?! Then it's time for your final curtain call!"

            "Oh god! Guys, no!" I yelped as Alpha suddenly lunged at the stage with dozens tendrils ready to grab the band and assimilate them into his own form. But they did not flinch and continued to play while putting on a very enthusiastic show. They looked like they were having the time of their lives. And I quickly found out why they were entirely unfazed. Alpha ended up slamming into a cylindrical barrier that surrounded the stage and reached all the way to the ceiling. I could not even see it until it responded to Alpha crashing into it. Probably just a standard security measure to keep overzealous fans from rushing the stage during a performance. I was very relieved to see that they were much safer than expected and brought a hand to the side of my head. "Phew! You guys had me going for a second!"

            "Gah, what is this?! Why must you make this so difficult for me?!" Alpha roared as he slashed at the barrier with many plasma blades. The translucent wall flickered with every strike, but held up well. "Silence, all of you! Enough of this mummer's farce!"

            Now that I had a moment to catch my breath, I was able to focus on the music around me. Freddy then pointed defiantly at Alpha as the machine monster loomed over them with his next line of lyrics almost sounding like they were being directed at him. "Come pick your destiny off of the menu!"

            Freddy was not the only one singing for this song. Chica, Monty, and Roxanne leaned towards Freddy and sang a quick line of backing vocals to follow his lead. "Fate won't wait 'til the sun comes up!"

            Alpha just growled in annoyance as I saw his many weaponized tendrils go limp and flop to the floor like piles of wet pasta. He was truly starting to struggle in getting a response out of his makeshift monster body. Freddy then closed his fingers into a fist while continuing to mock Alpha through song alone. "Or be laid to rest in your favorite venue!"

            And on cue, his three bandmates added another brief line of backing vocals. "Arcade to arcade, crust to crust!"

            "I said ENOUGH ALREADY!!!" Alpha roared as he exerted greater effort in pushing through the sonic smokescreen creeping into his body of tendrils. The limp cables before him returned to his body as he raised himself up high and unleashed his entire laser arsenal onto the barrier for one long continuous barrage. Trying to overwhelm the barrier's projectors into overloading itself.

            I had to act fast. As tough as that barrier was, it would only be able to endure that laser barrage for so long. I quickly checked my Variable Weapon System as I tried to find something that would really inconvenience Alpha into backing off. And I suddenly had an idea. My hardened armor turned an electric bluish green with my softer components becoming an equally electrifying yellow. I swiftly landed behind Alpha and took aim with the H-Buster reaching full charge. "Over hear, ugly! Thunder Dancer!"

            Several trails of bright electricity were launched from my cannon that instantly shot through the countless tendrils before me and causing the entire mass to briefly light up like a dynamo. Alpha howled as his assault suddenly stopped. With all that metal scrap in him having been scavenged from storage and having no protective insulation on it, Alpha's body was wide open to high voltage damage. He very nearly slumped to the floor before I saw his head emerge out of the backside of his body while he glared furiously at me. "This is supposed to be MY night to shine! A good horror story never has a happy ending!"

            "Then I guess it's time for a change in the formula!" I laughed before firing another rope of lightning into Alpha that rapidly spread across his body like an electric lasso. He was able to endure this enough to summon another thicket of plasma blades to cut me down and forced me to go airborne once again. Thunder Dancer would not reach a target from long range, so I had to discard it for now.

            As if as thanks for saving him and his bandmates from certain doom, Freddy sounded like he focused the next line of lyrics on me specifically. He pointed at me as the lightshow continued to dazzle us all with his voice still reaching my auditory sensors unedited. "In this amusement park, you are the superstar! We know that you'll go far, but you must choose your path! Those neon tubes cast shadows on a truth so dark! It's up to you to battle to its putrid heart!"

            "Man, animatronics have never been so cool!" I laughed as I started swapped to Shotgun Ice with my armor turning shades of icy blue and warm creamy yellow. I had no need to worry about friendly fire hitting my new friends as I started firing off randomly just to let the resulting ricocheting ice shards fly all over the concert hall. I was not so much trying to damage Alpha as much as I was trying to annoy him. Doing everything I could to throw off his aim while he tried to zap me out of the air with a weaving net of purple lasers.

            I could no longer focus on what the band was singing as I tried to stay out of reach of Alpha's laser barrage. He began to repurposed the plasma blade emitters into serving narrow long range attack purposes. A dozen lasers began to weave around me. Then two dozen. Then thirty. And then Alpha's attacks suddenly stopped. And I lowered my guard as well. I gazed down upon Alpha's amorphous metal form while hovering near the ceiling. Did he finally lose control of his body?

            He got me. Alpha's eyes began to glow brightly as he glared right up at me. And so many more purple lights filled that tentacle mass. Dozens? Hundreds? "Oh no."

            There was no way I could have gotten my left arm up in time with how fast lasers move. A wave of pain came over me as an entire wall of scorching laser beams slammed into my entire body. My HUD detected significant damage done by that one blast as I fell to the floor with a crash. "Cheap shot... Had me thinking he'd be immobilized..."

            I forced myself to sit up as Alpha began to draw near on a bed of slithering tendrils. He had me at a disadvantage again. But just when I thought I was in trouble... It happened. Some of the tendrils on one side began to go slack and slide to the floor. Alpha glanced to his left as his eyes widened in shock. "What?! No! No... Respond... Obey my will!"

            He got his tendrils to start to return to their position, but they then slumped back to the floor again. And then the rest of him began to follow. The auditory interference had finally reached a fever pitch and was becoming too thick in the air. Alpha simply could not scream loud enough for the rest of his body to hear him. And the song even sounded like it was on the verge of wrapping up by then. Alpha's entire amorphous metal body began to just go flat. Slumping to the floor as he growled and threw his head from one side to the other to desperately try and get a response out of his many limbs. And once Alpha's body was reduced to nothing but a vast puddle of lifeless metal cables, I saw it. What little of his actual body was there stood exposed. He was little more than a head attached to his exposed upper torso with a micro fusion core powering him. Completely immobilized, there was virtually nothing protecting it at all.

            The time had come. Fatigue and relief coming over me, I climbed to my feet and reverted to my default settings. I took aim and locked on to Alpha's exposed power source while charging the H-Buster to a half charge. I smirked at the villain of the night as I said my parting words. "Party's over, Alpha."

            My plasma shot flew and exploded into Alpha's fusion core without missing. Alpha's body recoiled, but did not fall over. I began to back away as the fusion core began to glow brightly now that its integrity had reached critical levels. But Alpha... He did not sound upset at all. He began to cackle wildly. As if knowing this was only a minor setback. And he was right. As long as the Alpha Virus existed, we would not see the last of him.

            Alpha went out laughing like the mad tyrant he is. A vast explosive sphere of incinerating orange burst out from him and very nearly reached me. When the blast faded, he was gone. The puddle of tendrils under him had been reduced to a molten mess except around the edges and had even helped protect the floor. The music finally faded out as the entire concert hall went quiet. And I just...let myself fall right onto my back. It was over. "Good god, that was too much... Now I see why I don't do this more often..."

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            All I did was stare at the starry ceiling above. Just to relax after one hell of a horror show of a night. But I was not undisturbed for long. I could hear heavy metallic footsteps rapidly approaching as the lightshow on stage dimmed down. Freddy very soon was above me and kneeled beside me with a hand under my head. "Hunter! Hunter, are you OK?! Hang in there, superstar!"

            "Yeah... Yeah, I'm good. Just...finally have a chance to rest, right?" I chuckled weakly to the gentle giant above me. I really was not all that busted up. I had been in worse shape by the end of prior adventures into the world of Project H. I think I was more mentally exhausted than physically. The rest of the band soon gathered around with their instruments in hand and their eyes all displayed the same gaze. Their eyelid hatches were instead tilted outward to convey a look of sadness or concern. And I had to tell them the truth. "Guys... Since it needs to be said... If you didn't show up tonight, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have made it. Thank you."

            Chica dropped her guitar and clutched her hands together with a gaze that appeared to be somewhere between upset and overjoyed. The sweet white hen quickly kneeled beside me and scooped my entire body into her arms for such a tender cuddle against her hardened pink bosom. I even felt her nuzzle the top of my head with her head's own round casing rolling from side to side. "Awwww, Hunter...! It's all gonna be OK. We're just glad we all made it in the end."

            Roxanne soon kneeled beside me as well, but then cast Freddy an almost suspicious gaze. She then suddenly reached out and forcefully pried his stomach hatch open while Freddy objected quite loudly. "Roxy, what're you doing?!"

            "Open up, Fazbear! I know you grabbed another can off the floor in the lobby!" Roxanne grumbled before reaching in and pulling out just that. It was another beverage can full of that liquid energy drink we had all consumed much earlier that night. She quickly pulled the tab open and brought the can to my lips to help me drink it. The wild she wolf gazed at me with a much kinder look in her eyes while her voice also softened. "Here you go, hero. Drink up. That'll fix you up, right?"

            It was pretty adorable with how concerned they all were with me. I was not so damaged that I could not move. I simply wanted a moment to relax after such a harrowing ordeal. Regardless, that liquid energy did fuel some minor repairs to my internal systems. And my eyes also widened when I detected something in the liquid. "Hm! Strawberry and kiwi flavor? I didn't know this stuff even had different flavors to try."

            "What? Ya think only organic folks come here for a good time? We get plenty of robo guests too. Gotta have something for everyone, ya know?" Monty chuckled while he kneeled beside me once Roxanne set the empty can aside while I remained cradled in Chica's arms. And in his arms was his bass guitar. He and I looked at each other and then at the vibrant light orange instrument before Monty muttered, "So, uh... About that autograph..."

            Montgomery really was as big of a fan of Project H's protagonist as he claimed to be. He even seemed a bit nervous now that the opportunity had come up. I cracked an amused smirk and said, "Heh, sure. I did promise I would if we survived the night. How do you want me to do this? Got a marker or pen?"

            The excited gator instead said, "Actually, I was thinking... Maybe something a bit more permanent. Like...maybe carve it in?"

            "Hmmm... I think I know what you mean. OK, give it here. I think I have a setting for that." I retorted while raising the H-Buster on my right arm. My HUD detected its settings being adjusted for the lowest possible energy output and on an extremely focused projection. Monty held his bass perfectly still as I took aim for the bottom right corner.

            I wondered how I would do this. How should I even write Hunter's name? And then it occurred to me. I knew exactly how to do this. My arm moved stiffly as a thin trail of plasma was emitted from the H-Buster's mouth to etch in a permanent pattern into the tough outer shell. I was working off of memory as my arm went on autopilot. A moment later, Hunter's name was left prominently displayed on that spot while written in the same stylized font used for the Project H cover text. "There you go."

            Monty's jaw dropped open wide as his eyes lit up in utter joy. He then cradled his bass against his chest like it was his own child. "Aw man, you're the best! I ain't never gonna smash this baby on stage! I think I'm even gonna read her a bedtime story before I turn in tonight... Really, thanks. I'm gonna treasure this forever."

            Roxanne and Chica got a giggle out of Monty's sincerity while he cradled his beloved bass in his arms. But now that their musical instruments had my attention, there was something I had to ask. I looked at Freddy and asked, "Hey, I gotta say... That song you sang tonight? That was totally awesome. A killer tune. I'd love to hear it again sometime."

            Freddy's response was very unexpected. And even the rest of his bandmates glanced about nervously too. "You think so? To be honest, we kind of...came up with it as we went along. It was all improvising."

            "You serious? You really came up with the lyrics on the fly? That's...some impressive genius, to be honest here." I spoke with a crooked smile on my face. But then I asked, "Well then... Since you literally just came up with a new song... What's the title?"

            Freddy glanced back and forth at his friends before he just shrugged his shoulders at me. "A Pizza the Action?"

            "Pahahahaha, that's too perfect!" I howled in sudden laughter at such a corny yet fitting title after all of that cheesy 80s dialogue I had heard that night. "Yeah, sure! Write that down! The guests will totally dig it!"

            I was finally helped back onto my feet as those four towering performers stood around me while still showing the scars of the battle we had all survived. My HUD displayed the time now that the story's conflict had ended, but I was surprised by the time. "Wow, it's only half past 4 AM? I'm surprised it's not dawn yet. Don't you guys have a way to override the security lockdown at the front door?"

            "Sorry, that's just a feature of this establishment. It absolutely can't be overridden. It's just that way by design. The lockdown won't be lifted until 6 AM arrives." Freddy explained with some unease. He sounded genuinely embarrassed to be unconviencing an honored guest, as were the others. He then hastily mentioned, "But...we'll do what we can to make sure the rest of your stay here is a pleasant one!"

            The hen, wolf, and gator all nodded together while showing their best smiles in spite of their stiff jaws. Even after such a mess, they just wanted to make sure I was having a good time. I waved my hands at them in an attempt to not look like I was annoyed with being stuck there. "Hey, I'm not exactly in a hurry to leave. I was kind of enjoying myself in just exploring the place before Alpha sicced his toys on me."

            "In that case, how about we give you a tour? It's your first time here and there's no other guests requiring our attention." Freddy asked with a smile while I was actually pretty thrilled with the offer. I had not seen all that much of the facility and discovered while being pursued that it was much larger than I could have ever expected. Although he did take a good look at the mess of metal tendrils left behind by Alpha and cringed at the sight of his remains. At least my HUD was no longer detecting any traces of the Alpha Virus in the wreckage. "I just hope they won't mind the mess in the morning..."

            I followed the four glam rock performers out of the concert hall now that the quarantine had been lifted. And we were immediately greeted by the sheer scale of collateral damage left behind by Alpha dragging himself after me throughout the complex. Virtually everything he crawled over was crushed or torn from its foundations in the floor. We all looked back and forth down the hall as we stood in the middle of that first hall. Monty muttered in disbelief, "Do ya think our insurance policy will cover this?"

            Freddy rubbed a hand over his head and adjusted the little decorative top hat up there as he said in exasperation, "I certainly hope so... Even if they will, we'll be closed for weeks at this rate."

            Chica then excitedly raised a hand and turned to face us. "We can always provide catering services!"

            Roxanne gave her bandmate a thumbs up gesture and appeared to be smiling. "Right on! We'll just bring the party to them!"

            As we walked along the ruined halls while taking in the sheer extent of damage done during all that chaos, I felt it was necessary to point out that such a night was probably not the best time to give me a tour of the facility. "I'm starting to think we should reschedule that tour... Got any other ideas on what we should do with our time?"

            The four of them appeared to be at a loss of what to suggest. At least until Chica spoke up. "Pizza?"

            Monty tilted his head to one side in confusion. "Pizza?"

            Roxanne was less confused and even held up a hand with the other on her waist. "Pizza."

            Freddy then looked at me with the rest of his bandmates all giving me a...peculiar stare with their eyelid hatches narrowing. "Pizza."

            "Guys... Why're you looking at me like that... Hey!" I yelped as they all grabbed me together. A few seconds later, I was seated on Monty's shoulders while he kept his hands on my legs with Freddy carrying his bass for the moment. "Whoa, what's going on?! Where we going?!"

            "A victory feast, Hunter! To the food court!" Chica cheered as she led her bandmates along with quite the eager spring in her step. I suppose I should not have been surprised. A pizza party to cap off an adventure in a setting right out of the 80s? I could not imagine a more fitting finale.

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            The food court was one of the few places Alpha did not chase me through and was in exactly the same shape as last time. Although the amount of time it took for us to get there did not escape my notice. "Just how many city blocks does this place cover? It feels like it took us at least ten minutes just to get here."

            Freddy chuckled uneasily as he replied, "Several city blocks. And we needed one full city block just for the parking lot."

            "I think I need to stop asking questions about this establishment on just my first visit..." I muttered while trying not to wrap my head around that place. I did not want to take in too much of the place on my first time. It would be best to pace myself.

            I was set down at one side of a long table while the band set their instruments aside. Chica remained standing while the rest of her bandmates took a seat with Freddy and Monty at my sides. Boys on one side and girls on the other. The peckish hen then said, "Make yourselves comfy! I'll be right back! I'm sure they won't mind me raiding the fridge tonight."

            Chica went jogging off and disappeared into the kitchens behind the counters. I looked back and forth at my hosts and asked, "Chica can cook?"

            "Sure she can. She even runs her own cooking show attraction every other day." Roxanne replied from the other side of the table.

            It felt so weird to just be chilling at a table with those colorful performers. I felt like I was just one of the boys hanging with that glam rock band. I have never had the privilege of being able to enjoy an afternoon with a famous band of musicians of celebrities, so this was about as close as I would ever get to that. And I felt unbelievably out of place as they chatted each other up. Freddy eventually noticed my prolonged silence and asked, "Is there anything wrong, superstar?"

            I was almost startled by that big glamorous bear looking down at me. "Huh? Oh, not at all. It's good to be here. It's just that...well...I have no idea what to say. You guys are a bunch of superstars here and I'm just...uh..."

            "Ha hahahaha! Get a load of this guy! The dude trashes the biggest bad bot in town and acts like he's nothing special!" Monty laughed while rather firmly patting me on the back. He reached for the sunglasses on his face to pull them forward and glance over them...only to be reminded that they were gone. The disappointed gator rolled his eyes before saying, "Don't be so modest, champ. You're the real hero here tonight. Live a little!"

            "Guys, you all know I wouldn't have made it if you didn't come to my rescue! I was at a critical disadvantage since the start! I was literally running for my life when you showed up!" I replied louder than I normally do. And I was not simply trying to not get an ego. I was not wrong. I surely would not have survived until 6 AM without them. And even if I did, it would have been an unbearably long wait as I fled from my pursuers all night with nowhere to hide.

            My rebuttal of Monty's praise did not sit well with Roxanne. I saw her eyelid hatches narrow considerably. Not exactly a glare, but still a very disapproving gaze. She then set her hand firmly on the table to get my attention. "OK, sure. Maybe we saved your shell tonight. But what about everything that happened before tonight? Who saved the day then, huh?"

            I have to wonder what crises Hunter has been involved in that have not been explicitly covered in every Project H issue thus far. Surely things happen that the readers do not see. Freddy then rested a hand on my shoulder plate and began to speak in a soft and almost fatherly tone. "We know who you are, Hunter. And we know what you've done for the people of Maretropolis. Even if you don't think you're a hero, you are one in our eyes. And we were absolutely thrilled to be able to help you tonight."

            Monty also rested a hand on my other shoulder as he joined in. "No kidding. We wish we could be even half as rocking awesome as you. We always rock on stage, but you're the guy who actually gets stuff done. The kind of guy who makes a difference."

            Despite their protests and display of humility, I was not going to let these amazing performers put themselves down like that. "Guys, no... No, don't think you don't make a difference. Music... The arts. It's a powerful muse. I only just met you guys, but after seeing how you guys are in your element? On the stage? You're amazing. If that's how awesome you are when you're coming up with something on the fly, I can't imagine how awe-inspiring you are when you come to the stage with something planned. You've definitely inspired others even before tonight. I know you have. And I want to see more someday."

            They were left speechless for a moment and did not seem entirely sure of what to say to that. But Roxanne... She looked like she was trying to hide her face. She even sounded like she was holding back tears as she spoke with a quivering voice. "Dang it, Hunter... I didn't wanna cry tonight!"

            We thankfully did not have to wait much longer. We soon noticed the telltale sound of heavy mechanical footsteps approaching. Chica was on her way back over with quite a few pizzas on hand. Or rather two pizzas balancing atop each outstretched arm with a fifth balanced delicately atop her head. Although it felt far too soon for her to have been able to put together and bake that many. "Wait, hasn't it only been five minutes or so? How'd you do that so fast?"

            "Because these pizzas don't really need an oven, Hunter!" Chica replied before she gracefully slid the four pizzas down her arms and onto the table one at a time before setting the one on her head down with both hands. "We've got classic pepperoni, a deluxe with the works, a meat lover's special, veggie alfredo, and tropical style for the daring...huh? Hey, what's wrong? What's with the melancholy atmosphere here?"

            Chica was very keen to the shift in tone after she had left the table. And Freddy was the first to speak. "Let's just say our superstar here had some very kind words for us."

            Roxanne motioned with her hand for Chica to approach. She then whispered something into the side of Chica's head right where that triangular earring was dangling. That adorable white hen clasped her hands together as she looked right at me with eyes that looked halfway shut. "Awwww, Hunter... Come here! Right now!"

            I remained where I was as Chica ran right around the table to my side before shoving Monty aside. She grabbed me in an embrace and planted her beak's lipstick pattern right against my cheek for a kiss. "You're exactly how I hoped you would be. You total sweetheart!"

            Monty was just laughing at Chica's adoration of Hunter while Roxanne had her arms crossed while shaking her head with whatever she could manage for an amused smirk. But Freddy then whispered to me, "You should see her green room sometime. Chica's...got a few things of you in there."

            I had nothing to say to that. Was Hunter really such a big deal to these robotic performers? Although it was then that I took a good look at the five pizzas on the table. And they looked...not quite right. Like they were somewhere between actual edible pizzas and plastic toy prop versions of the food. I glanced at Chica at my side and asked, "Hey, Chica... Are you sure we can really eat these things?"

            Chica released her grasp on me before winking at me in a whimsical fashion. "You bet! Let's just say...these are solid food versions of those energy drinks we had earlier. But I went with the low energy versions. We don't need a full recharge twice tonight."

            "So we can eat this stuff? Then...I guess I'll try it?" I muttered before reaching for the pepperoni pizza while my four companions watched with great interest. As the guest of honor, they looked excited to let me try their wares first. And when I took that first bite... Due to the lack of a proper throat and the muscles inside it, I could not really swallow. But I did feel that mouthful of pizza practically dissolve in my mouth before sliding down my throat. And most surprising of all was the flavor. "Hey! I can actually taste this! That's pepperoni, all right!"

            "Told ya! Now let's chow down!" Monty laughed before they all took their places at the table and started reaching for a slice. I tried a little of everything except for the deluxe pizza. I was especially surprised to find how tasty that tropical pizza was. Pineapple is surprisingly flavorful on pizza when paired with pork products. Although I was surprised by Chica. She had quite the appetite and kept eating after the rest of her bandmates had their fill.

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            While we dined on pizza, I went silent while I did what I did best. I just listened in on them chatting each other up. They felt so alive and oozed with personality in spite of the limitations of there animatronic designs. Despite being machines, they felt like real people. The presence of those four glam rock performers was comforting. A light in the darkness after such a harrowing ordeal. Roxanne eventually looked my way after she had her fill and asked, "So, Hunter... How would you rank your first time at our place?"

            I almost laughed at her nearly smug gaze Roxanne was giving me. "Since you ask... After factoring how the Nightmare Night horrors we dealt with tonight... I'm having a good time. I'm glad I came here. I need to remember to bring Hum Drum along sometime."

            The mention of the colt wonder of the Power Ponies generated a response from them I did not expect. Chica suddenly leaned over the table towards me with both palms planted on it. "You know Hum Drum?!"

            Did the Power Ponies already bring him by after the place opened? Regardless, I told them what I could. "Yeah! The Power Ponies and I collaborate pretty frequently! You know the kid?"

            Monty spoke next with some gusto in his words. "Yeah, that kid's a real fighter! Pulling his weight with the #1 heroes of Maretropolis? The little dude's a serious inspiration for the little tykes."

            Freddy then patted me on the back as he said, "When he first showed up and we saw him, we gave him a full tour of the facility just before closing time. It was the least we could do for the junior hero."

            It was good to hear that Hum Drum was taking time to just enjoy being a kid now and then. But as I remembered the last time he and I crossed paths the last time I ventured into the world of the Power Ponies... A sense of dread came over me. I asked cautiously, "Wait... When you last saw him last time, how was he holding up? Any bandages? Maybe walking with a limp?"

            The four of them looked genuinely confused over my concern. Roxanne looked at me with wide eyes and spoke, "Huh? No, he was completely fine last time he came here. Why? Was he supposed to be in the hospital?"

            This response soothed a deep fear I had. I could still remember the tears I shed when I thought I was beholding a child's corpse that night. "No, it's just... The kid got roughed up pretty bad during an earlier mission when he tried to save me during a solo mission... I thought we lost him. It does my heart good to know he made a full recovery."

            "Sounds like the kid's a good friend if he risked his neck for you like that. He's a real superstar." Roxanne replied while I am sure she would be smiling very warmly if she could. All I could do was nod in silence. That memory still haunts me. And it has only become more bitter now that I have truly become a father in recent months...

            Once the pizza trays had been left empty and conversation topics had run dry, the four glam rock performers rose from their seats. It must have been past 5 AM by that point. My HUD had since retracted back into my helmet to leave my face uncovered, so I could not be bothered to check directly. Although they all looked down at me as if anticipating something while Chica asked, "Soooooo... Hunter? Mind if we ask for a survey? How was your first time hanging with us?"

            "You want some customer feedback? Lemme think a second..." A perfectly valid question after my first visit to that establishment. As I scanned the four of them, I thought of the wittiest response I could offer. "I have to say... Out of all the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle rip-offs I've seen over the years, you guys are easily the best one yet."

            Unsurprisingly, my response only served to confuse them. The four glam rock musicians just looked back at each other with their eyelid hatches displaying some of the weirdest stares I had seen out of them yet. But Monty almost sounded offended as he loomed over me. "Huh? You're telling us there's a bunch of weird turtle guys in town trying to steal our thunder? And where can we find these bozos? They hiding in the sewers somewhere?"

            "Oh for the love of... No! There isn't! Forget it, OK?! I'm just trying to be funny here! You guys are great! Absolutely awesome! Really, I mean that. You all rock!" I raised my hands while trying to dissuade them from assuming they had competition that did not exist. Confused as they were, the four of them did get a laugh out of my reply. But as I too stood up while my four new friends flexed and stretched to work out any strains in their systems, I suddenly had a realization. Something I had all but forgotten about. "Hey, wait! Isn't there a fifth member of your band? I saw someone just a moment before you guys showed up. Some guy...hanging from a light fixture above in the lobby."

            Freddy quickly turned to me and replied happily, "Oh, him? Yes, he helped us track you down while we were trying to navigate our way through the utility tunnels to bypass are the lockdowns Alpha had left in our way. He has his own unique way of moving around freely. But no... No, he's not a part of the band."

            "He's not? Come to think of it, he didn't look like he was designed for the stage... Although he was pretty far away last time. Who is he anyway?" I asked again while trying to recall the details of that mysterious surveyor who showed up and departed in equally perplexing fashion.

            "Why don't we just introduce you to him?" Chica replied before bringing her hands to her beak and calling out into the rest of the complex. "Sunny! Come on out! Someone wants to say hello!"

            Sunny? Just moments later, I could hear what sounded like...a windup toy or the clicking of the insides of an old clock. It did not sound like anything I had heard that night. And I was almost startled to hear a very chipper voice call out from above followed by the sound of something landing behind me. "Ho, ho ho! Hellllllooooo!!!"

            I promptly turned around and looked down to find the exact same clownish character I had spotted before. And he really did look exactly the way I remembered him. A smiling hardened mask serving as a face with many triangles serving as the rays of a sun lining the perimeter of his head. Baggy pants bearing yellow and red stripes lined his legs while his feet consisted of floppy oranges shoes that curled up and over the top of his feet ending in spherical bells. Little crescent moon designs adorned the sides and I also noticed how his face also had a smiling crescent moon design facing his left. It created the optical illusion of either a full circular face or a crescent moon set over one half. His upper body, arms, and hands were a pale creamy white with red ribbons hanging from his wrists. And I was surprised to find he was actually a little shorter than me unlike the towering glam rock performers behind me. The two of us shared a long silent stare while I absolutely could not read the guy's mood behind that frozen mask of a face. I suddenly glanced over at my new friends and asked, "Who's this guy?"

            Rather than let them answer for me, the robotic clown spoke up first. And so loudly and full of life too. "Why, I am the daycare attendant! I look after all the little fillies and colts who are too small to appreciate the rest of the attractions around the place! And you must be Hunter!"

            I was almost startled as the daycare attendant suddenly grabbed my left hand between both of his and gave it a hearty shake. "Hum Drum has told me so many great things about you! And I see you gave that dastardly Alpha what for tonight! Bravo, Hunter! Bravo!"

            "Uh... Heh heh... Yeah, I guess we all did. Nice to meet you, Sun... Um..." I replied as he finally released my hand. Out of curiosity, I looked him over before taking hold of the sides of his sunny head. The daycare attendant yelped and tried to keep his balance as I turned his head to one side with his waving arms making all sorts of clicking and clacking sounds. I found that his head was remarkably flat with all sorts of wires and brass components on the other side reminding me of a more modern music box. While the animatronic designs of the four glam rock performers deliberately invoked the look of vintage animatronic puppets from a few decades ago, this particular android looked even more antiquated. As if he was designed to resemble theoretical robot designs from a full century ago. It did not help that his outward appearance brought to mind something one might expect to see in a fairytale or children's bedtime story. "Where's your exoskeleton? How do you swap it out?"

            "Oh, no no no, there's no exoskeleton inside me!" The sunny fellow said while I let go of him. He then took a grandstanding pose with legs brought together and arms held high. "This is just my design! The clicking of the wheels of a clock brings back memories of much simpler times. I bring a sense of wonderment to the littlest children of the city. And I take so much pride in my work! Nothing makes my day like seeing the fillies and colts leaving the daycare with a smile!"

            He was so passionate about his role in the entertainment complex. I suppose it is true that the youngest children have a soft spot for things that older audiences have outgrown. While I am uncertain of Hum Drum's age, I think he might be at the threshold where he can enjoy such whimsical entertainment along with the fun stuff all the other guests like to have during visits. And I was especially glad I did not pass through any area that could have been the daycare. The poor guy would have gotten caught in the crossover and he clearly was much too fragile to help out in a fight. No wonder he fled once those infected husks spotted him. I lighted patted the daycare attendant on the shoulder and said, "Well then, I'm glad you've been good to Hum Drum. The kid's got it rough with the Power Ponies."

            "And be good, I shall! But now that the mess is over..." The daycare attendant began to say before he began to merrily skip away over to a distant table. And he promptly snatched up a spare camera left on a table. It appeared to be the instant photo kind and even kind of resembled Freddy's head in some ways. He then came back over with camera in hand and asked, "How about a group photo to commemorate our first hellos?"

            "Hey, I was just thinking that too! Gather 'round, guys! Hunter, you get in the middle." Monty said while we all got into position. Roxanne and Chica were in the front while the slightly taller Monty and Freddy were behind us. They took all manner of poses while I even armed my H-Buster and got my visor back up to complete the look. Roxanne made a mean devil horn's hand gesture while Chica squatted just enough to bring her head beside mine while even putting her arms around me for a hug. I felt a little giddy as it almost seemed like Chica was trying to look like she might give me a kiss at any second.

            "Excellent! Hold that pose, people!" The sunny photographer called out before holding the camera up higher to find the right angle. "All right now! Everyone say pizza!"

            And we did. The five of us chanted that word in unison while the four animatronic robots beside me had their jaws open to show their best smiles. And a bright flash came forth from the camera to illuminate us. But while I did not mind it much, the entire band recoiled with yells of discomfort and covered their faces. Roxanne roared in frustration, "Owww, why'd you gotta have that turned up so high?!"

            "Whoops! Did they leave the flash settings maxed out?! It didn't occur to me to check!" The daycare attendant stammered while I stepped away from them out of concern. They did not seem to have been damaged by the flash. It was only massively uncomfortable. A design issue with their optic sensors? Perhaps a camera flash at maximum brightness to them is like having a flash bang grenade going off in one's face. But the situation quickly calmed once the daycare attendant took hold of the photo that slid out of the camera's front slot. "Anyway, it's right here! How does it look?"

            Monty growled lowly as we all gathered around to wait for the photo to develop. It really was just like those old cameras that could produce and develop photos on the spot. "It better be perfect. I ain't having that thing going off in my face again."

            It only took around ten seconds before the image became clear. And as I held the photo in hand, I immediately laughed at the state we were all in. The posing and lighting looked great, but the actual physical conditions we were in? "Wow, are we really that busted up right now? We could all use an overhaul."

            "Ouch, look at all those cracks and scuffs! But I guess that just shows how hard a fight we had tonight, huh?" Chica winced at the sight of us. We still looked pretty good, but the battle damage we endured that evening was apparent.

            Roxanne was hardly bothered. If anything, her head of tail and her fluffy tail were noticeable spotless and perfectly kempt at the time. It looked like she had gone the entire night without it becoming frayed or damaged. "You bet. This is our victory photo. We all need to get a copy of this."

            I handed the photo to Freddy since he seemed like the right guy to leave it with. He then appeared to glance at nothing and said, "Wow... It's already 5:15 AM? Just a little longer until the lockdown ends. And I think we could all use a little sleep mode."

            While I am sure their battery supplies were still running on a high charge with all the extra energy they had consumed that night, I am sure the lot of them were feeling genuinely fatigued. Their bodies needed to rest. I turned to them and said, "I can see myself out. I know how to get to the lobby from here."

            "Yes, it is time to say goodnight! And a jolly good morning to us all! But first..." The sunny photographer said before bringing his hands together and quickly clapping them twice. As if on cue, all of the lights illuminating the food court suddenly shut off. The place was dimly lit to begin with, but now the only light in the place was coming from the neon decorations and illuminated and animated billboards.

            In the brief moment it took my optic sensors to adjust to the very low light situation, I realized that the daycare attendant was no longer in front of me. Only for me to hear his voice from above me. But instead of his enthusiastic and bombastic energy, the daycare attendant spoke with a much softer an even raspier tone. A voice that oozed with a mysterious yet whimsical intent. "You've all had a long night. Now, off to bed to rest your heads. Tomorrow is another day."

            I felt the daycare attendant lightly pat me on the head with his hand before the clicking of his many inner workings filled the air. When I looked up, I found out how he was able to get around the place so well and from so high up. He was hanging from a retractable wire hanging from a pulley system attached to the ceiling. It could probably go anywhere. And he even looked like he was...swimming through the air as he was carried away. A very elegant breaststroke. And despite the poor lighting, I could see that his form had changed. What was red and yellow was now a solid blue lined with yellow stars. And the triangular sun rays lining the sides of his face had disappeared only to be replaced with a vintage nightcap on his head that bore the blue with yellow stars motif. "Huh... The place has its own sandman."

            "There's a naptime schedule in the daycare and he has a setting for that too." Freddy said from behind me. I turned to face my new friends and saw that their irises were still glowing brightly and allowed me to pinpoint exactly where they were. Freddy then said, "I'm going to get in contact with the police department before we turn in for the night. They'll probably be waiting outside for right when the doors open at 6 AM."

            "Sounds like a plan. Anyway..." I replied before gazing back and forth at the four of them. Even in the dark, I could see how their eyelid hatches were pivoting and partially blocking their irises to display an almost unhappy gaze. As if they were hesitant to say goodbye. I looked back and forth at them as I said softly, "I had...a good time. Or it became a good time once you guys showed up."

            "Heh, it was pretty cool that we pulled our weight tonight. You just keep up the good fight out there, hero." Monty said as he reached out and tapped his fist to mine. He then winked at me as he added, "And I'm gonna put out some wicked solos now that my axe's got your name on it."

            I saw Chica coming in close and felt her arms around me. She once again brought the front of her beak to my cheek as I felt the outline of her lipstick pattern against it. "We'll miss you..."

            This time, I returned her affections. I put my arms around Chica as we just held each other for a moment. "Thank you..."

            Chica was hesitant to let go, but she did whisper into my auditory sensor before doing so. "You're everything I hoped you'd be tonight. Come back soon, OK?"

            "Count on it." I muttered back to her. Once Chica released me, I turned to Freddy and found myself in another embrace. The big cuddly bear held me warmly like an old friend who did not want to say goodbye yet. "Uh... Freddy?"

            "Take care out there, superstar. We'll always be rooting for you." He said softly to me. And I just had to return that hug. It was such a welcome change of pace after all that chaos that night. The warmth of new friends... It is something one can only experience so many times.

            I lastly turned to Roxanne. And she seemed...hesitant to reach out to me. Why? Was it her tough girl reputation amongst her bandmates? She finally rolled her eyes and patted me on my shoulder plate and said smugly, "You totally rocked tonight, Hunter. See you later. And Happy Nightmare Night."

            "It's definitely a Nightmare Night I won't ever forget." I said with a bit of a chuckle. For being such a rough ride, it was an experience I could look back on and laugh about. The four amazing performers hesitantly turned away and gathered up their instruments before making their way out of the food court. We parted ways up the stars as I started to make my way back towards the lobby.

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            What a mess... Alpha and his four puppets had spread so much damage through the halls that it was almost depressing to walk through. All the while, a gentle ambience played through the complex's audio system. A perfect soft melody to unwind to. And I certainly needed it. I eventually reached the lobby with maybe thirty minutes to go before those sturdy shutters opened.

            I took the time to survey the area. And I took a look down into the fissure left in the floor from Alpha summoning that mass of scrap metal to his location. It looked like they had crawled down a utility tunnel and burst through the ceiling. What shocked me most was that a solid layer of concrete had been in the way. "The power of numbers is something I need to stop underestimating..."

            I stepped away from the fissure and stood before the shutters as I contemplated the events of that night. A horror story with a happy ending. Thank goodness. But I did not have long to be alone with my thoughts. Something started to reach my ears. A sound that rekindled a new type of dread in my heart. Heavy metallic footsteps. Just like when that nightmare got started. "Not another one..."

            I suddenly turned to look back into the complex ahead of me. And I saw them. A pair of glowing animatronic eyes looking right at me. Someone was approaching. But just when I was about to arm the H-Buster and bring up my visor, I noticed that the eyes... The glow filling those irises was not purple. It was...yellow. "Roxanne?"

            "Just call me Roxy." She replied softly through that robotic filter in her voice. She approached me at a leisurely pace. I assumed her bandmates were there too and just wanted to send me off with a smile. Or even just be there to talk to the police as soon as the shutters opened. But no. She was alone. I did not see the telltale glow of her bandmates' eyes behind her. The lone she wolf stood before me and asked, "How much longer until you head out?"

            "I think around twenty minutes." I retorted without bothering to check the time. I then asked, "So then... What's up? Where are the others?"

            "Back in their green rooms. I just...wanted to talk. Alone." She replied with a softer tone that almost sounded unlike what I had come to expect from her that night. Even in that very poor lighting, I could see that her eyes were never wide open. Their eyelid hatches were constantly partially closed on some angle. But never in an aggressive manner. She looked...relaxed. Probably even happy. Roxanne then added, "Didn't want anyone listening in, you know?"

            "I get it. There's some things you can't really discuss freely, even in the company of your best friends." I replied while she just nodded in confirmation. I could see that Roxanne did not want to talk about anything serious, so I made my way over to a bench set up against the outer wall. Roxanne soon joined me and took a seat at my side. "So, you wanted to talk?"

            "Yeah. Just about...stuff." She said almost nervously. It was a strange role reversal I had felt so insignificant in the company of that amazing band of performers, but now Roxanne looked and sounded like she was the insecure one. "I have to say... It was such a thrill getting to take on the bad guys with you tonight. We've heard about you. But...I never got to see you in action until tonight."

            She was not the only one with praise to offer. I smiled at Roxanne and said, "I still can't get over how well you guys can actually fight. Those things had a tactical advantage over you with those weapon systems, but you still wrecked them with your bare hands. You're tough. And you know how to bring the pain."

            Roxanne reveled in that praise. She then said, "That was our first time having to enter security mode. Gotta admit... I was kinda nervous doing that with you watching. And...you're nothing like what I imagined."

            "I'm...not? In what way?" I retorted with an eyebrow raising. I almost expected her to chew me out. I know I lost my cool many times due to the sheer disadvantage I was at and the monstrous situation my enemies had me trapped in. It probably was very unbecoming of the robotic sentinel of Maretropolis.

            "Easy there. I'm not about to diss you." Roxanne said with a subtle chuckle in her throat. Her gaze began to wander as she explained, "Chica always said she expected you to be the nicest guy. A real hero everyone loves. But...I didn't believe her. I always expected you to be a rock hard pro who never loses his cool. Completely unflappable, you know? Totally stoic no matter how bad the situation gets."

            I honestly found that assumption to be very unflattering. It is such an unhealthy stereotype to impose onto role models. But Roxanne then turned my way and I could see through her eyes that she was smiling. "I'm glad you proved me wrong. You're an amazing guy. You know how to try having fun when you can. And you don't hide your emotions to look tough. I like that. I mean I know I'm the tough girl of the band, but I really do like that."

            I cracked a crooked smile as I then thought back to something I knew she heard. "Really...? Even when I was straight up panicking and running for my life with you guys hearing every little scream?"

            "Hey, we were scared of Alpha too when he turned into a big metal blob! No shame in being freaked out by that!" Roxanne exclaimed before we both found ourselves laughing at the memory. My lupine companion then sighed while looking up at the ceiling high above. "I just hope we won't have to deal with that kind of trouble again."

            "I'm pretty sure this establishment won't be attracting threats of that caliber. This was just a special occasion. Or at least I think that's what Alpha was going for tonight." I muttered while also staring up at nothing in particular. Morning was not there yet. It was still Nightmare Night.

            Roxanne sighed again as I saw the glow of her eyes disappear. I initially thought that she had malfunction or even shut down unexpectedly, but I quickly realized she merely had her eyes closed. "Yeah... But honestly... I wouldn't mind going up against some crazy bad guys again...as long as I was with you."

            "Roxan... I mean Roxy. I don't think you really get how crazy my line of work is. I don't normally enjoy fighting whatever Alpha sends my way, you know." I explained honestly. As thrilling and memorable my adventures in the world of Project H has always been, I almost never come out of those adventures with a smile on my face.

            "I don't mean it like that. It's just... I mean I know I'm pretty awesome in what I do. No one can shred on a keytar like me. But..." She sighed again with her eyes opening only halfway. She then looked at me and said softly, "I just...want to be out there with you. Actually making a difference. Bringing the fight to the bad guys like you do. I know I'm not designed for it, but...now that I know what it's like to do that with you? I wanna do it again someday."

            "A partnership? I mean...I do team up with the Power Ponies pretty routinely, but...with another robot? I dunno... I'm not sure how'd you keep up with me." I replied while carefully thinking this over. I had already seen what Roxanne was capable of in a combat situation. Very capable in unarmed combat, but completely lacking in weapon systems. Her exoskeleton was designed to be highly resistant to the weapons that are common in the setting of Project H, but has a weakness to blunt force trauma. She was designed to double as a security guard for guests, but not for outright combat situations. I then said bluntly, "You're not designed for that. And I'd hate for you to...not make it out there."

            "Yeah, yeah... It's just that...a girl can dream, you know?" Roxanne grumbled with her head bowing. She then looked at me out of the corner of her eye and muttered, "Maybe someday, I'll get my chance. Don't know how, but... Who knows? Maybe someday I'll your Roxstar Wolf."

            "Heh. We can only hope, yeah?" I snickered as we found some humor in that discussion. Although my eyes soon focused on her silky smooth head of hair and tail. I started to reach for her hair out of curiosity and said, "I'm just surprised you kept your hair in such pristine condition all night. And it looks amazing."

            "I don't let just anyone touch my hair, you know." Roxanne said almost warily as I promptly lowered my hand and stared out at nothing in particular. I did not want to upset my host. Although she soon brought her lips to my auditory sensor. "You're one of the exceptions."

            I glanced at Roxanne to see her glowing eyes almost beckoning me. The way her eyelid hatches were angled... It was such an inviting gaze. And so I answered. I brought my hand to her hair and stroked my fingers through it while she looked like she was enjoying it. The texture... It was silky smooth. "It feels so real..."

            "The finest synthetic hair on the market." Roxanne said almost proudly. I brought my hand lower and began to stroke her tail as well. It extended directly out of the backside of her red pelvis. And it felt like there was something in there. Something solid. I closed my hand around the base of her tail and slid it all the way down to the tip. Roxanne then gentle swished her tail from side to side as I heard the subtle whirring of a servo motor. "Yeah, there's a solid limb in there. It's just like Monty's."

            "That's...charming, really." I replied as I continued to stroke her swaying tail. My eyes scanned up and down Roxanne's body. From her gorgeous mane and tail to her very revealing 'clothing' leaving a lot of skin bare, it was impossible to not find Roxanne looking very womanly in spite of her robotic nature. And so I gathered my courage and spoke my thoughts. "For what it's worth... You're beautiful."

            Roxanne only barely managed to hide any emotion, but I saw her flinch at those words. She looked away from me for a moment as her tail became still. She then whispered, "Close your eyes for a second, Hunter."

            I did not object and did as I was told. Everything went back as my eyelids clamped shut. And seconds later... Upon my cheek. The outline of hard lips. A kiss. I opened my left eye and did inside see Roxanne touching her purple lipstick pattern on the front of her jaws to my cheek. Her eyes were closed before opening only partially a moment later as she slowly pulled away. This felt...different from the several kisses I had received from Chica. It was just one, but it felt meaningful. And Roxanne whispered very softly to me. "Thank you."

            My hand found its way to hers before her thick sturdy fingers closed over mine. We were out of words to say as the two of us leaned against each other while basking in the gentle ambience that considered to fill the complex. At least for a moment. I thought back to Roxanne's words from minutes ago. That noble desire to make a difference in matters that carry greater weight off the stage. And I thought of the best response possible. "You really made a difference for me tonight just by being here."

            "I hope it won't be the last time." Roxanne whispered beside me with her fingers tightening their grasp around mine. Minutes went by. And then that sound finally reached my ears. The shutters blocking the front door finally rose as sunlight began to spill into the lobby. And I could see the flashing of red and blue lights onto the floor. Police vehicles were out front. The story was over. It was time to go home.

            Roxanne and I looked over at the sunlight shining through the glass doors. She then looked at me with an almost mournful gaze upon her eyes. "Time to go, huh?"

            "I'll be back. I have to come see this place again once repairs are complete." I replied with conviction. I made a promise to myself to closely monitor the Project H comics for the next issue that prominently featured that entertainment complex. It was only a matter of time.

            "Thanks... We'll all be waiting for you, hero." Roxanne replied as her grasp on my hand tightened slightly before she finally stood up and realized me. But after taking a few steps forward, she looked back at me over her shoulder while letting her long hair swish through the air. "Just remember, Hunter. You'll always be my superstar."

            I watched that gorgeous she wolf walk back into the darkened depths of the complex with womanly grace in each step. I sighed to myself before my eyes began to narrow. I contemplated my experiences that night with both her and Chica. And a rather bizarre thought came to my mind as I rose to my feet. "Why do I have the sneaking suspicion that Hunter is well on his way to becoming the Peter Parker of EAC?"

            Barely three seconds after I said that, a white vortex suddenly formed before me and drew me in. A couple seconds after that, I felt myself being thrown through the air before falling right onto a soft air cushion. I was back in the living room of my own house and right in front of the sofa. The air cushion I was lying on vanished in a flash of light the instant I rolled off of it. I stared at the ceiling as I pondered everything that had just occurred. And then I noticed the clock nearby. Only an hour had passed since I entered the world inside that comic book. "Seriously...? I was in there for literally six hours at least, but only one hour went by out here? Time must flow differently in there..."

            The house was still empty. No one had returned yet and inspiration was calling. I wanted to chronicle that adventure while the memories were still fresh in my mind. Night has fallen at this moment and I have been the rest of the day hastily typing this all down. What a day. What an adventure. Terrifying, but satisfying in the end. And what a colorful cast of characters that have been added to the Project H roster.

            And now that this is all safely on paper, fatigue is claiming me. Even though I am back in the realm of reality, I know I am going to sleep like a log tonight. And I have most certainly earned it. Finally... Sweet slumber. Off I go to rest my head.