//------------------------------// // Chapter 4: Another Trek in the Forest // Story: Twisted Nightmare // by ScorchingFlamesInc //------------------------------// With Twisted Chica behind us, Jack and I continued our trek across the forest. Up until now, I had never realized how my body worked. "I just realized something. . ." I said. "Aren't I supposed to look like this because of some sort of illusion chip?" "These bodies were built in a different way than you theorize," Twisted Chica explained. "We don't have chips. This is how we truly look." "Really? Huh. . . how do you know?" "I've been learning from the other animatronics in the shed." "How close are we?" Jack broke into our conversation. "I believe we are still half a mile away," Twisted Chica replied. "Damn, this is a big forest. . . doesn't feel like half a mile. . ." Jack grumbled. "How would you know?" I raised an eyelid. "Good point." We were silent after that. The only noise was coming from crunching leaves and branches, along with the sound of our endoskeletons whirring as we moved. But finally, Twisted Chica saw something. "Look!" She pointed to a structure nearby that I found familiar. It was very faint, as it appeared to be a block away from here. But, I recognized it. "Please don't let it be a shack!" Jack whined. "It isn't," I assured him. "I've seen this place on the TV. It's a cottage near the town." "Perfect!" Jack clapped his hands together. "Let's go. Maybe even introduce ourselves to whoever, or whatever, lives in that cottage." "Hold it, buddy," I say. "The pony who lives here is very easily scared. And it's quite obvious we will frighten the other ponies in this town as well." "So?" I sighed inwardly with exasperation. If only this guy watched the show, this would be so much easier! "So, we should stay here and plan, " I began to explain. "We need to arrive in the town in a way where we don't seem like a threat." "Don't they always say to never judge a book by it's cover?" Jack pointed out. "They'll still run," I countered. "I agree with Leo," Twisted Chica said. "We should probably stay here, wait for the right moment to come in. And maybe visit those who are important." "See? She agrees!"  "Because she's loco!" Jack rebutted. "Hey!" I growled. "No. . . he does make a point," Twisted Chica sighed. "You saw how I was back there." "Don't beat yourself up, Twisted Chica. We're probably the only ones who actually even know what we're doing while this guy over here just wants to risk scaring them."  "That's the point!" Jack hissed. "I hate these damned ponies! I want to scare them! Make them run! Maybe even eat one!" "Well, you're not. Don't you want to go home? These "damned ponies" might be our only chance!" "Relax. I can take one hostage." "No. You. Won't!" I growled, advancing on him. "We're staying here and that's final. There are two of us, and one of you. We can simply hold you here." "Do we have to? I'm not one for violence. . .' Twisted Chica whined. Jack looked at both of us, before he threw his hands up in the air. "Alright!" he said. "Fine! Come on. Let's go a bit deeper in the forest, but not too far. . ." So, that's what we did. We went a bit further into the forest, before Jack used his claws to tear away a bush to make a spot for us to sit. I helped (what amazed me was how my strength increased), while Chica stood in the background. "It looks. . . lumpy," Twisted Chica said when the bushes were cleared. I mean, she's not wrong. . . there were a few craters where the bushes were. "We'll be fine. We can barely feel anything anyway," Jack remarked, sitting down. I joined him, wondering if we'll be able to get up on our own. Twisted Chica also sat down. "So. . ." Jack began. "How do we do this? How do weppear in town without seeming so threatening?" "I guess that's a good point. . ." "How about we don a disguise?" Jack suggested. "What would we dress up as?" I ask. "I don't know. . . Shrubs?" "Are you really that stupid?" I deadpanned. Twisted Chica gave him a flat look. "Look, cut me some slack! I've never been sent to a girls show as a monster before." Neither have I! I thought, my teeth grinding. "I can't cut you slack! You admitted you wanted to kill them!" I snapped. "And then I decided I wasn't, didn't I?" Jack countered. "I guess you're not wrong on that. . ." "Boys, listen," Twisted Chica started. "We can't just sit here proving each other right or wrong, or there will be zero progress here." "Well, we can't think of anything!" I exclaimed. "This is basically impossible!" CRACK! BOOM! Just then, we all jumped at the sudden burst of lightning. And I saw something land on my nose. Rain. "Shit!" Jack exclaimed, surprisingly getting up. We all followed suit.  "Wait! Aren't animatronics sensitive to rain?!" "Um..." Twisted Chica's eyes expressed it all: Fear! "I'm not sure if it's because how these bodies were built, or magically created, but there may be a chance that we're sensitive to the r-rain." Twisted Chica covered her beak. Until then, I wasn't sure either. I mean, I remember some FNaF teasers showing animatronics out in the rain. But now, Twisted Chica's reaction said it all. . . I wasn't sure if it was because we were transformed into them (and not possessing them), or if it was poor construction of our bodies, but we were definitely sensitive to the rain. Not only that, but I was starting to feel funny. Do animatronics even react that fast to rain? The reactions must be coming faster than I thought! "What can we do?" I asked. "The closest there is to hide in is the cottage! And even then we won't make it!" "We still gotta t-" Jack tried to speak. "t-t-try" I felt my body begin to stiffen. I tried to look around. It felt a bit harder to move. I felt a bit frozen, though mostly sluggish. "It's too f-ar," I said. "We-we-we won't m----ake it!" "So I-I g----uess this is-is-is the end!" Twisted Chica glitched, and it was getting harder to understand and hear her. "We-we're g-g-oing to sh---ut d---ow---n-" Twisted Chica fell on her back to the ground, her stiffening body slightly twitching. Jack started to speak, but only garbled static came out. He lifted his foot, but only slightly, before falling down as well. I tried to scream for help. But just like Jack, only static came out. Except it was, of course, louder, and more ear-splitting. I fell. And everything went dark.