[The last thing Vampire Cookie remembers is his sister yelling at him to not stand so close to her equipment, that concoction is unstable and it could- well, he never heard the end of that sentence, because of course the minute she started being annoying, he reached over and tapped the flask in question.
That might, he's starting to think, have not been the greatest idea.
He's not sure if there was an explosion, or smoke, but he remembers not being able to see anything and briefly feeling really really weird, and now he's... wherever this is. Lying on a weird-feeling, cold flat surface, apparently. He sits up, staring blankly at his surroundings.
It's dark. That's not a real issue, he can see in the dark pretty well. The alarming thing is that everything around him is huge. He's on... a desk or table? But it's not made out of any material he's familiar with, and there's some kind of looming machine with a harshly glowing screen on it next to him. He squints up at it, but can't make head or tails of what it's supposed to be. That's a chair right there, albeit one several thousand times bigger than the ones he normally sees. There's some papers on the desk that might as well be giant rugs. Shelving, a distant door, all of it massive. Some kinda weird bear-head... statue?? almost as tall as he is. Okay, that's the most comforting thing here, looks kinda like a jelly bear.
The last time he saw stuff this big was when he and Alchemist were escaping the oven. That is to say, inside a witch's house. And even then, none of it looked this weird.
Welp. That's worrying and terrifying in equal measure. Maybe Alchemist's thingy knocked him out and now he's having weird nightmares. Looking around one last time, he decides that has to be the case, and promptly drapes himself over the bear thing and closes his eyes. Napping the nightmare away should work, right? Right.
Surely in the meantime no one will need the security tag inside the case that a living cookie is now trying to sleep on.]
Whether or not Vampire has already started to doze off by the time it happens, the sound of distant...noise will either rouse or alert him. No, it's not just "noise". Those are footsteps, aren't they? Rapidly approaching footsteps, more running than walking, coming rushing right up to the giant door that Vampire had glanced over at earlier. A door that suddenly comes sliding open as something- someone- rushes inside and slams a hand that's bigger than Vampire stands tall over a button on the wall to cause the door to shut behind them.
Then starts the most horrific, aggressive banging that Vampire has likely ever heard, the unforgiving screech of metal as claws rake angrily across the door. There's no way the door will open though, thankfully, but that doesn't mean the little boy on the other side is any less panicked about nearly being clotheslined by Montgomery Gator.]
Hey! Little guy! Come oooon out, we're only tryin'ta' help...
[Gregory's breathing quickens as he turns with his back to the door, tapping the screen on the watch at his wrist as he takes a moment to catch his breath.]
Freddy, they found me! Why won't you answer!?
[This security office was the next one he needed to go to to receive the next security upgrade, but a fat lot of good it's going to do if he doesn't know what his next destination is. Surely Freddy hasn't...
The boy shakes his head a little, angrily scrubbing over his eyes with the back of his hand as he turns now to the desk as the banging continues, ready to just grab the stupid tag and-]
[Okay, so, it often takes a lot to rouse Vampire, but that is definitely a whole lot of noise. A whole lot of alarming noise. Still, by the time Gregory has actually turned to the desk, he's only groggily coming to, propping himself up on one arm where he's lounging on top of the card case and rubbing blearily at his own eyes.
Yeah that sure is. A weirdass looking gingerbread man moving around on its own. As if Gregory's night wasn't weird enough already.]
Allllllc can y'keep it dow- oh, still in dreamland. Wha's the-
[And then he sees Gregory, who he stares blankly up at for a full ten seconds before reacting, making a garbled noise and... falling off the card case to the tabletop behind it. Graceful. But if Gregory doesn't act fast, Vampire is definitely scrambling up and making an attempt to run, because as far as he knows only witches look kind of like that.]
Gregory is used to sentient robots at this point. Most of the world probably is, seeing as how Fazbear Entertainment has attained this absolutely freaky level of near human-like sentience with their animatronics. Now, a cookie that's just...running around on the table?
That...is shocking. Gregory will give it that, he was not expecting that. He even shouts with surprise when Vampire cries out, nearly falling back against the security office chair nearby. But as his brain compartmentalizes this into another section of "weird" to deal with, Gregory realizes that he can't just let this thing run away from him. What if it's another...thing that's going to be out to get him all night?
No, he has to stop it now. Destroy it, if he must. It's it, or him.
Reflexively, Gregory scans the table for something he can use, and...ah-hah. He spots a novelty plastic cup that had been abandoned there, clear plastic that he should be able to easily see through. And hopefully, Vampire is too slow in his still-drunken haze to avoid a cup being put overtop him, effectively trapping him from going anywhere.]
[Yeah, that cup plonks right down over Vampire with no effort at all - he even bounces comically off the side of it and falls on his ass, trapped like the world's oddest spider. He glances behind him at the looming human again, panics, then turns into a jelly bat and ricochets madly off the sides of the cup for a moment... which, obviously, doesn't work either. He ends up dropping back to the center of the cup in cookie form, holding his arms over his head defensively.]
D-don't eat me! I don't taste good, I promise! Too much grape juice in my dough!
[As soon as Gregory had secured Vampire with the cup, he'd immediately started looking him ove. Searching for seams, bolts, rivets and connectors...anything to indicate it's another weird animatronic that he just hadn't seen before. He wouldn't put it past this place to be inventing more all the time seeing as how robots had replaced nearly every function in the Pizzaplex at this point. But that track kindof went out the window the moment Vampire shapeshifted, startling Gregory so badly he nearly lets his grip over the cup slip. He keeps it held down though until Vampire finally comes to a stop and shifts back into cookie form as Gregory just...stares, utterly bewildered.
This..."cookie" is leaving crumbs everywhere he goes, and his hair definitely looks like it's made of jam or jelly of some sort. His features are iced on...even his little clothing is icing, he thinks.]
You're...actually a cookie.
[He's saying it aloud as if maybe that will make it seem more real. He's been hunted by sentient robots all night, why is THIS the thing that finally gets to him?]
O-okay, where...where did you come from? And how are you talking!?
[Gregory leans in a little closer, his brows furrowing. It's from the sheer spectacle of a child talking to a god damn living cookie that's saving Vampire from being crushed right now, let's be real.]
[Being asked stuff like that is just as bewildering to Vampire. Why would a witch need to ask? They bake the cookies! Well, the original ones, at least. Like Vampire himself. But now that he's also looking closer at this human, squinting through his arms at him, he can see... Gregory doesn't look anything like the towering old hags he'd seen before. He's smaller. And like... smoother looking. That means younger, right?
Is Vampire sure he's not just having a weird drunken nightmare brought on by whatever Alchemist was making that exploded on him? But whoo boy, he'd had drunken nightmares before, and this sure feels real this time.
Slowly, he lowers his arms, staring cautiously upwards and wishing desperately he still had a glass of wine.]
From uhhhhh... Earthbread? I move my mouth and the sounds come out?
[He's... he's not trying to be smart, it just hasn't occurred to him that cookies moving around and talking could ever be weird.]
[...okay, he needs to sit down for a minute, so he'll actually take a seat in that office chair now that he's sure that Vampire can't escape. Just for good measure though...ah, that should work. He picks up the Freddy-shaped card case and sets it atop the cup so he can free up his hands. No way Vampire can exert enough force to move that.]
I don't know what you're talking about, but...you're definitely not an animatronic. At least, I don't think...
[Not unless this is a super advanced prototype not yet released to the public.]
I meant how did you get here. How did you get to the Pizzaplex? Have you always been here?
[Vampire doesn't even try to budge the cup again as Gregory shifts things around, just looks upwards at the very solid object now on top of the cup and kinda deflates a little. Man, why even bother, right? At least the kid's talking to him and not trying to crumble him.]
Honestly, I thought I was dreaming. I uh, might have accidentally on purpose poked one of my sister's experiments, but I dunno how that got me here. Can't I just like, go back to sleep and wake up at home?
Robots. [Gregory reiterates, leaning in so that he can look close at Vampire with those two huge, brown eyes of his.] If you don't even know what those are...then you're definitely not one. Unless you're just trying to trick me.
[But they hadn't been so crafty as to do that before. They were too rigid, too calculated to do anything but the quickest route from A to B, which meant just chasing Gregory down directly as opposed to playing mind games. Still though...
He's wary. And that's why he's not going to move that cup.]
Maybe I'm dreaming too...I dunno how else this could be happening.
[Vampire crinkles his face up. He doesn't know much about wafflebots, or by extension, robots. It's a pretty esoteric field, around the kingdom, and definitely not one of his. His fields are drinking, napping, and maybe the occasional prank. Vampire does, however, know that wafflebots are usually trouble, so it only follows that "animatronics" are too.]
Is that what was making all that racket? Geez, that coulda woken me up if I was all the way dead!
[Said racket seems to have let up, at least for now. Monty had realized that he wasn't going to be able to get in that way, so he's moved to instead patrol the outside hall. Gregory couldn't stay in the security office forever...not when they all have limited power.]
Dunno if it's safe for me to leave right now anyways...I think Monty's still outside.
[Okay, okay, he's starting to get the picture. There's a bunch of robots around this "pizzaplex" place and they're after this kid for... some reason. Why? How? Good questions, but Vampire really cannot be assed to either ask them or care.
Still, the gears are turning creakily in his head. Sure sounds like they both need to find a way out. And hell, Vampire's already been rendered pretty useless simply via plastic cup, so what's he got to lose?
Anyway, witch-thing or not, he's still pretty sure this is a kid. Who's in trouble. There's a part of him that wants to say this isn't worth it and to try to find his own way out of this mess, but... at his core, Vampire likes people. Especially those who don't jump to conclusions about him. He makes an extended hum-whine sound as he considers this, then releases it into a sigh and slaps his hands against the side of the cup.]
Hey, witch kid! Lemme help ya then. We both gotta get out of here, right?
[He doesn't clock the fact that Vampire means that literally; he's just assuming it's some kind of weird insult, which explains why he's pouting as he glowers down at Vampire through the slighty foggy exterior of the cup.]
And...I guess, but how are you s'posed to help me? Even Freddy can't get me out of here, and he's like...a million times taller than both of us.
[Freddy can't leave the facility, which is his excuse. But even so...the pair have reached a lot of blockades over the last four or five hours, and Gregory feels no closer to getting out than he had been when he first got locked in.]
[Vampire blinks, confused by that for a moment, then shrugs. It probably doesn't matter that much.]
Eh, whatever. Well, I might be small compared to you, but I'm still Vampire Cookie. I can at least fly and see in the dark, right? And if you're not a witch, then I bet you can't.
Whaaaaaaaaat, says who! Of course we can! Well, okay, maybe not all of us can fly, but. I am a vampire, whatever I look like.
[As if to demonstrate, Vampire starts floating in the limited space the cup affords him. He starts to hold his hand out to swirl around his wine glass, before remembering he doesn't have it right now and just staring sadly at his empty hand. He seems to recover from that quickly enough though, smiling again and waving a hand lazily at Gregory.]
Wouldn't dream of it. You could crumble me in an instant if ya wanted to, even without magic.
[He could also eat him, which he almost says, but Vampire seemed...particularly afraid of that notion before. And even if Vampire hadn't been touching the table where god knows what else has been, even he has a few hangups about eating something...alive.
So, no. He's not curious to eat this cookie, at least not right now.
There's a pregnant pause where Gregory still seems pretty...hesitant to let Vampire go, but there's little area for him to escape to in here. Even if he can fly, he could hide easily from Gregory anywhere, but he wouldn't be able to leave. Ugh, it's just all so weird...
He finally just lifts the cup quickly before he can think better of it, like ripping off a band-aid.]
There. Don't get your hopes up about leaving this room yet though...gotta make sure the coast is clear.
did someone order a weird crossover
Date: 2022-01-02 11:18 pm (UTC)That might, he's starting to think, have not been the greatest idea.
He's not sure if there was an explosion, or smoke, but he remembers not being able to see anything and briefly feeling really really weird, and now he's... wherever this is. Lying on a weird-feeling, cold flat surface, apparently. He sits up, staring blankly at his surroundings.
It's dark. That's not a real issue, he can see in the dark pretty well. The alarming thing is that everything around him is huge. He's on... a desk or table? But it's not made out of any material he's familiar with, and there's some kind of looming machine with a harshly glowing screen on it next to him. He squints up at it, but can't make head or tails of what it's supposed to be. That's a chair right there, albeit one several thousand times bigger than the ones he normally sees. There's some papers on the desk that might as well be giant rugs. Shelving, a distant door, all of it massive. Some kinda weird bear-head... statue?? almost as tall as he is. Okay, that's the most comforting thing here, looks kinda like a jelly bear.
The last time he saw stuff this big was when he and Alchemist were escaping the oven. That is to say, inside a witch's house. And even then, none of it looked this weird.
Welp. That's worrying and terrifying in equal measure. Maybe Alchemist's thingy knocked him out and now he's having weird nightmares. Looking around one last time, he decides that has to be the case, and promptly drapes himself over the bear thing and closes his eyes. Napping the nightmare away should work, right? Right.
Surely in the meantime no one will need the security tag inside the case that a living cookie is now trying to sleep on.]
no subject
Date: 2022-01-02 11:49 pm (UTC)Whether or not Vampire has already started to doze off by the time it happens, the sound of distant...noise will either rouse or alert him. No, it's not just "noise". Those are footsteps, aren't they? Rapidly approaching footsteps, more running than walking, coming rushing right up to the giant door that Vampire had glanced over at earlier. A door that suddenly comes sliding open as something- someone- rushes inside and slams a hand that's bigger than Vampire stands tall over a button on the wall to cause the door to shut behind them.
Then starts the most horrific, aggressive banging that Vampire has likely ever heard, the unforgiving screech of metal as claws rake angrily across the door. There's no way the door will open though, thankfully, but that doesn't mean the little boy on the other side is any less panicked about nearly being clotheslined by Montgomery Gator.]
Hey! Little guy! Come oooon out, we're only tryin'ta' help...
[Gregory's breathing quickens as he turns with his back to the door, tapping the screen on the watch at his wrist as he takes a moment to catch his breath.]
Freddy, they found me! Why won't you answer!?
[This security office was the next one he needed to go to to receive the next security upgrade, but a fat lot of good it's going to do if he doesn't know what his next destination is. Surely Freddy hasn't...
The boy shakes his head a little, angrily scrubbing over his eyes with the back of his hand as he turns now to the desk as the banging continues, ready to just grab the stupid tag and-]
...what. ...is that?
no subject
Date: 2022-01-02 11:59 pm (UTC)Yeah that sure is. A weirdass looking gingerbread man moving around on its own. As if Gregory's night wasn't weird enough already.]
Allllllc can y'keep it dow- oh, still in dreamland. Wha's the-
[And then he sees Gregory, who he stares blankly up at for a full ten seconds before reacting, making a garbled noise and... falling off the card case to the tabletop behind it. Graceful. But if Gregory doesn't act fast, Vampire is definitely scrambling up and making an attempt to run, because as far as he knows only witches look kind of like that.]
no subject
Date: 2022-01-03 12:18 am (UTC)Gregory is used to sentient robots at this point. Most of the world probably is, seeing as how Fazbear Entertainment has attained this absolutely freaky level of near human-like sentience with their animatronics. Now, a cookie that's just...running around on the table?
That...is shocking. Gregory will give it that, he was not expecting that. He even shouts with surprise when Vampire cries out, nearly falling back against the security office chair nearby. But as his brain compartmentalizes this into another section of "weird" to deal with, Gregory realizes that he can't just let this thing run away from him. What if it's another...thing that's going to be out to get him all night?
No, he has to stop it now. Destroy it, if he must. It's it, or him.
Reflexively, Gregory scans the table for something he can use, and...ah-hah. He spots a novelty plastic cup that had been abandoned there, clear plastic that he should be able to easily see through. And hopefully, Vampire is too slow in his still-drunken haze to avoid a cup being put overtop him, effectively trapping him from going anywhere.]
no subject
Date: 2022-01-03 12:29 am (UTC)D-don't eat me! I don't taste good, I promise! Too much grape juice in my dough!
no subject
Date: 2022-01-03 12:52 am (UTC)This..."cookie" is leaving crumbs everywhere he goes, and his hair definitely looks like it's made of jam or jelly of some sort. His features are iced on...even his little clothing is icing, he thinks.]
You're...actually a cookie.
[He's saying it aloud as if maybe that will make it seem more real. He's been hunted by sentient robots all night, why is THIS the thing that finally gets to him?]
O-okay, where...where did you come from? And how are you talking!?
[Gregory leans in a little closer, his brows furrowing. It's from the sheer spectacle of a child talking to a god damn living cookie that's saving Vampire from being crushed right now, let's be real.]
no subject
Date: 2022-01-03 01:12 am (UTC)[Being asked stuff like that is just as bewildering to Vampire. Why would a witch need to ask? They bake the cookies! Well, the original ones, at least. Like Vampire himself. But now that he's also looking closer at this human, squinting through his arms at him, he can see... Gregory doesn't look anything like the towering old hags he'd seen before. He's smaller. And like... smoother looking. That means younger, right?
Is Vampire sure he's not just having a weird drunken nightmare brought on by whatever Alchemist was making that exploded on him? But whoo boy, he'd had drunken nightmares before, and this sure feels real this time.
Slowly, he lowers his arms, staring cautiously upwards and wishing desperately he still had a glass of wine.]
From uhhhhh... Earthbread? I move my mouth and the sounds come out?
[He's... he's not trying to be smart, it just hasn't occurred to him that cookies moving around and talking could ever be weird.]
no subject
Date: 2022-01-03 01:33 am (UTC)[...okay, he needs to sit down for a minute, so he'll actually take a seat in that office chair now that he's sure that Vampire can't escape. Just for good measure though...ah, that should work. He picks up the Freddy-shaped card case and sets it atop the cup so he can free up his hands. No way Vampire can exert enough force to move that.]
I don't know what you're talking about, but...you're definitely not an animatronic. At least, I don't think...
[Not unless this is a super advanced prototype not yet released to the public.]
I meant how did you get here. How did you get to the Pizzaplex? Have you always been here?
no subject
Date: 2022-01-03 01:40 am (UTC)[Vampire doesn't even try to budge the cup again as Gregory shifts things around, just looks upwards at the very solid object now on top of the cup and kinda deflates a little. Man, why even bother, right? At least the kid's talking to him and not trying to crumble him.]
Honestly, I thought I was dreaming. I uh, might have accidentally on purpose poked one of my sister's experiments, but I dunno how that got me here. Can't I just like, go back to sleep and wake up at home?
no subject
Date: 2022-01-03 01:47 am (UTC)[But they hadn't been so crafty as to do that before. They were too rigid, too calculated to do anything but the quickest route from A to B, which meant just chasing Gregory down directly as opposed to playing mind games. Still though...
He's wary. And that's why he's not going to move that cup.]
Maybe I'm dreaming too...I dunno how else this could be happening.
no subject
Date: 2022-01-03 01:55 am (UTC)[Vampire crinkles his face up. He doesn't know much about wafflebots, or by extension, robots. It's a pretty esoteric field, around the kingdom, and definitely not one of his. His fields are drinking, napping, and maybe the occasional prank. Vampire does, however, know that wafflebots are usually trouble, so it only follows that "animatronics" are too.]
Is that what was making all that racket? Geez, that coulda woken me up if I was all the way dead!
no subject
Date: 2022-01-03 02:10 am (UTC)[Said racket seems to have let up, at least for now. Monty had realized that he wasn't going to be able to get in that way, so he's moved to instead patrol the outside hall. Gregory couldn't stay in the security office forever...not when they all have limited power.]
Dunno if it's safe for me to leave right now anyways...I think Monty's still outside.
no subject
Date: 2022-01-03 02:31 am (UTC)[Okay, okay, he's starting to get the picture. There's a bunch of robots around this "pizzaplex" place and they're after this kid for... some reason. Why? How? Good questions, but Vampire really cannot be assed to either ask them or care.
Still, the gears are turning creakily in his head. Sure sounds like they both need to find a way out. And hell, Vampire's already been rendered pretty useless simply via plastic cup, so what's he got to lose?
Anyway, witch-thing or not, he's still pretty sure this is a kid. Who's in trouble. There's a part of him that wants to say this isn't worth it and to try to find his own way out of this mess, but... at his core, Vampire likes people. Especially those who don't jump to conclusions about him. He makes an extended hum-whine sound as he considers this, then releases it into a sigh and slaps his hands against the side of the cup.]
Hey, witch kid! Lemme help ya then. We both gotta get out of here, right?
no subject
Date: 2022-01-03 02:41 am (UTC)[He doesn't clock the fact that Vampire means that literally; he's just assuming it's some kind of weird insult, which explains why he's pouting as he glowers down at Vampire through the slighty foggy exterior of the cup.]
And...I guess, but how are you s'posed to help me? Even Freddy can't get me out of here, and he's like...a million times taller than both of us.
[Freddy can't leave the facility, which is his excuse. But even so...the pair have reached a lot of blockades over the last four or five hours, and Gregory feels no closer to getting out than he had been when he first got locked in.]
no subject
Date: 2022-01-03 02:53 am (UTC)[Vampire blinks, confused by that for a moment, then shrugs. It probably doesn't matter that much.]
Eh, whatever. Well, I might be small compared to you, but I'm still Vampire Cookie. I can at least fly and see in the dark, right? And if you're not a witch, then I bet you can't.
no subject
Date: 2022-01-03 03:01 am (UTC)[As if that explains...anything.]
You're a vampire too? You don't really look like one...
[Though he guesses with the little coat he's wearing and the iced on fangs, he kiiindof maybe looks like a vampire? A punk vampire?
God. This is so weird.]
I have to be dreaming. Cookies can't fly, much less talk...
[Gregory shakes his head a little, suddenly moving the card case from the cup while keeping his hand firmly on top of it.]
But, whatever. Fine. I'll let you out...but if you're just trying to trick me, I'll trap you and leave you here. Got it?
no subject
Date: 2022-01-03 03:11 am (UTC)[As if to demonstrate, Vampire starts floating in the limited space the cup affords him. He starts to hold his hand out to swirl around his wine glass, before remembering he doesn't have it right now and just staring sadly at his empty hand. He seems to recover from that quickly enough though, smiling again and waving a hand lazily at Gregory.]
Wouldn't dream of it. You could crumble me in an instant if ya wanted to, even without magic.
no subject
Date: 2022-01-03 03:17 am (UTC)[He could also eat him, which he almost says, but Vampire seemed...particularly afraid of that notion before. And even if Vampire hadn't been touching the table where god knows what else has been, even he has a few hangups about eating something...alive.
So, no. He's not curious to eat this cookie, at least not right now.
There's a pregnant pause where Gregory still seems pretty...hesitant to let Vampire go, but there's little area for him to escape to in here. Even if he can fly, he could hide easily from Gregory anywhere, but he wouldn't be able to leave. Ugh, it's just all so weird...
He finally just lifts the cup quickly before he can think better of it, like ripping off a band-aid.]
There. Don't get your hopes up about leaving this room yet though...gotta make sure the coast is clear.
no subject
Date: 2022-01-03 03:34 am (UTC)[Vampire just floats up and settles himself onto Gregory's shoulder once he's freed. Seems as good a vantage point as any.]
This is one weird restaurant. Hope it's at least got good pizza.
You got a name, by the way, or should I just keep calling you Witch Ki- uhhhhh, Kid?
no subject
Date: 2022-01-03 03:43 am (UTC)[...]
Or, at least...they wanna catch me, and bring me to her. Both are bad.
Freddy's okay though. He's been trying to help me, but...I've lost contact with him. I dunno where he is right now.
[Okay, he hopes. Probably trying to find him, if their last correspondence is anything to go by.]
I'm Gregory.
[Another pause.]
The pizza gets old after a while.