Broken Dreams, Unknown Means

Chapter 1: Bruno

"Come back soon! Our doors are open every day!" Ivory exclaims to the family of five. He turns the corner of the pizzaplex wall and enters his grey sedan. There is garbage strewn on the floor of the passenger seat. Old fast food bags, soda cans, newspapers, and water bottles are pretty much everywhere. Ivory puts his head on the top of the steering wheel and gives a large sigh. A tear begins to roll down as he thinks to himself, "Why am I like this? I crave any form of love I can get, and this is what I keep going for? He's a child entertainer, not a robot for... intimacy." Ivory begins to cry, alone in the parking lot. His headlights shine on the wall, and the light reflects back on him. His tears hit his lap in sporadic intervals. Ivory wipes his eyes after a minute, and shifts into reverse, backing out of the lot, not speaking a word, not listening to anything. The night sky and the full moon lights up the road a significant amount, to where you could see the outlines of trees. Ivory attempts to keep his cool while driving to avoid losing his sight in his watering eyes. He glances at the ditch as he passes, slightly shifting the car towards it before snapping it back to the road. "If I suddenly went missing, only the staff would know." Ivory takes three deep breaths before he reaches the point where the road drops down, revealing the skyline in the distance. Ivory keeps steady, making his way back home.

He reaches Sensory Ave., the street his apartment complex resides. He finds an open spot on the front and performs a pretty good parallel park to wedge between two pickup trucks. Ivory makes a quick pace to his room to avoid any confrontation from any of the tenants. His eyes are slightly red and puffy from earlier. He grabs his key from his back pocket to get inside. *Click!* Ivory slips his shoes off and his overcoat quickly and doesn't turn on a single light. He rushes to his bedroom and slams the door in frustration and agony. He strips off the rest of his clothes, minus the underwear, while also grabbing a graphic tee to slip on over his chest. After he is dressed, Ivory throws himself on the bed and shoves a pillow in his face. It gets wet almost instantly. His breathing becomes unsteady and shallow. He slips the blanket over himself and continues to cry. He flips over onto his back, staring at the ceiling as the waterworks flow across his cheeks. "It's going to stay like this forever, won't it? I ruin every relationship I make, it's who I am." Ivory falls asleep, with the same words repeating in his head, "It'll never be better."

Back at the pizzaplex, Montgomery Gator is tidying his room from the mess he and Ivory made. He puts his private things back in boxes, folds the bed back into a couch, and straightens some decor. After all the work is finished, Monty heads to the back of the room to his recharge station. "That Ivory... There's something about him that intrigues me. He is quite brave, it almost scares me." Monty brushes away his thoughts, closes his eyes, crosses his arms on his chest, and begins his recharge.

Ivory's eyes open. He's not in his bed but in someplace new. It looks like the pizzaplex, but it's somewhere he hasn't been before. "Hey, buddy! Come sit down, I got a seat for 'ya." Ivory looks behind him. It's a bar inside the pizzaplex? "Oh, it's the new adult section!" Ivory sits on the barstool and stares at this new character. "Name's Hino. Hino Hyena. I'm the bartender here, just got installed in these parts. What are you doing here so late, little man?" Ivory stares in awe before responding. "I-I don't know how I got here, this must be a dream or something." Ivory has never heard of a hyena animatronic being a bartender at this new bar. This new animatronic looks so unique. Hino is not metal like the glamrocks, he is made with a fabric and furry shell. He dons brown fur with cream fluff and mohawk. A big red earring hangs off the top of his right ear and a black nose ring, septum pierced. Two dark brown spots are on each side of Hino's face. His eyes are grey, almost blue. Hino speaks while cleaning a glass. "Oh, yeah, we haven't actually met before, this is a dream. You'll meet me soon, I promise." Ivory shakes his head and rubs his cheeks with his hands. "Hold on, you know you're in a dream? I'm in a dream right now?" Hino nods. "Cool, right? I feel like a psychic." Hino sets the glass on a coaster. "What would you like to drink?" Ivory is of age, but he doesn't really drink alcohol that often. "I'll settle with some water or something." Hino raises a brow. "Dude, you're dreaming, just have a drink. Tell me what you want." "Whiskey sour, please." Hino nods and grabs the bourbon whiskey, lemon juice, syrup, orange, and cherries. He seems like such a professional while he mixes the drink together with such smoothness and style. He tops the drink with the orange garnish and cherry on top. "Y'know, even though this is a dream, I still think we should get to know each other," Hino says while laying his head on his hand over the counter. "I have my day off with Bruno tomorrow, maybe I'll just head to the pizzaplex tomorrow night and come see you. Then we can talk, alright?" Hino nods. Ivory starts to feel tingly, and before he knows it, his dream is over.