WELCOME TO TALLY HALL!

PROLOGUE: Stand by Your Side.

Lake confidently looked at Rob and said, "No..." He looked at her in surprise and asked, "Wait, you're staying with us?" with a glimmer of hope in his eyes. Lake laughed and replied, "Yes, of course!" Rob was overjoyed and hugged Lake, promising her that she won't regret it. He was ecstatic and ran into the carnival to tell all the other animatronics that Lake was staying on the job. "Guys, guys! Lake's staying on the job!" he yelled, and Lake heard cheers coming from the rest of the animatronics. She walked back into the carnival to see Bora and the other animatronics, sighing in a relaxed manner and thinking to herself, "Well, this is going to be very interesting."

*About 13 weeks later*

The alarm went off, but instead of the usual 8-bit tune of 13, a recorded message of the Tally Hall animatronics was urging someone to wake up. A 26-year-old girl reached out and grabbed her phone from the nightstand. Checking the time, she realized that it was already noon. She got up and stretched her arms, revealing that she was the same girl we met in the first chapter! Lake now sported a short, curly pixie cut with slightly shaved sides, and she had gained some muscle from going to the gym with her new, less manipulative human friends. Suddenly, her phone buzzed, displaying texts from her new friends in a group chat.

[Ethan: Hey, has anyone seen Lake?]

[Luna: They better not have been late again or else Bora's gonna fire them! T_T]

[Sunnie: Luna, relax. Lake probably just overslept, it'll be fine.]

[Sylva: Sunnie's right. It's like he's gonna fire them anyway, they're really close with him.]

As Lake walked towards the bathroom, she quickly texted a reply to the group chat, letting them know that she would be able to make it to the carnival in an hour. She took her time getting ready, spending around thirty minutes to put together an outfit that would make her feel both comfortable and stylish. She walked into the living room wearing her work uniform jacket over a white sleeveless t-shirt that was neatly tucked into her baggy denim jeans. Her feet were adorned with some white hi-top sneakers that added a touch of cool to her look. "Looking good, Lake," Autumn complimented her best friend, then she noticed the eyeliner. "Nice cat eye," she smiled. Lake laughed as she walked out of the house. "Thanks,"  she said, pleased with the compliment as she walked out of the house; She made her way to the black minivan parked outside, got into the driver's seat, and started the engine. Autumn waved her goodbye as she drove away, heading towards the carnival. 

After a short 20-minute drive, Lake arrived at the carnival. As she got out of her car, she heard a familiar voice yell out her name. It was Ethan, one of her acquaintances. He was a white male of average height with brown eyes and red hair. He wore a work uniform jacket over a short-sleeved gray shirt that had a fun print of Mario and Sonic playing some kind of Olympic sport together. He completed his look with some jean shorts and some red sneakers. "Thank goodness, you're not late!" A brown-skinned girl with long black hair styled in a fishtail braid walked up to the two, She also wore a work uniform jacket but paired it with a long-sleeved white crop top and a pink high-waisted skirt. Her pink combat boots added a pop of color to her outfit, and she ran towards Lake, giving her a tight hug. Lake laughed. "Hey, Luna."
     As they chatted, a voice that sounded like Jasper from Steven Universe blurted out, exclaiming, "Ha, I knew you'd come!" It was Sunnie, a tan girl with short spiky hair dyed red with orange highlights. She wore an orange crop top with the Hidden Leaf Village symbol on the chest area, paired with some long blue fabric fingerless gloves that had Japanese letters on them. Her high-waisted black ripped jean shorts were worn over white leggings, and she completed her look with black high-top sneakers. Her visual kei makeup and septum piercing added an edgy vibe to her overall appearance. "Did you oversleep, Lake?" Sunnie asked with a playful smirk. "Yes, Sunnie. I did." Lake rolls her eyes while smiling a bit, she couldn't lie about her oversleeping habit at all around Sunnie. They walked into the carnival together, and as they made their way to the center stage, they heard the announcement for the Tally Hall animatronic performance. This time, it was a different voice -

"Ladies and Gentlemen, and Gender-neutral customers! This is Bora Karaca reminding you that the Tally Hall performance will start in 5 minutes!" The crowd cheered and ran towards the stage area. "Awesome! Come on, Lake, let's go!" Sunnie exclaimed as she took Lake's hand and ran towards the stage area. Lake was amazed by the new designs. All of the Tally Hall animatronics used to have their early 2000s look, with white collared shirts and colored ties tucked in with their black jeans and black dress shoes. But now, their designs were based on how they looked during the Good & Evil Tour, the animatronics' outfits consisted of white collared shirts with their colored neckties neatly arranged underneath a black suit vest. These were then tucked into black suit pants and paired with black dress shoes. Notably, Joe's hair appeared to have grown slightly longer while Ross's animatronic design seemed to have added a short beard to his appearance. The overall look of the band members was sleek and professional, making them stand out during their performances. They started their performance by playing "Out in the Twilight." Then, Andrew and Rob did a duet for "Perfect." Finally, they were ready to perform their cover of "Praise You." But before they began, Joe took the mic and said, "As you may have noticed, this carnival has gone through a lot of changes..." Rob chuckled before saying, "Yeah, it was never this big before, and we never looked like this either." Zubin then smiled and added, "Yeah, it was a long time ago. We met an old friend who works the night shift here. And honestly, without her, I don't think we would have been able to evolve this quickly." Then, all of them said together, "Lake, this song is for you." The crowd cheered at the dedication, and Lake's friends yelled a cheer too. Lake smiled at the Tally Hall animatronics as they started the song.

We've come a long, long way together

Through the hard times and the good

I have to celebrate you, baby

I have to praise you like I should

Lake cheered loudly as Sunnie danced and Luna sang along to the song. Ethan nodded his head to the beat. After the performance, everyone went back to the rides while Ethan, Sunnie, and Luna went back to supervising the carnival. Lake sat on the stage, scrolling through pictures of her and the Tally Hall animatronics playing games at the arcade and making silly poses. "Hey, Lake!" Bora, who looked a bit different with curly hair and glasses, walked up to her with a smile. "Hey Bora, so how is it being the manager now?" Lake asks as she smiled back at him. "Eh, I was nervous at first. But it's actually kinda nice!"Bora replied as watched the crowd of customers having the time of their lives in their favorite rides and games.

After closing the carnival for the night, Lake began to clean up the area. While Lake was sweeping up the trash, Joe playfully elbowed her. "Hey, Lake, did you like the performance?" He asked lightly. Lake put down the broom and said, "Of course, I did." Then, she laughed. The other Tally Hall animatronics approached her. "Our new designs are pretty cool too, huh?" Rob asked while posing fashionably. "I guess you could say we're slaying it!" Zubin laughed, and everyone else joined in. "So, is anyone up for some arcade games?" Ross asked, but the room fell silent. Then, Rob yelled, "Last one there is a rotten egg!" Rob, Zubin, Andrew, and Ross started running towards the arcade. Joe smiled as he looked at them. "Oh yeah, here you go.." Joe said, as he handed Lake a purple necktie. "I guess you're one of us now," Joe joked. "Yep," Lake replied, before running to the arcade. "See you there, rotten egg!" Joe laughed and ran after her, "Oh, not if I can help it!" The Tally Hall animatronics cheered as Joe and Lake raced each other to the arcade.

....

**MAIN STORY COMPLETE!!**
**BONUS CHAPTERS WILL BE UNLOCKED SOON!!**
 

THANK YOU FOR READING: WELCOME TO TALLY HALL!

Have a free song while you're at it, ig credits song??