SubXero X

SubZero X Chapter One

                     SubXero X

Chapter One, “First Impressions”

-Buzz- The sounds of the alarm startled me as I had woke up from a long night of partying. I sat up holding my head, the headaches had returned. I turned the alarm off and got up from the couch. I started over to the closet to grab my work outfit and saw something glimmer off the light in the main room. I picked up a small card off the top of my suitcase. “What is this,  how did it get here..?” I put the card in the light. It was sort of badge for a security guard. “How the hell did this get here..?”  I put the badge on the table and got dressed, shunning it off as if it was always here. I left the apartment and got into my car. I adjusted the mirrors and saw something in my back seat. I jumped but shook it off as my mind playing a trick on me. After all, I was pretty tired.

A few hours later:

I got ready for the new nightclub that opened up just yesterday. I called my friends to come join me. “I'll pay, it's on me tonight.” I stated it was clear, tonight will be amazing. I hopped in the car and picked up my best friend from childhood. “Hey Katashi, long time no see.” My friend Toshi greeted me excitedly. “Ready to go clubbing?” I nodded with a grin. He got in the car and we met with our other two friends at the club.We walked into the club and stared in awe at the vast, neon-lighted club. “Holy crap, dude!” Toshi yelled to me over the blaring bass. I looked over at the dancefloor and my face went white. There, the coolest looking animatronic was dancing to the beat. It looked too much like a human, but it wasn't. I had only just begun to realize the many other animatronics spread around different parts of the club. “Hello there! “ Came a strange, semi-robotic feminine voice from behind me. I jumped forward and turned around. “I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you there.” I stood there staring at the female fox animatronic before me. “H-hi… Uhh..” I was standing there with my heart pumping fast. She giggled and said “Hi, I'm Latrea, nice to meet you.”  She smiled warmly and held out a furry paw. I reluctantly shook it and looked back at my friends,  shrugging. They all kinda giggled and smiled at me. “Excuse me, Latrea, but who is that  dancing over there..?” She smiled and grabbed my hand and pulled me along towards the grey rabbit. Latrea let go of me and ushered the rabbit over to where I was standing. I awkwardly stood there and watched him affix his fedora and cleared his throat. “Hey, I'm Xero, owner  of this nightclub.”  He held out a furry paw and I shook it with a bit more confidence. The only thought in my mind at this point was How can an animatronic own a nightclub…? I smiled and got to know the two a bit more. I was surprised on how smart these guys were. I was talking to my new animatronic friends when a large,  bulky shadow moved towards us. Its green eyes glowed like two lasers. “Sup guys!” shouted a large brown bull animatronic.  “Who's the new guy?  The Day guard or something?“  Lauren, Xero, and I all shook our heads. Latrea stood up and replied “He's just our new friend, he has quite a bit of the same interests.”

I swallowed and awkwardly waved at the large bull over-towering me. I stared in awe at the huge beast-like bull talking to the other two. I cleared my throat and started to speak. “H-hey… there… I'm Katashi..” I stood there awkwardly with lessening fear. I had been listening on to the conversation and decided to ask of his name. “So...what's your name exactly...?” He took three huge steps towards me and grinned. “The name's Dub.” I hesitantly put out my hand for him to shake and he made a fist in the air. “...?” I realized the situation and bumped his fist weakly. Latrea piped up excitedly and announced “Let's go meet the others!!” I looked over at Xero and shrugged. Latrea lead the four of us into a room locked off from the rest of the club. “Welcome to paradise.” Latrea shivered with excitement as she took my hand and dragged me into a huge neon room with several other animatronics. A dark green bunny grabbed my attention when she was entering the room from the bar. She gave a solemn nod and walked off to elsewhere. I saw a few others at a table playing solitaire. One blue dog waved at me and a half-blue, half-red bear took no attention of my presence. “This is D.J.” Latre acknowledged the bear. He looked up at me and snarled. Xero pointed out the brightly colored blue dog. “And that there is Bass.” The dog looked up at me, tipped his fedora, and walked off with his saxophone. “Aye.” came a voice from within the shadowy abyss of the corners of the room. A dark blue cat walked over to me and held out her paw. I shook it and looked at the cat's eye patch. “Ye must be Katashi, I've heard much about you.” I nodded and stared at the metal sword protruding from the holster. I gulped and stepped back. Latrea put a warm and furry hand on my shoulder and began to speak up. “Now that you've met everyone, how about a celebration!”  D.J. stood up and glared at Latrea irritatedly. “Isn't partying all we do in this damn place anyway!?” He extinguished his cigar and walked away. I stood there in shock and looked back at Latrea. “He seemed a little annoyed..” She silently nodded and dragged me to seek her private room. She looked at me with a weird glare and started to speak. “I-I saw something while you were talking to Serenity….” I looked at her and asked her what it was. “I.. -I'm not sure… I saw an outline of an animatronic, but it had something odd about its aura..” I say there and took it all in. I tried to prove it to her that it was fake. “M-maybe it was nothing..”  She looked at me and her eyes glimmered. “You're probably right… It could just be my imagination..” I hugged her and left the room,  she shortly followed.