“Are you sure this is safe? I mean, it’s my world, and I don’t really want to do this.” Teddie tilted his head slightly, watching Naoto inspect a TV. It wasn’t the usual one in Junes, hence the bear’s concern.
“I want to try to figure out more about how the TV World works, and I think this is a good start.” Naoto had asked Teddie to accompany her in order to create an exit portal, and so she wouldn’t be alone doing this.
“Well… if you’re certain, I’ll go with you.”
“Thank you, Teddie.”
Pressing her hand against the screen, it seamlessly slipped through into the other side, as expected. Once Naoto went through, Teddie soon followed. Naoto adjusted her glasses, looking around at the new area within the TV World.
“How long do you think this'll take?” Teddie questioned. “I've got a shift at Junes in the morning.”
“It shouldn't take long. Come on, let's go this way.” Naoto gestured to a pathway branching off at a slight upwards angle.
“There's another TV here. Did you do this?”
“I... I think so. I'm the only one who can. Some places I haven't been to in awhile, I must've furgotten.”
“Let's go through it.”
“W-What? Nao-chan, we can't go through just any TV! It's dangerous, who knows where we could end up!“
”That's the point, Teddie.“ Naoto crouched down, slipping her hand through the screen once more. Teddie whimpered, holding his paws to his face. Despite his worries, Teddie followed her once she vanished.
”...“ Naoto blinked, sitting up. Were they in a alleyway? Luckily, it was just them, so there was no risk of someone freaking out.
”I don't like it here. My fur's gonna get all gross.“ Teddie muttered, stumbling to his paws. Naoto followed, peering out of the alley. There seemed to be a run down Pizzeria across the street. Becoming distracted by it, Naoto glanced around to make sure no cars were coming, then ran over, Teddie quickly following.
”Teddie, I'd suggest you put away your fur for now, just in case anyone sees us. I am not quite sure where we are yet.“
”Okay, Nao-chan!“ Teddie popped the head off while Naoto fidgeted with the lock and chains.
”I think we'll have to go around.“ Naoto sighed, looking up at the brown bear mascot on the sign above. She wasn't quite sure why she was becoming so distracted by the abandoned building. Perhaps the bear was familiar to her, like she's read about the Pizzeria before.
”Sure thing!“ Naoto was never sure where Teddie put his fur when he wasn't wearing it, and it wasn't a mystery she was looking to solve at the moment.
Going around to the side of the fence, Naoto began climbing it up, Teddie following after few minutes. Once on the other side, Naoto kicked in a few broken shards of glass on the bottom of the window to reduce the possibility of either her or Teddie getting injured.
The inside of the building was dark and somewhat destroyed, with decayed table cloth and broken chairs.
”This place smells bad.“ Teddie commented. ”But it also has this strange scent that I can't quite place.“
”What exactly do you mean?“
”It's like... it's not a Shadow, but it's not entirely human, either.“
”I see. Well, keep me updated.“ Naoto looked down one of the two halls near the back of the building. ”This is some sort of security office.“
The doors didn't work, and neither did the lights. Monitor screens were cracked, a tablet shattered on the floor.
Is that... blood? Crouching down, Naoto took a closer look. It was likely just from an old injury from someone sneaking in and getting hurt on all the glass everywhere. It was exactly what she and Teddie were doing, after all.
“Naoto! Naoto, come here!” Teddie's voice was audible from down the hall. Slightly panicked, Naoto followed his voice into the kitchen, where he swung his arm out to stop her from running in too far. “Look!”
In front of the two, digging in the trash, was a animatronic chicken, with a cupcake accompanying her. The doors and lights didn't have power, but this chicken did? Also, animatronics shouldn't be able to walk around like this. She didn't appear to be bolted to the floor.
”Hello!“ Teddie gave a bit of a enthusiastic wave, which finally caught the attention of the chicken. Apparently, whatever was in the trash was worth more of her time than Teddie was, consider his call for Naoto didn't bother her.
”What're you greeting it for?“
”I dunno. I don't think this is just your average mechanical object.“ Teddie shrugged. ”They smell like that odd scent I mentioned earlier.“
”They do? Interesting.“ Naoto approached the chicken, gesturing to the cupcake on the table. The chicken pressed her wing to the bib she wore. “That's yours?”
“Nao-chan, there's more!” Teddie had wondered off, as expected. The chicken walked past Naoto, catching her off-guard for a moment. Naoto followed.
“A rabbit, a bear, and a fox.” Naoto looked to each new animatronic.
“At first, I thought they were just people wearing suits like I do. But then I saw the fox - nobody's wearing them.” Naoto looked the fox up and down. Teddie was right, there certainly was no way for someone to wear them.
“Why are these animatronics still in here? If they have power, you'd think whoever used to own this place would've taken them.” As Naoto continued looking at the animatronics from a distance, Teddie had a more paws-on approach, feeling the faux fur on the suits, and giving them some intense sniffing.
“Naoto... I can smell blood on them. Blood and death.” Teddie whimpered out, backing up slightly. “It's beary old and faint... but it's still there.”
The rabbit lowered his ears at Teddie's nervous expression, while the others looked between themselves.
“I wish we could ask them what happened. But I don't think they can understand what we're saying.”
“I know. I'd suggest gestures, but... I'm not even really sure how to begin with that.” Naoto sighed. “We should be heading back soon.”
“Yeah...” Teddie straightened up, waving at the group of animatronics again. Staring downwards, he gave a side glance to Naoto. “Can we play just a little longer, though? We pawbably won't ever find this place again.”
“Sure.” Naoto gave a small nod. She'd probably spend more time looking around the run down pizzeria than joining Teddie and the animatronics, though.
“Bye-bye!” Teddie waved brightly as he and Naoto approached the same window they used to get in. The animatronics waved back, looking amongst themselves again as the two vanished.
”You didn't hurt yourself, did you?“ Naoto asked after she and Teddie re-entered the alleyway TV.
”Nope, I was a careful bear!“ He was back in his bearsuit.
”That's good, I didn't either.“ Naoto glanced around. ”Do you remember where we came from?“
”Hm... I think it's that way! My nose says it's familiar over there.“
Finally back in Inaba, Naoto gave Teddie a small nod.
”Thank you for helping me out on this, Teddie. Even if I ended up... getting a little distracted.“
”Oh, hey, you're right! We didn't learn anything new about the TV World!“
”Except that it apparently can link up anywhere in the world. The language I saw back there looked English.“
”Oh, neat!“ Teddie seemed to be hopping in place. Squeak. Squeak. Squeak. ”Is there anything else you need help with?“
”No, I don't think so.“
”Great! I wanna tell Yosuke and Sensei and everybody else about that place!“ Without waiting for Naoto's response, Teddie ran off down the street, squeaking all the way.
After a small sigh and headshake, Naoto followed him.