Chapter 1 - Discovery

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You step out into the parking lot. Your work day has been long and arduous, but regardless, you breathe a sigh of relief knowing that it's concluded. It's Friday, and you'll have the next two days to yourself. No job and no college coursework to sully your weekend. The rain batters the umbrella that shields you as you leisurely walk down the street towards your apartment. It's a mere 15 minute walk, but an enjoyable one as the rainfall ebbs into a gentle, summer shower.

You come to an intersection, stopping to check both ways before crossing. You have seen one too many cars running through these stop signs, and there's no way you'd let some Snapchatting teenager behind the wheel be the thing to take you out of this world. You peer to the left. It looks clear. Then to your right. No oncoming cars, but then you doubletake. Something a brilliant, deep blue color catches your eye. At first, you quickly assume it was a pile of clothing laying there in the gutter, but you quickly see it has distinctive limbs, despite its awkward positioning. You curiously draw a little closer, your pace quickening once you make out the three distinctive nubs on its head. Did you seriously just hit the jackpot? This looked like a discarded Four plush.

To find a random BFDI plush anywhere seemed impossible, given that it was rather niche, but to find one of Four? This already felt like some sort of fever dream. A strange, anxious feeling develops in the pit of your stomach as you draw even nearer to the supposed toy. The first thing you realize is that this is not an official JacknJellify Four plush, given its size and texture. Then again, it's not like any texture you've seen on a plush before. You kneel down to get a closer look. The texture doesn't even look like fabric. Any polyester or minky stuffed toy would have been soaked and darkened by the rain, but you can clearly see the raindrops beading on the surface and rolling down the head of this toy, a light sheen being left behind. You tentatively reach out to touch this strange plush, your hand jerking back once you suddenly realize that it isn't made of fabric at all. It was skin.

A quiet gasp escapes your lips, mouth agape in shock. Your recoiled hand slowly reaches out again to stroke the surface. It's smooth, soft, and somewhat squishy. It's slightly warm to the touch, though still frigid and wet from the time spent in the unforgiving storm. You shakily grip the shoulder of what you previously thought to be a toy, flipping it over onto its back, and it quickly dawns on you. This is not a Four plush. This is THE Four.

They are unconscious, eyes closed and mouth slacked open. Dark circles are purpled under their eyes, face muddied with dead leaves and indistinguishable debris decorating his features. On the lower half of his body, a large lesion is accompanied by the imprint of a tire's tread. You can tell he's hurt, but still alive by his quiet breathing. You continue to stare for several moments. You know you're not drunk. Are you high? Did someone spike your drink at work with something and you didn't know about it? Well, that would be strange, given how normal everything else was at this moment. The soreness of crouching for an extended period of time bites at your ankles. Realizing the slight pain, you know you can't be dreaming. This situation is entirely and utterly unbelievable, but what choice do you have at this point other than to accept it as reality?

You can't just leave Four here like this.

You shrug your jacket off of your shoulders and gingerly place it on top of him, wrapping the algebralien snugly inside. Only the two bumps atop his head stick out of the clothing bundle, and you silently pray that he doesn't wake up during the rest of your journey back home. You've seen Four in action on BFB, and figure that a confused Four would be an angry Four, and possibly a dead you at that point. With that fleeting thought in mind, you continue to briskly walk back to your apartment, hurrying up the staircase, and locking the door behind you, tucking your umbrella into the stand nearby.

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