Green.

If one attempted to describe the attraction, they would use that word. There were barely any working lights at all, but the ones that escaped destruction were overrun with mold and dust, generating the sickly color splattered on the walls. The eerie feeling that oozed out of the walls had come from this place being converted into a 'horror attraction' – something to temporarily steal the attention of the masses who wandered into the old amusement park. Even so, those who knew what the place had been before – a children's pizza parlor in the eighties – were conflicted on whether this was a good idea or not.

They public assumed they knew the entire story – a man kills five kids, hides their bodies in the animatronic suits, is arrested with a life sentence. There had even been a rumor circling around that the kids' souls still haunted the metal contraptions, causing this mess of a horror attraction to spring up. Some were angry that a profit was trying to be made off the tragedy of dead children, but their voices were soon drowned out by the buzz of the attraction opening in a week. It was lined up to the brim with relics of the previous pizzeria - drawings, animatronic costumes, props, etc. They had even found the company's first location to use. The lore still had left its stains on the place, with only a few having survived through it, including the murderer himself, the children, a nervous man on a phone, and three of the animatronics – a golden bear, a rabbit of the same color, and a puppet who had tried to prevent it all.

{***)

Virtually every folk tale and spooky story had missed some facts, gotten some information wrong, or even missed the point entirely. The story of Fazbear entertainment was no different. The murderer's first victim, a nine-year-old girl, preceded the 'five missing children'. Her death, so often skimmed over by the theorists who claim to know so much, might have been treated so because of its difference from the others. She was killed a block away from the pizzeria, preventing her body from being stuffed into a suit. Most never were able to learn her story.

The same girl's spirit tightly wrapped her cold fingers around the seemingly lifeless body of a marionette, holding on for dear life. A man in a purple polo had the fabric creature slung over his right shoulder, with its plastic mask continually bouncing against his back with each step. The man seemed exhausted, his face drooping after hours of what he considered a fruitless quest. He had even gotten his hopes up when he found this, but it seemed like there was no way to get it to move on its own as part of the attraction.

At least this one was complete, unlike the others he had found earlier. They were a wreck, the bodies chopped up into pieces, the faces almost unrecognizable. The parts were scattered across the floor as if a maniac decided to tear them apart for fun. There were not many options for things to do with these, so he did what he does best: improvising. It might not have been his best decision, but the man decided to drape the plastic heads over a light bulb until he figured out what to do with them. Sure, it was a dangerous fire hazard and probably illegal, but he would get that sorted out when he was not busy toting around a human sized puppet.

As the Marionette got heavier and heavier, a thought flashed across his mind. What if the spirits of the children were still here, trapped inside the suits that now served as their coffins? It left as soon as it came, being replaced by the theory that he was just tired from looking all day. The spirit holding on barely had enough strength for the rest of the journey. She was tired too, but she did not have enough power to inhabit the sleeping animatronic, leaving her with the options of waiting 'til he woke up or letting go and risking losing him. The first option definitely seemed better to her.

"Here ya go, dude. I'll be back tomorrow, so sit tight." The man dropped the animatronic in a corner, next to a Chica lamp whose light had been flickering. The man turned around, eyes gazing around to make sure no one was watching. Working at a horror attraction makes you a bit paranoid, seeing shadows at the corner of your eye or hearing a laugh of a murderer. Little did he know there was one was lying down right behind him.

The girl sat up after she heard the footsteps disappear. Turning her head to the side, she reached her arm out towards the marionette and gently patted his arm. The bright, cheerful colors on his mask had all but faded away, seeming like dull splotches on the now off-white mask. All three of his buttons were gone and she was sure there was a tear in his side. She could only hope that the journey here had not destroyed his already fragile system. After a minute of silence, she stood up and tugged on the mask, thinking that a bit more force would work. The wires slowly started to resurrect themselves while his internal systems preformed a maintenance check. A few more minutes passed as the Marionette slowly regained consciousness. Soon, his pupils came to life, with his left flickering every so often with sparks. She wanted to watch him more, but she also knew that he would not be able to move without her help.

"What – When – Where are we?" The words seemed quiet, his voice box not up to full power yet, but she could still hear him perfectly fine. The girl did not answer, instead deciding to merge her soul with the puppet. The merging would give the Marionette the ability to float and control over his limbs. This was very useful to him, as he had not had his strings to use in a long time. A soft blue glow glimmered around him as he picked himself off the ground and attempted to walk. It was a little rough at first, with his torso refusing to turn in the direction he needed it to, but he soon got the hang of it being able to glide with ease. Granted, he used to be able to do this with her with ease, but 30 years without practice does allow some room for improvement.

Gliding forward, the Marionette was stopped by flashing red text across his screen.

POWER: 25%

RECHARGE RECOMMENDED

The warning flashed across the screen, preventing him from seeing where he was going. He tried to aim for a straight line, but that only caused him to turn into a wall, knocking him to the floor. The red warning shrunk and shifted over to the top right of his screen where he noticed that the impact had dropped his power level down to 23%. Other information soon popped up along the edges including the date. Monday, December 25th, 2023. No, that could not have been right. If that was true, then he had been in sleep mode for 30 years... No. He refused to believe it. Light footsteps cut through the otherwise silent hallway and popped the Marionette's thought bubble. Hiding behind a spare Freddy Fazbear suit on a pole, he watched the man as he sat down.

He appeared to be around fifty years old and was wearing an old purple polo that was almost identical to the one the man before was wearing, save for the golden nametag. The Marionette tried to make out the wording, but the sharpie writing had been smudged, leaving only a '-e' visible.

"Lemme see!" The girl had poked her head out of the puppet's chest trying to catch some details about the older man. Truth be told, there was not much to see except his short black hair and soft blue eyes. The night guard had not heard the ghost, only focusing on a call that was blaring through his mobile phone. "...So, in trying to make the place feel vintage we may have overdone it a bit, hehe... Some of this equipment is barely functional. Yeah, I wasn't joking about the fire. Tha-tha-that's a real risk." The man groaned and rubbed his eyes, failing to see the reasoning behind the fire risk. 'Wasn't that the man from earlier?' The Marionette thought, trying to connect the unclear voice to the tall man who had dragged them from miles away to this place. It was hard, seeing as though he was mostly inactive at that point. The girl just stared past the spare Freddy head, soon remembering who was sitting down in that chair.

{***}

A two-room diner staffed exactly 3 cooks, 2 security, and 1 moving animatronic – all of them fluttering around trying to get the tables set, the pizza cooked and just making sure it was perfect when their doors opened to the masses in an hour. They all were wearing their purple polo's with a golden bear head as a badge, save for the three animatronics. Two golden ones, a bear and a rabbit, were up on stage. The unstable leg mechanics proved unable to walk, keeping them planted firmly on the stage. The third escaped this limit by being strung up on strings that ran up to a mechanism in the wall.

This 'Marionette' moved frantically, adding plates and chairs to tables, checking the kitchen every so often to make sure the cook didn't set it on fire, and checking the time – 8:23 AM on August 8th, 1973 to be exact. Everything seemed to be in working order, yet he still felt the nagging sensation that something was off. Something – or someone – was going to destroy all of this. He just did not know whom yet. The Marionette was stepping away to go on another routine kitchen check when a golden hand wrapped around his felt shoulder and turned him around.

"Hey." The bear's voice box came loud and clear against the bristled silicone fur it was hidden behind.

"Hey." The Marionette shifted his torso to the bear in front of him. There were not many similar features between them except the gold color in his buttons matching the other's fur and the small white pupils the three shared.

"Don't worry. It'll be fine, just calm down." The bear smiled and removed his hand.

"Yeah, it'll be fine!" The rabbit next to them cheered. He was not looking up but was fiddling with the strings on his bright red acoustic guitar. The sounds echoing from the base seemed just a half pitch too high or too low. The Marionette nodded and let out a mechanical breath.

"Thank you, I'll keep that in mind." Walking away, he slowed his pace, keeping the golden two always in the corner of his eye.

The time had passed quickly, leaving a mere three minutes 'till opening. The diner was in top shape – the pizzas were laid out on the kitchen counter, tables were polished and pristine. This should have made the Marionette feel better, but the nagging feeling still pulled on his strings. He changed his gaze every few seconds to try to rip out the source. Everyone was standing as still as statues and were hopefully gazing upon the curious crowd that waited outside.

Finally, he spotted a protruding detail – the second security guard. He had his purple cap tipped down, but even then, the Marionette could see the glowing white irises staring right at him. The man had what seemed to be an eternal grin spread across his face, as if he was gleefully sucking the life out of the felt creature. This must have been causing the paranoia he had been feeling all day, preventing him from what should have been his happiest day. Interrupting his line of sight was a wall of children galloping into the small diner, soon followed by their parents who had fallen behind.

It was opening time.

He tried turning his gaze back to the purple clad security guard but he had vanished, replaced by a blond woman on her cell phone and a vague sense of fear lingering in the air. Fredbear's voice rang against the walls proclaiming, "Hey kid's, it's me: Fredbear, ready to welcome you to Fredbear's Family Diner! Bonnie's here to play some tunes with me and the Marionette's right there to serve some pizza and -" The bear had continued rambling on but he had turned him out, seeking the man who would soon cause the downfall of this place.

.