(AN: While does not provide character selection for the toy animatronics, they will be tagged under the originals. Sorry if it was confusing!)
For the first time, its not down to tampering as the reason why the three staged animatronics had focused their sight on the arguing adults in front of them, heads slightly angled to get a better view of the debate. Usually anything to do with adults is regarded as best ignored, or it was until they got far more.. interesting. Whatever went into their circuits had definitely reformed their perspectives on adults in general, and right now, it was no exception. However, it didn't help that the way they were arguing was fitting enough to be somewhat childish in nature. Wasn't that ironic?
"You'll have to inform the staff- god knows they'll need to hear it soon enough so they can find other job vacancies when this place goes down. Shit, didn't think this place could be taken down so quickly - and because of perfectly working animatronics, too! Don't you think this is bullshit?"
"Its not bullshit, man. Its what we have to do - obviously its best to just let it lie down rather than try to keep this place going."
"But it could have been an accident! You know how those kids are- pulling them around, making them into even more of abominations than they already are. Hell knows what would happen if one of them got into the services room - all those old models. They'd be electrocuted!"
"Never mind those - they're being transported out of here as soon as the documents have been signed, sent off, then posted back with the official closure statement. You need to sign them so we can be done with this shitty outcome."
At the sign of the conversation slowly drawing to its conclusion, Toy Freddy angled his head a little more so to the left, one eye flickering in a slight blinking motion as he watched one of the workers mumble and fume about the loss of work. Toy Bonnie remained motionless, but Toy Freddy heard Toy Chica move around a little more so. Out of the three, it was common knowledge that while Toy Chica liked to move around more, her movements were more so nosier due to the fact her suit was vastly smaller than Toy Freddy's and Toy Bonnies, meaning her contents and endoskeleton were more cramped inside.
"Phil, come on, you just need to lighten up. Maybe you'll get a better job."
"Yeah? Where? This town is awful for jobs and we're about to have mass unemployment on our hands. Too many people work here!"
"Well do what you want. I'm probably going to hit the road after this place goes down. Its nice to get away from the city, you know?"
"Do what YOU want, Steve. I'm tired of leafing through booklets." The pair broke off as a third figure entered the show stage, tugging on the night watch hat and looking thoroughly unhappy. At the new figure entering, Toy Bonnie did move a little more, but the three did their best to keep still so that the night guard didn't notice their movements.
That was the thing with all of this paranoia going around - at night, rather than let the animatronics wander as they usually did, they turned the AI down to make sure they remained immobile. They kept them on, sure, but unable to move from the spot. The staff claimed that it was enough for them to walk around during the day, and some strain had been removed from the night guards shoulders, but it didn't mean everyone would remain immobile.
"Fritz! Just in time to clock in for the night shift! Everything alright, not to spooked out by the last guards switch?" One of the workers said, wiggling his fingers towards Fritz. Fritz ignored them as he filed in to let the staff know he'd arrived for his duty, scrawling into the open book on the table and then clocking in. The two workers shrugged at one another, and turned to leave, but not before one of them had slapped Fritz on the back heartedly. "Good lad!"
Fritz coughed several times as they left, and even the animatronics heard the worker mutter to the other, "Poor kid, doesn't seem old enough to stare at his own shadow for long."
Like the workers who had just left, Fritz was keen to be on the move, so no sooner had he finished signing his papers, he left through the door and down the hallway towards his office, leaving the echoing sound of footsteps.
As soon as it went quiet, the three moved. Slightly at first, knowing Fritz would be paranoid enough to check on them, but surely he wouldn't notice them conversating, at the least. They wouldn't be moving, after all.
Toy Chica was the first to speak softly, "They're really closing this place."
"I didn't think it would happen. I thought we were doing our job well, entertaining the children and making them have awesome birthday parties," Toy Bonnie frowned, decidedly not wanting to hang onto his guitar all evening as he lassooed it around his neck and swung it so it hung down his back instead.
"Whats going to happen to us?" Toy Chica whimpered slightly - she wasn't usually the kind to drop down to this level of worry, being the backbone of the trio. But it was the worry that was also shared in Toy Freddy and Toy Bonnie, and they could understand her concern.
"They said they were transporting the other guys out, right? So maybe they'll keep us.. relocate us?" Toy Bonnie voiced hopefully, delicately pressing his fingertips together.
"No," Toy Freddy spoke at last quietly. Toy Bonnie turned to look at him in slight surprise, and even though Toy Freddy couldn't see Toy Chicas face at this angle, he knew that she was looking at him just as curiously.
There was silence for a moment, empty without the sound of the music box tinkling away. It was unusual to be without its musical tone in the background, but the animatronics didn't spare it thought. Why would they?
After a minute or so, Toy Freddy repeated himself, "No."
"Why not?" Toy Bonnie asked, furrowing his brows a bit and craning his neck to stare more so at Toy Freddy, as though staring alone would provide a reason. There was more noise as Toy Chica attempted to move to do the same, and understanding the problem, Toy Freddy moved back so they could both see him, giving Toy Chica an apologetic look.
"Because whatever has happened here, it will be pointed at us. If an animatronic did attack someone, or a person did attack someone, it will automatically be assumed we did it. We're mobile, we're active, and we're around people. The old models are not, so they have it in the bag. They're already broken, so how could they move during the day? I'm sure they keep the services locked up. No - they'll pin this on us, and we'll be as broken down as our counterparts." At this, there was a slight clattering noise - Toy Chica had been fumbling her cupcake a little in her nerves, and now the plate had fallen down. Instantly, a light came on - Fritz checking, obviously - and the three stood still until it dimmed.
"But we didn't do anything!" Toy Chica flared up, squeezing the cupcake so hard the seams around the eyes were beginning to snap, "We've been here! They've seen us!"
"Not all of us," Toy Bonnie said suddenly, as though he'd clicked onto the same level as Toy Freddy, "The Marionette, BB, Foxy- they're all unaccounted for. Foxy is only temporarily supervised because they're broken and they wouldn't be able to do anything. BB is attended to at all times to hand out balloons and the Marionette is at the Prize Counter which is always supervised. But even Marionette and BB are left alone for a long while - especially during lunch break. We're attended to every hour."
"So why would we be under threat of being torn up?" Toy Chica retaliated, as one of the eyes on her cupcake burst open, causing stuffing to fall out, "Why not them?"
"Because we're a set, like the old ones," Toy Freddy said gently, reaching his free hand to put it on top of the cupcake. Toy Chica instantly got the message and stopped squeezing it, sparing the second eye. "If one of us does something, we all go. The old ones were the same, remember?"
"You don't think-" Toy Bonnie started, but they stopped as they heard a rasping noise. It echoed down the hall for a moment, before it faded away. Unsure of what they heard, they carried on their conversation.
"You don't think that they'll be the ones replacing us?"
"I don't know," Toy Freddy put simply, dropping his hand away from the cupcake, "They never said we'd be replaced."
The trio went quiet again, unable to think of what to say to provide comfort for one another. Toy Freddy carefully dropped his microphone down, freezing when it emitted a screech which made Fritz check on them again, before he reached out to Toy Bonnie and Toy Chica.
Silently, they linked hands, knowing that they no longer had a choice. They had failed their duty to entertain children, to amuse adults, to keep everyone safe. They had tried to provide an establishment friendly for all, a place that would be a child's dream. But it had ended as the last one had, and how many others could end if the fault remained.
The only comfort was their knowledge of their innocents. They had never harmed a child, never harmed an adult, and they only sought out others to entertain them with music and song. They were never aggressive, nor were they ever angry. They had tried to make Fazbears the happiest place on earth for all the children.
But it was over so quickly, on account of a mistake, perhaps. A glitch. Something not even they'd seen coming. The fault had slipped through their circuits and through their technological intelligence. They had been deceived by an unknown figure who had caused their downfall.
It was quiet for a matter of hours. No one was moving, and Fritz had inevitably fallen asleep with the lack of anything to do. The music box mystery remained, but the animatronics ignored its worrying sign. In fact, they ignored everything, remaining fixated on their deep thoughts, until a familiar face appeared dangling from the ceiling. It swung forward, misjudging its position, and came face to face with Toy Bonnie, who startled slightly.
"Foxy, you-"
"I?" Suspended from the ceiling by the mass of wires and cables, dangling down almost delicately, was the fourth, Toy Foxy. Naturally while the staff knew of Toy Foxy as The Mangle, Toy Foxy was always Foxy to the animatronics, who knew best not to insult their friend with a demeaning name.
"What are you doing here?" Toy Bonnie inquired, slowly arching an eyebrow. Mangle shrugged what remained of their shoulders and swung lightly so they were dangerous close to colliding with the animatronic bunny. Instinctively Toy Bonnie ducked a few times, causing Mangle to chortle.
"Sorry to see you can't hop out of the way anymore!"
"Foxy, please. We asked you a reasonable question," Toy Freddy responded, disconnecting his hands so he could reach out and take Mangle by their second endoskeleton head, twisting Mangle around so they were facing each other. Toy Freddy knew well Mangle purely tormented them because they'd been banned from the show stage due to the dangers of the mass of endoskeleton mess they were, and the position in Kids Cove was humiliating enough. With no proper endoskeleton body, only envy was driving Mangles body around.
Mangle knew better than to start getting snarky with Toy Freddy, whose appearance alone was threatening enough. While Toy Freddy wasn't the horror-show lookalike like his counterpart, he could still look thunderous when he wanted to.
"Well I heard some delicious-" There was odd emphasis on the word, and the endoskeleton head chattered its teeth a little - "-News that we wouldn't be separated this time next week. Imagine that! I could make a pretty little scarf on your neck, Freddy. Three heads would be an appealing look for a guy your size."
"Who told you?" Freddy grumbled.
"BB."
"Figures. He has inflatable ears, I swear."
"He told me you were being moved off, and that I was coming too! Not sure if BB is going to hold the fort here or not, but I don't really give much of a darn. His laughter was obnoxious. You think Marionette is coming too?"
"No. Marionette isn't here."
"Not here?"
"The music box isn't playing."
"Huh." Mangle seemed to roll this new information around in their mouth, making an assortment of thinking noises before clicking their teeth again, "I'll go see, shall I?"
"Don't make him annoyed. There's a new night guard today, and the last thing he needs is a fright."
"Is there really? I'll have to pop in to see him! Tah tah!" And with that Mangle shrank back to prise themself out of Toy Freddy's grip, and swung delicately up to the ceiling, using the arm, foot and two heads that remained to crawl across the flat surface like an insect.
The three remained immobile again, though this time not due to the thoughts of the future - this time they were listening. For music, for the sound of Fritz being startled, anything. But the only noise they could hear was the slight echo of Mangles electronics crackling in the hallway.
Toy Bonnie spoke after a while, "I don't trust Foxy much anymore, Freddy. They treat everything as a joke now since the issues arose. Even more now that they're going to be joining us again."
"But Foxy doesn't know where we're going," Toy Freddy reassured him, retrieving his microphone carefully so it didn't make another screeching noise.
"Nor do we," Toy Chica pointed out, and at that, Toy Freddy couldn't help but fall silent. Luckily the awkwardness of that conclusive comment was diverted by the slow but sure return of Mangle, who was shimmying across the floor this time the way a snake did.
"Foxy, what are you doing."
"That night guard is a real idiot sometimes," Mangle snickered, slithering against the stage a bit more so that they could rest their head on the platform, looking up at the three, "He saw me on the floor and, obviously since its so quiet, didn't think I was mobile. So he picked me up and looked me over. Thought I was broken, tried to fix something. He turned my AI back up!"
"And then what, did you get your scare?"
"Nah, I wanted to leave him this time. Nice guy, despite the idiot parts. But hang on-" Mangle clamped their teeth into the stage, rolling forwards so they practically forward rolled onto the stage at Toy Freddy's feet. With the utmost difficulty they wormed their way around behind Toy Chica, apologising for the upcoming problem of climbing up, before attempting to climb up the back of Toy Chica with the little limbs they had left. It was hard going, since Mangle wasn't used to climbing on slippery surfaces like the metal shell and almost fell a few times, but eventually they reached Toy Chica's back, using their teeth to begin prying at the screwed-in container.
Toy Chica did her best not to look offended by the fact Mangle was hanging onto her for dear life, and Toy Bonnie swore he was about to burst a circuit from the comedic view.
"Before you ask, its because you have smaller fingers to sort the AI out with," Mangle informed her as they finished prising away the containers cover, pulling back so their hand could move in and fiddle the AI back up. At first it clocked at 3 or 4, but then Mangle casually let it slide up to 10 and hopped off of Toy Chica's back.
The change was instant, as Toy Chica's movement was hyped up to a point that it was like she had had coffee. Whirling around, she quickly moved around behind Freddy, unattaching her beak so that the hooks on the inside could be used to unscrew the lid. After turning up his AI, she repeated the process on Toy Bonnie, who was still holding in his laughter.
"Don't move around too much," Toy Freddy informed the pair, "We want the night guard to know we're not moving." Mangle hooked their teeth into Toy Freddy's side so they could slide up and around the animatronic bears arm, able to get face to face.
"So did you find out where the Marionette is?"
"No. They were gone. I turned up and it was silent - except for my usual cluttering noise, you know - and so I tried to get the box open. It wouldn't budge, so I had to tamper with it with my teeth to force the lid up. It was empty though."
"Strange," Toy Freddy hummed, as behind him Toy Bonnie finally burst out into laughter, causing Toy Chica to begin chasing him around the stage waving her beak at him threateningly, "You've been to every room?"
"Mhm. BB is still where he was, though. Said he hadn't seen the Marionette. I did my best checking the vents but I hate those things - too slippery." Mangle rested their chin on Toy Freddy's open palm, rolling their eyes.
"Thank you, Foxy." The animatronic bear was, admittedly, impressed by Mangles investigation, considering Mangle was half the animatronic they'd used to be. Mangle opened their jaw enough to cock a grin at Toy Freddy, before settling more comfortably.
"Do you have the time?"
"Its around three, I'd assume. Perhaps almost four."
"Why not go see the night guard? He'd probably fix those rosy cheeks of yours." And with that, Mangle swung down from Toy Freddy's arm, cackling a bit at the swipe Toy Freddy took at them, "I'm kidding! They're charming - not as nice as mine, though."
There was a clatter that made them both look, as Toy Bonnie had finally been caught by Toy Chica and was receiving a bonk on the head with the beak for his laughter. It was an amusing sight, especially how Toy Bonnie was clinging onto the guitar for dear life. Toy Freddy couldn't help but know he was going to miss this idyllic peace, this silliness they all shared. Even Mangle, who he hadn't seen whole in ages, was a pleasant companion for now, as even Mangle couldn't crack a bad joke over the reunion.
There wasn't a grudge anymore. If only it had been this way all along, Toy Freddy thought, with them on stage for the night, and Mangle joining them. They'd be content in each others company. It was the AI that drove them to find people, but they really didn't need to.
The last few hours dragged on rather slowly, as now that the four could move, they settled down on the stage and did nothing but speak - speak about random things, things they'd never get to speak about again. Mangle moved constantly around the three suited animatronics, wrapping around their necks, arms, heads, making jokes about scarves and watches. It was oddly pleasant and so much different to what they were used to.
Not long before 6am, Mangle finally departed the room to return to Kids Cove, but even without knowledge of what was coming, they sensed that it wasn't going to be a good ending in the future with the four of them. It wouldn't end as they hoped - with the four of them reunited on a stage, but with the four of them in deep trouble. So they took their time leaving, giving an extra squeeze around each of their necks to make up for the lack of capability to hug them, before ascending up onto the ceiling and crawling out of sight.
It occurred to the remaining three that it would be best to hug it out for the last time too, as when they next moved, it wouldn't be as they were now. They would be broken down, forgotten, simply a fragment of Fazbear history. And in this final embrace, they made their silent promises to stick together.
And then it was back to position, Toy Chica retrieving her cupcake and reattaching her beak, and Toy Bonnie putting his guitar back into place, back to normal. Who knew if they would move again, but to preserve their history, they made sure they were wearing smiles on their faces, amidst their rosy cheeks.
The next morning, Fritz was fired under accusation of tampering with the animatronics, and due to the foul odor. Fritz, who had been terrified of the animatronics movement on the stage, and then again by Mangle checking the vents, had no excuse for the odor, but protested against tampering. He claimed he had found a broken animatronic and tried to fix it, but when told that the animatronics on the stage had also been tampered with, he had no evidence to prove he hadn't done it. He was fired after the single night, and never returned to the establishment.
And the Marionette? Well, they were never found. They had vanished, like a ghost into the thin air, leaving behind only a breath of a tune. Because it was down to elimination, as the rhymes game went. One by one, they went out, as each weasel popped and caught someone out. And as such, did the Marionette with the establishment, as it was eliminated from business affairs until the time Mike Schmidt took up his job.
But the Marionettes role in the closure could never been confirmed or evidenced. No one knew where it went, but it was assumed the puppet had been removed by staff. No one dared question otherwise, out of fear - fear of the puppet who would move by itself, who could pounce at any moment.
Who knows?
Perhaps the Marionette will visit your local Fazbears.