CoF - Chapter 10 - Alive
[ - Part 3 - ]
Fading in and out of consciousness was all Fritz could do. He tried to remember what happened to him, but couldn't. All he could feel was pain when he was awake, and nothing when he wasn't. Eventually, Fritz was conscious enough to realize what had happened. He looked down, and saw something which flooded him with memories.
Fritz' chest was a golden version of Freddy.
Starting to panic, Fritz realized that something wasn't right. He couldn't breathe well. For every breath he took in it felt like it wasn't enough, and when he did breath he felt a sharp pain in his chest. He tried to move his hands to check if he was wounded, only to realize that his hands felt as if they were being crushed. Pain flooded through his body as it woke up, and he knew that he was lucky to be alive. Fritz' hands could barely fit in the paws on the costume, he couldn't move his legs, and he felt as if his chest had been stabbed multiple times. He must have been forced onto a few crossbeams, which penetrated through him when he was forced further into the costume.
How he didn't bleed out in and of itself was a miracle, not to mention still having enough organs functioning well enough to keep him alive. He couldn't feel his legs, or move them, so his spine must have broken in the process of being stuffed inside the costume. When John had shot him, but before he lost consciousness, he remembered hearing something about how the endoskeleton wasn't finished. If he only had the legs and parts of the chest done when he went insane that would explain Fritz' injuries, and how his hands and head were mostly fine. Speaking of the head, the bullet must have passed all the way through, or landed in his mouth and gotten spit out, because he didn't feel it anywhere. That half of his jaw itself was useless, and hurt whenever it was moved. Thankfully, he still felt able to speak, but for now it would just pain him whenever he did.
Then and only then did Fritz realize that he had no clue where he was. He slowly raised his head and peered out of the two eye holes in the suit. He was leaning against what he assumed was a wall in a very dark room. After letting his eyes adjust a little bit Fritz could start to make out a few details.
Fritz was sitting on a tile floor with dirt and grime covering it. Dark liquid, presumably oil, was splashed against parts of it, an on the wall. The wall had a tile-like finish to it, but had many cracks running down it. It was caked in dirt, and was of a dull grayish coloring. Out of those cracks and coming from the ceiling ran wiring which seemed to attach to nothing. The ceiling itself was filled with crossbeams and looked to be very sturdy. Then things started to get interesting.
Looking to the opposite side of the room there was a table. On top of the table was a mass of endoskeleton parts and wiring. There appeared to be more behind it, but it wasn't currently visible because of the mess on front. A piece of paper sat folded on the table. Fritz then looked to his left. Sitting up on the wall next to him was a figure that resembled a human. However, because of the darkness he couldn't be certain it was. To his right lie a small present box.
Fritz started to lift himself up using his arms, when all of a sudden the legs on the costume jerked. A small shock shot through his spine. Fritz then stared in wonder as he was now able to move his legs. He was certain his spine had broken, so how could he move his legs? Deciding to resolve it later, Fritz stood up. He then wobbled uncertainly, the costume being heavier and off-balancing much more then he expected. Using the wall for support, Fritz limped over to the present. He reached down, struggled to unwrap the ribbon with his thick paws, and then opened the lid. Inside lay a single slice of pizza, a bottle of water, and a note. Being careful not to crush the note, Fritz opened it and read the contents.
"A life for a life..." It read.
Fritz decided that whoever left him the food must want him alive. That's good and all, but for what purpose? Starting to chow down on the pizza slice, Fritz tottered drunkenly over to the table. He set down the water bottle and picked up the note.
"Save him..." It read.
Fritz then looked over to the contents on the table. On it lay a garbled mess of endoskeleton parts, wires, and plastic costume pieces. Most notably, there was a white and pink fox head with a few wires running out of it.
A loud groan startled Fritz and diverted his attention away from the mangled animatronic. He looked over to the human-like figure. It was slowly rising from it's position on the floor, continuing with the groans. When it was standing it looked at itself, then recoiled in shock much like Fritz had earlier. He could hear it whispering to itself.
"How the... I thought I had..." It then cut off as it noticed Fritz. "Who, or what, are you?" It said.
"I could ask the same of you." I responded in a very raspy voice, wincing as I felt pain in my jaw. The other person seemed slightly startled, then answered.
"My-my name's Phineas." He responded. "I've answered your question, now you answer mine," he said shakily.
"Fritz," Fritz responded. "It's glad to see you alive and well Phineas, can't exactly say the same for me though. To be honest I have no clue how I'm even breathing."
"Why are you in that Freddy suit?" Phineas asked curiously.
"John went insane, shot and killed the other technicians, and presumably stuffed them into the other suits. He shot me as well, but it seems that I survived. I have no clue how I ended up... wherever here is. What about yourself?" Fritz responded, then asked.
"After my third shift I had an idea. I went backstage and found a spare suit, the golden one you're in right now, and put it on over my uniform. I'm glad I did, as they were really aggressive that night. When they got in the office I played dead, and they left without giving me a second glance. After that I heard an extremely loud screech, saw something tall and black lunging at me, and blacked out. I then woke up here." Phineas explained.
Fritz sat down on the table, processing the information. 'It's safe to assume that whoever abducted Phineas is either the same person, or is working with whoever saved my life,' Fritz thought. 'They must be very skilled at saving lives, because I don't even know of a doctor who could not only save my life, but keep me alive without attaching me to 50 lbs of machinery,'
Fritz then gulped down half the water bottle, some spilling onto his chin and running down into the suit. As soon as it hit his neck area Fritz felt a small shock.
'That answers that question,' Fritz thought. 'Having machinery attached explains how I'm able to walk as well, but how I can do it without pressing any buttons or something is beyond me.'
Fritz then looked over to Phineas, who was opening a present much like Fritz' from earlier. Inside held the same food, and another note. Phineas scanned over it, then walked over to the table and examined the animatronic. He then handed the note to Fritz, who read it.
"You can address the animatronic as Mangle. As soon as you two repair him I will release you." The note read.
"Wow, that was a lot clearer then the one he left me." Fritz said, then showed his note to Phineas. Fritz then looked around and found a few more present boxes. He opened them and found a few spare parts, presumably what he would need to attach to Mangle, and a few tools. Fritz walked over to Mangle, set the tools down, and then inspected the rusted animatronic.
The power supply would need to have the most work done to it, as it was barely even held to the frame by a few worn wires. The eyes were both disconnected, and the claws were rusted shut. Many of the parts were cracked, and most would need reinforcing anyhow.
Fritz motioned Phineas over. "Looks like we need to do a lot of work here. We better get started." Fritz said. He then grabbed a few of the tools and started to put everything together.
Many times Fritz needed Phineas to help repair the animatronic. With Fritz' big paws from the Golden Freddy costume he wasn't able to do things which required a lot of finnese. Neither knew how their savior/kidnapper knew that he would need help, but Fritz was thankful he did. The two worked on the animatronic until Phineas started to get tired, at which point it was decided the two would take a break. As there was no furniture in the room aside from the table with the animatronic on it, the two lied down on the floor. Phineas went out like a light, while Fritz layed there and thought.
'I never even got to know those girl's names.' Fritz thought. 'What a crappy first day on the job.' Fritz' thoughts were then interrupted by the sound of a door creaking. He opened his eyes, warily scanning the room. From where he was laying he had a view of both the door and the table, so Fritz watched those cautiously. Outside the door it was pitch black, so he couldn't see anything there. Fritz saw movement in the support beams on the ceiling, but again because of the darkness, he couldn't see anything there. All of a sudden, a long, thin shadow dropped from the ceiling. It landed softly, and then stood up. If it had a face it was turned the other direction, looking at the table. It reached down and turned the head on the animatronic so that it was facing it. Then it spoke.
"I'm sorry I couldn't save you. I'm doing the best I can to change that. Fritz and Phineas will fix you up, and we'll get revenge on the one who did this to you." The shadow said in in a whispery voice.
The animatronic on the table moved, and another voice was heard. This one sounded weak, and was hard to hear. It didn't help that small bursts of static occasionally interrupted it.
"Relax" Static interrupted, and Mangle writhed in pain. When it stopped he lay still, then looked up to the shadow and spoke once again. "My time came a while ago. I'm happy that I was at least able to shut down that infernal place." Another burst of static accompanied his words. "If I die here and now I shall die happy." Mangle then lied down, apparently resigned to his fate.
Something strange then happened to Fritz. Against his will, Fritz stood up. Mangle noticed him, and looked relieved.
"Good to see you still have some control over that costume. I was afraid when Fritz was put in there that we wouldn't be able to speak anymore." Mangle said.
Fritz felt something activate around his neck area, which then went numb. He heard a voice coming from him that sounded similar to his own, but different. It sounded deeper, and more rough.
"It wears me out more then I would like to admit, but I can still control it." The mysterious voice said. "But I'm not here for idle chit-chat. I've come to say that you are still needed in this world. He survived..."
Mangle's eyes widened. "H-how?!" It said in a startled voice.
"John rebuilt him. He's weaker then before, but he's still strong enough to tear you in half." The voice said.
"As soon as Fritz finishes you we can go after him. Until then, don't worry." The shadow man said. Apparently he had snuck away while the voice and Mangle were talking, as he was nowhere to be found. He must have been close though, because he still sounded like he was in the room. Must have crawled up into the support beams yet again.
"Aye, but until then, rest. You'll be needing your strength. I'll be doing the same."
Fritz, who was in a panic by now, then heard a voice in his head. It sounded almost exactly like the mysterious voice he had heard earlier, but less rough.
"Relax Fritz, all shall be explained soon. But for now, rest. You'll need your strength." The voice said. All of a sudden Fritz inexplicably felt nauseous and dizzy. He fell to the floor as his vision slowly faded to black.
I hath returneth! With Finals over I'm excited to get back into the flow of things. Chapters should be coming at their normally scheduled times from here on out.
Also, congrats to Gman for picking up on my little hint at the end of Chapter 6. You get an imaginary cookie :D