Chapter 13
Up To Us
Only the sound of water dripping from a leaking air vent could be heard throughout the entire building. Not a single creature, human or robotic, made even the slightest noise. It gave off an eerie feeling. The animatronics had calmed down after a good hour or so violent search for the pair of guards, which had been rather uneventful for them. But for their prey, it had been the longest hour of their lives. Almost more so than their nights of employment in the facility.
It was roughly evening at this point, evident by the front areas of the building being lit a slightly orange color by the small amounts of light leaking through the boarded up windows. However there were sometimes slight disruptions in that light stream. People walking around outside maybe? Unlikely considering no one should have known they were here. Help wasn't coming. It was up to the, now trio's, own skills and devices to save themselves and each other.
Scott had been left alone with Freddy in one of the large party rooms that bordered the main hallway leading into the building's office, silently flipping through the cameras in the building on the tablet like he used to, before he was almost killed by the very animatronic that resided in his presence.
"The flashlights that illuminate the rooms from the cameras don't seem to be working" Freddy pointed out, gazing at the small tablet over the man's shoulder, causing him to flinch as the bear spoke. "What's wrong?"
"N-Nothing. Old habits, I guess." Scott didn't dare look up from the task at hand. Mike and Jeremy were counting on his help if something went wrong. Messing this up could mean the death of all three of them. "I just need to focus."
The room fell silent again. Chica was still in the room as well, but didn't dare speak. The discordant noise her voice box made when she ever tried would give away their position to the other animatronics. Mike had left before fixing either of the animatronics, and Scott made a note of that fact. The guard had only Freddy, Chica, Foxy, Bon-bon, and Fred to fix. He had fixed Mangle and Marionette ahead of time, unbeknownst to Mike or Jeremy, to try and help them, before…
"They ought to be in Parts and Service by now." Freddy interrupted Scott's reflection and the man switched the camera view on the tablet to Parts and Service, and sure enough, their whispers could be heard on the microphone, confirming their presence.
"And you're saying that the suit is up there?" Jeremy's voice was much quieter and just softer overall than Mike's not only because he was trying to be more careful, but it was just naturally like that.
"It's where I found that extra face piece to fix Bonnie with, and this is where Scott said it would most likely be. Sides, we need it to even get close to Father. Hopefully, he's as confident in his own skills as I would imagine him to be. It only takes one mistake for everything to come crashing down on your head. Now help me get up here."
Shuffling noises could be heard, along with a long wooden creaking noise. "Jeeze, what do you eat? You're so heavy" Jeremy remarked, words straining to leave his throat as he hoisted the grown man. "Maybe I should go up and get it."
"If you can't even lift me," Mike started. "Then what makes you think you'd be able to lift an entire Freddy suit?"
"Good point." The disappointment in Jeremy's response made both Mike and Scott chuckle. After all the crap they've had to deal with and will have to deal with, spirits are still high enough for them to laugh and joke with each other.
"We are men acclimatized to violence. It's going to take a lot to shake these two. People I can really count on in a life or death situation in my opinion." Scott didn't realize he was actually putting a voice to his thoughts until Freddy added onto his commentary.
"Well, they were each taught well, I would imagine." In the dim light of the room, a reflection off the edge of the tablet allowed Scott to see Freddy cross his arms without looking away from the view of the camera. "Maybe you all work together so well, and trust each other unconditionally, because your experiences are all very similar. And you subconsciously know that the others are very skilled and useful, as well as knowing that losing each other would be devastating, not just emotionally, but for the cause of escaping this place."
Scott resumed listening to the others' conversation on the other end of the tablet's speakers, but pondered what Freddy had said. This was true. They all had been through similar situations, and survived. That could be why they trusted each other so much, without any other explanation.
*CRASH*
A loud noise sounded out from the small room in the ceiling where Mike had gone, causing the entire building to be alerted to their location. Scott immediately began flipping through other cameras, and sure enough, the animatronics were now heading to that location, from every direction no less. They were trapped.
"Mike!? Mike are you alright!?" Jeremy began calling up from the room below, and received no response, thus sparking panic within the young man. He then ran up to the camera and began talking at a lower volume as to attract less attention. "Scott, what happened to Mike? Can you see him at all, like with a camera or something?" The loudspeakers only in Parts and Service turned themselves on again.
"I can't. There's no camera in there, and I have no idea but whatever fell, it was heavy. It's likely that he may be unconscious." Jeremy cringed at the older man's words. That meant he was vulnerable. That is unless…
"What should I-"
"You need to close the hatch" Scott interrupted. "He may not be able to get out, but it won't make his location obvious to the animatronics if the door is closed." He quickliy flipped to the other cameras in the building as he spoke. "And make it quick, Jeremy. You have roughly 30 seconds before Foxy gets to your location."
And with that, Jeremy ran back to the center of the room, jumped as high as he could to reach the hanging cord, and pulled the hatch shut, sealing his friend inside. "Okay. Now what?"
"My best guess is to head into the office through the nearby vent. I don't think any of the animatronics are in there." Scott instructed, checking the vent's camera to make sure he wasn't sending his ally into a dangerous situation.
"Why are we still running from them? They're supposed to be able to help us, right?"
"Jeremy, you forget. They are able to assist you against other animatronics, but not their own coding. If they turn on you again, you may not escape. You and Mike have been lucky, but it's not worth the risk."
Jeremy cringed as Scott's tone grew more serious and tense. The urgency was growing rapidly by the second, and he dove into the large vent as commanded. There was more than enough space for the small man to crawl through, and he made his way toward the office.
In the meantime, Scott continued flipping through the cameras on the tablet. I need to get Jeremy back here so we can continue execution of the plan. Even with Mike down, we can move forward for a while. But we have to go get him eventually, as well as the Golden Freddy suit.
Scott shuddered at the thought of the hollow structure. He still didn't think that one of them climbing into it was a good idea. Anything could happen: triggering a bad reaction from the animatronics, they could be crushed inside the suit, or stuck in it altogether, or they may not even find it at all. Of course it was probably locked in the attic with Mike, so hopefully everything will be fine as far as finding it goes.
He then changed the tablets view to the vent near the office, showing Jeremy just exiting the shot. Hoisting the tablet up to his face again, he spoke.
"Jeremy, head back. We have to get this sorted out, and fast."
Silence greeted his words, sending a chill down his spine. He couldn't see the actual office itself, since there was no camera in it. Maybe Jeremy was already on his way back, or he just didn't hear him. That had to be it. There's no way he would have missed one of the animatronics going into the office. They would have had to have walked past the party rooms, and they would have heard the metal feet.
"Freddy, what are the possible routes to the office? There's the main hall, and the vents, but the vents lead directly into other party rooms, I would have noticed something."
Freddy looked down at the tablet. "There has to be someone who isn't accounted for here. Look around."
Scott immediately obeyed, flipping through the cameras once more. He began talking out loud to himself. "You and Chica are here, Foxy, Bon-bon, and Chirp are in Parts and Service, Fred, Mangle, Balloon Boy and Marionette are in the hallway near the main stage, did I leave anyone out?"
"What about Bonnie?" Freddy's expression went flat as they found the purple rabbit in the Game Corner. "And the guard?"
"Mike's in the attic section of Parts and Service. He should be fine."
Freddy instantly jumped up from his position crouched over the man. "I'm talking about the one who had the black box."
Fritz! He had completely forgotten about the redhead. Did he have Jeremy? Was he ambushed in the office? There was no way! Was there…?
"Freddy, what are the chances that he could sneak by here undetected by us?"
"My best guess is that it's very likely that he could have while you were focused on directing Mike and Jeremy. He would have had to know you weren't changing the cameras." Scott glared angrily at his own reflection in the tablet.
"Then why wouldn't he come in here after me? Why attack the others if he knew I was here?"
"More than likely," Freddy turned and walked toward the far wall. "He figured that if you stopped speaking to them, they would get suspicious and come to your rescue, which they probably would. Mike basically removed himself from the picture."
"Hold on a second." Scott's eyes widened as he came to a stunning realization. "Mike had that cat suit fall on him earlier, when he was trying to fix Bonnie, right?"
"That's correct."
"If that's the case, then there's almost no way he could have been knocked unconscious by a falling suit. That cat suit is surely the heaviest of them all. I should know. I had to put it up there. He was practically unfazed by that hunk of steel falling on him, so why would any of the others do the same? Plus Fritz, if he does have Jeremy, would have to know about Mike. He was nowhere near Parts and Service at the time. That would mean the only way he could know about Mike's condition is for it to have been planned." At this point, he was on his feet, pacing back and forth across the room, in the fashion of an old television detective, and Freddy and Chica were hanging on his every word.
"We still don't know where Father is." Freddy added.
"Exactly. Meaning he could be-"
"Locked in the attic with Mike. By god, they've both been caught." Freddy looked as though he was very concerned. But Scott took the initiative. He ran forward toward the closed party room door, only to be stopped by Chica. "Where are you going? We can't be rash about this." Freddy continued. "We have to think things through."
Scott paused for a long moment, but eventually gave a silent nod and turned around. "Alright then. What should we do?"
Whelp, here it is. The cruddy first chapter of the final arc. I have a difficult time focusing. Forgive me. Especially when my friends are CALLING ME ON SKYPE EVERY TWO SECONDS (you know who you are). I don't even remember uploading the last chapter I was so flipping tired. I just woke up the next morning and went "Well then." and such. Either way, the adventure has been passed over to our favorite phone for a bit. How will this go down? WILL MIKE AND JEREMY BE SAVED!? *announcer voice* FIND OUT- whenever I upload the next chapter I don't know. CYA LATER FRIENDOS!