Chapter 26

'How are you guys managing?' Helena asked.

'Noisy kids, and greasy hands, touching, yanking...' Freddy shuddered.

'And no showers!' Chika wailed.

'Were we like that when we were young?' Bonnie asked.

'I daresay we were' Fredrick replied.

'Guys you don't get it! Showers!' Chika yelled.

'We get it Chika! No showers. We'll have to make do as best we can' Foxy yelled back.

'Actually guys. Gerard came up with a solution to that one' Helena piped up.

All eyes were on her, a desperate gleam in Chika's.

'He's arranged a portkey for you all' the girl continued.

'Portkey? That's the thing that zaps you to another place, right?' Bonnie asked.

'Yes. I can hold up the fort here while you all go home for a few hours. Change clothes, get something to eat' Helena said.

'And shower!' Chika sighed dreamily.

'As I recall Chika, you didn't care much for bathing when you were young' Fredrick pointed out.

The yellow haired girl spun to glare at him.

'When I was young it didn't matter! But now look at me! My hair's a mess and my clothes are covered in greasy handprints!'

She turned back to Helena.

'I would hug you and your brother, but I don't want you covered in grease'.

'You can hug us when you feel better' Helena laughed.

She dug around in her bag and pulled out a jumping rope. Handing it over she noticed the confused looks.

'Remember, a portkey can be made from anything. This way you can all hold on to it without crowding each other. Once everyone's holding it, the activation key is sanctuary'.

'What kind of keyword is that?' Foxy snorted.

'One you're hardly likely to say in normal conversation. It's a two way portkey that will bring you there and back as many times as you like' Helena replied.

'Does this mean we can go now?!' Chika asked eagerly.

Laughing Helena nodded, and the other girl quickly snatched the rope, holding it out for the others almost as a side thought.

'You coming?'

'You gonna be alright here?' Foxy asked Helena.

'Sure. Jeremy says these new animatronics are fine. On you go, and be sure to come back before six' the girl replied.

Chika squee was all she heard as they were transported back to her and Gerard's flat. She giggled.

'Silly guys. Though I can understand their need to get away from screaming kids with dirty hands'.

With that done she settled back to watch the cameras, figuring her shifts from now on would be rather boring.

'Oh that one's broken'.

The white fox, a replacement for Foxy, was in pieces in a corner. Helena wasn't sure she could fix it, not with all those parts.

'What in the world happened to her?'

Then she remembered what Jeremy said as he left.

OOO

'Enjoy your night. Oh and don't worry about Toy Foxy'.

'Why should I worry about him?' Helena asked curiously.

'Actually it's a her. And I'm saying that because you'll probably notice she's broken' Jeremy replied.

'Broken. What happened?'

'Toy Foxy is more child friendly than normal Foxy. No hook for one thing, and she's out in the open for the kids to play with. Problem with that is there's an issue with her parts. The kids grab her and her parts just fall off. It's a shame, the kids loved her at first, but since she keeps falling apart the parents won't let them play with her any more. We've had to put her back together god knows how many times, I think the others have given up with her. We've contacted the owner but he hasn't responded yet. I think he's busy at another place'.

Jeremy grinned.

'I kinda call her Mangle now'.

'Jeremy that's horrible!' Helena scolded, fighting a grin herself.

'What? She's a big old lump of mangled parts. If you look closely, you'll even see a second head. I think she was supposed to have another animal on her shoulder, maybe a parrot, but at the last minute they scrapped it. When she moves without her parts the second head moves almost independently, it's kinda creepy'.

'Lovely' Helena muttered.

'Anyway, enjoy your first shift back. Don't let the Mangle get you' the man teased.

'Oh away with you!' she laughed, chasing him out the door.

OOO

'Mangle. Well I can certainly see now why she's called that. Shame though'.

She suddenly jumped when she heard a noise down the corridor. Glancing at the cameras she noticed something strange.

'Have they always been looking in that direction?'

Helena frowned. Jeremy told her these ones were just normal animatronics, no problems with them at all, well besides Mangle…err Toy Foxy. She really hoped Afton hadn't done anything to them as well.

'I must have been seeing things' she decided.

She flicked the camera to the main room, smiling at the cute little boy animatronic holding balloons.

'I bet he's popular'.

She froze. What that…a child's laugh? Quickly she turned back to the others, but they hadn't moved. Frowning she then switched to the party room, where Toy Foxy lay. There was an odd buzz in her ears, like the static of a radio trying desperately to broadcast music.

'That's odd'.

Suddenly she didn't feel quite so comfortable by herself any more. She didn't believe she was in danger, but there was certainly something going on with the new animatronics.

She waited nervously for the others to return, keeping close watch on the cameras and refusing to leave the office, just in case.

When the group finally arrived back, she could have hugged them in relief.

'You look in better spirits' she noted with a smile.

'Hmm…What a shower can do!' Chika sighed.

She squeaked when Foxy poked her in the side.

'You were in there for ages!' the fox complained.

'Well I had to be clean! And there was plenty of hot water left for you all!' the bird protested.

'So, all quiet here?' Fredrick asked as the pair bickered.

'Pretty much, though I don't think these animatronics are as normal as Jeremy says' Helena replied.

The pair stopped arguing and turned to her.

'How'd you mean?' Foxy asked.

'Well…It's hard to say. I thought I saw the three on stage move their heads, or at least I didn't think they were facing that way before. Then when I was watching Balloon Boy I swore I heard a child laughing. And Mangle, I mean Toy Foxy, when I looked at her I heard this odd static like noise. Like a radio'.

'Huh. So you think Afton did something to them as well?' Bonnie asked.

'No. I don't think so. I don't feel like I'm in danger, just a bit nervous'.

She laughed nervously.

'Kind of like I was seeing ghosts, except that can't be right. Gerard told me all about the ghosts at Hogwarts, so I know they exist. I shouldn't be frightened of the idea of ghosts'.

She squeaked a bit when Freddy lifted her up and scooted onto her chair, lowering her onto his lap.

'But something's going on?' the bear asked quietly.

The others sniggered as Helena blushed.

'I don't really know, I could be imagining it' she mumbled, taking comfort in his arms despite her embarrassment.

Fredrick leaned over and checked her watch.

'Well we've only got around an hour left. Why don't we go check them out?'

Freddy growled, reluctant to move, and Fredrick rolled his eyes.

'Yes yes we get it, but you can't hog her forever'.

Helena giggled, sliding off a protesting Freddy's lap.

'That's actually a good idea. I feel better with you all around'.

'Well it's settled then' Bonnie said with a nod, reaching out to pull her to him and taking her out the office.

The others followed, giving the rabbit dark looks for catching her before they could.

OOO

'See you all tomorrow' Helena said, kissing each of them on the cheek as she reapplied the glamours.

'Oh sure, leave us with Jeremy' Foxy sneered playfully.

'Oh you hush! And don't give him any problems, you hear me' the girl spoke sternly.

'Yes ma'am!' Fredrick saluted.

Giggling Helena shooed them to the stage and waved as she left.

'Sigh…another day until I can get to that shower' Chika whined.

'Oh hush up' Foxy snapped as the lights went on and Jeremy came in to start his shift.

OOO

'Did you see that?'

Toy Freddy couldn't believe what he'd just seen. Neither apparently could the others.

'She turned them human. But how can that be?' Toy Bonnie said.

'Hush you two! We'll be discovered!' Toy Chika scolded.

From the party room Balloon Boy sighed. He had a little more freedom than the others as they were in the same room as the old animatronics, but due to the cameras he couldn't do much. He'd seen what the others had though, that these old robots weren't actually robots, and the girl was responsible for changing them into human.

'She seems nice. Maybe she'd do the same to us' he mumbled to himself.

He stilled when some children came running in, smiling and handing them some balloons.

'So much for having fun at night' he grumbled as they left.

In the prize room, Toy Foxy twitched.

'Why haven't they fixed me' she muttered in a garbled voice, looking longingly at the children as they played.

None of them went near her any more.