Hello everyone! Another chapter! And oh my six reviews for one chapter? You spoil me!
Onto said reviews...
SilentAmbiance: Ah, I'm sorry about the anxiety!
PK - SPRINGTRAP HUG MEH: I'd love to say you will soon...but one shall not lie...
TU4QU053T4IAN6L3: Ah yes, Charlotte, she is quite different from the rest and that will be revealed later on. As for who messed with the toys? Sadly I can neither confirm nor deny any of those options, but all your guesses are wonderful! And very fair point! Leo is more sympathetic to Scott then many others. And yes, Enix does know what is wrong, as for them being able to fix things by the next night? I wish it were so, however it's a bit complicated.
Silverleone: I'm so glad you think they are interesting! And don't worry whether you review or not I love your support all the same! Thank you for your kind consideration tho!
Fandom Knight: I'm glad you like the idea! In my opinion, I think it's pretty fair to assume that would happen. I mean he died pretty traumatically as well. As for seeing the animatronics perspective, that is a wonderful idea! I have taken note of it and will try to incorporate it into the upcoming chapters!
AndlOop:(Guest) I'm glad you like the story, and I'm sorry if the censoring annoys you. It's how I have chosen to write this, and I plan to continue as is, and I hope you can enjoy the story even with it there, but if you cannot, then I understand. I will try to give more context clues for what they are saying and try and make the symbols less distracting. Thank you for the review and letting me know, I hope you can continue to enjoy the story. :)
Chapter 26
That Morning...
"W...wait what do you mean by hello?" Leo demanded, daring to sit up straighter and lean closer to the source of the voice.
"Hello? Hello, hello? Uhh, I wanted to record a message for you... to help you get settled in on your first night." The voice was raspy, and had a hiss to it, but the tone and words were the same.
Leo felt his blood run cold in his body and he pressed more against the wall, "y...you mean..."
"They got to me...yes, shoved me into an old Bonnie suit..." there was a raspy breath as Leo's mind spun wildly.
He felt sick as he slumped against the wall.
"I...I'm so sorry... " He whispered, he wasn't even sure what he was apologizing for, but it just felt like he needed to say it.
"For...befriending them you mean? For associating with them in such a normal way, even though they murdered me?" The words made Leo flinch and curl in on himself taking a breath.
"It...it's not like I don't know they are dangerous...I...I just..." He swallowed, "I..."
"I'm not upset with you Leo." Scott assured, and Leo paused.
"You...you aren't?" He asked, voice barely above a whisper.
"No. If I had been able to be friends with them? You know I would've, guess circumstances just didn't work out that way huh?" There was a bit of laugh, and Leo gave a small nervous one in return.
"Y...yeah, guess not..." he whispered, and then shifted rubbing his thumb against the cast on his pointer finger. "...did...was...was it...quick? Or..." he trailed, but the rest was implied.
"No. It wasn't, I don't know how long it was...but it was a very long time. It felt like eternity, those joints...rods, piercing every part of the body except the ones that would kill you immediately." Leo shivered at the description and took a deep breath.
"I...I did...I checked the back..." he said, but trailed off into a mutter toward the end as he realized how pathetic it was.
"...you did…?" The guard lifted his head at the question and turned to look at the wall again.
He swallowed, "yeah..." he turned away, "I...honestly I'm not sure what I hoped for...but...I checked every suit." That last part was once again whispered.
"Wow...I honestly didn't expect anyone to check all of them..." Scott trailed, and Leo wetted his lips and opened his mouth.
"Leo! Leo it's six!" The shout from Enix made him jump and curse hard putting his hands on either side of the stall to keep balance.
The rushed footsteps of the new guard slowed and he came to a halt, "boss?"
With a breath, Leo lifted his good leg and kicked the stall door, it unceremoniously swung open with a loud creak, Enix's footsteps picked up again and he came over and raised an eyebrow.
"Um...do you need some privacy?" He asked, and Leo narrowed his eyes.
"Shut up and help me out of here." The new guard shook his head at that and came over, he helped Leo down, and by some miracle, his shoes didn't get wet.
"So...did anyone come in here?" Enix asked as he helped him hobble along, but his question caused Leo to pause and glance at the wall, up until they exited the bathroom and he was forced to look away.
"No, it was quiet." that made Enix nod and take a breath.
"Good...good, cause I get the feeling tonight is going to be much worse." Then he took a breath and turned to the older guard. "Hey, lets get out of here for a bit, alright?"
"Why...the %#% do you own a motorcycle?" Leo growled, clenching his hands as much as he could to stop the trembling. Enix laughed from his spot next to him.
"Mostly to avoid carpooling." He admitted with a shrug, before downing the amber liquid in his bottle. Leo glanced at him and took a breath.
"Who the %% is going to ask you to carpool?" He demanded, and the newer guard set the bottle down and shrugged.
"Eh, ya never know."
Leo took a breath and glanced at the building behind him, "running to the gas station was a waste of time, I should go back inside and talk with the bots." He moved to get up but Enix put a hand on his shoulder which caused Leo to look at him apprehensively.
"Boss, sit down." The older guard opened his mouth to argue, before slowly sat down again, he hunched his shoulders and crossed his arms best he could with the casts.
"This is a waste of time." He argued moodily, and the newer guard shook his head next to him.
"Yeah maybe, but I needed a drink, and honestly you needed to get out of that building for a little bit."
"Why? That makes no sense, the originals are probably worried sick! I need to go talk to them, and we need to make a plan for tonight! There are a lot of things to do Enix!" Leo argued more forcefully, but the blue haired man just shook his head, and pulled out a pack of cigarettes. The older guard gazed down at the pack in front of him and back at the building. He sighed and slowly took it. Enix pulled out the lighter and ignited it, he waited for the older guard to pull out one and then lit it for him.
Putting it in his mouth, Leo let out a low breath before inhaling deeply, he released his breath again and felt his body relax. He did need to go back in there, but maybe for a moment he could just...not.
"...now, as you might have figured out already. I'm kind of a nosey guy. So I can't help but ask..." the newer guard turned and looked at his older counterpart. "Why the drugs? I mean...I get addiction and that kinda stuff, but...why? Why do you do them?"
The question made Leo pause and gaze out at the empty parking lot. Well, almost empty, there were three vehicles and Enix's motorbike. "...I don't know." He started, "I just...it makes me feel good...makes it so I don't think so much." Shrugging, the guard let out another puff of smoke.
"But...you know they are bad for you right? I mean...they are gonna be the cause of your death one day." The newer guard informed, and Leo shifted in place with another breath.
"Yeah, that's what the doctors in the prison used to tell me. And...I get it. I know a lot of my habits are really bad for my health, and I mean...so is my job." He puffed another and shrugged again, "I dunno. I mean, I sometimes wonder what my life would be like without the drugs, without my past and ****. But...then again, I wouldn't be here ya know?"
The movement next to him caused Leo to look at his companion, Enix leaned back, his hands supporting him as he gazed at the sky. "I had an uncle, he struggled with substances for as long as I could remember...and in the last year of his life, he had just gotten his five year sobriety...but in celebration...I dunno...I guess the cravings hit him..." Enix took another swig and a breath, "he died of an overdose three hours later." The short story left Leo quiet as he turned and gazed at the pavement before him. Only to look up again as Enix continued, "but...my point is, it will kill you in the end." The newer guard turned and looked at his older compatriot. "So the question is...are you willing to put those animatronics through your death?"
Leo gazed at him, but didn't have a response, he turned to look down at the cigarette in his hands, as it suddenly felt a lot heavier than before.
He didn't even look up as Enix let out a hard breath and got to his feet, "c'mon, it's best we get inside and reassure them." He offered a hand, and Leo looked at it, before putting the cigarette in his mouth and taking his comrades hand.
Backstage was dark, it was still quite a few hours before the restaurant opened up for the day. So the two guards had plenty of time.
As Enix felt along the wall for a light switch as Leo leaned against the doorframe squinting at the silhouettes of the animatronics.
None of them were moving...
"Ah ha!" Enix cried as he turned on the lights, the yellow bulb briefly blinding Leo and causing him to throw up a hand to block the majority of it and blink rapidly.
When his eyes finally adjusted, he found out why they hadn't moved. Their heads were bowed and their eyes were closed.
"Uh, did they turn themselves off?" The newer guard asked as he came over and gazed at them along with Leo.
"Or...did someone else turn them off?" the older guard voiced looking up at his companion, Enix pursed his lips and went over to inspect them.
"My money is on the Puppet." at the response Leo nodded and took a breath, pulling the cigarette from his mouth and lowering it to his side.
"Yeah, I'd bet that too." He watched as Enix looked around the heads of the animatronics. Leo couldn't help but gaze on enviously as the new guard was of equal height with their heads.
Man that must be nice.
"Where is the on button?" He asked suddenly, turning to look at Leo, the older guard blinked before motioning to Chica's head.
"On the sides of their jaws, right side I think."
With a nod, the blue haired guard looked around Freddy's head before finding the on button. He clicked it, and stepped back, watching as the bear powered on.
Blinking, the hatted animatronic looked around before spotting them, Enix gave a little wave, and Leo offered a half smile in greeting.
"Are you alright Leo?" He asked, coming over and maneuvering around Bonnie.
"Yeah…it seems the Puppet just wanted to talk..."
"He did?" The bear turned to look at the side and mocked a deep breath, "I would be cautious Leo, the Puppet has always had a deep seeded hostility for the night guards." He turned to look at Leo again, "no one got to you?"
"Er, no, Enix got some of your guy's spare heads, and it worked as Sc...as Buddy promised." He bit the inside of his cheek at the almost slip up.
The ghost had never mentioned not telling anyone, but Leo wasn't sure he wanted to. Would it make the animatronics feel worse? Knowing they did the same thing as the murderer did to the children?
Was he even the same as them? The robotic quality to his voice made it sound like he was, but if so...why hadn't Leo seen him before? Shouldn't he have been put in parts and services? Why was he speaking to him all the sudden? Why hadn't Leo heard him before?
So many questions and little to no answers…
"The heads? Ah yes, our systems rely on facial features of humans, if your face looks like ours, then you are considered one of us, and a dismissible one at that." He looked to the spare heads in the room and mocked another breath, "it's like we don't want to acknowledge you."
"Kind of a strange feature to put in." Enix muttered, speaking up for the first time, Freddy tensed his endoskeleton and turned to the new guard.
"Yes, but we have many other unexplainable features as well."
"Yeah no kidding, manager failed to mention the extremely advanced intelligence system in you." Leo took a breath and rubbed his face, "but regardless. What about you guys? Why are you powered off?" He looked up at the bear questioningly.
He would be lying if he said that he hadn't hoped they would break the deal and come out and help them.
"It was the Puppet." The bear confirmed and both guards let out a synchronized breath.
"Of course." Leo mumbled, biting down on his cigarette again.
"He came in so quickly, it was while we were arguing as to whether or not to stay in here." The bear turned and looked at the room around him. "He must've hidden in the shadows because we failed to detect his presence until he had initiated our shutdown protocols."
"So he was making sure you guys wouldn't be involved at all." Enix summarized, and the bear nodded.
"I knew they were planning something." The older guard mumbled, before taking a breath, "all of this was organized. They stole the music box, broke it, and stole our helmets." The guard frowned, "was this something they did at the other location? Buddy never mentioned it." He muttered before taking a breath. Maybe he could ask him…
"They stole the music box?" Freddy asked, his brows drawing inward, "that doesn't seem right. Why have it in the first place if they were just going to steal it?"
"I dunno, but...I did find out something else." Enix voiced causing the bear and older guard to look at him.
"You did?" Leo asked his brow furrowing, why hadn't he told him sooner?
"Yeah...there is someone working against us." He took a breath and looked at the others. "Lets get everyone else working before I tell you." Leo stared at him a moment before taking a breath.
"Yeah."
When the others were turned on, Leo found himself in the middle of three different fussy animatronics.
"Leo! Did they hurt you? You shouldn't be up! Where is your wheelchair?!"
"Aye, lad ya look exhausted, what happened?"
"Did that %%% blue bunny touch you? I'll rip his %% face off!" Leo looked at all of them, doing his best to answer each question.
"I uh, fine, um yeah, toy Chica broke it, um, we survived? And no, I didn't really see him last night. Please don't rip off faces on my account." he looked between them feeling overwhelmed by the questions and imposing height around him.
"Hey! Hey! Give the guy some space huh?" Enix shoved his way between Foxy and Chica, both moving aside and looking at him apprehensively. The newer guard took a breath and looked at them all. "Alright, I wanted to make sure everyone was awake before I told you." He turned to look at Leo. "Making peace with the toys is going to be practically impossible."
"C'mon Enix, don't be so negative, it didn't seem like we would ever get along with Leo." Chica tried, and Leo nodded, but Enix merely shook his head.
"No. It's not a matter of attitude and preferences. According to toy Bonnie, someone messed with their systems...and told them that Leo and I are the ones who aided the man in the murder." The sentence dropped like a hammer and everyone went quiet.
"You mean...someone wants us dead?" Leo asked slowly and Enix nodded with a breath.
"Seems so yeah. Granted this is from the maw of one of the toys, so I don't know how accurate the information is." He admitted, but Bonnie shook his head.
"No, for all his faults, my toy version has always been brutally honest." He muttered, and the other bots shot him sympathetic looks causing the guards to wonder what the blue rabbit had said to his purple counterpart.
"Okay...so, who was it then? Did he tell you?" Leo pressed, his mind spun on all the people that he had made enemies with.
But the blue haired man just shrugged, "someone with a hood and a manager tag to his name." That made Leo pause and shift.
"A….Fazbear manager tag?" Enix caught on what he was implying.
"I don't know...but I just don't see John doing something like that. Why would he actively try and get us killed? He is all about not wanting to hire anyone new." Leo nodded with a breath.
"Right...so who could it have been? They would've had to have known they were coming here."
"Well that isn't too hard, John put up posters everywhere, it wasn't exactly secretive." Enix pointed out but Leo took a breath.
"Yeah, but they would've had to have access to them before they got here." He countered and Enix paused before nodding.
"Yeah..."
"Okay...well why don't you just use the empty heads again?" Bonnie asked motioning to the spare heads in the back. Enix sighed and rubbed his face.
"Yeah we would, but the Puppet isn't fazed." That made Leo swallow a bit.
"Well isn't that what the music box is for?" Chica asked, tilting her head.
"Yup, but they stole and broke it." Enix chirped with a pop on the P. The animatronics turned to look at him.
"What? That's cheating! They can't steal the box!" The hen protested and Bonnie crossed his arms with a mocked breath.
"I'm not surprised, the Puppet has always been one to bend the rules to his advantage." He grumbled looking to the side.
"Well obviously, the problem is, now we don't have a way to defend against him." The newer guard summarized, and the others went quiet for a moment.
"...you think they may have had a spare at the old location?" Leo asked, looking up at those before him.
There was silence as the animatronics looked between each other, and Enix's brow furrowed, "well does it have to be specifically the music box? I mean...would any music work? Or can't we just recreate it?" He asked looking at everyone.
"The Puppet is programmed to abide by a certain tune, apparently even our creators realized how dangerous he could be." Freddy said before looking out the door and mocking a breath, "sadly, I have no recollection of the tune itself."
At that Leo's shoulders slumped and he took a breath.
"We could check out the old location though." Enix suggested causing the older guard to look at him.
"Okay...but where even is it?" The injured man looked between all the animatronics, but they could only shrug.
"We were always off when we were moved." The rabbit admitted, and Leo took a breath thinking.
Then he paused, his eyes widening, "I think I know someone who knows." He looked around before turning to Enix. "Can you go get my crutch? I think it's in the office." Luckily those hadn't been broken.
The newer guard paused before nodding and leaving. Leo leaned back against the wall with a breath.
"Who here would know of the other location?" Freddy asked, suddenly causing the out of uniform guard to look up and blink. He then looked to the side and rubbed the back of his neck.
"Uh, he's a janitor I talked to a few times while I had only been a day guard." They nodded at his answer, and that's when Enix returned with the crutch, Leo nodded gratefully and took it from him, setting it in position.
With the casts on his fingers it was more difficult, but it would have to do for now.
"I'll be right back." They watched him leave the room, and he could tell that Enix wanted to follow, but was glad that he didn't.
It was difficult to walk, but he managed to get to the bathroom, and waited till Roman left. But not of course before the eldest cleaner sent him a dirty look.
Leo wasn't entirely sure what he did to the man, but he didn't particularly care either.
He waited till the footsteps died down and went over to the same stall as before. Leaning up against the wall of it, he left the door open so he could see if anyone came in.
"H...hey Scott?" he bit the inside of his cheek at the stutter.
Was a part of him nervous that this had all just been a figment of his imagination? A hallucination of a sleep, and drug deprived state?
Definitely.
Oh Leo, you are most certainly going crazy at this point.
He jumped at the voice, before huffing a breath and rubbing his eyes tiredly, "no one asked you piece of ****."
"Leo? I thought you worked the day shift?" The louder voice of Scott made Leo jump again and hiss a curse.
He took a breath and buried his hand in his hair taking breaths, "yeah...yeah I do...I just had a question." He muttered in response.
"Alright, ask away. I can't promise I'll know the answer though." At that Leo nodded.
"Right...right, um, I was wondering if you knew where the location of the toys pizzeria was?" He looked up and gazed at the white, but more like grey wall next to him.
There was silence for a moment and he shifted in place, taking the weight off his bad leg.
"Two miles off Westwood street. If I recall correctly, the address was 56900 Green Rose Drive." He answered, and Leo blinked before nodding and straightening.
"Great, thanks." He moved to get out, but paused when he heard shifting from behind the wall.
"Wait, Leo, what do you need with the toys location? I thought everything was moved here?" The dead man asked, and Leo paused glancing to the bathroom doorway before taking a breath.
"They...they stole the music box and then broke it, we need to best the Puppet...but it's practically impossible without that thing." He took a breath and leaned against the stall wall again.
"Yes...the Puppet was always a tricky one. Always...thinking." At the voice Leo glanced at the wall and took a breath.
"Yeah, it was awful weird last night. He said...the only reason we were alive was because we impressed Charlotte." With another breath the guard closed his eyes. "Tonight is gonna be miserable without that thing..."
"Well, then I have good news for you. There were many made, originally they were music boxes that were given out at the prize counter. Until the engineers figured out that the Puppet could be calmed using it. Then they removed them from the prizes and put them in a box in the back. The box should be in the storage room." At that Leo blinked and looked at the wall.
"Oh...wow, that's actually really helpful...thanks."
"No problem, we wouldn't want you to end up like me heh?" There was a bit of a chuckle, and Leo laughed a bit nervously in return.
"Erm...yeah," he paused and shifted his weight from foot to foot, "hey, Scott...do...do you have a physical form like the other animatronics…?" If so...where was he?
"I'm afraid not, I think the suit they put me in was trashed. They usually are, that or sent off to specialists to clean the bodies out." At that Leo's brow furrowed and he took a breath.
"Specialist…?" Scott chuckled before letting out a raspy breath.
"Yeah, specialists, who knew there would be people who specialize in that kind of thing. But the company always ends up finding just who they need. " There was another raspy breath, "you should probably go back to the others, I can feel their anxiety from here." He advised, and Leo nodded with a breath.
"Yeah...yeah, I'll go and tell them."
"...wait I almost forgot...before you go...I wanted to ask you something." Leo paused and waited
"Okay."
"Why haven't you told anyone about me?"
The question made Leo pause and look at the doorway again, "...I don't know. I...I don't want the animatronics to feel worse..." he trailed off before swallowing and wrapping his casted arm around himself. That sounded really bad given who he was talking to…
"You really care about them huh?" The question made him jump and look over at the wall again.
"I...I wouldn't say that...they just-"
"It's alright kid." Leo blinked at the word, but took a breath.
"It's stupid...but as far as I can remember...they've kinda been the first friends I've ever had…." He trailed, before taking a breath and straightening, "plus they get annoyingly moody when they are upset." he grumbled.
There was another laugh, which Leo couldn't help but wince at, it sounded like a really bad cough mixed with laughter.
"Ah, well I won't keep you from them any longer. For now, to spare their sanity, let's just keep my presence here a secret huh?" Leo let out a breath and nodded.
"Sounds like a plan...I'll uh, I'll come by again soon." He offered, before heading out of the bathroom. The conversations were certainly awkward...but he felt at least the man who had helped him out so much deserved the ability to talk to someone.
How long had he been alone…?
"Two miles off Westwood street. 56900 Green Rose Drive." Leo said as he entered the room, Enix looked up and got down from sitting on the table.
"It took you that long to get the address?" He asked coming over with a raised eyebrow, Leo took a breath and shrugged, adjusting his crutch.
"He's an old guy Enix, you know how old people like to have whole conversations before they get to the point." He answered looking up at the man, Enix pursed his lips before taking a breath and looking to the side.
"Yeah, my grandma's like that." He turned back to Leo, "alright, I'll let you wear the helmet this time small fry. We gotta try and get back before this place opens for the day." He patted Leo's head with a smirk, and the older guard glared up at him with narrowed eyes.
"Enix?"
"Yeah?"
"Shut the **** up."
I hope you guys liked it!
Another conversation with Scott! He is definitely going to be important going forward! What did you think of the sit down talk that Enix had with Leo? Do you think Leo would ever be able to actually give up his drugs?
I'd love to hear what you think!