Note: Takes place after "His Friend and his Demons" and "My Friend, my Nightmare".
Begin Prompt in 3, 2, 1…
Cutting the Strings
Prompt: Golden Freddy wanted to find his best friend again.
It was a terrible accident. Really it was his own fault trying to get in between the bear and the nightguard, but Golden Freddy hadn't intended to hurt him. He just shoved him out of the way. He never intended for his friend to hit the shelf at all, let alone so hard, but that cracking noise had signaled his terrible mistake.
He had gotten away before Golden Freddy could even see his friend's injuries. Part of the bear wanted to turn on the nightguard and unleash his frustrations at him, but he had to check his friend, so he left the purple-clad man to huddle in his office chair and wait for him to return.
None of the other animatronics would dare approach. The bear knew they were watching as he passed by, but none of them said a thing or made any attempt to even go towards the office. He turned to stare down Bonnie and Chica in the hall and watched as they shirked back. He prepared to vocally lash out at them, blaming their laziness for him having to be in the office at all, but halted when he heard something.
Someone was crying.
Golden Freddy locked onto that sound like it was a beacon. His head snapped to the doorway to the second party room as he realized that it was his friend crying. He couldn't stand to hear it; he had never handled his friend crying well. He leaned into the room.
"Mari?" he gently called in. The crying suddenly went silent. The Puppet was trying to hide from him. Golden Freddy gave a patient sigh and stepped into the room fully as he tried to feel him out. He looked underneath the tables attentively, as it was always his friend's go-to hiding spot. "Where are you, Mari? Don't hide from me."
It didn't take too long before Golden Freddy had found the Puppet at the back of the room. He was sitting underneath a table pushed against the wall. His long, striped legs were drawn to his chest with his arms wrapped around them, and he turned his face away as soon as Golden Freddy lowered beside the table. His friend defiantly refused to look at him.
The bear could still see the cracks around his right cheek and spreading up to his porcelain forehead. His heart immediately sank at seeing the physical damage. The Puppet had been able to fix a cracked mask before, but never had those cracks been caused by Golden Freddy, by someone who claimed to be a protector. Who claimed to be a friend.
"Marion…" the bear tried again. The Puppet shivered and shifted. Purple tears leaked from his eyes and now painted his monochrome arms in their color. He needed to do something, so Golden Freddy reached for his arm to try and pull him out. "Marion, I'm so sorry."
"Don't touch me," the Puppet bitterly spat. As the bear's arm froze, he slid further under the table, turning himself further away. His head was hunched forward, and his body was beginning to tremble.
"You know I didn't mean to do it. I was just trying to get past you. Marion, I would never hurt you," Golden Freddy assured. He started to reach again, now towards the Puppet's back that was facing him, hoping to comfort him and fix what he had done. "I'm your friend, Mari. I would never hurt you."
In an instant, the Puppet turned back on him. His mask was twisted into a cold glare, even with the cracks along it. The cracks that he had caused.
"You are not my friend. I don't know what you are, but you are not him. Not anymore," the Puppet said. A low static hung on his voice and signaled not only anger, but a warning telling him not to get any closer. He had never used that static with him, but then again Golden Freddy had never damaged him.
Reluctantly and while in shock, Golden Freddy let his arm drop down.
"Look at what you're becoming. Threatening those you said you would protect, trying to kill workers who you know are innocent- you're out of control!" the Puppet continued. His voice started to raise in volume. "You're just like him! You were always like a father to me and now you are my father! A monster!"
It was the first time in a long time that the bear had felt anything other than blinding anger. Now that anger was replaced by deep set pain. He should've been enraged by the accusation, but it felt too much like a revelation. It couldn't be, he tried to defend internally. He was just trying to protect them, to save them, to stop the one who did this to him.
"I…I won't stand here and let you- let you break me anymore than you already have. Or watch as you get worse…" the Puppet promised. He dropped his head to look at the tiled floor and watch the drops of purple spatter onto it. Golden Freddy raised a hand and the Puppet shook his head to stop him before he tried anything. "I'm cutting the strings right now… I'm sorry, but I must."
With that, the striped one slid out from under the table. He rose from the ground and struggled to stay levitating when his body was still recovering from the cracks. Then, trying to keep his head held high, he moved around the tables and headed through the door. He didn't even stop to look back before he was gone.
Golden Freddy had never felt so alone as he did in that moment. It was only then that he realized he had done something much worse than an accidental injury; he had become the one thing he hated, a predator.
And his friend was the price he would pay.