Pirates and Balloons
Goldie's ungainly animatronic body stomped towards the break room. She never liked how restrictive it felt compared to her free-moving AI form. If she wasn't going to get a synthetic body anytime soon, she at least wanted something that didn't make her feel like a dinosaur. For now, it was her only way of interacting with the physical world until fully automated buildings were a factor.
It didn't take her long to find the break room. Her audio sensors picked up sounds of what could only be balloons being inflated. The boy sat in the far corner with his back to her. Goldie had to take a moment. It had been so long since she'd last interacted with a child. Time to see if she still had it.
"Is this a private balloon party or can anybody join?" she asked.
"It was, but it's okay. You can join too, if you want," he replied, not looking around.
"Thank you." She settled onto the floor close to him. "I would offer to help blow up a few, but that would be a little difficult."
"Because you're an animatronic and you can't breathe. That's funny," he said, though he didn't laugh.
"Indeed. What's your favourite colour for a balloon?" she asked.
"It's hard to pick. Blue is nice. It's like I'm holding a bit of the sky." He moved the one he had just inflated around in his hands. "I always thought that if I blew up enough of them, I could hold them in one big bunch and fly away. All the way up into the sky."
Goldie nodded. "Now, that would be a fine thing indeed."
"You think it sounds silly," he said bluntly. "You don't have to pretend."
"Who says? I didn't. Actually, there's a movie about a man who does just that." She saw him look up at last, surprised. "He gets a great big bunch of balloons, attaches them to his house and uses them to fly away on an adventure."
"Wow," he whispered. "A whole house." He looked down at his balloon again. "Balloons really are amazing. Hey, maybe we could try it but with the restaurant."
"You know, I think you might be onto something," said Goldie. "How many do you think we'd need?"
"Hundreds and hundreds!" Billy exclaimed. "All colours, too! Blue and purple and green and red and then we can all fly away on an adventure!"
"Do you really think we can manage to do all of that?"
"Sure, if we all work…" He trailed off, his excitement quickly fading. "No, it wouldn't work. They'd all think it's a dumb idea. They probably wouldn't even listen to me. I'm always alone."
Goldie noted how much more morose those last words were than the others. She recalled what Jeremy had told her about Billy and the mysterious Other he'd talked about. She'd have to keep her ear open for more instances, but she let it slide for the moment.
"That must be very frustrating for you," she said.
He nodded, then flung his balloon aside in a fit of anger. "It's not fair! I thought things would be different now that the Puppet's gone and everybody would actually start to like me. But it's still the same. All they do is fight and ignore me. Even Vevvy. She got so mad she just forgot about me and she was the only one who was ever nice to me."
"That must make you feel mad," said Goldie.
"Yeah, it does." He paused for a moment, then shook his head. "No, not mad. I just… I wanted to help. I wanted to make them happy. But it didn't work. They don't even care about me. They think that… that I'm just a dumb kid… They'll forget about me."
"Hey, hey, now." Goldie scooted closer to him and let him fall into her lap. She placed a hand gently on his back. "I'm sure that isn't true. Your friends have just been through a lot of nasty things and it's left them all mixed up inside. It'll get better."
"When?"
She decided not to answer that directly. "I used to think like you do. I didn't think anybody liked me very much either."
"Really?" He looked up at her. "But you're so nice."
"Thank you, that's sweet of you." She booped his nose and he giggled. "But I wasn't always. I used to be very angry and bitter about a lot of things. I took it all out on my friends and I thought they'd always hate me for it. It took some time, but things got better for me, for all of us."
"How did that happen?" he asked.
"I had a very good friend who helped me work make things right with them again," she said. "It'll happen for you too, Billy. I don't know when, but it will. It won't happen by magic though. We all need to help make things better with your friends, but that's what we're here to do."
"Okay." He sniffed loudly and wrapped his arms around the tummy of the animatronic suit. Goldie made an effort to keep her emotions in check while she hugged him back. "Thank you. Your name's Goldie, yeah?"
"That's me. And your name's Billy, aka Balloon Boy. Dispenser of blown-up justice and keeper of all things round and colourful!" she said in a deeper voice.
"Yeah, yeah!" He was beaming now. "That's what I said to Jeremy! Is he going to help too?"
"He's sitting down with everybody right now," she said. "I came looking for you because I saw you wandered off. I thought we could be good friends. Because I'll let you in on something I haven't said to your friends yet." She leaned in to whisper. "Jeremy told me that Balloon Boy is your superhero name. Well, I have one too. I am the Great Goldie, Magician Extraordinaire!" She saw his eyes become as big as dinner plates. "And I'm going to need a special assistant so I can help everybody else. Somebody who's kind and sweet and helpful."
"Ooh, me, me!" He jumped up and down, waving his hands. "I can do that!"
"I knew you'd be up for it!" She scooped him up and placed him on her shoulder. "Together, nothing can stop us!"
"Woo yeah!" he cheered. "Billy and Goldie, bringing smiles with magical balloons!"
"And I'll tell you something else. I'm sure all of my friends would want to be your friend, too," she said.
His smile became even wider. "They really would?"
"Oh, you bet they would. You can go on adventures with Foxy, Bonnie can show you how to play guitar, Freddy's got so many great jokes…" She trailed off and reconsidered. "Well, he's got jokes. And our Chica, she absolutely loves children. You're going to have so much fun."
"I can't wait!" He was practically bouncing on his feet when she put him down. "Thank you so much, Goldie." His smile dropped. "I'm sorry I smashed you up. I really didn't want to."
"I know. It's okay." She sat on a chair and patted the one closest to her. "Now, we need to figure out how best to help everybody. For starters, I want you to tell me all about this Other that lives in your head…"
They had said to wait a few minutes to give Vevina time to herself, but Foxy took it upon himself to belay that order. The poor lass had been through enough and he was no stranger to what spending time alone with nothing, but the feelings in your head could do to somebody. The sooner he started to help her deal with it, the better.
Even so, he had to take a few minutes himself before he was ready to step into Kid's Cove. There was a fair bit of space inside, he noticed. For a moment, his creative mind was abuzz with the kinds of shows he could do if he had this much room, but he stopped himself. He had somebody more important to focus on and she was currently standing over what looked like a mess of parts.
She didn't look up when Foxy approached. Perhaps she didn't hear him come in or she was lost in whatever thoughts were on her mind. He looked at the thing she was staring at. It really did look like a jumble of different animatronic parts, with pieces of what might have been her suit sticking out here and there. This must be the infamous Mangle he'd heard about.
"Whatever you're going to say, save it," she suddenly said, not looking around at him.
Foxy tilted his head. "Ya don't even know what I'm goin' to say."
"I don't care, I don't want to hear it."
"Alright." Silence lingered for a moment, then, "Well, why don't ye say somethin' then?"
"Because I don't have anything to say to you," she said.
"Aye, but yer talkin' ta me right now, aren't ya?" he pointed out.
She glanced around at him. "Okay, I do have something to say: fuck off and leave me alone."
"Sorry, lass, but I'm a pirate. We're not really known fer doin' what we're told." He tried to laugh, but stopped when she didn't join in. "Look, Vevina, I know how ye-"
"No, no, stop." She glared at him with her singular eye. "You're about say that you understand and you know what I've been through, but I'm telling you right now that you don't, so don't even try to."
"Oh aye, and how do ya figure that?" he asked, folding his arms.
"I know all about you, Foxy," she snarled. "I know what happened in 1987, what you did to that man. You think that you can relate because you're this poor, troubled soul who made a mistake and tried his best to make up for it. The truth is you brought that all on yourself. You bit that man's head off and everything that's happened after is your own fucking fault."
It took some effort, but Foxy managed to keep his composure. "I don't deny that. I've paid me dues, probably always will fer what happened that day. But we're not here ta talk about what happened ta me. I just want ta help, lass."
"I don't want you're help and I don't need it." She jabbed a finger at him. "So why don't you take your little pirate pity party and go fuck off back with the rest of that gutless trash?"
"Those better not be me friends yer referrin' ta there," he snarled, getting right in her face.
"So what if it is?" She didn't back down. She met his gaze, thrusting a finger in his face. "What are you going to do about it?"
Foxy clenched his fist and instinctively pulled his arm back, but faltered when he saw how Vevina tensed up at the motion. His anger threatened to take over, but he couldn't let it. It wouldn't help and he wasn't about to prove her right about what she'd said. She was just trying to get under his skin. If he could deal with Bonnie at her worst, he could deal with this.
"Ya gotta funny way-a showin' gratitude," he replied. "We're the only reason yer havin' this conversation. Ye were there right alongside us against that vile beast and ya call us gutless? Ya don't really think that."
"Doesn't matter," she said quickly. "Even if your lot aren't, mine don't get the same distinction. You can think again if you're expecting me to sit down and make nice."
"So yer just goin' to stay angry at them ferever?" asked Foxy.
"Seems to be working out fine so far." She sighed and started to turn. "Look, we're done. I'm not talking to you anymore, so get lost."
"I already said I'm not goin' anywhere, lass," he said.
"And I wasn't asking you to," she snapped. "Fuck off or I'll make you."
"Will ya, now?"
"You know I can." She was back in his face again. "I can have you out and on your arse before you even know what happened. Don't push me."
Foxy held her in his gaze. "No, I don't think ya will."
Her yellow eye blazed with anger. "What did I just fucking say?!"
"That you'd have me out on me arse," quoted Foxy. "But I don't think ya will."
"And how do you figure that?"
"Because last time, ya didn't want ta. Even though ya knew that the Puppet would take control of ya, ye still refused ta do what it wanted ya ta do, because ya knew it was wrong." He took a step back and held out his arms. "Take a shot if ya really want ta, but I don't think ya will or we wouldn't still be talkin' about it."
Her fists clenched and unclenched. Her arms started to raise a couple of times, but just as quickly went back to her sides. She breathed heavily through gritted teeth, never managing to meet his eyes.
"You're a stubborn bastard, has anybody ever told you that?" she said quietly.
"Somethin' ta the effect, aye," chuckled Foxy. "Ye ready ta talk now?"
"I told you, there's nothing to say. And yes, I know I'm still talking, but the only reason I am is because you won't shut up," she added.
"Aye, that be true," agreed Foxy. "Ya don't seem ta mind all that much though, or did ya still want ta throw me out on my arse?"
"Don't tempt me." Was it his imagination or was that a flicker of a smile there? "Fine, stay if you want. Doesn't make much difference to me, but if you even start to mention those-" She suddenly clutched her head and cried out.
"Vevina?" Foxy hurried forward. "What is it? It's not that scurvy cur again?!"
"No! No, it's…!" She yelled again, grasping the sides of her head even harder. "Get away, get away! It's-!" She stopped. Her head snapped up, her eye fixed on him like a beast. They weren't dark, like when they were under the Puppet's control, but Foxy still didn't like the look in them.
"Vevina?" asked Foxy cautiously. "Are ya feelin' alright?"
Her answer was to scream and dive at him. It was only Foxy's speed that allowed him to duck in time. She collided with one of the tables, but she was already on her feet. Before Foxy could try talking, she charged like a bull and tackled him to the ground.
"Vevina!" Foxy managed to push her off to the side before she could get a firm hold. "What the devil is the matter with ye?!"
Again, all she did was screech in response. She swung her fists wildly, trying to swipe at him. He ducked, sidestepped and jumped backwards, keeping his distance. It was clumsy, but ferocious, driven by what Foxy could only assume was sheer, unbridled anger.
"Lass, ya need ta stop!" He ducked under another blow. "Calm down!" She tried to grapple his waist, but he slid out of range. "I'll leave ya alone, ya don't have ta- OOF!"
He moved just a little too slowly and took a punch right on the jaw. He spun around from the force, staggering back into a chair. Vevina let out another roar, but it was cut off when she grabbed the sides of her head again. When she let go, she shook it a few times.
"Bloody hell, that really…" She blinked a few times, looked at her closed fist and at Foxy in the chair, rubbing his jaw. "Oh, no. Oh fuck, what did I just do?!"
"Well, aside from settin' on me like a woman possessed and deliverin' a grand right hook, not much," he said with a chuckle. "I won't hold it against ye, lass. I'm not exactly the pinnacle of anger management meself."
"Fuck, fuck I'm so sorry!" She hurried to him, checking his jaw. "I didn't hurt you badly, did I?"
"Nothin' but me pride," groaned Foxy. "Blimey, ya throw a mean punch."
She stood away, looking back at her hand. "I didn't think this would happen again…"
"Again? This has happened before?" asked Foxy.
"Aye, it…" She laughed bitterly. "As if you'd believe me. Probably think I was crazy."
"Ya said ya know me story, Vevina. Even if I did, would it be any more than what I've done?" He pulled out another chair for her. "Go on. It's just us crazy foxes."
She stared at the chair for a few moments, then hesitantly took a seat. She didn't look at Foxy, kept her eye fixed on her hands. She was fiddling with her fingers a lot.
"Right. Okay." She hesitated before continuing. "It was when we were first activated. We'd been left alone and Theodore was going on about something. Pompous windbag never knew when to shut his mouth. One minute, I was wondering when he was going to shut up because it was starting to give me a headache. That headache, it seemed to get worse. Then before you know it, I had him against the wall with me elbow and me fist drawn back to stuff it in that gob of his."
"From what I've heard of the man, I can't say I blame ya fer that one," said Foxy with a forced laugh.
"The thing was, I don't remember doing it. For me, it happened in almost an instant. Like I blinked and suddenly, I was on him and I have no idea when it happened. Sure, I was annoyed, but not that annoyed. Then that lanky bastard took control and it never happened again," she finished.
Foxy nodded. "And ye have no idea what caused it?"
"None," she said. "The only thing I can really remember is like what just happened now. Aside from the headache, I could feel… it was like I was angry, but I wasn't the one being angry. That's the only way I can describe it." She shook her head. "See? Sounds insane."
"Aye, I won't deny that," agreed Foxy. "But I've me fair share of insane things happen ta me and me mates. We've managed ta come out in spite of it all and we can do the same fer you, too."
She scoffed. "Easy to say. For me, words don't count for shit unless what you do backs it up."
"Well, that sounds better than what ye were sayin' before, so I'll take that. Seems like ye do have somethin' ta say ta me after all then," remarked Foxy.
"Shut up," she said, though he could see the hint of a smile. "I'm only telling you this because if I do take a swing at you, it'll be for something you deserve." A loud scream got their attention. "What the hell was that?!"
"Sounded like Chica." Foxy squinted through the curtains. "Looks like yer Hermana is gettin' a lil' excited. She's swinging her around like she's keel haulin'."
"Still as daft as ever," she grumbled, looking back at her hands. "She always acts on something before the thought goes through her head properly."
"Sounds like my Bonnie. Oof," he said, wincing. "Theodore just took a hard hit."
"Good, pompous prick probably deserved it."
"Aye, just too bad ye weren't the one ta give it ta him, eh?"
"Probably the only reason I'd go in there." She angled her head away from the curtain.
Foxy pried his eyes away from the spectacle, knowing Bonnie would likely handle it and turned back to Vevina. This lass was certainly a mystery, to say the least. Like Bonnie, she had her walls and he knew it wasn't going to be easy to get past them. But even now, he'd managed to make a little progress and he wasn't going to be put off.
"Stop staring, I'm not a fucking zoo animal," she snapped.
"My bad," said Foxy.
"Why are you still here?" she asked after a while, looking at him out of the corner of her eye. "That makes twice now that you've been on the receiving end of my fist."
"The second time wasn't as bad," he shrugged.
"Not the point. You could walk out of here and I wouldn't blame you for a second. So why are you still here?" she repeated.
"I already said why. I want ta help," he said.
She looked at him, studying him like he was a puzzle that she was trying to work out. "It's that simple?"
"Shouldn't it be?" He gave her a crooked smile. "Now who's starin'?"
"Shut up, I'm allowed." She looked back at her hands. "Sorry again. For before and… in the forest."
"Already forgiven, lass," he said.
"You didn't deserve what happened to you. Now, the treacherous wastes of skin out there, that's..." She grasped her head. "No… not again!" She hissed in pain. "Hold… me back. Do it!" she managed to say.
Foxy didn't want to, but he went around and locked her arms behind her back. He only just managed to keep them in place when she roared in anger again, whipping her head back and forth. This time, it didn't last as long and he let her go the moment she stopped.
"You alright?" asked Foxy.
"No. No, I'm not." She dropped to her knees and slammed her fist onto the ground. "That fucker is gone and I'm still going to end up hurting people without meaning to! I just want it to stop!"
She punched the floor again, her breath hitching now and again. Foxy had no idea what to say. He went to touch her shoulder, but his hand was batted away. So instead, he knelt in front of her. He didn't stand too close, but he stayed near her. She didn't demand that he leave and he wasn't going anywhere.
Footsteps brought him out of his reverie and the curtains to Kid's Cove flew open.
"Foxy?" Goldie was striding towards them, with Balloon Boy in tow. "Good, you're here. We need to get Vevina back into stasis with the others. They're all being put under now."
"So it's not just her?" He looked from one to the other. "What's happenin' ta her?"
"That's what we're going to find out and I'm hoping my new assistant here can help me shed some light on it," she said, gesturing to Balloon Boy.
"Vevvy?" He approached her and touched her hand. "You're gonna be okay. We're gonna help you."
Vevina didn't reply verbally. She simply took his hand and squeezed it before Foxy led her away.
Arc of Carona: Well you were pretty much right XD
Zanza Flux: That would be cruel of him, wouldn't it?
Guest: Indeed.
ArchineerRob: I think that's enough hype XD