Mable: I can't even begin to express how long I've waited for this moment.
I don't think I ever realized how much Can't Go Home Again and Almost Feels Like Home meant to me. I had a lot of fun writing them, yes, but I never considered how much they effected my life until they were gone. I tried to fill that void with other projects, but it wasn't the same. I even thought maybe it was me, but once I started working on this chapter, I recognized what it was. I missed this. It's like meeting back up with old friends I haven't seen in ages.
And I just can't wait for this any longer!
I should forewarn you that this first chapter is quite long and to not expect every coming chapter to have such a hefty word count. XD Finally, after all this waiting, we get to start a new journey together!
Enjoy!
Going Home in a Box
Chapter One
He must've driven by that billboard at least three or four times since it had gone up and either never read it or never noticed what was printed on it. As much as he knew it could've always said what he read.
He had been driving on the main road when he squinted through his glasses to glance at what it said and in that second everything changed. He drove a little further, second guessing what he saw, and as soon as he had the opportunity to turn around, he did. He had to make sure of what he saw.
He drove past the billboard a second time and slowed down to make sure he was reading it right. There was no denying what it said in the upper corner, in smaller print, dwarfed by the much bolder 'Coming Soon!' advertised in the center. 'Now hiring' was also advertised, but he was much more concerned by the two words in the upper left corner, and the familiar logo accompanying them.
"This can't be happening," he blurted out. He proceeded to hit the gas and continued to speed back down the road towards the city of Hurricane. A quick glance back to the left and he could see the looming construction site far past the billboard of what he once assumed was a new mall. Now it was so much worse. "This is not happening."
He fumbled for his cellphone and quickly dialed up a familiar number. He got an answer right away but didn't give them time to speak. "Mike, it's me. Call Fritz, get Mari, and get over to Foxy's. We have a problem."
"Okay?" There was a click as the phone call abruptly ended without further answers.
Mike Schmidt slowly set his cellphone down beside his dinner plate before looking across the table. "That was Jeremy. He said to call Fritz and get everyone over to Foxy's, and he sounded freaked out. Said we have a problem."
"That's never good…" On the other side of the table, without a plate and with his dark fingers laced together, was Marionette. It had been the usual evening up until this call with the two conversing over dinner and generally enjoying being home after a long day at work. Though whatever conversation they were having was now long forgotten. "Did he give any clue to what?"
"No, he did his best to make sure I was completely in the dark," Mike said. He grabbed his half-eaten plate and stuck it in the microwave for safekeeping. "Probably so I wouldn't spoil the big reveal."
"Ah, then we get to guess! Let's see… All of the available apartments in St. George spontaneously combusted overnight. Oh, or perhaps the landlord is a closeted psychopath and had Jeremy sign a paper to sell himself into indentured servitude. Or perhaps not even that far, maybe he just had him sign his soul away."
"I could believe it with how freaked out he sounded. Either that or the rent over there skyrocketed. We could be looking at another few years of living together as one big happy family," Mike said.
"Now see, if that was the case, I could see you reacting like that, but not Jeremy," Marionette teased with a playful smile. He rose from his seat and started to head towards the pantry. "I'll tell Charlie."
He didn't seem too concerned and honestly Mike wasn't either. While Jeremy did sound panicked, it could've very well been something involving his current apartment hunt. The last few months since he had moved in- and since the dreaded 'Consequences Incident'- had been fine enough but he hadn't been able to find a new home. He had been searching frequently, but nothing had surfaced that was a good fit.
While Mike dialed up Fritz's phone number, Marionette leaned into the open pantry and called down the steps, "Charlie, we're going back to Foxy's!"
"Hold on!" After the sound of movement in the downstairs workshop, Charlie appeared at the bottom of the stairs.
Ever since the workshop had been properly cleaned out, she had been using it for her work. The robotics textbooks could only do so much without the hands-on experience and so far, she had gotten a little bit of it. She had begun repairs on her old Ella doll, taken apart an old toaster, but hadn't done any work on a sentient animatronic except loosening Plushtrap's jaw once when it locked up.
"You're going where?" she called back.
"Back to Foxy's. Apparently, Jeremy has some news and wants us all there to hear it. Would you like to come?"
"Sure! Just give me a second and I'll be right up," Charlie said with a smile before she disappeared back through the door.
Marionette couldn't help but smile too. It still made him happy to see how the basement was being used for a better cause now, especially since he had been so afraid that she would become fearful of the house after the incident. Honestly, they all were for a while. He turned to watch Mike who was on the phone and just got a response from Fritz.
"Jeremy just called, and he wants us to meet him over at Foxy's. He said that there was a problem," Mike said. He leaned against the counter. "…No, I don't think the problem's at Foxy's. The way he worded it I don't think he was over there… Unless he got a call from Foxy, I don't know. I'm heading over there now. Careful on the roads, it still looks like it's icy out there." The call ended and Mike gave a sigh. "Here's hoping Jeremy's bluffing and that he really found a great apartment."
There was a rather obnoxious laugh and both Mike and Marionette looked over to the couch to see Balloon Boy peering over the back. His blue eyes were filled with mocking mirth at the man's expense.
"Thanks, BB. That makes it all better," Mike said sarcastically. He went to grab his jacket off the hook. "But if that's what it turns out to be, I'm bum rushing you out of here myself."
Balloon Boy didn't seem worried about the threat and sent a playful glance towards Marionette who returned it with an equally playful shrug. He wouldn't exactly put it past the security guard. As the boy animatronic sunk back behind the couch, the puppet floated over to Mike's side where he eventually settled on his thicker jacket. He glanced over the striped one's thin frame before offering his uniform jacket.
"Think this'll work or do we have to bust out the Christmas sweaters?" he asked with a teasing smile.
"As much as I would love that, it would be rude not to accept an offered gift," Marionette replied as he took his jacket. Mike wasn't surprised with how much the puppet always adored it. He eagerly slid into it and wrapped it tightly around him, lavishing in the familiar fabric as he looked over to see Charlie coming out of the basement. "Ready to go?"
"All set," Charlie agreed as she zipped up her jacket. Instead of the usual sheet, the puppet grabbed for the throw blanket on the back of the couch and covered himself, then offered the other half to her which she wrapped around her shoulders. They then followed Mike out of the house and into the dark, snowy world outside.
Foxy wasn't expecting to see anyone else for the night. Even though it was still early he had just assumed it was going to be one of those quieter nights that came with the winter season. Hurricane was the kind of town where once it got dark everything seemed to shut down, so nobody was inclined to go back out. Not to mention that he knew Jeremy was looking at apartments after work, so he didn't expect a pop-in.
And then out of the blue, Jeremy suddenly let himself in through the backdoor and rushed in in a flurry. Foxy hadn't seen Jeremy this out of sorts in ages; hair fluffed, hands tight, and with an anxious look on his face. He was still excited to see the blond regardless.
"Lad, what're you doin' here so late?" Foxy greeted. He hopped down from the stage and hustled over to him before pulling him into an embrace. Normally he would confront Jeremy right away, but he looked a little too on edge for a direct confrontation. So, he waited until he pulled back before getting to the point. "A'right, now that we exchanged formalities, what's wrong?"
"…Something," Jeremy bluntly admitted. He then waved his hand dismissively and fumbled a little with his words. "Just give me a minute. I already called everyone; I'll tell you when they get here."
"This already ain't soundin' good…" Foxy realized. Flustered Jeremy was one thing, but him purposefully holding back information to tell everybody was a bad omen. After considering his options, he slowly put his arm around his back and rested his hook on his shoulder. "Sure ya don't want to break it to me now?" he coaxed.
"I'd rather not be the only one here in case you fly into a blind rage," Jeremy tried to joke. He even forced a slight smile through his nerves, but it started to fail as he admitted, "Jokes aside, it's not good for us."
"The apartment hunt be a lie an' you've been shackin' up with some dame over in St. George," Foxy guessed sarcastically. "Lad, ya know I'd never flip me top!... I'd just tie ya up and hide ya under me stage."
"Gee, that doesn't sound too bad. What's the rent?" Jeremy joked. There was still unease and a slow look of remorse started to appear. "You know that no matter what happens, we'll get through anything, right?"
"…Enough of the banter, Lad. Who died?" Foxy asked bluntly.
"It's more of a back from the dead thing really," Jeremy admitted. Which got an alarmed look from Foxy, eyepatch popping up and teeth tight together. "No, I don't mean literally. I mean… I really don't want to be the one who has to deliver news like this, but if I have to be, then let me at least wait until everyone gets here so I can do it in one fell swoop."
The look of alarm eased, but Foxy seemed to finally realize that this was going to be bad news regardless and stayed guarded. Jeremy tried to smile reassuringly.
"But who knows! Maybe I'm making a big deal out of this, and Fritz and Mike already know about it… And look, here comes Fritz," he said, gesturing out the front window as Fritz's car pulled up outside. He tried to ignore the way that Foxy suspiciously stared at him and greeted Fritz and Natalie. "Hey guys. Thanks for coming so fast."
"Anything to get a night out, right?" Natalie jokingly asked Fritz. He got a half-smile, but then looked to Jeremy questioningly.
"What's going on?" he asked.
"He ain't talking," Foxy said flatly. Jeremy shot him an unenthused look before clarifying.
"I'm just waiting until everyone gets here." At that moment, Mike's car pulled up. "Err, and there they are…" It was only then that Jeremy realized that he was actively stalling, not waiting, and he watched silently as Mike came in the back door with Marionette and Charlie. All the owners and primary staff was there, he had to be out with it. "Sorry about the scare, Mike."
"I don't get scared until the words 'lawsuit' or 'search warrant' start getting thrown around," Mike said. He crossed his arms and stood alongside Fritz. "Which are we looking at?"
"Heh, that's- that's funny," Jeremy awkwardly agreed. That wasn't a natural reaction, it was a dead giveaway that something much worse was going on.
Mike dropped any attempt at humor after that. "What's actually going on?" he asked with dead seriousness.
Jeremy got an out of place look of remorse and looked back to Foxy. Then he gave a tired sigh, adjusted his glasses, and began to explain.
"I drove into St. George to look at an apartment and while I was coming back, I looked at that billboard for the new mall. Or I thought it was a mall, I don't know what it is now. You know, the 'coming soon' sign?" They nodded, and he knew he was stalling again. "I've never really looked at it closely before, but today I did, and I noticed this thing in the corner, and I looked closer and… It was a Fazbear Entertainment logo."
"What?" Foxy didn't even allow a second of silence. Just an instant, emotionless, knee-jerk response. That didn't bode well and Jeremy inwardly cringed.
"That big construction site out on the highway? It's owned by Fazbear Entertainment. I think it's going to be a mall, but there has to be a Freddy's or something inside of it…"
"Please tell me you're joking," Fritz nearly begged. Jeremy didn't have to say anything else; they just exchanged a look and it confirmed that it wasn't. He slapped a hand over his eyes dejectedly.
"Wait a minute," Mike spoke up. This had to be a mistake, he thought desperately, grasping at whatever straws he could. This couldn't just happen like this, not without warning, not a Freddy-themed mall. "You're sure that the billboard was for whatever's being built out there? It could've been advertising something in town. Did you see anything that said 'turn off at the next exit' or anything? Anything at all?"
"No, and it was far enough off the road that I know it was for the construction site."
"Okay then," Mike said with a shrug and dropped his hand to his side with a smack. Then he said, entirely devoid of emotion, "If you'll excuse me, I'm going to go swallow an action figure and hope I choke to death."
"Oh God I knew this was coming," Fritz vented as he now rubbed his hand vigorously over his face. "I knew it was just a matter of time. Just one of these days one was going to pop up."
"How can this happen? Who even owns the rights to Freddy's now?" Charlie asked. Her eyes were wide, and her mask was twisted in shock. She looked to Marionette beside her seeing if he would answer, but he didn't. He seemed surprisingly stoic, having no reaction to the news at all. Not even surprise, just a default smile and blank stare.
"I don't know," Fritz said, tossing his hand up with exasperation.
"Well, somebody has to!" Charlie said with growing exasperation. "They can't just open a Freddy's without the rights to it, and the only person who I could even think of who might've gotten them after Dad died would've been my aunt, but she would've never agreed to this. She hated Freddy's."
"I really don't know. Maybe a former owner? Or, no, like a former shareholder? We know how messy Freddy's legal affairs get; they probably hired a fleet of lawyers just to get the place off the ground."
"No!"
It was Foxy who cut everyone off. Just a look at him showed that he was not taking the news as 'well' as everyone else. He was nearly shaking as he processed the information, his voice growing garbled and panicked.
"No, this ain't- it can't be! They can't- They'd be mad- Ain't gonna get away-! This ain't hap-hap-hap-hap-!" Suddenly Foxy's whole body seized up and then just slumped in place. Still standing but entirely unresponsive.
"…Foxy?!" Jeremy choked as he reached out to shake his arm. He tried to straighten him up. "Gabe, snap out of it!"
"It's alright, he's fine," Marionette said with a worried sigh. Finally pulling out of his frozen state and sounding completely unsurprised. "He just… Overloaded himself a little. He'll wake right up." Within a few seconds, Foxy straightened his back and blinked back to consciousness. "There he goes. Foxy, it's going to be okay."
"Yer bl-bloody wrong it won't!" Foxy argued. Somehow slipping right into his argumentative panic with little more than a stutter. "Freddy's crawled out of the grave just ta sink me ship!"
This led to a long pause, one that ended with Foxy groaning loudly. He turned away from the group and began to walk off with a hand clasped over his uncovered eye. He was still twitching from the incident earlier.
"This be a nightmare. As soon as Freddy's back, we're gonna be forced outta business…" Foxy lamented. He dropped his arm and head and muttered quietly, "I'm going to lose everything."
"Don't even say that. You're just pouting for the sake of it. You know nobody could replace you," Jeremy said. He reached out to pat his back. "I know you're worried- I'm terrified- but the town loves you!"
"He's right. You're the biggest thing we've got in this town," Natalie quickly chimed in. She had silently watched the whole debacle but decided now to step in. "You've got the cartoon, you've got the online store, and they still air those anti-drug PSAs on the news. Forget Freddy's, you're what everyone loves." She smiled confidently and Foxy raised his head a little more.
Meanwhile, Mike hooked an arm around Fritz and pulled him aside. He lowered his voice and asked, "So, how screwed are we looking here?"
"Six ways 'til Sunday. There's no way that thing's just a mall if it only has the Fazbear logo on it, unless Fazbear Entertainment owns a mall. In which case, we'll be lucky if we make it to Sunday."
"We're going to have to figure out what this thing is… I'll call Scott, he has a lot of connections. Might drive by the construction site and see if I can make anything out of it." Mike sighed and shook his head, the sinking feeling already starting to tug at his gut. Along with a feeling of betrayal, as though this was an act directly against them. Being that the building was going up so close, Mike couldn't help but feel like it was.
"We didn't get this far to get shut out by Freddy's," Mike said. A newfound tone of determination and bitterness in his voice. "If they want to compete then we'll beat them at their own game."
"I think you're putting the cart before the horse here. Or the pizzeria before the bear, whatever. We don't even know if this place will get to open once the word gets out that it's Freddy's. There's got to be protests or something, right? Fazbear Entertainment couldn't have thought opening this close to the old businesses was a good thing. Someone's going to say something," Fritz insisted. Though he sounded more like he was trying to convince himself. "…We're going to have to expand fast."
"Unless we can buy out the hair salon and the laundromat, I don't see us getting that much space," Mike flatly reminded. He looked around at the dining room as Fritz rubbed over his face stressfully. "I guess we could maybe afford to push back that wall. Might give us enough room to… I don't know, put in a ball pit." The technician groaned in response. "Yeah, I know. That felt just as bad saying it as it did hearing it."
"I think you two are taking a little too much from Foxy," Marionette chimed in. He had inserted himself into the conversation so quietly that neither even heard him coming over. He was still smiling, though a bit smaller than usual. "We've gone through much worse than this. Remember, the last few things that nearly destroyed the business weren't Freddy's, and we weathered through those storms."
"…Yeah, I guess you're right," Mike admitted with a sigh. He paused a long moment before turning back to Fritz. "We better keep an eye out for someone's father coming for revenge. Hopefully it's mine this time."
"I still owe my dad twenty bucks. Could be mine," Fritz added with mild amusement.
"Just as long as it's not mine. We already have one long-dead creature of the night hanging over us, being Freddy himself," Marionette said. He looked back to the others and his smile fell fast as he saw Foxy. It looked like he was starting to become a bit more confident, with Jeremy, Charlie, and Natalie continuing to encourage him, but he couldn't be certain that his brother would be alright. "We'll survive this."
But as much as Mike and Fritz wanted to be so certain, they could feel the rug slipping out underneath them.
The next day wasn't much better either.
After a restless night of worrying for all those involved, they somehow dragged themselves into work the next day and was able to pull through a normal workday. It wasn't until closing time that the news would be broken to the remaining staff. Mike volunteered to do it himself since Fritz wasn't holding up too well, stuck in the office and frantically crunching numbers. Not that Mike wasn't a professional at giving bad news.
"So, in the next couple of months that place is going to open, and whatever it is isn't going to be good for us. Now I'm not saying we're going to get run out of business. Believe me, if that was going to happen, I'd find a way to take Freddy's with me… But we're going to have to figure out a way to fight this. So, if any of you have any ideas on how to drum up more business or get Foxy's face on more merch, I'm all ears."
The reaction was about what he expected. Louise looked shocked and devastated. Though she had little history with Freddy's, she was very aware of what that amount of competition would do for them. Tabby got that defeated 'here we go again' look, probably already expecting Foxy's to shut down any day. Carlton, the newest member of staff, looked utterly floored.
"Wait, you're sure this is a Freddy's? They're really going to open another Freddy's right at that mall?" he asked in disbelief.
"Either that or Freddy's is the mall. Which seems like the worst investment to make in the middle of nowhere. Probably something about the cheaper property down here," Mike answered. At least, he hoped that was it and it wasn't also opened by someone formerly connected with the franchise. That never ended well for him. "But it's definitely a Freddy's."
"Dad's going to have a field day with this. Mom too, you know it was a couple of friends of hers that started that protest when the last Freddy's opened. You know the… one that burned down."
"Glad to see that the voices of a bunch of angry, middle-aged women still have the same reach they used to," Tabby lamented bitterly. "Mike, if you're going to keep this place open, you're going to have to fight fire with fire."
"Set the mall on fire, got it," Mike clarified. Tabby gave him an unamused look, though didn't correct him.
"What we should do is have a bunch of specials going on before it opens," Louise chimed up. "And not just food specials. Like half-off prize day or an arcade championship. Get a bunch of people in here, have them really enjoy themselves, and leave with good memories. Then when the new Freddy's opens- and is super expensive and packed full of people- we'll be the fallback! Trust me, it works."
As much as Mike didn't want to be Freddy's fallback, this was looking more reasonable with each passing day. "Good point. I'll run it by Fritz and see what we can set up," he agreed.
It was then that he caught a glimpse of Marionette coming away from his stage and heading back towards the Prize Corner. He watched him go for a second before saying, "Let me go ask Mari. He's pretty good with this sort of thing." He followed the puppet, leaving the three to return to what they were doing before he called them aside.
He caught up with Marionette in the Prize Corner and found him restocking the lower shelf. It had been a good day today; toys had flown off the shelf and tickets had filled the bottom of his box. If not for the looming threat of the unfinished pizzeria it would've felt like nothing had changed.
Mike leaned against the doorframe. "How's it going?" he asked.
"Not too good, actually. I think we might run out of Coat Foxy's before the next shipment comes and because of it nobody's choosing the Classic Foxy's. The obvious solution would be to have two shelves of Classics, but that would look weird with the rest of the setup," Marionette explained as he eyed the shelves.
'Coat Foxy' being Foxy wearing a pirate coat, which he had been wearing during service for the last few months. Originally it had been a one-time thing for a large costume party thrown at the pizzeria to look more like his cartoon counterpart, but then Foxy decided that he liked it a little too much and now made it a sort of uniform.
The coat was a greenish blue with gold-colored decals like clasps and shoulder guards. He would also wear a black pirate hat with a faux feather and the Foxy's logo on the front. The plush toys that matched this were only a few weeks old and were already a popular item.
Marionette had taken some inspiration from this and occasionally came into work wearing a bowtie or a handkerchief. He had three or four of both, though didn't wear either today. That was a little odd.
Though what was much odder was that Marionette seemed completely detached from what was going on. They had not talked about Freddy's the night before, neither wanting to bring it up so they awkwardly talked around it. The fact that he was still doing this seemed a little concerning.
Mike tried to break the ice. "I just told the others about this whole thing with Freddy's."
"I'm glad you brought that up," Marionette interrupted. He turned to him with a smile. "What would you think about us going over and exploring the construction site? If we're really planning on fighting this, then we should go size up the competition." Which would've been a reasonable belief, though he was clearly joking.
Mike half-scoffed at the idea. "Gee, I don't know. As tempted as I am to go stare at a bunch of support beams, I don't need a trespassing charge on my record. I've gotten pretty lucky until now."
"I don't recall you every being afraid of getting caught," Marionette said coyly. He clasped his hands eagerly together. "Come on, it'll only be a few minutes. Just long enough to imagine what we're dealing with."
His eagerness seemed strangely out of place. Maybe if it really was just a normal mall then his curiosity would've been warranted but being a Freddy's- Mike knew he had to be hiding a different motive. Maybe he actually was more worried than he let on and wanted to check out the grounds before the place was finished. Maybe he just wanted to see the full extent of the building. Mike could give him that much.
"You've got a point. Alright, we'll go, and if we see anyone we'll split," Mike agreed. Marionette smiled wider at hearing this.
"Great! We'll head over as soon as we drop off Charlie. In the meantime, would you like to help me reorganize some of this?" he offered. Of course, Mike said yes and even let the conversation drop for now.
Though not everyone was as ready to let the subject drop. Such as in the case of Carlton, who waited until Mike went to speak with Marionette before going over to check in on Charlie. The Security Puppet was climbing out of her box before pulling out her jacket and slipping it on. It had taken a little while for Carlton to learn how to read the more subtle expressions on her mask, but now that he could he recognized the distant look on it. She was lost in her thoughts.
"Hey," he said, pulling her out of her thoughts. She turned to him, and he gave a half smile. "How're you holding up?"
"Alright… Better than Foxy, at least," Charlie tacked on quietly. They both glanced over at the closed stage curtain. It wasn't usual for him to hide behind his curtain during closing and it was a clear sign that he wasn't handling this well. She mimicked a sigh and zipped up her jacket. "I'm going over to Scott's to break the bad news to Baby, Ennard, and him. I'm hoping it'll be easier hearing it from me than learning about it through a commercial."
Carlton went strangely silent, and Charlie noticed the weird look on his face, like he was thinking about something. "What's on your mind?" she eventually asked, once it was clear that he wasn't going to say anything.
"Me? Nah, nothing. Just thinking about stuff… But hey, I could drive you over there if you want. I'm not doing anything," Carlton suggested. He rubbed the back of his neck and Charlie's mask shifted like she was furrowing her brows.
"You want to go over to Scott's?" she asked in disbelief. He gave a sort of nonchalant shrug, like it was no big deal, like he could take it or leave it, but Charlie knew him well enough to notice that this whole thing was strangely out of character. To put it in perspective, Carlton had only seen Scott a few times at the business and hadn't ever gone to his house. He hadn't seen either of the clowns since the incident at the Fazbear Entertainment Processing Facility.
"I've got nothing better to do. Either that or go home and sit around the house for the rest of the night," Carlton said. Charlie found this answer equally weird.
"Uh huh," she said somewhat doubtfully. "Well, if you really want to. I'll go tell the guys the plan."
"Hey, umm…" Jeremy suddenly interjecting made the two realize he was there.
He had walked up behind Charlie's box with his Minireenas in his arms. They were in little striped dresses today with pirate themed sashes and handkerchiefs. Or Rose was. Forget-Me-Not had shed both and Daisy, was missing the latter and had the sash tied like a scarf around her neck. Jeremy seemed less than concerned about their costumes as his mind was focused elsewhere.
"How long has he been back there?" he asked worriedly, shrugging back towards Foxy's stage.
"A while. I think pretty much as soon as the last family was out of here," Charlie answered, her own concern showing in her voice. "I don't want to be pushy, but maybe you should go check on him."
"Yeah, I was just thinking about that…" Jeremy said. He sent a long look over at the curtains before sighing. "Here I go. Wish me luck."
He held the Minireenas close as he headed over towards the curtain, Charlie and Carlton watching him go. Normally he would've set them down and approached Foxy alone for a one-on-one talk, but he didn't feel up to chasing the Minireenas if they wandered off. Daisy was the only one he was sure wouldn't scoot when he had his back turned.
He carefully stepped up onto the stage and shifted Rose to rest on his shoulder to free up his hand, then pulled open the curtain.
"Foxy? How're you…?" Jeremy trailed off at the sight of Foxy lying face down on his mat. Or as facedown as he could, body laying out flat with his head turned towards the curtain. A small bit of his muzzle stuck out from under his pirate jacket, which he had removed and draped over his head. It was all very overdramatic but considering the situation Jeremy couldn't really trust it as being just overdramatic.
"…Are you still awake?" he finally asked.
"It'll be frigid waters down in the depths o' Davy Jones' locker 'fore I sleep again," Foxy muttered. He reached up and peeled his jacket off his eyes with his hook. "You goin' home?"
"Not if you don't want me to," Jeremy offered eagerly.
"Ya don't want to be here, trust me," the pirate mumbled. He turned his hook and dropped the jacket carelessly over his eyes. "I ain't gonna be fun to be around once night falls and the darkness looms."
"I think we're a little past the shock stage if this is any sort of indication," Jeremy said, gesturing towards Foxy with a gentle and still somewhat strained smile. "How about this: you come home with us? You can sleep in your old bed."
"Just when life couldn't get any more depressing," Foxy grumbled difficultly. He shook his head slightly. "Nah, I'd just bring ya down… Need to just work this out meself." He lifted himself to turn his head away. "Behind me curtain."
"Oh, okay. If you're… sure…" Jeremy said without any certainty.
"I'll be fine," Foxy said flatly without any convincing.
"Right, sure! You just get some rest and try to keep cool. And I'm just a phone call away if you change your mind," the blond man continued. When Foxy didn't respond, he decided he wasn't happy leaving it like that and knelt down. He reached down to pat Foxy's back before pulling down his jacket to adjust it more around his shoulders, like he would a blanket. "Love you," he murmured.
Foxy mumbled and shifted a little. His free arm stuck out behind him and reached towards Jeremy, who smiled again and took it in his own. It assured him a little more, and he stayed there with him for a while longer.
The Minireenas were remarkably patient.
Charlie had gotten a handful of rides from Carlton in the last couple of months. Normally during events when she was going to meet up with her friends, typically at Marla's house when her folks weren't at home, and not usually on the way home from work. Never to Scott's since he had never asked to go. That was the reason this drive felt so quiet and awkward.
It didn't take them long to arrive at the house and Carlton squeezed in and parked beside Scott's van. That is, Scott had purchased a van. One lacking the tools like in Fritz's, but with an open back and enough strength to carry two passengers heavier than typical humans. Charlie had ridden in it only a couple of times, but it seemed like it had been a good investment.
Wrapping a throw blanket around her, which they brought solely for this, Charlie ducked out of the car without a word and darted in through the front door. It had been left open since she called in advance. Considering how dark it was outside, this might've seemed like overkill, but she couldn't be too careful when there was a chance that there could be kids out playing in the snow.
Carlton sat in the car for a second, wondering if that was a clue that he was supposed to wait in the car, but then unbuckled himself and followed her inside. He found her already catching up with Scott.
"It's sort of important… Actually, it's really important and it just isn't the sort of thing you say over the phone," Charlie was explaining. Her explanation was cut off by the redhead shutting the door behind him. She acknowledged him with a look before turning back to Scott. "Baby and Ennard are going to need to be here for this."
From Scott's look alone, her tone of dread didn't fall on deaf ears. "Uh, sure! Ennard's out in the garage right now and Baby's in the bedroom. We just got in some new foster kittens- There she is!"
He directed their attention to the bedroom door which was now opening. The moment he did, the door swung open and none other than Circus Baby herself rolled out across the carpet.
To someone like Carlton, who had seen Baby few times, she was just a terrifying as the first time he saw her. Though for Charlie, she could see the significant progress that had been made on Baby's repairs. By now many of her plates had been replaced, with her chest, legs, and arms totally intact. There were some spots that could probably use a touch-up of paint, but she no longer looked broken. Just a little incomplete, not that anyone would tell her that.
The only parts left untouched were her eyes, her hand, and her claw. All of these parts would require much more intense detailing, and in the case of the claw Baby seemed unsure if she was willing to let go of it. This aside, Baby was looking pretty good, and when Baby looked good, she felt good.
Yet Charlie could see the subtle signs of her deflating when she spotted Carlton. That subtle tinge of exasperation that brought a smile to Charlie's own face.
"Hello, Charlie. I wasn't expecting you so soon… or that you would be bringing a friend," she said, sending a slow, weary glance at Carlton. Once her gaze was back on Charlie her eyes literally brightened up. "I have someone for you to meet."
"Sure, but there's… there's something we've got to talk about first," Charlie led into awkwardly. Apparently, Baby assumed it was about the redhead in the room as she sent him another look.
"Can it wait a few minutes? You should see them while they're awake and squirming," Baby encouraged. She reached for Charlie's wrist; her sharp metal fingers surprisingly restrained considering that she was about to drag her out of the room. By now Charlie realized she wasn't getting out of it and sent an apologetic shrug back towards Carlton before getting led off, feeling like she was abandoning him.
This led to Carlton and Scott standing there awkwardly, right outside the garage door and kitchen entrance. Scott was definitely the more awkward of the two, not really knowing what to say and eventually clearing his throat.
"So, how're your folks?" he asked.
"Surviving. They're going to counseling, trying to work out their issues, but they're still "separated"," Carlton emphasized with air quotes. Maybe not news his parents would've wanted to have spread around, but really, he could care less. Wasn't like Scott Caldwell, the clown man, was going to spread it around. He did look sympathetic though.
"Well, uh, that's good! A good step in the right direction. I've heard of a lot of couples who pulled it together with therapy and then had long, happy marriages, so I think that's a good sign," he said optimistically.
They proceeded to fall back into a weird silence. Carlton especially feeling like he should say something. He usually was the one to fill weird silences, but in this case, he felt out of place. He stole a quick glance at the garage door.
Not quick enough. Scott noticed and quietly offered, "He's in there if you want to say hello."
Carlton's eyebrows shot upwards in surprise. He cracked a smile and dismissed, "I just came to drop Charlie off. I'm not staying or anything-." He cut off at the sound of another creaking door. This one clearly being the garage door and his eyes flickered over to see it cracked open.
Okay, so the clown was watching him. No big deal. Nothing weird about that. There was absolutely no reason for him to feel like he was about to break into a cold sweat. He snapped his head away with that same smile.
"I'm good, thanks."
Meanwhile, Baby had taken Charlie into the master bedroom and shut the door behind them. The overhead light was off, and the room was only illuminated by the bedside lamp, which cast just enough light to fall on the cat bed in the corner. Baby took her hand back so she could lower herself onto the carpet, moving cautiously onto her knees, staring at the bed with intense fascination.
As Scott had said, they were homing two new foster kittens. It looked like their eyes weren't open yet and they were curled up together beside a teddy bear. Scott's sphynx was loafing beside the cat bed, eyes half-lidded and unphased by the two visitors.
"Look how small they are," Baby said quietly. She raised a hand and traced the kitten in the air, wanting to touch and resisting the urge. "They have to be bottle fed every three hours, which is the only time they really wake up. You missed it. Before you came, they were crawling around trying to find each other."
"Aww," Charlie said. She sat down beside Baby, legs crossed, and looked at the tiny kittens. "They look pretty young. How long are you guys keeping them, until they're ready for adoption?" Baby nodded with a hum and Charlie smiled. "Lucky."
"Why are you here?" Baby abruptly asked. Her bluntness surprised Charlie, who made an expression like if her brows were raising- if she had details brows on her white mask. Green eyes rolled over to her. "Not that I don't enjoy your company, but I know something is wrong. You don't usually appear so unexpectedly… and with him."
"Don't be like that. You know I have other friends." Baby mimicked a huffy noise and an amused smile briefly appeared on Charlie's mask before fading. "Carlton's just giving me a ride. Mike and Mari are going to go do something tonight… I'll explain once we get out into the living room. It's a long story," she tried to explain. Her voice gave away more than she meant it to and now Baby was looking much closer.
"…Is it about Burke?" she asked. Charlie shook her head. "What is it then? I can handle it."
"It's not that I think you're going to freak out or anything, it's just… This… Might make you freak out," Charlie tried to explain, gesturing with her hands, and struggling to explain without explaining. She met eyes with Baby and her look of worry came through. "…It freaked Foxy out."
This caught Baby's attention and she stared silently for a long moment. Her eyes reading Charlie's face as she processed how serious it must be to shake the Security Puppet. Foxy was bombastic, she knew this, so to have something rile him to the point of this much concern was in and of itself worrying.
"…Let's not discuss it by the kittens then. Just in case," Baby agreed. She crawled back from the cat bed before standing up and making her way back out. The kittens had to wait, she had to know what was happening. Charlie followed close.
They came out to find Scott and Carlton close to where they left them, save that the former was looking at the garage door, the latter was looking at the floor, and said door was slowly creeping open. Probably solely to mess with Carlton.
"Okay, so… Here's the deal," Charlie began as she approached them. She turned herself to face Scott and Baby, fingers lacing together with her pointer tapping in a semi-nervous way. She paused a long moment before continuing, "Have you see that building being built on the highway between here and St. George? The one that looks like a mall?" she asked. Baby looked to Scott.
"No, I haven't. I don't really drive out there much- but I did hear about the mall down in St. George getting hit by that last twister. I'm shocked they're not just repairing that one. Seems like it would cost a lot more to build a new mall from the ground up," Scott said. From the fact that he was already starting to ramble, Charlie knew that he was already starting to catch on. Unfortunately, he didn't have a clue about the true scope of it.
"That's because it's not a mall. We're not entirely sure what it is yet, but we know who's building it and it's… it's going to come as a shock," Charlie slowly led into. Carlton picked up on her discomfort and decided to help out.
"I've got this," he said. Charlie got as far as a 'wait' when Carlton continued undeterred with, "That mall being built out there? Yeah, it's being built by Fazbear Entertainment. It's not a mall, it's like some kind of giant Freddy's."
The reaction was immediate.
"What?" Baby asked quietly, rolling back in surprise.
"WHAT?!"
The garage slammed open so hard that the wall might've shook. Carlton's eyes widened but he didn't dare look back at the clown now standing behind him in the doorway. Ennard looked how Charlie expected him to; pupils shrunk in shock in his yellow and blue eyes and his wires splayed in a flustered manner. For someone with a perpetually smiling mask, he looked absolutely dumbstruck.
"No. Wait, wait. Hold up. This is a joke, right? Kind of a tasteless joke if it is, but it's gotta be. You've gotta be joking," Ennard said with a faux good-humored tone that barely covered his pleading. "Ha ha, please, PLEASE be kidding."
"I really wish he was, but that's what it's looking like. To be fair, we don't know what it is, if it even is a mall, but we do know Fazbear Entertainment is involved with it. Their logo is on the billboard," Charlie explained.
"Great. Of course. Freddy gets another pizzeria," Baby said coldly. Her shock quickly boiled over into anger. "Freddy gets four- five- more pizzerias than I can count and gets them all shut down, and he gets another chance. Everybody forgets what he did."
"Wish I could deny that, but people can be dense," Carlton agreed.
"You're not helping," Charlie muttered with a look.
"Yeah, but am I wrong?"
"Apparently not if THERE'S A FR-R-R-REDDY'S OPENING DOW-DOWN THE STREET!" Ennard cried.
In contrast to the clowns, Scott was dead silent with a thousand-yard stare on his face. He eventually inhaled deeply and muttered under his breath, "This- This is a lot sooner than I thought."
"What?" Baby asked again, looking to him. "What do you mean sooner? We all thought Freddy's was gone."
"Yes, but I always thought- I just, I always assumed- I knew that eventually something involving Freddy's was going to come back, but- Wow. I was thinking, like… Maybe five to ten years from now. A- A different generation. Not this soon," the man half-rambled. Even when he moved the focus of his gaze, he still had that frozen panic sort of look. "I really hope they lost my number."
"Why would they call you? You left Freddy's years ago, before everything fell apart," Charlie pointed out.
"Because I was a former manager and night guard and if they're looking for someone who can keep secrets then that's who they'll want…" Scott got a tense look and quietly tacked on, "Guess I should be expecting a call any day now…"
Baby gave a frustrated cry and spun around, one arm crossing across her chest while she let her clawed one dangle, her fingers tight on that arm. She was now quiet, but it was clear that she hadn't calmed down and was still upset. Charlie's mask grew empathetic as she walked up behind her and laid a hand on her shoulder.
"Baby, you don't have to be afraid," Charlie encouraged quietly.
"I'm not afraid," Baby instantly corrected. She fidgeted in place, claw twitching and eyes flickering around at anything other than the Security Puppet. "I'm just so mad I can't even handle it. What can I do?"
"I'll tell you what I'm going to do: I'm about to reject the contents of my entire body all over this room," Ennard announced. This managed to be the only thing that pulled Scott out of his look of shock, but only to replace it with a mix of concern and slight squeamishness. Ennard wasn't done. "Chriiiiiipes, what are they thinking?! Nobody even likes Freddy, why would they bring him back?!" he continued to lament, dragging his fingers down his mask.
"Money," Scott answered. He reached out and pulled one of Ennard's hands away, then rubbed comforting circles over the back of it with his thumb. It turned to gently clasp his hand.
"They're going to blow more money trying to paste his fuzzy butt back together and steam cleaning the blood out of his reputation!" Ennard exclaimed, tossing his free hand dramatically away. He seemed to suddenly notice Carlton staring at him, glancing over before off-handedly adding, "Oh, sorry. I forgot there was a kid in the room, or I would've cleaned up my language, ha ha." He winked at Scott, who returned a small, stressed smile.
Meanwhile, Charlie managed to coax Baby into turning enough that she could put her arm around her back and rested her other hand on the wrist above her clenched claw. Baby slightly turned her downed head away, but Charlie could read the motion. She was upset and embarrassed, but she wasn't rejecting her comfort. Within a few seconds she changed her tune and turned back, resting her head against Charlie's. It was the most vulnerable she had seen her in ages.
"What if there's a new Circus Baby?" Baby whispered, trying not to let the others hear.
"I don't think there's going to be. Your father-… Afton had the rights to Bonnie before he died and Mike, Fritz, and Jeremy managed to get ahold of them and Foxy's, and Mari's, before they opened the business. If there's any rights that I don't think he would have ever let go of, it would've been the rights to Circus Baby… Take that as you will."
"It's disgusting, but useful for us," Baby agreed. She closed her eyes and pressed closer. "What about you?"
"What about me?"
"If Foxy's doesn't survive."
"Foxy's is going to be fine," Charlie assured. She could feel the denial creeping up and fought it with logic and reason. "There's going to be plenty of people who don't trust Freddy's or can't afford to go to whatever this place is. We'll manage."
Yet even as she said this, she didn't think it sounded believable. Maybe if she kept saying it, she would eventually buy into it. For the moment, she knew at least four people who weren't going to. The ones who currently showed their support through their silence.
It was dark by time Mike pulled up to the construction site. The snow had started to pick up but was still gentle enough that it wasn't a driving hazard. He pulled off the highway and onto the unfinished road leading back towards the construction site. Seeing it from this angle, he could now take in the sheer size of it. It was enough to make him grit his teeth a little, a bad omen for sure.
Unfortunately, he didn't get far down the road- just under the Coming Soon- Now Hiring sign- before his path was suddenly blocked by a gate across the road. The car stopped with its headlights illuminating it. He leaned forward and squinted at the gate, only to realize quickly that he wasn't going to be able to raise it on his own. This was as far as the car was going.
"Looks like we're getting out here," Mike said with a sigh. He sat back in his seat and turned to look at the passenger one, only to realize he was alone. He stared at the empty space for a long moment before shrugging, giving a relatively unphased, "Alright," and getting out of the car.
He zipped up his jacket the rest of the way and got out his flashlight before locking up the car, walking around the gate, and heading down the path towards the half-complete building waiting at the end.
It would've been a rather peaceful walk if not for his destination. The soft snowflakes fluttering down, the distant sound of wind mixing with the noise from the highway; it was kind of nice, save the daunting structure standing in the distance.
Mike wanted to keep some semblance of calmness and doubt about this whole thing, living in ignorant bliss as long as he could, but it was hard to ignore something of this size. Looking around, he could tell that they chose a good place for it. Like Magictime had been before it closed, not too far from here, it was backed up on an area of flat, cleared out land. More than enough room to build whatever they wanted.
This was going to be a huge pizzeria- if that was even what it was going to be. It couldn't be, it had to be more than that. He sent a wary look up at the sign to double-check if it said anything more that he had missed, but it didn't.
His eyes lingered on that sign as long as they could before he turned ahead and continued onwards.
"Help wanted, huh? Wonder if they've seen anyone with my credentials," he thought. He narrowed his gaze at the massive structure ahead. "…I bet they would hire me. I could change my name and walk right in. Could play them from the inside." Yet as soon as he thought this, he immediately snapped out of it and shook his head. "No, forget that. All that'll happen is that someone will find me out, I'll look suspicious, and it'll blow up in my face. That's it."
He really wanted to believe that he could keep that promise and tried his hardest not to be tempted by the disaster that was sure to come. The last thing he was going to do was repeat the mistakes of the past… Unless something came up.
Something usually did, but this time he was even more determined to break the cycle. He wasn't doing Freddy's any favors.
A thin layer of snow crunched between his shoes and the sparsely covered road. It was the only sound other than the winds, not even the faintest jingle to signal that he wasn't alone. He wasn't sure what was being planned, but he would willingly go along with it, and eventually he started to close in on the construction site.
It was still in the beginning stages of being built. The whole thing was just a layered frame, a skeleton of what it would eventually be, but he could tell now that it had to be three or maybe four levels tall. It looked a whole lot like a mall, and in hindsight Mike considered that it very well could be. Just a large Freddy's-licensed mall to replace the one that went down in St. George and the one that never opened in Hurricane.
As he stepped into what he assumed was the front entrance he felt a weird presence hanging over the area. A foreboding feeling that tightened in his gut as he stepped onto a concrete slab coated in a thin layer of wood dust and snow. It felt ten degrees colder in this building, but it wasn't possible that it was anything beyond his mind playing tricks with himself. The structure was as new as could be and the only haunted thing here was much warmer than this.
Speaking of which, Mike heard a small tapping noise. His head snapped over and he leaned forward to peek around a post, spotting some tools and equipment left behind to be used the next day. His eyes gravitated to an abandoned bucket and knew that must've been what he heard, and he knew exactly what caused it too.
He shined his flashlight slowly around the building and watched shadows dance between the pillars. As he began to slowly make his way further into the construction site, only a few feet further really, he noticed them moving a little more sluggishly. Once or twice, he would notice something dark slipping behind a post, or hear what sounded deceptively like fabric brushing along metal.
Then he suddenly felt it. The feeling that something was directly behind him and slowly closing in, and he knew exactly what it was. Something baiting him to turn around, which he began to do slowly. His eyes followed the beam of his flashlight as he began to turn himself around to confront the force slowly closing in behind him.
Until…
Mike suddenly stopped and snapped forward again, shining his flashlight in front of him, intending to catch his actual pursuer right in the act. So, he was genuinely surprised when he found that nothing had appeared in front of him, waiting for him to turn around and then look back to startle him. He realized quickly that he had made a mistake.
Especially when he suddenly felt something thump into his back and had his arms pinned to his side by a pair of soft and warm ones wrapping around him.
"You were right the first time," Marionette teased, hugging him from behind with a playful chime. He pressed his cool mask into the crook of his neck, bringing a smile out of Mike.
"That's a first," he countered. The Puppet trilled and squeezed tighter, and Mike brought his arms up to rest over the striped ones. They held like that for a few moments. Even with the cool of the porcelain, Marionette's fabric still held the warmth it absorbed from the car heater. Even compared to Mike's winter jacket, he was downright toasty.
Eventually he drew back and spun around to the front of Mike, still holding his hand with held him as though keeping him from floating away. Even in this cold prison he seemed so full of life.
"So, I was thinking about it, and I think I came up with something," Marionette began.
"What's that?"
"A movie theater!" Marionette chirped. Mike quirked a brow. "Think about it: it would fit the space since each theater would need room, they could still sell pizza and candy, they could have an arcade, and it would explain where they got the funds. There could be a theater company backing the project and the whole thing is just Freddy themed to sell to kids!" he continued to explain.
Mike thought it was just wishful thinking but had to admit that he did have a point. "Could be. Would make a lot more sense than a three-story pizzeria. You couldn't sell enough slices to meet that overhead, even if the place was packed."
"I can see it now!" The puppet waved his hand as though guiding his vision. "Each theater is themed with another Freddy's character. Freddy's is family themed, Bonnie's plays musicals, Chica's is food and farm animals, and Foxy's would be adventure movies- oh, no, wait. Foxy wouldn't be in the equation. Come to think of it, neither would Bonnie. What a shame, I suppose that means no theater based off me."
"Thank God for that. It would play nothing bad, cheesy horror movies, living dead dolls, and Casper the Friendly Ghost."
"You take that back," Marionette replied, smile remaining and eyes narrowing.
Mike only grinned a little broader. "Tell me I'm wrong and I will."
The puppet pouted for a second, short enough to show that he was just feigning it, and then waved it off. "Well, that's for the best. A theater out in the middle of the desert, between two cities with their own movie theaters? It won't last."
"Alright, I played along as long as I could," Mike said. He still held a slight smirk as he gave a rather patronizing, "You're in complete denial."
Marionette almost seemed surprised for a second, but then gained a coy smile. "I'm being optimistic. I'm sure that's foreign to you." He chuckled, chiming high in his chest, folding his free arm behind his back. He looked convincingly mellow.
Mike's smirk dropped as he looked at him for a long moment with a largely unreadable expression. Then finally decided to put all prefix aside and level with him.
"I'll be honest, I don't know how you're not freaking out about this. I'm freaking out, I just do it quietly," he confessed. He gave a tired sigh and looked up at the towering beams above their head. Definitely felt like the bars of a cage but offered no illusion of protection. "I can't believe this is happening. That it popped up this quick," he muttered.
"Me neither, but we always knew there was a possibility," Marionette said. His voice growing more somber, which didn't go unnoticed. "How are you feeling?"
"I'm livid. Even right now, I want to grab a sledgehammer and just go to town on this place. I'm barely holding back," Mike said, the bitterness coming out. Though it died quickly as he looked to his puppet. "How do you feel? I mean really feel?" Marionette's façade began to wane as he looked aside uncertainly, and Mike's features softened. "Don't hold it in. We got enough of that with Foxy and Fritz."
"Honestly?" Marionette asked almost timidly. Mike nodded, and the puppet hesitated a long moment.
What followed next was something that he hadn't expecting. A strange chill crawled up his arm from where their hands were connected and for a split-second Mike was struck by sensations that weren't his own. A cluster of intense emotions; anger, fear, raw feelings. Marionette must've not realized it was happening because he didn't react, and Mike was too rigid from this intrusive feeling to react. It was intense.
What was weirder was how quiet the puppet was. Normally this amount of frustration would've made itself apparent through static and dialing, but it was very faint. As though he was suppressing the sound.
"As… angry and… devastated as I am… I'm okay."
All at once, that sensation was gone. It wrenched so quickly away that it almost left Mike feeling strangely empty. It was a relief though, enough that he released the breath he didn't realize he was holding. Marionette finally lifted his head again and he watched as his smile, which had waned before, returned to its normal state.
"I'm doing a lot better than I thought I would," Marionette said. Whatever just happened didn't really back that up, but his words sounded sincere. "And I think that's because I know it's all going to be alright."
"How can you be so sure?... Granted, you've got a point. Even if Freddy's does affect our business, it's not really going to ruin our lives. We've still got each other, we still probably have a slew of customers who aren't going to trust Freddy's, and… we're not dead, so there's that," Mike admitted. He decided to take Marionette's advice and tried his best attempt at an optimistic perspective. He noticed Marionette's smile growing and quirked a brow. "How are you so sure?"
"Because…" Marionette trilled. He leaned in and raised his hand as though preparing to whisper a secret to him. He tugged Mike's hand to coax him in. "I have reason to believe that Freddy's will at most last one year."
"How are you so sure of that?"
"Because it's Fazbear Entertainment, my dear Schmidt!" Marionette chirped. He playfully tapped the brim of Mike's hat to nudge it down. "Even without us haunting their establishments, Freddy's has an innate way of sabotaging themselves with a refusal to keep up standards and a backwards way of doing business."
He finally released Mike's hand, but only so he could spin around with his arms splayed out, facing the structure towering behind them as though challenging it.
"Let them build their pizzeria, or mall, or whatever else they want- it isn't going to change anything. History repeats for those who ignore it," he proclaimed.
Mike liked the sound of his confidence and readjusted his hat with a smile. "You sound pretty sure of that."
"I would bet my life on it," Marionette assured. Feeling particularly mischievous, he began to twist and spin in place as music began to ring from his chest. The few snowflakes that made it through the beams above getting caught up in his motion. "Come down to Freddy Fazbear's Pizza, three weeks since grand opening! Freddy Fazbear's Pizza- and the lawsuits keep on rolling!"
"That's a cute little jig there," Mike teased. He spun his finger around. "Now do the Bonnie shuffle."
Which surprisingly, Marionette willingly did. The Bonnie Shuffle being this awkward sort of Bonnie-themed suited character dance. It would involve a little shuffle, kicking a leg out, and then a bow. Marionette always added his own little flare at the end, to which Mike clapped after. Not in a patronizing way either, considering how painful he assumed the dance had to be- especially while wearing a springlock suit.
"It's like I always say: nobody does the Bonnie Shuffle better than Prize Puppet," he remarked.
"It runs in my blood. Or whatever this purple stuff is," Marionette replied. His features softened up as he returned to his side. "Feeling any better?"
"Shockingly, yes. I don't know how you pulled that one off… But look, don't feel obligated to cheer me up, okay? I don't want you burning yourself out on my account, and I don't want you to think I'm going to fall apart if I don't have a distraction." Mike reached out to cup his mask, getting rewarded with a vibrating trill as he traced his cheek. "You were right earlier. We're going to be fine."
"Fazbear Entertainment always has been and always will be a vessel for disaster," Marionette said. He rested a hand on Mike's as he pressed his mask further into his touch. "With those odds, how can we fail?"
"Very easily," Mike's bitter mind wanted to say, but he held his tongue from following suit. He instead steered back towards a joking tone. "So, you're saying I shouldn't start breaking down support beams?"
"No, you might get arrested. Then they won't let us continue sneaking in," the puppet said with a chime. "I would guess that we have a few more months of this being our personal playground before they start watching it more carefully."
"Oh yeah?" Mike asked with a growing smile. "What do you have in mind?"
"I'll give you twenty seconds to find a good hiding spot," Marionette said as he gently pulled away. Squeezing Mike's hand in his as he got a more challenging glint in his eyes. "Let's see if you can do any better than I did."
"In a building with no walls? I think I deserve at least forty seconds," Mike hinted. He didn't sound unconfident though. "And if we're really leveling the playing field, cover your ears. No footsteps to tip you off. Not when this place echoes."
Marionette chuckled as he turned away and covered over where his ears would be, if he had them, and began to make a low humming noise. Probably an extra step to block out the sound. It was endearing to say the least, and Mike stepped forward, briefly taking hold of the puppet to kiss him on the back of the neck. He trilled as Mike drew back and turned to head further into the construction site.
He knew only a few steps in that there was no way he was going to find an adequate hiding place here, but that wasn't the point. The point was to have a little bit of fun in a place they weren't supposed to, in a place that would no doubt be causing them a lot more pain in the next couple of months. Mike supposed that he should appreciate this time while he had it, when this building was still a shell, when he still didn't know what it was.
Though before he could even get that far, Marionette called back, voice louder than he probably intended. "But watch your step! There's places where the basement's exposed!"
"Oh, that would just be the icing on the cake," Mike said under his breath. With a shake of his head and a small smile on his lips he headed further into their would-be playground.
And somehow, they made their first memory of this place a good one.
…
…
…
With an enormously loud creak, the metal door started to slide open. It took two harsh shoves to get it to budge, heavy enough to cause the man pushing it to puff and give another firm heave. It finally slid open the rest of the way and revealed the looming darkness inside of the abandoned factory. In stepped a group of four armed only with flashlights to search the massive room.
So, here was the legacy of the old Fazbear Entertainment: an empty factory full of rust and garbage. It was quite a sight to see.
"What a dump," a scruffy faced technician muttered. The leading technician gave a tight mouthed look in response seemed to show that he must've agreed. Shining light on the scene didn't help matters either.
"Careful what you stir up. An old place like this could be full of asbestos, and it's not like they would've admitted to it before sending us out here," the third man said, who was at least ten or more years older than the two technicians. He tried to lift the collar of his shirt over his mouth. "Just see if you can find anything so we can get out of here."
"Doesn't look like much of this is going to be useable," the leader said. He shined his light over the shelves and noticed the stacks of old, abandoned toys left on them. He silently shook his head; what a shame. Why leave all this stuff?
The group slowly made their way into the back. The leader and scruffy technician made it into the back first. They found a figure laying off to the side in a heap. Rotten fabric wasted away to reveal exposed, rusty metal hiding underneath. The second man nudged it over with his boot, letting out a noise of disgust as its head rolled to reveal a gaping mouth and empty eyes.
"I'm guessing it's a… Chica? Yeah, that rancid yellow's got to be a Chica," he muttered. He gave it another kick in the side and his boot went straight into it like the side of a weakened pinata. He staggered with a swear and his companion barely caught his arm to keep him from falling.
"Watch your mouth," the older man snapped. Then was straight to business with, "Does it look like a salvage job?"
"Are you kidding? My shoe went straight through it. We try picking this thing up and the whole thing's falling apart!" he called back as he yanked his foot free.
The older wasn't impressed with his theatrics and looked to the leader for a second opinion.
"He's right. This… There's no salvaging this. Wight'll never write off on this, it would cost less to buy a new one."
"Whoa… Hold on a second," the scruffy man suddenly interrupted. His tone changed instantly from annoyed to cautious as he shined his flashlight past his partner. "What is that?"
The leader followed the direction of his light with his own and found the same spot on the back wall, half-hidden by a shelf of broken and dirty toys. On first glance it just looked like a tarp covering something in the corner, but on closer inspection his eyes widened as he noticed the shape of whatever was underneath it. Two distinct arms and legs, and a slouched head covered by the edge of the tarp.
It looked like a body.
The older man noticed their motions and pushed aside some stuff on the shelf to see through, and only then did he get a look that matched up with theirs. He was uncharacteristically silent, not stopping the technicians as they made their way between the shelves to this figure propped up against the wall.
The leader reached out and took ahold of the dusty, cold tarp and began to pull it away until it was stuck behind the form's head. Taking a deep breath, he gave a firm tug and unveiled what lay before them.
It was an emaciated endoskeleton.
Its body was sturdy but thin. It was enwrapped in something that looked like a mass of garbage bags but could've been a ratty coat. Its chest was exposed enough to reveal some kind of corroded battery mounted into it with some frayed wires sticking out. Its arms lay stiffly at its sides and its legs stuck out in front of it rigidly like it had been there for a while, though it looked like the tarp had spared it from any dust collection.
The only distinct feature it had was a white mask with a crooked grin. It didn't look made for the body, more sized like it was for a small animatronic or doll and then somehow mounted to the head. Its features were drawn on with black marker, a toothy smile beneath one blackened out eye and one punched through eyehole that let the endo's eye peek through. Its mouth was stained with something, either food or paint.
When all the parts came together it gave the animatronic an ominous appearance. It looked more like the grim reaper than anything made for children, even though it was probably kids or teens who vandalized it to look like this.
The leader took in the scene for a long moment before planting a hand on his hip and looking to his companion.
"Well, Chaz, in all your wisdom… What character do you think this is?" he asked.
"Whichever was mauled by a coyote," the second technician, Chaz, said. "Y'know, they should've known kids were going to get in here. There's no way we're finding anything worth saving."
"Maybe we just did," the other countered. Chaz gave him a look of disbelief as the leader looked back to the older man. "The endo looks salvageable, but there's no suit. What's the call?"
"Does it look like it's going to be a pain to refurbish?" the older man asked. Even he sounded doubtful, but it wasn't like they had seen much better, and hopes weren't high in finding some kind of hidden gem. All thing's considered; this semi-intact endo was what they were looking for.
"Not really," the leader said. Chaz's look of disbelief only increased. "Take the mask off, clean it up a little bit, take that… car battery or whatever it is out and stick it in a suit. Mount it somewhere they need a slightly movable statue."
"Hmm… Yeah, alright. It's not looking like we'll be finding much better, and I don't want to spend all day digging around in here. I'll go get the cart and you two can haul it out to the van."
"Take the easy job, why don't cha," Chaz said under his breath. Loud enough that the leader could hear but the older couldn't, the former getting an amused smirk before falling as they waited for the dolly. Once it was wheeled in, the two worked together to get the endoskeleton onto it. It was heavier than it looked but with a little maneuvering they managed to get it on.
The older helped clear the way as they guided their hefty find out of the warehouse. What they didn't notice or had noticed but didn't send a second glance at, was that something fell out of the endoskeleton's coverings when they had lifted it from the floor. It looked to be a dirty plush toy of some kind. Just one of the many forgotten toys they lay abandon amongst the shelves now laying facedown on the grimy floor.
Taking pity on the thing, the fourth of the group leaned down to pick it up. It wasn't until it was turned over that it was revealed to be a plush rabbit. Even though it was old and worn, it was recognizable as a Bonnie, though its coloring was unusual. Instead of the typical blue or purple it was a brownish yellow. Or maybe a greenish yellow. It was hard to tell with how dull its faux fur had become over the years.
Poor thing was in dire need of a bath and a few stitches here and there, but it was otherwise in fine condition. There was nothing special about it except for its coloring and yet something about the toy was enticing. Maybe it was worth taking it home and cleaning it up, even if it was just to prop it on the dresser.
She followed the others out with the plush in hand and a slight smile on her lips.
