What Vanessa had actually meant was using the discontinued Monty Mystery Mix slushy flavor in order to lure Chica out, since she was so crazy about pizza, after all.
"They actually made a pizza flavored slushy mix?" Mirabelle wondered with a mild look of revulsion, as they made their way into the back of the kitchen area behind Bonnie Bowling where the extra was apparently being stored.
"Yeah, pretty gross right? But the kids seemed to still like it. Except, it ended up driving Chica crazy! It got to the point where she started attacking guests to get her hands on it, so of course they had to get rid of it," Vanessa explained. "Ah, there it is!"
She pointed to a box on top of some kind of tool cabinet that appeared to contain a bag of suspicious, green goo. However, it was far above both of the girl's heads.
"Hey, Freddy? Would you mind?" Vanessa requested.
"Oh, of course," he complied, hefting it off the shelf.
"Great! I'm sure this will do the trick. Let's take it down to the big kitchen just off the docking bay. Chica is constantly trying to get in there because that's where most of the pizzas are made. As soon as she smells this, she's bound to come running," Vanessa assured them.
However, on their way back out, Mirabelle couldn't help but stare longingly at the comfy-looking seats pressed up against the diner bar. She knew they really couldn't afford it, but taking a breather sounded pretty nice right about now.
Even so, the others couldn't help but pick up on her yearning expression.
"Hey, how about we take a quick break first?" Vanessa suggested, reading her mind. Mirabelle brightened for a moment before thinking better of it.
"I don't know if that's such a good idea. . ." she trailed.
"Aw, come on! It'll be fine! I could honestly use one myself, and who knows what's gonna happen once we get downstairs. Let's rest for a bit while we can," Vanessa encouraged, motioning her towards a chair.
"I agree. That sounds like a good idea," Freddy concurred with a nod.
Not having the energy to argue, Mirabelle happily complied. Freddy set his box down on the counter as Vanessa moved back behind the bar to poke around the kitchen.
"Are you hungry?" she wondered, before discovering that there wasn't really much in the way of actual food. It was mostly just ice cream.
"Not really in the mood for dessert. . ." Mirabelle trailed.
"Looks like they also have coffee?" Vanessa suggested.
"Actually, coffee sounds amazing!" the girl eagerly responded. Vanessa nodded with a smile and set to work making them a pot.
While she watched her bustle about, Mirabelle's mind started to wander, fixating on everything that had occurred so far. It suddenly dawned on her that she'd misjudged Vanessa from the beginning, and while the blonde guard had admitted that it was her fault they'd started off on the wrong foot, it didn't stop Mirabelle from feeling bad about some of her earlier comments. She decided that now was as good a time as any to clear the air.
"Hey, Vanessa?" she questioned, getting her attention as she poured the dark liquid into a couple of coffee containers. She hummed in response. "I'm sorry about those things I said before. I didn't really mean any of it. I'm sure you'd make a great police officer," she told her earnestly.
"Don't worry about it, kid. I figured you weren't being super sincere. You were just lashing out because you were scared and upset," she acknowledged, passing Mirabelle a cup, along with packets of cream and sugar.
"Thanks," she told her, making up her coffee. "But, why are you working here, if you don't mind my asking? Seems like you could be doing a lot better as a real cop," Mirabelle reasoned.
Vanessa sighed, staring into her beverage.
"I guess you could say that my family has had some, dark history, with this franchise," she confessed.
"Is that why you're so determined to figure out what's been going on?" Mirabelle had to wonder.
"That's exactly why," she nodded, before looking over Mirabelle to try and locate Freddy.
They found him standing in front of the small stage curtain, staring off at nothing. He didn't really seem to be paying attention to them. When Vanessa seemed satisfied that he was adequately distracted, she continued in a hushed tone.
"You see, quite a few years ago my mom had an older brother. Only, he disappeared back when they were just kids. The last time they ever saw him – was at his tenth birthday party at Freddy Fazbear's Pizza," she admitted.
Mirabelle felt like her jaw hit the table! How was it – could it really be possible?
"A-are you – are you saying that the other locations actually existed? That the – the Fazbear murders, are real?" she asked in shock. "I thought those stories were just part of the games!"
"My family hates those stupid games!" Vanessa said with a scowl. "As for the murders, they were never proven, because the bodies weren't ever found. But everyone from that generation who was affected knows they're true. The company tried to bury it and pay off the families to keep them quiet, but – I know my mom's family was never the same. My grandmother, to this day, still talks about Ben, and how much she misses him," the older woman explained.
"Vanessa I – I'm so sorry," Mirabelle offered, not feeling real sure on what else she could say.
"You don't have to feel bad for me. It's not like I ever knew him. However, when I heard that the franchise had the gall to open yet another new location," she paused, shaking her head. "I knew I had to make sure that no one else suffered what my family did. So, I quit the police academy and got a job here," she verified.
"Things started out fine at first. Everything seemed like it was on the up and up, until recently, obviously. . ." Vanessa trailed, taking a long sip of her coffee. "I'm at least glad to know that whoever is behind all this hasn't managed to claim their first victim yet," she emphasized, giving the girl an insightful look.
"Does Freddy know?" Mirabelle wondered with sudden concern, turning to make sure that he still hadn't moved.
"No! Freddy doesn't know about any of this, and frankly, I don't want him to! I mean, you've seen how great he is, right? I'd hate for him to start thinking that he could be at fault for any of this! That Freddy is a whole new program and has had nothing to do with all the shit that went down all those years ago. He doesn't deserve to be weighed down by that," Vanessa explained with a very serious air.
Mirabelle nodded that she understood. She wouldn't want Freddy learning about any of this either! Knowing now what she did about him, she could see him finding a way to think that he was somehow responsible. Despite it being the furthest thing from the truth! But now, as she stared at his frozen form, Mirabelle couldn't help feeling worried that he'd overheard.
"Freddy? Are, you okay?" she inquired, fixing him with a puzzled expression.
"I, do not come up here anymore. I miss him," he answered, sounding sadder than Mirabelle had ever heard him. She rose, and moved over to stand next to him.
"You mean, Bonnie?" she guessed, glancing towards the sign that said: This Attraction is Temporarily Closed. He nodded his head without moving his gaze away from the drawn curtain.
"Um, what happened, to him?" she asked carefully.
"To be honest, we're not really sure," Vanessa chimed in, coming over to join them. "The last known location data that we have on him is that he went into the Monty's Golf attraction really early one morning, and that was the last we heard. We never found any information about where he went. It was like he just, vanished," she explained gloomily. "It's why the animatronics are now usually, confined to their rooms when the Pizzaplex is closed."
"He was, my best friend," Freddy confessed, methodically running his hand along the curtain. "I tried talking to Monty about it, but – he never seemed to have any idea what I was talking about. Meanwhile, Roxy told me that I just needed to move on. It hurt, that they didn't seem bothered by the fact that he was gone. And yet, I couldn't stay mad at them. They are – still my friends. They are, all I have. . ." he trailed off forlornly.
After a moment, and without really thinking, Mirabelle reached out to take his hand in hers. She knew that there was absolutely nothing she could say to make him feel better, but she also couldn't just stand around and do nothing. Even so, a part of her still couldn't help but feel woefully inadequate.
Sensing her movement next to him, he glanced down to discover her little hand clasped in his much larger one as she leaned softly against his arm. His expression melted into a gentle smile and he tightened his grip.
"Although, despite the circumstances, I must admit, being able to make new friends has been, nice," he confessed, reaching up to rub her head with his free hand. Except, instead of protesting, this time she simply blinked up at him, before returning his smile with one of her own.
"Alright, I think we've spent enough time here. We'd better head down to try and find Chica before she finds us first," Vanessa warned, motioning eagerly towards the exit.
. . .
Making it to the basement kitchen, Mirabelle felt rather surprised at just how large it actually was. Vanessa hadn't been kidding when she'd claimed it was the big one. Freddy set his load down on one of the counters, allowing the blonde guard to set to work unpacking it's contents.
Poking around the room, she eventually came across another set of double doors. They had a sign above them that was labeled, Exit To Docks.
"Hey Freddy?" she called. He glanced over in her direction. "Didn't you say something about there being a possible exit down here?" she reminded him.
"Oh, yes. The docks are where the Pizzaplex takes in and sends out its deliveries," he informed her.
"Nice try, kiddo, but I've already tested the loading dock. Someone's changed the permissions so not even the highest security clearance level can get them open. Whoever's trapped us in here has thought of everything! But hopefully with this," Vanessa pulled out one of the goo, filled bags. "We'll be able to get some answers out of Chica."
Setting it down on a baking sheet, she sliced it open with a razor blade, letting the sludgy liquid run out and saturate the pan. Then after the pan had filled, plucked it up and popped it into the oven before cranking the heat to max.
"What are you doing?" Mirabelle wondered in bewilderment at the odd behavior.
"Trust me. When this stuff gets hot, it absolutely reeks of pizza for miles! That crazy chicken won't be able to resist. It'll bring her right to us!" Vanessa explained, sounding a bit boastful.
"Okay, if you say so. But, what are we going to do when she actually gets here?" Mirabelle felt the need to point out.
Vanessa placed a hand on her chin, contemplating as she glanced around.
"Well, she's bound to come from that direction," she gestured towards the door they'd just entered from. "So, how about this – Freddy and I will wait out of sight on the other side of that door there. Once she's in here and is adequately distracted, we'll come in after her and grab her from behind. Meanwhile, you can wait over on this side and use that camera of yours to stun her. Once we've got her incapacitated, then we can try and question her," Vanessa determined, waiting on the others for their input.
They both nodded in unison.
"Sounds good to me," Mirabelle offered.
"I agree. I believe this will be a good way to subdue her without causing any unnecessary damage," Freddy added.
"Then it's settled. All we gotta do now, is wait," Vanessa acknowledged.
"And hope you don't burn down the whole Pizzaplex in the meantime," Mirabelle quipped, casting a glance at the oven, the smell of artificial pizza already growing strong.
Luckily for them, Vanessa was absolutely correct about how quickly that syrup mix would lure Chica into the kitchen. They watched from their various positions as she burst into the room and made a beeline for the oven.
"I smell pizza!" she cried. Good thing too, because Mirabelle felt like the overwhelming odor was about to knock her out!
Just like they planned, Mirabelle leapt out of hiding, this time feeling much more confident about the camera's effectiveness.
"Hey Chica!" she yelled, pulling her attention away from shoveling hot slop into her mouth. "Think fast!" The camera flash instantly lit up the whole room, and Mirabelle was pleased to hear her bawk in pain and reach for her eyes.
Taking that as their cue, Freddy and Vanessa both jumped to their feet and ran to the entrance. Only – the door wouldn't open!
Mirabelle glanced up to find them frantically banging on the door and wildly motioning at her through the small windows. Sick realization caused her stomach to feel like it just dropped to her feet!
"What the hell are you guys doing?!" she demanded into the watch's microphone.
"The door's stuck! Run!" she heard Freddy's desperate warning, before she noticed Chica glaring at her, her vision obviously returning.
He didn't have to tell her twice! Mirabelle took off in the opposite direction, pounding her way to the other side of the room, the bird bot hot on her heels. She considered trying to stall her by seeing if she could use the camera again, but it seemed like it needed time to recharge in between pictures.
"Who designs this shit!?" she hollered out, continuing to make circles around the room to keep out of reach, for lack of a better alternative, while Freddy and Vanessa were still fighting with the door.
Throughout all of this, Chica was squawking random, prerecorded sounding nonsense at her as she persistently pursued her target.
"This area is off limits." "Who wants candy?" "Don't be scared." "I am only trying to help." "Your parents want you to follow me." Among other things.
"Get away from me you crazy chicken!" she protested, chucking the camera at her head, since she couldn't seem to get it to take another picture!
Circling back around, a certain area of the kitchen suddenly grabbed her attention. It was dark, and she hadn't noticed before, but along the left wall, there appeared to be some kind of garbage compactor unit. Only, it was huge! Like, the size of a closet, huge. Seeing it inspired Mirabelle with a rather morbid idea, but only because she was running out of time, and options.
Vaulting herself onto the table across from it, she spotted a massive button that was connected to a power chord running up to the ceiling and into the machine. She snatched it up before turning to face the persistent poultry.
Chica halted in confusion for a moment, right in front of the opening, and then turned to stare up at Mirabelle with a psychotic grin, her optics appearing to have a zombie-like glaze.
"Your family is looking for you. They are worried about you," Chica continued to recite, moving closer.
"Would you shut up with that?! We both know there's no one here looking for me!" Mirabelle yelled back at the obnoxious bird.
However, at hearing that, her demeanor suddenly changed. Dropping the grin, she rose up a little and her voice took on a much more sinister tone.
"Oh, but they were," she slowly hissed. "Pesky, pesky little snoopers, so worried, wondering where you went," she taunted.
Mirabelle flinched in surprise, now starting to pay very close attention, since it seemed that Chica was actually saying something that made sense!
"So, my friends did try looking for me! I knew that they would!" she exclaimed in triumph. She knew that horrible wolf had to be lying before!
"They tried, all night. They didn't want to leave, wouldn't believe that you had gone home. But it was almost closing time. Almost time to find you, almost time for your part in the, plan," Chica told her cryptically.
"What are you talking about? What plan? What happened to my friends?" Mirabelle demanded.
"They were getting in the way, so he told us. He told us, to get them – out – of the way," she continued, not fully answering the questions.
"Who the hell is he?! What did you do with them!?" Mirabelle practically screamed at her, feeling nauseous at the all out dread creeping up from her stomach.
Instead of answering, Chica just tilted her head back and let out a very unsettling cackle!
Meanwhile, the others on the far side of the door had halted their attempts to get in, and had redirected their focus to listening to the unsettling conversation. They both glanced at each other with looks of concern, neither of them liking where this was going.
Mirabelle felt her rage flare at being denied an answer! She'd had it with this conversation, and finally decided that she was going to get Chica to talk, one way or another!
Seeming to sense this, Freddy pounded on the door as hard as he could to try and get her attention.
"Mirabelle! No! Just wait!" he tried to shout at her, but she was far beyond listening to reason!
Leaping down and sprinting forward with all her might, she shoved the robot bird back and into the garbage compactor, hitting the button a second later to bring the mechanism slamming down on top of her. It rose soon after, revealing all the damage it had caused. However, it seemed as though it still wasn't enough to fully take her down.
Chica pushed herself up to her hands and knees, and attempted to stumbled out of the garbage, but Mirabelle was faster. She mashed the button once more, and again the chicken was crushed, only her head and right arm now showing past the huge metal plate.
Keeping the button held down this time, Mirabelle stalked over so she was standing menacingly over the animatronic, the chord allowing her leeway.
"What – did you do – with my friends?" she growled slowly and methodically, her tone dangerous.
Despite her disadvantage, Chica still refused to answer. She just chuckled darkly.
Feeling a fresh surge of fury, Mirabelle lifted her foot and brought it down hard on Chica's head. Cracking it and breaking it apart even more than it already was.
"Mirabelle! Stop!" Freddy was trying to tell her, renewing his efforts to get into the room, but she was too furious to care and just tuned him out.
"WHERE ARE THEY!?" Mirabelle roared, once again picking up her leg and hovering it over the chicken bot's head threateningly.
"Put them – where the pests – belong," Chica finally wheezed out, her systems now shifting into emergency stasis. "Gave them – to the – spider," she told her, flashing a sinister grin.
"What? What spider? What does that mean?!" Mirabelle demanded again.
Chica's grin only widened as she burst out into a chorus of maniacal, glitchy laughter.
Mirabelle grit her teeth in extreme frustration. She knew she wasn't going to get anything else out of her. So, no longer able to contain her rage, she smashed her foot into Chica's head so many times that her beak broke off and she at last fell silent.
At that moment, Freddy and Vanessa finally managed to get the door open. Bolting into the room, but of course, by then, it was already too late.
"Whoa! Whoa! Mira, honey, take it easy! It's over. She's down," Vanessa told her, pulling the girl off the incapacitated chicken.
Mirabelle allowed this, releasing the compactor button to reveal Chica's now practically destroyed casing. She watched as Freddy stomped past her and leaned down over his broken friend, gently lifting the discarded beak before turning back to Mirabelle, his eyes reflecting both sorrow and severe disappointment.
"Mira, why?" he asked, his tone sounding pained. "I tried to tell you to wait. Why didn't you listen? This could have been avoided if you had just waited for us. Now Chica's. . ." he trailed off.
"Waited for what? For you to stop me before I could get any information out of her?!" Mirabelle yelled, absolutely livid with the guilty feelings that his words were causing.
"Didn't you hear what she said!? My friends are still here somewhere! They've been trapped here this whole time too! They could be hurt! They could be –" she stopped short, not even wanting to speculate about the possibility of something worse.
"What makes you think your friends are so much more important than mine!?" she loudly demanded a second later.
"I don't," he argued. "I had simply hoped that they might be considered – equal," he reasoned, his calm, depressive demeanor driving the emotional knife in even further.
"My friends aren't kidnapping people or trying to murder them!" Mirabelle raged.
"It wasn't her fault. The virus made her. . ." he repeated, finally turning the judgmental optics off of her and back to Chica.
"That doesn't magically make it better, or bring my friends back!" Mirabelle shook her head with a scowl. "She said something about taking them to a spider, but I don't remember any animatronics based on a spider!" she cried, trying to forget about Freddy for the moment.
"You're right. There aren't any spider animatronics," Vanessa confirmed, sounding rather subdued after witnessing the uncomfortable exchange. "Unless. . ." she mused aloud. "The DJ Music Man does have eight legs," she reminded them.
Upon hearing this, Mirabelle's eyes widened with realization, and horror!
Vanessa stepped over next to Freddy to get a better look at the banged up fem-bot. She cocked her head as she studied her for a moment, before placing a comforting hand on the saddened bear's shoulder.
"Hey there, big guy. It's going to be okay. I mean, there is a lot of damage to her casing, but it's not as bad as it looks. Her endo appears to be mostly intact, and I think she's only shut down because she ran out of power. She just needs a recharge and some repairs, and she should be good as new," she encouraged with a warm smile.
Freddy glanced up at the security guard with a look of appreciation.
"Thank you, Vanessa," he offered sincerely.
"You're welcome. For now, let's get her out of the trash compactor and store her somewhere safe. We can come back to get her when this is all over. In the meantime, we should definitely head over to the West Arcade to see if Chica was telling the truth about the other kids. Mira, how many other –" Vanessa turned to address the teen. Only to stop short when she realized. . .
. . . the girl was gone!
"Mira?" she called questioningly into the dark kitchen. "Mirabelle!" she exclaimed louder, pulling out her flashlight to try and get a better look around.
At hearing her sudden urgent tone, Freddy quickly rose to his feet, activating his optic lights to try and help her search. Only to discover the same situation – she was no where to be found!
"Mirabelle?!" he tried calling as well, but there was no answer. It was like she had simply vanished!
"I – I don't understand. Why did she just leave? Where – where would she go?" Vanessa wondered in a worried tone.
"To – the West Arcade," Freddy declared, his voice serious and somber, and Vanessa turned to him with a look of dread at the implications.
. . .
Mirabelle angerly swiped at her eyes as she marched her way across the Pizzaplex. She still had that horribly, guilty sensation swimming around in the pit of her stomach, as she couldn't get Freddy's disappointed face out of her mind. Coupled with the terrible fear of the unknown over her friends situation, to say she was upset was a massive understatement!
She hated feeling this way, so much for any of this being fun! She wanted to kick herself for being so stupid before! If it wasn't for the fact that Nicole and Michael could be in serious trouble, she would've liked nothing more than to bury herself in a corner and cry! But there wasn't time for that. She needed to be strong and focus if she wanted to have any hope of saving them.
"Mirabelle? Are you there?" she suddenly heard the familiar voice coming from her wrist.
She didn't bother trying to respond. Listening to him just made her want to burst into tears all over again.
"Mirabelle, please answer m–" She muted the watch, cutting him off. Whatever he wanted, it didn't matter now. All that mattered was getting to the West Arcade!
Except, it suddenly dawned on her that it was possible for these watches to be equipped with some kind of tracking system. Not wanting to take any chances, she reluctantly slipped it off her wrist before gently laying the device down on a nearby bench. Now there was nothing that would be able to stop her!
Not gonna lie, this part was pretty hard to write. Hopefully that means it's good, and I'm successfully conveying the emotions I'm shooting for. Anyway, until the next time, Bye Bye!