Man! These chapters just keep getting longer and longer. I guess sometimes it's hard to find a good stopping point. Well, I hope you guys are enjoying it anyway. :) Onto the story!
The poor pass bot was the first victim of her newfound determination. When it attempted to keep her from entering, demanding a Dance Pass first, Mirabelle simply thrust her hand completely through it's face! Ripping several chords and machine parts out before dropping them to the floor. The pass bot following along a moment later.
The giant, golden statue of the Glamrock band didn't seem nearly as impressive compared to when she'd come here the first time. Funny how one's experiences can color their opinions of things.
Veering off to the right, she came upon the unsettling scene of the massive Music Man animatronic currently, no where to be found? She nervously glanced around the deserted dance floor as she padded towards the abandoned stage.
"Nicky? Mikey? Are you guys in here anywhere?" she called, but there was no answer.
Peering into the darkness of the empty DJ cave, Mirabelle thought she could just make out something moving around towards the back, but it was too dark to see for sure. In fact, the whole area felt abnormally dark, even for the dance arcade. Which was strange, she couldn't remember the lights being off in any of the other attractions. They seemed to keep the place active, with normal operations going all night long. Their electric bill had to be through the roof!
Mirabelle thought about just using her flashlight, until she noticed the giant, red switch sticking out like a sore thumb right next to the stage. Why hunt around in the creepy darkness when she could just, turn the lights on? She reasoned.
Flipping the switch did indeed increase the brightness considerably. Feeling pleased with herself, Mirabelle moved back onto the stage. Now that she was able to see, what met her eyes at the back of the cave instantly brought her equal parts shock and joy!
There, sitting back to back against each other, were none other than Michael and Nicole! However, they were both firmly tied together with a thick rope, binding their arms at their sides and their feet immobile. Gags were wrenched into their mouths, preventing them from speaking, but they both fixed her with wide, worried eyes.
"Guys! You're alive!" she sighed out with massive relief, making her way towards them. "You have no –" she began, but then stopped short when she realized that they were grunting urgently at her, wildly shaking their heads, 'no'.
Mirabelle had only a moment to be confused, before a sudden, terrifying slam sounded out from behind her, so strong that it shook the floor! She, unfortunately, had a pretty good idea of what was happening, and swallowed hard before slowly turning around. The gargantuan, grinning face of the DJ Music Man met her gaze.
This – was – bad!
Rearing back, it looked like it was going to try and squash her like a bug! But Mirabelle was faster, and managed to dive out of the way just in time. She let out a yelp when she noticed it was trying again and was barely able to scramble past it. That was when a console voice suddenly began to sound out over the speakers:
"The West Arcade was not shut down properly. Some data may be corrupted. Safety protocols have been deactivated," It announced.
No safety protocols? No wonder this thing was on a rampage! As it slowly turned to try and look for her, Mirabelle realized that she needed to get this thing away from her helpless friends!
"Hey, you giant, mutant mime! Over here!" she shouted at it. Probably not the smartest move, but it got it's attention at least. As it chased her across the dance floor, the voice over continued to sound out.
"Initializing startup sequence. Pram zapped. Brun DJ protocols. Reticulating splines. There is a software update available. Please reset the main circuit breaker located at the south end of the arcade maintenance hallway," it instructed.
Would that turn the safety protocols back on? She wondered.
Only problem being, she had no idea where this supposed maintenance hallway was even located! Not only that, but she had her doubts about Music Man letting her just waltz over there if it would effectively 'turn him off', so to speak. Either way, she knew if nothing else, she needed to keep the massive monstrosity away from her friends!
Rushing past the golden, Glamrock statue and down the other hall, she spied a set of bathrooms to her left. Ducking into one of the doors, she skidded to a halt right in front of the wall of urinals. Since there was no way he could follow her in here, she thought it would give her a chance to come up with a plan. Not to mention, try and think if she could remember seeing anything that resembled a maintenance hall.
Unfortunately, she thought wrong! No sooner had she paused to catch her breath, than the floor began to quake. The door on the left was wrenched open to reveal Music Man leering in at her. And instant later and a gigantic hand thrust its way into the room. Mirabelle couldn't help the horrified shriek that escaped her as she scrambled away from it. Watching him grope around in the small space caused her to wonder if this is maybe what dolls felt like.
Apparently recognizing he was having no luck with the left door, Mirabelle watched him shift to the other side, and shove his arm through that way instead. He still wasn't able to quite reach her though, and that was when she noticed something. His arms weren't actually long enough to stretch in through both doors at the same time.
That was her chance, she realized! If she could manage to sneak out one door while he was occupied with the other, then maybe it could give her enough time to track down this supposed hallway. It was at least worth a shot.
She knew she had to time this just right. So, waiting until he moved back to the left door, as soon as he was sticking his hand in, Mirabelle shot through the other side, skirting along the wall as quickly and as quietly as possible. Morbid curiosity compelled her to turn and stare back down the hall at him. He was attempting to once again peer through the small doorway, looking for all intents and purposes like a cat at a mouse hole. The scene might have even been humorous, if he hadn't been so completely terrifying!
Dashing through the West Arcade like her pants were on fire, Mirabelle frantically searched down every hallway, looking for anything that might appear remotely – 'maintenance-like'. However, as if the giant, arachnoid robot couldn't have gotten anymore nightmare inducing – that was when the girl suddenly spotted him crawling along the top of the far wall!
How something of his size was managing to defy gravity, she couldn't even begin to guess! But at this point, it felt like anything goes around here! She was too shocked to even scream.
"What in the ninth layer of hell. . ." was all that came out of her.
Apparently, her little ruse hadn't kept him distracted for long. The Music Monstrosity narrowed his eyes in her direction, before disappearing into one of the massive holes set into the walls around the arcade. She was struck with the painful realization that, that's what they were there for. The ones he could fit into anyway. That meant he could randomly pop out of any one of them! Great, as if the thing, itself wasn't enough to deal with!
Now, while also keeping a close eye on the walls, Mirabelle finally managed to make her way to the very back corner on the upper floor. The door she found there said – Staff Only – but didn't appear to require any kind of clearance, thank gawd! At least he wouldn't be able to follow her in here, right?
Since the walls were constructed with brick instead of neon, and there were various pieces of equipment stacked off to either side, Mirabelle decided that this must be the right place. The voice over had said the main breaker was at the back, which seemed like a much more daunting task now that she was facing piles of junk and extra, random arcade cabinets all sitting in her path. This had to be some kind of safety hazard, not that this franchise really cared much about that sort of thing.
Quickly sliding past it all, she was pleased to locate the large, red switch right where she was told it should be. Unfortunately, that wasn't the only thing she located. Also at the very back of the hall, was another one of those massive holes.
It was almost like she had a vision of what was going to happen, the idea filling her with dread. Even so, she'd come too far to stop now. One way or another, she was going to save her friends! So, with increasing trepidation, she reached out, and pulled the breaker.
Instantly, the main lights went out! Which seemed a bit backwards, despite the voice over telling her she'd been successful. Except, that was when she felt it. The unmistakable, ground shaking, thumping – like a T-Rex stomping towards her. Then appearing above her, just as she had feared – from the gaping, pitch black void – came the unsettling, glowing grin of the Music Man Monster!
"Oh, Eff me in the A!" she exclaimed, before turning and bolting the only way she could.
She felt him hit the ground behind her, and knew that this time, it would be suicide to try and look back! It was already going to be hard enough to keep ahead of him with her having to bob and weave through all the clutter. It didn't sound like it was slowing Music Man down any though, if the thundering crashing going on behind her was any indication!
Movement above her caught her eye, as she watched a random arcade cabinet suddenly sailing through the air! A sharp yell of surprise escaped from the girl as it smashed into other nearby machines, creating a small explosion of plastic and metal bits! Mirabelle held up her arms to try and protect her face while simultaneously maintaining her pace, desperate not to break stride.
She couldn't help but feel like even the video games had turned on her, despite knowing it was Music Man doing the throwing. Maybe her being forced into all the zig zagging maneuvers was actually a blessing in disguise. It was certainly making her a more difficult target to hit! However that didn't seem to be stopping him from trying! Mirabelle ducked, dodging an entire shelving unit as it crashed right in her path, forcing her to scramble over it to continue.
The now familiar sensation of panic was rapidly rising in her chest as she could hear him gaining ground. All of her senses were screaming that he was right behind her! She didn't think she was going to make it! Even as she rounded the corner at the start of the hall, she felt the edge of his fingers graze her back, bumping her forward enough that it made her stumble!
She hit the ground hard, her momentum causing her to skid along the concrete floor. All she could do now was curl into a ball, while she waited for her inevitable end! Except, nothing happened.
Mirabelle chanced a peek up, only to find the enormous animatronic currently encased by walls on all sides! He was stuck! Scrunched up inside what Mirabelle now realized was a much more narrow passage way, all he could manage to do now was fruitlessly twitch his front hands, which were being crushed underneath his massive head.
Pushing herself to her feet, Mirabelle took a moment to brush off her clothes, before crossing her arms and lobbing a smug look at the giant, white face.
"Ha! Serves you right!" she snapped at him. To which the monstrosity responded with a resounding roar that inadvertently made the girl leap back in surprise! She then decided that it would probably be wise not to press her luck! Best to get before anything worse could happen!
Now that the path was clear, Mirabelle hurried back to the dance floor and towards the rear of Music Man's cave. Nichole and Michael appearing to melt in relief as soon as they spotted her, despite still not being able to speak. She wasted no time in pulling off their gags.
"You guys have no idea how happy I am to see you! Are you okay?" she immediately began to question, her hands moving to the rope.
"Us? What about you?! When that DJ monster took off after you, I thought for sure you were a goner! How'd you managed to lose him?" Michael instantly wondered back in bewilderment.
"Let's just say, he got a bit too greedy. He's kinda found himself in a bit of a 'Pooh stuck in the honey tree', situation," Mirabelle explained poetically, before successfully undoing the rope.
Once it was off, her friends both rose to their feet. Michael stretched while Nichole threw her arms around Mirabelle's neck, looking close to tears.
"Ohmygosh, Mira! We were so worried when you never came back from the bathroom! We tried looking for you for hours! We asked all the staff, but no one seemed to really care, and then they were saying that they didn't even have a record of you, and there was nothing they could do!" Nicole paused for a moment to take a breath.
"And then it was almost close and they tried to make us leave, but we told them there was no way we were leaving without you, and they threatened to call the cops! So, we hid and tried to wait until after they closed so we could keep looking, but then Roxy and Chica found us and grabbed us! They tied us up and brought us here, and told us that we'd never see you again and. . ." she trailed off, the tears now actively flowing.
"Oh, Nicky! I'm so glad you're both still in one piece! I had no idea you were still here. I only just found out, and I was so scared that. . ." Now Mirabelle trailed off, her own eyes burning in response to all the emotion.
"How did you manage to track us down? Those psycho robots seemed pretty convinced that you'd never find us here," Michael wondered.
Mirabelle sniffed, glancing up at him from over Nichole's shoulder.
"Chica told me. Although, only after some, persuasion," she implied.
"I hope that means you smashed her into a million pieces!" Nicole growled as she took a step back to wipe her face, her level of aggression actually surprising the others.
"Well, I – I mean – not quite. . ." Mirabelle stuttered, her voice sounding unsure.
"Ah! Who cares? The important thing is that we found each other," Michael cheesed, wrapping one arm around each of the girls. "The three musketeers, back together again!" he cheered. "Now, let's get outta here!" he declared a moment later, pulling them out of the cave and towards the arcade exit.
As they moved, Mirabelle opened her mouth to attempt to explain the situation. However, before she was able to get a word out, the sound of heavy, thundering footsteps suddenly stopped them all in their tracks. And a moment later, Freddy appeared around the corner. He seemed a bit startled to find all three of them heading his way. He made a motion to move towards them, except. . .
Just as soon as Michael caught sight of the robot bear, he instantly leapt into action! Releasing the girls, he ran out in front, putting himself between them and what he clearly perceived to be a threat.
"Get away from them, you freak!" he shouted at Freddy, trying to appear as menacing as possible.
Meanwhile, the poor bear just gave him a bewildered look and took a hesitant step back, not knowing what else to do.
"You'd better just get lost, because, I swear, if you try to hurt them, I'll –" he didn't get a chance to finish his threat, before Mirabelle suddenly dashed around into his line of sight.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!" she exclaimed, lifting a protective hand out towards him, while Michael simply stared at her in confusion. "You don't have to worry about Freddy. He's a friend," she tried to explain, but Michael did not seem convinced.
"Mira, what. . .? Have you lost your mind?! Get away from that thing, it's dangerous!" he ordered harshly.
"No, Mikey! I'm telling the truth! He's been trying to keep me safe all night. In fact, he's already saved my life twice! I swear, he's on our side," she implored him, going so far as to step backwards until her other hand connected with what she assumed was his chest.
Mirabelle peered up to find him smiling down at her. She couldn't bring herself to return it this time, though, and instead just turned back towards Michael, fighting to not let her shame show.
Both Michael and Nicole cast baffled glances back and forth between Mirabelle and the imposing animatronic behind her, like they weren't really sure where to go from here. Until, the tense moment was suddenly broken by Vanessa storming onto the scene. She pulled Mirabelle into a hug as soon as she spotted her.
"Holy crap, kid! I can't believe you're still kicking!" she exclaimed, before releasing her and holding her out at arm's length. "What the hell were you thinking, coming here all by yourself?! You should've never run off like that! I understand that you were worried about your friends and all, but that doesn't –" her lecture stopped short as soon as she noticed that they weren't actually alone.
"Oh, are these your –" she began, but then cut herself off again, her face showing recognition in Michael's direction. "You!" she snapped in what sounded like an accusation.
"He-hey, fancy meeting you here. . ." he awkwardly trailed.
"You little punk! I should smack you across the room, but unfortunately there are still security cameras in this area!" Vanessa glared at him, before turning back to Mirabelle. "Please don't tell me that he is one of the friends you've been so worried about," she pleaded.
Mirabelle could only shrug in response.
"I've know him since we were ten," she offered, as if that were a good enough reason for friendship. "I'm assuming you were the 'hot security guard' he decided to flirt with earlier?" she guessed, giving Michael a skeptical look.
"I said I was sorry! Jeeze lady, lighten up," he mumbled in a pout.
"I swear, if I wasn't on the clock. . ." Vanessa didn't finish her threat.
"Whatever! We all know Mikey's a perv! Can we please do something about the giant, killer robot still in the room with us?!" Nicole finally exclaimed, continuing to fix Freddy with a very wary eye.
"Huh, you mean Freddy?" Vanessa wondered in confusion, glancing over in his direction. "Oh, you don't have to worry about him. He's just a big teddy bear," she offered with confidence.
"Are you kidding me?! You're both crazy!" she accused.
"I am quite sorry for startling you, Nicole, but I can assure you, I will not hurt you," he finally spoke, in as comforting a voice as he could. However, this just caused her to flinch, appearing thoroughly creeped out.
"How does it know my name?" she questioned nervously.
"Probably because you're still in the system," Mirabelle realized.
"Okay, this is starting to get too weird. Why isn't it hostile like the others? And how can you be so sure it isn't going to turn on us?" Michael asked skeptically.
"Because he – doesn't want to," Mirabelle slowly explained. It was so simple, and yet, the implications behind it, more complex than she could possibly put into words.
"He doesn't – want to? Mira, it's just a robot! It can't want," Michael tried to argue.
Mirabelle just cast him with a sad smile and shook her head.
"You know, I thought the exact same thing at first. But he's done nothing but prove me wrong all night," she confessed.
"Are you – saying that there's an actual AI in that thing?" he asked in disbelief.
"Yes, that's exactly what I'm saying. So, I'd appreciate it if you guys could stop calling him 'it' and 'thing'," she requested earnestly.
"What, are you friends now or something?" Michael scoffed.
"I. . ." Mirabelle felt very uncertain on how to answer that, but he seemed to pick up on it anyway from her grim expression and body language.
"Oh! Um, okay. If you say so," he finally relented with a shrug.
"Mira, are you, sure?" Nicole pressed, obviously still not fully convinced. Mirabelle gave her a serious nod. "Great, well then, in that case, I think I'm gonna take a minute to visit the little girl's room. You know, before something else jumps out at us and tries to make me wet myself," she joked sardonically.
"Yeah, I'll go too. The Music Monster didn't exactly give us bathroom breaks," Michael added, following his friend.
"Wait up guys. You probably shouldn't go alone," Mirabelle made a move to rush after them, but was suddenly stopped by Vanessa.
"I can go and keep an eye out for them. Why don't you, wait here with Freddy?" she suggested firmly, not attempting to mask the ulterior motive. She wandered after the others before Mirabelle had a chance to protest. It was a shame too, since this was exactly what she'd been hoping to avoid!
She reluctantly turned to find him fixing her with an expression she couldn't quite read. Although that wasn't really saying much, since his expression was always a bit hard to read. Even so, she decided that she might as well get this over with. It was why Vanessa had left her here alone with him, after all.
"Freddy, I – I am so sorry, about Chica. I just – when I thought about what she could have done to my friends, I. . . Well, I guess it's too late for that now, isn't it?" she realized. "I wouldn't blame you if you wanted to hand me off to Roxy or whatever at this point. I mean, now that I know Nicky and Mikey are okay, I don't really care what happens to me anymore. I know I don't really have any right to ask you, but if you could just make sure they get out of here okay, I'd –"
Mirabelle didn't get the chance to finish, before feeling a strong hand reach out and pull her into a tight embrace. Her eyes widened in surprise once she realized that Freddy was holding her! She didn't understand, why would he. . .?
"Mirabelle, I wouldn't trade you for anything in the world!" he assured her fervently, reaching up to intertwine his claws in her hair and cradle her head. She felt him sigh. "I'm so happy to see that you're safe. I was, so scared when you left like that, I – I thought I may never see you again! Thank goodness you're alright!" he expressed with genuine relief.
She didn't immediately reply, and after a moment, he heard her sniff loudly in his ear. He pulled her back with a confused look, only to find tears actively streaming down her face.
"Mirabelle, what – why are you crying?" he wondered in bewilderment. "I'm sorry if I upset you. I never meant to," he tried to tell her, but she just fiercely shook her head.
"St-stop being so-o n-nice to me, Freddy! I – I don't deserve it!" she managed to get out through hiccups and sobs.
"Don't say that. What you really don't deserve is all the other things that have happened to you tonight! And yet, you claim that I've been keeping you safe all this time, but you've been doing your best to protect me as well! I want you to know that I appreciate it," he reasoned, but it didn't seem to help calm her down any.
"And, you don't have to worry about Chica. She isn't gone. She can still be fixed," he tried, but for some reason that only made her cry harder, and she attempted to pull away from him.
He didn't want to let her go. Not until he found a way to make her feel better. Except, he didn't understand why she was still so upset? He told her not to worry about Chica, he assured her that she didn't deserve to be hauled off by Roxy, so what else – unless. . .?
"Mira I – I am sorry that my reaction to Chica, made you feel like you couldn't trust me anymore," he guessed. He was kind of grasping at straws here, but it was the only other thing he could think of. "At the time, it was just, rather shocking. I've never seen any of my friends that badly damaged before. But I do understand, and I accept your apology. I know that you would have never done anything like that if it wasn't for – Mira, please don't be so hard on yourself," he finally quit arguing and just straight up requested.
She was busy swiping at her eyes and refusing to make eye contact. So, Freddy simply took her face in his hands and gently lifted it up so he could see it. He then proceeded to wipe the wetness away for her.
"Everything is going to be okay. I promise," he assured her with a smile, waiting, and hoping.
She took a deep, shuttering breath, and finally seemed to relax, the tear flow ceasing and her breathing evening out. She stared at him with weary, glassy eyes.
"I didn't think I'd ever see you again, either, but – I'm really glad you're here," she admitted, and his grin widened.
"Then, you'll probably want to take this back," he suggested, pulling out the previously discarded Fazwatch.
Mirabelle's eyes widened. She had completely forgotten about the watch! She was a little surprised he had found it. Unless, her theory about it having a tracking feature had been correct. Either way, she more than willingly accepted it, strapping it back onto her wrist.
Just then, the sound of the others returning from the bathrooms caused the girl to nearly jump out of her skin! She succeeded in wrestling herself away from Freddy this time, turning to fan at her face and attempt to quickly clear her nose. But it was no use, they could immediately tell anyway, and Nicole rushed to her side.
"Mira! What happened? What's wrong?" she demanded, before casting a suspicious look at the animatronic next to them. "Did he –?" she began, but Mirabelle stopped her before she could go any further.
"No, Nicky. It's okay. I'm okay – just – really tired," she tried to explain. "It's – been a long night, and that run around with Music Man kind of wiped me out."
"Actually, I've been meaning to ask about that. What have you been doing all night? Also, if you all are such good chums now, then why was Mira here taking on that terrifying DJ all alone earlier?" Michael chimed in, his tone dubious.
"Oh, I-I am sorry that I was not able to join you sooner, but after tonight's stage incident, I am not allowed to perform. However, when I step onto the West Arcade dance floor, I cannot – stop myself! It is a programming bug," Freddy explained seriously, but then punctuated with a smirk.
Vanessa snorted and Mirabelle huffed, stifling a laugh as she put a hand to her forehead.
"What are you, some kinda funny robot?" Michael wondered, not sounding amused. However, his expression seemed to relax as he considered the implications. "I guess I can respect that," he decided with a shrug.
"You would," Nicole pointed out with an eye roll. "So, you gonna tell us what all has been going on, or not?" she then inquired of Mirabelle, redirecting the topic back to the more pertinent question.
"Don't worry. We'll get you all filled in. But first, we should try and find a safer spot to hang out for a while," Vanessa suggested urgently, and hurriedly ushered them along.
MUSIC MAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN! ~ I couldn't help myself. :P Anyway, hope everyone liked my version of the sequence. Until the next time, Bye Bye!