It had been several days since Mangle had gotten the same treatment as me from Goldy, and she was supposed to be ready soon. And, once again, I had been sparring with Jason. He tried to punch me with a right hook, but I stopped it with my left forearm and swung my foot at his head quickly, hitting him in the side of his head as he staggered back a little. While I spun around, trying to correct my balance, he rushed me and hit me in the side, just above the hip, making me grunt as I felt myself lose control over the lower half of my body for a few seconds as I began falling to the ground.

"Damn," I muttered to myself as I watched him step over and hold his hand out to me. "Yeah, best to make sure you don't get hit there," Jason chuckled as I grabbed his hand and he pulled me up to my feet. "Let's go again," I said, thinking of a new strategy as we both walked back to opposite sides of the stage. I watched him look up me with a smirk as I realized what I wanted to do. I bolted forwards, swinging my right fist at his jaw like I did our first go around. Jason grabbed my hand, but instead, I pulled him into it and yanked him to the side, throwing him off his balance and slamming the heel of my foot into the back of his leg, forcing him to the floor as I tried to go for the same spot he'd hit me.

I thought I had him until he elbowed me in the side and spun around to face me. He swung with a jab towards my face, but I swiftly leaned out the way and threw an uppercut to his jaw, aggressively throwing his head back in the process. I tried again, sending my fist into his side, just above the hip, though this time it seemed to be working. I put my foot behind him and shoved him, tripping him backwards as I continued to advance on him. I felt myself getting ever closer to winning as I tried to land a punch, but then he grabbed my fist. He quickly stood up, spinning around as he made me fly a little from the force he was spinning me around with. As soon as he let go, I flew back a little bit, managing to land on my feet, though, I wish I hadn't.

I watched the large vulpine run full sprint at me until he jumped up, throwing his feet forward as he dropkicked me to the floor. My chest felt like it collapsed under the weight of the fox as he kicked off me and flipped back to his feet. My knees went out as I fell to the floor, spitting out some blood due to me biting the inside of my mouth. I slumped over, unable to get back up after that blow.

"I'm not gonna lie, if I hadn't grabbed your punch there then you would've won," Jason said with a chuckle as he once again dusted himself off. I stayed silent as I felt his eyes studying me, soon hearing someone call from the table, "I think you may have killed him." I watched the vulpine's feet as he stepped over and helped me stand up, making sure I was okay in the process as I barely managed to respond.

I stumbled over to the table and sat down for the next couple hours, listening to the others talk about their day. I felt a little bored, as I hadn't talked to Mangle in a while. Ava stepped out from the backstage area with a grin as she walked over to me. "I made a few personal touches for you," She whispered to me as I cocked an eyebrow. "You can go back there and see her."

I quickly stood up and walked over to the stage, jumping up onto it and heading into the backstage room. I looked around, Goldy was nowhere to be found, but Mangle had been sitting on the table, rubbing her arm. "Hey, Mangle," I said happily, walking over to her and wrapping my arms around her as she was seemingly still trying to figure out what was happening. "Hey," She said with a smile before I let go and looked into her gaze. She gained a concerned look as I felt her rub the side of my lip, soon pulling her hand away as I saw a blackish stain on her hand. "What happened?" "Nothing, I just bit my lip," I told her, resting my head against her shoulder as she was still trying to wrap her head around how to move with the new system.

"Uh, would you mind helping me stand up," She asked me as I pulled back from her shoulder and began helping her off the table. The vixen stumbled around for a bit, using me as a prop as I kept holding her around her waist so she wouldn't fall over. "This feels really weird," She asked with an awkward tone as I looked at her with a smile, keeping my arms around her while she kept stumbling against me on our way out the door. "You'll get used to it," I replied as I felt her stop wobbling around as much while we walked across the stage.

I eventually unwrapped my left arm from around her, holding her left hand gently as I stayed partially behind her, holding her right side as she still stumbled slightly across the stage. We walked around for a little bit as the others kept talking at the table. Soon enough, she was able to walk without needing to hold onto me, but when I went to let her go she held me in place, as if she didn't want me to. So I stayed beside her as she walked around, still getting used to the new system.

We climbed off the stage, walking over to the table where the others were and sat down at the end, the vixen snuggling up against my arm as she got in her seat. "Ava," The vixen asked the coyote who was sitting across from us. "Would you mind teaching me how you do all that?" I watched her as they started talking, seeing her smiling as she looked around, almost as if everything was new to her as she was twisting around in her seat in various ways I had never seen her do before, like she had more energy and excitement that we were closer to finally getting out of here.

'Maybe this won't be so bad,'

I continued to watch her talk with the coyote as I felt a strong sense of endearment at how she was enjoying herself so much.

Another few weeks had passed. The old pizzeria was now a distant memory to me, I wasn't even sure how the others felt about me leaving, but I can't complain much seeing as I would've been subject to a lifetime of isolation. Mangle and I had been learning how to fight and defend ourselves with our new bodies; Ava was a natural at teaching, which was pretty ironic considering that she had been taught by Jason, who had an endoskeleton that may as well have been specifically designed for fighting. One thing I'd noticed is how similar Ava and Mangle's fighting styles were. They'd use their smaller, lighter frames to their advantage by managing to stay agile, something that shocked me when I saw the vixen vault over me and wrap her legs around my neck before jerking to the side and pulling me into the floor.

"Okay, so, how do you want to do this," Jason asked as the four of us were on stage. "How about you and him versus me and her," Ava said, pointing her thumb towards Mangle to her right as we were discussing how we wanted to spar. "Sounds good," Jason replied as he went to turn around. "On a couple of terms, however," Ava said with a grin as Jason turned back towards her. "No wall-jumping and you have to keep the eyepatch intact," She told him, pointing towards the eye patch that covered his left eye. "I only take it off when I'm fighting that gold bear, anyways," He said, pointing towards Goldy who was working on some part.

"Fair," Ava said as we all got to opposite sides of the stage. I watched as the two seemed to be discussing something, the coyote giving the vixen a smirk before they looked at us. I turned my head over to Jason who was simply smirking with his arms crossed, waiting patiently. Without any warning, the coyote rushed at Jason and tried to kick him. He grabbed her leg and swept her off her feet before pulling her back down to the floor. I snapped out of my moment of observation when I felt the vixen wrap around me out of nowhere and sent me off balance. Without thinking, I rolled into her pull, watching her get flung over me as she landed on her feet and faced me with a smirk.

"I'm getting you back for that," I told her with a chuckle as I saw her run at me again. I stepped to the right, letting her miss me as I held my foot out and caught her, seeing her nearly faceplant before I grabbed her arm and prevented her from falling entirely. To my chagrin, she proceeded to swing herself back to her feet, throwing me to the floor instead, soon pinning me down with a playful glint in her eye. "You're lucky I won't hit you," I told her as she continued smirking at me while I reached over and grabbed her shoulder, yanking her off me before I wrapped my leg over her waist and held her down, earning a yelp from her due to the sudden move.

She pushed against me for as long as she could muster before she tapped out and I let her go, the two of us soon watching both Jason and Ava sparring with a ferocity unmatched. He kept managing to block her and throw her away before she'd come running back. Ava tried punching at his jaw before he grabbed her arm and threw her into the wall, soon running over to pin her as she ducked under his arms and slid to the side, grabbing his left arm as she tried to lock it behind him. He spun around and grabbed her by her waist, pulling her off of him while he attempting to shove her back. She flipped over his arm and landed on her feet, pulling the large vulpine over her shoulder.

Jason just managed to land on his feet, before he turned and they began grappling at each other. Though, what he did next left me in shock as I saw his right wrist open up like mine does, showing off a large blade that was attached to his wrist as it spun out in a counter-clockwise direction. The coyote was on her feet in a split second and brandished her own as well. Sparks flew as their blades connected, but Jason hooked his arm around hers and threw it out the way as he caught her jaw with a left hook, sending her into the floor as he held his blade to her head in triumph.

"You're exhausting yourself too much," He said sternly as they both stared at each other in silence, but soon laughing at their little battle. The two switched back to their hands as he helped her up which left me and the vixen beside me in awe. "You two just fight each other with blades like that," I asked in disbelief as Jason simply looked at me with a smile. "It's a dull blade I never bothered sharpening," He replied as the coyote dusted herself off. Suddenly, the vulpine looked out at the table and sprinted off the stage, diving to the ground as he slid across the floor a few feet, catching the white kit that fell off the table as Claire was trying to clean something.

"Gotcha," He said with a chuckle as he dragged himself to his knees, holding the kit up to his shoulder as he patted her back. "Nice dad reflexes, Foxy," The dark brown bear said as he clapped at the red vulpine who stood up, playing with the kit in his arms while he did. The white vixen that was beside him was holding her maw in shock at the fact that their daughter had fallen, but was soon calming herself as she saw him catch her. I looked over at Mangle who was also staring, but I wrapped my arm around her waist, catching her attention as I smiled at her.

"That was... stressful to watch," She said as she looked over at me. "I doubt he's ever letting anything happen to that child," I said with a small laugh as she agreed. "Claire, you know that you owe me now, right," Jason told the vixen beside him with a grin as she had her arms crossed. "Okay, fine, maybe I'll let you buy one beer when we take them over there," She said, pointing at us without even looking as he kept grinning at her.

"I guess that's just something in you two's programming," Mangle said, looking over at me with a smirk. "What do you mean," I asked her as she kept staring at me. "You had a similar reaction to the bar at the old location," She replied. "Sure," I told her in a joking manner while we went to the edge of the stage and sat down, watching everyone converse while the purple rabbit was dealing out cards to the dark brown bear, Goldy, and Jason. The one much like Toy Bonnie was doing his usual thing while sitting at a booth with a yellow chicken much like Toy Chica, playing his guitar with her. The Toy Freddy here was, thankfully, a lot more relaxed, but he was usually kept up in the manager's office with the man who owned the place; the one they called "Lorenzo," so he could help him with the accounting.

They treated both Mangle and I like family, even though we had met just over a month ago.

"You look like you're thinking of something," I heard the vixen beside me say as she was staring at me. "I'm just bored," I replied, rubbing my arm against hers in a joking way as I pushed against her a little. "Really," She asked me while I held my position, holding her partially off the corner of the stage while she pushed back against me. "Yes," I replied, holding my ground as she began shoving against me, causing me to laugh. "Fine, then," She told me, pulling herself up and landing in my lap, her tail rubbing against my torso as she did, filling my face with fur as I struggled to push her fluffy tail down, listening to her laugh at me all the while.

She pressed her back against me for a few moments, making me struggle against her until I felt my shorts become tight around my waist, causing me to become extremely still as my pulse rocketed off like a gunshot. "What's wrong," She asked in a teasing tone as she leaned her back against my chest and grinned over her shoulder at me. "Uh, Mangle, would you mind getting up," I said quickly, staying still as I continued struggling and felt my stomach churning in embarrassment. "What is it," She asked, a little more serious this time until I felt her stop moving at all.

'Aw, shit.'

I saw a blush creep up her face as she looked at me with a mix of embarrassment, guilt, and oddly enough a little bit of curiosity and satisfaction; as if she were looking for a reaction out of me. She quickly climbed off of me and sat back down to my right while I instantly leaned forward and looked across the room at nothing in particular.

"Sorry," She said sheepishly as I continued staring forward. "Mhm," I grunted back to her. I stayed in the hunched over position for a good several minutes before I finally relaxed and managed to sit back up. "I'm really sorry," The vixen beside me said once again as I looked over at her with a smirk. "It's alright, but I'm getting you back for at some point," I told her, seeing her look a little surprised at me which soon turned into a playful aggressiveness. "How so," She asked me, rubbing up against my shoulder as the playful glint filled her eyes once again. "We'll see," I told her, leaning against her as she pushed back. We both came to a standstill as I didn't want to push her off the stage, and she couldn't push me anymore due to her lithe frame. I felt her tail wrap around mine, before I reached a hand behind her back and pulled her closer to me.

I looked over her face, painting my gaze over her rosy cheeks and the pink that covered the top of her muzzle. Just as I was about to lean over and kiss her, Goldy walked up and got our attention. "Okay, so the Marionette is ready to take you over there, though he's going to have to repeat the teleporting-thing with you two and Ava, as you three haven't experienced it as much as both Jason and Claire have," He told us while he sat down on the edge of the stage. "Why's that," I asked, a little annoyed that he interrupted us. "Well, both Jason and Claire have been into what Jason's coined as 'the void' and he's nearly died in there several times. Claire's also been in there, granted not nearly as much. Still, they're both used to the feeling of being moved around like that," He said, making me a little confused.

"In layman terms," I asked him as he sighed and thought for a minute. "Basically, we go into a nonexistent place for a little bit, we then come out at somewhere else," Goldy replied vaguely, but I knew that he'd have even more trouble explaining even more. "Now, the more you go into it, the more you get used to the exhaustion afterward. Jason's first time experiencing it… He was out for probably a week before he got up again," Goldy added, making me a little unnerved at that. "Now, I'm not technically a 'physical' being," the bear explained, using air-quotes as he spoke. "So, I can teleport around the place without a care in the world as long as I'm not tired, but you all aren't. So, we have to bring you through the void. The rest is a bit confusing on how your bodies physically get to where we're going, but Marionette's the one that gets to deal with that."

"Okay… Then," I said, not really understanding what he said as I looked over at Mangle who didn't even seem to be paying attention to the conversation. She had been staring at a TV that was mounted on the wall near a couple of booths. "Well, are you two ready to start," He asked us, causing Mangle to finally look over at the gold bear. "Wait, what," She asked while I rested my hand on her shoulder with a chuckle. "This is going to be fun," I muttered to myself as she looked around in confusion. We sat there for a little bit as Goldy had Jason come over and explain how he'd gotten used to passing through the void so many times.

"Okay, so, the best way to explain it would be to sit back and relax, close your eyes, and wait for a feeling akin to sleep paralysis. It may take a while, but once you feel like you've lost control of your body, open your eyes and look around," He said with a grin as he seemingly loved sharing his little trick. After a few minutes of him having to explain what sleep paralysis was, and what it felt like, we finally did as he said. It took what felt like hours, but I finally lost control of myself…

Or so I thought…

I woke up on a cold, hard floor, feeling Mangle beside me and hearing her sleepy breathing. I rolled over without opening my eyes and wrapped my arm around her waist, pulling her back into my chest as I placed my muzzle just over her shoulder and snuggled up against her from behind. I laid there for a little bit, enjoying the comfortable silence until I realized I didn't hear the sound of children loudly screaming outside the room I thought we usually stayed in. I slowly opened my eyes, only to find a vast, empty blackness surrounding us as we laid atop a matte, gray floor.

"Oh fuck," I muttered right as I propped myself up on one arm. Mangle must've heard me, because she jumped to life as well, looking around in fear at the total emptiness that surrounded us. The area seemed to go on for miles, just complete, utter emptiness. After what seemed like an undefined, unattainable point, the color shifted from a dark gray to a pitch-black, totally void of anything other than itself. My ears pricked at the sound of heavy footsteps closing in on us. I quickly switched to my hook and crawled in front of the vixen in a defensive position in case it was anything hostile. A familiar face poked out of the darkness, however, giving a hearty chuckle as he stepped out.

"Damn it, Jason," I shouted as I sat down beside Mangle with a groan, sighing in relief as he kept laughing. "Well, then. Anyways, welcome to the void for… The second time? I don't know," The large, red vulpine chuckled as he stood in front of us. "This is all it is, by the way. There's absolutely nothing here except for you two. Anyways, see you all in a week," He finished, soon seemingly disappearing into a darkened mist as me and Mangle both looked at each other in shock. It was oddly terrifying, in a way. We could walk for miles in any direction, yet the entire place would still be completely devoid of life, or even color, at that. Maybe we weren't even going anywhere; maybe the place moved with us, and we were just rooted to the spot, trapped in what seemed like a prison of our own minds.

"What now," She asked me as I shrugged my shoulders, soon laying back down on the hard ground and feeling the vixen snuggle up beside me as we laid around in boredom. It felt like hours passed as we sat there, soon falling asleep only to wake up, once again back in the parts and service room. We looked around as it was empty, indicating that the others were out in the main room. I laid back down with her, nuzzling up against her neck once again as I felt her sigh into my ear, soon rubbing her back slowly as I felt her begin purring. She wrapped her arms around my chest while I continued rubbing her back, the two of us soon falling asleep in each other's embrace since we didn't want to get up and head outside.