Sneaking down there was the easy part. The hard part was keeping his bearings.
He didn't understand why Cassidy had modeled this place the way she did- for one thing, the floor plan was mixed up from what Evan was used to. Where Pirate's Cove used to be was an entirely different room than what he was expecting.
Thankfully, piloting around as Golden Freddy had some advantages. He could avoid the cameras. He could teleport.
And, the best part, he could be standing right behind William and he would never know.
It was weird being this close to his dad after all of these years. For the most part, he was just a slightly older-looking, more rundown version of the man he'd last seen. There were a couple of gray hairs poking out in his mess of brown, and his eyes were sunken and tired. There were all sorts of strange scars in intricate patterns on his visible skin. Evan suspected that they were all over his body, a result of getting springlocked.
…he hated being here. He didn't want to be standing so close to William.
But he wanted to know if his sister was there.
So he waited.
Eventually, Circus Baby popped up on William's screen. Evan saw him bite his lip, saw a brief flash of something unrecognizable in his eyes, then saw him sigh.
"Not again," he muttered. Evan started slightly at his voice. It was like listening to Michael with a sore throat. It threw him off, and he almost missed Circus Baby leaving. The three Fazcoins Michael said he'd give him had helped him out a little bit.
Golden Freddy quickly followed after Circus Baby with Evan smiling to himself.
Of course, Michael decided to help him. It's not even a surprise.
He followed Circus Baby through hallway after hallway, until the scenery started to change.
Eventually, he realized that he was in an entirely different building. Circus Baby walked into a small room and pushed a big, red button. The doors closed and she descended.
An elevator.
I wonder where it goes?
Evan waited for a moment before pressing the button to bring the elevator back up. Once it did, he stepped inside and pressed the red button, looking around the small space. The ride was shaky and bumpy, there was very little light.
He looked to his left and saw a poster of Circus Baby hanging on the wall. He frowned to himself slightly.
Poster Baby's eyes were blue.
But the picture of Circus Baby on their tablets had green eyes.
Michael tapped on the couch's armrest nervously. He didn't like that Evan was out there, following Circus Baby, especially by himself… the thought of it made him uncomfortable and, quite frankly, scared him.
"I will guide you."
"You must follow my instructions."
"Don't be afraid, I'm not going to hurt you."
"The scooper only hurts for a moment…"
Michael's hands were clutching onto the armrest so hard that his knuckles were turning white. His eyes were trained on the floor.
I shouldn't have let Evan do this by himself.
What was I thinking?
Baby could hurt him-
He jumped when there was a knock on the door. He looked down and forced his hand to let go of the couch, rubbing it slightly. He turned to the door and took a deep breath.
"Come in," he called. Charlie poked her head inside the door and gave him a bit of a nervous smile.
"Hey, Mike," she said. "I didn't catch you at a bad time, did I?"
Michael grinned wide at her.
"No, of course not," he said. He gestured for her to come inside. She did so, making her way over to the couch and sitting down beside him. "What did you need?"
Charlie looked down, starting to play with her fingers.
"...I was wondering… you… you, um…"
Michael frowned down at her, putting a hand on her shoulder. Charlie was a tough girl, so whatever was on her mind to jumble up her words must have been pretty big.
"What's wrong?" he asked. Charlie took a deep breath and held it for a second.
"...how's my dad?" she asked. Michael inwardly winced at how small her voice sounded, at how young she seemed. He often found himself forgetting that she wasn't an adult- she was always like a mom to her friends, so mature and strong. Hearing her voice just now was like a slap in the face.
She's still just a little kid.
Michael smiled softly at her and wrapped an arm around her shoulder, pulling her into a loose side hug.
"He misses you," he said. Charlie relaxed into the embrace. "I had a feeling from the beginning that his main goal was to save you… sure, he saved everyone, but I think he just wanted to see you again…"
He felt Charlie start to shake slightly.
"Did he die too?" she asked. Her voice sounded a little shaky. Michael figured she was close to tears, but holding herself back. He hugged her a little tighter.
"...I don't know," he admitted. "I wish I could reassure you one way or the other, but…"
But I can't. And I don't feel like giving you any false hope or anything. I couldn't do that to you.
He felt Charlie nod against him.
"...thanks, Mike," she mumbled. He squeezed her a little bit. They sat there together in silence for a moment. Eventually, Charlie took a deep breath and pulled out of the hug, pushing her hair out of her face. "Hey, do you know where Ev is? I haven't seen him."
Michael froze slightly.
I completely forgot about that… oh god, I'm a terrible brother, he could be hurt and I wouldn't have known-
Michael swallowed down his panic and gave Charlie what he hoped was a reassuring smile.
"He's just off doing an errand," he said. "He'll be back."
Charlie's look said that she didn't entirely believe that everything was alright, but she let the matter go.
"...alright then," she said. "I'm gonna head out. Take care, Mike."
Michael nodded at her.
"You too."
I'm so sorry Evan… please be alright…
The elevator ride felt like it took forever, but finally, it ended. Evan pushed the button and opened the doors. He was faced with a vent.
There's no way a big, bulky animatronic would be able to fit in there. He felt his Golden Freddy form melt away until he was back to being Evan, then kneeled down and crawled inside of the vent.
He didn't like it. It felt too small, too closed-in. How could Elizabeth stand to be in here? It made no sense to him, she didn't like being locked in.
You're getting too far ahead, Evan, he warned himself. Don't expect her to be there- you'll be depressed about it if she isn't.
…he continued crawling.
He eventually came upon a small room. There were arches and torn bits of metal leading to much larger, more spacious rooms- he assumed that there had been walls there, once, and that someone had torn them down.
He heard music coming from the room to his left and wandered in that direction, eventually coming across a stage. On it was what he recognized as Ballora, dancing to whatever music she was playing. Standing in front of the stage was a little girl with bright orange hair, a pink shirt, and a blue skirt. There was a red bow in her hair. Evan sucked in a breath. He'd recognize her anywhere, even with her back turned to him.
He felt tears spring into his eyes because there she is- she's right there, I can't believe my sister is right there-
He fought down the urge to shout her name at the top of his lungs. He didn't want to alert Ballora to his presence, and he had no clue what other dangers lived down here… he'd have to be careful.
So he slowly made his way forward, creeping closer and closer to Elizabeth.
She's right there… I'm so close…
He was directly behind her. He reached out a tentative hand, ready to tap her on the shoulder, but he paused. Would she scream and jump? Would she try to attack him? He knew that being stuck in an animatronic could change a person, make them forget themselves… how different was Elizabeth?
She must have sensed him behind her or something, because she turned around suddenly. The two stood there, staring at each other for a moment, Evan's hand still held out. Should he lower it? He should probably lower it…
"...Evan?" she asked. Her voice sent a shockwave through him because it's been YEARS…
"L-Liz?" he asked. Her face broke out into a huge grin, tears building up in her eyes. She let out a strangled half-sob, half-laugh and shot forward, wrapping her arms around him. Evan felt his arms wrap around her, too, of their own accord. They squeezed each other so hard that it almost hurt, but it didn't matter because they were both there-
"EVAN! I MISSED YOU SO MUCH!" she cried. Evan squeezed her tighter, burying his face in her hair. It was surprisingly soft.
"I missed you too, Liz," he sobbed back. He started laughing slightly. He eventually felt her start laughing, too. They just stood there, hugging and laughing and crying, for what felt like hours. It could have been hours. Finally, Elizabeth pulled away, looking Evan up and down. She let out another breathy laugh.
"I wasn't expecting to see you here," she breathed. Evan took her hands from his shoulders and held them, wincing slightly.
"I wasn't expecting to see you, either," he said. His smile fell a little bit. "You're… Circus Baby?"
Elizabeth's smile fell, too, and she took a deep breath.
"Yeah, I am," she admitted. Her shoulders drooped and she looked at the ground. "Ev… I… I've done some things that I'm not… proud of…"
Evan squeezed her hands, giving her a reassuring smile. She looked back up at his face and smiled back.
"So have I," he told her. He winced. "I've killed a LOT of people…"
Elizabeth breathed out a laugh, wiping at one of her eyes.
"Same," she said. "Did you ever take names, or just killed them?"
"Just killed them," Evan said with a shrug of his shoulder. "Only one of the guards was stubborn enough to survive, and that was Michael- "
Elizabeth gasped, squeezing his hands in excitement. She started bouncing on her feet, an excited glint in her eyes.
"Is he here? With us?" she asked. Evan smiled and nodded.
"Yeah, he is," he said. He squeezed her hands, too. "Do you wanna see him?"
Elizabeth started jumping up and down, repeatedly shouting 'yesyesyes!' Evan glanced over at Ballora once. She'd stopped her dance to watch them, but it didn't look like she was going to attack them.
Evan smiled back at Elizabeth.
"Then let's go!"
