Mable: Good news! I finished the last chapter of 'A Fool's Endeavor!' Now I just need to finish the epilogue, edit, and then look towards publishing. I am very excited! ^-^ Anyway, let us continue with the chapter. Enjoy!

Almost Feels Like Home

Chapter Three

Scott was surprised to see Mike standing there when he opened his front door. Usually the man called before he came over, but it was still a relief to see him instead of anyone else. Considering what had been on the news, he had anticipated a visit from someone a little less friendly. The authorities wouldn't have to look far to find his interviews from Freddy's. "Oh, uh, hey Mike!" he greeted. "I didn't expect you to come by. Come in."

"Sorry to drop in unannounced, but we've got a problem. And by 'we' I mean: expect Marionette to appear in two or three seconds," Mike forewarned. As soon as the door was shut behind him, just as predicted, Marionette also appeared inside the house beside him. Because of the warning, it didn't take the older man off guard, and he exchanged a quick greeting with the animatronic before beckoning the two further into the living room.

"So, what's going on?... I guess I shouldn't play dumb on this. I'm pretty sure I know what you're here about. Hold on a second." The Phone Guy stopped beside the garage door and knocked on it before calling through, "It's just Mike and Mari." When he looked back again, Mike was sending him a slightly questioning look. "…We've had a couple of friendly neighbors who've been a bit friendlier than I would like." Mike vaguely remembered something along those lines the last time he and Scott had spoken. Anything to keep Ennard hidden from the public.

"I'm sure you do know what we're here about. It's unfortunate that it couldn't be under more pleasant circumstance." Marionette said. He then gave a weary sigh and rubbed over his mask. "We went to Magictime Theater, where the child went missing recently, and we found something very disturbing waiting there." It was now that his human companion broke in.

"They call it the Magic Puppet Box. Let that sink in," Mike quipped with a smug sort of look. Marionette sent him a light frown in response. "We also found an extremely suspicious looking man. Stood about yay high, all covered in purple, and said his name was Dave Miller. We thought maybe this was the guy you were mentioning because he set off alarm bells with Mari." He looked to the Puppet briefly and by time he looked back to Scott, the older man had grown at least a shade paler. It was like the blood drained entirely from his face. "I take from that look that we were on the right track."

"Oh, I know him. Oh wow…" Scott rubbed over his hair in slow alarm as he headed to the couch. He dropped down onto it as he needed to sit down for the news. "Yeah, that's… That's Dave alright. Dave Miller. I thought he was the murderer for the longest time... Or I did until I found out about what William was doing."

Marionette sat down on the couch beside him while Mike continued standing nearby. Even as Scott spoke, he could hear the garage door slowly creaking open behind him. An unsettling feeling sunk in as he felt the eyes currently burning into his back. Even on 'friendly enough' terms, Ennard had a way of making someone nervous.

"But Dave wasn't ever right. Towards the end he was constantly coming to work drunk. Was always a little too curious about the night shift workers, even after he was transferred to the day shift… Maybe that was why he was the way he was," Scott continued to explain. "Maybe it was working those long hours with the risk of death that did it."

What did it for Mike was hearing the low squeaking from behind as Ennard continued to inch out the door. He finally moved to the couch and dropped down beside Scott, hoping that he could effectively shake the clown. While things were passively peaceful- for Scott and Marionette's sake- Mike couldn't handle having human or animatronic breathing down his neck. Mike patted the cat stretched out behind him and added in, "Yeah, he had a sort of drugged out look to him. He was all sunken in with spots all over his face. I didn't think of it at the time because we were talking Freddy's."

Scott sighed wearily at this. "Well, we know that he didn't kill the children that William killed, and we have no reason to believe he had any connection with William… But I never trusted him, a-and I wouldn't… You know, this doesn't seem nearly as unrelated to Freddy's now. Not that we know he was in the area and, from what you said, not much about him has changed," Scott explained. Past him, Mike could see Marionette's look of dread growing. "And the pattern's every five days, right?"

"Something like that. It's happened twice, so it's starting to look like a pattern," Mike agreed. "Not to mention that Magictime didn't have cameras. There could've been evidence still there that I wasn't able to see, but on the other hand I can't afford to have the cops see me snooping around and thinking that I'm the suspect when that creep's still running loose."

"No, you're right. You don't want to be a suspect. That never gets away from you," Scott insisted. He then fell into a disturbed silence.

"But it was Dave Miller? You're certain?" Marionette inquired. Scott nodded, and the Puppet languidly rose from the cough again. "Then he could very well be the person behind this… Perhaps the best option would be for me to slip into the theater on the next fifth night and keep watch for whether he brings any children in."

"Something about that sounds like a bad idea," Mike pointed out. He watched the Puppet carefully as a tinge of protectiveness started to appear. "If this guy really is doing something like this, then I'm going to take a wild guess and say he's probably armed. Not to mention that the animatronics in there…" All at once he cut off, because the suspicion returned. The animatronics at the theater weren't acting haunted, so perhaps Dave was kidnapping kids with the intention of changing that. Mike pushed the thought away as being unlikely. "He could have a taser."

"He wouldn't even see me coming… And once I had him incapacitated, you could come in and secure him, and then we would find the children. Whether they're in the theater or we have to go to his address." Before Mike could point out that this was all based off suspicion alone, Marionette turned on him, looking as determined as ever. "And before you even try to remain doubtful, I want you to honestly tell me that you think this is a case of mistaken identity. If you can, then I'll agree with you."

There was a long pause of silence.

"…Alright," Mike agreed. He ignored the look of unease that Scott sent him. "We go at night, we play our cards close to our chest, and if we do catch Dave doing it then we knock him down a few pegs, let the kids go, and file an anonymous tip so it doesn't get back to us. Short, sweet, and clean."

"…That might actually work," Scott said quietly. "I… I actually think that's a good plan."

"Hell yeah, it's a good plan. I've had enough terrible, 'let's just run in headfirst' plans to figure out something that works," Mike said while cracking a smirk. He then looked back to Marionette, "Then you can call Charlie and tell her that we really do have it all under control. We'll stop this thing before it becomes something bigger, because if this really is based off Freddy's, then he's probably going to target two more children. That means that this next night is the best chance we've got."

"I agree," Marionette said with the slightest smile. It was less out of happiness- this wasn't necessarily an event to be happy about- and more pleased by Mike's effectiveness. Mike had stepped up in the past, but it still was refreshing to have someone actively determined to work to save these children. Especially if they were still alive. "But in the meantime, Scott, I was wondering if you knew where the Party Protection Bracelets have gone. They weren't destroyed, were they?"

"And what would you need those for?" Mike asked. He quirked a brow, voice heavy with confusion; as though Marionette just switched from talking about missing children to security bracelets.

"I thought if we all wore them, then we'd get a feeling of comradery," Marionette quipped sarcastically. "No, I was going to give them to some of the children who walk home alone… Specifically Chrissy. I believe she's the only child of ours who travels alone at dark. The bracelet would make me feel better." Even if they didn't work as well, he wanted to do something, because he couldn't bear the risk.

"They should be in the warehouse in a box marked 'Security-Accessories'. I think you would've seen them if you sold them, so they're probably still there. I don't know about the batteries in them, but they should be replaceable," Scott explained. "To tell you the truth, I didn't even know you knew about them."

"Between the bracelets, Lefty, and the Magic Puppet Box, I know plenty of unfortunate facts about myself," Marionette sighed with a lack of enthusiasm. "And I suppose that is where we head next."

"I'll call Fritz. He might want to come with, because I'm not making two trips," Mike said as he brought out his cellphone. He started to dial the technician's number and waited for a response.

Scott stood from the couch and headed into the kitchen. "I'll be right back, I'm just getting a drink." Hopefully to wash down the lump forming in his throat. His exit was watched by Marionette, who then looked to Mike, who was now facing the door and waiting for a response on the phone. The Puppet's features softened; of course, Mike would do all he could for the children. He wasn't like other, who would stand aside and wait for the worst. It was a relief to know that he wasn't the only one being active.

"Hey Fritz. We're heading over to the warehouse, so if you want to meet us there after work then that's where were going to be," Mike said. It was at this moment that striped arms wrapped around his shoulders from behind and Mike could feel the porcelain mask nuzzling into his shoulder. The security guard couldn't help but smile slightly and reached back to pet his cheek. "Great, then we'll meet up there."

It was a bit more comfortable with Scott out of the room. Even if both were aware that they were still being watched. Naturally Ennard would observe their behavior with mild curiosity, watching as the other animatronic and his human 'playmate' nearly coddled each other. They were always so affectionate. It seemed so peculiar.

Scott was pouring a glass of juice when he was caught off guard by a squeaking right behind him. He flinched just enough to spill juice down the side of the glass. Usually he could predict Ennard's movements, but all this talk about Dave had him shaken and uneasy. He started to wipe down the mess. "You didn't have to stay in the garage until now," Scott pointed out. His comment went entirely ignored by the clown.

"I take it ya didn't like that guy, huh? Sounds like you hated him," Ennard asked bluntly. Scott decided that staring at his glass was more appropriate than actually looking at the clown in question.

"I-… I wouldn't go as far to say that. Dave just had issues. I didn't hate him… I just didn't like or trust him." Any further defense was interrupted by a crackle of laughter.

"You don't have to hide all of that from me! I can see right through that cover!" Ennard's hushed his giggles down while still seemingly amused by his attempts to defend himself. "That look on your face when you were talking about him- even I could tell you wanted to wring his neck!"

"Only because I thought he was connected with the missing children… And I guess I still do," Scott admitted. For a moment he wondered if he was jumping the gun. It was possible that Dave had no connection to either situation and that Scott was wrongly biased due to Dave's odd behavior, but he couldn't deny that something always felt the slightest bit off. "I don't know. Something about Dave rubbed me the wrong way."

"How'd he do that?" Ennard asked curiously. Scott could feel his wire fingers crawling up his arm in a playful motion. "Was it just acting weird or was he really rubbing you? Literally rubbing you the wrong way! Maybe the other way would work better?" Ennard seemed to be acting remarkably naïve, which was the first tip-off that he was feigning ignorance. The second was the clown's next question, "But he didn't ever touch you, right? You seem to hate him an awful lot!" The laughter was fake, and Scott knew it as the wires rested on his shoulder.

"I think I'd have to be really patient to let someone who I didn't like poke around on me," Scott pointed out. "I'm not that patient. We didn't even share mindless chatter over coffee or anything. I barely knew Dave." Of course, this meant that maybe Scott had judged Dave too quickly, but he decided not to think of that right now.

"Oh, okay!" Ennard almost sounded a little more relieved as his wires moved back and forth over Scott's covered shoulder. He gave a low hum, followed by a breathy sort of sound. "But if he ever does, you could tell me." Telling Ennard anything like that sounded like the worst possible idea, but he decided not to be entirely honest.

"Sure, but I'm not going anywhere near Dave, and he isn't coming here," Scott assured. "I'm not worried about Dave… I mean, I'm not worried about Dave doing anything to me, you know? He doesn't even know where I live."

He turned to put the juice back in the fridge and was blindsided by the wires retreating and arms suddenly ensnaring around his middle. It was so abrupt that Scott nearly dropped the juice, but just barely managed to fit it onto the shelf before the wires laced more firmly. He tried to move enough to shut the fridge door, but the clown wouldn't budge. "Ennard, you're tightening up on me." This was apparently the wrong thing to say, as Ennard proceeded to pull him back closer. He pressed his mask into Scott's shoulder, with the mask's nose giving a small squeak. "…Ennard?"

"I see why Mari likes this so much," Ennard murmured against him. The wires in his chest trembled as his voice briefly lowered out of the normal Funtime Freddy key. Scott only had a moment to contemplate this odd comment before he realized that Mike and Marionette were probably still waiting on him. Perhaps even watching the scene and coming to their own assumptions. "But if Dave ever did this-!" The clown broke into a fit of laughter. "Ha! If- If Dave did this… When you don't like Dave… I wonder what I'd do. You wouldn't care, right?"

The moment Ennard said 'don't like' in Scott's voice, Scott was pretty much certain that he needed to get back in the living room. The last thing he wanted was for the amalgam to start asking permission to attack a man who wasn't even here. Especially when he was well aware that Ennard actively disappeared sometimes at late night. That was a bad combination.

"Well, that's- That's not going to happen. I've got you watching the house, right?" Trying a different tactic, he patted Ennard's arm soothingly. He knew if he just yanked away that it probably wouldn't do anything beyond triggering the amalgam to embrace tighter. "Let me go finish up with Mike. They probably need to get going." With another low hum, Ennard drew back and let the man go, watching as Scott took his glass and left the kitchen.

To Scott, he had assured Ennard enough to relax the animatronic. To Ennard, Scott had only given him more reason to keep an eye out at night.

Returning to the warehouse was strange. There was no longer the malicious shadowing over it since the haunting had ceased but being back in the warehouse did little more than remind them of what happened some time ago. The memories still felt fresh and they alone were nearly like an invisible force looming over them. Yet instead of avoiding it, here they were trying to find the bracelets.

Mike was halfway looking through a shelf when he heard a loud banging from a falling box. He leaned back and looked down the path, seeing a box laying on the ground. "Was that you? Because if it wasn't, I think it's time to take off."

"No, it was me. It was the box in front of the box I want," Marionette called back. He then gave an uncomfortable twang as he lowered a second box to the floor, kneeling, and began to go through it. He chimed in delight as his gaze fell on multiple plastic and metal bracelets waiting inside the box. They were not on yet, so they weren't glowing, but he could make out their colors well enough; blue, orange, green, pink, and perhaps a few yellow ones in the bottom. His smile brightened as he brought a handful out. "These are them! We can use these."

"Finally. Something in this warehouse worth using." Mike wandered over and crouched down beside him as the Puppet sorted the bracelets in his lap. "Yeah, but are you sure you want to use them? It's a good idea, don't get me wrong, but it could be risky." The last thing he wanted was someone taking advantage of Marionette's programming, like had been done through Lefty. That alone showed that the programming couldn't discriminate that well between a bracelet and a fake.

"We can at least try. I… I worry about the children… How about blue? That would look perfect on Chrissy," Marionette said. He lifted the blue one and tried to turn it on. "You too. It could match your eyes… Oh." To his dismay, the bracelet didn't come on. "Dead batteries."

"One of these is bound to still have juice in it," Mike said. He took an orange one and tried to twist it on like Marionette had, to no response. Then a pink one. "Or maybe not. Maybe the whole bunch is dead."

It was then, with a dull click, that Marionette managed to get one to come on. It was glowing in a soft green, and as soon as it came on the animatronic shivered with a slight tingling down his spine. It was a peculiar sensation, barely able to be felt, but he was suddenly very aware of the bracelet's location.

"It still works…" Marionette smiled wider as he showed it to Mike. "But the battery could be failing. She will only be able to turn it on when needed, but it should still work." He realized that he said 'she', obviously giving off the truth that it was meant for Chrissy. Of course, he did care about the other children, but she was the one he worried about most of all. She was the one who would be in the most dangerous situation. "We can work with the others later," Marionette suggested as he turned his mask towards the distant wall. "I think Fritz just pulled up."

"Of course, Fritz pops up the second that we're finishing up. Perfect timing as usual," Mike quipped. He took a handful of bracelets and looked over them. Such simple things and yet they were able to access instincts inside of the puppet that he was usually able to suppress. "…Maybe we can figure out something with these… Maybe not let the kids take them home. Except Chrissy. We know she's going to be careful with this."

Marionette nodded in agreement as the door could be heard opening nearby. After a few minutes, Fritz appeared around the corner and headed over to them. He took one look down at the bracelets and the boxes and was brought up to speed. "So, you found them! Great!... I'll be honest. I was pretty sure they were gone for good."

"At this point they still are. All of them are dead except for this one," Mike said, gesturing to the glowing bracelet still in Marionette's grasp. The Puppet twisted the metal and turned it back off, then handed it to Mike, who proceeded to fit it into his pocket to take home.

"I'm not surprised. Any batteries used by Freddy's died within a week. You know; you've used the flashlights," Fritz said. He then passed by them and headed towards the office. "Maybe when you're done you could help me in the office? It has to do with Baby."

"Oh, fun," Mike muttered. Marionette was a bit more optimistic and looked after Fritz curiously. Mike noticed this and looked out of the corner of his eye at the striped male. "…Eh, go after him. I'll put all this back and slide it onto the shelf."

Marionette stood from the ground, trailing his hand up Mike's arm affectionately, and followed the technician. "Thank you. Don't worry about lifting them too high; we'll take a look at them later." With that, he headed into the office.

Fritz uncovered Baby's body, which he had covered with a tarp until now. She was slumped limply on the floor of the office with parts of her chest opened and her head tilted enough to access her neck wires. That wasn't all that had changed, though. Other than the Handunit plugged into her neck and resting on the floor beside her, her eyes had been taped over with duct tape. Marionette tilted his head curiously at seeing it.

"Can you shut that door? Thanks," Fritz directed. He still looked tired, but now looked a little more excited than earlier which seemed to rouse him just a bit. "I've been working a lot with reprogramming Baby and I think that maybe I finally replaced the reflex to go for kids. What I need you to do is to pretend to be a child, so I can see how Baby reacts to the stimuli. Can you do that?"

"…Yes, of course," Marionette agreed. It was a disturbing sort of arrangement, but it was the best way to check if Baby was safe. He wouldn't dare allow a real child to be brought around Baby for tests. "Go ahead and activate her. I'll try to stay back enough that she can't detect me."

With that, Fritz fiddled with the Handunit and tapped around on it. A dull green glow came around the edges of the tape as Baby roused once more. Her leg twitched, and her claw fidgeted as she began to wake once more.

"Can you hear me, Baby?" Fritz asked. "I've got your eyes covered so I can run a test, alright? It's going to be really simple. No electricity, no shocking, no pain. I just need you to sit here and react."

"Did you do it?" Baby inquired. Her voice crackled lightly. "Have you taken it out?"

"We're going to see. Just bear with me and we'll check," Fritz said as he stood. "Now we have a volunteer child in here, right in front of you, so I'm going to step out of the room and we're going to see if you can handle being alone with him. You just try to resist doing anything." With that, Fritz walked to the door, opened it, and closed it without leaving. It seemed like Baby believed it.

She was still as Marionette moved a little closer. He couldn't remember a specific child he would feel comfortable mimicking, so he attempted to copy what he remembered his own voice sounding like as a child. "Hello?" he quietly greeted and tried to keep the voice low enough that she wouldn't catch that it was an animatronic. Most animatronics would, but he hoped that between Baby's broken form and recent activation that she wouldn't catch on. "Hi there…"

Baby tilted and turned her head to listen in closer. She seemed interested but stayed silent and refused to engage. Perhaps this was a good sign.

Marionette inched a bit closer in, "Hello… Are you okay?" He continued to do the voice as he moved in a little more. Baby stiffened for a moment before relaxing her body again. He could only wonder what was going on inside of her head, but he needed to watch for the programming. He tried to think of something to stimulate the programming to activate. "…Can you make me ice cream?" She twitched in response. He moved in just within reach. "Please-?"

All of a sudden, Baby's arm snapped upwards and her claw clamped at the voice. Marionette's reflexes were just fast enough to pull back out of the way. He stared down, chest inches away from the clamping claw, and his question was answered: the instinct was just as strong as ever. He sent a sympathetic glance back at Fritz who looked devastated at the reaction. As Baby tugged her claw back slowly, seemingly realizing what she did, Marionette hovered to the door and opened it.

Fritz snapped back into character, "I-I'm back! I'm guessing it didn't go so well…" Baby said nothing. "Well, that was just the first test. We can always try again." Fritz gave an exhausted sigh as he approached to shut Baby back down, all while Marionette slipped back out and closed the door to a crack. "I'm going to shut you down again."

"Will you fix me this time?" Baby asked. She sounded either impatient or annoyed, or perhaps disappointed at the programming's continued grip on her. Whatever it was, he was just as disappointed as she was.

"I'll do what I can. We just have to keep trying," Fritz said in a promise. He then began to use the Handunit to turn her back off. He would need to get some sleep, but then he would be back here working again. He already knew that he would be. After a failure like this he would need to be back to trying to work on her, or all his work would be for naught.

Marionette was only shortly out the door when Mike appeared. Or seemed to appear, as Marionette had been distracted by the floor leading up until the human seemed to suddenly appear beside him.

"How'd it go with Baby?" Mike asked. Marionette looked up at him with a weary look. "That well, huh? Good to see that Baby doesn't fail to live up to her image." Marionette nodded limply, and Mike reached out and patted his back comfortingly. "Don't worry about it. Baby will get her act together eventually."

"I'm more worried about Fritz, honestly. It's not a good time to be worrying about where to put Baby, so it's best that she's out of the way," Marionette said. Mike barely believed it, but he did believe that the Puppet was trying to convince himself that. "Maybe we should take some of the bracelets home and try to open them. If they only need watch batteries, then we can replace them ourselves. As for Fritz… Maybe you should…?"

"I'll call Natalie. She has more experience in this line of work than I do," Mike answered. "Besides, I'd rather hold off on telling Fritz about the Magic Puppet Box until he's a little less high strung."

"You do realize that I am not going to warm up to a knock-off of myself, don't you?" Marionette playfully asked. "It's not fair to try and pin two puppets against each other; it's no competition."

"As long as it's not sitting in a competitor's restaurant peddling Porkpocket's plushies, I'm pretty fine with whatever we use it for. Might even come sit in the warehouse for a while until we can figure out a place for it," Mike suggested. The Puppet responded with the lightest 'oh' and it almost seemed like that was the end of it. That was, until he noticed that Marionette had fell behind. "Are you coming?"

"Oh, so that's it," Marionette trilled in growing amusement. He sent his companion a coy smile. "I mistakenly thought you bought it as a joke to play with me…" That smile turned to a smirk as Mike looked back at him. "But instead, you bought it because you didn't want anyone else to have it! What would that be called, would it be jealousy?" he asked as tilted his head slightly, teasingly. "I never took you as the jealous type."

"It has nothing to do with jealousy, it's an image thing," Mike denied in defense. "…Don't give me that look, it is! I wouldn't be dropping money on jealousy when I have the real thing."

"Did they offer to put it away? Or to paint or refurbish it? I find it rather peculiar that their first thought was to sell it off," Marionette pointed out. "Especially for such a price. You're not the type to drop that much money so easily, yet you haven't even complained about the price once, which is also quite telling." He smiled wider, "Something like, 'you earned yours, nobody else should just have one'?"

"Alright, we're going home," Mike interrupted. He tried to hide exactly how flustered he looked, along with the embarrassed reddening of his face. As he reached into the cardboard box on the shelf to get a handful of the bracelets, Marionette sidled beside him and affectionately put his arm around his shoulder.

"It's okay, Mike. You still have the original, and he doesn't have a price tag," Marionette lightly teased. He paused for a moment before adding in, "I do have a question, though."

Mike was going to regret this, "Shoot."

"…What exactly is a Porkpocket?"

Mable: A porkpocket is, by definition, either a dough pocket filled with pork or a pirate pig with an identity crisis. It really is a remarkable word. XD So the plan is set and the chance of something going wrong is incredibly small. I mean it; this plan is foolproof. I couldn't imagine how this could go wrong… Anyway, next chapter coming soon!