Mable: So, my schedule has been a little hectic with multiple posts on random days, so after this chapter I'm going to try to return to the format of posting a chapter every Thursday. I think this will give me a little leeway to get the chapters edited and written better, while giving me a little more time to work on my book, which I will be publishing on the 23rd, save anything on Amazon's side. I was originally going to publish it earlier, but I need the extra time for editing, advertising, and building the cover- which I can't even begin to do until I have the file ready for Amazon.
…So, there's a mini preview of what it's like to self-publish. XD All kinds of fun. In the coming weeks I will continue to update on the book, because I know there are a few people interested. Again: A Fool's Endeavor, coming August 23rd.
…As you might tell, I'm stalling for the unavoidable sobriety that always comes after the rush of adrenaline. I hope you Enjoy.
Almost Feels Like Home
Chapter Eight
The look Jose gave Mike when he stepped into the main room was one akin to a frightened animal. He looked shaky and jumpy, nearly trembling as he stayed by the front door and clutched his cell phone in his hand. Mike noticed it. "You called the police, right?" he asked. Jose nodded in agreement. "I put Dave in the office. I think he passed out- probably coming down from whatever high he's on. I need you to come with me, so we can get the kids out of the shed."
In any other situation, he would've been amused at how aghast Jose looked after he mentioned that the children were huddled in the shed. In this situation he was too weary, frustrated, and concerned to muster anything beyond an almost apathetic look. He grabbed his belt from the floor while Jose hurried to him and they headed to the backdoor. On the way, Mike continued explaining how he got the children out of the window, and Jose listened with a grim expression.
It was then that the other man started to speak. "I just probably need to say, back there, back when- I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking right. I just assumed Dave-." He continued floundering over an apology and Mike gave a weary exhale.
"Don't worry about it," Mike insisted. "I wouldn't have trusted me either." Yet even this came out as slightly bitter. He wouldn't have trusted himself, but he could never have trusted someone like Dave. He tried to keep his feelings suppressed as he stepped towards the shed. He couldn't afford to keep holding a grudge when there were children relying on them. With a weary exhale, Mike braced himself and opened the shed door.
He was met by Foxy's face suddenly filling the crack of the door.
Mike flinched back just enough to hit Jose, who had been crowded behind him. Almost immediately then Mike realized it was Foxy and thus not a threat. Though he was then struck with confusion of exactly how Foxy got there and why he was in the shed in the first place. He seemed braced for Dave, with his teeth almost bared and his hook itching to slice through someone, but his expression became more neutral once he realized it was Mike instead. For a few seconds the two stared at each other, as though silently communicating on how they were going to go about this.
"What is Foxy doing here?!" Jose blurted out. "How did he even get here?! Did you bring him here?!" He started to back up, muttering and looking like he was about to break into a sprint, all while Mike and Foxy kept their compositor.
"Yar, welcome to Pirate's Cove!" Foxy rattled out in a weak attempt to seem like he was acting like a typical animatronic. "Captain Foxy an' his crew be preparin' fer adventure!"
"Sounds fun, Captain," Mike played along. Maybe he could convince Jose and the kids that he was controlling Foxy through vocal commands. "Tell you what, Captain, how about you follow me to the arcade? I'm sure you'll find a lot of tokens and gold for the taking." Foxy honed-in on what he was doing and continued playing along. He turned back to the children in the shed. It only took a moment to notice that the five-year-old was currently clinging to Foxy's leg. To him, Foxy was much less scary than any adult human, and even his boisterous voice was a comfort.
"Shiver me timbers! Ya hear that, Lads?! Treasure!" Foxy spoke to the children. He leaned down and put his arms around the younger boys, then easily lifted them. He turned his hook backwards to not risk poking one of the children and carried them as though they weighed nothing. He then beckoned Jason with his head and turned back to Mike. "Where be First Mate Stripes?" Marionette, naturally.
"I have no clue," Mike bluntly answered. Foxy nodded at this and let it drop. Instead, he passed by both Mike and the positively stunned Jose. As he started to walk around the theater, luckily not heading the longer way past Charlie, it was clear that one of the children wasn't following. Mike looked back to see Jason standing there looking rather hesitant to follow.
"It's fine, Kid. Foxy's going to keep you safe," Mike promised as he beckoned him out. The boy started to come closer, but then paused in the doorway and looked up at the security guard.
"What about him?" Jason asked. "That guy… Is he gone? You did something to him, right?" There was a hesitance, but also an obvious amount of fear. Mike sympathized with that. It was clear that the boy was trying to be touch and didn't want to show how uneasy he really was, but on the other hand it was hard to ignore five days of captivity.
"We got him. We roughed him up, tied him up, watched him get mauled by a bear, and now he's sitting in the office waiting for the cops to come for him. Then he gets to go live in prison, where he's going to get roughed up, because he's going to be the scrawniest thing in there. He's not getting out," Mike tried to reassure the boy. "…And if he does, I'll find his house, drive to his house, and rough him up again." He sent the boy a small smirk of playfulness.
"I hope they lock him away a long time," Jason vented in a hiss. Even though he sounded bitter, fear could be heard as well. Jason added in with a quiet, "I hope you broke his face open." Mike shared the boy's sentiments exactly. Then he watched as Jason hurried after Foxy. Apparently even he trusted the animatronics over the humans. Again, Mike shared his sentiments.
Now was the matter of looking for Marionette. Mike knew that he needed to lose Jose and since he called the police it wasn't as though he had an adequate excuse. For now, he needed to get Jose inside with the kids. "Alright, let's go."
"Hold on," Jose choked out as he grabbed Mike by the arm and swiftly moved in front of him. His face betrayed his horror. "What is going on here?" he blurted out. "Why is Foxy here? You're just talking to animatronics all nonchalantly when one already tried to kill us!"
"Relax, I'm just using keywords for his programming. Tokens, prizes, adventure, arcade; they all trigger him to respond and react. All I did was send Foxy into the arcade," Mike smoothly defended. "As for what happened with Mr. Hippo, that was just sheer luck. I think we both know that was just a shot in the dark."
"I just don't understand this," Jose sputtered out. "How can you be so calm? What was going on at Freddy's if- Oh God, the missing kids!" All at once Jose started putting pieces together, and Mike reached out to put his hands on his shoulders.
"Hey, stop," Mike commanded. He lightly shook Jose by the shoulders. "Trust me, don't go down that rabbit hole. Stay with me. Dave tried to kidnap kids, we stopped him, the animatronics freaked out a little bit, and then we found the kids. Let's not bring Freddy's into this." He was nearly begging, and Jose stared at Mike in surprise. "Please, for the sake of both of us, don't mention any connections with Freddy's. You don't want to get caught up in Freddy's." Jose's expression was unreadable. He didn't even seem to be thinking and instead just stared blankly at the other worker. Then he stiffly nodded. "Okay?" Mike asked.
"Okay," Jose agreed. "I don't… I don't think I want to get wrapped up in that. Not after tonight- If the cops weren't coming I would've left already. I don't like my job that much." He rubbed his hands over his face. "This night is so screwed up. I should've just stayed home! That alarm goes off all the time and the one time it's real-!" Sympathizing again, Mike hooked an arm around the man, patting his back, and started to lead him to the front of the theater.
"The first time's always the hardest," Mike mentally joked to himself. Unfortunately, it was true. While he had been shaken up by everything, he had gone through so many events by now that Dave's descent into madness was still on the lighter side of the spectrum. Even if Dave was a monster, he didn't think he would come out of this too traumatized, unless Charlie's condition deteriorated even more. He pushed that thought back as they stepped around the theater and approached the front door. Foxy was already inside with the children.
It was at this moment that Mike did a quick scan of the parking lot to do one last sweep for Marionette. It was then that his eyes landed on his car and something dark moving in the backseat. It was just for a split second, but he realized quickly that it had to be him. Why he would be hiding in the car seemed odd and left itself open for interpretation. The first thing the man could think of was that the Puppet somehow got injured with Dave, to which this would also explain why he didn't finish Dave off. There was a tinge of panic as Mike turned to Jose. "Head inside and I have to grab something out of my car.
"You want me to go in there, alone, with the animatronics?" Jose asked in disbelief. "Are you kidding me? They could finish the job! What's that important?!"
"I need a drink and I'm not doing it in front of the kids," Mike remarked sarcastically. "I'm going to get my phone and call the others over at Foxy's to tell them what happened. They saw Dave take our girl and I want to warn them…" He looked towards the car. "Then I'm going to look around for our kid that he snatched. She couldn't have gone far."
"I… Oh…" Hearing about another missing child caused Jose to bite his tongue. "…Okay, I'll see what I can do, but if he comes at me then please do that animatronic whisperer thing and talk him down." Mike managed to crack out the smallest smirk. "Alright… Here I go…" He stepped into the arcade and immediately the fox's head snapped to look at him. Jose froze in place in response.
"Where be the tokens?" Foxy bluntly asked. His eyepatch raising and both yellow eyes pierced into the human. The man had reason for being hesitant; Foxy's body language showed his suspicion very well. However, Foxy wouldn't attack him unprovoked, especially when children were present. Jose still looked back to Mike questioningly.
"You better give him what he wants, or this might get ugly. We don't call him a pirate for no reason," Mike quipped in with slight amusement. He waited until Jose briskly approached the counter before he turned away, also moving quickly, and hurried towards his car. The distant rumbling of thunder signaled only more coming rain and Mike was nearly soaked through by the rainfall. It was now that he thought of Charlie laying in the rain again. He wanted to go see her, but part of him refused, as though he just didn't want to see what he knew was waiting. He could do little to help her; distraction was easier to swallow.
"Pull yourself together. You're the only adult right now, you've got to keep your head." Which was true enough. With Marionette possibly injured and Jose falling apart, Mike had to keep his head together. "Let's just get to the car and see if that's Mari." He had to get away from this arcade as quickly as he could. It was only when he was within a few feet that he noticed more of the black figure. "That's definitely Mari."
Once Mike could see through the back window he realized that his hunch was correct. Marionette was currently kneeling on the backseat with a child clutched to him. It was clearly Chrissy and Mike hesitated, expecting the worst from how the Puppet was hiding her. He moved to open the door and only then did Marionette look up at him. Chrissy followed suit, and Mike released the breath he was holding. She was alive; Marionette wasn't clinging to her limp form.
"Thank God!" Mike flung open the door. "Chrissy!"
"Mike!" Chrissy seemed just as relieved to see him and reached out for him. He leaned in and gave her a tight hug.
"You scared us there for a while, Kiddo," he murmured as he held her close. He could feel Marionette's hand petting his shoulder and looked to check him as well. To his relief, there didn't seem to be any injuries and his mask was uncracked. Without a hitch, he pulled the Puppet into a tight embrace as well. This seemed to surprise Marionette; he had expected Mike to at least make sure he was normal again before touching him. Apparently, he trusted him much more than that, and the animatronic rewarded that trust by hugging him back.
"I thought you ran off because something happened to you," Mike murmured to him, trying to stay quiet so Chrissy wouldn't hear. "I got the children out."
"I know. I saw you." Marionette gave a low trill and hugged him tighter. "Thank you." His grip only tightened desperately, and his voice wavered shakily. "Thank you, Mike. Thank you. I knew you would. I always knew you could do it."
"Eh, don't give me that much credit. It was a group effort. It helps that you had my back and the kids didn't split as soon as I got them outside," Mike tried to dismiss. He continued to hold the animatronic to him and noticed quickly that something seemed amiss. The Puppet pressed his mask into his neck with a tick in his chest that sounded like a hiccup. "Mari?"
"You're so wonderful. I love you very much," Marionette murmured to him. "And I'm… I'm sorry…"
"Is that what this is about?" Sure, there had almost been a dispute between them, but the Puppet had done little more than fight off a taser. He had seen fights over the remote that were more intense than that. "Don't be sorry. What happened in there doesn't matter, because we saved the kids together, right? Even Chrissy's here." He now remembered that the girl was still there watching as her personal hero fell apart on his human companion. Mike decided that distracting her would be a good option. "Could you climb into the front and look around for my cellphone? It's either here or at Foxy's. If you find any spare change, you can keep it." Two birds, one stone.
Even though still shaken, the offer enticed Chrissy. Perhaps because the car felt like a safe place or maybe because both Mike and Marionette were there to protect her. With her shuffling through the front seat, Mike looked down at the clinging animatronic again and gently pet over the back of his head.
"I could have hurt you," Marionette murmured. "Someone who… Who actually would do something, who could stop the death and pain, and I could've lost you to my own blindness."
"Mari, don't worry about it. You were just confused and trying to stop Dave. Besides, you were much closer to killing Jose than killing me, and he's not exactly been the pinnacle of helpfulness tonight," Mike reassured. "It's just been a rough night for all of us, and even that might be an understatement." He hoped that this would somewhat ease the Puppet's mind, but that didn't seem to be the case.
It was then that Marionette drew back from him, which almost felt sudden since he had been clinging so desperately beforehand. He almost expected for him to be crying, considering how his voice had been choking and cracking. What waited for him was, instead, the vacantness of the default smile. That empty smile was a giveaway that something was terribly wrong. It was even more concerning than if Marionette had just simply been crying.
"…What happened?" Mike asked. Any forced amusement, any comfort, was all drained and replaced with dread. That look- that forced cover- alarmed him more than anything else. Something was very wrong.
It was then that Marionette turned stiffly towards the passenger's seat. "Chrissy, I have a Walkman you can borrow to listen to some music. You could tell me what songs you like and maybe we'll find some music that we both like." He reached off to the side, got the Walkman and headphones, and handed them over. Chrissy agreed and removed her helmet, then slipped on the headphones as Marionette showed her what to do to turn it on and change the songs. Soon the soft sound of music could be heard as Chrissy continued to look around the floorboard. It was sweet to think of Marionette caring that much about her comfort.
It would've been sweeter if it wasn't obvious that he was trying to distract her. She wouldn't hear their conversation now and the Puppet looked back to the human. His mask shifted briefly but he forced the default smile back once more. "I know you've never seen me be so… Unhinged…" Marionette gave a low sigh. "It was… It was Charlie. I couldn't- I couldn't handle it."
"Don't worry about that, Doll," Mike insisted as his voice lowered into a murmur. "I can watch Chrissy if you want to check her. Or I could go check and you can stay here." He reached out and took Marionette's hand with a tentative squeeze.
The striped one squeezed back before lifting his hand to his mask, and gently pressing his porcelain lips to the top of it. The affectionate gesture was nice, but Mike had a growing feeling that it was building to something terrible. Especially as Marionette drew out the silence, with his eyes downcast as he rose the other hand to pet Mike's own. It was all too strange and assuring. "Mari, what's going on? Is it Charlie?" he asked further. "You can tell me."
"…I'm sorry I didn't come in sooner. I didn't want to leave her… I was with her as long as I could be," Marionette quietly apologized. His voice was merely a whisper. He held Mike's hands tighter and leaned down to kiss the top of his hand again. "But she… She will be alright very soon. She will be safe very soon." He gave an out of tune chime. "This isn't your fault or mine. Whether five minutes or fifty, this would've happened. We just… We just need to handle this how we can…"
"Marionette…" Mike slowly interrupted, staring at the striped animatronic who was currently working him through the slow explanation. "We can still get the ambulance here."
"No, we can't," Marionette corrected. His hands tightened on Mike's own, "…I stayed with her until it was over."
At first, Mike didn't catch the full meaning of the comment. Then the brunt of it came to him all at once. Mike's throat tightened as he realized the repercussions of all of it. "Maybe he's wrong. Maybe there's a little time left…" He looked to the somber expression, the utter sadness even though Chrissy was fine, and knew it was true. Marionette only left her because she was no longer there. It was over. "…I feel sick…" The wave of sourness and pounding in his chest signaled that the panic was finally taking over. His hands were starting to shake, and his skin prickled in growing heat.
All at once the finality hit him. "I can't handle this. This is going to kill me. This is actually going to kill me." Marionette glanced back up at Mike when he noticed that the man was starting to struggle. His expression softened, and he tugged at his arm to coax him into sitting. The human collapsed on the seat, running his free hand through his hair, and tried to pull himself together. He tried to even out his breathing even as his vision wavered.
"I'm going to kill him," Mike growled out through clenched teeth. "I don't care if they can't charge him, I don't give a damn. I'm going in there and I'm going to do it. I swear on my life." In response, Marionette wrapped his arms around him and pulled him into a tight embrace.
"He won't be our problem for much longer," the Puppet comforted. He trailed his fingers through Mike's hair, setting his hat aside on the seat, and comforted himself through comforting his human companion. He chimed lowly in his chest in what was a melancholy sort of lullaby. "…If we let them handle Dave, then we will be able to take care of Charlie. We can't risk our lives on revenge."
"I'm sorry," Mike choked out. "I should've driven her straight to the hospital. I should've done something." He felt guilt both for that and at being on the receiving end of the comfort. After what had happened in the arcade with Nedd Bear and Dave, he felt like he needed to do something more than hyperventilate in the backseat of his car.
Marionette pressed his mask into his hair and held him securely. "Moving her would've only made her go quicker… At least now there's a chance." He could barely feel his strings starting to slide out as they subconsciously wrapped around Mike's arm and over his skin. It was best to keep him close. "I'm sorry…" He continued to apologize as though it was his fault. Mike pulled himself together enough to put an arm around him and pull him closer.
Though their moment of despair was suddenly interrupted by Chrissy peeking into the back seat. "Can I- May I have this, please?" she almost squeaked out as she held up a half-eaten chocolate bar wrapped up in its own wrapper. Somehow, Mike managed to pull himself together enough to respond.
"Yeah, sure. Just don't finish it if it tastes off." Come to think of it, he couldn't remember when he brought that in. "Better check the date too." Chrissy turned it over in her hands and began to scrutinize it before unwrapping it. Before she took a bite, she hesitated, noticing the state that the Puppet and becoming concerned. It took a moment before she decided to vocalize this.
"Are you okay, Mari?" the girl innocently asked. "Don't be sad… That man's gone now. We're okay." Marionette was quick to try and pull himself together in front of her.
"I'm not sad, Chrissy. I'm just… Concerned and tired," Marionette comforted. Mike could feel his strings tightening as he said this. "Its been a long night for all of us, including the other children in the arcade. We'll all feel better once we're safe at home. Of course, I'll keep you safe wherever we are, but home… Home will be nice after this ordeal." His companion was impressed by how even he could keep his tone even in this situation. It was useful for someone with such a soothing voice; Marionette just had that way of making everything sound alright and making any situation sound safer than it was. Mike rubbed his thumb over the Puppet's hand and traced over the strings that enwrapped both together.
The animatronic reached forward and ruffled the girl's hair affectionately. "Try not to worry yourself anymore, Chrissy. You've had a long enough night as it is. Leave any of your worries to us." It was then that he noticed Mike starting to straighten up and the animatronic glanced to him out of the corner of his eye. "Mike?"
"I think I hear something…" Marionette started to straighten as well, going back on guard, and Chrissy got a look of uneasiness. Mike leaned out the car door and listened closer. "…I think I hear sirens. Nice to see that the cops are as reliable as usual," he quipped as he leaned back in. "As much as I'd love to hide back here and avoid the inevitable questioning, I don't think it's going to fly. This night just keeps getting better and better." He then glanced to Chrissy, "You'll be getting home really soon, so you just need to hang tight."
"Mike." Marionette's free hand took his arm to get his attention. "I need you to take Chrissy with you so that I can check on Charlie. Once the authorities arrive, I won't be able to get to her." Mike agreed with this with a nod and Chrissy climbed into the back before passing Mike. The Puppet looked over him, "You're okay. Your pulse is down."
"Yeah, just a scare. I can handle it… Until the adrenaline bottoms out. That's going to be a fun experience." Mike gave a mock scoff before patting Marionette's hand and drawing away to stand. Only to find his hand hooked by the strings that were still entangling his hand. "You've got me."
"Oh, sorry. Hold on a moment…" Marionette began trying to retract his strings only to find them wound more complicated than he had wanted. He continued fumbling with them, trying to fight with his own strings while the sounds of sirens came quicker. "I'm having a little trouble getting them free," he admitted in a strained tone.
Mike answered as plain as day; too weary to be truly concerned. "How exactly am I going to explain this to the cops? 'Mr. Schmidt, do you usually tie yourself to your animatronics?' Sad part is that I'm going to have to say yes."
Marionette looked up at him abruptly and stared at him unreadably. Then he gave his own sort of scoff, a small smile naturally appearing, and he chimed in brief laughter. As though all the stress suddenly melted into a breakdown of amusement. "Mike, this isn't the time or place! Don't make me laugh!" Really, Marionette was strained to the limit, so even the smallest respite felt so much more intense. "Looks like I'm quite caught up on you…"
"Yeah, we already knew that, but I've got that effect on people," Mike added with a slight smirk. As soon as the Puppet managed to get them untangled, the man leaned down and tilted his face back. "Whatever happens tonight, we'll figure it out." Marionette nodded silently, and Mike rewarded him to a kiss to the forehead. Then, as he straightened, Marionette vanished to the back of the arcade. Mike gave a sigh and shut the back door before turning to Chrissy, who promptly held out his cellphone. "Huh, you found it. Good job!"
"It was under the seat," Chrissy explained. She then held out her hand and Mike took it loyally. The girl seemed unafraid at first, but he noticed her grip tighten as they started to cross the parking lot. Though he also was distracted by the growing sound of sirens as the emergency services closed in. His distracted was rather abruptly interrupted by Chrissy looking up at him and remarking, "Are you and Mari married?"
It was only at that moment that Mike realized he had kissed Marionette in front of Chrissy. Somehow, Chrissy translated this into them being married. He didn't know whether to find it embarrassing or think it was adorable.
"…Yeah, we're married," Mike agreed as he opened the arcade's door. "…But let's keep that between the three of us, alright?"
Once inside the arcade, he noticed quickly that Jose was missing and that Foxy was solely watching the children. Chrissy brightened beside the security guard and smiled a little. "Foxy's here too!" she exclaimed quietly, keeping her voice low.
"But Jose's not," the security guard inwardly remarked. He had to go find him, but perhaps Foxy could again be a help with the children. "Chrissy, go over and stay with Foxy until I get back. I have to go find someone and I want to know you're safe." The girl still seemed clingy, but willingly headed to the other friendly face. It helped that Foxy noticed her approaching and greeted her with open arms. They all seemed distracted enough with the Candy Cadet, which was telling a story this time. Because of this, Mike dismissed himself silently and began to head back towards the hallway.
The hallway lights were dead and wouldn't come on, but that was fine as the door to the office was cracked open and light poured through. It was obvious that there was someone, other than Dave, inside. With a huff, Mike barged through the door, "I give you one job, Jose. If I found out you untied him, I swear I'm about this close-." He cut off as he found Jose standing over Dave. The faint sound of gurgling could be heard from the man sitting in the office chair, slumped back with his head cocked back over the office chair's back. "…What's going on?"
"I don't really have any experience, but I didn't think drugs do this." Jose looked down at Dave. The gurgling noise was clearly coming from his mouth as a frothy foam started to bubble between his lips. "I heard him from the hallway. He's not answering or anything… You didn't tase him again, did you?"
"I didn't have to. He was pretty much out when I drug him in here." Mike moved into Jose's spot and looked down at the man's face. He snapped his fingers in the man's face. "Hey, Dave? Dave!" There was no response. He patted his cheek a few times before opening one of his eyes. Dave's eye was glassy and unfocused, and there wasn't even any movement when the man started snapping closer. His state was almost suspiciously like Charlie's had been. Mike then checked the man's pulse and was alarmed to find it dangerously slow and heavy. "That can't be a good sign…"
Out in the front room, Foxy was still watching over the young children. He was less than interested in the Candy Cadet, especially its droll stories, but the kids seemed to like it. Though they didn't seem too fond of the candy. The toddler had scrunched up his face and let it drop out of his mouth, to which it left a blue smudge on his already stained shirt. The captain knelt and tried to almost rub away the stain with his thumb. Though he was more upset about the other stains; how long had it been since this boy's clothes had been changed? The thought disgusted him. These children deserved better than this.
There was a low clink followed by a clicking as a coin was dropped into the Candy Cadet. Once again it began to flash in an assortment of colors. It dispensed a piece of candy that this time the five-year-old took, as neither Chrissy nor Jason seemed to want it. The young boy seemed to be the only one who enjoyed the candy and popped it in his mouth as the Candy Cadet began to speak.
"Now I will tell you a story. Once there was a farmer and son who raised chickens. One day the farmer came out to find one of the chickens missing and the gate open. So, he got his son and they made a latch for the gate. The next day he came out to find the gate shut, but there was another chicken missing. So, he got his son and they made a lock for the gate. The next day he came out to find the gate locked, but there was another chicken missing. So, he got his son and they put wire all around the fence. The next day he came to find the wire still there, but there was another chicken missing. So, he got his shotgun and hid in the chicken coop and waited for the thief to come. That night the thief came to get a chicken, and the farmer shot it. It was his son."
Foxy was quickly losing interest and patience with the Candy Cadet.
It was then that he heard approaching sirens and looked out into the parking lot. His eyepatch raised in alarm as he saw none other than an ambulance peeling in. A police car followed behind it, signaling that the building would soon be overwhelmed by first responders. Panic overwhelmed the pirate and he realized that he didn't even have enough time to wait for Mike. He started to back away from the children, with his eyes still watching the vehicles outside.
"Foxy?" Chrissy called in concern. Foxy looked back at her with the intention of calming her, but instead was cut off when his feet suddenly hit something. All at once he lost his footing and landed heavily on the carpeted floor, half on top of the discarded Happy Frog body. The motion triggered every urge to escape. Foxy turned over, staggered to his feet, and sprinted to the door. He barged through into the hallway, catching the attention of Mike and Jose, and then sprinted down the hallway. He darted around the corner and sprinted out the back of the arcade.
"I hate to see what made that thing run," Jose muttered in alarm as he stared down after Foxy. Mike slid past him and investigated the dining room. He quickly noticed the lights out in the parking lot.
"Aright, the cops are here," Mike said with a weary exhale. This was it; time to face the music. "Let's just leave Dave where he is and send the cops in here. They can straighten this out." Thankfully, Jose agreed to it without any arguing. At least he was willing, because Mike wasn't sure he could handle another disagreement. Between Jose, the kids, the cops, Dave, and the constant peaking and dipping of adrenaline, he was running out of steam. This was why he dealt with animatronics; it was much easier to deal with four or five animatronics trying to kill him than the drama and conflict of a group of humans. He raised his hands in defense as he entered the arcade and approached to greet the cops entering in the front door.
There wasn't much explaining as he thought there was going to be right away. Beyond a brief statement, the cops were more worried about the children. Chrissy had waved at him before she was whisked away by paramedics to be checked for any injuries. Meanwhile, Mike found himself sitting on the curb outside the arcade with Jose, who had calmed down only the slightest bit. He only broke the silence when he noticed that Dave was being carried out on a portable stretcher.
"Well, that's it," Jose announced. "Magictime Theater is down to one owner and zero employees."
"She's not going to fire you. It would be bad publicity," Mike said in response. His throat felt dry and he barely wanted to talk, so he was almost just going through the motions.
The other man gave a pitiful sort of laugh. "Well, I'm not coming back! I'm fine staying on the payroll, but it would take more than cash to get me back here. I'm not that desperate." Perhaps the exact opposite sentiment to Mike's own history. As much as he didn't want to think about it, a lot of what Dave said sounded eerily like ways he had felt in the past. That need for the rush, that desperation to cling onto anything. The difference was that he hadn't lost himself to that need. Up until Fredrick had given him the house, Mike had managed to live normally without any need to get a 'fix' of that high.
Not to mention that he still hadn't the foggiest idea what Dave's idea was. In keeping the children alive Mike didn't know if Dave intended to somehow use them to bring the suits to life, kill them, or just continue to keep them captive until he grew bored of them. That was a question that wouldn't be answered. The only answer he had received was just that Dave wanted to, and after that he didn't know if he wanted to hear anymore or not.
It was around this time that they were approached. Originally, Mike and Jose had both spoken to police officers about the peculiar details of the situation, and none of the askers had seemed to think anything was amiss. It was all very strange, but the evidence was all laid out. Nedd Bear, who was now slumped on the stage, even had the blood on his mouth to prove what had happened. Other than Mike having to pull one of them aside to send them to the back of the theater for Charlie- which they had done with a few paramedics- he had mostly been sitting to the side waiting to be released.
Though the man who walked up to them seemed to be higher in rank. Or at least, he wasn't dressed like a normal cop. He stood over them, looked between the two men, and then asked, "Which of you is Mike?" Mike raised a hand and stood from the curb. Jose decided to merely scoot out of the way, though was still listening in. The man, he seemed to be a detective, looked at Mike almost suspiciously. "I have a few questions about what happened here."
"I don't blame you. I was here, and I still have questions," Mike remarked. He noticed the detective looking over him. "I'll tell you whatever you need to know. I have nothing to hide."
"You worked at Freddy's?" Of course, the one thing he needed to hide. The universe had a terrible sense of humor.
"What? Freddy's?" Mike asked, not giving an answer. He made sure to keep eye contact and checked any sort of nervous tick to keep it from happening. He wasn't going to get cornered. "What about Freddy's?"
"You've got the same uniform. Same hat, same accents, and I'm guessing the jacket's purple too." the detective pointed out. He leaned in to read the patch on his hat. Of course, Mike had changed the patch ages ago, so it now portrayed Foxy's visage instead of Freddy's. "I remember the fox."
"Walk into this place and poke around the pig. You'll remember it a lot more." The detective's dark eyes were stone cold. "…Possibly an inappropriate time to crack jokes, but I've had a long night and I'm seriously fraying here."
"I see. Did you know Mr. Miller?" the man asked. This time Mike could give the truth and not have to be uncomfortable with it. "Just give me a short version of your story."
"I met him a couple of days ago when I came to look for arcade machines for sell. He was acting suspicious, then said something about coming by Foxy's, so we were on guard. Especially with the kids disappearing," Mike explained. He started to become a little more worked up, "Then the guy's got the nerve to drive through our parking lot and snatch a child right in front of us. Thankfully, Chrissy's bracelet told us where she was. We're testing security bracelets that tell us the location of kids." The man's eyebrows raised abruptly, and Mike added in, "You know, for parties."
"Do kids usually disappear at parties?" the detective asked in a droned-out tone. It was a trap. It was a loaded trap that would spring, snare, and connect him to Freddy's. So once again, Mike decided to be careful with his words.
"That one kid that was taken here was taken in broad daylight, so whose to say he wouldn't sneak in while the pizzeria was busy and coax a child out the front door. We have security, but we're still small, and we deal with a lot of children who are unaccompanied." This seemed to buy off the older man a little more. "Especially Chrissy. Chrissy usually stays towards closing. Usually I give her a ride, but she tried to bike home when he came out of nowhere. This was over at Foxy's."
"I know. We were already there earlier when we got the first call," the detective revealed. Mike wanted to ask why they hadn't immediately come, but then decided against it. It would break down into him getting too worked up and possibly arrested for sassing a cop. "Dave used to work at Freddy's. We've had trouble with Dave for years, but nothing like this… It makes you wonder what really happened at that restaurant." He was fishing once again, but Mike wouldn't take the bait.
"It makes you think of what could've happened if we didn't get this under control. I don't think Dave would've stopped… I have no clue what happened to him in the office, but he was pretty much gone in the sanity department." This time Mike was looking for answers; anything about Dave that he could bring back to Foxy's.
"I could've never expected this out of Dave. He's been a repeat offender. In and out of jail. Never imagined that he would've been capable of something like this… But I suppose I should thank you. On behalf of the families who aren't present, I thank you for taking action, Mike." The detective stuck out his hand. Mike took it, supposing that it would've looked weird if he would've turned him down. "We're going to need to write up a full report. Can you come down to the police station in the morning for a written statement? We're going to be here for a while, so I'm going to let you go."
"Yeah, I can do that," Mike agreed. He tried not to show his immediate relief as he shook the man's hand. "I'm pretty much skipping work tomorrow, so I won't…" Then he trailed off and hesitated a moment. He glanced towards the ambulance that Dave had been loaded into before looking back. "Hey… About that young woman around back, Charlie. How's she holding up?"
"You know Charlie?" the detective inquired. A first name basis; he must've known her too.
"Acquaintances, mostly. We've met a few times and has been by the pizzeria. Mostly she's friends with my boyfriend-." He definitely shouldn't have said that. He could only imagine the looks he was now getting from Jose. "How's she holding up? When I found her, she looked rough. She's got a long road ahead of her." Their hands were still clutched tightly as the man stared him down. It was silent. That silence answered him before the detective did.
"Charlie-… Charlotte didn't make it," the man somberly stated. "She was too far gone when they began resuscitations… She was already going cold."
"Oh…" That feeling of horrible dread was starting to return. This confirmed that Marionette wasn't just being cryptic but had been breaking the news to him. It came softer the second time, but it was colder. It was a stranger telling them that they failed, and somebody died. Charlie wasn't even supposed to be here, and yet Mike couldn't imagine how Marionette felt. He saved the children, something he could've only dreamed of in the past, but a life was still lost.
"Go home, Mike," the detective began again. He seemed to notice Mike's distress, perhaps from him trailing off like he did. "Go home, get some sleep, and come down to the office in the morning. We've got it covered from here."
Something about the end of that made the security guard want to lash out. Maybe it was just the emotional tailspin he was on, but that line- claiming that they had anything in control- infuriated him. The children would've been the same as the ones before, lost forever with their fates never found, if it wasn't for him and Marionette. Especially if not for the Puppet, who had both overpowered Dave and unlocked the door. He wanted to say something, but anything would be a mistake. Instead, he simply nodded in agreement. He had never felt so suppressed.
The conversation broke up at that point. Mike numbly accepted a card with the detective's name and number that he slipped into his wallet before heading to his car. Halfway there, he noticed that Rhonda was already in the parking lot. She looked like a mess, so when she got a moment free he approached her, went back into his wallet, and offered what free cash he had as 'an advance payment' towards the Magic Puppet Box. She thought that he offered the money out of sympathy. He decided not to tell her that most likely her 'Puppet knockoff' had disappeared from the restaurant. She probably wouldn't even notice.
Then he finally got in the car, not even needing to check anything or wait, and started to drive home. As he pulled onto the highway, Marionette slipped out of the backseat and into the passenger one. He was now wearing Mike's jacket and had it pulled tightly around him, regardless of a few blood stains that would need to be washed out. It wouldn't be the first time that had to be done. Neither of them knew what to say first. The low hum of the car was just such an abrupt turn from the chaos of the night. It was still there, lingering over them, but their time was done.
Mike reached up to adjust the rearview mirror enough that he could see into the backseat. There was the Security Puppet in the back seat, just as he had anticipated it to be. It looked like Marionette draped some sort of a green jacket over it, but he didn't recognize it. He also noticed the bracelet resting on the console while turning to glance at Marionette. He wasn't sure when the Puppet got it from Dave, but he didn't remember it being on Dave when he checked on him with Jose. He must've been quick or had been quiet enough to slip right past Jose.
They still didn't say anything; there wasn't much to say. The form in the back was still limp as could be and whether it truly was Charlie was not yet to be seen. He had to change the subject quickly of the thoughts would return.
"Can I say something weird and largely inappropriate?" Mike asked abruptly. Marionette turned his mask towards him. "That thing you did- controlling the frog and the hippo at the same time- that was amazing," he admitted, getting the slightest glint of a smile. He couldn't deny that he had been incredibly impressed. Then again, whenever Marionette showed off his paranormal strengths Mike found himself impressed. Such a rush, and it lingered even beyond leaving the theater. He clung to that rush. "You never fail to put on a show."
"You should see me on a good day," Marionette remarked with a light chime. He paused, watching Mike, and slid down to prop his head up with his hand. He looked both physically and mentally exhausted, which was understandable. "…Let's ignore the elephant in the room and fixate on the fact that the missing children were found, yes? That'll make this an easier car ride."
"That's what we should be focusing on. Mari, do you realize what you stopped from happening?" Mike asked more seriously. He couldn't help but be insistent as he saw how depressed the other looked. He glanced between him and the road. "You saved those kids lives. You saved Chrissy's life. You stopped another missing children incident before it could even get off the ground!"
"Dave was nothing like William. He would've gotten caught," Marionette brushed off.
"Really? Because it took the cops almost thirty minutes to get there and I've got no doubt that someone back at the pizzeria mentioned this place," Mike pointed out. "All the evidence they had on the last case… Let's face it. Even someone like Dave could've gotten away with it." He then narrowed his gaze on the road. "You should've seen what sort of state he was in before they wheeled him away. He was foaming like he had rabies."
"Oh, marvelous. As though he couldn't get any more charming," Marionette remarked. "Sometimes you can tell when someone's too broken."
"Yeah, he'll get shipped off to an asylum for a few years… I mean, depending on the hospital it could be just as bad. Hell, I wouldn't want to spend even a week at our hospital, and it's pretty much tolerable compared to what I've seen." Marionette looked to Mike almost curiously for a moment, but then decided not to say what he was thinking. "The point is, you stopped that from happening. I played back up, which I'm fine with. I'm willing to back you up anytime, whether it be a life or death situation or up against a counter." He smirked as the flustered look that passed the other's mask.
"Mike, this isn't exactly the time…" Marionette lightly reminded.
"No, I think this is the perfect time," Mike quickly corrected. "I see you over there. You're already starting to overthink this. Let's leave that elephant untouched until we get home, alright?" They both needed that much of a respite. Even if it was just the drive home, they needed some amount of an escape. "You did amazing tonight. Hell, you probably saved me from being wrongly accused alone, and you saved plenty of others… It'll be a little while. Why don't you get some rest?"
Marionette released a thoughtful hum and slid further down in the seat. "Wake me up if I fall asleep… If I can ever sleep again."
"If I'm still awake, sure," Mike agreed. He then turned his attention on the road. Marionette considered putting on the Walkman to listen to something relaxing, to lose himself, but he couldn't afford to detach himself that far. He let his body collapse, but stayed alert, listening and thinking without moving. It almost felt natural.
Mable: Almost anything, no matter how odd, feels natural when you live in a world where the Music Man exists. Trust me. Anyway, the aim is to post again on Thursday and get back on the weekly schedule. I hope you enjoyed!