Mable: Hello there! Before we begin, I wanted to reply to a comment from Olivia the Nerd.

Hello again, Olivia. ^-^ The book is- funny enough- also about puppets. Though wooden puppets in a Victorian-esque world instead of animatronics. Imagine something like Pinocchio. The title, Marzipan and Merlot, is just a working title right now. After their theater is lost, the two titular puppets must flee for their lives or else risk being sent back to the workshop where they were created and emptied into mindless husks. I'll certainly add more about the story later and will keep you updated on how it's going, along with revealing more story details closer to release.

I'd definitely say to start trying to write your book. I say try, because it takes me pretty much twenty attempts to get any workable ideas down on paper. XD It's never too early to start, and really the only way one can improve their writing is through writing (and reading, but that's a given). Anyhow, I hope you enjoy the book! Thank you so much for reading it! 8D

Now onto Mister Glenn's Wild Ride, featuring El Chip.

Almost Feels Like Home

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Marionette didn't last nearly as long as he intended to and gave into the temptation rather quickly. Charlie didn't look surprised when he climbed up into the passenger seat and opened the door.

"Come with me. It's safe, nobody's out here," he assured as he exited the van. Though he wasn't confident enough to stray far from the van and quickly used it as a shield as he looked to make sure nobody was watching. He knew this was risky, especially considering his revelation with Louise and Jason, but he was willing to bend the rules for the other puppet. They wouldn't have another opportunity like this for a while.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Charlie asked. She didn't wait for an answer as she climbed out behind him and followed. He beckoned her closer to the wall and led her towards the back of the building. "There's so many people inside, Mari, and people have already seen me," she warned. Though again she didn't stop him, and she didn't exactly sound worried by it. In fact, she felt more confident with Marionette than she had when Baby coaxed her out of the van and into the mall.

"It'll be fine. We won't be going where they'll see us. I promise," the Puppet assured. He then hurried ahead when he noticed the back door. Trying it revealed that it was locked, but he was undeterred. With one hand on the door and one on the handle, he focused and shifted, tweaking at the lock until it gave, and the door opened. He beamed in delight as he peered in. From the looks of it, they were in some sort of storage room with the lights shut off. "Perfect!" He entered inside, doing a quick sweep to make sure they were alone, and then held open the door and ushered Charlie inside.

It didn't take long of shifting through the storage room before Marionette found two doors. One led through to the hallway while the other led to the backstage, being exactly where he wanted to go. He guided the other Puppet through the door and into the tight space off from the stage. It was less of a room and more of just an area to stick stacked chairs and something covered in a tarp- probably an unused animatronic. Thankfully, there was nobody back there, and from this vantage point they could see the stage from the side and the show starting to begin.

"Buenos Noches ninos and ninas!" greeted El Chip. It was obviously the same animatronic as Chipper, just having a new suit refitted and updated with the theme they were going for. "It is time for El Chip and his band- the three gran Chicos- to play!" The beaver stiffly turned to the right. "Senior Pollo, you get to choose the song this time!"

"Si," agreed what looked to be a dog animatronic. It was shorter than El Chip, so it was possibly repurposed from Chipper's son, which was no nowhere to be seen. It almost looked styled after a Chihuahua from the ears and the shape of the face and was colored a light beige with a few dark brown spots. "But I am too hungry to perform to perfection! Can we hit the tacos first?"

El Chip laughed boisterously. "Ha ha!... No."

Marionette chimed lightly at the show. It was certainly staged better than the old one, though it wasn't as unintentionally funny as it used to be. There weren't any signs of the whale cut outs either, so he doubted that the painfully bad jokes would make a resurgence. It was now that he noticed how far back Charlie was. She couldn't see from inside the door surely. He beckoned her closer, but she seemed hesitant.

"What if… What if they can see you right now? You're not that far from the stage," Charlie pointed out. She turned her heard and listened to the voices in the dining room. "And it sounds like there's a lot of them."

"Trust me, if someone could see me then I would feel it. We're out of sight right here," Marionette assured. He offered his hand out to her. She took it and stepped closer, to which he guided her in front of him, resting his hands protectively on her shoulders. "Chipper's always been an odd one. It's a normal animatronic, but it's made like one of the Freddy's models and has similar programming."

"It almost looks familiar… Did it used to be a Freddy's character?" Charlie asked curiously.

"Hmm, well… Yes and no. No, I don't remember it being used in establishments, but yes, because he was in the Fredbear and Friends cartoon, so there must have been some connection." Indeed, he remembered how Chipper had been a staple character. Though he was nothing like El Chip in the cartoon. "And the owner here, Glenn, used to work at one of the Freddy's. I'm not sure which one or what he did there though."

"Oh my gosh, I remember that cartoon!" Charlie whispered in slight surprise. She partially turned her head to face Marionette. "I can't believe I forgot it for so long, but there was a Freddy cartoon, wasn't there?" She realized what sort of Pandora's Box she opened immediately when she felt his hands tremble in excitement.

"There was! I have the entire series on tape. When we get home, we can watch it together. If only we had this conversation hours ago, I could've brought the tapes and we could've watched them in the hotel! See, it's about Fredbear, Bonnie, and Chica trying to run a restaurant while putting up with- Ah, I'm talking over the show. I'll tell you later in the van," Marionette finished abruptly. He couldn't help but wonder what she would think of the show. Maybe she would agree with him on the quality change between seasons. Perhaps she would even agree that Freddy and Bonnie were much more compatible than Freddy and Chica or Bonnie and Bea.

Charlie turned her focus to El Chip's performance for a few moments. The group had begun to play music- or mimicked playing as music echoed through the speakers- that sounded vaguely like mariachi music. El Chip led them by singing loudly and mimicking playing his mandolin.

"Her eyes were like olives, her lips were like cheese, her singing was mucho cantando, and her dancing brought me to my knees,~" El Chip sung to the audience. The pinkish bird began to rattle her maracas faster while the cactus spun around in its pot. Only then did the beaver animatronic break into the chorus. "She was the fire! The fiiiire of my life!~" He tilted back his head, opened his mouth, and- "Ayiayiayiayiayiayi!" He rattled with his head bobbling like it was attached to a spring.

"… So, was Foxy on the show?" Charlie asked. She didn't think she could handle much more of the display. Not to mention that she was losing interest in the animatronics which, while being interesting enough models, were slightly less than captivating when they weren't alive like them. Especially at the distance they were standing at, meaning that she couldn't look closer at how they functioned. Marionette didn't seem to mind at all.

"He was! He was sort of a foil or rival to Freddy's and was constantly trying to steal from him, but he wasn't necessarily a bad guy either. The typical pirate type."

"What about you?... Or the Puppet equivalent I mean."

"No, thank goodness. I have a terrible suspicion that I would've been turned into some sort of insane, flamboyant villain with a present complex. I just couldn't handle that when people are already unsettled by my smile." He chimed in amusement. "And Chipper certainly wasn't like this. He was a father and ran the lumber mill in town. I'm not sure why they chose the theme change, but it's certainly festive!"

He then hesitated. He had the desire to do something dangerous and risky. This was exactly what got him into trouble at the Halloween Party and yet he leaned in and lowered his voice. "If you would like, I could sneak you in tonight after hours and we could look at them up close."

Charlie turned her head so fast that her bell smacked Marionette across the mask. "Really?... Wait, are you sure about that?" she asked in surprise, but clearly there was interest too. "We could get caught. There could be cameras, a night guard for one."

"I doubt Glenn has a night guard and I can handle the cameras," he assured, rubbing his mask before taking her shoulders again. "It won't be anything like what happened with Baby. We won't be taking anything apart or breaking down doors. We can just sneak in, take a look, and sneak out. It's your choice."

"…I should probably think about this…" Charlie looked towards the stage and the singing animatronics. "…Alright, we'll do it… But for now, maybe we should head back to the van?" She was starting to get nervous and he agreed without hesitation. He turned to lead her back out.

And then his gaze fell on the covered animatronic. He gave a thoughtful hum as he looked at the tarp then started to nudge in closer. "I wonder why this one is covered…" The Puppet reached forwards and started to lift the edge of the tarp. The Security Puppet kept an eye out but looked back when he heard him make a strange, clinking noise of surprise.

Underneath the tarp Marionette saw a pair of metal feet that had been painted dark brown. While they seemed unfamiliar at first glance, the shape of the metal feet was one he had seen before. Then the legs, now covered in this felt to resemble black pants. He had a horrible feeling he knew what this was.

"Mari?" That was all Charlie got out before Marionette yanked off the tarp in one fell swoop. The animatronic before him was painted and dress like a mariachi band member, though his pants and vest were black. He wore a sombrero that looked much too small in comparison to his head and his dark face paint was punctuated with apple red cheeks, a black nose, and strangely silver eyes. It wasn't just a beaver like El Chip; it seemed to be modeled after him.

"I don't believe this…" Marionette murmured. He refused to take his eyes off it as he explained to Charlie. "That is the Lumber Bot. This animatronic had a disturbing type of programming that allowed it to make non-programmed animatronics act strangely… And hunt just as it would. It attacked Mike and I- along with others- some time ago, so I assumed that Glenn would've gotten rid of it. He knew its programming was tampered with and knew it was attacking those working the night shift." He looked over it and a low static began to come from his core. "But he didn't get rid of it."

"Why would he keep something like that?" Charlie asked in shock. "If it wasn't working right and it wasn't alive, then why would he take that risk? It doesn't even look like its been used recently."

"I don't know," Marionette admitted, still obviously frustrated by the finding. He tightened his fists briefly before giving an airy exhaling noise and releasing them. It wasn't as though he could do anything about Glenn's recklessness. He couldn't even keep his own recklessness in check. Though this finding significantly changed his plans. "…Perhaps we… Shouldn't come back tonight…" Marionette quietly admitted. "…I'm sorry, Charlie. But I'm just-."

"No, I think you're right. It's one thing if they're not responding, but…" She looked over the seemingly unthreatening animatronic. "I don't want another Music Man incident, and I really don't want to feel that sort of programming." It was obvious that he was still upset about it. She reached out for his shoulder. "Let's get back to the van. I want to know more about Foxy's shoplifting."

This managed to make Marionette perk again. At least Charlie learned how to pull him out of a jam. Lumber Bot would be forgotten for now; it was Glenn's problem, not theirs.

In contrast to what Glenn had said, by time Mike and Fritz finished their meal and show he was nowhere to be seen. Amber couldn't find him either and suggested that maybe he had left the restaurant and would be back later. Neither Mike nor Fritz were patient enough to wait any longer and decided to head to the hotel. By time they got into the van, Mike had returned to his suspicions, thinking that something was certainly off with the situation. Especially with Glenn up and vanishing. Something didn't seem right about everything.

As they started pulling out of the parking lot, Marionette reached around the chair to tap him on the shoulder. "How was the show?" he asked curiously. Innocently enough considering he was there. Not that he was lying when he hadn't stayed for the whole show.

"Way more cohesive than Chipper's old one. Not as hilariously awful, but someone really needs to check El Chip's Spanish. About halfway through he stopped making sense… That's when the show went from good to great." Mike shot the Puppet a playful smile and the animatronic gave an amused chime. "And you two?"

"Didn't get to hear El Chip's broken Spanish, so we will consider ourselves lucky." That wasn't a lie either. "How about the food? In comparison to our own?"

"Considering that it was a taco bar, it was alright," Mike said with a slight shrug. "Seriously, I expected it would be awful, but it was actually okay. I wouldn't eat it daily though. You should've seen Glenn…" He gave a slow exhale. "So, Glenn looks like he's half in the grave and split on us after dinner. We did get the estimate and information on expanding, so all in all it was a success." He didn't vocalize his suspicions, but Marionette could hear something in his tone of voice. He must've not seen the Lumber Bot though or he certainly would've commented on it.

They stayed at the same hotel they had the last time they visited Chipper's. Not the same room but considering that most of the rooms were virtually identical it wasn't much of a change. Fritz took his own with Mike and both puppets splitting the other. Mike guided the two into the room while they hid underneath a drop cloth. He stepped inside, sent one glance over the room, and gave a blunt, "Well, here's where we're spending the next ten hours."

"Just pretend its Freddy's. The time will go by in an instant," Marionette assured as he slipped out from the cloth. "Or it will feel like an eternity. Either way, it certainly can't last forever." He hovered closer and watched as Mike sat down on the edge of the bed and took off his shoes. He hesitated a moment, tapping his fingers together, and then asked, "Did you see the Lumber Bot?"

"Nah. Saw Chipper and a couple of reused bots, but it didn't look like the Lumber Bot was there. At least, not in that show," Mike said. He seemed unconcerned at first, but then glanced up at the Puppet knowingly. "…What? What did you see?"

"Lumber Bot covered up off-stage," Marionette admitted. "He looked painted and refurbished just like the others, so I find it odd that he wasn't in the show."

"Glenn still hasn't gotten rid of that thing?" Mike asked in disbelief. He sat there a moment, almost stunned, and then voiced his suspicions. "You know, something seemed off about Glenn. Not only did he look puffy and sweaty, and all pink in the face, but he was just acting weird. The last few times we've spoken, Glenn's been direct and asks questions. He tiptoed through our talk so quickly that you'd think he was taking hints from Scott. Which I would be fine with if it wasn't so weird."

"I think Glenn might be hiding something," the Puppet suggested. Then he hesitated and considered it. "…Of course, what he could've been hiding was Lumber Bot. Bad programming or not, it is a fully functioning, modern animatronic. He might not be willing or able to replace it, and he might've known how you would've reacted if you knew it was still there."

"Yeah, that makes sense… Doesn't explain everything else though…" Mike couldn't shake the feeling that it was more than that but decided to trust Marionette's instinct. "I don't know. Maybe he really is just under the weather and it was bad timing for me to come see the business. I'll give him the benefit of a doubt."

"Now if only that detective would give us the same," Marionette playfully lamented, leaning over and crossing his arms, tossing him a more teasing sort of smile. "How does it feel surviving Chipper's yet again, Mr. Schmidt?"

"Surviving? Not yet. Give me at least until morning; by then we'll be able to see if the food was safe or not," Mike quipped as he laid back on the bed and reached for the remote on the beside table. He was soon flicking through the television channels while Marionette sat down alongside him, crossing his legs on the comforter. After a moment, Mike added in, "If Glenn wants to risk his life and restaurant with that thing in there then kudos to him. Just as long as he doesn't expect us to go fix it."

"Maybe he was afraid if you knew that you two would start looking deeper into it," Charlie pointed out teasingly. "Let's be fair, the moment he invited us over, the first thing we did was go sneaking around. Even if it's justified. You can't forget something like that… Even if your backup plan is to hide your secret under a flimsy sheet."

The comment settled for a few seconds before Mike turned to Marionette. "You better be thankful Charlie's here, because if she wasn't then there would be so many cringy jokes about secrets under sheets that it would feel like a night at Chipper's." Marionette didn't know whether to be semi-curious or take Mike's smug smile as a sign to not be.

In the next room over, Fritz planned on getting through the night as quickly as possible. Now he wished that Natalie would've come with them, but he had partially expected that they would leave El Chip's and drive home through the night. He wasn't even sure if he would be able to stand an entire night with nothing to do- he would probably have to go out to the van and see if he had anything to tinker on. For the moment he jumped into the shower and tried to scrub off the day. It was all uneventful and normal, until he shut the shower off and realized his cellphone was ringing.

"Probably Nat. I need to give her a call anyway," he supposed as he started to dry off. The ringing stopped and then started almost immediately afterwards. This was peculiar; certainly not like Natalie. She wasn't the type to call multiple times in a row. Maybe it was Jeremy, or even Scott. Either of which calling repeatedly could spell disaster, but it wasn't as though he could do anything about it. He wrapped the towel around his waist and stepped out as the second call was missed. He just picked up his cellphone to check it when a third call came through. This time, Fritz answered it. "Hello?"

"Fritz, good. I thought I got the wrong number." The grizzled, thick voice on the other side was clearly Glenn's. "Fritz, look… We need to talk. It's about the animatronics and it can't wait. I need you to come see me at the restaurant after it closes."

"Glenn, we just left the restaurant. Can't it wait until morning?" Fritz pointed out in disbelief. "Where were you by the way? Amber said you just left."

"It's not important, just… Come about ten-thirty, alright? Everyone will be gone, but it'll be early enough before Midnight that the animatronics won't be… Excitable." He gave a weary sigh and Fritz a shudder; that confirmed that the animatronics were still active. "And I need you to come alone. Don't tell Mike you're coming."

"Glenn, this is all a little much… Why can't I tell Mike?" Fritz latched onto that immediately, especially Glenn's following silence. "Does this have something to do with Mike?"

"I told you, it's about the animatronics… and I know about his interests in animatronics," Glenn said, his voice growing a bit more solemn as he said it. Fritz's eyes widened, and his voice caught in his throat. "I need to talk with you alone. Ten-thirty, I'll be waiting for you in my office." With that, the phone call ended, and Fritz was left standing there without the foggiest idea of what was going on. He wasn't too unused to calls like this back when he worked at Freddy's- such as whenever Fredrick called him in the middle of the night with an emergency- but there were red flags everywhere.

So, he decided to trust his gut: he went straight to Mike.

After a few knocks on the hotel door, Mike answered it and found Fritz standing there, awkwardly dressed in half his uniform, hair still damp and face looking grim. He sent the technician a weird look, "Let me guess, you only realized once you got into the shower how disgusting it probably is?"

"Can you… Can you step out, or…?" Fritz glanced past and could see Marionette raising from the other side of the second bed. Obviously, he and Charlie had hidden, thinking it was someone other than him. He wasn't sure if he wanted them to hear some of the stuff he was about to divulge, not when it was so uncomfortable. "Just a second?"

"Sure, but it'll cost you," Mike remarked as he stepped out and closed the door behind him. "Alright, what disaster are we looking at?" He already knew something was up, which got a brief smile of stressed amusement from Fritz. A brief one.

"Glenn called and asked me to come meet him at El Chip's tonight after closing."

"That sounds like a trap," Mike bluntly stated.

"I know, especially since- get this- he told me to come alone and not to tell you anything."

"That sounds even more like a trap." Now Mike looked entirely unimpressed.

"And, well, here's the kicker… I think knows about you and Mari. He didn't say it specifically, but I know that's what he was implying, and I think he wants me to come over so he can, I don't know, confront me about it?" Fritz was only more nervous while Mike furrowed his brows in confusion. "He said it was about the animatronics but then dropped that in there. You see my confusion."

"How would Glenn know about Mari and me? We weren't even together when we were here last," he pointed out skeptically. "Are you sure that he doesn't mean that he knows Mari and I broke in?"

"He said 'interests', Mike, and he said it in a not-so-subtle way. I know what he meant," Fritz pointed out matter-of-factly. "It wouldn't have been anymore obvious if he had started detailing what you had been doing. Thankfully, he didn't." But this didn't make any sense. From what Mike could rationalize, Glenn couldn't have found out. It wasn't like with Chance, who had been looking through the now-defunct cameras William had littered the house with. Unless-.

"Oh my God…" Unless somehow Glenn had gotten this footage from Chance or found it leftover on a backup computer that he left behind. The thought of it immediately horrified Mike, especially since that meant that maybe others could find that footage, including Burke and possibly the press. Mike ran a hand through his hair and tried to swallow the panic beginning to rise. Then he looked back to Fritz. "What am I supposed to do about it? Glenn's willing to forget all the crimes Fredrick committed, then I doubt he's going to rat me out. Technically, nothing I did was illegal."

"…The fact that you had to say that makes me even more disturbed," Fritz flatly answered. "We need to go over there and try to talk him down. Or at least, see what's so important."

"I stand by what I said: none of this sounds right and I wouldn't be caught dead in Chipper's after closing. Before Midnight or not," Mike insisted firmly. "And I don't think you should either. Even if it's not a trick, Glenn's going to get you into a corner and start asking questions that you're not going to want to answer. You know it's not an emergency if it's about me, so you don't need to go."

"I know, I know, but… But I'm afraid if I don't go, it might leave us open to something worse. Or, just… I don't know. Maybe if I talk to Glenn, I can try to cool this whole thing down. Especially with how sick he looks." Fritz was obviously concerned, but Mike was unmoved by it. "Can you at least drive me? Maybe wait outside while I go in and straighten this out?"

"…Yeah, fine. Since I might've gotten you into this mess… Or at least, Chance did," he muttered the last part under his breath. Mike didn't want to go anywhere near El Chip's again, but he knew he had to do it. While he wouldn't say it out loud, the situation did unease him. Glenn could use that information for anything and it wasn't like they were on the best of terms. If anything, they were friendly competitors, and someone more cutthroat could've taken that information and used it to ruin the business. "Let me go get my shoes and we'll drive over there." Before Fritz could say anything, Mike let himself back into the hotel room and started to put on his shoes.

"Alright, I'm going to drive Fritz over to see Glenn at El Chip's. I don't know why he wants to meet at this unholy hour- when we were just there- but it's better than getting up in the morning," Mike explained quickly.

"Mike…" Marionette's tone was warning and already suspicious. Nothing that Mike didn't expect.

"We'll be back quickly and I won't be going in. You stay here and man the fort," Mike suggested as he headed to the door.

"Mike," Marionette said a bit more firmly, hovering closer, but was cut off by the door closing. The security guard could almost hear his static through the door. He then looked to Fritz who rubbed the back of his neck.

"We don't need to go just yet," Fritz explained. "Glenn told me to meet him about ten-thirty."

"If he wants to do this then we're doing it now, when there's probably still workers there," Mike firmly asserted. It was clear that he would not be budged. "And if Glenn doesn't like it, then he can drive all the way down to Foxy's some other night at ten o'clock." With that, he headed down to the van. Fritz followed shortly after, still seemingly hesitant.

It wasn't until they were driving over that Mike took notice of exactly how anxious Fritz looked sitting in the passenger seat. Fritz was not the nervous type. Cautious, yes, but not nervously skittish like Jeremy and Scott were. When it came down to having someone come to a business and risk their life, Fritz usually was capable of doing so. He obviously wasn't afraid of Chipper's or any of the animatronics in it, so it had to be Glenn.

"Did something happen between you and Glenn?" the younger man bluntly asked as they continued down the road. Fritz looked over with a start. "Glenn made it like you two barely knew each other and you act like you only know him by name, but you're acting a little too worried to not suspect something."

"It's not Glenn. It's all former Freddy employees, current or not," Fritz assured and turned towards the window. He stared at it for a minute before admitting, "It's a good thing we met Scott when we did, because if it was now, there would be no way that I'd open us up to someone in the business."

Blue eyes glanced off the road and to the other man, then returned to watching ahead, keeping an eye out on the unfamiliar road. "What changed?"

Fritz gave a weary sigh. "Fredrick changed." A long pause followed. It could've been left at that and Mike would've understood, but the technician took the liberty of continuing. "I never thought Fredrick was perfect, Mike. I knew something was off, but I didn't think it was that off. He used to talk about William like he hated him, and talked about Henry like he liked him, and it was so convincing that I would have never thought he was… Will." He gave a slight shudder. "I don't know if you realize how creepy it is to realize the guy you were working for was a serial killer."

"How about the guy who was your surrogate dad? How many times did he drag me out to a sympathy breakfast? Or that time he slipped me grocery money after he found out my fridge was empty… It just doesn't fit. We've got a kid killer running loose, making killer bots, and slipping me cash when I can't keep myself in groceries." Mike didn't want to say it, but it was more than just anger. It was a deeper betrayal than that, even if he didn't want to give William that amount of power. "…But yeah, I get it. Honestly, I'm pretty mixed on trusting Glenn regardless. He doesn't take care of his animatronics."

"Well, they're not alive," Fritz pointed out.

"They don't have to be. Besides, Glenn might've thought they were, or didn't care if they were. I don't know, I've got a soft spot for animatronics now." Though 'now' wasn't entirely accurate. Even when working the night shift at Freddy's, he had become attached and somewhat concerned for the animatronics. When he would see them become filthier and broken down, he found himself become more disgusted in the business itself, and the management, instead of the animatronics. He noticed Fritz giving him a slight smile and a quirked brow of amusement. "You've got that look again."

"Nothing. I was just considering that Glenn might not be too far off from the truth on his suspicions," Fritz playfully suggested. It eased the mood only momentarily as they proceeded to pull into El Chip's parking lot. While the lights were on, it looked like most of the cars were gone. "Geez, it looks deserted…" Fritz muttered as Mike drove to pull beside the restaurant. Then, out of nowhere, the technician asked, "Hey, you want to go cave diving sometime?"

Mike sent him an incredulous look. "Where did that come from?" Maybe it was a metaphor on Chipper's being a trapping pit of death, but Mike wasn't seeing the connection.

"I wanted to go, but Natalie's claustrophobic and I doubt we're getting Jeremy in the ground. And I'm not desperate enough to ask Baby," Fritz pointed out. He then inhaled deeply and glanced at the clock. He was still rather early, but he started to brace himself up to head inside. "Are you sure you don't want to come inside?"

"Fritz, I'll go down in a cave with you, but I'm not walking into Chipper's this late," Mike pointed out. With a slightly disappointed exhale, Fritz started to get out of the van. The security guard leaned over the passenger seat to ask, "You can get an adrenaline high from cave diving, right?"

"You better believe nothing gets you into fight or flight mode faster than realizing you're stuck in a tight cave and can't turn around," Fritz called back as he continued towards the front door. He could hear Mike rolling down the window.

"Keep this short! I'm not coming in after you!" He was obviously interested, regardless of how he worded it. That was something worth looking into whenever they were closed for renovations. At least someone was willing to go with him, because Fritz wasn't even going to consider going alone. Even if he was willing to meet Glenn under such suspicious circumstances.

He tried the front door and found it unlocked, so he let himself in and walked into the dining room. It didn't look like there was anyone there, but there was a light coming from the kitchen and the dining room lights were still on. If the place closed then it had closed recently, even if everything was emptied out. It was very possible that there were still multiple workers picking everything up and putting things away, which made him feel better. Even though Fritz was going in blind as he headed to the hallway to look for the office. It didn't take him long to find it, with the door open and Glenn sitting at the desk inside.

"Glenn?" Fritz quietly began. Glenn still jolted upright as though he had barged in unannounced. "Glenn, it's just me. Sorry I was early, I just… I had a little bit of an issue getting from the hotel to here without… Mike finding out." It seemed like the older man believed the lie and his features softened.

"It's fine. Here, sit down," he offered as he gestured to the chair. He then broke into a fit of raspy coughs. "Throat's killing me. Chest too, I think I got some sort of lung thing."

"That could be serious," Fritz chimed in.

"I know, I know. Trust me, if something's killing me… It's not going to be my lungs." Glenn cut off abruptly and shook his head. "Doesn't matter. I didn't bring you here to talk about my health. I brought you here to talk about the bots. They still act up at night, but I'm sure Mike's already told you that."

"Yeah…" Fritz awkwardly tapped on the arms of his chair. "…About what you said on the phone about Mike, I'm not sure who told you that was going on, but that's not going on. Who told you any of that?" the technician asked in confusion and the slightest suspicion. Glenn started to answer, but then heaved to get oxygen, choking on his own breath, and waved it off.

"Doesn't matter," he choked out as he drank from a bottle of water. No wonder he was thirsty with how profusely he was sweating. "Chance. Before Chance died, he talked to me about Mike. He told me about how he was getting around to the other businesses," he admitted finally. "I thought he was the one who tampered with my bots. The only ones who could've were you, him, Dave, or that shady nervous guy. But after Chance and I talked… He made me believe maybe Mike did it… Maybe Mike's Afton's son."

"That's not true. Michael Afton's-… Michael's not exactly with us anymore." Fritz cut off a moment and considered his next words. "Is that what Chance told you? Because I could tell you what he was doing. That whole pizzeria was a sham."

"Chance was off his rocker. You don't need to tell me that," Glenn added, changing tunes entirely. "He really thought Schmidt was some sort of mastermind behind everything? Mike's not even been working at Freddy's that long!..." His hand slowly dragged down off his face as he looked blankly towards the technician. "…Not as long as you have."

All at once Fritz got a cold chill down his spine. As though cold fingers were trailing across his shoulders before resting on his neck where they prodded at his pulse.

"It's not like Mike's the technician that worked on my bots and disappeared off the map."

This felt like a bad idea. Maybe Mike was right.

Then all at once, Glenn gave another huff and rubbed over his face. "I'm sorry, I'm not thinking straight. Everything's been in a blur for the last couple of days. Everyone's out to get me and all of that." He rubbed at his arm tightly and winced in obvious pain. It was only now that Fritz realized something was terribly wrong.

"Glenn, I think you need to go to the hospital," Fritz suggested. He stood and started to come around the desk, to which the older man shook his head. "Glenn, I'm serious. You could have some sort of walking pneumonia or something." Again, Glenn tried to raise his hand dismissively. "No. No putting this off. Come on, I'll drive you now," Fritz firmly stated.

"…Fine, if you won't get off my back about it," Glenn caved. "Just… Here, just sit back down. I'm going to go make sure the kitchen staff is gone and lock the place up. We'll go out the back; you can drive me in my car." This sounded good enough and the technician sat back down. "Just let me do my nightly routine. One more night won't kill me." He promised as he stood and started out of the room. He pulled the office door closed behind him with a click before heading down the hallway, leaving Fritz alone.

After about ten minutes of waiting, once Fritz was becoming antsy, he heard what sounded like someone going into one of the rooms down the hall. From the location and lack of labelling on the room, he assumed it must've been a storage or maintenance room and wondered if that was Glenn checking the animatronics before he left. He was wasting too much time in his state. Fritz stood and hurried to the door, intending to track Glenn down and confront him. He turned the knob and went to yank open the door open.

It didn't budge.

Fritz tried again and now gave a frantic knock. "Hey! Glenn?!" he called through but there was no response. He couldn't even hear whoever was walking around anymore. "Glenn, what are you doing?! Did you lock me in here?!" he called out as he tried to force the door open. It held tightly under his attempt to force it open.

Yet at that moment he heard the footsteps of someone else- or something else from how heavy the footsteps sounded. His eyes widened as he realized it was an animatronic. Checking his watch, he could see it was still only ten o'clock. The animatronics shouldn't have been awake and moving. Then again, the door shouldn't have been locked either. He was trapped.

Glenn had set him up.

Mable: I'm sure anyone spotted that something was amiss with Glenn, and apparently, it's more than just taco-overdose. You can never trust the ones that worked at Freddy's, for they're much too purple.