Mable: This chapter didn't mean to come out as lengthy as the last one did. O.o I'm not even sure how it did, but here we are! Anyway, Enjoy!
Almost Feels Like Home
Chapter Fifty-Six
Scott could just feel the tension radiating through the house. Even now, even after Baby and Ennard had managed to come to a silent truce last night, things were still strained. He had witnessed both breakdowns and had heard all that happened, so he had a good grasp of the situation. He still wasn't certain what to do next. He was still unsure whether or not the two could live together after the night before. The best-case scenario was already that they hadn't maimed each other during the night.
After what he could only label as 'hugging it out', Baby had returned to the garage to hide herself away. Ennard had stayed holed up in the bedroom and while he seemed to be acting normal, something was amiss. It was almost like he was afraid to leave the room or stubbornly refusing to address the elephant outside the room. Either of which Scott could believe. Sometimes Ennard tended to ignore issues until they magically went away, or until he didn't have to think of them anymore.
So, Scott was entirely taken aback when Ennard knocked on the office door, let himself inside- he didn't let himself in uninvited, which was already a sign that something was amiss- and then said something that the man would've never expected. "I'm going to go see Baby."
"…Are you sure?" Scott tentatively asked.
"Yeah, I'm sure," Ennard agreed. "It's time."
With that, he closed the door to a crack. Scott slowly turned back towards his computer and tried to not anticipate the worst. He considered trying to listen in, torn between his concern and not wanting to entirely violate their privacy. He heard the door creak back open and looked back to see Ennard still there and watching him.
"Going to wait a few more minutes?" Scott offered sympathetically. The clown hesitated before stepping fully inside the office and shutting the door behind him.
"If I asked you something and told you to be honest, would you be completely honest with me?" Ennard asked. It was strange how serious his voice was. He still used his clown-like Funtime Freddy voice, but the tone, volume, and energy were all drained. He was waiting expectantly for an answer.
"You know I would," Scott reassured. "…Is there something you want to ask me?"
Ennard stared before slumping slightly back against the door. He looked upset and Scott suspected that it wasn't just Baby. The next question only verified his suspicion.
"…Do you ever think about that time I led you down to Afton's?" Ennard questioned. His voice was heavy with guilt and he avoided eye contact. "You don't… You didn't ever have nightmares or anything like that, did you? Not like you had with Freddy's, right?"
"What? No! No, no. I haven't- I've never had a nightmare of you, Ennard. Maybe some strange dreams, but never a nightmare," Scott reassured him honestly. From what he could remember at least.
"I was just wondering… If maybe I hurt you as much as they did," the amalgam admitted. His voice lowered further, edging on his real voice without committing to its broken state. "I just don't get how you could forgive someone who did that to you." When the man didn't answer quickly enough, he looked at him directly and asked, "How do you forgive that?"
"Ennard…" Scott exhaled and stood from his chair, wanting to put all his focus on his distressed housemate. His voice softened, "Ennard, that was a long time ago. You don't have to still feel guilty about that. I forgave you the second you let us go."
"It wasn't enough," Ennard interjected.
"I'll admit that maybe I forgive people quicker than others, but that doesn't mean I don't take everything into consideration with it. I didn't forgive you just because you let us go. I forgave you because I knew then that you weren't that person you were down in ARI. Everything that happened in that Scooping Room wasn't you, and if it was you wouldn't have tried so hard afterwards to fix your mistakes. You don't forgive somebody because their mistake wasn't that bad, you forgive somebody because they're learning and trying to be better."
Scott hoped he was getting through to him. He noticed that Ennard was starting to slip back into his thoughts again and decided to wrap up his point, because he knew what this was all about. "You don't have to forgive Baby, Ennard. If you're not ready to do that then that's okay. I just don't want you to villainize yourself over something that you already made up for," Scott said, nearly pleading with him.
Ennard considered this for a moment before perking the smallest bit and giving a soft laugh. His wires looked to be easing up from their tight and tense state. He reached forward to take the man by the shoulders.
"You really are something amazing, Scott. Can't say I'm ever gonna get there, but if I come out of this just half of what you are then maybe I'm not so bad after all," Ennard offered. His voice grew lighter and bubbly again, and the tone was a welcome return to character. Scott expected a tight hug to follow and braced himself according. That wasn't what happened.
Instead, the amalgam stepped in closer and began to slowly move in. Scott caught on to what he was doing once he was only a few inches away and his pulse skyrocketed. He could hear every wire shifting as Ennard leaned in with a tilt of his head, could feel every bit of warmth both from said wires and from the rush of blood through his own body. It looked like Ennard was moving towards his cheek, but the man found himself turning just the slightest bit to change his course. He restrained himself only once he realized what he was doing.
It didn't stop Ennard. He pressed the mouth of his mask against the edge of Scott's. It was a strange thing really; the mask couldn't kiss back, it clearly wasn't Ennard's real mouth, and the human hadn't turned enough to kiss back. For all intents and purposes, it shouldn't have sent the shivers along the man's spine like it had. Heat spread through him and a bubbling giddiness twisted in his chest. He almost stopped Ennard from pulling back if not for his better judgement kicking in.
"Okay, enough stalling. I'm gonna go see Baby now," Ennard announced. He seemed more upbeat as he drew back and headed right back out the door, as though nothing happened. "Don't work too hard!"
"Don't, uh, don't worry about me. I won't." As soon as Ennard was gone, Scott collapsed back into his chair and tried to calm his heartrate. This was starting to get out of hand. It was one thing when he returned hugs and possibly platonic 'I love you's, but this was more serious, even if Ennard didn't realize it. This was starting to slowly chip away at his resolve to keep their comfortable 'friendship' where it was.
"He's vulnerable, he's confused, don't take advantage of it," Scott warned himself. He rubbed his hands on his legs anxiously as he tried to will himself to calm the reaction he couldn't control. "Back to work."
Ennard was a little more confident now that he had the conversation with Scott. It would still be uncomfortable and he wasn't sure how over it he was, but he knew he had to do this. Both for his sake and Baby's own he had to do this. Seeing her reaction to everything was almost as gut wrenching as remembering having his guts wrenched- at least his humor was coming back. Maybe he could use that to his advantage. After all, everyone loved kooky and fun Ennard.
He paused at the garage door, steadied himself, got in character, and then threw open the door and leaned in. Baby looked like she had been asleep but roused as soon as she heard the door opening. He didn't even give her a second to brace herself.
"Hey Baby, whaddya say I throw some popcorn in the microwave and we break out the Clue and solve a couple of murders? We could even see if Mrs. Peacock keeps up her murdering streak," Ennard boldly invited. He sounded just as normal as ever, like the day before hadn't happened, and Baby just stared back silently. She was completely in shock. "I'll go pop the corn and you decide who you want to play as," he volunteered and turned to leave.
Unsurprisingly, she stopped him. "Wait," Baby called out after him and he stopped in the doorway. She couldn't understand how he could act like everything was fine. "…Why?"
"Because, silly, if I don't pop the corn, I don't get popcorn," Ennard teased back. "Though I'd love to get one of those big popcorn machines that's pretty much full twenty-four seven. I would fit myself inside that thing and just live there, ha ha!" Baby was positively baffled at how he dismissed the events so easily.
"No, I mean…" her voice faltered to a whisper. "After last night… I didn't expect you to want anything to do with me." Baby just couldn't understand it.
"Right! Last night! I forgot all about last night!" Ennard attempted to dismiss. She clearly didn't buy it, so he became a bit more honest, dropping the character just slightly. "It's okay now, Baby. I forgive you."
"You forgive me?" That suddenly? Had she even given him a properly worded apology? She was only more confused by it. "You can't forgive me. I don't want you to forgive me. You can't just-…" She turned her head away, unsure of what she was even asking for. Eventually she managed to figure it out. "Why would you do that?"
"Because you're my Babydoll. You're my friend. I want to forgive you," Ennard replied as honestly as could be. She was ready to protest but he didn't give her time to do so. "We can't change what we did, Baby, and we've done plenty of terrible things. We just have to move on and do better things if we get the chance. I got that chance and now you've got that chance."
Baby made a noise akin to a sigh and looked back to him. Her green eyes flickered over his face, trying to read something from his mask. "I don't know what to make of you, Ennard," she admitted. "How many times did I try to hurt you? How many times…?" He was still waiting on something. Perhaps to see if she was going to take his invitation. It didn't matter why he offered, she decided. It was Ennard's choice; it wasn't just hers any longer.
So, she made her decision. "…I want to play with you."
"Ha, then let's go!" He swung open the door for her and beckoned her to follow. She did without any hesitant. "…But I'm warning you now, if you sneak and look at my clues again, I'm going to flip the table and go into a crazy popcorn induced rage."
It was hard to go back to work and pretend that everything was all fine and dandy. In fact, after Springtrap and the realization that Charlie's friends might continue looking around, Mike was feeling wary of the whole situation. This meant he would have to do his actual job today. No playing waiter, no distracting himself; he would have to be the perfect security guard. He wasn't sure if it was out of nostalgia or a false sense of importance, but he had gotten out his old security badge.
"Forget Fredrick. I earned this thing all those nights I was in there," Mike assured himself as he looked over the badge. "Might've not meant anything to him, but I earned this. If I could pull the night shift on no sleep for days on end then I can handle a bunch of kids, the Scooby Gang, and a molded rabbit… With or without this badge." With that determination, he set the badge down on the dresser and headed out of the room. Only to return a few seconds later to snatch up the badge and pin it on. "It's a free country. I'll wear whatever I want."
It was clear that both Marionette and Charlie were on edge as well. The Puppet still noticed the badge right away and got a smile from it, ignoring how Mike got it and instead just glad to see him wearing it. While Mike was sliding on his shoes, he came up behind him and rested his hands on his shoulders.
"We'll have to be careful today. I doubt Michael would come to Foxy's, but it is always a possibility if he's confused enough," Marionette pointed out worriedly. "And Burke may be a problem too after the break-in."
"Yeah, I'm expecting a call any minute now. I'm guessing he only waited this long to lull us into a fake sense of security," Mike said sardonically. That was the last thing they needed, Springtrap and the police appearing at the pizzeria at the same time. Marionette raised his hand to pet his cheek reassuringly and the man exhaled, letting go of any frustration. "It's going to be fine. Even if that did happen, we'd figure out a way out of it," Mike assured, catching the other's hand and turning to kiss it. "Worry about Foxy."
"I always do," Marionette chimed. With the mood somewhat lifted they left soon afterwards with Charlie in tow.
As they arrived at the pizzeria, Mike was met in the hallway by a very strained looking Fritz while Marionette headed on to the Prize Corner. "Glad you guys made it. We're in for a nightmare today," he began.
"Don't tell me. Either Burke, Glenn, or Chance called?" Mike asked flatly.
"I mean, Burke did call me yesterday, but that's not it. We're overbooked." Fritz took a shaky inhale and added a strained, "We're massively overbooked."
"How overbooked is massively? We have plenty of tables out there and the cakes are already made."
"We've got four parties today and all of them are between noon and two. I tried to talk some of them back, but I… I didn't want to risk losing any of the parties. It's kind of hard to get out of the 'we always need the money' mentality," Fritz admitted with a lopsided smile. Both knew that Mike wouldn't have had the same problem. "But here's the catch. Only three of them are birthday parties. The fourth one, which is actually the first one coming in at noon, is actually a party for some kid's grades, so we're not looking at the usual birthday event."
"Got it… How exactly do we throw a grades party?" Mike asked. "What is that? Is that just pizza and cupcakes, or are we looking at getting one of the performers over there."
"He wanted at least twenty minutes with Foxy and is willing to pay extra for it… Which now makes me wonder why we aren't charging people by the minute. We could probably milk a fortune out of that." Even though this was a joke, he then paused as though considering it. He snapped out of it and continued, "So, we'll need Mari for the first birthday party, and we'll have to crunch a lot of time. Louise is in with Tabby right now trying to get everything started up."
"I think I know what you're leading into," Mike offered as he headed to the kitchen. Fritz sent a confused look until the security guard leaned into the kitchen. "Louise, you want to stick around today?"
The young woman was helping her mother and almost looked startled by the offer. "What was that? You want me to stay here and work?"
"I'll pay you two dollars an hour more than whatever you're making now," he offered without a hitch. "And you can get whatever you want out of the Prize Corner, as long as it's not the register or the Puppet."
"Well… Okay! It's just taking orders and delivering food, right? I think I can handle that!" Louise said with a little more confidence. Perhaps not enough though as Tabby gave a small snort of amusement; as though she already knew how many customers they were about to be confronted with. "Tell me when we open up, okay?"
"Will do," Mike agreed. He started to leave before leaning back into the room. "And for future reference," he began again, clearing his throat lightly and rushing out. "If you see a six or seven-foot-tall rabbit running around, try to keep it from getting into the dining room." Louise's eyes widened and her lips pursed, Tabby just raised a brow in confusion, and Mike shut the door before they could ask questions.
Unfortunately, Fritz was still standing there beside him and looked just as aghast. He leaned in and lowered his voice as he asked, "You don't actually think Springtrap's going to show up here, do you?"
"I don't think Springtrap's that suicidal. Not now that I know he somehow got out of that fire… I don't know what he's capable of." Mike's uncertainty began to edge through for a moment. Though he recovered quickly and regained full confidence. "But that's why I'm here. And since Louise is here, I'll be free enough to keep better watch on the place both inside and out. If anyone is going to tackle a human-sized rabbit in the parking lot, it's going to be me, and I am going to do it in broad daylight." He punctuated this with a small smirk.
Fritz seemed a little less confident. "Yeah, well, if that does happen… Try to get him into the dumpster a least," he lightly joked. "Or if he's cooperative enough, we could throw a paper bag over his head and put him on stage. It'll save us the trip to the animatronic convention to get a new one." With that, he went to go unlock the front door and start the day.
For the first couple of hours the restaurant was quieter than it had been in the last few days. It was still comfortably full, but not nearly as crowded as it had been in the opening week, giving a brief reprise to get warmed up with. Unfortunately, once noon came, that quiet mood had rapidly changed. The first party was small, but the children were restless and intended to get as much out of that guaranteed twenty minutes of Foxy as they could. He had stepped down from his stage, approached the table, and proceeded to walk straight into a nightmare.
Who knew a group of young girls could be so ravenous for attention. Especially since they weren't that young- except a toddler that might've been a sibling, who had left a large, sticky handprint on his arm. The rest of them wanted every amount of attention and as soon as they realized that he could be moved proceeded to start dragging him towards the arcade. If Jeremy hadn't sprinted over and stopped them, he didn't know where he would've ended up.
Though staying at the table was not much better. The children were insatiable, requesting songs and then changing their mind halfway through, asking relentless questions and expecting him to answer them all at once. Not to mention that he was beginning to mix up his answers and once had even been called out when he referred to the building as 'the pizzeria' and not 'the pirate ship'. Thankfully, the kids were willing to believe when he assured them that it was both. He had to admire that they took the roleplay as seriously as he did.
But Foxy was becoming a little burned out, and it was around this time when he crossed paths with Louise. She had been bringing food out to a nearby table when she heard the noise and looked over in time to see the situation he was trapped in. She sympathized with him, then realized he was an animatronic and not under the same strains as a human. Then realized, never mind, he actually was, unless she was going to pretend that she didn't believe he wasn't a normal animatronic.
What a madhouse. Louise went to pass by and return to the safety of the kitchen, but hesitated when she noticed the obvious, wet stain on his arm. She knew it was chocolate even though it didn't look like it and knew it would stain. It would need to be addressed but looking around showed that everyone else was either busy or absent. Even Jeremy, who was usually fussing over the pirate, was currently trying to shake a stuck prize out of the claw machine.
Foxy turned to walk around the table, probably to follow the children, when Louise finally stopped him. "Wait, wait! Hold it right there," she called as she grabbed a napkin off one of the tables.
The pirate stopped short, mostly because he was startled by the command, and watched out of the corner of his eye as Louise tried to clean off the chocolate. She hadn't done anything like that before. Then again, she hadn't worked here before, especially not after she figured out the truth.
"Alright, good to go! Stay away from sticky hands," Louise chirped before grabbing her tray and hurrying off a little quicker than she intended. That had been so weird, touching a robot that she knew was alive.
"I'll be damned," Foxy thought to himself. He looked down at the dull stain on his arm. It would still need a proper clean, but that was a good enough start. "…Well, she passed the first test."
With him still busy at the table, Marionette came out to address the other birthday party. Natalie told him when they arrived, and he quickly left his box to follow the track to the table. He was already excited for the party, carrying a neatly wrapped gift for the birthday child, when he drifted out into the dining room and spotted something peculiar.
At the table alongside the birthday table, in the very center of the room and in prime view of the show stage, sat two men. One looked to be in his mid-thirties while the other could've been pushing his fifties, both dressed as formally casual as they could, as though coming in on a casual Friday. They could've very well been parents to some of the children, but he just had this peculiar feeling that they weren't there with there for that reason. They weren't even eating anything and seemed to by watching the restaurant a little too closely.
Best case scenario, they were undercover cops on a stakeout. Worst case, it was another Dave scenario and they were there for something much more unsettling. Marionette promptly shook away both thoughts. Probably just fathers whose kids were in the arcade. He was just paranoid because of this whole Springtrap ordeal. He continued with the birthday party while keeping a careful eye out.
By time the cake had been served, the children had been entertained, and the party moved over to the arcade, the two men were still there and were still suspicious. He could occasionally feel their eyes on him, though usually he noticed them watching Foxy instead and speaking intently. They were planning something, he just knew it, and it wasn't until he started to return to the Prize Corner that he decided that it was time to do something. He sought out Mike on his way to his box.
Mike was in the process of helping Jeremy picking up some fallen tokens when he suddenly felt a sharp tug. It was a strange sensation like a full body tug, and he blinked before feeling it again. He looked around quickly before noticing Marionette looking at him from outside the door to the Prize Corner. The Puppet disappeared inside as soon as he was noticed, so it was obvious that it had been him. Mike crouched down beside Jeremy, who had his arm wedged under the Sit 'N Survive arcade machine.
"I have to go now. My Puppet needs me," Mike said almost apologetically.
"I think you're just saying that to get out of sticking your hand under here," Jeremy suggested teasingly. "Not that I was going to make you do that… I think there's something fuzzy back here."
"Don't pull it out," Mike warned out of reflex. He watched as the older started to bend his arm to reel it out. "Jeremy, please. Don't."
"Mike, I can't just-." Jeremy suddenly dragged out an old, hairy, noxious half a piece of pizza. He stared at it momentarily before abruptly shoving it back under again. "…After closing. I'll get it after closing," he said with an uncomfortable swallow. He pulled his arm out and began to stand and hustle off. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go scrub this off."
"The bleach is in the supply closet," the security guard called after him. Mike then made his own way into the Prize Corner, where he found Marionette back in his box. He flashed him a smile, "Couldn't wait until closing to get me alone, could you? Can't say I'm disappointed, not with that little display out there." His flirtations were enough to get the Puppet flustered and this time was no different, but there was a more pressing matter at hand.
"As much as I wish this was a pleasure call, we have a small issue out in the dining room… One that I admit, I may be imagining," Marionette said with slight faltering. He was already starting to second-guess himself. Still, better safe than sorry. He would rather look paranoid than be wrong and have someone get hurt. "Have you noticed those two men sitting alone in the dining room?"
Mike arched a brow. "The ones by the show stage? Yeah, I've seen them."
"What do you think of them?"
"I don't think much. They came in, didn't order anything, don't have any kids here, and are taking up one of the best tables in the restaurant," Mike listed out. He paused and added, "Still not counting that as much."
"So, they don't have children…" Marionette started to straighten in his box. "You know I find it strange when people come into the restaurant and begin acting unnatural. It's one thing when it's a teenager or someone ordering pizza, but two adult men just sitting out there… I find it very telling…" He went as still as could be as he looked past Mike towards the door. "…The Purple Man wasn't exactly young when he started doing what he did. To everyone he looked like a normal man."
"Mari, I saw the Purple Man. Even if we ignore that weird thing he had going on with his skin, he stuck out like a sore thumb. Hell, I half believe he grew that beard just to cover how creepy his smile was," Mike pointed out matter-of-factly. He rested his hands on his hips with a slow exhale. "So… I'm thinking, and this is just me, that they're undercover cops working under Burke."
"I thought that too, but would they be this obvious?" the Puppet asked. "Two random men in ultra casualwear?"
"Maybe they're off-duty. That way they technically don't need a search warrant and might be able to fight if we ask them to leave. Either way, I have been keeping an eye on them," he reassured. He then turned to look out the doorway as well. "Though I guess I could do a little good-natured prodding and see if I can get them to talk."
"I wouldn't want to put you in that position," Marionette said tentatively, not giving an actual answer. Yet as he tapped his fingers together, looking thoughtful, it became apparent that he wasn't saying no.
"Would it make you feel better if I put myself in that position?" Mike offered. The striped one got a tiny smile. "Alright then, I'll do it. That's my job, I can handle it."
"I'll try to keep the children away from them as best as I can, so you will have time to get some answers… Which I expect for them to provide but am not yet willing to trust," Marionette ended it with a discordant tune. "How pitiful is it that I must hope that they're cops?"
"Don't get wound up just yet. Here." Mike tossed over a Foxy head stress ball which the Puppet caught. "Squeeze on this thing and cool off for a few minutes. We don't need you springing on a couple of cops unless we can convince people they're crooked, and I don't think we're there yet." Marionette got a curiously amused smile and did as instructed, squeezing on the ball as the security guard stepped out.
The men were still sitting at the table when the security guard came out. Now they were back to watching Foxy, who had moved onto the stage to 'rest' by singing while standing arm's length from the children.
"Definitely cops," Mike told himself as he waited alongside the Prize Corner for Marionette to come out. He caught a glimpse of Charlie half out of her box and chiming a tune to a couple of young onlookers. They must've just come from the gumball machine as they were making exaggerated chewing noises. "Mental note: got to watch where I step for the next couple of hours." It was now that Marionette passed by and Mike turned to him, giving a playful, "The Sock Monkey cometh; everyone get your tickets ready."
Marionette gave a light chime of amusement before turning to head towards the arcade. He turned slowly, gaze lingering on the two men, and Mike took that as a sign to go ahead and confront the men. Slowly he wondered over to the table, grabbing a menu off a table on the way, and pretended that this was as casual as could be. "Welcome to Foxy's. Can I get you two anything?"
"Actually, we're waiting for Sam to get back," the younger man answered. He then got a slight smirk and asked, "…So, is that the usual waiter uniform, or were they out of aprons?"
"Any job's better than my job," Mike simply shrugged off. Though he noticed the name drop, which again was a strange giveaway. "You know Sam?"
"Almost. We caught him when we came in, but he had to take care of something. Now it's been about an hour and he's still not back. He is the owner, right?" the younger looking man asked. He sounded the slightest bit irritated, but not enough to start throwing a fit about it. Not enough to directly ask Mike to get Fritz either. It seemed odd for them to be here asking about Fritz and not knowing who he was.
"Eh, sort of. It's a forty-forty-twenty split and it gets more complicated if you add in the animatronics' share and the bribe money we got from the last owner of this place," Mike partially joked. Then he decided to bait the trap. "But since Sam's not here, anything I can handle? I'm one of the owners so I should be able to cover it." Yet instead of jumping on it, the two men just stared at him for a long pause. He looked at them questioningly. "What?"
"…You're an owner, you're a security guard, and you wait tables?" the older man asked in disbelief. He nearly guffawed at the thought. "You're really dedicated to this place!"
"Hey and aren't you that guy that was on the news?" the younger asked with a squint. "You were at the closing of that arcade over in St. George, the one where the guy went nuts and attacked his coworkers, right?"
"Close enough," Mike brushed off. Now he allowed his suspicion to come through. "Not many people who drop by know about that fiasco. Less who are coming to ask about the boss of this place. Any reason why?"
"Yes, but no connection to that arcade, this is strictly business," the older man reassured. He leaned forward on the table, lacing his fingers together, and began to explain. "We work for Bently Toons. We're a small animation studio comprised of animators and writers who decided to separate from the larger animation conglomerates that due to legal reasons we would rather not name, but I'm sure you could figure it out on your own. I'm Devon Stone and this is my co-worker Marcus."
"Mike Schmidt." Mike was confused as he shook the man's hand. Either this came completely out of nowhere or this was the most bizarre cover story for a cop that he ever heard. "You work for a cartoon studio?"
"That's right, and some of us- specifically me and a few of the guys at the office- used to work on a cartoon back in the eighties that you might've heard of called Fredbear and Friends. We also worked on the the spinoffs; like Fredbear Adventures and the Cupcake Catastrophe shorts that were shown in the restaurants. We even worked on a couple of pilots, like Baby's Circus and Freddy Fazz's Super Squad. After Freddy's started going under those both didn't take off, but you can see we were devoted to working with the Fazbear family," Devon explained. "…I'm sure you know what I'm getting at."
"I think I do, and somehow I still don't believe it," Mike said, still looking at the man in disbelief. "Is this… About some sort of Foxy's cartoon?"
"I'm glad you brought that up! Because that leads right into one of the scrapped pilots," Marcus chimed in. He gestured for Mike to sit down, which he did. "Once the Fredbear shows were off the air and before… Whatever happened at Freddy's, we were under the planning stages of two shows: Baby's Circus and Super Squad. Both got a pilot but the only one that got close to full production was Super Squad, which involved the Freddy gang travelling around on a pirate ship and going on adventures."
"It was an unofficial continuation of our past Fredbear work. Fazbear Entertainment loved it," Devon added in quickly. "And then Fazbear Entertainment went under and the network dropped it."
"I don't know if you realize it, but Foxy's is getting a lot of attention across the state right now. There's buzz and we see that buzz only growing… And we just started out on our own, so we haven't been able to secure many clients. Not when we're competing with the top dogs of the industry," Marcus explained with growing hesitance. Devon took over again and spelled it out.
"We would like to take the concept for Super Squad and refit it for a Foxy themed show. Considering how popular Foxy was, and still is, we think it would be successful. We think we could get a full series," Devon explained. "We were here to offer it to whatever company is behind Foxy's, but Sam wasn't very clear on if there's higher ups holding onto Foxy's rights."
"No, it's pretty much just us," Mike explained. He noticed behind them that Foxy was now very much listening in and blatantly watching with his eye, even as he moved his head to sing to the children. "On second thought, this is something Sam is going to need to be here for. I'll go find where he ran off to and bring him back."
"That's what he said before he disappeared," Marcus pointed out with a strained grimace. It was growing apparent that his patience was starting to drain.
"Trust me, I'll be right back," Mike insisted. Then he headed off towards the office, having a suspicion that the technician was there. He wasn't surprised when he opened the door to find the man sitting at his desk. "You talked to those guys out there sitting in the dining room?" Mike asked as he pointed back towards the hall. Fritz got an uncomfortable look on his face.
"Yeah, uh… I thought they would've left by now. If they ask, I'm not here," Fritz tried with an awkward throat clearing. "I think they're cops."
"I thought so too, but- and you're not going to believe this-," the security guard led in as he shut the door behind him. It drastically quieted the office once cut off from the noise and music from the dining room. He still lowered his voice as though it was a bigger business deal than he thought it was. "From what they're saying, they're animators who used to work on the Freddy cartoons and they're offering to make a Foxy one."
Fritz was surprised and confused by the offer. "What?! That's why they're here?... No, they're cops. That's a cover story, right?"
"I don't know, they seemed to have their story straight. They even mentioned working on a Baby cartoon. As far as I know, even the people who worked at Freddy's didn't know about Baby because that whole fiasco," Mike pointed out. "If it's a cover story then they've done their homework. Not to mention that they have the patience of someone whose here on business. Nobody would wait this long without money on the line." He gave a half smile and a shrug. Fritz looked down slowly.
"A Foxy cartoon… That could bring in so much more business. It could make the business blow up overnight!" Fritz hesitated a moment before his excitement drop. "Which would probably kill us."
"Look, I think we should just go with it. We're busy now but how long will this really last? There's only so many kids in town with so many birthdays," Mike pointed out. He tapped his fingers on the edge of the desk as he considered it, then looked to the other with reassurance in his gaze. "We need to get Foxy's out there. It might kill us, but it might keep the business from dying ten years from now."
"…That's a good point… Yeah, you know what? Sure. Fredbear and Friends was pretty much the only thing that came out of Freddy's that wasn't defective or dangerous, or covering up some sort of massive body count. Maybe this could be a good thing. If we get more business, then we'll just get more hires." Fritz started to get more convinced and stood abruptly from the desk. "They're still here, right?"
"I'll go get them. We'll get more business done in here than out there." Mike headed out quickly and on his way to the table looked for Jeremy and Marionette.
Jeremy was nowhere to be seen, but Marionette was back on his stage and Mike could tell he was watching him from how his head followed. By time he got Marcus and Devon and convinced them to move to the office, the Puppet was already down from his stage and rapidly moving towards the Prize Corner. The man wasn't entirely sure why he was but couldn't think of a convincing way to get in there while leading the men.
Fritz was apologetic when the men came in and rapidly spewed excuses and shook hands like his life was on the line. They seemed to accept it all well enough, or just wanted the deal that much. They sat down on the office couch, seeming much more casual than the flustered technician. Mike pulled a chair to the side of desk and dropped into it, crossing his arms and leaning back, and was more than prepared to be the rational one of the two. He was fine with playing "bad cop" if the need came up.
Though Mike tuned out a lot of the company talk. Things such as statistics and the process of pitching it to networks and producers slipped by without him giving much thought. After all, it wasn't his job to get this cartoon off the ground. It would be theirs. It wasn't until the details of the cartoon itself came back into the conversation that he started paying full attention again.
"Which leaves us with the actual pitch of the cartoon. As I mentioned earlier, it would be a revamp of the Super Squad idea, except with Foxy as the lead and the Freddy gang replaced with your characters."
Fritz glanced at Mike in slight confusion. "Foxy's a pirate and everyone else hangs out with him," Mike clarified. This seemed to be good enough for the other man.
"When we worked on Baby's Circus, we received a few complaints from the owners on how the characters were portrayed in comparison to how they were established. We're hoping you'll be up to some creative liberties, but we do want to get the characters as close to your vision as possible," Devon said. "Marionette's the second mascot, right? What's the deal with him? Any established backstory? Any connection to Foxy?"
"Yeah, he's Foxy's brother," Mike answered without a hitch. Devon raised a brow. "It's just one of those things that you accept without thinking about it. If you want the basics; he likes presents, he's good with children, and he's the wisecracker when he and Foxy are on stage together and plays off him. When Foxy's alone he picks up the slack himself." He tried not to let his bias show, but he noticed Fritz's coy smile.
"I think we could do something with that," Devon said and jotted down a few notes in his pad. Mike specifically noticed that 'wisecracker' was listed, much to his amusement. "And the other puppet is his girlfriend?"
"Nah, she's his sister too." This got a brief look from Devon, so Mike said the first thing that came to mind. "Foxy's dad really got around."
Fritz suppressed a snicker at the irony of the comment and leaned back in his chair. Only to suddenly catch glimpse of a white face staring out from under his desk. That smile instantly became a startle grimace as he realized that Marionette had somehow gotten under the desk and was kneeling right beside his legs. He must've appeared in the moment the technician stood to greet the men, which only made him more unsettled by the speed. He tried to cover his shock and look normal.
"In all seriousness, you guys could make it work. Just say something like Foxy raised them or adopted them, but I don't think anyone will ask," Mike added in.
"No, no. Kids probably won't care," Devon dismissed. "But if we were to write in a love interest for Foxy there's nothing we have close to that?"
"The closest thing Foxy has to a love interest is the guy who cleans him. You probably noticed him when you came in, he's the blond with glasses who was halfway wedged under a claw machine for half the morning."
"Alright, so we've got an okay on original characters. If that comes up. We're not saying that will come up," Marcus added in. Mike had seen enough of the Fredbear cartoons to know that it would eventually come up. He still agreed to it, as did Fritz. "But the one thing we were thinking of was the villain being a rival to Foxy, and we have an already established character to fill that niche."
Marcus unfolded a paper from his pocket and revealed it as being covered in small sketches and drawings of what looked to be a wolf character. "This was the wolf concept that we had floating around. We think it was called Silver or Grey, sort of a 'cooler' and 'more mature' Foxy. But that would make him the perfect foil to Foxy. Captain Silver, another pirate captain, who bumps heads and causes problems while they're trying to get the same treasure."
"That's fitting, but who owns Silver? I don't even ever remember seeing this design," Fritz pointed out as he scooted the sketch closer. He took it into his hand and looked it over. "Looks more like something that would've been in one of those wolfman movies than a real animatronic." He then waited until the two men began to explain before subtly passing the paper under the desk and to Marionette, who began to study it.
"We actually found the man whose listed as having created Silver and we're going to get in contact with him. We think he might be one of the guys who used to do voice work too, so if all goes well we might get him on board," Devon explained. "And if he says no, we have some backup ideas. If we really stretched the design, we could probably pull off a black wolf legally and just swap the name out. And what do you think of having more Minireenas? No issue there?"
"Only if we have to keep them in the business," Mike answered.
"Okay, good, good. Then we get down to the gritty. Marcus, can you go get the uh…" He snapped his fingers twice and then pointed a thumb to the door. "The papers. The contract." Marcus nodded and stood, then headed out the door to go get the papers. Devon continued without a hitch, "We've already talked to the voice actor who played Foxy before and he's willing to come on. Who does the voice for Marionette?"
"I do," Mike blurted out before really considering it. Fritz looked to him slowly and Mike corrected. "But you're going to need a real voice actor and I'm not going to stand in your way. I could just… Send you some demo tapes and you could find a match?" he said in almost like a guessing tone. Fritz, who he was staring at, raised his brows and then slowly pointed down at the desk. Mike raised one as well, wondering what that gesture meant. Fritz tapped a little more firmly on the desk, then pointed under the desk.
"That would probably help us to find a good match. The same with the other puppet if you could," Devon agreed, thankfully not catching on to the situation.
When his attention changed to Fritz, Mike leaned back in his chair, trying to look casual as he did so, and caught a glimpse under the desk. There was Marionette. He raised a brow and the Puppet sent him a wave.
"But that pretty much wraps us up, so if we could get your signatures, we will officially start the pilot. Now, I can't make any promises regarding whether the pilot will be picked up, but I have a good feeling that we've got something here. We'll be in touch, so if we do get a nibble then you'll be the first to know," Devon finished up. It was shortly after that when Marcus returned with the papers. Both Mike and Fritz signed willingly, giving their okay to go forth with the cartoon. "Thank you both for your time."
"Thank you for your time. Sorry again about the wait. The pizzeria gets crazy, paperwork gets everywhere, and there's… There's no excuse, so thank you." Fritz was even more apologetic considering that he had been purposely hiding in here and not actually working. He cleared his throat as he stood. "I'll walk you two out," he offered as he left with them. He didn't even offer it to Mike because he knew he had something else to handle in the office.
The office door clicked shut and immediately Marionette slid out of his hiding space and peeked over the desk. He then looked back to the wolf sketches in his hand curiously.
"Feeling better?" Mike asked knowingly, just as relieved that this turned out in their favor.
"Much. I can't believe I got so worked up over nothing," Marionette answered. He looked a little embarrassed. "I must really be letting this Springtrap ordeal get to my head."
"You really must, because I thought you'd be a little more excited than this," the smirking security guard pointed out. "You do realize what this means, don't you? Not only is the long dead cartoon coming back, but now you're going to be a permanent fixture in it. You're going to have your own character and everything."
Mike realized that it only hit Marionette just then as his eyes started to widen. He was going to be a part of something that had brought him so much joy; it was like a childhood dream come true. A slow, wide smile started to appear as the striped one began to trill and chime so excitedly that he was nearly trembling.
"Now you're getting it!" Mike encouraged. "Or you're ticking down to an explosion."
The Puppet laughed in delight with his voice partially muffled by his own music. "I'm- this- after all these years-!" he sputtered out. "I can't believe it! A part of it- in the show having adventures-!"
"Making wisecracks at Foxy, if those notes have any say in it," Mike pointed out. He then raised a brow in playful concern, "Think you'll be able to keep a straight face for the rest of the day, or should I break out the 'Taking a rest' sign?"
"Oh no, no! I'll be fine, promise! My goodness, I might actually explode if I try to restrain myself after that surprise," Marionette chirped in delight. He began to rein himself in, if only barely, and took Mike by the shoulders with a beaming smile. "Let me tell Foxy. Make sure nobody else does, because I want to be the one to tell him."
"You got it," Mike agreed. "Just wait until we get closer to closing. Can't risk having both of our stars out of commission."
"Oh no, we wouldn't want that," Marionette playfully agreed. "Because if you think I'm excited then wait until you see Foxy. He will be ecstatic!"
Foxy was horrified. He barely hid it as he stared at his sibling, who had rushed over as soon as the front door was locked and the curtains were drawn. It was now hours later, closing time, and he was finally able to get the scoop on the strange men who Mike took into the office. It was worse than he could've ever imagined.
"Can you believe it, Foxy?! A cartoon about us! It'll be just like Fredbear and Friends!" Marionette gushed with delight and a brilliant smile. He only then noticed how long it was taking Foxy to react. "Isn't it great?"
"…Err, course, Lad! Sorry, me head ain't all here. Some kid dropped a bunch o' soda down me back an' it fried all ol' Foxy had left," Foxy excused quickly to cover how he really felt. "Ain't that great. We're gonna be seein' ourselves on the television. Heh, bloody shame we ain't gonna be running the cartoon ourselves."
"Yes, that is a little worrisome. They did create that last season of Fredbear and Friends, and you know how I feel about the changes they chose. But they did tell Mike and Fritz that they would be listening to their input, which would also include our input," Marionette was already getting excited again. "Imagine if they even let us suggest episodes. Maybe we could write our own!"
"I think I'll leave that to you, Lad," Foxy said with a warm chuckle. He patted the younger on the back. "Do me a favor? Jer'my's cleanin' off tables now, so would ya handle his little dolls fer him? If he doesn't get there quick enough, they start workin' into a huge fit."
"I think I can manage that," Marionette agreed with a nod and a small smile. Foxy patted his back before watching him leave.
"Thanks, Marion!" And now that he was gone, he didn't have to see his brother smack a hand to his face and rub it in obvious distress. "Blimey, of all the things to survive Freddy's… It had to be that forsaken show."
Even ignoring the memories and guilt associated with the show- mostly connected to his childhood- Foxy just wasn't fond of the idea of the image he carefully crafted being tampered with. He could remember the inward embarrassment of watching a cartoon Freddy learning how to skateboard and could only imagine that in the coming years more would look on that as a hilarious example of a show being dated. Because of that show, Freddy and Chica were considered a couple, Freddy was branded as permanently uncool, and he himself was a subpar villain.
Not to mention that seeing himself on a skateboard might've killed him on the spot. Foxy had no say in it anymore. Not that he could refuse such an offer when Marionette was so excited about. He was smiling so wide that it was a shock that his mask wasn't cracking; Foxy couldn't take that away from him. It was out of his hand and hook now.
But maybe not everything was. It was at this moment that Foxy very briefly noticed Louise coming out of the kitchen to collect a few leftover plates that had been stacked on one of the tables. His gaze locked onto her as he considered how much easier it had gone for all of them when there was another set of hands working. They needed her. Maybe Schmidt and Smith were hesitant to ask her about a full-time position, but he wasn't, and he knew exactly how to go about it.
He waited until Jeremy moved to the table in front of his stage to remove a dirtied tablecloth. "Jer'my," Foxy said. He knelt and reached out to nudge Jeremy's shoulder, then hooked onto it and pulled the blonde back towards him. The man was somewhat stumbled back against the stage. "Jer'my, do yer captain a favor an' go ask Louise to come back in tomorrow," the pirate instructed. "Tell 'er we pay well. Tell 'er the place ain't usually this crowded. Whatever to get 'er stayin'."
"Isn't that like offering her a job?" Jeremy was given a nod. It made sense as Louse was a hard worker, and they needed the extra waiting and kitchen staff. "I can't do that! I can't go behind Fritz and Mike's backs and just hire someone, even if we do need her and she's doing well."
"They went behind yer back and went ahead with that Foxy cartoon. They owe you a major business decision, an' this be it! Aren't ya proud, Lad? Ya got control of the crew!" Foxy reassured, trying to coax Jeremy into going ahead with it. He would need the man to go do it anyways, as he doubted Louise would accept the job from him directly when she was still wary of him.
"I don't know if that's-." Jeremy cut off abruptly as he perked up and looked back. "They're making a cartoon?! Foxy, that's amazing! Do you realize how big that is- you're going to be huge!"
"Yeah, I'll be a big, red-furred pumpkin," Foxy said with a roll of his eye. "We got bigger fish to fry."
"…Pumpkin?"
"We need Louise in the business, and both of yer fellow owners know her too well to ask her straight up, like a real boss, like a captain. I can't be that captain; I scare people. You gotta do it," Foxy coaxed further. "For me. An' if they make a big deal out of it, you tell 'em I told you to do it."
"Well… Okay, I'll offer her the job," Jeremy finally agreed. He then raised a hand defensively, "But if she says no then I won't start begging."
"Thank ye, Jer'my. Such a good first mate, always doin' good by his captain." He pulled Jeremy in, nuzzled into his shoulder affectionately- only flustering the blond more- and then released him and stood with his hands on his hips. "Now off with ya. I'm puttin' me business in yer hands."
Then Jeremy was off to inform Louise that she had gotten the Foxy seal of approval and ask, very subtly, if she wanted to come in tomorrow. Foxy already had it planned; after a few days of working there, she would realize that this job was better than her other and offer to come on full time. They would have her hooked, they would have a new worker, and it would be a worker that Foxy chose. Perhaps he did have a say in what happened to this restaurant.
To the briny depths with the cartoon; Foxy was in control again.
Mable: The next chapter begins a new arc. One that I think we've been waiting a long time for, so make sure to stick around. ^-^ I hope you enjoyed and Happy Fourth of July!