Mable: Well, hello again! There's a new poll that I wanted to mention before I begin the chapter, so be sure to check it out and vote if interested. ^-^ Nothing too exciting, just a little personality test. Anyway, let us continue with the chapter. Enjoy!
Almost Feels Like Home
Chapter Seventy-Two
Mike wasn't surprised to find himself back at the red pond in the center of the endless forest. What he was surprised by was that he came to already standing at the edge of the water, only a few feet away from the red creature known as Old Man Consequences. It was so sudden that he stepped back out of the way to try and get some distance while he was still trying to right himself.
"Try to relax, Mike. This isn't the first time you've been here," the red being said with a low chuckle. "It took me longer to reel you in this time. Hard night last night?"
"I think I caught something from the kids at the pizzeria," Mike dismissed as he stepped forwards. "Is that why you left me hanging after that Springtrap warning?"
"No, I just felt it was too soon. I had other things I had to get done. A fisherman's job is never done," Old Man Consequences shrugged off. He lifted his rod up and went to cast out again into the red pond. "Sit with me. We won't have long, so relax while you can. Take your mind off your worries."
"…Alright, sure." Mike sat down in the grass beside the water. "It's not like I have much of a choice. I've got a feeling that there's no straight way out of these woods, is there?"
"Not for me, no. For you, yes. You will eventually wake up and go back out into the world of the living, no matter how many times I bring you back. So, don't fear coming here," the crocodile-like creature explained. "Nothing is ever as it seems."
"Oh yeah?" Mike asked cautiously. "What about you? How did you know Springtrap was watching the house?"
"What do you see when you look in the water?" Raising a brow, the young man looked to the water and tried to see inside. All he could see was the deep abyss. "Nothing, right? Well, I see more than nothing. I can look out at the world and see some of what happens." Mike looked at him with a disturbed look. "And no, I do not spend my time watching you. I was watching him when I noticed what he was doing."
"That makes me slightly less creeped out, but the fact that you can look in at any time will haunt my nightmares… Literally, since I'm sitting here," Mike said with a shrug as he looked around. Old Man Consequences chuckled good-naturedly, echoing through his chest without moving his mouth.
"You are something else, Mike. Still not interesting enough to spend my good hours watching you. I won't always be there to watch for you, which is why you and your puppet must take care of each other."
"That's what we're trying to do. Considering everything, I think I'm doing a pretty good job, and I know he's put me on the right track," Mike pointed out. Old Man Consequences nodded in what looked like a content way and started to reel his line in again. It lightly trailed over the top of the red water. "Can I ask you something?"
"Ask me anything," Old Man Consequences offered. "I brought you here to talk."
"Guess that makes sense. So, uh… Why me? Why not bring Mari in here and talk to him? Or better yet, anyone else in the entire world?" the security guard asked. "Let me guess, you have a connection to Freddy's."
"Don't we all? Death brings all kinds together. That is the unspoken slogan of Freddy Fazbear's Pizza. Somehow you have kept that stigma off Foxy's."
"Yeah, we stopped letting people die there," Mike sarcastically remarked. He was rewarded with another chuckle. "Not that it'll work much longer if Burke has his way."
"Burke? You must mean Sheriff Burke. I have seen him before but never considered him a danger to you. What has he been doing?"
"I think he's looking for evidence to connect us to Freddy's. I wouldn't consider him that much of a threat if he wasn't so determined. Just last week he had some guy digging through out garbage-." A strange noise like a thumping interrupted Mike. The world seemed to shift briefly around him and he blinked. "What was that?"
"It's him. He's coming to get you. Looks like our time is up," Old Man Consequences forewarned. He cast his line back out once more. "Keep safe out there. Stay indoors."
Mike furrowed his brow in confusion. "What are you talking about…?"
"Mike? Mike, you need to get up. Please." Mike was suddenly yanked into the awakening world by Marionette's soft but panicked voice. He was leaning over him and shaking him awake.
"I'm up. What's wrong?" Mike croaked. His throat felt tight and scratchy and a dull feeling had settled into his forehead. He still felt too tired to really think straight, but he caught one glimpse of the Puppet's grim look and knew something was going on. The man turned over and sat up in bed, ignoring how off he felt and noticing how dark the room looked. "What time is it?"
"Nine-thirty," Marionette answered. He was anxiously ticking from his music box and fidgeted by rubbing his arms. He kept looking to the window.
"Then why's it so dark?" Mike asked groggily. He rubbed his hands through his hair and rubbed the bridge of his nose to try and will away the pressure. "My head's killing me."
Marionette looked back to Mike and noticed his discomfort. He gently reached out and patted his cheek and forehead, giving a distressed hum. "You feel feverish. We might have something in the cabinet for that," he said. His hand dropped to the man's shoulder while his other found the opposite and he leaned down enough to be face to face with him. "Mike, you remember yesterday when we had those thunderstorm warnings? They turned out to be worse than we thought. They just said on the news that there's been tornados touching down in St. George and they're coming this way."
"What? You mean a tornado warning or actual tornados?"
"Real tornados. One already touched down in St. George and destroyed their mall."
"What!?" Mike jumped up from the bed and ran to get dressed. He fought past any fatigue as he scrambled to get dressed. "They said it was just a thunderstorm! Are you sure it's coming here?!"
"Everyone on the news says it is and we already got an alert through the house phone," Marionette explained. Even with his voice even he began to pace in circles beside the bed and tick louder. "Charlie's calling Fritz now to warn him about getting Foxy."
"If it hits the pizzeria- if it hits the house- I don't even know which would be worse. We'd be screwed either way. Unless it hit both, then we're looking at being homeless and jobless," Mike muttered as he pulled his shirt over his head. He expected the puppet to correct him, and when he didn't Mike looked back towards him only to see the puppet staring wide eyed. His nerves were even more frayed than expected. "I'm just kidding, Mari… Okay, I'm not kidding, but the chances of either of them getting hit are pretty low."
"Say that to the St. George mall," Marionette mumbled. He hovered in closer and offered his arms needily, requesting a hug. Mike didn't even hesitate and squeezed him close. "What a disaster…"
"I know. Whatever happens we're going to come out of this fine. Just like every other disaster we had to wade through," Mike reassured, patting his back.
"You're so warm. Of all the times for you to catch something," the puppet fussed. They only pulled back when they heard someone coming to knock on the door. "Come in. Mike's already dressed," Marionette called. Charlie leaned into the bedroom.
"I just got off the phone with Fritz and here's his plan: apparently his basement isn't fully buried and he's afraid it won't hold if the tornado passes over. So, he's going to take Natalie and Grandpa to pick up Foxy and then they're going to the warehouse to ride it out in its basement. He thinks that it's more reinforced having the warehouse above it," Charlie explained. "He's going to call everyone else and see if they're going. What about us? Do you think ours will hold?"
"I didn't even know there was a basement in the warehouse," Marionette said thoughtfully. Mike's mind was foggy, but it quickly latched onto their own, small basement and the things inside it. The things that he really didn't want Marionette to have to see. The things he didn't want to sit beside. "But I suppose ours should be-."
"I don't want to risk it," Mike suddenly interrupted. Maybe a little too quickly as Marionette and Charlie looked to him in slight confusion. "There's already an open vent down there leading to who knows where. Frankly, I'd rather sit up here then down in that underground meat locker."
"That wouldn't be good for you in this state, would it?" the puppet agreed. He hummed and then nodded. "Then we'll go with Fritz to the warehouse. Better safe than sorry. Charlie, would you mind grabbing some supplies from the pantry just in case? Mike, you go take something to break your fever."
"That's probably a good idea," Charlie added in as she started to leave. "You're not going to want to go out in this weather already sick."
"And get your wallet, the keys, whatever else. I'll get Moppet in her carrier and ready to go."
"I think I can handle that," the man agreed as he headed into the bathroom. He did a quick version of his morning routine, brushing his teeth and then proceeding to taint them with a shot of cherry flavored medicine. It tasted nothing like it smelled and the bright red coloring made it look like something that melted off a candy apple. He hurried back out in time to carry the bag of supplies and cat carrier to the car.
Marionette teleported into the back and wrapped himself in the blanket before accepting the cat carrier. Mike then turned to go back in and get Charlie when a sheet covered form darted by and dove into the back of the car. He hadn't remembered her being that fast or reckless, blinking a few times before simply shutting the door without a clever retort. Soon they were on the road and heading to the warehouse. It was only once on the road that they were able to see how foreboding it looked.
The streets were deserted, and the sky was full of dark clouds. The air was uncomfortably stuffy even though it was still morning and the sun wasn't reaching the ground. Marionette dared peeking out at the streets with a worried frown before holding the cat carrier closer.
Charlie noticed his concern and assured him. "It's not as bad as I was expecting. It could be a lot worse; we're actually kind of lucky." He sent her back a worried smile.
They arrived before Fritz and had to wait for him to get there. During this the clouds started to move faster outside, and the distant rumbling of thunder was only deafened by the growing rush of wind. It was still just as stuffy, but Mike was starting to feel a little better from the medicine, if not slightly more awake. It was a relief when the van pulled in, but instead of stopping in front of the warehouse it moved around to the back. Mike followed him.
Fritz leaped out of the van and waved Mike over. He then handed him his ring of keys. "See that door right there?" He briefly pointed and Mike looked over to see an old door on the back of the warehouse. He had never noticed it before, but if he had he would've assumed it was just a back door. "That's the basement door. Can you just unlock it while I get everyone out and moved? It's the key with the green cap."
"Got it," Mike agreed. He twirled the keyring on his finger and headed over to unlock the door. Upon opening the door and was met with cool and musty air. There was a simple concrete stairwell leading down into the darkness and he reached around until he found a light switch, turning on a dim light in the basement. It didn't look much more appealing, but it was better than what was waiting for him back at the house. He turned back to return to the car when he noticed someone he hadn't expected to see. "Louise?"
"Hey, Mike!" Louise greeted with a somewhat strained smile. She climbed out of the back of the van a little awkwardly and dusted down her skirt. "Guess we're not going into work today, huh?"
"Guess not. Maybe not tomorrow either if we get a bad hand dealt," Mike offered. "What are you doing here?"
"It's a funny story! Not really funny in a laughing way, kind of in a 'worst case scenario' way. Mom went to visit my aunt last night and got stuck staying the night because of all these bad weather warnings."
"Uh huh," Mike said, showing he was listening. He beckoned her back to his car where he opened the back and grabbed the bag of supplies.
"And I'm thinking that she's just going to drive back in the morning, right? Wrong. And what's worse is that she wasn't answering her phone, I didn't have a car because she borrowed mine- Let me get that for you," Louise accepted the bag to carry as Mike grabbed for the cat carrier. "And I'm totally stranded at the house until Fritz calls to tell us about this place. Now, we don't have a basement. We barely have one floor as it is, and I don't want to be that one casualty that everyone thinks didn't evacuate because they were stubborn."
"I can't teleport in," Marionette forewarned in a whisper. "Do you think the coast is clear enough for me to just…?"
"Yeah, you can't see the road from here. Even if you could there's nobody out there," Mike encouraged. "Just use the blanket. The basement here doesn't feel much warmer than ours, so we're going to need it."
Marionette nodded in agreement and handed over the cat carrier. He and Charlie then tried to figure out a way to drape the blanket over both of them for cover.
"I just asked Fritz if he wouldn't mind swinging by my place and wouldn't you know it, I was right on the way to get here! A little bit of a bumpy ride, but way better than getting a one-way ticket to Oz, if you get my- uh." Louise's chattering was cut short when she noticed Marionette and Charlie standing up. As someone who had only seen them as 'the Puppet' at 'Lottie', and who hadn't interacted with them like she dabbled with Foxy, it was weird to see them moving. Especially once she noticed Marionette was hovering without string assistance, which caused her eyes to pop open.
Mike raised a brow. "Are you okay?" he simple asked, as though he didn't know.
"Oh, uh, sure! All things considered," Louise excused as she recovered a wide smile. She then blinked and pursed her lips, looking closer at his face. "But you're looking a little pink cheeked."
"Thanks. I was trying out some rouge today. Just in case I don't make it, my funeral makeup's already done," Mike joked as he headed towards the basement door. He headed down first as Fritz was wheeling Foxy over on the dolly and Natalie was still by the back of the van. The puppets followed him down, though Marionette drifted out from under the blanket to follow closer behind Mike. Louise watched from the top of the stairwell with unease and a touch of curiosity.
The basement was a bit bigger than Mike expected. While the room they stepped down into was only slightly larger than the office, there were two doors leading into other rooms, one across from the stairs and one to the far left. Mike leaned into the room across and turned the light on, revealing a basic storage room. There were a few old props and tables left inside and the light flickered with a dull yellow, but it was slightly less cool. He returned to the first room to see Marionette coming in from the other door.
"Find anything?" Mike asked. He could only wish there was an abandoned set of living room furniture down here. Or at least some old office equipment. "Maybe a couple of chairs?"
"There's a few office chairs in the hall back here, but the air quality is poor. I'll bring them in and we'll stay out here," Marionette offered before ducking out again. He came back a few moments later dragging two, dusty office chairs. A third one rolled behind him like it was dragged by an invisible string. He brought them over closer to the stairs while Mike set down the cat carrier.
"I think I'm just going to go ahead and let Moppet out. She not getting far down here," Mike said with a dull cough.
"Wait just a moment-." Marionette released one of the office chairs and moved his arm back towards the door. It closed behind him. "There we are. Let her out." To which the man did. The cat began to creep out and smell at the floor carefully, looking around at the surroundings. Though she was startled right back into the carrier when she heard a banging from the top of the stairs.
"Just a little slip is all! Ya just go get that cankerous old knock-off out of yet van, I can handle meself," Foxy could be heard saying. He started to step down the stairs and swayed awkwardly on the concrete steps. He still got to the bottom without needing assistance, though had his hook locked on the thin railing the whole time. He stepped down into the basement and looked around with a sigh. "Always knew I'd get dumped off in a basement someday."
"When the alternative is being literally blown away, I think the basement is preferable," Marionette said as he came over to him. He gave his brother a quick embrace. "Thank you for coming." Which actually meant: 'thank you for not putting up a fight and forcing us to drag you down here'.
"No problem, Lad. Always knew I'd end up down 'ere one 'o these days," Foxy mumbled a little and gave the puppet a limp pat on the back. He then noticed the extra woman down in the basement and nodded at her. "Ahoy there, Lass. Ya got stuck down here too?"
"Something like that," Louise said with an awkwardly stretched smile. She was still reeling from watching all the animatronics moving around fluidly even without Foxy outright addressing her. "Mom split with the car, so here I am."
"A cryin' shame, Lass. Now yer gonna have to put up with us… Schmidt, whuzzat with you? Yer pinker than a boiled shrimp!"
"I'm just so excited to be here I'm going redder than you," Mike excused. He reached to pet Moppet and started trying to bring her out of the carrier when there was another thump from the top of the steps. Followed by frustrated whispering and mutterings under a non-existent breath, along with a fit of coughing sounds. Mike took a deep breath. "Foxy and Chance awake in the same basement. I can't see this going wrong."
Fritz could be heard talking at the top of the steps. "Here, let me at least go first so that if something does happen, I can stop you from falling," he borderline pleaded.
"Stop coddling me. If I fall, I fall. I know for a fact this body can handle a stairwell," Chance complained back. He pulled himself out of Fritz's grasp and started trying to climb down the stairs slowly. As soon as his dark legs appeared, Foxy made a beeline over to Mike and leaned in beside him.
"Where's a fox gotta go to get lost?" he muttered. The security guard simply pointed a thumb back at the door behind him. Foxy continued into the room and looked around for some way to get comfortable. Eventually he yanked a carboard box half-full of stage lights over and sat on it, ignoring it sagging and preparing for a long wait.
Meanwhile, Charlie approached the stairs and offered Chance her hand. "They can be a little difficult the first couple of times," she sympathized with a smile. Unlike with Fritz, Chance considered it for only a moment before accepting the help, allowing her to lead him down the rest of the stairs.
Marionette drifted over to stand alongside Mike and they exchanged a look. There was a silent discomfort they shared without having to say a word. They watched as the black bear reached the basement.
"Thanks for the help. I can't ask Fritz for it, he's already driving me insane with the constant hovering as it is," Chance admitted. He looked around at the room. "I remember this place. Still not much to look at."
"Not compared to Fritz's basement, no, but if it's a matter of safety then we can manage for a little while," Charlie affirmed. She looked to Mike and Marionette, to which Chance noticed and then fixed his eye on them as well.
"Hello again, Chance," the Puppet greeted amicably. He kept his default smile intact to hide whatever emotion he was feeling. "Its been a while since I saw you last. I hope things have been better."
"They've been stable," the black bear vaguely answered. His stoic tone mixed with his low voice made it hard to register his mood. "Nothing like a good old natural disaster to bring us all together in this dump." He looked off towards the back corner, no longer wanting to make eye contact with the two. That alone showed that things had not yet settled, but that feeling was mutual if Mike's cold look was any indication. "You look rough, Mike. How'd you pull that off the day the twisters rolled in?"
"I don't know but I've been getting a lot of compliments on in," Mike sarcastically answered. What followed was an uncomfortable pause during which none of them knew what to say. They all knew too much to feel remotely at ease. Thankfully, they weren't the only ones down there.
"Hi, I'm Louise! You must be Freddy Fredbear," Louise introduced. It was clear that she was overcompensating- maybe she thought that darkened eye had been staring at her from how the bear's head had been angled. "Let me just say that it's really amazing to finally meet you. It's like meeting a celebrity! Like a bear robot celebrity, and ignoring all that nasty stuff with the missing kids… You know, I didn't know you were a black bear! I thought you were brown, and I kind of had this mental image of a polar bear."
Chance stared at her, unsure if she was being serious or if she was purposefully trying to make him feel uncomfortable. She gave him a wide smile and for a moment he considered her very cute, but then the moment afterwards realized she was also much younger than him. He sobered up right away.
"Thank you, but I'm no more Freddy than Foxy is. The name's Chance… Or I was Chance." He added the last comment in with a quiet mutter. Mike fought the urge to roll his eyes at the dramatics. "You must be the girl working for Foxy's."
"That's me! Or one of them. My mom works as the cook and she's been working there a lot longer. Fritz probably mentions her more," Louise suggested. To which Lefty looked back towards the stairs.
"Where is Fritz? He already got Foxy down here… Charlie, go see where he is," Chance suggested. The Security Puppet quirked a brow and went to do as suggested when she was stopped by Mike's hands on her shoulders before him passing by.
"I'll get him," he offered. He clearly did it just to upstage Chance, and he felt great doing it. He quickly climbed a few of the steps before calling up. "Fritz, what's going on? Are you two coming?"
"Yeah, we're coming!" Fritz yelled back down. "Natalie heard a car driving around, we think Jeremy's here so she's going over to flag him down! Then we're coming right down!" He had to keep his voice loud because the wind outside of the warehouse was becoming more intense and muffling his words right after they left his mouth.
"Hurry it up! It's starting to sound like Armageddon out there!" Mike cupped his mouth and called back. Then he turned back to the others. "Sounds like Jeremy just turned up. Considering he doesn't have a basement I'll go out on a limb and say that he's not alone. So, that's everyone's only warning to brace themselves," he announced to the others.
"You mean the Minireenas?" Louise asked. "They don't seem like too much."
"Yeah, them… And all the other ones," Mike cryptically added. The woman looked a little confused but not nearly as concerned as Chance suddenly did. His yellow eye opened wider as he slowly turned his head to follow the man as he walked over to get one of the office chairs. "It sounds rough out there, so you might want to get settled in just in case we lose power."
"Does Scott have a basement?" Chance quietly asked with growing dread.
"No he does not," Mike answered, almost cockily. The bear tried to smack a hand to his head with a stiff thump.
"Good God, someone better put me under quick. I'm not dealing with the clowns. Of all the things that survived the fire… It had to be the clowns." Chance's frustration was punctuated by him going over to sit down by the wall, getting into the position where he could be shut down. Charlie was tempted to defend said clowns but was interrupted by Louise.
"Wait, clowns? We have clowns too?" the woman asked. Her lips tightened as she stared after Mike. "I'm not really good with clowns. Spiders, snakes, all fine, but clowns? No."
"It's not as bad as he makes it out to be." Louise looked to Marionette, almost just as shocked that he was directly addressing her. His gentle voice helped to assure her the slightest bit. "They're just a little eccentric. They're barely even clowns! In any case, they will probably find a quiet spot and keep to their own devices." Mike scoffed at the thought of Ennard 'keeping to his own devices'; Marionette ignored him.
It was then that Fritz came back down the steps. He set aside a couple of toolboxes that looked like they came out of the van.
"Fritz, shut me down quick. I don't want to be awaken when Scott and his friends get here," Chance demanded. Fritz did a double take of confusion and then realized what he meant, and he had no protests.
"Just let me go grab one more box while I can. Then I'll be right on it," the technician said. He then headed to the steps and started to run up, only to stop and back down again, moving out of the way. It soon became apparent why.
Jeremy staggered down the steps with his hands full. He carried both Bidybabs in his arms, his Minireenas hanging off him, with Balloon Boy crawling down the steps behind him. Louise gawked at the sheer amount of animatronics while Mike did a doubletake at Balloon Boy's continued efforts to be as unsettling as possible. He raised a brow and then looked up at Jeremy.
"Hey Jere," Mike greeted. He noticed that the blond looked weighed down from more than just the multiple dolls. "Rough night or hard wake-up call?"
"Both. The ceiling was leaking somewhere in my bedroom and it kept tapping all night. I'm going to have to move everything out and talk to my landlord and… Uh, are you okay?" Jeremy asked in concern. Mike furrowed his brows as he dropped onto the office chair and crossed his arms. "Good idea. You're looking kind of rough."
"No, I'm looking pink. If I knew I was going to get this much attention from getting sick, I would've had the kids cough on me between shifts," Mike remarked. He was starting to become the slightest bit weary of it, especially since he could feel it. Mild amusement returned when Jeremy passed by and he noticed Plushtrap hanging off his back. "Foxy's just through that door over there."
"Thanks. Hey guys, Louise… Uh, Chance," Jeremy greeted everyone as he quickly passed through. It was while he was heading through the door that Charlie noticed the rabbit hanging off his back as well. Her eyes focused on it as she noticed how similar the small animatronic looked to the two dolls she and Marionette owned. She pointed after it.
"He looks just like my rabbit but he's just as alive as the others… I feel like that should scare me." Though what concerned her more was that she didn't know if she brought said rabbit, which she had become so attached to. One quick look through her bag eased her mind when she spotted his arm underneath everything else. "This might be the wrong time and place to ask, but do the small ones get possessed like the normal sized ones?"
"I haven't the foggiest idea," Marionette admitted. Any further theorizing was cut off when he noticed Natalie creeping down the stairs while lugging the heavy bulk of Max. Fritz was right behind her toting his box of receipts and looking nervous.
"Are you sure you don't want me to just grab an arm or something? We can work him down together?" the technician offered. The blond woman puffed as she readjusted her grip around the heavy body.
"I've got it. Let me just- oomph- just give me a second… I've almost got him down." She shuffled down the next few steps. Max felt like a hulking sandbag stuffed with lead and her arms were cramping as she got him down the rest of the way. Finally, she made it and set him down heavily against the wall with a weary huff. "There we go! Good and safe!" she proclaimed as she brushed her hands off. "Told you I could manage."
"I didn't doubt you for a second," Fritz assured. She shot him a doubtfully amused smile. "But we're working together to get him back up."
"Yes. Not because I can't do it, just because I don't feel like throwing my back out," Natalie joked as she winked to him. She then looked over and waved tiredly to Mike, Marionette, and Charlie, still lightly panting. "Hello, hello."
"Okay, Chance, I'm all yours. This'll only feel like a second," Fritz promised as he set down the box.
It was now that Max, who had been completely unmoving the whole way down, seemed to suddenly rouse from his dormant state. His eyes immediately focused in on the black bear. "You must be Chance. I've heard all about you," he spoke directly into his mind, not wanting the others to hear. Though from Marionette's twitch as soon as he started talking it seemed like he could hear it. Probably Foxy would've too if he was in the room. "You're the bear that played with fire and got yourself burned. Ha! Bet that was embarrassing!"
"Stop that," Chance whispered back in a growl. "Get out of my head. If you want to talk then open your mouth."
"It's funny. I thought you would love Marionette. After all, he was Golden Freddy's favorite little toy. He loved pulling on his strings," Max said in a mocking tone.
Even though there was little context, Chance fell silent and just stared at the smaller animatronic. Something about how he said that forced the black bear to remember what Charlie had said about Henry, as though the memory had been forcefully resurfaced. Something about a springlock Freddy suit and his son being inside it, which had sounded ridiculous to someone who was certain that Henry had moved on.
"And that's saying a lot, believe me, because Golden Freddy had a lot of toys," Max pointed out. His mental voice grew lower. "Including you." Chance sputtered to say something and broke into a coughing tick instead, unable to defend his son in a timely manner. During which, Max dropped his sinister greeting with a simple, "Stay away from the dolls. We're not all so forgiving."
By time Chance had the chance to speak he didn't. He just sat there staring at the ground, seemingly soaking in the disturbing information as Fritz came over to shut him off. The technician noticed his quietness and asked if everything was alright, to which Chance gave some sort of grumbled response that seemed typical. He said nothing of the conversation and instead excepted the relief of having all his thoughts stopped. Max watched contently, feeling that he had vindicated all the little dolls that couldn't or wouldn't speak.
"You shouldn't have done that." In an instant Marionette was standing behind Max and looming over him. "That was wrong of you. We're trying to keep the peace in a terrible situation. Don't make it worse."
"I didn't say anything that wasn't true, did I?" Max questioned as he turned his head around to face Marionette with the least amount of movement. He rolled his eyes up to look at him. "You protect too many of them. They're not all good guys led astray. They don't all deserve a second chance."
"That's not my call to make nor is it yours. All I know is that we are all trapped down here until the storm is over and it would help all of us if we can keep our aggressive tendencies minimum," the puppet said firmly.
"Who's going to break the news to the eccentric clowns?" Max asked almost a little too smugly. Marionette gave an annoyed tinge of static as he turned away.
"I will… And if you try to rile them up into a fight then I'm putting you outside. I've seen how heavy you are, you'll outweigh the tornado," Marionette said, half joking and half serious, and hovered over toward Mike. The man noticed him coming and tried to beat the dust out of the office chair beside his. The striped animatronic sunk into it with a sigh, propping his head up on one arm. "I'm shocked to say that putting all of us in two rooms is leading to a few problems. Starting with Chance and ending with Max."
"This is still leagues better than what I expected. Just take a load off and relax for a few seconds while we still can," Mike offered. Marionette nodded in tired agreement and leaned back against the chair. It was only now that Mike could see how exhausted he truly looked, and he wondered how long he had been up. "Did you get any sleep last night?" the man asked. Instead of an answer, he heard voices up the stairs and his eyes rolled back into his head. "I didn't mean literal seconds. That red croc's probably watching this right now laughing."
"…Red croc? Old Man Consequences? You saw him again?" Marionette asked perplexed. Mike nodded. "What did he say?"
"Pretty much that he's watching Springtrap and might be watching us. Just a lot of small talk. I complained about Burke, so I guess he's my therapist now," Mike said with a shrug. He noticed the silent, hesitant look that the puppet was giving him. "…Do you think I said too much? I didn't think it was too much of a risk considering that he's already watching us."
"No, I'm not concerned about that…" Marionette turned his gaze back towards the stairwell. "I just find it peculiar that there is a reoccurring character in your dreams. One that sounds alive on its own."
Mike had a chill run down his spine. He didn't know why when he too was hesitant to fully trust Old Man Consequences, but something about the Puppet's concern made him only more aware of how odd this all was. Yet when he was with the red being, he seemed to feel calm and safe, only being able to consider the real danger once awake. He watched Charlie head to the stairs to greet Baby before looking back at Marionette. "What do you think he is?"
"You said he looked like a red crocodile," Marionette clarified, and the man agreed. Black fingers tapped on the armrest of the office chair. "Then most likely he is an animatronic communicating to you through your dreams… Almost like Goldie used to do with me." He lowered his voice to nearly a whisper and added, "Which I also find very concerning."
Before he could elaborate further, there came a thunderous noise from the stairs that turned all heads in the room. There came Baby flying down the stairs, thumping heavily down each step. The only two things keeping her upright being her tight grip on the metal railing and how fast she was going. Legs stiffly shuffled, free arm flailed, and in the last second Baby caught the end of the rail and swung off the steps. She spun out towards Fritz and Chance- Fritz quickly darting out of the way- and just barely stopped herself before running into the bear.
The silence in the basement was unmatched. Baby righted herself and just stood there, looking to Charlie who looked back wide eyed, like everyone else in the room.
Then came dull clapping. Baby looked over to see Foxy standing in the doorway clapping his hand to his opposite wrist. She could just feel the smugness radiating off him.
"Be quiet," the clown hissed as she skated past him and into what she assumed was a less crowded room. She received a rude wake up call, as did the others, when this was promptly followed by shrieking from a group of startled, tiny animatronics.
Jeremy could be heard inside trying to wrangle the dolls in. "It's okay! It's okay!" But it wasn't enough. A couple of the Minireenas ran from the room and began to boldly climb Foxy's legs. He tried to shake them off without hurting them, but they held too tightly and weren't content until they had climbed to his torso where one of them, Rose, clung to his arm and the other, Forget-Me-Not, sat on his shoulder.
"Fer cryin' out loud," Foxy muttered. "At least t'was only two of 'em."
"That was the clown?" Louise asked in disbelief. She looked to Marionette who nodded in agreement. "…Huh, you're right. She didn't really look like a clown. She-… She didn't look like a clown."
"She looks about one good face outta the scrap pile," Foxy corrected. "Can't say I haven't been in the same boat." He looked down at Rose on his arm who was starting to climb down. "Whatcha doin' Lass?" She answered by dangling from his arm and beginning to playfully swing herself, giggling as though the scare with Baby hadn't even happened.
Scott stumbled slightly on the steps as he was carrying a cat carrier and a suitcase and unable to hold on. He was moving down them much slower than Baby had, even when he had a panicked look on his face. "We saw a funnel touching down out by the highway. I can't believe it; it was just right there. Nothing and then suddenly the clouds were coming down and it was there," he explained to the onlookers.
Marionette hooked an arm around Mike and leaned in. "Just a reminder that there's no escape," he whispered with a chime chortle.
"Cute, but if I want out bad enough then wind's not going to stop me."
Marionette gave another chime and Mike started to get up to go help Scott, as Fritz and Natalie were whispering fearfully about the weather and Louise seemingly unwilling to move from the familiar side of Foxy. The Puppet stopped him and stood instead to help the man, taking the cat carrier from him. "We already let Moppet out. Should we let them out too?"
"Well, uh… I don't know. Let me look around and make sure there's nothing they'll get into first. They should- They'll be okay a little longer. I brought some water-." Scott stopped short when he noticed Louise while looking around for wherever Baby ran off to. "Oh, uh, Louise right? We met at the Halloween party. Officer Burke had me backed into a corner and your mother came to my rescue."
"Oh, right! I remember you! Hope he hasn't been giving you anymore trouble," Louise offered with a friendly smile. She was almost relieved to see a familiar face.
"'Cause he's been diggin' in our garbage," Foxy decided to chime in, ruining any chance of the conversation staying totally innocent. Apparently, word about the garbage incident hadn't spread as the woman spun towards him with wide eyes.
"He's really been going through the garbage?! Good grief, I thought Mom was just bluffing!" she exclaimed while crossing her arms.
"He's actually-… Oh wow, if he's going through your garbage then I can't even imagine what he's doing at my house," Scott muttered with a new wave of nervousness. He looked like he was about to sweat through his clothes.
"Ha! Guess detective work doesn't pay like it used to, eh? Either that or this guy's searching the wrong place for leftover pizza." With that, Ennard announced his presence and came down the rest of the stairs, having been waiting up by the door and watching. He had noticed Louise a lot sooner and waited out of view until he was certain that she was 'in the business'. That meant that the coast was technically clear, and the reactions wouldn't be too extreme.
If not for the fact that Ennard was wearing one of the worst disguises that Mike had ever seen. The usually unmoved security guard was totally floored by the mismatch of things that Ennard had cloaked himself in. He was wrapped in an oversized raincoat with the front left open, showing the clown's Christmas sweater and sweatpants underneath. He was wearing heavy duty snow gloves of black and orange and had a navy scarf tied around his head to shield the back of it. To top it all off, instead of his own mask he wore an old Freddy's mask that looked like it came out of a pizzeria from a decade ago.
Mike didn't know if it was stress, the medicine, or the fever, but he couldn't hold himself back. He hunched over on the office chair, dropped his head in his hand, and broke down in laughter.
Ennard flinched back like he had been accosted, then gave a defensive cry. "Hey, I had to sit in the passenger's seat! I had to wear something!" If anything, this only seemed more hilarious, and Mike was laughing so much that his body began to protest. Ennard seemed only more offended and would've frowned if he could've. "Gee, Mike, it wasn't that funny."
"Oh, don't worry about him. He caught something from children and is borderline delirious," Marionette dismissed with a snicker of his own. "That or we're all edging towards nervous breakdowns."
"You should've seen the funnel, cause you'd be there if ya did. Nothing like the finger of God to remind you that death might not be so kind next time! You see which way Baby ran off to?" Ennard asked as he looked around the room. Though his search was cut abruptly short as he saw the Lefty body slumped against the wall. He made a hissing noise. "Aaaand there's the black bear… And look! You got the magician too! That's just great." Ennard twitched. "Baby?"
"Right through that door," Marionette pointed. He then stopped the clown before he could leave. "Let me take the cats. Moppet's hiding in her carrier and she could use some company."
"Aww, a little family reunion- I love it! Heh, kind of like what all of us are doing down here except they're gonna have more fun," Ennard said before handing over a carrier, then pausing to nudge Marionette in the chest with his elbow. He then handed over the other cat before starting off, only hesitating to turn towards Louise. "Well, well, well, looks like we've got a new friend to join in on the fun!" he crackled as he looked down at her curiously. It was hard for her not to notice the wires poking out of his clothes and moving on their own.
Still, she willed herself to stay just as welcoming as with the others. After all, it was looking more and more like being sociable with these bots was part of the job. "Name's Louise. I'm the new-er waitress."
She innocently offered her hand and he snatched it right up, thrilled at the prospect of someone willing to shake his own. "Name's Ennard! But I also go as Eggs and 'it's that clown again, run!' by my friend," he introduced before releasing her. "I'd stick around and chat, but I've gotta go track down my buddy, Heck-On-Wheels. Don't get too comfy around Lefty Loosey, he's two-faced."
With that, Ennard stepped through the doorway into the next room and the tiny shrieks began once again.
While Marionette put the cat carriers together, Scott sat down on the office chair beside Mike's and propped his suitcase on his lap. By now the younger man had sobered up and watched as he opened the bag, only to then quirk his brow at the contents. There was only one change of clothes inside from what he could see because most of the suitcase was taken up by tapes, unknown electronic parts, discs both floppy and not, and even a couple of folders. He reached into a pouch in the corner and fished out a medicine bottle that he squinted at, then handed over.
"Here, take this. It should bring down that fever," Scott offered.
"I took a swig of some cherry cold and flu stuff before I walked out of the house. Probably was the same thing," the younger pointed out as he flipped the bottle over and read the back.
"You're going to need more than that, I can already tell. Just take one of those, okay? They're chewable," the older insisted as he fumbled through his things. He gave a dry chuckle as Mike took one of the tablets and began to chew it up. "Trying to fit my entire life in a bag in only a couple of minutes. I only have half of my back-ups here; if the house goes then I'm sunk."
"The house isn't going anywhere. It's going to work out," Mike affirmed just as he had with Marionette. Though he was too tired from everything to consider if he really believed it or not.
"I don't know, Mike… I saw that tornado. It's… It's bad out there. There's going to be some real damage," Scott said. This time it uneased Mike, if only because the man had the tone of someone trying to break bad news. It only occurred to him now that Scott had said he saw the tornado by the highway without clarifying whether he saw anything caught in its crossfire. Just the thought of returning home to find it gone scared Mike, and his concern must've shown on his face. "I'm not trying to freak you out."
"No, it's fine," the security guard assured as he pinched the bridge of his nose. "Trust me, it's not anything I don't already know."
"I don't mean to be the bearer of bad news, but we're missing someone," Fritz suddenly chimed in. Natalie looked a little uneasy too, so it was clear that they were talking about it before the announcement. "Someone whose probably standing above us right now listening to us."
"…Springtrap never came down?" Charlie had been helping Marionette with the cats when her focus was stolen by the comment. She knew, as did everyone else, that Springtrap's arrival was sure to cause as much of an issue as Chance's had, but him remaining upstairs during the storm was a risk. Especially since the basement door was located outside, meaning if the tornado hit, he would have to go outside to get to the stairs. She gave a low, off-tune and looked around at the others. "We're going to have to go get him."
"Bring Springtrap down here? I don't think… I mean, no, I don't want him getting injured, but if him and Ennard get in the same room…" Scott made a hissing noise at the thought. "That would be bad."
"But there are more rooms down here in the back. He is a stubborn one, but I don't see him choosing to stay amongst us when he can be on his own," Marionette pointed out as he stood from the floor and dusted off his legs of powder and cat hair. "Charlie and Fritz are both right. We need to go get him." Fritz made a noise like he was going to protest, but the puppet drowned him out. "But the biggest issue at hand is that Springtrap isn't going to come down here easily. Someone will need to convince him… Someone he's willing to listen to."
Mike looked up from the back of the medicine bottle to see everyone in the room staring at him.
Somewhere, Old Man Consequences was laughing. He just knew it.
Mable: Putting all the animatronics down into one basement? Comedic antics and hilarious hijinks will surely ensue! I can't imagine anything going wrong here. Though if it does, what's the worst that can happen? Someone's feelings get a little frayed? Ah, they'll be fine! Just like half a sitcom, surely! Anyway, I shall see you next week with another exciting episode of: Five Nights in Foxy's Basement.
This is going to hurt.