Mable: Well, hello again! Are you ready to continue? Cause I certainly am, ha ha! Enjoy!

Almost Feels Like Home

Chapter Seventy-Five

"WELL, WELL, WELL! HEL-L-LO AGA-AIN!"

To the horror of all three onlookers, the matted bundle of wires' voice gave away its identity. It was Funtime Freddy, or whatever remains were left of him. Most of his body parts had either been lost to time or harvested by Ennard ages ago. It left him more like a hunk of scrap metal than any sizeable animatronic. Its wires hung loose and moved fluidly as he crawled up further onto the floor, moving like heated, molten metal and squirming underneath him. He gave a broken laugh.

"L-LOOK WHO WAS ALMOST L-LATE TO THE PA-ARTY! HAhAHahHA! WE MISSED YOU, BA-BA-BABY!"Molten Freddy exclaimed. His voice echoed across the Funtime Auditorium. "DID YOU MISS U-US?"

"You can't be here…" Baby shook her head slowly as she stared in disbelief at the broken form. She was rendered horrified as she witnessed what her former friend had become. "I don't understand. You were gone. You left. You can't be here now." He gave a raucous laugh at the sound of her confusion.

"WE NEVER LEFT, BA-BABY! HAH, WE-E-E KNEW YOU'D COME BACK EVEN-TUA-LLY. WE WAITED RIGHT HE-HERE FOR YOU TO COME BA-ACK. AND HEEEERE YOU AAAARE!"Molten Freddy dragged himself fully out of the hole in the floor and revealed his lower half. Or what was almost a lower half. Tangled wires and parts looked like they were supposed to be legs, but they looked useless, twisted backwards and dragging behind him as he slowly pattered across the floor. "HAHAhAhahaHAAH! AND NOW WE'RE AAALL TOGETHER AGAIN!"

In what was either the best or worst timing possible, this was right when Ennard heard what was going on and stepped through the door. Unlike Baby he needed no processing and had no disbelief. He saw Molten Freddy and knew exactly what it was in front of him. He was petrified and completely silent, staring at the broken remains of an animatronic that shouldn't still exist. The orange light fixated on him next.

"AWW! AND Y-YOU EV-EVEN BROO-OUGHT BACK OUR BODY WITH- WITH YOU! HOW GEN-RRR-OUS!"Molten Freddy craned his neck in a disturbing twist towards the stage. "OH FOOOOXY!~ COME SAY HI-I-I!"

A thump from the stage caused Springtrap, Charlie, and Baby's heads to snap over and see that there was yet another animatronic stepping out of the shadows. Though to call it an animatronic was an overstatement. Like Freddy, it was in such a destroyed state that it was barely standing on its own legs, but unlike Freddy it had legs. Wires wrapped through endoskeleton metal and what might've been parts of microphone poles. There weren't feet, with the end of the legs simply ending in metal posts surrounded in loops of wires.

Part of a torso was intact, if only to give the legs something to attach to, but there were no arms. Instead wires hung down from where the arms would be and connected in the front in a tangled nest. This was much needed to support its head, which hung limply in front of its chest, wires too loose to make an adequate neck. Its head resembled Molten Freddy's in the sense that it was a broken up, strung together, peeling and worn away set of Foxy mask plates. This one with one pink stage light eye and one broken normal one dangling from the socket.

"Would you look there- the audience has arrived in time for the big show!" Molten Foxy proclaimed as he staggered over and hopped down from the stage, blocking their exit. He opened his mouth wider and they could see rows of teeth inside. Not all made of metal either; the larger teeth were translucent and jagged, revealing themselves as repurposed shards of glass. "Welcome home, Baby!"

"AND SHE BROUGHT BA-ACK OUR BO-ODY." Molten Freddy's gaze was transfixed on Ennard and his tone was undeniably dangerous. He looked at the wire covered clown like he was a hunk of meat ready to gut open and crawl inside. "IT'S GONNA BE SOOO MUCH FUN BEING ONE AGA-AIN!"

"Here her-rrr-re!" Molten Foxy cheered. Then he set his eyes upon the group with a peculiar glint. The pink eye darkened to a near red. "Then let the shooow begin! Spotlight please!"

"I'M GONNA HAVE SOOO MUCH FU-UN PULLING ALL-ALL THOSE WIRES APA-RT!" That was the only warning before Molten Freddy suddenly began a mad scramble across the tiled floor. He moved fast and dragged his loose remains like they were weightless as he closed in on the frozen clown. Ennard was petrified by utter horror and just stared as the decrepit remains closed in. Then, right before Molten Freddy reached him, a pair of black and white arms reached out and yanked the clown back into the doorway.

Molten Freddy was undeterred and was prepared to scramble right through the doorway. Baby saw this and reacted quickly, charging shoulder first and slamming him into the doorframe. She caught him with her hand and pinned him as her claw reared back with the intention of striking.

It was then that Molten Foxy charged in. Springtrap turned towards the mangled fox and braced himself for impact, planning on catching him and breaking his already broken body in his bare hands. Except at the last moment the fox ducked around him, sprinted right past Charlie, and threw himself onto Baby's back. He let his head dangle as he looped his nest of wires over Baby's head and yanked her back, partially blinding her and leaving her vulnerable. In seconds Molten Freddy's wires released his false legs and swung onto the clown where they ensnared her claw.

"AHHAHA, AWW! POOR BA-BABY'S A LITTLE BUSTED UP!" Molten Freddy mocked as he twisted her claw to try and break it. "Y-YOU ALREADY HAD A CHANCE TO PLAY NICE!~" He yanked sharper at the claw, trying to rip it from her arm.

Without any warning or expectation, suddenly Marionette sprung out of the Private Room and tackled Molten Foxy at full force. He shoved him back, pinning him to the floor, which in turn yanked Baby back and partially out of Molten Freddy's wires. It was just enough to give her a chance to fight back and kick him in the sternum, or the wires pretending to be one. He continued trying to crawl up her leg as Marionette wrestled with Molten Foxy. Charlie made a run for them, briefly grabbed by Springtrap but slipping out of his hold.

With Baby mostly free of Molten Foxy, Charlie got behind her and tried to help lift her onto her feet, even as she was still in a tug-of-war with wires. One that ended with Baby clocking the bear with her claw and skating into the Private Room with Charlie dragged in behind her. It was the last place that Springtrap wanted to get stuck and he sent a brief look back towards the vent to the Control Module. He couldn't leave without them- if he could leave at all, since the two might've disabled the elevator.

Finally, he made his decision and charged back into the room. Turning back only to call, "Come on!" Marionette detached himself from Molten Foxy, rolled off him, and rushed past to the door. He just barely dodged a swipe of a wire hand, which was halted by the door slamming closed behind him.

Ennard held the door shut with all his weight as he stared ahead with a twitching, panicked gaze. The two Molten animatronics could be heard banging and scratching while yelling through it with muffled voices. The six were safe for the moment but they knew that it wouldn't last long.

Ennard was the one to break the silence, "…I think the friends of my past have come back to haunt me."

"What is going on out there?! What are those things?!" Springtrap demanded as he glowered at the clown. "Obviously Funtime Freddy and Foxy, but why are they out there?! You are them!"

"Ha, uh, not really. You see, we're kind of not… We kind of…" Ennard tapped his fingers together, turning to lean his back on the door. "…Split?" He gave a shrug, but his strained voice showed how anxious he truly was. He was positively terrified at just hearing their voices, ergo why he kept his so quiet. "Or, you know… They kind of got pushed out. Heh, I thought they just disappeared, went quiet! Turns out they didn't?"

"Are you… Are you telling me that you stole their body too? Is that what you are telling me?!" Springtrap exploded. "For God's sake, you truly are a parasite! A pathological body snatcher!"

"Michael, that's not helping," Marionette spoke up. He was rubbing over his mask tiredly, but it was clear that simple exasperation wasn't all that was wrong. He was very aware of the danger they had just got themselves into. As broken as the Molten animatronics looked, they were extremely violent, and just broken enough to keep fighting through damage. "We need to keep our heads. Heaven's knows Funtime Foxy's barely keeping his."

Springtrap looked to him with lesser frustration compared to the clown. "And I had a feeling you would be following us down here. You could have warned us of the danger."

"I was in the same room with you the whole time. It's not hard for me to disappear if I move behind something or someone. I was in here when they came out of hiding," Marionette explained. Springtrap sent a suspicious glance towards Charlie, which the Puppet noticed and frowned at. "And before you ask, no. She didn't know I was coming and she didn't tell me where you were going. I overheard you from the other room and chose to follow on my own."

Springtrap seemed to accept this answer. It didn't seem out of character for Marionette, who tended to silently insert himself into situations without much warning. Not to mention that between his inclusion and Ennard's, the springlock animatronic was much more receptive of his. Speaking of Ennard, he didn't appreciate Springtrap's cutoff tirade, and wasn't shell-shocked enough to let Springtrap get away with it.

"I'm not a parasite. You don't know what they did to me down here," Ennard hissed back. "You have no idea what I've had to go through."

"No, but I know who you've been through," Springtrap rebutted.

"Michael, please," Marionette nearly begged.

"Is Gabe down here too?" Springtrap simply asked, not breaking his current glare with Ennard. The Puppet rolled back his head in exasperation.

"Gabe's back distracting the others. That's not important." This was met with silence, though the two were still shooting daggers at each other. Marionette huffed and folded his arms over his chest. "This doesn't make sense. I fought both Funtime Freddy and Funtime Foxy ages ago when Mike and I were here the first time. They weren't anything like this."

"No, you didn't," Baby abruptly corrected. He looked to her and she slowly looked back. "That wasn't them, that was us. When you came with Mike, Ennard and I were the ones who came after you. Let's not get into why- you know why- the important part was that… That they were gone." She shuddered and shook her head slowly. "I don't understand. They were gone. I don't understand this."

"Maybe they weren't really gone," Marionette offered. "They're made of wires and parts. They could have just repossessed pieces taken off their bodies. Or old bodies that had been decommissioned and then concept unification happened.… And we haven't seen them because they've been kept somewhere else. Or hiding from any humans. They probably know to be wary of any workers who aren't alone."

Any further speculation was cut off by a voice calling through the door.

"WE'LL FIND A WAY INSIDE EV-EN-TUA-LLY!~" This was punctuated by a loud bang as the door shuddered underneath Ennard's weight. "Y-YOU CAN'T RUN OFF AGAIN! AHAHAH, NOT THI-IS TIME!" Now there was a louder bang as both forms hit the door and opened it an inch. Springtrap charged over to throw his additional weight on it, his feud with Ennard briefly being ignored to block the door.

Baby shuddered and backed towards the desk with a shake of her head. She bumped against it lightly before saying, "Don't let them in. If they get to me, they will kill me."

"Wait, maybe there's still a chance to reason with them. They were your friends at one point, right? Maybe we can talk them down," Charlie suggested. She looked to Marionette. "Mari, you're good with words. Why don't you teleport out there, far enough that they can't reach you, and tell them that we can fix them if they're willing to let Baby and Ennard go. I know it's risky-."

"They won't agree to it," Baby denied with a shake of her head. "After what they did, after what we did, they would never let us go. They hate me and they want Ennard's body."

It was then that Springtrap suddenly straightened up. He slowly looked to Ennard alongside him, silver eyes focusing on. "They want you," he simply said.

"…Ha, don't go getting any ideas," Ennard said with a forced laugh. The rabbit continued to stare at him. "Don't look at me like that."

"You took their body- you are their body and now they are going to come in here tear you and Baby apart. The rest of us too if they're not willing to stop."

"Are you really asking me to walk out there and give myself up?! You saw what they tried doing to Baby, they'll take me over in a heartbeat! How's that gonna be any better for you, giving 'em a better body?!"

"No, you idiot, I'm not telling you to give yourself up to them! Just shove past them and make a run for it!" Springtrap paused as they had to hold for another blow on the door. By time he was able to talk again, he had evened his voice out. "As it is now, they will get in here and from what the breaker room map says there isn't a way out from back here. They will corner us, and they will destroy Baby and take your body whether you like it or not. Now, you have the chance to do something self-sacrificing for once in your life and lead them off."

"I- I can't- I ca-can't go out there. They'll get me. They'll take my body. I can't," Ennard struggled to protest. His voice wavered as his mimic started to drop. "I won't."

"If you care anything about Baby then you will, because you and I both know that they mean to kill her," Springtrap pointed out coldly. "But they want you more. They will only follow you."

A strange calm came over Ennard. He hesitated a moment as though he was considering it, thinking about what Springtrap said, about how horrible it would be to lose his body again. He didn't want their voices back inside of him or their wires invading his body, yet as he looked to Baby he knew their options were limited.

"I think I can outrun them," the amalgam offered. Baby started to shake her head faster. "I think I could maybe… Maybe shock them enough to get through them. Make a run for Parts and Service."

"Don't you even think about it," Baby hissed back. "Only an idiot would step out there. They will take your body for themselves and throw you away like you're nothing."

"I'm not afraid of them… Okay, yeah I am, but I can't- I'm not- I'm not going to just stand here and let them tear apart everything I've worked for," Ennard argued back. He then snapped his head to Springtrap and lowered his voice bitterly. "We'll see who the real parasite is." Though right when it seemed like he was determined to go, already drawing away from the door to open it up-.

"Do you hear that?" Marionette quietly asked. He slowly turned his head to listen to the sound coming down the left hallway. "It sounds like… Music."

Baby gave a noise akin to a gasp. "Ballora…!"

Marionette hurried to the other door and leaned out to look. He was taken aback to see that a third animatronic was coming, and the state it was in sent a chill down his spine.

It was clearly Ballora, but her body was in an equally horrendous state to Foxy and Freddy. She had more of her plates on than either of them had, but they didn't look to be in good condition. They looked like they had barely survived a garbage chute. Though because of them she had almost fully intact legs. Not that she could walk on them; she instead was crawling towards the door like a spider, back to the floor, head and arms twisted around to help her crawl. Half melted and frayed wires hung out from every crack, and her bent legs scraped on the floor as she moved.

Her head lacked a proper skull and seemed to me more wrapped of wires than either of the other Molten animatronics. Instead of a mouth she just had a gaping hole in the wires that tried to resemble one. No mouth or speaker to see of yet somehow she still played that broken music box music. She had eyes, or closed eye lids, that were an unpainted white and looked like they were barely held in. As though she had found a pair of replacement eyes, but they didn't open as she raised her head.

"You have the perfect form… For my new dance partner… Let me wrap myself around you."

Mask eyes widened and the Puppet slammed his hand on the button for the door. It closed abruptly but caused the monitors in the room to flicker, the room's electricity surging. It didn't help that he immediately heard scuttling and a clunking against the door. It also didn't help that there was a gaping open vent that could easily lead right out into the hall. He made the decision to take charge.

"Forget the distraction! Everyone, follow me!" Marionette commanded as he rushed out the other door.

Nobody needed to be told twice. Even Ennard had lost his nerve after the arrival of Ballora, or suddenly realized that the plan wouldn't work as anticipated any longer. He ran with Springtrap pressing the button for the door on his way out of the office, barely dodging his arm getting caught as it slammed closed. It wouldn't hold them long but neither Molten Foxy nor Molten Freddy looked very capable of using the door button.

Unfortunately still, Springtrap's prediction of being cornered was partially correct. Marionette got to the back of the Private Room section with no idea where to go and only then remembered the nearly hidden hatch that led back into the secret rooms. Without much context beyond, "In here!" he headed inside with the others at his heels. The group stepped out of the thin hatchway and into what looked unsettlingly like an actual house. Save how dark it was and how everything was caked in a layer of thick dust.

"What is this place?" Charlie asked as she looked around. She noticed a nearby grandfather clock which was no longer running. It looked almost identical to the one in their hallway back at home. "Why does it look like the house?"

"This was… One of the Purple Man's playrooms, for lack of a better description…" Even that definition sent a chill through her. Marionette grew more somber as he quietly added, "This is where he kept Gabriel…"

Springtrap took the news especially hard. He tightened his hands and lowered his head, struggling to keep his compositor as he considered what that meant. What his father could've done to Gabriel down in this fake house. He had done more than just murder him; he had tormented him. It was Michael's worst nightmare.

"But this is also our way out," Marionette continued. He started into the darkness before stopping beside an open vent hatch up by the ceiling. It was only about the size of the ones in the Control Module, but the covering had looked like a normal slated vent and was currently laying useless on the floor. "When Mike and I came down before, I found this vent when I was trying to quickly get in from the Circus Gallery. This vent leads right to it and if we get there we can circle around-."

"Mari, you're a genius!" Ennard blurted out. He ran over, grabbed the puppet by the shoulders, and shook him excitedly. "You just saved us all! That's brilliant!~"

"You're forgetting that they are still closer to the elevator than we are," Baby pointed out. She lowered her head in dread and slight frustration. "They could be waiting for us in the Breaker Room even now."

"No, wait, you don't get it! We don't need to get to the elevator at all!" the amalgam said excitedly. She looked up at him and Marionette tilted his head, to which the clown hooked an arm around his shoulders and leaned down to whisper to them all. "Because there's a little room right behind the Circus Gallery that holds- drumroll please- the secondary service elevator!"

"There's a second elevator?!" Marionette brightened with an excited smile. "That's perfect!"

"It's our ticket to freedom!" Ennard excitedly explained. "Now it's tiny and slow, but we can ride it straight up to the surface without those kooks being any the wiser!"

"I don't remember a second elevator. Are you sure it's there? Are you sure it's working?" Baby asked desperately. "I lived in that gallery for years, I never saw it."

"Maybe it was one of those rooms that animatronics black out on. That's gonna be fun using an elevator we can't see. But hey, a way out is a way out, right?"

"…Help me up." Baby skated over the carpet and underneath the vent. "I might be able to find the way to the Circus Gallery. It was my stage, it should be instinctual, shouldn't it?"

Marionette wasn't sure if that was true, especially after all the tampering that had been done with her programming but didn't feel the need to argue if she wanted to go first. Ennard helped boost her to the vent and she tucked herself inside and crawled in. He then beckoned the puppets in, helping boost Charlie who Marionette let go first before smoothly following without assistance. Ennard didn't wait for Springtrap and climbed in afterwards, but the rabbit wouldn't have asked for assistance anyway.

Soon the group was slowly creeping through the vent shaft. It was cold and tight, but there was obvious progress being made. Baby led at the front down a straight shaft until coming to a vent shaft breaking off to the right but decided to continue crawling ahead. It wasn't until Springtrap got to the vent opening that he spoke.

"Everyone wait," Springtrap commanded. Marionette tried to look back past Ennard in alarm while the springlock suit turned on his Handunit. "We can't take the chance of getting lost in here. Let me see if I can find a layout of the vents." The tool began to boot slowly, and it was only within a few moments that Baby's limited patience ran out.

"We don't have time for you to get that thing working- if that thing even works at all. They will find another way into the vents, if they haven't already," Baby fussed. She started to crawl ahead when Charlie caught her by the ankle to stop her.

"He has a point. If we go charging ahead into a dead end then we'll be in serious trouble," she warned. Yet all Baby heard was that Charlie was taking Springtrap's side over hers again. It made her defensive, and she tugged her leg free.

"Just because he was right about Michael doesn't mean he is right about everything. He has never been in these vents, but I always know where the Circus Gallery is," Baby retorted. She then began to crawl ahead, leaving the less than enthused Charlie behind. Ennard nudged Marionette forward a little, signaling him to keep going, and it was his continuation that convinced Charlie to move on as well. Springtrap, unenthused by the display, stayed back and kept his eyes on the Handunit.

By now Baby was far enough ahead to be reaching the turn at the end of the shaft. She was still charging ahead when she suddenly heard a loud banging. She froze up on the spot, listening closely. Charlie started to crawl up behind her, so she whispered back a firm, "Stop… I hear something nearby. Listen."

Everyone went still behind her and she listened closer. Then came a loud rumbling sound with a repeated thumping as something charged through the vents. She started to move back once she realized that it was coming their way, but there wasn't enough time.

All at once a mess of wires and parts crashed in at the end of the vent, slamming into the vent wall at the end. As its head twisted around it revealed itself as Molten Foxy, then began to push itself through the vent. It shoved its head in front of it with its matted wires as its legs propelled it from behind, still struggling to turn around the corner.

"Move back. Move back," Baby called as she started to back into the vent. Molten Foxy was quick to follow behind her, head turning on its side and bearing glass shard teeth as it nipped after her.

Everyone else had caught on by now and started making their way back in a frenzy. Springtrap looked up just in time to see Ennard crawling quickly towards him and assumed what happened. He sent one last look to the Handunit, still loading the maps, and then started crawling down the other vent. Unwilling to let Ennard go first and risk being stuck behind him. Ennard followed soon and both Marionette and Charlie were at the turn while Baby continued moving back, slowed by the fact that she couldn't turn around.

"D-Don't run, Circus Baby! Us showmen should stick together!" Molten Foxy called. He shoved further towards her and started to gain speed once again. "But it sure is nice to see you crawling away again!"

It was that comment that caused Baby to stop her retreat. She knew exactly what he was alluding to, he knew he said it on purpose. Even though in Ennard's form, it had been him, Freddy, and Ballora who stared her down and laughed at her misfortune after she was cast from the body as a mound of rejected wires. She shuddered in growing anger as he continued to crawl in towards her.

"Did I hurt your feelings? Sorry Circus Baby, b-but you aren't the star of the show anymore!" He lifted his head and his eye grew a deep red once again. "Y-You are only wor-r-rth your weight in wi-wires!"

That was a mistake. Almost as much of a mistake as diving towards Baby, who proceeded to strike her claw out and smash his head into the side of the vent. She opened and closed her clamp attempting to get ahold of him, while he opened and closed his mouth to try and bite her back. His wires slung forward to grab for her and she grabbed a bundle with her free hand and ripped them back, unwinding them from the body and causing a torso plate to fall off. Molten Foxy let out a metal snarl and yanked his body back, freeing his head from her grip, and poised to attack again.

Baby raised her claw while bracing herself with her hand, and when Molten Foxy charged her she was ready. He slammed into her heavily and bit into her shoulder, but it did practically nothing, giving her the chance to flip him and slam him down on the bottom of the vent. She dug her fingers into his empty eye socket while pinning his neck with her closed claw.

"Keep following us. I want an excuse to take off your head," Baby hissed down at him. "You think I wanted to come back to you? I was the best thing that ever happened to you and you threw me away. You're nothing to me now."

"I'm sorry, but that body is not yours!" Molten Foxy denied in the same performing tone. "You should go ba-ack to your stage while you still can, and maybe we won't hurt you a-anymore than we a-already ha-ave!" Baby gave a frustrated cry and shoved his head against the wall, ignoring his kicking legs as she tried to pull away his faceplates.

It was right around then, as Charlie was moving into the next vent after the others, that she heard a slithering rushing noise. Something else was coming quick and she turned back to warn Baby only to realize the clown was gone. "Baby?!" she called back into the vent.

The loud scurrying tore through and Charlie just barely moved back before Molten Freddy charged by from the vent they had come from. The Security Puppet's eyes widened in horror as she realized that Baby was about to be corned by both without a way to protect her back. Without much thought to the consequences, Charlie leapt out and grabbed ahold of the wires tailing behind Molten Freddy's body to weigh him down. He let out a garbled growl and turned back on her, swinging his arm out and striking her head on the metal wall.

Charlie was more taken off-guard than hurt but she still gave a ringing cry. Her music began to play out of reflex and a second later so did Marionette's as he sprung forward to get between them. He ensnared his strings around Molten Freddy's arm and spun himself, twisting up his wires and wrenching them over. Molten Freddy bared his teeth and dove in to bite, just to be rewarded with Charlie punching him in the jaw, snapping it shut on himself. He laughed hysterically, furiously through his sharp teeth.

Molten Freddy then twisted himself around like a snake and slung his wires over the two puppets, fully dropping the pathetic remains of his legs to do so. The wires tightened quickly around Charlie who began to panic and fight the one looped around her neck. Marionette, meanwhile, had dealt with wires like this before, and he slid right underneath them and smoothly fit past Molten Freddy.

"AHAHAH! WH-WHERE YA GOIN'? YOU CAN'T HIIIIDE!" Molten Freddy challenged as he turned to follow. He didn't even have a chance before Marionette gave him a telekinetic shove. It knocked forward onto his own mound of wires. "HEY, NO F-FAIR! THAT'S A CHEAP CHEAT!"

The Puppet focused in again as he steadied his hands in front of him. Then he shoved them out, focusing while he did so, and hit Molten Freddy again. This time landing on his own mass of wires and just barely loosening the ones on Charlie. She started to climb out and squeeze past him, only for him to notice and grab her by the leg. He tried tugging her back to his wires, but Marionette noticed and reacted immediately. He lashed out with his telekinesis once more, hands smacking against the bottom of the vent, sending a firmer pang of pressure through the vent.

Not only did it knock Molten Freddy back farther down the vent, but it managed to shove Charlie in the blowback. She only shifted slightly down the vent, but Marionette was quick to grab her arms and help pull her up and out of the wires. He then moved past her and focused his attention on Molten Freddy again, who was already straightening and turning himself over.

"I'll hold him back. Go get Baby," Marionette said as he glared after the bear. Charlie nodded and crawled back towards Baby.

Back at the beginning of the ordeal, when the Security Puppet had first been struck and rang out her music, Baby had heard the song and recognized that it wasn't Marionette. Still with Molten Foxy held down, she processed the realization that the music playing was a different song, and that it sounded more like bells that chimes. She knew what she was hearing and turned back to look. "Charlie?"

Molten Foxy seized the opportunity and rolled his body before yanking his head free. He threw his chest back and tossed his head up just enough for the sharp jaws to clamp down on the wrist that supported her claw. Glass teeth severed through wires that they weren't supposed to and within moments she was struck by pain, and then a weakness in her claw's grip. She used her other hand stabbed her fingers into Molten Foxy's face repeatedly. He flinched and rolled, twisting and cracking something in her wrist in the process.

Throwing herself forward, Baby brought her free elbow down on Molten Foxy's neck. Then used both her trapped and freed arm to yank at his head, ripping and twisting it, and pulling until his wires came loose from his torso and his head slid free. Finally he released her, and she thanked him by tossing his head behind him, his wires now unwound enough that it flew past his twitching legs. He continued to squirm and choke out broken voice lines as he tried and failed to right himself.

"You should have quit while you were ahead," Baby spat after him. She then started to turn to try and see what was going on behind her when she was struck with a sharp pain from her arm. She looked down at the injury and now noticed that her claw hung open limply. It barely responded with anything more than a twitch when she tried to close it. She was damaged and had lost her one line of defense while trapped in this underground prison.

Eventually Charlie came up and squeezed over Baby so that she could see what was going on. Once seeing that Molten Foxy wasn't currently an issue- still trying to rewind his wires together- she looked at Baby's wrist which she was nursing by resting on the bottom of the vent. It was already apparent that something was wrong before she even touched it. Baby flinch and static hiss at the gentlest contact only proved it.

"Hold it with your free hand and don't let it dangle. I'm going to try and help you move, okay?" Charlie said. Baby was in no place to argue, even if the act of trying to hold her claw was uncomfortable. The Security Puppet helped hold her upper body as she maneuvered her back down the last stretch of the vent.

Marionette was still holding Molten Freddy back by time Baby and Charlie arrived. Unfortunately, upon seeing Baby Molten Freddy only became more determined to get to her, and the Puppet again shoved him back. The more frustrated he grew, the harder he shoved. The harder he shoved, the more he felt it. He couldn't remember the last time he had to use his powers for this long and at this controlled level.

Charlie got Baby turned and into the next passage behind Springtrap and Ennard. "Mari, come on! We need to move!"

This couldn't have been a better time as Marionette was starting to see Molten Freddy's eye light trailing and had a suspicion he was becoming fatigued. With one last shove, one hard enough that he almost knocked himself over in the process, he hurried after them. He noticed Molten Foxy beginning to crawl after them again, his body even more of a mess as the wires tangled on the outside to hold it together. Marionette quickly followed the others while keeping an eye and ear out behind him.

Springtrap's eyes flickered between the vent and the Handunit as he struggled to crawl through the confined space. There was a second path up ahead against the left side and looked down at the now loaded map. Going to the left would effectively be a short cut, with going straight looping around before meeting up with this vent and both leading to their end in the Circus Gallery. This was a huge relief and Springtrap eagerly rounded the corner for the shortcut.

His eyes raised from the Handunit just in time to see something waiting down at the end of the shaft. Closed eyes in a nest of wires and the cramped and distorted legs folded behind it revealed it as Ballora. Springtrap froze to a halt and Ballora slowed her crawl to its own stop so she could 'stare' at him.

It was right then that Ennard came up behind Springtrap and saw Ballora. He recoiled instantly and stared with wide and terrified blue eyes. They were at a brief stalemate as the rabbit tried to figure out what to do now, considering that he could hear the fighting in the vents behind him. He could probably hold back Ballora but getting past her was another thing entirely. Or it was until he remembered the vents. He held up the Handunit screen and aimed it behind him so that Ennard would see, pointing out the additional vent path that would lead behind Ballora.

Ennard understood immediately and hurried to crawl down the next vent. Either they could outmaneuver her, or he would distract her enough to bring her out of the way and let Springtrap through. Either way was a win, but required Springtrap to stand there and wait, blocking the broken ballerina from getting to the puppets or Baby. It wasn't much longer before the three passed by, with Charlie helping the slowed Baby and Marionette turned back to watch the pursuing Molten animatronics.

He was right behind Springtrap when Molten Freddy started to become bold and move in closer. "I-IS THAT GOLDY BON-BON I SEE?!" Marionette reacted by shoving him back again, though now having to contend with Molten Foxy's weight behind him both mean that he didn't go as far and that it took more strength. The Puppet sagged slightly against Springtrap's leg.

"Where is Ennard?" Marionette asked. His voice was quiet and winded. Springtrap responded by holding up the Handunit again and showing him the path. "A way out. Thank goodness." He started to head after Charlie and Baby. "Follow with me. Don't let them catch up with you."

He had a point, so as soon as he passed Springtrap scooted back and started to follow him down the vent. Ennard had to be close to the other side by now and it didn't look like Ballora could turn around unless she completely detached her legs. Though considering everyone's loose wire state it was very possible that she could. He started to crawl down the shaft when he heard Molten Freddy coming up close.

"WHERE YA GOIN', BON-BON? THE PARTY'S NOT OVER YET…" The bear crackled and Springtrap could feel its wire fingers grazing his ankle. "WE'D L-LOVE TO FI-ILL ALL THAT EMPTY SPACE!"

"Don't touch me,"Springtrap snarled deeply. Under any circumstances this would've done nothing, if not for one exception; his voice. "Get back now."

Springtrap suspected that it was the familiarity of the voice that caused Molten Freddy to fall back. In any case it worked for the moment, but he doubted it would work long. He crawled faster after the others.

Ennard had just made it to the other side of the vent. He peeked around carefully only to spot Ballora's back end facing back at him. She still looked distracted so he thought he could easily slip by unnoticed, to which he started to slowly move, and kept his wires as still as he could while scooting by. As soon as he passed the midway point, right when there was no turning back, he heard her voice. It was the last voice he had ever wanted to hear.

"I know it's you… I recognize the soft hum of our wires… We missed you..."

But she didn't sound the same. As aggressive as Funtime Freddy and Funtime Foxy had been, Ballora had largely been somber but assuring. Something in her tone had changed to sound cold and empty. Her time broken apart had changed her. That was enough to send Ennard into a mad scramble down the rest of the vent shaft until he nearly thumped into the vent cover blocking him from the Circus Gallery. He pressed all his weight on it and using sheer strength forced it open with a loud clank. He climbed out and looked back in to see Baby some ways behind.

"Hurry up! They're flying up on us!" Ennard cried in growing panic. Baby tried to move faster at his beckoning and was rewarded with her wrist and claw shifting again. She hissed at the shot of pain up her arm.

"Go make yourself useful and find that door. Your babbling at me isn't going to make this any easier," Baby spat. He nodded and disappeared, and she focused on crawling forward again.

Charlie squeezed past Baby and climbed out into the Circus Gallery. She looked around cautiously into the darkness and found something like the other gallery and auditorium, a large room that was devoid of much life other than a stage. The only reason she noticed some Circus Baby posters was because they were on the walls around the vent. She reached in to take Baby's arm and help her out of the vent.

"Looks like the coast is clear for now, but I wouldn't put it past them to find another way in," Charlie warned. Baby managed to get herself out and her skates on the floor and only then did the puppet start trying to coax her arm away from her chest. "Let me see it."

"That thing bit through the wires. Now I can barely move it on my own," Baby explained as she held it out. Just the feeling of Charlie's hands ghosting over the main joint sent pinpricks of pain up and down it. "I should have severed that fox's limp little neck when I had the chance," she vented with another hiss.

"I think I know what's wrong. We can fix this, but not here." Charlie unzipped and removed her jacket before carefully wrapping it around Baby's arm. She tried to be gentle as she wrapped tightly, taking care to make sure that it would hold. "This should help keep it still. Just try keeping it close to your chest and don't use it for anything."

"As opposed to what? Letting it dangle like Foxy's head?" Baby sourly asked.

The Security Puppet answered with a sympathetic smile and a pat on the arm as Marionette slid out of the vent behind them. He struggled momentarily, legs briefly touching the ground as he rested against the wall. He then looked over at Baby and noticed the jacket wrapped around her arm, leaning in with concern.

"Baby injured her wrist, but I think I've got it stabilized enough to get us out of here. Are you okay? You look shaken," Charlie said.

Marionette nodded as he regained his strength. He wiped his mask of nonexistent sweat and asked, "Where did Ennard go?"

"Back here!" Ennard cried from somewhere in the back. There came a loud bang that sounded suspiciously like him breaking through a door. Right afterwards, Springtrap popped his upper half out through the vent, slightly startling the already on edge animatronics. He climbed out quickly, awkwardly, forced to drop down forwards onto his hands and crawl out.

"We need to keep moving," Springtrap firmly said. Nobody argued with him, especially when it became apparent why he said such. They could already hear movement in the vents from something following them. Marionette dashed in the direction of where he heard Ennard, with Charlie and Baby following and Springtrap in the back.

"READY OR N-NOT, WE COMING IN!" Molten Freddy crackled after them. Looking back, Marionette caught sight of the bear sticking his head out of the vent and it made him shudder.

The four hurried through the only open doorway they could find at the back of the Circus Gallery. Ennard had been standing behind the door and slammed it shut behind them before dragging a couple of heavy, plastic tubs in front of it and stacking them up. It wouldn't hold for more than a few seconds at best, but it would give them a few seconds to address the newest issue, being the elevator itself.

"This is the secondary elevator?" Marionette asked in disbelief as he circled around it. The fact that he could circle it at all baffling him. "I've slept in boxes bigger than this. I think my box might be bigger than this."

Nobody was impressed with the elevator. It was narrow and sat in the middle of the room awkwardly, being entered from the back by a set of doors. The front had a few windows that looked more like vent openings than anything else, not even having glass in the windows. There was no doubt that it wouldn't hold all of them. Still, it was what they had to work with, and Marionette leaned into the elevator to look around. He noticed something quickly.

"Wait a minute, there's only one button in here. There's not even a keypad to put in a level," Marionette pointed out. Then he pulled back and looked up, only now realizing that the elevator wasn't connected to the upper floor. "Ennard, this elevator doesn't go to the upper floors."

"What?! How- Oh geez, you're right." Ennard stared at the roof positively dumbstruck. He hadn't noticed it in his rush of coming in. He rubbed over the back of his head. "O-kay, so, uh, secondary elevator doesn't go up… Which probably means it's a maintenance elevator that goes down to one place to work. Probably why it's so small." He gave a strained laugh, one that sounded much too like Molten Freddy's for the others' comfort. "And just when it looks like this place can't possibly get any worse!"

"Maybe we can still use it to lose them. Going back out into the Circus Gallery isn't an option," Marionette reminded. He turned back towards the others, specifically Ennard. "What room would require so much maintenance that it would have its own personal lift?" But before Ennard could even guess he was beaten to it.

"The boiler room," Springtrap simply answered. "Father couldn't manage temperature control to save his life, and the boiler room would already be temperamental." That caused the clown to brighten with another idea as he looked to the rabbit and pointed towards the floor.

"Boiler room's the bottom floor, right? Or close enough to it, right?" Springtrap seemed unimpressed by Ennard's newfound enthusiasm when everything was rapidly falling apart in his eyes. "Then that's it! That's our way out of here! You guys know what else is down in this basement?!" He looked to the other three excitedly, receiving a shake of the head from Charlie. "The tunnels! They go right into the sewer and then it's a cake walk right up to the surface! Or, ya know, not exactly cake, but we're already wading in-."

"Aren't the sewers going to be flooded?" Charlie asked doubtfully. Ennard waved it off with both hands.

"No, no! Hasn't rained in a while and these sewers have high walkways, and it's a lot better than trying to get past those three," Ennard said, pointing his thumbs back at the door. "We'll just have to take turns on the elevator, but this is going to work- trust me!"

"You are not going first. If you make a mistake and trigger something to go off, we could have a total lockdown. And I don't trust that you wouldn't abandon us to save yourself," Springtrap firmly shut down. That took a bit of the wind out of the amalgam's sails. The rabbit turned towards the others and looked over them. "…But it does seem like our best chance to getting out of here without confronting those three, which I doubt any of us want to do." He looked specifically at Baby's arm and she looked away in shielded embarrassment.

"Then down we go," Marionette agreed with them. "Baby, because of your injury you should go first. Charlie and I can fit in with you… Though this means Ennard and Michael will have to wait here."

"Oh, don't worry about me!" Ennard chirped in mock playfulness, voice strained and stuttering. "S-So what if they want to fill me up with their wires and hi- and hijack my body? It's nothing I haven't ha-handle before! Ha ha, really, same bots trying to get into my body. Great. Great."

"Ennard, pull yourself together. The elevator ride can't be that long. You and he will just have to suck up your pride and make yourself fit in it together," Baby instructed. She circled to the doors of the elevator. Marionette climbed in through the window and opened them for her, letting her roll right inside. "Just don't kill each other. If you're that determined to get destroyed, then just open the doors now."

"Nope! We're good!" the amalgam assured for them both. Even if Springtrap was silent without an agreement. "You just hang in there and keep your arms inside at all times. Especially you, Babydoll!" He waved playfully as Marionette and Charlie squeezed in beside her. Marionette pressed the button and the lift started to lower into the floor. "See ya on the flip side!"

Ennard feigned confidence well. Though he wasn't the one riding down into the darkness in a glorified coffin.

Mable: When you're willing to wade through sewage to avoid a reunion with your old buddies, you know your life went off the rails somewhere. Hopefully things are looking up from here!... As they head down.