Mable: Here we are! Quick news: firstly, I finished with chapter ten of my novel A Fool's Golden Cage. Huzzah, progress! Secondly, I wrote and uploaded a second FNAF story called "Running On Empty". It's about Michael and Eggs Benedict working together to stop a crazed Funtime Freddy; the usual. You might want to check it out if interested. It's only one chapter so it wouldn't take much time, but no pressure! Anyways, Enjoy!

Almost Feels Like Home

Chapter Eighty-Eight

A loud knocking roused both Mike and Marionette out of a dead sleep. In the night they had moved to a room inside of the tunnel system- mostly to get some quiet from Music Man's continued thumping and clawing at the bottom of the slide- where the floor was spongey, and it was less uncomfortable to sleep. It was still a nightmare trying to sleep in there. The two clinging to each other and using Mike's jacket as a blanket, Mike barely sleeping and Marionette staying awake to make sure nothing came in, losing track of how many seconds ticked by.

The knocking became more insistent and Marionette sat up and tried to look out of the window. Unfortunately, their room was tucked behind more of the tunnels, meaning that he didn't have nearly as good of a view. If he wanted to see what was knocking, he would have to find a better angle. Except before he could a voice called out.

"Hello? Are you still in there? It's after six, you can come out now!"

To Marionette's surprise it was Orville calling to them. Mike was just shocked at the time and double-checked his watch to see that it was in fact six already. Hopefully that meant Jennifer would show up soon; out of the three or four voicemails he left her one must've gotten through. It wasn't like he could get out on his own with the keypad locked.

"I know you're scared, but you're safe now. We're back to thinking straight again. We won't hurt you."

Marionette didn't entirely trust him at first. A quick check of his internal clock did confirm that it was after six though, so it seemed like it was worth a shot. He looked to Mike uncertainly, "Shall we?"

"I don't see much point waiting in here," Mike offered. "Jen should get here soon and if she's not all bets are off and we'll make our own way out."

"Maybe we're not that desperate yet," Marionette playfully trilled, patting his cheek. "I'll go first to make sure they're as together as they say they are. Stay close, if I get into trouble I may need you."

"You say that like it's a joke but after what he put us through last night, I'm looking for any reason to deck Music Man. Two hours of nonstop cymbals for crying out loud…" Mike was exhausted and fed up. So much so that laying back down on the mat and sleeping until Jennifer got there didn't sound like too bad of an idea right now. Still he forced himself to crawl behind Marionette to the entrance to the tunnels.

Orville was waiting for them outside and shirked back when Marionette came out of the tunnel. At first the puppet thought that this was because he was afraid of him until the elephant hung his head and spoke.

"I must apologize. Last night… That was not my finest hour," Orville admitted sheepishly. "You see, you saw, we cannot control this. I cannot control this. Ever since I was first turned on, I have had this nightly curse, my Hyde if you would, who controls my body and leads me to hunt. There was a time when I was able to manually shut myself down and sleep through it… But things have changed. It is quite a shame…" He laid a hand on his shaking head. "And now I've dragged the Music Man into it too…"

"I don't know what he's been telling you, but he was just as into it as you were," Mike spoke up as he climbed out behind Marionette. Orville seemed to cringe at the comment as he peeked at the man from between his fingers. Mike corrected himself, "By which I mean he lost it just as much as you did. It's not just you."

"But it was just me when I first got here. Did I somehow spread it to him…?" Orville trailed off as he slowly lowered his hand to stare at Mike. "Wait a moment… You…?"

"Here we go again," Mike thought, trying to ignore the slowly rising dread in his chest. He couldn't take another round fueled by a case of mistaken identity. But thankfully, Orville didn't proclaim him as the murderer again and throw himself on him. That wasn't how he recognized him.

"You're the one who saved those children from the basement! I knew I recognized your voice from somewhere. It is quite an honor!" It didn't take long to realize he was talking about Magictime Theater.

"Anyone would've done it… Wait a second. So, you're saying…" Mike hesitated to look at Marionette in confusion, then back to the elephant in disbelief. "You were alive back then? So, wait. That means you saw me down in the basement while that was going on? While your head was taken clean off?"

"I heard you, yes. I was quite awake for most of it," Orville chirped. "They didn't shut me down properly."

"That sounds traumatizing," Mike admitted with a slight grimace. Marionette too looked uneased at this reveal.

Orville gave a good-natured chuckle. "I was just happy to be a part of the effort! Hearing those poor children and not being able to do anything was simply awful…" The elephant fell quiet for a long moment before regaining his cheerful tone, his ears perking and giving away his mood. "But I suppose that's not important anymore. What is important is that last night-."

"HEY!" A voice brazenly interrupted from the stage. The closed curtains were suddenly yanked apart to reveal the Music Man, now holding his cymbals and trembling in frustration. "I would like to know which of you thought it cheeky to jam a piece of wood in me! Why, I haven't been so insulted since my last employers muted my speaker!" There was a clanking noise inside of his chest. "And you broke my accordion hand!"

Mike rubbed the back of his neck, knowing he had been the cause of both. He didn't regret defending himself but the intention hadn't been to leave behind damage.

"Yeah, that was me…" Mike exhaled slowly and rested his hands on his hips. "Tell you what, how about I take a look and see what I can do to fix it now that you're back in your right mind? I'm no technician but I've worked on a few animatronics. I could probably figure out how to get it back in working order," he offered. He started to walk towards the stage. "I might be able to just snap it back into place."

But Music Man reacted quickly. He flinched back and pulled the curtains further closed until only a single eye peeked out. "Hey! No! Stay back! You might not be purple but you're still a maniac!" Music Man snapped and yanked the curtains closed the rest of the way. Shutting the man out and refusing his help. Mike wasn't shocked but something about being compared to the Purple Man still hit a nerve. It always did.

He turned back to see Orville shaking his head and looking like he was about to say something, but before he could there came a beeping noise from the front of the store. The sound of the keypad booting up.

Orville dropped everything, including his magician's wand, and strode to the stage stairs at the side and disappeared behind the curtains. Marionette followed behind and handed him his wand underneath the curtain. Right as the elephant grabbed it, before the puppet could draw back, Music Man cracked open the curtains.

"Do a cripple a favor and don't tell my sweetheart this happened. I wouldn't want her to think her soft-hearted Music Man was a basket case," he requested. Marionette gave him a flat stare as though questioning if he was serious. "Then will you at least tell her why I did it?! It's not like I had a choice" He did have a point there, so Marionette nodded. "Splendid! Have a safe trip, but chime-voiced mime!" he closed the curtains again right as the front door creaked open.

"Matt, are you in here?" Jennifer called. Marionette made a last-minute decision and slid under the curtain. Mike wasn't concerned about him hiding and instead got his own act together.

"Back here. About time you showed up," he said nonchalantly as he walked over to greet Jennifer. She was back in uniform again and he was too tired to think of a clever comment to make. At least she looked happy.

"I'm just glad to see you in one piece. I had a feeling you were going to stay so I wasn't too shocked when you didn't call, but when I wake up to an answering machine full of messages- I've got to admit. I kind of thought I'd find you as banged up as Hickory was." She looked around the arcade and couldn't see any immediate damage or animatronics out of place. "So, how did it go?"

"I take it from you asking me that that you didn't listen to all of the messages or you'd know the cops swung by last night," Mike remarked. Her smile dropped instantly and her eyes widened. "Relax, they didn't see me. I mean, obviously if I'm standing here, they didn't see me. There was a woman here too, I think she was a manager or something. Anyway, they saw Orville fooling around with the keypad and left it at that."

"Orville's been messing with the keypad?" Jennifer asked in disbelief.

"No, but it got them off my back. It's a long story, don't worry about it." He could tell she was very worried. "So, let's get through the bad news first. You can't get a nightguard in here because those animatronics from the auction have that nighttime programming where they wander and they will attack someone if they're alone. It's not something I can fix either. The only thing you can do- or the employees can do- is just let them wander at night. Just move the other animatronics into the back and cover the garbage cans."

"I was afraid this was going to happen… I knew something had to be wrong when they bought them from some random auction. They weren't even cheap! But I knew something must've happened because they both came out of failed pizzerias, or party stores, or whatever they were." She huffed in irritation. "But now we know… What's the good news?"

"I'm not dead."

"You said there was good news."

"And you said you didn't work here," Mike challenged with a slight smirk. Jennifer didn't have a retort. "In all seriousness, this is something Hickory's can deal with pretty easily. All that's got to happen is keeping workers out of here between midnight and six and not leaving anything out that they don't want to get knocked over. It's that simple," Mike laid out to her.

"But what if someone gets hurt? You're saying they tried to attack you?" Jennifer asked worriedly. Mike nodded and she pointed at him. "See, that's what I'm worried about. Do you know how many kids come here?"

"They're not going to attack kids," Mike reassured quietly. "They're not going to attack anyone outside of those hours and they're not going to attack groups of people. You just need to make sure nobody comes in here then. Other than that, they're completely safe… Unless one falls over on someone. You're on your own preventing that one."

"Okay… Okay, I think that's doable. Any business should be able to do that much," Jennifer said uncertainly. More like she was trying to convince herself than simply repeating it to remember it.

Mike's face softened in sympathy. "I know you're thinking it's like it was before but trust me when I say it's not. This is something that can be managed as long as the staff is told what they need to do and management is willing to keep an eye on it," he assured her.

It was strange how much this felt like doing business. With a competitor, no less, but it felt like the right thing to do. He was keeping people safe, he was keeping the animatronics safe, and averting a disaster that could spread to Foxy's. Maybe Old Man Consequences had a point.

"Guess we're going to take off soon. I don't remember when this place opens but I'm guessing sooner than later to cover up that keypad," Mike said as he checked his watch.

"They're usually in here at seven… We're?" She caught onto his slip up just as he did. "How many people have you got in here?"

"Just me and my buddy Orville. Sorry, force of habit. This is what happens when you spend most of your workday with robots, you start treating them like people," Mike excused without looking up from his watch. "It's when they start talking back that you start questioning your life's choices."

"…I know you're joking, but you really do have a knack for this," Jennifer pointed out.

"That's me: Matt Schmidt the Animatronic Whisperer," Mike said wearily with a small salute. "Now, let's get out of here before someone else show's up."

"By 'let's', you just mean you and me, right?"

"Funny." Mike followed her back towards the front door. Behind the curtain, Marionette had been listening to the whole exchange and knew that his time was limited. He looked up at Orville whom he was kneeling in front of, the elephant looking down at him almost curiously. Like he was genuinely concerned that the puppet was about to be abandoned here.

"Orville, I'm so sorry," Marionette apologized honestly. His face twisted in guilt as he confessed. "About last night. Do you remember?"

"About something you did?" Orville tilted his head curiously. "No, I don't remember anything at all." Right before the puppet was about to confess-, "And I don't want to know."

Marionette continued to stare with questioning and that same remorse. He clearly didn't understand, and Orville leaned down towards him and lowered his voice to a gentle tone.

"I think we can agree that neither of us had much of a choice in what happened last night… And for that I would rather not know and then maybe I will never have to remember. Let's just call it even," the elephant offered. The puppet wasn't sure what to think of the offer but agreed with a nod. He understood exactly what Orville was going through, he had heard it when he took control of him, and it pained him to think of such a kindly soul forced into such a role. "Now run along. I'm afraid your friend might be leaving without you."

With another nod, Marionette went to slip underneath the curtain again. He paused to send back one last look at Orville and Music Man who watched him silently. Without their voices, boisterous or joyous, the was something much more melancholy lingering in their gaze. It was only then that he realized, regardless of everything that happened, he didn't want to leave them. He had no choice.

Marionette slipped under the curtain and headed to the front door where he looked out. Mike was in the driver's seat and Jennifer was talking to him through the window, so the puppet waited for his chance.

"Thanks again for all of this. I know it went… At least you got good intel. If you left at eleven then we would still not know what to do with those two," Jennifer thanked him graciously. "Someone would've gotten stuck watching the place and ended up locked in the bathroom all night." He raised a brow at her and got a slow spreading smirk. She didn't give him a chance to make the comment he was dying to make. "Alright, it would've been me! They hired me back!" she blurted out in exasperation. "They were desperate, I was desperate. They offered me double, I caved."

"You don't have to explain yourself to me. I'm Matt Schmidt, the Animatronic Whisperer, the genius who keeps taking the nightshift just so I can get chased around by colorful robots," Mike remarked with a wink. Still exhausted he decided to spare her and draw the conversation to a close. "Take care of yourself. A place like this is always going to come with risks."

"You too, Matt," Jennifer said with a smile. She started to walk to the arcade, probably to relock the door, when she hesitated. "Wait, when you said- You said your name was Ma-? Matt, Matt Schmidt?" Mike wasn't tired enough to ignore that emphasis. She recognized that last name and the wheels were starting to turn. "Did you say Matt Schmidt?"

To which Mike called, "Catch you on the flip side!" and hit the gas. He nearly peeled out of the parking lot and onto the highway. "I hope you're back there, because I'm not going back to get you if you're not."

"I'm here," Marionette chimed with amusement. He drew back the blanket and looked out at him. "But good to know you would throw me to the wolves, or whatever animals are lurking about."

"Think of it less like I'm abandoning you and more like I'm gifting you," Mike retorted. He relaxed back in his seat. "Not that I'm really worried about her saying anything. It's not like she can rat me out without incriminating herself… But yeah, way too close this time." He ran a hand through his hair. "Like every time."

"Where are we going?" Marionette asked in confusion. He peeked out the window carefully.

"Back to Hurricane. I know we have the room until noon, but we're already awake. Why waste the gas when we can get home in only a few hours?"

"Because I thought you still had the room key," Marionette reminded. There was a short pause, then a sigh.

"…Damn." Mike steered into the turning lane to turn the car around. "I've got to wake up and get my act together. What's next, me getting pulled over by one of the cops from last night?"

"Maybe you shouldn't drive when you're this tired. We can stay at the hotel and rest a while. We don't have to hurry home…" Marionette trailed off. Mike noticed and looked into the mirror.

"Kind of sounds like you don't want to go home," he pointed out. To which the puppet gave off-tune noise, unintentionally vocalizing his distress.

"No, I want to go home…" He trailed off again and didn't finish whatever he was saying. Mike would've preferred to just head home, even if he was entirely convinced that he could stay alert the whole drive, but something was clearly upsetting his companion. Just like before he decided to go ahead with it.

"Why not? It's not like we'd get to sleep when we got home anyways when we're being bombarded by questions and pint-sized primadonnas. At least we'll get our money's worth."

"Really? We don't have to. I'm not afraid to go home because of questions," Marionette pointed out. He must've caught his own slip up as he quickly added in, "I'm not afraid to go home at all! I just enjoy our time together. Away from the house and the business…" His voice grew to nearly a whisper as he added. "And other things."

Before Mike could ask it suddenly came to him. "Is this about Old Man Consequences? That's the only thing that changed, him popping up again," he thought. He even considered commenting on it, but then held his tongue. "…Nah. This isn't the time or place to bring him up. I don't want him looking in at us more than he already is."

That was the first time Mike really thought about it and it sent a chill down his back. At least he could look forward to some uninterrupted dreams.

Scott hadn't intended to look it up. He didn't feel the interest to look up businesses such as Freddy's online because it always brought up uncomfortable memories. Not to mention the dread he felt that Ennard would catch sight of the wrong thing and have it trigger something. Maybe once or twice in the past Scott had done the faintest of research- usually to make sure all of the Freddy's were closed- but not recently. Not since he had gotten Ennard and Baby secured into his life. Except for now and ironically because of Baby's presence.

At first Scott had found exactly what he expected when he looked up Circus Baby's Pizza World. Some old advertisements, reports about the business' unexpected closure, even a few forums of curious people or conspiracy theorists wondering what exactly happened to the restaurant. Scott avoided those like the plague; he hated reading about people's fond memories of Freddy's and knowing the truth behind them.

What he had not expected was a single video to pop up out of nowhere. It was crudely recorded on what had to be a cheap camcorder and looked to be years old, but it was real footage from Baby's restaurant. Most of the recording was of children or just moving around recording nothing in particular, walls and the floor. It wasn't until the last minute or two that Baby herself was revealed. She was almost exactly what Scott had expected; an older Baby model standing on stage shifting slightly and singing.

But the big question was whether it was worth showing Baby or not. He didn't want to upset her when she was still in the process of reinventing herself, but maybe this was something she would want to see. The cartoon had been a mixed bag in the way of reactions, but she had never specifically said that she would've rather not seen it. This case was a lot more difficult to judge and he knew he needed a second opinion.

Scott paused the video, nudged a cat off his lap, and went out into the living room to get Ennard. The clown was in the process of doing one of his new nightly rituals: watching The Immortal and the Restless with a phone to his ear, mimicking every voice dead on into the receiver. A look at the clock showed that the episode was just about to wind down so Scott decided to wait it out.

"Clara, you have to believe me! I wasn't with a woman; I was locked in the trunk of my hearse!" Ennard mimicked. He then went into a dead-on woman's voice, "I've heard that excuse before! If you're going to lie, then you'll have to try harder than that!" There was a knock on the door on tv, which Ennard mimicked impeccably well and followed with the voice of the woman outside the door. "Vlad, I'm pregnant and you're the father." He switched to the narrator's voice. "Did Vlad cheat on Clara with Lupina Van-Elsa? Were Vlad's parents really murdered? And will Zachariah ace his math final? Tune in tomorrow to find out!"

And in only an instant, Ennard switched back to his usual voice without a beat. "Ha, I know! You should see it from here. The bump's totally fake… No, I know they use a fake bump, but I mean it looks like it was bad on purpose. And heck! Who gets super pregnant in one day? It took Clara like three seasons and I don't remember her ever having a bump! Girl's totally just coming in for the inheritance…. What?... Hey, yeah, I didn't even think of that. Maybe she's hiding a crossbow under that pillow under her shirt, ha ha!"

Seeing that Ennard was in the midst of another conversation, Scott sat down on the couch beside him to try and wait it out. Ennard reflexively threw a welcoming arm around him and continued rambling.

"They're not gonna do the same evil twin twist twice… Yeah, Clara's sister. She disguised herself as Clara and got herself legally married to Vlad so that she could then divorce him and get half the money. What she didn't know is that Vlad's like perpetually broke, so it didn't go anywhere. Then she just got shafted off the show and never mentioned again," Ennard explained. He gave an excited giggle at whatever the other said. "You should see it from my perspective! Hey, yeah, you've got to come over one of these nights! ….No, the cat fur's not that bad. Don't be a big kit."

Scott must've been obvious in looking like he was waiting because Ennard glanced over at him again. The man gave him a half-smile. "…Hold on, Scott's got a weird look on his face. I think I'm about to get bad news."

Scott's brows furrowed, unsure of what look he was giving, shook his head and waved a hand as he mouthed, "It's fine. Keep talking. It can wait."

"No, he didn't hear that. You're off the hook! …Every Sunday, yeah. Sometimes Saturday if there's a potluck. Then he comes home with about five different casseroles." Were they talking about his church? What? "Okay! You have a safe night, Mike! No wandering without me, ha ha!" To which he finally ended the call, still in a good mood. "Alright, Scottie! What's the bad news?"

"It's not bad news, it's just… Uh… So, I found a video of Baby's old pizzeria online," Scott admitted. He rubbed the back of his neck hesitantly. "And I'm not sure if I should show it to her because it has her in it."

"Are you serious? How?! I didn't even know that place really opened! Let me see it, I'll tell you." Ennard jumped up from the couch and Scott followed him into the office and brought up the video.

Since the beginning of the video wasn't much other than children running around- Scott checked Ennard's gaze and noticed interest without being transfixed on the kids, which relieved him greatly- he kept talking. "How's Michael holding up?"

"Pretty good!... Except last night. Someone tried getting in the warehouse last night," Ennard revealed. Scott got a look of surprise and he was quick to add, "But don't worry! Nobody got in or anything."

"Did he tell Fritz or Mike?" Scott asked.

"You kidding? He won't even call me and I'm the entertainment! Nah, I'm just gonna do it myself. I think I can do Michael's voice well enough," the clown said as he demonstrated his 'Michael' voice. It sounded close to the real thing if not a little deeper and less raspy, giving Springtrap a more human sound. "Probably just some kids trying to get in. I wouldn't get worried about it yet- Hey look, there she is!"

Ennard turned up the volume that Scott had set low so that nobody would overhear. This gave both of them a better chance to hear the music and Baby's voice. It was strange in how this Circus Baby's voice was to Baby's voice like Ennard's mimicry was to Springtrap's. It sounded awfully close but something in it sounded off. Not just the stiffness in it either or Baby's usual tone, but a slightly higher pitch to it.

It was then that the amalgam noticed something. "Just to give you an idea of how old this has got to be, I've never seen a working Baby with blue eyes. The whole time I knew Baby she's had green ones. This might've been before they started renting her out," he revealed. He paused a long moment. "…And maybe even before Baby was Baby. She doesn't look very lifelike and she doesn't have the twitches or anything."

"That would make sense. I don't know how many parties Baby performed in before… You know, that last one." Scott coughed awkwardly. "So, what should we do? Should we show her?"

"…Sure! Might get her fired up like the cartoon did, but she's gonna flip if she finds out we knew about this and didn't tell her." He couldn't argue with that. "Let's go get her a give her a show she's not gonna forget!" Ennard chirped as he started to head out. He almost immediately leaned back into the office. "You've watched the whole thing, right? It doesn't end with someone getting maimed?"

"Oh no! No, no. I checked even before I showed you. I wouldn't make a mistake like that," Scott assured him. "I'll rewind the video. You go get her." So, he did. As soon as he was gone the man's face fell into a frown. Not over the video but because of what he said earlier about the warehouse. Maybe he would call Fritz himself and give him the news.

Ennard popped up a few minutes later. "She's coming! Just give her a couple of seconds to wheel in here." He came over to lean over the back of the office chair and the man's shoulder, looking at the paused video. "I was just thinking about how weird it would've been if we found a Circus Baby old enough to fit my mask. I mean, think about it! This mask came off somewhere. I'm guessing it was a Circus Baby."

"Or there's another clown floating around out there somewhere," Scott said with light amusement. Almost a pun if he thought about Ennard's little shortcuts through the sewers. Though this reminded him of something else. "This is a little off topic, but you know if you ever wanted to visit Michael, I could drive you over there. I don't think Fritz would mind if I borrowed his van if I paid for the gas," Scott offered.

That's what he said but Ennard could read what he was really saying: "I don't want you going out at night and getting caught." He didn't have to say it out loud for Ennard to know what he meant. All at once the amalgam became very nervous, eyes lightly twitching and wires shifting.

"Aww, that'd be great, Scott! Just- You know with all these people snooping around we might be risking it. I mean, ha, I haven't gone out prowling since-…!" He really didn't want to lie. "It's been a while."

"It was Wednesday." That comment instantly wiped out Ennard's display entirely. Scott gave him a partial smile and confessed, "I've lived with you long enough to be able to tell when you're not in the house."

Ennard broke into a strained chuckle. "Guess the cat's out of the bag, huh?" he asked. His voice quickly deflated, "Why didn't you say anything?"

"I wasn't too worried about it, and I had a hunch you were going over to the warehouse. The timeline matched up," Scott explained. He still didn't sound upset which surprised the amalgam. "I'm a little more worried now, to be honest. So just think about it, okay? I don't mind driving over there, even if it's late at night," Scott assured with a smile. Then his eyes fell past him and onto Baby who was coming into the room. "There you are, Baby! Ready to look into a time capsule?"

"Is that what you wanted to show me? A time capsule?" Baby asked with a tilt of the head.

"…You, uh, didn't tell her, did you?" Scott asked Ennard. The clown perked instantly, excitedly, covering her earlier twitchiness.

"I didn't want to spoil the big surprise," he said, sharp teeth grinning through his mask. He splayed his arms at the computer screen right beside Scott. "Ta da! We got real footage from Pizza Baby's Circus World!"

Baby stared blankly for a few moments. Then Scott cleared his throat and quietly added, "You got a few of those words mixed up there."

"You mean… My pizzeria?" Baby asked slowly. "My old pizzeria? You have a video from there? How?" She looked to the screen with an unreadable look. Upon seeing the paused video, currently showing the top of a party table, she became transfixed and rolled closer to the screen. "Is this it?"

"This is it!" Scott proclaimed with a smile. "But you don't have to watch it. I just wanted to give you the option since I found it anyway."

"…Am I in it?" Baby's voice was as unreadable as her expression had been.

"Well… In a sense, yes. There is a Circus Baby on the video but Ennard doesn't think it's you," Scott said as vaguely as he could. There always was a slim chance that this was an entirely different body altogether, so it was a possibility, especially since it had the different eye color. "Again, you don't have to watch if it's going to make you uncomfortable."

"Why are you so reluctant to show me? Is it singing out of key? Is it falling over itself?" Baby asked flatly. She had noticed the two's peculiar behavior and them walking on eggshells. "It can't be any worse than the other things I've had my face attached to." Scott smiled more reassuringly.

"It's nothing like that. I just thought…" He shrugged a little before turning to turn on the video. "Here, you can see for yourself." He swallowed any hesitation and started the video before moving his chair back so Baby could lean in closer. Ennard wrapped his arms around Scott's shoulders and peered over the top of his head. Both watched with hesitation that they hid behind smiles.

For the beginning of the video, Baby watched the screen with anticipation building. She could hear the music, she could see the children, but not the animatronic that was supposed to be her. It wasn't until she started to become impatient when the camera finally found its way to the Circus Baby that was on the stage. It was as though the room suddenly narrowed in as she became fixated on this reflection that wasn't her. She didn't remember any of this, so it couldn't be her.

The other Baby moved stiffly and while its voice was passible, it sounded lifeless and bland. It moved like the robot it was, blue eyes rolling like the glass eyes of a doll, and faceplates shifting slightly whenever it jerked into a turn. It was only now that she realized how big she used to be down in Afton Robotics' body. This version of Baby had to be the same size and looked like a gargantuan. It was shaped like an oversized toddler instead of a woman and it wasn't the slightest bit cute.

She didn't look like that at all anymore, Baby knew this, but an unsettling feeling crept into her chest.

"…Is this how I would look on stage?"

If Circus Baby had been this dull and unappealing then why would anyone want to see her on stage again? How could she show her face and be expected to be taken seriously when the successful version of herself was this poor performer. Children would be terrified of her- she couldn't be around them anyway, but she digressed- and no adult would see her as anything more than an embarrassment.

That was the perfect way to summarize what she felt; embarrassed, and for the first time in ages even self-consciousness.

The two noticed that she hadn't made any comment even once the video was over. Scott glanced back at Ennard before asking Baby, "What do you think?"

"…I think the business would've closed even without the gas leak," Baby murmured. "If the noxious fumes coming from that performance were any hint." Ennard snickered and Scott gave a half-smile.

"I'll admit that it's not… You know, back then the animatronics were a lot less advanced. They really didn't have the means to move around and were usually fitted with cheap speakers. And who knows; if she was a prototype then this could've been… Baby's first performance," Scott said with a more joking smile. Baby turned to give him an unamused stare but Ennard was still snickering. "That wasn't entirely intentional."

She gave a huff and turned back towards the screen again. "This couldn't be my pizzeria anyway. It didn't look like this at all. There's no other videos?"

"Ah, no. There's, uh… There's a couple from Freddy's, but I don't think you'll want to see those," Scott said with a nervous chuckle. "It looked like a lot of them were taken when Freddy's was on the decline. You see eyes missing and fabric starting to peel off, mouths getting stuck open- that other Baby body might be stiff, but at least she's still altogether."

Ennard rested his head on the man's. "Don't hold out on us, Scott. Show us the eyeless Freddy with the gaping maw and let us judge how bad it is," he joked. Though he did sound legitimately curious. Scott considered putting one on even when the thought of looking at those broken-down suits made Scott squeamish.

"Wait…" Baby said interrupting them. Suddenly the video went forgotten as a new idea snuck up on her. If her and Freddy's pizzerias had videos she could find, then maybe there were others. "Do you think… They would have videos from Foxy's on here too?"

"I don't see why not. Let's look." Scott scooted closer, Ennard giving him a small push in the chair, and he began to type into the search engine.

It didn't take him too long before results appeared. A list of videos popped up, probably because it was a newer business and access to cameras was better now than it was years ago. There were more chances to upload that footage onto the internet as well.

"Looks like there's a few of them. I'm kind of impressed. You know how much of a figure Freddy's was and I couldn't find this many videos… Err, unless someone deleted them." Scott wouldn't put it past Fazbear Entertainment to try and scrub the internet before they vanished. "Which should we start with?" Before Baby could speak, Ennard pointed one out.

"That one: Foxy falls in the ball pit! Probably fell right off that high horse of his!" Ennard volunteered too eagerly. Baby wanted to roll her eyes, Scott was a little more amused and clicked onto the video.

It wasn't a video inside of the pizzeria but in a backyard decorated for a birthday party. The video started abruptly with someone walking across the grass before raising the camcorder and leveling it on none other than Foxy. Except he wasn't in a ball pit in the traditional sense, but what looked like a kiddie pool full of balls. But it wasn't just him. Marionette was laying there too, strings tangled on Foxy, and both Mike and Jeremy trying frantically to get them separated. Knowing that Foxy and Marionette were awake and aware of it only made it so much worse.

Then, just like the icing on the cake, the guy holding the camera spoke, "Fox had a little spill over there… Yar, blow the man down!"

Just like that, Ennard lost it. He bowed over laughing so hard that he almost took Scott and the office chair with him. His whole body seized as he laughed until his voice broke, mixing into a mess between the Freddy mimic and his true voice. It wasn't clear whether it was him or the video that caused it but Scott began to chuckle too. It wasn't even that funny to him and yet everything became too absurd to resist. Baby just gave a scoff sort of noise, both at Ennard's display and Foxy's embarrassing position.

She sobered up quickly when the man holding the video camera turned towards a group of children standing around what looked like a puppet box. That was the first time Baby realized that Charlie was there too.

The man with the camera got closer and she was able to see more. She was halfway out of her box, moving her arms but little else, looking especially stiff but still graceful. She wasn't doing any routine that they had ever done together so she wondered if this video was taken before that. It seemed like the Security Puppet was being extra careful.

But then she heard her voice. It held that same hesitation, confirming that this was an early performance for the Security Puppet. Even then her voice was melodic, and she sounded like she was enjoying herself.

"-treasure has long been forgotten and hid itself far in the deep. So, I will swim straight to the bottom and plunder the depths of the sea,~" Charlie sung. Even with how tentative she was, how amateurish it was compared to her recent performances, it was leagues above what Circus Baby offered in the video of the pizzeria.

That thought alone shook Baby to the core. Only then did she realize that she wasn't going to be compared to the old Baby. Nobody remembered that old clown with the failed pizzeria. No, if she got up on stage and sung they would compare her with recent performances, current performers, such as Charlie. She didn't know if she could be that fluid or look so carefree as she sung. Whenever she tried to sing the lighthearted jingles it came out sounding forced and nobody would pay for tickets to listen to a sad clown.

Not to mention that it was only now that she realized the puppet's looks were also at an advantage over her. Even if Baby finished getting fixed up, she would always scare people, be too uncanny to love. Charlie was that border between uncanny and cutesy that any animatronic would wish they could get to. The kids didn't even look afraid of her- and she could be alongside kids.

This was her worst fear; what was arguably her best friend would now be her rival for the spotlight. If she wanted that spotlight, then she would have to jeopardize her own friendship. Her only friendship.

"Okay, okay, enough! Let's- Let's stop laughing at Foxy and find another one," Scott said, almost trying to quiet himself down. It was only then that he noticed Baby's silent staring ahead. "Everything okay, Baby?"

"Aww, she's just watching her gal pal sing her heart out," Ennard dismissed. He poked the man's shoulder to prod him on. "Let's find another one. Something Foxy'd kill to keep quiet."

Scott let it drop and started to look through the rest of the videos. Which was for the best as Baby didn't want to talk about what was on her mind. She didn't even want to think about it anymore.

There was no point even considering it. Charlie was her friend. She wouldn't compete with Charlie…

…Because she couldn't compete with Lottie.

"You look awful."

Jeremy looked clammier and pastier than he had in days. His voice was hoarse, and he coughed now and then, remedying it occasionally by popping a cough drop that did little to help it. He was a walking mess.

The fact that he had been saying that to Mike made it all worse.

"Nothing coffee won't fix," Mike assured. He somewhat staggered his way into the kitchen, trying to step over Moppet who was doing circles in between his feet. He started to pour a mug of coffee that was by now cold and probably stale tasting without batting an eye.

"I think the first thing I'd do is wash my hands. Or maybe that's just this cold talking," Jeremy offered as he coughed into his sleeve. "Just think about how many kids have been climbing in there. Doesn't get much air and I don't think those things get clean, and the doctor I saw at the walk-in clinic said that there's a bad flu spreading around. Not what I have, but I bet having kids spitting and pattering around in there-."

"On second thought…" Mike slowly sat the mug of cold coffee back down on the counter. "I think I'm going to go take a long shower."

"Good plan," Jeremy complimented as he watched him head to the hallway. "I think the bleach is under the sink," he joked.

"Nah. One blond in this house is enough," Mike quipped back before disappearing into the hallway. He didn't see the other man breathing a sigh of relief, glad to see him home.

With Mike busy, Jeremy turned his attention to the back of the couch where Marionette and Charlie were talking. He immediately noticed the uneasy look on her face and listened in closer. To his relief, they were not discussing anything about him but instead what they had seen at Hickory's.

"But on the plus side, I think Music Man might be a little less extreme with his advances if you do ever see him again. If only because he might be afraid of Mike kicking him again," Marionette said with a light chime. "How were things here? Quiet I hope."

"Well… Yeah, they were. But there was this one thing," Charlie began. Jeremy's heart began to pound until his chest was aching. "I had that dream about the diner again. Except this time there was nobody else there except this car that was driving outside. I followed it out and it led me to this road-."

Jeremy instantly was awash in relief. False alarm, she wasn't telling him about the sleep walking incident. Which was good because he didn't even know what he would tell the others if they asked. If it got back to Foxy, then eventually the others would learn about the hallucinations he had that night in the pizzeria. Then they would find about the one he had last night too. He didn't want this getting around, not when he was still holding out hope that it would go away on its own.

It was still hard to look at Charlie without imagining the battered body he had seeing lying in her bed the night before. At least Mike was home. Maybe having another human around would keep it from happening. Jeremy hoped so for his own sake.

Mable: One left…