Almost Feels Like Home

by Mable

(Sequel to Can't Go Home Again) Mike and Marionette's lives are suddenly thrown back off the rails when one devastating moment lands them with a responsibility they never anticipated. Now with the task of adjusting to an unexpected situation, the human and puppet must rebuild their lives around the loss of another's.

100. Chapter 100

Mable: I know this chapter is largely overdue, but if you check the word count you'll see why. This chapter came out to about two and a half of my usual chapters in length, so it took more time. I hope that makes up for the delay. Since this is the last chapter, I cannot stress enough to please read the author's note at the end. It will be very important. Anyway, no more delaying this. It's time to take our final bow…

Almost Feels Like Home

Chapter One Hundred

The walk back down the road leading out of the red clearing was quiet and uneventful. That didn't assure the three who were walking down it though. They knew better than to think they were out of the woods.

"We have to find a way out of here fast," Mike said to break the silence. He was in the back but still moving quickly. "We all know he didn't let us go out of the goodness of his heart. He's just biding his time and planning something, and we're not going to want to still be here when he's ready to pounce."

"He gets a sick thrill out of doing this. Hurting people, tormenting people; we're just new toys for him to play with," Marionette muttered from the lead. "And we have no idea how to get out."

"I have some information. It's not much, but it might help us," Charlie volunteered. Both Mike and Marionette looked to her attentively. "He told me that this is a place where souls go and that it's not a dream, more that when we're asleep our soul is… Up for grabs, really. That if we didn't have tethers we would get trapped here or pulled in further. Maybe into the afterlife, he wasn't clear. But these tethers; I think he was suggesting that they're our bodies. That's what we are, souls attached to animatronic bodies."

"And we would move on without a body to hold onto…" Marionette quietly agreed. "…But he doesn't have a body. He told Mike that he didn't. Unless he just lied again, which is very possible."

"He said he had a tether but didn't specifically say he had a body, and he eluded that he was stuck here… So, maybe he doesn't? Maybe that's why he's possessing people?" Even Charlie seemed doubtful of it.

"Maybe it's something to do with the phone. Springtrap said that Candy Cadet said he was using the phone lines. Which would make sense, consider how much static we've been getting on the line. I don't remember the phone working that bad when I moved in," Mike added in. It wasn't a fully invested guess, but then his mind started to wander. "But if there is something in the house keeping him alive, we're going to have to find it and destroy it. Start with the phone, look for any bodies."

"Are you alright, Mike?" Marionette quietly asked. Mike snapped out of his silence quickly.

"It's nothing. Just thinking about how we're going to get out of here," Mike denied. He paused a long moment and then followed up with, "And trying to figure out how in the hell I fell for this! What was I thinking?!" He suddenly vented as the anger finally showed up. "Some red monster invading my dreams and watching close enough to recite my day, and I completely overlook that as being weird even after I find out my friends are being possessed?! I don't remember being this stupid!"

"It's not your fault, Mike! There was something wrong with that pond!" Charlie defended. "The second I got out there I should've been suspicious, but there was this…weird aura surrounding it. I felt safe and protected- It gave us a false sense of security, Mike. It was affecting our judgement. It wouldn't have been any different if he drugged us."

"Yeah, but Mari noticed," Mike pointed out. He looked up at the former puppet still walking in front of them both. Then he sped up to walk alongside him. He looked to the former puppet questioningly, Marionette glanced back out of the corner of his eye, and Mike asked, "How did you notice by the way?"

"…It wasn't just one thing. It was everything. The voice was different but the words a-and the tone…" Marionette clenched his teeth, something that Mike would never see naturally because of his mask and looked more dismayed. "I don't know what it was, Mike… I just wish I wouldn't have frozen up like I did." He sent a cold glare ahead. "After all these years of thinking about what I would say if I ever saw him again and I said nothing. All he saw was me being a helpless, weak child. It was pathetic."

"Don't be so hard on yourself. I don't even know what I would've done if I found out my dad was behind this. Frozen up? More like a complete mental shutdown," Mike said as he hooked an arm around him and looked back up at the road. He then started to slow down as he saw what lay before them. "That's not supposed to be there…"

Marionette raised his head to look and his eyes widened as he saw that the end of the path no longer ended in the parking lot. Instead it led directly up to the boarded-up diner they had passed earlier, except its front door was no longer boarded up and there was no way around it. If they needed any stronger example of William's influence, then this was it.

"Looks like we're going in," Mike remarked.

"It's not like we have a choice," Marionette agreed. Both stared at the diner. "It's probably just going to lead into more doors."

"Not like we were really 'out' when we were out here anyways," Mike added. Charlie started to cautiously walk around him, and he reached out to stop her. "Let me go first. I have the light."

She nodded and they started to walk again. With the windows still boarded up they couldn't see what was inside until Mike slowly opened the door. When he did, Charlie recognized that the layout was the same from when she used to dream about it. He took a deep breath and started to step inside.

"Mike, wait." But Marionette stopped him with a tug on his shoulder. Mike stopped in the doorway, still holding the doorway, and expected that the other would either suggest he went first or suggest that they didn't go in at all. Neither of which would be happening. Neither of which turned out to be the case as the former puppet got an uneased look. "The second we get inside he's going to start whatever game he wants to play. This might be our last moment to talk…" He steadied himself momentarily before he truly began.

"…When I was asking you if you were alright earlier, I meant… Regardless of what he said, we never…" Marionette struggled with his words. Eventually he paused to get his thoughts in order and then finally got it out. "There's nothing wrong with what we did, Mike. Opening Foxy's, taking care of others, trying to solve the problems of other businesses; just because that was what he wanted doesn't mean it was the wrong thing to do. My… Existing and us not moving on isn't a crime against nature just because he wanted it… Right?"

There was that doubt in the last word, where comfort turned to concern. It was clear that Marionette was torn, and Mike knew exactly why. William was a monster, a sadist, and whenever he wanted something it usually manifested itself in someone else's suffering. To want something that they had wanted definitely made them question themselves, and Mike made up his decision on the spot.

"Everything I did, I did for you, not William," Mike began. "Everything you've done to help the others- saving Charlie and giving the others a second chance- you did for them, not William." He looked to Marionette with full conviction. "We didn't do this for William. If he believes he got some benefit from it then that's his own problem." This managed to get a smile from both Marionette and Charlie. "Besides, the son of a bitch would've probably hooked me and got me to do what he wanted anyway if he didn't like what I was doing."

"You're right, thank you," Marionette said. "…And I'm sorry." He didn't clarify what for, he just drew Mike into another hug and held onto him for dear life. Mike hugged him back like it would be the last time.

Charlie scooted past them through the door and started to walk into the diner. Seeing her inching by, Mike called after her, "I thought I was going first."

"You've got your hands full," Charlie lightly teased. She continued to look around the small diner. The tables and booths had been removed, the counter was barren, part of the roof was falling in and the floor coming up, all making it look more like one of Freddy's failed businesses than the unconnected restaurant it used to be. She then noticed the door that usually led into the back. It too had changed, and the entryway was now covered in a familiar purple and white star dotted curtain. "I don't remember that curtain being there…"

Mike and Marionette pulled apart and followed her over. Imagining something reaching out and grabbing for Charlie, Marionette took the lead and approached the curtain first. He cautiously opened it a crack.

He was immediately bombarded with colored lights shifting and shining is disorienting patterns over a dark room and loud, abrasive pizzeria music that inexplicably didn't begin until he opened the curtain. He stared into the madness for only a few seconds before letting it shut and turning back to the others.

"Is that waiting until morning idea still off the table?" he asked. It only sounded like a joke, he looked completely dead serious. Charlie nodded and Mike gave an almost sympathetic shrug. "…Then try not to stare directly into the lights." With that, Marionette forced himself through the curtain and held it open for the two to follow.

Getting a better look at the room did nothing to make it any less unsettling. It was styled like a typical party room with tables and a single stage. It only about as large as the diner's front room, so the tables were cramped together, and the stage was only slightly larger than an average closet with another purple curtain covering it. The flashing spotlights were lit up like blacklights but kept the room uncomfortable dark around the corners and towards the back. The floor was thick with confetti.

The music was particularly uncomforting. Marionette thought it sounded familiar. It could've very well been one of Freddy Fazbear's old theme songs, but the instruments sounded out of tune and clashed with each other. It didn't help that it was being played so loudly that they couldn't even identify where it was coming from. So loud that Marionette nearly had to yell to the others to point out a door he saw in the back.

Mike gave him a thumbs up, showing he saw it too, and the other led the way between the narrowed tables. It was a tight squeeze as they made it towards the back, and they were only a table away from the door. That was when the lights suddenly died, and the music slowed to a stop. It was jarring but unsurprising given the context of where they were. Mike would've easily raised his flashlight and tried to ignore it.

Except it was clear that they weren't allowed to ignore it. More spotlights came on and aimed directly towards the stage behind them. Mike held out looking as long as he could, even when Marionette and Charlie were staring back at the stage, but eventually he too followed sync. He knew that he didn't have a choice in this matter either; might as well get it over with. The lights held on the curtain for a long pause.

"Are we just wasting time or is something going to happen?" Mike asked flatly, unenthused by the display. "Bring out the bear. We know he's back there."

Golden colored fingers slipped out through the crack and drew back the curtain, but they were clearly not the thick, clumsy ones of the bear. They looked too human to belong to an animatronic. As they pulled back the curtain the creature hiding behind it was slowly reveal. Definitely not the bear; Mike was already eating his words and regretted goading it on.

It was a rabbit suit. Not a springlock suit, but the kind of costume that a performer would wear when trying to stand in for an animatronic. Something akin to the Freddy suit Scott had worn at the processing facility. Only this one was so much worse. The body shape looked much too human to be convincingly a rabbit, even down to the feet which were obviously just boots, giving it an uncanny valley vibe. The faded golden fabric was topped in a purple vest and bow that matched the curtains.

It was its face that was so jarring. The rabbit head was oversized with scrawny ears, lavender eyes staring out unfocused, and a much too wide, tooth grin stretched across its face. Mike had to admit that compared to the Twisted animatronics in the facility and Nightmare ones in the house, this suit was terrifying. Just looking at it set off a deep-set dread that he couldn't explain, especially since he knew who was in control.

William waved with the hand he used to open the curtain. The other was crooked behind his back to hide something that Mike could only guess was a weapon. Not that he could look at anything other than the suit's freakish face. The room was still painfully silent as William lifted his hand to his head and gently lifted the head by the chin, just enough for the head to separate from the neck of the suit. Purple filth gushed out and splattered against the stage like it was the suit's vile blood.

He removed his hand from his neck, stopping the flow again, and now pointed directly towards Mike.

"What's he saying, that he's going to cut my neck?" Mike guessed. As though answering, the lights suddenly died and the only light, other than the flashlight, was the suit's glowing eyes. "Shit, he is."

But even this hadn't prepared him for when William came off the stage, because he was fast. Faster than Foxy, coming down off the stage and through the tables so quickly that it was hard to tell if he was running or had just leapt off the stage. None of them needed to be told twice. Marionette was out the door in a heartbeat. Charlie gasped in shock and was right behind him. By time Mike got out the door he could hear the footsteps right behind him. The man would've been literally breathing down his neck.

It didn't help that the door led straight into another room of doors, to which he didn't even have a chance to get his bearings and was forced to just follow behind Charlie. Running blindly as William's footsteps continued to keep up. The rooms were disorienting mixes of the pizzeria halls and the house bedrooms now cast in a purple glow. There was red writing now decorating the walls. Arrows and dotted lines pointing to different doors, scribbling messages of 'this one', or 'try me', or 'not this way'. With all three knowing that they were all to confuse them more.

In reality, Marionette was running just as blindly as Charlie and Mike were following. His sole goal to get them to safety but there was no way to decipher the maze. Doors were jam packed beside each other and led into rooms with completely different layouts on the other side. Then he caught a lucky break, darting into a familiar hallway and looking down to see an open security door towards the end. He ran for the door, Charlie following him in, and Mike skirting through before slamming his fist on the close door button.

It was the office Mike used to work in, the one he saw into earlier but couldn't get into, and now they were closed inside. A temporary respite, but they weren't safe.

"What are we going to do?!" Charlie asked in a frantic whisper. "He's so fast that we can't outrun him, and even if we do, he's just going to appear out of nowhere like he just did!"

"I know, I know, just give me a second," Mike defended. He began to pace in front of the door they came through. He tried to think of a plan, but nothing was coming to him. He noticed Marionette frantically humming 'Pop Goes the Weasel' and turned to him. "What are you doing?"

"Trying to get myself riled up, to force myself to wake up,~" Marionette sung with the tune. Desperately trying to trigger his programming and maybe find a quick out, to no avail. "I'm starting to think it might not be enough… Don't look at the window." This was clearly directed at Charlie as he grabbed her arm and tried to turn her away.

She still turned to look and saw him standing outside the window. William was fixated on her and slowly brought out his crooked arm to reveal what he was holding. It was a knife, as she had expected, and he dragged it up the glass of the window before tilting and aiming it towards Mike. Once again, he was threatening Mike all while still staring Charlie down.

Somewhere in the back of her mind Charlie suddenly got the thought that if she gave herself up that he might spare Mike and Marionette. Or if she at least separated herself from them that he would follow her and not them. She didn't trust these thoughts; she had a feeling he was putting them in her head.

A strange sensation of being stared at suddenly struck Charlie. She thought it was William's gaze at first, but then noticed him turning his head to look out the other window. She followed suit and realized that they had another onlooker. Outside the opposite window was the bear looking in at them. From the way it watched them, and their pursuer watched it, it became clear that he wasn't controlling it.

Before Charlie could even point it out, the bear turned its head towards the security door alongside it. Suddenly the door made a loud, malfunctioning noise before starting to slowly raise. It seemed to be struggling just to open itself, like the bear was fighting against it to open it up. While she was still wary of the bear, something felt different this time. Maybe because now she knew she couldn't trust the overwhelming fear that seemed to appear out of place. Maybe that was William's influence too, and maybe the bear was someone he wanted them to avoid.

She made up her mind then; they needed to follow the bear. "Come on," Charlie said as she pulled Marionette with her. He seemed reluctant but Mike was more than willing to get moving, and he followed along with them. Charlie came into the hallway to see that the bear has disappeared in the blink of an eye but seeing as the other doors were now there wasn't much question of where to go. Just around the corner at the end and down another hallway, passing a familiar grandfather clock and running for another white door.

Right before Mike closed the door behind them, he heard the familiar clanging of a security door opening. He shut the door and held it closed as to not here the familiar footsteps again, even when he knew they were coming, and now got a quick look at the room before looking at the others. The bedroom was familiar. While it almost resembled something from their home, it was actually the false bedroom from down inside Afton Robotics. Mike recognized it from the description of the double doors while Marionette recognized it from memory.

"We're going to need something to block this door. It won't stop him, but it'll buy us time," Mike said as he continued holding the door. He could already hear something out in the hallway. "He's coming fast!"

"What about the nightstand?" Charlie offered. She nearly leapt over the bed to get to it, throwing aside the lamp on it, and then tried to move the piece of furniture. It became apparent quickly that it was too short to fit adequately, and she was forced to give up. "Maybe we can rig something with the bedsheets?"

"That might be our best bet," Marionette agreed. He still looked for other possible options and ran to the closet and yanked the doors open.

He never expected to see a black and white mask staring out from the darkness. He only had a second to try and jump back before tentacles burst out and ensnared him.

"Mari!" Mike ran to help him, identifying them instantly as the same tentacles that tried to pull him into the puppet box. He grabbed him around the middle, dug his heels into the carpet, and started to yank him back. Marionette twisted himself as best he could, getting one foot up on a closet door and shoving it shut. He then used it to try and push further out of the tentacles' grip.

Charlie was going to run in and help when she froze up at the sound of the door creaking open. She looked over in a growing dread, human chest ticking like a puppet's, and watched as the door slowly opened to reveal William standing on the other side. He playfully waved to her and nonchalantly stepped into the bedroom like he was stepping out on stage again. "Guys, he's here!"

Marionette gave one firm kick and managed to get free of the tentacles with Mike's help. He fell to the floor beside him and looked up just in time to see William stepping into the room. He turned to Charlie and called to her, "Run! Get out the other door!" Charlie started to back towards the second door as told.

Suddenly, the tentacles changed target and ensnared Mike from behind. He was ripped back towards the door and barely held on enough to keep himself from being yanked inside, which Marionette noticed. He made a grab for his arm and tried to pull him from the tangle to no avail. All the while William was slowly inching in towards them, mockingly slow, playfully turning the knife over in his hand. Mike had to make a call.

"Mari, take Charlie and go! I'll be fine!" Mike insisted. Marionette got a look of shock and shook his head wildly and silently. "Don't argue with me, just go! He wants Charlie, not me! I'll get out of this!"

The former puppet seemed extremely reluctant to leave him and continued trying to pull him free. He still couldn't and while Mike was getting better footing William had now turned his attention back to Charlie.

"Mari, he wants you stuck here with me so he can get her! That's exactly what he wants! You have to get her out of here and stay with her! Don't let him get her alone!" Mike pleaded. Marionette finally caved and nodded stiffly. Paint tears instantly started to race down his cheeks.

"I love you. I'm sorry," Marionette choked out. Mike simply pushed his arm back with a firm nod and practically forced him to go. Marionette got to Charlie before William could and led her out the opposite door. She looked just as reluctant to leave the man alone with the monsters.

Now here he was, ensnared by tentacles that were still trying to pull him into the closet, and William who turned his focus back towards him. As Mike tried to focus on getting his footing right- he was at a point where he thought maybe one harsh tug could dislodge him from the hold- the rabbit sauntered slowly closer. It was now twirling the knife around in its hand as it came to stop in front of him, staring down at him with its wicked smile.

Only now did Mike realize how silent it had been this whole time, even when they all knew it was William. Maybe that was how he got his kicks, so he could hear his victims.

That thought alone disgusted Mike so much that he got a rush of anger like adrenaline and attempted the harsh tug. To his surprise it worked. The tentacle loosely wrapped around his chest lost his grip and allowed him to fall face first forward. Unfortunately, directly into the suited man. He expected to feel the sting of a knife landing in his exposed back.

But William did something he didn't expect. He recoiled.

William stepped away so quickly that it took Mike by surprise. When he looked at the rabbit suited man, he also realized how he had his knife now pointed down and back, almost like a kneejerk attempt to keep himself from "accidentally" stabbing Mike. That didn't make any sense, but he couldn't think about it yet. He waited until he was on his feet and running out after Marionette and Charlie.

"All those threats and then he's afraid to touch me?! That doesn't make any sense. There's got to be a reason, he can't just be worried about my health," Mike thought bitterly as he hurried down the hall. He arrived at another small room with doors in it, sort of resembling the section of hallway outside Charlie's bedroom and the master bedroom. He noticed one of the doors shutting and quickly dove against it, slamming it open with his shoulder and barging his way through.

There on the other side was Marionette who had been trying to shut the door. Upon seeing Mike his face lit up and he grabbed him in a tight hug. "You got away! I thought they had..." He held the man tightly as Charlie slipped around them to close the door. She could already hear the footsteps in pursuit. "I'm so glad you're okay," Marionette gushed.

"Trust me, I'm just as shocked as you are," Mike admitted. He drew Marionette back to look him in the eyes. "I think I figured out something-."

He cut off when they heard rhythmic knocking outside the door. Someone tapping on the wall as they slowly made their way to the door. Just to assure them that while they outran him, William was entirely unconcerned in catching up with them. Charlie stepped away from the door and turned to the two men.

"We have to keep moving!" she insisted. They didn't argue and, since they had an extra moment, Marionette got a look at the doors before leading them randomly through one of the unmarked ones, ignoring both the ones the writing suggested they used and that they avoid. It led into another small dining room and they kept up the pace.

"Either William's afraid of hurting me or he's afraid of me touching him," Mike unexpectedly announced. "I fell on him and he jumped back like I was carrying the plague."

"Are you sure? Maybe you caught him off guard. He's always been the type of person to want full control," Marionette pointed out. "…Or what he said earlier was true and he doesn't want to kill you."

"William doesn't strike me as the type to not stab me in the back when he has the chance… But he didn't, and that means there must be a bigger reason why. He said it himself, I already set up his business, he doesn't need me to survive. Or if he doesn't, I don't have to survive without a couple of stab wounds. If he's holding back it's because he's afraid of something," Mike insisted.

Up until this point, Marionette didn't look swayed by the suspicions. He just looked fearful and somber, as he had the entire time they had been there, trying to keep his eye on which door they would go through next. But that comment perked him up marginally and he started to look a little more curious as well. Mike had a point; William was hiding something.

"Charlie, what did he say about tethers again?" Marionette asked. Mike didn't catch on until Charlie gave her answer.

"He said that the tethers keep souls from going too deep. That he doesn't have a body, but he does have a tether."

"And did he say anything about Mike being here or someone who's still a human would get here?"

"He didn't. All he said was that when someone's asleep- something vague about people being more susceptible when they're asleep," Charlie answered. "…Why?"

"Mike, I don't think you were ever supposed to come here," Marionette said. "While Burke said something about dreams, he never said that he was trapped in his dreams. The only reason you're here at all is because you came in through me. I don't think he knows what will happen if you get injured here. He has Charlie locked into this place and probably me too by now, but you? You weren't planned, and he hates not having that control."

"…You know what I think?" Mike realized as he looked to Marionette. "I think he's afraid I'm going to wake up."

"That would be the one thing that could scare him," the other agreed. He looked back, both having the same revelation. "Now that you know there's something in the house keeping him here…"

"If I could wake up, I could find whatever it is and break the line. Probably the phone. Could end all of this in a matter of seconds." He trailed off and there was a silent pause as they stopped outside of the next door. His hand rested on the knob as he sent an unreadable look towards Marionette. Charlie watched their prolonged silence questioningly.

Then, unexpectedly, Mike completely changed tones. "Nah, that's too easy. Probably closer to the mark that first time. This is the most action Will's got in years, he probably just doesn't want to off me this soon."

"And you remember the adage, 'if you die in a dream, you die in real life'. It sounds like it might hold water. Or at least is worrying enough that we shouldn't risk it," Marionette agreed. "There's got to be another way out of here that doesn't involve you risking your life."

"Right. Let's just keep moving."

Charlie almost voiced her concerns at how quickly they were brushing off the idea and didn't when she noticed another exchanged look. They were obviously still formulating some sort of plan. The dismissals were just to fool William, who was no doubt still listening in on their conversation. So, she played along with it, silently following through the next door.

They had been so engrossed with their planning that they hadn't considered why William hadn't yet caught up to them. It was only once Mike saw the room on the other side that he realized why that was; because he had been setting up exactly what they were about to walk into. He turned to get back through the door and stop the others from coming through, but the doorway was gone and now all three of them stood in front of a plain wall littered with signs of 'danger', 'caution', and tacked up rolls of police tape.

It was the room with the puppet box in it. Instead of the lull of 'My Grandfather's Clock' from when Mike wound the box, it now was playing a slowed down version of 'Pop Goes the Weasel'. It sluggishly clicked the tune along as it crept towards the end. Mike looked around for a way out and much to his devastation found that the doors that had been there earlier were now all missing. They were trapped in this room.

The song played down to its final notes and encroached on the final 'pop' that would inevitably come before coming to a complete halt. The room was silent, the box was still, and then…

The box burst open with a loud bang the squeamish sound of wriggling tentacles. They seemed to pour out of the box and hung down towards the floor as the body of the creature rose to full height. It towered over them all, especially Marionette who stood in the middle, just underneath its long form. Its jet-black body was twisted into itself like ropes of licorice with the tentacles being its long fingers. Its face was a gruesome mask with black accents and small, sharp teeth lining its wide smile.

It was clearly a nightmare version of Marionette himself and it was watching him.

It shuddered and cracked its head to the side before purple fluid began to ooze from the bottom of its molded mouth, confirming that it was just another of William's proxies. Dots of lavender glowed in its dark eyes as it towered over the three and spoke in a demonically raspy voice.

"Crying won't sa-ave you from your own ski-in."

A long, pointed leg stepped out of the box before it suddenly lunged forward and shot its fingertips towards them. Mike dodged to the right and Marionette and Charlie to the left, and the Nightmarionne followed them instead of him. Its legs wobbled and bent underneath it like they could barely hold its weight and still it kept up right behind them.

The two eventually reached a split in the small room, with Charlie running to the left behind a stack of presents and Marionette going right and sliding underneath a table. It followed him, as he expected, but he thought maybe the table would slow it down. Instead it caught up and before he could even stand up all the way it lifted the table like it was nothing and flipped it over his head. He shielded himself as it crashed to the floor on the other side of him.

"Why do you r-run, child? I-I thought I was ev-verything you ever wa-anted."

Before it could grab him, he quickly scrambled out of the way and tried to circle around it, only for the tentacles to lash out in front of him like a whip. He backed up quickly to avoid the blow and tried to go the other way, with it trying to reach for him again. It was trying to corner him and might've succeeded too if Mike hadn't seen what was happening. With little else to work with, he snatched up a present box and threw it at the creature. It turned for a second and Charlie took this opportunity to run by, just in its reach, ducking under the fingers and making it back to Mike.

This gave Marionette just long enough to escape underneath another table. The Nightmarionne was quick to follow, as was Mike who sprinted over to yank him back to his feet. The enraged animatronic tossed the table aside and began letting out loud wails as it pursued them. It was while they were rounding the back corner that Marionette pointed something out.

"Mike, there's a vent over there! If I can stall the puppet for just a little longer, you can pry it open!" he suggested as Mike looked back. He saw it too and knew it was their best chance at getting out of this room.

"Good plan, different execution. We just have to lose this thing… Charlie!" Mike called across the room. "Charlie, we need you to distract this thing for two seconds!" He knew he was saying this in front of the nightmare, but it didn't seem sentient enough to even be paying attention.

She gave him a thumbs up and ran closer to the Nightmarionne, making sure to stay just out of its reach, and began to sing 'Pop Goes' loudly and wave her arms. It worked enough to get a second glance from the animatronic as Mike pulled Marionette behind one of the tables.

"Take off your hospital gown and give it to me. I'll run out and distract it and you can try to get the vent open," Mike rushed out quickly. "That way I can keep a better eye out for Will."

"I don't think this is going to work, but it's worth a try," Marionette agreed as he started trying to get the gown untied. "I think it can tell us apart."

"Not by height, that's for sure," Mike said as he looked out from over the table. Immediately the plan fell into ruin as his blue eyes fell on the other side of the room.

There was Charlie standing in the middle of the room, still trying to distract the Nightmarionne, watching it as it watched her. Completely oblivious to William standing directly behind her.

"Charlie!"

But she must've picked up the warning quickly, because instead of looking at Mike or looking back she immediately ducked aside at the call. She just barely dodged the hand grabbing for her hood. Mike sprinted over so quickly that it almost blindsided William. More so because he didn't get in front of Charlie or try to shield her, he just outright crashed into the rabbit suited man and started to make a grab for his knife.

"Mike!" Charlie cried in surprise. "Mike, no!"

"Charlie, get back to Mari! He's back in the corner!" Mike called back. She didn't persist and grabbed his fallen flashlight before she ran to look for Marionette.

As was expected, the suited man did not want to give up the knife, kicking at Mike's legs and landing blows at his head and chest that weren't felt. Mike was persistent as he dug his fingers into the gloved hand, eventually turning himself around with his back to William and using the leverage to try and rip the knife out of his hand. The grasp finally gave, and he had the knife for only a second before the heavy blow of an elbow knocked into his upper back, causing him to stumble forward.

Mike spun around quickly with the knife wielded in his hand, but to his shock he realized nothing had changed. William was still holding the knife, the knife that he too was now holding. The rabbit didn't seem too concerned either. He tilted his head almost playfully before he goaded the security guard towards him with the beckoning of his fingers. Like he was challenging Mike to a knife fight. Probably just another way to thrive off the man's fear of being stabbed.

But instead of taking the bait, Mike straightened up and pointed the knife at him.

"Will, you know what's really a shame?" He playfully waved the knife in his fingertips with a growing smirk. "When geniuses like you make stupid mistakes like this."

And Mike flipped the knife in his hand and stabbed it directly into his own thigh.

With a gasp of air and no pain, the man suddenly found himself face first on a familiar comforter. His head was pounding, his vision was foggy, but he could remember everything that happened. He pushed himself up quickly and staggered to his feet. His legs were strangely stiff as he tried to get his body to function correctly.

"Mike?!" Baby called from the other side of the bed. He tried to look at her but had to shield away because the lamp light nearly blinded him. She sounded uncharacteristically frantic. "What happened? Marion and Charlie are still asleep! Why aren't they with you?!"

"I'll explain later, I just have to get out to the phone," Mike rushed out as he turned to the door. He then remembered the dresser and turned away with a huff. "It can never be easy, can it?"

He hurried to the window, only hesitating when he sent one last glance at the bed and realized that Marionette was still human. It took him completely off-guard and he came to a stop as he tried to rationalize it. He couldn't still be asleep, he knew he was fully awake, but he was still looking at two very human puppets on the bed.

"What are you waiting for?! Go out and do whatever you're going to do! He's going to take her!" Baby snapped. Mike made the mistake of looking towards her again, recoiling at the light, and then continued to the window. He briefly wondered how she knew about Afton, but then decided it wasn't important.

Mike climbed in through his bedroom window. He was starting to feel more alert, but something still seemed off that he couldn't explain. Almost like he was drugged, but still aware enough to grab his bat.

"Just focus on getting to the phone. That's got to be what's keeping him here. Remember Marionette and Charlie, send Will straight to hell," he mentally versed as he hurried down the hall. He fought against his tingling legs and pounding head long enough to get into the living room and only then saw the battle in the kitchen. "…What am I looking at?"

It looked like Nightmare Fredbear on the floor with his back against the sink while a flayed man and a walking corpse bludgeon him with pieces of a dining room chair.

"I don't even want to know," Mike said. Just another distraction to get between him and the so-called tether. He turned his gaze to the phone on the wall and raised his bat. "This is what I think of your charity, Boss," he spat before swinging into the phone. One blow knocked it clean off the wall and the receiver dangled from the cords.

He continued to swing at it like a pinata until it fell to the floor, and then still continued to break it into pieces. He hoped that William could feel every strike.

Hearing the commotion, Scott cautiously lifted the trapdoor and peered out to see Mike attacking the phone. He furrowed his brow at the scene, then became much more suspicious as he realized that the man could be possessed. He started to close the door again, reconsidered it, and finally cautiously opened it more. "Uh… Mike?" he quietly asked. Mike's head shot up. "…Wh-What on Earth are you doing?"

"Will's alive and he's possessing everyone in town, and if I don't find whatever he's using to attach himself here, find his tether or whatever, then he's going to take Charlie, he's going to kill me, and he's going to be free to continue destroying lives!" Mike babbled out. It was almost too rushed to understand, but Scott slowly started to form the words together. "He's been travelling through the phones possessing people! It's Will, he's dead but he's still in the house!"

"It… It can't be…" The decrepit body to the right, who clearly had Michael's voice, dropped the part of the chair in his hand and staggered. Then he suddenly turned and bolted to the front door. "We have to get to get back to Charlie and Lizzie!"

"Wait, then shouldn't we go through the house?!" the flayed man, obviously Ennard, called back. When he received no response, he followed out the door, turning back to Mike and Scott and pointing towards Fredbear. "Nobody touch that thing until I'm sure it's down for the count!" The ran out the door behind the other.

Mike was almost relieved that the neighbors weren't at a risk of seeing what he seeing, but then realized that they would be seeing an oversized rabbit and a clown running around his house and changed his mind.

"Are you sure?" Scott asked. His voice yanked Mike's gaze back to him. "Are you sure it's Will? Are you sure it's him?" he asked, voice hushed in horror. Mike nodded firmly and Scott was aghast, slowly looking down towards the floor. "…He tried to kill me… Again. He tried to kill me again."

"And we're not out of the woods until he's gone for good. There's something in the house that's holding him here, that he's using to get through the phone lines," Mike explained as he ran a hand through his hair. "I don't know. I thought it was the phone, but that's just grasping at straws. There's got to be something more than that. Somewhere-…"

He cut off as he looked back to Scott and now noticed the trap door. Only then did his mind clear enough to remember the hidden basement right beneath their feet.

Scott caught on to something too, remembering an event that happened only a little bit ago. "E-Ennard heard something strange in the basement and he thought it was coming from this thing down there, this- It looks like a computer tower kind of," he explained, pointing a thumb down the stairs behind him. "…And I think we saw where Fredbear came through. There's what looks like a hidden room."

"Show me," Mike said. He gripped his bat tightly as he followed Scott down the steps.

…

Charlie had been watching when Mike stabbed himself in the leg. Looking out from behind one of the tables she had seen what was happening while Marionette continued working with the vent. Thankfully, it was barely screwed on with loose bolts- possibly on purpose to keep the chase going. She saw when the blade struck him and watched as for a moment his body looked distorted and staticky, and then he vanished.

"He disappeared," Charlie whispered back. She looked to William who was now staring at the spot Mike had been with a blank reaction. "I hope he made it through."

Marionette finally got the vent open with a clatter. Even though the noise was loud, neither William nor the now prone Nightmarionne reacted to it. "This way!" he whispered before climbing inside. He began to crawl down the shaft and she followed quickly behind. Both thought that they would soon be followed, but it was disturbingly quiet.

The shaft went on for about fifteen feet before it let out into darkness. Charlie passed him the flashlight but even it didn't penetrate the darkness. Knowing it was probably another trick, he swallowed his dread and pushed on. He promised Mike he would, he couldn't back down now. He climbed out and stood to his feet, staring into the blackness, and Charlie stood alongside him.

Suddenly the darkness was broken, and the world alit around them unexpectedly. Much to Marionette's horror, he found that they were back at the clearing, back at the pond, staring directly at Old Man Consequences who had his back turned towards them. It was almost like he hadn't even moved from the spot. It filled him with chills.

"That's enough," William said. His voice was solemn and callous, as though the last chase hadn't happened at all. As though there was anger just under the surface. "My time is valuable and my patience is wearing thin. As… Amusing as this all is, there's only so many times you can catch and release before it loses its luster…"

Marionette glared at him and straightened himself up. This time he was resolved to not cave in front of the man before him. He gently nudged Charlie behind her. At first, she seemed committed to staying at his side, but with his persistence she caved and moved slightly behind him. The red man gave a weary sigh.

"Here are your choices, Marionette. You can stop the fighting and give her to me, and I will let you wake up and return to your life as you know it. You and Mike will continue to reap the rewards of my generosity and nobody has to know of what happened tonight. That is more than Henry ever offered you."

"No," Marionette said defiantly. "I didn't bring her back just to have you take her. I brought her back with the intention of keeping her away from things like you."

"…Mike truly is blessed, is he not?" William's sudden change in topic was alarming, because Marionette could already tell what was coming. "He has everything he needs. A thriving business, steady income, youth, the trust of the town. So many good things… So much temptation." The man hummed low in his suit, like a wild beast barely resisting the urge to pounce. "I have been very good to Mike. I fitted his employee to spare him being my new acolyte… But I could have him just as easily."

Charlie realized that William was talking about Jeremy and looked to Marionette. It was clear that he knew exactly what William was implying, but he said nothing. He was just frozen there.

"I've grown tired of this empty pond. Either she stays with me, or I leave through Mike. Make your choice," William finished. He said it without any emotion, uncaring of the callousness of his threat. He just didn't care, Marionette realized. He didn't care about them, or Mike who he claimed did so much, or any of his children, or Henry, or Scott, or anyone at all. He just wanted and he took, and Marionette was furious.

"How could you do this?" he blurted out. "How- How can you just sit there and tell me to do something so vile?! Do you think I would ever, ever, willingly agree to give anyone to you after what you've done?! Don't you care about Mike at all?! Or Henry- They both gave you everything! You'd be nothing without what they gave you! What I gave you!" Marionette yelled at his father's back. "Your creations?! They were my creations! I was the one who saved the ones you broke! I loved you! How could you do this to me?! I'm your son!"

The eerie silence returned. Marionette was shaking with barely restrained anger as he felt his non-existent music box tighten in his chest so much that something might've broken. Years of pent-up anger built up to the point of bursting. Every tragedy, every suffering soul, every pain he had ever felt somehow related back to his father. All those suffering children, all the death, it was all on him, and he didn't even care.

But he could've never anticipated what William could say. He could deny it, continue with some self-righteous tirade, double down on Marionette's decision, say anything other than what he did.

"…Are you sure?"

Marionette was dumbstruck. Staring wide-eyed at the red man as those words sunk in. That single, careless question sinking in, and it must've broken something once it did. It was the last straw.

He gave no warning. He just dashed across the grass at full speed and sprung at William's back. He ignored his body and caved into basic programming as the red man, taken off-guard, was forced forward and into the crimson water of the bottomless pond. Marionette fell in after him and was swallowed by the pond.

The water burned like fire. It was so sudden and painful that it took Marionette completely off-guard. He flailed in the water, panicking as he tried to get his bearing, gasping without taking water into his non-existent lungs. He could barely see through the filter of red as he opened his eyes and they landed on his father. The moment he saw the red suit thrashing and tying to make its way to the pond's edge. Suddenly the pain felt like nothing; he wasn't going to let him escape unscathed.

He swam as best as he could and grabbed ahold of William when he only had his upper half out of the water. His bulky suit was just hard enough to maneuver to slow him down and Marionette used it to his advantage, pushing off the edge of the pond and forcing his father back into the water. They began to sink under the surface and into the darkness.

William lashed out with a single, heavy strike. Marionette was knocked back in the red water, face burning but no cracks appearing on his human skin, and then trying to swim back after his father. William was at the side of the pond and beginning to climb up through the water to make it back to the edge. He began to slide up through the water like a croc and Marionette grabbed him by the arm, trying to pull back by pushing off the wall. This time William snapped, grabbing him by the chest and shoving him against the side of the pond harshly.

The red monster spread its wide jaws as purple oozed out and stained the crimson water. Through the cloud he could see the sharp rows of teeth as William looked from past them with nothing but contempt. Suddenly Marionette knew exactly what Gabriel felt before he died, and he realized that this very well could be the end. He was detached from his body and trapped in a pond of fire, under the claw of a man with no remorse. He had gone too far to go back.

And then… William suddenly dropped down.

The motion took them both off-guard. The red suit struggled to crane its neck to look down while Marionette immediately dropped his head and saw a lone hand grabbing William's fabric foot. Just a pale hand reaching out of the darkness from the bottom of the pond. Adult sized, maybe female. William made the mistake of trying to kick it off.

Suddenly hundreds more reached out from the blackness. With arms stretched painfully long, the hands grabbed at his legs and waist. Many were as small as children's, some were injured or burned, of different skin colors, all reaching out of the abyss and trying to drag him down with them. Except that they couldn't. With every tug he bobbed under the water but had quickly released Marionette to swim back up. He was now right underneath the surface, with his fingers brushing the edge frantically, but they wouldn't let go and he couldn't sink down.

Marionette knew he could've escaped then. The hands didn't reach for him and chances were William wouldn't make it out on his own… Except he couldn't be sure. He would just find a way back. He always did.

"Do it for Mike. Do it for Charlie. Do it for all of them," he reasoned. Then swam forward to grab his father and began trying to pull him down. Eventually getting above him and pushing him down towards the hands. William fought like a drowning man and still managed to pull Marionette farther with him as the light faded and the water grew darker and warmer with each passing second.

…

Mike staggered into the basement with the bat raised and immediately saw the hole broken through the wall. "Christ! Look at that!" he cried. He then noticed a disapproving look from Scott out of the corner of his eye. "Sorry, tough night. Where is this thing, in there?"

"No, actually-." Scott climbed over some of the fallen debris so that he could point out the humming tower in the corner. "It's that. The things that looks like a computer tower. What is that thing?"

"I don't know. Its always been down here," Mike admitted. He hurried past Scott to look over the seemingly nondescript item.

Many times he had seen this tower of machinery and just assumed it was nothing, not even sure if it was still running let alone be connected to anything in the house. But he soon realized his mistake when he leaned over to look closer and noticed something just hidden behind it. Something that would've looked so innocent if not for the given situation.

There was a phone cord connecting from the back of it into the wall.

"This is it. This is how he did it," Mike announced as he pulled back. He swallowed thickly as he looked over the tower server. "That's what he meant when he said he didn't have a body. Will must've figured out a way to possess this thing after he died. He's been in here the whole time." Scott looked on in silent horror as Mike gripped the bat tighter in his hands. "I'm going to end this once and for all."

Scott nodded stiffly before giving a shaken, "Do it."

He didn't need anymore encouragement. Mike swung as hard as he could, and the bat cracked into the side of the server. It left little more than a dent, but he was determined to change that. Another strike crashed into the tower as he began to unleash the same fury as he had on the phone. The server held up against the strikes but eventually started to break down.

There was a thumping noise from the stairs and Scott's head snapped over to see the head of an animatronic looking up from the floor from where it had fallen. He recognized it immediately as some hideous variation of Spring Bonnie, watching for only a minute as it started trying to climb to its feet. One of William's programmed puppets coming to stop them from ending his madness.

This time Scott knew he couldn't just stand aside. He wasn't going to wait on the sidelines for William to get what he wanted. He was going to do what he should've done a long time ago.

It didn't take him long to spot a screwdriver on a nearby workbench. He took it tightly in his hand and went to meet Nightmare Springbonnie at the door. His hand was shaking, and his heart was pounding as he approached the rabbit which now stood halfway and was staggering inside. It rushed for Mike, and Scott stepped in and swung, stabbing the animatronic directly in the eye.

Mike looked over at the noises and caught sight of Scott digging the screwdriver into the animatronic's skull. "Scott!"

"Don't stop! Just destroy it! Stop him!" the man insisted. He twisted the screwdriver into the broken eyeball before shoving it back towards the door. He scrambled over the desk to find another weapon. "They're not going to stop until he's gone!"

Mike knew he was right and turned back to the server tower before taking another swing.

…

Marionette knew the exact moment he had gone too deep. He had been so focused on forcing William down into the darkness that he barely noticed he was changing. It wasn't until he had his hands right in front of him, pushing the red suit down by the neck, that he noticed how thin his fingers had become. He pulled his hands back and stared in shock at how emaciated they were and how dark they had turned, corpselike.

The pond was eating at him. The burning of the water was literally melting away his own body, which in this case was just a soul. If he stayed any longer her wouldn't survive. Desperate, Marionette pushed off William and tried to swim for the surface through the murky water. He could just barely see the light reaching through the surface.

But just like William, he was yanked back down. He looked down to see that his father was clutching the IV cables hanging off his arm and trying to pull him back down. Marionette frantically tried to pull them out, clawing at where the needle entered his arm, to no avail. He could feel the spools tightening in his chest and knew the wires were too deeply set to remove. He was going to get dragged down with his father.

The glowing eyes stared out from inside the dark maw of teeth. Marionette could hear him screaming through the water as he was yanked down close enough to see straight into his suit.

…

With a loud crash, Mike finally knocked the server onto its side. It managed to detach from both the phone line and the power cord, but it was still running. Albeit, now making a loud humming noise. Like it was struggling to stay on with the damage it had received. He leveled himself above a broken in gash he had made in the side and lifted the bat high.

"Rest in pieces, William. There's no coming back this time," Mike muttered. Then brought the bat down so hard that it cracked straight through the dent and the server. With a sputter, the lights in it died.

…

The screaming had reached its crescendo before it unexpectedly went quiet. William's eyes flickered and the mouth of his suit gaped widely and twitched, like he was choked up. His struggling and thrashing came to a halt and he began to sink into the water. This time nothing was fighting to bring him back to the surface and he himself seemed to lose all life.

A large piece of fabric from his suit peeled off and slowly floated upwards to the surface. Then another, and soon the red suit came apart around him and floated up through the water. As the head and jaw separated, Marionette could see what remained of William underneath the suit. Just a shriveled mass drenched in the insidious, purple liquid. Barely a human form at all and yet somehow, he could still see his face.

He wasn't sure what that expression was. It almost looked like shock, maybe even fear. Even William knew this was the end and as the lights faded for good the hands dragged him down into the abyss.

Marionette was tugged down just long enough for the suit's glove to slip off and free his wires. As soon as they did, he turned upright and struggled to push himself upwards. He was now feeling the full effects of the water. It no longer burned, but it was eating him away, and he had to fight harder just to push himself up. It no longer felt like fluid, it just felt like he was floating in the void. The surface wasn't getting any closer.

Up on the edge of the pond, Charlie had been trying to see what was going on but eventually they had gotten deep enough that she couldn't see them anymore. She still heard the noises though; something echoing through the water and echoing into her ears so loudly that she could barely think. It did eventually go quiet rather suddenly and she thought this was a good thing at first, but then things started to pop up on the water. They were hunks of red fabric that looked like they belonged to an animatronic suit. There was no sign of Marionette.

"I have to go in after him," Charlie decided. She started to pace on the edge of the pond as she tore off her jacket to follow him in. Just then she stepped on something in the grass and looked down to see the fishing rod that had been dropped when the two went into the water. It was reeled in and ready to cast, and she took it into her hands. "Or maybe… I could use this?"

If William had somehow used this fishing rod to angle his possessions, then maybe she could use it to hook Marionette and pull him out of the water. It was worth a shot; if she waited any longer, he would've gone too deep. She casted out into the pond and watched as the hook sunk itself deep inside without even needing a weight. She wasn't sure how she was supposed to control it, so she pretended like it was her strings, tried to focus, and hoped that even if it didn't work Marionette would see the line and hold on.

Right when Charlie was peering into the water again and thought she saw a shadow deep inside, she heard footsteps. She perked and looked back, thinking maybe it was Mike and that he had somehow gotten back.

But there across the grass stood the bear, just at the edge of the clearing, staring directly at her. The overwhelming fear was no longer present, but she still didn't trust the bear, not when she was trying to save Marionette's life. She turned her back to the bear and looked in the water.

"Mari, come on…" Charlie begged quietly. She could hear the footsteps approaching behind her but purposefully held her ground. There was nowhere to run; she refused to leave without Marionette. "I know you're still in there. Just hold on a little longer…" The bear was so close that she could hear the low squeak of its springlocks and the crunching of the grass underneath its feet. She closed her eyes tightly as she felt its arms reach around her. Its hands closed around hers.

To her surprise, they weren't made of fabric. Charlie opened her eyes to see human hands clasped around hers. Large and warm, holding hers in its own, helping her hold the fishing rod still in her hands. She felt something brush her head and knew it was another's resting against hers. Impossibly, the warmth was familiar to her.

"I've missed you so much."

"That voice…" Charlie could never forget that voice. Even when her toys broke, even if Theodore's recording went out forever, she would never forget his voice. It was her father.

"I never wanted to leave you, Charlie. If I could go back and fix everything that I broke I would just to make us a family again. I'm so sorry I got you involved in this…" Henry said. His voice was as soft and loving as she remembered, even with it being so marred by sadness. "I love you more than anything, remember that."

"Dad…" Tears welled up in her eyes as she struggled with what to say. After all these years of waiting and wondering, and now she was speechless. "I love you too. And it's okay… I forgive you."

"Thank you. If anything good came from this, at least I got to see you one more time. For now," Henry squeezed her a little tighter as he gently took the pole from her hands. "But you've slept for too long, Charlie. It's time for you to wake up." Before she could even protest, she felt the strangest sensation of slipping. "Tomorrow is a brand-new day."

In a moment the world faded out and her bedroom faded in. Charlie regained feeling in her body and sat upwards sharply on her bed. "Wait!" she called, but he was already gone. There was so much left she wanted to say and to ask about, and now he was gone. She could still imagine the warm of his hands holding hers.

Baby had been laying against her bed and sat upright abruptly at the call. "Charlie!" she squeaked in surprise. She scooted further down the bed, still knelt on the floor, and grabbed the puppet's wrist excitedly. "You're awake! I thought… I was afraid he had taken you."

"Baby?" It was surprising enough that Baby was being so uncharacteristically expressive with her voice, let alone the fact that she was there at all. "What are you doing here? I thought you went home with Scott and Ennard."

"That's not important yet. What's important is that you're awake. You've been sleeping for so long…" Baby's hand tightened as her voice shook. "Charlie, I almost did something terrible. My father came and he… He wanted me to hurt you- but I didn't! I would never hurt you." Charlie could barely believe how choked up she sounded. The clown dropped her head onto her folded, clawed arm. "I'm so sorry."

"Baby… Baby, don't beat yourself up about it. You weren't the only one he tried to manipulate…" Charlie said. She rested her hand on Baby's and the clown peeked out with a single green eye. Charlie wasn't sure how she would handle the coming news and comfortingly squeezed her hand. "He had all of us fooled… But he's gone now. He's not going to be able to hurt anyone ever again."

"…Good," Baby said without regret. She could honestly say that she never wanted to hear his voice again. She slid closer and reached out with her claw to pull Charlie forward into a half-embrace, holding her tightly. "…I really am glad you're okay. I don't know what I would have done if…" She trailed off.

The quiet, "Aww…" that came from the other side of the room was the warning Charlie had that they weren't alone. She slowly looked over to see Springtrap standing by the window and Ennard crouched down petting Moppet beside the closet. Both deciding to silently watch the two reunite without a single word.

Now noticed, Springtrap nodded down at the bed. "What about Marion? Why hasn't he woken up?" he asked.

Charlie had noticed Marionette out of the corner of her eye when she turned her head towards Springtrap and Ennard but had been misled by his positioning. He was kneeling on the bed with his head drooped, and one of his hands had even been on her arm until Baby pulled her into the hug. She had assumed from the pose that Marionette was awake beside her, but that relief was short lived once she looked closer at him. His eyes were closed, his body unmoving, and she soon realized that Springtrap was right, he was still asleep.

Considering that the last thing she had seen of Marionette was him sinking into the pond, Charlie was very concerned.

"Mari?" Charlie reached for his shoulder and shook him. "Mari?!" she asked more frantically. The others started to notice, with Springtrap and Baby becoming increasingly concerned, now drawing their attention to their youngest sibling. The rabbit came closer and grabbed the puppet around the middle, tilting his body back so he could check his face for any signs of life.

"…He's still with us. He has to be," Springtrap affirmed. He shook Marionette harder than Charlie had. "Stay with us, Marion. I know you're in there somewhere."

…

Marionette was beginning to lose the fight. Even though numb the water, he could feel his energy getting sapped away by it. It became harder to move his body and he was steadily becoming more exhausted. It almost felt like he was falling asleep, but he knew he wouldn't wake from it. He had gone too far and now he couldn't reach the surface to get back. He reached out desperately for the faint glimpses of light.

It was right when he was about to lose hope when something seized his being. It was a strange sensation, not painful but like he had been grabbed him at his core. It started to tug at him until it physically started to lift him through the water and towards the promising glow of light. He began trying to swim again and this time his struggle was not in vain. The light above the water grew brighter as his hands broke surface.

In one motion he burst halfway out of the water and was pulled onto the edge of the pond. Marionette fell limp on the grass, now a gentle green instead of the jarring red it had once been. He only had a moment to contemplate it before arms wrapped around him and lifted him the rest of the way onto the grass. It was only once he fell back against the other's chest that he realized it wasn't Mike or Charlie. He began to panic, his body limply writhing and dripping red water onto the grass.

"Shh, Mari. It's just me. Calm down, you're safe."

"Goldie?" Marionette choked out.

"It's me, Mari. Just rest," Henry assured. Marionette went slack in his grasp once more.

After a moment Marionette tried to tilt his head back to see the man holding him, noticing the once pitch-black sky was now a blue almost as dark. The trees had regained natural colors as well and for once the clearing looked like a real, living place. The only thing standing out was the red pond which had not changed its color. Though he wasn't worried about that now.

Leaning back further he stared up at Henry. It had been so long since he had seen him as a human. Even with the springlock scars branding his skin it was such a comforting sight.

"How?" he forced out. His voice crackled like it came through a damaged speaker, more akin to his true animatronic body. "How are you here? You moved on…"

"I did and I came back to stop Will… but by time I saw what he had become he was out of my control. All I could do was watch, trapped here, waiting for him to strike…" Henry sighed lowly and looked past towards the pond. "He won't be coming back from where he's going. I have a feeling there's a few people who have been waiting a long time for him to slip up. And I'm sure they won't be as merciful as we were…"

Marionette started to push himself up as he got a little more control in his body. Henry released him, crouching in the grass behind him as the younger turned over, and caught off guard when Marionette sprung forward and caught him in a desperate hug. Henry didn't expect it, but he did return it and held him tightly.

"Where's… Where's she?" Marionette asked. "Charlie?... Mike? Did he make it?"

"They both did. They're already awake and free from this place, along with everyone William had his hook in. Now that he's free they can all sleep safe," Henry explained. He got a slight smile. "She was the one who saved you. She hooked you before I did, and she would've been the one to pull you out if I hadn't have taken over. She didn't want to leave you."

Thick purple tears clouded Marionette's eyes before pouring down his cheeks. He was awash in emotions. Relief that his father was gone, anger that he had been there at all, despair in all the lost time, joy that they were alive, that unreadable warmth to see his friend again… And guilt. Unrelenting guilt that began to weigh down the moment he remembered Charlie and what he had done.

"I tried to protect her… But I failed. I couldn't save her. I couldn't bring her back like you would've wanted… And he was always there. Watching us," Marionette vented. He began to weep. "I know you didn't want her to turn out like this." His babbling was cut off by Henry shushing him.

"Marion, stop. Don't do this to yourself. We never wanted her to turn out like us, but she did. It happened and we have to live with it… But from what I've seen, you've given her a better life than I did."

"Goldie…"

"It's true. It was my fault leaving her in the dark so long. I never warned her about the danger. You and I both know that even if she hadn't gone to Magictime Theater that night, William would've found a way to get to her. Except it would've been him who had control of what happened to her. I know you didn't have a choice in the matter, but you still have done well. You've protected her as best as you could. You came to this haunted place to find her. I'm proud of you. I'm proud of you."

Maybe it was because of how William had treated him earlier but hearing that felt so assuring. So much guilt was lifted off Marionette's shoulders in that moment. With one last tight embrace, Henry pushed them apart. He had a small, somber smile. It had been so long since Marionette had seen anything close to it and he began to beam in return.

"It's about time for you to wake up too. I'm sure they're waiting for you on the other side," Henry encouraged. "…And it's time for you to return to your body. It's time for you to continue living."

"Do you… Want to come back with us?" Marionette offered gently. "I know you want to move on, but for a little while? Charlie would love to get to know you, the others too. We have time."

That somber smile slipped away. "Marion… I already moved on. I can't come back." The finality in that statement took Marionette off-guard. His eyes widened for a moment as he processed exactly what he had said. Henry noticed his distress and his face softened. "…But I may stay for a while. Just to make sure nothing comes out of that pond."

"I see…" Marionette swallowed his feelings and wiped at his eyes. This time he got the tears under control. "So, you've seen the other side?" Henry nodded. "Is it anything like we imagined?"

"It's indescribable… But I wouldn't burden you with that. Eventually everyone sees it for themselves, but not when they're still living." Marionette didn't persist. He almost preferred not knowing, feeling strangely disinterested even though he asked the question. Maybe just because of how close he had gotten to it. "I know I've asked a lot from you over the years, but I have one last favor if you're willing to listen." Marionette nodded and Henry requested, "Forget everything William told you."

"That might be easier said than done. I'll be lucky if I forget anything from tonight," Marionette said with an attempt towards amusement, but Henry just shook his head.

"That's not what I mean. I know you, Mari. You will hang onto his words for years no matter what I say. I just need you to forget what he was saying and remember all the times he twisted someone else's words against them. He always had a way of turning everyone else into the cause of their own suffering, even when he was the one signing their death certificate…. If you have to remember anything then remember him as he was, a liar and a coward."

"I won't ever forget," he quietly agreed. "…I'm not going to forget you either, Goldie. Henry. We're still friends, right?"

"Of course we are… Which is why I won't keep you any longer." Henry reached for him and the moment his hand touched his arm Marionette began to feel the same slipping feeling as Charlie had. Except it was different from the sensation in the pond. Instead of losing himself, he almost felt like he was regaining himself. Just before he woke up, he heard Henry's final words. "I love you, Mari."

Then he was gone, and it was only Henry at the pond. He stared out at the red water for a few moments before standing from the grass and making his way over, picking up the fishing rod on the way. The pond was empty save the debris of suit floating on the top. No sign of William any longer; he was truly gone this time. A higher power had gotten him in the end.

There was only one thing left to do. Henry cast the line out across the water and hooked it onto one of the floating suit pieces and sat down in the grass beside the pond. This would take a while, but he needed to make sure nothing remained, and he had all the time in the world to do it.

…

Back in Charlie's bedroom, Marionette awoke with a start in Springtrap's arms. His older brother noticed him stir and gave an exhausted groan of relief as he held him tighter. "Thank God, he didn't take him."

"Charlie?" the Puppet asked as he lifted enough to see past Springtrap's arm. He was overjoyed to the Security Puppet alert and smiling. "You're awake!"

"I could say the same thing! You scared us for a minute," Charlie said with a ring of delight. She reached for him and tried to hug him around Springtrap, who only then decided to release them. "What happened?"

"I… I saw Henry," Marionette admitted. "There were things that needed to be said."

"I saw him too. I think he must've been the bear the entire time and was following me in my dreams to try and warn me. It's the first time I've heard his voice in years without it being through a tape…" Charlie said. That explained why Henry hadn't asked him to deliver any messages, and the Puppet was again pleased. Or he was until he was suddenly caught in Ennard's tight embrace and nearly yanked off the bed.

"You think after that little stunt you're ever gonna be able to bring up that furnace thing ever again?" Ennard teased with a laugh. "You're lucky Mike's wasn't in here. Might've not appreciated the dramatics."

"Mike!" Marionette quickly squirmed out of Ennard's grasp and headed for the door to find it still blocked by the dresser. "I'm going to see if I can teleport out. I have to find Mike and make sure he's safe."

"It should be safe enough but be careful. We already took care of Fredbear but there's been no sign of Springbonnie since he crept off. If we're lucky, he's broken down somewhere in the yard and we can find him and move him before he's seen," Springtrap said. He headed towards the dresser and beckoned Ennard, but the clown instead focused on something else.

"Wait, did you say- Did you just say there was another one of those things running around?!" Ennard exclaimed in shock. "You just let me come back here and ditch Scott while there's a Bonnie running around?!"

"Mike has a bat and a taser somewhere and Bonnie is missing an arm. I assumed if it came back, they would be able to hold their own," the springlock suit answered simply. "Help me move this dresser."

"I saw Mike trying to kill a phone out there, I don't think he's the guy I want protecting Scott from Rancid the Rabbit!" Ennard defended. Then promptly added in a quick, "No offense, Mari."

"None taken. I'm going," Marionette said before attempting to teleport.

After the trials he went through earlier he expected his body to be too weak to do so, but instead his body seemed fine. Almost like the events had just been a terrible nightmare. He hurried down the hallway and out to the dining room, where he found the fallen Fredbear and the broken phone and dining room chair. He noticed the open basement trapdoor and quickly downed the steps. "Mike?!"

The man heard his voice and straightened from what he was doing. Breaking the box had caused Springbonnie to malfunction and shut down, but neither he nor Scott had been comfortable with that alone. They hadn't even exchanged a word, Scott just found his way into the tools in the dresser, joined Mike beside the server, and they had begun to dismantle it the rest of the way. It was too smashed to ever function properly without extensive repairs; they would make certain that those repairs would never be possible.

Until Mike heard Marionette's voice and suddenly had to see him. He stood and headed for the door, nearly tripping up on Springbonnie, barely acknowledging Scott calling after him, "Y-You go ahead. I've got this."

They nearly collided at the base of the stairs before Marionette latched onto him tightly. Mike returned the embrace and held the puppet for dear life, relieved to see that he appeared to be an animatronic again. Marionette began to warble against him and buried his mask into his shoulder, and he knew that this must've meant that Charlie and the others were alright. He kissed his rosy cheek and held him tighter.

There was so much they would have to catch up on in the next couple of minutes. The tether, the pond, everything would be relived through their words. But for that moment- that sweet, tender moment- they didn't need to say anything. They just needed this.

---

It was hard enough being in his father's house, let alone knowing that his father had still been conscious and pulling strings from somewhere beyond the grave. It was no wonder that Springtrap felt so tense. That mixed with the fact that someone could've seen them, and added to the fact that he could hear Scott in the kitchen concocting a fake story to a tow truck driver to retrieve the van, left him feeling on edge. So, it didn't help that old habits died hard.

"Just pick something," Springtrap muttered lowly. The channels flickered by so quickly that it would've given him a headache as a human. Now it just made his springlocks tight and twitchy. "You can't possibly tell what's on going that fast."

"Doesn't take me long to recognize a commercial," Ennard retorted as he continued clicking through. "And there's pretty much nothing but commercials running this late."

Springtrap leaned back against the couch and covered his face tiredly with his hand. After everything that had happened tonight, this clown was going to be the thing that finally pushed him over the edge. That or the innate fear that he may have to spend the night in his old bedroom, Gabe's room, heaven forbid.

It was then that Mike walked up to the back of the couch, whistled, and poked something into the back of Springtrap's hand. The rabbit groaned and caught it between his fingers, then lazily drew his hand back to look at the object. To his surprise it was a very familiar looking wallet. It got him upright in only a second and he opened it in his hands. His own face stared back from the license picture.

"Where did you find this?" he asked in disbelief as he started going through the pockets and folds.

"Where do you think? Just like everything else in this house, it eventually found its way down to the basement," Mike said. He leaned against the back of the couch and watched as Springtrap took out a familiar picture of two men. The rabbit started at it for a few seconds before nudging the clown beside him with his elbow. When Ennard looked over he passed him the picture.

Ennard looked over the two men standing together in the picture. One of them was obviously Michael himself while the other was an unknown face. Something told him that he knew this person. "Is this me?" Springtrap nodded and Ennard mimicked Mike's whistle. "Wow… I was short."

"Shorter than Mari, but that's not saying much," Mike chimed in with a small smirk. "I meant to give this to you, one of you, a while back but time got away from me."

"Thank you, Mike. You've done more for me than you will ever know," Springtrap thanked honestly. Then proceeded to grab the remote that Ennard sat down and start flipping through the channels. Mike noticed him slip the wallet into his suit for safe keeping and knew he really did appreciate it. Scott hung up the phone and joined him at the couch.

"I called the tow truck and they're going to swing by and pick me up. Then we're going to go see if we can pull the van out and get it started. We'll see where it goes from there, but it might be a while until I get back," he said. He noticed the picture Ennard was still studying. "What've you got there?"

"Take a look! Apparently, this was me and Michael here back in post-college, pre-death, bachelor days!" Ennard chirped as he handed back the picture.

One look and Scott knew it was Benedict, having recognized him from the hallucinations he had after his possession. Dark brown eyes, black hair, brilliant smile, and lacking the gaping would down his chest and belly that the vision had forced him to see. He definitely hadn't looked this short but assumed it was just a product of trying to put a hallucination over an already existing body.

"Whaddya think, Scottie?" Ennard asked curiously. "How'd I look?"

"I always imagined you with a smile on your face," Scott said with a small one of his own.

"But not as good as I do now, right?" Ennard asked with a playful glint. "I've really cleaned up since my change in occupation." Scott chuckled a little and leaned him back by the shoulder, subtly kissing him on the side of the head. Ennard gave a contented hum and took the picture back. He lingered on it a moment longer before hearing familiar voices and glancing over to the television. To his immediate delight, he recognized a rerun of The Immortal and the Restless. "Hey! How'd you find this?!"

"It was the strangest thing. I waited for the commercial to end and this came on after it," Springtrap said. "Of course, you would've known that if you hadn't been racing through the channels as fast as you could."

"Gee, you were a lot more fun when you had something to beat up," Ennard remarked. He turned back to Scott. "Sit down a while! Could be ages before that guy shows up." He scooted further against Springtrap and patted the couch beside him to coax him further, and Scott came around the couch to sit down. The clown then looked back towards Mike. "How about you, Mike? It's gonna be a good one!"

"As tempting as that sounds, I should go see where Mari ran off to." With that, Mike drew back from the couch and headed down the hallway, leaving the 'guests' to their devices. He knew Charlie and Baby had gone back to her bedroom- or their bedroom, technically- so that seemed like the best bet of where Marionette was. He was probably still feeling protective and antsy considering the long night they had.

Or, at least, that was what Mike thought before he noticed that the door to his bedroom was open and the light was on. Raising a brow curiously, he nudged the door open and found Marionette sitting on his bed with a photo album open on his lap. The Puppet noticed him coming in and closed it quickly.

"Hello, hello. Any good news from Jeremy?" Marionette asked as he set the album beside him and rested his hands in his lap. Almost like he was trying to cover up what he was doing. Mike noticed it but didn't call it out, instead choosing to come in and sit on the bed beside him.

"Not yet. Scott was on with a towing company and I still can't figure out where I put my cell. Probably in the bedroom, but that would require me to walk back there and check, and that's just too much effort." Marionette chimed in light amusement and with him seemingly distracted Mike reached around behind him to take the album. "So, what are we looking at?" he asked as he opened the book. He almost expected it to be the Afton family album and was pleasantly surprised to instead see it was the Johnson. "Henry?' he guessed.

It would've made sense, since Marionette said that he had seen a human Henry in the dream. He could've been in here comparing pictures and reminiscing on better times now that Henry wasn't coming back.

…But there was an oddly uneasy look on Marionette's face. He tried to cover it and he almost succeeded, but Mike noticed his hands fidgeting in his lap. "Not exactly…" the puppet quietly admitted.

"…Maybe looking at Charlie? Him and her together?" Mike asked gently. That was his second guess and he approached it cautiously. Marionette had been forced to confront his father tonight along with Henry who was his father figure, so it would've made just as much sense to have him reflecting on the relationship he wished he had. Mike put a hand on his back to comfort him and the puppet squirmed a little.

"Not that either. I just… Have something on my mind…" It was clear that he was reluctant to talk about it, whatever it was. Just looking at his companion caused him to buckle, he couldn't keep it to himself any longer. With a sigh he tugged the album closer rest it betwixt them. He looked down at a picture of Henry's family all together. "…Something happened after you left, Mike. He said something that hasn't been sitting well with me, and now that I've had time to think about it… I'm starting to notice some things."

Mike could already feel that deep-set anger towards William threatening to flair up but fought it back. "Like what?" Mike asked. Knowing William, it was probably something cruel and painful.

"…We saw the room that he kept Gabriel in when we were in the nightmare, but you remember that wasn't the only fake room down in Afton's. There was a false diorama with my bedroom, Lizzie's bedroom, and the road leading to Fredbear's Diner. There might've even been a fake party room in there too, but I didn't check well," Marionette explained. "And speaking of Fredbear, for some strange reason I think... I think I might've seen that disturbing Fredbear before. I didn't recognize the ones in the facility, but I did recognize that one."

"Could you have seen it in the basement? You saw that hidden room, it looks like its been down there a while. Maybe you saw him setting things up when you were a kid and blacked it out," Mike suggested. He took a deep breath and thought, "Or he took you down there at some point as a puppet to work on you…" He didn't say it out loud, but he was sure the other could read his suspicious look.

"Maybe… When I last spoke to Chance, he told me about how when I was very young, I used to be a sickly child… But the strange thing is that I don't remember that. Maybe because I was so young, or that I just blocked out those memories too, but why…? Do sick children grow out of their illnesses?"

"…What are you getting at?" Mike asked apprehensively. "…Why do I have a feeling that I'm not going to like where this is going?"

"I asked him how he could do this to me. Something along the lines of, 'How can you do this? I'm your son'… And he asked me, 'Are you sure?'" Marionette's hand tightened on the edge of the photo album as he stared at the picture. Mike was still looking at him and watched the mixed feelings flitter across his porcelain face. "He didn't denounce me. He didn't disown me. He just asked if I was sure…"

"Mari, you shouldn't take what he said seriously. He was just trying to play with your mind, just like he did when he chased us through that maze dressed up in that deranged rabbit suit," Mike said to try and assure him. "He would've said anything just to get an upper hand. Or anything if he thought it would hurt you, which in this case would've backfired. Nobody wants to be related to the Purple Man."

"It was Sammy, Mike. That's who I was looking at." The comment was so sudden that it cut Mike off mid-thought. Marionette finally looked at him with a grim mix of worry and fear and added, "I was just thinking about how similar we looked."

"Wait a minute. You're not saying you think you're Sammy, are you?" Mike asked in surprise. There was a pause and then the puppet slowly nodded. It seemed so out of nowhere that the man didn't even know where to begin. "Mari, Doll, I really think you're reading too far into the words of a desperate man."

"Our hair was very similar in color, we were about the same age, I was small for my age, and I can't make out his eye color, but it could've been the same."

"He and Charlie were twins. Wouldn't they be brown like hers?"

"They weren't identical twins, it might've not been. But that's only the beginning." Marionette began to rapidly flip through the pages. "I was a sick child who can't remember being sick and suddenly got better around the time when Sammy disappeared. I-In fact, I can't remember much of anything before the age of five, but I know at some point I must've seen that animatronic, and if it wasn't in the basement at the time then it was over at ARI. Which means I was in ARI, and why would I have been down there?"

"You think he took Sammy down there and kept him alive?" Mike asked.

"I think if he took a toddler down there and kept him in one of those fake rooms long enough, he could've conditioned him to believe anything," Marionette said. He began to get worked up and tick. "Mike, Marion Afton could've died young and he could've taken Sammy, brainwashed him, and then fit him right into Marion's place. Henry would've been too distraught about Sammy being missing to notice me- Marion being gone, and if William was going to replace his son with anyone it would've been one of Henry's children!"

"But why even do that? Will didn't care about having kids. He didn't care about his kids."

"Will didn't care about anything but he still did it!" Marionette cried. Instantly he clammed up and looked at the closed bedroom door. He listened for a second but didn't hear anyone coming or reacting and took care to quiet his voice when he continued. "He always wanted what he couldn't have. It wouldn't have been about him mourning or wanting his son back, it would've just been that Henry had a son and he didn't… And he would've done anything to even the score." Glossy tears gathered at the top of his purple stripes. "He didn't love his children, Mike, so why was he so attached to me?"

"…I don't know," Mike admitted. Marionette dropped his head to look at the book and Mike was quick to react, lifting the chin of his mask and closing the photo album in his lap. "I don't know, and truth is it doesn't matter. I'll admit that you raise some good points, but you said it yourself; we don't know what happened to Sammy. He could've moved on, he could be in an animatronic out there somewhere and we don't know it, we just don't have enough information to make that call. And you can't start tormenting yourselves after what we had to go through tonight."

Marionette nodded stiffly in agreement as he slowly pushed the family album out of his lap. Mike quickly joined in and pushed it back onto the bed, and then pulled Marionette closer to take its place.

"And let's just get this out of the way before you start thinking too hard about it: Even if you were Sammy who was raised to believe he was Marion, that wouldn't change anything. You're still my Mari. Still the star of the prize corner who all the kids love, and who keeps Foxy's ego in check. Everything you did you still did, and this doesn't change that."

"But Foxy wouldn't be my brother," Marionette quietly asked as he rested against Mike's shoulder.

"I'm not so sure about that, because you've been a pretty good brother to Charlie without any blood backing it up," the man encouraged. He started to lean back against the pillows, prepared to pull Marionette full into his arms and comfort him until he felt better. Though just as they got placed there was a short knock on the door. Mike exhaled tiredly and called out, "Yeah?"

"It's me," Charlie called back. Both straightened up like they had been caught in the act. "Can I come in?"

"Sure, come on in. The more, the merrier," Mike called back. Marionette proceeded to shove the photo album up under his pillow before laying on his side. He propped up his head with one arm and crossed his legs to try ands look casual. It was almost believable, but Mike still reached out and quickly tried to wipe off some of his tears with an amused look.

Charlie stepped into the room almost shyly and shuffled on her legs a bit. It was an obvious sign that she must've heard something, and Marionette felt himself ticking again. "Is everything alright?" she asked.

"Yeah, we're just getting a few minutes away from it all… 'It all' being the twenty plus phone calls I'm going to have to make tonight," Mike excused. He was a lot more casual than the puppet, who was posed too much for someone with slightly smeared paint under his eye. "How about you?"

"Good! I'm doing a lot better than I thought I would," Charlie said as she sheepishly fiddled with her jacket. "… Okay, I'll be honest. I heard you guys a couple of minutes ago and I came to check and make sure you were okay, Mari?" she half-explained and half-asked.

Marionette's smile faded a bit, but he kept himself together, still posed, and voice neutral. "How much did you hear?"

"It was just that one thing and I couldn't even make that out all the way," Charlie assured, not wanting them to think she had been listening in.

Which she hadn't. She had barely gotten the nerve to come down here and address them after the extent of what happened that night. Especially since she could clearly tell that Marionette had been saying something about William.

"It's been a crazy night, hasn't it?" she asked with a small smile. Marionette's smile regained its luster and Mike had a touch of a tired smirk.

"Yes. A crazy night that promises to be an exhausting day," Mike said as he stretched out on the bed. "Think I might just go ahead and pull an all-nighter just to be safe."

"It wouldn't be the first time," Marionette chimed in. "At least this time we're not doing it in a bunch of jungle gym climbing tunnels."

"Considering that was supposed to be a living nightmare, you would've thought there would've been a maze of those somewhere in there," Mike muttered. Marionette gave a light chime of amusement before looking to Charlie. Though she was still smiling he noticed she looked a little distressed. Maybe she had heard more than she said.

"What's wrong, Charlie?" he asked with gentle concern as he slid off the end of the bed. She tried to put it into words to no avail, then just gave a half-defeated shrug. Still smiling, he laid his hands on her shoulders. "Henry told me what you did. I can't thank you enough from pulling me from that pond."

She was almost surprised he had found out and smiled more confidently. "I couldn't just leave you there and I know you would've done the same for me. You're giving me a little too much credit though, he took over before I could pull you out."

"But you're the one who hooked me! Henry's words, not mine," Marionette trilled. He pressed his mask against hers affectionately. "I love you, Charlie."

She didn't even try to stifle her own ringing, just so glad to be home and safe. She was completely oblivious to the puppet's tumultuous thoughts.

"She could be my sister. She could be my twin…" It was best to take Mike's advice and not get everyone worked up about something he couldn't prove. Not when they deserved to be celebrating.

There was a scratchy, throat-clearing noise from the doorway, and they looked over to see Baby standing there. "I found it. It was behind the boxes," she simply said, then rolled back from the door to wait.

"Great! I'll be there in a second," Charlie said with a smile. She turned back to the curious puppet and explained, "Baby was looking for her old treasure box and we're going to look through it. Want to come with?"

"I would love to. In a moment though, I need to finish with Mike first and then I'll be in," Marionette chirped. As she started to turn away, he added, "And don't worry about anything, alright?"

"I'll try not to. And if you could, Mike, ask Foxy if we're still going to open tomorrow. I'm fine to perform but I'd like a heads up." Mike gave her a thumbs up and she stepped out into the hall and joined Baby. Once they were almost at her bedroom, Marionette slowly edged the door shut and turned back to Mike.

"Thank goodness she didn't hear what we were talking about. You're right, I can't pursue this idea without any real evidence, and its already been such a long day as it is…" He tented his fingers thoughtfully as he tried to get ahold of his thoughts. They really deserved a distraction of some kind and a creeping smile started to edge across his face as he thought back to the earlier portion of the night. "Now that the house is free of snakes and rabbits and bears, perhaps we can find a way to forget tonight."

"Kind of hard to do that when the house is still infested with clowns," Mike said off-handedly. Instead of any agreement or amusement, Marionette replied by pouncing on him and playfully pinning him to the bed.

"I thought maybe we could pick up where we were before Fredbear ruined our fun," Marionette trilled. He slid his mask down into the crook of Mike's neck and pressed his lips where he could feel his heartbeat the strongest. It was beating strong without even the slightest hiccup, just as it was supposed to be. It quickened as he trailed his fingers up his sides, responding to the slightest touches.

Mike held him close and returned the affection with a kiss to his head. Right over where his bandages had been, now the comforting cool of porcelain. It was all worth it, he was worth it.

Mike wasn't going to feel any guilt from William's coercion. Marionette wasn't going to let him.

---

It was seldom that Foxy just stopped and listened nowadays. He took charge of the restaurant like a captain in charge of a ship. So, when Mike called, he had demanded answers. But it wasn't the man who gave them to him, it was Marionette who appeared in the pizzeria shortly afterwards. That was the first sign that this was something more serious than just an evil computer game causing people to hallucinate.

Somehow, Foxy had known it was him even before his name had been brought up. Maybe it was that empty look Jeremy gave him while clutching that knife. He hadn't looked back at his father before his death, but he could've imagined a similar look. Just like then, Foxy took it with silence, listening as Marionette explained every detail as gently as he could. There was little comfort in William's death after that agony.

"Are you going to be okay?" Marionette finally asked, breaking Foxy out of his haze.

"Yeah, Lad. Gonna be fine," he excused as he uncrossed his arms. The one was still slightly sore and stiff after the incident earlier, but it was the least of his problems. "…You sure he ain't comin' back this time?"

"I'm almost positive. Mike broke the tether and he was dragged down into that pond. He said himself that there was no coming back once you went too far…"

"And ya don't think he was lyin'?"

"Considering that he wasn't talking about himself at the time, no… I'll never forget the look I saw on his face when he sunk. He just seemed so surprised, so disbelieving of it all, petrified," Marionette said. He folded his arms uncomfortably and stared down at the tiles. Foxy reached out and patted his shoulder.

"I only wish I coulda seen it fer meself," he said darkly. It wasn't a joke; he was dead serious.

Marionette looked past him towards the stage where Jeremy was asleep on Foxy's mat with a multitude of tiny animatronics curled around him protectively. He couldn't tell if they were asleep or not but they didn't seem willing to move from that spot. "Should we wake Jeremy and tell him now?"

"Nah, let 'em sleep. They all had a hard night," Foxy muttered. He sighed and squeezed his brother's shoulder. "You too. Get home and get some sleep."

"Are you sure?" Marionette was surprised at how dismissive Foxy was. He had expected him to be much clingier, but his brother nodded encouragingly. "Well… Alright. I don't think I'll sleep, but I should get home to keep the peace until Scott gets back… You can call me to come back if you need me."

"Yeah, I will," Foxy said distantly. "Ya did the right thing."

While the puppet was still concerned about his brother, he reluctantly left him and returned home. Which was for the best for Foxy who felt like he needed to be alone. He needed some time to think and take all this in. In the meantime, he headed over to the stage, climbed up onto it, and knelt beside Jeremy. He was careful to not wake the man as he gently undid the belt still around his wrists. Thankfully it wasn't too hard since the blond was nearly laying on his belly.

Foxy gently adjusted Jeremy's arm into a more comfortable position- he couldn't really do that with the other one- and then turned to sit down. It was only then that he noticed Max was staring at him. Max gestured with his eyes towards the edge of the stage and the pirate followed his example and sat down on the edge. Max shuffled over to him and stood alongside him.

"I heard what Mari said," Max said telepathically to not wake the others. "That's pretty funny. I usually have a grip on these things. I see a lot of things that others don't, but I was totally blind on this one! Ha ha ha!" Foxy nodded stiffly and was glad that an answer wasn't expected out of him. Max watched him stare at the floor, seeing the pirate's slumped shoulders and defeated look, and then added, "Guess it's not that funny. Pretty hard finding the humor when we didn't even get to see his hopeless, purple face."

"Aye…" Foxy mumbled. He slightly scratched his hook on the wood of the stage. "Took everything from me, still came back fer Jer'my…"

Max slowly rolled his eyes in a thoughtful way. He couldn't say he enjoyed seeing Foxy in such a state, especially when he already felt like the only sane one amongst his peers. Especially since he wasn't entirely sure he could trust Jeremy to keep control. Foxy must've not been convinced either, which was probably why he was so reluctant to wake him.

"I'm going to level with you, Gabe, I haven't been your biggest fan. Guess I blamed you for a lot of what happened to me and those kids your dad grabbed. You were an easy target. You were here, you were alive, and you pretty much stirred the wasp's nest with what you did. You let the bear out of the cage. It was so easy to look at you and see Afton's spawn… But you really came through for us tonight. If we would've been home, we would've been dead."

"Jer'my woulda never killed ya. He woulda gotten control."

"Ha ha ha, yeah, I want to believe that. I would've believed that, but now that 'bad man' is one hundred percent Purple Man and we both know he would've had a lot of fun with us. Again. Because that's what he does." Foxy was silent and Max looked towards him. "The point I'm making is, thank you. You're not so bad. Still a little full of yourself, but you're okay enough."

Foxy snorted. "Yeah, thanks." But then after a few seconds of consideration his tone softened, "Yeah. Thanks…"

"Don't mention it," Max replied. "To anyone. Specially not Joe."

They returned to silence on the edge of that stage. Eventually Foxy slumped forward with his head in his hand and tried to process it all. Max slapped at his back stiffly and sympathetically.

Closure wasn't all that it was cracked up to be.

---

It took a couple of days before Clayton Burke made it out of the hospital and started asking questions. From there it took a couple more days before he had recovered enough to go seek answers. Foxy's had closed over an hour beforehand but the staff was still there waiting, knowing that their visitor would be arriving shortly, and soon a car pulled into the parking lot.

"He's here," Mike called to the others. He had been watching by the door to see the moment the detective arrived. As the others shuffled around to get ready- Fritz coming out of the back, the Minireenas disappearing behind Foxy's curtain, and Louise heading into the kitchen to keep Tabby at bay- he continued watching as the detective and his son got out.

"How does he look?" Marionette asked curiously from the safety of the Prize Corner, where he had been restocking prizes and collecting tickets.

"About as good as anyone one week out from a heart attack. Looks like he had to get the kid to drive him," Mike said. He folded his arms with a weary exhale and prepared to hold his ground. Apparently, Charlie was too, as she began to open her box and start to get out. He raised a brow at her. "You're coming out?"

"I was planning on it… Do you think I shouldn't?" Charlie second guessed. Mike gave a partial shrug.

"If he remembers anything from what went down then he knows you're alive anyway, so I guess it should be fine," Mike answered. He looked back into the Prize Corner for confirmation, received a slow shake of the head from Marionette, and then turned back. "On second thought, maybe stay in the box until we know for sure that he's got some grasp of what happened." The Security Puppet nodded and slipped back inside.

"I'd like to see one of ya landlubbers try to get me behind me curtain," Foxy challenged from the stage. He barely covered his agitation as he paced in front of the cracked curtain where the Minireenas were peeking out. "It'd take a bigger bloke than that to scare me off. Badge 'er not."

"Just don't sucker punch him while we're not looking. With all the money going into the van, we can't afford to pay your bail," Fritz replied as he came to stand with Mike. He lowered his voice so only his partner would hear and asked, "Are you sure about this? Just because he's possessed doesn't mean he's not still gunning for us. Heck, he might be gunning for us even more!"

"Yeah, but as far as I'm concerned, we can always fall on blackmail if things get desperate," Mike flatly said. Joking aside, he knew that the technician had a point. "This is our best chance to smooth things over. I wouldn't have agreed for him to come by if it wasn't."

"I guess you're right… It's not like we can incriminate ourselves anymore than we already have," Fritz said. Mike looked to him with a raised brow and a silent 'want to bet?'. The technician preceded to reach over without looking away from the door and knock on the wall superstitiously.

Carlton opened the door for his father and led him into the pizzeria with an uncomfortable smile. It was one that Fritz shared. Natalie and Jeremy watched from beside the entrance to the hallway with baited breath.

Clayton looked like he had aged five years with dark rings under his eyes and sunken skin. It was clear that he would still need another week or two before he was anywhere near recovered. He looked between the two owners before giving them a nod of greeting. "Mike. Fritz."

"Detective Burke," Fritz greeted cautiously.

"Clay," Mike said. He got straight to the point, "How are you holding up?"

"Better. I'm not to put any stress on my heart for three weeks and I'm on so much blood thinner that if I get as much as a papercut, I'm looking at trouble," Clay replied. Mike and Fritz exchanged a glance and tried not to think of Foxy's hook. "But I'm alive," the detective continued. "…And before you ask, yes. I remember what happened."

"Well, that's convenient," Mike thought. "How much?"

"Portions of it. Enough to piece together what happened but not enough to explain how I went through with it." Much to their surprise, Clay got a look of guilt. He didn't seem like the type to regret his actions- save the remorse he showed at the funeral or when talking about Charlie. He nodded towards his son. "Carlton brought me up to speed on everything else."

"So… You know you were possessed, right?" Fritz asked. Clayton nodded. "And you weren't the only one. Jeremy was possessed too. You remember him, he's the blond back there that's slowly inching into the hall."

At that comment, Jeremy subtly stepped behind the corner and disappeared from their sight.

"I know. I figured that much out while I was in the hospital, that Dave Miller's death wasn't natural. We never thought it was, but I never expected it to be something like this," Clayton said with a shake of his head. He then noticed Foxy standing on the stage. "…And that wasn't the only thing I wasn't expecting," he added. "Once I saw what I had been collecting in the basement with sober eyes..."

Unexpectedly, Foxy suddenly turned his head and barked over, "If yer lookin' for another piece fer yer collection, go check the dumpster behind Chipper's!"

Fritz spun around and gawked at him, as did Carlton, and Mike smacked his hand over his face. Unfortunately, the detective's silence only emboldened Foxy to press on.

"Ya know, I be glad ya figured it out after all these years," he snarled and jabbed his hook in the man's direction. "It's about time I made me peace with ya- and gave ya a piece of my mind, ya overpaid-!"

"Foxy! Lawsuit! Lawsuit!" Jeremy yelled. Foxy cut off abruptly and stared blankly as he processed the threat.

"…But it's gonna wait cause our van's busted," Foxy finished before barging through his curtains and disappearing. Nearly stepping on the Minireenas in the process. The pizzeria was eerily silent following that.

"Someone just shoot me now," Mike thought. What a shame that Clayton wasn't armed this time. He dragged his hand down his face before gesturing back towards the stage. "Foxy the Pirate, everyone."

"He's not this volatile around the kids, I swear," Fritz jumped to defend.

Clayton didn't seem too disturbed by the outburst. He stared at the curtain with a different look, something lingering and questioning, like this was his final confirmation that the animatronics were alive. He had to see it for himself to believe it, and now he did, and now he turned back to Mike.

"…Is she here?"

It wasn't hard to tell who 'she' was. "Dad…" Carlton said in almost a warning. He still glanced around like he was looking for her though. He even leaned to look between Mike and Fritz into the Prize Corner but found the wrong puppet half in his box. Out of the detective's view, Marionette waved to his son with an amused glint.

Before Mike could say anything, the box they were standing beside began to open. Carlton and Clay looked over in time to see Charlie stand inside of her box. No flair, nothing dramatic, just standing up and looking to them without faking a smile. She resisted the urge to hide behind her mask.

The detective recognized her from his spotty memory. "Charlotte, is that really you…?" he still asked.

"It's me, Clay. It's really me…" Charlie said. She expected questioning or something other than the silence that followed- not counting Carlton greeting with a quick 'hey'- but it took him a while to put his thought together. "I've been like this since what happened at the theater. This was one of the animatronics they owned and after my accident… Here I am."

"I'm sorry for what happened to you," Clay apologized remorsefully. The guilt was back and more prevalent than ever. "We should've gotten to you sooner..."

"You couldn't have. You got there as fast as you could, but that's is just how things were," Charlie assured him. "This is just what I am now. I'm okay with that."

"…Does it hurt?" he dared to ask. Mike swore he could hear Foxy growling behind his curtain but doubted anyone else could with how low it was. Especially when it sounded more like a broken air conditioning unit than a real animal growl.

"No, really. It's just different than it was before." Charlie looked towards the floor tiles and fiddled with the end of her sleeve, having put her jacket on to comfort her before he had arrived. "…Clay, I need a favor from you. I know you've been in contact with my aunt Jen... You can't tell her about this." She looked up to clay desperately. "You can't tell her about me. She wouldn't understand. It would just hurt her more."

"…No, I agree. With the circumstances being what they are, this needs to stay between as few people as possible. If this got out to the public… The best-case scenario would be that nobody would believe it, and the worst is just that our city can't handle it," Clay agreed. He gave a deep sigh and looked back to Mike and Fritz. "…Which is why I'm closing the Freddy's case again."

That was unexpected. Even Foxy drew back the curtain to listen at this point.

"Because you found out what happened?" Charlie asked.

"Partly because there are still victims who will be put in danger. Carlton informed me that there are more… Like you." He briefly glanced at the stage towards Foxy. "But largely because there is no longer anyone who can be brought to justice. If the murderer then was also possessed, then could be dead by now. How am I supposed to prosecute a spirit?"

"You don't have to. He's dead and the original killer. Two birds with one stone," Mike chimed in. Clayton turned towards him and he added, "And he's not coming back from this one."

"Thank God. The last thing this town needs is an undead maniac turning civilians into psychopaths," the detective agreed with only slight relief. He turned back towards Charlie. "I won't tell her."

"Thank you, Clay. For everything. I know the reason you were looking so hard into the case was because you wanted to solve it and we appreciate it. We really do, even Foxy. It just a- well, for lack of a better term, a conflict of interest? A calculated risk, something like that… But we could keep you in the loop." She looked towards Mike and Fritz. "Can't we?"

"Trust me, if anymore kids go missing, we're going straight to you, because we don't need that stigma," Fritz said with a strained smile. He realized how it sounded and added, "And because we care about the kids."

"A little less than the bad PR apparently," Mike quipped at his expense. Fritz sent him an unamused look in return. "But, just to be entirely clear, we're off the hook?"

"Right, but don't get any ideas. I can't cover for you if you lose your handle on your situation," Clay said.

"And what's that mean?" Mike questioned.

"Get that clown under control." That didn't need further clarification, Mike and Fritz just exchanged another look. Clay turned back to Charlie, "It is good to here your voice again Charlie. You take care of yourself." With that, he turned to leave the pizzeria rather abruptly. From the way his face fell as he turned away it was clear that he couldn't stay any longer. "Let's go, Carlton."

"I'll be right there. Let me just grab something real quick," Carlton excused. Clay looked a little confused but shrugged it off and headed to the car, too tired to keep standing there. As soon as he was outside, Carlton fished a folded-up paper out of his pocket. "I know this looks unprofessional but bear with me here. I don't want this to be what puts him back at the hospital," he said as he handed it over to Mike. "Just take a look at it and talk it over," Carlton finished. He then looked to Charlie, gave a quick, "See you later, Charlie," and followed his father out to the car.

"Okay, that last bit was weird. What did he give you?" Fritz asked. Marionette dared to hover out of the Prize Corner and looked over his shoulder to read it. His eyes widened with his amused smile.

"He actually typed up a resume. I can't believe he actually wants a job here," Mike said in disbelief. Marionette chimed in amusement and hooked a hand on his shoulder.

"Well, why not? Free pizza, constant parties, and "magical" robots that may or may not walk around at night. Not to mention first dibs on any defective merchandise," the puppet playfully listed out. "So many perks, why not sign away your life to hop aboard Foxy's crew?"

"Here, here!" Foxy cheered as he strode out from behind the curtains and hopped down from the stage. "To the free pizza, that is. As long's it still be hot."

"Help yourself. I don't think Tabby put away all of the leftovers yet," Fritz offered. Natalie's face brightened with a smile.

"Hey, none of us have dinner plans, right? Why don't we have like a little pizza party thing, employees only? We can throw a Dumpster Fire in the over and celebrate you staying out of jail," she said, winking at Fritz. He chuckled and slung an arm around her.

"Why not? It's free, right?" he joked. They started to head towards the kitchen when he noticed Jeremy frowning at him. "What's that look?"

"Did you have to tell him I was possessed too? I don't want him checking in on me…" Jeremy huffed. "You could've just told him I had a nervous breakdown. I could've even pulled off severe caffeine withdraw."

"I thought it would allow you to bond with him easier," Fritz said. The blonde was unamused. "…Alright, I'm sorry. I didn't even think about it. But I don't think he's going to be a problem anymore… Not with that look on his face. That defeated by Freddy's look." The technician's face fell momentarily before he recovered. "How about some non-damaged Foxy merch on me?"

"…Well, it would be nice to get some more clothes of my own without having to dip into my savings, even if they're all going to be way too small… Alright, you have a deal," Jeremy said with a playful smile. The two shook hands on it. "But I get the first crack at the children's plus sized."

"If you can squeeze into it, it's yours."

"Hey!" Foxy said mimicking a whistle. "Whaddya all doin'? I thought we be havin' a party! Get yerselves in here and let's get started with it!" The pirate gave a rumbling chuckle and hooked an arm around Jeremy before tugging him into the kitchen. Natalie snickered and followed inside, almost tripping on the Minireenas who hurried in after their caretaker. Foxy gave a final call through the door, "The rest of ya too!"

"We're coming, Captain," Marionette called back. He knew what Foxy was doing, embracing the party idea to get over his frustration with Burke, and he was completely for it. He was about to nudge Mike along when he noticed he was reading the resume in full. Not just glancing over it but really taking in the details. "…You're really considering it, aren't you?" the puppet asked in surprise.

"He sort of passed the initiation test, didn't he? He survived up against aggressive animatronics, he's willing to keep a secret, he seen "the clown", and he still came back looking for a job. Not only that, he typed a formal resume just because I suggested it," Mike remarked. It was worded like he was joking, but he sounded genuinely impressed by it. "We don't get a lot of people looking for a job who meets the criteria that well. Let alone one that willingly wants to work with us."

"…That is a good point…" Now Marionette was thinking about it to. He hummed in thought before looking to Charlie, who was climbing out of her box. "What do you think, Charlie? He's your friend, do you think he would be able to keep up with a job like this?"

"If Carlton's anything, he's pretty passionate once he sets his mind on something, but I've never seen him this invested," Charlie admitted to them. "I might be biased, but it seems worth a shot. We could always use the extra hands around here."

"Could it be…" Marionette looked to Mike in mock aghast. "That Pirate's Cove has finally found willing janitorial staff?"

"Says in here he's willing to take any task large or small and put his all into it," Mike said as he tapped the resume he was quoting. "Only fair to put that to the test."

"You're going to run him ragged doing grunt work, aren't you?" Charlie asked playfully.

"As much as we can until he wises up and we have to hire a real janitor," he said. She gave a light ringing and started to head back towards the kitchen. She wasn't too concerned with Carlton. As much as they were building it up, the pizzeria wasn't that hard to manage, and if he did decide to stay then that meant she would see him more often. Maybe Marla too. It was then that Mike stopped her by adding, "You know it's not too late to have Clay break things to Jen. She's a strong woman, she could handle it."

He didn't outright say what he was leading to, but Charlie knew what it was. It was an opening to go home. If Jen knew the truth and accepted it then she would have the option to return to her house. Really she could've done the same with Jessica too, she had offered as much during one of her calls. There were options to leave if she wanted to.

But the thing was, she didn't want to. She had a home.

"I'm good. I think this is for the best for all of us," Charlie insisted with a smile. There was no hesitation or doubt. "Let's go before Foxy gets impatient and drags us in there."

As she left, Mike looked down at the resume again before folding it up and putting it in his pocket. "I'll talk about it with Fritz and Jeremy later. We could always use the new blood, especially if we renovate again."

"After the van is fixed, of course. But I think you're making the right call. If Burke was right about anything, it was that we can't let too many people know about what goes on behind closed curtains. We're just fortunate to have someone interested who has an emotional stake in the business," Marionette said. He took Mike by the hand and started to guide him back towards the kitchen. "We need to plan for the future."

"Are you trying to hint that you want to get married and start a family?" Mike asked with a small smirk.

"Yes, Mike. I want a white picket fence, two point five children, and a dog. I'll start writing out a weekly dinner schedule and we'll buy you a nice business suit for your first day in the office," Marionette retorted with an equally amused smile. "Or maybe we'll just keep that as a fallback if this pizzeria thing doesn't work out."

Mike laughed a little as he stepped into the kitchen with Marionette and their friends and co-workers. The price of the restaurant was a thing of the past, now it was time to look towards the future. If anyone could keep the business afloat, it was going to be them.

---

Mable: And with that… It's over. So, what's the plan then?

Well, surprise! This isn't the end! I'm doing another sequel! I'm sure you noticed there were a few storylines incomplete? Turns out there's more story to tell, and here's to hoping the third time's the charm! All jokes aside, I've been mulling this idea for a while now and I'm getting that same feeling I got when planning this one. I think it's going to work, and better still I want to do this. ^-^ I'm not ready to let it end.

The current title is "Going Home In A Box" which sounds morbid but is more of a thematic title than a sign than a harbinger of doom. When is it coming? Well, I actually think I'm going to hold back until after the next Freddy game releases. I want to use a bit of that in the story and I would love to strike when the iron's hot. Though I do have a solid premise in mind so I'm not going in blind. Trust me, it is going to be good.

But what about in the meantime? I'm still going to be working on the ARI Nightmares series. It involves Afton's children trying to take out dangerous animatronics. Basically, humans that should've been dead taking out Fazbear Frights' foes. I do imagine writing a oneshot or short story here or there too. Something like Alleyway and its short sequels.

I'm also going to crack down on my book. Almost finished with it, the sequel to A Fool's Endeavor, A Fool's Golden Cage. I keep an update of it on my profile page, yadda yadda. Self-advertisement stuff. If you're curious about it then you'll know where to look. ^-^

Finally, and this is the most important part, thank you for the support over these years. It is hard to believe that this story is TWO YEARS OLD, but the whole time I wrote it I felt super supportive. I love reading the reviews and seeing the excitement. You've been good to me and I'm thrilled that I can return that happiness in some way.

I hope the next story only improves and that anyone who enjoyed this tale comes back for it. ^-^ I hope to see you there.

That's it, folks! I hope you enjoyed!