Mabel scurried off the floor and darted around the tables, her tied-up hair bouncing behind her. The animatronic rabbit's eyes bulged out of his head. He stared down at me with his jaw dropping, revealing thick plastic buck teeth and a set of sharp endoskeleton teeth behind them. Is that a bloodstain in his mouth?!
"Get up!" Circus Baby directed. I rolled over and attempted to stand. My legs snapped out from under me without my permission.
"I'LL GET US UP!" loudly declared a different voice in my head. I watched my feet slam into Bonnie's shin, then awkwardly raise me up from the floor. Bonnie stumbled back, on the verge of losing his balance.
"Funtime Foxy?!" I figured out the dramatic voice quicker than I thought.
"In the flesh!" he said, then murmured to himself, "Perhaps that was too literal." Bonnie reached out to grab my arm but I slipped out of his grasp. I manoeuvred around the first party table, keeping my gaze on the rabbit, while Funtime Foxy blabbered a dramatic apology in my head. None of the words I paid attention to. My eyes darted to the clear exit, then for a possible location of my best friend. Where did she go? It's too dark in here now! A booming thunk sounded behind me. Funtime Foxy finally shut up and Freddy's blue eyes lowered and grew; the bear stepped off the stage and advanced my direction. Before I could dash away, Funtime Foxy took control of my lower body again.
"Who wants a b-b-bear hug?" bellowed Freddy with a deep, cheery voice like a scary Santa Claus. Funtime Foxy raised my arms and balled my fists.
"PUT YOUR PAWS UP, BIG BOY! IT'S SHOWTIME!"
"No!" I hollered. "Don't-" My fist struck against Freddy's fur before I could stop it. Pain shot up my arm from my knuckles to my elbow; I hissed a word through gritted teeth. Funtime Foxy cackled. Freddy realigned his head, a blank stare on his face.
"Playt-time is over, I'm afraid," he quoted. He swung his giant animatronic paw right for my face. Funtime Foxy stepped back, effectively making us dodge the hit. He jabbed Freddy's chest twice.
Stop making me do that! I protested to the excited robot fox. They laughed in response.
"What in the world are you doing?!" I whirled at Mabel's sudden exclaim. She crouched in the shadows, watching me from a fair distance away. The letters "LET'S EAT!" grew closer behind her head. Pink eyes gleamed.
"WATCH OUT-" Freddy shoved my chest before I could yell a warning. My spine curled around the edge of the party table. Mabel spun to gawk at the animatronic chicken. Chica swerved her hand and the metal sharp-toothed cupcake in it hit her across the face. My gut wrenched at the thunk and her scream.
"DUCK!" Funtime Foxy screamed, forcing my body down. I scrambled underneath the table. Freddy's hulking arms barely missed my stomach.
"HAHA! It's actually a chicken!" chuckled a new voice in my head- Funtime Freddy. Grimacing at his volume and my throbbing back, I crawled backwards in an awkward crab-walk. Freddy stepped around the table. It seemed like he was leaving. Or getting a different angle.
"Now you can talk?" I wheezed to the robots in my body incredulously. I glanced over my shoulder, noticing Chica's foot slamming onto Mabel's wriggling body. Oh no! The table began to rattle. Bonnie and Freddy grasped its sides. Oh no-no-no! I put my hands over my head. My only cover flipped over, banging the tiles and spouting dust everywhere. I dared to look up. Bonnie grinned at me. His jaw twitching, Freddy glowered.
"Found you."
"Shit!"
I crawled backwards again like an idiot, only to bump into Chica's legs. Apparently, the chicken had decided I was more fun to torture than Mabel. She and her friends reached for me all at once.
"Wait! H-hey!"
I couldn't stop them from grabbing me, no matter how much I squirmed. My head spun with crazed thoughts. They're going to break me apart!
"Put him down!" I heard Mabel cry out. She jutted the metal legs of a chair into his back and he jerked forward. The bear made a low gargle of unintelligible gibberish, his head rotating to face Mabel. She shrieked. Bonnie and Chica gripped my limbs tighter. Then:
"Ahoy, me laddies!"
Everyone halted and turned to the brash, hearty voice. My breath stopped and my heart crashed into my organs. I recognized that voice. Not the fox. Not the fox. An animatronic fox flung his peg leg out from his thin purple curtain. He stepped out, his mouth wide and bearing a sharp, determined grin.
"It be a fine day for treasure-huntin'," piped Foxy the pirate fox. The one golden eye that didn't hide behind his eyepatch scanned the area. It landed on me. My belly pretzeling, I wished I could melt into the tiled floor. Foxy began his approach with cocking ears and wiggling fingers.
"Aye," he growled at his friends, "I see you already found yourselves some b-b-booty." He raised his hook to my face, gently brushing it against my cheek. I shifted away from him. The robots holding me kept my body firmly locked in place. Burning hatred resonated from Foxy's body as his eyes rolled to the back of his head. He despised every rapid breath I took.
What do I do? What do I do? I panicked to the robots inside me.
"ROUGH HIM UP, DARLING!" declared Funtime Foxy.
"SCREAM UNTIL YOU PASS OUT!" suggested Funtime Freddy.
"How about you both SHUT UP!" Circus Baby yelled.
Interrupting our hysterics, Foxy plunged his hook into my chest. A ringing screek vibrated through everyone in the room. I heard Mabel hit the floor for the second time. Yowling in pain, I lobbed my legs up. Foxy flew back as I kicked his muzzle. His knees buckled on weak and exposed endoskeleton legs. He crashed to the floor, but not before ripping his hook out of me. A few droplets of blood splattered across my shirt. As the horrible ringing began to fade, Freddy and his friends continued to seize. Their tweaking movements eventually caused them to lose grip on me. I dropped into a crouch position.
"The p-party isn't over j-just yet!" Chica whined. I gasped at the glimpse of tiny bodies crawling in her metal frame. The Reenas! Indeed, the Minireenas scurried about the insides of the four angry animatronics. The sight mesmerised me for a moment. I shook myself back into focus just as the animatronics figured out how to shake the Minireenas off.
"Mabel!" I shouted, joining her side. She pushed herself upright with a grimace. Her entire face lacked natural pigment.
"We gotta get out of here," she breathed, clutching her torso. "I hope you got what you w-" She stopped to gasp at what lurked over my shoulder. A still-twitching Bonnie reached for my head.
"Join-n the party!" he sang in an unfitting jolly tone.
"HEY!" A stiff exclamation echoed down the hallway, alerting Bonnie. "Look down this way! I'm such a diversion and not a selfish individual!"
"That phone guy," Mabel murmured as we both noticed him. The animatronics getting distracted momentarily at the awkward man gave me just enough time to scoop up Mabel and run. I didn't dare look back. From the parking lot, I could hear one of them screaming in frustration.
"Ughhh, I feel terrible right now," moaned a limp Mabel in my arms. I didn't mean to toss her into the backseat of her car but I did. Chelsea moved aside, startling slightly.
"You're back!" she chirped with clapping hands. "I stayed in the car the entire time. I tried to tell the Minireenas not to leave but they would not listen. I actually listened, though, to what you said. I was being obedient and they-" She gasped at the crimson speckles on my shirt. "Oh. Maybe I should have left after all."
"It's alright, Chelsea," I said while sliding into the driver's seat. Trying to hide a wince, Mabel sat up.
"I'm driving-"
"Not like that, you're not," I interrupted. "I'll drive."
"You're literally bleeding, Mike-"
"I'll manage." She gave my eyes in the rearview mirror an exasperated scowl before slumping back against the headrest.
"Fiiine."
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I drove along the dark desert roads to take Mabel home. While my mind wandered, I chewed the inside of my cheek.
They knew something was wrong with me, I concluded. They knew it. Just like the Puppet. They were trying to free them-
"They were trying to break us, Michael," Circus Baby chimed in. Her voice carried an offended edge. "But not because they knew about us. Because they thought you were their murderer. You look a lot like him-"
"Well, I'm not like him," I insisted. Behind me, the car's seat fabric crinkled as Mabel sat up again.
"Mike, who are you talking to?"
I didn't acknowledge her due to Baby continuing, "Too bad. He created you to be similar. You can't control that." My sore knuckles turned white on the steering wheel.
"I can't control anything," I growled, my voice wavering. Holding back the urge to cry brought a dull ache to my chest. I frowned to force a fierce attitude. "I can't control my mouth. I can't control my body. I can't- I- How long are you going to be here?"
"Your body works too well for us," Baby answered. "We're going to stay here as long as possible." I couldn't stand to hear it.
"Why? You've done nothing but ruin my life!"
"I didn't make the decision to go to the library! Or the pizzeria! That was you!"
"I wouldn't have even thought about that if I hadn't BEEN SCOOPED IN THE FIRST PLACE! YOU TRAPPED MY OWN SISTER INSIDE BOTH OF US! YOU TRAPPED ALL OF US! ALL OF US ARE STUCK!"
"Mikey!" Mabel cried out. I barely registered her warm hand on my shoulder. "You're yelling! Stop!" The Funtime animatronics writhed in my body. I clutched my mouth involuntarily, my gag reflex shuddering my abdomen.
"LISTEN TO THE GIRL, MIKEY!" Funtime Freddy blurted out. "YOU KNOW WHY WE HAD-"
"But you understand now! We're ALL STUCK!" I slammed my hand against the dashboard. My belly lurched again as my arms broke into shivers. I couldn't grasp the wheel anymore. Wait, no! Every sudden breath felt like a stab to the lungs.
"I didn't want this!" Ballora spoke up. "It wasn't my idea!" I tried to blink my focus back on the road but it remained a blur of static and tears. My legs darted against the pedals- the inner robots freaked out.
"Nobody cares, Ballora!" Baby snapped. "I made this decision because I knew we all wanted the same thing overall! To be free from Father's circus of despair; free from controlled shocks and submitting to his evil will! You're selfish!"
"You're selfish!" Ballora roared back. The car veered off the road; the wheels sputtered going over rough rocks. My thoughts jumbled. I CAN'T CONTROL ANYTHING! WHY ARE THEY SO LOUD?! WE'RE GONNA CRASH AND MABEL'S GONNA DIE! WE'RE GONNA CRASH!
"Michael!" Chelsea's faraway voice called out.
I managed to grab a single function from my ill-processing brain. Forcing control over myself was like trying to punch something underwater. I slammed on the brakes and watched the hazy world swirl back into focus. Mabel threw open the driver door before I was aware of her presence.
"Okay, that's it!" she yelled. "You're not okay, Mike!" I tensed up in the seat. My head heaved to the side- it felt like a brick. I barely gave her eye contact.
"I know," I didn't have the energy to yell or lie anymore. "I know I'm not okay." I stretched out my fingers. I can move. My sweat suctioned my hands to the steering wheel, so easing my grip off turned out to be exhausting. "I'm definitely having a hard time. I am- I'm sorry that I tried to keep that from you, Mabel. And maybe I- I shouldn't be driving right now."
Not while I can't control my own body.
"Good idea," Mabel replied, then added hastily, "I'll be taking you to the Emergency Room." She grabbed my arm to guide me out of the seat. I comprehended her words too late and my eyes widened.
"Wait, n-no-no-no. You can't- I can't do that." I wrapped my arms around myself.
Flatlining, flatlining, my mind imagined with a stinging, distant memory. "You know I can't do that. I don't want that." Mabel stepped around me and took her place in the driver's seat. Her expression was firm.
"I'm not going to let you not care about yourself because you think you can manage," she retorted, averting her eyes from me. "So, I'm sorry, Mikey, but I'm not going to ignore when my best friend clearly needs help." Her voice quaked halfway through but she kept her strong tone. "We're going."