And so Night 2 begins. This fight scene I feel was a bit better than the last; I'm trying to get a feel for the kind of multi-robot combat that I feel makes this particular story - and game - much more interesting and tense. Let me know how I did with it and any suggestions you might have!
On with the show!
I woke up late that afternoon and let out a soft yawn, stretching out… Only to feel something soft pressed against me. My eyes slowly opened, and I looked down, grinning as I saw Foxy snuggled up close to my side. Apparently she'd kept her battery charged for this; I smiled, gently stroking her ear as she began waking up. "Mmmh… A-Alex?" I smiled down at her, kissing her nose quickly.
"Hey, hun. Listen, I've got a couple things to tell you and the others…" She nodded, looking at me with a slightly grim expression. I'd explained a few things to them before I'd crashed in bed, but it was time to give them the full picture of what had happened, and what little I knew about the new place.
About a half hour and some pizza later, I was just finishing telling the others about my experiences there. As I finished my story, Freddy shook his head and adjusted his top hat. "I don't like it, Alex. There's too many factors to consider, and since you found the old bots there as well… There's too much that can go wrong. I don't want you going back; bring it to the police and let them handle it."
I shook my head. "Freddy, I can't. If I bring this to the cops, they won't be able to do anything with it because I got the information under a false name. Their hands will be tied. Besides, I don't quite think they'll be willing to look into this place… There's too many positives to 'burying bad memories' as the press puts it." I muttered slightly, taking another drink of my soda.
Freddy sighed, adjusting how he sat in his chair. "…Good point… But I don't want you going alone. We're going with you tonight." I shook my head again.
"Too risky. No idea how these bots will react to seeing the four of you, and if you get found on camera or by the day shift, the whole thing's gonna come down on top of us." Freddy frowned even more at this, but reluctantly nodded. With a sigh, I looked up at him. "Look, I don't like this any more than you do. This place is even more dangerous than before with new bots, and my batons don't seem to do enough damage. Plus, it looks like they repair themselves in between skirmishes, which means I can't really take them permanently offline… But that doesn't mean I'm going in unarmed."
The others tilted their heads as I got to my feet, heading for the workshop. They followed me in and I pulled out a set of familiar hard cases, opening them and revealing my combat gear. The same gear I'd used during the Drone Incident. "I figure this is as good a time as any to roll out the heavy equipment. After all, the nights are only going to get more hectic, so I might as well make sure I can fight. Plus, if I can beat them all down and force them in for repairs, I may be able to look around and find some intel…"
The others looked a bit more at ease now, but Foxy was still unsure. "Alex… It's dangerous out there. Please, be careful. Okay?" I nodded, kissing her quickly before packing away my gear; twin combat machetes, safely stored into the thigh holsters right below my dual revolvers along with a set of reloads for them. I looked over the armor, nodding; it had been repaired quite nicely after the Incident, and I'd even added a slot on the back for the lever-action shotgun that I'd recently picked up. I checked it over, and made sure I had plenty of ammunition for that as well. Finally, my helmet; I gave it a good once-over, making sure the face shield was also properly attached.
With a nod at my gear's quality, I packed it back up and set the cases besides the front door, before heading over to the phone and reaching for it… Before stopping and shaking my head. I wasn't going to bother Faz or Mike with this one; it was my fight, and my problem. I turned around and headed to the door, checking the time. It was about time for me to get going if I wanted to arrive early enough to poke around a little bit. I tossed the cases in the truck and climbed in, firing it up and getting ready to go.
One thing I didn't notice was a faint thunking sound from the back of the truck right as I started it up, driving out and heading for work. It was a fairly brief drive, and by the time I got there the regular guard had already left. Good, that meant I could get my stuff in without a problem. I grabbed the cases and started heading in… Before hearing a thunking sound on the ground behind me. Quickly, I whirled around and threw a punch – only barely able to stop it as I saw that it was Foxy. I stared for a long moment, jaw wide. "Fox'! What the heck are you doing here?"
She looked a bit shy, before speaking up. "Alex… I can't let you go there and face six robots, plus anything that the old models may throw at you, by yourself. If something happens to you… I'd never be able to forgive myself." She looked down, a frown on her face. "I'm… Sorry."
I sighed, before giving her a hug. "It's okay, Foxy. I understand… " With a gentle bit of stroking, I finally shrugged. All four of the band was one thing, but just taking care of one was another. "I guess you can stick around and help me out. No sense in driving you back home already."
She brightened at this, hugging against me once more before I nodded, bringing her into the restaurant and settling into the security office. I told her to keep an eye on the monitors just in case another video played, while I donned my armor and weapons. Sure enough, a moment later one of the monitors flickered to life and she waved me over, her eyes widening as it did so.
The screen flickered to life, and it was much the same; a view of the old location from Freddy's eyes at the show stage. Except this time, the visions of Bonnie and Chica were… Different. Both animatronics were looking directly at Freddy, with their expressions seeming… Oddly confused? Worried? Intimidated? I wasn't sure of the words to use. A moment later, it cut to static and blackness… But with a difference. For a brief second, in the upper left corner, there were two words written. Two words that made a chill run down my spine.
It's Me.
A moment later, the phone rang and I immediately turned towards it as it clicked, and that voice began to speak. Foxy's eyes widened as she recognized it as well, leaning on the desk slightly.
"Ah...hello, hello! Uh, see, I told you your first night wouldn't be a problem. You're a natural!" I scoffed. Yeah, I was a natural. I fought animatronics three times now…
"Uh, by now I'm sure you've noticed the older models sitting in the back room. Uh, those are from the previous location. We just use them for parts now. The idea at first was to repair them...uh, they even started retrofitting them with some of the newer technology, but they were just so ugly, you know? The smell...uh, so the company decided to go in a whole new direction and make them super kid-friendly. Uh, those older ones shouldn't be able to walk around, but if they do, the whole Freddy head trick shoud work on them too, so, whatever." So the old bots should be offline… Of course, that's taking into consideration this information should still be valid. Then again, these old phone calls were from before the last restaurant… Something wasn't adding up.
"Uh...heh...I love those old characters. Did you ever see Foxy the pirate?" I smiled and squeezed her paw, and she squeezed back. "Oh wait, hold on...oh yeah, Foxy. Uh, hey listen, that one was always a bit twitchy, uh...I'm not sure the Freddy head trick will work on Foxy, uh. If for some reason he activates during the night and you see him standing at the far end of the hall, just flash your light at him from time to time. Those older models would always get disoriented with bright lights. It would cause a system restart, or something." I gave her a cheeky grin and hefted my flashlight. A glare from her made me put it down, but the grin remained.
"Uh, come to think of it, you might want to try that on any room where something undesirable might be. It might hold them in place for a few seconds. That glitch might be in some of the newer models too." That sounded familiar. So the light had some uses.
"One more thing - don't forget the music box. I'll be honest, I never liked that puppet thing. It was always...thinking, and it can go anywhere...I don't think a Freddy mask will fool it, so just don't forget the music box." Well, at least we had one more thing in common – a distrust of that lousy Marionette. But the fact that it could go anywhere, and the mask wouldn't fool it… That worried me. Majorly so.
"Anyway, I'm sure it won't be a problem. Uh, have a good night, and talk to you tomorrow." With a click, the phone call ended and Foxy and I were on our own… Just us and a group of angry animatronics.
I looked over to her, making sure all my gear was ready for action, and smiled as she finished prepping her daggers and cutlass. Apparently she was ready for a fight as well… And just in time, the first contender began thunking its way through the vent. I checked the cameras, wondering who was first up… And swore slightly as the camera revealed that lousy Balloon Boy. I waved for Foxy to wait, and drew my shotgun as he thunked his way along, before flipping the vent light on. That lousy robot looked up with its stupid grin. "Hello!" It called out, before laughing loudly and reaching to climb out…
Just as I pressed the muzzle of the shotgun against its forehead. "Good evening." I pulled the trigger, giving the lousy robot a nasty dose of lead poisoning and forcing him back into the vent, half his face now sparking and broken. There was probably some internal damage as well, considering how much he was smoking. Another animatronic arm, this one sans-endoskeleton, reached around behind BB and tugged him out of the vent… And I heard robotic screaming all over the place. "That got their attention!" I cried out, Foxy's eyes widening as we saw the three mainstays of the band appearing in the hall.
Bonnie was the first to charge in, Chica following close behind her. I unloaded several quick shots with my shotgun, grinning as the buckshot tore holes in their shells, but it didn't seem to do much except tick them off. Holstering the gun, I tugged my machetes out and readied to take the charge. Bonnie went after Foxy, and Chica leaped towards my middle. I immediately dropped to the ground, letting her fly over me while only getting a brief, glancing blow against my armor. I scrambled to my feet, coming in and nailing her with a solid hit across her middle with one of my machetes. She screeched as I carved that gash into her, before my eyes widened as Freddy started charging in. Judging by the clunking in the vents, the Mangle was on its way as well.
We needed breathing room. Badly. The office didn't have enough space to have this kind of fight; I moved quickly, lopping off Chica's hand and shouting to Foxy. "We've gotta get out of here! We need room to fight!" She nodded, and kicked Bonnie my way. I moved, both machetes stabbing through her body, and I kicked her off before coming in and taking Freddy's leg off at the knee. I heard that scrambling in the vents and new the robots were already coming to set up repairs.
Taking advantage of the time we'd bought, we ducked into one of the main party rooms just as the Mangle popped out of the vent behind Foxy. I yelled out, but it was too late; the lousy thing latched onto her tail with powerful jaws, and she screamed in pain before turning and beginning to stab and slash at the mass of spare parts to little effect. There just wasn't anything specific to hit on the thing. Thinking quickly, I stepped in and chopped downwards on the second endo head on the Mangle. This seemed to have a nice effect as I managed to take it off… And that's when I realized why these bots were being so easy to carve up.
I swore as the Mangle grabbed the second 'head'. They were able to quickly disengage their joints, allowing blunt damage to bounce off mostly harmlessly and blades to pass through with little problem. This… Was less than good. I'd have to hit them directly in center mass to do any kind of major damage. As if to drive the point home, Freddy stomped around the corner and charged me, his foot back on and working perfectly. Foxy took this one, running the bear through from the side and buying me a chance to drive a machete into its open jaw and twist. I felt the joints popping and circuits frying as the blade popped out the back, jamming the second one in before pulling them both apart.
Freddy's severed, damaged head landed on one of the tables, sparking as the light faded in its eyes before the robot itself collapsed. And then in came Chica and Bonnie, each of them with murder in their eyes. They didn't rush us, however; instead, the lights flickered and burnt out. I swore; it had to be that infernal Balloon Boy again… Sure enough, I heard him giggling. Apparently Foxy wasn't in the mood for it either, as she tossed a throwing dagger at the source of the noise, bringing him down and the lights back up… Just in time for her to dodge Chica's pounce. I didn't have as much luck with Bonnie, and ended up being taken down and smashing through a table.
I swore at the impact, cringing as I kicked the rabbit off of myself before dropping my machetes and pulling my revolvers out. Quickly, I unloaded them both into her blue body, grinning as I saw fluids and oils leaking out from the impacts. Two quick shots to the knee joints, and the rabbit was dealt with for the time being. I holstered my guns and grabbed the blades just as I turned to see Foxy doing battle with Chica; apparently the chick robot had gotten her hands on a pair of kitchen knives, and was now dueling Foxy in a one on one.
I stepped forward to intervene… Only to swear as the Mangle wrapped around my legs and brought me down once more. Cursing bitterly, I drove my blades at any chance I had at the thing's heads, missing repeatedly and only occasionally chopping some of those parts off. My eyes widened even more as I heard the music box dying, and with the tablet back in the security office… I was in some serious trouble. Frantically, I attempted to shake the Mangle off of me, but then Bonnie – knee joints repaired – dove at me and grabbed me, driving a robotic fist into my face. I swore as I felt my lip splitting, and tasted blood. Another blow, and I could feel the bruises forming.
Bonnie was rearing back for a third when Foxy threw Chica's sparking body into her, sending them both tumbling into another table and snapping it in half. She then came in, cutting the Mangle free from my legs. With a nod, I gestured for both of us to run for it… And my eyes widened again as I heard a familiar tune playing. 'Pop Goes The Weasel', or as I knew it from my adventure during the day, the Marionette's song. That thing was active, and I had the feeling there was no forcing it back in the box now.
We hauled out into the main hall, and froze up. The old, withered Foxy was now staring at us from down the hall, jaw open and hook raised menacingly. We frantically began backing off as I started trying to flash my light at it started to charge, a limping gait carrying it rapidly towards us. Foxy pulled me down as it leaped… Straight into the gangly, black figure of the Marionette. We immediately started backing off, expecting the worst… When we got a major surprise.
The Marionette screamed in Withered Foxy's face, its long black arms and legs wrapping around the dilapidated fox robot and began tugging at its limbs. The screech burnt into my ears, but I knew this was our only chance. Thinking over my mental knowledge of the place, I realized there was one safe haven for us; Kid's Cove. Grabbing Foxy's paw, I tugged her along down the halls just as the Marionette managed to pull one of the Withered Foxy's limbs off and toss it after us.
We managed to make it in, and ducked down. I barely breathed, despite the adrenaline coursing through my body and my eyes widened as I looked around. No sign of any of the robots… And then I heard it. That rattling in the vents once more. I checked my watch and my eyes widened; it was 5:50. Apparently the animatronics were either going back to fix themselves up or, in Mangle's case, going back to their spots. I held my breath and Foxy stayed quiet as the Mangle crawled free, static erupting from her voice box as it… She… Settled in and powered down.
I started breathing a sigh of relief, but froze up again as I saw it, silhouetted in the doorway. The lean, gangly figure of that infernal Marionette. I held my breath, willing it to go away. It looked directly into my eyes as we hid, and I met its stare as the breath caught in my throat. It started moving forwards… And then the alarm went off. It looked up, then back at me, then simply turned and disappeared down the hall, obviously heading back to the Prize Counter. I let out a sigh of relief, and Foxy hugged me close. "That… Was too close."
We'd held each other for a few moments before I remembered that game, and gestured for her to follow me back out to the security office. Taking a seat, I looked over the screens. Sure enough, one powered on; this time, with a different game on display. I tilted my head; I was playing as Freddy again, except this time I was in the middle of a room and there were six kids in it. Freddy also had a cake in hand… According to the text, I was supposed to 'GIVE CAKE'. With a nod, I operated Freddy and gave each one some by bumping into them, watching as they turned from green to red.
As this was going on, my eyes were held on a scene playing out at the top of the screen. A crying child, and a man in a purple. The purple man approached the kid, and my eyes widened further as I realized what was happening, seeing a 'knife' in the man's hands. A few moments later, the child's body turned to grey and the purple figure began moving away. At that point, I realized the game was giving letters again. S…A…V…E… H…I…M. Save Him. The game turned to static, and an image flickered on for a split second… But that image was all I needed.
As Foxy and I climbed into the truck, with her ducking beneath a blanket to stay hidden and concealed as we drove back home, that image remained in my mind.
It was the Marionette, eyes glowing with the same murderous look that I'd seen from all the other animatronics.
And the plot thickens... Why did the Marionette wreck Withered Foxy?
Question for y'all. Since we now have three Fazbear Bands in play (Alex's friends, the Toy versions, and the Withered ones), would you like me to just have Toy/Withered Bonnie/Foxy/Freddy/Chica, or specific names for all of them?
Read and review, and I'll see you next week!