fourth chapter in one month god damn i'm on fire
Chapter 28
Zoe sighed and shut Goldie's faceplates. She'd been trying to find out what was wrong with him for day now, and she couldn't find anything. She hoped he would be okay.
She glanced down at her watch. It was 12:45 pm. Raina would be back with the other animatronics from costume shopping any minute now.
Zoe placed her tools back into her toolbox. She just couldn't figure it out. Maybe she'd get Fritz to take a look at his software later.
Suddenly, a voice rang through the restaurant. "I'm BAAAAAAAAAAACK~!"
Zoe smiled and walked out into the dining room. "Hey, Raina. What costumes did you get?"
Raina set a box on a table and sat down at a table. "Well, we went to various stores, but none of them could really find anything that they liked. So, I visited some fabric stores and decided to make them costumes instead. I haven't quite finished yet, but they're going to need fangs and some paint for their final costumes. I'm thinking that they can just wear the outfits during the day, you know, when the kids are here, but we throw a party for older people, like teenagers, and that's when they have the fangs and makeup and stuff. I dropped the animatronics off back at the house for now, but I'm going to need them again after work because I'm don't have all of their measurements, and I would like to get Goldie's too, just in case he's awake by Halloween. Also, I've got uniforms for me and you employees. I want to be here on Halloween, so I figured I might as well get a costume, too."
Zoe sat across from her friend. "Can I see these costumes?"
"Well, I haven't actually made them yet, but I've got all the fabric right here," she replied, gesturing to the box. "And I've got the design for the uniforms." She reached into the box and pulled out a large notebook. She flipped a few pages, then set it on the table and pushed it towards Zoe.
"They look nice," Zoe commented. The uniforms looked basically like their normal ones, but instead of being completely purple, the pants and tie were black, and the shirt was orange.
"I wanted to add some other details," Raina said, taking the notebook back, "but I decided to leave that up to you guys, just in case you already had costumes planned."
Zoe shook her head. "I didn't, but I guess you've solved that problem."
Raina put her notebook back into the box and closed it up. "Well, I'm going to take this back to my store. I'll be back later today to get the rest of their measurements."
Zoe nodded. "Okay. See you later."
xXx
*Halloween*
Chica tied on a torn up apron and looked at herself in the mirror of the master bedroom. Instead of her usual, cheerfully bright yellow outfit, she was wearing a greenish yellow dress with a bunch of rips and holes.
"Do I look okay?" Springtrap asked, straightening her neon green top hat.
"You look fine," Freddy assured her. He donned a tattered, dark brown dress shirt and a black waistcoat with a bunch of small rips in it.
"Could you zip this up for me, please?" Mari asked, turning around so her back was facing Chica.
"Sure." Chica zipped up the back of Mari's black leotard. "Do you need me to tie the bow, too?"
Mari nodded. "Yes please." She passed a white, ripped up ribbon to Chica, who began tying it into a bow.
"You guys excited?" Soringtrap asked as she buttoned up her black tuxedo jacket.
Chica shrugged. "I guess so."
Freddy glanced up at her as he slipped on his shoes. "I thought you would be more excited, Chica. You always seem so happy about everything else."
Pink giggled in her head. How are you going to answer this one?
Chica ignored them and smiled. "I'm just kind of tired, that's all."
You're not supposed to be able to get tired, Blue commented. You're a robot.
Chica stepped away from Mari. "All done."
Mari smiled. "Thanks."
The sound of a doorbell echoed through the house. "That must be Zoe and Raina," Springtrap said.
Suddenly, Mangle, Tia, Tonnie, and BB all poked their heads in the doorway. "You guys ready?"
Chica plastered a smile on her face. "Yep! Let's go!" She skipped out of the room after the four Toys. The other three followed behind her.
"You guys look great," Zoe commented as they walked into the living room. Foxy, Bonnie, and Teddy were already there, lounging on the couch in their own tattered costumes.
"Raina did a great job," Tia chirped, twirling around in her ripped up magenta skirt.
"Is Goldie awake?" BB asked, looking up at Zoe hopefully.
Zoe sighed. "Unfortunately, no. Springtrap, you'll be the only one showing people to their tables. I would get someone else to do it with you, but you and Goldie were meant to have matching costumes, and I don't think his would be able to fit anyone else."
"Aww, come on guys!" Raina smiled. "Cheer up! It's your first Halloween! Besides, Goldie will be here next year! There's nothing to be sad about."
Zoe nodded. "She's right. Let's get to the pizzeria and get this show on the road!"
xXx
Goldie was starting to get sick of these nightmares.
He thought back to the dream he had the night Mari found her music box. He was in the same place now that he had been in that dream, sitting on a chair at a table with two other people. He must have been a child again, because everything looked slightly larger than normal and his legs were too short to touch the floor.
He looked around. Another child sat on a chair next to him, a girl with dirty blond hair and brown eyes. She was smiling and bouncing up and down in her seat like she was excited. A tall man with the same brown eyes as the girl walked around the table, placing dishes and cutlery in front of the chairs.
A doorbell rang throughout the house. The man looked up from the table. "Oh. That must be William." He smiled at Goldie and the girl. "I'll be right back."
Goldie furrowed his eyebrows as the man walked out of the room. This dream was exactly the same as the one he had the night found the music box. He'd never had two dreams that were exactly the same before.
A few moments later, the man returned, followed by two other people. One looked about Zoe's age, maybe thirty years old or so. The other looked slightly younger. They both had the same black hair and blue eyes. It was obvious they were siblings. The older man was carrying a small child with bright red pigtails in his arms.
The man Goldie now remembered as Henry smiled at the older person, William. "I'm glad you could make it. And I see you brought your violin," he said, gesturing to an instrument case in William's hand.
William set the case on the floor. "Well, I know how much Charlie and Michael like it," he stated, setting the child he was carrying on a chair next to Goldie.
Henry cleared his throat. "And who is this?" he asked, glancing at the younger man.
William smiled apologetically. "Oh, I'm sorry. Where are my manners? Henry, this is Scott, my brother. He wants to become an employee, or at least help us with this one project."
Scott shook Henry's outstretched hand. "It's nice to meet you."
Henry gave him a strained smile. "Likewise." He turned to William. "Anyway, I wanted to talk to you about your blueprints."
"Oh, come on, Henry." William grinned. "It's Christmas! We're on break! Besides, I'm sure the kids are hungry." He looked at the girl with the pigtails, who was jumping up and down in her seat happily.
Henry sighed and nodded. "You're right," he said, smiling. "I'll get the food."
The first time Goldie had this dream, he wasn't even aware he was dreaming, and just reacted accordingly to whatever was happening. Last time, he had gotten excited at the mention of food and hadn't paid any attention to anything else. This time, however, he was oddly aware of the situation. As Henry brought out the food and set it on the table, he turned his full attention to William and his brother. They were having a hushed conversation at the end of the table. Goldie strained to hear them, but he couldn't make out much.
Henry placed some food on the plate in front of Goldie. Goldie looked at the meat, peas, and mashed potatoes on his plate. The first time he was in this dream, he had hungrily scarfed down all of his food, but now he ignored it and looked at the three men.
Scott and William had stopped talking, and now Scott was happily munching on his food. Henry and William, however, had left the room and were now having a heated conversation in the hallway outside.
Goldie glanced around. The other three were so engrossed in their food, that he was sure no one would notice if he left. He quietly slid off his chair and onto the floor, tiptoeing to the half-closed door. Goldie walked past the table and reached out, pushing the door open. He peeked out and saw William and Henry arguing near the living room door. Goldie quickly ran into the bathroom so he could spy on them.
"I didn't think your brother would be here!" Henry said, obviously annoyed.
William shrugged. "He just wants to be an employee. He doesn't want to own the company or anything."
"I thought it was just going to be the two of us working on this. We can't afford to hire anyone right now!"
"He can work for free," William insisted. "We don't have to pay him, at least not until we have the money."
Goldie immediately lost interest in their conversation. They were just talking about money.
Goldie walked back to the dining room, bored. He couldn't reach his chair, so he pushed a pile of books from the corner to his chair and climbed up. He tried eating some food, but his clumsy toddler hands spilled most of it before it got to his mouth.
Eventually, William and Henry came back into the room and sat down. They ate their own food and talked with each other and Scott, occasionally making remarks about the kids; "Charlie's going to be starting kindergarten next year," "Michael is almost in first grade," and the like.
After a very boring half hour, when everyone was finished eating, they all crowded into the living room. The adults sat down on the blue couch and began talking, and the two girls started playing tag. Goldie would have joined them, but he decided to listen in on the mens' conversation, because he wanted to do something different this time. It was mostly about boring stuff, like politics and work, but eventually the brown-eyed girl, Charlie, went up to William and smiled. "Song! Song!" she chirped.
Goldie inhaled sharply. He'd forgotten about this part.
William smiled and ruffled her hair. "Okay. I'll go get my violin." He got up and disappeared through the living room door.
Goldie didn't hesitate. He was in control of the dream this time, and he was determined to avoid this next part.
He ran through the living room door and decided to shut himself in the bathroom until it was over.
Footsteps passed by the door as William walked back down the hallway. Goldie thought back to the first time he had this dream. In that version, he had been just as excited as Charlie to hear William's violin, but as soon as it had started playing, Goldie had been overcome with an odd sense of loss and sadness that grew more intense until his vision went black. When he woke up, Mari had said that he'd been sparking and twitching violently.
He didn't want that to happen again.
Goldie heard the faint sound of the violin from the living room, and he immediately covered his ears. After what seemed like forever, he finally uncovered his ears. He couldn't hear the violin, so he stood up and cautiously opened the door. He walked into the living room and looked around. William was just putting away his instrument. No one had seemed to notice that Goldie had been gone at all.
It's because I'm not following the memory, Goldie thought. They all think I'm still in there.
This had been where the dream had stopped before, so he wasn't quite sure what to do. Then Henry solved his problem by getting up and gesturing to William. "Now, Mr. Afton, if I could talk to you about those blueprints-"
William nodded and stood up. "Yes, I believe I've stalled enough. Why don't we go into the dining room?"
Henry walked towards the door to the hallway, William following close behind. Goldie walked after them, not bothering to be quiet since he knew they wouldn't notice him anyway.
They reached the dining room, and Henry paused. "Oh. I forgot them in my room. If you would excuse me." As Henry ran back out and William sat down at the table to wait, Goldie hopped back on the stack of books, clambered up his chair, and pulled himself onto the table.
"I showed your designs to some other mechanics and technicians to see what they thought of them," Henry said as he walked back into the room carrying four rolled up tubes of blue paper in his arms. He unfurled them and spread them out on the table for William to see. The blue paper was covered in white drawings and writing. "There's no doubting what you've achieved on a technical level," he said. "These are clearly state-of-the-art. There are just certain- design choices- that were made for these robots that we don't fully understand. We were hoping that you could shed some light on those."
William shrugged. "She can dance. She can sing. She's equipped with built-in helium tech for inflating balloons right at her fingertips. She can take song requests. She can even dispense ice cream."
Henry sighed. "With all due respect, those aren't the design choices we were curious about, Mr. Afton."
William looked up. It took Goldie a second to realize he was staring straight at him. "Oh really?" William smirked. Instead of the sky blue colour they had been before, his eyes were now a dark purple. "Then what were they?"
Everything went black.
xXx
BB grinned, examining his new fangs in the mirror of the boys' bathroom. "I look awesome."
"I wonder how much it would hurt if you bit someone with these," Foxy wondered aloud, smiling at his own reflection.
"Probably a lot," Bonnie replied, fitting one last fang over one of his teeth.
Teddy snorted. "Not that we would know."
"How about we try not to bite anyone?" Mangle suggested. "You guys remember those things Dad told us about the Bite of '87."
Foxy rolled his eyes- well, eye. "Just a buncha stupid rumours. You don't actually believe all that, do ya?"
Tonnie shrugged. "Considering the things Mom told us about the old animatronics, it could be true."
"It doesn't matter whether it's true or not," Freddy commented, straightening his top hat. "It won't happen now, got it?" He glared accusingly at Bonnie, Teddy, and Foxy.
Bonnie rolled his eyes. "We wouldn't actually bite anyone. Geez."
"Yeah, we're not stupid," Teddy said.
Freddy raised an eyebrow. "Are you quite sure about that?" Teddy smacked him on the arm.
BB put his hat on. "We should probably get going. The party's going to start soon." He opend the door and left the bathroom. He turned down the hallway just as the door to Parts and Service opened. Goldie walked out of the room, looking confused and dazed.
BB was struck dumb for a moment. Then he shrieked with joy and ran towards the animatronic. "Goldie! You're awake!" He yelled, tackling him in a hug.
Goldie staggered backwards from the impact. "BB? How long have I been out?"
BB let go of Goldie and backed away. "About a week. It's Halloween. You missed work today, but we're going to have a party. Raina made you a costume, too."
Suddenly, the door to the girls' bathroom slammed open, and Mari, Springtrap, Tia, and Chica ran out. "Goldie's awake?" they exclaimed simultaniously.
Mangle, Tonnie, Freddy, Foxy, Bonnie, and Teddy dashed out of the boys' bathroom. "Goldie's awake?"
Everyone stared at him for a moment. Then they all swarmed around him, everyone speaking at once. Goldie looked kind of nervous, probably because they already had their fangs and claws on. They did look pretty terrifying.
But there was one person who hadn't crowded around Goldie. Chica was standing off to the side, her brow furrowed. She occasionally muttered something under her breath.
BB was confused. Wasn't she excited that Goldie was back? Shouldn't she be happy?
He sighed. Whatever. It wasn't his business.
xXx
Jeremy was smiling as he walked into the restaurant before the party. "Okay. Which one of you can guess who I am?"
Mike, who was wearing a dark cape over his Halloween uniform, shrugged. "Dunno."
Zoe shoved a black witch hat on her head. "I'm guessing... an anime character."
"But which one?"
Raina slung on a pair of pixie wings. "Look, none of us know. Just tell us."
"I'm Armin!" Jeremy exclaimed, as though it were obvious. "You know, from Attack On Titan?"
"We don't watch anime," Mike said. He shoved a set of vampire teeth in his mouth. "How were we supposed to know?"
Jeremy rolled his eyes. "Never mind."
"Mom?"
Chica looked up from the pizza box in her lap to see Goldie wearing a torn-up black tuxedo and a neon green hat. He had fangs in his mouth and claws set over his fingernails. He looked kind of nervous.
Zoe smiled. "Hey, Goldie. You look great!"
He tensed his shoulders. "I'm not so sure. Don't you think it's too- you know- scary?"
"If you think that's too scary, you obviously haven't seen Mr. Graves's costume," Bonnie yelled from where he was sitting on the stage.
"What is he dressed as?" Tia asked curiously, sitting down on a table.
"You haven't seen him?" Freddy raised an eyebrow.
Chica grinned. "Well, you're in for a surprise."
"Hey guys," a voice said from the hall. A person walked into the room, but instead of a head, there was a large, red, cardboard telephone sitting on their shoulders. The person reached up and pulled the phone off, revealing Scott's smiling face.
"No offense, but that's a pretty pathetic costume," Mike commented.
"Says the king of last-minute costumes," Raina snorted. Mike gave her a light punch on the shoulder.
"I was in a rush," Scott said. "I couldn't think of anything."
"It was my idea," Fritz claimed, walking in behind Scott. He had painted his face orange and black to look like a jack-o-lantern.
"Hey, where is Vincent anyway?" Jeremy wondered.
"Right here," a voice called from behind Fritz, who moved out of the way so Vincent could walk in. He had metal blades poking out of his skin down the length of his arms and legs- at least that's what it looked like. Chica knew it was fake. Fake blood dripped from the blades, and some even seemed to be dribbling from his mouth. His eyes were dark purple, and when he smiled, she saw that his teeth were bloodstained metal fangs similar to her own.
I knew it! Magenta's voice shouted in Chica's head.
It's him, Yellow Green stated. It's got to be.
Are you talking about Vincent? Chica thought back. You do realize that's just a costume, right?
Don't be so sure. Amber's voice held a hint of a warning.
Well, whether it is him or not, be careful around Vincent from now on, okay? Blue requested.
Chica sighed. I don't even know who "he" is, but sure. Whatever. I'll be careful.
"Hey, should we open the doors?"
Chica turned around to see Mangle and Tonnie at the doors, staring outside at a large crowd of people. Every single person outside was wearing a costume, and some of them were even dressed as the animatronics.
Vincent hesitated. "Sure." He turned to Zoe, Mike, Fritz, and Jeremy. "But all four of you- and yes, fine, you too, Raina- have to make sure that we don't get a repeat of the fangirl incident. I've still got bruises from that."
ayy happy halloween motherfuckers