Mable: Here we are with chapter three! I hope everyone enjoys!
Can't Go Home Again
Chapter Three
Mike woke in the early morning lying face down on the couch. He groaned and drug his head upwards from the couch pillows. "Ugh, what a night…" His mouth was dried out and his entire body felt stiff from its contortion on the couch. He pushed the blanket down and sat upwards on the couch, now noticing the sound of his cell phone ringing. About the second he really noticed it the ringing stopped and he ignored it to lean back on the couch. Immediately he felt a lump behind him, "That thing Puppet brought in last night…" His eyes shot open, "Wait, no."
He leaned forward and reached behind him, yanking out the plush item. To his immediate relief he realized it was just a Foxy plush and not the Golden Freddy, or Fredbear, that the animatronic had been toting around. He dropped it beside him as his phone began to ring once more. "Good God, whose calling this frantically at… Whatever time it is?" Mike shuffled into the dining room and grabbed the phone, recognizing the number as Sam and answering it. "Yeah, hello?" he rubbed the bridge of his nose tiredly.
"Mike, where were you?! I went by your apartment last night and you weren't there!" Sam did sound legitimately concerned, but Mike retorted with his own response. "Where were you? I tried to get in touch with you last night at least twice." By which 'at least' meant 'only'. Sam gave a nervous chuckle, "Yeah… I got a little caught up with some things." Mike gave the most unimpressed tone he could muster, "Does Dinah like when you call her a thing?" Sam choked on the phone and gave away his guilt to the other male.
"Never mind. Can you meet me at the warehouse? I've got some things we have to go over. I'll explain it there," Mike almost commanded and Sam agreed. "I'll be there in about fifteen minutes and I'll unlock the door for you. I'm sort of, well, I don't really want to know what you're going to say…" The former security guard was insistent, "Oh, you really don't." He got a slight smirk and said his goodbye before hanging up the phone. With a quiet exhale he considered his options on what he was going to do before he left. Or, more precisely, what he was going to do about the Puppet.
"I should check it before I go. It was practically bouncing off the walls last night…" He crossed to the couch and stared down at the blanket and plush toy. He lifted the Foxy into his hand and looked it over. It looked like it had come straight off of the Pizzeria shelf unlike the grimy consistency of the Fredbear plush. "I need to at least take it back its Foxy." He headed down the hall to the bedroom and slipped inside. The box was closed tightly yet again as though what happened in the night simply hadn't happened. Mike wandered over towards the large box and looked down at it.
If there was a mechanism in the box he wasn't seeing it from out here. A small, amused smile passed his lips and he tapped on the side of the box and whistled out the beginning of 'Pop Goes the Weasel'. It would make sense to be some sort of jack-in-the-box mechanism, even though it was lacking a crank. He got an answer at about the time he whistled 'the monkey chased', when the box abruptly popped open without warning. Mike cinched his mouth closed and tried to hold back any noise of surprise.
The Puppet smile was the same as always, but Mike actually felt something in the way it moved. It was more animated than it had been the day before. Its hands gripped onto the edge of the box and it seemed to slightly tilt its head in a curious motion. Mike didn't feel threatened, regardless of the fact that it just sprung out of a box. In fact, he liked this suddenly friendly behavior. Perhaps it somehow engaged its own 'day mode' setting and was treating him like it would any person who it didn't plan on killing.
Or perhaps it remembered the day before and was returning Mike's affection with a sort of gratitude. Really Mike couldn't tell. So he put on a slight smile and tried to pretend like this wasn't as weird as it was. "Glad to see the mechanism still works," he joked, smirking lightly, and then handed over the Foxy plush. "Here's Foxy. At first I thought these things were moving around on their own, but I'm guessing it's yours." It would be better if he didn't say he was awake. He didn't know if the animatronic would be able to feel embarrassment, but it might make it uncomfortable to know that he had been pretending to sleep.
It certainly wouldn't trust him any longer. It took the Foxy plush in its hands, staring down at it in delight and holding it carefully. "You've got quite a few of those in there," Mike tried and failed to make small talk. "Hey, it's not like I didn't grab a few things on my way out." The Puppet suddenly got a new type of interest when the plush toys were mention. It exited the box, which was basically it hovering a little higher and then slipping over the edge of the box, and then set the Foxy plush on the bed. It then started to take more out of the box and started to line them out on the bed, as though showing off.
"That's a lot more than I expected. How exactly did it sneak that many out of the Pizzeria? So I'm going to take off for a bit, but I'll be back. You just keep setting up." The Puppet turned its head slightly to acknowledge him before it continued working. Mike took this as a sign that it was fine with him going and left the room, then the house, and was soon driving over to the warehouse where Sam waited. He stopped on the way for something to eat and came into the warehouse eating a bagel sandwich.
The warehouse was in a perpetual state of disarray. It had been for many years. Fredrick never had time to arrange everything, or didn't really care how it looked, and never invested into getting it sorted. This left Sam with all of the work, especially now that Mike had his own work to be done. He stepped into the office where Sam was staring at an old newspaper clipping. "Hey Fritz," Mike remarked as he stood there, slowly chewing his breakfast. Sam glanced back and raised a brow, "What, we're on a last name basis now?" He was joking, Mike responded right back.
"Apparently not." He took a little bit of joy at the slight confusion on Sam's face. "I saw your file in Fredrick's little file cabinet. When exactly did you slightly change your name?" Sam got a quick look of horror and sputtered, "That wasn't- I didn't think that was on the record… But I did change my name a while back." Mike nodded and came closer, with a slight bit of suspicion in his eyes as he dropped into an office chair. "I'd say more than a while back. I've only ever known you as Sam." Sam coughed into his fist. Mike continued probing, "Any particular reason why you changed it?"
"Well… I mean, yeah. Around the time I was working here there were some disputes. The missing children thing has basically just happened when I started working full time. News crews would occasionally pop in and more than once my name was in a paper for no reason. It was just simpler if I shifted some things around." Mike quipped a brow, "And Fritz Smith became Sam Fritz?" Sam exhaled, "Yeah." For a few minutes Sam fidgeted with papers and Mike ate the bagel sandwich while watching him. It was a partially awkward silence, but mostly on Sam's part.
"So I found some interesting stuff…" the technician started before looking to the former security guard. "But we'll get to that later. First I want to know what happened between you and the Puppet." So Mike quickly recounted a shortened version of what happened with the Puppet, about the picture, the files, and ended with a final comment. "There's some sort of big connection with all of this, but I just can't see it yet." Sam got a slightly cheeky smile, "You're about to. Take a look at this." He dropped the newspaper article onto the desk and scooted it over.
"I don't have the full article, but that's a picture of the missing children, and it gives their names underneath." Mike looked at the four children, or perhaps teens, then read the name. Then he did a double take and looked back at the children once more. "That one on the right-." Sam nodded as he opened a drawer in the desk, "Has Freddy's last name? It's not a coincidence. I think it might be his older son." The article was set back down on the desk. "Definitely. I recognize him from the picture… But he wasn't the kid with the Golden Freddy doll. Anything on him?"
"I can't really find anything else. Freddy wasn't one to dwell on the past, if you know what I mean… I always sort of thought he was in on the disappearances, but that theory's out the window. No way would he hurt his kid; he wasn't that sort of guy." Mike nodded in agreement, "He wasn't the kind to hurt any kids. This explains how both children just disappeared out of the picture… Was there a third one? There's a third bedroom." Sam shrugged, "Maybe, but I only got a confirmation of two. Freddy once mentioned he had two boys when I mentioned I had a younger brother."
"What's his name? Or does he have two slightly different names too?" Sam frowned pointedly, "That's cute." Mike added in, "I'm actually ashamed of myself. I could've done better than that." Then the technician continued, "So yeah, there's a little here on the Puppet, but it's actually a report written by Jeremy Fitzgerald, one of the past security guards." Mike stared at him blankly, "…Be honest with me, Sam. By 'past security guard', do you mean it's just you with another different name?" He followed with a clear smirk and Sam looked less than impressed with the comment.
"Yeah, it's me, Mike. I wrote the report while I was asleep. Anyway, Jeremy worked as a night guard like you did… I might have met him once. The name sounds a little familiar. He was working at a difficult time- Right after the Pizzeria was closed down for some repairs. He's got a whole thing in here talking about the toys, the old animatronics coming to life, and the Puppet. He, uh, labels it as the 'Marionette' here. He says it comes out when the music box isn't wound, I could've told you that, and that the prerecorded message left for him mentioned it."
"Yeah," Mike listened intently even though the information wasn't exactly new. "Just in case you didn't know, it was stationed in the prize corner. It used to hand out gifts to children. It may have been able to count and exchange tickets, but I don't remember ever going in there. As unnerving as it was, the children didn't ever seem to have complaints. There's even a stack of old drawings in the back somewhere that has a few of it in it." While this was mostly unimportant, Mike did find it interesting, "It explains where it got all of the plush toys from."
Sam then turned around in his chair, "Which means that we've got one clue. It's been around long enough that…You know… That guy used to know about it. You know the guy, the recorded message guy." Mike quipped a brow and straightened in his chair a bit, "You mean Phone Guy?" Sam nodded, "That's him… I don't think I ever caught his name. He was on the payroll for a long time." The former security guard blinked at the information, "Huh… Explains where he learned all the tricks of the trade from…"
The other male seemed hopeful, "He was working here around the time of the Bite of 87, so if we could get ahold of him we could get more answers." Though he was answered with a shake of the head, "What?" A moment passed before Mike quietly offered, "He, uh… He didn't make it. I don't know if they have it in there, but it was the fourth prerecorded message he left me. I think Freddy got him." The technician flopped back in his chair and stared at the file. Mike didn't know if he was upset about the death or the false lead, but he was upset.
"Oh… I was hoping I'd be able to find his number or something and then we could get to the bottom of this whole thing. Other than Fredrick, he was here the longest out of anyone else, unless there are missing records." As he fell silent again, Mike remembered what he had read about Fredbear, about some sort of Springlock suit. "There's nothing in there about springlocks are there? Like a sort of suit that you wear?" The technician blinked in confusion, "Uh, no. Never heard anything on a suit. Unless you mean the empty Freddy heads that people used to wear."
"No, I mean some sort of actual suit," Mike finished his sandwich in a quick bite and then went into full explanation. "The original Fredbear was destroyed, so this golden Springlock suit in Fredbear, or Golden Freddy. I was thinking maybe there would be something about the suit there." Sam paused in thought and then shook his head. Mike collapsed back into his chair; all of his leads had dried out. "…But Phone Guy would know," Sam added in and suddenly stood from his seat. "Come with me, I'll show you." He walked briskly out of the room with his companion behind him.
"Phone Guy's dead. Unless we're going to bring out whatever suit he was stuck in and see if he was angry enough to stick around," Mike cynically remarked and Sam forced a light chuckle. "No, no. Nothing like that. Not like we could, never found the body- From what I know, I didn't even know he was dead. No, I got something better." The warehouse opened up in the main room. It was lined with a multitude of boxes stuffed with parts, props, tools, and anything else needed to manage the Pizzeria. There were a few remaining animatronics, such as a boy with a Balloon and part of a Freddy, but they were inactive.
Sam led Mike to a cardboard box against the back wall. He opened the flaps and revealed a multitude of tapes. "Phone Guy had a little bit of time on his hands, and outlived a lot of security guards." He started lifting tapes out, labelled with different Pizzeria titles and days on them. "If anyone saw these Springlock suits it would've been him, especially since he's the only one who really stuck around through the years. I… Don't even know where to start…" Mike lifted a tape labelled 'Fredbear's Family Diner' and looked over it, "Exactly how many times did this place change names?"
"How many disasters happened here?" Sam retorted playfully. "Well, let's see, there was the many disappearances, the constant murders, the Bite of 87 to list a few." Mike shivered at the thought, "Yeah, Phone Guy mentioned that. Who knew Foxy could do that much damage?" Almost immediately the technician looked back at him in confusion, "Foxy? No, it was definitely Mangle. That thing swings in upside down." Mike wasn't entirely convinced, "Foxy's got the sharper teeth. He's a fox, made to be a predator." Sam argued, "Mangle's basically Foxy, just pink and white."
"…Why would they make Foxy pink?" The new fact baffled the former security guard while the technician simply ignored it. "So… It'll take me a while to go through these. Want to stick around?" Mike considered it, but wavered, "I've got to pick up some stuff from my place to take to the house. I need a change of clothes and something more fulfilling than cupcakes." Sam seemed concerned at this as he watched Mike sort through the tapes, "Wait, you're still planning on staying there? Mike, look, I'm glad you and the Puppet have some sort of mutual living space thing going on, but this is dangerous."
"No more dangerous than working here," Mike pointed out as he looked over a tape that was titled 'proper animatronic cleaning procedure'. "At least I can punt this one off of me if it gets to grabby." There was a moment of silence before the technician added in, "Yeah… Mike, take a look at your neck." Mike straightened and faced him, "Sam, Fritz, I'm serious. I can handle this; the Puppet was acting way less temperamental this morning. It could have attacked me last night but didn't, so I'm going to trust it about as far as I can throw it… Which I guess is probably a good enough distance."
He handed over the tape, "Here. Maybe he'll start going through the various animatronics and stumble on Golden Freddy." Sam agreed, "I will. Good luck… And if you could do me a favor, dump some of that old freezer food on the way out." Mike almost reluctantly did so, salvaging one of the Fazbear brand frozen pizzas that was only a little bit past date. Shortly afterwards Mike left the warehouse. He drove home as planned and packed a few changes of clothes, some of his food, some of his other needed items, and anything else he would need.
His apartment was much smaller than Fredrick's house was, with only one bedroom, a bath, and a conjoined living room and dining room. Mike wasn't specifically looking for anything larger so he never moved. Yet here he was currently stuck in two homes. He liked to think that the arrangement at Fredrick's was a temporary event. That once the Puppet was settled in that he could limit his visits to once a day and not have to stay the night. Sure, it would make uncovering the Pizzeria's secret's harder, but Mike didn't know if it was sane to fully move in with the animatronic.
He took his time to change and gather a few movies for later, then eventually shut everything down and headed over to the house once more. It had been great to actually be out as Mike had been fighting boredom just sitting at Fredrick's. Finally, he drove into the driveway and turned off the car. He grabbed as much of the stuff he could and hoisted it to the front door. He unlocked the door and pushed it in, seeing nobody there. He set the things beside the door and went to retrieve more out of the car. Once it was emptied he entered the house and turned to lock the door.
There was a loud crackling noise that suddenly occurred behind Mike. He hesitated at the door as the noise thickened behind him, reminiscent of some sort of broken radio or grating static mixed with the occasional twang of an out of tune music box. He knew what it was but still looked confused as he turned back. There stood the Puppet, right behind him, closer than he thought it would be, releasing that obnoxious crackling from deep inside of its chest. Its hands were clenched tightly as it stared him down. Mike didn't have to contemplate the smile to know there was anger.
"What's wrong?" he asked. It would make much more sense if it could just tell him. Did it not like him bring stuff in? Was it mad he was back? He had clearly stated he was coming back, so that didn't seem like that could be the problem. The white lights in its eyes, which had certainly not been present earlier, darted down to the items, to the door, and then stared him down. At least now he could see some sort of movement. "I had to get some things from my place. I didn't think you'd care that I brought some things over. Most of this junk is going in the fridge anyway."
It twitched a bit and the noises got just a bit louder. "Okay, umm… I've got frozen food and I really don't know what's going on here so…" Mike trailed off and went to start putting stuff away. This was easier said than done; the Puppet followed him obsessively through the kitchen. Every time he turned to do anything it was standing there, making the static noise. It didn't take too long until it dawned on Mike what possibly could be wrong. "Is it upset because I left? It… Would make sense considering Fredrick, but I told him I was leaving. He must have heard me; so did he not understand or…?"
Mike faced the Puppet again. This wasn't difficult as it was still following him around. "Alright, I think I figured it out. I'm a little slow today, but I eventually got it… You're upset because I left. I wasn't thinking, but yeah, after what happened if-." He halted his words. As though he couldn't get any further once he acknowledged what was different about the Puppet, and something was certainly different. Its face had directly changed in a non-subtle way. It was clearly obvious, clearly visible, clearly angry.
Not only was it glaring but the smile was completely gone, replaced with a scowl, and it actually took Mike off guard. Either the Puppet noticed or was planning on leaving, as it then simply disappeared. It didn't hover out, it just vanished, and Mike stared at the empty space for a few moments. He didn't even know how to react to something like this; it was just so jarring to look at. Mike didn't take too long before returning to putting away the groceries that he brought from his apartment. Occasionally the Puppet would return, appearing in the room silently and watching Mike for a second, then leaving.
It wasn't like Mike had a chance to say anything of an apology. Though on the other hand he was also a little stubborn on doing so. He had clearly said what his plan was, to leave, and in a way he felt like the animatronic was overreacting. He wasn't stupid enough to say it out loud; he considered its glaring and aggressive noises holding back on its part. It was actually his decision to cook the frozen pizza from the Pizzeria that managed to actually stall the Puppet. It emerged once more and then became distracted with the box on the table and of the cartoon bear printed on it.
"I got it from the warehouse," Mike explained, trying to start a one sided conversation. "It says it should still be good, I'm going to try it out." The Puppet took the box off of the table and looked it over. The Fazbear brand pizzas had never sold that well. They were good enough, but they only sold in the Pizzeria itself for customers looking to 'take some of Fazbear's home with them'. It wasn't enough expositor to really make money off of it and yet they still made them, froze them, boxed them, and attempted to sell them up until the end. Mike himself hadn't ever had one.
"You can keep the box if you want. I'm not exactly jumping to throw it away- All the other stuff wasn't salvageable." The Puppet looked interested in it, but also seemed determined not to face Mike. "…Yeah, there were some drawings of you down there too. I'll get them whenever I go back." A little more interest, still not completely ready to look at Mike. "…And I'm sorry," Mike forced it out regardless if he believed he was fully at fault or not. "I should've been more clear that I was going and… You know, I get it. When he left… I guess that means you were here waiting for him for a while."
The Puppet seemed to drop its head just a little and slouch a bit, clutching the box tighter. "But, you know, I wouldn't-…" Mike cut off. It wasn't as though he could say he wouldn't let that happen; that would be like saying it was Fredrick's fault that he died. "I… You know I wouldn't just purposefully leave forever without telling you. We're basically living together now." He tested the last sentence out to see how it reacted. It seemed to slowly straighten and ease its grip, relaxing once more.
It had returned to the vacant smile already, but now it didn't feel quite as vacant, just maybe a little exaggerated. It wasn't angry, Mike let out an exhale of relief. "I'm going to be in here for a little longer. If you want, I brought some tapes back from my place. I thought it would be good to watch something other than Fredbear's never ending quest for self-fulfillment." There was a soft chiming from the Puppet and it shook lightly, as though it was laughing or mocking doing so. It then did as suggested, clutching the pizza box.
Mike decided to casually add in, "You know, I'm glad you're taking this so well. Guess that means you'll be fine when I go back to work on Wednesday." It was almost funny how quickly the static noise returned.
Mable: So Sam is Fritz… Under a poorly disguised name. XD I actually intended this from the beginning. Though this brings up a good point; how much does Mike really know? He thinks he's getting a feel of the situation, but he's pretty much still in the dark about a lot of it… But that's for another day! The next chapter will be posted when I finish it!