Mable: I finished this chapter much sooner than I intended to. ^-^ So, anyways, here we go! Here we are with the next chapter! Enjoy!

Can't Go Home Again

Chapter Thirty

It took a few more minutes until Mike could recover enough to process what he needed to do. By that point Marionette was frantic; he had already started making a sort of mix between radio garble and distorted chiming, staring at the wound that he could see and Mike could not. What Mike could tell about the wound was that the metal thing, whatever it was, was still lodged inside while staying connected to a heavy piece partially decayed wood. He wouldn't able to pull it out of the wood like this, so he had only one option.

"Okay, just… I need your help. I need to get it out and I'm going to have to lift myself off it," Mike insisted. He was trying so hard to believe what he was saying, but every word felt entirely unreal. Marionette was reluctant. "I can't do it. You'll start bleeding; you're not supposed to take it out." Apparently, he knew some sort of first aid and seemed to be standing by it. That, or Marionette was just too terrified to do anything. Personally, Mike doubted this, doubted that Marionette knew the severity of the wound, even when the puppet clearly did.

Or it was Mike's own denial. That wasn't too out of reason. "I don't have a choice. The animatronics are going to come after us and I can't just sit down here," Mike encouraged the male. He then reached out his arm towards him, "Just brace me. I'll do all the hard work." Marionette slowly took Mike's arm before reaching and laying his other hand on Mike's back, preparing to assist a bit more than previously suggested. Slowly, Mike pressed his free hand to the ground and lifted himself.

It hurt more coming out than it did going in. Mike was sure of it; he had barely moved when it started to throb. He grunted through clenched teeth and struggled to keep his breathing in check. Slowly he continued to raise, letting the metal slide further out, but it felt like there was so much inside. With every second he could only contemplate how much damage it had done internally. Then it slid out and Mike gave a final, smothered cry. Before he could even catch his breath, Marionette's hand was on the wound, and Mike almost stopped him.

He realized just in time that Marionette was trying to stunt the bleeding with the pressure. It wasn't much, but it was something. "Hold on, I think I can…" Mike reached around, feeling the tear in his shirt, and ripped off a patch of it. Now he wished that he had brought the jacket in, but since he didn't the patch would have to do. Mike folded it and moved it back towards the wound. Marionette used it now and pressed it against the wound, but was starting to grow more worried. "You started- You started to bleed worse. Mike, you're bleeding right through."

"I'll be okay, alright?" Mike insisted. Marionette was growing frantic and Mike knew why. Naturally he would know something about severe injuries and what damage they could cause, considering his own hospital experience. Perhaps he studied into it after the fact, or maybe the sight of blood just made him anxious. Or perhaps Mike was spending too much time focusing on petty things to ignore the fact that he was in actual peril. "We need to figure something out. I can't call anyone and even if I could I don't know if they'd get past everything to get down here, so we're on our own."

He inhaled, held the air in, and felt as his side shot in pain. The air released with an unsteady cough. "And I'm not going to be able to fight off Foxy and Freddy like this. I need to keep calm or it might start bleeding faster… And that's completely ignoring the fact that running with this is going to probably hurt like hell." He turned back to look at the jutting object that had stuck into his back. He paled at how sharp it looked, how deep it could have gone in, and inwardly shuddered. It didn't look good for him from this angle.

Marionette already knew the situation was grim before Mike started listing the additional facts. He could see the blood, he could see the deep wound, and he could tell that Mike was terrified. Even if he wasn't trying to show it, he could tell that Mike already knew how severe the situation was. The puppet knew that he would have to step in. "Stay here," he began, taking Mike's hand in his free one and giving it a soft squeeze. "I can take care of the animatronics. I won't let them hurt you… Then I will come back once the coast is clear to get you to the elevator."

Mike seemed surprised by the suggestion. "Mari, that thing is probably running around out there. We can figure this out together… If it jumps you again, then I'm pretty much dead," he pointed out. Marionette reacted immediately and snapped at him, "Don't say that. You told me you trusted me; I'm not going to let anything get you." He calmed a little more, squeezing Mike's hand once more. "I can protect you from them… Just stay here, stay quiet, and keep still." He guided Mike's hand to the covered wound.

After removing his own hand, he coaxed Mike's in its place to keep pressure on the stab wound. He almost seemed reluctant to release Mike's hand. After a moment, he started to move back, raising to full height again. "I won't be long, I promise," Marionette swore and Mike slowly nodded. He trusted him, but the whole situation made him feel very out of touch. He was practically defenseless now, or at least would have much more difficulty protecting himself. The puppet searched the surrounding area before finding the taser laying some ways away.

"Keep this close. It's some protection if something does get close," Marionette encouraged him as he moved it with his telekinesis to Mike's side. Mike took the taser with his free hand and held it tightly, nodding in agreement. "It's not like I haven't done it tonight." Marionette started to raise when Mike stopped him. "Hey, before you go…" Mike paused for a moment, not sure what he wanted to say, and exhaled quietly. Then he forced a playful smile, "I'm going to really owe you after this."

Marionette's smile seemed to widen and his tone became slightly lighter, "You already owe me." Mike gave a slight, still forced smirk, "Rescuing you from animatronic spaghetti has to count for something... Be careful." The last words betrayed the concern and the puppet softly responded, "I will…" Then he slipped but into the floor above. Marionette knew what was coming would be a bit more difficult than he was anticipating. It was one thing to incapacitate animatronics to get Mike past. This time he had to make sure that nothing would be coming after him.

Marionette didn't enjoy having to attack other animatronics. Especially not when they looked like the ones who were once his friends. Freddy had already managed to right himself again and had joined Foxy in stalking around the vent that led to the control module. They wouldn't be letting Mike pass anytime soon and with all the spilt blood Marionette knew he didn't have time to try and convince them. It was then that his gaze fell on the broken form of the Bonnie hand puppet laying on the ground.

It had never made any response and upon looking it over, looked at lifeless as could be. As though it hadn't ever been turned on; like Freddy had just been carrying a limp doll on his arm. Without seeing it, Marionette had been able to piece where it came from together. Slowly he knelt down and took the Bonnie into his hands. Even with the clock ticking, he was stuck in doing it, staring at this lifeless animatronic. He softly murmured to it, "Taken way too soon, I'm not at all what used to be~."

At this time, Mike could still actually hear Marionette, as he wasn't too far from where he was. He didn't even know what to think and turned his head in disbelief, trying to sort out exactly what was happening. Marionette stroked over Bonnie's limp head, "Shifting in a box, the past is nothing more than just a dream~." He looked over to the forms of Funtime Freddy and Foxy. Externally they looked somewhat intact, but they were empty of the souls that he suspected; just vicious shells with nothing on their mind except to kill, even if another animatronic was trying to stop them.

"Now I hear the call of evil growing once again~…" Just thinking of this reminded him of how empty he was in doing this. These weren't his friends; they weren't even sentient animatronics in this state. They were just a danger to Mike… Mike meant more than this, and Marionette would do anything to protect him. No matter how much it felt like a betrayal. "I'm powerless to change your fates~," he carefully set Bonnie back onto the floor and steeled himself for what was coming. These weren't his friends; his only friend was injured nearby. "But in the end, I'll shelter you, my friends~."

Slowly Marionette raised and faced towards the two animatronics. They clearly heard him as they were now facing him directly, with Funtime Foxy taking a step closer. "Tonight we roam and if they listen really close~…" Marionette continued, his own music giving him a jolting rush. It was something to overtake the erratic rush of the usual music. Tonight he wasn't just someone's jack-in-the-box; he would dance on his own term. "They can hear us sing our song~." He waited as Funtime Foxy rushed in and dove towards him; its face plates opening to reveal the mangle of wires underneath.

In the last second, with Funtime Foxy inches from touching him, Marionette abruptly skirted out of the way and gave a telekinetic shove. The push knocked it slightly off course and instead of unintentionally getting closer to the hole, it landed heavily on its side; stunned by the blow that it couldn't see. "And I can't give you back the things you had~," Marionette continued as he twisted around, now going directly for Funtime Freddy. As it took a swing, he wrapped his strings tightly around it and threw himself around its body, tightening his hold.

"But you don't have to do this on your own~." Funtime Foxy got to its feet while Funtime Freddy tried to fight the hold on it. It started to crackle through a prerecorded message when Marionette's strings tapped deeper inside. Since there was no warring consciousness, Freddy gave extremely quickly and his body was fully at Marionette's mercy. Foxy went to circle and attack Marionette, but at the last moment Freddy was controlled by his puppeteer, to swing his heavy arm and struck it. Foxy stumbled back, wider gasps appearing in its plates, but it wasn't done.

Foxy now slammed into Freddy and began clawing at his exterior, biting down onto his handless arm and tearing at it. Marionette steered Freddy to fight back and squeezed Foxy closer, trying to break its body in its grasp. "Even if you're never going home, you're not alone~." Marionette blocked out any thoughts with his own defense; these weren't sentient, they weren't feeling. This way he could continue just fine as Foxy tore off some of Freddy's arm. Wires spilled out of the opening and Freddy reacted by giving a firm sucker punch.

What happened next was unexpected. As though Foxy lacked an endoskeleton altogether, its head nearly fell off and dangled alone by some wires. It continued clawing at Freddy's interior for a few moments before collapsing to the ground. Now Freddy had to follow. Marionette spun in a single turn and tightened the strings, hoping to have Freddy's body give. He tugged tighter, twisted further, and eventually, like Ballora and Foxy, Freddy practically fell apart in his grasp. It was as though nothing held them together except the plates.

"You're not alone~…" Marionette stared down at the two forms. They were no longer threats, as was Ballora, but there were still dangers. He knew that there were more animatronics in the facility and had a suspicion that they resided in the Circus Gallery. He sent one last glance in Mike's direction, knowing time was short, and continued onwards to stop any possible attacks. There was something else going on here and he was nearly forced to keep going. Heading back to the Circus Control room, Marionette searched out a way through.

"In our own little world forever lost to passing time~." He searched the office room thoroughly, eventually finding a panel underneath the desk. There was a cubby underneath, but upon feeling the back he felt a sealed vent that led into the gallery. He was quick to 'shove' it through. He slid through and entered the dark room. "No one knows what it's like to wear a mask that you are trapped inside~," he could hear a response somewhere nearby, movement, reacting to his own voice. He perked and stared into the dark.

What stood on the other side of the room looked to be a large animatronic, towering at about seven feet tall, that was crawling with seven smaller versions of itself. The animatronic itself was a girl and seemed to be standing in a deactivated position. Meanwhile, the smaller ones looked towards him. Their eyes were wide and focused intently. "One day the purple clouds that hover over us will fade~." The small animatronics climbed down from their perch, aggressively approaching the puppet. They were followed by a clattering noise.

Nearby another vent had opened and out crawled the three remaining Minireenas. "Then we'll be free to cut the strings. To wipe the tears~," here he was with absolutely no choice, no reasoning, and ten small animatronics that knew how to easily climb through vents. "But now we walk in chains~." Marionette slowly turned and scanned over the room, watching as the small animatronics approached. The large one was unresponsive and somewhere in the room he felt something else, but it wasn't approaching and wasn't the thing that attacked earlier.

"Tonight we roam and if they listen really close, they can hear us sing our song~." Part of him didn't feel ready for what he was about to do. He certainly wasn't proud of himself; this wasn't anything to be proud about in the end. Yet he knew what had to be done and by now he had become accustomed to his decision. Again, these animatronics gave out no spiritual feedback, so as far as he was concerned they were not sentient. They wouldn't listen to reason. He hands were tied, his strings were pulled taunt, and he only had one option.

So when the first Bidybab came at him, hopping upwards towards him, he reacted immediately and threw it aside. It was tossed into the small group of Minireenas and knocked them to the floor. "And I can't give you back the things you had~," Marionette continued and twisted, facing the group of six which was moving in. They were extremely quick, but didn't have a chance with their size. He waited until they tried to attack and then eagerly swiped out his arm, sending them flying back onto the tiled floor.

"But you don't have to do this on your own~." The Minireenas had gotten up quickly and, unlike the Bidybabs, were a lot more agile. While Marionette had been distracted, they had climbed onto the windows of the circus control room and then pounced onto him. They clung onto his fabric tightly, one even grabbing at the edge of his mask. His response was much more defensive and he spun violently, twisting them off and then shoving them back. The Minireenas had fragile bodies; they couldn't stand the knock to the floor.

"Even if you're never going home, you're not alone, you're not alone~." The Bidybabs were just a matter of patience. They kept returning even after the Minireenas had fallen. To shove them back harder was the only option and with every throw one or two of them would stop coming back. It was hard to stand inflicting this manner of attack on something so small, so adorable looking, but Marionette knew he had no choice. Especially when one started trying to climb into the vent that he had come through. He had thrown it hard enough that it struck the large, clown animatronic off to the side.

"You're not alone~…" Slowly Marionette approached this final animatronic, letting his strings slide out. He hadn't needed anything beyond telekinesis for the smaller beings, but this was a much larger animatronic, and if it put up a fight then he would have to as well. This was the end of the road and, except for the sentient wires, this was probably the last threat. Then he could return to Mike. He approached the female clown and tried to see into her, see if there was any sort of sentience, as she had not attacked. It only took a moment for him to see why she didn't.

Marionette reached out and touched her face before slowly opening some of the plates. They gave limply and revealed mostly hollowness inside of her body. It wasn't an animatronic; it was a shell. The puppet calmed down immediately, relaxing his music, his voice, and turning to approach the vent. He was quick to hover across the room and prepared to slide inside. Mike was waiting and Marionette couldn't bear to be down in this horrible place much longer.

"Hey… Come back… I have to…ask you something."

Marionette went rigid, straightening into his default position and turning to stare into the darkness. It was only now that he noticed something in the far back, along with a gargled voice. He stared blankly before hovering over slowly, keeping an eye out in case it was a trap. There, slumped against one of the back walls of the Circus Gallery, was yet another animatronic. It was in awful shape, slouched back with a leg off, its arm missing some pieces, and its neck looking a little too stretched out of place with visible metal jutting out.

From what Marionette could see, the animatronic almost looked like a variation of Balloon Boy that was themed like a magician. Its glass eyes seemed to flicker without focus and something was clearly wrong internally. It barely turned its head at the puppet approached, but did try to push itself upwards against the wall. Its body was quite broken, though not as bad as Marionette had seen in the past, and its glassy eyes struggled to focus further. Then it managed to speak and suddenly everything changed.

"Aren't you that kid who… always hides under the table… and cries?"

At first, Marionette didn't exactly react to the comment. He simply hovered there, staring at the magician for a few moments, and only then did it sink in. He slowly dropped to his knees as he looked to the animatronic, to the first animatronic that had spoken to him with sentience. To the soul of the boy who had been lingering in his nightmares. The magician stared back at him. There was a deathly silence between the two. Then the magician spoke, "I finally got to see why you were so scared... I thought you'd get a kick out of that."

Marionette fought back the urge to break down into tears. Another murdered child, another soul in an animatronic, and this one in one so broken. He only held back the urge because he didn't want to cry in front of someone who had seen him cry when he was a child. The magician continued, "I'm not the only one he brought here. I'm just the only one that wasn't even worth being used as a plaything. He just wanted me gone. Maybe he knew that I wouldn't stay quiet." The prerecorded laugh sounded out of place and was, perhaps, a bit forced.

The puppet began to reach forward tentatively, but halted when the magician continued. "There's something you've got to see," it tried to convince him. "There's a vent right over there that leads to the observation room. You have to see it." This sounded a lot like a trap and Marionette didn't react at first. He couldn't trust anyone after the previous animatronics had attacked him. "It has to be you. You'll know when you see it," the magician convinced. Marionette stared its damaged body down, considering it.

He had to get back to Mike; Mike was in imminent danger… But there was an unyielding temptation as well. What could be in an observation room? Why was it so dire that he saw it? He caved and moved to the vent, swiftly entering inside and sliding out the other side. He knew he was wasting precious time, but his concern was somewhat suppressed once he saw what exactly resided in the observation room.

The closest thing that he could compare it to was a life-sized diorama. The entire hallway was arranged like an outdoor, backyard scene. The walls were painted, the floor was made of concrete squares surrounded with fake grass, and the hallway led to two alternate paths. Marionette came out of the vent at the end of one and to the right of him led a little further before ending in another door. It was only once Marionette saw this door, and how the wall surrounding it was designed, that he realized something was terribly amiss.

The door was relatively normal, but the wall around it was painted like the outside of a very familiar restaurant. Down to the bear cut out that stood beside the door and beckoned the way inside. It resembled Fredbear's Family Diner's front entrance. He headed through the door without hesitation, knowing there was no time to waste. Inside was somewhat designed like the interior of the diner, from the front entrance to the stage, but it didn't replicate the entire restaurant and, even then, wasn't exact. There still were some tables, some items, no animatronics.

It suddenly became very clear to Marionette that he knew where the path outside led. He didn't waste time; he backtracked back to where he came in and took down the other hallway, turning a corner and finding yet another false 'building' waiting for him. He felt too numb from everything that had happened to feel any abrupt emotions. He instead could only stare blankly at the door and the wall around it that was just almost painted like the entrance to his home. He entered inside the door and stared at the room.

An old TV, a couch, a halfhearted replica of his own living room. Only then did Marionette feel a sort of horror set in, different from the horror of seeing Mike bleed. As though the eyes of a dozen people had been secretly watching him and his home. Unfortunately, there were more rooms, and he knew he couldn't leave without seeing what else was here. He had to be quick and he shoved himself further, entering the stunted hall, and staring at the two doors. The one would be his bedroom and the other was the room at the end of the hall. Marionette was almost afraid of what he would see behind the door.

He didn't know whether to be relieved that the bedroom behind the door didn't look exactly like his current one, or just as unnerved to recognize how similar it was to what his bedroom looked like before. Same bed, same nightstand, plush toys shoved into a corner, generic wall hangings; but no present box. He felt ill, perhaps even lightheaded, and slowly shut the door back. Someone had been inside of his bedroom and created this false room in its image. He couldn't understand why anyone would do such a thing, or how.

The answers would either be in the final room or wouldn't exist at all. Marionette knew this as he headed down the fall, swiftly throwing the door open and staring inside, wanting to absorb everything he possibly could in these few moments. To his surprise, it was a replica of the pink bedroom at the end of the hallway in his home. Because the bedroom had rarely been touched, it looked close enough to the real thing, just lacking most of the furniture. His brother's room was missing, as was his father's, and it was obvious that both his own and the other room was the focus.

Marionette looked over the pink room with curiosity; wondering why out of all the rooms it would be the one focused on. He looked towards the bed, staring at the pink bedding, and felt as coldness enwrapped him. It was so cold, so sharp, that it almost felt real on his fabric. His thoughts that were once a blank void simply ingesting what he saw, changed almost abruptly with a single thought.

"This was my sister's bedroom."

A rush of shock and hidden memories coursed through his body. His sister, the owner of the bedroom, who he hadn't seen in so many years. He couldn't even remember much of his sister except that she had been… He had loved her; he knew that much. Yet everything about her was completely blank. He could only assume that she liked pink. This would be something that they would share, but would be the only thing that he could even imagine about her. Everything else was missing. "I forgot my sister."

The thought was almost unbelievable. He couldn't remember her face, her voice, or any of their shared memories. It didn't make any sense to him and he could only take the revelation in strides. This was interrupted abruptly by a new, much forceful thought, "How long have I been here? I need to get to Mike." He knew that, perhaps, this was somewhat to avoid the overwhelming feelings that were trying to take him over. Regardless, he pushed back his findings and turned to leave the rooms.

Once back in the Circus Gallery, Marionette approached the magician. He stared for a few seconds before it spoke. "He did that, you know, and he did this to me. He could never take enough. Even after death, he wouldn't stop tormenting us. He wouldn't stop torturing us." Marionette knew who he meant and spoke. "He took from all of us… But he is no more. He was killed in his own suit," Marionette explained. The magician stayed quiet, but the puppet could feel a sort of satisfaction. He knew this satisfaction well. "I can't stay. My friend is in dire straits; I have to get him to the surface."

The magician didn't protest this offering. The puppet didn't exactly want to leave on these terms, but he could always return when Mike wasn't in so much danger. Panic returned to Marionette and he mentally scolded himself for his wasted time when at any moment the human could get worse. "I will come back for you. I promise, I won't leave you." The magician seemed content with this, though he couldn't argue. Marionette turned again to leave, but was interrupted from a loud bang from somewhere else in the facility.

"…Sound's like she is awake."

Mable: So having the Puppet Song in the story was requested a long time ago, but I wanted to save it for a good moment… Maybe not necessarily a 'good' moment, but at least it has finally appeared. XD Anyway, at this rate the next chapter should be posted sooner than later. I hope you enjoyed!