Mable: Happy early Thanksgiving! Nothing like living in the middle of the leaf-changing phenomenon on the busiest travel week of the year. It really reacquaints you with the wonderous sound of cars. That aside, here's the new chapter! Enjoy!

Can't Go Home Again

Chapter Seventy-Five

Scott had become somewhat comfortable with Ennard's patterns. Not its bizarre way of speaking, nor the changing voices and demeanor, but just with the many cycles that it went through. Like a normal animatronic during the night shift, Ennard had formed a sort of routine and followed some variation of it. It would go into the kitchen for a while- Scott suspected it was stealing the eggs and butter, but didn't know what it did with them- it would circle the living room, it would occasionally enter the garage, and when it could, it would loom about five or six steps behind Scott.

Ennard slept more during the day and stayed awake longer at night. Usually, Scott could hear it wandering around the living room while he was trying to sleep. Sometimes he worried that the amalgam would come in while he was defenseless, but to his relief this wasn't the case. Since that one night, Ennard had not barged into his bedroom since that night. In return, Scott had become a little less unnerved, and thus tried to avoid it less. Regardless of what Fritz had said, it seemed like Ennard was mostly docile. It didn't act like the others.

When something was different Scott noticed it, and Ennard's mask being left out was definitely different.

For the first time in days, Scott was intending on venturing out of his home to buy groceries. With the kittens getting old enough to try wet cat food, he knew he would need to stock up, especially since he didn't want to leave the kittens unattended once they were old enough to venture outside the safety of his bedroom. That and again, he was rapidly running out of eggs and butter. It only seemed fair to forewarn Ennard that he would be leaving, so he stepped into the garage to see to him. He expected him to be awake since it was mid-afternoon.

From the lack of Ennard and Baby's closed shell, it was obvious that Ennard had went back to 'sleep'. However, his mask was left propped on the shell's foot, which Ennard never did. It was consistent in one thing, and that was that it didn't want Scott to see its face. Though he wasn't sure why, because from what little he did see he could assume it was just a normal endoskeleton face. He didn't really want to see it, but the mask was rather tempting in how it was just completely abandoned. He would be able to look at it up close without having to involve Ennard at all.

Thus, Scott leaned down and took the mask into his hands. It was cold and heavier than he had expected, and he could already feel the latches starting to open his fingers. The lighting was less than perfect, so he moved into the living room and turned on a lamp to investigate the details further. Oddly enough, he swore that Ennard had ears, but the mask seemed to lack them. The nose was also as rubbery as expected and gave a strange, crunchy squeak when squeezed, as though dust or something had gotten into it.

It was probably dirty. At least, on the inside. He doubted that Ennard had ever received a proper cleaning, considering what it was, and while Scott wouldn't dare get that close to it, he could handle the mask. He stepped into his bathroom and looked over the mask closer. He wondered if it came off a suit or something similar. Though the only animatronic that he knew of that looked anywhere similar was Baby herself.

"Where did I put that flyer? It's got to be somewhere, I wouldn't have thrown it out…" As far as Scott knew, he didn't throw anything out, so the flyer had to be somewhere. Maybe the mask was Baby's, especially considering the red tinted eyebrows. He hummed and ran his thumb over the plate, then lifted it to see if it would fit on his face. He looked into the mirror, holding it in front of him, but it was obvious that the mask wasn't going to fit like a wearable one. It certainly didn't look that appealing either, and this was in comparison to the suits Scott himself had worn.

"I could pull it off… That's probably the best plan," Scott remarked as he lowered the mask again. "…But where's the rest of the suit?" There was probably plenty left in Afton's, but it didn't explain why Ennard was only carrying it around and not a full suit. Especially if it obviously didn't like Baby's body. "Unless it's hiding its-… What's that?"

Scott heard the thumping and the scuffling and nudged open the bathroom door. It was clearly coming from the garage. Before he could even question what was going on, there was a louder bang, along with a voice.

"Where is it?!"

The voice that cried out that single line was completely unrecognizable and almost entirely terrifying.

Scott's teeth clench and he flinched in place, unsure what to do, and didn't get a chance to decide. The garage door slammed open and he only got a glance of wires before he slammed the bathroom door shut and locked it. The heavy footsteps were much faster than he expected, and a weight seemed to suddenly slam on the door. There was a shifting of wires and a gargling static, one that sounded too similar to the haunting voice a few moments beforehand.

"Scott? Sc-cott?" the feminine voice of Baby's squeaked through. "Scott, my mask- my mask is gone. I need it. Where is my mask? Do you have it?"

"Uh… Yes," Scott choked out. The knob was violently rung. "I was just…" The door was thumped against; Ennard was starting to fall into a frenzy. "I wasn't taking it, I just wanted to try it on!" he blurted out. He didn't want the animatronic thinking he stole it and attempting to attack him from it. "I was just- It was there, so I thought maybe you wouldn't care…?" The movements stopped, the shifting and thumping fell silent, and the desperate voice paused. For a few seconds, long seconds, the animatronic took in the information. "I'm… I'm sorry. I didn't want to upset you."

To his surprise, he was answered with the sound of crazed laughter, which was the first trademark that Ennard was switching out voices.

"Well, why didn't you just ask?" chirped the voice of Funtime Freddy. Ironically, both voices came from the same body that had made that horrendous yell earlier. "Aww, that's so cute! Sorry to ruin the fun like that! I bet you look great." Of course, in another confusing display, the 'great' was in a completely different voice. At this point, Scott had half a mind to believe that Ennard would still be willing to throttle him if the door opened. "But I need my mask back, so if you could slide it out the door…" There was a moment of silence.

"…I'll… I'll open the door." Scott unlocked the door.

"No, don't!" Scott jumped at the yell. "You don't need to do that... While I'm standing here! Let me get behind the door and then you can just slide it out, okay?" Because of his uncovered face, naturally. This actually made Scott feel a little more comfortable, but only for a single moment, because then it dawned on him that he was actually expected to open the door. "Big Cat brought out a little cat."

"Uh… What?" Scott blinked awkwardly. "What was that last part?"

"The big cat brought out the little cat!" Ennard exclaimed. Then it crackled in the same Freddy voice, "It's carrying it in its mouth instead of using hands!"

The terror returned, but for a fully different reason. That sounded an awful lot like his cat relocating her kittens.

Without warning, Scott threw open the bathroom door, unintentionally slamming it right into Ennard. The animatronic responded by shrieking, but Scott had half a mind to believe that it was more because of his lack of a mask than the door. He flung the mask against him, feeling it yanked out of his hand, and looked for his cat. As expected, there was the Sphynx pattering across the living room, carrying a kitten by the scruff of the neck.

"Oh no. Why now?" Scott exhaled wearily. "I was hoping she wouldn't do this. They do this sometimes; when they get scared they relocate the kittens." The cat disappeared into the office. "She didn't like the noise."

"I didn't mean to scare her," Ennard apologetically remarked, back to the feminine voice. It was switching back and forth more than usual today, especially if he counted the third voice in the mix. "I didn't mean to scare you either."

"I was startled… Not scared," Scott assured. Though he didn't look at the animatronic. He just watched as the cat reappeared and headed back into his bedroom to retrieve another kitten. He gave a shaky inhale. "Could you…?" He wanted to ask about the voice, about that garbled mess and which of Ennard's personalities it belonged to. Considering its behavior, it certainly wasn't a personality that Scott had or wanted to encounter. How would he even know which personality was in charge?

In fact, he almost immediately regretted starting the question and almost wondered if it was worth letting it drop, but Ennard was paying too close attention. Scott looked in its direction and noticed its blue eyes dead set on him. It was waiting for him to finish.

"…Will you be okay if I go get groceries later?" Scott backed out at the last moment. "I can't really leave yet, not while she's moving the kittens, but we're running out of… We're running out."

"Oh… Okay…" Ennard seemed very tentative in its words. "…But you are coming back? I… I didn't mean to scare you. I don't want you to leave. I like being with you."

"I like being with you too," Scott answered in reflex. It wasn't exactly the full truth, nor something he intended to say, but it seemed like making the animatronic comfortable with his best chance at keeping the house together. He didn't expect the animatronic to react as it did. It let out some strange noise of gargling metal, pitched a tad to high, and reached out to grab him. Before Scott could even recognize what was happening, his arms were grabbed by wires and he was yanked back. He choked as wires started to latch onto his body, along with one arm around his chest.

At first, Scott really did believe he was being attacked. His adrenaline started to pump, a lightheaded feeling sunk in, and he grabbed at the wiring with every intention to yank it off. It was only once Ennard started producing the Freddy laugh track that he realized that it was not attacking him, but hugging him from behind.

"Ha ha ha! You're adorable!" Ennard gushed, its tone having switched from the somberness back to this manic behavior. "And you're so warm! Your body's all warm inside out; you're perfect!" This sudden display of affection wasn't exactly surprising. Nothing that Ennard was saying was too different from the norm. However, something felt different.

Out of everything said today, or yelled, or choked out, or happened in general, this was the one thing that made Scott feel the most afraid, because for a split moment he actually did like it.

Things were only semi-normal. Foxy was back in the restaurant and on his stage, Marionette was back in the Prize Corner, and everyone was in their place, but something was amiss. Nobody was entirely sure which of them was triggering it, either. Mike especially noticed the odd behavior between both animatronics and how both were dealing with it in specifically different ways.

Foxy was visibly lethargic. He went through the motions just as stiffly as a Chipper's animatronic, with only the positive of not literally falling apart in front of them. At least he was doing well enough when he attended the birthday party scheduled in for the day, but otherwise he seemed to wander the restaurant in a sort of daze.

Marionette was the exact opposite. If anything, he was overworking himself. He continued to circle from the Prize Corner to the dining room, to the arcade, and back to the Prize Corner. Whether it be handing out tokens or just tending to the children, he was making up from where Foxy was lacking.

Yet both of these options were dead giveaways that the weekend hadn't smothered out what happened at the Funcade. He wasn't surprised, but it was concerning. Thankfully, he had more than enough work to make up for it. Especially when Fritz approached him outright.

"There's a woman here wanting to plan a party, can you cover it?" Fritz asked. Mike raised a brow in confusion. "And before you ask, she's asking about Mari, which is sort of your specialty."

"When did Mari become my specialty?" Mike asked right back with slight amusement. Though he then noticed that Fritz looked more than eager to say something. "Don't answer that."

"Are you sure? I had a good one." Fritz already looked like he was hiding smugness. "I even updated it with a nursery rhyme joke to go with the Hickory Dickory disaster." He immediately regretted telling Fritz what happened; it was just more fuel to the fire.

"Alright, fine, I'll do it. Just spare me the details," Mike declined quickly. "Where is she?" He was pointed in the woman's direction. In reality, he knew that Fritz was sending him because he was better at being direct. If there was something that they couldn't do, Fritz would have trouble turning the woman down. Mike was a little less worried about talking with people. Largely because he knew that the loss of one customer wouldn't risk their overhead.

The woman looked well put together, but was virtually just another mother when Mike first approached to introduce himself. "I'm Mike. Fritz said you needed to schedule a birthday party?" He offered her hand and she eagerly took it, shooting him a smile.

"Hi, yes, Kathleen, but not exactly scheduling," she corrected pleasantly. "I don't know if you'd even consider doing this, but would you consider renting out? Hold on, let me start from the beginning." She seemed fluttered, but more like a personality quirk than her being frazzled by anything. "My daughter, Chrissy, loves your restaurant. She talks about it all the time. I haven't seen her so happy in so long!"

So, this was Chrissy's mother. She wasn't what Mike had expected, but this was better than he had assumed. "I was wondering when we'd meet up. Yeah, I know Chrissy. She's a great kid." He hadn't seen her today, however. "She's here all the time."

"I know, and I meant to come sooner but things have been so hectic. Some days it's just hard enough getting into work!" Kathleen vented, still staying in good humor. "And I know you do birthday parties. I don't suppose that you do house calls?" She gave an almost desperate smile at the odd request and Mike decided that they weren't standing in the right place to discuss such a thing.

"I think we can figure something out. Let's move over in front of the Prize Corner, get away from some of this noise," Mike coaxed as he moved them away from the arcade and situated them in front of the room. He leaned against the door jam, leaving enough room in case any children needed to slip by. "So, what exactly are you looking for? Catering? Party supplies?"

"Chrissy has been a big fan of your animatronics. Especially Mari; every day she comes home with a new Mari toy, or a Mari trinket, and… I'll be honest. I don't think any party is going to complete without this Mari," Kathleen admitted, sounding a bit more desperate. "She's dealt with a lot this year. We really need a good birthday."

Mike knew that Marionette could hear, and he had no doubt that he knew his response to the news. "We don't usually move the animatronics out of the pizzeria like this, but we could probably make an exception. Chrissy's left an impression on all of us, so it's the least we could do."

"That would be wonderful. Money's not an issue- Well, no, I can't go too crazy- Sorry, don't listen to me. I get a little talk-happy." Mike suppressed a smirk of amusement. He couldn't imagine what something like this would've cost at the old Freddy's. Of course, that would mean that Fredrick would've allowed the removal of the animatronics, and Mike heavily doubted he would've risked that.

"We can work something out. Back on the topic of party favors and catering-," Mike began. They were already in this deep; there was no point in not offering the full package. It was going to involve the van either way. This also explained more of why Fritz needed him to agree to this. As it was, he was basically Marionette's second voice, and he had a good idea of how the animatronic was going to react.

"All of that is already taken care of. It's just having Mari at the party that's most important." Which made enough sense to Mike. Chrissy made it very clear that she adored Marionette. Just the fact that she dared to return after Baby's attack proved how close she was to the Puppet. He leaned back and glanced into the Prize Corner to find that it was devoid of children. Then he decided to make an offer.

"Do you want to see him?" He couldn't hide the slight bit of pride in his voice. It wasn't often when there was someone new to show off his animatronic to. "Come in, he's right in here."

Mike strode into the Prize Corner where, as expected, Marionette was half out of his box. He had been listening, just as the security guard expected him to be. He could hear Kathleen follow in eagerly, clearly curious in her daughter's 'other life'. There was no doubt that Marionette was also curious of her, especially considering how much he worried about her being alone. It wasn't clear whether this would alleviate all his concerns or not, but it certainly helped.

"Wow! He's taller than I expected! When she said he came out of a box, I just assumed something like this." Kathleen poised her hands at around a foot or so apart. "You can still move him?"

"He travels light," Mike assured as he tapped on the edge of the box. "He's a pretty amazing piece of hardware. You're not going to find an animatronic this advanced at any of our competitors… If, you know, we actually had competitors."

"What about Freddy's?" Kathleen offered. "I thought they were going to take down the old one and put up a new one." Mike was only partially surprised that she knew about Freddy's. From how casually she talked about it, it was obvious that she didn't know about Freddy's sour history. Anyone could drive past the restaurant and get a vague idea of what was going on there.

"Nah. Freddy's is down for the count," Mike denied quickly. Maybe she was the gossip type and, if so, this was a good time to spread information that leaned in their favor. "The company behind it went under. Some sort of money fiasco; spent too much opening restaurants and weren't bringing enough back in. The whole thing collapsed on itself."

Marionette moved out of the corner of his eye and he looked over, noticing that the Puppet was now holding onto the side of the box. He took this as a sign to pull back on the Freddy talk.

"But that's another story. Trust me, you've never seen anything like Marionette," Mike assured her. "In the pizzeria, in your house; wherever you put the party, he'll be able to handle it. I'll even throw in Foxy if you think there'll be enough kids."

"I'm already going overboard as it is. It's only going to be twelve, maybe fifteen kids. Mari should be plenty…" She looked to the Puppet and then looked back. She lowered her voice, "Between you and me, what is he actually supposed to be?" She punctuated the question with a smile, showing that she was partially joking.

"Jury's still out on that one," Mike remarked as he looked over towards Marionette. He sent a slight smirk of amusement. "We're down to either Sock Monkey or mime. We're taking votes if you'd like to throw your hat into the ring."

That aside, everything was pretty cut and dry at that point. Making the arrangements wasn't too difficult, considering that all that was required was Marionette and not any party favors, and as Mike already knew the basic route to the house, that wasn't a concern either. Not that he would tell her about his venture to her house. He walked Kathleen out of the Prize Corner and watched her leave through the front door, then returned back to the Prize Corner.

Marionette was clearly excited. Mike could already hear the rapid chimes of delight and was about to say something- mostly about how lucky they were that she hadn't found anything weird about her daughter's clinginess to the restaurant- but was interrupted by a group of young boys suddenly storming the prize corner. Their hands were clutching tickets and their babbling voices showed their lack of focus. Alas, Marionette was about to have his hands full for a while, and Mike backed out without vocal complaints.

At least he was rather sure that Marionette was happy about the situation, if his chiming was any indication. He quickly brought Fritz, Jeremy, and Natalie up to speed. Fritz was understandably concerned, but went along with moderate confidence. Thus, the plan was arranged. As far as it would seem, it would just be another birthday party.

The afternoon continued to be surprisingly busy. By closing time, everyone was virtually exhausted, and getting rid of the last of the kids was the top priority. Natalie had just gone to lock the door when she noticed a car sitting outside and a familiar face in it. He couldn't have been there too long. Natalie headed over to the Prize Corner, where Mike and Mari were inside, talking about the upcoming party.

"Hey, head's up, but that guy's sitting outside," Natalie pointed out. Mike gave her a blank look. "The nervous guy with the fake leg? He's camped out in his car."

"Phone Guy?" Mike asked, mostly himself, in confusion.

Marionette responded with a hand wave. "It's probably nothing too concerning. Probably just having traumatic flashbacks to our time at Freddy's." He laid his hand on Mike's back. "I'll tell Foxy the news. Maybe you could tend to him…?"

"I didn't exactly expect you to go out there and chat. He's already scarred enough as it is," Mike countered back. Then he paused for a moment, got a thoughtful look, and then looked suspicious. "You didn't call him again, did you?" Even Natalie sent the Puppet a weird look, though mostly out of curiosity.

"And risk having to speak to Baby? I would prefer not. So, no, I haven't called him," Marionette assured and crossed his arms comfortably.

"Besides, if it was Mari then why would he be sitting outside? Unless he's a glutton for punishment… But he's already missing a leg and still hanging around animatronics, so maybe he is," Natalie pointed out. Everything she knew about the man came from either Mike or Fritz, and both still saw the Phone Guy as largely an enigma. "Well, he's out front."

"I'll go see him," Mike volunteered. He was a little curious to what Phone Guy was here for. Marionette followed him out of the Prize Corner and headed towards the stage, where Foxy had already hidden behind his curtain. Natalie returned to cleaning up, watching as Mike headed out to the car.

Phone Guy saw Mike coming and rolled down the window. "Uh, hey…" he greeted uncomfortably. "You're the man I wanted to see."

"You're lucky I'm looking for a reason to bail from cleaning," the security guard remarked. Phone Guy responded by gesturing to the passenger seat and, after a moment of hesitation, Mike circled the car and got inside. "Should I even ask what Baby did?"

"It's not about Baby…" Phone Guy began. His hands were shaking and he moved to rest them on the wheel to hide it. "…It's about Ennard." He saw Mike look at him out of the corner of his eye, but wouldn't dare to meet his gaze. He licked his dried lips and found his voice, "…I need to know about Ennard."

"Wasn't he just asking Fritz about Ennard? What's Baby been telling him?" Mike instead decided to watch Phone Guy's body cues to see how he would react. "Ennard was basically four or five animatronics shoved into one. Baby was part of Ennard, attacked us, fell to pieces, or wires, and then dodged us when we went down to pick up Baby. Apparently the two had a falling out, or something like that." Not that Mike trusted any of Baby's story now that he knew what he did. "What did Baby say?"

"Not much. Fritz didn't either… It had more than one personality?" Phone Guy guessed. Or Mike assumed that he was guessing.

"If there was more than one, then Baby was the one talking," Mike retorted. "It was her voice, her plans, so I'm pretty sure it was all her."

"But then Baby and Ennard split?" Phone Guy half asked half clarified.

"Apparently so. I wouldn't be half surprised if Baby just dumped Ennard to get sympathy," Mike admitted. Then he rethought this and added in, "Or maybe Ennard dumped Baby because of how amazingly everything went when we were down. It's the last time I'm going to the hospital because of faulty maintenance, I swear."

He looked over and could see that Phone Guy was lost in thought. Mike raised his brow curiously and decided to take the role of questioning. "Come on, what's with this sudden interest in Ennard?"

"Baby said something that made me curious… Or just talked about Ennard a little bit. She doesn't want to say much though," Phone Guy admitted. "And I… I don't want to know, but I- I can't afford living in the dark. Not anymore, not after everything with William. I don't… I don't want to get stuck back in a life or death situation."

"Don't ever let her trick you into going down to Afton's." Mike's sudden, stone cold comment surprised the older man. He looked over in surprise, seeing that all humor was washed out of the security guard's face. "Whatever she tries to tell you, whatever she says about Ennard or anything like that, don't ever go down there. Let it be the end of it." And Mike wanted to say more, but he didn't need to, and he feared how the Phone Guy would respond to the more intimate details. He received a stiff nod and a quick agreement as an answer; good enough.

Back inside of the pizzeria, things should've been on a lighter note. Marionette let him behind the curtains into the tight 'room' where Foxy was hiding away. Foxy strange behavior hadn't gone unnoticed by him, but he was so excited by the coming party that he couldn't help but spill.

"Chrissy's mother was here earlier. She's 'ordered' me, if you will, for Chrissy's birthday party!" Marionette said happily. "It's not here like I hoped, but at least I get to be there for her special day. I have absolutely nothing planned for a solo performance, so if you wouldn't mind, I could use your advice." Foxy was listening and turned his head tiredly, but seemed much less enthused.

"O' course, Lad. That's what I'm here for," Foxy assured. For a few more moments, Marionette almost considered ignoring Foxy's behavior and continuing with his delight, but then Foxy continued. "Just be careful. It ain't safe fer us outside of the Pizzeria. Ya don't want anything happening." This comment completely confused the Puppet. It was nothing like Foxy's usual behavior.

"What do you mean by that?" the younger asked in confusion.

"…I just mean you could be seen. If an of 'em- the adults- saw something amiss then we'd be in danger…" Foxy gave a sigh. "But can ya blame 'em? We ain't exactly safe, except around the kids."

Marionette immediately became defensive. It was an instant reflex, largely because he wasn't sure where he was going with this. "We're just as safe as any human, Foxy," Marionette assured.

"Lad, we both know that ain't true…" The fox seemed saddened by his own reveal. "We ain't humans, we just act like 'em. If it came down to it… We could do damage."

"Foxy, we are humans," Marionette firmly corrected. There was a lingering pause as the two let that statement sink in. "I… I mean that we are technically… We were, but we still are..." He almost lost his compositor, almost became flustered, but recovered. "Where is this coming from, all of a sudden?" the Puppet nearly demanded, frowning in displeasure as he drew the curtain closed. "I doubt Jeremy would've said anything like that."

"He didn't. It was just…" Foxy could've blamed Max, but to be fair, Max only brought up the suggestion once. It was he himself putting all these thoughts into his head. It was hard to act human when Jeremy's presence reminded him that this was far from the case. After being in his home, after watching what happened in the Funcade, it was hard not to think about it. "I was just… All day I've been thinkin' about the hunt."

There came the uncomfortable silence. Nobody wanted to talk about the hunting they used to do. Foxy and Marionette had been some of the more dangerous animatronics, ruthlessly hunting, and had been just like the Toys- or the Funcade crew as they were now. Yet now they spoke freely to humans, work amongst them, even dared to begin a relationship with one, and Foxy was suddenly reeling.

Marionette, however, was feeling just fine about it. It was certainly strange to look back on the transformation, but if he considered then and now, he preferred this much more. He was happier now than he had been even as a human. Even with the setbacks, even when having to deal with the past and the sins of his father, Marionette truly enjoyed his existence.

"One of these days, Marion, we're gonna slip," Foxy pointed out. "Then someone's gonna find out what we are and they ain't gonna be as willing to keep quiet."

"When that day comes, we'll deal with it," Marionette assured.

"One of these days, we're gonna find another animatronic that's stronger than us," Foxy added in. "An' we ain't in shape to hunt it back."

"We'll figure something out if that comes to pass," Marionette continued.

The Funcade was a fluke; he could've taken them out if not for who they were. As long as he could get his emotions back under control, but it seemed like that was more difficult. When under Goldie's guidance, Marionette had been ruthless, numb to consequences, and had become a predator like no other. Without him, Marionette was forced to recognize animatronics and humans as more than just a haze, and now the humanity was returning. He was content with this, but it occurred to him that maybe Foxy wasn't.

Marionette laid his hands on Foxy's shoulders affectionately, squeezing his fabric. "You don't need to feel like this. I know it's strange… To return to being in a home, to feel human again, but it's nothing to be ashamed of." It took a short pause, but Foxy gave a sigh and reached out to mimic the gesture with his normal hand on Marionette's shoulder.

"Yer right. I'm letting this thing get over me head." Whether or not Foxy truly was feeling better, there was some amount of assurance in his tone. "Between you an' me, it's weird bein' close to someone human again. Jeremy's a great lad, but… He makes me question some things." This raised flags that Marionette wasn't expecting, but he decided to keep any suspicions to himself as Foxy and separated them. "This flimsy curtain ain't much. Go back into the Prize Corner an' I'll come once the coast is clear."

"You don't have to," Marionette assured. "Not if you're feeling this out of sorts."

"Bah! A good captain is on call when his crew's in need!" Foxy assured, returning to his boisterious voice once more. "An' this is a big event, ain't it? Yer first party outside o' the restaurant alone. We need somethin' big to kick it off! You set sails fer the Prize Corner an' I'll follow." It seemed that Foxy wanted to pretend everything was back to normal and Marionette went along with it. Maybe it was the best thing for him. Marionette could always ask about Foxy, and Jeremy, once the fox was relaxed from a proper distraction. He still seemed too twitchy to push.

The Puppet slipped through the curtain and started towards the Prize Corner. He was right outside the door when he was suddenly hit by the uncomfortable feeling of eyes on him, along with the sound of the kitchen door squeaking. Instead of going still or looking back, Marionette decided to just skirt into the Prize Corner before anyone could notice that he wasn't on his track. He quickly got back in his box, but was unable to fully drop inside before the footsteps were outside his door.

To his relief, it was only Tabby, who looked in now. Foxy and Marionette hadn't needed to be too careful around Tabby. Not when she was usually engaged in her own part of the restaurant. Even now, she didn't look very interested. Yet she lingered there, watching him, looking just a little bit confused. Suddenly Foxy's words had come back to haunt him. Tabby was a stranger, was untrustworthy, and if she found out the truth…

Before Marionette could dwell any further, Tabby turned himself away and headed to the front. He could hear the front door as she opened it and only then relaxed. It seemed like he was frantic about nothing, even if he had gotten closer than he would've liked to being spotted. Yet he couldn't help but feel a little uneasy about the situation.

And suddenly Marionette was much less confident in the coming birthday party.

Mike didn't expect to hear back from Phone Guy. Not that night, at least. He was halfway through carving open a raw chicken breast when his cell phone started to ring. He sent a glance over at the table, but then returned it to the food. It wasn't as though he would be able to scrub the salmonella off his hands in time to answer anyway. Marionette, who had been propped up on the counter, retrieved the cell phone. He then pressed it to Mike's ear where Mike held it with his head and shoulder. He mouthed a 'thank you' and continued with the chicken. "Hello, hello?"

"Uh, hey, Mike…" Speaking of the Phone Guy himself. Mike was a little surprised to hear a call from the man. "What are you doing?"

"Stuffing a chicken breast. You?"

"Oh, cooking! Okay, could we… Can we talk about earlier?" Something seemed off, as though maybe Phone Guy was uncomfortable. "About our conversation earlier?"

"Sure," Mike answered nonchalant. He sounded like he was only half paying attention, though he picked up immediately where he left off; he started trying to effectively read Phone Guy. "Why, what did Baby say?"

"Baby didn't say anything…" Phone Guy denied. "… Sorry, I'm having a little trouble focusing tonight. I haven't gotten much sleep in the last few days, and the, uh, I've been better." Something just seemed amiss, like Phone Guy was hiding something. "What we talked about earlier…" He faded off as though he wanted Mike to continue.

"About Baby, Afton's, or Ennard?" Mike laid out. He couldn't tell what was going on, but he assumed that Phone Guy didn't want to say anything out loud. Almost as though he was being listened in on.

"…Mostly about what happened down in Afton's and what you told me… I know there's something else you're not telling me, but I think it would be best if I didn't know… It's hard enough being comfortable with Baby in here without knowing about the dark details," Phone Guy explained.

"I can't say I share that sentiment, but I'm willing. Just as long as you don't get the idea to go back down there. I stand by what I said; don't even think about going down into Afton's." Phone Guy was silent after this comment. "…I'm hoping that silence isn't you considering it."

"Why would I go back down there?" Phone Guy answered. "I'm just… Thinking about some things… About what you told me about Ennard." There were a few moments of silence. "…I can't even really remember what you said. I guess I was so distracted." Another few moments of silence. "Can you repeat what you said?"

Something was definitely off and Mike sent Marionette a look of disbelief. He knew that he was listening in, no matter how comfortable he looked. Mike set the knife to the side and focused fully on the conversation. "Alright, something is up. What's going on, is Baby listening in or something? I thought she was supposed to be out in the garage." This was answered with silence. "…Unless this is Baby and she's just faking a voice."

"They can do that? No, this is just me, Baby can't fit through the door. She's still out in the garage." Before Mike could interrupt, Phone Guy broke in again. "I think I'm going to try and get some sleep, okay? Sorry to interrupt your… Stuffing…" He paused for a minute. "…How do you do that?"

"You cut open the breast, stuff something inside, and bake it for a while," Mike listed out. Then he decided to test for another reaction, "It's not like a whole turkey. You don't have to scoop everything out and then stuff something in, you know?" To his surprise, there was no obvious reaction, like he would expect from Baby. He started to consider that he was mistaken, especially one Phone Guy started to breathe harder, almost anxiously. Maybe Baby had said something that frightened him. "Look, if there's something bothering you, you can come out and say it. If Baby's not listening-."

"I have to go," Phone Guy bluntly announced. "I'll call you back." The line then went dead.

Mike was left standing there, half-astounded and half in disbelief, unable to even move the phone because of the risk of getting chicken on it.

Marionette took the lead to take it back. "And what was that?" he inquired as he did so.

"I have no idea. Could've been Phone Guy having some sort of episode, might've been Baby; I don't know." But considering it now, Mike didn't think that Baby had the capacity to fit through a door, find Phone Guy's phone, and just happen to know his own cell number. "Probably Phone Guy, but something's off… He was asking earlier about Afton's and he's just been acting weird." A look of dread and suspicion settled on Mike's face as he returned to his prepping.

"It's very possible that Baby's trying to convince him to go back down and find Ennard," Marionette pointed out. "I'm not certain why she would want that, but it sounds like Phone Guy is parroting what he hears."

"Yeah, I got that feeling too," Mike admitted. He began to stuff the chicken breast. "Maybe I'll run this by Fritz tomorrow. Try not to dwell on it. You've got enough on your plate as it is."

"That may be so, but if he calls again then give me the phone so that I can listen. I'll be able to tell if it's Baby or not." Mike regretted not doing that while he had Phone Guy on the phone, but it seemed better to just let it drop for the evening. After all, he seemed to have properly frightened the older man, so he doubted anything would happen in one night.

For tonight, they could do without the worry.

"Mike…" Marionette slipped an arm around him. "…Do you think I'm too human?"

Apparently, Mike stood corrected.

"No," Mike bluntly answered back. "Why?"

"It's not important," the animatronic chimed back. He then preceded to rest his head on Mike's shoulder and watched curiously as he continued to cook. Mike was almost surprised at how quickly the arms hugged around him managed to block out the concerns for the moment.

Phone Guy could handle himself for one night, Baby or not.

Mable: It's not like one night can really change all that much… Oh wait… Actually, no, that's a terrible sentiment to keep with Phone Guy. But alas, that's fate for you. Or some form of irony; one of those.
Anyway, the next chapter will be posted once I finish it! Sorry about the delay on this one, but I wrapped up chapter five of my book and it sapped my time a little bit. I hope you enjoyed!