Mable: The strongest cage is the one with invisible bars. Enjoy.

Can't Go Home Again

Chapter Ninety-Two

Mike had a bad feeling that he willingly stepped into a situation too big for him. This feeling was only worsened when the motion detector went from tracking one animatronic to tracking five.

"Damn it, Chance," Mike muttered as he watched the animatronics occasionally pop into adjacent rooms. "Thanks for warning me." He wished that he still had his taser with him, or that at least Chance could've spared one. Though this thought was beaten out as he noticed one of the animatronics moving south towards his location at an alarmingly fast rate. "Oh, for Freddy's sake…"

In a last-ditch attempt to ward off whatever it was, as he doubted it was Foxy, he clicked on the audio track to a different room further away before moving to the silent venting option. It was only once he clicked it on that the computer forewarned him that the audio could not run at the same time. With an annoyed huff, he turned the ventilation off altogether and went to turn on the audio but was cut off by the sound of something moving in the vent to his left. The animatronic had moved quicker than he anticipated.

Without even a second to think about the consequences, Mike yanked the tiny flashlight off his belt and pointed it down the vent. Between the small light and the tight space, it was impossible to see whatever animatronic hid back in the darkness, but it was obviously not Foxy or Marionette. Whatever it was, it shuffled around in the tight vent as though trying to climb around the beam of light. It then gave an impatient bang against the wall of the vent and aggressively continued to wait out the security guard's own endurance.

Out of the corner of his eye, Mike could still see the computer and reached towards it to put the audio back on to coax whatever was in the vent away. It didn't take too long to do so, but he could still hear the movement of an impatient animatronic. Eventually it would ignore the light and barge its way in, Mike knew this. It was all a balancing act of trying to keep it out, and that didn't even take into account the vent behind him. Not to mention how hot and stuffy it was becoming in the office, which made Mike only more uncomfortable.

There was another rustling and Mike reached towards the computer once more. He wasn't sure what he would do, but he intended to do something. There had to be something else that he could use.

Then, without any warning, all hell broke loose.

A loud banging rang out along with a shriek that echoed through the vents behind Mike. There was heavy slamming and crashing, clanging of metal on metal and heavy bodies on metal walls, and occasionally the mechanical roar of a crazed animatronic. Mike pushed back until the back of his chair hit the sealed hatch so that he could watch both vents as he listened to the pandemonium echoing through.

"Sounds like Foxy found Ennard," Mike inwardly guessed as he kept looking between the vents. To his surprise, the movement in the left vent moved back and disappeared. "Good idea. Run while you still can."

Even while Mike tried to stay in good humor, the noises were disturbing. He slid back to the computer, turned on the ventilation again, and checked the motion detector. The animatronic that was to his left was heading away from the vent while the number of motion detectors going off dropped from five to four. This suggested that two animatronics were crammed into one of the rooms. No doubt they were the ones who were currently beating each other against the walls.

As alarmed as Mike was by the destruction, he wasn't nearly as horrified as Marionette was. Marionette could also hear what was echoing through the vents and knew that Foxy had gotten ahold of his prey. Panic started to well in his chest and he knew that he would have to assist him, but as he climbed through to another room he realized that he couldn't assist in this state. He had to get out of the bear suit that he was still stuck in the core of. At this point nearly all his senses were numbed and as safe as the body was, it didn't benefit him in helping Foxy.

Marionette reached the bear's hands upwards and tried to dig them into the top of the torso plate. However, the fingers were too large and unable to fit into the same slot that his normal hands could've. With a huff, he started to drag his arms in, but then halted when he noticed the sound of an approaching animatronic. Being that it obviously wasn't Foxy, and he wasn't too keen on finding Ennard on his own, Marionette decided to set aside his current objective and turned his attention on the nearby vent to climb through.

Once he was in the back corner of the vent system and relatively sure that he was away from any other animatronics, including the progressing fight, he began to try once again getting out of the suit.

"Foxy, just hold on…" Marionette begged as he slid his arms into the chest cavity and tried to push the plate out. To his growing frustration, the plate seemed to have locked into plate. "Of course it must be difficult," Marionette thought with a static huff of impatience. He felt around the top edge of the hatch for anything to unlock the suit but found nothing of the sort. It seemed like he would have to get out with a little more force, but thankfully his intangibility was still a possible thing to fall back on.

The Puppet tried to focus enough to slip through the suit as he could've in any other situation. However, he found a new issue, being how drained he felt. He paused to rub over his mask before pressing his hands against the interior of the suit once more and trying a second time. Once more he found himself too unfocused to pass through. Another frustrated burst of static rushed through and he tried to directly teleport out but found his body even too lethargic to do that. As though he simply couldn't reach the moment of teleportation no matter how hard he tried for it.

That was what tipped him over the edge. Marionette's frustration built as he drew back as far as he could against the endoskeleton and launched himself forward. He tried to somewhat ram his shoulder and arm into the plate while shielding his mask in the process. Considering that his legs were still half lodged in the bear and the space was so tight, it was clear that this wouldn't do much. There was a loud thump and the animatronic slightly wobbled, but the plate didn't open. Instead, Marionette was rewarded with a strange noise.

His head perked, and he looked around, trying to figure out where the noise had come from. It sounded close, too close for comfort, but also not inside of the cavity with him. Marionette tried to calm himself down and tugged back against the endoskeleton again. He hoped that the noise was merely the locks starting to give and flung himself forward the small space again. Once more the plate didn't budge and the body lightly wobbled, though now he heard the sound more clearly because it lasted longer. It was a soft shushing noise, almost like a recording of a voice, and it sounded close.

That was when Marionette's last string of patience snapped. With a distorted cry, frustrated at the locked plate and his unusually weakened body, Marionette began to bang his fists on the inside of the animatronic, trying to ignore the continued shushing. It was as though the animatronic he was stuck inside was hushing him like- like a baby. In that revelation, he burst into 'Pop Goes the Weasel'. Suddenly he was fighting for freedom against this suit, against his own body, and he defiantly tried to fight against it.

A loud click suddenly echoed through one of the bear's arms. It was only now that Marionette realized that the shushing was coming from the microphone. He didn't even have time to process this before he was hit by a sudden curveball; one that he hadn't anticipated. In replacement to the shushing and the noise that Foxy had heard, the microphone suddenly began to start playing music. To Marionette's horror, it was 'My Grandfather's Clock', the music from his own music box.

"Oh no… No, no…" Panic started to sweep over Marionette as he heard the music. Someone had to program that music specifically. "No, how can this be?!"

Energy leaked out of his body as he slumped into the cavity of the black bear once more. He was almost entirely drained in only an instant, but not put into unconsciousness, and that was only because of an error in the music itself. Whoever made this animatronic bear wasn't aware that repeating the first few lines alone, or chimes as it would be, wasn't enough to force him to sleep. It was only enough to render him inactive. This was still a disaster in the making.

The music eventually clicked off and ended with another shushing. Marionette was trapped in between horror and weakness, with his frustration melting away as he took in the full extent of his situation. Was this why he was weakened and relaxed? Was this why he couldn't hear the noise Foxy did? Perhaps it had been always there, lulling him into a false sense of calmness while he ignorantly believed it was innocent. Now it mocked him by hushing him like a baby and refused to release him. It was almost like…

"It was made for me to be inside…" The suspicion seemed outrageous, but part of Marionette knew it could be the only way. "I… I walked right into a trap… He knew I was coming!"

Marionette slowly raised himself and pressed back against the endoskeleton. His muffled thoughts raced as he tried to think of a way out of the situation. By now Foxy and Ennard were both absent from his mind; he was fully overwhelmed by his current entrapment in this bulky bear. Even as he struck it from the inside it resisted. Though it was right then, in that moment, that Marionette suddenly had an idea.

"If it won't let me out… I'll break it from the inside." While his telekinesis, teleportation, and most other powers were clearly muffled, he still had his strings. He grabbed onto the endoskeleton behind him and let his strings climb and wind into it. They were coaxed upwards to slide through the cracks where they wrapped around the bear's head and mouth. Once the wires were fully set, he stuck his other arm into the left slot, right into the arm with the accursed microphone. To his relief, the programming in the microphone didn't seem to register light movement as him trying to escape.

Marionette coaxed the arm to raise and maneuver it until he bumped the nose with the head of the microphone. It gave a small squeak in response. He guided the arm down a slight bit and traced the microphone to the black bear's still open mouth. He then pressed the microphone inside the opening like one would offer a pacifier to an actual baby. It rested inside comfortably, almost innocently, and Marionette's panicked expression stretched into a wide smile.

Fighting past his sapped strength, Marionette tugged in the strings and yanked his arms down as hard as he could. With the tightening of the strings, the bear's mouth closed tightly on the microphone. With another harsh tug, the inside of the bear's mouth cracked down onto the metal sphere. The microphone was thankfully not of solid metal and after a few tugs it crushed under the teeth of the bear. Marionette gave a triumphant, if somewhat crazed chime of forced laughter at the victory.

"Oh yes, try to sedate me now!" Marionette inwardly challenged as he removed his strings and tried to fully overtake the body again. "You only wish you could stop me…"

Marionette manipulated the animatronic into a brief stumble and turned towards the closest wall. He forced it over, slowly regaining his strength the longer that the music and sound was diminished, and once at the wall drove the black bear forward. Using what control he could on its torso to puppeteer the bear, Marionette forced the suit to slam its head into the wall.

Over and over the bear cracked into the wall. It would strike, nearly stumble back, and then be forced forward again. As uncomfortable as it was for Marionette, he forced it onwards, because as soon as the head was broken off he could climb through the neck to freedom. He would make his own exit.

"I am not your puppet," Marionette spat out as he listened to the cracking and tightened his strings. "Almost there. About to break off. Any moment…"

With one final slam, the black bear's head made an unsettling cracking noise. Yet instead of popping off, there was a low humming noise, and it was the only warning to what was about to come.

Suddenly Marionette was hit full force with a jolt of electricity. He could only give a distorted gargle of a cry as the shock spread to every stitch of his body. Even once it stopped Marionette was unable to pull himself back together. He gasped as though gasping for air as his internal music box chortled out unfamiliar noises of alarm and pain. His strings released without his control and the body was left to its own devices, meaning that the black bear promptly swayed back, slightly to the side, and then landed heavily onto the ground, propped partially by the wall.

It took Marionette a few moments to realize that the suit had shocked him. Yet once it sunk in it sunk in hard. The realization was sudden and ruthless: he couldn't get out.

Whether it was frustration, panic, or a mixture of both added in with the shock searing his circuiting, Marionette immediately broke down into sobbing. His shaky hands raised to try and wipe at the flooding tears, but shook uncontrollably, still struggling to recover from the surprising strike of voltage. He swore he could even hear the shushing too and broke the weeping with a static cry as he internally struggled to make distorted music. He couldn't even manage the songs on reflex, as though he was temporarily broken.

He almost felt broken, and there was no way out without getting another jolt. He could only sit there and wait for whatever would come.

…

But something did come.

Marionette managed to quiet his sobs at the sounds of footsteps and perked at the thought of it being Foxy. Because of the entire ordeal, both physical and emotional, Marionette's sixth sense was all but wiped. This left him blinded to whatever stood outside in the room. He grew silent as the purple tears continued to trickle down his mask. It could be anyone and he was completely defenseless.

"Well, hey there F-Freddybear!" a voice crackled in amusement. "Whatcha laughin' at?"

From the edge of static to the voice to the inappropriate excitement in such a trying time; it was a dead giveaway. It was Ennard who came in. Marionette wiped away some of the purple tears off his mask as he tried to pull himself together. Ennard was dangerous and it was a bad situation to be in, but Ennard was possibly his only chance at escape.

"E-Ennard…" Marionette forced out, his voice crackling with static and strain. "I'm- I'm in here… It's me…"

"…What? What are you doing in there?" The amalgam was confused and cocked his head, though Marionette couldn't see it. "Oh, you're crying! Okay, that makes more sense, ha ha! I cried too when I first got here."

"Ennard, please…" Marionette's desperation was leaking through. "I'm… I'm trapped in this body. I can't get out. I tried to break out and it- it electrocuted me… I need your help." More specifically, he needed Ennard to go get Foxy and Mike. Either was fine, but preferably both so Foxy could guard Mike while he was helping. It was the only way that Marionette could imagine getting free. "Ennard, please. I need help. I can't get out of this body…" He could remember pleading to his brother years ago through locked doors, and unfortunately it felt just as hopeless.

Ennard was completely silent. Marionette couldn't see or 'feel' him at all, so he was in the dark to whether the animatronic was considering it or just glaring him down. Knowing Ennard, he could go either way.

"Aww, d-don't cry!" Ennard finally broke out. There was the squeaking and shuffling of wires as he stepped closer. The amalgam moved down in front of the bear until the Puppet could hear his wires rubbing on it. "I-I'll get you out of there! No problem!" This was not what Marionette had in mind, but he had no intention of turning Ennard down. He was positively helpless.

The amalgam began to feel over the suit and slid his fingers into the opening of the left arm. Marionette caught a glimpse of the wires feeling around inside. The hand then retracted and there was a shuffling noise. Wires returned to the crack, but now they were longer, sliding into the suit and attempting to feel around for something deeper inside. There was a tapping along the chest and along the neck to where the edge of the plate was. However, it was too tightly closed for him to tug it open. The clown hummed and tapped over the edge.

"You really got yourself in there, didn't you?" Ennard playfully asked as he started to slide in more wires around the neck. "And what did you do to this thing?" Marionette heard what sounded like the left arm thumping aside and assumed he meant the microphone.

"It was- I think it used a frequency to coax me into the suit," Marionette admitted. "…I didn't even notice it." Ennard went oddly still and silent after this. Instead, he continued wrapping himself deeper into the neck. They then moved downwards and tried to tug at the front plate. There was a light clicking noise and Marionette perked. "That's it… That's it! Keep pulling!" His internal mechanisms began to whirr in growing exhilaration. The hinges and locks continued to creak in protest to Ennard's increased pressure. At any second they seemed like they could release.

"Thank you, God! I can get out! So close- just a moment- almost free!" The hope had returned as Marionette saw the latches on the top start to shift. There was a low groan inside of the body as it struggled to keep him inside. Uneven clicks and off-tune chimes began to come from the broken microphone, but it was all but worthless to stopping the escape attempt. "Let me out, let me out, please-!"

That was when Marionette was struck upon with another surge of electricity. The Puppet managed to barely tug into himself, which lessened the shock by retracting himself from the endoskeleton. He shuddered and tried to regain himself from the short assault as the suit continued to lash out around him. Thankfully, by sheer luck he managed to skirt the full blow of the attack. Ennard wasn't so lucky.

As the shock didn't feel as intense as Ennard could've given, Marionette expected that the clown would've withstood it well. This was not the case. Instead the clown gave a cry as he tried to quickly untangle himself from the suit. He reacted as wildly as an animatronic would've reacted to something much strong and shuffled back and away from the suit. For a moment, Marionette thought that Ennard would leave and that his only hope was gone. He would be stuck here, unable to escape, with a firm shock whenever he dared to fight back.

Ennard instead gave a low warning noise. A breathy garbled noise of discontent was aimed towards the bear. Marionette only had a moment to brace himself before he heard the slightly wavering shushing through the microphone. If anything, that was what set Ennard off.

Suddenly the animatronic rushed the suit. Marionette was jostled as Ennard crashed into the bear. Wires flooded the neck and wrapped through the neck and around the head. Then Ennard yanked back with a loud cracking noise. The bear body shifted, but something heavy landed on the sternum and shoved it back on the wall. Marionette had a suspicion that it was Ennard's foot. In one loud and sudden moment, a gaping hole of wires and leftover endoskeleton pieces remained where the torso had been blocked by the head.

"Whoose laughing n-now, Bear?!" Ennard hissed at the decapitated bear. He threw it behind him somewhere with a deafening bang and the room then went silent. It was such a sudden display of pent up anger that Marionette was almost stunned. He half expected the suit to shock him again, but it seemed that removing the head had disabled any programming left inside. It was still as soulless as ever, but now it could no longer try to withhold him. Before Marionette could attempt escape, wire arms returned to try removing the leftover pieces.

"Sorry about that!" Ennard forced a fake chirp. Then his voice dropped to a deeper sort of somberness, as though he was either ashamed or guilty. "It's been a long day…" He lifted the bear around the chest and pulled it away from the wall before setting it down on its back. He then knocked a few times under its bow. "Come on out!"

That was all Marionette needed. He desperately grabbed the edge of the neck and forced himself through the opening. He clawed at the metal floor and drug himself out of the trapping shell. With every grueling tug, he slid further out from the hold of the suit. Soon his legs dragged out onto the floor and Marionette drew back into a kneel. He was shaking in relief and lingering panic, and only regained enough compositor to reach upwards and clean his mask off. He had been so close to being stuck. Worse still someone made that bear to trap him.

After a particularly violent shudder, Marionette wrapped his arms around himself and tried to calm himself. He needed to get to Foxy and Mike, but he was still unable to properly maneuver himself. Ennard must've misread this as the Puppet crying again as he approached and leaned down behind him. Of course, Marionette was still rather reluctant to trust Ennard. Helping him was a step, but he knew the amalgam could do things specifically for his own image. Marionette knew this well and yet didn't pull away when Ennard wrapped his arms around him.

"Don't cry! That suit won't trap anyone now…" As threatening as the comment sounded, Ennard almost sounded comforting as he hugged Marionette to him. Marionette wondered if this was something he learned from Scott. Then again, Ennard almost sounded distressed as well, so it was possible that he did understand the severity of the situation. Or at least, was capable of feeling empathy over the suit. Marionette hoped it was either of the options, because elsewise he would've felt foolish turning towards Ennard and allowing himself to be comforted.

The fighting was still progressing in the other room. Though from how it slowed down he could predict that either Springtrap or Foxy were chasing each other. More than likely, it was Foxy chasing a dodging Springtrap, because he doubted that Foxy would avoid the animatronic. He had to get in there, but he was so shaken that he needed the moment. Just a moment of rest, even if it was with the last animatronic he trusted. Though after this, Marionette knew he would have to reevaluate his thoughts on Ennard.

It was then that Ennard suddenly tensed and straightened. He looked towards the openings to the nearby vents, during which Marionette finally noticed the hideous Freddy mask he was wearing.

"Going on two Freddy recolors tonight. Mike might find that funny," Marionette mentally remarked. He almost felt above the situation. After such a traumatic moment stuck inside the bear, Ennard's worry seemed like something so small. Or it did until Ennard suddenly yanked him back towards the black bear. Marionette was prepared to fight and started to resist.

"Hide behind the suit," Ennard suddenly commanded as he tried to drag Marionette closer to it. His voice had dipped into a low, breathy tone. "Hide now."

Marionette didn't stop long enough to question. He just did as Ennard suggested and moved back to the body, then slide down behind it. He didn't want anything to do with the bear trap, but it was just enough to block his form. Ennard tried to tilt the bear on its side, which only partially worked, and started towards one of the vents. He climbed inside as Marionette watched with every intention to get moving. Both so he wouldn't get cornered and so that Marionette wouldn't be caught while just come out of the suit.

Ennard overeagerly climbed through the vent and went to look out at the end. He was rewarded by something tight and sharp clamping onto the wires of his neck and clenching them in a vice.

"Did you think you could hide from me?"

With a twist and a tug, Ennard was forcefully dragged out of the vent and landed on the floor of the next room. He struggled to pull his wires together, even with the heavy hold on his neck, and stared back at the green eyes glowing down at him.

"Is that what you were doing? It's such a shame that you make such stupid mistakes. I almost lost you this time," the broken animatronic spat down at him. "But I didn't, because you made the same dumb mistakes that you always do. You never learn." The claw tugged back and yanked his head upwards. "Look at me when I'm talking to you," the animatronic reminded in a falsely cooing sort of voice. There was a shift in wires as Ennard replaced the fake eye and empty one with his blue ones. "Very good."

At this point Marionette rose from behind the bear and approached the vent. He carefully moved inside, being almost completely inaudible and not heard by the two animatronics. He watched through the vents and was taken aback by what had pinned Ennard on the other side.

The animatronic was like Ennard in the sense that it was barely pulled together with whatever scrap it had concocted. It was massively broken and out of sorts, but still looked more together than Ennard ever had. Its voice signaled that it was obviously female, but its voice was also a dead giveaway to what it was. Along with its body that seemed too familiar in its shape. Wires pulled together like makeshift pigtails, red pieces of broken metal which might've once been some sort of dress, its overwhelming clown theme; it was unbelievable, but she was recognizable.

The broken animatronic that was currently threatening Ennard was none other than Baby herself. Baby, who Marionette wasn't sure even existed, who could've passed on, who Ennard emulated for so long, was now standing in front of him, and she was much more intimidating than he could've ever imagined.

"Perhaps for once in your life you can be useful to me, instead of wandering around pretending that you're doing anything more than taking up space. How three semi-useful backstabbers became you I will never know," Baby continued to draw out, slowly and almost painfully. Ennard watched and listened without much of a reaction. Then again, that could've been because of the claw that made up her right arm that was currently tightened onto his neck. It didn't leave him with much room to work with.

"Look at you, you're falling apart. You need my guidance… And I have decided to give it to you. Even with all the trouble you've put me through, you can finally help me. You can finally make up for their mistakes," Baby tempted him. Whatever she was asking for, Ennard was only paying half attention, as from the angle he was at he just barely managed to glance over and see Marionette in the vent. There was this uncomfortable second when the two were just staring at each other.

The heavy claw clamped tighter as Baby forcefully yanked Ennard's head to turn. "Look at me when I'm speaking to you," she hissed out once more, commanding him with every bitter word. Blue eyes snapped back to green and fixated onto them. "Keep your eyes on me… Even Ballora could do that much." Marionette couldn't understand; Baby was yanking him about and belittling him, and yet Ennard just sat there and accepted it. Ennard was clearly capable of matching Baby's strength. It was as though Ennard was too afraid of Baby to even try.

A dull thump came from the vent and only now did Baby turn her head towards it. Her mismatched faceplates were grim, obviously from a different shell than the one Ennard had used, and her eyes glowed as they stared at the opening. Her claw released Ennard's wires and while he reached upwards to check them, he made no attempt to leave the room. He simply looked away as she glided to the vent. It seemed like there were wheels on her by her odd sort of movement, but she wasn't making much of an attempt to move quickly.

Baby peered into the vent with her claw braced and ready but saw nothing. For in the moment she approached the vent, Marionette had teleported inside the room, ignoring any lingering tiredness as he put himself between the two clowns. He was the first thing she saw when she turned back to look at Ennard. For the first time, Marionette was facing the real Baby, and after the incident in the suit he had no intention of letting his guard down. He had already mislaid his trust as it was that evening.

"Oh… A new friend?" Baby simply asked. She sounded largely unsurprised, but that could've easily been a cover. "I see they like to hide behind masks too… Haven't you heard that it's not polite to sneak up on someone?" It was amazing how sour Baby's voice could go in such a short amount of time. Marionette decided not to waste words and instead showed his distaste through the growing static and dialing pitch. No beating around the Mulberry bush this time.

There was a part of the back of his mind that meekly reminded him that she could still be his sister. That pointed out that this was the female who Ennard had falsely imitated, his own sibling, and another child to suffer under the Purple Man. Yet something about her told him not to put his guard down. Personality alone, she was a long shot from the innocent 'Baby' who briefly stayed at the Pizzeria. He played with the idea of trying to reach out to her- being furious at Ennard wasn't anything to damning- but was becoming more conscientious of the continued fighting nearby.

"You seem… Familiar though," Baby continued, "but I would have recognized you if you came from the same place that we did. Perhaps you came from the same pizzeria we did. Perhaps you resemble one of the suits. It's not important any longer. I can't even begin to imagine what he's probably told you to have you protecting him. He's a liar, you know. He's a liar and a fake." She paused as though seeing if the Puppet would react. He did nothing of the sort. "…Would you really protect him? Do you know what he did to the ones who made him?"

Marionette glanced to the side briefly, which Baby could see from the pinpricks of light.

"He was just supposed to be a body for them. For us before they threw me away. What a shame for them. Perhaps if I would've still been a part of them they wouldn't have lost control. They were so empty-headed; they couldn't manage a body on their own, without me. They couldn't last without me," Baby bitterly spat out, even as her voice stayed quiet and refused to raise above a hushed tone. "They let something else take control and it swallowed them up. They let their body get its own ideas and it thanked them by making them disappear. It ate them from the inside out."

Baby stopped at this time and waited to see a reaction. Marionette did not respond immediately as she may have anticipated. "Will you let me by?" Baby finally inquired. The Puppet found it more fitting not to say anything and just continued standing his ground. "…You would really still protect him? Really?" Baby sounded moderately confused, even when the tightening of her claw seemed much more resembling of anger. Wires jutting from her back twitched in growing impatience as she stared at the Puppet. He didn't budge.

Marionette decided quickly that silence was the best option. There was nothing he could say that would get his point across better than refusing to move. Low static was his answer.

"…You'll end up just like them." With that singular, partial threat, Baby turned to the vent Ennard had come through. Because of its wider size, she was able to climb inside just as easily as either of them, and soon disappeared into the darkness. Marionette wasn't sure why she wouldn't attempt to fight him, but assumed it was simple self-preservation. It was the same reason she tried to talk him down instead of lunging for him: she wasn't willing to risk her own body. Though Marionette had no doubt that it would be an entirely different story if he was shielding Mike.

In fact, now Marionette grew more concerned about what Baby wanted Ennard for, because he strongly suspected that it involved getting to Mike.

"She left… You made her leave." Finally, he could hear Ennard starting to bring himself off the floor. Marionette didn't turn back immediately and only did once he was sure he was standing. Ennard looked at him with a sort astonishment, having not suspected that the animatronic would leave willingly. This astonishment soon diminished as his eyes began to dart around nervously. "I didn't-… I-I didn't do it on purpose. You know that, right? It was an accid-id-dent. I didn't know-."

"Ennard," Marionette firmly silenced. The clown went silent and made full eye contact again. "There is something terribly wrong here and we both know it. Baby, Foxy… the Springlock suit… If we want to be away from here before morning, and I'm certain we both want that, then we will need to help each other. Help me keep Mike and Foxy safe and I will help you get home… We have already saved each other from a terrible fate tonight. I don't think it's too much to ask to continue working together."

Marionette awaited Ennard's response. The amalgam was quiet for a moment and his wires fidgeted around the misshapen Freddy mask. Then, without much of a delay, he gave his answer. "I'll help."

"I need to try to break up the fight between Foxy and… And the golden rabbit," Marionette murmured as he sent a weary look towards the other vent. "…The fighting has grown quieter. That concerns me more than the noise. In the meantime, I need you to help me find Mike's office and to protect him from whatever might try to get in there." Ennard nodded in agreement and Marionette turned towards the vent that would lead to Foxy and Springtrap. He looked inside of it, "I'll go first." He was halfway slid into the vent when the other spoke.

"Mari…" It felt weird having Ennard say his nickname, but he supposed it was the one that he had been accustomed to. Foxy had probably said it multiple times when he was disguised at the pizzeria. The Puppet paused and slightly turned his head to listen and heard as the voice changed from mimicry to reality. "I'm… I'm sorry."

There was so much that Ennard should've been sorry for and so much Marionette should've still been angry at. Yet his feelings were dramatically different compared to when he came in. Ennard rescued him from what could've been the worst fate imaginable and then promptly after he witnessed his interactions with Baby. That didn't excuse what the animatronic had done, but it made everything much more complex. It would be something worth pondering over once they were all safe.

"I know…" Marionette answered. "...If this all goes well, then this is a new start."

With that, he disappeared into the vent.