Can't Go Home Again
Chapter Ninety-Eight
For the first time since Ennard had vanished in the night, Scott was finally feeling comfortable in his own skin.
As he settled into his armchair, he already felt like everything was normal again. He turned on the lamp that he moved behind the chair and opened the book he was currently reading. It would be a quiet afternoon and Scott couldn't help but be thankful for it. This was what he had wanted; after all this turmoil his prayers had been answered and everything could return to normal. He sent a brief glance over at the couch and the comforter that had been dragged out of the bedroom and was now draped over it.
Ennard needed all the rest he could get and trying to accomplish that in a cold shell out in an equally cooled garage sounded like the least productive way of doing it. Scott had offered his bed, but Ennard had been reluctant to go far, and thus he was now possibly a mound of wires laying limp under a blanket. Even more comical, the cats had taken to sitting atop the comforter and were now dotted around the blanket. Scott found it amusing, especially in how little interest Ennard and the cats currently had in each other.
He then raised his book and prepared to get lost in it for a little while. Or that was until he noticed that there was someone standing beside his chair. He looked upwards to see Marionette standing there.
With a short cry, Scott jolted back in his seat and dropped his book in his lap. The comforter shifted as Ennard raised it enough to peer out. Apparently, he accessed the situation quickly, because he didn't say anything and didn't come out from under the blanket. The Puppet was quick to reassure Scott.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to surprise you or come on such short notice," Marionette apologized as he moved further in front of the armchair. "I needed to speak to you about something of moderate importance."
"It's- It's fine. You just took me off guard, is all," Scott reassured as he cleared his throat and set his book aside. "Is something wrong?"
"…Perhaps. It really depends." Marionette turned and hovered in a slow, slightly pacing motion. "I'll get right to the point. I don't want to worry longer than I have to, and I'd rather not take you away from Ennard." He sent a glance to the couch, then gave a light chime as he noticed the scene.
"We're all glad to have him back," Scott said with a returning smile. "This is about as excited as the three of them get."
"Moppet's just like them. You can tell they're family," Marionette said with amusement. Though he then returned to seriousness as he looked to Scott. "It's about one of the animatronics that was with us in the pizzeria. It's a Springlock golden Bonnie suit who we were under the impression held the Purple Man… But according to what he said to Mike, this may not be the case." Scott's smile dropped to a much more stoic stare. It was clear that he knew something. "We think that Michael Afton may be inside the Springlock suit."
Scott said nothing, and Marionette finished, "I was hoping that maybe you would know the truth. After all, you said that you knew William had passed away, so I hoped you knew how…" The Puppet gave a weary sigh and rubbed his mask, folding his other arm across his chest. "I would rather put this all behind me and the last thing I want is to drag you back there, but I don't want this hanging over my head… And because of that, maybe it's also time that I find out the truth about whether William or Fredrick is my biological father."
Scott's reaction was to clench his teeth, send a glance over at the couch, and look all around disheveled. Scott was never one to hide his emotions; it was obvious that he knew something.
"I… Are you sure? That's dredging up a lot of the past…" Scott reminded with hesitation. "There's things that you might not be ready to hear yet… After all of what happened, with Chance, with that bear suit, do you want to put yourself through more of that?" He did sound honestly concerned for the younger's wellbeing. Yet Marionette noticed something in his wording.
"…You know about the Lefty suit?" Marionette inquired. He glanced over towards the couch and noticed a shifting underneath the comforter. He couldn't help but give a small frown at the hidden animatronic.
"Yeah, I heard about it," Scott said. "I'm really sorry about that. I can't imagine what it was like… Well, I mean, I can, but… It's not pleasant." He gave an uneasy cough, but Marionette couldn't be sure if it was about the mention of Lefty or the insistence to talk about Afton and Fredrick. With Scott it really could be either.
"I'll be fine. I'm safe, Mike's safe, Chance is no longer a threat, and once I find out who was in Springtrap I intend to let the whole thing drop. My night is finally my own," Marionette reassured the older man. "I was just hoping that if you did know you could tell me sooner than later. I'm growing weary of these surprises, and at this point I rather just know everything than wait in the wings for another surprise revelation."
This seemed to convince Scott a little bit. He certainly looked like he was considering it more now that the Puppet voiced his concerns. In which case he would need to tell Marionette the truth, and they both knew that Scott knew more about the truth than he let on. The older man reached up to rub at his eyes with an exhausted exhale.
"…Alright… I owe you that much. You did bring Ennard home…" Scott looked back towards the couch again. He reached out over the armrest and let his hand drift under the comforter, so that it could rest on the wires of Ennard's arm. He could feel the animatronic lightly shift in response. Wires wrapped around his fingers before he could pull back and left Scott in a slightly leaned position, and it didn't feel like Ennard was going to let go. Scott ignored it and continued with the task before him.
"So, uh… I don't know who's in the Springlock Bonnie suit exactly… But your guess that it's Michael is a good one," Scott revealed. "Because that isn't William in that suit."
Marionette's expression was locked into a vacant smile and it was clear that he was covering any real reaction. "Don't get me wrong, William is dead, but… But he didn't die in that suit… William wouldn't have died in that suit. He knew that suit like the back of his hand. He'd been in an accident in it before and lived. Had scars on his back and chest from it that you wouldn't believe… But I'm rambling."
Scott cleared his throat and tried to get his hand back from Ennard. He managed to get it out from under the comforter, but Ennard's wires followed and were still clinging onto him. "And Michael… I haven't heard from him in years. Michael and Will couldn't ever get along after he moved out, and he didn't like me because… You know, Will and I were- I don't think I have to tell you-."
"I remember. Don't get flustered now," Marionette reassured. If anything, Scott looked even more embarrassed that Marionette was this aware. Though it made sense; it wasn't as though they had ever hidden it well. Will was never the type to really care what others thought, if they only had the vaguest idea of the truth. After all, he clearly was engaging in questionable behavior behind the scenes. Of course, only now did he realize how much he had inadvertently revealed by talking about scars underneath William's clothing.
"Right. Anyway, it… It could be Michael. If it wasn't William, then it was Michael, and it wasn't William. And as for Fredrick…" Scott gave a slow exhale and shifted uncomfortably. He moved his hand to his chair's armrest and Ennard's arm continued to follow. "You know, before I keep going I should tell you that Will did love you. I-I know it's hard to believe. He didn't even love me. He seemed incapable of feeling that sort of connection, but he did, for you."
Marionette slightly turned his head to look away. He still had his default smile blocking his real expression but decided not to refute Scott's claims. As Scott implied, William was incapable of real, unconditional love. Perhaps, in his own twisted way, William did 'love' him, but it wasn't the normal, unconditional love that a father should've had for their child. Marionette had no doubt about that.
"I suppose that you're leading into the inevitable conclusion that William is my father and that Fredrick was merely pretending to be my father," Marionette quietly finished. He raised a hand to cover his mask. "I'm not exactly surprised. I suspected as much… But it's fine." The Puppet recovered surprisingly quickly, though mostly because this suspicion wasn't a new one. "I can live with that. I can live with the Purple Man not being Springtrap as long as he's gone. I can live with this all." He then looked to Scott again, "How did he pass?"
Even from their distance, Marionette could hear Scott's heartrate starting to quicken. He noticed Scott shift his hand so that he could grab ahold of Ennard's arm. His fingers tightened as he suppressed his anxiousness. He took a deep breath and then asked, "Will you come into the kitchen with me?"
Marionette was slightly confused but nodded in agreement. Scott meanwhile reached down to pat Ennard's arm and coax it off. The gentler motion managed to convince Ennard to release his tight grip. As the wires slid back under the comforter, Scott stood from his chair and sluggishly entered the kitchen. He felt stiff and unsettled and wasn't looking forward to what he was about to do. Marionette followed him into the kitchen where Scott retrieved a jug of orange juice and shakily poured himself a glass. His hand was trembling as he did so.
"S-Sit down," Scott offered as he gestured back to the small table. Marionette looked to it.
"Thank you, but I'll be fine," Marionette turned him down gently with a wave. "I can hover comfortably for some time."
"No, you need to sit down for this," Scott insisted as he paused to sip the orange juice. Marionette couldn't help but be somewhat surprised and a little wary of the Phone Guy's directness. He still did as suggested. Scott put the jug away and then stood at the fridge, hesitating for a moment, and then sat down at the table with his glass. He set it aside and folded his hands on the table, then looked at Marionette directly. Scott didn't usually make full eye contact, but here he was doing it, and Marionette took it as a sign of the gravity of the situation.
"I knew you would eventually ask me about Fredrick. I hoped you wouldn't… But I knew you would," Scott admitted. Marionette's default smile started to soften as he began to allow his interest to overtake his disguising. He could already tell from Scott's tone that this was far more serious than anything they had spoken of before. "And I can tell you everything… But I need to make sure that you really want to know, because I can't take it back afterwards."
"I need to know," Marionette assured. Even though he was becoming more fearful of what Scott would say, he knew that he couldn't just give up now without the answers he needed. "Please, Scott."
"…Then I'll tell you," Scott agreed. "…I've always knew too much anyway."
When Mike had finally ended the story of how they got away from the pizzeria, he could tell that Fritz was shaken hearing about everything that happened. "I got to Foxy's at about six, I think. I didn't check," Mike finished as he leaned back in the van's passenger seat and rubbed his forehead. "It wasn't what I was expected, but Chance didn't disappoint. He kept up with the Freddy's tradition of having deathtraps for pizzerias. This time a literal one, but still managed to vanish with all of the evidence."
To say Mike wasn't still tired was a lie. That didn't mean he felt able to go home and go to sleep. His mind was too awake for his own good, regardless of how his body complained at him. It wasn't the worst night's sleep he had, but it would be something he would need a few days to recover from. He looked over towards Fritz, "And as soon as I get home I have to find these cameras he was talking about."
"I just don't get it…" Fritz murmured. "Chance wasn't ever this… Aggressive. I mean, maybe I understand his reasoning behind the animatronics." Noticing Mike look at him, he added, "I don't agree with him. I meant that I understand what he's doing. There's a method to the madness. Why was he trying to kill you? What did he get out of that?" He shook his head in disgust. "Think what you want of animatronics, but that's actual murder. That's a morality line you're crossing, because he might not think they can feel, but he knows humans can."
"He thought I was Michael for one, and then he was going on about my relationship with Marionette. How I was poisoning him and everything," Mike vented. Fritz clicked his tongue.
"It's sharing the bed. You're starting to warp him," Fritz lightly teased. He then sighed and shook his head, "I'm glad I wasn't there. I probably would've lost it and made a huge scene."
At this point Mike had stopped listening, because his mind started to wander to a new thought. One mostly surrounding Fritz's playful prodding and how it was connected to Chance's own words. Chance had brought up the relationship as perverse and, while Mike was no longer bothered by Chance's words, he suddenly wondered if the playful jabs from Fritz could come from a similar place. He couldn't tell how Fritz would react to such news and it was very possible that he would take it with the same disgust as Chance.
This was why Mike and Marionette had said nothing to the others. Unlike Marionette and Foxy secretly being alive, which was now common knowledge around the workers at the pizzeria- and thankfully had gone well enough with trial and error- this was something less easy to swallow. All of them, save Natalie and maybe Tabby, had faced haunted animatronics. They could believe that some of the haunted animatronics were sentient. However, handling Mike and Marionette decision to go along with a relationship was something much more intense.
While Mike didn't think Natalie would care and half wondered if Jeremy knew all the details already, he was much less certain how Fritz would take the news, and whether he would have a reaction like Chance's. He certainly joked about it like he didn't think it was possible.
"…You know, we've been friends for a while now. We've dealt with a lot off stuff over the last couple of years. We've handled each other pretty well too. You've kept a few things from me over the years, but I've never let it get between us, because I trust you," Mike explained. He kept his gaze out the window and tried to make it all sound casual. Fritz briefly to him in confusion.
"I'd say yeah, but what did I keep from you?... Oh, the name thing. Never mind, duly noted." Fritz coughed awkwardly and returned to looking at the road.
"That and things like Phone Guy being alive, or something like that. The point is that it doesn't matter, because I trust you…" Mike tightened his hand on the door grip. "And if there was something that I had to keep from you, you'd understand that it doesn't mean you can't trust me."
"Are you telling me you're Michael Afton? I knew it. You're secretly evil and the pizzeria is really a money laundering scheme," Fritz remarked with an obviously joking smile. "I want in on the till or I'm ratting you out."
"Do your worst. Mari's not actually going to Scott's, he's going to go burn the rest of the evidence. All my evil plans have come to fruition," Mike sarcastically answered. "No, not that. There's something else." Then his nerve nearly checked out as he stared blankly at his friend. "…It's about the other thing Chance was ticked about. It's about my relationship with Marionette…" He gave a slow exhale, "Long story short, it's not as friendly as we've been saying it is."
"What?" Fritz asked in confusion. His brows furrowed as he prepared to turn into the warehouse parking lot. "What exactly does that mean?"
"It means that we're together," Mike bluntly stated. "Romantically together." Fritz made a scoffing noise of dismissal, as though he didn't believe him or thought it was another joke. "I'm not kidding, Fritz. Mari and I have been together for a while now. What did you think Chance saw in the cameras that made him so angry? Other than maybe seeing me showering with the door open, it was seeing us living like a couple. Doing couple things- fighting over Hickory's, baking non-stop, uninterrupted hours of video games-."
"Wait a minute, you're serious," Fritz said, suddenly having it sink in. He stopped midway into the turn of the parking lot and his head snapped over. He gawked at Mike who stared back and fought the urge to look away. "…No, you're joking."
"You want to bet?" Mike asked back. He was trying to joke to keep it casual, but his smirk instead came off as forced. Most likely because it was. "Come on, Fritz. With all your joking you've had to have suspected it."
Slowly it started to fully sink in. Fritz's hands dropped from the steering wheel to his lap, so it was good that he was mostly in the parking lot. Mike was right in that Fritz had noticed their peculiar behaviors. The sleeping in the same bed, the hugs and comforting pats, even them holding hands or guiding each other by the arm. All at once it hit Fritz and his eyes widened as wide as they could.
"Oh…" That was all he could say. There were plenty of questions, but he couldn't concoct them with actual words. He could just stare and try to process the information.
It was the first time that simple words without a real threat caused Mike to feel anxious and he swore he was seconds from sweating bullets. He cleared his throat and tightened his grip on the door.
"How?" Fritz finally asked. It was a peculiar question, not a clear one, but it was a continuation of the topic, so Mike tried to answer.
"It was around when I was with Louise. In fact, it's the reason I ended it with Louise. I know you probably don't get it, and I get that all of this is… Not normal, but I love him, even though he's an animatronic. I might even love him more because he's an animatronic. I couldn't give that up, so we started going along in secret. Foxy found out eventually, Ennard pretty much has the same thing going on with Scott, but other than that we kept it hidden. You can see why."
Fritz was still silently staring, so Mike continued. "Unless you mean how we're together, and that's just… We just do couple things. We talk, we're there for each other- it's just like a normal relationship, except I have to paint my face before I can wheel him around in public," Mike explained. "And I don't care what Chance thought, because it's not toxic and it's not wrong."
"…Scott's dating Ennard?" Fritz asked in quiet disbelief. Mike dismissed it quickly.
"Look, the important point is… I wanted you to know," Mike insisted. His voice stared to show his fear and hesitation. "…Because secrets are what destroyed Freddy's. I trust you, Fritz. You're a good friend."
"This is all a lot to take in…" Fritz admitted as he looked back to the steering wheel.
"But we're cool, right?" Mike coaxed. "You don't think I'm a disgusting creep that's violating Mari, right?"
"Of course not! I- Give me some credit, I… I think this is all way too much to suddenly take in, but I… I've seen how you two are…" He reached up to rub at the stubble on his cheek. "And apparently didn't notice what I was obviously seeing." Mike reached out and squeezed him on the shoulder appreciatively. Regardless of the other's slow acceptance, the lack of outright disgust and dismissal was encouragement to Mike.
"Let's uh… Let's get Baby inside. We can keep talking on the way back, but I don't want to hang around long," Fritz suggested. Mike agreed and gave an exhale of relief as they stepped out of the van. Though by time they were at the back of the van, Mike was suddenly hit by the downside of his reveal. While loading Baby onto the dolly, Fritz decided to ask further questions. "So… How do you- You know… Do you kiss? Because he's porcelain and you're not, and I'm a little…?"
"Yes," Mike answered, suppressing the urge to point out how embarrassing the other's interest was. "You've seen his mask change expression. It's not just normal porcelain."
"Alright, I follow." They fell to a less awkward silence as they continued with the job at hand. Unfortunately, the questions weren't over, and continued while they where wheeling the tarp covered Baby across the parking lot. Once outside the door, Fritz came to an abrupt halt.
"Okay, just, before we go in there, one more thing," Fritz insisted as he turned to Mike and put his keys in his pocket. His face returned to being nearly stoic. "Be honest with me, are you the only ones? I mean, I don't care if you are or not, but I'd like to know before I… Ever go over to Scott's again." He almost gave what looked like an inward shutter. This time, Mike really did roll his eyes.
"No, it's just us. Trust me, Foxy isn't a quiet one and Scott… Yeah, no. I don't think Scott's that desperate. He's a little insane, but he's not that insane." As weird as Scott's tape collection was, Mike didn't think he was that willing to trust Ennard. Especially since, compared to Mike and his situation, Scott was living a largely normal life. Or he had been until they dropped Ennard on his doorstep.
"Alright, just making sure… Look, Mike, I'm fine with you and Mari, just… Be careful, okay?" Fritz looked moderately concerned. When Mike got a suspicious look, he defended his words, "Chance's reaction was extreme, but that's just a risk you have to take. Just try to make sure that this doesn't get noticed by anyone outside of the business. The others aren't going to be upset, I can tell you that, but others- If someone like Natalie's dad found out, I couldn't even imagine what he would do."
"Probably something similar to what Chance tried to do… We know the risks and we're going to be careful," Mike reassured. "And the first thing to go are the cameras inside of the house." Fritz silently agreed and opened the door. A gush of icy air poured out as he approached the dolly and guided it in.
Halfway over the threshold and Fritz paused long enough to add, "I should've known something was up after you two got all touchy feely with that game Night Guard Flashlight Tag." He sent a slightly playful smile back at Mike who responded with a flatly disapproving look. They then wheeled into the warehouse.
"Surprise, surprise, it's a meat locker," Mike remarked. A puff of smoke followed his words, showing how cold it had gotten in the warehouse. Though he was immediately met with another sensation. The warehouse smelled like rotten meat and he nearly recoiled in disgust. "And it smells like something crawled in here and died. Could've been a rotten and slightly charred rabbit. Ugh."
"Yeah, I know. It smelled like this the last time I came in. It's not as bad in the office, and that's where we need to wheel Baby," Fritz said. The office wasn't far so, regardless of his hesitation, Mike went along with wheeling Baby into the office. As he suggested, it was much more comfortable in the office. The temperature was still lower than normal, but the smell was almost entirely undetectable. They wheeled Baby to the back wall and lowered her down. "She should be safe here."
"Did you grab the HandUnit?" Mike asked, to which Fritz made a hissing noise. "Eh, I'll go get it." Before he had a chance to catch himself, as he was about to do, Fritz did.
"Whoa, whoa, no. This door," Fritz commanded. He pointed to the door that led from the office to outside. "Use this one and prop it open. I don't want something weird happening."
"Got it," Mike assured as he opened the door, kicked the wooden doorstop underneath it, and headed out towards the van. All went relatively fine; he leaned in, grabbed the HandUnit, came out, looked around, and then wrote off his concern as paranoia. He then stepped back out of the van and returned to the office, where Fritz was now booting up the computer. "I thought we weren't staying."
"We aren't. Keep that door open," Fritz insisted as he pointed out to stop Mike from closing it. As though Mike intended to close it. "You said you got some files off Chance's computer?" Mike nodded and handed over the HandUnit, which Fritz plugged into the computer once it had booted up. He then used the computer to access the files inside the tool.
Mike hadn't paid attention to the files during the fire. At the time he really couldn't, but he was glad that he took the time to get them now and seeing them showed that it was the right decision. There were four files listed in the lineup. They were listed as 'Final Notice', 'Paragraph Four', 'Blueprint Springlock Bonnie, and 'Happiest Day'. The first one was opened to reveal a text document that Fritz read off.
"To the last of my family: I'm so sorry I let it get this far. I'm sorry I won't ever be able to be the husband, father, and grandfather I should have been. I love you all dearly and everything that was mine is yours. Please take care of yourselves and try not to live in the past because of me. To Henry: I'll be seeing you soon. I hope that you will finally be at peace now that I've completed your final wishes. No more nightmares; we will finally be together again. To Samuel and Charlotte: I'm sorry I wasn't there when you needed me. I hope you can forgive me."
It continued to address other people who they didn't know, as well as a brief blurb of an apology to Scott, and it was obvious that these were Chance's final words to make peace. As angry as Mike was, he felt an ill feeling of guilt in his stomach and tried to look away. He just ended up looking at Fritz, who had a look of someone who was crushed. He reached out for Fritz's shoulder and gave it a comforting squeeze.
"I'm okay…" Fritz assured as he moved to the second file and clicked on it.
'Paragraph Four' was another document. This time it was just a detailed explanation of Chance's plan on trapping and burning the animatronics. It was much more detailed and that made it more disturbing, but it was nothing new to Mike. None of the information was surprising to him. Not even when he found the section devoted to Lefty, which clearly detailed the attempt to capture Marionette inside. Fritz's eyes widened, and he looked to Mike, but neither of them said anything. They silently moved onto the next one.
The third file, 'Blueprint Springlock Bonnie', was a detailed blueprint about the Golden Bonnie Springlock suit. The features presented on the suit were much more basic and less insidious than those on the Funtime ones. It noted the ability to switch from suit mode to animatronic mode, the ability to remove the internal endoskeleton from the suit, and other mentions of the movement capabilities. William just wore the suit and used it. Whether he was still in the suit was unclear, but apparently there wasn't any secret programming to it.
Then there was the final file, listed simply as 'Happiest Day'. Fritz clicked onto it and it opened to see what almost seemed to be a black box with numbers recording a date at the corner and was even more so when he realized what it was. "It's a video. There's just… Nothing on it," Fritz pointed out. "Why would Chance have a pitch-black video?"
"There's got to be something more to this. Start the video over and crank the volume up. Maybe it's an audio thing we're supposed to be hearing," Mike suggested. Fritz did as said and set the video to the beginning before turning on the computer speakers. It turned out that Mike was right, but what they found wasn't exactly what either had expected.
Soft chiming music could be heard playing over a light crackling static. It was a somber tune, played simply, and sounded almost sad. Even more so when Mike realized that it was not a normal music box. He leaned in closer, listened to it, and knew what was so peculiar about it. It came to him all at once.
"It's Mari…" Mike murmured as he listened closer to the depressing tune. It was a video recording of Marionette, but only the audio had come through. Perhaps because wherever it was had been too dark to see. "It's definitely him. I'd recognize his chiming anywhere," Mike insisted. That, and he doubted that a music box could make chiming sound emotional. "What is this…?"
"From the date, it happened before Fredrick's death. Probably was back at the old Pizzeria where you were working… Could've been anything," Fritz remarked. To be honest, he hadn't the slightest idea what could be happening or why Chance had it on tape. "You have any ideas?" Mike stayed silent. He wasn't sure what was happening, but listening to that music only spoke of the worst.
It sounded like mourning. It sounded like the 'happiness' that came at a terrible price. Mike couldn't remember if the term 'Happiest Day' had come up before between them, but he almost thought that he knew what was happening. He couldn't see anything, but he knew it was Marionette, alone and chiming in the dark, both celebrating and grieving at the same time. Mike had no doubt that it wasn't Marionette's day, but someone else's, and he was left the celebrate alone.
While he doubted the tune would ever leave his mind, it was suddenly interrupted by a different sort of ringing. Fritz jumped and retrieved his cell phone from his pocket. "It's Nat checking in. Are we going?"
"Yeah… Why don't you take that and I'll shut this down?" Mike asked. "We'll keep the door open and I'll be out in a couple of minutes."
"Huh. You're sure?... Okay, if you're sure," Fritz agreed. He stood and headed outside to answer the cellphone, as the reception in the warehouse was poor. As he left Mike's line of sight, the security guard reset the video again and listened to the tune once more.
"Do I even ask him about this?" Mike asked himself as he sat in the office chair. "It was before Fredrick died. Could've been while I was in between jobs… But somehow Chance got ahold of this tape. Unless it was in some of Afton's things. Guess that would make sense if Afton was monitoring what was happening at the Pizzeria…" Mike's thoughts were abuzz, and he almost wished Marionette was there. "Forget it. I can't ask him about this. He's got enough on his mind…" He dropped his head into his hands as he listened to the end of the chime. "…Just have to get home and make him feel better."
"Hey, Mike!" Fritz's voice called down the hallway into the office. Mike perked and leaned over to stare down the dark hallway.
"What are you doing down there?" Mike called as he turned down the volume. "And what did Natalie say?"
"She was asking when we were getting back, but then I noticed this door was open again," Fritz called back. "Hey, I noticed something. Can you come here?"
"I don't really want to, to be honest," Mike answered with a sigh and stood. "Alright, I'm coming." He crossed down through the doorway and into the main warehouse. It was dark, so he clicked on the main lights. To his dismay, only a few of the roof lights came on and they seemed rather dim. "How exactly would we replace these bulbs?"
"We'll do that later," Fritz's voice echoed from further back in the warehouse. "Come here."
"I'm coming, I'm coming," Mike called as he walked between the tall shelves. As Mike stepped out to the end of the shelves, Fritz called again.
"Come here." Mike frowned and looked towards the third row of shelves, still darkened by the lighting, and scoffed.
"Yeah, no, I'm not going through those back shelves. Come on, let's just go," Mike coaxed as he looked over towards the larger doors that they had brought Baby in through. "…I thought you said these doors were open." He started to approach the doors when he noticed something strange. It almost sounded like someone outside and he leaned against the door. Instantly his blood ran cold.
He could hear Fritz talking on the phone outside.
"Mike," the Fritz voice called from deeper inside the warehouse. "Come here."
"That's not Fritz." Mike immediately was overwhelmed in panic and swore internally as he moved away from the doors. "It's that thing. It's that thing here in the warehouse. It's doing the fake voices to lure me in."
"Mike," the voice said more firmly. "You need to come here."
"Yeah, I'm coming," Mike called back. "Let me just… Let me just get some protection from the office. I think there's a crowbar in there or something and if we're going to be staying here we're going to need something." He hoped the lie was believable as he speedily started back towards the office. "I'll be right back!"
Yet as he hurried to the office, walking as fast as he could while trying to be casual, he had a sinking feeling that it knew that he knew. He already felt like he was being watched. Right before he stepped into the office, he heard a mechanical click and knew that the door had closed. He knew it even before he entered the office and saw the door now shut. Trying it revealed no give; it was locked tightly.
"Oh no, no, no! Come on, no!" Mike tried the door desperately. "Wasn't there a sledgehammer or something in here?!" He quickly remembered that it was back out in the actual warehouse and almost considered giving up on the idea of breaking the door down. This would be the only door that he could break down, but he wasn't sure if he was willing to confront the thing in the warehouse to get it. Or he was for a few moments, until whatever it was decided that it wasn't afraid to follow in after him.
He couldn't see it, but Mike knew it was there. The sudden pressure that overtook the room and tightened on his body was a direct sign of it. He could feel tightness like metal around his lungs and it compressed until he was having trouble breathing, and he knew it wasn't just an oncoming attack. The lights flickered, and he spun around to look over the room, but saw nothing. The computer, which had fell into silence after the video ended, now began to blare with distorted audio and garbled voices. He had no option to stay there.
Mike broke into a sprint back into the warehouse and rushed down towards to the spare tools locker. He ran under flickering lights and through spots of chill and warmth, then took a sharp left and, to his dismay, was stuck running towards the back of the warehouse like it had wanted. Yet instead of taking another left and heading down the final row of shelves against the back wall, he instead stopped at the locker. He fumbled with the padlock and tried to ignore the intense feeling of being watched. He was sweating even in the cold and his fingers clumsily twisted at the padlock.
Then he got the tool locker open and searched through what was there. There were tools, along with a crowbar, but the sledgehammer was missing, along with any sort of item that could be used instead of it. Mike frantically searched longer before realizing that it was hopeless and grabbing the crowbar instead. It would have to work, he supposed, and he turned around. It was then that he saw what was waiting behind him. The crowbar dropped to the ground with a clang as his blue eyes widened in horror at what blocked his path.
There stood the endoskeleton bear that had followed Mike back from ARI. Its yellow eyes stared Mike down and its mouth hung open, as though in a silent scream.
Mike turned and bolted down the last row beside the back wall. He didn't even waste the time to grab the crowbar and instead rushed down his only path of escape. A loud popping echoed through the warehouse as the only fully functioning light blew and darkened the already dim warehouse. The others still flickered as Mike made it to the end of the shelves. The plan was to move some boxes and to slide through to the next isle, then to disappear into the office. Eventually Fritz would notice what was happening and open the door again.
Instead, Mike found the shelves packed to the brim, and he didn't remember Fritz doing this. It was almost as though something had barricaded this final shelf. He started trying to move one of the cardboard boxes when something toppled over behind it, spilling what sounded like metal parts. It was a dead giveaway that this wouldn't be a quick escape. Which only became more obvious when he looked over to see the endoskeleton bear now standing at the end of the row. Its head was now cocked to the side and it watched him intently.
The security guard took a step back toward the back wall in growing dread. His foot caught something, and he stumbled over it before hitting the wall. With a slight grunt, he glanced down to see none other than the sledgehammer laying on the ground at his feet. His brows furrowed in confusion and he straightened.
"Why is that over here?" It was only then that he noticed something odd about the wall behind him. He slid to the side, not removing his gaze from the unmoving endoskeleton, which was silently watching him, and looked towards the plaster on the wall. It was odd enough that this strange white plaster was covering the wall, considering that none of the other walls resembled it, but the plaster was cracked in as though something heavy struck it; possibly the sledgehammer itself.
"Wait a minute… Is there something under there?" Mike was torn between curiosity and the endoskeleton bear, which was slowly getting closer every time he glanced away from it. He was running out of time and it was the only possibility at an escape, so Mike reached down, hoisted the hammer, and began to break through the wall. The sledgehammer easily tore through plaster and slammed against wood underneath. Mike yanked the hammer out, tearing out more plaster with him, and could see what looked to be a door hidden beneath it.
"You're kidding me. Even the warehouse has a sealed room. That's just-."
All thoughts died when he realized that the endoskeleton bear was right behind him. He rushed through a few last swings to clear the way and then tried the door. It was locked, so he broke through the knob and rammed the door open. The door caught on something metal on the floor and he yanked it out of the way so that he could force the door open. It seemed to be some sort of long cranking mechanism.
The plan was to shut the door and try to barricade it from the endoskeleton following him, but all of that changed in an instant that Mike found the light switch. As surprising as it was, the lightbulb was unbroken and turning the switch illuminated the room with a few flickers. It was then that Mike could see what the closet contained and what had been sealed away in this room. It was the last thing he expected.
Slumped against the back wall was an abandoned animatronic bear. It had no eyes and its mouth gaped open, further revealing its emptiness on the inside. Its yellowed fabric was dirtied with dust and what Mike hoped was just food waste. Its hands laid at its side and its head was tilted as though its neck would no longer hold it up. Its identity was obvious; if not for the fact that it was a golden colored bear, then because Mike recognized it by memory.
Mike was staring at the remains of Golden Freddy.
"What are you doing in here…?" Mike muttered under his breath. He was answered by a loud clicking and turned around to see the endoskeleton bear right behind him.
With a choke, Mike stumbled out of the way, suddenly expecting for the wire bear to try and shove him into the suit. He readied the crank like he would a weapon, even though the sledge hammer could've been much more effective, and waited to be grabbed for. To his confusion, the bear simply stared past him at the animatronic on the floor, and then took a stiff step towards the slumped Golden Freddy.
Mike watched from the corner as the body endoskeleton stared down with its yellow eyes. It stood above the downed bear silently, expectantly, like it was waiting for something. Through the flickering light, Mike's eyes were drawn to something peculiar on the wire bear's back. It almost looked like a slot for something to be pushed inside. Mike looked down at the crank in his hand and put two and two together. The endoskeleton wasn't moving and while he knew he needed to flee, he instead found himself setting down the sledgehammer and approaching the back of the endoskeleton bear.
His hands were shaking as he raised the crank up to the hole and slid it into place. It fit right in. After licking over his dried lips, Mike started to turn the crank. Once, twice, three times…
And the wires on the endoskeleton nearly collapsed off it. The wire bear almost fell entirely apart in front of him. Mike took a step back while still holding the crank again like a weapon. The mound of wires and skeleton peices twitched on the floor. They spasmed like overused muscles and wriggled like the wire remains of something like Ennard; thrashing mindlessly. But this was not the end, and Mike felt like he was stuck in place. Even though he wanted to run, he was rooted on the spot as the wires started to climb up Golden Freddy's belly.
Pulling the bear's mouth open further, the mass of wires and parts started to slide inside. They forced themselves in as the shell of Golden Freddy welcomed them in as a child may welcome in a bite of cake. They fed themselves into the body. The intact pieces- the hands, the feet, the eyes- slid in alongside until the last bit of wiring disappeared past the teeth and inside of the confines of the suit. The golden bear trembled as the endoskeleton mass shifted itself around inside and only then did Mike get enough control to take another step back, stepping out the door.
But there wasn't any time to escape. The golden bear, now filled to the brim with parts and wires, stood from its resting spot and clicked its pieces all into place. It raised its head to reveal the yellow eyes that had now slid into the once empty sockets. They locked onto Mike, who only now realized that he had been coaxed into making a terrible mistake.
He had let out something much more terrifying than anything Afton could've ever created or Chance could've put together. Only now did he realize the true source of the haunting that had been following him.
It had been Golden Freddy, and Mike had just put him back together.
"I'm still here."