Sunday, July 26, 1987
Evan twiddled his thumbs as he sat in the waiting room of the hospital. As much as he wanted to stay at the house so that he could check on Mangle, the paramedics made it very clear that they couldn't leave him there unsupervised, and so he had to accompany them to the hospital as they transported Michael.
He had now been there for a couple of hours, occasionally dozing off as he waited for any news in regards to Michael's condition. In the meantime, nurses had come by every once in a while to check on him, with one even giving him a sandwich and a can of Coke.
Finally, a doctor came out of Michael's hospital room and went over to Evan. He looked like he was in his mid-fifties, and he had a troubled expression on his face.
"How are you holding up, son?" The doctor asked.
"Um, I'm okay," Evan replied instinctively, but he was unsure of how true that actually was. "How's Michael?"
"We finally managed to stabilize him, so he's going to be okay," the doctor explained. His face then grew more serious. "However, his wounds are very severe, so it's going to take a long time for him to recover, and even then he's never going to be the same as before."
Evan's gaze drifted down to the ground. He couldn't help but feel guilty for what happened. He didn't blame Mangle—she was only trying to protect him, after all. No, what he regretted was not telling Michael that Mangle was there. If he had, his older brother probably wouldn't have 'punished' him right then and there.
"Son," the doctor said to get Evan's attention. "I know this will probably be hard for you, but I need you to clarify some things about what happened."
Evan fidgeted as his eyes darted from side to side. "Um… what things?"
"Well, for one, the bite marks on Michael don't match any animal bites any of us have ever seen before," the doctor noted. "Are you sure it was a bear that did this?"
Evan swallowed as he continued to fidget. "Well, um… it was big and furry, and scary, so I thought it was a bear."
"But you didn't get a good look at it?"
Evan shook his head. "No."
"And you're sure it left your house?"
"Yeah, I… um… saw it run downstairs," Evan replied. "A-and then I saw it outside through the window."
The doctor gave him a doubtful look. He then let out a sigh and said, "Son, I need you to tell me the truth."
Evan's stomach was in knots. He knew that he couldn't tell the doctor the truth. If he did, they'd take Mangle away and scrap her.
The doctor then asked, "Do your parents keep any exotic animals in the house?"
Evan looked absolutely bewildered by the question. "What?! No!"
The doctor took note of Evan's reaction and looked somewhat relieved. "Alright, son. I just wanted to make sure." Clearing his throat, he then changed the subject. "But there's another thing I wanted to talk to you about. We've been calling your house over and over again, but no one is picking up. Are you sure your father is just out on an errand?"
"Um…" Evan fidgeted with his fingers. "Maybe he got held up or something?"
The doctor gave him another skeptical look before he decided to drop the matter. "Alright. But do you have someone else who can come pick you up? Grandparents? Uncles? Aunts?"
"Um, yeah, I think so," Evan replied hesitantly. "Can I borrow a phone?"
"Sure, I have one in my office," the doctor said and gestured for Evan to follow.
Evan followed the doctor to his office, where the man sat down behind his desk, on which was a phone, a mug, as well as countless notebooks and papers. Evan sat down on the opposite side, and the doctor then pushed the phone over to him.
"Here you go, son."
"Th-thanks," replied as he nervously picked up the handset. Swallowing, Evan dialed his home number and hoped that the doctor wouldn't notice it. While listening to the dial tone, the boy eyed the doctor, who regarded him in silence. When he finally got to the answering machine, Evan started talking. "Hi, Uncle Henry! It's me, Evan. Could you come pick me up at the hospital? Something happened to Michael, and Father's not home right now." Evan paused to make it seem like someone was responding on the other end. He then continued, "Okay. Thanks, Uncle Henry!"
Evan hung up the phone and then forced a smile, praying that the doctor bought it.
To the boy's relief, it seemed like he did. The doctor nodded and said, "Good. You can wait in the waiting room until your uncle picks you up."
"Thanks," Evan replied with a sheepish grin as he left the office.
The boy returned to the waiting room, where he sat down and waited. He didn't want to make anyone suspicious by leaving too quickly, after all.
After sitting around for ten minutes, Evan finally left the hospital, but he was surprised to see that it was already getting dark.
Not wanting to walk back home during this time of day, Evan decided to take the bus instead.
"Oh fuck… Oh fuck…" Ramón Rivera mumbled as he walked down the main hallway of Freddy Fazbear's Pizza. Coming to a stop before the manager's office, he knocked on the door.
"Come in!" Walton said from inside of the office.
Ramón entered, looking deeply troubled. "Mister Walton, we have a problem."
Walton swiveled his chair to face Ramón while letting out a defeated sigh. "Well, I doubt things can get any worse at this point, so what's the problem?"
"We can't find the Mangle," Ramón replied.
Walton stared at him in disbelief. "Wha— Uh, are you sure you checked everywhere?"
"We did, Mister Walton."
"I-including the vents?"
"Including the vents," Ramón assured him.
Walton stared down at the floor as he rubbed his temples. "Oh no… No, no, no, no…"
Ramón swallowed. He had never seen his manager like this. Then again, things had never been this bad before. Ramón then suggested, "Maybe we could review today's surveillance footage? I'm sure it must've caught something, right?"
Walton looked up at Ramón completely slack-jawed, his eyes wide and his skin pale.
Ramón was more than a little taken aback by this reaction. When his manager failed to provide an answer, he said, "Mister Walton?"
"Th-that footage has been lost," Walton finally replied, panic evident in his voice.
Ramón looked confused. "Lost? What do you mean—"
"Th-that does not concern you!" Walton said, cutting him off. His eyes darted around before he finally added, "J-just get back to working on the other animatronics!"
"Okay…" Ramón replied, feeling more than a little suspicious.
He was about to leave the office, when Walton stopped him. "Ramón!"
"... Yes, Mister Walton?"
"Don't tell anyone about Toy Foxy's disappearance, okay?" Walton said with a grave look on his face. "If you do, the company will sue you for defamation."
Ramón stared at Walton before he finally replied, "I… I won't say anything, Mister Walton."
"Good," Walton said as he turned back to his desk.
Ramón left the office and closed the door behind him, leaving his manager alone.
When Evan finally got back home, he realized that he was feeling a bit light-headed, and it didn't take him long to figure out why—with the exception of the small meal he got at the hospital, he had barely had anything to eat or drink all day.
Letting out a sigh of relief at finally being back home, he stepped onto the front porch and unlocked the door before entering.
"Mangle!" Evan called out after closing the front door.
There was no response.
Evan frowned and took off his shoes and hung up his coat before venturing deeper into the house to look for the animatronic. He recalled how scared she was of going outside when they left the restaurant, and he figured that she was probably still in the house.
"Mangle!" He called out again as he opened the storage closet to see if the animatronic was hiding there.
She wasn't.
As Evan closed the closet door, he considered where else to look. He then remembered the blood trail leading into the vent back at Freddy Fazbear's Pizza. Given that Mangle was drenched in blood when she ran off, she probably left another trail.
Evan grimaced at the thought, but he felt sure that looking for another blood trail was his best bet of finding her.
The eight year old went up the stairs, down the hallway, and then entered his room. The sight of Michael's blood, which had by now soaked into the carpet floor, was enough to make the boy's stomach turn and he looked away.
Knowing that he had to push on, Evan took a deep breath to steel himself. He then went towards the exit on the opposite side of his room, where Mangle had run off. He could see that there was indeed a blood trail leading out of his room and into the other hallway. Evan followed the blood trail to his father's office, and then to his parents' bedroom. There he saw that the blood trail led to one of the walk-in closets, and as he approached it, he could make out the sobs and sniffles of his friend.
"Mangle?" Evan said in a gentle tone as he carefully opened the closet.
Inside, Mangle was laying on the floor with her ears lowered, covering her face as she sobbed to herself.
"Mangle, are you okay?" Evan asked as he sat down in front of her.
"Who ca-ca-ca-cares if I'm okay-ay-ay-ay…?" Mangle sobbed. "I'm just a malfun-fun-fun-fun-functioning animatronic that can't do an-an-an-anything right… All I do is fa-fa-fa-fall apart or hurt-urt-urt-urt-urt people…" She whimpered. "Ev-ev-ev-everyone would be better off if I got scra-scra-scra-scra-scrapped…"
"Don't say that!" Evan said a little louder than he had intended. "I don't want you to be scrapped…"
Mangle looked up at the boy and sniffled. "So… you-you-you-you don't hate me-e-e-e?"
"Of course not!" Evan shook his head. "You're my friend!"
"Even thou-thou-thou-though I hurt your bro-bro-bro-brother?" Mangle asked.
"Yeah." Evan nodded with a solemn expression on his face. "You were only trying to protect me… right?"
Mangle slowly nodded as her gaze drifted down to the ground. "I didn't mea-mea-mea-mean to hurt him like that-at-at-at… I just got so an-an-an-angry…"
"I know you didn't," Evan said as he placed his hand gently down on her head and stroked it. "And if it makes you feel better, the doctor said that Michael's going to be okay."
"Re-re-re-really?" Mangle asked, raising her head as she perked up a bit.
Evan offered her a comforting smile and nodded. However, his expression then grew more serious. "But… he's not going to be the same."
Mangle's ears drooped upon hearing that. She lowered her head and covered her face as she began to sob again.
Evan continued to comfort Mangle in silence while gently stroking her head. But after a while, he realized how heavy his eyelids felt. He turned to look at the digital clock sitting on top of his father's nightstand. It was 9:16 PM—well past his bedtime.
The boy frowned. He wanted nothing more than to keep comforting his friend, but he knew he had to go to bed soon. Moreover, he knew that he needed to eat something. Just the thought of food was enough for his stomach to start growling.
"Hey, Mangle?" Evan said softly. "I need to eat something. Maybe you could come with me downstairs and… um… watch TV together."
Mangle didn't respond at first, but then slowly lifted her head to look at Evan. She still looked upset, but even so replied with, "O-o-o-okay…"
Evan stood up and began to walk out of the room, but he looked back to see if Mangle was following him before he went through the door. Sure enough, she was.
He brought her down to the living room. There, smiling at her, he gestured towards the sofa and said, "Um, you can sit down and watch some TV if you want while I get some food."
Mangle looked at the sofa and then back at Evan with a questioning look. "I'm allow-low-low-lowed to sit on the sof-sof-sof-sofa?"
Evan was a bit confused by her question, but then replied, "Yeah, of course you are."
Mangle looked at the sofa again, hesitating for a moment before climbing into it and lying down.
Evan smiled at her as he went over to the TV. Switching it on, he began to go through the channels to see if he could find anything suitable for them to watch. As it so happened, one of the channels was currently airing Disney's Robin Hood. They had missed the start of the movie, of course, but Evan figured that it was the best out of what was currently available.
The boy then went to the kitchen, leaving Mangle to watch the movie on her own. She wasn't too interested in what was happening on the screen at first, instead just staring absentmindedly at it while quietly sobbing to herself. But gradually, she found herself more and more engrossed by the movie.
It showed three little bunnies playing with a turtle, and while playing one of them accidentally shot an arrow into the backyard of someone named 'Prince John'. The four went to retrieve it, but only after the bunnies made the turtle promise not to tattle on them. They then snuck into the backyard. And that's when Mangle saw her.
Maid Marian.
She was a fox, just like her. But unlike Mangle or any other Foxy animatronic, she had a much more human-like body that was so elegant and beautiful, and was covered with actual fur! And although Maid Marian also had sharp teeth, they didn't make her look scary at all! Rather, they somehow accentuated her beauty! And to top it all off, she also wore jewelry and a pretty dress, and her voice was so clear and soothing!
Mangle looked down at her own body and her ears drooped. She was nothing but a mess of parts made out of metal, plastic, and wiring, covered in dried blood and viscera. She looked back at Maid Marian and felt a deep sorrow that eluded her, yet seemed like it had somehow always been there, quietly bubbling under the surface. It wasn't something she was able to put into words.
The animatronic couldn't help but get a little startled when Evan suddenly approached her. She turned to look at him and saw that he was carrying a plate with two grilled ham and cheese sandwiches as well as a glass of milk.
Evan smiled at her as he put the glass down on the coffee table. "Do you like the movie so far?"
Mangle nodded and watched as the boy sat down beside her.
He proceeded to scarf down the first sandwich, but when he caught Mangle staring at him, he gave her a sheepish smile and said, "Sorry, I'm just really hungry."
Mangle let out a glitched giggle before returning her attention to the TV.
It did not take long for Evan to finish his food and his milk, and by the midpoint of the movie, the boy had fallen asleep. Mangle had only seen children asleep a few times before at Freddy's, but she could instantly recognize it from the way he was breathing. She rested her head on Evan's lap as she watched the rest of the movie, occasionally perking up whenever Maid Marian was on screen.
By the time Robin Hood ended, Mangle realized just how long Evan had slept. Raising her head, she lowered her ears as she regarded him, worried that something was wrong.
"Eva-va-va-van?" She said to get the boy's attention. When he didn't respond, she began to panic, afraid that she had somehow hurt him as well. She shook him and called out, "Ev-Ev-Ev-Evan!"
The eight year old let out a sleepy groan at suddenly being awoken. Rubbing his eyes, he whined, "Mangle? What are you doing?"
"Are you okay-kay-kay-kay?" Mangle asked with great concern.
"Why wouldn't I be?" Evan whined, just wanting to go back asleep.
"You slept-ept-ept-ept for a really long ti-ti-ti-time!" Mangle said, lowering her ears.
Evan groaned and then asked, "What time is it…?"
Mangle looked at the clock in the living room before returning her attention to Evan. "It's-it's-it's-it's 11:00 PM!"
Evan looked as bewildered as he was tired. Finally he said, "Mangle, you know people sleep until morning, right?"
Mangle was quite taken aback by this. "Bu-bu-bu-bu-but the kids at the restaura-ra-ra-rant only sleep for a little bi-bi-bi-bi-bit. And the night gua-gua-gua-gua-guard doesn't sleep at-at-at-at all."
"The kids are only napping or something," Evan replied, feeling a bit more awake now. "And the night guard sleeps all day when he comes home."
Mangle lowered her head in embarrassment. "O-o-o-oh…" She then asked, "But wha-wha-wha-what am I going to do while you slee-slee-slee-slee-sleep?"
Evan let out a tired sigh. As much as he wanted to just go back to sleep, he knew that he had to give Mangle something to do while he was sleeping. Finally he said, "You can watch TV." He then grabbed the remote and showed her how to use it. "See? You use these buttons to change the channel, and when you don't want to watch TV anymore, you press this button to turn it off."
Mangle nodded as she took in this information.
Evan then got out of the sofa, stretched, and then began to make his way towards the stairs.
"Wa-wa-wa-wa-wait, where are you go-go-go-going?" Mangle asked.
Evan turned to her and yawned. "I'm gonna sleep in my room."
"O-o-oh…" Mangle replied, lowering her ears as her gaze drifted down to the ground.
Evan frowned and then went up to Mangle. He hugged her and said, "Don't worry, we'll see each other in the morning, okay?"
Mangle leaned into the hug and hummed in reply.
"Good night, Mangle," Evan said.
"Goo-goo-goo-goo-good night, Evan," Mangle replied.
The boy then broke the hug, and Mangle watched him leave the living room and go up the stairs. She didn't like the idea of having to spend the entire night on her own, but she knew that she didn't really have any other choice.
Mangle looked at the TV remote and let out a glitched sigh before grabbing it. She went through the channels to see if she could find anything interesting to watch, but practically everything on TV now was just adult humans talking or in situations she didn't fully understand. Of course, she might have found some of it interesting if her mind wasn't somewhere else. Maid Marian, and the way she had made her feel, was still on Mangle's mind. She just couldn't get over her.
Mangle switched off the TV and climbed out of the sofa. She then made her way over to the bathroom, where she stood up so that she could look at herself in the mirror. Her ears drooped at the sight.
All she saw was a mess of parts made out of metal, plastic, and wiring, covered in blood as well as some viscera.
A malfunctioning animatronic.
A monster.
Mangle let out a whimper and then began to sob. How Evan could still care about her at all was beyond her, but she was so glad that he did. No one had ever cared about her like he did.
She thought back to Maid Marian and finally realized why the way she made her feel seemed so familiar. It was similar to the way Toy Chica had always made her feel. She got to be a girl from the start and was always seen as one, and she was pretty! Mangle, meanwhile, was meant to be a boy and originally had a body like that of Toy Bonnie. It was only because of her clown makeup that some of the guests and employees started calling her a girl, and even then they were usually 'corrected' by other staff members. Of course, after the technicians stopped rebuilding her, more and more people began referring to her as 'it' or 'that thing'. All of it made her envy Chica for what she had.
But the way Mangle felt about Toy Chica was miniscule compared to the way she felt about Maid Marian.
She was so beautiful!
Perfect in every way!
Mangle looked into the mirror again and shuddered upon seeing her reflection.
She wished more than anything that she could look like her.
Mangle closed her eyes and imagined what it would be like. She imagined herself looking in the mirror and seeing a reflection that looked like Maid Marian, but with white and pink fur, red lipstick, golden eyes, and rosy cheeks. She then imagined herself looking down at a pretty dress and her fluffy, white and pink tail. She imagined herself swishing her tail from side to side, and running her hands along her soft furry cheeks. Mangle couldn't help but let out a giggle of delight at the thought.
But her glitched, dual voiced giggle took her out of the moment completely, forcing her back to reality. She opened her eyes and saw her real reflection.
A broken animatronic.
A mess of parts made out of metal, plastic, and wiring. Covered with blood and viscera.
She would never look the way she imagined.
Never.
Mangle slumped down on the floor and began to cry.
She kept on crying for a good while.
Eventually, however, Mangle got up and crawled out of the bathroom, all while avoiding her reflection as best she could. She climbed the stairs, went down the hallway, and then entered Evan's bedroom.
The boy was fast asleep.
Mangle crawled over to him, but she stopped in her tracks upon spotting the dried out pool of blood where she had mauled Michael. She lowered her ears in shame as she recalled the incident.
Her attention then returned to Evan, and she continued her approach. She sat down next to his bed and watched him sleep.
He looked so peaceful.
It made Mangle wish that she could sleep too. The concept of it just seemed so nice.
She laid down and rested her head on Evan's chest, then closed her eyes. The gentle rhythm of the boy breathing was very relaxing.
Although Mangle was unable to sleep, she wanted to pretend like she could.
She then felt Evan's arms wrap around her snout, but judging by his breathing, he was still asleep.
If Mangle could smile, she would. It didn't matter to him what she looked like, nor what she had done, he loved her regardless.
And she loved him.
