Warning, this chapter mentions self-harm and slightly describes the scarring. Skip the Dr. Alton section if it's a problem.
Super Science Fair
Crew and the other Nightguards decide to help with the fall science fair. Little do they know that the Animatronics will be doing the exact same thing. Crew and the other Honorary Animatronics and Honorary Nightguards will have to play mediator if they don't want a mess on their hands.
Crew's P.O.V.
"Good afternoon, ma'am."
"Good afternoon, Mr. Lockman. Before we begin, would you kindly please describe the children involved?"
"Oh, yeah, sure I can. I don't have too much to say about them, so I hope this is enough."
"In terms of Freddy, I see him as a natural born leader, although I don't exactly know a lot about him, or most people here, for that matter."
"Jason is the creepy "toaster kid" 'cause back in third grade, the guy brought a toaster into school and acted like it was alive. It was hella weird but hey, free toast."
"Evan is, no offense man, "someone who sits in the background." We never really talked before and him losing his voice definitely made it so we never talked again."
"Marionette is the scary one and seems like a motherly figure. I mean, she's Goddamn terrifying but if you get hurt or are feeling like [CENSORED]. She's there to talk to you and help you feel better, although the mask does make that difficult. Seriously, that mask is [CENSORED] creepy as Hell."
"In terms of Bonnie, he's a great kid, to put it bluntly."
"Chica comes off as the "average kid". Not much to her, and I don't know her well enough to say anything more."
"Fionn and Fianna are, in my opinion, way too energetic. Like, way, way, way, WAY too energetic. Seriously, they're bouncing off the walls wherever I meet them."
"And Seán? Banjo Kazooie, just Banjo Kazooie, and energetic, but also optimistic."
"Anyway, I'll start the story now."
The weekend was pretty uneventful. I spent time together with Bonnie and Seán, we chilled out and hung around the playgrounds. Freddy tagged along for a bit before having to go. I like it when the bear joins us honestly, it's always good when he hangs for a few. As we chilled that weekend, we explored places, did fun things and watched a few Freakshow Rock videos, mainly interviews with students on the first day of school, Friday streams or just generally stupid stuff. We all shared a few laughs that day, watching videos with Bonnie and Seán in them, mostly interviews, Bonnie's carrot spiel and Seán getting extremely weirded when one of the members began singing "Häschenmädchen" to him.
"Personally, I don't like bands like Springtime Animals 'cause it's just not my kind o' music, you know? I like jazz instead of metal/pop/kids music but I'll listen to it for a bit when I'm chillin' with my cousins. However, I've been listening to their records a lot more since…well…you know."
Crew clutched a bow tie tightly in his hand as a tear formed in his eye. He stared at it briefly before continuing on.
"Damn, Seán's really gotta be suffering right now. I mean, he did lose them in such an awful way. The survivors' guilt must be rackin' up terribly."
"You care for your cousin greatly don't you." She spoke. Crew nodded. "Of course I do, they're family. Anyway, I'll continue."
Us Nightguards were planning to help with the Science fair since it'd been rescheduled to fall because we missed summer, or something like that, I don't really know what happened. Something about why we didn't have a gym to eat lunch in or a bus our age range. Damn shame it was rescheduled; I had to buy so many glowsticks again.
"Oh, my project was on the science of glowsticks and why they glow. Bonnie helped me crack them all; it took us hours."
As usual, we grouped ourselves into a random classroom to chat; have a meeting Nightguard-style as some say. We were going to offer to help set up everything. Anyway, while we were leaving the school at home time, the middle and high schoolers had made their way down to the elementary and all members of each faction ran into the other. Immediately, the tension was high. Someone (I don't know who) asked what us Nightguards were doing. We replied that we'd be helping for the fair, and that's when it all broke loose. Everyone lined up into sides as we got ready for a stand-off. It's a lot less awesome than it sounds, just a bunch of kids in a line.
As expected, both sides started hurling insults at each other. I stayed out of it and let them go at each other; I didn't want to get involved in anything crazy. The others though, they were out for blood. Bonnie looked like he was ready to maim Mike for a comment and I don't blame him; it was a God-awful comment. Freddy sensed something was up and gave Bonnie a worried glance before holding him back. It didn't work though, and after a particularly nasty taunt, Bonnie ran at Mike and smashed head on into a [CENSORED] metallic door-shaped shield Mike carried (his prop since he's in the Nightguard sub-faction in the Nightguards; they take the role of the Nightguard from the game). "BONNIE!" Fionn exclaimed, dashing over to him. "Ye OK lad?!" Bonnie sat up and nodded. "My head hurts but I'm fine otherwise." Fionn helped Bonnie to his feet and walked him back to the crowd as Freddy had the look of murder slowly develop on his face. "Hey maintenance, what's this broken fox doing out? Thought he was out of order." Mike wondered. Fionn growled under his breath at this.
"Meaning please?"
"Basically this, you're trash and don't belong here."
"I see. Continue."
Seán wasn't happy and spoke up. "Listen, you guys need to stop. The insults aren't funny and if you keep this up, I will deal with you myself."
"Back off rabbit, I've got a fire extinguisher and I'm not afraid to use it." Nicole threatened, staring at Seán, who glared at her and went to help Bonnie. Then Jason made himself known and things just came apart.
"OK who let this scrapped project outta parts and services?" Jeremy asked, his tone annoyed sounding. "No one, nightguard. And I ain't a scrapped project." Jason replied. "Oh, my mistake. I must be hallucinating again because last I checked, you weren't real." Jeremy replied. "I'm as real as you can get." Jason responded, slightly angry. "Sure, keep deluding yourself that way." Came Jeremy's answer.
"I'm sorry, but what exactly were they insulting each other about?" She asked. "Oh, the character Endo 02, what Jason's Animatronic inspiration was, is theorized to be a scrapped version of Toy Foxy or Mangle from the game Five Nights at Freddy's 2."
"Five Nights at Freddy's?"
"Yeah, the game. It was released but had a weird existence after reports of haunting were made. Now we know why; haunted game was related to the deaths." Crew replied. "Anyway Endo 02 hasn't been confirmed real at all so as far as we know, it's just a hallucination or Easter Egg, in other words, not real like the other characters are."
"Oh, so he was taking offense to being told he didn't and shouldn't exist?"
"Yeah, and with…with the way he feels, it really stung."
"I understand now, thank you."
"You're welcome. Continuing on…"
"Deluding myself. Really?" Jason wondered sarcastically. "Well, I figured that's what you do. I mean you delude yourself everyday into believing that sticking around on Earth is actually worth something." Jeremy retorted. Some of the Nightguards erupted in "OHHH's" as the rest of them, the Animatronics' and my expressions quickly turned sour.
And then…[CENSORED] got [CENSORED] real. Jason tried to walk away, Jeremy threw a rock at him, and then Jason turned 'round, sprinted up and backhanded him. Jeremy was about to retaliate when I jumped in to stop it. "Woah hold the [CENSORED] phone! Calm the [CENSORED] down right now! Jeremy, what the [CENSORED], man!" I yelled loudly, shoving myself between them. "Don't say that about people you jerk!" Bonnie yelled, running right at Jeremy again. Mike jumped in and blocked Bonnie again with the shield, though he stopped himself just in time and tried to swing his guitar to smash the shield in. Mike dodged the swing and rolled off to his left before Bonnie kicked him and tried to bludgeon him.
"Do you make friends with violent people all the time or was your friendship with…what's-his-name a mistake?"
"One, no, two, his name is Jason and three, NO it was not a [CENSORED] mistake."
"And what about your cousins? What is their deal?"
"They saw someone being insulted and they reacted. 'Sides Bonnie's seven so what would you think?"
"What seven-year-old tries to bludgeon someone?"
"Bonnie. I bet he said that 'cause Toby always threatens him with bludgeoning."
"He does…"
"Yeah, he does, but never actually bludgeons him."
"Hm, I see. Young children; such fragile minds. Adolescents on the other hand…that's a different story. If possible. Please expand on Jason's violent behavior. He has the capability to commit violence and by beating Jeremy, he has shown to have quite the violent temper."
"He's not [CENSORED] violent. Jeremy threw a rock at him first, and Jason didn't "beat" him, he backhanded him. Well-deserved might I add."
"He still committed violence, and he is schizophrenic after all..."
"Listen I have a very small knowledge basis of schizophrenia as I honest to God have only known Jason for about a month and a half, but I did do some research on it, and I do know that schizophrenia doesn't make people hurt others, and certainly not Jason. His violence is anger and self-anger driven, and he despises hurting others; he hurts himself more than anyone else, promise. So no, what happened two days ago on Friday wasn't Jason's fault. He didn't know what was waiting there OK? Besides, they all were under the effects of this mind-warping drug when it happened so don't bother pinning the deaths on Freddy or Sean either. No one knew."
"Surely, his unstable nature at the very least is a problem."
"OK, yeah, sure, sometimes his occasional mood swings can be hard to handle, but that's it; it's certainly nothing compared to Evan who swings faster than a swingset at a playground. Jason's fine otherwise; stop trying to blame him for what happened with myths and lies. Catch the murderer who did this; don't blame an innocent kid."
Anyway, once everything was calmed between those two, Marionette involved herself, quieting both sides immediately with a simple shout of "Everyone, stop!". The Animatronics all respect her as some "almighty mom" of sorts, and they shut up instantly, parting like the Red Sea. It was kind of creepy I'll be honest; how fast she asserted herself as almighty mom in only a couple weeks; it's crazy. Anyway, us Nightguards didn't but she made it noticeably clear that we needed to stop. Then she called us Honoraries in to talk. Us Honoraries decided to be mediators, trying to convince the others to not fight and attack each other. Somehow, I managed to convince them both that we should work together and divide what needed to be done. They listened…and I still don't know why, but they did and that was all that mattered. Each leader compromised and chatted and afterwards, the plan was set. Everyone would help out as best they could and as much as the school let us. It was good; nobody else got hurt.
"I see...so, what happened the next day?"
"The…next day…?"
"Yes, an incident with you and Jason, right?"
"Oh…no, that was a while after actually…but I don't want to talk about it. I can't."
"That is fine. But please, speak with Dr. Alton about it about both encounters. She can help."
"...Yes, ma'am."
*Crew leaves the room and goes to speak with Dr. Alton.*
INTERVIEW SWITCH: Wilma Attenbore to Dr. Alton.
"Hello, ma'am."
"Hello Mr. Lockman. Please, take a seat and feel free to start from the beginning."
"...alright."
So, it was, Saturday, and I went over to the twins' house with glowsticks for us to break, and to draw with chalk.
"Hey Evan, hey Jason." I greeted, waving to the twins and walking up to them.
"Do you mix them up by any chance? I've had difficulty keeping track of which was which."
No, I don't mix 'em up, I am very accustomed to their differences. Jason is taller, has longer (like way [CENSORED] longer) hair and Evan is slightly shorter, has shoulder-length hair and wears brown aviator goggles and purple headphones. His hair is also messier, much to his own annoyance. Although you would be able to know who was who if you bothered to remember Jason or Evan's names. It isn't that [CENSORED] hard, believe me. Anyway, this was was a rare occasion where I didn't need to "babysit" him but we're good friends and do hang out together on the odd occasion. Evan had to split from us though so us two of us made our way into the house.
"Where's he going?" I asked. "Run errands. He'll be back later." Jason replied, pulling back his incredibly long fringe from his eye. Looked like it was getting all in his face. It's awfully long…
"You say that with an odd tone, do you not like his hair length?"
"What?! I mean I don't really "approve" of long hair, but I can live with it. He does whatever he wants with his hair. Honestly, I'm surprised he ever got it that long. I always thought it would take much longer than about 10 years. Guess it doesn't.
"So, how many glowsticks do you need broken?"
"Twenty."
We went inside and got to work because [CENSORED] no way were we doing that in the hot Salado sun. Once inside, we just decided to mess around and have some fun, while no one was home. I picked up a knife and started juggling it. Jason watched with zero [CENSORED] interest before taking a knife and playing hackney sack with it (sheathed of course, like me, we both would've stabbed ourselves without them). We messed around like this for a while before finally deciding to stop being idiots. Once we had cracked all the sticks, Jason said he had to finish making something, some homemade trail mix I think. I wanted to help but remembered that I'd probably [CENSORED] it up if I tried. My cooking is…meh at best. It's only so bad 'cause I don't cook really ever, and Bonnie banned me from the stove. I'm usually writing stuff, reading books and other fanfiction, playing video games or am chillin' with my cousins. I mean I live with them so…yeah. But I do try to cook sometimes, and I love to make pancakes. They're not particularly good but…they're edible.
"Could you please explain the "babysitting" remark? Do you watch this child frequently?"
"Sort of. Fred Barry always commissions me to watch Jason, I didn't know why honestly. I've asked why but he just gets uncomfortable and nervous when I do. Jason won't tell me either, he just gets annoyed I have to "babysit" him. Despite this, we're on good terms. Seriously though, I really wanted to know badly. Everyone got super antsy when I asked and didn't know why, and it scared me a little. The explanation however, which I learned a few days ago, was worse than I thought."
*Crew hesitates, then begins to speak.*
"If you could, please cut this part out."
"Of course, but if you don't mind, we'd like to record the following recount to give to his therapist."
"OK then."
"We'll start with the first question. Were you aware of his self-harming tendencies?"
"No, I wasn't. I only found out a couple of days after we'd cracked the sticks. I was in Sherrill Park and saw Jason shoving that bullying [CENSORED] in the black shirt into the water before walking a few paces and collapsing onto the grass by a tree. I ran closer to see what was up and one sleeve was torn off. When I saw all the scars covering his arm, I was horrified and sickened, but not in a bad way, just in the way you would be if you saw someone covered in gore or some [CENSORED]. To see someone I consider a friend with arms littered in scars, some old and some fresh too, several I noticed were very fresh and bleeding profusely, it was so damn horrid to see. Jason had vast amounts of cuts and scratches up to about an inch from his elbow and ending about a quarter before his wrist joint. It was very painful (and sickening) looking. I stifled a scream and clamped my mouth shut. Jason seemed to be in some sort of daze, but my sudden scream quickly snapped him out of it.
"How did he react to you?"
We locked eyes and just stared. I thought he was gonna die right there; there was so much blood. I panicked and did something I regret. I grabbed his arm and he punched me before ripping his arm free and sprinting off. I shouldn't have done that; I know I shouldn't have, and I'm betting he still hates me for it.
After he ran, I was freaking the [CENSORED] out. There was blood on my jacket sleeves, and I was crying. I ran after him begging to let me help, which was a bad idea, and he just kept running until I lost him. The whole time I was just muttering "Oh God, oh God" over and over and crying as I panicked until finally, he literally fell from a tree and told me not to touch him and that he would be fine if I just left him be. Then he left and I stayed put to calm down.
Bonnie and Seán found me in the park after I'd relaxed and calmed the [CENSORED] down. They asked what was wrong. Bonnie said I looked pale and Seán asked why my eyes were red. I couldn't manage a reply. Just said I'd seen a snake and gotten a fright. Luckily, they believed me.
"Brian and Olivia are your legal guardians, correct?"
"Yes. I live with them since my parents are dead."
"Victims of The Stitchwraith, correct?"
"Yeah…I was 2 at the time…"
"I'm sorry for your loss."
"It's fine."
"How close were you with the deceased?"
"Uncle Donnie and Aunt Sierra? Oh, we were super close. Sierra even proofread my writing. Kinda sorry that she had to read that stuff. Donnie helped me with homework and cooking."
"And with your current guardians?"
"I'm just fine with Aunt Olivia and Uncle Brian. We're cool."
"I see. You may continue now."
When we got back, Uncle Brian could sense that something was wrong. "Everything alright, bud?" he asked, turning to sit with me on the couch. I nodded and explained the snake lie. He bought it thankfully; I'm sorry Uncle Brian. Anyway, the next day I checked up on Jason and he confirmed that he self-harmed and that's why I watched him. Then he told me to stay away from him and leave him alone, and I did.
"I see. You're free to leave and return to Ms. Attenbore now."
"Thank you, ma'am."
*Crew leaves the room and goes to speak with Ms. Attenbore.*
INTERVIEW SWITCH: Dr. Alton to Wilma Attenbore
*Crew enters the interview room.*
"Hello, ma'am."
"Welcome back, Mr. Lockman. Please skip to the science fair if possible."
"Yes ma'am."
So, the days went by, I finished my project again and went to the school to help with everything. The fair was a success at the elementary school thanks to us Honoraries managing to mediate both sides and handle the judgemental Neutrals. I managed to get a lot of positive responses to my project. Didn't win but I did well for myself. Afterwards, the middle schoolers and high schoolers headed on down to the big Faction meeting area (the giant bush and field) and had our own Faction science fair. We had music and our projects on display; it rocked! Was [CENSORED] awesome. I mean, a bunch of Faction kids hated the other faction and tried to cause trouble, but I was able to quell the issues with some other Honoraries backing me up. When the trouble had died away for a bit, I went on down to socialize with Evan and the Nightguard's DJ. I'd set the two of them up earlier in the week to try and play since she spoke A.S.L. and acknowledged his existence for more than 20 seconds.
"What's up Evan? Everything OK with the Nightguard DJ?" I asked. Evan nodded in response. I was so glad to see Evan able to have some fun with people. After losing his voice and being ignored by people, he's been pretty lonely. Anyway…
Evan signed something else to me which I didn't understand. "Ehhh, I'm sorry Evan, I don't know what you're sayin'." I replied, a little nervous. "He says thanks a lot for this. I've been wanting to talk to the other DJs." the Nightguard said, translating for me. "Oh OK, well I'm glad you two are getting along." I grinned. I was about to leave when that same Goddamn bully showed up to make our lives a living Hell. "Oh look, it's the fury orphan nobody wants. What're you doing here, roadkill? Get lost while looking for a family who loves you?" he taunted, laughing cruelly while everyone else started yelling at him. "[CENSORED] off!" I yelled. He forcefully yanked me over to him then punched me square in the stomach, making me double over in pain. "Oh, I'm sooooo scared. Whatcha gonna do kill me like you did your parents?"
That did it.
I felt rage bubble over when he said that. To hear that I was the reason my parents were dead, that was too much for me. I lost it, lunging at him with red in my sight. I tackled him down and proceeded to mercilessly beat him up with my fists, rocks, anything I could find. I kicked his [CENSORED] to Sunday school and back, and then once more for good measure. Then, Marionette rocked up and dragged the guy off by the ear, and 30 seconds later, she came back with him on his knees apologizin' to me. I don't know what mother magic she worked but it was [CENSORED] effective as [SCREE].
After that whole incident, we kicked the guy out and continued to party. We listened to music, danced, sang, and played around with everyone else's projects, watching things explode, fly, you name it. "I gotta say. That was the last time I've seen Bonnie and Seán that happy. After this fire, the loss of Uncle Donnie and Aunt Sierra…, everything…, the kids aren't what they used to be." Crew finished. "I see. Misty and Sara have already given us their details of the incident. If you don't mind, could you tell us more about the fire? Such as what started these events?" The reporter asked, gesturing to the burnt ruins of the once lively bow-tie Crew was clutching tight as if it would disintegrate upon release.
"Of course I can."
Epilogue
"I'm sorry to offend you. May I ask why you're so angry today?"
"Angry?! Well, have a guess. You insulted the [CENSORED] outta Chica, you're tryna this pin all this near death on Jason for no [CENSORED] reason, so go ahead, have a guess why I'm mad!"
Author's Note
I had to touch it up in Microsoft Word editor but I think it's a little better now. As for the uncensored, still working on that. It'll be out after Chapter 1 is.
Huge thanks to 477Crew for answering all the insane amount of probably annoying questions I asked him so I could write this chapter.
Häschenmädchen = Bunny Girl. It's a reference to "An Animatronic Love Song" by EileMonty.
