Fritz didn't know what to think of the situation, but Mike looked like he was breathing so, in she went, quickly followed by Balloon Boy. She couldn't help the spike of fear and anxiety that went through her when the main Toy trio turned to her, their gazes hard to decipher properly, especially with their beaten and battered forms, giving them a more intimidating edge than otherwise. Luckily, Balloon Boy waddled forward with a chuckle, "Hey guys! I'm free from repair jail! What the hell happened?"

The bear, bun and bird glanced between each other for a moment, only for Mangle, still laid at the foot of the bean bag that held the guard and Puppet, "O-oh, speak up already. Ca-an't get any worse."

Toy Bonnie sighed, leaning his head on his arm, "The old band got it in their head that Marionette getting to know the guard was bad."

Balloon Boy let out a genuine laugh, one that was very different from the normal recording, "Marionette befriended the guard?" He turned toward the still sleeping Marionette and Mike, tilting his head at the sight, "Good for them! Didn't have that on my bingo card, though."

Fritz took the opportunity to more closely look over Mike and the Puppet. The Puppet was mostly the same, save for their mask. It was obviously cracked in many places, with a noticeable shard missing near the top. Mike seemed in a much rougher state, with a bit of blood staining his shirt, the exact amount would be hard to determine as there was also a decent amount of what looked to be purple paint covering his shirt as well. Still, it was a concerning sight, but the light rise and fall of his chest at least put Fritz at ease, for the moment being.

Toy Chica rolled the lights in her eyes, "Yeah, well neither did old Freddy. While we kept the rest of his band at bay, he smashed Marionette's mask and tried to crush Mike's head."

That brought both Fritz and Balloon Boy up short, with Fritz glancing around the wrecked Pizzeria with new eyes, "Jesus. That-that's insane."

The chicken's expression shifted to one of amusement, "If that's a lot, get a load of this: Mangle tried to bulldoze Foxy with the carousel."

Both woman and bot turned to Mangle, who raised their heads in an annoyed, and slightly ashamed fashion, glaring towards Chica, "W-what? It worked, and go-got the old bird off your bib!"

Fritz, at that point, felt like her head was on fire. The animatronics were acting distinctly not like animatronics, and a tiny animatronic civil war happened inside the Pizzeria. She just wanted answers. Pinching the bridge of her nose as she composed herself, she addressed the gathered machines, "Listen, a lot seems to have happened. Can I wake up Mike and get his version of events? It'll probably freak out William less if I did."

The Toys glanced among each other, but once again, Mangle rolled their eyes and took initiative, gently shaking the bean bag chair, "H-hey you two. A tech-technician needs answers."

Marionette stirred first, a small burst of static sounding along with a light chime. They slowly shifted, raising their head as small lights lit within their eyes, "Huh? What?"

Mangle laid their head back down, repeating themself, "Technician nee-needs answers, dear."

Their eye lights focused on Fritz, sending a small shiver down her spine. Marionette stretched themself before answering, "Alright, alright. Uh, what do you need?"

It took Fritz a second to center herself, "Well, I need Mike to tell me what happened, so I can tell William what happened, just, you know, lining everything up."

There was a pause, the Puppet silent, until they nodded, and turned to the still sleeping guard. Gently, they ran their hand through Mike's hair, "Hey." They all but whispered, as he blinked awake and groaned, soreness tearing through his body. Noticing his tenseness, Marionette leaned towards him, "You feeling okay, Mike?"

"Ugh, a throbbing headache, but I'll live." He said, rubbing his face with a hand. He sat up slightly, and looked up, a bit of surprise entering his expression, "Ah, hey Fritz."

Deciding to just roll with it, Fritz crossed her arms, "Hey Mike. What the hell happened?"

Heaving a sigh, Mike tried to stretch only to hiss in pain, prompting Marionette to tense and place a hand on Mike's shoulder. "A lot, agh, a lot happened Fritz. But it should- it should be fine now. Yeah, the old, parts and service Freddy and rest tried some stuff, wrecked some stuff, but I gave Freddy a shock and Marionette stood up to them so, that should be that." He looked to the side and traced the black and white arm to the Puppet and smiled gently, "We're safe now."

Left with what felt like more questions than answers, Fritz lightly threw her hands in the air, "Well, prep yourself guard boy, 'cause I'm gonna hafta call William and let him know this all happened. We're probably gonna be forced to close down at least for today, too."

As Fritz began walking away, pulling her phone from her pocket, a paranoid silence laid over the animatronics and man. Until Balloon Boy spoke up, "By the way, hey Puppet."

Said Puppet finally realized that the little balloon bot was there and awkwardly waved at him, "Uh, hi Balloon Boy… Sorry I kicked you."

"Damn right, you're sorry! I missed out on all the juicy goings on in the Pizzeria! And nothing ever happens here!" Despite his words, his tone was rather jovial, sincerely playful, "But ah, I forgive ya. Probably shouldn't have pressed your buttons on a bad day, so kinda my fault on that one. But, with water under the bridge and all, who's your boy toy?"

The reaction to his words was a spectrum amongst the animatronics and human, from a shocked laugh, embarrassment and what seemed to be horror, if Toy Freddy's reaction was anything to go by. Marionette, for their part, simply had the white lights of their eyes vanish, making for a stern and creepy smile staring down the small bot, "Balloon Boy, I will drop kick you again someday."

"I'm sure you will, but seriously, introduce me to the guy you're all so chummy with all of a sudden." Balloon Boy continued.

Toy Freddy cleared his throat, the one he didn't have, and decided to answer, "Well, the day before Marionette incapacitated you, they asked Mike to wind their music box. He didn't appear Purple then, so they endeavored to protect him at the very least. It all came to a head last night."

Balloon Boy chirped in amusement, "Ah, you see him like I do too now? I didn't know that purple stuff you all see could go away like that."

Silence followed Balloon Boy's words, until both Marionette and Mike erupted at the balloon bot, "You knew?!" They shouted in unison.

They both tried to rise from the bean bag chair, though Mike held his head and fell back while Marionette leaned in close, glaring at Balloon Boy, who remained smiling, "He never looked Purple to you?!"

"Nope."

"And you never told anyone?!"

Balloon Boy shrugged, "I mean, I tried once, I think, but no one really listened and mostly went on about how purple was a threat, gotta protect the Pizzeria. Never really understood it soooo, stolen batteries."

Marionette's arms floundered for a moment, before falling limp, "How?" They said, lost.

"I dunno." He replied, "In fact, nobody looks purple to me. No idea what's up with that. Really, if it weren't for all of you taking it so seriously, I woulda thought I was being pranked."

Sighing, Marionette flopped back down next to Mike, who ran his hand through his hair, "I say again, the more I learn about you guys, the less I understand."

There was a chorus of agreement to that statement from all the gathered animatronics, with varying degrees of annoyance.

—

Fritz sat outside after having called William. It had been a short call, both he and Henry were apparently on their way to scope things out. As for why she was outside rather than inside, she just didn't know how to feel about the animatronics and didn't feel comfortable just standing around, like a stranger. Sure, she was curious about how exactly Mike had gotten so chummy with the Puppet, but Fritz was a creature of norms. New norms bothered her, because it took energy to adapt to the new norm.

And if she didn't like the new norm, she figured she could just drop kick Mike, since he seemed to be at the center of the change. And an easy target. She would kick Balloon Boy, but then William would make her fix him again.

While she pondered to herself, the sound of an approaching car caught Fritz's attention, prompting her to look up, and see a van pulling into the lot. Heaving a sigh, she got to her feet, her leg still bouncing. While she could adapt, the process was always a pain, especially when dealing with how others adapt, or how they don't.

She tried to wait for William and Henry to leave the van, but, really the entire situation was too much, she needed to do something, distract herself by tackling the situation head on. Quickly standing up, Fritz walked over to the van just as William had gotten out, and headed towards the back.

Blowing out a sigh, she tried to address her employer, "Sir, the animatronics, they're-"

"Alive?" Henry interrupted, as he opened the back doors of the van, "Yes, we're aware."

Thrown off kilter, Fritz stumbled over her words trying to process that information, Wh-what?!"

William grabbed a hefty tool box and passed by his confused mechanic, "It's a recent development." He paused for a moment and nodded to himself, "Recently revealed development."

Fritz quickly turned and tried to keep pace with William, "But, sir, living animatronics? Wh-what are we going to do? It's insane."

Shrugging, William powered on, "I don't quite know Fritz. We will deal with the insanity one step at a time, as this is very much a delicate situation still. But, first things first," He said, walking through the doors to the Pizzeria, "We have a duty to fix up our entertainers."

The walking speed between William, Henry and Fritz slowed down a bit as the animatronics and guard turned their attention to the three. As they approached, Mike attempted with some difficulty to stand up, prompting worried chimes from the Marionette, who looked to help him up, "Hey, boss, uh, es, bosses." He said, wincing in discomfort.

William regarded Mike for a moment, before gesturing towards him, "Sit down Schmidt, you've had quite the night." He turned his attention to the animatronics, who regarded him with such intelligence. A part of him noted that he had noticed such stares before, in the past, but had disregarded them. After all, they were just machines. Back then. "Quite a night indeed." He moved towards the most battered, Toy Freddy but paused, "Do you mind if I inspect you for damage, Freddy?"

A moment of surprise passed over Toy Freddy who quickly regained control of himself and shook his head, "Uh, no sir, no objections there."

"Good." William said, beginning to look over Toy Freddy, noting the most damaged parts, "Hmm, are you aware of any damage I might overlook at all?"

Once more, Toy Freddy shook his head, with more conviction the second time, "I don't believe so, I was thrown across the room however, that could have knocked something loose."

Nodding, William turned to Fritz, "Very well. Fritz, you will assist me in repairing the band."

Fritz shrugged and cracked her knuckles, preparing herself for work, "And what will Henry do, sir?"

"I believe Henry will be best to handle repairing our resident Prize Corner operator." William said, causing said Puppet and even Mike to tense at those words. The man seemed to notice, as he turned to the duo, "You see, as far as I can recall, aside from one notable exception, we've never needed to repair you. Henry helmed your design, so unless you have objections?"

Marionette paused, feeling their wires tense, but they shook their head. They found it difficult to speak, the situation was so odd, unfamiliar. It hadn't sunk in yet when they first awoke to Fritz the technician, but right then, with three people aside from Mike, they felt overwhelmed. As a bit of static began to sound from them, they felt Mike's hand on their shoulder. Taking a moment to center themself, they again shook their head, "N-no objections. Just… feeling odd."

"This is a strange situation," Henry said, in a gentle tone, "We are trying to navigate this as delicately as possible."

William nodded in agreement with his partner, "Indeed. Schmidt," He said, addressing the guard, "Are the old animatronics in parts and service?"

Before Mike could respond, Toy Chica spoke up, prompting William to turn to her, "Yeah. I've been keeping an eye on that way. They haven't come back from what I can tell."

"Hmm, then we'll work what we can here." William said before turning back to Marionette, "Henry can take care of you in the Prize Corner if you'd like. It's probably going to be a bit chaotic out here for a while."

Marionette wrung their hands together, but nodded, "Y-yeah. That sounds good." Henry began to move towards the Prize Corner, only for Marionette to tense even harder, "Wait! Could-could Mike come with us? To the Prize Corner?"

Henry just gave a warm smile and nodded, "Of course. I'll get things set up, you two come on by when you're ready."

William looked over the animatronics while Henry made his way to the Prize Corner, a tired weight on his shoulders, "Well, let's get to work, Fritz."

She let out a sigh as she prepared herself, "And I just finished working on Balloon Boy, too."

As the two began prepping themselves to work, Marionette was still rooted to the spot, lost knowing that eventually they had to step towards the Prize Corner, but just couldn't. Mike had yet to remove his hand, and gently squeezed Marionette's shoulder, "Hey, you okay? Talk to me." The guard gently asked.

"I-I don't know why. I just… can't." Marionette whispered. They just stood there for a moment, until Mike swept Marionette's legs out from under them and began to carry them in his arms, slowly, towards the Prize Corner. "Mike?" Marionette asked, shocked.

Mike smirked down at the Puppet in his arms, remarking how odd a feeling it was. Marionette was almost as tall as Mike himself, but relatively thin, yet sturdy. It wasn't quite like carrying a human, not that he had experience there, but it was different. Mike carried them on, "Just tell me to stop and I will. Else, I'm carrying you to where you need to be. Don't tell me that broken mask is comfortable. It'd scare the children."

They ducked their head down toward their chest, feeling shame radiate through them, "... I shouldn't need to be carried like this."

Mike tilted his head, eyeing them in a bit of concern, "Do you think you can walk there yourself?"

"... No."

"Do you want me to stop?"

"No."

His look of concern softened, as he continued to walk slowly, both for Marionette's sake as well as his own. He didn't want to stumble and cause them even more pain, "It's okay to be not okay, Mari. So long as you move forward, even if your own legs won't take you there, that's all that matters."

Marionette let out the sound of a sigh, and carefully pressed their mask against Mike's shoulder while making sure they didn't jab him with the broken edges, "It just, it makes me feel pathetic. I should be able to do it on my own, but… Thanks Mike. Thank you."

"Hey, don't mention it." Mike said, his smirk evolving into a full smile, "And you're not pathetic. You saved my life, stayed by my side. Least I can do is stay by yours."

Marionette glanced at Mike's face, feeling a myriad of words bubbling in their chest, they didn't even know what they wanted to say. Much like the act of walking to the Prize Corner on their own power, to be fixed, repaired, despite wanting to, desperately wanting to, the monsoon of words and sentiments stayed buried inside them. They just redoubled, pressing their mask into his shoulder, to trick themself and be lost there a moment longer before they'd need to be fixed. "Thank you, Mike."

Rather quickly after that, or so it seemed to the Puppet, Mike walked into the Prize Corner, where Henry had already laid out his tools, and other assortments of objects nearby. A chair also sat nearby, close to the prize counter.

The man gestured to the counter, "Set them down there, if you will, and you can rest yourself in the chair. It's probably best if you're not on your feet for too long."

Mike did as he instructed, gently placing Marionette on the counter, so they sat on it, and he took his place in the chair, "I feel alright, you didn't need to bring a chair." Mike insisted.

Henry hummed as he picked up an odd piece of metal, "Still, I can only imagine what happened last night first hand, you deserve at least some rest." He turned to Marionette, and with his free hand, softly traced a finger around their mask. So close they were, Marionette got to closely study Henry's face, his body language. The way he moved said something, as if he was always on the cusp of saying something, but holding it back. As his hand continued to flow along their mask, they could feel their wires tense, though they did their best to stay still, at least until Henry spoke again, "Hmm, we'll need to replace the mask."

Marionette flinched back, instinctively touching their mask, "M-my face? What?"

"I'd feel better if we swap your mask for the spare we have, then I can repair that mask a bit easier than otherwise. I'll be honest, I don't know how your mask shifts like it does, and the simplest course would probably be the best." At Marionette's obvious discomfort with the idea, he continued, "Now don't worry. If it's still an issue after swapping them we can always swap them back and see about repairing it the hard way. But, if you really can't stomach it, we can skip it, if you'd like."

They massaged their mask, eyes drifting to the floor, "I-I don't know. I didn't even know my mask comes off." A trickle of static started to sound from them, until they felt a hand on their leg. They glanced down to see Mike, silently letting them know he was still there. They shook their head and looked up, "Well, if you think it's best. Let's try it."

"Alright then." Henry cupped Marionette's cheek, and carefully raised the metal bar to the other side of their head, "Let me know if you feel any discomfort, alright? This shouldn't damage the mask, but there's no telling if there's more structural damage I can't see."

Holding still as much as they could, Marionette tried to focus on Mike's presence, his hand on their leg. At first they thought it was fine, until their face popped off. It was wrong. It didn't feel like anything Marionette had experienced before, like a total absence of self, where they knew they were. For a split second, they wondered if this was what Bonnie felt like, back in parts and service.

Their hands flew to the space their face once was, grasping at the void, the empty space. They didn't even notice they had started to shake and play their music box, until two different hands on their shoulders, two voices speaking to them.

"Mari, Mari focus on my voice, okay?" Mike said. They tried to control their trembling, and nodded. "Okay, just hold on for just a second. Henry is almost done."

Their mind was whirling with thought and confusion of feeling despite the information, "M-my face…"

"I know." Henry said, "But I need to make sure nothing inside your head was damaged when your mask was crushed. Don't want to make you uncomfortable by doing this twice when one suffices."

They once more tried to hold as still as they could, even as the experience did its best to overwhelm them until Marionette felt something being placed where the face had been, "It's almost over." In a mere moment, something clicked and everything felt like it should be normal. But it wasn't.

Where before there had been absence, now there was a different kind of wrongness. Beforehand, they didn't really consider their mask, their face, to be anything special, but with a new mask in its place, the differences were stark. Their mask felt like it wasn't even there, a part of them so intrinsic it melded together, when it shifted to match their emotions, it felt fluid, and true. This new mask, it felt stiff, it was a constant presence hovering just incorrectly on them, like a giant, porcelain fly.

"Here." Henry said, holding up a mirror.

They gazed into it, running their hands over the mask. All in all, it hardly looked any different from their old mask, the default smile held despite the turmoil inside. It took all of their strength to not begin clawing at it. They instead tried to focus on the details. The rounded cheeks were still there, though blue instead of red, their tear streaks were still purple, if a different, darker shade, and the paint on their lips matched their cheeks instead.

Not knowing how to feel about the change, Marionette tried to shift their attention to something else. They tried to stress test their new mask, tried to make it express like they knew they could before. It felt hard, still, but as they tried to exaggerate their expression, something they didn't even know if they'd ever done so before, the same smile barely shifted, barely changed. The only thing grounding them, except for Mike's presence, was the fact the mask did change, if only slightly, stiffly. While they had learned to hold the crafted smile of their mask as second nature, being locked into it, unable to change it, that ate away at Marionette.

"It-it feels wrong. It's so stiff." They instinctively leaned into Mike's hand that still lay on their shoulder, "It's wrong." They whined, pitifully.

Henry hummed, his movements silted. He obviously wasn't taking the animatronic's discomfort well, "I would ask you to at least try to stick it out. Once the Toys are shaped up, I will personally work day and night on your old mask, get it back to you as quick as possible. If it becomes unbearable though, please tell me, and I'll come and swap them back. Alright?"

Marionette warbled in discomfort but nodded all the same, "I'll-I'll try…"

"That's all I ask. If you require anything at all, please, don't hesitate to ask." Henry said with a smile, patting the animatronic's leg. Marionette watched Henry leave following that. The way he walked, almost hesitating before following through, as if he was a moment away from turning back to face the Puppet.

In the moment, Marionette didn't care all that much, they just let out a static laden sigh and pressed harder into Mike's side, as he decided to join the Puppet on the Prize Corner.

Mike glanced around the Corner, almost admiring it, "How come I only visit this place when you're in emotional turmoil?" Mike asked lightheartedly.

A flicker of annoyance pulled through Marionette at Mike's casual joke, but more predominantly there was the relief at his playfulness. At least it would take their mind off their mask for a moment. "It's 'cause you neglect me so. Only coming by in emergencies."

"To be fair, that's mostly due to the fact I always worried what happened last night would happen if I ever left my desk." Mike replied, a hint of serious inking through, "Which, what was last night? Freddy tries to kill you, then tries to kill me, animatronic battle royale then they all went back to parts and service?"

Marionette let out a lighter sigh, a more relaxing sigh, while letting their head relax against Mike's shoulder, "I don't know, but I think things are gonna be okay. Even if they don't, I'm not letting Freddy touch you again."

Smirking, Mike looked down at the resting Puppet, "I believe that. Since when could you float through the air?"

"Special occasions." They quipped.

Mike chuckled and shook his head, "Only the most special of occasions, huh? Me almost dying?"

Marionette hummed for a moment, savoring it, "Top fifteen special occasions. Maybe twenty."

"You wound me."

The two rested in silence, looking out into the Pizzeria where William, Henry and Fritz worked to repair the toys. Fritz in particular seemed to hesitate to take a tool being offered by Mangle, who looked to make themself useful.

"But," Mike said, "Things are looking up a little. Sure, the Pizzeria will probably need to be closed down for everything. But, Henry and William seem to be taking this all well."

Marionette smiled, feeling their new mask ease into the expression a bit more, "Yeah. Maybe things won't be so bad."

Their new mask still clung to them like an imposter, but sitting beside Mike, perhaps it was bearable, at least in the moment. Focused instead on the possible future, the possibility that could come from all that had occurred, Marionette couldn't help but let out a series of small, hopeful chimes.

And here I thought the chapter following the big bot brawl would be a bit more difficult. This story has come to me a lot easier than my other ones lately, and I don't know why. A bit ironic, considering this was originally meant to be oneshots that were lightly connected, only for sudden inspiration to strike and turn it into a whole thing. We'll have to see how long that lasts, eh?

As always, thank you for reading! Any and all thoughts, opinions, critiques and keyboard smashes are always welcome!