Mable: Enjoy! ;)
Going Home in a Box
Chapter Twenty-Five
Gregory stood with his back against the shutters for a long few minutes before he realized he had to keep moving. As far as he knew, Monty was still coming in this direction and likely Chica was going to start looking too. He pushed off and them and began to walk towards the turnstiles into the lobby center.
"Freddy? Are you there?" he asked into his watch.
"Yes! I am right here. Or my voice is- I am still in the recharge station. Did you make it to the lobby?"
"I did, but I didn't make it outside. The doors were shutting, and I couldn't get through…" Gregory explained. His voice heavy with disappointment as he ducked underneath the turnstiles. There was a Security Bot circling around the fountain outside of the locker room, so he hustled in the other direction and skirted past the gift shop, climbing the steps to the second floor. All done the while listening to Freddy's reply.
"Oh, Gregory. I am terribly sorry. If I had not slowed you down, you could have gotten out…"
As frustrated as Gregory was, he couldn't say he liked that somberness in the bear's tone. This was partially his fault, but not nearly as it was everyone else's. Including Gregory's own, which he begrudgingly admitted.
"No, it wasn't just you. There was that security lady and Monty, and Chica was eating trash and it took me forever to get around her… You're sure there's no way to open the doors?"
"I am afraid not. Once the nighttime protocols go into effect they cannot be overrode, but-," Freddy interjected himself, hearing Gregory's whining groan on the other side. "If there is another way out, I will help you find it… I promise."
"Sure…"
Freddy's tone didn't exactly raise his hopes any. Though this disappointment was short lived as he heard the clatter of a door opening. He turned back and listened, hearing footsteps and very familiar voices approaching the lobby; Chica and Monty were coming.
"It's them! Stay quiet!" he warned before bounding up the rest of the steps and hiding in a little hallway nook past the second-floor entrance to the gift shop.
From that vantage point, he could watch as Chica and Monty came into the room. Chica was still waddling like she could barely stand upright but Monty's posture had changed dramatically. He was still a little hunched, but in a lazily slouched way, a far cry from the rabid beast he was only a few minutes earlier.
"Helllooo? Is anybody hoooome?" Chica called out across the lobby. Gregory quickly pulled back behind cover. "You're not in trouble, Cupcake! We just want to make sure you're safe!"
"Yeah, come on out! We're only trying to help," Monty added. It was especially hard to believe him after that stunt earlier.
"Are you hungry? We've got lots of pizza and goodies! And candy! And chips, and fries, and cookies. Mmm-mmm!"
No amount of sweet talk was going to make him forget what happened earlier, though it did suddenly limit his escape routes. If he ran out to the elevators they would see him, and he had no doubt that they would be quick enough to catch up before the doors closed. It was a no-go and he looked for another solution.
The most obvious one was the set of double doors at his direct right with the words "Superstar Daycare Pick-Up" above them. He grimaced at the thought of getting stuck hiding in a kiddie daycare but knew he didn't have much of a choice. He crept over and snuck through the doors, closing them cautiously while Chica was still shrilly yelling so that it would hopefully be drowned out.
Now he was in some sort of dimly lit hallway with starry night patterns on the ceiling and triangle shaped tiled floor. There were large murals decorating the walls of some sun and moon shaped cartoon characters, which Gregory was familiar with. He saw similar posters are Kids Cove earlier when he had been hanging out in there. He really hoped they were just mascots and not more animatronics running around.
He finally dared to speak into the watch. "Okay, I got away from Monty and Chica."
"Good. Chica is very sweet, but I… After that encounter with Monty, I do not think you should get close to him. I am sure he did not mean harm, but…" Freddy couldn't even come up with an explanation for the behavior. Instead, he eventually asked, "Where are you?"
"I'm outside the daycare. It was the only place I could go," Gregory begrudgingly admitted.
"That is great! Are the lights on?"
"Yeah?"
"Even better! The daycare should be quite safe. Do you think you would be alright staying in there until I finish charging? I will finish the cycle as quickly as I can, but I still need a little longer before the station will release me."
"Do I have any other choice?" Gregory grumbled. He held his lips tight before sighing. "Okay, I'm going."
"Very good. I will be with you as soon as I can," Freddy assure him. Gregory gave a quiet agreement. "And Gregory… it is going to be okay. No matter how long it takes, we will get you home. I am sure your parents are worried about you…"
Gregory was silent at that. He just continued on towards the security door, letting his arm drop to his side as he did. As much as he didn't want to go into the daycare, the idea of being somewhere that was somewhat safe was an appealing one. He could handle hiding for a few hours if it guaranteed he wouldn't get chased around by Monty. He couldn't run forever but he could hide as long as it took.
Or that was his thought process before the door automatically raised and he found himself staring at a towering sun clown statue while being bombarded by bouncy music. He didn't know what was worse, the confirmation that there likely was an animatronic running around in here, or the cacophony of goofy noises- car horns, cat meows, and rooster crows- that mocked him through the music.
Yet against what might've been his better judgement, Gregory walked into the daycare and allowed the security door to shut behind him. He was standing in a little drop-off area, fit with a set of turnstiles and a front desk. From here he could look through the wall and see the massive play area within the already arena-sized daycare itself. There was even a slide leading down into it.
Gregory hummed as he scanned the area inside of the play structure. He couldn't see any sign of the animatronic mascot but that didn't mean it wasn't down there. Though it could just as likely be out here in the outer area. All Gregory did know was that as obnoxious as the music was, those play structures looked like a good hiding spot, and this outer wall looked like more than enough to keep out Chica and Monty.
"I could hide in one of those tubes for hours and nobody'd find me… At least, I could hide until Freddy's done," he thought. He wondered why Freddy wasn't done already considering that he said it would only be fifteen minutes. Time was kind of hard to judge right now, but it couldn't be much longer, which meant he wouldn't have to listen to this music for that long. "Okay… I'm going down there," he whispered in determination.
He approached the slide and sent a wary glance at the "Slide into Fun!" rainbow sign above before sitting down inside. He could probably climb back out if he needed to. Taking a breath, he pushed off and slid down the colorful corkscrew.
He slid a lot faster than he expected, the whole slide slippery and a little wet, and smelling like hand sanitizer. Before he could really brace himself, he was dropped into the ball pit at the bottom with a crash. He went rigid in place for a long moment, waiting for something to run out of the shadows- or Monty somehow throwing himself down the slide to catch up with him. When neither happened, he breathed a sigh of relief. He began to wade through the ball pit.
Only to stop only a few steps in after hearing a whirring click from somewhere. He paused and listened, hearing a jingling, then what sounded like soft footsteps from above. He slowly looked up to see a balcony up on the wall, the background around it made to look like a castle tower and could see the faintest shadow on the wall. Something was coming, he huddled down in the balls behind a foam divider that looked like a brick wall and peeked out.
What spun itself out onto the stage was recognized instantly as the same animatronic portrayed in the statue. It was tall and lanky, with puffy yellow and red striped pants and red and gold trimmed ruffles around its waist and neck. A halo of points spun around its sun shaped face before popping out as it kicked a leg and then fell back into a pose identical to the one on the statue. Bells on its wrists and curled slippers rung with glee at the motion.
"Ho ho hooo!"
Gregory had a foreboding feeling that it knew he was there. Though it wasn't directly looking at him, its face seemed to be angled in his direction. He watched as it crouched down, legs bowed and hands tented above it, before springing off the stage and diving headfirst into the ball pit below. The balls barely splashed and the thing itself disappeared almost immediately.
Now it was in here with him and unless it had gone still directly where it fell, it was moving around in here somewhere. Gregory felt a growing unease and considered trying to climb a wall, but he already knew it would be in vain. The texture of the divider wasn't the best to get a grip on, and that was before his already worn-out shoes got a bunch of sanitizer on their soles.
The only chance he had was to get onto this rainbow bridge only a few feet in front of him that led out of the ball pit. Though that meant venturing directly into the area that jester thing had dropped into. He finally mustered up enough courage to start slowly inching forward. He barely moved the balls, nearly at a snail's pace as he approached that bridge.
He was just about to pass the cloudy edge and be able to step up onto it, so close to climbing up on it, when he started hearing ticking. Clicking and ticking, whirring, right underneath the balls from somewhere nearby. He decided to make a run for it. He got as far as leaning forward before large hands snared him around the little.
He gave a short, startled cry as the sun face popped up out of the ball pit in front of him and he was suddenly hoisted straight off his feet.
"Helloooo!~" the Sun loudly greeted. "New friend! You're sure up late-? Are we having a slumber party?! Where are all your friends?"
Gregory was bombarded with the slew of questions without having any chance to answer until the very end. Then he was suddenly left with the opportunity to either lie his pants off or immediately give away that he wasn't supposed to be there. He had to think of a lie quickly- not that he actually had a choice to before the Sun beat him to the punch.
"Oh, who cares! We can just have the party OURSELVES!" he chirped.
This whole time he had been carrying Gregory out of the ball pit and over the same rainbow bridge that the boy originally planned to escape by. He strode with bouncy steps and clicking ticking before stopping in a little area in the center of the daycare, beside a tower of colorful barrels and between two of the massive climbing structures. He set down Gregory onto the padded floor.
"We can finger paint, tell stories," the Sun started to list off on his fingers, growing more excited with each finger. "Drink Fizzy Faz until our heads ex-PLODE-!" He went out of his way to make an exploding gesture with one hand while his prongs popped out to emphasize the already borderline screamed word. "And then stay up all night!"
The clown bounced on his heels excitedly before he rested one fist on his hip and waved a finger in the air matter-of-factly.
"There is only one rule!" he chirped. He cocked his head and made a noise like an inhale. "Keep the lights…" His wrist slowly swiveled until the finger was aimed at Gregory. "…On." His tone dropped, his constantly moving body now uncomfortably still save for him slowly leaning forwards. "ON." He punctuated with a small air jab of his finger. His voice dropping to a low, new sinister volume. "On…"
"Uh… Okay?" Gregory said uneasily. Instantly the Sun popped back upright.
"Great! Oh, that's great. Now we can have fun!" He dropped forward again to lean with his hands on his knees. Gregory leaned back to get some distance from his face. "Whatcha wanna do first?! Ooo, wouldja like to play Simon Says? Or we could do a puzzle! We got a bunch of puppy and kitty puzzles- Oh! Or wait, wait. How about championship Pat-a-cake?! You can play the reigning champion- Me!"
"Actually… I'm not supposed to be here." This was the tipping point where Gregory began to back away. He was thoroughly creeped out, and its attempt to suddenly pretend that didn't just happen didn't help. "Look, I gotta go," he said.
He turned around and looked for any kind of an exit. Thankfully there was a big wooden door on the other side of the daycare, so he at least knew how he was getting out of here. He took two steps forward.
Then the Sun sideways walked in front of him.
"New Friend, where are you going?" the Sun asked. He sounded worried, or exceptionally clingy.
"I just told you, I'm leaving."
"But you- you can't leave! Kiddos can't leave the daycare, it's dangerous! They can't leave unless they're picked up by their mommies and daddies… But we're gonna have so much fun that time's going to fly! Hey. Hey. Why did the man throw the clock out the window?"
"Yeah well, my mom and dad aren't coming, and I checked myself in," Gregory said, ignoring the question. "And isn't the Pizzaplex closed? Shouldn't you be taking me to that security lady?"
The second the words came out Gregory regretted it. He wasn't sure why he had been dumb enough to remind the animatronic that he wasn't supposed to be here. It didn't help that the jester, who had been sort of swaying back and forth in front of him, suddenly stilled at the mention. He prepared for the worst.
"I don't trust the 'security lady'…" Sun said. His voice was tense, bordering that tone he had during the 'keep the lights on' outburst.
That was pretty bad, but not what he was worried about. Somewhat assured, Gregory crossed his arms and looked away.
"Then that makes two of us," he huffed. "Now are you going to let me go?"
"…I think I know what's going on," the animatronic said quietly.
"Did it just click now?!" Gregory thought, the panic returning instantly to his face.
He stared at the Sun as it leaned in once more. Its face was just so jarring to look at, looking very little like the cartoony son on the murals outside the daycare. Its eyes just like white marbles staring blankly at him.
"Buddy, it's oka-ayyy! A lot of my new little friends get scared of me the first time they meet me, but that's okay! I'm sure we'll be best buddies really, really soon!" the Sun tutted.
Gregory didn't know what part of that made him so defensive, but he guessed after the fact that it had something to do with the fact that he actually was scared of him.
"I'm not scared of you! YOU'RE treating me like a baby!" he snapped. This took the animatronic off-guard, him recoiling with his hands up to his chest.
"Uh… I, uh… Oops?" The Sun awkwardly tapped his fingers together. "I-I-I'm sorry, little guy. I didn't mean to- Why don't- Why don't we play a game YOU want to play? What games do you like?"
This time Gregory managed to stop himself before answering right away. Sure, he could yell at the Sun how he didn't want to play, and he wanted to leave, but that hadn't gotten anywhere so far. Maybe he needed to get a little craftier if he wanted to slip out of here. He looked up towards the play structure beside them. Noticing him looking, the Sun cautiously started to lean back into the corner of his vision.
"Fine, if we have to play then… I want to play hide and seek. In there," he said, acting like it was a decision he made as a last resort and not a calculated one.
The Sun gave an overdramatic gasp, one that immediately filled Gregory with secondhand embarrassment, and popped his hands to the sides of his face.
"I LOVE hide and seek! And in the fun tunnels?! Oh yes, yes! Let's do that!" the jester gushed. "I'll count to twenty-five and you go hide, and then I'll come find you! You can run, you can hide, you can slide, you can climb, but no jumping off the top, okay? OH, and no climbing on the outside, okay? You could get hurt and that's no fun! Safety first!"
He then clapped his hands together and interlaced his fingers, pointing at Gregory with the pointers. "One more thing…"
"What?"
"One tiny thing." The Sun held his fingers close together.
"What?" Gregory repeated, a little more impatiently.
The Sun beckoned him closer, looking around to make sure nobody was listening. The boy leaned in slowly, cautiously, and the animatronic leaned in, shielding his unmoving mouth with the back of his hand as he whispered.
"I'm the reigning champion of hide and seek too!"
Gregory gave him a less than enthralled look, but the Sun didn't seem to care, snickering as his point spun around his head. It was like he had totally forgot that conversation and outburst earlier had happened.
"I'm gonna go count now!" he chirped. He turned around and speedily skipped down the length of the play structure to go count.
Much to Gregory's dismay, the Sun decided to stop and count in front of the door, while directly facing the door. Even with his eyes covered there wasn't a chance of rushing by and making a quick escape. Maybe he wasn't that oblivious.
"One… Two… Threeee…"
But that didn't mean that the whole plan was a bust. Gregory climbed into the structure and immediately started to make his way upwards. There was at least one slide that pointed directly towards the door, so if he could get there and get the Sun somewhere in here, then he could slide down and make a run for it. It wasn't the perfect plan, but it was moderately better than being stuck in here all night when the Sun was likely one wrong answer from going cuckoo.
He could hear the loud counting as he climbing into the play structure. Unlike what he might've assumed, it wasn't all tunnels. In fact, a lot of it was comprised of square shaped passages with soft flooring and absolutely nothing to hide behind. Most of the tunnels were in the top and he had to weave his way through the maze before he managed to get up and into one.
"TWENTY! Ready or not, here I come!" the Sun called. He then threw himself into the play structure.
Gregory could hear the jingling even from a distance and started to quietly crawl forward, trying to find his way to a slide. It was easier said than done though. He had thought if he went in the correct direction that he would just eventually end up at it, but at some point, he must've gotten turned around. He ended up in a tight section of tunnels but couldn't find the slide.
He froze up at a familiar sound not too far away. That ticking and whirring edging ever closer, along with the quietest patter of hands and feet. Between the slippers and the soft, silicone, texture to its hands, the Sun was almost silent when climbing through the structure. It was unsettling, and if it was this bad for him then he couldn't imagine what it would be like for little kids who got dropped off here.
Gregory suddenly realized that he really didn't want to get stuck in this tight a space with that Sun guy and started to inch along the back of the section only to notice something.
There was an opening from off one of the tubes and dropped down into another padded section only a couple of feet below. It wouldn't have been noticeable except at the bottom he could see what looked like a couple of thick cords. Gregory tried to lean down to get a better look when he heard the clicking starting to get closer and decided to literally take the plunge, dropping down painlessly onto the padded floor.
Immediately he saw what the cords were used for but all it did was raise more questions when he did. For partially sectioned off into the wall of the structure was some kind of box shaped machine. It was purple with the Pizzaplex logo and the words "Gen Unit MK II" on it.
"What is this thing?" he murmured under his breath.
He was answered by a sudden jingling that sounded like it was coming from directly above him. He snapped his head up only to see nothing there.
Until a yellow face suddenly came swinging down in towards him. "Peek-a-boo!"
"GAH!" Gregory cried, flopping back. Surprise quickly turned to annoyance. "Don't do that!"
"Goodness! I'm sorry, Sunspot! I didn't mean to spook you," the Sun sympathized as he climbed further down into the tight space. Gregory watched as his limbs seemed to contort to fit him through the tight area while keeping him hanging above him. "But I found you! Now it's your turn to hide again!"
The Sun tapped him on the nose- making the 'beep' sound effect himself- and Gregory waved his hand a way.
"In a minute. What's this?" he asked, pointing to the machine.
"Hmm… Oh, that! That's a back-up-gen-er-a-tor. That's for if the lights go off!" the Sun explained. He climbed down the rest of the way. Gregory scooted back to give him enough room to do so, and so they weren't jammed up together. "You remember what I said, right? We keep the lights on, and we keep having fun. Those make sure that the fun never ever has to stop!"
"Why's it in here?" Gregory asked.
"Because, silly, then I can get to it!" the Sun chirped. He rested on his belly with his legs bent back behind him, feet bopping to the ever-constant music.
Well, there went any chance of shutting off the lights and making a run for it. Not that Gregory liked that idea much anyways. He had already stumbled around in the dark earlier and it didn't help him lose Monty any quicker. He was just going to have to keep up with this plan. Maybe he would have a better chance as the seeker, and the Sun was none the wiser.
"That's weird… Okay, my turn. You go hide and I'll count."
"…Wait, you want me to hide?" the Sun asked in surprise. He even cocked his head at it.
"Uh, yeah? I'm it."
"Oh wow, I guess you are! Oh, most of my little friends never ever want to be it! Gosh, I haven't been it since…" The Sun looked down and stared at the floor for a long moment, blue flickering through his white eyes. He looked back up. "A really, REALLY long time!"
"Guess it's your lucky day," Gregory said with mild sarcasm. The Sun giggled at the comment. "Just don't hide in the balls or somewhere weird like that," he added, more to play up the ruse than out of actual concern.
"Okie dokie! Heeeere I go!"
With that, the Sun did something akin to a roll up into the same way he came down and disappeared. Gregory didn't bother closing his eyes because he couldn't see anything anyways.
"One, two, three…" Gregory began to count at a quicker pace than the Sun had, though he either wasn't listening or didn't care. He raced through the end of the count, "Eighteen, nineteen, twenty. Ready or not, here I come."
But the Sun wasn't what he was on the hunt for. Instead, he crawled up that next tunnel and began to search for that slide. He came out of the tube and peered through the squares of the structure to see the slide nearby and tried back his way too in, realizing he somehow got into another structure. All the while he listened for the Sun. It was jingling loudly in comparison to earlier, to the point that he knew it was somewhere nearby.
He was trying to go easy on him. Gregory might've been offended, but he was actually glad to know where it was. He pattered around a bit, starting and stopping a few directions, preparing that he was looking as he narrowed in on that slide.
Soon he was at the top of it, and he braced himself briefly before taking a deep breath and sticking his legs through, then pushing himself and sliding smoothly to the bottom. The second his shoes touched the padded floor he darted into a sprint towards the large wooden doors. It was right there, he just had to keep from tripping over the pillows blocking his way.
It was all very quick. A sort of swooping noise, a thump and jingling, and just as he realized what just happened behind him- large hands hooked around his middle and hoisted him right off his feet.
"Oh ho ho! Trying to pull a fast one on me? I think that's enough hide and seek!" the Sun said. His tone bouncing in between amused and fussy through the comment as he carried Gregory away from the door.
"This isn't fair! I'm not even supposed to be in here!" Gregory protested. He kicked his legs and tried to twist out of the grasp but it was steadfast around his waist. "Freddy's waiting for me outside and there's going to be a lot of trouble if Monty finds me before he does! And- And if that security lady finds out you're hiding me in here, she's going to lose it!"
"Ooooh, she's not coming in here," the Sun said with finality, nervously. "And is Freddy really coming to get you? Oh wow, that's super cool! You must be really, really excited! But he's going to need a pick-up pass like everyone else." He said matter-of-factly dropped Gregory in front of the same tower of barrels as before. The boy glared up at him.
"But don't you worry, Grumpy Gus! I'm not mad, and we can still play! I just can't let you out of my sight again, nope. You're going to stay put right here where I can keep my eyes on you!" the Sun assured. Though it wasn't exactly assuring, especially when the jester punctuated this by stepping even closer, causing Gregory to step back. "…So, whaddya like to dip your carrot sticks in?! We've got ranch, peanut butter, caramel, miracle mayo-!"
"I'm not- ugh!"
The boy's answer was cut off when he bumped into the tower of barrels. At this point he was so wound up on edge that his brain connected the wrong dots and he thought he walked into someone, and he reactively shoved back. The Sun tried to reach forward in vain but was unable to stop the barrels from falling to the floor. A staticky, muffled, celebratory, 'Surprise!' noise came from hidden speakers in the barrels as they fell.
The Sun's head twitched and some of his prongs jittered in an agitated way, almost as though the noise bothered him. Or at least Gregory assumed it was the noise. It looked a lot like that twitching Freddy got before he dropped on stage.
"Ngh! What a mess! Let's just get those back up," he said. He hunched over them and looked them over. His head shifted around as he looked back and forth between the barrels. "Oh, which is the bottom? The blue? I think the blue…" he mumbled to himself. He finally tilted the bottom one up before picking up a second and carefully laying it on top. He looked at it for a second before shoving it back off. "No, no, no, no! That's not right! The green? That's it! Clean up, clean UP!"
Gregory was actually starting to feel a little bad with how much the animatronic was freaking out over this tower of three barrels. Not exceptionally bad, not bad enough to feel like he didn't deserve it a little, but enough that it took until right then for him to sudden realize that his way to the door was open. He instantly made a run for it.
"No, no, wait, wait!" The Sun turned to run after him before nearly being stopped in his tracks, jittering about before forcibly throwing himself back onto the barrels to pick them up.
Gregory sprinted as fast as he could across the play area and towards the wooden door. He had almost made it there before he heard the tell-tale jingling and some really fast footsteps closing in on him. He threw himself at the mercy of the wooden door and tried to push and pull at it, but it wouldn't budge.
"Come on!" he cried. He tried one more hard push before looking back and then diving behind the counter directly to his right just a second before the Sun slammed into it, body folding over it. Gregory backed away cautiously as the animatronic made desperate little reaches for him.
"New friend, this- this area is off-limits! You're gonna get us in trouble…" the Sun said anxiously. He pulled himself up from the counter. "H-H-How about you just come out from behind there and we'll, uh, we'll have a puppet show! Or- or- we could do some arts and craft! You seem like a crafty kid! I-I have glitter glue! Do you like glitter glue?!" he pleaded, desperation oozing from his body language. Gregory just staring at the scene. "Googly eyes?!"
"All I want is to get out of this stupid place. And if you're not going to open the door, then I'm going to do it myself," Gregory challenged. He then started to look over the counter with frantic determination. He didn't trust the Sun not to pull a quick one while his back was turned.
The Sun slowly sunk behind the counter. Gregory didn't notice for a few seconds but managed to look over quick enough to look back and up in time to see the Sun's hand reaching over the top of the counter. He ducked down in time to dodge. If anything, this just increased that panic tenfold as the jester began to pace around the front of the desk, clearly wanting to get around it and not being able to.
"I-I-I'm sure you want to go play out there in the arcade o-or go see the gift shop or whatever but running around the Pizzaplex unsupervised is a HUGE no-no," he tried to rationalize with the boy. Then he quickly returned to baiting. "I have seven!" the Sun hesitated to reach both arms over and hold up the appropriate amount of fingers. "SEVEN flavors of Fizzy Faz! And you can mix them together! You could make grape-pink lemonade or orange-blueberry!"
Gregory just moved further down to continue searching. There had to be something here if the Sun wanted him out of here so bad, and it was clear the door was locked. If it was a security door, then maybe there was a button to open it.
That was when he found a Freddy head shaped button under a little glass-looking-but-actually-plastic case. He was starting to lift the unlocked cover just as the Sun made his way back to the side of the counter to peek at what he was doing- and when he did the reaction was immediate.
"DON'T TOUCH THAT!" he yelled. The volume alone caused Gregory to jump and stare at the Sun, who had devolved into even more panic. "S-S-Sunspot, you- you remember the rules? The one rule I had? Keep the lights on?"
"Yeah…?" he asked.
"That button initiates naptime more. It turns the lights off," the Sun said. His voice was tense like he was gritting his grinning teeth. "So, whatever you do, don't press that, okay?"
So, it was basically the light switch. That wouldn't exactly help him then, but just as Gregory was about to shut the case and shut the clown up, he suddenly reconsidered. He suddenly had an idea and sent the clown a crafty look.
"Okay, I won't press this button… If you open the door and let me out."
"Wha- I CAN'T DO THAT! I already told you I can't do thaa-aat!"
"And how do I even know this is really the light switch? Why would they cover it up like this? Why would it be on a desk?" Gregory asked mischievously, attempting to talk down to the Sun in the same way he had talked down to him. It felt good to be the one in control this time. "Are you suuure this isn't the button that opens the door?"
The Sun was beginning to genuinely freak out now. He reached up and started to grab at his own points, which slipped in under his fingers. "No, no, it's not! It's not!"
"But what if you're lying?"
"I'm not! Pinky promise, cross my heart and hope to die!"
"Then why are you freaking out?"
"Becaaaaaause," the Sun started. He tried to regain a somewhat normal pose, the same pose as earlier in fact, where he had a hand on his hip and a finger pointed up. "When the lights go off, the sun goes doooown. And you really don't want that because then the-."
There was a soft click and the lights all shut off in the daycare. The Sun twitched as the realization slowly sunk in that Gregory had indeed pushed the button.
Then he practically exploded, "…DID YOU JUST PRESS IT?!" Gregory's face was struck with shock and guilt. "No- NO! WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT?!"
"I… I thought it was for the door," the boy admitted. He was almost more stunned that it actually was for the lights because he had been absolutely sure the Sun was tricking him.
"Why would I- Turn it back on! TURN IT BACK ON!" the jester cried. He threw himself onto the counter, climbing onto his knees like he was planning to crawl over, but no matter how far he leaned he couldn't actually breach the point of climbing past the counter. He could only get as far as being on it.
Gregory didn't need to be told twice. He pressed the button again, and again, and again, but nothing was happening. "I can't! It won't come back on!"
The Sun would've been sweating bullets if he could've. He was already sounding like he was panting as he clamored to his feet on the counter. His hands clawing at the edge of his head, pulling out the points as they tried to slip back in.
"Lights on! Lights on, lights on, lights on…" he repeated like a mantra. Some of his points slipped in despite him and his face started to turn. He caught it with his palms against his faceplate, fingers digging into the seam along the top where the points once were. "No, no, no! I- I warned you! I WARNED YOU!"
Gregory watched in horror as the Sun writhed and staggered above him before falling back off the desk and landing on the padded floor with a clank. The jingling and ticking whirring had both stopped. The room was dead silent.
Apparently when he said that the Sun went down when the lights went off, he wasn't kidding. Gregory was just stunned. That was not the intended affect at all… but this could still probably help him. Now with the Sun down for the count, he could look for the real way to open the door. Or better yet, as he was greatly considering, he could just walk back across the daycare and climb the slippery slide. He could maybe do it without someone grabbing at his-.
There was a loud click. Then there was a mechanical sliding noise, and the whirring and ticking returned once more. He could tell it was coming from the other side of the counter and started to walk over to check.
Only to stop in his tracks when a much more unexpected sound came from the other side of the counter.
A hoarse giggle.
"Sun?" Gregory asked tentatively. "Are you okay?"
The giggling sounded almost pained and yet still significantly more sinister than he would've expected. Especially since the voice sounded different. It still kind of sounded like Sun, but it sounded wrong.
"Naughty boy…"
Gregory tensed up at the crackly voice and then jumped as a hand suddenly grabbed the edge of the table. It looked like Sun's hand- it was Sun's hand- but now his fingers were a luminescent blue. A second hand joined the first, fingers flexing on the counter before they started to up the rest.
What's head starts to raise over the edge is no longer the Sun. It once was, he knows that, but it is no longer. A large section of his face has been darkened out while the rest glows a softer, starker white in the shape of a crescent moon. His points have all drawn into his round head and his eyes too have changed color. No longer a milky white there is now a ruby glow inside of them, the scarlet pupils locked onto his target and unmoving.
"It's past your bedtime…~" he croons. His voice is significantly more uncomfortable, the goofiness drained out and now replaced with a threatening edge. It straightens up more and reaches behind him, and in this motion, Gregory can see that more of his body has adopted the blue color scheme. He yanks his arm back forward in a rough motion, now clutching what looks like a nightcap. He spins it on his fingers before tugging it on with one smooth motion.
"You. Must. Be. PUNISHED." His face sways to punctuate every word before lurching forward on the last one. Gregory stepped back with wide eyes. It stared at him a long moment before crackling and, swinging back while still holding the counter, and using the motion to hop up onto it.
Its puffy pants had changed too, somehow. Instead of yellow and red stripes, they were a deep blue and dotted with dozens of stars. Between this, the other blue accents, and the nightcap, Gregory recognized him from the other murals that had been on the wall with the Sun's, its moon themed counterpart. He remembered the word "Moondrop" stretched out underneath its peaceful face- a sharp contrast to the nasty grin facing him now.
"Moondrop" hopped from foot to foot with a sinister giggle before rattling a taunting, "Nighty-niiiight…~"
He crouched down before leaping up into a backflip. There was a clanking noise from the air before he suddenly dove down towards Gregory. The boy yelped and ducked down, but the jester simply swooped over his head and swung off somewhere into the darkness. Gregory peeked out for only a second before throwing himself under the security desk.
With the music off, all he could hear was his heavy breathing echoing in the small space as he brought the watch to his mouth and pressed the button. "Freddy?! Freddy, where are you?!" he whispered frantically.
"Gregory! What is wrong?! Is it Monty again?!"
"Where are you?! Are you still charging?!" Gregory frantically asked.
"No, I am in the lobby. I am attempting to acquire a daycare pick-up pass so I can come get you. What happened?" he asked more firmly.
"I'm at the daycare and there was this sun guy who wouldn't let me leave and then I pressed this button thinking it would open the door and it shut the lights off, and he changed into a scary flying moon and I need you to come get me!"
Freddy audibly gasped over the line. "That is not good. When the lights go out the Daycare Attendant becomes… temperamental, and if the power is out then I will not be able to reach you. I am on my way, but is there any way you can turn the lights back on? You mentioned a button?"
"I tried; they wouldn't come back on!" Gregory exclaimed. Freddy was silent for a moment, likely thinking, and it gave him a moment to think to. He remembered the Sun warning him about turning the lights off, how it was the number one rule, and what he found mid-way through their game of hide and seek. "…Wait. There's some kind of back-up generator in the playground tunnels. He said it was for when the lights went out."
"Where are you now? In the play structures?"
"No, I'm hiding under the security desk. I don't think he can get back here… but if I could get back to that generator, maybe I could turn the lights back on."
"Do not go into the play structures. It is too risky," Freddy insisted worriedly. "Just sit tight and I will find a way to get the door open. There is a Nanny Bot on site who may be able to help us."
After this run-in with the Sun, Gregory wasn't exactly jumping at the prospect of getting yet another animatronic involved. He removed his finger from the button and listened for anything nearby, but there was no ticking or whirring. He knew better than think the Moon just left, but this was probably his best chance to be able to skirt off somewhere. He knew he could climb into the tunnels, but maybe, if he was quick and quiet, he could beat it to the generators.
Gregory dared to peek out from his hiding spot to make sure he was in the clear before shuffling over and grabbing a flashlight he had seen earlier while scouring the desk. He carefully clicked it on under the desk to make sure it could come on before turning it off and finally creeping out, crouching low to the right side of the desk before peeking around it.
Still no sign of his pursuer and a straight shot for the slide. He took a shaky breath before sliding off his shoes, knowing he would have an easier time climbing in his sockless feet. He listened closely and looked around for a moment longer, considering whether he really wanted to do this or not, before deciding that he didn't want to- but he was going to. He made a run for it and was soon pattering up the dark slide.
It was much harder to see inside of the play structure with the lights off. The soft glow from the star shaped lights barely reached past the bars and though his eyes had adjusted to the dark it was still disorienting. He was going more off memory than vision, trying to find his way back to generator. He froze up at the sound of nasty giggling from somewhere outside the structure, holding his breath, listening closely.
It sounded close but he couldn't hear the familiar ticking, so it wasn't that close. Gregory pushed onward, trying to move as quietly as possible as he got into the safety of the tube leading down to the generator. He crawled up to it and finally clicked on the flashlight to get a better look. There was a little lever and a button, which he pressed and didn't do anything. He then flipped the lever and pressed the button.
Suddenly the generator sputtered to life and began to rumble in its plastic enclosure. This should've been a victory, except for one problem: the lights were still out. The lights were still out, and Gregory just turned on an exceptionally loud machine that was giving away his exact location. He had to get away quickly and climbed back up the tunnel. There went his only plan, now back to the security desk to press buttons and see if something came on.
Gregory crawled out of the tunnel and came face to face with red eyes and a grisly smile. It didn't matter that it was on the outside of the bars, he couldn't stop himself from yelping no more than he could slow his racing heartbeat. Moondrop cackled and spun his face with a mocking sway, and Gregory's face burned with embarrassment.
"What happened to 'no climbing on the outside'?" he snapped. The jester's face stopped spinning.
"It's not fun when someone doesn't play by the rules, issss it?" Moondrop mocked. He started to slide his hand through the bars and Gregory finally skirted by and made a run for it. "Hidey-hide. Hide awaaay.~"
Gregory wasn't sure where he was going but knew he had to get away fast. There were more than enough openings for the Moon to climb inside and pursue him. The flashlight was barely helping him figure out his way with the clashing colors.
When all of the sudden he suddenly ran up on a second generator. It was obviously not the same one, being in a completely different location and not turned on, so it shocked him to find it.
"There's more than one?!" he thought. That explained why the one didn't work, maybe. He threw the lever down and pressed the button, and it too sputtered to life, but the lights were still off. "Maybe there's others?" He shined his lights out through the bars and noticed more wires in the other play structure. "There's got to be more!"
There were more too. He managed to find another one on the bottom floor of the first structure, still not getting the lights on, and returned into the depths. All the while hearing the ticking inching ever closer. Occasionally he heard a giggle or noticed a flash of red out the corner of his vision as Moondrop assumedly climbed around the outside of the structure, watching him.
He ran around a tight corner and into a deeper intersection of the play structure where numerous tunnels and passages met together under a lone light fueled by one of the generators. Coming around the corner, he met that garish face once more, but this time it was no longer outside the bars. It was in one of the tunnel openings.
"Knock, knock,~" Moondrop mocked. Gregory ran past and down a plushy slope to the lower section of the play structure. Moondrop kept up, crawling easily through the tunnel, his legs turned around and knees bent like the legs of a spider.
As Gregory weaved through a narrow passage of plush walls, he could see a red hue fall over him and hear the whirring and ticking coming closer. He came around the corner and threw himself into a tunnel, crawling as quickly as he could, hearing the jester thumping into it right after him. When he staggered out of the tunnel, Moondrop's long fingers caught his ankle, but he yanked free before he could secure his grip.
Gregory kept running until he spotted wires crossing his path and looked to the right just in time to see them leading into a third generator. He ducked into the nook and quickly flipped it on. It hummed to life; the lights didn't come on.
He turned to run and there was Moondrop's face again popping around the corner and his arm swinging out. Gregory ducked and was running again, but this time his pursuer was right on his heels as he ran out of the play structure and into a sea of little chairs and tables. He had to make a sharp left to avoid them, almost running into an oversized Freddy Fazbear plush, and while recovering his eyes landed on a familiar tower of barrels.
Moondrop rolled out behind him and was back on his feet, rushing him just quickly enough that he would've overtook him in seconds if not for Gregory reaching out without missing a beat and shoving the tower of barrels over.
The barrels made their celebratory jingle as they fell over and Moondrop flinched just like the Sun had with a pain little 'tck' noise. He recovered for a few seconds, jolting forward after Gregory before stopping as though being held back. He looked back to the tower and back to Gregory, who was now running into another play structure, and back to the barrels-
"UGH! C-Clean up, CLEAN UP!" he choked in frustration before spinning around and racing back to the fallen tower, hurrying to stack them back up.
Gregory could see a wire running up into the structure and ran up the plush ramp to the next floor, then up the next one. He knew he was slowing down, all the running finally catching up with him while his lungs ached, and his heart pounded so hard that it hurt. He stumbled a little as he made it up to the top- but he wasn't the only one.
He looked to the left and saw a generator. He heard a thumping and looked to the right just in time to see Moondrop's face appear at the top of a slide. Gregory flung himself to the side towards the generator, reaching for it before being yanked back by both ankles. It giggled again and started to draw him back towards the slide.
"What's wrong, Moonwort?" he tsked at the boy. "I thought you didn't liiike Sunny. Don't you want to play with meee? I won't treat you like a baby. You're not a baby." He gave him a small tug and hissed, "You're just a brat."
"Let go!" Gregory grunted and twisted his legs, getting one free and using that to push himself forward and reach for the generator. He threw down the switch and reached for the button. Moondrop must've suddenly figured something out as he made a startled noise and suddenly grabbed at the back of his shirt, but it was too late. Gregory pressed the button.
This time the generator wasn't the only thing that turned on. The lights booted back up with a hum, illuminating the whole structure in an instant. Moondrop made a pained-sounding grunt and slinked back into the slide, his hands covering his face. Gregory could see it trying to turn as he slid down into the side and disappeared, and a quick look through the bars showed that he hadn't gone out the other side.
Now was his chance- there was another slide that led right down beside the security desk. Gregory hurried over and slid down, making a break for the security desk and then for the door. Only then noticing something that he hadn't before, a button on the wall beside it. He reached up and pressed it, and there was a click in the door itself. He pushed and there was give. It was very heavy, but the door was starting to open, creaking as it did.
Almost creaking loud enough to drown out the sound of rapid footsteps closing in directly behind him. Right when he had gotten the door open enough to try and squeeze through, he felt a familiar pair of hands yank him back up.
"No!" he cried. So close to being out and being dragged back in. Before he could put up any amount of a fight, he was turned around in the grasp and suddenly face to face with the Sun.
Its expression hadn't changed, but from the little twitches of its head and points he could tell he was agitated.
"Uh…" Gregory began but didn't have a chance to say anything more.
"Rule-breaker, Rule-breaker!" the Sun hissed through tight, unmoving teeth. "And I was going to let it slide! Even when you were being rude and trying to trick me!"
"Hey, I didn't mean to turn the lights out! I thought- Look, just let me go and I'll get out of your hair," Gregory offered.
"Oh, you're going somewhere alright. I've got a place just for little rulebreakers like you," the Sun said sourly and lowly. The felt a prickle of dread on the back of his neck at that tone. "I'm putting you in TIME-OUT!"
Gregory had never switched so quickly from fear to disappointment as he did in that moment. Especially when he was easily toted away from the doors and back towards the ball pit. This time he began to thrash and fight it.
"What?! No! Why can't you just let me go?! I'd be way safer out there than stuck in here with you!" he yelled.
"All you're doing is adding more minutes on, little guy- and I've already tallied you up to thirty-five minutes!"
"Oh yeah? Well, I'm going to tell Freddy what you're doing when he gets here and he's going to tell that security lady and you're the one who's going to be put in 'time-out'!"
"Forty-five!"
"Shut up!"
"Sixty!"
"Sunny!"
The sudden addition of a third voice caused the Sun to stop abruptly in his tracks. He looked up towards the balcony and while his expression couldn't change, the way he flinched said quite a bit.
"Sunny, what are you doing?" the voice called down. Gregory looked up towards the balcony but couldn't see anyone from this angle. They had to be around the corner.
"I'm taking this little troublemaker-," Sunny hoisted Gregory up, "-to the Time-Out Table!"
There was a short pause after this.
Then the voice rather gently said, "Sunny, put him down."
Sunny dropped his arms- though not Gregory- in a motion as though surprised, making a sputtering noise. "What?"
"Put him down and let him go. He's right, he's not supposed to be in here."
"But he- BUT HE- But you saw what he did! He turned the lights off, he sassed me, he broke every rule, and you just want ME to break the rules and put him outside where some weirdo in a uniform could just come up and take him?!"
"Sunny, listen to me."
"I gave him one little rule-!"
"Put him down."
"-and he gets snippy!"
"Take him to the door."
"I'm not supposed to-!"
"And let him go."
"-do that! I can't do that!"
"Right now."
"BUT-!"
"Or I'm coming down there."
That stopped the argument dead in its tracks. The way Sunny's points suddenly recoiled gave off the impression of shock or fear, slowly sliding back out as he gave a flustered little chuckle.
"What? No, no, no, that's okay! I'll just… I'll do it! Be right, right back!" Sunny turned his head to look down at Gregory. The boy knew he shouldn't, he knew better than to, but he couldn't help the edge of a sly little smile tugging at the side of his mouth. Sunny gave a disappointed 'tck' and began to carry him back towards the door, grumbling in his chest.
"Okay, new plan! You wanna here it? Huh? Do ya? Do ya?" he asked with phony excitement. Gregory didn't answer, those white eyes staring daggers into him as he strode all the way back to the door. He hit the button with his elbow and shoved it open with his foot. "You are BANNED from the Daycare!" he exclaimed, dropping Gregory outside the door. Though 'tossing' might've also been an appropriate description for it.
The Sun proceeded to cup a hand around his mouth and loudly called, "SECURITY ALERT! SECURITY ALERT! Woo woo, woo woo!~"
Then with a spin of his prongs, slid back inside and slammed the door behind him. Then promptly began a mad sprint across the daycare back in the direction of his balcony.
Meanwhile, Gregory was now outside the daycare like he had wanted, but he didn't like that call for security at the end. He remembered Freddy mentioning being able to connect with the office and security, so that didn't bode well.
"Gregory!"
But speak of the bear, there was a familiar voice from behind him. Gregory spun around to see Freddy standing nearby by the stairs with a Staff Bot in a dress and made a run for him. Freddy met him with only a couple of strides and opened up his stomach hatch without question, allowing the boy too quickly climb inside.
"Let's get out of here!"
…
To say that Freddy had been worried when Gregory had messaged him was a massive understatement. While Monty's behavior was odd and unpredictable, Freddy knew that the Moon was especially more temperamental, and he had immediately sprinted to the daycare, forgetting the daycare pass, and just vaulting over the turnstiles like he wasn't on reserved power, and came right up to the doors only to be barred out.
The Nanny Bot had been there, and he had been trying to explain to it that he had to get inside- he wasn't sure if she understood him with how she sort of blankly stared at him- but then the lights came on and, sure enough, the Daycare Attendant- sweet Sun, not moody Moon- deposited Gregory outside of the door shortly after. Within seconds he was back in the safety of Freddy's stomach hatch and, after saying goodbye to Nanny, they were heading up the stairs.
Unfortunately, that didn't fix the immediate problem. No doubt the lights going off in the daycare was going to attract some warranted and unwanted attention. Vanessa would probably be here soon. She hadn't been in the lobby or the lost and found when he was, but she had to be somewhere nearby, and she would be coming if the Daycare Attendant had indeed called for security and wasn't just playing into theatrics.
Freddy climbed over the turnstiles this time, definitely not feeling up to jumping them again, and made his way to the door out of the daycare. He was already starting to feel worn down like his battery was starting to drain, but it was clear that he couldn't leave Gregory to fend for himself. Not when everyone was acting… weird. He just had to hurry and find an exit before somebody found him.
Which would've been a great plan if the door didn't roll up to reveal Chica, Roxanne, and Monty all walking directly towards him.
Chica looked just as surprised as Freddy. Though instead of freezing up like in a spotlight like he did, she gave a surprised little cluck and hobbled to him.
"Freddy! Oh my gosh, Freddy! I didn't think you'd be up and at 'em so soon!" she said with bubbly relief. "What are you doing here?"
He tried to think up an excuse fast, but, thankfully, he didn't get a chance to answer.
"Freddy, what happened earlier?! You totally died on us!" Roxanne snapped. Her arms were crossed tightly on her chest while she tried to suppress the twitching of her leg. "You didn't even make it through one song! What happened?!"
"I am sorry, Roxy. I-I do not know what happened," Freddy apologized. He could feel the embarrassment creeping up and the lingering weakness wasn't helping him make any excuses. Thankfully, Chica jumped to his aid.
"Don't be mean to him. It's not like he wanted that to happen," Chica lightly scolded. She looked back to Freddy. "Don't listen to her, Honey-bear. She was just worried! We all were!"
"I wasn't worried," Roxanne defensively argued. She hesitated a moment before correcting, "Actually, yes, I was worried. I was worried we were going to have to stop the show early and flop bigtime on our first performance, and we did! All of that practicing and planning and what happens? We're a laughingstock!"
"Oh, stop that! It's not Freddy's fault that he broke down," Chica defended. Freddy couldn't say her defense was making him feel much better, but he couldn't feel much over the sheer panic of having a stowaway hiding inside his belly while his bandmates argued amongst themselves. Chica narrowed her eyes slyly and countered, "I think you're just upset that Freddy got all that attention and you didn't."
"Please, did you see how that crowd was looking at me? I didn't need to take a dive on stage to have all eyes on me," Roxanne scoffed, turning her head away and flipping back her hair.
"Maybe that's because you were hogging the front of the stage," Chica tittered. Roxanne's head snapped back to glare at her and Chica gave her a cheeky little wink. The wolf huffed and thrust down her fists at her sides.
"I don't need to be lectured on 'hogging' anything by the chick who decimated the free samples at her own bakery," she spat back. Chica's eyes popped open, and she looked like she was about to erupt.
Monty, who looked half-dead to the world himself as he stood behind the two of them, finally rumbled out a rather blunt, "Weren't we here to do somethin'?" Though considering how out of it he looked, he could've just forgot.
"Yes," Chica grumpily. She finally turned back to Freddy. "Did you see anything in there?... Freddy? Are you okay? You've got a funny look."
That distant stare on Freddy's face was, in fact, him staring at the low battery warning that suddenly popped back up on his vision. His jaw tightened at seeing it. He was sure it hadn't been long enough to require another charge but he could feel that weakness all throughout his body. It was like the charge was just draining back out of him.
"Freddy?" Chica repeated. He blinked to attention.
"Err, excuse me, Chica. I believe I need to charge myself," he said. She was giving him a funny look as he stared trying to walk around her, only for that look to change quickly at the slight teeter to his step.
"Whoa! Hold on, I've got you!" She leapt into action, ignoring her own wobbly gait to get an arm around him. She gestured her head for Roxanne to come help. "Come on, Roxy!"
Roxanne had also noticed the stagger and looked a little startled by it, as though suddenly realizing that Freddy was indeed not fine. She circled to his opposite side to support him.
"Take it easy. We don't need you going down twice in one day," she said, trying her hardest to sound as aloof as possible. "What were you even doing over here?"
"I… heard that the lights went out in the daycare. I saw Officer Vanessa earlier and she said that there was a child lost in the Pizzaplex, so I thought that perhaps the lights going out had something to do with that. I saw the Daycare Attendant, but I did not have a chance to ask him what happened before I had to come back here," Freddy explained. All together it was technically not lying to his friends, but he still felt guilt. He still wondered if it was necessary to hide from them.
"Ugh, another blackout. We had one of those in the raceway earlier," Roxanne remarked.
"I started to feel strange… I have been put on some kind of safe mode and it seems to limit my battery charge," Freddy explained. "I feel weak… Everything feels very light. My head does."
"Aww, poor thing! Betcha those daycare fumes aren't helping either. All that music's bound to tire you out, and I'm sure looking at the Sun too long could make anybody lightheaded… LIGHTHEADED!" Chica nearly bawked at her own unintentional joke. "Roxy, did you get it?!"
"Chica, you're terrible," Roxanne said. "Are you going to just stand there or what?"
She was talking to Monty who was partially standing in front of them, still staring distantly like he was thinking about something. Though Freddy didn't miss that Monty seemed to be staring at his chest. He felt a nervous buzz in his head.
Though his fears were somewhat alleviated when Monty finally grumbled out a flat, "Just fer that I ain't moving."
Roxanne rolled her eyes and shook her head before pulling Freddy forward, nearly dragging him and Chica to the recharge station where they helped him inside. Freddy leaned against the back of the station as the door closed, already feeling the cycle beginning through the tingles in the bottom of his feet. Chica blew him a kiss through the window before following Roxanne towards the daycare door with Monty in tow. Much to Freddy's relief they seemed none the wiser.
"…Are they gone?" Gregory quietly asked.
"Yes. They are heading into the daycare," Freddy assured. He rested a hand on his chest, on the closed hatch. "Are you alright?"
"I'm fine… but that sun guy's going to tell them I was there," the boy muttered. Freddy could feel him readjust inside. It felt like he might've been sitting with his knees to his chest.
"He may… but that is fine. They do not know you are with me, so we can keep moving once I finish charging… again. I am sorry, I do not know what is wrong with me."
"It's fine. Don't worry about it," Gregory said. He didn't want to admit that he was exhausted and that this was the first time he had rested his legs in what felt like ages. After all of that, being inside Freddy inside of a charging station felt like the only place where he could let his guard down. "…I'm not going to like… get microwaved in here, am I?"
"Goodness no! You are entirely safe in these charging stations. You will just be stuck inside my stomach hatch until the cycle is complete."
"I can live with that," Gregory said.
Freddy wasn't sure why, but something about how tired the boy sounded when he said that comment distressed him. He couldn't put his finger on why, so instead he just relaxed into the process of charging. Both keeping a close eye on the outside world and trying to think of a plan on where to go once they rejoined it.
Mable: This is what it looks like when some strange sun man hijacks the story and overtakes a whole chapter.