Mable: Enjoy!
Going Home in a Box
Chapter Forty-One
It had been a mostly normal day at the Pizzaplex. Gregory spent most of the time moving around the atrium and lobby to not look suspicious, avoiding any animatronics and staying in crowds when there were employees nearby. He did noticed there were fewer human employees to the days before, with a few more Staff Bots at the counters. Not that he approached them, instead snatching food here and there when he wasn't noticed.
Only once was he spotted, and he was able to put on the 'dumb kid' act and pretended like he mistook their table for his parents'. They bought it, they thought it was adorable, and he skirted off quickly with them none-the-wiser. While Gregory's size didn't benefit him against robots or nutty security guards, it definitely gave him a pass with unsuspecting adults. Like, nobody thought it was weird that he hung out a lot in Kids Cove.
He had a photo pass ticket in his pocket, but he didn't use it. Unless he wanted to get caught or waste his chance going in amongst a bunch of other kids, Gregory was going to wait until closing and then use it to get to Freddy. Then he could stall long enough that he could get stuck at the Pizzaplex overnight on accident under Freddy's watch- to make Freddy less suspicious, though he hadn't really seemed to catch on.
They had done this routine for days now: come visit after closing but before midnight, stall, get locked in, stay overnight, and get another photo pass for the next day. Somehow, Freddy didn't seem to catch on.
Freddy was great, really. Gregory thought he was pretty cool for a robot. He just wasn't the most observant of robots. Probably why he kept thinking his friends were acting normal when they were acting so weird.
Gregory got to see Freddy perform on stage a few times. Once he even saw him walk through the other side of the atrium from Rockstar Row to Fazer Blast. During which he was utterly swarmed by kids, and no amount of Staff Bots could keep them back from grabbing at him. It left a sour taste in Gregory's mouth even though Freddy seemed happy to talk with the children, even signing autographs and handing out tokens.
Freddy never gave him an autograph. Then again, he would've bet that Freddy never gave them free photo passes, of baked pizza with them, or played Fazer Blast with him and Foxy.
Freddy started to turn in his direction and Gregory quickly turned and darted back into Kids Cove. He was sure that he wasn't spotted because, knowing Freddy, he would've just ran over to see him. Instead, he peeked out a few minutes later to find the bear gone and assumed he had headed into Fazer Blast. Somewhat disappointed, Gregory headed upstairs to swipe some popcorn for a snack.
The last show of the day was at eight o'clock and was something akin to a closing show for the Pizzaplex. Though the building stayed open a couple more hours after that, it was the last big performance on the stage, and it was definitely the coolest. There were spotlights, smoke machines, and lasers, and it was all so much cooler when the room was darker. Gregory watched from the back of the crowd, not expecting Freddy to see him in the crowd.
He was still sort of disappointed when he didn't, but that was alright. The show was good enough. He had trouble looking at the other bandmates without thinking about them chasing him around, but Freddy was super cool.
Gregory wasn't too shocked when he didn't see Freddy after the show. He didn't seek him out either, instead being especially careful to hide as the crowd started to thin out. The attractions closed before the atrium and lobby shops, so by time it reached closing there were no longer plenty of people to camouflage into. He hid out in Kids Cove until the atrium was empty, save the Staff Bots attempting to clean the many messes, and then snuck to Rockstar Row.
By now all of the animatronic would've been in their rooms. He couldn't hear much but could see that Roxanne's curtains had been pulled further closed, so likely she was in there. Gregory quietly made his way up to Freddy's door and let himself in, bracing himself for Freddy to be standing inside and ready to greet him.
Except Freddy wasn't there.
Gregory was a little surprised but wasn't too concerned at first. Likely Freddy was just charging in the back, so he sat down on the couch and decided to wait for him. At first it was nice to just get off his feet and relax for a little while.
Then he heard the announcements signaling the closing and locking of the Pizzaplex, and then saw his Faz-Watch click to midnight, and he decided to go check on Freddy. He walked into the backroom and went around the corner to look up at the window for Freddy's charging station.
There was nobody there.
Now this was strange. Ever since Gregory started coming nightly, Freddy was always in here waiting for him. Not only was he not here but Gregory had been waiting a while and he didn't show up. Now he decided to turn to the Faz-Watch.
"Freddy?" he asked into it. He was used to getting a rather speedy response, but there was no response. Now he was started to get a little worried, which he quickly shook off. "Maybe he's over in Fazer Blast?"
That was the best he could think of. Either way, nothing was getting done hanging around here, so Gregory headed back out of Freddy's green room. Blocking the door open with the bowtie pillow so it wouldn't shut him out before stepping back into Rockstar Row- only to promptly leap back to hide around the corner again.
Chica was outside of her room. Instead of eating garbage, she was looking over a duffle bag with an occasional audible hum. She would unzip a zipper, peek inside, and hum even louder. Someone must've left the bag behind, and she was either searching it for goodies or trying to identify who it belong to, probably the former. With her distracted Gregory had a perfect chance to sneak away.
Yet while he was in the process of inching towards the security door, he suddenly hesitated. Freddy had told Gregory many times that Chica wasn't dangerous and seeing her talk with Freddy while they were in the kitchen made her seem a lot less scary. Sure, she was loud and talked to Freddy in a way that Gregory didn't appreciate, but she acted like a human- just like Freddy did. The eating trash thing was weird, but maybe she was like Freddy.
They had all been chasing him, but it was Monty and Moon who had been the insane ones. Perhaps Chica would actually help him if he explained what was happening. Though what likely fueled this idea was the realization that she was going to hear the security door either way and it wasn't like he could sneak behind her. Maybe he could go back through the vent, but he didn't really want to.
Gregory decided to trust Freddy and take the chance. "Ch-Chica…?" he called quietly.
She snapped upright in a rigid posture, then her head slowly turned in his direction. As soon as she saw him her head snapped fully towards him, fast enough to make her eye twitch. A strange, empty look took her gaze as she stared at him.
Gregory realized that he had made a huge mistake.
"Ooooh? Is that a lost little boy I spy?" Chica said. Her voice had changed. It was no longer sweet and lively and instead changed to something creepy and malicious. "Don't worry, I'll take you to your parents."
All she had to do was take one wobbly step towards him and Gregory turned and bolted. He stole a glance back at Chica as the security door lifted, watching her speedily strode after him. Her head hanging and her whole-body shaking in an uncoordinated shuffle. Yet somehow, she was still fast and had almost caught up with him by time he got through the door and made a run for it.
Gregory ran at full speed out of Rockstar Row and back to the atrium, slipping under every door he passed and never missing a beat. Chica was never too far behind. He could constantly hear her heavy footsteps as she managed to keep up with him. He had gotten a little way ahead of her by time he made it into the atrium and used that to try and loose her. He darted up the closest escalators and hid behind a divider of plants.
His heart pounded in his chest as he tried to listen for her. He could hear her thumping around down on the first floor.
"Where did you go? Come out, little guy!" she called across the empty room. Her voice echoing across the large space. "Don't worry, your parents want you to follow me!"
Gregory nearly made a disgusted noise but stayed quiet as he caught his breath.
"That was a bad idea. Ugh, I knew they were all crazy! Freddy just thinks they're okay because they act normal around him!" the boy realized. Just thinking of Freddy again made him nervous and he looked down to his Faz-Watch. One of the things it had was a little map of the Pizzaplex. It was tiny and hard to see, but he squinted and only got a vague idea of the shape of the place. "Where is he?"
Fazer Blast was still a possibility, but Gregory had reasonable concerns about going back downstairs and walking around where Chica currently was. Besides, something else had to be going on. Freddy had stayed on schedule since Gregory had started showing up nightly. Even if he was called away for something else, which seemed unlikely since everyone was gone, he wasn't responding to the watch.
"Something's wrong. Freddy's never gone this long and wherever he is he can't hear my messages… I'm going to have to find him, but how?"
"Would you like some caaandy? I have a whole bunch of candy, and cupcakes!" Chica tempted from below. The idea of eating anything she gave him turned his stomach.
He was going to need help. Normally he would've turned to Freddy, but obviously he couldn't do that.
"I could call Foxy!... Wait, no. I don't know his number- Ugh! Is there anyone in this place who isn't crazy?!" He sat there for a long minutes, cringing as he heard Chica continuing to call for him. He even considered risking it with the night guard… until he thought back to that night at the daycare. "Wait, there was someone up in the daycare. Someone the Sun guy was afraid of… Maybe he could help?"
It was worth a shot. At this point Chica wasn't giving up and it wasn't like Freddy was showing up. Taking a deep breath, Gregory peeked out of his hiding space before creeping along towards the elevators at the front of the atrium.
He could hear Chica walking around nearby. It sounded like she was just under him, but he was as quiet as he could be. Eventually he made it to elevators and pressed the button to call for it, wincing at the noise it made as it lifted to this floor.
He felt a growing fear as those footsteps quickened and were suddenly thumping closer, higher, and he looked back at the escalator, watching with wide eyes as Chica rose into view, climbing the steps and spotting him.
"There you aaa-are~!" she cooed. Then broke into a fumbling jog.
Gregory ran into the elevator and pressed the button before backing up to the corner. Chica ran up fast enough to catch the elevator. She could've easily stuck her arm through the closing door, but she didn't. She just stood there and stared through the crack in the door as it slowly closed like she wanted to, like something held her back.
The doors shut and the elevator began to slowly descend. Gregory finally breathed a sigh of relief, but it was short lived. He turned around and waited for the doors to open, then crept out into the lobby.
Thankfully the place seemed empty. He snuck through the upper floor and through the doors into the hallway outside of the daycare. He was about halfway down it and almost there when he noticed a familiar noise closing in and stopped in place. The thumps of heavy footsteps- not Freddy's but Chica's. He stood there frozen, trying to figure out where they were coming from before hearing a security door from the fountain lobby.
Gregory ran back and into one of the bathrooms before hiding in a stall. He stood in there, prepared to crawl under the wall or make a run for it, anything, as he heard the footsteps hastily approach. Only for them to continue right past the bathroom and towards the lobby. Chica had no clue he came this way and hadn't heard him. He waited until her footsteps were faint before daring to peek out the bathroom door and continue to the daycare.
The daycare was exactly as he remembered it, bright and overflowing with bouncy music. Gregory walked inside carefully. Part of him half-expected to be bombarded the second he walked through the door on account of the banned posters. The banned posters that were regularly put up and taken down without him seeing it happen. It wasn't hard to guess that someone was still angry with him.
"I wonder where that Sun guy is…" he mumbled.
He walked over to peek into the daycare but didn't see anyone inside. That wasn't a great sign, but maybe that meant the Daycare Attendant was up in the balcony. In which case he could probably get into the daycare and call up to the other person behind the curtain before Mister Sunshine hopped down and tossed him out through the front doors.
It wasn't a great plan. It was, in fact, the only plan. He just had to go with it.
Gregory took a deep breath and approached the slide. He crouched down in front of the opening before moving into the sitting position. He stretched his legs down and started to scoot forward, preparing to push off.
"Here I go…"
When suddenly a yellow face popped around the corner. The white eyes and wide grin just as jarring as the first time they were shoved into his face.
"Gah!" Gregory cried and fell back out of the slide.
"Here you do not go!" Sunny cried defiantly. He easily climbed up the slide to stare down Gregory from the top. "Or have you forgotten that you're absolutely, positively, totally and certainly, wholly and fully, undeniably and reliably BANNED?!"
"I know that, but-."
"Ah, ah! No backtalk!" Sunny waggled an accusatory finger at him. "If you wanted to get in so bad then you should've followed the rules and been a lot nicer! Then you could've spent allll night every night playing and having fun! Now nope, nope! YOU are staying OUT HERE! No arts and crafts for you! And it's a real shame because I got brand-new Faz-Doh."
Gregory narrowed his eyes at the Sun's condescending tone.
"I don't want to play in your stupid daycare, okay?" he huffed.
"That's ten more minutes, Sunspot! Wanna go for twenty?" Sunny tsked. Gregory rolled his eyes.
"Okay, look. Freddy's gone and I don't know where they took him, and now Chica's chasing after me! I need someone to help me find Freddy," Gregory tried to reason. Though either because of his continue huffiness or Sunny's absolute stubbornness, this fell on deaf ears.
"Too bad, so sad! Maybe you should've thought of that before you snuck in again. I'm keeping count, y'know! It's been like eight times now!" Sunny said with another point. His finger so close it almost brushed Gregory's nose.
Gregory frowned at it before looking back up at Sun. "What about that guy on the balcony? Can he help me?"
Sunny sputtered dramatically and wrenched his arm back. "Wha-What guy? There's nobody up there but me. You must've been mistaken!" he insisted.
"Yes, there is. The guy who got mad at you when you wouldn't let me go. Who said he was going to 'come down here'."
"D-Doesn't ring a bell!" Sunny said nervously, poking at the bell on his wrist to make it ring. "Now y-you just move along! The daycare is strictly off limits until you clean up your messy, messy behavior!"
This was not good. Gregory wasn't even sure if that person was going to help, but he did know that turning around was probably going to land him right back in front of Chica. Maybe even everyone else too if she told on him to the security guard and the rest of the animatronics. This was his only option, and he reached a dead end with a creepy smile.
Or maybe it didn't have to be.
Gregory spun around and bolted at the slide.
"What are you do-ING?!" Sunny's voice shot up in pitch as Gregory all but dove at him. He could barely get out the, "STOP!" but it didn't do much to stop what was coming.
Gregory's thought was that with how Sunny was lifted and his spidery limbs, he could dive into the slide and maybe slip right underneath him and down into the pit. Unfortunately, not only would this have not worked, but Sunny somehow managed to catch him. Not that it stopped his momentum, as the next thing he knew he and the jester were sliding down the dizzying swirl of the slide, having thrown off the sun's grip.
Sunny fell into the ball pit backwards, managing to keep his grip on Gregory enough to hoist him over his head to keep him out of danger. Though the second they sunk in, Gregory twisted out of that grip and went wading through the balls. There was a frenzy of clattering plastic balls behind him and he looked back in time to see Sunny on his feet, towering over him, with his ever-present smile but a stance that gave away that he was mad.
"You little hooligan! You get back here right now!" Sunny demanded. When Gregory didn't turn around and immediately give himself up, he hastily strode a few long steps through the balls and snatched him up under the arms. "Gotcha!"
"Hey! Hello?!" Gregory called up to the balcony. "You up there in the balcony! I need your help!"
"Stop that! There's nobody up there…!" Sunny hissed worriedly. He turned Gregory around to face him. "And YOU are in big trouble, little guy! Do you know what happens to kids like you?!"
"What?" Gregory challenged. Yet deep inside he couldn't help but feel a pang of fear.
"They have to wear the Friendly Mitts!"
Never mind, that fear was long gone.
"So help me, as soon as we're closed for maintenance for the weekend, I am dragging the Time Out Table out to Kids Cove and you're gonna sit there until ALL of your time is served!" Sunny threatened. That threat actually had a little more weight, if only because it sounded like the most excruciatingly boring thing ever.
"What's going on?" a voice worriedly called from above. Gregory perked up and Sunny went rigid.
"Nothing!" Sunny called up. An anxious strain to his voice.
"Down here!" Gregory yelled over him.
It was hard to see at this angle, but he could vaguely make out one side of the curtains moving around, like someone was hiding behind them.
"Hey!"
"Hello down there!" the person behind the curtain called back down. While Gregory still had his guard up, he was relieved to hear that the voice sounded genuinely friendly. Not to mention that Sunny seemed stuck in place now. "What are you doing here? It's long after closing," the voice offered. He then gave a slightly exasperated, "Sunny, put him down."
"And let him disappear into the pit?! No, no, no! He is staying RIGHT here!" Sunny said with finality.
"Okay, I'm not going to argue with you," the voice said, not yet at the point to argue. "What's your name?" he asked more gently.
"It's Gregory," Gregory introduced.
"Nice to meet you, Gregory. I'm Jake," the voice introduced. "Now what did you need help with? I couldn't really catch what you were saying at the slide."
"I, uh… accidentally got stuck here after closing… again," Gregory explained. Sunny gave a little scoff and readjusted his grip, hooking a single arm around the boy, though keeping him still to his chest, just so he could put his hand on his hip. Gregory tried to send him a look to no avail and continued. "I went to find Freddy, but he's gone. Now Chica's chasing me and I can't find Freddy or get through to him on the Faz-… On the, uh…"
"The Faz-Watch? Huh, that is weird," Jake agreed.
"Wait… You know about the Faz-Watch?" Gregory asked hesitantly.
"Golly, what's that little boxy doohickey on your wrist?" Sunny asked mockingly. Leaning in his face over his shoulder to accentuate the point. Gregory turned away with a frown and covered the watch with his hand.
"If you want me to be honest, sometimes when you're close to the daycare, I… pick up your signal. Hear you two messaging each other," Jake admitted. "I'm not trying to eavesdrop! I just listen to all the radio chatter and sometimes something ends up popping up."
"You're not going to tell that security guard lady, are you?" Gregory asked, a touch of fear edging into his voice.
"Don't worry, I'm not going to tell anyone. I'm sort of in the same boat as you in a way," Jake assured. "But anyways, I know Freddy went for maintenance after the last show… but he's still not back? That is pretty strange… Tell you what. I'll come down and-."
"You're coming down?!" Sunny blurted out.
"-check the security desk computer and see what I can find," Jake finished. He drew back from the curtains, calling out as he did. "It's really the only way I can find out!" probably to answer the question.
Sunny gave a dramatic slump and a sigh. Then he hoisted Gregory up tighter and turned to wade out of the ball pit.
"Can you put me down now?"
"No."
That was sure enough of an answer that Gregory didn't think it was worth arguing.
Sunny stopped off to the side to grab a tiny blue chair and for a second he thought that he was going into time out like he was threatened, but instead it was carried over to a tiny kitchen area. Though 'kitchen' was an exaggeration. It was more a soda machine with a couple of counters, a sink, and a mini fridge alongside.
As huffy as Sunny seemed about the whole thing, he began to hum as he flittered around through the cabinets and fridge. It was probably eating him up inside that he had to have the 'Rulebreaker' stick around. After the fuss he put up earlier, Gregory couldn't help but feel more than a little pleased. He decided to not be too overt about the smugness; the last thing he needed was Sunny putting him in a more uncomfortable chair. This one was already wobbly and way too small.
He was distracted wobbling the chair on the padded floor when he suddenly had metal lunchbox dangled before his face. It had the Superstar Daycare logo on it with a yellow background and red and yellow striped sides.
"Here you go!" Sunny chirped.
Gregory gave the random lunchbox a suspicious look, then gave the same one up at Sunny.
"Before you get any weird ideas, one of the kids left their lunchbox behind. I thought instead of letting it go to waste I could give it to you," Sunny said. He started to slowly pull the lunchbox back. "Unless you don't want it."
"I'll take it," he quickly said. He eagerly grabbed the box, only realizing how needy he seemed when he did. "I mean, if I'm going to be stuck here all night anyways."
Sunny's points dipped in a spiral around his face.
Gregory opened the lunchbox to see that it was packed full. There was a carton of juice, a plastic wrapped sandwich cut in half with the crusts cut off, a package of carrot sticks with a sealed cup of ranch, a box of "Sunny-shine" golden raisins, and a small bag of Meat Bites. Someone really liked the food from the Pizzaplex apparently because everything in it was labelled to suggest that it had come from it.
Not that Gregory could care. Food was food, and the Pizzaplex food was a lot better than what he had to eat before he got here.
"That's a fancy backpack you've got there," Sunny remarked. He leaned sideways on bent legs and titled his head to look, his points swaying with his movements. He must've noticed it when it was shoved to his chest. "Where'd ya get it?"
"Prize Counter. I won it," Gregory, taking the question as suspicion, quickly tacked on.
Any further questions were sidetracked by the sound of the daycare doors opening. Gregory's head snapped over, but he could hardly see through the play structure. He could hear the doors shut back.
"It's just me!" Jake called. He could then be heard walking around the security desk.
Gregory started to get up only to have a finger popped up before him, signaling him to wait.
"Ah-ah! All food and drink must stay in the snack area!" Sunny corrected. He then turned his hand over and pointed the finger down.
Giving him an unimpressed look, Gregory sat back down on the chair. He wouldn't usually consider being this obedient, but food sounded good. He tore open the bag of Meat Bites and poured a handful into his palm.
He shoved the handful into his mouth only to notice that the unsettling jester was watching him very closely. Gregory chewed through the meaty mouthful hoping that eventually the Daycare Attendant would get the hint. He did not.
"You don't have to stare at me. I'm not going to do anything," the boy muttered.
"Oh, I don't know WHAT you're going to do next. That's why I have to watch you veeeery closely," Sunny remarked. He spun his face to accentuate such.
Gregory couldn't tell if he was just that paranoid or just messing with him. At this point it could be either of them with how weird the jester was. All he knew was that it was making it hard to eat. He looked around for a distraction and noticed the soda dispenser just behind the clown.
"Are those all Fizzy Faz?" Gregory asked. He pointed past Sunny's shoulder and towards the drink machine.
The Daycare Attendant stared a for a few seconds longer- and Gregory though he caught on to the ruse- then flipped back his head and rotated his face to look at the drink machine.
"Oh ho, no, no! We have a whole bunch of Fizzy Faz flavors, yes indeedy, but we also have less Faz-y but just as fizzy Chica Chug and Sodaroni! -Well, Chica Chug isn't exactly fizzy, but it's the thought that counts! Ooo, and there's a special mystery~ Fizzy Faz flavor too! But since I've tried aaall of the flavors, I can tell you-!"
"I found him!" Jake called.
He found Freddy. The second Gregory heard that nothing could stop him from jumping up and running for the security desk. He shoved the Meat Bites into the lunchbox and closed it up while getting up and carried it with him as he sprinted towards the desk before Sunny could stop him.
Meanwhile the Daycare Attendant snapped his head forward and tsked.
"This is exactly why I have to keep an eye on you!" Sunny said with disappointment. Only to then realize that Gregory was running towards the security office, where Jake was. "GAH! Wait, wait, come back! Don't go over there!"
It didn't matter that Sunny broke into a run; he couldn't catch up to Gregory before he got to the security desk. Jake, hearing him coming, had ducked behind the desk with some sort of, "Wait! Hold up!" of his own. Not that it stopped Gregory from coming around the corner of the desk, to avoid getting grabbed by the Sun, and suddenly seeing the source of the voice, the old sun.
Now Gregory was the one staring as Jake frantically waved his arms. "It's okay! I know I might look scary, but I'm really not. I'm just a little busted up," he insisted.
"Uh… No, I'm okay. I'm not scared of you," Gregory quickly defended. "I sorta thought you were a robot since you were hiding and stuff." Jake was relieved to hear it and stood back up. "You found Freddy?"
"I did. It says here that's he's down in maintenance. They took him down after the last show," Jake explained. He leaned forward on the desk to look at the screen, scanning over the words again.
"See? He's been fine this whole time!" Sunny loudly remarked. Unnecessarily loudly as he had been standing directly behind Gregory for a while now. The boy looked back to see him with his hands behind his back and his heels tight together, and likely would've had a smug look on his face if he could've. The Sun held that tone for a moment before his points dipped pensively. "Gee, that's an awful long time for Freddy to be in maintenance, isn't it?"
"Yeah, it is," Jake said suspiciously.
Sunny's pose relaxed and he walked around the outside of his desk, keeping his head turned on Jake until he was standing in front of him. It was sort of weird to see him walk without skipping or bouncing, or anything else.
"What've they got him down for?" he asked. His voice softer than usual.
"It doesn't say."
Sunny's internal whirring started to pick up speed.
"You don't say. Well, erm…" Sunny stole a glance at Gregory before leaning in further over the desk and lowering his voice. "You don't think they might've, umm… found out about what Freddy's been doing and decided to…?"
"…No. No way. If they found out Freddy was breaking protocol or whatever, I would've heard something about it," Jake said. Even though his words seemed sure, his tone held concern.
None of this made it past Gregory who was listening to the exchange.
"What are they doing to Freddy?" he asked while looking between them.
Apparently, both had forgotten that he could hear them because they looked to him in unison. Their expressions a mystery how quickly they both looked away and back at the computer respectively saying enough.
"We don't know. Normally there's a note or something that says what they're down there for. There's nothing here," Jake explained.
"Then… What do you think they did to Freddy?" Gregory asked. There was a hesitation and he impatiently asked, "They wouldn't hurt him, would they?"
"No! He's the star! I hear really good things about Freddy. He's the most engaged 'animatronic mascot' they've got in this place. Well, expect maybe Sunny," Jake said and gestured over the desk at said attendant.
Sunny's points dipped like he had heard the compliment, but he seemed to be staring past Jake at the wall behind him. At the screen projection of the Sun character that almost looked like him. His fingers tapped on the edge of the desk.
"I should go down there and check on him…" he said distantly.
Jake's hand tightened on the mouse and there was a heavy second, then he shook his head.
"You can't," he said. "It's going to be dark down there and if anyone catches wind of you being there without being called… Yeah, it's going to be bad. We can't give them a reason to start poking around trying to 'fix things' and we really can't have another incident like last time."
Sunny's fingers tightened on the desk.
"What happened last time?" Gregory dared to ask.
"I scared a technician," Sunny huffed. He might've rolled his eyes if he could've.
"Did you turn into the moon and chase him around?" the boy flatly asked.
"As a matter of fact, Smart Guy, YES. Yes, I did."
"We could get someone else to check on him… I'd say Chica, but if she knows about Gregory then trying to get her involved is a really bad idea, and I don't see Roxy agreeing without getting suspicious," Jake listed off. "The night guard-."
"No," Gregory and Sunny somehow said at the same time.
"…Wouldn't be a good idea either. And the Staff Bots only go so far," Jake finished.
Before he could voice it, Gregory asked, "Why can't you go?"
"Oh, no! That would be a really, really bad idea!" Sunny immediately shot down. Just the idea seemed to suddenly panic him. "Jake is a decommissioned animatronic," he whispered. "Nobody can know he's in here. Not even Freddy! I-If he leaves the daycare he could be in HUGE danger!"
"I can leave the daycare… but going all the way down to Parts and Service would be really risking it. I'm sorry," Jake apologetically agreed.
"Then I guess that means… that I have to go down there?" Gregory asked. He didn't really like the idea, but at this point it seemed like this was what they were leading towards.
The synchronized 'no's seemed to suggest otherwise.
"Oh, no, no. You can't go down there. It's very, very dangerous. A huge, big health hazard, no good for fragile little bodies. No guests should ever go down there," Sunny quickly recited with a wag of his finger.
It was likely the fragile comment that made Gregory instantly become defensive. "It's not that bad. Freddy took me down there once."
"…Oh, isn't that nice?" Sunny said sardonically, sending Jake an exasperated head tilt.
Jake gave him a half-shrug.
"Okay, then what about Foxy?" Gregory asked before thinking, then immediately realized that was probably not a good idea. "…You know about Foxy, right?"
"Oh, we know all about Foxy. He's probably why Freddy's down there," Sunny said disapprovingly. "But we don't have his phone number."
"But we do have A phone number," Jake interjected. "We could call Charlie and her friends! They snuck in before, what stops them from doing it again?"
"But that's no good! They're just a bunch of kids!" Sunny disagreed. "And they got caught one, two, three times while they were here. Who's to say they'll even make it to Parts and Service anyway?" He counted off the fingers and held them up.
"Well… We could ask the Puppet."
Sunny's points drew in as he slowly closed his fingers and pulled back his hand.
"I… I don't know about that," he quietly said. He was understandably uneasy, and Jake sympathized but knew they had limited options.
"Who's the Puppet?" Gregory asked.
"He works with Foxy. He's another animatronic but he's been around for a long time. Longer than Sunny and me at least. I don't know too much about him, but he did offer to help if we needed anything," Jake explained. He stepped over and picked up the phone before looking to Sunny. "What do you say? Worth a shot?"
Sunny gave an uncertain hum as his points bobbed in a thinking manner. Finally, he gave an exasperated sigh and dropped his arms to his sides.
"Go ahead."
Jake started to dial the number. He recited the first six digits questioningly before Sunny recited the last four. His whirring had picked up speed again and, while Jake sympathized, he went ahead and let the phone ring.
…
The first night in ages that Mike went to bed early and someone decided to call after midnight. There was no point in ignoring it either; any call this late was typically some kind of a cry for help. At least, it better be to be waking him up.
Mike rolled over and grabbed for his cellphone, answering it with a tired, "Hello?"
"Oh, uh… This is Max right? Or Mike?"
He recognized the voice instantly and that was nearly enough to rouse him the rest of the way. Nearly but not quite.
"It's Mike. Jake?"
"That's right. Sorry to call so late but we've got a little bit of a problem over here…"
"Uh huh…" Mike laid back on the bed so he could reach over and give Marionette a gentle shake. The Puppet woke quickly and lifted his head questioningly. "Keep going."
"I don't know how much Foxy told you, or Freddy told you, but there's this kid-."
"Jake's on. It's about the kid," Mike quickly recited. Covering the receiver so Jake couldn't hear while still listening. Marionette's eyes widened and he pushed himself up on one arm, the other bent pensively.
"-named Gregory who's gotten himself stuck in the Pizzaplex a few times. He's friends with Freddy and Freddy's been taking care of him, but tonight he came by the daycare and told Sunny and me that Freddy was missing. I checked the computers, and it looks like Freddy was taken down to maintenance… but there's no notes, nothing that says why he was taken, and he's been gone for hours, and now Chica's found out that Gregory's here so it's only a matter of time before everyone in creation comes looking for him… And I was wondering if maybe the Puppet- sorry, don't know his name- maybe he could come and help out?"
"Hold on," Mike said. He turned to Marionette, considering how to process that down into a quick explanation. "…Hold on," he repeated. Marionette quirked a brow, Mike returned to the phone. "His name is Marionette, and I need you to repeat half of that. I'm barely awake here."
"I know the feeling," Jake joked. "Freddy's stuck down in maintenance and we don't know why, Gregory's here and it's only a matter of time before someone comes looking for him, and we're kind of at a loss. We can't even call Foxy."
During the simplified explanation, Marionette had slid in and was listening to the receiver as Mike held it between him. Both of them waking up a lot faster the more details that were laid out.
"We could probably hide Gregory until morning, but… we're kind of worried about what's going on with Freddy. There's no maintenance report and he's been gone for hours… If anyone found out what Freddy's been doing then they could've taken him down there to 'correct the behavior'. If you get my drift," he whispered.
It was hard not to, and Marionette straightened up in alertat the unease that rolled down his spine. Neither he nor the half-awake Mike missed those implications.
"I can help you," the Puppet said, announcing his presence to the other animatronic.
"Oh hey! I didn't realize you were on the phone…" Jake said awkwardly. Especially feeling sheepish after he confessed that he had effectively forgotten his name.
"I'm on a second line, on a second phone," Marionette attempted to quickly cover.
"We used to have a third one before we axed the extension in the basement," Mike chimed in. That was enough to get an unamused look from his companion.
"But yes, consider us on our way. Can you keep an eye on Gregory until we get there?" Marionette continued.
"Sure, no problem! Just… thank you. You're kind of our last option here. Save maybe Foxy. I don't suppose you could give us his number?"
"Leave it to us. Foxy has a party in the morning," the puppet gently insisted. "But I can give you the number once we get there… And don't worry, it's no trouble."
The phone call ended swiftly after that, and Marionette was out of the bed in a heartbeat.
"Might not be trouble but it sure is bad timing," Mike mumbled as he got out of bed. He grabbed the clothes he wore earlier out of the hamper.
"This would happen on the night we start trying to get our sleeping turned around," Marionette remarked. It might've been a joking comment, but the way he was drifting around the room as he watched Mike get dressed betrayed his distress. "…Maybe I should wake up Charlie and tell her. Maybe I should try to call Foxy too. He'll be upset if he finds out I didn't tell him."
"If you call Foxy then expect him to show up," Mike warned. "But yeah, I'd tell Charlie. She might want to go."
"But should she go?" Marionette wondered aloud.
"The one time she doesn't the rabbit chick will show up and we'll have no one to take pictures as evidence," he swore. "…But it's her call. We'll let her make it."
"Alright," the puppet agreed. He continued to watch as Mike finished getting his clothes on and grabbed his taser, and then the two left the bedroom together.
…
"They're on their way!" Jake announced.
"Good! Great! Then they'll find Freddy and we don't have to! All good, all good!" Sunny over-compensated in agreement. "That puppet can jump from place to place, so he won't even need a maintenance pass!"
Jake froze on the spot while Gregory scrunched up his nose. "How many doors take passes in this place?"
"Oh, most of them. Except mine! My door is always open for children who want to have fun- that's why my door's a slide!" Sunny chirped.
"I don't remember you letting me in," Gregory said grouchily.
"I don't remember you wanting to play in my 'stupid daycare'," Sunny retorted.
"The pass is going to be a problem. There's no way they'll get through the utility tunnels that far without one. Marionette can 'jump' around, but whoever comes with him isn't going to be, and neither is Freddy. They'll need one of those passes just to get him out." Jake began to redial once again. "Hold on…"
…
Marionette had knocked on Charlie's door and received no response. She had given him permission to come in before to wake her, so he started to do so. Just as he was quietly opening the door though, Mike's cell phone began to go off directly behind him. He spun inside quickly and tried to quickly by quietly shut the door while Mike speedily answered.
"Hello, hello?"
"It's me again. Sorry to bother you, but we might have a small problem."
"That's a nice change. You know, compared to the big problem of Freddy being AWOL," Mike said matter-of-factly.
"Heh, true. Okay, so here's the thing. You need a maintenance pass to get into Parts and Service. That or a security badge; those really open doors around here. Anyway! So, just giving you a head's up that you might have to go find one."
"Any idea where one would be?" he asked. He could tell this was already going to be a long night.
"Well… Odds are both would be in a security office. What would you say, Monty Golf?" he quietly asked someone in the background. Then he reiterated, "Likely Monty Golf. Have you been there?"
"No, but I'm sure I can find it. I'll follow the big neon sign with the golf club on it," Mike remarked. "Where would the security office be? I'd rather be in and out."
"It's sort of to the back right of the entrance. You go in, go down the stairs, and if you can find the hallway towards the back right then you can walk right towards it. Or, if you get to the snack bar you can take the door in there to it."
"Sure." Mike withheld any comment, but he couldn't say he was thrilled to go walking blindly through gator country. "You've got a way to get the office door open?" he asked.
"I do, don't worry. I just have to get a little close and I can override those lower-level doors."
It was a small mercy; Mike would take them when he could. "Good. That should save us some time. We're heading out now but we're still in Hurricane so it might take us a few minutes to get there," he forewarned.
Jake was silent.
"…Still there?" Mike eventually asked and Jake seemed to snap out of it.
"Sorry, I was just thinking… You know what?... I can take care of it. I'll get the pass. You just focus on getting to the daycare without getting caught."
"Sounds like a plan. We'll be there as soon as we can. Keep an eye on the kid," Mike said, trying not to sound too relieved and trying to get off the phone before Jake changed his mind. While he knew about the situation- him being a damaged animatronic in hiding- he really didn't feel up to running around blindly to find something when Jake could probably walk right in and grab it.
A maintenance pass. Seemed like everything at the new Freddy's was locked behind paid passes and security codes, and yet still they were finding ways around it. They weren't the only ones either.
Though what Jake said about the security badges did catch Mike's attention. He wasn't sure why there would be random badges sitting out in offices, but he had seen Natalie's own hanging from her belt when he had saw her in uniform. Likely Jake had meant it figuratively instead of literally, but he liked the sound of that idea. Then stepped back into his bedroom to grab one last thing.
He could hear Marionette and Charlie talking when he got back so he continued to the living room, and he was surprised to see that they weren't the only ones up. Springtrap staying up to wild hours was a given, but Jeremy was awake too, playing video games again but with the TV turned down low.
"Hey Mike. What are you doing up?" Jeremy greeted, not looking away from the screen. It looked like he was at a large snake boss.
"What are you doing dressed?" Springtrap added.
Jeremy stole a glance to see for himself and looked a little surprised. Enough so that he went ahead and paused the game.
"I just got a call from Jake, the guy who hangs out with the Sun. That kid's in the daycare with them and Freddy's a no-show, so we're going to go look for him," Mike explained.
"As concerning as it is that the kid's back there again, is this really a 'you' problem?" the rabbit asked.
"It wasn't until he suggested that they're down there lobotomizing Freddy. I'm really hoping he's just paranoid, because if he's not… If he's not then that is not good. That's not good for anyone," Mike said. He let some of his concern slip through, but even then he was severely understating the gravity of the situation. If they were aware the animatronics were sentient and were 'fixing' them, then that was downright terrifying.
"If that's what they're trying to do then it's not going to work. It doesn't matter how much programming you pump into a machine, if it has a soul behind it then it will find a way around it."
"Even if they can't do it, them trying to do it is a crime against humanity. Even if they don't know Freddy's alive, they're brainwashing an intelligent being who thinks it's alive- Okay, I'm getting ahead of myself. We don't even know if that's what going on. For all we know, Freddy's down there getting his defunct battery fixed," Mike quickly backtracked, putting his hands up in defense. He couldn't let himself get carried away.
There was an uneasy quiet for a moment before Jeremy gave a decisive exhale.
"Guess I'm coming with you," he said. Then sat the controller down and got up. This got surprised and questioning looks from both Mike and Springtrap.
"That was sudden," Mike said.
"It seems like it, but I've been looking for a reason to get in there anyways. I can't do it while Foxy's hanging out with Freddy or it's weird. It's like I'm inserting myself into their buddy time," Jeremy admitted. "It's okay is I come?"
"Sure, you can come. Just don't expect to sleep tonight."
"Nah, I wasn't planning on it," Jeremy joked. He then headed to his room to throw some clothes on.
That brought up the question of why he was up anyways, and Mike was surprised that it took him that long to realize that he must've had another nightmare. He might've joked about the irony of escaping a nightmare by playing a game about chopping through hideous monsters, but knowing what Jeremy's dream was likely about, it wasn't a joking matter.
Jeremy was going to be tired tomorrow, but Mike appreciated him coming. With all this stuff going on the two of them and Fritz really hadn't had much time to hang out, and though this wasn't exactly 'hanging out' time, at least Jeremy wouldn't have a dozen dolls hanging off of him. An extra set of hands was always an assurance too, especially when it was another human along for the ride in a swarm of animatronics.
Mike leaned on the back of the couch before looking down at Springtrap. "What about you?"
"Being that this might be my only chance to sleep in a bed in the near future, I'm afraid not," Springtrap remarked.
"If you hate the couch that much, just take Mari's bed."
"Have you slept on Mari's bed?" he challenged with a twitch of his ear.
"…Fair point. I'll make a note to drag a mattress or something in here for you."
"I don't want to intrude," Springtrap said sarcastically.
"It's not like I'm offering you my bed," Mike retorted.
By now he was hearing someone coming and looked down the hall to see Marionette coming with Charlie behind him.
"Alright, we're ready. Charlie's coming with us and she has the radio she used to speak with Jake," Marionette explained. She held the radio up as he said so. Other than it, she was wearing her normal jacket but had her taser hooked on.
"I almost forgot," Mike said with a snap of his fingers. He walked around them and started heading back down the hall. "Jeremy's coming with us."
He didn't realize Marionette had vanished until he suddenly cut him off by popping up in front of him with the radio. Mike quirked a brow and took the radio and shook it at him.
"This is why you're my better half," he remarked. Marionette gave an almost flustered little trill and followed him back into the living room.
It wasn't long until Jeremy returned. He had thrown on a pair of sweats and a jacket but was still wearing his sleep shirt, not that it was noticed with his jacket being zipped up.
"Should we call Foxy?" Jeremy asked.
"I'll call him on our way," Mike said. Pulling on his own jacket he headed for the door.
"If you call him, he'll twist your arm about bringing him along. I'll call him. You just worry about pulling this off," Michael reassured.
"Thanks, Michael," Jeremy said appreciatively. "You can play the game if you want."
"Actually, I plan on commandeering your bed."
"That works too! Just don't step on Balloon Boy. He's on the floor."
"Let's get moving then. We don't have much time until the power shuts off and I don't know if Moon's as into this plan as Sun is," Charlie suggested. Taking her advice, they hurried out the door and into the car, and soon were on their way.
…
It wasn't until Jake was talking Mike through the plan that he really considered the logistics of it. Asking them to come over just to go down to Parts and Service was already a huge ask and their willingness to agree was a miracle. Now he was also asking them to go walk around Monty Golf to find a security office and passes when he not only knew where the office was but had the exact means to open the door.
This coming right after he had to iterate that he could leave the daycare was appropriate timing too. He hadn't left the daycare proper in a long time and he knew it was a major risk to even consider doing so, but he was going to have to do so anyway to open the security door since there was no way that they had any kind of badge and the one that was in the daycare was missing- likely stashed away in their room somewhere, thus consuming more valuable time.
And that was the important part: time. Time to reach Freddy and see what was going on and see if they could reverse whatever was being done.
"…Still there?"
Jake was snapped out of his thoughts by Mike's voice.
"Sorry, I was just thinking… You know what?... I can take care of it. I'll get the pass. You just focus on getting to the daycare without getting caught," he assured. Mike agreed and they finished out the call.
There was no reason he couldn't do this much himself. Sure, he didn't look too great, but Jake had two functional legs and access to the Staff Bot Network at his disposal. He wasn't too helpless to do this much. He didn't want to be helpless.
Being stuck in this daycare was no better than being confined to bedrest- a comparison that he knew too well. That solidified Jake's decision.
There was only one obstacle now, the one that was staring him down from the other side of the desk.
"And how are you going to get that?" Sunny asked. He knew already if that warning tone was any indication. That 'You better not' tone.
"We can just go get it," Jake offered. Purposefully leaving in the 'we' since he knew an 'I' would be immediately shut down.
"Oh no we don't!"
"Don't fight me on this. The quicker we figure out what's going on with Freddy the better off we're all going to be, including Freddy. Why waste time having them run around looking for a pass when we already know where it is and have access to the room? Access that I would have to walk farther out of the daycare to give to them anyways," Jake tried to rationalize. "It's just a few hallways. We'll be back before they even get here."
Sunny groaned and slouched his shoulders, then raised his hands in defense. "Okay, okay how about this? I'll go get the pass. I'll be back lickety-split!" he volunteered and shrugged. "Whaddya say?"
This could've been the end of it right then. Sunny would go and as long as he didn't run across Monty he would probably be back pretty quickly. Jake could watch Gregory, since they seemed to mutually agree that he couldn't be alone.
Except that the idea of going back to their room was suddenly much less appealing, and the idea of stepping out of the daycare was increasingly growing on him. Even if it was just in the hallway, even if it was just two minutes. He wanted out.
"I appreciate it, but I can take care of this. I know the control panel like the back of my hand, it'll be easy," Jake offered.
Sunny's arms dropped and his points slowly drew in. If he could emote, he would likely be frowning right now. The points popped back out as he started to sidle along the edge of the desk, watching as Jake drew back from the computer in preparation to walk out from behind it.
"Okay, okay, I see your point. But there's one thing standing between you and that office. Do you know what?"
"What, Monty?" Jake asked. To which Sunny stepped out from behind the desk and blocked him. "…Oh."
"It's not safe out there! What happens if someone sees you?! They'll tear apart the daycare until they find you!" Sunny warned him.
"Thanks for the warning, but I've made up my mind," Jake insisted. He gestured back to the door. "If you weren't holding us up, we'd almost be there by now."
Sunny crossed his arms stubbornly.
"If you guys are just going to keep standing around fighting then I'll go get it myself," Gregory suddenly and defiantly chimed in.
Sunny's head snapped to him suddenly and Jake gave a small sight.
"No, Gregory. It's fine. We're all going," he assured him. When Sunny's head snapped back to him, he gave a much firmer, "I need this, okay? I can go back into hiding once we get back, but I've got a chance to help out and I want to take it."
With how unyielding the Daycare Attendant was, Gregory was sure that this wouldn't work. That he would put his foot down and go on some overexaggerated tirade about rules or whatever. He was surprised when that didn't happen.
"…Fine," Sunny said. His voice quiet and unreadable.
Jake perked up a little. "Thanks."
"Don't mention it."
The tense silence that followed almost made Gregory want to double-down on going alone. Eventually though, Jake was forced to break that silence.
"…Uh… Could you please swing up and get my control panel?"
Sunny gave a frustrated little huff and tossed up his arms. "YES. I SURE WILL. SINCE I'M SOOO HAPPY ABOUT THIS PLAN."
He turned on his heel and began to stomp off in a cartoonishly overdramatic fashion back towards the ball pit and the balcony. Only going far enough to make a show of it before crouching down and then backflipping into the air, getting caught by the line that slid down to meet him and being carried off towards the balcony where he unhooked himself and dropped down onto it.
"Now's our chance! Let's make a run for it!" Jake said. Now having a playful edge to his voice.
"DON'T YOU DARE!" Sunny called from the balcony.
"I'm kidding!" Jake called back with a friendly little chuckle.
These two were a couple of oddballs, Gregory decided, and he could've questioned these two's helpfulness without much difficulty. But he was starting to warm up to Jake. Enough so that he was willing to stick it out with the Sun even when he knew of the looming threat of the Moon. He check his watch; they still had a little while before that became a problem.
Whatever it took to find Freddy, he supposed. He just hoped that they weren't already too late.