Mable: Enjoy!
Going Home in a Box
Chapter Sixty-Four
"I've got to be honest, this doesn't seem like a good idea," Mike said. In a surprising twist, he was playing the voice of reason for once.
Of course, he was currently driving towards the Pizzaplex with a car full of animatronics, so he knew good and well it was too late to even pretend that he was the reasonable one.
"Oh, it's not," Marionette agreed. "But I don't see how it is possible that it can be any worse than last time."
Foxy and Charlie agreed from the backseat.
"And by that I mean: under no circumstances will this end up like last time," Marionette clarified.
The grumble and hum of agreement responded again.
"Because if it does, I am throwing whoever is the cause of it directly into the nearest dumpster to make an example out of them."
"I would've loved to see you wrestle Ennard into a dumpster," Mike said off-handedly as he turned off the highway.
"Yer just built like that Schmidt," Foxy scoffed.
"I get my kicks on route six-six-six," Mike replied. "Speaking of hell, we're here."
"Not counting the thirty minutes it takes to get inside," Charlie quipped.
"Nah, we're gonna be halfin' that. Freddy's got us on a tight schedule, and we got a double birthday before lunch. We're going to be leggin' it less we want to spend our whole time walkin'," Foxy explained. He shifted his legs in the tight confines of the space behind the passenger seat, Marionette already scooted up as far as he could go. "Let that be yer warnin' that if ya guys get distracted with Jake 'er Sun, 'er whoever, I be leavin' you."
"And what happens when Freddy gets distracted with Sun?" Marionette playfully asked. Pulling down the passenger mirror and peeking into the back with it.
"Then I'm grabbin' the boy and leavin' 'em both," Foxy said. As unamused as he sounded, everyone in that car knew he wasn't kidding.
They pulled up towards the back of the Pizzaplex, further down past Natalie's car and closer to the back entrance where they would be heading in. They got out of the car and hastily hurried around back to the exit door and found it propped open.
Foxy led the way into the loading docks where Freddy and Gregory were waiting. The bear anxiously pacing around while the boy spun back and forth in the office chair behind the loading dock controller desk. Then the doors opened, and Freddy looked up to see Foxy sauntering in, tossing his arms open in a silent proclamation of his arrival. Freddy perked up with his eyes glowing with excitement.
"Foxy, you came back!" Freddy cried. Then he lunged.
"Ya couldn't keep me aw- Omph!" Foxy was cut off by Freddy misreading his gesture and taking him into a big hug. It would've knocked the air out of his lungs if he still had them. After a second he recovered enough to chuckle and pat Freddy's back.
"I missed you so much!" Freddy finally drew back but kept his hands on Foxy's shoulders. His mouth open in an excited grin.
"Blimey, Freddy. It's only been a few weeks," Foxy pointed out. His voice low in a mixture of confuse and concern.
"It has been a long few weeks," Freddy answered. His eyes briefly giving away a melancholy look, only for him to quickly cover it back up. "But now that you are here, are you ready for the raddest night of your life?"
"I wouldn't be here if I wasn't," Foxy proclaimed. He pointed his hook back. "Yar, I brought them too."
Mike, Charlie, and Marionette greeted Freddy with two "Hey"s and an "Good evening".
"Hey, guys!" Gregory chimed up.
"Ahoy, Lad!" Foxy greeted.
Mike walked up and tussled his hair. "How're you doing, Kid? Staying out of trouble?" he asked.
"Kind of. Nobody's caught me yet," Gregory answered.
"That's how you do it. You keep that up and you'll be set for life."
"Mike," Freddy lightly disagreed.
"He knows I'm kidding," Mike said, sending Gregory a playful wink. The boy smiled back, apparently won over by the 'cool' display.
"He knows you're not kidding," Marionette retorted. Gliding up beside him before smiling down at Gregory. "Nice to see you again, Gregory. I like your shirt!"
"Thanks! Freddy got it for me," Gregory replied.
He pulled it out so it could be seen better. It was another Freddy shirt, but this one didn't have Freddy himself but instead crisscross claw marks and a microphone, with a cursive autograph-grade 'Freddy Fazbear' in the corner. It was deep navy in color. Though the shirt wasn't the only noticeable thing. Gregory seemed generally more put together, with brushed out- but still naturally tussled- hair and a face clean of band aids and lacking the sunken in marks that used to be prominent under his eyes.
Both Foxy and Marionette easily recognized the signs of a neglected child. Seeing those signs start to disappear off Gregory were both noticeable and filled them with joy.
Freddy perked up happily at Gregory's showing off the shirt, then turned his attention to Charlie.
"Speaking of cool digs- Charlie, I notice your jacket! It is very cool. Did you get it for your birthday?"
"I did! It's brand new," Charlie said. Stretching out her arms to show it off.
"It's a high-grade costume with everyday wearability. We had the ones who made Foxy's coat make it," Marionette explained proudly.
Both Freddy and Gregory looked at Foxy's hoodie.
"Not this! Me pirate's coat! The one back at the pizzeria," Foxy interjected with a half-chuckle.
"Oh! Of course!" Freddy said. "It IS a good quality hoodie though."
"Hasn't died on me yet," Foxy replied.
"Only smells like it has," Mike quipped with a grin.
"That's because of you-!"
"Hey Charlie, did you get our gift?" Gregory asked, ignoring the upcoming battle he had inadvertently cut off.
"I did, and I love it! I've got it set up on my nightstand and it makes for an incredible nightlight," Charlie said thankfully.
"Gregory, we should get one for you! That way you will have a nightlight during the hourly recharge," Freddy suggested. Gregory got a somewhat embarrassed look at this.
"Okay! But only because it's cool, not because I need it. I'm not scared of the dark or anything," he amended.
"I'm not either. I just like to leave a light on," Charlie agreed to assure him.
"Usually, we keep the hall light on to see. There's a difference between being scared of the dark and being scared you're going to trip over something walking to the bathroom and chip a tooth," Mike added on.
The mix of both statements making Gregory a little less self-conscious. The group started to make their way out of the loading docks and towards the elevator.
While on their way in, Charlie reached out to Jake through her radio.
"Jake, are you there?"
"Hey, welcome back! I heard you have a hot date up in the Fazcade," Jake greeted with a cheery pep to his voice.
"Oh yeah? What's it like?"
"I can't tell you… That is, if I tell you, it will ruin the surprise. You just have to see it for yourself!"
"Oh, so that's how it's going to be," Charlie replied jokingly. "Then I guess I can't tell you how far I've gotten putting together your gift."
"Uh oh. I didn't foresee this possibility," Jake replied. "Guess I'm going to have to bribe you with information."
"Give me a hint and you'll get the goods."
"Okay, let's see… Well, first off: If you're expecting the West Arcade to look anything like the East Arcade, it doesn't. Expect a lot of stairs."
"In this place? I already do," Charlie joked. "So, I've gotten the chest section together. The frame, I mean, but I haven't even started on the wiring-."
As she was talking with him, falling a little behind to do so, Marionette decided to catch up to Freddy's side and start his own conversation.
"How is Chica?" he asked.
"She is… managing. I do not know if Foxy told you, but she did not have her voice box replaced. I spoke with the technicians today about replacing it, but they refused."
"What excuse they give fer that?" Foxy asked.
"They said… due to the fact that her upgrade was such a valuable piece of equipment, and that they are not authorized to replace it with anything else, they will not be replacing it. Not until higher ups tell them to do so."
"I'm sorry, Freddy," Marionette apologized remorsefully. Foxy patted his shoulder sympathetically.
Mike was silent. That was the most he could do. Listening from beside them, there was a lot he wanted to say- and a lot that immediately sparked frustration- but venting those feelings wouldn't exactly help Freddy. Especially when he started venting them himself.
"I do not understand how they can be so callous. I understand the thinking process, to stop this from happening again, but… it is ridiculous to treat us like this. Monty is right, they would not treat human employees like this."
"Agreed, but if they're anything like the old Freddy's they don't treat the human employees much better. That's how many of them wound up being the next line of entertainers," Mike said cryptically. Marionette nodded in agreement.
"Only reason the employees 'round here got it so good's 'cause there ain't more than a handful of 'em," Foxy scoffed.
"You've got a point about that. It's easy to 'lose track' of one of hundreds of employees, but if it's one of ten, you'd think people would ask questions," Mike agreed.
"Sometimes…" Marionette ominously half-agreed.
"But we are supposed to be part of the new and improved Freddy Fazbear's! How can they accept that same behavior of the old franchise if we are supposed to be doing better? Safety first, then service. What they are doing to Chica is just pure laziness," Freddy said. He sighed and then perked up slightly, "But for now, she is at least no longer in Parts and Service. Chica will be at the salon with Roxy tonight, so we will not have to worry about her hearing us. They are having a girls' night out, but in!"
The conversation lightened up and thinned out as they continued to the elevator and rode up. Then headed out to the atrium and rode an atrium elevator up to the top floor, barely able to squeeze everyone inside.
"There is something I should tell you before we get to the West Arcade. There is a possibility that you may lose me sometime tonight," Freddy warned.
"What? When'd that happen?" Gregory asked in surprise, turning around and looking up at him. Foxy also looked over in surprise, nearly getting a mouthful of shoulder pad in the process.
"It is true. Regretfully, I will no longer be in control…" Freddy said cryptically. "When I step onto the West Arcade dance floor, I cannot stop myself! It is a programming bug."
"Ugh, Freddy," Gregory pouted. Freddy chuckled.
"I have the same bug. I do a mean macarena," Marionette chimed in. He then proceeded to do a very brief demonstration- one Freddy could barely see over his shoulder and somehow managed to dodge hitting Mike and Charlie in the process.
"Yar, I be partyin' with a coupla dorks," Foxy said with some fondness and strode out.
"But all jokes aside, I do have to get in at least five minutes of dancing to stop the irresistible urge to return myself to the dance floor," Freddy remarked.
Foxy sent him a weird look only to see Freddy smiling, dead serious. He decided to not even question it; it wouldn't be the worst Fazbear mandated 'quirk' he had seen.
Freddy got them through the Party Bot, and they started walking through the entrance hall outside of the Fazcade. When they were suddenly interrupted by a long leg with puffy star-studded pants stepping out from behind a pillar. The rest of the jester body slinking after.
"Gooood eveniiing," Moon greeted. The wicked grin on his face appropriately matching his tone.
As suddenly as he appeared, nobody was that surprised to see him. At least not beyond a second or two.
"Hey Moon," Charlie greeted.
"And hello to you too, Jingle Bell," Moon greeted. His face rolling in a display of fondness that showed Sun just beneath the surface.
"Ahoy," Foxy also greeted.
Marionette gave a chime and a wave while Mike got a little grin.
"So, have you been waiting for us long or did you beat us up here?" Mike asked cheekily.
"My time is very valuable, Mr. Schmidt."
There was a pause in anticipation for a further answer, but Moon didn't give one.
"Did you change your mind?" Freddy offered, finally breaking that silence with a hopeful warmth to his tone.
"I'm afraid not. Here's the deal for you all to hear," Moon announced. He tented fingers, made a motion and sound like inhaling, and then began to list off his grievances on his fingers. "No setting off any alerts, no rousing suspicion with any of the Glamrocks, no entering into the Hive Arcade, no annoying the DJ, no climbing over the railing, running down the stairs, riding down the railings, using fake coins, tokens, or any inappropriate coin-shaped objects in any of the machines…"
He paused for dramatic effect, then pointed at Gregory.
"And he is downstairs and in bed before three."
"What?!" Gregory cried.
"My only offer."
"I think that is a very fair offer!" Freddy agreed. Gregory looked up at him in betrayal before huffing.
"You would say that," he grumbled.
"Just fer me own curiosity, but when'd you start calling the shots?" Foxy asked. He sounded more amused than anything. Or perhaps not amused, maybe a little smug, a shred of mocking in his tone.
"I have been calling the shots since the first night you got here. I just haven't put my foot down until now," Moon quickly corrected. "Don't like Misss Smith fool you. I am the night guard."
"I don't doubt that for a second," Mike agreed.
"Then you best follow my rules, or I will be sure to escort you out," Moon tutted. He then, finally, stepped aside and made a sweeping motion back with his arms. "Now then… Enjoy your stay."
The group passed by- Freddy giving him a wink as he did- and headed through the security door and into the West Arcade proper.
That was when they were first able to see the wonders of the West Arcade, and for everyone who hadn't seen it before they were almost blown away. The lobby alone, with its fountain topped with the Glamrock band statue and the towering distance towards the ceiling, gave away that this would be a far cry from any of the other arcades they had seen. Something that became even more apparent when they approached the fountain and were able to see through the three passageways surrounding it.
To the right was the dance floor, as dim and foggy as it was what Freddy visited the night before. A passage on the other side of the fountain led to a hallway which held the bathrooms and connected the dance floor to the main room. Then, finally, to the left the arcade opened into its first floor. It was quite a sight to behold.
The immediate view was a large spiral staircase leading upwards, but beyond that was a huge room with a plethora of arcade machines lined throughout it. Standup arcades, seated racing arcade machines, of all kinds and colors circling around to the back of the circular room where there was another staircase leading up.
The room was big on its own, but the amount of vertical space above it doubled that twofold. Looking up they could see the edge of what looked to be a second floor loaded with arcade machines barely out of view. The hanging neon lights bathing the location in a stage ambience too dim to be lit up but bright enough to see. The distant ceiling had a spiderweb pattern across it with large neon ringed hole in sight.
"Look at this place…" Mike said. Somehow finding himself again shocked by the Pizzaplex's sheer size. "Remember when Hickory Dickory's was the biggest arcade we had ever seen?"
"Indeed. This blows Hickory, Dickory, Doc's right off their clock," Marionette agreed. Mike barely withheld a snicker.
"You could fit that whole building in here if you just adjusted the square footage to make it work," he remarked. He pointed to the spiral staircase. "And from the size of those stairs and that space up there, you could probably fit Foxy's on the second floor."
"Hey now, that's goin' overboard. Place be big, but it ain't that big," Foxy interjected. "Look, see- the arcade machines be further apart. Makes it look bigger!"
"He has a point. Hickory Dickory's did fit a lot into a very small space. There could've been more machines," Marionette offered. Mike couldn't argue with that.
Freddy looked off towards the right. The DJ was nowhere to be seen, but no doubt he would be lured out once someone stepped up to the stage and activated the music. What better way to wake him up, then he could introduce him to the others. Then they could continue with their night without the constant tug coaxing him towards the dance floor. Before that, he popped open his stomach hatch and fetched a baggie of tokens from inside.
"Here you are! Mike, Marionette, will you keep an eye on Gregory until I am finished? Unless you would like to dance as well!" Freddy offered.
Marionette gave Mike a side glance and he considered it, but he wasn't ready to get that comfortable yet. "Let's check this place out first," he offered.
The Puppet nodded and fondly laid his hands on Gregory's shoulders. "We'll keep a close eye on him!"
"Thank you both- and you too, Charlie," Freddy smiled fondly. Then sent a determined look over his shoulder and back at the dancefloor. "If you will excuse us… Come, Captain! The dance floor calls!"
"What?" Foxy replied.
Freddy was already on his way out. Foxy looked to the others with a shrug, to which Marionette waved encouragingly. Foxy rolled his head with a silent groan and followed the bear. He had a bad feeling he was getting into more than he had bargained for. Nobody said anything about dancing- everyone there could tell he was thinking it without saying it. The Puppet then looked to Mike, once again inviting him with a look.
"I owe you one," Mike promised.
"I'll hold you to it," Marionette promised back.
Mike offered his hand and Marionette eagerly laced his fingers with his and the two followed Gregory.
Meanwhile, Foxy caught up with Freddy who was waiting at the dance floor. Just beside it, as he knew once he stepped onto it then any conversation would be over. He was nearly bursting with excitement. Not at the dancing- though it had been ages since he had danced- but because his dear friend was here. Even as Foxy looked less than enthused about being on the dance floor, Freddy knew better. He had gotten used to Foxy's 'reluctance' and had seen him warm up to things he pretended to not be interested in.
"Swanky place. Where's this DJ I've been hearin' about?" Foxy asked. Gesturing his hook towards the empty stage.
"Oh, he could be anywhere in the arcade, but he will be summoned once I step on the dance floor. I think you two will get along great! Try to not be intimidated by his size, he is very gentle."
"…The fact ya had to say that makes me a lil nervous, Freddo," Foxy pointed out. That, and Freddy had always been vague about what he was getting into with the DJ. So, 'big' wasn't exactly assuring, and an assurance of gentleness made him worry about grabbiness "Well, get on over there then! Dance the Deadman's Jig."
"I plan to! Would you like to join me?" Freddy invited.
Foxy knew the offer was coming and yet he couldn't resist the little hiss as he rubbed his jaw. "I ain't much of a dancer…"
"You? But Captain, you must be! You are a performer, after all," Freddy coaxed in a friendly way.
"I don't do much dancin'. Me stage's too small fer that. One wrong step and it's off the plank!"
Freddy chuckled before offering, "How about I start and then if you want to you can join in? Or you can just watch from here."
It was at this moment that Foxy suddenly realized Fredy was a little more clingy than usual. Freddy did tend to hover during visits, though it was usually because he was so eager to please. This was something different. From that earlier hug to his insistence that Foxy stay close- something was wrong, he could tell. He wouldn't have been a friend half his salt if he didn't.
"Freddy, is somethin' up?" he quite bluntly asked.
"What do you mean?" Freddy replied, feigning ignorance.
"Somethin's off. I can see it. Captain's eye."
He thought Freddy was going to deny it. For a second he opened his mouth like he was going to, but then he closed his mouth and quieted up. His face fell, or at least his eyes shifted to do so.
"I will not lie to you, Foxy. There has been… a lot on my mind…" Freddy admitted. He looked to the pirate with pleading eyes. "If it is alright with you, I would rather us talk about it later. Perhaps after Gregory is put to bed."
"Aye. Fine by me," Foxy agreed.
Freddy perked up once again. He was acting, that was it. Freddy wasn't an especially great actor when something was bothering him and right now, he was laying it on thick.
"Thank you! Without any further ado, it is time to tear up the dance floor."
Freddy turned and waltzed his way out onto the floor. He was greeted by the announcer as he was the night before as the lightshow kicked on around him. He then took his pose, feet braced, arms at his side, head down, dramatically preparing for something.
Foxy's ears twitched at the sound of thumping and bumping from behind the stage, and he looked over at the large tunnel behind it. He could hear the slight rumble of something sizably larger than a typical animatronic making its way down the shaft. The slow thumps falling into line with the backbeat of the intro music that kicked on the moment Freddy took the stage and still looping overhead. Almost working to introduce this newcomer as well.
Though the grandiose entrance was all but thwarted the second an enormous, white gloved hand came into view. The room could've gone dead silent in that moment because the world seemed to stop.
The gloved hand was followed by another, and then a large pale-purple face followed out through the tunnel. Round black eyes stared out from the circle of neon, posed above a row of square teeth in a wide stretched mouth. If it was supposed to look like a smile it didn't. The square head and similarly shaped mouth gave it more a grimace look than anything else. Thick blue eyebrows and cheeks didn't make it look anymore personable.
Its head was topped with a big pair of headphones and planted on a big round body that matched the head in color and freed itself from the tunnel. Though it was the legs that were most noticeable. Or arms, as each one was ended with a large white glove. Six in total, long legs carrying its heavy body out of the hole. It might've had two legs too less, but it was clear it was supposed to be a giant spider.
No, worse. It was a giant Music Man.
Foxy vaguely remembered seeing a poster or something with a Music Man face on it sometime while he was here, but he hadn't asked and now he really wished he had, because Music Man's design was unnerving enough without being blown up and transplanted on the body of an anatomically correct animatronic spider.
Needless to say, Foxy was startled by the sight. It wasn't often that he saw another animatronic and felt like slinking off, or bolting, before it noticed him was the best course of action, but that was a possibility here.
Alas, "What in the briny blue?!" still somehow shouted itself out of his voice box. That got the massive Music Man looking in his direction. Foxy was prepared to bolt, but the large animatronic merely tilted its head, nodded, and pointed at him. A friendly point.
Though a friendly point from a hand that huge was still rather intimidating. Its hulking body all but groaned with even the slightest movement.
"DJ," Freddy greeted cooly. He only now looked up with a look of determination in his eyes and pointed to the massive animatronic before snapping his fingers. "Hit it."
The DJ Music Man made a finger snapping motion back, with another hand clamping onto the side of his earphones while two others lifted to the control boards. Suddenly the music shifted with a whipping record scratching transition, wobbling for a moment on a steady pulse before suddenly kicking into a techno beat.
Freddy tapped his foot to the beat before thrusting a hand up and pointing to the sky, head down, waiting for his cue. That moment being when the beat dropped, when he suddenly broke into a spin before beginning to dance. Foxy's jaw almost dropping open.
Of course, of course Freddy would be into disco.
Foxy didn't know exactly how to react to the fact that a rockstar themed animatronic was doing exceptionally dated disco to electronic music in a neon themed arcade. Part of him wanted to laugh, but he was sort of too much in a state of shock to do so.
Freddy swayed his hips and crossed his legs and spun. Stopping in a clap and then leaning back and rolling his arms together. All with the most dead-serious look on his face. Like the look he got during Fazer Blast, like he was in a competition. Something Foxy only noticed once he got his eyes off his dance moves and the oversized spider taking up half of the room.
Though when their eyes met, Freddy's softened into an excited smile. Instantly giving away how much of that intensity was a show and how much of a good time he was really having. He beckoned the pirate.
"Nah, Freddy," Foxy declined. Freddy continued to beckon, that happy look in his eyes. "I told ya, I ain't a…" Freddy gave a little spin midway through Foxy's decline. He couldn't tell if he was showing off, but it felt like it. At least, it seemed like he was having a good time even though he was dancing like he came out of a decade long past. "…Eh."
And like he did frequently when Freddy was involved, Foxy caved. For Freddy's sake, of course.
Foxy might've come out on the dance floor, but he didn't necessarily dance. More so did a little shuffle in place, sort of like someone would do if they were primarily watching someone else dance and didn't want to stand there as stiff as a board. Most of it was in the shoulders. Something to look cool without looking like he was trying too hard.
Music Man bounced his head and pointed to him in approval. Then he kicked the music up a notch, fiddling with the boards and pumping up the volume.
Freddy slid in beside Foxy so they could dance together- at a reasonable distance so neither got clocked during an errant spin. Slowly Foxy got a little more comfortable, eventually willing to do the ol' 'Foxy' shuffle if just to show off a bit. He didn't dance didn't mean he couldn't dance, and he always had trouble resisting peer pressure.
While this was going on, Moon slinked into the West Arcade. His intentions were to keep an eye on things without anyone knowing he was in there. Just to make sure things didn't again get out of hand. He heard music coming from the dancefloor and had a suspicion for who was there, which was confirmed by a quick glance into the room. One that got him stopping in his tracks to observe the display.
Moon couldn't help but snicker to himself at the sight of Freddy and Foxy doing mirrored arm spinning. What a couple of- What good fortune that Foxy had been able to come. Freddy needed a night off and his bandmates sure weren't going to give it to him. While Moon wasn't sure what he thought of Foxy- he barely knew him, and the sight of him alone reminded him of some jerk he used to know a long time ago who wore a Foxy mask- he knew that he made Freddy happy.
Freddy needed this.
"Stop fighting it, Freddy! You just gotta let the music move you where it takes you!"
"I am trying. I just am not quite sure what to do…"
"You think you don't, but let me tell you, Fredbear, you were BUILT for this! It's in your lines. In your programming! Come on, Superstar. Show me what you're made of!"
Freddy needed this.
Though it was a shame that they were going to spend a good chunk of their precious time glued to the dancefloor. Freddy could never resist the temptation of his own programming. Even if he could, he might've still given in to it.
Moon wasn't nearly so under control. His programming was so mismatched and butchered that he could look at that dance floor and feel no enticement. No lines of code commanding him to dance when he looked. He had his own demons to make him a spectacle.
And stepping on that lit-up flooring would bring them all out to the surface with a pop of his retracted points.
The arcade was largely dark enough that he could walk around unburdened with shifting over. Moon wandered around for a short time, checking on Gregory, checking on the many obedient guests, and returned to the entranceway to peek through at the private dance party. He stood there for a long moment considering how far he was willing to deviate from his initial plan.
Then he made his decision.
Freddy was still deep in focus on what he was doing when the music suddenly lulled, the volume dipping. He looked up to Music Man questioningly.
"Now entering the dance floor: Moon."
"Now entering the dance floor: Sun."
Freddy looked back just in time to witness Sun cartwheeling across the dancefloor, still mid-transformation from his mixed glow. He came to a stop on his feet before Freddy and gave an inviting little bow.
"May I cut in?"
Freddy's features brightened up excitedly; totally starstruck by the entrance. "Yes!"
Music Man cranked the music back up. The techno music rolling over them in steady waves as they began to dance together. Freddy's the same disco funk while Sun's was a little more eclectic. Sunny danced like one might expect him to based off how he looked. Goofy and clownish gestures broken up with spot-on moves when he was shadowing one of Freddy's own.
Sunny threw out his hand invitingly. Freddy clasped ahold of his wrist, Sunny's other hand quickly clasping to his, and then spun the jester around him and across the dance floor. His slippers sliding seamlessly on the smooth flooring as he dipped back, cackling with delight.
It was at this moment that Foxy decided to move off to the side just in case something went awry. As he was backing away, he felt a heavy poke to his shoulder. He yanked his body aside and lifted his hook defensively out of reflex.
It was, of course, Music Man's hand that had poked him. He gave a waving motion as though assuring him to calm down and the beckoned him to the stage. As wary as Foxy was, he approached the DJ- if only to cover for his previous reaction. He kept his guard up.
Yet as he sat on the edge of the stage, more than close enough to be grabbed, the DJ didn't do so. He instead started to make gestures with a free hand while controlling the music with his others, with one hoisting the side of his headphones and the other two resting on the ground and balancing his big body. With the free hand he made a question mark gesture and then pointed to Foxy, still slightly bumping to the beat. "Who are you?" maybe.
"Foxy the Pirate. Captain Foxy of Foxy's Pirate Cove. We've got a place over in Hurricane," Foxy introduced. DJ Music Man nodded and gave him a thumbs up. "So, ye must be this DJ I be hearin' 'bout."
Another nod and the DJ tapped on the edge of a control board and then pointed up towards the speakers. "Yes, I am making the music."
"Snazzy place ye got up here," Foxy said. It was the closest he could get to a compliment. "Ya get a lot o' people dancin' up here or just him?" he asked, pointing towards Freddy.
Foxy wasn't exactly sure what DJ Music Man said in the following course of vague hand gestures, but either he got a lot of dancers and Freddy wasn't up her frequently, or he got very few dancers and Freddy was up here constantly. Foxy could believe either.
Speaking of Freddy, he was still totally immersed in his dance. Pulling Sunny back up to his feet and into a standing spin, and another, and another, Sun continuing to spin under his hand and not of his own doing. Slowly sliding further and further towards the floor.
Until Freddy had no choice to release him, to which Sun bent over backwards, palms flush to the floor, and spun his waist and legs above his head before shoving off and springing back up onto his feet.
Oh, so he was showing off. Well, two of them could play at that game.
With the faintest glint of slyness in his eye, Freddy literally danced over and began to reignite his routine. Feet keeping up with the ever-growing tempo of the beat, shifting and rolling underneath him as his arms shifted and locked, and rolled stiffly. Like a "robot", one might say. Which Freddy found exceptionally comical, since a robot was about to tear up this dance floor.
Sun was eating it up, watching like a hawk, the only audience Freddy needed to make him want to let it all go. Sneaking a glance past him, he could see Foxy on stage chatting with, or at the listening, Music Man. The music drowning out most of what he was saying, but his posture was relaxed. So, it looked like they were having a good time. Plus, Gregory was upstairs playing games to his heart's content while under the watchful eye of Marionette, Mike, and Charlie.
For the first time in a long time, Freddy was feeling pretty good. Good enough to throw his worries away and be in that moment.
…
"The good games are upstairs," Gregory said before leading the way up the large spiral stairs.
Climbing those stairs, they got a better view and the sheer size and design of the arcade. Marionette looked upon it with a look of awe and envy, something Mike shared but with a little more cynicism as well. It was hard to not count up all the money Fazbear Entertainment had to make a place this spectacular and think about how they still hadn't gathered enough to even consider a true expansion of Foxy's. This was hard to compete with.
"So, you've been up here before," Charlie said.
"Yeah, a bunch! Freddy gives me party passes to go play while he's performing and stuff. I come up here because none of Freddy's friends do and because there's a lot of games," Gregory explained. He hurried up the rest of the stairs and waited for them to catch up.
The stairs stopped at a sort of midway landing with some games before another spiral staircase led up to the true second floor. The stairs circling a large neon pillar of blue and white stripes, like an oversized glowing candy cane. The higher up they got, the closer they got to the neon hanging lights, which pulsed between blue and pink but never lost their luster. It truly was a sight to behold and to begrudge.
Marionette noticed the tense look on Mike's face and squeezed his hand. It pulled him out of it enough to look back and the Puppet gave him a comforting smile. Mike managed to loosen up and return it.
"Don't think about the bigger picture. This is about having fun. Whatever happened to this place being our playground?"
Somehow, the idea of them having fun at Fazbear Entertainment's expense perked him up a little.
At the top of the stairs, Gregory started to hurry off to the right towards some rows of arcade games.
"Over here!" he called back.
Charlie hustled after him while Mike and Marionette kept up afterwards. Gregory had stopped at a machine close by labelled "Snack Masters". The decals on it showed little figures carrying large pieces of food around.
"This one's the one I got the highest score on," he said proudly. He then pointed out his initials on the screen, comfortably seated in the third spot down. "I was in second place but then someone beat me, and I ran out of tokens last time so I couldn't beat them back. But not this time!" He grabbed a few tokens out of the bag and popped them in before handing them back to Charlie.
"How do you play?" she asked.
"You pick up fruits and carry them to the baskets without getting bit by the bugs. And then after level five other guys come in and try to take the fruits, and the only way you can get rid of them is if they drop through the floor," Gregory explained.
Mike's eyes drifted to the machine beside the one they were standing at when he eyes locked onto a set of initials and his brows briefly raised in surprise before lowering just as quickly.
"Alright, who did that one?" he asked in a tone that suggested he already knew. He pointed out the offending initials which Marionette saw and straightened startled.
Gregory's wicked grin gave him away, Charlie noticing it from beside him. She gestured with her eyes. The other Puppet looked dismayed at the back of the boy's head.
"That's not a very polite word, Gregory," Marionette scolded flatly.
"Yeah, but it's funny," Gregory answered with a cheeky grin. "It's no big deal. If they cared, they could've taken it off."
"How long's it been up here?" the Puppet asked, a tinge of concern tugging at his frown.
"Uh…" Gregory vaguely trailed off.
"The sad part is that if anybody does knock it off the rankings, they'll probably just put it back up there. It's like a communal obligation," Mike chimed in.
"Someone could probably just reset the machine and erase it… if they ever notice," Charlie added.
Less enthused with the way this conversation was going, Marionette turned away to take in the sights and that was when he noticed a doorway nearby. It led into a primarily white room with seats inside and a small step-up stage with screens behind it.
"What's this room used for?" he asked and drifted over.
"People go in there and sing," Gregory answered.
"Oh, it's a karaoke room! What a clever idea," Marionette complimented. He stepped aside and slowly spun to look at the room. That explained the speakers and the insulated walls.
Mike followed him in as he made his way onto the stage and looked at the control screen. There was both a slot for cards and a slot for bills to pay for sessions, with a little sticker beside the latter that proudly proclaimed, "5 for $5!" Mike whistled beside him.
"That's a little steep," he said.
"Mm-hmm. Very," Marionette agreed. Already distracted by a list of songs on one of the screens.
He began to curiously click the button to scroll through the music selection. It really was a clever scheme Freddy's had going here. Five dollars didn't seem like much, but those five songs would fly by. Likely private karaoke rooms like this had to be rented as well. From a menu on one of the nearby chairs, they likely had the option to order in food as well, and in a white room like this there could easily be a cleaning fee.
At this rate, Foxy's should've opened their own karaoke rooms and just charged by the hour. An idea that Marionette was quite taken with, started to think of the possibilities of, and was about to propose to Mike.
Until Marionette's eyes landed on a song on the roster and suddenly changed his tune.
Most of these were Freddy songs evidently, but there was some music that were independent of the franchise. One of which caught his eye and sent a downright devious idea through his head.
"Mike, give me a fiver please," he requested, sticking a hand out with a coy smile.
"It takes cash? What happened to tokens?"
"Tokens don't apply here."
"This better be the raddest experience of my life," Mike said as he begrudgingly fished out his wallet.
"Oh, it will be," Marionette assured.
He fed the dollar into the machine, let it process, pressed the button for the song, and plucked microphone out of the stand with an eager smile. Mike quirked a brow with a questioning look and an amused smile.
Though any questions were asked by the familiar music kicking in through the speakers. Mike recognized it and was all but befuddled to hear it in a karaoke room at Freddy Fazbear's of all places. He couldn't even get a word in about it before he was beaten to it.
"I spot you across the bar and, oh my dear, why must you sit so far?~" Marionette trilled. He offered his hand, but when Mike pulled it back out of his pocket- replacing his wallet, to offer it back, his black hand dodged his and instead playfully crawled up his arm. Planting itself on his shoulder instead. "I don't bite- unless you want me toooo,~" Marionette dragged out as he dipped behind him.
"No, you don't," Mike slyly interjected.
"Yes, I do," Marionette chimed back over his shoulder. Spinning around and appearing back at his side, on his other side.
"I'm not the kind for romancing, but I can take you dancing.~" He caught Mike's arm for real this time, hooking around it and pulling him in chest to chest. "If it means pressing my body up against yooou.~" He pressed his forehead to Mike's as his voice dipped. "Feel my heart beat, dar-ling. What do you say? What do you say? I say-.~"
Marionette all but unraveled him in a smooth spinout and was back at center stage. Somehow completely avoiding entanglement with the cord as he began to perform for an audience of one.
"Hey there, Lonely Guy. Sitting pretty in the bar tonight. Why don't you come on down and take a seat by my side?~" he sung. The chiming of his music box backing his voice and following the tune of the music over the speakers. "Oh, what a thrill it'll be having you here in my hot seat. Because you're the one I'm dying to meet…~"
He held the microphone. "So, what do you say?" he quietly asked.
Mike would've had a hard time turning down an offer like that. He gladly took the microphone.
"Call me old-fashioned but when it comes to passion, I believe in that love at first sight,~" he crooned, eager to match that effort.
"What a night, but it feels so right,~" Marionette backed.
"What else can I do? I just can't keep my eyes off you." Mike made a show of looking Marionette over, grin becoming much more flirtatious. "How about you slide down my way? What do you say? I say-.~"
"Hey there, Lonely Guy. Sitting pretty in the bar tonight. Why don't you come on down and take a seat by my side?~" The two's voices bled together as they shared the mic between them. Marionette's hand lapping overtop Mike's and him eagerly hooking the puppet in with the other, hand sliding up his velveteen waist. "Oh, what a thrill it'll be having you here in my hot seat. Because you're the one I'm dying to meet!~"
"I think we lost them," Charlie remarked. She was leaned over to peek through the doorway and caught sight of the two completely forgetting their plan of keeping a low profile.
"Good. I don't want Mari seeing how many games I… got scores in," Gregory admitted. His eyes glued to the arcade cabinet as he watched his little character carry an apple or tomato around.
It looked like they would be staying put for a while, so Charlie fished out a couple of tokens from the bag and started up the game beside Gregory. Something called Worst Wild which had a sort of generic picture of a blue deer on a green background on it. The game itself wasn't too bad. It basically consisted of a deer running through a green maze while avoiding what looked like spiders, but she couldn't really tell. Spiders which were unexpectedly fast compared to her sluggish deer.
It didn't take long to end up dying and instead of wasting more tokens she decided to look for another game and started walking down the row down from Gregory's game. Not planning on wandering far but wanting to find something more exciting than Bed Maker.
She stopped at an arcade cabinet to decide whether she wanted to play the game when she noticed something.
There was faint music coming from somewhere.
Of course, there was a lot of music coming from every which way, but this was different. It wasn't the ambience arcade music or the electronic disco reaching from the dance floor downstairs, and it didn't sound like the arcade machines. It wasn't the music Mike and Marionette were singing either. It was something else, and it was surprising that the music managed to make it past all this excessive noise when it itself sounded so soft.
So weirdly familiar too.
"Do you hear that?" Charlie asked.
"What?"
"There's music… Not this music I mean," Charlie said pointing up. "It sort of sounds like a Freddy jingle. Do you hear it?"
"No, but all I can hear is this thing and those guys," Gregory said, gesturing with his head to the machine and the room. "Maybe it's one of the games?"
"Could be… I'm going to go check. Stay close to those two, okay?"
"Sure," Gregory agreed. It was going to take Freddy himself to get him off this machine when he was on a roll.
Charlie wandered further into the arcade while listening for the music. Weirdly enough, while she seemed to be following the sound of the tune, she wasn't making much progress in getting any closer. The karaoke music was fading behind her and the sound of the games were all around her as she walked through rows of them, but the music was always there. Just far enough away that she could barely hear muffled lyrics under the tune.
It led her back to a red door. A Staff Only door at that, but an unlocked one. She opened it up and peeked inside.
It looked to be some sort of large hallway that turned around a leftward corner at the end. To the direct left was a security door leading into an office, which she realized once she walked up and peeked through the window and open door. That's not where the music was coming from though. The music was further on. With the Staff Only door having closed behind her, some of the ambience from outside was muffled by the wall, making it easier to hear the music.
She walked over to look around the corner and realized that the hallway continued onwards. She could see the end of it further down though. The hallway itself was rather large and tall and being used as an out of the way storage room for assumedly broken arcade cabinets. There were plenty of them back here and it didn't look like any of them were on.
Charlie considered going back but there was something pulling her forward. There was something about that music that was more than just familiar. She knew that song from somewhere.
It reminded her of something. It was either a vivid mental image or a distant memory with cloudy details surrounding a rather clear premise. She was looking up at the window from the comfort of her car seat. A blue sky with the pink edged clouds of a coming sunset. A ride in the backseat of the family car, perhaps a childhood memory or maybe a figment of what she remembered from one.
"Look where we are! We're in harmony~!" She could remember her parents' voices mingling together at the end.
The song reminded her of that. Even as it played lowly from the back of a dusty oversized hallway. A distant echo like that memory itself.
"…Sammy?" Charlie hesitantly asked. There was no response.
She began to cautiously walk around the deactivated arcade machines clumped throughout the hallway, broken up by some shelves topped with and beside toolboxes. Many of the games were repeats of ones she had seen out in the West Arcade already. There was something eerie about this hallway. It wasn't dark, the line of lights above alit the space well, but it still had a weird feel to it. Like being alone in an unfamiliar but somewhat furnished basement.
More than once, Charlie stopped and reconsidered continuing, but whenever she tried to turn back the music seemed to swell and she would realize the source was just nearby, so she would continue. Then it would seem further away.
Her head felt a little fuzzy. Steeped in depressing nostalgia she made her way through the maze of deactivated equipment searching for the source of the call.
There were large holes on the walls, weirdly enough. Including one at the very end of the hall. Off to the left midway down the hall was some fencing blocking a door, though where it led to was unknown. Charlie still continued to the end, where the hallway ended anticlimactically underneath one of those holes. This was when she finally found the source of the music.
There was an arcade machine against the back wall. Part of its exterior had been removed so she couldn't make out what it was supposed to be. The screen was flickering with white lines across it as the music jittered from its speakers.
Then all of a sudden it stopped. When she was only a few feet away, the screen went black and the music died, and it was suddenly dead silent.
Charlie suddenly had an overwhelming feeling of dread. One that made her feel like she was in immediate danger, as though suddenly coming to her senses. Suddenly realizing that she had just wandered back her on her own and feeling unusually vulnerable. She turned around quickly planning on running back to the others.
That was when she saw what lured her back here. What had been hiding behind some arcade machines as she passed by and was now standing there, staring at her with large, unseeing red eyes.
It was the white rabbit. It was Vanny.
Vanny was partially slumped against the wall with her head angled towards Charlie. One arm bent up above her and her gloved hand resting on a lever sticking out of a breaker box. Her other arm dangling limply at her side.
Charlie silently stared at her. Something was different than their last encounter. Something felt different this time, and Vanny didn't look right.
"What are you doing here?" Charlie asked. The words seemed to fall out on their own volition the moment she thought them.
Vanny lifted her limp hand to her masked cheek and gave a mock-gasp.
"Oh, I'm sorry!" Vanny cried. Her voice warbling with the same glitchiness that spilled from the arcade machine. She rolled her head, ears bumping the wall as she angled her eyes further at Charlie. "I thought you were someone else... Oh well! Since you're here..."
She yanked down the lever and threw the hallway into darkness.
Briefly. Almost right after some dim emergency lights popped on. Specifically, one on the breaker box itself that cast an eerie red glow over her already glowing mask. The constant hum through the walls diminished, signaling that she could've cut power to the arcade.
There was a long moment of silence. Charlie knew that she needed to confront Vanny directly, but she couldn't shake that feeling that there was something off.
"I know who you are," Vanny said in a sing-song way. "Chaaar-lie. The Puppet's little puppet. I see the family resemblance! That's. That's so sweet." Her fingers flexed on the lever. "So sweet to see he's still up to his little games."
"You know Marionette?" Charlie asked.
"I do! But he doesn't know me..." She pushed herself up off the wall and almost staggered as she straightened up. Her held slightly tilted, arms slack at her sides. "…But he will. He will. He will. He will."
Vanny took a slow step forward and Charlie's legs turned to the side as she braced to run.
"Don't come any closer!" she warned. She still had her taser but using it required her to get closer than she wanted.
The woman barely acknowledged her warning. Charlie couldn't tell what Vanny was muttering under her mask, but whatever it was she knew it wasn't good. She knew something was coming.
Vanny lunged towards her.
And in that split second, Charlie very audibly heard her own thoughts.
"I can't let her touch me!"
She obeyed that raw instinctual panic and ran around Vanny and bolted down the hallway. Weaving around arcade cabinets as fast as she could, hearing the pattering of Vanny's bunny foot shaped booties as she raced after her.
But Charlie was faster than her and she knew if she kept up the pace, she would outrun her.
That was, before she heard the clattering of the fencing after she passed it and looked back to see Vanny already hoisting herself over. She did a forward roll over the top and dropped down from her hands on the other side. She turned back to Charlie, gave a playful little wave of her fingers, and then bolted through the Staff Only door and closed it behind her.
Which raised a new panic. Now that Vanny was out of sight, she could pop up anywhere.
Charlie turned and began to run like lives depended on it. She had to warn the others.
…
It was nearing the end of the song. Freddy could just tell from how pumped up the music had gotten, and he knew they had to end on a high note. He offered his hand again to Sun.
Sun eagerly accepted it, only to be startled by Freddy reaching out and catching him by the waist. In one smooth motion- and one "Eep!" from Sun- he lifted him above his head. Only releasing his hand when he was stabilized and balanced enough.
The giddiness returning, Sun stuck his arms out and straightened his legs as he was hoisted up. As Freddy looked and pointed off to a non-specific point in the distance, tapping his foot all the while. He held him there for a few beats before lowering him into both hands, and then tossing him up into the air. Sun throwing himself into a spin before landing in Freddy's waiting arms and dropped down into a dip. The clattered of metal barely noticed through the rush of it all.
As soon as Sunny dropped, so did the music. It cut out with a last crescendo and faded back into the typical ambience of the West Arcade, signaling the end of the dance.
The excitement caught up to Sunny and he broke into a fit of giggles at the buzzy feeling spreading through him, kicking his feet with delight. Something that riled warmth and fondness through Freddy's chest, along with a rumbling chuckle. One that fell on the wayside as his attention returned to the bright animatronic resting in his arms.
Even with the backdrop of the illuminated dance floor beneath him, Sun's unique yellow flush stood out. Not bright enough to be harsh, just warm and comforting, just like he was. Freddy admired his dance partner through lidded eyes and felt the thrum of a cooling fan kicking on deep inside. He could smell the faint scent of lemon and oranges since the moment he got his hands on him and it hadn't faded for a moment. He could hear the soft ticks and clicks underneath the coy little chortles.
"You're quite the dancer, Mr. Fazbear!" Sunny compliment.
"Oh- err- thank you! But I am only as good as my partner," Freddy replied. A little flustered and more than a little heated.
Sunny must've noticed from the coy little tilt of his head, of the way he crawled his fingers along his shoulder until his arm was hooked behind the back of his neck.
The lights went out.
Sun gave a squeak of surprise while Freddy's eyes widened and he looked around.
It wasn't an hourly recharge. If not from the time then Freddy would've recognized from the scattered emergency lights that kicked on in the hall and by the stage. There must've been some sort of outage or malfunction- something that was, unfortunately, not too uncommon in the Pizzaplex. Usually, it happened in Roxy Raceway or Fazer Blast though, not here.
"You're going to want to put me down now," Sunny forewarned.
"I should…" Freddy agreed, looking down like he was disappointed. Only to then side eye him with a playful, downright mischievous look in them. "But I do not think I will."
That got Sunny ticking louder. His internal clicking and chattering now all the more evident without any music to cover it up. His hand sliding back along Freddy's shoulders as the white glow of his eyes narrowed.
"Then you better hold on tight…~"
To which Sunny promptly bent over backwards and went limp and Freddy's arms, with him having to readjust his grip quickly so he didn't risk dropping him. He was concerned only for a second before that yellow glow faded and he heard the familiar sound of Sun's points retracting. Then he knew it was alright, that Sunny was just putting on a show, and then he couldn't stop watching.
Yellow faded to grey before illuminating in a vivid blue. It spread along his arms and to his legs, the fabric of his pants either reacting to the light or the change of temperature by reverting from the citrusy stripes to deep navy and dotted with stars. Freddy could only scour his eyes up and down and take in every last detail of the change.
A hand gently nudged his arm from underneath, and he slid down just far enough for clever blue fingers to dip into the hole on the Daycare Attendant's back and drag out nightcap. He slid it on in the same smooth motion of lifting his head, revealing his soft white crescent face and the milky color that had replaced the whites of his eyes. Freddy was unabashedly staring, positively moonstruck.
"What are you staring at?" Moon lulled in a low rasp. His frozen features all but smirking back at him.
"You," Freddy replied dumbly.
"Is that so?" Moon pulled up, resting his arm on Freddy's shoulder and his head on his hand. "Liiiike what you see?"
"Yes," Freddy said a little more sincerely, even breathily. "Always."
Moon gave a coy little giggle and slid in further.
"You are so cute!"
Moon froze before dropping his arm with exasperation. "Ngh, Freddy."
"It is true! No wonder so many Moon plush toys sell- I cannot imagine anyone who would not want to take you home to cuddle. Myself included.
The jester tugged his nightcap down, only succeeding in rousing another chuckle out of the bear. The bear who then started to lean in a little close.
Foxy's voice cut straight through the moment.
"Oyi, look alive."
The sharpness brought snapped both to attention and they looked back towards the stage. They instantly saw the source of the problem.
There was something wrong with DJ Music Man. He was hunched forward with his head low and his arms barely holding him up; two on the control boards, four flat on the ground. He almost looked like he was in pain, or perhaps was struggling to stay awake.
"DJ?!" Freddy called in concern. His voice was almost immediately drowned out.
"The Fazcade is experiencing some technically difficulties. There is no need for alarm. Just sit tight and we will be back up and running in no time. Initializing startup sequence," the automated announcer said overhead.
A strange reverberating hum echoing through the DJ's large body as his fingers curled and rolled. By now Foxy had retreated to stand by Freddy and Moon, who Freddy had sat down, and all three watched as the DJ lifted his heavy head.
Red dots alit in the back of his large black eyes.
"Anomaly detected within the system. Activating Bouncer Mode."