Mable: Enjoy!
Going Home in a Box
Chapter Sixty-Five
"Pizza Maaan! Pushing eighty-five in a twenty zone! And it's gonna be a long, long night. Joint stays open til ten forty-five. I'm not a-.~"
Mike and Marionette's belted duet was cut off by the room suddenly plunging into darkness. They sat there a moment before the emergency lights came on. The screens behind them kicked back on and into a white static.
The two looked to each other questioning who was going to voice their disappointment first. They were beaten to it by Gregory's yell from outside the door.
Marionette all but dove over the karaoke equipment and raced out to find the boy at the arcade machine. Though his panic was quickly relieved when he saw the cause of his anguish.
"I was right there! That was like the best run I've ever had! And it goes out now?! It's not even- gah!" Gregory punctuated his rant by kicking the arcade cabinet.
Marionette gently grabbed his shoulders and tugged him back. "Don't do that. You'll hurt your foot."
Gregory grumbled and crossed his arms. Mike caught up with them, checking his watch as he did.
"It's not the hourly recharge. Guess that explains why some of these lights are still on… sort of." He looked around at the arcade machines. Some of them were on with screens displaying technical issues but many were blacked out. He looked back to Marionette. "So, your guess is as good as mine."
"Well, we know Freddy's has always had trouble keeping the lights on…" Marionette said with a sigh. He noticed their missing fourth and looked around. "We should get back to Freddy and Foxy. Gregory, where did Charlie go?"
"She went over there. She said she heard some weird music," Gregory said, pointing down the way.
"Weird music?" Mike muttered. That didn't sound right, and a quick look towards Marionette showed he shared his suspicion. He flicked on his flashlight to lead the way as they headed back after her.
They didn't get even halfway there before Charlie ran up on them. They could tell from how she sprinted to the shift of her mask that she was shaken even before she spoke.
"Vanny's here! She blew the power!" she blurted out.
"What?! She's here?!" Gregory cried. Marionette grip on him tightened and he pulled the boy back against his legs protectively.
"Where is she? What did she do?" Mike asked, getting to the point.
"She ran off through a door back there! I heard some music and the next thing I knew I was back there in this hallway, and she was there, and then she shut down a breaker box- I think? I don't know, but she just- she scared the heck out of me, that's what!"
"It's a good thing you got away from her. Just take it easy. You're safe now. She's not going to come up on a crowd," Mike assured her. He put an arm around her to comfort her, ruffling her jacket covered shoulders.
"She could be anywhere," Charlie lamented.
"Anywhere's not here, and she knows we'll find workarounds for the whole no-touch thing if she hangs around long enough," Mike said. "The important thing is that she didn't get her hands on you."
"He's right," Marionette agreed.
"Let's go check out this breaker and see if we can get the lights back on," Mike suggested.
Charlie nodded and led them back towards the hallway. Marionette took notice of her comment on the music but decided to hold back on questioning for the moment. He couldn't afford to get distracted, nor take his hands off Gregory for a second.
They got to the breaker box undeterred, and Mike tried to get it open, but it seemed latched into place. He even got his pocketknife out and tried to pry it off, to no avail.
"It's not budging," he said finally. "Let's go check that security office we saw on the way in. Maybe there's a release for the box."
They started to walk quickly back the way they came to the office. Though halfway there the Puppet slowed to a stop, speaking up before the others- sans Gregory who stopped with him- could go much further.
"Is that the door she escaped through?" Marionette asked. He eyed down the door behind the fence and subtly nudged Gregory's shoulders to pass him off to Mike. He planted a hand on his head.
"That's it. I don't know how but she jumped the fence. She couldn't do that the last time I ran into her," Charlie pointed out.
Marionette hummed and eyed the door before turning back to Mike with that look. That unusually blank stoicism Mike had recognized as a signal.
"Mari, forget her. She's not going to go far. Let's just work on getting the power on and we'll jump her when she swings back through to start something," Mike replied. He then slightly quirked a brow, Marionette gave a nod, and Mike smoothly turned on his heel and started to slowly head back down the hall. "Come on, Gang."
Gregory was willingly led along when heard something and turned back to see that Marionette was no longer with them. He was instead now on the other side of the fence and fiddling with the handle of the locked door.
"Where's Mari going?" he whispered.
"To check the door," Mike replied just as quietly. "Just in case she's chilling out on the other side."
"He shouldn't be alone with her," Charlie warned worriedly. She crossed her arms and rubbed her hands over her jacket. "There's something off with her. More off than usual."
"But she didn't get ahold of you," Mike double-checked.
"No, but she tried… Or maybe she didn't. Maybe she was just scaring me off so she could get away."
"Could've. She's bluffed with Natalie before."
But even Mike wasn't convinced that she was bluffing. He only said it to ease Charlie's mind, knowing good and well that despite assurances she would know better than to get too close to Vanny.
They heard the door opening. Gregory stole a look back, but Mike continued to steer him ahead towards the end of the hall.
"How come you guys can see her when Freddy can't?" Gregory quietly asked Charlie.
"We don't know. She could've gotten into their programming or is wearing something to cloak herself," she said.
"How'd she do that?"
"Freddy's had the technology to do it for a while. Back at the old pizzerias, they used to use some sort of mix of programming and sensors to hide safe rooms from the animatronics. To the animatronics, it was like the doors didn't even exist. They couldn't see them," Mike explained.
"But… you guys can still see her?"
"Our build's a little older. If she's set up the trick the newer models, she might not be able to trick our ancient hardware," Charlie suggested.
"Oh. Got it!"
They walked around the corner and came face to face with Marionette waiting outside the security door.
"Wow, that was quick," Mike said.
"She wasn't there. The door leads into a hallway and down some stairs. It's likely she's gotten far away by now. Far enough that I can't track her," Marionette said, his disappointment evident.
"Damn. Well, I stand by what I said. Odds are she'll show up."
"Of course she will. She wants something," Marionette said bitterly.
That reminded Charlie of what she had said. Her connection and knowledge of Marionette himself.
"There was something she said that was weird…" Charlie began. She hesitated before changing her tone, "We'll talk about it once we get the lights on. It's weird, but it can wait."
Considering that Marionette still had the music comment in the back of his mind, a second topic wasn't too much to swallow. He made a mental note and led them into the security office.
The office was a strange one. Instead of having a little office inside of a bigger office, something Gregory had become used to seeing, there was some sort of small repair station planted in the center. One with glass windows through which he could see repair arms hanging down from the ceiling, and a closed hatch on the side that said, 'head deposit'. Freddy had told him he came up here to fix some Staff Bot heads, but he hadn't given the details. This was almost what he expected.
Meanwhile the others scoured at the desks. Mike was the one to find a folded open manual off to the side and unfurl it to realize it was the operations manual for the West Arcade.
"Ah ha! Jackpot!" he announced. Mike flipped through it and narrowed down the page for the electrical system. By then Charlie and Gregory came over to stand on each side while Marionette leaned over his shoulder to peek.
"Here we go, power outage… In the case of a power outage, reset boxes one through five in order before pressing the system reboot button located in the security office. To reset a fuse box, make sure all fuses are switched on before pulling the reset lever. Fuses may switch off during an impromptu outage and must be switched on for a successful reset," Mike read out. He laid out the book on the desk and pointed at the little maps of the arcade. "So, the first one's down by the dance floor, the second is in the woman's bathroom, the third's in this corner over here by the games, the fourth's upstairs over by these games, and that one down the hall is the fifth."
"So, we just reset the boxes in that order. Seems simple enough," Charlie said. "…Which means there's a catch somewhere."
"Yes. We have to run a few miles to get to them all," Marionette almost joked.
"We could split up and meet back up here," Gregory offered. Something that got a startled look from the Puppet in particular.
"Nooo. No, we can't," Mike declined. He reached back and ruffled Gregory's hair. "Sorry, Kid, but you're not losing us that easily."
"If you're afraid Vanny's going to get me, she's not," Gregory huffed as he indignantly fixed his hair.
"That's only part of what we're afraid of," the man admitted.
"It's not just you we're afraid for. That's why we're all going together," Marionette interjected. Mike turned back to look at him over his shoulder. "Vanny's made it clear that we are all targets, not just Gregory. We'll all go downstairs together, flip the levers, grab Freddy and Foxy, come back up, throw the last switch, and wait for all this to blow over."
"Sounds like a plan," Mike agreed.
They started to make their way down to the dance floor. There was a weird eeriness over the West Arcade despite the fact that the power wasn't entirely off. Perhaps that was what made it so uneasy on the eyes, the amount of emergency lights and static. The lack of the typical ambience music was also a little off-putting. Likely because of Vanny's involvement, but it was almost more comfortable to be in a pitch-dark hourly recharge than this.
They started to hear heavy footsteps and assumed it was Freddy until Mike reached the top of the middle spiral stairs and caught sight of Monty walking in through the lobby. He quickly caught his arms out and corralled everyone back towards the wall of arcade machines to keep from getting spotted.
"Oh great, it's this guy," he muttered.
"Well, that makes things more difficult. I can distract him and you all can take the other stairs," Marionette volunteered.
"Nah, you stick with Gregory. Let me handle this."
With that, Mike started off towards the further stairs. Marionette tried and failed to tug him back with a flimsy grab to the back of his jacket, to no avail. He could only follow at a distance and watch with unease as Mike made his way down the further steps and announced his presence to the gator.
"Hey, what's up?" he greeted casually. "Act like you're supposed to be here. He bought it last time."
Monty snapped his head in his direction before straightening up. That reaction made Mike immediately regret his impulsive decision, but he stood his ground as the gator strode over.
"Well, look who it is," Monty grumbled back. He met Mike at the bottom of the stairs before crossing his arms over his chest. "You got a lotta nerve showin' back up here, Daddy's Boy."
Mike blinked in surprise. "…Excuse me?"
"I know yer secret. Wasn't too hard considerin' how ya'll threw yer weight around," Monty snarled. He lifted his sunglasses to leer down at him. "Unless there's two families of Wights runnin' this joint."
At this point Mike was so used to people thinking that he was Michael that he assumed that was an Afton comment. Confirmed that it wasn't, he recovered from the shock.
"Guess it's not much of a secret then," Mike half-joked.
Monty didn't seem amused in the slightest. He dropped his sunglasses back into place and crossed his arms once more.
"You know what I can't stand?" he growled.
Mike caught sight of Charlie sneaking down the spiral staircase and passing the fountain.
"Bourre boys like yer daddy giving away jobs to friends and family instead of people who'll get the job done. Where've you been fer the last couple'a weeks?! We've got Staff Bots gettin' torn up all over the place!" Monty said. Then he paused, waiting for an answer.
"Usually I work the dayshift."
"No ya don't. I've met dayshift. It's some short guy, some twig guy, and they ain't you. Naw, I know the truth. Truth is, yer just on the payroll. Showin' up whenever," the gator huffed. "Meanswhile, us talent's gotta be on that clock twenty-four seven. We ain't gettin' paid for it neither! I had a buncha yer daddy's lackies come down on me for takin' a couple of meet and greet passes. Takin' them- you kiddin' me?! I'm the one meetin' and greetin' these folks! It should be MY say when I want to throw out a few more passes!"
Whenever Mike dared to so much as open his mouth, Monty quickly interjected and shut him back down. At that point he realized it was just best to keep his mouth shut and let Monty go off. A distraction was still a distraction, even with the rows of teeth chomping in front of his face. Teeth that he only noticed now were significantly more threatening than Foxy's.
But that wasn't to say that Mike wasn't listening. The teeth were distracting, but he could still hear what Monty was going on about, and it was becoming increasingly clear that there was some sort of divide between the human staff and the animatronic mascots.
With what he knew about the Daycare Attendant's 'updates' and the workers' dismissal of fixing Chica, Mike couldn't say he was surprised. Though he was becoming increasingly concerned. He knew Marionette was listening too, he knew he too was noticing the red flags.
While this was going on, Charlie hurried into the dance floor. She was surprised to see that neither Freddy nor Foxy was in there. The whole place was empty, which made it easy to skirt across the dancefloor and to a platform on the other side. Mounted on the wall was a breaker box that resembled the one in the hallway, however this one easily popped open. She scanned through the switches inside and clicked on the few that had reverted to off before shutting the panel and pulling the lever.
The red emergency light on the box shifted to green, confirming that she had been successful. With a small fist pump, she turned and started making her way across the dancefloor again and towards the hallways leading to the bathrooms.
When suddenly she heard music and came to an abrupt halt. It wasn't the music she had heard earlier but something different. A slow riding techno tempo, as though the intro into a dance beat. She might've been able to believe that the music had been activated due to repairing the panel if it had started the moment she had done so, but it hadn't. It hadn't started until she was making her way back.
That, and the music was coming from above her. She slowly looked up.
She let out a strangled ring at the sight of an enormous face peeking down from the second floor. Its legs bent up around its head, giving away its arachnid-based build. A wide maw of square teeth opened a few inches to reveal a swirl of colors hiding behind them. It stared her down with large black eyes illuminated with the faintest hint of red.
It had Music Man's face.
Charlie had never found Music Man particularly intimidating. His face had always unnerved her and his obsession with her had always made her a little uncomfortable, but she didn't tend to actively fear him.
But now Music Man was much, much bigger. Much scarier, much more threatening. Especially as it dawned on her that they walked right past there and he hadn't been there. He had to have climbed up there himself, that easily.
There was no way to express the sheer panic Charlie felt when she realized she was going to have to run under him to get by. It was the quickest way through and the only way that wouldn't risk her getting spotted by Monty, but again it meant crossing underneath that. She steadied her nerves and took a few cautious steps forward, just in case she was misreading the situation.
DJ Music Man leaned further over the edge. Two of his large, gloved hands resting flat on the wall underneath it. No doubt about it, he was preparing to make a grab at her.
Charlie considered her actions again. Considered her speed, considered his, and then without any warning to tip him off she bolted across the dance floor, leapt up the short ledge, and was dashing down the hallway in a matter of seconds. She could hear his heavy body groan and he moved but he was falling behind fast, and she barged her way through the men's bathroom door.
She almost ran right into Freddy standing a few steps in on the other side.
"Whoa!" she cried and teetered.
"Whoa!" Freddy returned and steadied her. "Excuse me, Charlie!"
"It's fine!" she excused and quickly slid out of Freddy's grasp to get around him and away from the door. There was a wall blocking the bathroom doors from the actual bathroom itself and she didn't feel even somewhat in the clear until she was on the other side of it. Only then did she notice Foxy and Sunny standing in the bathroom as well. "What are you guys doing in here?"
"The DJ's lost his mind! Bloody crab chased us in here, 's been hauntin' the doors!" Foxy exclaimed with obvious irritation.
"Is the crab the giant Music Man? Because he almost grabbed me on the way here," Charlie said. Though before she could get distracted, she started looking around the room. "Wait, where's the breaker box?"
"There's a breaker box in here?" Sunny asked.
"Check the closet," Freddy answered. He pointed to a janitorial closet.
Charlie hurried over and opened the door and, sure enough, there was the breaker box on the right door.
"Jackpot!" she said. She rushed in to fix the breaker box, with Freddy catching the door and holding it open and watching as she opened the panel and started flipping a plethora of switches.
"Why's there a breaker box in the bathroom?!" Sunny cried from behind him. "That's so unsanitary AND unsafe! Keeping the electrical equipment right by the water, tch."
But Freddy had bigger concerns. "Where is Gregory?" he asked worriedly.
"With Mari. He's okay."
"Thank goodness," Freddy sighed. A hand resting on his chest in relief.
"But don't get comfortable just yet. I ran into Vanny again."
"What?!" Freddy cried with a shock.
"Yeah," Charlie said. She finished flipping the switches and shut the panel, pulling the lever and watching the light switch. "Alright, got it!"
"Where is Vanny now?" Freddy persisted. Sunny sputtering somewhere behind him at the mention of the name.
"I don't know. She ran off down a hallway."
"Hold on a tick. Sounds like he's back out there…" Foxy muttered from the middle wall. His ears twitching as he listened. He had heard the mention of Vanny too, but they currently had a much bigger issue to deal with outside.
"What tipped you off, the floor shaking or the sudden addition of background music to this conversation?" Sunny asked, now wringing his hands.
Charlie dashed out of the closet and went to blaze past Foxy. He tried to put out his arm in time to stop her, but she kept by. "Wait! Wait, Lass!"
Between that call and the noise outside, Charlie stopped herself a few feet before the door.
Just in time for it to fly open and a large hand to come barging through.
Foxy caught Charlie around the middle and yanked her away in a quick turn an instant before she could get grabbed. Then pushed her towards the back of the bathroom and retreated after her. Both looking back to see Music Man's hand now feeling around the bathroom floor. Eventually he retracted back his arm, but instead of leaving he nudged open the bathroom door and peeked in with a dark eye.
"DJ, please! It is me, Freddy! Why are you acting like this?!" Freddy called to him. There was no response.
"We're long past the point 'o parlay. You ever see him do this before?"
"Never! The DJ would never act like this! It-… It must be connected to that Bouncer Mode that was announced when the power went off," Freddy deduced. He was a step behind Foxy in that regard, but at least he caught up.
"Then what's the chances of turnin' the lights back on stoppin' this?" Foxy asked Freddy over his shoulder.
"I-I do not know. I can only assume that maybe… Bouncer Mode…" Freddy got an almost perplexed look. His eyes lowering and narrowing, darting around as he was thinking. "…Yes." He looked up with more confidence. "Resetting the system should reset any programs that the DJ is running. The Bouncer Programming should reset, and if not, then I can get back on the dance floor and force the DJ back into performance mode. But only once the power has been returned!"
"Then we can't hang out in here! Mike's stuck with Monty and-," Charlie started.
"Monty's here?!" Sunny's voice spiked. His points retracted as Charlie confirmed this, and then the white of his eyes halved in a narrow. "…New plan. You stand riiiight…" He pointed down to the other end of the wall. "There. Don't let him see you."
"Okay," Charlie agreed. She already figured out the supposed plan and started heading down.
"Wait, Sunny. We do not need to engage the DJ. There is a vent right in the closet," Freddy suggested, nudging the door open with his foot and gesturing to it. Sunny waved a hand in dismissal.
"That'll take too long. Desperate times call for…?" Sunny tilted his head and grinned at Freddy, awaiting an answer.
"Risky moves," Foxy answered.
"That's right!" the jester chirped. He then promptly ran past Foxy and slid across the tiled bathroom floor and right up to the door and slammed it in Music Man's face.
"Sun, move!" Freddy yelled.
"No wor-!" The door suddenly slammed open and the DJ's hand thrust through, but in that split second Sunny dove out of the way and onto the wall. He clung to it for a second before springing off when the hand slapped at him, him landing on the floor on a roll. "-ries!"
Freddy was watching in abject horror as Sunny continued to dance and dodge around the hand. Meanwhile, Charlie darted to the other door and pushed through, running right into Music Man's line of sight but running off before he could grab her.
She was forced to run past the stairs and almost right up on Monty when the DJ's music suddenly kicked up. Becoming both louder and faster, the beat dropping into a heavy thump that nearly hid his heavy handfalls. Charlie was suddenly yanked aside and pulled behind an arcade cabinet, back flush against Marionette's chest, his arms wound tightly around her. Both Puppets out of the way before Monty sent a lazy look back.
"What's goin' on over there?"
"Heck if I know," Mike answered. Meanwhile trying to reach back and grab Gregory who snuck past while Monty had his back turned, failing to stop the boy.
The moment Marionette had left Gregory to pull Charlie out of the way, that split second, the boy decided to take the plunge and go for the third box. It was right in view and somewhat hidden behind the arcade machines as long as he stayed crouched down. So, he skimmed right past, ducking right under the man's flailing and reaching arm, and snuck to the box.
That was fine, Mike decided begrudgingly. Not fine, but he could distract Monty and maybe he wouldn't notice.
It was at that moment when he caught sight of a huge mechanical spider's backend as it climbed up a wall and into one of the tunnels. He couldn't see all of it, but he saw enough for his eyes to go wide and his stomach to drop.
"Look at the size of that thing!" Mike hissed through clenched teeth. Monty instantly rounded on him.
"Hey! He's got a name!" he snapped. He adjusted his sunglasses. "…I don't know what it is, but he's got one!"
"Right, right. Sorry, it just sort of took me off-guard," Mike excused. He casually stepped to the side and closer to the stairs to try and angle Monty further away from looking at the box. "Back to what you were saying, I don't know much about unions myself."
"'Course you don't."
"Right. So, how exactly would one work for Freddy's? Everyone's forced to sign waivers anyway, how would a union do any good?" He purposefully riled Monty into yet another explanation.
Marionette released Charlie once he was certain she was alright and then popped back up to the top of the stairs, only to find to his horror that Gregory was now missing. He spun around in a sudden panic thinking of rabbits and knives and her and HIM.
When his attention was drawn by a popping noise, and he looked back and down in time to see Gregory opening the panel. The tight grimace on his face showing that he didn't intend to be that loud. His head also snapping back just in time to see Monty spotting him.
"HEY! Little guy!" Monty yelled in his direction. His fans kicked on and his pupils dilated under his sunglasses. "Ah see you!"
"I'll get him," Mike volunteered. He didn't even have a chance to pretend to do so before he was roughly shoved aside so hard that he fell against and almost toppled over the barrier blocking off the stairs. Monty charged by and was after Gregory.
Gregory abandoned the control panel and began to run. An arcade cabinet suddenly capsizing behind him to block Monty, who easily stepped over it only to have a toddler stroller fly out of nowhere and crash into him. But Monty was shaking it off easily. Nothing could stop him, him huffing and grunting and shrugging off everything as he chased Gregory with animalistic desperation.
Unfortunately for him, that was when the Daycare Attendant staggered in. Still halfway through turning back into Moon, he looked across the arcade and caught sight of Monty pursuing Gregory. His points snapped in and his eyes went red.
"SECURITY ALERT! SECURITY ALERT!"
He then all but vaulted over the arcade machines and dove at Monty, the gator only catching sight of him for a second before crashing to the floor. A wrestling match quickly broke out.
"WHAT'RE YOU DOIN'?! GET OFF ME!" Monty bellowed.
Moon's hand clamped around his jaws and twisted, forcing his head back as he did.
"Temper, temper- I am so TIRED of your temper!" Moon hissed back. "It's pathetic."
Monty huffed and grunted as hot air began to exhaust through the cracks in his plating. He shifted and got a foot up to kick Moon off, him only partially dodging and ending up upside-down on the wall. Monty yanking back enough to take a swing at him, with the jester moving aside in time that his fist clattered into the faux-brick wall.
Gregory looked back at the scene before suddenly being grabbed up by Marionette who then carried him under the arms and deposited him at Freddy's feet. The bear dropping to a knee immediately and taking Gregory by the shoulders.
"There you are! Are you hurt?!" he asked.
"N-No, I'm fine! But they're-!" Gregory heard the crash of a cabinet screen being shattered. "He's gonna kill him!"
Freddy looked up wide-eyed and could only see some of the scene, but he knew from the noise that Monty and Moon were going at it. And remembering last time…
"We must hide you," Freddy said. He got up and led Gregory aside. It didn't take him long to find a closed-up food cart and he hoisted Gregory up to help him inside. "Wait here. I must stop them before somebody gets hurt!"
"Okay but be careful. If you're not supposed to get between dogs fighting, I don't want to know what's going to happen if you get in between those two," Gregory warned.
"I will. Keep quiet and still, I will be back," Freddy said. He closed the hatch and raced over to Monty and Moon to try and break them up.
Meanwhile, Marionette looked past the scene to see Mike activating the control panel before shooting a random thumbs up behind him. Marionette almost smiled until he heard the familiar thump, thump and looked up in time to finally see DJ Music Man for himself. He was climbing onto the top of the spiral staircase, a massive beast of a machine, right in the way of Charlie who had run up the other stairs and was heading in that direction, unable to see Music Man around the corner.
The DJ did manage to give himself away long before Charlie could run up the second flight of stairs. She heard the increasing music and thumping and came to a stop at the foot of them, backing away as she watched him climb around the corner.
Suddenly Marionette popped up in front of her. Shielding her while staring down the DJ with lights alit in his eyes, silently threatening him.
Silently threatening him even though he had no chance of handling him on his own. The oversized Music Man was so big that the only option would be to shove him at the right angle and get lucky in him serendipitously not holding on well enough.
DJ Music Man still stopped at the sight of him. The red dots in the back of his own eyes growing, glowing brightly as he slinked around the corner with only a few steps and stared down the Puppet. Or stared through him, as it felt to the Puppet.
As though there was something inside looking out at him.
The DJ leaned in a little, cocking its head with a creak as it stared him down. He stiffly raised a gloved hand and shook his finger. "No, no." He pointed to his chest. "I." He pointed to his eyes with two fingers. "See." He pointed at Marionette with those fingers. "You."
He then lifted a hand and made a finger snapping motion. Of course, he couldn't snap his fingers with such big, gloved hands, but the motion punctuated his music kicking off. He then spun his finger and a new track kicked in.
The last song either expected was an electronic keyboard rendition of Pop Goes the Weasel. A far cry from Marionette's own music box trill but he could feel his spools tightening at that song. The familiar tune alone riled him up, energizing him, making him feel so wound up that he could spring at any second and activating his own music along with it. If this was an attempt to subdue him, it had the exact opposite effect.
And then the beat dropped. The music spiked into a techno flurry of Pop Goes the Weasel pumping through DJ Music Man's own speaker. A nursery rhyme turned into a funky beat to dance to, loud and charged.
And suddenly those heightened sensations increased tenfold.
The world grew hazy and blurry as Marionette's programming kicked up. His servos reeled, his spools tightened, his music box struggled to reflexively catch up with the tempo and he could feel each pluck of his comb. Too aware, too worked up, too much buzzing throughout his body. Instead of invigorated, he felt out-of-control.
He barely noticed Charlie's hand on his shoulder and then Mike grabbing him from behind, momentarily flailing in the grasp not out of his own volition but due to his overwhelmed body's overreaction.
"Shut it off!" Charlie yelled at DJ Music Man.
He gave an exaggerated shrug with two arms and then, bizarrely enough, he turned and started to climb the wall as though he was the one running from them. His music raising in volume to overcome the distance between them.
Then he was gone, leaving the three behind at the base of the stairs. Mike stared after him in disbelief.
"What the hell is going on tonight?!" he vented.
"I don't know, just- Freddy said that turning the power on might stop him! He's stuck in some sort of bouncer mode and the only way to reset it might be to override it!"
"Sure, makes sense," he agreed. At this point he was willing to believe and try anything. "Look, I know Vanny's still a threat, but this is getting out of hand, and we need to get these lights on. Let's split up. I'll hit the panel up there, you run down to the fifth box."
Charlie gave him a thumbs up and started up the stairs.
"Mari, you need to stay here," Mike said.
"I-I'm f-fine- I'm fine! J-Just- Let's go!" Marionette's voice stuttered. He was still twitchy, but he had managed to somewhat stabilize himself.
While Mike wasn't sure about that, he didn't argue. He hooked an arm through Marionette's and pulled him along as he hurried up the stairs. He arrived on the second floor before looking around and then taking a sharp left past a counter and towards a narrow section of arcade games that wrapped around the walkway above the room below.
They had just sprinted past the circular counter when the music suddenly increased in volume and beat. So heavy that the vibrations could be felt throbbing in Mike's ears. The obnoxious tune of a familiar jingle being thrown back at them and increasing in speed until it was a frantic frenzy.
That wasn't the only thing pushed into a frenzy either. Marionette shuddered and barely caught himself against the counter as his levitation failed. Mike helping hold him up as he clawed at his chest and the music box inside. He could feel each twang through his fingertips and shaking his endo from the inside. He couldn't stop it, his body betraying him as it instinctually obeyed the music.
Mike swore before letting him down onto the counter. "You're going to have to wait here, okay? I'll be quick!" he said. He then promptly bolted off into the arcade machines. He didn't want to leave him, but he couldn't afford to waste even a second.
There were a few tables with tall chairs and the games were crushed so tightly together that Mike couldn't imagine playing games here to be anything beyond uncomfortable. He weaved between them quickly, his heart pounding almost as hard as the music was. He had mental images of what could be going on inside of the Puppet's chest right now and it wasn't pretty. He was imagining comb teeth breaking off and losing themselves into his fabric, stabbing through like needles.
Anything could be repaired, he knew that, but it was the process of having to cut him open and do work that was daunting. Especially since he knew exactly what he would be getting into after last time.
The passageway narrowed and Mike sped through before suddenly catching a glimpse of white swinging in above him. He flung himself back, landing heavily on his backside and skidding right underneath the DJ's large, gloved hand, sticking out of one of the holes. Alas, not entirely past it, now instead lying flat on his back underneath an arm blindly feeling for him.
When suddenly a black form darted overhead and flung itself into the arm. It was Marionette, who slammed into the arm with so much force that it threw the arm back and against the wall. He then doubled over and sprung off before the hand could close on him.
Mike got back to his feet and made a run for it, continuing to search for the box that he knew was hidden somewhere amongst the arcade machines. Something easier said than done once he caught sight of what his puppet was doing.
Marionette was writhing and crawling over the arcade machines in a way so inhuman, so bizarre that it took Mike completely off-guard. Like he had been reduced to a flailing doll with spiderlike limbs, which wasn't made any better when he regained levitation for a second. Just careening around in the air on invisible strings before getting caught up on another cabinet and back to climbing over it.
Finally, finally, Mike happened to spot the panel hidden behind an arcade cabinet on the wall. Unfortunately it was underneath another large hole, but at this point there was no other option except to be quick and get out before the DJ came out. A plan thwarted when he opened the panel to see a plethora of fuses that had flipped. He started to flip them with both hands, but he could already hear the DJ's heavy movements echoing through the tunnel.
Suddenly something ran into his back and grabbed him by behind. Mike almost fought back before realizing a split second later that it was not Music Man grabbing him but Marionette in his overdrive state trying to grab something off him. He couldn't even ask before the Puppet grabbed ahold of his taser and yanked it free of his belt.
Marionette staggered back before pushing himself up to levitate a little higher, so that he could confront the massive face coming through the tunnel. Something that would've been easier if the emergency lights weren't trailing so much when he turned his head. Then when he locked onto a point he locked on. He had to focus himself on one of Music Man's eyes as the world wobbled and programming crawled over his fabric and sputtered in his chest.
There was no fighting DJ Music Man. Not with his size, not with his inability to control himself. So, his only option was to ward him off with threats, and there was nothing more threatening than a malfunctioning puppet windmilling a taser in front of him.
Mike got the switches flipped and closed the panel before pulling the lever. The light switched, signaling that it had worked. "Got it!"
The DJ had groaned as soon as the light had switched. He couldn't have seen it from his angle, so he must've felt it. He slapped his hand on the floor of the tunnel with agitation and made another spinning motion with his other hand, then waved.
The music kicked up again and echoed out of the tunnel. It wasn't just so loud that Mike could barely hear himself think, but now more layered and detailed. Beats atop of electronic riffs atop of keyboard music sped so much that no human would've been able to play it.
The taser dropped to the floor and Marionette shortly afterwards. He barely caught himself on his legs, grabbing at his mask and chest at the overload, before his legs buckled and he fell sideways against the glass paneled railing.
And then he just kept going over.
Mike foresaw it a second before it happened, recognizing what happened to him with the barrier downstairs and dove for Marionette. He just barely managed to catch him around the legs, succeeding both in thumping his forehead to the glass and stopping Marionette from falling over the edge. He then yanked him down, the Puppet's body coming back over the railing and falling into his arms.
Marionette grabbed and clawed at his head as he hunched down and tried to escape the music. Or the programming that the music was setting off. Mike yanked off his jacket and wrapped it over his head and hands trying to somehow suffocate the sound while wrapping his arms around him to somewhat restrain the thrashing. Though it was close to impossible to do either; the music had gotten so loud that Marionette was within reach, and he could barely hear his discordant sounds against the constant crazed music.
Until it started to quiet down. Punctuated by the heavy thump, thumps of DJ Music Man's steps, Mike realized he was retreating into the tunnel. The further he got away the more the music reduced. Still echoing through many of the holes connected to the shaft the DJ was currently in, but slightly less powerful. To the point where Marionette's writhing was less pronounced and he collapsed into Mike's grasp shaking like he was heaving.
Any second now Charlie would get the lever, Mike remembered. To which he then realized why the DJ left. He knew when the lever was switched, he likely knew where the breaker boxes were. He was going back after Charlie.
"We've got to get to the security office," Mike said. There was no chance of them catching up with Charlie, but they could get to the final switch. He started lifting and maneuvering Marionette to pick him up, having no intentions of leaving him here.
To his surprise, he gave a derogatory wave. Mike stopped, afraid that he was hurting him, but then Marionette put an arm around his shoulders and started to lift onto his legs. This took Mike equally by surprise, but he quickly stood and helped support him.
"Let me carry you," he offered.
Marionette shook his head and raised his other hand to show how bad it was twitching. Mike wasn't sure if that was an explanation or if he was just out of it and observing how badly he was shaking. He could clarify later. All he knew for sure was that he wanted to walk.
"We're going to have to move quick," he forewarned.
Marionette nodded and waved him forward as though telling him to hurry. His voice a mere crunching and clattery replica of 'Pop Goes the Weasel'. Mike hoped it was more like hoarseness, fatigue, than any real damage.
Either way, he hurriedly picked up the taser and half-carried half-led back through the arcade. He hoped Charlie was already on the move.
Meanwhile, she was standing by the breaker box waiting for it to unlock, trying it every few seconds while keeping her back to the wall and looking around the dark hallway. This would've been as good a time as any for Vanny to try and sneak up on her.
That was when she heard a shift the distant music pouring through the massive hole at the end of the hall. It grew louder and stronger, signifying that the DJ was cranking it up another notch. She tried the panel again and this time it finally released and opened.
Many of the fuses had been flipped and she got work to switching them back on. Only to notice while she was doing so that the sound of distant thumping was getting closer, as was the music. She fumbled, closing the panel and flipping the lever to no result, and she was forced to open it back up and scour through the switches until she found the last one. She flipped it, slammed the lid, and pulled the lever, and this time the light switched to a positive result.
But by then she could hear nothing but music and movement, and as she spun around to leave, she caught sight of motion and looked up at the hole at the end of the hallway. She saw the red lights of his eyes before his hands slid out to grip the rim and pulled the rest of him out. Charlie ran for it as DJ Music Man pulled himself fully free and began to tail her down the hallway. His steps slower but much wider and covering much more ground than hers did.
But that wasn't enough to catch up. The DJ twitched restlessly and scooped up an arcade cabinet before easily tossing it down the hallway. It flew over Charlie's head and crashed into the floor in front of her. She staggered momentarily before taking a sharp left and running around a group of machines. Another cabinet came crashing down and took out a shelf, throwing bits of metal and tools out across the floor.
Charlie weaved back and forth, stealing a glance back to see that DJ Music Man was closing in. His long legs and dexterous hands easily finding footing around the same obstacles that blocked her way. He slung another cabinet past her, knocking over another and blocking her path. She vaulted over the lowest point and doubled down running with all her might. One last arcade cabinet flew past and smashed into the wall as she skidded around the corner.
Almost running directly into Mike and Marionette who were standing at the door. Mike practically holding up the Puppet who was back to twitching and overloading as music closed in. Charlie all but shoved them into the doorway with Mike hitting the door button on the way in and closing it behind them. Charlie ran over to the control desk to search for the final button.
"Where's the switch?!"
"Here! Right here!" Mike yelled. He ran over with Marionette in tow and slammed his finger down on the button.
All at once there was the sound of electronics booting throughout the security office before the overhead lights kicked on along with the ambience music. All of which they didn't notice until the eardrum bursting music blasting outside the door was suddenly interrupted by a record scratching noise and suddenly died. Mike's ears were still buzzing even after it was gone.
The second the music stopped, so did Marionette's programming. All at once it released him from its grasp and he was able to think clearly, along with having the unbearable pressure in his head and his music box suddenly gone. He dropped like a rock, with Mike catching him to keep him from hitting the floor before carefully lowering him down. He sat down alongside him with his back against the desk, his heart still racing. Marionette's head balanced face down on his shoulder while the rest of his body went slack.
Charlie sat down on the other side of Mike equally exhausted. Her shoulders slouched and her arms draped over her legs. Mike looked to her for a second before suddenly scooping an arm around her and pulling her in. She gave a short ring of surprise before mimicking a sigh and putting an arm back around him. Her hand resting on Marionette's shoulder on the other side.
The three sat there together for a while just resting. Waiting for whatever was going on downstairs to calm down, waiting for Marionette to recover a little more, waiting to make sure the coast was clear.
Eventually interrupted by a knock on the door.
"You know, it just occurred to me that we never heard Music Man leave," Mike mused. Sure enough, a lazy look at the window showed a big black eye peeking in.
"His eyes aren't red anymore. Maybe he's out of Bouncer Mode," Charlie offered. "…What should we do?"
"…Well, we can't stay up here all night," Mike rationalized. He cautiously got his taser out with the arm still around Marionette, keeping it somewhat hidden. "Let's go check it out and see if he's back to his senses."
"Once we get that door open, we might not get it shut again," the Security Puppet forewarned.
"I know… Maybe we can squeeze past him," he said, trying to lighten a tense mood. He started to get up, turning to help Marionette as he did. "Want me to carry you or do you want to walk? Because I don't mind carrying you. If anyone asks, I get a kick out of it."
Marionette gave a weary smile at that and almost motioned to be picked up only to consider it longer, then change his mind and flittering his fingers in a walking pattern. Mike obeyed his wishes and got an arm under his before helping him up onto his exceptionally weak legs. Now even weaker with all the energy drained out of him. Charlie went to his other side and repeated the action, and they helped walk him to the door.
Mike adjusted the taser in his hand before bumping the door button with his fist.
DJ Music Man didn't immediately reach in. Charlie considered that a good sign but kept it to herself. In fact, after a moment he backed away from the door, allowing Mike to cautiously lean and look out. The giant spider was sat back on his back hands, two more resting on the ground, and his front two clasped together in an apologetic or guilty way. His posture was completely different. The whole feel radiating off him was much more passive.
"Hello, hello," Mike greeted.
DJ Music Man waved back with a back hand. Then he shook his front clasped ones apologetically.
"I'm sorry," was read from the gesture. He gave a confused sort of shrug, pointed at his head with a swirly motion, and signed a question mark with the other hand. Either "What happened?" or "I don't know what happened."
Mike got something else from the exchange. "You didn't mean to chase us, did you? It was the Bouncer Mode making you do it, right?" he guessed.
Surprisingly, DJ Music Man shook his head. He seemed confused with how he tapped his head thoughtfully before he started to motion again. He held two hands above his head and wiggled his fingers as though maneuvering puppet strings. "I was controlled."
Mike didn't like what those hand gestures imply. Especially since he had witnessed firsthand something that lined up with the implications perfectly.
"…Did you hear a song?" Charlie unexpectedly asked. Mike looked to her in surprise, Marionette even rolled his limp head to look at her. She shared a brief look between them before looking up towards the DJ.
He nodded and pointed at her in agreement.
"Did it sound like, uh… Da, da-da da-da. Da da-da da-da," she tried to replicate, jingling along with the tune. The lyrics had been so muffled that she couldn't recall many of them, but she did remember one thing. "Hmm-hmm, hmm-hmm. Forever and ever. Forever and ever and ever. Ah, ah. Forever and ever and ever…~"
She stopped when the DJ started pointing insistently in agreement. He nodded and pointed to his headphones. "Yes, I heard it!"
"Do you know where it came from?" Charlie asked. Beyond the rabbit, where it could've originated, because it was too familiar to be new. Unfortunately, DJ Music Man shook his head. "Oh… Well, at least we heard the same thing." He nodded in agreement.
"Sorry about all this. There's something, some crazy rabbit woman that's been following us and she's the one who cut the power. We're sorry we brought it all up here. We're just going to go get our captain and we'll be out of your hair," Mike offered apologetically.
But much to his surprise, the DJ had an unexpected reaction. He shook his head, he waved his hands, he totally dismissed the notion. Then he began to motion.
He pointed to them with both fingers of his front hands, then pointed at the floor. He then bobbed his body, arms and legs shaking to invisible rhythm in a vague mimic of Freddy's dancing. He then made hand motions like he was playing an arcade cabinet. He pointed to himself then lifted a hand to his headphones while the other shuffled as though scratching a record. Finally, he clasped his hands together and shook them insistently.
"You stay. Dance, play games, I'll play music. Stay, please."
This took Mike entirely off-guard. It almost made him a little suspicious, but DJ Music Man seemed genuine- though he had fallen for similar ruses before. He glanced over at Marionette and Charlie and all three exchanged a look but neither puppet commented.
"Well… We'll think about it. We need to see what's going on downstairs first," Mike replied.
The DJ seemed contented with this and, suddenly realizing that there may still be something happening downstairs, he turned and hastily headed off to a tunnel. They watched him go before going themselves.
Exiting back into the arcade proper, they saw that everything had returned to normal. The neon lights, the soothing ambience music, including the bouncier tunes from the arcade cabinets; everything was back to how it was. Mike and Charlie walked Marionette through the rows of games as they made their way back towards the stairs. They had almost reached the karaoke room when the Puppet between them unexpectedly spoke up.
"Th-Thiss isss s-so stran-nge," he said. His voice was still staticky and echoey, sputtering as he spoke. Though not from upset. In fact, other than sounding weary, he sounded rather relieved. His head was slightly slumped, but he watched almost curiously as he used his own legs. Though not without an exceptional amount of help from his companions. He was more so being carried, but it felt very close to the real thing. "W-Walking. I-It feels so pec-pec-pecuuuliar."
"It feels like we're about to start skipping down the yellow brick road," Mike joked. Marionette rolled out a twangy chime while Charlie scoffed a little. Mike petted Marionette's side carefully. "How're you feeling, Doll? Any pain anywhere?"
"Ti-irrred."
"I can't even imagine. But there's no pain in your music box? You're sounding a little crunchy," he asked, making his concern more obvious.
"J-Just weak… I thhhink I'm ok-kay," Marionette said.
He rolled his head over and pressed it to Mike's affectionately, a gesture that was returned. They stayed like that a few moments before Marionette drew away. He mustered up the neck strength to lift his head and turn Charlie.
"Th-That sonng you ment-tioned, Char-arlie. It's an o-o-old Freddy s-song. From a long, long, l-ng-g time ago."
Her head snapped to him. "You know it? Where's it from?"
"Cartoon."
"Oh… Oh! Maybe that's why I remembered it," Charlie said. She was momentarily disappointed by the simplicity of the answer, but it made sense. "I had this vivid mental image of being in the car with my parents and hearing it playing. Maybe we had it on cassette?"
Marionette nodded in agreement.
"So, it sounds like Vanny's got a bit of a history with Freddy's. Assuming that she's behind Music Man too," Mike said with very little doubt. "Lines up with what Natalie said about Ness liking the old Freddy's."
This reminded Charlie of what Vanny had said. Though this wasn't exactly the best time to bring it up, with Marionette and the situation of the others up in the air, she decided to do so. It seemed too important to put off any longer and risk forgetting to mention.
"That's not all. The way Vanny was talking I think she knows you, Mari. She said something like… How you were up to the same games and how you didn't know who she was, but she knew who you were and that you would. Know who she is, I mean."
Marionette was too exhausted to show exactly how unnerved he was by hearing Vanny said that. Thankfully, he had Mike to speak for him.
"God, that's ominous," Mike remarked.
"You're telling me," Charlie agreed.
"So, does that mean she's being possessed by someone who was around back then or that she's from around back then? For all we know, she could just be some broad coming in now who thinks she knows Mari because she's done her research."
"That's a good point. I didn't think about that."
"What do you think, Mari?" Mike asked. Both curious about what he thought and checking in on him.
Marionette wasn't sure what he thought. He should've been more upset by the news yet after the initial shock he was feeling rather blasé. Maybe because Mike had raised a good point. Surely it wouldn't be too hard to uncover the rumors of the old Freddy's. Especially if she was related to someone who used to be involved there. Like one of the workers- hopefully not one of the workers. That could explain this as less a copycat and more of a vendetta, but that didn't bode well.
Perhaps his reaction was muted because of how tired he was. Maybe because there were so many open avenues that he couldn't properly react to one. Or perhaps there was another reason. One a little closer to home.
"As- As long as i-it's not m-my fath-ther," Marionette simply remarked.
There were no arguments with that.
For now, they let the conversation fall to the wayside and focused on helping Marionette down the spiral staircase. They could worry about Vanny after they got everyone back together.
…
Normally Gregory wouldn't have been thrilled to get stuck hiding away in a metal box, but in this situation, he was more than glad to keep his distance from the action. He dared to lift the lid enough to peek out and watched as Freddy hopelessly tried to pull Monty and Moon apart. Neither of them were acting right. Monty was especially wound up while Gregory had never seen Moon fight back so hard. He was almost a little impressed, but he kept expecting Monty to suddenly get the upper hand like that night in Monty Golf.
It wasn't like Gregory was worried for Moon or anything, but he didn't want to see him get mangled up again. Freddy neither, but he had already gotten accidentally clocked once and had deflected the blow like it was nothing. Gregory had gone from genuinely afraid to admiring him in a whole new light. But of course Freddy could take a hit- he was Freddy! There was a reason he was the coolest guy here.
Yet he could get the two to stay apart. In fact, it was his attempt to do so that got him an elbow to the face. That didn't stop him from trying and currently he had his back to Gregory, barely holding Moon back with one hand and Monty with the other, forcing them apart.
When suddenly Gregory had a weird feeling. That feeling like he was being watched. He peeked out through the sliver of the lifted lid and turned his head until his eyes landed on the form sneaking across the arcade towards him.
His blood ran cold. His heart leapt into his throat.
It was Vanny.
She shouldn't have been scary. Ignoring the fact that she was in a mock-Easter Bunny outfit, the way she was sneaking over was over-the-top cartoonish, a slinking little tiptoe with her arms playfully swaying at her sides. But that almost made it worse, because she wasn't looking for him, she was walking directly towards him. Her bright red eyes staring right back at him as she approached his hiding spot.
Gregory desperately looked over towards Freddy only to see that he was still caught up between Monty and Moon. Taking one last look at Vanny, Gregory dropped back into the cart and let the lid close behind him. He was nearly hyperventilating as he pulled off his backpack and scrounged around for something, anything to defend himself with. He wasn't finding a thing. He pressed the button on his watch.
"Freddy! Freddy!" he called. Though from the moment he pressed the button, all he could hear was static replying back. He didn't know if the message even reached Freddy.
He could hear her just outside of the cart. Her booties softly tapping as she came up and stopped right beside it. Even if he hadn't heard her he could just feel her, that sickening feeling that radiated off of her. There had to be something he could use to fight her off with. He popped open his lunchbox and caught sight of his only possible salvation. He yanked it out and fumbled it in shaky hands.
Suddenly the hatch opened his head. The interior of the cart was filled with a nasty red glow, and he looked up to see those bright eyes and stretched smile only a few inches away from his face.
"There you are!" Vanny crooned.
Gregory proceeded to crush his hands together and spray her with the contents of his juice box.
Vanny was caught by surprise by the shower of purple liquid and swung her head back from the hatch. Vanny staggered back a step and looked down at herself, at a line of stain sputtering from her neck down her upper chest. A small spill in comparison to the streak across her mask, but regardless she reacted with a crunchy choke and began to desperately rub at it with both hands, to no avail.
"No, no, no, no, no!" she muttered. Her voice fading into apologetic little pleas as she continued patting at the fabric.
Seeing her momentarily distracted, Gregory took his sole chance to climb out of the cart and make a run for it. Running blindly into the arcade, searching for anywhere to hide, to escape.
Foxy was currently hanging out in the bathroom hallway waiting for whatever was going on out in the arcade to cool down. He hated being stuck here hiding, unable to help anyone and wasting what little time they had. Looked like this night was yet another bust.
That was when he heard small footsteps running. His ears twitching as he hunched down and inched out of the hallway to look, catching sight of the backend of Gregory as he bolted off towards stairs. That caught his attention immediately. He had thought Gregory was still with Marionette and to now see him running for his life with the lights on, Marionette nowhere to be seen, and Freddy still wrangling 'friends' in the corner, it was understandably alarming.
And since he could still hear that situation going on in the corner, he knew exactly where they were. He listened to make sure nobody was coming before crouching lower and darting out from the hallway, hastily running behind a line of arcade machines and after the boy.
That was how he ended up at the golden door. Tucked away under the stairs in a small VIP section- not much of a section at all, if not for the barrier blocking it from the stairs and the flimsy faux-velvet rope partially blocking the front- Foxy came up on the door sliding closed and caught it before it could. Since he didn't see Gregory going up the stairs he must've gone in here, wherever this was.
He looked up at the beehive shaped icon on the door before heading inside.