Mable: You can tell from the word count that I couldn't stop myself. It must be a programming bug. Anyway, sorry this posted late! Enjoy!
Going Home in a Box
Chapter Thirteen
It was a typical morning at the Schmidt-Afton-Johnson-and temporarily Fitzgerald residence. Mike had been back from his late-morning run for a while and was currently stretched out on the couch watching TV, with Moppet curled up between him and the back of it. Marionette was sitting on the floor in front of the couch putting together a puzzle with Bow and Plushtrap. A picture of a dragon was slowly coming together.
Today was their day off and while they still expected to get news from Natalie, things were more lowkey than they had been in weeks. Unfortunately, it couldn't last. Mike's cell phone began to ring, and he reached above his head to grab it.
"Hello, hello?" he answered.
"Hey, it's me," Fritz said. His voice alone just sounded like bad news was coming. "Think you could get everyone together and meet us over at Foxy's? Natalie's got a few updates."
"Sure, I'll get us over there," Mike agreed. "…So, what happened this time?"
"Mike, you have no idea," Fritz said. He hesitated for a long moment and Mike's silence prodded for an answer. "Natalie saw something last night."
"Saw what?" he pressed. He reached over and tapped Marionette on the back of his head to get his attention. The Puppet looked back at him curiously while Fritz still seemed torn. "How bad was it?" Mike pressed.
"…Natalie was harassed by a woman with a knife wearing a bunny costume and running around the Pizzaplex afterhours."
"…What?!" Mike shot upright. It jostled Moppet enough that she got up and quickly scooted off the couch. Plushtrap jumped and Bow looked over, and Marionette was already looking so he just got a slightly concerned look. "Is she sure? Is she absolutely sure it wasn't just one of those creeps that were peeking on her trying to mess with her?"
"No, they were long gone by then. The doors were already sealed when she started to hear her running around," Fritz said. It was clear that he was a little freaked out, even more now than he had been last night. "I just- I can't believe this! I don't even know if this is real or just someone pranking her- which I hope it is. I hope this is some kind of sick joke and not someone actually running around pulling a 'Purple Man'," he finished through his teeth.
Mike hissed a swear through his own teeth and slowly made eye contact with Marionette. He wondered how much the Puppet could hear. Normally he was able to overhear things on the phone pretty well, but he probably hadn't been listening too long. His brows were furrowed like he was confused and concerned, so he must've heard that 'Purple Man' comment.
"And that's not all. Remember how we were thinking Foxy was the vandal? Natalie saw Foxy at the Pizzaplex! He IS the vandal, and he's been over there hanging out with Freddy!"
"Big shock," Mike muttered. Marionette leaned forward onto the couch, tilted his head, and raised a hand to shrug in questioning.
"…I'm taking from that that you already knew."
"Oh yeah, I knew. That look on his face yesterday told me everything," Mike said. Noticing Marionette, he covered the receiver and mumbled a quick, "It was Foxy."
He didn't even need to clarify what. Marionette's head snapped up with a start and within seconds a low and disgruntled static began to hum through his chest.
"How's Nat holding up?" Mike asked, trying to ignore the dial tone at his side.
"She's doing okay. Didn't get much sleep, but I'm hoping she'll nap a little later… Because they're expecting her back tonight, and she's planning on going." Mike hummed. "Speaking of which, can we borrow your taser? Mine needs to charge and I don't want her going in unarmed."
"Sure, I'll bring it to the pizzeria. I'll get everyone together and we'll be over there in a few minutes."
"Thanks… Maybe you shouldn't tell Jeremy yet. I don't want it hanging over his head the whole drive over here. At least if he hears it here, we can all jump in and-."
"Keelhaul Foxy."
"Comfort Jeremy. But I like your idea too. Go on a fox hunt before rabbit season opens up."
"That reminds me, I really need to get a gun," Mike remarked. "I'll see you in a bit. Take care." The call ended and he shoved his phone into his pocket. Then stole a glance at the seething Puppet. "I have the suspicion that you might be upset."
"I think you might be right," Marionette replied, voice heavy with that static, dotted pupils glowing.
"I shouldn't have doubted you for a second. Your instincts are dead-on, as usual," Mike assured as he got up from the couch. He patted Marionette's head before going into the kitchen and taking a few steps down into the basement, knocking on the wall and calling down, "We're going to Foxy's!" Charlie called back in agreement, and he turned around to step back out, only to find Marionette waiting behind him.
"That wasn't what you were worked up over," the Puppet said. His frustration gone and now replaced with concern and perplexation. "Foxy, I mean. We both suspected it was Foxy… I thought I heard Fritz say something about the Purple Man?"
"Right…" This wasn't great, but he supposed it was best to get it over with now. It wasn't like Marionette wasn't going to find it suspicious if he tried to hide it, and he would rather tell him where they wouldn't have an audience for him to feel embarrassed expressing in front of. Mike took his hand. "…Let's go to the bedroom."
"He better not be in there," Marionette said in a lukewarm attempt at humor. He let Mike lead him by the hand into the hallway. "…He better not be anywhere," he added a little more dangerously. Quietly enough that nobody would hear.
The man's silence and the wording on his side of the phone call made the puppet nervous. He watched as Mike stopped and knocked on the doorway of Marionette's bedroom door, catching the attention of Jeremy, who was sitting on the bed helping his Minireenas get dressed.
"We're off to Foxy's in five," he forewarned. Jeremy gave him a thumbs up and hastily continued the dressing. Marionette looked at him with sympathy as they passed by, hoping he wouldn't take the reveal of Foxy's actions too hard.
Mike shut the bedroom door behind them and stood there for a moment considering how he would go about this. He slowly turned around to face Marionette and upon seeing his face realized there was no way to soften the blow.
"Fritz said-… That Natalie said she was stalked by a woman dressed as a rabbit last night," Mike began. His voice losing almost all its volume over that one statement. "He said she had a knife and was running around the Pizzaplex after the doors locked." The Puppet moved like he was about to speak, but Mike beat him to it. "And it was a human, not an animatronic. It wasn't that Bonnie replacement Wight was talking about, it was a person in a suit."
Marionette's face went blank. The expression on it completely unreadable and it was a good five or six seconds before it was broken by those white pupils returning. They were locked onto Mike in an equally blank stare. He reached out to put a hand on his shoulder and gently rubbed his fabric in little circles. He didn't say anything yet, just allowing the other a minute to process it all.
Which he did, and he could only come to one sudden conclusion.
"I change my mind. You can get a job at the Pizzaplex."
Mike was utterly blindsided by the statement. Whether it be how rapidly he flipped on his previous desires or how convinced he sounded of it. No hesitation or doubt, he had completely changed his mind.
As if sensing Mike questioning it, he very willingly explained himself. The way he said it almost to a greater effect than the words he spoke.
"I-I'm not going to st-stand aside and let this happen again," Marionette said. His voice crackling and wavering with white noise and clinking as he spoke. "N-Never again. Never again."
This clarification didn't make it any less shocking, but Mike was definitely able to read it a little better. Marionette meant it, but he didn't want it. That much was clear. Looking to assure in this fragile state, he pulled him in closer, catching the back of his neck to coerce him into resting their foreheads together.
"Hey, hey. We'll figure out another way in," Mike calmly assured him. The static wavered slightly. "Nothing's happened yet and we're not going to let anything happen."
This managed to make Marionette's anger deflate slightly. Not because he felt any better, but because the ready determination was assuring to hear. He cupped Mike's face in his hands and pulled him a little more surely against him, his mask cool against his warm skin. The porcelain almost vibrating from the low noises still echoing from his internal music box.
"It's the same thing. It's all the same," he choked, box twanging and tightening. The static growing and looming with it, audibly projecting both frustration and fear. "Why-y would they let this happen?!"
"But it's not the same," Mike said, pulling back to look Marionette in the eyes. "It's not him. He's gone. He's too far gone and he's not coming back."
Whatever Marionette was working himself into was cut short by that sudden yank back to the present. The dialing faltered with a sound akin to a soft gasp or gentle sob, the latter more likely as a few small droplets of purple dripped out from the eyes of his mask and down his stripes.
Marionette's face softened up further and he dropped his gaze, finding Mike's t-shirt a lot more interesting than making eye contact. "…It seems he always finds a way back…" he said quietly.
"Maybe when he was alive, but since then he's only came back once, and he slipped up big time when he did. There's no coming back from whatever that red pond was. I don't even know what it really was, and I know it's the last stop," Mike reassured. Then he lowered his voice, catching the puppet's chin and lifting it. "And let me tell you this, if we put an end to the big bad "Purple Man" then we can deal with a copycat wannabe."
The Puppet's eyes narrowed at the thought. "How disgusting. Who would want that? Who would aspire for that other than him?" he hissed.
"Trust me, there's a lot of twisted, sick people out there who are so desperate to get their names to mean something that they're willing to do anything for it. Real sickos- almost like Afton, and yet still not as pathetic as him," Mike said with a sneer. "Something about a forty-year-old man preying on kids in a bunny suit is hard to beat."
"There will be so many children…" Marionette said. Anger fading enough to make way for the dread to rise once more. The same happening to Mike, whose face grew somber.
"They're not open yet. Who knows; if this gets big enough it might not even open," he suggested, voice softer. Though not even he believed the last part.
"…What about Natalie?"
"I'm giving her my taser to borrow in the meantime."
There was a quiet moment between them. There was a wispy sigh from Marionette followed by a twang in his chest before the static started to recede. Though not before Mike got another one of those strange emotional sensations through his hands. Like a flash of anger up his arm before finally cooling down once more.
"…I'm sorry, you're right. You shouldn't sign up with them just to get us in there," Marionette said. He reached up to wipe his tears away with his hand, which Mike took and then tried to wipe off with a random, dark shirt he pulled off the dresser. This got a tiny smile out of the puppet. "What are you going to do with me?"
"Well first, I'm going to take you over to the pizzeria so we can all gang up on Foxy," Mike began. He looked up with that spark of determination and the slightest smirk on his lips. "Then I'll work on finding us a way in."
"Maybe if we're still on speaking terms we can ask Foxy how he's been getting in."
"You'll have to ask him, I'm going to be too busy holding this over his head," he quipped. It almost sounded normal, but it didn't feel normal. With a weary sigh for the day they hadn't yet had, he tossed the shirt over into the laundry basket and took Marionette's hand once more, giving it an assuring squeeze. "Let's get this show on the road."
Nobody noticed how quiet the two were on the drive to Foxy's. At least, they assumed that it was out of worry for what Natalie was going to tell them, so they didn't piece together that they knew more than they said.
They also barely dodged a bullet with Foxy's reveal too when Button and Bow had uncharacteristically asked to go to the pizzeria with Jeremy, likely to hear what Foxy was in trouble for. Mike had rushed out an excuse about grown-up talk and rushed the blond out the door shortly afterwards. Jeremy also didn't ask because he too was worried about getting upsetting news and having to comfort the Bidybabs afterwards.
He was none the wiser to what was coming, and neither was Foxy himself.
Foxy was in a completely different headspace though. He was wracked by guilt. The first time he had snuck into the Pizzaplex he had felt a little guilty too, especially once Jeremy started getting the heat for it. Somehow it didn't stop him from sneaking back in, but now he was feeling it. He betrayed his family, his friends, his first mate, and his franchise with what he did last night. Putting everything in jeopardy to play games with the enemy.
He had to tell them. He had to tell Jeremy, he had to tell Marion, and he had to do it today. He knew they would be coming by to hear whatever Natalie had to say from Fritz calling and telling him, so he could only brace himself for what he was going to have to do. Fritz seemed a little weird on the phone, so it was likely to be rough waters ahead. Though he must've skirted by detection yet again.
That only made him feel a little worse, honestly. He had to do it, he had to come clean, and the opportunity walked right through the door when both Jeremy and Marionette arrived with Mike and Charlie. Jeremy was without the Minireenas, giving Foxy a perfect opportunity to pull him aside and tell him.
"Welcome all ye who dare to enter," Foxy greeted with little enthusiasm or character. He then promptly turned to Jeremy. "Lad, mind if I pull ya away fer a minute?"
"Umm, sure! No problem. We've got time before Fritz gets here…" Jeremy agreed. He stole a quizzical glance at Mike, who shrugged back, and followed the pirate across the dining room. He watched his back, watching how he walked with his arms folded behind his back, how his ears were lowered, and he got the distinct impression that Foxy was upset about something. Though this wasn't the same as the depressed fog that followed bad news.
Unfortunately for Foxy, he had a few telltale signs of guilt, and though Jeremy recognized them he wasn't nearly suspicious enough to jump to conclusions, assuming it was from something last night alone.
Mike and Marionette had a hunch of what was happening and exchanged unenthused and exasperated looks respectively.
"I wonder what that's about," Charlie mused.
"Chances are Foxy's coming clean about going over to Freddy's," Mike said. She sent him an amused little half smile before noticing that he wasn't joking.
"Wait, you're serious," she said. She glanced between him and Foxy's retreating for with a hum. "Now is this just another hunch or did Fritz tip you off?"
Mike quirked a brow and shot her smug little grin in an answer. It didn't take her long to put two and two together from that look.
"…He went back last night, didn't he?" Charlie asked. Her arms dropping at her sides almost dejectedly. Marionette gave a slow nod and she sighed. "Great disguise choice then," she said sarcastically.
"Mm-hmm," he agreed. She mimicked the noise and they both looked after the two who were now talking by the stage. Both trying to read the conversation when they couldn't hear much of it.
…
"But that's not all he said…"
Mike found his jaw clenching at Marionette's comment. Not just because of the grim tone- though that played a big part- but because he had briefly forgotten that they hadn't told Charlie about the rabbit and knew the reaction wasn't going to be great. He inhaled slowly through his teeth as round two began with Marionette turning to face her.
"Charlie, there's something we need to… tell you about…" he began, only to trail off as he noticed Fritz's car pulling into the parking lot. Mike gave him a pat on the back, snapping him out of his brief pause to finish. "…Charlie, Natalie is about to give us some… dire news. Horrible, disturbing news."
"Worse than Foxy using guerrilla tactics against our competitors?" Charlie asked flatly.
"Much, much worse." The hushed seriousness of his tone sobered her up instantly, and if it hadn't the shared stoicism in Mike's face would've done it. This was going to be one of those 'Freddy is alive' moments, she could already tell.
In the meantime, Foxy had brought Jeremy over to his stage. He had almost considered taking him behind the curtain, but then decided against it, instead choosing to keep his voice low. He was nervous and twitchy, and he could tell that Jeremy noticed when he looked over in time to see the blond looking down at his tapping foot. Blue eyes popped back up to him and his yellow one quickly flicked away.
"Jeremy…"
If the twitchiness wasn't a dead giveaway, then the way he said his name was. Even before he said anything else, Jeremy recognized that he had also dropped his stage accent, which was probably why he also dropped his volume.
"I don't know how to… You know I haven't been in the right head for the last couple of-… months," Foxy began. He crossed his arms, then uncrossed them, then reached for Jeremy, hesitated, and laid his hand on his shoulder. He was beyond nervous. "…How many times have I done something stupid without thinking twice?"
"Not that many." Foxy scoffed at that. "It's true! I've done plenty of stupid things and I know you'd say the same for me. Right?" he asked knowingly. The other responded with a halfhearted chuckle.
"You got me there… but we're not even in the same league when it comes to bad calls…" He closed his eyes with a low groan in his chest. "I made a really bad call this time." That despondent tone was telling in the worst ways.
"Gabe, you're starting to get me nervous. Not that that's that hard to do… What's going on?" Jeremy encouraged. Foxy started to turn away, but Jeremy followed right after him, stepping in front of him so they were still face to face. Foxy unintentionally cornered with his back to the stage, but Jeremy's features gentle and not confrontational. "…If you're in trouble, you've got to tell me."
Foxy's head snapped up and he wondered if the blond already knew. He honestly wasn't sure, but that statement landed very close to the mark. Just him being supportive, he guessed, or him knowing Foxy had a tendency to get in too deep.
He gave a cautious nod and started to reach for Jeremy when his ear twitched at the sound of the front door. He looked over, Jeremy did too, to see Fritz and Natalie walking through the door. The pirate huffed a little and was about to suggest they go into the kitchen, already fearing that they were going to get interrupted, when something happened that halted that plan in its tracks.
Natalie came in first, greeted the group at the door, and then looked across the room until her eyes landed on Foxy.
And her eyes narrowed.
And Foxy knew he was busted.
Suddenly the plan was going to have to take a backseat and the first and most important thing was to get out of sight as fast as possible. Even if he knew he was delaying the inevitable.
"Excuse me a second," he said. Then proceeded to do a weird half backwards roll onto the stage behind him and under his curtain. All while Jeremy stared in confusion.
"…Do you want me to come in too or should I wait out here?" he asked.
"Nah, just- just stay out there, lad. I won't be being too long," Foxy answered, slipping back into his pirate lingo. A clear sign to Jeremy that he was shutting down the conversation right there and he couldn't help but take notice as why.
Foxy closed up his curtain and stood there for a long moment trying to listen in to what was happening over at the door. He started to barely nudge open the curtain a crack when he felt something shift behind him, recognizing it as Marionette teleporting even before he turned back to face his brother. He saw the disappointed look on the puppet's face and knew that he had to come clean.
"Marion, I've got to come clean. I let me impulses get the best of be again," he quickly whispered out. Marionette quirked a brow at him, less questioningly and more like "you think?". "…I'm guessin' from that look ya already know what I'm gonna say… I did it."
Which was as far as he got before the curtains were pulled open. He hadn't even been paying attention to the footsteps, but when he looked back there was Natalie standing in front of the stage, hands on her hips, eyes narrowed and lips tight. Jeremy was still standing where he was and the others a little ways away, but everyone was looking directly at him, putting him on the spot. As though Natalie's intense look didn't do that enough.
"So, how was your date with Freddy?" she asked.
He stared at her before his eyes flicked around looking for reactions. Much to his dismay, the only person who looked even a little shocked was Jeremy, though he looked properly startled by the accusation as he stared at the blond.
Foxy was embarrassed and flustered, still guilty and panicked, but also unsurprised as he knew this was coming. Yet in all of that, there crept up that nervy little edge to grab his tongue and reply for him.
"T'was alright."
Jeremy's head snapped to Foxy and the animatronic regretted it instantly, flinching under the horror of that stare, while Natalie clasped a hand to her face and took a deep breath like she was trying to keep her composure.
"Is that what you were coming clean about?!" Jeremy exclaimed. Foxy gave a meek little nod. "But- But how did you even-?! What disguise?!"
"His hoodie. You know, that black one you got him," Natalie grumbled through her hand. Jeremy looked to her again in shock before looking back to Foxy.
"Your comfort hoodie?!"
Foxy dropped his head before swinging it in a slight little nod.
Jeremy turned away and made a sound akin to a frustrated cry smothered by an annoyed huff with the heels of his hands blocking his eyes. Fritz walked over to give him a barely comforting pat on the back.
Natalie meanwhile uncovered her own face to ask, "Foxy, what were you thinking?"
"I don't know!" Foxy crumbled on the spot. With a dramatic slump, he came forward and hopped down from the stage, then sat down with his head in his hand and hook. "I don't know what happened. It wasn't supposed to go down like this."
"Which part: breaking into Freddy's and vandalizing the place or going back days later to pal around with Freddy?" Natalie asked, less than sympathetic at his response. She groaned, "If you had any idea what went down there last night- do you know what could've happened if you got caught by anyone other than me?"
Foxy groaned deeply as an answer. It sounded exceptionally guilty.
"He did get caught," Marionette translated. Porcelain lips just as tight as hers and his somewhat annoyed look still lingering. She was confused for only a second before it suddenly clicked.
"Freddy caught you, didn't he? That's why he was asking about you because he saw you," Natalie realized, eyes widening. "…Did you tell him you were Foxy, or did he guess because of the mask? Because he was asking about a Foxy's animatronic, so he must've known you were one."
"Oh, he knew a'right," Foxy confessed, voice muffled. "Caught me red handed, chased me round the bend, and pulled me hood off tryin' to stop me."
"So, like any logical person, you went back to the scene of the crime to hang out with the only witness," Mike casually added in. His look and tone equally unenthused. "Makes sense. Some of my best friends chased me down the first time we met. A few even tried to kill me. Good times."
"Mike, you're not helping," Natalie flatly remarked.
"This is me holding back. That's helpful enough considering that him playing around at Freddy's is the reason we got all tied up in Wight," he answered. His voice was still relatively mellow, but Foxy groaned and sunk further into himself like he had been chastised. The blunt truth was more painful than any yelling match.
"I just… I bloody lost it… After I heard about how amazing and- and fantastic this new Freddy's was, with all its shiny new animatronics and all its trinkets and games… and all the things we ain't ever gonna have… and that they got it off'a our backs." His hand and hook dropped from his face. Hand on his thigh, hook hitting the edge of the stage with a small thunk and digging into the wood. "We suffered just so Freddy's could use our graves as a stepping stone. It just…"
His hook was shaking in anger as he said this and his fingers dug into his shorts and fabric. His back tensed for a moment before suddenly it all deflated on the spot as the frustration was washed out by remorse.
"But there's no excuse. I sold out me whole crew, me ship, me business, all just to try an' take a jab at a big no-face company that don't give a bilge rat's sodden bottom 'bout us."
This was what finally got Natalie's face to soften up. That wasn't to say she was going to let him off the hook, but she was starting to understand. Marionette shared those feelings and had already understood his brother's motives before he said them, but he remained steadfast. Because his business wasn't the only thing Foxy risked last night.
"I'll tell ya everything, I just… I don't know where to begin," Foxy offered.
The tense pause lingered a few moments longer before someone finally stepped forward. Unlike what might've been expected, it wasn't Jeremy, who was still standing there with Fritz facing away. Now with his hands resting on, fingers laced on, his head which was tilted down. He was obviously affected by what Foxy had said but still unable to face him.
Instead, it was Charlie, who had been listening quietly from the sidelines up until now. She came up alongside him and leaned on the stage on one arm.
"Begin from the beginning," she gently encouraged. Her face serious but soft in comparison to some of the others'. "We won't interrupt. We just want to know what's going on."
Marionette gave a hum of agreement from behind. It was enough to push Foxy into spilling it all. They all deserved the truth.
"Ya could say it started the day Jer'my spotted that billboard on the highway… but it wasn't 'til we got that look at the inside that somethin' snapped. After I heard about that place, I knew I couldn't stand around and let 'em get away without a little trouble. I threw on me disguise and shoved off and made it there around an hour later."
"You just walked there?" Charlie asked in slight disbelief.
"Wasn't that far. Wasn't as far as Magictime."
"Oh, right… There's a name I mentally blocked," she said. Still looking at his lap, he hooked his arm around her shoulders. She made a throat-clearing sort of chime. "Sorry, keep going."
"Took me a while to find a way in, but it's a Freddy's; there's always a weak spot… Started sprayin' up the joint when some swab bot rolls outta the shadows and starts moppin' up me work. I get in a tussle with it and the next thing I know, there's Freddy leapin' over a ticket gate and runnin' at me faster than a seagull to a bagel. I outrun him, but he corners me in the hall! Suddenly, he snatches me by the hoodie and hoists me up, slidin' it straight offa me! And there I be on the floor starin' up at Freddy and he starin' down at me, just as spooked as I was, when I make a hasty retreat."
At some point, Foxy's instincts as a natural storyteller came out because he was telling the story as dramatically and fluidly as if he was retelling a cartoon-based tale between him and Captain Silver Fox. He caught himself though, or the weight of what he was actually discussing caught up with him and he quickly deflated once more.
"Last night I made the choice to go back. Can't say why fer sure…. But prob'ly had to do with Freddy. See, after he knew what I be, he started followin' me like a stray. I didn't get why then, but I think I got a feel for it last night… So, I got back inside and started snoopin' 'round til I found Freddy in his room. I didn't know it then, but he'd been locked up in there tighter than the Dutchman's brig. He waves at me and peels outta the backroom like he's got the devil on his heels.
I coulda left then, but instead I went to see that Kids Cove Wight was talkin' big game of… It be just as impressive as he says," Foxy admitted with a sigh. "…Freddy came up through the stage an' cornered me in the cove. When I went the first time, I brought a backpack full o' spray paint, but lost it after Freddy showed up. He saved it and gave it to me. It's shoved under the stage if ya want to see it, but he threw out everything inside.
He asked me back to his green room. No, he pleaded fer me to come back to his green room. I still don't know if it's cause he was lonely or cause he thought I was broken- saw me without me head off… So, I went back with him."
"I was wondering how he got out. I thought you let him out," Natalie said.
"Nah," Foxy denied. "He couldn't even let us back in without some kinda photo pass."
"Freddy got caught wandering yesterday so the technicians locked him in his room," Natalie explained, turning to Fritz and Mike specifically. "I asked them why they didn't let Freddy just roam around on his own and they said it was because an animatronic got damaged roaming around the Pizzaplex. They didn't say if it was the sun or something else."
Something about this in particular irritated Mike a little. Maybe it was because his family members were animatronics, but the idea of locking one up who was clearly awake and aware- while typically normal in cases where they were dangerous- rubbed him the wrong way. He couldn't help but steal a glance at Marionette to try and judge his reaction and noticed he looked disturbed.
"What did Freddy say about that?" Mike asked, switching to look at Foxy.
"Didn't say nothin' 'bout any other animatronics, but he did tell me why he was locked up," Foxy said. He looked down with a look of confusion and thoughtfulness. "Funny, he got out pretty quick once he saw me there. Could've gotten out the whole time, but there he was just sittin' in there until he saw me…"
Suddenly he straightened up as he remembered something and nudged Charlie's side. "Ye know what else he said? Okay, so Nat starts walkin' around outside, so shove off to hide in the back and I see this tube lookin' thing with a window on it. Like some kinda rounded metal closet looking thing. Get this, Freddy says it be a charging room. Says he has to 'recharge his battery', goes and stands in a closet fer a while," he explained.
"What?" Charlie asked surprised. "That's not possible. He has to at least plug in or something. Did you get a good look at the inside?"
"'Fraid not, Lass. Just a look 'round the outside."
"Okay, so maybe possible. There might be a power cable on the inside," she said, voice lowering as she spoke to herself. "Not that I was expecting a pneumatic system, but a walk-in charging station? How are they getting this technology…?"
"Might be buildin' it themselves. Freddy said somethin' 'bout a production line under the Pizzaplex," Foxy said half under his breath. Marionette heard and caught on to the significance immediately.
"I think I've seen one of those. There's one in the hallway to the daycare, but I just thought it was a weird space-themed art deco thing," Natalie said. She crossed her arms casually. "And I wasn't just walking around outside, I was escorting Chica back to her room. I caught her in the kitchen eating a cardboard box."
That got Foxy to snap into an upright position with a look of surprise. "Blow me down, she was walkin' around too?... Is she, uh…?"
"Yes, she's alive too," Natalie answered. She started to get a slightly uneased frown as she thought back to the encounter. "…I did get a weird vibe from her though. She was acting weird and robotic before she found out I was the security guard. Kind of aggressive in a way… I don't know. Maybe I imagined it. I'm not going to pretend I wasn't already spooked when I found her in there."
"Wait, she didn't come at you, did she?" Fritz asked. She had mentioned her encounter with Chica briefly to him, but she hadn't brought up this. At the time the rabbit had seemed more important.
"No, no. Nothing like that," Natalie reassured him. Even going so far as to reach out and pat his arm affirmingly. "She snapped it back into gear the second she found out I was staff. I don't know, I guess she thought I was the vandal or something. She was acting a little off."
"Was it the eating cardboard that tipped you off?" Mike chimed up.
"That was part of it," she sighed.
"All jokes aside, I'm taking from this that we should start buying into the idea that all the animatronics are alive," Mike said, growing serious. "Maybe not those staff bots, we'd be looking at a genocide if that was the case, but Freddy's band and the sun, and whatever else is crawling around in there."
"Chipper?" Fritz offered.
"Chipper," Mike agreed.
"I'd put my money on that. I saw Roxy Wolf too and she snubbed me," Natalie said, sounding at least a little offended. "And it sounded like Monty was killing a bass in his room."
"Bloody Blackbeard, that was 'im? Heard that caterwauling all the way down in Freddy's room!" Foxy exclaimed. The blond nodded with a tired look.
"Maybe we should get back on topic," Marionette suddenly interrupted. His voice cutting through the somewhat casual tone to forcibly return the conversation to its tracks. "They're building animatronics underneath the Pizzaplex?"
"Ya heard that?" Foxy asked. Not with real questioning though, assuming the Puppet had and looking back at him over his shoulder. "That's what Freddy says. Now he's a little bit of a dim bulb if ya get me drift, but he was upfront with the charging and being locked up. He believes they're buildin' bots down there. He believes HE was built down there," He hesitated briefly before grumbling, "…And no, I didn't miss the 'family resemblance' to ARI."
"Let's hope that's as far as it goes," Marionette agreed. He considered it for a second before something suddenly clicked in what Foxy had said. "Wait, Freddy said he was built there?"
"Aye, but he remembers very little."
"So, he was built…" The Puppet started to trail off as Foxy looked up at him again. The solemnness in his gaze enough to validate his suspicions. "…Recently," he quietly finished.
"Aye," Foxy agreed. "…And he don't remember nothin' before it… He's brand new."
The realization sunk in slowly and settled only momentarily before it unfurled into something much worse as he connected a few dots and lined up the facts. His mask snapped from collected to petrified; pupils illuminated and shivering in place as he stared ahead. Outwardly the whole process was dead silent, but inside grew loud as thoughts clicked together.
Because Marionette knew something about last night that Foxy didn't, and when it matched up with the facts he had been given it painted a picture so repulsive that he could barely face it. His thoughts were racing back and forth, like voices calling over each other to argue their importance. Yet all of that noise was suddenly pierced through by one single cohesive thought worse than any before it:
"There is a rabbit running loose in the Pizzaplex and someone has already died."
It all crashed in on him at once. The panic and horror, the disgust and anger, fear, anxiety, all washing over him and wanting to rattle at his spools and break the teeth off the comb of his music box. It all wanted to come out in one garish display.
But instead, he stood there stiffly on the stage. Too wound up tightly to so much as tick, let alone release the agonizing sounds that were fighting eagerly to come forth. Even with him so submerged in these thoughts he fought to keep them in.
From Foxy's perspective, Marionette had suddenly became a rigid statue with trembling white pupils. It wasn't hard to notice that there was something off in his facial features.
"…Lad?" he asked. The Puppet heard him but couldn't really answer without the risk of a full-blown meltdown. Or worse, what he feared was happening, a haywire incident. "…Marion? What's that look…?" Foxy asked, growing more uneased. Now Charlie looked back as well, and her expression quickly shifted to confusion to concern.
Mike was unusually slow to notice what was going on, but that was because he too was having the same revelation. Someone armed with a knife and dressed like a rabbit and animatronics who had recently came to life were two puzzle pieces that fit together in the worst possible way, and unfortunately depicted a familiar scenario.
"There's got to be another explanation… because if this broad's picking up Afton's work and is already killing people, and Freddy's is already covering it up, then we are in so much trouble. That can't be it. It can't have happened this fast. Someone would have to say something right? -Nobody ever said anything before. This is the same damn setup as before, and if she's running loose and someone already died under 'mysterious circumstances'…Wait a minute. What's going on up there?"
Mike's mental tirade was cut off when he finally caught sight of what was happening on stage. It didn't take more than one look to know that something was off- if Foxy's unanswered questioning of Marionette wasn't confirmation enough. He couldn't tell if the puppet was petrified or trying to suppress his emotions, but he decided that it was time to step in.
"He's fine! He's fine. He's just a little shaken up," Mike said as he came up to the stage. Attempting to do damage control even as he stepped up and reached to grab Marionette's wrist to coax him off.
The second he touched that fabric he was hit by the full extent of what was bottled up inside. It was much sharper than any time before it, loud enough that he could've imagined hearing it with his ears, and it was the first time in ages that Marionette's telepathy instantly spiked a headache. He yanked back out of reflex and immediately the onslaught was gone, his heart jolting and racing like he had just had a panic attack.
"What was that?" Foxy asked. He was definitely at alert now, with his back straight and his ears raised. Poised more like an overprotective police dog than the fox he was supposed to be. Mike caught himself quickly and excused it.
"Ah, just got one of those static electricity shocks. That's all," he said, shaking out his hand like it had hurt. Technically the touch did hurt, so it wasn't that much of a lie. He cautiously reached back for Marionette's hand, taking a careful glance upwards to see that the puppet had turned his head slightly to look at him. His mask was neutral and without a smile, but his eyes held that fear in them.
It wasn't as bad the second time. It was still rough, but now that he was prepared, he was able to handle it better. Though it was still intense and hard to focus when there was distortion at the edges of his vision and racing thoughts that weren't his own filling his head. While he was guiding Marionette down from the stage, he saw two vague flashes of what looked like the rabbit suit Will had worn at the Red Lake but white- probably what he imagined the suit Natalie saw to look like.
The whole time they were being watched closely, specifically by hawk eyed Foxy who didn't seem to believe his excuse, but Mike kept his cool and Marionette his outward silence until they were standing beside the stage.
Mike was surprised that Marionette could keep quiet with all this going on inside. Normally there would've been something. If not dialing, static, or ticking then it could've even got to the point where telekinesis started misfiring. It wouldn't be the first time Mike saw something accidentally move while Marionette was upset, and this would be an appropriate time for it. The fact that it was this rigid silence along with the explosion on the inside was a sign that something was wrong.
Quickly thinking back to other moments where he had felt these emotions off of Marionette, Mike noticed that it tended to be at times when he was withholding a much more intense reaction. Perhaps this was some sort of extreme stress reaction whenever he tried too hard to suppress his feelings.
It was worrying, as it wasn't something Mike ever felt before the last few months and he couldn't tell if it was the Pizzaplex that truly started it or the Afton incident- the fact that Marionette was still thinking about that rabbit costume Afton wore was a little in that favor- but perhaps it wasn't as dangerous as he first thought.
"Could've started with Afton… Come to think of it, this could've been going on since Will showed up. Freddy's would've been the first big scare since then," Mike thought.
Though he could barely think of anything when there was still so much noise. It was hard even hearing his own thoughts, let alone process them when his temple was throbbing. He still managed to compose himself enough to release Marionette's wrist and move his arm around his shoulder, getting a brief respite from the sensation only to sink back into it.
Yet the changed position seemed to help. The harshness softened up and Marionette turned to press further into Mike. Slowly it continued to lighten and fade away, with the visual anomalies fading first and the headache loosening up until it was a painless thump, like a pulse in his head. His heartbeat was racing like before, but now it was tolerable. He took deep breaths to slow it down.
But the sounds didn't leave him before he heard one last final statement spoken directly into his mind and clearly through Marionette's voice.
"He will never truly be gone if they keep bringing him back!"
Mike released a shaky exhale at that. He wasn't sure if it was from the relief of the emotions letting up or from the way that statement branded into the back of his mind. By the end of it, the only thing that was left was the sound of Marionette dialing and ticking just like normal, and a tightened look on his face like he was trying not to cry. Mike didn't have to imagine how he felt, he felt it for himself.
Though he hated it, he knew it was time to rip the bandage off for everyone else. Apparently, everyone other than Foxy had been convinced that that Marionette just needed a minute as Charlie and Natalie had started talking about the Staff Bots. Though Jeremy was watching with a little concern, standing close enough that he could hear Mike's uneven breathing before the puppet's nervous noises began.
As soon as there was an opening, Mike spoke up. "Natalie, maybe now's the time to tell everyone about what else you saw last night."
Natalie was aware that Mike already knew so she wasn't surprised by the suggestion, but she was definitely not looking forward to it. She inhaled deeply and sighed, and then explained.
"Okay… There was someone messing with me last night in the Pizzaplex. I could hear them walking around up in the café up above my office and I thought I saw them on the stairs, but it wasn't until I was coming back from walking Chica to her room that I ended up seeing who was doing it… It was a woman wearing a white rabbit costume."
This was concerning enough on his own without Fritz quickly throwing in, "She threatened her with a knife."
"What?!" Charlie said with a startled ring.
"WHAT?!" Foxy parroted, jumping to his feet instantly. Jeremy just stared in aghast.
"Well… Yes, she did. Sort of. I don't know, it was weird. She left the knife out where I could find it and I tried to hide it, and she found it and must've taken it with her," Natalie rationalized. As though trying to convince herself that it wasn't as awful as it had truly been. There was no toning down what had really happened though.
Charlie looked to Mike and Marionette and all it took was the look on their faces, along with the incident the other puppet had a few minutes earlier, to confirm to her that this was what they had forewarned her about. She was left reeling
Foxy, somehow, did not immediately blow his top. His patch popped up and his pupils shrunk as he stared in startlement, but he somehow managed to ask in a relatively calm but underline dangerous tone, "You sure it wasn't a Bonnie?"
"First of all, it's Bunni with an 'i'," Fritz said. He was rewarded with an unhinged sort of twitch from the fox. "…And no, it was a woman."
"It was definitely a human and I think it was a female," Natalie clarified. She looked Foxy in the eyes, and it was the first time she looked apologetic. "I'm sure of it."
Foxy was about to blow a gasket if his head didn't just outright explode. A low murmur was beginning in his chest as he began to twitch like he was about to overload, but before he could Jeremy came forward and gently pushed him back down onto the stage by his shoulders. This somehow seemed to snap the pirate out of it, though it didn't take the intense look off of his face. Though he did close his eyes once Jeremy started rubbing his shoulders.
It was obvious from the look on his face that he wasn't exactly doing better. The look on his face wasn't too unfamiliar to the one Marionette had on his own while standing on stage. Though he kept it together for the most part.
Once Jeremy was sure Foxy was not going to have another incident of spontaneously shutting down, he slowly turned and looked back towards the others.
"So, guys, do you… Do you think that there's… any way that maybe this woman could maybe somehow be pos-possessed by William Afton?" Jeremy cryptically asked. Natalie sent a worried look to Fritz. "We know what I did when I wasn't in total control of myself… He had me pick up a kitchen knife and start swinging. We know he can do this."
"It can't be him. He's dead and gone," Mike quickly shot down.
"But that's what we thought last time and there he was," Jeremy insisted. His voice becoming a little more frantic. "All that he said, what you said- something about tethers a-and holding on, hooking onto people. What if she's another one who's hooked and he just… reeled himself back out of wherever we thought he went?"
Foxy gave a low growl that slowly turned into a groan before pulling Jeremy in closer and resting his head against his chest. Like he was clinging to him for comfort even when he knew he was still in hot water. The blond patted his back.
"Not where he went," Mike continued to deny. This time he got backup in the form of Charlie.
"Mike's right. I was there when it happened and I saw him get dragged under and just, like… come apart into pieces floating on the lake. I don't know what I was looking at, but I know what I saw," she said with certainty. Though then she slouched a little more. "That doesn't mean that she's not following his lead. It just means she's doing it on her own."
She sat on that statement for a breath before looking to the others. "…So, what are we going to do about it?"
"Well… I'm going back to the Pizzaplex tonight. Obviously, it's my job," Natalie began. She held up the taser Mike gave her when she came in. "And I'm taking this, so I'll have some protection… and we see if she shows back up."
"I've got an idea," Mike suddenly volunteered. It was his tone that drew the most attention. Low and serious, like he had already concocted a plan, and this was his forewarning because it wasn't budging. "Nat, why don't you go back to that office where you were hired and tell them that you need some help. Not that you can't do it alone, but that you need more eyes to be effective."
"I think I can do that," Natalie agreed. "What do I tell them about the rabbit?"
"You can tell them about the rabbit. Don't expect them to believe you, but you can try," Mike cynically, almost bitterly offered.
"Good point. Then what?"
"Then leave the rest to me."
Nobody in the room missed what he meant. They all knew exactly what he was planning on doing, they just weren't aware of the specific details. He was going to go back on his word even when he didn't want to.
"…Are you okay with this?" he quietly asked Marionette. They hadn't had a full discussion of this, and he didn't really consider his outburst earlier to be true consent on the matter.
Marionette nodded and tentatively leaned in like he was going to whisper. Though the moment he tried to speak, all that came out was a cluster of noise. He clasped a hand over his mouth and chest and gave Mike an apologetic look.
"That's fine, you don't have to say anything. Just take a deep breath- you know what I mean. Just take it easy… We're going to work this out," he assured. Leaving out the implied, "By any means necessary."
With everyone worked up and talking about Natalie's night, along with further descriptions of the White Rabbit and Foxy's time with Freddy, it took a while before he and Jeremy had a moment to talk. Waiting until he was sitting beside him on the stage, and nobody was too close by before taking the plunge.
"Jeremy, I'm so terribly sorry," Foxy began, reverting to his real voice again. "I never wanted to lie to you, and I never wanted you taking the fall for what I did. I love you, and I know I could've trusted telling you the truth… but I didn't want to let you down. I didn't want you to know how weak I really was," he confessed.
"I know," Jeremy simply said. He reached over to take Foxy's wrist, giving it a gentle squeeze right above where hook met limb. Foxy scooted in a little but didn't risk anything more. The blond gave a tired sigh. "I don't know why I was so shocked. Everyone was telling me it was you, I guess I was just giving you the benefit of the doubt."
"Who's everyone?"
"Everyone," Jeremy insisted. Foxy groaned and slouched on himself. "And I forgive you, but I'm still upset."
"Not letting me off the hook that easy?" Foxy asked with tentative coyness.
"Let's put it this way: Freddy Fazbear could've slammed into you, broke both your legs, dragged you off to his room, ate you, and I would've never known where you were," Jeremy said. That was enough to lower those ears again. "…But that doesn't mean I'm going to give you the silent treatment or anything if that's what you're thinking. That's not going to help anything."
"Right… And I'm not going to hide anything from you," Foxy insisted. "…Freddy asked me to come back."
Jeremy's brows raised at that. "…Are you going to?"
"Not if you tell me not to," Foxy said, turning to look at him, waiting for a command.
But much to his and admittedly Jeremy's surprise, he didn't get one. The blond hesitated on the spot, staring back at him for a long moment as he considered it, and then turned away without giving one. He just wasn't ready to give an ultimatum just yet. Not until he had more answers of his own.
Foxy would wait for him to decide. He owed him that.