Mable: Normally this isn't the place where I'd plug something, but if you've been looking forward to my next jester book, A Fool's Golden Cage, it's coming out on the 17th. Only a few more days away! ^_^ Hope you check it out! Also, Enjoy!
Going Home in a Box
Chapter Thirty
Charlie and her friends didn't leave right away. In fact, she was determined to hide on the escalator and wait until Mike and Marionette were free so they could meet up again. Then came the alarms, and then a period of a Security Bot circling around and Natalie trying to get it to leave, and it was finally at that point that Jessica dragged her out by the arm.
"It looks like they're going to be stuck there for a while," she said as they slipped under the security door with John and Carlton. Charlie might've been more worried, but it was clear from Natalie's efforts that she was going out of her way to not bust the two, so it was probably a situation they would have to slowly weasel out of. She would give them ten minutes to handle it and then come back and do something if they were still stuck there.
Beyond the security door was a small passage broken up by stairs and ramps, both illuminated, with a curved ceiling that was decorated with a starry pattern. It ended in another security door that entered into a room with a fountain, the entrance to the daycare. John was leading the way towards another rolling door, one that had the words "Superstar Daycare Pick-Up- this way!" painted on the wall beside it, suggesting it was the right direction.
As they got closer, they started to hear the sound of muffled music coming through the closed door.
"Is the music supposed to be on?" Jessica asked warily.
"Yup," Charlie said. "Natalie warned us about it."
Any questions the blond had were answered when John stepped close enough to trigger the door and they were flooded with the bouncy music. If that and the bright lights weren't jarring enough, then the faux-gold sun statue in front of them definitely did it. John stopped under it and looked up at it with his hands in his pockets and his brows furrowed. Charlie walked over and stood beside him.
They stood there for a long moment backed by the inappropriate music and looking at an exceptionally scary clown statue when John finally looked over and asked,
"Is it too late to go back to El Chip's?"
This got a laugh out of Charlie. A real laugh, one backed with ringing, but she didn't know if it was from true amusement or the weird secondhand embarrassment she felt standing in this place.
They walked past the statue and towards the turnstiles that led deeper into the daycare along with a slide leading into the play area proper. While the others were looking in, Charlie fell back and pressed the call button on her radio.
"Anybody there?" she asked.
"I'm here!" Jake greeted. "How's it hanging?"
The lack of response from Mike meant he and Marionette were probably still cornered in the atrium. She stole a quick look at a clock up on the wall and started the ten-minute timer right then.
"We just got to the daycare. We're right under the, uh…" Charlie looked up at the equally frightening Moon statue on the other side of the Sun statue and almost lost her train of thought. "…Terrifying moon statue."
"Great! Just, uh, one second… Hold on, let me just…" It sounded like he was moving stuff around on the other side of the line.
Meanwhile, the others were looking around at everything. John had walked over to try the turnstiles and was unsurprised to find them stuck in place.
"Locked?" Carlton asked. John nodded and the redhead hummed, then sent a look down at the slide. Jessica was looking at it too and their eyes raised to meet. She sent him a flat look.
"Don't even think about it," she said.
"I'm thinking about it," he replied.
"Do you have any idea how much bacteria's crawling on this stuff? This is like the one guaranteed place where you'll get dysentery without water," Jessica forewarned. He started to edge towards the slide, likely more to mess with her than out of intense desire to do so. "Not to mention you'll probably get stuck, in which case we will have to leave you," she warned again. Carlton started to slowly kneel. "Carlton, I'm telling you no."
Carlton sat down at the top of the slide.
"No," Jessica mock scolded.
"Please, Mom."
"You get up right now, young man." Jessica crossed her arms and sent him a much less amused look. "Before the security lady walks in and calls your dad."
"What's going on over there?" Jake asked. Almost half-heartedly, like he was half-listening. Though Charlie he was shocked he could hear it at all. Yes, her thumb was on the button, but they weren't being loud.
"It's nothing. Carlton's just pretending like he's going to go down the slide," she answered. She didn't expect much of a reaction.
"Don't let him do that! Tell him not to do that!"
Charlie was genuinely surprised. She wasn't the only one either, because he was loud enough over the radio that the others heard too. John coming over to stand alongside Charlie again while Jessica and Carlton looked back from the slide.
"Uh, I don't think he's really planning on it," the Security Puppet said. "Why? What'll happen if he does?"
"Nothing will happen, it's just…" Jake trailed off for a second. Hesitating on that tone before lowering his voice and mumbling through the speaker, "The Daycare Attendant's in there."
Charlie exchanged quick glances between John and Jessica. Carlton looked up at statue of the moon before very quickly pulling himself back out of the slide and to his feet. After considering it for a moment, Charlie lowered her own voice.
"Jake, I need you to tell me now. Is the Daycare Attendant dangerous?"
"No!... No. He's just… fussy. A stickler for the rules. Don't bother him and he won't bother you."
Normally this would've done a poor job to convince her, but it instead only grew a suspicion whose seeds were already sewn by Marionette. She only hesitated to get those thoughts together, because already knew what she was going to say.
"We won't go in there. Just be honest with us, okay? We're not here to hurt anything, you've just got to let us know where our boundaries are," she said in an assertive but assuring tone.
"Thank you. I appreciate it, and I will." There was relief in his voice. "…So! If you could just climb over the gate right there, we can begin our tour of the daycare!"
Charlie looked up from the radio to see that John had a suspicious and questioning look on his face. Suspicious towards Jake, questioning towards her. She gave a little shrug and walked over to the gate that she easily climbed over. She waited for the others to catch up before they started walking down the length of the daycare, getting a vantage point where they could see over the large room.
"This music's starting to do a number on me," Carlton confessed. That might've not been the only thing from how he kept looking around and behind them.
"I can't believe I'm saying this… but I kind of like it," Jessica admitted with a little smile. "You know what it reminds me of? Tatertots."
"It does sound like that! Man, I used to love that show. I had that Halloween episode where Russel and Violet get lost in the woods behind the house on tape. I bet I could recite the whole thing," Charlie said
"Violet was such a little brat. I loved her," Jessica said fondly. "My favorite episode was the one where she gets the life-sized dollhouse and thinks the doll's plotting against her."
Charlie turned to the door they were coming up on and noticed John watching with his subdued smile. "What about you? Did you ever watch it?" she asked.
"A couple of times. I was more of a Castles and Covens kid," he said.
"I remember." Charlie got a touch of a teasing smile on her mask. "I remember your magic coat."
Nobody ever truly forgot the year where John walked around wearing a jacket twice his size because his kid-self thought it made him look like a wizard. Nobody had really forgotten it, but nobody had remembered it in years until Charlie dredged it back up in one fell swoop. Fortunate for her that she still wore cheekiness well or he might've been mortified.
"That's a shame," John replied.
She jingled a little and walked ahead so she could look through the window beside the door. Inside was a party room already prepared with tables topped with plates and party hats, just waiting to be filled. There was an illuminated screen in the back projecting a cartoony picture of the ocean and a lighthouse, fitting with the Kids Cove theme she had seen already.
"Ironic that they chose an ocean theme," Charlie flatly remarked. Jessica gave a hum of agreement, equally as impressed.
"So, I'm guessing you're at the private party rooms by now. How it works, or how it's going to work, is that parents rent a room in advance and choose add-ons. You pick the room that fits your party, the cake size, pizza toppings, with or without balloons, favors, and then you can even pay extra to have one of the Glamrock band members come and wish you a happy birthday. There's five, ten, fifteen-minute intervals for that too. It's crazy."
"Crazy expensive?" Charlie guessed.
"That too. I don't know the exact numbers but judging by the whiteboards downstairs with party plans on them, they're making a killing off of them. Or going to."
"Freddy's has been known to do that," John muttered under his breath. A sentiment that the rest of them could've readily shared.
"How's… business been so far?" Charlie dared to ask.
"It's hard to tell. There's plenty of people lining up to have their kid's birthday here… but it was closed today because there was a band malfunction on the first day. Go figure."
"That good, huh?" She didn't mean for her voice to audibly fall, but it was hard to contain her disappointment. She knew the place was going to be successful, but it still worried her. Especially now with their seaside themed playground.
Jessica picked up on it and put an arm around her before steering her away from the window and leading further down the walkway. They soon turned the corner and were walking the stretch directly in front of the daycare. A couple more party rooms were lined up along the wall, these being larger, and some even connected with each other. All ready for the eventual to flood in and fill their seats.
Charlie decided to look out towards the daycare and caught a glimpse of something yellow disappearing behind the top of the wooden daycare door. She stopped in place and stared where it had been, knowing they were being watched.
Jessica, who still had an arm around her, noticed the hesitation. "What's up?" she discreetly asked.
"Not much," Charlie said, "but we're being watched."
"Figured as much. You don't usually guess exactly where someone's standing," Jessica remarked. Charlie hadn't considered it at the time, but knew she was right. They continued on.
Unknowing that there was a storm brewing just on the other side of that door.
The Daycare Attendant had dropped down the moment he was seen and now sat crumpled against the door with his hand pulling and pushing in his spines to assist in keeping not the smallest sound from slipping out.
Because he wanted to scream the moment he had seen that. There were supposed to be people coming into the daycare. Troublemakers staying after hours, yes, but normal people. Nearly kids! Just big kids wanting to hang around the daycare and look at all the party rooms and just be a spectacle to observe and exist with.
There wasn't supposed to be an animatronic in their midst. Let alone one that looked like… that. The white mask, the soulless eyes, just a slightly different shape but the same haunting visage-!
"What am I going to do?! What am I going to do?!" he whispered frantically, popping up to his feet to pace behind the cover of the door. "What's it doing he-ere?! Whyyy?! Don't panic, it's just- it's just-!" He fell silent to listen and caught wind of the conversation, making out a few choice words. "It's just heading to the theater?! No, no, that can't- why would it…?!"
He slowly turned his head and stared at the balcony. This whole thing was a ruse; he knew what it really came for.
Sunny let out a soft little gasp and shrunk in on himself. Blinded by panic and paranoia, and the itch of his own programming, he knew he had to do something. But he couldn't just skip on out there and confront them! He knew what it was capable of. He had to do something, he was desperate to do something, but he couldn't think of any options that weren't barred by his rules.
Unless, of course, the rules suddenly went bye-bye.
The Sun slinked around the security counter and popped up on the other side. He reached over the top and walked his fingers down and around until he found what he was looking for. His finger circled the naptime button.
Before he suddenly realized what he was doing and yanked his hand back.
"No! I can't do that!" he whispered scoldingly. His points twitched anxiously as he held his hand to his chest. "Bad, bad idea! If he finds out I-I-I'd…"
He tilted his head up to stare at the balcony again. Behind him he focused in on the chattering of voices both from and outside of the radio. His hand tightened painfully as he felt himself slipping.
Then he spun back around and slammed his hand on the button before he could think rationally once more. In an instant the lights died and suddenly everything felt a lot clearer. He knew exactly what he wanted to do.
Back on the second floor, the group was approaching the last party room door before they would reach the theater as their guide filled them in on the details.
"The Fazbear Theater is the real highlight of the daycare. They play cartoons, there's Staff Bots who come out and perform, and there's been talk about even letting the St. George community theater put on performances there. Isn't that neat?... It's a lot neater when you're here all the time and could use something new to look at. The Staff Bots leave a little to be desired-."
At that moment, the lights suddenly died and the whole daycare was thrown into darkness. A few star shaped lights illuminated on the walls, but it wasn't nearly enough to see well with. At least, for anyone other than Charlie. Her night vision still managed to support her well, but that didn't make the sudden darkness anymore jarring. She still had brought a flashlight that she quickly turned on.
John and Carlton had both brought flashlights too. John's a small, square one sized to fit in his jacket pocket and Carlton's an old clunky one of his father's that he tied to his belt. Jessica just had her little keychain flashlight, but betwixt the three there was enough light for them to get their bearings as well as Charlie had.
"…Oh no."
The amount of anxiety that suddenly filled Jake's voice instantly put Charlie on edge. She lifted the radio to ask him,"What happened?"
"The lights went out," Carlton flatly answered.
"Oh, really? I didn't notice. I just thought it got dark all of a sudden," she sarcastically replied. Not even giving him the courtesy to turn around and show him the disapproving frown on her face. She huffed static and spoke into the radio, "How much danger are we in?"
"What? No, you're not in danger!" He tried to laugh it off. Even it sounded strained. "This happens all the time. It shouldn't happen, but it does. No big deal!"
"Look, I already know something happens in here when the lights go off," Charlie said sternly. "What is it? Is it that the moon comes out? Is he hostile?"
"…I'll get the lights back on. I sure I can, I'm right beside a huge fuse box. Just sit there and don't go anywhere."
Charlie's non-existent brows raised as she slowly lowered the radio. "Huh… Well, I guess that answers our question," she murmured.
They stood there for a long moment before John slipped up between Charlie and Jessica, who had moved back in beside her. He leaned in and murmured to them.
"Did you hear that noise after the lights cut out?" he whispered to them. Both turned to listen while he made sure to keep an eye out over the room. "Right after the music cut out, there was this creaking metal sound that came from inside the daycare… and it's been quiet ever since."
"No," Jessica said quietly, warily, but Charlie then gave a slight nod.
"I heard it."
That wasn't the only thing they heard either. Shortly afterwards there was a strange whooshing noise from out towards the daycare and both Carlton and Jessica shined their lights out towards it but could see nothing. Even Charlie, who could see better in the dark, hadn't seen anything. She knew they weren't alone… but then again, they never were, she mused as she remembered the glimpse of yellow.
But before she could even consider voicing her suspicions, Jake came back on the line. This time he didn't even try to hide exactly what he was feeling.
"Okay, so I can't get the power on from back here. So, what I need you to do is just turn around, go down the stairs, and take one of the downstairs doors out. It'll take you into Kids Cove, right back into the atrium. I promise." He hesitated a moment before quietly adding, "I'm so sorry about this. This wasn't supposed to happen."
"I figured as much," Charlie said, her voice holding little blame. She then looked between John and Jessica. "Did you both catch that?" she asked, knowing very well that they did. Not just the directions but the sudden shift in mood as well.
John held a solemn selection, Jessica a more concerned one as she nodded.
"Sounds good to me. Heck, I don't even know why we left El Chip's. That's where the party's at," Carlton said, or rambled on the edge of nervousness. Then went rigid as he heard a soft thump from behind him. He slowly turned and brought his light around to fall on the source of the noise. "…Oh, that's- that's just… Wow." A soft pattering and jingling sound followed. "That's so much worst," he almost squeaked out.
Charlie heard the thump immediately but didn't see the source until she got past John and found herself standing beside Carlton in equal aghast.
It was the moon animatronic from the statue. Its arms and face illuminated in a soft blue glow so that it would've been visible even without the flashlights, and yet a sharp red glint from its eyes cut through both. Framed above a wicked smile. Its hands and spiderlike fingers spread out on the floor to hold its weight in an uncomfortably framed handstand while its legs circled its own body, feet pattering on the floor. Jingling and ticking as it did so.
It came to an unceremonious stop midway through a spin, then twisted until its legs were dangling above its head. It lowered itself further and turned its hands around to rest its head on them.
"My, my, do my eyes deceive me…" it hissed through sealed teeth. "…Or is that a puppet with no strings? Lost little puppet far from her box. Discombobulated. Disobedient. Discontinued."
It crackled out a wicked laugh that matched its frozen smile. Its face began to slowly turn as its fingers tapped against it.
"I know what you're here for, Little Miss Puppet…" he lulled. All of a sudden, his face spun and snapped back into the correct position. "And you can't have him."
"Wait, hold on. I didn't come here for anything! We were invited by Jake!" Charlie defended. Moon made a disconnect rattling and a vocal growl at the name. Evidently it didn't help her case any. "…I'm guessing you turned the lights off?"
"Charlie, I don't think this is a great time to ask questions," Carlton muttered out.
"We get the message: you want us out of here. Fine. Just let us by and we'll be out of your hair," John tried to offer. The Moon didn't acknowledge this offer, let alone even turn its head in his direction. "All you have to do is let us by."
"Rulebreakers and tresssspassers don't get to bar-ter their way out of pun-ish-ment," the Moon said in a mocking singsong. It was a very bitter sort of tone, bubbling anger just beneath the surface. "Security can have the rest of you. As for you, Miss Puppet, it's time for a nice, long nap… I already have a box waiting for you."
This was enough to make Charlie go from creeped out to actually afraid. Just the tone of it sent a spike of panic through her. She reflexively lifted the radio to her mouth and pressed the call button. "We need help-!"
Right then the Moon decided it was done toying with them and proceeded to barrel straight for them. Still in a handstand as it raced towards the group.
Carlton yelped and started rapidly clicking the button of his camera as he took a step aside. Not far enough apparently as Moon crashed right through him and shoved him painfully aside and into John. Charlie had turned and started to run, able to get out of reach before the Moon could grab for her only to suddenly be yanked by the jacket and dragged, half stumbling into the nearest party room by Jessica.
The room was tight, and they only had a second before Moon was through the doorway and in pursuit. Charlie was forced to run between the table and the wall to escape his grasp, only to have the jester suddenly shove the whole party table back in an attempt to block her way. Something that barely worked, with her clamoring over it. He looked like he was about to do the same when Jessica smacked him over the back with a metal chair.
He buckled only momentarily, but then his limbs seemed to reverse, his head tilting back and face spinning around to look at her directly, and he grabbed ahold of the chair. He wrenched it from her grasp, flipped it, and chased at her. In seconds he had her shoved to the wall, pinning her to it with the bars between the chair legs.
"NO HITTING!" he scolded through his graveled voice. She pressed back on the wall wide-eyed, staring up at exactly how much taller the Moon was. He twitched, shoulder rolling as though in pain. "I'm putting you…" He leaned in over the chair, face so close that it nearly brushed the tip of her nose. "In time out," he gritted.
But before he could follow through on this threat, the room suddenly filled with music. Music box music ringing out a frantic version of 'Ring Around the Rosey'. Both looked over in time to see a white face and a black blur before Charlie completely tackled into the Moon. Her weight and speed just enough to send him staggering before both fell in front of the open doorway.
Now atop him, she got out her taser and raised it above him, pressing the button to release a warning spark. A scare tactic, a threat that she hopefully didn't have to follow through on. A threat that she didn't have a chance to follow through on because suddenly he twisted one arm around her other one and pulled her in flush before fighting for her other arm. She got one knee on his thigh and another leg up to try and pry herself back again.
Which wasn't working at all until a second pair of hands came from behind the Moon and started grabbing at his upper half. It was John who was looking to hold the Moon down. This had the exact opposite effect. Instead, the Moon suddenly spun its torso, twisted up John's arms, and started subduing him. All while wrapping his legs around Charlie and trapping her. Temporarily rendering her taser useless unless she wanted to shock John and herself too.
The radio fell out of her jacket during the scuffle and Jessica picked it up while trying to pry one of the puffy pants covered legs off of her. Even with the scuffle beside her she identified two voices coming though.
"Wait, wait, don't do this! Stop!" Jake's panicked pleas.
"What's going on?! Charlie?!" and Mike struggling to yell over him. Considering the circumstances, he was the one Jessica was more relieved to hear.
"Oh, thank God!" she cried. She used her whole bodyweight as leverage to drag back the leg and Charlie finally pried her way out, falling flat on her back in front of the Moon. Jessica swooping in to pull her back farther. "Where are you?!"
"Outside the daycare door! It won't open! I've got Freddy Fazbear himself trying to lift the thing and it won't budge!"
"Can Mari warp in?!" she asked desperately.
"Not into a place he can't see or hasn't seen before!"
Or that was what he assumed considering that Marionette was disappearing and reappearing and going absolutely feral directly behind Freddy Fazbear who must've heard him, but was too busy on a knee, trying to physically force up the security door to even spare a moment to look back. Or perhaps just knew better than to do so.
At this point the Moon, who was pinning John down and had just gotten Carlton off of him by elbowing him in the gut- so hard that he fell against the railing- decided to turn and make another grab for Charlie. Turning and lifting onto a knee like he was about to pounce until John noticed loose wires on the back of his head and grabbed for them, yanking them. The Moon let out a pained cry and whipped his arm back, grabbing John by the shoulder and yanking him forward.
In seconds their positions were reversed with John dragged in front of the Moon and its illuminated arm hooking around his throat. Not tightly enough to choke him, but enough to show that he could start at any moment. His large hand atop and dwarfing John's head as he slowly turned it to face Charlie, as did his own. A wordless challenge and a silent threat, waiting for her to make a decision.
All the while Charlie could hear Jake's voice calling out over the radio.
"Don't hurt him! Just turn on the generators in the play tunnels! That'll shut off the naptime protocols, turn the lights on, and unlock the main door! There's five of them, you just have to follow the wires! Please!"
That was the solution, to forcibly turn on the lights and that would presumably stop the Moon. Maybe she could do it. She was quick, especially in tight spaces, but he would no doubt be on her heels. Though she would still do it in a heartbeat if it wasn't for the position that he had John in, threatening him unless she gave herself up… Because he was only interested in her. He was only chasing her.
She suddenly had an idea, but it hinged on whether or not the Moon was bluffing about John and truly did only want her. There was another way to use herself as bait without having to hand herself over, and when she heard a noise and glanced aside to see the door to the theater started to open, she knew what the plan was- and could only hope Jessica knew her enough to figure it out.
"You can have him," Charlie said and then bolted for the theater without another word. Leaving her friends and even the Moon staring after her in disbelief.
"Feh! Some friend," the Moon grumbled. Then, as Charlie had hoped he would, he shoved John away from him with disinterest and darted after her. Flipping his head back in the process and yelling back at the three, "Stay out of the daycare or it's night-night forever!"
John, figuring out Charlie's intentions, clamored to his feet and was about to pursue when Jessica grabbed him.
"We have to get these lights on!" she reminded.
"What about Charlie?!"
"The only way we're going to be able to help Charlie is to get these lights on and stop that psycho! We already tried piling on him- surprise! It didn't work, did it?" she asked. She had a point and by then Carlton was already running back down the way in the direction of the slide, so John sent one last look back at the theater before following.
"How can we trust Jake about the lights? He led us right into this!" John called while running.
"We can't, but that door didn't lock until the lights went out and Mari's the only one who might have a chance taking down that moon guy!" Jessica pointed out. "We need that door open and we need him here yesterday."
John couldn't argue with that. Perhaps Carlton had figured it out too, as he asked no questions and threw himself straight down that slide legs first. They had to find the generators before the Moon got ahold of Charlie.
Meanwhile, Charlie had dashed into the theater and nearly ran into a Staff Bot waiting on the other side of the door. Not a Security Bot, thankfully, but some sort of blue and purple themed maid bot. Charlie barely dodged it and kept running as it came up where she had once been lifting and waving its arms to try and stop the Daycare Attendant. He didn't even stop, he just spun-stepped around it and was shortly after Charlie.
She ran through an archway and found herself on an upper floor overlooking a theater stage just downstairs. She continued striding down the length of it, hearing the pattering footsteps on the carpet behind her. She neared a turn at the end of the stretch leading to the stairs that led into the lower section.
On the opposite wall right before the stairs was looked like a pirate themed movie poster, save with cartoon pirate-dressed versions of the Sun and Moon on it and the words "Sun and Moon on the Seven Seas" plastered beneath them and the mound of treasure they stood on. Ignoring how suspicious having them dressed as pirates was, Charlie was more concerned by the fact that the frame of the poster was rattling.
Something was thumping against the back of it, she realized as she skirted past and down the stairs. Something was banging on the other side of the door, trying to force its way out, but it was hard to focus on that when the nasty giggling of her pursuer was soon between her and said poster. She came out in front of a metal grate blocking her way directly into the theater and a path left and right. Left looked clear, leading into the directly theater, so there she went.
The Moon chose to forgo the decision entirely and scaled the grating in seconds before dropping down on the other side. Charlie coming out on the opposite side of the hallway and running down the stretch behind the seats- or the modest benches that replaced them. Even with the brief glimpse Charlie got while running, she could tell the theater was built for a younger audience.
She got to hall on the other side of the theater in seconds and started inside only to have the Moon skid in front of her at the other end, this side lacking a barrier. She turned and went back the way she came, but he was quick, right on her heels in seconds, so she took a sharp left and went around the corner looking for anything to defend herself.
There was a small counter with concession items there- a mini-popcorn maker, a couple of tiny popcorn buckets, and a spinning candy display with little bags of yellow and blue Sunnydrop and Moondrop candies hanging off. This was her only bet and she grabbed it and swung it back into the jester. It was flimsy, the whole thing practically fell apart on contact and he flinched more in surprise than pain.
She expected him to catch her there, but instead he let out an anguished cry and dropped to his knees, hastily picking up the fallen backs. "Clean up! CLEAN-UP!" he hissed in frustration.
Programming, Charlie recognized it the moment she saw it and knew she could capitalize on it. Such as she would right now, turning and breaking into a run. She took another sharp left, the same way the Moon had gone, and through the hall into a second set of stairs leading up towards the second floor. She hastily hurried up them, being as careful as she could not to trip and knowing doing so would cut everything short.
She was only six steps from the top when she heard a familiar ticking and stopped abruptly, noticing exactly what direction it came from. Less than a second after she did, the Moon suddenly slid into the doorway in front of her.
"What?!" she cried in disbelief. He laughed at her confusion and lunged for her, with her turning and racing back down the steps before he could grab her. She missed one towards the end and tumbled down the rest, recovering fast enough to spring forward and back to her feet before running out into the theater once more. She sprinted across in front of the stage when she suddenly noticed that she wasn't hearing him behind her.
Charlie stopped and spun around with her taser out and, like she expected, the Moon was not behind her. Which meant that he was planning something. She stayed in the center of the room and continued to cautiously look around before starting to inch to the side towards that metal grate, preparing to follow back to the same stairs she had originally came down and hopefully buy more time. Or go the other direction she hadn't earlier and find a place to hide.
Charlie finally took the plunge with a few steps only to hear the jingling return, from directly above her.
She skirted out of the way just in time for the Moon to hit the ground hands first, into a roll, and then popping up onto his feet at the end. Those red eyes and that grizzly smile faced towards her as she backed towards the stage. He raised his hands in a grabby motion and began to creep in, to which she immediately snapped up her taser. This slowed him but didn't stop him.
He was too close to turn and run without him pouncing. Besides, there was little point running circles around the theater anyways when the goal was to stall and hope the others could get the power on.
"Let's just talk about this!" Charlie tried to rationalize. "Nobody needs to get hurt!"
"I agree," the Moon replied. Though that tone suggested a hidden double meaning. "No more running, little puppet. You must be exhausted," he rumbled. He began to tilt his head back and forth, his face beginning to slowly rock in rhythm.
"I could keep running but I thought maybe instead of chasing me around all night we could- we could work this out now." Charlie felt a little funny, but she chose to ignore it and press on. "I don't know what you think I'm doing here or who you think I am, but everything I said is one hundred percent true. We just came to snoop around, which yes, also isn't great, but it's a lot- it's- it's a lot less bad than whatever- whatever you were thinking."
She was having trouble focusing on her words a little. Something was definitely wrong and now she noticed his rhythmic swaying. "…What are you doing?" she bluntly asked.
"I know what your kind is made for. They lure in other animatronics like they're hung on strings. They play dress-up with souls," the Moon hissed in accusation. After a brief hesitation he began to sway again, his face still continuing to twist as he did so. "But you, you must be so tired. So late at night, little Miss Puppet. Imagine a nice warm box." She started to talk, and he shushed her, "Shh, no, no. It's sleepy time now. Unruly animatronics must sleep…"
The red light disappeared from his eyes but was replaced by a flickering. So quick and wavery that it almost more like it was glittering, or glistening. Whatever it was it immediately started to hang on her body, holding her eyes captive and sapping at her, entrancing her, but instead of lulling her the realization startled her enough to snap her out of the hypnotic state. Charlie ripped her eyes away.
"Stop that!" she cried. Her guard down, he suddenly made a jump for her. She just managed to step back and thrust the taser forward, only to have him duck aside and grab her wrist.
Soon they were in a tug of war over her only weapon. She staggered back and he followed suit as though in some sort of clumsy dance. She could've released the taser and probably pulled free but realized now it was probably the only thing keeping him back in any regard. His fingers pried at hers while the other hand shoved back her opposite shoulder to extend and weaken her reach.
Charlie was still struggling when she noticed a stack of barrels nearby and turned them in that direction. She could only hope it would work like the spilled candy had.
"Don't you DARE," the Moon warned.
That answered that question, and she defiantly kicked it over in his direction. He gave another frustrated yell, this time much more irritated and intense, and punctuating it with a tight twist of his fingers.
"AUGH! Clean up, clean UP!" he yelled. His body twisting and writhing in place as though he was fighting it. It didn't matter how many times he looked at her, his face kept trying to twitch back towards those barrels.
She managed to get her other hand under his and push it back off of her shoulder, but his fingers clamped tightly to hers and refused to let her go any further. He twisted her hand abruptly causing her grip to release on the taser and would've possibly broken her hand if she was still human. He clenched it in his own and swung back, and before she could make a second grab it was sent careening behind him and clattered against the metal grate.
The Moon now had the upper hand: her hand trapped in his and his red eyes staring down at hers, where he could so easily start the hypnotic flickering once more.
Until a spotlight suddenly popped on above them and bathed them both in light.
Not just that spotlight, actually, but numerous lights around the theater. They just happened to be standing in front of the stage and under the brightest light in the whole theater, which was likely why the Moon went rigid.
His expression hadn't changed but the way his red pupils twitched signaled something going on underneath the surface. Though that wasn't the only indication. There was an increased winding noise and the illumination in his face suddenly went out, as did the blue glow in his arms, leaving him nearly grey in color.
For all of a sudden, the Daycare Attendant lurched back, arms going rigid at his sides, staggering and leaning back like he was about to fall, yanking her forward in the process. A flush of yellow took over his chest, arms, and his face. His face that suddenly and uncontrollably spun before a halo of yellow points popped out of his head. Turning him from the Moon into the Sun in only a matter of moments.
He snapped his head down to reveal that his once red lit eyes were now a milky white. He stared at her momentarily, her leaned forward with her hand trapped by his, and then suddenly came to his sense with a yelp and yanked back his hand. Leaning back again with his hands up beside his face which, if not frozen in that constant smile, might've portrayed either shock or maybe even fear.
Charlie pulled back as well, more capable of showing her surprise in her blank stare. She didn't let her guard down though, instead watching to see if he really had just flipped personalities or if this was some sort of ruse.
"I-I-I-!" he started to stammer. His voice had changed too, reverting from the grisly, gravelly one to one that sounded very similar to Ennard's, if only a slightly different pitch and tone. He yanked off the nightcap that was now hanging off of a point and stuffed it somewhere into his back. "Uh- UH… G-Good mornING?!" he fumbled out.
Charlie really wished she could think of something clever to say but the whole thing had left her speechless. Not the Sun though, as he continued to frantically babble on as he threw himself down to frantically pick up the barrels.
His half-baked attempts to explain himself were suddenly cut off by a loud banging from upstairs. The clatter of what sounded like a door opening, but it was from the opposite of the entranceway- not that there were doors that way anyways. Charlie recognized immediately where it had come from; that shuddering poster frame that she had passed at the top of the stairs. Something had broken out and was now racing down the stairs.
The Sun made a squeak of panic and grabbed at his points. "Oh, no, no, NO, NO, WAIT!"
What came down the stairs and stood on the other side of the grate was the last thing that Charlie could've expected and just the sight of it startled her.
Or the sight of the mask it wore did. It was a hideous thing, the mask. White and oval shaped with features drawn in thick black. A wide, wicked smile faded with time, black smudged around one eye and the other being totally darkened out. The one that wasn't was open to reveal a glassy blue optic peeking out, with the mask somewhat tilted on its face. There was staining around its mouth that only helped to blur the lines of its faux features.
It was also wearing a black coat, or cape, or a plastic tarp from how frayed the material was around its arms and around the edges. A bizarre and otherwise inappropriate sight in the Pizzaplex, but clearly animatronic. Before she could take in anymore of the details, it darted to the left and ran down the same hall to come out into the theater.
Charlie started to back up while the Sun continued to frantically yell, "No, no! What are you doing?! Stop!"
But the animatronic came around the corner and started to hastily make its way down, almost stumbling over itself, and Charlie took a step back in preparation to run.
"Wait! It's okay!... I'm not going to hurt you," the hideously masked animatronic assured in a gentle, familiar voice. She was legitimately shocked.
Because she knew Jake wasn't a human, but she could've never expected him to be this.
"If you would just let me explain… This isn't what you think," Jake sadly and apologetically said. He continued to slowly approach as to not scare her off.
He might've not scared her, but he utterly terrified the Sun, who only stopped anxiously grabbing around with his hands to run over and grab him by the arm to stop him. "What are you doiiiing?! If anybody sees you-!"
"What am I doing?! What are you doing?!" Jake argued. He partially pulled his arm back and the Sun's point tilted guiltily. "I told-!" Jake caught himself and continued again in a low voice. "I told you to leave them alone."
"I was going to! But that was before tha-a-at came into the picture!" the Sun whispered back while gesturing an arm wildly towards Charlie. "Do you see what she is?! White and black and striped all over, and tear marks down its face?!" He lowered his voice to the faintest hiss, blocking his unmoving mouth with a hand. "It's a Puppet."
"So? That's no reason to turn off the lights and start running around like a nutcase!" Jake said louder. He then started to reign himself in, rationally spelling out, "If anybody out there tells the human staff what you did, they'd… You'd be down in Parts & Service. We know that much."
The Sun's body language seemed to softened with his shoulders falling. While Jake was clearly still upset, he eventually reached out to rub an assuring hand over his shoulder.
This was the worst time to break up an already tense moment, but Charlie knew it wouldn't be long before the others got in here and she needed to get what information she could in case the two ran off.
"So…" They looked at her at the same time. "What IS going on here?" she dared to ask.
"Sorry, I'll explain everything. This is all- No, quit that- There's a lot more going on, I promise," Jake explained, having to physically yank away from the Sun who still continued to dog him as he continued down the ramp.
She noticed he had a slight limp in his gait, the cause of which became abundantly clear when he came around the corner. One of his legs was like a basic endoskeleton's, not too different from the ones from the original Freddy's, while the other was a slender grey one wrapped in duct tape with a simple foot. It only took a few seconds of looking over the rest of the body to realize that the endoskeleton one was the odd one out.
She as she started studying his strange body structure and started trying to make sense of it, there was the familiar noise of a sliding security door upstairs. Accompanied by an automatic voice:
"Welcome to Freddy Fazbear's Fazbear Theater! The show is finished for tonight, but feel free to drop by the automated teller to purchase early tickets for tomorrow's programming!"
Upon the sound of hasty footsteps, Jake started to recoil a few steps and looked up towards the second floor. Sunny whispered a soft, "Ugh! No, no!" and threw himself forward to shield the other animatronic. Charlie reacted immediately.
"Don't come in!" she yelled up. "I've got it under control, okay? Just stay out there!"
The fact that it was only one set of footsteps made her wonder if it was Mike. Something that was all but confirmed when she turned back to reassure Jake and Sunny and saw Marionette pop into existence against the wall behind them. From the lit pupils and the dead silence, he was likely on the hunt, but he managed to hold himself back long enough for Charlie to get a word in.
"It's okay. None of us are going to hurt you two, and we're not turning you over to the staff. We wouldn't do that even if we weren't breaking and entering," she said. She paused and then added, "You don't have to be afraid of me just because I'm a puppet."
Marionette's tone shifted immediately. He looked between the two animatronics, and it didn't take him long to do an assessment on the one, who was very clearly out of service. The context clues were bringing him up to speed rather quickly.
"We're not afraid of Puppets. He is," Jake defended, gesturing back towards Sunny who was still standing arms spread in front of him.
"D-Don't throw ME under the wheels on the bus!" Sunny snipped back. He dropped his arms dramatically at his sides and looked back towards the second floor where he proceeded to unflinchingly stare, waiting for any sign of movement.
Jake patted his back and softly pushed him forward to slide behind him, only to have an arm hook back to stop him from going any further, which he wrestled with a few seconds before Charlie had enough mercy to step forward. Sunny's head snapped to stare at her out the corner of his milky eye while Jake managed to reach over his arm to offer his hand to her.
"I think we might've gotten off on the wrong foot… Okay, forget that. This has been a really bad first impression and that's all on me," Jake said apologetically. His voice brightened desperately, "Let's start over: Hi, I'm Jake."
Charlie had been sizing him up since she noticed the oddity about the leg and in the process, she had noticed something that the mask and coat distracted her from.
The garish mask and tatter coat aside, the rest of Jake's body was remarkably familiar. His only other clothing were a pair of tattered, possibly shoddily tailored red and yellow striped shorts, so most of his body was left open to her to sneakily examine. That was when she noticed more things of note. The color scheme, the molding of his chest, the rounded head behind the mask- even the tilt of said mask giving away the eye location, the arms, even the height and shape.
Even the hand that was offered to her, which was what finally confirmed her suspicions when she realized it matched the one currently trying to hold him back.
He was the exact same model as the Daycare Attendant. He was another Sun.
"Wight wasn't lying about scrapping an animatronic…" Charlie thought but kept it to herself as she managed a slight smile and willingly took his hand to shake. "Charlie."
Jake seemed relieved at the gesture. As soon as they were done shaking, he gestured his hand towards the Sun, "And this is-."
"And you-!" the Sun turned on his heel to face her fully. "Can call me Sunny! Or Sunny Dee, or Sunnydrop, Mister Sun, or just Sun! Anything under the sun!" he chirped. Maybe it was from his face, but that suddenly bubbly tone didn't help her shake the feeling that he was watching her very closely.
She almost glanced over at Marionette but caught herself before she could. He continued to just loom behind them before eventually popping behind the gate when Jake turned his head, as to not get caught on the edge of his vision.
"I wasn't trying to lead you and your friends into an ambush. Sunny wasn't even supposed to bother you. That's why I asked you not to go into the daycare, because Sunny was in there and I didn't want there to be any issue," Jake explained.
Sunny let out a discontent little noise and brought his other hand up to fuss with the frill of his collar. Guiltily, very aware that he had broken his own rules.
"And then the lights went out," Charlie finished.
"Right. And then the lights went out…" Jake said. His tone suggesting that he knew exactly how the lights went out. Sunny decided to feign innocence, hooking an arm around Jake's and planting the hand on his own hip.
"There's only one rule in the daycare: keep the lights on! Unlessduringnaptimebutthatdoesn'tcount," he said with a tiny hand wave. "Mooney Moondrops is such a Grumpy Gus when he wakes up early."
"Yeah, I got that impression when he put my friend in a chokehold," Charlie flatly remarked. Sunny went rigid as Jake turned to stare at him, head tilted in disbelief.
"Oh, well, he was, uh…" Sunny squeaked. He slowly turned his head to look towards Jake, who mimicked a sigh and turned away.
"In case you haven't noticed, he's a little over-protective," he muttered.
"Only when there's strange unclassified Puppets walking around!" Sunny tensely defended.
"I told you they were okay," Jake reminded.
"Oh? Before or after they tried to go down my slide?" Sunny asked, pulling back his arm so he could cross them defiantly.
Well, this was uncomfortable. This was Marionette unloading in the bathroom all over again, except this time both parties were right in front of her so she couldn't very well book it out of there.
"So, you two are… close," Charlie guessed, just trying to break it up. This seemed to work as the Daycare Attendant rocked up on the balls of his feet.
"Oh, we're veeery close," Sunny assured. His smile actually matching the expression in his tone. He hooked an arm around Jake and pulled him closer, pressing his cheek to where his would be. "Best friends forever and together ever after!"
Though Jake had earlier seemed frustrated, and probably still was, he was willing put his arm around Sunny and reassuringly pet over his shoulder. Charlie was getting a "very close" vibe from it all.
"Riiight. So, why did you tell us to come here then?" Charlie asked.
"To be honest it was so I could… watch you," Jake sheepishly admitted. She was sure she didn't make a face, but he acted like she had. "I know that sounds creepy. I've just been stuck hiding here for a long time and the opportunity to talk to someone new and listen to them exploring was really tempting. That was the whole plan, I swear. I even was telling the truth about the radio; I don't know how it picked up your frequency."
That was a little reassuring. Not entirely reassuring, but a little better than nothing.
"What about you? Guess that 'dad works at Freddy's' wasn't true?" Jake asked. His voice held little suspicion, just curiosity, unlike Sunny's sudden silent stare.
"It's sort of true. My dad used to work at a Freddy's, but we're just here to look around. We heard about some weird things going on and wanted to check in," Charlie explained. "Have you two seen-?"
"Betcha heard about that kiddo who got stuck overnight and wanted to put him in something," Sunny said matter-of-factly. There was no missing that implication; even Marionette looked startled by it.
"I'm sorry, what?" Charlie asked.
"Too late! He already slipped out the backdoor!" Sunny said with a happy little chortle. Sweeping his arm back and poising it off at nowhere in particular.
This time Jake was seeing a look on Charlie's face, one of shock and mortification, and he decided to quickly step in.
"Speaking of doors, you're going to have to get out there to let her friends out of the daycare. Whichever ones went in and turned the power on," he also said matter-of-factly.
Sunny froze up for a second before throwing a hand to his head. "YOU'RE RIGHT! And I- I left my art supplies out! They're gonna vandalize! Oh no, oh no!" He looped his arm around Jake's and began to pull him back to the ramp. "Come on, come on, we've got to get you back upstairs!"
Marionette drifted away from the grate and around the corner at the end of the hall to hide amongst some white boards and alongside a dormant Staff Bot. One dressed in a cyan and black tux top with a bowler hat. He continued listening.
Jake looked between Charlie and Sunny like he was going to protest, but then after spending a long moment looking towards Charlie, he sighed and defeatedly turning back towards his sun-themed companion.
"Okay," he agreed. He started to go along with him, Sunny seemingly noticing his disappointment and softening his grip, so he wasn't outright dragging him. They weren't getting away that easily though, and Charlie followed behind.
"So, you've seen Puppets before, Sunny?" she asked.
"Ehhh… I've seen a Puppet before," Sunny answered vaguely, like he really didn't want to answer the question. Entirely oblivious to the fact that they were likely walking right up towards that same puppet.
"But none here," she clarified.
"Nope! The only puppets here are mine for puppet shows and the ones we make in arts and crafts!~… GCK! I forgot about those big kids and my art supplies! Oh, they're gonna get into the black! They're gonna get the black everywhere!"
"Sunny!" Jake gave him a gentle shake of the arm. "They're not interested in your stuff."
"They might want to get even with "Moon"," Sunny fussed with air quotes. Jake gave a slight chuckle and pushed him towards the stairs. Sunny grabbed his hand again as they stared heading up. "Nope! Not getting rid of me that easily!"
"Or me," Charlie thought. She watched the few get steps and considered what to ask. Sure, she was curious to why Jake was the way he was, but there were more important matters to deal with. "Have you two seen a rabbit?"
Both came to a very sudden stop, Sunny higher on the steps and their hands still linked. Jake slowly turned his head to look back over his shoulder while Sunny continued to stare ahead.
"A rabbit?" Jake asked. "…What kind of rabbit?"
"She's a woman in a white rabbit costume who's been sneaking around the Pizzaplex," Charlie explained.
He hesitated a long moment before saying, "Yes, I've seen her." Sunny's hand tightened painfully on his.
Charlie's eyes widened a bit. "You have?! Do you know who she is or how she's been getting in?" she asked.
"I know that… she usually hangs out around the lobby… I don't know how she gets in, but this place- it's not that hard. Foxy the Pirate's gotten in a few times. He's not even a current Freddy's character… And, I mean, you got in."
"Actually, we hid and waited for the place to close," Charlie admitted.
"She might be doing that too." Jake got a soft tug and continued to follow Sunny up the stairs. "Sorry, I'm not trying to be dodgy, but… rabbits are touchy subjects around here."
"…There's no Bunni up in Bunny Bowl, is there?" she asked knowingly.
"How about: it wasn't Bunny Bowl when they first built it," he murmured back. Another firmer tug signaled Sunny's discouragement and he continued along behind him. "But yeah, that's the story."
As they continued up the stairs, Marionette hovered back out behind the grate. He didn't dare enter the stairwell but now he listened from nearby. Everything the two had said was concerning. Not only these confirmations about the rabbit, but the confirmation that at least one animatronic here had existed for a while. That Sun had to have seen him back at the old Freddy's, so who had he been?
He tried to think of everyone he put back together- he had to be one of them, he guessed- but he couldn't think of any who fit the bill or could've spontaneously become one of these animatronics for some reason. It was curiously confusing.
There was a wheeling noise behind him and Marionette turned around to see that the Staff Bot had rolled out and was now staring face-to-face with him. They stared at each other for a long moment.
"Hello. Hey, hey. How is it going tonight?" the Staff Bot suddenly asked. "I just rolled in here, and boy are my wheels tired."
Thankfully, it was obviously a recording or else they might've just had another massive problem. Instead, Marionette gave it a slight smile and started to drift back to get a little distance. It rolled forward to close the space again, much to the Puppet's confusion. He moved closer to the stairwell and leaned to peek up it. Charlie was saying goodbye to Jake outside of a door- a door that had looked like a poster frame earlier.
Jake was apologizing, Charlie was assuring him, and Sunny was trying to get the two separated, just short of dragging the out-of-service bot through the door.
The Staff Bot bumped into Marionette's side, and he gave it a somewhat wary look and softly pushed it back. It pushed back against his arm, trying to wheel up as close as it possibly could until he was forced to hold it back by the shoulders.
He looked up again and was relieved to see Charlie now standing outside the closed door, just staring at it. Probably had just had it abruptly closed and was left reeling after everything she had just went through. Marionette teleported to the top of the stairs alongside her. The two exchanged a look before he suddenly pounced forward and wrapped her into a sudden, tight hug. She was surprised he held out as long as he had and hugged back.
"Are you alright?" he asked.
"I'm fine. I just got chased around a little bit. Not that bad," she assured.
"I heard what happened over the radio, but I couldn't get through the door… I haven't been so scared in, goodness, months!"
That actually got a snicker out of Charlie. Maybe it was from the stress or the fact that this was such a common occurrence, but she found it funny. Marionette must've caught on as he chimed a little and hugged tighter.
"I'm okay. I handled myself," she assured. She then remembered something and patted down her jacket. "I left my taser downstairs, but yeah, other than that I have my act together."
"You're going to have to go down there with Mike then. There's a Staff Bot down there who's getting a bit too friendly with me." His face fell with a flat, almost exasperated look. "They've been crazy about me in general lately."
"You mean the one that caught you in the atrium? What happened with that?"
"I'll tell you later," he said tiredly. He spared a glance back towards Mike who was walking over towards them. "After we get everyone else and get out of this daycare."
"Let's go get the taser," Mike offered. He started down the stairs, pausing to stare at the Staff Bot who was doing circles at the bottom of the stairwell. "Huh, you weren't kidding. Look at that."
"Are you sure?" Charlie asked. He looked back to her questioningly. She had a touch of a teasing smile. "Are you sure you don't want to split up? Third time's the charm."
"Very funny. Let's go."
This wasn't exactly the best plan, but it was better than getting stuck in a sealed-up daycare all night. So, once it became clear that the door wasn't going to open to them- with the button controlling it red and unresponsive- they decided the only way out was the way they came in. Which was why John and Jessica stood beside a ball pit and listened as Carlton tried to climb up the inside.
"I think I'm at the last turn!" Carlton called with a grunt. He wasn't, there was actually one last turn before he made it to the top, but he was awfully close considering how slick it was. Jessica's pants were still wet from when she slid down, but thankfully it smelled like some sort of sanitizer instead of anything funky.
"I don't know if I'm going to make it up there," she remarked to John.
"We can throw a rope down," he offered. "A chain of jackets or something." There was a whooshing noise nearby and he started to look up. "Did you hear-?"
All at once a tall, yellow form landed onto the cushion floor beside them. Jessica gave short cry in surprise while John just stared wide-eyed and started to raise his fists when he recognized that what was standing beside him was their attacker from earlier, just now yellow. Sunny tsked at the slide before hopping the wall into the ball pit and smoothly climbing in.
Carlton was starting to wrap his head around the last turn to see the top of slide. He had just cracked a smile of triumph when fingers suddenly wrapped around his ankle. Then with a sharp tug he started to get dragged right back down, and no matter how he tried to stop himself he couldn't fight the sudden weight as he was dragged right back down. Released at the last second before he slipped halfway out, legs in the ball pit.
He started to push out the rest of the way only to have a grinning, yellow face above him.
Carlton yelled a little and pushed back into the slide, only to be grabbed by the jacket and pulled right back out.
"Aww, playing around in the ball pit? I guess you really are a bunch of big kids!" Sunny teased before pulling him out. "Well, up and out! The daycare is CLOSED."
Carlton waded through the ball pit wide-eyed, slipping out his camera and, as Sunny skipped by towards the door, he managed to snap another picture of him. The animatronic didn't notice, stopping alongside the door and crossing his arms and tapping his foot to punctuate his impatience. The three hurried after him, still keeping a distance and exchanging uneasy looks, assuming this was some kind of trick.
Sunny pressed the button and leaned back on the door to swing it open. "Time to say-!"
And came face to face with Freddy leaning against the opposite door with his arms crossed.
"AUGH!" Sunny cried, grabbing at his chest and his non-existent heart.
"My apologies. I did not mean to startle you," Freddy said.
"These better not be your friends!" Sunny cried with embarrassment, pointing back in at the three.
Freddy leaned forward to look around the door and his eyes widened. When the man, Mike, referred to 'kids' being in the daycare, he had assumed they were actually children. From his guess they couldn't have been more than a few years younger that he was. Definitely adults, if just on the younger side.
"In fact…"
Freddy was taken aback by a finger poking him in the chest and looked down. Sunny hummed and walked his fingers up Freddy's stomach until they reached the slot for his stomach hatch. They slowly slipped in and then pulled it open, him shoving his face in to look.
The only contraband Freddy was carrying was a couple of bags of chips and a baggie full of tokens.
"Erm, Sunny?" Freddy asked, flustered by the sudden intrusion. Sunny's shoulders slumped and he drew back out, letting the hatch close behind him.
"Okay, okay," he said. Then he popped back against the door and looked in at the three. "Okay, boys and girl! It's time to say bye-bye for now!" He gestured his hands out towards the daycare lobby. "Get out~!"
Jessica almost dared to look offended, but then shuffled quickly by followed by John and Carlton. Both of which were now staring at Freddy instead of Sunny but trying not to walk too closely to either. After getting a message through the radio, Jessica started hurrying to the stairs and John was soon on her heels to find Charlie.
Carlton started to follow when he hesitated. After a moment of consideration, he spun around, pulling out his camera, and snapped one more picture of the two animatronics. Sunny gave an impatient huff and made shooing motions. The redhead gave a thumbs up, turned on his heel, and hastily rushed after his friends. His heart pounding at how close he just got to blowing it all. Ennard better be grateful for putting his neck out for these.
Freddy pushed off the door to follow when Sunny suddenly reached out and pushed him back.
"Wait," he said. He slowly leaned back towards Freddy, keeping his eye on the back of the young man climbing the stairs. "About… The Rulebreaker."
"You mean-… The, err, child who stayed over?"
"I mean Gregory," Sunny hissed. Freddy's eyes widened as the Sun turned to face him. "I know you were hiding him. You carried him out of here." Freddy gawked at him momentarily. "If he comes back don't let him around the Puppets!"
"What?" The only puppets Freddy knew of were Sunny's puppet theater puppets. Perhaps Gregory had made a mess of them. "I will try not to?"
"And-!" Sunny interjected, leaning in closer. "Keep him away from that woman dressed like a rabbit."
Now that had Freddy reeling. Gregory had mentioned a rabbit woman before he had left last night, the one that had gotten away before Freddy had seen her. He had believed Gregory though had been especially confused about the idea that someone dressed as a rabbit would be here at the Pizzaplex. The thought made him… very uncomfortable.
"I understand," Freddy said. He straightened up. "But he is not in the Pizzaplex… and I doubt he will return."
"We'll see…" Sunny said cryptically. He then pulled the door closed and disappeared inside the daycare once more.
Freddy looked at the door for a long moment before turning to walk towards the stairs.
Then the door flung back open behind him.
"And take these!" Sunny called. Freddy turned around in time to have a couple of shoes bounce off of his chest. The Sun gave him a waggled-finger wave, "Take care, Mister Bear!" and shut the door once more.
Freddy blinked, then crouched down to pick up the shoes, smiling a little as he recognized them as the ones Gregory had lost. He opened his chest and put them carefully inside.
Just in case.
Mable: And the endless night drones on. Apologies if the end is a bit rushed, but I really wanted to get this chapter up tonight. I hope you enjoyed!