Mable: This wasn't the original plan of the chapter, but it went in its own direction. XD Hope you Enjoy regardless!
Going Home in a Box
Chapter Forty-Three
With Gregory's guidance it wasn't long before he, Mike, Marionette, and Jeremy arrived at the source of the commotion from earlier, the dining area outside of the snack bar. The evidence that there had been a dispute was the mess left in its wake. Tipped over chairs, a broken table, but there was no sign of Jake or the Daycare Attendant.
They pressed onwards, taking in the scenery while they searched. Like most of the Pizzaplex, they had to reluctantly admit that it was impressive. Though this wasn't exactly the time to take in the view beyond that.
Eventually they made it back to the doors that Gregory and Jake initially came through. He pointed them out.
"That's where we came from. Maybe we should check in there? Monty broke the door back to the daycare, but maybe they got it open," he suggested.
"It's worth a shot," Mike agreed. He decided in a moment of restraint to not bring up how many things Monty had broken tonight. He carefully opened the door, peeking through before stepping in. Almost instantly he heard voices from nearby. "I think you're onto something, Kid," he complimented.
"…It's Gregory," Gregory said with slight hesitation. He wasn't sure if he wanted to give his name out to everyone, but they would probably find out from Jake anyways.
"Gotcha," Mike returned with a smile. "Stay behind me, okay?" Gregory nodded, and Mike continued in.
Though while the badge insignia on the wall suggested that there was a security office across from them, the muffled voices sounded instead like they were coming from the right. In that direction was a red door with 'Staff Only' written on it and when Mike tried the handle, he found it unlocked and carefully pushed it open. Marionette and Jeremy all but leaning over his shoulders as he did.
The room was pitch dark save for some glowing computer screens on the opposite side. It was musty, steamy, and filled with pipes. Not really the place where one would expect a multitude of electronics, but likely some sort of control room. The voices went silent the moment the door opened. Mike turned on his flashlight and shined it around inside.
"Anybody here? Jake?" he called.
There was a beat, then a voice spoke back.
"Mike?" It was Jake.
"It's us. Me, Mari, a friend, and Gregory. Gang's all here," Mike listed off. He pushed the door open for the others. Marionette passed by to stand alongside him while Jeremy and Gregory stepped in behind him.
"That's great to hear! How'd you get the door open?"
"I just turned the handle. Was it supposed to be locked?" He shined the light back towards the door before suddenly remembering what Gregory said. "Oh, you mean the other door. We came in through the front."
"Did Monty see you?" Jake asked worriedly.
"He did but I told him I was a security guard and he and Chica both bought it. They're gone for now."
"They believed you? Wow. How'd you pull that off?"
Mike shot Marionette a cheeky smile as he answered Jake. "I'm pretty persuasive when I want to be."
"And he flashed an old Freddy security badge. That always helps," Jeremy chimed in. "I'm Jeremy, by the way. Friend of Mike's and Foxy's. Here to help."
"Nice to meet you, Jeremy! We, uh, we could use all the help we can get…"
That ominous hint wasn't missed by anyone. There was a section of pipes in the center of the room that blocked their view of Jake, and from how his voice remained stationary it was clear he was still hiding back somewhere.
"What happened to you? I heard a loud crash but…" Gregory trailed off.
"Monty happened," Jake said with a sigh. "I'm sorry we left you. I thought you were hiding and we had to get away from there."
"I was. Don't worry about it," he said. He didn't need them to start thinking he couldn't protect himself. Getting caught by Chica was his own mistake, he reminded himself.
Jeremy clicked on his own flashlight and started to take a couple of steps down the right side of the room when Jake called out to stop him, "Don't-!... Don't come over here."
"I'm not! I'm just… over here," the blond assured. He sort of shrugged towards the others and Marionette now began to drift closer to the left.
"Are you hurt, Jake?" he gently asked.
"…Well, I'm not," Jake answered, placing emphasizing on the 'I'm'.
A worried look settled on Marionette's face as he silently moved in closer and peeked around the corner.
Jake was crouched down in front of the Moon who was slumped back against the corner. The positions alone gave away which of the two was injured, as it wasn't until Marionette looked a little closer that he noticed exposed wiring jutting out of Moon's chest. Jake must've noticed the motion as he suddenly looked to the right and spotted the puppet. They exchanged a long look.
Then Marionette began to come in closer. Jake didn't stop him, instead sending a sympathetic look back towards Moon. Moon took notice and lifted his head off the wall to look, then all but snapped it upright to stare at the approaching puppet. His red illuminated pupils darting between both the animatronics in front of him. Though it was clear once Marionette got closer that Moon wasn't a threat, not with how his casing had been popped open.
"Monty did this?" Marionette asked. His voice was still soft. Only a trained ear would detect the slight edge of protective anger edging in. Both Mike and Jeremy did and started to move carefully and quietly closer.
"Yes. He was chasing me, and Moon tried to stop him, and the whole thing went south from there," Jake explained. He tugged at his cloak self-consciously, nervously, even when Marionette was looking at Moon instead of him. "I know I look pretty beat up, but I'm okay. I'm just, uh… Out of service. You know," he suddenly volunteered.
The Puppet looked to him and looked him once over. "You look fine to me. I've seen terribly broken animatronics; you're quite put together," he assured him.
Jake seemed relieved by the comment. "Thanks. Just letting you know I'm not-."
"S-Stay back-k," Moon hissed. Not at Marionette, but at Jeremy who started inching around the other corner and directly into his line of sight. Jeremy raised his hands in submission, ignoring the hissing from inside his jacket
Gregory, in contrast, ignored the warning entirely and walked past Jeremy to see for himself. He came to a surprised halt only once he saw the amount of wires gaping out and illuminated by the Daycare Attendant's glow.
"Whoa!" he exclaimed. "That looks pretty bad. Are you okay?"
"I-I feel like my chest has split down the middle a-and my insides are spilling outside-de," Moon replied.
"Where's Charlie?" Jake asked, interrupting them both. He looked up to Marionette and now Mike who stood alongside him.
"She's running around keeping the security guard distracted. She'll show up soon enough," Marionette assured.
"Good, because we could use her help. She said she's a technician, or a technician in training, right?"
"She is… but I'm not sure if she's qualified to handle something like this. She's very good, don't get me wrong, but this is a bit…" He stole another look at the open cavity. "…Complicated."
"She's the best chance I've got. I'm not getting him down into Parts and Service," Jake said.
"I-I'm not going to Parts and Service-ce," Moon muttered.
"See?"
"She's got a good eye. She can take a look," Mike partially agreed, running a hand through his hair as he looked over the damage. "For now, let's get you two back to the daycare. That's where Charlie's heading once she shakes the night guard."
"We will once it quiets down. The hallway door's busted and the closest way would be to leave through the front and cut through Kids Cove," Jake suggested.
"He can get it open," Mike said, pointing a thumb to Marionette who nodded. "Can he get up?"
"Uh…" Jake knew even before he answered that the question alone was going to get Moon up- and it did. Moon shifted himself and pulled his feet underneath him, lifting onto bent legs. "…Yeah, he can get up," Jake finished. Then he hastily got up and tried to help, to which he was deflected.
"J-Just get the lights off-f," Moon muttered. Jake somewhat reluctantly agreed and picked up his control panel, which he had on the floor behind him, and hurried out the door they had just come in.
"Wait, we're turning the lights off?" Gregory asked in disbelief. Jake gave him a 'yup' as an answer and kept going. "That's just great…" he muttered. He stole a glance back at the Moon. At least he didn't have to worry about him right now, but he still followed after Jake.
Moon pushed off the wall and walked in a swaying limp that didn't look too out of place for a clown. Marionette and Mike slowly watching him pass by in shared disbelief, knowing he was probably trying to make a point he didn't make.
"…Need a little help?" Mike eventually volunteered. He offered out his arm.
"I-I don't need anyone's help. I'm fine-ne," Moon curtly corrected. "J-Just be thankful that your trespassing is not the most pressing matter tonight-t."
"…So, you always walk like you're hammered?" Mike asked. Marionette nudged him, but all it succeeded in doing was bringing out a small smirk. The Puppet got a slight smile and shook his head; this was absolutely not the time.
Moon either chose to ignore him or, more likely, was in significant enough pain that he didn't feel like dealing with him. He slumped against the wall beside the open door and waited for the hall light to be shut off. It didn't take long before it was, and Jake returned. He offered Moon an arm and he attempted to deflect again, but this time Jake didn't take no for an answer. All but putting his arm under Moon's responsive one and helping him into the hallway.
Moon's head dropped against his shoulder and Jake knew he made the right decision.
He had turned off the lights to the utility hallway too and led the way with the shuffling Moon down that seemingly endless hallway. If it felt long before it felt triple the length now, what with the snail's crawl and the general feeling that everything was already going wrong. Though that trip didn't last all the way to the daycare as Jake stopped at the stairs leading down into the darker lower level.
"These stairs lead down to the utili-tunnels. From there it's mostly a straight shot to parts and service. You just have to take a right when you can and follow the signs," Jake explained. Moon slipped the pass he had back to him and then he handed both over to Mike. "Just be careful. It's really dark down there and all the bots act a little strange."
There was a pause where Mike and Marionette both took turns glancing at the elephant in the room, currently gushing out of Moon's chest.
"Are you sure you two don't want to tag along?" Mike suggested.
"Neither of us are technically trained, but perhaps in the right atmosphere and with the right tools we would have a better chance. Especially if Charlie's there," Marionette jumped in.
"Yeah, it'll be fun. You know, as much fun as basement crawling can be," Mike finished.
"That's awful nice of you, and we really should head down to parts and service, since I'm barely equipped to handle anything like this and we're just putting off going down there anyway," Jake said, an uncharacteristically pointed tone taking his voice. If he could've, he probably would've been side-glancing at Moon, who was sinking further towards the floor, either in weariness or dramatically. "…But he's not going to go. Just worry about finding Freddy."
"If you're sure," Marionette said. He then turned towards Mike. "Maybe we should wait for Charlie before we head down."
"Sounds good to me."
"I can wait for Charlie," Jeremy said. Both looked to him questioningly. "I'll walk them to the daycare, wait for Charlie and bring her up to speed. You two can handle it on your own, right? I can still come, but I'd have to, uh… 'stop by' the daycare anyways," he said, making air quotes with his free hand.
They both caught the jest of it. After all, Jeremy's jacket didn't usually squirm this much.
"I think we can handle it. If we run into anything we can't get around then we can always come back," Mike agreed. He looked to Marionette for a nod of agreement before looking back. "Do you want the radio so you can reach her?"
"Keep it. We can use mine," Jake suggested, tapping the control panel under his arm. "That would help if you could, Jeremy. I'm going to have to stay with Moon, so I won't be able to help if something happens."
"Then there's the plan. Do you want my flashlight?" Jeremy offered. He handed it to Marionette and was surprised when Gregory popped up between them and eagerly took it for himself.
"I do! I'm tired of getting stuck in the dark all the time. I can barely see in this place," Gregory said as he took it. It was just a normal flashlight. Maybe on the small side for Jeremy but looked big in Gregory's grasp. "Okay, let's go."
Everyone exchanged looks with one another.
"Y-Yes, let's go-o," Moon volunteered. Then swung his arm back and pointed his thumb behind him in a jerking motion. "B-Back to the daycare-re!"
"What? No, that wasn't the plan! The plan was that you guys were going to get your friends here and they'd go with me to get Freddy. I'm not going to just sit in the daycare!"
"T-That is exactly what you're going to d-do. Y-You're going to sit down and eat your sandwich-ch… a-at the time out table-le!" Moon tilted his head and spun his face. "O-Or have you forgotten that you jumped in that nasty, nasty water-er?"
"Oh, I was wondering why you were wet," Marionette remarked. He wiped down his still damp front. It explained the weird chlorine scent too.
"Hey, I was running from you and Monty!" Gregory protested. He then said with absolute determination, "I'm going to find Freddy. That was the deal."
Moon gave a crackly growl and leered down at him. It might've been enough to unease him when he was alone, but he wasn't about to back down where so many people were watching.
"…Do you guys think you can take him?" Jake asked Mike and Marionette. Moon's head snapped to him, and he promptly choked at the pain through his chest in response. Jake looked back and gave a semi-exasperated shrug. "I don't want him going down there anymore than you do, but he wants to find Freddy and we can't stop them."
"I-I can stop him," Moon hissed. "H-He's NOT going down there-re."
"I don't think you're in a position to talk when you should be going down there and you won't," Jake said under his breath. Moon 'tsked' and turned away in annoyance. Jake looked back to the two. "Is that okay?"
The looks on Mike and Marionette's faces betrayed their feelings a little too well. Mike's teeth clenched in what could've been a wince while Marionette's smile was replaced by a tight line. Both managed to somewhat recover, replaced with phony nonchalance and a tense smile respectively.
"I don't see why not," Mike reluctantly agreed, looking down the stairs into the foreboding dimness as he ran his fingers through his hair a few times. "…There's nothing down there, right?" he asked, looking back up to Jake.
"No. Nothing…"
"Nothing at all?" he asked more insistently.
"Nothing but Staff Bots and endoskeletons," Jake said a little more assuredly. "They get a little weird in the dark, but just avoid them and you'll be fine."
"Then let's go. I don't want to hang around here until the lights go off," Gregory insisted. He walked over to the stairs and waited a beat before starting to go down the steps. Mike followed behind before turning back towards Jeremy.
"Radio us if anything happens. We can be back up here quick. Him especially," he said, pointing to Marionette.
Jeremy gave him a certain nod along with a, "You got it," and a, "Don't trip over anything."
"I don't plan on it," Mike returned. Then he continued down the stairs, exhaling through his lips while doing so.
"We'll keep a close eye on him," Marionette assured Jake and Moon. He could feel and tell from Moon's body language that he wasn't on board with this plan, understandably so, but he couldn't stick around. He followed Mike and Gregory down the stairs and into the cool basement waiting below.
The small group watched them go before Jake started to tug Moon's arm and looked between him and Jeremy.
"Let's go, guys. We've still got a ways to go," he reminded.
Moon silently dragged himself into a hobble as Jake helped him back to the daycare, Jeremy following along behind.
Roxanne was getting tired of this.
Every night something set off an alarm somewhere and she was dragged out to go find it, and most of the time there was nothing there. Apparently that same kid had gotten in a few times and ran around, setting off some of the bots- and Chica- in his wake. Honestly, though Roxanne was effectively on-call all night, she could care less about some kid running around. Security should've been able to handle that.
She had bigger things to deal with. There were cracks on the raceway.
Nothing too concerning now, but if it got any worse, she would have to report it and get someone to patch it. She couldn't have her clean raceway interrupted by a couple of ugly cracks, but she also didn't want to get saddled with her attraction getting closed. Freddy might've gotten a kick walking around the atrium greeting people all day, but she was built to race, and she had an image to uphold.
Tonight wasn't her night. It started with another report of that kid running around from Chica, then a Security Bot alert, and during both of those Roxanne had chosen not to pursue. There were plenty of other animatronics here capable of going to look, including the night guard who was getting paid to do so. She didn't have to go out there.
Then she got a different kind of alert. One that she hadn't ever gotten before. An alert that there was a decommissioned animatronic running around. That was a bizarre alert to have, she didn't even realize that was a thing to be alerted about, but when it got into her head, she had no choice but to head out of the raceway and towards the atrium. It was out of her hands now.
She only got a few steps out of the security door when she heard the sound of racing footsteps somewhere beneath her. From how light they were she could only assume it was Vanessa and went to the railing to look down.
For the second time that evening she was baffled, because what she saw was one of the last things she expected. Vanessa was running across the atrium chasing a figure wearing a green jacket- and that was figure, not person. It was clear from those long, black and white-striped legs that it wasn't a human. It was hard enough calling it an animatronic with how lanky it was.
It did somewhat resemble what Chica mentioned seeing up in El Chip's, a black and white doll-like model wearing a coat. It was as fast as Chica mentioned too, easily outrunning Vanessa as it ran from Kids Cove towards Fazer Blast.
"Look who's back…" Roxanne remarked. She tapped her claws on the railing as her tail swayed behind her. Though maybe it wasn't a matter of coming back, but a matter of something coming up.
There was that decommissioned animatronic report she had gotten, and there had been Glamrock variations that hadn't made it off the cutting room floor. Maybe this was one of those models. Bright stripes went well enough with neon, and it did sort of resemble those striped lights from up in the east arcade. This thing could've been a shelved bot crawling back out and trying to find its way back to where it was supposed to be- poor thing.
As pitiful as that was, they couldn't have this going on, and as it ran in her direction Roxanne knew it was time for her to put a stop to it.
She waited until the puppet was halfway to the escalator beside her before running down and smoothly jumping off the side halfway down. She dropped onto her feet with a resonating thump as the puppet skidded to a stop ahead of her, staring with wide, round eyes. Roxanne stood up, flipping her hair before settling her hands onto her hips.
"You think you're pretty fast, don't you?" she asked. She slowly narrowed her eyes at the puppet. "Let's see how fast you really are."
Roxanne got in position to run but gave the puppet long enough to turn around and start running. Which she did, turning on her spindly heels and immediately bolting at a speed that would put a human to shame. Nothing compared to Roxanne herself, and she let her get that head start before breaking out into a full sprint after her. Her powerful legs propelling her as she beelined after her green clad target.
Blocked to the left by security and the right by Fazer Blast, the puppet singled in on a door that led behind the snack bars. Officer Vanessa watching in shock as she blazed past her and shoved through the door with Roxanne hot on her heels. She took a sharp left, ran to the end of the back room, and then another sharp left and through another door leading back out into the atrium, nearly bumping into Smitty in the process before continuing to bolt.
"If you're trying to lose me, you're going to have to try a lot harder than that!" Roxanne yelled after her. She wouldn't admit that the constant changing direction had slowed her down a little- if this doll had to use cheap tactics like that to get away from her then it just showed how much faster she really was. She plowed onwards, unwilling to be made a fool.
The puppet vaulted over a railing, racing through a dining area, and vaulted over the other side again before making a brisk run for Rockstar Row. This managed to get a good amount of distance between her and Roxanne as while the wolf was obviously faster, she couldn't so easily hop those railings. It was better for her speed if she just ran around the area and then pumped her legs into a mad dash towards the entrance of Rockstar Row.
"Roxy!" Vanessa called as she ran after the two. "Roxy, I can handle it!"
Roxanne didn't feel like there was much of a reason to argue when it was obvious that wasn't the case. All it would do is distract her from her goal as she charged through the security door and then the next and into the hallway entrance outside of Rockstar Row. Roxanne ran down the neon hall only to slide to a stop halfway, nearly peeling up the carpet as she did so.
The security door into Rockstar Row was closed tight. There was no way that it could've shut that quickly, not with how fast she had ran in here. That puppet thing had to still be in here.
Roxanne slowly turned her head and listened closely to her surroundings. She couldn't hear anything, and a tentative sniff didn't yield any results. Unless it was really rank, she would've had to be closer to smell it anyways. Instead, she needed to focus on possible hiding spots, and her golden eyes rolled to the corner to eye the counter at the end of the hall. She saw that puppet vaulting those railings; it could've easily popped over that counter.
She stalked over to the counter, hunched and bracing herself to dive for the puppet if it suddenly made a run for it. Right before she could reach the side to look around, she heard the security door at the other end of the hall opening and spun around, ready to make a run after her fleeing prey. Only to see that it was actually Vanessa letting herself into the hallway.
"Where did it go?" she asked.
"That's what I'm trying to find out," Roxanne snapped, not appreciating the other's attempt to take control of the situation. "She's in here somewhere… Stay over there. She might make a run for it," she said.
Then she followed up by stepping around the counter and leering down at an empty space. Hmph, not here. There were still plenty of places to check.
Vanessa started to look around as well, shining her bright flashlight into the nooks and crannies of the heavily decorated hallway. She looked behind the reception counter of that side of the hall, lingering there for a long moment before moving on to check the supply closet behind it, and then moving to the staff only door that led backstage she hesitated again before calling down to Roxanne.
"Hey," she called. When Roxanne looked to her, she lowered her voice and gestured to the door with her flashlight. "This door's open."
Roxanne's ears twitched at that. That puppet could've ducked through that door easily without making a sound, and it wasn't like those doors were kept properly locked. There was another one leading to the same backstage portion beside her and it opened right up for her. The large room beyond it was dark and full of stuff to hide behind.
"Watch your side. She could be anywhere in there," Roxanne warned. Then she stepped inside, shutting the door harshly behind her to warn anything hanging around inside that she was coming. Vanessa followed suit.
The Rockstar Row entranceway fell into silence for a long minute.
Then Charlie carefully stood up from behind the reception desk that Natalie had checked. As carefully and quietly as she could, she walked around the desk and headed back out through the security door and back towards the atrium.
That had been a close enough call. Time to head to the daycare.
At least, that had been the plan until she stepped out into the atrium and could hear a chattering voice that sounded distinctly like Chica's coming from the far left. She took cover behind a canyon or raceway themed "Come back soon!" sign and shuffled around to the other side to peek out across the Atrium.
Chica and Monty were coming out of Monty Golf and heading to the other entranceway of Rockstar Row. They were far enough away that Charlie was relatively sure she wouldn't be seen, but it also meant that the only reason she could hear them was because Chica was talking as loud as she was.
"-So rude! I hate human employees who think they're better than us just because they're humans and we're not!" Chica huffed. "And I knooow that's why he was acting so hoity-toity! He was giving me those same funny looks that the girl who teaches the Mazercise classes gives me when I come in on their lesson. But I'M the face of Mazercise! I should be able to sit- stand in and eat as many nachos as I want!"
"Mmm…" Monty hummed, barely paying attention.
"…Hey, wait a minute. What happened to your sunglasses? You never take those off!" Chica suddenly realized. This suddenly snapped Monty out of his stupor, especially when she poked him on the cheek. He swatted her hand back.
"Buzz off. I ain't feelin' good."
"You don't have to get so huffy. I just thought it was weird… Unless you broke them again."
"I broke them again."
"Uh huh," Chica nodded, believing it fully. She stretched her arms behind her back as they watched the Rockstar Row security door lift. "…Sooo, who was the decommissioned bot running around? It wasn't that weird dolly thing, was it?"
"No. It was, uh… The old Sun," Monty confessed. Chica's eyes widened at that.
"…The OLD Sun?! Oh wow- that's… Oh WOW. I didn't know the old sun was still kicking. D'you think Sunny's seen it?"
"Moon saw it. He was there."
Monty swiftly walked into the entrance hall with Chica following shortly behind.
"Then he'll deal with it," Chica dismissed. "Still, weird."
"…Moon might've gotten caught up in our scuffle."
"What?"
"He's fine. He ran off after it, so he's fine," Monty insisted. Chica didn't seem too concerned, just humming and shrugging it off.
As for Monty, he knew what he had saw in between the moments where he lost control. Moon had been protecting that old Sun… but he couldn't say anything.
Because if he did then she would know what he did. They would all find out what he did.
He doubted they would look kindly on someone fostering around a decommissioned rogue, but he knew he was sunk if it got out that he had attacked another animatronic. Especially the "Daycare Attendant", especially with his history.
Thankfully, Chica had shrugged it off and was going off on something else. Apparently, Moon had caught her in the kitchen at some point and she was thought he had been a little pushy with her. He tuned it out as he continued on towards his green room, looking forward to the silence and a new pair of sunglasses, and hiding as long as he possibly could until it all caught up with him.
Once the security door shut behind them, Charlie continued on through the atrium. The last remaining "threat" being Smitty, who Natalie had apparently told to do patrolling loops in front of the snack bar. Likely to keep him from following and blowing both of their covers. Charlie easily avoided him by heading up the escalator and continuing unrestricted towards the daycare.
The daycare was exactly how she remembered it, with the lights on and bouncy music playing on loop. She looked down into the playground area only to see nobody there, meaning they were still in Monty Golf. Choosing not to panic yet- Monty had only just left so they had probably just gotten stuck over there- she slid down the slide and into the ball pit. Everything had a chemically clean scent, so it might've recently been disinfected.
Charlie climbed out of the ball pit via one of the bridges and made her way across the playground and to the security desk. She dropped into one of the office chairs to rest her legs, finally processing how close she had gotten to getting caught.
Thankfully, Roxanne had not seemed to recognize her as being an animatronic from Foxy's, which would probably be good for them if they ever reported what happened. Though from what Natalie said it didn't seem that was the case.
Eventually she heard a door opening somewhere and distant voices, which then turned into quickly approaching footsteps. She wasn't too concerned since she was certain she heard Jake's voice, but she still pulled closer to the desk and started to slide off the chair in preparations to drop underneath it while watching the propped open wooden doors.
Then Jake came hurrying in and alleviated any of Charlie's concerns. She stood up and he finally noticed her, staggering slightly before continuing towards her.
"Good, you're here! I need your help," Jake said. Between his tone and his hasty movements, she knew something was up.
"What's wrong?" Charlie asked. She stepped back so Jake could get to the desk. He pressed a button, and the lights and music went off. The room was only illuminated by stars on the walls and screens like the one behind them. Charlie unhooked her flashlight from her jacket pocket and clicked it on to assist in seeing.
"Moon got hurt. Monty body-slammed into him and it split his casing open. There's exposed wires, he can barely feel his left arm- it's bad," Jake explained. He beckoned her to follow as he rushed back out through the doors, and she did. "I don't know if you can help but maybe you can take a look at him? He's refusing to go down to Parts and Service- as usual. There's no way we can get a technician on him, and I don't know if I can do it."
"Sure, I'll take a look. See what I can do," Charlie agreed without hesitation. That didn't mean she felt confident after what he had said, but she was more than willing to try to lend a hand.
By time they made it to the door, Moon was already staggering out after once again rejecting an offer of assistance from Jeremy. He did accept Jake's help. A little too eagerly too, almost knocking him over when he all but collapsed against him. It gave Charlie a good look at what his injuries was, and she already knew it was out of her means. Unless they were satisfied with her pushing the wires back in and taping him closed.
"Hey, Charlie. Glad to see you got back safe," Jeremy greeted with a small smile.
"It was a close one. Did Mike and Mari already head down to look for Freddy?" she asked.
"Yeah, and they took the kid with them, Gregory."
Moon gave a fussy mutter to show his disagreement as Jake started to lead him towards the stairs.
"I stayed back to wait for you. They didn't want to leave you alone," Jeremy explained. He and Charlie now followed along behind the two, conversing as they slowly made their way up the steps. "What do you think?" he quietly asked.
"It doesn't look great," Charlie admitted. "…But we'll see. I'll know when I get a better look at it."
The two followed Jake and Moon into the Daycare Theater and back to that poster disguised door, which had been left open to a small crack. Jake pulled it open with one hand and Charlie went ahead and held it for him- to which he thanked her- and they stepped into the dark hallway. Charlie's flashlight and Moon's glow being the only ambient lighting once they passed that door.
"Shut it behind us, please," Jake requested. Jeremy did so. "Thank you."
The group walked down the dark hallway and through another door. It opened into what initially looked like a dusty storage room until the flashlight beam managed to land on a ledge and the curtained opening that sat atop it. It was the back of the balcony that looked over the play area. There was a little ladder leading up to the ledge, which had a thin wooden railing and a couple of storage crates on it.
The room itself was a mess. There was stuff scattered everywhere. Toys, props, old pieces of machinery- speaking of machinery, there were no less than three deconstructed Staff Bots- a possible fourth under a tarp in the corner- with parts scattered onto two makeshift worktables. There were also plenty more cardboard boxes stashed around, especially in the crawlspace under the ledge. It was clear exactly where daycare supplies clashed with Jake's handiwork.
But the room wasn't just messy. The red paintjob was dull and scuffed and there were thick cobwebs hanging up in the corners. There was also a coil of hanging lights stretched across the wall, but the lights out it wasn't clear if these were the only working lights or just extras. The final notable features being a cluster of breakers on the far wall and what almost looked like the entrance to a tunnel on the wall right of them.
"Sorry about the mess, most of it's mine. Be careful for any loose glass," Jake excused.
He helped Moon to the tunnel where he let himself in and climbed through. Jake followed after and then Charlie followed after him, with Jeremy choosing to stay outside of the hole sitting on a colorful foam block.
On the other side of the short tunnel, Charlie found an even more dreary room. Cement walls were covered in children's drawings and hung-up clothes collected from the Pizzaplex. There was a collection of toys lined up on a shelf and boxes scattered around, and there was an arcade cabinet taking up a corner of the room. From the quick look she got, it looked like Balloon Boy or some version of him was on it.
Half of the room was comprised of a bedding of pillows and blankets. Numerous pillows of all sizes and colors, blankets of yellow and orange stripes and of starry patterns on a deep blue background, and a few scattered plush toys piled in the back corner of the bed. There were some star decorations hung on beaded strings from some wooden planks and dangling above the bed, while the planks seemed to make up an unfinished loft section.
Moon slowly and shakily lowered himself down onto the pillows before stretching out on his back. He laid there a moment while Jake moved stuff out of the way. His glowing pupils rolled to Charlie after a few moments.
"W-Why is she in here-re?" Moon asked in a grouchy and tired tone. Less a question and more of an instruction for Charlie to leave.
"She's here to look at you, Genius. And see if she can put this back where it goes," Jake said matter-of-factly.
"…O-Oh right-t." Moon chose to be quiet after that.
Charlie crawled in the rest of the way and knelt down beside Moon, with Jake shortly kneeling beside her. Moon stretched his right arm above his head, resting it against the wall and exposing the full nature of his damage, while the left lay useless on the pillows at his side. As she shined her light into and around his chest, he reached up and flicked at the stars dangling above their heads, watching them swing back and forth afterwards.
Between him and how tightly Jake was grabbing his knees, it was clear that both of them were aware of the seriousness of this situation. Charlie pushed those thoughts aside and continued to peek and poke around inside.
"I have good news and bad news. Which do you want first?" she offered.
"G-Good. It is such a rare thing-ng," Moon murmured.
"The good news is that from what I can see, there's not much damage," Charlie said. Moon scoffed. "I'm serious. It might look bad with all these wires sticking out, but I can't see any that are cut or torn out. You were really lucky on that front. And if that's the case, that could mean that the pain and the weakness in the arm is just from the wires being displaced. That's really the best-case scenario because just setting everything back where it's supposed to go should fix the problem."
"Great!... And I'm guessing the bad news tells us why we can't do that," Jake said.
"The bad news is that the casing's bent," Charlie clarified. She pointed down at the edges while she explained, "It looks like Monty's weight caused the casing to bend in and the pressure popped the casing open. Even if we forced the casing closed the edges wouldn't line up together. Which is already problematic enough, but even if we could bend the casing back, it's a clean seam. It's not going to just snap together; it needs to be welded shut."
"And we definitely don't have welding equipment up here…" Jake agreed. He didn't sound surprised; Charlie wouldn't have been shocked if he knew all of this already considering how he knew the ins and outs of the Staff Bots.
"J-Just bend it back and tape it shut-ut," Moon said dismissively. "D-Double wrap it. I-I can baby it-t."
"You can't babysit a broken chest. What happens when you're leaning down to pick up a kid and it splits open and everything spews back out? If the kids aren't scared to death they'll start grabbing and yanking them. They already do whenever they get the chance," Jake reminded. Moon flinched a little. His right are bending so his fingers could ghost the wires on the back of his head. "And then you're going to Parts and Service while all the technicians are on duty."
Moon growled a little at that.
"Have you had problems with the technicians?" Charlie asked.
"He has."
"W-We both have-ve," Moon quickly interjected.
"…Okay, I'll admit that the technicians weren't great to me either. They're underpaid and underqualified, and the only one who isn't is-."
"Sket-chy," Moon finished. His fingers dug into the pillow behind his head. "A-And a liar."
"Chaz. Moon doesn't like him," Jake finished. "And he's not that great anyways. He likes to cut corners."
"I heard the head technician left. Or Wight said something like that," Jeremy chimed in through the hole.
There was a long silence. Charlie could've sworn that Jake shot a look at Moon from the way his head twitched. Moon continued to look away at the wall. That was an awfully uncomfortable silence.
"…Or maybe I just got things mixed up," Jeremy added on.
"Em-Employees don't last long-ng," Moon said cryptically. "A-Ask the wrong question, be-be replaced by a Staff Bot, and be out on the street-et."
"Sounds brutal," Charlie sympathized.
"Doesn't surprise me one bit," Jeremy admitted. His voice, for the briefest moment, took a soured edge. He quickly covered it up as he cleared his throat and then asked Charlie, "Hey, can I talk to you for a second?... Not about you guys. It's about this whole basement thing."
"I-It's about US," Moon said. A mock dramatic tone to his voice. "Wh-Whispering about our dirty, dirty, messy room-m."
"You should see my room. My toys are all over the place," Jeremy joked. He gently poked at his jacket and there was a hushed giggle from inside.
Charlie climbed through the tube and stuck her head out while holding onto the edge. Jeremy had moved aside to let her out, but then leaned in to speak.
"Since you're here and safe, maybe I should drop off the girls and go catch up with the guys," Jeremy suggested. "I'm worried about them getting lost down there."
"Me too… You know what? I'll go with you. I can't really help here," Charlie said, saying the last part in a lower volume.
"You're going after Freddy?" Jake asked, seemingly catching wind of the conversation. It wasn't hard to do considering they were only a few feet apart.
"If it's alright with you. I can stick around if you need me," Charlie offered.
Jake thought for a second, seemingly coming up with an idea. "…Actually, that's a good idea. The quicker we can get Freddy back the better. He might be able to help out," he agreed.
If Freddy was anything, he was direct and honest, and could be persuasive- and had clearance high enough to walk in and out of wherever he wanted. Jake couldn't convince Moon alone but maybe he, Freddy, Charlie, and possibly Gregory could pull it off. That would be enough peer pressure to at least pry him out of this stubborn refusal.
"Don't worry about us. We'll be fine until you get back," Jake said.
"We'll be quick," Charlie assured. She slid out of the tunnel and Jeremy offered a hand to help her up.
Jake watched them through the tunnel while crouched on the other side. When he hears Moon's all but deflated voice from the corner.
"H-Have them turn the lights on on their way out-t."
"Wait… What?" Jake looked back a little startled. "I think that would be a really bad idea."
Moon gave a dismissive tsk and waved his good hand. Jake shuffled back to his side.
"Andrew, if those lights come on your sensitivity is going to go through the roof. We can't turn those on," he quietly warned.
"I-I can handle it. I don't-." He broke the sentence with an impatient huff and said low through unmoving teeth, "I-I don't want them to see me-e."
Like this, Jake thought. It was okay to see 'Sun' injured, but not 'Moon'. Even if it meant that 'Sun' had to go through the wringer for it. It baffled him in a way.
"Guys, hold up!" he called out. If only because he knew there was no way he was changing Moon's mind if they were on their way out. He turned back to Moon, "Just think about it for a second. We don't have to let anyone else in here."
Moon laid there for a moment pretending to consider it before giving a final, "I-I want the light on-n."
Jake gave a tired sigh and reluctantly turned to the tunnel to give the order. Charlie and Jeremy were waiting outside. "Can you guys turn the lights on? I'm sorry to ask, but I can't get in those tunnels like I used to."
"Sure. We'll do it on our way out," Jeremy said, pretending like he didn't immediately remember Carlton going on about him, John, and Jessica cramming into the play tunnels to find a bunch of generators. "…Mind giving us an idea where the generators are? And how many there are?"
"Five. Here's the fastest way I've seen it: go in through that entrance in that back corner, take a left instead of going up, there will be a generator there. Go up two floors, over the hump, take a left, go up the blue tunnel, take a left and go through the blue tunnel that's further down to the left. Then it's a straight shot and a drop down in front of generator three. Go up the winding tunnel, up the slope, around the bend, and there's generator four. Then you start going down. Just take every path down until you get to this wavy hallway, through this tunnel, and then take a right and follow the wires and you'll find the fourth generator. Take a left and come out, then head to the third tower, that one, and the generator's at the top. No maze or anything, it's just at the top. Think you've got it?"
Charlie and Jeremy were just staring at one another. Neither sure which of them had gotten lost on the directions first.
"…I think so. We can figure it out," Jeremy agreed.
They headed out of the disorganized room. Charlie waiting until they were at the end of the hallway before speaking up. "Did you get any of that?"
"About half," Jeremy admitted.
"Please tell me it's the second half," Charlie said. He chuckled a little and pushed the door closed behind them.
It didn't take long to make it back down and into the daycare proper. The two looked up at the three somewhat daunting play structures.
"Want to take the flashlight, you do this side and I do that one and we'll meet in the middle?" Charlie offered. She pointed out the structures with said light before offering it over, to which he raised a hand in decline.
"Nah, we've got this."
He walked over to the corner and the entrance that he assumed Jake was talking about with Charlie following and lighting his way. He knelt down in front of it, but instead of starting to crawl in he unzipped his jacket and opened it up.
"Alright, girls. Ready for a little adventure?" Jeremy asked.
In response, three Minireenas climbed out of his jacket and hopped to the padded floor. They weren't wearing dresses or even their tutus, likely so they could fit in the jacket easier. Because of that they were virtually identical, but he could tell which one was Daisy by who looked up first. He also knew which was Forget-Me-Not because she started to stretch the moment she hopped down, as she had gotten fussy being cooped up so long. Rose was, as expected, the quietest.
"Okay, so we've got five generators to find if we want to get these lights on. Think you can handle it?" he asked. Daisy and Rose nodded. Forget-Me-Not put her hands on her hips. He wasn't sure if it was out of confidence or offense that he even asked. "If you get lost, just call for me and I'll come get you," Jeremy offered, knowing good and well they wouldn't. "You all ready?"
Daisy gave a little laugh and a nod. Rose patted her hands together excitedly. Forget-Me-Not waited for her cue.
"And… Go!"
They turned and ran for it. None as fast as Forget-Me-Not, who intended to make it a race the second he made it sound like one. She was outright running, a weird motion to see a Minireena do when they tended to stick to ballerina leaps and dainty movements. Not that Daisy and Rose were far behind her with their flouncier movements.
They found the first generator fast and turned it on immediately before continuing into the structure. Unable to climb the slides, and unwilling to patiently walk through the maze, they climbed up and through the bars with ease, working as a unit to spread out and finding the generators in the first structure before hopping to the next one.
Meanwhile, Jake was still sitting at Moon's side in silence. Even though he knew they were down there fiddling with the generators he held back the urge to look from the balcony and instead stayed where he was.
"Last chance to change your mind," he warned. Moon gave a noncommittal, crunchy humming noise. He probably didn't even consider it.
Jake briefly considered that maybe this was what would push him into Parts and Service, feeling the full brunt of the sensation when the lights were on. Moon was definitely more numb to pain, if him getting up and walking around was any indication. Likely his limp was less from discomfort and simply from having so much stuff where it wasn't supposed to be. Sun wasn't going to have that advantage. He was about to feel it all in full force.
And Jake hated that he was going along with it just to get him downstairs. It felt manipulative.
"Andrew…" Jake began but trailed off again. He sighed and looked off somewhere in the room. He really should've cleaned up a little before he let Charlie in here. Ah well, the deed was done.
Suddenly Moon turned over and dropped his head into his lap. The motion was so sudden that Jake jumped a little, but then eased up. He patted the top of his head sympathetically.
"I-If I start screaming-ng…" Moon began. He dragged over a pillow with his bent back right arm which was trapped underneath him. "Y-You know what to do-o."
"…Stuff you in a pillowcase and drag you downstairs?" Jake tried.
That was probably the worst time for the lights to turn back on. Of course, that was when they did.
The familiar whirring of change didn't sound right. It sounded clunky, heavy, and a little too loud. Instead of a smooth emission fade from blue to yellow it flickered, and Jake sat rigidly waiting for it to fully kick in. Even as the point popped and poked against his legs.
Silence. Whirring and ticking, but silence.
Then.
"ACK-ARRGHGHHHH!"
Sunny's hand clawed down the wooden floor as one of his legs kicked and thumped against a plush brick. "UGGGHH!"
"Uh… Are you okay?" Jake asked dumbly.
"I MADE A MISTAAAKE!" Sunny wailed into his lap. "Oh G- Oh G- Oh STARS I should've JUMPED!"
"Should I go turn those back off?" Jake offered.
"NOOOO!" Sunny grabbed and threw the pillow overtop his head, smooshing it down onto the back of it to suffocate the noise. "I'm fine! I can handle it! I just gotta get used to it is all-ll-ll!"
Well, that confirmed that the voice box hadn't spontaneously fixed itself. It just seemed to do better when he was yelling.
Jake reached down to pat his back, hesitating when he noticed a clear misshape on one side of his back from the bent casing. He instead patted the other side, which thankfully didn't seem to hurt.
"Just try to stay calm. It's not like this is the first time we've gotten dinged up," Jake said. He tried to keep an upbeat tone. "And hey, this time we don't have to get parts out of the garbage! No getting eaten by the Dumpster Clown tonight."
Sunny grumbled something and hooked his arm around Jake's back, clinging tighter and needier. Jake continued to try and talk him through it. It was the least he could do for being spared a similar fate.
Down on the daycare floor, the lights had just come on and Jeremy and Charlie were waiting at the bottom of the third structure for the Minireenas to come down. Hearing them on the slide, Jeremy waited at the bottom. They slid down one by one, and he scooped them up one at a time. Soon having one in each hand and Forget-Me-Not climbing onto his shoulder, as the victor of the supposed race.
"Good job, girls!" he congratulated. They gave satisfied giggles at the praise, and Rose hugged his arm. He kissed her on the top of the head, and she giggled again. "Now that the lights are on, we're going to go after Mike and Mari. Do you three want to stay here until we get back? You can play-."
There was a pained yell from up in the balcony. One loud enough to get Charlie spinning around to look and get a flinch out of Jeremy. All of his Minireenas craning their heads to look around him.
"I think that was Sunny," Charlie said tensely.
That wasn't the end either. Sun could still be heard yelling, but it was hard to make out what he was saying beyond the anguished cries. After a few minutes of this it quieted down and only then did Charlie dare to pull out her radio.
"…Should we shut the lights back off?" she quietly asked. It took at least ten seconds before she received an answer.
"No, it's okay. We're okay. You guys just worry about finding Freddy. If it gets too bad, I can take care of it," Jake assured. She could hear a strange noise in the background but couldn't piece together that it was Sunny whining through a pillow.
"Okay… Okay, well we're heading down now. Call us if you need us," Charlie said. She released the button and paused for a moment. "…Mike didn't hear that at all. Think we should be worried?"
"Not yet. With the whole cell service thing, I wouldn't be shocked if the basement's a radio dead zone," Jeremy said. He would rather pretend that the statement didn't make him nervous until he got down there, then he could worry. "So, girls, want to stay here or come with us? It's okay to stay. I'll be back."
Daisy shook her head. Forget-Me-Not gave a dismissive, "Uh!" Obviously, they had been paying attention to what everyone had been saying about the basement. Their sudden lack of giggles showed that they were wary, and when they were wary they became protective and clingy. Which Jeremy was fine with.
"If you're sure. You don't have to!" he insisted. He opened up his jacket again for them to climb in. "I'll see if we can come back and play later, okay?"
Forget-Me-Not tapped his shoulder and pointed to him and then the slide structure. He knew what she was asking: if he would come in with them.
"…Only if I fit," he agreed.
Satisfied with this answer, she slid down into his jacket and she zipped it back closed.
"Okay, let's go," he said. Charlie nodded and they started to head towards the entrance. "…This music's not as bad as Mike made it out to be."
"You haven't listened to it on repeat for an hour," Charlie joked.
"I stand corrected," Jeremy said. He shrugged. "But the night's still early. Maybe I'll still get the chance… And who knows. Maybe I can still walk out of here with a sun."
Charlie jingled a little as they stepped out through the wooden doors and headed back to the hallway.
At least in that scenario they would still be walking out.