Mable: Posting very late, so there may be a few errors that I will have to come back and get tomorrow. Sorry in advance! Enjoy!
Going Home in a Box
Chapter Fifty-Two
Through another damp sewer shaft, Freddy and Foxy had made some distance into the seemingly endless basement. Though that progress was halted abruptly by them coming out of the end of the tunnel in a large room, the floor open in a large shaft being filled endlessly by numerous pipes. This was no longer just a dumping ground if the additional scent of chlorine, grime, and something that smelled suspiciously like an open sewage line were any indication.
And over that large opening in the floor, built more like an underground dam than anything septic-related, was a walkway. Not one of cement, not a metal bridge, not even a wooden bridge, but a set of poorly nailed together wooden boards and planks leading across.
Freddy stared at the wooden planks
"Ye ain't gettin' over that," Foxy bluntly said.
Freddy gave a thoughtful hum and looked up to the right where there was a cement ledge lined with drainage spouts. Foxy looked over as well, gave a similar hum, and stepped up to it.
"Wait here while I have a go at it," he commanded.
"Be careful please," Freddy said.
"Eh, I'll try. Prob'ly shoulda wrapped me feet," Foxy mumbled. He moved onto the edge and tight to the wall before slowly making his way down. Making sure to give himself enough distance that if he did fall, he would have plenty of room to do so.
Only a little water trickled out of the covered pipe openings, thankfully, but wet garbage was bunched up underneath them. It was a slick trek. Doable, but slick, and it didn't help that the gaping opening lay before him. Foxy glanced over and then away, then glanced again, and he wasn't sure if he was offput by the graphic thoughts of what would happen if he fell or enticed by that edge of danger. It was the closest thing he could get to being the Captain Foxy from the cartoon, just edging past a grisly fate. It was weird to think about.
Meanwhile, Freddy watched him from back on the ledge, realizing that he too would soon have to walk that path. If he fell, he would likely be damaged severely, but worse still was what may happen to Gregory. Especially if they landed in the water at the bottom of the pit. If it was too deep and Freddy shorted out, Gregory would be trapped inside of him, and he knew he wasn't watertight.
He looked back towards the bridge. Was it safer for Gregory to cross there? There were no railings and while the boards would likely carry Gregory's weight, they may be slick.
"I need to crouch down for a moment, Gregory. Brace yourself," Freddy forewarned.
"Sure… Or wait, can I get out? I want to see."
"Hmm… Alright but try to stay close. The ground may be slippery here."
Freddy turned around and let Gregory out as far from the ledge as he could. He watched as the boy looked out at the big chasm that lay between them and the rest of the basement. It was a far cry from the more biologically hazardous condition of the previous trek here. Freddy kept an eye on him and stole a quick glance to Foxy before kneeling beside the bridge of boards. He tapped a claw on the wood. It was firm, not dry rotted. He then tried to shift the board; sturdy enough. He dragged his fingers over; somewhat slick.
"I don't think that's going to hold you," Gregory pointed out.
"It will not, but perhaps… It may be safer if you walk across these boards than climb on the side with me. I am afraid if I slipped and fell that you would be injured. Would you be comfortable with that?" Freddy asked.
"Uh… I think so," Gregory hesitantly agreed. He peeked over into the pit only to have Freddy stop him with his hand. He wasn't sure how Freddy expected him to cross on the wood without getting close to the edge, but he would just let him figure that out.
Freddy sighed as he dropped his arm, the other resting on his knee. His face fell into a somber look as he watched Foxy continue the last stretch of the cement walkway. Then he looked back at Gregory, and as fate would have it he had a clear shot of that bruise.
"…Gregory, can we talk for a moment?" he asked lowly.
Gregory immediately tensed up and looked off somewhere in the opposite direction, but he agreed. "Uh, sure. About what happened to Chica?"
"More about what has been happening you," Freddy admitted. He hesitated a long moment before sighing again and turning to face the boy, resting his hand on his shoulder. "Gregory, I want to apologize. For Chica, for Roxy and Monty, and for myself."
"Don't worry about it. It's not your fault," Gregory remarked.
"But I must! This is supposed to be a safe place for children and adults alike, but especially children. You should not have to live in fear that one of us might hurt you, accidentally or not."
Gregory scoffed at the word 'accidentally'. He had trouble believing anything the others did was accidental.
"Freddy, I'm not even supposed to be in here…" he grumbled.
"That does not matter. I want you here, with me," Freddy insisted. His eyes dropping to that bruise spread across Gregory's skin. He drew his hand back from Gregory's shoulder and held it there tentative before starting to take his arm beneath the mark. "Perhaps we should get ice for this…"
Gregory jerked his arm back reflexively; afraid Freddy was going to poke at the bruise.
"I'm fine, Freddy! I don't need you to take care of me. I'm not a baby."
Gregory regretted snapping immediately. He wasn't angry with Freddy; he was the only member of his band who wasn't chasing him around all the time. The defensiveness was coming from something else that he couldn't understand. It felt weird to be coddled, especially when he knew that any minute now Freddy was going to find out that he turned on the trash compactor and he pushed Chica in and then everything was going to change. Freddy was going to change.
But for now, Freddy was the same. His face falling further at what he said.
"…My apologies. I was not trying to, I was just… Please, if anything like this happens again, please tell me."
"I did tell you," Gregory mumbled.
Something about that comment sent a pain through his chest. Likely his overworked processors suddenly draining a portion of his battery from the stress of all that was going on, but he could've equally compared it to the feeling of his heart breaking. Because Gregory was right, and it was too late for him to change that.
Freddy slowly lowered his hand. "Yes, I… suppose that you did," he said.
Their moment of tense silence was interrupted by a thump as Foxy climbed over the railing separating the cement walkway from the bridge on the other side. Both looked up to see him holding up his hook in triumph.
"Excellent job, Captain," Freddy congratulated.
"Thanks. Now it ain't too difficult, but yer gonna want to stay as farrr back on the wall as ya can. And if you hit anything ya can't step over, kick it off, don't risk stepping around," Foxy suggested.
"Thank you, I will be sure to follow your direction… But, err, Gregory will be crossing on the boards first."
Foxy looked down at the walkway before shooting Freddy an incredulous look. "Yer kidding."
"Nope. Here I come," Gregory agreed.
Apparently Foxy didn't believe Freddy because his patch flew up when Gregory started walking towards the board without the bear stopping him. Then he threw his arms up and began to wave.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Hold yer sails, Lad! Walking across that bridge be just as dangerous as walkin' the plank. Freddy, put him back in an' carry him over," he insisted.
"I would, but I feel that in this situation being inside of my stomach hatch may be just as dangerous as crossing the bridge. Perhaps even more so."
"Why, ya plannin' on diving off?" Foxy asked flatly.
"…I am hoping I do not," Freddy admitted, eyes wide before blinking back to normality. "…But I have checked the bridge and it does feel… sturdy enough. I am not sure if it would support the weight of adult- ironically, as I expect this must have been built by and for the adult workers to access the back of the basement- but it should hold Gregory."
"Uh huh…" Foxy seemed doubtful. "Well, why don't ya just toss him over then? Sounds just as safe!"
"Oh, umm, that is an excellent idea, Captain! But… well… I am a little afraid that you might have trouble catching him with your... peculiar situation," Freddy said. Hesitantly, like he was afraid he was going to offend him. Forget the hook, Foxy was nearly offended that Freddy thought he was seriously suggesting something so reckless. He rolled his eyes, lowered his patch, and came forward, cutting off any further assurances by thumping his foot down on the wooden beam.
He half-expected it to collapse under the blows alone but anticipated wobbles and creaks. Yet he was rewarded with very little of either. The wood was surprisingly sturdy- likely because it looked to have been built recently and hadn't had time to rot.
"Hmm… Might be able to pull it off," Foxy mumbled. He scratched his cheek with his hook thoughtfully before looking across to Gregory. "A'right, Lad. If yer sure, come on across- but be careful. There's no shame in crawlin'."
Gregory scrunched his nose at the idea and stepped forward. Though then he actually got a good look down and realized it was maybe a little scarier than he thought.
"You can do it, Gregory. I believe in you," Freddy cheered him on.
"Aye, it just be like walkin' the plank. Watch yer feet, but don't look down," Foxy suggested.
"How do I watch my feet if I can't look down?" Gregory asked.
"Ya do. Ya look down, but ya don't look down."
Gregory figured it out. Look at the boards, don't look at the drop underneath. He did steal a second look down and this time could see the glittery reflection of light on water at the bottom. Reflecting the lights from Freddy's eyes that already reflected off the glossy wet pipes and garbage scattered around. Gregory started to feel a little off-balance and looked to the boards instead and felt himself stabilize. Then he began to walk across.
The boards creaked a little, but they didn't buckle. They didn't even sway under his weight, just as sturdy as the solid ground. He made it to the other side easily and quickly.
"Atta boy, Lad!" Foxy congratulated and ruffled his hair, getting a smile out of the boy.
"Great job, Gregory! You were very brave," Freddy agreed with a proud smile. His face fell slightly, then grew serious as he looked at the cement ledge. He straightened up as though strengthening his resolve before climbing up like Foxy had.
Pressing his back as close as he could to the wall, Freddy sidled down the cement walkway. He made a motion like gulping as he stared down at the fall he could be in for. It was weird to be afraid when he knew that he technically could be repaired, as long as the damage wasn't too severe, but he supposed he just really didn't want to fall into that hole. He had spent enough time in Parts and Service for a lifetime.
"Come on, Freddy! You're almost there!" Gregory coaxed.
That snapped Freddy out of his reverie, and he continued to scoot down the cement. He briefly wondered how they would be able to move Chica and Baby if they weren't able to walk, but then shrugged it off. They would literally cross that bridge when they got there.
Soon enough he got to the end and hopped the fence just like Foxy had. Then proceeded to bend over with his hands on his knees.
"I think I may have a fear of heights," he admitted. Foxy gave him a clattering thump on the back.
"Ye'd have to be a fool to not fear a drop like that. It'd be a softer landing landin' in a coffin," he remarked.
It was weird for Gregory to see Freddy shaken even the slightest bit by anything, even if this really did count as the slightest bit. Not a bad weird, he wasn't sure how he would categorize it. After a moment of consideration, still regretting what happened earlier, Gregory put up his hand. Freddy was a little surprised, but perked up instantly and gave him a high-five. Then gave a little victory pump of his fist before straightening up. It brought a smile back to Gregory's face.
They followed Foxy who led the way up a windy path only to be stopped shortly afterwards by a fence. Foxy tested it only to find it locked firm. He mumbled and took a few steps back. Freddy raised a finger preparing to offer a suggestion, only for the fox to break into a sprint and ram the fence knee-first. It flung open with a clank and clatter.
Freddy gawked momentarily before crying, "Foxy!"
"What?" Foxy asked. He sent the bear a shrug. "We're on a rescue mission! The lives of two lasses be more important than a fence."
"You could have at least let me do it," Freddy suggested.
"Tryin' to show off, Fazbear?" Foxy asked with a coy glint in his eye.
Freddy answered with a cross of his arms and a disappointed look.
"Next time I leave it to you. That fair?" Foxy asked.
Freddy gave a nod and the three continued on. Or they would've, if not immediately stopped by the path splitting into two. One leading ahead and the other leading into a tunnel to the left.
"Which'a these, if any, leads under the kitchen?" Foxy asked as he looked between the two.
Freddy stood beside him and hummed, rubbing his chin, as he looked between the two and tried to access the approximate location. Something that was incredibly difficult to do in this otherwise unmapped basement. Eventually he pointed ahead.
"I think, perhaps, this way."
"Aye," Foxy agreed.
He continued to lead ahead onto a metal walkway that looked above where they had just came. He ducked through an open doorway and into a tunnel overflowing with trash and Staff Bot parts.
"Back into the boneyard," Foxy cryptically muttered. "Watch yer step. It be soggy."
Gregory continued in next and then Freddy who looked around at the tunnel warily before lowering his gaze to the boy.
"Gregory, perhaps it would be safer if you returned to my stomach hatch," he offered.
"No, I'm good," Gregory said and continued after Foxy. Walking around a bunch of trash wasn't great, but it was more exciting than hiding in Freddy waiting to get somewhere.
While Freddy wasn't quite on-board with this plan, looking around at their surroundings, but he didn't insist. Instead, he stepped down and followed through. His eyes trailing to a pipe spilling a surplus of water that thankfully was collected by a grate beneath it. It truly was a hazard down here. Why on Earth were they dumping Staff Bots down here? Why couldn't they repair them? Because they were an older model? Because they didn't want to risk dumping elsewhere and having competition find out about the Staff Bots?
Just thinking about it made Freddy uncomfortable in a way he couldn't understand. He didn't have long to dwell on it.
At the end of tunnel was a doorway and Foxy stepped through and found a dumping ground on the other side. A more compact room but overflowing with especially rancid smelling garbage. That smell tipped off Foxy right away because he could only guess it was coming from decaying food waste. Though if it hadn't, the sight of a white head would've done so. Foxy's eyes perked as he looked at the top of Chica's head poking out of the bed of garbage she was laying on, facing the other direction.
"Freddy, it's Chica," Foxy whispered over his shoulder. He decided to not risk revealing himself until he was sure if she was awake or not.
Freddy gasped and squeezed between Gregory and Foxy before sliding down on a pile of trash, barely catching his footing, and ran over to her. He ran around to face her and gasped as he saw the state she was in; laying out on a bed of garbage with her body riddled with cracks, her beak sunken into her broken face, and her eyes staring out unfocused and unblinking. She wasn't moving.
"Chica, no!" Freddy cried in aghast. He reached towards her with cautious hands, afraid to touch her, and lowered onto one knee. "Oh, Chica…" He dropped his arms listlessly and just stared down at her with a look of distraught.
Foxy sighed and waded down over the garbage before walking over to Freddy. His hand and hook resting on his hips as he did. He stopped alongside the bear and looked down at Chica and had to restrain the urge to make some sort of reflexive dour noise. Instead, he reached out and tapped his hook on the back of Freddy's shoulder, as though replicating a pat on the back. Freddy dropped his head and closed his eyes in response.
All Gregory could do was watch. He had been so afraid that he was going to get found out that it had been the main thing on his mind. He had known Freddy was going to be disappointed, upset, but he hadn't really thought about how upset he was really going to be.
It was the first time Gregory felt bad about what happened. After all, Chica had been such a pain for so long. She was annoying and cruel, she pretended like she was nice when she wasn't, she tore up his hidey hole, and she just wouldn't leave him alone. And on top of that, she was the one who pushed Baby in first. Maybe he pushed her in too, but she was acting crazy anyway and he just wanted to stop her. She was just a stupid robot.
But looking at how upset Freddy was made him upset too. He didn't want to hurt Freddy. Part of him didn't really think about it- largely because the initial plan was honestly just to scare her, not to bang her up. So, even though she got what was coming to her in Gregory's eyes, Freddy's sadness made him feel guilty.
It didn't help when he crept over a little closer to get a look at Chica. He kind of expected her to just be busted up like he saw earlier, and she was, but now looking at her laying there like that made him feel a little bad.
Or a lot bad. He didn't like her by far, but he really didn't want to hurt her. She might've just been a robot, but so was Freddy and Foxy, and they were just like humans. As awful as she was, she was too. She was a person and Gregory had broken her.
He felt even worse. She was broken, Baby was gone, Ennard was in trouble, and Freddy was sad, and it was all because of him. Because he pressed that button. Or because he asked Ennard to scare her. Or because he was in this Pizzaplex when he wasn't supposed to be.
He felt even worse. And he still didn't like her, but he didn't want this. He didn't want all this stuff to happen because of him.
"Can't you… Can't you fix her? Like they fixed Sunny and Moondrop?" Gregory dared to ask.
"Yes… Yes, they will. She will be alright," Freddy agreed. He lifted his head and sent another regretful look at Chica. Then he began to lean forward and tried to gather her into his arms. Eventually having to sling half her torso over his shoulder to do so. He patted on her back before looking around. "I do not see Baby."
"Bloody 'ell! Baby!" Foxy cried. Suddenly remembering his own sister, Foxy began to scuffle around in the trash. There wasn't any sign of her. "She ain't here… Hold on!" Foxy noticed some doors on the walls and climbed across the trash to reach them. The one on the back wall was almost entirely buried and unresponsive, the one to the right equally so, and the one to the left opened a crack once he pulled away the trash but too heavy for him to lift.
He dropped the door with a grunt and stepped back. "It's no good… Bah, she prob'ly didn't go through there anyways. Woulda taken the easy door out."
"Then where is she?" Freddy asked worriedly.
"She could be down that other tunnel. The one by the fence," Gregory suggested.
"An excellent observation, Gregory. I almost forgot," the bear said. He was exaggerating, both Gregory and Foxy could tell, but he started walking towards the door. "Let us go see where it leads."
As he passed, Gregory briefly made eye contact with Chica. Though it was hard to tell with how her eyes rolled with each of the bear's steps. It sent a chill through him. He might've felt bad now, but she still scared him, and she was even scarier busted up.
Gregory stayed close to Foxy as they walked back to the tunnel. Which wasn't bad. Foxy ruffled his hair again to which he fussily fixed it, getting a chuckle out of the pirate. He noticed how quiet Gregory had gotten and tried to lighten the mood a little, as it wasn't the boy's burden to bear. It was hard enough that it was Freddy's, but he couldn't really do anything to help him until they found Baby and got Chica into Parts and Service.
Freddy stopped at the fence and crouched down before carefully laying Chica down. She still slumped in the crook of the fence and the wall, but at least she wasn't lying on the floor.
"Do not worry, Chica. We will be back very soon," he assured her. He wasn't quite sure she could hear him; it was more for him than for her. Then he stood with another sorrowful look before coming along with Foxy and Gregory. This time the pirate giving him a proper pat on the back, which Freddy returned by putting a hand on Foxy's shoulder. Foxy was slightly surprised by the motion, but accepted the reassurance. He needed it just as much as Freddy they both realized.
Gregory led the way down a more cramped tunnel until he went around a corner and found a pair of eyes staring out of the darkness at him. Glowing dotted eyes.
"Freddy!" he called with a start.
Freddy raced up the few steps to catch up with him and came around the corner, shining the light from his eyes over the assumed threat. Which turned out just to be a malfunctioning Staff Bot. Barely anymore than a head staring out from a nook in the wall.
"Ugh, never mind. It's just a Staff Bot," Gregory said quietly. Somewhere between embarrassed and annoyed.
"How strange that it is still functional… Try to stay close. I fear Staff Bots in such disrepair may not function as they are supposed to," Freddy forewarned.
"That'd be assumin' they usually do," Foxy quipped. He scooted past the two and got a look at the bot before preparing to take the lead.
Freddy squinted as though furrowing his brow and blinked. "These are Alpha Staff Bots," he said.
"Huh?" Foxy looked back.
"Alpha. That was the name of the initial line of Staff Bots that were produced for the Pizzaplex… But they did not function properly. I cannot remember all the details, but they did not respond well to programming. Not like the current Staff Bots."
"Aye? What'd they do?"
"I believe… they would wander… It must have been before they finished the pathfinding and mapping systems for the Staff Bots. I am not sure. Though they indeed had a very long battery life."
"Huh. So, they wander 'round and don't have an off switch. Explains why they dumped 'em down here… almost," Foxy muttered.
He waved for the two to follow him and they did. Gregory finding the Staff Bot creepy, Freddy feeling uncomfortable, and neither wanting to stand there much longer. The Staff Bot's lit eyes dimmed once more after they passed.
"Anything else hidin' down here that we should be wary of?" Foxy called back. His tone only partially joking as he sent a questioning look back at the bear.
"Not that I am aware. Except for Baby, hopefully."
"Aye. Hopefully…"
The sewer tunnel opened into another sizable room. This one was a little different. The ceiling was so tall that he could barely see the top and the middle area was cleared enough to walk through. Though there were still plenty of trash and laundry carts scattered about. Large, plastic drainage pipes trailed down from the ceiling before lodging themselves into the flooring. A rather flimsy example of pipework in what was supposedly a sewer.
If anything, this room only reassured what this place was, a massive trash heap. Even more mounds of garbage and broken bots lines the walls in mountainous piles surrounding the clearing. A 'clearing' that still consisted of a wet dirt flooring covered in pieces of trash, old sticky notes, posters, and even more pieces of abandoned robots.
"Blast me booty and call me a bilge-sucker," Foxy tiredly grumbled. Something that got an especially weird look from Gregory and a "hmm?" from Freddy. Instead of answering, Foxy barked across the cavernous room. "Baby! Ya down here, Lass?"
He didn't expect a response.
He heard a gasp.
"Ga-Gabe! GABRIEL!"
Foxy straightened with a start and snapped his head towards the sound of the voice before sprinting towards it. Halfway across the large room and he still couldn't see any sign of her.
"Lizzie?!" he yelled. "Lizzie, where are ya?!"
"Here! Down here, over here!" she called back. Her voice showing an amount of panic and desperation that he hadn't heard in ages. It was enough to send him into a panic, that and the muffled nature of her voice.
He got to the other side of the room and realized her voice was further out. Past where the clearing turned into mounds of trash yet again. He climbed over a rickety half bent railing and started to climb up one of the mounds, disrupting the pieces of metal and sinking into the softened bags amongst them. He hooked into the trash and dug in his feet to climb the unstable structure.
"Lizzie!"
"I'm down here!"
On the other side of this trash, he realized. Foxy made it to the top and looked over the other side. A pit or a trench had been created between the mound and the cement wall behind it. Down in this pit was where Foxy spotted Baby, sunken in to her thighs in what he hopped was just muddy water and clutching onto the garbage in front of her for dear life to keep from sinking any further. Her eyes glowed up at him.
"Avast ye, Lizzie!" he called down.
"Gabe! Thank God you found me! I can't bear another minute down here," she said with a breathless sounding sigh.
"Don't worry, we're gonna get ya right out. Just as soon as we can," Foxy reassured her. He crouched down and leaned over to get a better look. "How'd you even get yerself down there?"
"I was looking for a way out and I saw that- that- that stupid hatch over there and I thought maybe it would go somewhere and I walked along the edge of this stupid hole, and the whole thing collapsed in! I can't pull myself out. All this, ugh, garbage is too loose."
"…Ya didn't see the fence over there?" Foxy asked, pointing his hook back in the vague direction of it.
"Yes, I saw the fence! And that pitiful little bridge on the other side! Calling it a bridge is generous," Baby said huffily.
"Yeah, it t'was pretty pathetic…" Foxy almost mentioned the concrete ledge, but he wasn't sure if she would've been willing to risk it with her roller skates. Unfortunately, since she soon would have no choice. "How are ya holding up?"
"How do you think?" Baby retorted.
"Sorry. What I meant is were ya injured? In this fall or the other?"
"Oh. No, I wasn't…" Baby shifted around a little. "My legs hurt."
"Are they broken?" Foxy asked. His tone shifting to seriousness and concern.
"I… I don't think so… They were fine and all this disgusting slime cushioned my fall. I don't know what it is."
And it was too early for her legs to be degrading. Perhaps something got wet that wasn't supposed to, or maybe just the fall itself was rough. Foxy wouldn't know until he pulled her up. Which would have to be soon now that he was given a red flag.
Foxy looked at his options and muttered under his breath before turning himself to have his feet first. "Alright, I'm coming down."
"What? No, you will just get stuck too," Baby pointed out.
"Nah, I got this," Foxy assured.
He began to carefully climb down along the side, where the trash was so close to the wall that he could use that for leverage. He almost expected Freddy to follow, but he didn't. He had been standing obediently at the edge of the clearing, awaiting the captain's further orders. It didn't take long to get to the bottom, especially with some sliding at the end, but using his feet against the wall he kept himself up about the funky sludge.
"Oh yeah, yer deep in it alright…" Foxy muttered as he looked at how high it had her legs sucked in.
Baby scoffed a little and readjusted her claw on a Staff Bot sunk so deep into the mound of trash that it braced her. "Tell me something I don't know…"
"Some of these things are still on," Foxy said matter-of-factly, knocking on the chest of a Staff Bot. She stared at him, and he tilted back his head and called out, "Oiy, Freddy!"
"Present, Captain! What do you need?" Freddy called back.
"Mind lookin' around and seein' if there's anything around here to pull her up with? Chains, rope… Prob'ly chains." Baby lightly smacked his leg. "We can wrap 'em round her, get the others over here, and pull her up."
"Ugh, the others," Baby groaned. She dropped dramatically against the trash in front of her. Face burying onto her arm with embarrassment. "Everyone has to see this."
"We've all seen a lot worse," Foxy assured. He then leaned in and very quietly, so quietly that Freddy wouldn't be able to hear, whispered, "You should see Chica."
Baby made a disgruntled hum.
Freddy was quick to do as Foxy said, only briefly taking a moment to turn to Gregory and say, "Will you be alright to wait here? Considering the state of this basement, I would not feel comfortable rummaging through any of this if there was a risk of it falling on you. But at least the lighting here seems better!"
He looked up and so did Gregory. There was either a distant light or an opening high on the ceiling that shined a dull but sufficient light down. Though only onto the center of the clearing and not into the room in full. Better than standing in the dark, Gregory supposed.
"Okay. Just don't fall in a hole or something like Baby did," he said, whispering the last part through a cupped hand. Freddy gave him an assuring thumbs up and started off into the nearby rubble to begin searching. Soon walking behind something and disappearing.
Being under the light and being able to hear Foxy and Baby's somewhat lowered voices kept him from getting creeped out, but it didn't keep him from getting bored fast. Especially when the only thing he could do when he was just standing around was thinking. He didn't want to think about stuff, so he started to walk around and look for ropes or chains under the light that he did have.
He didn't see any of that, but his eyes caught the sight of a little plastic leg sticking out from some trash. He hastily yanked it out, uncaring where it had come from, and found a Roxanne Wolf action figure. It was missing the other leg unfortunately, not that he minded too much. A toy was a toy, he didn't get many of those so he couldn't be picky. He unzipped his bag to shove it inside.
When he suddenly heard a very weird noise. It kind of sounded like a laser zap, added with something grindy and squeaky. It wasn't a scary noise, but it still made Gregory jump.
"What was that?" Foxy suddenly called out.
"I don't know! Sounded like some sort of laser or something!" Gregory called back. He pressed his watch button. "Freddy, did you hear that?"
"I did! I heard you and Foxy too. I wonder what that was," Freddy replied. Gregory could hear his voice coming from the other side of the room. "I think I might have found-!... Bah."
"What?"
"Oh, I thought this might be a rope, but it is a tangled string of Christmas lights. Unfortunately, I do not think that is strong enough to pull anyone up."
There was another shrill noise. It almost sounded like a machine backfiring. It almost sounded like that noise that came out of Chica before and after she was crushed. The thought filled Gregory with panic. Was it Chica? Was she out there screaming by the gate? Was she coming for him? He backed up beside a laundry cart and looked across the room with paranoia. It could be her, he realized. Broken Chica could be coming to get him. He lifted his watch close to his mouth.
"Freddy," he whispered into it. "Can you come get me? I want to go back inside."
"Did something happen?" Freddy asked worriedly. His volume lowering to match Gregory's.
"I… No," Gregory confessed. He was almost embarrassed admitting it even though he was now thoroughly creeped out.
"Do not worry, I will be there in a moment," Freddy reassured. There was a clattering noise from the far side of the room. "…Just one moment," Freddy added sheepishly.
"Okay…"
A few moments passed. Gregory considered telling Freddy to hurry up but by time he decided to take the plunge and press the button he heard the heavy footsteps coming from the right. He muttered a small, "Finally," under his breath and stepped out to wait for him.
It staggered clumsily into sight. The source of the footsteps. Its whole body swaying on bent and bowed legs. Arms bent and twitching at its sides, head rolling and twisting on its neck, shivering and writhing while standing in a way he didn't think animatronics could.
It was her. It was Chica.
Gregory's heart could've stopped. His eyes went wide and panic spread through him like fire. His worst fear had come true. She wasn't supposed to be standing, she didn't look right. She looked so terribly and nightmarishly wrong.
He had never been so afraid of her.
Her head slowly began to turn and he hastily scrambled back and ducked behind the laundry cart again. Her head immediately spun in his direction and she turned towards the cart. She stumbled over her own feet, shoulders wobbling and twitching, and shambled in the direction of the faint noise. Gregory could hear her approach with his back pressed against the cart and felt it shake as her weight suddenly fell on it.
Chica nearly fell into it, her body folding over sideways over the rim. A rumbling crackle echoed through her chest before raising into a skipping shriek grinding out behind her sunken beak. She rolled onto her front, feet scuffing on the dirt, cart shuttering underneath her weight, and leaned forward to stare at the junk in the bottom of the laundry cart. She let out a rattly noise but it expressed no confusion or discernable humanity at all. Though Gregory didn't need words to know she was looking for him.
She shuffled a step closer, and Gregory clenched his teeth and slid aside. He considered running, but she was so close now that he knew she would catch him. He could only cower behind the cart as her body slid further down it and closer to him.
A step closer. A drag of broken plasticky material on the edge of the cart. So close that he could see her shallowly cast shadow. So very close…
"Chica?"
The startled cry cut through the tenseness and Gregory's eyes popped open again. It was Freddy. He had just walked up on the scene and now stood no more than ten feet away looking at the back of his shattered bandmate in shock. Relief only barely fought back the fear, but Gregory clung to the hope that Freddy could still protect him.
All the while that this had been going, Foxy and Baby had still been stuck in their little pit when that noise started to become more clear.
"Hope that ain't some sorta walking trash compactor," Foxy had remarked. Baby gave a dismissive sort of hum, unconcerned.
Or that was unconcerned until she suddenly caught wind of that noise now that it had gotten closer. She had heard it before, but only partially, muffled by trash and distance. Now that she heard that whirring squeal up close she recognized it immediately and her head shot up from its position on her arm. Foxy took notice but didn't have a chance to ask before she spoke.
"That's her," she said with alarm.
"Who, Chica?" Foxy asked. That being the only 'her' he could think Baby would show such alarm at hearing.
"Yes!"
"Can't be! We found her before we found you. She ain't getting up anytime soon."
"Well, she must have! I heard her shriek before I fell. That's her!"
Seeing how adamant Baby was, Foxy gave a simple 'alright' and began to climb up the pile to the best of his abilities. He had to be extra careful but managed to get to the top again and looked over to see what came wandering into the room.
It was the broken body he had witnessed Freddy lug around and leave out by the fence, Chica herself. Just the sight of the way the broken animatronic stumbled disturbed him deeply. It was like watching someone walking on a broken limb. He clenched his jaw.
"Bloody hell, it's her," he muttered down through his teeth. When Chica turned, Foxy finally caught sight of the boy hiding behind the edge of the cart, and he nearly choked. "Oh bloody HELL, Gregory's right there!"
Foxy started scrambling over with the full intention of running out into the clearing and drawing Chica away. He could be loud and fast, and that's all he needed to get the broken bot's attention. He would've done it too, but he stopped himself when he spotted Freddy running up. Then it was just a matter of staring at the scene like he was watching two trains preparing to collide. All while Baby hastily whispered and asked what was going on.
Then there was Freddy who stood in the middle of it all. Who could only stare silently as Chica responded to his voice by sluggishly turning around. Feet turned in to keep her stabilized and head rolling like her neck couldn't even hold it up any longer. He could remember a few incidents where she had eaten more than her fill and became wobbly and off-balance, but this was so much worse.
She wasn't full, she was broken. Her body was shattered.
"Chica…" Freddy quietly repeated. He then snapped out of his shock and stepped forward. "Chica, you should not be walking around in your state! You are… very, very damaged. We need to get you to Parts and Service immediately."
Chica was looking at him, at least in his general direction. Her eyes were unfocused, so it was hard to tell if she was actually looking at him or not. Even when her eyes rolled over his face there was a distance in them. She took a few steps closer and continued to roll and refocus her head and eyes, as though struggling to detect him. He met her halfway and reached out for her wrist.
Her whole body crinkled up on itself. He retracted his hand as she pulled her arm up and rotated her head and eyes, flickering them with incomplete scans as she tried to detect him but couldn't. This was even worse than Freddy could've imagined.
"It is okay, Chica. It is me, Freddy. I am your friend," he assured her. Her shoulders shifted and her head lulled forward. "Oh Chica…"
It was in that moment that Freddy caught sight of Gregory out of the corner of his eye peeking out from behind the cart. He resisted the urge to look directly at him and instead looked to Chica, then closed his eyes momentarily, then opened them and began to talk to her once again. His tone shifted, becoming a little jauntier and louder.
"It will be alright, Chica. All of this can be fixed. You will be back to showtime ready in no time! Now we just need to get you to Parts and Service. Now I should warn you, we had quite the time getting here…"
Gregory didn't understand it until he got a message on his Fazwatch. He raised it close to his ear and listened.
"Gregory, sneak past while I distract Chica. Go back the way we came and find a place to hide. I will come find you when it is safe."
Freddy's tone on the watch betrayed his true feelings. It was dead serious and brimming with its own kind of fear. Gregory could tell from that tone that Freddy finally knew what kind of threat Chica was, and he knew he couldn't stick around to get spotted.
Every nerve in his body was screaming at him to run for the hills as fast as possible, but instead he forced himself to stay quiet and cautiously stepped out of his hiding spot. He began to creep back in the direction they had come from. Making his way right behind Chica while Freddy continued to prattle on in an attempt to keep her attention. It was hard to tell if he was when she wouldn't even look at him.
Gregory was almost past the carts. He was almost at the way they came in. He didn't know how Freddy expected him to see with it being so dim and nothing more than his watch to light his way, but he didn't need to be told twice. He kept his eyes on the back of her head as he crept past, paying no attention to Freddy's chattering, only able to hear the humming in his ears as he passed. He held his breath as he inched past. Watching her sway, watching her back.
Watching as her head suddenly spun around.
Gregory gasped and watched as those eyes whirled and locked onto him. She let out an ear-piercing shriek at the sight of him and then with no further warning broke into a run. She was much faster than he could've expected, up upon him in seconds as Gregory jumped back, back against the side of the laundry cart. He stared up in fear as she towered over him, only to watch Freddy hook his arms around her waist and yank her back.
Chica struggled against Freddy's grip, flailing and fighting against him, pushing it to its limit. Eventually even hooking a hand back to shove at his head, her fingers catching across his eyes until he had to turn away. He finally used all his strength to lift her off the ground.
"Gregory, RUN!" he cried.
Gregory jumped to his feet and made a mad dash back the way he came. All the while Freddy continued to fight, but his attempts to stop her was his own downfall. Literally. Lifting her threw off his balance once she started thrashing all of her limbs, and suddenly the whole world tilted before he fell flat on his back on the wet muck. He laid there like a statue for a moment until Chica planted her feet and broke out of his grip, getting right back up as her body cracked and popped beneath her.
He desperately caught her leg. "Chica, stop! Let him go! Leave him be!" he pleaded.
She didn't acknowledge him at all. She kicked her leg forward, yanking it from his grasp, fell into the step with a lopsided stagger and then broke into a clumsy run. One arm reaching out desperately before her while the other, the one that had shed most of its plating, continued to dangle at her side uselessly. Freddy fumbled to his feet and ran after her shortly after.
Foxy proceeded to all but throw himself over the trash and skid down the other side. The motion knocked loose a headless Staff Bot that proceeded to tumble into the hole and land onto Baby. She gave an agitated huff and shoved it off with both arms, only to promptly start sinking into the muck beneath. She gave a frightened cry and grappled at the trash in front of her. Fear quickly turned to panic as she struggled to regain a latch, with everything sliding down as easily as she did.
She finally shoved her claw in deep and used that to leverage herself. By then the trash was pushing up the pleats of her skirt, signaling that she had sunken in a few more inches. She felt something shift on her ankle and sting.
Suddenly Foxy came flying down the trash beside her and barely stopped himself with a foot on the wall from going into the muck.
"You okay?! What happened?!" he asked. He had heard the shriek and ran back for her.
Normally she would've been embarrassed to be caught in such a state, but in this case it was the last thing on her mind. She grabbed for him and took his hand when he held it out for her, clutching on for dear life.
"Don't go!" she pleaded. "Don't leave me alone! Please! I'll sink!"
Foxy couldn't remember ever seeing his sister in such a state of desperation. Though then again, he hadn't seen her in a situation this precarious. She had already started to sink down further, he realized, and the grip with her claw looked much looser.
He found himself stuck with an impossible choice.
Meanwhile, Gregory had managed to make it back to the wooden bridge and started crossing. Fear pushed him out on that bridge and it wasn't until he was halfway across that the fear started to creep in. Nobody was here to help him if he fell, so he had to make sure he didn't. He threw pride to the wind at that point and got down to crawl the rest of the way across. It was safer, less slippery, and he was almost there.
That was when he heard the wild footsteps coming. He turned back to look over his shoulder, wobbling as he did, and watched Chica run down the same path and after him. Thankfully, there was no way the bridge was going to hold her.
Except, Gregory had a bad feeling that the bridge wasn't going to stop her either. He turned back ahead and began to crawl as fast as he could to the other side.
His assumption was right as Chica started to run across the bridge after him. It shaking and creaking loudly under her weight. There was a loud crack of wood, but it still held, and as he got to his feet and ran into the next tunnel, he could hear her following right behind him. The bridge complaining under her weight but holding long enough to get her to the other side.
"Oh, great!" Gregory thought. Of course, Chica would be able to make it. Then he returned to thinking of nothing but running as fast as he could and getting back to the others.
Only to find his way unceremoniously blocked by a fence they had passed through earlier. It had been open and they had walked straight through, but now the gate was closed. A black cable weaved through the fence to keep it closed.
"No, no, no!" he cried. He grabbed the fence door with both hands and tried to shake it open, but he wasn't strong enough to force it open and he didn't have enough time to even consider unweaving the wires.
He turned back in time to see Chica running up the way towards him. With no other option, Gregory ran for his life down a separate tunnel and into the unknown darkness. Weaving through mounds of trash as the air grew heavier with moisture and decay. In the distance he spotted a reddish light and ran for it only to run up upon yet another bridge of flimsy wooden planks. He held out his arms and quickly rushed across the short bridge and into a tunnel.
The tunnels were tighter than the ones he had seen before. Walls of cement and trash were held back by frames of wood and a soggy floor was sucking at his shoes. The red lights sent an ominous glow over the tunnel, but only in the sections that it actually illuminated. Most of the time it was nearly pitch dark and Gregory had no idea where he was going, just had to keep running.
The only thing that got him to stop was the sound of footsteps. Chica's clumsy quick footsteps, and for some reason they sounded in front of him instead of behind. Or maybe it was behind him. It was almost impossible to tell as her footsteps seem to run past before slowing to a dragging stroll. He tried to make sense of what direction she was in and then decided to turn around and start running back only to immediately walk into a new problem.
The path broke into two tunnels. He hadn't even seen a second tunnel running this way, so he had no idea which one was the right one. He turned around and tried to judge from what he saw. Maybe the left path? But that would lead him closer to the sound of her footsteps. He decided to take the further path that led into the darkness. He quietly walked over planks laid out on the ground, feeling around the gross, wet wall to see as he listened to the whirring shrieks and wails move around him.
By time he made it back into the light he could see a tunnel leading into numerous paths and had no idea which one led where. It was like a maze, and he had nowhere to go but forward quietly. The footsteps were getting louder but he couldn't tell where they were coming from. Everything echoed in the tunnels and when he turned his head the sounds seemed to shift where they were, making impossible to pinpoint their origin, but they were getting closer.
Gregory made a run for it down another path. By now it felt like the walls were closing in around him. Panting only filled his lungs with the thick air and made him want to cough, but he couldn't risk that much noise and pushed through. He could hear her stomping around somewhere He ran as fast as he could, certain he was finally getting away from her as the path turned deeper into the darkness. nearby.
Until suddenly he saw a change in the scenery and a familiar wall enwrapped in black plastic. He saw something similar when he had come in and realized he had to have looped back around to the entrance. With a burst of adrenaline, he ran out into the tunnel-
-right as Chica was coming down the other way.
Gregory took a sharp left and right the other way, only to find himself immediately at a dead end. What looked like the beginning of another tunnel came to an immediate halt and he was trapped inside. Looking back, he realized that Chica hadn't noticed him yet and shoved himself against the wall, crouching down and curling his body tightly into a nook there, using it as his only chance at a hiding spot.
Chica continued to saunter in his direction, staggering past the entrance and following the path. Her head continued to roll and bob with every unsteady step, little shudders occasionally shooting through her body. Gregory pressed tighter into the wall as he watched her inch closer and closer. So close that he could nearly feel the ground shaking after each of her heavy footsteps. Her voice box hazy with static even when she wasn't shrieking.
She was the scariest thing he had ever seen. He thought Chica had been bad, but he was wrong. She had been annoying and irritating, but now she was a monster.
He closed his eyes and pressed tighter into the wall as she got close, hoping and praying that she would just pass by without noticing him. He waited, heart pounding between every heavy footstep.
"Just go. Just go. Just go."
Chica swayed to a stop at the turn into the tunnel. For a moment she just stared ahead and Gregory could only hold his breath and stay perfectly still in the hopes that she would keep going. She shivered and rolled her head around.
Then she halted, body half tilted and head laying on her shoulder. Sliding just the slightest bit closer as her eyes struggled to fixate on the same point.
And then…
She shrieked, and he knew she saw him. His eyes opened and he looked up to her in fear. She had definitely seen him. She stomped in place, nearly staggering to the side before righting herself and coming at him with her hand outreached for him.
He should've run, but he couldn't. He just pressed tighter into the nook and frantically yelled out, "I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" as though it would stop her. It didn't.
His eyes filling up with tears as his heart climbed up his throat. Chica reached for him and he threw his arm up to shield himself, shut his eyes, and braced himself.
"CHICA, STOP!"
Gregory's eyes opened again only to see the glow of a flashlight shining on Chica's back. Chica was leaning directly over him. So close that he could smell trash and pizza wafting from her and feel the heat radiating off her body. Her crushed face much too close to his own. One of her eye lids blinked lazily while the other seemed to be stuck, and her eyes wandered around distantly as though she was trying to recognize the voice. Gregory knew who it was immediately.
"Chica, step back from him right now," Natalie commanded. She stood at the entranceway with her heavy-duty flashlight trained right on Chica's back. "I said now."
Chica finally straightened herself with a backwards stagger and twisted her head around to look towards Natalie. The blond flinched at the sight of her face and grimaced, but then quickly regained her no-nonsense look.
"That's it. Come back over here. Slowly," she guided.
The broken animatronic started to slowly step and turn, twisting her head as she did, eventually lining the two up. She took a few slow, labored steps towards the security guard. Her eyes remained locked onto the blond as she made her way towards her.
"Good, good. Alright… We're going to have to get you into Parts and Service ASAP. But don't worry, I'm sure we can get you repaired by morning, and if not then we can get management- hey, whoa."
Chica reached for Natalie who took a step back and raised a hand as though deflecting her. She couldn't help but be on guard with how Chica was eyeballing her.
"Don't do that, okay? I know you might be confused, but just trust me here- stop." Natalie had to physically push back Chica's hand when she reached towards her face. In that second, something in Chica must've flipped as she suddenly lunged forward and grabbed ahold of her by the shoulder and the wrist of the arm that held the flashlight. Natalie gasped and tried to push her off. "Chica?! What are you doing?! Get off!" she tried to get through to her. "It's me, Vanessa! Stand down, now!"
But like with Freddy before her, Chica seemed to hold no obvious recognition in her eyes. They focused on Natalie, but they had the glassiness of a malfunctioning robot more than a sentient creature. Her hands were burning hot and her grip as tight as a vice.
That was when Fritz threw himself in and started trying to help her force Chica off. He managed to pry her arm off of Natalie's as she kicked at the bot's legs and tried to pull her other arm free. It worked, sending her staggering into the wall, but Chica proceeded to swing that released arm and grab Fritz by the hair before pulling him in. He unhooked his taser from his belt.
"Fritz-!"
Then with one sharp shove in the chest so he could yank himself back, swung forward and landed the taser directly on the exposed metal of Chica's arm. Volts of electricity shot through her body, and she convulsed. Her broken voice box glitching and trembling before the taser was drawn back away. Chica staggered momentarily before falling backwards against the opposite wall of the tunnel, sliding down, and then landing on her side. Her beak falling loose of her face, only connected to her head by some wires.
She twitched a little before going completely still, silent, laying there on the ground before the two. Both in a state of shock.
It took Fritz a moment before he spoke, "I think… I think I might've overloaded her."
"What does that mean?" Natalie asked.
"Hopefully that she's staying down…" He turned to look down the tunnel and spotted Gregory. He made a hand gesture for Natalie to get back away from Chica before running over to the boy and crouching down beside him. "Hey. Gregory? Are you okay?"
Gregory was equally in shock at the whole thing. Here he was thinking he was about to die and then suddenly the mean security guard and some random guy shocked her to death, or at least knocked her back out. He didn't know how to feel.
He wiped his eyes off on the back of his hand. "I-I'm okay," he said.
"Are you sure?" Gregory nodded and while he didn't look great, Fritz decided not to press in this state. "Okay. Come on, let's get you up."
He helped Gregory to his feet and brushed some of the stuff off him. There was some sort of black dirt on his clothes and he looked at the wall, then around at their surroundings, only then noticing how weird they looked.
"What is this, some kind of garbage tunnel?" Fritz asked.
"It's like a garbage maze. There's a bunch of paths and stuff back there," Gregory quietly answered, still rubbing his face.
"…This is a very weird place you've got here," Fritz remarked.
"Thanks. Every time I walk through a door it's like walking into a completely different building," Natalie replied. She rubbed her hand over Fritz's upper back before resting it on his shoulder. "You're okay?"
"Oh yeah. Not the first time I've been grabbed by a broken animatronic. Remember, I worked with the Mangle," Fritz jokingly proclaimed.
Natalie turned her attention towards Gregory and he nearly shirked under her gaze, feeling just as cornered as he had with Chica. "Okay, Kiddo-."
"Gregory?!"
Freddy's call came from somewhere outside the tunnel. Gregory's head snapped over in its direction.
"Freddy! I'm in here!" he called back. He then made a run for him, staying as far away from Chica as he could as he ran out.
"Careful!" Natalie called after him.
The best he could do was slow down slightly over the bridge because once he spotted Freddy coming around the trash he all but ran full speed for him.
"Freddy!"
Freddy's eyes alit as he spotted the boy. "Gregory!"
He started to kneel and Gregory prepared himself to hop right into the bear's stomach hatch and back into safety. He raced up and went to jump in, but instead of climbing into his chest, he was caught by his arms and pulled against it. Freddy pulled him into a hug.
It took Gregory off-guard for a second. Any other time he might've been quick to remind Freddy that they were in the middle of all this and that he didn't need a hug like some scared little kid. But he made an exception, because right now he felt a whole lot like one. He leaned into the embrace and let Freddy hold him.
"I was so worried! I am so sorry, Gregory. Truly sorry. More than that! I may have let you down, but… I should have protected you…" Freddy quietly finished.
Gregory felt something welling up inside of him. He didn't know if it was a scream or tears- it was too late for one and he really didn't want to shed the other- and though he tried to fight it, it was all creeping up. He was afraid. He was beyond afraid of everything. Of what Chica had become, of the Security Lady finding out all about their nighttime visits, about Freddy finding out. The guilt of what he had done and what he was hiding; it was all too much.
"…I pushed her in!"
Freddy was a little confused. "What?" Into what, more like, assuming that Gregory had shoved Chica into a ditch or the like.
That was not the case, as shown by the dire look when he pulled back to face Freddy. His face pinkened and his eyes glossy. The thought that Gregory might've been crying both surprised and alarmed Freddy.
"I… I pushed Chica into the trash compactor… I turned it on too… I- I know it was wrong but they were fighting and I just wanted them to stop it, and Chica had been- and I didn't think about it, but then I saw her all crushed and I felt bad, but I was afraid if I told you that you would hate me and make me leave," Gregory rambled. Freddy stared wide-eyed at the confession. Gregory looked away, the burning returning to his eyes. "…I'm sorry, Freddy. It's my fault. I did all of this…"
He waited for the reaction and the longer it took the more nervous he was. He waited for a yell or a glare, which was why he couldn't look at Freddy right now. At worst he might get a shove, but he doubted that with Freddy. Freddy wouldn't hurt anybody.
So he waited, and waited, and waited, and then finally Freddy reacted.
Freddy slowly pulled him back into a hug.
"It is okay, Gregory," Freddy quietly assured. "It is alright. It will be okay. We can fix this together."
Gregory was utterly floored. He pulled back enough to look up at Freddy and, sure enough, he looked sad but not angry. Though sad was also pretty upsetting in its own way.
"You're not mad?" he asked in surprise.
"At you? Of course not. The only one I am upset with…"
Was Chica? Was Ennard? Was that Afton fellow?
"Is myself."
"You shouldn't be. I'm the one who did it. I knew it was wrong," Gregory insisted.
"Gregory, I consider you my dear friend and I think you are very brave and intelligent for your age… but you are still a child. It is not your responsibility to have to protect yourself," Freddy said. There was more that he didn't say, not wanting to seem like he was talking down to him, but he couldn't imagine that Gregory could've understood the repercussions of his actions. Even a scared adult might have done the same, and in the end it truly fell on his shoulders.
Their conversation was cut off prematurely by Ennard running up on Freddy so fast that he practically fell into him. Stopping himself with his hands on the bear's shoulders, then patting them.
"What's up?! Did you find her?!" he asked. Freddy nodded and turned back to look up at him.
"We found them both. Foxy is with Baby now, but she is stuck. Go down that path, walk the cement edge by the wooden bridge, past the open fence, and a left down the first tunnel. There will be a large room. Just call for Foxy and follow his voice to where she is."
"Bingo!" Ennard proclaimed. He then promptly turned and made a dash for it. Scott lingered a moment.
"You're all alright?" he asked.
"We're fine!" Natalie called. Her and Fritz crossing the wooden bridge. "Go on ahead! We're right behind you!"
So, Scott did. Nodding, turning, and hustling after Ennard. Almost bumping into Charlie and Marionette who arrived at the tunnel a moment later.
"They found Baby," Scott quickly repeated before hurrying ahead.
Charlie and Marionette exchanged a look before starting to go after them. However, Marionette stopped right afterward and sent a look back into the tunnel, towards the others. Charlie stopped and turned back to him and he silently waved her on. She nodded and hurried off after Scott as he headed into the tunnel to see to the others.
"We can talk about this more later, but for now, we should help Foxy with Baby. Then I can take Chica to Parts and Service," Freddy explained. He opened up his stomach hatch. "I think I can handle carrying you past the bridge if that is alright."
"Sure." Gregory eagerly climbed inside. Freddy patted his backpack as he did so and carefully closed himself up before standing. Then he looked to Natalie and Fritz, the latter of which gestured back.
"We'll come back for Chica?" Fritz asked. Freddy nodded in solemn agreement.
"You found Chica?" Marionette quietly asked. "How is she?"
"She's seen better days…" Natalie confessed.
"Better nights too," Fritz agreed.
Freddy turned to face him, and his eyes landed on the objects Marionette still cradled in his arms. His eyes widened and he audibly gasped. The Puppet only then realized his mistake but couldn't correct it before Freddy came up to him. He reached out and rested his hands on Marionette's folded arms, looking down at all the broken merchandise in his arms. His hands nearly shaking, his eyes filled with so much sadness.
Then he looked up to Marionette's face and quietly asked, "You found these down here…?"
Marionette's face softened with sympathy and even without explanation he suddenly knew all he needed to. He nodded apologetically.
Freddy looked devastated. His breath hitched, or he made the noise of doing so, and he lifted one hand to trace his fingertips across some of the merchandise. Then he closed his hand and drew it and himself back, holding it to his chest.
"…We need to go help Baby. She is stuck where she is… But please, do not lose these… I will explain everything later on," Freddy said.
Once again, Marionette nodded. He shifted all the stuff into one arm and laid a hand on the back of Freddy's as they made their way out of the tunnel. He sent a glance back towards Fritz and Natalie and could see that they shared solemn and empathetic looks. They knew too. They all knew just from the way that Freddy reacted. He patted the bear's arm and guided him along, keeping his hand there even when Freddy reached to take the plush Bonnie from him and held it in his hands.
Freddy traced his thumb over the star pattern and sighed before lifting his head and leading the way back into the basement.
…
…
Chica's body lay dormant just inside the tunnels. She had completely shut down, was entirely unresponsive, laying there in the dirt waiting to be gathered up and taken to parts and service. Not a movement. Not a sound.
Not from her.
Not even when the cables slide along the edge of her dislodged beak. Not even when they slid past and followed the wires inside, hooking themselves onto the voice box hidden inside. With one firm yank, it was dislodged from her head and dragged away.
Then it was silent once more, and this time it would stay that way.