Mable: Are you ready for Freddy? Well, he's down there somewhere! XD Enjoy!
Going Home in a Box
Chapter Seventy-One
Freddy showed up in Rockstar Row to find Roxanne and Chica standing outside Monty's closed door. The wolf with her arms crossed and the chicken with her hands on her hips as both stared down the door. Roxy's ear twitched when she first caught wind of heavy footsteps and twitched again before she looked over her shoulder and their arriving bandmate.
"Took you long enough," she remarked. She then turned back to the door, "Alright, Monty, Freddy's here. Quit stalling and let's go."
"I don't feel like it," Monty called back.
The sentiment might've not been too strange, but the fact he was yelling it through a closed door certainly was. Roxy rolled her eyes. Freddy stole a glance at Chica, but she wasn't paying enough attention to notice.
"What's going on? Did you break your bass again? We've got backups. Most of the bass is on the backing track anyways," Roxy called back. Purposefully trying to rile him up, to challenge him, to provoke him into proving himself, but this ended up backfiring.
"Sounds like ya don't need me," he dismissed.
"That is not true! You are an essential party of the band," Freddy protested. He could faintly hear the gator making a dismissive noise through the door. Dismayed, Freddy turned to Roxy for answers. "What is going on? Why will he not come out?"
"He 'doesn't feel like it'," Roxy replied, making quotations with one hand before crossing her arms again with a scoff.
Freddy didn't like the sign of that. He leaned forward between his two bandmates and gave a gentle knock to the door.
"Monty, what is wrong? You do not want to practice tonight?" he asked.
"Nope," Monty replied.
"Why not?"
"Don't feel like it."
Chica's shoulders slumped and her arms dangled while Roxy rolled her eyes. The reason they weren't as concerned as Freddy was about Monty's refusal to come out being that they had gotten this answer themselves only a little while ago. Before that they had thought something might've happened, but further elaboration- while not clarifying anything in the process- had assured them that Monty just didn't want to perform tonight. So, to them, they assumed he was having a tantrum.
This was not the first time Monty had refused to do something. Just recently he had to be coerced by employees to come down from the catwalks and to the performance when he was upset over them withholding his passes to hand out. Freddy remembered that well.
"Did they take your passes again?" he asked empathetically.
"That implies they gave me anymore," Monty grumbled lowly. "Ah don't need to practice, I'll learn it when I get on stage. I'm a rockstar. Rock on."
"That is the dumbest- ugh." Roxy pinched at her temples, being very careful to not scuff up her freshly painted claws as she did. "We're just wasting time going in circles with him. Forget it, we'll start practice without him. If he wants to go in blind, then he's the one who's going to be embarrassed when he sounds bad."
Freddy seemed fine with this idea and while Roxy wasn't a quitter of any kind, she knew when to stop wasting time on a lost cause, and she especially knew how stubborn Monty could be. When he didn't want to do something, it would take no less than a forklift to get him moved and even that didn't guarantee cooperation once he was dumped on stage.
But Chica wasn't ready to give up. She decided that maybe they were going about it the wrong way and, closing her eyes, reached out to him with a heartfelt message stressing on how they were bandmates, friends, how they needed to do this together, and how this would reflect badly on them too if he acted like this- and having to rush it all into the allotted message length limit.
She then sent the message and waited, and after a few moments Monty gave a confused, "…What?"
Chica's eyes widened before she stamped her foot in frustration. Words wouldn't work, but undeterred she tried to think up another plan. She looked down at her feet and then to the door and got a thoughtful look to her eyes as she remembered something Roxy had said. She waved her hand out to her side to get Freddy's attention, pointed to the door, and gave a little air kick.
"You want me to… kick the door down?" Freddy said uneasily. That seemed like a major violation of privacy, he thought.
"I was joking about that," Roxy clarified to Chica. Eyes lidded and expression unenthused.
"Ya'll better not!" Monty barked through the door.
"I am not sure that I can. If not due to the statistics of my legs not being built to kick anywhere near as high as Monty's, then due to the possible damage if the lock release fails," Freddy whispered behind his hand to her.
Chica shook her head and started kicking again, but this time not making full kicks. Only starting to kick before stopping before the end of the follow through. She then decided to just give up with the charade and pressed a finger to her temple again.
"We're just pretending!"
"Oh! Well then… I suppose if the rules allow us to break down doors if there is an emergency, then I have no choice," Freddy said. Purposefully getting louder at the end so Monty could hear.
"You wouldn't dare," Monty almost snarled back.
"I could very easily kick this door down, Monty. The lock releases when applied enough pressure to avoid any damage to the frame," Freddy reminded.
There was a long pause between them, through said door.
"Then go fer it, Fazbear," Monty challenged.
Yet another long pause lingered between them.
"I'm waitin', Freddy."
Freddy's jaw was tight and he exchanged a look between Chica and Roxy. Chica promptly strutted right over to the door and gave it a little kick.
"Did ya just kick mah door?!" Monty cried. He sounded more shocked than angry. "Ya really did it! Ya kicked my door!"
"It was not me! It was…" Freddy looked to Chica who giving him an almost challenging look of her own. "…It was me, Monty. And I will kick it harder if I have to."
"Well, yer gonna have to kick it a lot harder than that, that's fer damn sure!" Monty tossed back.
"…He's right," Freddy sighed. He looked between Roxy and Chica. "Our best option to get the door open is to use a higher security clearance to override the lock, if you insist that we should. I could go get Vanessa to help us or perhaps I could message Moon as he-."
"Whoa, hold up!" Monty suddenly interjected. The three looked to the door. "…Alright, ya'll win. I'll open the door- but I ain't comin' out!"
All three straightened up to attention as the door slid open. Monty promptly filled the entirety of the doorway, arms up on the frame and head slumped to the side as though he had just woken from a long nap. Though it was pretty obvious that he was actually just trying to block the doorway. Not that there was any reason when his green room was mostly dark on the inside, save a lone neon sign on the far wall.
Though there was one thing he couldn't shield, and that was the smell. Roxy picked up on it immediately and sniffed the air. Chica noticed and tried to smell as well, but she wasn't able to catch the faint scent that Roxy could. She looked to her questioningly, but she didn't clarify, instead getting a shocked and then much more exasperated look. She leaned against the wall beside the door.
"Since when did you start wearing chick's perfume?" Roxy asked.
"…They sprayed my couch," Monty replied.
"Who did? The employees?" Freddy asked in confusion.
"Right on."
"Okay, here's what's going to happen. We're going to give you the night off and whatever's going on in there, fix it," Roxy said with authority. She then faked snapping her fingers, clicking her teeth to punctuate it, and beckoned Freddy and Chica to follow.
She led the way, striding away with her tail waving behind her as she went. Freddy followed along quickly while Chica paused to give Monty a curious look, then got a mischievous tilt to her eyes before waving and continuing off, having apparently caught on.
Monty stayed there in the doorway, listening as Roxy and Chica got their instruments before all three headed towards the backstage and to the recital room. He waited until he couldn't hear their footsteps anymore before sighing and stepping back in.
"Looks like we lost 'em," he mumbled. He turned to look towards the photo op corner, or what there was of one, and caught sight of a face poking out from being swaddled in the curtains.
"How long does practice take?" Louise quietly, almost frantically, whispered.
"Could be an hour. Maybe more depending on how many songs they're learnin'."
"This is bad. This is so bad. I've got to get out of here before they get back, they totally know I'm in here," Louise hastily rushed out.
She started to climb out of the corner only to knock over one of the still standing photo-op lights. She made a desperate swipe for it but missed. Thankfully, Monty grabbed it before it could fall.
Louise breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank you."
"Don't sweat it. They ain't gonna do nothin' if they see you," Monty assured. "They ain't gonna find out neither."
"I hope not. If they tell anybody I'll never get back in," Louise said. She took his hand and stepped out to the cleared floor. "You said something about a loading dock?"
"Yeah. It's straight on out through the…"
Basement.
"…Back?" Louise guessed.
Monty was eerily quiet for a long moment. Staring blankly off into the corner. She tapped his hand, and he snapped out of it with a little shudder.
"Tell ya what, how about this?" Monty said. He fixed his sunglasses before asking, "What's the rush?"
Louise looked at him in confusion.
"Ah mean, why go lookin' fer a way out and risk gettin' caught? Stay here fer the night and I'll help ya out at six."
"I don't think that's a good idea. I'm pretty sure they know I'm in here," Louise pointed out, her voice lowering into a whisper. "…Please tell me you weren't fibbing about the whole way out thing."
"Nah, nah, Cher. There's always a way out… But it's down in the basement. Ah didn't think it would come to this, but… yer not gonna want to go through that basement," Monty admitted apologetically, still dodgy.
"Isn't it full of garbage?" Louise guessed. She then snapped her mouth shut. She supposed she wasn't supposed to know that, but before she could tack on an excuse about 'Vanessa' telling her that, Monty continued. He hadn't noticed her slip.
"…Yeh, there's a lot of real garbage down there. It ain't safe, fer you or me. I can walk ya out of here at six on the dot. You can even crash on my couch… we can find ya a place to crash if you get tired."
He seemed nervous and that immediately made Louise nervous. Upon his friends appearing, Monty had seemed much more bothered by being interrupted than being scared of anything. He didn't seem that worried about them, but something about the basement spooked him. She hadn't known him long, but that long pause was hard to miss.
While Louise hadn't gotten all the details about Baby's rescue, she knew it had been a dangerous one. Nothing she wanted to wander up on alone or with a worried gator.
"You could've told me this before a started doing the whole 'five more minutes' thing," Louise pointed out with a frowning purse of her lips. "…Okay, how about this? I'll stay, but I get something in return."
"Uh huh? Name yer price, Little Lady," Monty said. He already seemed to relax.
"I get a special one-on-one photo-op with the big bad bassist, your treat."
He slid down his sunglasses. "You gonna show anyone?"
"Everyone I can! They don't have to know how I got it. Show and don't tell," she replied with a cute little wink. If he hadn't been on-board before- he was- then he would've been now.
"Rock on."
He easily grabbed up the standing light, unplugging from the wall, and toted it over towards the torn-up couch. Louise followed him over eagerly and waited by the couch as he turned on the light and went to get a stashed Fazcam out of the back room. He tossed it over before dropping onto the couch with a heavy thump, kicking a leg up onto it bent at the knee, and tapped down his sunglasses to peek over the top with an inviting look.
Louise adjusted the standing light's angle just a little bit before dropping her purse aside onto the table and dropping herself very eagerly into his lap. She hooked an arm back around his neck to pull herself up, grinning broadly as he hooked one of his own around her waist and tugged her in. He then balanced the Fazcam in one hand and tried to somehow angle it to get them both in frame. A weird way to take a photo, no doubt it would be a little off kilter, but it was going to be a great one.
She had to live big while she could, especially since Natalie wasn't going to let her live this down.
…
"Burning rubber, feel our thunder, rumble down the roooad! Going hard or going home!~"
Freddy's voice belted across the empty practice hall. His foot thumping to the beat, microphone stand clutched in his hand, wire between his fingers, as he hit that last note. Roxy's finger flew over her keys before sliding down in a flair, clashing against Chica's final shred before the song faded out. Or would've if they had their backing music. It had gone perfectly, and Freddy sent his bandmates a thumbs up.
"Excellent work! I think we have that one in the bag," he said.
"That one? Where were you, Freddy? We killed it," Roxy corrected confidently. She slid her keytar to her side before fluffing her hair.
Chica nodded eagerly and gave her an excited thumbs up as well. It had been so long since Freddy had seen her acting like her old self, even if she was still as silent as ever. Even if it seemed like she was still avoiding his gaze. That tension was still between them, Freddy knew it, and because of that it almost hurt to see good old Chica and know she was always out of his reach.
"And we'll kill it tomorrow too, as long as Monty gets his head in the game…" Roxy added. Somewhat under her breath, somewhat in thought, shaking her head. "Okay, Freddy, you're off the hook. Go play with your little buddy," she said, hopping down from the stands. "I've got to go count the cracks in the raceway. We've got more of them showing up."
It took Freddy a second to snap out of his thoughts to acknowledge her. "That is… not good."
"That's putting it lightly. It's all that cheap concrete. It's not good enough to build a barbeque pit, let alone a racetrack," she scoffed. "What about you, Chica? Are you tagging along?"
Chica considered it with a tap to her chin, then shrugged and nodded. It wasn't like she would get much fun out of the bakery or El Chip's like she used to, at least this would be a distraction. She held out a hand. Roxy caught the gesture and took off her keytar.
"Both hands," she requested. Chica gave a less than amused look, fit with one hand on her hip, before complying. Roxy handed over the instrument and the chicken began to dutifully carry it off. Again, she didn't spare even a glance at Freddy.
That was when he decided to be brave and take a chance. Before Roxy could follow Chica out, Freddy stepped out to stop her.
"Roxy, may I speak to you for a moment?" he requested. She stopped with her arms comfortably crossed on her chest, weight shifting to one leg. "I know we have not spent much time together as a band and that is my fault, but… may I get a moment alone with Chica?"
Roxy seemed to consider it for an extra second before sighing. "Just don't tick her off too bad, okay?"
"I will try not to. That is the last thing that I want to do," Freddy said somberly.
"Then go for it, Slugger."
Freddy nodded and thanked her before turning and striding off. Moving with unwavering determination as to not risk backing down. It could've been so easy to walk away yet again, but this time he knew that he couldn't.
He was partially across Rockstar Row when Chica strolled out of Roxy's room and caught sight of him coming. Her upbeat demeanor flatlined and she tried to walk the long way around him. Freddy took a sharp turn and followed along after her.
"Chica, please wait. I need to speak with you," Freddy pleaded after her.
Chica stopped but didn't face him, even with the peeved look set upon her face. She waited for him to catch up before tapping her finger to her head.
"Don't you have to run off to your 'friend'?" She managed to mentally project her disdain rather well.
Freddy was taken aback by the accusation. "I- no! I would always make time for you and Roxy! And Monty too if he would want to. You are my friends too. I may have forgotten that we were practicing tonight and I… may have more distracted recently, but that does not mean that you are not as important to be as you always were. Our friendship means more than that."
Even though Freddy sounded certain of this, Chica was not. She continued to keep her back to him, looking around the room at anything that wasn't him. She was still upset, that much was clear, and it wasn't just because of her missing voice box.
It took her a few seconds of clenching her hands while Freddy waited patiently before she dared to reply.
"All you do is just hang out with him all the time. Why do you want to talk now?"
Freddy was startled yet again. He had no idea she felt this way about his closeness to Sun, he had never noticed. Then again, with Moon's contentious disputes with Monty, it wasn't as though the Daycare Attendant was ever invited to hang out with them. Something that used to make Freddy feel bad, even though now the situation had been reversed and he was neglecting his friend for him- and of course, Foxy.
"That is not true, Chica. I… I just…" Freddy gave a weary and guilt-ridden sigh. "I have been avoiding you… but it is not because of you. It is because of me," he confessed. His voice growing heavy with his remorse. "I feel terrible about what happened to you… and how the Pizzaplex employees have been treating you, and how they have been with Monty, and Sun. It is unfair and I have been… confused about how I feel about all of this."
Chica's shoulders slumped but she kept his back to him and the irritated look steadfast.
"I miss you… and I miss our friendship, how it was before I let you down… Please, Chica. If there is anything I can do to make it up to you, anything at all, just ask me and I will. I just cannot bear to have this between us any longer. Let me do something."
Chica could've blown this off with a finger wag and a 'too little, too late', and sauntered away with her dignity and a sour taste in her stomach. It wasn't like one little favor could make up for all the frustration, the fear, the absolute and utter-.
When suddenly she realized there was something that she could ask for. Something that made her upset feel so small in comparison. The idea shot through her head like a lightbulb flicking alight and changed her mood entirely.
She turned around on her heel and immediately pressed her finger to the side of her head, desperately seeking that one request.
"DAILY LIMIT REACHED."
Chica closed her eyes in agitation at the automatic response. She knew she shouldn't have gotten so careless when chatting with Roxy earlier. She had only just got her voice back, or some echo of it, and already it was barred from her when she needed it most.
But that wasn't about to stop her. Chica waved Freddy to follow and hurried off to her room, all but running and with Freddy having to pick up speed to a light jog to keep up. She hurried to her vanity, hastily snatched out the get-well card she had hidden inside, and all but shoved it up into Freddy's face eagerly as he came in the door behind her, nearly walking right into it.
Chica tapped on the picture of the clown.
"Th-That is…!" Freddy carefully took the card and read the contents of it. Then looked to her in surprise. She nodded in agreement to whatever question he had.
She then pointed to where she was addressed and pointed to herself. Then she pointed to the clown and flipped her hand in an inquisitive fashion. She wanted to know his name.
"…That is Ennard. He was the clown who repaired you," Freddy admitted. "He is not from the Pizzaplex, but I am not entirely sure where he comes from."
She waved it off and took the card back, looking at the little clown drawing with fondness. So that was his name, Ennard. That's a funny name- she caught the pun in her thoughts immediately and shook with silent giggles. She felt giddy. Ennard the technician clown.
She then noticed the curious look Freddy was giving her and quickly composed herself. She then pointed at Freddy.
"You." She pointed two fingers at her eyes. "See." She pointed at the clown. "Him." She made a talking motion with her hand. "Tell." She pointed to herself. "Me." She clasped her hands together pleadingly, without crumpling the card. "Please."
"Err, okay, Chica. If he returns," Freddy agreed somewhat hesitantly. "But I do not think it would be wise to tell any of the employees…"
Chica shook her head in agreement. No, the employees would just make him leave. Even Vanessa was a risk to tell, even if she was much more friendly than the technicians. Ennard was intimidating, easily misunderstood. Anyone who saw him would surely assume that he was bad news, like she mistakenly had. She couldn't put him in jeopardy. Even at best he would never come back again.
"I did not think you remembered him. Do you remember anything else?" Freddy asked.
Truth was, very little. Splotchy moments. Freddy was there, Vanessa at one point, that kid. Crawling through trash, getting tased, wires in her mouth. The most vivid thing she remembered was the clown leaving over her talking to her.
Chica started to make a so-so motion, but then ended up shaking her. Freddy could've read it as, "A little… No, not really."
"I see. Perhaps that is for the best…" he said quietly. He looked away guiltily. "…You were in a fight. I am not certain of the exact details, but you fell into the trash compactor, and then down into the basement. We went to search for you, but there was something… wrong. You were not acting like yourself. Perhaps it was due to the damage you received. I called for you, but it was as though you could not see me. You got ahead of me and ran into Vanessa and the technician with her… who then administered a controlled shock." His voice caught a little at that point, but he recovered to finish, "I sat outside of repair capsule with Moon, and we watched as the technician and Ennard repaired you…"
That cleared up some things, like how she remembered him being there, but Chica had a feeling that there was something he wasn't telling her. Something she couldn't remember, something important.
Though he really did seem remorseful. As upset as Chica was, she was started to get tired of the constantly being mad thing. Especially when it was likely that her behavior was encouraging him to go hang out with his new friend instead of them.
With a sigh, or the motion of one, she began to gesture to him again.
She pointed at herself. "I'm." She shook her head. "Not." She made a comically cross glare. "Angry." She pointed at him. "At you." She looked down at the card longingly in her hands. She didn't signal it, but Freddy detected the, "Anymore."
Freddy looked immediately relieved, but he wasn't naïve enough to believe that it was all over just that easy. Likely she was more trying to forgive him than fully doing so.
"Thank you, Chica. I still want to make it up to you though, so if there is anything more that you need, please tell me," Freddy encouraged.
She nodded, but then raised a finger. "But." She looked up at him apologetically. "I'm sorry," it seemed to say. She pointed between them. "We're." She made a slicing motion with her hand. "Through."
"…We were formally going together?" Freddy asked.
Chica gave a somewhat pensive look to the side. "Well, I suppose we weren't."
"But that is okay! We can still be friends?"
Chica nodded and hid the get-well card in her vanity again. She then turned to Freddy and after a moment of looking at him, hands resting on her hips, she pointed to herself and made walking fingers towards the door before holding the two up. "I'm going to." She pointed to her eyes and then mimicked driving with her hands. "See the raceway." She pointed to him questioningly.
"Me?" he asked.
Seeing him confused, she made the walking motion again but now added in her second hand to have both walking together. Two people walking together. "Do you want to come with me?"
"I would love to!" Freddy agreed. He supposed Foxy and the others could distract themselves as he spent a few extra moments with his band.
The two walked out of Rockstar Row and started to head to Roxy Raceway. Things were still a little tense between them, but it was better. Even if it felt so weird to walk in complete silence alongside Chica.
They got to Roxy Raceway and met up with Roxy herself, who was relieved to see that things hadn't gotten dramatically tense in the time they were gone. They then walked into the raceway and down to the concrete paving by the track. It was there that Roxy pointed out the cracks, much to both her friends' shock. Freddy's eyes going wide and Chica's hand shooting to her cheek. Cracking wasn't too unusual, but these were fresh and leading away from already formed cracks.
Freddy knelt to look closer at the cracks. Not that there was much to see from up here. The concrete didn't seem thin, and this didn't seem to have been caused by something heavy being dropped, so he deduced it had to be something under the surface.
From the interior mapping of the Pizzaplex, Roxy Raceway had a huge section devoted to its basement, but it was entirely inaccessible as far as Freddy knew. They weren't even privy to the layout for it, with the closest thing to it being the utilidors and tunnels nearby. Perhaps there was an unstable foundation. It would explain the inaccessible basement and the sinking of the structure. It was a shame Monty wasn't there with them or Freddy would've asked him about it since he knew so much about it.
For now, all they could do was take note and report it to the employees tomorrow. Though he had a feeling that filling up the cracks alone wouldn't keep them from coming back.
With Roxy and Chica heading over to the office, so Roxy could leave a note before Chica could coerce her into squeezing into the much-too-small bumper cars, Freddy went on his way. To his relief Chica didn't seem jealous or upset, and he made a mental note to spend more time with her and his bandmates. He could make it work around his time with Gregory and his visits with Foxy. He was Freddy Fazbear, he was built to multitask in an effective manner.
Freddy hurried through the atrium and made his way up the elevator and into the West Arcade. He briefly stopped by to wave to the DJ, who wake awake and actively working tonight. Which explained why the normal techno ambience had been switched out by an upbeat groove. The DJ returned a wave of his own and then pointed towards the direction of upstairs. Catching the hint, Freddy took the spiral staircase up to the second floor of the arcade. It didn't take long before he walked up on Gregory and Moon.
Much to his surprise, the third standing with them wasn't Foxy or Jeremy, but Jake. It was enough to make Freddy stop in place. The three were facing away from him, both animatronics standing on either side behind Gregory and watching him play on an arcade cabinet. So, none of them had taken notice of him yet. They apparently hadn't heard him yet either, likely because he was walking and because of the thumping music overhead.
As elated as Freddy was to see Jake out and about, he was completely torn on what he was supposed to do. He could just walk up and welcome Jake, tell him he was glad to see him again after so long, and assure him that he wanted to stay. Then they could spend the night catching up and having fun. Though his worry was that being so bold would end up scaring Jake off.
But he decided to go along with the plan anyway and began to slowly walk up. Preparing to get into a comfortable range before alerting them with a gentle throat clearing- or a mimic of one. Though he held off on that when he took note of something peculiar.
It was how the two were standing. From what Freddy could see and hear, Gregory was playing the game as he usually did. Hands tight on the controls and muttering under his breath as he steered his character around, in this case trying to avoid falling sandwich pieces. Yet Moon and Jake's posturing was much more rigid. Jake had one hand on Gregory's opposite shoulder and the other arm holding his control panel underneath, talking softly now and then.
Moon was the dead giveaway. He had one hand clenched tight on the edge of the machine with another reached around Jake's back to have his hand on his shoulder. He was remarkably still and silent, listening more than watching.
Perhaps Freddy was jumping to conclusions, but it almost looked like Moon and Jake were shielding Gregory. Protectiveness swelled in Freddy's chest, but he quickly assured himself that it must have been a precaution. If something had happened then Foxy would have never left for the Hive Arcade, he would've stayed with Gregory. As would Jeremy. Moon must've been nervous about having Jake out here, something that Freddy sympathized with. He made a throat clearing sound.
Moon snapped his head back and it flipped over to face Freddy so quickly that it almost gave him whiplash. It was also a dead giveaway that Freddy's initial hunch was correct. Moon was on edge.
"Freddy," he said with surprise and relief.
"Heeyyyy, Freddy," Jake greeted. Nervously but trying to sound like he wasn't, which made it more obvious that he was.
"Jake, hello! It is good to see you," Freddy said. He gave him a friendly smile and tried to assure that he knew he was welcome before walking up to them.
"You too, Freddy. I was just… dropping in for a little while."
"Hey Freddy. I can't look back, sorry," Gregory said. He sounded glad to see him but equally focused on what he was playing. Freddy peeked over his head to see.
"That is quite a high score. Excellent job, Superstar!" Freddy congratulated with a light ruffle of his hair. Though then he noticed how close the boy was leaning forward. With a hum he gently tilted Gregory's head back, to which the boy went along with it. "A little further back from the screen. There you go!"
"Freddyyyy, come aside with me. Give me the details on your little prac-tice sessssion," Moon said. He hooked his arm through Freddy's and started to pull him back. Freddy looked to him quizzically.
"Can't you do that here?" Gregory asked. The flatness of his question showed that he already knew why they wouldn't.
"I coooould without the risk of nosy eavesdroppers," Moon replied cheekily.
"Takes one to know one," Jake teasingly retorted.
"Tch," Moon dismissed. He gave Freddy a tug, but he resisted.
"Just a moment, Moonshine. Jake, will you be sticking around for the fun? I hope so!" Freddy invited with a friendly smile.
"Uh, sure! I was considering it," he agreed. He subconsciously adjusted his mask a little, making sure it was on securely and wouldn't sporadically fall off. "It's good to get out."
"Oh ho ho. Speak for yourself," Moon cracked. He then gave Freddy another tug and led him away.
Jake watched them go and felt a foreboding feeling return. His hand clenching on his control panel as he started to look around.
"Don't worry, they'll be back soon," he said. He almost sounded to be more assuring himself than Gregory.
"After they're done whispering about me and being weird about it," Gregory muttered. It didn't usually bother him but after today and Sun's questioning it made him very suspicious, like they were hiding something. Not that he would've admitted it.
"Oh… Well, I'm sure they're not trying to be so obvious about it. It could be about Freddy's friends too," Jake suggested.
"Maybe… Okay, I'm dead. Want to try?"
Jake popped his fingers. "Let me at 'em."
Meanwhile, Moon led Freddy over around the corner and past some particularly noisy arcade cabinets. Far enough that they wouldn't be heard, close enough that they could still easily peek and see them.
It was then that Moon let his cover drop and his voice lower. "Did you see anyone when you came in?"
"No. Only the DJ, who I waved to and who pointed me in your direction- wait, was Vanny here?" Freddy guessed.
"…Yes…" Moon's red eyes scanned around the arcade uncertainly. "I did not see her, but I knew she was here."
Freddy's chest filled with dread, and he looked around as well. Eyes glowing as he swiftly checked every nearby nook and cranny. His hands clenching as he thought of what might have happened if Moon and Jake hadn't been close by.
"That is not good… This is the third time we have encountered her here. Perhaps she is hiding somewhere nearby," Freddy said lowly.
"I doubt she left that easily," Moon muttered.
"No, I mean that perhaps Gregory is not the only person staying overnight in the Pizzaplex," the bear suggested. The jester looked up to him, and Freddy's eyes slid away to continue scanning with a protective gaze. "There are so many unaccompanied rooms. Ones inaccessible to both mascots and human staff. Vanny having a hidey hole nearby would explain how she appears so suddenly and without being detected by Natalie."
"A bunny burrow," Moon suggested.
"Though not nearly as cute as the name would imply," Freddy agreed.
"That very well could be. Oh, how I would love to get my hands on him," the jester hissed. His own hands clenching up.
Freddy noticed and became notably concerned. "Not alone you will not. Please. She is very dangerous."
"And I'm not?" Moon tsked.
"In these circumstances- Wait." Freddy snapped his head forward and looked towards the stairs. "Someone is coming."
Indeed, both could the footsteps of someone making their way up the steps in a light jog. It was clearly a human from the lack of heaviness, and both tensed up and braced themselves to see who it was.
Only for it to be Jeremy. Freddy's shoulders slouched with a sigh and Moon's arms dropped to his sides almost disappointedly. One the man spotted them, Freddy waved.
"Ahoy, Jeremy!" He then gasped as he noticed the rounded shape of a UFO riding bee tucked under his arm. "You already won your bee?! Congratulations! I have not heard of anyone winning a major prize from the Hive Arcade before! How did you do it?!"
"I didn't. I've just got this guy on loan," Jeremy replied. He set the Babee down where it began to scoot around. "I was just carrying him upstairs for Beelora. Music Man might be bringing her up."
They had only gotten seven honeycomb coins before Jeremy made the wise decision to quit while he was ahead. Anymore and he would be cutting into his savings for his rent budget.
"Ah, my mistake. Though I am sure you will win one very soon," Freddy corrected. "Where is Foxy?"
Jeremy pointed a thumb back down the stairs. "He took Beelora over to see if Music Man could bring her…" He trailed off as he heard the distant tapping of quick metal footsteps up the stairs. "Sounds like that's him… Running. That's not ominous."
Freddy and Moon braced themselves again, but as Foxy ran to the top of the steps and slowed to a stop at the top, it was apparent that there wasn't actually anything he was running from. He noticed the additional bear immediately.
"Ahoy, Freddy! Thought you were gone fer the night. How'd it go?" Foxy asked. He gave him a little fist bump, which Freddy naturally returned.
"We rocked it! Monty did not join us, but Chica, Roxy, and I were able to get a good feel for the new lineup. But more importantly, Chica and I are finally on speaking terms again. Err, that is- Well, we are communicating again in the ways that we can, but she is doing much better! Maybe we will be able to repair our friendship… Though she said in no uncertain terms that we are through as far as any further relationship goes."
"So, you were dating," Foxy clarified. Jeremy was more curious at Foxy's reaction than Freddy's, and Moon all but went rigid at his side.
"In a sense."
"Ya had no idea, did ya?"
"…Well, no. I assumed it was simply for marketing reasons. But it is okay! We have split amicably. I have a hunch that Chica may already have feelings for someone else," Freddy hinted coyly.
Foxy assumed he was hinting towards Roxy, Jeremy assumed he was hinting towards Monty- maybe something about why he wasn't around, and Moon was still processing the earlier bombshell.
"Unfortunately, Foxy, it seems that we have a problem…" the bear continued, his voice softening.
Moon, suddenly catching onto what Freddy was leading towards, snapped out of it, and sprang into action.
"While Moon was-."
"Not anymore we don't!" Moon suddenly interjected. All but bouncing up in front of Freddy and cutting him off fully. He gave a flippant flapping wave of his hand. "It's all taken care of."
"Uh huh," Foxy said, entirely unconvinced. He leaned to the side to look past Moon and directly to Freddy. "That so, Fazbear?"
"Well… No. Not really," he admitted honestly. Moon gave an exaggerated slouch and looked back to the bear. Freddy did not budge on that.
Just then there was some heavy creaking- timely, Moon thought- as DJ Music Man came climb up to the second floor. He was carrying Beelora in two hands and helped her onto the floor. Jeremy gave Foxy a pat on the shoulder and went to go check on her, giving the Babee an encouraging little, "Come on!" before leading him along around the arcade cabinets.
"Well, when you two 'er done figurin' out whether or not this be my problem, you'll know where I'll be," he said knowingly. He started to follow the blond. "Yer comin'?"
"We will be right there," Freddy assured.
Foxy then quickly got out of the way in case there was some sort of proceeding spat between the two. There wasn't, but Freddy did look to Moon with confusion and concern.
"Moon, we should tell them about Vanny. They need to know she is here."
"She's not here. Not anymore," Moon disagreed. "It's best for them if we don't get them involved. Our little bunny wants attention more than anything else, but we cannot give it to her. We'll handle it later."
"But what about now? She may try to come for Gregory again," Freddy said worriedly. His eyes narrowed at the floor in thought. "What could she possibly want with Gregory?"
"I don't know…" Moon said. His voice faltering, uncharacteristically small.
They stood there silently pondering this. Freddy spared a look overtop an arcade cabinet and caught sight of Gregory waving Foxy over to watch Jake play one of the games. He smiled at the scene.
"Jake and Gregory really do get along well," he remarked.
"They do," Moon fondly agreed.
"I did not expect to see him. I am so glad you brought him."
"Eh… Yes. Me too."
"Perhaps…" Freddy's voice quieted to a whisper. "Perhaps he could watch Gregory tomorrow evening… Perhaps we could…"
"We could…?" Moon coaxed.
"Go find the burrow."
The sudden seriousness in Freddy's voice was almost startling. If Moon was shaken, he recovered quickly.
"Freddy, that's dangerous."
"It does not have to be. Together we could find Vanny ourselves, incapacitate her, and call the authorities," Freddy pleaded.
Moon met Freddy's gaze for a long moment. His gaze flickering blue before growing an increasingly bright red.
"…We should." Moon growled. His hands tightening together to the point that his arms were almost trembling before all at once releasing and eyes dimming to normal brightness. "But not tonight."
"Not tonight," Freddy agreed. "…Should we call this off?" he asked hesitantly. Not wanting to, but willing to.
"No. There's enough of us to keep watch. And I owe Jake at least one decent night out of our room."
"We will give him much more than that! How do you feel about karaoke?" Freddy asked, finally perking back up again.
"Very poorly."
"How would Sun~ feel about karaoke, hmm?"
Moon let that question sit there for a long second before tilting his head in a way to empathize the ever-present grin.
"Heh. Would you like to ask him yourself?"
Freddy couldn't look any more excited than that. He eagerly pointed towards the others with both hands invitingly, to which Moon nodded and loyally followed as Freddy headed off to play host again. Both prepared to keep their little secret for now.
Besides, it wasn't like Vanny could sneak up on them if they were all crammed into a dinky little karaoke booth. Especially with the DJ's face pressed up into the doorway.
Needless to say, what followed was an awfully good time. Freddy and Foxy were pretty much passing the mic back and forth until someone was bold enough to snatch it up for their own turns, such as Beelora. As quiet as she seemed, eagerness took hold and she wobbled her way over to take the mic for herself, where she proceeded to sing some variation of the Hive Arcade song with semi-changed lyrics. Possibly a variant for private parties, as one of the lines emphasized 'it's just you and your friends in the Hive tonight'.
Eventually the atmosphere and possibly the stuffiness and fluorescent lighting got to Jeremy, and he started doing the bear dance again. This time accompanied by Jake who stumbled over the edge of a chair and got a frightened cry out of Sunny. He got himself righted quickly and Sunny went back to goofily jigging like he wasn't trying to ignore his problems. Forgoing any breakdancing and just outright spinning his legs above his head once he got tired of being on his feet. Everyone taking care to steer clear.
Gregory didn't want to sing himself but was more than happy eagerly clicking through the song lists and making suggestions for Freddy, who was just as happy to take suggestions. At one point Foxy and Freddy tried to duet with a song that they thought was the same song but what actually wasn't. Foxy, unwilling to back down and look like a fool, just continued on as though the lyrics matched, despite Freddy's furrowed look now and then.
It was the highlight of the night. Not that the rest wasn't good, but it was the cherry dotted icing upon everything else. They were going to remember that night. If not, Jeremy secured a strip of photo booth pictures to keep the memories fresh.
It was still a few hours until sunrise when Jeremy and Foxy snuck back out of the Pizzaplex, and it wasn't long before they were on the highway driving home.
Jeremy was feeling a little groggy but was still more than alert enough to drive home and to engage with some small talk about the evening. After a night like this, he could see why Foxy kept coming back. The Pizzaplex was a blast when things weren't going wrong.
All seemed fine and dandy until Foxy made an unexpected off-handed comment.
"Whaddya think 'bout what Bee said?" he asked.
Jeremy hadn't thought about Beelora's peculiar comment for most of the night. Once they all met back up, he had been too distracted to dwell on it. Being reminded of it caused that unease to resurface.
"It's weird. That's for sure," Jeremy remarked. He sighed through his lips to keep from chewing on one. "…I don't know, what do you think?"
"Could be nothin'. Could be a cute blond workin' there who she mistook ya for. Could've been some guy who came in and played the slots."
"Gabe, come on. What are the chances that anybody else has visited the kiddie casino?" Jeremy joked. He sent him a grin that Foxy snorted at. "But… I don't know, maybe. I hope so! I hope it's not like her recognizing me because Freddy's has my face on file due to the whole facial recognition thing Mari and the Toys had," Jeremy rambled out.
"…Bloody 'ell. I didn't even think of that…" Foxy muttered.
That reaction didn't help quell Jeremy's nerves. "Or I don't know, maybe she's someone I used to know at Freddy's."
"Is that much better?" Foxy distantly asked.
"Uh… No, that could be a lot worse," Jeremy admitted.
"Hmm… Then let's narrow 'em down. How much of the Freddy's crew were you on a first name basis with."
"Not that many people really. Especially not girls. The only one I can remember who I knew-knew was Bree."
"Might've not been a lass. Ol' Chica was a lass but her soul sure wasn't."
"Good point… I don't know. The closest thing would be Bree. They have similar patterns of speaking, but then again maybe I'm just equating Bree and Bee, and I know she's far away from Freddy's now. She's still working in game development."
"Hmm. Have ya talked to her recently?" Foxy asked suspiciously.
"Not recently, but I still don't think it's her. Maybe I'll call her tomorrow and check in."
"Aye, good plan," Foxy agreed. His suspicions fizzling out once Jeremy dismissed the suggestion. "'Nother option on the table is that somehow she saw ya the night ye came in and Moon was dinged up."
"…You know, you could be right. I hung out in the atrium for a little while. That's pretty far off from the casino, but if she was getting all those alerts then she might've come out and saw me. And since I was just chilling out, she might've thought I was a worker."
"Aye, could be," Foxy agreed.
"Maybe I'm just being paranoid. It could be nothing! I've just been so on edge since this whole… y'know, the bunny thing. We could be reading way too much into it."
"Aye, that too," Foxy agreed again. "…Still made me a touch nervous."
"Yeah, I'll be thinking about it for a while," Jeremy said.
"If it ever gets to be too much, just hold onto that image of Freddy stumblin' of the steps and hittin' that real high note," Foxy reminded. Which got a half-snicker out of Jeremy.
"Freddy's a trip. We've got to hang out more."
"That mean yer on board fer future parlay parties?" Foxy asked. There was an edge of hopefulness to his voice despite knowing of the risks. The thrill kept outweighing the risk and shockingly, it almost was starting to with Jeremy.
"Might be. We'll see."
He would see how exhausted he was the next day, then he could decide.
…
Louise's lips were tight, and her face was burning so brightly that it could've been mistaken for a little too much rouge. Yet she stood there silently with that sucking lemon face listening to the sound of the shutter slowly sliding up and out of the way. To her direct right stood Natalie, now changed out of her uniform and into her street clothes- a pair of sweatpants, a tank top, and one of Fritz's oversized flannels.
Louise dared to glance in her direction as they were heading out the automatic door. Natalie looked back and in that second her stoic face once again broke into a grin. The redhead fought the urge to puff up her cheeks and strode out through the front doors with the blond following close behind. She unlocked her car door and got inside and, seeing Natalie still coming, she rolled down her window in preparation for what was coming.
Natalie leaned in the window and slyly asked, "Should I tell the guys you'll be in late tomorrow?"
Louise looked to her and said with no uncertainty-
"Yeah, that'd be great."
…
…
…
..
.
It was a dark and stormy night. The distant groans of thunder rumbled through the castle walls as the princess rose to her feet. She could hear music coming from somewhere. Curious, she ventured out of her tower and onto the long steps into the castle further.
She walked through winding halls and dark corridors. Glowing paintings guided her way and the occasional crack of thunder and flash of lightning soothed her. The princess thought that the rain was beautiful and how fortunate that it did so often, but she was safe inside of her castle. She walked and walked all the way down to the nearby wing where she found the source of the music.
It was coming from the ballroom. There was a party in the ballroom, which had the princess curious. Who could the party be for? She went to explore, as quiet as a mouse as the big band boomed through the high ceilings. She did not want to get caught or she would be returned to her room. She sneaked around peeking and peering and looking for somebody else.
That was when she found the Court Jesters. How curious! The jesters were the castle's performers and could be found doing summersaults and singing to entertain the masses. It looked like tonight they were entertaining someone else. It's that kid again.
The squire. Squire to one of the knights in the castle. A little squire with a big mouth on him, and the princess was surprised to see that for some reason the court jesters- one of which used to hate this kid- was suddenly watching him like a hen looking over a bad egg.
It is just so adorable it could rot your teeth right through. Faster than those little hunks of sugar they hand out to the kids at the daycare. Moondrops, oughta call them Moonrocks. Rot those baby teeth. Spoil this little brat rotten from the inside out.
But the princess found this arrangement so curious. She hid behind a colorfully painted statue and peeked out to see where the three were standing before another statue, admiring a lovely tapestry. The boy was playing with the tassels on the bottom while the jesters stood and stared and admired the fine detailing on the stretch of fabric.
The princess crept closer. She wanted to see a little more, but she was afraid. Afraid that they might see her, even though she knew it was safe and sound. The jesters were harmless! They were all talk and joke cracking. She couldn't see if she didn't get closer.
She stood there in the middle of the hall and watched the jesters' backs, but they did not notice. They were so busy entranced with the tapestry- and their little f̶r̵i̷e̵n̵d̶- that they did not notice the dainty woman standing behind them. They were simply too distracted with what they were doing to notice anything else. The princess too found it curious, but she also found it dull. She wondered when they would notice that she was standing there.
But then, much to her surprise, the boy spoke up.
"What's going on…?" he asked in confusion. He furrowed his brow as he tugged and twisted the tassels. "Why's it getting all glitchy?"
"Just keep playing. It'll stop. It's probably just an electrical thing," the dark robed jester assured him.
Despite the fact that something was amiss, the jester didn't seem to notice. He just continued to stare at the tapestry without so much as sparing a glance around the ballroom, upon which he would've surely noticed the-
…Oh. They HAD noticed.
For right after that, the same jester put his arm around the boy's shoulders, his tattered cloak blocking his back. The other put his arm behind the first one's back. They crossed their arms like they were forming a human shield- Well, not human. A shield to protect against any danger that might come. Any creeping monster that may crawl out of the bowels of the castle stinking of sewage and spewing out trash.
But they were only a couple of clowns. What could they do? N̸o̷t̴h̷i̵n̶g̴.̷ If push came to shove, they would be on their backs in a heartbeat. Weighed down by those heavy hearts. It was almost quite comical, but doesn't that make sense? You're supposed to laugh at clowns.
…
…
The princess crept closer but still, STILL, they refused to turn around. They refused to look at her. They refused to face their fears and instead-
There was the sound of someone downstairs.
…It's Freddy.
It was time for the princess to leave. It was a shame as she hadn't figured out what was going on, but she knew better than to be spotted.
She hurried off into the castle halls once more, where she was soon comforted by the romantic flickering candlelight and could listen to the rain that always fell atop the castle. She returned to the safety of her tower where she knew she would always live in comfort.
She drew a lovely picture. She peered through her magic mirror. Then she laid down in her soft bed and closed her eyes for sleep.
Good night, Princess.