Mable: Here's hoping Fanfiction alerts are working again. And review alerts. And… pretty much everything else. XD Enjoy!
Going Home in a Box
Chapter Seventy-Five
"Are you sure you're up to this?"
Maybe not but between getting stuck with his thoughts and having a distraction, Sunny would eagerly choose to throw himself back into caretaking and forget he existed. Especially since he was in for a treat tonight.
So, not even two days after the disaster that they weren't going to talk about anymore, Foxy came by on Jeremy's behalf and asked if Sunny would be up to watching his little group of animatronic children. Including the adorable Minireenas.
Freddy had noticed that something was off with Sunny that night. He had even asked, but Sunny didn't want to open up about what was bothering him. He didn't want to think about it.
But Sunny had eagerly agreed and assured Foxy to pass on the news to Jeremy. Tonight was the night and any minute now Jeremy would be coming in with his slew of little mechanic tots. He was ready.
"Sure am!" Sunny said with that confidence he only had when covering.
Jake didn't press. He knew that they needed this tonight. The last few days- the last few quiet nights- had been practically unbearable. It was good to see Sunny a little perked up, even if some of it was acting.
Then the moment arrived. Marionette entered the daycare in an elegant purple and red coat and helped lead along a large laundry cart that Jeremy and Natalie were pushing from the back. Sunny took some amusement seeing that the blond had dropped most pretenses and was now actively assist in smuggling in their playmates. They wheeled it up as close as they could to the slide.
"Alright. If you need anything, just buzz me," Natalie affirmed, tapping on the radio on her belt. She then hurried off back to the lobby before anyone could wander up and catch her in the act.
Jeremy waved after her while Marionette gave a chime of farewell before pulling out the first of Jeremy orphans- a small rabbit animatronic who stuck his arms and legs out while being lifted.
Just the sight of the little guy filled Sunny with reignited excitement, and he plunged into the ball pit. As he did, Jake stepped out onto the balcony to take his place, noticing the arrival of the others.
"Hey, guys!" he called with a wave.
"Hey!" Jeremy returned with a wave as well.
"Good evening!" Marionette called back. He came over to the wall to see him better, still toting Plushtrap cradled in his arms. "Thank you for having us."
"No problem. Cool jacket!"
"Thank you!" Marionette chimed with delight.
Plushtrap fussily patted his arm and pointed towards the slide. His teeth chattering with anticipation.
"Oh, alright, alright," Marionette said with a tinkling chuckle. He then leaned down and set Plushtrap carefully into the slide. "Brace yourself. There's a little drop into the ball pit," he forewarned.
Plushtrap nodded, and Marionette gave him a gentle push, sending him down the colorful slide.
The little rabbit was fully expecting to plop down into a ball pit. He was not expecting to drop into a large pair of hands. Or be swooped up in front of a wide grinning sun-shaped face.
"Helllooo! What's your name, lil guy?" Sunny asked cheerfully.
Plushtrap's teeth began to chatter as he stared up wide-eyed.
"Careful! Careful! He bites when he's nervous!" Jeremy called down.
"Oh, no worries! So do a lot of my Sunflowers, eheheh!" Sunny chittered as he reached to set Plushtrap down over the low wall. "Off you go! But not too far," he said and patted his ears.
"Who's next?" Marionette asked. Button gave a little wave. "Very good. Both of you?"
"Yes. Me too," Bow agreed.
He scooped up the Bidybabs from the cart and carried them to the slide. They weren't wearing their dresses today as to not have them get in the way, and the lack of clothing caused them to shoot down the slide frictionless.
Sunny caught Button and got cutoff mid-greeting to catch the second, holding one in each hand.
"Oh, HI! What's your names, lil cuties?" he greeted excitedly, already gushing on how small and doll-like they looked.
"I'm Button and that's Bow," Button said. She sounded a little wary.
"You're funny looking," Bow said. She sound confused but curious.
"That's because I'm a clown!" he chirped, then set them down alongside Plushtrap.
Jeremy gathered up the Minireenas himself to send them down. All of them, especially Lilium, were eager to go.
"Mike didn't feel like coming today?" Jake called, directed to Marionette.
"Not tonight! Mike's at home resting… Err, hopefully," Marionette explained. "He had a big day today running errands."
…
"You know, you'd think with our own printed napkins that we wouldn't go through paper towels this fast," Mike remarked as he dumped a large twelve pack of paper towels into the shopping cart.
"You think that's bad? This has got to be a mistake," Fritz said. He was leaning on the cart handle and looking at the shopping list Tabitha scribbled up for them. "Seventeen bottles of ketchup."
"What's she doing, bathing in it?" Mike asked flatly.
"Maybe. I just don't understand why she didn't make it an even twenty."
"I guess it's cheaper than bathing in blood to get that nice youthful skin. Alright, where to next?" Mike said, rubbing his hands together in lukewarm anticipation.
"The toilet cleaning stuff should be on this aisle somewhere," Fritz said looking around. Mike grimaced a little at the thought. "That spray stuff's not cutting it. We're going to have to get in there with something strong. So, grab some gloves too."
"Good thinking. I don't want to go anywhere near that toilet on the end after last week." He almost shuddered at the thought. "I think Carlton's been avoiding it too because there's still skids all over it. On the walls-."
"I don't want to think about that when we're going to be getting our hands in it."
"Do you want to think about how we're going to have to clean under arcade machines we haven't moved in about a year?"
"I don't want to think about that either."
…
"You're not going down the slide, right?" Jeremy asked Max.
"Buddy, if you send me down that slide, I'm going to kill that Sun," Max forewarned.
Jeremy didn't know if he meant with his weight flying down the slide or just in general, so he shrugged and left it at that.
"BB?"
Balloon Boy gave a nondescript laugh.
"…I'm taking that as a no unless you tell me elsewise," Jeremy warned him. He then carried the Minireenas over and helped them down.
Sunny caught them one at a time, easily collecting them in his arms- save Forget-Me-Not who freed herself immediately and dove off into the ball pit. Sunny tried to feel around for her with no success.
"Oh well!" he shrugged off. He looked to the Minireenas he had caught. "Hello again, my little friends!" he greeted.
Daisy gave a giggle and wave while Rose just giggled, and Lilium tilted her head.
Oh, we're going to have so much fun tonight!" Sunny promised. He carried them to solid ground.
"That's all of them! I'm heading around to the doors!" Jeremy called past the wall.
"Okey-dokey!"
Jeremy and Marionette led the cart the rest of the way to the stairs. After some considering, they decided to bring the cart down. Jeremy and Marionette both moving to the top to keep it balanced and from tipping down them.
Once they were at the doors, Marionette teleported inside and pressed the button to release the doors before pushing one open and holding it for Jeremy to push the cart inside. It became significantly more difficult once they got onto the padded flooring, but he managed to get it inside the doorway with a little effort.
Sunny skipped up to them as Jeremy was lifting Max out of the cart. He had the Bidybabs in one arm, Plushtrap in the other, and the Minireenas hanging off him. Dasy on his shoulder, Rose and Lilium climbing up his sides, and Forget-Me-Not unseen but having climbed back aboard and was currently hanging from and swinging around on his back hoop.
Sunny spotted Max and his points spun. "Oh ho! Well, hello there!"
"Yo. What's up, Sun Man? Hahaha," Max replied. His voice being a dead giveaway showing that he wasn't even pretending to be a little kid, his delivery assuring that he wouldn't appreciate being treated like one.
Sunny caught on quick. "Oh, umm, not much more than the ceiling! I'm Sunnydrop, or Sunny, or Sun. Buuut I don't mind Sun Man neither. Nice to meet you, Mister…?"
"I'm Max," Max introduced. His voice lightening up a little more. "Consider me that dad who sits on a bench watching his kids run around a playground to make sure the boogeyman doesn't grab one. I'm an onlooker."
"Oh, o-okay! Well, I'll try to keep you entertained too! I'm sure I can scare up something a little more age appropriate… do you like magazines? I could scare up a magazine in a jiffy!"
"Yeah, sure."
"Great!"
Marionette came up to Sunny's side and waited patiently until he looked to him before speaking.
"I should warn you-."
"I LOVE the jacket," Sunny interjected to gush. He reached out to feel the material of the sleeve. "Oh wow, it's high-quality too! I saw such bright colors and thought it'd be costume flimsy."
"Thank you! It was a birthday gift from Mike, Foxy, and all my dear friends!" Marionette gushed. He did a little turn to show it off, especially the gift box patch on the back. "If I wasn't so worried I'd ruin it, I'd never take it off!"
"I've got to get on the gift list. My birthday's, eh… October?... Gosh, I can't remember." Sunny gave a blank stare for a moment before snapping out of it with a shake of his head, spinning his spins. "But warn me about what?"
"Oh! Yes, see Balloon Boy is going to try and put you through the wringer tonight. He's the one that looks like a short Pinocchio, wooden puppet sort of thing. You didn't see him get out, but I doubt he's still in the basket."
Jeremy checked in the laundry cart. Unsurprisingly, Balloon Boy was long gone.
"Don't let his childish laughter fool you, BB is our age in spirit, but he gets up to plenty of childish mischief. You'll have to keep an eye out for him," Marionette forewarned.
And while this WAS a true warning, Balloon Boy himself was the one who cooked up the idea of the Puppet directly warning the Sun. After Marionette expressed concern about him being too hard on a caretaker who was 'actin' a little extra neurotic'- Foxy's words, not his- Balloon Boy gave him the enthusiastic go ahead to give Sun a head's up.
But Sunny simply waved it off. "I'm sure he's no too much to handle!" he said, ignoring the light chime of Marionette's amusement. "I handle plenty of fussy faces. If I can handle a rulebreaker like Gregory, I can handle him!"
"How's Gregory doing anyway?" Jeremy asked.
"Good! He's spending some one-on-one time with Freddy tonight. A little bonding time without little ol' me in the way."
That was the truth, but Sun was purposefully leaving out details.
Gregory had noticed that Sunny was acting weird. Since 'Moon' was a better actor, he was the one who informed Gregory that 'Sun' was upset because the technicians invaded their room. Gregory, who by now realized there was little separation in personas, had been rather sympathetic. He didn't know what it was like to be an animatronic babysitter, but he DID know what it was like to have some authority figure barge in and mess up their stuff- not Freddy. Freddy wasn't an authority figure, he was like a dad.
"That's good! Good time for it too, since Foxy couldn't make it," Jeremy said.
For Foxy's sake he decided to leave out the part about him being so worn out that he passed out behind his curtain, and nobody woke him up after closing. He knew Jeremy was coming tonight- he was intending on coming too, downright insisting upon it- but he was just too exhausted for his own good. Just like with Mike, pulling day and 'night' shifts were just starting to run him down. It just took longer for Foxy to show it.
"Which is why I came instead. Jeremy and I don't get enough time to hang," Marionette said.
Sunny took notice of Marionette's lingering smile. It looked perhaps a little too coy, like he knew something- and since it had been around since he blew off Balloon Boy, it didn't bode well.
"Well, good! I hope you two have fun with Beelora. Just know that I have everything under control! Trust me, I do this for a living. I was built for this! And little ones who don't need naptime? That's perfect!" Sunny overcompensated. "Just keep an eye out for any rabbits. A little birdie told me that both of you've had some run-ins with her. And nobody wants that, no Sir!"
"We will be extra careful!" Marionette assured.
"And if we're not, I've got my secret weapon," Jeremy added. He patted the back of his belt. "Pepper spray. Mask or not, this'll knock you on your butt faster than a baseball bat."
"Just be careful where you spray that! Anywhere in the daycare and I'll have to clean it up myself," Sunny forewarned.
"Then we'll leave you to it."
"Be good, Guys. Go easy on him," Jeremy said. He reached out to pat as many heads as he could reach. "And try to stay in the daycare. This place is huge, you can get lost really easily."
"You hear him, kids. If you step out of line, you're getting the pepper spray, hahaha," Max joked.
"No, worse. Then I'll have to break out the airhorn, and then you'll have to watch Dad get in a boxing match with Monty Gator."
"Oh ho, you could just leave that to Moon," Sunny said slyly. "But don't worry! I'll keep a close watch on 'em all."
Jeremy and Marionette finally stepped back out the heavy door only to be approached by none other than Nanny Bot. Much to their surprise, the typically silent Staff Bot spoke up.
"Why don't you come by the theater? I've got something to show you," Jake said through Nanny Bot's speaker.
Marionette tilted his head and eagerly followed, with Jeremy waving through the crack of the door one last time- Sunny waving back- before following the Puppet and Staff Bot with his hands in his pockets.
They met up with Jake outside the open poster door at the top of the theater stairs. He waved at them as they came over.
"I think I've got something that'll go with that coat. Come on, we're going to the basement," he said.
Jake then led them down the stairs into the theater and behind the stage, then down more stairs into the oversized basement. He led them back into a sectioned off area filled with makeup mirrors and curtained dressing rooms. He let them to the back of it and to yet another laundry cart overflowing with clothing and costumes lazily tossed in.
"These are the theater costumes," Jake introduced, waving an arm back towards some clothing hanging on a rack. Then he patted the edge of the laundry cart. "And THESE are the costumes that are probably going to be replaced soon."
Jake dug into the open cart only to not find what he was looking for. He looked around in confusion before giving am 'Ah ha!' and stepping into an open changing room. He then brought out a costume top hat. One fit for a human to wear that was worn on the brim and a little at the top, even so much as having some of the fabric scuffed.
"This is the hat they used for the Freddy the Frostbear Christmas in July show. It's just a little roughed up, a hand-me-down," Jake explained.
He looked over it in his hands before holding the hat up above his head.
"Happy Birth-day!" he said in a fake-Freddy voice. He then spun the hat around and handed it to Marionette. "It's yours!"
Marionette was surprised by the offer. "You're sure it won't be missed?" he asked, hesitant to accept the hat.
"I'm sure it's going to get replaced by the other top hat, so I don't think it'll be missed. It'll save it getting thrown away," Jake insisted.
Reassured, Marionette took the hat into his hands with a happy trill. "Well, thank you! This will go perfect with my coat- after a little refurbishment, of course."
"Definitely. Sorry it's a little beat up."
"No, no, it's perfect! I love a good project to work on," Marionette assured. He was already thinking up ideas for how he could make it look. He gave Jake a wide, appreciative smile. "It really is. Thank you."
"You're welcome!" Jake replied. His voice brightening up. "And again, we've got another gift but when Sunny's ready. He'll probably be distracted for a while."
"He's going to have his hands full for a while," Jeremy said almost apologetically. While he didn't doubt Sunny's capability with children, he could tell that he wasn't prepared for what he was getting into. Especially with Balloon Boy acting up. Seeing Jake looking, he gave him a smile and a thumbs up. "They're good kids. Err, teens."
"I'll help keep an eye on them," Jake promised.
"You could…" Marionette drew out. He popped the hat on his head and swooped in with his arms behind his back, dropping down onto his legs beside Jake. "Or you could come with us. We're just heading to the West Arcade so Jake can work towards winning his Babee and to visit Beelora. We would be happy to have company!"
"…Well…"
Jake tapped his hands on his control panel, which he had hanging at his side from a strap around his shoulder. He looked back towards the stairs, though could only barely see them over the wall of the changing area. Not that he was really looking at them but more so looking somewhere while he no-doubt thought about how Sunny would react.
"You don't have to, but we're not going to be taking any risks tonight. We don't want to stir anything up," Jeremy assured. "You could say we don't want to poke the bees' nest."
"Except we're going to see the queen bee, so there may be some minor stirring," Marionette chimed in.
"But at the first sign of a white rabbit, we're out of there. A wise man once said you don't have to run faster than your enemies, you just have to run faster than your friends."
"It was Mike," Marionette reminded him.
"…Yeah, it probably was Mike," Jeremy agreed. "Couldn't have been Foxy. He only runs at, not away."
"That's how he lost his eye, you know," Marionette joked to Jake. Jake turned back to him, and he gave him a kindly smile. "But like Jeremy said, you don't have to. Not if it's not a good time."
"Actually… it would probably be a great time. Yeah, I'll go with you. Sunny's going to be busy anyway, so… why not?" Jake gave an almost nervous little chuckle. "Why not?"
He didn't exactly sound confident. Jeremy stole a look at Marionette, but the Puppet only acknowledged the obvious hesitation with encouragement.
"Excellent! Let's be off!"
"Sure! But, uh…" Jake's voice fell to nearly a squeak. "…Don't tell Sunny."
And even though Marionette's smile briefly faltered, and even though he and Jeremy noticed the red flags in the request, they didn't.
Meanwhile, Sunny was totally distracted with his new charges.
"Okay, new friends! What would you like to do first? I have crafts and puzzles, toys of all kinds, puppets- Oh! I could give you all a puppet show. I've been working on a new one!"
Daisy clasped her hands together and gave a delighted nod. Rose then nodded too, but Lilium shook her head and pointed to Plushtrap, who eagerly pointed at the play structures.
"You wanna go play in the fun tunnels, little guy? We can do that! We can do a puppet show too! Oh, we have the whole night to do all sorts of fun things!" Sunny gushed, bouncing on his heels.
"Laying it on a little thick there, Sun Man," Max remarked.
Daisy gave him a scolding, "Uh!" and shook her hand at him.
"Can we have candy?" Button asked.
"Wait, you guys can eat?" Sunny asked excitedly.
"…Well…" Button said.
"We can chew…" Bow finished.
"That's fas-tastic! We can have snacktime! We can even have a tea party!"
Both Button and Bow gasped.
"I love tea parties," Bow said.
"Me too. And with candy," Button agreed.
"Then a tea party it is!"
When suddenly something tapped on one of his points. He carefully turned to look and watched a Minireena climb out from under his shoulder. It was Forget-Me-Not, and she gave an insistent point towards Plushtrap. Daisy and Rose then both nodded along with her.
"They're saying we should go in the tunnels," Bow translated. Plushtrap's teeth chattered in excitement.
"Then we can go play in the fun tunnels first! Then a puppet show, then a tea party, or then a puppet show during a tea party, or a tea party during a puppet show- Oh, this is going to be so much fun! Let's go!"
Sunny eagerly carried the lot over to the closest entrance and started to let them inside. All while Max watched like a hawk.
This guy was a little too good to be true. At least, he acted too in-character for it to be real. There was a guy underneath that suit and Max would've much preferred to be familiar with him than this act on the outside. Foxy had said he was some kid from the old diner- some kid who threw a piece of pizza at Marion- but the question was, which one?
He could figure it out later. He didn't really feel like going for it yet.
He heard a mischievous laugh from the edge of the desk and looked over to see Balloon Boy sliding out from behind it, legs bent like a crab's, already looking like a menace. Too bad Sunny wasn't around to see it.
"We're still going to have a little fun with him, right?" he asked. "Foxy said he was one of the old bullies?"
"Something like that."
Balloon Boy gave a deviously deep laugh. "Oh, how the mighty have fallen. You in?"
"Eh, count me out. He seems a little unhinged," Max dismissed. He rolled his eyes over towards Balloon Boy. "But don't let me stop you! Hahaha!"
He certainly wouldn't. Sun Man wouldn't know what hit him.
He wouldn't know that Jake was sneaking out either. Well, it wasn't so much sneaking than him, Marionette, and Jeremy heading out without drawing any attention to themselves. Jake keeping close to the wall to lessen his chances of being spotted.
It was such a rush to sneak away without Andrew with him. Not that he didn't like spending so much time with him, but it was freeing to be able to go out on his own. Even when he wasn't exactly alone.
It wasn't until they had made it past the security door out of the daycare that he realized he had made it. He was finally able to ease up- well, only about getting caught by Sunny. He had to be very much on guard out here.
"You know, I'm glad they leave the lights and music on here and night, but don't they have a problem with the electricity bill? You'd think they'd turn some of this off. Not that I'm complaining. This place isn't nearly as family-friendly with the lights off," Jeremy remarked.
"It's the neon. It gives off a false sense of security," Marionette added.
"You're joking, but yeah, it really does. It makes the place still seem open. Like, that hallway? Spooky." Jeremy pointed down towards the lobby. "But the atrium looks like a toned-down Vegas."
"True. Now I much prefer the classic Freddy aesthetic, but… there is something refreshing about how lit up it all is. Much warmer and inviting… Oh!" Marionette gave an excited chime and hooked an arm around Jeremy's shoulders. "If we get time, I must take you up to see the bounce park. It's incredible!" he said, pointing up. Jeremy's brows raised in interest.
"So, how long have you two known each other? Since you saw the same Freddy's," Jake guessed, not aware that his guess was correct.
"Years! As a matter of fact, I knew Jeremy for quite some time before I met Mike, though we weren't friends until after we met again a few years ago," Marionette explained. He pulled Jeremy into a one-armed hug as he explained, chiming happily at Jeremy's light chuckle. "He was the security guard hired to watch me and I thought he was the murderer and tried to kill him," he explained.
"It was the uniform. We wore these super tacky purple uniforms. Customers and kids would take swings at us any chance they could too," Jeremy played along.
"…What's scary is that I can't tell if you're joking or not, because you kind of sound like there's a kernel of truth in that," Jake pointed out semi-awkwardly.
"It's the whole cob. Trust me, Freddy's used to look a lot better with the lights off," Marionette said with a playful laugh.
"It still does. You've seen our bedroom."
Marionette laughed and Jeremy gave a, "It's no worse than mine."
Jake could've very well left it like that without any issue. Nobody was prying for answers and he didn't need to air any grievances, and yet he was tempted to. He found himself volunteering information.
"Sunny and I've been together for a long while. It's got to be ten… more than ten years now!" he said.
"That's incredible. It's fortunate you two were able to stay together," Marionette said. Maybe Jake was imagining it, but he almost sounded relieved.
"It was. We practically grew up together. I don't know what we would've done if we didn't have each other to lean on," Jake explained. He paused a moment before taking the plunge. "So, uh you might've not noticed that something's off yet, but…" Marionette looked to him with a slight head tilt. "I shouldn't really be talking behind Sunny's back, but he's… we've been having a rough time."
"Did something happen?" Marionette asked worriedly. Jeremy also got a look of concern. Jake nodded.
"A couple of days ago some technicians came in to work on the power and they found our old body, the endoskeleton we used to share. They, uh… took it down to the furnace."
Marionette stopped as a startled look struck his mask. The furnace.
Jake was still walking and talking. "And we tried to get to it in time, but we couldn't. We just stood there and watched it burn."
"That's horrible, Jake," Jeremy sympathized. A little exasperation edged into his voice, "I don't understand. Why would they just burn it?"
"Theeey tend to burn anything with a risk attached to it. One of the technicians recognized bringing us- bringing it in and doesn't really like Sunny anyways, so… That kind of sealed it for them."
This answer made sense but was understandably unsatisfying.
While Jeremy really did feel for Jake and Sunny, his inward outrage was less at their loss and more at the now very likely possibility that Fazbear Entertainment could and would just burn any 'broken' bot they found lying around. And since most animatronics tended to play dead when confronted by more than one person…
Jeremy glanced at Marionette and his horrified look spoke volumes as did his silence. Jeremy spoke for them both, "I'm really sorry."
"Thanks… but don't worry about me! It's just a body," Jake assured.
That snapped Marionette out of his silence.
"It's not just a body, it's a part of you! You become close with a body, not just being inside of it but bonding with it," he sympathized. His voice softened, "It's still a loss. I'm sorry you two had to go through that, and to be so close-… be so close to it when it happened."
Jake seemed a little surprised by this insistence. He let his own emotions slip through.
"Yeah… Yeah, it really was. I still have the mask, but it's… It's weird to lose it. It's worse that it had to happen like that too. And to know that we won't have it as backup anymore," he said.
Marionette moved in and held his arms out, offering a hug. Jake moved his control panel to his sign and returned the gesture, and Marionette moved in and pulled him into a comforting embrace. He hugged back with a soft sigh. He had been trying to stay strong for Sunny so he wouldn't have to carry as much of the emotional baggage, so it felt good to get that assurance without having to feel the secondhand guilt of putting it on Sun.
The Puppet's arms stretched far enough around Jake that he was actually able to stealthily beckon Jeremy over with his hand. The blond shrugged to himself and came over to join in.
The three separated after a short while and then continued into the atrium.
Jake fell back and allowed Marionette to enter the atrium and make sure that it was empty.
"The coast is clear, come along," he said. Which Jake and Jeremy did, catching up and following.
It was at this time that Jeremy asked a question that had been on his mind for a few minutes. "Hey, how hard is it to switch bodies?"
"Hmm, I'm not sure. I've never done it," Marionette admitted.
"Wait, really?" Jake asked in surprise. "You? That's crazy! I would've thought you'd have gone through at least one or two by now."
"Nope! This is the same body I was first bonded to. I was pulled out of it once, nearly, but I clung to it and reattached myself. But I haven't done it myself and really haven't heard of doing it, save through accidents," he explained.
Accidents such as the peculiar creation of Ennard and whatever happened to the Molten animatronics.
"Huh… Well, Taggart was able to do it by attaching a part of our current body to the new one and then burning the old one. At least, I'm pretty sure that's how he attached us to the endo, since he took the mask off my doll, the one I was in, and stuck it on the endo and that's how I connected to it. Our friend was sort of just able to grab on and move us."
There were two strangers mentioned there that Marionette was curious about. He made a choice on which to address first, the much more interesting one.
"You haven't told us much about your friend."
Jake's voice betrayed audible nervousness. "He, uh, he was something. He was in a doll too, but Taggart must've never noticed he was haunted. He just left him up on a shelf until we met and escaped together. He wasn't able to move on his own, but he was sort of the brains of the operation."
But hearing about a living talking doll guiding them around piqued the Puppet's interest, and perhaps even his suspicion.
"A talking doll… Wait, does he mean Goldie? Henry?... No, what am I saying. It sounds like him, but it wasn't him," Marionette thought. "How peculiar. Please, tell me more."
"There's not much more to tell. He was a little, uh… Bonnie, I think. A Bonnie doll."
"Oh! What model?" Marionette asked, his inner toy collector coming out.
Jake's inner technician, former toy collector met him halfway. "About this big, with a bowtie and round cheeks. Kind of heavy, might've had something mechanical in it, but it didn't work anymore. Ever see one?"
"Well, it could either be a personal Freddy Friend, such as Plushtrap, or perhaps even a model like Charlie's. Or even an original from Fredbear's Family Diner… I would have to see it for myself."
"Right, well, uh… I'll keep you posted," Jake trailed off awkwardly.
"Maybe you could take a look at Plushtrap when we get back to the daycare? See if they're the same model?" Marionette gently requested.
"Oh yeah. Sure."
The two stepped into the elevator by the escalators, the one closer to the West Arcade. Jeremy came in behind them and was then standing in front of them by the doors as they rode up.
"It must be easier to possess toys. I mean, that's not an educated guess, but look at my little group. They're technically animatronics but they're pretty much just advanced toys… Don't tell them I said that," Jeremy tacked on.
"Well, if you think about it, animatronics in general are pretty much oversized toys. If you take the robotics aspect out. And hey, people were possessing animatronics back before they had all these new-fangled systems… Wow, that made me sound old," Jake lamented. Marionette laughed a little at that.
"And here's to angling for another one," Jeremy said with a sigh. "Only a couple hundred more hive coins to go."
"You've got this," Jake said with a thumbs up. Alas, he knew deep in his heart that Jeremy was not walking out of here with a Babee tonight.
The doors dinged and opened, and Jeremy led the way out. Leading the way towards the West Arcade entrance. Jake got up his control panel and began priming to hook into the Staff Bot guarding the entrance doors.
"Where is your friend now?"
Jake's hand hesitated over the control panel.
The question landed heavily, even though Marionette's tone was filled with curiosity and concern. It wasn't intrusive, yet his response was almost like it was.
"He's… out there somewhere," Jake answered vaguely.
"Somewhere?"
"…He's… Don't go looking for him, but…" Jake paused like taking a breath and turned around to face the Puppet head on. "He's down, uh… He's out there somewhere."
"I see…" Marionette voice lowered with further concern. "Should we go look for him?"
"NO!"
The Puppet recoiled and Jeremy jumped at the sudden outburst. Jake put his hand up apologetically, trying to mend his mistake.
"Sorry, I'm just a little on edge.
"No, no. Don't be sorry," Marionette assured.
"Well, I am. Just… Just trust me on this. He won't want to be found."
"Alright."
And with that it was dropped, for the most part. Marionette didn't ask any further questions and reassured Jake with a pat on the back before leading him inside with an arm around him- once Jake got the Staff Bot to move.
Yet that reaction and all he had said about his friend lingered in the back of Marionette's mind.
Once inside the West Arcade, Jeremy and Marionette stopped in to say hello to the DJ, only to find him fast asleep on his stage. His head resting on his crossed arms and bobbing softly. It was surprisingly cute for a machine so massive.
They then continued to the Hive Arcade, where Jake stopped before they arrived.
"I'm just going to stay out here if that's alright. Better to be safe than sorry!" he said.
"Do you want some tokens? We've got extra?"
"No, I'm good. I can hack the machines and get free plays. I'm still kind of an employee, so it's not really… Yeah." Jake decided just to let it trail off there.
"Alright. We'll meet back up in a little while. Oh, and maybe then we can head up to the bounce park!" Marionette chimed.
"Sounds good," Jake agreed. He sounded happy at least, and their last glimpse of him before heading inside was him looking around for an arcade game to play.
Once they were in and the door was shut, Marionette murmured to Jeremy, "That was probably for the best. I'm going to be asking Beelora a few questions. After our conversation, it might've made Jake uncomfortable."
"Gotcha," Jeremy agreed with a nod.
They had already discussed this before they came. Jeremy's job was to keep things casual and fill in any gaps if it turned out he did know Beelora. He'd leave the rest to Marionette, like he had done with Jake.
They found Beelora at her stage and she straightened to greet them only to gasp and place a delicate hand on her cheek.
"That is a beautiful jacket!" she gushed.
"Why, thank you!" Marionette did a little spin.
She gasped again. "And the embroidery on the back! Oh, somebody loves you."
"Somebody does,~" he agreed with a trill.
"The hat though…" Beelora lamented. "…It… It goes well! It just doesn't match…"
Which was a nice way of saying that the hat looked like it had come off a scarecrow.
"It was a gift too. I'm going to patch it up myself."
"Oh, okay! I'm sure it will look lovely once you're done." She eagerly slid down the spiral track and right up in front of Jeremy and Marionette. "I was supposed to have a coat to, you know. Before they finalized the Beelora design, they made a few drafts of a design with a big, fluffy golden coat, but it didn't make it to the end of development. It's a shame though. I think it would've looked nice."
Beelora's casual mention of herself and Beelora the character as separate entities suddenly made this whole broaching the human subject a lot less daunting. But Marionette still waited until the appropriate time to do so.
"So, Jeremy, are you ready to spin?" Beelora asked with a little spin.
"Sure am! I'm ready to bring this Babee home," he agreed with a confidence that didn't reflect his belief that he probably wasn't getting even close to winning one today.
"Beeeautiful! You're going to have good luck today. I can just feel it!" Beelora insisted. She then slid down the track beside him, beckoning him along with a graceful wave of her hand. "I'll show you which machines haven't paid out today. They're your ticket to big winnings! Just keep with it and don't lose hope. Even the smallest victory is still a step in the right direction."
"It's another coin in the piggy bank," Jeremy added.
"That too!" Beelora agreed. Her wings clicking as they fluttered on her back.
She waited at his side until he decided on a machine- one of the coin pushers that had three Hive Coins moved about halfway down- and then began to cheer him on.
Marionette let things settle for a few minutes before speaking up.
"Beelora, can I ask you for a favor? If it makes you uncomfortable at all then it's no problem, forget I even asked," he requested.
"It's no problem at all! Whatever you need, I would bee happy to agree!" Beelora cheerfully replied.
"You don't know what the favor is yet," the Puppet playfully pointed out. "I was wondering if I could look into your eyes?"
"My… eyes?" Beelora asked in quiet confusion.
"The long and short of it is that I have this quirk where I can look into the eyes of another animatronic and see their liveliness. I was wondering if I could check yours."
"You can do that? Well… Well, sure you can! I don't see any problem with it… Oh! I don't see any problem with it," Beelora emphasized. She gave a tiny almost nervous chuckle and leaned forward; her hands folded at her front. She then opened her eyes. Her sunshade like eyelids raising to reveal the glowing mauve eyes underneath. "It won't hurt, will it? They're a little sensitive."
"It shouldn't. Though I have lights in my eyes, so tell me if it does and I'll stop." Marionette lifted his hand towards her cheek. "Can I touch you here?"
"You can touch me anywhere," Beelora replied. She then gave a downright panicked sort of flustered noise. "I-I mean-! That did not mean to come out like that!"
Marionette gave a friendly chuckling chime. "I know, don't worry. And I will just be touching your cheek and chin to hold you steady."
"Okay."
He gently held her face and looked deeply into her eyes. His own pupils illuminating as he searched them for something. For more than just movement, he saw that plenty, but some sort of glimmer of life inside of them. A soul staring back.
Maybe he was imagining it because he knew about her déjà vu moment with Jeremy, but he was sure he saw something there. Even if he couldn't put his finger on what he saw that said she was alive.
All the while she was practically buzzing as she stared back. This was very strange, but the physical touch, the closeness- if only he wasn't already taken. He might've not been her usual rugged type, but she couldn't deny a soft touch and a soothing voice. Even if it was for a short while.
She was snapped out of it as Marionette drew back.
"Thank you," he said.
"You're welcome," she said. Her eyelids closing again. "Did you see what you were looking for…?"
"I did, and you passed with flying colors. But would it be alright if I asked you some questions? Again, if any make you uncomfortable then you don't have to answer," Marionette offered with a soft smile.
"Sure! Happy to oblige," Beelora agreed again.
"Beelora, do you remember anything… before Beelora?"
Her eyes darted over towards Jeremy. Marionette took notice.
"Well… There is something," Beelora quietly admitted. Her voice trailing off to a whisper. "But I don't know if it means anything…"
"I'm sure it does if you remember it. What is it?"
"I think it was a dream. I'm sitting in a big bubble bath, and I hear this beeping noise and I try to turn my head, but there's something bunched up right here and I can't," Beelora said. She gestured beside her neck. "…It's very strange… I think- I wonder if it could've been from when I was downstairs with the endos. Maybe I was dreaming while I was being built?"
"That's possible," Marionette agreed. He rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Anything else?"
"I'm afraid that's it. Except Jeremy, but I can't even recall what I remember him from," Beelora explained. "I'm sorry I can't be more help."
"You have been plenty help! Thank you," Marionette assured her. He decided to end it there. "That will be all for now, but if you remember anything else then please tell me. I'm just trying to get a timeline of events for the Pizzaplex."
"Then you should probably ask Chica. Maybe I'm wrong, but I think she might've been the first to have been, err, 'awake'."
"I may…" Marionette said pensively.
Which Chica would seem like the worst option due to her previous run-ins and willingness to turn on intruders, such as Charlie, she was the only animatronic who they knew for certain had been awake and aware before the Pizzaplex's creation. Unless she had been fully deactivated for her upgrade and not reactivated until closer to release, she might've seen some of what was going on.
Marionette gave a little wave. "But that's for another day! Again, thank you. And thank you for letting us in here. We're all crossing our fingers for Jeremy to get this Babee."
"I know he will! Maybe not today. Maybe not next time or the, umm… but I'm certain one of these days he will be taking a little one home with him," Beelora assured.
With that, the two began to watch Jeremy playing again. Him having continued to work at dropping tokens in while listening to the conversation behind him. Marionette watched over his shoulders as the tokens slowly trickled down.
…Or he would've, except after about five minutes of watching coins edge forward, Marionette was finding it increasingly difficult to not want to nudge it along. He could very well give the smallest bump with his telekinesis and send a cascade of coins raining down, including the coveted Hive Coins. Except that he couldn't. He couldn't cheat; not because of programming, but out of a moral obligation. He wouldn't want cheating in his pizzeria either.
Unless it was very clever cheating that took enough time and effort that it might warrant being commended. Marionette might've given a child that cunning a trinket for the attempt. He couldn't offer the same leniency to himself.
"Jeremy, I'm going to go check on J-… DJ Music Man. If you too don't mind," Marionette said.
"Fine by me. I'm probably going to be here for a while," Jeremy agreed.
"Please tell him I said hello! I haven't seen him today," Beelora requested. "In fact, if you could, tell him I'll drop in for a visit later."
"Can do!" Marionette agreed. With a short spin he disappeared.
Beelora stared at where he once stood. If her eyes had been open, she might've blinked in disbelief.
"I wish I could do that," she murmured.
"Yeah. Same," Jeremy chuckled.
She turned to him quickly, delighted by his reaction, and eagerly stood at his side and continued encouraging him as he continued to play.
In the meantime, Marionette did stop in with DJ Music Man. He was still asleep, so he made a mental note to return before they left to deliver the message. Then he went to seek out Jake. He found him playing an arcade game called Dinoshock not too far from the Hive Arcade entrance.
"Jake?" he said. Not wanting to surprise him by sneaking up behind him. Jake spared a look over his shoulder.
"Hey, Mari! I didn't expect you back so fast."
"Well, Jeremy will be buszzzy for a while and I'll be too tempted to help him out if I stay and watch. I thought maybe you would like some company," Marionette offered.
"Sounds good to me! Give me two seconds to die and then I can start us up on two player."
"You don't have to die on my account."
"Trust me, I won't."
But it was a relief to Marionette to hear that Jake was back to seemingly high spirits. After a few minutes- a few seconds longer than Jake was expecting- his run ended. He used the control panel to bypass the request for tokens and got them started on a two-person game. It wasn't long before they were somewhat immersed into it.
This was nice. It certainly made him feel better about making Jake so uncomfortable earlier, like he was making it up to him by showing him a good time. Or at least a better time than sitting out here alone.
But it also worked both ways, because the game was a fine distraction away from the thoughts that Marionette would prefer to put off for later. About mysterious doll friends and dreams that might've been memories.
Just like with Sunny, sometimes a band-aid solution worked best.