I Don't Own Fnaf

Fritz wasn't sure just how he found himself here, but Scott had asked for help, and he was the one with the files and training to deal with the funtimes... Not that he was overly looking forward to it, because that meant he had to get out the handunit that was shoved into his closet again. The thing hadn't even been out of power, though it was extremely hot to the touch, which made him feel incredibly stupid about his plan to get the thing out of his hair now that there was a chance there could be some heat damage to the thing on to of whatever eroded and messed up thing or programming glitch was messing with the device.

Sorting through it was a mess, the files had been jumbled again, and he was sick of seeing 'Please Stand By' on the display, somehow that text had been superimposed over the checkered background of the display, at least the screen wasn't glitching out anymore, he had no idea why that would be the case, but frankly at the moment he wasn't sure he cared either. One last thing to worry about all things considered, as he had just tossed the thing into his car and after a short drive, found himself at Scott's house where the two had been talking for a while now.

The two had been doing a lot of discussing really, about... things. Scott was more or less dancing around the topic, but Fritz had a pretty good idea he knew what was purpose of this was, even as he pulled out the files he had on hand on the funtimes, showing them off on the screen, happy that the thing wasn't glitching out on him and showing a random section of AR again. The handunit had been quite determined about that image, he just ignored it.

"So... Do you think they'll willingly go into a suit? Or is it more a restoring them to what they were like before Mike took an... axe to them?" Fritz really somedays wondered if he should still be at least a bit scared of Mike, this was apparently on of those days as he recalled once more about how apparently the reason Ennard was in such a state was because Mike, when half dead, decided to fight back instead of run, with a freaking fireman's axe.

Scott just fidgeted a bit, looking unsure for a moment before saying.

"I- I don't think they want to be in a suit, if they really did I think they already would have just stu-... Uh, got themselves into one of the ones down there like Circus Baby did before vanishing right?" Fritz nodded, that made sense, as Scott continued, "But, instead they just kept adding more and more wires. I don't even think most of it does anything, but that means something right?"

"I guess... I talked to Mike, he mentioned there was this cog thing that Ennard used to hold themself together and when he destroyed it, that's what caused them to unravel, if I can find what kind of piece that was then we should be able to get the base wires hooked back to it and with a bit of... spooling I guess? Tightening them back into whatever they looked like before, shouldn't be too impossible, just... Are you sure you're comfortable with this? I'm used to working on animatronics that are more than willing to hurt me, but... If you're the one doing this, then you're going to have to do a lot of close work"

Fritz was honestly really worried about Scott, the request had seemingly come out of nowhere if he was being honest, and it wasn't one he knew that the man would make lightly, given the man seemed to have it in his head that he should be the one who actually did the repairs. Scott had never really struck Fritz as a handy with his hands sort of person, but he was willing to be surprised, it was also just... He wasn't expecting to be this surprised. Scott just slowly nodded.

"Y-yes, I... I'm not going to say I'm not scared" He let out a short nervous laugh at that, "But, I think they trust me? I don't... I'm pretty sure they won't hurt me either, so... If this is what it takes then I'll do it, I just need to know what it is I'm doing. I looked over my old tapes, but nothing said anything about this, and I don't think I ever did any recordings for the Funtimes, Mille- Ah, William, never really asked me to step into the AR stuff that was happening, so I was only ever kind of aware of somethings that going on but not... this kind of stuff"

"It's all good, we just need to find the right files, it was probably apart of one of the animatronics to begin with, so if we can just figure out what model it was from, then we could be able to figure out just where we need to go looking for a spare, or if we're unlucky, maybe we can at least find the blueprint on said animatronic and be able to remake the part ourselves, that might take a while though" Scott just bobbed his head, as Fritz began to search around on the handunit, the files were a mess as always, but this time it was honestly worst.

The file names probably got mixed up or something, it had to be the case, because every time he opened a file that he was sure should have had information on the blueprints, then it was just... Not there, instead it was just either blank, had that infuriating Stand By line in it, or just random images that must have been stored on the cache of the device. It was very strange all things considered, but Fritz just gritted his teeth and suddenly said after nearly half an hour of being hunched over his friend's kitchen table as Scott stood around awkwardly.

"I have the funtime designs printed off at the warehouse, come on, we can actually get work done there... Do you know if you would know where anymore of these things are by the way? This one has been nothing but trouble since I got it" Fritz not so subtly smacked the thing when the volume spiked loud enough that the sound of faint static could be heard from it, it didn't do anything per say but it made him feel a bit better as his hand then moved to shift down the volume with more practice in the motion than he ever wanted, as he waited for Scott to answer, the man himself seemingly trying to think of something, before finally settling on a sympathetic tone as he spoke.

"Ah, no, not really, they were only ever really used at AR to my knowledge, and a very short while with some other companies under the same umbrella, like freddy's, but afterwards, I couldn't say where any of them ended up" Fritz just sighed, but nodded, he should have guessed, if there hadn't been any at the warehouse, where it seemed just about all the junk from Freddys had ended up, then there was a chance that this might just be the only handunit still out there. Much to his disappointment.

"Right, come on, let's get this over with"

"Ah, I- You want me to go with you?"

"Yeah, I mean, if you want to know what you're doing? I guess I could go get them and bring them back but that's kind of a waste of time" The man seemed to hesitate for a long moment, before finally asking.

"Just, ah... Is Golden Freddy there?" Oh- Right... That would be something to consider wouldn't it?

"Goldie? Um, probably, unless he's over at Mike's, he's been visiting more recently, but he could be there. Is that a problem? I mean, if it is, I can do the run myself" Fritz had to admit he felt a bit bad about it, the man looked more than a little put on the spot, but... As it stood, Fritz also couldn't really imagine a world anymore where he needed to be scared of Goldie, the bear was... Well harmless would be a bit of a mislabeling word, but Fritz was sure they would be safe even if the bear was there. It just took him a moment to realize that Scott really wouldn't see that the same way as he did, Scott hadn't been with him over the last few months of getting to know the surly and overly blunt animatronic.

"Ah... N-... No, I can... I'll be fine, come on" Now that was another surprise for the ages, as he just stared at the man for a moment, before nodding quickly, standing up as he said.

"Right, come on, we can take my car"

"Are you going to take that?" Fritz glanced back and stared at the handunit for a long moment... He probably didn't really need it did he?

"Nah, it'll be fine, I can just pick it up on my way back. Come on, let's see what we can find" Scott let out a not so quiet sound of dread, but followed along anyways, and that really caught Fritz off guard... Maybe he should make a point to talk to the man more often. It seemed he had a lot more going on than Fritz had first thought if this was how he was acting after... what? Two or so months of visits to the wires in the proverbial basement.

Jeremy was on his way home, slightly dreading it, knowing it meant going back to see Bonnie, and he kind of hated himself for that, but he couldn't deny it. He had thought almost naively that because it had been a bit things would eventually settle down, but as it stood... Things had only gotten worse. Jeremy was comfortable with saying he didn't need to much sleep, never had, it was what had first few him to the night guard shift, the idea of not wasting his nights away and being able to enjoy the small part of the day that wasn't taken up by college at the time, but he still needed rest.

Bonnie on the other hand was making a remarkable impression of the energizer bunny, he must have been sleeping when Jeremy was at work or acting as driver for the animatronics, because he was up at every hour, especially the hours that Jeremy was trying to sleep. It was slowly eating at him, but he refused to hold it against the rabbit, even if the multiple talks he had with the bunny was getting him next to nowhere. If he pushed then he was either yelled at that he didn't get to control Bonnie, or the animatronic just shut down.

He preferred the screaming to be honest, even if it sucked in the moment because he felt useless, he still felt that way if Bonnie went quiet, but at least when Bonnie got his emotions out by yelling Jeremy wasn't woken up hours later by the rabbit making a mess out of what Jeremy could only assume to be late acting petty spite. Then there were the neighbors. Jeremy had never really interacted with them before, he lived a very solitary life all things considered the last few years, but now he was seeing them every other day it felt like with a new compliant now that whatever minor speck of goodwill he had gained over the years of living here had died a quick death and he was now quickly running out of excuses and reasons for the very late night thuds and maxed out tv volume.

If this kept going, he was going to have to think of something to solve the problem, the only issue with that was he was already trying to figure out something to solve the problem for the last three weeks that it had been progressively getting worse and worse, but instead of being able to come up with anything, nothing was coming to mind, in the slightest.

He just didn't get it, he tried to give Bonnie space, the rabbit got angry, he tried to interact with Bonnie the rabbit got angry, he tried to do both, the rabbit got very angry. He just... Was tired, and overwhelmed, and had no idea what he was doing, and wanted a break, but... But he found himself parking the van, he hardly ever used his own car anymore, it was just taking up space it felt like most days, another parking slot he was renting, and getting out to head up to his apartment anyways, even if a not so small part of his head debated on if it was too pathetic or not to just turn back around and rent out a motel for the night to be able to get a full night of sleep in.

He was still holding that debate, more just as a thought exercise than anything to keep his head working and his feet under him, as he pushed his key into the lock, turning it and letting himself in with a faint stutter to his step, looking around with mild anxiety for whatever awfulness had happened in the time he had been gone.

Thankfully, mercifully, nothing in the small hall into his connected livingroom and kitchen seemed to be in a state of immediate disarray, which made Jeremy feel almost, almost, hopeful... If it wasn't for the muted sense of smugness and worry that was coming from further in the apartment, as he took a deep breath in, managed to still his nerves, and said with as much dulled enthusiasm as he could manage as he kept walking in.

"Hey Bonnie! I'm home, I was planning on getting something to ea-" The words died in his throat, cut off with a faint whimper as he stared ahead at the living room where his coffee table once stood... And where now two pieces of a coffee table now laid split in half. He just stared at it for a long moment, feeling the way the air seemed to choke him, the nerves from the rabbit turning into an almost kind of apprehension and anticipation that he just... didn't want to at the moment think about, as he was much too busy keeping himself from crying.

"Are you going to say anything?" His voice made a sound, he wasn't sure what kind, but he managed to force it into something of a cough before the rabbit could sense his weakness, as he managed to say.

"I-... Why?" The nervousness from the rabbit only continued to grow, and Jeremy just didn't understand. Why do this if he was worried about how Jeremy would react? What... what was the point!?

"I... Well, I was trying to mess with the ceiling fan strings, but they were a bit too tall, so I got on the table, but... It wasn't strong enough to hold me" Well... At least that sounded like something reasonable as for how it happened, better than just stony silence of yells about how he was being targeted. After a long moment, he just let out a sigh, a short one because he wasn't sure how Bonnie would react to a longer one, and said.

"R-right... I'll... Get another one later, honestly I'm not too surprised, the thing was probably older than you are, but... No, no, it's fine, just... You aren't hurt right?" The rabbit just shook his head, though he was just staring at Jeremy again, as the man just... didn't have it in him to think about it, as he just nodded one more time, saying out loud, "I'm going to heat up some food then" He had wanted to try and order out, his fridge only had left over pizza in it and the thought of eating more of the food made him almost feel sick... But he just didn't have the energy to bother anymore.

"I- Uh... I jumped on it too" Jeremy felt himself freeze, as he took another moment to think about that, before turning over.

"W-what?"

"The table, I jumped on it, a few times" And reasonable excuse has left the station, as he just stared at the rabbit, words coming from his mouth before he could stop them.

"Why?"

"I-... Don't know?"

"You don't know why you did something you knew could break the coffee table?"

"...Yes?" Jeremy took a deep breath in, before saying on the exhale-

"Just... Alright... Do you want to talk about it?"

"About why?"

"About-" Jeremy had to cut himself off before he got a bit to loud, the frantic energy of just wanting to demand why the hell the bunny was acting like this was almost overwhelming, but he could do this, he could keep his temper even, even if it killed him, as he continued on after half a beat in a much more reasonable tone, "About why you have been doing... everything in your power to just... Make life hard" The words felt lacking, his tone well past exasperated and not what he had been wanting to go for, but he wasn't at his best, the rabbit just stared at him, before seemingly riling up.

"Hard? Oh, I'm sorry, if your life is just miserable all the time cause I'm here? Then why the hell did you even both-" Jeremy was done. His ears just tuned it out, as he turned and was already walking, moving past the animatronic that had suddenly paused half way through his rant when he had gotten close, only to start again when he was walking away, louder and louder, until he got to his bedroom. He could go a night without dinner, that was fine... He just really wanted to get some sleep.

He didn't mean to slam the door, but some small part of him was glad that it seemed the loud sound caused Bonnie's shouting to stop almost immediately, as he just moved forwards and found himself sitting on his bed for a long moment, before placing his head into his hands, as he just let out a long wheezing breath.

It wasn't supposed to be this hard right? He had thought they had gotten along well enough before now, was he just... bad at this? Was he just not good enough to handle helping anyone? He tripped over himself and gave up on Ennard, his words hardly ever seemed to help any of the others, and now he could barely seem to even hold a conversation with Bonnie without feeling like he was just... wrong. Was this just a whole mistake to even bother?

He could... He should, ask Bonnie if he wanted to go back to the warehouse. They had given it a shot, but it was very clear that Bonnie wasn't happy here. The least he could do was give the rabbit the out he was pretty sure the animatronic was searching for.

But... But he could do that tomorrow, when he wasn't on the verge of breaking down, held up in his bedroom in his own apartment.

For right now he just really wanted to sleep.

It was weird, the normalcy that he seemed to fall into over the next few weeks, November rolling into December, the days continuing on in a row that was almost too common. It was like back at the start of the summer, after all that mess at the Bounce Palace place. A period where everything was just... Nice and in motion, and for once, it wasn't Mike who was in that motion. Unlike the months and months before, it was him watching as things moved on.

Mostly between Mari and Charlie, who had made a point of coming around once every day or so, the two both slowly getting more and more used to the other, talking about things, about the things that had been missed from each other's lives. Mike was mostly just there to play moderator, and because Mari frankly refused to not have him involved, which Mike honestly was more than fine with. It felt nice to be the one to be on the helping side of their relationship for once if he was being honest.

Mari was beginning to remember more and more by the day, not by much, and never a lot at a time, but it was still something. Evan had been around a few times as well, so he could catch up with Charlie as well. Apparently his memories were a lot better than even Mike had suspected, he had stories to share, and methods of remembering that seemed to help the puppet. It was just... Nice, in the board terms, but for sure it wasn't all easy either.

Mari had been waking up almost nightly from dreams, not all nightmares, not even most, but dreams with so much weight to them that he seemed to almost spring out of them when they got to much without really meaning to, which meant Mike was also often up for good portions of the night with the puppet to talk Mari through the memories and what they might mean and how the puppet was feeling. And while the memory lane trip was mostly good, healthy even if he was being optimistic, with the fact that Mari had a fairly good childhood all things considered before things went down hill with his death, which Mike was very, very grateful for, that didn't mean it was all that great on the rest of the group, recalling that almost shared childhood from different angles.

Mike felt bad with how little he could really contribute to the group of four when it came to recalling fond memories, because as it stood, he just didn't have many, and his point of view wasn't nearly as... emotionally available for him to share without feeling like he was talking about things that didn't matter for what Mari needed. The others didn't need to hear Mike's woe is me speech every other time one of them wanted to ask if he had any stories to share, because it wasn't often he had one that wasn't him acting years older than he actually had been at the time.

No one needed to know Mike couldn't remember the last time he felt like a child, or know that was a lie but it was too painful most days to remember when his mother was still around and when things were good.

So he kept those things to himself, and just enjoyed how happy Mari was, absorbing the energy and excitement from the puppet like an emotional sponge. In his opinion, it worked quite well, even if he was sure Evan was giving him more and more looks, probably now with age realizing just what some of those happy memories being recalled meant for the eldest of the Emily/Afton children. He was fine, and Mari was great, and he chose to just... enjoy the moment.

It was winter proper now, and that meant it was quickly getting colder and colder, to the point that apparently according to the weather reports that they might even be able to expect snow sometime before the end of the month even if it was currently unlikely, something that hadn't really happened last winter. But honestly, Mike liked the cold, it reminded him of the new faint memories of England. He wanted to go back at some point thinking about it. The talk during Thanksgiving made him think more and more about just where he had come from, plus slipping on the accent a few times to tease Mari had been a great way of keeping it at the top-ish of his mind.

But mostly, in his free time that wasn't taken up by talking about ideas for a festive week for the Cove, while of course actually being closed for three days being the day before, day of, and day after of Christmas or talking with Mari and the two's respective siblings, he was actually exercising.

It started off with runs, the crisp air was great for morning and evening jogs around his neighborhood, but after the second time he saw a woman he didn't really know cross the street when he jogged past, he made the point to get a gym membership, which was... Nostalgic in a not great way. There had been a reason he had put it off for months before he had been injured to the point where he needed a few more months to recover, to actually get a gym membership even with how much he had thought about it.

The last place he had been where there was a gym had been... well, it was prison, and needless to say, the less Mike had to remember his four year stint behind bars the better, but it turns out that he had been vastly over thinking it, sure there were things that made him remember more than one bad memory, and for the first few days the sounds of moving weight equipment made his teeth be set on edge, but there was something very different about prison weight rooms and an actual gym.

He hadn't had a treadmill to use in jail for example, much less half the things that he honestly had less than an idea of how to work now. He made a point to focus on those, especially after his first day in the gym, or more over the first morning after the gym. He knew what soreness felt like, but apparently he had pushed his body way too hard at first and it was revolting against him for it. The pain lasted a few days past what it should, which told Mike all he needed to about his current... 'Health condition', in that even if his ribs were no longer puzzle pieces and the hole in his side was now nothing more than a twisted and messed up scar, he still healed way slower than a normal person.

Not a terribly bad trade for being alive after literal death, but as far as perks goes, that seemed to be the only one. Not that he particularly cared about gaining superpowers or anything, but it would have been at least a bit nice to have more than just... not particularly needing to breath as from what Mike could tell the main pro on the list he was building in his head about being in a zombie body.

Anyways, he had to take his whole physical rehab a lot slower than before, but he certainly felt a lot better, a ton of energy that he hadn't quite realized that his body just kept building and building in the back of his mind. Having a way out was really nice.

All in all, as Mike returned home in the middle of the morning from the gym, ready to get in the shower, he was very happy with how life had been going for him recently, and he was just... glad he could look back on what was basically the last few months now with the perspective that it had been honestly pretty good, the end of summer and the start of fall had been rough to say the least, but the last month and a half had been... Really nice.

He ignored the faint worming fear and worry in the back of his mind that things never went well for them for long, and instead let a small smile play on his face as Mari rounded the corner from the kitchen, a happy chime coming out as he moved over and quickly gave a quick hug to Mike which he quickly gave back. Another thing he really liked to take as much of as he could, Mari had gone back to being clingy recently, and Mike couldn't understand the person he was at the start of the year where he had found such a thing annoying and overbearing.

"Welcome back! How was the gym?" Mike just hummed before saying casually.

"As good as it always is" Mari seemed pleased, letting out a low little humming sound before suddenly he was being lightly pushed back as the puppet looked him up and down for a moment before saying.

"Good, now go get a shower" Mike just raised an eyebrow, saying teasingly.

"Rushing me off already?" Mari just gave a sharp nod, though Mike could hear the amusement in his words.

"Yep, you stink" That got Mike's patented huff of a laugh as he said back dryly.

"We both know that's a lie" Mike didn't sweat, literal couldn't, so it hardly like he'd have an odor, not that that was necessarily a good thing, he had given Mari quite the scare after the first few days at the gym where he had vastly overworked himself. Turns out the body sweated to be able to cool itself, and since he didn't have that ability anymore, while his internal body heat was impressively, or rather dangerously, cold for a normal person from what he had looked into in the last few weeks, it didn't change the fact if he warmed up, it was hard to get cooled down.

"Is it so wrong for me to want you to have proper hygiene habits and for you to not faint?" Yeah, that was a fair point, he knew that already, he just wanted to tease Mari. He didn't need showers after the gym because he was gross after building up a sweat, well, he still felt gross going without one but that's just more associated memory more than anything, but because he needed a cold shower to make sure his body wasn't overheating itself, he wasn't really... Good at judging heat anymore, he could tell when things were warm but that was about it, he figured that out early on with how much he used the oven, he just hadn't understood the secondary ramifications until later.

Another strike in the negatives column for being a zombie, but it wasn't all that bad, at least until summer came along, then he was sure he was going to have a lot more issues with it, but he didn't seem to have the same problem with the cold after some tests that Mari had been very much against, so he was fine for the winter and other issues could wait until later.

He wondered why Jeremy didn't get all these issues... Well, that was an easy question to answer, Jeremy wasn't as dead as Mike was, and yet he had supernatural abilities... It was weird, Mike wasn't particularly jealous, frankly out of all the weird stuff the people around him could do, Jeremy's ability was on the lower end of the list on things he'd want, frankly he wasn't sure he wanted some weird ability at all, being something close to normal was enough for him.

But it was just another thought that had stuck around in the back of his mind over the last few weeks, nothing necessarily important, but... Something he had thought about around the same time that his death had begun to lose its... effect on his mental health, which wasn't that just an insane thought to have.

"You alright?" Mike blinked, absently realizing he was still standing there, in front of Mari, he had thought he had walked off, must be more out of it than he thought, it was fine though, he was fine. He just smiled, nodding easily.

"Yeah, just admiring the view" The words slipped out easily, they didn't have the reaction he wanted though, well, Mari got a bit flustered, but it didn't last, as he asked again, a bit more carefully.

"Are you sure?" Mike blinked again, why wouldn't he be sure? He thought about it for a moment, before... Before just shrugging.

"Yeah, I'm fine, just... Thinking about stuff"

"What kind of stuff?" Mike wasn't sure just how to answer that, so he settled on the truth, that was what they did after all, now at least.

"Just... It's been a year, well, not to the day, we're actually over it by a month or so now, but it's been a year, a full one, since... everything changed I guess. I think it might have just hit me" As he spoke he hadn't really realized just how true the words were. He had started working at Freddy's in early November, it was just before Christmas when he had met Mari, he didn't remember the exact day at the moment, given how he kind of had a concussion for it, but technically they had an anniversary coming up, if it hadn't already passed.

A full year of having his brother back, of coming back to Hurricane, of life and death situations, his actual death... And yet he was still here. He was still him, even if some days when he looked in the mirror he couldn't see the person he had been two years ago looking back at him, for more than just one reason... Oh god-

"Am I getting sentimental?" Mike said the word with apparently enough aghast to his tone that the puppet let out an amused chime, moving forwards lightly, slipping once more into his arms as Mike just let him, as Mari seemed to think about it as well, it had... Been an incredible year, and a horrible year.

He was found, he was given a home, he started to talk, he fell in love, made new friends, and nearly lost it all more than once.

"Maybe just a bit, but it's alright, I love you just the same"

"Heh, well I guess it can't be to bad then"

"Thank you Mike" The words seemed to catch the man off guard, but Mari just continued, speaking softly as he leaned in a bit closer, pressing his face to the man's chest, "Thank you so much, for everything. I really love you"

"We really are being sappy today huh?" Mari let out a small sound as Mike's arms wrapped around the puppet more firmly, as his voice lowered, more a murmur now but the puppet could hear it all the same, "I really love you too"

They just stayed there for a moment, Mari had no idea just where this had come from, but he let himself bask in the warmth it gave him as much as he could, before Mike finally spoke up.

"It's a bit early, but for Christmas, remember that trip we talked about?" Mari felt his music box tick across itself a bit faster in a faint pull of excitement, as he pulled back just a bit to give Mike a curious look, as the man smiled just a bit before saying, "I thought then would be a nice time to get away... what do you think"

Mari knew his body let out some kind of sound, one that showed his emotions better than he could explain them with words, so he just didn't bother, as instead he leaned up and quickly caught Mike's lips with his own. The faint grunt and quick push back told him all he needed to know in Mike's own answer.

A year ago they fought for their lives against a monster while they hardly knew each other's name, and now they were here, home, safe, and together.

And with that, it's officially the end of Act Three.

I end of acts with character developmental moments more than drama or suspense, has anyone noticed that? I don't want to lead into the next act with danger I guess is the best way of describing it, and as well as end them off with Mike reaching some kind of moment of importance for his character arch. At the end of the first arc it was him coming to and then being determined in his new path in getting the Cove up and running, at the end of Act Two it was Mari telling Mike his feelings and the fallout from that, and now this one, it's Mike looking back, a full year later after everything and just... marveling at both just how much is different everything is, and how it's better and worse in different regards, mostly better, but the year 1992 has taken things from Mike, and that can't be understated as well as just how good it has been for him. It just... interesting, I've written stories that have taken place over years of time, this one is actually one of the slowest in terms of words to time progressed, and yet I feel so much more attached to these characters than those, probably because of just how much time I've spent with them and developing them into better versions of themselves.

I never expected this story to go on as long as it had, it wasn't even really suppose to break one hundred thousand words in my original story plan, and yet here we are, hundreds of thousands of words later. Wild huh?

I want to talk a ton about a lot, the spread out nature of this arc wasn't really intended, and I kind of want to mention a few things that went very differently than planned. For one, Janet was suppose to learn about the animatronics during thanksgiving instead of nearly the start of this arc, instead Charlie was suppose to come in way earlier, almost right after Mike's hospital visit. And Mike was suppose to be the one who figured out who Mari was from the clues he had been given from Mari himself about his death, and the things that Charlie talked about and questioned. A full character was supposed to have been introduced before now but has only been hinted at being 'around', Ennard was suppose to move into Jeremy's with Bonnie, but instead I decided to spilt the two up so Jeremy could have at least a small tiny bit of peace. Mari was suppose to be a lot more active with Bonnie, but his own memory recovery plot, Mike's hospitalization, and everything else got in the way enough that I mostly left that string unplucked for now. What else... Oh! Here's a big one, Mike was suppose to figure out about William from the first visit the crew took to AR of which Mike wouldn't have been there, instead staying at home, alone, thinking everything over, when Charlie came to talk to him, he pieced both sides of the story of Mari's death together from there, but that felt... way, way to dark. Mike realizing in the same moment that his father not only was the killer, but the one who killed his boyfriend with said boyfriend's sister being in the same room, all at the same time was... too rough even for me... Mostly because I had no idea just how to handle the conversations that would follow those kinds of revelations. Goldie and Foxy both were suppose to have a little character side story themselves, but there just wasn't enough time to put it in there, so they just got sort of shoved into small side interactions to build up to the rest of it being in the next arc.

All in all, this arc is probably the most condensed thing in this story, we have The Cove Repairs, Mike and Mari fighting Ennard, Mike recovering and Janet figuring out the animatronics, researching AR fully, the start of both Bonnie's and Ennard's character development, Mari and Charlie's reconnection, two holiday chapters, and like, half a dozen more small things that I can't remember right this second... That's so wild.

The next arc... 'The Final Arc' of this story, if all goes to plan, is going to be twenty or so chapters, and I can't wait to show everyone what I have planned. But in the mean time, See ya!