I Don't Own Fnaf
Afton Robotics made no sense.
It was established in 1976, Mike would have been eight when the place became a place on paper, and judging from the very small amount of looking into the public records of the company, and now here in the building itself, with Mari with him this time, it seemed that the earliest record of this building being in use was 1982, when he was fourteen, when Evan was still alive. It didn't make sense, if this was a testament to his father's grief, then why was this place around even before then. The only one to be grieved would be his mother. So if he had to make a guess it existed and only came into it's current form after everything.
But the timeline still bothered him, more than he figured it would, only he couldn't do anything about it, he couldn't ask anyone, and as it stood he just didn't have the time to be able to investigate like he truly wanted to. Right now, the two of them were only here because Mike had been willing to compromise his own, already lacking sleep schedule, even more so to at least try and find something, and Mari hadn't been willing to let him go out by himself.
Frankly, while he and the others had done a very cursory look around at the other rooms and the upper floor, choosing to take the stairs rather than risking an elevator when the power situation wasn't exactly something they could put their trust in.
Still, all that had been around was a ton of memos and file cabinets that Mike simply didn't have the time to properly search through and a few old computers that refused to boot up when he had tried. It was like an itch in the back of his mind, he knew logically it wasn't a big deal, that there was hardly the chance that there was something here that would give him any answers, given he had no idea just what questions he wanted to ask. Nor was there going to be any closure in such a place like this, these empty walls wouldn't give him anything.
Even if he did have time, Mike was nearly certain he'd find nothing here that would truly give him anything he would want to find. That hurt a bit, it was another link to his family, and while he once more took it and used it to help shape the life he wanted to live, to have the Cove be able to stand on its own two feet, that didn't mean he wasn't pained by the fact it was just more unanswered questions about his father. He had so many of them, and none of them felt like they'd ever get answered. The man was hardly the type who wrote his thoughts and feelings down on anything.
In the end, Mike just found himself sighing, as he leaned against one of the walls while Mari simply continued to float around and look about. The puppet hadn't actually came out here with anyone yet, just having been told what it was like by the others. Mike had shown him one of the few posters that he had picked up, and the relief the tall man felt when the puppet confidently said he'd certainty remember if he ever gave gifts to any bots that looked like them. They hadn't found the animatronics that had been made here, they weren't in the building at least, but that was fine, frankly Mike had enough animatronics on his mind as it was without adding more to his list of things to keep track with, lifeless or not, it meant a whole lot of work to add them into any kind of performance, something they didn't have the time for either.
That was the main thing, time, just not having enough of it in the day to do nearly as much as he was sure any of them wanted, and the crunch they had been under was insane to be able to make sure the Cove wouldn't fall in on itself from the lack of business for to long a time. It would be tomorrow when their doors opened, and Mike knew for a fact the second they did, and they were back to their ten hour work days, no one was going to have time for anything else.
The only good thing about all of this was the fact that apparently customer loyalty was something that was real, they had more than a few parties planned over the next two to three weeks, catching up and handling all the rescheduled events was going to work the crew to the bone after an already incredibly rushed last two weeks. It's why Mike was here now, he knew he'd regret it tomorrow, knowing he'd at least be exhausted in the second part of the day, but this was going to be the last time he'd be inside these walls for a while, and he just wanted to find something.
But that wasn't the case, and instead he just had to sigh and give up in the end.
The two left fairly soon after that conclusion was reached, Mari insisting on staying with him during the drive back instead of doing the reasonable thing and simply vanishing back to the comforts of their bed. Mike didn't find himself arguing too hard for it though, even if he did roll his eyes to himself fondly when the puppet dozed off in his seat not too long into the drive. Mari was just as tired as he was, for differing reasons in no doubt, but it was clear the puppet needed the sleep.
It made Mike think a bit more about everything going on outside of him, it didn't make him feel great, Mari was incredibly supportive in helping Mike through this whole family situation even if they didn't do much actual talking about it, just being there helped, and Mike was trying to do the same back, but even his own personal problem was linked so heavily to the shared problem that everyone had with the Cove, it felt like they hadn't really been able to focus on Mari's stuff as much as Mike himself felt like they should.
Mari wasn't... He didn't hide from things right in front of him, but that didn't mean he wasn't the type to occasionally stall and avoid his issues when the problems have been ones that have been around for a while. And Toy Bonnie, or at least the fate of all of the toys, and his previous life were two things that had been problems that had been haunting the puppet for a long while now, and both weren't something they had the time to address yet either.
Not yet at least, that was Fritz's next project, finally starting to restore Bonnie, but that would take time and effort in of itself, and the pieces that Mari knew about his past were frankly so small that not even Mike could make the jump to connect them to anything. Mari's parents teaching him to bake for example wasn't much to work with.
But it would be fine, they just needed time. So Mike, as he silently drove back into Hurricane, made the silent promise to himself to help Mari out, or at least get the puppet to talk about it more. Bottling up everything wouldn't help his puppet any. Just another thing to do, but one he found himself much more willing to put his full efforts in, no matter what the end would hold for them.
The grand reopening, if one was believing the dramatic Foxy, went by better than Mike was sure any of them were hoping for.
Sure they had been given a number of calls by a couple of parents asking about when they'd be open again, and a number of party requests that they had been forced to reschedule when the callers weren't willing to pay the extra costs for the house call parties. But all the same, Mike honestly had only been expecting a few families, the ones that had gotten the word from the information network that was Carol, and the poster that they had set up a while back saying that the Cove would be open once more today, and that was about it.
That was not what they got.
Sure there weren't that many full families, but there were a lot of children running around and exploring every single aspect of the new and updated Cove as they could. It was almost surprising, Mike nearly tripped over random tiny kids every other step it felt like. The new game selection seemed to be flooded with chatter from just how many kids were playing on them. Apparently the idea of being 'better than ever' was inciting for the kids.
When he questioned it during one of the few moments they all had a moment to breath, while handing off a bag of Trail Mix to Jeremy who took it and was now absently eating when he had a moment from it, Fritz mentioned that it was like that at Freddy's to, not all at once, but kids usually tried to double down on their time at Freddy's at the end of Summer because they knew they wouldn't be able to hang out so much anymore because of the new school year. They just happened to avoid it when it started usually, so now they were basically tossed into the deep end without the gradual increase to the amount of kids they were dealing with.
It made about as much sense as anything, so he just nodded and hoped that this would be able to make up for the loss in profits from the last few weeks of being closed and the amount of business costs that they had been forced to make.
Mike did his best to not think too hard about it and just joy the work that he actually signed up for instead of what all he and the others had to do in the last few weeks. Taking a few moments to appreciate that they were back in business at all, and as well enjoying watching Foxy perform his heart out on stage. It was clear the fox missed being able to do this a lot more than anyone hadn't thought. A conversation he had with his brother came to mind about it. Maybe they should have tried a bit harder to work in another party or two over the last while... Well, the fox would be having more than enough work in the coming weeks to make up for it.
All in all, it was a busy day, a tiring one, but one that was incredibly rewarding all the same, even if by the end of it, the three men and two animatronics all found themselves all standing around exhausted as they slowly worked through the cleaning of the pizzeria. Janet had left earlier, even though she had asked if they needed help, the group unfortunately found themselves saying they would be fine more out of habit than anything.
"Maybe we should have given ourselves a few days to recover before jumping back into things" Mike just shrugged, unsure just what he was supposed to say to that, while Jeremy moved past, pulling a cloth off one of the tables to get it cleaned and replaced, saying as he did.
"We already are going to be fighting to stay in the green this month, a few more days would have hurt too much" Mike replied back to that as he moved around and picked up a few stray tokens that had been dropped, which would now be moved to Mari's gift basket.
"I don't know, I think I could handle not paying my electricity bill if it meant getting eight hours of sleep in this morning" Mari called out from the Prize Corner immediately after before the two men could respond.
"Don't even think about it, mister! We're not going back to dealing with that" Mike made an obvious roll of the eyes, mostly for Fritz and Jeremy's sake, as he called back as he moved to the Corner itself to drop the tokens off.
"What? Don't want to play hide and seek in the dark?"
"Not if it means we don't have working air conditioning" The banter continued on leaving the other two men alone in the main room, Foxy was off behind the curtain cooling himself down from the hours of high energy performing. Though judging by the clear sounds of scuffling about behind the starry curtain, the fox wasn't doing the best job at it.
Fritz and Jeremy just shared a look at their friend as he left, Jeremy himself just rolled his eyes to himself, though he was sure Fritz was beginning to notice it as well. He had no idea if anything had changed, but the two certainty were a whole lot more talkative and touchy over the last few days, and that was saying something. Either way, those two's personal business wasn't any of his, so the shorter of the remaining two men said after a moment.
"How's the moving going?" Fritz winced a bit, rubbing the back of his head.
"Is it that noticeable or just...?" Jeremy shrugged.
"I mean..." Fritz just sighed, looking away for a moment before saying.
"I think Janet knows something's going on, she's smart, too smart for my lie about the Cove to hold water with her for long with how we've been acting. It's not bad or anything, and I think she'll forget about it eventually enough, just..." Jeremy only nodded.
"You feel like your starting off this new part in your relationship with a lie"
"Basically, and it's not just feeling like it, I am lying to her, we all are, and I... I really don't like it" Jeremy just frowned at how tense the man sounded about it, as his eyes flickered over to the Prize Corner, where the sound of muffled chimes and voices came from.
"Do you think we should tell her?"
"I don't know... I want to, I really want to, but... This isn't her job, or her responsibility to handle right? I mean... We're stuck to things like this because of all our time at Freddy's, but she... I doubt she wants to be a pizzeria cook for the rest of her life, and if I tell her, aren't I basically just forcing her into the same situation we were in?" Jeremy frowned at the slightly pained voice Fritz used, as his heart went out to the man, he could understand just how complicated this issue was.
"Just because she knows doesn't mean she'd be stuck here, maybe she'd feel obligated, but that doesn't mean anything really" Fritz just huffed.
"She wants to go to college, you know that? She was already in her second year when she moved back here, she has dreams and ambitions past this place. I don't want to be some kind of anchor to keep her feeling like she should help out. Once the cat is out of the bag, it's not something that can just be taken back, learning about all this can make everything else seem... Well you know" Jeremy had the feeling that there was more to this than just the living animatronics.
"Maybe... I think the only thing you can do is think about it for a while, maybe talk to the others as well at some point, it's going to affect the animatronics the most after all" Fritz nodded, and Jeremy felt a bit bad about what he was about to say, "And, uh... You know, figure out if it'll be worth telling her, you know, in the long term, because you are right, it'll change a lot and it's even harder to leave" He didn't like saying that, he knew the two cared about each other, but... Jeremy wasn't blind either.
People came and went from each other's lives all the time, relationships could come and go with an almost startling speed, despite just what you could think about them, people had a way of surprising you in the worst ways sometimes. Jeremy trusted Janet to not be like that, but that didn't mean there wasn't the chance that she and Fritz just wouldn't work out, and it was clear she didn't hold much interest in staying here in the long term, and then there was someone out there who knew their most important secret without really anything to hold them to keeping quiet.
Jeremy didn't really think it would be that big of an issue, but it was something that was possible. It wasn't like the situation between Mike and Marionette, no matter what happened with them, no matter how awkward if anything did happen and they somehow didn't work out (once the idiots actually figured themselves out), then they both would still be here, no matter what. They had other reasons to be here beyond each other, even if the idea of those two not working out was so low it was laughable.
Janet though, she was here because Mike had a nosey neighbor before her and Fritz quickly connected... Maybe Jeremy was vastly over thinking this, in fact he knew he was. But he could still remember just how much it hurt to be abandoned before by people he had thought he could trust. He didn't want that for his friend, and that was without even considering just how much trouble they could be in if it turned out they couldn't trust her...
His thoughts ended when Fritz spoke up, looking incredibly uncertain, "Yeah.. I don't know, I have to think about it"
Warmth, a hug, a solid one from a man with wide shoulders, the sounds of laughter, people running around him, it was a lot, too much, he was... He needed space.
The faint uncomfortable weird band that he wore over his wrist dug into his skin even as he moved to the exit. This place was nice, but he missed the other. He didn't understand why he couldn't go back there anymore, he missed the others. The kid's fingers itched over the weird band, he didn't get why he had to wear it, why he had to be the one to keep it on at all times when no one else cared if the others took theirs off.
Moving away, his eyes drifted around, unsure of just what he was suppose to do right now, he spent so much time here it was beginning to get hard to find something to do that he hadn't done to many times before, especially because no one he knew was here, beyond his-
Marionette woke up with the sound of sharp chimes ringing from him before he could think of controlling them.
Before he could hope to react, hands had wrapped around him and pulled him up as he let out another, now much more surprised chime as he flailed around for a moment before realizing just what was happening.
He had woken Mike up, of course he had, and apparently the man's reaction to being startled awake by a loud sound was to jump up and away from the bed while carrying whoever was in arm's reach. In this case it happened to be the puppet, as Mari let out an awkward chime as the two looked at each other as Mike himself seemed to realize just what happened as the two took in just their positions. They had ended up with Mari in a bridal carry with how Mike had the puppet in his arms. The man himself just blinked, his eyes looking around, while Marionette faintly realized just how fast the other man's heart was beating in his chest even if he seemed fairly composed with how close the two were.
"Uh... Sorry?" Mari just let out an awkward chime.
"I- I think I spooked you?" Mike just blinked again before nodding.
"Right... You doing alright?" Marionette just looked up at Mike who was still holding tightly to the puppet's body.
"Should I ask you that?" Mike just shrugged.
"Nothing, just... Had a nightmare about something, waking up just startled me"
"What was it about?" Mike frowned, glancing back at the puppet, and Marionette got the distinction that the man could tell he was trying to move around the topic, and of course Mike mentioned it.
"Just something that won't happen again, what about you? You only wake up like that when it's important" Darn, right, Mike was smart... Marionette didn't know just why he was reluctant to talk about it, the memory itself hardly had anything destressing in it or anything. It was just a random day at Freddy's, just when he was alive... The bracelet though...
"I- It was just a memory"
"What about?"
"Nothing important"
"Well, I wouldn't say that, if you remembered it then you thought it was worth remembering"
"I don't think that's how it works"
"Yeah, probably not. Still, come on" Marionette felt like protesting, Mike's heart was still pounding, and the man still hadn't let him down, even as they moved to sit back down on the bed, he was still being held in the man's grasp... But it was also kind of nice to be held like this, and he knew he wouldn't be able to get anything out of Mike if the man was as invested as he was in this matter. Something the puppet could appreciate because he asked the man to be, but... Saying he wanted to do something and dealing with what came of it were different levels of difficulty, even as he began to speak.
"Fine... It... I don't know, it was weird. I think I was at Freddy's, the first one, Juniors right?" Marionette remembered the man had called it that in passing, Mike just nodded, even though something this time itched in the back of the puppet's mind at the name, he continued on, "I think I was just there to hang out"
"Makes sense, the place was pretty popular back then, anything else? Any familiar faces?"
"No, I woke up before I could remember anyone, but I think I was about to... It was weird, it was almost like when I woke up because of Bonnie" Maybe he shouldn't have said that as the arms holding him close tighten just a bit even as Mike said in a deceptively curious voice.
"Think he's up to his tricks?" Marionette was quick to shake his head.
"No, it didn't feel like him... Maybe I'm doing it to myself, keeping myself from learning more" There was a silent question in the air, even as Mike didn't say anything, Marionette still answered, "I still want to know, but... But I think I've been avoiding it for too long, maybe I just can't help myself" His voice sounded small to himself, and he felt himself try to fidget, but the arms around him just held him in place, as Mike said softly, seeing how the puppet wasn't sure.
"We'll figure it out soon, but we need to get some sleep if we're going to have the brains to manage it, let's get back to this later Stripes" Mari let himself be moved up a bit more as the two laid back down properly onto the bed, his body resting over Mike's as his mind couldn't help but continue to fight over the idea that he simply waited to long, and now that he did want to know he just... couldn't.
His worries continued, just a bit longer, until he heard the man, clearly already back to being half-asleep, mumble out some comfort that was only kind of understandable. It didn't make the thoughts quiet down too much, but just enough that the puppet was able to drift back into an uneasy sleep.
Goldie wasn't quite sure about this, it felt awkward and while he was pretty sure he wasn't embarrassed, it felt close to something like it.
"Come on! Just follow the flow of the conversation!" He wasn't quite sure he wanted to do that, but Foxy seemed eager and excited. It was harder than he felt it should be to say no. The fox's energy had spiked with how well their first day back had gone, so once he was dropped off at the warehouse that evening, it seemed that his interest in finally getting a routine set up between him and Goldie had doubled. They had talked about it of course, off handedly, over the last few weeks but there had always been something to do, and more importantly someone around, that had kept them from practicing, given Goldie hadn't wanted an audience. That would have been humiliating given he still wasn't sure about this when it was just Foxy.
"Are you sure we can't change the lines?"
"We already did that, just focus on the delivery"
"I don't know what that means" Foxy finally let his high energy drop a bit as he just shot Goldie a look, the bear did his best to not look awkward about it. He knew exactly what delivery meant, Foxy had explained it to him twice now, he just... "Fine, just... Start already" The fox gave him a short look, trying to see if the bear was serious about it or not, but as it stood, maybe it would just be better to get through this as quickly as possible. Either way, he was mostly still doing this because Foxy wanted him to more than he actually liked the idea anymore.
It didn't change that after a moment Foxy just nodded, turning away as Goldie did the same so they were acting as if they were on a stage of some kind, looking out to an invisible crowd, which in reality was just a stack of broken chairs that were piled up in a corner in the warehouse.
"Right... Ahoy mateys! Glad to see we have such an audience for our newest member of the crew! Say hello to Goldie!" He knew what he was supposed to say, so he did, as he lifted one of his large paw-like hands in a faux wave, trying to interject even a portion of the same energy that Foxy had into his own voice, all he managed to accomplish was giving himself a voice crack.
"Er, h-hello everyone!" He was waving at a pile of chairs. This felt stupid, he felt stupid. Foxy bounced off his words before he could try and pull out from the performance again, probably knowing Goldie was about to 'break character' or whatever it was the fox called it.
"Now he's a bit shy but..." Foxy paused, Goldie was suppose to interrupt him, but his timing clearly needed some work, he was incredibly tempted to just not saying anything, but the fox had turned to him, and Goldie could see the expectations in the other animatronic's eye when he turned to see the look, so he just felt his springs tense up before he said.
"I wouldn't say shy, more unwilling to deal with dummies" Apparently saying idiots was a bit to harsh for child based audiences, Goldie thought that was a bit dumb, Foxy just beamed for a second before saying back, his body turning slightly so the two were more or less talking right to each other.
"Well, we don't have of that here, me crew is full of nothing but the smartest on the unfair seas you see?" Goldie found himself unwilling to turn back to the chairs, that would just make him aware again of just how dumb this was, so he just kept his focus on Foxy, who was doing him the favor of doing the same back.
"I wouldn't say that, your patch is on the wrong eye captain, I don't think I'd be much for conversation if you steer us into shore because you can't remember which is suppose to be your bad eye" The fox balked quickly spinning around and made a show out of moving the eye patch to the right spot, Goldie just rolled his eyes at how cheesy it was, even as the fox spun around, hand and hook on his hips looking mighty proud of himself as he said.
"Just keeping you on your toes!"
"As long as my toes stay clear from the water I think I'll manage"
"That's the spirit"
"Yes, spirit, that's what I don't want to be, just like I don't want to be at the bottom of the ocean"
"Ah don't be such a nagger, what are you, a worrywart"
"Bear actually"
"Reminds me of that time we sailed through the mighty docks of the Puppeteers"
"Reminds me that I'm new here and have no idea what you're talking about"
"Ah! Right of course! Well, it's a story for the ages let me tell you that! I don't suppose a story wouldn't hurt, nor would an explanation how we happened to get Marionette, our Prize Master, on the crew!"
"You got a puppet from a place with puppeteers? Talk about cliche"
"Nay! Not cliche, a rescue! Listen close everyone about the time ole Captain Foxy saved an island of puppets and got myself a new crew member to boot. And maybe one say we'll get to tell the story about how Goldie here came aboard"
"I remember it involving you not taking no for an answer more than a sto-"
"Ha! No need to get into it now! So how about that story aye! Once upon a time-" Foxy did the first few lines of the story that he and Marionette had made a while ago before trailing off, given there wasn't actually an audience to listen to it, before turning fully to Goldie and suddenly the Goldie felt a solid thud ram into his chest as he blinked in sync to the realization that Foxy had just hugged him, was still hugging him actually, as the pirate fox let out a bellowing kind of laugh before saying happily.
"Yah did it! How'd you feel?" Goldie just shrugged...
"It was fine" He didn't feel much about it, well, maybe there was a faint hint of something in his chest, but he wasn't about to admit to the weird faint squirming of something, nor the weird pride of doing something that really was pretty simple.
"More than fine! You lagged on your lines a bit but you got into it at the end there! Good job mate!" Goldie just shrugged again, he only managed that because he stopped focusing on how dumb what they were doing felt and just focused on how seriously Foxy was taking this, he hadn't wanted to leave him hanging again.
Besides, it was easier to do this if he focused on the fox, the words came easier at least.
"Are you sure this is safe?" Fritz just shrugged, as he moved his tools into the metal container, Goldie standing close to his side in case the human of the two needed any protection from the animatronic in front of them.
"Probably not, but that's why you're here, if anything happens then you're my safety net" The bear seemed to silently preen just a bit at being told that, Goldie always seemed to have a certain enjoyment about doing things like this, not that the animatronic in question would ever admit to it. Sch- Aftons and their pride and all. The thought made Fritz huff a bit in amusement, for being separated for large portions of each other's lives, the two were most certainly brothers.
"Hmm?" Oh, the bear noticed. Thinking quickly Fritz said the first thing on his mind.
"Nothing, just realizing just how weird this is. This time last year I would be screamingly my head off if you were this close to me, and now you're the one protecting me" The bear didn't find it all that funny, or at least he didn't make any reactions towards it, Fritz didn't mind, Goldie wasn't the most energetic of the group, the exact opposite in fact, another Afton trait if the man had to guess.
"I suppose so. To be fair, I doubt Bonnie will do anything, you're not his target" Fritz winced at that.
"Yeah... Why does this bonnie hate Mike so much?" Goldie just shrugged as Fritz leaned down and looked over the animatronic for a moment, mostly just making sure the thing was still turned off, before moving to grab his tools so he could start to finally look over the parts of the animatronic. It was obvious its outer casing was broken beyond belief, but it was the insides that really concerned Fritz. The outer suit was something that could be replaced without worry, but the insides were a whole lot more delicate.
"Mistaken identity, purple made a lot of us blind to the truth"
"I guess, but I feel like wearing an old Freddy's uniform is a bit much for thinking he was Purple Guy right?" Goldie was silent for a long, long moment before the bear explained.
"It was for more than just that, but it certainly didn't help" Fritz was a bit busy lightly pulling away the smashed face plate of Toy Bonnie, but he did make a curious sound to let the bear know he was listening, "It's unimportant, just know that Bonnie had a reason to suspect him, it doesn't justify any of this of course, but it's probably a part of the reason Michael was so quick to forgive this thing" The bear would be surprised at the very least if Marionette hadn't explained the purple that often was seen over Michael's skin. Goldie knew he wasn't the only one who saw it.
"I guess? I mean, I just think Mike's like that, but he wasn't wrong, it's not like we can't give Toy Bonnie a shot"
"So you agree that we shouldn't just toss him in a scrap heap?" Fritz rolled his eyes at the not so subtle annoyance in the bear's voice. That was another thing, he could very easily remember when he was scared for his life when Goldie got even a bit temperamental, now he just rolled his eyes and answered back without any concern. Time really did change things huh?
"If I was against this idea then I wouldn't be working on Bonnie in the first place. Bonnie get's another chance, it'll be on him if he takes it or not, and just because we're being nice enough to fix him up doesn't mean we're just forgiven him or anything. I know I haven't, I certainly doubt Jeremy or Mike has either, even Mari was pissed about what he did you know. He'll have to earn any favors in the future, but that doesn't mean we get to make sure he doesn't even get to have a shot at some kind of normal life just because of what he did when he wasn't all there" Goldie huffed, but it was clear that nothing more would be gained from talking more about it.
He really didn't understand it, but then again it was that dumb compassion that made it so that he, Foxy, and Marionette all were able to do what they did now. Still... He wasn't a fan of this whole thing, but all the same, he just stood around, and watched as Fritz worked slowly, over the course of the next two or so hours, working on slowly taking apart and checking over dozens of individual parts. Most looked worn down, beaten up, dented, and rusted in mixed measure, it was clear that this was going to be one hell of a long term project. Foxy and Goldie both had taken Fritz weeks of effort, most of which had been completely uninterrupted for the most part, and that was when Fritz had access to parts and tools that he didn't have to get for himself, taking from the remains from Freddy's for what he needed.
Sure, he could probably find a fair portion of it somewhere around in the warehouse, he knew he had spotted a number of parts that were for the toy line around, but that didn't mean things like the outer casing wouldn't take more funds than they had to get custom ordered to replace what was missing. Ironically, much like the withered version of the original Bonnie, Toy Bonnie would be missing his face for a while for example, simply because Fritz couldn't just miraculously fix cracked and broken plastic plates.
Maybe it wouldn't be a bad idea to talk to Mike about heading back to Afton Robotics just to see if they could find anything that could help, it was an animatronic factory wasn't it? That meant there had to be actual tools and parts somewhere in the place that they had somehow missed on the first few go arounds. Heck, from what they had found, there was a good chance that Toy Bonnie had been made at AR anyways, so it would probably be a good idea to see if there were any spare parts that were made that never were sent to the first Freddy's that Fritz worked at.
Either way, he was done looking over the animatronic for the time being, it was getting late, and Fritz was exhausted from the day shift he had just prior to getting here, so with that he packed up his tools and made the mental promise to bring it up at some point once he finished his inspection and looked around the warehouse to see what he was working with.
Another chapter in a style that I'm trying to put a name to, something like 'Scene Pack Chapter' perhaps? One where time passes and the plot moves through a bunch of little snapshots of most of the cast just doing things that don't need a long drawn out scene dedicated to it. It let's me move from one thing to the next and get a lot of stuff going in the background, so I like these ones, plus just doing other POVs is always a joy, and this one was really interesting to do. And difficult.
Going in order, more Afton Robotics lore, we're building up to something obviously, I won't mention much more than that, cause, you know, spoilers, but I am excited to finally start working on it given just how long it's been since we've been in technically 'cannon' waters in regards to this story.
Then there is Fritz, poor dude, he's having a rough go of it, mostly because of the things listed in the chapter, they all are great and logical reasons for why what he's thinking about is a bad idea... But love makes people stupid, or in the wise words of a certain puppet 'Men get dumb around girls you know', which let me just say, I think is one of the greatest things I've ever written. So that's something happening in the background, cause side characters all have their own lives and the whole word sadly doesn't revolve completely around Mike.
Marionette on the other hand, has some stuff going on, not going to mention much else there, but it's certainly interesting isn't it? I wonder how much longer I can thread that story beat out until everyone is sick of it? Can't wait to find out!
Foxy and Goldie's scene though was... rough, like, don't get me wrong, so much character development going on there for the bear, and I love just how far Goldie has come since the first chapters of this story, but, like, oof. I am not funny. I mean, I think I'm hilarious, but I know I have very certain strengths and weaknesses in something like comedy, and let me just say, anything like stand up comedy and a routine built around jokes, is not my thing. I can do improv great, writing senseless witty banter is literally something I can do in my sleep because that's my sense of humor, but the second it becomes something like an act, then my brain shuts down and I can't do it for some reason. Mike and Mari teasing each other and going back and forth is something I can literally just stream of conscious into existence without a second thought, but Goldie and Foxy in this chapter... I rewrote the damn act part of the scene like three times and I still don't know how I feel about it. There's a good reason I don't focus to much on the acts that the animatronics' do, because I just have no idea what to write for them.
And then for the last bit, it's Goldie and Fritz again! Good for them, lot of screen time, they deserve it, though a certain rabbit is sharing it a bit. Not much to say about this part honestly, it's just to establish stuff in the background that's at work so I don't have to play catch up later on in the plot. Toy Bonnie is finally getting looked over now that the property damage he's caused has been mostly sorted out. I don't really have anything else to add here, so... See ya!
