I Don't Own Fnaf

Mari's return to consciousness came in waves.

A dull aching pain radiating throughout his entire body in a way that he had at some point become unaccustomed to, being shocked... It had been a while, but the puppet found it surprising that he could ever somehow forget the searing pain that laced through his entire body, making the systems in his body flare and spasm without control, making him only to aware that at the end of the day he was a being controlled by machinery and electronics that could misfire or short out like any other animatronic.

He was more than a little used to the feeling of being powerless... But that did nothing to stop the dread and panic that echoed after every pulse of pain.

The want to move had been strong, irresistible, but he learned quickly every shift and jerk that was to much for the steel trap he had been locked in, which held his arms and legs at stiff painful angles, and his head locked in place, the thing would do one of two things, trigger a controlled shock that would make him rack and writhe in silent agony, or somehow even worse, the soft chimes of music he could never resist would play, making him black out in moments.

It was like he was back in that container, only it was somehow so much worse, back then he could still at least move around, even if he imprisoned, he could still move. There was still always something to try and use to comfort himself with, be it his friends in toy form, or even the work that was often left out for him to work through, here there wasn't anything to distract him, as he slowly stopped thrashing every chance he got, learning it would do nothing, all that there was left was his own thoughts, as the machine, the prison made solely for him, because no other animatronic would fit or be hindered in the bear trap like this, stood deathly still, on a stage, for hours.

That too was horrifying to even think about, this machine, this trap, had been made for him and him alone. Someone out there knew what he was, who he was, and had made sure to give him no chance of escape, someone wanted him to be here and had done everything to make sure he would be here, trapped and tortured if he dared to try and get away.

As the hours past that thought never left, only festering and growing, the panic and fear building more and more, the certainty that help would be coming soon, that Mike would be here soon, slowly faded and the fear gripped itself tighter and tighter onto his soul. Staring out, barely being able to see, but still being able to see enough of his surroundings, he knew where he was, forced to stare ahead at that awful but familiar patterned wall and floors.

It made it so much worse, knowing he was trapped at Freddy's. That ignorant bravery from weeks back when he thought he could have handled being back here, protecting it from itself like he always had been made something in the back of his mind twisted up and break at knowing he truly hadn't realized just how awful it was to be here, to stand in this building, to be trapped here again.

The black bear would let out chimes of music occasionally, just barely even a few notes, but just enough for his body to recognize it and begin to slip away from him even further, only to stop right after, leaving him feeling drained and constantly exhausted yet unable to even think of resting. It felt like defeat, to even try to rest here, with that music haunting his ears every few minutes, to the point the second the few notes stopped, it felt like his entire body jerked and writhed with forceful energy, only lasting the briefest of moments and leaving him even more tired the second the spiteful sudden awakening faded.

More than once that release from forced exhaustion crashing into sudden awareness and awakened frantic energy caused the shocks to go off from his body jolting from the shift, and more than once he found himself wishing to be anywhere else.

He wasn't really sure when the faint shuddering of pain in his chest began to bubble and start to come out a choked silent sobs, he didn't want to think about it, didn't want to know how quickly it took being here before he couldn't take it anymore, couldn't handle trying to know how pathetic he was for being so scared. It felt like he was nothing more than a child again, terrified of the world and how it could hurt him... And knowing all to well the kind of hurt he had already endured.

It continued, for what felt like an eternity, to the point the puppet was almost beginning to feel the temptation of writhing around on purpose, to get the damnable box to make it's song of sleep and give him a reprieve. It wouldn't work like that, he knew it, this trap had been designed to be cruel, he never knew if it was a shock or a song he would get for trying to move, nor did the song ever last longer than just enough to leave him exhausted but unable to rest.

Something had to finally happen though, and sadly it wasn't for the better, as he watched with held tension wracking his form, as a figure appeared, just barely visible to him through the poor eyesight of the trap, just barely letting him see the outside world. He didn't need to strain to see for long however, as a squirrelly looking shorter man seemed to lean in and up a bit, staring into the faint separation between the jaw and upper head of the bear trap that Mari's eyes resting at, giving him as good a view of the man as the man had of him.

It was awful, he knew this man, even if it took a second, he recognized him from the grainy static footage that the cameras in Afton Robotics had captured, this was Sheldon, the former day manager of Freddy's.

He felt himself continue to shake in spite of himself, the trembling not being able to fade away no matter how much his mind burned with the idea of being seen, being known for what he was. There was no misconception, as the man's dark eyes stared into his own, his face twisting up into one of anger, a festering kind that boiled up and burned. Mari could recognize it, of course he could, but seeing it pointed at him made something in his chest creak and hurt as he tried his best to stay still, to hope the man wouldn't do anything, it wasn't like he could speak anyways.

The tense silence lasted a long moment, before the man finally spoke, his tone quiet, rough... Not quite harsh but something approaching it.

"Do you remember Mitch?" Mari hadn't expected a question, hadn't expected anything at all, the unknowing had been scary, the idea of just being stared at or perhaps something more violent somehow being paled in comparison to being spoken to. The man asked like he knew to expect an answer, and that alone was terrifying. The puppet waited to long however for whatever it was the man was expecting, as suddenly Sheldon's face had twisted, rage covering his features as he reared back a foot coming up and slamming into the front chest plate of the bear.

Mari didn't really feel the impact, but the intention of the hit was clear enough as the machine groaned for a second, the metal vibrating from the impact, as he felt his entire body tense in panic to try and do something to stop what he already knew what was coming, it did nothing to help as with a distorting spasm of music and limbs his body was shocked, it didn't matter that he hadn't done it, the machine sensed something moving and had done it's job, as Mari briefly blacked out, before once more being dragged back into consciousness without his constant.

Coming back into focus, his eyes focused back after a long blur of unable to focus, back onto the man as he let out a short timid chime, as the man just gritted his teeth, before suddenly looking away with a jerk of the head, like he couldn't stand it anymore, as he spoke up again.

"I'd repeat the question but you wouldn't know would you? You, none of you beasts ever learned any of their names... Mitch was my best friend, I got him that job, it was easy, we got to hang out at work... Then he got killed and I was silenced with a promotion... I found him... His face was blue, his neck... It looked like someone had hung him with wire. Sound familiar now" It was like being splashed in the face with cold water, as Mari suddenly understood just what he meant.

Mitch had been one of his kills, and a victim of his was now standing in front of him. The horror of it wasn't lost on him, as he stared in shock at the man, if Sheldon knew that, could read the silent horror in the puppet's voids for eyes, he didn't do anything about it, just sneered, before looking away with a jerk of the head.

"All you monsters... You took and took until there was nothing left, it's about time someone took it all back from you..." He leaned in, and Mari wanted nothing more than to push back, to lean away, but the metal clasp around his neck was unmoving making him have no choice but to stare right into the man's furious eyes, "I have no idea if you can understand a single word I'm saying, or if you're as mindless as ever... But if you can, I want you to know that you and all the rest are going to burn" With that he leaned back and this time it wasn't a kick, it was a ram, the short man putting his entire body into it, pushing until the unmoving statue of an animatronic was pushed back and off balance, crashing to the floor so hard that it rattled the puppet inside something fierce, his head jerking up and slamming into an internal metal bar as a sharp chiming scream came from his music box as he felt the porcelain of his mask crack crack and fracture... Before the bear's internal body filled with sparking electricity, and then he screamed for a completely different reason before everything went dark.

Jeremy was rushing, he knew that, the van wasn't really meant for speed and he wasn't Mike, who seemed to hold no regard at all for himself or others when it came to being on the road, but he pulled in front of his building in a worryingly short amount of time. The tarp was hard to find, but he had gotten it, and now it was folded up in the back, hopefully it would be big enough, that had been the biggest issue, but that wasn't really what he was thinking about at the moment, it was just something his eyes had caught as he opened up the back of the van as he wheeled down the dolly from the back and another, smaller tarp, shoving it under his shoulder before locking the van up as he moved to head into the apartment complex.

Once more regretting the fact that he lived on such a high floor, the elevator ride dragged out, the strange downward press that normally came from riding in one pressing down and making the squirming mass of worry worse, it felt like he was on the verge of being sick if he was being honest. He ignored it the best he could though, there wasn't much he could really do to change how he was feeling beyond... means he wasn't interested in pursuing, not after the stress of last time.

He was mostly just grateful that he had gotten a control over himself that he wasn't slipping anymore into people's heads, and that Mike's whole everything was a dead zone for him to focus on just in case he did slip up. He wasn't sure he could handle everyone else's high emotions at the moment as well as his own when he had tried his best to play peace keeper between everyone, not that he thought he had done a particularly good job of managing that either.

Goldie had done the best at keeping Mike's temper in check, it was strange how quickly Jeremy forgotten just how angry the man could get, or how protective. It had been months since the last time he had been able to read the man in the unusual way he was able to, half a year now really, and remembering other's feelings on things when he was trying his best to focus on his own meant that, thankfully, it was usually hard to recall other's feelings after the fact, but still...

Jeremy couldn't really forget that burning wrath that was sparking in the back of Mike's mind over a year ago, it was one of the more intense feelings he had ever experienced second hand, and Jeremy had the feeling that was nothing compared to what the man was feeling at this exact moment. Goldie was a miracle worker in that regard, or perhaps just the right person, Jeremy doubted he would have listened to anyone else.

It was hard to remember these days that Mike still had that side to him, that it was still just there, waiting for circumstances to drag it back. Everyone had those sides to them though, Jeremy wasn't going to hold it against Mike, it was just startling... The eyes really hadn't helped the matter, mostly cause honestly it had been really freaky more than anything else.

Shaking his head, Jeremy had finally gotten to the front door of the apartment, as he managed to push it open and only struggled a little bit to keep the door propped open while not keeping it to open, while still managing to get the dolly past him and into the entrance, closing the door behind him in a bit of a huff of mostly put upon effort. Taking a second to recollect himself, mostly because he really wasn't looking forwards to managing that again, this time with almost two hundred pounds of metal attached, when a surprisingly small voice spoke up.

"What... What are you doing?" Jeremy blinked to himself, his head turning to see Bonnie's head was poking out awkwardly from the couch where he seemed to be straining backwards on it to get a good look at what Jeremy was doing. Weirdly, Jeremy noticed, his ears were drooped, like, a lot... Jeremy honestly kind of forgot that they could move, Bonnie must have kept them locked in place for them not to do so... Was that uncomfortable? Had to be right? Like keeping your arms straight out at all times or something.

Did animatronic's get joint pain? They felt pain, he knew that, which was very uncomfortable to know in it's own ways, thinking back to the states they all used to be in, but what about things like their joints or just other general pains? That was what the occasional bit of maintenance was about right? It would make sense, their endoskeletons were just moving bits of metal which would be worn down over time, espically with how active they all were... Should he ask Fritz about, like, oil or something for that? Was it something he could help with himself or was that, like, overstepping something?

It was a thought spiral that caught Jeremy out of nowhere, and one that was liable to continue for another second or so but was instead broken up by a faint, barely audible but still present, distressed sounding static buzz. Jeremy's focus immediately snapped back to the rabbit, and said awkwardly.

"Ah, sorry, it's... been a day, I need to talk to you about something, it's pretty important" He felt bad about springing this on the poor animatronic, but everything was tense right now, and Mike had made a good point about not knowing about the range of whatever that black bear animatronic could do to lure. The idea of coming home one day and Bonnie now being there without any sight or reason...

It was terrifying. And why he couldn't really hold Mike's current mood against him, he couldn't imagine what that was like.

"Are you, uh... I mean..." Jeremy focused back into the present quickly at the surprisingly nervous tone in the rabbits voice, as he blinked once, then twice, to himself, trying to figure out why while also trying to figure out just how he was going to broach this topic, when suddenly, around the same time he could see the nerves melting into anger on Bonnie's face, the short man realized with a start just what this must look like to the rabbit.

"W-wait! Hold on a moment, I promise it's nothing like that!" Bonnie seemed less than impressed, pulling himself up and then just pulling himself over the back of the couch instead of walking away, his feet hitting a bit to hard on the ground, as Jeremy winced, looking down at the floor, just knowing the older lady below them was going to have words about that later, before quickly refocusing himself on the thing that actually mattered, the rabbit stalking up towards him, looking more and more pissed as he moved.

"And what exactly does it look like, because it looks like you're about to make me-" Jeremy had been ready to be yelled out, he probably deserved it for really not thinking this through on just what it must look like what was happening from the animatronic's point of view, but what he really hadn't expected was for the bunny to, as he got closer and closer, to lose steam, slowly at first, the anger fading, as his voice went from loud to deathly quiet as he ended up just trailed off. Honestly, that kind of scared Jeremy more than anything, Bonnie didn't really do quiet arguments.

He was bracing himself for another blow up, knowing at this point trying to get a word in before hand would just make Bonnie feel like he needed to be even louder to be heard... meaning he was not at all prepared when the rabbit's voice came out low and shatteringly scared.

"Are... A-are you getting rid of me?" Needless to say, Jeremy felt like he had just been punched in the gut, he had never heard Bonnie sound so... vulnerable, and it hurt like hell knowing he had been the cause of that, as he discarded the dolly, the tarp still trapped under his arm falling to the ground as he took the last few steps to make up the distance between the two, reaching out at first before stopping himself from doing something else stupid, instead quickly and passionately speaking.

"No, never, I'll never do that to you" Even Bonnie seemed surprised with how intense Jeremy's voice came out, as he just blinked before looking away.

"Then... What's going on?" Jeremy grimaced, this... This really wasn't going to be easy.

"The Freddy's... They're... Collecting animatronics, and they aren't asking before taking, we think that they've been staking us out for a while, and we don't know how long it's been going on for"

"So... they might know about me?" Jeremy didn't like the idea of distressing the bunny anymore, but he had a right to know, and nothing about this situation would have made sense if he didn't... He could still ease into it, as he looked away himself, uncertain of just how to say it, but managing to start anyways.

"Potentially, meaning we need to get you somewhere safe, I'm going to take you to the warehouse, Goldie and Foxy are there. We're trying to keep everyone together while Mike and I go and see if we can get this mess sorted out. Fritz and Janet will be there to keep an eye on everything, Charlie too" Bonnie looked like he had about a million questions, but instead of voicing most of them, he instead asked something Jeremy hadn't expected at all.

"Who's Janet?" Jeremy blinked a few times before really making the decision that he really needed to get the kid socialized.

"Uh, oh, an employee at the Cove, she and Fritz are dating"

"Oh..." Jeremy gave an awkward nod, before grimacing to himself, he had kind of hoped that Bonnie would have noticed who he had avoided mentioning and bring it up himself, but apparently not...

"And uh... while you're there... I just... You should know something" The stalling if anything seemed to get Bonnie back to an almost normalcy for him, as he got a bit irked, asking quickly and a bit snappishly.

"You going to spit it out or are we going to start playing twenty questions?" Jeremy just sighed, almost huffing to himself, and he probably shouldn't find the kid's sarcasm as endearing as he did. Still... Like a bandage, he should just get it over with, as he took a moment to compose himself before getting right into it.

"We found out about all of this because Mari is missing, he hasn't been seen since last night" Jeremy didn't know what kind of reaction he was expecting, he really didn't, honestly he still had no idea just how exactly Bonnie felt about Mari, given even when hew as doing a reading on the kid, said kid's thoughts and feelings seemed to change every other day on just what he was thinking. The betrayal never left, but everything else was prone to shifting.

So, he had no idea how the animatronic was going to react, but he really hadn't been expecting the rabbit to freeze. Bonnie going stiff for a long moment, just standing there, before a short almost guttural kind of static sound played out that made Jeremy wince, mostly from the volume of it, and a bit because of the way the rabbit's eyes flashed a dangerous kind familiar void. It seemed to be going around today.

"W-What do you mean Marionette's missing?" Jeremy gulped, admittedly a bit intimidated, as he did his best to not take a step back as he answered.

"Freddy's has him, but don't worry, we're going to get him back tonight, along with everyone else"

"You just let him be taken?" Bonnie's entire body sort of twitched, sharp and dangerous, his feet moving, bringing him closer to Jeremy who managed to double down on his not moving backwards thing... Even as he managed to sputter out some words as the lights above them began to flicker, because... holy hell he forgot how scary Bonnie actually was after so long of seeing him just being a couch potato.

"I- I mean Mike-" That was very much the wrong thing to say, Bonnie's form flickered, or maybe it was more accurate to say another form appeared, if only for a second, the same shape, just... void of light, making an outline of what Jeremy had been told of before what Shadow Bonnie had looked like, as his kind of hysterical brain for some reason instead of panicking worse kind of shut down and wondered why it looked like that as a sharp distorted voice came out from the dark form.

"That purple bastard let them take him?" Right... Jeremy was getting the very strong impression he really did not understand just whatever it was Bonnie felt about Marionette, as he gulped again, but mostly letting the anger wash over and past him as he took a deep breath, having no idea what he was about to do was going to work or not as he reached out, placing a hand on the shadow's shoulder, somehow making contact, which was something he really had no idea what it meant at the moment nor did he have time to think about it to try and figure out, as he spoke as clearly and as comfortingly as he could.

"It's going to be alright, Mike's just as upset about this as you are, and we're going to do everything in our power to be able to get him back, it's going to be alright" The rabbit was... shaking, he could feel the tremors through his hand from where it was placed on Bonnie's shoulder, it was... weird as well, the shadow or darkness, or whatever it was didn't really have a texture, it was slightly cold, but in that way there was pressure but not much else, like... wind chill but without the wind.

"You don't know that" Well, at least Bonnie's voice didn't sound as booming anymore, as Jeremy just firmed up his grip on the shoulder, having no idea how much pressure was to much when he had no idea really what it was he was touching as he spoke.

"I'm going with Mike to fix this, I promise everything will be alright, you just need to trust me" The second he said it, Jeremy felt himself realize just how loaded that question really was, because... he didn't know what the answer was going to be, and in that moment, Jeremy, who admittedly wasn't really that scared, definitely unnerved and more than a little intimidated by the shadow show sure, but not scared, suddenly felt afraid of just what answer he was going to get.

It took a long moment, before something finally happened, in which Jeremy wasn't really sure if he had breathed at all during or not, but eventually something did happen. Slowly, the shadowing faded away, and Jeremy's hand was left in the air, holding nothing, as he really had no idea what that meant, but Bonnie was there again, just out of reach, his eyes still dark for just a moment longer before those too returned back to their sharp bright green, as he said with a voice that showed tightly held emotions being held back.

"Let's get to the warehouse" It wasn't a direct answer, but it was one that still spoke volumes, as Jeremy felt like his heart could beat again, he felt his face twist up in an attempt to smile so strongly that he quickly looked away before Bonnie could get either the wrong idea or get all huffy as he just nodded to the air.

"R-Right, come on, let's get you on the dooly and this tarp over you" He was still in a rush, and everything was still more than tense, but it felt suddenly a bit easier to breath as well, like a weight, an old one that had been resting quietly on his shoulders for a long time now, was suddenly being relieved, it didn't make anything in the moment better, but it did help Jeremy believe his own words about everything working out just a bit more.

Fritz was not okay at the moment, everything was going on and he was still here, just standing there, doing nothing, pacing back and forth in his apartment.

Janet was trying to help, but she wasn't really able to do much, because now it was a whole lot worse, it wasn't just Scott, now Mike was going in there and Jeremy would be right outside, and where was Fritz in all of this? Standing in front of his freaking couch doing nothing! He should honestly be at the very least at the warehouse, but Goldie had assured him if anything happened then it would quickly stop being a problem, seeing how Fritz was freaking out, basically sending him home with a few strong suggestions.

Fritz was unsure how he felt about being ordered around by someone over a decade younger than him, but he was in a... unbalanced head space, and when a massive golden bear says that you need to chill out, then at the very least you go and freak out somewhere else. Janet came back with him, though she probably should have stayed herself, but that was besides the point really, he was a mess, and he shouldn't be.

He still wasn't even the one who was doing the dangerous thing and he was probably the worst one off out of everyone in terms of keeping himself in check and it was honestly almost as angering as it was frustrating for him to be like this.

"We should head back to the warehouse" Janet just gave him a worried look, as he just gritted his teeth and tried to act like he was a bit hurt that she could see just how unwell he was handling this. Thankfully, she didn't mention it, just nodding after a second.

"Alright, we can go in a minute, I'm going to go to the bathroom first though" He kind of wished she did ask something though, not that he knew what he would have said back, just... He had a lot of pent up energy from doing next to nothing about all of this, and it was beginning to be to much to handle now that it felt like everything was reaching it's sudden climax without any warning. He found himself speaking up in spite of himself, interrupting Janet's movement.

"Think we should call Jeremy? You know? See what's going on? They should be getting there about now" She seemed to consider that for a moment, and he really had no idea just how she could be so calm about all of this. A bit jealously he had to imagine it was because she just didn't know really what it was like, not that he wished it upon her, but if he could have that kind of lack of knowing just what might happen... He'd probably take it.

"He won't be able to tell you anything, he's the one that's going to be waiting on the outside right?" Fritz just nodded, but still...

"Yeah... Yeah, just... I don't like not knowing what's happening. I couldn't call Scott during his nightshift before in case it distracted him or something, but there isn't a reason to not now... Right?" He was mostly asking himself that, it couldn't hurt to have more information right? He couldn't see how but he wasn't sure if that was just because he was a bit to amped up at the moment to think clearly still or not. Janet seemed to think it over for herself as well before nodding.

"I guess not. Don't stress about it to much though, we know they can take care of themselves" He nodded, but didn't say to much more about it, as he pulled out his phone, waiting a moment as he heard the door behind him shut as he took a deep breath to think about what he was about to do, his finger thumbing over the call button, his own head admittedly doing the mental math on what might be happening that would cause something horrible to happen.

He was over thinking it, it was just an empty building right? The worse that came to pass was the animatronics in there couldn't get out easily or something, it was fine, especially because it was Jeremy, who wasn't even going inside, he was just the get a way driver... Something that Fritz never thought in his life that he would seriously consider having to say about one of his friends, but then again, this whole thing was just one big breaking and entering thing wasn't it? He... wasn't sure just how he thought about that, but given it was the lesser of two evils...

Well, he had been doing that kind of math for a long time now, long before he met Mike and his life got turned upside down, this wasn't that much different He chose to not think to much about how the mere presence of Freddy's had a habit of bending a person's ethics. Instead just hitting call and holding the phone up to his ear, as he waited a long moment, the first two rings going off before-

"Hey, sorry I'm unable to take your call at the moment, but feel free to leave a message, I'll get back to you as soon as possible!" Voicemail... That... Fritz frowned, staring ahead with a harsh gaze, pulling the phone away from his ear quickly, hitting the number in again, holding it up and- "Hey, sorry I'm-" He hung up before it played out any further as Fritz felt something sink uncomfortably into his gut with nerves as he took a deep breath before putting in another number.

It rang for a long few moments, as Fritz waited and waited until-

"What?" Right... It wasn't Fritz's phone that was the issue then, he really wished that that hadn't been the case, as he said quickly back.

"Hey Goldie, listen, uh, I can't get in touch with Jeremy, I don't suppose... Well, uh, actually I was just making sure it wasn't me that was the issue" He felt a bit awkward, but the nerves pushed it down and away as he explained the situation to the bear, who just hummed for a moment, asking soon after.

"Have you tried to call Michael?"

"Ah, no, if it did work I wouldn't know what I'd be interrupting..." There was a short hum of consideration over the line but nothing else, as Fritz spoke again, mostly to assure himself, "I'm sure it's fine, just... What's going on over there? Is everything alright?"

"I've been playing babysitter to the rabbit again" The tone in which it was said, and the loud complaining noise in the background told Fritz all he needed to about how Bonnie felt about that, as the bear just continued unfretted by the sound, "It's been... quiet..." He said the word with a long second of almost confused expectation, like he didn't really get it himself and was only just now realizing what had been confusing him. Fritz just spoke back, a little hesitant with how Goldie said that.

"Well, I mean... That's probably a good thing isn't it?" The line was sight for a long moment before suddenly Goldie voice came back in a sharp almost startled, but mostly just angry sounding-

"Fuck!" Fritz did his best to not wince a bit at the loud expletive, not at all expecting that nor the volume, it was incredibly out of character for the normally quietest of the group.

"I- What? What's wrong?"

"Those idiots!" Goldie didn't sound any more calm than before, Fritz could hear the sound of a much more childish voice speaking up int he background in an annoyed tone, which was Bonnie, probably, Fritz didn't' really know his voice well, which just made him more stressed, until Goldie finally said once more, "Charlie and Foxy are missing"

"What do you mean missing?"

"I mean they aren't here"

"You don't think-"

"I don't need to think, I know" Right. Fritz didn't even have time to think about what he was saying next, the words just blurted themselves out before he could help it.

"Fuck... I- I'll get over there and get them" It wasn't like he could call Jeremy and warn him... Shit.

"Go now, those idiots, I swear if-" Goldie's voice suddenly broke up into a blaring static as Fritz let out a short startled sound, jerking the phone away from his ear as he just stared at it for a moment, the small screen glitching for a moment, before the call just disconnected. Before he had time to think about just what that might mean, a sudden voice ripped that chance from him.

"W-W-Well! S-Sounds like you're in a bit of a hurry! M-Mind if I tag along!" Fritz's head slowly turned to face the direction that the voice had come from, his hand, which had been holding the phone dropping to his side as the item slipped from his fingers, clattering onto the ground without care, as he stared in mute shock and horror, as Funtime Foxy's head tilted like it was curious, beads of white light peering out of the empty sockets, the face twisting up as much as it could giving the impression of a massive grin.

Walking to the back entrance, everything was burning in the back of Mike's mind, an energy that was rushing from his head to his fingertips, a buzzing that he knew was adrenaline and nerves. It didn't feel right though, the expected danger, that sense of wrong was pounding into his mind, spiking his blood with the chemicals, but his heart wasn't racing, his chest wasn't pounding, his breath was deep and steady without a hitch to show the storm rolling through him.

His body felt both perfectly calm and wired directly into a grid of electricity.

Strangely enough there wasn't much in the front of his mind, it was just was mess of energy that had no where to go just yet, even as he moved, his feet carrying him forwards, his eyes tracing round, and his arms reaching out to mess with the door, letting himself in and closing it behind him. The weight of the bag on his shoulder was heavy, but he just ignored it, instead giving a nod to an awkward looking Scott.

"Uh, hey, come on let's get to the office" Mike just followed, his eyes dancing back and forth towards the desk and chairs that they passed by to get to the vents, as Scott continued to talk, his anxious voice speaking up, "Err, well, I- I think Fazbear has been releasing the animatronics into the vents after they've been cleared... Or before, I don't know, but the last few nights I heard a lot of... stuff from them"

"Anything to worry about?"

"I don't really know... Probably? Eg- Er, Ennard isn't going to be an issue, but Circus Baby... I don't know, and I- uh, well, there were a few other tests that I ran but I don't think any of them were... awake, but..." Mike just nodded again, it wouldn't be the first time that an animatronic was able to bypass someone recognizing them for what they were. Scott was probably good at figuring out it, but that didn't mean it was a guarantee... All that meant was that they had no idea just how many animatronics of actual value were in the walls or where they were at the moment.

That thought made something itch and burn in the back of Mike's mind, the fact that he was here now, and yet he still didn't know where the ones he needed to rescue even were... he did his best to just ignore it. It didn't really work, not that he expected anything else, he knew what was going to happen, he just hoped whoever he came across first was the type who could handle what Mike was liable to do to them.

He was angry, but it was a different kind of rage, one Mike wasn't used to, one that had been burning for weeks now even when he had tried to pretend otherwise, one that had spiked and had only been mollified by his brother and Mari when Elizabeth's fate had been revealed, and one that could no longer be contained much longer. The fiery wrath had shifted into something else, something cold and hot and molten in a way that Mike wasn't even sure just what he was going to do next.

It kind of scared him.

At least, it would have, if he could find it in him to care at the moment about that sort of thing.

Following Scott to the cramped almost office made something in his heart sink as his mind automatically linking the sight with something similar. The Cove didn't have a security office, that had been more than intentional on the three human worker's parts. Seeing another one wasn't... easy.

He pushed it away though and moved over to the computer, turning it on and glaring at the thing when it took a few moments to boot up, listening absently as Scott went through talking about all the things the machine could be used for, mentioning that there was motion detectors instead of actual cameras. The second he mentioned it and the feed was pulled up, almost like on cue, one of the ones pinged off from the top right, as the two men stared at it.

Mike was just taking in the layout of the place, it was... strange, something was off about it, but he had no idea what, it was just weird that these large vents existed at all, that the animatronics were just in there, leading from small outcroppings of rooms of all things, to... what end though? His eyes furrowed into more confusion, but it lifted soon after, as he reached down and started to mess with it, trying to get to something else, before giving up quickly, turning to Scott.

"Try and see if you can get anything from this thing, anything at all, tell me if you get anything" Mike was already turning to head to the vent on the right, planning on going after that motion detector, as far as they knew Mari, Elizabeth, and Ennard were the only living animatronics in here, therefore there shouldn't be anything to worry about. The faster he got to any of them the better.

"Uh, how?" Mike just pulled out his phone in answer with a raised eyebrow on his face showing his thoughts on that, as the man turned a bright red color before nodding quickly, as Mike just rolled his eyes as he moved back and began to go through the vents.

They really were way to big, given Mike was... Mike, he still had to couch fairly low and the walking was more shuffling, but he could make it through the vent with barely a problem, as he dropped out from it into the first of apparently many small little rooms that connected the place behind the scenes of the pizzeria. His flashlight coming out and shining a light about the small room.

It was... bland, the walls looked like he could probably knock them down with a solid enough kick, the drywall barely had time to properly set and was clearly a rush job. It ticked something in the back of his mind, btu Mike couldn't find it in him to bother with whatever suspicion his mind had caught itself on as he looked around the rest of the room, it was barely five feet by five feet, and completely bare of anything inside of it beyond the vents that lead to another section of the strange maze of a building.

Nothing to see, nothing important, as he moved to head over to the next vent, pulling himself through it with a bit of a grunt of effort, though more from just how uncomfortable it was. Vents, even with how distracted he was, were not a place he wanted to ever be, and the longer he spent dealing with them, the harder it was getting to ignore.

Not that hard though, as he kept going, moving through the vent, before doing another when it turned out to be nothing again, that room just having a stack of what looked liked old decaying party favors, which while creepy under normal circumstances, was now nothing more than worth a half glance. He was getting tempted to just start calling out, but the idea that Circus Baby was still at least potentially dangerous kept him from doing so just yet, not when he didn't know where anyone was yet or if there was anyone else in the building, despite Scott's assurance, that might hear him through the wall or something, and he really didn't want the cops to get involved right now.

The next room had nothing in it either, and judging form what he remembered from the screen, whatever had been here wasn't anymore, as he shined the light around once more, this room had a... chair in it? Just a chair, a small one at that, and nothing else. It almost looked familiar for some reason, but he wasn't all that interested in bothering with inspecting it closer either, as he turned away, ready to continue his search, it wasn't like there was that many places for a massive animatronic to hide and the faster he came across someone the better.

Before he could get into and through the next vent however, a sudden crackling sound echoed out around him making the man freeze in place at the tell-tale sound of a speaker activating echoed throughout the building.

For half a second he had hoped it was Scott finding some kind of PA system, but no, instead a voice spoke out, distorted... But not different enough for Mike to not recognize.

"Connection interrupted. I'm sorry old friend, but I can't allow you access to any of the systems, things are already in motion, and it would be disastrous if you decided to stop being the brave volunteer you've been"

It would be a cold day in hell for him to be able to forget that voice, and yet it was the very last one he had ever expected to hear, as he felt himself freeze in shock so great it was almost paralyzing, as the male voice continued.

"Michael..." Mike felt himself tense, every inch of his body coiling up on itself like a spring, his teeth gritting themselves against each other at the sound of his name, "You've made quite a mess of things, I had been hoping to do this a bit more... handedly, but no matter, everyone that matters is now here, I thank you for that. You were the last one left that needed to be... dealt with, the last loose end to be cut"

Mike was not a person that could be easily intimidated, but the way those words were said made something cold roll itself down his spine as he suddenly felt like he was missing something, something so important that he should have never come here without knowing it before hand.

He didn't have time to think about it, nor need to, because the answer became clear before he could do much more than start to panic, as the sound of a dull thrumming echoing out from somewhere around him, almost all over it felt like, before, like a punch to the face, the vents all activated, sending air rushing around him, making him stumble from the unexpectedness of it...

And on the stream of air... The smell of smoke rested, making his chest seize up in genuine fear, as even with his lacking sense of temperature, he could feel the heat riding on the air.

There was a fire somewhere... and this maze of vents and rooms was designed to make it spread as fast as possible.

He and everyone else in the building were in one massive oven. And the person behind it all was-

The next time Mari returned to consciousness it was in pain, the bear trap must have gone into an override at the suddenly damage it's body had taken and decided it needed to subdue the puppet at all costs. Mari didn't have that thought in the moment however, he hadn't even thought about why that last shock had been so much worse than all the others, frankly the only thing on his mind was the pain, the guilt, he had caused this, as his mind slowly floated back to the surface, the last words he had been told coming to his mind and staying, the outside world dulled away and left the Marionette with nothing but his own thoughts.

Mitch... That name meant nothing to the puppet, he had never met a Mitch before, not in any of his memories... But to the manager, that name meant everything, it was the title to a life, a person's name, someone who he had killed. Mari had thought before about what he had done, had apologized to both Jeremy and Fritz in the past... But all those words suddenly felt so lacking... He only knew the names of four night guards from the many, many that had come through the doors of Freddy's, and had only learned them after the place itself had been shut down for what he had thought to be for good... But now he knew a fifth.

He had known what he had done was horrible, that it was an act he never wanted to consider having to do again, even back then when he was doing it... With every man grasping desperately at his throat, as the puppet's wires drew taunt, he prayed every time it would be the last time, that this was the one that would be what set them free, what would give them their happiness day.

The idea of that alone made the puppet suddenly feel sick to his core, his happiness day being the day he killed someone... His worst day was the day someone did the same thing to him, and he had thought somehow doing the same would make everything better? Had he been wrong? Purple Guy dying had been a weight off his shoulders that he had never thought would ever be lifted, not after everything... But that didn't change the past, didn't stop the blood on his hands, didn't change the countless lives his actions had destroyed and caused pain for others.

He saw how the loss of family burned at Mike, the quiet sorrow that clung to Charlie, the two of them holding that pain for a decade... They got closure though, a second chance, how many people, how many families would never get that because of what he had done because he thought he was justified no matter how much he hated doing it... Mari still did it. They all did, and they didn't think twice... they still didn't, they hurt and destroyed, and then they moved on, leaving the wreckage of Freddy's behind and tried to pretend everything that happened in those walls never happened.

The others had been near mindless, but Mari had never had that luxury nor excuse. While the others because of their code had been like animals, he had always been very aware... He lead them , chose to do that... and then left it all and pretended his actions hadn't meant anything, never addressed it...

And what did it give him, what did it get them all? Freddy's wasn't back because of some greedy CEO, he knew that now, it was only to obvious, this wasn't anything about making more money, it was about something so much more cruel... It was about revenge, that's why Sheldon was here, he was here to do something about the monsters that had haunted his and so many other's nights... And was he wrong to think that? This place... This bear trap, it was all one of their own making...

The bear trap was designed to be cruel because to the one who made it, the puppet deserved it to be cruel, deserved to hurt for all the hurt the machine had wrought on them... Was that all this was? A facade of a building ran by former Freddy's employees wanting to correct the greatest wrong in their lives?

The thought of it scared the puppet more than it should have, the idea of facing them, the idea of seeing the ones that got out, seeing the family members of the people who he had helped hurt... It made something crack in his chest as he desperately hoped that wasn't the case. He didn't want to see what he had done, but he got the sinking feeling that he wouldn't have a choice in the matter. It felt selfish all of a sudden to try and escape a punishment that had been forming on the horizon of the Cove and it's inhabitants for what they've done.

Was it deserved? Did the puppet ever deserve the second chance that Mike and the others had given him? Did he deserve the kindness of Jeremy and Fritz after everything he had put the two through, had he ever deserved any of it?

Maybe in another time, in another place those thoughts wouldn't have ever occurred, maybe he would have just wanted to leave, to get back to his family, to his home, to Mike, no matter what it took. But this was here and now, and whatever it took had done nothing but hurt the puppet over and over, even now his entire body was sore and stiff, pain radiating from his chest were the more fragile parts of his body were stored, and his head, his face, where the cracked mask rested, blazed like a migraine pushing through his head, with the only thing he could think about being the only words that had been directed at him after hours of nothing but pain and exhaustion.

It left him tired, hurt, and questioning things he should have already long sense tried to answer, leaving the puppet leading to a steep and dangerous downward spiral of thoughts.

It only got worse as the sounds of something slamming open made the puppet very nearly jump, the building instinct to not move no matter what just barely prevailing, his his eyes scanned around, focusing back on the reality around him as he realized he was somewhere new, somewhere... dusty. He felt himself squirm at the idea of being in such a health hazard of a place for just barely a moment before reality set in again as the uneasiness of not knowing what was happening sunk deep into his metal limbs like an anchor.

The ceiling was short, he could recognize that, just barely, as his eyes strained to figure out what was happening, someone like Foxy or Mike would just barely have enough room to not need to crouch to not bump their heads.

Next thing he noticed was the figure, in a oversized black coat that covered their back from the puppet's view, combined with the incredibly poor lighting, the only light in the room seemingly coming from the desk that the figure was standing in front of, where a number of bright monitors were placed along with some kind of control board and a few other things that the puppet wouldn't really make out from where he was forced to stand.

The slamming sound had come from his side, and it took a moment for another figure, the man from before, Sheldon moved into his line of sight, past the bear, his hands gripped into fists, as he moved over quickly.

"That man, Schmidt is here, Scott let him in. We need to go get him out of here and get the others before he get's the bright idea of calling the cops" The figure didn't do anything for a long moment, just standing there, staring at the monitors, as Mari suddenly felt his chest bloom in something of a combined terror and hope, both over the fact that Mike was here. Mike was here for him. It was as relieving as it was terrifying, that latter was solely because of the fact that figure had spoken up.

"He won't, the kid's to stubborn right now... But we can't let him leave either" The voice, something about it sparked something in the puppet's chest, unsure of just why though, his mind still muddled and hard to truly focus on what was happening, he tried to focus on what it reminded him of, but it didn't work, to busy feeling the way that voice, rough and harsh, spoke those words. It was cold in a way that made something chilled roll down his back, indifferent in a way that left the puppet even in this situation incredibly unnerved with what those few words implied. Sheldon seemed to realize that to, immediately saying.

"W-What? You don't mean kidnapping him or something right?"

"You're the one who took the puppet from his house, you alerted him to early, and now we have to deal with it"

"If the man wasn't some creep who kept one of those things in his damn house, then he wouldn't have known anyways, and you're little sound thing didn't exactly work on the other two... Look, the thing's hidden, and the only things down there are more liable to attack him than even that thing" Sheldon spat the words in the bear bound puppet's direction, before continuing, "We need to get down there and run him off or something, at least Scott's safe enough in that office"

The man didn't say anything for a long moment, just turning to look at Sheldon, whatever was on his face must have been quite the sight as the shorter of the two flinched back a bit as he said.

"No, he needs to be dealt with now"

"Yeah, that's what I'm getting at, we can call the cops on him or something, get him out of the way or-"

"No, he needs to be handled... The other two, Fredbear and Foxy... We know that these things stay around because of anchors, a number of them faded after Afton was dealt with... If Michael is no longer in the picture, those two should be released as well" The man seemed to be more talking to himself than anyone else, and the more he spoke the more and more the chill in the puppet's body grew until he realized with a start, that the cold he was feeling was terror. The burning itch in the back of his mind only growing the more the man spoke.

"What are you saying? Who the hell is Afton and what do you mean faded?" Sheldon was beginning to sound more and more uncertain of what was happening, the anger fading to a nervousness that the puppet wished he he himself only felt in that moment. The silence grew from there, the question laying on the air for a long, long moment, before the man turned to look fully at the other.

His side profile was more a silhouette to the puppet, but he could make out the barest of details of his figure, a bit stocky, average height, and not much else, the oversized coat however showed more secrets, the thing was frayed and withered down, beaten over what must have been years of use, the hood still pulled up making it even harder to try and make out anything from the man's face. Sheldon backed up, first slowly before trying to move a bit to fast, his legs tripping up on themselves as he stumbled back as his back smacked against the wall as he just stared with shock at the man who hadn't moved any closer.

"You-... You want to kill him? What the hell? He's... He's one of us, a night guard, a fucking crazy one sure, but he-" Whatever the man was going to say next was interrupted... because the cloaked figure had moved, Mari could barely watch it happen, it was just barely in the edge of his vision, but he couldn't help but gasp in spite of himself as the man rushed forwards, what looked like a fist at first slamming into Sheldon's chest in the dim lighting... only for the puppet to realize just how wrong he was.

A choked gasp escaped from Sheldon for just a moment before suddenly the figure pulled his hand back, something metal glinting his grip, before slamming it forwards once, then twice... And then a final third extra time, as Sheldon tried, just for a feeble moment, to fight back, before slumping down onto the ground, it was to dark to see it... But Mari knew all to well what stab wounds looked like on a body, as he stared, his eyes unable to leave the horrific scene, that feeling of sickness building in the back of his mind until it felt nauseous to even think.

The figure just reached down and grabbed the body by the shoulder, before just dragging it over to the other side of the room, which Mari only now realized had a tarp on the ground of... of which a number of lumped forms made outlines in the tarp. The body was just dropped down without much way of care, as the puppet could do nothing but watch in horror... Before the figure turned to look at the bear, as it was like Mari's entire body was frozen in fear, unable to do anything, as he moved forwards, until the man and the bear trapped puppet were facing each other.

...And it was then, now that he could see the man in his entirety, that Mari realized just where he had heard the man's voice before, as the man spoke up softly, almost gently, caring in a way that made the world shaking shock going through his system fade almost enough to feel disturbed at the switch from the brutal murder to this.

"Hey Sammy... Don't worry, it'll all be over soon"

Mari left the purple tears begin to roll down his face... As he stared into the hardened eyes of Henry Emily, his father.

Before the man turned around, heading back to the computer station, and hitting a button for what must have been a speaker system, as he started to speak.

Ah... Chaos, my favorite...

Ooh, this was a good one. Nice to see you Henry, I've been waiting for you. I'm sure you're completely rational right now and nothing horrible will happen in the future. Nothing wrong with a good old family reunion after all!

But out of the way old man! We have someone way more important to talk about! Henry is the longest foreshadowed character in this entire story true, but the bot tied for the second longest, and the only character introduced without a single line of dialogue before now, has finally arrived! Make way for Lolbit bitches! We out here and the fox has finally revealed themself! Forty-four chapters after their first hint of screen time, and now they've finally actually had a line of dialogue, feels good...

I mean, no one else is feeling good, Mari is in a tail spin of depression and guilt, Bonnie is hyperventilating over it all, and Mike is half a step away from extreme acts of violence, but, I mean, I'm feeling great. It's only going to get faster from here, get ready for it, because it's going to be beautiful... For me at least. Anyways, See ya!