Mable: Watch your step…
Going Home in a Box
Chapter Ninety-Two
Chica and Moon blew into Mazercise, across the workout area, and straight into the back.
"It's in the maze?" Moon asked.
Chica nodded and pointed into the open doorway, and Moon ran in while she rushed into the control room to her right.
Only to stop on a dime when she realized someone was already in there standing at the controls. Not an employee, not even Monty, but some sort of animatronic in a black bag cloak and a scribbled-on mask. Like the Phantom of the Pizzaplex. Her mouth would've dropped open if it could've, and his probably would've too with how he jumped.
They stared for a second before he gave a quiet, "Uh, hi."
Okay, so that was the Old Sun. Chica, still surprised, slowly waved at him.
That was when Sun popped up behind her.
"I found the vent, but it's blocked up by the walls- GAH?! THAT'S NOBODY!" He shouted.
He grabbed Chica around the head, covering her eyes. She swatted him off before glaring at him with her hands on her hips.
Sun was exuding anxious energy, ticking and tapping his fingers, waiting for a reaction. Only to realize that Chica wasn't asking questions- in any way she could.
"…Wait, did you already know about him?" he asked with exasperation.
Chica nodded.
"Wait, you knew?" Jake asked. She looked back at him. "You knew about me? How? Did Freddy tell you?"
Chica got a somewhat peeved look and shook her head.
"Gee, it must've been one of those times you sneakily crossed the Pizzaplex without being noticed by anyone," Sun said dryly.
"Yeaaah," Jake stretched out with a small hiss, rubbing his neck.
He then quickly stepped out of the way as Sun rushed up to the controls, which consisted of a line of round buttons with two arrow shaped buttons on one side and a screen showing the maze on the other.
"This flips the maze?" Sun asked.
"It does. These buttons shift the- Hey, don't just go pressing buttons! I've been working on this for five minutes now!"
"Well, there's a big pizza wall blocking off that vent and we've got less than five seconds before I go yanking it down! We need to be quicker or Monty's gonna- he's gonna- wha- what's wrong with this?! How do you work this thing?!"
"Maybe you should've figured that out before you started pressing a bunch of buttons!" Jake said. He shoved himself back in to try and regain ahold. "For Pete's sake, Sun! I work on this sort of stuff all day!"
"Really?! A giant maze shaped Rubix Cube?!"
"It's delicate!"
"It's a children's maze! All you've gotta do is move that back wall!"
"If it was that easy, I would've done it! You have to move entire sections and then check the screen!"
"WE DON'T HAVE TIME FOR METHODICAL PUZZLE SOLVING! THERE'S A CRAZED GATOR ON THE LOOSE, AND HE'S STOLEN MY CHILD!"
By now, the two were pretty much wrestling for control over it. Sun in a panicked frenzy thinking Jake was being unneededly slow, and Jake trying to solve the puzzle and getting thwarted by Sun.
At this point Chica had enough of the squabbling and marched up. Getting a hand on each of their waists she smoothly pushed them apart. Sun teetered, Jake stumbled, and Chica motioned to crack her fingers before beginning to poke at the buttons and arrows.
The two watched as she went to work.
"Do you-?" Jake was cut off by a finger. He clammed up.
"We don't have-!" Sunny too was cut off by a finger. He growled a little.
But within twenty seconds or less, Chica had moved the maze until she deemed it ready. Then she stepped back and pointed to the screen.
"Did you get it? I can't see it," Jake said.
Chica nodded confidently.
"GOOD, LET'S GO!" Sun said. He started to race out, calling back with a, "THANK YOU!" to Chica who was on his heels.
Within moments he was climbing over top of the colorful maze- a box of a room with random walls decorated in cutesy designs to corral and distract kids whose parents were exercising- and dropping down into the corner. There was the vent. Sun struggled to get a grip before peeling it off and tossing it aside.
Then he kicked off his shoes and removed the bells at his wrists and then squeezed inside.
…
Monty rode in on one of the gator carts before hoping off and landing heavily onto the catwalks. They groaned and creaked under his weight. Gregory, still held tight under his arm, gave a small 'oof!'.
There was no getting out of Monty's grip. With his arms trapped at his sides, Gregory was carried along without any way to fight back. Sometimes Sun and Moon carried him like this, but it was totally different when it was a big angry gator in comparison to some gangly jester guy who smelled like lemons and blueberries.
Not to mention how hot Monty was. His casing was burning up! Gregory was practically sweating getting stuck next to him, only sometimes soothed by Monty's internal fans kicking on and off.
If Freddy was here- and wasn't pounding Monty's face in, Gregory thought- then he might've made a joke about Monty needing to chill out.
Monty took him across the catwalks to a place by a giant hanging bucket. Painted on it was "Hole-In-One Hurricane" and above it was some sort of strainer catcher with a picture of one of those Monty targets from the dark ride on it. He stopped near the bucket and sat Gregory down.
But before Gregory could attempt to escape, Monty had tied his arms to the tailing pole with a plastic tie around his wrists. Keeping him stuck there sat on the floor with his arms behind him. Gregory pulled tight at the plastic but it didn't budge, and pulling harder just caused the catwalk to rattle.
Monty then walked away, a few steps down the catwalk. Gregory watched him go before looking around for a possible way out.
On the other side from where he was secured was a panel with a button on it. Beneath it was a metal plate that read, "MANUEL DUMP: do not press button unless bucket has been moved into position."
Gregory might've snickered at that if he wasn't currently being held hostage.
Monty was starting to pace, and his heavy footsteps made the whole catwalk shake. Looking down, Gregory suddenly became very aware of how far the ground was. He never thought he was afraid of heights, but this was way too high for him. It made him feel dizzy in a way.
He had to get out of here. Maybe this time he could talk to Monty and convince him to let him go. It sounded stupid, but Freddy must've talked about talking it out once before. It sounded like something he would say.
"Hey, Monty!" he called.
Monty turned his head towards him and stopped in place. He looked a lot bigger from Gregory's spot on the floor of the catwalk, but he still pled his case.
"L-Look, I know I've broken a lot of rules. I snuck in, I've taken stuff, and maybe… maybe it was my fault that Freddy lied to you about me. But that doesn't mean I'm working with Vanny! I'm not!" he cried.
"I know ya aren't."
"I would never help that creepy- Wait, what?"
Monty lowered his shades, looking over them and winking.
"Wait, you know I'm NOT working with Vanny? Then why did you tell everyone I was?! Are YOU working with Vanny?!"
"You kiddin'? This is bigger than that little lady," Monty said, pushing his shades back into place. "This is about claiming my rightful place under the spotlight."
"What does that mean?"
"Lemme tell ya somethin', Kid." Monty came over and took a knee. "There's this thing about rock bands. Yer only as big as your star. The one singin' the solos puts a shadow over everyone else, and Freddy's shadow casts all the way back from the old diner. There's no way out from under it unless someone new takes his place as head of the band. You feel me?"
"So what, you're jealous of Freddy?"
"I'm not jealous. I just know that I should be headlining, not that soft little Papa Bear, Big Daddy Freddy. Y'know how many of our practices he's missed out on? He hasn't even learned any of the new songs! He's been spending all his time with you. They'll be replacing him anyway. Or they would, if he wasn't the big head honcho of the joint."
"But- But that's not true! Freddy cares a lot about the band. And I don't even see him during the day!"
"That's just because you're over there letting Andy mother hen you to death. Face it, Kid, yer just like me. Yer a taker. Ya take and take. Take food, take time, take friends and families."
"No, I'm not! I'm nothing like you!"
"Ya, you are."
"No, I'm not!"
"Ya, you are."
"NO, I'M NOT!"
"Kid, don't make me pull out the Bugs Bunny routine here. I swear to God I will," Monty threatened. He then stood up and turned away dramatically, standing beside the button. "Yer just like him…"
"Who, Bugs Bunny?"
"No."
"Then who, Freddy?!"
"Bonnie," Monty said cryptically. "He got in my way too. That's why I got rid of him."
"What?" Gregory blinked in surprise. "Wait, YOU got rid of Bonnie? What did you do to Bonnie?!"
"I pushed him off this catwalk," the gator dramatically revealed. "Pressed this button here…" He tapped the Freddy shaped button. "And then shoved." He made the gesture. "Watched him crack into pieces on the way down. Then I drug him off and dumped him in the basement. Where nobody'd find him."
Gregory was utterly flabbergasted. "Why…?" he quietly asked, now more meekly.
"Because I should've been the bassist. He was always the favorite. With his stupid candies and buck-toothed smile. Couldn't even bowl and it was the one thing he was built to do. He's- was- No! He wasn't- NO!" He reached up and clawed at the side of his head. "No, that ain't right! Wasn't like that. Wasn't…"
Suddenly Monty shook his head and began to pace a little, muttering to himself as he did, looking insane. Especially when he suddenly bellowed and slammed his fist down on the railing, causing it to bend downward.
"HE MADE ME DO IT!" Monty shouted. His body wheezed as his fans struggled to fan out the heat. "He- He made me! Ah didn't have a choice, I-!"
He lurched and stumbled and teetered around before grabbing ahold of and leaning far over the railing halfway down the catwalk. His shades slipping down his nose as he stared far at the ground. He was panting now, grunting like he was struggling even though he didn't need to breathe.
He stared wide-eyed down at the golf course and stage below. His eyes wide. His hands clutching tightly to the railing.
His jaw clenched closed before opening again, causing his shades to slide further.
"Look at that drop…" he muttered. "All it'd take is this railing to go out and I'd be down there with him… All the way down…"
He gave a full body shudder. His arms twisting and hands wringing on the railing.
"Ah feel 'em squirmin' 'round inside..." he groaned. His claws dragged on the railing with a screech. "Feels hot. Huff. Burnin' up!"
He seemed entirely unaware of what was going on, lost in his head.
All the while, Gregory was watching this whole scene silently and mouth agape.
Oh great. So not only was Monty plotting against Freddy and beat up Bonnie, but he was completely insane. Good to know. Great if he would've known earlier.
Suddenly Gregory felt something brush his arm. He almost screamed when a hand clamped over his mouth. He recognized the color- it was Moondrop!
Moon lifted a finger against Gergory's mouth, shushing him, and then removed his hand to start freeing him. Much to his dismay, Monty had used zip ties. Not only were they terrible for use on skin, but they were insanely hard to break silently while wrapped around fragile smaller wrists.
He fiddled with them and Gregory realized the problem. He leaned forwards and gestured back with his head, to his backpack which was on his back. Moon reached inside and fished around until he found the pair of scissors stored inside. Then he went to clip the plastic strap. Then tried again. Then continued to try sawing at it.
The worst part was that he knew Gregory was going to give him a, "See?! I told you they sucked!" later on and no amount of, "They're for safety!" would convince him elsewise.
But finally, he snipped through the zip tie and Gregory was freed. Though before he could even try to get up, Moon hooked an arm around his waist and pulled him off the catwalk.
Gregory gasped a little as he looked down past his feet at the long fall below, but Moon held him secure as he climbed down the walkway and around.
Monty finally got ahold of himself. He straightened up, rather suddenly, and stared ahead blankly before giving a dry chuckle. He turned around while pushing his sunglasses
"Naw, I'm kiddin'. I did it cause I wanted to… What?" He stared at the empty spot where Gregory once sat. "Where the-?!"
"Overrrr herrre."
Monty snapped his head over to see Moon climbing up and perching on the railing, holding Gregory up around the waist. The boy looked rather dizzy.
"Oh, you're kiddin' me…" Monty muttered. "Et tu, Moon?"
"It's true," Moon retorted.
"Hmph. Always getting in where ya don't belong- well, you listen here, Moon. I don't care who ya are. If you get in the way of my big moment-."
"MONTGOMERY GATOR!"
All three were taken aback by a bellowing voice from across the room and looked over.
There came none other than Freddy himself, riding on one of the gator shaped coaster carts- along Roxy who was barely fitting with him- with the restraints released and one foot stepped up onto the front of the cart. He pointed across the catwalks at the gator with eyes narrowed in anger.
Monty gave a dry huff. "This oughta be good."
"We have come to stop you!" Freddy announced, hopping out of the cart and onto the catwalks. Roxy followed suit and easily landed beside him. "Release Gregory this instant!"
"Huh. You heard the man, Moony. Drop the kid," Monty said.
"What- Moon!" Freddy gasped as he saw Gregory in Moon's grasp. "Gregory!"
"Freddy!" Gregory called back.
"Well, whatcha gonna do, Moon? Gonna take him his kid?" Monty asked.
"Ohhh, you would like that, wouldn't you?" Moon jeered. He smoothly took a few well-balanced steps on the railing. "I don't trust you, Monty. I know you're up to something."
"Lemme rephrase that. Don't move that kid from that spot or I'm pressing this button and takin' us all downstairs real fast-like."
That was a clear threat, but Moon found the random proclamation of such to be rather strange. He studied Monty with eyes at half-glow, narrowed, and noticed that Monty was having trouble looking directly at him.
"Monty, let them go! We will settle this between us!" Freddy called. "Just you, Roxy, and I!"
Bang, bang, bang!
Freddy and Roxy looked back to see Chica stuck halfway through the vent on a little catwalk ledge.
"Oh, erm, and Chica as well," Freddy said awkwardly. "Roxy, help Chica. I will confront Monty."
"What are you going to do? If you try fighting him up here-."
"I will not. I just want to talk."
"Just watch your feet. If you go over the edge it'll be a blowout."
More than that, Freddy realized. It could be the end of him if he fell the wrong way. Steadying himself, he started to march down the catwalk while Roxy went to pull Chica free.
Freddy silently walked his way down the catwalk to face Monty. He stole a glance at Moon and Gregory before steadying his eyes ahead and taking a left, walking through the maze of a catwalk before coming around the corner on the other side of Monty. He stopped there, standing tall as Monty turned around to face him.
"Well, well, well. Look who showed up!" Monty jeered. "'Bout time."
"Monty, you have this all confused. Gregory is not working with Vanny, and he is certainly not manipulating me!" Freddy said firmly.
"He knows!" Gregory called.
"I already know, Fazbear. This has got nothing to do with any of those rabbits and everything to do with you and me." Monty pointed a claw at him. "I'm sick and tired of standing in yer shadow, Fazbear! This is it, one-on-one, you and me. Only the winner's gonna rule the Pizzaplex!"
"Rule the Pizzaplex? Monty, what on Earth are you talking about?! I do not want to fight you!" Freddy said in utter confusion.
Once again, Gregory gave him context. "This isn't about Vanny! Freddy, he wants to take your spot as the leader of the band, and HE broke Bonnie!"
Freddy should've been more surprised than he was, but he wasn't after what Bonnie had told him. He was more so surprised that Gregory knew, and that Monty would tell him. It felt surreal.
"…You broke Bonnie?" Freddy eventually asked.
"What? You trust some kid's word over yer bandmate? Some kid who you''ve been lying for over me?" Monty challenged back. "Could've come up with it on the fly."
"I'm not lying! Freddy, he just told me he pushed Bonnie!" Gregory cried.
"But he told ya that he pushed Chica into the trash compactor too. And that he was hiding out in here. Bet he's always been a real angel, hasn't he?"
Freddy's gaze grew firm. "I suppose you have a point. If it was Gregory's word alone, I would have to take some consideration."
Gregory was shocked by this. "Freddy…"
"Freddy-," Moon interjected.
"But it is not just Gregory's word. It is not between him or you. It is between you and Bonnie," Freddy said. His eyes narrowed and his voice lowered. "Bonnie already told me what you did."
"Huh. You found him?" Monty asked nonchalantly, adjusting his sunglasses. "Good fer you. Where is he? You didn't just leave him down there, didja?"
"I… It was not… You knew where he was!" Freddy gasped. "You knew where Bonnie was and you never told us!"
"'Course I didn't. What would've happened if ya'll found him? It would've been down to Parts and Service, back up on stage, and I would've had a one-way ticket back to this dump. I needed him outta the way."
"Is that why you-?"
"That's right," Monty said. No shame, no regret, nothing. Nothing at all.
Freddy's heart ached. "Why him? Why not me?" he asked sadly.
"Because I felt like really knocking ya down a peg."
In an instant then sadness switched to anger. An amount of anger that Freddy wasn't used to. He clenched his hands and glared sharply at his bandmate.
"If you want a fight, Monty, then very well. I will give it to you."
"That's what I wanna here!"
Freddy raised his fists. Monty did the same.
"Let's hope you put up a better fight than Gutterball."
In that instant, Freddy took a swing at Monty. Monty dodged before diving in. Soon the two were taking swings at each other, and they weren't all being dodged. A heavy blow on Freddy's shoulder sent him staggering but on the next swing he dodged and popped Monty in the bicep. Enough to cause a bang but not enough to do any serious damage or leave any dents.
Despite everything, Freddy didn't want to hurt Monty. He just wanted to knock him down a peg.
Just thinking that hurt. It was overwhelming.
"How could you do this, Monty?! How could you do that to him?!" he shouted.
"Yeah, I did it. But yer one to talk! You got rid of us. Replaced us all with some kid! What leader does that, eh, Freddy? Was he worth that much?"
"Monty, you do not understand! Gregory needed a home, needed me to help him; how could you expect me to turn him away?!"
"Make him somebody else's problem! What, we weren't enough for you?!" Monty swiped at him. Freddy barely dodged.
"Monty-!"
"And neither was Bonnie!"
Freddy shielded himself with his arms right as the claws made contact and sliced across it. Shallow cuts left in Freddy's shell, revealing grey metal underneath the orange exterior.
"GRAH!" Freddy shouted.
He stumbled back. Monty did so too, seemingly in shock. Staring at the wound he had created.
Before getting blindsided by Moon slamming into him from behind. Quickly wrapping his legs around his waist and his arms around his neck and head, wrestling him for control.
"Moon, wait!" Freddy shouted.
"ARGH! HEFF, RAUGH!" Monty bellowed and snuffed as he began thrashing. "GET OFF!"
"And let a dangerous animatronic like you walk free? Hmmhmm, I'm afraid not," Moon threatened dangerously. He tightened his limbs, twisting Monty's arm back behind his shoulder nearly to breaking point.
And then something peculiar happened.
Monty's limbs suddenly contorted in a way they never had before. Reversing themselves as his body wriggled and twisted. Spine popping, waist turning, neck loose and rolling. By all accounts, he should've broken something.
But all he broke was Moon's hold on him when he managed to suddenly bend his twisted arm to force his midsection back. Then it was a matter of grabbing and overpowering, wrenching Moon's limbs off him. Moon was quick to fight back, but Monty's grip burned. The heat soaking into him and making it hard to think past static and muffled murmuring in the back of his head.
Monty gained the upper hand and pulled Moon over his shoulder, turned around, and tossed him down the catwalk right where he had come from. He landed on the catwalk, skidded, and almost fell between the railing and the platform if it wasn't for his back and head hitting the former and him grabbing the latter.
"You stay out of this, Moon! This got nothin' to do with you!" Monty bellowed.
Only for him to suddenly receive a firm stomp in the back of the knee, causing him to fall onto it. Freddy was on him in an instant, his own knee on Monty's back and grabbing his arms to pin him to the catwalk.
"No more, Monty! This is where it ends!" Freddy commanded, wrestling with the downed gator. "No one else will be getting hurt!"
"You keep telling yerself that, Fazbear!" Monty bellowed. He kicked a leg back managing to literally boot him in the backside but Freddy only started to fall for a moment before all but sitting on him. "GET OFF!"
"I will not!"
All the while, Gregory ran back up to Moon.
"Moondrop?!" he asked. But Moon simply lifted a hand. Gregory got the gist and stepped back, expecting something big about to happen.
Moon cackled darkly, catching both Monty and Freddy's attention again. His eyes glowing bright as he shakily pulled himself to his feet with the railing.
"Oh ho ho. Oh hoooo. What a deplorable creature you have become," he said. "Just trying to take out others to get yourself ahead and not caring who you ruin in the process."
His voice lowered to a bitter mutter.
"Isn't that right, Honeybunny?"
Monty looked up at Moon with his sunglasses half fallen down his snout and his eyes glowing an unwholesome red. A silent warning that Moon regarded with a glare in return.
"Honeybunny…?" Freddy asked in confusion. He then grunted as Monty thrashed underneath him, very nearly getting free enough to roll before Freddy regained his hold. "Monty, stop! There is no point to continue fighting me! I will not be moved."
Monty suddenly went very still. It looked like for a moment he had genuinely broke free, going limp onto the catwalk. Freddy watched him thinking he might've given up.
But then-
"Hey. I want to show you something real quick."
Freddy felt a chill race down his spine at the sudden change in Monty's tone. How empty it suddenly sounded. He watched as Monty's head turned around to face up at him.
"Let's see if this works."
His arm rolled around and his hand twisted and his claws dug back into the metal slots that he had made in Freddy's arm.
Suddenly a burning heat shot through him like fire and swallowed him up. Searing him with agonizing pain, but he couldn't pull away. He was locked to Monty, feeling himself get swallowed by the sensation.
"FREDDY!" Gregory shouted, but Freddy couldn't hear him. He didn't even see him run off.
He could hear noises. He could see things flickering in the back of his eyes. Projecting in quick succession. Distorted with the sounds of cheering children and screaming, murmurs, yells, and static.
Metal collapsing. A dark gaping pit. Hands holding the railing as it plummeted. CRACK CRUNCH Bones breaking furniture tearing through upholstery. Smashing the neon light that said Monty Monty Monty.
It burns it hurts the ache. Fans wheezing and spewing heat as fluid fills his mouth and he stares up at the light hanging on the dangling platform. It wasn't secure. S̴t̷a̶r̷i̶ng̶ ̶u̷p ̶a̴t̷ ̶t̴h̵e ̴c̷a̴tw̵a̵l̵k̶s.̴ ̵
Don't look at your legs. Don't move.
A pit. The closet. Mascot suits. Hey everybody turn the radio on gonna throw our troubles
Freddy was roughly shoved off Monty by Moon. Toppling onto his backside with a gasp and a yelp, quickly crawling back to pull away from touching the gator. His body still burned and error messages obscured his vision.
Moon hissed as well, recoiling back his hands and twisting up at the burn. His eyes growing redder as his face turned. Only to suddenly be blindsided when Monty gave him a firm thump in the belly with his fist and sent him clumsily falling back into the railing. The lingering burn and suddenness almost knocking the wind out of him.
Monty shoved himself up to his feet with his own awkward shuffle. His joints realigning themselves as he cracked his head forward again and reset his shoulders. And then smoothly turned to look back at Freddy, lifting his sunglasses to reveal pulsing red eyes.
"Havin' fun yet?"
And for the first time since the fight began, Freddy was afraid of Monty. He knew there was something terribly wrong with him.
But with one look at the state Moon was in, Freddy knew he couldn't back down. He pulled himself up and tackled Monty around the middle. This time the burn was dull and thus the fight began again.
All while this was going on, Roxy was still trying to get Chica out of the vent. She could hear the scuffle though, and Gregory running and leaping into a gator cart, and she was losing her patience. She gave a firm pull.
"Come on, Chic! We need to get over there! Put some backbone into it!"
Chica tried to pull herself through with one big heave, and only succeeded in making her head literally spin.
"Just stretch or something! What was the point of all those garbage exercise routines if you can't even get through a vent?!" Roxy challenged.
That succeeded in lighting a fire under Chica. She snapped her head forward, cocked her body, and forced herself through. Roxy grabbed her and helped tug her out, finally freeing her from the vent.
"Good job, now let's get- WHAT?!"
There was a hideous face in the vent right behind Chica. One that was blurry from Roxy's vision and thus looked even more gruesome from its distortion.
"No, wait! No, wait! I'm the broken Sun!" Jake shouted quickly.
Not wanting to waste time explaining, Chica quickly got between them and held hands up to them both. Then began to insistently point towards the noises that were Freddy and Monty.
"Right! Deal with that first!" Roxy agreed. Chica charged by and hopped down onto the catwalks. Roxy started to follow before turning back and pointing to Jake. "You wait right here."
"Yes, Ma'am," Jake awkwardly agreed.
Roxy then hopped down, skirting another Monty coaster as she followed Chica's footsteps. Both coming around the corner Freddy had taken and caught the two wrestling.
"Freddy, we're here!" Roxy yelled.
"NO! Stay back!" Freddy warned. "Let me handle this!"
"Freddy, what are you-?!"
"Don't touch him!" Moon hissed from the other side of the railing. "He has the Agony in him!"
"What does that mean?!" Roxy called back. Moon refused to explain. She gave a frustrated huff and slammed her fist down on the railing. "I KNEW something was wrong here!"
Freddy looked over for an instant, catching sight of Chica waving her hands frantically and trying to warn him. Inadvertently distracting him long enough for Monty to get the upper hand again and, in reverse of Freddy's earlier maneuver, hook his heel behind his leg and pulled Freddy's leg out from under him.
Freddy fell on his backside again with Monty now above him, hands and fingers locked, each fighting to overpower the other.
"Are you having fun yet, Fazbear? Are you having fun yet? Are you having fun yet?"
But before he could answer, there was a loud pop and an instant later something cracked against the side of Monty's head.
He shouted in confusion and shook his head and then looked over only to get another hard ball to the snout. His head was knocked back with another grunt and he snapped it forward and narrowed his eyes, looking over his slid down sunglasses and spotting the source of the barrage a second before another golf ball whizzed by.
Not all the gator carts were made the same. Some of them were special, with golf ball shooters attached. For a mere fifteen bucks more, guests could upgrade their party pass and join in on the shooting gallery elements of the dark ride by getting to board one of the shooter carts.
Gregory didn't pay anything, he just helped himself and was currently shooting at Monty.
"You little shhhhUGH BRAT!" he yelled. He hunched down like he was preparing to jump, even though Gregory was halfway across the catwalks.
"Ugh, that's it!" Roxy shouted. Then she crouched down as well and sprung for him.
But Monty was a second faster and leapt into the air startlingly high and grabbed ahold of a passing cart. Roxy, meanwhile, crashed right into Freddy and the two tumbled together.
"ARGH, WHY- YOU- stop it, STOP IT!" Moon screamed in frustration. He hopped up onto the railing and sprung off onto a cart behind Monty's. "THIS STUPID SHOW HAS GONE ON LONG ENOUGH! DROP THE ACT, STOP THIS RIGHT NOW OR I SWEAR- I SWEAR-!"
But Monty wasn't listening, and he knew it. He knew there was no threat that was going to reach him and that he wasn't strong enough to physically stop him. He could remember last time he tried.
So, he sprung off to the closest cart, and then the next, racing him to Gregory instead.
Gregory was still trying to gun for Monty and making a few body shots with the golf balls, resulting in a few "Oww!"s that made him grin. How did he like that payback? Nobody messed with Freddy and got away with it!
But Monty was getting closer. Dropping down from the cart and barreling down the catwalks. And unfortunately, it was getting harder to hit him the faster he went, and he was going to catch up once the cart circled.
Gregory looked over the edge at the far drop as he went over a section without a catwalk. Even landing on the catwalk was going to be painful, but at least he wouldn't splat when he landed. He couldn't jump like this.
Right then, Moon suddenly sprung out of nowhere and landed on the front of the gator car. Gregory cried out and shieled himself out of reflex, but Moon landed more on the ball shooter than him. Though his landing caused the whole cart to rock in a way that made Gregory's stomach twist.
"Gregory-!"
He was cut off by an almighty bang as Monty leapt off the catwalk and onto the side of the gator car, causing the whole thing to swing under his weight and creak in protest.
"What's your DEAL?! YOU DON'T EVEN LIKE HIM!" Monty bellowed.
"YOU'RE OUT OF CONTROL!" Moon snapped.
"YOU'RE ONE TO TALK!"
Moon growled and swiftly leaned in and scooped up Gregory. Monty grabbed him by the leg to stop him, but Moon swiveled his upper half and suddenly tossed Gregory down towards the catwalk.
Gregory screamed before landing in someone's firm arms. He looked up and was shocked to find-
"Chica?"
She gave him a little wink and, twitching as she resisted any programming clawing at her, quickly set him down and pushed him to start running. There was a loud crash as Monty dropped down behind her and began to stalk forward. She glared at him and held her arms out to block him.
"Outta the way, Chica! Don't make me- aww, forget it."
Monty ducked low and ran right into her. Catching her over his shoulder and dumping her behind him as he continued charging after Gregory. She scrambled up and sprinted after them.
Gregory ran as fast as he could down the catwalks. Zipping through the maze and trying to get away. He had to do something, but where could he go? What could he do?
The button, he realized. That was the only way. He could press the button, just like Monty said, and drop him down into the golf course below. With Monty nipping at his heels, that didn't seem like a bad idea.
Roxy was running in at his right down an adjoining catwalk and for a second he thought that she was going to grab him. He ran with all his might and then slid right under where she could've grabbed. Though she didn't grab, she kept going and launched herself onto Monty where they got in a tussle. Not that Gregory saw much of it before Moon dropped down on the catwalk, snatched him up around the waist, and began running.
Considering that Moon was pretty fast, Gregory was along for the ride until he took a sharp right and started heading towards Jake and, unknowingly to Gregory, the open vent behind him. Away from the button.
"Stop, stop! Wait! I have an idea," Gregory cried.
He squirmed and fought until he forced himself out of Moon's grasp and began to run down the short platform and right up to the button. Moon following close behind with quick successions of 'Where are you going?!' and 'Stop! Don't!'.
But he made it, and not a second before Monty came around the corner at the other side of the walkway, having successfully outmaneuvered the slimmer Chica and half-blind Roxy.
Upon seeing Gregory, he slowed down and began to threateningly stalk towards him, even with Moon standing over him. The gator giving a triumphant laugh as he did. He wasn't laughing long as Freddy came thumping around behind him. He spun around and caught Freddy's hands, wrestling with him once again.
"Moon, take Gregory and run!" Freddy cried.
But Gregory couldn't leave him. He looked towards the button and reached out, planning to press it-
but then he hesitated. Freddy was on top, he could probably get away, but what if he couldn't? What if everything fell and everyone got hurt? It wasn't just about him; everybody was up there. He didn't want them to end up like Chica.
He didn't even want Monty to end up like Chica.
As much of a jerk as he was, and as much as he deserved to get beat up for kidnapping him and what he did to Bonnie and Freddy, something seemed wrong with him. All that pacing and arguing with himself.
He just kept thinking of Chica's broken body down in the sewer. About how he felt, about how upset Freddy was, about the repercussions of those actions. What if it didn't just stop Monty, what if something worse happened?
He pulled his hand back. He couldn't press that button.
But he didn't have to.
Because Moon pressed it for him.
"Wait!" Gregory shouted. Though a second later he was snatched off his feet and thrown to the side. "AHH!"
Jake caught him just as securely as Moon had. "I've got you!"
Gregory looked back in time to see what transpired next.
There was a loud creak and both Freddy and Monty looked up to see the Hurricane Hole-In-One Bucket starting to tip over. But since it wasn't moved into position, it was instead about to crash down on top of them.
In that instant Monty could only stare frozen and Freddy looked up in horror before using all his strength to shove the gator aside and then rush back. He didn't get far before the bucket and torrent of balls inside hit the catwalk, flooded it, and overwhelmed it.
An alarm went off from somewhere above as the bucket pressed further into the catwalk. The only warning before the whole section gave way and collapsed as the animatronics were attempting to flee.
Freddy yelped and leapt for safety, but the entire section collapsed underneath him. He was falling, but then in the last second a hand caught his. Then another grabbed at his other arm.
It was Roxy and Chica. Roxy was holding Freddy's weight better with a crouch and a grunt while Chica was practically on the platform pulling with all her might. They just managed to pull him up to where he could scramble onto the shaky but still connected catwalk.
Moon fell with the catwalk as well, but unlike Freddy, he caught himself with one hand underneath and climbed up beside Jake and Gregory while they were still watching where he fell, both relieved to have him pop up.
And then there was Monty. Monty, trapped in the corner on a falling catwalk, shoved out of the way and now with no ground beneath him.
He leapt for his life and just barely managed to grab onto the only thing in reaching distance, the Hurricane Bucket itself. He grabbed onto the edge with one hand, managing to hold his weight on it even as it creaked under additional weight.
His sunglasses had slid down his nose and as Freddy turned around, he could see the look in his eyes.
The red glow had faded, his pupils returned to normal, and he looked terrified. He looked like he barely knew what was going on.
Freddy realized in that horrible moment that he didn't.
"Monty!"
Monty's eyes met his just as there was a loud crack and bang. Then one of the arms of the bucket released and it swung down, swinging the gator with it, and throwing him off. His claws leaving deep gashes in its rim.
It felt like the next moment lasted a lifetime. Monty hanging in mid air as he plummeted into the golf course below, the rafters and beams rapidly approaching, staring up at the remains of the platform.
A creeping sense of déjà vu filled him the instant before he hit the first beam with an ear-shattering CRACK.
He felt his body split apart.
BANG.
His head cracked into a beam, and he stopped feeling anything.
THUMP.
And then the ground.
But Monty didn't know that. He didn't feel it. His body twitched of its own accord, his hands, his jaw- broken and hanging loose. Bonnie's sunglasses fell to the stage beside his head.
His legs fell a few feet away from his body.
Everything was quiet.
Freddy looked over the edge, Chica trying to stop him to make sure he didn't get too close, and gasped as he saw the state of Monty. Chica saw it too and covered her mouth and then made a full body heaving motion like she was going to be sick. Roxy couldn't see Monty, but from her own accident she could recognize the sounds of cracking and shattering.
For a second, Gregory saw Monty's shattered body lying on the stage far below, his eyes widening as he noticed his lower half laying away from him, but then Jake grabbed and pulled him in to shield him. He tried to push him off to see again but Moon stepped in front of him and held him behind him, not letting him peek past his puffy, starry pants.
The stunned silence was broken by Freddy pushing past Roxy and Chica and running across the catwalks. They followed behind him.
He raced up to Jake and Moon with thumping footsteps, opening his stomach hatch along the way. Gregory didn't even need to be told, he eagerly climbed inside before Freddy closed himself and continued to the gator carts. He boarded, Moon throwing himself in beside him and then tugging Jake in, and Roxy and Chica hopping into the next cart in line.
The ride seemed to last for an eternity until they could disembark and continue into Monty Golf.
They found Monty on the stage, right where they had left him. Severely broken, his casing shattered and cracked, and missing everything from the waist down. Just a trail of internal wires were left spilling out.
Roxy could finally see Monty and she quickly turned away with a hand on her forehead, silently processing it. Unwilling to show any further reaction.
Gregory started to push Freddy's stomach hatch open before Freddy caught it and gently pushed it back.
"Gregory, it is best if you do not look," he said quietly.
"I… Okay."
Gregory wasn't a little kid. He could handle seeing it… but he really didn't think big, bad Monty was going to break in two like that. He didn't fight any harder to see him.
"I… do not think that was Monty…" Freddy quietly confessed.
Chica turned to him with a confused look and cocked her head questioningly.
"It was not Monty in control, was it?" he continued. His eyes slid over to the jester on the other side of him. "…Moon?"
Moon straightened up with a start.
"You called him Honeybunny, did you not?" Freddy asked. Moon nodded stiffly, as though he had been caught doing something wrong. "…How did you know it was Vanny?"
Roxy snapped her head in his direction. "It was Vanny?!"
Moon stole a look at Jake before quickly looking away. Even without expressions he could tell he too was shocked and questioning, and would soon reach the same sinking realization he had.
"Hey!" Gregory knocked on Freddy's interior, unintentionally taking the attention off Moon. "When Monty tied me up earlier, he was freaking out and saying stuff like how there was something in his head and acting really weird. Like he was fighting himself! It could've been Vanny controlling him the whole time!"
"And planting doubts into our heads," Freddy realized. "Moon, how did you know?"
Moon shrunk further under Freddy's desperate gaze. His arms going slack in front of him as he looked away.
"I just had a feeling. The things he was saying did not add up…"
But it was Moon whose explanation didn't entirely add up. Yes, Monty was acting very strangely, but how could he connect that to Vanny?
Freddy didn't miss the fact that Moon's body language looked very anxious, much more resembling his Sun side. Something was wrong, clearly. He was afraid, but of what?
"I should've known…" Roxy muttered. She turned her head away and returned her hand to it. "There's no way Monty could've gotten all that footage alone. There had to be security clearances and passwords… The whole time it was just that hideous rabbit loser screwing with us. And for what? Huh?"
Nobody could answer her.
For Freddy it made even less sense. It had to be Vanny, she was the only one with such control and the glowing red eyes would certainly match- Hadn't Moon's glowed like that once? He couldn't remember well.
Was that why he was nervous?
…But why? Why would Vanny want to use Monty to kidnap Gregory? And then fight them? Perhaps the fight was simply a distraction, and she intended to take Gregory while they were distracted. That made sense.
But there was something that didn't. It involved extensive damage across Monty's body.
Freddy recognized where he had seen this damage before. This was the same damage Bonnie had. The hole in the chest, the broken face, the broken spine- the same exact injuries. He even has his lazy eye.
Which meant Monty had pushed Bonnie off the catwalks.
…But now, after everything he had seen, Freddy couldn't be so sure that Monty pushed Bonnie off the catwalks.
"Gregory, please hold on," Freddy forewarned.
The boy grabbed ahold securely as the bear crouched down beside his downed bandmate.
"Oh, Monty…" Freddy crouched down and lifted his head. "I am so sorry…" Chica quietly patted his back.
Gregory felt that sinking pang of guilt that he had felt when he had seen Chica in the basement, laying in the trash. That strange feeling where someone hurt you and then got hurt, but you still felt bad about it.
"I-I didn't press the button," Gregory quietly spoke up. "I didn't, I swear. I was going to, but I didn't."
He didn't press it, so he didn't have to feel bad, but he did.
…
"I did," Moon said.
Roxy raised her head slowly before shooting him a glare. If it had been Gregory, she might've given him a little leeway. But Moon knew exactly what would happen if he fell, and a little more than that apparently.
"You pressed the button? You KNEW he was being controlled by that psycho, and you still pressed the button?!" she snapped. "What were you thinking? Were you trying to completely destroy him?!"
"I was saving him," Moon clarified. "The only way to get the rabbit out of him was to give it what it wanted."
"…And I guess this is what it wanted," Jake finished quietly.
Moon gave him a one-armed hug, which he returned. Moon's other hand landed on Gregory's head, assuring him with a comforting pat.
"There could've been a better way than this that didn't involve totally smashing him!" Roxy huffed and reined herself in. "What do we do now?"
"We try to patch him back up in Parts and Service. His upgrade's just the bass claws, right? We can probably fix the rest of him without it flagging, and we've got the time to do it," Jake said.
"Do you know anything about animatronic repair?" Roxy asked doubtfully.
"Look at me," Jake said, gesturing to himself. "Plus, it's in the repair capsule. What's to know?"
"…" Roxy sighed. "Then let's get him down there."
"Freddy, take Gregory to bed. We will handle this," Moon said. "This is our mess to clean up."
"Right. Also, uh, Roxy, Chica? Can you two take Monty down to Parts and Service? I've got to grab some stuff from upstairs and we'll meet you down there," Jake said.
"What sort of stuff?" Roxy asked suspiciously. At this point she was too fed up with the whole night to not ask questions.
"I've got this control panel that I can use to hack into the Pizzaplex's mainframe, but I left it upstairs. It'll only take a few extra minutes."
Well, that and he needed to pull Andrew aside to discuss this rapidly growing problem.
"Just hurry it up," Roxy said. She then crouched down. "Alright, Monty. Let's get you up."
She began to carefully lift his torso with one arm under his back and another under his waist and the wires spilling from it.
"Chica, put his arm around my neck."
Chica nodded and started to do so.
"I can help. Let me help, please," Freddy begged.
"I've got him, Freddy. You just get the kid out of here before Vanessa shows up."
"I can go by myself," Gregory called out.
"No!" Freddy's sudden interruption took Gregory off-guard. "No, I… I do not think you should be alone. I want you to stay with me."
He could hear how afraid he sounded. Once again, Gregory decided not to fight it. Not that he really wanted to.
"Okay… Hey, Moondrop? Can you hear me?"
Moon sort of winced when his cautious sneaking- as slow as possible to not jingle a single bell, as he had unfortunately put them back on along the way- was interrupted by his name and Freddy staring directly at him again.
"Ngh. Yes, Moonwort?"
"Just… thank you for coming to get me."
Moon stared for a moment before putting aside his feeling and going back over. He walked his fingers up Freddy's stomach hatch before hooking it and smoothly opening it. Then darted his hand inside to ruffle Gregory's hair.
"Always," he promised. Then closed it again. "Get some sleep, Troublemaker."
He could hear Gregory sort of scoff inside and turned to leave, only to have Freddy catch his arm. He went rigidly still, not looking back at him.
"When you and Jake are finished talking and Monty has been repaired… we need to talk," Freddy gently but firmly said.
"Of course, Papa Bear," Moon said quietly.
Freddy's eyes softened with sympathy, and he let him go. Moon let his arm drop to his side before giving a half-hearted wave and then heading off without another word. Jake waved too before going with him.
He knew Moon was hiding something. Freddy might've been naïve, but he wasn't oblivious enough to not notice this. Moon knew more about what was going on, and he needed to figure out what.
And how he knew what that agony was.
"Hey, wait a minute…" Roxy looked around. "Yeah. What the hell. Where's his legs?"
Freddy spun around quickly, apologizing to Gregory when he slid around inside of him, and began to look around. Sure enough, Monty's legs were nowhere to be seen.
"That is odd. They fell right there, did they not?" he asked.
Chica started to look around at the ground and props around the stage and shrugged when she still found nothing.
"If some Staff Bot swung through here and grabbed them while we were making are way down here, he's hot asphalt when I'm finished with him," Roxy growled. "Keep looking, Chic. I've got him."
"Let me help," Freddy offered.
Chica waved a hand back over her shoulder as she bent over and continued to search behind the props. She still couldn't see them.
She didn't see the red eyes watching them from the vent on the back wall either.
"We can handle it. Just get the kid to safety," Roxy said.
Freddy sighed and nodded and then turned to leave. He went slow, giving them plenty of time to call him back, but they did not.
Monty's words weighed down on him now. Even if they weren't his words, they held some merit. Not specifically about him choosing Gregory, of course he would choose his child first, but how he had ignored his bandmates. Even now they were stuck picking up the pieces of their broken bond, and bandmate, without him.
Gregory needed him, but so did his friends. They needed him to be there and yet he couldn't be. He hadn't been when Monty told their friends those stories about Gregory, he wasn't there when Monty took Gregory up to the catwalk, and he wasn't there when Vanny got her hands on Monty. Or however she took ahold of him.
What to do. What could he do? Nothing.
Freddy was so distracted that he almost walked into Natalie as she came running down the stairs from the entrance.
"Whoa!" she said, barely stopping herself on the steps.
"Nat- erm, Vanessa. My apologies, I… was distracted."
"That's okay. What happened? There were alarms going off that I've never seen before. Are you okay?"
"…I am okay," Freddy said distantly.
Natalie picked up on that clarification quickly. "Freddy, what happened?"
Freddy looked back sadly.
Natalie looked between him and where he looked and then squeezed past him- "Excuse me. Sorry." -and started to speedily walk in that direction.
He watched her go before turning away and continued up the stairs.
"Oh my God!"
Freddy winced.
"What happened?! Did he fall?! Where are his legs?!"
Freddy closed his eyes and continued up the stairs to the entrance. He was silent. Gregory was too. Neither feeling ready to talk about it.
Maybe, Freddy mused, that was why Moon wanted to leave so soon.
He himself had never wanted to disappear so badly.