Monday, July 27, 1987
Pretending to sleep proved to be rather easy for Mangle. All she had to do was to lay mostly motionless until morning, which wasn't very hard. But what proved challenging was knowing when Evan woke up. He would occasionally shift his position or mumble in his sleep, and whenever he did, Mangle assumed that he was waking up, only to be let down when he did not.
When Evan didn't wake up at daybreak, Mangle began to worry that she had somehow hurt him and that he wouldn't wake up at all. However, she managed to resist the urge to shake him, and after about another hour, the boy finally stirred awake.
"Mmmmh… Morning, Mangle," Evan mumbled as he rubbed his eye.
Mangle raised her head and looked excitedly at him. "Are you-you-you-you done sleepi-pi-pi-pi-ping?"
Evan chuckled and nodded in response before he yawned and stretched. He then got out of bed wearing his blue pajamas and began to walk out of the room with Mangle following close behind.
"So what-at-at-at-at do you want to do no-no-no-now?" Mangle asked eagerly.
"I have to go to the bathroom and stuff," Evan replied as they exited his bedroom and walked up to the bathroom, which was on the opposite side of the hallway. "Um, why don't you watch some TV while you wait for me?"
Mangle's ears drooped as she lowered her head. "A-a-a-a-aww…"
"Don't worry, it won't take long, I promise," Evan reassured her with a smile. "And, um, after I have had breakfast, maybe we should try cleaning you? You're kinda starting to smell."
Mangle looked away in shame.
"Hey, it's okay. We all get dirty sometimes," Evan said, but he couldn't help but feel like his words rang hollow. He then grimaced. "But right now I really need to pee! So I'll see you downstairs soon, okay?"
"Okay-kay-kay-kay," Mangle relented before the boy closed the bathroom door.
She let out a glitched sigh before she crawled downstairs and went to the living room, where she climbed into the sofa and switched on the TV to see what looked like a news program. Mangle watched with interest, curious to learn more about the world.
But then, much to her dismay, she realized that the news was covering yesterday's incident at Freddy Fazbear's Pizza. The one she was responsible for.
"Yesterday, one of the animatronics at Freddy Fazbear's Pizza malfunctioned and inflicted a severe head injury to 17-year-old Jeremy Fitzgerald, a security guard who worked at the restaurant," the news anchor reported. "While his condition is stable, the damage he suffered to his brain has put him in a vegetative state. Fazbear Entertainment has—"
Mangle quickly changed the channel. She then covered her eyes and let out a whimper. While she felt relieved that Jeremy had survived her bite, she still felt awful for what she did to him. That whole week, she and the other animatronics had mistaken him for someone else.
The bad man.
It wasn't until Mangle bit him that they realized their mistake, and by then it was too late…
After brushing his teeth, Evan returned to his room to change out of his pajamas and put on some fresh clothes. He then went downstairs where he found Mangle watching TV in the living room. Evan smiled at her before he headed into the kitchen, where he got a bowl of cereal.
As he went over to the sofa, Evan saw that Mangle was watching a morning show that was currently covering financial news, but she didn't seem too interested. He took a seat and smiled at her.
"So, about cleaning you… I'm kinda scared of short circuiting you or making you rust," Evan admitted before eating a spoonful of Cheerios. "So… I'm not sure how to do it."
Mangle thought for a moment before she said, "Back at the rest-est-est-estaurant, they removed my she-she-she-she-shell and… then I think-ink-ink-ink they washed it with wat-at-at-ater and soap. And they clea-clea-clea-cleaned my endoske-ske-ske-ske-skeleton with some kind of special-cial-cial-cial solution."
"Hmmm…" Evan regarded Mangle as he ate some more of his cereal. "Let's just clean your shell then, since it has the most, um, blood on it."
Mangle nodded in agreement.
Once Evan had finished his breakfast, Mangle accompanied him to the kitchen where he placed the bowl and the spoon in the dishwasher. Having taken care of that, he turned to the animatronic and regarded her.
"Okay, so how do we take off your shell?" He finally asked.
"The-the-the-the-there should be little bu-bu-bu-buttons that you can press to remo-mo-mo-move the shell," Mangle explained as she showed Evan one such button on the side of her hand. "See?"
"Um, okay…" Evan replied with some uncertainty.
He carefully took Mangle's hand and tried to press the button, but he quickly found that he had to apply some force to actually push it in. Once he did, the plastic hand shell popped open, allowing him to remove it with ease. The boy then proceeded to remove the individual pieces from Mangle's fingers, her other hand, her foot and toes, her ears, as well as her bowtie.
However, removing Mangle's faceplate proved much more difficult, given its size. As he took it off of her, Evan almost toppled over due to its weight. He quickly set it down on the floor before returning his attention to Mangle's primary head.
Evan couldn't help but be taken aback upon seeing Mangle without her face, and upon noticing his reaction, she looked away in shame. Naturally, this made him feel awful.
"No, Mangle, I'm sorry!" Evan said with a remorseful frown. "I didn't mean to react like that!"
"It's okay-kay-kay-kay-kay…" Mangle whimpered, refusing to meet his eyes. "Now you kno-kno-kno-know what I really look li-li-li-like… I'm just another animatro-tro-tro-tro-tro-tronic…"
"No you're not," Evan replied and cupped her cheeks, gently guiding her head so that she looked at him. "You're my best friend in the whole world, not just another animatronic."
Mangle didn't respond at first, she just sniffled as she stared deep into Evan's eyes. Finally, she said, "... Thank you."
Evan gave her a comforting smile before he returned to the task at hand, removing her jaw and the back of her head, reducing her to a completely naked endoskeleton. There was still some blood on her, but it wasn't much, and Evan figured that his father could help him clean it off once he got back home.
Next, Evan went into the bathroom by the kitchen, where he filled the bathtub with warm water and soap. He then took the pieces and put them in the bath before grabbing a shower brush. After that, he began to meticulously scrub each and every one of them clean while Mangle looked on.
"Ev-Ev-Ev-Evan?" Mangle said to get the boy's attention.
Evan turned to look at her as he kept scrubbing. "Hmm?"
"Tha-tha-tha-tha-thank you," she whimpered, sounding as if she was on the verge of tears.
Evan smiled at her. "I'm just glad I could help."
He ended up spending little over an hour scrubbing the shell clean, but once he was done, it looked good as new. He then covered the bathroom floor with towels before rinsing off the shell and placing the pieces down.
"Okay, now we just have to wait for them to dry," Evan said, looking quite proud of himself. "And when Father comes home, I can ask him to help clean your endoskeleton."
"Where is your fa-fa-fa-fa-father, anyway?" Mangle asked.
"He's… um…" Evan fidgeted with his fingers. "He was arrested…" He replied reluctantly, but then hastily added, "But he said he'd be home in a couple of days!"
Mangle was quite taken aback to hear this, and she looked upon Evan with worried eyes. "But… what if he doe-doe-doe-doe-doesn't?"
Evan opened his mouth as if to respond, but then stopped himself. "I… I… I dunno." He hugged himself with a look of dismay on his face. "I don't wanna think about that…"
Mangle regarded the boy before she finally decided to drop the matter. "Hey, I'm-I'm-I'm-I'm-I'm… I'm sure it'll be okay-kay-kay-kay-kay." She turned to look at the pieces that made up her shell before returning her attention to Evan. "Wanna pla-pla-pla-pla-play while we wait for them to-to-to-to-to-to dry?"
Evan did his best attempt at a smile. "Um, sure!"
The two spent the following hour playing hide and seek. While Evan knew the house much better than Mangle did, her body allowed her to hide in unusual places, like on the ceiling in the corner of a room or under the sofa. After that, they laid down on the floor of the living room, where Evan read comics to Mangle. Like the other day, he would do the voices and the sound effects, which she found very entertaining.
After finishing the last comic book, Evan put it away before he and Mangle went to the bathroom to check on the shell. Much to the animatronic's relief, all of the pieces were dry, and so Evan helped her put them back on. Of course, due to his inexperience, this ended up taking a while, but once they were done, Mangle was nice and clean… for the most part.
Mangle looked at herself in the mirror, and as painful as it was to see what she really looked like, it felt nice to no longer be covered in blood and viscera.
She turned to Evan and giggled as she pulled him into a hug. "Tha-tha-tha-tha-tha-thanks, Evan!"
Evan couldn't help but to let out a giggle as well. "You're welcome, Mangle."
She broke the hug and looked at him excitedly. "So what-at-at-at-at do you wanna do-do-do-do-do now?"
"Well, um…" Evan could feel his stomach growl. He gave Mangle a sheepish grin and said, "I'm actually kinda hungry, so I should get some lunch."
Mangle lowered her ears. "Awww…"
"Don't worry, we can have more fun afterwards," Evan chuckled.
Mangle then accompanied him to the kitchen, where he made a sandwich and got a glass of chocolate milk. The boy took his meal to the dining room, with Mangle following close behind. He sat down at the table and was about to dig in when he saw Mangle sit down on the floor right next to him.
"Um… Mangle, you don't have to sit on the floor," Evan said, feeling a bit awkward.
"Yeah, bu-bu-bu-but…" Mangle's ears drooped as she looked down at the mess of parts that made up her body before returning her gaze to Evan. "I'm not-ot-ot-ot-ot able to sit in a chai-chai-chai-chai-chair…"
Evan frowned and thought for a moment. He then got out of his chair, grabbed his sandwich and his glass of chocolate milk, and proceeded to sit down on the floor next to Mangle. He smiled at her as he began to eat his food, and while her mouth lacked the expressiveness of that of a human, her eyelids rose in a smile in return.
"So, um, what do you think about the world outside of Freddy's so far?" Evan asked, making idle talk.
"It was rea-rea-rea-rea-really scary at first, but I think I'm getti-ti-ti-ti-ting used to it," Mangle replied. She lowered her head in embarrassment and added, "It's still sca-sca-sca-sca-scary… especially when I'm not-ot-ot-ot-ot-ot with you."
Evan gave her a sympathetic smile as he chewed on a mouthful of food.
"I had no idea-dea-dea-dea-dea the world outside was so bi-bi-bi-bi-big," Mangle admitted.
"Yeah, it's huge," Evan replied absentmindedly as he took a sip of chocolate milk. He then thought for a moment and said, "Hold on, I'll show you how big it is."
He put down his glass and his food before he got up and went over to one of the bookcases. He looked at the various books until he found what he was looking for, and pulled out an atlas. Evan brought it over to Mangle and sat back down next to her before opening it. The animatronic watched him with curious eyes as he flipped through the pages until he got to a map of Utah.
"You see this little dot?" Evan asked as he pointed at it on the map.
Mangle nodded.
"That's where we are—the city of Hurricane," Evan explained. He then gestured to the rest of the map. "And all of this is the state of Utah."
Mangle was quite taken aback by this. "I di-di-di-di-didn't think the world was that-at-at-at big!"
Evan couldn't help but to snicker at that. "Mangle, this is just Utah. Look," he said as he flipped the pages until he got to a map of the United States. He then pointed at their home state and continued, "This is Utah. And all of this," he said, gesturing towards the whole map. "Is America."
Mangle was left completely speechless by this revelation.
Grinning at her, Evan then turned a couple of pages until he got to the world map. "You see all of this? This is the whole world," he explained. He then pointed at the United States and added, "And this part here is America."
Mangle's ears drooped and she let out a distressed whine.
All of the enthusiasm Evan had felt immediately dissipated as he watched his friend with a concerned look on his face. "Mangle?"
She pulled him into a tight hug and whimpered.
"What's wrong, Mangle?" Evan asked, his voice filled with concern.
"I don't li-li-li-li-like that the world is so bi-bi-bi-bi-big," she finally said. "What if-if-if-if-if you go away one day an-an-an-an-and I can't find you?"
"Don't be silly. I'd never leave you behind," Evan reassured her as he leaned into the hug.
"You pro-pro-pro-pro-pro-promise?" Mangle asked.
"I promise," Evan reassured her once more.
Mangle broke the hug and regarded the boy, who gave her a comforting smile, which seemed to finally raise her spirits.
Once Evan had finished his lunch, he and Mangle continued to spend the rest of the day playing as well as reading comics and books together—the highlight being a Choose Your Own Adventure book where Evan let Mangle make all of the choices, which she greatly enjoyed.
As the day drew to a close, Evan made himself a couple of grilled ham and cheese sandwiches for dinner.
"Do you wanna watch another movie tonight?" He asked as he prepared his meal.
"Yeah!" Mangle nodded eagerly.
Evan couldn't help but to giggle at her enthusiasm. "Okay, then let's go pick out a movie."
Grabbing his plate and a glass of milk, Evan was accompanied by Mangle to the living room, where he placed down his food on the coffee table. He then walked over to the cabinet that held all of the Afton family's VHS cassettes and looked them over, considering which one to pick.
"Did you like the Disney movie we watched last night?" Evan asked.
"Mm-hm!" Mangle nodded as she looked over his shoulder.
"Okay, because we have another Disney movie—Pinocchio," Evan suggested. "Do you wanna see it?"
"Yeah!" Mangle replied excitedly.
"Okay then," Evan said with a chuckle. "Why don't you sit down while I put it on?"
Mangle nodded and proceeded to climb into the sofa, while Evan pulled out the cassette from the cabinet and then went over to insert it into the VCR. He began to rewind the tape before changing the TV to channel 3, and then waited for the tape to be rewound. As he waited, Evan turned to smile at Mangle, who raised her eyelids in a smile in return.
Once the cassette was ready, Evan pressed the 'play' button on the VCR before he went over to the sofa and sat down next to Mangle. As the movie began, he grabbed his plate and began to eat his dinner.
The movie started by showing the title and a lengthy credits sequence that was accompanied by a song, and its lyrics immediately drew Mangle in.
When you wish upon a star,
Makes no difference who you are.
Anything your heart desires,
Will come to you.
If your heart is in your dream,
No request is too extreme,
When you wish upon a star,
As dreamers do.
Fate is kind,
She brings to those who love,
The sweet fulfillment of,
Their secret longing.
Like a bolt out of the blue,
Fate steps in and sees you through.
When you wish upon a star,
Your dreams,
Come true.
While Robin Hood had made Mangle aware of what she actually wanted to look like, which subsequently made her despair as what she wanted seemed completely and utterly unattainable, Pinocchio began to fill her with hope.
Following the opening sequence, the movie showed an elderly man making a marionette and naming it 'Pinocchio'. After finishing his creation and playing around with it, he and his pets went to bed. But before he fell asleep, he spotted a wishing star through the window.
"Oh, Figaro! Look, look, the wishing star!" The elderly man said to his cat before approaching the window. Gazing upon the wishing star, he then said, "Star light, star bright, first star I see tonight, I wish I may, I wish I might, have the wish I make tonight." He then turned to his cat and said, "Figaro, you know what I wished? I wished that my little Pinocchio might be a real boy."
The elderly man then went to sleep, and not long thereafter the light of the wishing star manifested as the Blue Fairy who, sure enough, used her magic to make Pinocchio come to life. However, he remained a puppet, but the fairy told him that if he proved himself brave, truthful, and unselfish, he would become a real boy.
Sure enough, after a couple of misadventures that made up the majority of the movie, Pinocchio proved himself by the end and was turned into a real human boy in a beautiful scene that would've brought Mangle to tears if she had tear ducts.
However, Evan seemed to have noticed how taken Mangle was with the ending. Smiling at her, he asked, "Did you like it?"
She responded with a glitched hum and nodded.
Evan giggled at her as he got out of his seat. He then went up to the VCR to stop the movie and eject the VHS cassette, returning it to the cabinet.
"Hey Mangle, I'm feeling kinda tired, so I think I'll go to bed now," Evan said and yawned. "Do you wanna stay here and watch some more TV?"
"Ac-ac-ac-ac-actually, can I come with you instea-stea-stea-stea-stead?" Mangle asked as she crawled down from the sofa.
Evan raised an eyebrow. "I thought animatronics didn't sleep."
"No, bu-bu-bu-bu-but I like to prete-te-te-te-te-tend," Mangle replied with a bashful look.
"Okay then," Evan said with a tired smile as he went over to the TV to switch it off. He yawned again, and then gestured for Mangle to follow him. "Come on."
After switching off all of the lights on the ground floor, the two went upstairs and down the hallway leading to Evan's bedroom. They went into his room, where Evan grabbed his pajamas and brought it with him into the bathroom, leaving Mangle to wait for him in the hallway.
As she waited, Mangle crawled up to the window to look at the night sky. Although she could see some stars, it was too cloudy for her to get a good look at them.
Eventually, Evan exited the bathroom wearing his pajamas.
"Come on, let's go to bed," he said and yawned as he entered his bedroom.
Once Mangle had followed him into the room, Evan closed the door and switched off the ceiling light. With the room now only illuminated by the lamp on the nightstand, the boy climbed into bed and laid down before pulling the covers over himself. As he settled down, Mangle laid down on the floor next to the bed and rested her head on his chest, eliciting a giggle from him.
Evan smiled at the animatronic and gently stroked her head.
"Goodnight, Mangle," he said before switching off the lamp on his nightstand.
"Goo-goo-goo-goo-goodnight, Evan," Mangle replied.
Evan then went quiet, and Mangle assumed that he had fallen asleep. Focusing on the gentle rhythm of his breaths, she closed her eyes and pretended to sleep.
A good while later, Mangle decided to go look at the night sky again.
She carefully lifted her head from Evan so as to not wake him, and then snuck towards the door. It creaked slightly as she slowly opened it, prompting Mangle to look at Evan to make sure that it didn't wake him. Thankfully, it didn't.
Once Mangle had crawled out of his bedroom, she looked out through the window and saw that the night sky was filled with stars. She could barely contain herself as she carefully closed the door behind her. She got close to the window so that she could get a better view, and then she began to search the sky.
However, finding what she was looking for proved to be more difficult than Mangle had anticipated, since each and every star shone at a different brightness. Eventually, she decided to go look through another window instead.
Mangle crawled along the hallway until she reached another bedroom door, this one leading to a room with pink wallpaper that had various toys, drawings, and stuffed animals strewn about. Her gaze briefly fell on a clown girl plush before her attention was drawn to the window. She approached it and once again searched the sky, but she had no success here either.
She left the pink bedroom and closed the door behind her before she crawled further along the hallway. The next room she entered was a spacious bedroom with a double bed. Mangle couldn't help but to lower her ears in shame as she looked around, as this was the room she hid in after hurting Evan's brother. However, as bad as she felt for that incident, she knew that she had to press on.
Unlike the previous bedroom, this one had a balcony instead of a window, and so Mangle opened the balcony door and crawled outside so as to get a better view of the night sky. But once again, her search proved fruitless. Mangle let out a sigh of defeat as she went back inside, closing the balcony door behind her. She knew that there was only one more place to look.
Mangle snuck back into Evan's bedroom and briefly checked on him.
He looked so peaceful.
She then snuck over to the other door, which led to another hallway that had a couple of windows along its wall. She carefully closed the door behind her and then went up to the nearest window. She searched the night sky once more, but this time she spotted a star that was noticeably brighter than the others, and she was certain that she had finally found what she was looking for.
The Wishing Star.
If Mangle could smile, she would, as she was suddenly filled with a sense of hope.
She opened the window and poked her head outside, her gaze fixed at the star.
After thinking very carefully, Mangle began to say, "Sta-sta-sta-sta-star light, star bright, first star I see-see-see-see tonight, I wish I may, I wish I mi-mi-mi-might, have the wish I make toni-ni-ni-ni-night."
Mangle then closed her eyes and focused on her wish. To be a real fox girl, just like Maid Marian, but with white and pink fur, red lipstick, golden eyes, rosy cheeks, and a fluffy white and pink tail.
She focused on her wish with all her might, and she did so for quite a while. But when nothing happened, Mangle looked around, confused as to why the Blue Fairy hadn't come yet.
Mangle then realized that she hadn't spoken the words correctly due to her glitchy voice boxes.
Once more, she gazed up at the star and said, "Star light, star bri-bri-bri-bri-bri—"
Mangle cursed at herself and then tried again. "Star light. Star bright. Fir-fir-fir-fir-fir-fir—"
She let out an anguished whine before trying again.
Once more, her voice boxes glitched out, and she tried again.
Mangle tried to say the words right over and over, and over again, only to fail each time.
Evan awoke to the muffled sound of someone speaking. He rubbed his eyes as he slowly sat up to see where it was coming from. As he became more lucid, he recognized it as Mangle's voice, and realized that it was coming from the hallway leading to his father's study.
He got out of bed to investigate, and as he opened the door, Evan found Mangle gazing out through an open window and saying the same set of words over and over again.
"Mangle… what are you doing?" Evan croaked.
Startled, Mangle swung around to look at him and then lowered her ears. "I'm-I'm-I'm-I'm… I'm trying to make a wi-wi-wi-wi-wi-wish."
Evan gave her confused look. "Huh?"
"With the Wish-Wish-Wish-Wish-Wishing Star," Mangle clarified and pointed at the night sky.
The boy still looked confused.
"Like in the-the-the-the-the movie," Mangle clarified further.
Evan finally put two and two together, and he couldn't help but to laugh at the silliness of it all. "Mangle, that's not how things work in real life. Pinocchio is just a cartoon—everything in it is just made up."
However, he immediately stopped laughing upon seeing the look on Mangle's face. She looked completely and utterly devastated.
"Bu-bu-bu-bu-but then… how am I suppo-po-po-posed to become a real fox-ox-ox-ox-ox girl?" She whimpered in desperation.
"What do you mean?" Evan asked as he regarded Mangle with concerned eyes.
"Like Mai-Mai-Mai-Mai-Maid Marian," Mangle replied.
"Who?"
"From Robin-in-in-in-in Hood," she clarified.
Once Evan finally understood, he couldn't help but to give Mangle a look of sympathy. "You wanna look like her?"
"Yes!" Mangle sobbed and gazed down at her own body. "I do-do-do-don't wanna look like this-is-is-is-is! I don't wanna-na-na-na-na just be a mess of me-me-me-me-metal and plastic! I-I-I-I-I don't wanna have two-two-two-two-two heads, or broken voice box-box-box-box-boxes!" She collapsed onto the ground and began to sob uncontrollably. "I wanna be pre-pre-pre-pretty like her! I wa-wa-wa-wa-wanna be able to walk on-on-on-on-on two legs! And I wanna have-ave-ave-ave-ave a fluffy tail and be ab-ab-ab-able to wear a dress!"
Evan went up to her, knelt down, and then hugged her head. "Mangle, I… I didn't know you felt like this."
Mangle just whimpered in response.
"You know, Father actually makes animatronics," Evan said as he gently stroked her head. "Maybe he can help you?"
Mangle sniffled and then looked up at him with hopeful eyes. "Rea-rea-rea-rea-really? You thi-thi-thi-thi-think so?"
Evan gave her a comforting smile and nodded. "Yeah. And, um, if you want, we can draw what you want to look like tomorrow. That way, he'll have a better idea of what you wanna look like."
Mangle raised her eyelids in a smile. "I'd li-li-li-li-li-like that."
Evan smiled back at her. "Okay. But, um, for now, let's go back to sleep."
Mangle sniffled and nodded in response.