Mable: Since I don't always have a message for up here, I think I'll start including the chapter summary here! Enjoy!
"Help is on the way to deal with the Freddy and Bonnie situation, but nobody's prepared for how deep the rabbit hole goes…"
Going Home in a Box
Chapter Ninety-Four
It had been a long day. Not for Marionette, who was used to hosting multiple parties and gladly did so with a smile, but for Mike.
It turned out that this simple schedule of his was a bit bigger than he expected.
He got up early and got ready for school, heading out for the university before he would've left for Foxy's, attended back-to-back classes and whatever he could crunch in that time, came into Foxy's shortly after lunch- once or twice missing lunch and having to eat pizza in the kitchen in between tasks, and then would work until the end of the day.
At first Mike managed with the energy of someone determined to succeed, but now he was starting to exhaust that pep.
Exhausted, that was a good word for it. Mike was exhausted. Why else would he come home and fall asleep at seven o'clock? And slept all night, save a brief stirring around eleven when he got up to scour the fridge. The first time all day that Marionette had gotten him alone save sleeping.
That part Marionette didn't mind. Sure, he missed having Mike so available, but he was willing to make do. It was the slowly burning himself out part that he wasn't so keen on.
But he was getting help. Charlie was still studying with him and helping around the house a lot, Tabby made sure that when Mike came into the kitchen that he got something to eat, and Fritz and Jeremy had been very supportive with both encouragement and taking over the morning tasks.
Really the only problem was that Mike was still pushing. Instead of taking the help and taking a break, he would use it to keep trying to work harder. Marionette wasn't sure what he was trying to accomplish, except perhaps he was trying to make up for the time he wasn't at the pizzeria. Something he didn't need to do when there were plenty of hands on deck.
But that was Mike for you, and what he really needed now was a good night's sleep.
And then, in the middle of the night, the phone started to ring.
Marionette woke instantly and his first and only thought was to get it and answer it before it could wake Mike. Unfortunately, Mike had taken over the role as the clingy one tonight. His arms were wrapped around the Puppet, and he was out like a light. To the point where the cellphone hadn't managed to wake him.
He had to get to the phone. Normally he would just grab it with his telekinesis, but he was still half awake and didn't want to risk any accidents. So instead, he began to carefully slide up in Mike's grasp and climb over him with patient, spider-like movements. He reached a long arm out for the cellphone.
And then Mike suddenly rolled over and reached for it, causing Marionette to be thrown off-balance and land on his chest with soft thump. Mike's barely disguised little grin showed this was completely on purpose.
Marionette gave him a playful glare as Mike answered the call.
"Hey," he croaked.
"Hey, sorry to wake you up but you need to get down here with Mari."
Nothing like that tone to wake Mike up. Worked better than a bucket of ice water.
"Uh oh." His smile slipped, and Marionette tilted his head. "What happened?"
"Vanny's insane, Bonnie's evil and he took Freddy somewhere, and Monty lost his legs."
Mike processed that slowly before starting to sit up. "Wait, Bonnie did what?"
As he sat up more, Marionette shifted to rest his hands on his shoulders and tilted his head in beside his to listen. Mike pulled the phone back from his ear so he could.
"It's crazy, Mike! I don't know what happened tonight. Monty fell off a platform up in the golf course and Vanny showed up and started chasing Gregory, again, and apparently Bonnie showed up and took Freddy somewhere, and Sun and Jake are very insistent that you and Mari get down here. So, yeah, I'm thinking Bonnie and Vanny are in cahoots."
"And Monty lost his legs?" he repeated. Marionette got an almost comical look of shock, but Mike was nowhere near laughing. "We can't fix that," he thought, his throat tightening as he swallowed with a dry mouth.
"Yes. He's down in Parts and Service right now. From what Roxy said, Vanny made him kidnap Gregory or something. I don't know the whole story yet."
"Keep grilling them, we'll be down there in ten," Mike said. Natalie agreed and he hung up. "Did you get that?"
"All of it," Marionette said. Then he all but darted off the bed.
That suddenness encouraged Mike to match speed as he tore the covers off and got up out of bed.
"Here."
He looked up in time to catch a pair of pants tossed his way. He almost made a snarky comment about going in his boxers but then decided this wasn't the time or place.
Soon they were out the door and into the hallway, and then outside of Charlie's door. Mike almost threw it open before catching himself.
"Should we?" he asked.
"…Yes," Marionette said.
Mike opened the bedroom door. "Charlie?"
Charlie shot up in bed with a start.
"I'm up!" she reflexively said. Then she noticed Mike standing there in the doorway. "Oh, uh. Sorry. I just need a minute. I had the weirdest dream."
"Well, it's about to become a nightmare," Mike sighed. "We're heading down to the Pizzaplex. Freddy's in trouble and Bonnie's evil, and Nat said Monty lost his legs. Here's hoping she finds them in one piece or someone's going to get screwed, and it might be me."
"Oh, it's most definitely you," Marionette chimed up behind him.
"Sounds about right."
Charlie was already clicking on the lamp and hopping out of bed. "Just give me a minute!" She was pulling on her jacket and going for her toolbox as Mike hurried down the hall to get ready to go.
By time he had his shoes and jacket on, Charlie was coming down the hall and Marionette was float-pacing with his head in his hand, propped up by his other arm wrapped tightly around him. He lifted his head to them.
"We should go get Foxy too. He needs to be involved," Marionette said.
"Yeah, you really should go get Foxy," Max chimed up from his spot in the living room.
Marionette looked over with a start. "Wait, what do you know? What have you seen?"
"Just call it a feeling because that's all it is," the magician said, much to the puppet's dismay.
"Thanks, Max. Being as helpful as always," Mike said flatly as he grabbed his keys.
"Don't mention it."
They hurried into the car and headed over to Jeremy's.
Jeremy still hadn't fully moved into his apartment, but he had stayed over there tonight with Foxy. Laying on a air mattress in the living room, one that had sunken under Foxy and he was unwilling to get up and do anything about. The TV was on low, and the apartment was quiet and, surprisingly, starting to feel a little more welcoming.
And then a car peeled up outside. Foxy's eye opened but he waited to see if it was coming to them. Then came the knock on the door.
Jeremy dragged himself upright and started to feel around for his glasses beside the mattress. Foxy reached up and caught them with his hook and slid them towards Jeremy, the sound alerting the blond.
"Thanks," he said groggily. He put them on before looking down at Foxy, who was practically on the floor. "…What happened to the mattress?"
"It couldn't handle Captain Foxy," Foxy replied.
The knocking started again, a little harder this time. Jeremy got up and got over to the door, opening it with the chain lock in place and making sure to block the crack with his body, so nobody would see Foxy.
But it turned out to be Mike, and the look on his face instantly gave away that something happened.
"Hold on." Jeremy shut the door, unlocked it, and opened it again. "What happened? Is everything okay?"
"No. It looks like something went down at the Pizzaplex," Mike said. "Monty had an accident, and Bonnie went rogue and took Freddy into the basement."
"Bloody 'ell, I KNEW IT!" Foxy groaned. He sprung up from the floor and then hobbled to the door with a mix of anger and jetlag. "Can't catch a break with these bloody rabbits!"
"You knew about Bonnie?" Mike asked, unsurprised by his reaction.
"Aye, an' did nothin' 'bout him," Foxy muttered. Then, with no further explanation, he peeked out and then bolted through the door.
Mike watched him go before turning back to Jeremy.
"Sorry to wake you up, but we thought Foxy might want to tag along. You want to come?"
"Uh, yeah, just- let me grab my shoes."
"And a jacket."
"And a jacket."
Marionette opened the back door and in an instant Foxy had dove into it, pulling it closed with his hook. Charlie barely moving up to the passenger's seat to dodge. A few moments later, Mike and Jeremy came back. He came up to the passenger's side door before realizing Charlie was there. She gave an apologetic smile and gestured to herself and pointed a thumb back, offering to move. This was answered by Foxy, who opened the back door again and gestured with his head, and Jeremy got in the back beside him.
Then they were off again.
"I bloody knew that rabbit was trouble," Foxy growled. "Y'know, he told Freddy not to tell anyone he found 'im."
Marionette snapped his head to Foxy.
"I forgot. But I knew there was somethin' fishy 'bout the whole thing. It's one thing to not want to be caught by Freddy's. Bonnie didn't want to be caught by anyone."
"He's probably working with Vanny," Jeremy offered. "What happened to Monty?"
"He fell off a platform and lost his legs," Mike recited.
"A-AGAIN?!" Foxy choked.
"He's done this before?" Marionette asked in disbelief.
"Aye! Freddy said he fell off while back an' broke both legs! Had to be locked up in Parts and Service for a week!"
Marionette dropped his head into his hand and Jeremy gave a sympathetic hiss.
"Is Fritz coming?" the blond dared to ask.
"I don't know. Probably. We'll see when we get there," Mike said.
Foxy groaned and bowed over, his hand and hook holding his head as he processed all of this. More specifically, what he was currently pinning on himself.
Freddy was too trusting. He knew that and yet he didn't do enough to warn him about Bonnie. Even with the vague details, he knew it was going to be something awful. That's why he didn't ask, he knew it was going to be a catastrophe, and he placed that not on Freddy but entirely on himself.
And if he lost Freddy because of this, he would never forgive himself.
Jeremy patted his back and began to gently rubbed his fabric in soothing circles. Marionette laid a comforting hand on his shoulder. Both helped assure him he wasn't alone but didn't assuage his guilt.
An uncomfortable silence permeated the car. Mike considered turning on the radio to break it but couldn't shake the feeling that it would just make this all a lot more awkward. Especially since the only thing airing at this time of night was polka music.
So, instead. He turned to the puppet in the passenger's seat.
"So, how'd the dream go?"
"What?"
"Trying to kill a few minutes."
"Oh! Right. Okay. So," Charlie began. "I dreamed that I was in my old bedroom looking for my old stuff and that Sammy was there with me. And I opened up my closet and it led into a secret room that looked like an attic except it was filled with all these blocks of Styrofoam. And there was this framed poster on the wall of, I think, Elton John. And Sammy's like, "We can sell this and save the house!" Because I guess we were losing the house. So, I ran to get a nail prier out of the workshop and I run in and fall through this BIG hole in the floor and I wind up in this big cave- it looked like Oddworld. And I see this thing in the distance."
"What was it?"
"I don't know, you woke me up," Charlie said with a playful shrug. "Your guess is as good as mine."
"I wish my dreams were that cool. Last night I dreamed I was at your place and got locked out of the bathroom," Jeremy said. "Speaking of which, I've need to use the restroom when I get there."
"Yeah, and I could use some coffee," Mike tagged on jokingly.
"What's crazy is that I was with Sammy the whole time and I don't know what he looked like. He was just a guy, but I can't remember any details."
"I do that sometimes. It's like your brain fills in the blanks."
"I guess. It's like Dr. Treadwell once said…" Charlie hung on that moment for a long second, then slumped defeatedly. "I don't really remember the punchline."
"Welcome to my world," Mike mumbled. They exchanged a smile, and the drive continued.
They arrived at the Pizzaplex a little later and found another car already parked there. It was Fritz'. It was almost weird seeing him driving something other than the van.
As Mike parked beside it, Fritz popped his truck and got out of his car and came to greet them. He seemed much more awake than Jeremy.
"So, Natalie called you too?" Mike asked as he got out.
"No, I just felt like driving down here in the middle of the night," Fritz joked. Though his tone betrayed his nervousness.
"No van?"
"Too close to morning, didn't want to risk it getting seen if we're stuck past six fixing Monty. And I didn't want to have to stop and get gas," Fritz explained. He lifted his trunk to get his toolbox. "Let's hurry."
"Aye. We need to get to Freddy before Bonnie pulls somethin'," Foxy agreed, climbing out of the back behind Marionette.
"Bonnie?"
"Natty didn't tell ya?"
"She told me Vanny showed up, but… yeah, okay, she did say something about Bonnie."
"He's evil," Mike clarified.
"Or at the very least, heavily influenced by Vanny," Marionette added.
"Or she's possessed by him. Which would explain a lot," Mike tacked on.
Marionette looked to him in surprise. "Do you think Bonnie could be…?"
"I think we've got a lot of rabbits acting squirrelly. I'd be shocked if Bonnie wasn't one of them," he said. He then added more seriously, "I don't have a good feeling about this."
"Bonnie's Bunny," Foxy announced.
Marionette swiveled on him but then deflated. "But you don't know for sure."
"I do. Trust me. Call it a hunch."
"Well, between you and Max, we almost have a complete explanation," Marionette said with mild annoyance. He turned forward again. "Let's get inside."
Fritz hoisted the toolbox out of the back and started to walk with them. Upon seeing Charlie with hers he gave her a thumbs up. Then he overtook the others to lead the way.
They made their way to the back door that was propped open. Natalie was leaning in the doorway with her arms crossed, but she looked up as they approached and looked relieved to see them coming.
"Thank goodness," she said. She pushed both doors open for them and then caught Fritz in a hug. He held her tightly with one arm as the others stepped inside.
Marionette came down the stairs and just made it into the Loading Dock when he was rushed with a flashlight shoved in his face. It was a familiar Staff Bot blaring out alerts. Mike pushed it back by the chest and got it at arm's length, but it still persistently pushed against him to try and get to the Puppet.
Natalie rushed over and when she gave him a push he finally stopped pushing back.
"Smitty, stop that!" She then had to hold a hand up to stop the Mop Bot. "Buddy, you too."
Even though they had stopped, both Staff Bots were transfixed on the striped animatronic. It almost made him a little uneasy, and it caught Mike's attention. They always did this but tonight he was more on guard.
Not on guard enough to prepare for Sun to blindside them both, sprinting in out of nowhere, and grabbing them by the shoulders to yank them in.
"Oh, thank goodness you're both here," Sunny said breathlessly. "We've got a HUUUGE problem! All of us BUT ESPECIALLY US!"
"It's alright, Sunny. We're here-."
"Where's Gregory?" Foxy interrupted, barging in beside Marionette.
"I'm here!" Gregory said. He and Jake were over by the security desk. Foxy ran over to him and crouched down to pull him into a hug.
Marionette caught one look at him before looking at Mike with a sad look.
"Look at his Freddy onesie…" he whispered.
Mike saw it too. It was a stark visual reminder than no matter how mature Gregory tried to act, he wasn't even ten years old. He was just a kid dragged into all of this.
Mike wasn't feeling good about this already, but that was an every bigger wakeup call than anything else.
"Yes, it's very cute, but we have a BIG problem here!" Sun interjected.
Marionette shook off the expression and returned to a neutral smile to cover.
"We do. I need you to start from the beginning and explain everything."
"There's no time!"
"There's plenty of time. You can do it as we walk."
"We NEED to start RUNNING!"
"We can walk fast but we need to get moving. They're probably in Roxy Raceway by now," Jake explained.
"Then quit jabberin' and start shovin' off!" Foxy said. He leaned sideways beside Gregory and pointed to his back. "It ain't Freddy's cake cubby, but it'll getcha off the ground."
"Cool, thanks."
He climbed up onto his back and then shoulders and then Foxy led them out of the loading dock, knowing the way to the atrium by heart. Mike and Marionette following closely behind, then Jake and Sun, and the rest grouped up with the Staff Bots tailing at the back.
Everyone seemed fine enough with the 'Get to Freddy first, ask questions later' plan, but Sun couldn't stop venting about the events of the night. About Monty, Gregory being kidnapped- to which Foxy checked in with him "Ya alright, Lad?" and Gregory returned a "I'm fine. I just want to find Freddy" -about the whole sordid ordeal. And then-
"I just didn't think it was going to get this far! I knew he was COMPLETELY LOSING HIS MIND but I never thought he'd pull this! How could he do this?!" Sun vented, grabbing and pulling at his points.
"Hey, stop that," Jake said. He reached over to pry his hands off. "We'll get him back."
"Getting Freddy back doesn't fix the bigger problem!" Sun hissed.
At that point Marionette stopped in the hallway right in front of them.
"Andrew," he said.
The sudden, quiet calmness of his voice betraying that he was listening the whole time. And more importantly, gave away that he understood what they were talking about.
"Yesss?" Sun replied, sinking into himself at that tone.
"Is Bunny Bonnie?"
"…Yes."
"Has there ever been a time when Bunny wasn't Bonnie?" Marionette asked. Turning back to face him, his glowing eyes landing on him.
"Well, umm…"
"No," Jake answered. "Bunny's always been Bonnie."
"Oh." Marionette looked ahead again. "…That explains plenty."
"You know, that's something you probably should've told us," Mike said, shooting an irritated look between the two.
"Yeah, well-."
"Ya shouldn't have told US," Foxy snapped. "Ya should've told FREDDY. Ya let him pal around with that Bunny creep?!"
"Bunny wasn't always like this! He- He's just… I don't know what he's thinking," Jake quietly finished.
"He's thinking about himself, that's what he's doing!" Sun snipped.
"So, wait a second, Bonnie's been working with Vanny the whole time?!" Gregory cried.
"Oh ho ho, no, no. He's not working with Vanny." Sun clasped his hands in a mocking swoon. "He looooovvves her. She's his Honeybunny sweetie pie who makes him do stupid, stupid, selfish things."
"Oh my God, Bonnie's Brad," Natalie said. She slapped a hand on her face, causing her hat to get shoved up.
"Didn't cross your mind at all to tell us that?" Mike added sarcastically. "Just thought 'eh, it's not a big deal! Let the rabbit lady run around swinging a knife at people'."
"I couldn't say anything! She's… Vanny is trouble. The last time she was at the daycare, something happened…" Sun's voice lost any of its fire as he started to hug himself.
Somehow, they all had the same hunch about what might've happened in the daycare. It was Marionette who intended to ask- only to be interrupted.
"We're going so slow. We've got to hurry up and find Freddy!" Gregory said, mildly irritated by the whole thing.
"Here, here! Keep up, Landlubbers!" Foxy agreed.
They quickened up the pace and the others followed. Marionette exchanged a look with Mike and could tell he had the same suspicion. Likely they'd have to have a tag team talk to get the information later.
The silence was worse than in the car.
"This is tense," Charlie whispered to Jeremy.
"Yeah. Hey, maybe you should tell them about your dream." She gave him a look. "It's a good ice breaker! Makes you think, kinda."
Sun muttered something lowly. Charlie heard her name get said but couldn't tell what he said, but did catch Jake's quick shutting down with, "Later."
She didn't have the moxie to call him out and ask what he said. After they found Freddy, she thought, then she'd ask.
The group continued on out of the halls and into the Atrium. They were briefly joined by Moon before returning to Sun once they got into the lit Roxy Raceway.
"Where to?" Natalie asked.
"This way," Jake said. He took the lead and led them back to an open fence and door in the back corner. "They already got in… Let's hurry. Watch your step, it might be dark."
Natalie came up to the front and she and Mike used their flashlights to light the way, with Smitty's light doing a good job of keeping the group and floor around them illuminated. Unfortunately, they almost immediately hit rickety metal stairs, so Natalie had to tell them to stay back. They did so but almost seemed resistant, likely wanting to continue following Marionette.
After that, the glow of Moon and Jake's panel helped keep the group from tripping on the stairs. Jeremy's tiny keychain flashlight wasn't very helpful but made him feel a little more useful.
Soon enough, they arrived at an open fence and an elevator.
"That's where they went," Jake said cryptically.
"Where's it go?" Mike asked.
"All the way down."
"Huh… Yeah, I seem to remember that," he said. He looked to Marionette. "Y'know, when the place was just concrete and frames. This is where that giant drop was."
"It was…" Marionette agreed pensively. "They must be hiding something down there."
"Animatronic building factory?"
"Something much worse. Why hide a factory that builds the animatronics you present on stage?"
Noted. Something else was down there, not that Mike was surprised to come to that agreement.
"Does the elevator work?" Charlie asked.
"Only one way to find out…" Mike stepped forward and pressed the button. He could hear the elevator coming up. "Sounds like it works to me."
"Then down the hatch we go!" Foxy proclaimed. He started to take Gregory down from his back and placed him alongside Jeremy before putting his hand on the blond's shoulder. "Wait fer me here, Jer'my. I don't want ya anywhere near that bunny."
"Foxy, I can handle a knife."
"I can't," Natalie said with a weary sigh.
"And I don't think this elevator can handle the whole gang, so somebody'ssss' are going to have to wait here," Moon, who was currently shifting colors in the bright lights before the elevator, said. Leaning sideways on one leg, his upper half now still in enough darkness to stay blue while the kicked out leg shifted yellow.
"An' that needs to be you," Foxy reaffirmed. He took his hand. "Look, I'll be back. An' I rather know I've got ya here to come back to if I ain't lookin' so hot."
"You? Impossible," Jeremy joked. He managed a smile. "Alright, I'll wait here. But just… Watch your six?"
"Aye, Lad."
Foxy yanked him in by the arm and pulled him into a tight hug, one which Jeremy eagerly returned. He clutched to Foxy's copper faux fur like he was going to race out of his grasp, but instead Foxy rested his head on his shoulder.
"You two should stay here," Jake said, pointing between Fritz and Natalie. "You too, Mike. Bunny's not… Bunny's got a way with humans- we don't know what he could do."
"I've got a good idea what he can do. Don't worry about it, I've been through it before."
"Mike-."
"I've had a rabbit try to possess me before. I can handle it," Mike said a little more clearly.
Jake must've balked but due to his mask it looked like he stared and then leaned back a bit.
"I'm going too!" Gregory said.
"Over my dead body, and I lost that a long time ago," Moon said.
Gregory shot him a look. "Yeah, well if you would've told Freddy that Bonnie was evil this wouldn't have happened in the first place!" Moon noticeably slouched. "I'm going with you. If I wait up here, Vanny's just gonna show up anyways!"
"Moonwort-."
"You can come, Lad."
Moon shot up, his body splashing yellow. "WhAT?"
Foxy ignored him, pulling back from Jeremy and kneeling in front of Gregory.
"Look, Lad. We might run into some bad stuff down there. I need ya to promise me that if things go down, I can tell ya to run and hide and count on ya to do it. No fighting."
Gregory gave a serious nod. "Aye-aye, Captain."
"I'm not about to let-!" Sunnymoon sputtered.
"Moon, boyo, take it from me." Foxy looked up and pointed his hook at him. "Yer on thin ice here. Careful which hill ya plan to die on."
That painfully blunt wakeup call snapped him to attention.
"…Fine. Gregory, you can come. I will protect you down there."
"Thanks," Gregory said.
He wasn't necessarily mad at Moon. He just felt frustrated. Frustrated about someone he trusted not telling him the whole truth. Normally he would lose trust altogether but he couldn't do that with Sun and Moon. They reached Freddy's status of partial parent, Other Dad sort of thing. He could be upset but he didn't think he could shut them out.
But the avoidance of a shouting match did help things.
"Should I bring my toolbox?" Charlie asked.
"I… I don't know. I don't think Freddy will be- at least, I hope he isn't… No. We'll have to move him into the elevator anyways. Any less extra weight is probably a good thing," Jake said. "Just… be careful. I know you've had a few run-ins with her…" He lifted his control panel. "Now this I have to bring. Just in case we get stuck I can jumpstart the elevator… in theory."
"Well, if not, at least I can escape," Marionette said, trying briefly to lighten the mood. His stressed smile giving away his inner feelings exactly. He watched Natalie hand Mike a security walkie. "Oh, thank you."
"I don't know if they'll work that deep in, but it's better than nothing," she said. "Goodspeed Schmidt."
"Yes, Ma'am," Mike replied with a little salute. Then he took a deep breath as he stepped into the elevator.
His skin almost burned from the electricity in the air. He knew whatever lay at the bottom of this lift was going to change things forever. Even if it was just another part of the basement, something was being stashed down there and he was finally going to see it.
The others squeezed in around him, leaving the elevator feeling claustrophobic. Mike was practically face to face with Marionette, which he didn't mind but it did allow him to hear his anxious ticking.
His ticking, Sun's jingling, Charlie's jingling, Foxy's grumbling, and Jake's fingers tapping on his control panel.
Gregory bumped into him with a light 'omph' and Mike reached down to ruffled his hair, which Gregory quickly fixed afterwards.
Then there was just another silent wait as the elevator slowly descended into the basement.
"I hope Freddy's okay. This is going to kill Foxy if he isn't," Jeremy said. Now that said fox was gone, he allowed his true fears out.
"Anything that's broken we can fix," Fritz said, almost like a mantra. His thousand-yard stare said plenty. "We'll tackle Monty once they find him."
"You'll have your work cut out for you," Natalie warned.
"Yeah, but I've got nothing better to do."
She put an arm around him, and he returned it, holding each other reassuringly. Jeremy was already feeling antsy, and he had a feeling that wouldn't go away for a while.
All they could do was wait.
…
Two rabbit costumed beings stared at the large warehouse doors. This was it. By all accounts, this is where they had to be.
In perfect synchronization, both looked over at the keypad card reader mounted on the wall beside the double doors. Standing there as a reminder that there were two other layers of protection besides the doors.
"There's always a catch. Ah well, leave it to me. I'll crack this baby open," Bonnie said, cracking his fingers. The already cracked plating around them came off in his hands. "Oh… Whoops."
"Oh my gosh!"
"No, no! It's okaaay! Look, see? All good!" Bonnie flapped his hands, more plastic pieces falling off with a clatter. "…Just ignore that! I'm one door away from a brand new me. It's all good!" he said, flashing her finger guns and a grin. "Out with the old, in with the new!"
"Does it hurt?"
"Like a bitch!"
Despite herself, Ness snickered. She tried to cover the mouth of her mask and then her eyes, mortified. Bonnie just slid up beside her with a sly look in his eyes and hooked an arm around her waist.
"I've still got it."
"I'm sorry, just the timing-." She took his other hand in her gloved one and brought it to her mouth. She barely lifted the mask and kissed it with an audible 'mwah'. "Better?"
"So much better, Nessie," Bonnie murmured. He leaned in to nuzzle into her neck, getting a squeak out of her.
He missed this. She missed him.
"Let's get that door open! I can hack it easily."
But hacking a keypad in a place this restricted would probably lead to some sort of alarm going off. There had to be another way.
Ness looked around before noticing a closed vent beside the door behind her.
"Maybe you don't have to…"
She pulled out of his grasp and walked over, crouching down in front of it. There was a trick to these vent covers; for some of them the bolts were shallow and they could be easily popped off. She pulled her knife from her boot and worked it under the cover, tugging and working, trying to see if this was one of the ones that would come out.
To her thrill and amusement, it did. A huge castle door kept under lock and key and then they don't secure the vent big enough for someone to crawl through.
She hummed happily and slipped the knife back into her boot and then began to crawl inside. It was a tighter squeeze than she was expecting, and she had to keep her head down to not catch her ears.
Bonnie, meanwhile, sidled up behind her and took in the view.
"Honey, you look sooo good in your bunny costume," he complimented.
She gave a little shake of her hips before continuing into the vent.
"You've got this, Princess!" he cheered.
He waited there obediently as he listened to her work at the cover on the other side. He grinned as he heard her pop it open. She then moved around on the other side and made her way back towards the other side of the warehouse door. Bonnie followed her, straining to hear her movements and cringing a little as she made it back to the keypad. Apparently there was no magic button to open the door.
A message came through.
"I'm going to try to hack it from this side."
"Go for it!" Bonnie encouraged.
He waited a few seconds.
Then he shuffle-bolted to the keypad and quickly ripped it open. After breaking open so many old Staff Bots, this was a piece of cake, revealing the fragile circuitry beneath. He reached into his core and pulled out a bundle of wires and shoved it into the keypad.
"Come on. Come on…"
The wires shifted and dug in before suddenly connected. The tips heating and burning themselves into the mechanics beneath. He lost himself to a system of binary and checklists, brute forcing his way in and tearing at what he could until it did exactly what he wanted to.
There was a loud beep and a click before the warehouse doors started to slowly drag open. Bonnie hastily pulled the now partially wires back off, leaving some of the residue behind on the keypad. He ignored it as he shoved them back into himself and positioned himself beside the door so it would open up looking like he had been there the whole time.
Ness was waiting on the other side.
"Booyah! You nailed it, Nessie," he congratulated.
"I did?" Ness asked coyly. She stepped in with her hands behind her back, but then quickly reached out and cupped his cheeks. Avoiding the large hole in the side of his head and instead flicking at his crooked whiskers. "Because it looked like I got a little help."
"Heh. Well, maybe a little…" Bonnie admitted. Just as he was about to trap her hands under his, she pulled away.
"You have to see this."
She stepped aside and he stepped in and took in the view.
What lay on the other side was a large warehouse stuffed with all sorts of bodies of all sizes. Unfinished animatronics, half-complete Staff Bots, stacked and huddled by the walls like they were just pieces of furniture instead of equipment. There were boxes too, stuffed with various pieces and parts. Dangling arms, random heads, the occasional metal pole or post.
But instead of feeling successful, Bonnie completely deflated.
"There's no way they're hiding those bodies in here. This is just where they shove all the extra stuff."
"You never know. They might be somewhere in the back."
"Ehhh, guess we should check. Look for a capsule of a tube or something. There's no way they're leaving them out in the open."
The two split up. One to one wall and the other to the other, searching through the forgotten characters in darkness only illuminated by red glow. Bonnie still slouched with disappointment, but Ness bouncier with curiosity. She spotted something that caught her eye.
There was a mask on the floor stuck under a cardboard box. It looked like a Glamrock Freddy mask, but it was painted with red, white, and blue face paint. It reminded her of the classic Freddy masks, and she knelt down and pushed the box aside. She picked up the mask and turned it over in her hand.
"Cute," she mused. She tucked it under her arm and began to look through the box. Nothing of interest. She stood up and looked around again.
Hidden off to the right beside what looked confusingly like a Glamrock hippo sitting on the floor was an oval shaped white pod. It looked to be one of the sensory deprivation tanks, but being shoved aside like this it couldn't still be in use. It looked more like they were trying to hide it.
A failed project, possibly, surrounded by junk and backed by a pile of unfinished animatronics. Alternate bees, part of a backup Chica with yellow skin instead of white, a dog with a fluffed-up afro, even the half-finished form of Glamrock Foxy could be seen tucked into the way back corner. She stuck to the topic at hand.
She wanted to make sure the pod was what she thought it was. She stepped over the legs of the hippo and pushed past an old elephant suit propped up beside it. It slumped over with a thump, shooting up a plume of dust, and she pushed it aside with her boot before stepping over it and reaching out for the pod. The smell of bleach growing stronger.
The lid was cracked so she took hold and started to lift it-
When a hand shot out of the darkness from beside the pod and grabbed onto her wrist.
Ness screamed and quickly stumbled back, having to yank her arm out of the desperately tight grasp. She stumbled over the Glamrock Hippo's leg and fell directly into Bonnie who thumped over fast enough to rival Roxy and pulled her tight to him, his eyes glowing a dangerous red.
But in a second that budding fury switched to confusion, and then uneasy as he saw the white gloved hand that had reached for her. Five watches of various times climbing up its arms.
"Crrrtzzneas…?" a hoarse older voice called. The arm reached out blindly. "Where… Where…?"
"Oh… Oh wow…" Bonnie looked him up and down. Then he started to back away, pulling Vanny with him. "Sorry. We can't… help you. Sorry…" he said softly.
The hand continued to reach for a moment longer before dropping, seemingly more out of exhaustion than defeat. Bonnie kept leading Vanny away.
"Let's go, come on. We can't help him."
"W-Who is he?"
"Beats me. But… H-Hey. Hey, come look at this."
Ness was still very unnerved as Bonnie led her back to the other side of the big warehouse.
There she was shocked to see another rabbit animatronic. This one propped up and bungie tethered to a holding rack. It was shaped like a recolored Glamrock Chica, with pink legwarmers and a yellow painted-on leotard with multicolored speckles. Its wrists and ankles had fluffy white faux-fur on them.
She had a rounded head with pink eyes and lips on her bunny shaped mouth, a little black nose, and long eyelashes. She had paint on whiskers of neon pink and blue, which clashed some with the rest of the coloring.
But the most important part was the pattern on the face. Only there did it have brown spots painted on, specifically the large one around its eye. Just like Ness' Bunnie design, just like Bunny true form.
This was Bunnie, the supposed replacement for Bonnie that had never come to pass. Though now both knew why; it looked like she was just in the final stages of being made. Intact Endo, no soul.
"Take a look, Nessie! It's a girl!" Bonnie joked. "We finally became parents."
Ness, still shaken, tried to play along. "Th-They grow up so fast! It seemed like just yesterday it was- she was just a painting on the wall!"
"Wait, wait. This isn't even the best part. Just come right over…" Bonnie started to sidle, leading her along before stopping at another downed rabbit. "Here."
This one was perhaps the exact opposite to Bunnie. Bonnie too. It was a dark indigo color, bordering on purple, with smaller, lifted ears with chips taken out of them- from the mold of the shell this was clearly on purpose. It had broad shoulders that sloped down to a narrower waist and then widened into the legs, giving it a lanky appearance.
It looked more than a hare than a rabbit, Ness noted. Its eye sockets were square and its eyes round bulbs in them, topped with rectangular brows. Its nose was flat and its jaw was chiseled, leading down to a toothy grin. It didn't look like the broad teeth could open, but it did look like they could slide in to close the mouth.
There were lines throughout its body that looked like they would glow when activated. Down the top of its head into its eyes, and down its shoulders and chest, where it served for the lines on his painted-on, short sleeved, dark fuchsia bowling shirt. Its legs were painted black to resemble black pants, and its feet were styled like large bowling shoes that matched the shirt.
It looked like a villainous bowler. Which was, by far, only slightly less weird than the Glamrock Mr. Hippo.
"Is that supposed to be the new you?!"
"No, I'm pretty sure that is," Bonnie said, pointing a thumb over at the girl bunny. "This must've been… Geez, I don't know. My demented twin brother?" He nudged its foot with Monty's. "Or he's her twin and he's the evil one."
"Or maybe she's the evil twin and is just putting on an act."
"A true evil genius couldn't pull off pink and baby blue. Besides, look at this guy. He's chiseled! That's a villain if I've ever… What in the absolute hell is that?"
Ness looked up anxiously and then off where he was looking, further towards the back of the warehouse. She looked as well and soon spotted a familiar green face.
"Is that… Monty?"
"That's like seven or eight Montys. Hold on."
Bonnie squinted his eyes and leaned in, almost losing his balance on his waist. Vanny turned up the lights in the eyes of her mask and leaned further in as well, illuminating the scene.
There was a duplicate Monty body standing near the wall with its shoulders slouched and head lowered, giving away that it had already been suited onto an endo. Though likely hadn't been fully activated considering that it didn't respond when they walked in. Endos were always twitchy; they would've had to have specifically shut this one off.
But that wasn't the only Monty there. There was the upper portion of a shell on a rack, a box with multiple head parts, random legs and feet, the bottom end of another unfinished gator, and even more they weren't seeing. Bonnie's remark had been accurate, there were enough parts to make at least five other Monty Gators.
Though the entirely complete one didn't bode well for the current Monty Gator.
"Oh buddy, you were totally screwed even before I came in and messed things up. Yikes," Bonnie mumbled. "That could've been a Bonnie right there."
Ness nodded. It could've been. They could've tried to replace him… Well, apparently they did, if the two rabbits were any indication.
Honestly, she wished they had made a backup Bonnie. They could've had a fresh slate just through that. Though they would've never gotten the amount of freedom this chance was going to give them. Between Bonnie or Brad, Brad was the one she'd be able to take to the beach, or to the bowling alley, or to the other side of the country.
If it was the same Bunny underneath it didn't matter what he looked like.
"What's on your mind, Baby?"
"What? Oh, nothing! Just a little creeped out. Don't worry about it!" Ness chirped, doing a playful little sway.
"No, come on. I see something's up."
"I've just got a lot on my mind…"
"Then take it off your mind and lay it on me! That's what I'm here for."
"Well…" Ness sighed and fidgeted with her gloves. "It's just that Natalie found out. She knew it was me."
"Ouch. What'd she say?"
"It doesn't matter what she said, I know how she feels… She thinks I'm a freak. My first real girl friend and she hates me."
"Hey, hey. She doesn't hate you." Bonnie took up her hands in his own and lifted them, making sure to get her eyes on him. "She hates me. Let me take the fall for this. I'm the reason we got into this mess."
He pulled her in and tucked her head under his chin in a comforting squeeze. Her fabric suit helping cushion his amount of broken plating.
"…Actually Monty is the reason we got into this mess. And god, Foxy's," Bonnie tacked on.
He was cut off by her returning the hug. Lifting up on her tiptoes to almost reach his height.
"Never mind that. The point is-… The point is that if she's such a good friend she'll find her way back to you. But right now, we can't worry about her or anyone else. We've gotta just stay the course, get this hunk of plastic and polymer, and get out of dodge. So, let's find this thing and then we can grab Jake and Andy and hit the road!"
"Do you really think they're going to go with us after everything?"
"…N-… No? But I can't leave without 'em. Freddy?... He'll be fine without me. He's already moved on." Bonnie squeezed her one more time with a sigh before pulling back. "If I have to drag their asses into that van and dump them off at the nearest junkyard then so help me, I will make that happen."
Ness sounded a little amused. "I'm not sure if they're going to be happy with…"
A beeping from her wrist cut her off. She pulled down her glove to see her Faz-watch and started to click on it, with Bonnie letting her go so she could work. In a few short seconds she jumped a little.
"Please tell me that's a good flinch," Bonnie said dryly.
Ness shook her head stiffly and audibly swallowed- though that could've just been Bonnie's heightened hearing.
"They're coming..."
"Oh, that's just fantastic," Bonnie huffed. "Just let me handle it. I'll straighten out Andy, maybe we can patch things up because, God, if they try to stay here, they're just as screwed as Monty."
"No, it's not just them," Ness said nervously. Bonnie looked at her confused. "I think they, umm, brought 'him'."
Bonnie's eyes glowed a sharp red. "They didn't…"
"They did, he's, uh, I see him right here." Ness looked down at the feed on her Faz-watch. "I mean, I see the static. I can't see really anything. It's either him or the camera's funky."
The sudden heat that radiated off Bonnie was so intense that Ness could feel it through her skinsuit. She looked up at him and could see him starting to shake. His fans were creaking as they tried to kick on to deal with the rapid increase in temperature. His fingers were cracking in his tightly clenched hands.
This wasn't good. They couldn't afford to have him burn himself out now. That was exactly how they got in the battery situation to begin with.
"Honey, please, it's okay," she said. She tried to reach for him, but he hobbled back, raising a hand to signal her to stop.
"No, don't. I'll burn you. I'm- I'm good. I can handle this! I'm just, heh heh, so F̵̗͒I̷̮̍Ņ̶̾E̵̳͝ with this right now," Bonnie said through his teeth. He clutched his fist with a loud crack, then relaxed it. "I'm cool, really. I'm fine, I just can't believe how they could do this- I know it was them- how they could bring in that GOD, that worthless strung-up doll! Of course he'd come down here, the CLOWN FACED FU-!"
Bonnie turned and kicked over a box of spare limbs, nearly falling off his borrowed legs in the process. Ness grabbed his arm top stabilize him, hissing a little and pulling her hands away once he had steadied. The gloves protected her, but he heated up so fast-
She noticed he was silent. Silently staring at those spilled parts.
"Honeybunny?" she asked gently.
His eyes flicked to her.
"…I've got an idea."
Ness perked up at that change of tone.
"Ooo, tell me," she played along.
Bonnie started to dig into his chest cavity as he turned back towards her. She lifted her hands to stop him when he pulled out a crumpled piece of paper and handed it over.
"I need five minutes. Think you can put on a show and buy me a little time?" he asked. His eyes glowing brightly, his grin felt through his broken face. He was up to something diabolical.
Vanny eagerly took the paper in her hands and unfolded it, realizing what it was.
"Wait, do you mean… You mean you want me to show them this?"
"Show them everything. That's gonna kill him," Bonnie agreed. "And then straight back here. Don't let them corner you."
"They never have," Vanny assured. "Leave it to me."
"I'm counting on you."
"I won't let you down." She crinkled the paper in her hands, her eyes only on him. "It'll be fun."
"It's going to be faz-fzzzting-tastic," he promised.
Vanny bounded out the door with a life to her unlike any other and a skip to her step. She stopped at it to blow him a kiss and he played along and 'caught it' with his hand. And then she slipped around the corner and was gone.
But she wouldn't be gone for long. This, all of this was for her- and him. This was it. This was his last chance. This was his only chance to fight for himself.
His body was broken, but he was surrounded by dozens that weren't.
Bonnie grabbed tightly ahold of the waist of Monty's legs and started to hoist himself up, sliding his innards out of it and letting them spill down the legs. The oil-slickened wires falling out of him in bundles, writhing with life as he tilted over and tumbled to the floor, catching himself with one hand.
The wires spilled out by the heaps and began to tangle into the remains of a discarded dog animatronic. It had no life in it and thus had no objections as the wires slid inside and took hold.
None of them did.