Day 4x5 - A Hare, A Gator, A Bear

"Monty...Are you alright?"

The interior was done sans a final once-over. You had purposely saved the exterior for last because the exterior would be the one everyone sees. It was always satisfying seeing the exterior look all shiny and clean knowing the interior was in just as good a shape. It was a treat for you.

Now was a good a time as ever to treat yourself.

You get to work repairing and replacing his exterior parts. Out of boxes you pulled new gauntlets for his arms, new retro pants and new leg plates.

You finally got a good look at the bottom half of Bonnie. His legs had about the same thickness as you'd seen with Freddy and Monty. You start by removing the part of the leg plate that Monty smashed with a golf club.

Time flies by and you don't even notice the hours passing.

The top of his legs had a different shade of purple ring around them where they met his torso. Going down the legs he had leopard-pattered magenta-coloured legging warmers with his paws having light purple colour to match his stomach and nose. Aside from the leg warmers on his right leg there was also a black-coloured bottom leg piece. It matched the black gauntlets on his arms. His claws were covered in dirt accumulated from neglect so you wiped those down with a rag. They were gold and matched the claws on his hands and the star on his eye.

During the process you also double check all the wires were going to the right places. While looking at Bonnie's face to make sure it was in proper shape you notice that the nose itself had a wire connected to it. It was pressure sensitive.

You let curiosity get the better of you and poke Bonnie's nose. It lets out an audible squeak like a dog's toy would. You giggle. You wonder if the other animatronics had such a feature.

Though it probably would have just pissed Monty off further.

With a click you attach the final gauntlet. After a few days of work, Bonnie was complete.

This was the original bassist for the band intact and fully repaired.

You take a step back and admire your work. You stop and notice something.

The whole thing was still covered slightly in grime. You blew the dust off earlier but after not moving for a year it worked its way in.

Searching around the room you find a jug of alcohol and a stack of brown paper towels.

You start by wiping down Bonnie's face and getting in-between whatever cracks and notches you could.

It takes a few wipes to actually complete the whole body but you get through it. The stench of pure alcohol starts to burn at your nostrils. You take out the face mask you packed in your bag for just such an occasion.

He had really been neglected this whole time, you think sombrely.

It took a few more complete wipe-overs before the paper towel came out without picking up any mildew. In the boxes the rep left were some cans of compressed air. You get to spraying whatever was still stuck there, catching it with a rag.

At the bottom of one of the boxes you find a small spray bottle and a folded up red shirt. Taking the shirt out first you find it's Bonnie's bowling shirt. It was the same as from the pictures you saw in his area.

As for the bottle it looked to be like a perfume bottle. It contained a purple liquid labelled BONNIE'S AMBIANCE with a small notice at the bottom that said it was for Bonnie's room. Well, it beats smelling like rubbing alcohol. You spray him all over. It emits a pleasant lavender scent.

It occurred to you that the other animatronics must have had their own scents? Freddy must have had vanilla as that's what his room smelled like. Then Roxanne was hairspray or whatever ‘flavour’ that counted as. Chica's and Monty's were a mystery but you knew you'd figure them out eventually.

There we go, you think. Bonnie was fixed. He must have been in better shape than when he was first made.

There was still the matter of the final checkups, turning him on and then seeing if you screwed up anything.

He may have been complete but you were still unsure about turning him on. You decided to save that for the start of tomorrow. The last thing you wanted to do was turn him on and have him go berserk. You wanted to do some prep work to hold him down first.

Excuses aside there was one other, major reason you were hesitant to turn him on. Monty's words echoed throughout your mind.

He had claimed Bonnie was supposedly the mastermind behind all the disappearances and strange happenings here. Did you want to bring that all back? You still weren't convinced and needed a second opinion. Not to mention irregularities and questions you still had.

On the docket there remained a few people you still hadn't questioned yet. There was the DJ, though due to his complete lack of interest in Monty's testimony you figured he knew nothing.

Plus, you didn't want to bother him again tonight.

There was Gregory, the person who, according to Monty had fought Bonnie and won. Though asking Vanessa for Gregory's number seemed a little awkward. You figure to wait until the next time he shows up. Whenever that is.

But Vanessa had to have known something. Between the sick reaction to Bonnie and her involvement in the SB-9 incident she was hiding something.

You guess you could also do-over and get all the other band members testimonies now that you had Monty's information. Though Roxanne would have mentioned something earlier if Bonnie was around for the SB-9 incident. As Freddy would have. You still didn't know much about Chica and unlike Roxanne and Freddy hadn't spoken about that incident at all.

Matter of fact, weren't there still more animatronics you hadn't met yet? You check your map. Sure enough there were 2 more animatronics that you knew nothing about.

Sun and Moon. The so-called 'Daycare Attendants'. Maybe they knew something?

You still had of bit of time before your shift ended. You decide to first read a bit of the documentation the rep left you about Bonnie. Afterwards you would interrogate Sun and Moon and hopefully find Vanessa before she leaves for the day.

Pulling up the binder the representative had left you begin to flip through the pages. Maybe it had some information about Bonnie after the accident. Maybe it could back Monty's claims up.

Elsewhere in the plex Monty had fully charged himself. Sitting in his green room idly his mind was ablaze with thoughts. Daydreams of Bonnie, SB-9, his role in the band and what happened that night danced upon his mind.

Walking by his room one would have seen nothing but two green eyes staring off into the distance, hidden amongst the darkness of his room.

Freddy was rehearsing, having returned to his room earlier, completely oblivious to tonight's events.

Roxanne was nowhere to be found.

Chica had returned to her room earlier passing with a wave and some words of encouragement. He just brushed them off, unwilling to discuss anything. Monty knew he screwed up but didn't care. He just needed to think.

The glass was still completely shattered and he had a full view of the outside. The janitorial bots had cleaned it up earlier but they weren't going to repair it. He hadn't even begun to think about how he would have to explain himself in the morning. Maybe he could just stay in his old room out in Monty golf.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

No. He didn't want to go there now that he knew it was where he got 'worked on'. He sighed. Picking up his hat he left to somewhere he could think.

He was invisible to the worker bots as he dragged himself along. Freddy was deep in his practice, failing to notice the gator skulking by.

It was too loud here! Monty thought. In reality it was quiet, not much sounds emitting from around. Monty knew where he had to go, the one place he could go to think, away from all the 'noise' of the plex. Away from his intrusive thoughts.

Now Playing...

Artist: Paul Lewis

Song: Nightwalker

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yn6YwP8m360

He hadn't been here in well over a year, the place having started to disturb him. He found himself in Bonnie's old bowling alley. This was a place he hadn't been since he saw those endos 'upgrade' Bonnie. Now he wasn't even sure that happened.

It all seemed over to him. Even despite your words of encouragement he couldn't help but feel sad. Bonnie would be fixed tomorrow and he would replace Monty. He tried to stay optimistic and believe what you had said earlier but his guilt told him otherwise.

The bowling alley was empty sans a few bots still working on things. Passing them all he took a seat on Bonnie's stage. He buried his head in his hands, silently thinking about everything that had happened up until this point.

Finishing up his practice for the night Freddy decided to retire to the bowling alley. While Monty was suffering from a serious bout of sadness, Freddy was the opposite. With Bonnie returning at any moment, he needed some practice. He wanted to show Bonnie how good he got at bowling.

He had been in complete ignorance of the events that had transpired tonight. He'd spent the night fixing things so they would be ready for Bonnie, searching for old promotional materials, references and generally things he wanted to show Bonnie. He hadn't been forgotten.

Tonight Freddy had been off on his own adventure, anticipating the return of his old friend.

He had been completely oblivious to the events of tonight, hardly even noticing that the glass window for Monty's room was now gone.

Upon reaching the alley he stopped. Before him there was a strange sight. Something he had not seen in forever.

There, sitting upon Bonnie's stage was Monty. He was staring off into the distance behind his starry-glasses, hat concealing the rest of his eyes. To behold a sight like this was most unusual. Freddy approached to talk, half-concerned, half-curious.

Monty was staring up at Bonnie's picture atop the ice cream parlour. Oblivious to all that was around him he was lost in thought. He was so deep he didn't even notice Freddy approaching.

"Monty...Are you alright?" Freddy asked. Instead of flinching as the gator normally would it took him a few seconds to even register Freddy's presence. He just slowly moved his head, now looking at Freddy.

Monty grumbled but there wasn't anywhere he could go right now. He wasn't in the mood to talk either.

"I'm fine. I don't want to talk right now." He said, still staring up.

Ignoring his request Freddy continued to speak with him. "But, what are you doing here?"

"I just-I just need some time to think alright? Just leave me alone." He sounded sombre.

Freddy instantly picked up on the lack of aggression coming from Monty. To do something so out of character only served to increase his concern for the robotic gator.

"Monty. If you ever need someone to talk to I am here."

"I-" Monty began but paused. he stared at Freddy now. "The night Bonnie disappeared...Was I acting weird then?" His accent had faded and he sounded different than how Freddy normally heard him.

Freddy had to think for a moment, putting his thumb on his chin.

"Hmm. I suppose you were. But we all have our off days. Even me." He said, trying to give Monty some confidence.

"R-right.." Monty said and started to trail off. He just buried his head in his hands.

Freddy knew something was horribly wrong but he wasn't sure what. No accent, no aggression, none of his macho bravado, something was different with Monty.

"Monty. It's okay. I'm here." Freddy sat down beside him and placed a hand on his shoulder. If animatronics could cry, Monty would have been breaking down. Instead he just quietly sobbed into his hands.

The two just sat there for minutes in silence, Freddy as close as he could to Monty.

"Freddy. I'm sorry. Sorry for how I’ve acted, sorry for what happened to Gregory, sorry for everything." He was stuttering and shaking. It was all coming out now. "Bonnie-I. I-I-I didn't m-mean to-those-they-made me do it. I didn't know. (Y/N). They-they helped me see. I'm so sorry. I-I-I-iiii" Monty spew in-between mumbles and stutters. "Shh. It's okay." Freddy had heard enough. It hurt him to see his friend like this. He knew what he was saying at least. He pulled Monty into a hug. Monty reciprocated, crying as he could into Freddy's chest.

Freddy was confused by the sudden emotional display by Monty, guessing he felt guilty by the things he had done since he met him. Monty was sputtering and struggling to get his words out. Freddy wasn't 100% sure what exactly Monty was confessing to.

"It's okay, Monty." He said giving Monty head pats. He understood Monty's guilt. As Monty spat out about being controlled, he understood.

About Bonnie. About what happened that fateful night. About his best friend.

At first he wanted to be angry, but that wasn't him. He knew about the controlling. He had been controlled once too. But he and Gregory had won. The threat was gone. Bonnie would be fine in a matter of days too. The anger that had been there since ol' big ears had vanished was nearly gone. He couldn't bring himself to get mad.

"Y-you're not mm-mad?" Monty asked. "No. But I want you to promise me one thing." Monty looked up at Freddy. The two’s eyes locked in each other.

"I want to you promise me you will apologize to Bonnie when he gets fixed."

Monty nodded. "Yes-I..I will apologize."

"Thank you." Freddy just said quietly. He rubbed the top of Monty's head, just under his hat and pulled the gator closer. After a minute Freddy let him go.

"Are you feeling better?" Freddy asked.

"A bit." Monty's spirits were a little higher now, his southern drawl returning slightly.

"That's good." Freddy got up. "I was going to practice bowling. Do you want to join me? I need to get ready for when Bonnie comes back."

Monty nodded. "I-I-i would like that." Freddy extended a hand to let Monty up and he followed. The bassist and the leader left the stage and made for the alley.

As the two walked to the bowling alley there was something still gnawing at the back of his mind. He looked back to the stage as the image of those endos staring at him fixing Bonnie played back in his mind.

He wasn't going to mention his thoughts on Bonnie controlling them. Not yet. Maybe not ever.

That was something Monty knew he would stand by. He knew what he saw and would refuse to be convinced otherwise. The alternative was much worse. If he mis-remembered the whole upgrade, then maybe he misremembered all the events after. Maybe in all his 'righteous' anger against Bonnie was all based off a misunderstanding. Maybe the person behind SB-9 and the kidnappings was....him.He shook his head immediately trying to cast that thought aside.

"What are you waiting for? C'mon." Freddy beckoned, Monty starting to lag behind.

The two animatronics bowled late into the night, only stopping when the plex opened its doors.

In parts and services you sighed. There wasn't much information on anything Bonnie did post-accident. The only piece of information that stood out to you was that Bonnie may or may not have had an experimental feature to instantly link up with the plex speaker system. But based on the paragraph the feature was only proposed and never added. At least, you thought so. It was unclear what it meant. There was still time before you had to write your report and go home. You decide now is a good a time as any to get the testimonies from Sun and Moon.

Closing the binder and collecting your things you leave, lock the door behind you and make for the daycare.

Instead of taking the same path you instead decide to try out the shortcuts to the green rooms. You were curious about how Monty was doing too.

The daycare, huh. There were still quite a few places in the plex you hadn't visited yet, the daycare being one of them. You didn't know much about the 2 animatronics that monitored it either. According to the security map the daycare was the domain of Sun and Moon, collectively known as the daycare attendants.

Of the actual animatronics you knew nothing. A few days ago, Moon was running security. That's about all you knew. He must have been some kind of professional.

You had to admit, despite parts and services being out of the public eye the place was still well maintained. No random bolts and nuts just lying around like other jobs you've been on. Those janitor bots really did a good job. You would have preferred if the area was a little more well lit but you had your phone's flashlight for that.

While the four paths didn't exactly say whose room was whose you could easily tell. The one that was pitch black was Monty's. Why was his room always dark? You wonder. With how he had acted you guessed it had something to do either with Bonnie or that strange upgrade he got.

You put a note on your phone to do a physical of Monty some point soon. If he still had that 'upgrade', removing it would probably help him immensely.

As you approach the door recognizes your lanyard it opens, sliding upwards. It was dark in here but light was pouring in from where he glass had previously been. To your surprise, the glass had been completely cleaned.

"Monty?" You ask, not wanting to surprise him. "You in here?"

There was no response. Hoping he wasn't ignoring your call, you ready your tazer just in case and step into the room. While still dark in it the light from outside lit it up slightly. You could plainly see he wasn't here.

There was no sign of Monty.

You could hear from a room down that someone was doing a rehearsal. It looked to be coming from Chica's room, lights flashing out of the glass. You heard two distinct instruments in the improvisational session, a keyboard/synth and guitar. Roxanne and Chica were practicing, you thought. Not wanting to bother them you just continue out of Rockstar Row.

A quick peek showed that Freddy was also absent from his room. It finally occurred to you that you should either conceal or find some way to tell Freddy about who the 'murderer' was. Plus, depending on what Bonnie remembered, it was possible the first thing he'd do is tell Freddy. Assuming he doesn't go straight for revenge instead. Though it would also depend on what Bonnie remembered.

You decide to just not tell Freddy right now until you turn Bonnie on. It's not like Freddy was going to be around for that anyways. Bonnie getting revenge seemed like a bigger problem anyways. Unless the DJ were to tell Freddy. Or Vanessa. Did she even hear your conversation? You shake your head. You just hope that it works itself out by tomorrow. At least you could just repair them if anything happened.

You recount your plan. Talk to Sun and Moon, then Vanessa and remind her to not tell Freddy. Or maybe you could find Freddy on the way out.

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The next chapter will be titled Everything Under the Sun.