Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

In the empty daycare, there were three little rats who sat in a circle, talking about their anxiety: Sundrop, Bruno, and Spamton. (They're not actually rats, that's only their club name. Also they may or may not be in a polyamorous relationship.)

There was a big candle in the middle of their circle, and Bruno had his hands over it; warming them.

"So you do puppet shows too?!" Sundrop asked Bruno.

"Oh, of course," Bruno said. "I use my rats and cardboard."

"Oh. Okay." Sundrop seemed to want to change the subject. But what to do? Spamton just sat there, smiling and blinking.

"Don't mind Sundrop," Bruno said to Spamton. "He's weird, but he's okay."

"I'm not weird," Sundrop added, "you're weird! You get visions!"

"Yeah, but-"

"H-HEY, THIS IS A [[anxiety]] GROUP!! IT'S SUPPOSED TO HELP US WITH [[anxiety]] NOT [[depart]] US!!" Spamton interrupted.

"Yes, it is," Bruno said.

"Well, I guess we're all weird," Sundrop said. "But we're not going anywhere, so we might as well help each other, yes?" 

The other two nodded.

"Okay, I have an idea," Sundrop said. "How about we play a game? It'll be fun, and it's a good way to release stress."

"Like monopoly? Or hide-and-seek." Bruno asked.

"We can finger-paint, tell jokes, or have a slumber party, or stay up all night! We can make crafts, do you like glitter glue? Googly-eyes? I have plenty of th-"

He kept rambling, and Bruno & Spamton looked at each other, deciding what they should do.

"Okay, fine," Sundrop said. "We'll have a slumber party."

"I have an idea for that activity," Bruno said. 

"WHERE WILL WE GET OUR [[4.99]] SLEEPING [[receptacle]]?!" Spamton asked.

"Ooh, good point," Bruno said. "But we don't have to sleep, right? Just pretend. It's just for fun."

Clearly, Bruno needed sleep. He had bags under his eyes. He looked like he'd been up all night.

Spamton, on the other hand, looked like a million bucks. Maybe this was the life for him. After all, he WAS a BigShot once.

"LET'S PLAY [[spin the bottle]]!!" 

"Yes!! I love that game!" Sundrop agreed, jumping up from his previous criss-cross sitting position.

"Hey, how come YOU get to be the [[spinner]], Bruno and I have to play it safe?" Spamton asked.

"Y'know, it's only fair," Bruno said. Sundrop handed over the bottle.

"OH fine, sorry, it's just— I always get to be the spinner!"

"Which is why we should have a turn." Bruno smiled/rolled his eyes.

"Fine, fine," Sundrop said.

The three ?gentlemen? took turns spinning the bottle, and it wobbled clockwise, stopping on Bruno. "YES!!" Spamton cheered.

"Oh god—" Bruno whispered.

"Well, it's not our lucky day, is it?" Sundrop said.

"Noooo," Spamton said.

"It wasn't meant to be," Bruno said. 

"Did it go against your vision??" Sun asked.

"Nope," Bruno said. "It's just- I'm really tired."

"Well, let's play another game," Sundrop suggested, "and maybe this time we'll get lucky!"

Spamton frowned, whispering, "He didn't even [[down]] [[down]] the bottle..."

"Hm… so what else could we do?" Bruno asked.

"Truth or Dare!" Sundrop expressed.

"Oh, great idea!" Bruno said, settling in his spot; holding his own hands over the front end of his poncho.

"You first," Sundrop said. 

"Truth or dare?"

"[[DARE!]]!" Spamton beamed.

"Damn right!" Bruno said.

"Well," Sundrop said. "I think I have a pretty good idea of what to dare, but I want to hear what you have to suggest, Bruno." 

"I dare you to shut the lights off."

"NO, MY ONE RULE!!" Sundrop shouted, standing up.

Spamton sprinted to the light-switch, turning them off with one flick of his wrist.

"Ahhhhhhhhhhh!!" Sundrop cried. "You cheating little...!!!" 

He then gripped his head and stepped back a bit, grunting.

"AHHHHHHH!!!!" He shouted. "I knew it! I KNEW IT!!" He threw his hands up in the air, crying, "Why, God, why?!?"

He then shifted into Moondrop!

"Hey there~" He said.

Spamton yelped and ran over to Bruno, who was already standing with the candle. Spamton hid behind him.

"Naughty boys, it's past your bedtime~" Moondrop purred, slowly walking towards them with his hands up.

"G-Get-Get away from us!" Spamton shouted.

"I don't think you understand the rules of the game~" Moondrop said, his voice low.

"What game...?" Bruno gulped, walking backwards from him.

"Oh, come on! It's a classic..."

"No, it wasn't," Spamton said, "it was [[truth or dare]], and you just [[cheated.]]"

"No!" Moondrop said, looking down and frowning. "I was going to ask you… something personal."

"Like what?" Bruno asked nervously.

"Like… are you a ...serial killer?"

"What!?" He yelled, "No!!"

"You look like one."

"Wha- SAYS yOU! You have red-glowing eyes, and a creepy smile!"

"I HAVE COMMITED [[murder]] BUT NOT LIKE [[t hat]]!" Spamton whimpered.

"That's not the point, Bruno!" Moon whispered.

"I KNOW that," Bruno said, "Spamton, turn the lights back on please-"

"YOU DON'T HAVE TO [[tell the crowd]] ME [[2ce]]!!"

He ran back to the lightswitch, and Moon nearly pounced on him.

Spamton screamed out, "Just don't hurt us, [[OK?]]"

"Of course not," Moondrop said, "But it is quite a bit past your bedtime, and I think it's time for you two to go to sleep." Bruno got down on the floor and scooted up to a pillow that he had previously taken with him.

"I-I'm sleeping!" He laughed nervously.

Spamton stuck his pointy nose into the floor and planked for his own sleeping position. "ME [[2]]!!"

Moon crept up to them, "Good~" He whispered.

He chuckled and tucked them in with warm blankets.

"Goodnight, boys," Moondrop said, taking care to keep his distance.

"Goodnight," Bruno said.

"Goodnight!!" Spamton exclaimed.

"Nighty-night." The moon chuckled.

They had a restful sleep, and did not wake up until morning.

Bruno slowly opened his eyes, but was quickly surprised to see Sundrop's face in front of his own.

"GOOD MORNING!!" He exclaimed, making Bruno yell and scoot back.

Spamton looked around with half-open eyes, looking around and dissociating. He wiped his eyes and put his spectacles back on. "Urgh… what… what the [[hecc]] happened last night...?"

"Wake up, wake up!" Sundrop said, pulling Bruno to his feet.

"We got some VERY important business to discuss," He said, "Come on, let's go!" 

Bruno stood wobbling for a second before following him. "Huh?!"

Sundrop skipped to the far corner of the play area, pointing to the pile of sleeping rats.

"WHAT ARE THESE THINGS DOING IN HERE?! The children are scared of rats! Therefore, NO. RATS. IN THE DAYCARE!" Sundrop hollered at Bruno, making him stumble in place.

"Sorry-! I- they're all mine, come here guys!"

The rats ran up onto Bruno, settling on his back.

"They're-!"

"Shhhhh," Sundrop said, "I'll get rid of them. Don't worry." He walked over to Bruno-

Bruno backed away, "U-Uh no thanks-"

He ran off.

"HEy! Come back!!" Sundrop said, chasing and prancing towards him.

"N-No thanks!"

"Stop that," Sundrop said, "You're embarrassing me."

Spamton walked over to them like he was drunk. "What the… whAt are you doing wiTh the [[rats]]??"

"He won't let me get rid of them!" Sundrop rolled his eyes.

"They're my friends!" Bruno said.

"He knows," Sundrop said, "That's why we're going to make friends." With that, he picked up one of the squeaking, hissing things. He held it under Spamton's nostril. It blinked at him, stopping its movements.

Spamton stood there. He knew exactly what to do. He put his finger on the rat, making it hop onto his finger. He looked up at Bruno and Sundrop. "THEY ARE ALSO [[my]]!!"

"Fine. You can have them." Sundrop said.

" THANK YOU !" Bruno exclaimed. The rats cheered and Bruno carried them off.

Spamton looked over at Sun.

"SO [[now or never]] WHAT?!"

"Now or never," Sun said, "To tell you the truth, I've never done this before. I don't know if it'll work or not."

"What are you talking about?"
“Would you rather?”
“Ohh! Well [[U]] can [[start!]]”

"Would you rather...!" He looked over to Bruno and the rats, "Nevermind."

"Hey Wait!!" Spamton said.

"What?" 

"ISN'T THERE [[man, woman, or child]] COMING OVER?!"

Bruno and Sun exchanged glances.

They heard many voices start getting louder from the door.

"QUICK, HIDE!" Sun yelled to the other two, "THE CHILDREN ARE COMING!"

They ran into the closet, pulling the door closed behind them.

Bruno and Spamton sat themselves down on the floor, pulling the rug up over their heads.

Sun wondered why the closet of all places they would hide, but-

Then the kids came and stormed the daycare. They crawled all over Sundrop, who yelped and got up to entertain the children. 

"Look what we caught!" Someone said, showing him the rats. The children squealed with delight, and went wild.

"No! NO!" Sun yelled, taking the rats, putting them somewhere where the kids couldn't reach. "We can't have any animals in the daycare, remember?"

"But they're friendly! They won't bite!" The child said, more children agreeing. He's never seen kids liking rats before.

"Please, just quiet down," Sun said, "I'll talk to your parents. We'll discuss if we can have… pets. In here."

For once, the children went quiet. Sun got a little nervous, so he changed the subject.

"So! What do you all want to do now? We can finger-paint, tell stories, put on a puppet show-"

They all yelled for their pick at once, whining and all asking for different activities. 

"All right, alright! I'll set up fun-tables for you all!"

They cheered, and he went to set them up with games and projects.

Meanwhile, Bruno and Spamton were sweating in the closet.

"I can't believe this is working," Bruno said, his voice muffled by the rug. 

"I'm not [[sweating your ass off]], am I?!" Spamton asked.

"No, am I?"

"Yes and you [[smell]] like [[!@$#]]!"

Bruno looked down in shame. They were both crowded together in the small closet, trying to stay quiet. However, the rug was too warm for them, and they started overheating in it.

They had to get out of there.

"There's got to be an air conditioner in here!" Bruno whispered.

Spamton looked around, "I don't [[see with your eyes!]] one!"

They looked around, but there was nothing; not even a small fan.

"[[Sun]] better [[hurry]] up, or so [[help...]] me!!" Spamton said behind gritted teeth.

"He can't, it's a daycare!" Bruno whisper-shouted, "He's going to be here all day !"

They had to get out of there, or they would both probably die. Or at least, that’s how they felt. Suddenly, an idea! Spamton jumped up, twirling.

"Maybe you can [[see the future]]?? To [[C]] what happens?!" He asked, looking up at Bruno.

"I can't, I need a wide-open area for that!”
Bruno knocked on wood and prayed they wouldn't die.

Spamton was about to say something, but Bruno threw salt over his shoulder and into Spamton's face; leaving him sputtering and wiping it off.

"Please, please, come on..." Bruno panted, "There has to be something...!"

"Like what?!"

He had no idea.

"All right, fine," Bruno said, "I'll try to see the future."

He sat down on the floor, and closed his eyes. Spamton tilted his head to the side, looking at him in a curious attempt to figure out how he did it.

"I hope nobody notices..." Bruno mumbled, sitting with his legs crossed and hands in a meditative position. He closed his eyes for a moment and took a deep breath. "I’m calm… I can do this..."

Spamton sat silently and watched as Bruno's eyes opened, his irises were glowing green. Spamton swore he could feel wind wrap around both of them, and it was cooling.

Bruno looked up, his pupils dilating a bit.

"I see a… a..." 

He looked into the green images around them. The wind around them flickered with light and showed a dusty image of particles; they escaped, exhausted and Moon greeted them. Bruno fell and the wind had stopped, "Agh, no, this room is too crowded! I… I can't...!" His eyes stopped glowing and the vision had faded into a shard of glass, with a picture of the future event happening.

"Wait, I wanted to see [[what happened here]] next!!" Spamton helped him sit up.

Bruno was panting, "It's… too… crowded...!" He nearly passed out, but Spamton caught him.

"Hey! [[stay]] with me!" He slapped him, making him get up.

"Sorry, sorry." Bruno whispered.

"So… we [[escape]]!" Spamton noted, quietly.

Bruno nodded. "Don't know when though, heh..."

"Let's keep this [[between us]], okay?"

"Yeah… sure."

They peeked out the brown, closet-door slits; the kids were playing with each other at different tables and crawling in the play-place. Sun was going around and checking in with all of them, bonding with one kid at a time.

"Oh we're never [[getting out]] of here!" Spamton whined softly.

"Relax, we just have to wait until it's night." Bruno sighed.

"What if your vision is [[wrong way!]]?!" Spamton whisper-shouted.

"It's not." Bruno told him. "My visions always come true. Some see it as a curse, or some people see it as... well, a gift."

"We can't just [[sit]] here and [[wait]]...!"

"Calm down!" Bruno held his hands up, "I told you, we have to wait just until night!"

Spamton looked down and crossed his arms. 

"It's really [[hot]] in here..." He huffed.

Bruno was really sweating at this point, and he leaned against the wall.

"Why don't you [[take]] off your [[ponchos for sale!]]?" Spamton asked, making Bruno jump.

"nO- It just- it makes me feel secure..." He replied.

Spamton rolled his eyes. "Well fine, sit in your [[sweat]] then."

They sat in silence for a minute, sweat dripping down Bruno's forehead.

"Fine." Bruno finally said, taking off his heated poncho. "Just- please don't say anything, alright?" He set it on his lap and sighed, cooling down a little. He was really starting to warm up now. He was wearing a brown, leather top. Why would he feel insecure about that?

He sat there, having a conversation about rats for what seemed like days (it was only one hour), and soon, they were both leaning on opposite walls, hot and tired. But suddenly, the lights were off outside of the closet. Bruno and Spamton both looked over in surprise.

"Should we go now?!" Spamton whispered, sitting up.

"Wait..." Bruno said, looking out at a sleeping-tent. Moondrop came out from it and sighed with a smile. He then started walking towards them with a goblin-like energy.

Bruno opened the closet door, making him and Spamton fall out and pant in the cooling air.

"Agh, finally!!" Spamton said.

Moon had stopped in front of them. "Are you two alright?"

"Y-"

"Shh!" He interrupted Spamton, "The children are still napping."

"Sorry, sorry." He said in a whisper. "Hey, your [[eye-mind]] vision came true!!"

"Yeah, heh." Bruno said, leaving the vision-shard behind, "Now what?"

"You two should probably leave." Moon said, "We can meet again tomorrow, since the pizzeria is closed then."

"What if we can't?" Bruno asked.

Moon shrugged, "Not my problem. Every man for himself, and if you get caught that's on you."

Spamton nodded and led Bruno out of the daycare sneakily.

"We'll be back [[tomorrow.]] at [[4.99!]]" He said to Moon, and they made their way silently out of the area, without being caught. Though, a staff-bot nearly looked at them before they dashed out of the building. 

> The next day <

Bruno and Spamton met at the same time, just like they had yesterday. Only this time, they were in a parking lot.

"W-w-where did you b-b-b-buy this?" Spamton asked, staring at the bike Bruno was riding.

"Um..." he said, fidgeting with his hands, "OH, this- heheh, um… it was my bike from when I was younger, heh."

"Oh."
“Yeahh, I might be a little too big for it now, but it’s fine.”

Spamton almost laughed at how small the bike was. However, it was the perfect size for him! They looked into the building, which read 'closed' on the sign.

"Shit! How do we [[get in]]?!" Spamton said.

Bruno shrugged.

"Shit!" Spamton repeated.

"Let's use the bike?" Bruno said.

"GOOD [[IDEA]]!"

They approached the back of the building, where the dumpster was. Spamton frowned and stroked his chin. This is a good hide-out , he thought, looking at the dumpster. Bruno dismounted and led the way.

"I can't though..." Bruno sighed.

"I can [[do]] it if-"

Suddenly, Bruno put his hood over his face, lifting up the bike.

"But Hernando can!" He busted it into the window.

Glass shattered everywhere as it made a huge crash, and they knew this was a bad idea. Security rushed over as Bruno and Spamton went through the window; they sneaked into the building, avoiding the guards and bots, and made their way back to the daycare.

"So who's Hernando??" Spamton asked.

Bruno took off his hood. "One of my characters I guess, I like to act sometimes… he's brave."
“OH! YOU HAVE [[DID]]!?!?”
“Um… maybe? I don’t know–”

They went in, seeing Sun by a block-tower.

"I'm going to take today to write a new chapter for this story of mine."

"And what chapter is that?" Spamton asked. He looked over at them suddenly.

"Oh! There you are, friends!" Sun said in delight, skipping over to them and changing the conversation again, "So! What should we do today?!"

"Well, I guess it depends..." Bruno said.

Sun was about to say something when they were interrupted by a large, metal door crashing open. The three rats looked over and froze in shock.

The Glamrocks were standing next to Vanessa and Gregory, angrily staring them down.

Sun freaked out for a second, "I-I CAN EXPLAIN! THEY- I- WHY DID YOU GUYS BREAK MY DOOR?!"

"SUN. Why are the people who BROKE IN… with YOU?!" Vanessa yelled, stepping towards him. He stuttered and struggled to find the right words. "W-We're friends! We're the Rats, I-It's an anxiety group! I… I have anxiety-"

"No you don't, you're an animatronic!"

There was silence... then,

"Take them away. The police are already coming." Vanessa said.

"You two. Come with us." The lead Glamrock robot, Freddy, said in a deep voice. Bruno backed away, looking around frantically.

"W-wait!" Spamton said, stepping towards them. "You don't understand—"

"We don't need to." Vanessa shut him down, "You broke the law and our window."

"Y-you can't do this! I have [[rights]]! I have [[anxiety]]!"

"Oh, right… I forgot." Vanessa put her hand to her chin. "I don't care. EVERYONE has anxiety!"

"But w-we have it really bad..." Bruno said.

Vanessa glared and frowned upon them.

"Take them to the front." She said, "The police should be arriving any time now."

"What about our pizza?" Freddy asked. "We were supposed to meet…"

"I'm sure they'll understand."

"MY FRIENDS!" Sun shouted.

They were shoved towards the front of the building by Roxy and Monty. Chica stayed behind and walked with Freddy.

"Wait, stop!" Gregory said, making everyone look back.

"What is it, superstar?" Freddy asked him.

"We can't just give them away! They're Sun's friends! Can't they just stay a little longer?"

"Well..." He looked over at Vanessa and the others.

"They can't stay here, Gregory. They're intruders!"

The child looked up at her, "But Sun gets really lonely!"

"Yes, but they're not supposed to be here! They're dangerous and unpredictable! We don’t know them!"
“But I do!” Sun muttered.

"I guess we have to do something about it, then." Gregory looked at them.
"Gregory... the police are still coming." Vanessa warned.

"But- what if we call it off and hide them?! We can talk this out with them in a civil way!"

Bruno and Spamton exchanged glances.

"Gregory… the police will be here any moment… do you really think you can pull this off?"

"Of course I can!"

"I- I can hide them!" Sun added.

"NO! WE ARE [[n ot]] GOING BACK IN THAT [[hot, dusty, dirty]] CLOSET!!" Spamton implied.

"Fine, you guys can stay," Vanessa said.

Bruno nodded in relief.

"But if either of them do anything bad, you gotta tell me immediately, 

got it?"

"Got it." Gregory said, "You can count on me, mom!"

Gregory signaled both of them to follow him, and so they went. Sun watched them leave before looking at the others. Vanessa grumbled and crossed her arms while staring him dead in the eye. The Glamrocks just stood there watching, not really knowing what to do.

Sun let out a nervous cackle, fidgeting with his fingers.

He knew he was in trouble.

 .  .  .

"SO, [[what's your name]] KID?" Spamton asked.

"It's Gregory." He told them, "I'm a robot."

"You're a what?" Bruno asked.

"I'm a robot."

"Oh— I- sorry, I couldn't tell..." 

"ME NEITHER! HAE HAE HAE HAE HAE!!" Spamton laughed, making Gregory roll his eyes. 

"We should be there soon, keep up!"

They walked faster with him, as Map/Staff-Bots went by.

They soon reached a platform with a strange tube-like structure. It was big enough to fit a body.

"Here's the recharge station." Gregory said, "Just go in there until we say you can come out, alright?" He pressed some buttons on a panel next to it, and it opened, steam rolling out from it.

"We have to… go in ...that?" Bruno asked nervously.

"WE MIGHT AS [[well]] HAVE WENT IN THE [[closet]]!!" Spamton added, complaining and crossing his arms.

"Don't worry, it's bigger than it looks in there." Gregory told them.

"In there?" Bruno asked, "What's in there?"

"It's a… recharge station. For us animatronics," He told them again, "but it can also make a super good hiding space." 

"Well, o-okay."

They both went in, and Gregory closed the station on them. 

"I'll be back guys, don't worry. Just stay put, and stay quiet!"

He ran off. Bruno and Spamton exchanged glances, blinking confusingly.

"NOT AGAIN..." Spamton whined.

"We're never going to have anything to eat!" Bruno said despairingly. At least they weren’t hot.

They stayed there, standing in the chamber, for what seemed like an hour. Spamton was slowly banging his head on the wall out of boredom.

Gregory eventually returned, and he did have something to eat.

"Here." He said, handing them each a slice of pizza, "Eat this— it's the last of our food until the next shipping."

But before they could say anything, he shoved it into their hands and ran off again, closing the chamber back up.

"UGHH, WE'RE NEVER [[GETTING]] OUT OF HERE!!" Spamton said, staring at the pizza in his hands.

"Well, at least we have Pizza..." Bruno said lightly. Hungrily, they both mauled down their pizza slices. They tried not to judge each other for scarfing it down, though it was understandable for their starvation. They probably didn't get much food at home.

Later, Gregory came back and opened the recharge-station's hatch.

"It's safe now." He said, signaling them to follow. They were led to the center of the pizzaplex again, there having a group-conversation about the situation.

"The police are gone, don't worry." Gregory told Spamton and Bruno.

Sundrop pranced over and hugged the two.

"THERE YOU ARE, THANK GOODNESS!" He said—which got a glare from Vanessa. 

"Now, I'm going to have to have a little chat with you two," She stated.

"BUT YOU ALREADY [[did?]]" Spamton pointed out.

"I don't care."

"We're in this together." Bruno reminded her.

"Just get in here!" She said, waving them in.

The three went into her office. She sat behind her desk, and they all sat in the chairs in front of it.

"So..." She began, "I know you're a robot, and I know you were built to be my eyes and ears, but that doesn't mean you can't think for yourself—"

"I know, I know! But Vanessa- they're my best friends!" Sundrop interrupted, "I've known them for a while now, and we've been meeting up in secret so we can learn how to control our anxiety!"

"YEAH, IT[['s]] REALLY [[bad]]!" Spamton agrees.

"I can't help it! I remember being a kid and not knowing what the future might hold—"

"And not knowing what might happen if you mess up or if someone breaks your machine." Bruno finished.

"Sun-" Vanessa sighed, pinching between her eyes, "You were never a kid, you dumbass."

"What do you mean?"

"You heard me. You were programmed to be an adult when the factory first made you. You even were when you got remodeled." 

Sun went silent, looking down.

"Listen. I don't want to have to reprogram you, but that would be the best way to get rid of the ‘anxiety.’ I don't even know how you were programmed to be like that," Vanessa said, "but the way you act, and the things you've been saying lately... I think these two just- influenced you somehow."

"No they didn't!" He stated, "I've felt like this long before I met them."

Vanessa sighed, and looked at the floor.

"Look. I want you to go back to being a normal—"

"I'm not normal! Normal is boring!"

"Yeah, he's eccentric, like us." Bruno argues timidly, "W-Well most of the time."

He lowered down and fidgeted with his fingers.

 Vanessa sighed sharply, "How long has this been going on without my knowing?"

They looked at each other.

"You guys lost count?!"

"Yeaah," Sun says.

She groaned in frustration. 

"Fine. They can still come over and help. But if your anxiety isn't fixed, Sun, then I'm banning these two weirdos and reprogramming you! With… Gregory's help of course."

"THAT JUST GIVES ME mOre ANXIETY!" Sun exclaimed.

"UGh, you're so difficult to deal with!"

Bruno looked offended from her calling them "weirdos", but Spamton stood up.

"WEIRD[[O'S]]?! WE ARE [[not]] WEIRDOS, AND I REFUSE TO HOLD THAT [[title of the page]] AGAIN!!"

"Ah, yes. That's right. I'm sorry." She said. "It just gets confusing when you have to explain it to non-engineers." She looked at them. "You've already been through this experience, so maybe you can help us out here."

Gregory suddenly walked in, nodding to her, and left the room. Vanessa looked over at the door, then back at the other three.

"Come on." She led them back outside the office. "Let's go."

Gregory had an odd look on his face.

"What?"

"Uh- nothing, mom." He looked down.

"It's okay, you can tell me."

"WEll um... the police want you outside."

"WHAT?! I THOUGHT WE GOT RID OF THEM!"

Vanessa hurried out the front exit.

Sundrop sighed, which almost sounded like a scream. "Well, let's get back to the daycare..."

Gregory waved to Bruno and Spamton as they followed Sun back.

"Thanks for the help, I think we'll be okay," Bruno said.

"God, she's going to kill me!" Sun says, "It's going to take forever for me to learn nOT to be anxious!!"

"Well, I mean, you can still be anxious, but- it's bad if you are all the time, you know?"

"LIKE [[Us]]!" Spamton interjects.

"Yes, like us, heh."

They walked into the room, sitting in a circle in the middle of the floor again. The rats were in a cage a few feet beside them.

"WAIT! [[fortuneteller]] WHY CAN'T YOU HAVE [[another vision!]]?!" Spamton asks, "YOU CAN [[telephone]] US ABOUT IF WE CAN [[stay]] TOGETHER FOREVER OR [[not]]!"

"Yeah!" Sun agrees, "That will surely relieve our anxiety a little more!"

Bruno was put under a bit of pressure here, "Eheh, wellll-"

They both leaned forward, excited to what he has to offer.

"U-uhMm sure! I just- er, I need a little space and confidence." He stuttered.

"Oh, of course! Yeah." Sun and Spamton backed away a little.

"Alright, are you two sure you want me to do this? It might not be that easy, since- well... I can't do my ritual." He trailed off, looking at the two of them.

"Heck yes!" Sun exclaimed, "I trust you!"

"I'm in!" Spamton said.

"Me too!" Sun said again-

Bruno flinched- "Okay, okay!" He adjusted his meditative pose, taking a few deep breaths while closing his eyes; whispering his confidence and trying his best to try and focus. He exhaled as wind began to pick up around them. He opened his eyes, as they glowed green around his pupils. The daycare around them was blowing gently with their clothes, and little particles started swirling around them in the breeze.

Bruno looked around and began to concentrate more. The others watched the green lights, which formed into pictures of them, sitting together with other strange humanoid creatures.

"Uh, I think we're going to enlarge our support group somehow." 

"What?!" Sun asserted, "I mean that's greAT! But... what will Vanessa think?!"

"Here, I’ll try looking...!" Bruno said, gritting his teeth to try and stay in control; not letting the anxiety get a hold of him, "I'm trying...!"

The vision showed Vanessa's face, and she was frowning. Though, suddenly, her expression lifted with a gentle smile.

Bruno suddenly collapsed, panting as the small dust particles went everywhere and the vision faded into a square piece: Vanessa's smiling face.

"Whoa, are you okay?!" Sun asked Bruno while helping him up.

"I-I'm fine..." He replied, "Thanks. I think she'll let us stay, if we get a larger group going."

"Yeah! So we can help others too, and get more tips!"

Spamton shook his head.

"It's not [[going to work]]! She's going to get [[rid]] of us!" He worried, "Maybe we should [[keep this to ourselves]] ...at [[least]] for now."

"It will work. I told you, my visions always come true. There's nothing we can do to change the future, even if it's not all set in stone: Everyone has their own fate."

"Hmm... [[okay]], SO HOW WILL I [[die]]?"

"SPAMTON!" Sun whined, "He just put all of his energy into THIS vision, we don't need another!!"

"OKAY [[sorry]]! JEEze..."

"I told you, I'm fine." Bruno said, giving a reassuring smile, "I just get stressed some times over these."

"No, but look! It took all of the energy out of you!" Sun noted, "You need a rest and some jelly beans."

He began to walk off when Bruno assured him he was once again, fine.

"Really? Well, if you say so..." Sun said, with a gentle smile.

Bruno quickly ran away as Sun placed jellybeans down.

"Hey! Are you going to eat these jelly beans or not?!"

He rolled his eyes, "Fine, just really quick- thank you."

He grabbed them up and rushed off.

Spamton tilted his head to the side while watching him leave.

"SO! WHERE IS [[you running off to]]?!"

Sun had no clue either.

"If we have to get more members to get the future we want," Bruno said in the middle of chewing the jellybeans, "Then we have to go get them ourselves." 

He went through the exit, leaving Sun and Spamton.

"NOW HOLD ON-! I..." Sun reached for him, but sighed.

"YEAH, I KNOW." Spamton noted, "IT'S [[going to]] BE A [[long day]] TOMORROW."

"We still have a job to do. Get your friends together and get going."

"WAIT [[what]]??"

"We're following the vision! Now get people you know that have anxiety! We need to enlarge our group!"

 "WELL, IF YOU [[i say so]]!"

They left the daycare, going off in different directions to find their friends.

Spamton looked around his dumpster, as he felt a bit tired.

Sundrop asked the other animatronics if they knew anyone outside of the pizzeria.

Bruno was asking people in his town.

——————————————————————————————————————————————————

The three returned around the same time.

"Well, did you guys find anyone?!" Sun asked, sitting down with them in a circle on the floor.

"[[HELL YEAH]], I FOUND [[#3]] PEOPLE!!" Spamton cheered.

"That's good!" Sun clapped.

"I didn't find anyone..." Bruno said, "Everyone seems fine enough."

"Oh—well, me neither..."

"THE [[three pinnacles]] WILL MEET AT [[4.99]] [[tonight, live!]]"

"Oh!"

Spamton was excited to show them to his friends, "ONE'S A [[married couple]] AND ONE IS MY [[partners in crime]]!!"

"O-Oh!"

Bruno looked at Sun and said, "I knew we shouldn't have waited so long..."

Sun was about to say something when...

"HOLY [[@#$%]]!!" 

"WHAT?!" Bruno and Sun asked Spamton in surprise.

Spamton held up his hand shakily, revealing something on his palm. 

"A JELLYBEAN [[for 4.99]]!! HAE HAE HAE HAE HAE!"

He ate it, chewing with his mouth open.

"Okayyy then." Sun said, "I guess we'll just have to wait here until later!"

Bruno sighed, turning his head away.

"I'd still like to find someone to team up with."

Spamton tilted his head to the side. 

"It's alright, Bruno!" Sun reassured, "Six people will be enough! But what to call our group though… hmm..."

"How about Sun's Team," Bruno suggested, "that's a nice title, and it's got a nice ring to it. It could be a rallying point for recruits. Plus, we always meet at the daycare. What do you think, Sun?"

"Wellll..." Sun said sheepishly, "heheh..."

Spamton shook his head, "NO. WE'RE CALLED THE [[rats]]!!"

"The rats?"

"YES!! IT'S [["The One Thing"]] WE ALL HAVE IN [[common sense]]!!"

"Well, I guess." Bruno says, "Spamton and I do love rats after all."

"Personally I think ‘SCRUNGLYS’ are better." Sun debated.

"You do?" Bruno asked with interest, "Why?"

Sun shrugged, "I just like the sound of it." 

"It's fine, we'll just use either one."

They agreed and waited for the others to arrive.

——————————————————————————————————————————————————

Later, all six of them assembled in the daycare.

"SO [[over there]] WE ARE," Spamton said, "THE [[rats]]!"

"Sun's Team." Bruno corrected, crossing his arms.

"[[rats]]!"

"SCRUNGLYS!!" Sun interjected.

The other three just- stood there, before Spamton introduced them. "AH, HERE'S MY [[good pal, buddy-friends]]!!"

But of course, he could not say their names, since his language was so messed up. So instead, they introduced themselves.

All three of them were very tall.

"Hi there! I'm Cartoon-Cat. But you can call me CC for short." The black, lanky cat said, "And this is my best friend, Huggy-Wuggy!"

"Hello there!" Huggy chuckled.

"And this here is my husband, Salad Fingers,” CC continued, “or I at least think that's his name, I don't know anymore. Our marriage is complicated."

"H-Hello~" Salad waved creepily.

The six of them nodded and all introduced themselves and their hobbies. They then sat in a circle in the middle of the floor.

"Alright!" Sundrop said, clasping his hands together, "Welcome to the anxiety group! Or as we like to call it..."

"THE [[rats]]!!" Spamton yelled excitedly.

"No," Sighed Bruno, " Scrunglys . That's what Sun wants. It's his daycare, he's the leader. Ay Dios mío…"

The other three looked at each other in confusion.

"Erm- well, we're still deciding but," Sun continued, "Welcome! SO — What should we do first?"

"TAX [[evasion]]!!" Spamton laughed.

"NO-"

"I say we play spin the bottle!" Bruno suggested.

"I second that," said Sun, "I have a little bottle of my own to spin! It's hard and sturdy!"

CC muttered something and snickered.

"Alright then," Huggy said, "Let's play spin-the-bottle!"

Sun handed it to Bruno, who spun it.

Suddenly, it broke.

...

"Yeaaah... 'nice and sturdy.' " CC mocked.

"HEY! What did you do?!" Sun accused.

"I didn't do anything!" Bruno yelped, falling back.

"OH GOD [[damn]], YOU [[all are brilliantly annoying]]" Spamton rolled his eyes, "PLEASE [[stop]], YOU'RE KILLING ME KILLING ME!!"

"I- it wasn't my fault!" Bruno cried, "It was your clumsy hands! You had the bottle for spin, it wasn't my fault if it was a faulty one."

"Hey, no it’s not!!" Sun crossed his arms and pouted.

"Wow. You guys are so immature." CC said, shaking his head but still maintaining a curious smile.

"Hey, don't be rude..." Huggy nudged him.

"Do- Do any of you blokes happen to have anything rather, rusty? Aheh~" Salad asked.

"...Why the fuck would they have something rusty?"

"LANGUAGE! Anyway, I have rusty things," said Sun, "But they're in my room."

"I HAVE [[small objects]] IN MY POCKET!" Spamton pulled out a rusty bolt.

"Ohh, thank you kind sir." Salad said, taking the screw.

"[[I wanna go]] in there and [[give him]] a rusty [[bolt to his skull!]]" Spamton wanted to yell, but checked himself.

"Hey, calm down," he imagined Bruno saying, "We're not that cruel."

"Alright, then let's play Spin the Rusty Bolt!" Sun suddenly said.

They took the bolt from Salad and placed it in the middle of the broken glass. He gasped as they spinned it.  D:

It was pointing toward the cat.

"Rats!!" Spamton laughed.

"NO, it isn't rats!" Sun shouted, 

"Hey, I'm not a rat." CC said.

"Hey, don't be a moron," Spamton said, "It's the rats!!!" 

"HOW DARE YOU CALL ME A MORON!" Sun snapped.

"I-I...?" CC whimpered, "It landed on me, what do I do??"

"It's nothing, really," Bruno said, "Just- just sit there and be weird."

"Now, now," Spamton said, "Bruno, stop being such a [[baby]]."

"I'm not!"

"Yes, you are."

"Am not!"

"Are [[2]]!"

"Okay enough!" Sun said, "How about we play another game."

Huggy nodded.

"Hide and go seek?"

Sun, Bruno, and Spamton all looked at each other.

"NOSE GOES, NOT IT!" Sun and Spamton said at the same time, touching their fingers against their own noses.

Bruno and CC Immediately after, knew and touched their noses. Huggy was confused, so he looked at Salad, who giggled and touched his own ?nose? as well.

"I guess I'm it," Huggy said after a sigh.

Spamton and Bruno nodded, and they both immediately started running.

"Hang on!" Sundrop said, grabbing Bruno's and Spamton's hands.

"What? Why?"

"Our new friend here needs to start counting first!"

They all looked at Huggy and he closed his eyes, covering them and began counting. Everyone ran off around the daycare.

"3… 4… 5- How long do I count?"

"UP TO 20!" Sun said from a distance.

"Oh- okay thanks. 6… 7… 8..."

Bruno scrambled around the playground, crawling randomly inside some equipment and not knowing how he'll get out, or where he's going. He bumped into something, but not sure what.

"12… 13… 14..."

"AHHHHHH!" Spamton yelled, running around in circles and bumping into everything. 

"Calm down!" CC told him, “It’s just a game. This is supposed to be fun!”

"17...18...19..."

They all finally found a hiding spot: some not even being good.

"Pssst!" CC whispered to Spamton, who was hiding near him behind a cardboard cutout of a rainbow. "Why were you screaming?!"

"Because Huggy-Wuggy is terrifying at this game!!"

"What do you mean?!"

"He actually [[on the hunts]] us!!"

Huggy-Wuggy growled and turned around slowly, with a scary face, 

" 2 0 ."

Bruno stood there, frozen with fear. Oh, the irony of this group…

"Shhh..." Sun said from behind him, making him gasp and realize how serious this actually is, "Don't move."

Huggy lurked, drool coming from his mouth and his pupils dilated. "Come out, come out..." He chuckled.

"Don't make any sudden movements, or he might attack!" Sun stage-whispered, trying to make himself believe it.

"I don't feel like being stalked by a giant monster, maybe we should try a different game."

Spamton was whimpering and staying still. Though, he of all people should be the bravest in this situation.
“Why did you bring me here again??”
“Uhhhhhh[[h]]h-”

"It's time to get out of here."

"I'm scared!!"

"Don't be."

Bruno looked over at Sun. Huggy had found Salad, and he nervously came out of his hiding spot, giggling quietly.

"Hey, that guy seems alright with it. I don't think he's actually going to hurt us..." Bruno said to Sun.

"Who knows!!" Sun responded, "It's best we don't take any chances."

Meanwhile—

"THIS IS [[lame]]!!!" Spamton stage-whispered.

"Hey, I thought it was your favorite game." CC said.

"NOT ANYMORE!!" He shook his head with wide eyes, "I DON'T LIKE IT WHEN [[he]]'s IT!"

Huggy grabbed him up, making him yelp.

"There you are~"

"OH GOD!!"

As he chuckled and dropped Spamton, CC backed away behind a cardboard cut-out. He tried staying as small as possible.

Though, with his efforts, Huggy still found him.

"Peekaboo~!"

"I am SO not a fan of hide and seek! Especially when I'm the one hiding!" CC rage-quit, standing up and going over with Salad and Spamton.

Huggy looked at him. "What?"

"Never mind," CC complained, shrugging. "I'm just used to being the seeker I guess."

Huggy huffed and walked around the playground complex, making Bruno back into Sun.

"Hey!!"

"Sorry-!"

"You scared me!"

"Sorry."

They stood there looking at the giant monster as it sniffed around the daycare. They were still, quivering but unable to move.

Huggy then smiled widely and growled as he looked over to the playground.

"Should we run?!" Sun whispered to Bruno. He shrugged.

"I guess so," Bruno said.

They ran towards the daycare doors. It's funny how the mind works.

Huggy immediately chased after them. He caught up in seconds, easily outpacing them.

"Found you!" He said as they both screamed.

Welp, he won. He found everyone.

Huggy laughed in his victory, and everyone was relieved they wouldn't get eaten.

"LEt's... play a different game." Sun suggested.

"Yeah, that didn't help our group at all..." Bruno added, “This is supposed to RELIEVE anxiety, not cause more…”

"How about a game of Hot Potato?" CC suggested. "We eat the people that lose, and the people that don't get eaten get to be the winners. Sound fair?"

Everyone looked at him in fear, shaking their heads.

"Oh- okay." He said, frowning.

Salad was stroking the rusty-bolt with glee.

"Spamton..." Sun whispered, "I don't think your friends are very... um..."

"I think it's time to play hot potato." Huggy said.
The three of them walked back to the playground equipment.

"No way, we're not playing that." Sun said.

"Yes, yes, we are."

"NO!!!"

"Come on, Sun. If you win, you can make a wish."

Sun was getting antsy. He wanted to make a wish.

"Fine!" He said, "I wish for a puppy."

"A PUPPY!!" Spamton yelled in delight, "[[YES]] THAT'S THE [[#1]] WISH!!"

CC rolled his eyes. "I thought you guys were supposed to be good luck."

"Maybe we are," Sun said, "But in a game of this nature... you have to be willing to risk bad luck for good luck."

"Really?" Bruno asked. "How did you guys get so lucky?"

"That's our secret," Sun said, "I had a feeling that the day was going to be special, and something good was going to happen."

"It is special with all of us around!" CC gushed, "Isn't that right, Sal?"

Salad Fingers turned away from him, knowing what had happened. He continued to fiddle with his rusty object. CC's ears went down a little, and he looked at the ground.

"Well I think it's fun being in a different place like this!" Huggy exclaimed. "I think this place is cool."

"YEAH," said Spamton, obviously agreeing with the big guy.

"Well, I guess we should get going with the anxiety part, since... some games make it worse I guess." Bruno said. Everyone kept glancing over at Huggy.

"What?" He said.🧍

It's funny because he still doesn't know he scared them during hide-and-seek.

"Anyway, let's get started! Like Bruno said." Sun suggested.

"Yeah..." Bruno smiled bashfully.

They all looked at each other and got comfortable in the way they sat in a circle together.

"So! Everyone, tell me about your problems!" Sun asked, clapping his hands together, “This will surely relieve some pent-up anxiety!”

Everyone looked around at who should go first.

"Well..." Salad Fingers started, "My... husband here has been... cheating on me."

Everyone looked at CC. His smile dropped. He was biting his lip.

"I caught him," Sal said, "and he’s been doing it for a while..."

"Force him to divorce you," Huggy whispered.

"I..."

CC sat there silently; pleading the 5th.

"HOW ARE YOU [[anxiety]]??" Spamton asked curiously.

"I-I'm scared he'll continue, or- or take the children away from my grasp..."

"I would neve-" CC started.

"Well, let's work this out, okay?" Sun suggested, "Now, Cartoon Cat, why did you cheat on Mr. Fingers?"

"Bill made me... he was too compelling so I just... just wanted to try out some new things. I'm sorry."

"Like what?"

"Well, I did discover some new kinks of mine-"

Salad turned away and scoffed while crossing his arms, he could not believe him! Spamton made “ew, ugh!” noises.

"Ohh, I see... but why did you not talk about this with Sal in the first place?" Sun asked calmly, “Did you ask him how he would feel about this?”

"Yeah, he's literally your husband." Huggy said, "You could have just simply asked to fuck if you wanted it so bad."
“Huggy!” Sun cried. What is with people’s language here?!

"I know, but he was gone at the time! I'm sorry!" CC defended himself.

"I can't trust you anymore..." Sal covered his eyes, and Spamton patted his back.

"Can't trust me anymore?" CC said, mocking him, "How come you trust your wife so much more than me? Huh?"

Everyone looked at Sal. He looked over, shocked, but everyone thought he was just being 'exposed.'

"Marjorie Stuart Baxter is NOT my wife anymore..." Sal stated, as he pointed at CC, "We divorced long ago, before I met you."

"That doesn't matter," said CC, "The point is I'm here, and you're also here. I don't like it, and it makes me nervous."

"You could have waited until he got back, dumbass." Huggy said.

"Yeah..." Sal agreed.

"WHY ARE YOU [[2]] STILL TOGETHER...>?" Spamton asked.

Sal and CC exchanged long glances, and then shrugged sadly.

"I like having him around." CC said.

"Me too," said Sal.
“Plus, we both need to take care of the children.”

"Well, then you best make sure you treat him right, or else..." Bruno said.

"Or else what?" CC asked ignorantly.

Spamton pointed his finger at CC. "OR ELSE YOU'LL [[end]] UP JUST LIKE [[him]]!!"

CC looked down, "I know."

"AND IF HE'S [[back back]] THEN WHY ARE YOU [[stil]] [[CHEAT]]ING??"

"I... I don't know..."

"YOU'RE ONLY [[breaking his heart]]!"

...

"I think I know how to fix this relationship..." Huggy said.

"Oh?" Sun was still listening, waiting for solutions that could solve their first possible anxious issue.

"Just sToP cheating! It's that simple!"

"Huggy, that’s really not how-" Bruno tried to tell him.

"It's that simple! So stop being a [[fool]], and stop being a loser! Okay?" Spamton whispered to him threateningly.

CC's eyes narrowed, as he looked at Sal. Sal merely shrugged.

"We’ll… we'll get back to this. Who's next?!" Sun exclaimed.

"I had high anxiety for a while from being stuck in that rotten and forgotten building!" Huggy laughed. Everyone was concerned.

"I have abandonment issues," he continued, "and I also kill people when I'm nervous! Mostly when they throw sharp metal-objects at me though."

" Okay ," said Sun, "let's work on this."

"I also have intrusive thoughts! They make me quite angry, and cause me to do terrible things."

"Such as?"

"Well..." he trailed off.

"It's alright, take your time!" 

He looked at Spamton, who held his hand.

"I prefer not to say..."

...

A couple weeks later, they've been helping each other out more and more; recovering relationships, coping with anxiety and stress, and comforting others. They had fun, and it was nice to be around people who cared for each other. Even though they had their differences, it was nice that they all had a bond.
Vanessa watched from the top of the daycare, and smiled.

"I'm glad you're here, Bill. You're a lot nicer and calmer than I expected."

"Thanks." He smiled with his eye, levitating by her side. This was no ordinary triangle, he was once an equivalent to god. That was, before most of his powers were taken away. Now he’s been through a lot.

"So..." Vanessa began, "as you know, you're going to be their final test."

"Yes I am..."

"Since they've passed all of the others, if they break apart with you around, then they will fail to be a full-on anxiety group. Therefore, they cannot stay and waste our energy bills at night, and Sun won’t be cured..."

"Yes ma'am."

"Go on, now."

Bill floated down into the daycare below, and Vanessa sighed, hoping they would pass. They looked so happy...

It would be a shame to make them stop.

They were all talking below before Spamton started singing karaoke with Bruno to overcome his stage-fright fear.

But suddenly, the cheating-triangle came down in front of them.
(It was always unknown how he got into contact with Vanessa…)

"Hey, fellas!" He said, as the singers stopped and stared.

"AAAH!!" Spamton said, "IT'S [[@#$%]]ING [[pet]]-BILL!!"

CC Looked in fear, and Sal was in shock.

"You... invited him?" He asked his cat partner.

"Nonono I swear I didn't!!" CC tried to defend himself.

Huggy looked around, confused.

"Well who invited him???"

Everyone looked around and shrugged, before Sal sat up and walked towards Bill Cipher. 

"Hey hey hey hey- no! Sal, please!" CC tried stopping him and grabbing his arm.

"Let go of me." Sal said in a low, threatening voice.

"Uhh gUYS, this is supposed to be an ANXIETY group- for helping wi-"

"SHUT [[up]], WE KNOW!!" Spamton rolled his eyes, and Sun gave him a strange look.

Bill laughed but instantly was silenced when Salad had grabbed him.

"I'd like to have a word with you..." Sal growled, and Bill was quiet, "H- I'm not one for accusations but, this one's cast iron."

CC's mouth was wide open, and he looked around before backing away. Everyone else exchanged glances.

"Um, Mr. Fingers, is this... 'Bill'?" Sun asked nervously.

Sal didn't answer, and he made his grip tighter around Bill.

"I know you've been having an affair with my husband for a long time. I- I don't make mistakes, comrade... this one's textbook."

Bill looked around confusingly, "Can you maybe- speak in a tongue I can actually understand?"

Sal pushed him against a wall, and the others were yelling in the background.

"WHOA, DUDE!" Huggy said, surprised and still confused.

"HEY, CALM DOWN!!" Sun wailed.

"SAL, CALM DOWN, STOP!" CC added.

"BEAT HIS [[a$$]]!!" Spamton cheered.

"NO!!" Sun yelled.

They were all screaming over each other as Sal was shredding Bill with insults.

"You took him away from me!" Sal slammed him against the wall again, getting more emotional as Bill yelped in pain, "He was supposed to be mine to love, and you poisoned his brain...!" He slammed him again, but not as hard; his eyes were swollen with tears. "You took him away, and ruined his honesty! His loyalty, wh-what he meant to me-! H- a-and the children... they..."

CC was on him in an instant, having enough and trying to shove him off.

"Let go of me!" He tried to tell CC.

"Sal, stop! You need to dr-"

Sal fought back and tried shoving him away, letting go of Bill, who dusted himself off.
“Ugh!!” He exclaimed.

"Stop!" CC yelled at Sal,

"You're the one who chose to go with it!" He replied, and they both tried getting a grip of each other, "You hurt me, you hurt our children!"

"I-"

"I went away for one week and you couldn't stand me being gone for that amount of simple time, so you decided to be with another person!"

"I TRIED T-"

"How good did it feel? Did he remind you of me? Did you enjoy what you did?"

"SAL, PLEASE, JUST STOP." He shouted, making Sal let go and back away in sudden fear. He looked around the room, everyone else was staring awkwardly; probably judging. He looked down at his shaking fingers, backing away more.

"I-I'm sorry!" CC said, "I didn't mean to yell, but listen, I-"

Sal walked away rather quickly.

"Wait, come back, please!" CC walked towards him. "Let's just- talk about it all together, okay?"

Sal stopped in his tracks.

"I see what you've done here." He said, as CC's ears went down. Sal turned around, "A-And it's nothing you can possibly fix."

CC flinched, looking down and trying to find his words.

"We're done. Squires like you should know better than to- to betray their partners..."

He continued to walk away, out of the daycare. After all the yelling, the drama had then become silent.

"Sal...!" CC had said, but nothing different happened.

Everyone looked, and had never seen Sal more hurt. They'd never seen CC so... defeated. Bill laughed in victory, and CC dropped to his knees. Everyone else bowed their heads, except for Sun.

Vanessa looked down at them and sighed, before looking over in confusion when she heard a noise.

Sun had dropped a couple rusty objects.

"Oh! Well if you'd look at that! A coupleee rusty screws!!"

Sal had his hand on the door, before looking back; tears in his eyes.

"Too bad Sal isn't here to take them." Huggy said, catching on, "He would really like these!"

"Yeah! We got these just for him!"

"Yeah!"

"I'm sure he would like to come back and relieve some stress with some VERY RUSTY objects!"

Sal made his hands into fists. He looked over, longing to touch the texture. Then he looked over and saw Bill again.

"No, I will not- do it!!" He shouted anxiously, pushing through the door, "Just leave me alone!"

Sun and Huggy lost their smiles. Well, it was worth a try at least.
“Oh, and o-one more thing…” Sal said, peeking through the door, “We’re getting a divorce.”

Once he left, CC got up and ran after him.

"It's useless, Sun, we can't get through to him." Huggy said.

" What ?!" Sun exclaimed, picking up the screws, "Yes we can! We just have to try harder!!" 

He stood up, about to run after the others, but Huggy put a hand on his shoulder. Sun looked up at him, and Huggy shook his head.

Sun nodded and looked down. They all looked over at Pet-Bill with a glare.

" What? All I did was COME DOWN here." He whined, "Then everyone started attacking me!!"

"You should've left!" Bruno said.

"Well what was I supposed to do? You guys were being so mean to me!"

"You should've just stayed away!" Sun rephrased.

"Vanessa made me come down here!" Bill said before covering his 'mouth'; spilling the beans.

"You should've just kept your mouth shut!" Sun yelled, rising to leave. "I'm going to have a word with Vanessa."

Vanessa, who was eavesdropping, quickly left from the daycare.

(I call that the "oh shit" moment.)

"Fine!" He said, putting his hands up. "You win. I'm done."

"It's not about winning or losing," Bruno pointed out suddenly, "But you pretty much ruined everything!"

"NOW THE [[anxiety]] GRO[[up]] CAN'TT BE [[transaction complete]]!!" Spamton added.

"Or maybe I could've prevented this from happening." Bill called.

They all looked over, 

"What do you mean?" Bruno asked.

"If I'd left when you first told me to, none of this would've happened."

"You should've left when you first wanted to!"

"Listen, I'm just saying — If I had my powers, I could rewind time for this to never happen."

Sun walked over to him. 

"Well, you can't change the past." He said, "But you CAN change what happens in the future...!"

He looked at Bruno, and he nodded.

"YEAH!! [[yeah]]!! SHOW US WHATS' [[happening]] IN [[the future]]!!" Spamton laughed.

Bruno sat down and prepared some candles. After the ritual was set up, Bruno took a breath; Sun guided him through it.

"There you go, you can do it!" Sun encouraged him, "Remember our lessons."

"You don't have to talk to him like a child." Huggy said.

"Well excuse me, I'm called the daycare attendant for a reason."

"TRUE!" Spamton noted, "HE DOES [[hang]] AROUND A LOT OF [[child]]!!"
Oh yeah! He has a big family! Sun thought, I wish he brought over his nephews and nieces, they would’ve had a blast here in this daycare!

Bruno nodded, and he closed his eyes. His hands went out, and he began to relax. He concentrated, and his eyes each opened with green iris; the air around him growing colder and colder, while a sort of forced wind ran around the group in a dome-shape.

A wave of nausea hit him, and Bruno grimaced. Spamton looked a bit worried, but kept a confident smile on his face. 

Bruno's nausea grew stronger, but he pushed through it. The vision grew clearer; he could make out the tiny buildings, the dirt roads and the woods.

He began to sweat, and beads of condensation ran down his face.

"You can do it Bruno, that's it!" Sun said, looking at the lights that made the vision.

It showed CC running after Sal on the path.

Bruno's eyes widened. He could make out the shadows of the trees; of people lurking in the dark. The people then came out: It was all of them together, trying to reason with the other two.

"Hey, look!" Huggy said, "I'm in the vision, haha!"

"We all are, Huggy." Bruno stated.

"Oh."

Eventually, they walked away together. The vision then faded, and Bruno was struggling to end it.

"Careful! Don't strain yourself!" Sun said.

"No, I'm fine, it's fading! Agh...!"

"You can do this!"

Bruno took a deep breath, and the wind had stopped. It dropped a green, squared material down into his hands. It was a picture of the group together. It was a lovely selfie to hang up on someone’s wall and keep.

He smiled, and Sun helped him up.

"Thanks." He said.

"You're welcome!" Sun beamed. (Haha 'sunbeam' get it? Get it?💀)
“I… think this is yours.” He gave the vision to Sun, “It’s to remember us, since, well, you’re kind of the group-leader here.”
“Awwe, thank you so much, Bruno!!” He held up the vision and put it over by a wall.
“I’m going to put this in my room later!” He cheered.
Bruno gave a nervous chuckle. But slapped Spamton when he gave him a lenny-face look. Huggy was confused again–
Sun skipped back over to them.

"Are you alright now? It seemed like you had a bit of trouble there!"

"Yeah," Bruno nodded, "I guess I was just under a lot of sudden pressure."

"That's alright! Everyone has those moments. That's why we're here, after all!"

"Heh, yeah..." He agreed, "But now we know what to do."

"Yeah, pack-up everybody! It's time to go!"

"[[boo-ya]]!!" Spamton interjected.

The group laughed, 

"No, really." He insisted with a straight face.

Huggy's never seen him talk normally like that.

But anyway-

They all knew what to do.

...except for Bill.

"Are you guys just going to leave me here?" He asked from the corner.

And they did.

~LATER~

They arrived on a dirt path, which they found in a nearby park. They’ve been traveling for a while now.

"Are you sure this is the right way? Spamton's getting really hot back here. A-And I think my system's overheating!" Sun complained, "I'm not even supposed to bE outside the daycare...! Let alone the building itself!"

"WHY DOES IT HAVE TO BE [[the middle]] OF [[summr]]??!" Spamton screamed.

"Yeah, yOu guys are complaining." Huggy said, "I'M LITERALLY COVERED IN FUR! HhHh I’m sweating so much…"

"It has to be... the right way..." Bruno panted, leading the way.

They all slowed down a little while they walked, trying to catch their breath.

"Alright," he continued, "This is how we know that we're on the right path." He pointed up to the sky, which was getting dark.

"Was it dark in the vision??" Huggy asked, "Why don't I remember that part…"

Bruno shrugged.

"MAY I [[?]] WHERE THE [[@$#%]] WE ARE??" Spamton questioned, "I'M PRETTY SURE WE'RE [[lost]]..." 

Bruno smiled, "It's okay. We just need to follow the yellow brick road."

The group walked in silence for a moment.

"The yellow-brick road?" Huggy mumbled to himself, "But it's not even yellow—"

"Or a brick??" Sun agreed with him.

Suddenly, there was arguing in front of them. 

"GUYS!! UP [[ther]]!!" Spamton pointed ahead of the path.

They all looked ahead. 

Sal and CC were yelling at each other. The others ran over and they suddenly stopped.

"Guys! There you are, we were worried!" Huggy said.

"Yeah! You need to come back!" Sun said. CC reached towards his husband. However, Sal pushed his hand away, turned to the side, and hugged himself with a hurt expression. CC sighed and looked at the others.

"I was just trying to get him back..." He said quietly.

"I do not wish to go with you," Sal barked, "I-I would like to return to my home at once! "

CC flinched with his ears down, regretting every time he's hurt his husband. 

"We can talk about it at the daycare, alright...?" Sun said gently, "I promise we can work everything out."

"No, you can't." CC told them, "This is a personal issue. We shouldn’t have brought it up in the first place."

"It doesn't have to be, we can help you!! Please, we need to get back to the daycare." Sun convinced, "I don't care what you two have to say, but I'm getting sick of being yelled at! Especially by Vanessa!"

"I- I..." Sal hesitated, "I... fine... very well then."

They nodded.

"Come on guys," Bruno said, "Let's go."

All 6 of them walked off with CC and Sal in the lead. CC looked over at Sal's unhappy face. Sun sighed at the situation, walking behind them all to make sure nothing went wrong. A beep came from his back: he was at a low battery percentage.

"AH! GUYS WE HAVE TO HURRY!! I NEED TO CHARGE!!" He stressed while hoping back and forth on his feet quickly.

They all looked backwards for a moment.

"Let's [[move]]!!" Spamton shouted, as everyone ran.

Soon enough, they got to the building and went in. Sundrop ran to the charger and plugged himself in at 2% battery. He sighed and relaxed, settling down. He looked over at the others. Bill was still waiting in the corner. "Holy shit, what took you guys so long?!" He whined, floating upwards and towards them. 

"Why is he still here?" Sal said in a low, gravely voice.

Huggy and Spamton held him back from attacking again.

"It's okay! We're going to work this out!" Sun yelled from the opposite wall. Though, he kept saying that same thing over and over, making Sal believe that it was going to just be a lie.

"uhH- CIRCLE TIME!" CC said quickly, followed by a nervous laughter. They then all gathered in a circle, Bill humming a toon. Spamton was about to shout something, but Vanessa burst in through the door.

"This 'anxiety group' has to stop." She said, walking towards them, "I’m sorry but they’re not even helping you get rid of your anxiety, Sun. It’s only making matters worse."

She thought she could get away with it.

"You sent Bill in here to ruin it!" Sun called her out, looking over to where she stood, "You sent him to ruin our progress!"

"N-No I didn't!" She lied, arguing back.

"Yes you were, he admitted it!" Huggy huffed.

"Okay, okay, but look, he was threatening me. You have to believe me, I had no control over it!"

"[[Bullshitting]] us again?" Spamton asked.

Vanessa looked around at the group, with their glaring eyes on hers. They could all tell she was giving false information.

"FINE!" she admitted, "I did it by myself. But it was only a test to see how well your group can handle certain situations."

"What do you mean?" Sal asked, the fear growing in his voice, "What did you do?"

She looked at him confusingly, "I... got a hold of Bill- and brought him here to test the group?"

"BUT [[Y]]??!" Spamton asked.

"Because I wanted to see if the group was worthy or not, I don't know! I thought if you couldn’t break over him, then you could actually be working well enough to stay."

"You just wanted to prove Sun wrong by triggering us!" CC pointed out, making Sun flinch and ponder about it. Vanessa tried to think of a come-back, but she was too flustered over her words. Bill rolled his eye.

"She wouldn't leave me alone."

"Vanessa, why...?" Sun asked suddenly, as everyone turned to him. He stood up, still plugged in. "Why did you think I wouldn't be able to handle it?"

She looked right at him.

"I spent hard work trying to make them all feel better." He continued, "To make me feel better. I was doing such a good job, like you said you wanted me to. But now... you're acting like I'm a failure, which is giving me such a higher amount of anxiety!"

"No, Sun, I-" 

"How ironic." CC noted, nodding.

Vanessa came over to Sun, pushing past everyone else.

"Listen, I didn't mean to make you feel like that." She said, "I'm sorry... but I'm going to get fired eventually if you keep doing this."

"I-I promise I'll be careful, Vanessa!" Sun said anxiously.

"It's not just that," She continued, "They’ve been pushing you too hard, haven’t they? After all, they’ve been coming here without our permission!"

"What do you mean?" Sun asked, confused.

"You’re just an animatronic. They're just USING you to make themselves feel better! They probably don’t even care about you! They’re taking advantage of you, Sundrop!”

Everyone looked surprised, especially Sun, who looked down in low-self esteem. (a-steam HAHA- get it? Cause- cause he’s a robot-)

"THAT is NOT [[true]]!" Spamton argued, “SHE’S [[gaslight gatekeep girlboss]] YOU, [[sunny-boy]]!!”

"Yeah, he chose for us to come here!" CC yelled.

"Mr. Sun is our dear friend...!" Sal added.

"I don't even know this guy-" Bill called out.

"We're not using him, he's his own person!" Bruno pointed out, “¡Te respetamos!”

"Yeah! YOU'RE the one using him!" Huggy growled at Vanessa.

They all ganged up on her, and she backed away. Sun looked over and gave a small smile, feeling relieved his friends were there for him.

"Are you done?" She sassed, crossing her arms. "I'm not using him either, okay? I just don't want to get fired because of him. Plus! You guys stay too long over here, and leave- gross little... hairs. But it’s not only that: You take too much of the power bill because you stay ALL NIGHT, and I've gotten several reports of RATS being in here, scaring the kids! That's only been happening with the start of YOU two!"

She pointed to Bruno and Spamton.

"Ugh, and you all stink, too! When was the last time ANY of you showered?!"

They all looked around and shrugged.

"See, Sun?!" She exclaimed, "These guys are all just homeless lunatics! How could they possibly help you with this- ‘anxiety’ that you don’t even have?! "

He sat up straight in his stance, and looked her in the eye, "They're my FRIENDS. Better ones than you could ever be to me, and they do in fact help with anxiety because we’re here for each other. So if they're homeless lunatics, then so am I." 

Even though he was at 8%, He unplugged himself and walked over to his group, standing in front of them to initiate his side.

"NO!" Vanessa rejected, "You're supposed to be programmed to stay here and take care of CHILDREN. SUN, THESE ARE NOT CHILDREN. These are fully-grown ADULT MEN … I think?"

"I DO watch the children! I love each and every one of them, and I make sure they're entertained at all times! So yes, Vanessa, I do my job when the time comes, because my friends aren't THERE during the time. HOWEVER. YOU're supposed to be walking the pizzeria to make sure no criminals get in! You're not doing your job!"

"I am actually. All of your so-called 'friends' have committed something called 'BREAKING AN ENTERING.' That's a felony! Therefore they're criminals and I must take them away. In fact, I should have gone through with this when we first met!"

"No, they just had to find a way to get to me. You have to understand, people are unpredictable. They don't know how to handle stress, and they're even more stressed when they have to fend for themselves."

The others looked around at each other, understanding how each and every one of them felt.

“That's why I'm here..." Sun whispered, "To help them cope with that stress. To relieve them of their anxious thoughts!"
“But the DAYCARE…? You can’t take care of them aND children, no wonder you think you feel exhausted!”
“I can handle BOTH of them just fine!”

Vanessa sighed, knowing she couldn't win an argument with animatronic. After all, Sun knew more about coping than she did.

"Okay. Fine. But if any of you get caught, or if you stay too long..." She said, "It's not my fault, and I won't be taking the blame."

Sun nodded, and Vanessa walked to the door.

"Hey." She said before leaving.

"Hm?" Sun looked over.

"Take care. I really do hope you do cure the anxiety."

With that, she closed the doors behind her.

...

"WHAT IN THE [[sand hill]] WAS THAT??" Spamton exclaimed, "SHE JUST SAID-"

"Spamton, chill-" Huggy offered.
“BUT SHE WAS [[dehumanizing]] MY DEAR [[sunny-boy]]!!!”

"...She said 'I hope you cure the anxiety.' ” CC continued for him, “Like- what the fuck was that?" 

Sal giggled a little.

"It doesn't matter, guys. She’s letting you stay." Sun smiled, "Let's just get back to our business, shall we? We only have 15 minutes left anyway!"

After kicking Bill out; laughing, they happily grouped back into the circle. Except for CC, who looked over to Sal: concerned for him. Sal of course looked back at his ex-husband, and gave a hopeful smile. They both knew they could get through this with Sun and the others.

The routine happened every week; their lives would be normal at home, and they’d gather in the pizzeria to have fun. Sure, they had their times, but other than that, they've spent the evening together until the last minute. And it was always worth it.

Soon enough, anxiety was no more: but they'd come to hang out anyway, to be with their friends, and to have happier lives with better solutions to their problems.
Sun kept the vision-picture hung on his wall, to remember the day they united together. Sometimes he still looks back at it…
And he smiles warmly.

END