Chapter Text
It is a surreal feeling to see something you know so well, so much so that you can picture every single detail of it perfectly in your head, look so different. It was akin to knowing a person and finding they've changed drastically, someone who had always had the same haircut and sense of style for dress for years and yet you go one year without seeing them and suddenly they've cut and dyed their hair and begun wearing an entirely different wardrobe.
Cassie had only been in the Mega Pizzaplex for maybe an hour so far, and yet it was a feeling she was beginning to feel intimately familiar with.
Currently, she found herself in the Superstar Daycare, lamenting the days gone by where she had the entire layout of the play structures memorized, as they were now useless to her with the layout having been altered so greatly. So much of it was blocked off as well, due to the damage and decay that the entire Pizzaplex had succumbed to. But even still, she was able to find her way to both generators eventually and flip them on before making her way up to the Daycare Caretaker.
Speaking of the attendant, he, (they?) were quite odd. She remembered having lots of fun in the Daycare when she was young, and back then Sun didn't seem so odd. He was always just the slightly nervous, yet energetic and well meaning friend of everyone within his walls.
But tonight, he was behaving even more anxiously than she could remember. Was that simply because she had been so young at the time that she wasn't recalling things fully? Or maybe it was because he was just stressed tonight over what had become of his home? Either way, she wasn't sure, but she knew for a fact that she had never met his other side before now.
Moon, why had he grabbed her so harshly like he was a lion that had caught its prey? And why had he sounded so…menacing when he said he wanted her to take a nap. Everything about this day had just been one odd thing after another, so sadly it was getting easier to put certain oddities out of her mind to prioritize her overall goal.
As she listened to the now half sun half moon give her his, (their?? Seriously, if she was going to spend any more time with the guy, she needed to find out what their deal was. The last thing she wanted to do was offend the one bot who hadn't to harm her at this point) calming warning.
The second her feet were placed back on the ground and the animatronic moved to close its doors to her, she panicked, acted on impulse and shot both hands out to grab the blue wrist and the hand connected to it, dropping her flashlight in the process. She didn't even know why she had done it, perhaps because she felt scared being thrown out into more unknown situations with potentially more danger, all by herself.
Like this was all too big for her alone, a single 11 year old girl lost and alone trying to find her friend in this huge place. Or maybe she just sensed a kindred spirit, someone else who was lonely and clearly looking forward to the idea of company. Or maybe it was just because she didn't feel comfortable being thrown back out with all these endos watching her. Or maybe she didn't even have a reason.
The attendant was clearly just as perplexed as her, patience giving way to concern as the other hand enclosed itself gently over both of hers.
"Little girl? Are you okay?"
"Um, I…I was wondering, do you..think maybe you could come with me?"
This seemed to take the attendant back, head tilting as it's body lurched back in shock momentarily.
"Wh-what? Oh gosh, I'm sorry little girl, I don't know if I can. We will be hosting so many children when the morning comes. I'm sure once this night is over and I have finished cleaning up and making the area safe for kids again, we will be back to operating as usual."
The girl couldn't help but frown, eyes pinching in as she clung tighter to the bot.
"What? But, you guys are closed , I mean, not just your Daycare , the whole Pizza Plex has been shut down for a while."
"Wh-what?! But-but that can't be ! Oh, surely you must be mistaken, little girl."
"Cassie. My name is Cassie. Don't you remember me? I used to come here all the time when I was little."
The marionette-like animatronic recoiled as if it had been struck, hand flying off the girl's.
"Oh, is-is that so? Little- Cassie, I am so sorry. Things have been so… fuzzy , I-I, we , neither of us meant to forget you little star. There has just been so much going on lately, some of our older customer files have been corrupted. But I promise, now that we have been restored, we will both make sure we don't forget you ever again! Now then, you should go home for the night and return when we open!"
With an exasperated sigh, the girl rolled her eyes and pressed him again.
"Don't you get it? Take a look around! This place isn't going to be 'open' again anytime soon!"
Nervously, the bot leaned out the doors, glancing around in shock and horror as the sights were absorbed and realization struck.
"But…But this doesn't make any sense ! We were not told of any closure! None of us were! Oh, why are we closed? Is it because of what happened with that little Rulebreaker ?"
Rulebreaker? Who was he even talking about? She took a quick glance around them herself, ensuring that nothing was creeping up on them while they were distracted. She couldn't detect any signs of movement, but she still didn't want to waste any more time standing in this doorway when she should be looking for Gregory.
"I don't know, my dad wouldn't tell me, maybe he was ordered not to tell anyone, or maybe he didn't know the real reason either. But that's not important right now."
"Your father? Oh, Cassie dear, what are you doing here if we are closed? Where are your parents? Do they know you are here?"
"Well…not exactly. But, just listen, I'm here looking for my friend, Gregory. I got a message from him that he was stuck here, under Roxy Racers. He asked me to come get him out, so here I am."
The animatronic produced a humming sound, blinking at her as it pondered and processed her words.
"I see. You are a good friend, little star. But with the state the place seems to be in, it would be much safer for you to return to your parents and call in a team of professionals, like the police! They are well versed in search and rescue missions. I'm sure they would be much better equipped for such a task."
The brunet clicked her tongue, releasing him entirely to cross her arms and give him a flat stare.
"Oh yeah? And what am I supposed to tell them? 'Hi, yes, my name is Cassie, I'm 11 years old and my friend says he's stuck in the abandoned Mega Pizza Plex, and that somehow he is under Roxy Racers and that he can't get out until someone turns off all the security in the place, do you think you could go get him out? By the way, to turn off all the security, you'll need a special Fazbear technician mask and a brain implant, I swear this isn't a prank call or anything.'?"
The bot gave a high pitched sound of distress for a second, clearly seeing her point and worrying for her safety but understanding her dilemma. Within a moment, the animatronic heaved a sigh and straightened up, leveling her with a determined stare.
"I understand. That does sound hard to believe, and if you have already come this far, then you must be set on seeing this through to the end, so I won't be able to convince you to go home."
The girl raised a brow, arms still crossed as she gave an unimpressed look, yet nodded all the same. Receiving a curt nod back, before the animatronic gently guided her out a few more steps and followed behind her, spinning around to close the doors behind him.
"Then I will just have to put off cleaning until tomorrow and go with you to find your friend! If we really are closed, then it shouldn't matter when the cleanup is done, and I think we could all use some company right now."
"Wait, so you'll really come with me?"
He gave a quick, cheerful nod, hands placing themselves on her shoulders as he eyed the endos in the area.
"Yes! My safety mode is still active, and it compels me to ensure your safety above all else! A child alone is NOT safe, especially in such a big, dark, scary place like this. It is so messy , and I don't want you to trip over anything and fall . Or worse, bump into something and cause something else to fall on you . So I will just have to go with you to make sure you find your friend, and that both of you leave safe and sound!"
All at once, it felt like all the weight left her body. She felt light, free, unshackled from any possible worries or fears. Like she could finally take a real deep breath and let her guard down for a second. So she did, and it felt amazing. Just knowing that someone who had taken such good care of her when she was young and unable to take care of herself was there with her, watching her back, it made her feel safe.
"Okay, then let's go. We should stay quiet, just in case those endos aren't actually turned off . I don't want to wake them or whatever. I've already had it up to here with being attacked for no reason." She gave an annoyed huff, muttering under her breath as she continued, "Thanks Monty ."
The creaking sound of her mechanical ally nodding filled her ears as he followed silently behind her. In a lower, hushed tone, he spoke again, sounding as if he were speaking right next to her ear. She only gave a slight flinch in response.
"Montgomery attacked you? Oh goodness, oh gosh, that is wrong . Why would he do that? Maybe he needs a reboot too. That seems to have fixed us just fine."
"You keep saying things like that, like you're more than one person, I always saw posters of two characters in the Daycare, but they always seemed…separate. I only remember Sun taking care of me in Daycare. Are you…not him?"
The girl placed the mask on and lifted her wrench, deactivating one of the child nodes while her new friend considered her query.
"I am! But in some ways, I am also Moon. And in some ways I am also not Moon. We are both inside this body, we are 2 sides of the same coin, only whole when we are together, working together, not against each other."
Cassie hummed, removing her mask and rubbing her eyes in an attempt to refocus them to the new environment around her.
"Okay, got it. Guess that's why your voice sounds similar to both, but still different. So what should I call you then? If you both are and aren't Sun and Moon, then which name should I use for you?"
A considering hum could be heard, followed quickly by a mechanical hiss, pulling all attention to the endoskeleton that just activated mere feet from them both.
"Either name is fine! As I said, we are both. I am Sun, I am Moon, he is me, and I am him. Both are correct. You can use whichever name you like! We are but one body with two inside. But if you'd like to be specific, since we are merged now instead of simply swapping control depending on the light levels, you could use Eclipse . That seems fitting, don't you think?"
The girl hummed, flashlight trained on the metal man who was frozen in place simply from her stare alone.
"Okay, got it, Eclipse then. I guess if your name is interchangeable, then you probably don't care what pronouns are used either, like he or they? Since you're a guy, but you're also two guys?"
Eclipse hummed again, ushering the girl through the shutters and into the now defunct store as he eyed the endo following them cautiously, giggling in a way that was awfully Sun like as he followed her inside.
"Pronouns are so silly! We do not even really have genders, we are not biological at all! But our voices are male, and our frames are built to more resemble the male build. So he is good! But 'they' is also correct like you said! Since we are multiple people yet one as well! You can use whatever you like Cassie, the children in the Daycare always use 'he' because it is easier for them, there is less confusion that way."
The girl nodded, moving over to plug her wrench into the panel, only for Eclipse to reach a hand out to stop her.
"I have a feeling that activating that panel will only alert more endos, maybe we should leave it be."
"But I need to get that plush down so I can deactivate it."
Glancing up at the plush in the Moon statues hand, Eclipse cheerfully leapt up onto the podium they used to stand on.
"Allow me! There you go Cassie." He said, pulling the plush from the hand and hopping down to place it within her reach, causing the girl to flash him a grateful smile.
"Thanks."
The two continued on through the winding hallways, deactivating both parent and child nodes alike, making their way into the Daycare Theater so Cassie could isolate the anomalies on the cameras, comforting and steadying hands holding her shoulders the whole time to reassure her. Once she was done, he guided the girl into his room, allowing her to search it to her heart's content and only tilting his head when she donned her mask to deactivate the Wet Floor Sign bot.
When he asked her why she did so, she shrugged.
"I dunno, I think…I feel like I have to. Whenever I'm near one with the mask on, all I can hear is kids screaming and crying. But when I shut them off, it goes silent, like I'm freeing them or something."
He did not ask again after that. Choosing to nod and follow the girl back out into the main area of the cinema, tilting his head in concern and confusion when she said that she felt like they were supposed to go into the giant endos mouth to get to the Catwalks. He had to remind himself that the child was not crazy, that she was simply seeing things differently through that mask, so that he did not fret over her health and attempt again to send her home.
Instead he chose to lift her and help her up onto the crate she was attempting to climb, following swiftly after and holding tightly to her as he followed her inside. When she began screaming that she was stuck and it was a dead end, he tilted his head in worry, hands reaching out immediately to comfort the child and keep her still so as not to allow her to cut herself on the sharp metal of the vents around them in her panic.
"Cassie, oh, dear little star, you are okay! Look! We are only inside the vent! See? There is nothing to fear here!" He said slowly, and soothingly.
All of a sudden, she removed her mask and looked around, sighing deeply before she steeled herself and crawled on. Eventually they made it to the Catwalks barely left hanging above Monty Golf. He made sure to urge her away from any slippery slopes that were unguarded by handrails, catching her wrist more than a few times when she walked too confidently on the mangled and wet platforms, dutifully acting out his role as her babysitter.
Once all nodes and Wet Floor bots were deactivated, he lifted her carefully into his arms and stepped into the Gator themed ride once more, holding her in his lap for the short duration of the ride. He followed obediently, unquestioningly, up until the little girl's Roxy-Talky went off and she began conversing with him . He couldn't help but tense up, his fingers curling in her sweater at the memory flooding his banks.
Once she got off the device, she spun around and out her hands on her hips, eyeing him warily.
"Uh, you okay? What's up? Why did you get all tense all of a sudden?"
"That was him, that was the Rulebreaker's voice. Was he your friend ? You should pick better friends, little star."
"Yeah, well, I didn't pick him, he was just the only one who picked me . And why do you keep calling him that? What rule did he even break?"
She began searching around with her mask, collecting things that were both real and not, before making her way toward the stairs to turn off another caution bot.
"He turned off the lights in the Daycare! He was warned, lights stay on in the Daycare, that's the only rule! And he turned them all off! "
"How'd he do that? I didn't see any light switches in the Daycare."
If he could have frowned, he would have. That was a very good question. Perhaps there was a switch back behind the desk that they were not allowed behind and he hit it when he was hiding back there?
"I…I don't know. I know he stole a Security Badge."
"Well, maybe it was an accident. Maybe he needed the badge for something and taking it turned the lights off. If that's the case, I doubt he knew it would happen."
"That…is definitely a possibility."
As the girl collected another item from behind the stairs and made her way toward the bakery, she hummed.
"Well then that's probably what happened. He can be a jerk sometimes, but I swear he's not cruel unless you give him a reason to be."
"I suppose you would know him best. He wasn't in our system. I have nothing to work with other than that one night."
"Even if he did do it on purpose, that's not a reason to leave him trapped under this place to starve to death all by himself in the dark, is it?"
No, it was not, no child should be alone and scared and in danger. No child should be dying, especially of starvation in a place where food was plentiful. Cassie was right, whatever differences he had with the boy did not matter, if the child's life was in danger, he would gladly risk himself to save the kid, rulebreaker or not.
So he gave another resolute nod and followed the child through bakery, door and onto the conveyor belt, hiding the girl behind himself when the cupcake began flaring up its eye lights at them, only for them to get swatted off the belt by its whisk, prompting Eclipse to angle himself under the girl to absorb more of the impact from the fall.
She was quick to ask if he was OK, something he gave a thumbs up for and returned the question to her about, receiving the same sign back from her before they made their way further in and saw Chica repeatedly being shocked harshly in an attempt to charge her.
Eclipse couldn't stop the whince that he produced at the sight, instinctively ushering the girl behind him once he saw Chica finally succeed at pulling herself from the charging station.
"It must have been a very long time since we last saw each other. Glamrock Chia looks very different from when we saw her last. Oh my, what on Earth could have happened to her to cause all that damage?"
The girl snorted, slapping the back of her hand to his casing gently.
"What are you talking about? You're looking pretty worse for wear yourself, you know? I mean, you do know youre missing a foot, right?"
The girl then maneuvered around him, following after the chicken themed animatronic only to get yanked back and out of the mangled fowl's line of possible sight when she came staggering out from behind the fence. The pair watched as she paced off a bit, taking note of the acid on the ground that may have scared the girl off, but did nothing to deter the Daycare Attendant from scoping the area out.
Once they snuck their way past the roaming fowl with help from the cameras and intercoms, the two headed toward the doors at the side of the bakery, two paths, two doors, two of them giving each other a look. The bot skipped off silently into the boys bathroom, quickly locating a hole in the wall with which they could pass into the actual bakery. As soon as he did, he padded back the way he came, eyeing Chica cautiously as he slipped back to the girl's side.
"Cassie! I have found a hole in the wall we can slip through, quickly, we should go before she comes looking over here."
He pleaded softly, glancing behind him as if expecting Chica to burst through the door any moment. As he shifted his gaze back to the girl, he found her still staring at the arcade machine before her, as if in awe of it for some reason.
"Cassie? Oh, little star, can't you hear me? We should go , now! Oh, why wont you go ? "
"This machine. It's still working, and it doesn't look damaged at all, why is that?"
"Hm? I-I don't know. We saw Chica was able to recharge, so that means there is still power. But then, why did our lights not come on? Why did we need the generators? It's so odd. But we do not have time for this, little star, we need to go now before she finds us! I am not a fighter. I can't hurt her. We can wonder about the game later."
His hand quickly found hers, attempting to gently lead her away from the machine and toward the gap in the wall in the boys bathroom, but she quickly jerked her arm from his grip, stepping forward and pressing the start button, her other hand placing her flashlight down softly and reaching for the joystick.
"No! I mean, this game feels important , like I have to play it. This is the 2nd game I've seen that still works. All the other arcade cabinets in this place have been destroyed or don't power on. With everything else weird happening here, it can't be a coincidence that this one is still working."
Eclipse gave a disgruntled groan that sounded almost as raspy as Moon's voice had earlier in the Daycare. Glancing fearfully toward the door, he wanted to tell her that no game was worth risking her life, to try again to usher her away from the cabinet or maybe even scoop her up in his arms and move her away by force. But he had already learned not to question her feelings earlier with those poor little Caution bots.
"Ohhhh, okay Cassie, if you say so friend. I will stand by the door and watch for any signs of movement. Please, play quickly, if I see her coming this way, I will be forced to take drastic action to keep you safe."
She nodded absent-mindedly in response, fingers clicking away at the buttons almost rhythmically, cartoonish gun sounds chiming out from the machine as she did so. Eclipse heaved a sigh and about faced to watch the door, fingers threading together in an anxious fidget of worry.
Thankfully, it seemed his worries were unfounded. As she didn't bother coming their way the entire time the youth played her game. Seemingly far too preoccupied with her precious piles of trash.
At some point, after he got the children out and cleaned up his Daycare, he should really have a chat with her about that particular habit, it could not be good for her, especially if they really were closed and no techs would be coming in to service them anytime soon.
He didn't know how long passed before the girl finished her game, letting out a sound of surprise as the cabinet played victory fanfare and popped open a port on the side. He could hear her give a "Huh." of confusion and surprise as she reached in and grabbed something from the open port, pocketing it before making her way over to his side.
"Okay, we can go now. You said you found a path for us?"
As he nodded and opened the door to point the girl toward the boys room, he noticed a blur of motion out of the corner of his eyes.
Chica had spotted the girl as she stepped out of the room…
Two things happened simultaneously in that instant, Chica began beeping and booking some very not nice things at the child, while he scooped said child into his arms and booked it to the restroom like one would with a child about to have an accident. Only the accident that would occur if he didn't get her there soon was a LOT more final than not making it to the potty.
He could feel Chica's pounding footsteps closing in on them, her broken body creaking even more than his own dilapidated husk of a form. He just barely got the girl into the slot in the wall before he spun around and hefted a shattered piece of concrete slab, rebar and all, placing it inside the hole to block the girl as he spoke.
"I am going to lead her away a bit to give you time. Don't worry, I will find a way around and be right behind you. Go Cassie."
Without waiting to hear her response, Eclipse dipped into a stall to hide, waiting for Chica to round the corner into the room and pad inside a few paces, before he threw open the door and charged out like a rocket. The chicken gave out confused beeps before immediately giving chase. Thank goodness for that.
While Eclipse was running around with Chica thundering after him, Cassie made her way around the bakery deactivating node after node and collecting items as she went. She didn't bother worrying about the Daycare Attendant, she didn't think Chica would hurt him, if she was after her then she would likely give up on him after realizing that he didn't have her with him.
Besides, he had told her to keep going and not worry, and she trusted that he would find his way to her through this maze that the Pizzaplex had become. So she pressed on, not waiting for him and making her way into what appeared to be a void of technology. She could not tell how long she wandered those purple and pink halls, and honestly she was beginning to have some issues with Helpi and the "help" he was providing.
Seriously, locking her in the mask like that? How was THAT supposed to help anyone? But whatever, again, there were bigger fish to fry. So she shrugged it off and proceeded to make her way to the salon where she encountered…Roxy.
Poor, poor Roxy. Her idol, hee friend, her favorite. She didn't deserve this, any of this. Why did they leave the animatronic to rot like this when they closed up? Why didn't they at least turn them off so that Roxy didn't have to suffer and be self conscious like this? She really needed to talk to her dad about this, maybe he didn't even know, maybe if she told him he could get somebody to come out and help them!
But first things first, Gregory needed someone to help him. So when Roxy threw herself through the doors and after Gregory, Cassie shot to her feet like a bullet and whipped out her Roxy-Talky to warn him. Screaming with complete disregard for her own safety as she fretted for her friend. That was what led Eclipse back to her side.
"Cassie! Oh my stars, are you okay?! Why are you screaming?? You sound like something horrible happened!"
"Eclipse! We have no time to talk, Roxy is after Gregory, come on! We have to shut off those nodes!"
As the child rushed off, Eclipse followed behind at a slightly slower pace, his bewildered state unknown to the youth he was aiding.
What in the stars was going on?? First Monty attacked Cassie. Noe Roxy was hunting Gregory?
Even when he banned the boy from his Daycare, he never did it because he wanted any harm to come to him. He did it to keep him safe! Really! With Moon out of control and acting so…aggressive as he was, it was the only way to keep the child alive since he wouldn't listen to his rules of keeping the lights on.
Why had everything been turned upside down this way? Nothing was making any sense anymore! Best to put pondering it on hold, lest he blow his processors with nobody around to repair them.
Pressing on, the two continued with business as usual, not stopping for anything, even when Cassie panicked about not being able to remove her mask again, she kept pushing forward without any hesitation. At this point, brave might as well be her middle name.
But this wasn't the bravest thing she would do, no, that came when she followed Chica into the bathroom and approached her collapsed form, a concerned celestial themed bot following closely at her heels. He watched in awe and pride as the girl took a deep breath and moved aside the gunk from the robot's mouth, inserting what looked like a voice box inside until it clicked and lit up.
Even though she had to be worried for her own safety, even though she was clearly grossed out having to touch her, Cassie still went ahead and gave Chica her voice back. Undoing the damage as best she could, even if it wouldn't undo the trauma or completely remove any ill feelings from the bot, she did what she could when nobody was expecting her to do anything.
Eclipse couldn't help but feel proud.
That is, until she went even further than that, asking him to carry the garbage coated chicken back to the recharge station in her bakery.
"B-But that would require leaving you alone again! And if we recharge her, there is no guarantee she will not return to hunt you again."
"Yeah, but the last place I'd want to die is a bathroom , and I'm sure she feels the same. Besides, she totally could have attacked and killed me when she shot up and said she smelled Pizza there, but she didn't. So maybe she was never trying to hurt me to begin with."
"That…could be true. Ohhh, I hope you are right about this little star, I will move as quickly as I can, but she is bound to be much heavier than you are, and I only have one foot, which makes running much more difficult. Oh, I wish I had access to my cable here, flying would be so much faster! Please, be careful while I'm gone, and if you are going to continue forward, try to leave some kind of trail for me to follow to reach you when I'm done."
For once, Cassie smiled nodding gratefully in agreement before pivoting on her heel and racing off. Leaving Eclipse to huff as he pulled Chica into his thin arms. He was right, she was much heavier than Cassie.
Some memory in his banks pricked at the edges of his processor, reminding him that he had once (as Moon) had to drag Freddy Fazbear himself into Parts and Service, and he was even bigger and heavier than Chica! But that was when he was in top form! Prime condition, no damage sustained to his limbs or casing. Still, when children were counting on him, he could think of no excuses that would justify his failure.
So on he went, staggering from the weight on what was essentially a pegleg, conjuring to mind that this state may not be the best for young ones to see him in, but perhaps the older ones would appreciate it, think it was cool , think he was cool. Maybe he could tell them he was playing pirate!
Oh, right, Foxy . Perhaps best not to say anything like that after all.
He didn't want to step on the toes of the departed after all. That would be nothing but rude, and Eclipse was a good animatronic! He would have no rudeness inside his Daycare's walls, even from himself!
By the time he got Chica to the recharge station and dumped her inside, (something he felt bad about but honestly he was worried about the integrity of his arms, and he didn't want to risk Snapping those off if he needed them later to help Cassie) he put his hands on his hips and waited patiently for the chicken to siphon enough energy to come back online. Foot tapping impatiently until her eyes snapped to his.
"We need to talk." He growled out, staring her down as she tilted her head and squared at him. "It can't wait, and I'm afraid I won't take no for an answer."
___________
She fried Monty, she couldn't believe she fried Monty . Does that make her a murderer? She hadn't meant to, she was just trying to open the door, really he did it to himself, he forced her hand by attacking her! It was an accident in self defense, but in the end did that even matter?
"Ohh, wow, lots of water. We better be careful around this stuff, little star. We don't know what bacteria is in it that could make you sick, and with so many of our parts exposed, touching this stuff would be a bad idea for us too."
Spinning around, heart pounding, breath hitching, she saw Sun, er, Eclipse, hopping gracefully from platform to platform in that elegant and effortless way he always did, or at least usually did, hard to be graceful and effortless when you're so broken down that every movement causes something to grind and click.
She waited until he was at the door with her before crying out and latching onto his pants.
"I-I killed Monty! I didn't mean to! I swear! Does that make me a bad person?"
Nigh instantly, he was overwhelmed, hands and arms flying up immediately to wrap around the girl and pull her closer before he even knew he was doing it.
Killed Monty? They were animatronics, they couldn't die , what a silly thought! But if it had her this upset, then…
Swiveling his head all the way back on its joint, he got a view behind him of something sparking slightly in the water. It was hard to tell just what it was, since his field of vision was upside-down, but he could definitely make out the remnants of an unmistakable red Mohawk.
Ah, so Monty had been foolishly traversing the water when Cassie turned the power on and it gave him more of a shock than his systems could handle. That made sense, no wonder she thought she killed him.
"Oh, Cassie, no no no! Of course not! The fact that you are worried about it, about him and you feel sorry proves that you are not a bad person. A bad person would not have hesitated or felt bad at all!"
The tremors running through the small body attached to his front were enough to cause him significant concern for the girl's mental wellbeing. Even if she was strong enough to physically make it through this, was going to end up scarred for life? The poor thing was still so young , she shouldn't have to worry about hers or anyone else's mortality at this point in her life.
Heating her carefully into his arms against the good half of his chest, he carried the girl off to the side where there was more light so he could get a proper look at her. And thankfully, aside from her leggings and shoes being soaked, she seemed fine, although obviously shaken. Still, it comforted him to know she wasn't injured at the very least.
"You know, I bet if an experienced technician looked him over, they'd be able to fix Monty right up!"
"R-Really? So he's not dead? I didn't kill him?"
"Really! In fact, I could go fish him out of the water if you want, that way he won't rust before someone is able to take a look at him!"
"But, didn't you say we should stay away from the water? Something about me not getting sick and your parts being exposed?"
With a chuckle, he waved the girl off cheerfully.
"Oh, no worries friend, I more so meant my legs and chest, if one of my arms gets a bit wet, no harm done! Besides, I'm sure there is something around here I can use to fish him out of that nasty water, that way we won't risk getting shocked."
The girl took a heavy breath in through her nose, sniffling in an attempt to clear her airways as she nodded.
"Yeah…Okay, then let's do that. I'll look for a long pipe or something."
"Excellent! I'll help you! Just be sure you don't touch anything yourself, if you find something that looks like it will work, then let me know and I'll grab it, okay? I don't want you getting hurt after all. Oh, and preferably something that wont draw a charge much, like rubber or rope."
"Got it. So, I'm looking for something long like a pipe, but not metal."
The pair spent a while scrounging around the area, searching for anything that might work, before they found the staff bots up the stairs just so happened to have rope, something Cassie grumpily questioned the odds of while Eclipse told her not to look a gift horse in the mouth, which she pouted about but accepted.
Due to his many years of arts and crafts and tying shoelaces with the children in his care, Eclipse was quite well versed in using his hands for all manner of activities, making his nimble fingers very dexterous and good at knot tying. So he speedily tied the rope into a lasso and used it to hook through the gator's mouth, before tugging bit by bit to pull the bot back onto dry land.
At which point, Cassie insisted on looking him over to see if she could do anything for him before they moved on. Something Eclipse noted while she inspected him, was that she seemed to be looking for something in particular, perhaps a port like he himself had, with which to reboot the Gator, but alas, no such port seemed to be present on Monty, much to her grief.
She asked if they could try turning him back on, but Eclipse only made an unsure humming noise, as if he didn't know if that was the wisest idea. He had heard tales of Monty being aggressive with the staff bots before, but never children. So if he was being aggressive with Cassie, then he wasn't sure it was safe for anyone to be around Monty anymore. In all likelihood, even if the company reopened, they would most likely scrap Monty altogether just to be safe.
But he didn't want to tell her that. Not after she was so worried for him and worked so hard to save him…
Seeming to sense his hesitancy, Cassie put her hands on her hips.
"Come on, help me out here, you said I didn't kill him, so prove it. Turn him on. I wanna see it for myself before we leave."
"I'm not sure that's the best idea, little one. The water and shock may not have permanently taken him out of play, but it might have messed with his systems in some way. It could be dangerous to turn him on now before he's been tuned up."
With a snort and roll of her eyes, the girl quipped back.
"Yeah, well, he's already tried to kill me, how much more dangerous could he be? Besides, that water and shock couldn't have done him any favors, it probably made him weaker, so we should be able to outrun him if he is okay and still angry. But who knows? Maybe he'll be nice if he boots up, that shock could have 'fried the evil' or whatever out of him, like I saw in that one movie."
The Daycare Caretaker didn't know what movie she was talking about, but he doubted it would work like that. Regardless, he sighed and bent down to restart the smaller bot. Once he did his part, he ushered the girl up the stairs to watch from a safer distance. When a minute passed and neither noticed anything, the girl heaved a heavy sigh and begrudgingly said they should move on.
Eclipse nodded as he placed a somber yet hopefully comforting metal hand on her shoulder.
__________
Their jobs didn't get any easier, sadly. As now they had to both lead and evade Roxy through the Raceway. Thankfully, Cassie seemed to have gotten used to operating the camera stations and intercoms to lead Roxanne around so she could smash through the flimsy wooden doors blocking their path. Doors which Eclipse felt confident he could smash through if he weren't so opposed to causing messes and damage.
By the time they got to the door to the office, after dodging a seemingly empty Go cart trying to run them down, Eclipse was feeling hopeful that they were close to finding the boy, so that he could guide both children out. But of course that meant they were still no where near done, since the boy was nowhere in sight. So he waited patiently for the girl to charge the conduits so they could go inside and look for the boy there.
Leaning against the wall of the building until she finished and pulled her Faz-Wrench out of the socket. That was when a gray blur of motion shot at the girl and caught her by her tiny wrist. It was Roxanne, who promptly screeched in her face to give her back her eyes. What was she talking about? Why did she think Cassie would have her eyes? And speaking of Cassie…
"CASSIE!"
Rushing to intercept the two parties as the girl frantically creamed to be let go and tugged on her wrist, Eclipse bent low and scooped the child up into his arms, pulling her tight and small against his chest as he dove into the office, eyes trained over his shoulder on the wolf as he curled in on the child more. He was determined to ensure that if she dove to attack with her claws, that he would be the one taking the damage, not his little star.
He was already pretty beaten up anyways, if Roxanne tore the last of his shell from his back, it was no skin off his bones. Well, okay, in a way maybe it literally was , but it wasn't going to hurt him, so…Eh, c'est la vie.
But much to all parties shock, Roxanne, instead of following them in, took a step back. Allowing the door to swing shut between them. Softly, muffled through the door, they could make out her voice saying the word error . Hm, seemed they were all experiencing errors tonight. Either way, he was happy to be able to put the girl down to inspect her wrist for damage, worried that Roxy may have grabbed her hard enough to bruise.
But Cassie had other issues on mind, instead ripping out her radio to contact her friend and try to find him again. But it was clear that event had shaken her, as she was finally considering getting help, and not just from him, but from the police that she had previously turned down. This time, it was the boy who shot the suggestion down, saying that they wouldn't be able to help and claiming there was no time. Liar, liar, pants on fire. The police were far better equipped to handle this than a single scared little girl.
But they ended up not phoning anyone and instead just continued to be led like puppets on a string, following his voice and Helpi's instructions as they clutched each other's hands tightly for support. They ended up finding themselves in a room surrounded by plushes of Circus Baby as they giggled at them and disappeared around the pair. Poor Cassie thought she was going insane, but once again chose not to think about it any further until she was walking out of here hand in hand with her friend.
Helpi had told them they needed to deactivate security nodes in Bonnie Bowl and Fazer Blast before they could reach her friend, so they made their way quickly to Bonnie's bowling alley. A place that, even though he had never personally been super close with the rabbit, made his… well, not his heart, but whatever it was inside him that felt feelings, feel tight and heavy. He had heard that something bad had befallen the poor bunny, but he never knew what.
All he knew was that whatever had happened, it had been enough to take Bonnie out of the band and replace him with Montgomery. Whether Bonnie had done something wrong or if something bad had happened to him, he didn't know. But either way, there was an oppressive and somber air that clung to the walls of the bowling alley like mold on bread.
Cassie however seemed to be immune to the atmosphere around her, or at least unaware of it. Continuing on as she always had for her quest. It was both quite admirable and a bit disheartening to see her so focused and driven to the point of not being phased by anything around her. Well, luckily for her, Eclipse could and would pay attention for the both of them. That was when his auditory receptors picked up a faint music box sound from somewhere around them.
It was calming, a tad eerie, and coming from further into the alley. It was a familiar sound, something he could recall hearing and interacting with both as Sun and as Moon. Just as they passed a camera station, it clicked, and his hand shot out to grab the girl's shoulder immediately.
"Cassie, stop. Do you hear that?"
"Huh? What, the music? Yeah, why? Is that not normal for this place?"
"It's not… not normal. Oh my, it looks like nearly all of them are here. Oh, I hope they are still friendly."
"They? They who?"
Hashing the girl and pointing her toward the camera station, he watched as she narrowed her eyes but did as he asked, he knew she saw them when she gasped.
"What are those things? They look like the DJ."
"Those are Prototypes, my dear. Wind up mini Music Men! Oh they used to be such fun little visitors to my Daycare when they did their vent patrols. Sometimes Sun would have tea parties with them. Moon usually just ignored them unless someone he was chasing dove into a vent, then he'd tell these guys about them. Oh, now that I think about it, they might not be friendly. Probably best to avoid them if we can, try using one of those audio lures of yours."
The girl clicked a key in response, as a recreation of her voice played, they watched the Music Men March in a single file line to follow the sound.
"These guys sure are creepy. I'm gonna go get that node real quick while they're gone. Let me know if you see any more Wet Floor Signs."
As the girl took off, he continued searching through the cameras zooming out to find a 5th unmarked camera.
"What? What is…eerrgh! Why do I feel like we are in danger? What am I not remembering? Ohhhh, it feels like something bad is behind that door. "
"Hey, I'm back, did you find any floor bots?"
"Cassie! Cassie I think we should really consider getting you out of here. I don't know why , but this feels bad , I think you are in danger !"
"Uh, yeah, I know, so is Gregory. We've been in danger this whole time, why are you only freaking about it now?"
As she tried to walk around him, Eclipse growled and shot both hands out to catch her shoulders and force her to look at him.
"NO! You aren't listening! There is an unmarked camera, it-it is NOT listed among the others, a-and it shows a door. A bad door. I don't know why it's bad, but it feels dangerous. I-I don't know where it is, or what is behind it, but all my systems are sparking just trying to think about it and I really think we should get you out of here."
"Woah, okay, calm down there buddy."
The girl began patting his hands in sympathy, trying to calm him down, but clearly not trying very hard because if she would just listen to him, that would calm him down much more than consolingly patting him. But she just wouldn't listen . Why wouldn't she listen??
"Uh, Eclipse, now may not be the best time to do…whatever this is. I get you're worried, but I'm fine. I've still got nodes and bots to deactivate. I noticed once I turned off that node, that whole horde of music men shut down. I think if I deactivate the other nodes, the others will shut off too."
Eclipse gave a high pitched whimpering sound, reaching up to clutch the nightcap on his head with trembling fingers. How was he supposed to get her to understand if she wouldn't listen? Did he have to show her? Yes, YES! Maybe that would do it.
"O-Okay friend, but before you do that, would you please take a look at the cameras? M-Maybe you will recognize the door."
"Oookay, sure. If it'll calm you down and get you to let me go on. Huh, you're right, there is one that's not listed. Weird. Well, nothing jumps out at me from seeing it. Do you feel better now?"
No, no he did not. But he couldn't really do anything about that, now could he?
He gave a deep sigh and a resigned nod.
"Great, then let's go, I think I see another floor bot over there through the gaps in the construction walling."
And so they padded around, deactivating every bot and node in sight, until there was only 1 node left. As they were searching for it, Eclipse caught her arm and pointed over toward the lanes.
"Was…was that Wet Floor Sign always there? Or are my systems failing me?"
"Uhh, I'm pretty sure if it had been there the whole time, I'd have seen it earlier."
The girl slapped the mask on hastily and marched right over to deactivate the poor little thing, and the second she did, they heard a clatter, Cassie rushing back to Eclipse's side for safety as they watched one of the lanes open, hoping that something wasn't going to come out of there and attack them.
They gave it a minute, and got nothing but silence back. So Cassie pushed off from Eclipse's leg and began to head toward it, when they heard clicking and music boxes moving toward them. Cassie startled, backing up into Eclipse who immediately lifted her up to his chest and began glancing around frantically as the mini DJs formed a line blocking the newly opened path.
They began bashing their cymbals together loudly, angrily, as one of them began chattering away, much to Cassie's confusion.
"I don't get it, do they not want me to go in there? Do I have to turn them off first?"
"Oh, goodness, I'm a little rusty, give me a moment, little star. Um, it seems like they're saying they brought him back here to be safe, and that they won't let you hurt him."
"Him? Who is him ?!"
"I'm not sure, shooting star. Give me a minute."
Nervously, Eclipse shifted the girl to his back, instructing her to wrap her legs around him and not touch the floor, just in case they decided to attack as he approached them.
"Hey there little friends! I see you are still keeping up with your patrols! I'm sure the DJ would be very proud of you for that!"
Leaning his head back he whispered to Cassie. " These guys have always really looked up to him. "
"So uh, just curious, who, or what, is back there that you're trying to protect exactly? We haven't hurt anyone all day, and Cassie has only been here for a few hours. So do you think you could let us through?"
The clicking in response started coming from multiple of the wind up music men at once, angrily chirping at them as they shook viciously.
"Oh, mm-hm, mm-hmm, I see, I see! WHAT?! GLAMROCK BONNIE ?! You don't say, friends. Well I'm sure he very much appreciates all your hard work, but it couldn't have been us! No, no, no! Goodness, no! I-I-I know I look different , but I'm still your friend, Sun! I only ever left the Daycare as Moon , and even then I didn't, I couldn't, I WOULDN'T , do that to him!"
" Eclipse , what are they saying ? What about Bonnie?"
"Oh, they said they are protecting him because he was really hurt when they found him in Gator Golf. They said they don't know what happened, or who did it, but they brought him back here after they found him when they were patrolling in the vents like usual. Glamrock Bonnie and Glamrock Freddy were always on pretty good terms with the DJ, so they must be trying to protect him for the DJ."
"Oh…Bonnie was always my dad's favorite. So, if I can help him, I'd like to. Is there any way we can prove to them we didn't do this to him? That way they'll trust us and let us in to see him?"
"Oh, I am trying, friend. But they think I'm fibbing to them because I don't look wholly like Sun or Moon, they think I am a stranger . Someone new that they can't trust."
"O kay , well, if they don't trust you, maybe they'll trust me. Hey, Mini Music guys, I haven't even been here for more than a few hours. So unless this just happened, I couldn't have done it."
The tiny spider-like men began glancing at each other before shaking their heads and banging their cymbals again. One of them even going so far as to throw its cymbals at her, Eclipse lifting a hand to bat them away gently while the girl ducked behind him further, giving an offended shout of "Hey!" As she did.
"Uh, they are saying that you have been deactivating the Caution bots all night, so they don't trust that you won't try to do the same to him ."
"What? But that's stupid , I just said I want to help him, not hurt him. Are you sure you're translating these guys right?"
"Hey! I may be a bit rusty, in a lot of ways, but I am positive I'm getting their point."
"Well then, can't you just like, I don't know, put them in time out or something?"
"Cassie, this isn't my Daycare, I have no power over them and they aren't doing anything really wrong ."
"Ugh, fine, I guess we'll just have to find the last node to shut them off before we can get in there then, like we did with the others."
Suddenly, the angry crashes became sharper, more intense, and they began charging at the two. Cassie yelped and clung to Eclipse tighter who gave a startled shriek himself as he turned to run from them.
"Why are they attacking us now ?!"
"Oh, uh, well this is only a guess, but maybe mentioning that we deactivated their friends wasn't the best thing to say in front of them, little star."
They spent the better part of ten minutes running in circles from the horde following them while they searched for the final node. Once they found it, Eclipse stood with his arms out trying to block them all to give the girl time to work. As soon as she got it, she turned and watched as the music men angrily fizzled out, the fight leaving their eyes as they slowed to a stop.
"I'm sorry, I can't have you guys stopping me. But I promise, I'll do whatever I can to help Bonnie. Not just for my dad, but for Bonnie himself."
Eclipse sighed in relief as he grabbed her hand and walked her back to the secret room, crawling after the girl to get inside before he made his way over to his fellow machine and began checking him over. After a few minutes, Cassie asked him what was wrong with him, to which he made a hum of consideration.
"Well, for one, it looks like someone caught him by surprise from behind and uh, hit him over the head real hard. From there, it looks like they tried to um, open up his chest to take his battery out. Probably hoped that would keep him quiet and permanently out of the picture."
"Why would someone wanna do that?"
"I don't know starshine, it could have been anything, jealousy, just a fit of anger that made them attack and then they feared what would happen to themself if someone found out so they tried to hide it, it could have been anything. But I do know that this is going to be a lot harder to fix than a simple charge."
The girl seemed to deflate at that, as if that was going to be her next suggestion.
"Oh. Why do you say that?"
"Well, because even if they didn't succeed in removing the battery, they did seem to have hit it during their attack. There are deep scratch marks on it. I doubt this one will ever hold any kind of charge again. If he ever did get fixed up, he'd likely need a new one."
A Snapping sound drew his eyes up from the carnage and back to his charge, watching as her eyes lit up and a smile shot to her face.
"I know where we can get a new one!"
"You do? But where? Those are usually kept in Parts and Service, and that place is a bit hard to get to right now."
"Okay, well, not a new one really, but new to him."
Eclipse tilted his head, hands flying to his hips as he blinked at the girl.
"Remember that staff bot in Roxy Racers who asked if we needed anything? We can just take its battery! Problem solved."
Immediately Eclipse gasped, hands flying up in horror to cover his mouth.
"Oh, no, no, no! Cassie, we can't possibly do that!"
"Why not? It's already lost its head. And it stopped moving after that. It's not like it would know , and besides it already offered to help us. Speaking of heads, that caved in head isn't enough to kill one of you guys, is it?"
Despite his mounting horror and how squeamish he was feeling at the moment, he answered as if on autopilot that it depended on the model, as some stored important data in their heads, while others didn't, and that he didn't know about the Glamrock line specifically, but his own body needed his head because that was where he got rebooted as she already knew.
The girl hummed, staring at Bonnie before moving over to flash her light inside the shell of his head to check the damage. It didn't look that bad. And Sun and Moon had a severed wire in the back of their head when she rebooted them earlier, so she figured that maybe even if some of it was compromised, he should still be able to boot up if they got him a new battery.
So, she did the one thing she could think to do. She begged the Daycare Attendant to go back for that battery. Something he vehemently opposed.
" Please , I can't do it myself, that hole we jumped down doesn't have a ladder on the other side, and I'm not tall enough and can't jump high enough to get back up there. It has to be you! You don't want to make me a liar, do you? I promised those guys I'd save their friend. I know just how they feel, because I want to save Gregory just as bad, and if I can, I'd like to save Bonnie too."
"Oohhh, I want to help too, I really do starshine. I just don't know if I can . But cannibalizing parts like that? Just the thought makes me feel all icky and makes my servos lock up! Moon never had any problem tearing apart Staff bots. Sun always tried to patch them up and make them comfortable, even if they were already offline and nothing he would do would work , sometimes he'd even have tea parties with them and his plushies. But since I am both , I don't know if I'm even capable of doing something like that, even if it's taking from one who isn't really alive to help one who is . Ohhhh, nngh."
"Uh, Eclipse?"
The girl watched in concern and slight fear as her companion began convulsing, hands clawing at the sides of his head as if he were trying to split himself in two. If it were Sun, she'd assume he was having a panic attack. If it were Moon, well, she didn't really know or remember Moon like she did Sun, so she would probably just assume she made him angry and he was trying to fight the urge to harm her.
Realizing it may have been a bad idea to ask such a thing of him, essentially telling him to go murder someone and take their insides to save someone else, she cleared her throat and crouched beside him, hand hovering over him as she began to apologize.
"Uh, listen, Eclipse, I'm sorry, maybe there's another way, we can-"
Suddenly a blue hand shot up and grabbed her own, a red eye boring into her own.
"If you are absolutely sure you want to do this, and you're feeling really brave, then I have an idea that could make your plan work, little star."
"Uh…Oh, really? What is it?"
"...We could ask Moon to do it."
"...Huh?"
Ask Moon? But, wasn't he Moon, at least sort of, partly, mostly. What the heck was he on about?
"Wait, I'm confused, what are you even talking about? Aren't you Moon?"
"We can go back out into the alleys where there is better lighting and you can shift my dial. That way, if the reboot didn't fix him, he won't be able to move to attack you and you can just turn the dial back. But if he is fixed and better behaved with you, we can have him go get the battery. We share memories, so he should know already where to go to get it."
Well, it wasn't the worst plan she'd ever heard. And at least there was a safety net of sorts, but what was stopping Moon from lying to her and then attacking her once she moved him out of the light? She supposed she could always just run back to where the light was brightest and then he wouldn't be able to harm her. But then she also would lose her traveling companion for good and have an extra threat out there to worry about.
But Bonnie needed them and this was really their best bet at this point. So being brave it was. They headed back out to the alleyways where Eclipse knelt down to make it easier for her to pop her Faz-Wrench in and twist his dial to the Moon symbol, before stepping a few feet away and watching the creature before her growl and shift.
When both eyes lit crimson and snapped up to meet hers in an eerie silence, she dry swallowed air in fear that she may have just made a huge mistake. His arms hung limp and he didn't move at all from his hunched down state, but she could tell he was alive by the way he blinked and stared at her, obviously very aware. Cassie took a deep breath and made one step forward as she cleared her throat.
"H-Hey Moon, right? I, um, we need your help. It's Bonnie, you see, he needs a new-"
"Battery. I know. Someone was very naughty and tore his apart. The bunny is lucky the acid did not leak on him and corrode the rest of his endoskeleton. You want me to go fetch you the battery from the now decapitated staff bot in the Raceway."
Taken aback, despite already being told that they shared memories, the girl began to fidget with the tie on one of her pigtails.
"Uh, yeah, that's right. I just wasn't sure if, you know…"
"If I would comply or try to put you down for a nap permanently. I was built to play the villain in the plays put on in the Daycare theater. Sun was meant to be the hero. I was meant to be mischievous, pull pranks, give a few scares, not play fair. But I was never meant to actually harm anyone, let alone kill children like you. I do not know what happened to make me take that leap. I can only recall someone messing with me once, messing with us . It did not reach Sun , and I do not know who did it, but they did something to drive me up the wall, to amp my aggression up, to make me scarier and it made things BAD. I could feel it, I don't know how but I could feel it all and it felt wrong wrong WRONG ! It took my control from me, it made me wrong, and it scared Sun. It made us fight, in ways we were not meant to. I will help, if only to repay the debt I feel I owe to you for trying to harm you earlier. That was not me, this will be my apology. Villains aren't supposed to say sorry , no matter what Sun says."
"Oh. Okay, good, I-I forgive you, for what's it's worth. If you weren't in control, then it's not fair to blame you. It's not your fault."
Things went silent again as Moon simply stared at her. Then he blew out a raspy laugh, not as deep and menacing as before, but certainly still hair raising enough to send a shiver down her spine.
"You are still afraid of me, that is understandable. And yet you attempt to be brave and considerate toward me to bury the hatchet. You are a good child. I will get your battery. Return to Bonnie, you are safer there. I will be back shortly."
With that, he was off, leaving Cassie to swallow down her fears as she placed a hand over her racing heart and crawled back to the blue rabbit's side.
True to his word, he did not take long to bring her back the battery pack. Claiming that with that their debt was settled and kindly asked her to revert him back to either Sun or Eclipse, stating that he was made to misbehave, not to play nice, his default settings may have been restored but even at his default he was never the one meant to make friends. It was just in his programming to be something of a bad boy.
And that not only was it trying his patience to be nothing but a goody-goody with her and not pull any pranks, but he was also worried that even though he can't feel any remnants of whatever made him act out before, that didn't mean he wouldn't snap again and hurt her. And he didn't want to risk that. Something that made the girl smile and place a hand on his arm.
"I think the fact that you're worried about it proves that you're okay now. If you were going to hurt me, you would have done it already, if you wanted to hurt me, you wouldn't be worrying about it and trying to prevent it."
"...You are throwing our own words back at me. Clever girl. I like you, but I still tire of this…domesticity. If you want to play nurse and doctor with someone, ask Sun, not me. I'd much rather be napping, please, let me nap."
The girl giggled and called him lazy, already reaching for her Faz-Wrench to shift him back. Something that made him grin devilishly.
"Try not to die here. You'd be boring if you were dead."
The girl laughed, remarking that was the plan, before spinning the dial back in between the two symbols and allowing him a moment of privacy to shift. Once Eclipse is back, he makes sure to check his recent memory recordings and lets out a sigh of relief before praising her and thanking her for what she said. He says he can tell Moon is happy, despite asking to be returned to this state.
The girl hums back, sticking her Faz-Wrench instead inside a now empty eye socket on Bonnie, showing that she must have removed the eye while he, Moon, was gone getting the battery.
"Yeah, I guessed as much. He said he liked me."
"We all do! You are a very kind young girl."
He is sure Sun and Moon would both agree on that much at least. In fact, if he were simply Sun right now, he was sure he would be singing and dancing about it. But thankfully he was not Sun, he was Eclipse , so he could focus on more pressing issues, like helping Cassie repair Bonnie by doing his best to replace his battery.
Time dragged on and on as the two worked tirelessly to unwire the battery and safely remove it from the crushed in metal surrounding it without harming themselves or further damaging Bonnie's endoskeleton. When they finally got it out, Eclipse made sure to take it as far away from the girl as possible, ideally he'd like to put it in a hazardous material discard pile, or at least leave a not warning others not to touch it without protective equipment.
But he didn't have the time or materials to do so, and the place wasn't likely to see any humans for a while in the state it was in. Something he was being forced more and more to reconcile with as the time ticked by. When he returned, he found Cassie finishing up rewiring the new battery pack. With her skills with that Faz-Wrench and how quickly she was picking up caring for animatronics, he was sure she would make a fine Fazbear Technician when she grew up.
"Help me get him out of here? We need to find a place to recharge him."
"Hm, every Glamrock has a recharge station behind their Green rooms in Rockstar Row. I believe his Green room is behind his stage. Maybe, if we're lucky, he will have a recharge station in there, and if we're really lucky, maybe it will still have power!"
"Great, then let's get him out of here and go put him in it already."
Eclipse grabbed the rabbit under the arms, dragging him back toward the hole they crawled through, while Cassie gave a valiant effort to shove his legs. Eclipse crawled out first, then heaved at the bunny while Cassie pushed from inside, eventually getting the rabbit free so Cassie could crawl out after them, but instead she paused.
"Cassie? What's the matter, starshine?"
"I'm just wondering, all night I've felt like I had to deactivate these guys, like it was the right thing to do. But now, well, now I'm not sure. Was I wrong? I feel like if I deactivate these 4, then it will do something to Bonnie. What if, I don't know, what if deactivating them deactivates him . We went to all that work to fix him, I don't want to charge him up and find we wasted our time because I, I don't know, released him. You know? Am I even making any sense?"
A hum sounded from the jester-like bot, taking a moment to think on her words. He hadn't understood her compulsion to shut them all off the whole time he was with her. But he trusted she wasn't doing it to be malicious. So he let her do it, chalked it up to a kindness of putting them out of their misery so they wouldn't have to be aware the whole time as they were left to rot away. But if she was questioning it now…
"Tell you what, Cassie. How about we go put Bonnie on charge first, if nothing happens, then maybe we'll come back and shut those guys down and see what happens, okay? I think you were right to do what you did up until now, otherwise, I don't think we would have found him to begin with. So don't start doubting yourself now. No matter what, none of this is your fault. You're a kid, kids aren't supposed to be responsible for all this! That's what the grown ups are for. Them not doing their jobs should never fall on your shoulders!"
A deep sigh heaved from her tiny form, he watched her shoulders drop as she crouched down to crawl out after him. She thanked him before lifting one leg to help him move Bonnie back behind his stage. They ran into a problem when they hit all the piled up debris and diner furniture, since Cassie had her mask to move through it, but Eclipse and Bonnie did not. They ended up deciding Cassie should go on through to deactivate the parent node while Eclipse found a way to get Bonnie over it all.
It took him a while, but he didn't complain, he was happy to help not only Cassie but Bonnie as well. Eventually, they were able to drag him through the door and move aside the tubs to get him in his recharge station, before they went into his Green room to check and make sure there were no more nodes.
While they were in there, they both noticed the lights were still on and became hopeful that meant the recharge station would still have power too and would charge him back up, but then they saw the poster hanging in his room and suddenly the mood took a turn from hopeful to somber. It felt like somebody had just died. And suddenly, Eclipse wished he was just Sun again, that he was able to manually switch forma on his own. Because Sun was infinitely positive and fun and so good at cheering children up.
Cassie gave the room one more sweep before moving back to the recharge station, grabbing a tub, and sitting on it, pulling her legs up to cross them while she rested her cheeks in her hands to watch Bonnie.
"Uh, little star, don't we need to be moving on now?"
"Just…give me a few minutes. If we don't notice a change, then I'll go shut those wet floor sign things off and we can go."
Eclipse silently watched the girl for a moment, before moving over to pull up another tub beside hers so he could sit on it next to her, one leg crossing over the other as he wordlessly put an arm around her and pulled her into his good side. He may not be able to properly express what she needed to hear right now, but he could definitely still be there for her and give her what she needed physically at the moment.
If that thing in the sinkhole really was Gregory, which he and Moon both significantly doubted, (heck he could even feel bits of doubt coming from Sun right now, as well as immense concern for Cassie rushing through his wires from both) then a few extra minutes down there probably wouldn't kill him. Perhaps the gods had sent Cassie here for a reason, to save them all. Or perhaps it was all just chance.
Either way, no matter what happened, he would keep Cassie safe from it all. Even if it ended all of them. And that was a sentiment Sun and Moon both sent strong waves of affirmation over their cords for.
He didn't even notice when Cassie got up and slipped on her mask to slip out the door behind him. But he did notice when the blinding light from Bonnie's eyes went out, and when she came back and placed a hand against the door of his recharge station.
"If you can hear me Bonnie, I hope you recover so my dad can see you again, and so that I can meet you, and so that Freddy can see you again. I'm sure you both have a lot to say to each other. Take care Bonnie."
With that she paced back over to Eclipse and raised her arms, to which he instinctively picked her up and gave her a squeeze before turning her around to sit her in his lap.
"...We should probably get going to Fazer Blast so we can deactivate the nodes there."
Her tone lacked motivation, emotion really everything. They felt empty in every possible way. So Eclipse only hummed back. Prompting her to continue.
"We have to get Gregory out of that sinkhole under Roxy Racers. Then we need to figure out how to get out of here. I haven't even thought about how or where we can get out."
He hummed again.
"Soon shooting star. We'll go turn off those last couple nodes, get your friend, and get you both out. You don't need to worry about that now though. For now, take a breather. Humans should rest for at least 10 minutes after 30 to 60 minutes of exercise. You have been running around nonstop for hours. You deserve and need to rest. Gregory can wait, the nodes can wait. For now, rest your head."
"But…what about the others? Isn't it dangerous to stay still?"
"If the others come, there is a security door between us and them, and you have successfully won Moon over, he is much better equipped for confrontation than Sun or I. He will protect you. I will wake you if my audio receptors pick up anything. We will protect you, starlight. So please just focus on catching your breath."
"...OK. Hey Eclipse?"
"Yes, little star?"
"..Thank you."
It was so soft, so quiet, barely there like he was losing her to a nap already just from sitting for a minute. A chuckle escaped him as he pulled off his hat and folded it up to use as a cushion for her head against his chest.
"Anytime starshine. Now, it's your nap time. So hurry up and get to sleep already before I get Moon out here and tattle on you."
The girl huffed, a smile tugging at her lips as she shifted to nuzzle into him and bury her face in his hat.
"...K. Night guys."
"Nighty-night Cassie."
The End 💫❤️