The One Behind It All

Dive

    "Marionette, just..." I stopped, unsure what to say.

      "W-what?" He stammered, black eyes widening. Suddenly he lifted his arms to his face and let out a horrific scream. It sounded like a small child.

    "Marionette, please calm down!" I said.

     He stopped and blinked up at me.

   "Who's Marionette?" He asked, mispronouncing the word terribly.

     I looked at Endo who seemed just as confused as I.

      Suddenly Freddy ran in. "I heard a scream, what-" he stopped when he saw Marionette.

     "Oh....hello Jake."

     I shook my head. "Who?"

   "Jake," Endo butted in.

    I shot him a look and he frowned. "What?"

    "Ok...who is Jake?" I asked Freddy. Freddy sighed. "Jake is the child....the fifth child."

      Marionette was staring up at Freddy with a bewildered look.

     "But Gold said he was the fifth," Endo said.

     Freddy shook his head, eyes dark. "Gold was the....suit used when...."

   Marionette suddenly screamed again. This time his eyes somehow went darker and he shot down the hall. I shot after him, Freddy following at a slower pace.

     I turned the corner of the hallway to see Marionette in mid air, leaping for Mike who held a pen for defence. It was a comicle scene to someone who didn't get the situation

      Marionette slammed into Mike and wrapped his strings around Mike's throat. Mike swung his pen around and let out a panicked yell.

    I stopped in my tracks when I heard a scream behind me.

    Freddy stood at the end of the hall, eyes dark.

     6 am! 6 am!
    I launched myself at Marionette, willing the chimes to make this end. The puppet was unlike anything I've seen before when he turned. He was shrieking and thrashing, aiming to kill. Blood dripped from Mike's neck as I yanked Marionette away along with the string. He let out a cough and wiped  the trickled away, staggering to his feet.

       He coughed for a moment then looked up. "...well I suppose there's no need for me to get all choked up," he said.

     Even Marionette stopped to give him a confused stare.

     He blinked. "What?"

     Freddy let out a shriek as he slammed into the desk that was thankfully nailed to the ground. Mike let out another yell and shoved on a Freddy mask, then hid under the desk.

      I heard Jeremy's voice come out from under the desk.

    "No! No no no! This is my hiding spot, get your own!"

     By then, Endo had tied Marionette's string to a beam in the ceiling. I let the puppet go and turned to Freddy but suddenly he fell to the floor. To my surprise Foxy stood behind him.

        I heaved a sigh.

     "Is anyone hurt?" He asked. Mike poked his head out. "Oh.  It's just the one who almost killed me. No biggy there." Then he stood and took off the mask, revealing his scarred head a moment before he slapped his hat on.

       Something went off in me. I leaned out towards Mike and shoved my nose in his face.

     "Enough! Whatever happened between you two is in the past.  Almost no anamatronic here has attempted to kill you Mike. Just because Foxy got some damage in and made you bipolar with a few headaches and cheesy puns that come from who knows where,  doesn't make a difference. Even Freddy snapped today."

      He opened his mouth but I cut him off. "I don't care what happened. All I care about is my friend is still upset about it because he believes you hate him. It's time to grow up and use something called forgiveness."

     Mike hesitated before nodding slowly. I retreated back out of his face and watched as he continued to nod.

      "Okay. You're right Mangle. It's time to forgive and forget. But mostly forget."

      Mike looked dead at Foxy,  nodded, and walked down the hall.

    Jeremy crawled out from under the desk. "Man! Mike smells awful!" He said wiping his eyes. I nodded to Freddy who was laying on the other side of the desk.

     "It's probably not Mike."

    He smiled a little then stood, as the chimes sounded.

"Whoo!" He shouted with a small laugh. "Night 2 survived!"