Anti-Hero

• Chapter 10 •

"So your tellin' me... no one is supposed to care that he's gone??" Monty asked incredulously. Moon nodded.

"We are not meant to be capable of such."

"So... you don't miss him?"

"I do not. Do you?" Moon tilted their head. Monty shook his head hesitantly.

"N-no..." 

Moon nodded and stood up to finish cleaning. Sun was getting frustrated with the messes, so Moon decided to take over clean-up duty for a while.

"But... what about if like..." Monty thought of his next words carefully.

"What if something happened to Sun... would you care then-?"

Moon squinted accusingly at the gator.

"What are you getting at?" Their voice hardened. Monty's head dipped.

"Nothin'...."

~~

Monty had asked everyone, but Freddy, if they could miss Bonnie, none of them gave straight answers. They claimed they didn't care, but their body language contradicted that.

One thing everyone, but Freddy, of course, seemed to have common is all of them held a grudge against Bonnie and Freddy.

They all expressed their frustration and anger towards the two of them for knowingly engaging in this when it was bad for them. Now everyone was under the impression they were just broken.

Monty would be lying if he said it didn't anger him, seeing how everyone was so quick to turn on them over this. But what really frustrated the gator was how the term "broken" was thrown around.

From what he knew of Bonnie, he never fit that criteria to Monty. If anything, the bunny was probably the most sensible and intelligent animatronic out of them all. While Freddy got on his nerves, he wouldn't call him broken either.

It was all very confusing. He was sitting in his room by his vanity reading music. Freddy had given him a list songs he needed to practice after the bear had taught him how to read the notes. Freddy had said he would come check on Monty later once he was done with his night tasks.

He had been doing pretty well and picking it up fast. Though, it upsets him that his voice isn't as high and sweet as Bonnie's, or smooth and controlled as Freddy. His voice was so brash and deep, it made it impossible to sound good while singing songs designed for Freddy to sing.

He turned to the sound of metal knocking on his door. "Come in!"

Freddy slid in awkwardly and waved.

"Good evening, Monty. How is the music going?" He spoke even and professionally. Monty shrugged.

"It's alright, but... I don't think my voice sounds good singing these..." He commented.  Freddy gasped.

"Oh, that is right! Do not worry, Monty, I can adjust your parts in the song... I did not take into account how different your voice is to... his..." Freddy only muttered the last part and visibly tensed. Monty diverted the topic quickly.

"Well... I had somethin' else I needed to ask about." He began. The bear turned back to him to give Monty his full attention.

"Well... all of ya'll are really natural on stage... but I'm having a hard time, I mean... they keep wanting me to... act a certain way," He spoke carefully to avoid reminding the bear again.

"But I don't think I can do it."

Freddy thought for a moment. "Well... if you are doubting your performance, then you're not being yourself on stage."

"But how do I "be myself" while playin' a bass?" Monty asked. Freddy sighed.

"The band is very diverse. We all look and sound very different, but we use that to our advantage! We use our individual features to be more memorable characters overall." He explained. When Monty only glanced in confusion, the bear approached him by the vanity.

"Monty, look at you." He gestured for the gator to look himself in the mirror, which he did.

"You're... edgy." Freddy stated awkwardly. Monty couldn't help but chuckle at the comment.

"You have a very loud voice... your hair is an absolute mess-" He teased and ruffled his hair. Monty laughed and shoved his hand off playfully.

"You have sharp teeth and these... horrendously unsafe spikes on your wrists-" He emphasized by grabbing Monty's wrists and holding them up to the mirror, showing off his spiked bracelets.

"You are a walking safety hazard!" He exclaimed. Monty couldn't keep himself from laughing openly at Freddy's rambling. The bear continued and still gripped the gator's wrists and moved them while he talked to further harass him.

"So use that to your advantage! You do not have to be like any of us, just be you." He finally said.

Monty ceased his laughing and nodded. "Were you just lookin' for an excuse to pick on me?" He asked.

"Irrelevant." The bear responded and dropped his wrists abruptly. He picked up the music sheets again before heading to the door.

"I will speak to management about changing some of the songs for you. Until then, do not worry about singing any parts." The bear assured him. Monty nodded.

"Thanks."

"It was no problem, Monty. Have a good night." He dipped his head before leaving again.

Monty watched him leave and glanced to his reflection again.

He was still not entirely sure what the bear meant, but he had an idea.