The Miss and The Music: A Marionette X story

Lost it all

^^^don't mind the Spanish subtitles

•Janus's P.O.V.•

I sat in the office as the bell rang, taking a deep breath and picking up the tablet. I was shaking so much I could hear every little tap as the device clicked against my rings. With a sigh I took a second to pull my phone out of my pocket and place it on the desk, letting the music shuffle. I was having a panic attack for the ages and without the music, I'd be a nervous wreck on the floor.

"What are you doing?" Mars asked.

"I have to have something playing. If not, you're not going to have a stable security guard."

He reached out, picking it up and looking at the screen. "Can I pick a song?"

"Any one you like." I smiled, flipping through the cameras. I should have been paying attention sooner, because I was just in time to see Bonnie exiting the vents. I yanked down on the Freddy head as he entered the room, looking to and fro to find me. After a few seconds he left, but I noticed that Mars hadn't moved. He was still scrolling through my phone, looking at my music.

"What the hell?" I pulled the mask off. "He walked right by you."

"Mhm." He nodded slightly, like it was just a normal occurrence.

"Is there any specific reason for that?"

"Huh?" He looked up finally. "Oh, they've never paid any attention to me."

A ringing noise startled us both. I knocked the phone off of its base and listened in silence to the prerecord end message.

Ah...hello, hello! Uh, see, I told you your first night wouldn't be a problem. You're a natural!

Uh, by now I'm sure you've noticed the older models sitting in the back room. Uh, those are from the previous location. We just use them for parts now. The idea at first was to repair them...uh, they even started retrofitting them with some of the newer technology, but they were just so ugly, you know? The smell...uh, so the company decided to go in a whole new direction and make them super kid-friendly. Uh, those older ones shouldn't be able to walk around, but if they do, the whole Freddy head trick shoud work on them too, so, whatever.
Uh...heh...I love those old characters. Did you ever see Foxy the pirate? Oh wait, hold on...oh yeah, Foxy. Uh, hey listen, that one was always a bit twitchy, uh...I'm not sure the Freddy head trick will work on Foxy, uh. If for some reason he activates during the night and you see him standing at the far end of the hall, just flash your light at him from time to time. Those older models would always get disoriented with bright lights. It would cause a system restart, or something. Uh, come to think of it, you might want to try that on any room where something undesirable might be. It might hold them in place for a few seconds. That glitch might be in some of the newer models too.

"Jesus Christ this guy likes to ramble on doesn't he?" I snickered, listening to Mars laugh.

One more thing - don't forget the music box. I'll be honest, I never liked that puppet thing. It was always...thinking, and it can go anywhere...I don't think a Freddy mask will fool it, so just don't forget the music box.

Anyway, I'm sure it won't be a problem. Uh, have a good night, and talk to you tomorrow.

"He never liked you either." Mars shook his head, knocking the phone off the table completely like a child. It made me giggle.

"Should I even bother with winding the music box if he isn't there?"

"No." He smiled. "I'm sure if he comes anywhere near here he'll hear the music and wander off somewhere else."

With that he seemed to settle on a song and placed the phone back on the desk. The tune was slow, the sound of a cigarette being lit. I recognized it as the opening to Done for You. I began humming the lyrics as I flipped through the cameras, pointing to the flashlight on the desk.

"Flash the hall for me?" I asked Mars, pouting slightly. He smiled and gladly obliged.

"I like this song."

"Have you ever heard the group before?" I inquired.

"No, I haven't. I don't listen to a lot of music these days."

"How come?"

"Don't really have any resources to."

I nodded, noticing a slight sound of radio static. Mars flashed the hall, and to my horror I saw Toy Foxy hanging from the ceiling. It's jaw was hanging wide open.

"Aye Matey..." A crackling voice slipped into the room, Toy Foxy following. It was on the ceiling, staring at us.

"Get the fuck out Mangle." Mars said suddenly, and the animatronic seemed to hiss before crawling back out of the room.

"Mangle?" I asked, taking a shaky breath.

"That's what we call it. Y'know, since it's kind of...mangled."

"That makes so much sense."

We continued to switch the lights on and check the cameras, the music playing alongside us. I started singing without realizing it as I checked the cameras, the song had changed but I still knew it by heart.

"I ruled the world, with these hands I shook the heavens to the ground." I smiled. "I laid the gods to rest. I held the key to the kingdom lions, guarding castle walls. Hail the king of death."

"Then I lost it all," I started on the chorus, my soprano chime ringing out. "Dead and broken, my backs against the wall, cut me open, I'm just trying to breathe just trying to figure it out. Because I built these walls to watch them crumbling down. And I said, then I lost it all, and who can save me now."

I stopped singing, noticing the quiet in the building. It was like someone had shut everything off. My eyes slipped to the side to see Mars staring at me, a dreamy look in his eyes. I blushed slightly, picking up the flashlight and returning to my job. I flashed the hallway in front of me, only to be startled and almost dropping the device.

"Holy shit is that Foxy?!" I shouted, holding the flashlight on the animatronic. He seemed to stare for a second before twitching, turning and walking away, just as the bell rang. I slumped back in my chair, letting out a breath I'd been holding.

"Saved by the bell." Mars chuckled. "Where you off to now? Home?"

"School." I groaned. "I'm a senior at Rowan."

"No shit," he exclaimed. "Really? How old are you?"

"I'm seventeen, but I turn eighteen Saturday, actually. I'm graduating in a couple of weeks."

"Any college plans?"

"Not yet." I shrugged. "Anyway, I have to get going if I'm going to make it on time."

"Would you mind if I walked you to school?" Mars asked, smiling. It was a somewhat odd request, but come to think of it, that would be nice.

"Sure, it's not all that far from here."

***
Hey guys, I just wanted to say we had a massive windstorm yesterday that knocked the power out for everyone in town. I don't know if I'm going to be able to update a lot the next few days because of it. I'm sorry if there's any delays! But I'll do my best~ love you guys, have a good day!