The Miss and The Music: A Marionette X story

Beauty and the beast

•Janus's P.O.V.•

I was at home, staring at my ceiling, waiting for Katie to show up. It was tradition for us to walk to our shift together. But I was getting tired of staring at plaster, so I got up, walking down the steps to the living room. Dad was on the couch, watching something on TV, but he smiled when he saw me.

"Hey kiddo, I'm glad I caught you." He turned the volume down. "Mr, Fazbear called, he said to be careful at the pizzeria tonight. Something about an investigation about missing kids, I don't know."

"I'll make sure to keep that in mind." I sighed, picking my bag up off of the floor. I didn't usually bring it, but I had to today. I needed it for school in the morning, we'd be clearing out our lockers.

"Alright, have fun at work honey."

"Oh I will." I grinned, walking out the door, only to be met by Katie running up the steps. She looked excited.

"Come on we've gotta hurry!" She grabbed my hand, pulling me in the direction of the building. "It's almost midnight!"

"Jesus kid you're late!" I screamed, picking up the pace. Longer legs meant I took the lead. We ran, giggling, through the quiet town. I loved seeing the place at night, it was always so eerie and empty.

When we got to the pizzeria we were panting and laughing. I pushed open the doors, only to be met by an unfamiliar face walking our way. I shut up immediately, elbowing Katie until she stopped.

"Well hello, you must be the night guards?" The man said. He was tall, his hair pulled back into a ponytail. Something about him felt off, not appearance wise, but the way his attitude have him an air of superiority.

"Yes sir." I said, standing up straight. "Are you the day guard?"

"Yes I am, my name's Vincent." He smiled. "I would have been out of here earlier, but I just wanted to talk to you guys about something."

"What's going on?" Katie asked, confused.

"Well, I wanted to ask you two if you knew anything about the missing kids?"

"Missing kids...?" Katie whispered.

"My dad said something about it. What happened?" I asked.

"Well, we're currently under investigation because of these four kids, they were all last seen here. So if you could do me a favor and watch the cameras really closely, that would be wonderful. Oh, and also," he added as he walked by us. "Be careful of the Marionette tonight. He's been acting kind of...weird."

"Okay sir, thank you." I said, quickly pulling Katie into the office as the bell rang. "I wonder what the hell's going on with Mars."

"I just hope everyone's okay." She sighed, knocking the phone off of the ringer as it too began to make noise. I listened to the message, chills running up and down my spine.

Hello? Hello? Uh, hey there, night four! I told you you'd get the hang of it!

Ok, so uh, just to update you, uh, there's been somewhat of an, uh, investigation going on. Uh, we may end up having to close for a few days... I don't know. I want to emphasize though that it's really just a precaution. Uh, Fazbear Entertainment denies any wrongdoing. These things happen sometimes. Um... It'll all get sorted out in a few days. Just keep an eye on things and I'll keep you posted.

"Wow so...this is huge." Katie gasped. "I hope we don't get fired or anything."

Uh, just as a side note though, try to avoid eye contact with any of the animatronics tonight if you can. Someone may have tampered with their facial recognition systems - we're not sure. But the characters have been acting very unusual, almost aggressive towards the staff. They interact with the kids just fine, but when they encounter an adult, they just...stare.