Chapter Text
Great. Just great. First week over and Chica could tell she was going to despise it here. The way the customers looked at her and her co-workers reeked of disgust, almost as if it was their fault the original act got replaced. What’s worse is the fact that she barely knew the building, and pretty much only knew where her spot on stage was and where the kitchen was. Yes, she had a basic map of the building uploaded to her hard drive, but it doesn’t help much when it doesn’t tell you how the rooms are arranged, or what their purpose is, or how to even enter them. As far as she knew, every other room could be a bathroom. Plus, her design. Good God her design. She hated it. Apparently the newest line (or, the “Toys” as she learned they were called) was supposed to be equipped with clothing. But, their creations were rushed, so all they had were the plastic, painted undercovers that were supposed to go underneath their clothes. Bonibelle and Fred both escaped the worst of it, they were only supposed to have a letterman jacket and sparkled vest respectively. Chica, however…she looked basically nude. She was meant to have a bright pink skirt and legwarmers, and lots and lots and lots of colorful plastic jewelry, but instead all she got was a bib and a pink painted pelvis piece that looked scarily close to bikini bottoms. She heard the complaints the customers had about “modesty”, but it wasn't like the employees could throw a coat on her, or something. They already tried that, the first song came on and she had torn it in two within the first verse. The band had stayed on stage all week, afraid that they’d be punished for leaving it, they weren’t allowed to leave during the day, so why would it be different at night? Well, Chica was sick of it, and she was going to do something about it.
“Hey Bonnie?” Chica quietly whispered. She knew the sky blue bunny could hear her, a twitch of her ear gave it away, but she still stood silently, staring as if she was trying to see past the empty dining room and into the parking lot. “Bonibelle, I’m not a moron, I know you can hear me.”
Bonnie sighed, still staring ahead before responding, “What do you want, Chica?”
“Aren’t you getting tired of standing around for days on end? I mean, don’t you want to get a ‘lay of the land” so to speak? Besides the guard we’re completely alone, it’s not like they’re gonna walk in at,” Chica checked her internal clock quickly “5:22 AM and see us!” Chica had her entire plan laid out, she just needed Bonnie to agree with her.
Bonnie sighed, frustrated, before saying, “Chica, I’ve told you once, I’ve told you a thousand times, I don’t want to leave the stage and sneak around just ‘cause you think we won’t be caught. Now leave me alone, I have to recharge.”
“Fine then, I don’t need you, I’ll explore all on my own and I’ll have an absolute blast!” Chica whisper-yelled to Bonnie, but she had already fallen back into sleep-mode. Grumbling, Chica slowly and silently stepped past her keyboard and quietly slipped off the stage. After stepping off stage, she looked around the main dining room. Dead ahead, she saw the mini rotunda that led to the entrance, and further into the parking lot. In the far right corner, she saw a doorway with loose curtains covering the entrance, and a sign above it simply reading “BUCCANEER BAY DAYCARE”. Along the left wall she saw a doorway that led to somewhere, but she could see a corkboard with a bunch of drawings pinned to it hanging on the wall. Further up in the corner she could see the arcade and prize corner, the vaguely space-themed room glimmered like the night sky with little lights embedded into the wall. Neon strips allowed some light in the dim room, but along the farthest wall she could see moonlight flood into the room.
“Better head to the arcade first, maybe I’ll find someone else!” Chica quietly walked through the dining room and slid into the arcade, her steps being silenced as she walked from linoleum to carpet. As she walked in, she noticed the utterly massive gift box in the corner, and a soft music box playing a song she vaguely knew. Across from it sat a balloon cart with a paper saying “Out for more supplies, be back soon! :)” with honestly kind of sloppy handwriting, Chica thought. She decided to make her way to the gift box and inspect it, noticing how the top was split down the middle with something inside.
The bird would knock on it, “Hello? Is anyone in there?” She would stare at the box before the top burst open and a massive spindly figure appeared. She jumped back and slowly looked up at the… Clown? Jester? Mime? Chica honestly didn’t know. She would stare silent for a moment before the Clown-Jester-Mime spoke.
“Well?”
There goes the Mime theory “Ah, hello! I’m uh, I’m Chica, I thought I would uhm,” Chica saw the Jester-Clown glare at her “ uh, n-nice to meet you.” Chica stammered, holding out her shaking hand. The Clown-Jester would look at her for a second, before laughing and taking up Chica’s hand in theirs.
“Well hi there! Sorry, didn’t mean to startle you, I’m Marionette! Or ‘The Puppet Thing’ depending on who you ask, Hah-Huh!” The Marionette’s voice was soft, cartoonish, and… vaguely British? Chica noticed how the Marionette’s voice seemed compressed, as if their voicebox was much, much older. Chica sighed in relief before taking the Marionette’s hand in hers. “N-Nice to meet you! I’m just walking around, trying to get familiar with the building, better get used to it if I’m one of the new stars, y’know?”
The Marionette would nod, “ Yeah, better get used to it and explore as much as you can, the building has a habit of pulling one over on you. One moment you think you know every nook and cranny of this place, the next you find a door you’ve never seen before. Heck, sometimes I feel like I’m a stranger in this place, and I’ve been here for years. Good Luck!” Before Chica could question what they meant, the spindly figure rewound into the box as it shut with a soft click. As Chica turned to leave, she saw the little red dot indicating that the guard was watching. She decided to hit a pose, a smile and a peace sign as she kicked her leg up. The red dot turned off and she heard the 6AM chime signaling the guard’s shift was over, and very quietly yet quickly rushed back to her spot on stage. As she powered down, she watched the nightguard walk past, taking note of how young he looked, and silently hoped and prayed that today was better than the last week.