Chapter 21: Day 5Bx2 - Not By The Hair On My Chin!
"I think some rules are meant to be broken."
"You shouldn't have come back here kid." A deep, feminine voice said from afar. Moon saw it first. "Duck!" He shouted. Gregory saw from the side, behind one of the counters, Roxanne diving towards him. She let out a guttural scream, narrowly missing the ducking Gregory.
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She landed perfectly on her feet in the middle of the hall, barely missing the tables and chairs.
"You're coming with me pipsqueak." She said, threatening Gregory.
Gregory stashed the flashlight and drew his gun. Moon drew his scarf. Barely missing a heartbeat she charged Gregory, running on all fours. He prepared to aim but the moment she saw him she started moving serpentine. Moon grabbed Gregory out the way and threw a mop bot at her just as she dove. He ran with the boy several metres back.
"Oh you have a helper, huh?" Roxanne said, finally noticing Moon. "Two can play that game too." She put her two fingers in her mouth and whistled. Gregory had never seen her do that before.
All the security bots in the area immediately turned their attention to Roxanne. She pointed at the two and they all began rolling towards them.
Moon put Gregory down. "There's too many of them! We need to run!" Moon shouted, assessing the situation.
Gregory nodded motioning towards the main entrance. The pair started running, not looking back.
Roxanne started to run at them again but ran directly into one of the bots, it having gotten in her path. She cursed as she pushed it off her.
Back in the lobby, Gregory and Moon knew they needed to hide. "Get in the café. I'll d-distract them." Moon said, fear starting to rise in his voice.
"What about you?"
"I'll climb the tree." He said before running off. Gregory nodded and ran into the Café, closing the doors behind him. His presence in the café triggered some lights giving the room an orange glow. It was still pretty dark in it however. Gregory ducked behind the counter.
A few seconds after Gregory had disappeared into the café Roxanne and the bots poured in from the entrance. Moon scrambled to the top of a palm tree ensuring the bots couldn't reach him. They just encircled the tree staring up at him.
Roxanne jumped into the lobby, eyes full of anger. She noticed Moon instantly, the bots around the tree giving him away.
"Where is he?!" She demanded from Moon.
"Whyever who do you mean?" Moon asked, feigning ignorance. Roxanne growled at him in response.
"It doesn't matter. Hide him all you want. You forget I can see things you can't? I will find him." She said. Her eyes blinked from red to yellow as she looked around before settling on the café.
Moon had been hiding it until this point but he was terrified. He'd never faced any of the animatronics before, let along Roxanne with a small army. Sun wasn't there this time to encourage him either. He closed his eyes and gathered his thoughts.
Your words echoed in his head. Protect. The. Boy.
Moon watched as Roxanne turned his attention from him to Gregory and stomped towards the FazPad. Summoning enough courage he jumped off the tree landing on the shoulders of the security bot. Moon grabbed one end of the scarf and swung it at Roxanne. It wrapped around her leg.
He pulled back. Before she could realize what was happening Moon used all of his strength to yank back. He pulled Roxanne off the ground, causing her to lose her balance. She was dragged towards the stairs and flung off, falling down in the process.
The force Moon used caused him to lose his balance too, tumbling over, landing in the dirt around the tree. It caused a chain reaction sending the corrupted bots down too. A few landed on Roxanne at the bottom of the stairs.
Moon quickly got up and reeled his scarf back. He somersaulted to the top of the stairs. He hoped that it was enough to knock her out. His hopes were not answered as he saw as Roxanne get up. In frustration she grabbed the janitorial bot atop her and ripped it in half. She let out a guttural scream, eyes narrowing on Moon.
"Nevermind the kid. You are so dead! I'm going to tear you apart first!" She shouted and began ferally charging up the stairs.
Scared, Moon ran into the FazPad and closed the doors. Gregory had been watching and got up to help. He quickly slid a chair in front of the handle. To re-enforce the door they slid a broom blocking the handles. They knew it wouldn't hold Roxanne for long.
"What do we do?" Moon asked, panicked.
"I-I don't know."
"Didn't you beat her before? How?" Moon knew about Gregory's little training sessions with Roxanne. He hoped Gregory had an idea.
"W-well-"
The two backed up as Roxanne banged on the door. It didn't take long for her to bust down the door causing the chair to go loose. The broom was smashed in the process.
"Now then. Let's end this." Roxanne commanded. She stepped forward slowly, staring at the both of them. Moon jumped upon a table and shot his scarf at her. She blocked it with her arm, the scarf wrapping around it. She smirked at Moon before shaking her arm and grabbing the scarf. Before Moon could react she yanked back sending him forward. Roxanne ducked and Moon was flung out of the café, slamming against a wall, scarf too.
Roxanne dropped the scarf, believing Moon to be out for the count. She cackled, letting out a dark laugh.
Gregory aimed his gun and fired, hitting her in the eye. She flinched as she turned her attention back to Gregory.
"You won't stop me. You're coming with me, willing or not." She started to walk towards him slowly. Gregory looked back behind him. It gave him an idea. He shot again, firing several more laser blasts at her.
"ARGH! If that's how you want to play fine!" Roxanne looked down and got on all fours and lunged at him. Gregory didn't move. He was waiting for the exact moment, silently hoping this would work. When she was just in front he ducked and dropping the laser gun held the knife with both hands. He rose up jamming the knife directly into her chest. Gregory then crawled away as Roxanne landed, knocking loose several chairs and tables.
She just got up like nothing had happened. The knife was lodged in but it had barely pierced her. She merely laughed it off.
"You think that could have stopped me? I am the best, strongest of them all! Some flimsy knife isn't going to cut it ki-" Gregory shot another laser at her, cutting her speech off.
He was running out of ideas. At least before he had something stronger. He looked behind him. Moon was still out, seemingly unconscious. He got another idea seeing Moon out. He looked back to see Roxanne, holding a chair. She threw it at him giving him barely enough time to dodge. The chair smashed into several pieces. Gregory ran behind the counter.
"There's nowhere to run kid."
He ducked behind the counter, gathering his focus.
"You know I can see you right? You're not putting up much of a fight."
"I don't need to! You're easy to beat!" Gregory shouted from behind.
"How dare you! I am the best! You can't win." Roxanne lunged and jumped upon the counter, ready to snatch the boy.
Gregory took that opportunity to run back just before she could grab him and go directly opposite to him. He was against the window now. He looked down and hoped this would work.
"There's no point to you running. I will catch you. I'm getting sick of this game." Roxanne said, furiously.
Gregory shot at her again, serving to only make her madder. She let out a scream and lunged at Gregory. He closed his eyes and let out a final shot, directly hitting her eyes. It blinded her. He jumped out of the way, hitting his head on a table in the process.
Picking himself off the ground Moon turned around and looked up at the fight. Though his vision was blurry he witnessed as Gregory precisely dodged under Roxanne.
Roxanne flew throughout the air and smashed through the window of the FazPad sending glass everywhere.
Moon watched in awe.
Roxanne barely even registered what had happened when she saw the ground floor and smashed into it falling several metres. The knife, previously lodged barely into her chest was shot forward directly hitting her internals, cutting several wires. The trauma from gravity and the knife rendered her decommissioned. Her lights faded.
Roxanne was out.
Outside the café Moon full got up, his head spinning.
"Oooh." Moon moaned.
Grabbing his head he stopped the spinning and performed a once-over. He had trouble seeing, the impact having knocked one of his eyes loose. It didn't take much to pop it back into place. Some of his joints were a little loose but it was nothing he couldn't fix.
He could do for a serious diagnosis but would survive for now. It was all quiet in the plex now. He didn't hear anything. Wait. Gregory!
Moon grabbed his scarf and ran into the café. He looked over the café before settling on Gregory who was lying on the ground near the window and covered in glass.
"Gregory!" He ran to the boy and helped him off the ground, picking him up. Moon brushed off the glass as much as he could.
Dazed slightly and head aching Gregory registered what had happened.
"Are you okay?" A deep voice asked. Gregory looked up to see Moon had picked him up. Fearing the worst Moon hugged him tightly.
"Y-yeah. I just hit my head. What about you?" Gregory asked quietly.
"I am fine. I am fine. W-w-We're used to being roughhoused." Moon said relieved. He let Gregory go as the boy got his surroundings.
Moon brushed the wires on his neck, making sure they were still working. "I don't know how Sun does it." Moon noticed that one of his eyes was still knocked loose. He put it back into place, it making a clicking sound.
"Roxanne!" Moon shouted then looked out the window.
Both of them peered over the ledge. On the ground below the café was Roxanne. It looked like some of the bots had cushioned her fall but it didn't help.
She wasn't moving.
"Let's keep this to ourselves." Gregory said. Moon nodded. He felt bad, hoping that Sun wouldn't be too mad at him for helping 'slay' Roxanne. If only Sun was here, he thought. He would have thought of some way to win without violence.
There were a few moments of silence as they watched Roxanne for any movement. Alas, there was nothing.
Finally, after a minute Gregory finally spoke. "Could I get the knife back?"
Moon sighed. "I guess. We've already broken enough rules. Might as well break a few more." He could hardly believe what he was saying.
A few moments later they had collected all their bearings and were ready to proceed into the next part of the plex. Gregory, curious himself checked the Café for cutlery. He didn't want to pull the knife from Roxanne just in case she was faking it.
Looking in the drawers he found that all the serious knives had been taken. There were plenty of spoons, forks, butter knives and other utensils but not a single sharp knife.
Though it was the least of their concerns Gregory felt bad about Roxanne. He knew that when he was fixed he would never hear the end of it from her. Meanwhile, Moon had stopped thinking about Roxanne and was more terrified about what you'll do to him when you find out what he'd done.
Without a word the two left the 'murder scene' in the lobby and proceeded to the main hall. They both didn't speak, thoughts consuming each of them.
Gregory had warmed slightly to Moon. He was still a little apprehensive to having being paired with the daycare attendant but so far he had proven helpful. His only complaint was that Moon was a serious stickler for the rules in a situation where there were none.
Still though, he had no reason to fear the attendant. Gregory was still weirded out by him though. But seeing him use the scarf as a lasso surprised him. Moon was cooler than he originally though. He could feel those bright blue eyes staring into his back behind him, a wide smile ear to ear. Knife in the one hand, laser gun in the other hand he peered behind the corner.
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Likewise, Moon had warmed too. Still wearing his scarf he watched as Gregory peered over. He was close behind ready to pull Gregory into safety should any of the animatronics or bots arrive. He stayed close, eyes scanning the surrounding area just in case. Moon hadn't seen the plex lit up like this before, even last year when all hell broke loose it wasn't like this.
He felt different. Sure he couldn't hear Sun but he felt terrible. He'd already destroyed one bot and not was 'accessory' to Roxanne too. Knowing he'd already screwed up he only had one more 'rule' to stick to. Protect Gregory.
It was harder said than done.
The knife Gregory was holding him was annoying him. Children should not be running around with knives! But you had told Gregory it was okay so Moon begrudgingly made an exception. Plus it had helped in defeating Roxanne. He didn't feel morally superior anymore. In his mind he was just as bad as Gregory. He'd destroyed bots, damaged property, allowed a child to have dangerous item and participated in a murder. If he could hear Sun he wouldn't hear the end of it.
Despite the animosity, they had a mission to complete and would just have to deal with each other.
The main hall was still in lockdown. Because of the erratic patterns the bots had been moving in a lot of chairs and tables had been knocked over, strewn about the place. Even though none of the band members were around there were still plenty of security and janitorial bots rolling around. They were wielding weapons and whatever objects they could carry. None had taken notice of Gregory or Moon yet as the two entered.
The two noticed a little display in the centre of the hall. On a table was a large multi-layer cake with candles that had gone out. The cake was stylized with purple icing. There were details on it but it was out of the way so the two chose not to go there.
At the end of the hall were the stage and the entrance to Rockstar Row. Gregory played it through in his head. There were still a few animatronics that were unaccounted for. Monty, Freddy, the DJ and his mini-me were still missing. There was also Vanessa who was still MIA.
Because of the bots whirring around the two decided to not take a direct path to the stage. It was too dangerous and neither wanted another fight.
"You're cooler than I thought." Gregory said, suddenly. He had been playing back how Moon handled Roxanne and the earlier bots.
"Oh, w-well thank you. You're kinda cool too." Moon was not expecting the compliment causing him to stammer.
"That was pretty sick what you did with the scarf." Gregory said. "We use it to grab troublemakers." He played with the scarf idly.
Both saw some robots whirr towards Monty's area.
"How were you able to dodge Roxanne? I've never seen a kid move that fast."
The two walked along the side of the hall, ready to duck behind counters and hide in the kid-karts if necessary. "I've had a lot of practice. Me and Roxanne play tag occasionally." Gregory said smiling, watching ahead. This kid is something else, Moon thought.
Seeing a bot coming in their general direction the two hid. Gregory quickly hid in a nearby kart while Moon jumped into the bush, dimming his eyes so he wouldn't be seen. The action worked and the bot continued on.
Gregory was wondering exactly why Moon was so passionate for the rules. None of the other animatronics were like that. He looked at his knife, recalling what Moon had said about him also breaking rules. "Since we're in lockdown, do you think the rules are suspended too?" He asked.
Gregory looked at Moon. He seemed to be thinking over the question. Being close to him he could hear some of the gears turning within him.
He just bent over, depressed. "I-I don't know. We don't have a scenario for this." He looked around. "I don't really leave the daycare."
"Well I think they do." Gregory declared. "The only rule right now is to survive." Gregory said courageously.
Moon looked at him surprised. It triggered a memory in his head, one he had long since forgotten. He stopped.
Now a few steps ahead, Gregory stopped, noticing that Moon had stopped.
A memory unfurled in Moon's head of Sun leading a lost kid through the plex. It was closing time and a powerful wind outside had caused a blackout, with only a few emergency lights remaining on. Being able to see through the darkness, Sun elected to carry the child. He wasn't sure why Moon wasn't summoned when the lights went out but he knew he had to be strong, for the child's sake. He talked with the kid to get his mind off being scared of the dark.
"Well, I think some rules are meant to be broken." The child said as Sun carried them.
"You can't say that!" Sun said, aghast at the kid's suggestion.
"Some rules don't do anything. They just make it harder to do stuff." The child complained."
Sun thought it over. "No way! Well, maybe. Just this once." He said snidely.
As he carried the child a though occurred to him. He was breaking the rules! "You know, I'm not allowed to leave the daycare." Sun whispered maliciously.
"See, you're just as bad as me." The child laughed.
"Oh, stop it. You'll make me into a bad guy." Sun laughed along with the kid.
"Sometimes you have to break rules to help people." The child said.
"Hmm, I think you're right. Don't tell your parents that now." Sun poked the kid on the nose. "You'll get us both in trouble."
"Don't worry. I won't tell them." The child said, a massive grin on their face.
Reality came flooding back as Gregory poked Moon.
"Are you okay Moon?"
"Oh, uh...yeah." Moon shook his head. He sighed. If only Sun was here, he thought.
"You zoned out."
"Yeah. I-something you said, reminded me of Sun. That's all. Let's go."
The two continued eventually reaching the stage. Making a right they went into the hallway to reach the Row.
"How do Sun and you work exactly?" Gregory asked.
"He and I can hear and see each other. And when it gets dark, we just switch."
"But you can't hear him now though?" Gregory asked.
"No. Not since we switched." Moon shuddered. "Whenever we switched we could always still talk to each other somewhat."
The two continued walking through the hallway. It was the same place where Monty had thrown a mop bot at the wall, it having been repaired. There was no security bots in the hall.
"Well, we make a good team, even without Sun."
"...I agree." Moon said. He thought about it. He surprised himself at how much he'd changed his opinion of Gregory in the last hour. At first he felt disgusted at having to herd a troublemaker around. But now he sort of understood that it may not have been Gregory's fault.
The incident, the daycare, the fire. If those were similar conditions to what he had to face right now it was Moon that was in the wrong. He felt bad for going against the kid back then. He could only imagine how Sun felt.
Maybe he was being influenced by Gregory's troublemaking ways. He looked at the boy. I don't know, he thought. He had a lot to think about after all this was over.
The two reached the entrance to Row. They were almost there.
The next chapter will be called Operation Showtime.
The notes have been updated.
ROXANNE: DECOMISSIONED
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone