Chapter Text
Magenta belongs to @halfusek
Also a brief mention of @insane-control-room‘s Johan and @randomwriteronline‘s Duncle and Malcolm
As soon as Freckle’s sister left with her daughter, Magenta returned to the underground maintenance area. He hoped the girl wouldn’t be back. He didn’t want to have to hurt her. Murdering adults and stuffing them into animatronics was one thing. But murdering children? He wasn’t that cruel.
“That niece of yours is just like you, Freckle,” he said as he entered Freckle’s room. The robot that housed Freckle was smoking in a rather concerning manner, sparks eventually coming off of it.
Magenta sighed. Freckle had overexerted his body again. He did that sometimes when his emotions got the better of him.
“You really need to stop doing this.” He gently lowered the robot to the ground, leaving and returning with his tools. “Eventually you’ll end up breaking yourself beyond what I can fix. And then where will you be? Just a ghost without a body to possess.”
A black mist rose out of the robot, coalescing into a form that resembled the silhouette of Freckle. His distinctive freckles dotted his black hole of a body like stars in the night sky. His eyes bored into Magenta as he floated above the metal prison he’d been confined to.
“Don’t you dare hurt her,” he growled. His voice sounded strange and inhuman, as though he were speaking from inside an echo chamber.
“You make it sound like I want to hurt her,” Magenta scoffed. “As long as she doesn’t start meddling, she’ll be fine.” He glanced up at Freckle with a smile. “Remember, you’re in this situation because you went sticking your nose where it didn’t belong.”
He hated Magenta’s smile. It was too wide, like that grinning demon he was so fond of. It was the sort of smile that made you feel cold inside. It was the smile of someone who had no qualms about hurting you if you got in his way. Which Freckle certainly had.
“Besides, she seems like a lovely young lady,” Magenta continued, returning to working on the body. “She managed to find her way down here by herself, so she’s clearly clever. I have to respect that.”
“She is clever.” A note of pride entered Freckle’s inhuman and reverberating voice.
“For her sake, let’s hope she’s not too clever.” Magenta allowed himself a sigh. He couldn’t imagine how angry Esther would be if he took her daughter away from her. He was almost certain she’d kill him if he did that.
.
Unfortunately for everyone involved, Rachel was determined to get her uncle back somehow. She began to go to other locations in the franchise, trying to find something she could use against Magenta. She couldn’t get into the employee-only areas, but she certainly tried. The workers started to recognize her, immediately escorting her out upon spotting her.
“Why do you keep coming back?” One of the night guards asked. She’d tried to sneak in after-hours, only to get caught by him.
She’d been caught by him once or twice before and she actually kind of liked him. He was always nice to her and she thought his blue hair was pretty. Although, lately, he’d had really dark bags under his eyes. His nametag said Joey, but he’d told her she could call him Johan.
“I’m trying to find information,” she replied, folding her arms in determination.
“Information?” He raised an eyebrow.
“Yeah, information. Like if other people have gone missing here.”
“Other people?” Johan laughed nervously, glancing at the clock. “You think your uncle’s disappearance had something to with this place?” His voice had gone up an octave.
“I don’t think, I know. And it sounds like you know something too,” she said, scooting her chair closer. It made an awful screeching sound as the metal dragged across the concrete. Johan had set her up on a folding chair from the main party area, joking a bit that he should put her name on it.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Johan looked quickly away.
“What do you know?” Rachel demanded, getting up from her chair. Johan hunched his shoulders, angling his body away from her.
“Please…Just drop it.” His voice went quiet. “Mag’s not a bad person. He’s not.”
Rachel tried for a little longer to get any information out of him, but he wouldn’t say a word. They ended up sitting in silence until Esther came and collected Rachel. Johan wasn’t there the next time Rachel came back. She wondered if Magenta had killed him too.
She ran into other animatronics as well on her expeditions. Most didn’t pay her much mind, focused on other children. She did end up trapped at one point, though, by an elephant and a hippo animatronic who had a sort of magic/comedy show. She kept trying to leave, but one or the other kept dragging her back. She was there for almost 2 hours before a worker recognized her and threw her out.
She did this for months, going to various locations to try and get information about other disappearances. She learned of a few other employees who had disappeared at various other Fazbear’s locations, but nothing that could be connected to Magenta. There wasn’t much information on the people who had disappeared either. They’d been there one day and gone the next. Just like her uncle.
She was starting to get discouraged and her mother was beginning to get anxious. Rachel’s exploits had to be attracting Magenta’s attention. Esther was sure of it. She didn’t want to lose her daughter and her brother.
“Please, sweetheart, you have to stop this,” she said after she’d picked Rachel up from another Fazbear’s location. “You’re going to get hurt.”
“But I need to find something to take that asshole down!” Rachel insisted. “He killed Uncle Joey! I have to take him down!”
“Rachel, you’re 14. That isn’t something you can do by yourself.” Esther knelt in front of her daughter, brushing some hair out of her face. Rachel avoided her eyes, staring intently at the floor. She didn’t go to any of the locations for a month after that.
.
Finally, Rachel decided just to go back to Circus Baby’s. Maybe she could succeed in breaking Freckle out. She could even convince him to take Magenta down himself! He was probably stronger than Magenta as a robot. Satisfied by this knowledge, she made her way to the underground storage area again. Once more, she managed to slip by unnoticed. It was actually easier than it had been the first time. Some part of her wondered if it was a trap. But she didn’t care.
Her uncle was where he’d been the last time she’d been down there. He stood on the stage, singing and twirling. He wasn’t there at the moment. Probably sleeping inside the robot, she reasoned. She started toward the room, only to be stopped by a hand on her shoulder.
“Oh, Miss Rachel. Why didn’t you just stay away?” Her blood ran cold at the sound of Magenta’s voice. He’d been waiting for her. She turned quickly around, her eyes burning with fury. She was a bit taken aback by the expression on his face, though.
He looked…sad. Or maybe tired. She couldn’t tell.
“I’m not going to abandon him,” she growled up at him, her whole body tensed. “I’m getting him out of here.”
“You aren’t going to be doing that.” Magenta shook his head, reaching for her arm.
“No!” Rachel jerked away. “I’m not letting you keep him here!”
“There’s not all that much you can do, dear,” Magenta said. “What do you intend to do? Kill me?”
“If I have to!”
Magenta sighed heavily, shaking his head again. “Miss Rachel, this argument isn’t going to serve any purpose other than to rile you up.”
His words fell on deaf ears, though. Rachel’s anger had washed over her like a flood, consuming her with white-hot rage.
“Give him back!” She screamed. “Give him back! I want my uncle back! Give him back to me!”
“Your uncle is gone, Miss Rachel,” Magenta replied calmly. “I disposed of his body myself.”
“No, he’s not! He’s right there!” Rachel insisted, pointing to the animatronic housing her uncle’s soul. “He’s right there and you’re keeping him here!”
“That,” Magenta knelt in front of her, putting a hand on her shoulder. “Is not your uncle. That is a robot. It may house his soul, but it is certainly not your uncle. Not anymore.”
“He talked to me!” Rachel protested, but her voice was getting weaker.
“He talks to me too, but that doesn’t mean that thing is him.” Magenta smiled gently. “He’s not always there, either. Most of the time he remains sleeping inside that shell. He’s not here right now.” He gestured to the robot, still singing and spinning.
Rachel sniffled, hunching her shoulders. “I want him back,” she whimpered.
“Let me ask you something, Miss Rachel,” Magenta said, lifting her face so that their eyes met. “What will you do if you free him?”
“Take him home.”
“And what comes after that?” Magenta asked. “Life can’t exactly return to normal for your family. Your uncle is inside a giant robot. He can’t eat, he can’t sleep. If you go anywhere with him, people will stare. No one will believe you if you tell them the truth.”
“But….” Rachel wanted to come up with a response. She wanted to say something that would shut him up. But she couldn’t think of anything.
“And what of your poor mother?” He continued. “Do you think she wants to see her brother suffering like this? Trapped inside a prison of metal that he can never escape from. It wouldn’t be her brother anymore. Not really.”
Rachel tore herself away from him, scrunching her eyes closed and frantically shaking her head as if that would dispell what he’d said.
Because he was right. He was completely right.
And she hated it.
“Please, Miss Rachel. Just go home,” Magenta all but begged. “Forget everything you’ve seen here. Go home.”
“I want him back,” she repeated weakly, starting to sob.
“I know you do,” Magenta said gently. “But he’s not coming back.”
.
Esther was immediately concerned when she’d received another call from Circus Baby’s Pizza World. However, when she’d picked up the phone, it was just that boy Wally saying Rachel needed to be picked up. She was rather surprised when she arrived at the pizzeria and found Rachel in tears, hugging Magenta.
“What happened?” She asked, stepping into the office.
“It’s a long story.” Magenta smiled gently, handing Rachel off to Esther. “I’d suggest you take her home and let her rest. She’s had a long day.”
Esther frowned, but took Rachel and left the restaurant. Rachel didn’t say anything until they returned to the house. As Esther was tucking her into bed, she said,
“Uncle Joey’s not coming back.”
The defeated look in her eyes broke Esther’s heart. Just what had she seen in that place?
“I’m sorry, darling,” she whispered, kissing Rachel’s forehead. Rachel just sniffed and rolled over, burying herself in the blankets. Esther straightened up and left the room. Best to just give her some space. They could talk about it later.