Multi Fandom One Shots And Short Stories

(FNAF- FANGLE) In The Valleys (1/4)

This is part 1 of 4! Here's some pre-reading tidbits: Mangle uses she/they pronouns, The Puppet uses xey/them, and both the restaurants from the first and second games have been smooshed together to create a sorta hybrid-ish establishment. There's gonna be more details in the end notes :)

TW's: Setting dislocated joints, mentions of scars, some self-worth issues

Word Count: 1570

An animatronic's sense of time is more accurate than any clock in existence. They are, of course, an amalgamation of wires, artificial intelligence, and furry metal plating. In the case of the animatronics at Freddy's, there's also a soul stuffed in there somewhere. With the two natural clocks working in tandem, the animatronic's perception of time was accurate down to the second.

The moment the clock struck midnight, the pizzeria came alive. It started with sleepy murmurs and quickly grew to welcome greetings spreading among the residents of the restaurant.

Mangle blinked open their mismatched eyes and scanned the room they were in: Kid's Cove. She could work with this.

They took a brief moment to assess the condition she'd been left in before heaving herself to her hands and knees.

They gasped as a wave of pain washed over their entire body. Clenching one hand into a fist, she swore through tightly gritted teeth. Her spine ached as they curled, their forehead resting against the cool tiles.

"Come on," they murmured to themself, "you can do this."

Another attempt to stand elicited a long string of curses that would have made Foxy proud.

She clenched her jaw, shut her eyes, and forced herself upright. The only thing keeping them sitting was a firmly planted hand against the Prize Counter.

"Mangle?" A slight rustle of fabric from behind her made Mangle cast a glace over her shoulder. Mari was heaving themself out of xer jack-in-the-box. "Good heavens, kid!" Xey exclaimed.

Mangle tried to smile. "Aww, do I look that bad, Mar?"

Mari rolled their eyes playfully. "You're impossible," they quipped lightly. Their airy tone couldn't hide the worry in xir eyes, though.

"Learned from the best," Mangle shot back, their mismatched gaze drifting a bit as they fought to stay upright.

Carefully, Mari lowered one long-fingered hand onto Mangle's shoulder. "How bad is it today?" Xey asked.

"No better than any other day but not as bad as it could be," Mangle replied.

"Kid," Mari said, tone gentle but exasperated, "I love you, but that tells me absolutely nothing."

Mangle sighed, bringing a hand up to rub at their forehead. "I'm pretty sure I can fix everything on my own. It's nothing I haven't done by myself before, anyway."

Mari's brows wrinkled in concern. "Mangle," xey said slowly, "you know you don't have to, right? Do everything on your own, I mean."

Mangle pursed her lips. "I know," she said quietly.

"You're not alone, sweetheart," xey said, "I know for a fact that that pirate partner of yours would do everything he could to help you out."

Mangle rolled their eyes at Mari's suggestive side-eye. "Oh, shut up," she said, trying to ignore the blush that was creeping toward her cheeks. "Besides, I don't want him knowing just yet."

Mari bit xer lip. "May I ask why? You don't have to answer; I'm just curious."

Mangle shrugged, wincing as the movement twinged one of her many injuries. "I don't know, really. It's just not something I'm 100% ready to be open about? If that even makes any sense."