Chapter 16. Needed.
August 28, 2024 at 5:00 PM
The whole group was walking out of the cafe in Monty's golf. Gregory walked quickly, confidently and seriously in front of the trio in the narrow, monochrome corridors. This place was somewhat depressing for everyone, and especially for the boy, since he also saw how his comrades were restless from the fact that the owner of this room – Monty – wasn't with them. They tried to cheer each other up a little and ignore the absence of Montgomery, but they were going into melancholy again at the sight of this place.
«So…» – Gregory muttered to himself as he walked through out the cafe doors: «This is his location… He should probably be around somewhere. Although… I haven't heard him here all this time. Means…» – here he began to listen a little to the sides already in the golf room: «Well yeah. He's not here… Precisely! Need to be even more precise!»
The boy stopped and turned to his companions, after which he began to speak cheerfully and hurriedly:
Gregory: «Roxy, do you know if Monty is here? Do you hear him somewhere?»
The trio abruptly stopped in front of the boy in perplexity.
Roxy: «Um… Well…» – she said it a little uncertainly, and then began to turn her ears in different directions in turn, saying softly: «It doesn't look like it… Although he could be anywhere here…» – after that, the wolf looked around several times, and then looked at the boy again, in parallel speaking to him a little louder: «Nope… can't see him. Not a trace, not a sound».
Gregory: «Well… Then let's go back to the atrium…» – he said calmly and started to turn around, but then abruptly stopped, looking at them again, saying: «Ah! And yet!..» – the boy spoke a little louder than usual, and then continued calmly: «Where can I find a Level 7 access pass? And how many levels are there anyway?..» – here the boy turned to the bear: «Freddy, do you know?»
Fazbear, after this appeal to him, looked at the boy with a thoughtful, confused look. Chica and Roxy began to stare at the bear with small concern. After a while, he looked at the ceiling, stretching his hand to the back of his head, and drawled a little awkwardly:
Freddy: «Well…»
Next – silence… Such an awkward silence lasted for about 5 more seconds, but then Fazbear resumed the conversation again, only this time with a more cheerful tone:
Freddy: «Generally speaking!..» – and he turned to the boy, continuing a little more calmly: «There are only 12 access levels in this institution… Um, yeah. It is all complicated here… Security offices… Wait…» – he said thoughtfully and directed his gaze to the floor.
Gregory was a little perplexed by the bear's behavior.
«Why is he so stressed by this request?» – the boy thought, slightly lowering his head: «What does it mean?.. Are there no more security offices in this institution? Have we already bypassed them all or what?.. This can't be happening!.. There must be more places with passes… Okay. We need to think about where we most often found these passes. And this…»
Freddy: «Fazer Blast», – he spoke calmly, thereby interrupting the boy's thoughts, and looked at him: «There's a security office there. Perhaps there will be a pass of the 7th level of admission».
The boy quickly came out of the astral, glanced at Fazbear, and began to awkwardly answer him:
Gregory: «Ah… Got it. Well, then we can go there… You know specifically where to go in it, right?»
Freddy: «Yes-yes», – he spoke calmly: «I will show you where to go».
Gregory: «Great! Then… are working further!» – the boy joked a little and, turning around, went to the elevator.
After a while, a restrained laugh was heard from Chica after the boy's speech.
«Remembers!..» – Gregory thought rapturously.
The whole group moved towards the elevator. The animatronics hastily surrounded the boy again to protect him, just like last time. The boy decided to carefully take the hand of the Fazbear walking in front of him, and spoke to him a little joyfully:
Gregory: «We'll figure it all out! Isn't it?»
At this, bear turned his head to the boy on the move and calmly said with shallow cheerfulness:
Freddy: «Of course, superstar!» – and he turned forward again, slightly squeezing the boy's hand.
At this time, Chica and Roxanne gently put their hands on the boy's shoulders from both sides. He looked back at the first one, after which she gently patted him on the shoulder, looking at him with a soft and admiring smile. Next, the boy looked at the wolf. She smiled a little snidely and shook the boy's shoulder quite well. He grinned and began to look ahead.
«Everything will be all right!» – thought Gregory: «Will figure it out! There's not much left! Otherwise, what else am I here for?»
The group entered the elevator, which was previously called by Fazbear. Everyone spread out and took turns entering the elevator, letting the boy go ahead. Finally, the bear sent the elevator up by pressing the appropriate button, after which everyone went together to the main theme music of the mascots.
Everyone was already in a more positive and strong mood, although more serious. They stood quietly, looking at each other with smiles on their faces. One could see hope in everyone's eyes at that moment in time. The boy understood their behavior a little.
«I'll try to make your hope come true!» – Gregory said in mind, while looking at everyone around him with motivation and joy: «We'll return Monty to normal life! And we'll do more than that! We'll figure it out!»
The others became a little happier at the sight of the boy. Sometimes they’d have a note of pride on their face because of the boy. Generally speaking, everyone was primed for action.
When the elevator stopped, the whole group got out of it. The party bot in front of them prudently stepped aside to let them pass.
Gregory: «Thanks!» – he said kindly to the bot as he passed by him.
Behind the boy, Roxanne's quiet and snide laughter could be heard from this. He looked at her as he walked and asked a little surprised:
Gregory: «What?»
Roxy: «Oh… Nevermind», – she said a little with a grin.
Gregory: «Well… okay», – the boy spoke a little awkwardly and at the same time happily, starting to look ahead.
The boy began to overtake the trio. He was full of energy for action again. He began to walk joyfully and slightly skipping quickly towards the exit of the room towards the atrium. The animatronics accelerated a little behind him, but they began to lag far behind the boy.
After a few seconds of walking, Gregory reached the vertical gate and rushed through it into the atrium. Next, he can be said to have run around an obstacle in the form of a large Monty's golf sign. After that, the boy stopped for a while and began to look around the area, looking for a Fazer Blast.
«Damn it, ah!» – thought Gregory: «You can't find damn here!» – under these thoughts, he chuckled a little: «Looking for signs…»
At this moment, a low, slightly dissatisfied voice was heard from afar:
Monty: «I will find you…»
The boy turned sharply at his voice and saw an alligator walking around the atrium near that very red building with a spotlight.
«And here he is!» – the boy thought rapturously: «Well… here goes! Let's go!»
Chica: «Where are you going in such a hurry?» – she asked a little anxiously, approaching the boy with the rest of the comrades.
Gregory: «You'll see now! We should have a replenishment here now!» – the boy spoke joyfully to the trio who had just come up: «You stay here for now, and I'll go to Monty. Alright! I went».
Freddy: «Wait!» – he said nervously.
Roxy: «What are you thinking of?!» – she asked with displeasure.
Gregory: «I've already told you. Don't worry! Everything will be fine! I'll be back soon», – he spoke hurriedly and moved towards Montgomery.
Chica: «No, please, stop it!» – she shouted nervously after him.
But the boy no longer listened to them and ran towards the alligator. He quickly turned to the sounds of the boy's movement, and then spoke aggressively:
Monty: «There you are!» – and he ran towards the boy.
Gregory: «Yes! I’m here!» – he spoke joyfully and kindly: «Come to me! I needed you! Will you teach me golf? Let's have fun together and not only!» – the boy said and stopped.
«I'm just parodying the Sun…» – the boy chuckled to himself.
After these words, Montgomery laughed maliciously as he walked in a fit of increasing excitement. The distance between them became less and less, and when there were about 10 meters between them, he said:
Monty: «Game over, kid!» – jumped high up with the electromechanical sounds from his feet.
He raised his arms high in the air, preparing for a crushing blow to the boy. The alligator was moving towards him along a fairly high ballistic trajectory, so he could literally flatten the boy to zero after landing on him. The boy began to worry a little and said loudly with a little fear and bewilderment:
Gregory: «Monty?!..»
Montgomery didn't even flinch after that. He still continued to raise his hands in the air at the boy, while baring his teeth at him. When there was a very small distance between them, the boy began to realize that he was not going to stop. Gregory tried to run to the side, but… he was strongly pushed away. He didn't even have time to hoot from this surprise. The impact was… from the side… He was knocked to the floor on his right shoulder and after that, a heavy “sigh” with a small growl was heard on the left, above the boy's ear. Then, in the distance, the rumble of heavily falling metal was heard, followed by a low, dissatisfied and hoarse growl. The boy quickly turned his head to the left and, seeing in front of him what he couldn't have expected, began to ask in perplexity:
Gregory: «R-roxy?..»
The wolf, squinting, looked with extreme displeasure at the boy from above and with the same hostility, through a growl, said to him:
Roxy: «Apparently, being stoned all over your head – is your feature…»
Gregory: «B-but…» – he spoke awkwardly to her, but was interrupted:
Roxy: «What were you even thinking about?!» – she spoke with displeasure, starting to quickly get up from the boy and take him in her arms.
Gregory was in a dazed state. He didn't really understand what was going on around him right now. His gaze settled on Roxanne, and he never took his eyes off her. He couldn't even say much to her. The boy just stared at her in boundless shock and trembled a little.
Roxy: «Idiot!» – the wolf spoke to him in a raised tone and, taking him firmly in her arms, began to run on her own two feet away from the alligator.
Monty: «Hey, kid, where are you going?» – he said pugnaciously, getting to his feet.
At that moment, Roxanne ran around the center of the atrium from the other side and, turning her head to the side, shouted loudly and affirmatively to someone:
Roxy: «Meet in the Fazer Blast!» – then she turned her head forward again.
The boy's mind was in a mess at that moment: too much of a complex of events fell on the boy's analysis. Feelings and sensations have taken over him at this point in time. The boy practically did not take his stunned gaze off the wolf's face, which showed a large amount of discontent. She periodically growled extremely displeased, running around various obstacles on the way. Roxanne ran very fast despite the fact that she was not even on all fours. Sometimes she would quickly look back, keeping an eye on something. After they entered one of the rooms or cafes, she slowed down a little. The wolf ran through several doors that led to what looked like utility rooms.
After a while, Roxanne finally stopped and began to quickly look around, listening to all the sources of sound around. After about 5 seconds, the wolf looked at the boy with a growl and spoke with displeasure:
Roxy: «Why are you eyeballing at me like that, fool?!» – then she held him out in front of her in her arms.
Gregory said nothing in response, still looking at her with the same shock, but without trembling. After that, with even more displeasure, she carefully put him on the floor, growling loudly and baring her teeth at the same time. The boy never moved from his place, being in a stupor from all this. Finally, after a while, he spoke softly:
Gregory: «What was that?..»
Roxanne only began to growl louder and more displeased, clenching both paws into a fist. Then she said furiously:
Roxy: «Moron!!! Just a little more and you wouldn't have a wet spot left! Why the damn did you even go to him at all?!»
The boy hesitated a little, and then, slightly lowering his head, began to speak to her in a slightly drooping tone:
Gregory: «Well… I thought that…» – but he didn't have time to finish, as he was interrupted:
Roxy: «What did you think?! That he'll fly to you for a hug?! I-idio-ot!» – the wolf spoke, gritting the words through her teeth at the end: «Doesn't life teach you anything at all?!»
After that, the boy hung his head a little, but then he raised it back to Roxanne and began to speak calmly to her:
Gregory: «But after all, you also rushed at me at first, but then…» – before he could finish, the wolf abruptly interrupted him:
Roxy: «Don't compare me to him!!!» – she said in a rage and slammed hard on the nearest wall: «He's completely different! Monty is on his own mind! He is extremely stubborn! It will not be so easy with him, because for him the order statement is above all! Heck!!!» – the wolf spoke displeased and hit herself on the head, after which she began to look towards the boy again: «How did you even think of that?! Are you tired of living?!»
Gregory: «I wanted him to come back to all of you…» – he spoke a little sadly.
Roxy: «Well, and how is it?!» – she screamed, discontentedly parrying with her hands in front of the boy.
Gregory: «Come on, my God!..» – the boy could not stand it and screamed a little, after which he took hold of his hair with his hands: «I didn't know! And, crap!.. What's the point?!.. Why do you all even needed me if I can't even restore you properly?!»
Roxy: «Wh… what did you just say?!» – she passed in this place from a lowered tone to a raised one, after which she lifted him by the shoulders, starting to violently shake him from side to side, while saying: «Ah, you fool! Fool! Fool!!!»
The wolf looked at him with extreme displeasure and growled loudly without stopping. When she stopped shaking the boy, he wearily and humbly lowered his head down.
Roxy: «Don't needed, you say?!» – she continued with displeasure: «Then why are we bothering with you like this?! What do you think, huh?!.. U-urgh… I don't like this! Don't you dare even say that!!!»
Gregory: «Crap… Well, what else do you all needed me for?» – he spoke in a broken and tired tone.
The wolf growled again and squeezed the boy a little, furiously telling him:
Roxy: «And how can you not understand?! Heck!!! We liked you – you moron piece! Annoying!!! We needed you just because it's nice to spend time with you! Idiot!!! Where are you going all the time?! You can be injured in this way and, unlike us, you can't be fixed! Your parents still needed you, and you're getting into such scrapes! Have you even thought about them?!»
After these words, Gregory laughed nervously. The wolf, growling, began to ask him with displeasure:
Roxy: «What are you neighing, idiot?»
The boy, throwing his head as high as possible, began to speak softly in despair:
Gregory: «Parents…» – he said and took a deep breath: «Why do you keep bringing up this topic?..»
Roxy: «What “parents”?» – the wolf began to ask with a squint of displeasure, slightly tilting her head to the side.
Gregory: «Forget…» – he answered her with indifference.
Roxy: «I'm now give you a hard time for “forget”!» – she flared up: «Did you quarrel with them over some candy and get lost?! Found an occasion, idio!..» – she was interrupted here:
Gregory: «No!!!» – he shouted in rage, glancing at her abruptly: «Why should I tell you all about this at all?!» – at this point, his eyes began to water a little.
Roxanne was initially a little surprised by the boy's behavior, and then, quickly moving his face to hers, began to speak with displeasure:
Roxy: «Don't yell at me!..»
After a while, she began to stare into the boy's eyes in surprise, stopping growling. The boy initially looked at her with extreme displeasure, but then, noticing her gaze, abruptly turned away. She began to growl a little again, after which she forcibly turned the boy's head towards herself with her nose, saying with displeasure:
Roxy: «Hey, you… look at me when I'm talking to you!»
Gregory: «Come on, that's enough already!» – the boy begged her, lifting his head.
Roxy: «No! That's enough showing off for you! What with the parents?» – she said with displeasure, peering at the boy.
Gregory: «But why?!» – he spoke to her furiously in a broken tone, but then, after all resigned, continued a quieter conversation after a while: «You see… I don't have them».
Roxy: «Drivel… What's your father's name?» – she said calmly.
Gregory: «Don’t now…» – the boy said through his teeth.
Roxy: «Um, ye-eah… Well, what's your surname anyway?» – she asked as if nothing had happened, while squinting at him.
The boy answered her with great displeasure:
Gregory: «Hey! I don't know! I'm not even sure about my name! Are you satisfied?!.. I'm homeless!..» – here the boy felt a new wave of tears: «Damn… And now let's close this topic, finally…» – then he turned away, covering with hand his eyes, which began to fill with tears.
After that, there was 10 seconds of silence on both sides. The boy was sobbing a little, and Roxanne stood motionless all this time, still holding the boy in her arms. Finally, after the above time, the wolf spoke in a calmer tone:
Roxy: «Gregory…» – and grinned a little softly: «What a ninny you are…»
After these words, the boy quieted down a little.
«So, wait…» – thought Gregory: «When was the last time she even called me by my name?»
The boy looked back at her quickly and in surprise and saw her smiling. Then after he noticed that he still had a lot of tears, he quickly turned away again, starting to furiously wipe his eyes. Next, he grabbed his hair, pulling it just as violently. The boy began to make little dissatisfied exclamations.
Gregory: «Don't look at me now… Let me go. Let me be alone», – he tried to sound reasonable.
Roxy: «Nope», – the wolf spoke calmly.
Gregory: «Well, why are you all… so stubborn?» – the boy spoke quietly, through tears.
Roxy: «Calm down… It's necessary», – she spoke softly with a little sadness and hugged the boy to her: «You can cry a little. No one will blame you for that», – she was talking, tapping him on the back: «It's good for you».
After these words, the boy hugged her tightly, hugged her tightly and put his head on her shoulder, snoring softly from crying. After a while, Roxanne began to talk peacefully to the boy, stroking his head:
Roxy: «Repeat once again… we needed you, Gregory. You are part of our team at this point in time. And maybe even forever. I'm more inclined to the second option. We don't want to lose you so easily. That's why… we react to you like this when you do such stupid things».
The boy grinned nervously at her shoulder, and then, without raising his head, began to speak excitedly:
Gregory: «I have nothing to lose… And so… at least I can do something useful. Even at the cost of his life. No one cares anyway. And also… if I can't do crap, then wherefore?..»
Roxy: «You've already done, idiot!» – she said reproachfully, interrupting the boy: «And what's more, in all the time that I've known you, you've already done a lot of good things. And, crap! Now you already have something to lose… Do you like to be a hero, then?..» – the wolf spoke a little jokingly, and then, without waiting for an answer, continued seriously: «Then what if… you!.. Just… sacrifice yourself for… Crap! In short… will you be able to live for us and finally take care of yourself at least a little?»
The boy hesitated a little, loosening his embrace a little, and then said in bewilderment:
Gregory: «Misunderstand…»
And Roxanne persistently continued to bend her line:
Roxy: «Will you be able to live for us instead of dying for us?»
The boy was taken aback by this speech. He told her in perplexity only:
Gregory: «That's… a strong word…»
She only grinned a little, but then, after a while, she continued seriously again:
Roxy: «So, what do you say, Gregory?» – and began to rub her head a little against the boy, wagging her tail a little.
The boy cautiously raised his head to the wolf, starting to peer at her. There was a peaceful smile on her face at this time. The wolf peered into the boy's soul with hope in her eyes. He, looking at her questioningly and with surprise, asked:
Gregory: «And what, is it was possible, really?..»
The wolf, in response, snorted at him, rolling her eyes, and began to look at him again, smiling snidely while slightly lowering her eyelids. The boy, starting to awkwardly scratch the back of his head, hesitantly told her:
Gregory: «Well… probably… yes».
Roxy: «Oh, damn it! Of course, you can, vermin!» – she spoke a little displeased and, laying him on her hand, as in previous times, began to tickle, while deliberately saying in a threatening tone: «Otherwise, I'll personally get you out of the ground and bite your throat out! Do you understand me?»
Gregory: «Alright-alright!» – he spoke through laughter: «I understood! I'll try! Stop it!» – the boy hastily begged her.
Roxanne stopped tickling him after these words and said in a triumphant tone:
Roxy: «That's better!» – began to gently stroke his head.
So, they stood quietly and calmly for about 15 seconds, after which the boy broke the silence again, saying a little awkwardly:
Gregory: «And, um… I'm sorry for my heck… I wanted it the best, but it turned out… as always…»
She only grinned a little and, looking at the boy with a smile, said snidely:
Roxy: «You better save your apologies for Freddy and Chica. If you had seen their muzzles then!» – here the wolf burst out laughing: «They almost fell to get to you! Freddy looked so puzzled, which I haven't seen for probably ages! Such vermin you're!» – she said and ruffled the boy's hair.
The boy looked at her with a small smile, but mostly there was concern in his eyes. The wolf, after laughing, became a little more serious and began to tell him with petty vexation:
Roxy: «And you're telling me here about how we don't need you», – and chuckled a little.
The boy turned away from her with shame on his face, slightly bowing his head. The wolf took him in her arms again with a “sigh” and hugged him, saying:
Roxy: «Eh, Gregory… You're still a little ninny…» – then began to caress him with her head.
The boy lay still on the wolf's shoulder, slowly hugging her back. At that moment, he was taken into such a deep astral that even if he wanted to, he wouldn't be able to utter his thoughts. He was in sensations, feelings and some incomprehensible blocks of encrypted information that ran to different places in his head. At the same time, he could make out something in all this for himself, but for others he wouldn't be able to decipher it all. Well… some things could be decrypted out. What he definitely had was, at least, that he was ashamed of the whole situation. The boy understood that he had greatly disturbed everyone with such an act and he could not find a place for himself from this.
Roxy: «Though, know…» – the wolf interrupted his thoughts in a thoughtful tone: «I guess that's the beauty of you, Gregory. So… in a way, you're doing the right thing, but… please be careful. We still want to molesting you», – she spoke a little bit snidely at the end and chuckled a little.
The boy chuckled back at her in the same way, clinging to her a little, and said softly:
Gregory: «Thanks».
After this word, the wolf began to purr softly again with a growl, getting more and more lapping to the boy. He chuckled a little at this, while simultaneously scrolling through his thoughts:
«Needed… Needed!.. I'm needed someone! How did I ever think about it like that before?»
At that time, the boy was ecstatic. There was no limit to his joy. He understood, of course, that he had managed to do various unpleasant things at this point in time, but this feeling… It relaxed him. He was pleased to know that at least someone was worried about him… However, the boy was strongly reminding of something by it… About something very long ago… But that's just… he couldn't really remember what exactly. But Gregory could tell for sure that he had already experienced the same feeling somewhere a long time ago. It's a strange, old… sensing. But then the boy dropped that case.
«I'll remember it later!» – Gregory said in mind: «In the meantime… enjoying the moment!»
The boy slightly nuzzled the wolf's shoulder and also began to rub against her. So, they stood together for a while…
