"Okay... I think I've got it." Undyne said slowly, looking at the paper she was holding—the one she'd gotten from the file Sophie had brought in earlier in the day. Asgore, who had been asked to help analyze the information in the file, raised a brow. "It still does not make much sense to you, does it?" Rolling her eye subtly, his Guard Captain set the paper back down on the desk. "Nope. Could you dumb it down again, please?"
"Certainly," Asgore replied with a slight chuckle. "These papers here show the legal documentation that come with having a business partner," He explained, showing her the paper in question. He then picked up a different paper. "These are bank receipts between Jenson and his business partner—whose last name is Abrams." Undyne hummed, before noting, "And his last name is the only name that shows up."
"It seems that is on purpose." Asgore added. He handed the bank receipts back to Undyne. "This business partner must be a pretty private guy, then..." She speculated. The monster king hummed. "Which then must mean he has something to keep hidden," He said, giving Undyne a pointed look. "Like the Anthros." Asgore shrugged. "There is no proof, you have said so yourself. But, that possibility may be so." Undyne sighed a little, tucking all the papers back into the file. "We're searching tirelessly, here. Speaking of," She told him, before drinking up the last of her golden flower tea in her mug. Setting the now empty mug down again, she stood up from her seat with the file tucked under her arm. "I've got to go back to the station."
"Of course." Asgore, too, stood up from his desk to see Undyne off. "I do hope I was able to be of some assistance, Undyne." She nodded. "You were. Thank you, sir." He gave her a kind smile, before she then left his office.
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Midnight made it's regular return, and with it, came quiet yawns from different rooms of the building. It had been commented once, by Toy Bonnie, that it was a bit curious how tired everyone seemed to be every night. Afterall, they were already conditioned to perform all day, then be away from midnight to six. It shouldn't be any problem, after doing this for many years now. However, Freddy yawned tiredly again that midnight, all the while nudging his band mates beside him to also wake up.
Still a bit drowsy himself, Freddy nearly toppled sideways when he went to elbow nudge Bonnie. Blinking the sleep away, the bear looked around. A glance downwards found the bunny still asleep in a crouched sitting position. One knee was pulled up to his chest, which gave support for his arm and in turn his head. His guitar was laying on the ground, though Bonnie's other hand still had a loose grip on it. And he was still sound asleep. "Bonnie," Freddy crouched down briefly to shake his shoulder. "It's midnight."
"... huh?" Fuchsia eyes appeared behind tired eyelids, as the bunny looked at him. "Wake up." Freddy said. Bonnie hummed, before slowly waking up, too.
The bear stepped off the stage, and looked over in the direction of Pirate's Cove. Foxy was awake, but still siting against the side wall of his smaller, alcove stage. The fox gave him a nod in acknowledgement. "Too tired?" Freddy asked. A nod. "Aye... Chica can go wit' ye, nay?" Freddy looked over his shoulder to see Chica now standing next to him. She looked about as awake as he did. "Chica, you want to go check the rooms with me?"
"I'd be happy to." She answered with a smile. With a hum, Freddy nodded. "Alright, lets go." The two then left on rounds to check on the others in the building. A ritual Freddy had begun doing since the second night. He usually brought one of his bandmates along, that way he wouldn't be the only one to learn the layout of the building. This kind of stuff was good to know, anyhow.
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At the Cabaret, Freddy and Chica found the Toys awake. They sat at one of the smaller booths, quietly talking amongst each other, while their animatronic bandmate stood still as an eerie statue on their stylized stage. Mangle took notice of their arrival. "Hi, Freddy." She greeted, as her siblings' conversation quietly ceased. They too greeted the bear. "Hey, guys. How was the show?" Freddy asked them, hands stuffed in his vest's pockets in a casual manner. "Oh, same old." Mangle reported. "Same type of crowd?"
"Yep," Toy confirmed. "Just families coming by for dinners." Bon then went on to add, "It gets most busy near supper instead of lunch, actually." Freddy hummed. "That's interesting." He commented. "I guess it gives you three plenty of time to prepare before a show, huh?" The trio nodded. "How about you guys?"
"Todays show was hectic." Freddy told them with a small cough. "I'm still tired out." Mangle gave him a curious look. "Your voice sounds tired out... Do you usually get like that after shows?" She asked him, making a vague gesture to her own throat as she did. "No... I mean, it didn't used to..." Freddy glanced off, finding her observation rather strange. Chica briefly glanced at the bear. "I can um... make you some tea. For your throat..."
"Thanks, Chica." He thanked, though Freddy noticed how her answer sounded distracted. He then saw how she was eyeing the animatronic a bit warily. "I never realized an animatronic could look so... lifeless..." The three Toys all, in turn, looked back over to the sorry replacement of their beloved brother. "I don't think we'll ever get used to it." Bon told her. If he were capable of it, he'd be able to melt the thing's plastic casings with his stare, only so they wouldn't have to perform next to it.
"I heard Puppet was looking into that," Freddy began. "Has he found anything out, yet?" Bon looked back at the bear. "No... Actually, I'm going to go ask him." He said, getting up from his seat to leave the room. "Excuse me." On his way out, he nearly bumped into Ballora of all people—who was making her way down the very hallway Freddy and Chica had come from. The others heard them exchange a few "sorry"s and such, before both continued in the same direction.
"Well," The bear started again. "Chica and I have to go on and check with the Gallery gang." He told them. "See you later." As Freddy turned to leave, Chica then said, "Oh, and I'm making us soup later." Toy and Mangle gave her a smile in thanks. "Cya." She said, before Carl gave his own parting word from the chicken's shoulder—a simple, "Cupcake!" Then, she followed after the bear.
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"Puppet?" Two voices accidentally jinxed, while they came up on the office. (They had tried the Prize Room already, being told by BB and JJ that the Marionette had gone to the boss' office). Pushing the door open, Bon entered first. Puppet was there, along with Gold. Neither looked like they were looking through the owner's papers like they usually would. Instead, they looked like they had been having a rather serious discussion. Puppet and Gold looked over to see Bon and Ballora entering the room. "Hello."
"Hey, 'Mare." Ballora greeted, just as Puppet noticed the absence of the Minireenas who would usually follow her. "Where are the girls?" He asked her. "With their aunt." She told him, before returning the question. "And Mina?" Puppet went from looking at Ballora, to looking at the decorative couch that was in the office. Mina was snuggled up on one side, her small head resting on a throw pillow. "She's tuckered out," He began. "But Gold and I needed somewhere private to talk, so I brought her here to rest."
"Looks more comfortable than a gift box." Ballora noted with a small shake of her head. Puppet hummed. His concerned gaze lingered a moment more on Mina's sleeping form, bringing Bon and Gold's attention to her, also. "... She's already suffered enough," He started in a bitter tone. "She shouldn't be here... None of our girls should be here." Ballora walked up to his side, gently slipping her hand in his. "I know... But the humans can't keep us here forever." She reached up and planted a kiss on his cheek to try and encourage him a little. Gold nodded. "She's right."
"I know..." Sighing a little, Puppet then turned his attention back to Bon. The bunny looked a little puzzled by Ballora's small display of affection towards him, though he didn't make mention of it. "Well, you obviously weren't here to ask about the Minireenas." Puppet joked with a somewhat sincere smirk. "Do you need me?" Bon nodded. "Yeah... I was wondering if you had any news on Fred? You said you would find out what happened with him."
"O-Oh." The Marionette blinked. "Fred... right." His gaze fell a little, as he tried to think of an answer that would placate Bon's worry and confusion. He found himself unable to think of one that would be convincing enough. Looking back at Bon, Puppet shook his head a little and sighed. "I didn't find much in the boss's paperwork, I'm afraid." Bon's ears slowly began drooping, matching his dismayed expression. "And the computers are all password protected... I'll keep trying, but I'm not sure what else to do... I'm sorry, Bon."
"... Me too." Seeing the bunny looking as upset as he was in turn left Ballora feeling sympathetic towards him. In an act of kindness, she went over and placed a hand on his shoulder. "I know it might be hard," She began, trying to meet his fallen gaze. "But please, don't lose hope. Not just for your own sake, but for your sisters, too." Ballora told him. She was keeping her tone as encouraging and hopeful as she could. "I know you'll see your brother again. Trust me."
"... mm." Bon hummed, crossing his arms in front of himself. Sliding her hand off his shoulder, Ballora looked back over to Gold and Puppet. They each shared the same expression—an almost tormented expression. They all had a solid idea of where Fred was and why, but trying to explain it to the rest of the Toys could only result in more stress, worry and confusion. Puppet felt he had to say something more to Bon. "Look, Bon-"
"... Wait," Bon slowly looked up again. There was a donning look of realization in his emerald green eyes. "Fred... his wheelchair..." The dots were slowly connecting in his mind. Those almost tormented expressions disappeared, the three looking hopeful, themselves. "They replaced him with an animatronic... because he can't perform in a wheelchair...!" Bon's ears straightened up. Ballora smiled. "Yes, that's what we were all thinking!"
"Furthermore," Gold chimed in. "He's probably back home, safe 'n sound." Bon smiled a little. "Good... Good." He looked relieved. "But... now I've got to figure out what to tell the others..." Bon realized. With a small shrug, he continued. "I'll think while I eat." Puppet nodded. "That's a good idea." Bon nodded, too. "Yeah." He quietly said to himself, as he turned to leave the office. The bunny paused. "Oh, sorry for interrupted your conversation, by the way."
"Don't be," Puppet told him. "It's alright." Bon gave one last nod, before finally leaving. After he did, Ballora next said, "I should go back to the Gallery, too. The girls are probably going to be hungry." She told. "Alright. I'll see you later, dear." Ballora smiled, looked over to her sleeping Mina one last time, before leaving to join her three other daughters.
Now that they were alone again to speak, Gold sighed shortly to get his friend's attention. "So, what are we to do about those passwords?" The Marionette quietly groaned, shaking his head. "Surely they were written down somewhere..."
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In the modest meeting room, Undyne had Jenson's business receipts sprawled on the oval table for Dogamy to look at. Armed with the information Asgore had told her the day before, she was relaying it back to her subordinate. "Hm. His partner seems pretty private." Undyne shook her head. "Yeah, that's exactly what I said. I'll try and get more information on ask many Abrams as I can, but in the meantime, I need-"
"Undyne!" The Guard Captain was interrupted when the door of the room was hastily swung open—almost slamming into the wall. A near frantic Papyrus entered the room. "He's here!" Undyne looked at the skeleton, giving him a puzzled look. "Who?" She asked him, straightening her posture from being slouched over the table. "The Marionette!" Papyrus blurted. Undyne blinked. "Wait- Puppet?"
"Yes!"
"Where is he now?" Undyne then asked now that Papyrus had grabbed her attention entirely. "I brought him to wait in your office, see, I though you'd be there, Captain." Papyrus explained. "Alright, I'm coming." Undyne gave Dogamy a pat on the shoulder. "I'll join you later." The dog monster gave her a short, hearty salute. "I'll be here, Captain." Undyne returned the gesture quickly, before leaving for her office.
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A.N. So sorry for this being later, but hopefully the chapter length makes up for it! Until next Saturday (I swear it'll be Saturday, don't worry ~u~*)