A/N: Maybe should put a reminder here that my personal universe is rather different from the original ones, seeing as all my stuff was created before three came out.
The flipside stuff will be somewhat different as well, but it is still a concept I would like to explore.
Also, I advice to listen to one of the flipside themes while reading, it adds some atmosphere!

-

The flipside was a disorientating place.
Yet... weirdly comforting?
Old Sport liked the flipside, he liked it here very much. It was understandable why the souls retreated here out of all places.
It was as if someone took the concept of Freddy's and... actually made it right. Or at least semi-acceptable.
Sure, it was a little lonely, but at the same time it was rather peaceful due to that. It was... the morning of the party, a few hours still had to pass, and the morning sun just had crept over the horizon. The special day was lingering in the air, the sort of calm anticipation and happiness only the best event can create.
It was a good place, it was a good time and here it would always be.
Being here made Old Sport feel light, as if somehow he had learned to levitate and as if in case he would fall, something would gently catch him.
Magical, indeed.
Having Dave with him was all the better- the flipside seemed to have a healthy effect on him as well, if his small smile and the strong glow of his eyes was any indication.
The endless sea of tiles, all the lights, posters and other Freddy's related stuff truly set the mood for a good exploration.
Issue was, seemingly the place was endless.
It wasn't MUCH of an issue on an emotional level, as it felt to Old Sport as if he could forever stroll through this building with Dave without ever getting bored, but in terms of finding and rescuing the souls, it was problematic.
"Lookie here, Sportsy!" Happily Dave called out to him. What he greeted him with was enough to make the Orange snort.
While on their journey, Dave had started hoarding all the party hats they encountered for reasons beyond his friend... now he saw.
The guy had not only stacked a bunch of them on his head, but also used one to imitate a large beak, used them as pointy gloves and wore them over his shoes. "And this ain't even my final form!"
Shaking his head Old Sport snickered a little. "That would have been too good to be true, wouldn't it?"
"Aw, c'mon Sportsy, ya know ya wanna see more!" Wiggling his eyebrows in a playful manner, the Purple Guy took off the hats and put them back into his seemingly endless pockets.
They entered the nearest room and... a party room. Like those they have seen before. Casually Old Sport checked in with his friend if he had the same suspicion as he himself. "Have we been here before?"
"Maybe once in a summer night's dream." Obviously in high spirits Dave snickered and looked around, quickly snatching up all the party hats he could spot.
Rolling his eyes lightly, he gave him a small push. "Quit joking around, we can't leave the souls waiting forever."
"Why? It's not like there's somethin' like time here anyways, right?" The question was not asked with any bad intention, probably not even with anything egoistical in mind. This place was unable to even be inhabited by those with too much ill-intend... at least that was what Old Sport had come to theorize.
Not to mention, he had a point at the lack of passing time. "... I GUESS, but still. The Puppet won't like if we fool around too much."
"Puppet ain't here, so let's have fun!" Content Dave put one of the hats on top of his friend and his smile widened as it stayed in place.
"Let's at least TRY to make some progress, okay?" Staying still, he tolerated the hat on him, but his voice was pretending to be strict on this.
"Okie dokie, Sportsy!" Skipping out of this room, Dave peeked into the next one, still finding nothing but more tables and hats. "Nothin' in here chief! Progress report: One (1) more room cleared! We have achieved our goal! Some progress!"
God, how are you supposed to handle this man?
But technically he was right, that small, tall bastard. "Amazing, we have such a room to talk ratio."
"That's your fault for bein' fun to talk to!" The man laughed and continued onwards. "Though I really wonder why there's no show stage. Would have thought there would be no Freddy's without a stage. Or office."
"There might be one around, at the heart of it all?" Uncertain Old Sport shrugged. "Maybe there is no office because the spirits roaming here not really connect anything with it?"
"Maybe. But then there would be a big fuckin' stage around! And some ballpits too!" It was said as a throw-away thought, in Dave's mind it didn't really matter. "Ballpit would make the most sense to be the portal too, right?"
The portal down, one more level.
The more hurt the spirit was, the deeper it hid... and those were in the most desperate need of saving.
"Could be... but it COULD be anything. I wish we could ask the spirits around here..." They had started to avoid each and all battle encounters, as it was somewhat unnerving to Old Sport to beat the spirits of small children into submission. "I think there would probably more spirits roaming around that portal, seeing as it is... condensed happiness."
"How do ya think the next level will be?" Curious Dave looked at his Orange companion. "This place already is dope, so ya think one layer down will be even better? Think it will look any different?"
"Maybe a bit... like older places? Spirits that have been stuck for a long time probably are more in need of a place like this..." He hummed along to an inaudible melody for a moment. "... I wonder how the furthest layer down looks like. Or, if there is only one spirit on a layer, if it will look like its home."
"Probably depends on what the spirit thinks of as home! For me, Fredbear's always had been my home, so it would look like that!" Thinking back of the good times, Dave stopped shortly. "What would it be lookin' like for ya, Sportsy?"
"Oh..." Uncomfortable he shifted weight from one leg to the other. "... I don't know. I probably couldn't even create a space, seeing as I don't really... count."
Since he lost his soul, no place seemed to hold much significance to him. Honestly, this flipside place was the best feeling he had towards a location in ages.
The explanation seemed enough to Dave, but he still pushed it. "Fine, but if ya could make it into a place, willingly- what would'cha make?"
Helpless Orange Guy struggled to come up with an idea that would be enough to satisfy his friend's curiosity.
Anything.
But there was nothing he wanted.
Nothing.
A full head of nothing.
He wished he wanted something. But that was the most he felt want for.
Sadly, this was the happiest he felt since a long time, stuck in this odd limbo with the only guy who ever bothered holding contact.
Even following him to THIS place.
Not even Dave knew how he really got here apparently- all he remembered was Fredbear's, but he admitted he had taken a shitton of cocaine- enough to kill a normal man. It wouldn't have been too weird for him to try and dive headfirst into an arcade screen. Not that he could remember, but seeing as Old Sport claimed that it was roughly was how he had gotten here, Dave gladly admitted he could have tried something similar.
Then he ended up here! When he saw Sportsy he instantly ran towards him, trying to jump-hug the guy.
In the beginning Old Sport was almost sure that this Dave was some sort of illusion, a manifestation of his need for a companion. Those doubts quickly vanished the next time he mentioned Henry- no matter how realistic this place tried to replicate what he secretly appreciated and knew about the man, there was no way it would allow him to keep endearing the psychopath like that.
Thankfully he stopped mentioning him when Old Sport demanded it, but he didn't look like he quite understood why.
It was the real deal.
Probably.
Ah, wait- he should answer the question, right?
Still, he had no idea what to say.
"Maybe..." What was a good place to be? "... probably some sort of... comfortable house. I would just throw myself into a bed and sleep all the time."
Sounded better than to simply say that he'd stay here and keep going, keep on freeing spirits. There was nothing he dreaded more than having Dave WORRY about him- who knew what he would be doing in that case. Dave never reacted normally and within moderation.
Even worse, knowing that Old Sport somewhat enjoyed his company, he could grow bold and start thinking the Orange would let him get away with things.
Which was NOT the case.
"Sleepin' all day? Really Sportsy? Live a little!" For a moment he considered. "Not sure if ya CAN do that here, but I mean, it ain't gonna stop us from tryin', right? When we're done, Imma show ya how much is out there- Imma get ya to limbo-vegas! Somehow. Or you'll help me get out of here and I get ya to the REAL vegas!"
"I think you are best left inside of here. You're still a murderer." With a displeased glance he looked at the long human-eggplant hybrid.
Guilty said man shrugged and turned away, knowing that drove his friend up the walls. The fact that he had yet to apologize and admit he had been wrong in his actions was baffling to him. Obviously he KNEW he was wrong- or at least it seemed like it, with an expression like this.
Maybe he actually had the moral backbone of soft bread though and simply took over the mindset of whoever he attached himself to. Not sure what would infuriate him more.
The silence stretched a little, then Dave, who hated nothing more than that, broke down and answered. "I mean- it's true! Can't argue with ya. It's probably really a good thing I'm stuck in here... but to keep me here, to make sure I ain't tryin' to leave and cause trouble... ya gotta keep an eye on me! So I'm still gonna get to teach ya!"
Rolling his eyes, the Orange Guy wanted to shoot something snarky back. Before he could though, they heard some noise coming out of the next room.
Carefully they sneaked closer and peeked in.
A kitchen- finally a different room.
No chance to explore it though, it was pretty packed with spirits, switching between their child-self and animatronic-self back and forth, messing around with the pots and pans, seemingly attempting to cook something.
Silently both sides looked at each other, having a completely wordless conversation.
We could go in there, Sportsy! Worst case, we run!
Why the HELL would we do that, that's at least a dozen of them in there! I refuse to hit them if I can avoid it.
Maybe we can help 'em! Make 'em trust us, maybe even figure out how to get deeper with their help or help 'em move on!
DAVE. HOW HARD IS IT FOR YOU TO STICK TO THE PLAN?! The Puppet is going to KILL us when we mess up our plans so carelessly!
Scared of the tickle-fingers?
YES. SLIGHTLY.
In the worst case we can run away together! From both spirits AND the Puppet! Sportsy, c'mon!
DAVE THE LAST THING I WANT TO DO IS TO RUN AWAY WITH YOU.
They stared for a few minutes longer at each other, until Dave pouted a bit and sneaked past the door, with Old Sport close behind him.
In a decent distance, Dave began talking again, though he thankfully was muttering. "We gotta start SOMEWHERE with the whole spirit gatherin' and all... why are ya so anxious?"
"I don't want to hurt children Dave, I am not like you."
Annoyed he huffed. "Never implied that, did I? But what's so bad about roughin' them up a lil'? Kiddens fight on the playground all the time. Those rats try to get each other killed every chance they get- even if they may not know that's what they're doin'. Bet they'd think it's fun!"
On some days Dave was a hassle to deal with.
Wait.
Some?
He meant ALL. ALL DAY EVERY DAY.
Thankfully Old Sport had a way to get rid of him. Quickly he checked the clock around his wrists.
It was old, the broken thing had stopped showing what time it is a long time ago... but after the first time having to find an excuse for Dave to let him leave in peace, he had started to wear it. Down here it actually had started ticking again, but more or less at random intervals in whatever direction it pleased. Sometimes the pointer seemed to teleport.
Dave didn't know the thing was gibberish to Old Sport as well, so it worked just fine for the intended purpose.
"I think I got to go." With the smoothness of a lie told a hundred times before, he said that, not even glancing at Dave, who he knew would be shocked.
"Already?! Feels like it'd been barely ten minutes since ya came here!" Disappointed beyond words the Purple Guy stared at him, freezing on the spot.
"It's been longer, MUCH longer." Time WAS weird down here, but this was something he was sure of. Shortly he shot his friend a look, and as usual, it hurt a little to see him like that.
The guy was an annoying dickhead, but damn he had mastered looking like an innocent, abused puppy.
"Not that I would know, eh Sportsy? Can't even tell since when I've been stuck in here..." The man trailed off, trying to not sound too unhappy. "But hey! That's meanin' that I won't know how long you've been gone!"
"I- I will be back soon. Try to find what we need to do in order to get down, as long as you don't get in trouble for it."
They both stepped away from each other.
The process of leaving was rather... complicated. Easy once you figured it out, but complicated to pull off at first. He focused on a spot, in this case Dave's sadly smiling face, then had to unfocus and focus again... repeat until everything became pixilated, then he could step back, seeing what he left behind as nothing but an image of the arcade machine in front of him.
Focus.
Unfocus.
Focus.
Unfocus.
Dead blue lighting filled the room, the machine's screen turned into static as he blinked.
Turning away, he stepped out of his room, looking around.
The rest of the house was just as quiet and dark. Whenever he came out of the in-between, it seemed that reality became greyer and darker, no matter the time of the day. It was quietly raining outside, not helping Old Sport's sudden low mood.
Reality was cold, sticking to him like a wet paper towel, uncomfortable and suffocating.
Why did he leave again?
... Dave is a psychopath and he is doing you no good.
The shadows seemed to whisper to him.
"Shut up. I know."
Unenthusiastically he dragged himself to the kitchen, opened the fridge and was greeted with exactly what he had been greeted with the past few days. Nothing.
And exactly like in the past few days, he lacked any and all motivation to go out and buy himself something.
To hell with it.
He didn't need food anyways.
As slow as before he moved towards the bedroom and fell inside, curling up.
Silence.
Only wind and some louder drops outside.
His own breathing.
It was distracting.
It was too silent, yet not silent enough.
He was still here, stuck in reality and he couldn't run away or hide from it.
There was nothing to run away from or to- there was nothing to hide from.
Nothing.
He rolled in his bed, curled up, then stretched out. Multiple times he readjusted his arms and head, then began shifting around, moving the pillows a bit from left to right and then back again.
No rest for him it seemed, not tonight.
It felt like the shadows crept closer, squishing him. There was SOMETHING moving, but whenever he put on the lamp next to his bed, it seemed to vanish.
Frustrated he groaned and put the pillow onto his head, hoping to block everything out finally.
The night slowly passed and when the first birds chirped in the dark, he sat up again, unsure if he had simply waited or actually slept at some point.
Whatever.
Filling his growling stomach, which seemingly hadn't understood yet how unnecessary food was for them, with water to stop the noise, he quickly finished his morning routine and entered the arcade room.
His hands were shivering a bit, probably from the lack of... everything. But he knew he would be fine when he returned into the flipside.
Another day. Or maybe just another five minutes.
Maybe it had just been five minutes since he returned. Maybe that bird had been just a confused one, chirping in the dead of the night- some did...
Dismissive he shook his head.
What did it matter?
Remember to not trust Dave and to focus on getting deeper.
Always the same thing.
What if he wanted to trust Dave though?
Who would stop him?
Aside from his conscious?
Dave wasn't all that bad, even if-
No, he was violent, murderous, unpredictable and had barely any sort of moral code. The only reason he was so clingy was because Old Sport was the only one who didn't try to immediately shove a knife down his throat.
Bleak, but true.
With a groan he shook himself. He wasn't in the mood to ruin this for himself already.
Quickly he leaned against the screen and felt static overcome him.
Finally back.
He couldn't help but smile as he saw the tiles and colorful lights on the walls. On the floor, in front of him laid Dave, whining to himself, a noise that instantly stopped when he heard Old Sport take a step.
The Purple Guy jumped up and looked at him, beaming. "SPORTSY! YOU'RE BACK! IT'S BEEN TOO LONG! YA LOOK SO MUCH OLDER! HOW MANY YEARS HAS IT BEEN!?"
"Around 5... hours. At most. Hey Dave." Pretending to be too surprised to stop him, he allowed himself to be jump-hugged, a gesture that conveniently would make sure that his smile would stay hidden from the other man.
"Could've sworn you've been gone for longer than usual." The other guy grumbled a bit, before rubbing his face against the Orange.
That was a little much now, so said man shoved him away for a bit and raised an eyebrow. "You say that every time I come back."
"Maybe ya vanish for longer each and every time!" The man pouted. "Anyways, I think I now know what we gotta do to get some layer down."
Now Old Sport was genuinely surprised. "Really?! I- that's amazing! What do we have to do?"
"The kiddens always manage to open one of those suckers when they're feelin' really distressed and sad. Think it got somethin' to do with them really wantin' or- needin' to get down."
Appreciative the other guy nodded, he saw where this was going. "Okay, I get it. We should give it a try."
"Alrighty, Imma find a lonely animatronic for us to harass, just 'cha wait!"
"What- What, NO! DAVE! NO. HURTING. CHILDREN." Annoyed he scoffed. "And here I was thinking that you're finally were smart and sensible."
"I-" Unsure Dave tilted his head. "What did ya think I was gonna propose?"
"That we concentrate onto getting a level lower and try to want it in a way the children seem to do!"
"Ah. Yeah. We could try that too, I suppose." A little disappointed the Aubergine Guy shrugged and sat down on the spot. "Imma want it to open really bad! PORTAL! IF YA DON'T OPEN, IMMA CRY! I AM A TOTAL 100% REAL CHILD AND JUST WEARING AN ADULT LATEX MASK, SO O P E N FOR ME PLEAAAAASE!"
It looked so fucking stupid, Old Sport couldn't help but snort. "I don't think it can hear you."
Sitting down beside him, he closed his eyes and tried to concentrate- not an easy task with an Aubergine screaming beside him. Thankfully at some point Dave seemed to get the hint and became very quiet too.
The odd atmosphere of the flipside overtook, the warm prickling under the Orange Guy's skin intensified.
It became easier and easier to WANT to go a level deeper.
To feel the intense NEED to go deeper.
Especially after he shortly remembered how real life looked like.
No, he wanted to be away from that.
Forever.
That thought had sneaked in and he felt a bit guilty.
But it was somewhat true.
After his job was done of course-
But still, forever.
Being in here with Dave...
... That would be the closest to heaven he would ever come.
He shouldn't-
A high-pitched buzz was audible and to both of their surprises, they saw a portal in front of them.
"It worked!" Finally! Progress. Satisfied, he smiled. "Good job Dave! Okay, we are supposed to go three layers down, to the deepest part then begin to contact souls there. They should be a lot less aggressive, but also a lot stronger that the ones up here."
Eager his partner smiled. "What are we waitin' for? Let's get goin'! Last one in gotta kiss an eggplant!"
Before Old Sport could even react to that, Dave dove into the portal and disappeared.
"I SWEAR TO GOD, DAVE-" Following swiftly, soon he also was in there, stumbling out the other side.
What he saw made him pause for a moment.
Well- not what he SAW. But what he felt.
It was... similar... but so much more colorful! His feet now really felt like they weren't touching the ground anymore and it was as if glitter and happiness had gotten their own unique smell.
Weird...
But great.
Interested Dave looked around. "It's good here, not gonna lie! I get why the kiddens like to go down!"
"We can explore this place later. For now, let's try to get one more layer down." With half a thought he asked himself if they could go up the same way they went down, but ended up not feeling too concerned. It was impossible for him to worry in this state, dizzy from the journey and from the new surroundings.
Still, eyes on the prize! This was not yet the place they wanted to be!
Not too disappointed Dave made a small hum and then came back to stand beside him, about to sit down. "Alrighty, but let's hope what we're be doin' down there won't affect the up here, otherwise-"
Suddenly, the buzz.
Taken by surprise, the Purple and the Orange Guy exchanged a look. Neither of them had seemed too focused at that moment.
Writing it off as the place maybe being a lot more sensitive to the soul's needs and wants, they hesitated only shortly, then the Orange Guy saw his chance. "First one in is free from being forced to kiss anyone ever!"
With that he was in and out once more, his mind spinning from switching level again.
Oh lord, he should have been a little more mindful, shouldn't he?
The effects were a bit more extreme than expected.
Now he could swear he could feel the music surrounding him in his veins.
Walking was weirder and slower, it was as if he was underwater now.
His mouth was filled with a sweet, prickling taste.
Distracted by the glowing lights floating past him, he only noticed that Dave has managed to follow him, by feeling his hand on his shoulder.
"Sportsy? Is this it?" Dave seemed a little distraught, looking close to stumbling as he moved forward, looking around. "This is... not gonna lie... kinda weird."
Quietly he snickered. "Something is too weird? For YOU? Do you see the ghosts of your sins yet?"
A bit nostalgic he looked at the uncomfortable Aubergine.
This was it, they were at their destination.
They would... soon finish...
"What sins? I- I mean, they were more mistakes than anythin'! I never really MEANT to do that much... harm..." Looking around a little more frantic now, the Purple Guy stepped a bit closer to his friend. "I'll be makin' up for it now and here! It's time Sportsy! Where do we start lookin' for-"
Buzzing.
Both of them froze, then looked at the portal that had opened, seemingly slightly glitching.
It was quiet for a moment, aside from the ever present melody in the background- but even that seemed to have quieted down.
"Uh. Sportsy?" Irritated the Purple Guy took his hand, for once the gesture wasn't greeted with an instant shaking off.
Equally as puzzled Old Sport tried to come up with an explanation. "This- I don't... uh- okay, maybe we actually aren't on the third level. Maybe it meant the third portal down. The first level was actually our ground level, level null and then three levels down."
This made sense, right?
Right.
"The puppet said, the deepest level down, so we should be alright in going through this."
Dave still appeared skeptical, staring at the somewhat glitching portal, yet he nodded, squeezing the hand he was holding a little bit tighter. "You're the b0ss, Old Sport! Ya know what's best. I'm with ya!"
It weirdly enough FELT more different from their other jumps too.
This portal seemed to draw them closer, like it had some sort of special magnet to it.
Unsure, the Orange Guy inspected his surroundings one more time.
If this place was already so overwhelmingly happy and muzzy, then how would the last level be?
"Dave? We probably have to concentrate a lot on the next level. I doubt it will be easy. Are you sure you want to come with me? It's- maybe it will be overwhelming down there." Out of nowhere he was feeling worried, the softness of the place could be a legitimate problem. What if they started to forget things?
Nope, Dave was having none of this. "Wherever ya go, I'll be with ya! That is all I ever- that's really important to me, Sportsy! There is no way ya can keep me from comin' along!"
The man looked determined and it was clear- there would be no difference for him to be allowed or not allowed to go in.
Nodding a little, the Orange turned to the portal and with synchronized steps, they entered, ready for whatever was expecting them down there.
For a moment it was completely black.
But that wasn't the first thing, the soulless man noticed.
The first thing was that it was much easier to move again, much lighter in general. Sure, he felt as light as a feather, but at least moving worked as fast as it did outside of the arcade.
Odd.
Thankfully he still felt Dave's hand- it assured him.
Finally a somewhat red light became brighter and with shock Old Sport realized that they were standing in front of a cabin, surrounded by woods. When he turned, he saw that there was a lake behind them, the water peaceful and completely still.
Still waters run deep.
He wasn't quite sure why that was the first thing that came to his mind at this moment.
Dave said out loud what he was thinking. "What the fuckin' hell is this place?"
"I have no idea." The guy began searching around, trying to approach the trees and see if there was something in there, but the closer he stepped to it, the more closely the tree seemed to be standing together.
No way could he walk through this.
Helpless he threw out a guess. "Maybe... maybe this is home to only two or so spirits? And they wanted this?"
It didn't feel like a bad place, not at all. The peace and quiet was appreciated after the intense pizzeria and celebration atmosphere from before.
Instead, it now felt like a nice evening outside. It was dark and nobody was around, and a protective layer of shadows laid over everything, soothing all worries.
Honestly, the souls that made this place had a good taste.
Speaking of, he couldn't see anyone.
"We should go try to find whoever is in here."
They both looked to the cabin, towering- well not quite- over the scenery.
Then Dave began kicking against it. "PIZZAAAAAAAAAAA SERVICEEEEE! KNOCK KNOCK OPEN UP THE DOOR, IMMA GIVE IT TO YA! FRESH FUCKIN' PIZZA, FREE OF CHARGE!"
"DAVE FOR THE LOVE OF FUCK WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING THERE YOU MADMAN!?" Rushing over, he pretty much rugby tackled him down, hoping that it wasn't too late.
"Ey! We gotta get in there SOMEHOW, don't we? Did ya have a better plan?"
"NO- But ANY plan would have been better!" Nervous he looked at the door.
A minute passed, but nothing happened.
Slowly they stood back up.
"Nobody's home?" Dave suggested, but it was met with a headshake.
"Can't be. There is literally no other place they could be." Mildly worried he stepped towards the door again, coughing and then calling out. "Are- is someone in there? Children, perhaps? We are- we came to help, you have to believe us! We want to help you finally fully move on..."
Again, a long pause.
Nothing.
Impatient Dave tried the handle and lo and behold, the door was actually unlocked.
After exchanging a short glance, both stepped in and began looking around, quietly.
The place was fully and comfortably furnished, as one would expect for a cabin.
Really, it unnerved Old Sport how much like a... cabin... it looked. He NEVER had been to a cabin before, yet it seemed almost familiar.
Then again, the flipside was an odd place.
Dave on the other hand had begun to smile while walking around, he seemed to like it here.
Either way though, at the end of their search, they realized that there was nobody in here.
"Where could they be?" Frowning, Old Sport looked through the window, trying to see if maybe someone was outside.
"Hidin', perhaps? Maybe they're scared and want to see what we're up to!"
What a surprisingly sensible thought.
"Would make sense... you shouldn't have screamed." Scoffing a little he sat down in one of the big armchairs that were standing in front of a lit fire. "I guess we have to wait then."
Feeling a little guilty, Dave sneaked closer and sat down in the other one. "I'm sorry, Old Sport. Didn't think the kiddens COULD just fuck off without a trace... I wanted to speed up the process in case ya gotta go soon... tell ya what- how about ya leave for now? Ya don't have to wait here with me for them to appear. Ya can go do whatever ya need to do and when you're back, Imma have talked and calmed the kiddens so much that they'll be showin' themselves when you're back!"
Leaving Dave behind, all on his own- in a place that seemingly has less to do and is more barren than the upper level? "That's... nice of you, Dave. But I don't think I should let you wait here all on your own."
"Nah, I'm okay! Don'tcha worry your pretty lil' head about this- I messed this up, Imma take responsibility." He sounded rather proud of that decision, fully aware that it was an "adult" thing to say and do.
Weirdo.
But Old Sport still was hesitant.
"Maybe we should leave for a while and come back later." The Orange Guy once more looked out of the window. Nothing. "If we actually scared them, that will probably be the best way to get them to relax again."
"... if ya say it... then let's try to get back up?" Both of them looked at each other.
"Technically speaking we should be able to use the same portals?"
They stared at each other a bit, trying to concentrate on leaving.
It stayed quiet.
"We should have overthought this before going down."
A little irritated Dave shook his head. "I- I dunno. I thought it should work backwards too- the spirits usually can come and go as they want, even if they don't want all that often. I watched 'em come back through some portals!"
Silence.
Old Sport shook his head. "Let's... look around some more. Maybe the rules are different down here."
They departed once more, searching the whole area of the lake again and again.
There was not much here and the water seemed somewhat dangerous... the last thing they wanted was to go even deeper.
It was impossible to see the ground and both agreed to stay away from it for now.
Or forever.
It radiated some sort of silent threat, not overwhelming, but it was there.
When they met back up at the house, both of them were even more lost than before.
Neither of them were truly alarmed, but they were both at their wits end as to how to leave for now.
Dave shrugged. "Again. I can wait here, it ain't a big deal!"
"If we free the souls stuck here, will this place collapse? We will HAVE to leave at some point or another!" Frustrated the man paced around. "I will go out of the arcade and try to ask the Puppet about this."
"Take your time buddy! There ain't nowhere I wanna go anyways, I don't mind stickin' around for a while, maybe I can do some good."
The Purple Guy was weirdly calm down here, the other man slowly noticed.
Almost reasonable.
"I will be back as soon as I can." Nodding at his friend, he stepped back and began unfocusing on the scene in front of him.
Focus.
Unfocus.
Focus.
Unfocus.
He blinked.
He was still in the cabin.
Dave quietly watched him, a hint of melancholy on his expression.
Encouraging Old Sport smiled at him and as he realized that he was being watched, he quickly grinned again, as if to cover up that he would miss his Orange Baby.
They both knew he would.
But no time to think about that, he had to leave.
Focus.
Unfocus.
Focus.
Unfocus.
Focus.
Unfocus.
He blinked and yet still he was stuck in here.
What was he doing wrong all of a sudden?
Finally Dave was also catching on. "Sportsy? Are ya all right?"
"I'm... having trouble." Getting anxious he realized that trying again wouldn't make sense- if he was too panicked, he couldn't get into the right mindset needed to switch. "Probably just me being nervous."
With a sigh he sat down in the comfortable armchair again and from the corner of his eye he saw that there was a smile on his face, a small guilty grin.
"Imma help ya calm down, no worries!" The grin lost its guilt and became rather evil. "I can SING for ya!"
"NO DAVE. NOOOO. IF YOU DARE TO SING-"
"WHEEEeeeEEEEEEEEEEEeeEEEN- I WAS A BOOOoooOOOooOY-" Dave stopped as the Orange Man tackled him, too busy laughing and wrestling him, attempting to break free. "Can't ya HANDLE all of my TALENT?!"
"MAYBE A GOOD STRANGLE WILL ACTUALLY FIX YOUR TALENT."
"YOUR JEALOUSY IS BLATANT, SPORTSY! BUT I AM NOT YOUR COMPETITION DARLIN'!"
Rolling around on the ground until they finally had enough, they ended up laying on the ground, snickering a little.
"The souls here probably think we are the biggest weirdos." Staring at the ceiling, the Orange Guy smiled.
"Probably! If there are any souls here." Dave sat up a bit. "I think it's really weird nobody's showin' up. Even if they're shy, they're kiddos. Curious little shits. Not to mention, it kinda... FEELS different, ya know?"
He did.
It felt calmer- emptier than the other places.
Shrugging Old Sport answered. "Maybe there is only one soul down here. We will find out when I ask to the puppet I suppose."
"While you're gone, any idea what I can try to lure 'em out?" Eggplant Man was fully on the floor once more.
"Threaten that you'll sing again?"
"Aw, c'mon, my singing is at least decent! The kiddens used to give me TONS of tokens for singin'!"
"Let me guess- they threw them right at your face?"
"How did ya know? They were indeed super passionate about it!"
"A trustworthy gut-feeling." Oh Dave. Never change.
Standing up, he was pretty sure he was in the right mindset now to quickly leave and check in with the animatronic. "I think I am good now to go. I will be back as soon as I can!"
"Get 'em Sportsy! I will lure 'em with the promise of cake, that always works!"
"You- you shouldn't. You probably used that one on them already before killing them..." Shaking his head Old Sport stood up and got ready to leave. "Don't mess anything up, okay? Act SOMEWHAT sensible, alright?"
"Ya can count on me, Old Sport and ya know that!" Giving him his not-really-signature double finger guns, he watched him get into position.
Okay, one more time.
Focus.
Unfocus.
Focus.
Unfocus.
Focus.
Unfocus.
Focus.
Unfocus.
Aaaaaaaaand, blink.
Nope.
Still stuck.
Oh god-
He was STUCK.
There wasn't anything he did wrong, he was simply unable to leave.
Oh how-
How was he supposed to get out?
His eyes wandered over to Dave's meeting his questioning stare.
"Dave. I think I can't leave." His voice was quiet, confused.
Sitting up straight, Dave frowned equally as confused. "Why?"
"Because of the electromagnetic static in the air." The sarcasm was dripping out of his voice, but when the Purple Guy nodded semi-understanding, he dropped it. "I have NO idea, Dave, if I did I would probably DO something about it!"
"Calm down- Sportsy! It- It ain't all that bad, we'll probably just have to do a few extra steps. Maybe the kiddens are watching and keepin' us here?"
"Then why won't they talk to us?!" Not going to lie, while he wasn't exactly freaking out, the scenario still concerned him. "Do you think the Puppet can find us down here?"
Both of them looked at each other.
"Prolly? I mean- the Puppet is clever, if we managed to figure out how to get down... the problem was most likely anyways that WE had to get down, I think that tickle-fingered bastard will have no issue to switch alone."
"Don't talk like that." Slightly Old Sport frowned and shook his head. "I sure hope so, I don't want to be stuck forever here."
"Would that be all that bad?" With a small little smile this slipped out of Dave's mouth.
"I-" Feeling a bit caught, the Orange Guy began to pace around.
WOULD it be all that bad?
... after all, he had been thinking about staying here forever, after-
... he had thought about this.
This- if the flipside actually worked to accommodate the inhabitants with ALL they wanted and felt they needed...
This... this had been his wish, what he had used to justify to get deeper down.
Then-
Oh lord.
It was all his fault.
Did he trap Dave with himself?
Turning to tell him the rather disturbing possibility, he stopped as he saw that Dave was staring onto the ground, seemingly equally as panicked. When he looked up and their eyes met, the Eggplant tried to smile, but failed.
"I- uh- Sportsy..." His voice was fearful. "This... might be my fault? A little?"
Surprised he stared at him, his answer blurting out. "How?"
"When we planned on goin' down, right...?" Uncomfortable he massaged his neck. "So, we were thinkin' on how much we wanted to go down, yeah? And we had to pick somethin' that made us REALLY want to go deeper..."
Oh great.
The Orange Man simply stared.
Looking like a puppy expecting a kick, Dave shortly gave him a glance, before looking down again. "I MIIIIIGHT have thought about... ya know... wanting to just... stay with ya... down at the lowest level, with nobody else..."
Baffled Old Sport continued his staring. "So this is your level?"
"Might be? Though I dunno why it looks like this exactly. Never been to a place like this before." Helpless Purple Guy shrugged. "Listen, I'm REALLY sorry Sportsy, I didn't think that-"
"It's okay."
Both of them were surprised as to what came out of that orange mouth.
Even more surprisingly was probably that he meant it.
"I... I honestly thought of something similar."
A little flustered at his own admission of guilt, the Orange Man switched his weight from one foot to the other.
It got even worse when Dave's smile became as wide and bright as never before. "REALLY!? ARE YA- ARE YA KIDDIN' ME SPORTSY?!"
"No need to scream into my ear!"
Snickering the tall man jumped up and towards him, picking him up without any warning, to twirl him around. Trying and failing to fight him off, Old Sport tried to move out of his grip.
"SPORTSY! I DIDN'T EXPECT-"
"QUIT SCREAMING! And just because I prefer being here instead of in reality doesn't mean ANYTHING. It is a decision between the aids and cancer." He butchered that one.
"But ya prefer me! Ya can admit to it now!" Happily Dave nuzzled him, making Old Sport scoff.
"There is not much in competition with you, you know? Aside from you there are only kids and those want nothing more than to disappear, so they don't make good company."
But... it kinda was nice to see Dave so happy.
"I get'cha, I get'cha! I won't let it get to my head!" Happily he let him go and walked around him, much like an excited pet. "But that means it ain't all that bad! It means you won't be all that unhappy! We can have a good time down here, Sportsy! We can hang out, relax- this is a vacation for us! Eventually the puppet's gonna get us, but until then, we could be happy!"
There was so much hope in Dave's words, so much soul.
He really meant it, didn't he?
A small smile had sneaked onto Orange Guy's face, without any permission. Darnit. "... I suppose you're right. It won't be hell... I guess it will show how our existence is going to look after we're done with all this soul-saving business."
"Yeah! We can relax and have fun and sleep in that double bed upstairs and it will be- we can go and try to find out what is in the lake!" Jumping around, the guy shortly ran away and came back with two large red fishing rods. "MAYBE WE'LL BE CATCHIN' A SHARK! A LAKE SHARK!"
"I don't think that lakes have sharks in them Dave, even if it is a deep one."
That didn't faze the man in the slightest. "MAYBE THERE IS A BIG DINO AT THE BOTTOM!"
"... Maybe."
With that he grabbed one of the rods and they left for the outside, sitting down at the side of the lake, closely next to each other.
It was quiet, except the very faint sound of wind blowing on water.
And the Orange Guy
was happy.

-

A/N:
Bleh.
Not sure if I like this chapter.
BUT I TRIED!
Hope you enjoyed!