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Description
Pitter, patter. Putter, patter.

The sound of rain was calming as it beat against the roof of the building.

Pitter, patter. Pitter, patter.

It took the worried and terrified thoughts out of your mind, serving as a therapeutic ambience.

Pitter, patter.

Namely, the fact that you were far from home, on a 'recreational roadtrip' with a friend, your car has broken down, and your friend is missing.
You lean your head against the cold steel of the elevator you're sitting in.
This elevator had a large fan spinning at the top, blowing lukewarm air onto you. It had posters of what you could only assume we're performers for a restaurant meant for young kids. Namely, one had a ballerina with the caption of "DANCE!" and another had a clown with pigtails with the caption of "CELEBRATE!"
The elevator had a large red button on its wall, and there seemed to be an odd compartment in the floor.
You payed no mind to it, though, you were just sitting in the elevator as it seemed the most secure place in the building in these hard times.

The building seemed abandoned, but strangely well kept after. Maybe abandoned recently? Who knows.

You stopped paying attention to the sound of the rain when the thought hit: What was this building originally used for? Other than the obvious station in which supplies were dropped off into by trucks outside, and the fact that the main focus of this building is the elevator, what is its purpose? Where could the elevator lead? Maybe it's the place where they recruit the performers?

Curiosity took over, and you found yourself standing up and pressing the large red button. The doors closed, and the elevator jerked as its gears shifted to life. You started to descend.

You were greeted by an upbeat male voice over an intercom. He startled you when he started speaking, but you didn't pay any attention. His voice and the way he spoke strangely made you think of Portal.
That is, until he said this:

"It appears that you are not an employee. If you are a visitor, please input your name so we can provide you with a sticker to our technicians know that you do not work here."

A keypad appeared out of the compartment in the floor, and you walked over to it. The letters were all mixed up and glitching out, and when you tried to press the first letter of your name, the keypad immediately came up with a giant "error".

"It seems that you are having trouble with the keypad," the voice says, "I see what you are trying type, and will correct it for you. Welcome, temporarily: Cranky Feet."
What in the world?
Another compartment slid open in the wall, and a sticker with the words "I am Cranky Feet and I'm not staying" came out. You shrugged, took the sticker, and stuck it on your jacket.

You shivered as the voice continued on, as the elevator descended deeper underground. How deep is this place? You must've been descending for a good minute by now.

When the elevator clunked to a stop, it played a happy tune before the doors opened. Separating you from a vent ahead of you was some torn down police tape.
You spine shivered, and your mind told you to turn back, but instead you just got down on all fours and began to crawl through the vent ahead of you. The voice continued to speak even then.

As you crawled into a room, you were greeted by....
One.. Two... Three.. Four... Is there five?
Four or five pairs of shoes.
As you popped your head out of the vent, you looked up to see two extremely pale performers in outfits themed around pink and white, as well as the ballerina and clown in the posters you saw earlier. One of the performers had a pink waistcoat with lighter pink stripes going vertically down it, with pants to match. This performer had short hair with one long lock down near the bottom.
The other performer was facing away from you, wearing a pink waistcoat and white pants with pink stripes. They had a miniature tophat resting on their hair. Both of these performers hair was dyed pink at the tips.

The clown was sitting on some sort of console, and was discussing something with the others. The ballerina was leaning against the window with her eyes closed and arms crossed, as if thinking, this is a crazy idea.
The performer with the striped waistcoat was leaning against the other window, a thoughtful look on their face.

Suddenly, the clown glanced briefly at you before looking back up. Then, she stopped talking suddenly and looked down at you with a shocked face.

"And who might you be?" she said, getting off the console and putting her hands on her hips in a demanding way. The others turned to you, an eyebrow raised and slight alarm on their faces. All you could do is shakily smile and mutter a weak "Hi".

The performer with the tophat, whom you could easily tell was male now by his facial hair, bent down and grabbed your hand before pulling you out of the vent and pulling you to your feet.

He leaned close to the sticker on your jacket, and said, "Cranky Feet," before leaning back again. "Keypad glitching out?"

You nod.

"Well, who are you?" The clown asked, her brows furrowed. "How'd you get in here? Why are you here? What are you-"

"Calm down, Baby," the ballerina said, "at least let our guest learn our own names before demanding their business."
Wait, is the clown's name 'Baby' or are they dating? If they are, well, equality truly is springing up everywhere.

"Alright, Ballora, if we really have to," the clown said, a frown on her face. She quickly took a deep breath and stuck a fake grin on her face.

"Hiya, stranger! My name's Circus Baby!" the clown said with forced joy.
Okay, so not dating.

"My name is Ballora," the ballerina greeted, curtsying politely.
She must be the polite one in the group.

"The name's Funtime Foxy, though most call me Foxy," the one in a striped waistcoat said, giving you a simple two-finger-salute.
What's their pronouns? I can't tell what gender they are.

"I am Funtime Freddy! Nice to meetcha!" He said in a goofy voice, raising a puppet in his right hand. The puppet was of a young boy, with blue hair, rosy cheeks, and buck teeth.

"Hi! I'm BonBon!" he made the puppet say, letting out a goofy laugh afterwards. Foxy groaned and Baby just rolled her eyes.

This one is definitely the cutie.

"Should we... I dunno, make you comfortable..?" Baby asked, unsure, glancing to the others.

"It could be fun," Ballora said, nodding her head slowly. "Besides, when was the last time we had a guest?"

"Yeah, Baby! We should totally do it," Foxy said, trying to hide their enthusiasm.

"Alright, shall we get started?" Baby said, a small smile on her face.

Ballora smiled widely. Foxy tried to hide his excitement. Freddy was absolutely beside himself with joy.

You looked them all up and down, taking in their outfits. You noted that a Foxy is really slender, Baby is dauntingly tall, Ballora wore many pearls, and that Freddy was a bit chubby. Even cuter, you thought.

----

After spending a couple of hours with these performers, you found out a number of things about them.

• Baby was the leader of the group, though she can be very laid back.
• Ballora loves tea and long walks on the beach.
• Foxy tries to act aloof and cool but is in fact a real big nerd for Star Wars and Half-Life.
• Freddy, when alone, likes to practice his singing as well as ventriloquism.

You spent time individually with each performer, as well, as they showed you what they did when with kids. Ballora, naturally would dance (so graceful she is, it entranced you), Baby would sing (she could win so many Talent shows with that voice), Foxy would give advice and tell stories with helpful morals, and Freddy would perform a comedy act with his puppet, BonBon. They were all very likable and had cute perks (Ballora's laugh was a quiet giggle, Baby would get flustered at each compliment, Foxy told bad jokes), but Freddy definitely had the most charm. He was the most childish, but, as you found out later on, he can get serious about anything.

You found him sitting down on the edge of the stage in the Funtime Gallery, gently swinging BonBon absentmindedly as he stared at the ceiling.
You sat down next to him, not sure of what to say. You just uttered a simple, "What's up?" before trying to find what he was staring at.

"What? Oh, nothing," he said, glancing at you briefly before looking back up at the ceiling. "I'm just thinking about stuff."

"What kind of stuff?"

"Have you ever felt insecure about your body?" Freddy says, looking at you with cold seriousness.

"Uhm, o-of course I have," you stutter, wondering where this came from all of a sudden.

"Well, I'm just worried..." he states, looking away.

"Worried about what?" You tilt your head at him.

"I'm worried that I'll be made fun of for my figure and weight." He sighs and looks back to you.

"Made fun of? For your cute body?" You say, smiling softly at him. You could easily see his blush pop out of his pale skin as he looks away quickly.

"A-are you sure?" He questions, slight worry evident in his voice.

"Maybe this will convince you..." You said, quickly crawling behind him.

"W-what are you d-doing?" He stutters, trying to look behind himself.

Before Freddy could tell what was happening, your hands are at his sides and tickling him. He falls onto his side, trying to bat your hands away, but to no avail. Your hands attacked him mercilessly, and he was on the verge of crying from laughing too much. When he was lying on his back, you saw the opportunity to sit on his lap to keep him from moving. He grabbed his sides, uttering words of protest that were lost in wheezing.

Eventually, you stopped, and he was left there panting.

When Freddy realized what position the two of you were in, his face exploded into a blush. As did yours.

"Hey, Freddy, can I have the rest of the chocolate cake?" Baby said, poking her head into the gallery. Her face went blank as she saw you both, and you all just stared at each other with red faces.

"Uhh," you tried to think of something to say to break the tension.

Baby just gave you both a thumbs up, before she pulled out a phone and quickly took a picture of you both and running away. Freddy immediately snapped out of his daze and quickly got out from under you.

"BABY! GET BACK HERE RIGHT NOW!!" He shouts, running out of the gallery as you heard Baby's cackles resounding through the facility. You sat there snickering to yourself.

You looked over, and you noticed BonBon lying in the stage. You picked them up and smiled.

-------

"Thanks for keeping me here."

"No prob, bob," Baby said, shrugging it off. "We should be thanking you. We haven't seen anyone new in a while."

"Be sure to visit again!" Foxy said, giving you another two-finger-salute.

"We'll miss you," Ballora states, her eyebrows furrowing.

"Thanks for showing us a good time," Freddy says, smiling sadly. You smile sadly at them all. You may have only known them a short time, but... You felt like they were all good friends.

You hugged them all, Freddy the tightest, and exchanged phone numbers with them all.

You waved sadly at them as you got into the elevator and pressed the big red button.

"Don't forget to call!" Baby exclaimed before the elevator doors closed and you started to ascend.

When you were far enough away that she wasn't sure you wouldn't hear, Baby whispered to Freddy, "Somebody's got a cru-u-ush!" in a sing-song voice before skipping away.

Freddy snapped his head toward her, flustered, "BABY-Y-Y!"

---

Luckily for you, the rain cleared out. Your friend was reported to be at the police station, waiting for you to pick them up. Best of all, your car was being repaired by the mechanic in the nearest town. Things were going your way, finally, on this 'recreational roadtrip'.
But, the most recreational thing? Meeting those four performers deep underground. You're going to miss them.
Especially Freddy.

Description
Pitter, patter. Putter, patter.

The sound of rain was calming as it beat against the roof of the building.

Pitter, patter. Pitter, patter.

It took the worried and terrified thoughts out of your mind, serving as a therapeutic ambience.

Pitter, patter.

Namely, the fact that you were far from home, on a 'recreational roadtrip' with a friend, your car has broken down, and your friend is missing.
You lean your head against the cold steel of the elevator you're sitting in.
This elevator had a large fan spinning at the top, blowing lukewarm air onto you. It had posters of what you could only assume we're performers for a restaurant meant for young kids. Namely, one had a ballerina with the caption of "DANCE!" and another had a clown with pigtails with the caption of "CELEBRATE!"
The elevator had a large red button on its wall, and there seemed to be an odd compartment in the floor.
You payed no mind to it, though, you were just sitting in the elevator as it seemed the most secure place in the building in these hard times.

The building seemed abandoned, but strangely well kept after. Maybe abandoned recently? Who knows.

You stopped paying attention to the sound of the rain when the thought hit: What was this building originally used for? Other than the obvious station in which supplies were dropped off into by trucks outside, and the fact that the main focus of this building is the elevator, what is its purpose? Where could the elevator lead? Maybe it's the place where they recruit the performers?

Curiosity took over, and you found yourself standing up and pressing the large red button. The doors closed, and the elevator jerked as its gears shifted to life. You started to descend.

You were greeted by an upbeat male voice over an intercom. He startled you when he started speaking, but you didn't pay any attention. His voice and the way he spoke strangely made you think of Portal.
That is, until he said this:

"It appears that you are not an employee. If you are a visitor, please input your name so we can provide you with a sticker to our technicians know that you do not work here."

A keypad appeared out of the compartment in the floor, and you walked over to it. The letters were all mixed up and glitching out, and when you tried to press the first letter of your name, the keypad immediately came up with a giant "error".

"It seems that you are having trouble with the keypad," the voice says, "I see what you are trying type, and will correct it for you. Welcome, temporarily: Cranky Feet."
What in the world?
Another compartment slid open in the wall, and a sticker with the words "I am Cranky Feet and I'm not staying" came out. You shrugged, took the sticker, and stuck it on your jacket.

You shivered as the voice continued on, as the elevator descended deeper underground. How deep is this place? You must've been descending for a good minute by now.

When the elevator clunked to a stop, it played a happy tune before the doors opened. Separating you from a vent ahead of you was some torn down police tape.
You spine shivered, and your mind told you to turn back, but instead you just got down on all fours and began to crawl through the vent ahead of you. The voice continued to speak even then.

As you crawled into a room, you were greeted by....
One.. Two... Three.. Four... Is there five?
Four or five pairs of shoes.
As you popped your head out of the vent, you looked up to see two extremely pale performers in outfits themed around pink and white, as well as the ballerina and clown in the posters you saw earlier. One of the performers had a pink waistcoat with lighter pink stripes going vertically down it, with pants to match. This performer had short hair with one long lock down near the bottom.
The other performer was facing away from you, wearing a pink waistcoat and white pants with pink stripes. They had a miniature tophat resting on their hair. Both of these performers hair was dyed pink at the tips.

The clown was sitting on some sort of console, and was discussing something with the others. The ballerina was leaning against the window with her eyes closed and arms crossed, as if thinking, this is a crazy idea.
The performer with the striped waistcoat was leaning against the other window, a thoughtful look on their face.

Suddenly, the clown glanced briefly at you before looking back up. Then, she stopped talking suddenly and looked down at you with a shocked face.

"And who might you be?" she said, getting off the console and putting her hands on her hips in a demanding way. The others turned to you, an eyebrow raised and slight alarm on their faces. All you could do is shakily smile and mutter a weak "Hi".

The performer with the tophat, whom you could easily tell was male now by his facial hair, bent down and grabbed your hand before pulling you out of the vent and pulling you to your feet.

He leaned close to the sticker on your jacket, and said, "Cranky Feet," before leaning back again. "Keypad glitching out?"

You nod.

"Well, who are you?" The clown asked, her brows furrowed. "How'd you get in here? Why are you here? What are you-"

"Calm down, Baby," the ballerina said, "at least let our guest learn our own names before demanding their business."
Wait, is the clown's name 'Baby' or are they dating? If they are, well, equality truly is springing up everywhere.

"Alright, Ballora, if we really have to," the clown said, a frown on her face. She quickly took a deep breath and stuck a fake grin on her face.

"Hiya, stranger! My name's Circus Baby!" the clown said with forced joy.
Okay, so not dating.

"My name is Ballora," the ballerina greeted, curtsying politely.
She must be the polite one in the group.

"The name's Funtime Foxy, though most call me Foxy," the one in a striped waistcoat said, giving you a simple two-finger-salute.
What's their pronouns? I can't tell what gender they are.

"I am Funtime Freddy! Nice to meetcha!" He said in a goofy voice, raising a puppet in his right hand. The puppet was of a young boy, with blue hair, rosy cheeks, and buck teeth.

"Hi! I'm BonBon!" he made the puppet say, letting out a goofy laugh afterwards. Foxy groaned and Baby just rolled her eyes.

This one is definitely the cutie.

"Should we... I dunno, make you comfortable..?" Baby asked, unsure, glancing to the others.

"It could be fun," Ballora said, nodding her head slowly. "Besides, when was the last time we had a guest?"

"Yeah, Baby! We should totally do it," Foxy said, trying to hide their enthusiasm.

"Alright, shall we get started?" Baby said, a small smile on her face.

Ballora smiled widely. Foxy tried to hide his excitement. Freddy was absolutely beside himself with joy.

You looked them all up and down, taking in their outfits. You noted that a Foxy is really slender, Baby is dauntingly tall, Ballora wore many pearls, and that Freddy was a bit chubby. Even cuter, you thought.

----

After spending a couple of hours with these performers, you found out a number of things about them.

• Baby was the leader of the group, though she can be very laid back.
• Ballora loves tea and long walks on the beach.
• Foxy tries to act aloof and cool but is in fact a real big nerd for Star Wars and Half-Life.
• Freddy, when alone, likes to practice his singing as well as ventriloquism.

You spent time individually with each performer, as well, as they showed you what they did when with kids. Ballora, naturally would dance (so graceful she is, it entranced you), Baby would sing (she could win so many Talent shows with that voice), Foxy would give advice and tell stories with helpful morals, and Freddy would perform a comedy act with his puppet, BonBon. They were all very likable and had cute perks (Ballora's laugh was a quiet giggle, Baby would get flustered at each compliment, Foxy told bad jokes), but Freddy definitely had the most charm. He was the most childish, but, as you found out later on, he can get serious about anything.

You found him sitting down on the edge of the stage in the Funtime Gallery, gently swinging BonBon absentmindedly as he stared at the ceiling.
You sat down next to him, not sure of what to say. You just uttered a simple, "What's up?" before trying to find what he was staring at.

"What? Oh, nothing," he said, glancing at you briefly before looking back up at the ceiling. "I'm just thinking about stuff."

"What kind of stuff?"

"Have you ever felt insecure about your body?" Freddy says, looking at you with cold seriousness.

"Uhm, o-of course I have," you stutter, wondering where this came from all of a sudden.

"Well, I'm just worried..." he states, looking away.

"Worried about what?" You tilt your head at him.

"I'm worried that I'll be made fun of for my figure and weight." He sighs and looks back to you.

"Made fun of? For your cute body?" You say, smiling softly at him. You could easily see his blush pop out of his pale skin as he looks away quickly.

"A-are you sure?" He questions, slight worry evident in his voice.

"Maybe this will convince you..." You said, quickly crawling behind him.

"W-what are you d-doing?" He stutters, trying to look behind himself.

Before Freddy could tell what was happening, your hands are at his sides and tickling him. He falls onto his side, trying to bat your hands away, but to no avail. Your hands attacked him mercilessly, and he was on the verge of crying from laughing too much. When he was lying on his back, you saw the opportunity to sit on his lap to keep him from moving. He grabbed his sides, uttering words of protest that were lost in wheezing.

Eventually, you stopped, and he was left there panting.

When Freddy realized what position the two of you were in, his face exploded into a blush. As did yours.

"Hey, Freddy, can I have the rest of the chocolate cake?" Baby said, poking her head into the gallery. Her face went blank as she saw you both, and you all just stared at each other with red faces.

"Uhh," you tried to think of something to say to break the tension.

Baby just gave you both a thumbs up, before she pulled out a phone and quickly took a picture of you both and running away. Freddy immediately snapped out of his daze and quickly got out from under you.

"BABY! GET BACK HERE RIGHT NOW!!" He shouts, running out of the gallery as you heard Baby's cackles resounding through the facility. You sat there snickering to yourself.

You looked over, and you noticed BonBon lying in the stage. You picked them up and smiled.

-------

"Thanks for keeping me here."

"No prob, bob," Baby said, shrugging it off. "We should be thanking you. We haven't seen anyone new in a while."

"Be sure to visit again!" Foxy said, giving you another two-finger-salute.

"We'll miss you," Ballora states, her eyebrows furrowing.

"Thanks for showing us a good time," Freddy says, smiling sadly. You smile sadly at them all. You may have only known them a short time, but... You felt like they were all good friends.

You hugged them all, Freddy the tightest, and exchanged phone numbers with them all.

You waved sadly at them as you got into the elevator and pressed the big red button.

"Don't forget to call!" Baby exclaimed before the elevator doors closed and you started to ascend.

When you were far enough away that she wasn't sure you wouldn't hear, Baby whispered to Freddy, "Somebody's got a cru-u-ush!" in a sing-song voice before skipping away.

Freddy snapped his head toward her, flustered, "BABY-Y-Y!"

---

Luckily for you, the rain cleared out. Your friend was reported to be at the police station, waiting for you to pick them up. Best of all, your car was being repaired by the mechanic in the nearest town. Things were going your way, finally, on this 'recreational roadtrip'.
But, the most recreational thing? Meeting those four performers deep underground. You're going to miss them.
Especially Freddy.