#Salem's panic attack scene breaks my heart... At least Ellie gives her/them the love they desperately need in the future

[funtimespringscare101]

Indigo Park Mascot Savior AU Chapter 1- Birds of a Feather (...sort of) Stay Together

"Ah, there are you, buddy!" Rambley said, as the screen sparked to life.

Ellie practically lunged out of the vent as Mollie closed in on her with her voice becoming louder, and her muttering becoming more audible.

"GET BACK IN YOUR CAGE, BIRD." Mollie blurted, and Ellie looked back at the giant bloodied Macaw behind her and her eyes saddened, she had heard her repeat lines throughout the chase, mostly in the Landing Pad and Ellie just realizes that maybe the mascots were more than meets the eye, even though they were big and covered in dried up blood (which might not even be theirs).

Ellie's life flashes before her eyes. First, it was her and Mom standing in line to enter Jetstream Junction to see Mollie, which was their favourite mascot of the park. She was 11 at the time, but she remembers how much both of them loved hanging out at the park, especially at Jetstream Junction. Mollie remembers the halloween of that year, in fact, she dressed up as Mollie. That day was also the day where the coughing started.

Flash forward to a few months later, and Mom turns out to have Cancer and has been in hospital for almost a month. Ellie was rarely at home during that time... Mom fought on until one day, she gave out, and Ellie was there to see it, screaming her name out, again and again. Ellie spent the following two months crying herself to sleep. She went on to live with the rest of her family and through high school was a little more closed off than other people... Until she met Ed, a guy who was obsessed with having beanies so close to his eyes and turns out to also have loved to go to Indigo Park. His optimism was something Ellie definitely needed after everything, so much that both of them were still the best of friends now.

Seeing a room up ahead, Ellie sprinted towards it, with the avian mascot following suit close behind, instincts telling to keep running, keep running, keep running....

"WAIT, HOLD ON! THIS ROOM'S STAFF ONLY!" Rambley's face lit up another screen, it didn't last very long as Mollie lets out a loud animalistic growl, "COME ON IN, NEW STAFF!"

Ellie looks towards Mollie as she was getting through the Doorway, and she slips and in turn, Mollie pounces. Time slows down at that moment, Ellie glances above them and sees the door starting to close and that Mollie's neck was in the way. Grabbing her chest feathers, Ellie pulled Mollie out of the way as the door approached them from above, leaving a cut on the back of Mollie's neck.

As Mollie crashes in the centre of the room, Ellie loses her footing and I lands on the malfunctioning door, which upon impact with the ground made sparks. As Ellie's arm touches it, she gets shocked, causing her to grunt in pain and staggers onto her butt.

"OH GOLLY, ARE YOU OKAY THERE, BUDDY? THAT ARM OF YOURS LOOKS TERRIBLY HURT!" Rambley appeared on the sole screen on the wall, looking quite worried. Ellie catches her breath as she feels her arm twitching from the nasty shock she got, she was bleeding and her skin had gone discoloured from some spots. "Y-Yeah, I'm...I'm fine, Rambley..." She managed to get out.

Getting up, Ellie turned to look at Mollie, who was still processing it all, the mascot was sitting there, just confused. Ellie started to approach, causing the macaw to meet her eyes as she looks up at the one that she was just chasing. Ellie kneels down on one knee and she extends her good hand out towards Mollie.

The macaw, upon seeing Ellie's arm approach, started to have memories of her former living situation flash by, the days inside that cage, being called names and poked by the staff, they all treated her like a beast, the days she spent crying were so many... Returning to the present, Mollie starts to panic and flinch, raising her wing. "Whoa, whoa, whoa! It's okay! I promise I won't hurt you!" Ellie stays with her hand extended towards Mollie, the macaw processed it for a moment before reluctantly taking her hand to get up. "There we go, careful now..." Ellie says as she smiles at her, the macaw's eyes soften at her surprisingly gentle approach, not knowing to process it.

Ellie winces and holds her wounded arm, Rambley speaks up, "I think that you should bandage that damage on your arm there, hmmm... maybe there's a first aid station up ahead-"

"Rambley." Ellie spoke up, turning to face the screen, "by now, I realize that there's something more going on here, so why not cut the bullshit and explain what the fuck is going on here?"

The Silly kiosk music slows to a stop and Rambley is silent, he glances at Mollie, who nervously glances back, he looks at Ellie again and sighs.

"Okay, okay", Rambley's voice drops its cheerful tone, deepening a bit, "I can see in your facial tracking that you're confused -AnGrY- UpsET, transparency is an important part of our policy here at Indigo Park so... I need to be honest about something."

He sighs.

"The park has been inactive for years, employees stopped showing up, guests too... The mascots are..."

Mollie saddens up when Rambley brings it up, hugging herself.

"I was just so excited to see a visitor and I wanted to be sure you were given the best experience possible! but I was confined to the entrance for so long, I didn't realize how much disrepair the park has... fallen into."

Rambley's ears fall as he saddens up too, "I'm wasting all of your fun time... "

"Ehh, sorry for the inconvenience." Rambley looks down like a child who was just told off, Ellie sighs, "Don't worry, Ram, just... give me a heads up next time, Okay buddy?"

He nods, "But... BUT!! I have an idea!", Ellie raises an eyebrow, looking quite tired of the bullshit, "All right... What do you have, Ram?"

"I have access to the repair documentation in my database! I just can't execute most tasks without authorization from a human user..."

Ellie’s eyes light up slightly as she starts to get it while Rambley continues, "you must've come here because the park matters to you too, right? Would you... be willing to help me restore the park?"

Ellie thought about it, if mascots like Mollie and Lloyd were like this, that means that Finley and Salem, whose section on the Railway ride Ellie noticed was caved in and destroyed, even more suspicious was the fact that Rambley was glitching like crazy, probably were too... Ellie just came here to do a video for Ed and for the nostaglia, but everything has changed since now. Come to think of it, it would be nice to have the park up and running again, she smirks, "All right, buddy, Let's do it."

Rambley lit up instantly, jumping up in joy,"YIPEE! I'm so glad you aren't opposed to this! Oooh, I'm so excited! Let's get this place back in business! But first...", his eyes buffered for a moment, "...Let's get that arm all patched up! I located a first aid kit in the next room."

Mollie felt nervous to speak up, if this human really is here to help restore the park, maybe she could make it up to her for the chasing, after a few seconds of stuttering, Mollie finally spoke, "M-may I help?"

Ellie and Rambley both turned in surprise towards Mollie. D-did she just speak? like speak normally? "You can talk?" Ellie stuttered out, Mollie looks down embarrassingly, "Not much anymore, not when there's no one to talk to now", her voice was so similar to that of the mascot that is advertised throughout the park, although deeper and a little growly, Ellie felt so bad for her, for all of them, I mean, being left alone for 8 years must had been so hard. Ellie thought for a second, "well, two heads are better than one! What do you think, Rambley?"

He looked uneasy for a moment, Mollie was his best friend, and he always made sure to make that fact heard but after the... incident and the chase that just happened, he felt scared that the cycle will repeat. Mollie looks nervously at Rambley, waiting for his answer. and the racoon stares back, "Well, I guess you're right about some help," Mollie's eyes lit up, "Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you!"

"LET'S RESTORE A PARK!" Rambley exclaimed excitedly as the screen turned off and the door opened, Ellie and Mollie walked through the short hallway.

"Okay, welcome to the crew, Rookie Rangler (registered)!", Rambley's voice rang out over the speakers and his face shined through an new screen over the doorway in front of them,"your first office as one of Rambley's Ranglers (registered) is bandage your wounded arm and get out of the Rambley's Ranglers (registered) room! and as our dear old friend Mollie will be joining us, I recommend you two stay safe and I'm so glad I'm not so alone anymore. LET'S GO MAKE INDIGO PARK GREAT AGAIN! Head left towards the Rookie Rangler (registered) room to set yourself free! You'll find the first aid kit there...

Whew! Kinda exhausting to say that whole spiel, but Rambley's Ranglers (registered) is a registered trademark...thattt expired yesterday."

Ellie and Mollie giggled at Rambley's little bit, and followed his instructions, as Ellie opened the door to the security room, she found the first aid kit on the wall, Mollie went and grabbed it while Ellie sat down on the desk, rolling her sleeves. Mollie set the kit by Ellie, opened it and got out the bandages. As Ellie stuck out her arm, Mollie began to wrap her wounds up. She was very careful with her claws now, wrapping up Ellie's forearm with such care, but she accidentally touched one of the discoloured spots.

Ellie hissed in pain, It hurt like hell but better off doing this than leaving it untreated. Mollie was weirdly silent during the whole process, until suddenly Ellie spoke up, "H-Hey, Mollie?"

"Mmm?"

"Can I ask you a question?"

"...Go for it."

"You weren't treated very good, were you?"

Mollie froze and stared up at Ellie, who got nervous, "Sorry... I heard you yell about a cage earlier, and I was just curious. Sorry, small minded question-", Ellie couldn't finish her sentence as Mollie sighed and spoke,

"the kids loved us, I mean who wouldn't? we were the characters that they loved, come to life... but the parents were so unnerved and concerned, and we didn't blame them one bit, but the staff... they..." Mollie started to tear up, "They treated like animals, locking us in cages, calling us things like 'FREAK' or 'BEAST'" Tears run down her cheek, "It was so painful."

Mollie was taken out of her rant by Ellie putting her hand over hers, she looked at her with a soft smile, "I promise you, I'll never have you go through that hell again, okay?", She moved her hand onto Mollie's cheek, "You'll be all right."

Mollie wasn't still used to her soft touches and kind behaviour, but she nodded and muttered "Thank you" as she finished doing the bandages. Ellie packed the kit in her backpack and put it back on her back to be on her way. as Mollie followed her, she noticed a duffel bag hidden under the desk, grabbing it and taking a look inside, she found some papers for something and...her scarf?! Mollie spent countless hours looking for it after she lost during the incident, Ellie called out for her and she hurried out of the security room, taking with her the bag.

They found the way out soon, and after meeting with Rambley, walked through the wreckage of the park until they found the way to Oceanic Odyssey, "Hey, Look! There it is!" Ellie exclaimed, she shivered and hugged herself, "Jesus, it's cold out here". Mollie looked at her, her eyes softening, and reached inside the duffel bag, pulling out her scarf extending it towards Ellie, "Here".

Ellie glanced at Mollie, "You're... giving me your scarf?", Mollie chuckled, "Well, you need it more than me, besides, this might be considered as my thank you for saving my life." Ellie took the scarf after a moment and wrapped it around her neck, "...Thanks, Mols."

Ellie started to walk forward before Mollie, nervously embraced her from behind...The sounds of sniffs and sobs soon filled the silence as Mollie lets herself go. Ellie felt extremely bad as she puts her hands over Mollie's, Jesus Christ, she's shivering... How bad was it for them? Poor Mollie, she thought, she petted Mollie's cheek softy and continued towards Oceanic Odyssey, hoping that Finley won't be so aggressive.

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The Cloaked figure watched from the distance as they watched the human walked towards the gate of Oceanic Odyssey with Mollie, they must say, they're surprised that the human treats her so carefully. From the let go, they could see that this human was different from the bastard staff that had abused all of them those years prior to the incident, It... fascinated them. She crouched down as she continues to watch, pulling their hood further for Mollie to not recognize her and attack, even though she would be the least aggressive towards them. Salem always to be the most accustomed to the abuse, and truth be told, they as sure were as traumatized as the others, but they continued their villain mascot thing, causing chaos and shit until October 2015, when they cooked up a new potion with their usual stuff and offered it to the other mascots.

They later escaped and went to their secret lair, hidden close to the area that Jetstream Junction was located in, where they'd watch the effects of the potion take place, this whole show was always to be kid-friendly, and even if the parents were a little off put by them, it didn't matter as much as the kids having fun, they let out a chuckle that would cartoon villains proud, "Perfect! My new Potion is working great! They are spreading chaos! Not even that pesky raccoon can stop me no-" the Mascots turned towards the adults, taking Salem out of the moment, "Wait. What are they doing to the visitors-?"

They attack the staff, Mollie biting one in the shoulder.

"Oh", Salem couldn't move.

Floyd pounces on another employee, with families running out of the theatre like chickens.

"Oh", Salem's eyes widened even more.

Finley's tail wrapped around a very abusive member of staff.

"OH GOD-" Salem suddenly went into a panic attack, she dropped out of the swivel chair and sat against the desk.

Her ears drooped and a loud ringing sound faded in. They brought their knees closer, burying their face in them while running their paws in their hair, they couldn't stop hyperventilating, and the screams from the screen were definitely not helping! Ever since then, Salem locked themselves in their new bunker and over the years, worked to find a cure to that damn potion, making them lose sleep. Their fur faded from the vibrant purples they used to have as time went by, One of their walls soon become a giant board filled with strings of string and neat pieces of papers with plans for potions that had failed. Prominent eyebags now sit under Salem's eyes and their pink-streak hair was now messy.

returning to the present, Salem was taken out of their thoughts when Mollie spoke,

"Oh, I just realized! I never got your name, sweetie, what do I call my little savior?"

The human looks back at Mollie, and after a moment replies, "it's Ellie. Ellie Riveira."

"Ellie... Hey, I remember you! You had long hair and a tooth gap, right? Oh, you were so cute back then!"

The human stares at Mollie in surprise, "y-you remember me?"

"Of Course! We remember all our little guests, it was something nice we had to better cope with the staff, plus it added more "magic" to the park", Mollie giggled, "It was fun while it lasted... You used to come with your mom a lot, as I remember. It was nice to see you both at Jetstream Junction."

The human suddenly gets sad, "Yeah... Well, she passed from Cancer not long before the park closed. I was still young back then... but it became easier as the years went by."

Mollie's tone saddens too, "oh, in that case, I'm sorry for your loss, your mother was one of the few who didn't mind us", the macaw chuckles, "You two have the same smile."

The human smiles at Mollie, "Thanks... Yeah, she was great. We loved coming here all the time, she always tried her best as a single mom. I don't know my dad that well, but I know that he died before I was born."

Mollie smiled at the human, "well, at least you're here now, right? I definitely wouldn't mind having company again after all these years."

"I definitely agreed, let's just hope Finley isn't as violent as you and Lloyd were, I wouldn't want anyone to get hurt." Ellie stared at the sign of Oceanic Odyssey above the entrance gates to the ride. "But hey, I know a couple of good friends that will gladly want to help..."

As they approached the ride, Salem stands up, maybe it won't hurt having external help... They chuckled and as they turned to walk away, they whispered "Take care of them for me" and went off towards their bunker, a giant fluffy skunk tail behind them.

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Finally finished with this huge project! The AU's first official chapter is out done and posted! I had so much fun writing the ending of Indigo Park and rewriting the events for the Mascot Saviour AU. Also AAA Mollie and Ellie's relationship is so cute here! I prided myself in the mother-daughter dynamic that Ellie, Mollie , and later Salem, have in this AU.

Ed and Laura also appear in the AU, while Ed himself is not in the protagonist chair, how I write for him will be fun to figure out!

@thefoolishone666 I really hope you enjoy this especially, as you are the one I talk most about with this AU.