A/N: Okay, so this was the original concept for Overheated. At first, the idea was what if Mike was really small and acted like a kid? Of course, I already showed you that in The Artist, but I still thought the idea was interesting, especially since most people seem to make Mike very manly and angry.
Then, the idea became more about what if Mike did something that triggered the animatronics into thinking he was human? I have a few friends and know kids that have asthma, and if they don't get help soon, it can become very serious very quickly. Because the animatronics work in a kids' restaurant, they need protocols to keep the kids safe. (Asthma attacks, scraped knees, can't find their parents, creepy dude trying to get one into his car, ect.) And of course I went with asthma. Animatronics obviously can't have these problems, so seeing something that triggers their protocols automatically registers the "endoskeleton" as human.
I started writing this, but I got bored and distracted and went with Overheated.
Sorry about the long Author's Note! Let the story... BEGIN!
Deep Breaths
Mike had always been a short man. He regretted that fact now as he stared into the staff room mirror, straightening his tie. His manager was leaning against the wall behind him, his reflection a place to look when he spoke. The man was almost two feet taller than Mike, and it was intimidating. Honestly, it was also a bit distracting, because Mike was stuck more on how badly he'd loose a fight with the man than his actual words.
Another thing he couldn't turn his attention away from was the security uniform. Unlike the rest of the Fazbear's establishment, his attire was made of pale or dark colors. The restaurant itself was decked out in bright purples and yellows, but his shirt was a very light blue and his slacks were black. His tie was also black, and his hat was a white baseball cap with a black bill.
Mike really didn't know why he needed a uniform. No one was going to see him anyway, and if someone ever bothered to break in, what would it matter if he was wearing a uniform or his comfortable hoodie? He really wanted his hoodie by the way. It was thick and warm, and he got cold too easily for his health. This stupid uniform was too thin, with short sleeves and drafts from the holes between the buttons. And why did he need a hat? His job was inside! It's not like he needed to block out the sun's rays, and it only served as more identification that he was a Freddy Fazbear's employee. What, were people confused by the name tag and the logo emblazoned on his back?
But Mike didn't argue, no sir. He quietly dressed- in front of his boss, no less!- and listened politely as the man explained the general workings of the office. That boarded Mike on another peeved train of thought.
The office had six inch steel doors on either side. Firstly, why did the room need two doors at all? That was asking for trouble. What if he was looking out one door and someone snuck up behind him? Secondly, why the heck were the doors six inches thick and made of solid steel? Was the manager expecting someone to sneak in with a bomb or something? Even if they did that, why would they target the security office? What happened to simple, wooden doors? And why did the doors require power to stay down? No one was capable of lifting them, so it seemed like a major waste of power to have the doors grind themselves into the floor.
And that led to another thing! The power! Why on earth was the restaurant cutting back on power? They obviously had enough money to keep the lights running and such, so why did they feel the need to limit the power supply at night? None of this made much sense.
"Anyway," the manager ended with a hearty chuckle, "You got any questions?"
"May I wear my hoodie?" Mike finally questioned as he turned around and looked up at the man.
"No, sir! You are a Fazbear employee now! Wear your uniform with pride, knowing you're serving your country!" The blonde grinned and clapped him heartily on the shoulder, as though he was a troop about to go into a war-zone.
"But, sir, I-"
"No buts, mister! Now hurry along, your shift will be starting soon!" The manager shoved a ring of keys and a thick flashlight in his hand. "Have a nice night. I'll lock the doors behind me on the way out!" The man turned and quickly left the room.
"Then why did you give me the keys?" Mike wondered aloud. He sighed and stared down at the rusty ring. One of his slender hands ran through his hair as he turned back to the mirror. The brunette picked up his hat and gently settled it on his head, flipping the bill up a bit more than necessary so he didn't feel like he was hiding his face. He blue eyes roamed over his thin body, making sure nothing was out of place. Once he was sure, he grabbed his inhaler, the keys, and the flashlight, before starting the short trek down to the office.
Mike sat down in the creaky old chair and familiarized himself with the office, testing the doors and checking the cameras. A sharp, buzzing bell signaled the start of his shift. Why was there even a bell in this place? This was a restaurant, not a school.
Not even three minutes into his shift, the phone rang. Mike startled and reached for it, only to realize it was a recorded message when it began talking suddenly. The brunette listened quietly as the previous night guard explained something about the animatronics walking around and trying to stuff him into a Fazbear suit.
So that's what the doors were for.
As the man on the phone chattered away, Mike quietly looked at the screen connected to the cameras. It seemed that the bunny was already moving. The brunette wasn't afraid- it shouldn't be hard to keep the animatronics out, right? He couldn't keep the doors closed all night, but if he was careful and stopped them from entering, then he could make it.
And the animatronics themselves weren't too creepy... They didn't see him as human, which was confusing because they worked with humans all day and should recognize them but maybe it had to do with their night mode or something?
Mike fidgeted as the metallic rabbit softly clunked down the hallway with its heavy feet. He gasped softly when he saw it too close to the door, and he quickly pressed the button to shut it out. A deep breath steadied him, and he ignored the shiver that ran down his spine from the cold air. The rabbit- Bonnie?- was staring in the window now.
"Um, hello?" Mike waved with a small smile. "I'm Mike. Can you talk?" The long eared animatronic sniffed at him and wandered back down the hall. It was a snobby little thing, wasn't it? He opened the door once it has gone.
The human observed the cameras some more and saw Bonnie was returning to the stage. The rabbit's back was to the camera. The bear and the bird were still on the stage. Whatever was hiding behind the curtains was still lurking back there.
The brunette sighed and settled down for a long night.
-{[(•)]}-
Mike had nightmares as he slept the next day. He dreamt of being caught and forcefully shoved in a suit, and of the animatronics slowly tearing him apart. The nightmare had startled him awake so badly he'd thrown up.
Still, he didn't call in sick, and he showed up that night, nevertheless.
The phone guy called again, and Bonnie and the chicken, Chica, were already moving when he checked the cameras. Mike broke out in a cold sweat. He was supposed to handle two of them at once?! What if he missed one! What if the bear started moving?! What if the thing came out of the curtain when he was otherwise distracted?!
The brunette shivered, wishing for at least the comfort of his hoodie. Screw the rules. He was bringing it tomorrow! It was cold at night, and he was going to get sick at this rate. Maybe he'd bring snacks, too. Fear makes you hungry...
Mike squealed and closed the door when Chica's face appeared in the window. He panted for a long moment and forced himself to take deep breaths. Again, he decided to communicate with the machine.
"Hello, I'm Mike," he waved. The bird's head snapped curiously to one side, making him jump. "I-I don't suppose you could talk, could you?" The chicken suddenly moved away and down the hall. The young man sighed and opened the door again.
He checked the cameras, finding something peeking through the curtains at Pirate's Cove. The man frowned and tried to figure out what kind of animatronic it was. He suddenly remembered Bonnie and quickly checked the cameras. He was right outside the door.
Mike's blue eyes widened in fright and he quickly reached out to close the door. A purple hand moved to stop him, and he jolted back with a stuttered breath. The robotic hand flinched back into the hall as well, and Mike took the opportunity to close the door.
"Night two, huh? Sorry, for locking you out," he called to the rabbit, which now looked through the window. "How are you?"
Again, the bunny haughtily retreated once it found that it's prey had eluded it. Odd, since rabbits weren't usually predators. Of course, neither were chickens.
But then, animatronics didn't come alive at night and try to murder people, did they?
Mike fiddled with his tie, loosening it when he found it difficult to breathe. He wondered why the bear and the one behind the curtains hadn't moved?
Did one animatronic start to move each night? Why would they do that? Or were they each programmed differently?
Mike closed the door against Bonnie once more and took another look at the cameras. Maybe he was over thinking this...
"Rule-breaker," the dark voice brought him out of his thoughts. The tiny brunette squirmed and slowly looked up to the purple animal.
"I'm sorry?" He tried. "I really can't let you come in." His next exhale was a bit shaky, but he was too afraid to move for his inhaler while the animatronic was watching him. Wait, couldn't it just break the window? Mike silenced his frightened sound and considered the structural stability of the window. Would it hold against the animatronics? It didn't look bullet-proof, and he was sure the machines were stronger than they looked.
The rabbit huffed at him and moved down the hall.
Mike breathed a sigh of relief, took a puff from his inhaler, and returned to the cameras.
-{[(•)]}-
The third night, Mike was exhausted. Internet research and questioning his boss hadn't taught him anything he needed to know. And one of his cousins from the crazy side of the family was celebrating their birthday, so he had to go instead of trying to sleep. The little sleep he did get was disturbed by nightmares. He ended up throwing up again.
He was still shaking when he came in for his shift.
Mike cursed himself as he realized he'd forgotten his hoodie and snacks. With a soft cough, he resigned himself to his fate and quietly sat in the tough leather chair. Phone guy left another message, and the brunette prepared himself for the rough night ahead.
Three hours later, Mike found himself with the door closed against Bonnie. The rabbit was practically hissing at him, but it had a strange look on its face. Chica showed up in the opposite window, and the small man reached to close the door. He managed it, but his arm quivered weakly. The chicken stared at him and didn't make any moves.
"I'm sorry," Mike cried softly, "I'm sorry." They didn't know what they were doing, they didn't know he was human, they didn't know, they didn't know-
A soft beep alerted Mike that he'd finally managed to run out of power. He had to open the doors, or he had to let the power run out and finally see what happened. He strange hiccuping sound escaped him as he was torn between his options.
The lights going out made the decision for him.
A strange tune started up, and the doors slowly slid open. Bonnie victoriously stepped inside, filling the cramped office. He roughly grabbed Mike's arm. The rabbit screamed in his face.
Mike gasped. And gasped. And gasped.
Then he was choking and coughing.
Now, of all the times to have an asthma attack. Even if it made sense! Still!
The cold, the vomiting, the exhaustion, the fear- it all led to one thing. Now he was going to be gasping and wheezing all the way to his death, which was really kind of embarrassing- he would have at least liked to go with pride-
Bonnie had stopped screaming at the wheezing young man. His ears twitched, and his eyes narrowed. Frightened and pained tears slipped from the brunette's eyes. Why had Bonnie stopped? Wasn't he supposed to be shoved in a suit now?
Mike whimpered through the attack as his vision began to fade. His chest was aching and burning now, he head throbbing dully, and his arm bruised where Bonnie's tight grip had been. Been?
Mike's free hands came up to grasp his chest as he gasped at Bonnie's back. The rabbit turned around with a determined look and his inhaler. Was the rabbit going to crush it, ruining his only hope? Or was it going to force it on him to make it last longer?
Gently, the bunny shook the inhaler and knelt in front of him. A soft purple paw came to firmly, but kindly hold the back of his head. Bonnie slowly pushed the inhaler between the man's lips and administered a puff of medicine. The animatronic pulled the inhaler back and waited for the man to hold his breath for ten seconds. The purple animal gently gave him another doze before pulling back.
"Are you okay?" The rabbit asked, voice much softer now. Tears still streamed down Mike's cheeks and he nodded slowly as he wiped them away.
"A-aren't you gonna stuff me in a suit?" He sniffled, frightened and wary. The bunny shook his head.
"We don't hurt humans."
"B-but-"
"I apologize for our earlier behavior. We didn't know you were human."
"Then how did you realize?" Mike wondered.
"We have asthma attack protocols. I recognized the symptoms, and I knew you couldn't be an animatronic," the purple bunny slowly rubbed warmth back into the brunette's arms.
Mike wanted to slap himself. Why had he been thinking that the rabbit would try to torture him? It was trying to put an endoskeleton back into a suit, not kill a human. He frowned at his own behavior.
"It's okay, Bonnie. I forgive you. But you'll tell the others, right?" He finally replied to the animatronic's earlier apology.
"Of course! Would you like to meet them?"
The brunette flinched subtly but nodded anyway. He tried to stand to follow the bunny, but his legs were still weak from the asthma attack. They gave out beneath him, and he would have gone clattering to the floor if Bonnie hadn't caught him.
"Easy there, bucko. Why don't I carry you?"
"Um, o-okay," Mike nodded his consent, and the rabbit gently scooped him up. "I feel like a girl."
"You're fine!" The bunny reassured. He plodded lightly down the hallway. "Hey, guys?" Bonnie yelled through the pizzeria. "We need to talk about something!"
"Now, matey?!" Foxy growled, ripping opened the curtains. "The endo hasn't checked me- Ya caught 'im?!" Mike curled further into Bonnie's arms.
"No, but I'll explain when everyone's here," the rabbit smiled. The two animatronics stepped into the main dining room. Freddy and Chica were already waiting in the middle of the room.
"You caught the endo?!" Chica cheered.
"Ah, no." Bonnie looked down at Mike and whispered, "Do you think you can stand?" Mike nodded shakily. The purple animatronic put him down, and the brunette quickly latched on to the rabbit, hiding behind him a bit.
"Um, everyone, this is-" Bonnie stopped. He looked down at the man again. "I'm sorry, I forgot to ask your name." Mike remembered telling them his name before, but apparently they didn't remember.
"Mike," the blue eyed man quickly answered. He watched the three other animatronics warily. Could he trust them with Bonnie around or did he still need to be careful?
"So, yeah, this is Mike," Bonnie gestured to the brunette. "And, he isn't an endo. He's... human."
"What? Do ya be blind, lad?!" Foxy demanded. "I'm lookin' right at 'im and I can see he be an endo!"
"No," the rabbit shook his head. "I think there's something wrong with our programming. When I got into the office, he had an asthma attack."
"I don't know, Bonnie," Chica frowned. "How do we know the endo hasn't tricked you?"
"Why would we be programmed to see humans as endos? It doesn't happen during the day," Freddy added.
"My asthma protocols had to be activated for me to see it too. I don't know why we're made this way," Bonnie responded.
"Maybe he has to have another attack for us to see it?" Chica questioned, head tilting jerkily. Mike shuddered.
"N-no, please, I don't want to-" he pleaded quietly, burying himself in Bonnie's side.
"It's okay, Mike. If we find a computer we can show them the visuals from my optics," the animatronic soothed, lightly running a hand over the brunette's head. After being asked to have another serious attack, the man was trembling.
"There's a computer linked to the security cameras. But we need to turn the power back on," Mike managed.
"I can do that," Freddy declared and moved towards the back room. Mike took the short break to breathe deeply and try to calm down. After a few minutes, the lights turned on.
"Let's go see the visuals, Bonnie!" Chica smiled. She led the other animatronics to the security office. Mike's legs trembled a bit, and Bonnie was tempted to pick him up again, but they made it.
Mike powered up the computer again. Bonnie reached behind his head and pulled a few cables from under his suit. He connected them to the computer, and a special login came up. The animatronic typed in his username (PurpleBunny) and his password (B0nn!eRox). There were a few programs on his profile, and he used one to retrieve the desired visuals from his memory banks.
Mike watched with interest, finding it odd for someone to be able to plug themselves in and pull up their memories. If this all worked out, having robots for friends would be weird.
Gasping and spluttering broke through the speakers, and Mike cringed away from the sound of his earlier attack. Foxy, Freddy, and Chica stared at the screen intently. Mike guessed that if Chica were human, she would have paled significantly.
"I-Inhaler," her voice box stuttered. "We need an inhaler."
"I'm fine now," Mike assured quietly. "I'm not having an attack anymore."
"Is it always this bad, lad?" Foxy breathed.
"No, you don't need to worry," Mike smiled. So they really weren't evil, there was just a glitch in their programming. There were a few guys he knew from college who could probably fix them. The animatronics needed some repairs anyway; if he got their permission, he would ask his friends to come fix them.
"Alright, so he's human," Freddy snappishly agreed.
"Yay! Now we can be friends!" Chica enthused and gave Mike a not-so-gentle pat on the head.
"Sorry fer huntin' ya, mate," Foxy apologized and threw his arm around the man's shoulders once he stood up.
"It's fine, really. I'm just glad it won't be happening anymore," Mike grinned. His breathing was a little uneven from the incredible excitement, and Bonnie magically produced his inhaler.
"Well, welcome to the Fazbear family, Mike," Freddy declared. The brunette nodded with a happy smile.
A/N: I know the ending's a little abrupt but there was literally nothing I could think to write after that.
So... I have a one-shot I working on about a friendship between Freddy and Mike, kinda like Overheated. Unfortunately, due to gore, I will be rating it T when it comes out. Sorry...
Also, when that is out of the way, I will be working on BBP. I have the notes for that, adn I already started the next chapter. I know a lot of you are waiting on Trapped, but I really, really need help with that one. I will be going back and reading the ones I need to update to see if I can get an new inspiration after the time apart.
QUESTION OF THE UPDATE: You have taken a job at Freddy's Fazbear's! (You can choose which one.) All of the animatronics want to be your friend, but they have major jealousy issues! If you choose one of them, the others won't like you as much anymore. Which animatronic do you choose as your best friend? (The other animatronics will still be friendly, you just can't grow as close as the one you choose.)