This is my first fanfic so be as brutal as you need to be. With that being said, enjoy!


The Midnight Mechanic

I shuffle through my crappy one room apartment with the Sunday paper in hand. Pulling myself a chair to my cheap table and flip straight to the help wanted ads. Someone out there has to need my skills. I need to pay rent, or at least catch up, I'm already behind and I don't think my landlord has too much patience left.

Not much to pick from these days unfortunately. As much as I want to put my mechanic skills back to use, at this point I'll flip burgers if I need to. Most of the ads are for people above my "education". Please, the only thing they have that I don't is a paper with their name on it and a fancy signature.

A new ad catches my eye. One for some joint called Freddy Fazbear's Pizza. Haven't heard about that place in a long time. I remember they had some animatronics, or something like that anyway. Looks like they have a couple positions open. One for a maintenance worker and a night guard.

I grab the phone off the wall and call the number listed. I just hope at least one of those positions are still open.

After a few rings someone picks up the phone.

"Hello, Freddy Fazbear's pizza. This is Fred how can I help you?" A gruff voice answers.

"Good morning my name is Mark Stone, I'm calling about your ad in the paper." I say as formally as I can.

"Oh yes, which position are you calling about?"

"The maintenance position, is it still open?"

"Yes it is, when can you come in for an interview?"

I nearly drop the phone in surprise, but manage to catch it.

"As soon as you need me!"

*Later that evening.*

I make my way inside the pizzeria and find another guy around my age and dressed up just as I am. In other words, competition. I look over to the robots on stage amazed that they are still working, they kind of look like shit. The bear is a bit rusted, the duck has got some good scratches on it, the rabbit's paint is peeling. That's just cosmetic thought, nothing a good can a spray paint couldn't fix. It just depends on how cheap the owner is.

I make my way over and sit at the table across my competition. I still have a fifteen minutes before my interview, might as well see who this guy is.

He looks up at me with a bit of worry in his eyes.

"Hello, are you're here for the night guard job?"

"No, the maintenance one." I answer.

"Oh thank god." He gives with a sigh of relief. "My names Mike." he says and offers his hand.

"Mark" I answer shaking his hand. That's a load off my mind, I just hope nobody else shows up.

Thankfully no one did. Mike was the first one to go in which gave me a bit more time to prepare. I can't risk screwing this up. I look through my resume hoping my references will still vouch for me. My experience section is pretty long. Mostly from different places as I mostly did odd jobs with only a couple who took me in as a full time employee.

Before I know it I see Mike coming back down the hall with a big smile on his face, and a uniform in his hands.

"That was quick" I comment.

"He basically hired me as soon as I walked in. He'll probably do the same for you, he needs people." He says with the smile still firmly stuck on his face.

That's kind of odd but hey, whatever gets me a job.

"You must be Mark, good to see you! Come on down to my office." Mr. Fazbear's voice grabs my attention from the departing Mike

I get up and look over to see a bear of a man waving me in from down the hall. I take a deep breath and make my way to my hopefully new boss.

Once I sit down in his small office he cuts right to the chase.

"How good are you with machines?" He answers.

I quickly grab my resume and offer it to him.

"I've been working with machines before I even graduated high school. I've done bodywork at auto-shops and repaired many complicated machines in the factories in most of the towns around here." I sell myself with a hint of pride.

"I see you've only got a high school degree. Why is that?" he says from behind my resume.

That always has to come up doesn't it. Oh I don't know Mr. Fazbear, probably because I'm broke as shit.

"I plan on attending collage, but I need to make some money for rent first. Hard times you know." I say with a forced smile.

"I know the feeling" he mumbles. After a few moments he sets the paper down and looks at me with a smile.

"It looks like your experience should make up for the lack of degree. You're hired" He says with a smile.

"Thank you Mr Fazbear!" I say nearly jumping out of my seat.

"Just a few things I need to go over with you." He interrupts my internal celebrations. "First, You'll have to come in after we close at ten, and you'll be paid hourly. Second, I'll be inspecting your progress on the animatronics, as they will be your main focus, so no slacking off. Lastly." He gives a pause. "Welcome to the Fazbear family. You start tomorrow night."

*The next night*

My first night, better make a good impression.

Looking over my outfit I realize I may not look all too professional, but in my line of work you need clothes you don't care about getting dirty. A good pair of blue jeans, a black T-shirt, and my old gray jacket that holds the stains from many jobs. It's not like the boss can complain, he never gave me a uniform or anything.

I walk in and see that most of the employees are already gone with just the cleanup crew and Mr. Fazbear sticking around. He's on stage walking among the animatronics, talking. He notices me and waves me over. I make my way over dodging fallen pizza and busy employees, then climb up the stage.

"It's been a while since we had this many customers in a day. You or Mike must be my lucky charm." he jokes

I give a small laugh. "I always though of myself as a lucky guy."

"Hope that's true." he says turning back to the bear-bot.

The hell does that mean?

"So, um these must be the animatronics I heard so much about." I break the silence

"Oh yes let me introduce you!" He says turning back to me with an arm outstretched to the rabbit. "This is Bonnie the bunny, over there is Chica the chicken, and the main man in the middle is Freddy." he says then puts his hand on my shoulder. "This is Mark. He'll be maintaining you guys and gal."

I give a strange look to my eccentric boss.

Is he seriously introducing me to the robots?

"Well don't be shy, say hello" he says looking back at me.

Is he high or something?

"Um, hello I'm Mark." I say trying to inch away from my boss.

"The band shouldn't need too much work beyond the obvious stuff." my boss continues, pulling me with him as he walks across the stage. "They might have a rusty joint or need some fluid replacement, but the big things are the cosmetics. They can't leave the stage so just worry about making them look good for now. The one that needs the most work is..." He looks over to some old dusty curtained stage with an out of order sign posted out front. "That one is called Foxy, he's the pirate fox of pirate cove."

"That's interesting. How bad of shape is it in." I ask

"He's been pretty banged up and out of order since 87. I want you to take a look at him tonight and see what you can do. I bet he wants to perform like the old days."

Why did I have to get a boss with a few screws loose. I bet he's a hoarder considering he kept some hunk of junk for so long.

"The blueprints for them are somewhere backstage, or the maintenance room. To be honest I don't remember where exactly. They haven't broken down for a while, minus Foxy, so I haven't needed them. You shouldn't need them tonight as I just want you to look for any damage, and figure out what you want to do." He gives me a pat on the back and another of his trademark smiles. "I'll let you get to it then. Oh, and if you want to leave early that's up to you, just be sure to clock out."

With that he walks off the stage and joins the rest of his staff, who had just finished setting up everything for the next morning. I give the band a quick once over then head back to my truck and grab my tools. The last of the staff passes by me as I return with my gear.

At least I don't have to wear a uniform. I hate red and yellow together.

I set my pack down in front of the band and start my inspection with the rabbit. From a distance they don't look too bad, but once up close I can see how worn they really are. I reach for a seam in the fur when a thought stops me cold.

Almost broke the first rule, always make sure the machine your working on is off first.

An inspection of the battered suit reveals nothing that could be a switch or some kind of indicator.

"Is it on the inside?" I ask out loud. I feel around for a panel of some sort, and find one on its back. I pull apart the Velcro holding the fur over it and loosen the screws. I pop the panel off and see that the animatronic is made of a metal endoskeleton with the suit attached at various points.

"So the suit and the skeleton are interchangeable, whoever built these was a forward thinker." I say to myself. I found out a long time ago that talking to myself while I worked was a good way to keep me focused.

With a small pen light I look for some kind of switch or indicator that it's off. After some prodding I find the switch on the base of the neck. Just as I thought, it was off. That meant I could begin my work in earnest.

At around 11:45 I had just finished up looking at the last animatronic, the bird, when Mike walked in. He was dressed in an old security guards uniform. It looked pretty worn but he didn't seem to notice, I guess I just have an eye for these things. I gave him a wave and he gave one back.

"Ready for your first night!?" I shout out to him.

"A little tired but I'm ready!" he shouts back as he makes his way to the security booth at the back of the pizzeria.

I close up Chica, write down my findings, and gather my tools.

"Now for the hard one, the fox. What was its name again... oh ya, Foxy. Real imaginative there." I tell myself as I make my way to pirate cove.

I jump up on stage and push through the curtains. It's pretty dark back there so I hit the light switch. A few flickers later and the room is lit up by its lone remaining light. It's just like how you would imagine a kid friendly pirate setup would look like. Fake treasure chests, plastic coins, a faded beach painted on the back wall, and a half of a pirate ship jutting out from one of the walls. Must have looked pretty good without the half inch thick layer of dust.

At the back of the dusty stage sitting on a treasure chest is the fox-bot. It's looking at the floor in front of it, a monument to disrepair. The suit has some major holes in the front giving a view of the endoskeleton, the legs are completely exposed, the fur is discolored in some spots, and the paint on the head has cracked something fierce. Considering how long it's been out of order it's probably rusted stiff to top it off.

"Wow! You have seen better days. I'm gonna be here for a while." I say to myself.

Just as I finish my sentence the lights go out.

Great, it wasn't creepy enough back here.

I poke my head out and see most of the place is shrouded in darkness as well. The only light comes from Mikes guard booth.

"Mike! You got power down there?" I shout

"Yes, but I'm on a battery." He shouts, but I can barely hear him.

Fazbear you cheapskate. The old midnight power saver. I've only had one other employer do this, but his business was on its last legs.

I fumble around and find my bag. Pulling out the heavy duty flashlight I turn it on and focus it on the rusted fox.

"Maybe this place is to" I mumble to myself and prop the light up on the fake ship.

With my light secure I open up the fox and find that it's also off.

My most immediate concern are the limbs. Something that's been still for this long must have locked up by now. Propping up Foxy was easier than I expected it. Must be light because his suit is missing some chunks.

"Lets take a look at those legs" I begin.

I test the movements manually and to my surprise find them only a little stiff. I go through the full range of motions on its legs and find only a couple spots that lock up.

I feel like a doctor

That thought gives me a fun idea. I stand up in front of the broken down fox and straighten the tie I don't have.

"Well Mr. Foxy it seems your legs are in need of only a few repairs. Lucky for you I'm well qualified to give you the care you need. Now I'm going to test the motion in your arms tell me if this hurts at all."

I inform my patient in my best doctor voice.

An hour into my examination I hear someone moving around just outside the curtain. I look behind me to see a shadow pass in front of the curtain toward the security booth.

Just Mike doing his rounds. I hope he didn't hear me, that would be kind of embarrassing.

I return to my work and take a look at the inside of the jaw. The paint is a shade darker than the rest of the head, but what grabs my attention are the bolts in the back.

"That's more rust than bolt." I comment

I hear heavy footsteps pass by the curtain again.

Was mike wearing boots when he came in? Must not have noticed. He would tell me if anyone else was here, that's kind of his job.

I grab my smallest wrench and begin to try and turn the rusted bolts holding the jaw in place. It takes me at least half an hour to get the jaw off. It was more rusted than I thought and had a few more surprises holding it in place. Cleaning off the jaw with a brush I notice that some of the darker paint flakes off with each stroke.

"Shit, shouldn't scrub so hard" I tell myself. Then I notice that it's not exposing bear metal when it's brushed away, but just paint that's the same color of the rest of head.

"Is this an overcoat or something? I'll have to ask Fazbear about it in the morning." I note to myself and begin the long process of reattaching the jaw back on Foxy.

I reattach the wires and get the jaw almost in place when a slam startles me, making Foxy's jaw drop literately.

The hell was that? Sounded like a heavy door. Is Mike playing with the doors, or is this a lot worse? The only reason he should slam a door closed would be if someone was here.

I scramble to the ship and grab my flashlight. With a click I turn off my only light, and the only thing that would give away my position. I flip my light around, ready to use it as an emergency club. A few tense minutes later I hear something open. I poke my head out and look down the hall to Mike's office. The door is open.

Damn it Mike don't scare me like that. He must be bored.

Turning my light back on I make my way to the ship and prop the light back up. I look back to the fox and notice one of its arms has moved, or did I move it and not remember?

Fuck this place is creepy at night. After I get this jaw back on I'm out of here.

"Alright Foxy, lets get your jaw back on." I say a little less confidently than I like.

Why does it take so much longer to put this thing back on then to take it off? After a good hour of struggling, and no shortage of cursing, I get the jaw back on.

"That was an adventure, but that's one good looking jaw if I say so myself." I say wiping away a small bead of sweat.

The curtain opens slightly behind me.

"Come to admire my work Mike?" I say packing up my tools by the ship. "Well take a look at that jaw and tell me you could do better." I grab the light and shine it at the person standing just outside the stage.

THE HELL!?

Instead of a curious guard I'm met with the cold metallic stare of Bonnie. Though its expressions are limited, I know the desire to hurt someone when I see it. I freeze up. Fazbear said they couldn't leave the stage. They shouldn't even be able to move right now, they were off!

My breaths quicken to the edge of hyperventilation. My legs begin to shake despite my best efforts to control them. With a gulp I grab my toolbag and slowly make my way to the other end of the stage. I carefully step over Foxy with my eyes and light trained on Bonnie the murderbot. Thankfully its head doesn't track my movement across the stage making this encounter a sliver less terrifying.

A slow mechanical whirl catches my ear. I stare at Bonnie but can't see any movement.

What's making that sound. That sounds like a motor but Bonnie isn't moving.

Dread pours over me when I slowly turn my head toward Foxy. Its icy stare freezes me in place once more. Only its head has moved, but its eyes are looking straight into mine.

Slowly I turn to face Foxy and back up to the edge of the stage. Mike's office sounds like a good place to run to right now.

"ARRRG welcome me matey to p-p-pirate cove!" It screams in a disturbing mechanical voice, eyes flashing with every word.

"Jesus fuck!" I scream as I fall off the stage, bouncing the back of my head off the floor.

I scramble to my feet to see Bonnie slowly turn to face me. My fight or flight overpowers the pain and in a flash I turn to run, never taking my eyes off Bonnie.

Unfortunately I should have looked where I was going because I slam face first into another robot. I fall to the ground grabbing my face. My tools scatter all around me.

"Ahhh fuck!" I yell in pain while holding my face. I look up to see a chicken with multiple rows of teeth. The yellow chicken didn't look this menacing in the day.

Before I can react it grabs onto my arm.

"Now now, t-t-that kind of language is not allowed at F-F-Freddy Fazbear's pizza" It screeches and tightens its grip on me.

I try to pry free from the animatronic chicken, but its grip only tightens threatening to crush my arm. I search for a way out of its death grip and find one of my long screwdrivers near my free arm. I grab it just in time to see Bonnie start walking to me. In one panicked motion I drive the screwdriver into Chica's wrist. I must have hit something important because the death chicken released its grip on me.

Without a pause I sprint past Chica and down the hall to Mike's office. Just before I can make it inside I see Mike scramble to the door. It slams in my face.

"Mike! Let me in you son of a-" I yell pounding on the door.

The door opens and jump inside falling all over myself.

"Close the door!" I yell from the floor.

"Not yet!" he yells back with his hand hovering over the button.

"The hell do you mean not yet?"

"The doors take power to stay closed and I can't waste it."

"So you're just going to leave it open with those things out there."

"I have to. I can only close it when they get close, otherwise we'll run out of power and be defenseless."

"Fazbear you cheapskate" I mutter while picking myself back up.

Mike hurries back to his desk and begins checking the cameras. He lets out a sigh of relief as he lowers the monitor.

"Looks like they didn't follow you. What were you doing back there for so long, I thought they got you already." He asks

"I was fixing the fox. What the hell is going on here?"

"I'm not sure, all I got was a message from some guy on the phone when I started my shift." He answers as he raises the monitor again.

"So what did this phone guy say?" I asks as I lean against the wall opposite of mike. The adrenaline surge is subsiding, making me a little shaky.

"Basically the animatronics wonder around at night, and if they see us they will think we're endoskeletons and try to stuff us in a suit. He was very descriptive on how that would turn out. Also one of them bit someone in the head and took out a big chunk of brain. Did you say you were working on a fox?"

"Ya why?" I ask.

"I thought there were only three of them." He says as he flips through the cams. "How did you not notice something was wrong when you were working on them?" He asks glancing up from the monitor.

"None of them moved an inch while I was working on them."

Mike gives me a strange look after I give my answer.

"Oh wait, that's why you didn't notice." He reasons. "You were already in pirate cove when Bonnie hopped off stage. It looks like only Bonnie and Chica are the only ones that can move." He flips down the monitor and leans back in his chair.

"Oh trust me, the fox can move." I answer and walk to one of the doors to check down the hall.

"Great." Mike moans and sits back up in his chair. "At least we only have two hours left."

The rest of the shift is relatively quiet. Bonnie and Chica only showed up a few times, and were met with a door to the face. Strangely they only seemed to glare at Mike whenever they appeared. We bounced around a few theories about what was going on, but only settled on a few things.

They became active at midnight, Chica really shouldn't need two sets of teeth, Bonnie moved around the most, they always showed up at the same door, and we really needed to talk to our boss about this mess.

"I bet he knew about this. No wonder he was so eager to hire y-" I stop as Mike jumps to the door and slams his hand into the button. With one robotic horror sealed off I casually glance over to the other opposite window and nearly jump out of my skin. Chica's crazed gaze meets me and I scramble over to the door and slam it shut.

"Both? Why are both of them here!" Mike growls in frustration. He sits back In his chair and checks the power level. "This isn't good, having them both closed is really draining my power. At least we only have a couple minutes left before six."

"There's no guarantee that they will stop at six." I remind Mike with a grim voice.

Silence fills the last minutes of the shift from hell. It's only broken at six when the clock chimes and the power is restored. We look at the animatronics that, as if on cue, turn around and walk back to the stage. Mike checks the monitor again and gives a sigh of relief .

"They're back on stage." Mike says and slumps into his chair.

I slide down the wall and onto the floor. Closing my eyes I let the familiar feeling of safety I had taken for granted wash over me.

"What are you going to say to Fazbear? I know I've got a few choice words for him." I ask Mike, who is resting his head on the desk.

"I lot of things, questions mostly. He should be here soon." Mike answers with the stress of the night seeping into his voice.

"Good"