AN: I created this story based on the events depicted and implied during FNAF1, 2, and 3. It take place during FNAF1, starring Mike as the main character. After playing the games I wondered what it'd be like if the games had been converted to a show or movie, knowing full well it'd probably end in a flaming disaster. Trouble is, I'm stubborn and bored, so I decided to try my hand at a somewhat cinematic approach to telling this story (minus the actual use of animation or cinema-ain't got time/resources for that!). The story is not going to be entirely canon, clearly I will take some creative liberties, though I do make an attempt to make sure everything can make sense even if it hasn't been proven or it's still a fan's rumor. I do not own Five Nights at Freddy's. All properties belong to Scott Cawthon. You brilliant, brilliant man.

-Story Time!-

A heavily clouded sky stretches over a stout building with a packed parking lot outside. A man in what looks to be his late-twenties exits a shabby-looking Medallion, using his key to lock the door, and proceeds to stride towards the entrance. His steps are brisk, his posture correct, but there's a push to his gait that suggests impatience. As he approaches the entrance, there's a white 1970 Chevy El Camino parked just out front, which looks relatively new. A mother is standing beside the passenger side, handing her keys over to a valet, and her two kids are clamoring to get out of the car. The brothers seem to be in the middle of an argument. As the man passes by, the car and all four people disappear as if they are some sort of apparition.

Past the notably short entrance the sound of children talking and shouting saturates the air. The walls of the Dining Hall are decorated in posters and streamers, one that reads the name of this facility as Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria. There appears to be a private party, and the attendance is somewhat dense. The man hesitates, taking it all in until he spots the manager. He winds his way through the crowd and meets with him.

The manager is preoccupied, engaging with one of the employees, but as soon as he notices the man approaching he waves him over.

"Hey!" he calls, hearty as ever. "There you are! You're early! Just a second-" he turns to the employee, but over all the noise it's impossible to determine what he's saying. Once his attention returns to the man he jerks his head towards the hall to his left. "Come to the office! It's pretty loud out here!" He ushers the man on over to the security office so they can escape from the hustle and bustle of the dining area. They go down a hall that has various posters of three animal mascots, including the main attraction himself. When they reach the office, it's much quieter. The walls certainly look heavier, and the back is lined with cabinets. The desk is also quite cluttered, but having a computer there doesn't really help, along with what looks to be a fax machine, a steel fan, and a tangle of wires. The man is having a hard time breaking his gaze from the eerie cupcake poised on the printer, but the manager's voice calls him to attention.

"Sooo, Mike Schmidt. Are you ready for tonight?"

The man shrugs. "I guess."

The manager shakes his head, smirking. "Ah, but that's where you're wrong. See," he trails off as he opens one of the desk drawers and starts fishing for a uniform. He pulls out a plastic-wrapped and tightly folded shirt with a security patch embroidered on it. "You're going to need this if you're working the night shift. Not much of an employee without a uniform, am I right?" He chuckles, handing Mike the package. He also removes a spare key from a clip on his set of keys and hands that over. He goes on to explain that the shift had to be reinstated for insurance purposes, since the animatronics are allegedly worth hundreds of dollars and the neighborhood 'isn't exactly Stepford'. The manager admits to being very rusty on the procedures, but he is able to offer some vague and typical advice.

"We had a guy working here before you who's been with the company forever, but he just disappeared on us last week. No notes, nothing. Just a whole bunch of tapes. I haven't had time to listen to any of them, but I know the older ones are instructional. He labeled most of the new ones by night, so I'm guess the guy planned this all along. Just wish he'd have put in a two-weeks notice, you know?"

"Hey, how hard can it be?" The manager adds, shrugging. "I know the pay is well, peanuts. But you're just going to be sitting in that chair all night watching cameras. I got paid half as much flipping burgers in the hot sun. And the chances of anything actually going on here? Just having you around will keep those goonies outside where they belong."

"Midnight to six, then?"

"That's right. Midnight to six, Monday through Friday. You said you were available on Saturday nights too, right?"

"Um..."

"Well, it's not going to happen every Saturday night, but we might need you if we get booked in the afternoon. We'll pay you a little extra for the overtime. That sound alright?"

"That sounds fine."

"Great! Hey, just...remember to smile. You are the face of Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria, after all," the manager chimes sarcastically. Mike delivers a forced smile in return. As the manager steps out of the office, Mike takes another few seconds to look over the office, familiarizing himself with the tiny closet of a room. He takes note of the strange drawings on the walls and the massive buttons on the far door, one marked for light while the other is marked for the door. There are no hinges to indicate that there is a door present however. Strange as that is, he simply ignores it and makes his way out the way he came.

Mike strides back to his car, uniform and key in hand. Judging by the relative position of the sun he still has a little less than half a day to do slack off before going to work. He slides into his car, dropping the uniform on the passenger seat and adding the key to his own collection. There's a tiny Freddy plush on his rear-view mirror that looks very dusty and sun bleached. Once he finishes attaching the new key and starting his car, he sits back and considers what he wants to do, all while staring at that dangling toy. He seems to be lost to some kind of memory, one he can't quite place. His brow is wrinkled in concern over this invisible threat to his peace. He decides, without really being conscious of it, to remove the plush and toss it casually into the back seat.

A slight time-lapse on the ornament indicates that on the night of that day, Mike has locked up his car door and is now striding over to the empty pizzeria, fiddling with the keys, a backpack stuffed with goods weighing down his arm.

He opens the door with a bit of trouble and picks out the flashlight from his bag to light the way through the darkness. He passes by the animatronics, whose eyes are still lit despite the power being down throughout most of the building. Freddy, Bonnie, and Chica are merely gazing off into the distance, stuck in a neutral pose. Mike hesitates briefly, staring them down, then passes them. Their eyes are all on him once he stops obstructing the audience's sight.

He plops the bag on the office desk and slides into the chair, staring at the time, stretching and groaning very audibly before he starts looking over the desk. He notices the drawings and such but he's particularly fascinated with the tablet monitor lying on the desk. It appears to be connected to all the security cameras, so he can easily shuffle through them. Nothing appears out of place, and as he cycles through them heavy lidded and near falling asleep, a loud ring jostles him awake.

He scrambles to pick up the phone and listens, but the line is dead. He sniffs, blaming it on some stupid kid pranking the store and hangs it right back up. That's when he notices the tape player and the tapes that the manager mentioned sitting by the phone. He looks through them, reading their labels, and pops in the one that says 'First Night'.

"Hello, hello? Uh, I wanted to record a message for you to help you get settled in on your first night. Um, I actually worked in that office before you. I'm finishing up my last week now, as a matter of fact. So, I know it can be a bit overwhelming, but I'm here to tell you there's nothing to worry about. Uh, you'll do fine. So, let's just focus on getting you through your first week. Okay?"

Mike smirks, but as the message is playing he starts to unpack snacks from his backpack.

"Uh, let's see, first there's an introductory greeting from the company that I'm supposed to read. Uh, it's kind of a legal thing, you know. Um, "Welcome to Freddy Fazbear's Pizza. A magical place for kids and grown-ups alike, where fantasy and fun come to life. Fazbear Entertainment is not responsible for damage to property or person. Upon discovering that damage or death has occurred, a missing person report will be filed within 90 days, or as soon property and premises have been thoroughly cleaned and bleached, and the carpets have been replaced."

Blah blah blah, now that might sound bad, I know, but there's really nothing to worry about. Uh, the animatronic characters here do get a bit quirky at night, but do I blame them? No. If I were forced to sing those same stupid songs for twenty years and I never got a bath? I'd probably be a bit irritable at night too. So, remember, these characters hold a special place in the hearts of children and we need to show them a little respect, right? Okay."

The man's a real character. Mike couldn't help but a chuckle a couple of times during the recording. Either he really did stop caring about this gig or he cared a little too much. In any case, he wouldn't have minded meeting this guy before picking up the job.

"So, just be aware, the characters do tend to wander a bit. Uh, they're left in some kind of free roaming mode at night. Uh...Something about their servos locking up if they get turned off for too long. Uh, they used to be allowed to walk around during the day too. But then there was The Bite of '87. Yeah. I-It's amazing that the human body can live without the frontal lobe, you know?"

"Right," he mutters aloud. Still, during the message he peeks at the stage on the monitor. All three animatronics are still there in the same pose.

"Uh, now concerning your safety, the only real risk to you as a night watchman here, if any, is the fact that these characters, uh, if they happen to see you after hours probably won't recognize you as a person. They'll p-most likely see you as a metal endoskeleton without its costume on. Now since that's against the rules here at Freddy Fazbear's Pizza, they'll probably try to...forcefully stuff you inside a Freddy Fazbear suit. Um, now, that wouldn't be so bad if the suits themselves weren't filled with crossbeams, wires, and animatronic devices, especially around the facial area. So, you could imagine how having your head forcefully pressed inside one of those could cause a bit of discomfort...and death. Uh, the only parts of you that would likely see the light of day again would be your eyeballs and teeth when they pop out the front of the mask, heh.

Y-Yeah, they don't tell you these things when you sign up. But hey, first day should be a breeze. I'll chat with you tomorrow. Uh, check those cameras, and remember to close the doors only if absolutely necessary. Gotta conserve power. Alright, good night."

When the tape wraps up, he starts biting into a sandwich while trying to fiddle with the tablet. There's somewhat of a montage of him just goofing around in the office, listlessly squeezing the cupcake toy, rolling around on his chair, taking a nap, reading a comic book. Eventually, he notices an exclamation point icon at the top corner and cycles through lazily. He stops on the stage when he notices that Bonnie is no longer there. His eyes widen slightly. He flicks through the cameras and sees that Bonnie is frozen in place in the Storage Closet. He turns on the light to his left by using the hilariously large button but Bonnie is not present. He apprehensively shuts the left door and when it comes down it startles him in the process. Back to the cameras. Bonnie's nowhere. He tries to find him a bit more desperately until he hears a heavy breathing behind him. He practically falls out of his chair screaming obscenities when he realizes Bonnie is there.

There's a laughter from within the suit. The head of it is removed to reveal the manager.

"Slacking off on the first day, eh?" he says, laughing heartily.

"Fuck! That's not funny!" Mike hollers, flailing as he tries to untangle himself from the chair on the ground.

"Come on, Mike. That was priceless! No need to curse at me now."

"You don't just do something like that!" Back sore from the fall, Mike manages to get to his feet and the chair back up in place. "That's how people get hurt!"

"Really? Look, I'm sorry, alright? I just wanted to check up on you on your first night, see what you were up to. That's all! I thought maybe I'd have a little fun too. Nobody got hurt, alright? And hey, if you did hurt me, I wouldn't have blamed you. You'd just be doing your job."

"I guess," Mike mutters, rubbing his lower back. "So the robots are just suits, huh?"

The manager shows Mike the Bonnie head, which up close actually looks like a very cheap replica. "Not at all. These are backup suits in case any of the animatronics break down. They're pretty terrible. We used to have one of Foxy too, but it keeps getting ripped up. One of the reasons I'm willing to keep an extra pair of eyes out at night. We might have a vandal."

"What am I supposed to do if I see any suspicious activity?"

"You can use these doors to lock yourself up, though I've got to warn you, they waste a lot of power to bring up again. Damn things weigh a ton. Gotta have like four guys at a time installing one of those things. Also, the ventilation in this room is terrible. If both doors are closed you'll start having trouble breathing if you're one of those ah...what's the word? Closetphobics? Whatever. Only use them in case of an emergency." He turns to the computer on the desk and boots it up. "If you open up the security program, just hit 'Record'. I thought we went over that, didn't we?"

Mike leans forward to get a better look. "Yeah but...that's it? I don't try calling 911? I don't get a nightstick?"

"You kind of need to be licensed to carry a weapon and well, that'd make your paycheck a little heftier than I can afford. As for 911, unless you have one of those brick-phones, that phone on the desk only receives incoming calls."

Mike glances to the monitor. "What about the real Bonnie? He's not on the stage."

"They walk! Wow, thought I told you that too."

"Wait, really?"

"Well, duh. Why do you think this place gets packed to the gills with children? Those things are worth every penny we put into them! They're so advanced I've got one buddy in Japan who wants Chica for research purposes."

Mike seems to be preoccupied by this information. All this time he thought the man on the tapes was just pulling his leg, trying to scare him like this asshole just did. Now he's not so sure how much of this information he should take to heart. "Where do they go? I mean, what do they do?"

The manager starts removing the Bonnie suit as he explains. "Here and there. Honestly I don't stick around for it. Really creeps me out. From what I was told they just kind of meander. It's no big deal. Hey, if a bunch of screaming, drooling kids can hang all over them for hours on end, I'm sure they're nothing to worry about. They'll probably just ignore you. Anyways-"

He puts Bonnie's head in Mike's hands. "I've got to get going. Wife's going to be pissed off if she finds out I left her home alone. Good luck on the rest of your shift! And no slacking off!"

After the manager leaves, Mike shuts both doors to his office and sits down with a deep sigh, eyeballing the Bonnie head in his hands. It's only 3AM when he glances at the time. Putting the head down on the floor next to the mess of a suit the manager left behind, he starts going through the file cabinets. Since this also doubles as the manager's office, there's one file cabinet that's completely locked up, but he disregards it. He seems to pause every now and then, as if forgetting what it is he's looking for, and he's starting to sweat even though the fan is blowing air right at him. He doesn't find anything particularly interesting and eventually gives up on snooping, sitting back and popping in one of the tapes labeled 'Instructional Pt. 1' into the tape player.

"Uh, hello! Hello, hello! Uh, welcome to your new career as a performer/entertainer for Freddy Fazbear's Pizza. Uh, these tapes will provide you with much needed information on how to handle/climb into/climb out of mascot costumes. Right now, we have two specially designed suits that double as both animatronics and suits. So please pay close attention while learning how to operate these suits as accidents/injuries/death/irreparable and grotesque maiming can occur. First and most discussed is how to operate the mascots while in animatronic form.."

He drifts off and falls asleep in his chair sometime after popping in the second part.

Flashes of children laughing, sitting on every side of a long stretching table. You're no bigger than they are and the world is heavy with the sound of cheering and song. A merry band of animals are playing songs on a small stage, but one of them doesn't look right. He's not the right color. He stops singing but the music doesn't change. He looks right at you and his pupils shrink to the size of two tiny white dots and he won't stop staring right at you. He's getting closer and the children are cheering louder and louder but the sound is like screaming. Closer and closer until his face is all you see and the screams oh god the screaming

Mike is suddenly awoken by the wailing of the alarm in his office hitting 6AM. He is sweating profusely and he is flushed. He realizes that the manager had been right-the doors are best left open. Checking everything once more, he sees that Freddy and Chica are on stage and that Bonnie is still missing. He assumes the manager might have put it away in order to scare him effectively and decides to dismiss it for the night. He slides over to the left door, opens it, gets up and hits the button for the right as he picks up his backpack and leaves swiftly.

As his footfalls grow distant, Bonnie is barely seen leaning in at the left door, peeking inside of the office with his brilliant eyes piercing the pitch darkness of the hall.