Chapter 2: I hit it
POV – Mike
Gobber turns to me in a slightly abrupt way, his eyes narrowed.
"See? Now this right here is what I'm talking about!" he yells as he comes closer to me. I don't know what made the bola-launcher spring up to life like that, so I must find an excuse. But that will be actually hard, Larry almost never believes any of my excuses.
"But- but- a- m- mild calibration issue-"
"No, Mike." He cuts me off. "If you ever want to go out there, to fight the animatronics, you need to stop all… this." He points at me with both arms.
Like he always does.
Like everyone does.
"Buy you just pointed to all of me." I say, frowning.
"Yes, that's it, stop being all of you." Larry replies reliantly. He thinks he's right, huh? Then, he's wrong. I will go out there and prove myself. I'll prove that I'm not a weakling and that I can do things right.
"Oooh…" I say, narrowing my eyes and nodding.
"Oooh, yeah." Larry repeats with my same gesture.
"You- you sir are playing a dangerous game. Keeping all my anger- contained…"
I don't think this little awkward speech will make Larry change his ideas. I need something else, and now.
"There'll be consequences!" I finally proclaim as I wave my finger in his face to prove that I'm confident of myself. Something that I just noticed is that Larry has been looking at me with a blank expression, like he wasn't listening to a single word I said. Ignoring me completely.
"I'll take my chances." He says in total disinterest as he turns around and walks to the other side of the stall, leaving me alone with my thoughts.
Well, maybe this is what I needed after all.
"One day, I'll get out there. Because, at night, fighting an animatronic is everything around here."
I look out the window to take a good look of everything happening around me. The only thing I want is to go out there. What can be so dangerous? They're just machines out of control!
I see a large shadow around some of the cottages.
"Fighting Bonnie is sure to get me at least noticed."
Bonnie is one of the animatronics that creeps you out even without meaning it. The only things that somebody can really like about him are his light purple color and that red bowtie he has attached. Not even his eyes can be like-able. Yes, they're purple and anyone could think that's cute, but just wait until they turn to black. One thing that's also scary about this thing is that he is incredibly large, and with those ears, well, they make him look even larger.
Various meters next to Bonnie I see another animatronic, partially hidden by the shadows, sneaking around.
"Chica is tough. Fighting her will definitely get me a girlfriend."
At first Chica may look like something you can like, but when you happen to know her well, you'll see that the only thing that's not scary about her is her bib. She's always giving you that pissed stare and you always feel her eyes on you. It's something I don't really like. And there's something that makes me feel insecure; Chica can fly. And you don't want to get caught in an aerial attack. That almost happened to me, so…
I look to another part of the outside, and my gaze comes across something moving really fast around an old cottage.
"Foxy is sneaky. If you can't see him, you can't know when he's going to attack."
Foxy is incredibly aggressive towards people, but he's cautious and goes unnoticed most of the time. But you don't really want to get near him. His appearance is just creepy. His fur is tattered all over and his legs are completely bare. And his eyes… They're not like the other animatronics', they're a dull white, they give you a blank stare, sometimes I even think Foxy is blind, but sure he isn't. Another thing you want to take in mind is that he's incredibly fast and is hard to see him running around. His dark red color also helps on that. You just don't want to get caught by that intimidating hook or by those sharp fangs.
"Concentrate fire over the lower bank!" I hear the booming voice of Jack yell at the men with him at the bola-launchers. They're like mine, but bigger and better in functionality. And they're placed atop of tall, wooden towers.
"Fire!" a man shouts as the bola-launcher shoots a bola that ends hitting Chica. I don't know why keep using these things though, the animatronics always manage to set themselves free.
I see a shadow circling around the pole of the bola-launcher where Jack is.
"Then, there's Freddy. Only the veteran workers go after him. He has this… nasty habit of creeping up on you."
Jack looks down right when that bear climbs up the tower, breaking through the walkway and staring madly at Jack.
"Reload!" Jack orders the men before turning to Freddy with a hammer on hand. "I'll take care of this." He mutters. He hits Freddy twice. Before a third hit, the bear tries to attack, but he's stopped by a sound. No, not a sound. The sound. He turns around and immediately leaves to any other place.
"But the ultimate prize is the animatronic no one's ever seen."
Jack and the others look up as a subsonic whine pierces the air. I lean out of the window.
"We call it..."
"Golden Freddy!" some shouts.
"Get down!" another yells.
Right then, something smashes right through the bola launcher, making it explode and destroying it.
"Jump!" I hear Jack shout as he jumps off the burning weapon.
"This thing never steals anything, never shows itself, and…"
I hear the subsonic shine again. I try to see that damned thing, but it's impossible. The whine gets louder and louder until it's deafening, and a shadow smashes through the already damaged tower, making it fall off.
"No one has ever fought Golden Freddy."
I narrow my eyes with security.
"That's why I'm gonna be the first."
As I walk away from the window, I see Larry placing an axe on his hand appendage and throwing the other thing aside.
"Man the fort, Mike. They need me out there." He tells me as he starts walking towards the open door. He suddenly turns around and points at me with his good hand
"Stay… Put… There." He says awkwardly. I stare at him innocently. "You know what I mean."
Of course I do, he wants me to stay here meanwhile he's out there fighting these things. How about no?
Larry lets out a battle cry as he lifts up his hand with the axe, and, hobbling, runs towards where Jack is. My perfect opportunity.
I run with the bola launcher through the crowd, who yell at me to return.
"I know. Be right back!" I say as I keep on running. I just notice I almost run down a woman, but fortunately we both manage to lean to the side so we don't crash.
POV – Jack
I found them. Bonnie, Chica and Foxy are surrounding a group of men. I pick up a net and throw it with an angry grunt. We have to do everything possible to keep these monsters on place. Some night guards try to hold the net.
"Mind yourself! The devil still has some juice in 'em!" I yell as I help the men.
POV – Mike
I run towards a cliff, hurriedly set up my bola-launcher and wait. Everything is incredibly calm around here. It's peaceful. I look up at the sky. Nothing but clouds and stars.
"Come on, give me some to shoot at, give me some to shoot at." I pray. My words seem to have a response. I hear a faint, electronic roar. I look more attentively at the surroundings. The roar is louder now. My eyes widen for just a second before I put all my attention in the sky.
There's… something moving through the it.
I can see a black blur flying around the stars. Then, the subsonic whine appears. I focus on the blur, trying not to lose it. Something makes a bola-launcher in front of me explode, and seconds later I see the blur with more clarity flying right through the fire. I look away and close my eyes as I shoot. The recoil sends me flying. I land on my back, hard, but I still hear it. As I'm breathing heavily, I hear a loud pained roar and a shadow falling down. I can't believe my eyes. Did I just…
"Oh I hit it?" I mutter with eyes open wide, nodding involuntarily. "Yes I hit it!" I yell triumphantly, lifting up both arms in the air and turning to the building to make sure everyone saw that. "Did anybody see that?"
Well, apparently no one did. But now I hear a mechanical growling behind me and what sounds like a wooden structure being broken. I turn around. And who's there? Freddy, of course.
"Except for you…" I say frustrated.
POV – Jack
A high-pitched scream alerts me. I turn around.
No, not again.
Mike is running away from Freddy, panicking. I sigh in frustration. I thought Larry, and everyone else, told him to stay in either the stall or inside the restaurant. Looks like it's time for me to save him. Again.
"Do not let them escape!" I order the men as I run towards Mike. The only thing I would need now is the rest of animatronics running around without vigilance.
"Right!" one of them shouts.
POV – Mike
I run past walls, barrels in the ground, fences, destroyed cottages, but still I can't find anything to hide. And worst of all, Freddy is right behind me.
Finally! There's a tall pole in front of me. I hide behind it in hopes that this cursed animatronic doesn't find me.
Silence.
There's only silence now. Did he leave? I don't know, but well, I'll have to check. I know I will regret this. Hesitantly, I peek over the pole. Nothing there. But I'm starting to think that this little mess is not over yet… Because I feel a low hiss sound next to me.
Within a second, Jack appears and drives Freddy away from me. Right on time. Literally, right on time. It's 6:00 AM, I can see it from the clock tower. Jack gets in a defensive posture as Freddy keeps on growling, before his eyes, which are just tiny blue and black pupils, turn to normality again. He must know which time it is too. He even looks kinda scared.
"You're all out." Jack says under his breath as he starts walking towards the animatronic. He starts beating Freddy till he leaves and returns to the restaurant. Jack, of course, does his shoulder thing.
"Oh, and there's one more thing you need to know."
I didn't even notice the pole was burning till it falls off, showing Jack in front of me with an angry look on his face. I try to look as innocent as possible. The wide part at the tallest part pole, the one that is burning, falls over a bridge, almost crushing a man that was standing there. The burning piece falls down the walkway, rolling and knocking off various things on its way down.
I wince at each crashing sound and each faint scream I hear.
"Sorry… Dad…" I apologize. Even if it sounds like the weirdest thing in the world, the owner of this cursed place is actually my dad.
POV – Anonymous
The burning part of the pole rolls down the walkway and falls directly into the net that held the other three animatronics, burning it and making the night guards that were holding it run away. Bonnie, Chica and Foxy immediately return to their spots.
POV – Mike
I look with guiltiness at the mess. I can feel Jack staring at me, I just can feel it. I look at him with the most innocent face I've ever made, then point at the sky.
"Okay, but I hit Golden Freddy." I quickly say. A huge hand grabs my from the back of my shirt as it already happened three times this night. Jack drags me towards the building. I have to get him to listen to me, and now.
"Oooh, it's not like the last few times, dad, I mean that really actually hit it!"
Nothing I say takes effect on Jack. He just keeps walking, refusing to look at me. I almost lose my footing as I try to follow his rhythm but at the same time slow it down.
"You guys were busy and I had a very clear shot. It… went down, just off the mountain. Let's get a search party out there before it-"
Jack lets go my outfit and turns at me with an angered, "Stop!"
My eyes widen. This is one of the very few times he shouts at me like that.
"Just… stop. Every time you step outside, disaster falls! Can you not see that I have bigger problems? I have an entire crew of workers to take care of!"
There's actually about one hundred staff here. Is that necessary? Even so, I speak before I can think about it.
"Yeah between you and me the guys can do things at your own, don't you think?"
"This isn't a joke, Mike!" Dad yells in annoyance. He sighs in frustration. "Why can't you follow the simplest orders?"
This last word sounded like a growl. I'm really starting to get scared of how angry Jack is right now.
"I- I c- I can't stop myself! I see an animatronic outside and I have just to… fight it, you know? It's… who I am, dad."
Who I really am? I don't think so. Who I am here? Of course. Jack puts his hand over his front like he was facing a headache with a grunt in an 'I don't know what to do anymore' manner.
"Oh, you're… Many things, Mike. But someone who can fight the animatronics is not one of them." He says, calmed down apparently, but still frustrated. "Get back to your house."
I almost forgot my shift ended as well as the other guards'. I roll my eyes and lower my head. I messed everything up again. This wasn't what I had in mind.
"Larry, go with him. I have his mess to clean up." Jack concludes.
I start walking with Larry behind me. And when I thought things couldn't get worse, I hear a cackle from Jasmine.
"Quite the performance." Jacob teases. I was really expecting this, I will give it no importance.
"I've never seen anyone mess up that badly." James joins the mock. "That helped!"
"Thank you, thank you, I was trying, so…" I reply with the hopes of making them shut up already. I hear James grumble and a fall sound. Larry must've hit him. For nothing maybe, as I hear his chuckle moments later.