Here's another chapter, I am actually amazed at the views this got. FNAF's truly popular, it seems. And in response to Blaze and for anyone else who might be wondering, Golden Freddy...will be in the story. But not quite in the fashion you imagined.

Five Nights at Freddy's: Understanding

Chapter 2

"Holy...shit."

Mike uttered this quietly to himself when he noticed that Chica and Bonnie had left the stage. His heart started thumping, and he quickly flicked through all the cameras on his screen; he saw Bonnie standing in the supplies room with all the heads in it...looking right at the camera. Mike felt a shiver go down his spine. There was something just...wrong, with the way the robotic rabbit stared. This was not like Bonnie in his childhood; he remembered Bonnie being the laid back type who just liked playing the guitar for the kids. Well, that was the way he came across anyway- no robot had a true personality. And now he was seeing Bonnie for what he really was- a robot with no feelings or emotions. It creeped the new security guard immensely, but quickly put down the monitor when he heard a shuffling sound outside in the right corridor. He flicked on the light outside in time to see a flash of yellow, and without thinking slapped at the 'door' button and a red iron door slammed down.

Chica was staring at him through the window.

Mike swallowed; like Bonnie, the stare the chicken was giving him just felt wrong. The manager of the place had said that the animatronics were harmless, but now he wasn't so sure. Chica looked like she just wanted to murder him, period. She placed her arms on the glass and her lower jaw fell open; she pressed her face to the window and made a breathing sound that sent a chill down Mike's spine, before she abruplty ran off. Mike heaved a sigh of relief, and opened the door. He realised that he had to conserve power as best as possible or he would run out and he was pretty sure he didn't want that to happen. So...this was to be his job for the next few weeks. He should quit. Just over $125 wasn't worth this, surely. Those machines weren't just wondering around, they wanted him dead. He'd rather stay alive.

However, the thought nagged in his head that this was currently the only job he had. He couldn't afford to lose it after only one night and he probably wouldn't find another one; he didn't need that much money, he just needed a little more to purchase those tickets for he and Rachel to board an aeroplane out of there. If all the job involved was watching out for some malfunctioning animatronics and shutting the doors, all the while conserving power...it was certainly not easy, but he was confident that he could do it. He looked at the time; 3:00. Three more hours to spare. He had heard Phone Guy's advice, these things wanted to stuff him into a suit?

He leaned back into the seat, a nervous but daring smile forming on his face.

They'd have to try.

Foxy was idly scraping his hook against the floor. He had heard the bangs of the doors and Bonnie and Chica moving about. He cocked his head to the side when he heard the two aforementioned animatronics leave the hallways to stand in the party room. Humming a short tune of curiosity to himself, the fox animatronic poked his head through the curtains, first checking if the camera on him was turned off; he wasn't ready to reveal himself yet. After confirming that the guard wasn't observing him, he looked at Bonnie and Chica who hadn't noticed him; the two were talking under their breath so even Foxy couldn't hear, but they seemed annoyed.

"Finally decided to join us?"

Foxy immediately retreated into the curtain in shock of hearing Freddy's voice out of nowhere; "Ack! Don' do tha' te me, ye damn creeper!" he growled, to which Freddy Fazbear himself chuckled lowly and pushed the curtains aside momentarily to enter Pirate Cove. Closing them again behind him, he remained standing as he looked down at the fox who had pulled his knees up to his chest again.

"Come on, Foxy, don't be so jumpy!" Freddy said cheerfully, wagging a finger, "It ill suits you. So...again, my question. You joining us tonight?"

"No," Foxy replied flatly. "I'll leave tenight te yee fellers. Maybe termmorow."

Freddy nodded; they never stuffed the endoskeleton on the first night anyway, the fun in hunting it down would be over too soon then. Foxy tended to make the guards' nights a lot shorter, even if he was...regretful, about it sometimes. Freddy liked Foxy; he had always been of the opinion that the fox had never deserved the public opinion that had been applied to him after '87. Chica and Bonnie felt the same, and while Foxy pretended to be dismissive of them, the bear animatronic knew that the fox appreciated their continued support deep inside. It made Freddy sad whenever a child approached him during the day and asked why Pirate Cove was closed; he preferred not to answer and thankfully the parent came along to keep the kid from getting too close to the animatronics, but sometimes he was forced to give a reply. The best he could come up with was, "Foxy's too sad to come out and play...sorry."

And he was almost right. Even if the fox were allowed to perform again, and wasn't in quite so much a state of disrepair, Foxy just didn't seem as upbeat as he used to be. He doubted that the other would even bother to please children anymore, he just seemed so...apathetic, these days. "Alright. Well, that's okay. We could use your, ah, expertise?" He chuckled. "Pesky endoskeletons just can't seem to last awfully long after you run out, eh?"

Foxy put his head in his hands. "Freddy...what will it take te convince ye?" he asked tiredly, to which the bear cocked his head to the side in questioning. "They be humans! Not endos! When will ye understand tha'?"

Freddy sighed heavily. "There's nothing to understand," he replied with a stern frown. "They aren't humans. Humans don't come here after dark, you know that. It's just endoskeleton after endoskeleton looking for trouble outside their suits."

"Don't ye ever wonder where all these endos be comin' from? Outta' nowhere?" Foxy countered, to which Freddy reacted less calmly now.

"Foxy, we've talked about this!" he hissed. "You don't want to deal with the endos, then fine, leave us to it! But don't be preaching to us about them being human, I mean, why would you even want to stop us? The 'guards' are clearly endos, why go to all that human crap to get us to stop?"

"Because 'tis not crap!" Foxy snapped, getting up with an angry expression. "They be closin' us down, ye know! End of this year, they be closin' us down for good! We'll be shut down, aye, and why? Because ye and the others be MURDERIN' humans every week!"

Freddy's expression darkened considerably, and a part of Foxy wanted to back down; he didn't want to fight with his friends. But the problem was very real. They were going to be de-serviced within a month, for it was after all November, and unless Freddy, Chica and Bonnie got the point they would be put down without ever knowing their crimes, and Foxy would die with a guilty conscience, not just for himself but for them. They were his friends, they deserved to know that they were doing the wrong thing!

"'Tis insane!" he continued; "I don' understand it, I can clearly see they're human, why shouldn' ye be able te see the same-"

"Enough!" Freddy snarled, and Foxy glared but spoke no more. "Do you even know what you sound like," Freddy went on, "with that broken jaw of yours? It's only because I know you so well that I can barely even understand what you're saying! And what I'm hearing is disturbing! Very disturbing! Foxy, I like you, I always have, you know me and the others have always given you our sympathies, but I'm starting to think that maybe you've been in disrepair for too long!" Foxy's jaw dropped, and Freddy nodded. "Yeah, I think you've been in this little cove by yourself, unable to socialise for so long that its started to affect your judgement! What do you say to that?"

"Bull..." murmured Foxy, sitting back down again and curling onto his side, facing away from Freddy. "Ye be talkin' complete bull, matey..." Freddy threw an arm in the air in annoyance and shook his head, whereby Foxy said softly, "Jus'...go. Leave me alone. See ye termorrow..."

Freddy's expression softened in regret but he turned, reluctantly, and left. Bonnie later poked his head through the curtains, and upon seeing Foxy on the floor, whispered, "Hey Foxy, you okay? What happened?"

No response. Bonnie sighed and shrugged, before leaving as well. Foxy just shook a little, wishing that things were different. He hadn't even known he could cry, but black oily liquid was making its way down his cheeks right now. He made no sound, but he couldn't help but despair. It was no use, they just couldn't be convinced. To the point that they seemed willing to believe that his screws were loose rather than believe him; it hurt to know that he was so alone in the knowledge of the consequences from their actions. They didn't want to die either, he knew it, but they didn't think they were doing anything wrong; they could only express confusion as to why the place was being closed in the first place. It was...unnatural. To him, surely anyone would have come around to the truth by now, after so much resistance from one of their friends? Surely, they would at least allow some room into their beliefs for his to ring true? He couldn't wrap his mind around it, but one thing was for certain.

He couldn't gain any comfort from them, and they would die blissfully ignorant. The only way he could die with a marginally less sorrow-ridden conscience would be if he could at least help the new guard live out the week. He knew the others wouldn't attack the guard now anyway, not after he himself had kicked up such a fuss; Freddy would probably tell the others to lay off for the rest of the night. None of them were the type to murder humans- Foxy thought this sourly- when they were feeling down.

He just felt afraid for how they would react to him actively protecting the human. If they truly believed he had lost his mind, then they would probably choose to deal with him and tell themselves it was for the best. He closed his eyes and tried to stop the tears; no. They would never go that far. They couldn't...they were his friends, after all. He had to believe in them. Had to keep trying to convince them no matter what...even if it made him more of an outcast than he was already.

6:00. Mike yawned and stretched his arms; amazingly, the animatronics hadn't attacked at all after the first incident with Chica, though Bonnie had continued to freak him out by staring into the cameras. Curiously, Freddy had also left the stage at some point and disappeared; during this time Bonnie and Chica had been...talking? Weird. He had continued to watch them every now and then, but nothing of interest had happened. Then Freddy had suddenly exited from Pirate Cove, and Bonnie had looked into it seconds later, then left as well. This lead Mike to wonder what exactly the animatronics had been up to; was Foxy still in the Cove? Still functional? But the idea that they had been having some kind of chat was absurd, they were just animatronics...they didn't have human feelings and mannerisms.

Right?

Either way, the three band robots had returned to the stage and not moved for the rest of the night, and it was time for Mike's shift to end before he even knew it. He got up out of the chair, and walked out of the office; the animatronics were still immobile on their stage, same as they had begun. He glanced towards Pirate Cove again; a shiver went down his spine momentarily before he walked briskly out the doors, into his car and drove off.

He had quite the story to tell. And he was coming back, of this he was certain. He had after all survived the first night...why not try again?

That's the noble second chapter up, and the first night for Mike has passed without incident. Well, ignoring Chica's overeagerness. Question is: can Foxy protect Mike from the things that are to come? And...

Will Mike trust him? Find out, next chapter.