(Note: I changed a LOT in this chapter because it was cringe and edginess dot com. Plus, I changed it so it could make sense with the chapter I plan on maybe posting. I hope this doesn't cause any confusion! I don't think it will, since it has been almost two years since I last updated. Sorry if it does cause confusion though...
After this long time of not updating, I realized the unpublished last chapter wasn't so great, so my new ending is going to be different. I will make the ending of this to coincide with the canon of the new games that came out since then, because they gave me some nice ideas, and I like writing fanfiction that could *technically* happen within the canon. Loopholes are my best friend.)
"Are you interested in our services?" the same perky female voice on the phone asked.
Full of relief, Mike closed his eyes and exhaled through his nostrils.
"Oh, it's just you," Mike muttered.
Suddenly, the other end grew silent and a few seconds later, there was staticy shifting in the background. Mike heard the phone on the other end be placed down and then picked back up.
"Who is this?" a deep man's voice asked.
"It's me," Mike replied.
"Seriously, who are you? How were you on multiple lines?"
"Uh, Mike," a voice behind him said, making Mike jump. It was Phone Guy's voice. "Who are you talking to?"
Carefully, Mike covered the mouthpiece with his hand. "I'm trying to find out," he whispered and then uncovered the phone. "Who are you?" Mike directed at the phone.
"I asked first!" the voice on the phone answered, slightly agitated.
"Good for you! Want a fucking cupcake for that?" Mike sardonically asked.
"Mike!" Phone Guy snapped. After he saw Mike tense up, he softened his expression. "Be, uh, a little nicer. The person on the other side is a human too, so give them a little more respect, okay?"
Mike swallowed and nodded.
"What do you wa- why are you calling?" Mike asked in a politer tone.
"Does a William live here?" the man asked.
Mike's heart jumped. He didn't know... he didn't know! They knew each other for a few hours, but he didn't know Phone Guy's real name. Mike considered him a friend a year ago, and he didn't know his real name. He saved his life, and he didn't know his real name!
He turned his gaze at Phone Guy and looked at him with mouth open, unsure whether to ask him.
Phone Guy scrunched his eyebrows. "Everything okay there?"
Hoo hoo hoo.
The phone flew out of Mike's hand as if were a pan straight out of the oven. Shaky, shallow breaths shivered in his lungs.
This couldn't be! Mike internally screamed, but there was nothing else that deep crying laugh could be other than Freddy.
As soon as Mike regained awareness, he caught Phone Guy already holding the phone, about to put it to his ear.
"Who were you talking to?" Phone Guy tensely asked Mike. After no reply, he sighed and pressed the phone to his ear. "Hello, hel-"
Mike assumed Phone Guy heard Freddy, too, as he gasped and stammered, "N-N-No... no... no..." before hanging up with a trembling hand. "Uh, i-i-i-it was, uh, really nice getting to meet you, M-Mike, really. But, uh, n-never, uh, talk to me again. I-I don't exist. We never met."
In utter disbelief, Mike blinked hard and stared at the other man. "...What? I... I'm sorry I was rude-"
"I-It's not you. It's, well, uh, safety precautions, th-that's all! If you ever hear that voice again call the police immediately, o-okay?"
"They can't arrest Freddy," Mike muttered.
"Freddy?! Wha-What does Freddy have to do with this?!" Phone Guy exclaimed.
"He was on the phone!"
Phone Guy's eyes widened. "What on Earth is he doing at Fazbear's?! Oh no, uh, this... this is not good..."
"Well, it's called Freddy Fazbear's Pizza for a reason."
"I don't care about Freddy!" Phone Guy snapped. "Uh, sorry about that. Just, uh, here..." he continued as he reached into his pocket and handed back the tip money.
The change felt heavy in Mike's palms as he stared at it with burning eyes and looked up. "What's this?" he asked in a dry voice.
"Your bus fare for the way home, because it's too risky otherwise," Phone Guy stated, looking away with his hands in his pockets. In a despondent voice, he continued, "G-Goodbye, Mike."
"No!" Mike shouted. "Too risky?! Why? Are you in danger?"
"You have nothing to worry about. Uh, you'll be fine as long as you follow my instructions."
Mike's face started to burn. "Yes I do! I CARE ABOUT YOU, DAMMIT! Why do you always hide everything? JUST TELL ME THE TRUTH FOR ONCE!" he shouted as he shook Phone Guy by his shoulders.
"Why should I?" Phone Guy asked coldly, still looking away. "You, uh, yourself aren't being completely honest, either. Do you really care about me, or do you just feel pity for me because you thought I died after I helped you out a little bit?"
"NO!" Mike cried as he grabbed Phone Guy's shirt again. "I CARE ABOUT YOU! I care about you... I care about you... DAMMIT!"
"Then do as I say, for my sake."
The phone started ringing in its shrill tone again.
Mike immediately huffed and charged towards the phone.
"M-MIKE! DON'T PICK UP THE PHONE!"
Taken aback from Phone Guy shouting the loudest he ever has heard him, Mike flinched but continued the pursuit.
Only a few inches from the phone...
His hand grazed at the plastic surface of the phone as he felt Phone Guy's hands harshly shove them out of the way. When Mike turned his head around, he saw Phone Guy standing there, gawking in horror at the site of the phone accidentally being knocked out of the receiver and then instantly slamming it back in.
"Hello, hello," the voice Mike talked earlier mockingly greeted. "I'm glad I was able to find your contact information again after we lost touch! I hope you didn't mind me finding you through the employee directory. Hey, let's meet up, why don't we? For old time's sake? Meet me at our old workplace! It will be a blast."
They both jolted in shock, especially Phone Guy, who then lost balance and fell backwards, toppling Mike on the floor along with him like a domino. When they regained their senses, they looked at the phone, which was accidentally placed on speaker phone.
"You know him?" Mike asked as he nudged Phone Guy, who remained completely numb. They were still sitting on the hard word floor.
The man continued on the phone continued, "I miss you, best friend! Don't you miss me? We need to meet up sometime, okay? Can that sometime be tonight? Okay, good. And should we meet up at Freddy Fazbear's? Oh yes we should."
Mike lifted himself off the ground and grabbed the cold phone.
"Who the hell are you?!" Mike shouted into the mouthpiece, despite it being on speaker phone. "You sound like a goddamn serial killer!"
Suddenly, Mike felt the phone forcefully slip out of his grip, which was followed by the sound of plastic slamming into plastic- Phone Guy stole the phone from Mike once again and hung up, once again.
A stare that could only be described as resentment and disdain pierced Mike's psyche.
"Because that WAS a serial killer, y-you... DOLT!"
Mike stood silent for a couple moments but then smiled artificially. "Haha. For real, wouldn't be surprised," he remarked.
The other man dropped his head and into his hands and sighed. He then looked up, replacing his glare with glassy, empty eyes. He was as silent and still as a corpse for a few moments, but suddenly, with trembling legs, he collapsed on the wall and slid down to the floor to a crouching position.
Mike gasped in a mix of horror and concern and ran towards where the other man fell. As Mike lowered himself and approached him, he realized that Phone Guy was violently hyperventilating and was dangerously pale.
Mike sat next to him and leaned in. "Will- Ph- William... are you okay?"
He looked up at Mike with inconsolable eyes, neither confirming nor denying that it was his name. "I-I'm so s-sorry, Mike. Uh, th-this is... all my fault. Sorry I ruined your Thursday night, but we... are going to have to, uh, get the police involved."
The air in the room was still with apprehension to the point of being stale, yet every movement that caught Mike's eye made him dizzy.
It has been a half hour since Phone Guy called the police. Phone Guy said a lot on the phone, yet nothing to Mike since then while they were both sitting on a couch.
"So..." Mike began as he cleared his throat, shattering the silence.
Phone Guy snapped back into reality.
"Which serial killer is he? Um, I mean, who is he anyway?" Mike continued.
"You know who he is," Phone Guy answered.
"The... murderer? Of all those kids?! From all those years ago?! But... he's locked up, isn't he?"
"Someone is locked up, but, uh, it just isn't him."
Mike gulped. "Someone was framed?"
"Y-Yeah," Phone Guy said as he scratched the back of his neck. "I, uh, I tried explaining that to the cops. Not just now, I mean, several years ago in the 80s- when the murders took place. But then they accused me of framing him, either because I was friends with the guy who was arrested, or because they thought maybe I committed the murders myself. Funny, huh?" he chuckled.
"Um, not really. How did you know he framed someone? Is that why he's going after you?"
"I-I saw him- on tape. Uh, they were later destroyed and altered to show it was the other guy. Oh, and, uh, yeah- that's why he's after me. I think that's why I got attacked that one night, too..."
All the hairs on Mike's arms stood up. "W-What?" he gasped with a dry throat.
"So, you most likely don't know this, but almost all of the animatronics have a switch that can control their AIs- even the spring editions. Now, they can be switched to a very low level- even zero- but this will damage their gears from a lack of movement. Uh, on the other end of the spectrum, they can be turned up to 20. Normally, that isn't a problem, unless, uh, the animatronics have a goal in mind that may or may not result in your death and dismemberment."
"Wait," Mike gawked in a cracked voice, "you think someone sabotaged you and turned the AIs up to 20?"
"Not think. Know. So, uh, the managers for that last Fazbear's you and I worked at weren't the ones in charge of the previous places. But, the franchise, however, was still financially owned by the original owner, if that makes sense. Maybe word got out to him that I was still working there-"
"Why were you still working there?!" Mike interrupted.
Phone Guy's eyes widened in horror. Seconds later, he looked away and sighed. "You know why. I-If I would have known it was him earlier, if I wouldn't have been so blind and ignorant and full of denial... at least five children would still be growing up with their families a-and-" He cut off into complete silence and started trembling.
Mike slowly moved, cautiously approaching his new friend, and caught tears quietly streaming down the other man's almost obscured face.
"Stop that! I mean, there's no way you could have known. I-It's not your fault!" Mike cried.
There was no reply. All the muscles in Mike's face dropped. His felt his heart twist in sympathy when it registered how solemn and raw Phone Guy's silent grief was.
Mike knew better than to try to prod his grieving friend, as it probably would make him feel even worse. In the silence, the dots started to connect in Mike's mind.
First, Phone Guy obviously felt responsible for the murders that took place for not acting in time, and it seemed that he continued working at Freddy Fazbear's to amend that guilt somehow. But why? Did he feel like he deserved the torture as a punishment? Or did he become the security guard to ensure this could never happen again?
Second, if the killer wanted Phone Guy to perish, and if the official owner of Fazbear's finding out that Phone Guy still worked at one of the locations caused said sabotage to happen, that could only mean two things: either the owner of Freddy Fazbear's was either hiding the murderer or was the murderer himself.
The silence was interrupted by booming knocking on Phone Guy's front door.
