Universal Language: Cuneiform

Chapter 4: One in the Morning

The human had fallen asleep, and Toy Chica wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not. She knew all about first aid for children – cuts, bruises, scrapes, and burns all trembled before her encyclopedic knowledge of boo-boos. Adults, however, were another matter all together. The chicken went back to her magazine with a huff, trying to understand the complex cooking recipe Martha Stewart was insisting 'was a good thing.' As long as the human was breathing, it wasn't her problem.

Chichi was far more worried about her friend Blue than this wimpy night guard. He had gone to fetch Mangle and Teddy half-an-hour ago, and had yet to return. It shouldn't have taken him that long to find the two – Mangle had a room right next door, and Teddy had to be somewhere in the big main room of the basement. He liked to roam during the hours between midnight and six, when the pizzeria was (mostly) quiet and he was able to hear himself think. When they were awake, that is. They'd been asleep for years (since 1987, if Freddy was to be believed) until an earthquake two years ago woke up Mangle, whose loose wiring had been jarred. She'd activated them, but after finding out from the old animatronics that they'd been 'retired' the Toys spent most of the time sleeping. The only exception was when they had to work off the excess energy in their systems, when noises upstairs woke them, or when the oldies came down to visit and share news.

Just as she was wondering whether or not to go looking for the three, the door to her room banged open to reveal a harried looking Blue. Mangle scrambled in along the ceiling, forcing the rabbit to duck his head so he didn't get whacked by a flailing extra limb. The night guard had jolted awake at the sound and was peering around blearily, her expression half-panicked and half-exhausted.

"What took you so long?" Chichi demanded as she stood up, hands on her hips. To her surprise, Blue had to look away and cover his mouth. Was he...smirking?

"Sorry, Chichi, my dear. Something came up when I went to get Ted..." There was restrained laughter in his voice as he stepped into the room.

Now, an insightful animatronic would have remembered that Roni had mentioned having a bad past with a certain bear-styled being that had tried to kill her. Blue was not that kind of animatronic. The half-asleep Roni, who's body was still pumping with adrenaline due to the earlier events of the night, saw a hulking, top-hat wearing, black and white eyed shadow framed in the doorway and immediately thought that Blue had betrayed her to Golden. She screamed, making all of the animatronics wince and jump in surprise, grabbed the nearest heavy object she could (which happened to be the first aid kit) and threw it at the bear-shadow in the doorway.

The kit hit him square in the nose which, oddly enough, let out a squeak in response. The bears head rocked back, then the momentum sent it forward again, and he stumbled into the room. Roni froze in place, sitting up on her knees with her arm out in front of her. This was most certainly not Golden.

The bear that entered was a lighter brown than Freddy, and had the same rosy cheeks as the other 'Toy' animatronics. His top hat had fallen off when the first aid kit made contact and landed in the large room behind him. He also had a bow tie and two buttons on his front. He was made of the same shiny, plastic material as the others, with a thin layer of felt on top, giving him the texture of a teddy bear. Blue caught him as he stumbled, helping him steady himself as he straightened. There was a dent the size of a chair leg in his red-painted cheek, and for several minutes Roni was absolutely certain she was going to die. The only question was if it would be at the hands of Toy Freddy, or out of sheer mortification at what she had done.

The bear turned his bright-blue eyes on her and spoke before she could.

"Was that really necessary?" He asked, one brow elegantly arched in query. His voice was deeper than Freddy's, and had more of a British tinge to it. Roni's jaw flapped open and shut, the guard unable to form a coherent answer. While she struggled to respond, the bear accepted his hat from Blue (who had retrieved it from the main room). He dusted it off and fit it between his ears – it was just like Freddy's, only with a red ribbon around the bottom. "I feel I must also mention that I object to being called a 'mother fucker.'"

"Oh god," Roni dropped her face into her hands with a groan, shoulders slumping. Behind Freddy, Blue was having conniptions, wiper-fluid tears streaming down his cheeks as he tried keep his laughter in check. The bear was doing his best to ignore the blue bunny, though his ears were twitching in annoyance.

A metal, noodley arm dropped around her shoulder in a half-hug. Roni peeked out between her fingers to her side, to find a white fox in makeup and missing one eye (as well as most of her costume) glowering at Toy Freddy and Blue. "R-r-really, you a-a-all," her voice must have been soft and melodic once, but now it was rough with a glitch that made her stutter. "S-stop embar-ar-arrassing the p-p-poor dear." The fox was hanging from the ceiling, her body stretched abnormally long.

"Apologies," Toy Freddy – Teddy, as Blue had called him – reached behind him and smacked the rabbit on the head. Said rabbit gave an indignant squawk but obligingly stopped his giggling. "Now, what brings you down here, Miss-" he stopped, "Excuse me, what was your name again?"

"Roni. Roni Byrd. I'm the night security guard."

"What are you doing down here, then?"

Blue sighed dramatically. "Teddy, darling, I already told you what happened."

"Yes, but your stories are often less than reliable."

This was met with an insulted gasp. "Are you calling me a liar?"

"No," Teddy soothed his second in command, "But you are prone to hyperbole."

When the rabbit didn't offer a witty comeback, the bear turned back to their visitor. "Now, Blue said something about a robbery...?"

Roni shrugged off the foxes arm and stood, wincing as the myriad of bruises she'd gained made themselves known. "Yeah. Four men broke in and held a gun to my head. The animatronics – er, the other animatronics – are locked in the back room by the stage. My little brother is in there too. The men were looking for the safe – when they realized I don't know where it is, they threw me down the stairs." She rubbed the back of her head, peering up through her bangs at the bear in embarrassment. "I guess what's when I met you."

"Mm," Teddy ran his fingers over the dent on his cheek, "I heard a gunshot and was going to investigate. When a human opened the door I played deactivated, and then you landed on top of me." Blue snorted again, but the rest of them ignored him. "Are the other animatronics safe? And your – brother, did you say?"

"Yeah," Roni swallowed hard, "They should be okay. The men said that as long as I did what they said, nobody would be hurt. The animatronics are locked in the back – as long as they don't try anything, everybody will be safe."

Teddy rubbed at his chin, eyes squinting in thought. "As long as they're out of the way, we can get upstairs and stop the men before they do anymore harm."

"WHAT?"

"There's no need to shout," Teddy frowned. "We are not going to allow these men to steal from the restaurant or damage anymore property." He straightened his bow tie, standing tall and straight. Roni ignored the height difference (seriously, why did they make the bloody animatronics seven feet tall when they were meant to interact with children?).

"You can't!" Roni stumbled out of Chichi's nest and grabbed his arm. "They have guns! You could be seriously hurt."

Blue, who was leaning against the door frame, cross his arms and snorted. "Darling, guns don't scare us. They would have to land a direct hit on our endoskeleton. The only one at risk here is Miss Mangle." The fox, still hanging from the ceiling, stuck her tongue out at him. "We can take the thieves out easily."

"NO!" Roni barred her teeth at the two in the doorway. "If they fire their guns, they could hit my brother! I'm not going to let you put him at risk!"

Teddy growled at her. She took a step back in surprise, automatically raising her hands in front of her. "You are not in a position to tell us what we can and cannot do. Your authority ends at the basement stairs. We will protect this restaurant, even if it's not our own."

Chichi moved to join their circle. "We could ask him for help..." She suggested hesitantly.

"Him? No, thank you." Blue sniffed. "You know he'll demand something unreasonable in exchange."

"Isn't it w-w-worth i-it if it m-m-means nobod-d-y gets hur-r-r-rt?" Mangle suggested.

"No." Teddy shook his head, voice brooking no argument. "We will go upstairs and take care of this ourselves." He turned his gaze on the seething night guard. "You are going to stay here. Do not follow us, do not try and help."

"But-"

"You failed as a night guard and now we have to clean up your mess. Do not make it worse." The bear turned on his heel and left. Blue stepped aside, allowing him to pass.

"Sorry, honey." He offered Roni a sympathetic smile. "The boss-bear has spoken. We'll take care of those thieves in no time." He elbowed past Chichi to wrap her in a quick hug. "I'll keep an eye on your brother for you, promise." He whispered.

Chichi and Mangle (still clinging to the ceiling) left to join Teddy, who was waiting for them in the main room. After a last pat on the head Blue joined them. The bear was still glaring at Roni, and she returned it with equal heat.

"If you follow us, we will not be responsible for your safety. I'd suggest you stay down here and wait."

With that, the four marched off towards the stairs, leaving a panicking, furious big sister behind.

"I'm tired." Donnie had been passed on to Freddy's lap, and the child was leaning against the bears fluffy tummy, eyes drooping. His whine brought a chuckle from the old animatronic, who gently ran his paw through the boys hair. Foxy had taken up watch beside the door. Chica and Bonnie, at a loss of what to do to be helpful, had decided to assist him by sitting against the door, keeping it from opening.

"You can take a nap," Freddy said softly, moving the child so he was sitting sideways, able to rest against the bears tummy and chest. The bear wrapped his arms around the boy, holding him close. "We'll wake you up when your sister gets here."

"Do you think Roni's okay?" The boy had closed his eyes, lingering on the edge of sleep.

"I'm sure of it." Freddy simulated breathing, allowing his chest to rise a few centimeters, then drop. The boy in his lap relaxed further, drifting off within a minute.

"Do you really think she's okay?" Chica asked, picking at her bib in order to keep her fingers busy.

Freddy frowned, keeping his eyes on the napping child. "I have to believe she is. And if she isn't..." He raised his head, and the others were almost startled by the flat, empty anger in his eyes, "There are four spare suits back here in need of new endoskeletons."

Roni stood in the doorway of Chichi's room, squinting as she watched the four 'toy' animatronics mount the stairs. The light streaming from Blue and Chichi's rooms barely illuminated the larger main room, but she could see the reflection of their odd costumes as they broke open the door, then silently disappeared through it. She leaned on the door jam, seething. If anything happened to her brother, she would tear those bots apart bolt-by-bolt.

Minutes passed, but there was no explosion of sound up above. Slowly, the woman began to relax. Maybe those Toys would be able to end this without anybody being shot or killed. Slumping against the door jam, she peered into the main room. It did not take long for her to realize that the room was peering back.

Just outside of the halo of light Chichi's room provided, a pair of white pin-prick eyes were watching her. When their gazes met, a bright smile composed of neat, white teeth split the shadows face. Then, like the Cheshire cat from hell, it vanished. Roni swore as the light behind her flickered, then went out – after thirty-odd years, the florescent light had finally given up the ghost. The light in Blue's room was still on, and it barely illuminated the path to the stairs.

The guard was at a loss of what to do. She could either stay in Chichi's room, or in Blue's room (preferably Blue's, since it was still lit!), or she could brave the dark and the Cheshire-shadow, escape up the stairs and pray that she could get through the door and into the restaurant proper. The vanishing shadow was what had her most worried – it didn't appear to be Golden Freddy, but the young woman didn't want to take any chances. Nibbling on her thumb nail, she decided that she could be of more use upstairs than in the basement, and began to pad silently across the large basement to the stairs.

For once, she didn't trip, nothing jumped out at her, and there were no sudden noises. Thanking whatever deity was listening for her sudden change in luck, Roni made it all the way to the bottom of the stairs. Of course, that was when her luck ran out. At the top of the stairs, the shadow figure was standing and staring at the closed basement door. Roni froze at the sight, then slowly began to back away before it could see her. It heard her (somehow) and turned to smile down at her, before opening its bright white teeth and letting out an ear-shattering shriek.

Roni shrieked in return and bolted, running to the dark corner of the basement opposite the stairs and diagonal from Blue's still-lit room. She could barely see, and was hoping that the shadow creature would have equal trouble in the darkness. This corner was full of cardboard boxes, all stacked on top of each other to create walls, with a curving path through the center. It was almost like a maze, and Roni navigated it as quickly as possible.

Panting and coughing from the dust she'd stirred up, the girl didn't see the box in front of her until she'd run into it. The box was huge – just past her hip in height, and easily as wide as she was tall. Squinting, the guard could barely make out paint on the box – it looked like blue with a purple stripe on each side. It was covered with a thick lid. She was about to side step it when she heard something behind her.

"Niiiiiight guaaaaard..." The voice was husky, almost sounding broken. It floated in the darkness and Roni shivered as it seemed to caress her ears. She glanced behind her, but the maze of cardboard boxes kept the shadow thing from seeing her. She'd reached the end of the path, neatly boxing herself in. Heart racing far beyond what was normal, Roni looked for a hiding place. The only thing among the cardboard stacks was the plywood box. She dug her nails beneath the lid and strained to open it. The hinges didn't want to cooperate – they were rusty from disuse, but luckily silent as she finally pried the lid open. A swirl of stale air hit her in the face, but there was no time to gag – the shadow thing had to be getting closer. Silently, Roni climbed into the box, especially careful to set the lid back in place atop the box without making a noise.

When the box lid wasn't thrown open within a minute of hiding, the guard allowed herself to sit on her rear instead of crouch like a coiled spring. She scooted back until her back was pressed against the plywood wall. Whatever had been following her – not Gold, he wouldn't have played like that, so it was some other kind of ghost – had given up when he couldn't see her. Roni let her head drop to her chest with a heavy sigh.

These paranormal events should have been bothering her, but they weren't. Instead they'd become almost...routine. After learning the animatronics were sentient, then facing down Golden Freddy, learning about his possessive tendencies, and helping Freddy and the others defeat him, she'd become...not immune, but desensitized to the odd goings-on. She still saw Gold lurking in the shadows every once in a while, waiting to catch her alone, but the others were careful to stay near her at all times. Funny, that had completely slipped her mind tonight – this disaster would have given Gold the perfect opportunity to kill her. She wondered where he was.

A knock on the top of the box jerked Roni out of her reminiscing, and she had to clap her hands over her mouth to keep from making any noise. Knuckles rapped against the plywood once more, and a voice Roni recognized echoed through the box.

"Puppet," it was the low, raspy snarl of Golden Freddy, "open up."

"Oh god, no," Roni whimpered, pressing herself into the nearest corner of the box. Had her thoughts unintentionally summoned him?

"Puppet, I know you have company. Shab saw the night guard over here not ten minutes ago. Humans don't just disappear," a dark chuckle split his sentence, "at least, not until I get my hands on them." The guard bit down on the side of her hand to keep from saying anything else, her wide eyes glued to the lid of the box above.

Roni was completely oblivious to the stirrings of the original occupant of the box only a few feet away from her.

AN: I honestly do not like the second half of this chapter. It just seems clumsy to me, and I might end up re-writing it. What do y'all think of it?

Thank you so much for the reviews and follows - I really appreciate them, and re-read every single review I get every day to keep me inspired! I'd love to have more of them to read.