Well, here we are now. Chapter 11. Now we get into the interesting part of the story I've been thinking of and planning for months! Enjoy and Review
Suddenly over the hum, another sound slowly wormed its way into Mike's consciousness. It was a series of thumps, repeating over and over again. It was probably just his heart still racing, and his blood hammering in his ears. That had to be it. He just didn't notice until now. Slowly another sound came up to accompany it. Metallic squeaking and the thumps sounded much heavier. No way what was his heart pounding.
Something had survived.
Mike sat up in a hurry and tried his best to shove heavy Freddy off his legs. If he couldn't get out, he was as good as dead. As if dealing with deadly animatronics wasn't bad enough, angry deadly animatronics was all the worse. He pushed and shoved but the bear didn't move. He was simply too heavy, and Mike's strength was all gone.
The footsteps got louder and louder from the west hallway. It had to be that damn rabbit. Apparently getting its neck slammed in the door hadn't killed it. It moved with a slow staggering gait. It was in no hurry.
"Uhh…. My head…. It feels like someone was dancing on it all night", a rather young voice sighed.
Mike looked around, wondering who the voice could be coming from. It sounded like a boy of teenage years speaking through a radio. It got louder as the footsteps did. Could it belong to Bonnie? Why wasn't it distorted like always? It sounded so real. So alive.
A shadow appeared out of the hallway, falling on the lifeless Freddy and Mike. Mike laid back down and tried to look as lifeless as possible. The rabbit came out of the hall, a paw on the back of his head. He looked around the dining room, which was in a bigger mess than he'd ever seen in his thirty-four years entertaining. Tables were knocked down, benches and chairs were everywhere, and a trash can was overturned.
"What in the name of Fredrick Fazbach happened he-," Bonnie began as he looked around the room, pausing when he noticed the two forms on the floor. His night vision eyes immediately saw Freddy first, and as he looked closer he noticed a leg with a black and white tennis shoe under Freddy's legs.
"Mike?" he asked aloud as he walked over to the fallen human.
Mike didn't dare move. He worried if he showed a sign of life, the rabbit would notice. But he was surprised to hear the rabbit actually talking like it was another human, and it had called him by name. He resisted the urge to scream or whimper as he felt one of those massive robotic paws come to a rest a couple feet from his head. A series of whirs and click were heard, followed by something resting on his chest. Bonnie had laid one of his massive paw-hands on his chest and gave him a few nudges as the rabbit continued to ask his name.
"Yo, Mike? Are you okay?" Bonnie asked again, nudging the human a little more forcefully. "Hey Mike! Wake up man!"
A few sudden bangs came from the direction of the kitchen. Mike inwardly groaned. Not only was Bonnie still alive, so was that darn chicken.
"Ow…. Who hit me?" came an oddly soft, motherly voice.
"Chica?" Bonnie asked. "Is that you? The real you?"
"Yes, Bonnie. It's the real me," came the reply.
'"The real you?" What does that mean?' Mike thought to himself as he tried to understand what was happening.
"Help me out here, Chica. I think Mike is hurt," Bonnie said with concern.
Another series of heavy footsteps came, from Chica as she rushed over. A soft shocked gasp followed as they came to a stop by him.
"Oh no. What should we do?" she asked.
"I think the best thing is to get Freddy off him first," Bonnie replied. "You pull when I lift Freddy's legs."
Mike heard the footsteps switch around as he figured Bonnie went to Freddy and Chica came to his head. He then felt a large pair of hands work under his armpits and lift him up off the floor as his head rested on Chica's chest plate. Mike tried to resist the urge to grin as the smell of pizza flour rose from Chica's feathers around him. Even this close to possible death, some happy memoires came easily.
"Okay, ready?" Bonnie asked.
"Ready."
As soon as she said that, Mike felt the pressure come off his leg and his body get dragged backwards a short distance. Bonnie then let Freddy's leg drop back to the tiled floor with a loud thud. Another astonishing feeling came as Chica ran her metal hand through his hair. It felt oddly familiar, but strange and alien at the same time.
"I can't believe he did it. He stopped the nightmare," she said softly.
"He took on Freddy and Foxy and won," Bonnie confirmed, glancing over into Pirates Cove.
"Not to mention you and me. I almost… hit him with a knife back there in the kitchen," Chica stammered, her voice heavy with guilt.
"Wasn't your fault, you know," Bonnie replied reassuringly.
As Mike listened, he became aware of an itch forming in his nose as he drew in flour laden air. He tried to resist the urge to sneeze that was becoming more and more evident. He tried… and in a second he failed. He sneezed which immediately caught the attention of the two animatronics standing nearby.
"Mike?" Bonnie said with suspicion.
"Mike, can you hear us?" Chica asked worriedly.
Mike's eyes snapped open and he sprung up and away from the grasp of the robots. In fear he walked backwards into one of Freddy's outstretched arms. His foot got caught and he fell over on his back. Bonnie and Chica looked down at him, each with a look of genuine concern.
"STAY AWAY FROM ME!" the man cried in fear for his life. The robots stopped in their tracks and backed up.
"Mike, I know you've been through a lot…," Chica began.
"Oh, no shit! I've been through Hell this past week! You have no idea how many nightmares you've given me!" he raged.
Since it seemed they were no longer trying to kill him, he could let them have a piece of his mind. Chica looked down and backed away slowly. Bonnie remained where he stood, but he looked just as sad.
"Okay...," Mike sighed, getting his temper under control. "I can see now you are actually not trying to kill me like always. Now maybe you can explain why not?"
"I-it's c-complicated," Chica said timidly.
"How is it complicated?! Did all my damage knock sense into your heads? Or are you all just stalling because it's too awful to admit to?"
Bonnie gave a static filled sigh and replied, "We don't feel pain like you do Mike. But we do feel emotions. And please believe me when I say we are truly sorry for all this crazy stuff."
Mike gave an angry huff. How was he supposed to know they were telling the truth? Sure they might be talking to him without that weird distortion to their voices, or attacking him. But they could be faking. They were robots, really advanced robots, but that didn't make them human.
"Relax, Mike. We aren't going to hurt you," Bonnie assured him.
"How do I know you are telling the truth?" Mike asked in distrust.
"Have we ever spoken to you like equals before?" Chica asked timidly.
"No…," Mike said uneasily.
"Well then, I think you can trust us a little bit now," Bonnie said, offering his large hand to him.
Mike just stared at the purple paw.
"Come on, Mike. Don't leave me hanging here."
Mike remained still. Bonnie gave a tired sigh.
"Look, man, if I wanted to grab you, I would have by now."
Mike took the offered hand and Bonnie pulled him up off the floor. As he stood face to face with two of the robots who earlier this night had tried to kill him, he expected them to attack at once. But they stayed where they were, Bonnie was looking past Mike and Chica was slowly fidgeting her wing-like hands. Both didn't make eye contact.
Another metallic groan happened again as Mike turned to look back toward Pirates Cove. In the dark room, he saw Foxy's eyes glowing dimly as the pirate got to his feet.
"Arg…. Well blow me down," came Foxy's gruff voice. It no longer had a distortion to it, making him less frightening to hear. "It feels like the main mast fell on me."
Bonnie looked up at the sound of the pirate. "Foxy, is that you, you old sea dog?"
"It be none other than I!" Foxy called back. "Captain Foxy be back and in full control of his mind once more. If I get me hand an' hook on the villain that done this ta me, I'll-" The moment he saw Mike, he paused and froze in his tracks. The fox looked like he wanted to retreat into the back of Pirates Cove and hide under one of the broken tables.
"Mike! Ah, lad, I be dreadfully sorry about all the trouble I caused ye! It be completely unforgivable what I done! I should walk the plank fer it!" Foxy said, his ears laid back in shame. This was a reaction Mike had not expected from the pirate.
"I could forgive you if I understood what the heck has been going on here at night," Mike said, sizing up Foxy from a distance. This creature was a pirate in programming, and he'd bitten someone's frontal lobe off once. Who's to say this one was on the level?
Foxy sat on the step into the Cove and looked down as he spoke, "It be a dark tale, matey. One tha' would surely make any brave man or fox, turn tail and hide. But I don't think we be havin' time fer stories yet."
"That's right, Foxy," came a sudden booming voice. Mike jumped up as Freddy began to sit up. The bear spoke in a deep voice that could have belonged to a circus strong man. It was also in a much friendlier tone, an almost fatherly tone. The bear sat up and rubbed his head, groaning.
"Wait a minute, what do you mean we have no time for explanations? I nearly died here tonight, and I want to know why!" Mike asked firmly.
"Michael, check your watch," the bear replied as he slowly got to his feet.
"Five-ten," he said staring at his watch.
"We have fifty minutes to get this place in order before we lock up in place," Freddy said, examining the mess he'd unintentionally created himself.
"I'll get the kitchen back in order," Chica said as she turned and walked back to the kitchen.
"I'll help fix the dining room," Bonnie said as he walked to the tipped garbage can.
"And I'll sit on me chest, and drink some rum," Foxy said with a slight chuckle. Freddy looked over at the fox with a stare that conveyed both annoyance and amusement.
"I be kiddin'! I'll get the Cove ship shape," he said before dashing back to the Cove.
Freddy chuckled as he watched the animatronic fox dash away, then his gaze shifted over to Mike. The man had stood petrified where he was ever since Freddy 'woke up'.
"Now you, Michael…"
"Yes?" Mike asked nervously.
Freddy gave a warm smile and he gently placed a hand on his shoulder and said, "…go back to your office and clock out your shift. If you come back tomorrow night, we will explain it all to you."
"Yes, sir. Freddy, sir," Mike stammered nervously.
"We won't blame you if you decide to not come back. After all we did, I wouldn't blame you. But if it's answers you want, it's answers you'll get. We owe you that much," Freddy added in a sad tone before turning around and began cleaning the dining room.
Mike stood there for a moment before slowly turning and walking to his office. It felt so strange to be so close to death at any second, yet the robots had let him go. Once he got back to his small office, he grabbed the tablet to check on things. Freddy and Bonnie were still in the dining room. Foxy adjusted the starry curtain to cover Pirates Cove. And the kitchen still only had audio, but he could hear Chica talking to herself along with some clanks and sweeping sounds. He turned it off so as not to waste any more power, and waited.
When he left, Mike noted that all the tables and benches had been reorganized, the curtain for Pirates Cove was up, and the pantry was clean once again. The characters were back in their positions. All was right in the pizzeria once more. Mike unlocked the front door, and walked over to catch his bus.