Pulling the collar of his jacket tight around the base of his neck, Jason marched towards his apartment through the same wintry streets he normally passed on his daily commute to work. Having just left Ashley's abruptly he aggressively ran his hand through his hair, trying to subconsciously grab at any thought which could help him in realising his wrongdoings earlier in the morning. Unfortunately, Jason was quite a simple-minded guy, when he couldn't think of a solace within his situation his mind wandered to other more easier topics to digest. Passing by the usual grocery store, He stopped to read a new poster adorning the shop window, it read, "In need of a FAZ-TASTIC Birthday party? Get in touch with the Freddy Fazbear Family now!" Knowing this slogan was a lie and in fact it was more of a state-wide corporation, Jason let out an audible snigger and continued his way home, Ashley's face not far behind.

Mike's Apartment, Afternoon.

Ashley grabbed at the drunken Mike and struggled to move him onto the sofa. Once there, she swung past and emptied the remaining bottle of dirt-cheap whiskey down the sink. Watching this, Mike let out a near-inaudible grunt. Ashley had planned on saying so much to Mike when she saw him however that was very quickly out the window. She felt so entirely responsible for the state in which she found him, which wasn't the case. "Mike, do you feel sick?" Ashley prodded, reaching for the trash can next to the freezer. Mike barely opened one of his eyes to look up at Ashley and then threw his head back against the armrest of the sofa. "I'll take that as a no."

11:42pm.

Mike's hangover hit him hard. He forcefully rubbed his eyes as if trying to release pressure from the inside of his head and coughed violently. The feeling in his stomach was that of sheer panic and nausea, He couldn't remember a thing. Slowly clambering to his feet, he took in the sight of his apartment as if viewing it for the first time. It was spotless. Mike was rightfully shaken as he hadn't seen it this clean since moving in. Before he could ask any questions, he turned to see an asleep Ashley on the other sofa across the room. Did she do this?

"Ashley?" groaned Mike, still feeling groggy, "Ash, what are you doing?" He walked over to her and attempted to poke her shoulder, but he stopped. Mike took a moment to think back to the last 48 hours and Ashley and Jason and everything else that has happened. Expecting to feel worse, Mike turned away. He didn't feel worse. Turning back around, all Mike could see was every feature of Ashley's sleeping face, He got lost in them. Mike, surrounded by a numbing sense of sickness had never felt clearer on where he stood with his thoughts on Ashley, his best friend since high school and his colleague. Before he was caught staring, Mike ran himself through a shower and checked his phone. It was a text from Terry, Mike really couldn't care. It wasn't until Mike finally realised his previous conversation with the animatronics that made him get ready for work. It was strange that, because of everything going on with Ashley and Jason, he had completely forgotten about his budding relationship with four tortured souls trapped inside old Animal robotics. Mike left a quickly scrawled note for Ashley and headed for work to face his furry pals.

Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria, 11:51pm

Mike cautiously pulled into the Fazbear Carpark and slowed to a halt in one of the employee spaces. Gathering his things out of the trunk, he glanced through the darkened windows, ominously lit with fire exit signs. He marched his way to the front entrance and pushed through the double doors. The janitorial staff were just finishing their rounds and were extremely surprised to see the nightguard as he hadn't made appearance in the past couple days. Nodding sheepishly at the staff he threw his bag and other items down in the main office, taking a glance at the main stage through the dusty monitor, no movement. He put this down to the cleaning staff still being in the building and moved on to reading through his phone to see if Ashley had woken up yet. Nothing. He laid the contents of his pockets on his desk and rubbed his eyes. He had no idea the rut he'd managed to get himself into with equal amounts of knowledge on how to fix things. He began to walk his first round of the pizzeria as the cleaning staff locked him in the building. 12:03am. Kitchen was clear, as it always was, Party rooms 1 and 2 were uninterestingly quiet and Pirate's Cove was… empty?

Mike flapped the curtain back to reveal nothing but old torn newspapers and broken equipment. Understandably panicked, Mike hurried back to his office to check the cameras. With the decades old monitor and PC, Mike would have to wait almost all night for them to turn on, so instead he carried on with his rounds, hoping to ask the three other animatronics where the Pirate Fox was at.

Reaching the mainstage, he noted that the middle table had now been replaced and that the previously smashed up stage had been renovated. Terry was certainly a monster, but one that cared for the look of his business, Mike thought to himself as he approached the Bottom of the Stage entrance.

"Guys," Mike paused, "I have no excuse for where I've been. I'm sorry." He waited to be struck with disapproving remarks or downright scalded but nothing. The animatronics didn't budge an inch. The Nightguard was utterly confused, "Hello?" He walked closer to the three stage performers, "Guys, it's fine all the cleaning staff are away it's just us." As if on command, a soft whirring noise filled the silent stage, not from any of the three in front of Mike, the sound was emanating from behind him. Mike instantly debated in his mind one thousand different explanations and reasons before landing on the fact that its probably Foxy. Mike swallowed his remaining doubt and turned cautiously to face who was behind him. Before passing pleasantries with the Orange Fox, Mike was jumped upon and thrown to the ground with an audible thud. His ribs flared a recognisable pain. "Foxy, it's me! Mike!" The damaged nightguard bellowed. Foxy's mechanical jaw snarled an almost lifelike growl before his eyes widened to the fact, he recognised the terrified man under him.

"Ah, Sorry, lad!" Foxy laughed, "Excuse me abrupt greetin'!" Foxy moved back and offered mike his hand to pull himself back up. He clambered to his feet and dusted his back off while the animatronic fox. Mike was taken aback to see Foxy so close to the other animatronics.

"You're out of Pirate's Cove? What's changed?" Mike coughed. Foxy gave a hearty chuckle and gestured towards Bonnie.

"The old rabbit finally put aside his pride and grovelled!" Before Mike could turn to face the Rabbit, he heard a set of mechanical whirring noises he'd only but come accustomed to.

"Nowhere near what happened though, was it?" Bonnie joked stretching his arms.

"Close enough." Chica smiled with a crack of the joints in her neck, "Mike! Good to have you back." Chica brushed the dirt off mike's back.

"tried to run, did you?" scoffed Bonnie in a playful manner. Mike was expectedly sheepish but didn't hesitate to begin apologising.

"No need, Mike, it's just good to have you back." Freddy was now in full swing. They took a couple of seconds to fully snap back to life as Mike made his way to the newly refurbished middle table and took a seat.

"As much as it's good to have the main 4 back in action, why did you feel it was necessary to nearly rebreak my ribs?" Mike questioned to Foxy who was making his way off the front of the stage.

"Ah, you see," Foxy began, "Back in the day when we newly 'appointed' these new bodies, it had become my job to ambush anyone I thought to be the purple guy."

"Purple guy?" Mike was confused.

"It's the name we've given the monster who did this to us," Bonnie chimed in,

"We have no knowledge of them other than the fact he was in that uniform." Freddy gestured towards Mike purple outfit. He glanced down at his dirty outfit and a thought came into his head.

"Guys, that is some serious information!" Mike stunned the four animatronics with his sudden outburst as they listened in to what Mike had to say next. "From the little information I've gathered from this place, there are four sets of uniforms based off of, well, you guys," Mike began, " What that means is whoever committed those terrible crimes all those years ago had to have been in a Bonnie uniform!" The four animatronics all looked at each other and remembered that not all the workers there shared the same uniforms.

"Pretty embarrassing you guys didn't figure that one out" Bonnie remarked distancing himself from the stupidity of them all.

"That's not the point right now, Bonnie," Chimed in Freddy, refusing to involve himself in Bonnies silly game.

"No, you guys don't understand," Mike proceeded, "If I can get access to the old employees files in Terry's office I can find all of the workers from back then who also wore the Bonnie uniform!" Mike was impressed with himself after coming up with their first set of plans.

"We can just break you into the office Mike!" exclaimed Chica, giddy with the thought of finally solving the gang's murders.

"It won't be that simple," Freddy muttered, "The door to the Owner's office is alarmed which connects directly to the local police department."

"How do you know that?" queried Mike. Freddy glanced toward the nightguard,

"A couple years back a previous nightguard broke into the owner's office and within a short time period, the police arrived."

"Well that plan's out of the question then." Bonnie choked.

"any other ideas?" Foxy spoke up.

"We don't need one," Mike remarked, "This plan will work."

"Did you not just hear what Freddy said?" Bonnie retorted. Mike smiled while keeping his head low as if remaining apathetic to the animatronics' worries.

"I heard." Mike responded, standing up and facing the gang, "I just know I can get into that office."

"How?" a chorus of the animatronics' voices flooded the party room.

"simple." Mike claimed, "I'll just ask the owner to give me the files himself." Mike looked over his shoulder at Terry's office as he sealed in the works of the plan to his mind.

Mike's Apartment 06:45am

Mike returned home with a victorious attitude after having formulated somewhat of a starting plan to cracking the mystery of the Pizzeria killer. He opened the door of his apartment and slumped himself on the sofa, laying his work bag by his side. He began to zone out to whatever new nature documentary was on the tv until his phone began to ring. He checked his phone to see Ashley's picture there on the screen. He swallowed an almost impossible breath of air and sighed, the weight of his personal life crushing his head from the inside. He slowly moved the phone up to his ear and answered. "Mike?" Ashley's voice forced its way into his eardrum as he demanded the courage to reply.

"Hey, Ash." Mike replied, his victorious attitude from earlier almost completely forgotten.

"How was work?" Ashley forced herself to make small talk, rejecting herself from feeling the undeniable awkwardness coming from the other end of the line.

"It was pretty normal," Mike replied in an almost automated response.

"Mike, we…". Silence fell on the call as Ashley struggled to word what she was thinking to Mike.

"Yeah, I know," Mike spoke softly, "We need to have a chat."

"Yeah, I came past the other night and well, you weren't in the best of states."

"I'm sorry for that," Mike interjected, "You know I'm never normally like that."

"Hey, sometimes we all need it" Ashley softly laughed as if trying to lighten the mood.

"Anyway, when's good for you?" Mike changed the subject back.

"Well I'm working today, but tonight is good?" Ashley waited for Mike to come up with some excuse as she always expected him to do.

"It's okay I'll be in fazbear's today. What time's your break?" Mike remembered he had to give terry a visit anyway.

"Wait, you're in today?" Ashley questioned, "why?" Mike was hesitant to reveal the truth as anyone would be so he took a breath to conceive the most valid excuse.

"I'm trying to sort out my missing days with the boss, he's been really at my throat about it, you know." Mike paused with baited breath to see if Ashley would believe him or not.

"Yeah, that sounds like terry," Ashley had no reason not to, "I'm surprised you've not actually just been fired yet!" This was the first time since the Jason incident that mike had heard Ashley's caring yet aggressive tone, it immediately brought a calming chill back to Mike. There was another awkward silence as they'd both ran out of topics to speak about witch wouldn't leave either in tears.

"Right, I'm off, then" Mike murmured, hoping for Ashley to think up another useless conversation yet at the same time hoping to not hear her voice.

"Yeah, I better start preparing for work. My break's at 12."

"See you then." Mike listened as the call cut out but didn't put the phone down as if wanting her to call forever. Mike snapped himself out of whatever self deprecating pit he was in to prepare for today. He decided it was best to check his manual he was given from work for a second time to see if there was any information he could gather from it which would help his case in solving the killers identity. Mike rummaged through his kitchen drawer to find the old crumpled leaflet which was the manual. Flicking through its coffee-stained pages, he found nothing out of the ordinary apart from the weird images which he already knew was in there. Feeling like staring at the strangers family photo and the blueprints which he couldn't read was counter-productive he decided it was best to throw the manual in his bag and begin to get ready for his trip to the pizzeria.

Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria, 11:45am

Once again, Mike found himself at the pizzeria. Unlike his normal empty car park however, the lot was jam-packed with cars screaming the sound of tired parents and hyper kids. Mike was fully prepared for a war. He entered the building without a second thought of how he looked to the customers inside and adjusted himself to the noise quicker than the first time he visited through the day. He made his way through a sea of hungry children and into the main party room. The three animatronics on stage were giving a show to the children. Mike couldn't help but stop and listen for a moment as this was his first time hearing them perform and not welcome him with their usual personalities he was used to. He collected himself and started his path towards Terry's office. Before entering, Mike caught a glimpse of the young boy he had previously seen in Terry's office. He was a scrawny kid with short shaggy brown hair. Mike approached him with a cautious step. The kid locked eyes with Mike and flashed him a fearful look as he only knew that Mike knew the truth. "Hey, kid," Mike beckoned, "Got a minute?" The kid looked at Terry's office then back to Mike.

"I'm meant to be mopping up, sir" The kid stuttered.

"This will only be a second." Mike persisted, approaching the kid even more. With nowhere to turn to, the kid faced Mike and placed his mop back in the bucket.

"What can I help you with?" The kid asked, in his company taught voice. Mike glanced at Terry's office and back at the kid to let him know exactly what his next question was about.

"Is everything okay?" Mike didn't need to say anymore. Terry had been watching Mike on the camera since he had entered and seeing him with his young employee flew Terry into an angry panic. Terry's office door flew open and the disgruntled predator emerged.

"Mike, my office, now." Terry spat. Mike gave him a sadistic smile and threw his gaze back at the child.

"Perfect, you did well, kid." The kid had no idea that he was just the perfect bait for terry to make his appearance. Mike walked himself into Terry's office with a triumphant swagger as terry almost slammed the door behind him.

"What the FUCK do you think you're playing at?" Fumed Terry as he marched himself back to the other side of his desk. Mike nonchalantly took a seat at the chair in front of him.

"Just making sure your staff are comfortable and safe." Mike retorted in a sarcastic manner, "Can't be too careful nowadays." Terry's face turned a crimson red, knowing Mike was well aware of his disgusting secret.

"I will fucking destroy you, you hear me?" Terry was filled with empty threats, thought Mike as he laughed off the enraged owner's words. "You think you can skip out of work for whatever stupid fucking reason then come back and harass MY FUCKING EMPLOYEES?!" Mike stood from the chair and grabbed hold Terry's shirt collar, halting the owner in his words.

"Let me make this situation perfectly clear, Terry." Mike struggled to hide his unchained rage, "The only thing stopping me from ending your life here is the fact I have something I need from this place and you." Terry's face was moulded in fear, as he could see Mike was deadly serious. "You are nothing to me and what you do to that poor boy and god knows who else is despicable. If I catch you near him or any young person again, I'll choke you to death then walk to the police department myself." Terry was utterly speechless. Mike slowly released Terry and fell back into the chair. "Let's start again."

"W-what can I help you with?" Terry had immediately lost his strong willed personality.

"Employee files, where are they?" Mike leant forward. Terry fixed his collar and sat back down.

"What could you possibly need with employee files?" Mike would not shift his age from Terry's eyes, making the owner increasingly more uncomfortable.

"Terry I'm dead serious I'll kill you right now." Terry stopped for a second a Mike's unshifting tone of voice. It was almost monotonous the way Mike passed his death threats to him.

"They're in this cabinet here." Terry rose from his seat and slowly made his way to a set of locked cabinets in the far side of the office, "every employee from the opening in 1981 to now." Mike realised that it was going to be a lot harder than just taking some of the files away with him, that's when he hatched the second part of the plan.

"Perfect, here's what you're going to do." Terry slowly turned to face Mike, "Leave your office AND those cabinets unlocked from now on. If you lock them I'll come back tomorrow. And the day after and the day after. Understand?" Terry was quietly furious.

"Are you serious? Do you know how many rules I'd be br-" Mike stood up and with a swift couple of steps towards the cabinets, he slammed Terry's head into the top of them. Terry let out a quiet groan as blood began to slowly pool on top of the cabinets.

"I didn't ask about the FUCKING rules." Mike began slowly applying pressure to the top of Terry's head as the owner cringed in pain. "Leave everything unlocked or I'll break your fucking legs."

"Fine."

"Oh, and another thing." Mike let go of Terry's head as the owner began to wipe the cut on his head.

"What now?" Terry blurted. Mike opened the door of his office and began walking out.

"You'll give that fucking kid a raise."