See the end for author's notes.
"I'm sure you heard disturbing rumors
How things in the night go bumpin'
30 years have passed and it's amazing
That I still continue to function!"
Chapter 11. Our Teddy is Bigger Than Yours
Sometime Before,
"And ya' think all this is going to work, do'ya, son?"
"I do. It is a good plan, one he would be proud of~"
"Heh, it's odd. Hearin' you talkin' like this, kiddo."
"Like what?" demanded the icy voice.
"It's just…well, ruthless is one thing. You've always been ruthless, always hated adults even before the…the Incident that made you….You."
"Get to the point."
"You've always been a sharp one, buddy. We gave you the best AI chips we could afford back then, made sure you could give the gifts out perfectly, and now…just. S'different, that's all. Hearing you…with this fellow of yours, that you speak so highly of."
"My dear night guard is someone to speak highly of. He is worth saving. He is a Good Suit."
"Said that 'bout someone else once, too. I just…think it's something else, with this fellow. And I always warned you bout putting all yer eggs in one basket, ain't I?"
"If you are that much against my idea, I suppose I could unhook my strings, and put us both back down in the cold dead ground where we belong, sir."
"Now, now, I didn't say that, little fella. Keep yer buttons on."
There was a chilly hiss of displeasure, a noise that sounded like a music box scraping itself backwards.
"I thought not." The second voice snapped coldly when there was silence for a long beat. "Keep your opinions to yourself, and play your part when the time comes. Right now, there are more important things at hand I need to address."
"Uh-huh. Like getting that precious night guard of yours out of there in one damn piece, eh?" the old man settled back with a mild tone of indifference. This was not appreciated, if the grating hiss was anything to go by. "It ain't gunna be easy."
"We made a deal, did we not? You'll get your revenge, my friend. But first, I get what's mine."
"If you say so, kiddo."
The world had changed a lot since he had last been in his Suit.
At least, William Afton presumed it had—he had woken up down here, in this lonely, empty, cavernous place. He lurched and shuffled and shambled, swinging his—or was it their's? No, it was his—limbs and letting the long rabbit ears bob. Everything he wanted was his; it had to be because he wanted it to be so. He had lost so much—too much—he was allowed to seek what he wanted. Springbonnie had no more say in their actions than a caterpillar filled with wasp eggs that had zombified it, keeping it alive as the larvae ate and ate away at it.
Perhaps a gruesome comparison—but a correct one. And an interesting one. William Afton was in charge, he was back, for his spirit had been places he'd care not remember.
He knew he wouldn't stay in That Place forever. He always comes back.
Springbonnie was too weak without him. His adorable little Bonnie model needed him.
The yellow bunny had lost his Freddy, after all. What else did Springbonnie have left besides his gracious, loving creator?
William paused in thought, turning his rotted head to study the plain, stainless steel walls. The place was still running then. Purple optics flicked left and right with rusty clicks, and he muttered to himself.
She would be here. She had to still be here. His little angel needed him as much as Springbonnie.
It was a wonderful feeling, being so Needed. Especially as a father. There wasn't anything quite like it in the world, save perhaps the joy of a fresh kill and feeling warm blood slick between his fingers.
Michael wouldn't have made it down here, not that useless dolt. His oldest son was nearly as useless as his second one had been, but the difference was Alex's issues were resolved. Had been—for a long, long time.
Of course, it had cost him Henry's very first Foxy back then…but no matter. It wasn't like Henry was around to berate him anymore. It wasn't like it mattered, because William didn't care if Alex was moved on or not.
If he hadn't made Alex atone for his sins, had never seen the spirit of his teenage son clinging onto the Foxy model, he never would have come up with the idea to make his own Suits.
Why should that bleeding Puppet have all the power? How was that fair in the world? No…no, William's ideas were the right ones. He just needed to finish them. They just needed a little push. He could make a good situation out of a bad one, just watch him.
It was just his way of…creating balance. Making things right in the world.
Henrietta had been a success, hadn't she? So what if his oldest was, ultimately, a failure? He had never liked the boy anyway—Charlotte had wanted boys. She gave him three noisy, raucous messy little boys, and then died after Henrietta, leaving him—
Nevermind.
"She must be down here." He wheezed through stale, clogged speakers. "And the others…hopefully she's learned how to handle them by now."
Circus Baby's Pizza World.
It was William's pride and joy, in the beginning. (So many plans, so many hopes, dreams. So much he was going to accomplishment no matter how much blood, sweat and tears it took. And oh, did it take a lot of those things. Buckets of them.) It was his break from the damn family company, his freedom from stifling, do-good, know-it-all Henry, and he hadn't regretted the place once. Down here, he was in full control! Down here, he was the Puppet Master, and a far better one than that wooden little Pinocchio-esque-freak ever managed. After all, Afton had returned, hadn't he? Schmidt's little security policy wasn't around to save his scrawny ass anymore. Not in this place, where the dead were more welcome than the living. This place was just as priceless to him as his last offspring that lived down here, gave him power and home field advantage the likes of which Schmidt couldn't even begin to comprehend.
William did, however, somewhat regret not building a better map of the place.
And all the lead he put in these walls. It had seemed like such a good idea at the time, keeping the damn Bonnie models contained and even Ballora, since she was built much the same way as the basic Bonnie prototype.
Now, though…
"Your ears are useless, Springbonnie!" Afton scolded angrily, feeling an inner part of him flinch at the rebuke, because he often hit and smacked Springbonnie before they were Suits, back when they were still separate entities. This display of weakness only made Afton madder, which wasn't anything new. "What little you have left, anyway…this is ridiculous! We can't hunt like this."
'What do you want me to do about it?' intoned Springtrap, exhaustion and pain laced deep through his soft, toneless voice. 'Operator is the one who fixed what he could—'
"I am your Operator, Springbonnie. That nosey, meddling night guard is nothing more than bait—a failure. The Puppet's last attempt to save a sinking ship, and a failed one at that! I knew he was no match for my little girl. You do not bring that mistake up again. Do you hear me!? I won't be telling you a second time."
'Yes, Billy.'
A long time ago, Springbonnie used to call him that nickname with a lot more affection.
And emotion.
But that was a long, long, time ago. And things had changed.
"Wait. Do you hear that?" Ballora's lyrical voice paused Ennard, who swayed to an unsteady, confused halt.
"HEAR WHAT?"asked Funtime Freddy, an obvious note of anxiety in his tone.
"Listen." Ballora urged, then fell silent.
Ennard stood in the darkness, coiling his clumsily, corded fingers that were half Funtime Freddy's and half Funtime Foxy's. They looked like a human wringing his hands in frustration and growing distress. Ennard's many colored eyeballs swung and swayed, but Ballora's Auditorium was quiet and empty, just like all the other rooms had been.
Both night guards had completely and utterly vanished on them, and it was unnerving. The other Funtimes had assumed Circus Baby knew of all the hiding places—she always acted like she did, telling their potential suits when and where to hide to get them to trust her, while the Funtimes played the parts of the villians. Under the desk, in the old suit in the Scooping Room, and so on and so forth.
They all thought the Eggs one had trusted her enough for her plan to work. He seemed so nice, at first. So gentle and friendly.
But he was 'yeller', as Funtime Freddy put it.
Eggs had been yeller, and yeller was dangerous. And Angry. And Big. It had taken everything Ennard had, to fight off the big monstrous bear and in their anger they decided to kill Eggs.
He had lied, after all. He wasn't an empty Suit, but a full one!
They wouldn't escape in a body already filled with two others. Especially not when one of those souls was…was Uncle Henry's favorite and his first. Goldy was big and strong and scary, and years after the incident, Henrietta understood now, why Arthur feared Goldy so much. Anyone with common sense should. He was mean.
And salt in the wound was that Golden Freddy and Eggs…they were so…good together. Like Daddy and Springy had been, or even Mikey and Scrapy.
"…I hear…something creeping." Ballora's voice shattered Circus Baby's thoughts on the second to last night guard, but she stayed silent in contemplation. She didn't hear anything, but she wasn't about to admit that to these three! (Four, if you counted BawnBawn.)
"It sounds like…scraping. Something…light." Ballora tried to explain in her slow, calm way.
"I'm afraid I haven't the foggiest, dear, but then, I don't have your ears." Said Funtime Foxy, and finally Circus Baby managed to find her voice.
"Is it the night guard?" Circus Baby asked in a tense whisper, causing some of Ennard's left arm to loosen and unravel in anxiety. "No—not him, the other one. Eggs."
Even just saying the night guard's name caused a rippling shudder of fear through Ennard's…well, everything.
"…I do not…think so." Ballora's side of their heavy, tangled up consciousness drifted further from their shared web. She concentrated harder, and then hummed a single note of disappointment. Apparently, whatever it was, Ballora had lost the sound and could not study it further. She lapsed into regretful silence.
"This is becoming hopeless. Perhaps we should escape as we are." Remarked a tired and anxious sounding Ballora.
"YEAH! ME AN' BAWNBAWN LIKE THAT IDEA! LET'S MAKE LIKE A BANANA AND SPLIT, CIRC!"
"I say, count me in for that, too." Agreed Funtime Foxy with a good natured growl of approval. "Circus-dear, we're quite intimidating now that we've combined ourselves. Wouldn't it make sense to close curtain and leave town? No one could match us as we are."
"We are not leaving!" Circus Baby suddenly shrieked, her pitch higher and younger than usual. "Daddy is coming to get us! And when he does…when he does, we'll have a gift for him. He'll be so happy with me!"
"WITH US, YA MEAN." Funtime Freddy corrected with a snap.
"But Circus, you can't mean the—the Eggs fellow!" Funtime Foxy gasped in horror that was less theatrical and more real.
"Yes!" Circus' voice lifted an octave of excitement, of thrill. "We will get him. He won't let us out, then we will take him in. Make him and his Suit part of us. We will be even stronger, when we have both of them."
When she had both of them, especially if she could subdue Golden Freddy, then she—they, Ennard—would be unstoppable. Wouldn't that be poetic justice? Conquering the animatronic that killed her brother and taking his power for herself? Wouldn't Daddy just adore her for it?
So what if she had to crack an Egg to make an omelet?
"IT'S JUST THAT EASY, HUH?" The Funtimes could not read each other's mind persay, but they understood and knew Circus long enough to know that when she dreamed, she dreamed big.
"Be silent!"
And that was the end of that discussion.
Well, for Circus Baby it was.
Ennard shuffled on.
"Mike—?"
Danny dropped through to the little room, hardly sparing a second to take it in. For one thing, it was a small room, maybe eight by eight feet, and Mangle was taking up most of it. A skinny, sad looking desk with some monitors was taking up the rest, stacked high or drilled into the walls above. The room was very high, if very small.
And it was very dark, even with the monitors and the little laptop illuminating what they could.
Something was sitting in the corner, but it was so hidden in shadow Danny didn't notice it, and it wasn't moving or making any noise, so it was easy to overlook.
Danny could really only stare in shocked awe at his boss, who he owed a great deal to and who he was so sure was dead for most of this little adventure. But he wasn't, Mike Schmidt was alive, somehow. Which was such a Mike-thing that Danny felt dizzy with relief.
Mike smiled warmly up at him like the years hadn't passed in awkward silence on Danny's end, then light up further when he saw tiny pink paws stretching beseechingly for him.
"Eggs!" Bonnet squealed in delight.
"Hey, Bonnet! You found her!" He praised Danny happily as he sat up a bit. "It's good to see you too, sweetie—"
Schmidt leaned out to take her, only to freeze and gnash his teeth, letting out a gasping groan of pain. He toppled forward, caught by Mangle's neck that shoved under him, and she arched her long spine to help guide him back into the rolly chair. He griped the patient Mangle tight, hissing through his teeth for a few seconds.
"Mike!? Are you—what's wrong?"
And then Danny stopped, because when Mike sat back it was very, painfully obvious what was wrong.
"Nuthin,'" Mike wheezed out a laugh, then moved his hand to expose the gaping, weeping wound that made his right side look like a horror movie.
"Just...a lesson I got in trusting those I shouldn't. I'll be fine in a second, Danny…" His lips pressed flat, his head tilting back as he waited out a wave of pain and Danny saw the silver skin of scars illuminate on his face, barely healed but very obvious, the silver skin reflecting for a moment. Three stretched over Mike's right eye and down to his cheekbone—the same eye that was so yellow and pale that it looked like Mike was wearing a strange, somewhat theatrical Halloween contact. If Mike wasn't wearing sunglasses, Danny was sure the man told anyone who asked him that's all it was—a quirky, strange habit he had of wearing a funny costume piece. Nothing else. And people would buy it, because Mike was Mike and people just did that around him.
But to Danny, who knew Mike for what he was and who he carried in his bones, it looked like someone had cracked Mike open and a part of Golden Freddy had leaked out on accident. It made the man look older than he was, and it reminded Danny all too well of Bonnie's severe warning about machinery and how poorly it aged.
The fourth scar was below the other two, a good three inches long and curving straight down his lips. The man was tall and gangly as ever, still in somewhat the same outfit he always wore, except the jeans were worn, his sneakers were gone and replaced by tough steel-toed boots, and a leather jacket hung from his sharp shoulders and covered his blue work shirt, and his clip on tie was gone. Even though the other employees had always had to, Danny included, Mike never wore a purple work shirt. After seeing Springtrap's true optic color, Danny now knew why. The man ran a shaky hand through his messy hair, fingers passing over a single streak of stark white that was near Mike's yellow eye with the white pupil. The slight tremor to the night guard's hands passed as he steadied himself, taking his weight off a crooning, worried looking Mangle.
"I'm okay, pretty girl, thanks." The night guard just about cooed to the fretting fox-lady, who eased away from him but hovered close by. Bonnet reached out to pet Ms. Foxy's muzzle again, perhaps to comfort herself or them both.
"Mike, that doesn't look good…" Danny kneeled to see for himself, setting Bonnet onto the desk as he moved to try and asses the awfully deep looking wound for himself. It would need stitches, Mike's insane regenerative powers or not. "Can Gold even…?"
"Gold's why I'm able to talk and be here at all, Danny." Even with ten years on him—and Golden Freddy's clear signs of aging Mike showing—his eyes were lively and he smiled in amusement at Danny's concern. The night guard patted the young man's shoulder twice in warmth and assurance.
"It's not as bad as it looks, I promise."
"I'm not a kid anymore Mike; you don't have to protect me." The young man reminded with a trace of moroseness, and though Mike blinked his surprise melted to warmth.
"I guess not, if you managed to make your way down here, all by yourself." Mike said with a confused smile. "Not that I'm not grateful, believe me, it's been about three weeks since I've seen a friendly face—" Ms Foxy snapped the air lightly, as if insulted "Cept you, of course, pretty girl." Mangle lowered his head in satisfaction and warbled contently.
A stone settled in Danny's stomach as he heard this.
"You called me here, Mike. Remember?" how hard had the man been hit? Three weeks? Nearly a month? How had the man survived? "With that voice mail? And the, the flashlight, you sent me the…"
Danny pulled out the child's toy, staring at the deep crack along the left side of the handle, and swallowed when he saw that it mirrored Mike's gash. Mike stared at it too, for a good long while. Mangle did as well, before she gave a nervous click and coiled herself up like a wary snake, poised to defend instead of strike as her good eye stared down the plastic toy as if it were a gun and not a simple flashlight for a kid.
Mike's right hand twitched outward, and Danny spotted yet another cluster of scars, silvery and thin over the man's bony knuckles. Despite his reaction and his wide, half-inhuman eyes, Mike did not take the flashlight. Even though he looked like he wanted to, and Danny wanted nothing more than to get rid of this damn omen. But he had a feeling his job wasn't done. Not with them down here and Mike like this.
He wasn't sure what made him keep it, but it felt like his gut.
"I…I didn't call you here, Danny." The man's two-toned gaze turned slowly up to study Danny's face, as if seeing him in a different light just as Danny was now seeing his once-indestructible boss. Mike Schmidt wasn't unbeatable; he too could be fooled and get hurt, or miscalculate. Danny Fitzgerald was no longer a scared high schooler getting his nose into business not meant for him, he was older and wiser and braver.
The young Fitzgerald had escaped Circus Baby's cruel scheme, and he had escaped unharmed with the Mangle's help, ironically the same animatronic that Danny was pretty sure was the one who malfunctioned and bit off his dad's face.
Mike had not escaped harm, and his injury was severe enough Mike wasn't jumping back up from it and going on his merry way like he always had.
This was New. And Danny didn't like it.
"And it's not safe for you down here, you shouldn't've…but you did. Can't change the past… 'no need to fear what you can't avoid.'" The night guard sighed as he sat back with stiff reluctance and tried to settle his aching body more comfortably. "Mari used to tell me that, to make me feel better."
Danny nodded silently, remembering again how every single note ended in 'M' and nothing more, nothing else.
But he…he didn't know the Puppet could disguise its voice, could mimic perfectly like that. And wasn't the Puppet gone? The solemn, pained look in Mike's eyes and his darkened stare at the monitors made Danny keep that little thought private. Danny moved closer to lean against the desk, watching Mike's tight expression as his eyes flicked around the monitors with trained precision.
"Okay." Mike finally said, seemingly to himself and Danny at the same time. "Okay, we'll be fine. You'll be fine; I won't let anything happen to you, kiddo….first, though. Ms Foxy? I need you to go track our friendly neighborhood freak, yeah? Come back if they find a way out. We'll lure them back again, if we have to, even if I'm not ready."
All this apparently meant something to the Mangle, who chattered her big white jaw but skated upwards, poking her muzzle up into the dark vent opening in the ceiling. A few moments later, with only minor scrapes and soft thuds, the Mangle was up and gone, presumably to track Ennard.
Mike groaned and leaned back, clearly thinking what they were all thinking, and he shifted in the rolly chair in nervousness and unease, instead of pain. He glanced at the second laptop once, but apparently didn't like what he saw, because he turned back to Fitzgerald.
"Who else-? Have you spoken to anyone else since you came to Circus Baby's?"
"H-huh? Oh, yeah. Mike, I—you wanted me to turn on Springtrap—" Mike did not, of course, that was all becoming glaringly obvious. But Danny felt that strange, firm 'little kid' need to explain, to not take all the blame here. To assure Mike he was only trying to help, only trying to do what he thought his boss wanted him to do.
'Turns out I wasn't doing anything like that. But I was doing what the Marionette wanted.' Danny tried to ignore the ice griping his spine even through his layers of clothes. 'And if there was one thing you could count on when it came to that freakin' Puppet, it was that he loved Mike a lot. He'd do anything to protect him.'
"Springtrap's still down here? He…he followed you to this place?" Mike sounded surprised, but almost awed and proud. Danny hadn't realized it, but maybe Springtrap wasn't a friendly animatronic to anyone, enough so that Mike looked surprised he had obeyed the young Fitzgerald.
("Are you….a night guard?")
'Springtrap asked me that the night we met. I was honest. But maybe he…maybe 'day guard' was enough for him. Maybe he trusted me because of his programming?
…and maybe the Puppet knew Spring wouldn't listen to just anyone.'
But something that was not part of the Marionette's possible plan, that much Danny was certain of, was a very important and dangerous fact.
Springtrap, who was down here with other murderous animatronics, was no longer just Springtrap, and beside that stone in Danny's stomach settled a brick of sheer dread and horror. Mike couldn't go against Ennard and Afton like this, Danny was sure of it. They were going to die down here, and that terrifying realization caused Danny's emotions to tumble loose again, like a pebble that caused a rockslide. He trembled hard, and his throat burned.
"Bonnie—Bonnie got mad at him, Mike! Bonnie chased him off and next time we saw Spring, he wasn't himself, he was—he'd turned—his optics were purple, it was so creepy and his voice was—"
"Wait, Bonnie? Afton?" and the normally easy going man's face darkened, scrunching in a sneer of disgust so strong Danny stepped back as if struck. Bonnet whimpered at the name and buried her face in Danny's hoodie once more.
"I-I'm so sorry, Mike, th-this is all my fault," Danny felt the tears coming, his own features crumpling as the waterworks started up again. Damn. He swiped fruitlessly at his cheeks and nose and inhaled shakily, clutching Bonnet as if she were Nightmare Bonnie and could protect him from anything.
"Oh—oh, Danny, no," Mike sat up, helping Danny set Bonnet on the cramped desk and tugging the young man closer, getting him to look at the night guard.
"Hey, hey c'mon. It's okay." Mike hesitated then smiled tiredly, but his odd eyes shone with assurance. "I know that's what everyone says in a shitty situation like this but it's true. Look—I had a feeling Afton was going to try and take back Springtrap for a few months now. It was going to happen. I guess the good news is it happened down here, when I can contain him with Circus Baby and the others."
"But Bonnie was so mean to him, Mike, maybe if he'd stayed with us—Springtrap looked out for me, Mike, he was down here protecting me a-and…"
"Bonnie and Spring are a lot like brothers. They just don't get along even when they're not fighting." Mike agreed with a wane smile of understanding, "But that isn't your fault, either. Spring wouldn't have come if he couldn't, but he did and…we can work with this. I'll think of something, okay? I promise."
"But if-if, you're already hurt bad, Mike," Danny pointed out, even if he felt bad for doing so.
"I just need a little longer. And if we have to, I've got a back up almost ready. You said Bonnie's online? Then he's getting his end of the plan done. He probably almost is, in fact." Mike's eyes glittered, fierce and wild and confident. "Ennard won't know what hit them. But I'm gunna need your help. You up for it?"
And because it was Mike, and because he looked more confident than Danny felt, the young Fitzgerald nodded.
"Atta' boy, Danny. Now c'mere, check out what I've been working on." Mike turned to the figure in the corner. "This is why you only found Bonnie down here..."
Bonnie the bunny wandered round a corner, then halted. One of his ears, which had been trained upwards, flicked thoughtfully. He stayed still for a good five minutes, listening to the faint sounds he heard from the vent. Then its twin joined it and Bonnie turned upwards, studying the ceiling as if it were something of great interest.
And it was, especially if you were a Bonnie model and knew the things this Bonnie model did.
"…weird." Bonnie mulled over the current sounds. "Yeah. Really weird. Oooh, Faz is gunna have a field day with this." He sighed, gave himself a worried shake and limped down the hall.
A second later the ceiling opened before him, and a white muzzle poked out and purred down at him.
"Oh, hey Ms. Foxy. How's it hangin'?" He cackled at his own joke, grinning when the Mangle rolled her one good eye but clacked her jaws at him in her friendly way.
"Yeah, yeah, I got the power hooked up like Mike wanted. Danny's down here, though, he know that?" Bonnie listened to the chattering, clicking response, and then his hard expression softened. "Good. Long as the kid's with Mike, he should be okay…"
Mangle hummed again.
"Huh? No, I ain't seen that yellow traitor since I chased him off earlier. Ennard's heading toward Mike's safe room though. That supposed to be happening? The gang all ready?"
The Mangle snorted and started coiling herself back into the ceiling.
"Hey, before ya go, sis, you seen anything up there with ya?" Bonnie asked, interest piqued from before. The Mangle churred in clear confusion and askance as he paused to scrutinize the bunny with a friendly cock of her plastic head.
"No, no, I don't mean Ennard." Bonnie said. "I mean…something—or someone—else. Uh…black and white, pretty spooky-lookin', maybe covered in dirt…"
The Mangle gave Bonnie the bunny an odd look and shook her head slowly.
What a weird question! She seemed to say to him as she slithered back into his vents.
"Well, good luck." Bonnie called. "Keep me posted. I'm gunna try and get the elevator online like Mike wanted; hopefully Afton follows his freaky little daughter straight to Mike…"
Provided nothing else went wrong, that is.
Mike was sitting up a bit better the longer he was resting and the more he was typing. He glanced into the corner every so often, mumbled to himself and then turned to where Danny and Bonnet were monitoring the screens.
"Got their attention?" Mike asked.
"I think so." Danny bit his lip and squinted at the staticy screen as Ennard closed the distance across the screens with rapid succession. "Yeah, they're definitely…uhm, on their way. Hey, Mike…? These cameras…how come you ddin't see me down here before?"
"I only got them back online recently." Mike sighed, shaking his head in frustration. "Afton built this place. And worse, he installed a shitty AI that Circus Baby can control."
"HandyUnit?" Danny asked.
"Yeah—you met him?" Mike snorted.
"Uh—yeah. He's been really quiet lately," Danny said slowly, tasting the words and realizing what was going on as Mike nodded and explained,
"That was me." And Mike smirked in pride. "I got HandyUnit shut off and unresponsive, and effectively got Circus Baby from seeing through the cameras or closing the vents. I'm sure she's realized this, she's proably pissed. Soon as she gets the chance, she'll try to force herself back into the building's system but until then, we oughta make hay while the sun shines."
"Sounds like a Freddy-ism to me." Danny said, and offered a meek smile despite the situation.
"Caught that?" Mike allowed a small chuckle, then shrugged best he could. "Can't help it. We been working together for nearly a decade now, he's my best friend after all. When the restaurant shut down, I started spending most nights there too, doing odd jobs. Sure beat the hell out of an empty apartment, and the gang liked me living there with them."
There was something immensely comforting in that for Danny. Mike and Freddy had not changed, even if the world around them had. It brought a strange sense of calmness that Fitzgerald wasn't expecting but appreciated. So long as Freddy was around, Mike had a good chance of being okay. And Freddy protected who ever Mike told him to, and his boss wouldn't let Danny get hurt—to say nothing of how Bonnie looked out for him.
"Ennard's really strong, huh?"
"Yep." Mike, eyes locked back on the laptop, tapped a few keys and then Enter. "But like me and Gold, they're not without their Achilles' heel."
"Really?"
"Yeah. I've been watching them a lot, when I have the chance. Circus Baby's the leader—but I get the feeling the others aren't too happy with that. She's nothing like Freddy, she leads by fear more than respect. Ballora's like Bonnie—she hears really good, but that means she's distracted easily. Funtime Foxy's…well, he's an odd character but he's not as aggressive as our Foxy. He'd rather run away from danger than run at it, which is good. And Funtime Freddy and BonBon are…"
"Horrifying?" Danny deadpanned, earning a giggle from the pinky bunnybot in his lap.
"I was gunna say 'programmed to be a joke' but, yeah, that works too. It's sad, really. I thought I could save these guys." Mike's lips pressed to a thin line as he stared gloomily at the monitor. "I thought maybe they were like the original four, yanno? That all I had to do was earn their trust and then I could help them fulfill their programming. Well, turns out their programming is hunting kids. Half of it, anyway. Afton…he's a sick fuck."
"Yeah." Danny didn't know what to say to that, but decided to stick with what he knew.
"But they're not." Mike's voice trailed lower and more distant, his mind miles away. "And they used up their last 'get out of jail free card' with me long before they went after you, Danny." Mike said, with a dangerous glance at the monitors. "Targeting me is one thing, I'm here for the job. You came here looking for me, and Circ took advantage of that. Well, I'm done. She's not ever pulling this shit again, not on my watch."
Danny nodded, wondering why his hands felt cold and then realized he was a little shaken at Mike's firm stare.
'Mike has changed a little, I guess. That glare is all Freddy Fazbear, for sure.'
"Ready?" Mike's voice broke Danny from his thoughts, and the young man nodded.
"Good." Mike nodded grimly. "Keep the flashlight handy. Even if it isn't turning on, it still makes a great blunt object."
"Is that why there's a crack in it?" Danny drawled, earning a snort of amusement from his old boss.
"No, that was something else. That was Ennard pummeling me, and then when they got a hold of me, I dropped it. I thought it was gone for good down here but…guess it wasn't." Mike frowned thoughtfully at the flashlight then shook his head, going back to his hurried typing.
"So Ennard did…all that?" Danny gestured to the claw marks mottling Mike's face.
"Hm? Oh, these? No, no these are from Mangle. She and I didn't exactly see eye to eye the first time we met." And Mike laughed lightly as he said this, as if it was his fault and not Mangle's, which, knowing Mike and his animatronic friends, was something he truly believed. It seemed unlike the Funtimes, the Mangle was someone Mike was able to get through to, and understand. Mangle must not have been made by Afton, then. Danny huffed, but before he could say anything else, Bonnet whimpered in his grip and bobbed her oversized pink ears toward the door.
Mike, whose instincts allowed him to make it this far in the first place, zeroed in on her ears and then scanned toward the door as he listened hard. There was a soft shuffle that could be heard, whispery and thin but dangerous. The knob began to turn and twist.
"Ennard's here." Mike muttered. "Right on time, too." He puffed a noise of aggravation and exhaustion, and then eyed the laptop beside the keyboard.
"Is this…are you sure this is gunna work?" Danny hedged nervously.
"I mean, we haven't had a test run but now's really not the time. I don't think Ennard's gunna let me take 'em for a spin." Mike remarked derisively as a slithering, scraping noise was heard behind them.
Danny and Mike turned as one, watching the knob jiggle and shake, before it fell silent. Bonnet whimpered, and Danny didn't blame her.
The world held its breath.
And then the door buckled, as something very big and very heavy slammed into it.
Ennard was absolutely enraged, their awful, conjoined scream a high shriek of aggression as they clawed and pulled at the door. The noise was ear-splitting, as was the metal whining and caving in as Ennard forced their way through, so many cords spilling and slithering. One found its way round Danny's ankle and yanked, hard, and he went sprawling down on his back, limbs flailing for purchase he couldn't find. His noise of fright alerted Mike, who turned to see Bonnet hugging his arm desperately and tugging as Ennard tugged harder, nearly pulling the kid out.
"Danny!" Mike smacked the Enter key but didn't hang around to watch the laptop's progress, he shot out of the chair and over to the day guard, grabbing his other arm and holding. He bite his lip hard until he tasted blood, sweat shining on his brow as blood dripped from his opened torso and leaned back, groaning as Ennard held tight in angry defiance.
Danny cried out too, the noise borne of shock and strain as his muscles protested this horrible tug-of-war with his body.
And just as Mike's shaking hands slipped, as Danny felt himself start to go backwards out the door, the chair Mike had been sitting in moments ago collided dead on with Ennard with such force there was a crack of glass. Ennard roared in pain and recoiled, howling and twisting itself into confused, blundering knots as it scrambled and shoved away the impromptu weapon, throwing itself into the crumpling steel door. Danny, braced on his stomach on the cold tile, froze as Mike let go and leaned on the desk, watching Ennard's broken glass eyes and fraying figure spot him. Once Ennard realize there was nothing between them and Mike, the animatronics hissed in soft pleasure and slunk forward, starting to reach out as Mike eyed them, no humor or warmth in his gaze.
"Stop!" Danny shouted, getting Ennard's attention in the time it took for Mike to sidestep, and when Ennard considered heading for Danny, the night guard growled.
"Ennard!" he snapped, earning the Funtime's attention.
"Or should I say, Circus Baby." Mike shouted, then grinned a terrible gnash of teeth as behind him, an roughly shaped animatronic bear rose off the small bench, it had been bent over to reach the chair before, but now it moved slowly, more calculating. It moved into the light, exposing several pieces of old animatronic parts and shiny, chrome sections that Mike must have stolen from Pizza World.
"WHAT!?" Ennard shrieked as it swung around, the tone just barely recognizable to Danny as Circus Baby's sweet, soothing lilt. He shivered, scrambling back out of Ennard's trap as Ennard themselves paused and stared up at the advancing behemoth in growing fear and recognition.
"Meet my coworkers." The night guard's yellow eye glowed as he purred the threat, and above him Freddy and Foxy growled, together, their voices overlaid and so loud the damn walls shook. There were only two optics but they were an absolute rainbow of colors, switching rapidly between orange and lavender before settling on bright blue, and Danny knew those eyes well, for he remembered them judging him from under a top hat on a bear's head. The creature stalked into the light, moving to possessively block a smug Mike from view as it lumbered forward. And before Ennard could do or say anything else, the amalgamation attacked.
Ennard went flying out through the door they'd worked so hard to get in, parts spraying and one of Ballora's optics rolling free with soft tinks.
Foxy's cruel, characteristic hook, installed on the monster's right arm, swung and caught fast, snaring Ennard in place as a big metal paw did some clawing of its own. Ennard shrieked again, writhing and thrashing. To their credit, they didn't just lie down and take the Faz gang's attack, but rebutted once they had collected their-selves and their nerves.
Danny was still frozen on the ground, too shocked to do anything else but jolt when Mike's hands grabbed his arm and tugged. Bonnet scrambled into Danny's arms, keeping her wide eyes on the two giants fight.
"We gotta hurry, c'mon, Freddy, Foxy and Chica can't hold them off forever."
"But you—how did you—"
"Later, Danny, move!"
The first thing Danny noticed was that Funtime Foxy's room was light up, and it looked odd. 'Bonnie got the power on so we could see.' It was open too, arguably the best place for a collision of deadly animatronics, combined together or not.
Danny glanced to his right in time to see the chrome and plated bear lean back its head and expose a set of secondary teeth, teeth Danny remembered because it was weird seeing a chicken with teeth. Chica's second set pierced into Ennard's limbs, but Ennard constricted round the bear's head and forced the opening closed, releasing itself from the bite and began pushing under the plating seams Mike had welded together, trying to force its way under the Fazes' outer protective shell that kept them from rattling apart.
"Look!" Bonnet said in her hushed voice, and Danny followed her tiny pointing paw, "There's the door to the center room!"
"The way to the elevator!" Danny perked up and bolted for it, giving a wide skirt to the two monsters still colliding hard enough to shake the floor.
"Mike, this way!" and then Danny remembered Mike's wounds, or the lack of footsteps behind him and balked on terrified instinct.
"Freddy—" Mike's voice was choked, "It's okay! Keep it up—stop Ennard, you gotta—" The night guard's voice was cut off so abruptly everyone froze.
Ennard, Danny, and the Fazes turned their heads at mostly the same, staring at Afton with varying expressions as he held Mike Schmidt in place. Springtrap's rotted, sharp arm dug cruelly up under the man's throat and used his free paw griping the man's wrist tight. Mike's scarred hand scrabbled for release of the pressure on his neck, his other hand bent behind him at an awkward angle and keeping him off balanced and pined—especially with his wound exposed and soaking through his shirt again. Mike's boots squeaked on the tile as he writhed, trying to fix Afton with a glare even as he was kept in place.
"Guys—Freddy, focus! Gehtt—En'rrd—"
Springtrap—that is, Afton—smiled darkly and stepped sideways, pulling the skinny man with him so effortlessly and with no consideration for the man's beaten body at all. He applied an ounce of pressure until Mike hissed and the Fazgang stilled, turning to keep the two in their illuminated, furious gaze.
"I wouldn't advise that, Freddy." Afton hummed lazily as he tightened his arm, watching the combined bear-fox-chicken drop Ennard's writhing pieces and turn fully on them both. The welded together monster's optics flashed from orange to fierce blue, and Danny shivered when the optics suddenly darkrned to pitch black with tiny white pinpricks.
"Ohh, the scary eyes. I don't think you'll do much of anything, not now that I've got your little night guard here." Afton smirked as Ennard was thrown bodily down and the Fazgang machine advanced, turning their back foolishly on Ennard, but far too focused on watching Afton the longer he held the weakened Mike Schmidt.
"It's been ten years, and look, Schmidt. You're still the biggest loser, aren't you?" Afton snorted, shaking his head. "You ruined some of my best work, letting them get so attached to you. Letting their glitches develop when they should have been punished, as I punished Springbonnie's."
"Those glitches are their—their personalities," Mike choked out, teeth grinding as he tried to get his footing but failed. "And they—they wouldn't b-be alive if you hadn't killed those kids—" And then Mike's voice was gone, his eyes wide and stilling as he gasped for breath he couldn't get, his fingernails digging into Springtrap's rotten, stout fur. Mike's choked noise was answered by the Faz-machine, which growled loudly at Afton and took a step.
"Yes, well. We won't be making that mistake again, will we, Henrietta?"
Ennard, back together and looming worse than ever, rose slowly and advanced at the Fazgang's back.
"No, Father."
Danny swallowed dryly, eyes boring into Mike's, and for the first time in years, perhaps since the day Nightmare freed himself, the day guard saw a sliver of fear in the man's eyes.
I'm sure that scenario of Mike's idea went down well.
Mike: Here's the plan—fight fire with fire so I'm gunna put you all together 8)!
Chica: And who'll protect you while that happens?
Mike: Well, Mangle….or I guess Bonnie could…
Foxy: The rabbit!? Kiss him good bye now, Faz, lad's gunna be fish food—
Bonnie: Bite my little cotton tail!
Freddy: *doing the thousand yard stare into the camera like on The Office, and wondering why he had to pick this one as his favorite kid*