The Joys of Nightmares and the Inky fix series

Before the Dark Times

Chapter one: It had to start somewhere

"Work Hard. Work Happy" posters were everywhere and it was driving Sammy insane. It was like he never left the studio these days, work seemed endless and everywhere he looked, he saw him. Every day he would see him. Every day looking into that creepy smile. Hell, he even saw it in his dreams...and nightmares. He ran his hand through his thinning hair. The churring, gurgling sound of the ink pipes was driving him to distraction. He looked down at the blank music sheets and started scribbling notes. He had to come up with three new tunes by tomorrow because, oh Mr wonderful Joey Drew, decided he didn't like the first bunch of songs he had written and ordered him to do it again. Despite the fact, the cartoons were only days from launching.

PLOP!

A large black inky stain fell on the page. Sammy's eye twitched as his whole body began to shake. He slammed his fists down on his desk and tore the sheet of music into tiny sheds. Then he fell to his knees, clenching his stomach, a sick, twisted need gripped him and shook his soul with its demands.

"No. No! I don't need it. I don't...I do! Oh, I do. It will only be a few drops, what's the harm? Two, three, maybe four drops just to be on the safe side but no more than that"

Sammy got on his chair and then on to the desk, tilted his head back and allowed the drops from the leaking pipe to fall into his mouth. Dear god, it was disgusting, thick and rancid as it burned its way to his stomach. He was only going to take a few drops so why dear lord was he pressing his mouth to the pipe and sucking the ink down as fast as he could.

"HEY! What do ya think ya doing ya weirdo!" someone shouted as they pulled him down from the desk. It was Wally, the so-called janitor of the place, looking at him as if he had grown another head, the little pion!

"What the heck were you doing Mr Lawence? Don't you know climbing up like that is dangerous?"

"I wouldn't need to climb up and try and fix the pipes if you actually did your job!" Sammy snapped pointing to the leaking pipe.

"Whoa! Hey, wait a sec! Did you even REPORT a leaking pipe? Because there was no message waiting for me this morning about any pipes leaking on this floor. Plenty on floor nine took me forever to mop that stuff up, might have been better to have used a broom, if I didn't know any better I'd say that stuff is alive" exclaimed Wally defensively before looking over Sammy and pointed to his cheek "Oh by the way you have a little…"

Sammy wiped his cheek with the back of his hand, sneered at the cleaner before shifting his desk slightly away from leaking pipe and got back to work. Wally just shrugged and said sarcastically "Sure thing Mr Lawence, I don't mind fixing it for you, oh, you don't have to thank me or nothing, it's not like I got another dozen or so jobs to do. I swear anymore of this and I am outta here!"

Sammy waited until he couldn't hear Wally's footsteps anymore before dropping his pen and hiding his face into his fists. What the hell was he doing? Drinking Ink? When had he fallen so low? He needed a break, yes, a little fresh air, he'll just hand in his old notes, that blowhard Joey wouldn't know the difference. He got to his feet, stretched and turned around to leave his office, only to scream and fall backwards. He scurried back until he hit the wall, panting heavily and shaking. When did a copy of Bendy's cutout turn up in his office? He slowly pulled himself up against the wall, slowly walked over to the cutout and quickly turned it so it was now facing the wall and not him, then just as quickly Sammy made his escape though he swore those eyes were chasing him the whole damn way.

-Line Break-

Henry sat in the back of the cab and tried to relax. He was finally going to see his nephew, Jeremy, after so long. They had kept in contact by phone and texts but it wasn't the same as face to face. He was...or at least had been so busy with work and Joey that he hardly had time for family. He looked down at his phone at the text that Jeremy had sent him.

"I have an hour break for lunch. Come to Freddy's and join me, my treat"

"So, where to mister?" the driver asked through the glass window.

"Oh..um...the Freddy pizza place please?"

"Er...which one? There is four of them ya know"

"Oh...the nearest one I guess" Jeremy had said that he worked quite near to his home.

"Ok"

The drive was quite pleasant and gave Henry some time to look around the city. It was certainly different from the one he was used to. This one was a lot cleaner, modern, bright, while his city seemed trapped in the past with the smell of stale seawater and broken dreams. The driver pulled into a small car park with a child's playground and miniature garden. Henry paid the driver and stepped out to look at the restaurant. It was nice to hear children laughing and having fun though Jeremy never mentioned that his workplace was pirate themed. He walked and was promptly greeted by..twins? No...animatronic twins...goodness they were so lifelike.

"Hello sir, since this is your first time here, would you like us to escort you to a table or the order point?" said the young boy holding a large group of balloons.

"Or you can wait here if you're expecting more people to join you" added the girl as she placed a token in her pocket as a child came over to the ice cream machine.

"I'm here to have lunch with my nephew today, he works here, so if I can have a table that would be kind and I'll wait for him to go on his break," said Henry friendly as Balloon Boy handed his sister his balloons and led Henry to a small table and handed a menu before heading back to his station with his sister. Henry looked around and his eyes fell on the stage where Foxy, Fox and Mangle were acting out a story. He pulled out his phone but also his pad and pencil, after quickly texting Jeremy that he was there, he started to doodling the fox crew on his pad, giving them a little bit of a makeover, Foxy looked a lot older with fewer teeth, Mangle was given more female shape and looks while Mangy was made to look like he was over-eager and innocent. Suddenly his mobile jerked him away from his drawing.

"Where are you?" it was Jeremy.

"On a small table just a little way off from the stage" he texted back and looked around the restaurant to see if he could see him. His phone vibrated again.

"Are you sure? Because I'm with Freddy and he says he hasn't seen you"

"Is Freddy the fox?"

"Hang on one sec…"

A few minutes passed and Henry was starting to get worried. Suddenly a tall man in his prime, with messy black hair and glasses came over to his table holding a mobile to his ear.

"Excuse me, sir, are you Jeremy's uncle Henry?"

"Yes…"

"Found him Jer. I'll look after him until you get here," said the man as he put his phone away and then held his hand out "Hello, the name is Mark, I'm one of Jeremy's best friends and bros. Welcome to the Cove!"

"So this isn't Freddy's?" said Henry "but the driver said…"

"Oh their all referred to as Freddy Fazbear as that is the name of the company but underneath it are the titles of each restaurant, like The Cove, Nightmare and The Sister" explained Mark as he sat down opposite him, "Jer told us a lot about you. Says you're an animator for the Bendy cartoons, the younger animatronics at Nightmare and the Sister are big fans and are looking forward to meeting you"

"The animatronics…? I don't understand…"

Mike smiled and rubbed the back of his neck and chuckled. "Ah...I keep forgetting. I keep expecting people to know and...forgetting that not everyone practically lives with these guys as we do. Once you get to know them, you'll understand, believe me"

Henry frowned but looked over at the animatronics and how the children and adults were interacting with them as if they were alive. A young woman came over with a pizza and two soft drinks and placed them on the table.

"Donna told me to tell you that this on the house since the gentleman is Jeremy uncle but to tell you that the jig is up and she knows that it's you that is taking most of the scraps at night'

"What? But I'm a growing boy! I need my daily dose of grease and cheese" Mark moaned as the girl laughed as she went back to her station.

"I wouldn't have thought such a place would have much in the way of leftovers," said Henry as he helped himself to a slice.

"Only a couple of extra that usually got ordered and never got picked up or ready just in case of the last-minute rush. Though saying that, the guys usually keep them for the night guard but Jeremy says he is on a diet so I've been...sorta helping myself kinda thing before I leave for the night…" said Mark with a boyish grin. Henry decided there and then that he liked Mark. He could see him as a little boy, pulling pranks in class and when caught would just smile with that titled halo over his head and say "Who me?". They were having a polite conversation when Mark noticed the drawings and burst out laughing.

"Oh, man! You made Foxy look like some old sailor hahaha, Mangle looks really good but Mangy...he's the complete opposite from when he first came here, a poor thing used to jump at seeing his own shadow. HEY MANGY! Got a sec?"

Henry looked up to see the younger fox pirate come over with a bored look on his face like most teenagers had when bossed about by adults.

"What's up Mark? You better not be taking your sweet time on your break. Dad is already looking to have a moan at you for swapping your shifts"

"He's still mad about that? It's not my fault that "Freddy" insists on Tiny being at his store and if I want any time with the little guy I've got to do the night shift. Anyway take a look at this" said Mark as he handed Mangy the drawing. The fox tilted his head to one side as he looked it over and gave a small snort before handing it to Henry.

"You got my dad spot on, not sure what to make of mom, but did you have to make me so goody goody?"

Henry was surprised by the recognition of the fox, he sounded like a normal teen and how he was able to respond, it was amazing.

"Sorry, I just thought it was a cute idea, I meant no offence"

The fox shrugged "I don't mind but Dad might get a bit snippy about it. He doesn't like the idea of people calling him old"

"UNCLE HENRY"

The three of them turned to see Jeremy walking through the restaurant towards them, smiling widely as he held his arms out to embrace his uncle. Henry quickly got to his feet and hugged Jeremy tightly. His sister's boy had grown up strong and looked quite similar to how he used to look when he was in the army. Jeremy's grin looked like it was going to split his face. He was so happy. He hadn't seen his uncle in so long. They kept in touch with letters, phone calls and emails but it's never the same. His uncle had been his hero when he was a kid, hell he was still his hero, the man was a VET who had carried his injured men over dangerous enemy territory, was a skilled animator, and a man who loved his family.

"Is it just you or is Uncle Joey here too?" he asked looking around.

Henry winced slightly, "I take it you haven't spoken to your mother yet?"

"Well I have, she said you were staying with her for a while, she didn't say anything else so…"

"I left him"

Jeremy pulled back from his uncle and blinked as if the words were trying to penetrate his brain and failing.

"Mark! Break time is over! Time to get back to your office!" Mangy snapped quickly as he pulled the guard to his feet.

"Really? How time flies!" said Mark as he reached down and grabbed the last slice of pizza before Mangy dragged him away "Really nice to meet you, Henry"

Henry waved goodbye with a slight chuckle before sitting down again "Well they weren't trying to get away fast were they"

Jeremy sat in Mark's vacant seat still looking confused. "I don't get it. You and Joey have been together years! You built that studio together. Created Bendy"

"Ah Jeremy, not everything was 50/50 with me and Joey. Joey is a man of ideas...and only ideas. The people like me that work god damn breaking hours to make his dreams come true are the real genius behind it all and...Joey is the man that gets all the credit for it. He's been up to something big recently, I don't know what, he won't tell me, but he's been borrowing really REALLY big bucks from his investors, along with wining and dining young ladies...and not coming back to the early hours of the morning, you have to kind of read the signs and make a discussion. So I packed up my stuff and called my lovely sister and moved out and you know what the really sad part...I bet Joey hasn't even noticed I've gone" said Henry sadly.

Jeremy just sat there with his mouth slightly ajar. When even his uncle and Joey had visited, Joey would always boast about his uncle, say how much he loved him and such, it seemed a far cry from the man his uncle was telling him about.

"So what are you going to do now? Wasn't most of your savings spent on the studio?"

"Most but not all. Plus I did earn a wage as an animator too, Joey insisted, though I'm guessing it was just another way of controlling me" said Henry sadly "But I'm not broke, just need to find another job, know anybody who is looking for a washed-up old animator?"

Jeremy thought about it for a while when his mobile went off with a text from Mike asking him when he was going to be back.

"I think I might have a slight idea. How good are you at drawing bears, chickens and bunnies Uncle?"

-Line Break-

The Lady sat in front of her vanity, humming a sad tune as she brushed her long black hair, her various pins and combs set neatly in front of her. It was a few hours before the guests arrived and she needed to look her best. She slid a hairpin in but it slipped from her fingers and clattered on to the floor. A small gnome scuttered over the floor and held the pin-up for her. She leaned down and took the pin and patted the gnome on the head. It squeaks happily before running off. She smiled slightly and went back to working on her hair. As annoying as the gnomes were, she couldn't bring herself to truly hate them, after all, they were sacrificing their human souls to keep her young and beautiful after all. There was a knock on her door, it was so hard it made the walls rattle, along with the disgusting stench of decay. She slid on her mask and turned gracefully to the door.

"Come"

Long spindly arms pushed the door open and the Janitor walked in on his tiny stubby legs. His dirty horrid raincoat was only out-done by the mouldy rag that he used to cover his eyeless sockets. He sniffed the air like someone with a severe cold, with thick snot dripping from his large nose, as dry crusting covered each nostril. He stumbled forward and then took off his hat respectfully.

"A call from the Nest your Ladyship. The Butler says the Pretender keeps running off again"

"Simply order the Craftsman to make her more dolls. That usually keeps the child occupied" she said in a bored tone.

"That is the problem, your Ladyship. The Craftsman says he does not have enough…" materials"

"I see," said the Lady as she rose to her feet, "How many do we have in the nursery?"

The Janitor stepped back slightly "We only have about a handful, the rest are already being prepared for tonight's feast, and even with what we are serving the Twins say is stretching things"

The Lady gripped her fists tightly, her long sharp nails were digging into her palm, as she shook with righteous anger. How could they be so low on stock? Has this ever happened before? The records nor had her predecessor never mentioned it. Or could it be that adults were just greedier than they were in the past? Whatever the reason she had to act now. She could not wait for the bumbling idiot and his little mazed mall for more children.

"Send two of the children from the nursery to the Nest and tell the Craftsman he is to make do for now. Tell the Hunter and the Teacher that their skills are needed as well as our other usual contacts, slave traders, orphanages and the like. The sooner, the better and at any price. Now leave"

"Yes, your ladyship" The Janitor put his hat back on and quickly left the room. The Lady turned back to her vanity and slammed her fist down on it hard, shattering it into splitters, black blood flowed over her pale skin. Something was tugging at her gown. It was the gnome, possibly the same one as before, holding her discarded pins in its tiny grasp. She sneered behind her mask and with one quick movement, she crushed the gnome beneath her foot, enjoying the sound of tiny bones breaking beneath her heel. Yes, the gnomes were very annoying, very annoying indeed.

-Line Break-

"WHAT IN GOD'S NAME IS THAT?"

Thomas flinched at the volume of Joey's rage. The small man in the wheelchair looked like a bomb about to explode he was so red in the face. He seemed to be on the edge of his seat about to leap out and throttle him.

"He...I mean it...is what we call a first attempt sir" said Thomas firmly. "And a rather good attempt in my opinion"

"A GOOD attempt? Are you looking out of your arsehole Tommy? It's a monster!" snapped Joey as he wheeled himself away from the glass cage that held the large ink demon that was meant to be the studio's beloved mascot Bendy.

"This version is yes but we're a lot closer to making them live cartoons to what we have been in the last few months. The others are just formless blobs of ink. We are so close. It just needs something else" said Thomas.

"Well found out what the hell it is! I'm not paying you for monsters" Joey growled as he wheeled himself out of the room muttering darkly.

"Damn! And I thought Mr Cave had a temper" said one of the other "Gent" employees.

"Well they both expect us to pull miracles out of our arses, the only difference in working here, is there is plenty of other people to be the test subjects"

"Keep your voice down" snapped Thomas as he looked over at the open doorway. "You never know who is about and it wouldn't do for rumours to start flying about"

"Whatever you say boss" smirked the employee as he adjusted his new tool belt and followed the others out "All I know I will rather be here than back at Aperture"

Thomas Conner sighed and looked over his notes. What had he missed? He was sure he had followed all the instructions. Surely all this nonsense about souls was truly needed? He paid no attention to the ink creature that sat down in its glass cage and used it's inky fingers to draw stick figures. One was a man holding a paintbrush and the other was of itself...or at least what he was meant to look like. He wondered why this person was. He missed him. One thing he did know, was the yelling man in the chair, was the reason his important person was missing. He was going to have to do something about the yelling man, he was a bad man, who had made his important person cry. He will have to wait for now, he wasn't strong enough yet, but it was only a matter of time. These fools had no idea what they were messing with.

-Line Break-

It was rare for Freddy to leave the pizzeria, outside of events and for family meetings, but Mike felt he needed to be here and besides it was too much for him on his own. With the death of Thomas McBear, the son of the previous owner of "Freddy's" and Mike's apartment building, his apartment needed cleaning out and things sadly are thrown away. Mike had spoken to the council about it and offered to do it and the council was happy to dump it on him. Since Freddy was the eldest animatronic now, since the passing of Goldie, he felt it was only right that the bear is here, in case there were things that he wanted to keep. They had been at it for a few hours now, there were several boxes labelled for charity shops, mostly filled with china, knickknacks and clothes while Freddy had a couple of boxes filled with photos, awards that had been won by the pizzeria and a few other personal things. Mike had found a lot of drawings and blueprints for animatronics, that Fred McBear never got around too as well as paperwork for the pizzeria that needed to be looked at since he was the new owner.

"I don't know about you Freddy but I could do with a break," said Mike as he wiped his forehead "Fancy a can of oil?"

The bear didn't respond. He was sitting on his knee joints and looking over some pictures and newspaper clippings from an old box. Mike frowned but shrugged it off, guessing the old bear processor was focused on what he was doing to not have heard him, as he got up and grabbed himself a soda and a can of oil and walked up to the bear.

"Freddy?"

The animatronic bear jerked before looking over at Mike "Sorry Mike. I didn't hear you come over"

Mike handed the can of oil over and Freddy took it gratefully "You seemed lost in your own world there Freddy. Everything ok?"

Freddy placed a servo over the box of photos "Just missing them is all. It's rather hard to believe that they're gone"

"Yeah...Mr Mcbear was a good man and a good teacher. Tom was...a person?" Mike tried as Thomas Mcbear has these last few years been trying to make his life a misery when he was at home and Freddy was not fond of him either.

"I'd drink to that," said Freddy with a soft smile and tapped his can against Mike's as they drank in silence. Mike looked down at the newspaper clips that Freddy had placed on the floor. They had gone a funny colour with age and some of the words had faded over the years.

"What are they all about Freddy? Mr Mcbear didn't seem the type to keep a scrapbook"

"Well, it's the reason why he built the pizzeria and us in the first place," said Freddy as he held up the paper clipping for Mike to look at. "Before father built the pizzeria, this city, if not the whole of this county, was the top place for missing children. Some were said to have been abducted but most they claim were runaways. None of the children were ever found...well at least alive. Father wanted to build a place for children to come and feel safe. Families that had problems with getting food always got the best discounts or even the scraps that got left of an evening. Father was good like that"

Mike looked over the papers and checked the dates. Many of these were before Mr Afton and his killing spree of "Naughty children" but what did that mean? Was there another Afton killing kids? Or was there something else going on?

"Freddy? Would you mind if I keep those for a while? I just want to make sure of something…"

Freddy looked at Mike and flicked one of his fingers at Mike's forehead.

"Stop chasing ghosts, Mike. You said so yourself that they were gone and Afton is most likely burning in hell for his crimes."

"I know. Yet...I've just got a feeling...please Freddy?"

Freddy sighed and slumped slightly before placing the newspaper clipping back into the box and slid it across to Mike. "Just promise me that you won't do one of your disappearing acts because of your theory hunting"

"I promise. Besides I've got enough to do with designing and building a rock and roll group for the new pizzeria as well as dealing with the Sister animatronics"

Freddy chuckled loudly "The three little ones are still insisting that they're going to form a band?"

"Yep. Fiona and Bon Bon are not too bad but Tomkin...he keeps on insisting he's going to be a "Bad Boy" and wants to wear a leather jacket which goes very against his "Victorian" style sailor suit. I won't even start on the make upside of it"

Freddy chuckled, "Myself and Bonnie went through such a faze. I think it was the Beatles or was it Elvis we wanted to be. Oh course Father quickly nipped that in the bud, mostly because at the time, he couldn't program us for us complex music other than the small jams that we did back then"

The images of Freddy dressed as Elvis or one of the Beatles flashed in Mike's mind and caused him to bend over with laughter until the bear animatronic punched him lightly in the ribs.

Henry really couldn't believe what he was seeing. He knew from phone calls from Jeremy that the animatronics were quite lively but he had put it down to his nephew's love of the place but now seeing how they were interacting with the children he was having second thoughts. The Band was really good, Tiny was simply sweet and it was lovely to see they had a drawing section for kids that was always guarded by one animatronic or another, though today it was being looked after by a bunny called Shadow. He had bought his pad and pencils with him and was simply drawing away while he waited for Jeremy to turn up from the Cove. He wanted him to meet up with his boss, brother, care patient and pain in the arse, Mike Schmidt, who might be open to an idea Jeremy had. He drew Freddy like a normal bear...maybe a bit more around the belly...with a tiny top hat and bow tie. Bonnie was an overgrown bunny with really large ears and Chica was wearing an old fashioned bonnet and apron, making her look motherly. Sooty had an over large torso and skinny legs, much like a muscle man you would see in a circus while Shadow was much the same as Bonnie. He jerked his head up when he heard a loud cry and saw a small girl on the floor clutching her bleeding knee. Shadow quickly got up and picked the little girl up.

"Don't worry Amanda. The Doctor is in and I know he's got a lot of new stickers to give out"

The small girl hiccuped and buried her face into Shadow's shoulder joint while he quickly explained to her mum where they were going and that they wouldn't be too long before taking the small girl out the back.

"Hey Uncle! Did you bring your work?" Jeremy asked as he came round the seats and sat down beside him.

"Hello, Jeremy. Yes, I have bought them and done a few new ones, though I have yet to see your boss anywhere"

"He's been a bit bogged down with this new project of his. Don't worry, Shadow is keeping an eye on him, so is Mark during the day too, if he starts overdoing it, I'll step in and put him straight"

"You know the way you talk about Mike reminds me of how I used to talk about Joey...are you sure…?"

"Oh God! You sound just like mom! NO! There is nothing between me and Mike! He's married to a really….unusual guy but he is really happy and I am straight. I just...really owe the guy. He saved my life once, he made sure I kept my job when I almost lost it, he was supportive of me with my violent ex and when he went through a really bad thing I couldn't do anything to help him. So I'm here for him now and when you get to know him, I think you'll understand why"

"I GET THE DOOR DOCTOR MIKE!" Amanda yelled as she held open the heavy door for Mike to come through with Shadow.

"Thank you, Amanda, why don't you go and show your mommy your plaster and stickers?" said Mike as he pointed over to the girl's mom who was waiting patiently.

"Thanks for looking after her, Mr Schmidt. She loves coming here and seeing you and the band"

"And we're always happy to see you both," said Mike "I take it the boys are at Nightmare tonight?"

"Yep. The boys have been begging their dad for a rematch on one of the games and their plan to get Plushtrap to scare the pants off of him too"

They both laughed and said goodbye when Jeremy called Mike over. Henry wanted to believe Jeremy but his boss was a catch! Tall, lean, long brown/silver hair, deep green eyes behind thin lens glasses and a gentle smile. Then he saw the walking stick and how the youngish man seemed to favour one of his legs.

"Mike Schmidt, this is my uncle Henry Stein, Uncle, met Mike, robotics genius and general pain in the butt" Jeremy did the introductions as Mike joined them at their table.

"It's wonderful to meet you, Mr Stein, Jeremy is always bragging about you and my kids love your cartoons"

"It's nice to meet you too Mike and please call me Henry"

"So Henry, Jeremy said you have something to show me, as well as an idea you wish to pitch to me," said Mike as he leaned forward curiously.

Henry looked at Jeremy who gave him a thumbs-up as he handed his book over to Mike.

"It's actually Jeremy's idea but I'm all for it. I understand your hosting a "U-tube" channel for the restaurants. What if I did some animations for it? Or even a short cartoon?"

"I got to admit I like the designs but I'm sorry I know nothing about the animation business. Can you outline what you mainly need for it?" said Mike honestly. Henry quickly went into the designing and storyboarding, then going into the animation, recording of voices and music, followed by editing before showing the finished product.

"And think of these Mike, Foxy already has loads of stories he can share, they can all do their own voices, plus Freddy and the guys can do their own music," said Jeremy as Mike continued to look over the drawings.

"I don't know. We're a pizzeria...though I have to admit I really like this idea...but it's a bit out of my comfort zone" said Mike as he leaned on his cane and thought about it. "Tell you what. I'll pay you to do a basic storyline for a few minute cartoons. I'll pay for the materials you need and open up one of the spare rooms out the back for you to use and if I like what I see, then I'll give it the full go-ahead, fair?"

"What? Mike this is a really good idea…" exclaimed Jeremy but Henry leaned forward to defend Mike.

"Jeremy, your boss is being smart, if this idea tanks, your boss takes a large hit which can have a knock-on effect for the restaurants. I understand you're also building more animatronics for a new pizzeria?"

"Yes. I've just finished designing one of them!" Mike practically giggled with joy as he pulled out a large piece of paper that was folded in his pocket. He unfolded it and held it up for Jeremy and Henry to look at. It was a crocodile with a mohawk, in tattered jeans and a leather waistcoat, star-shaped glasses, playing the guitar.

"His name is Montgomery or Glamrock Monty for short. What do you think? Isn't he cute?"

"Cute isn't a word I would use," said Jeremy "A crocodile Mike? Seriously?"

"What's wrong with that?"

"Well, the pizzerias are more known for friendly woodland animals like bears, foxes, rabbits, chickens and even the odd cat and human-shaped ones"

"I know but I wanted to challenge myself a bit and besides don't forget about the Nightmare lot"

"Their still bears, bunnies and a chicken Mike"

Mike rolled his eyes and looked at Henry "What do you think Henry? Think Monty is a good idea?"

Henry looked over the design "Are you going for the eighties look?"

"Yes. I glam rock look...why?"

"Well jeans and leather vest...is more rock than glam….think more Elton John or David Bowie…" said Henry as he picked up his pencil and started to draw beside Mike's design. Mike and Jeremy watched as Henry sketched away before handing it back to Mike. Monty looked the same save he was now wearing a huge shoulder-padded one piece with space boots. "How about that?"

Mike gave Henry one of his big rare smiles causing Henry to blush pink. "He's amazing! I never thought about a space look. It's brilliant. Oh, I gotta get back to designing. Thank you so much, Henry! Jer, start making a list with your uncle on what he needs and send me the bill when you are done buying it"

Mike didn't wait for a reply as he walked back to his office with a bounce in his step.

"Damn. That means he's not going home tonight. I better let Chica know" Jeremy muttered.

"Why do you need to let the duck know?" Henry asked as he looked at the yellow bird on the stage.

"Chica is a chicken Uncle and she cooks the pizza dough and the cupcakes during the night so the morning staff don't have to worry but if Mike is here she usually ends up cooking something for him to eat because if she doesn't Mike forgets to eat," said Jeremy.

"She can cook?"

"Yep. She is amazing. Not just pizzas or cupcakes either. She even did the wedding feast for Connie's wedding night and the wedding cake too"

"Wait, wait, so they move about at night as well or just her?"

"Oh, they all do. Why?"

"Well, I usually end up working late some night too…"

"Oh! No, you're going to have to be a nine to five kinda guy uncle, because there are very strict rules regarding working here in the evening. That is why there is usually only a night guard"

"That's not a problem, I'm not a troublemaker and to tell the truth I like working during the night…"

"Well, there's not so much rules as in rules as you have to pass a certain test that lasts five nights…"

-Line Break-

The Lady walked down the small rickety stairs to the bowls of the Maw. She raised her arm to her face to try not to breathe in the stale, swampy stench that flowed up from the flooded levels that were now a prison. The Lady's processor...or was it the one before...had placed that person down there, if it was a person anymore, it had been so long after all. She stopped in front of a large floor grating with two large padlocks. She pulled a small key from her pocket and unlocked the padlocks and pulled the grate open with a noisy speech.

"Old woman! I have come to speak with you" she called down into the murky waters. The water stirred and bubbled as a face, buried in over wrinkly mounds of flesh, peered up at her with dark sorrowful eyes.

"Why have you come to me Lady?" the creature spat "Came to reminisce old times?"

"Perhaps" she purred softly "I was wondering if there was ever a time...when you had trouble getting a hold of children...what did you do?"

The creature lent its head to one side for a few moments and then it slowly started to smile, showing off its rows of tiny sharp teeth, before it tilted its head back and started to laugh.

"You're running out of children! HA! Has Greed come to such a level that it can no longer be fed?"

"You are wrong, old one. They are being protected. Someone is protecting them and doing a much better job at it then you and your husband ever did. Tell me, how easy was it? To kill your first child? Did you feel any guilt in killing the children you had sworn to protect?"

The creature leapt up with a scream but could not reach the Lady who laughed at the creature's failed attempts.

"Do NOT mock me, Witch! We did what had to be done! There were too many and we were starving!"

"Do not pretend to be righteous with me Old Hag. In the end, you and I are no different. The only reason I have not ended your worthless existence is because of the loyalty of your husband and sons"

The creature became still and slowly sank back into the water. They stared at one another. The air around them becomes colder by the second.

"You are running out of meat to serve at the feasts? Then look at the guests. Too fat, to asleep, too stupid to move"

"But...they would notice…."

The granny smiled wickedly "They didn't then, why would they now? Greed blinds people to all sorts of things even eating their relatives"

The Lady smiled behind her mask. Why had she not thought of that? What a splendid idea.

"Thank you Old One. Maybe I will allow you a little more than your usual entrails for dinner or perhaps a visit from your dear husband who is missing his wife so"

The Lady laughed as she slammed the grating down, blocking out the creature's curses, as she padlocked it up tightly. She walked up silently through Maw until she got to the kitchen where the Twin Chefs were busy cleaning up from the last feast. When they noticed her, they fell to their hands and knees and hurried over like cockroaches, their podgy bodies trembled in fear.

"Well done on your wonderful hard work during these hard times" she cooed "I have a little job for you my sweet little chiefs. Most of the guests are now sleeping off their dinner. I want you to find the fattest one and chop them into tiny little pieces"

She turned to leave but then had thought "Oh and send a few more fish heads down to our prisoner. I am a lady of my word after all"

-Line Break-

It was Belle's and Baby's turn to help Connie look after James. Baby was on her knee joints in the fount of James Moses basket and playing peek a boo with him, enjoying his giggles when she went "Peek a boo".

"When will James be upgraded to crawl Ms Connie?" Belle asked as she handed Connie a cup of coffee she had gotten from the kitchen for her.

"It will be a few months yet Belle, he's only just figured out how to roll over, humans take a lot of time to learn things"

"I know. I just can't wait! Though I think Big Daddy is more looking forward to it. He's already moved all the breakable things up high even we can't get them"

Connie chuckled as she took the coffee "I know. I've seen him in the middle of the night when James wakes up for his night time feed, reading to him and showing him the pictures, no matter how many times I told him James won't remember it"

"I hope he doesn't grow too big. I love his little toes and fingers" said Baby as she sniffed "Oh dear...Ms Connie...we got a dirty butt here!"

"Oh...one or two…?" Connie cringed as she put down her coffee and her paperwork.

"Two...a really big number two…"

Connie pulled a face as she got up "Right, I'll go and get him something to change into and a clean diaper, you girls get him ready for me?"

"I'm not wiping his butt!" said Baby quickly as she picked James up.

"What? That's not fair! I've done it lots!" exclaimed Belle with annoyance.

"Yeah, but you don't have reflux on your fluids when you see it" giggled Baby as James reached up and pulled on her hair. Then she flinched and bent over slightly as pain short though her body as her servos started to shake violently.

"Belle! Take!" Belle quickly took James from Baby as he started to cry from being jiggled about.

"Baby! What is it?"

"Joints! Hurt! Locking…" Baby cried as oil and water flowed from her optics. The wires were stretching and she could feel it. Sparks flew as she screamed as both her servos and feet snapped off and her body fell to the floor. James screamed and cried as his mother and the other nightmare animatronics came running.

To Be Continued…

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