[Springtrap and Deliah A.U. – William Afton A.U.]
I'm feeling generous today, so here, have another chapter this week! Goofiness aside, welcome to chapter three. As I promised, this is Nick's night shift. I don't have much else to say except for: Enjoy the ride!
And as always!
Thank you to my one (and only) P/atreon: ZazzyB!
If you want to donate to me on P/atreon and have your username at the beginning and or ending of a chapter + more, just go to either my Wattpad, Fanfiction dot Net or Qoutev profile page (Either look for a DeathlyJazzHands55 or that_crossover_guy) and click and/or rebuild the link, and it should take you to the page.
Without any further ado, let's get into it!
Nighttime. It was a time in the day that most people feared because of its dark connotations. Criminals hide in the darkness, as do monsters, or deranged people. At the famous—or infamous depending on who you asked, Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria, this concept was the same. Criminals, monsters, and deranged people hung around there at nighttime, but never inside the building.
This one fact made the titular Freddy, or as the others knew him, Noah, feel as if he had always been alone. Not that he was a monster, or a criminal, or a deranged person—though if you asked some of his, well, victims, they could attest to that—but that was neither here nor there.
Besides, they just so happened to be adults, and he hated adults. Not because he had a spotty past with them. Rather, he hated them because nobody came to help him when he cried out for it. Nobody stopped him from hurting him and his friends.
He was angry, sad, and a little bit depressed. He hated it here, but he couldn't escape.
Every night, the boy who had been murdered, Noah Charles, and the animatronic named Freddy Fazbear came ever so much closer to becoming the same person, and it scared the little ghost.
But, he had to prevail. Their plan had to work, it just had to!
Tonight, just like every other night, he and his friends would kill the nightguard, hoping that the manager, or someone, anyone would notice that their robots were malfunctioning, get them to check the suits, open them up, and free the spirits trapped within.
Yet, no matter how many nightguards they killed, they never even so much as considered the animatronics being the ones responsible.
Freddy always wondered if they knew, but refused to check. If that had been the correct guess, did they think letting the nightguards die was a way to appease them? Freddy hated killing the guards, Noah hated killing the guards, but they had gotten so used to it that it just seemed normal.
"Do you think they'll open us up once the nightguard is dead, Freddy?" Noah asked the animatronic bear, only for said bear to let out a sad-filled sigh.
"I don't know, Noah. But I know that one day you'll be free, and that is all that matters," Freddy said, gripping onto his microphone. "The new guard should be here any moment. We're on Night 1 settings tonight, so only Bonnie and Chica will be active. Do Jennifer and Oscar know this?" Freddy asked as Noah nodded.
"They are always acutely aware of what's going on, even if they don't speak up as much, Freddy."
The statement wasn't wrong. Oscar, who possessed Bonnie, and Jennifer, who had possessed Chica, didn't speak often. When they did speak, it was usually them crying for their parents, and Noah would have to remind them about what happened.
Each time he did, it became more routine and far less helpful. Noah accepted his death over 30 years ago, as he had been the oldest, outside of Rebecca, who was nowhere to be seen.
Rebecca rarely showed up. The other spirits believed she passed on, but Noah knew better. Rebecca had been the most vengeful one of the bunch, moving on without dragging him to hell first sounded like a joke.
Where ever he went, Rebecca followed. It didn't help that she had been the strongest of the spirits, meaning she could teleport, turn her suit intangible, mess with people's dreams, and give the person she had been focusing on hallucinations, etc. If Rebecca was still here, she was tormenting him in some way, shape, or fashion.
There was also the fact that Rebecca promised Noah that she wouldn't move on without dragging himdown to hell first, and Rebecca never let go of her promises, even if it meant that she could move on.
Noah looked up at the clock adjacent to the stage. The time read as 11:50 PM. If the guard was going to show up, it would be right about—
The sound of the familiar front door chime echoed out through the building.
"Now."
Upon the titular bell ringing, Oscar and Jennifer appeared behind Bonnie and Chica. The two ghosts looked at one another, nodded, then possessed their suits.
Noah watched all of the animatronics eyes burn with a bright white light. He patted Freddy on the head, then, he, too, slipped into his animatronic character, overriding the controls and setting his A.I. level to 0.
Noah watched as a man with dark brown eyes and hair put on his cap, a yawn leaving his mouth as he clicked on a flashlight. He wore the same uniform as all the prior guards: a purple hat, a purple button-up shirt with a golden badge, blue pants, and black shoes.
If Freddy could, he would've grimaced by now. That wasn't the person he thought would've taken the position as Nightguard. He had overheard a man named Mike Schmidt talking about taking the position as Nightguard, citing his previous experience at working at JR's. as a creditable source.
This was concerning.
"This isn't Mike… I thought Mike was taking the position, this is someone else…" Freddy thought as Noah shrugged. The ghost child didn't care all too much, so long as this guard died by the end of the week, he could care less about who he was, what he meant to the company, or anything related to that.
Besides, he needed to stretch his metaphorical legs, why not play a little game of cat and mouse?
"Freddy, it doesn't matter. We still have to kill him," Noah replied to the bear's thoughts as the animatronic lowered his eyebrows, in a way, showing off his discomfort with the boy's flippant attitude.
"But Noah, he has a kid. I heard him say it during the day. Killing him would cause a child to be left without a father," Freddy retaliated, though even in his thoughts, his voice was still calm and relaxed. Despite that, however, Noah could tell that the bear was trying to hide his displeasure at killing the Nightguard.
It wasn't the first time Noah and Freddy argued, but the ghost child didn't care. The guard was going to die, even if it meant that the ghost had to completely overtake Freddy to do so.
"Do you think I care, Freddy? He signed up for the position. If the waivers didn't drive him off, it's clear that he doesn't care about his kid to leave them alone. Now, stop arguing, and watch. Besides, if he dies on the first night, then he was never qualified for the Job in the first place," Noah spat back.
Freddy's eyes wandered to the Nightguard, who checked his phone. The guard opened up what appeared to be an application with a letter as its icon, tapping on one of the many things on a list, then began to speak.
"Go to the back office, then wait until 12:00 AM for the answering machine to start up, then listen to the training tape's left behind by one of the previous guards. Sounds easy enough," The nightguard said, glancing over to the animatronics.
Freddy was able to catch a glimpse at what his badge had said. The name on it was Nicholas Edwards. "I'm so… so sorry Nicholas…"
"Jeez, you guys give me the creeps. Eh, whatever, so long as you guys don't move, I'll be fine. Maybe I can get some extra sleep, heh," the nightguard said, yawning once more before heading to the office.
"But tonight will be your last… please, survive, Nick. I don't want to do this anymore."
Freddy wanted to warn him, but Noah was keeping his mouth shut tight. Unfortunatly, all Freddy could do was watch as yet another Nightguard was sent to their doom.
[With Nick]
To say Nick felt claustrophobic within the small office at the back of the building was an understatement. The room was dirty, with cobwebs in the corners underneath the desk, and one just above a fake version of Carl the Cupcake. There was a poster with the three animatronic characters, Freddy, Bonnie, and Chica, with the word "Party" in all caps at the bottom.
There were two TV monitors, and a Camera Panel on the desk, which had been hooked up to one of the monitors. Beside the right monitor was the titular answering machine that he had been instructed to listen to by his manager.
According to the email he had been sent by his boss, the voice recordings were set to automatically play at 12:00 AM, which was a plus. That meant he didn't have to play them manually.
"This is going to be a piece of cake," Nick said, sitting down in his chair as he took a sip out of his travel mug. Inside the mug was a really strong blend of Coffee that he used to make when he had to take the graveyard shift at the old candy store he used to work at.
In all honesty, he was glad that he had quit that minimum wage-slave job. He had been working for them for over 5 years, and each time he asked for a raise, he was refused. By the time he started working at Freddy's, within the first six months, he got a raise by merely sticking with them for so long.
Compared to what he made at the Candy shop, which had been $140.30 a week, the dayshift at Freddy's gave him over $360.90, now adding the nightshift, which was an extra $200, every week! If the night shift wasn't so bad, he could make $560.90 a week! That would at least be $2243.60 a month! He wouldn't have to deal with money problems. He and Deliah could live a proper life without having to go paycheck to paycheck!
That prospect alone was enough to excite Nick, but that wasn't all. There were the bonuses, which if he played his cards right, would bring his total earnings up even more! If he, in the words of his manager, somehow managed to pass the first week, he'd get a raise that would increase his earnings by 65% for both wages! That would suddenly boost his weekly paycheck to $980.30!
To say he was determined to clear the week and continue forward after that was an understatement. If he could better the lives of both him and his daughter, he'd do anything to make that future a reality.
He glanced at his phone to check the time, and as soon as he did so, the clock struck 12:00 AM. At that moment, the lights went out, before suddenly flickering back to life. Nick blinked, confusion brewing over him as he glanced around his surroundings.
"Huh… that's weird," the man said, rubbing his left shoulder. "The manager didn't tell me anything about that."
It was true. The manager hadn't told Nick about the power being cut and turning back on. However, what Nick did know, was that the building had a backup generator for when that did happen. Did the cities power go out for the night, or was it just the buildings?
He'd have to check with the manager when his shift was over.
Then, without any warning at all, the answering machine began to ring, catching Nick off guard. "Holy hell, okay, well if I was tired before, I sure as hell ain't anymore." Nick thought as It continued to ring for a few more seconds before it finally answered itself.
"Hello? Hello, hello? Uh, I wanted to leave a message for you, to help you get settled in on your first night. I'm actually finishing up my last week now, as a matter of fact. So, I know it can be a bit overwhelming, but I'm here to tell you there's nothing to worry about. Uh, you'll be fine! So, let's just focus on getting you through your first week. Okay?
Uh, let's see. First, there's an introductory greeting from the company that I'm supposed to read. Uh, it's kind of a legal thing, you know? Um… 'Welcome to Freddy Fazbears Pizza, a magical place for kids and grown ups alike. Where fantasy and fun come to life. Fazbear Entertainment is not responsible for damage to property or person, upon discovering that damage or death has occurred, a missing person's report will be filed within 90 days, or as soon as the property has been thoroughly cleaned and bleached, and the carpets have been replaced, blah, blah, blah. Now that might sound bad, I know. But there's really nothing to worry about!"
To say Nick was disturbed was an understatement. That was never told to him in the meeting between himself and the manager. It wasn't even on the waiver. That kind of protocol was illegal, at least nowadays. However, by the sounds of the phone call itself, it sounded like it was recorded at least 10 to maybe 15 years ago.
"But why give me outdated information…" Nick muttered, crossing his arms as he leaned back in his chair.
"Uh, the animatronic characters here do get a bit quirky at night, but do I blame them? No! If I were forced to sing those same stupid songs for 20 years, and I never got a bath? I'd be a bit irritable at night too. So remember, these animatronic characters hold a special place in the hearts of children, so you need to show them a little respect, alright?
Okay…
So, just be aware, the characters do tend to wander a bit, they're left in a bit of a 'free-roaming mode' at night."
"They're what?!" Nick thought, panic setting into his person as he picked up the camera panel. He tapped on the camera named "Stage" and looked at it. They all seemed to still be there, so that was good.
Five minutes had passed, the guy must've been recording for a while. However, Nick began to wonder if the information he had been given was faulty. Sighing, he placed the camera panel down and continued to listen to the phone call.
"It has something to do with the servos locking up if they get left off for too long, uh, they used to be able to roam around during the day, too! That was until 'The Bite of '87.' Yeah… It's amazing that the human body can live without the frontal lobe."
Nick physically recoiled at that. He remembered the Bite. He was there when it happened as a kid. He had to go to therapy for just seeing it. It took him two months to get back to normal. He wondered whatever happened to that guy anyway. He didn't remember the poor bastard's name, but still. That must've been a life not worth living if you had to be in constant pain like that for years on end.
"Now, concerning YOUR safety here, the only real risk to you as the night-watchmen here, if any, is the fact that these characters, well if they happen to see you after hours probably won't recognize you as a person. They'll most likely see you as a metal endoskeleton without its costume on."
Nick stopped doing what he was doing immediately after that.
"What the actual fuck?" The brunette thought, pulling his chair closer to the panel and turning it on. It was only 12:07, and thankfully, none of the characters had left the stage just yet. However, that didn't alleviate any stress from him.
"Won't recognize me as a person?! What kind of bullshit is that supposed to be?" Nick thought, placing the camera panel down. He was starting to believe that this guy was a lunatic. He looked for the "mute" button but found that it had been physically removed, and the wires cut.
"Who the hell did that?" Nick thought, pushing away from the table. Considering he had nothing else better to do, he continued to listen.
"Now, since that's against the rules here at Freddy Fazbears Pizza, they'll probably try and forcefully stuff you inside a Freddy Fazbear suit. Now, that wouldn't be so bad, if the suits themselves weren't filled with crossbeams, wires, and animatronic devices… especially around the facial area…. You can imagine having your head forcefully pressed inside one of those could cause… a bit of discomfort… and death…
Uh, the only parts of you that would see the light of day would probably be your eyes and teeth, which pop out at the front of the mask…"
The more Nick listened to the tape, the more anger and annoyance that he had felt had begun to be replaced with genuine concern and worry. By the way the Phone Guy spoke, it sounded like he had seen all of those things happen, or at least the aftermath.
"Is that… what happened to the previous guard?" Nick wondered.
Now that he thought about it, It made sense. The previous Nightguard had only been around for three days before disappearing. Every time he'd come in just as they were closing up, he'd mutter something about the animatronics, then run to the back office immediately.
If he had been stuffed inside of one of the animatronics….
Nick glanced to the two doors on his right and left. Both of the doors had two buttons beside them: A door button, and a light button. One red, one green. It was also at this moment when he realized that on one of the monitors, there was a picture of a battery with the text below it saying "96%"
Nick felt a lump go down his throat. It was at this moment he realized the mistake he had made. What was worse was that he signed the waiver that decreed that he wasn't allowed to quit until the first week had been up.
"Oh god… what have I done?"
"Yeah, they don't tell you these kinds of things when you sign up. But hey, the first day should be a breeze. I'll chat with you tomorrow. Uh, check those cameras, and close the doors when only absolutely necessary, gotta conserve power. Alright, good night."
And just like that, the phone call unceremoniously ended, and Nick was left alone in what could possibly be a death trap. His death trap.
Panic completely filled him to the brim. The doors automatically locked at 12:00 AM, so it wasn't like he could just abandon the shift. He was stuck inside the building with possible homicidal animatronics, and he had to watch out for the amount of power he used during the night.
It was almost like a crappy 2010s styled horror game you'd find on steam for $5.
Except for this time, because it was real.
"H-Holy shit… I'm going to die!" Nick panicked, grabbing at his head as his eyes widened to the size of saucers.
What was going to happen if he died?
What would Deliah do if she found out he had died?
Would the company even tell her that he had died?
He had left Deliah at home alone with an animatronic as well! Did that mean he ran under the same principles?
Holy shit, what was going to happen to Deliah!
Thoughts like those raced through his mind as Nick continued to let the panic grip on him like a face-hugger from the Alien movies.
What was he going to do when—
Before he could finish that train of thought, he heard movement coming from outside his left door. He rushed over to the door, pressed the light button, and was met with Bonnie staring down at him.
"Well, well, well… look who we—"
Bonnie didn't get to finish his sentence as the door got slammed in his face. Nick's heart rate skyrocketed. They could talk!
"Holy shit! Holy shit! Okay, Nick, calm. It's just the first night, you can do this…! You can do this!" The brown-haired man said, looking at the time. It was somehow already 1:00 AM. He must've been panicking a lot for the time to have passed that quickly. The power read as 89%, so it didn't go down too much while he had been freaking out.
Whatever would happen next, Nick had to be prepared for it. This was no longer some easy 'sit back and relax' style job, this was a game of life and death.
"I have to stay alive. I have to stay calm. For Deliah. I can't leave her alone with Springtrap. Besides, I have questions for him after tonight. I'm going to probe that motherfucker all he's worth."
It was game on.
Over the course of the next few hours, Bonnie had left and subsequently showed up 3 more times during the night, all of which Nick was able to protect against. For all it was worth, the doors had become his most trustworthy ally for fending off against the purplish-blue rabbit.
By the time it had gotten to 4:30 AM, his worries about getting stuffed into a Freddy suit dwindled, but only slightly.
The power had been reduced to 43%, which was worrying. He still had an hour and a half to go until he could get out of the building.
A part of him had been concerned. Well, that was obvious, anyone in his position would be. But it wasn't because of Bonnie. In reality, it was because of his counterpart.
Chica had left the Stage hours ago but was nowhere to be seen. Nick would sometimes hear noises coming from the kitchen, then she'd appear around the building as if she had been teleporting from place to place.
Of course, the cameras would glitch out whenever the bastards would move, so it wasn't as if he could see them walk around the place. He could hear it though. Sometimes they would move further from his office, other times they'd show up right at his door—though that was mostly Bonnie.
After another fifteen minutes, Nick heard something coming from the Right hall, and his stomach immediately dropped.
Walking over to the right door, he turned on the right hall's light, only to find Chica, standing down the hallway as he peeked out of his office. The yellow bird stared at him, and as soon as the pair made eye contact, the animatronic began to walk down the hall, making a bee-line for his office.
"Shit!"
Nick dipped into his office and slammed the right door shut, then immediately checked his left. Bonnie stood there, a singular second away from stepping in as he slammed that door shut too. He turned both lights off and went for his chair.
"Okay, just wait for a few moments, they'll leave, eventually," Nick muttered to himself, waiting patiently for them to move.
A minute passed.
Two minutes passed.
Then five minutes passed.
The pair of animatronics didn't leave. In fact, they had been pounding on his doors. Nick was huddled up on his chair, shaking like a leaf in the wind as they began to taunt him.
"You can't hide in there for much longer~!" Chica spoke, her voice sounded sickly sweet, like a crazed killer out to get their next victim.
"You can't escape me, Nightguard~!" Bonnie chimed.
All Nick wanted to do now was curl up into a ball and cry. He gazed at the power and watched it drain. It went from 46% to 40% in the span of ten minutes, and it continued to drain down to 37% as the animatronics kept pounding.
The two animatronics were still at the doors, and they seemingly wouldn't let up. For the next 37 minutes, the two animatronics took turns taunting him as the power drained to 22%.
"You're going to die~!" Bonnie said.
"Join us, Nightguard, Join us~!" Chica prodded.
"You're not going to make it home tonight, we won't let you~!" Bonnie mocked.
"You'll never get out alive~!" Chica growled.
"SHUT UP!" Nick shouted. "Shut up, shut up, shut up!" The brown-haired man said in a frenzy of emotions. "You're just stage robots! You can't be this advanced! I refuse to believe that!" Nick screamed, glancing at the time. It was 5:15 AM. Whatever sort of tiredness he felt had been washed away, and had been replaced with fear-induced adrenaline.
The power sat at 19%, and his heart plummeted.
"No… no, no, no, no! I'm not gonna let them kill me! I can't let them kill me!" Nick thought, panic filling his veins as he ducked under his desk, swatting away at the cobwebs so he could hide. He curled up into a ball and covered his mouth, sweat pouring down his forehead profusely.
18% power remaining.
The animatronics continued to clang at the door as Nick kept his breathing levelled and calm. "Stay calm. Stay calm…"
14% power remaining.
The clanging continued as his breathing became more erratic. He looked at his phone, it was 5:20 AM. "Forty more minutes…"
7% power remaining. 30 minutes remaining.
"We're going to get in, and there is nothing you can do about it, Nightguard~!"
2% power remaining. 25 minutes remaining.
"Oh, is that Freddy?"
"Freddy's coming, I guess he'll be the one to get you, Nightguard~!"
0% Battery limit reached, shutting down power. 12 minutes remaining.
The power went out. The doors opened, and darkness swept throughout the building. He didn't know what time it was, and he dared not to check his phone.
Time seemed to come to an absolute crawl. He had no idea how much time he had left until the shift was over.
But that didn't matter anymore. He was going to die. He had no way to defend himself. He was stuck under a desk, and it would be a matter of time until one of them came to claim their 'prize.'
A sickly sweet music box began to play as he heard the sound of footsteps. It sounded like the toreador march or at least a version of it. It continued to play for what felt like two to three minutes, then it stopped.
Footsteps echoed into his office.
His breathing hitched.
"Where are you, Nicholas?" A deep, baritone voice spoke. It was Freddy. Although, something that Nick didn't pick up on was the sadness in the animatronics voice. After all, how could he have time to focus on such a mundane thing when he had more important things to worry about.
"It knows my name!"
"I'm sorry I have to do this. I truly don't want to. But I can't control myself," the voice of Freddy spoke out as a hand grabbed the underneath of his desk. Nick froze, and he was met with the face of the titular Freddy Fazbear. The animatronics white pinprick eyes stared into his dark brown, scared little eyes.
"No! No, no, no, no! Please, please I beg you, please don't kill me!" Nick begged, though it was only in his head. He was scared so badly that he couldn't even muster up the courage to speak, let alone defend himself.
Tears poured down the man's cheeks.
He was going to die.
He was never going to see his daughter again.
And it was all because he forgot to read the fine print.
"I do hope you can—"
The sound of a clock chiming echoed out, and the lights came back on. Freddy stood up straight and left the office.
Nick had been paralyzed by shock as tears ran down his cheeks. His breathing became erratic—even more so than before—yet even still, the fear and shock that was coursing through him prevented him from moving at all.
In other words, he was scared shitless. In fact, he was so scared from the fear of getting pressed inside of a spare Freddy suit that he didn't even know that the night shift had ended.
"Nick? Hey, Nick are you alright, man?" a voice spoke out to the confused and scared nightguard, his eyes focusing on where the voice came from, the visage of Mike Schmidt coming into view. He had been crouched down, looking at Nick with worry in his eyes. The brown-haired man immediately latched onto Mike, crying profusely into his shoulder.
Instead of shoving the grown man off of him, Mike let him sit there for a few minutes. He knew what it was like to work the Nightshift for the first time. It was hell on earth.
"There, there, buddy. It's alright, you made it out alive. That's all that matters," Mike said, patting Nick's back as the brunette let go, wiping his eyes as he stood up, along with Mike.
"You good, dude?" Mike asked, the brown-haired man cursing under his breath before nodding.
"Y-yeah, sorry about that," Nick said, rubbing the back of his neck.
"No, don't apologize. I know what it's like to work the Nightshift. It's not easy, it can break a man to his very core. You're lucky to even have lived, being a newbie to the Nightguard profession," Mike stated, putting a hand on Nick's shoulder.
"If you want to go home, you can. It's two hours till your dayshift starts. I can cover for you if you want?" Mike suggested, however, in a surprise turn of events, Nick shook his head.
"No, there'd be no point. I'll just text my daughter and tell her that I'll be home at 6:00 PM. Besides, I could go for some Pizza."
Nick and Mike laughed it off, though the trauma that Nick felt hadn't left him, rather, he repressed it. If he was going to make it through the dayshift, he would need to.
After the fact, he and Springtrap were going to have a long, in-depth talk about whatever the fuck had happened tonight. After all, who better to ask than an Animatronic.
-To Be Continued-
Yup, I'm giving the other animatronics personalities, separate from their ghosts. Why? Because it would be more interesting. It gives me more angles to look at this from, and it also gives me a chance to expand the S.A.D universe more than the original creator did.
The idea of living animatronics possessed or not was a concept I read in so many other fanfics that I just HAD to implement it into this one. Plus, it gives us a look at what the Animatronics feel when possessed by the ghosts, and where they stand on the whole 'kill the nightguard' thing.
That's all I have to say for now. Until next time, peace!