"Okay, so the Toys are on their stage," Marcus whispered to himself, looking through the cameras, "The Puppet's still in its box, and—Where the hell is Mangle?" He turned on the vent lights before searching the corridor for the animatronic, only finding Foxy, who was promptly blinded and sent back to Parts and Service by the guard's flashlight.
As he frantically looked around, he was really regretting taking this job. He wasn't sure about it from the moment they hired him straight out of high school. He was even less certain when the animatronics started to pester him. But he had to pay for college, and he would make do with what he got to work with.
Unfortunately he wasn't sure he'd make it to college as a faint static began to echo overhead. Slowly, Marcus looked up to find the mass of wires and metal hanging from the ceiling, waiting for the moment to strike. And now that it could no longer remain undetected, the moment to strike was now.
Mangle swung down from the ceiling, jaws open in what Marcus could only assume was an attempt to go for the kill. As the monster's teeth were about to connect, the guard kicked off his desk, sending him tipping backwards over his chair and onto the tiles. His head hit the floor with a BANG, and his mind went fuzzy for a few seconds. He felt at his forehead, expecting there to be a chunk taken out of it, but to his surprise, it was all there. He looked up at the ceiling, and to his dread the white and pink fox head was still staring at him, holding something in its mouth. Marcus felt at his head, slowly realizing that the animatronic had stolen his hat.
"Hey! Give that back!" he shouted, forgetting that moments ago, this thing tried to kill him. Instead of trying to finish the job, the tangled mess of wires retreated into the darkness. As he tried to stand up to give chase, a wave of nausea hit. He was going to throw up. He abandoned his desk and ran for the bathroom, hoping none of the animatronics would kill him while he was vulnerable.
Marcus flushed the toilet and went to wash his hands. Thank God whatever asshole ran the building allowed the bathroom lights to be turned on after hours. He didn't exactly want to explain why there was vomit on the floor, much less why he had hit his head. The former guards who had spoken up about the killer animatronics were laughed at and called crazy. He didn't want that in the way of his employment.
Marcus grabbed a paper towel to dry his hands before flattening himself against the wall, glancing outside to see if the coast was clear.
Every single one of the animatronics was gathered around his desk. The Toys were inspecting the Freddy head that was given to the guards to fool their sensors, while the original Freddy, Chica, Bonnie and Foxy were playing around the computer Marcus used to check the cameras. Marcus was debating whether to barricade himself inside the bathroom when his hat landed at his feet. He fought not to scream as he looked up to see Mangle watching him from the ceiling. The choice was made. He grabbed his hat and closed the bathroom door as quietly as he could.
Marcus sat in the hospital waiting room, trying his best to listen for a nurse to call his name. He had decided to go have a doctor check his concussion after he started vomiting again during the day. He could barely hear the world around him as he thought back to last night. He had enough of a headache from the bruise on the back of his head, but having to find the Freddy head among the various other Freddy heads in Parts and Services upgraded the experience to a migraine.
And then there was Mangle. It almost felt like the animatronic was toying with him, savoring the hunt. The way it watched him as he left gave him the impression of a predator stalking their prey. And yet, it had every chance to kill him, so why didn't it?
"Marcus Bell?" a nurse said. Marcus stood up and followed her into a room. "Wait here for Doctor Campbell," she said. Marcus waited for a few minutes until a man in a white coat stepped in.
"Hello, Marcus, I'm Herbert Campbell. I'll be assessing your injury to see if anything might be wrong with you," the man said.
"Thanks, doc," Marcus replied.
"So it says here you think you have a concussion. How did you get this concussion?"
Shit, Marcus thought. He was hoping he wouldn't have to tell anyone about the animatronics. "Well, some dickhead janitor mopped the floor and didn't put up a wet floor sign at my work. I slipped and hit my head," he lied.
"I see. And where would you happen to work?" This was another question Marcus was hoping to avoid.
"Why do you ask, doc?"
"Well, surely someone has to answer for the negligence that caused your injury."
"Well, maybe there was a sign and I just missed it. I'm sure it's nothing."
"Please, just answer the question, Marcus." The doctor's soothing voice broke through Marcus' hesitation.
"I-" Marcus sighed. "I'm the night guard at Freddy Fazbear's Pizza," he mumbled.
"Interesting," Campbell said, "Negligence certainly describes that place well. You wouldn't have happened to see any...deranged robots, would you?" This was the question Marcus desperately wanted to escape at all costs.
"No, of course not," Marcus chuckled, "I've heard the stories, and the people who tell them must have a few screws loose." Dr. Campbell shrugged and continued his work. Marcus was worried about one small thing. "Uh, you would happen to be finding any teeth marks on my forehead, would you?"
Now it was Campbell's turn to chuckle. "No, and your concussion only seems to be mild."
"That can't be right, I was throwing up within a minute of when I hit my head."
"Could just be a coincidence. Did Freddy's ever give you some bad pizza?" Marcus thought back. He did remember a box of pizza left on his desk, which he ate without questioning why it was there.
"Son of a bitch," he muttered, "They gave me spoiled pizza!"
"Well, that solves that issue."
"Yeah." Marcus suddenly thought of something. "Uh, doc? How much do I have to pay you for this?"
"Don't worry, I'll handle it."
"Really?"
Campbell smiled. "I figure between the crappy conditions of the pizzeria and the conditions that forced you to the pizzeria, you could use a break."
"Doc, I can't thank you enough."
"Just don't listen to the animatronics if they start talking to you," Dr. Campbell said, giving Marcus a wink, "It's probably just the concussion talking."
Marcus pushed open the door to the pizzeria, checking his watch as he did. He had ten minutes to set up before the animatronics came to life and started trying to end his life. He felt their eyes on him, but he knew it was just their programming to monitor everyone who came in and out. At the moment, they wouldn't attack, or at least he hoped they wouldn't.
He got situated in his desk, placing the Freddy head where he could quickly put it on. He saw there was a new message on the phone, so he pressed play and sat back to listen. This was pretty normal, as another employee of Freddy's left message for him every night.
"Uh, hello?" To his surprise, the voice coming from the phone was female. It was slightly garbled, she must not have been familiar with how to record a message. "Hi, I'm filling in for Scott, he had to go home. Uh, I heard from some of the other workers you were rubbing the back of your head when you left. Are you alright?"
Marcus raised an eyebrow at the recording; normally Freddy's wouldn't care much about the wellbeing of its employees. "I-I mean, if you can't work, we need to know so we can find a replacement," she backpedalled, "Anyways, if you have any questions for me, you can find me, well, I might just be above you."
"What the hell?" Marcus muttered as he followed the message's advice and lifted his gaze to the ceiling. If someone was there, they were hidden in shadows. Marcus turned on his flashlight and guided the beam of light to illuminate the area. There, waiting for him to look, was Mangle, who raised a hand in greeting once they were in view.
"Hi there," it said in the same garbled voice, causing Marcus to scramble out of his chair. As he tried to run down the hall, Mangle dropped down and blocked his escape. "Wait, please! I just want to talk!"
"Get the hell away from me!" Marcus screamed. He looked around for another way out and settled on the right air vent. He glanced over at Mangle, who tried to grab his legs as he began crawling inside. As soon as he was out of the animatronic's reach he realized just how stupid his idea was. Mangle or some other animatronic, probably Toy Chica, could so easily just crawl in and cut off his escape, or even box him in so there was no way out.
Sure enough, he began to hear the metal shift and bend under another being's weight. In a panic he looked up to see who it was, but in his haste he banged his head against the vent. His vision went blurry and he collapsed, unable to pick himself off the floor. His vision slowly became submerged in darkness as Toy Chica came into sight, just as he had predicted.
