AN: This occurs roughly sometime before Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria Simulator for Fnaf and soon after Soo's girlfriend for Gravity Falls.
An old small bus with the "Speedy Beaver" written on the side is making its way through an empty road. The sun was setting, painting the sky in warm orange and pinks and casting the bus in the long shades of the towering pines that surrounded the road. The lone passenger leaned back in his seat, staring at the passing trees without really seeing them. He was wearing worn and faded jeans, a black jacket, and purple shirt, black gloves, a medical mask covering the bottom half of his face, and a baseball cap pulled low to keep the rest of his face in shadow. What little skin could be seen was a sickly purplish color and his purple eyes almost seemed to glow in dark. This man has been called by many names over the years and though the name he was born with was Micheal Afton, he was usually known simply as Mike.
Mike sighed as he shifted in his seat in a futile attempt to get more comfortable. While he has long become used to the constant ache and pain that came with being trapped within his own rotted corpse but long drives still somehow got to him. Returning his gaze to the window, Mike's mind wandered to why he was on this bus in the first place. In his quest to undo all his father's evil work and erase the murderous legacy, Mike had done extensive research on everything William had helped create and the companies he had founded. Thankfully, it seemed like only the things William directly supervised and personally worked needed up with evil purposes and imprisoned souls of innocent children. Afton Robotics and Fazbear Entertainment seemed clean, clearly corrupt, and more than willing to sweep all their dirty laundry under the rug, but hey, at least they weren't continuing his father's murderous experiments.
Still, Mike has kept an ear to the ground in case a killer robot ended up slipping through the cracks and getting shipped off to some unsuspecting restraint. And was a good thing he did, because yesterday there was a new post on one of the blogs dedicated to the deaths and disappearances at restaurants with animatronics. (Sometimes the internet really shocked and disturbed by how fascinated people were with the horrors he was forced to live with, but it had its uses.) This post was claiming the robots at someplace called "Hoo Ha's Jamboree" had gone crazy and attacked people in the middle of the day. Mike was already going to check it out once he read that and a quick search to see that the robots had been made by Afton Robotics was all he needed to get on the next bus out.
Mike was pulled from his thoughts when he felt some weird sensation pass over his skin and warm his nonexistent insides, causing him to immediately sit straight in his seat. Mike had become quite familiar with large spots of supernatural energy over the years and was attuned enough to recognize them almost instantly now. This one felt a lot different than the one he's had come across before, there was no feeling of dread as unseen eyes hunted you and echoes of the tragedy ringing in your ears. This was warmer and a bit more chaotic, almost welcoming in a way, almost like he entered a place where he could fit in. It was strange and Mike couldn't see anything that could cause the energy as the bus passed a sign that said: "Welcome to Gravity Falls". Deciding that there wasn't any immediate threat, Mike allowed himself to relax back into his seat.
It didn't take long for the bus to arrive at its destination and Mike disembarked with the ragged duffel bag containing all his possessions stuffed inside slung over his shoulder. The sun had completely set at this point, leaving the small town in darkness save for the light windows and warm glow of the few streets lights along the sides. This suited Mike just fine as he preferred traveling within the shadows and headed in the direction of where the mall was supposed to be.
Mike had studied the blueprints of the mall and knew there was an exterior staff door on his target that should give him easy access to the restaurant. He found the door easily enough and the lock was simple enough that Mike pick it open with barely a thought. Keeping an eye out for cameras, Mike eased the door opened and slipped inside. From what little he could see, he seemed to be in the kitchen area. Pulling out his flashlight and taser, and making sure his crowbar was handy, Mike slowly began searching the premise.
There had defiantly been a fight in the restaurant as Mike's flashlight swept over all the damage to the main area. Supposedly there hadn't been anyone killed during the incident or even major injuries, but Mike suspected that there had probably been a cover-up. There was way too much damage for no one to have been hurt, so someone must have been paid off to keep quiet. Either that or the patrons had been extremely lucky to be able to get out before the place got locked down.
Moving past the damage stage and ignoring the signs of clean up, Mike approached the back rooms where he knew from experience the robots would be kept for repairs. Opening up the door, Mike's grip tightened on his taser as his flashlight glinted off the several animatronics stored within. Moving cautiously, ready to fight at even the slightest movement, Mike began examining each of the animatronics for signs of either supernatural influence or built-in evil programs and abilities.
Mike spent a good hour looking over the robots, even examining their parts when it became obvious they weren't doing anything, but there didn't seem to be anything off. They weren't built with any of the lures and storage systems of the Funtime line and there didn't seem to be any spirits inhabiting them. The squirrel girl had the nearest trace amounts of supernatural energy, but it wasn't enough to affect it now. Whatever had happened, be it some outside source or an extreme network malfunction, it seemed unlikely to happen again anytime soon. He'd still stick around a few days just to be sure, but he wasn't too concerned.
Quickly and quietly, Mike put everything back where he had found it and snuck his way outside. Once he double-checked that the door was locked, he headed out into the night looking for a place he could stay.
AN: I know I should really be working on my other stories since it's been a long time since I've updated them but this is the first thing I've been motivated to write at all in months and I'm hoping by working on it I'll get inspired to work on my other stories too. Don't know how often I'll update this story or how long it'll be, but I'll try for at least once a month.
