New Job, new home and new chapter. I hope you all enjoy it!

A New Friend

"Hey man, are you ready to go?" Jeremy asked, and mike shouldered his bag that had been sitting next to the door and nodded.

"Ready as I'll ever be" Jeremy chuckled and then gestured to the bag mike had over his shoulder.

"What have you got in the bag? If it's food I wouldn't bother, the night shift can be busy especially after the first night." Mike harrumphed and nodded.

"so you worked the night shift as well?" He asked, avoiding the question and hoping Jeremy didn't comment on the slight clinking of metal coming from the bag in question. As mike asked Jeremy cringed and looked away.

"before you ask anything I've been told by the boss man that you'd ask a lot of questions and to not reveal too much, as it is I think I already have" He said, running his hand through his sandy blonde hair ruefully. Mike nodded and held up his hands, one still covered by the makeshift brace he'd constructed last night for his sprained wrist.

"I'm just trying to piece this puzzle together, any help would be appreciated." Jeremy opened the door of his car for mike to get in and shrugged. As soon as he closed the door and ran over to his side of the car he began to explain.

"It's not that simple, and I'm definitely not the guy to ask. Knowing things can be dangerous especially in our line of work." Mike was about to ask him what he meant when he saw the almost haunted look on Jeremy's face. He looked out the window for a bit until they stopped at the intersection close to the pizzeria. Jeremy Cleared his throat and looked over at mike, his calm and lax persona back in full force.

"so man, like uh… do you know any good places around here that I can take my car? Everyone keeps saying to take it over to the red rocket but last time I did that it cost me a small fortune. So.. do you know any shade tree mechanics or the like that can work on atomic engines?" Mike could tell Jeremy was attempting to lighten the mood and mike sighed, relenting.

"I might could try taking a look at it if you want" Jeremy brightened, and nodded.

"that'd be great! If you could look at it say… on Saturday, that'd be great!" Mike nodded and then froze, smiling a bit more sinister than one would guess he was capable of.

"Sure, as long as you give me some tips on surviving tonight." Jeremy looked at him, his eyebrow raised in an unimpressed scowl. The two stared at each other for a few seconds until they both jumped when a semi honked behind them, trying to get Jeremy to go. Jeremy put the car back in gear and was silent until they got to the pizzeria's parking lot.

"… Be glad I have a heart man, otherwise I would leave you high and dry here." He said with a sigh. "First, there's a flashlight in the parts and service. An old one that works on old batteries before the fusion cell ones became common place. Grab it and any time you see foxy strobe it at her, the lights affect how her circuits process faces and what not, so it should save you if you get in a pinch." Mike nodded and pulled out a small note pad writing down the info as Jeremy continued. "Next, you'll want to find one of the old animatronic heads that's empty preferably Freddy, though any one will do. Lastly, pay attention to the sounds around you; your ears don't run on the battery so make use of that." Mike again nodded, finishing up the list and putting it in his bag as nonchalantly as possible before hopping out of the car.

"Right, I'll see what I can do on the car on Saturday, thanks a bunch!" Mike attempted to sound as confident as possible though on the inside he was still worried about what was to come especially if his arm was anything to go off of. He grimaced and moved his dark hair from his face before heading inside, still having a few minutes before his shift actually started. He went into the parts and service room, looking around at all the random assortment of both junk and amazing pieces of tech that helped Mike take his mind off of the task at hand. He looked around for the items Jeremy had indicated finding the flashlight first. 'Jeez this thing must way at least ten pounds!' He thought before moving over to the wall of spare suits, seeing a Freddy head up high on the self, well out of reach. He groaned softly and set the flashlight down on the center work table before looking for some sort of step ladder. He walked over by a box with a bunch of old horribly mangled parts in it along with the odd bit of fur mixed in. He shrugged and moved the box over to the shelf and was about to climb on it when he froze, hearing the whir of animatronic parts along with a loud static permeated by the occasional whimper. He looked around and grabbed the flashlight much like one would a bat and wincing tentatively called out.

"I-is someone here?" He reflexively flinched as he posed the question to the dark room, half expecting Freddy to come out of the shadows with some sort of female bunny suit and an evil grin. When he didn't get an immediate response mike cracked open an eye and looked around, and then jumped as he heard the static, however this time it was much softer and the whimpers became more distinct. Mike cast his gaze around the room, still not seeing anything; frustrated he kicked the box, eliciting a loud whine and static along with a slight rustling. Mike backed up from the box as the flaps opened, and a fox shaped head came out, though unlike foxy this one was in rough shape, covered in grease and metal shavings along with at least a decade's worth of dust. The head in question swiveled to face mike and cocked in a confused but curious motion. Mike had now bumped into the wall, white as a ghost. 'shitshitshitshit! Uhm… think mike!' he squeezed the flashlight for dear life and gulped.

"uh… H-hey" He managed to get out, instantly berating himself. 'Fucking genius! That's what they'll write on our tombstone numb nuts.' The amalgamation of parts slowly pulled itself free from the box and moved closer, seemingly used to its cumbersome form. Mike pressed himself against the wall, waiting for oblivion with his eyes shut tight. Instead he felt a soft paw on his head and heard a soft rattling. Cracking open his eyes once again he was nose to nose with the damaged fox.

"H̩̝̲͙̻̱e̸͖l̟l̪̞̯ơ̫͇" Mike did his best to smile, though it was more of a mild grimace. The Fox's one good eye lit up and wrapped around him, the rattling getting louder. Mike pat its head nervously and it nuzzled against his hand. 'Well… I'm not dead so that's good' He thought to himself, trying to figure out what to do next.

His thought process was interrupted as he felt himself being lifted up and the fox head chattered static at him as it rose up into the rafters of the room, still wrapped around his legs and torso. It got up in his face again, he blinked, more confused than he was last night.

"…P̘̯͙̖͉͉͢A̠͇̻͡R̼̹͙̟͉̙̩T̪͓̭̰̀ ͏O̩͈̥̼̝̹͡F̼͚̥̭̯̹͈… ҉̥C͖̙̟ŖE̝̬͍̼͟W̱?̭̞̻͇̭̣" It asked and mike nodded which caused it to smile and tighten up around him. Groaning, mike pat the vise like cables on his chest lightly.

"Need… to… Breathe!" He managed to get out and the animatronic loosened its grip on him looking embarrassed. He pat it's head again. "it's okay I'm not broken" it nodded and then looked itself whining softly. He pat it's head, trying to comforting it the best he could in this bizarre situation.

"S̜͉̤̯H̲͖͙͕Ị̜͡P̡̟W̫͍̼Ŗ̖̜̫͓ͅE̱̰̝̮̲̘̞͘C̷̪̺̪Ḳ̬E͍͉̰̥̘͟D̢" It said, gesturing to itself. Mike nodded and before he could even think about what he was saying he spoke.

"if I had time and your blueprints to your design I could probably fix you,, there doesn't seem to be anything too bad, even your voice box seems fixable." Mike instantly groaned as it tightened around him again and made a loud screeching sound, before pressing it's mouth to his in what mike realized was a kiss! He pat it again and it calmed down, letting him down sheepishly before going back up into the rafters and disappearing through a vent.

"Well shit…" He ran a hand through his hair and walked out of the parts and service with flashlight in tow.

Charades

After setting up in the office mike logged into the terminal once again and checked the cameras; all the animatronics except for the one he'd met. 'well that's one way to put it.' as he wiped his lips off once again, trying to get the grease taste to go away. He looked at the clock as the electrical bell in the main area went off, signifying the start of what he expected to be a long night. He pulled out one of the many 'tools' he'd brought with him in his bag some of which most would consider a random assortment of junk, nonetheless he fished through the bag, pulling out the small megaphone he'd brought with him and he stepped out into the hall. Wishing he had a better plan than the one he was about to carry out.

"Alright! Listen up please! I Mike Schmidt, current and only night guard would like to talk to all of you! I'm leaving the ball in your court here, if you want to talk please send someone down here with their hands err… paws or feathers up and then I'll come down there!" Mike wiped a bead of sweat from his brow and gulped as he saw bonnie looking down the hallway at him as well as the glowing eyes of Chica and Freddy further back on the stage still. He tried to wave at bonnie but barely made his arm twitch and then went back into his office, rubbing his bandaged temples, attempting not to focus on how many ways this plan could go wrong if either side decided to turn on one another, though he was definitely at a disadvantage not only numerically but also in placement. 'If I go out there I'm a sitting duck. Hopefully they realize that though and take it as the sign of trust I'm trying to give them instead of a perfect ambush.' He looked at the cameras again and saw that now Chica was gone and listened in on the kitchen, nodding when he heard the rustle of pots and pans. When he turned around he yelped and nearly fell out of his chair again and would have except for the fact that bonnie grabbed his legs with his large paws, stabilizing him.

"s-sorry, I assume since you haven't grabbed me to stuff me you're here to escort me to my doom?" Mike asked with trepidation to which bonnie nodded, raising his hands in the way mike had described and then shrugged as mike finished his sentence. Mike squinted at the large bunny animatronic.

"are you shrugging at the doom part?" Mike asked and bonnie nodded, shooting finger guns at him then stopped, his ears drooping in embarrassment. Mike couldn't help but smile a bit, nodding. "Then please lead the way." Mike followed bonnie who walked a bit jerkily. 'looks like he's had better days…' mike thought to himself as they both walked into the main area, where Freddy, and Chica already were sitting at one of the big part tables, as mike sat his nose picked up on the amazing smell of fresh Fazzbear pizza.

"smells amazing… uhm my… uh my compliments to the chef" He said and Chica smiled and looked away. 'it's like they're all real people…' He refocused on Freddy whom was currently focused squarely on him, looking rather impatient as if to say 'spit it out then.'

"R-right… I know that none of you guys really trust me…" Freddy nodded and crossed his arms. Mike adjusted his collar and tie before continuing. "and to be honest if last night hadn't happened I wouldn't have even considered this but… I wanted to thank you somehow as well as work on a way for all of us to get along instead of you guys trying to kill me" Chica looked to Freddy who for once didn't look angry but thoughtful, holding up a finger on his brown paw he walked out of the room and into the parts and service was gone for a few minutes. Mike took out the feather that he still had in his pocket before putting it on the table.

"I guess I have to thank you two specifically for bandaging me up?" He looked between Bonnie and Chica who both nodded though Bonnie added a shrug as if to say. 'it's not a big deal' Mike nodded and smiled a bit. "I think it's important enough that I want to help fix you both, what do you think?" Both Bonnie and Chica's eyes widened and they nodded furiously.

"I'll take that as a yes, though why don't any of you talk? I know you are capable of doing so, you guys can sing the songs and greet guests and stuff" He decided to leave his earlier meeting with the mangled fox out for now. Chica looked saddened and bonnie shook his head, opening his mouth wide enough for mike to see deep into his endoskeleton's mouth where there was a rusty box with wires sparking and poking out of them faintly mike could see the wires had been going to a "free speech" port that seemed to have been badly damaged somehow. Mike looked down and then back at them both.

"sorry… I didn't know… do you know how they were broken?" Mike asked and bonnie was about to reply when they all heard a deep voice that was too rich and layered to be a human's.

"He does, but enough of the charades game, let me help explain for my family." Mike turned to see standing next to Freddy was a Golden bear that mike recognized all too well, Fredbear.

And there's chapter five! I apologize for any errors, still no beta reader so if you're interested please send me a pm and we'll work stuff out. As far as this one goes it was a doozy! I had a fun time writing it though! So what do you think will happen in the next chapter? Feel free to comment as it gives me both ideas and motivation to write more! Well I think that's it for this one so until next time, engineer out!

P.S. Still toying with the discord Idea so I'd still like input on that one as well.