Chapter 3 - Learning the Layout

Heading down the hall again, Alyssa and Vincent reach a large grey door with a sign above it that reads "Employees Only." The new night guard opens the door but looks at Vincent with a glare before speaking. "You're gonna stay out here until I get done, otherwise your purple shirt will be painted red, and your body will stain the floor. Got it?" she asked with a serious tone.

Vincent was simply leaning on the wall across from the room looking around the hallway. "Yeah, I got it sweetheart~" he says looking back at her with that same cocky grin.

"Good." With that, Alyssa headed inside the employee's room, then slammed the door behind her. Inside was a wall of about ten, double lockers standing side-by-side, each one plastered with a number tag on the front of the door, a lone chair sitting in a corner where a small changing room waits for use. After taking in her surroundings, the young woman pulls out the key given to her and heads over to the lockers. Looking up at the numbers, she starts trying to find hers. "... 5... 6... 7… 8!" she counted aloud then putting the key in its correct lock. With the sound of a click from the lock, the hook was released.

Taking off the lock and opening up the small, metal door with the usual slight squeak of rust. Alyssa could see a blue night guard jacket hanging from a hanger on the bar inside the locker, and with a hat sitting on the small shelf above the hanging bar. Both almost look like Vincent's, only the color is different. She grabs the jacket from the hook and holds it up to get a better view. The jacket was large, but comfortable, with the iconic Freddy Fazbear picture in the corner on the front and the words "Night Guard" written in white across the back.

"Hmm... Looks like the right size," she says with a smile, liking the way it would fit and appreciating the fact it was comfortable to wear. Alyssa grabs the hat, which also had the Freddy image on the front of it, and secures it on her head. After she was dressed, she walked out of the changing room, then places her brown bag inside her locker before closing and relocks it before heading back out into the hallway.

The man in purple was standing in the same place with his arms crossed, tapping his foot impatiently as the newbie finally walks out and turns to face him. She still didn't want to be around him. "Finished…" she told him with a low tone.

Turning to look at her, his smirk returns as he greets her with a catcall whistle. "Lookin good~" he compliments with a lick to his upper lip, quickly looking her up and down.

Alyssa, feeling very disturbed by his actions, shivers slightly and quickly turns away from the other guard. "Thanks…" she says lowly while crossing her arms in annoyance. Wanting to change the subject, she asks, "Now what?"

He only chuckles a bit at her behavior before he responds. "Now I can show you around the place," Vincent says smoothly, then starts heading down the hall, back towards the main party room. Alyssa quickly moves to keep up with him as he starts talking again. "There's gonna be two birthday parties today. Try not to interfere with them." A few moments pass before he smirks back at her. "If you do, I may have to punish you~" he snickers playfully and pervertedly.

She glares in his direction as a warning to not touch her or he would regret it. "Don't worry, I won't…" Alyssa reassures him with a low and annoyed tone.

Entering back into the main party room, some other employees continue getting things ready, the brunette stops and looks back up at the animatronics still standing up on the stage motionless. Vincent stops noticing she wasn't at his side and looks over to see her staring up at them. He walks over to her and stands beside her, also looking up at the three mechanical animals before Alyssa finally speaks up with a soft voice. "After so many years, they still look fun and lovable but... something about them scares me a little," she admits with a small shiver down her spine.

Vincent looks at her, then back up at the animatronics, thinking for a moment before he shrugs, not losing his smile once. "Eh. They don't bother me. You get used to their disturbing features in time," he states plainly, turning and continuing to walk in the direction he was originally going. "Now, come on. I don't want to get stuck in kid traffic," the man instructs without turning around.

The new night guard turns and glares at him. "You'd make a terrific father..." she says sarcastically before quickly jogging to keep up with his pace.

The dark-haired man scoffs at her remark, for once, without his grin. "I don't ever plan on having kids.: he says in a matter-of-fact kind of way, then lowers his tone. "Annoying little brats…" She could tell by the cold tone and his expression that he wasn't fond of kids in the slightest. Soon enough, he returns to his usual behavior, but without his smirk. "Anyways, here's the reserved party rooms," he says gesturing to the few decorated doors in the hall. "You know Pirate's Cove already, I'm guessing?" he asks as he looks to a door with the words "Pirate's Cove" written in gold-painted, wood plated, letters across the front with a carved pirate ship out of wood. The door is also decorated with a sea background.

Inside the room are four tables decorated with pirate-themed covers and party pirate hats sitting at each place. Under each hat are a cartoon skull-and-crossbones plate and a jolly roger flag napkin. Blue and yellow balloons decorate the edges of the tables and hang around the room along with several children's drawings depicting their experiences at the pizzeria. However, the small stage sitting at the back of the room, with its iconic purple curtain, spotted with silver stars, sits the main attraction: Captain Foxy.

Walking into Pirate's Cove, the young lady looks around the room with a smile on her face before finally answering his question. "Know it? I loved it," she says, turning back to her companion. "Foxy was always my favorite, along with Freddy, and Bonnie. But I've only been here twice with a friend." She turns around and crosses her arms, smiling at a few of the kids' pictures on the wall; most of them showing their love to the Fazbear family. "Memories…" Alyssa sighs with a smile.

Vincent leans his body on the wall beside the door, smiling his iconic grin. "Came here as a kid, huh?" he asks as he closes his eyes. She turns to look back at him as he continues. "I didn't have much of a childhood." His grin grows slightly as he chuckles, looking back at her. "Then again, I didn't really care much."

The brunette looks at him as if she were understanding his pain. "So, you're like this because of a bad childhood?" she asked. Looking away, Alyssa kinda felt guilty for some of the things she had said to him and thought about him. "I understand that part…" she says with understanding and slight sympathy.

The man in purple just shrugs at her comment. "Ehh. Don't feel sorry for me." Vincent looks back at the stage covered with the purple curtain, staring at it for a bit in thought. "Hmm…"

Alyssa pushes a few strands of hair out of her face and looks up at him, taking notice of him staring at the curtains. She looks at the covered stage, then back at him curiously and asks, "What?"

He stayed silent a few moments longer before answering. "The manager said something about an additional animatronic being placed in the restaurant." Thinking through some things before continuing, talking more to himself than her. "Since I didn't see it out in the main party room, I'd assume it's in here." Vincent continues to stare for a few moments, then finally shrugs. "Eh. I'll see when the party starts," he calmly says to himself and turns, walking back to the door. "You ready, babe?" he asks, looking back at her.

With a groan, she looks at him with narrowed eyes. "Don't call me 'babe'..." she told him sternly, even though he most likely wasn't going to listen. Walking towards the door, Alyssa stops and turns back to the curtain with curiosity. "I wonder who it is…" the brunette asks herself, then shrugs and heads out of the room to continue her tour with Vincent.

After the tour of the rest of the area was finished, a group of kids came rushing into the restaurant with their parents. The hostess talked with the parents for a moment before being led down the hallway to the Pirate's Cove party room. Seeing the group pass by them, Vincent noted aloud, "Oh hey, the 1:00 party is here," and looks in Alyssa's direction. "I'm gonna go see what's with this new animatronic over at Pirate's Cove. Come join in if you want," the dark-haired man states before walking down the hall, following the group into Pirate's Cove.

Honestly, she was just as intrigued as him and couldn't help but follow. 'Hmm... It's been a long time since I've seen him… Why not?' the brunette thought as she walked back into the room, feeling excited inside like how she felt when she was younger. Finding Vincent standing in the back of the room, she decided to stand a few feet from him so she could use the excuse of shadowing him for training if needed.

(AN: Please read 'Foxy's First Mate' to know how their act went. Thank you.~ :3)

After the story is over, Foxy and Kitten remain on stage until the kids have to leave their tables and return to their original seats, and the curtain closes on the two pirate animatronics.

Alyssa, now standing next to the man in purple, smiles at the kids as they continue their partying. Each child had a smile on his or her face while laughing with a friend or parent. Standing up straight again, she looks up at Vincent with a smile on her face for a change while he remains unfazed and emotionless to the crowd; he just seems to be stuck in his own thoughts. As the party continues on, the employees ask for the kids to venture out to enjoy the other three out in the main dining hall. One by one, the party guests and family all exited out along with the other employees, all except Vincent and Alyssa. "That was so cute!" Alyssa exclaims. "The new animatronic, Kitten, is amazing! How come they wanted to give him a partner?" she curiously asks him.

As if he had just come out of a trance, Vincent looks in her direction curiously. "Did you say something?"

She looks at him, slightly confused by his response. "Huh? Oh…" the newbie says with an eye roll realizing he wasn't listening. "Nothing. So, is there a way to see them closer?" she asks.

He smirks and chuckles to himself mostly before saying, "Well, there is, but then you'd most likely never see the light of day again~" Laughs a bit at his comment, then continues. "So, unless you're a mechanic, not really," he says and shrugs, but Alyssa just smiles.

"Actually I took three years of mech school and was top of my class with all 'A's. So, I think I know what I'm doing," she says proudly, placing her hands on her hips.

Vincent chuckled at her pride. "Heh, cool. I'll know who to go to when anything breaks~ Gives me an excuse for you to come to my house~" he says in a sly tone.

Proud moment ruined... Her smile changes into a bored, yet angered, expression. "You've earned your second warning, pal," she warns coldly before walking away from him and up to the Pirate Cove stage only to hear him chuckle again.

"I still wouldn't touch them if I were you, babe. Last I heard, some kid got a little too close to Foxy and got his frontal lobe bitten off~" he mentions, thinking of the tiny child with his head bitten off.

Alyssa turns back to look at him with a deep glare. "Who says I wanna touch them? If I am, I'd be touching with my eyes only…" she spat back at him. "And you can at least be a little sympathetic with that child," she states before turning around again to the stage curtain. The brunette carefully extends out her hand to the starry purple curtain and grabs the left flap and very slowly moves to the side, pulling the curtain away to see the mechanical fox's and cat's large feet.

"Whoa…" the night guard breathes seeing the large feet. "Were they always that big?" she wonders, not realizing she spoke out loud. Moving the curtain more and more to the side, the legs were soon visible, then the bodies. All the while, the young woman was astonished to see them this close up. "They're not as big as I remember…"

But Vincent's voice quickly interrupted the newbie's thoughts. "How long has it been since you were here last?" he asks and raises an eyebrow at her.

Looking down a little at her feet, Alyssa answers without looking at the male night guard. "I think it's been... ten years. I might've been five or six." She looks back up, finally moving the curtain away to see her beloved friend and his new first mate. Smiling to herself before continuing, "I've always wanted to be his first mate, ever since I heard his stories! They were childish, but they inspired me to try and do things I would not have ever thought of doing. That's why I went to mech school; I wanted to try and make amazing things, like these two."

He simply shrugs his shoulders and then comments with a teasing smirk, "And now you're stuck working as a night guard."

Alyssa sighs sadly knowing what he said was hurtful, but true. She released the curtain having it fall gracefully and closing up the opening before turning and walking back over to her companion. "Wasn't my first choice, but I needed to get money somehow," the newbie sighs. "This place pays well for a week, so I might as well try one night and then maybe find a different place to work." But she did not notice his smirk is different from his usual one.

"Just quit while you're ahead," Vincent says to her simply.

"Why...?" she asks.

The other guard looks down at her with a slightly serious look, making her feel uneasy. "If there's one thing you can trust me with, it's this piece of advice: Quit." Alyssa felt more uncomfortable than usual at the sound of his voice as he spoke. Vincent's smile quickly changed before saying, "Or don't~ More time you have with me~"

And with that, she groaned. "I think I'll be fine tonight. But if you're there, I might need to have a weapon with me at all times."

Vincent smirks at her comment. "I'll be training you this whole week, sweetheart, so might as well get used to me~" he points out as he pushes himself off the wall he was leaning on.

She just rolls her eyes. "Yippee…" she groaned before walking past him and towards the door.

Both of them walk out of Pirate's Cove, but Vincent stops in the entryway and turns, looking back towards the small stage. He could feel the familiar threatening tension coming from behind the curtain, only to have him smirk. " See ya tonight," he mumbles under his breath before turning his back to the stage, walking out, and shutting the door.

Back in the main party room, some kids were running around with their friends or playing along with the three party animals on stage as the two walked back into the area. Alyssa turns back to her purple partner and mentions, "Hey, you didn't show me the room I'm staying in."

"That's because we're only supposed to be in there at midnight, so we don't waste any of the power or blow a fuse," Vincent replies, shoving his hands into his pockets.

"I se- Wait!" the brunette interrupts herself to look at him with a confused and cautious expression. "Blow a fuse? What do you mean by wasting power? Does this place need a lot?" she asks to clarify a thought.

Vincent chuckles at her question. "And I thought you were the mechanic here~" he says teasingly.

Alyssa huffs. "I am, I'm just surprised that you guys have to watch the power more than normal." Glaring angrily at him, she continues. "Ugh… Maybe I can ask Mr. Fazbear to let me fix the circuit breaker…"

"Do what you want, sweetheart~ I'll be in the employee's room taking a nap. Don't want to fall asleep during the night shift~" Vincent explains as he starts walking down the hall. Alyssa watches him leave still glaring daggers into the back of his head, but he stops and turns back to look at her. "Join me if you'd like. I'm too tired to try something on ya." he offers before continuing down the hall.

She crosses her arms and mumbles, "Why would I wanna go with you...?" The young lady sighs, turning her attention away from the hall Vincent went down. "Can't believe they trust him. He really isn't the kind of person to be around with, yet I'm forced to," she argued with herself before moving out of the kids' way; walking towards the wall so the kids could play. Looking back up at the main stage, she watches the three sing and occasionally play along with some of the children, bringing a smile to her face.

As the day progresses, the second party eventually comes around and starts, except this time it happens in the main party room. The three on stage continue to play their songs throughout the entire party and are even allowed to walk off stage to help serve the kids pizza. After a few hours, the party was over, and it was about 8 pm. The dinner rush was slowing down and most of the kids were already gone, besides a family or two. At this point, Vincent was awake again and walking around the building. He'd watch Alyssa for a minute or two every so often before walking somewhere else. Alyssa stood away from the guests and employees, waiting for her shift to start. The brunette continued to watch the three mechanical musicians walk back to their places on stage, still astonished that they still move after being around for so long. She smiles to herself, remembering things used to be when she was here as a kid; how this all used to make her so happy, to see her favorite characters and kids her age try to play all day. So far, Alyssa was enjoying her job here… but the night shift has not even started yet.