See the end for author's notes.
"Oh, I am tired of abiding by these rules
Causing me to second guess my every single move
You don't know who I am,
Or what I have been through, no
So don't dare tell me what I should and shouldn't do 'cause..."
Chapter 12. We're Not Part of Your Machine
Freddy Fazbear was not happy.
The towering amalgamation of parts lurched a small threatening step, but clearly remained hesitant and bristling. It was safe to say all of them—Freddy, Foxy and Chica—were all equally pissed but absolutely unwilling to move and risk anything else happening to their night guard. How much more could Mike or Gold really take? It wasn't a question they wanted to know the answer to. It was impossible to tell who was in 'more' control, but Danny was sure he heard Foxy and Freddy's joined voices snarls overlaying together as the Fazgang fidgeted and tried to find a way in to rescue Mike. Their black and white optics narrowed venomously, especially when Mike's movements jerked or he stiffened, signaling his pain was too much to think through.
And Danny hadn't heard growls like what he was currently hearing since the Nightmares got loose. That terrible event seemed a hundred years ago, instead of only eight, maybe nine.
And this moment they were stuck in equally felt just as long, even though Danny knew it wasn't, that that feeling was impossible. Knew it was only a few minutes, at best. Well, it was the longest five minutes of his life, and he was sure Mike felt the same. The day guard rolled his frame a bit, shifting a leg under him in case a moment became an opportunity. He was hardly aware that Bonnet was gone somewhere in the large, dimly light room, his terrified green eyes locked on Springtrap and the Fazes having their furious and smug stare down.
Mike's two-toned eyes fluttered as he grunted, twisting uselessly in Springtrap's rotted, metal grasp, trying to find an opening of his own, or perhaps tell the Fazes to do something, anything, other than freeze. The amalgamation stayed rooted to the ground however, frozen out of terror and concern for Mike than any true disobedience. The Fazes combined frame chugged and whirred in barely repressed fury as they raised their head back, tipping it stubbornly like Danny used to see Mike do.
And Mike, who perhaps knew something Danny didn't about the Fazes or their leader now, seemed to move more frantically, eyes widening as he realized the moment was passing and a train was about to be started that could not—would not—be stopped.
"Freddy—!" Mike warned. "Don't—"
"Caaareful, night guard~" Springtrap—Afton—warned with a silky hiss. "Us Suits aren't all powerful, we never were. And I am made of—" He drew Mike's arm back until the man ground out a noise of strangled pain, "much sterner stuff than you are, right now. Thank you for that~"
"Not fer long." Mike muttered, deciding to try a different route as his scarred left hand released the bunny's ragged arm and shoved searching fingers up under Springtrap's head. His fingernails dug, scraped, trying to find purchase. "Not if your springlocks disengage and you get—ow!"
Mike was shoved, hard, at the same time as Ennard slithered into the Fazgang's way and unsteadied them. Ennard darted apart to avoid the furious swipe of Fazes' borrowed hook, then slammed together with a gleeful screech of rubbing metal.
"TOO SLOOWW!" Funtime Freddy sang in bratty triumph as Ennard lunged at the prone night guard.
Mike spat a string of surprised curses, not expecting Ennard's fluid dive downward for him in that moment. Mike yelped and sat up best his wounds would allow, but did not call for Freddy. The writhing mass of cords and animatronic parts slammed brutally into Mike's thin frame with enough force to send them all sliding backwards across the tile, deeper into the room and well away from the Fazes, or even Afton himself.
"No!" Afton roared with a new pitch, one of unease and frustration and in the back of Danny's mind he realized that was odd, because wasn't that his and the Fazes' line?!
"Watch me, Father~" A voice demanded sweetly, one Danny instantly recognized as Circus Baby. Ennard stretched further and coiled, smothering the struggling Mike from view.
"I will make you proud~"
Even more telling was the way the Fazes' posture hunched over, one big paw a fist as they backed up uneasily from the pile of Ennard and Mike Schmidt. Why was-? What the hell, Freddy!
"H-hey—hey let him go! Stop that! Stop it!" Danny scrambled to life, yelping when his hoodie caught fast and he was wrenched back. He glanced up, watching half of Mangle's long girth from above and behind him. She chattered soothingly down at him, holding him back easily even as he tried again to get in there to help Mike.
"Henrietta!" Afton's seething voice shattered Danny's concentration. "You foolish little—"
Mike was gone completely, and Ennard rose to their feet, turning to Afton with delight and fever bright eagerness. They seemed bigger, just a bit, and turned expectantly onto Afton only to shrink when the rabbit's grimy yellow paw slapped them roughly, their mask tumbling askew. Ennard, despite having a foot on Springtrap now—and certainly in much better shape than the rotted, haunted animatronic—staggered and cowered in hurt surprise. The action was so startlingly rough and unabashed Danny flinched and felt Mangle do as well.
"B-but—why?" Circus Baby's voice rose from the din of Ennard's chorus of varied sounds.
"Because, like always, you have no common sense, girl! No sense of comprehending!" Afton shouted out, ignoring Ennard's whine of confusion as they lumbered away, eyes swinging but entire body saying 'dejected' and 'uncertainty.' "Dammit—"
And then Afton was cut off, because a thin sliver of golden light burst through one of the seams in Ennard's wobbling frame. Danny panicked at that familiar light, even though he hadn't seen it in years. He knew what it meant. It never meant anything good, not really.
"Mike!" Stubbornly, Danny tried to rush in again.
Again, Mangle snatched his collar, her second head looking down eagerly at his side as she hauled him back as if he weighed nothing. Which was weird, what was Mangle's little second head looking at—?
"Danny! Danny, down here!" Danny froze at the young voice, tearing his eyes from the thrashing Ennard down to little Bonnet, her tiny paws holding out Mike's cracked, little yellow flashlight.
"Where—?" No time for that, but Danny felt a surge of affection for brave little Bonnet.
"A night guard needs a light to see by!" Bonnet spoke as if parroting the words, looking delighted at her clever little self. Danny gaped.
If pressed later, Danny couldn't tell you why he did what he did next. He moved, feeling uncertainty fighting with fierce decision.
'For only a night guard coud have made it this far—' The Marionette's last words rang in his head. Danny swallowed thickly, and wondered,
'If I am one, really one, like my dad was—like Mike is—then I can use the flashlight like he can. ..right?'
He couldn't before. It wouldn't turn on no matter how many times he tried, how many shakes or whacks. But he hadn't been down here before, all by himself, befriended Springtrap, or protected Bonnet and earned her trust. Searched for Mike to save him, escaped Ennard unharmed when Mike could not, or met face to face with the very animatronic that malfunctioned and bit his father.
'I have to try. Dad would.'
The plastic was unnaturally warm in his hand and he turned it upward first, the plastic glass facing the ceiling as he stood there. Danny spent a beat of reconsideration before his face settled into grim understanding, and he flicked the switch from Off to On.
Afton noticed, if far too late.
"Where did you get that? Where did you get that!?" He roared, lunging forward even as Mangle shrieked and shoved the murderer away, blocking him physically from Danny with her entire frame.
The light that burst from it was blinding, but Danny turned, squinting even as he was swinging it down in both hands and aimed it on Ennard—on Mike, and illuminated the twitching and jerking mass of coils. The Fazes lowed roughly, a note of triumph, it sounded like to poor Danny.
"B-but—I don't understand—" Circus Baby's voice wobbled as cords moved, blocking the inner light from leaking through, attention wholly removed from her father. Ennard let loose an uncertain noise, a low hiss of agitation as more flares escaped. Yellow electivity crackled through the air, sizzling and harsh. Afton was backing up like the coward he was, and it felt good to see.
"Well I do." Danny answered.
Another section slipped free, then another. More golden light erupted through, forcing apart the twining mass of coils, the parts that held all the Funtimes together. And Ennard shrieked as if being burned, and began clawing at themselves in raw, unfolding terror.
"Father! Help me!"
Danny saw the emotion melt from Afton's face, as he pushed away from the hissing Mangle and disengaged when she snapped at him. Springtrap's eyes lidded, and he took a step back once more in pointed conviction, arms folding neatly behind his rotted visage.
"…no, Henrietta. I'm afraid not. You've bitten off more than you can chew."
"Please!"
William Afton turned in clear disgust and backed off, eyeing the ever leaking bolts of golden light with…with dislike. Alarm. Afton was afraid. The sprouting lights were becoming blinding, and though Danny felt dread coil in his stomach, he also felt relief and hope blossom in his throat.
In his hand, the flashlight was so warm it was nearly burning him, but it felt good. It felt Alive.
She didn't understand. She didn't, but she was trying—and perhaps that was the most frustrating part out of all of this, because what good was it doing? Her hesitance was being shared, unfortunately.
Circus Baby had done everything Right. She had played her part, forced the others to play theirs. She had controlled and tugged and cheated and stole—she had promised and persuaded and sweetened deals.
And all their hard work—all her hard work—had paid off. They had won. They had gotten him, swallowed him whole, finally.
Until now, he was her biggest regret. He had gotten away, their tricky little Eggs.
All the other Suits had died, unable to be the perfect glove for them.
But this one—this was one was perfect.
Once he was on the outside, that is. Then he would be perfect. Would be finished and wearable and silent and she would be in full control of everything, and this messy situation would be behind them, and she could go outside and give ice cream to children just like she was meant to do, just like Father wanted her to—
"I'm afraid that's not gunna happen, Circus." A new voice broke through her mental thoughts.
Funtime Freddy was so shocked he was silent for a beat. That was never good.
Ballora and Funtime Fozy—thankfully—choose cagey silence, but were watching and listening closely in their hovering, combined net of brains. Ennard—all of them, together—felt the first stings of nervousness. It was one thing they could agree one. The distinct feeling of ominous doubt.
"Be silent." Circus Baby rasped, trying to remain soothing and calm, demure even. "It only hurts for a moment. Soon you will be gone. Then you will be ours."
"I'm a lotta things, but yours isn't one of 'em." Mike's voice laughed, and no matter how weak it was, it burned through her with cruel agony, with rage. How dare he? Mike, unaware or perhaps uncaring of her obvious annoyance, went on, speaking casually and calmly. It was almost soothing.
"I'm the original four's, mostly, I'm Freddy's. And a long time ago I was a puppet's.—" Mike's tone was light but his emotions turned grim and fierce; almost eerie.
"I'm the only hope Danny has of getting out of here, and you can bet your last bolt I'm going to make sure he does. And…well, I'm the night guard.
I am the Suit of Fredbear; and this is over, Circus Baby."
"Is it?" She demanded, her voice chilly even as fear fluttered along the edge of her Self. Funtime Freddy, and perhaps one of the others, was also growing uneasy at how calm this Suit was. Too calm. Dead calm.
"There is only one of you, and there are four of us." Circus Baby reminded with an air of breezy cruelty. "Stupid. I should think that would be obvious."
"There's two of me, but there's only one of you, Circus Baby." Mike mused lazily. He sounded exhausted, which was good.
…wasn't it?
"Stop speaking in riddles." She hissed, going for intimidation rather rapidly.
"Alright, fair'nough. Mari was the one who was good at them anyway." The feeling of a mental shrug, one of disinterest and boredom. It infuriated her.
"You don't know what we've been through." She reminded angrily.
Silence reigned, and in that moment, everything was Fine. And then all of a sudden it wasn't.
"I know enough, Henrietta Afton." Mike Schmidt's voice was a low murmur, strained and weak as it was. It shattered through them all like a lightning strike, her consciousness fluttering like a bird's wing against the bars of a cage—how dare he!?
"WHO'S HE TALKIN' TO, CIRC? HE TALKIN' TO YOU?"
"I dare say he is, good chap. Circus, dear, are you quite sure this is normal? He's already able to project to us all quite clearly—almost as if—"
"As if he has had practice before. As if he has been a Suit for a long, long while." Ballora paused, and Circus Baby willed her not to say it. She was shocked when the ballerina-bot spoke on anyway, "Longer than us."
"Thanks fer noticing, 'Lora. Coming up on ten years almost." Circus—Henria—Circus Baby wanted to slap the smug tone right from the damn night guard's almost chipper tone. "Decade anniversary, how bout that, Goldy?"
The Funtimes shivered as they all, nearly at once, became aware of Something on the edges of their Self.
It was big. And it was mean.
And it was Yeller.
And it had been circling all this time, winding in slowly. It moved with predatory sedateness, not with caution but practiced ease. Eggs—Mike—the Suit, stayed still, focusing their attention him willingly. He was like a bright, dazzling star, his Self smoldering and pretending to be weak, or easy to overpower.
Playing pretend, just like she had done to him.
Circus Baby wanted to lash out, to get angry and punish him—but that other self. It was closer now, breathing down their backs. Threatening. It was only staying its attack on Ennard's mental processors because—because?
…because of Eggs.
She was never in control; the second she made them take over the night guard's frame and smother it, her choice had cost them. That was why Father was so upset with her.
The horrible, terrible looming feeling of Fredbear billowed up like a thundercloud, sparking and glowing fiercely.
"I tried to help you four. I promised I would, and I did my best. But you…you weren't telling me the whole story. You lied, Circus Baby. Henrietta. I can't forgive that."
It was livid, she—they—could feel it. They were trying to take what was Fredbears' from him—and Fredbear would not share. Fredbear had lost enough, his stage, his diner, his Springbonnie. Ennard made a choked sound, wanted to tense and flee—but how do you run away from yourself?
"HE TRICKED US!" Funtime Freddy accused, sounding as outraged as he was petrified.
"Clever, that one—" Funtime Foxy admitted with a wince of fear.
"You were wrong, Circus Baby." Ballora's comment cut the deepest, for she sounded so softly rejected, so…disappointed. "We did not take him in. We let him out."
Fredbear grinned down at them at Ballora's comment, but Mike stared back with tired resignation, his blue and yellow eyes studying them all without a trace of fear. No…perhaps….Regret? Sympathy?
Circus Baby shrieked defiance and rage at him, daring him to pity her further. He was weak! He was useless! They—SHE—was strong! And she would show him so!
"CRUSH HIM!" she commanded her Funtimes, forcing their very selves to attack the soul of the man they had lured—thought they had lured—into their web.
No spider likes it when their fly fights back.
"KILL HIM! WHY ARE YOU ALL SCARED!? HE IS WEAKER THAN US! DO WHAT I TELL YOU! FIGHT BACK!" she wailed at them, sounding angrier at their clear disobedience than at Mike now. This did not go unnoticed by the watchful watchman, and his eyes narrowed as he drew up to his full height. Fredbear thrummed and seemed to grow in size in response.
"YEAH? WE DON'T STAND A GHOST OF A CHANCE AGAINST THAT, CIRC—"
"We should have left while we had the chance." Ballora murmured sadly. "All our hard work….wasted…"
"You can close my curtain all you like, dear," Funtime Foxy denied, "but I rather like my head left on my shoulders!"
Circus Baby howled at them, pushing and shoving their cluster of Selves from her and wishing she could throttle them here and now.
"They're fighting you real bad, aren't they?" Mike's voice cut through to Circus Baby, and she rounded furiously on the skinny man. Fredbear growled low and leaned in, waiting patiently.
"You weren't the one in control, Henrietta. Even if you were? It's not about control, it's about respect. Love, yanno? But you're…too far gone, I think. For now, anyway. Maybe…one day, you'll figure it out. But until then, I can't let this go unchecked anymore." Mike glanced down, his hand glowing bright, golden bright. He flexed his fingers and glanced at his right hip as if expecting to see something there, but then slid his eyes back toward her Inner Self. His smile was knowing and assured, and it terrified her.
"It's my job to protect the restaurant. To protect my family." Mike's arm lowered from blocking Fredbear, his other hand shoved lazily in his jacket pocket.
"I'm sorry." Mike muttered, and Circus Baby realized Mike no longer sounded tired.
He sounded angry.
And then the light was so bright, too bright, and the golden glow spread like a fire through their Self's.
Ennard screamed, so many voices all at once.
Mike Schmidt was silent, but Golden Freddy was roaring.
"Father! Help me!"
Danny wasn't sure what was going on within Ennard, but the outside was certainly a spectacular light show. He gripped Mike's flashlight tight, nearly feeling an invisible wind push him back, the epicenter of it being Ennard as they watched golden Freddy to materialize and Ennard being forced apart from the inside, their very center.
The day guard stumbled, once, and felt Bonnet's tiny paws hug his leg to help him—he would have laughed at the thought if the force of Golden Freddy hadn't swept the air from his lungs.
Something behind him moved, and he bumped into the back of it, an arm coming up to anchor him with one neat motion. He froze, fearing the worst until he saw the big paw was lavender colored, and Afton was still across the room, frame tense.
"Bonnie!" Danny cried in relief, legs nearly buckling when he realized who had a hold of him.
"You were expecting Roger Rabbt?" Bonnie cackled down at him, keeping his girth behind Danny as they watched Fredbear slowly overpower Ennard.
"Is it working—?" Danny dared to ask, almost unable to keep his eyes on the blazing golden form any longer.
"Dunno, but stay calm kid." The bunnybot urged. "I ain't hearing no fat lady singing yet—"
As if in agreement, Mangle crowed and darted from the ceiling, twining her long frame around Bonnie's back and keeping one head focused venomously on Afton, who growled as he watched the two animatronics turn to him.
"Try it." Bonnie threatened, "Make my freakin' year, you outdated, hunk of scrap—"
Mangle, for her part, only shrieked, flashing her big wide jaws and coiling herself like a cobra prepared to strike.
The Fazgang noticed and rounded on Afton in assertive warning, fist clenched and hook raised, turning slowly to threaten to gouge the rest of Afton out piece by piece, if that's what it took.
Afton's glare of disgust was suddenly more of unease when he eyed them and the flashlight he clearly wanted to take from Danny. But one against three…?
'Now we're outnumbered.' Springtrap's tired voice murmured to the last able Afton, with no small trace of relief. 'Well, Billy? What do you think? Is this worth it? Will you keep this up? Oh, I hope you will. I hope Goldy tears us in half for good this time. It will be worth it, to be rid of you.'
And then Ennard's mask was blasted off, cracking into several pieces and causing such a racket that Bonnie and Mangle and the Fazes all glanced reflexively across the hall.
When they turned back, Springtrap was gone, like a ghost.
"Coward." Bonnie spat, sounding so absolutely furious Danny was caught off guard. His friendly bunny was a bit like Mike—Bonnie could be bratty and rude but he too believed the best revenge for any will was fun. Not this time though.
Danny wanted to know where Afton went—if he was leaving, if he was hiding to regroup, and where. What else was down here, and where else was there to hide Mike didn't know about? Chances were slim. But he couldn't worry about that now, mostly because if his concentration slipped off Mike and Gold, he noticed the flashlight would begin to dim and flicker. His bones felt tired, his heart felt weary, but then a burst of a thick arm from the bulging wiring erupted through, and Danny felt his spirit soar.
"Mike!" He called, and even if Gold could or couldn't hear him, Danny took a step, forcing the light on Ennard more.
The yellow paw was big as ever, a scooper of its own as it grabbed hold of Ennard and ripped and tossed bits and pieces to reveal the bulk of Gold beneath them. Ennard's shrieks and thrashes were dying down, as more and more of the amalgamation was removed. Some parts twitched along the floor, wriggling like disoriented, confused snakes. Danny's stomach lurched, but Bonnie loomed at his shoulder and he felt emboldened, just a bit.
"Oh, ew," Bonnie said, eyeing the writhing hunks of Ennard. They curled helplessly and began to lie still, which was as creepy as it was reassuring somehow.
"I k-know, right?" Despite the situation, Danny managed a weak grin. Good old Bonnie.
The Fazgang snorted at them both, the gesture purely reflexively Freddy, and it made Danny smile weakly. And then just like that, just as the first flicker of light had started, it was over. Ennard went out quietly, even if the sounds of their parts and pieces rattled and clanged throughout the empty gallery room. Fredbear's foot came down on a glass eye, Danny wondered if it might have been Circus Baby's, and shattered it under his weight. Danny shivered. Solid ghosts were the worst of all, to be honest.
For a long moment no one moved, not the Fazes or Danny or Gold, who was staring down at the day guard. He was heaving in tired victory black, spectral residue spewing from his big maw, and his glowing golden eyes tracked Danny's ever fraction of movement. Bonnet twitched and his optics darted down to her, and she whimpered, hiding behind Danny's leg. He didn't blame her. He wanted to hide, too, behind Bonnie maybe. But he couldn't. Not now. He had a job to do. He owed this to Mike. His arms shook—running the Crying Child's flashlight took more out of you than was naturally normal, he was sure of that.
Even after all these years, Golden Freddy's ghost was still something that lanced ice through your spine.
Just as the hairs on the back of his neck pricked in unease, Bonnie shifted uneasily beside him.
"Okay." When nothing happened a paw jostled Danny's shoulder gently. "Okay, kid. Let him rest. It's over."
Danny, snapped from his revere, then glanced a startled look from Fredbear to Bonnie then down to the flashlight. He squinted back up, seeing the edges of Golden Freddy were thin and flickering weakly, like a dying bulb. Gold's heaves were harder and heavier, his exhaustion seeping through.
'Right. Mike wasn't strong enough to switch Suits. I had to help him. But now…' Now, he was doing more harm than good, and he jerked in shame and surprise, fingers fumbling for the off. The light bursting from the little flashlight snapped off, with no small hint of relief. Golden Freddy's jaw worked, clenching, before he nodded solemnly at Danny.
It felt like some strange, inner triumph, and Danny felt his shoulders square up on instinct as he nodded back. Golden Freddy had thanked him.
And then, in a few blinks, Golden Freddy went in, and Mike Schmidt came out. He admittedly looked worse than before, except his lively eyes were blazing in grim respite and assurance. His expression absolutely helped the uneasy day guard, who had truly worried if this had done Mike or Gold in for good—but no. Mike was Alive, standing there to prove it.
"H-hey—Freddy—uhn," Mike coughed, his frame wobbling unsteadily. That was all the night guard got out with one shaky hand outstretched, which was fine, because Freddy had heard him despite how low and small his voice was.
Mike took a half step and crumpled forward like a tin can. He was stopped from full on face planting, the hand without Foxy's hook swooping to catch him and keep him propped up best the big brute could. Mike was wholly unresponsive, slumped into the Fazes' massive girth, limbs loose. The Fazgang-machine turned its optics from black to Freddy's blue, groaning in rusty, vocal worry over their downed night guard as they gently shook him to rouse a response. There was none, and thought the monster didn't look satisfied they let the man be.
"Mike—? Is he—?" Danny moved forward, freezing when there was a growl of disapproval at his much to fast approach, only to see worn, faded lavender cover his vision. Bonnie could still move when he had to, that rabbit never let Danny forget that.
The stand-off between Freddy and Bonnie was brief, and almost nothing when compared to the moments before.
"Take it easy, Fred." Bonnie's normally blithe tone was lower than usual, laced with seriousness and certainty. "C'mon, Afton's high-tailed. Circ and them all in pieces across the room. Danny's only trying to help. He ain't gunna hurt Mike on us, you know that. Kid's a guard, just like Mikey…ini'he?"
Bonnie jerked his head toward the flashlight in Danny's white-knuckled grip, held in front of him like some strange shield.
The towering machine grumbled as he eyed that child's toy with no small amount of tension, sounding so Freddy Fazbear like that. And despite himself and the situation, Danny relaxed a hair. This was the Freddy he remembered—he and Mike truly, really, thankfully, had not changed that much. They only blended together, mixing a little more. The warning threat seemed to fade and melt away from him.
Mike hadn't lost his heart. Freddy hadn't lost his protective streak.
'Would me and Bonnie be this close if I stayed?' the thought was bitter-tasting, and it licked his heart with irritation even as the day guard shook himself. No time for those thoughts, not now. He had to focus, and make certain Bonnie's trust in him didn't go unnoticed or ignored.
"I just want to help Mike. I owe it to him, remember Freddy? For what happened…with the Nightmares? Let me help him. Please." Danny tried, sidling out to stand next to his old best friend instead of cowering behind like he used to. Danny was different, he was sure of it. It felt that, like Mike, he had aged down here. Something had gotten the ball rolling of course, it had started when he moved away from home and was forced to work in a job he hated among strangers he wasn't sure about. But down here he had felt like he had a purpose, he was doing a job that was important. Meant something. Is this how Mike felt?
Freddy—and Foxy and Chica—regarded him with less wariness and a low, cool gaze. It was one of assured recognition, and they turned in place, carefully exposing the slumped form of their night guard, his lean frame now curled up in their hold, head pillowed on their shoulder. But his breathing was steady, was in-fact oddly deep and relaxed.
'Right. Right, Gold…Gold takes a lot out of Mike even when he is healthy enough to support him. This is normal for Mike to be this out of it.' It helped Danny that no one—not even Freddy—seemed panicked over Mike's state. 'This is a good sign. He just needs rest. I gotta get him—and them—somewhere he can do that without any interruptions. Somewhere…protected. Hotel, maybe?'
Danny Fitzgerald was different; and the lights were dim even if they were on, but he stood differently. Confident. Shoulders back, and he stooped to collect tired little Bonnet when she tugged his pant leg shyly. He didn't break his gaze with the Fazgang, only scooped her up and settled her in his arms as she hunkered down, her big pink ears hanging. She was tired, too! And really, no wonder Freddy didn't recognize him; only saw him as a potential threat to their unconscious and prone night guard. It was a strange compliment, really, that Freddy mistook him for someone with the potential to be dangerous. He had never done that before, when Danny first took that job. Huh. Danny filed that away for later, fascinated by it. He was just…him, wasn't he? No, he was a day guard. Mike's shift was over for the moment. Danny's was just starting.
"I gotta car? We could maybe…get out of here, but…" The day guard tried, glancing warily at the corners. No sign of Afton…or Springtrap, the poor guy.
Freddy—and Foxy, he could hear them both now that he knew what pitches to listen for—growled in intense disagreement. Bonnie backed them up, if more calmly, and explained their noises as if they had spoken clear English.
"Nawh, no cars. Not leaving until Mike's up. But ah'dunno bout staying here or that little room with the monitors. There's a first aid kit that he took from the van and put in Parts and Services 2."
"The van's here?" That would be good for when they were finally, blessedly, allowed to leave this hell hole.
"Yeah, Mike parked it in back of the building and covered it inna tarp I think." Bonnie said.
"That explains why me or Spring didn't see it." Danny mumbled, but nodded slowly.
"Okay." He breathed. One step at a time. Think like Mike. "Follow me and Bonnet, guys. I can get you to—to…" He bit his lip, jaw working. "To Parts and Services 2. Yeah. Down the hall, off Funtime Freddy's room." It was easy to defend if they blocked the hidden passage way. And it was big enough while still being protected.
"Where Mike stored yer endosuits." Bonnie supplied helpfully, and this seemed to help the Fazgang become more agreeable by the second. Danny didn't even try to approach them to get a better look at Mike. Not until they were somewhere with no HandyUnit and could be assured of no more threats or strange surprise. He wasn't about to undo all this work and set off Freddy again.
"And, and Mangle," Danny swiveled now, twisting to find the slender fox as she skated upside down across the ceiling in one long, waving undulation. Watching her slither so effortlessly to his side and so willingly boosted Danny's confidence further. He could do this—he'd show them that he hadn't made nothing of himself while he was gone. He was worth his title, not just because the Marionette—or it's ghost?—had said so.
"Mangle. I need you to…" Think, what did Mike tell her? "The vents! Stay—stay in the vents. Look out for trouble. For anything you think could come find us while we bunker down." He eyed her thin, soldered together form. It was a little loose, a little worn, from her vicious tangle with Ennard when they defended Danny, and likely from when she launched at Afton to keep him from getting the flashlight. "Do not engage, okay? Even if they start shi—" Freddy rumbled in warning from behind him, and Danny's ears flushed scarlet. 'Right. Swear jar. That hasn't changed neither, good to know.'
"Start…a fight, with you, I mean." Danny fumbled, "Run, okay? Protect yourself, because I don't know how to put you back together, only Mike can. So just…be on the lookout, but stay safe…Please?"
Mangle, who shot Bonnie an amused little smirk, turned to Danny and nodded her large, shiny toy head once, in understanding.
"If, if anyone—or anything—leaves or enters this place, come get me." He watched as she departed, snaking herself upwards into the dark, gaping square of the ventilation system. Her soft clanks became more and more muted, and soon she was gone.
"…what'bout me?" Bonnet's tiny voice asked, around a staticy noise that sounded suspiciously like a yawn. Danny melted.
"You rest up your batteries, Bonnet." Danny chuckled, giving her a fond squeeze as the little bonnie model curled up against him with no small amount of relief. "I'll take care of you."
He said this to Bonnet, but Bonnie's optics glanced from the day guard to the night guard.
"C'mon, kid. You stay between me an' Ginormo. Let's get to Services right quick—"
"Like a bunny?" Danny asked, and blamed his adrenaline tanking for his small joke that earned him a snort of fondness from Bonnie.
"There ain't no other that's faster~"
Danny smiled, and even if he couldn't muster a laugh, he knew Bonnie didn't mind. Bonnie understood.
The Fazes always did when it came to their kids.
"There. It is done."
"For now." Reminded the too blithe voice. "Still gotta lot to even get started before show time, kiddo."
"I suppose, yes. But that isn't the point. A victory is still a victory, no matter how small."
"Uh-huh. Saw you there, yanno. Making sure the little pink one got the flashlight in time."
"Your point?"
"S'not like you to cheat, Puppet."
"On the contrary," there was a wicked smile aimed his way, one devoid of humor and empty as the void. "I think you will find I have been cheating this whole entire time. It serves its purpose. You would not be here if I had not cheated, in fact. I would not be. If you are so against it, go back into the ground then."
He received no answer, which was just fine.
"I didn't think so. Playing fair is all well and good until your opponent starts it first. And Afton has been cheating long before even me…
But then…I shouldn't have to tell you that, Henry."
Mike Schmidt woke to a very distinct feeling of what he had come to call old-pain. It wasn't quite phantom-pain, although the term would be funny and ironic, but it wasn't necessarily correct. He still had all his limbs, somehow, after all these years. (Although Mangle had given it her best shot that night in the warehouse.) So his pain that he felt was dim and dulled—Gold was taking care of it. Slowly, but surely. Gold was unresponsive, which wasn't too out of the ordinary. Gold made Freddy look like a Chatty Kathy doll even on the best of days. Mike sent a wave of warmth and affection anyway, almost smiling when the old ghost purred across their bond and returned it. Okay, good. They were still altogether. They were still all them. No one else, no Ennard.
And when he breathed, he felt bandaged push back against his side, which was good. There were no painkillers in his system, which was even better. Hospitals did their best but he was different now, and any drugs meant to help usually hindered the spirit of Gold, leaving Mike useless and Gold pissed at what he perceived as an attack on their system. All in all, Mike was sore, and stiff and aching. But he was Alive. It was silent, save for the soft murmur of voices, or the whirr of old, steady machinery. The Funtimes were so New and Shiny, they were utterly silent. It was creepy. So to hear these noises, the sounds that were as to familiar to Mike as his two heartbeats was a comfort almost beyond description.
He cracked open his eyes. Parts and Services. Probably the second one, since the first was blocked and unable to be used. Okay. So they were safe, maybe? Tiredly, Mike exhaled and started to rise, because he was still Mike Schmidt, and sometimes Mike Schmidt could be an idiot.
"Mike? H-hey, wait, you're still hurt dude—" That was Danny, who sounded spooked and there was a clang of metal, as if some small tool had gotten dropped onto Service2's shiny tile.
"Take it easy lad, yer gunna lose yer mainsail worrying like that," Foxy? Foxy!
"Here, man, sit back." A big paw but not bigger than Freddy's gripped his good shoulder and he was scooted back, something soft smushing behind him as he was helped to lean against the wall. It was the hoodie he had seen Danny wearing, although now it was on pillow duty from where they had laid Mike down.
"Bonnie—hey." Mike smiled up at the purple bunny despite the situation. "Long time no seen, rabbit."
"Only a few weeks, dude." But Bonnie was grinning back, even if his optic-lids lowered in warm worry as he clapped Mike's shoulder. "Good to see you're in one piece, though. Glad you called in the kid; he saved your sorry hide."
Mike's gaze flitted to straight ahead and across the room, remembering his and Danny's conversation and realizing Danny had gotten to Bon first.
"…yeah." He hummed thoughtfully, watching the unsure young man pick himself up and stand sheepishly by Chica's open suit. "I'm glad I did to."
Danny's look of hesitance fluttered to embarrassed pride, and Mike's grin twitched wider.
He stayed where he was—Bonnie's paw was reminding him to do so or else anyway—and so he eyed the room. He had been right, it was Parts and Services 2.
A little more crowded than he last left it. Which was a relief all by itself. Bonnie was on his right, and they had positioned Mike to rest against the far wall, everyone from Bonnie to even little Bonnet between Mike and the door. The hidden exit had a desk pushed none too hastily in front of it, just in case. It was good thinking, and Mike knew Bonnie was the only one strong enough to push it when they would have first entered this little workroom. The Fazgmagalmation was sitting on the far bench, looking smaller and peeled open. The big frame was still and silent, the laptop hooked up to it pulsing lowly. Foxy's connection port was hanging loosely off the desk. Chica's was still feeding back into her neck, and Freddy's wasn't even hooked up yet. Mike wasn't surprised.
"Lad, ye look a right mess." Foxy grumbled, shaking his ratted fur as he rose from his crouch by Danny and moved over to inspect Mike for himself. His jaw swung with a familiar creak, and Mike grinned and moved on reflex, digging a screwdriver out of his back pocket and tightening it for Foxy who leaned in, head tilted up obligingly.
"Hey, I've had worse." Mike rebutted, laughing when Foxy grunted warningly. Mike ran a comforting hand over Foxy's big long muzzle to soothe him. "Okay, fine, but still. I'll be alright, Captain. Danny," the kid jerked in surprise and to attention again, "Did you do all this…?"
"Bonnie's been helping me." Danny explained, as if fearing getting in trouble for taking the Fazes apart and slowly and methodically putting them together. "He said you built them to come apart faster than when you put them together…"
"Yeah. Just in case we lost and Ennard got into them. Anything they did had to be an easy to fix…and I wanted to put them back in their Suits at some point." Mike shrugged. "I must'a been out for a while, though."
"Uhm, I think about a day and a half…" Danny winced when Mike's eyebrows shot up with worry. "I'm okay! Mangle found me something from a vending machine, actually."
"Didn't mind being so big and together," Foxy admitted as he rested lazily, his wide wedge head lying across Mike's lap. "…but it's good ta be in me own suit."
"I wanted to do Freddy first but, but he wouldn't…"
"Freddy's like me." Mike laughed, sounding fond. "And he's always been programmed to look after the band, Danny. There was no way he'd let you work on him first when the others weren't safe and sound."
"Right." With a relived look at the man for his easy-going understanding, Danny went back to filling and tightening Chica's arms, wedging them snugly into her suit.
"When these two mother hens let me up, I'll help you with Faz." Mike assured the day guard, who nodded as he concentrated.
"I think I'm just happy they felt safe enough here to power down and let you get them back in their original bodies."
The silence punctured the air, and Mike's sharp eyes narrowed in understanding when he received no answer.
"…Afton's gone, isn't he." It was the quickest logical conclusion for Mike, even though he didn't look happy at his assumption and he didn't voice his question as one. He could feel it, mostly from Gold. Gold and Springtrap…used to be so close. Gold remembered. Danny's shoulders slumped, and Foxy's growl was all the answer the night guard needed.
"Mangle can't find him anywhere Mike," Danny bemoaned. "She's looked all over. HandyUnit's not powering on anymore. The whole place is…it's like it's gone dead."
"Generator's pumping in power for some of the lights and air, but that's it." Bon informed as he twanged his guitar absently. "We figure we got bout a day left before it shuts down for good. Which is why Danny started repairing the others. Wherever that purple jerk has gone, it's not down here. And…there's something else, too."
"Ennard's gone." Danny said. "Well, what Gold left of it, anyway."
"Gone?" Mike demanded, almost sitting up if Foxy hadn't grunted and pinned him protectively.
"Watch yer wounds, Mike." And the sudden appearance of his name from the pirate fox caused poor Mike to relax back in shock.
"Yah-huh." Bonnie nodded. "Checked for them, too. Van's still here, so's Danny's ride."
"So both of them left, on foot. They couldn't have gotten far. And they won't be moving in the day time, either." He checked his watch.
"You're in no shape to go after 'em, Mike." Bonnie cut off the night guard before he could even begin to protest. "Nuh-uh. Freddy'd have your head, dude, and then my ears for letting you go off in this state. Give Gold a rest."
"But they can't—they can't just get away." Mike protested, his own scowl stretching the claw scars on his cheek.
"Jus' fer now." Foxy corrected with a small knowing nod. "Just fer a bit. We'll find 'em. They ain't in no shape to start killing kids, and risk getting attention."
"…Bonnie and Foxy are right, Mike." Danny tried as he sat back, closing Chica's arm. "But everyone's exhausted. You can't push yourself and not expect the others to not follow suit."
"Funny," Bonnie teased, but he looked more proud at Danny than anything else. The kid grumbled, cheeks tinting as he busied himself with carefully fetching another piece of Chica's endoskeleton.
All good points. Just points Mike didn't want to hear. But they were right. Gold agreed with them—even if he was just as annoyed as Mike over Afton sneaking away yet again. And whatever Ennard was up to, that couldn't be good.
'I don't know if Henrietta is still in control of them. If she is, they're dangerous already let alone when she's trying to run them all at once. If she isn't, that's another animatronic to worry about. The Funtimes, Circus Baby, and Afton. All three separate. And somewhere out there.'
This was not good.
Mike settled back, his eyes landing on the Fazes combined form. He felt a pang in his heart, and the last dregs of burning fury faded to dying embers. He couldn't leave Freddy and the others again. Not after what they've all gone through to help him, even when he broke the rules and came down here.
'Freddy was right. I got in over my head.'
But that was over now. It had happened, and the ripples of it were still being felt out in the world, that was true. However, Mike couldn't keep rocking the boat and then complain about the waves.
He needed to rest, heal, and regroup. And he needed the Fazes back in their original, if crickety, bodies. This little Hail Mary had been a good plan but it wasn't a sustainable one. The gang was too old.
"Fine." He sighed, slouching back under Foxy's warm, comforting weight. He stroked one of the fox's triangle ears and puzzled to himself for a while.
"But this isn't over."
"No one's sayin' it has ta' be, lad." Foxy comforted, which helped. "But we all gotta learn ta pick our battles. If they start some nonsense, we'll know about it. We'll act if we have to. But now…right now…we ain't got the gunfire for that, matey. Let it be."
Mike lapsed into somber silence, thinking about nightmares and puppets and the strange feeling of being watched when he knew they really weren't being.
And then Danny needed help with Chica's left leg, and he focused on something else for a while. Something that, to Mike, was more important than revenge.
His family needed him right now.
Half a day later, Danny Fitzgerald walked out of Circus Baby's Pizza World, and winced when natural, life-giving sunlight stung his eyes. He blinked, feeling awkward as he stepped into the light and shivered at the gust of wind that blew through his bones. Bonnie halted behind him, ears cocking to the side when the kid stopped for apparently no reason. Bonnie studied the kid's tense posture, and watched Danny's hand rise up to shield his sensitive eyes.
"Oh, not used to it, huh? Well don't look up at it, ya dumby." Bonnie mused, sounding as regretful as Bon could when he was teasing someone lightly.
"It's not easy being down there, I don't blame him. Want my sunglasses?" Mike offered, his two-tone eyes hidden behind a thick pair of raybans that Mike had sheepishly laughed were mere knock offs—but were great because they got the job done—hiding Mike's eyes and providing cover since he worked in a dark place. Even most of his scars were hidden.
"I'm okay," Danny smiled, lowering his hand when the sun was hidden by a slinking, puffy white cloud.
Fall was bright and crisp and cold, and it seemed much happier than the little crowd that left the strange black building that hid such terrible secrets was currently feeling. Still, it was hard not to feel your spirits lift a little, especially when they discovered the van was just fine, and so was Danny's mom's car. There was nothing of interest nearby, but a shopping centre a few miles away had cars heading to it. It was hard for the humans or the animatronics to be seen behind the building, which was good.
Mike turned back once, double locking the doors and hesitating. The flashlight hung at his side once more, and he was walking a bit better already. Mangle chattered over his shoulder, moving carefully with Foxy holding most of her great bulk. Everyone noticed Mike's pause, his fingers splayed on the door as he stared into space at the entrance.
"Generator's broke, son. Ain't gunna turn on no more." Rumbled a deep voice, and Mike jerked at Freddy's voice, and then relaxed at the reminder.
"I just…keep thinking. If they decide to come back here…?"
"Why would they?" Chica asked, her light voice holding a soft edge to it as she followed Bonnie and Danny. "William knows there's nothing down there now, and the Funtimes…"
"All they wanted was to get out of there." Bonnie snorted, glancing non-too nicely down at Bonnet, who buried her face in Danny's shirt and then peeked out with a meek challenging frown. She wasn't doing nothing! She looked like she wanted to stick her little tongue out at Bonnie—if she had one in the first place that is.
"Can't say I blame them." Mike muttered, and everyone lapsed into sheepish silence.
Danny had gotten more and more of the events of the past few weeks from Bonnie and Foxy, mostly while Mike had slept and Danny worked on Chica.
At first, it had seemed too good to be true. New animatronics? Haunted or not—possibly, anyway—could be just the thing the dying business Mike was running needed! Fresh faces, shiny models, so what if they were a little odd? A little off? Mike could get through to any bot, hadn't Mangle proved that?
The invitation had been sweetly worded, and welcoming. Friendly. Foxy had later admitted angrily to Danny a very good point; they should have known it was Circus Baby's doing. But Mike, who saw the best in everybody all the time, had ignored Freddy's warnings. Perhaps he had ignored some of Gold's too, falling hard for Circus Baby's innocent lost little girl act, her crocodile tears that hid terrible crocodile teeth. And then one night Mike came back to them, bloodied, terrified, and hurt from the stinging betrayal when Ennard tried to Scoop Eggs out, and scramble him. After that he returned to Pizza World, only this time with reinforcements and the knowledge he could not let this happen to anyone else ever again.
And so, like always, Mike began a plan.
Eventually all the Fazes understood Mike's reasons and his underlying anguish. Gaining the Funtimes' trust was too hard. They were too hurt, too battered.
Too…different…from a normal Fazmachine. They didn't know what was really wrong until Bonnie said that Mike found some blueprints.
Blueprints that explained far too much, not so much about how the Funtimes performed, but about how they worked. Copying, tracking, mimicking, and gassing. Capturing.
That had been awful, but it wasn't quite as awful as what Mike found in a little hidden office, mostly purple and very dusty and abandoned. Pictures of children as test subjects, pictures of his own goddamn child, his development on Circus Baby. A death certificate.
Afton's attempt at playing Puppet. Selfish, vindictive, cruel Afton, who used Alex Afton's death as a means to an end to get what he wanted. A way for his little girl to live forever. And to follow in his footsteps, like every child should—according to Afton, anyway.
The potential saviors of the restaurant became Mike's nightmare come to life, especially once he realized Circus Baby was using him and had been, from the start. That her plan was beyond unhinged, she didn't merely want to leave the underground, she wanted to be normal and passing as a human when she did.
They were built to be dangerous, and so dangerous they were. In the end, maybe that was part of the problem for Mike Schmidt.
About five days after Ennard's second and nearly finishing attack on Mike, Danny had shown up, with Springtrap in tow.
And despite how it had ended down there, Danny couldn't truthfully tell you he regretted any of it. If he hadn't come down here—if Springtrap hadn't shown him the way by finding the key—Mike and the Fazes might not have made it as well as they did. Danny wondered if Mike understood that and agreed with his risks, but decided not to broach the subject. Friends didn't have to agree all the time. And moreso, even if Freddy agreed with the others and were now respecting Danny as a guard, that didn't mean Danny could go and upset Mike just for some hashing out. To say nothing of the hidden messages Danny had found…
"Let's go home, gang." Mike said, and Danny could almost reach out and touch the relief the Fazes emitted.
"Everyone can fit in the van, let's see," after a head count, Mike realized something and turned to the day guard, and glanced at the little pink bunnybot in his arms.
"Y'know, Danny…" he started, walking over to address the young man. Danny noticed Freddy moving with him, even as the others moved to clear off the van, and help Mangle load herself safely in.
"Bonnet's prolly gunna need someone to look out for her now." A very familiar grin of Mike's returned, gentle and confident. "Think you're up for it? …Bonnet? Is that okay with you?"
"I—"
"Yes!" Bonnet gasped in delight. "I want to stay with Danny! Can I?!"
Honestly, even if he had planned to say no, he wasn't sure he could have now.
"Is that okay, Mike?" Danny asked shyly. "I mean I don't live nearby anymore…that is…for now. I want to move back to Hurricane at some point, but..."
"Sounds good." Mike shrugged, albeit carefully. He was still healing, and every small pained movement or wince was caught by deep blue optics, Freddy looming just behind Mike as a paw came up to steady the scarecrow of a man.
"I don't have to head back until next week," Danny assured quickly, realizing how he sounded. "I can help you and the gang get back to the restaurant."
"Sounds even better. I could use a hand for a while, until we get customers back and until I can breathe without my ribs screaming at me." The man laughed.
"…'back?'" Danny frowned, remembering the awful state of the boarded up little building.
"Yeah. Being down there wasn't a total bust." Mike's smile twitched, crooked and amused. "I've got plenty of raw parts to boost these guys' exoskeletons. Suits might be a little shabby," Mike reached up to dust off a very patient Freddy's shoulder, "but we can start booking parties again. I can focus on getting us work and money instead of…instead of being here."
"It's good ta hear ya focused again, son." Freddy Fazbear rumbled down to the night guard.
"Yeah." Mike's eyes flickered dark, briefly but it was there. "And while we do that, we keep an eye on out for…you know who. The ones who got away."
Another thing that hadn't changed, and somehow Danny was okay with that. Mike Schmidt didn't quit, and he wasn't perfect, but he always made up for his mistakes.
'This isn't over for Mike. I don't blame him.' Danny bid the man a brief, short farewell since he was going to follow the man back to Freddy Fazbear's pizzeria. He watched Bonnet perch in the passenger seat and buckle her little self in, wriggling happily as she tried to see over the passenger side door and out the window as he started the car. Then she was enamored with the radio, fiddling with the knobs and giggling to herself as she searched for music. Danny chuckled at her, and let her be.
'But at least I got him through to the next part. For what comes next. Whatever that is.' It wouldn't go away in a single day, but what problems did? This was the nature of Mike's—of Danny's—job when you were a guard at Freddy's. They were there for a reason, to protect and look after the place and its animatronics and of course, its children. And, maybe, that had been his role all along. That might have been all the Marionette expected of him. To be there for Mike for this and then wait until Mike called him again. He hoped the man would.
When Danny leaned around to check if he could back up out of his spot, he just about had a heart attack.
Because sitting in the middle of the back seat, smiling up at him was a purple Bonnie plush. It had a little fabric badge, and a tiny yellow flashlight stitched to its paw, in place of its guitar. Danny's hand shot for his hip on reflex—but, no. The flashlight was gone, it was back with Mike. This time it wouldn't be reappearing, Danny felt that deep in his soul, in his gut. Danny knew about the plush toys the Prize Room used to sell. And he knew who used to run the Prize Room, and so he definitely knew this was not one of the models sold, not ever. It was too specific. The bonnie plush has green stitched eyes, the same color as his.
There was even a little note, in thin, scrawly script that he could just make out, because he was used to reading it by now.
'Thank you, for all you've done. –M'
END. FOR NOW.
"Not here to lose!
Not here for you to choose how we should be
'Cause we're not part of your machine
We're not, we're not part, we're not part of your machine…"
-Sisterwives, 'Machine'
How we all doing? World's been crazy, and I want to finish this now that I've got time and a short stay-cation coming up. Now, don't look at me like that, dear reader. Yes, I left a lot of loose ends for Mike and co to clean up. He wouldn't have a job if there wasn't something for him to do though, right?
I hope you have lots of questions left. And suspicions, too, like our favorite night guard. I hope you had fun reading this, and I hope you got scared, just a little, (or perhaps a lot) during this latest installment of the knight guard. This is a horror story, after all, and that will never change.
But most importantly, I hoped you liked Finding Freddy. I know I had a strange relationship writing it, but it was a good test for me. I can't being to tell you how your wonderful reviews and patience has kept me writing this, and forced me to not give up on the story or Mike and his friends. Actually, FF has rather grown on me over the months I picked it back up. I've had endless excitement for the upcoming piece, however, which is already 3 chapters written and ready. It will be hard to wait to post it! But then, that's another story for another day. Stay tuned for danger, and don't forget to check out the epilogue.
And remember to be wary of following rabbits down rabbit holes, lest you end up like poor Alice.
-Spidey