Author notes:
Here's the next chapter. Hope you enjoy :)
Chapter 6
Day Shift
Ruby rolled over at the sound of her phone ringing and gave it a sleepy glare. Reaching her hand out she answered it irritably without checking caller id.
"What?" she growled.
There was a moment's silence before a shaky voice answered.
"Afternoon Ruby." Her manager's voice came though.
"Manager?" she mumbled sleepily.
"Yes." He answered quickly.
"What are you calling for? It's still daylight so I can't be late for my shift." She leaned her head back into the nice soft pillow that was calling her back to dreamland.
Such a nice dream too. Filled with exploding cookies.
"Um sorry to disturb you Ruby but I had no other choice. The day guard called in sick and there's no one else to replace him." He explained nervously.
It took Ruby's sleepy brain a moment to process this.
"So you want me to cover it?" she deduced.
"Yes. You'll be paid overtime of course." He assured her.
"Sure. Why not? It'll be nice to terrorise the staff instead of the 'bots for once." She smirked.
"Uh, yes. Well, see you in half an hour." He hung up.
Ruby sat up and stretched. She'd have to hype up on sugar and caffeine for the night but she should be fine. Getting dressed quickly she bounced down the stairs two at a time and grabbed something sugary from the kitchen.
Ricky was in the living room playing with some action figure when she ran for the door.
"Ruby?" he asked, looking up at her. "Where you going?"
"Gotta cover some guy's shift. He called in sick." She explained.
The boy's face morphed into a frown. "But you said you'd spend time with me today when you woke up." He whined.
She paused and looked over at him.
"I know, I'm sorry squirt. Can't leave them in the lurch like this though. I'll make it up to you okay?" she smiled at him.
He huffed in annoyance for a moment before nodding. She chuckled slightly and waved at him.
"See ya Ricky."
It was a busy day at Freddy's so the animatronics didn't dwell on their night guard problem much. At least, until she walked through the front door.
Dressed in blue jeans and a yellow t-shirt with a sugar covered donut jammed into her mouth, she was juggling a cup of steaming coffee as well as her rather full backpack which seemed to be defying her every attempt to get back up on her shoulder.
"Ah R-R-Ruby." The manager walked up to her quickly and forced a smile. "Thank you for coming in."
"Mmmph." The night guard mumbled something around the food and nodded her head, glaring at her backpack.
"Ah well, you can settle in the office and then just keep an eye on things?" he asked.
She nodded again and headed off in the direction of the office, still struggling with her bag and coffee.
"What's she doing here?!" Bonnie hissed to Freddy while Chica just glared in annoyance.
"Looks like she's covering the day shift." Freddy murmured, frowning. "The afternoon guard called in sick remember?"
"Ugh, and there was no one else to call?" Bonnie rubbed his face in despair. "She's going to drive us nuts."
Surprisingly though, for the first hour she stayed in the office and left the 'bots alone. They only caught their first glimpse of her out of the office at two.
Bonnie groaned as she walked into the room and tried to distract himself with the kids clamouring for his attention.
"Where's your night guard cap?" one of the other employees asked however and he glanced over.
She really wasn't wearing it and now that he thought about it, she hadn't been wearing it all week.
He glanced in confusion at Freddy who shrugged, obviously having come to the same realisation.
Ruby eyed the man in annoyance.
"It's PURPLE." She stated as if that explained everything.
"So?" the man (who clearly had a death wish) asked.
She turned to face him fully, crossing her arms. "I don't LIKE purple. It's not my colour."
"It's part of the uniform." The man argued. "You've got to wear it."
She laughed and stepped closer. "I'd love to see you make me buddy. Might break your arm though. I don't wear it if I don't like it."
The poor man floundered around for a moment before he steeled himself to further argue his point. Luckily Jerry swept in to save the idiot.
"Here Ruby. It's a bit improvised but it should work just fine." He smiled shakily at her while pushing the other man away subtly.
Clever man.
Ruby just grinned brightly. "Thanks Jerry! It's fine."
She took the offered simple, black hat that had the company's logo pinned to it and jammed it down on her head.
"Well, I'd better get going. Supposed to be doing guard things after all." She waved at him, now completely ignoring the other man.
"Are you stupid?" Jerry hissed at the man when she was out the room.
He then proceeded to scold the man for provoking the unstable night guard.
"Huh. She doesn't like purple?" Freddy mused. "A night guard with taste in colour then."
Bonnie stayed quiet. He never liked the fact that his fur was the murderer's favourite colour after all. Slightly depressed now he moved towards some kids to do his entertaining job.
There was a lull in activity in Pirate's Cove so Foxy was taking a moment's break. He looked around at the room and smiled slightly. It really was a pirate's paradise.
A large replica of a pirate's ship stood in the centre of the room and it was surrounded by a sea of plastic balls. The walls were painted to give the illusion of the blue sky and sandy islands. There was also a large amount of pirate props all over the place for kids to play with.
"Wow I haven't been in here in years." A voice whistled from the doorway.
Surprised, he turned around to see the grinning night guard.
"What are you doing here lass?" he asked curiously.
"Manager asked me to cover the day shift since the guy called in sick." She walked further in, looking around with a nostalgic expression.
"Bet the others weren't impressed when they saw ya?" he chuckled.
"Nope." She smirked. "But I'm not here on animatronic business. I'm here on people babysitting."
He laughed at the description. Having an employee come up and speak to him willingly was actually a rather enjoyable feeling.
"I thought that maybe you'd be the only animatronic not likely to growl at me if I tried to start a conversation." She looked at him out of the corner of her eye, her posture impossibly relaxed.
"Probably." He admitted. "I've got no problem with ya being here lass."
Her smile was almost blinding.
"Thanks." And it sounded like she meant it. "But don't worry, I won't bother the animatronics. They had enough of me last night I think. If anything I'll be driving the staff crazy instead."
He chuckled again as he watched her walk around looking at everything with that expression still on her face.
"So ya were in here a lot?" he asked.
She smiled back at him. "Yeah. My parents had to drag me out every time we visited."
Foxy looked thoughtful as he tried to think of which kid she was. She laughed at his expression.
"I was the kid who broke her arm falling off the mast after she thought it was a great idea to climb to the top." She explained.
Foxy gaped at her. "You're that little spitfire? You drove the staff crazy with your antics! Actually it kind of makes sense now that I think about it."
He laughed again as he remembered the little girl. She was always getting into trouble one way or another.
And she had been back in Pirate's Cove, cast and all, the week after her fall as if nothing had happened.
"You were my favourite back then." Her eyes glazed over a bit as she thought back. "Still are."
She smirked at his shocked expression.
"You think some homicidal behaviour is going to change that?" she grinned and he shook his head in defeat.
"You really are something Ruby." He grinned, the fond feelings he had had for the girl rising back to the surface as she smiled that now very familiar cheeky smile.
She had been his favourite back then too.
"Remember the sword fight?" she asked suddenly.
"Yeah." His grin widened.
She was a fantastic swordswoman at seven.
"Just about gave my mom a heart attack that day. I asked for a real sword for my upcoming birthday." Her smirk turned just a bit devious. "I'm probably the only kid in the world who can say that I had that wish come true. She figured if she didn't give it to me I'd find a way to get my hands on one anyway."
"I believe you." He laughed. "You were a determined lass. Still are."
He sobered a bit and looked at her critically.
"Why are you so determined to stick around Ruby?" he asked.
Her expression turned thoughtful. "I guess, originally I thought it would be great to see you guys again. After that…You guys don't seem as happy as you were back then."
His eyes widened.
"Bonnie looks a lot better when he's actively running around instead of sneaking all over the place don't you think?"
"Hmmm, yeah. Things have been a lot more exciting since you showed up. They're stubborn though, so they won't see it." Foxy shrugged one shoulder.
"Well then, I'll just out-stubborn them." Her eyes sparkled as she headed back to the doorway. "I'd better get back to my job. Thanks for the talk Foxy. It's great to see you again."
"Yeah lass, it is." He smiled softly at the empty room once she was gone. "And I don't doubt that you can get through to them. I hope you don't get hurt for your trouble though."
With that he turned to the group of children that were just entering the cove, his thoughts still heavily on Ruby.
The night guard was recharging on coffee in the kitchen when Bonnie walked in to pick up a pizza for one of the tables. The kitchen staff shivered at the glare he shot the girl but she seemed oblivious, alternating between the coffee and biting into a chocolate chip cookie.
As he stalked past her to get the pizza she smirked at his back. "Afternoon Bonnie!" she chirped as everyone in the room paled in shock.
The NIGHT GUARD just spoke to an ANIMATRONIC.
They really hoped that there wouldn't be a blood bath in the kitchen. Bonnie on the other hand just growled at her as he turned around with the pizza in his hands. There was a moment of tense silence as the two stared each other down but it was broken by a sudden bang.
The sound, now very familiar to the two, caused them to turn around in confusion. One of the staff members had backed up too quickly and bumped into the counter behind him. Trying to regain his balance he had grabbed at the frying pan above him. That, however, had set off one of her leftover traps…
The poor man was now covered in cream.
No one was even sure how the trap had worked.
Ruby started laughing of course. "I forgot about that one! I distracted Chica in the kitchen before she set off my Cream Frying Pan prank. This is brilliant though!"
She curled into herself as she laughed. Bonnie rolled his eyes and turned to leave. Unknown to the rest of the room however, he was trying to keep his own laughter stifled. It was a good prank. Not that she had to know that he thought that.
Ruby downed her coffee as the creamed employee made a grab for her and darted around the table. Digging in her bag she quickly produced three cookies and tossed them like Frisbees. Three bangs later the kitchen had been streamer-ed and Ruby was laughing maniacally as she escaped.
"What?" she called back. "Thought the 'bots were the only ones I was going to bother?"
Luckily for her the staff wasn't as familiar with the vent system as she was.
Bonnie took a moment to collect himself in a side hallway before taking the pizza into the room. However, for some reason he felt like his mood had improved since that morning.
Ruby spent a lot of the afternoon terrorising the staff. The people that laughed the pranks off and enjoyed her energetic attitude found that they had fun. The people that found them, and her, irritating suffered though.
"Exploding biscuits?! Glitter bombs?! There was a tripwire across the staff bathroom entryway! And she covered the floor in peanut butter!" Henry complained, wiping said peanut butter off his face.
Jerry chuckled. "She's just having fun Henry."
The other man muttered profanities as the two moved through one of the rooms. The kids however found these sudden jokes and traps hilarious and Ruby seemed to have recruited a bunch of them to help in her mission.
It turned out that she was a hit with the kids.
They loved her random behaviour and she led them on many a 'mission' that day. It wasn't just mischief that she was good with though and that surprised a lot of people (and 'bots).
A tearful child grabbed onto Ruby's pant leg and looked up at her.
"Miss Security Guard?" he asked hesitantly.
She looked down, immediately stowing away the glitter mine in her hand. Her sudden change from sadistic prankster to concerned security guard threw the nearby employees and 'bots off balance.
"Yes sweety? Is something wrong?" she wiped the tears from the boy's face.
"I can't find my mommy." He hiccupped slightly.
He looked only about five years old.
"Shhh honey shhh. It's alright. We'll go looking for your mommy right away okay?" she smiled gently at him.
Still teary-eyed he nodded his head.
"Alright. Now I'm sure you can't see anything from down there so how about a lift?" she smiled mischievously.
Suddenly she swept the boy off the floor and settled him on her shoulders, startling a delighted laugh out of him.
"So how about we give you some height?" she laughed with him and started walking around, keeping an eye out for distressed mothers while he babbled about how much fun he was having.
After ten minutes of looking she finally spotted a panicky looking woman speaking to the manager.
"Hey sweetheart?" she said, catching the boy's attention. "Is that her?"
The boy followed her finger and squealed in happiness. "Mommy!"
Ruby smiled and swung the boy down into her arms before heading over to the woman.
"-and I only looked away for a second and then he was gone!" she wailed as Ruby got closer.
"Ma'am?" Ruby asked to get her attention.
The distressed woman turned around, eyes zeroing in on the boy in her arms.
"Joshua!" she cried in relief.
She watched the pair reunite for a moment nodding at the babbled thanks before grinning at the manager and excusing herself.
"These Glitter Mines aren't going to plant themselves after all." She snickered.
Finally closing time rolled around to the relief of the employees. Ruby smiled sweetly as she left, calling out that she would see the animatronics that night.
The humans all sighed in relief when she was gone.
"She's impossible." One grumbled while trying to pull glittery peanut butter from his hair.
"Yeah." Another answered with a grin. "But she makes things interesting."
No one could argue with that.
Author notes:
Thanks to Melaina,Harlequin Shadow and Thrill-Pair-All-The-Way for the brilliant ideas :)
And Death-Queen-Anubis17: I've got my own personal theories about the lore that I'll include to make things interesting. Hope you like them as they're revealed.