A/N: Hey, look, I'm not dead. :D
...So sorry this took months to update. D: This story, along with the others, to pushed to the back of my mind as I had to focus on life in general.
Also, I am now also Undertale trash. There may be a story relating to that in the future. *w*
Anyway, enough rambling. I hope you all enjoy this chapter. Le drama will intensify a bit.
Chica beamed. "Oh, goody!" she said before she grabbed the phone and placed it near her beak and the area where her ears might be. "Hello, Mr. Manager? It's me, Chica!" she chirped brightly. "How are you today?"
She listened for a response, but all that she could register was shallow breathing, then a dull thud and something scraping the floor.
Chica turned back to Mike. "I can't hear the manager," she said, sounding concerned. "Is he alright?"
"Yeah, he's fine. He probably just shit himself. Here, lemme see the phone again," Mike replied nonchalantly.
Once given the phone, Mike put it to his ear. "Hey, boss, you alright?"
It took a while, but then the manager finally managed to answer in a shaky, breathless voice. "P-Please tell me that was you t-trying to impersonate Chica," he said.
"Look, I told you, I can't imitate voices. If I had a camera or something, I'd definitely take pictures to show you, but I give you my solemn word that was the real Chica. If you want, you can come over here to meet them. They're pretty cool once you get to know them."
"Mike...I know neither of us are stupid...b-but how can I trust you? How do I know you're not fucking with me? I-I mean, how do I know this is even real or possible?"
Mike was quiet for a little bit. "...Well, boss, unless you come over here, you'll just have to take my word for it. I'd get the others, but they're still asleep. But other than this, I can't prove anything. This phone of mine doesn't even take send picture messages. Just...come over. I'm not joshing you. For real."
Silence on the other end for a while, then some metal clanging was heard. No, more like jingling. Keys jingling. "I-I'll be there in fifteen minutes," the manager said, sounding a little hesitant. "And Mike, I know you're not really one to joke and you're the best employee I've had in decades...but i-if this is some sick shit you're pulling, I swear I-I will fire you so hard you'll never recover from it."
"Don't worry, boss, you won't need to do that," Mike said, feeling just the slightest bit nervous from the threat. "I'll see you in a bit."
Once he hung up, Mike turned to Chica, who was waiting patiently. "Well, Chica, it's time to get to work," he said. "Let's get Bonnie and Foxy up and start cleaning. We've got a visitor coming."
Some time later, a dark green van pulled up in the parking lot of the old pizzeria.
The manager slowly climbed out, exhaling loudly. Well, this was it. Either Mike was right about the robots being "alive", or he was really high off some drug he might have. He kinda hoped it was just the drugs...but what if the animatronics really were sentient? What then? What would he even do at this point?
Damn, it was way too early for this shit.
The manager locked his van, then headed toward the front doors. His hand instinctively started reaching for the keys in his pocket, but then he rembered that Mike was already inside. He reached for the doors, opened them, and stepped inside.
The place was empty.
"H-Hello?" he stammered as he slowly stepped inside. "Mike?"
"In the kitchen, boss!" Mike's cheery voice rang out.
The manager gulped as he made his way toward the kitchen door. Take it easy, take it easy... he thought to himself. Mike's gonna be there, too. There's nothing to be worried about.
As soon as he opened the door, the manager let out an unearthly moan. "Ohhh my..." he gasped.
There was Chica, happily cooking away in the kitchen. She was preparing a new batch of pizza dough with the rolling pin. On the counter, the small cupcake animatronic beamed brightly at her. What absolutely shocked the manager was that how mobile and lively Chica was. She didn't have any bulky or slow movements like a regular don't should have had. No, she was moving around as agile as a normal kitchen chef would. It seemed so...surreal!
Mike himself was leaning against the counter, wearing the biggest shit-eating grin ever. "How ya doing, boss?" he asked, saluting him at the same time.
At the same time, Chica looked up from her dough and smiled cheerily. "Hello, Mr. Manager! It's so nice to finally meet you in person! I'm Chica!" she beamed.
"S-Sweet mother of..." the manager breathed as he automatically grabbed hold of the table closest to him. "You're...you're alive..."
"I'd say sentient, but yeah, pretty close," Chica said as she returned to her baking. "Would you like me to bake you a pizza, sir?"
"Uh...s-sure. Make it with mushrooms," the manager sputtered, obviously not thinking clearly. Then he turned to Mike. "The others...?"
"Ah, right. This way, boss," Mike said as he got up and headed out the kitchen. The manager closely followed, very nervous, but extremely surprised at the same time. He couldn't believe this. He just couldn't.
Mike led his superior to the Show Stage, which had been closed with the velvet curtains. "Here, we have Bonnie!"
At that moment, the curtains flew open and Bonnie jumped into the stage, shredding a single chord on his guitar. "Hiya, Mr. Manager!" he belted out with a cheery voice. There was a small hint of a twang in there.
Said one's mouth dropped wide open. Bonnie really could play the guitar, and the guitar was actually real! This was amazing!
Without missing a beat, Mike ran over to the Pirate Cove, also shrouded in the thick purple curtains. "And over here is the one and only Foxy!"
A hearty laugh sounded as Foxy threw the curtains aside and did a little dance on the small stage. "Ahoy, Cap'n Manager! 'Tis be mighty fine seein' ye today! I'd introduce meself, but I reckon ye already know who I be!"
Foxy's appearance was so sudden that the manager had to take a step back. Holy shit, this was intense. The fox had always been his least favorite due to the large, gaping maw and the seemingly sharp hook, not to mention his raggedy look - wait a minute.
He wasn't raggedy anymore.
Hold on, scratch that; none of them were! They were all clean and well-groomed!
Forgetting to greet Foxy, the manager turned back to Mike with a pale shade on his face. "Mike, have you been cleaning these guys? I haven't seen them this clean ever since the Bite of '87!" he exclaimed.
"Oh, yes! Mr. Mike has been so kind and nice to us! He brought his materials over last night and he fixed all of us up! Well, at least us three, but still! He's amazing!" Chica bubbled happily.
"Wow...th-this is amazing. You guys look amazing, it's just like seeing you for the first time again," the manager said, breathless and astounded. So it was true. These animatronics were not just robots for children, they were sentient and aware.
Sentient robots...heh. Wouldn't the public get a load of that. That would be a hell of a boost for -
Oh.
Right.
"Hey, um, Mike, can I talk to you for a second outside? I, uh...it's something secret and important," the manager quipped nervously.
"Huh? Oh yeah, sure. I'll be right back, guys. Gotta chat real quick with the boss," Mike said to the animatronics as he walked outside the main doors with his manager.
Once they were outside, Mike turned. "Alright, what's up? You scared about seeing these guys or something?"
The manager quickly shook his head. "It's not that. I'm actually really surprised at this, including the fact that you cleaned them! I don't know if what you did was against regulation or not, since you're just a security guard -"
"-who has a degree in mechanical engineering," Mike winked. "Don't worry, they're all fine and Freddy approved of the whole thing. So, what's eating at you, then?"
The manager sighed and anxiously scratched the back of his head. "Okay, here's what's bothering me. The animatronics are sentient. Ordinarily I'd think this was a great idea, since we'd be able to have them do different things for the restaurant and the kids. But guess what place is being demolished at the end of this week?"
The night guard's eyes widened. "Ohhh, shit, you're right! Fuck, how could I forget about that?"
"Yup. And look, it gets even worse. These guys have no other place to go. There's like, literally no other Fazbear restaurants that are still in business in the area; the rest have either been shut down or demolished already. And the original owner, rest in peace, has been gone for a long time now. The only other option is for them to get scrapped."
The color drained from Mike's face. "...No."