" Monty Golf was not always as large as it was today, for the venture had been an experiment by the bigwigs up at Fazbear Entertainment™. Our older guests had long complained about not having anything to do while the kids celebrated the Glamrocks: and what better way to kill an hour or two than mini-golf!" - Transcript taken from the official Fazbear™ Guidebook 2022 edition , sold now at participating bookstores.
It wasn't even his first day yet, and Monty was a screw up.
His little sideshow barely got any foot traffic, so little that he could count the number of children that got through the whole mini golf course - which was a meager 7 holes for your information- on one hand.
He spent half the day being yelled at by staff for yelling at a kid after they puked on Hole 3, and the other half was spent being asked if he "knew where Freddy was." after their disgruntled parents took them there inbetween showtimes. Even though he had just arrived, Monty had already seen the gargantuan idol to that fuzzball in the dead center of the Pizzaplex atrium: not exactly hard to see who was the star of the show. The gator rolled his cybernetic eyes whenever that top-hat wearing tub was mentioned: Monty would have made a better star.
The gator had been putting at Hole 3, an easy way to relieve stress for him, when his tranquility was interrupted by footfalls: animatronic footfalls.
"Hello Montgomery!"
Glamrock Freddy, or Fazbear as he was to Monty, was exactly what he said on the tin: a larger than life superstar who had come down from their podium to bless the mortals with his presence. Monty almost had to shield his eyes from the sheer radiance from this bear's genuine enthusiasm: suppressing a grin from appearing on his jaws from the contagious excitement Fazbear had. No wonder this guy was the most well loved among all of them, Monty had to admit: he had the charisma to back it up.
"Ah, are you playing mini-golf?" Freddy asked earnestly, "Did you know that mini-golf is also known as goofy golf or crazy golf in some regions?"
"Uh, yeah, thanks Fazbear. Didn't know that."
Monty awkwardly straightened up, tugging at an invisible shirt collar with his fingers. Despite being bigger than Fazbear, he could not help but crane upwards ever so slightly to avoid having to make eye contact with those too-alive eyes. For all the ill-will Monty had towards Freddy, he still did admire the guy: after all who didn't, he was Freddy Frickin Fazbear of course Monty would admire him. He, or at least the old him, started all this.
"So, what brings you to my little corner of the Plex?"
The compartment on his chest opened up: revealing none other than a: child-sized birthday package.
"Happy Birthday Monty! And welcome to our family here at the Pizzaplex!" Freddy said, extracting the gift box and placing it down on the was wrapped in green and purple, the singular lonely sticker shaped in a 1 telling Monty all that he needed to know.
"Me and Chica did the wrapping, which was a rather difficult task considering our cumbersome digits."
The bear let out a laugh, and Monty was so caught off guard by his genuine niceness- blinding like a ray of sunlight - he neglected to notice the telltale signs of even more animatronics arriving.
"Surprise!" A tricolor blur soon crashed at the back of the beloved bear, who nearly fell over as the new arrival - Chica - muttered a string of apologies to a flustered Freddy. She definitely looked softer than Freddy, and Monty meant that literally: seeing as the chicken had some areas with fluff rather than cold metal.
"Nice place you've got here."
another voice chipped in, distinct enough from the high pitch of the other Glamrocks. The rabbit was leaning on one end of the wall with a fluid coolness, looking down disinterestedly at his gloved claws. The star shaped glasses he wore only added to the bad boy look- the bassist of the band deserved the reputation of being the cooler of the three.
"Great to see a second area for actual exercising around here."
"Third you mean?" Chica retorted, letting go of Freddy's shoulders after she crashed into his back, "I literally have a section for yoga, in case you forgot Bonnie."
The rabbit chuckled light heartedly, joining the group while keeping his hands on the back of his head.
"More like a section for pizza with the amount you and the kids order from the kitchen- I heard they're even thinking of moving it up there."
Chica huffed, while Freddy got in between the two of them as if they were about to fight: the joke sailing right over his head.
"Friends, let us focus on the main objective- welcoming our newest member!"
Three pairs of eyes turned to Monty, who balked at the sudden attention.
"So," Chica started, "is this the new kid?"
"Yup, Montgomery Gator at your service."
When the chicken reached out a hand, Monty shook it- with Chica holding on for an uncomfortably long time before she let go. The rabbit gave a fist bump, a more familiar gesture to Monty, while Freddy watched in satisfaction from the back- like a father and his kids.
"He looks kinda dumb," Bonnie nochanalty said after an akward pause, much to Monty's amusement. This rabbit had the bark to back up his bite, respect.
"I mean, come on, the mohawk? Really?"
"Bonnie, Monty is part of our family, do not insult him on his first day."
"Kidding, kidding, jeez what a stick up am I right, Big Guy?"
Bonnie rolled his eyes behind those glasses of his, and pulled them down to show Monty his equivalent of raised eyebrows. Monty awkwardly looked to the other two for help, which was clearly the right move based on the delighted reactions of the others.
"Hah!"
"Wanna bowl?" Bonnie offered, "my place has more than enough lanes for all four of us."
"Nah, bowling isn't up my alley." Monty shrugged, hiding his discomfort behind another awkward laugh. He didn't want to get humiliated after all, especially in front of Bonnie and the others. That, and perhaps he was more than nervous at the way the other Glamrocks seemed so: nice and genuine. Like cartoon characters come to life, it was all sunshine and rainbows for them.
"Really? Come on?" Bonnie huffed, "Don't tell me you use those big ol' arms for mini golf- such a waste!"
"Excuse me? Mini golf is twice as h-"
"Yeah, come on Monty-" Chica said, cutting him off while making a pose similar to the one would make if they were asking a mother asking their child to kindly stop eating out of the trash. "If we're lucky we can see Freddy slip again!"
The bear in question almost looked like he was blushing as Bonnie elbowed his side, both him and Chica chuckling at memories they alone shared with one another. The image of Freddy Fazbear sliding across down the bowling alley made his toothy smile even wider.
"You know what, I'd love to see that."
"I'm in."
"So, uh, how does this work exactly?"
Monty awkwardly shuffled, watching Freddy and Bonnie line up next to one another. Despite being the most vocal of the band members, and the one hyping up bowling the most, Chica didn't participate- sipping a chocolate milkshake she made at the bowling alley bar.
"So Monty," Freddy said, "The main objective of bowling is to knock down those pins over there-"
His fat yellow finger pointed towards a triangular formation of white shapes, and Monty found it helpful to picture the faces of crying, puking children on them- oh yeah, that made it much easier to aim at them.
"With your provided bowling ball."
His ball was a dull green, while Freddy and Bonnie had matching yellow-purple balls respectively: each one with the faces of the other. It was weird to say the least, but to be fair- every kid would want to bowl with the heads of their favorite animatronic.
"Well?" Bonnie tapped his foot on the ground in mock exasperation, triggering a giggle from Chia all the way at the bar, "Come on slowpoke we don't got all night."
"Like this?"
Monty took a deep breath, and shifted to the side. The other animatronics shared mutual looks of confusion, with a growing knot of discomfort between them. His arm pulled back, and to Bonnie's horror, Monty threw a 1-ton bowling ball overhead: soaring in a parabola and crashing through the wood floors as if they were paper. They were just mopped to, and both Bonnie and a nearby S.T.A.F.F bot let out a wince of physical pain despite being robots.
"What?"