*bounces excitedly* OCTOBER 27TH. IT'S COMING GUYS! (also, here's an extra long chapter as an apology, and if all goes well, another chapter in a few days.)
When Masiar walked in 5 minutes to twelve, he was met by an annoyed Shadow.
"You're almost late. Do you know how dangerous that is?"
Masiar swallowed hard, nodding.
"Yes ma'am, I do. I just had a small...issue on my way here."
That's when Shadow noticed the black eye that was starting, and the split lip. Narrowing her eyes, she just pointed towards the security room. Once they got there, she turned on him.
"Spill. What happened?"
Masiar just grimaced.
"Got cornered on my way here, dude punched me when he realized I didn't have any money to steal. I think he would have done more but something made a noise down the alley and he bolted."
Shadow growled, making Masiar jump.
"What did he look like?"
Masiar just made a face.
"Does it matter? He's gone, and I'm relatively unhurt. Besides, shouldn't I be trying to not get killed by these stupid robots now? It's after 12."
Shadow just frowned.
"Fine, you get to avoid this conversation this time, but I expect the full description when our shift is done. Now, you won't have to worry about Freddy again tonight. Not only is it only the second night, but I've got him shutdown in parts and services so I can do some maintenance work on one of his legs. You WILL have to worry about Foxy though. Just remember to check pirate's cove every now and then, and you'll be fine. He doesn't like being watched and he's less likely to move when you do. On the off chance he does get out of the cove, shut the left door until he bangs on it a few times. Chica and Bonnie are going to be a bit more aggressive, but as long as you remember what I taught you last night, you'll be fine."
Masiar just stared at Shadow.
"Taught me last night? You spent the night making snarky comments every time I messed up!"
Shadow raised an eyebrow.
"Yeah, I was a snarky asshole, but it was still constructive feedback. Told you if you were slow closing the door, or ignored a noise that meant someone was coming."
Masiar opened his mouth to protest then closed it again.
"Okay yeah...you taught me a bit. How are you going to stay safe if you're out in parts and services though? Doesn't Bonnie go in there sometimes?"
Shadow nodded.
"He does, yes, but I have a trick to avoid being noticed. Don't worry about me, worry about yourself. I've been doing this longer; I know the ways to avoid them."
Masiar shifted nervously from foot to foot.
"Look, about the other day last week..."
Shadow held up a hand to stop him.
"Later. You literally just scolded me for being distracted from the task at hand, then you start down this line of thought. I know what you're apologizing for thanks to my bot and it isn't needed. Now get watching."
With that, Shadow walked out of the security office and headed towards parts and services. On the way there, she poked her head into the closet that Bonnie was in, covering the camera briefly in a coating of shadows that muffled sound and blocked the feed.
"Hey, try to avoid your usual spot in parts and services tonight, yeah Bonnie? I want to get Freddy's leg done before morning so the less time I have to pretend I'm hiding from you, the better."
"Sure, but uh, how you gonna get Freddy to let you fix his leg?"
Shadow tilted her head.
"What do you mean Bonnie?"
Bonnie frowned.
"Well, far as we've figured out, it's an issue with something on Fred's endo, and he hates his endo getting touched. Issue he's had ever since the first technician that freaked and tased his endo during a repair cause Fred accidentally moved."
Shadow flinched and hissed.
"That tech is lucky he didn't fry Freddy's hard drive and wiring by tasing the endo. No wonder Freddy freaked so hard the first day when he found out I was your new technician. Talk about PTSD. Well. I'll figure it out somehow. I'll hold him down if I have to."
At Bonnie's questioning glance, Shadow just smirked, making Bonnie shudder at the evil look.
"You know what, I don't wanna know. That grin is not something to mess with."
"Damn right it isn't. The bear's getting his leg fixed no matter what. I'm tired of the limping that he tries to hide. Now I'll leave you to scaring the new guy. Have fun!"
Shadow went to walk out the door only to stop at the loud shout from the security office followed by the security door slamming down and Foxy barreling down the hallway to bang on the door loudly. Shadow just blinked and looked back at Bonnie, who just shrugged.
"There's a reason Foxy's got the most guards caught other than Fred. They dunno what to do when he does that. Surprised that panicky little guy figured it out so quick."
Shadow just shook her head and snorted, pulling the shadows from the camera and heading towards parts and services. When she walked into the room, she was greeted by the back of a very stiff Freddy. The sudden surge of power she felt was enough to know he was terrified. Walking around to his front, she smiled softly up at the bear, gently patting his good leg.
"Freddy, I can shut you down while I do this if it will make you feel better. Bonnie told me what happened with a tech and a taser."
Freddy let out a nervous growl.
"I would rather you did not. I still do not fully trust you and I would like to actually see what you are doing to me."
Shadow sighed.
"This isn't going to be easy on you then. You need to pretend you're in shutdown just in case Masiar checks the parts and services camera, and that might be hard if you let your fear get the better of you."
Freddy narrowed his eyes.
"I am not afraid."
Shadow snorted.
"You can't lie to me about fear Freddy. You know what I am now. I can sense your fear and feed from it."
Freddy just clenched his fists.
"I will be fine. Just get it over with."
Shadow rolled her eyes and got to work removing Freddy's suit from his bad leg. After a few moments Shadow let out a hiss.
"Well, this isn't good. A lot of the wiring below your knee is fried, no wonder you've been limping. There aren't proper signals going to the joints."
Shadow looked up at the impassive Freddy questioningly.
"I have to ask...do you guys feel pain?"
Refusing to look at Shadow, Freddy just nodded slightly.
"A bit, yes, when it comes to our wiring."
Shadow hummed quietly.
"Well, I can't fix this tonight. I haven't gotten through all the information I need on your systems to fix an issue this major. Just be extremely careful with your leg until I can fix it in a few days. You're going to have to stay here for the rest of the night, I can't let you go back to the stage while Mas is here or he's going to start questioning why you didn't go after me. So back to playing shut down with you. See you tomorrow, Freddy."
"Good night, Shadow."
Peeking out of parts and services, Shadow looked around before shrugging and heading back to the security office. When the door slammed shut just before she got there, she sighed and knocked.
"Dude, it's me, not one of the bots. Let me in before any of them get close."
When the door didn't open, Shadow narrowed her eyes. Masiar suddenly peeked through the window in a panic, pointing behind Shadow. With a muttered curse, Shadow looked behind her and found Bonnie looming over her. Knowing that Masiar was watching, Bonnie reached for Shadow, who ducked and darted down the hallway and into the main party room. Chica turned to look and tilted her head before also heading for Shadow. Running down Chica's hallway, Shadow skidded and slid into the security room before Masiar shut the door behind her, Chica now in the window. Letting out a sigh, Shadow looked at Masiar.
"You know, you could have let me into the office before Bonnie got there. You're lucky I'm in shape."
Masiar spluttered in indignation.
"I'm lucky? I'm not the one who thought wandering around this crazy place at night would be a smart idea!"
Shadow shrugged.
"I had to check out Freddy's leg and try to fix it, this was the only time outside of open hours that the boss would let me do it."
Shadow scowled.
"Not that I can fix it tonight. It's a bigger issue than I thought it was, and I haven't finished looking at everything to do with their systems. Now...you were going to tell me what the guy who mugged you looked like."
Masiar stared at Shadow.
"You were serious about that? What do you expect to do? He was huge!"
Masiar flicked the lights quickly in each door before sighing.
"Look, I don't know what you plan to do, but I can at least tell you where it happened. It was that alleyway between the bus stop on 52nd street and that chinese place. I use it as a shortcut...or used to. I don't plan to after earlier."
Shadow nodded, and the 6am chime sounded through the building. The lights flickered slightly before brightening, and when Masiar looked at the tablet, the animatronics were all back in their places, minus Freddy.
"Alright. I need to get the bear back to the stage, and I'll see you tomorrow Mas."
They split up in the main party room, Masiar heading out the front, while Shadow made her way slowly back to parts and services. Freddy turned his head to look at her when the door opened, slipping down from the table he was sitting on. When he got to the main room, Foxy had joined them.
"Morning lass."
Shadow smiled.
"Morning Foxy. Gave me a bit of a surprise last night while I was talking to Bonnie."
Foxy lifted his eye patch to look at her.
"I thought ye were in parts and services fixin' ol' Fazbear's leg last night."
Shadow chuckled.
"I had to talk to Bonnie at the start of the night first, ask him not to go in there while I was there so I didn't have to pretend to hide. Certainly wasn't expecting you to go barreling down the hallway. And I can't fix Freddy's leg just yet. I need to finish looking over blueprints for you lot."
Bonnie shifted from foot to foot.
"Sorry about having to take a grab at you last night."
Shadow snorted.
"Oh please, I saw Mas watching. Besides, I needed the exercise. Especially if I'm going to spend the next whoever knows how long on the run."
Freddy frowned.
"What do you mean on the run?"
Shadow turned red and muttered quietly.
"I didn't mean to say that out loud..."
Freddy crossed his arms, and Bonnie and Chica exchanged worried glances. Foxy stepped close to Shadow and tilted her head up to meet his eyes.
"Lass, what's goin' on?"
Shadow was silent for a few moments longer before letting out a defeated sigh.
"Remember how I told you guys last night that Nightmare and Fredbear were doing something to me when I went home to sleep during the day? They were basically letting my inner demon out and sending me after people. It was making me stronger, but not for my sake. The thing about fear demons is most of the time, they don't exactly...get along. They'll kill each other for more power. I thought Nightmare and Fredbear were helping me, but really, they were just trying to help themselves. As soon as I had enough power to give them a good boost, they were going to kill me."
Shadow sighed again, slumping over in the chair she was sitting in.
"Nightmare paid me a visit yesterday and came after me when he realized my soul wasn't split anymore. I'm afraid if I go home, they're both going to be waiting for me, and I don't think I can get away again."
The four animatronics shared shocked glances that turned worried when they realized there were tears dripping down Shadow's face. There was a silent debate before Chica stepped forward and pulled Shadow into a hug.
"Is there anywhere at all that they can't get to you?"
Shadow sniffled and shook her head.
"The only place I know they can't get into is this place. Something about some sort of barrier and needing mortal help to get in. I can't stay here though. Not forever."
Sighing, Shadow pushed away and snorted in amusement.
"I'm going to go home, but I promise I'll be careful. I'll get a priest to bless my place."
Foxy chuckled and Bonnie grinned.
"I hope that works lass. I'm headin' back to me cove. Be safe."
With a final wave at the three that were making their way back to the stage, Shadow left. Looking around outside, she froze. Across the street was a man in a black suit with a yellow bowtie around his neck. His black hair was slicked back, and he was looking right at her. Wide-eyed, she went to go back inside, only to find him suddenly between her and the pizzeria. With an icy smirk, he stepped closer and placed a cold hand on her shoulder.
"My dear Shadow...we have a lot to talk about."