Saturday, July 18, 1987
The new Freddy Fazbear's Pizza had been open for about a week when Michael Afton decided to pay it a visit. Of course, since their father was busy working, Evan was forced to accompany him.
It was a hot summer day as Michael and Evan approached the restaurant, its big logo adorning the top of the entrance.
Michael smiled as he took in the sight. "Whoa! This place is a lot bigger than I expected!"
Evan fidgeted with his hands. "Michael… can we please go somewhere else? You know I don't like animatronics."
The fourteen year old turned around and scowled at his little brother. "Hey, Daryl said that there are a ton of awesome games in there, and I'm not gonna let some sniveling little brat ruin my weekend!"
Michael proceeded to grab Evan's wrist so tightly that the eight year old cried out in pain.
"Oh quit being such a baby!" Michael chided his little brother as he forcefully pulled him along towards the entrance of the restaurant.
Immediately upon entering the building, Evan caught sight of Toy Freddy, Bonnie, and Chica performing on stage. He let out a gasp and instinctively followed his older brother more closely. Noticing the fear in Evan's face, Michael just rolled his eyes and carried on as if it was nothing.
The two boys went up to the reception desk that was manned by a man in his early twenties who looked like he'd rather be anywhere else. With a boyish grin, Michael pulled a bundle of money from his pocket and placed it on the desk.
The receptionist eyed the money and then the boys before he asked, "Is it just you two, or do you have your parents with you?"
"Nah, it's just me and my baby brother," Michael replied, pointing his thumb at Evan, who kept eyeing the animatronics.
"Alright," the receptionist said with a sigh as he took some of the money and gave the rest back to Michael, along with some change. "Here you go." He then handed them two colorful bracelets, a green and an orange one. "Make sure to put these on."
Michael pocketed the money and then took the bracelets, giving the green one to Evan. Once the boys had put them on, the fourteen year old grabbed his little brother's hand and pulled him along as he went past the stage.
Michael looked around with a grin on his face. "Man, this place is bitchin'!"
As they approached the main hallway, they spotted one of Michael's friends, who was waving him over. "Hey, man!"
"What's up, Carlos!" Michael greeted him back with a grin. "Hope I didn't keep you waiting."
"Nah, it's good," Carlos replied with a smile and then pointed his thumb towards the arcade. "I kept myself busy working on my high score in Street Fighter."
"Whoa, they got Street Fighter?!" Michael practically shouted in excitement. "Is it any good?"
"Dude, it's amazing!" Carlos replied with a grin.
Michael laughed. "Man, I can't wait to try it out!" His face then grew more serious as he eyed his little brother. "But first, you got any place where we can dump the little brat?"
Carlos shrugged. "We can drop him off at Kids' Cove. Though, they have this creepy robot there, so maybe it's not the best—"
Michael shook his head. "Nah, he'll just freak out and cause a scene or come running for me."
Carlos gave Michael a mischievous smile. "Well, in that case, I may have somewhere else in mind." He motioned for them to follow, which they did, with Evan being forcefully pulled along by Michael. As they walked towards a steel door with 'Parts and Service' written on it, Carlos said, "My big brother works here as a technician, and he told me that they only work in that room in the evening, so it'll be empty for most of the day." He turned to look at Michael with a cocky grin. "And I just so happened to swipe the key off him."
Evan's eyes went wide upon realizing that they were going to lock him in the room.
Michael laughed. "That's perfect!" He exclaimed. He then eyed Evan before asking, "But won't the staff hear him banging on the door?"
Carlos grinned at Michael. "That's the best part! It's soundproof!"
"That's awesome!" Michael exclaimed. "You have no idea how much I need a break from babysitting this little brat."
"Heh, I can only imagine," Carlos replied with an amused expression on his face.
Evan, now hyperventilating, struggled against Michael's iron grip. "No! No, I don't wanna go!" However, Michael just ignored his pleas and continued to pull him along as they approached the door. But the eight year old then said something that made his older brother stop in his tracks. "I'll tell Father!"
Letting Evan go and clenching his fist, Michael turned towards his little brother with a scowl. "Listen here, you little shit," Michael growled before slamming the eight year old against the wall. "You spill a word about this to Father—One word!—and I swear I'll shove your little head into the mouth of one of the animatronics here."
Trembling, Evan replied, "F-Father said that would kill me."
Clenching his teeth, Michael leaned in close to his little brother. "Exactly."
Evan went silent, not daring to say another word.
Carlos unlocked the door to Parts and Service and opened it, giving Evan a good look inside. It was pitch black, but even so he could see that there were several old and withered animatronics lying around inside.
"No." Evan let out a gasp as Michael grabbed a hold of him and practically tossed him into the room. The two older boys just laughed as they shut the door, locking him inside. Evan ran up to the door and banged on it as hard as he could, screaming, "Michael! Michael! Let me out! Please, let me out!"
Two distorted voices, one feminine and one masculine, then spoke in unison from the other side of the room. "Are you lost?"
Breathing rapidly, Evan turned around to see where the voices were coming from, but it was too dark to make anything out. Then, he saw something move in the shadows. Something big. The eight year old started banging on the door even harder, so much that it hurt his hand. "Michael! Michael, help! There's something in here!"
The voices spoke again, but this time it sounded as if they were directly behind him. "Are you here by yourself? I can play with you if you'd like?"
Trembling, Evan slowly turned around to see what was behind him.
He screamed.
There, towering over him was an animatronic consisting of a mishmash of naked endoskeleton parts. The only parts that were covered were two hands, one foot, and one of the two heads. The covered head was shaped like that of a fox, colored white with pink inner-ears and snout. It had red cheeks and lipstick, a black nose, a mouth full of sharp teeth, and purplish-pink eyelids with long eyelashes. Its right eye had a golden iris, while the left eye was pitch black.
Pressing himself against the door, Evan shut his eyes, hoping that this was all just a bad dream and that he'd wake up soon. Tears began to roll down his cheeks as he found himself unable to wake up.
The monstrous fox animatronic tilted its fox head to the side. "Why are you sad?" It asked, seemingly oblivious to how scary it looked.
"Please go away," Evan pleaded so quietly that it was barely audible.
"Why are you sad?" It repeated.
"I'm scared," the eight year old whispered in reply.
The animatronic lowered itself so that it was closer to eye level with the boy. "Don't be scared. I'm nice. I promise."
Evan didn't respond. He just continued to keep his eyes closed while quietly sobbing to himself.
"Did you know that I'm a clown? I know a lot of jokes," the animatronic said. "Want to hear one?"
Once again, Evan didn't say anything back, and so they both remained silent as the monstrous fox animatronic awaited his response.
Eventually, it seemed to have taken one of the boy's whimpers as a 'yes'. "Do you know how clowns snore?" The animatronic proceeded to honk its own nose as it answered, "Honk shoe! Honk shoe! Honk shoe!"
However, Evan just kept on sobbing.
"Do you know where cows go on Friday nights?" The monstrous fox animatronic asked. "To the moo-vies!"
The eight year old just sniffled and let out an occasional whimper.
"Do you know why the garden felt so overcrowded?" The animatronic asked. "There wasn't mushroom!"
Getting tired of standing, Evan slid down the door until he was sitting on the ground and hugging his knees.
The monstrous animatronic tilted its fox head as it watched the boy. "You look tired. Let me look for your parents." It then looked around the room before returning its attention to the eight year old. "I can't find your parents."
"Stupid robot…" Evan mumbled. As frightening as the animatronic was, it was nothing like the monsters that haunted his nightmares, and at this point he was starting to feel a little silly for being so scared of it in the first place.
The monstrous fox animatronic's ears drooped. "Don't be mean. I may be an animatronic, but I still have feelings," it said in a saddened tone.
Feeling a sudden pang of guilt, Evan replied, "I-I'm sorry…"
The animatronic instantly cheered up. "That's okay. I forgive you." It then tilted its fox head from side to side as it regarded the boy with its dead eyes. "If you're sleepy, we should find your parents so that they can take you home. Where are they?"
Evan didn't respond.
"Where are your parents?" It asked again.
The eight year old tried to ignore it and just buried his face in his knees.
"Where are your parents?" It repeated.
"Father is home sleeping," Evan finally mumbled in reply. "And mother… mother left…"
The monstrous animatronic gave the boy a look of concern. "Your mother left you here all by yourself?"
Evan shook his head. "She left when I was four. I haven't seen her since."
The animatronic tilted its fox head to the side. "How old are you now?"
"Almost nine," Evan mumbled in reply.
"She's been gone for a while, then," the animatronic noted, which prompted the boy to roll his eyes at the painfully obvious observation. "So, are you here by yourself?"
"No, I'm here with my brother," Evan replied. "He's the one who locked me in here."
"Why?" The monstrous fox animatronic asked.
"Because he's mean and he hates me," the boy mumbled in reply, hugging his legs tighter.
The animatronic lowered its fox head. "I'm sorry to hear that, but we should go find him so he can take you home."
"We can't, because the door is locked! Why is that so hard to understand?!" Evan shouted in frustration.
The monstrous fox animatronic's ears drooped. "I'm sorry. I'm only trying to help."
They eight year old immediately felt guilty for shouting at the animatronic. After all, it had been nothing but nice to him this whole time. Swallowing, he said, "No, I'm the one who's sorry. I didn't mean to shout at you…"
Once again, the animatronic instantly cheered up. "That's okay. I forgive you."
Evan couldn't help but chuckle at how quick the animatronic was to forgive him. Looking up at the fox head, which seemed to be its primary head, the boy asked, "Hey, um, what's your name?"
"I'm Foxy," the monstrous animatronic said with a giggle.
Evan raised an eyebrow. "No you're not," he said and then pointed at one of the creepy withered animatronics lying at the other end of the room. "That's Foxy."
The monstrous fox animatronic turned to look at the withered Foxy animatronic, and then turned its attention back to Evan. "That's the old Foxy. I'm the new Foxy."
The eight year old didn't look convinced. "But you look nothing like him."
The animatronic looked down at the mishmash of parts that made up its body. "I suppose not…" It seemed lost in thought for a few seconds before it looked back at Evan. "I'm also called 'The Mangle' by the technicians."
"Um, in that case… is it okay if I call you Mangle too?" Evan asked as he fidgeted with his hands.
"Of course!" The monstrous fox animatronic replied. "And what is your name?"
"I'm Evan," the boy replied hesitantly.
"Pleased to meet you, Evan!" Mangle said with a giggle.
"Um, you too," Evan replied. Fidgeting, the boy then asked, "Um… Mangle, are you a boy or a girl?"
Mangle went silent for a few seconds before finally answering, "I don't know."
Evan looked confused. "Huh? You don't know?"
"No," Mangle replied, shaking its head. "I was never programmed with a gender. Most people say I'm a boy because I'm based on the old Foxy, but others say that I'm a girl, so I don't know."
"Um, okay?" Evan replied, a little weirded out.
Mangle tilted her head to the side. "Anyway, do you want to play with me?"
A smile crept onto Evan's face and he opened his mouth to say something, but then stopped himself. He eyed the withered animatronics lying around the room and said, "I… I can't."
"Why not?" Mangle asked.
"Because I'm scared," Evan replied, hugging his legs tighter.
"Don't be scared. I'm nice. I promise," Mangle assured him.
Even shook his head. "Not of you. I'm scared of them," he said and pointed at the withered animatronics.
Mangle looked at them and then back at Evan. "Don't worry. They're deactivated."
Evan lowered his head, not feeling entirely convinced. "But what if they come alive and try to hurt me?"
"Then I'll protect you," Mangle replied.
Evan found himself a little taken aback by that, but still felt unsure. "Do you promise?"
Mangle nodded. "I promise."
Evan spent a couple of hours playing with Mangle. When Michael and Carlos finally returned and opened the door, the older brother recoiled at the sight of the animatronic.
"Ew, that animatronic is messed up!" He said aloud and wrinkled his nose. However, he was even more surprised to see his little brother playing with it. "Uhhh… Evan, I thought you were terrified of animatronics."
"Yeah, but Mangle's really nice!" Evan laughed as the animatronic swung him back and forth with one of its arms.
"Mangle? That's that thing's name?" Michael asked, raising an eyebrow.
Carlos then spoke up. "Yeah. That's the robot I was telling you about. Usually it's in Kids' Cove, but I'm guessing they put it in here because it needed to be fixed up again."
"Yeah, okay, whatever," Michael replied, feeling more than a little weirded out by the scene playing out before him. He then waved his little brother over. "Come on, Evan! We're going home."
"M'kay!" Evan replied as he let go of Mangle. As he walked out of Parts and Service, he turned to wave at the animatronic. "Bye, Mangle!"
Mangle waved back. "Bye, bye!"
As Evan got out of the room, Carlos shut the door and locked it while Michael grabbed his little brother's hand.
"So you actually had fun here, huh?" Michael said with a smirk. "That's good, because we'll be coming here a lot from now on."
"Um, in that case, could you please just drop me off at Kids' Cove so I can play with Mangle?" Evan asked tentatively.
"Fine, as long as you'll leave me alone," Michael said with a frown. "Saves me the trouble of having to lock you in."
Ramón Rivera, Carlos' older brother, arrived at Freddy Fazbear's Pizza at the beginning of the evening shift.
As per his normal routine, he went backstage and waited until the animatronic performers—Freddy, Bonnie, and Chica—finished their last show for the night. Once they did, they followed their programming and joined Ramón backstage, where he powered them down and began to perform maintenance on them, starting with Bonnie. As he worked, Ramón suddenly heard footsteps approaching. He turned around and saw that it was the manager.
"Hello, Mister Walton," Ramón said with a courteous smile. "Let me guess, the kids broke the Mangle again."
Glenn Walton chuckled. "It's that obvious, huh?"
"Yeah, at this point, rebuilding her has pretty much become part of my daily routine, you know? So I'm not surprised," Ramón replied as he continued working on Bonnie.
"Well, that's about to change," Walton said with a sigh.
"Hm? How so?" Ramón asked as he stopped to look at the manager.
"Toy Foxy has proven to be more trouble than it's worth," Walton replied, crossing his arms. "As you said, you've been rebuilding it every day, and not only does that take you away from your other duties, but it's costly as well."
"So what? You're just gonna throw her away?" Ramón asked, looking a bit concerned.
Walton shook his head. "No. We're turning it into a kind of 'take apart, put back together' attraction."
Ramón turned to Walton with a raised eyebrow. "What, you're gonna let the kids play with an animatronic that has exposed electronic and mechanical components? That's just an accident waiting to happen."
Walton waved his hand dismissively. "Honestly, at this point, having to deal with the occasional lawsuit would be cheaper than having to rebuild the damn thing every single day. Besides, the kids have already been playing with it in that kind of state, and so far there haven't been any issues."
Ramón did not look convinced, but then shrugged. "Alright, Mister Walton. You're the boss." Swallowing, he then asked, "So you don't want me to do any maintenance on her at all, then?"
"Only the bare minimum to keep it functional," Walton replied. "Aside from that, repair any damage that has a high risk of being hazardous."
"Alright," Ramón replied, though it was obvious that he did not like this state of affairs. "And what do you want me to do if the kids break her completely?"
"Then we'll just replace it with some cheaper attraction," Walton replied.