Author's Note: So I finally was able to pull myself together and finish this up! I've actually had the majority of it done for a while but knew if I was going to post it, I had to have it all together because I didn't want to get stuck on it and leave you all with even more of a cliffhanger. It won't be posted allll together but maybe every other day?
Big disclaimer: this is the end of Rabbit Hole. The big reason is just I don't think I have the motivation/time/ability to write up installments for the modern FNAF content. I had some various ideas on how to tackle it even with SB's release (and am pleasantly surprised to find my idea of Glitchtrap being a separate entity than William ended up being surprisingly canon-compliant) so there's certainly no trouble in figuring out how to work it in. There is a plot thread that I left in that seems like it leads to that which I left in bc 1. I liked it and 2. it felt more interesting to leave it in. Who knows, maybe one day I'll return to this and be glad I left it there!
"Wow, Mr. Emily! This place looks awesome!"
"Now, son, didn't I tell you to just call me Henry?"
Logan paid no mind to him, instead stopping in the center of the dining room of the newly christened "Freddy Fazbear's Pizza Place" with all the wonder of a child in an amusement park. It was nothing like what he expected when Henry contacted him a year prior about a new "business venture". He hadn't expected to hear from the man again but it turned out he had plans. According to him, retirement was dull and he wanted to use Fazbear Entertainment's new franchisee package to his advantage. He just needed Logan to point him in the right direction as "things are different now than they were 30 years ago".
So he had pointed him in the right direction for finding a building and everything he might want to put inside it, like arcade machines and the like. He offered to do something more for him but Henry seemed oddly opposed to the idea, telling him that what he had already done was more than enough. He had half-heartedly offered him a job waiting tables or something but Logan decided to point his cousin at that instead.
He stopped in front of the new animatronic band to admire them. They had the same plastic material as the Toys but seemed much more friendly. They were certainly different (he liked Foxy's new parrot and accordion especially) but they had a special charm. Henry stopped beside him, "Ah, the Rockstars. I'm quite proud of them."
"You built them?" Logan asked.
"Designed them," he corrected, "Getting a little too up there in age to do building like this! Nah, Fazbear Entertainment did me the favor of manufacturing them."
"They still look great. Actually, this whole place looks great!" Logan threw his arms out to make a wide gesture at the whole place.
"You helped me out a bunch so you can thank yourself some."
"Aw, I didn't help that much. I just pointed you in the right direction, you put it all together!"
He turned to give the place a large berth. The area they were in, the center of the stage, was set in sort of bowl with stairs leading up to the rest of the dining room. Of to the sides were doorways to two more party rooms. Sequestered in the corner was the prize counter and beside that, a doorway to the arcade. In a door leading behind the stage was the all important parts and services room and finally, in a hallway at the back led to the manager's office, kitchen, and other rooms.
"You're really too kind," Henry said.
Logan continued his survey until he spotted a small curtained stage hiding in the corner. He pointed, "You didn't mention a fifth animatronic."
"Oh right," Henry walked over, beckoning Logan to follow, "That's Lefty. Unfortunately, he's out of order. He's a little jerky though. Someone must have messed up coding him. Hoping to eventually get it ironed out."
He opened the curtain to reveal Lefty, who was slumped with his one good eye trained on them. Whether it was just his imagination or something more, it felt like the bear was actually seeing them when he looked at them. Like there was something more going on than what Henry had said. It made him uneasy. He closed the curtain and hid his unease with a laugh, "Hopefully!"
Henry smiled, as if he didn't see anything wrong. He diverted the conversation, "Little issues aside, I really must have missed being in a pizzeria setting again!"
"Are you going to be running the show?" Logan asked.
"No, no," he waved him, "Good friend of mine. Calls himself Mick. He's going to be the guy your cousin is going to want to see. Can't miss him. Wears a big mascot head, a white bear."
When Logan shot him a quizzical look and raised eyebrow, he shrugged, "I don't question it. Whatever he wants."
Logan shrugged it off, "I guess so! Either way, I think this place will do great, rumors be damned!"
He turned away, "But I need to head out. Best of luck, Mr. Emily! Tell me if you need my help on anything else!"
"Of course! I'll keep you in mind," Henry promised.
The next day found Michael and Jeremy giving the place a last minute critical eye, as opening day was coming up fast. The plan was going well and while Michael knew he should be comforted by it, all he could feel was unease. Fazbear Entertainment had seemed overjoyed by Henry's inquiring of the Franchisee Package, as if he could resurrect the company back from the brink. They gleefully threw money at the construction of the place and even the animatronics, provided Henry had designs prepared.
Yet, all the possible ways the plan could go wrong paraded through his head. Perhaps his father and sister would never show. Maybe the place wouldn't go up like it needed. Maybe someone would find out first. Jeremy had tried to soothe his anxieties but while it helped in the moment, the fears always came back.
He settled in front of the stage, looking up at their new cast of characters: the Rockstars.
He had helped with these guys just as he did with Lefty, as a lot of their design aspects had been reverse-engineered from the black bear. They looked great. Which is just what they needed. They needed to look good and that was all. Fazbear Entertainment's typical laziness actually came in handy. They were all part of the facade.
The entire pizzeria was a big facade. A more functional facade but a facade all the same. It would function...though they had come to a roadblock for it to. Workers.
Hurricane had a long memory. As a result not many people wanted anything to do with the place. There had been a couple of applicants that had trickled in which wasn't even enough for the bare minimum. To many, Freddy's was a curse and Michael couldn't even argue. Not to mention how delicate an operation this was, with all the secrets to keep. As a result, only Jeremy and Michael would be even in the place before and after hours.
...though only Michael knew the end result of all of this.
He frowned deeply, mentally beating himself over the head about his cowardice. Jeremy deserved to know but yet, he hadn't the courage yet to break his heart.
"Mick!"
His voice broke him out of his anxiety and he turned to find Jeremy crossing the room with a young woman in tow. She looked like she was in her twenties and had her hair dyed electric blue. She took in the place with an excitement that made Mike...concerned. He shook it off and asked, "What's up?"
"This is Logan's cousin here with her application."
"Yep!" she chirped, practically shoving her application into his gloved hands, "Vanessa, but you can call me Ness! Everyone does!"
Ness, for one, had been stoked to find a new Freddy's location had opened, even moreso when Logan had been contacted for help. She had begged him to get her in there somehow and, eventually, after some wearing down he told her about the job Henry had originally offered him. This man in the bear head must have been the manager, judging by his voice. It sounded just like it had on the phone; a rasp with a tinge of a British accent.
And of course his attire which she had been told about. He wore a baggy suit in shades of gaudy yellow and teal and white gloves and boots. The most bizarre aspect, which she had specifically been told about, was the full white bear mascot head he wore. It gave absolutely no clues to what he really looked like. She wondered why that possibly may be.
She really didn't know anything about him either! Just that he was the manager and his first name was apparently "Mick". No last name, no anything so she couldn't even Google him.
Freddy's returning like a revenent from the grave? A mysterious manager? Yes, something was afoot and she was determined to find out just what it was!
"Mick" took her resume with a nod, "I'll give this a look over. Jeremy, show her around?"
With that, he disappeared off to his office in a brisk walk. Jeremy directed them over to the stage, "So, uh, these are the Rockstars."
"Wow!" she followed with stars in her eyes, "They're so cool!" she whipped out her phone and took a few snapshots.
She turned back to him, adopting a suspicious tone, "Are they...haunted?"
He laughed with an awkward edge, "Oh, well, no. They weren't built very long ago after all."
"Aw man," she shrugged, "That would be pretty dangerous though."
Her gaze drifted back to the animatronics and lingered. "Y'know, my cousin had a haunted animatronic."
"He did?" Jeremy asked, feigning ignorance.
"Mhm," she nodded, "My cousin had a whole attraction a few years ago. I mean, we never saw Spring move but, well the place burned down right?"
Jeremy nodded along and she continued, "Big freak accident and everything! But the thing is," she leaned in and whispered conspiratorially, "No one ever found Springtrap in the wreckage."
"Creeeepy," he commented.
Part of the true purpose of the Pizza Place was to lure the rogue animatronics here, one of which was Michael's father. It was necessary but it still bothered Jeremy. It meant Michael was on a collision course with his father. He was desperate for answers and wasn't going to be convinced otherwise. Jeremy could hardly blame him but he still worried. Michael had this whole plan, to lure his father in, get the answers he wanted then slip away, his father none the wiser to him being anything but grateful to see him. It was very clever, very sneaky, very Afton.
But Mike was just so angry. Once the curiosity wore off, Jeremy was so scared it was going to come out. He could see it now; all questions answered and the resentment would come bubbling out, white hot and furious. He would lash out; no, he was going to. No hypotheticals but a definite. What he did and what his father would do in response was what really scared him. Michael was confident his father wouldn't hurt him but it wasn't the first time someone trusted the man and got burned for it.
He couldn't talk Mike out of it, he couldn't fathom it. He just had to hope that whatever happened Mike would stay calm.
"Hey man?" he was roused out of his thoughts by Ness, "Are you alright?"
"Yeah, yeah," he waved her off, "Just. A lot on my mind! With opening day comin' up!"
"Oh yeah! I bet!"
He continued the tour and by the time they were winding down, Michael returned with the news they were going to accept Ness' application for the job. She was so excited, so much she was practically skipping when she left for her car. The pair watched her go and, once she was out of earshot, Jeremy asked, "Are you sure hiring someone so...excitable was a good idea?"
"Nope," Michael deadpanned, "But it's not like we're getting people lining up to be hired."
"Unfortunately," Jeremy said as he watched Ness' car pull out of the parking lot.
He felt a hand on his shoulder and looked up to find Michael had shed the mascot head and put one hand on his shoulder. He gave him a tight smile, "It's gonna work out."
"You think?"
Michael looked away then, after a moment nodded slowly, "Well, it's gotta. Not like we have a choice."
He was acting weird...kind of dodgy and it was unsettling Jeremy. "Are you alright, Mikey?" he asked gently.
"Yeah, yeah," he brushed off, running his fingers through his hair as he did, "I guess just seeing Dad n' Lizzie again has me on edge."
Not entirely convinced he was alright and not entirely convinced he was telling the whole truth, Jeremy pushed those worries away for the time being. He set one hand on Mike's shoulder, "That's only natural."
"Yeah, I guess so," he nodded absentmindedly before straightening up, "Let's close up shop so we can go home."
Jeremy trailed after him, shaking off the last dregs of concern as he did. They just had to get this plan off without a hitch then they'd be home free. No haunted animatronics, no looming specter of William Afton and just nothing but the future for him and Michael.
But yet.
It just felt Michael was being oddly cagey about the whole thing, especially what happened after the place was set ablaze. He had chalked it up to some form of guilt about effectively killing his father and sister. His sister he could understand. But his father? It didn't make sense!
He shook his head to clear his thoughts. He couldn't be distrusting Mike now. They'd come so far and through so much!
So for now, he focused on following Michael to close up shop and to set the first lure.
Fun fact: You've met Ness before, back in Old Friends! Her appearance there was intentionally subtle and iirc before Security Breach released (I don't think anyone picked up on it!). I imagine if you went back and read it now, her name would stick out a lot more than it did then. She's intended to be an older teenager here; not quite ready to leave home but independent in a lot of ways. Before I decided to cut it here, she was planned to be quite the major character.
Someone also commented a while back of wanting to see Logan again so him helping Henry fit in pretty naturally!
