It was close to midnight when Mike entered the Pizzeria, which itself was nothing unusual, Mike was used to the routine of near disfigurement and maiming, so when he walked in and saw one of his bosses, he couldn't help but freeze slightly.

"Ah, Schmidt." Said Afton, who gestured for Mike to approach, which he did, though not without a hint of trepidation, "I am here to inform you of a few things for this night. Firstly, you won't have to worry about Balloon Boy wandering the Pizzeria tonight."

Mike furrowed his brow slightly at that development, hiding the expression with a shrug of nonconcern, "I mean, one less thing to worry about, but BB wasn't ever a real threat. An annoyance sure, what with his sticky little hands going for my flashlight batteries, but I've kinda gotten used to him. What happened?"

Afton looked at Mike with a complete deadpan stare as he uttered the words, "The Marionette punted Balloon Boy into a wall, and he's yet to be repaired to a satisfactory condition."

The two men stood in silence for the moments that Mike gaped like a fish, "The Puppet did that?"

"Indeed, I believe that has some correlation to the second thing of importance to you. The Prize Corner music box was found completely shattered this morning."

"What?" Mike said, his surprise being further compounded into shock.

Afton sighed and rubbed his face, "Considering you didn't report it, I can only assume that it must have happened between you leaving and the morning crew getting in. Or for some god forsaken reason one of the animatronics did it, which doesn't make any sense. Did anything odd happen last night, Mr. Schmidt?"

Mike took a moment to form his thoughts, but eventually nodded, "Uh, yeah. I didn't say anything after my shift because, well, after everything else that happens at night I didn't think anyone would care or even believe me, but the Puppet walked into my office and asked me to wind the music box for it."

That caused Afton to blink a few times before placing a hand on his chin in thought, "Peculiar, though I suppose that would be cause for the Marionette to be upset this morning, enough to assault Balloon Boy. Especially with the state of the music box, it's unsalvageable, we're going to have to either make or buy a new one. I will be honest Schmidt, I don't entirely know what goes on here at night, and if events this morning are any indication, things are just going to grow in oddity, so," Afton said as he reached into his pocket, only to hold out an odd looking taser, "I would say it's best if we provide a bit more active protection for you."

Mike hesitantly took hold of the taser, noting its hefty weight, "Sir, uh won't this harm the animatronics if I have to use it?"

"Mr. Schmidt, I would much prefer an animatronic being decommissioned for a few days for repairs than the entire rigamarole a seriously injured or, dare I say, killed security guard would entail." He sighed once again and shook his head, "I'm probably going to have to grab Henry so we can do a whole sweep of the animatronics' programming sometime soon if this keeps up. A few odd rituals to placate their programming at night has been preferable to risking changing something, only for them to act out during the day. No offense Mr. Schmidt."

The security guard suppressed his own sigh and pocketed the taser, "No offense taken, sir. Let's just hope the Puppet is as docile as it was last night, eh?"

"Indeed. If any more odd happenings occur during your shift, please inform us. We want to be aware of any changes to the animatronics' habits and personalities going forward. But, I shan't keep you anymore, Mr Schmidt. Stay safe." And with that, William Afton walked out the Pizzeria door, locking it behind him.

Once his boss was gone, Mike ran his hand through his hair with a sharp intake of breath through clenched teeth. He quietly debated charging out of there and leaving for the night, but something called to him to stay. After all, his boss gave him a pretty big taser, which was a huge development. He had only been slightly joking when talking to Afton, and really did wish the Puppet was as kind as it was the previous night. If not, then he had no doubt in his mind that he'd have to use that taser that felt like it could kill an elephant, and for some reason, the idea of shocking the Puppet into a pile of twitching wires unsettled Mike. If only after their mildly pleasant interaction. It had scared off Mangle for him, but who knew what the animatronic might do if it was high strung without the soothing tunes of its music box?

Mike decided to quickly get himself set up in his office before anything else decided to break routine and come after him early.

He set up his office defense post haste, which wasn't that much all things considered. He didn't even bring coffee in anymore, as it just served to distract himself, risked spilling and he was already jumpy enough as it was. He didn't need to fry his nerves on bean soup when animatronics would do it for free. Technically, he was being paid for the frying of his nerves, so it was something.

He quickly flicked through the cameras, ensuring everyone was where they were meant to be, and relaxed in relief that none of the animatronics were immediately making his night difficult. He needed some time to mentally prepare himself, if things were normal he'd be fine, Balloon Boy being gone hardly changed anything, but the Puppet… That could be the death of him.

After the Puppet was, at least docile, the night before, he hoped it wouldn't try and pretend in an attempt to lull him into a false sense of security, but he doubted it would. If it had wanted him dead the Puppet would have just done the deed the other night, but in the end he'd have to do as he always had, and play it by ear.

Soon after, things were going as they usually did, for the most part. Toy Bonnie and Chica were on the prowl, but they weren't a threat most of the time. Really, the majority of the animatronics weren't that dangerous so long as Mike kept on his toes, even the broken down, old animatronics were only mildly more terrifying than normal, as the Freddy mask worked well enough. Sure, he panicked and tried to trick the Puppet with the mask, but that was mostly a last ditch reflex, a frantic hope to get out of a deadly situation.

He resisted the urge to run his hand through his hair again at the thought that, were it any other night, and the Puppet had acted as it normally did, he wouldn't have been sitting where he was. He would have been dead from lack of music box winding.

Shaking his head, he mentally resumed his inventory taking on the animatronics and their behaviors, trying to avoid other such hiccups like the music box incident the other night. The only three animatronics who actually scared Mike at that point were the Mangle, who just seemed unpredictable aside from the static, the Puppet, as it usually was zero to a hundred on most nights from one misstep, and Foxy, while he was highly active and kind of easy to deal with, all it'd take would be one slip and hundreds of pounds of metal would fly at him from the dark.

Mike actually experienced that once. It was practically ticking over to six A.M when he lost track of Foxy who leapt right over the desk. It had been only luck that Mike fell back with his chair, sending Foxy right into the wall behind him, just as his shift ended and did whatever that made the animatronics stop trying to kill him.

He figured it was some kind of preparation protocol, a last call for all the animatronics to return to their stations so the Pizzeria could be prepped and opened, but he honestly didn't know. Nor did he really care, so long as it worked, which, if the Puppet's apparent changes in behavior were any indication of possibility, could change whenever.

With a quick flash of his light, Mike saw Toy Bonnie approaching, crawling through the vent as he so often did, and threw on the Freddy mask. Even though Mike had gone through this again and again, every time one of the animatronics walked in close, scrutinizing his mask for an uncomfortable amount of time before walking away, still caused his fear to spike. Fear that only began to abate once the blue rabbit slunk away into the hall.

Letting out a breath, he removed the mask and set it onto the desk, swapping it for the flashlight to quickly check for threats before letting himself relax, if even slightly. Trying to relax mid shift was important, if he didn't want the terror to compound and give him a heart attack at least. He scanned his light across the various entrances to the offices, before seeing no movement and turned his eyes to the camera monitor. He clicked through the various cameras, noting the positions of the different animatronics. Mangle was still in Kid's Cove, the old animatronics hadn't moved just yet, which was nice, but then, as he looked, camera to camera, he came to the Prize Corner, where the Puppet was midway through climbing out of its giant present.

Mike swallowed his worry, as the inevitable clash between him and the Puppet began its countdown. It wasn't like he could fool himself and expect the Puppet to remain there all night without the music box. He followed the Puppet as it slowly moved across the Pizzeria, with only quick checks of the hall and vents to make sure no other animatronics snuck up on him from the darkness. As the Puppet entered into the hallway down from the security office, Mike resisted the urge to flash his light down the hall, figuring the act would be rude, and simply sat, waiting for the Puppet to make the first move.

His wait wasn't long, as the Puppet soon stepped from the shadows and crossed the threshold to the office, its gait a somewhat slow and deliberate one. Mike held back his fear, an irrational hope burning in his chest that it wouldn't be a violent encounter, as there was no way he could fight the Puppet off for hours while the rest of the animatronics were out and about. Though, he did have the taser.

The air in the office almost felt like it dipped in temperature as the Puppet slowly, gingerly walked around Mike's desk, as he could swear he felt his hand twitch, wanting to reach for the taser, his logic screaming at him to arm himself, to defend himself from the encroaching threat, and… the Puppet just sat on the floor, legs crossed, next to Mike's chair, facing towards the hall.

For a few moments Mike simply held still, not making a sound, unsure what to make of the situation. Eventually he decided that the Puppet was more or less safe, and returned to looking at the cameras with quick flashlight glances into the dark, "Couldn't sleep, huh?" Mike dared to ask, voice just louder than a whisper to catch the Puppet's attention.

There was a stint of silence before a few notes of dull chimes came from the Puppet. Mike didn't know exactly what the chimes translated to, but they weren't the Puppet's rendition of 'Pop Goes the Weasel,' so he took them to at least be non hostile.

And really, he'd take that any night of the week.

—

The Puppet reflected on the day they had experienced as they sat next to the security guard, tired and annoyed. They had somehow managed to give out gifts and held in their emotions in the presence of excited children, who came to their Corner for rewards and gifts. One of the owners of their Pizzeria had spoken to them, in stilted words after they had launched Balloon Boy into a wall. Apparently that dealt more damage than the Marionette had expected, which did send a twinge of guilt down their endoskeleton spine, but as they titled their white mask up to the guard, they found they didn't quite care that much.

They studied the guard's face, a face no longer obscured by a purple haze like so many guards, so many adults had. They watched him flash his light down the hall, into the entrance of the vents, seeking the next threat to his life. This too plucked a few petals of guilt at the Puppet's wires. If this guard were innocent, were safe, how would they convince the rest of the animatronics? They pondered the relative isolation they usually abided by, from within the Prize Corner. Whether it be daily duty or nightly music boxes, they rarely left the Corner, rarely interacted with their fellow animatronics, especially as of late.

Still, the Marionette decided they would look after the stalwart night guard. He had survived for quite awhile, close calls though there had been. A few of those close calls even caused by the Marionette themselves, sending a third wave of guilt over the paint teared face. They supposed they owed the guard, at least a little.

The sound of metal clawing along metal caused their head to flick towards the nearest vent, seeing into the dark better than the guard's vision without their flashlight. The old Bonnie, Withered Bonnie lay in there. Even with their face missing, and their general state of disrepair, the Marionette could not mistake the sense of surprise the older Bonnie held as he laid his eyeless face upon the Puppet, sitting there without a care in the world, next to their quarry.

The Puppet sent a glare his way, telling him to backoff. For a moment they were worried the withered animatronic would forgo the Puppet's warning and charge in any way. They weren't sure what they would do if he did, they'd yet to fight another animatronic, and felt the music box in their chest click, their wires tighten in worried anticipation.

But, before the guard had turned his light onto Bonnie's vent, the broken rabbit awkwardly pushed himself backward from whence he came and away from the office. The Marionette felt their shoulders relax, having not even noticed their tensing, their raising. Their internal music box let out a trill like chime in place of a sigh, as they eased back.

The guard noticed their noises and glanced down at them, "There was something in that vent wasn't there?" The Marionette faced the guard and nodded, eliciting an exhale from the man, "Well, thanks for scaring whatever it was off."

For a while, the two simply sat there in silence as the night wore on. Once or twice an animatronic tried to flank the guard using the vent on his right, the one the Marionette couldn't see, but those who could see the Puppet and bear their glare tended to turn away.

After another stare sent Toy Freddy wandering away, the guard turned to the Puppet again, "I just wanted to thank you again. This night has been… just a lot less stressful. At least when compared to what it normally is."

The continued thanks, genuine to the Puppet's ears elicited a few more chimes, filled with more life than before.

"The name's Mike, by the way. And, you know what? You're welcome to hang by me on my shifts any time." He said, a friendly smile on his face as he turned back to his monitor.

'Mike,' The Marionette thought to themself, as they took in his smile, his friendly words. Something about it caused their internal music box to squeeze out a few muffled notes. That sounded nice to them. They leaned just slightly closer to Mike, the worries of what ripples their actions would cause, the fact that all the animatronics, Toys and Withered alike would know of them sitting beside the one they hunted so fervently, the one they called enemy, had eaten away at them. But sitting right there, next to the man, next to Mike, who survived night after night despite his obvious fear, they couldn't help but feel a twinge of hope of something better. Feel a spark of respect for the man.

They watched Mike as he worked, their normal hardened grin softening into a smaller, more earnest smile, as they allowed themself to give off a few cheerful chimes they hoped Mike could hear.

Their worries and fears washed away against the knowledge that the night was theirs, and tomorrow was another day.