Author's Note:
So...we ended up writing a lot and found we didn't have the patience to wait to post this. So you all get an extra chapter this week! Enjoy! Next chapter up on Monday like usual. Also, if you're interested, Corona started up a 'Worst OC' competition on the Discord server. Everyone seems to be having fun writing up the worst OC they can. It's going to be judged on Sunday and I'm fearing it becoming a weekly thing...
To join, just add b9kAt2m to the end of the usual Discord invite link.
Chapter 100
FNAF 4 Night 1
"What am I doing here?" Mike Schmidt stared up at the building with a mix of dread and fear. "I could have said no. I should have said no! Why am I here?!"
He gripped his bag that held a flashlight and coffee, a pitiful batch of supplies, tightly as he considered running before he remembered his conversation with that irritating manager.
"Because at least I know what I'm getting myself into, unlike any other poor sap they'd get to do this job if I said no," he groaned. He never had got rid of that habit of talking to himself after that awful week. "I can do this. I know what I'm doing. Remember the doors and cameras. Don't look at Foxy. Or was it look at Foxy? Shit, I can't remember! I'm so screwed!"
He paced outside for a few more minutes before finally taking a deep breath and unlocking the door. He cringed at the loud squeak echoing through the building.
"The squeaks sound the same. How do the squeaks sound the same? It's a different building? Aah! I'm doing it again! Focus Mike! Focus! You've got to find the office before midnight." he checked his watch. He still had twenty minutes even with his mini-meltdown outside. He had time.
He pulled out his flashlight as he tried to remember the manager's directions to the office. He seemed like a really incompetent person. One of his first questions was whether Mike had a baseball bat after all. Why would he ask something so weird? Then again, he worked for the management from hell...
The temporary security guard was so caught up in his thoughts that he didn't notice the wide eyes following him.
"What...Who...Why is there a stranger here?" Teddy asked in utter confusion. "He's wearing the security hat. You know, the one Ruby refuses to wear because it's purple."
It was only the Toys awake. The Originals were hiding away while they stressed over Ruby and Spring had shut himself down after having a panic attack.
It was only them on the stage right now. They couldn't really bring themselves to do something fun or distracting, the quietness eerie and uncomfortable. Plus, everyone was worried. It didn't feel right. So they were just recharging when the sound of the front door opening woke them up.
Mangle eyed the guy cautiously as he passed through on the other side of the room, seemingly not even noticing them. Or at least he was purposely ignoring them. She had decided to stay on stage with the rest of the Toys to give Foxy and the others privacy in Pirate's Cove if they wanted it. "...He's a replacement," She whispered.
They looked at her in shock.
"They can't do that!" Chi snapped, still keeping her voice down,
Toby stared. "Hedy...she would have told us if someone else was coming."
Mangle shook her head slightly. "I don't think the manager told her someone else was coming tonight."
"What should we do?" Chi asked.
They were quiet for a bit.
"We could introduce ourselves?" Teddy suggested.
Mag's maw flashed a grin at the fright they could pull on the guy. But her grin faded away...
She wasn't feeling it.
"He's just here for tonight..." she said, her tone daring anyone to say otherwise. Not that any of the other Toys would, "Just...we should just ignore him. Should we tell the Originals?"
Teddy frowned, "Maybe if they come out."
"You think the ghosts will try something?" Chi questioned.
"Like what," Toby scoffed. "They can't do anything. At most Michael might jump out and yell 'boo' at the guy."
They snickered nervously at that.
Meanwhile, Mike had found the office and was staring at it while trying not to be sick. It looked so...so similar! The same fan. The same desk. The same chair. The same...the same phone.
He forced himself to walk in, twitching anxiously.
Would there be the same calls as well?
He shook his head.
"You've got to focus Mike. Focus." he went through his calming exercises, his therapist would be so proud, and then looked around again.
After a closer inspection, there were some obvious differences to his old office. The portable tablet was a big one. There were also strange things scattered all over. A bottle of glitter under the desk, wires scattered across the surface, paint cans in the back. He took comfort from the differences even as he wondered why they were here.
Breathing deeply, he settled into the chair and pulled the tablet closer.
He could do this. He could. He'd survived before. He could-
The chimes sounded as it hit midnight.
"My therapist is going to kill me," he muttered before getting a fright that almost sent him tumbling out of his chair. What was that screaming? And laughing? It sounded like children!
The phone ringing cut through the echoing noise as the temperature seemed to drop in the room. He stared at the device, not willing to touch it. He didn't know if he could bear to hear that voice again...
##################
The Toys immediately recognised the sound of Spring screaming. He'd done it enough when waking from nightmares. They could hear the ghost kids laughing though and startled cries echoed from Pirate's Cove before being cut off suddenly as silence descended, only broken by the sound of a ringing phone.
The building creaked and grew colder as Puppet peeked out of his box to stare at his music box which had started playing out of nowhere.
"The deals have been suspended..." he realised in dawning horror. He felt like kicking himself for not realising that earlier.
The ringing stopped and Mike braced himself for the familiar messages.
"Why are we doing this?" The whine made him startle badly. Was that... that sounded like a teenager? A girl?
"Because the manager whined about not having any more training tapes," another girl's voice answered, a little older and with a different accent.
"We don't need any more training tapes. It's MY job!" the first voice said possessively. "And the second I see the manager..."
There was an incoherent argument and grumbling from the second voice as if she wanted to point something out but stopped herself. Her voice suddenly brightened and her tone was eerily familiar. "Hello hello! Welcome to your new and exciting job at Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria. If you're listening to this, congrats on your new job as either a nightguard or animatronic technician. If you, for any reason, actually got either of those jobs, our jobs, by the way, something is very very wrong. ...ah screw this...You're probably going to die. Horribly," She muttered at the sound of awkward stifled laughing. "Dang. Start it over-wait...psst...guys, what's the chance the manager's actually going to listen to these?"
There was a short laugh and someone said something that wasn't picked up by the recorder.
"Okay. So," there was the shuffle of paper and the girl sounded like she was reading something. "Uh, let's see, first there's an introductory greeting from the company that I'm supposed to read. It's kind of a legal thing, you know."
Mike stared. Those exact words?
"You copying Steve?" the younger voice piped up in interest.
"Heh. Yeah. Thought he'd like it. Ehem, 'Welcome to Freddy Fazbear's Pizza. A magical place for kids and grown-ups alike, where fantasy and fun come to life. Fazbear Entertainment is not responsible for damage to property or person. Upon discovering that damage or death has occurred, a missing person report will be filed within 90 days, or as soon as property and premises have been thoroughly cleaned and bleached, and the carpets have been replaced'."
Her reading tone broke for a second, "And speaking from experience, New Guy, they really jump on the bleaching part. The carpeting though? I'm still mad they didn't change the one in Fazbear's Fright. There's still a bit of a stain. Glad to offer some free decorating, you asses."
There were several groans and a whine just out of mic range.
"Dumbest...stupid freaking..."
The person actually making the recording raised her voice to speak over the angry mutters. "Blah blah blah, now that might sound bad, I know, but there's really nothing to worry about. Uh, the animatronic characters here do get a bit quirky at night, but do I blame them? No. If I were forced to sing those same stupid songs for twenty years and I never got a bath? I'd probably be a bit irritable at night too. So, remember, these characters hold a special place in the hearts of children and we need to show them a little respect, right? Okay." The voice was struggling not to laugh.
Mike was staring at the phone with a mix of confusion, horror, and (strangely) amusement. It sounded like they'd heard the same phone calls he did. It also sounded like they knew the truth about the place and were warning others in case something happened to them. Maybe something did. That's why he was here wasn't it? To replace someone...
"Did you memorise his script or something?" the first voice asked, heavy on the sarcasm. "And I still can't believe that they didn't give you guys baths!"
Mike glanced up from his first quick check of the cameras to look at the phone in confusion. It sounded like she was talking to the animatronics. But that wasn't possible right? No, he probably just heard wrong. This place was already messing with him. It was just a normal warning-of-imminent-death phone call-
"Yeah, like the employees were going to walk up to murderous animatronics and give us a clean," a distinctly metallic sounding voice with a slight pirate accent spoke next. He recognised that voice. He had heard it a lot during his few day shifts.
Mike almost dropped the tablet.
"What?! Why? How? WHY IS FOXY ON THAT RECORDING?!" he clutched the tablet tightly before frantically checking the cameras, including Pirate's Cove.
The curtains were still closed and Freddy and Chica were on stage but Bonnie was wandering around.
And so was another rabbit.
Wait what?
"There's another one?" he whimpered and vaguely registered that the younger girl had gone on a rant about stupid employees and ghosts. Weird. But not his main problem right now. "Okay okay okay. One more. That's not too bad. I can handle one m- WHAT THE HELL?!" he stared in terror at the camera showing him an entire new SET of robots, all active and gathered in a group in the main room.
"I'm going to die," he moaned as he sank deeper into the chair.
A new voice joining the phone call caught his attention before he spiraled too deeply into a panic attack.
"Ruby. You already gave this lecture to the rest of the staff." The voice was female and lacking the metallic quality of the robots. She also sounded amused. "You're interrupting Hedy's recording though and I don't think hearing you go on about baths is much help to anyone in this job."
"Oh alright fine. Hey! Whoever got my job even though I'm NEVER leaving, listen up!" he got the strangest feeling that he was being glared at through the phone, by a recording. "Glitter does wonders to moody animatronics. Don't stay in the office like a moron. Oh, and don't die."
He stared at the phone.
"How does that help?!"
The main speaker, "Hedy" (kind of a weird name...), coughed, "Ahem. For a little more context: staying in the office lets them coordinate and keep to a pattern that benefits them. If you move around, even at the risk of running into someone, they have to constantly adjust because they'll do stuff like..." she made a vague noise as she thought of examples, "Accidentally get into each other's way, uh, get stuck in the doors if two lunge for you at the same time, cuz you know, they can only fit through the doors one at a time."
"You calling me fat, mechanic?" Foxy's voice demanded, jokingly almost. He still sounded strained though, as if he didn't really want to be there.
"BB's the only bowling ball here Captain," the younger girl, Ruby, said brightly.
The voice snorted but forced herself to continue despite the desire to retort. "Vents are safe. No one can fit except a human, unless you're particularly large or in a wheelchair or something. I wouldn't stay too long. It's going to get hard to breathe and you might suffocate if there's not enough airflow. The air conditioning turns off at night. We don't usually turn it on since it drains the generator and the temperature is usually fine. I added the thermostat controls to the tablet a while ago."
"Only BB can get into the vents but he usually doesn't. He doesn't like running into my bombs," Ruby interrupted. "Besides, staying in the office would just be so...so...BORING! Plus if you're a decent runner then only Foxy can really keep up with you. Cause he's awesome. Or Goldy, but teleporting is kinda cheating."
"Hey. It's the cameras that pull me out," the third female defended herself.
"Goldy? Like... that weird yellow Freddy I thought I imagined a bunch of times?" Mike felt ill and slightly hysterical. "And she's a girl?!"
"Oh but the vents in Fazbear's Fright are worse. The bots can get in them easily. And don't get me started on the AWFUL ventilation on that side of the building," Ruby grumbled.
"I'm working on it!" Hedy defended, "I'm looking for the construction company who has the stupid blueprints..." she trailed off into mutters. "Ugh. Anyway, Mangle's fast too. And she's smaller. She might even be faster than Foxy."
"I most definitely am." Another female voice piped up over Ruby's dramatic gasp.
"Is that a challenge, lass?"
"What challenge? I smoked you last time, old man."
"Old m-! I slipped on paint! We never finished!"
"Guys, come on, please just get through this for me?" Hedy pleaded. "Anyway, speaking of the Toys. The worst-case scenario, if they're involved, which they shouldn't be unless someone wiped their memories or got into the coding somehow—as I said, worst-case scenario—then frankly, they're the easiest besides Mangle and Puppet. Toby's not gonna like me saying it, but it's true. With Puppet, the music box locks him in place. He can't really control that. The wind up for that is on your tablet too. He's better now, but it's good to know. Like I said, just...in case." She trailed off into a mutter. "Hopefully no one actually needs this recording."
"Of course they won't need this thing. Because I'm awesome and I'm the night guard." Ruby sounded offended. "And I think Foxy's faster."
"You're biased," the metallic female voice countered. "Like, heavily biased."
"Awww, I love you too Mangle. But, yes, I'm heavily biased," Ruby admitted happily while he was sure he heard chuckling and giggling in the background. "I still feel like this is a waste of time. I could be pranking someone! Since when should I care what the manager thinks?" she sounded rather disgusted at the thought. "Since when do you care what he thinks? He can't fire either of us. We're the only ones willing to do this job."
Mike gave a strangled laugh at that as he checked the cameras again.
WHY WERE THEY ALL OFF THE STAGE ALREADY?! IT WAS TOO EARLY!
He whimpered softly to himself and wondered yet again what the hell he was doing there.
"Yes Ruby, no one else is insane enough," Hedy said tiredly, "For goodness sakes just humor me, please? We're just being cautious and everyone already said they were...well...not happy, but okay with this."
"Not really," Foxy muttered in the background.
Hedy cleared her throat. "So, just be aware, the characters do tend to wander a bit. Uh, they're left in some kind of free-roaming mode at night...Something about their servos locking up if they get turned off for too long."
Her voice switched again. "Alright, New Guy. So...you wouldn't know this, but the last Head of Security, Scott...Scott Cawthon-aka Steve by Ruby here-, left training tapes a lot like these for night guards before Ruby. I'm reciting parts from memory and reading a transcript from what he said on those tapes. We took them. We're making new ones. Those old tapes, while helpful, are lacking because Scott wasn't allowed to say a lot of stuff. He couldn't explain everything he really knew cause he knew the company might destroy the tapes after he...retired. So he did his best and never flat out admitted wrongdoing on the company's part, so the next guy would at least have a chance without him there." There was an odd sort of pain in her voice and she paused to take a breath. "...Um...Scott wasn't a mechanic s-so he didn't know, but the part about the joints locking up is a real thing. A lot of the other excuses aren't though… Moving on." There was another shuffle of papers and she suddenly sounded way more uncomfortable. "Uh, they used to be allowed to walk around during the day too. But then there was The Bite of '87. Yeah. I-It's amazing that the human body can live without the frontal lobe, you know?..."
There was a long silence and Mike looked up, thinking the recording had ended.
There was a cough. "This isn't something you specifically need to worry about to survive this job. I, personally, only have heard rumors about this and no one needs to remind...anyone... The only reason we're including this part of the script is to point out that this is one of Scott's attempts to get whoever was listening to start questioning the company. I think he was hoping someone would start poking into the company's past."
Mike could hear Ruby grumbling about something in the background throughout Hedy's speech but she fell silent when she reached the end.
"I think karma caught up with them," she pointed out. "I mean, they got stuck with me and they can't get rid of me."
Foxy chuckled but it sounded a little strained.
Mike was near hyperventilating by now. He was trying to split his time between the tablet and the phone call while also trying to make sense of said phone call. He also had to resist the urge to crawl under the desk and pretend nothing was happening.
There were so many robots to keep track of! He didn't even know if this was all of them. What if there were more that he just hadn't seen yet?
"Take a second to wind the music box if you have to, and check the West Hall camera if you haven't left the office yet. It's labeled CAM 2A. Oh, right. Check CAM 3 too. That's the supply closest. Cleaning supplies and stuff. Bleach. Bonnie might be there. Foxy? You didn't do anything Night 1 right? It was just Bonnie? This is assuming you're not possessed the entire time and you're being forced again."
Mike stared at the phone. Possessed? Forced? What did she mean?
"When I'm in control I stay out of it until night three," Foxy admitted. "But if we're in control then we're not going to be hunting anyone." He almost sounded like he was warning Hedy there.
"Bonnie has a phobia of the closet now," Ruby added serenely. "I don't know why."
There was a brief moment of silence.
"'Course you don't lass. It's got nothing to do with the glitter bombs you locked him in there with," Foxy sounded amused and exasperated.
Hedy snorted, but she sobered quickly and was suddenly very serious. She spoke faster. "Okay, New Guy. You heard Foxy. Straight into Night 6 for you. I was going to read the rest of what Scott said on the last Night 1 tape, but you don't have time for us to distract you like that. Listen up. You might be wondering what the heck you need to be worried about."
She took a deep breath. "The punchline? Everyone's most likely going to be coming after you with the intention of stuffing you in a suit. There's a couple spares in the back room we keep in boxes. This isn't like some freaking...cosplay. Ah crap, I should read this anyway. Scott got the point across. Check the damn cameras while I'm talking and be ready to hit the door and as soon as this recording is over get out of there when the coast is clear. This is what Scott said in those old tapes."
She took a breath. "Now concerning your safety, the only real risk to you as a night watchman here, if any, is the fact that these characters, uh, if they happen to see you after hours probably won't recognize you as a person. They'll most likely see you as a metal endoskeleton without its costume on. Now since that's against the rules here at Freddy Fazbear's Pizza, they'll probably try to...forcefully stuff you inside a Freddy Fazbear suit. Now, that wouldn't be so bad if the suits themselves weren't filled with crossbeams, wires, and animatronic devices, especially around the facial area. So, you could imagine how having your head forcefully pressed inside one of those could cause a bit of discomfort."
"Discomfort," the metallic female voice said sarcastically.
Ruby snickered. It was very inappropriate.
"Scott was really great at saying the most horrible things as if they were normal. 'Discomfort...and death. Uh, the only parts of you that would likely see the light of day again would be your eyeballs and teeth when they pop out the front of the mask'-Wait what the hell, Uncle Scott," Hedy made a disturbed noise and muttered that last part but was still serious. "Load of BS, New Guy. The 'see you as an endoskeleton part.' Nuh-uh. Someone's actively gunning for you. Yeah, it disturbs the bots to see endoskeletons as they're programmed to see their masks and suits as themselves, not the endo which is what they really are. Wires. Circuitry. That stuff. Foxy, don't you dare give me that face."
The fox grumbled something under his breath.
Mike was struggling not to hyperventilate by now.
"I'm dead I'm dead I'm dead I'm dead," he moaned.
"If, and that's a big if, this tape needs to be used, I also need to give a warning," Ruby piped back up before her voice darkened considerably and he shivered, eyes locked on the phone. "Don't you dare hurt my bots. It's not their fault they're being forced to do this. The only one you can really blame is Puppet. The rest were tricked or forced."
"Lass." Foxy tried to calm her, sounding fondly exasperated.
"No, Foxy. I will not have you guys blamed when it's not your fault," She stated stubbornly.
Hedy grunted in agreement. "I'm worried to think about where I would be in this situation, but yeah. Try not to hurt anyone. Not only can they feel pain, but if I'm not around either for some reason, I can't fix them... I'll figure out some way to leave repair tutorials or rewrite the manuals so they're easier to understand so they can fix themselves..." she trailed off. "Look, if Ruby isn't there, then I'm in trouble too. The Originals aren't going to hurt me if possessed, or at least they shouldn't. The Toys definitely wouldn't unless they were reprogrammed, and frankly, I think Marionette isn't so sure he'd kill me anymore given the chance. But 'Springtrap' is another thing. Fuck, I hate that name."
Mike glanced at the phone again with a frown. Was Ruby...growling? And what's this about possession? And who the hell was Springtrap?
He shivered and looked back at the tablet, heart leaping into his throat when he saw they were all wandering around. He wondered which one was Springtrap... And they could feel pain? Now didn't that make him feel bad about all the times he'd just shut the door just in time for the bots to slam into them.
"How did this get even more complicated?" he muttered to himself.
"This thing is already ten minutes long. If you can find the time, you should listen to all the tapes at once. Tonight preferably. That would give you the best chance. But for this one, the vents are enough to keep you alive while on the defensive at least for tonight. But it won't be enough to last you past tonight because they might figure something out. We'll talk about how to safely go on the offensive without hurting anyone and what to look out for with each bot individually later." There was a sound as if Hedy was about to stop the recording. "Oh geez, we didn't even explain the ghosts."
"Ghosts?" Mike squeaked. "What? How? Why-"
He was cut off as he heard the dreaded sound of metal feet. He barely slammed the door shut before the small-ish pink and white fox got in and leaned against it, panting.
"I'm so dead," he groaned before diving at the tablet and checking the cameras again. He tried his best to ignore the insistent banging on the door and muffled yells.
After a minute or so he double-checked the camera and light before cautiously opening the door. He promptly shrieked and shut it as Bonnie leaped at him.
"This is going to be a long night," he moaned.