Author's Note: Heyyyy, everyone! I'm back with a new chapter for you all!

Here's the next chapter, where Mike stands up for himself!

The sound of Mike's old red pickup truck coming into the parking lot broke the silence around Freddy Fazbear's pizzeria. The night guard parked a few spots away from the entrance, not that far from Mr. Jonston's car, before turning off his truck and climbing out. He seemed a little more on edge than he usually was outside the pizzeria. But then again, this was the night he was going to try and actually talk to the animatronics, rather than try to keep them out of his office.

To be truthful, Mike was terrified. He had no idea if this would actually work. If this surprised the robots enough to stop them for a bit, Mike doubted they would stop completely. Those animal robots seemed to be out for his blood half the time, and the man was deathly afraid of what would happen if this didn't work. He knew Jennifer would be by herself with no job, no way to support herself, and Mike would be gone from her life.

He didn't want that for her. He wanted to live for more than just his own self preservation.

He wanted to live.

Mike shook his head as he turned away from his truck. He could do this. The night guard could do this. He had looked death in the eyes with these animatronics before, and he wasn't going to just lay down and die like a wounded animal. The man had to show them who the human was around here.

Mike made his way towards the doors, meeting his boss and getting the keys from him as he always did. The night guard watched Mr. Jonston drive away after getting into his car, and he hesitated to turn back towards the pizzeria for a second. "...What if this doesn't work," he thought aloud. "What if they don't even hesitate to… to kill me? They've tried to do that for a year now, and… and I…"

The human shook his head. There was no reason to think about that now. He and Jennifer rehearsed what he was going to do, some of the things he was going to try to say. He couldn't just take their abuse. Mike was going to stand up for himself.

Taking a deep breath, the night guard turned, opened the door, and locked it behind him. He didn't even take a second to look up at the animatronics or the room in front of him. He rushed to his office, already feeling like he was being watched by the three on the stage.

"Here we go," he whispered to himself. "Jen, I hope this works. If not… I'm sorry."

Mike tapped on the tablet to see through the camera in front of the stage, and he felt himself beginning to tremble. Nothing had happened for about an hour now, and it was nerve racking, to say the least. The night guard hadn't expected the animatronics to be on the stage and out of the halls for as long as it had been. They hadn't moved an inch from their spots.

Mike found himself setting down his tablet and taking deep, shuddering breaths. He closed his eyes and leaned back in his chair. "Why haven't they moved at all," he asked himself. "They're usually more active by this point. This doesn't make sense…"

Mike heard a noise, and after leaning up from his chair, he opened his eyes–

"WHAT THE FUCK?!"

He scrambled out of his chair with wide eyes and a loud shout, bumping into the back wall of the office.

What Mike saw for only a moment made his heart thunder in his chest. It looked like Freddy, it did, but it was sitting in the corner near the left hallway entrance. It looked limp with arms on the ground and its head tilted to the side, mouth agape.

But it was a golden yellow color. One so far removed from Freddy's color in the dim light of the office. And those eyes… they were black with small white lights in the middle.

Mike closed his eyes out of terror, only to see flashes of white words under his lids. A static sound, louder than anything he had heard over the phone, rang in his ears. Mike's breathing picked up and he could see the words in his vision.

"IT'S ME."

The human shouted out of panic and opened his eyes…

Only for the visions, the noise, and the Freddy clone to be gone.

There was a dreadful silence in the air for a few minutes, other than heavy pants for air. The human's eyes darted around the office and towards the hallway entrances for a few seconds, before Mike moved to his seat and collapsed into it.

"... What in the fuck was that," he whispered with great horror. Never had that happened. He had never had such strange visions or sounds, and he had never seen that… copy? Ghost? Whatever it was. It looked just like Freddy. But something about it… something seemed so much darker and felt so malevolent about it. The Freddy copy he saw… something was so real about it. Something he could feel but couldn't explain.

Those thoughts were cut short when the sounds of heavy footsteps began to echo from down the left hallway, from the stage. The animatronics were awake and active, and Mike was still terrified from that vision.

There was no time to let that overtake his actions now though, Mike knew the robots were coming for him. He had to let his plan go into action. He had to stop being afraid.

He had to stand up.

Chica stepped down from the stage next to Bonnie, turning to watch Freddy. When he was off the stage, she chuckled lightly. "Well, sounds like something spooked Michael already."

Bonnie nodded. "Yep. Looks like we'll have it easy tonight. If he's too busy being scared of something else, it'll distract him long enough for us to get to him."

Freddy snickered darkly. "If that's the case, let's go get Felix. I'm sure he'll want to get in on this."

The three stage animatronics moved past the tables and walked to Pirate's Cove. Freddy tugged on the curtain and a snout popped out, followed by the rest of Foxy's face. The pirate furrowed his brows for a second before a wicked grin crossed his face. "Are we ready, lads," he asked. Rather than that of a pirate of the seas, his voice now had a thick Irish accent laced into it.

"We are, Felix," Chica spoke. "Let's go."

Foxy stepped out of Pirate's Cove and onto the checkered tile, and he bared his teeth.

Time to show that guard what for.

Mike could hear footsteps beginning to come down the left hallway and he knew they were coming for him. He was beyond scared at this point, but he knew he had to at least give Jen's plan a try. He had to stand up for himself, otherwise he'd just be letting them get what they want and dying in the process.

As the footsteps got louder, Mike took a deep breath despite his quivering form. He could do this. He had to at least try.

A deep frown and furrowed brows took Mike's face. "This is where this ends," he whispered. He then turned, took a step into the hall with clenched hands, and faced the end.

There they were. The four animatronics of Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria. He could see their eyes all glowing as they turned in his direction. Mike could hear Freddy chuckle under his breath, and the robots began to move towards him. He kept his eyes glued to the animatronics in front of him. He couldn't take his gaze off of them; it might be the death of him if he did.

Mike could hear the steps get closer and closer and see those eyes getting closer to him. Mike didn't say a word though, just retained his glare.

The animatronics stopped within a few yards of Mike, standing there and watching his movements. He was standing his ground, to their surprise. Mike wasn't running into the office or trying to make his way past them, and this made Freddy raise a brow in piqued curiosity. He folded his arms as Bonnie looked to him, then returned her gaze to Mike.

"Well, looks like you decided to come out of the office, huh, Mike," she asked with fake sincerity.

Mike took another deep breath and found himself glaring at Bonnie. She was always the one to make him angry when it came down to it. "I'm not afraid of you," he finally said. Mike knew he was scared, but he had to push that back now. He couldn't show any fear right now. Not now.

Chica looked at him and laughed, putting a hand to her chest. "What could you possibly be talking about, Michael? You've run away from us or yelled at us out of fear how many times now? That would be proof of being pretty scared, if you ask me."

Mike shook his head and gritted his teeth. "Shut your beak! I've been afraid of you for too long now. I'm tired of it, and I don't want to be terrified anymore! You don't know what I've had to put up with because of you four, and you don't even know what I've been through because of you! No one else but my girlfriend may believe me about you, but I know what you're trying to do to me! I'm not gonna stand for it anymore, you bastards!"

Foxy's one eye narrowed in fury and he suddenly shouted, "What you've been through?! As if that's anythin' compared to what's been done ta us!"

Those words seemed to strike a nerve in Mike, because his eyes narrowed in rage and he began to shout loud enough for his voice to echo down the hall. "SHUT UP! You're just a bunch of fucking robots! You shouldn't be such jerks! You've done nothing but try to kill me by stuffing me into that fucking costume! Don't think I don't know that you're trying to kill me, you freaks! You shouldn't have emotions! You're just walking piles of scrap!"

Mike stamped a foot down and curled his hands tight enough that he was sure his nails would cut into his palms. "You stupid robotic animals just want to stuff me into a suit! Do you know how many people think I'm absolutely nuts for trying to tell them about you?! I've told my family and all my friends, but guess what?! ONLY MY GIRLFRIEND BELIEVES ME! NO ONE ELSE!"

The sudden volume of Mike's voice seemed to make the animatronics' brows rise, and Foxy even took a step back. It's not like the human noticed, however, with how furious he was.

Mike pointed a finger at the animals. He didn't even care about the plan anymore. He was going to say everything on his mind. Everything that had been on his mind for the past year, as a matter of fact.

Mike shouted again with his blue eyes slanted in fury. "I'm not gonna let you push me around anymore! I'm not afraid of you bastards! You're nothing but a bunch of robots! I don't care what you have against me, I won't let you scare me anymore! You've made everyone think I'm a fucking nut, and I'm tired of it! You're monsters, you're piles of scrap, and I will fucking dismantle you if you dare step in that office again! Got it?"

Freddy suddenly shouted out, "And why should we care about you dismantling us?! It's not like that'd be any worse than what happened to make us like this!"

Mike's blue eyes never moved from Freddy's eyes as he asked, "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?! You're robots! You're piles of metal with no real emotions! You expect me to believe you've not always been like this?! You–"

"LIKE YOU'D BELIEVE ANYTHING WE SAY, MIKE SCHMIDT!" Freddy suddenly screamed at a volume that made Mike flinch in shock. He watched as the bear began to shake, and Bonnie and Chica seemed to look at him with great… concern?

Mike had never seen such faces on the rabbit or chicken before, and his narrowed eyes softened. He watched as Freddy pointed a finger at him in accusation.

"You have no–no idea… what we've–been–through! You'll never know… know what–what it's like for us! You–"

"Fredrickson," Bonnie suddenly spoke, putting her hand on Freddy's shoulder. She looked up at him with a shake of the head. "It's not worth it, buddy. Just walk away."

Mike blinked in surprise. Fredrickson. That wasn't Freddy's name. He had never heard Bonnie call the bear that. "...What," he whispered as he watched them.

Freddy seemed to choke up as if he was trying not to sob, and Chica placed a hand on his back. "Fredrick, listen, you know what we've been through." She turned her head to lock eyes with Mike, scoffing at him. "He doesn't need to know. I'm sure what he's been through is nothing compared to our pain."

Freddy looked down at Chica. "But, Chelsea–"

Foxy put an arm in front of his other friends and glared at Mike. "C'mon, lads. We don't need ta be hearin' nonsense from this guard."

Mike watched the animatronics give him one last glare, Freddy's eyes seeming to read more anger than the others. They then… turned around, walking out of the hall and never looking back at him.

The human found himself watching as the robots disappeared out of the hallway, before slowly backing into the office, plopping down in his chair… and staring at the wall, zoning out.

The only thing that brought him out of his trance was when his alarm went off. But even after he was handing his keys to his boss, and climbing into his truck, he couldn't keep what the animatronics said out of his mind.

What did he say that made them act so… human?

Author's Note: OH HO HO!

Seems like Mike struck a nerve in Freddy! But what could have made that so?

Find out next Wednesday!