A/N: Surprise! I was so goddamn bored with this week that I decided to post another chapter. I tried to get this done yesterday, but I had a bout of feeling sick so I couldn't pull it off. Oh well, one day's delay isn't bad. Though just because I was able to get a chapter done this week, doesn't mean that I will again for next week. Just assume that all chapters will be posted two weeks apart, that way you can be pleasantly surprised when I post a weekly update like this.

With that out of the way, I can't believe we've finally reached the 100th chapter! I never dreamed that this fic would ever reach that far, or that it would ever get even a fraction of the support that it has gotten from you all. I am so thankful that you guys have enjoyed and continued to enjoy this fic, and I will do my best to write good-quality stuff for you all.

I'm still waiting for song requests for the next Jamming with the Schmidts! It won't be this chapter, but it will be soon,

Ghostlyassassin Jesse: Thanks for asking! My rotations have been suspended for the time being, but there's some online stuff that I need to do instead. I hope things are going all right back in the UK.

Guest: Go right ahead, I don't really mind if you use Eric's name.

Guest: That's not a bad idea, but I have no idea what kind of mechanics I'd come up with for a game like that.

Guest: No, you can't honk Rockstar Freddy's nose. That's a meme within the games that I'm pretty sure wouldn't apply in real life.

Guest: I don't know anything about Persona 5, sorry And as a med student, I don't really have the time to do in-depth research into completely new games.

Jack0Lanterns: I imagine she speaks with her own voice, or the Security Puppet has a voice very similar to her own.

Chapter 100 – Wisdom from Beyond

"You know, I'm still surprised by how simplistic the programming is for these animatronics," Melody marveled. "I've heard that the programming for the old Freddy Fazbear ones was really beyond its time."

"The less complicated it is," Mike drawled, "the less likely the chance for something to fuck up."

"Very true," Melody agreed. She looked down at her watch and frowned. "Shit, I didn't realize it was this late. I better go, Mike, I've got to get back at the factory by the tomorrow."

"Aww…" Rockstar Chica shook her head and groaned. "We were having so much fun, though!"

"Can't be helped, I guess, "Rockstar Freddy sighed. His mouth opened into a smile. "Have a safe trip, Melody!"

"I will, thank you!" Melody smiled back at the animatronics.

"BYE!" Everyone called out to her as Mike guided her to the front door. Once she was gone, Mike sat down on the steps and buried his face in his hands.

"Urrrrrrggggggghhhhh…," he muttered. "For some reason, I'm feeling really tired tonight. Fucking hell."

The Security Puppet approached him, clearly looking concerned. "Do you need us to help you get to bed?" she asked.

Mike shook his head. "Nah," he answered. "I'll be fine. But I think Melody had the right idea. I'm gonna hit the bed early too." He looked up at the other animatronics. "You guys can handle yourselves just fine, right?"

"Yep!" the animatronics replied in the affirmative. "Good night, dad!"

"Good night!" Mike repeated with a smile, before retreating up the stairs and to his bedroom. Feeling weariness already beginning to creep into his mind, he took a shower and changed into his pajamas as quickly as possible. When he finally lay down on his bed, it only took mere seconds for him to fall into slumber.

And when Mike next opened his eyes, he found himself in a completely different world.

"What the FUCK?" he exclaimed, rapidly getting to his feet as quickly as possible. From what Mike could gather from his current environment, he was in a…forest of some kind, though it wasn't like any forest he had ever seen before. The trees surrounding him had leaves and stems colored the purest red, standing evenly on flat ground that was pitch black in color.

Mike knew immediately that this wasn't a dream, or at least not one of a nature that he was familiar with. This was different from the many excursions he had taken into the depths of his slumbering mind, different even from the nightmarish arena he had created for his duel with William Afton. It was as though his mind had left his plane of existence entirely and entered a strange and unfamiliar universe.

"Wait…" Mike stroked his chin thoughtfully. "Didn't Liz's brother mention something like this when he was verbally smacking the shit out of William Afton? Something about waking up in a red forest after that Bite, and…SHIT!" A horrible thought suddenly occurred to him. "Did I die?" After a few seconds of pondering this possibility, he brushed it aside. He couldn't explain why, but he just had the feeling that this wasn't the correct answer. Whatever was going on, it wasn't the passage of his soul to the afterlife any more than it was just a normal dream.

"I might as well take a look around, seeing that I don't have anything better to do at the moment," Mike mused. He looked around him, trying to find a direction in which to start exploring, when he heard a faint splashing sound to his left. "Huh. Guess I'll go that way, then."

Mike began to wander on his chosen path, helpfully guided by the splashing sound that periodically repeated itself, getting louder and louder the closer he got to it. As he walked, he warily kept track of his surroundings and looked for any sign of a potential attack, even though he never saw so much as another presence around him. He pushed aside the last two trees, and his eyes beheld a large clearing that held a vast lake at the very center. And just as Evan had described during his tale, there was a being of some kind sitting at the opposite edge of the lake wearing the clothes of a fisherman. A being with the head of a crocodile.

The crocodile-headed figure seemed peaceful and unimposing, but there was something about him that instantly put Mike on alert. In the past two years, he had stood in the presence of ghosts, a psychopathic murder bathed in the essence of a demon, and a mighty demon lord. And there was something about this entity that seemed somehow…greater…than any supernatural being that he had encountered in the past.

Before Mike could focus his thoughts, the figure looked up from his fishing hobby and smiled. "AH…" he addressed Mike, his voice surprisingly soft and gentle despite its deep baritone. "MIKE SCHMIDT. COME, JOIN ME," he gestured to a stump next to him. "YOU ARE SAFE HERE. NO HARM WILL COME TO YOU."

Mike wordlessly acquiesced and walked over to the spot where he had indicated. Though he normally wouldn't have been this trusting, Evan's account of his own encounter and his own instincts soothed his doubts, at least for the time being. "You're…you're Old Man Consequences, aren't you?" he asked. "Evan…Shadow Freddy…Liz's brother…he mentioned you."

Old Man Consequences smiled. "INDEED," he answered in the affirmative. "IT IS A PLEASURE TO MAKE YOUR ACQUAINTANCE, MIKE SCHMIDT. I HAVE BEEN LOOKING FORWARD TO MEETING YOU FOR A LONG TIME."

Mike raised an eyebrow. "Somehow, I'm not as surprised as I'd normally be that you know who I am."

"BUT OF COURSE," OMC answered. "THE CHILDREN WHO YOU HAVE NOW ADOPTED, THE VICTIMS OF THE FREDDY FAZBEAR TRAGEDY, ARE OF SPECIAL INTEREST TO HEAVEN. HENRY AND MICHAEL AFTON MAY HAVE FINALLY ENDED THE NIGHTMARE, BUT YOU ARE THE ONE TO HELP THEM RECOVER FROM THEIR TORMENTS. AND OF COURSE, NIGHTMARE SPEAKS QUITE HIGHLY OF YOU, WHICH IS VERY RARE INDEED FOR ONE WHO NORMALLY CARES SO LITTLE ABOUT HUMANITY. YOU ARE REMARKABLY WELL-KNOWN IN THE AFTERLIFE FOR A MERE MORTAL, MIKE SCHMIDT."

"I'll…consider that a good thing…I guess…" Mike mumbled uncertainly. OMC's smile only widened in response, and he wordlessly handed over his fishing rod. Mike accepted it and threw the line into the lake, waiting a few seconds before reeling the line back in and handing it back to the crocodile-headed entity.

"I SENSE THAT YOU HAVE SOME QUESTIONS, MIKE SCHMIDT," OMC spoke again after a few more moments of silence. "I WOULD BE MORE THAN WILLING TO ANSWER THEM, UNLESS I AM FORBIDDEN FROM DOING SO. THERE ARE ALSO TOPICS THAT WE MUST DISCUSS SOON, THOUGH THEY CAN WAIT FOR A LITTLE WHILE LONGER."

"All right," Mike nodded. "So, my first question is…where are we, exactly?" he looked around briefly at the surrounding red trees." Evan mentioned this place before. And I'm pretty sure this isn't just a normal dream, even though I'm also sure I haven't died. So what exactly is this place?"

"YOUR IMPRESSIONS ARE CORRECT ON BOTH COUNTS," OMC nodded his head. "THIS REALM…FOR YOU, I WOULD BEST DESCRIBE IT AS THE ANTECHAMBER TO THE AFTERLIFE, THOUGH LIVING SOULS SUCH AS YOURSELF CAN OCCASIONALLY ENTER HERE AS WELL FOR BRIEF INTERVALS. IT HAS TAKEN MANY DIFFERENT FORMS THROUGHOUT THE CENTURIES, WITH THIS FORM BEING ONLY ITS CURRENT INCARNATION."

Mike's eyes fell on the lake. "And is that lake the gateway to the afterlife?"

To his surprise, OMC shrugged. "IT DEPENDS," he answered. "FOR SOME, IT IS THE GATEWAY TO PARADISE." A brilliant pillar of light suddenly descended from the black sky, covering the surface of the lake in its entirety and transforming it into a shimmering mirror of radiance. Mike had to cover his eyes to shield them from the intensity, and though he couldn't see anything within the lake, he could feel an overwhelming sense of tranquility and happiness that he could only describe as divine. And then as quickly as it arrived, the light vanished, leaving behind the scarlet lake.

OMC's smile vanished, and an unnerving growl entered the entity's voice. "FOR OTHERS, IT IS THE LAST THING THEY WILL EVER SEE BEFORE DAMNATION." The serene waters of the lake churned and swirled with increasing frenzy, until suddenly Mike was no longer staring at a lake, but a hellish whirlpool of shadow and flame leading down into the depths of the Abyss. Unholy lightning flashed all around the edges of the portal, and Mike could hear screams and wails of agony that chilled him to the very soul. It looked almost like the portal that Nightmare had summoned in his swimming pool to throw William Afton back into the depths of Hell, though now it was even larger and somehow more terrifying.

And then, the fiery portal vanished, leaving only the undisturbed waters of the lake. "BUT FOR YOU, MIKE SCHMIDT, IT IS MERELY A LAKE," OMC finished. "IT HAS NO PURPOSE FOR THE LIVING, AND YOUR TIME IS FAR OFF YET."

"That makes sense," Mike agreed. "And what about you? All the religions I've heard of, Christianity very much included, have never mentioned a red forest with a crocodile-headed being next to a lake," he couldn't resist adding a little wryness in his tone.

The crocodile-headed being chuckled. "I AM NOT IN ANY OF THE BIBLICAL SCRIPTURES, THAT IS TRUE. I AM…A GUARDIAN OF SORTS. A GUARDIAN AND A GUIDE. I STAND AT THE GATEWAY BETWEEN LIFE AND DEATH, GREETING SOULS AS THEY MAKE THEIR WAY TO THEIR FINAL RESTING PLACE." He seemed to sit a little straighter, and suddenly emanated an aura of dignity and solemn duty. "I ALSO STAND AT THE EDGE OF HELL AND ENSURE THAT ITS DEMONS…" the faintest hint of menace entered his voice, "…KNOW THEIR PLACE."

Mike shuddered. Even though OMC didn't seem all that intimidating compared to the likes of Nightmare, he had a feeling that OMC was more than capable of backing up that claim. The darkness emanating from the crocodile suddenly vanished, and he smiled again. "BUT WE NEED NOT DISCUSS TOPICS SUCH AS THOSE. THERE ARE MORE IMPORTANT QUESTIONS TO BE ANSWERED, QUESTIONS THAT I KNOW YOU WISH DEARLY TO ASK."

Mike nodded. "All right, Since you seem to know so much about the afterlife, here's my first question." He took a deep breath, and continued. "The families of my kids, the original ones they had when they were still alive, before William Afton decided to fuck things up for everyone. Are they all right? Are they okay with me as their new father?"

Old Man Consequences sighed. "THEY SUFFERED TERRIBLY WITH THE LOSS OF THEIR LOVED ONES. AS I AM CERTAIN YOU COULD UNDERSTAND. A SON, A DAUGHTER, A BROTHER, A SISTER…EACH AND EVERY FAMILY LOST SOMEONE DEAR TO THEM, WITHOUT EVEN HAVING BODIES FOR CLOSURE OR A TRUE UNDERSTANDING OF THEIR FATES. THEY WOULD FEEL THE LOSS FOR THE REST OF THEIR DAYS, AND EVEN WHEN THEY ENTERED HEAVEN THEY WOULD NEVER TRULY FEEL AT PEACE KNOWING THAT THE CHILDREN CONTINUED TO SUFFER ON EARTH."

"I'm starting to regret asking…" Mike muttered.

OMC shook his head. "YOU HAVE NOTHING TO REGRET, MIKE SCHMIDT. NOW THAT THE NIGHTMARE IS OVER, THEY CAN FINALLY KNOW TRUE PEACE. AND WITH THE KNOWLEDGE THAT ONE SUCH AS YOU CONTINUES TO WATCH OVER THEM, A MAN WHO HAS FOUND IT IN HIS HEART TO FORGIVE THEM AND RAISE THEM AS HIS OWN…THEY ARE RELIEVED, GRATEFUL, AND HONORED BEYOND MEASURE THAT YOU WOULD SO WILLINGLY ACCEPT THE DUTY OF A FATHER FOR THEM. THERE IS NOT A SINGLE NEGATIVE COMMENT THAT ANY OF THEM HAS TO SAY REGARDING YOUR PERFORMANCE…" a smirk stretched across his mouth, "…APART FROM, PERHAPS, THE EXCESSIVE CURSING."

Mike let out a laugh. "Yeah, that's not something that's gonna go away so easily," he commented dryly. OMC gave a chuckle of his own as Mike leaned back and sighed in relief. "It's good to know that they think I'm doing a good job though," he murmured. "When they first popped up in my house, I had no idea how I was going to pull this off."

"SO LONG AS YOU CONTINUE TO LOVE AND CARE FOR THEM, AND CONTINUE TO DO WHAT IS RIGHT, YOUR PATH FORWARD IS CLEAR," OMC assured him as he gently placed a hand on Mike's shoulder. "BUT YOU ALREADY KNOW THAT, DON'T YOU?"

Mike returned the smile and the two sat quietly again for several seconds. "Have you ever talked with any of the other kids?" he wondered aloud. "I know you've talked to Evan, and gave him a lot of advice. Have you ever talked to Gabe, Liz, or any of the others? Like when they first passed on to Heaven?"

OMC shook his head. "WHEN THEY WERE FREED FROM THEIR MORTAL COILS, MOST OF THEM ASCENDED IMMEDIATELY INTO HEAVEN, SO THEY COULD BE REUNITED WITH THEIR FAMILIES AND JUDGED. AS FOR LIZ, SHE HAD TO FIND HER OWN PATH TO JOIN YOUR FAMILY. I HAVE NOT SPOKEN WITH ANY OF THEM," he denied, before adding, "NOR, DO I THINK, A CONVERSATION WITH THEM WOULD BE NECESSARY. THOUGH THEY ARE ATONING FOR THEIR PAST SINS, THEY ARE NOT BURDENED WITH RESPONSIBILITIES OR TASKS LIKE YOU OR THE AFTONS ARE." He chuckled. "THOSE SHOULD FALL ON YOU, FOR YOU ARE THEIR FATHER, ARE YOU NOT?"

"Har har," Mike drawled, "but I see your point."

Old Man Consequences nodded and cast his line into the lake again. "SPEAKING OF FAMILY, BOTH YOUR BIOLOGICAL PARENTS AND ADOPTIVE GUARDIAN ARE IN HEAVEN, MY FRIEND. THEY ARE ALL VERY PROUD OF YOU, AND WISH YOU AND YOUR NEW FAMILY THE BEST. YOUR BIRTH FATHER IN PARTICULAR WISHES TO PASS ON HIS REGRETS, FOR HE WAS DENIED PERMISSION TO APPROACH YOU AND EXPRESS HIS REMORSE PERSONALLY. THERE MUST STILL BE SOME PUNISHMENT FOR HIS DEEDS IN YOUR EARLY LIFE, AFTER ALL."

"I forgave him a long time ago," Mike answered calmly. "That hasn't changed now."

"GOOD," was OMC's only response. "DO YOU HAVE ANY OTHER QUESTIONS FOR ME, MIKE SCHMIDT?"

"Just one…" Mike replied, before adopting a businesslike tone. "Why did you really bring me here, Old Man Consequences?"

The crocodile-headed entity looked up from his fishing. "HMM?"

"I'm having a hard time believing that you brought me here just to have a little chat," Mike continued, his tone more assertive than it had been up until now. "An entity like you taking the time to bring a living soul to this realm, just to have some pleasant and casual conversation?" He shook his head. "I think you have a different, more important reason for bringing me here. And since I don't have anything else on my mind at the moment, I think it's time we get to that point."

OMC chuckled and shook his head. "YOU ARE AS PERCEPTIVE AS YOU HAVE ALWAYS BEEN, MIKE SCHMIDT," he remarked, his tone solemn yet carrying a trace of amusement in it at the same time. "AND YOU ARE CORRECT. I HAVE NOT BROUGHT YOU TO THIS REALM FOR A SIMPLE SOCIAL CALL."

Mike felt a sinking feeling in his stomach. "Oh, fuck…" he cursed. "Is William Afton going to somehow escape from Hell in the future AGAIN?"

"WILLIAM AFTON'S FATE IS SEALED," OMC firmly replied. "HE HAS ALREADY INSULTED HELL, AND NIGHTMARE IN PARTICULAR, BY ESCAPING ONCE. THE INFERNAL REALM WILL NEVER ALLOW HIM A SECOND CHANCE. AS OF THIS MOMENT, NIGHTMARE IS UNLEASHING A SPECIAL BRAND OF TORMENT UPON HIM, ONE THAT MATCHES THE TAINT IN HIS SOUL QUITE WELL."

"That Ultimate Custom Night thing," Mike realized.

OMC nodded. "YOU NOT NEED WORRY ABOUT WILLIAM AFTON ESCAPING FROM HELL A SECOND TIME." The crocodile's lips stretched into a frown. "HOWEVER…THE EVIL THAT CORRUPTED THE FREDDY FAZBEAR FRANCHISE MANIFESTED ITSELF IN MULTIPLE FORMS. THE MOST EGREGIOUS, AND MOST OBVIOUS EXAMPLE IS OF COURSE WILLIAM AFTON. BUT THAT IS NOT THE ONLY ONE. YOU KNOW OF WHAT I SPEAK, MY FRIEND."

"I do?" Mike asked, clearly looking confused. Then, the answer hit him. "Oh my God…" he breathed.

"FAZBEAR ENTERTAINMENT," the entity's lips curled in disgust. "A CESSPIT OF GREED, INCOMPETENCE, AND AN APATHY TOWARDS THE WELFARE OF BOTH THE CHILDREN AND ITS EMPLOYEES THAT BORDERS ON CRUELTY. THE MANAGEMENT OF FAZBEAR ENTERTAINMENT IS EVERY BIT AN EMBODIMENT OF HUMAN VICE AS WILLIAM AFTON, THOUGH IN A DIFFERENT WAY."

"I thought Henry closed Fazbear Entertainment for good!" Mike protested. "Heck, he only reopened it just for his trap. You can't be telling me that they're going to try and pull the same shit they did in the 1980s and 1990s again!"

OMC sighed. "I CANNOT GIVE YOU DETAILS REGARDING THE FUTURE, MIKE SCHMIDT," he answered with a sigh. "DIVINATION IS EXPLICITLY FORBIDDEN TO MORTALS, AND EVEN SUPERNATURAL BEINGS SUCH AS MYSELF HAVE VERY LIMITED ACCESS TO KNOWLEDGE OF THE FUTURE SAVE FOR WHAT GOD ALLOWS US TO SEE. I CANNOT SAY WHEN OR HOW, BUT I CAN TELL YOU THAT THE DARKNESS OF FREDDY FAZBEAR'S ENTERTAINMEN MAY YET RISE ONCE MORE."

"Oh, for fuck's sake!" Mike viciously spat on the ground. "My kids have suffered enough because of Freddy Fazbear bullshit! And now you're telling me that they're going to get roped back in to the same shit that they've only just managed to escape after God knows how many years?"

"NOT AT ALL," OMC replied calmly. "UNLIKE IN THE PAST, YOU ARE ALL FREE TO CHOOSE. IF YOU SO WISH, YOU COULD IGNORE THE RISE OF THAT DARKNESS, AND CONTINUE TO LIVE AS YOU AND YOUR FAMILY HAVE DONE EVER SINCE YOU BECAME A PART OF EACH OTHER'S LIVES. BUT MANY OTHERS WILL SUFFER IF THAT DARKNESS REMAINS UNCHECKED," the crocodile-headed entity fixed Mike with his piercing gaze. "COULD YOU AND YOUR CHILDREN LIVE WITH PEACE OF MIND OR SOUL WITH THE KNOWLEDGE THAT YOU COULD HAVE PREVENTED ANOTHER TRAGEDY JUST LIKE THE ONE THAT TORMENTED YOUR CHILDREN BY STANDING AGAINST THAT EVIL, AND YET CHOSE TO DO NOTHING?"

"…Fuck," Mike mumbled. He looked up at Old Man Consequences, something like resignation and defeat in his face for the first time in a long time.

OMC placed a sympathetic hand on Mike's shoulder. "DO NOT DESPAIR, MY FRIEND," he offered reassuringly. "IT IS NOT SOMETHING YOU NEED TO CONCERN YOURSELF WITH AT THE MOMENT. I AM MERELY PROVIDING YOU WITH THIS WARNING SO THAT YOU ARE NOT CAUGHT UNAWARES. FOR NOW, CONTINUE LIVING YOUR LIFE WITH YOUR FAMILY AS YOU HAVE DONE. WHEN THE TIME COMES, YOU WILL KNOW."

"I thought I escaped the shitshow of Freddy Fazbear's pizzeria," Mike sighed. "But every single time it comes back to rear its ugly head."

OMC smiled. "BUT CIRCUMSTANCES ARE DIFFERENT THIS TIME. BEFORE, YOU AND YOUR CHILDREN HAD TO FACE THOSE TRIALS ALONE. BUT NOT ANYMORE. YOU HAVE ALLIES NOW, SOME OF THEM INCREDIBLY POWERFUL."

Mike raised an eyebrow. "You're talking about Nightmare," he stated.

OMC nodded. "NIGHTMARE IS BY NO MEANS A BENEVOLENT PARAGON OF VIRTUE, AND ONLY A LIAR OR AN IMBECILE WOULD CLAIM SUCH. BUT HE HAS A CODE OF HONOR AND MORALS TO WHICH HE FIRMLY ADHERES TO, AND HIS HATRED OF WILLIAM AFTON RUNS JUST AS DEEP AS YOUR OWN IF NOT DEEPER. FOR THIS MATTER AT LEAST, YOU COULD NOT ASK FOR A MORE VALUABLE ALLY."

Mike briefly reflected on his encounters with the demon lord. "Apart from that first time we met," he admitted, "he's done more good than bad for us, I have to admit."

"I WILL OFFER THIS WORD OF ADVICE REGARDING NIGHTMARE," OMC warned. "WITH REGARDS TO HIS INTEGRITY, HIS WORD CAN BE TRUSTED BOTH TO THE LETTER AND IN SPIRIT. BUT BE WARY OF ANYTHING HE LEAVES UNSAID. FOR NIGHTMARE WILL ALMOST NEVER ACT FOR THE CAUSE OF GOOD UNLESS HE HAS SOMETHING TO GAIN, AND IF YOU WISH FOR HIS AID, BE SURE THAT YOU ARE WILLING TO GIVE HIM THAT WHICH HE SEEKS."

"I'll keep that in mind," Mike muttered. So far, it didn't seem as though Nightmare had demanded anything in particular from him, though he would definitely pay closer attention in any future encounters. With a sigh, he added, "I'm not gonna lie, I was hoping that the kids and I would be able to rest easy for the rest of my days, and that I could show them the cool stuff in the world that they missed out on without a care in the world."

"LIFE IS HARDLY EVER FAIR," OMC chuckled in response, although this time there was no humor in his voice whatsoever. "YOU AND YOUR CHILDREN SHOULD KNOW THAT BETTER THAN ANYONE ELSE."

"Don't I know it," Mike deadpanned. He was about to say something else, but the crocodile-headed entity abruptly looked up from his fishing.

"OUR TIME TOGETHER WILL SOON COME TO A CLOSE," OMC declared. "AND THERE IS ONE MORE TOPIC I WISH TO ADDRESS BEFORE OUR MEETING COMES TO ITS CONCLUSION, MIKE SCHMIDT."

"And what would that be?" Mike asked.

"HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THE DARKEST ASPECTS OF YOUR PERSONALITY AND SOUL?" OMC asked, catching Mike by surprise with how suddenly and directly he addressed such a personal and closely guarded topic. "THE DARKNESS WITHIN YOU THAT YOU CALLED UPON TO FIGHT AGAINST WILLIAM AFTON IN THE DEPTHS OF YOUR MIND?"

Mike didn't respond for a long time, as he needed several seconds to recover from his shock, and several more to properly gather his thoughts. After a seeming eternity, he straightened up on the stump and answered the question. "I hate that they exist," he admitted. "I hate that there's such a dark, cruel, and vicious side of me that would utterly terrify my children if they ever saw it, and I've already made a huge mistake in letting Charlie see me torture William Afton so brutally."

He took a deep breath and continued. "But…no matter how much I might deny it, my dark side is a part of me. It's a part of who I am. I know how to control it, and use it rather than let it use me. I'd be happy if I never have to show that side of me ever again. But if anything threatens the people I care about, especially my kids, then I won't be afraid to call upon the worst aspects of myself and bring Hell upon anyone who tries to mess with them."

Old Man Consequences nodded understandingly and gave Mike an approving smile. "A WISE ANSWER, MIKE SCHMIDT. YOU RECOGNIZE IT FOR WHAT IT TRULY IS, AND YOU NEITHER FLEE FROM IT LIKE AN IGNORANT COWARD, NOR DO YOU IGNORE THE DANGERS THAT IT WOULD POSE IF LEFT UNCHECKED. BUT YOUR WISDOM, THOUGH IT DEMONSTRATES AN IMPRESSIVE AMOUNT OF INTROSPECTION, IS NOT COMPLETE."

Mike tilted his head. "Wait, what do you mean?" he asked, confused.

"YOU WOULD TRY TO DISTANCE THE DARKEST ASPECTS OF YOUR PERSONALITY FROM YOUR FAMILY," OMC explained grimly, "AN UNDERSTANDABLE DESIRE, BUT ONE THAT IS MISGUIDED. YOU CANNOT HIDE THIS TRUTH FROM THEM FOREVER. ONE OF YOUR CHILDREN HAS ALREADY WITNESSED YOUR SECRET, AND THE OTHERS WILL DISCOVER IT IN TIME."

"How do you know this?" Mike demanded. "Look, I get that I shouldn't be keeping secrets from my kids, and usually I'm a pretty open book for them. But why do they need to know about the darkest parts of my personality? What would do that other than make them afraid of me when they don't need to be?"

"BECAUSE ALTHOUGH I CANNOT GIVE YOU DETAILS OF THE FUTURE, AS I HAVE ALREADY EXPLAINED, I DO KNOW THIS," Old Man Consequences warned. He leaned down, staring straight into Mike's eyes with his own black voids, and his next words would disturb the man even more than witnessing the scarlet lake transform into a pit of Hell, or the warning of evil reemerging.

"YOU WILL CALL UPON THE MONSTER WITHIN YOU AGAIN BEFORE THE END."

/

A/N: I've been wanting to have Mike and Old Man Consequences meet for quite some time. Their conversation was a great opportunity for me to answer questions that you may or may not have had, such as how the original families of the ghostly children feel regarding their adoption by Mike. It was also a good way for me to satisfy my own curiosity on how the two would interact if they were able to cross paths.

But much more importantly, we have some good ol' foreshadowing. Judging by their conversation, I'm sure you can guess what will be coming in the future. Even though it doesn't necessarily have to impact the Schmidt family directly if they don't want it to, there's no way that any of them would allow the tragedy of Freddy Fazbear's pizzeria to repeat itself. And just as Old Man Consequences warned, you WILL see Dark!Mike again before the end.

That's all I have for now. Hope you guys enjoyed!