Chapter One: Introducing Nick Greene,
Nick Greene ''worked'' as a photojournalist for his middle school's paper, and normally he was off chasing some lead that his boss and his boss' boss discouraged immensely, but today he was actually at his desk, mostly unloading photos off his camera,
Until 'she' walked in,
Just by looking at her Nick knew she needed help, and judging by the way her face lit up after seeing him it was his kinda help she needed,
She ran over to his desk and pounded on it, "Y-you're Nick, right?" she asked gasping for air,
"Nick Greene," he said taking his feet of the desk and the pencil off his lips as he raised a hand for her to shake, "X Examiner photojournalist, how-,"
She smiled and said "Y-you're working the Pizzaplex case, right?"
Nick frowned, "I was," he stressed, "Then Principal Follsom ordered me to drop it,"
She pounded onto his desk, "NO!" she cried, Nick looked around seeing the others had stopped their work to turn to see what was happening at his desk,
"Uh,"
Suddenly she reached over and grabbed his shirt and pulled him closer, "Please I need you back on the case," she begged through teary eyes,
Nick frowned, as she tried to tell him something, but it was mostly sobs and cries,
"Hold on," he said, "Take a breath, and I'll fetch you some water," She nodded and let him go, he watched her as he walked to the water cooler,
He shrugged at the looks people gave him as he walked back, "Here," he said handing her the plastic cup, he slid a tape recorder onto his desk as she greedily chugged the contents of her cup, "Guess your thirsty, eh?" he asked, handing her what was supposed to be his cup and she drank that too,
She took a few breaths to calm herself down and when she looked at him, he pointed to the tape recorder, "Are you comfortable being recorded?" she nodded and he started the tape, "Nick Greene interview log 1, today's interviewee is..."
"Charlotte Vass," she said,
"Lovely name miss Vass," he said, "So what brings you to me?"
Charlotte took a breath, "My sister hasn't been home for a while," she said, "For three days she's been gone,"
Nick shot her a confused expression, "Shouldn't you talk to the Safety Patrol about this Miss Vass,"
Charlotte shook her head, "I have, but when I told them where I thought she was they told me she should've been home already,"
Nick crossed his arms, "The Pizzaplex?," he asked,
"Misty said she wanted to move there, said she was going to sneak in after dark,"
Nick frowned, "Would she really do that though? like most kids say they're going to do that but not a lot end up doing it,"
Charlotte frowned, "Not a lot of kids want to escape the-," she frowned,
Nick leaned forward and stopped the recording, "If it's important you can whisper it to me,"
She nodded and leaned closer, "Our parents argue a lot, they used to argue about everything but after I talked to the guidance councillor, they both were forced to get therapy, it's stopped them from arguing every night but when they do it brings back memories, bad ones,"
Nick nodded, "What was the argument about?"
She blushed, "Tv, they were watching a show and started arguing about who was a better character," she said, "But they were loud, so I went to check on Misty,"
She leaned back and Nick did the same, she started the recording again,
"I see," Nick nodded, "But why do you think she ran away?"
Charlotte frowned, "I prepared backpacks for us if what I told you in confidence got worse, we always went over to a friend's house," Charlotte took a breath, "On the night I called Misty's friends and Abby Mc'Neil said she was at her house, so I told myself I'd get her in the morning,"
Nick sighed, "But she wasn't there was she?"
Charlotte shook her head, "Abby said she was there that night, but by morning she was gone," then she slid a picture to Nick, "She said that was all she could find of her,"
Nick lifted it up, what was on it was a crudely drawn Pizzaplex in crayon, and the words Pizzaplex Paradise on it, "And that makes you think she'd go try and sneak in to the Pizzaplex?" he asked,
Before she could answer his phone rang, Nick saw the caller id read 'The Boss'
'Fizz' he groaned internally, "One sec," he said picking up the phone, "Nick Greene, X Examiner, what's the story?"
"Listen Greene, Principal Folsom already told you to get off the Pizzaplex's back," Nick rolled his eyes,
"Boss, is that you?" he asked, he turned to see his boss' cubicle, he saw him glaring at him through the blinds and waved,
"Nick I'm serious, Folsom already said the Pizzaplex was going to give the top students of X middle school a free daytrip to the Pizzaplex, and that trigger happy camera jockeys weren't welcome, drop the case before I have to report the reason nobody gets to go is your fault,"
"I'm not on the Pizzaplex case," Nick stated,
"Listen Nick I'm so close to getting a handshake from Freddy and you're not-, wait what?"
"You told me to drop the case, I did, now I have a crying girl whose sister is missing," Nick explained,
"But who mentioned the Pizzaplex then?"
"The crying girl whose sister is missing, she thinks she went there for complex reasons,"
"Complex reasons?"
"Family drama, I'm not at liberty to share anymore,"
And then the line went dead, "Alright," he said putting the phone down, "Any reason you have to believe your sister went to the Pizzaplex?,"
Charlotte nodded and showed him her phone, the Image was of a young girl inside the Pizzaplex hugging a stuffed Monty doll, "She sent that to me to prove she was alright,"
Nick nodded, "Alright no promises, but I'll see what I can do," he said getting up,
"Where are you going?" Charlotte asked,
"If I'm getting into that Pizzaplex I'll need tickets, and there's one guy that'll actually help me get them," he said, he handed her his notebook and pencil, "Write down what classes your sister has, and who her friends are, for me please," and then he left the Examiner offices,
His destination wasn't hard to get to, it was literally down the hall, the room was class 6.8, and he knocked before entering, Inside were several people, mostly just eating lunch in the back, but Nick only looked at the three in the front, two of them were big, tough looking bruisers, and in between them wearing his usual silk shirts and gold chain, slicked back hair and gold rings was the man he was looking for, who without even looking at him said, "If you wanna eat lunch in here then please be quiet,"
"That anyway to talk to an old friend Liam?" Nick asked,
Liam's eyes shot open, and he took his feet off the desk, "Nicky," he grinned, "How've you been?" he asked cheerfully, "How's your mum?"
Nick scratched the back of his head, "I'm doing well, she's fine, how are you?"
Liam ran a hand through his hair, "Look at me, I'm doing great," he chuckled, then he brought his hands together, "So, what's up?"
Nick took a knee in front of the table he knew Liam hated when people asked him for things and stood over him, "I need tickets," he said, Liam's face brightened up, "For the Pizzaplex,"
And cold instantly, Liam pursed his lips and leaned back, "You know," he started, "My sister wants to go there, she's a big fan of the duck," he said with a nod, then he leaned close, "My dad," he whispered, "Saw one of the bites in person," he stated, "No matter how much she begs he refuses to buy any tickets," he stared Nick in the eye, "Didn't think it'd be your scene Nicky, why do you wanna go?"
"Originally just cause it's a place steeped in mystery, rumours are that kids have gone missing at the new place," Nick said, "Folsom hears and steps into the office, walks right up to my desk and tells me right to my face that the Pizzaplex is offering X Middle school's top students a free trip, all she has to do is shut any wannabe investigators down," Nick saw Liam nod and continued, "So everyone is against me now, everyone in the office wants that free trip, and I know they'll mess me up to get it, fake leads, fake news, bad mouthing me, printing lies about me, so I drop it,"
Liam nods, "Smart, not starting a fight you can't win,"
"That's what I figured," Nick said, "That was a week ago, "Then today a girl runs into the examiner and asks if I'm still on the Pizzaplex case, turns out her sister is in the Pizzaplex,"
"She should ask the staff,"
"They wouldn't know," Nick said, "They use hi-tech facial scanners on everyone who enters though the door, and the girl didn't have the money to get in legally,"
"Your research I take it?" Liam asked, Nick nodded, "I don't know Nicky, you're my guy and all but this is a tall order even for me,"
"Liam," Nick said seriously, "Imagine it's your sister locked in the Pizzaplex," Liam slammed his hand on the table, anger crossed his face at even the thought, the rest of the students looked shocked at the noise, both of his muscle shot up and looked like they were about to grab Nick and drag him away so he could beat ''himself'' up,
But Liam raises his hand and takes a breath, he runs a hand through his hair and just calms himself down, "If it were my sister in there," he started, "May heaven help Freddy Fazbear should he so much as look at my sister the wrong way," he said, "but I see your point," he said standing up, "You've no doubt got leads to chase, call your mum tell her that you've got a ride home with me,"
"Yeah," Nick said as he stood up, "I'd better get a go bag ready,"
"Go bag?" Liam asked, "Why would you need one?"
"It's a big place, might need to stay a few nights to find her," Nick said as he turned,
"Good point," Liam said flicking a phone out and started talking into it, now that his role was done Nick walked back to the Examiner office,
He and the sister walked around and looked in all her sister's classes and talked to each of her friends,
But everything pointed to picture being true,
Misty was in the Pizzaplex,
Thus he reassured Charlotte about her sister, walked her to the bus, and then went to the bathroom, mostly cause he just needed a moment to pull himself together, He turned on the tap and splashed some cold water on his face,
He took a breath and looked at himself in the mirror, there he was, short black curly hair, tired brown eyes, wrinkled white shirt opened at the top button, green suit pants, electronic camera hanging from the strap he wore around his neck, junior press pass attached to the camera's strap,
He smiled lightly, showing he was missing three teeth from his hockey days, one was one of his top front teeth, one was bottom corner, and the last was a top corner tooth, and patted his belly, "Hey I've lost some weight," he said, though he had a chubby body, Nick's best strength was in his legs, nobody ever realised just how fast a guy like him could actually move,
Sure he lost on agility, but Nick Greene was no slouch, if he wanted glory he knew he could make top three in track with the right training in a few weeks,
But if people knew how fast he really was when he next took pics of a card printing operation or a sweet gambling ring, when he was noticed rather then realising he was fat and then assume he couldn't run fast and starting off slow, they might recognise him and sprint full force,
Sure he could still out run them, but there was no reason to make it harder on himself,
He shook his head, so many thoughts swirling around in there, took another breath, and tried to focus, 'Little girl, trapped in place kids go missing,' he thought, 'Dangerous place, kids have gone missing before,' he reminded himself, "Keep it together Nick," he said,
He was shoved lightly in the shoulder, "You gotta stop wandering into here Nick," the feminine voice made him panic slightly, had he wandered into the girl's bathroom?
He turned, and met a grin from his old team Captain, Charley Anders, one of the few people who didn't want Nick to leave the team,
Charley was the very definition of a tomboy, girl could walk into the boys bathroom and nobody would notice, she was rough, blunt, but very friendly, her thick bushy ginger hair was often pulled into messy pigtails, and pulling them got you a fist that sent you to the nurse's office, she had a twin sister, but Nick and Carrie barely spoke, the most they did speak was in autoshop when one would ask the other for the nails,
"So what brings Camera Jockey Nick Greene to the team room this time?" she asked, "Want the Captain's official thoughts on how our next game will go?"
"Sorry Capt- er, miss Char," Nick said, "Just wandered in... again,"
"Captain's fine Thirteen," she said linking her fingers and stretching her arms, "Far as I see it, you're on reserve," she patted him on the shoulder, "Been trying to get you back, just waiting for you to go twelve seconds without doing something stupid," she teased, "Taking on Freddy Fazbear, for shame," she chuckled,
Then she looked over to him and saw how nervous he was, her eyes went wide and she grabbed his arm,
"H-hey?! Capta-a-ah" he cried as she shoved him into a stall, entered and locked it behind her,
"Talk," she whispered, very close to him, normally Nick's nervousness at being to close to a girl would because of his lack of experience with them, but now he was also in swinging distance of his former captain, and his crush, it was both terrifying and nerve-wracking,
"W-well I..." he took a breath, again trying to compose himself, "today, a girl came to me and told me her sister's in the Pizzaplex, she had proof and everything, so-,"
Charley sighed, "So you what? just decided to jump head first in risking your own neck for someone you don't know?"
"W-well. . . y-yeah?"
She frowned, gritted her teeth, "You..." leaned her head back and groaned, she let him go, and leaned against the far wall, "Do you have any idea what people will do to you when they find out you messed with their trips to the Pizzaplex?"
Nick scratched his head, "I... no," he admitted, "But I'm sure I can take whatever they want to dish out,"
Charley crossed her arms, "Nick, I'm in the running, you'll be ruining my trip too,"
Nick's carefree smile dropped, "Oh. . . sorry Captain, I me-"
"Captain's fine," she huffed looking away from him, "Nick if you get caught, the team won't be able to get you back, no matter how good your intentions were,"
"I can't leave her in there Captain, she's just a little kid,"
"Leave her to the staff they'll find her,"
"She's been there for three days, staff haven't found her and kids have gone missing there before,"
Her eyes widened, "Oh..." she nodded, "Right, that... that's why you wanted to go the first time wasn't it?"
"Yeah," Nick said back,
The two stayed in the small space awkwardly, unsure of what to say next,
But after a little while Nick unlocked the stall and opened the door, "I... gotta go Captain,"
He walked out and left her in the stall,
As she heard the team's door open she finally mustered up the courage to say, "B-be safe,"
"... I will," he said back,
Nick went to his locker next, he opened the lock, opened the door, inside was his black jacket, he took it out and then... he buried his face into it and let out a muffled scream,
As he took it away he felt his cheeks were warm, remember how his crush and ex captain were so close to him mere moments before,
If his dad were still here Nick might've tossed the case,
After all it was too big for one kid alone, Liam's dad, a high powered lawyer couldn't stop Fazbear Enterprise setting up shop in the town he lived in,
But that image, his dad sprang into his mind, 'Chase the truth son,' his father's words echoed in Nick's head, 'Never let it get away from you,'
Nick's fingers tightened around his jacket, 'So what if the girl I like hates me?' he thought sadly, 'people need help,' he thought slipping the coat on, 'My dad wouldn't stop just cause it's too big, or because someone he cared for didn't want him too, so I won't either,' he thought, then while he was waiting for Liam, he called his mum and told her he'd be at Liam's for a few nights, if he got out tonight he could always say he decided to just to spend one night at Liam's,
Then he started fiddling around with his camera's attachments, according to his research the animatronics eye's were sensitive to bright flashes, hence why he'd brought a flash attachment for his camera,
It was for before when he wanted to go personally, bust open every case against the Pizzaplex wide open,
But now it was to get a young girl out, he closed his eyes and tried to remember that, 'I'm going in for the the girl,' he thought, 'leave the mysteries alone,'
He felt someone hit his shoulder, "Lost in thought?" Nick opened his eyes and turned to see Liam,
"A... little," Nick said closing his locker, he dropped his camera into his bag, and zipped it up,
"Wait I got something for you too," Liam said gesturing to a bag he had, he placed the bag down and drew two items out of it,
First was an X Middle School Hockey Jersey, that number, 13... Nick's number was on the back, along with his name, second was a Hockey stick, it was black and red matching the jersey,
"Liam..." Nick said with a frown, "I... I can't wear that,"
"Sure you can, look," he gestured it to Nick, "I had it made it for you when I heard you was first gonna go, it's made of Kevlar, it and the added gear should be tough enough to take anything those tin cans can dish out,"
"Dude I... love it thanks, but I seriously can't wear that," Nick said,
"I know it's heavy but I got skates in here and some extra sticks so I think you'll be fi-,"
"I was kicked off the team Liam," Nick stated, "Cause of what happened before, you know, pretending to be a safety patrol officer,"
"If I was kicked off the Basketball team I'd still wear the tank, cause I ruled at basketball,"
"I almost got a lot of people investigated because they knew someone pretended with me," Nick said, "My last three games I was benched,"
Liam's eyes widened, "You... what?"
"So I left the team, kept the eye off them, lost all my scholarships, team jeered at me as I walked away, Nick ''The Green Man'' Grinder, capable of filling any role on a hockey team, he's gone,"
"I... I never knew," Liam said, "I've been busy with practice and I just."
"It's fine Liam," Nick said, "I... don't care anymore," he took a breath, "Right now, all that matters To Nick Greene Ace Reporter, is getting that girl outside the Pizzaplex,"
"Then... Godspeed Nicky" Liam said holding a Pizzaplex ticket to Nick,
"How'd you-"
"I knew you'd come to me for the ticket Nick, when you were first on the case, I had it ordered and kept it in my locker,"
"Wow Liam... thanks" Nick said,
Liam nodded, "Well I'll take you to the Pizzaplex Nicky,"
Nick nodded and followed his oldest friend as Liam led him to the limo,
As they got outside Liam led Nick to the Limo, and he saw Carrie and Charley, Nick looked away from Charley, something Liam noticed, he looked from both of them, Charlotte just shook her head,
"Alright," Liam groaned as they sat inside, He gestured to a neatly dressed little girl playing with a doll, "Nick you've my sister Tara, right?"
She turned "Hi Nick," she smiled hutching slightly closer, "Are you and my brother hanging out again?"
"Probably," Nick said rubbing his neck, "I do owe him after this,"
"Please Nick, I owe you more then you'd ever owe me," Liam stated,
"I'm just happy to see you're talking again, I thought you two had fallen out," Mandy said,
As the pit in Nick's stomach grew, Liam shook his head and chuckled, "Course not, Nicky and I are thick as thieves, always have been," The Basketball ace stated, "But he had to stay away cause of some drama he was in,"
"Oh, well I hope it's all gone now," Mandy said,
"Mostly is, just a few rumours left," Nick responded,
"We're pulling up on home now," Liam said, "I'm taking Nicky somewhere so you go out and I'll help with your bags, and then I'll be home later okay?"
"Okay bro,"
Liam nodded, "Oh," he pulled a notebook out of the car door, "Here, I got this for you, you still like drawing blueprints right?"
Nick took the book, "Well I am still one of the few kids that gets to use the power tools in woodwork and Autoshop,"
"I figured," Liam said as the Limo came to a stop outside Liam and Mandy's house, "Alright, be back soon," Liam said as he exited the car,
Nick opened the book, and froze, inside the book were a few pages that already had blueprints,
From what Nick could tell, it was the makings of the hockey gear Liam had sprung for him, at least the first few pages were,
The last with anything on it had a vague design about one of the Animatronics, at first he thought she was Roxy, due to her head and ear shape but the name sketched inside was ''Princess Mangie'' the name fit her more royal attire, dress, gloves, and boots, upon her well styled ''hair'' was a regal crown, she wore an elegant dress that if the sketch was accurate ended above her knees,
Her mouth had the phrase ''200 psi'' with an arrow pointing to the jaw, Nick admitted the idea of this innocent looking animal robot being able to obliterate his skull with her jaw easily, absolutely horrifying,
And that was without mentioning the ''Royal Sceptre'' The Princess apparently held, which just looking at the drawing seemed to be an elegant heart jewel shaped mace more then anything,
As he looked at the drawing the door opened, "Found the drawings did ya?" Liam asked as he sat inside the car,
"What is this Liam?"
The boy in question waved at his sister before the car took off,
Then he sighed and sank in his seat, he turned to his old friend,
"That is a beta sketch of Princess Mangie, she's a more recent animatronic the Pizzaplex just added, she's also the first one your gonna meet, and if your staying after dark I wanted you to be safe," Liam said, "So I got you the prints on how to make your hockey armour for when the original broke,"
Nick looked at the drawing, but Liam continued, "Right now The plex is split into three different sections, Main stage/entrance, it's got Bonnie Bowl, Fazerblast, Gator Golf, Roxy Raceway, and the main auditorium," Liam stated, "The second part is all backstage, loading, unloading, that stuff,"
Liam leaned over and pointed at Princess Mangie, "This is part of the newest area, just built, untested," Liam said, "Y'see my dad's very vocal about Fazbear and Co being a horrible place to take your kids, and they wanted to prove to him that what he saw was human error, and that they've changed,"
Liam closed his eyes, "A-actually, had your dad not... vanished, My dad wanted to hire him to go and do some digging, especially after a kid went missing there,"
Nick looked at the Ticket, Francis Jr Greene, "Dad..." Nick said,
"S...sorry Nick,"
Nick just pocketed the ticket, "T-," he wiped his eyes, "The new place, you didn't finish about that,"
Liam nodded and looked out the window, "Right..." he cleared his throat and continued, "So the new area isn't open to the public, it's supposed to be a large open area filled with different big towns based on the characters, the only one actually finished is Fazalot, a medieval styled kingdom ruled by Princess Mangie, apparently she's based off some old character, and the kingdom is threatened by a Gargoyle animatronic, There's apparently some horror town and a roller rink or derby places in the works too, figured since it was unfinished, you could find a way into the other parts of the Pizzaplex,"
Nick nodded, "So, I start by the main gate, go into this third unfinished section that this ticket will give me access to in order to move around the Pizzaplex more efficiently?"
"Don't forget to armour up,"
"Li-,"
"What's better Nick, not wearing the armour because it's branded with a team that booted you off, or going missing before you can solve the mysteries of this place?"
"I'm just going for the-,"
"Yeah, at the start at least," Liam said, "But c'mon Nicky, look me in the eye and tell me after you're sure she's safe you're not gonna wander about and stick your nose where you know people don't want it,"
Nick sighed, Liam knew him too well,
His friend froze as the Pizzaplex came into view, "Here," Liam said handing Nick a walkie, "After dark I'll check in every hour on the hour, if you need me, call,"
Nick took the walkie and nodded, "Gotcha," he said putting it on his belt,
"Hide in Fazalot at night, hopefully it has a spot away from the robots you can set up camp and hide."
"Set up camp?"
"Got some basic stuff for you, tent, pillows, big lamp, few notebooks and tapes to keep track of any clues you might find, some other stuff too,"
The car stopped, "Okay," Nick said looking at the place, "We're here,"
Liam leaned over and put a hand on Nick's leg, "You will at least try to be safe right Nick?"
Nick smiled and gestured to the camera around his neck, "This Camera is all I need, robots eyes are sensitive to bright flashes,"
"Won't they try to confiscate that at the door?" Liam asked,
"A working Camera with a flash mod? yes," Nick removed the flash modification, and pulled a foil sack out of his pocket, "Old trick my dad taught me," he said placing the mod inside, and then the camera's battery and film after it,
Nick pressed the photo button, and nothing happened,
"They'll see the camera doesn't have the batteries or film it needs to work, I'll tell them it's a keepsake from my dad, and they'll feel so bad they won't take it," Nick explained making sure the sack was shut before putting it inside a pocket on the inside of his coat,
"Man you planned for everything,"
"I don't need to fight them, I just need to flash their eyes and run,"
Liam nodded, easing significantly, "But, what if they do take the camera Nick?"
Nick smiled, "Liam please, it's a busy Pizzaplex, If I'm fast and careful I'll be able to get it back before it goes dark and vanish into a crowd, I'll be on the system so they'll likely know I haven't left, but that will give me a good opportunity to try and listen into the guards when a child goes missing,"
Liam shook his head, "Really got the whole thing planned out don't you Nicky?"
Nick patted Liam on the shoulder, "Always Liam,"
Liam nodded, then he hugged Nick, "Promise me you'll be back Nick, that you won't go missing on me,"
Nick smiled, "C'mon Liam you've seen me play hockey, I'm tougher then every animatronic Fazbear entertainment built, even if they were all meshed into some super messed up Frankenstein's monster robot,"
"I know you're tough Nicky, but this isn't a game of hockey, and if this place is as bad as my dad thinks," Liam gave a look to the Pizzaplex, "Then you'll need more then that armour I had made,"
Nick hugged Liam back, "I, Nicholas Francis Greene, promise you, Justin William Calloway that I'll be safe, and I'll bring back all the missing kids and enough proof for your dad to Sue Fazbear entertainment out of existence,"
"I'd settle for you just being safe," Liam said letting Nick go,
Nick backed away, "Alright Liam talk to you at twelve,"
"Call me if you get in any kinda trouble and need to get out, I'll do everything I can to get you out," Liam promised,
"Will do," Nick said with a salute, before grabbing his bag from the car, turning and seeing a group he can hide in, he merged with them and entered the Pizzaplex,
The Staff gave no thought to Nick beyond scanning his face, doubtfully even seeing the camera around his neck, or the large duffle bag on his back,
Normally Nick liked to survey the area's he'd be going to, but he kept with the crowd till they came to Nick's destination, the Grand Atrium,
Nick slipped his camera into the duffle bag before being splitting off from the group, it was easy, he just had to slide against the wall and hum a spy theme, with that being done everyone who'd see him would just think he was playing spies, not actually trying to sneak around,
Making him effectively invisible, he found some stairs and went up them trying to find Fazalot, as he walked he looked at his ticket, finding that it was in the atrium, and it was upstairs,
Even though Nick had only done that as he wanted a bird's eye view of the place, easier to map it out in his head,
Slowly he found the under construction area and all of the people around it, and he wondered how to slip by them, especially as the adults all took notice of the large bag on his back,
He crossed his arms and tried to look like he was just hanging out, hoping that something would take everyone's minds off him,
And then the lights went out,
At first Nick panicked, wondering if his easy entrance had only been a ruse and that someone had noticed him, that he was about to be removed one way or another,
"Would you all please put your hands together For The Glamrock gang and their hit song Four Cheese Pizza,"
The kids erupted with cheers as the lights swirled onto the stage where the Animatronics rose up from the ground,
Quickly the band started up, Glamrock Freddy looked up as he held onto the mic, "I like my pizzaaaaaa, I like tomatoes, I like garlic, and I like fries, but when I'm hungry, and I stumble on up~"
"Stumble on up~" the other's sang,
"You know to gimme, gimme, gimme that four cheese pizza~"
"Gimme gimme gimme~"
"I like my dough baked crispy, my mato's a fine puree, mix some garlic and onions in, Mmm whatta day, but when I really hungry and need to feast, pour on the cheese and don't be cheap," he sang wagging his finger, "My four cheese pizza, it's what I need,"
Nick shook his head, remembering why he was here, he looked around and nobody was looking at him, so he held the ticket to the staff bot,
"Ah welcome Mr Greene" it said taking his ticket, "Enjoy Fizzalot," it said moving away from the door letting Nick enter easily before the door shut behind him,
'Fizzalot? thought it was Fazalot' Nick thought, "Whatever, I made it" Nick said, he dusted himself off and looked around, it seemed the décor had changed from Pizzaplex to Castle bricks,
He walked further in and and came to an old wooden door, or a wooden door that was made to look old,
He pushed it open and came into a large castle's dungeon,
He dropped off the duffle bag and popped his neck, "Ahh that's better," he said, before he heard a scream, "What?" he asked, his eyes went down to the bag, quickly he opened the zipper, and retrieved his camera and a hockey stick before zipping up the bag,
He put his Camera's film and battery back in, and his flash mod on, before taking the stick with both hands and running towards the scream,
He ran through hall after hall until he finally exited the castle and found an animatronic, one resembling Princess Mangie, though he never imaged the wolf/fox/hyena/dog animatronic to be not exactly anthropomorphic, she had three legs, four arms, two heads, yet while her appearance seemed almost monstrous, it clashed with her colours her body was stark white, with not a single blemish or piece of dust upon, her casing was covered in an elegant red dress with yellow accents, she had lips at the end of her muzzle like Roxy, and she and her hair and tail seemed almost poofy and fluffy despite being plastic,
The princess was surrounded by many Mice Animatronics in various cloths, armed with what looked like oversized silverware, "Get back you brutes, We command it." she demanded, speaking from both mouths at the same time causing it to echo, as she swung her sceptre at them violently smashing one of their heads, making oil and metal bits fall to the floor, but the rat was replaced by another, who slowly encircled her,
Jumping up gnashing their teeth at her, she smashed another, but it was obvious to Nick she was being overwhelmed,
"I can't believe I'm doing this," he said taking his camera in hand "Hey rats!" he cried making a few look to him, "Smile~" he sang pressing the picture button into his chin, and a bright flash emit from his camera,
The rats and the princess all recoiled at the light, giving Nick a chance to swing, the rats were animatronics, but half the size of Nick, and very light, this he learned because with one swing he sent a bunch packing while they tried to get their bearings back,
Nick kept swinging though, his hockey days fresh in his mind, smashing as many rats as he could, but when their senses came back they jumped away, "A new knight?" one asked,
"This wasn't the plan," another stated, "She was supposed to be alone,"
A horn blew out, "Retreat brothers, the Fizz will be ours another day," and they scattered, pulling up manhole covers and vanishing under them,
"What the-,"
Nick had no time to finish his words as he was hefted quite easily up by the Princess, noting how she only required one arm to hold him,
She looked at him, her eyes scanning his face before she let him go, "Uh oka-"
And then she used both of her heads and pressed her plastic lips to both of his cheek, "Thank thee kind Sir Nicholas of House Greene," she said taking a deep curtsy, "Thee art a brave one to risk much to save thy Queen,"
"Q-Queen?" Nick asked, stammering as the machine had brazenly just kissed his cheeks,
"But of course We art Queen," she said placing a hand on her chest, "The Mice folk wish to tear me apart and take my castle and all the fizzyfaz we produce to their leader," she gestured with her sceptre to high on her castle where a horned and winged statue was, "with my death non but the rats will be able to enjoy fizzyfaz again," then she leaned down, "Perhaps that is, the tale was conjured up so that there was a place children could purchase foam weapons and hit robots with them,"
Nick blinked, "Wait so you weren't in actual danger?"
"Dost thou know of any fair maidens who have cried in anguish when they are not in danger?" she asked, "Wouldlst I have swung the Sceptre of min Family, the Heart of Joy like a crude bludgeoning instrument were I safe?" she asked,
"Thy arrival is most fortuitus good sir Nicholas," The Queen stated, "I Queen Mandy have need of you and your mighty..." she looked at his hockey stick, "Lance?" she asked,
"It's a hockey stick," he said,
"Ah The Lance of Ho'khey, thou sayeth?" she asked looking amazed, "A weapon I admittedly have heard little of," she noted, "but the time for talk is not nigh, quickly good sir, I require you to follow me to the throne room," the fox queen turned and. . . skipped to the castle, rather then the side entrance Nick used she skipped into a large opening with a gate hanging above it, "Hastily Good Sir," she called,
Being utterly confused Nick almost started to follow her, but stopped and ran back to get his duffle bag before entering the castle,
Queen Mandy not Princess Mangie, sat on a throne, which itself sat upon a large pile of gold, pink, and red coloured merch,
Her merch, but there was no theme or even quality control to it,
Some of it looked great, others like crap, the animatronic on it wasn't even the same character, sometimes it was Glamrock Foxyies, showing a half red pirate themed half white princess themed character, looked like the jaws were made to work independently,
"Fazbear entertainment went through many designs and redesigns for thy Queen, We were designed after Foxy the Pirate, Toy Foxy, and Funtime Foxy,"
"Where'd your name come from?" Nick asked, "Shouldn't you be Queen Foxy?"
"That is because of min cousin, Captain Foxy is here in the Pizzaplex, thus thy corporation wanted to differentiate between us both" Queen Mandy stated, "Thy kingdom is still being designed, but We art awaiting one Sir Francis Greene,"
Nick's eyes widened, the machine stopped, "Now that We consider it, is that not your name Good Sir Nicolas?" she looked at him, "Ist thou the one We have been awaiting with baited breath?"
Nick shut his eyes, his father appearing in his minds eye, "N-no," he sighed, "Sorry, you're thinking about my dad,"
Nick felt a gentle hand upon his shoulder, he looked up, Queen Mandy looked down sadly at him, "Are you alright?" she asked,
"Y-yeah I'm f-fine," Nick said,
Gently the animatronic leaned down and wiped the tears from his eyes with one of her hands, "What are you-"
"Would you like to talk about him?" She asked,
"I..." Nick stopped, his knee jerk reaction cut off as he realised something, "Wait... you knew my dad's name?"
The machine nodded, "Fazbear industries said a detractor hired a Private Investigator named Francis ''Frank'' Greene, and this detractor payed Fazbear Industries to let essentially let him snoop about,"
Nick rubbed his chin, "Snoop?" he asked, making the ''Queen's'' eyes widen,
"That is. . . We were informed of Sir Francis Greene the herald of old," She said, "Sent by a kingdom much greater then ours, a great sir who would decide whether we were allowed to be completed,"
'Wait... is she... lying?' he wondered, but shook the thought, 'She's just a robot,' he thought, "But, that is interesting, so Liam's dad, did hire my dad to poke around here,"
"Was thou unaware of this?"
"I was," Nick stated, then he shook his head, "Actually, could I ask a few questions of you?"
The plastic Queen nodded, "Ask away good Sir Nicolas,"
"First is there anywhere here without cameras I could settle down in?" Nick asked,
"There are no "cameras" in Fazalot," The Queen stated, she pointed to one of the walls, "See?"
Nick looked, and what he saw where plastic birds on roosts, ripped from what he assumed were the sockets on their walls,
"The Rats destroyed them in hopes none would come to save us," The Queen stated,
"Th-they can do that?" Nick asked, "there's nothing stopping them from destroying Fazbear property?"
The Queen nodded, "Again thou hast made us rather thankful of thy timely rescue Good Sir Nicolas," she said with a bow, "I must reward you," she gestured to the large pile of merch, "Please help thyself to our treasure, free of charge,"
"Yeah thanks," Nick said, doubting he'd really want anything, "so I can settle down anywhere?"
"Preferably thou should find rest inside the throne room, but yes,"
Nick looked around, he found a corner to set down his bag in and hefted it off his back, and put it onto the floor,
Queen Mandy watched as he ''set up camp'' which mostly consisted of a corner in the room, with some pillows for chairs, a lamp, a tent, some books and tapes, "There we go," Nick said,
"Thy camp is rather... barren, Good Sir Nicolas,"
Nick shrugged, "It's got... the essentials," he stated, "Anyway," he said turning to her, "More questions, are you alright if I bring people back here?"
The machine considered the question, "I... bring people back?" she asked, "why you can't leave in the day good Sir, I am defenceless against the mousey menaces,"
Nick raised a brow, "Don't you have guards or something?"
The Queen pointed off, and Nick followed her finger, there a pile of anthropomorphic robots seemed to twitch about,
Slowly Nick approached them, and realised just why the Queen had wanted him to set up camp closer to her,
The guards were ambushed, it was obvious by the claw marks on their backs, there were thirteen in total,
"The doctor hast not arrived for them, but they are among the living," The Queen stated,
"The rats did this?" Nick asked,
"T'was not the Rats Sir Nicholas," the Queen stated, "this was the work of our kingdom's greatest foe, The Gargoyle,"
"The Gargoyle?" Nick asked,
The Queen nodded, "High upon our castle's walls there rests a creature, Stone by day, warrior by night," She explained, "when the clock strikes twelve it awakens from it's stone prison and wreaks havoc upon us, thus the Rat's are too afraid to besiege us at night,"
Nick studied the machines, he quickly noticed what was wrong when one turned to him, "Wait," he said as he moved around them, slowly heads started to follow him, "They... they're not broken," he said, "Not entirely," he leaned in closer and took a picture of their joints, "see?" he asked showing her the picture, "The Rats attacked their joints, breaking those made it hard for the guards to stand,"
"So they are fixable?" The Queen asked,
"They are, if I had a blowtorch I could weld the broken bits back together," Nick stated, "Too bad there's not a maintenance room nearby, I bet that would have what I need to fix them,"
Nick looked back to the Queen, but she had vanished, he heard a door unlocking on his left and turned, it seemed behind the giant pile of merch there was a door, walking past it Nick saw the Queen pulling a blowtorch and some safety equipment along with her,
"The key was left in the staff room, I had hoped there would be an automated bot inside, but with Thou here mayhaps thy could fulfil Sir Henry's will,"
"Sir Henry?" Nick asked,
The machine's eyes widened, "Quickly Good Sir Nicolas fix the guards post-haste," she commanded, "As my castle remains safe, any you bring back will of course be safe themselves,"
Nick nodded, but filed the name Henry away for later, but took the safety equipment and the blowtorch,
It took him a few hours, but the guards were on their feet, and capable of movement again, but as he worked Nick realised there had been more damage to them then he anticipated, for example their voice boxes had been significantly damaged, or even ripped out, none of the guards could speak, and if they couldn't speak, they couldn't warn of attacks, or cry out for help if they were attacked,
"That's troubling," Nick said, "First few attacks we should be fine, but eventually the rats will realise we have guards again and will resort to sneaky tactics,"
Nick stopped his contemplation as the Queen walked towards him, sword in hand, "Nicolas Francis Greene," she stated, "Kneel before me,"
And in response he did, "Head down, eyes shut," she instructed gently, and he complied,
He felt the swords very real blade at his shoulder, "For saving us," she lifted it before pressing it back down to his other shoulder, "And fixing our guards, We Knight you,"
Nick opened his eyes, "Rise now, good sir no longer, you are now Ser Nicolas, brave hero of Fazalot," the guards clapped
Nick stood up, "To you Ser Nicholas, we offer all we can to you, as such we now bestow this boon upon you," she held to him a keychain with a single key, "The kingdom of Fazbear Entertainment is rather cheap, they saw to make certain that every maintenance room could be unlocked with the exact same key, to you we offer this key, as we believe with your mastery with the ''Tools of Power'' that you will make better use of it then we could,"
"Thanks," he said taking the key, 'With this... I could make new stuff, weapons, armour,' he turned to look at the guards, 'I could fix machines and get more guards for here,' he thought
"Guards," Queen Mandy stated, as she stood tall, drawing all attention to her, it was only now realised that she dwarfed any adult he'd ever seen, "Ser Nicholas hast arrived thusly, saved us from destruction, and thusly given us another chance at our goals," she stated, "We will save Fazalot, and we will keep it safe!" she called,
The sounds of the animatronics trying to speak could be heard, likely cheers at the short speech, "Then arm yourselves and return to your posts, now inside the throne room, should those Rats return for us, they will find a fight,"
Another round of ''cheers'' and the machines ran to the Maintenance room, and returned with a manner of medieval weaponry, it was very unfortunate that the weapons seemed too heavy for Nick to use himself, else he'd put down the hockey stick and grab a mace,
Though he noticed one guard had a short sword, one he noticed was just a bit bigger then his stick's head, as he looked around Nick realised that if he were to do any damage to any animatronics, he'd need to swing really really hard, 'Look's like I'm gonna need more then two sticks,'
A bag was placed down next to Nick, he turned and saw a very girly pink golf bag, complete with glitter, tassels, and. . . A Glamrock version of Queen Mandy, inside were three Hockey sticks, two were his own, one was one from the merch pile,
"Another boon?" he asked, the Queen who placed it,
"If thou is to leave, then thy bring the Rats down upon thyself Ser Nicholas, we thought thou would wish to carry more weapons on thyself,"
Nick lifted the bag made for small girls, slid it on his back, "Well how do I look?" he asked,
The Queen cringed, "The Pink of thy bag clashes immensely with thy appearance, also it's bright colour will make thyself easy to spot," then she sighed, "But We have no other variants to offer,"
"It's fine, I'll wear it out," he said, "if it gets a problem I'm sure I'll find some spray paint lying around," Nick lifted his arm and checked his watch, it read 6:44 Pm, 'Got a few hours before the Pizzaplex closes,' he thought, "So... would you mind an interview?" he asked,
"Interview?" she asked, "Oh, We are afraid we cannot right now, thusly we must start hunting for information on voice boxes for min guards" She stated, "Wouldst thou like us to keep our eyes out for anyone?"
'Anyone?' Nick thought, 'Well I did mention bringing people back, guess I'm just being overly suspicious,' Then he looked up at the giant queen, 'her mouth is twice the size of my head, both a good reason to doubt and trust her,' then he remembered her mouths were recently right next to his head, "Y-yeah keep an eye out for any kids in the Pizzaplex would you?",
"Of course Ser Nicholas," Queen Mandy said, then she crept up the wall, "Farewell all, we will be back promptly," she stated before she vanished over the castle wall,
Nick stared at where she vanished, wondering how she climbed the wall, then as his thoughts turned to her being more spidery in nature he shivered and shook his head, 'At least there's no spider animatronics,' he thought, 'then again, I didn't know about Queen Mandy, and there's apparently a Foxy running around somewhere,' and then suddenly he started to realise how likely a spider animatronic could possibly be, "It's gonna be a long few hours," he stated rubbing his arms, 'Might as well start on upgrading my sticks for now,'
Green-The End-Man
SKIP THIS IF YOU DON'T CARE TO HEAR ME BLAB ON ABOUT THE GAME,
This fic has been in the works since a after I watched ManlyBadassHero play Security Breach, further thought about it as I watched Markiplier play it, and started writing at After John Wolfe finished his playthrough,
There just something about Security Breach, playing it when I did(before the patch that actually allowed you to save to get the ending, REAL DICK MOVE THERE STEEL WOOL, not that I ever even attempted that but still,) the game is either way too easy cause of the wide open areas, or glitchy and damn near impossible,
It's like the games difficulty goes from kids first platformer, to a medium bullet hell, that becomes even harder as saves get corrupted and glitches prevent you from making progression,
It's kinda what happens when kids infest a game that requires some form of strategy to actually play, not that the ease of difficulty helped any of my nephews, cause they were frightened and prone to accidentally make mistakes and wander into staff bots, or couldn't find the exists to places,
Then I also couldn't find them despite watching the game be played several times,
Then there's the lack of variety with enemies, Staff bots stay in the path they're on until you walk right in their sight lines, making the nearest animatronic teleport to you,
The Animatronics all act the same way, they run at you, and once you have a camera or a laser you can stun two of them,
Monty is the only unique one of them with his pounce ability to chase you and his shades keeping him safe from the stun,
This is according to memory, since the wiki states that apparently Roxy can leap at you if she gets close enough, and might be able to track you by smell(but I've seen people hide while near her, watch her sniff the air for five minutes before leaving,)
But nothing for Chica beyond she squawks when stunned, moves like a zombie, and is very durable,
This is despite the fact that they all have special parts that make them unique, for example Chica's voice box, Roxy's eyes, and Monty's claws(and pounce) that should make them more unique in dealing with them, like imagine if while she was wandering about Chica would passively sing causing robots to go haywire causing them to deviate from their paths, or when she sees you she squawks causing the staff bots to move towards your location while Chica herself is more passive, only chasing you until you're directly out of sight, at which point she stops and goes back to whatever she was doing,
Or if it was useless hiding from Roxy because she could always find you no matter where you went, meaning you'd have to lead her around things or dodge her to lose her, or maybe rather then chasing you Roxy tried to sneak up on you, meaning rather then relying on the chase music to tell you when you've been seen, Roxy would directly just follow you and You'd have to find out when she found you by using subtle clues, such as semi heavy footfall's behind you, or Roxy's comments coming from closer and closer to Gregory,
And with that we have Monty who wouldn't follow you so much as he'd jump after you, maybe using high objects like massive boxes as perches, and upon seeing you he starts to leap after you,
There could also be others added to this, Vanny could slowly skip right towards you hacking staff bots as she went trying to trap you, meaning you would need to identify an escape route as you ran, or if she just parkour's straight at you making a mad dash to kill Gregory over, or under anything in her way,
Moondrop could swoop from the sky meaning while he almost always saw where Gregory was he couldn't get him if he was under a table,
And of course smashing the animatronics would then change how they work entirely, meaning you'd again have to get used to the new animatronic methods, effectively having your players learn your mechanics and then having to learn entirely new ones, adding a bit more variety in enemy type to the game,
Though I plan to add more enemy animatronics to this story as a whole, so lets get to the next point,
SKIP THIS IF YOU DON'T CARE WHY NICK WAS ADDED TO THE STORY,
Nick Greene, the idea of the character was inspired(probably obviously) by Dead rising protagonist Frank West, a journalist who's willing to get a scoop, but also has a good heart and doesn't want anyone to get really hurt, honestly Frank inspired Nick so much that his name at some point was Frank, then something similar, before I took the other Protags names, Chuck Greene and Nick Ramos and jammed them together,
Part of the Frank West inspiration came from the realisation that there's more you could do to stop the animatronics from finding you if Gregory were able too, for example picking up sauce bottles and using the sauce to blind animatronics, rather then knocking plates over picking one up and taking it with you until you need to throw it to make a loud that lures animatronics away from where you need to go,
Well that, and because I wanted to give boss battle's to every Animiatronic in the story,
And because Nick isn't the only character in the story we'll be following around the Pizzaplex, yes Gregory is still here in the story, so if he can make things for the other characters to get around in the Pizzaplex then it would be better for him being able to give them items to make it easier for them to traverse the Pizzaplex so the group can spilt certain sections up between themselves, covering more area's in less time,
Also because as you're going to see in the next chapter, Fazalot isn't always safe to wander around in, especially after dark,
And not only the Rat animatronics are dangerous,
And the Glamrocks, Day care attendants, and Endoskeletons, aren't the only animatronics I have planned for my story,
I'm making the Pizzaplex Quite A bit bigger, so I can justify many more animatronics, (some mentioned in this first chapter) to be friends and many to be foes of the new group that's about to be gathered,
Wide enemy variety, a few different main characters who interact with the world differently and use different methods to get around said enemies, A base they can go back to, items, armour, and weapons, that can be upgraded,
And since this is such a big chapter already, I'll ask which Animatronics do you want to see in the story?
THE END