I Don't Own Fnaf

Mike hated mirrors, it was usually fine in the short term, he normally just had to look in it long enough to make sure he wasn't looking like a mess, but right now he just found himself staring longer than he needed to and way longer than he'd ever want to. He had hidden his face when he had met Manager Guy for the most part, but he couldn't do that this time, he was going to be out and loud about this, he was going to be... Him.

He didn't want the next time he looked at himself in the mirror to not like it even more, it was a stupid thing to worry about, but... But Mike wasn't about to do something pleasant, in fact he was about to do something he had told himself he shouldn't ever do again, and yet here he was... It felt like one big fall back into old habits, and he really wished his mind would put up a bigger fight about it.

It was like before, he felt guilt for not feeling guilt, and he hadn't even done anything yet. He personally blamed it on the exhaustion, it was nearing noon, he had managed to get convinced to at least take a nap after the events of the last night, but that did nothing to actually get him much rest, two hours of sleep wasn't really enough, he'd have to get some coffee on the way to be fully alert and ready.

"You ready?" The sound knocked him out of his thoughts as he turned to glance over at Mari, the puppet was nervous, of course he was, he knew what Mike was going to do, and he didn't really approve, not the more meaner parts of the plan that the group had cooked up and only vaguely mentioned Mike should probably do to get answers, Mari hadn't cared about that. He cared about where Mike was going to get those answers, the lion's den he was stepping into without anyone else there.

Mari should be at the Cove, it was the weekend, they were busy, it was bad enough that Mike wasn't going in, but he couldn't convince Mari of anything short of not going to get Mari to go to work. He was grateful for it though, in this moment of build up to heading out, it was harder than he wanted to admit, he could have done it anyways, but it was nice to not have to... Besides, he was sure Mari had his own plans, he had mentioned it, quietly, on the way back home after they had made their plan.

He wished he could be here for the puppet for it, but they both had something to bear at the moment, so instead just reached out and pulled his gloves on, he couldn't handle this if they flashed purple in his own eyes, the guilt the color gave him was more than he could handle on top of the feelings still rolling around in his chest at the moment. He would have worn them anyways, he didn't like seeing the grey of his skin, the way the blue veins of his hands made them look almost purple as well, just naturally, and that was really not a good thought.

He had no interest in being a literal purple guy, kind of grey was bad enough. Sighing finally, he answered the puppet.

"As I'll ever be"

"I'm sure it'll go fine" Mari didn't actually believe that, no way he could, but Mike felt himself smile in spite of that knowledge, hearing just how certain and light the puppet was, it helped more than a little to banish the bad thoughts.

"Yeah. Are you going to be alright? It's not going to be an easy talk" Mari just waved him off.

"I'll be able to handle it, I should have done this the second we found out, I was just being selfish trying to keep her away from all of this" Mike understood that, he knew he certainly hadn't made a plan on talking to her about all this. Still-

"If you need anything, just call, I don't care if I'm in the middle of having round two with Ennard, I'll answer" Mari let out a warm little trilling sound before moving over to give him a quick hug.

"I doubt I'll need to... If you need anything, do the same, I'll be over in an instant" Mike was quick to hold the puppet back, even as they separated soon after, as the two moved out of the bathroom into the bedroom, Mike saying as he moved to grab the taser that was resting on the bed, putting it into an inner pocket of his jacket.

"Promise" They didn't say much more as Mike moved out of the room, Mari followed after, but soon he was in the car, driving.

His thoughts wandered for most of it, the pizzeria was in the middle of town, not quite at the square or anything, but in it's own isolated plot of land that Mike was pretty sure used to hold a playground that must have been bulldozed sometime in the last decade for an independent business that had closed down as well, resulting in Freddy's swooping in to grab it. It was a good spot, Mike wasn't quite jealous of it, refused on principle to be jealous of anything Freddy's had, but he had to admit, the Cove, while in a decent spot, had nothing on location that this place had.

Of course, the building didn't have any identifiable marks on it yet, he to get the address from Scott just to know where to pull into, but now that he was here, staring at the building, he could already imagine the signage that would be popping up soon, the adverts in an art style that was just parallel to Mike's own. More uncanny, not as cute in that cartoonish way he used for the Cove.

He didn't know what to think about that, decided he didn't want to. Getting out of the car, he took a deep breath, and walked. People were around, people were staring at the building... He could recognize the look in their eyes, the mistrust, the worry, the disgust. Word must have gotten out... Of course it got out, Mike knew that, he caused that.

He just hadn't expected it to happen so fast.

But perhaps that's why there were people around, the news was fresh, spreading, poisoning the public, the ones who remembered, the ones who, like him, couldn't forget. Some were angry, he could see one man that only looked the barest hints of familiar muttering to himself, glaring ahead at the building like it had been the source of all his hate, his face twisted up in anger. Mike caused that, it had been his plan.

Freddy's had crossed a line, and Mike wouldn't allow it to continue. So he made the plan, he did want he always did, did the things he knew he could to do what he could.

Janet hadn't been a fan of the idea, but sitting down in front of Carol, the town's gossip, and telling her the barest amount of information of the situation, of a Freddy's opening, and how he was worried about it, the faintest hint of his past. Carol ate it up, she promised she'd help, and now, only a few hours later, he wondered just how much the town hated Freddy's, and how many knew more about him than he ever wanted.

He could feel eyes shift to him, the pity, the confusion, he was recognizable, he could recognize a few of the people as regulars at the Cove, and he knew they knew him in turn. He had no idea how Carol knew them, about how they heard the parts of his story he had let fly, the parts of himself he was putting up to burn, but they knew. He could see it in the pity in their eyes that soon followed.

He was now a victim like the people of the town were now, of Freddy's, it was an almost nauseating to even think of himself as that, he was no one's victim, and he hated the implication of it, hated that he was using a tragedy to hide his own vile actions, Evan had agreed with the plan, didn't even bring a point about it, which was the main driving point that let Mike be able to go through with it without hating himself, but Mike still hated the fact it was in the air to begin with.

Linking himself to it all like that, like he hadn't been one of the monsters... No one pointed it out, Mari was fine with it, and Foxy was down right supportive with how it would drive a massive wedge between The Cove and Freddy's. Which was the entire point.

The whole issue had been people linking the Cove to Freddy's, now that link was broken, the Cove was something good from the people hurt of the past, and Freddy's was that past, unfeeling and uncaring about the pain it's caused.

If they were lucky it would help pad their reputation some more and the separation between the two locations enough that when whatever disaster occurred in Freddy's happened, it wouldn't blow back onto the Cove. It was the smart move, it was the logical move, it was one Mike would have made years ago without a second thought, too numb to care and too guilty to notice the extra weight that came from his manipulations.

But in the meantime, it was on Mike to stop the current disaster, he doubted they would just hand Ennard over, no, Mike expected that he was going to get fought over it, this wasn't for getting the animatronic out, just yet, but that did have to happen very soon, given he could not risk Ennard being allowed on any stage, they were just way too dangerous to be around kids.

He wanted more time to think, more time to plan, to come up with something else, something clever and quick, to wrap it up all with a nice bow, but that never worked out for him, even when he first came back to Hurricane, his plan had fallen in on itself the second he had been kidnapped and springtrapped. So... He was improvising, and now, as he stood in front of the doors, his hand coming up to bang on it, he could only hope it wouldn't come back to bite him in the ass.

There wasn't an answer for a long moment, but when there was, the door only cracked open a little bit to show the face of Manager Guy, who was staring out, only for his eyes to meet Mike's chest. Mike did his best to not enjoy the feeling that came when someone he hated having to crane their neck up and realizing just how big he was, as he looked down at the man with a stern look.

"Hello again, I think we're overdue a talk" Manager Guy gulped, looking more than ready to bolt when Mike just pushed the door open and stepped him, bracing himself to not act like the man's pressure on the door wasn't even noticeable even though the guy had a surprising amount of hidden strength in his frame.

"Oh... Sure, I guess, come on in" The man sounded sarcastic, but Mike could hear the undertones of worry, as he glanced back out the door, seeing the number of people staring in his direction, before quickly closing it behind him. Mike wasn't interested in anything like that though, using the few seconds to be able to unapologetically scope the place out. During his crime days it was important to be able to take in as much information about a place as possible without actively looking like you were searching, Mike was good at that, noticing things without acting like he did, he wasn't doing that this time though, he was just staring ahead at the room.

Main room, he supposed, but there didn't look to be any others, maybe a back office by just how big the building on the outside was compared to the more limited floor space in front of him... Though his eyes drifted to the walls, as the scent of setting drywall of all things hit in his nose. The building was smaller on the inside, meaning the walls had recently been put in... Why?

He didn't have time to think about that, instead looking at what was along the walls and at what was on the floor space in general.

The flooring was that checkered tiling that Mike hated, the walls had the same wallpaper pattern that the last location had, though the stuff looked... dusty and a bit aged in places, like it had been left in storage, showing just why it was used, it was already on hand. While on the main floor... It was kind of embarrassing.

There was a ball pit, which... that was just sad.

Of course there was other things, a few very old looking small rides, a jungle gym kind of thing with bars that was probably not safe inside a building with tile flooring, and a few arcade machines, none that he recognized on first glance, they actually looked fairly new compared to everything else, which was a bit weird.

And of course there was the stage. Mike had been hoping that the Funtimes were just up there, hanging around, waiting to be seen. If that was the case, then Mike honestly might have just knocked Manager Guy out and tried to figure out just how to get Ennard smuggled away into his car without anyone noticing... Well, that was a joke, but the point was he had been hoping they would just be out in the open.

That wasn't the case.

There were two stages, a smaller one off to the side, while the main stage was big enough just barely for two animatronics, the ones on there were vaguely familiar even though it took him a long moment to recognize Happy Frog and Pigpatch of all things. They had been buffer animatronics, barely functioning things that could do very basic performances, they had been used as filler for the Diner when the two springlock suits were needed to have maintenance performed.

There had been plenty of off shoot animatronics even during Mike's time, and he had heard from Mari there had been plenty more that had gone in and out of Freddy's doors, as side attractions, but seeing the things was just strange to Mike. Not impossible of course, but just... really weird. He had no idea what had happened to them, and figured like most of the rotating cast that never managed to get into the spotlight like the original four had, they had been sold off. But maybe they had been tossed into storage?

He didn't bother thinking more about it, it was weird sure, but at the end of the day they were just old animatronics that weren't much of interest, as his attention shifted to the other, smaller stage.

The one to the side though, Mike found himself focusing on, it was obscured by a curtain, but opened just enough in the front to make out some kind of black colored animatronic, not instantly recognizing it, he felt himself about to move forwards when Manager Guy seemed to finally catch up with the fact that someone had just wandered past him inside.

"What are you doing here? In fact, get the hell out of here!" He had to give the man credit, he wasn't instantly being bullied, but Mike just turned around and just stared for a moment, before saying.

"Nah, think I'll stay a while, I think we have a few things we need to discuss"

"Like what?"

"Like you robbing places to get your hands on animatronics" That got the man's attention, as his eyes widened before he sputtered out.

"What are you talking about?" Mike just raised an unimpressed eyebrow.

"I've gotten pretty good at using security cameras, and you were caught on tape taking a certain bear and dancer, want to explain that?" The man's eyes wide as he shifted uncomfortably, looking around unsure before saying quickly.

"I have no idea what you're walking about" Mike just raised an eyebrow.

"Are we really going to do this again? You do remember what happened the last time we had this talk right?" That seemed to build up some courage in the man as he lifted his chin, saying sharply.

"Yeah, and it turns out you were bluffing, Scott didn't die" Mike just shrugged.

"Yeah, not cause of anything you did to help him mind you, but that's why I got a bit more proof this time around" With that he reached into his jacket and pulled out a few pictures, handing them over as the man looked down at them and paled rapidly, Mike plastered on a smirk, "So, yeah, want to answer some of my questions?"

"Why the hell should I?"

"Because if not, I go to the police about you stealing?"

"That place was abandoned!" Mike raised an eyebrow as he reached into his pocket, this was the risky move, he had no idea if the man would keep his mouth shut about this particular thing later on, but it was worth it, and it's hardly like there wasn't the chance it could get out anyways... As he pulled out his old driver's license as he said casually as the man's eyes focused on his name.

"I think you'll find it really wasn't" He wouldn't, the place was abandoned, no one had a claim on it, and Mike had never wanted to put a stake on it... but the place was literally called Afton Robotics, and the name on his old license in no uncertain terms labeled him as Michael J. Afton, as he just raised an eyebrow before continuing, "So, you want to continue bullshitting me or should we talk about how you stole my property?"

"Y-You..." Mike just tilted his head and said.

"Yeah yeah, lied on my resume, want to talk about that or how much I can bury you if you don't answer any of my questions?"

"You think you're the only one? I'm trapped here, and if you had any sense you'd crawl back to your own pizzeria and deal with your own problems instead of getting into more trouble. You think you're the only one with power here? I know exactly what that fox on your stage can do, should I go to the police and ask them to start looking around?" The man had guts, that was for sure, but Mike wasn't here to play nice, as he moved forwards, reaching out and grabbing the man by the shirt, dragging him up and nearly off the ground as he stared at him dead in the eyes as he said.

"Want to try that again? You stole from me and are trying to bring back a waking nightmare to this town, I could throw you outside and beat your ass into a bloody pulp and I'd probably get cheers for it from that crowd out there. You think I give a single shit about whatever supposed power you have over me? I'm my own business guard, you can't intimidate me" The same couldn't be same in reserve, the man was actively trembling in Mike's grasp, and while Mike had to keep himself calm to not feel like throwing up, he couldn't let that show, as he pushed the man away, as he half stumbled back onto his own feet as Mike said again.

"Now, are you going to answer my questions and I leave or are you going to take a beating for whoever is running this circus with you as one of the monkeys being tossed through hoops?" He could see the internal debate, that instinctive pride people who had faced horror had in the face of adversity.

"Fine, what do you want?"

"Who the hell is behind all this?"

"An idiot shareholder, look, I don't know who exactly, they're keeping their hands off of it, just has some creepy person come in and tell me what I need to do"

"Right, what about all the animatronic seeking business?"

"I- Well, they don't exactly grow on trees, animatronics are incredibly expensive, as I'm sure you know" Mike... didn't, well, he knew a bit, having to be the one who marked and signed off on Fritz's purchases of parts for the animatronics, and those could get pretty expensive, even with them being tax deductible. Either way, he replied as blandly and unimpressed as he could manage.

"So you decided to steal them?"

"Look, it wasn't my idea! I thought it was a terrible idea to start with, but the guy corporate put in charge said it was fine and that no one would miss anything"

"Who?"

"What? Corporate? I have no idea what shareholder decided this was a good idea they've put other people in ch-"

"No, the one who knew about Afton Robotics?"

"Oh, I don't know, John Alf-something, real creepy bastard, doesn't show his face much, you could take a few tips from him" Mike resisted the urge to hit the man at that, as he felt his jaw set with tension. Pushing past it he thought about that, the only John that Mike knew about was a teenager who he hadn't seen in over a decade, which didn't exactly answer any questions, as he sighed, before continuing to ask.

"What the hell's the plan here?"

"I don't know, I'm keeping my head down as much as possible. I was told once I got the place off the ground then I could leave, I frankly don't give a damn what happens after that"

"Glad to see Fazbear's apathy got its hooks in deep with you as well" That seemed to finally get a reaction out of the man as he winced, almost looking hurt, before it was covered in the next moment, as he glared back.

"Get off your high horse, I'm doing what I have to, now if you don't have any more questions-"

"Where are the animatronics you stole?"

"Not here! I was just there to help move them, not play guard. If you really want to play double time I'm sure I could get you on a shift, that creep's been trying to find someone to run tests on the new ones" The two stared off for a long moment, as Mike's eyes turned, glancing back to the room itself. The building wasn't that big, and they weren't exactly being quiet, Ennard would have heard him... Whether the animatronic would have meant something with how the two... didn't get along, was anyone's guess however...

After a long moment to internal thought, he turned back to the man with a frown etching onto his face before finally saying.

"You take anything more from me, from anyone, and I find out, it's not going to be an animatronic you'll have to worry about... And if you ever want to stop helping the cycle of death this place causes, you'll figure a way to get yourself out of this, everyone who's really wanted to has, you don't get to have an excuse" The man was glaring at him now, a familiar anger and self-pity burning in his eyes at that last comment, anger could lead to more confidence and unfounded bravery than Mike wanted to deal with.

So with that he just moved past, pushing past the man as he took a deep breath to himself, unnecessary he didn't really need to breath much at all, but it helped build his nerves up as he shot forwards, slamming the door open with a huff as he stomped out of the building, ignoring the way he could see and practically feel the way everyone who had been staking the place out jumped in shock, their eyes tracing him as he played up his bad mood.

Not that it was that hard. He was pissed the hell off at the moment, and whatever expression was on his face seemed to do the trick as someone literally stumbled out of his way as he marched down the street to get to his car.

The second the door had been slammed shut he had to take another long breaths in, it felt like his blood was rushing, but his heart rate wasn't racing, yet his entire body still felt like it was wound to tightly, like a strained and pressed spring that was just waiting for a moment to snap out. He didn't want that to affect him as much as it had, and he needed to get himself under control now, before he could do anything else.

But the fact that Freddy's was back, seeing that apathy, the lack of care, the pure willingness to just... let that horrible legacy continue. It was everything Mike had hated about what the place had become. It was like a spit in the face of everything Mike had done to try and fix the hell that had become of his family's history. Sure it had never been as clean as he had once thought, but the Diner had been something precious to him, and once more it felt like what had become of what had started there was being dragged through the mud again and that burned something in the man.

Nothing good came from when Mike felt like that, last time it had nearly made him kill someone, and that was not who he wanted to be right now. Not ever again.

So with another long deep breath, he slowly let his iron grip on the steering wheel slowly lessen, feeling the way his finger tips buzzed from the pressure on them being relieved, before finally getting his keys out and shoving them into the ignition. He had things to tell the others now at least, and a whole new host of problems they had to start sorting out.

Charlie was not happy, the fact that her brother and Michael had taken to not telling her anything about what was happening for as long as they had about the whole situation wasn't one she liked to think about for long. They had finally told her, of course they did, they had to, flyers were beginning to go out and they must have figured they didn't have much of a choice. Charlie didn't like it, didn't like not being told what was happening, but Sam still had called her and that had to mean something right?

She wasn't... still sure just where she stood with her brother, she visited, hung out whenever she could, in spite of how busy she was with her job and college, but she still did it, and they talked, and she thought it was getting better, she enjoyed her time with her twin, but... But it was still hard to connect, they talked a lot, but she wasn't sure when the last time they had really said anything was, and that left something deeper in her chest, the hole that had formed when she had lost Sammy and that had grown the years following, itch and hurt and gnaw at her more than she liked to admit.

But this was important, it was Freddy's, a place she couldn't imagine herself ever being able to stand again, and it seemed her brother was in the same boat and hadn't wanted her to be caught off guard about it all. He had seemed quite ready to just tell her enough to satisfy whatever questions she had, but not much more, nothing that would make her want to investigate or get herself involved if Charlie had to guess, which she didn't appreciate.

It took her a while of needling and pressing, and Sam hadn't exactly been willing to talk at first, but at some point he finally admitted that one of the places under his and the other's purview, that animatronic company she had visited months ago, had been broken into and an animatronic had been taken, one like him that she hadn't met yet. Ennard. She had been told, sort of, what happened there, how that animatronic had been the one to hospitalize Mike and that it really wasn't the animatronic's fault but they still handed off their whole situation to someone else they trusted, but that was about it.

She wasn't sure what she felt about that, Mike had been really hurt, his skin literally changed color from the trauma, and apparently he had a heart condition or something now? He hadn't really been clear, in fact he hadn't said anything at all, just made jokes about it and left her to pick up the meaning through the context clues. Admittedly she was pretty sure the zombie part was only a joke, but that's besides the point, she knew even with her brother telling her the no doubt highly abridged version of what happened there, and it was clear he was trying to do the same now, only giving her enough to know something was happening and the idea around it all, but not much more than that.

Like she couldn't handle it. That lack of trust honestly hurt more than anything, and probably the reason she was here now, standing in the middle of the Cove, trying to not feel too weird for being here, in the diner again, it was always not easy to be here, but after learning everything it was even worse, it was like the walls themselves made her skin crawl a bit. She had no idea just how Michael and Sam dealt with the place, much less Evan.

Speaking of which, she hadn't really realized the place would be open, she had just been told from her brother that he'd be over there later and couldn't have her visit the house because of that. Of course that was probably just to keep her from cornering him with more questions, given he knew her aversion to the old diner, but just because the place was uncomfortable for her didn't mean she couldn't handle it...

Of course that was, like she said, before she realized that the place was open, it was the weekend, and a lifetime of classes had taught her that the weekend was for breaks and even though she was technically an adult now, that hadn't really changed in her mind. She had been here before when it was like this of course, during the week, but that was before... It felt different now. For one her brother wasn't here, and she had no idea that the animatronics could take days off, but it was kind of nice to know as well that they could take personal time for whatever. Which she honestly was glad for, as it stood she just... didn't want to see Sam acting like some attraction, the idea of it made her head hurt. She could handle his body now, she's fully adjusted to that, but seeing him act completely like a person was one thing and another to see him acting like a... well, like a marionette.

Still, she just stayed around, managed a short if awkward conversation with both Jeremy and Fritz, not really used to either of them on a one on one level at all to be able to hold a conversation, not to mention the two of them were working at the moment. Jeremy had taken up working in the prize Corner for most of the day and that meant Fritz was practically running the very busy floor by himself. If she was being honest, it all looked exhausting, and not in a fun way. At least for her, the other two never seemed to mind.

But it all just looked so... stressful? Maybe it was because she was raised in places like this, and knew what it was like on the other side of things and now as an adult she couldn't imagine dealing with so many children. She vastly preferred the much more quiet and solitary environment of her own job, working with her hands on some broken part or whatever was on hand for being in need of repairs that day.

Still, even as she had to admit there was a reason she didn't ever spend much time in places like this, as the hours passed by and closing approached, with Michael showing up and suddenly 'the marionette' apparently being back in service for the last bit of the day, she had to admit, there was parts of it that were painfully and unfortunately nostalgic to her in a way she wasn't all that big of a fan of.

Michael had obviously noticed her, giving her a short look before shrugging it off as he moved onto working on handling the late rush of people getting dinner, his mask falling over his face which Charlie had to wonder if he even liked the mask or he just did it to hide his skin thing. Charlie got something herself, just a small meal, but she didn't see Sam come out at any point during the last bit of the day, she was honestly relieved about that, she didn't make a point of going in there either, instead waiting the last little bit until the day was over, and suddenly the place was closed, and the two animatronics wandered off the stage, and Sam floated out into the main floor, seconds after Jeremy had flipped the sign and pulled the curtains over the front window.

She wasn't sure she was allowed to just be here, but she also wasn't sure she cared, even as Charlie watched as Sam seemed to look around for a moment, letting out a short but sharp chime sound when he saw her. Charlie was pretty sure that was a surprise, she was getting somewhat better at the whole musical verbal tick thing but it wasn't really easy. Still she watched as he quickly moved over, literally flickering from one place to another, something she really wasn't used to, it hurt her head to look at honestly.

"Charlie! W-What are you doing here?" he sounded a mix of excited and concerned, as she just gave him a look.

"What do you think?"

"Right... You... You don't need to worry, we can handle it" He sounded more sure of himself than his tone really seemed to convey, but Charlie just shook her head.

"I can't just let this go, if there's something going on then I need to know about it. I can help" Sam was quiet for a long moment, clearly debating something within himself for that time before finally settling on saying with a put out tone.

"You sound like Mike" Michael himself seemed to have arrived at some point, as he stepped into place by Sam, startling Charlie a bit because she hadn't heard the man approaching, and there was something inherently startling about someone as big as Mike just appearing somewhere. As he said with a dry tone towards the puppet.

"She sounds like you" Sam just flapped a hand at him with a little huff

"Oh hush" Michael just smirked, before glancing back at Charlie, his face smoothing out to nothing, just staring at her for a moment that was honestly a bit uncomfortable, before finally just sighing.

"You're not going to let this go are you?" Charlie found herself raising her chin up defiantly, which seemed to be answer enough as the man just sighed again, before saying, "Fine, better you know what's happening I guess in case they try to contact you over seeing if Henry left any spare animatronics around... They haven't done that have they?" Charlie just shook her head, trying to pretend that the mention of her dad didn't actually hurt as much as it did. Michael just let out a small breath of relief, before nodding, once, to himself, before gesturing over to the others who seemed to be waiting on them. Walking over, Michael called out casually.

"Charlie's pulling a me and suborning her way into a fazbear based nightmare, she's already been caught up for the most part so let's just get into what I learned from Manager Guy" Charlie... just decided to nod to whatever those words meant in that order as it seemed no one else batted much of an eye, or at least if they were going to, it was to late as Michael just went on to talk about everything that he had learned from his talk with whoever 'Manager Guy' was, the man really needed to figure out how to remember people's names.

What was told was... a bit worrying, the place was going around just grabbing anything that they thought no one would notice, it didn't sound like something that was good, but it also meant that there was a good chance that wherever this Ennard was, they hadn't been caught or anything, just stored away until someone was hired to deal with them. Still...

"Doesn't this all seem a bit... short sighted?" Everyone turned to look at her, as she blinked before hastily adding her point, "Well, I mean, if- uh... 'Manager Guy', get's to leave after everything's sorted, and the other people probably get to as well right? So... Who are they hiring then to run the place? I don't think there's anyone who'd willing take the job from this town"

Fritz was the first one to speak up, seemingly realizing that and being confused by it as much as she was, but having something of an explanation.

"She's got a point, it is a bit weird, but I mean, no one would even touch the brand after everything it's gone through, but the last freddy's that was opened up was popular, if only for a little while because it was new before the... quality of the place drove everyone away, maybe it's just another bid to milk the last drops out of it, by the end of it they could just sell everything off now that it's all in one place and be done with it all once it falls in on itself again" Michael just shook his head, adding on quickly, a frown playing on his face as he looked to be in deep thought.

"Maybe... I don't think so though, call it a gut instinct, but this whole thing has to many layers of secrets to it... I don't know, there's something here that we're missing that we can't figure out without knowing more about just what's happening over there, missing pieces to the puzzle. If I wasn't sure they had been actively avoiding the Cove and it's staff from what Phone Guy has told us, then maybe Fritz could sneak in to 'work' on the animatronics. From what they said they seem to be in pretty desperate need for someone with... experience" That clicked something in the back of Charlie's head, even if it went unnoticed for the moment, as she instead listened in as the others took over the conversation, Fritz speaking up once more, looking decidedly unbothered.

"I'm more than fine with that, I don't want to work under another Freddy's ever unless in the face of death" Michael just nodded.

"Fair, so that's not going to work, and Phone Guy can only get so much information without seeming like he's prying... he's the only one we have thought that Freddy's doesn't know is in contact with us... I could break in after hours?" Sam spoke up this time, sounding not overly worried per say, but with a small bit of concern to his voice, as he hovered a bit closer to the man.

"Are you sure that's a good idea? I mean, remember what happened last time?" Michael just shrugged off the concern, though Charlie had no idea just what it was they were talking about, maybe what happened at Afton Robotics maybe?

"I would have been fine, and from what I hear they don't even have a night shift right now, which means Ennard isn't playing up anything to cause the need for a guard, it would be easy enough to sneak in and out, find the animatronic and just get them out of there and nuke Freddy's reputation and force them to close down before they can open. We've already made some headway with that" Jeremy chimed in for the first time in a while as Michael finished speaking, adding his own thoughts on the matter.

"That only works if you aren't caught, if you are then it's the Cove that's in the bad light, we've seen how Freddy's like to shift the blame whenever they can, we can't really risk that happening with the Cove, and while, I mean, I know you're good at... that sort of thing, you're also the owner, that's about as worse a look as it could get" Fritz tossed on to that point with one of his own.

"And that's before they put you through the system and get ahold of your past actions and former last name, the second that rumor hits the streets and we get linked that closely to Freddys, the Cove will be just as bad" Michael winced at that, looking a bit more uncomfortable for a short moment, before seemingly forcing himself to act completely unbothered, as he went on to speak without a hint of his own emotions affecting his words.

"Yeah... We should avoid that, admittedly I never got in much trouble with Hurricane police specifically, but I know there's more than a few people on the force that would be out for me if they got the chance to pin something on me, the new police chief would love the chance to lock me up again" Charlie wasn't the only one that turned to openly stare at the man. She was pretty sure that was new to the others as well, or at least just apparently how much disdain law enforcement had for Michael was new, saying after a moment.

"That's... really concerning" Michael just shrugged again, still looking unbothered.

"Don't worry about it, I'm not the type who leaves evidence, so Bruke doesn't have anything on me, he wishes though... So it's not a good idea to risk it, I bet the man's frothing at the mouth about all of this as it is, he has a massive thing about Freddy's, and Aftons" Fritz slowly just blinked to himself before saying bluntly.

"That's, honestly, way more concerning, and I don't even know which part of that I'm referring to, that's all just... Wow"

"Well, he did arrest both my dad and me in relation to child murder so..." Charlie wished she could be so in control of herself she could say something like that with a straight face, the man truly didn't seem like he cared for the most part, but the way that her brother was hovering anxiously and what she was pretty sure was protectively, it was pretty clear he was noticing Michael wasn't as alright with what he was saying as he seemed, even as Fritz once more added his thoughts into the ring with a bland-

"And it get's worse" Jeremy winced at the bluntness of that, as Fritz himself seemed to realize that a second later, giving Michael a short apologetic look, as Jeremy himself asked the question on Charlie's mind.

"Why haven't you ever brought this up before?" Michael shifted a bit, uncomfortable again, or at least noticeably, before settling as he ended up saying with another shrug, something he seemed to be doing a lot of at the moment. Charlie wasn't... really sure she was comfortable talking about it either if she was honest, it was just... uncomfortable to hear about what Michael was seen as, some villain... And to some people wasn't that just the truth? She shook the thought away before it could get any handle on her thoughts, instead listening back into the man's answer.

"Unless it's relevant to the situation I prefer to not air out my criminal history, but I have a feeling it might be more important than I want it to end up being if anything goes wrong, which really puts a big road block on my want to burn down at least one freddy's" No one seemed really ready to want to broach that, because, well, it was a good point on to why to not bring it up, and the other part was just arson, and as such a point one she'd rather just drop as Fritz seemed to decide it was time to get back onto the point of this conversation, saying after a long awkward pause.

"Right... So, new plan... Any ideas?" Maybe it was because she wanted to keep the conversation hand, or because of something completely different, Charlie wasn't completely sure, but the end result was the same, as she found herself speaking before she realized what it was that she was doing.

"I could do it" Suddenly everyone's eyes were on her, as Jeremy questioned what she meant with a bit of confused apprehension to his voice.

"Sneak in? I don't think-" She interrupted him before he could either tell her it was a bad idea or get what she meant more mixed up, even though she still had no idea just why she was talking at all, the idea was barely formed, and as she talked it only was just getting defined, taking her an extra second to explain it all.

"No, I mean, sort of? I could spy over there, it wouldn't be hard right? They need someone who knows what they're doing with animatronics to fix them up right? I mean, I'm not a professional or anything, but it sounds like the place is kind of desperate like Michael said right? And I have experience in repair work, so I could probably get hired on pretty easily, then see if I can find this Ennard and tell them about what's happening, they probably are pretty scared right?"

"No way!" She had not expected the sudden, almost explosive denial from Sam who looked almost like he had been struck by the very idea, as she couldn't help but find herself asking right back.

"What? Why not?"

"Because no!" For some reason that just made her want to double down even more, as she snapped back a bit more hotly.

"That's not a reason"

"It should be! It's Freddy's Charlie! No one should go over there if we can help it!"

"It's not like I'll be in any actual danger, Ennard won't try to hurt me right?" They wouldn't, right? She had heard they used to be dangerous but... Thankfully Jeremy answered for her before Sam could try to twist it up.

"No, well they shouldn't, they wouldn't have a reason to" Charlie gave a sharp nod to the man in thanks who just seemed to shrink back a bit from the glare that Sam was giving him at butting into the conversation, as she turned back to the puppet herself, saying sharply.

"See, then I'll be fine" Sam wasn't apparently interested in that.

"No, it's a bad idea" Charlie was starting to get more and more worked up about it all, but before she could reply, it seemed the others were getting into the idea as well, which she wasn't sure just why that wasn't making her feel better about it, as Fritz added in.

"So is breaking into the place, at least this way we're covered legally, and it's not like Charlie's going to make the mistake we did and sign a contract with so many hidden clauses that you could drown in them. She could leave the second anything gets dicey, and can refuse anything looking like a night shift" Sam was practically shaking, she could see Michael moving a bit closer, looking obviously concerned, and only just realized the man hadn't said anything in a long moment, she had expected him to back up Sam the most, but he looked instead just conflicted, even as Sam practically shouted out his response this time.

"Oh, that's a good point, but have you considered, NO!" The puppet had been getting more and more stressed out, the sound of a faint ticking coming from his chest, which honestly was worrying her, she hadn't expected Sam to react like this, he seemed almost frantic about it as he turned to Michael, who still hadn't said anything yet, "Come on, tell them it's a ridiculous idea... Mike, tell them!"

The man winced at the tone, but everyone could see the faint war going on over the man's face, as his eyebrows furrowed as he clearly thought something over hard, as he finally gave the puppet an apologetic look that was already getting the puppet hackles raised.

"I- I want to lead that I do not think it's a good idea-" Sam looked prime to blow up, interrupting saying harshly.

"I can't believe you!" Sam was about to leave, Charlie could just tell, he got like that sometimes, overwhelmed to the point he just couldn't stand being around anymore, she felt bad, but wasn't sure she could do anything, any comforts stuck in her throat, as she watched as the almost standard half a second flicker began only to suddenly stop as Sam let out a sharp surprised chime as Mike reached out and grabbed him, as he said quickly, interrupted Sam.

"Come on, I am not happy about this either, but it's... Just hear me out, alright? Please Mari?" Sam let out a very displeased and almost painful sounding strangled music note, but finally just huffed and pulled away, crossing his arms as he did so, looking extremely displeased but not leaving. Michael looked equally guilty and grimly satisfied, as he took a moment to collect himself before saying.

"We need information, she can get it in a way way that won't trap here there or involve breaking any laws, but that doesn't mean we're going to just let her go run around and get herself hurt, we all know what we're doing, we can teach her what to look out for and what to avoid, and more importantly how to defend herself. And it's not like she'll work there, it's just to get information, the second we have something she's gone, she's not trapped" Sam didn't seem pleased with that at all, his arms still crossed, tightening to the point it looked more like he was trying to hug himself at those last words that seemed almost pointed. But after a long, long moment, he said finally, as he turned to look at Charlie, who was shocked by just how serious his mask looked.

"If there is even a hint of danger or something has gone wrong you get out of there, they won't risk anything going wrong right now, but that doesn't mean it can't happen, you understand? And if this doesn't work out then you aren't to ever go back to that place again" Charlie felt herself bristle a bit at that, at how demanding and firm her brother sounded, like he had some authority in telling her what she could and couldn't do, a part of her wanted to rebuke that immediately, but instead she just bit it down with help from the nerves that were suddenly burning in her chest at what she was only just realizing what she was signing herself up for.

She hadn't been told much, but the horror stories that she could gather from context clues from Michael and the other two who had worked at Freddy's was enough to give her a picture, as she felt herself gulp, before something firmed itself up in her chest. She had to do this, she was the only one who could, and didn't that mean she had no choice but to try? And if being able to try meant agreeing with Sam and ignoring him later... Then that's what she would have to do, as she gave him a quick nod, as Michael continued on.

"Right... Guess we need to go taser shopping again"

Scott knew the others were coming up with some plan, he had been briefed about everything that they had going on by Fritz, but if he was being honest, he had only been partially listening, his mind on other places as he had paced the length of his house, back and forth, over and over.

He kept passing the room, it was mostly empty now, that fact wracked at his mind like nothing else, it shouldn't be empty, there shouldn't be nothing, they should be there. They should be safe, but Scott had decided his own need to feel comfortable was more important, he had ranked his own feelings over the safety of others, again. Prolonged and stalled and waited until the choice was taken out of his hands and in the end his actions and inactions once more cost people who didn't deserve it something that they couldn't take back.

He had thought he had been getting better, but he was wrong, he was the same coward that he always had been, waiting and refusing to take that leap, that one true step that would actually make a difference.

Self-hatred wasn't... too common for Scott, so guilty it was hard to breathe and constantly riddled with anxiety and paranoia, even self-pity of a more than healthy amount, but true disgust at himself? That one... That one felt newer than it really was with how it burned in his chest, as he found himself debating over the issue more than once, the same anger pulling and pushing itself around in his chest.

He didn't realize he had gotten into his car until he realized he had been driving for a while, not good for being safe, but Scott couldn't find it in him where he cared about his own safety too much at the moment, as he continued to drive, knowing what he was doing. In any other day, in any other moment, he would turn around, in fact he never would have gone in the first place, but they had made him brave, every time he pushed himself to go down through AR for them, and for those three he could be brave again.

He never felt brave, still didn't, but it seemed easier to act like he was, it didn't do that much, but it got him there to the front. He had been told there had been people here, he didn't see any, he didn't think about it, as he got out before moving to the front door. Knocking on it, he waited a short moment before it was pulled open by a man he recognized but didn't want to see, Sheldon had brought him back into this, and had helped take Eggs from him. But he didn't react, just waited as the man's eyes went wide, as he looked back around for a moment, an uneasy look to his expression as he asked.

"Uh, hey, what are you...?" Scott rallied himself internally, while on the outside he could feel himself already slightly shaking, as he spoke up, his stutter not breaking his voice too badly.

"I got a call about you needing someone to look over the animatronics? It- uh, well it was from a John?" Sheldon's eyes widened before his whole face closed off, his jaw set tightly, as he spoke back.

"Are-... You shouldn't be here Scott" Scott felt something in him light with anger, this man was the reason that he was here, he shouldn't be, but he had to, so he was.

"Heh... I- I don't want to be either, but he had my name, a-and... He said I just had to work on looking them over if it went well then I'm done, completely"

"I- I see... Just... Are you sure? We got them moved in earlier today, but I was told... Come on, let's just get this over with, I'll let the creep know, you can just... There's a door around back, that's where the things are being kept, one should already be in the room set up, apparently there's some tapes there ready to go, John apparently been expecting you, I thought the set up was weird but... Just be careful, I don't think any of them... are... you know, but still, get it over with and then get out of here"

Scott wasn't sure how he felt that apparently this John had been looking for someone to do these tasks, someone who probably wouldn't have had any experience in dangerous animatronics, and he wasn't sure it was a good thing that he himself was here to take that role for them, but if there was any chance... It was probably a good thing, as he just gave a short nod with a grimace to his own face that wasn't fully faked. He just had to go in there and find Eggs, then get them out, it would be fine, it had to be, he just had to be quick, everything that happened after he would work out as it came.

Leaving out of the front, in more hurry than he probably should have let himself be in, not that Sheldon seemed to think anything was off given that was just how Scott was, he made the point to bring his car around the back, so it would be easier to get Eggs away and into the backseat, it would be a very tight squeeze, but if he had to make it work then he would. He should have gone back and gotten the crank for them to tighten themselves back up together, but he hadn't been thinking, he honestly still wasn't.

He didn't have time to think though, instead moving, getting out of his car as he headed to the singular large metal door that had a large latch on the back that Scott had to take a moment to grab and with a strain to push into unlocking, pulling it open with a few long hefts of effort before managing to slip himself inside. Apparently there was a chance that they didn't know about Eggs being here, but they were still taking apparently a long effort to make sure if there were any living animatronics here that they wouldn't be able to get away. He hated that, didn't know if Eggs had tried to escape then or not, and if they had where they would have gone off to anyways.

He hated that it was probably a good thing that they wouldn't have been able to get away almost as much as he hated that they had been trapped again.

Still, he closed the door behind him, and just waiting a moment, unsure what to do about it before deciding that it didn't really matter, he would be leaving soon anyways, as he peered around, the place was... dark, but there was a table with... something propped up on the other side of it, a singular light beaming down over head as he gulped before slowly moving closer, staring at the table first, seeing a paper and some kind of tape recorder on it, before his eyes trailed up and found themselves freezing on the figure.

A ruined looked animatronic, the entire body having been dirtied and beaten, pieces of metal plates that looked more like scraps pressed and pushed together to make form than anything really standard, a broken up and cracked once white face with two massive glowing green eyes peering straight ahead, something that was suppose to represent hair on it's head, though it more looked like frayed and ripped wiring badly tangled up into something resembling what might have once been a hair style. A set of blinking broken up lights on the chest which was half pried open and seemed to have been beaten back into almost place.

It was Circus Baby... Or rather, the scrapped and broken up remains of the animatronic he had seen pictures of.

Scott felt himself freeze in place with a gulp, before slowly shifting forwards and placing his hand on the back of the seat in front of the table where he was sure he was supposed to sit, his eyes stuck on the animatronic, even though he knew he had other things he needed to do. This proved to be the smart decision, as he felt his breath vanish as to any other untrained eye, nothing happened, but to him, a survivor and former night guard, it was all too obvious to see the way the eyes just barely twitched enough to follow his movement.

Circus Baby was alive, and she was right in front of him.

It was of course at this point where he noticed the massive metal claw that was in replacement of one of her arms. Scott felt a faint whimper escape his throat before he could hold it back.

And with that... I think we can safely assume which game we're moving into for this final.

It's been fun watching the confused mix of Fazbear Frights and Pizza Sim predictions in the comments, but alas, we're here, after a whole lot of effort... Welcome to Pizza Sim, hope you enjoy the show... HA!

Anyways, ominous comments aside, this was certainly a fun chapter. Mike kind of reverted back to how he was in the first ten chapters, wholly and incredibly efficient in ways that are definitely bad for his mental health. But at least this time he can acknowledge the damage he is doing to his own mental state... that's... progress... Right? Eh, something had to be done, and Mike and the crew are finally starting to work in a direction to handle this whole mess now that it's gotten real, though, given everything, they might not quite understand everything that's at stake here either... Charlie clearly doesn't, but she's trying her best, which, you know, good for her.

She's very good at taking initiative in situations that it would probably best to just avoid at all costs, and I'm not quite sure if that's a character flaw or boon just yet if I'm being honest.

And of course then there's Scott, who's strapped on his big boy pants just long enough to regret every decision he's ever made up until the point that lead him to be sitting in front of a certain scrapped mess of everyone's favorite clown... I'm sure that's going to just go... swimmingly. I mean, it's been, like, what? Forty chapters since Circus Baby was introduced as a character, it's about time she got some more screen time. I bet nothing will ever go wrong there... Yeah, Anyways, See ya!