All of them entered the new door-
That seemed to enter into what seemed to be another restaurant. But this one looked a little different.
"Woah... this looks a little unlike... What we just left," Sora said.
"Yeah? Is it just me, or does it look darker?" Roxas noted.
The door they entered, was the door that lead back out to the hilly area, where the small Fredbear is waiting for them, but the second it disappeared, revealed to be the front door to the establishment.
On the door, were chains, showing that it was locked.
"Huh..." Hayner said. "There weren't that many locks on the front doors before," he said.
"You're right," Roxas agreed.
Sora looked back to the hallway.
He walked forward a little, then pecked around the corner. Once again, there were tables all lined out with party hats. Directly to the right, was a stage that had the three animatronics of Freddy Fazbears.
"Look guys," Sora said pointing. "It's Freddy, Bonnie, and Chica, all three of them are up on the stage,"
Roxas and Hayner left from the front door, they were looking out from it to see where they were. Outside seemed like they were in a desert.
"Oh yeah," Roxas said. "But they look a little different..."
"I'll say. Not going to lie, they look a little less creepy than the ones with the red cheeks," Hayner said.
Down from this place what seemed to be a dining room, were two hallways. On the right side was a small stage, but it had a purple curtain around it. Next to that part of the restaurant, was a little door that read "Parts and Service".
"Do you think Michael is here?" Sora asked, looking around.
"If he is, he's probably in the office," Roxas said.
"And where would that even be?" Hayner asked.
"I'd assume it's down the hallway," Sora said.
Hayner looked to his right. "Down... There?" He asked pointing to one of the hallways.
Roxas shrugged. "I guess, come on, let's go and check it out."
They were about to walk to one of the two hallways, but they all heard a creaking sound. Sora froze with his eyes widened a bit, he slowly turned his head to Roxas next to him, who shared the same expression.
Hayner was horrified, covered his face, and looked behind them, peeking through his fingers. They all collectively looked at the stage.
The three robots were standing there. They hadn't moved.
"I ain't buying that, one of them shifted," Hayner said.
Instead of just walking away, Sora went to investigate and walked up to the stage. "Sora, no!" Hayner yelled in a whisper.
Sora didn't listen.
Once he walked up to the stage-
He saw there was a switch. "Huh? What's this?"
Without hesitation, he flipped it.
Once he did, backlights shined from the stage, a disco ball started spinning, and the animatronics went into a performance.
Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls
Fazbear Entertainment would like you to put your hands together
For the one, the only, Freddy Fazbear!
"Woah what?!" Hayner gasped.
"Hello everybody! Are you ready to have a good time? I know I am!" said the animatronic bear into the mic it was holding. Bonnie, started strumming his guitar, and all of them, plus Chica started singing.
"Cause it's Freddy Fazbear's Pizza! For kids, it's number one! Freddy Fazbear's Pizza, Where fantasy meets fun!"
And they just continued to do their stage performance.
Sora smiled at it. It was honestly a little amazing seeing these animatronics do these things.
"Alright, I'll admit, the song's pretty catchy," Hayner said.
"Well, let's meet the band!-," Then Freddy started singing his by himself. "My name is Freddy, I'm the singer in the band, got a hat and a big bow-,"
But then, all of a sudden, the song stopped, the music stopped, and the animatronics shut down.
"Who's out there!? Show yourself on the camera!" Yelled a voice, coming from down the hallway. Then there was a very loud clang sound coming from down the hallways.
Sora, Roxas, and Hayner all gasped.
Sora quickly turned his head, until he saw that there was a camera facing Bonnie on the stage. But, he realized that he was a little out of view. He claimed up on the stage, to get closer. "H-Hello! Um... I'm sorry. We-" But before Sora could finish his sentence, he heard a loud:
"WHAT THE?!"
It came from the office. "SORA?! Wait- Are Hayner and Roxas with you?"
Sora gasped. "Michael?!"
"Come to my office! It's down the hall! Take either of the two hallways!"
Sora looked behind him at his two friends who were out of the camera view.
"It's Michael?" Roxas mouthed the words to Sora.
Sora nodded with a smile. "Come, he's down the hallway!" Sora told them.
He hopped off the stage and made his way to the hallway.
"Don't stay-,"
They heard a voice say.
Sora stopped and looked behind him. "Roxas? Did you say something?"
Roxas tilted his head. "No, but I heard it. Was it you Hayner?" Roxas turned around, only to see that Hayner was looking at him looking worried.
"N-No..." He said looking horrified. He swiftly looked behind him, then back at his friends. "It sounded like it was coming from the stage... with," he gulped. "With the animatronics...."
Sora just shrugged. "Maybe the performance just glitched, and one of them said a prerecorded word by accident, come on, let's get to Michael," he said, turning back around.
Hayner was hesitant and followed behind Sora and Roxas.
"This place feels... So creepy," Hayner said to them as they walked down the hallway. "Why the hell is it so dark?"
"I have no idea. The other location wasn't like this," Roxas said.
They all walked up to the end of the hallway. To the left, was an entryway, that entered into a very tight office, with monitors, and a chair.
And a familiar purple man was sitting in the chair. They turned their head and saw Sora, who was smiling, and his friends standing outside.
Michael couldn't help it and smiled too. "Sora! Roxas and Hayner! Christ, it's been a minute!"
He got up from out of his chair, walked over, and grabbed Sora in for a hug. "OOF!" Sora grunted.
"O-Oh! Sorry, too tight?" He let go.
Sora chuckled. "A little, wow, how have you been?" Sora asked.
"Yeah!" Roxas said. "I'm so sorry, we had to leave suddenly!"
Sora sighed. "I was wanting to say, but Roxas kept on nudging us to leave," he grunted.
Roxas shook his head. "C'mon Sora, you know why we had to..." he said with a sympathetic tone.
"Not wanting to sound rude, but... a goodbye would have been nice," Michael stated.
"I know! We're very sorry," Roxas told him. "We... just had to do things..."
"You mean... Go to a different world?" Michael asked.
But Sora tried to signal Michael as much as he can, so Roxas wouldn't find out he told Michael about what they are, but it didn't work.
"Yes, you're half rig-," Roxas tilted his head. "Wait... How do you know?" He said.
Michael blinked, looking at Sora for a millisecond.
Sora covered his face.
Roxas gasped and looked over at his friend. "Sora! What the hell?! How many times do I have to tell you about the world order?! Why did you let Michael know?"
Sora felt bad. "I'm sorry Roxas! It just slipped out! It was when we were carrying Mangle back to that... Kid Cove place-," But after saying that, he saw the look on Michael's face change. To a change... of dread.
"Woah... dude are you alright?" Hayner asked.
Sora looked at Michael. "Um, yeah? Are you? What's wrong?"
"Mangle... Kids Cove... That was back at the old Fazbear location, nearly 6 years ago..."
Sora blinked. "It's been... 6 years for you?"
Michael nodded. "I reckon you... leave... get time traveled into the future, wherever I'm around? It's like you all are my guardians or something... always showing up when I need help or company..."
"I... guess we could be that," Roxas said. But then he looked back at Sora. "And, I'm not done with you yet Sora. Come on! You need to stop! First with Steve and Alex, and now with Michael. Please, tell me this will be the last time,"
Sora looked down. He wanted it to be. But, it feels harder to keep the idea of the 'world order' safe now. It felt like it was easier before, but now it's even harder. People see their magic more. And it's like Roxas doesn't understand that. So, Sora just said. "I'll try."
"You better..."
But then Sora remembered what he heard. The sounds of screaming coming from Kid's Cove.
"Umm... Michael... what exactly happened in Kid's Cove? I... well, we all heard screaming. It's when he had to leave,"
Michael's eyes widen a bit, then he looked down. "Bloody hell, that... that was a nightmare I'll tell you that,"
"What happened? Was it you screaming? What went down?"
"No, it wasn't me screaming-," Michael said. "It was the day guard..."
***
-6 Years ago, Kid's Cove: Freddy Fazbear's Pizza, November 5th, 1987-
"Jeremy! Get it off! Jesus fucking Christ! This hurts!" The day guard was in pain and agony, as he was trying to take the mouth of the broken Funtime animatronic, off of his head.
Michael was in a panic and didn't know what to do. "Fuck, fuck, fuck..." He repeated to himself constantly, as he tried to see how he could take the robot off.
"Jeremy... P-Please...," The day guard's voice started to get hazy, and low. "I... I'm losing my vision..."
"No! Stay with me!" Michael yelled. Michael saw that the man's forehead was cut open. "Oh... fucking hell..."
He quickly left him. He opened the door, but once he did, he saw that the restaurant was getting crowded with kids and adults for the morning. "Oh come on, don't these kids have school?!" He yelled quietly to himself. He was wanting to call the police, but the phone was back in the office. He covered his face and walked out.
He scanned the room, looking for Sora, and his two friends. But he didn't see them.
"Shit, where did they go?!" But then he saw a few kids walking over to Kid's Cove.
"NO!" He yelled. The children gasped.
Then, he cleared his throat and tried to talk normally.
"Funtime Foxy can't... entertain you today. She's under maintenance," Michael told the children.
"Awwwww," He heard them say.
He walked up to the door and locked it with his keys.
After that was done, he ran to his office to call the local police.
He grabbed the phone, and frantically dialed 911.
"Come... please pick up...please..."
"Hurricane Utah police department, what's your emergency?"
"Yes... um... I... I'm a night watchman here at Freddy Fazbear's Pizza... u-uh... one of the workers... got hurt by one of the animatronics!"
"Freddy Fazbear's Pizza?" There was a pause for a moment. Michael swore he heard a sigh. "Don't worry sir. We'll send someone right away. What's your name?"
"Mich- *cough* Jeremy Fitzgerald, ma'am..."
"Alright. Care to explain what's happened?"
"The Funtime Foxy robot... it bit the day guard on his forehead! His... forehead was cracked open!"
He heard the officer make a small gasp on the other end.
"Officer?"
"We'll send someone there, right away."
In no time, the fire department, the police, the paramedics... All of them came.
You could hear the sirens from a mile away. The red and blue flashing lights flooded into the pizzeria. The children and adults watched in confusion, and terror as they saw the police cars, ambulances, and firetrucks pull into the parking lot.
Michael was horrified at the entire situation. He searched top and bottom for Sora, Roxas, and Hayner. But he couldn't find them.
Although he doesn't correspond with the customers too much, he knew he had to at the moment.
"Everyone... Please stay calm..."
"What's going on?" A worried mother asked.
Michael didn't know how to word the situation. He didn't want anyone to panic. But before he could say anything, the paramedics entered into the restaurant. They quickly saw Michael.
"Jeremy?" One of the paramedics asked.
Michael turned around. "Y-Yes?"
"Where is the day guard?"
Michael then walked over to the Kid's Cove door. He unlocked it.
The group of paramedics walked up to the door, pushed it open walked inside. "Oh... fucking... god..." one of them said.
Blood was all over the floor, as the day guard lay
on the ground, seeming to be limp as Mangle's mouth was lodged into the brains of the day him.
The paramedics touched the day guard's body. He placed his fingers on his neck. "He's alive... I got a pulse,"
One of the paramedics took out a two-way radio. "The victim seems to be breathing," He said into the mic.
Michael shut the door, trying to calm everyone down. Some of them accidentally saw what happened.
"What is with this restaurant!" One of the mothers yelled. "Every time you all reopen, death follows! What is with your company?!"
"Ma'am, please!" Michael said. He felt sick. The kids were crying, and the parents were upset. He didn't know what to do in this situation.
But then, he heard the paramedics call him inside the room.
"I-I can't! I need to sort the customers out!"
"We'll take care of it," Michael heard a voice say. He looked in front of him and saw that the cooks were willing to help him.
"Thank you!" Michael sighed in relief and walked into Kid's Cove. He shut the door.
He saw the paramedics trying to take the animatronic off of his fellow workmen.
"What happened? Please explain,"
"I... I don't know!" Michael said. "We were trying to fix her, and... she just lunged at him!"
"Just lunged at him? That's all?"
"Probably a freak accident," said one of the other paramedics.
They took off mangle.
But... Mangle took something with her.
"Ohh... SHIT!" The man's entire forehead left his body.
Michael gasped. Seeing his coworker's blood and brains on the floor, made him feel like he was going to throw up, even if that was impossible for him.
"We need to get him to the hospital, now! Come on!" One of the paramedics yelled. "Get the stretcher!"
He quickly went on his mic. "We're bringing him to the Hospital. The victim is missing his frontal lobe,"
*****
Sora, Roxas, and Hayner just stared at Michael with shocked expressions.
Michael blinked. "Did... I go too much in detail with what happened?" He asked. "I'm so sorry if I did..."
"A little yeah," Sora said. With what Michael said, it made all of their hair curl.
"Did he even live?!" Hayner yelled.
"As much as I'm aware... Yes. He did. I'm glad," Michael said.
They all sighed in relief.
"So what happened after? What... What did you do?" Roxas asked.
"Well," Michael started. "They asked me a lot of questions. They wanted to interview me, but I denied. I can't let any of them see my real face. And I just can't let them know my real name either. I was misinformed, my father, William... is a known suspect around these parts. But for some reason... they can't find him to jail him. I don't know why. I'm his son. If they found out, they'll drill me with questions I don't have the answers to. And then they'll see... what was the cause of me listing to him," he said that last part, pointing to his purple face. "My father is why I look like this. I used to blame Elizabeth. But, no. It's not her. It never was. It was all my deadbeat father,"
Sora and his friends just stared sadly at Michael. "Man, I'm so sorry you have to go through all of this," Sora said.
"Same..." Roxas said. "You don't deserve this."
"I wouldn't go that far. I probably do. Anyways-...,"
"No! Don't say that. I was still mad at you with Evan, but it was just an accident. And you're deeply sorry about it. Don't think of yourself as that. Please," Sora said putting his hand on Michael's shoulder. Michael looked at Sora's hand, then up at Sora. He smiled warmly.
"Thanks... Sora," then he looked at Roxas and Hayner. "Thanks... all of you. You all were helpful to me then, and you're helpful to me now,"
Sora smiled, and so did his friends.
"So... What else happened? Have you gotten more information about your dad?"
Michael sighed. "A little bit," he said. "Once that... 'Bite of 87' that's what the company calls it, happened, I got fired."
Sora tilted his head in confusion. "You? H-How did you get fired? Why did they fire you?"
"Yeah? It... wasn't your fault?"
"Well, it was both of our faults. Mine and the day guard. He just wanted to fix Funtime Foxy, he wanted me to help. I told him I shouldn't, because I know bloody nothing about robotics. But he insisted on me to help out. Well, that was the cause of what happened. My ignorance of machinery caused my coworker to lose part of his brain," Michael sighed after continuing. "When the company found out, they fired me for tampering with the animatronics, and fired him for letting me help him."
"O-Oh..." Sora said, once he realized that Michael couldn't work there again. "I guess... You couldn't work at that Fazbear's location again? Or any for that matter?"
Roxas tilted his head. "But... aren't we in a Fazbear's Pizza location right now?"
"You're right..." Hayner said. "How'd you get around that, Michael?"
"Well, just like before how I faked my name, I faked it again and changed my name to Fritz Smith. I was happy that it worked out,"
"Oh! So you got the job back?" Sora asked, feeling happy for Michael.
"Well, only for two nights. After a shift, I went to see what I could do with the animatronics. I wanted to see if they had traces of the remnant on them... " then, Michael looked at them. "Um, I told you all about the... remnant thing, right?"
Sora nodded. "Uh-huh. You said... it was something that makes the robots have the souls in them or something, right?"
Michael nodded. "Yes."
"William is a sick bastard for using that," Roxas said.
"I know," Michael shook his head with a sigh. "Anyways, management caught me fiddling with the Animatronics in the morning. I guess they were still on edge with what had happened a few days before, so they weren't taking any chances. They fired "Fritz Smith"," Micheal sighed "So I guess I can't use that name ever again...." he grumbled.
Sora leaned up on the wall. "So... I guess you faked your name again?"
"Yes. Now I go by Mike Schmidt," Michael said. Then, he smiled a little. "Hey, at least it's an easy name for you all to say. Since Mike can be a nickname for my real name. At least no one will suspect a thing."
Sora smiled along with him. "Well, 'Mike Schmidt' are these... bots active?"
"No, not yet. It seems like they only come on, and turn off at a certain time." Michael explained. "This is my first night here, and if they act like what they did 6 years ago, I should be able to handle it,"
Sora looked around. He saw this before but didn't tell Michael about it. That is, until now of course. "Michael, what are those levers for?"
"These?" He looked at Hayner and Roxas. "Both of you, stand back a little,"
Once they both stood back, Michael flipped the switch, and a door came down from the top.
Sora gasped a little. Because how the door looked, was exactly what the door to this game world looked like.
That meant, wherever they are, this part is probably the source. 'The gem must be here somewhere,' he thought to himself.
"Woah, uh... that's... wow," Roxas said.
Michael chuckled. "Ha, yeah. I think Fazbear Entertainment is becoming a little aware of the haunted robots..."
Michael flipped it back open.
But then Hayner was the one to see something flicker on the screen of the monitor.
"Uh... M-Michael...!"
"Huh? What is it, Hayner?"
Hayner just pointed to the screen.
Michael looked at it, and saw that Bonnie was missing from the stage.
"Oh, here we go," He said. "You all stand behind me. Let me turn on the... phone. This "phone guy" records these messages for the night guards. I have no idea who he is, but let's see what he has to say this time,"
As Sora, Roxas, and Hayner stood behind Michael, Michael turned the phone's voicemail on.
Hello? Hello hello?
Uh, I wanted to record a message for you, to help you get settled in on your first night. Um, I... actually worked in that office before you, I'm finishing up my last week now as a matter of fact. So, I know it can be a bit overwhelming, but I'm here to tell you there's nothing to worry about, Uh, you'll do fine. So, let's just focus on getting you through your first week, okay?
Michael sighed. "It seems like these so-called 'previous' night guards experience the hauntings, and just cover it up,"
"That's suspicious..." Roxas said. "You don't think they're... trying to work with William do you?"
"No, probably not. They just don't want Fazbear Entertainment to shut down," Michael said. "To be honest, how it isn't shut down regardless is a mystery to me..."
Uh, let's see, first, there's an introductory greeting from the company, that I'm supposed to read. Uh, it's kind of a legal thing, you know.
Um, "Welcome to Freddy Fazbear's Pizza, a magical place for kids and grown-ups alike, where fantasy and fun come to life. Fazbear Entertainment is not responsible for damage to property or person. Upon discovering that damage or death has occurred, a missing person report will be filed within 90 days, or as soon property and premises have been thoroughly cleaned and bleached, and the carpets have been replaced." Blah blah blah.
Now that might sound bad, I know. But, there's really nothing to worry about.
Michael leaned back in his chair, twiddling his fingers. "There is a lot to worry about Mr. Phone guy..."
"Why... Is that a thing? is that like a contract or something? They won't care if you get hurt... or die? what the..?" Roxas asked.
"Most likely," Micheal said. "Doesn't matter to me, I'm already dead. Just... you three be careful staying with me."
"Uh... Michael, Bonnie is staring at the camera in some room,"
Michael looked at it. "Yeah, they do that. This isn't my first rodeo kid," He looked to his left. "To be honest, I'm grateful for these doors... they'll help out a lot,"
Uh, the animatronic characters here, do get a bit quirky at night
"They do more than get quirky," Michael grunted.
But do I blame them? No. If I were forced to sing those same stupid songs for twenty years and I never got a bath? I'd probably be a bit irritable at night too. So, remember, these characters hold a special place in the hearts of children and we need to show them a little respect, right? Okay.
"hmm.... 'Respect' was something my father never did give them. He never even gave his own children respect...'
So, just be aware, the characters do tend to wander a bit. Uh, they're left in some kind of free roaming mode at night, uh, something about their servos locking up if they get turned off for too long. Uh, they used to be allowed to walk around during the day too, but then there was The Bite of '87. Yeah. I-It's amazing that the human body can live without the frontal lobe, you know?
Michael blinked, the paused the recording. He sighed. "Jesus Christ, it's been 6 years, they're still talking about it?"
"Oh God, you weren't joking when you said he lived without part of his brain?!" Hayner yelled.
Michael sighed, then played the recording again.
Uh, now concerning your safety. The only real risk to you as a night watchman here, if any, is the fact that these characters, uh, if they happen to see you after hours probably won't recognize you as a person. They'll pr-They'll most likely see you as a metal endoskeleton without its costume on. Now, since that's against the rules here at Freddy Fazbear's Pizza, they'll probably try to...forcefully stuff you inside a Freddy Fazbear suit. Um, now, that wouldn't be so bad, if the suits themselves weren't filled with crossbeams, wires, and animatronic devices. Especially around the facial area. So you could imagine how having your head forcefully pressed inside one of those could cause a bit of discomfort, and..... death. Uh, the only parts of you that would likely see the light of day again would be your eyeballs and teeth when they pop out the front of the mask. Heh. Yeah, they don't tell you these things when you sign up.
Michael paused the recording again.
"What? Is... Is this man actually for real?" Michael said. He looked back at Sora and his friends.
"W-What... stuff... someone inside of the suit... why... oh God that sounds horrible," Sora said with a disgusted tone.
"I'm sure they won't do that!" Michael said, with an annoyed tone. "They're just trying to cover up the fact that they're haunted, by saying something generic like this. 'Yeah they don't tell you these things when you sign up' Yeah, but you missed one very thing that only "I know" about,"
"Are you sure? What if they take you away... or... any of us and try to ram us into a suit?"
Michael sighed. "Sora, I'm sure we can take on a robot. It's not invincible. It's just wires and cords powered by a soul,"
Michael played the phone back.
But hey, first day should be a breeze. I'll chat with you tomorrow. Uh, check those cameras, and remember to close the doors only if absolutely necessary. Gotta conserve power. Alright, good night.
Then, the call ended. "Alright, time for me to start wor- Wait... conserve power?" Michael looked up. "Don't tell me that's... what that dropping number is...?"
There was a monitor that had a percentage. It was 100% when Sora and his friends came, but since then, it dropped down to 91%
Michael got a bag that was next to him. "They handed me a pamphlet, and I hadn't read through it..."
"A pamphlet?"
"Yes, like a guide on what I should do... I never read through it because I reckoned it was going to be like the old location...." Michael came to a page, that talked about power. "But... I guess I was mistaken..."
"Huh? What's wrong?" Roxas asked
"Apparently this building is run on a weak generator. It's why they shut off all the lights at night," Michael looked back at the doors. "That's why the man on the phone said to only close the doors when absolutely necessary. If I close them for too long, they'll drain the power out too much."
"Uhh... What would happen when it runs out?" Roxas asked.
"Uhh? The power goes out?" Hayner said. "Duh! And then we're going to be in total darkness!"
"What he said," Michael sighed. "And that's not what any of us want. We have to be on our toes this time..."