So, Michael locked up the restaurant. With the help of Sora Roxas and Hayner. Gabriel seemed to have disappeared, and Michael couldn't find him anywhere.
"Maybe he left...?" Hayner said.
"Yeah, Maybe he did," Roxas said.
Michael turned off the cameras and the computers.
Michael sighed, "Probably," Michael and the rest walked to the exit. "I'll pick something up for you to eat at a fast food place or something, you all want something?" Michael said.
Hayner's stomach growled. "Yes please, I'm starving," Hayner said, rubbing his belly.
"What about you?" Sora asked. "You're not going to eat anything?"
"I still can't really eat food," Michael said. "The remnant healed me only partially,"
Michael opened the door and exited Fazbear's Fright. Once they all left the door, Michael shut it and locked it. After that, Michael walked them over to his car.
"I'm glad that my skin started to clear up after all those years, it made it a little easier to blend in, with most things," Michael mentioned on the walk to the car.
"Have you tried to go back to a normal life?" Sora asked.
"Somewhat. I still... I still feel lifeless. I still feel like I'm not supposed to be alive. Maybe I'll find a purpose soon. If what Gabriel said is true, father is no more," Then, Michael shook his head with a small chuckle. "I thought when I got the news that my father would be gone from existence... I thought I'd finally find peace..."
"Michael, he's still your father. It's normal if you would feel indifferent about him not being here anymore," Roxas said.
Michael sighed. "You're right..."
They neared Michael's car, so Michael pressed the buttons on his car keys and unlocked the doors.
Once everyone was in, Michael turned on the car and drove to his house, but not without stopping at a fast food location first for Sora and the rest.
"So... is Freddy Fazbear's really closed down?" Roxas asked as Michael handed him his sandwich.
"As much as I know, yes. The place is... like a relic now. I was very surprised when this Fazbear's Fight came to be," Michael then handed Sora and Hayner their food. "I mean, it makes sense. Even though I knew about what happened with my father and the killings, the public doesn't know the full story. And there is still-," Michael started the car engine again, to drive out from the fast food place's drive-thru. "-a massive weird vibe with the old places. Not to mention those dangerous spring-lock suits. Those were a mess from the start. I don't know why Henry even permitted that to happen," Michael said, shaking his head.
Hayner bit into his burger. "Spring-lock?"
"Isn't that what William showed us?" Sora said.
Michael looked in the rearview mirror and looked at Sora. "William showed you the spring-lock suits?" He asked, with an arched eyebrow.
"Yeah, I think we told you?" Sora said.
"If you did, I can't remember," Michael said, as he changed lanes. "It's been a while since we met and have had that conversation I suppose," Michael said. Which, was true. It's been 30 years for Michael. Of course, he wouldn't remember everything thing that was said to him. "How did he show you? What did he do?"
"Well, it was when you were 15, so you probably really don't remember," Roxas said.
"Yeah," Hayner said.
"He tricked us and pretended he was going to give us a lesson on how the Spring-lock animatronics work," Sora said.
Michael was taking glances at them in the rearview mirror. "Huh..." He said.
"And that's the weird thing- he did give us a lesson," Roxas said, "It was once he was done, he pulled out a knife at us,"
"He was no match for us Keyblade wielders," Sora said as he ate some of his fries.
Michael was trying to remember, but he couldn't. "I'm sorry, I truly cannot remember," He said putting his hand to his forehead.
"That's fine Michael, it's all good," Roxas said, giving a reassuring smile.
Sora knew why Michael probably couldn't remember. He was going to say, but he didn't want to hurt Michael. It was that day, Evan died. Michael probably has been trying to forget that day existed, and since that what had happened between Sora and his friends happened on the same day, it also left Michael to forget that as well.
Sora now forgives Michael for it. He knows Michael didn't mean to, and he was deeply sorry. He's going through a lot now, so Sora didn't want to add to it.
In a half hour of driving in the early morning through Hurricane, they finally reached Michael's house. "I was just happy I was able to buy this place for myself," Michael said, as he drove the car into the driveway.
The house wasn't that big, but there was an extra room for Sora and the rest.
***
"Alright, so, you guys were able to brush your teeth, I finally found the extra toothbrushes, thank goodness-," Michael said.
Sora chuckled. "Michael, we told you it was totally fine," he giggled. "You didn't have to go on basically a scavenger hunt to find three extra toothbrushes,"
Michael chuckled. "Well, this is the first time I've ever had guests over," He said. "If there was one good thing father ever taught me, it was to always treat your guests right,"
Michael turned to leave the bedroom. "Goodnight," He said. " The boss man said he probably needs my help in the afternoon to help move the animatronic into the building,"
"Oh? They got an animatronic?" Sora asked.
"Yeah, one of them called me while you three were taking turns in the shower. Said they got the shipment. So tomorrow night, I'll be there to help,"
"I tried my best to close the windows tight since you all are sleeping through the daytime," Michael said before he left.
"It's fine Michael," Sora said. "We survive Twilight Town, so this is nothing to us,"
Michael nodded. "Don't know what that is, but ok," Then he left and closed the door.
Roxas slapped Sora's arm once Michael left. "Dude," he said, with a pout.
Sora rolled his eyes. "Oh come on, I didn't tell him anything else,"
Sora looked at the room. There was a bed and an air mattress.
But there were only three of them.
"One of us is gonna have to share a bed," Sora said.
Hayner blushed, then quickly looked at Roxas, then blushed more.
"U-Uh... I'll... I'll share the bed with you Sora..." Hayner said.
Sora sighed. "You don't wanna sleep with me, I usually get restless and I might roll over you by accident,"
Hayner blushed a lot. Then looked at Roxas.
"You'll have to share it with Roxas, I'm sure Roxas wouldn't mind," Sora said as he turned around to Hayner.
Roxas looked at him. "Why are you blushing like that?" Roxas said notching the blush on Hayner.
"N-Nothing!" Hayner yelled.
Roxas just shook his head, "I'll take the air mattress, come on Hayner,"
Hayner blushed a lot. "Ok..."
****
Sora lay on the bed, staring at the ceiling. He felt tired, but for some reason, he couldn't sleep. It couldn't be because it was daylight outside. After all, he slept in Twilight Town countless times.
Or maybe he was worried about the worlds. About the dark figure.
Or maybe he was thinking about his boyfriend, Mark. "Geez, how long have I been away from him?" Sora thought to himself. He did tell Mark that he was leaving for a while, but he was sure he was going to be in and out of these worlds quickly. It felt like they were in this Freddy Fazbear's Pizza game forever. He didn't even get to meet up with Mark after they had left Minecraft. They were just so eager to jump into a new world to find the dark figure. "I just hope he isn't too worried," Sora said as he rolled over.
Once Sora rolled over, he saw Roxas and Hayner on the air mattress. Hayner was lying on his side, Roxas was behind him, and his arm was over Hayner's body.
"Aww," Sora said, with a chuckle. Then, he sighed. Roxas and Hayner were asleep, so he decided to try and sleep too.
But now, his brain started to think what the came could be called.
"Freddy Fazbear's Pizza Game?"
"Freddy Horror Nights?"
"Maybe... Animatronics: Case of The Missing Children?" Then, Sora shook his head. "Nah, that sounds terrible," Sora thought to himself.
After that, he closed his eyes, and he soon fell asleep.
***
Sora eventually woke up. Once he did, he looked out the window. It looked dark outside. He remembered there being a clock in the room, he looked at the dresser. It was 6 pm.
He looked to the side, Hayner and Roxas were still asleep, and Roxas still had his arm over Hayner. Sora smiled at it, he didn't want to wake them.
Then there was a small knock on the door.
"Hm? Yeah?"
"Sora, it's me Michael, may I come in?"
"Yeah," Sora said. Michael opened the door and walked inside. "Morning Sora... er, well, I should say 'Night' Sora," Michael said with a chuckle. Sora chuckled along with him.
"While you guys were asleep, I made a quick run to the store to buy some eggs," Michael said. "And I got some bread to make toast. Oh! And orange juice!"
Sora smiled. He felt grateful that Michael was going out of his way to help them out, especially with the fact that he got all of those things even though he can't eat.
"You guys can come out when you are ready," Michael said. "I see Roxas and Hayner are still asleep, and they seem rather comfortable on the mattress there,"
Sora giggled when he heard Michael remark on what Roxas and Hayner were doing.
"Sure thing Mike! We'll come out soon,"
Sora looked at his two friends. "Hey, wake up you two," He said quietly.
"Hmmm...." Hayner said in his sleep.
Roxas, was the first to wake. He noticed that he was very close to Hayner. He blushed slightly. "O-Oh..." He said.
Sora chuckled.
"Hayner, wake up," Roxad said gently.
Hayner groaned in his sleep, he didn't want to wake up.
Then, there was a loud crash outside the door, and it jumped Hayner awake.
"Don't worry lads!" Michael yelled from outside. "I just dropped all the damn pans... I'm ok though!"
Sora started to snicker from Hayner's reaction. "The hell just happened...?" Hayner asked.
"After everything that we went through in this world, it's the sound of pans falling that makes you jump like that!" Sora busted out laughing.
Roxas then started to giggle at what Sora said.
Hayner looked at both of them, then pouted.
***
"Wow... I haven't sat at a table... with people in a very long time," Michael said as he watched his three friends eat.
Sora just smiled at him. He was happy that Michael seemed like he was enjoying the company of them.
"Michael? You said something about... an animatronic last night?" Roxas said as he ate his toast.
"Hm? Oh! Oh, right! Yes, they told me that they got an animatronic! They didn't tell me what animatronic though. I wonder who it is..." Michael said.
"You think it could be Freddy?" Sora asked.
"Not sure. It would make sense though right? Freddy is the main star. They probably got the first Freddy from the old location..."
"You mean... the gold one?"
"The gold one? Oh... Fredbear? Probably, who knows," Michael said. "Anyways, they want me to move it to the stage when we get there,"
****
Michael drove them all over to Fazbear's Fright as soon as they finished their breakfast. Once they reached the attraction, it was 8 pm.
They were walking up to the doors, and they saw the boss leaving the doors. "Oh! Michael! Sorry to leave you, but I have to be somewhere! I left a tape for you to listen to. Also, a few extra fun things! Some training cassettes from the old locations! Once you finish your task of moving the animatronic, you can listen to them!"
"But, how am I supposed to move the animatronic?"
"The animatronic is inside the door here, just next to it when you walk inside. It's still the box. Just pick it up with the forklift, and drive it over the stage. And do. not. open. the. box. We don't want the animatronic messed up, HQ told us the animatronic had some weird stains on it," The boss said. "They don't want it exposed to open air, until we get our professional cleaners to come and polish it. We wouldn't want you messing up a relic,"
Michael nodded. "Aw, well that's fine," He was a little bummed out, he genuinely wanted to see the animatronic.
Once the boss man left, he told his three friends to follow
Him in the building. Once he reached inside, he saw a rectangular box.
"Is that it?" Sora asked.
"Has to be," Michael said.
Michael had gotten the forklift and drove it up to the create, and picked it up. "Where was the stage again?" He asked.
"I think you make a right," Sora said. He and his friends were right behind Michael in the forklift.
Michael saw a room and turned in there. The stage was in there. He carefully, set the create down on it.
"Should we open it to find out what it is?" Hayner said with a smirk.
"No," Michael said. "I understand the boss. It's practically an antique, whatever it is. They don't want it messed up. And if it is messed up, they'll fire me no doubt," Michael sighed. "I'm starting to feel slightly contented in my life now. I don't hate this job. And I'm curious to see how far this horror attraction is going to go,"
Michael backed the forklift up and parked it. "Come on, let's get over to the office and play the tape he said he left us,"
****
Hey man, okay, I have some awesome news for you! First of all, we found some vintage audio training cassettes. Dude, these are like, pre-historic! I think they were, like, training tapes for, like, other employees or something like that. So I thought we could, like, have them playing, like, over the speakers as people walk through the attraction. Dude, that'd make this feel, legit man. But I have an even better surprise for you, and you're not gonna believe this! We found one. A real one. Uh-uh-uh, gotta go man. uh, we-well look, it-it's in there somewhere, I'm-I'm sure you'll see it. Okay, I'll leave you with some of this great audio that I found. Talk to you later man!
The recording stopped. "Ok, him calling these cassettes pre-historic... is really making me feel ancient..." He said with a grunt, as he picked up the cassettes that the boss said were available.
Hayner chuckled at what Michael said. "Well, it has been a long time for you? Hasn't it?"
"It sure has," Michael said, "And why did he emphasize on a "real" one? He already told me he was getting an animatronic. Why did he make it seem so special like he was getting a robot made of gold," Michael said, rolling his eyes. "Some people are just so damn extra,"
Michael inserted the cassette into the cassette player.
Uh, hello? Hello hello? Uh welcome to your new career as a performer/entertainer for Freddy Fazbear's Pizza. Uh, these tapes will provide you with much-needed information on how to handle/climb into/climb out of, mascot costumes. Right now we have two specially designed suits that double as both animatronic and suit. So please pay close attention while learning how to operate these suits, as accidents/injury/death/irreparable and grotesque maiming, can occur.
First, we will discuss how to operate the mascots when they are in animatronic form. For ease of operation the animatronics, are set to turn and walk towards sound cues. This is an easy and hands-free approach, to making sure the animatronics stay where the children are, for maximum entertainment/crowd-pleasing value. To change the animatronics to suit mode, insert and turn firmly the hand crank provided by the manufacturer.
Turning the crank will recoil and compress the animatronic parts around the sides of the suit, providing room to climb inside. Please make sure the spring-locks are fastened tight, to ensure the animatronic devices remain fixed. We will cover this in more detail in tomorrow's session.
Michael blinked. "Now I see why he called this ancient..." He said.
Sora and his friends gasped once the recording ended. "They were talking about a spring-lock suit weren't they?" He asked.
"They definitely were," Roxas said. "That's what William said. The suit can convert into a wearable costume..."
Michael took the cassette out and placed the other one.
Uh, hello hello! Uh, for today's lesson, we will be continuing our training on proper suit-handling techniques. When using an animatronic as a suit, please ensure that the animatronic parts are tightly compressed and fastened by the spring-locks located around the inside of the suit. It may take a few moments, to position your head and torso between these parts in a manner where you can move and speak. Try not to nudge or press against any of the spring-locks inside the suit. Do not touch the spring-locks at any time. Do not breathe on the spring-locks, as moisture may loosen them, and cause them to break loose. In the case that the spring-locks come loose while you are wearing the suit, please try to manoeuvrer away from populated areas before bleeding out, so as not to ruin the customer experience. As always if there is ever an emergency, please note there's a designated safe room. Every location is built with one extra room that is not included in the digital map layout programmed in the animatronics or security systems. This room is hidden from customers, invisible to animatronics, and is always off-camera. As always, remember to smile. You are the face of Freddy Fazbear's Pizza.
Sora gasped again. "This... was what William talked about too... remember guys?"
Hayner and Roxas nodded. "Yeah! He said that the suit... could malfunction..." Roxas said.
"And would kill you," Hayner said after.
"Again, I don't know why Henry... let this happen," Michael said. He took the cassette out and placed in the new one.
Uh hello? Hello hello? Uh, there's been a slight change of company policy concerning the use of the suits. Umm, don't. After learning of an unfortunate incident at the sister location involving multiple and simultaneous spring-lock failures, the company has deemed the suits temporarily unfit for employees. Safety is top priority at Freddy Fazbear's Pizza, which is why the classic suits are being retired to an appropriate location while being looked at by our technicians. Until replacements arrive, you will be expected to wear the temporary costumes provided to you. Keep in mind that they were found on very short notice, so questions about appropriateness slash relevance should be deflected. I repeat the classic suits are not to be touched, activated, or worn. That being said we are free of liability, do as you wish. As always, remember to smile. You are the face of Freddy Fazbear's Pizza.
After hearing that... Michael... felt hurt.
He wasn't sure if that call was mentioned what happened to a worker, or if...
...It was talking about what happened to Evan. The problem that happened in the location where Evan died, was what caused many of the closures of the restaurants. And that incident amongst the others what the guy on the cassette is talking about, is in there, somewhere.
"Michael? What's wrong?" Sora asked once he saw Michael's expression, and his mood changed.
"What did he mean, "do as you wish" this place really doesn't care about anyone do they? They have something causing people pain, and they'd rather keep it..." Roxas said as he shook his head.
Michael quickly took that cassette out. He was hesitant to put the other one in.
Hello, hello? Umm, this is just a reminder of company policy concerning the safe room. The safe room is reserved for equipment and or other properties not being currently used and as a backup safety location for employees only. This is not a break room, it should not be considered a place for employees to hide and/or congregate. And under no circumstance should a customer ever, be taken into this room, and out of the main show area. Management has also been made aware that the Spring-Bonnie animatronic has been noticeably moved, and would like to remind employees that this costume is not safe to wear under any circumstances. Thank you, and remember to smile. You are the face of Freddy Fazbear's Pizza.
Michael stood there, frozen for a little while. He couldn't believe it.
Hayner noticed Michael's shocked face. "Woah, what is it, dude?"
"This... it's... oh fuck..." Michael covered his face.
"Mike? What's wrong?" Sora asked concerned.
"This is when father killed the children..." Michael said. "It has to be..."
Sora and his friends looked at each other. "Huh? What do you mean? It didn't say anything about that," Roxas said.
Michael shook his head, looking down for a bit, then at the window, that viewed out to the hallway. "Those days, when I talked to the spirits, back in 93' they've told me... so many things about what they went through, they also told me exactly how... father killed them,"
"Huh? What did they say?" Roxas asked.
"Father used... the Spring-Bonnie suit. He dressed up as a mascot of the pizzeria to gain the kid's trust. Lured them into the room... and killed them as he was dressed as the Animatronic," Michael closed his eyes as he said this.
Sora looked at his friends. Well, that was definitely horrible.
"This... is what the tape is talking about. The Spring-Bonnie suit was missing. That's what he used-," Michael said as he took the cassette out.
"Geez, that's just horrible," Hayner said, looking sad, and disgusted about that story.
"Did he not care about the suit going off on him? He did tell us they were dangerous to wear!" Roxas said.
"Don't you see that that man was deranged? I don't think he really cared," Hayner stated.
Michael inserted the last tape.
Uh hello, hello? Uh, this is just to inform all employees, that due to budget restrictions the previously mentioned safe rooms are being sealed at most locations. Including this one. Work crews will be here most of the day today constructing a false wall over the old door face. Nothing is being taken out beforehand, so if you left anything inside, then it's your own fault. Management also requests that this room not be mentioned to family, friends, or insurance representatives.
"Well, I don't know what that's talking about..." Michael said. He took the cassette out and threw it on the desk. After a few moments, they saw a ghost next to them. Hayner noticed it first and gasped.
Sora heard the gasp from Hayner and looked.
"Oh! Gabriel!" Sora said.
"Hello, Sora!" Gabriel said with a smile.
Michael looked. "Oh! Hello again," He said.
"I saw the workers earlier. They had a crate. I heard them talking, and they said there was an animatronic inside," Gabriel said.
"Yeah, we saw," Michael said. "Management told me not to open it, said something about it being dirty or something, I don't know,"
As Michael and Gabriel were talking, Sora thought he saw something move on the camera. "Uhhh... Michael... did something shift on the camera?"
"Eehh, it's probably the static. It gets me too, don't worry," Michael said, without even looking.
"What are you talking about Sora?" Roxas asked, as he also looked at the screen, but saw nothing.
Sora tapped some of the buttons, to filp through the cameras.
Michael heard the sound of the camera changing. "Hey, Sora wait-," He turned around. "I don't want you messing anything up-," Michael stopped talking and stared at the screen, once Sora had flipped to the camera that focused on the stage.
"Oh, sorry I didn't mean to do anything wrong, I was ju-," Sora gasped and couldn't complete his sentence as he looked at the stage.
The create was busted open.
Michael took no time after that. "The animatronic from the crate is possessed," he bluntly said. And started to scan the cameras.
"What? But how?" Roxas said.
"That doesn't make any sense," Gabriel said. "All of us spirits don't haunt the animatronics anymore," He said.
Michael flipped through the cameras, until-
He flipped to camera 08.
"What the hell is that?" Hayner asked as he tilted his head.
"That... looks like a Bonnie animatronic," Gabriel said. It was indeed a rabbit. But, it looked torn up, and it was missing an ear.
"Now I can see why management said they need to clean it up, it looks disgusting," Hayner said.
Michael stared at it. "Wait... that's... not Bonnie..." He said.
"It's not? But he's the only rabbit isn't he?"
"No..." Michael said. "There is a gold hue to it... this is Spring-Bonnie..." He said.
Michael looked at Gabriel. "Gabriel, what did you say happened to Afton?"
Gabriel gasped at Michael's question. "He... died in the Spring-Bonnie suit..."
Michael nodded, that's all he needed to hear. "This is father...." He said.
(Springtrap art by https://twitter.com/tm_animations/status/1509245650185166869/photo/1)