12 ★ party-crasher

❝ ᴄᴏᴍᴇ ᴍᴀᴋᴇ ɴᴇᴡ ꜰʀɪᴇɴᴅꜱ ᴛᴏɴɪɢʜᴛ! ❞

★

          RUMBLE...

CRACK!

          B O O M !

The crashing of thunder shook the frame of the Pizzaplex. A storm had picked up since you clocked in.

Rain violently pattered against the glass ceiling of the atrium, so much so you wondered if the panes would shatter. Flashes of lighting came through, and the following loud rumbles in its wake.

This was not a good time to be a security guard.

Especially not after what your boss and coworkers pulled.

Now, you liked stormy weather. But only from the comfort of your own home. Here, it was less of a relaxing background noise and more so...horrifying.

BOOM!

You were on patrol duty for the atrium, daycare, and rockstar row tonight. But while doing that, it wouldn't hurt to try and find Vanessa.

Especially since she hasn't been responding to you.

You get it, really. Maybe her walkie's broken! Maybe she's expecting some false alarm like your third night. Vanessa is covering over half of the entire plex after all, she has so much more to do than answer you.

But why won't she just ANSWER?!

One of the night shift staff you recognized, but couldn't put a name on walked by you, going backstage. They regarded you, nodding. The look on their face telling you a subtle, but clear message. Keep up the great work!

But you were barely doing anything...

Everyone in this place has been strange, in one way or another. But there was one thing they all had in common.

Everyone was acting like this place would be so much safer with your presence.

In a way, it would. You'd make sure of it. But deep down, no matter what you did, you knew the exact truth.

"It'll never be safe." you whispered to yourself, adjusting your cap.

KA-BOOM!

One deafening thunderclap roared through the night. You almost dropped your light.

You fumbled to catch it. Only then did you notice the light fading from the room.

You spun around.

"Oh, no no no no no-!"

The signs and screens around the atrium started to shut off. Seems like that last bolt of lightning hit a power line, or pushed the supply over the edge. One by one the electricity left everything.

Until you were left in total darkness.

Power outage.

You knew it wasn't like the scheduled ones that lasted 10 minutes tops. It wasn't even close to the end of the hour.

This can't be good.

Times like this were when a flashlight was a life-saver.

You waited for a couple seconds. Anticipating if anything was to occur - like Freddy suddenly appearing behind you singing a creepy lullaby or something crazy like that.

No matter how many times you checked, there was no signal on your watch. You had no way of contacting anyone.

You sighed.

Alright Y/N. I guess it's all up to you.

There would probably be generators in the basement to restore power. You didn't like it, but being without electricity for the whole night was worse.

You made your way to the food joints. The way down would be just past the kitchens.

Because the power was out, you had to slide the doors open yourself.

You stepped inside, light bouncing off the metal counters and cooking supplies.

And also a face.

"JEEZ!" You reeled back from that jumpscare.

Your chest heaved as you took in what was in front of you. The bot merely stared, then went back to mopping.

You recomposed yourself. "It's just a staffbot..."

Then something caught your ears. Just a room over, what sounded like someone messing with cookware.

Someone else is here? Maybe they need help!

You went for the door, but before you opened it you stopped.

Something felt...wrong. Those sounds...

You clicked off your light, and peeked inside. You wished you hadn't

The kitchen. You'd forgotten.

The kitchen was Chica's territory.

She was hunched over on the floor. On a frenzy stuffing... whatever that was into her beak. Her casing was stained in something. Dark. Liquidy. Blood.

And god, it smelled like a rotting corpse in here! You covered your nose to suppress a gag.

You heard the blood pumping in your ears.

Stay calm, Y/N...

You have to get out of here.

Still holding your breath, you cautiously stepped back. Too afraid to look away from the chicken.

You regretted it immediately, when you felt yourself bumping into the mopbot from before. It wasn't too pleased.

Chica's face spun around.

Her body rotated just as unnaturally to be at line with her head. Coincidentally, it also reminded you of how a chicken's head stays in place while you move its body around.

You bolted away from the door.

Thinking fast, you hid inside a kitchen cupboard.

You heard the chicken stagger to the room, and the clicks and whirs of her mechanisms searching.

"Y/NNN~ Is that you?" She cooed.

"...Where are youuuuu~?"

Her sing-songy voice made your skin crawl. You covered your mouth as Chica's shadow passed by your hiding space.

You half expected her to lean down, and drag you out with a "FOUND YOU!"

But after a painful minute, Chica gave up. She left the kitchen, supposedly to search the atrium.

The cupboard doors flew open as you got out. You were breathing heavily. Your limbs ached from contorting themselves to fit the tight space.

One thing was clear. You've overstayed your welcome. You made it the furthest, besides Vanessa. You have cheated and delayed your demise for far too long. And now these monsters were finally going to reveal their true faces.

They were going to show you exactly why it's called 'the graveyard shift.'

But you weren't going to let yourself be an easy target. You had to find the others, or turn the power back on. That was your best bet to survive the night.

You made your way to the back. The further you were from that chicken, the better.

Now the problem was actually finding the elevator. You've seen it on maps, but the kitchen has turned out to be bigger and more intricate than you thought.

You were sneaking by a gate, when it suddenly flew off its hinges.

"AAH!"

Your face was almost hit by it. Lowering your arms, you met the culprit who was just as shocked to see you.

Monty's look became malicious.

"HEY, WHAT ARE YA DOIN' HERE?!"

He stalked towards you.

Your legs took you out of there faster than a Scooby Doo character.

Even when you ran to the atrium, you heard the metallic clangs close behind.

It brought you back to nights long ago. Your muscles burned, yet you strained your legs to work even faster.

RUN.

Surrounded by darkness, beacon in hand.

FASTER.

Steel jaws snapping after you, pursuing with inhumane speed.

IT'S RIGHT BEHIND!

Always the same scenerio - they chase, you run.

YOU WERE TOO SLOW.

Serrated claws dripped in your blood, digging into your flesh-

Your knees buckled. Eventually giving way to your weight, and you sunk to the floor. The beating of your heart sounded more like a boombox in your ears now.

Or maybe it was just the stomps getting closer.

You looked behind. Monty was still in pursuit, covering the distance between you fast.

COME ON! You shut your eyes. MOVE!

You tried to get your legs to work again, but it just wouldn't work. Your legs were momentarily paralyzed out of fear.

OH GOD, you hyperventilated. I'M SCREWED!

I DON'T WANT TO DIE LIKE THIS!

All of a sudden, you felt something ZOOM past you. Letting out a 'Huh?' as the shaking of the floor subsided, you turned around curiously.

The sign-bots! Your little heroes had arrived. They rolled past, circling Monty like a group of hyper kids and stalling the confused gator.

One of them stopped to wiggle its ears at you. As if saying 'go now, we've got your back! :D'.

Your children- I mean the sign bots had him distracted. Now was your chance!

If you make it out alive, you are gonna give them SO many headpats!

While you gained control back over your legs, you wanted to laugh at yourself from before.

Get a hold of yourself, You thought, standing up and scurrying into rockstar row.

You have survived so much worse, and there is no way you're gonna let these oversized microwaves be your end!

ALRIGHT! WHERE TO GO NOW?

The main security office. If (strong if) it still has power or a way to regenerate it, that's where you'll be safe and sound.

You stepped into rockstar row.

You really didn't like seeing it without power. You hoped that moon thing would stay in its place, and not torment you like these past few nights.

Because you knew damn well it could come for you if it wanted.

The wolf was talking quite loudly in her room, her voice muffled.

"DON'T let this bad lighting get to you! You're beautiful, even if no one can see it!"

You really couldn't see her, though. Her curtains were drawn.

Still, you walked by on your tip-toes.

A growl resonated from inside.

"WHO'S THERE?!"

Then you broke into a sprint again!

How did she hear you?! She couldn't have!

You slid the security door open, slipping inside. Your back thudded against it while you took a breath. Then you were up the stairs, and in front of the office.

You sighed in relief

You've never been so happy to see a wall of dusty monitors before!

What a night of hell! I should demand a pay raise, at least.

Quietly, you made your way down your side of the security office.

Even here, you could still hear the rolling of thunder outside. Without the buzz of electricity, the already abandoned Pizzaplex was completely silent. The type of silence that would make you go crazy if you sit in it for too long.

The beam of your light shined on the keyboards, buttons, and switches. There didn't look to be anything that could help. Just a bunch of doohickeys you didn't know the use of, besides that Freddy button.

C'mon, there's gotta be something here!

You stepped backwards into the other side of the roundabout room.

Bumping into something...someone from behind.

Your flashlight clattered against the floor.

You looked up and surprise, surprise. Look who finally decided to join the party.

It was Freddy.

He looked down at you. Your dropped light cast an eerie glow over his features, like when you tell a campfire story. His eyes shut, teeth displayed in a smile like he was happy to have finally caught you.

"Ah, finally," He grinned wider, "Hello, Officer Y/N. I have been waiting so long for this..."

You said nothing.

'It's a bear, play dead!' A dumb voice said in your mind, and for some reason, you listened.

Your body went limp. You fell over backwards ready to give yourself a concussion.

That is, until you were caught mid-fall.

"Officer Y/N?!" Freddy pleaded, but you didn't answer.

"Officer Y/N, can you hear me!?" You heard him say. He lightly shook you, yet you still gave no response. "Oh no, they've fainted!"

You heard stomps coming into the office.

"Damn, Fazbutt. What'd ya do to them?"

Oh no, it's Monty! As if this wasn't bad enough already!

"I did not do anything but say 'hello!'" Freddy defended.

More metallic stomps, and a door opening.

"Hey, what are you two losers doing with my fan?" The voice of Roxy followed.

"Your fan?"

"Yes, my fan. I'm their favorite! And look, how they made me beautiful yesterday." She pointed, changing the subject to herself as usual. "Of course, most of it is natural, though."

...it's not natural thought, that's the point- she's literally a robot-

"There you are!" CHICA TOO?! "I've been looking all over for-"

She cut herself off. A silence came over, like they were all communicating telepathically.

"...Freddy killed the new security guard." Monty finally said. "Lucky son of a gun..."

Freddy protested, sounding like Rosie when she was a sliver away from a scolding. "I did not! They are alive, they just fainted!"

"Yeesh, you spooked em' that bad?" Roxy remarked.

Okay, this was getting ridiculous.

"...What do we do with them?"

A pause.

"...Hide the body. I know a place."

"Monty!"

"What?"

You held back a flinch, as what felt like a claw brushed your cheek.

"Officer Y/N, please wake up! I cannot contact emergency services at the moment!"

"What?" You awoke. "No way am I paying for an ambulance."

The mascots all stared at you, starstruck.

"...THEY'RE ALIVE! WOOH!" Chica cheered and went to hug Roxy, who grumbled but let it be.

Freddy brought you back upright, but didn't let go.

"Hold still please."

His scanning light went over your body. Once again, you shut your eyes. You were getting used to that, at this point.

"You do not have any issues, thankfully." He let out a sigh. "You really gave us a scare there."

You scared him?

"Sorry about that!" You chuckled nervously. "Uh...could you please let go of me now?"

"...OH! Of course!" He did as you asked.

You looked between the band unsurely.

"Are you alright?"

"Y-Yeah! I'm great!" You scratched your arm, avoiding eye contact.

"So uh...what were you doing in here?" You asked Freddy.

"I was trying to reset the power! Though, I cannot do it without staff permission. I have been waiting here since the blackout started."

Oh. That's why he said that...

You looked at Chica.

"What's-?" You began, then realizing. It wasn't blood on her. It was tomato sauce.

She wasn't eating a body. She was rummaging through pizza ingredients...rotten ones, at that.

That explains the smell.

"Why are you covered in...that?"

Chica blinked, then laughed.

"Well-! Sometimes guests leave perfectly good leftover pizza lying around! I can't just let it go to waste!"

You glanced at Monty.

"And why did you...come after me?"

"Ain't it obvious?" Monty shrugged. Everyone's eyes were on him.

"We're gonna eat ya."

"WHAT."

Chica punched him on the arm. "Stop scaring them!"

"Yeah, idiot." Roxy scoffed, tail twitching.

The gator glared daggers at her.

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING AN IDIOT?"

"YOU, YOU DUMB LIZARD-BRAIN!"

"OH, NOW YOU-"

A loud "AHEM." interrupted.

They all looked to their leader, who stared at them in disapproval.

"I believe we have not made the best impression on our new security guard here." Freddy announced.

He took off his tophat in apology, ears somehow drooping.

"For that, we are sorry, Officer Y/N."

"It's fine, really!" Well, not really, but...

"Uh, could we please turn the power back on now?" You pleaded.

With Freddy's help, you were able to reset the power.

The lights came on. You shielded your eyes that had gotten used to the dark.

You glanced toward the quartet of robots.

They didn't look as scary in the light.

Jeremy came through on your walkie.

"Finally! I've got a signal, everyone! You alright, Security Jr?"

"Well, I'm in one piece." You answered. "Also, you're welcome."

"Huh? Oh, YOU fixed the power? Thought it was Vanessa...good job anyways! I'm sure the Boss is proud, wherever he is!"

meanwhile...

"Finally, those slackers turned on the power...ACHOO!" Mark sneezed.

"Why do I have the feeling someone is talking about me behind my back?" He mumbled, then went back to his game.

★

"Now that that is settled, there is something else we'd like to address." Freddy spoke up, looking right into your eyes. You gulped in anticipation.

"We have not gotten a chance to get to know you properly, and you always seem busy with your job." Oh... this was not what you were expecting...

Freddy turned away slightly, now seeming embarrassed.

"Then before we missed a chance to properly congratulate you-"

"Congratulate? For WHAT?" Monty snapped all of a sudden.

Freddy glanced at him with a look that said 'don't you remember? You were there, too.'

"For completing the security test, of course." Freddy answered. He didn't seem to get the gator's rhetoric tone. You've caught onto that characteristic about him, too.

The gator got even more riled up against you. THANKS A LOT, FREDDY.

"Yeah, right!" Monty scoffed. "I don't need another Vanessa to come around ruining my fun!"

What was their definition of fun exactly? Killing kids? Goring guards?

He prowled toward you, a death glare behind those shades. You couldn't stop yourself from taking a couple steps back. But still, he kept coming, until his mean green face was right up in your space.

"Listen here, party-crasher. You crash my party, and gates won't be the only thing I'll break apart."

You held your arms up in surrender.

"N-NO! I PROMISE! I-"

The gator flexed his claws threateningly close to your face. That shut you up. You could see your scared reflection in his shades.

"...A-Are we about to kiss right now?"

Curse your nervous humor. Curse it for 1000 years.

Surprising as it was, it worked, at least for a second. Monty flinched back, before looking even more pissed off. He looked ready to deathroll you into tiny meat chunks. He stepped forward.

A shield of neon orange slid in front of you.

"Montgomery." Freddy spoke, loud and clear. "Shame on you! You have no right to act so hostile when Officer Y/N has been nothing but kind to us! The least we could do is return it."

What? They're both animatronics, shouldn't they be on the same side?

And 'shame on you'? Really?

For some reason, Freddy seemed keen on keeping you around. But for what?

Was he like...that clown? Was there a scooper somewhere in the pizzaplex?!

You couldn't worry about that right now. First, you had to de-escalate this, because if they weren't gonna murder you they still looked just about ready to murder each other! (And you were not about to pay for property damage!)

"I won't do any of that!" You exclaimed, gaining their attention. The tension in the room faded by a sliver, but was