Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

He escaped the horror.

Surprisingly it only took him a wrench and a threat for him to escape from getting caught by this… this abomination. 

A mix of whatever animatronics his father built.

Whatever happened to them? Why did they become like this? Are they now possessed by dead kids? Cause that why the… thing tried to kill him and escape the facility?

What made Michael feel sad is to know that one of the animatronics is possessed by his little sister. The little sister who he thought went missing… She died. She was dragged inside Circus Baby's stomach and died. His father never told him about this. He knew but he never told Michael about it. Well now he did.

Michael couldn't believe him at first but when he saw Circus Baby for the first time at Circus Baby's Entertainment and Rental, he could see it himself. Lizzie was possessing the animatronic. 

He couldn't forgive his father for leaving Lizzie all alone in an underground facility, letting the technicians to shock her.

Awful father.

Well, it's not a surprise… Haha.

Michael tried to forget whatever happened that day. 

Even the night after he was fired from the facility, Ennard broke into his house.

Michael was unfazed when he saw Ennard creeping next to his TV. He wasn't scared of Ennard but really annoyed with them.

Michael, trying to enjoy his popcorn and soap opera but he was disturbed by an animatronic thing that tried to get him killed and used him as a disguise.

Michael fought Ennard after he put his popcorn down on the couch. Surprisingly, he won with only a wrench swinging around, hitting the metal creature. He even threatened them that he'd burn them alive if they ever got too close to him.

He was expecting more fights but Ennard retreated.

That night, Michael packed his bag and drove off to somewhere else, hoping Ennard wouldn't find him. 

He stopped at his old house… His family's house. It was abandoned when his father went missing… or perhaps died. Michael didn't know. He couldn't find his father after he escaped from the underground facility. His father just vanished without a trace.

Michael decided to fix the house up and lived there. The house brought him a lot of good memories and yet sad.

The memory of his father and him spending time together in the living room or his father's office.

The memory of him and his little brother playing around in the yard.

The memory of him letting his little sister put makeup on him.

The memory of him watching his mother cook in the kitchen.

There were all good memories but of course there were bad memories.

Everything went downhill after his mother passed away.

He lost his father.

He lost his brother.

He lost his sister.

… He lost his father… Physically.

Now, Michael is all alone in this big house which fits a family of five. He's no longer five. He's only one.

Until that fateful day…

Michael has been trying his best to survive.

He went to university, studied business and robotics. As a child, he wanted to become like his father and that dream carried on until he became an adult.

He told himself that he wants to be better than his father. He wants to prove to everyone that he's not like his father.

He's not a criminal nor a murderer. Neither is he a failure.

He's going to improvise his father's business. He's going to make it better. He wants to do better stuff so he could laugh at his father's face… or grave. 

Speaking of business, he tried his best to contact his father's former business partner, Henry Emily but Michael didn't get a call back or an email from him.

Michael assumed he had passed away.

Well, it's already the year of 2019. Henry might not be around or he settled down somewhere secret and doesn't want to be known. 

Ah well, Michael has to find his way to get the company back.

As he was studying and trying to have a normal life, he went by Michael Schmidt so he could avoid any interviews or questions from others about his father’s whereabouts or what happened to Fazbear Entertainment. He didn't want to be bothered by that… yet.

Now that he's 50, he's ready to get the company back. Took him a while to prepare himself but he had to make sure he had the money for it and the knowledge as well.

He had been working as a night guard and a technician for his entire life.

He had been saving up for him to get the company back so he could do the right thing.

As Michael was trying to plan out who he should contact and what he should do next if he ever get the chance to get Fazbear Entertainment back in his hands, he heard a knocking on his front door.

It was raining hard and during night time. It would be too dangerous for him to open the door.

That's what he thought but his action said otherwise. 

Curse him with his curious nature. This could get him killed!

He didn't care about the danger. He only wanted to see who was outside.

He peeped into the hole on the door, trying to see someone but to no avail, he didn't see anyone so he opened the door and checked around.

Nobody was there.

Huh, probably kids playing with me, He thought. Before he closed the door, he looked below to his feet.

On top of his doormat sat a large basket with blankets tucked inside. Michael squatted down to check on the basket. He pulled the blankets away and he was greeted with a surprise.

An infant, no older than 2 months left outside of his house. The infant is alive but sleeping.

Who the fuck left this baby here?!

Michael picked them up in his arms, feeling very awkward to be carrying a baby.

He never liked children and he never thought of getting married and having children but fate is cruel. Someone left their baby on his doorstep.

What am I gonna do? He questioned. He watched as the baby slowly opened their eyes. A pair of ocean blue stared at him with curiosity. Michael had never seen eyes that beautiful before. Beautiful and filled with innocence.

The baby coo'd at him and that caught him off guard. "Oh- Hello, little one." Michael said with a nervous smile. 

Michael told himself that he will never be a father. He doesn't want to end up raising a child like how his father did… Well, mostly throughout his life, William took good care of him and he gave Michael a lot of attention and love until his younger siblings were born. Michael was kinda forgotten while William and his mother were taking care of Evan and Lizzie.

And then when his mother passed away, William became more negligent towards his children and left all the responsibilities to Michael. What William only did was provide food on the table.

Michael was the one who raised his siblings.

I did a shit job at raising Lizzie and Evan anyway.

Michael is worried that he might be negligent like his father. He doesn't trust himself one bit despite having the experience of raising two kids while he was a teenager.

Raising kids is different than raising an infant though.

He doesn't know if he can do it.

Michael decided to put the baby in an orphanage. That's his choice, yeah. That's gonna happen.

Michael was snapped back to reality when the baby in his arms started crying. Michael panicked. He didn't know what to do so he held the baby closer to his chest and patted the back. 

"Shh… Don't cry. I'm here. I'm here." Michael said with a soft tone. "Oh dear, I don't have food for babies to eat. Oh dear. What should I do-" 

Michael brought the baby in as he locked the front door. He made sure to bring the basket as well so he could use it for something.

He placed the basket next to the couch as he sat on the couch, with the baby still in his arms crying.

Michael looked at the baby and rocked them. "Hey~ Everything is okay~ Are you hungry? Oh that's a problem because I don't have baby milk…" Michael laughed nervously. He would go get one but he doesn't even have a baby seat for his car. How the hell is he going to get milk for the kid?!

The baby didn't stop crying so Michael decided to poke the baby's cheek. Soft.

He moved to the baby's small hands, hoping the gesture would stop the baby from crying. Surprisingly, it did.

The baby held onto Michael's big index finger and looked at him with curiosity. The baby coo'd again.

Ah, he… uh. She? Well, this baby is adorable… 

"Hey, little fella. Do you like my finger?" Michael chuckled. The baby blinked. Of course they couldn't answer Michael. They're only a baby. 

Michael had an idea. He placed the baby back in the basket and scurried to his storeroom to take out some plush toys that he kept from his childhood. He came back and placed his Freddy Fazbear and friends plush toys in the basket.

"See? This brown bear is Freddy." He said as he set it down in the basket. The baby watched his movement. "This yellow chick is Chica. She loves to eat. Nom nom nom!" He mimicked the sound of someone eating while he made the plush toy peck the baby before settling it next to them. "This purple bunny is Bonnie. He can play guitar." He said as he set it down. "And this is my favourite. Foxy the pirate. Arrr, hello there, matey!" Michael said as he mimicked a pirate's voice.

He was about to place it in the basket but the baby grabbed Foxy's hand. Michael let go of it and watched as the baby held Foxy and stared at it with curiosity. Michael placed the plush toy in the baby's arms. He watched as they snuggled Foxy. "Oh, you like Foxy huh? I mean who doesn't, right?" Michael chuckled.

"Now… I need to get you something to eat… or drink. Hm…" 

Since this is his old house, he is sure that his father kept a baby car seat somewhere. He just needs to look for it. He brought the basket with him in the garage to look for a baby seat in any of the boxes packed away in the corner of the garage. He hadn't touched it for god knows how long.

Luckily for him, he found an old baby seat. It was probably his or Evan's or Lizzie's. He doesn't know. 

Anyway, he placed the seat in his car, buckled it up well with the seat belt on the passenger side next to the driver's side.

He can now put the baby on the baby seat while he goes out to buy milk, nappies and other stuff.

Or to make it easier, drop the baby off at an orphanage and they can settle with the baby themselves. 

Michael walked back to the basket. He smiled softly as he saw the baby fall asleep surrounded by plush toys and with Foxy in their arms. 

Adorable… 

Michael felt attached to the baby now. He thought about dropping them off at an orphanage but that felt wrong for him.

Maybe he should give this a shot? If he can't handle it then he should put the baby for adoption.

Well, this isn't his baby to begin with so he shouldn't feel guilty for it.

If he needs to go to work, he can drop off the baby at the nearest childcare service.

Easy right?

And plus, Michael is alone in this big house. He wants someone to accompany him.

He'll try his best to raise the baby on his own.

Michael slowly scooped the baby up in his arms and smiled softly. "Hey, I'm your new dad now… I'm going to name you… Hmm…" He thought for a second, "Amery. Amery Schmidt." He said.

That's how he adopted Amery.

He raised the baby well.

He even prepared a room for the baby during his off day and spent a lot of time playing with the baby.

He thought he was going to fail at parenting but he didn't. 

He also enjoyed it.

Amery brought smiles and sunshine to his lonely life. He's no longer lonely now.

Amery kept him company and busy. He even watched soap operas with Amery laying down next to him. He goes everywhere with Amery in his arms. He never let the child go.

He has grown attached to Amery. It felt like Amery was his own child.

He loved the child a lot.

He never imagined himself as a father till that day he adopted Amery. He felt blessed.

---

The year is 2023. Amery is a 3 years old child.

While Michael found a new job… A night guard at Fazbear's Fright.

Honestly, it annoyed Michael to the max knowing someone cashed in on the incidents of the missing children. Saying that it was only an urban legend.

No fucking way it was.

Anyway, Michael decided to take that job and hopefully he could rummage around the place to find files about the business or… Whatever his father did with the animatronics. 

It has been decades since his father went missing. Michael already assumed that he died. Good for him. Good for him. Hell is waiting for him.

Michael is in the kitchen as he sips on his coffee while reading a newspaper. He heard small footsteps coming from behind him.

He felt tiny hands holding onto his pants. "Daddy!" Amery exclaimed. Michael put his newspaper down and he placed the black haired child on his lap. "Yes, Amery?" Michael smiled at her.

"What we doing today, daddy?" Amery asked, tilting her head, looking at her dad with excitement. Michael stopped for a while and tapped his chin, "What if… We go out and have ice cream?" Michael smiled at the small jumping bean on his lap. "Ice cream! Ice cream! Yay!" She cheered. "And then I need to send you off to uncle Sammy's house." Michael said.

Amery's excited expression turned sour. She folded her arms and glared at her dad. "No! I wanna stay home with daddy!" She pouted. Michael ran his fingers through her shoulder length hair. "Sweetie, daddy has to go to work tonight. It's my first day at a new job." He smiled at the child. "Why can't you stay home tonight?" She frowned. "Well, we need money to buy food and ice cream and to get money, I have to work." He said, patting the child's head. "But why can't I work with you?" She pouted again. Michael made a mental note that she looks like a puffer fish.

He chuckled, "Oh sweetie, you're too young to work. You should be playing, not working and I can't bring you to work. It's dangerous." He kissed her forehead. "I can get an ouchie if I go to work with you?"

"You might get an ouchie if you go to work with me and I will be very very sad." Michael said as he lifted his fists and made a gesture of someone crying while rubbing his eyes. Amery nodded, "Okay, daddy." 

Michael put his hands down and smiled at her. "You're a good girl." He hugged her.

Up until today, he never figured out who Amery's parents are but that doesn't matter. Amery belongs to him. She's Michael Afton… Uh… Schmidt's daughter. 

"Alright, let's get dressed and get ice cream. Once we come back, I will pack your bag and I will send you to uncle Sammy's house."

Uncle Sammy. Sammy. Samuel Emily.

Charlie's twin brother and Henry's only son.

When Michael first came back to this house years ago, as he was cleaning up the house, tend the garden and all, he met Sammy. 

That was 31 years ago.

Sammy was around 17-18 years old when they reconnected.

Michael was busy cleaning up the front yard when he heard a loud gasp behind him. He turned around to see a brunette teenager looked at him with surprise.

"No no no no…!" The teenager repeated. Michael raised an eyebrow. He stood up and walked towards the teenager. "Good morning. It's a nice morning for a stroll. How can I help you?" Michael asked as he took his gardening gloves off. The teenager backed away from him, "Stay away!"

"Wha-"

"You murderer!" The teenager crouched to pick up a pebble but Michael stopped him. "Hey there, calm down. You must have mistaken me for someone." Michael said, reassuring him. "I recognised the face of the killer who killed my sister!! And… And those who went missing. How DARE you to return to Hurricane like nothing ever happened!!" The teenager shouted.

Michael stared at him, expressionless. He then sighed. He's used to this. People mistaken him for his father. He pointed an index finger at himself, "I'm Michael Afton. A lot of people have mistaken me for my father and I can assure you that I look way younger than my father… Wherever he is now. He's probably in his late 40's now." Michael said, hoping that would calm the teenager down. "Hold on a minute, did you mention you had a sister-"

"Mikey?" The teenage squeaked in surprise. "Yes… Are you perhaps… Sammy?" Michael asked. Sammy nodded happily, "Holy crap, dude. I haven't seen you in ages!" He exclaimed. 

Michael put his hand out for a handshake but Sammy pulled his hand and him as well close to Sammy as a hug and he patted Michael's back. "It's good to see you again!" Sammy grinned at him. The last time Michael saw Sammy was when he was around 8 or 9… After Charlie died. Sammy left Hurricane with his mother and never came back. He wondered why is he back here? 

This town only has bad memories for both Michael and the teenager.

Actually, why is Michael here again? Oh right, to hide from Ennard. This is the only place he could think of for him to hide from the bastard.

But what about Sammy?

"You're probably wondering why I'm here." Sammy said. He pulled away and smiled at Michael. "I'm living with my dad. It's about time for me to take care of him… Knowing what happened to him after… Charlie's death." Sammy said, sadness hinted in his voice. Michael nodded slowly. Henry. He wondered what happened to Henry now…

"How is he?" Michael asked.

"He is always busy in his office but I managed to drag him out for shower and food… And sleep. I don't know what he's doing in his office. I'm not allowed to get in." Sammy said. Depression and guilt, huh? 

Michael been there after losing his mother, Evan and Lizzie. 

He drowned himself with books, distracting himself from the world.

Which ended up with him graduating high school with flying colours. William was proud of him when Michael showed him his grades.

Also Michael stopped being a troublemaker after Evan died. He mellowed down. He didn't interact with his friends anymore and that resulted with him being bullied by them. He didn't care… That's what he told himself but whenever Evan or Lizzie's name came out from their lips, Michael would charged towards them and punched them in the face. 

Well, that era already ended. He's a grown up now. He'd rather think about life then caring about bullies.

"You've changed a lot." Sammy said as he looked at Michael. "Yeah?"

"You've mellowed down a lot. The last time I saw you, you were ready to jump on someone and beat them up." Sammy laughed. Michael's eye twitch. He cringed at his younger self, "Well, you can say that as you grow older, you're able to control your emotions." Michael chuckled nervously. Not entirely true because I tried to beat the animatronics up with a wrench and tried to tamper with them because I lost my patience with them.

"I guess you're right." Sammy grinned.

From that day, he was reunited with Sammy and he kept in touch with him. Michael even asked for an update on Henry's health and well-being. Michael even ordered extra food for Sammy and Henry.

Michael and Sammy always keep in contact. From Sammy graduated high school, university and when Sammy got himself a wife. Michael was there during his wedding. Michael was his best man.

Also that was the first time Michael had seen Henry since forever. Henry… He looked so exhausted based on his expression and he did realise that Henry refused to look Michael in the eyes. Maybe because he reminds Henry of his father a lot…? That's really painful. He understands how Henry feels but it's unfortunate for him to be cursed with his father's looks.

Because of his looks, everyone in Hurricane mistaken him for William. He had to assure everyone that he's not William and he's not like him. There are some who hate Michael. They believe Michael is just like his father.

He couldn't do anything about it.

Back to the present day, Michael and Amery went out to get ice cream.

Michael got his child a chocolate conned ice cream while he got himself tiramisu ice cream. The two of them sat on a bench at a park near the ice cream truck and enjoyed their ice cream. 

Michael watched as his daughter licking and eating the ice cream happily while her legs swing up and down. She's an adorable girl.

He felt so lucky to have her by his side. 

He was glad he didn't give up parenting her.

At first it was hard but he told himself to not give up. Though, part of him thought that Amery would have a better life with different people. If he sent her at the orphanage back then, maybe someone else could've adopted her. She would probably live in a house with 2 parents and perhaps older or youngee siblings.

But no, she's stuck with Michael. A single guy who never thought of getting married nor interested with marriage. A guy who has nothing but work, work and work.

… And trauma too.

And cursed with the looks of his father.

Amery is unlucky to be stuck with him-

Michael felt her daughter's hands holding his arm. "Oh, are you done?" He asked the raven haired girl. "Yeah! Delicious! Thank you, daddy!" She grinned. Her face is a mess with chocolate stain. Michael chuckled. He pulled out a tissue and wiped her face. "Oh look at you. A chocolate monster." He said.

The girl giggled.

When it was nearly evening, Michael packed Amery's bag for the night and he got himself ready for work. He's wearing a security guard uniform, something that's so familiar for him. He then walked towards Amery's room, which was formerly Lizzie's room but Michael decorated the room with whatever Amery likes.

Robots… foxes… Orange coloured bedsheet and all.

He looked at his daughter who is playing on the mat. She's playing with dolls and cars. He walked inside to call for her, "Amery, let's go to uncle Sammy's." He said. Amery turned around and frowned, "But I wanna stay!" She whined. "Sweetie, we talked about this." He patted her head. "Listen, you won't realise that I'm gone for long because you'll be sleeping and when you wake up, I'm finally home!" Michael said as he crouched to meet his daughter's eyes. 

He could see tears forming in Amery's eyes. "Sorry, Amery but I need to go to work. Remember what I told you?" Michael asked. "... No work, no money, no ice cream…" She said with a sad tone. "Exactly and no food." Michael wiped her tears away. Amery hugged her dad tightly, "But I'm going to miss you!" She cried.

"I'm going to miss you too but I'm not leaving for a few days. You'll see me again tomorrow morning." He patted her back. "Now, let's go." He carried the child in his arm with her bag on his other shoulder. He walked out from the house, into the car, placed Amery in her child seat and then drove to Sammy's house.

Sammy is living with his wife, children and also Henry. According to Sammy, Henry has calmed down now and he spent his time playing with his grandchildren and sometimes with Amery when Michael decided to drop her off at Sammy's place.

Henry was surprised when Sammy told him that Michael has a daughter. Henry assumed Michael was married but Sammy explained to him that Amery was adopted but Michael loves her a lot like she's his own child.

When Michael arrived at Sammy's place, he rang the bell while carrying Amery in his arms. The door opened and Sammy greeted him with a smile, "Ah, look at you. Stuck in that uniform forever." Sammy joked around. "Hopefully not." Michael chuckled. "Okay, Amy. I'm going now." Michael said, trying to pry Amery off him but Amery refused to let go. "Oh no, I didn't know I'm hugging a koala." Michael chuckled.

"Don't go…" Amery sobbed. Sammy looked at Michael and rubbed Amery's back. "Hey, Amery. Everyone is waiting for you. They want to play with you. We have Nintendo Switch ready for you to play. Also, grandpa Henry has a book ready for him to read to you. We're gonna have fun, okay? Your dad had to go to work." Sammy said, trying to coax the child. Amery finally let go off Michael as Sammy took her from him. Michael looked at his daughter's face. It made him sad to see her sad but he can't do much about it. He has work to attend. 

Michael wiped her tears. "Only for a few hours, okay? I'll be back as soon as you open your eyes." He said. 

Amery nodded even though she's still sobbing, "Okay…" 

"Right." Michael handed Amery's bag to Sammy, telling him that all of Amery's needs are in it. He then looked at Amery and kissed her cheek. "Daddy loves you." Michael smiled.

"I love you too…" Amery said sadly. She still wants to be with her dad but work is work.

Gosh, Michael wished he owns the business so he can have his kid everywhere every time like how his father did with him.

He will have that chance one day. He obviously will.

Michael left Sammy's house, he went back to his car and drove to Fazbear Frights.

His new job.

He wonders what awaits him there.

Hopefully he's able to rummage through old files and figure out what on earth does his father planned this whole time.

Chapter Text

The work was fine. He had to keep an eye on the place for any intruders who'd break in and steal some stuff. Thankfully, no one broke in and he spent his night doing nothing but guarding and taking a little nap in between work.

Actually, scratch that. Work was boring for Michael. There's nothing much to do but at least he got the chance to rummage in the box that's filled with old animatronic parts and masks.

According to his boss, all of the stuff they have here is all from the old pizzeria… Which means it came from his old workplace. What a best way to be reunited with his nightmares. 

Unfortunately for him, he didn't find anything useful. Only old decorations and old newspaper clips that his boss wanted him to hang up.

The place isn't set to open to the public yet. The management is still trying to manage a lot of things in the attraction. Some stuff needs to be fixed too like health and safety purposes.

Michael was told that the place could easily catch on fire.

Brilliant.

Not only did he risk his life in a dangerous situation where animatronics could kill but also he is now working in a place that could burn down in any minute. A wonderful experience. 

He'd rather stay at home and spend time with his daughter but yet here he is, working in a dangerous place.

Once the clock strikes 6 AM, he felt so relieved. He packed his bag, clocked out and left the place. He has to come back again tonight for another shift. Hopefully his boss has something better for him to do instead of sitting around.

Hold on a minute… His shift ends at 6 AM… Amery wakes up at 7 AM… When will he be able to get some sleep? He can't just leave Amery alone while he sleeps!

He cursed to himself. Night shift is the worst idea ever and he could only spend a little time with his daughter before going to work again. Well… He needs to tell Sammy that he has to take care of Amery the whole week for this week, unless Michael could get a day off or two or he could change his shift around.

Michael drove to Emily's. It was already 6:30 AM when he got there. He got out of the car and knocked on the door. Sammy answered the door with a smile, "Yo, how's work?" He asked.

"Boring." Michael said as he walked in. "Mikey, if you need to sleep, you can crash in the guest room. I was actually wondering if you're working tonight." Sammy said, following Michael from behind as Michael walked towards his couch and flopped on it. "Oh, right. Yeah, I'm going back there tonight."

"No day off?"

"Not yet. I just started working, remember?"

"True, true." Sammy nodded, sitting next to him.

"It looks like Amery has to stay with you for a week… Unless I can change my shift." Michael said, massaging his forehead and eyes, fighting off sleep. "Oh, I wonder how she's going to react to that." Sammy winced as he remembered how loud Amery was last night when she cried for Michael. It took Sammy half an hour to make her stop crying and tucked her in bed.

Michael huffed, "I know exactly how she'd react and I'm not gonna like it… It's just that…", Michael leaned forward, running his hand through his hair. "I hate seeing her cry like that. It hurts my heart. It makes me sad. I want to spend time with her, I really do but ugh, work. Am I right?" Michael sighed in frustration. Sammy patted his back and smiled, "Been there. You'll get through it eventually." 

"Easy for you to say. You didn't work as a night guard."

"Nobody asked you to work as a night guard." Sammy elbowed him.

"Touché."

"Daddy!" 

Michael and Sammy looked towards the sound. Tiny pitter patter along with giggles, Amery emerged from the hallway and jumped on Michael. Michael chuckled and hugged her. He kissed her on the forehead. "I miss you, Amy." Michael smiled. "I miss you too!" Amery hugged him. Being with Amery really recharged his battery but he still needs to sleep.

"Did you sleep well, sweetie?" Michael asked with a smile as he played with Amery's hair. "Yes, I did! Derek accompanied me so I don't get nightmares!" Amery exclaimed. Derek. Derek Emily is Sammy's youngest son. He's 15 years old now. "Derek is in the bathroom, getting ready for school." She said. "Daddy, when can I go to school?" Amery looked at her dad. "Hmm… Maybe next year?" Michael tapped his chin. "I want to go to school. I want to make friends. School is fun!" Amery said happily.

"You wish it was." Michael, Sammy and Amery looked at a teenage boy who walked past them and made his way to the kitchen. "Well, someone is in a good mood." Michael chuckled at Derek. Sammy stood up and walked to the kitchen. He dragged his son towards Michael, "Say hi to uncle Mike." 

Derek is the spitting image of Sammy. He has short brunette hair and brown eyes.

Derek groaned, "Hey, uncle Mike." 

Michael smiled, "Good morning to you too, young lad. Are you not excited to go to school?" He asked. "Absolutely not." Derek said, ignoring his dad's glare. Michael chuckled, "Yeah, I've been there." 

Michael used to get in a lot of trouble as a teenager. His mother said that was just him being a typical teenage boy and wanting William's attention.

He did get William's attention but not as he wanted. He was punished and grounded a lot. Not fun at all.

"Why? School is fun. You get to play with friends." Amery said, tilting her head. "Not when you're my age." Derek sighed. "Ooookay, go get breakfast before you poison Amery with your mood." Sammy said as he spun his son and walked him to the kitchen. Michael laughed at their interaction. It kinda looks like Sammy is dragging a doll around. Poor Derek has no motivation to go to school.

Amery jumped off Michael and held his hand. "Daddy, breakfast!" Amery said. "Oh, your daddy is a breakfast? My, my. Amery. That's a bold statement to make to your father." Michael laughed at his own joke, though it was kinda cringey to him. 

Amery furrowed her eyebrows and pouted, "No! We're having breakfast now!!" She said enthusiastically.

"Come on, Mike. I made a lot for everyone." Sammy's wife said Angelica walked towards him with a smile. Angelica has straight long blonde hair that reaches her waist. She's a bit chubby too and she is the most beautiful woman in Hurricane, according to Sammy. 

"Ah, yeah. I will. Thank you." Michael smiled. "And if you need to rest, you can rest in the guest room while I accompany Amery." Angelica said, walking towards the stairs. "That would be good. I might need to close my eyes for a few hours." Michael said. "But I wanna rest with you!" Amery said. "Sweetie, you already had your sleep. You can go play with auntie Angelica while I rest." Michael said as he stood up and picked up his daughter and carried her to the kitchen.

Sammy and Derek are sitting at the breakfast table, eating their breakfast. Angelica made pancakes for everyone. Fluffy, sweet pancakes. Delicious.

Michael sat across Sammy and placed Amery next to him. He picked up 1 layer of pancake and set it on a plate. He poured maple syrup and butter on it and placed the plate in front of Amery. "Eat this first. If you need more, let me know okay?" Michael gave her a fork. "Okay, daddy."

Michael took his share of pancakes and poured maple and butter on them.

"So, uncle Mike. Are you working at the new horror attraction?" Derek asked. "Yeah, it's still work in progress though. The horror that we have now is only the atmosphere. No walking animatronics, thank god." Michael said, cutting a small piece of the pancake and shoved it in his mouth. "But isn't that what Fazbear is known for? Its walking animatronics?" Derek asked.

"Unfortunately, yeah."

"I heard that they used to moan and smelled awful?" Derek asked a question again. "You got that right." Michael answered, trying to sound interested but honestly this topic is only giving him bad memories of his past especially when he worked as a night guard at one of the pizzeria.

He didn't blame the spirit of the children for wanting to kill him. He was cursed with his father's looks unfortunately.

"Is it true that there were spirits haunting the animatronics?"

"Yo, Mikey. Do you want coffee?" Sammy stood up, interrupting Derek's question. Sammy knew too well that Michael didn't like talking about the haunted animatronics, etc etc. Michael once told Sammy about him working at the pizzeria. He was trying to save the kids and release their spirits but he ended up getting caught and was fired afterwards… And the day ended with him beating up his manager too.

Whoa there, Mikey.

"Yes please." Michael said, cutting more of his pancakes. "Daddy, I want more!" Amery exclaimed. Michael looked at his daughter and smiled, "What do you say?"

Amery stared at her dad. "Oh! Please?" She blinked at him innocently. "That's good manners, Amery." Michael said, placing a pancake on her plate with syrup and butter. Sammy placed a mug of coffee next to Michael and Michael thanked him. 

"Uncle, you didn't answer me-"

"Derek, I think it's time for you to fully get ready and wait for your bus." Sammy interrupted him again. Derek sighed in frustration. He picked up his plate and mug, placed them in the sink and walked out from the kitchen. "Sorry about that." Sammy apologised.

"It's fine. The kid was curious, that's all. I'm sure he was excited to know that I'm working at Fazbear Frights." Michael said as he took a sip on his coffee. "Why Freddy is scary? I thought Freddy is friend. Like Foxy, Bonnie and Chica." Amery asked. "Well…" Michael looked at Sammy.

"Don't look at me. She's your daughter." 

Oh, how cruel of Sammy to not help Michael with this. Well, to be fair Sammy has been helping Michael with raising Amery since she was a baby. Michael was a bit inexperienced when it came to changing nappies, making milk for babies and so on. He only had experience raising children.

"... Some people love to take something so innocent and turn it into something scary. I guess people love scary things." Michael explained, covering all of his traumas and bad memories. Amery nodded, "They're boring people! I don't like scary things and Freddy and his friends are nice!" Amery said, eating her pancake.

"So true." Michael turned his focus towards his breakfast again and continued to eat it.

Once he's finished, he helped with the dishes even though Angelica told him not to. Michael kissed Amery on the cheeks before he made a beeline to the guest room so he could close his eyes for a bit.

Once he's fully rested, he packed Amery's bag, threw it on his shoulder as he held Amery in his other arm. "Right, we better get going now." Michael said. Amery waved her hand at Angelica and Angelica waved back, "Bye, Amery."

"Bye bye, auntie."

Not a bye bye. We're coming back here tonight. Michael thought to himself but he wouldn't dare telling Amery that now. He placed Amery on her seat and her bag next to her and he drove them back to their place.

Once they've arrived home, Amery ran happily to her room and took her toys out while Michael placed her bag in her room and he walked to his bathroom to take a shower.

Hot shower works perfectly now after a long boring night at work. He has to repeat that again tonight. Man, he's not looking forward to it.

Once he's finished, he dresses in a black t-shirt with black coloured sweatpants. He went to Amery's room and smiled when he saw her playing with her Foxy plush toy. She really loves Foxy… Like father, like daughter. Michael decided to walk to the living room, flopped on the couch and turned on the television. He looked through all channels until he stopped on one that's showing a soap opera.

His interest with soap operas didn't die down. He still enjoys watching them till this day, despite being a 54 years old man.

After an hour and a half, he could see in the corner of his eyes that Amery came running towards him with her Foxy plush toy. She climbed the couch, sitting next to her dad and leaned on Michael with Foxy in her arms. Michael's hand moved to her hair and played with it while his eyes were glued on the TV. This is way more relaxing than having to face the security cams. 

After a few hours, he stood up and turned the TV off. "I'm going to make lunch for us." Michael said. "Okay, daddy." Amery climbed down the couch and walked to her room. Michael went to the kitchen and he made him and Amery a simple spicy(not so spicy for Amery) aglio olio. 

He called for Amery to come down for lunch and she did, running excitedly to the kitchen and sat on her seat. Once they had lunch, Michael and Amery went to Amery's room.

He sat there and played with Amery and her dolls, cars… building blocks. Whatever Amery has in her toy chest. 

They played pretend with the toys and they even played doctor as well. Michael is her patient while Amery is the doctor. They had a lot of fun playing together until Michael realised Amery yawned and blinked rapidly. "Alright, pack your toys and we should go take a nap. Come now." Michael stood up, picked some of her toys up and placed them in the toy chest. Amery followed suit.

Once they're done, Michael carried Amery to his room and placed her on his bed. A double bed even though Michael never thought of getting into a relationship. Well, at least he has Amery accompanying him.

He tucked Amery in and watched her fall asleep before he closed his eyes.

They took a few hours nap on that day before Michael had to wake up and get ready for work.

He had to go through the same thing again. Amery refuses to go to Emily's, Michael having to explain to her the situation.

He really wished he didn't have to go to work. He wants to stay at home with Amery but unfortunately he needs to provide food on the table. 

Once he dropped Amery off at the Emily's, Michael kissed Amery's tear stained cheeks before leaving. 

When he arrived at his workplace, he decided to have a talk with his boss.

"Oh, Hudson. What brings you here?" The boss asked. A fake name Michael had to use. He already had his other names tainted in the company's record.

Fritz Smith, fired for odor and tampering with the animatronics.

Mike Schmidt, fired for odor and tampering with the animatronics and don't forget, unprofessional behaviour. He punched his manager in the face.

Michael Afton, fired for breaking into a room he shouldn't enter. Though to be fair, that room belonged to his father so he should be allowed in since he is William Afton's only heir.

Ah well, they didn't care anyway.

Michael sat on the chair facing the boss. "I was wondering… if I could get a day off or do a few day shifts." Michael said. "Oh? Are you busy?" His boss asked. "Yeah, I have a daughter at home and I want to spend more time with her. She's been crying a lot whenever I drop her off at my friend's house." Michael explained.

"How old is she?"

"Three years old."

"Oh wow, she's hella young!" His boss exclaimed. Michael could feel his eye twitching. Is his boss trying to tell Michael something? 

His boss looked at him and smiled sheepishly, "Don't get me wrong. I have never met someone your age that has a really young daughter." 

"Yeah and I'm not really that old if you think about it." Michael huffed. His boss laughed, "Cheer up, Hudson. Okay, sorry for being surprised but anyway, at the moment we only have you employed as the night guard. I promise you next week we'll hire someone else so for now, you're the only one who is working for us." His boss said. "It's not like we're looking for a new guard, we are but there's no new applications at the moment. I guess once we're up and running, people will be confident enough to apply for a job here." He added.

Ah, not what Michael wanted to hear. Well, only a week that he has to endure right? Hopefully, Amery can handle that long… No, hopefully HE can handle this for this long. He knows how painful it is for him to drop Amery off every night and listen to her cry for him. He wished that didn't happen anymore and he could have her with him all the time.

Hopefully… One day, I can take over the company and just be an owner instead of having to work.

Michael thanked his boss, stood up and went to his office.

Another uneventful night for him.

Chapter Text

Purple curtains,

checkered floor,

brown stage decorated with colourful lights,

Walls decorated with children's drawings.

Michael knew this location.

Fredbear… Fredbear family diner.

He spent most of his childhood here.

Everything looked so normal, kids playing around, kids on the arcade machine, kids playing with Spring Bonnie and Fredbear.

Everything was so calm.

He walked towards Fredbear and Spring Bonnie, wanting to be with them. He used to love those two animatronics as a kid. Especially Spring Bonnie.

Because… He's…

He suddenly heard a loud crack. The sound of a skull cracked opened. He jumped at the sound and the view of blood dripping to the floor. He looked up to see a child in Fredbear's mouth.

A child…

Evan…

He heard his friends? Mutuals? Enemies? Who?

Anyway, he heard them chanting 'Murderer' repeatedly.

Murderer…

Murderer…

Murderer...

He turned around to face the bullies in Freddy, Chica and Bonnie masks. They chanted and laughed at him.

"You're just like your father!" Laughed the boy in the Freddy mask.

"You're a murderer!" Laughed the boy in the Chica mask.

"Shame on you!" Laughed the boy in the Bonnie mask.

Michael backed away. He wanted to run away.

He wanted to but then he saw Fredbear charging towards him…

SMACK

Michael yelped and fell off the couch. He opened his eyes, and sweat rolled down to his face. He looked around at his surroundings. He's at the Emily's.

He just finished his shift and he fell asleep on the Emily's couch.

"Amery-" He heard Sammy calling out for his daughter. He looked around until his eyes landed on the raven haired girl sitting on the couch with her hand raised. 

Huh?

"Amery, you shouldn't bother your dad like that!" Sammy said as he picked Amery up from the couch. "But daddy looked scared! I was waking him up!" Amery said with a concerned look. Wh-

Michael stood up and brushed his clothes. "Was I talking in my sleep?" He asked. "No, but you looked like you were having a nightmare." Sammy said as he handed the child to Michael. "You okay?" Sammy asked. Michael took a few seconds to answer Sammy, "Yeah."

Sammy knows he's not okay.

Amery knows he's not okay.

Michael is hiding something from them. Sammy knows what it is.

He's still unable to move on from Evan's death. The same goes to Henry, who is still unable to move on from Charlie.

Two broken men but at least now they're surrounded by the people who they love. Sammy wished that his dad decided to come out from his workshop and greeted Michael. He knew Henry hadn't seen Michael for years.

"Dude, it's okay to not feel okay. You don't have to hide." Sammy said, folding his arms. Michael just shrugged him away. "I think we should get going. I really need a lot of rest." Michael said as he yawned. Amery covered her dad's mouth with her tiny hands. Michael chuckled at her action. "Are you sure you don't want to rest here? You know that all of us don't mind you using the guest room. It's not like we have any guests coming." Sammy said and he mumbled, stupid pandemic.

"Nah, I'm fine. Thank you for the offer but it's better for us to head off. I need a hot shower after that long boring shift." Michael said as he picked Amery's bag up from the floor next to the couch. 

Michael and Amery waved at Sammy as they went to Michael's car.

On the way back to their house, Amery spoke, "Daddy, if Derek has grandpa Henry… How come I don't have a grandpa? Doesn't everyone have grandpa? Do you have grandpa?"

Oh no .

Michael knew Amery was going to ask him this question but he never expected it to be this soon. How is he going to answer this? How is he going to tell her?

You had a grandpa but he's a serial killer and he disappeared without a trace?

No, wait. He needs to tell her all the good things about his family and shield her from the horror side of the story but what is he going to tell her about his family and why they're missing?

"Daddy, you missed our house!"

"Oh-" Michael realised he drove past their house. He was so busy with his mind that he didn't realise he drove past their house.

Michael did a U-turn and he drove towards his driveway and parked his car there. "Uh, Amery. I'll tell you all about my family later okay? Let me take a break first." Michael said, hoping the girl accepts his request.

Amery nodded at him with a smile. That brought relief to Michael.

Now he has the time to think of something. Yes, he can totally tell Amery about the happiness he shared with his family but should he lie to her about the truth? Should he tell her that his family passed away from an accident or a house fire? Seems possible.

Wow, I'm turning myself into a liar. Just like my father.

He remembers the time when William lied to him. Lied to him about Elizabeth's whereabouts, lied to him about what he has been doing and disappearing to, lied to him about Charlie's death.

Lies, lies, lies. William always fed him with lies. 

He wonders if the love and affection William gave him were all lies too.

Manipulation. Getting on Michael's good side so he could use Michael.

Just like how he threw Michael in a deadly situation that almost robbed his life.

Michael actually wonders if his father actually planned to kill him by using Elizabeth as a bait. 

He doesn't know. He will never know. His father is missing. God knows what he's been doing these past 30 years… Is he still alive?

Michael stepped inside the shower, taking a hot shower to release himself from work stress and family stress. Amery is not the cause of it. His father is.

And himself too.

He killed Evan. He still won't move on from it. He doesn't think that Evan will ever forgive him. He robbed Evan's life, Evan's future, Evan's childhood.

A bully.

He bullied Evan.

Tormenting him every day.

Making the child cry every day.

What a terrible brother he was. 

You're as bad as your father , He thought to himself as he stepped out from the shower. He looked at his reflection from his mirror and stared at it. How he hates his face so much. 

Not only do you act like father but you also look like him. You're gonna end up being him. Abusing Amery, neglecting Amery, killing children, leaving Amery alone to die.

Michael was brought back to reality when he heard Amery knocked frantically on the bathroom door. He wrapped his bottom half with a towel and opened the door, "What's wrong?" He asked the child. He became really concerned when he saw his child crying. "There's… There's a cockroach on my toys." She sobbed. 

Michael chuckled. He went inside his bathroom, grabbed a spray can on the cupboard placed on top of his mirror and went to Amery's room. He looked around, trying to find the cockroach with Amery peeking from outside.

Once Michael found the small pest, he sprayed at it and waited for it to die so he could pick it up and threw it in the bin in the kitchen. "Okay, Amy. You're safe now." Michael said, turning to Amery. Amery won't move from her spot. She knows her dad is still holding the dead cockroach. Michael chuckled at the sight. "Okay, I'll leave your room now and throw the cockroach away." He said as he walked out from her room.

This reminds him so much of Evan and Elizabeth. They ran towards his room, knocked the door frantically as if the house was on fire, made Michael panic which ended up with him being annoyed after he found out that his siblings were crying because they saw a cockroach near them. 

You guys are crybabies. He complained but he still killed the bug and threw it away for his siblings. They'd hug Michael and thank him before they went back to their toys.

A happy memory indeed…

It's only a memory.

Everyone only exists as a memory.

Michael went back to his room after he disposed of the cockroach. He sat on his bed, still half naked and wet from the shower. He reached towards the drawer next to his bed, he pulled the drawer to reveal a framed photo of his family.

His father, his mother, Evan, Elizabeth and him.

A happy family photo before things turned to shit.

Before Elizabeth went missing,

Before his mother passed away,

Before he killed his brother,

Before his father turned into a murderer.

His head flowed with great memories of his family. They were a happy family. House filled with laughter, joy and love.

He remembers spending time with his siblings, bringing them to the park when his parents were busy with work, playing with them in the playground, cooking for them, tucking them before sleeping.

He remembers spending time with his mother, watching her do ballet, accompanying her while she's gardening in their backyard, cooking with her, learning how to cook and bake from her.

Of course, he also remembers his father before… Before his father became insane.

He remembers watching his father work, tinkering with the animatronics, his father teaching him all about robotics which was Michael's interest, telling his father that he wanted to be like his father, getting head pat from his father and his father telling him that he's proud of Michael.

All of those are now memories. Everyone is gone.

He can never experience that again.

He wonders what would happen if his family were still around.

He bet that his parents would love Amery a lot. He bet that he'd learn a lot about parenting from his mother. He bet that his father would read Amery bedtime stories or build a robot toy for her. He bet that Elizabeth would be so excited and loving towards Amery. He bet that Evan would help Amery with her homework and played with her.

That's impossible now that everyone is gone.

Tears dropped on the photo. Michael then realised that he's sobbing, crying. He misses his family a lot. He wants them back.

A soft sob turns into a loud sob and whimpers. He needs to control his emotions. He doesn't want Amery to see her dad crying. He doesn't know how he'd explain to her.

Unfortunately for him, he saw his little girl run towards him and hug his leg. 

"Daddy, what's wrong? Why are you crying? Daddy, it's okay. I'm here." Amery said, mimicking what Michael always told her whenever she cried.

Michael picked Amery up and hugged her. She hugged him back, "Huggies will make you feel better, daddy. There, there." She patted his back.

They stayed like that for a while until Michael stopped crying.

He was fortunate that Amery didn't ask him again about why he cried. Amery was busy playing with her toys when Michael woke up from his sleep. 

He got up so he could get ready for work and he packed his daughter's bag as well. 

"Amery, are you ready to go?" He asked. Amery stood up and walked to his dad, "Yes, daddy." She said.

Huh? She's not crying anymore nor arguing with Michael about staying at the Emily's while Michael is working. Maybe she's used to this.

Michael picked Amery up in his arms. He kissed her cheek and Amery kissed him back. She giggled.

Amery, loving in latin.

She's his loving daughter.

His home strength.

Michael carried her and her bag to the car and did his usual routine.

Before he dropped Amery off at the Emily's, Amery looked at him with a serious face. "Don't cry at work, daddy. If you do, I won't be there to comfort you. Hug me when you are sad. I can make you happy." She said,

Michael couldn't believe to hear that coming from a three years old.

She probably picked that up from him.

Michael chuckled and patted her head, "Thank you, Amy. I will keep that in mind." He said.

He dropped Amery off at Sammy's house. Surprisingly, Henry was out of his garage or room. Michael could see him sitting in the living room, reading a newspaper. 

Henry… His once ginger coloured hair is now white. Michael could see that he still kept his beard. He remembered when he was little, he used to call Henry 'Santa Claus' because of his beard. William told Michael to apologise to Henry but Henry laughed at it. He then talked like Santa Claus and dressed up as one for Christmas. 

He remembered spending Christmas with his family and the Emily's.

He remembered sitting on the floor, watching over the kids while William read them a Christmas book. He enjoyed that moment.

He remembered eating a big dinner with the Emily's. He remembered seeing both Charlie and Lizzie bickering at the table while Evan and Sammy cheered for them. He remembered he had to stop the girls from escalating their bickering into hair pulling.

A wonderful memory.

Now, he can't even face Henry because he doesn't want to hurt Henry with how Michael reminded him so much like his father. His cursed face only give the old man pain. 

This is all his father's fault.

It always has been.

Michael watched as Amery ran towards Henry. "Grandpa! Grandpa!" She said. Henry put the newspaper down and grabbed Amery. He placed her on his lap and Michael could hear giggles and chuckles coming from them. Thankfully Henry could accept Amery.

Well, to be fair, Amery isn't Michael's biological child. She doesn't have Michael's cursed features. She's safe from being hated or having guilt on her shoulders.

Angelica greeted Michael at the door with a smile. Michael handed her Amery's bag. "Where's Samuel?" Michael asked. "Oh, he's out late. He went out to see his friends." Angelica said. "It's Friday after all. Will you be having a day off soon? Amery misses you." Angelica said. Michael nodded at her, "Tomorrow is my day off, that's what I've been told." He said.

"Oh right." Angelica handed him a brown bag, "For you. Made some Portuguese tarts. You can have them while you're at work." She said. Michael took the bag from her, "Thanks, Angie." He opened the bag and sniffed the inside. "Whoa, it smells delicious. I will probably eat it on my way to work." Both Michael and Angelica laughed. 

"You better not!"

"Anyway, I'm going to head off now." Michael stepped in a bit, "Bye, Amy!" He watched as his little girl jumped off from Henry's lap and ran towards him. Michael squatted down and hugged her. "Be a good girl, okay?" He kissed her forehead. 

"Daddy be good too! And don't cry! Only cry when I'm around!" She said. That made Michael flustered knowing Angelica and Henry were listening. "Okay, I'll keep that in mind." Michael ruffled her hair and waved before he left the house.

Michael's boss is on day off today. He had to go visit his mother so Michael is being left with his manager, Phil.

Phil is a young guy. Probably in his 30's and his accent is interesting. 

Surfer's dude, is what people call it?

Michael is listening to Phil talking about them finding some stuff from the pizzeria like audio training cassettes. 

"Dude, these are, like, prehistoric! 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 makes this feel legit, man." The guy said in excitement. "Ah, yeah. I do remember having to listen to some cassettes when I worked at the pizzeria before." Michael said.

"Right, right! Sometimes I forgot that you're waay older than me." Phil said, chuckling. "Anyway, I have an even better surprise for you, and you're not gonna believe this- we found one. A REAL one."

A…. A real one? A real what? A real relic? What is this guy talking about? 

"A real what, Phil?" Oh no. Please don't tell me it's a real…

"Um- Oh. Uh-oh-uh gotta go man- uh, well-well look, i-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!"

"WAIT, PHIL!" 

Phil hung up on Michael. Michael slammed the phone down in frustration. Did they find a real animatronic and bring it to the attraction?

Okay, cool touch for a horror attraction BUT WHAT THE FUCK. 

He's being reunited with his nightmares. Not again! 

He wonders if this animatronic is possessed by a child and if so, who are they? Perhaps Michael could help to set the kid free.

Like Phil said, he'd leave the cassettes playing for Michael. He could hear that familiar voice. The guy who he talked to back in the past.

Scott.

It's unfortunate that he died from being attacked by an animatronic. He wondered how old Scott would be this year if he was still alive and well.

While listening to the tapes, Michael checked the camera to look for the animatronic that Phil talked about. Michael doesn't know which animatronic they find.

Is it Freddy? Chica? Bonnie? Foxy?

Perhaps Mr Hippo?

Please not Mr Hippo.

Well, he is harmless but Michael knew that Mr Hippo was created to tell children lengthy stories and Michael doesn't want to deal with that for now. He's busy.

He looked at one of the cams. He saw something moving. Something… yellow? Perhaps it is Chica that they've found.

He then saw the animatronic moved from the blind spot of the camera and stood in the middle of the room.

Yellow tattered fur, long bunny ears, fluffy ball for a tail. If the suit wasn't tattered and moldy, the animatronic would look adorable.

Hold up.

Yellow fur… Bunny ears…

Hold on hold on.

Spring Bonnie…?

Wait a minute… 

"F… father?" Michael looked at the cam in disbelief. No, it can't be his father. Perhaps his father abandoned that suit and found something to lure kids away. That or perhaps he has abandoned his plan of killing children in pizzeria and found a better idea.

Yeah, that's it.

The walking animatronic is probably JUST an animatronic unless his father stuffed a kid in it then Michael had to deal with it. 

Michael wondered if he could distract the animatronic with sounds. He saw a button on the cam that said play audio. He actually had been wondering what that is for.

Before he could play the audio, something unbelievable was heard from the cam or perhaps down the hall.

A grouchy deep voice, gurgling perhaps. Michael doesn't know how to describe the voice but he recognised the voice really well. He used to love that voice but he had come to hate it since his mother passed away.

"H-Hen… ry…?" Said the animatronic. Michael stared at the cam with blue wide eyes.

That voice…

"Father?"

Chapter Text

"Father?"

Michael stared at the screen in disbelief.

Oh no, that animatronic really is his father! He's finally back after he went missing for 30 years! Is he alive in that suit or is that a walking corpse?

The way he is moving is not human at all. It's like a walking corpse.

… His father is dead and is possessing a Spring Bonnie suit.

The suit he used to lure children to the back room and kill them.

That's what he was being told when he was working in the pizzeria. His colleague, Jeremy Fitzgerald, told him that the pizzeria might close down for investigation after the birthday party that Jeremy had to work as a day time security guard.

Jeremy mentioned someone had been using a golden bunny suit to lure kids.

He straight away knew that Jeremy was talking about Spring Bonnie.

It took him a while to connect the dots.

His father IS the man behind the slaughter. 

"And you told me to not scare the kid." Dave Miller, Michael and Jeremy's senior colleague walked to them as they were resting in the staff room. "I'm not. I was telling him to not come for work after that day. They're closing the restaurant. Have you heard?" Jeremy asked. 

"Yeah, I did." The guy said adjusting his cap, pushing it downwards as if he was hiding his eyes behind the cap.

Dave talked funny, Michael thought. He sounded like he was trying hard to sound American.

And he oddly sounded familiar.

Dave Miller doesn't exist. That was his father working as a security guard IN Fazbear Pizzeria, WHILE being a children killer.

That explained the chilling stare that Dave had given Michael when he was working as Fritz.

Dave knew Michael's true identity. Dave knew Michael.

Dave Miller was William Afton.

Michael shook his head as he continued watching his cams. He needed to make sure that the tattered bunny didn't march towards his office. Unfortunately for him, his office doesn't have a door.

So much for having privacy.

But that is not important. What's important is that he doesn't have anything to protect him from the animatronic… Except…

He could lure the animatronic with sounds. He remembers seeing the audio button on his screen. That was installed so he could press whenever he wanted to scare the patrons who came for the attraction. He hadn't had the chance to use it yet since the attraction isn't officially open to the public yet. This is the only time for him to use it.

To lure the creature away from his office.

It seems like the animatronic is only walking aimlessly but that doesn't make Michael stop staring hard at his screen. He doesn't want to get murdered by this… creature. This… monster.

His father.

His camera moved as Spring Bonnie moved. It looks like he's looking for someone. 

Michael did hear his father calling out for uncle Henry… But why?

"H-Hen… ry…" He murmured as he dragged his legs, wandering aimlessly.

There it is again. What happened to his father before he, assumingly, died?

Henry probably had the answers to this!

Michael just needs to survive this night so he can rush home and ask Henry about this. He knows that Henry will refuse to see him but he needs an answer.

Michael's heart stopped when he saw the animatronic stare at the camera.

Glowing eyes stared straight at the camera, as if they were staring straight into Michael's soul.

"O-Oh…" Nervous sweat dropped from his forehead. The room felt warm now and his throat felt tight.

He's scared.

He can feel anxiety creeping in.

He saw the animatronic march down towards his office.

"NO NO!" He panicked. 

He finally pressed the audio lure button and thankfully for him, the animatronic looked for the sound, stopping himself from marching towards Michael's office. 

That audio, Michael recognised it.

Balloon Boy's voice.

Or to be real, that was Michael's voice when he was 6.

William recorded it when he was planning to build Balloon Boy, that's what Michael remembered.

Can't believe that annoying boy animatronic was based on him.

Thanks, father , sarcastically.

Though he wondered why his father ran towards the voice. Perhaps he thought there's a child in the building that he could kill?

Now, what was the reason for him to kill children? Michael never quite gets it.

He watched the screen, watching the animatronic's every movement. He can see Spring Bonnie looking around at one room. His movement is stiff and slow.

He then saw Spring Bonnie walk aimlessly again or maybe trying to find the source of the voice in different parts of the building.

That's fine.

At least he didn't march towards Michael's office then he'll be fine.

Hold up, what about Phil?

Is he safe in his office?

Michael tried calling the office's phone but nobody picked up.

He tried again but he slammed the phone down when there was no answer, feeling frustrated.

I hope he's okay. I know it would've been better for him to stay in the office and do his job but right now, what's best is for him to ditch work and go to the pub or something. At least nobody will die at the hands of father.

He thought.

Now, his goal is to keep an eye on his father and distract him with the audio lure.

He continuously pressed the lure button whenever Spring Bonnie was getting close to his office while Michael was busy dealing with systems that he needed to reboot.

The time is now 6 AM.

He looked at the screen, hoping to see the animatronic stopped moving and thankfully, it did. He could see the tattered bunny slumped next to an arcade machine, looking rather lifeless. 

As it should be.

Spirits stopped possessing in the morning. It's already his bedtime, Michael joked to himself.

He quickly packed his stuff and rushed out from his office, trying his best to avoid the yellow bunny and exited the building before bumping into Phil.

"Whoa-" Michael backed away from Phil, a guy with short black hair with earrings on his ears and nose.

"Ah, sorry." Michael apologised. "Whoa whoa, what's the rush, dude?" Phil chuckled. "Shift ended- Ah, are you drunk?" Michael could smell alcohol from the young guy. So, he went out to drink. That's good. He was safe from whatever happened inside.

"What? Me? No!" Phil exclaimed. He slumped on Michael's shoulder, "Mm… Actually… I am." He said. 

"Would you like me to send you home or should I grab you a cuppa and let you rest in your office?" Michael asked.

Phil laughed, "Hah! Cuppa! Interesting! … Whatever that is."

"A cup of coffee…"

"Oh, right. Makes sense." Phil said, still slumped on Michael's shoulder. Michael held Phil's shoulder and made him stand straight. "Whoa- Thanks, dad. Can't stand up straight. Ahah! I'm not even straight anyway!" Phil laughed to himself.

"Alright, young lad. I'll send you home." Michael said as he shook Phil. "Mm… Good idea, dude." Phil said, sounding a bit slurry.

Michael dragged him to his car and he asked Phil for his address. Phil just showed him his ID so Michael typed in his address to his GPS on his phone before he drove them to Phil's place to drop him off.

Thankfully for Michael, when he arrived at his colleague's place, his colleague's boyfriend was at home so Michael didn't have to spend a lot of time trying to drag Phil home.

He can finally go home after he dropped Phil off.

He can finally spend some time with Amery.

But he also needs to ask Henry about his father.

He wonders if Henry witnessed his father's death.

He hopes he can catch Henry and pry answers from him.

He needs them.

He needs to know what on earth is going on.

He finally arrived after 10 minutes of driving. He rushed up towards the front door and before he knocked it, Sammy opened the door for him with a bright smile. "Welcome home."

Michael smiled back, "Thanks."

"You seem like you're in a rush. What's up?" Sammy asked as he gave way to Michael to enter the house. The house is quiet today since it's the weekend. 

Sammy and Angelica let Derek to sleep in. In fact, Angelica is still in her room, possibly sleeping in as well.

"Is your father home?" Michael asked. He suddenly heard noises coming from the kitchen. A sound of someone placing their spatula on the kitchen cabinet hard. "Oh, well… He has made his presence known. He's in the kitchen making breakfast for him and I." Sammy said, walking to the kitchen with Michael. 

Henry is still facing the stove with his back facing Sammy and Michael.

Michael looked at the breakfast table, it was set for two people to eat. You can see freshly made coffee in a jug placed in the middle of the table with two plates placed right in front of each other.

Michael stood behind Henry and he took a deep breath, "Henry… We need to talk." He said. He watched as the older man scooped an omelette and placed it on a bigger plate. Henry turned around to face Michael, for the first time since forever.

Michael could see Henry avoiding eye contact. His brown eyes stared on the floor, his face full of wrinkles as he is showing his age, his beard is kept neatly as well as his hair.

Michael missed Henry. He really did. He missed talking to him.

"Henry… I… Do you know what happened to my father?" Michael asked. He could see Henry shuddered at the mention of William. 

"I know this is hard on you as much as it's hard for me but I need to know." Michael said. Michael received nothing but silence.

He tightened his fist. "Henry… My father is back…"

Henry twitched a little.

"But he's dead… A walking corpse… Possessing an animatronic… What happened to him?" Michael asked with desperation in his voice. Sammy, who has been standing behind Michael, gasped loudly. "Wait what?! Hold on, hold on." Sammy walked up to Michael and Henry, he stood in the middle of them. "What does this have anything to do with my dad? And where the hell did you see your dad?" Sammy asked.

"My coworkers found him sealed away in the backroom of the old pizzeria." Michael explained. Sammy nodded in acknowledgement, "The same room as the one he used to kill kids?" Sammy asked. "I have no knowledge of that. Perhaps your father does? Because he kept saying his name while walking aimlessly in the building. He nearly hunted me down too." Michael said, eyeing at Henry.

Henry's face showed guilt. Michael wondered why. 

"... I'm sorry for leaving your father dead in that backroom and hiding his body there." Henry finally spoke up. "I thought he deserved it and he didn't deserve any proper burials. Knowing he was a murderer, of course you'd look for your father. It's normal for a child to still care about their parent no matter how awful they are-"

"What are you talking about?" Michael stopped Henry. What is he talking about? Who cares about William? Totally not Michael.

As much as he loved his father, he knew his father was meant to manipulate him and use him for his own good.

That love for his father only existed for the father Michael knew when he was a child, not when his father started to abuse him and his siblings.

That loving father that Michael loved, adored and looked up to died along with his mother.

"I… saw your father… springtrap ped in the suit that he used to commit his crimes." Henry explained. "Instead of helping him, I left his body there and sealed away the room." He continued. Sammy stared at his dad with wide eyes and mouth agape. 

"Dad, you could get arrested for this!" Sammy said. "You made it look like you murdered him and you sealed his body away so you don’t get caught!" He exclaimed.

"It doesn't matter now. He's back… Probably looking for me and is enraged with me for leaving him be." Henry took his glasses off and wiped them with his shirt.

Michael, who had stayed quiet all this time, voiced out, "Why didn't you finish him off? Why didn't you burn him to ashes?" 

Both Henry and Sammy looked at Michael. Michael's face is showing an expression of hurt, terror and anxiety.

"People know nothing can come back if it turns to ashes… Why didn't you do that?!" Michael raised his voice. "You could have finished him off so he won't come back!! Now look at him! He's back!! He's hunting you down!! What if he left the building in order to find you and kill you? What if he hurts you and your family?! What if he comes to get Amery and I?! What if he kills Amery and goes on his murder spree again?!!!" Michael yelled. Sammy placed both hands on Michael's chest, "Mikey, calm down! Take a deep breath. You're gonna wake your kid up."

Henry stared at the man in front of him with wide eyes.

"I… wasn't expecting that from you." Henry said.

"Yeah, I'm not an idiot. I know he's a murderer. I'm not innocent." Michael said, trying to calm himself down. "You are right about being worried about your father hunting us down, or to be specific, hunting my dad down but is he capable of doing that? He only has 6 hours to stay awake. I don't think he'd reach our place with that little time, assuming he'd move slowly as a robot human hybrid." Sammy said. 

"He could if he tried hard enough." Michael said. "All I have to say is… I really hoped that you actually burned him so he is unable to come back." Michael sighed.

"Ah… I see. I… I thought you were going to yell at me for making him disappear for almost 30 years. I couldn't look you in the eye without feeling so guilty." Henry said, scratching his head nervously. Michael raised an eyebrow, "So, was that the reason why you've been avoiding me?" He asked.

"... Yes."

"And not for my looks?"

"You may resemble him but you're different in a way. You radiate bright sunshine while your father reeked with sins and darkness so no, it's not your looks. I know you well so your looks never affected me after Charlie's death." Henry said.

Michael smiled at him, "Then, we have no problem now huh? We can stop avoiding each other now we know the truth." 

"Hey, this goes for a hug! A perfect and wonderful reunion!" Sammy exclaimed as he hugged both Michael and Henry. Michael chuckled while Henry smiled at both Sammy and Michael. "We're all back again, baby!" Sammy exclaimed again.

"Sammy, quiet down or you'll wake the whole neighbourhood up." Henry said with a chuckle, followed by Michael laughing a bit.

"Anyway, we don't have time to celebrate. We need to find a way to get rid of my father." Michael said.

The three men heard small footsteps approaching the kitchen. The three of them shut their mouths so nobody can hear them.

Amery emerged from the hallway to the kitchen. She rubbed her eyes and yawned. "Daddy?"

Michael smiled brightly at the sight of his child. He picked her up and kissed her cheek, "Morning, sweet pea."

"You were loud… You woke me up…" Amery whined as she hugged Michael, wrapping her arms around Michael's neck and rested her chin on Michael's shoulder. "Ah… I'm sorry."

Michael eyed Sammy who worded out, I told you so . 

"Do you still want to sleep?" He asked his child. She nodded slowly. "You must have been tired from playing last night." Sammy grinned. "That and also she stayed up late because she wanted me to read her books." Henry said as he walked back to the stove and continued making breakfast. 

"Ah, so you stayed up late last night." Michael nodded. He could feel Amery's hands tightened on his shirt and her nuzzling on Michael's shoulder, enjoying Michael's presence.

"I guess we should head home. I need some sleep too. Do you want to go grab your bag?" Michael asked. Amery shook her head and rested her head on her father's shoulder. "I want to sleep…" She whined.

Sammy walked out from the kitchen to get Amery's bag from the room she was sleeping in. 

Michael could tell that Amery slowly fell asleep on his shoulder so he rubbed her back softly, giving her more comfort.

"So… What are you going to do now?" Henry asked. 

"Hm?"

"About William."

"I don't know… I don't know what I should do. I could tell my boss about this but it's not like he'd believe in me." Michael said, moving his body side to side slowly, as if he's rocking Amery. 

"Understandable. Only us who know about this crazy situation we're living in." Henry said as he flipped the omelette he's making.

Both men quiet down for a while.

"Ya know… Amery has been asking me about your family. You never told her about them?" Henry asked. Michael stayed silent. He was supposed to tell Amery about them yesterday but he didn't know how to.

"You could introduce them and not speak of any painful memories." Henry explained. "But what if she asked me what happened to everyone? Especially her auntie and uncle." Michael said, still moving side to side 

"Tell her the truth. It's best for her to know the truth instead of keeping the child in the dark." Henry said, placing another omelette on a big plate.

"Ah…"

"You don't have to talk about William, I suppose." Henry turned the stove off and turned to Michael. "Just tell her the happy times, tell her the truth about what happened to your family. At least that's enough for her to know." Henry continued.

"But telling a 3 years old about murder is horrifying, isn't it? I don't think she's ready for that." Michael said.

"You're right… Maybe you could wait until she's grown a bit but don't keep the kid in the dark. If she gets too curious, she might put herself in danger." Henry said as he placed the big plate on the table.

Sammy returned with Amery's bag and he handed it to Michael. Michael thanked him and put the bag around his free shoulder. "Right. I gotta go now. Enjoy your breakfast, everyone." He said before leaving.

Henry's words are lingering in his head while he's driving home.

Michael should take this slowly, introducing his family bit by bit.

The murder part will wait until Amery is around 18.

For now, he can only think of the happy memories he shared with his family.

And that includes his father.

Chapter Text

Michael slowly opened his eyes. 

When he arrived home, he made a beeline to his room, dropped Amery's bag on the floor and tucked both him and Amery on his bed.

Now that he's awake, he needs to get up, take a shower and make breakfast… Lunch…? He doesn't know what time of the day right now.

All he knows is that today is his day off.

At first, he thought he wouldn't be given any day off since they're short on staff but then Phil pops up, Michael's boss finally decides to give him a day off.

All of that took him a day to change his mind. Maybe because his boss talked about it to Phil and Phil probably felt sorry for Michael so he decided to take over Michael's job so he can have a day off.

Thank you, Phil.

Michael rubbed his eyes and looked around his room. His hand tries to reach the other side of his bed, hoping he could find Amery laying next to him but she wasn't there. 

Huh, she's probably awake already.

Michael sat up and he realised he had his hand pressed on Amery's Foxy plush toy. Amery probably put the plush toy in Michael's arm when he was sleeping and Michael probably pushed the toy around when he was sleeping.

Amery is so adorable. 

Michael leaned the plush toy on his pillow before he got up from his bed. He walked outside of his room, ruffling his hair as he yawned. He could hear Amery giggling in her room so he decided to check on his little fluff ball.

Michael poked his head in. He saw the raven haired girl playing with her toys. Uh, what do you call that? The dress doll… Barbie? Michael doesn't know. He remembers seeing Elizabeth owned some of them.

Michael quietly watched as she played, bouncing the dolls around. He tried to listen to what she's saying to her dolls.

"Barbie, I'm going shopping."

"Okay, Kelly. Stay safe." 

The girl said as she giggled.

Michael finally decided to walk in and sat next to his daughter. The girl turned to Michael and chirped happily. "Daddy!" She jumped to Michael and wrapped her arms around his neck. Michael hugged her back and kissed her forehead. "Morning, sweetie." 

"No, daddy. It's afternoon!" She exclaimed. "Oh, really?" Michael tilted his head. "Well, it looks like both of us need to wash up and eat lunch." Michael said as he carried the child in his arms. "Yes, please! I'm hungry." Amery said, rubbing her tummy.

"Sorry, sweetie. I needed that sleep but I promise you I will cook your favourite food today and tonight." He said, carrying the child to the kitchen. "It's okay, daddy. You were tired." She said.

"You're a clever girl, Amy." Michael smiled as he put the girl down on the floor of the kitchen.

Michael opened the fridge and took some sausages out. He could hear the little girl cheering, "Yay!! Sausages!!"

Michael then took out some vegetables. He could hear the little girl whining. Michael chuckled. She doesn't like vegetables. Even though Michael tried feeding her a lot of times, she still refused to eat.

Well, she needs to learn to eat it one day.

Michael needs to teach her how nutritious vegetables are.

Amery sat at the table, watching her dad prepare rice, cook it, fry it and then serve it to her.

Fried rice with sausages. Amery's favourite.

Amery grabbed the spoon that her dad put down next to her and scooped the rice. She shoved her spoon into her mouth. 

"Mm~ Yummy~" She said.

Michael sat in front of her with his plate and a mug of coffee. "Good to know. I need to learn to cook other stuff as well. It's good to learn different dishes from different countries." Michael said as he started eating his food.

Michael learned how to cook from his mum when he was around 11. According to his mother, he should learn how to cook so if his parents were busy with work, Michael could prepare food for his family.

Which he did and continuously did after his mother passed away,

After Elizabeth went missing…

After Evan passed away…

After… father… went missing…

He had no one to cook for after that…

Until Amery came to his life, that's when he decided to pick up cooking again so he could feed Amery with healthy food instead of instant food and pizza.

He wants his child to eat fresh and healthy food. Homemade food!

Just like what his mother wanted for her children.

"Oh! I want flat bread!" She exclaimed.

"Flat bread?" Michael tilted his head. "Yeah, the one people eat with orange water!" 

W-What?

"Orange water…?" Michael questioned her. "The one with potatoes and meat!"

Michael stared at her for a few seconds before his light bulb lit up. "Oh, you mean curry?" 

Amery nodded. "Good idea. I'll google that later and learn how to make the flatbread you're talking about." Michael said as he finished up his plate.

Once they're done eating, Michael washed the dishes while Amery went upstairs to prepare herself for a shower with her dad. They went to the bathroom to wash themselves. Then, Michael dressed Amery up, dried her hair and combed her hair.

Today, Amery is wearing a pink frilly dress. Michael let her wear it because he's planning to bring her out to the park today so she could play on the slide. 

Amery left the room once she's all dressed up so that gave Michael the chance for him to get dressed.

He decided to wear a purple coloured turtleneck shirt today with his blue jeans. Usually he puts hair gel on his hair but today he decided not to. Just to show that he's having a relaxing day today.

He went downstairs to see Amery sitting in front of the TV, probably having YouTube on. She's watching cartoon hamsters with wheels? What is that?

Well, Michael doesn't know.

Michael decided to go upstairs again and went to an empty room. It's not really empty. It's filled with boxes. Boxes of memories. Boxes of his old stuff along with his family's belongings.

That empty room, that room Michael is using to keep the stuff, it's Evan's room.

The last time he saw Evan or the last time he communicated with Evan was when he was at one of the pizzerias he worked at.

Evan's soul was stuck in Fredbear suit. Evan kept appearing to scare Michael away, probably as a revenge but Michael talked to Evan, apologised to him and then one night, Evan appeared in his dream. 

He has forgiven Michael and he apologised for tormenting Michael while he was at work. Michael told him that he, Michael, deserved it.

That's what brothers do, right? Tormenting each other.

Both laughed. 

"I was a horrible brother to you, Evan. I'm sorry."

"It's okay, Mikey. You weren't horrible and I understood that it was an accident. Stop apologising."

Both hugged. 

"You are a great brother, Mikey. You were always there taking care of us when father wasn't around. Thank you."

...

Michael stared at the Fredbear plush toy he's holding. It looked so ragged. To be fair, that toy has been around since he was 14. He's 54 now. The bear had been around for 40 years.

Underneath the fluff, he could see an audio box and camera for the eyes. He knew his father put it there.

Why? Michael will never know.

Michael rummaged inside of one of the boxes and pulled out his family album. It's finally time for him to introduce his family to Amery.

The kid needs to know his family.

Her grandparents, auntie and uncle who are no longer with them.

Michael went downstairs and sat on the couch, in front of the TV. Amery is sitting on the floor, eyes still glued to the TV. 

"Amy, once you're finished with this show, let's have a little chat. I have something to show you."

"Yes, daddy." The girl answered.

An obedient girl who listened to her dad a lot.

Just like Michael. He was obedient to his father, always ready to do things that his father told him. Be it wrong or right.

Life threatening or not.

He always listens to his father's order.

Of course, Michael would never do the same to Amery. Amery is precious to him and he wants Amery to have a normal childhood.

Normal and happy childhood. 

No animatronics around to torment her.

No death or tragedy involved in her life.

Just. Normal.

That being said, he doesn't want Amery to know what William had done.

He want to sweep that under the carpet.

She shouldn't know. She shouldn't know.

There's point anyway.

She doesn't need to be involved in that ordeal. It's all in the past now… Except for his father, who is still lurking around in Fazbear Frights.

He actually wondered how Phil is going to handle his father.

Is that thing even his father?

It is, right?

All Michael could see in that animatronic was a monster.

Michael saw Amery stood up and walked to him. He helped Amery climbed the couch so she could sit next to him. "What is it, daddy?" She asked.

Michael showed him the photo album. "I heard from grandpa Henry that you want to know about my family?" 

Amery nodded excitedly, "I thought you didn't want to tell me because you were crying." She said. Oh… right. Michael had a breakdown in front of his daughter. 

He finds that embarrassing. A father crying in front of his daughter? He shouldn't show his weakness in front of his daughter.

As if Amery cared.

Poor Michael had to grow up with that kind of mentality. 

"Well, now I'm ready to introduce them to you." He said. He opened the photo album, the first page showed a family photo of the Afton in formal outfits.

He remembered that photo so well. He remembered groaning at William because he was forced to wear a suit.

"It's suffocating!" He complained.

"I know but please stay still, boy. Only a second." William said as he made sure Michael's suit looked tidy, nothing looked crooked, all nice and perfect.

"Wow! Fancy!" Amery said, amazed by the photo. "Guess who is that." Michael pointed at him when he was young. 

Hair slicked back just like his father's hair style and he wears a black coloured suit with black coloured bow tie. Amery stared at the photo and giggled. "That's you!" Amery said.

"Correct. That's me when I was 11 years old." Michael said. "How about this boy?" Amery pointed at a shorter boy with the same hair colour and eye colour as Michael but he didn't have his hair slicked back. He wore a white shirt with suspenders and black trousers.  "That is your uncle. Evan A-... I mean, Evan Christopher Schmidt." Michael said. He nearly said Afton. He doesn't want Amery to know that name.

The name that carries dark memories.

The name that shouldn't be spoken about.

"How old is he, daddy?" Amery asked.

"He was 5 years younger than me so that'd be 6. He was 6 years old when this photo was taken." Michael explained. Amery's mouth turned to an O shape while she nodded. "How about this girl?" She pointed at a little girl with long ginger hair, wearing a white dress as she sat on an older woman's lap. "That's my little sister, Elizabeth Grace Schmidt. She was your age when we took this photo." Michael said. "She's pretty." 

Michael could see glitters in Amery's eyes.

Honestly, he wished Elizabeth was still alive so Amery and her could spend time together. She'd make a good influence to her… On fashion side, maybe.

Despite being 8, she was really into fashion. Michael was amazed to see how creative she was.

"She sure is…" Michael showed a sad smile. "So, this lady here is my mother. Hannah Schmidt." Michael pointed out at the older lady with long ginger hair but tied in a bun as she wore long blue coloured dress. "She's your grandma or nana. However you'd like to call her."

"Nana?" Amery tilted her head. Michael smiled at her, "My family is from the UK so we call our grandmother 'nana'." He explained. Even though he moved to the US when he was 6, he still have his British accent and since he raised Amery on his own, she has his accent but also a hint of American accent as she picked them up from Sammy's family.

"Nana is pretty!" Amery exclaimed happily. "Yes she is. She was also a ballerina." Michael remembered the time when Hannah would dance in the living room happily, pulling all of her children to join her and later, their dad when he came home from work. 

Simpler, happy time.

"She's fun!" Amery flailed her arms. Michael chuckled. "And this…" Michael's finger stopped at William. He went silent for a bit. "... Is your grandfather, William. William Frederick Schmidt." Michael said. Coldness hinted in his tone. I shouldn't be this way. No matter what happened, he is still my father. The one who ran around killing children, that wasn't my father. That was a demon possessing my father's body. My father passed away along with my mother. That wasn't him!

As much as he denied that was William, it is true that William had committed horrible sins. From neglecting his children to killing children to possibly manipulating those around him.

Michael still found it hard to believe.

A loveable man who was very loyal to his family, a loving father to his children, an outgoing and charismatic man turned into a cold manipulative and sadistic serial killer.

"Oh! Grandpa looks handsome." Amery said. "Oh! Oh! You and grandpa look alike!" She said happily. Oh, how Michael hated it when someone says that. Since Amery was the one who said it this time, he let it go. She's still a child and plus, she knows nothing about William's pasts.

She doesn't need to know.

"A lot of people said the same thing to me. We sure… do look alike but different in many ways!" Michael grinned. "What happened to everyone, daddy?" Amery looked at her dad with big innocent eyes. This is it. The time has come. Michael has prepared himself for this lie.

"... They went to heaven." Michael said. "Heaven? Where people go when they're no longer breathing?" Amery tilted her head, "Yeah. They… Well, it's something for you to learn once you're older. They died from a car accident." Michael said, patting Amery's head. Amery looked at him with a confused expression but she shrugged it off. Of course a 3 years old wouldn't understand that.

"They're in peace now." Amery said as she flipped to another. "Yeah…" Michael's eyes landed on a photo of a baby boy with Cerulean eyes.

Ah.

"A baby!" Amery pointed excited. Michael read the text above the photo. Michael Joseph Afton, 1969 .

UHHHHHH Oh no. Afton is in there. He hoped Amery didn't see that. 

Well, even if she does, she can't read. She's still learning how to learn but she hasn't fully grasped it.

"That's my baby photo." Michael smiled. "Oh! That's you with grandpa!" Amery pointed out at a photo of William carrying Michael. His face showed a loving expression. Michael remembered how loving William was towards him and his siblings. He still remembered how William used to spoil him. How William used to pat his head and William always asked him if he'd like to accompany William as William worked in his office.

What if… What if there's a chance for him and his father to reconcile?

It's not like they were in a bad term or anything.

Michael did yelled at him before William disappeared. 

Michael yelled at William about all the things he kept since his mother passed away. He revealed to him how hurtful he was when William became negligent towards him and his siblings and that turned into a battle of yelling between Michael and William.

Michael mentioned his suspicion towards William and the missing children case and that made William slapped him in the face for the first time. He was angry because what Michael said was right.

William is the man behind the slaughter but William refused to admit it.

And then William disappeared. Michael never saw him again.

Michael promised that he'd find him but he forgot about it.

He forgot that William existed. He was too busy trying to correct his father's wrongdoings to the point of him forgetting the person who did all of these crimes.

Now, William is back. Michael wondered if William really IS conscious under that suit or if that is really William under that suit.

He doesn't know how to find out. He might end up dead if he gets too close to the animatronic. 

"Your grandfather… He used to give me a lot of hugs and kisses." Michael said. "Yeah, because he loves you! He's a good daddy!" Amery said.

He was. He really was.

Michael missed that side of William. He wanted that side of William to come back. Michael was sure that was the real William. Not the man behind the slaughter. That wasn't his father. Totally not.

Michael shook his head and continued going through the photo album. On each page, he'd introduce bits about his family.

How emotional Evan could get, how energetic Elizabeth was, how talented his mother was when it came to cooking, gardening and dancing and how clever his father was at building robots.

Though he never mentioned Fazbear Entertainment. 

He never will.

Michael told Amery all of the best memories he shared with his family. Their simple road trip, their christmas, their halloween, everything. 

Amery listened to them carefully. She got so excited when Michael told her about him dressing up as a pirate when he was little.

The kid loves foxes thanks to Michael. What if she's into pirates now that Michael talked about them?

And then Michael showed Amery the dance that he learned from Hannah. He was still rusty when he was dancing infront of Amery but it worked. That entertained Amery a lot.

Michael closed the photo album once they've reached the end page, "That's it." He said. Amery jumped on the couch. "That was fun! I love them so much! They're fun and lovely!" She said excitedly. Michael could only smile at her.

What she said was right. His family used to be so fun and lovely but then tragedies happened to them one by one.

That loving family disappeared and will never appear anymore.

Michael wants to change that with Amery. Which is why Michael is so attached to her. He wants to give her the love that his parents gave him when they were still around.

Michael never thought of Amery as his adopted daughter. He always think of her as his biological daughter.

There's nothing wrong of being adopted, it's just that Michael sees Amery as his own and not someone else's.

Michael stood up and kept the book back in the store room before he went back downstairs, "Alright, let's go to the park." Michael said. Amery climbed down from the couch and followed him from behind.

They walk to the park to get some fresh air.

The sky was clear blue. The weather isn't too hot or too cold. 

It's already autumn or fall.

Michael could see children playing at the playground so he brought Amery there so she could socialise and play with the other children.

Michael sat on an empty bench as he watched Amery interacting with the other children. The other children gathered around her before one grabbed her hand and ran with her while both of them chuckling, the others followed suit along with chuckles leaving their lips.

Michael is relieved to see that Amery is having fun with the other children in the neighbourhood. She's going to make more friends next year when Michael decided to put her for daycare.

"Fritz?" Michael heard a familiar voice calling out a familiar name.

Fritz Smith.

A name he used when he was working at Freddy Fazbear's Pizza.

Michael turned around to face with a familiar blonde hair and green eyes. This guy has a scar on his forehead. 

"... Jeremy?"

Jeremy Fitzgerald, his coworker from Freddy Fazbear's Pizza.

The last time he heard about him was he got bitten by Mangle and was hospitalised. He survived that severe bite.

Jeremy is amazing. Michael always admired him ever since he started working at the pizzeria. Despite the job being crazy and creepy, Jeremy still worked at the pizzeria until that incident. Perhaps because he was desperate when it came to money? Michael doesn't know.

The short blonde haired guy smiled at him, "It has been years huh?" Jeremy said as he sat next to Michael. "Sure is. How are you?" Michael asked. "Yeah, everything is okay. Life is wonderful. Are you here for your grandchild?" Jeremy asked. Michael shook his head and smiled, "My daughter."

Jeremy nodded, "Which one is she?" He asked. "The black hair one with the pink dress." Michael said as he watched Amery giggled with her new found friends. "Oh! She's cute. Part Asian, huh?" 

"I guess so. I've never known about her heritage. I should find out so I could teach her about her culture." Michael said, turning his head to Jeremy. "Someone left her at my front door when she was 2 months old so I took her in. She has been my child ever since that day." 

Jeremy slapped Michael's back and grinned at him, "Look at you! A nice person like always!" He said. Michael chuckled at him. "How about you? Why are you here?" It's Michael's turn to ask. Jeremy flashed him with another grin, "Looking after my grandkid."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, I got married when I was 25. Got my first kid when I was 26. So, that grandkid is my first son's child. His name is Marco and I believe he's with your daughter." Jeremy said. "He's really small though. Only 2 years old but it looks like everyone is playing nice with him." Jeremy said as he pointed at a blonde short haired boy with a beauty mark on his left cheek as he hugged Freddy in his arms. 

"Oh. You still have that." Michael said, mentally pointing at the Freddy plush toy. "Not me but his mum kept it from her childhood." Jeremy said. "I wouldn't step my foot into that pizzeria. No way, José." Jeremy shook his head. "One bite incident and that's it. No more." 

"I'm actually surprised to hear you survived the bite." Not like his brother. If only Evan survived. All of that is Michael's fault, He thought to himself.

"What do I say? I'm a miracle." Jeremy laughed.

"Yeah, right." Michael snickered.

Both men sat in silence as they watched the kids playing chase. 

Jeremy pulled out his mobile phone, "By the way, Fritz. We should keep in contact. What's your number?"

Michael turned to him. Okay, he needs to tell Jeremy that Fritz isn't his name. Hopefully Jeremy is fine with this. He knows it's bad to give out fake identity but he had to at that time.

"Jeremy, to be honest… My name isn't Fritz Smith."

Jeremy raised an eyebrow, "Isn't that the name you went with when you were working at the pizzeria?"

"Yeah, I go by many names and I had to avoid suspicions and… Uh... stuff." Michael could see Jeremy giving him a confused look. "You know, I always wonder if you were related to one of the founders of Fazbear Entertainment." Jeremy said. "Because I can see the resemblance between you and that one guy. I can't remember his name."

"William Afton?" 

"Yeah."

"That's my father."

Jeremy nodded before he jumped from surprise, "What?!"

"Yeah, I know. Crazy. I'm related to that psycho wanker." Michael sighed in frustration. "No, that's not it!! I didn't know I'd been talking to THE son of William Afton. Technically my old boss' son? Man, apology if I've been so rude to you!" Jeremy exclaimed. Michael shook his head and waved his hand, "Don't worry about it."

"So… You're Michael Afton?" Jeremy said, began to type Michael's name on his phone. "Yes but I go by Michael Schmidt now. To avoid the media." Michael said. Jeremy handed him the phone and Michael typed out his mobile number. He erased Afton in his name and typed in Schmidt.

"Right, understandable. Wait, so does that mean… You took over your dad's role? I haven't seen the pizzeria operating for so long." Jeremy said. "That's because I didn't take over the job. Why would I? Kids went missing, my dad went on a murder spree. I'd rather not carry that dark memory with me." Michael explained. 

"Understandable." Jeremy nodded, "Because I remember Dave talked to me about William Afton and that he assigned Michael, you, to be the heir of the business. I guess that didn't happen." 

Michael snickered at the name, Dave.

"Will you believe me if I tell you that you've been talking to William Afton those times when you were at the pizzeria?" Michael smirked at Jeremy. Jeremy looked at him with wide eyes and his jaw dropped. "You're pulling my leg."

"Nope. Dave Miller is William Afton in disguise. Have you ever wondered why he desperately tried to hide his eyes under his cap whenever I was around? It's because he didn't want me to recognised him." Michael said, giving out a dry chuckle.

"Holy shit, this is crazy." Jeremy placed a hand on his forehead. "So he's the reason why that pizzeria got shut down. That bastard! Killing innocent children with his fursuit!" Jeremy said angrily.

"Watch your language because here they come." Michael said as he watched Amery and Marco walk towards them. Jeremy calmed down and smiled at Marco. He grabbed Marco and placed him on his lap while Michael helped Amery to climb the bench.

"So, what's your grandkid's name?" Michael asked Jeremy as he patted Amery's head. "His name is Marco. His parents named him Marco Jeremy Fitzgerald." Jeremy chuckled, "My name is his middle name! Ah, well. That explains why Marco is so attached to me." Jeremy chuckled as he hugged his grandkid as the little child chuckled too. Michael smiled, "This is Amery Schmidt. My daughter. Say hi to uncle Jeremy, Amery." Michael said as he turned to his 3 years old.

Amery smiled at Jeremy, "Hello! Oh, Marco is your son?" Amery asked.

"No, he's my grandson. My children are all grown up now." Jeremy said. "They're big adults and they're working too, just like your dad!" 

Amery nodded, "Work is boring." 

"Tell me about it." Michael scoffed.

Both Jeremy and Michael laughed. Oh, they remembered joking around during work or before Jeremy started his shift. Jeremy would stop by at the staff room to wait for Michael to finish his shift so they could have a little chat.

They were the only young adults working there at the time.

They'd talk about a lot of stuff. About how awful the company was to their employees, to how greasy the pizza was and how Dave… or William always side eyeing Michael during his shift.

They shared a lot of memories together.

Jeremy was Michael's only friend when he was working at the pizzeria.

Michael and Amery bid the Fitzgeralds a goodbye when both of the grandfather and grandson duo decided to leave. It was getting late, Michael thought. He was thankful to think that he doesn't have a shift tonight.

Him and Amery left the park and went home.

Michael prepared dinner that night, he felt happy that he is able to do that now. He hoped he could do this again once the attraction is opened and his boss has hired more employees.

Amery stood quietly behind her dad, watching him cooking but then she decided to break the silence. "Daddy, who was that?" She asked.

"Uncle Jeremy? He's my friend when I was younger." He said, making a mental note to himself that he's in his 50's. Oh how the time flies.

Amery tilted her head, "Shouldn't I call him grandpa if Marco calls him grandpa?" 

Michael turned to Amery, holding two plates of fried noodles. "Hm, you're right but then you have to call me grandpa too because he and I are only 2 years apart." Michael chuckled, placing the plates on the dining table. "No, you're my daddy!" The girl said, tailing him. "Then you should call him uncle." Michael said, carrying Amery and placing her on a stool placed on top of a chair since she's too small for the dining table.

"Okay, daddy." She said, holding her fork, ready to dig in.

Both of them sat in silence as they finished up dinner. Once dinner is finished, Michael cleaned up the kitchen before he washed Amery and dressed her up in her pyjamas.

Finally he could do all of these now that he's on his day off.

He tucked Amery in on her bed and he started reading her a book, a bedtime story book for Amery to listen to. She slowly fell asleep when Michael reached the mid part of the book.

He placed the book down on her dresser, kissed her forehead before he left the room.

Good night, my sweet princess, he whispered.

He went downstairs to turn the TV on. He couldn't sleep yet. His body has been set that he could only fall asleep in the morning so he decided to do a full marathon of his favourite show, The Immortal and The Restless.

Chapter Text

It was finally time for him to go to work.

This time, he went to the Emily's earlier than before so he could talk to Henry regarding his father.

He still needs more answers and he wonders how to stop his father from existing.

Henry and him are sitting in the kitchen, facing each other while Amery went upstairs to play with Derek.

Despite being busy with homework, Derek doesn't mind accompanying Amery. He'd rather avoid homework than anything.

Anyway,

"Uncle Henry, do you know why father is stuck in that suit?" Michael asked, staring straight into Henry's brown eyes. Henry scratched his chin and he stopped for a thought, "Perhaps… Perhaps he was doing something… Ah, maybe he was dismantling some animatronics because when I arrived that night, I saw a pile of animatronic parts laying around on the floor and then I found your dad in the safe room, covered in blood."

His own blood.

"I still remember how he called me. It sounded so painful and desperate but I ignored him. I thought to myself he deserved it." Henry said. "Ah, would you like a cup of coffee before you go?"

"No thank you, I'm fine." Michael smiled at him. "Now… Do you know how to get rid of him? Or should I just burn him down?" He asked.

Henry raised an eyebrow at Michael. Gosh, this kid is so fast at thinking of burning something down.

"Don't you think it's unsafe for you to start a fire? Especially when you're at your workplace? Wouldn't you get fired in the end?" 

"... Touché."

Henry scratched his head, "Though I do remember reading about something and it's best to burn it… But what was it about?" Henry tapped his chin in wonder. Michael tilted his head, "What did you read?"

"A certain file that your father left at the diner. I couldn't remember what it was but I still kept it somewhere." Henry said. "Can you show it to me in the morning? I'd like to read it." Michael said. 

"I have lots of files that I retrieved from the diner and the pizzeria before I handed them to someone else. The business, I mean. I will lend them to you."

Oh. So, that's where the files went. Henry has them.

"Brilliant! I'll see you later after my shift then. Beauty?" Michael grinned. Henry laughed at him, "Ah, as you grow older, you've become painfully British." 

"No, I'm not! It's just your imagination!"

"Perhaps I haven't talked to a Brit for so long and perhaps I'm exaggerating." Henry chuckled.

Michael smiled. He hadn't had a light and cheerful conversation with Henry for so long. Hell, he wasn't able to talk to Henry for so long. He's glad he's able to now. He'd like to spend more time with him.

To Michael, Henry is like his second father. Always there for him.

He was there when his father started to neglect them but then Henry vanished from thin air. 

That was after Charlie's death.

Henry cut his ties with the rest of the world.

But now, thankfully, thanks to Sammy, Henry is talking to people now. He has finally moved on from his grief, Michael thought.

That's good.

And plus, Henry is now a grandfather of three… Or four, including Amery.

He's sure that Henry is enjoying life now surrounded by the people he loves. His son, Angelica, his grandchildren, Michael and Amery.

Life has become kinder to Henry thankfully.

"Yeah, sorry, Hudson but Phil told me he doesn't want to take over your shift anymore so we're back to square one." Michael's boss said as Michael sat in front of him in his boss' office.

"What happened?"

Michael was called into his boss' office as he arrived at work. His boss wanted to tell him something. 

"Well, Phil told me that last night the animatronic was moving around and it seemed like it was hunting for him." His boss said, turning on his desk fan. Michael does feel a bit warm in that office but he just keeps quiet about it.

"The animatronic even stared at him through the window." He said. "Now, I don't know if that's real or an imagination but he was shaken from it." His boss continued.

"How's Phil now?" Michael felt concerned. Did Phil get injured? Did his father lay a hand on him? How is Phil?

Hopefully he is fine.

"He's fine. Left unharmed. He told me when the clock struck 6, the animatronic stopped moving… And he even told me he was luring the animatronic away from the office using the audio interface that we installed to spook people out but hey, looks like it has another use too." The boss shrugged.

"Well, at least Phil is safe and yeah, I've been luring the animatronic away from me using that."

The boss raised an eyebrow, "So, it has been moving around for you too."

"Yes."

"Why didn't you tell me about this?"

"Because I don't know if you'd trust me or if you'd think that I'm crazy." Michael said.

Having an animatronic moving around without you activating its movements seemed so farfetched. Once, Michael tried telling his old boss from his old workplace, he ended up getting fired.

And also he ended up punching his boss in the face.

Good times.

Michael's boss nodded. "You're right. I'd think you were talking nonsense." 

"Anyway, I'm going to go now. You can guard the place on your own, right? I need to go check up on my ma." The boss said as he stood up from his desk, grabbing his coat. "Yeah, I'll be fine." Michael said.

He left the office afterwards with his boss. His boss left the building and Michael actually wondered where his father went. He forgot to ask his boss about this and it's too late now since he has left the building.

Hopefully Springtrap is somewhere that's not too close to his office.

He took out a flashlight and turned it on as he walked around the place for a bit, trying to locate his father's whereabouts.

According to his boss, Springtrap was staring at Phil through the window but when he went to his office, he didn't see anyone near the window nor near his office so he checked on each room that he could find in that building.

He only found old decorations still in the boxes with old masks of the characters from the pizzeria.

No sign of Springtrap.

He wonders where his father could've been.

He checked his wristwatch and he cursed under his breath. It's almost 12 AM. He needs to return to his office now.

He walked quickly to his office and sat at his desk, watching the cams for the sights of his father. 

Surprisingly for him, he couldn't find Springtrap anywhere.

Where could he be?

Did he escape? What is going on?

Michael started feeling anxious about this. His father can't disappear. He's stuck in an animatronic suit. He wouldn't be able to move around that much.

What… What if… What if he's on his way to the Emily's?

No, that's impossible! Right? RIGHT?!

Michael quickly grabbed his phone and dialed Sammy's number. He pressed the green button and waited for Sammy to answer.

Unfortunately for him, Sammy didn't answer his call but he called him again… and again… and again.

He hoped it was only his nonsense speculation.

If it's true that Springtrap escaped then… Everyone is in danger.

Henry, Sammy, Angelica, Derek and Amery. 

"I can't lose them too." Michael whispered as he texted Sammy, "Sammy, you okay? Please answer me."

Michael was too distracted with calling and texting Sammy to the point of him forgetting to check the systems of the building.

Michael could see the room lit in red and he could hear sirens going off.

Shit!

He turned to the system screen but before he could operate with it, he saw a shadow in the corner of the room. He tried to focus on it but the shadow jumped on him.

Michael gasped loudly. 

Was that… Foxy? What? Why is he here?

Was it a hallucination?

Michael rebooted the systems.

COME ON, COME ON, COME ON!!

It took a while for him to reboot everything. He then quickly checked the cams, hoping that his father wouldn't appear out of nowhere.

Thankfully for him, he couldn't find anything. Nothing.

Except a weird looking Chica poster on the wall of one of the rooms. Weird… Has it always been there? Michael never noticed it.

Michael turn away from the screen and there she is,

a shadowy figure of Chica jumped at him and screamed.

Michael screamed too. He started to hyperventilate. 

What is going on? Why is he being attacked?

With sweats rolling down from his forehead and with his throat feels tight from anxiety, he checked the cams again.

Oh no…

Now his vision is blocked by a familiar form.

Round face with eerie smile…

"Balloon boy…" He looked away from his screen.

The shadow figure of Balloon boy jumped at him and Michael screamed.

Oh god… Why…? Were they his hallucinations or something? What is going on?

The room blinked in red again and he could hear the sirens going off again so he quickly went to reboot the system.

At the same time, he tried to calm himself down.

He could feel it. He is getting a panic attack.

"What the fuck is going on- What the fuck is going on!!" He repeated, unable to breathe as he watched the system screen. "Fuck, fuck!! I don't know what to do now! Sammy isn't replying and I'm being attacked by shadowy figures!! What are they and what do they want?!!!" He said out of frustration and panic.

Do they exist due to Michael's anxiety and paranoia? Possibly? Since they only appeared for a bit and then disappeared into thin air.

Perhaps they are all from Michael's head. Possibly is.

Michael heard his phone beeped for a bit and then he checked the notification,

Sammy finally replied to his messages.

"Hey, Mikey. I'm fine. We're all fine. Sorry for the late reply. We were playing video games. Derek, Amery and I….

U okay, bud?"

Michael sighed from relieved. "I'm fine. Just paranoid, that's all." He replied.

"Haha, don't worry about us. We're fine. Worry about yourself first. See you in the morning." Sammy replied.

The sense of relief didn't stay for too long for Michael unfortunately as he suddenly heard something crawling in the vent. 

… What.

Wait.

WAIT.

FUCK, THE VENTS!

Michael forgot this whole time he could check the vents. He only focused on two screen. Bad idea. Foolish idea. 

He was about to check the vents cam but then something came out from the vent in his office.

He backed away from the vent, his back hit the wall across the office as he watched two long yellow bunny ears popped out from the vent with yellow paws holding the side of the vent, trying to pull itself out.

Michael panted. "N-No… It… It can't be…" He said. Anxiety, terror, fear creeping up his shoulder. He could feel his body trembles as a tree being blown by a big wind.

It's all over now.

He found me.

He's gonna kill me.

Springtrap came out from the vent. It… He? slowly stood up and Michael could hear a growl coming from the animatronic.

Springtrap is right in front of him.

He could see the animatronic's eyes staring right into his soul.

Michael couldn't make a sound.

He wanted to say something but due to anxiety he couldn't say anything. His mouth is sealed and his throat is tight.

Springtrap slowly approached him and he could feel himself slipped to the floor. He sat on the floor, looking at the animatronic in fear.

I'm not ready to die… Amery! I can't leave her alone! No, please I don't want to die!

Michael closed his eyes, hoping whatever the animatronic wants to do with him, he'd do it quick or maybe to leave him alone.

"M… Mi… Mich… ael…?" The animatronic growled. Michael slowly opened his eyes and looked up at the animatronic. "Father?" He asked quietly.

"Mi… Chael…" Springtrap growled again. Michael could tell there's a hint of confusion in the animatronic's voice or his father's voice.

"Father…" Michael smiled slowly, feeling a bit relieved that the animatronic recognised him. Michael stood up to face Springtrap- William. "Father, it's me, Michael." He said, wanting to touch the animatronic's hand.

Maybe… Maybe he could reconcile with his father. Maybe this is his father and not the man behind the slaughter. 

"Father, it has been 30 years. I've finally found you." Michael said with a smile, finally his anxiety vanished. The animatronic says nothing except staring at him. 

"Father, I really miss you! Father, I… I did everything that you told me to but… Lizzie… She's being possessed by the evil side of the animatronic. I couldn't bring her back. I'm sorry…" Michael looked down. "But, good news is I'm a father now! I adopted a child. I named her Amery! I'd like to show her to you one day!" Michael perked up.

"Well… If I could…" He looked down again. "She's at Sammy's house. Well, Sammy and uncle Henry-"

Before he could finish his sentence, a large yellow paw wrapped its fingers around Michael's neck. 

Michael looked at his father with wide eyes as he coughed and gagged.

"F-Father…?"

He can see anger on the animatronic's face. Why? Why is he so angry?

Did Michael do something wrong?

"Henry… Why… Why are you siding with him?!" The an-... William grunted. "I'm your father. You MUST obey me and ONLY me. Why must you side with that traitor who locked me for 30 years?!" He said angrily, squeezing Michael's neck. Michael couldn't say anything. He tried to pry his father's fingers from his neck as he coughed and gagged.

He couldn't breathe.

Oh god, he's gonna die.

Thankfully, William let go of Michael and Michael took that chance to breathe. "He took your father away and made you live alone. FOR 30 YEARS!" William yelled.

"I-I know… But… You're back now!" Michael said nervously as he tried to breathe. 

William pushed Michael to the wall as Michael's back hit the wall hard. Michael groaned in pain.

"Bring me to him… Or bring him to ME!" William punched the wall behind Michael. Michael looked at him with a terrified face. "W-What are you planning to do with him?" Michael asked. "A revenge… For leaving me to suffer in that room for 30 years!" The animatronic growled.

…

Michael then remembered the crimes his father committed and the reason why Henry left him to die. He thought it was justifiable.

It is since he's a murderer, right?

Death is the best punishment for a child murderer. He took a lot of innocent lives away.

Snatched the children away from their parents.

"... Don't you think you deserved that?" Michael mustered up the courage. He knew he would enrage his father but he always did that when he was a teenager. It's a normal thing to do for him.

And it shouldn't scare him to do so.

He's only voicing his opinion.

His father should be punished.

"What… Did you say?" William leaned closer to Michael's face as he growled. Michael could smell something awful coming from the animatronic. Probably a rotten corpse or something inside of the suit. He could see what it seemed like fleshes under the tattered suit.

"I said what I said. You deserved to be punished for all the lives you took. Father, I'm not dumb. I know what you did. It took me a while to put two into two, yeah but I figured out you're a child murderer years ago!" Michael said with a confident yet angry tone of voice. "And I think what Henry did is justifiable. You deserved to be punished!" Michael said, pushing his father a bit.

William growled loudly in anger as a fist flew towards Michael's face, punching him in the face. Michael yelped as his back hit the wall again. Before he could stand up, William grabbed him by the collar and threw him across the room.

Michael fell on top of boxes of masks and decorations with a loud yelp. He laid on the floor, wincing in pain. Fuck, did I break my spine or something? Everything hurts like crap.

"How DARE you say that to your OWN father?!" William yelled, grabbing Michael on the collar again. "I raised you, I kept you safe, I provided food for you and your siblings and THIS is how you treat your father? Your OWN flesh and blood? You're an ungrateful child! A bastard you are!!" William yelled again, throwing Michael to the wall. Michael yelped loudly at the impact of him being thrown around like he's a ball.

Michael laughed slowly, "When did you raise me? When did you keep me safe? When did you even care about us? You never did." Michael said as he tried to stand up. "You never cared about us. You neglected us. I was the one who raised the kids up. I fed them and took care of them. YOU WERE NEVER WITH US!!" Michael yelled with his eyes wide open.

Ah, this reminds him of the time when he first yelled at his father about his negligence.

It went awful and it will be now.

Michael charged towards William, pushing William to the floor and pinned him. "DON'T TALK TO ME AS IF YOU WERE THERE!!" He yelled at William's face. Michael raised a fist and punched his father in the face. He could feel the fabric of the animatronic on his skin.

William flinched but he quickly turned to Michael with an enraged expression. He pushed Michael off him and stepped on Michael's head. "You don't even know why I did it. You never asked! You only cared about your own little world!" William said as he pushed his foot down to Michael's head. Michael grunted in pain. It felt like his head was about to break.

"I'm doing this so I can bring back the lives that we've lost! I want to bring back your mother, Elizabeth and the boy that YOU killed, Evan! I want to bring our family back but YOU never cared!" William kicked Michael in the stomach. 

Michael yelped in pain loudly and coughed. He held his stomach… God, that was painful. 

"I want them to be immortal! I want us to be immortal! You should've died when I made you go down to the robotic company! You should've been made immortal but you refused to!" William kicked Michael again. 

Michael groaned and whined in pain. He could only see stars now and his vision is getting blurry from getting beaten up by a large ani- Uh, William.

But Michael mustered the energy to say,

"That's not what they'd want…! That's only your selfish choice!" Michael coughed. "I don't want to be immortal! Never will!" Michael said as he tried to stand up again, using a wall to support him.

"You are a foolish child, Mike." William growled. "I should kill YOU and Henry! And everyone else!! You ungrateful rat!" William yelled, fist flying toward Michael but Michael grabbed it with his right hand, holding the punch away from him. 

Michael tried his best to push his father away, wanting to create an opening so he could run towards the exit.

He struggled to but fortunately for him, he successfully made William move and gave him a space for himself to escape. Michael punched William's on his right eye.

William yelped and that's when Michael decided to escape from the office. 

He could hear heavy footsteps running towards him as Michael ran around the building. He needed to find something to stop his father from chasing him.

No, he needs to get rid of him!

But how?!

Michael ran towards another corner and he was relieved to see an axe placed inside a glass holder. Michael punched the glass open and grabbed the axe.

His fist is covered in blood and parts of the glass but he doesn't care right now. What's important is he's able to attack his father using this axe.

But an axe is not enough. 

He needs to find something else. He ran into one of the rooms. A room where they kept equipment. He needs to find something here.

Something that can help him to start a fire and spread it everywhere.

Luckily for him, he found large red canisters for oil placed in the corner of the room.

He grabbed it and began to pour it around the room.

He stopped when he heard Springtrap arrive in the room, charging towards him. Michael shielded himself with the axe that he found. William raised his left fist, ready to punch Michael but Michael swung the axe and it caused damage to the suit.

William yelped in pain. 

Michael made a mental note that his father can feel pain through the suit.

"I WILL NEVER LET YOU TOUCH HENRY OR ANYONE ELSE EVER AGAIN!!" Michael shouted as he swung the axe again, hitting and cutting William in many places, making the suit looking so tethered even more.

William grabbed the axe from Michael and threw it across the room. Michael could hear a loud clang behind William. 

Michael backed away from William but William grabbed Michael on the arm and screamed on his face before he punched Michael in the face, and then on the stomach… and then back on the face.

He became his father's punching bag until he couldn't stand up anymore. He fell on the floor, grunting in pain.

William bent down to look at Michael, "This is the end. You are gonna die for betraying me, Michael!" William growled. "How unfortunate. Both of us could make a great duo but you HAD to betray me!" 

Michael stared at his father quietly, "I… Wouldn't want that…" He smirked at William. He looked down to William's feet and he could see that William was standing on a pile of oil.

Couldn't he feel wet?

William grabbed Michael on the collar, "I didn't want to kill you but you left me with no choice." William said as he wrapped his hands around Michael's neck, strangling him.

Michael tried pushing his hand into the pockets of his trousers and he found a lighter in his right pocket.

Michael doesn't smoke but he kept a lighter and a matchbox in his pocket just in case he needed to use it for something.

And that something is to burn his father.

He tried pulling away from his father's grab, kicking the guy on the torso. William backed away and let go of Michael and that's when Michael flicked the lighter and lit the floor and William on fire.

He watched as the fire spread from the place he lit to his father's feet. 

"Michael, you bastard! What the bloody hell are you doing?! Stop this fire immediately!!" He yelled, stomping his feet, trying to put the fire off.

Unfortunately for William, the fire spread faster around the room.

"I have been told that this building is easy to catch fire. So, enjoy." Michael smirked as he held his injured stomach. He grabbed another canister and ran out of the room. William started to chase him.

Michael didn't waste his time to pour oil everywhere he goes. He created a trail from one room to another until he reached the exit door.

He threw the canister away and took out his matchbox. He lit one match as he faced William, who caught up to him.

"Don't you dare, Michael." William growled.

"It's the only way for me to stop you, father." Michael said as he dropped the match to the floor while one hand was pushing the exit door open. He quickly exit the building as he could see the exit is on fire with William yelping.

He placed his back on the door, hoping it could stop William from opening the door. From the inside, the door can only be opened by pushing the handle down. 

Not by banging the door like what William is doing.

"Michael! Open this door!! Open it!!" William shouted. Michael just leaned on the door when he knew for sure he needed to go to his car and drive away.

"Michael!! Don't leave me here!!" Another banging can be heard.

"I'm sorry, father but I won't allow you to escape. Not after what you've turned yourself into." Michael could feel his eyes turn wet. "Why did this happen? Immortality? That's a load of bullshit. I lost my father due to this fantasy-ish bullcrap? That's not fair." He started sobbing. 

"MICHAEL!!" Another banging can be heard again but then it slowly went quiet.

Michael took that chance to leave. He wiped his tears with his sleeves and he ran away from the building. He watched as the building slowly engulfed in fire.

He did this.

Oh boy, what is he going to tell his boss about this?

Ah, yes an animatronic was trying to kill me so I burned the whole place down.

Ah, well. He has to brace himself for another termination slip.

At this point, Michael should keep a collection of termination notices from all the places he worked at.

Anyway, that doesn't bother him much. 

He walked to his car and unlocked it. He drove away from the building.

He parked his car somewhere quiet. It's still night time or early in the morning.

3 AM to be specific.

He rested his forehead on his steering wheel. He felt tired, exhausted and his whole body was in pain. He needed to drive himself to the hospital. He bet that his body is covered in bruises and he wondered if his ribs were broken from the kicks that his father did to him.

But also, he felt sad knowing that his father changed so much.

From a wonderful loveable dad to a neglectful dad to a murderer who'd kill his own son.

How did this happen?

Was it Michael's fault?

Michael knew his father started to neglect him and his siblings after his mother passed away due to cancer. He knew his father busied himself with work and work and work…

Did it happen after Elizabeth's disappearance?

He was supposed to watch after Elizabeth during the opening day of Circus Baby's Pizza but he lost Elizabeth.

He didn't know where she went.

If only he watched over her, none of this would happen.

If only he didn't bully his brother, if only he didn't put Evan in that stupid Fredbear's mouth, none of this would happen.

He'd still have his father again, as a human being, he'd be neglectful but Michael could tolerate that and yell at him for it and he'd have his siblings with him.

But Michael destroyed his family, or so he thought.

Elizabeth went missing, presumed dead. 

Evan died because Michael killed him.

He lost his father due to him being struck with grief due to the loss of his two children and his wife.

Michael did this.

He did this to himself.

Michael started sobbing. Tears flowed down his cheeks.

He cried his heart out.

This is all my fault, my fault… my fault..!!!

"Father, forgive me." He cried.

Chapter Text

It was 7 AM,

Henry went downstairs to the kitchen to make a cup of coffee for himself after he had a shower.

Angelica was in the kitchen, making breakfast for everyone while Derek was helping his mother out and Amery was sitting at the table patiently.

Amery, the small little fluff ball, jumped in excitement when she saw Henry entering the kitchen. "Good morning, grandpa!" She exclaimed. Henry chuckled at her. He walked towards her and kissed her on the forehead. "Morning, fluff ball." Henry said.

Fluff ball.

Henry actually wondered where Amery got that nickname.

He heard Michael called Amery sweetie, Amy and fluff ball. He understands sweetie and Amy but he never gets 'fluff ball'.

Henry walked towards the coffee machine but Derek held a cup of coffee for him. Henry smiled at his grandson. "Thank you, Derek my boy. You've saved me some time." He said as he kissed Derek's forehead and ruffled his head.

Derek frowned but Henry knew he enjoyed the affection. That reminds Henry that his grandson is getting taller. He's almost the same height as him.

Ah, boys do grow faster these days.

"Morning, dad." Angelica said as she served breakfast on the table. 2 sunny side ups with 2 sausages. Delicious.

"Morning, Angie." Henry said, sitting next to Amery. "Good news, Sara and Ralph are coming home for the weekends." Angelica said with a smile, knowing two of his other children are coming home.

Sara and Ralph are both university students. They lived somewhere far from Hurricane. They had to live close to their university, which is why they're rarely home.

Sara is Angelica and Sammy's oldest daughter while Ralph is Angelica and Sammy's second oldest son.

Both of them shared a house and lived together.

They're driving back to Hurricane for the weekends and a short break.

Angelica is overjoyed by the news and Henry bets that Sammy feels the same way too. Henry is really happy to hear that his grandchildren are coming home. He hasn't seen them for so long.

"Where is Sammy?" Henry asked. Angelica served her father-in-law the breakfast she made. "Oh, I think he's getting ready for work." Angelica said as she looked at the clock on the wall of the kitchen. "Shouldn't Michael arrive from work at this time? There's no sign of him outside." Angelica said, wiping her hands on her apron that she's wearing.

"Oh yeah, he should be arriving now. I have documents that I want to show him." Henry said as he took a sip of his coffee.

He watched as his son, Sammy walked into the kitchen anxiously. He is tugging on his sleeve as he walks to Angelica and Henry. "Uh…"

Henry could tell that Sammy is nervous about something, "What's wrong, Sammy?" He asked.

"Well…" Sammy scratched the back of his neck. "Mikey is in the hospital." He broke the news to everyone. 

Everyone who was at the breakfast table stared at Sammy.

"What?!" Henry gasped.

"Hospital? Why?" Angelica asked with concern. 

"Hospital is where people go when they're really sick or really hurt…" Amery wondered. She then teared up, "No! No! Daddy is okay! He's coming home!" She started to wail.

"No- Not now! Amery!!" Derek said, trying to calm the child down from crying so hard. 

Sammy looked at Amery and then he looked at Henry. "Bad timing?" He nervously asked. Henry facepalmed himself. Henry placed a hand on Amery's back to comfort her. "Amery, honey. Your dad is okay. Don't cry. He probably had something to do there? Maybe a small booboo that looked serious to him but not?" Henry attempts to calm the fluff ball. Amery looked at Henry and she tried her best to stop crying. She did a few seconds later but you can still hear sobs from her.

"I'll let you know later, dad. For now… Angelica, can you bring Amery upstairs and pack her bag? I'm going to drive her to the hospital." Sammy asked his wife. Angelica approached him as she took her apron off, "Oh, I thought she's not allowed to get into the hospital. Ya know… 3 years old?" Angelica asked.

"I think that only applies to ICU, thank god." Sammy sighed in relief. 

Angelica carried Amery in her arms and went upstairs with her once the child finished with her breakfast.

Henry turned to Sammy, "So, what happened?" He asked, stirring his coffee. Derek sat next to Henry. "He said he got beaten up really badly but he drove himself to the hospital and they're keeping him for a few days." Sammy said, pouring a coffee for himself from the coffee machine. Henry gasped, "What? Did someone break in?" He asked.

"No idea. He said he'll tell us the full story later when we're at the hospital." Sammy said, taking a huge chug on his coffee before spitting it out. "HOT HOT!!" 

"I just made that not long ago, dad." Derek said as he's eating his sausages. Sammy nodded and drank the coffee slowly this time. 

"So, does he want me to come along with you?" Henry asked. 

"He told me I don't have to come but I want Amery to see her dad for today and I'm planning to drop off at Mikey's place to get some clothes for him. You can come along if you want. I'm sure he doesn't mind." Sammy said, placing his mug in the sink.

"Right, I'm going." Henry nodded.

"Damn, I couldn't believe that uncle Mikey got beaten up. I thought he'd beat the person up." Derek said. Michael is a bit buff and Derek has seen him punching a punching bag in the gym when he and Michael visited the place for fun. He found it amazing how quick and hard Michael's punches are. Michael told him he had to learn self-defence due to him working as a night guard.

 "He's human, Derek. Not a superhuman. It's bound to happen." Sammy said. "Now, you better get going. Your bus is arriving any minute." Sammy said, looking at his wristwatch.

"Right." Derek stood up and took his bag with him. "I'm off!" He said before exiting the house. Angelica came back with Amery in her arm and her bag on another arm. "Princess Amery is ready to visit daddy." Angelica said as she handed the child to Sammy. Sammy inspected the child's face. She's still covered with tears and her cheeks and nose are red from crying.

"Aww, sweetie. Your daddy is okay." Sammy hugged her. Amery nodded in silence. "Right, we should get going now. Dad, are you ready?" Sammy said as he took Amery's bag from Angelica. Henry stood up from his seat and nodded, "Ready as you are, son."

"Nice." Sammy gave Angelica a peck on the lips before leaving the house with Amery and Henry.

Sammy had Henry carry Amery behind his back. He wanted to make a surprise for Michael so he had Henry hide the child at the back. Amery had been quiet on their way to the hospital, even when they were walking down the corridor on their way to Michael's room.

Once they've reached the door, Sammy slid it open slowly and peaked in before he walked in.

Michael turned to the doorway and smiled, "Sammy." 

Michael is covered with bandages. From his face to his torso to his arms. Sammy guessed he got bruises everywhere and perhaps some broken bones? He doesn't know.

Sammy approached Michael's bed and smiled, "Yo, I brought you some clothes." He said, showing Michael a blue duffle bag. "I'll put it away for you." He walked to a cupboard placed next to Michael's bed.

"My dad is here to see you." Sammy said. Henry thought of it as a cue for him to walk into Michael's room with Amery hiding behind his back. To Michael, it looks like Henry is just resting his hands behind him. It's not like he's holding something- or someone behind him.

"Oh, dear. You're all beaten up!" Henry exclaimed. Michael chuckled nervously, "Unfortunately, yeah. I was also thrown around like I was a ball or something." He said.

Sammy turned to Michael, "What?!" 

"That's an awfully strong menace you had to fight with." Henry said, tapping his foot. "Yeah…" Michael averted his eyes. He looks so exhausted , Henry thought to himself.

And sad. What happened?

"By the way, we brought you something to cheer you up." Henry said.

"Or someone." Sammy smiled at his dad as Henry slowly revealed Amery from his back. Michael, who looked so drained, exhausted and sad suddenly lightened up as he saw his little fluff ball.

His face could light up the whole room.

"Amy!" He exclaimed. Amery, who was quiet earlier, started tearing up when she saw her dad. "Daddy!" She flailed her arms at him. Henry handed the child to Michael and Michael hugged her tightly. "Oh, Amy. I miss you." Michael said as he planted kisses on top of Amery's head and forehead. Amery cried in his arms as she hugged him back.

"Aww, my sweet little fluff ball. Don't cry. Daddy is here." He rubbed his daughter's back and kissed her again on the forehead. "She was crying earlier when Sammy told us that you got admitted to the hospital." Henry said with a smile, with his arms folded. 

Sammy stood next to his dad with a sheepish smile. "That was the worst timing ever."

Michael chuckled, "Hey, you don't need to worry about me. I'm fine." Michael said to Amery who is still crying. 

"I thought… I thought I was going to lose you!" She cried. "Oh, of course not. I'm fine! See?" Michael said, rubbing her back.

"Yeah, not a great sight, Mikey." Sammy shook his head.

"Is it?" Michael tilted his head.

Both Henry and Sammy shook their heads.

"Nope." Sammy said with a pop sound for the P.

Michael placed Amery on his shoulder as he patted her back, trying to soothe her while rocking her. 

"So… What happened?" Sammy asked as he pulled a chair for Henry to sit. Ageing sucks. Henry gets back pain easily for standing for too long.

Michael looked at Sammy and then he looked at Amery.

"Hey, Amy. Would you like to go get food for me with uncle Sammy?" He asked his child. Sammy took that as I can't tell you when my kid is around.  

Amery nodded so Sammy took Amery from Michael. "What do you want us to get?" Sammy asked. Michael shrugged, "Anything is fine."

Sammy nodded and left the room with Amery in his arms.

Only Henry and Michael are left in the room.

"I guess I will tell Sammy later when we're at home." Henry said. "Yeah…"

"Does this have anything to do with your father?" Henry asked. Michael nodded. "He did this?" He pointed at Michael.

"Yes."

"Gee golly." Henry placed a hand on his lips. "He crawled into a vent and went straight to my office. He got so angry when I talked about you and then… he beat me up." Michael said. 

"I know your father neglected you and slapped you once but I have never thought of him doing a big number on you." Henry said. Michael laughed dryly, "I actually wonder if that's really my father. I know I should accept that he is the man behind the slaughter, no excuse should be given but… I can hardly accept that." Michael said.

He then remembered that William killed Charlie and that broke Henry to pieces.

He looked at Henry, "I-I'm sorry."

Henry raised an eyebrow, "Why are you apologising for?"

"I mean… My father… He… Uh…"

"Now, now. Let's not talk about that." Henry said as he raised his hand a little. "When I heard that he was a suspect for the murders and missing cases that happened, I could hardly believe in that too. I was like hang on. William wouldn't do such a thing . So I get how you feel right now." Henry said. "I accepted the fact that my… former best friend is now a maniac children murderer… and a rotten animatronic." Henry shook his head. "But for him to beat you up? That's so out of character."

"I know…" Michael said. He looked at his hands, "I guess he is long gone. He mentioned that he did all the murders for the sake of turning our family immortal. What the hell was he thinking? That will never happen and none of us wants that. I guess grief really struck him badly." Michael shook his head.

"Still, no sympathy for him. Sorry, my feelings are mixed up right now." Michael sighed as he pinched the bridge of his nose. Henry shook his head, "It's okay."

"Perhaps deep down, he is a twisted person who'd beat up or kill anyone he sees." Michael leaned on his pillow. 

Henry doesn't like this conversation. It's dragging Michael's emotions down. He knew how much Michael loved his father. Despite being neglectful, Michael was still attached to him. Henry thought Michael would be resentful towards William.

"So, what happened in the end?" Henry decided to change the topic.

"I… uh…" There was a long pause. Henry raised an eyebrow at Michael.

"I burned the place down."

"You what?!"

"For his own good! I was trying to burn down the place AND my father! I don't know how else I can get rid of him unless I burn him into ashes!" Michael said.

Henry went quiet. He then massaged his forehead. "Oh, I can imagine how Mark would react to this."

Michael raised an eyebrow, "Mark? My boss? You know him? I've never mentioned his name before." -Not even the author has ever addressed him by his name .

"I handed my business to him. Of course I know him." Henry said.

Michael's jaw dropped. "Wait, but I thought you sold the business-" 

"I did not."

"So, you've been the head boss this whole time?!" 

"Yes and I knew Jeremy Fitzgerald too. As well as Dave Miller, AKA William Afton. When your father disguised himself as a new security guard, I wasn't around but when I heard there was a person using a golden suit to lure kids to the safe room, I straight away knew it was your father. He left before I could catch him." Henry said. "Also, I knew you were Mike Schmidt and I was shocked to hear you punched your former boss in the face." Henry folded his arms in disappointment. 

Michael huffed, "In my defence, he kept saying that I'm a murderer because I looked like my father! And he kept telling me that it's rubbish that the missing children were possessing the animatronics and I was wasting my time!" Michael said. 

"Wasting your time with…?" Henry raised an eyebrow.

Michael frowned and looked away, "Tampering with the animatronics. I was trying to free the souls." 

Henry looked at Michael from top to bottom, "You know… I remember a person named Fritz Smith was fired due to him tampering with the animatronics. Surprisingly, you both tampered with the animatronics. Any connections?" 

"... That was me." 

"Figures." Henry nodded. "And your reasoning is…?"

"The toy animatronics kept calling me a criminal and they annoyed me to the max." Michael said as he looked at Henry. "That would be my fault." Henry laughed.

"Or mine. For having my father's face."

"Oh, don't say that. You both are different and your face radiates kindness compared to your father!" Henry said as he held Michael's hand.

Michael sighed, "I guess."

"Anyway, once you've been discharged from the hospital, I will lend you the documents that your father kept. I think he did an experiment on this thing called remnant. No clue what that is. I might need to read a bit about it too." Henry said.

"Remnant? Yeah, I need to read about it too. I have no idea what that is." Michael shrugged.

Sammy then came back with Amery holding his hands while his other hand was holding a brown bag. "We're back! Bought you a sandwich." Sammy said as he gave the bag to Amery. Amery walked towards Michael's bed and handed him the bag. Michael carried Amery and placed her on top of his bed. "Thank you, Amy~" He grabbed the bag and kissed her cheek. Amery smiled a little.

"Oh, my sweet girl is finally smiling!" Michael said in excitement. "I miss your smile, Amy baby~" Michael pinched her cheek which made the child frown. Henry and Sammy laughed. 

"So, what did Mikey tell you?" Sammy asked as he drove back to his place with Henry sitting at the passenger seat and Amery sitting on a child seat at the back.

Henry turns around to look at Amery and to his relief, Amery is asleep. 

"Okay, don't make a lot of noise or don't talk loudly about this." Henry whispered, "Michael told me that his father beat him up that bad." 

Sammy turned to his dad and whispered, "What?!"

"Eyes on the road, Samuel!"

"Oh, sorry-"

Sammy turned his head to the front, keeping his eyes on the road. "That really happened?"

"Apparently so." Henry nodded. "Not only he's a murderer, a sociopath but he's also an abuser. Disgusting!" Sammy said with a disgusted face. Henry just sat there in silence. "He really changed a lot after Hannah passed away." Henry said.

"Who?"

"Hannah Afton, William's wife. Michael's mother."

Hannah Afton, a sweet and caring mother and wife. The Afton family used to be so cheerful and you can tell there were loves everywhere in the house.

It seems that Hannah was William's only pillar, or possibly the biggest pillar.

As one by one the family members when missing or dead, William lost himself.

"According to Michael, his father told him that he wants to turn his whole family into immortal beings." Henry said, eyes on the road. "By killing children?"

"There might be an explanation for that. Probably lies in the documents he left at the pizzeria. Something to do with remnants." Henry explained as he stroked his beard. Sammy nodded.

"This is nonsense but no surprise coming from William Afton himself." 

Once they've arrived home, Sammy drops both Henry and Amery off before he drives himself to work.

Henry placed Amery in the guest room she had been sleeping in every night and then he went to his office to retrieve the documents which belonged to William.

Henry opened them.

"Remnants… I see."

Chapter Text

Summer, 1995

The weather is scorching hot but that doesn't stop these two young men from sitting at the front porch, one holding an ice pole and one holding an icy juice.

The two young men are Michael and Sammy, spending their time together chatting at the front porch of Michael's house.

Michael had just renovated his front porch on his own. It was really bad and withered when Michael first moved in. (This is his old family house that got abandoned after his father disappeared.)

The short haired brunette man, Sammy licks his lemonade flavoured icy pole and sighed in satisfaction. He could feel his tank top sticking on his body like glue with sweats rolling down at his back. "Damn, it's so hot today." The man said.

Michael sipped on his juice. His usual gelled hair is now messy and wet from sweat. His whole body is covered in sweat. He'd take his shirt off right now but Sammy is sitting next to him. He doesn't want Sammy to feel uncomfortable having him shirtless around him.

For now, he has to deal with his blue short sleeved t-shirt sticking onto his body. 

"I don't get it, Sammy. Why are we sitting on my porch when we could sit inside with the air conditioner running? It is way better than sitting here with the heat on our faces." The older man said. Sammy shrugged. "I don't know, man. I don't like sitting inside your house."

"What. Why? Is there something wrong with my house?" Michael asked.

"First of all, it reminds me of your dad a lot. Second of all, you have photos of my sister hanging on your wall. You're gonna make me really sad." Sammy said. Michael raised an eyebrow, "Those are our family photos. That is why I have them hung on the wall. You really made it sound like I had a crush on your sister when she was way younger than me." Michael said.

"That's not the point, Mikey."

"Ah, sorry. I guess I'll put the photos down for your comfort."

"Don't worry about it."

Both men went silent as they were reminded of the tragedies that happened years, that changed their lives forever.

Sammy losing his twin sister, Charlie and Michael losing his whole family from his father's murderous activities. 

Sammy finishes off his icy pole and places the stick next to him. "By the way, Mikey. How old are you?" Sammy turns to the dark brunette sitting next to him. Who is also trying to push his hair back because of his fringes sticking on his forehead.

"Pardon?" 

"Damn, you're so British." Sammy laughed. "Oh, shut it." Michael frowned.

"I was asking, how old are you?" Sammy asked again. 

Michael pauses a bit before answering, "26. Why do you ask?" 

"You're way older than me so I bet you have more experience, right?" Sammy asked.

"With work? Yes." Michael nodded. "No, I mean when it comes to relationships." Sammy said.

Michael stared at the light brunette, "Do… I look like a lady's man?" He asked, genuinely confused. Sammy shrugged as an answer, "I mean you do have the looks." He said.

That made Michael chuckled. He covered his mouth with his hand and looked away as he chuckled. The small chuckles turned into a big laugh. Sammy felt flustered and confused, "What?"

"Oh, Sammy. You put high expectations on me." Michael said as he tried to control his laughter. "Wha- How is that funny?"

"I don't know why is that humourous. The fact that you thought I'd get girls. I mean, you're right in a way but I have never been in a relationship before. Well, not a proper one." Michael said as he took another sip of his juice.

Sammy looked at him with curiosity written all over his face. "Do tell." He said.

Michael placed his glass next to him, "Well… It all started when I was 15. All of my classmates were talking about relationships, this and that. I was listening. I was there. They pulled me into the conversation but honestly, I wasn't interested." He shook his head. "One day, a girl confessed to me that she liked me so I took the opportunity to date her. To see for myself whether I'm interested with dating but unfortunately, I wasn't. I felt no connection at all with her. She was beautiful, kind and her kisses were soft but unfortunately for me, I felt no attraction towards her nor did I have feelings for her. We broke up after a few weeks of dating and that made me question myself, Am I into men? I tried finding attraction towards men as well but there was nothing. I felt nothing so I came to my conclusion that I do not want to think about relationships at all. I'd rather focus on myself and I have zero attractions towards everyone." Michael said.

Sammy nodded at his story, "So, that's why you're still single now."

"Absolutely. I always thought there was something wrong with me but then I thought to myself, nah. I'm just not interested. I can't force myself to be interested nor bothered by it. Life is short. I'd rather live for myself." Michael said.

"Wise words from a wise old man." Sammy chuckled. Michael looked at him with a stern look, "Shut it. I'm not that old." He grumbled. Sammy playfully stick a tongue out. "By the way, how's your relationship with your partner?" Michael asked.

"Me with Angelica? Yeah, we're good." Sammy nodded. "I'm taking her out for a movie date tonight." Sammy said. "Romantic." Michael chuckled. "You'd like to join?" The younger man smirked at the older one.

"What the hell?! No!" Michael protested which made Sammy laughed. "Joking. Joking. Sheesh, loosen up, pal!" Sammy patted Michael's back. 

"By the way, don't you feel lonely here?" Sammy asked. "Ya know, living in a big house on your own."

Michael went silent.

He does feel lonely but what else he can so? He can find someone to live with him but at the same time, he doesn't want a stranger to be touching all of his family's stuff.

Michael honestly misses his family.

He misses his mother, father, sister and brother.

"What else I can do? I'm stuck like this and plus, I'm not entirely alone." Michael said as he smiled at Sammy. He put his arm around Sammy's shoulder. "I do have you." Michael grinned.

Sammy grinned back at him.

Even though Michael lost his family but at least Sammy is there. Sammy is like a little brother to him so Michael cares about him a lot and the same goes to Sammy.

Even though Michael used to tease him a lot when he was little until he cried, even though Michael used to bully him as a child, Sammy still cares for Michael.

They only have each other for now.

These two brothers who will always support one another.

Chapter Text

Henry was called to Michael's hospital. Nothing too serious. 

The one who made the call was Mark, wanting to discuss with Henry about the future of Fazbear Entertainment after Fazbear Frights got burned down by Michael.

Henry could tell how stressed Mark is feeling and Mark suggested to Henry that they should file a lawsuit to Michael.

Henry told him not to, he wants to settle this on his own.

He opened the door to Michael's room and walked in.

He could see Paul and Mark standing in front of Michael's bed while Michael is sitting up, staring at the other two men.

Perhaps they were having a conversation. 

Mark turned to Henry and sighed, "Mr Emily. You're here."

"Did I take a long time to arrive? I'm sorry. I'm an old man so I move so slow." Henry chuckled. "Good morning, Paul." Henry smiled at the other man in the room. "Morning, boss." Paul replied.

"And good morning to you, Michael." Henry nodded at him. Michael smiled at Henry, "Morning."

Henry could hear Mark clearing his throat and walked next to Henry, "Not only did he use a fake name to work with us, he also burned down the place. I think we have the right to file a lawsuit against him." Mark said.

Henry looked at Mark in silence while Michael just shrugged his shoulders. "But boss, didn't Hudso- I mean, Michael said he did it for self-defense? Look at him. He's all beaten up thanks to that animatronic." Paul said. Only Paul can understand Michael since he had the experience being face to face with Springtrap.

"Zip it, Paul." Mark growled. Henry waved a hand in front of Mark, "Calm down now. Let me settle this."

"It is true that it's a crime to use fake names and ruin private property but I will let Michael go for this." Henry said. Mark looked shocked. He quickly turned to Henry, "Wait what?! I lost a lot of my money trying to create Fazbear Frights and you just want this criminal to run scott free?!" 

"You don't have to worry about your investment. I will pay you back." Henry said.

Michael sighed from relief but then Mark glared at him which made Michael raise both of his hands to his chest.

"Also, there's something I'd like to announce." Henry said as he walked next to Michael and placed a hand on his shoulder. Michael looked at him with curiosity, not knowing what was going on right now.

"I'm going to pass my business to Michael." Henry said.

Paul, Mark and Michael gasped. "What?! That easily?!" Mark yelled.

"Calm down, Mark. Let me explain to you why. If you look at Michael, do you think he looks familiar? I'm sure you have seen the old photos of Fazbear Entertainment." Henry said.

Mark looked at Michael. Michael just smiled at him, "Now that you mention it, he does look familiar but I don't know why." Mark said, tapping his chin.

Henry looked at Michael, "Is it okay if I tell them your name?" 

Michael shrugged, "I hate the name but you can tell them." Henry nodded at the reply.

"Michael's real name is Michael Afton. Well, formerly known as Michael Afton before he changed his name." Henry said. 

Mark's jaw dropped but Paul just stood there in silence and confusion. "Who?" The younger guy tilted his head. "T-The Afton. Um… William Afton was Mr Emily's business partner- The co-founder of Fazbear Entertainment and the founder of Afton Robotics- Ah- Wait, is this true?" Mark asked Michael, finally facing him with no hostility. 

Michael nodded at him, "That is true. My name is Michael Afton. William Afton's oldest son. A lot of people said I look like him." Michael said.

Mark put a hand on his forehead, "They were right. You do look like him."

Michael turned away with a sad face, "Unfortunately."

"I'm sorry for being rude to you, sir. I didn't know!"

"Please don't call me sir."

"But you're Michael Afton . The heir of the company-"

"Just because I'm William Afton's son, that doesn't mean you need to show that much of a respect to me and also to my father. Do remember the crimes he had committed. He deserves no respect at this point." Michael said as he scolded Mark, remembering that he is the eldest one and not Mark. Mark looked down to his feet, "Ah, sorry."

Paul just stared at Michael in disbelief, "Dude, so does that mean… you're also our boss?" 

Michael shook his head, "No. Never have been."

"He's been avoiding the company and his real identity because he wants to get away from the media. You could tell how hard it is to live when you have to carry your father's burden." Henry said. Michael nodded at what he said, a sign showing that Henry was right.

"But now, you will be taking over the business. Do whatever you want." Henry said, patting Michael's shoulder. Michael just stayed in silence. His eyes are staring at the end of his bed and he's not moving at all. Possibly thinking about the business or whatever Henry said.

Once they're done discussing the future of the company, Mark and Paul politely leave the room, leaving both Henry and Michael alone in the room.

Henry said on a chair next to Michael's bed and he sighed from relief. "Ah, finally. I can sit." He chuckled.

He eyed Michael, who is still lost in his thoughts. So, Henry cleared his throat to get Michael's attention.

"So, when are they going to discharge you?" Henry asked. Michael turned to Henry with a straight face, "Tomorrow, hopefully."

"Ah, that's exciting. Amery is waiting for you." Henry chuckled.

"Uncle Henry?"

"Yes, son?"

"Are you sure about this?"

Henry blinked, "Of course I am. Amery misses you-"

"That's not what I meant." Michael shook his head. "The company. Are you sure you're handing it to me? Can you trust me?" Michael asked with a concerned look. Henry smiled at him and placed a hand on his shoulder, "I trust you more than myself. Your… father put you as the heir of the company and I agreed with the idea as well. I wanted you and Charlie to run the company together but… Well…" Henry shook his head, "You're suitable for this role. Isn't that what you've been wanting ever since you were little?"

Michael went silent. 

"I know you will do great. One step at the time. I'll be there to guide you so you don't have to worry about it." Henry said as he placed a hand on the younger man's shoulder. "And besides, with you being the restaurant manager, you're able to bring Amery in the restaurant and spend time with her as you do work in the restaurant. How's that idea?" Henry asked. Michael stared at the end of his bed.

To him, it is a good idea. He can look after Amery while he works. He can also show Amery how his childhood looks like. He's able to introduce his childhood to his daughter and if there's a chance, he'd like to show Foxy to Amery. He bet Amery would love him a lot. The only problems for him right now:

• Can he become a restaurant manager?
• Is it safe for Amery to be around with the animatronics?

Last time a child was around an animatronic, she got killed… To be fair, that's because Circus Baby was built to kill and she killed his sister.

William didn't plan on that to happen but tragedy fell on his lap.

Perhaps the animatronics can be safe around Amery. Michael has to check on them before putting them on display and plus, Henry will be there helping him out so perhaps he can up his safety in the restaurant.

Yeah, sounds nice. 

Or perhaps he could ask Henry for his face recognition animatronics? Michael has to think through this.

"You can think about the restaurant after you've been discharged from the hospital. For now, please get some rest." Henry said, patting the brunette's shoulder. Michael looked at Henry and nodded his head.

Henry is right. He should think about it later when he's at home.

First, he needs to recover so he can finally go back to Amery.

Poor kid really misses Michael. Michael misses her too.

Michael has an idea.

He wants the pizzeria to be Amery's playground.

That's right.

He will try his best to make the place safe and fun for Amery. 

That's his goal.

The next day,

Little Amery is sitting in front of the TV, watching some cartoons that Angelica left for her to watch while she's busy doing houseworks.

Nobody is at home except for her and Angelica.

Sammy is at work, Henry is out to settle some businesses and Derek is obviously at school.

The TV then showed a show about a single father raising his daughter and that made Amery giggle. "Me with daddy." She pointed at the screen but then her smile turned into a frown. She misses her dad. She hasn't seen her dad for a few days now. Where could he possibly be?

The last time she saw him, he was hurt. Amery started tearing up thinking about what happened to her dad. He was all wrapped up like a zombie!

But Amery mentally slapped herself.

Don't cry! Stop crying! You're not a crybaby. You need to stay strong for daddy!

Amery nodded to her thoughts. She wiped her tears away and held her tears.

Not long after that, she heard the doorbell ring. Amery stood up and stared at the door while she heard Angelica from across the room, "Coming!" She said as she quickly walked to the door from the laundry room. Angelica looked at the hole in the door and smiled. She opened the door, "Michael, you're back!"

Amery ran towards the door and when she saw her dad smiling at her and Angelica, her dad looking better than before, Amery jumped on him and hugged him. Michael hugged his little fluff ball back and carried her in his arm. "I'm home." Michael said, kissing her daughter's cheek. Amery buried her face on Michael's shoulder, missing the warmth of her dad.

"Daddy, I miss you."

"I miss you too, sweetie."

Angelica smiled at them. She knows how Michael needs Amery and Amery needs Michael to complete each other. They're very attached to each other. Angelica is glad to know that Michael has been treating Amery like his own daughter. She knew that Michael would be the best dad for Amery.

"Would you like to come in?" Angelica asked. Michael looked at her and smiled, "Oh, yeah. Good idea." Angelica and Michael walked in. Michael sat on the couch, placing his bag next to him while Amery sat on his lap. Michael played with Amery's hair and she giggled. "You need a haircut, Amy." He said, holding Amery's fringes lightly before letting them go. "Hair covers my eyes! Annoying!" Amery said, pouting. Michael nodded, "Absolutely."

Michael didn't realise Angelica went to the kitchen to get him a cup of coffee. She came back with a tray containing a cup of coffee and some cookies for Michael to eat. She placed it on the coffee table in front of Michael, "Here you go. For someone who just got out of the hospital." Angelica said. "How are you now?" Angelica asked. Michael leaned forward, still with Amery on his lap, he grabbed the coffee from the coffee table. "Yeah, I'm feeling better now."

"So, I heard you were horribly beaten up."

"Yeah, I was. A group of guys broke in and they beat me up and set the place on fire."

"Oh, dear." Angelica shook her head. It seems that Sammy didn't tell her the full story or a real story. She only knew that Michael was hospitalised because he got beaten up and Fazbear Frights was on fire.

"Anyway, I'm gonna go get lunch ready and clean up Sara and Ralph's rooms. They're coming home for the weekends." Angelica said excitedly. Michael chuckled, "I'm sure you're so excited to see your children." 

"Of course!" Angelica said, doing a little dance before she went to the kitchen, leaving Michael and Amery alone. Amery leaned on her dad's chest as her dad drank the coffee that Angelica made.

Michael's eyes laid on the TV, "You're watching cartoons, Amy?"

"Yeah, it's about a daddy taking care of his daughter. Just like me and you!" Amery said, nuzzling on her dad's chest. Michael placed the mug down and patted her head. "That's so cute… Hey, I have good news for you." 

Two blue innocent eyes looked at Michael. Michael smiled at the girl, "I'll be home a lot for a while so both of us can spend time together like always~" Michael said. Amery jumped off Michael's lap as she jumped from excitement, "Yay! More time with daddy! More time with daddy!!" She said happily. "We can go to the park! We can get ice cream!!" She continued.

Michael just watched his daughter jumping from excitement. He smiled at her . Oh, my beautiful and adorable fluff ball. What will I do without you?

Sometimes he wonders how his life would be without Amery.

He'd be lonely and perhaps more reckless.

Amery keeps him company and also the reason for Michael to keep on going. Amery is his serotonin.

Sometimes he thought to himself, he was proud of himself for raising Amery well. He never imagined himself being a father and he always thought he would end up being negligent just like his father but thankfully for him, he knew what he needed to do and what he needed to avoid.

He wants to raise Amery well with love and happiness. He wants to give Amery everything she wants.

Amery is the only treasure in his life.

Michael was pulled out from his thoughts when the TV showed the news.

Today on 9, the upcoming horror interaction that everyone was looking forward to, Fazbear Frights was burned down by an irresponsible individual. 

"It had to be done." Michael whispered. Amery stared at the screen and then she turned to her dad. "Is that your work?" She asked. What she meant was that Michael's workplace.

Michael nodded. "Yeah, it got burned down so I don't have to work anymore."

Michael stared at the picture of a black and white Freddy toy on screen. Behind the toy, there's only a black background but he swore to himself he could make an outline for something standing behind the toy. He wondered what it was.

Michael pulled out his mobile phone and checked the internet for the photo on the news tab of Google.

He raised the brightness of his phone.

His eyes slowly turned wide and his hands were trembling. 

He saw it.

The outline.

It's not just any outline.

It's an outline of a Bonnie animatronic.

Springtrap, to be specific. 

A bonnie with one ear. It has to be Springtrap.

His father survived the fire. He is out to get him.

He is out to get Henry.

He is out to get Amery.

He is going to kill them all.

"Okay, time to talk business."

Henry said as both him and Michael were sitting in Henry's office… Or a garage. Henry turned his garage into an office where he did his robotic stuff and where he kept all of his files and blueprints.

Michael went home earlier in the day and came back for dinner because Henry invited him for dinner and business talk.

He also needed to hand Michael William's documents that he found at the pizzeria.

Michael sat on a chair silently, looking at Henry who was reaching for documents from his filing cabinets. 

"Before we do that… Can we talk about something?" Michael asked. Henry turned around and raised an eyebrow, "What is it?"

Michael pulled out his mobile phone and he showed Henry the photo he looked at earlier, which now has its brightness up. You can see Springtrap clearly in the background now.

Henry took Michael's phone and looked closely at the photo. Henry gasped a little before returning the device to Michael. "Oh, he survived the fire."

"Do you think he's coming to get us? I… I don't want that to happen!" Michael said with concern. Henry stayed silent. He placed Michael the documents he promised to give him and then he folded his arms. "Well, it looks like we should lure him somewhere and then finish him off. I have to be honest with you…" Henry looked away. "Did you know that Charlie had been possessing the puppet? The one in the pizzeria."

Michael stared at Henry in disbelief. 

Wait, really? Is that the reason why he could hear whispers whenever he went close to the box that kept the puppet inside. The whispers that haunt him forever.

It's me.

Charlie was probably trying to tell Michael that it's her inside the puppet.

Mikey, it's me, Charlie!

He could hear the little girl called for her now that he thought about it. 

"T-That was… Charlie?" Michael looked at Henry with wide eyes. Sadness can only be seen on Henry's face. "Yes. It's her. Don't tell Sammy about this. If he knows about this, he'll hunt her down and bring her back. I know how much he misses Charlie. Other than me who was broken from Charlie's death, Sammy had it worse too. According to his mother, Sammy refused to speak or eat after her funeral." Henry said.

"They're twins after all. They complete each other." Michael said, looking at the document in front of him. He flipped the document open and the word 'Remnant' caught his eyes.

"This'll make a great bedtime story." Michael joked. "It's… Interesting of some sort but also disgusting." Henry said. "I've read a bit of it and I… don't like the idea." 

"Now you piqued my interest." Michael took the document and started reading a paragraph. "So, it can grant you immortality. That's what the old man said to me before he beat me up to a pulp." Michael said as he put the document down on the desk.

"Anyway, we should think of a way to lure your father and Charlie so we can release their souls." Henry said, scratching his head. "Wait." Michael placed his hands on the table, "What happened to Charlie?"

"She… escaped from the pizzeria after it got abandoned. I guess she was looking for your father. You know, to get her revenge." Henry said. "I want to bring her back and release her soul. I want her to be laid to rest. Not like this."

Michael nodded. He agreed with Henry. Honestly, he really wants to get rid of his father too. One, because he is a danger to the world and two, part of him, deep down, he still loves his father and he wants his father to be put to rest too and that reminds him of something…

His sister is still on the loose. Perhaps he could try to lure her as well and put her spirit to rest too.

"What about Elizabeth?" Michael asked. Henry raised an eyebrow to the younger brunette. "What do you mean?"

"Have I not told you that… My sister is possessing an animatronic called Circus Baby? Well, was. She's now an amalgamation of god knows what. She referred to herself as Ennards now. I guess." Michael said, shrugging his shoulders. Henry shook his head from disbelief, "Why is this happening…"

"Elizabeth got clawed into Circus Baby and that's how she possessed the animatronic." Michael said.

"And your father didn't know about this?"

"Probably took him months to realise… or Maybe years." Michael shrugged again. "Hold on… Wasn't the pizza place closed down due to a gas leak? Was that true?" Michael asked. Henry just stared at Michael as he tried to recollect his memories of that day.

"Your father was the one who did the report so I don't know." Henry said. "That's suspicious…" Michael leaned on his chair. "He probably knew Elizabeth died in the animatronic and made a fake claim that there was a gas leak so the place closed down on that day." Michael gritted his teeth. He slammed a fist on the desk, "That fucking monster!" He yelled.

Suddenly, both Henry and Michael heard the door knob rattling. They turned around to see Sammy slowly opening the door to his father's office, "Is… everything okay here?" Sammy asked with concerned hints in his voice. Michael stayed quiet because he was worried that Sammy probably heard what he and Henry were talking about Charlie.

"Everything is okay, son. Have you been standing there the whole time?" Henry asked, masking his concern with a calm smile. "No, I just got here and then I heard Mikey's voice." Sammy said. Michael shook his head and gave the younger man a reassuring smile, "Everything is fine here, Sammy. Don't worry. I'm not going to kill your dad or anything." Michael joked.

Sammy just frowned at him. "Now you're making me worried." He said.

Henry laughed, "Oh, Sammy. You're such a worrywart."

Sammy flushed from embarrassment, "Okay, listen. It sounded like you guys were arguing!" Sammy pouted. "Oh, believe me. I wouldn't argue with your dad. I know for sure that I will lose to the argument." Michael laughed. 

"Son, we were talking about business." Henry said, still chuckling. "Doesn't sound like it." Sammy frowned again.

"The business here is to get rid of my father. That's why things become serious here." Michael said, waving his mobile phone around. "What are you talking about?" Sammy blinked in confusion.

"Take a look for yourself." Michael handed his mobile phone when Sammy approached him. Sammy looked at the photo that Michael showed Henry earlier and gasped. "O-Oh…" 

"Yup."

"I thought you've burned him-"

"I did but he survived." Michael said with a serious expression. "All of us are in danger now. He can appear at the back of your house in any minute. We need to stay vigilant." Michael said.

Henry folded his arms again, "We need to think of something tomorrow. I will plan something out and put it on the table for you to see." He said.

"Same goes for me." Michael nodded.

"Do you need my help?" Sammy asked. Michael shook his head, "Not for now. Once we have things planned out, we might need your help." Michael said. "Say, you're working at an advertising company, right?" Michael asked. 

"Yeah." Sammy answered.

"Yeah, we totally need your help once everything has been arranged." Michael said as he nodded to his idea.

Tomorrow will be the day that Henry and him will put an idea together for them to lure their animatronic family members and then set them free but first, Michael needs to read his father's documents so he can understand what remnants are.

Perhaps the procedure to get rid of these possessed animatronics is in the folder? Michael doesn't know. He needs to read them tonight during his free time.

No TV for tonight. Only brainstorming.

Chapter Text

"Remnants are harvested from possessed metal." Michael said as he leaned on Henry's desk. "What the bloody hell is this? This sounds like something that comes out from a fantasy book!" Michael slapped the document that he was reading.

He actually spent his night reading the documents when Amery went to bed. He spent most of his night with Amery and then he began reading the documents… Which was a bad idea for him because the documents made him confused.

"Well, it looks like it exists in this world." Henry said with his back facing Michael as he busied himself tinkering with an animatronic he is creating. Michael huffed and ran his hand through his hair, "So, if we die, we can possess metals? Is that what it is? Blimey, I'm going mental!" Michael flailed his arms in frustration and confusion. Whatever was written in his father's documents, none of them made sense to him and it's hard for him to understand.

"It is what it is." Henry mumbled, still tinkering with the animatronic he was working on. Michael sat on the desk with his legs crossed. "So, you're telling me that my father is kept alive through souls that were trapped in metals? What the fuck?" Michael waved the documents around in frustration. "That's disgusting!" 

"Mmhm." 

Michael turned towards Henry. "You've been really busy since I came here. What are you working on?" Michael asked as he stood on the floor again. He looked at Henry's desk and he saw a blueprint left open. An animatronic display on the blueprint.

It looks like Toy Freddy but what Michael could see is that the animatronic reminds him of a police officer and it only has one eye open. 

Michael looked at the animatronic that Henry is building. "What is that for?" Michael asked. Henry put down his wrench as he backed away. He wiped his forehead with his arm, "This right here is Lefty. I'll be using him to capture Charlie." Henry explained.

"Lefty?" Michael tilted his head. Henry nodded. "Lure Encapsulate Fuse Transport and Extract. LEFTE or better known as Lefty." Henry explained.

Michael blinked in confusion. "Wha-"

Henry backed away from Lefty as he turned the animatronic on for a test. Michael watched as the chest plate of the animatronic opened. A small claw came out from the inside of the animatronic, small enough to keep the puppet secured inside him while four chains came out from the animatronic as well, probably for extra security.

The animatronic then pulled everything back in him and closed its chest plate before it slumped on the wall, deactivating himself from the test drive.

"That's how he's going to capture the puppet." Henry said. Michael looked at Henry with an amazed expression. "That- That was amazing, uncle Henry!" Michael exclaimed. Henry chuckled, "Thank you. I still need to do some adjustments before I can release him to the wild… Or any abandoned pizzeria. I don't know where Charlie is but I hope she's not too far." Henry said, looking down to his feet with a sad smile. Michael approached the elder and placed a hand on his shoulder. "I'm sure she's close by."

"Now," Henry brushed the hand away from his shoulder which made Michael frown. "Are you going to build your own animatronic?" Henry asked with a smile. "I know you've graduated from your robotic course. I didn't get the chance to see your creations when you were in university." Henry said.

Michael just stayed silent. None of his creations were amazing, from what he remembers. They were only created from garbage that he could find. 

What did he name all of them? Trash and the gang?

He still kept them. They're all in his garage back at home.

Henry raised an eyebrow with a smile still on his face, waiting for Michael to answer him.

"Well… They were made from rubbish I found back at my campus." Michael said. "They're not that amazing anyway." Michael scratched the back of his neck. Henry shook his head, "Bring them here and I will judge them myself and plus, we can do some adjustments and upgrades on them too. I will help you. I am a robotic genius myself." Henry winked playfully at him.

Michael chuckled, "I trust you. Okay, I'll bring them in tomorrow. Hoping that I didn't throw them away." Michael said. 

"So for the pizza place or restaurant, do we have a location for it?" Michael asked. Henry tapped his chin, "Well, the old diner is still not being used and it is still there till this day so why don't we use that?" Henry asked.

Michael stared at Henry. 

A place that existed and abandoned for over 50 years is still standing till this day without the government or the council wanting to get their hands on the land? How is that even possible? 

What did Henry do to prevent those rat bastards from interfering with Henry's property?

Michael did remember that the council wanted to get rid of Michael's old family house but Michael had to fight them in court. Luckily for him, he won and the house is now Michael's forever.

"I know what you're thinking. I had my ways of keeping that property from the greedy bastards." Henry smirked. "Anyway, I will get the pizza place built for you. All you need to do now is plan your way. Like, what is your focus for the pizza place? Would you like an animatronic in there? How many games would you like to put in your place and also, the theme of your pizza place." Henry explained to him.

"Bringing back the 80's would be nice." Michael nodded at his own idea. "I'll do more brainstorming tonight."

"Also… Would you like an assistant?" Henry asked. "I don't think I'm able to hire one at the moment." Michael shook his head. Henry chuckled, "Michael, Michael." He shook his head. "We live in the year of 2023. You can have a robot to be your assistant. Why don't you build one?" Henry patted his shoulder.

"I don't know, uncle. I think that'd be difficult-"

"Oh, nonsense. You can use my workshop to build whatever you want. We're now kinda business partners so you're welcome to use my workshop whenever you want and I can help you with whatever you need help with!" Henry said.

Michael smiled.

This brings back a lot of memories for him. He remembers watching both his father and Henry working and building an animatronic in Henry's workshop. He remembers the time when he first laid his eyes on Foxy.

He was excited. He was inspired.

From that day on, he told himself he wanted to become just like his uncle Henry and his father.

A robotic genius.

He shouldn't throw this opportunity away. He should let Henry help him around with building animatronics and do robotic stuff. He can learn a lot from Henry. 

He shouldn't refuse this offer.

Michael nodded at Henry, "I will go to you when I have something planned to build." Michael said. Henry grinned, "That's what I'm talking about, boy!" Henry ruffled Michael's hair. Both of them laughed.

"Please! I'm no longer a child, uncle. I'm old!" Michael chuckled. "If you're old then that makes me ancient!" Henry laughed.

Both of them spend their time bonding. The room filled with laughter and excitement for the pizza place that Michael will be managing.

They're finally catching up with each other.

They're finally talking to each and spending time with each other like old times.

At home,

Michael is sitting on the couch with a mini table on his lap as he starts sketching an animatronic that he'd like to build as his assistant.

Something round… Something cute… A bear perhaps? A version of Freddy but more adorable than scary looking. 

How small should he be? The size of a baby? That'd be impossible for the robot to help him around the pizza place.

How about the same height as Amery?

Speaking of Amery, she's sitting next to her dad, leaning on him while her eyes are focused on the TV. Michael gave her the permission to binge watch her favourite cartoon.

Dora the explorer or something like that.

Michael realised that Amery would perk up whenever she saw Swiper the Fox. She really loves foxes.

Michael should talk to Henry about making a new Foxy for the pizza place for Amery. He was sure that Amery would love it so much.

Amery sat up and climbed her dad's shoulder, "Daddy, what are you doing?" She asked. Michael smiled at her, "I'm drawing a robot for my new restaurant." Michael said.

Amery looked at the sketch and giggled, "He's adorable!"

A chubby looking bear sketched on Michael's paper. The bear looks exactly like Freddy but with two bucked teeth. He has a black top hat, a black bow tie and two buttons on his chest.

"You think so? Thank you. He's going to be my helper when I'm working in my restaurant. Now, I only need a name for him…" Michael tapped the end of his pencil to his chin as his brain works itself to think of a name. 

"Fun bear!" Amery exclaimed.

"That's cute, Amy but a little shorter." 

Michael hummed. "Polar? No, that's ridiculous." Michael shook his head. Amery looked at the sketch again, "Chubby?" Amery asked. "Adorable, yes but do you have any other suggestions?"

Michael felt silly asking a three years old's suggestion and making her do all the work but then again, he did the same too with his father and Foxy.

"Daddy, you said he's your helper so what if… Helpy?" Amery tilted her head. Michael smiled at her, "Helpy… Oh, that's a wonderful idea!" Michael exclaimed. He pulled Amery close and kissed her cheek, "I love it, Amy! Helpy! His name is Helpy." Michael said happily as he wrote the name next to the sketch.

"Thank you for naming him for me." Michael smiled. Amery giggled, "You're welcome~"

Amery sat on the couch again and snuggled next to her dad. "Daddy, can we bring Marco to your restaurant?" Amery asked. Michael smiled at her, "Of course. If his parents agree with it… or his grandfather." 

The light bulb in his head lights up. Right! He can probably hire Jeremy for graphic design. He remembers Jeremy told him in one of their text messages that he's now a graphic designer. He could help Michael with logo designing, etc. He should let Henry know about this.

Everything is all set. He just needs to lay this down on the table for Henry to see. Everything is all planned out and he's excited for the restaurant but then he remembered something that's so important.

How are they going to lure his father and Elizabeth and free their souls? He hasn't asked Henry about that yet.

He should. He really should.

He should bring it up tomorrow when he is at Henry's house again for a discussion. 

Amery yawned next to him and Michael turned around to see his daughter rubbing her eyes. "Tired?" He asked. Amery nodded slowly. 

Michael placed the table down to the floor as he carried his daughter to his room.

Amery has her own room and bed but Amery prefers to sleep with her dad nowadays. Michael doesn't know why. Maybe she just misses her dad too much to the point of not wanting to let him go?

Well, it's okay but Michael needs to encourage her to sleep on her own again.

Before Michael placed Amery down on the bed, he sat in his bed with Amery in his arms. He laid her in his arms like he's holding a baby and he rocked her. 

Amery yawned and rubbed her eyes but she still had the energy to talk, "Daddy, sing song for me?"

Michael smiled. He started singing a lullaby that his mother used to sing to him when he was unable to sleep due to nightmares.

He remembered it too well.

He was scared of the dark and he kept getting nightmares when he was around Amery's age so his mother would sit on his bed and sing him a lullaby to lull him to sleep.

It worked a lot.

And it's working on Amery too.

Michael watched as the girl slowly closed her eyes. He kissed her on the forehead and laid her down on the bed, placing her Foxy plush toy in her arms before he got off the bed.

He decided to do a little cleaning in the living room before he went to bed.

Tomorrow is another productive day for him.

More planning, more brainstorming and he needs to ask Henry about how to get rid of the two… or three, including Charlie, haunted animatronics. 

Morning came by, Michael prepared breakfast for Amery and him. Sunny side up with bacon.

Once they're finished with their breakfast, Michael spends his time cleaning the house while Amery is left with papers and crayons, doodling at the dining table. 

While Michael is vacuuming the floor, he peaks over Amery's shoulder. He can see a drawing of a red creature with bushy tail and an eyepatch, assuming that's Foxy but this Foxy looks different. He has a star on his chest and a green bird on his shoulder. 

Michael had an idea. If Amery is going to give that drawing to him, he can ask Henry to build that into an animatronic. It won't take a while… Right?

Right?

Now he has a better idea. What if Henry and him remaster the design of the original gang? They should give Bonnie, Chica, Freddy and Foxy a new look now that a new Freddy restaurant is opening up.

A new and improved Freddy Fazbear Pizzeria.

Hm… No.

"Freddy Fazbear Pizza Place." Michael said to Henry as they both sat in Henry's workshop. "So, that's the shop's name?" Henry asked. Michael nodded at him, "And also, I have an idea. We should hire a graphic designer who can design a logo for us and I have the right person we can hire." Michael said.

"Do you remember Jeremy Fitzgerald?" Michael asked.

"Ah, that security guard that got into an accident. I remember him." Henry nodded. "I paid for his hospital bill."

 "What if we hire him as our graphic designer? He's a graphic designer now." Michael said. "Probably freelance."

Henry smiled at him. He took out an empty book. On the front page, he wrote Freddy Fazbear Pizza Place with a big font size. He flipped on the next page and wrote:

Ideas:

• Hire Jeremy Fitzgerald as graphic designer.

"Anything else?" Henry asked. 

"Write down, 80's theme." Michael said. Henry nodded as he began to write. "Also, I was thinking we should redesign the original Freddy gang." Michael said.

"Freddy, Chica, Bonnie and Foxy?" Henry asked. "Yeah. Amery drew something and I want you to look at it." Michael showed him the drawing that Amery did earlier. Henry took the drawing and smiled, "I'll build the animatronics while you and Amery design them. How about that?" Henry asked.

Michael nodded in agreement, "Good idea."

Ideas:

• Hire Jeremy Fitzgerald as graphic designer.
• 80's Theme.
• Redesign original Freddy gang.
• Use Michael's old robots as placeholders.

Michael stared at the last thing Henry wrote. He looked at Henry with embarrassment because he didn't want to show the robots he created back when he was in uni.

"Did you bring them?" Henry asked. "Y-Yeah… They're in my car." Michael scratched his cheek nervously. "Let's forget about that for now- I have designed my assistant." Michael pulled out a sketch of Helpy and gave it to Henry. 

Henry nodded, "So, another Freddy?"

"Since that's our company's mascot and also, his name is Helpy. Amery helped me to name him." Michael smiled.

Henry chuckled, "It looks like dear Amery is a contributor as well! Alright, we will build Helpy as soon as we can and I will start building the Freddy gang's frames and such. Now, as for the construction, I have hired a company to renovate the old diner and add new things in the diner. Perhaps enlarge the place too. I'll be meeting up with them tomorrow so I can discuss with them about the floor plan and such. You should come along since this is your restaurant." Henry said.

"Sure." Michael nodded.

Michael almost forgot about this important question that has been bothering him,

"Um… Uncle Henry? I have a question."

"What is it?"

"How are we going to free the souls of the animatronics?" 

Henry stayed quiet before he replied, "Have you read everything from the documents?" Henry asked. Michael nodded, "I did but I don't get it."

"So, the procedure is… We need to expose them to high temperatures. In other words, burning them. I will talk to the constructor about this tomorrow, along with fire exits in case the fire goes wild." Henry said.

Michael blinked, "Are you going to burn the whole place down?"

"If it comes to that then yes."

Michael stared at Henry with a straight face.

Then, that would be a waste of money and investment. What was the point of Henry giving Michael the rights to own a restaurant? For them to burn the money away or for them to rebuild a friendly place for children?

"Let's not worry about that yet. For now, think about your restaurant. Now remember your duties, call Jeremy Fitzgerald regarding graphic designing and design the original animatronics. If you have time, survey places that let you buy arcade games from the 80's." Henry said.

"Got it." Michael nodded. "Now, I'll gather materials for you to build Helpy and you should bring in all of those robots you've created back then." Henry smiled. Michael looked away in embarrassment and he sighed. He left the house, went to his car and took out all of the robots one by one.

Looking at them, he can feel embarrassment creeping up to his shoulder. They look so hilarious to him but Amery found them cute.

Michael placed them on a flat trolley that he brought with him and wheeled them to Henry's workshop. Henry stared at the bunch while Michael looked away. 

"So… What are they?" Henry asked.

Michael placed the robot down one by one. He extended his arm, as in presenting them to Henry. "Here they are. Trash and the gang." Michael said, sounding unamused.

Henry laughed. He waved a hand at Michael, "Wait, I'm laughing at the name! The robots are fine but what's with the name?!"

"Because they're made of rubbish." Michael said with a straight face and monotonous voice. He then sighed, "They're not as amazing as what you've created." 

Henry walked closely and inspected one of them. One that caught his eyes is the one with a crate as its body with two googly eyes and two foamed hands on each side.

"This one is adorable. I'm sure children would love it." Henry smiled. "He does nothing except just standing there." Michael said with a frustrated sigh.

"And that, we can upgrade him with a proper metal body with moving hands and robotic eyes." Henry nodded. "Does he have a name?" Henry asked.

"No.1 Crate." 

"Very straightforward. Oh, he should have a voice box that repeatedly says I'm your number 1 fan to children. That would be adorable, don't you think?" Henry looked at Michael who is now smiling at him, "That's what he was supposed to do but I had limited access to materials when I created him."

"So, that's our plan. Upgrading No.1 Crate." Henry wrote down on his paper and what they should do for the crate. "Now,"

Henry pointed his pencil on a vacuum cleaner with two plastic arms and googly eyes. "This one?"

"His name is Mr Hugs." Michael said. "He gives children hugs! Again, robotic eyes, arms that can move around. Maybe I should lower the volume of the vacuum cleaner so it doesn't scare children or give children discomfort and sensory overload." Henry nodded, writing down the ideas on his paper again.

The progress went on and on with Michael introducing his old robots and Henry giving ideas on how to upgrade them.

And then they moved to Helpy.

Michael decided to make Helpy the same size as Amery so it'll be easy for him to help Michael around with small stuff and also writing stuff… Do math, maybe? What if Helpy is his accountant?

Michael laughed at the idea.

When Michael gives Henry the ideas for Helpy's appearance, he slowly realises that he gave Henry Funtime Freddy's colours.

Helpy is going to look like Funtime Freddy. Oh that's a bad idea but Michael shook his head. 

It's okay. At least he knows that Helpy is way different than Funtime Freddy. Helpy is going to be a friendly bot who will assist him with everything that he could. He's not a killer animatronic like what his father built.

Henry placed the materials for Michael to create Helpy in front of him. "You can start whenever you want. You can also make a prototype of Helpy first." Henry said.

Michael nodded at the idea. He looked at the materials and smiled.

Wow, he's finally creating a robot from scratch and not from rubbish.

He's finally becoming what he wanted to be when he was little. An inventor. A robot inventor.

He's excited for this. He felt like a little child who just received his Christmas present.

Michael started assembling stuff for Helpy's head. He's so excited about this. 

He can't wait to show Amery his creation.

His daughter is going to be proud of him.

Amery is proud of his dad but Michael wants her to see that her dad is also a robotic genius. 

Michael wants to hear Amery say "My dad made this!" happily.

Just like how he used to say whenever he introduced an animatronic to his friends.

My father made this!

He once said it with excitement and pride but that turned into regret and anger.

That will never happen to Amery. 

He will never follow his father's footstep of creating killer robots.

Never.

Chapter Text

A month after the planning and designing, Michael woke up early to take a look at the location that is soon to be his restaurant. 

He drove himself to the Emily's, dropped Amery off and picked Henry up so they could drive to the old diner- Which will turn into his own pizza place.

Michael and Amery successfully designed the new animatronics and Henry is currently building them and also, Henry has updated Michael's old uni project. They're planning to use Trash and the gang while waiting for the new animatronics being built. Henry named the new ones the "rockstar" animatronics. 

In addition, Michael successfully built Helpy too. Helpy is currently resting in Henry's workshop. Michael will activate him when the time comes.

He already did a test with Helpy and he was working fine.

Michael drove to the old diner with Henry. He's excited and eager to see what the diner will look like. Henry had shown him a blueprint of the renovation for the diner.

Henry expanded the size of the diner and according to Henry, Michael's office will be in the basement. 

God knows why it's in the basement but Michael doesn't mind.

Michael did question Henry about how they're going to destroy the haunted animatronics and Henry just told Michael to wait until they reached the diner and then he will tell Michael all about it.

Michael could see the familiar diner with constructions around it. He parked his car near the diner and both Michael and Henry got out of the car.

"Wow… This… Looks different." Michael said as he looked at the diner. "Yeah, I've told them to upgrade the looks. White building with black flat roof and there will be a huge sign on top of the restaurant's door. I'm just waiting for the sign to be completed. I really love the design that Jeremy did for the sign and logo." Henry said, rubbing his beard. Michael smiled and walked towards the diner with a big smile on his face.

This is going to be his first restaurant but he needs to remind himself to get attached to it because there will be a chance that the place will be burned down to the ground. Henry told Michael before that if he has to burn the place down in order to get rid of the horrific animatronics then he has to do it.

Also that's the reason why Henry didn't want to spend a lot for the renovation because he, himself, doesn't know if the diner will be standing for a long time.

Henry walked up to Michael and patted his shoulder. "Once the renovation is done, we can design the interior and then we are open for business." Henry said.

Michael nodded in agreement.

He's excited for the day to come. Him being a restaurant manager and greeting people.

"I'm gonna be better than my father." Michael said with determination. 

This will be the safest place for children. No murders will happen. Not under Michael's watch.

With Henry's help, Michael installed face recognition on all of the new animatronics so they can easily recognise criminals and quickly contact the authorities. Hopefully it'll work well. 

After spending his time with Henry, Michael decided to pick Amery up and drove to the mall to do some little shoppings.

Michael placed Amery on the child seat of a shopping trolley as he pushed it.

He looks around the mall while Amery is hugging her Foxy plush toy. "Why are we here?" Amery asked.

"To get some fancy clothes for the grand opening of my restaurant! Aren't you excited?" Michael smiled at the fluff ball. Amery nodded at him with a straight face and then she tilted her head, "When will it be ready?"

"Soon." Michael said. Knowing that Amery is only 3 and she doesn't understand what time frames are, he can imagine the little girl asking him the same question everyday. "I will let you know when it will be ready. For now, we're focusing on our clothing." Michael beamed.

Amery smiled back at her father. 

They went inside a clothing store for kids. Michael and Amery looked around for a dress that'd suit Amery.

There were a lot of choices there. Amery had a hard time choosing one and that made Michael want to purchase a few dresses for her.

But then, Amery stopped in front of a dress. The sleeves are fluffy. The top is orange and the skirt is cream. Orange… Amery's favourite colour.

Amery pointed at it excitedly, "Daddy, can I have this please?" She asked excitedly. Michael picked up the hanger that holds the dress. He looked at it and smiled, "Of course."

Amery cheered, "Yay!" She hugged Michael's leg. Since they're in a children's store, Michael took the chance for him to shop some other stuff for Amery. New blouses and t-shirts, pants and also a white hairband with a ribbon on top. Amery will probably look like a bunny if she wears this, Michael chuckled at his own thoughts.

He went up to the cashier to pay for the stuff. "Ah, so today is a shopping trip, eh?" The worker behind the cashier, a blonde ponytail lady smiled at Michael and Amery. "Yeah! Daddy new restaurant is opening soon and I need to dress up for it!" Amery said excitedly. Michael chuckled and patted her head. "Oh, where and what the name is? Oh, don't tell me. Is it the one under construction on the outskirts of the town?" She asked.

Michael nodded, "That's the one." 

She nodded and scanned for the clothes, "Exciting!"

"By the way, are you a single dad?" She asked. Oh wow, she's so nosy, Michael thought.

"Yeah."

"Ah, no wonder. I'm always amazed whenever I see a single parent raise such a wonderful kid. It's almost like… They have magic." She said. "And I'm surprised that you're a single dad… for a good looking person like you are." She said with a hint of flirty tone as she curled her hair, fluttering her eyelashes at Michael. Michael just looked at her with a straight face.

He could hear his little girl grumbling and groaning. "Lady, he is my daddy!" Amery said angrily as she hugged her dad's leg. The lady chuckled and placed all the clothing in an empty paper bag. "Sorry, sorry. I got carried away." She handed the bag to Michael, "Here you go."

Michael took the bag and smiled a little at her before he turned around to pick Amery up. "See you again!" The lady said before the two father and daughter duo left.

He placed Amery back in the trolley and sighed. He's already in his 50's and people are still flirting with him. He placed the bag in the trolley and pushed it to a men's clothing store to pick something up for himself.

He quickly picked a light blue shirt with a yellow vest and black tie and paid for them quickly before someone else flirted with him.

Honest to God, he felt so uncomfortable when people did that. He just doesn't know what to reply or what to do. He always stood in front of the person awkwardly and left awkwardly.

Not really interested in relationships. Please.

Michael sighed mentally.

Once again, Michael was invited for dinner at Emily's again.

He's sitting at the dinner table with his daughter. Across from him seated Derek and his older siblings, Sara and Ralph. Sammy and Angelica are already done with their food while Henry is washing the dishes.

Sara decided to talk to Michael instead of leaving the room in silence. "So, I heard you and gramps are planning to open up a restaurant?" She asked.

Michael looked at her and smiled, "Yeah. It's going smoothly. All we need left is the interior designs and equipment and then we're good to go." 

Sara beamed at him, "You're sitting in front of the best interior design in Utah!" She patted her chest with pride. Michael chuckled.

Sara is Sammy and Angelica's first born. Michael was there when Sara was born. She used to be so attached to Michael as she saw him as her uncle but now she's a grownup, she's too shy to show the same affection as she used to do when she was little but that doesn't stop her from wanting to have a conversation with him and wanting to get involved in his projects or anything.

Sara still treasures Michael as her uncle and she also loves Amery a lot.

Sara is taking interior design as her major. She really loves designing.

In fact, she's the one who designed her parents' house.

The living has a calm and chill vibes with a mix of cream, brown and yellow with plants on one of the corners of the room.

She can design a place with a calm environment to an environment suitable for a party.

Michael likes the idea of hiring her for the interior design so he turned to Henry, "Uncle Henry, what do you think?" 

Henry turned the tap of the sink off and he wiped his hands on one of the cloths hanging near the sink. 

"Oh, that'd be brilliant!" Henry said. But then he remembered that Henry and Michael are planning to burn the place down, if the animatronics they wanted to catch become aggressive.

"Just… Don't put too much effort on it because…" Henry looked away, "We're tight of budget." He said to his granddaughter. Sara frowned, "What? You don't have enough to open up a restaurant?"

Michael understood why Henry said that so he tried to back him up, "That's not it. We… have a lot we want to settle first. Our priorities go to the equipments and to make the place safe. Interior design can wait but I bet you can make the place looks extravagant with only a simple design." Michael playfully winked at Sara, hoping that'll calm her down and to cheer her up. He could tell that her hopes were crushed when Henry told her not to put too much effort to the design.

"Once we're settled in, you're welcome to add into your design. I don't mind at all." Michael continued.

Sara pouted and nodded, "Cool. I accept that."

"You see, Sara. Designs have never been so important for a business. It's the safety of the place that's important." Ralph said, smirking at his older sister. Sara slapped Ralph's arm and stormed off from him, carrying her plate to the sink.

"Ow! What gives?!" Ralph followed his sister as he held his plate. Derek and Amery sat quietly and watched the two siblings having their mini argument.

Uh, daily mini argument. 

Henry just stood next to his grandchildren and listened to their bickering. Henry wanted to chuckle due to how small the problem is that they were bickering about but he doesn't want to anger the pair so he walked away from them.

That's their way to solve a problem and expressing themselves so Henry doesn't see the point of him stopping them from bickering.

Michael stood up from the table and picked up his empty plate with Amery's as well. "I gurss it's time for us to go home. It's getting late now and I need to put Amery to bed soon. It's nearly her bedtime." Michael said as he walked to the sink. He snickered when he stood next to the bickering siblings.

Both of the siblings turned to Michael with a glare so Michael turned away and washed his dishes, pretended that nothing happened.

Michael picked Amery up and walked to the sink to wash her mouth and hands. He took a kitchen towel and wiped her mouth and hands dry before he nibbled on his daughter's cheek playfully.

Amery giggled.

"Time to go home and sleep." Michael said. Amery frowned, "But I wanna stay longer!" She whined. "No, baby. It's time go home. It's nearly your bedtime." Michael said as he walked to the living room. 

"No! I wanna build lego with Derek!" She whined and shook her head. Michael tried to stop her from squirming in his arms as Sammy walked towards the pair, "Amery, dear. You should go home. You can play with Derek again tomorrow. I'm pretty sure your dad is coming here again." Sammy said to the child. 

More like, Michael always goes to the Emily's everyday so he can settle with the robotic stuff with Henry. 

It took Amery a while to nod. She then blinked her eyes and yawned. She wrapped her arms around her dad's neck and rested her head on her dad's shoulder.

Michael patted her back. "She throws tantrum whenever she's tired." Michael whispered to Sammy.

Sammy smiled, "I can see that now."

"Well, I'll see you tomorrow. Do you want me to grab you anything before I come here?" Michael asked Sammy as he picked up Amery's bag on the floor. "Nah, I think we're all good here. Dad is too so don't worry about getting anything for us. Just come over and work on your animatronic stuff." Sammy said, walking with Michael to the front door.

Michael waved his hand at Sammy before leaving the house.

He placed Amery, who is now asleep, on her car seat and her bag on the backseat.

He got in the car and drove back to his place.

On his way to his place,

He felt a sudden excitement as he thought about his restaurant. 

He's going to open up his restaurant soon and he's excited for it!

He will make sure that his patrons will enjoy their stay and he will make sure that the good quality is good for everyone!

He can't wait for the grand opening.

It's going to happen soon.

He's excited for it.

Chapter Text

The time has come. After a couple of months waiting, the restaurant is ready to be opened.

Today marks the day of Freddy Fazbear Pizza Place's grand opening. 

All thanks to Jeremy's logo and flyer designs with Sammy's strategic ways of advertising the restaurant's grand opening, there are a lot of parents and children lining up in front of the restaurant. 

Michael is excited to open the door for his first customers. He really wants everyone to enjoy and be amazed of Sara's interior design for the restaurant.

Simple yet attractive and nostalgic. It totally gives Michael the 80's vibes. The kid knows what she was doing when she planned out for the decoration.

The Emily, Michael and Amery are in the restaurant, getting ready for the opening and oh, they even hired staff as well! Kitchen hands, a cashier behind the prize corner and all that jazz. They're totally ready for the opening!

Henry disappeared for a bit but he came back to the group as he pulled his sleeves down. He had them rolled up for some reason. Michael looked at him and tilted his head, "Were you doing something?"

"Yeah, I was setting up Mr Hippo. Ya know… For story time."

Oh, right. Mr Hippo. Michael shudders as he remembers the hippo animatronic's stories that he had to listen to for hours and hours as a child whenever William needed to distract Michael from causing troubles in the diner.

That wasn't fun at all.

Anyway,

The Emily's are dressed in formal yet comfortable outfits. Let's say… Outfits that enable them to have fun and yet look professional.

Henry is dressed in his old outfit that he used to wear at the diner. Yellow long sleeve shirt with black vest on top, a black coloured bow tie with black slacks while Michael wore the clothes he bought the other day. Light blue long sleeve shirt with yellow vest, a black necktie and black slacks. Also, he even had a mask on his head. A white bear mask with a smiley face on it. Amery made it for him so it can give him more of a kid friendly vibe.

Not that he wasn't to begin with.

Anyway,he is ready to open the door to greet his customers.

The same goes to Amery. Amery, wearing the dress that her father bought for her. She's jumping in joy and excitement. You can see the ribbon on top of her head flops up and down as she jumps.

"Daddy! Daddy! Open the door! I want to say hi to them!" Amery jumped and flailed her arms around, excitedly. Michael chuckled, "Oh, my little fluff ball. You're so adorable." Michael looked at the door, "Is everyone ready?" He asked his family who was standing behind him, looking ecstatic and ready. 

"Ready!" Everyone said in unison. Everyone as in Sammy, Angelica, Derek, Ralph, Sara, Henry and Amery. They're all there.

Henry turned around to check on the staff, making sure everyone was at their station.

"Alright. Let's do this!!" Michael shouted with full of energy as the others behind him cheered.

Michael opened the door excitedly and he stood at the door. Amery ran and stood in front of him as both of them raised their arm,

"Welcome to Freddy Fazbear Pizza Place!" Michael and Amery said in unison with joy, pride and enthusiasm. 

One by one, Michael greeted the families entering the restaurant and he had a small talk with them.

All of the customers looked around the restaurant with an amazed expression and some of the parents started to reminisce about their childhood memories.

Even though Fazbear Entertainment's name had been tainted with murders, bite accident and springlock failure incident, the memories of spending your time with your friends and childhood in the pizzeria are still the best moments for some of the parents.

There are children interacting with Trash and the gang. They giggled as the animatronics reacted to them while some children stood around Mr Hippo and listened to him rambling about Orville or… Whatever the hell he is talking about.

A family of 4 stopped in front of Michael with a smile on their face.

"This is a nice place." Said a short haired dark brunette man with glasses as he looked around. His hand rested on his wife, a tanned looking lady with black hair tied in a bun. She looks like she's from the Middle East Asia while the husband looks like he's from an Eastern Asian country.

Michael smiled at them, "Thank you. I'm the owner of this place. Today we're giving out pizza for free as our grand opening gift to everyone." Michael said. The guy held his hand in front of Michael. Michael shook his hand. Both of them smiled at each other.

"Thank you. My name is Seto Yamazaki. I've just moved here not too long ago with my family." The guy said. "Oh, it's nice to meet you! I'm Michael Schmidt." He grinned.

"Ah, you don't sound American so I assumed you're…"

"British. Yeah, my family is from the UK but we moved here when I was around 6." Michael said.

Seto nodded. "Ah, before I forgot! Let me introduce you to my wife and children." 

Seto held his wife's shoulder, "This is my wife, Freya." The man said. Freya nodded a little and smiled at Michael, "Hello."

"And these two," Seto placed his hands on his children, a set of twin boys.

Both of them have short brunette hair and brown eyes just like their father.

They're around 4 years old, Michael made a mental note.

"They're my children. Fuyuki and Kibo Yamazaki." Seto said. Seto whispered something in Japanese to the boys and the boys started talking. 

"Nice to meet you, Mr Schmidt!" The twins said in unison.

One of them has a serious expression on his face and one of them looks so joyful.

Twins and yet they have a different personality.

Michael could see the serious looking twin is holding his brother's hand tightly. 

Seto patted the serious boy's head, "This is Fuyuki. He is the eldest and," He patted the joyous one's head, "This is Kibo, the youngest."

Michael smiled and nodded, "I see that Fuyuki is the protective type towards his brother."

"He really is." Both men laughed.

Michael then saw his daughter bounce towards them in the corner of his eyes.

She stood in front of the twins with excitement. "Oh! Let's play together! Let's play!" Amery said excitingly. The twins looked at their parents, asking for permission. The father nodded and told them to go.

Before both of them can move their feet, Amery tugged on Fuyuki's hand and pulled the twins inside the restaurant. 

Michael gasped, "Amery, slow down with our customers!" He said to the child as he watched the children run towards a ball pit placed in the restaurant. Michael sighed, "I'm sorry about my daughter. She's very energetic and excited today." Michael chuckled.

"She's a child. It's normal for her to be that way, especially in a fun environment." Freya said with a chuckle.

Freya is right about that. Michael just nodded at the lady as he stepped back to let the couple walked inside his restaurant. 

Before Michael could leave the entrance, someone patted him on the shoulder so he turned around and smiled as he was met with a familiar blond.

Jeremy grinned at him as he carried his grandson in his arms, "Yo, how's the business?" Jeremy asked. Marco was seen clinging onto his grandfather with Freddy in his tiny arms. 

"Oh, it's really good. We have a lot of customers for our first day." Michael said as he pointed out at the crowd of customers in his shop. "It's all thanks to you and Sammy for making an attractive flyers and advertisement." Michael said. Jeremy chuckled, "Eh, it was nothing." Jeremy said.

"Nah, mate. Much appreciated. You did well." Michael slapped Jeremy's shoulder playfully and placed his arm around it as both of them grinned at each other.

"Dad." Jeremy and Michael turned around and they were greeted with a man with short blond hair. Michael assumed that's Jeremy's son. "Oh, right. Felix, meet Michael. He's my friend when I was working with Fazbear Entertainment." Jeremy said.

Felix stood in front of Michael and smiled, "Nice to meet you. I'm Felix Fitzgerald." Felix said, putting his hand out for a handshake. Michael shook his hand. "Nice to meet you too. Michael Schmidt. Are you…" Michael pointed at Marco.

Felix nodded, "Yeah, I'm his dad. My wife is working today so I came here with my dad and son. I heard that Marco and Amery are friends?" Felix asked. Michael nodded, "Yeah, they are. I realised that my daughter really loves Marco. She always talks about him." Michael chuckled.

"Haha, isn't that cute?" Felix chuckled, ruffling Marco's hair. Marco leaned on his dad's touch. "I guess your daughter sees my son as her little brother?" Felix smiled. Michael nodded in agreement, "Absolutely. She said she's always ready to protect Marco if someone tries to bully him." Michael chuckled. "Oh, look! Marco has a big sister. Isn't that great?" Felix chuckled, caressing his son's cheek.

"Where is she?"Jeremy asked. "Hm? Oh. Amery is playing with a couple of kids at the ball pit-"

With that, Amery ran towards Michael, Jeremy and Felix. "Marco!!" She cheered, flailing her arms at Jeremy. Jeremy chuckled and put Marco down. The adults watched as Amery hugged Marco and took his hand to the ball pit.

"Well, there goes your son." Jeremy said to Felix. "Oh well. I guess we should have some pizza while Marco is busy playing with his friends." Felix said as he walked inside. Jeremy followed him from behind. He waved at Michael and Michael waved back.

Michael decided to leave the entrance but he was stopped by Henry.

"What's wrong?" Michael asked.

"Are you busy right now?" Henry asked.

"No."

"Good. Can you go to your office and order some materials?"

"What- But we just opened today. I'm sure we have a lot of utensils and stuff in our storeroom." Michael said. Henry looked at him with a serious expression.

"What did you do?" Michael asked suspiciously after he looked at Henry's expression. "To be honest, I put some smell to attract the haunted animatronics and uh… Lefty is nowhere to be seen too." Henry said.

"What?! This early?!" Michael whispered in shock.

"It's best to do it now before your father reaches your house!" Henry whispered back. 

Oh, Michael doesn't want that.

Though it's surprising that he hasn't seen a glimpse of Springtrap around his house. It has been months now. He wonders what his father is up to.

And also, his sister- Or should he call her, Circus baby or Ennards .

The one controlling the animatronic is totally not his little sister. His little sister may be a brat but she's not demonic. She never was.

She was an angel yet a brat.

"So, you want me to go to my office… and…?" 

"Check the system whether there's an animatronic nearby in the vents. We don't want any of them to enter this restaurant." Henry said.

Oh, of course. It has always been Michael's job to make sure that there are no animatronics entering the building and causing trouble. 

Michael slowly nodded and he walked towards a hallway. At the end of the hallway, there's a door with a sign, "Restaurant manager only." Which mean, only Michael is allowed to enter. He opened the door and there is a staircase that leads downstairs to his office in the basement. He went downstairs and he was greeted with another hallway. His office is on the left while on the right side, he doesn't know what that place is. Henry never told him about it.

Michael would love to get it and take a look but he thought that Henry wouldn't like it if he knew Michael is snooping around so Michael shrugged the thought off and went into his office.

There is no door to his office which he doesn't mind.

His office isn't well-decorated. It's very plain and empty except for a desk, a computer and a prototype of Helpy.

Michael then remembered… He forgot to bring Helpy in for today. Well, it's okay. He can bring him in tomorrow. He heard from Henry that the rockstar animatronics would be ready by tomorrow so he could let Henry know so he can bring Helpy and the other animatronics in tomorrow. 

Michael sat in front of his computer and he booted it up. He was greeted with a blue screen and squares on his screen. 

• Order Supplies
• Advertising
• Maintenance 
• Equipment

So, these are the stuff he needs to do while he's down here? Okay… But he's pretty sure he has enough of all of these materials and as for maintenance, he has his staff to take care of those.

What's the point of him being here then?

He then saw a tab named 'Motion detector' next to the task tab. He clicked on it and he stared at the squares… Squares… What are they?

Honestly, Michael knew nothing about this system. He needed to ask Henry about it.

In another tab, he saw an audio tab. He assumed it's similar to what he had when he worked at Fazbear Frights-

Wait a minute…

Audio lure…

Motion Detector…

Michael just realised that he's surrounded by two vents.

So, does that mean…

The vents… The animatronics will crawl in the vents once they've arrived in this location! 

So, the motion detector and audio lure are for them. Michael has to prevent them from entering this building by luring them around while the restaurant is opened.

So, that's Henry's plan!

Henry could've told Michael the details instead of leaving it for Michael to figure out.

Well… Since this is the first day and they have no haunted animatronics on sight, Michael took the opportunity to slack off a bit as he decided to complete his tasks.

Michael had his eyes focused on the screen for god knows how long as he went through whatever is on the screen. 

He then jumped when he felt a hand on his lap. He turned around and looked down.

Michael was surprised to see his daughter grinning at him innocently. "Roar! I scared you!" Amery giggled.

"Amery?! Sweetie, what are you doing here?!" Michael picked his daughter up and placed her on his lap. "I thought you were upstairs playing with your friends? Why are you here?" He asked.

Amery wrapped her arms around her dad's neck. "I'm bored and lonely. Fuyuki and Kibo went to eat and Marco wanted to listen to Mr Hippo. I don't have friends! Grandpa Henry is busy and Derek is with his friends so I followed you!" Amery said. Michael sighed.

This place isn't safe for Amery, especially now that Michael knows the purpose of this room… Office… Whatever.

Since there are no animatronics on sight, Michael should let Amery go for now.

Michael rubbed his daughter's back and pulled her away for a bit. "Okay, you can stay here and accompany me for only today but tomorrow, you have to stay upstairs until I come out, okay?" Michael looked at the little girl's face with a serious expression.

Amery nodded to her father's request, "Okay, daddy… But what if I feel lonely?" She asked.

"I'll make sure your grandfather is there to play with you." Michael said. Amery nodded again, "Daddy, I don't see Foxy. Where is he?" The child asked.

"He'll be here tomorrow. You will get to play with him, okay? I'll make sure you're his first best friend." Michael smiled as he ruffled the child's hair. Amery cheered as she raised her arms. "Yay!! Thank you, daddy. You're the best!" Amery said as she hugged her dad. Michael smiled at the gesture and kissed her cheek.

"Now, do you want to do some drawings so I can decorate my office with them?" Michael asked, hoping that'll distract Amery for a while as Michael still tries to figure out the system on his computer and think of a strategy on how to lure animatronics away from his office.

Amery nodded happily.

Michael hoped that he could find some papers and pencils for Amery to use. He looked inside his desk drawers and he found some A4 papers for Amery to doodle on.

He looked inside the other drawer and he found some pencils and pens so he decided to give Amery a pencil. Unfortunately for her, Michael couldn't find an eraser so that would do.

It's not like Amery is doing something professional that needs her to erase a lot of stuff. She's just gonna do doodles.

10 Minutes in, the office is in silence as Michael is staring at the computer screen while Amery is busy doodling on the floor. The only sound you can hear is the sound of the fan blowing in the room.

Michael yawned as he tried to blink off the tiredness from his eyes.

This is boring, he thought to himself. Honestly, Michael would rather do work upstairs! Greeting new customers, talking to them. He IS the restaurant manager after all.

He should build a rapport with his customers. Not being locked away!

Why can't they hire a security guard for this kind of work? Why does he have to do it himself? Is it because he's experienced in this field?

But he's a restaurant manager goddamn it! Let him do some restaurant stuff. Not security guard roles!

Michael sighed as he leaned on his chair. Since there isn't much to do, he decided to close his eyes for a bit. He pulled the bear mask that he had been on his head, he covered his face with it as he closed his eyes to get some snoozes.

"What a deceptive calling. I knew it was a lie, the moment I heard it, obviously."

Michael nearly fell off his chair when he heard a very familiar voice. It sounded so… robotic… Deep… Evil. 

He knew that voice from somewhere. He knew that voice very well. He looked at both vents and he saw nothing. He turned to his daughter who was happily drawing. 

She didn't react to the voice at all. Her eyes are focused on the paper.

Is Michael imagining things? Or perhaps that was just a dream from his short nap?

Michael tried to close his eyes again but then he heard a squeak coming from the right vent.

Michael stood up quickly as he looked around. His rapid movements startled Amery. The child dropped her pencil and looked at her dad curiously. "Daddy, what's wrong?" She tilted her head.

"But it is intriguing nonetheless." 

THAT VOICE AGAIN! 

No… It can't be… It's… It really is his father's voice.

Michael turned to the computer screen and pressed the motion detector. He tried to detect any movements in the vents but the detector takes a long time to load.

Michael can feel anxiety and panic build up in him. If that's truly his father, he needs to protect his daughter and escapes the place without his father getting too close to Amery. 

He can't let his father touch Amery.

If William touches Amery… If he ever gets too close to her… He'll…

Michael shook his head and slammed his fists on his desk. "WORK, DAMN IT!!" He yelled at the computer.

Bad idea. He should've stayed quiet. 

He heard another squeaking sound coming from the vent. That's his cue to turn off the computer, quickly pick Amery up in his arms and quickly leave the basement. 

He slammed the door close as he breathed heavily once he reached upstairs.

His hair is dishevelled and panic is written all over his face. Amery clings on her dad's chest. Even the child is in a state of shock.

Henry heard the door being slammed so he quickly walked towards the hallway and stopped when he saw Michael in a panic state while Amery, even from far, Henry could tell the child is in the verge of tears so, Henry quickly took the child away from her dad as he held the child close to his chest.

Michael heaved heavily and his eyes turned to Henry. Panic turned into anger.

Henry could see Michael looking at him with wide eyes, it almost looks like he's ready to lunge onto Henry.

"We need to bloody talk, uncle." Michael gritted his teeth. Henry could totally feel the anger radiating Michael.

Henry wouldn't dare to say it but Michael is reminding him of William right now.

"Did… something happen?" Henry asked. Michael took a deep breath, "We need a better security door for the damn office and tell me… What the fuck do you want me to do downstairs?! Why in the world would you lure the damn bloody beings to my office?! Inside this restaurant? Are you out of your mind?!!" Michael yelled. "And your bloody computer doesn't even work!" He continued.

Henry felt Amery shuddered on his chest. Henry knew Amery never heard her dad yelling like this before. Henry held Amery tight as he looked at Michael with a serious expression, "Calm down. Not in front of the child. I can explain to you everything once everyone is home but please for now, calm down! For your child, Michael!" Henry said.

Michael clenched his fist, "Yeah, I will calm but YOU PUT US IN A DANGEROUS SITUATION! I COULD'VE GET KILLED DOWNSTAIRS! AMERY COULD'VE GET KILLED!!" Michael yelled again.

Amery started crying on Henry's chest. She's definitely scared of Michael now. Henry patted her back and he glared at Michael. "I said calm down! She's scared of you right now! Calm down!" Henry said.

Michael tried to. He took a deep breath but he couldn't. He walked away from Henry, walked away from the hallway and out from the restaurant. 

He could tell there were eyes looking at him but he didn't care. He needed a place to breathe. He needs to stand outside and take the fresh air in.

Henry just stood, frozen while still carrying a crying child in his arms. He patted Amery's back and rocked her in his arms. "Daddy is angry… Is it my fault?" Amery asked as she sobbed.

"No… It was my fault. I didn't tell him what to do. I didn't talk to him." Henry said, keeping it simple for the 3 years old as he held the child close to him.

Henry put the child down to the floor. He watched as Amery ran towards her friend, Marco with his grandfather. Henry decided to go check on Michael so he walked out from the restaurant.

He looked around for the familiar brunette with a bear mask on his head. He then spotted Michael leaning on his car with his back facing Henry. Henry approached him slowly and he watched Michael trying to breathe slowly.

Henry could tell that Michael knew he was there. He just stood and waited for Michael to start talking.

"I heard his voice, uncle Henry. Loud and clear." Michael said. "Who?"

Michael slowly turned to the older one with a serious expression and yet, Henry could see a hint of fear on Michael's face. "My father."

Henry's mouth turned into an O shape but he then shook his head, "No, that can't be it. The lure should start working tonight. That could probably be your imagination." Henry said.

"Have you asked Amery if she could hear something? Did she react to the voice? I know she's a child but her input is valid when it comes to this." Henry continued. 

Michael stood quietly. He tried to remember what happened in the basement. He did see Amery doodling quietly on the floor when Michael heard the voice. Henry is probably right. It might be Michael's imagination.

Perhaps his paranoia kicked in when he was in the basement. 

Maybe the thought of having animatronics crawling in the vent bothered him too much.

Yeah, that might be it. He and Amery are safe from William… For now.

Michael sighed deeply. He can feel himself calming down now, so Henry decided to place a hand on his shoulder. "You should go see Amery. She was shaken when you were raising your voice. You should check on her if she's okay or not." Henry said.

Ah, Amery. Michael's poor little fluff ball had to witness her dad going ballistic at Henry. Michael had never raised his voice in front of her before. Never.

He only talked to her with a firm tone if she was being mischievous.

"Yeah, I should go check on her." Michael said as he walked into the restaurant. 

Michael walked and looked around, trying to find his daughter.

He found her sitting on a bench with Marco. Marco is hugging his Freddy plush toy while Amery is holding Marco's shoulder with a smile on her face.

Michael decided to approach the children and he kneeled down so his eyes were on the same level as the children's. 

Marco tilted his head while Amery looked away from Michael. That hurts Michael for a bit. His daughter refused to look at him because she's scared of him.

Michael placed a hand on Amery's cheek, "Amery? Hey, I'm sorry for what happened okay? I wasn't mad at you." Michael said with a soft tone.

Amery slowly looked up to her dad. "I… I don't like seeing you like that… You were scary." Amery said. "Yeah, I know. I'm sorry." Michael said as he pulled Amery into a hug.

When Jeremy walked towards him, Marco and Amery, Jeremy asked Michael about what happened and Michael had to explain to him everything.

Minus the part where Henry told him he's luring the animatronics towards their direction so they can release their souls.

Jeremy nodded at the story, "Yeah, I do believe you were imagining things due to anxiety. It happens sometimes." Jeremy said as he sat next to his grandson.

"Henry said the same thing too. God, I was scared if… Springtrap was going to crawl into my office." Michael sighed from frustration.

"Isn't it time for you to hire a security guard?"

"I know but… I can handle it."

"You sure? You're both the manager and the security guard. Are you sure you can handle both roles?" Jeremy asked with concern. Michael nodded at him and smiled, "I can handle it. If Henry is around and he has his eyes on Amery, everything is possible for me." Michael said. "Unless…"

He snickered, "Would you like to be my new security guard?" Michael joked. Jeremy frowned and he showed Michael an annoyed face, "You want me to relive the nightmare again? Oh, heck no. I'd rather scoop cow shits instead of sitting in an office and watching over animatronics. Worse, haunted animatronics!" Jeremy exclaimed.

Michael laughed at his friend.

Both him and Jeremy know how much they hated their job and how much they suffered when they were working as the night guards for Fazbear Entertainment. Sometimes they wondered why they signed up for the job.

For Michael, he got himself the job because he was bored sitting at home while doing nothing while for Jeremy, he was on his term break and plus he needed to get some money for himself.

But both of them knew that both of them signed up for the job for the free pizza that the pizzeria gave out to their staff.

Michael is still doing that for his restaurant. All of his staff get to have a slice of pizza for free.

"Haunted animatronics?" Amery looked at her dad with two innocent eyes. Oh oops. Amery shouldn't know that.

Or… Uh, does she even know what haunted is?

"What is that?" Amery asked. Michael looked at Jeremy and Jeremy shrugged. He turned his attention to his grandson while Michael had to figure out how to explain the word to a 3 years old.

… Without scaring her.

"It's… It's like… You know, Toys Story? Like how the toys move around and are alive?" Michael looked at his daughter, hoping she'll get it and fortunately for him, Amery nodded. "Yeah, like Woody moved around and talked and then he stopped moving when Andy is in the room!" Amery said. "Does that mean… Foxy is alive and he can move around?" Amery asked with excitement and sparkles in her eyes. "He can be my friend? Can he?"

Michael sweated nervously. This isn't what he was expecting.

He loves seeing his daughter gets all excited but unfortunately he has to break it to her that,

"Uh, not like that, Amery. Your… Your daddy and grandpa Henry's animatronics do move around but not like that. Uncle Jeremy and I were talking about different animatronics and they're uh… Evil." Michael scratched his head.

Amery blinked and tilted her head. Honestly, Michael really wants to kiss her cheeks and pinch her right now because of how adorable his daughter looks when she's confused. 

Michael cleared his throat, "You'll understand once you're a grown up." He said.

Michael needs to tell Amery about Springtrap and Circus baby whenever he can so Amery knows what to avoid and what to do.

He doesn't want any of them to touch Amery. 

Sadly though. He wished he could introduce Amery to her grandpa and aunt but unfortunately her grandpa is a child killer and her aunt is no longer present… That's what Michael thought.

He refused to believe that's Elizabeth haunting Circus Baby. The only reason why Circus Baby comes out as manipulative is because she was programmed to be evil.

Oh how he hates Circus Baby so much.

It was finally night time, Michael and Amery returned home after an exciting day. They had their dinner at the restaurant already so Michael didn't have to cook for dinner tonight.

When they arrived home, Michael had Amery carried in his arms. When Michael stepped in, he put his child down and then he watched her run upstairs to her room.

Michael smiled, "Amery, get ready for a shower! I'll be upstairs in a second!" Michael shouted from the living room. 

"Okay!" Replied the little girl.

Michael walked to the TV and he took the remote control to turn it on. He turned to a radio channel, wanting some background music in the living room while he got his child and himself ready for bed.

Michael walked to the kitchen, to check whether he needed to do anything before he went to bed.

The kitchen was cleaned with nothing else to do so he went upstairs.

He stopped midway when he heard his daughter giggling. He shrugged it off. He knew Amery was talking to her plush toys. That's normal.

"Ah, that's a wonderful story."

Michael's eyes opened wide as he heard that oh so familiar voice. It made his spine shivered and it made his heart raced from fears. He leaped up on the stairs and ran towards Amery's room.

Did… Did his father get in his house?

No, that would be impossible. His father is nowhere to be found!

Ugh, Michael knew he shouldn't come back to this house. Of course it's easy for his father to find him!

Oh god, please. He pleaded that his father isn't here to kill Amery. He hoped that his father was here to mess with Michael.

No, that'd be bad too.

He hoped that it's his paranoia kicking in again.

Or anxiety.

He doesn't know.

He reached Amery's with a loud thump from his right foot. He looked around to see Amery sitting in front of her Foxy plush toy.

Amery turned around and smiled at him, "Daddy, daddy! I told Foxy about today!" She said. She walked towards her dad's leg and hugged it.

The little girl could see that her dad is shaken and anxiety is written all over his face.

Amery doesn't know what anxiety is. 

To her, his dad looks scared.

"Daddy, are you okay?" The child asked. Michael looked at her daughter, still shaken from his own thoughts.

He fell to his knees and he pulled his daughter into a tight hug.

"God… I'm scared… I'm so scared." He trembled. He sobbed.

He was relieved to see William wasn't around Amery. He was glad it was only his mind playing tricks on him.

He shouldn't be glad about this. He needed to fix himself from this.

It looks like Michael isn't sleeping tonight.

Chapter Text

It was night time. Closing time.

All the staff went home. Henry went home.

All left are Michael and Amery.

Michael was sweeping the floor when he realised that his daughter was nowhere to be seen. Michael called out for her and looked around.

He saw nothing.

He heard nothing.

Michael dropped his broom and ran around the restaurant to look for her. In the restroom, in the kitchen, in the staff room, everywhere. 

The only place he didn't check is his office downstairs. 

No, Amery shouldn't be there.

Michael warned her already.

Have he?

Michael went to the basement office with anxiety creeping towards his shoulders. He slowly walked to his office.

It was dark.

Really dark but he could see his daughter…

Standing

in

front

of

a 

withered

Springtrap.

His eyes were glowing and he looked at the child with a delightful yet dark face.

Amery tilted her head and asked, "Who are you?"

The animatronic said, "Well, I'm your grandfather."

Before Michael could reach his daughter, William grabbed the child by the neck and squeezed it hard.

……………

Michael jolted up from his bed with sweats rolling down from his forehead. He panted heavily and looked around his room. 

His room.

He is in his bedroom.

At home.

Safe and sound.

He looked to his right to see his daughter sleeping while hugging her Foxy plush toy. Michael sighed from relief. He laid back on his bed and pulled his daughter into a hug.

The child squirmed but then she stopped, nuzzling into Michael's as she continued to sleep.

Michael reached for her hair and ran his fingers through it. He could feel tears formed in his eyes.

"I'm not gonna let him hurt you."

Morning came, 

Michael drove to the restaurant with Amery sitting happily in her car seat.

She's excited today because Foxy is going to be at the restaurant. Michael has promised her that she can play with Foxy. 

As for Michael, he's not excited to step into the restaurant. He hoped he wouldn't have to deal with any animatronics today. He had less sleep after his nightmare last night.

He only had 3 hours of sleep. That's how bad his anxiety and paranoia became after the nightmare and the hallucinations.

I bloody need help. Michael thought.

Michael parked his car in front of the restaurant. The restaurant is not opened yet but Henry is already there and a huge truck is parked in front of the restaurant. Michael figured that Henry brought in the rockstar animatronics with Helpy.

Michael got out of the car and helped Amery get out of her car seat. He held Amery's hand as he entered the restaurant. 

He was greeted with the familiar light brunette man with beard, Henry. Henry flashed a smile at him as he was tinkering with one of the rockstar animatronics. 

"Morning, Michael-" Henry stopped when he looked at Michael's face. He looked so horrible. 

"Are you okay?" Henry asked as he grabbed a cloth to wipe his hands. Michael nodded slowly, "Less sleep." He said. 

Michael is probably imagining things but when he looks at Henry, he can sense guilt from his expression. He doesn't know why and he doesn't want to know why. Not now. He's not in a mood to talk right now.

"Is Helpy here?" Michael looked around. "Oh, right. He's in the staff room if you want to grab him." Henry said as he went back to tinkering with rockstar Bonnie.

Michael nodded but then he felt a tug on his arm. Michael looked down to his daughter and his daughter was facing him with excitement. "Daddy, daddy! Foxy! Where is he?" Amery asked.

Michael didn't answer her but Henry turned around and looked at the raven head. "If you go over there, you'll see a purple curtain. Foxy is behind there. Come on. I'll show you." Henry said as he picked up the child and carried him in his arms.

"By the way Michael, once you're done setting up with Helpy, I want you to check the alleyway. I think someone threw a huge trash there." Henry said as he patted Michael's shoulder before he left for Foxy's stage.

Michael grunted.

He is the restaurant manager. Why does he have to do all of this? Shouldn't the staff take care of the trash? What do they pay them for then?

To stand all day doing nothing?

Michael walked to the staff room so he could activate Helpy. He went inside the room and there, he could see Helpy sitting on the table.

He went up to him and switched him on by pressing one of his buttons.

He watched as the white robot came to life. He blinked and smiled at Michael, "Hello, my name is Helpy! I'm programmed to assist you with any tasks!" The robot said.

Michael sighed, "If only you can check what's in the alleyway. Can you do that?" 

Helpy saluted Michael, "Certainly. I will assist you on that matter."

With that, Michael placed the bear on the floor and he watched as the white robot walked to the back of the restaurant. 

"It seems that I am unable to reach the door." Helpy said as he tried to jump and reach the handle. Michael found it amusing. It truly reminded him of Amery trying to reach the doorknob when she was really small.

Michael pushed the door handle down and opened the door for Helpy. He watched as Helpy walked out to the alley and stopped. "It appears there is a large entity in front of me."

Large entity?

Michael decided to peek out. What kind of large entity is Helpy talking about?

Perhaps plastic bags being grouped into a mountain? A large rubbish bin? A group of rubbish bins?

Michael's eyes turned wide when he saw the entity that Helpy was talking about. He started sweating from fear. He could feel his throat about to close and his breathing became heavy.

Helpy looked at him, "Oh no. I am sensing a sign of distress from you. What can I assist with that matter?"

Michael's eyes were still on the entity but he tried to speak, "F-Find me a staff member who is not doing anything at the moment… tell them to bring a large trolley with them." Michael said to the bear.

The white bear saluted him, turned around and walked inside the restaurant. 

Michael decided to approach the entity. As he walked closer, he could see it clearly.

White bear head with wires everywhere, looking so tattered and broken.

"... Lizzie?" Michael blinked at the amalgamation. This bastard. This bastard who tried to steal his body. 

"Why are you here…? Why… Wait… Lizzie, are you in there?" Michael slowly approaches the amalgamation. His hands touched the face plate. It's cold… Just like how he remembered back when he was working at Afton Robotics.

Michael tried to shake it but he got no response from the thing.

"Mr Schmidt?" 

Michael turned around to see a staff member standing with a trolley on the ground. "Do you need my help with something?"

Michael stared at the staff member for a bit before nodding his head.

"Help me carry this inside please."

Michael is sitting in the part and service room with the amalgamation sitting in front of him.

Just the two of them.

Or perhaps many.

Michael doesn't know how many spirits are possessing this… This thing.

According to Henry, if he salvages this, he can receive tons of money from it so Michael decided to salvage the damn thing.

Henry told him to do a maintenance checklist before keeping the amalgamation. Just to see if it's still in a working order . That's Henry's other way of saying if the animatronic is still haunted or not.

Henry had given Michael an audio prompt for him to use on the machine and he told Michael to see if they would act aggressively towards the sound.

Also, for his safety, Henry decided to give him a taser to tase the machine if they're ready to attack Michael. Of course, that's far more important than anything else.

Henry won't allow Michael to die while salvaging this.

As for Michael though, he disagrees with this whole idea but he just does it because Henry told him to.

Henry knows about this better than him. He needs to listen to Henry.

So, Michael sighed as he stared at the amalgamation. He took out the checklist and frowned.

"Let's give you a name, shall we? I know we're acquaintances but you need a new name. I can't call you a thing all the time." Michael said, placing his chin on his hand. "You look so awful compared to last time. Melted and all beat up. What if I call you… Molten Freddy?" Michael pointed a finger to Freddy's nose. He tapped the nose a bit and backed away to see if there's a reaction from the amalgamation. 

There was nothing. Michael wondered if the spirits were still there.

"No reactions, huh? What? Trying to act innocent and nice now that you're all beaten up?" Michael raised an eyebrow. "Or are you scared of me? You better be or I'll beat the crap out of you." Michael threatened. Once again, he received no reactions or movements.

Maybe because it's in the morning and that's why it's not moving. Spirits don't roam around in the morning.

Michael shrugged at the amalgamation and proceeded with the checklist.

Everything went well.

Michael played the audio prompt 4 times as he was told to. He expected that the amalgamation would move around to attack him as soon as he looked away but thankfully, it didn't. 

It sat still, in the same position.

Michael decided to put the amalgamation in the parts and services room. He has to talk to Henry about this so he exits the room to find Henry.

Michael smiled softly as he watched Amery interacting with Foxy with giggles and laughter. Henry is there, supervising the child.

He turned around when he felt Michael standing behind him. "So, how's work?"

"I found an amalgamation of the animatronics that my father built. The funtime. They're in the parts and services room." Michael said, folding his arms. "I see… Did they move?"

"Not an inch."

"Fair enough. It's only morning so the chances of them moving is very slim. Also, I need to move the animatronic downstairs." Henry said.

Michael unfolded his arms, they fell on his sides as he looked at Henry with wide eyes. "You mean… In the basement…? My office?"

"Next to your office. Don't worry. The door will be locked so the animatronics can't escape." Henry said, rubbing his chin. 

Michael clenched his fist as it started to tremble. "You're putting me in a dangerous position, Henry. " Michael said, trying to suppress his anger and anxiety.

Henry raised both of his hands to Michael, "Listen. Everything will be okay. Trust me." Before Michael could say anything, he felt hands wrapped around his legs. He looked down to see his daughter giggling at him. Michael squatted down to face his daughter with a smile. 

"So, you met Foxy. How was it?" Michael asked, smiling at his little fluff ball. Amery jumped with excitement, "He's fun and silly! Like you! I love him, daddy! Thank you, thank you!" She said excitedly as she hugged her dad. Michael wrapped his arms around her and hugged her. He planted kisses on top of her head, "I'm glad you like him. You should thank grandpa Henry as well because he helped me to build Foxy for us." Michael said.

Amery let go of her dad and hugged Henry's leg. Henry chuckled and squatted down, "Thank you, grandpa!" Amery hugged him. Henry hugged her back and chuckled. "Anything for my little Amy!" 

Michael looked at his watch and nodded, "It's time to open the restaurant. Uncle, please do me a favour today." Michael said.

Before Michael could say anything else, Henry nodded at him. He carried Amery in his arms, "I'll keep an eye on her while you're in the basement and I'll ask some of our staff to move the animatronic downstairs for everyone's safety." Henry said.

Michael frowned, Well not for my safety at all! That damn thing will get my ass in no time.

He turned to the main entrance of the restaurant and flipped the sign to open and unlocked the entrance.

He still has time before he goes downstairs and spends his time trying to fend off any animatronics that may appear.

He wonders if his father will appear today? He doesn't know but he also wonders if the amalgamation will sprung to life once they're in the basement.

One way to find out is by spending his time downstairs.

The time has come and he is now in the basement.

He doesn't know what to do or what he should do. All he knows is he has an animatronic sitting quietly in a room across or next to him.

He looks at the screen and wonders if he should complete the tasks now.

He pressed on 'Print Flyers' and he jumped at how loud the printing sound made from the computer or the large printer sitting behind him, in the corner of the room.

Ah, so these aren't fake tasks. Tasks that he didn't have to do but best for him to do? Probably.

He watched as the printer pulled out flyers of his restaurant and at the same time, listening to any suspicious sounds around the room. 

Wouldn't this attract the animatronics to crawl inside my office? The sounds are so loud. He thought.

He suddenly heard a loud thud coming from the left vent.

Michael went to the motion detector screen and pressed the detect motion button.

His stomach dropped when he saw a blinking dot on a box, 2 squares away from him. He cursed to himself.

That might be Molten Freddy. So, he is finally showing signs of living huh.

Michael pressed on the audio lure and tried his best to lure the animatronic away from his office. He needs to continue doing this until what? The end of his shift? 

And when is that? He's the boss. Does he have a shift?

Maybe after he completed his tasks on the screen, he could leave the room.

Probably.

Michael watched as Molten Freddy moved to the box further from him. He sighed from relief and started planning out his strategies on how to survive.

Anything that makes loud noises will attract the animatronics to his office so he needs to turn off some of the stuff in his office.

He needs to turn off the fan, unfortunately. 

It's going to be hot in the office but it's fine. He can turn it on again once it gets too hot or once he has the audio lure on.

That'll work, right?

Pretty sure the audio lure will drown the sound of the fan and maybe it works with the sound coming from the computer?

He needs to test it out.

While the audio lure is playing, he left his fan on and pressed on a different task.

Once he's done with the task, he turned his fan off and pressed the motion detector to see if Molten Freddy is anywhere closer to him since he made a lot of noises a few minutes ago.

And his theory was right. The audio lure drowns the sound of the fan and his computer because Molten Freddy is far away from him and they don't move at all.

This'll be a piece of cake.

Michael repeatedly does the same thing over and over again until he is down to one task. 

He checked the motion detector again and he saw Molten Freddy is in the left corner vent, the place he last played the audio lure at. 

Michael smirked. This is going to be so easy for him. Nothing can stop him anyway.

He is the most experienced Fazbear Entertainment security guard.

The best as well.

He realised that the room became too hot for him to handle so he turned on the audio lure, turned on the fan and completed his final task.

Piece of cake.

He waited until the room cooled down and his task was completed before he could log out and leave the room.

"Mr Schmidt!"

Michael was about to log out from the computer when he jumped at the sudden robotic voice calling out for him.

He panicked and turned to the doorway to find Helpy standing there with a smile on his face. "Anything I can help you with?" He asked.

Suddenly, Michael could hear a loud thumping sound from the vent again so he quickly picked Helpy up and went upstairs from the basement. He placed Helpy on the floor and locked the door as he heaved heavily.

He looked at Helpy with wide eyes, still shocked from whatever happened downstairs, "How the fuck did you get downstairs?!"

Helpy gasped, "Oh no. Profanity! That's a no no language here in Freddy Fazbear Pizza Place! Please watch your language as this is a kid friendly premise!" Helpy said.

Right. Henry put that into his program because he knew Michael would swear a lot at work when he's frustrated. 

"Right. Now, how did you get downstairs? I'm sure you couldn't reach the door handle." Michael looked at the animatronic. Helpy placed a finger on his chin, "Mr Emily helped me to open the door for me. He told me to check on you, if you need help!" Helpy said.

Michael sighed, "You don't need to. I'm fine."

"Also, I was supposed to tell you that it is almost closing time. What would you like me to do?" Helpy asked, looking at the brunette.

Michael stayed quiet for a bit before a smile formed on his face.

What he loves about living in this era is everything is possible.

Everything is made possible.

You can have a robot to be your accountant so you don't have to do it yourself.

That's what Michael programmed Helpy to do. Being an accountant.

Michael ushered Helpy to Henry's office and pulled out some accounting stuff that Michael refused to do.

It hurts his head and plus, he has a lot of things to worry about when it comes to this restaurant. 

Especially the animatronics that Henry lured!

Michael gave the robot the documents, "Do this." Michael commanded. Helpy looked at the documents and then he saluted to Michael, "Will do!" 

He watched as the robot left the office, maybe he's going to do the accounting somewhere. Perhaps the staff room? Michael doesn't know.

Michael walked out from the office and wandered around the restaurant. There were still customers left in the restaurant so he decided to greet some of them and talked to them, introducing himself as the owner of the restaurant. 

He spent his day greeting customers and checking on his customers while Helpy is doing his job.

Helpy is totally helpful.

It was closing time, Michael decided to put Helpy in a small charging station he set up in the corner of the staff room.

He made sure everything in the restaurant was turned off. 

He walked back to the staff room and smiled at the view of his daughter sleeping on the couch.

Amery had a great time today. Even though Michael was busy the whole time, he did realise that Amery was playing around Foxy and making new friends with the customers' children.

Michael didn't know that Amery is a social butterfly.

Well, to be fair, Michael rarely brought Amery out to the park and he didn't know what the Emily did when they were taking care of Amery. Did they bring her to the park? Did a play date? He never knew.

Michael slowly carried his daughter and let her rest on his shoulder as he exited the restaurant. He locked the main entrance after making sure all staff left. Henry had left an hour ago and left Michael on his own because Michael insisted that he can do the closing on his own.

He went to the car, placed his daughter in his car and drove back home.

Tomorrow is another day, he thought. 

Yes… Tomorrow is another day.

He wonders if he will see his father.

Or if his father will appear tomorrow.

Even though he acted like nothing was wrong today, once he reached home, anxiety overwhelmed him.

Paranoia overwhelmed him.

He had to check thrice that he locked all the doors of his house and he had his bedroom door and windows locked.

He also had Amery sleeping in his bed again. He can't let her go to her room just yet. He needs to make sure that both her and him are safe from his father.

He will not let his father touch him, Amery or the Emily's.

Never.

Chapter Text

Michael was having a nice slumber when he felt someone shake his shoulder. He groaned before opening his eyes. He tried to blink the sleep away as he faced a concerned look on his daughter.

Michael raised an eyebrow, "What's wrong?" He asked, still feeling groggy. Concern and fear reflected on Amery's Cerulean eyes and Michael could see tears formed on the edge of her eyes. Michael slowly sat up and pulled his daughter close to him.

He watched as the raven head curled on his chest so he wrapped his arms around her.

"Daddy is here. Why are you sad? Did you have a nightmare?" Michael asked.

He waited until his daughter was calm enough to reply, "Um-... I saw… I saw a large bunny on our window." Amery said. "I heard a scratching noise and I looked at the window and I saw bunny ears. Bunny can't climb. Bunny can't scratch… Is it a monster, daddy?" Amery asked, clutching onto her dad's chest.

It took Michael a while to process.

Bunny ears… Scratching… Amery thought that was a monster.

That woke Michael up from his sleepy mind. He got out of bed and opened the window. He stuck his head out and looked everywhere. He saw no one.

The night was dark. He can barely see anything on the level below him unless it's being illuminated by the streetlights.

Thankfully, he saw nothing but that didn't calm him down! It's too early for him to sigh in relief. This is a serious situation, deadly as well. What Amery told him made him paranoid to the max.

Michael closed the windows in his room and he made sure that they're locked. He pulled the curtains to cover the windows and he went to his daughter. "Stay in bed, Amery and don't leave, okay? Daddy will return soon." Michael said. He walked to his cupboard and took out a taser gun that he hid. For self-defense purposes, of course. 

He decided to check the other rooms that were untouched and unused in the house. Thankfully he found nothing except dust collecting on the unused furniture and boxes. That honestly reminded him that he needs to move out from this house. It's too big for him and Amery. 

But at the same time, he doesn't want to let go of his memories with his family. The house stored a lot of memories that he had with his family.

Anyway,

He decided to check downstairs, in case there's a break in. He looked around the living room and found nothing. Along with the kitchen and the dining room. The only place he hadn't checked yet is his father's office.

He opened the door. He could only find an empty desk with blueprints stored in the corner and other mechanic stuff covered in dust.

Thankfully he found no animatronic lurking in the office so he decided to shut the door.

He went to the backyard, that's when he decided enough is enough. He's tired of looking for his father. He's tired of playing hide and seek with him. He's tired of everything.

"Listen." He said to the dark backyard of his. "I don't know if you're out there… If you are then please," He took a deep breath. "LEAVE MY DAUGHTER AND I ALONE! I'M TIRED OF YOUR FUCKING BULLSHIT, FATHER!! LEAVE OR I WILL FUCKING MURDER YOU!!" 

He yelled. 

Hopefully that will not awake any of his neighbours, especially since he yelled out the word murder.

He can get caught for that.

Michael closed the door to the backyard and locked it before returning to his room. He found Amery hiding under a blanket, probably scared after he left her alone.

Michael put his taser gun back to where it belonged before climbing back in bed. He pulled the blanket away from Amery, he looked at his daughter who was trembling in fear and tears. He pulled her into a hug and comforted her.

He whispered any comforting words that he could think of, hoping it'll calm the child down as he rocked her back and forth.

He felt the child slowly limping in his arms so he decided to take a look.

Amery is asleep with her head leaning on his shoulder. 

Michael smiled and put her back next to him on the bed before pulling the blanket on top of her. He then laid down as well but he couldn't sleep.

He's feeling very paranoid.

What if William appears again when Michael is in a deep sleep? He can't risk that to happen.

So, he decided to stay awake, scanning his room every moment that he could.

The next day, Michael went to the restaurant with puffy eyes along with an energetic fluffball with him.

In the car, Michael tried his best trying to listen to Amery's excited blabbering about Foxy and Helpy. She said she wants to play with them both today. Michael just nodded at his daughter.

He wished he had the energy to pay complete attention to her but honestly, all he could think of right now is the bed… And also if William was ever close to his house.

He needs to find a way to get rid of that bastard.

As much as he loved his father, his father was long gone and what is left is a demon rabbit… Now that's funny to think about.

When they arrived at the restaurant, Henry greeted them at the front door.

Henry's smile slowly turned into a concerned face when he saw Michael's face.

Henry called for Helpy, who was sweeping the floor, surrounded by some staff who were amazed by the small animatronic. Helpy stopped sweeping and he placed the broom on the floor before walking towards Henry.

"How can I help you, sir?" The white bear asked. Henry smiled at him and turned to Amery, "You should take Miss Amery to Foxy. I bet Foxy misses her." Henry said.

Helpy saluted the older man as he held Amery's hand. Both of them walked to one of the party rooms that had Foxy's stage.

Henry approached Michael and placed a hand on his shoulder, "You look like a drowned kitten. What's wrong?" The man asked. Michael looked at Henry and sighed. Henry is the only one who he can rely on at the moment when it comes to voicing his worries.

He remembered Henry used to listen to his problems whenever his father had no time for him. Whenever his father was busy with his younger siblings while Michael was left behind.

Henry was there to comfort Michael. 

"Amery saw my father outside of our window." Michael said. Henry gasped loudly and he looked at Michael with a nervous expression, "A-Are you sure that she saw William?" Henry whispered.

Michael shrugged, "I don't know. I tried to find him but there was no one in my yard."

Henry nodded, "Let's just hope… that she was imagining things." Henry said as he patted the dark brunette's shoulder before walking away.

The day went well. Michael didn't sit in his office the whole day. He had been shifting from the entrance to the staff room a lot.

There were times when the staff found Michael sleeping on the couch in the staff room. Helpy had to wake him up from his sleep.

With the help of an air horn.

That pissed Michael off but the thing is… He was the one who programmed Helpy to use an air horn when he needed to wake someone up.

Before closing, Henry approached Michael, who was about to pass out but Henry had a task for him to do. Only Michael could do it.

"So… There's another animatronic found in the alley." Henry said.

Michael sighed in annoyance, "Of course there is. What is it this time? A crocodile?" He groaned. "I'll go get someone to help me carry the scrap metals in."

"You do that and don't you worry about Amery. I'll bring her home with me." Henry said with a smile. "Where is she?" 

"In the staff room. Sleeping on the couch." Michael said. 

Henry nodded and went to the staff room to grab the child. He walked up to Michael, who was about to enter the parts and service room. Michael stopped in front of the door and turned to Henry. 

He looked at his daughter who was sleeping comfortably on Henry's shoulder and he kissed her forehead. "I'll be home after I've dealt with the animatronic." Michael said to Henry.

Henry smiled at him, "Alright. Good luck." He turned around and walked out of the restaurant.

Michael called one of the staff, who worked for the closing shift, to grab a trolley and followed him to the backdoor to the alleyway.

"I wonder what is it this time?" Michael wondered. "I hope it'll be worth the money, boss. Imagine if we get something that is worth a lot… We can upgrade the pizzeria." The staff said, pushing the trolley to the backdoor.

"Hmm… What is there to upgrade?" Michael put his hand on the handle. "I don't know. Maybe new looks? New arcade machine?" The staff shrugged. "Or something for the staff room?" 

Michael smiled and chuckled, "I'll think about it." He said as he pushed the door open.

Michael walked in the alley and stopped in front of the spot where he found Molten Freddy.

There were still a lot of rubbish bags on the ground. They hadn't been picked up yet but that's not what caught Michael's attention.

What caught his attention is a familiar silhouette of an animatronic, laying next to the rubbish bags.

Michael slowly walked close towards it.

His blue eyes slowly opened wide.

He started breathing heavily from anxiety.

He could feel his whole body shaking from fear.

"Oh, fuck."

There he was.

A tattered looking yellow rabbit, laying next to the rubbish bags.

William Afton.

He's back.

Chapter Text

Michael is sitting in front of the tattered rabbit animatronic with his hand ready to press the controlled shock, for his own safety.

You never know when the animatronic will jump at you and attack you.

Especially if it's being possessed by William Afton.

Michael glared at the animatronic. Both of them just sat in silence as Michael wanting to test whether his father was pretending to be unconscious. 

"I know you're awake, father. I know you're conscious. Talk to me." Michael commanded but there was no reply from the rabbit.

"Stop pretending like you're not awake. I know you are. I know you've been moving around." Michael said, clenching his fist. Anger is building up.

"You can't fool me, father. I know you." Michael stood up and slammed his hands on the desk. "TALK TO ME DAMN IT!!" He yelled.

"I KNOW YOU'RE FUCKING CONSCIOUS AND I KNOW YOU CAN MOVE AROUND.  STOP BOTHERING ME AND MY DAUGHTER!! FUCK OFF, WILL YOU?! YOU WERE NEVER PRESENT IN MY LIFE!! WHY NOW?!" Michael yelled again as he continued to slam the desk.

Michael breathed in slowly, hoping it'll calm him down from anger. "Fine, be that way." He said as he sat back on his chair. "I guess I'll start the maintenance checklist."

Michael pulled out the checklist and the recorder that he used for the audio prompt.

He played the audio prompt with eyes glued to his father until the audio stopped.

There was no movement so Michael looked at his checklist and ticked whatever needed to be ticked.

He put the checklist down and he looked at his father. 

He checked every inch of the animatronic, making sure he doesn't move when Michael isn't looking.

Nothing too suspicious but… Did Springtrap grow taller or is Michael imagining things?

Michael shrugged his thoughts away and played the audio prompt again with his eyes focused on Springtrap.

Once it stopped, he went to his checklist and ticked the other box. He went back to Springtrap and he smirked.

There he is.

Springtrap showing movements.

Not a little but a lot.

It looks like he was ready to attack Michael.

Michael laughed. "Not good at pretending, are you? I guess that large head of yours is useless now after 30 years of being stuck in the safe room, burned and having to use scrap metals to rebuild yourself." 

He pressed the button for the controlled shock. He watched as the animatronic jumped and shook as it was shocked.

He watched as the animatronic reset his position. 

"You're ridiculous, father."

Once he's done with the maintenance checklist, he told the staff who was with him a while ago to help him carry the animatronic downstairs to the basement.

He locked the door for the room that Henry uses to keep the scrapped animatronics and once that's done, he went upstairs with the staff and locked the restaurant for the rest of the night.

Hopefully, he and Amery can sleep peacefully tonight knowing William is locked inside the restaurant. 

What's not calming for Michael is knowing that William is in the restaurant tomorrow when the restaurant is opened.

Michael needs to keep his eyes on William and also Molten Freddy.

Henry was relieved to see Michael came to work with an energised expression. He assumed that Michael had enough sleep last night. Perhaps it's because Amery didn't see things last night.

Hopefully.

Honestly, Henry wouldn't be so surprised if she keeps seeing things on the windows. Kids always see something that adults don't see.

It's normal for her but Michael doesn't know that and he never takes it lightly when Amery sees something that scares her.

Henry approached the dark brunette with a smile, "Good morning, Michael." He greeted the man and then he squatted down to Amery's level, "And good morning to you, Amery." Henry smiled. Amery giggled and grinned, "Morning, grandpa Henry!" 

"Did you have a good sleep last night?" Henry asked as he patted the girl's head. "Yes! I slept like a baby~" Amery giggled.

Henry stood up and faced Michael, "And you?" 

"Yeah, I slept well." Michael smiled. "Henry, there's something I need to tell you." Michael said. Michael kneeled down to Amery's level and told her to play with Helpy, who is possibly in the staff room.

The little girl skipped to the staff room excitedly as Michael watched her.

As soon as she's out of the room, Michael stands up and faces Henry. "My father showed up last night in the alleyway and I have kept him downstairs along with the amalgamation." Michael said.

Henry gasped but he kept quiet.

"So… The threat is in this building." 

"Yes."

"Will you be okay with this, Michael?"

Michael nodded nervously and smiled, "Yeah. I will try my best to not let him escape from the basement." 

Henry patted his shoulder before leaving the dark brunette alone at the restaurant's entrance.

Michael gave himself a deep breath before he opened the restaurant to the public for today.

A few hours later, Michael turned his head towards the entrance to find Seto Yamazaki walking in with his sons on each side.

The man let go of his sons' hands. Michael watched as the twins run happily into one of the rooms with the animatronics in it.

Amery is possibly in there, Michael thought.

Michael approached the bespectacled man with a smile and a hand out for a handshake. The man shook his hand with a smile. "How are you, Yamazaki?" Michael asked.

"I'm well. Just dropping my kids here for today. I'll be back in a few hours, if that's okay for you to keep an eye on them?" Seto smiled.

"I might not be able to but I can tell my staff to watch over them. I'm sure your sons are with my daughter now." Michael said.

The bespectacled guy chuckled, "Don't worry about it. Yeah, I don't mind having your staff to watch over them. Hopefully they will not be a handful for your staff." Seto said.

Michael smiled at the guy. He wanted to turn around, assuming that Seto was only dropping his sons off but he stopped when he heard the man say something.

He stood there, blinking in confusion. He couldn't hear what the man said.

"Um, sorry. Did you say something?" Michael asked.

The bespectacled man turned to him, "I heard a lot of things about Freddy Fazbear Pizzeria. Especially its history." Seto said.

Michael gave him a nervous smile, "May I ask… What have you heard of?" 

Seto approached Michael closer, with a dark smile. "Missing children, child murderer and animatronics covered in blood and mucus."

Seto then stepped back, "I also heard rumours that the animatronics were haunted by the children who went missing or more known as killed and stuffed in the animatronics." Seto said with a smirk. "And possibly, the culprit was the founder of the pizzeria. Well, one of them…"

Michael looked at Seto nervously and he swallowed the lump formed in his throat. 

Michael assumed that Seto read all of these on the internet but why is he talking about it with Michael?

Does he know that Michael is William's son? He's pretty sure that there are no articles about him on the internet except for the bite incident. Even with the bite incident, his name was never mentioned… Right?

Also, he's now known as Michael Schmidt. Nobody will recognise him as Michael Afton. Well, only for those who just moved here.

Everyone who lived here in this small town would know Michael as Michael Afton.

Seto wouldn't know that… Right?

"William Afton was the child murderer, right? He went missing after god knows how many children went missing in Hurricane." Seto said, circling Michael. As if Michael is guilty for William's action.

"The police once suspected Henry Emily as the killer but he was soon let go because of the lack of evidence but William, he was absolutely suspicious. Along with him being kicked out from the business and along with his disappearance." Seto said. Michael couldn't do anything except just standing there, looking at Seto nervously.

"I have seen photos of William Afton before. He looked almost just like you." Seto stopped and smirked at Michael. "Perhaps you're blood related? A son? A cousin? It's interesting to see someone who has the same face as William running a pizzeria with Henry Emily." Seto snickered, "Are you going to continue the Afton's legacy?" Seto asked with a dark expression.

Michael backed away. He furrowed his eyebrows. No longer feeling nervous. He's now pissed off. He hates it when people think that he will become a murderer like his father. Of course he will not become one.

He is Michael.

He's a different person.

Him and William are very different. Appearance wise, not so similar.

Seto laughed, "Oh, forgive me, Mr Schmidt. I'm just so caught up with these sorts of rumours. I honestly find them interesting. I didn't know such an innocent pizzeria had a dark history." Seto said, waving his hand around. "Anyway, I should get going now. My shift is starting soon. I will come back and pick my children up around 4 PM or my wife will come over to pick them up." Seto said, as he looked at his watch before he left the place, "Have a nice day, Mr Schmidt!" Seto said as he made his way out.

Michael didn't say anything to the guy. He's still pissed, shocked and confused as to why Seto is confronting him with this.

Is it because he and William look the same (In Michael's protest, not really) or is it because he has Henry as his business partner just like William did?

Oh he's tired of this.

Hopefully today he doesn't come across someone who is similar to Seto.

He doesn't want another person to ruin his mood.

One is enough.

Unfortunately for Michael, he has to defend the pizzeria from the two haunted animatronics that he found. 

They will ruin his mood but oh well.

For the sake of the restaurant's safety and his reputation.

Here he is, inside the most warm and claustrophobic room ever, having to defend his pizzeria from the two haunted animatronics from escaping.

He just did the tasks that Henry told him to do on the computer while checking for any presences from the vents and luring them elsewhere. 

Michael checked the motion detector. He was relieved to see the two animatronics were far from him.

And they need to stay that way.

He also made sure that someone is keeping an eye on Amery this time. He made Helpy supervise the child if nobody is watching over her, along with the Yamazaki boys.

Honestly, what's the deal with Yamazaki Seto? He genuinely terrified Michael.

And he even crossed the line.

Luckily Seto was a customer or else, Michael would've thrown hands.

Anyway, that's out of the way.

He needs to focus hundred percent on the screen in front of him now.

Michael could hear squeaking coming from the vents and loud thuds. He knew those are the animatronics moving around.

His father.

Michael wondered who was possessing the amalgamation. Perhaps the spirits of the missing children? No specific answers perhaps. Perhaps, all of them are there.

All 5 or maybe more of them.

Michael is sure that his sister is not there. He didn't see any presence of Circus Baby…

But he also couldn't see Ballora and Funtime Foxy. Only Funtime Freddy can be seen.

Michael shrugged.

Only time will tell.

Michael sat up when he heard a voice approaching him.

"Fascinating… What they have become."

"Father." Michael hissed under his breath. He checked the motion detector and he saw one dot was moving to the other box closer to him.

Michael decided to play an audio on another side of the vent, the vent that's far from him.

He could see Molten Freddy moving towards it.

Along with his father.

"What a deceptive calling. I knew it was a lie the moment I heard it, obviously. But it is intriguing nonetheless." 

"Yeah, right. I'm sure you knew that it was a lie and yet you chased after the noise." Michael snickered. "Just admit that you're an idiot, dear ol' father."

Michael quickly checked his computer screen for any tasks that he hasn't completed yet and then he looked at the time.

It's almost 6 PM. He needs to get out of the office at 6 PM and close the restaurant. 

But first he needs to make sure that the animatronics stop moving before he leaves the place.

Michael remembered he saw a note being stuck on his computer screen when he first came into the office today and it was a note from Henry.

On the note, it was written that Henry installed a controlled shock for one part of the vents. 

The vent across him.

He needs to make sure to lure the animatronics to that vent. 

He plays the audio again on a vent next to the controlled shock vent and he feels so relieved to see Molten Freddy move but it doesn't bring him relief to see his father refuses to move.

It's like… He knows what Michael is planning.

Michael plays the audio again and he crosses his fingers, hoping that the old man moves.

Fortunately for him, he did. It only took him a while to register the audio, probably. 

Oh, you know. Old man. His father is too old for his brain to function and react quickly.

Michael chuckled at the thought.

Once he gathered the animatronics in the specified vent, Michael activated the controlled shock.

He paused for a few minutes before checking the motion detector.

None of them are moving.

"Perfect." Michael stood up from his desk and logged out from his computer. He walked upstairs to the restaurant.

He's ready to close the restaurant for the day.

Not until Henry alerted him with an animatronic found at the back alley.

Henry dragged Michael to the parts and service room to reveal that he found Lefty laying in the alley.

"Without wasting time, I picked up the animatronic with one of our staff and dragged it here into this room." Henry said. "The good news is…" Henry opened Lefty's mouth. "The animatronic captured the puppet." Henry smiled.

"... Charlie?" Michael approached Lefty. Henry nodded at him. Michael could see tears forming on the elder man's eyes. "It's her. She's finally home." Henry said. "... I would like to believe so." He then chuckled, wiping his tears away.

Michael looked at Lefty and smiled. He patted the animatronic's head, "Welcome home, bud."

He remembered the time when he had to babysit Charlie and Sammy along with his younger siblings.

He remembered having to be the horse whenever the children play pretend to be princess, knights and dragon. 

He remembered how he treated both Charlie and Sammy like his own siblings. 

Michael loves them so much.

Michael loves Charlie.

His little sister.

"I'm just hoping that she won't bite me in the ass." Michael laughed. Henry furrowed his eyebrows as he wrapped his arms around Lefty. "Language!" He scolded the dark brunette.

Michael raised his hands up and laughed, "Oh come on. She's not awake. She won't hear us."

"If she does and she learns that from you, I will be really mad at you."

"Of course you would." Michael chuckled.

Henry treats the animatronic as if it's a living child… He must have missed Charlie a lot.

"Right. I'm going to head out now." Henry said as he stood up. "Would you like me to bring Amery home with me?" He asked Michael, who was still staring at Lefty. Michael turned to Henry and nodded, "Yes please. It won't take me a while to finish up for the day." Michael said. 

"I'm just hoping there's no animatronic laying in the alley tonight." He said as he followed Henry out from the room. "Right." The elder nodded, "Who do we need left?" He turned to Michael.

Michael just stood in silence, trying to think.

"Well, I get the feeling that… Elizabeth is not with the amalgamation that I found the other days."

Henry raised an eyebrow, "Why would she be with them?"

"Well… You see, when I was working at Circus Baby rental, Circus Baby… who was possessed by Elizabeth, joined with the other Funtime animatronics to form this large amalgamation and they were trying to lure me to the scooping room so they could use me as a skin suit." Michael explained, remembering the past. Remembering the time he survived the night and was fired the next day.

Thankfully because he didn't want to work there anymore.

Henry flinched at Michael's words. "Skin… suit?"

"I'm pretty sure that was their intention."

"You mean… They wanted to scoop your insides out and…?"

"Yup." Michae said with a straight face.

Henry gagged at the idea and he covered his mouth, "Oh dear… That's just…"

"Hardcore, I know."

"I would say gruesome." Henry shook his head.

Amery skipped towards Michael and hugged his leg, "Daddy!" 

Michael looked down to his daughter and smiled. He kneeled down and hugged her. "Hello, my fluff ball. How are you?" He asked. The child giggled at the hug. "I played with Fuyuki and Kibo today! They left already but Helpy and Foxy are keeping me company!" She said excitedly. Michael pulled away from the hug and smiled at his child.

He patted her head, "That's good to hear."

Amery backed away from her father, "Daddy, you stink."

Michael looked at her with wide eyes and then he turned to Henry. 

"... Did you not turn on the fan when you were down there?" Henry snickered. "Am I really that smelly?" Michael sniffed himself. "You're covered in sweat, yes." Henry said, not answering the question.

"Anyway, I'm going to close up the restaurant before leaving so… Amery, you should go home with grandpa first. I'll be with you later." Michael said as he stood up and ruffled his child's hair.

Amery nodded and hopped towards, "Okay, daddy!" She said as she held Henry's hand. Henry chuckled at the girl.

"Right, I'm off then. See you tomorrow, Michael." Henry said, waving his hand at the dark brunette. Amery did the same too before both of them left the restaurant. 

Michael turned around to check on the alley. Luckily for him, he couldn't find anything tonight.

Michael went back into the restaurant, cleared some stuff up before locking the doors. 

As he was about to lock the back alley door, he heard a sound coming from outside.

A loud metallic thud.

He knew exactly what that noise was so he quickly checked outside. 

He walked on the alley and stopped as he found a tattered looking clown-like animatronic with wires as its hair and a claw for an arm.

Michael knew exactly who that was.

He knew too well.

"So, you're finally here, Circus Baby-

-Lizzie."

Chapter Text

Michael sat in front of the clown-like animatronic. It looked so horrible and terrifying.

Wires for hair, sharp teeth, a claw for a hand… And roller blades as feet. Yeah, that's the only silly part of her design.

"So, it looks like you've been kicked out from the circus." Michael laughed, "Guess they can't handle your clownery."

There was silence.

Of course the animatronic refused to respond but it's okay. He has the audio prompt to run.

"Serve you right for wanting to kill me. Like, what the hell. I was trying to help you but you decided it was a good idea to try to kill me? Yeah, best little sister ever." Michael said as he folded his arms. He showed her the face of annoyance but it slowly faded to sadness. "Though I do believe… That wasn't you, Lizzie. I'm sure… That was the animatronic that you possessed. That was the program included with this monstrosity. They were programmed to kill." Michael said with a sad expression. "And I know you wouldn't think of killing anyone… You're a sweet girl. The sweetest one ever. Yes, you pulled pranks but you're such a sweet person who wouldn't hurt anyone. Hell, you couldn't even step on ants." 

Michael looked at Circus Baby again. "My sister is in there but she's not the one controlling this body. It's never her. I know her well. She wouldn't think of killing me. I'm her brother." Michael took a clipboard with a paper on it and he placed his hand on the tape recorder.

"I know your game, Baby. You like to pretend. You pretended to be nice but I could see through you."

Michael said as he started the audio prompt test.

The test went well with Circus Baby about to lunge at him but thankfully, the controlled shock saved him.

He kept Circus Baby downstairs at his office before he left the building for the night.

The next day, he made sure he approached Henry first before he started his day.

He told Henry everything about last night.

"So… We've finally collected them all." Henry said. "It seems so. So we have the missing children, father, Charlie and Lizzie. What is your plan next?" Michael asked the light brunette. 

Henry ran his hand through his beard as he looked at the floor, wondering. "Close the restaurant for tomorrow and don't bring Amery in. I don't want to risk an innocent life with this." Henry said.

"So, you're gonna burn the restaurant down?" Michael still couldn't believe that Henry planned to do this. They spent a lot of money and energy to get it up and then Henry decided to burn it down? What a waste of effort and money.

Is this how a business minded person works? Lame.

"Yeah, that's our only option. You and I will be in the restaurant tomorrow. This may sound awful but… I need you to be the bait. If you can, please lure them close to you. Those vents close to you are the ones that I will light them on fire. Hopefully this will work." Henry said with a nod. Michael stared at Henry, "... I hope there's a way out for both of us. I don't wanna get barbecued."

"Oh there will be. Don't worry about it."Henry gives him a reassuring smile.

Hopefully Henry keeps his promise or else, Amery is going to be an orphan again and Michael doesn't want that. He doesn't want to leave his child. Never.

Both of the men decided to go on their own way for today. Henry dealt with the customers while Michael dealt with the animatronics downstairs and also the customers.

When Michael was on his way to his office, he saw Seto Yamazaki watching his children playing with Amery.

Michael remembered how disturbing Yamazaki was the other day. He's worried if Yamazaki has something up his sleeves.

Michael has a bad feeling about him but he decides to shrug it away as he doesn't want to judge his customers, except for the difficult ones.

But still, something about Yamazaki seems off.

Michael decides to focus more on his shop than his customers so he heads downstairs, facing the animatronics who he collected.

He collected all of them.

His father, sister, Charlie and also the missing children.

Hopefully with Henry's plan, it'll release their spirits from the animatronics so they can move on.

Michael actually wonders if his father's corpse is still inside the suit that he's wearing. It should turn into a skeleton now, right? It has been 30 years. He should be decomposing.

Or perhaps, remnants made him stop decomposing?

That's possible… But Michael knows nothing about remnants except they can grant immortality.

Perhaps, perhaps.

Michael doesn't know.

He doesn't want to get a headache from this.

Michael sits in his office, checking the motion detector and vents.

It's getting difficult for him to ward off the animatronics now that there are 4 of them. Well, that's what Michael thought but he could only find 3 animatronics moving around.

He wondered which one of them decided to not move.

Perhaps Lefty?

Come to think of it, why would Charlie come after Michael? He didn't do anything to Charlie.

Perhaps mistaken him for his father? Does that make sense?

Michael shrugs it away.

Before he could do anything on the computer, he heard a loud squeaking noise on the left side of his ear.

And a laugh.

Michael stayed quiet and still in his seat. He tried to focus on the noise.

"Where are you?"

Comes the familiar voice that he first heard when he was 24.

The voice of a killer machine who wanted to use him as a skin suit.

Circus Baby.

She sounded close to him so he decided to turn his fan off and the computer as well, hoping that'll ward her off.

Silence.

If he doesn't make his presence known, she'd go away.

"Where are you?" She asks again.

Again, Michael didn't respond. He even held his breath, afraid that Baby could hear him breathe.

He remembered what Ballora said when he was crawling around her room.

I could hear you breathe .

That might be a possibility for Circus Baby too.

Lord, why does his father have to build these animatronics to be so creepy?

Creepy and dangerous.

A danger for the living. 

He actually wonders how his father survived with these animatronics around his facility.

Michael stayed still again and tried to focus on the noise again. He couldn't hear anything anymore.

No squeaking and no talking.

He wonders if it's safe for him to turn on the fan.

The room is getting warmer now and he really needs the fan.

He's starting to sweat too.

Michael decided to turn on his computer and fan.

Though that was a bad idea because he suddenly heard a loud squeaking noise.

He quickly played the audio prompt on the vents before he switched everything off again.

He could feel his heartbeat racing rapidly.

He just wanted the fan. Why can't he have it now? Why are the animatronics always ready to ruin his day?

Michael turns around and he jumps at the sight of a white bear standing behind him.

"Oh, Mr Schmidt. I'm sorry for bothering you." The white bear, that was Helpy.

"What-"

"Amery was running around and she fell. She scraped her knee but I patched her up. Just letting you know." Helpy said with a smile.

Michael stared at the bear in disbelief. So, the squeaking noise from earlier was Helpy opening the door to his office. It wasn't any of the animatronics that he needed to fight off.

"You should've waited for me to go upstairs… How's Amery by the way?" He asked.

"She's doing okay! She cried for you but Mr Emily picked her up and put her in his office and he also gave her an ice-cream, if you don't mind."

Michael nodded.

Suddenly, Michael heard a loud knocking from the vent.

He stayed still, trying to hear any other noises coming from the vents.

"Oh, what's that? A noise? If there's something that needs to be fixed, let me know and I will contact the maintenance worker for you. Would you like me to check the vents for you?" Helpy asked as he approached the left vent.

"Voices. I could hear voices."  

A male voice… William's voice came out from the vents.

Michael quickly grabbed Helpy into his arms.

"Oh, was that an intrud-" Before the white bear could say anything, Michael covered his mouth with his hand. "Shh…" He whispered to the bear.

"You can't hide forever."

Oh, Michael can. 

He will hide from his father forever.

He doesn't want his father to get too close to him nor Amery.

Nor Helpy.

Especially Helpy since he is with Michael right now.

Michael and Helpy sit in silence for a while.

Michael eyed at the clock on the wall in front of him, hoping that it's almost time for him to get out of his office. 

Oh, did he mention that his office feels so warm without the fan on?

Guess what,

It's getting hotter now.

Michael realised that his arms are getting warmer as well so he looked down to see Helpy stopped moving.

"Overheating?" Michael whispered. He held the white bear to check on him and Michael was right. Helpy stopped moving due to overheating from the heat in the room.

The white bear still has his eyes opened but they're not alive .

Helpy is frozen.

Michael needs to bring him upstairs as soon as he can before anything inside of him breaks.

Michael sat in silence, waiting for the right time for him to run out from the room. 

Once he's sure there were no noises coming from the vents, he switched the computer on and played the audio prompt as far away from his office.

He checked the motion detector and waited for the animatronics to move further away from him before he decided to log out for the day.

The brunette stood up from his desk and bolted upstairs. He even made sure that the door was locked and nothing could get out. All of the animatronics deserved to stay downstairs. 

None of them are allowed to step out from the basement.

None of them.

If they ever decide to step foot upstairs, Michael will make sure that they will be dismantled the moment they reach upstairs.

That's a threat and Michael will make it happen.

Don't anger Michael Joseph Afton.

He will do whatever in order to protect his family and friends from the animatronics.

Henry saw Michael coming out from the basement while huffing and puffing so he decided to approach the man. 

"Michael? Is everything okay?" He asked.

Michael nodded as he set the white bear down, "Yeah but Helpy is overheating. I need to cool him down." Michael said as he wiped his forehead from sweats.

"Right, I'll settle with that. Now that we have no animatronics to salvage, I think you should go home early." Henry smiled. "I'll settle with Helpy and close the restaurant."

"Are you sure about this?"

"Of course. Go get Amery and spend some time with her. She scraped her knee and she had been crying for you. She's in the staff room if you want to go get her now." Henry said as he picked up the white bear and made his way to his office so he could fix Helpy up.

Michael walked towards the staff room and he saw his daughter doodling away while sitting at one of the tables provided for the staff to sit for their break.

Michael sat next to her and watched as the girl concentrated on her drawings. He decided to stroke her hair gently which caught her attention. 

Amery turned around and grinned happily.

"Daddy! I drew Foxy!" She said, grabbing her paper and showing it to Michael excitedly. Michael smiled at her and patted her head.

"How's your knee, fluff ball?"

Amery tilted her head as she looked at her father. She then smiled, “I hurt my knee! I cried but I’m okay now. I’m a big girl. I should be strong!” She said.

Michael patted her head. “Amy, it’s okay to cry and it’s okay to get help, okay? It’s good that you want to be strong but you also need to remember that it’s okay to get help.” He said, stroking her hair affectionately.

Amery nodded happily and grinned. “Okay, daddy! Helpy and grandpa Henry helped me and gave me ice cream.”

“Yeah, Helpy told me about that.” Michael smiled. “Right, I think we should go home now.” Michael said as he stood up to stretch his body. Amery looked at her dad with an excited expression, ready to jump up and down like a jumping jelly bean.

“Yay! We going home together! Yay!”

Fair enough for her to be excited about going home with her dad because Michael has been coming home late to salvage some animatronics.

Now that he has completed that goal, he can finally go home with his daughter. 

Michael gets his stuff and Amery's stuff ready. It's not like Amery brought a lot of things with her to the pizzeria. She only brought her drawing book, a box of crayons and her Foxy plush toy.

Michael placed all of her stuff in her bag. He smiled at the small child, "Come now." He said, picking the girl up and carrying her in his arms. Amery giggled and wrapped her arms around her dad's shoulder. 

Before leaving, Michael decided to check on Henry. He walked to the light brunette's office and poked his head.

There, sat Henry tinkering around with Helpy.

"Uncle Henry, I'm leaving now." Michael said.

Henry looked up to Michael and smiled, "Alright. Drive carefully. See you tomorrow." He said.

"Yeah."

"Night, night, grandpa Henry!" Amery waved at Henry, who waved back at her.

Michael walked out from the pizzeria and went to his car.

He placed his daughter on the passenger seat next to him and he placed her bag at the back of the car.

As Michael started driving, he began to think about what would happen the next day.

He wondered if things will turn out okay tomorrow.

Will he and Henry escape from the building without a scratch?

Will the animatronics chase after them?

There are so many questions that linger in Michael's head.

He had a bad feeling about tomorrow and he didn't like it one bit.

Chapter Text

After Michael left, Henry made a beeline to the basement.

He opened the door to the room where he kept the animatronics.

All of them are there.

William,

The missing children,

Elizabeth,

"... Charlie." 

Henry walked up to Lefty and he dragged the animatronic upstairs, away from the other killer animatronics. 

Before he left the room, he shot a glare at William, who was lying on the floor, inanimate. Though Henry is sure that William could see him glaring.

Henry left the basement with Lefty in his arms. He dragged the bear animatronic to the Parts and Service room and leaned the animatronic on one of the metal shelves that they had in the room.

He made sure that the animatronic doesn't fall forward so he tried his best to position it.

Or her.

Henry kneeled down in front of Lefty as he took the bear's head off, revealing the puppet's head.

The head looks tattered. The paint on the head seems to turn yellow-ish with black marks everywhere.

He could see scratches on its face too.

How long has it been since he last saw the puppet? Probably more than 30 years now.

Henry stared at the puppet, he wondered if the puppet had ever moved when Michael was downstairs trying to fend himself away from the other animatronics.

But why would the puppet, Charlie, go after Michael? 

Henry knew that Michael treated Charlie like his own sister and Charlie loved Michael like he was her own brother.

Charlie wouldn't hurt Michael.

Unless she mistaken Michael for William, that's a whole different thing. 

Henry hated to admit it but Michael did look like William. 

They're identical. Michael looked like the last time Henry saw William except Michael's face radiates kindness and happiness and maybe a hint of sadness and stress.

While William? 

The last time he saw his friend's face, he could only see insanity. 

Insanity, madness, denial.

Anger, after Henry kicked him out from the business.

William.

Henry remembered the first time he saw William, William only gave out a depressed man's vibes.

He tried his best to help the man.

He tried his best to cheer him up.

He made sure to include William in all of his activities and business.

They became good friends.

But why would William kill Charlie?

Why would his best friend kill his daughter?

Henry knew why. Possibly out of rage due to Henry kicking William out from the business.

That's the only thing he could think of.

He did it for the best but he should've done better.

He should've called the police on William when he found out that William built killer animatronics to kill children with.

But he didn't dare to.

He was naïve.

He thought William could change but he didn't. 

Obviously.

William lost his mind.

There was no way to save him.

Henry blamed himself for not trying hard enough to save his friend.

All he ended up doing was creating a puppet, hoping that it will keep his daughter safe.

Of course that plan failed.

He let it happen.

He made a mistake. 

He should've been there for Charlie.

He should've got William arrested.

He could've prevented Charlie's death but he didn't. 

Now, in front of him, sat the puppet that he created for his daughter and Charlie? She possessed the puppet.

Instead of moving on and being in peace.

Henry held the face of the puppet softly. 

"Charlie, I know you're in there. I'm sorry for letting this happen to you." Henry said, stroking the puppet's face with his fingers.

"I should've been there for you. I should've protected you, kept you close to me and not let anyone bullied you or even left you alone on your birthday. I'm terribly sorry…"

Tears flowed down to his cheeks as he looked at the puppet.

"If only I was more careful… If only I was aware of my surroundings… If only I paid more attention to you, none of this would've happened."

Henry sobbed.

"Sammy… He misses you a lot. I'm sure he'd like to see you if he knew about this but I didn't want to tell him. I don't want to upset him more. I want him to believe that you're in peace."

Henry took a deep breath.

"Tomorrow… I will save you. I will release you. I will make sure that you're no longer suffering like this. I'm sorry if the animatronic was too harsh on you. It's the only way for me to capture you. And I'm sorry it took me a while to realise that you were here the whole time." He stroked the puppet's face again.

"Everything is going to be okay. I will make sure everything will work out." Henry gave the puppet a determined smile.

"For now, rest well. I will see you tomorrow." He said as he kissed the puppet's head and pulled the animatronic into a hug.

He hugged it for a few minutes before letting it go. He wiped his tears away and stood up, leaving the room.

Before he stepped out of the room, he heard a faint voice.

Dad…

That surprised him.

He turned around.

He was hoping to see the puppet moving around, conscious and aware.

But the puppet sat still. It didn't move at all.

Henry smiled softly, "Good night. I promise I will be here with you. I promise." He said, leaving the room.

I won't leave you again.

I will be with you.

We'll be together again,

Charlie…

Chapter Text

Today is the promised day.

The day where Henry plans to burn the pizzeria down, along with the haunted animatronics.

Hopefully that’ll release their souls.

Michael is sitting in the Emily’s living room. Him and Amery had lunch there, Sammy’s wife invited them over after she found out that Michael and Henry decided to take a day off.

After a while, Henry joins Michael in the living room. He sits down on one of the couches across Michael with a smile as his hand holds a cup of coffee. Henry raises an eyebrow as soon as he can see the younger male’s face.

“You seem fidgety. Are you okay?” He asked, feeling concerned.

“Huh?” Michael looked at Henry with a confused face. “Y-Yeah, I am.”

“Are you sure?” Henry asked again. He could see through Michael. He knew the brunette so well. He could see that Michael was lying to him.

Michael sighed in defeat, “There is no way for me to lie to you, huh?” Michael chuckled.

“I have to be honest, I’m actually feeling scared and nervous about your plan. What if we fail and one of us dies? Or what if something turns out wrong? Like, perhaps the fire doesn’t work. It’ll just make them stronger? I don’t know, uncle Henry. I’m not so confident with this.”

Henry nodded, “Understandable. We can’t confirm if this will work 100% but it won’t hurt to give it a try and plus, don’t you worry about us being trapped in there. I’ve already set up an escape route for us. I will let you know once we are at the pizzeria.” Henry explained.

“What are you guys talking about?”

Henry and Michael turned around to see Sammy standing behind them with a confused face as he held a mug. Confusion written all over Sammy’s face.

Michael felt nervous. Did Sammy hear his conversation with Henry? He hoped not. He doesn’t want Sammy to get involved in this.

He doesn’t want anyone else to get involved in his business. It’s too dangerous.

To be honest, he doesn’t want Henry to get involved in this too but then Henry made it firm that he is doing this for Charlie.

Henry’s own choice and goal.

To free Charlie.

And also the missing children.

“Oh, hey.” Michael smiled at Sammy, trying to hide his nervousness. Michael’s eyes focused on Sammy’s movement. He sat next to his father on the couch opposite Michael.

“So, what were you guys talking about? I heard something about being trapped.” Sammy added.

Michael didn’t know how to answer this. He could just lie and everything will a-okay.

But what should he tell Sammy?!

“Oh, we were talking about hiring a bug exterminator and Michael was worried that the two of us will get trapped in the pizzeria while the exterminator is doing their duty.” Henry chuckled.

Michael turned towards the older man with an unamused face.

Good fabrication but what the hell?! Henry is making him look like a coward in front of Sammy.

Henry turned his gaze to Michael and smiled.

Just go along with that, Michael.

Is what Michael could tell from Henry’s face.

Michael mentally sighed and he frowned, “Don’t laugh. I just don’t want to deal with the bugs dying. That’s all.” He lied.

Sammy snickered and laughed. “I didn’t know you’re scared of bugs.”

“I’m not. I just don’t like to see them dying.”
“You’re such a faint hearted person.”
“Shut up, Samuel.” Michael huffed.

Sammy laughed.

"Anyway, why are you guys here? I heard from my wife that you guys decided to close the shop for a day?" Sammy asked.

"Oh- Uh-"

"We're just exhausted and decided to take a day off, that's all." Henry answered, covering for Michael who didn't know how to answer. Michael stared at the older man and nodded, "Yeah, I haven't been spending time with Amery as well so I decided to take a day off and then your father agreed with me." Michael said.

"Mmhm and we're planning to go out for a drink later tonight. Business discussion though. Would you like to join, Sammy?" Henry lied.

They're planning to go to the pizzeria tonight.

Sammy smiled and shook his head. "Nah, I don't think so. I'm a bit busy with some projects I need to work on for my clients. Maybe another time, hm?" Sammy lightly elbowed Henry. "We haven't had a drink together for a while now."

Henry looked at him with a soft smile. "Yeah, next time."

"Oh, that reminds me." Sammy turned to Michael, "You've been home late at night a lot. What's up with that?"

"Is there something odd about that?" Michael raised an eyebrow.

"I mean, I'm just wondering."

"As a manager, it's my role to make sure everything in the restaurant works perfectly and everything is secure before I leave for the night. Did you not know that?"

"That makes sense." Sammy nodded.

Michael wasn't lying though. He did have to check all over the restaurant before he left but at the same time, he didn't want to tell Sammy about the animatronics that he had to salvage every night.

Sammy seemed too lost in the conversation but then he changed the topic to something that's not business related. He turned to his dad and smiled, "Guess what?"

"What is it?" Henry questioned.

"So, the other day Derek had Career Day and when he came home, he told me something." Sammy puffed his chest proudly.

"That he wants to become like you?" Michael guessed.

"Even better." Sammy grinned.

With that, came Derek walking towards the men whole holding Amery in his arms. He put the girl down as she rushed towards her father, climbing to his lap.

Michael brushed her hair and hugged her. The girl chuckled.

"I told dad that I want to be like you, grandpa. A robotic engineer. I've always admired you from afar and I've always wished to be just like you. I told mom and dad about it and they supported my idea." Derek grinned.

Henry froze in his place, trying his best to process what was being told.

Michael smiled at the boy and then to Henry. He watched as the older man tried his best to come up with a comment.

Henry looked at his grandson slowly and smiled, "I see. That's a big dream you got there, Derek." Henry chuckled. "Okay then, I'm proud of you for figuring out what you want to become in the future and I promise you I will support you wherever I go. Even when I'm no longer around." Henry stood up and pulled his grandson into a hug.

Derek flushed from embarrassment but he hugged his grandfather back, "Oh, come on, gramps. Don't say it like you're going to disappear soon." Derek chuckled.

He thought it was a joke or perhaps, old men always thought about death.

Nobody is looking but Michael,

He is looking.

He looks at Henry's face after Derek says that.

Henry's expression seems suspicious to him.

What is he thinking?

That evening after dinner, Michael dropped Amery off at the Emily's and he picked Henry up so both of them could go out for a drink.

Of course, that is to cover up the lies that they've created.

Nobody should know their plan. Especially Sammy.

God knows what Sammy will do if he knows Charlie is possessing the puppet.

The drive to the pizzeria was so quiet. None of the men spoke.

Henry only had his focus outside of the window while Michael had his focus on both the road AND his anxiety.

He needs to stop thinking about it and trust Henry on this one. 

Everything will be okay. Everything will be okay.

Nobody will get hurt.

Both of them will survive this.

Nobody will die.

They will successfully release everyone's spirits.

Everything will work out.

As soon as they arrived, Michael parked at his usual spot. Henry walked out of the car and made a beeline towards the door with Michael following him from behind.

Both of them entered the restaurant quietly. They couldn't hear anything. No movements, no metal clanking.

Perhaps the animatronics aren't alive yet.

"Okay, I'm going to set things up now." Henry said.

Michael stopped Henry from walking past him by placing his hand in front of the older man. "Before that, what is our escape route?" 

"Right, thank you for reminding me."

"How can you forget about that?!" 

"I'm old, Michael. Give me a break." Henry sighed.

"Right, so I will leave the exit door close to the basement unlocked so you will use that door." Henry explained.

"Gotcha." 

"Now, I'm going to do my task. You should go to yours too." Henry said before walking away from Michael. 

Michael thought to himself, he probably has some valuables in this restaurant. He needed to secure them first before Henry set this place on fire.

Michael checked all over the restaurant for any valuables. He placed them in a milk crate that he had found in the staff room.

Before he left the room, he realised he forgot something.

… Or more like, he forgot someone.

Michael walked towards a charging port against the wall and he pulled out the white and pink bear, Helpy.

He can't let Helpy burn. Helpy is his creation and he is proud of Helpy so much.

He placed Helpy in the milk crate and then he walked out.

He went to his car and placed the crate at the passenger seat in his car.

He then returned back to the pizzeria.

He walked to his office in the basement.

It's finally time for him to start his shift.

He sat in front of his computer and switched the screen on. He looked at his interface.

Usually he'd play the audio prompt on the vents that are far from him but this time, he has to play the audio close to him.

According to Henry, he had set up some fire system on the vents close to Michael's office. So, Michael needs to try his best to lure all of the animatronics to those specific vents. Henry can access the motion detector from his computer upstairs so once they are confirmed there, he will set them on fire.

Hopefully this will work.

Michael needs to remind himself that he has to trust Henry on this. He is older. He is wiser. Henry got this.

Nothing bad will happen.

Michael presses the motion detector so he can detect where the animatronics are located before he plays the audio prompt, luring them to the vents close to his office.

He watches as the animatronics move.

Michael just remembered that Henry actually gave him a radio for them to communicate with before both of them arrived at the pizzeria. According to the older man, he will give Michael the next instructions once they’ve moved close to Michael.

Unfortunately for Michael, he heard nothing from Henry.

Michael stared at his screen anxiously as the three animatronics were getting closer to him. He played the audio prompt elsewhere, trying to avoid the animatronics from jumping on him.

Yes, he knows he needs to lure them to the vents close to him but the thing is he hasn’t heard anything from Henry. What should he do? Let the animatronics go to him and rip him apart?

Michael is hoping that his plan will work but unfortunately for him,

Only one animatronic stopped moving.

The other two are moving towards him.

Rapidly.

Michael started panicking. He clicked on the radio, trying to communicate with Henry.

“Uh… Uncle Henry? I think this is the best time for you to give me an instruction.” He said through the radio.

Unfortunately the older man didn’t reply.

Michael could hear his heart pounding. His body is shaking and his arms and legs feel weak. He doesn’t know what to do now. Should he just endure it?

Oh, if only he has weapons nearby!

I heard your call.

Bittersweet… but fitting.

Oh god, he knew those voices and they’re closer than Michael expected.

Circus Baby and Springtrap.

To be specific,

Elizabeth and his father, William.

They are coming closer now that Michael can hear loud metal thuds. He stands up from his computer and looks around for a weapon.

He should be able to find a wrench somewhere!

He is determined to find one but he stops when he hears loud metal clanking behind him. He turned around slowly and there stood a 7 ft female clown animatronic and 6 ft bunny animatronic staring at him.

“This… Feels like my birthday.” Circus Baby said. “Do you have a gift for me?”

“You may not recognise me at first but I can assure you… It’s still me.” William laughed menacingly.

“Ah, finally. A family reunion. Isn’t that right, Michael my son?” William glared at his son, who was cowering in the corner with his eyes opened wide and sweats covering his face. 

Michael gathered his strength. He stood up and ran out of the office. He heard loud metal stomping. The two animatronics are after him.

“You may run but you can’t hide from me, boy.” William threatened.

“Are we playing hide and seek? Oh, that’s my favourite game.” Circus Baby said as she ran after Michael from behind.
Michael increased his pace as he ran far from the office, ran past two of the party rooms and quickly rushed into the male toilet.

Being in the track team in high school really helped him to learn how to run as fast as possible.

Michael is sure that he has lost the two animatronics. 

Michael enters one of the toilet stalls. He puts the toilet bowl cover down and then climbs on top of it. Hoping that if one of them is looking for him in the toilet, they will not be able to see his feet.

He takes out his radio again from his pocket and he presses the button, “Uncle Henry? Where are you? I need instructions now. I’m being chased by my father and Circus Baby!!”

Still no response from the older man.

What the hell is Henry doing?! And he promised Michael that he will contact Michael but he isn’t answering the radio at all!

Michael began to think that Henry had probably escaped and he probably wanted to lock Michael in the pizzeria.

No, wait. No, no. Henry Emily won’t do that. He won’t betray a friend. He’s a nice person. He will not do that.

He’s not like William Afton at all.

Before Michael could try to contact Henry again, he heard someone slam the toilet door open. It’s either Circus Baby or his father.

So he squatted on top of the toilet bowl, trying his best to keep quiet. He even tries to hold his breath. He doesn’t want Circus Baby to hear him breathing and eventually find him.

“Ready or not, here I come.” The animatronic said as she stomped her foot into the toilet. She used her large metal claw to slam the stall’s door open. One by one.

She’s going to find me eventually.

Michael thought.

He had no choice. Once Circus Baby slam his door open, he needs to run as fast as he can to escape from the clown.

That’s what he thought to himself.

And it seems like it was a cue for Circus Baby to slam the door to his stall open. 

Michael could see pieces of the door flying towards him but he didn’t sit there quietly.

He raised his foot and sprinted away from Circus Baby.

The clown animatronic turns around, “I found you. Come back and let’s have some fun!” Circus Baby said.

Michael was already in the hallway, trying his best to find a place to hide. He could always escape the building but that will result with Circus Baby following him outside the pizzeria and there’s a potential that she will cause trouble and death on others.

Michael can’t risk that.

"I can hear you, Michael." Said William from the other side of the restaurant. 

Michael doesn't know where to go.

He's surrounded now.

Or is he?

He forgot that he could just run into the Parts and Service room and hid there. That's a safe place right?

But then how is he going to escape from his father and Baby?!

"Fuck it." Michael sprinted towards the Parts and Service room. He walked slowly in the room, trying to find a place to hide.

Luckily for him, there is a spot. In the corner of the room, in between shelves. He can hide there, he thought.

He crawled towards the corner and sat there quietly. Michael pulled out his radio and pressed the button again, "Uncle Henry, can you hear me? Circus Baby and father escaped from the basement! What should I do now? You said you were going to burn the place down once they're in the vents!! Please tell me you're still here." Michael begged.

Henry can't leave him behind. No, he can't. He doesn't want to die, getting killed by animatronics.

If he dies then, who will take care of Amery?!

He doesn't want to leave that precious child alone!

He only had the chance to become a father and to prove everyone that he's not as bad as his father and yet that has come to an end.

Wait, no. It's not the end yet.

Michael jumped when he heard the door to the room he's in slammed open.

"Mikey, where are you? Don't leave me alone. I'm lonely." 

The voice of Michael's sister, Elizabeth came out from the clown animatronic.

That really boils Michael's blood. The fact that the damn animatronic is using his sister's voice to lure him out.

To manipulate him.

Disgusting.

Michael just sat quietly in the corner, trying to calculate his move and escape. He watched as the animatronic walked around, looking for him.

Michael tried to crawl away from his corner, crawling the opposite direction from Baby but unfortunately for him, his head accidentally bumped into one of the shelves.

Thud!

The shelf shook and that alerted the animatronic.

Michael cursed under his breath. He tried to make a run for the door but unfortunately for him, Baby caught him on the collar.

The animatronic dragged him by the collar with her claw and she lifted Michael so they could see each other, eye to eye.

"It has been a while, hasn't it? Eggs Benedict." Baby said, sounding like she was smirking at Michael. "You played right into our hands. Did you really think that this job just fell out of the sky for you?"

Michael snickered, "Of course. To be fair, Henry hired me- Ack!" Baby held on to Michael's collar tighter, almost choking him.

"No, this was a gift… for us. You gathered them all together in one place, just like he asked you to. All of those little souls in one place, just for us. A gift. Now we can do what we were created to do and be complete!" Baby said. 

"What kind of gift are you talking about?! You lot were about to get scrapped! Do you really think I wanted to use you lot for this restaurant?! Not a chance!"

Baby slammed Michael on the wall. Michael grunted loudly and fell on the floor.

"I will make you proud, daddy!" Baby continued her monologue as she tilted her head upwards with arms spread open. She then grabbed Michael by the neck, almost choking the man. Michael whimpered and squirmed in her hold.

"Watch, listen and be full-"

A loud white noise coming from Michael's radio can be heard.

"I'm sorry to interrupt you, Elizabeth. If you still remember that name, but I'm afraid that you've been misinformed." Henry's voice came out from the radio.

Michael felt relieved to know the guy was still here, with a radio, in the building, hopefully. 

"What?" Circus Baby sounded angry now. She gripped on Michael's neck tighter which Michael started choking and coughing.

He couldn't breathe.

It feels like she's going to break his neck.

He's going to die.

He was about to close his eyes, slowly accepting his fate but then he heard a loud thump and he was free from Baby's grip.

Michael fell onto the floor but when he looked up, he was surprised to see Lefty holding onto Baby's arms.

"Charlie?!"

Lefty didn't react to Michael. The animatronic pushes Baby to a wall, trying to pin her down but with Baby fighting back.

"You are not here to receive a gift. Nor have you been called here by the individual you assume. Although, you have indeed been called."

Michael took his radio and held onto it. "Come on, Charlie! You can do it! Your dad and I believe in you."

The voice of Henry lit up Lefty's eyes. She pushed Baby to the wall with force and punched her in the face. Baby fought back, she's about to swing her claw at Lefty but Lefty caught her claw.

She gripped onto Baby's claw tightly. 

"Mikey, run." Michael heard a whisper coming from the animatronic. Michael's eyes lit up. He recognised that voice.

Charlie.

Michael nodded. He stood up and ran out from the room, leaving Baby with Lefty.

You have all been called here. Into a labyrinth of sounds and smells, misdirection and misfortune.

Michael ran out to the hallway and he realised there was fire around.

Henry lit up the whole restaurant on fire.

While both of them are around?!

"Uncle Henry, what were you thinking…" 

A labyrinth with no exit. A maze with no prize. You don't even realize that you are trapped. Your lust of blood has driven you in endless circles. Chasing the cries of children in some unseen chamber, always seeming so near.

"Wait, what is he talking about-" 

Michael then realised. Henry probably used the voice of children to lure the animatronics to pizzeria. So, that's how it is.

That's how they were lured here.

Yet somehow out of reach.

But, you will never find them. None of you will.

This is where your story ends.

Michael was about to run back to the escape door near his office, where Henry made it accessible for him to escape but he stopped in his tracks when he saw a familiar figure standing in front of him.

"F-Father?" Michael is shaking. William is standing in front of him, menacingly.

And to you, my brave volunteer, who gladly took this offer despite objecting and questioning me, thank you for giving me this opportunity. I'm proud of you, Michael. Seeing you managing the restaurant and fighting off these dangerous beings. I made sure your escape route was secure so you could go back to your daughter. Amery is waiting for you.

"So… This was your plan with Henry? I was right all along." William said, glaring at Michael. "You and Henry are teaming up against me. Your own father." He croaked. 

"Father, you don't understand! You need to be defeated. You've killed many innocent lives. You're not you anymore! You're not my father but a demon who pretends to be my father!!" Michael shouted. 

"I did this for you. I did this for all of us. Don't you understand how remnants work? We could bring back our family. Evan, Elizabeth… and your mother." 

"No, that's not how it should be! You'll make them suffer! Hell, you won't be able to bring them back! Accept the reality. You're not god, father! You can't bring anyone back!!" 

William stood in silence. 

This place will not be remembered and the memory of everything that started this, can finally begin to fade away. As the agony of every tragedy should.

"Where is he?" William grunted.

Michael raised an eyebrow, "Who?" 

"Henry."

"None of your business." Michael backed away. "Tell me where that bastard is and I will let you go." William growled, stepping closely to Michael but Michael turned around and sprinted away.

He ran towards the party room. He walked up stage and pushed the rockstar animatronics down so he could block William from chasing after him.

"I'm sorry, guys." He whispered to the animatronics.

Michael wanted to breathe but as soon as he breathed, he started coughing from the smoke.

The fire spread everywhere in the restaurant now. Smokes filled the air.

Pieces from the ceiling are falling down.

Michael needs to be careful if he wants to escape.

Can he though? Will he be able to?

Yes, he will. He needs to escape. For Amery's sake.

And to you monsters trapped in the corridors. Be still. And give up your spirits.

They don't belong to you.

Michael could feel metal wires wrapped around him. He didn't get to react as the metal wires gripped tightly around him and slammed him to the floor.

Michael grunted in pain as he was lifted up again by the wires.

He looked in front of him and he was faced with a melted looking Funtime Freddy.

"It's the birthday boy! How fun!" Molten Freddy cackled.

"Shit." Michael cursed under his breath but that doesn't amuse Molten Freddy. So, he slammed Michael to the floor again.

"Gah!"

"Profanity should not be accepted!" Freddy growled.

"Now that we have you here, let's get on with our plan. To use you as our skin." Molten Freddy's voice shifted to Ballora's.

Of course. All of the Funtime animatronics are there. Michael is just hoping that Funtime Foxy doesn't come out. Their voice hurts Michael's ears.

Michael was pinned down on the floor as Molten Freddy leaned towards him, inspecting him.

"Ohohoho, flesh!" The animatronic's voice switched to Funtime Freddy. 

For most of you, I believe there is peace and perhaps, warmth, waiting for you after the smoke clears.

Michael squirmed in Molten Freddy's grip. He tried to kick the animatronic away but it wouldn't budge.

He heard a loud rumbling from behind. 

He watched as the animatronic was pried off him.

Although, for one of you, the darkest pit of Hell has opened to swallow you whole. So, don't keep the Devil waiting, old friend.

Molten Freddy was pushed to the wall with a slam.

Michael sat up as he watched his father stomping on the amalgamation. 

"Father?"

William didn't respond. He continued to stomp on the amalgamation until they stopped moving.

"Father, stop!" Michael shouted.

William stopped as the amalgamation stopped moving. Michael watched as his father raised his foot. The amalgamation is now nothing but smashed pieces of metals and wires.

Are the spirits in those metals okay?

William turned around to face Michael. "Now that I have you here, tell me where Henry is." William said, stomping towards his son.

"If you plan on harming him, I will not allow it." Michael said as he backed away from his father.

William swiftly grabbed him by the shoulder and gripped on it. "Tell me. Don't you see that he is deceiving you? Leaving you in a burned building instead of waiting for you to escape before lighting everything up in flames?" William snapped.

"There is a way out for me but you keep chasing me away from it!!" Michael shouted.

"If you really care about me, you would've let me escape instead of chasing me around!" 

Michael glared at William who glared back.

They just glared at each other for a while, tension in the air.

Hot air in the air… Well, obviously because the restaurant is burning down.

They are really calm while the building is on fire.

Huh.

William broke the glare as he pushed Michael away from where he stood. Michael gasped as his back hit the floor.

Pieces of the ceiling fell towards the spot where Michael was standing.

"If you wish to not tell me where Henry is then I will find him myself. You should run. Escape from this building." William commanded. Michael raised an eyebrow and smirked at him, "You're acting strangely nice to me. Didn't you beat me up when we met previously?"

"Go now before I change my mind." William commanded again.

Michael stood up, "You're acting strange." Michael coughed. The smoke entered his lungs again.

William didn't say anything. He just stood there, watching Michael's movements. 

"You're all grown up now."

"Huh?" Michael turned to face William again.

"Get out now before the exits are blocked." William ordered. This time, Michael could tell that William is impatient.

"Right… Don't you dare attack me from behind while I'm running away." Michael said before he bolted away.

The restaurant is surrounded by fire. Rubbles and pieces fell from the ceiling. Some places are blocked by them. Michael could only hope that his exit is not blocked.

He ran towards the direction of his exit but then he was stopped again.

A hand wrapped around his leg and pulled him down to the floor. Michael yelped in pain.

Why is it so hard for him to escape?

It's like his fate to die in the fire.

He really needs to escape. He's starting to not be able to breathe now.

He tried kicking the hand that grabbed him. He looked down to see a damaged Circus Baby with one of her eyes missing and she only has a torso.

Wow, did Charlie do a number on her?

"You can't run, Eggs Benedict. Do you dare to leave your sister behind? She's here with me." Circus Baby once again tried to manipulate Michael.

Michael coughed and kicked her hand, "Shut up. My sister is dead! DEAD!!" He stood up and tried to push the animatronic away but Baby was too strong.

Baby crawled on top of him and wrapped her arm around his neck.

She tightened her grip which made Michael cough.

He really can't breathe now. His vision is getting blurry.

He can't focus on his surroundings. 

He heard voices around him. He could still see Baby on top of him looking at him menacingly.

He could see someone lifting Baby from him.

He could hear Henry's voice coming from the radio.

That's about it.

He couldn't stay awake anymore.

He's tired, he can't breathe.

Maybe this is the end.

My daughter, if you can hear me, I knew you would return as well. It's in your nature to protect the innocent. I'm sorry that on that day, the day you were shut out and left to die, no one was there to lift you up in their arms, the way you lifted others into yours.

He could see something black and red fighting Baby. That might be Charlie, protecting him for the last time.

And then, what became of you? I should have known, you wouldn't be content to disappear. Not my daughter. I couldn't save you then.

So, let me save you now. It's time to rest, for you, and for those you have carried in your arms...

He slowly closed his eyes as he began to lose consciousness. Smoke filled up his lungs. He can't breathe. His mind is hazy.

He gives up. He can't get out of the place. It's physically impossible. 

He didn't get the chance to say goodbye to Amery.

He hoped that Sammy would take good care of his fluff ball.

He already misses her.

If only he could be with her right now.

"One day, we'll meet again. Be a good girl, Amery."

Before he completely blacked out, he could feel his body floating.

He wondered why.

Probably angels lifting his soul from his body. 

Probably.

He knew nothing about being dead anyway.

This ends.

For all of us...

End communication.

Chapter Text

"Mikey, wake up!" 

That familiar voice.

Who is it? Who is calling for him?

A voice of a young boy.

"Wake up before father gets up here!!"

He felt his body being shaken.

And that voice.

Oh, he remembers now…

Evan.

Michael slowly opened his eyes, he was greeted with Evan looking at him with a grumpy expression.

I guess this is heaven.

"Ev?" 

"Wake up. We're going to be late for school." Evan huffed. He climbed off the bed and walked out from his brother's room.

Michael stared at the ceiling.

School…? But he's in his 50's.

Maybe he became a child in heaven. Probably.

Does that mean…?

Michael quickly stood up and went to the bathroom to get himself ready.

Once dressed up, he took a look at his room.

His childhood room.

It is like how he remembers.

Posters everywhere and a basketball on the floor.

Tshirts on the floor too.

He was a messy teen.

Michael walked out from his room. The hallway is decorated with family photos.

His family photos.

His mother, father and siblings are present.

The photos are all hanging on the wall. No scratches, no broken glasses.

Everything looks brand new.

The carpet in the hallway looks so clean.

Everything looks so fresh.

It's like he went back in time before his mother passed away and before his father started his killing spree.

So, this is heaven.

Michael walked down the hallway and he went downstairs to the kitchen.

He gasped a little when he saw,

His mother is cooking breakfast for them,

Elizabeth is having her pancakes happily,

Evan is helping in the kitchen,

And his father is reading the newspaper at the table.

It's like none of the tragedies ever happened.

They're living happily and peacefully.

Everything is fine.

Everyone is alive.

Michael teared up.

Elizabeth raised her head from her food and she gasped loudly, "Mikey is crying!"

All of his family members turned their heads to him.

"Michael, are you okay?" Michael's mother, Hana, questioned him. She walked towards Michael and leaned a little. She wiped his tears away with her hand.

Michael pulled her into a hug. "Oh, dear. Are you okay?" Hana asked, patting her son's head.

"I miss you…" Michael sobbed.

William, Evan and Elizabeth walked towards them with a concerned look.

Michael looked at them with tears still streaming down to his cheeks.

"I miss all of you… So much…"

Evan and William smiled softly while Elizabeth, she excitedly pulled the two guys towards Hana and Michael. "Family hug!" Elizabeth cheered.

All of them chuckled and they all shared a hug.

Hana is still hugging Michael while Evan is hugging Michael from the back. Elizabeth has her arms around her mother and Evan while William hugs his family from the back.

All of them stood in that position for a while before William cleared his throat, "I think that's enough. You children need to get ready for school." 

Hana chuckled as she let go of Michael, "You're right."

But that doesn't stop Evan and Elizabeth from hugging their older brother.

Michael is still crying so both of the young ones are trying to comfort him and plus, they really miss their older brother.

Michael pulled them into a hug, "Oh god… Evan, I'm sorry. I'm sorry for what I've done to you. I'm really sorry!! Lizzie, forgive me for being a bad brother. I should've paid more attention to you. I'm really sorry!!" Michael cried.

Evan sighed and smiled, "Stop apologising. I've already forgiven you." He patted his brother's back.

"Yeah, Mikey! You don't need to apologise! It wasn't your fault." Lizzie said happily, hugging and tugging onto Michael's shirt.

"B-But still…!"

"Come on, Mikey. Don't beat yourself up. It already happened. I've forgiven you. Forget about it, okay?" Evan pulled from the hug and grinned, "See? I'm okay. I'm not suffering. You need to stop feeling bad now."

"Mikey, it's not your fault!!" Lizzie pouted and tugged on Michael's shirt tightly.

Michael sobbed and wiped his tears away. He tried his best to stop his tears from flowing. He picked Lizzie up and carried her in his arms. 

Lizzie placed her hands on Michael's cheeks and she pulled them, "Now smile!" 

"Ow-"

"Smile!!"

"Okay, okay. I will." Michael swatted her hands as he grinned at her.

"Perfect. As ugly as ever." Elizabeth grinned innocently.

Evan snickered at her comment while Michael frowned. "That's rude."

Elizabeth wrapped her arms around Michael and giggled, "Sorry."

Michael and Evan walked towards their breakfast table, joining their parents as all of them have breakfast together.

Once they're done, Evan and Elizabeth went upstairs to prepare themselves for school while Michael was left alone with Hana and William.

Hana sat next to him and ran her fingers through his hair, "Michael, I miss you a lot." Hana smiled.

Michael turned to his mother. "I know you had it tough after I passed away. You took care of your siblings while your father wasn't around. I know tragedies happened but you tried your best and I'm proud of you. You need to remember this, none of those were your fault." Hana said softly as she continued to play with Michael's hair.

William, who sat next to Michael as well, smiled at him. "Your mother is right. Those were never your fault. They were mine. I've caused a lot of pain to you and your siblings. I've caused a lot of tragedies. I should be the one to apologise to all of you. You shouldn't carry these burdens, Michael. I should be responsible for this." 

Michael just sat in silence.

William looked at Hana and she looked back at him. It's sort of like a sign for William to tell her that he needs some alone time with Michael.

Hana kissed Michael's forehead and left the table.

"Why…?"

"Why what?" William questioned.

"Why did you… do all of that?" Michael turned to his father.

"I thought… I was doing something good. I couldn't handle the thought of losing your mother. I've lost someone important in the past and losing your mother as well broke me and then my children died one by one. I was determined I was able to bring everyone back but I was wrong…" William sighed.

"You are right. That won't make any of us happy. Everyone is resting in peace here." He continued.

William pulled Michael for a hug and he hugged him tightly. "I'm really sorry. I'm really sorry for making you carry all of my crimes. I'm such a burden to you. I know an apology won't fix my wrongdoings but I want you to know, I regret everything that I've done. I was too blinded. I didn't see how much it affected you. I'm ready to receive my punishment. Even if that means I have to suffer in hell for eternity. I'm sorry, Michael."

Michael stayed silent. He wrapped his arms around his father and buried his face on his shoulder. 

"I've seen the animatronics you've built… I'm really proud of you, son. You're as smart as I imagined you to be. I'm sorry I was never present when you were in high school and when you were taking your degree. I'm sorry for neglecting you and leaving you alone to fend for yourself. I'm sorry for everything that I've done. I never hated you. I've always loved you… I'm really sorry." William teared up.

Despite being guilty of what he has done, that doesn't erase all of the crimes he has committed. 

He admitted what he did wrong and he was ready to accept his punishment.

Michael nodded and hugged his father tightly. "That's… what I've always wanted to hear from you. Thank you…"

“I don’t think this apology is enough with all of the things I have done to you. I was being rough with you when we first reunited, didn’t I?” William pulled away from the hug and held the boy’s shoulder. Michael smiled at him nervously, “You actually did. I was hospitalised too.”

William winced and he looked at his son apologetically, “I’m really sorry…” 

Michael waved a hand at him, “Don’t worry about it… Anyway, why were you desperately looking for uncle Henry?” 

William stayed silent.

It took him a while to answer, “I… wanted to drag him down with me. I was angry, furious after I learned that you and him were working together to bring us all together and burn us all. I wasn’t happy. I wanted him to go down with me… Well…”

Before William could finish his sentence, Michael and William heard Henry’s voice coming from the front door.

Michael froze in his position.

If Henry is here then… Does that mean…?

Michael and William had their eyes glued towards the light brunette who walked into the kitchen with a grin. “Did I interrupt something?”

Henry has the appearance before Charlie passed away.

He looks so happy and young.

With no stress and depression hidden behind that smile.

Just like how Michael remembers him as when he was a teenager.

The happy-go-lucky Henry.

“U-Uncle Henry…?” Michael looked at him, shaking. Henry looked at Michael and gave him an apologetic look. “Yeah, so… This happened.”

“This? You mean…?”

“I died.”

“What?!” Michael shouted loudly. “Keep it down, Michael.” William sighed.

Henry looked at him with a sad smile and then he turned away. “I died in the fire. I know I told you that I made an escape route for us both but that was a lie. Yours were secured but mine… It never exists in the first place. I had been planning to die in the fire and that plan succeeded.” Henry explained.

Michael clenched his fist. “What the hell, uncle Henry?! What do you think Sammy and Derek will feel about this?! Derek was looking forward to having you around when he started his study!! And you threw that opportunity away?!” Michael yelled.

“Michael.” William called out for his son with a firm tone.

“And now look at us, we’re both dead! I’m happy to be here with my family but my daughter is left alone!! She’s probably wondering where her dad is but I’m now DEAD! You told me you were going to light the vents on fire but you delayed your plan and it cost my life. Were you not thinking of that?!” Michael looked at Henry furiously.

Henry raised an eyebrow while William walked towards him and stood beside him, “Who told you that you’re dead?” William questioned.

“Huh?”

Michael tilted his head.

What does that mean?

He is dead, right? This is heaven, right?

If he’s not dead then why is he here in the first place?!

“What?” 

Michael saw a young girl walk towards him from behind Henry and she hugged him.

“Mikey!” Charlie chirped happily. Michael’s expression softened. He hadn’t seen the girl for such a long time. He really missed her.

Little sweet Charlie.

Michael hugged her back.

“I’m glad you are okay! I tried my best to protect you and I’m glad you weren’t harmed!” She said happily.

Henry chuckled, “I think he got harmed a bit… Or else, he wouldn’t be here.”

“Oh, you’re right.” Charlie said innocently.