Chapter Text
She heard all the stories before.
The warnings and dangers surrounding the place. Tales of people going in and never coming out again. Strange noises that went on deep in the night. Home to a terrible creature that would tear any intruder into pieces if it caught them.
With so many horrible stories about this place, it was honestly quite baffling that Fazbear hadn’t done anything more than lock the place down. In her option, they could have at least boarded up the doors and painted over the goofy colorful words drawn above so it would be less noticeable. That was her opinion anyway.
But Fazbear Entertainment was always known for cutting corners and ignoring any safety hazards that arise. Its dark history was hard to forget let alone break out of so easily when a company was being run by the greediest snobs in the whole world. If it didn’t require immediate attention or cause a threat to their income, the trouble was either ignored or covered up from the public eye till its memory was long forgotten.
Apparently this place wasn’t even given such decent privilege.
Gazing up, she looked at the cartoon words printed above the double doors that read in bold colorful print SUPERSTAR DAYCARE PICK-UP with a small rainbow above it. If it wasn’t the cheesiest thing she ever saw in this place, it was certainly the highest up on her small list.
A small part of her cursed at Monty for making her do this as she reached for the door handles, not even surprised to find them unlocked.
For a brief moment she looked back over her shoulder, taking in the bright lights and a more welcoming sight of the Faz-Pad that was begging her to come and over her favorite drink before shaking it off and stepped inside.
She didn’t know what to expect when she went in, so she wasn’t prepared for the sudden shift of darkness in the room. Light pooled on the floor, stopping a few feet away from her. It was as if she was stepping into a cave with the entrance being the only source of light and deeper in only grew darker and darker.
There was even a small chill in the air that made her fur bristle slightly. Seemed Fazbaer didn’t bother to turn on any heat in this area of the building. Another good example of the company’s cutting corner money saving schemes. And a good reminder why one shoulder tops were only meant for fashion and looks.
In her defense, she hadn’t thought much of coming prepared when coming here. She only thought of it as a simple get in get out sort of idea when she agreed to the bet. Only now she was slightly regretting it as she shivered slightly, rubbing her arms to generate some warmth as cursed herself for choosing to wear a small one shoulder top and leggings today. Not even her thick hair and bushy tail provided any protection as she went in deeper, nearly cursing out loud as the cold seeped into her feet through the icy floor.
Just get in, grab the thing, get out. Simple as that. Then she could be done with this place and never come back. Get in. Grab something. Get out. Simple.
Walking what felt like forever, even though it was probably only a few minutes, she reached the end of the hall, finding a shutter in the way of her path. She could barely make anything out in the darkness and had almost run nose-first into the metal wall, but thankfully her vision had adjusted enough that she could make out a few shapes so that she didn’t bump into them. The shutter before her had a simple large print design. A sun and crescent moon merged together with stars circling around it.
A simple design that didn’t scream for attention, yet she sort of appreciated the look nonetheless.
Reaching for the handle, and trying her best to ignore the biting cold, and pulled. To her surprise, this door was locked. It seemed the company wasn’t completely incompetent as she thought. Still, she wasn’t going to let this small setback stop her from winning the bet.
Pulling out a security pass she may or may not have swiped from a guard one night and never intended to give back, she first tried waving it in front of the door. Doors in the Pizzaplex often had scanners built in them so that they could sense security passes nearby, but it was just her luck that this shutter was not one of those doors. Looking and feeling around, she found a small security pad by the door, pumping her fist when she put the card against the screen and it let out a small beep. This time the shutter easily slid upwards when she tried it again.
Once again she was taken by surprise as she stepped into the other room, bombarded by bright light that it took a while for hers to readjust. Once her vision cleared and she wasn’t seeing tiny dots, she took a moment to look around. To her slight disappointment, the area she stood in wasn’t all that impressive as she imagined it to be.
It looked more like a receptionist area with tables, desks, couches, and a large screen TV that hung on the wall meant to provide some entertainment for waiting customers. Though she didn’t know what kind of show or program that Fazbear had playing on it as the screen had a large crack in it, rendering it completely useless to watch on.
But what caught her attention the most was the large golden statue in the center of the room.
Her eyes wandered over the golden jester-like figure, taking in the straight posture with both arms held high about their head. Or, she assumed it was a head. She could see a mouth formed in a bright, happy, comically large smile with a long pointed nose above it, but what got most of her attention were the triangles surrounding the head. From this angle, she couldn’t tell if there were seven or nine, and she had no patience to care at the moment.
She was here to win a bet. Not eye some random statue.
Get in. Get something. Get out.
Head held high, she went further into the area, walking past the statue without a second glance and telling herself that it was just for decoration and nothing more. She didn’t get far before she found something else to look at. Something that made her jaw drop in astonishment.
Down below was the largest play area she had ever seen. She could see jungle gyms, bridges, slides, crawl tunnels, toy houses, and a large ball pit with a castle tower high above it. Everything was covered in bright colors, from the floor to the highest tower in the jungle gyms and even the wall itself.
Was this supposed to be a daycare or a playground?
Her eyes wandered around the area till they landed on a toy. A very large, unmistakable face of Fazbears main mascot. She could feel a smile curl in her lips.
Perfect. That would do nicely.
Now how to get inside.
She couldn’t easily jump inside due to the large netting that blocked her path. And she couldn’t walk in as she assumed after jumping down to the lower floor and found glass walls in her way. Not even the small gap between the netting and wall seemed to be worth the risk, so she was forced to look for other means of entrance.
While she looked about, it suddenly occurred to her how dusty the air was.
Dust, particles, and other small bits of filth hung in the air, clouding the sky in a thick fog-like manner that was dense enough that the lights above were struggling to break through it. The deeper she walked in, the more she noticed how bare and cold this area was, void of any life beside herself. Rooms that she passed had only a single table inside, empty of any decor when she tried peering inside.
How long had this place been abandoned for she wondered, peering into another window that showed the same empty bareness as all the rest of the rooms. Surely the company hadn’t forgotten about this place that they would leave it abandoned. A big place like this could have been refurbished into something, like an indoor playground or a mini-theme park. Even she could find a few uses for this place.
Not even Kids Cove was this barren, and it was the least decorated place in the whole Pizzaplex!
It wasn’t long before her wandering brought her to a pair of large wooden doors. Figuring this would be her best way in, she quickly went over and pulled on the handle. To none of her surprise, it was locked. Tugging on the handle a few times proved the same result, even when she tried using the security pass.
Huffing, she glanced around, trying to find another way inside. Her gaze drifted upward, noting a fairly large gap between the door and net above. A gap that was big enough for her to slip inside.
Eyes glued on the gap, she took a couple steps back, keeping her focus on the hole as she slowly got down on one knee. Muscles tensed in her legs, the fur of her tail swept across the floor, eyes locked on the prize. In a snap, her body shot forward, dashing towards the door at great speed. With a leap, her foot rammed against the door, pushing off against the surface and made a grab for the ledge.
Digging her claws in, she hoisted her body up, smiling triumphantly at herself as she hopped into the colorful play area.
“Too easy.” She flicked her hair back, holding her head high in pride as she walked.
As she walked, she couldn’t help but admire the place. For being a simple Daycare, its design was nothing to sneeze at. The sheer size of the place and colorful foam toys scattered about made this place more welcoming than the outside area. Even if there was still a chill in the air and she was probably the first living being to step foot in here since who knows how long, this place felt less suffocating than the empty rooms outside the glass walls.
Reaching up with one hand, her fingers trailed along the bars of one the jungle gyms, tracing the cool plastic under her pads before realizing something. Pulling her hand away, she looked down at it with a frown.
Her hand was clean.
Too clean.
She looked over at the jungle gym, stepping closer to get a better look. She could just be imagining things, but there wasn’t any dust on the bars. Or on the floors.
In fact, now that she was thinking about it, everything looked… oddly clean.
Her eyes narrowed, looking around with sudden unease. Why was the Daycare clean? It should have at least a little bit of dust collected on the surface. It didn’t make any sense.
Unless someone was keeping the Daycare clean.
Eyes darted around the area, looking for anything that was out of place or something that didn’t fit that she overlooked. Was there someone hiding here? Something she overlooked? Or maybe. Maybe they were hiding somewhere and she was intruding on their territory.
Her eyes scanned the area, looking for anything. However, her eyes found something else. Landing on the very target and reason for coming in here.
The Freddy plush.
Pushing aside her concerns for now, she went over to the oversized plush, taking a moment to marvel how large the toy was. Why in the world would anyone need a toy this big? Could kids even play with a plush this size? It didn’t matter. She needed to grab it and get out before whoever lived here came back.
Get in. Get something. GET. OUT.
Set with determination, she grabbed the plush and tried to lift it. Key word. Tried.
To her credit, she managed to lift it at least a foot off the ground before losing her strength and setting it back down. There was no way kids played with this thing. It had to be made out of bricks or something because it weighed a TON.
She glared at the stupid impassive face of the first mascot, almost feeling that the plush was finding her struggle amusing and making fun of her for it. A part of her itched to take a swipe at it with her claws, but she didn’t know if it would be considered property damage. It belonged in the Daycare, which was still part of the Pizzaplex even though it had been somewhat blocked off from the rest of the building.
Plus, breaking things was Monty’s thing. And she did NOT want to be compared to him.
With a small huff, she grabbed the plush again, forgoing lifting the thing and decided to drag it to the doors. Dragging it was a better choice than trying to lift it, but it still didn’t change the fact that it was still rather heavy.
She didn’t have the same upper body strength that Freddy and Monty had, nor was she that much stronger than Chica. Maybe it was a sort of karma for not working out as much as the rest of the gang.
Grunts and huffs left her muzzle as she slowly pulled the large plush behind her, eyes locked on the door and ears open for any sounds. She hadn’t noticed it before, but there was soft, cheery, almost obnoxious music playing on a loop. There was an occasional glitch or shudder in the music, often dropping pitches and small sputters of static that cracked and made her ears twitch. It was thankfully quiet enough not to hurt her ears, yet it wasn’t helpful that it set her on edge.
Get in. Get something. Get out.
She repeated the words in her mind as she dragged the toy closer and closer to the doors, not willing to give in and drop it.
“The best.” Her breathing was coming out in pants, feeling her arms slowly starting to burn from the strain. “I’m the best. I’m gonna win that bet. No matter what.” Her eyes remained locked on the door, putting most of her strength in her legs and willed herself to keep a grip on the annoying plush as she dragged it across the floor.
Get in. Get something. Get out.
Get in. Get something. Get out.
Get in. Get something. Get–
The lights flickered. She paused, looking up at the ceiling. For a brief moment, the lights shuttered, dimming before brightening again. She stared at the cloud shaped lamps high above her, watching as they flickered once, twice.
Then the world around her went dark.
A swear left her lips, dropping her grip on the plush and whipped her head around. She hadn’t expected the lights to go out. She had almost assumed that the lights had been left on due to someone forgetting to shut them off, leaving the area bright and out of the shadows.
It appeared she was wrong.
Her eyes scanned the darkness, ears on high alert for any sounds all around her. How had she not remembered the time?! The hourly night cycles were on an hourly schedule. She was only supposed to get in and out in mere minutes!
Not out in the open where the Night Monster could get her.
Adjusting to the darkness, she darted behind the closest thing she could make out, peering over the edge and keeping her senses open.
The Night Monster.
The mysterious creature of the Pizzaplex. No one knew of its origin or why it haunted the building, but there were only two known things about it.
It only came out when all the lights go out.
And it attacked anyone out in the open.
It was a constant pain and hassle to deal with ever since she started working here. Constantly reminded to keep her door shut and locked every night while waiting for morning to come. None of the staff knew why the lights went out periodically every night, but it was clear that the Night Monster didn’t care whether it attacked staff or intruders. If you were outside a safe zone or not under any bright light, it was certain that the creature would attack.
It didn’t matter if it was an important person or a simple person. The Night Monster attacked anyone and anything.
She had seen the rare few who had tried to brave go out in the dark, only to come back with bruises and bloody noses when the lights came back on. The unfortunate burglars and thieves however had it much worse.
Broken bones. Deep cuts and scrapes. Strung up from high places. Tied up in uncomfortable positions.
She didn’t want to end up like one of those burglars.
Focusing her vision, she tried looking for the door through the darkness. She often boasted how her vision was often as good as her speed. Maybe even better since she could see things no one else could. Though she wished she could see in the dark as well.
She hoped she was looking in the direction of the doors, and that the Night Monster wasn’t keen on attacking her tonight.
Slowly, her eyes adjusted enough that she could barely make out shapes in the darkness, but she was sure that she could see the outline of the doors, crouching down low to the ground. In a single snap of her tail, she leapt out of her hiding spot, dashing towards the doors at high speed. Her eyes remained locked on the goal, ready to leap against the wood and get over the only barrier between her and freedom.
Six feet.
Five feet.
Four feet.
Three.
Two.
One–
Something dark and heavy landed in front of her, stopping her dead in her tracks before she could jump.
The darkness concealed the identity of what laid before her, before there was just enough light for her to see a silhouette of a being slowly rising up.
It rose, slowly ascending up at almost a snails pace. Her eyes, locked on the being before her, kept going up. Her head tilted back when her eyes could go further, jaw dropping as the silhouette soon towered over her. She was a good seven, almost eight feet tall, but this being seemed to stand around nine or ten feet!
In the darkness, two tiny red dots stared down at her, locking her in a tense gaze that seemed to cut her down to her very core. The air felt colder as teeth slowly appeared, sharp and pointed in a twisted smile as it spoke in a playful tone.
“NaUgHtY, nAuGhTy~”
A deep, chilling voice rasped at her, sending chills down her spine. She stood frozen on the spot till she noticed subtle movement for the creature, noting that it had lifted what she assumed to be an arm up.
And it was coming towards her.
She bolted.
She didn’t know where she was going, and she didn’t bother to care as long as she got away from that thing. Panic rose inside her, hearing a chilling cackle behind her, realizing two things at once.
That thing was the Night Monster.
And it was chasing her.
A small memory played in her mind as she jumped over what she assumed to be a slide, recalling a conversation between the band over some diner. She vividly remembered Monty walking up to the table, covered in scraps and bruises with bandages wrapped around his chest and a medical patch over one of his eyes. She remembered Chica fretting over the gator, asking him over and over if he was alright and what happened to him. Monty didn’t say much about how he ended up that way, but he was able to tell enough to know that the Night Monster had attacked him, concluding that the Night Monster attacked anyone.
Including Glamrocks.
She should have kept this knowledge close at hand when she took Monty up on that stupid bet. Should have put more thought into it than just shaking on it and going at it head long without thinking of the consequences.
A cackle close to her left caused her to flinch and duck to the right, waving one arm out in front of her to keep from slamming her face into the bars, finding an opening and ducked inside without a second thought.
Halfway in she realized she was just a tad too big for a place meant for little kids, but pushed the thought away when she heard another cackle outside, throwing any pride away to crawl on the hands and knees just to get away from that thing. She wasn’t planning to die by the Night Monster’s hands tonight, and she was not going to let it lay a finger on her. The memory of how Monty, one of the strongest members of the band, beaten and bruised fueled her will to stay alive.
Taking blind twists and turns, she traveled deeper into the play structure. At least she hoped she was. It was hard to tell where she was going in the darkness. She couldn’t tell if she was going anywhere or running into a dead end.
Backing into a corner, she risked sparing a glance around her, ears flicking for any sounds as her heart raced in her chest. She couldn’t see any sign of the Night Monster, leaving her with some relief. Yet she didn’t let her guard drop. There was no telling where it could be. The darkness concealed its location and moved pretty fast, giving her a slight disadvantage.
Calm down Roxy. She thought, keeping her eyes and ears open for anything in the shadows. You got yourself into this mess, you can get yourself out of it. You just got to think. Remember what Pop’s taught you as a pup. She lifted her face, sniffing the air. Panicking isn’t going to help. You got to find a clever way out of this.
Shifting close to the bars, she peered out into the darkness, straining her eyes trying to see. She didn’t know where exactly she was in the Daycare, but she could make out the large outline of the Freddy plush, abandoned on the ground where she left it. If she made it out of this situation alive, she was going to STRANGLE Monty for this.
Her eyes darted up, spying the doors far in the back. If she could make it to the doors, she could get out of here and race back to her room. She didn’t doubt that she could beat this thing in a race. Speed was kind of her thing after all, and the fastest out of the gang.
Okay. Doors are right there. Just have to avoid getting caught by the Night Monster and get to the doors. Once I get past them, I can run to the shutters and lock it behind me, trapping the creature here. Then I’ll notify staff so they call handle containing this thing proper–
Her ear flickered.
Did she hear the faint jingle of a bell?
It was all the warning she had before something shot out and grabbed her by the wrist. Yelping in surprise and pain, she whipped her head around, finding the Night Monster’s red piercing eyes glaring at her through the bars.
“nAuGhTy, NaUgHtY~”
The thing taunted as it giggled, pulling her closer to the bars.
Her heart jumped to her throat, acting on instinct than thought, raising her free hand and swung. By fate or just out of luck, her fist missed hitting the bars and collide with the Night Monster’s face, stunning the beast just enough to free her arm and bolt again.
Once again she crawled through the structure, but this time she moved at a slower place. A hiss tore through her teeth, her wrist throbbing in pain every time she put weight on it. Seemed she wasn’t getting out of here unscathed as she thought. Hopefully it wasn’t broken and she didn’t need to take a few days off.
At least if she got out of here she’d have the physical proof that she had been attacked by the Night Monster.
Crawling through the structure was much more difficult now, putting a dent in her plan. At least it hadn’t grabbed her by the legs. That would have been a major problem for her to escape this place. A wrist she could manage. She still had one hand she could work with.
She climbed up and down, keeping an eye out from the Night Monster and quickly ducking away every time it tried to make a grab at her. One injury was enough. She didn’t want to end up just like Monty had after encountering this thing.
Ducking inside a small enclosed space, she took a moment to catch her breath, gazing down at her wrist to assess the damage. It didn’t look too bad, but she wasn’t sure since it was still dark. Probing it brought out a few hisses of pain, but thankfully she could still move her fingers without any problems. She should still have it looked at just in case.
The worst she could get out of was probably a scolding from Freddy for taking such a risky bet without thinking about the time. Or for entering an off-limits area without permission.
Whatever. She was certainly never coming back here after tonight, that’s for sure.
She just needed to get to the door and get out. That was the main idea of the plan, with the main problem being the Night Monster. How was she going to get past it without being caught? She couldn’t fight back. Monty tried that and ended up staying in the Medical Bay for a week with a broken tail. Maybe she could distract it? Trap it somewhere to give her enough time to escape? Maybe she could just run for it and hope that it doesn’t catch her?
There was a lot that could go wrong and not enough time to think of a good plan. If anything, she probably was going to have to wing it and make a mad dash for it.
Once her heart rate had settled enough, she slowly left the safety of the enclosed space, looking around for any signs of the Night Monster and started making her way in what she hoped could get her out of here.
She only took a few turns before the Night Monster attacked again. She had been too slow and too close to the bars, once again grabbed by the same wrist and swearing something broke under the creature’s iron grip. Panic grabbed at her, feebly trying to punch it again but only succeeded to punch the bars and earned harsh laughter of mockery from the Night Monster for her effort.
Embarrassed, scared, and so done with everything right now, she grabbed hold of the arm, yanking it closer to her and, taking a page out of Monty’s book, bit down as hard as she could. A howl of pain echoed in the air, making her ears ring while keeping her teeth buried in the Night Monster’s arm till it released her wrist. She didn’t have time to retreat as the Night Monster grabbed a handful of her hair with its free hand, yanking on her locks harshly that she yelped and released its arm.
Her hands shot up, grabbing and clawing at the hand still gripping her hair. A part of her worried that it might yank out a few strands if it kept pulling.
Out in the corner of her eye, she could spy some ribbon tied around the creature’s wrist with a pair of bells attached, jingling wildly from all the erratic movements in their struggle. A long strain of the ribbon dangled just beneath the bells, fluttering about. An idea sparked in her mind, one that was just crazy enough to work.
Pulling with all her might and keeping grip on the creature’s arm, she backed up till her back pressed against the bars, shooting the Night Monster a death glare for what she was about to do before yanking with all her might. Ignoring the pain blooming in her scalp, she yanked the Night Monster’s arm to the bars, pinning it to her side with one arm as she struggled working with the ribbon while the night Monster howled and tried to escape. Once enough of the ribbon came loose, she thrust the hand through the bars, wrapping much of the ribbon around them and the Night Monster’s wrist, pulling it taunt and tying it securely so that it wouldn’t slip out.
That Night Monster didn’t take this too kindly, screaming at the top of its lungs and tried to pull its arm free. When that didn’t work, it reached its other hand in, making a grab at the ribbon and tried to undo her work. Seeing an opportunity, she tried grabbing the other arm, having a more difficult time as the creature was aware of her plans and tried to make a few swipes at her face each time she got close. With a bit of struggling, and dodging many swipes, she managed to grab the arm and proceeded with a lot of struggle to do the exact same thing to it.
With both hands tied and kept far apart, she was certain that the creature could not escape, giving her a chance to leave this forsaken place without further worry. Smug and confident she had won, she made a face while blowing a raspberry at the monster, backing up till she found another way to go, and left the Night Monster to howl and hiss in anger.
Now all that was left to do was get out of the play structure, make it to the doors, get out and back to her room. And maybe keep the lights on in her room for a while just to be on the safe side.
Though it was easier said than done as she struggled to find any way out of the jungle gym, backtracking more times than she could count as the night Monster howled with rage in the background.
“Oh Just Shut Up You Wannabe Bogeyman!” She yelled, already tired of listening to its shouts and screams and ready for this whole thing to be done and over with already. “Fricken Faz, Monty owes me one for making me do this.” She sighed, finally finding an opening that led outside to a bridge.
Thinking her worries and troubles were over, she crawled out of the small hole, stretching out her back to free it of all the nicks and cramps she gained. After tonight, she was ready to take Chica’s offer for extra yoga classes. Shaking her body, she was ready to jump off the bridge and finally get out of this horror place–
Until she heard something snap.
Her head swiveled towards the sound, hearing bells and something banging hard against something that was getting louder and louder. There was no time to think about it as a loud crack echoed in the air with metal straining under pressure, forcing her to flee to the other side of the bridge and duck inside the other jungle gym, crawling around wildly and hoped that she could hide from the Night Monster in here.
The snapping grew quiet as she found a small hiding place to duck in, curling around herself and tried her best to stay quiet. She could hear the Night Monster growling. She could hear it shuffling, searching for her, letting out deep growls and angry rasps.
“NaUgHtY. nAuGhTy.”
The playful tone in its voice was gone, anger and spitefulness lacing its words as it spoke. She must have really ticked it off, and she didn’t know what that could mean for her now. Most got away with a few bruises or minor scraps if they were lucky, and at worst some come out with a broken bone or two.
A broken wrist wouldn’t be the worst thing to happen if the night Monster got its hands on her now.
Heart thrumming, fear rising, holding her breath, she stayed curled up in her little hiding place, hoping and praying that this was all a dream and she would wake up safe in her bed. Her great skipped a beat when something heavy landed above her, holding back any sound as a raspy voice called out her name.
“RoXy~ CoMe OuT aNd PlAy~”
Icy terror took hold of her. It knew her name. It knew her name.
She kept quiet, not wanting the Night Monster to find her, hearing it give a small tsk.
“FiNe. We’Ll Do ThIs ThE hArD wAy.”
The hard way? What was the hard way?!
“10.”
Her breathing hitched.
“9.”
Was it counting?
“8.”
It was definitely counting.
“7.”
Oh, gods, why was it counting?!
“6.”
Why was it counting down?! It wasn’t coming for her, right?!
“5.”
… oh. Oh no.
“4.”
It was going to come for her. She was going to die here.
“3.”
If it was possible to curl in on herself anymore, she somehow managed it. Would anyone find her body? Would anyone mourn her?
“2…”
She hadn’t felt this scared since she was a little kid. And she felt even smaller right now.
“1!”
Shutting her eyes, she waited for death to grab her and finish her suffering, listening as bells rushed closer and closer at her–
And then it got bright.
There was a screech, bells jingling, something falling, and then silence.
She waited for a minute or two before risking opening one eye. The first thing she noticed was the light pouring in through the bars, brightening the cheery colors that had vanished when the lights went out.
Slowly, she inched out of the hole, crawling towards the bars and peered out. Immense relief washed over her when she saw that the lights were back on, returning the Daycare to its original cheery facade that she had first seen it as.
And no Night Monster in sight.
The light had banished the Night Monster.
A quiet mirthless laugh left her lips as she crawled out of the hole, struggling a few minutes to get out the jungle gym and bolted for the door when she did. She didn’t have the energy to jump over it again as she had the first time, instead she grabbed at the handles and tried pulling the doors open. It barely budged as she pulled and pushed against it, even after she threw her whole body on the doors it wouldn’t open.
Her frustration grew with the pain in her wrist, angry for all that had happened tonight and wishing that she had never taken that stupid bet in the first place. After a couple of tries and unable to bear the pain any longer, she fell to her knees, letting out a few sobs as the incident of what happened just mere moments ago caught up to her.
She had almost died. She had almost died at the hands of the Night Monster all for a stupid bet to prove she was the best.
Was it worth it? Thinking about it now, no it hadn’t. Not for the scare and life threatening situation it put her through. Why had she thought it was a good idea in the first place? To come here in the dead of night just to win some stupid bet all while forgetting about the danger of the Night Monster and the serious trouble she put herself in thinking it would be simple as going in and out.
If Freddy didn’t chew her out for going into a restricted area, then he certainly would for taking that stupid bet that put her life at risk.
She sobbed, shoulders shaking as her hands remained gripping the handles, her wrist throbbing with pain now that most of the adrenaline had worn off. She was so caught up reeling in from her ordeal that she didn’t notice someone approaching her from behind.
Not till they spoke out.
“Uh, hello?”
She flinched, whipping her head around to see… oh.
Standing a few feet away from her was the statue. Or, the person the statue was modeled after. They certainly shared plenty of similar characteristics.
Humanoid, but clearly not a human. Nine long extensions from their head. Long pointed nose. The outfit was almost the same, but there was very notable patchwork and rips on the old clothes, colors long faded out from the fabric and rather small on the their body with extra fabric sewn in to accommodate their size.
They were a mutant, like her.
“A-are you okay? Do you need assistance?”
They asked, taking a small step forward.
She blinked, swiping at her face with her good arm and stood up. “I’m fine.” She said gruffly. “I just… it’s nothing.” She looked back at the mutant… then slowly tilted her head up when she realized how tall they were compared to her. She stared in silence, taken off-guard by the tall mutant before her.
“Are you sure? You seem kind of… sad.”
The mutant said, speaking with a hesitant tone with their head tilted to one side.
“Uh… y-yeah. Yeah. Just…” She tried thinking of what to say, wondering how a mutant could be this tall when it dawned on her. “Wait… where did you come from?” She asked, looking at the mutant with suspicion. “There wasn’t anyone here when I showed up and…” Her eyes widened for a brief moment before narrowing, baring her teeth at the mutant. “Did you break in here?” A small growl rumbled in the back of her throat, taking a step forward which the mutant responded by taking a step back. “Are you a… you’re a trespasser. What the heck! First I deal with a monster and now I have to deal with a hobo breaking into the Pizzaplex?!”
The mutant let out a soft chuckle, holding up their hands in a passive manner while shaking their hands.
“N-No! No! No no no! You! Y-You got it all wrong! I live here! No trespassing is happening here! Well, not me anyways.”
“What?”
“U-uh! Well, uh, you see, I-I’m not the one trespassing because I technically live here in the Daycare. You on the other hand are the one trespassing.”
The mutant quickly explained, backing up slightly as her eyes narrowed at him. Or she assumed it was him. His voice was annoyingly high pitched, but it didn’t borderline on being something of a girls voice.
“What do you mean ‘trespassing’? I live in the Pizzaplex. I’m one of the main stars here. A Glamrock.” She explained with a small huff, annoyed that someone would tell her she was trespassing in a place that was basically her home. Though to be fair, the Daycare was considered somewhat of an off-limits area. “I can go wherever I want to.”
“Really? Even the Basement, Testing Grounds, and High Restricted Area?”
She opened her mouth to reply, but quickly shut it. Out of all the places in the Pizzaplex, those were the three areas strictly off-limits to anyone unauthorized. Even to Glamrocks like herself weren't allowed in. “Well… no. But I’m still allowed to go into places that others normally can’t!” She boasted, trying to keep herself from looking bad in front of the mutant before her.
“Really?! That’s amazing! I’m not even allowed to leave the Daycare!”
“… What?” She blinked, most of her anger and irritation bleeding away at the news. Not allowed to leave the Daycare? Who made such a rule?
“N-Nothing! Nothing!”
The mutant waved one hand wildly in front of his face, looking to the side nervously.
“J-Just an old rule that I have to follow all the time! Nothing to worry about! Nope!”
“… So you… work here then?” She asked, looking at the mutant up and down. He didn’t look like he worked here. His appearance screamed more of a bum than a Fazbear employee worker. But then again, he wasn’t technically lying. There was a big statue of him upstairs right after she first stepped in here, and normally mutants only got one if they worked at the Pizzaplex for a long time. He could just look like the statue of the real mutant it was modeled after though.
“Oh yes! I do! In the Daycare at least.”
The mutant smiled, the corners of his mouth reaching up past his checks in an enormous way that was almost comical. Huh. At least the statue hadn’t been wrong about that.
“I’m the official Daycare Attendant! Caretaker of the Superstar Daycare and kids alike! It’s my duty to keep the Daycare up and running for all the little boys and girls to have fun here!”
“… huh.” That made some sense. At least now she had an answer to how the Daycare wasn’t covered in dust and grime. But that didn’t answer her question of why he was still here. “So you’ve been here for a while, I guess?”
“A few years mostly, give or take.”
“Well if that’s true, how come I’ve never heard of you before then?” She asked, crossing her arms over her chest, minding her wrist. “I’ve heard about the Daycare, but I’ve never heard about a Daycare Attendant running this place. Let alone hearing of anyone living in the Daycare.”
The mutant flinched, darting his eyes to the side and nervously let out a small laugh, tapping his fingertips together.
“O-Oh that? That um. Well you see. Uh. That. That has to do more with, uh, m-my brother then uh, m-me.”
“Brother?” Her eyes widened, looking around the area, trying to find another mutant hiding among the bright cartoon colors. “You have a brother?”
“Well of course I do! He helps me run the Daycare just as much as I do! Well, more of a Nightcare Attendant than a Daycare one. I was in charge of playing and having fun all day long with the little tykes! Moon’s task was to put them to sleep when nap-time came around.”
“Moon?” Her eyes fell back on the mutant.
“My brother!”
The mutant’s comically wide smile seemed to grow, eyes sparkling like an anime character from one of her favorite shows. Just as quickly as it appeared, his smile deflated and, noticing for the first time, so did the extension around his head.
“Oh wait a minute. I didn’t properly introduce myself!”
The mutant jumped back suddenly, hopping on his feet and spinning in place before taking a graceful bow before her, nose almost touching the ground.
“Greetings and salutations! My name is Sun, one of the two Daycare Attendants of the Superstar Daycare! Pleasure to meet you, miss…?”
He trailed off, and she realized he was waiting for her to introduce herself.
“… Roxy.” She turned her head away, already uncomfortable with this conversation. “Roxanne Wolf.”
“A pleasure to meet you, Miss Roxy! It’s been a while since anyone’s stopped by the Daycare.”
“Yeah well,” She shrugged, reaching a hand up to flick some hair out of her face. “Wasn’t really much of a–Ow!” She hissed, grabbing her arm. Right, she forgot about her wrist.
“Oh my!”
Before she could blink, large hands grabbed her, pulling her slightly towards the ‘Sun’ mutant. His bright blue eyes were locked on her wrist, which now that she could see it under the light, did not look too pretty.
“You’re hurt! Oh no, oh no, oh no! This looks bad! Hang on, let me grab a First Aid kit and–!”
“I’m fine.” She snapped, yanking her wrist out of the mutant’s hands and shot him a withering glare. “I don’t need your help. I’ll get it checked out in the Medical Bay.” She looked down at her wrist, letting out an irritated sigh. “I’m probably not going to be able to play on stage for a week.” She murmured to herself, feeling her wrist pulse in pain as if it agreed with her.
“B-but I can help! I–!”
She pulled her arm away from the mutant’s reaching grasp, glaring at him with a deep scowl on her face with her teeth bared slightly. He quickly got the message and back off, holding up his hands in surrender. She glared at him for a while more before looking back at her wrist. She didn’t want to be touched by anyone tonight.
“… I have some ice packs if you want.”
Her ear twitched, glancing at the mutant.
“It’s not much, but it’ll help with the swelling. I also have some bandages and splints you can use. It might not be much, but it might help?”
The mutant gave her an awkward smile, trying his best to sound sure of his words. For her sake or his own, she didn’t know. Nor did she care. The night she had here had drained much of her energy and what she mostly wanted to do right now was head to her room and pass out on her bed.
Yet, the offered medical help sounded tempting. The Medical Bay usually had someone down there overnight in case of an emergency, but not often as most would like. A medical professional wouldn’t be in till morning, and that was still hours away. A large part of her wanted to decline the mutant’s offer and leave, but another part of her wanted to get her wrist treated as soon as possible so that the pain would stop.
Plus, this ‘Sun’ guy seemed unwilling to let her walk away with an injury like this with the way he kept glancing at it.
“… Fiiine.” She gave in with a sigh, fattening her ears on her head in defeat. “I guess it wouldn’t hurt to take care of it for now. The Medical Bay won’t be open till morning anyway.”
“Yes! Oh, I-I mean, okay! If you would just follow me please.”
“Why?”
“All the First Kits are stored near the back of the Daycare! Well, the ones that Moon restocked with fresh supplies anyway. We also keep a small cooler to keep the ice packs cold. Plus I need to put Freddy back where he belongs!”
The mutant rambled, already moving towards the back of the Daycare as he spoke. She followed after a bit of hesitance, watching as he moved his hands about as he spoke. She was about to ask if he knew Freddy when she spotted the giant plush on the floor where she left it.
Ah. He was talking about that Freddy.
She glared at the plush, about to tell the mutant to just leave it and focus on helping her, but her words died on her tongue as Sun bent down and lifted the plush easily over his head, standing up with no trouble and went on like nothing happened.
“You know it’s kind of odd. Freddy never moves for his spot against the jungle gym. It’s his favorite spot in the whole Daycare you know! Right where he can watch all the kiddos come sliding down the slide into the ball pit of fun ready to greet them with a smile!”
Sun rambled as he easily set the plush right back where it had initially been, brushing off any filth it may have gathered for a few minutes before being satisfied and turned his focus back on her.
“All the kids loved playing with Freddy! Why I can remember it like it was just yesterday when Freddy had his first tea party! Oh it was so much fun! Why had tea, shared stories, played dress up! All the kids had fun!”
He walked over to the edge of the ball pit, motioning for her to come over.
“Sit here for a moment, will you? I’ll be right back with the First Aid and an ice pack in a jiffy!”
He didn’t give her time to say anything before skipping off, actually skipping off, to a corner of the Daycare where a small castle tower was located, watching as he ducked inside without a second glance and disappeared. She wondered for a brief moment if she should take the chance to make a run for it, but a throb of pain from her wrist shot that idea down quickly.
Giving in, she set herself on the foam castle wall, waiting patiently for Sun to come back with the ice pack and medical kit. While she waited, she decided to take a better look at her wrist now that she could see it properly under the light.
Under her dark fur, she could see that her wrist had puffed out and turning red at the skin. Her fingers could still move, but there was a pinch of pain when she tried to move one. Moving her wrist wasn’t any better as she came to find out. She hoped it was just a bad sprain and that nothing was broken in there.
There was no doubt that she was going to be benched for a while, much to her displeasure. She couldn’t play her keytar with a bad wrist, which meant that either someone would need to take her spot in the band for a bit while she recovered, or they’d need to cancel the shows till she could play again. Not that they would ever cancel the show though. Having greedy entrepreneurs running the place, they would go for the cheapest solution than lose a profit.
Lowly pit sniffing bunch of sh–
“Found them~!”
A cheery voice cut through her thoughts, lifting her gaze to find Sun holding both a medical kit and an ice pack in his hands.
“So sorry it took a while. I’m not usually this slow at getting items but it has been a while since anyone needed anything from me so I might be just a taaaad bit rusty at rushing things.”
The mutant smiled at her as he handed her the items, forgoing to sit next to her and instead opted to sit on the ground cross legged and stare at her intently.
She gave him an odd stare, finding it rather creepy the way that he looked at her, but didn’t say much as she got to work on her wrist. She wasn’t a professional in the medical field, but Pop’s had taught her enough on how to clean and dress wounds. Making a temporary cast for her wrist would be simple.
As she got to work, she couldn’t ignore Sun’s unblinking gaze on her, finding out odd and creepy how he was looking at her and nothing else. What was his deal?
“So, uh, Sun, right?” She eyed the mutant, noting that he did resemble a sun. “How long have you been living in the Daycare?”
“Oh for a long while now! In fact, too long! I don’t even remember how long I’ve worked here for! Can you believe it?”
She gave him a skeptical look, doubting someone working at the Pizzaplex for a long time wouldn’t be mentioned to anyone. For a company with questionable backgrounds, it at least had some standards. She’ll have to report this to Freddy after getting out of here. “You mentioned having a brother. Where is he exactly?”
“Moon? Oh he’s close by! You won’t be able to see him when the lights are on though!”
“How come?”
“Well he–!”
Sun suddenly stopped, shutting his mouth closed with an audible click. His face contorted a few times, morphing from surprise, to shock, to anger, and then skeptical, switching back and forth that she wondered if he was having a stroke. After a while, he let out a loud groan, throwing a hand up with a displeased look on his face.
“He’s not a very… sociable person.”
She could hear a growl in his tone of voice, which gained her attention more than it should. “How come?”
Sun’s eyes widened in shock, turning his head away as he suddenly became nervous.
“H-How come? Oh, uh, n-no, no reason. Well actually a big reason but it’s not my place to tell. No it’s not. Not my place to tell at all. Moon wouldn’t like it if I told anyone. He’d get grumpy if I did. He’s unbearable when he gets grumpy.”
Sun continued to mutter to himself, fiddling with one of the appendages, which she now assumed was supposed to be a sun ray. Strange. The statue on the second floor depicted them to be smaller. Yet each ray around his head must be at least eleven inches long.
Each ray started with a yellow base, matching Sun’s skin tone on his face, and gradually faded into an orange partway to the middle and finished to a deep red the rest of the way to the ends. Huh. Interesting.
“You said something about the lights.” She cut through his rambling, wrapping the last of the medical bandage around her wrist. “Does he not like them or something?”
“Oh that? You could say that. Moon, and I guess I myself, have an odd relationship with the lights.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. Moon doesn’t like bright areas cause they hurt his eyes. And I can’t stand being in a dark place! I pass out. Point blank on the spot. Complete nyctophobia if you can believe it! That’s why I was always in charge when the lights were on, and Moon came out when they were off! We make a pretty good team!”
“Sounds like it.” She admitted. It did sound like a good working system between them. One out when the lights were on, and one out in the darkness. “Wonder if he has any problems dealing with the Night Monster.”
“Night Monster? What Night Monster?”
“Hm? You never heard about the Night Monster?”
“Nope!”
“Really?” She narrowed her eyes at Sun. “Even though you’ve supposedly been here for years and you never heard of it?”
“I don’t get out very often. In fact, I don’t get out at all! Me and my brother are only allowed in the Daycare and nowhere else! Well, except for Moon. He’s allowed to roam around the Pizzaplex at night as extra security. But he never tells me anything! He just says the same thing over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and ov–”
“Okay, okay. I get it.” She stopped him, feeling a headache forming in her skull. “But, you seriously never heard about the Night Monster?”
“The only ‘Night Monster’ I know is my brother! And he’s a complete terror!”
Sun spoke with a large grin on his face, unknowingly causing her to grin a bit before his head twitched and a flash of pain crossed his face.
“You okay?”
“It’s fine. It happens.”
Sun waved her question away, rubbing the side of his head with a small hiss.
“Just a headache that pops up every now and again. I’m used to it, don’t worry.”
“… o… kay?”
“Anyways, I’ve never heard about this Night Monster. Moon would have told me that much if there was any, but he usually keeps to himself unless he wants to tell me.”
“That’s a bit harsh.”
“Not really. He gets the world better than I do, and sometimes I get us into a lot of trouble without meaning to. He only tells me stuff if he’s concerned if it’s going to affect us in any way. It’s just his way of looking out for me, and I do my best to look out for him too!”
Huh. She didn’t think about it like that. She oddly found that rather endearing to hear. “Must be nice to have a sibling.”
“Sometimes. Sometimes we get on each other’s nerves. But that’s family for ya! Can’t live with them, can’t live without them!”
She shrugged her shoulders with a small amused huff, finishing working on her wrist. It wasn’t perfect, but it would hold till morning. The ice pack helped with the pain, but she would take some medicine to alleviate the pain when she got back to her room… speaking of rooms. “Hey, Sun?”
“Yeeeesssss?”
“Where exactly do you live in the Daycare? When I first arrived, I didn’t see anyone when I was looking around.”
“The tower.”
Sun pointed and she followed the finger, turning to look behind and up at the tower in the wall. From this angle, she could see a curtain hung in the hole, blocking most of her view of the inside.
“It’s a little secret place me and Moon live in. The kids used to love watching us spin out and greet the day before high diving into the ball pit!”
“High dive?” Her gaze snapped back on Sun in shock. “Into the ball pit? From that height?! How are you not dead?!”
“Years and years of practice! Also there’s a deep pit under the tower that’s deep enough not to break our neck.”
Sun chuckled with a sheepish smile, grinning like it was no big deal. Did he not see the major health hazard or did he not care? She looked back up at the tower, wondering how someone could survive without breaking all their bones from that height falling into the ball pit.
“Say, uh, Miss Roxy?”
“Mm?”
“This might be an odd question, but uh, what exactly brings you to the Daycare? It’s not every day that someone drops by and well… normally they only drop by because…”
She looked back at Sun, finding him fiddling with the ends of his shoes, which she now noted were elf-shaped and curled at the toes. A bell hung on one end of her footwear, but the other had a notable tear that was missing both bell and curled toe, covered in stitches and patches like the rest of his clothes.
A small twinge of guilt and pity tugged at her heart, but she quickly pushed it away. She wasn’t here to feel pity for a mutant she just. She was here because of a stupid bet!
“I only came here because of a bet. Nothing more.” She answered honestly. What else was she supposed to say? That she was looking for treasure in Lala Land and just happened to cross his path? Yeah, no. She was a realist.
“… oh… I see…”
Sun’s rays drooped, wilting like a flower that had gone days without any water. It was… kind of sad seeing him like this.
Great. Where was Freddy when you needed him? What would he do in a situation like this?
“The bet was to get something from the Daycare.” She continued. “It had to be something unique, one-of-a-kind, and only found here. To be fair there’s not a lot of those things and well,” She trailed off for a bit, looking at the Freddy plush. “I thought I could take the Freddy plush since it’s the only only that big and–”
“YOU WERE GOING TO TAKE FREDDY?!”
Sun’s scream made her jump, slipping and falling into the ball pit.
“You Can’t Take Freddy! He Belongs In The Daycare!”
Sun continued to scream, towering over her with a glare with all nine rays jutting out straight.
“Nobody Should Take Freddy! Nobody! He Was A Gift To The Daycare When It First Opened! You Can’t Take Him Away From Us! You CAN’T!”
“I-I’m sorry! I didn’t know!” She backed up, suddenly very afraid of the mutant as his skin began to glow and the air which had been cold was getting warmer each passing second. “I didn’t know anyone was still here! I thought it was alright to take it since the Daycare was abandoned and nobody comes here anymore!”
Like a switch, Sun’s demeanor suddenly dropped. The anger in his eyes and the growing temperature vanished.
“… abandoned? The Daycare… abandoned?”
He looked at her, staring in disbelief before shaking his head and putting on a big smile.
“No. No! The Daycare hasn’t been abandoned! It’s just… it’s just closed! Yeah! It’s only closed for temporary time! Moon told me so! They’ll reopen the Daycare soon!”
Something about those words drove a wedge in her heart.
Did he…? Did he not realize that the Daycare had been shut down?
“A-Anyways! You probably need to get back, right? Rest that wrist and get it checked over!”
He held out a hand to her, beaming ear to ear. If he had ears.
“Come on. I’ll open the doors for you.”
She looked at his hand, looking at the long slim bright fingers that belonged to an equally bright mutant. Hesitantly, she reached up and grabbed the offered appendage, allowing Sun to help her up and out of the ball pit to her feet. She didn’t know what to say, but she didn’t get the chance to before Sun snapped his fingers.
“Oh! Wait! I’ll be right back!”
She blinked and Sun was gone. She looked around, trying to find the sunny mutant but found herself standing alone. Her eyes wander over to the giant Freddy plush, the cause of her grief.
Slowly she walked over to it, staring up at the large plush. It was supposed to be her easy ticket of winning a bet. A stupid bet that Monty put her up to that almost got her killed tonight. Why did she take it again?
Oh yeah. Monty promised to clean her go-karts for a whole month without complaint if she won.
With her wrist likely broken, and nothing to win the bet, her go-karts were just going to have to go without tuning for a while.
She glared at the plush for a while longer till her ears picked up a soft ringing, twisting her head around to see Sun coming towards her with something in his hands with a wide smile on his face.
“Here.”
He held the item out towards her.
“It’s a little odd and hasn’t had a good wash in a long while, but I think this will help you win the bet.”
Her eyes widened, taking the item from Sun’s hands. It was an old nightcap, deep blue with stars printed all over and a fuzzy white rim. A bell hung at the end, jingling softly as she examined the item in her grasp.
“It used to belong to Moon, made just for him by the company, but he stopped wearing it as the years went by.” Sun explained as she looked up at him. “It’s just been sitting in a box gathering dust, but you might find some use for it.”
“… and your brother won’t mind?” She asked, taken back that Sun had easily given her something that belonged to his sibling.
“Of course! He found a much better one anyway, so he won’t mind.”
“… why are you giving this to me?”
Sun’s smile dropped, gazing down at the floor while rocking his heels.
“… because… you were sad… and my brother caused you a lot of grief… and… well…”
He rubbed his neck, blushing slightly.
“I… I don’t want you to think bad of us. And maybe you could… stop by again? If you want?”
She stared at him for a long while, watching his rock back and forth with his cheeks tinting red with a small blush. She… well she honestly didn’t know what to think. The night had been hectic for her and a complete rush that she didn’t know where to begin. It was a lot to process and… hm.
“… I’ll think about it.” She shrugged, stuffing the nightcap in her pocket and planned to get some coffee from the Faz-Pad.