Michael arrived at the establishment at around 11:50. It would give him more time to explore. He unlocked the front door, and entered, looking at the dingy walls and floors. Some more posters had been added, along with an arcade cabinet with the screen punched out. He was about to walk past the hallway to Fredbear and to his office, but out of the corner of his eye, he saw something a little more green and rabbit shaped than Freadbear at the other end. He cautiously walked forwards, ignoring the judgment of Fredbear, instead staring at an old, familiar face.

Springbonnie.

Michael was surprised and concerned, how did they even find this suit? His father would have kept it well hidden, and yet here it was...

Unlike Fredbear, Spring Bonnie was dirty, covered in something Michael couldn't easily tell what it was. There were more rips and tears, and more exposed suit bracing, but yet... the suit didn't feel all that... empty.

He looked closer at it, looking between the holes and joints... and was absolutely disgusted. Either that was one very, very real fake corpse... or...

Michael recoiled, and shot one last glare at the suit before sitting down in his office.

It was... probably based on the "rumors" of the suits, at least that's what Michael chalked it down to. Nothing more than a silly prop based on what he was terrified of as a kid.

A few minutes after he sat down, the phone rang, and he picked it up, listening.

"Uh... hey hey! So, welcome back! Job's not so bad after you learn the layout of the rooms, so uh... our searchers, Tom and Jerry found some new things last night. You know, posters, arcade cabinets, and... you aren't gonna believe this, but they found one, a real one, hardly any missing pieces we had to fabricate. I'm... sure you'll find it in there somewhere... trust me. It's kinda weird though, it's almost like it was... used before. O-oh well, probably nothing. Just keep it up, and I'll see you tomorrow, k?"

Click!

Michael stayed quiet... That thing was an actual animatronic? Somewhere in the distance, he heard a ragged cough, and wheezing, like someone who couldn't get enough air. Michael perked up, was there an intruder in the building? He hesitantly opened the cameras, and flipped through them, until he stopped at the feed with the springlock animatronics... or as of now, just one. Michael started to enter a state of panic. It could move, he would never stop reliving this nightmare.

Michael shouldn't have been surprised, he shouldn't have. But he still panicked nonetheless. He looked quickly through the cameras, feeling it slowly heat up again under his fingers. He found the rabbit on one of the cameras, but it was facing the wall, leaning against it like it was... catching its breath.

Its ears twitched, and it slammed a fist against the wall, coughing loudly. Something felt off, but that's when he remembered the audio play button.... Maybe. He hesitantly pressed the audio button, and the rabbit froze for a few seconds, before hobbling to a room farther away. Michael, over the laughter, swore he could hear the sound of something... squishy in the suit. He ignored the feeling and kept watching him.

It seemed this was the only animatronic that could move... Okay, this seemed easy enough. Especially since he'd dealt with way more than one, before. The rabbit paused, and dropped to its knees, before crawling into a square hole in the wall.

Of course the bastard knew how the vents worked.

He changed viewing modes, but he didn't need to see the rabbit to find it, it coughed quite a bit, and the coughs were loud and sounded painful, like its lungs were completely shredded.

Michael wondered...

Was there actually somebody in there?

He found it eventually in the vent leading to the main hallway. It made a grimace with the "prop" inside, and emitted a hacking cough, a small amount of blood spattering out. If this was really just a prop, it was super well made, that's for sure, but somehow, someway, Michael doubted that claim. He heard something thud outside of the office, followed with a growl of anger, and something being thrown.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Michael opened the cameras again, and looked at the angry figure of the rabbit, and the toppled mannequin stand that had stuff from an older model of foxy on it, thrown to the ground, with the stand broken in half.

"Stupid... suit, can hardly move in this damn-" The bunny spoke, then whatever it was coughed, and slammed its fist against the wall in anger, before bringing its metal foot down on the head of foxy, slamming a massive hole through it.

Now Michael had no doubt, it wasn't just a prop

The rabbit then turned to the camera, a maniacal glint in its empty eye socket betraying that it wasn't as empty as it seemed, before the feed cut, and the camera panel overheated.

Michael was about to let out an annoyed sigh, before he was stopped by a voice...

"Gettin' tired?"

Michael looked around the office, and noticed a hazy greenish shape in the corner. Before he could make it out, it suddenly jumped at him, letting out a loud screech, like metal against metal. Michael screamed, but suddenly, the thing left an outline and disappeared as the office flashed red. He fumbled, half blinded for the maintenance panel, and hit the R key to reboot the systems that needed it. After the light stopped, he took a deep breath.

That voice sounded so familiar...

He was booted out of his thoughts by a distant, strangled voice

"I KNOW YOU'RE OVER THERE." it wheezed as he heard thudding footsteps and distant, labored breaths.

Michael booted up the cameras, wondering in the back of his mind how that thing knew he was here, but he didn't have much time to think about it. Limping through a nearby room was the rabbit, slowly advancing like it had minimal control over its body. It stopped to take a breather, inhaling wheezily. Michael would once again click the audio button. The rabbit paused, a look of terror filling its only visible eye, as it hobbled back a room.

Why was it so scared of the noise? Michael watched it some more out of curiosity, trying to figure out what it really was. He narrowed his eyes, listening to its wheezy breaths, watching as its eye looked around at everything, seemingly taking everything in as if it hadn't seen the light of day for years. It looked up, into the camera, just like Freddy used to, and the mouth inside that Michael failed to notice curved into a smile.

"There you are, my boy." it muttered, its voice a ragged whisper, but with a kind of velvet lining that would have earned the trust of anyone. Anyone, but Michael. He'd heard that tone of voice before, but he was sure that it couldn't possibly be... his father.

Michael sat quietly, watching as the rabbit stumbled closer again, emitting a wheezy chuckle as it clambered into a ventilation shaft. Michael wasn't too sure where it let out, almost every vent was connected.

He pressed the "SEAL VENT" button, just in case it was anywhere near him. He heard a growl of rage, and a loud thud, but the anger was quickly replaced with calm.

"Why don't you want to see me? Do you... fear my perfect form?."

That voice was too familiar.... Had it seen him? As the clock chimed 6, he heard the thundering of metal feet, and strained breaths. As he walked down the hallway leading out, he saw his new adversary staring down at him, a twisted smile on his face.

*

He then woke, now in the body of the Mangle, as she chuckled happily. He moved forward, seeing a spare part. As soon as he touched it, it was grafted to the fox's floating head.

As he moved forward, he saw a kid, who looked no older than nine, running in front of him. He wanted to move toward the kid, but suddenly got an urge not to, which grew as the kid got nearer.

So he quickly backed up, waited for the kid to run off, and continued his fetch quest for parts.

The pattern became simple: Wait above the platform for the kid to leave, then grab a part.

Finally, he reached the ending.... But once again, he saw the same flickering wall as in the Balloon dream.

He would once again get a feeling, and would go through it.

Michael would start falling. Although uncomfortable at first, the wind soon started to feel warm and soft. His thoughts were completely shattered when he fell across a red backdrop.

Landing on the ground, Michael looked at the silhouettes around him. One looked like the Balloon Boy he'd seene earlier, and the other looked familiar, but he couldn't recall it...

He would quickly walk past them and bump right into a balloon platform.

Michael, after a feeling of deja vu, would start traversing. After climbing the red balloons, he would suddenly find a huge cake, one that rivaled any he'd seen prior. He would then collect the cake... only to be yanked from the dream.

*

He woke up.

Michael didn't understand these dreams, what were they trying to tell him? He felt as if something was trying to tell him something. Something vital. He went to the kitchen, ate his toast, and grabbed an old security hat he kept for some odd reason, looking at the name tag on it. He didn't know why exactly he kept Jeremy's old hat, other than a memento of something he couldn't stop.

Another death at the hands of that twisted bear.

He placed it back down on the counter, and sighed. He didn't even remember how he got it. Everything before 1993 was so... fuzzy. He felt something in his pocket, and reached in... before pulling out a black rabbit bobblehead. He'd forgotten he'd grabbed that... It seemed like Jeremy followed him everywhere now.

He set the bobblehead down next to the hat, as a reminder of what Jeremy once was, and what he'd become.