"Wakey wakey..." Was the first thing Michael heard as he drifted to consciousness. The memory of this dream was rather blurry, but he still remembered the most important of the details.

That was when Michael looked up and saw the huge, bloodied rabbit, and then the yellow suit he was in. He looked around at the gaps as best he could, praying he was in an old chica, instead, the purple bowtie betrayed that one wrong move, and he'd be torn apart.

William was smiling down at him, a cruel grin.

I'd be VERY careful if I were you, Michael." He wheezed, staring through the gap in the mouth. Michael just responded with a glare.

The rabbit gave Michael a flabbergasted look, and then laughed

"What, don't you WANT to be perfect, Michael?"

Michael stayed silent, glaring at his father.

The rabbit stayed staring, eyes dead on Michael with a sadistic smirk.

And, Michael thought this was it.

He knew the rabbit wouldn't leave no matter what he tried, and any sudden movements would cause the rabbit to just trigger the suit no matter what.

So he shut his eyes and waited for the inevitable springlock failure...

Laughter.

A child's laugh echoed throughout the building all of a sudden. Both Michael and the rabbit looked around. The rabbit seemed almost nervous, quickly making eye contact with Michael, then exiting the room.

This was his chance.

Michael tried to wiggle out of the suit as fast as possible, and as quietly as possible. Eventually, he got one arm out, and slowly lifted the mouth of the suit open.

He stuck his arms out of the mouth, and went to unscrew the head, before it popped off, and he could almost squeeze out. He then grabbed under the holes that led to the arms, and lifted the main torso off, trying to wiggle his body out of the legs and getting a foothold on the ribs of the endoskeleton, using it like a ladder without putting too much pressure on the weakened metal. He threw himself on the floor just as the locks in the ribs triggered, snapping closed. He figured, as he turned around to look at the suit, that maybe he should fix it before he left, he'd rather keep this job, after all. At least, long enough to devise a plan to set his father free.

He knew he couldn't go back to the Office, that would be the first place the rabbit looked for him. He'd have to keep moving, to make sure he put enough distance between him and the rabbit.

He went to the arcade room they had with the defunct machines, some of which had twisted faces of the old mascots, molded and cracked from age. One screen was on, but he could tell by the greenish tint that whatever was on it was something that would only cause issues, and get his position revealed. He needed the element of surprise and stealth tonight. If that rabbit that called himself his father found him, he wouldn't live long enough to feel regret.

It looked like he was going to have to play Hide and Seek.

Michael looked around at the arcade machines, so many of them were unidentifiable, but the ones he could recognize hadn't been made for years. Pizza Gamer, and Fruity Maze were two of the easy ones, one had a massive pizza for a button in the middle, and the other was made so uniquely that it was impossible not to tell what it was. Michael chuckled, it'd been so long since he'd played either of those... he wished he could now, but he had more pressing matters, like the imminent death he might soon face if he grew too slow.

And time was something Michael lacked.

In the distance, he heard a wheezy chuckle, signaling that his father was near.

He ran off, going to a room slightly farther away with a connective vent, just in case. In the room was a plethora of tables and other ancient party supplies. He looked around, ready to dart under a table when needed, or into the vents. He looked around at the room, almost letting out a yelp when he saw a white and pink fox dangling from the ceiling, inches from his face when he turned.

It was a prop.

Michael flicked its snout, and listened for his father.

It didn't seem as if he was near.

He quietly exited the room, and walked down the hallways. Best not get predictable now.

He continued his walk, stopping to check each room.

Nothing was really all to special, most rooms were just a small scene, one with a human dummy in an office chair looking in horror into a vent, a single locked box on a table in a small closet like room, and some other miscellaneous junk, such as a shattered foxy mask in a display case, or a shiny purple top hat from "the real Fredbear that caused the bite of '83!"

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The scene caused Michael to wince a little bit. He knew what came after that, and he wished it had a different outcome.

He kept walking silently, he didn't need to draw the attention of anything... or anyone.

He paused, and had the urge to turn around, but he wasn't sure why, but he did it anyway. He jumped, and backed away at the same pink and white fox dangling from the ceiling, seemingly... following him, its jaw inches from where his frontal lobe would be.

A gentle chuckle echoed through the hallway, and the fox started to slink backwards, emitting a loud, staticy noise, piercing the silence.

In the distance, he heard his father getting closer, seemingly rushing to where he was, so Michael ran to a room he knew had a vent, and crawled in.

The cramped sensation the vent gave him felt... oddly familiar.

He felt his vision start to cloud, and he heard voices he was sure he remembered...

Michael had an absolutely stupid plan, but a plan nonetheless. He crawled through the vents to kids cove, and waited until the bear was near enough to execute it.

Sure enough, a few seconds later, he heard deep laughter behind him. Michael aimed a kick at the mess of parts just as a certain brown bear rounded the corner, and scooted back into the vents, hoping the hodge podge of parts would keep it occupied now that it had been woken from its nap.

It seemed to work, and the bear had seemed to stop, evidenced by the sounds in Kids Cove.

"What???" a strangely familiar voice whined, "I WAS NAPPING, AND YOU JUST HAD TO WAKE ME UP, HUH??"

A few seconds of silence, but then, oddly enough, Michael heard his arch nemesis speak calmly, much to the confusion of Michael, "Listen closely, you rotting mess of mangled parts, I have something important to discuss with you."

When Michael's vision unclouded again, his arms felt sore, and the last few words from Freddy echoed in his ears... until he heard the ragged breathing of his father somewhere nearby. Seems he wasn't found yet, best chance he'd have to run.

He crawled through the vents, until he exited in a hallway-like room, the walls coated with posters and drawings, with a classic chica suit on a mannequin stand, standing there as a silent sentinel, watching over all of the drawings. A faint rustling sound caused Michael to pause his advance, and turn around to a poster he was sure he wouldn't see again.

An eyeless yellow bear, with a bloodied muzzle.

Michael watched in horror as a golden bear fell out of the poster into a heap on the floor, stood up like something out of a horror film, and began to walk closer, its abnormally stretched limbs dragging against the floor as its soulless pits for eyes became ablaze with small, pale white almost human eyes staring him down. The bear smiled at Michael, a cold grin.

"Hello Michael. It's been a while, hasn't it?"

Michael didn't know what to say. He was getting very sick of that nightmare following him everywhere.

The bear was still advancing, and Michael was walking backwards away in fear, the rush of sound filling his ears, until eventually, he ran.

The yellow bear, now out of sight, laughed, and melted away, the poster returning to normal once more.

Michael paused his running, surely that bear would have followed him, but it didn't, and that felt... strange, abnormal, like it should have played out differently.

In the few minutes he sat in silence, he heard his father run, but not in his direction, but back to his show area, along with the sweet, sweet chime of 6am, signaling the end of this shift.

But the strange thing he heard was the ringing of a phone long after the chimes died away.

Michael hesitantly went back to the office, and stared in at the ringing phone. He, after reading the number for an unknown caller, reached for the phone, and hesitated, before picking it up, and holding it to his ear.

What he got was 3 simple words, from a voice that seemed dimly familiar... though he didn't know why.

"Burn it down."

*

This time, he saw Fredbear, Michael wondered why he was watching, rather than controlling, this time around. The golden bear was entertaining patrons side by side with springbonnie, a beautiful melody played in the background as he listened, it was so familiar. Fredbear took a few steps to the left, and was sent through the ceiling in a stuttery motion, until he was outside. Fredbear, rather hesitantly, jumped down, and started falling, watching in confusion at the passing of identical rooms, landing on an empty black void with a gentle thud.

Fredbear would pass through the room, looking up at the orange floor.

Nearby, next to another orange floor, Fredbear saw a door, labeled "EXIT"

He felt... compelled to keep going, however. He reached up for the ceiling above him, and was suddenly dragged through it, startling even Michael. When Fredbear finally landed, he adjusted his top hat, and took in his surroundings. That's when he saw Spring Bonnie and the kids once again, cheering as if they hadn't just noticed Fredbear's sudden appearance. He tipped his hat as a friendly greeting, jumped onto the stage, and saw a flickering wall behind him.

This could explain the warping.

Fredbear would test his theory and touch it, which suddenly sent him up onto the second ceiling. Fredbear would once again look around, and see the flickering floor above him. Out of habit, reaching for it, he was pulled though, and onto the stage again, watching the happy children jump with joy. It couldn't help but make Fredbear smile. Joy was his favorite thing, and nothing made him happier than watching the overjoyed children.

Still, despite that, he was still compelled. He turned, and was once again greeted by the flickering wall. Taking one last look at the patrons and Spring Bonnie, who was now looking at him, he pushed through it, and was forced onto the ceiling.

Looking up, Fredbear noticed there wasn't another orange floor that greeted him. Rather, the black empty void.

He saw a room on the other side of the chasm, and looked down at his feet and then the black ground 3 floors down nervously. Could he even make the jump?

Michael watched this through whatever astral projection he was being shown, and was rooting for him.

Fredbear took a sigh with non-existent lungs, and walked off the floor, before being swept off his feet, and sent through the wall, and onto the floor, his tophat falling off onto the floor to his side.

Fredbear picked it up, placed it on his head, then looked up, and saw, not the happy patrons, but a lone, gray child crying quietly in the corner. Fredbear stood up, and slowly wandered closer, before getting close enough to get their attention.

The child looked up, almost translucent tears streaming down their face. Fredbear gave them a friendly smile, before setting a cake as tall as he was down, and stepping back...

The child gave the golden bear a weak smile, and walked up to fredbear, before hugging his leg.

Watching this unfurl, Michael smiled as everything faded to white.