You grabbed the flashlight from your lap, shaking madly. You pointed it at the vent, but couldn't gather the courage to turn it on. You felt that if something were there, you would faint. You quickly grabbed the Freddy mask, and slipped it over your head; it smelled of vomit and tears.

Quickly, you turned on the flashlight. You nearly screamed when you saw a green-eyed animatronic staring at you, its jaw ajar. It gripped the sides of the vent, and brought one of its feet underneath it. It slowly rose, not taking its wide eyes off yours. You gulped when it shuffled towards you.

The blue animatronic stood in front of you, and bent down to come face to face with you, you leaned into the back of the chair. Its pupils contracted and it tilted its head at you. It quickly stood back up, its pupils and irises expanded to their usual sizes. The animatronic walked around the desk, looking through the hallway, acting as though nothing had happened.

You sighed and melted into the chair, pulling off the mask and tossing it on the desk. The animatronic's ear twisted towards you, and its head snapped back to look at you. It looked down at the mask, and then back up at you, its pupils narrowed to the size of dimes. It turned around and let out a loud shriek. You jumped from the chair and backed away from it, the tablet you had, dropped onto the floor.

It leaped over the desk, at you, and you swiftly dodged it. You attempted to stride away from it, but your shoelace got caught under your foot, and you tripped. You rolled over and stared at the animatronic, it had just gained its composure, and it looked over its shoulder at you. It quickly turned and dashed towards you, you threw your flashlight at it, and it bounced off the side of its head. It paused for a moment, and you didn't hesitate to start for the right air vent.

You briskly glanced back at the blue animatronic, who shook its head and stumbled a bit. You ducked into the right air vent and crawled into it as fast as you could. The animatronic started into the vent after you, but decided to take another route. You heard footsteps fade as they got farther away. You crawled around the corner, and paused when you didn't hear anything. You stayed crouched, trying to gain your composure back and letting your eyes adjust to the darkness. Your throat felt dry, and your head hurt from the thumping of your heart.

You quietly crawled towards the other exit, trying your best not to make the vent creak under your weight. A blue foot stepped in front of the opening and the bunny animatronic peeked its head into the vent. You gasped loudly and quickly made your way back. You crawled into the corner of the vent and turned your body to face the office. You looked up, and saw a humanoid animatronic blocking the exit.

"Hello," it said, and you whimpered.

You moved your head back around the corner, and saw that the blue bunny animatronic was crawling your way. You teared up, knowing that there was no way you could escape. You covered your head with your arms, and tucked your knees as far into your chest as you could. You started to sob, and your body trembled, waiting for the moment it ended.

"Oh man, I didn't mean to make you cry. I'm sorry, kid," a voice soothed you.

You sniffled and peeked out from between your hands, and saw the bunny animatronic crouched in front of you, their ears were dropped by the sides of their head. They looked to the side bashfully, and you furrowed your eyebrows in confusion, questioning whether or not you were asleep.

"I didn't hurt you, did I?" they asked, moving their head to see your legs.

You defensively tightened your form, laying your head down and folding your arms in front of you, and the animatronic lowered their head. They layed down on their tummy, and placed their hands against their cheeks.

"I want to apologize, dearly, for my actions earlier. Something was up with my coding. But what you did really helped me. You've got a strong arm there," they clucked, gesturing to your arm.

You tilted your head and looked at your bicep from the corner of your eye, and then back at the animatronic, they chuckled. You heard some laughter coming from the other side of the vent, and you tensed.

"My name's Toy Bonnie, I'm Fazbear Entertainment's best guitarist," they gloated. "What's your name?" they said, tilting their head.

You raised your eyebrows, afraid to say something, but hesitantly, you spoke through a raspy voice, "My, my name's (Y/N)."

"I like that name," Toy Bonnie beamed, their ears twitched.

You shied below your arms as their voice echoed off the walls of the vent. Toy Bonnie cleared their throat and stratched the back of their head. They quickly looked up at you, opening their mouth to say something, but they hesitated, and closed it back, avoiding your eyes. After a few seconds of silence, you heard crawling on the other side of the vent. You looked back, only to be face to face with the humanoid animatronic, and you flinched.

"Oh, that's Balloon Boy. You don't need to worry about him," Toy Bonnie said, chuckling. "He wouldn't hurt a fly."

"Hi," Balloon Boy said innocently.

"H-. . . Hello," you stammered, and he giggled.

"Although, I couldn't say the same for the others," Toy Bonnie said, and you looked back at them. "You see, the old crew, they don't get along with us new guys too well, don't recognize anybody after-hours as human. Rather, as you heard on the call, they see them as an endoskeleton without a costume on, and since that's against the rules, they'll attempt to forcefully stuff them into a suit. It wouldn't be so bad, if it weren't for the fact that the suits are filled with crossbeams, wires, and animatronic devices."

Your eyes widened at the animatronic, whose ears drooped sheepishly. "Now, you know from the message, that me and the rest of the toys are connected to a criminal database. It enables us to identify dangerous individuals in the pizzeria, and protect our valued customers if we have to. Well, our coding has been malfunctioning lately, and we see all adults as dangerous criminals," Toy Bonnie explained.

"Why just adults?" you wondered.

"I mean, have you ever heard of a child shooting up a place? I don't think so," they joked.

"Wait," you looked back through the other side of the vent, "Does the same go for Balloon Boy, here?" you asked nervously.

"Well, yeah. But I've already knocked some sense into him," they replied, and you sighed. "Besides, even when he is out of it, he still wouldn't hurt anyone. Honestly, he probably couldn't. Heh, he's only about four feet tall. What's he gonna do, bite their ankles off?" Toy Bonnie sneered, and snorted at their own joke.

You giggled, and Balloon Boy squinted at Toy Bonnie through the vent wall. An aching feeling in your back, made you shift uncomfortably. Toy Bonnie's ear twitched and their pupils narrowed. A chill ran up your spine, and you shrunk in fear. They stared at your shoulder, and you gulped loudly. They looked up at you, their eyes returned to their normal sizes.

"Oh, parden me," they said, and then they looked back down as their pupils contracted again, "I was just taking a closer look at your hair there. It fascinates me."

"Closer look?" you wondered, and Toy Bonnie looked back up at you.

"Yeah. Um, how do I explain this . . . My eyes are made sorta like cameras, and I can kinda, zoom into things to see them better. Do you get it?" they explained.

"Yeah, I think so . . ."

"Anyways . . . I suppose this vent isn't really all that comfortable," they murmured.

"Yeah," you muttered, shifting your weight onto your hand.

"Why don't you stay in here, while I go fix the rest," Toy Bonnie said. "That way you won't have to worry about them trying to kill you," they chuckled, but when they saw the look of worry on your face, they looked towards the vent floor and cleared their throat shamefully.

They carefully started to crawl backwards. They stood up and walked from the vent. A few seconds later, something was placed in front of the opening; Toy Bonnie thought if they put something in its way, that nobody would be able to get into the air vent after you. You squinted at it to see it easier, and seeing that it was a wet floor sign, you rolled your eyes.

You sighed and layed on your side, placing your hand under your head to cushion it. You looked forward, and your eyes focused on an animatronic, who was staring at you. Your eyebrows stitched together, and Balloon Boy laughed. You snuffed at him and closed your eyes, trying to fall asleep so you could wake up from this strange dream.

You felt your body being lifted, and you furrowed your brows. You didn't have the energy to open your eyes, nor to move. A pair of arms held you, one under your knees, and another around your back. You heard what sounded like a vent bending under someone's weight, and whoever was holding you, toppled forward and landed on their elbows, cushioning you from hitting the vent floor.

"Balloon Boy, quite being a creep, and move it, will you," Toy Bonnie scolded him, and he laughed.

You heard him crawl back, out of the vent. Toy Bonnie huffed and lifted you up again. They struggled to move forward, being forced to crouch down.

"Gee-whiz, kid, you've got some muscle to ya," Toy Bonnie mused, gently squeezing the back of your thigh.

You frowned uncomfortably. They hummed questioningly, and then gently moved you under themself. They grabbed your leg and arm, and curled them around their body. They lowered some, trying to keep from crushing you, and moved you onto their back. You raised an eyebrow, feeling as you were now draped over their back. They pulled on your arms, making sure you wouldn't fall over, before crouching onto their hands. You sighed, trying to distract yourself as they waddled forward.

You groaned as you pushed yourself up, rolling your eyes open. You groggily looked around, you were sitting underneath the desk that was in the office. The flashlight and tablet were set on the floor in front of you. You thought that you must've fell asleep, and had somehow made your way from the chair to the floor. You grabbed the flashlight and tablet, and stood up. You set them on the table and turned towards the chair, adjusting your clothes and hair.

"Oh hey, you're up," you heard a voice say, and your eyes widened.

You quickly turned around, and saw the blue bunny animatronic, standing in the entrance with a plushie and a banner, which was trailed behind them. You stumbled back, registering what exactly was happening.

"I thought you would've slept a little longer. Uh, I got some things to help you sleep: a plushie to cushion your head, and a banner to keep you warm," Toy Bonnie said, their ear twitched a few times.

"You're real," you croaked, and one of Toy Bonnie's ears tilted over questioningly. "I-I thought it was a dream."

"The rest are fixed, so, they're not trying to kill you anymore," Toy Bonnie chuckled nervously, but when the expression of shock remained on your face, they cleared their throat.

"This can't be real," you gasped, pressing your palms into the sides of your head. "I've got to be dreaming."

"Say, kid, how old are you?" Toy Bonnie said as they set the plushie and banner on the table, and you looked over at them with an eyebrow raised. "I-I was just wondering. I noticed when I carried you out of the vent, that you seemed pretty-. . . How do I put this, without sounding like an inconsiderate jerk. Big?"

"Huh?"

"Not as in fat!" they corrected themself. "I'm talking about tall, and," their pupils contracted as they took a closer at you, studying your legs and arms, "muscular."

". . . I'm 21," you hesitantly told them, and their eyes widened as their ears dropped to their sides.

"Golly, I didn't know you were that old!" they blurted, and you squinted at them. "I mean, you're not old. It's just that, this whole time, I thought you were a child."

"A child," you muttered, somewhat offended.

"Not that you're immature. You're a wonderful young woman. I just, thought . . . Uhm," Toy Bonnie stammered, unsure of what to say, not wanting to offend you.

"Bon, what's got ya so flustered?" a feminine voice asked; you looked over, and saw an animatronic step out of the left air vent.

"Oh dear god, there's another one," you gasped.

It was the chicken you had saw earlier on the Show Stage, but her beak and eyes were gone, showing her endoskeleton teeth, and a pair of glossy-black eyes with white pupils; you cringed in fear. She looked at you and tilted her head. "Oh, you're the girl Toy Bonnie was tellin' us about," she gushed, and walked towards you. "We've never had a lady security guard before. I love your hair." She clasped her hands by the side of her head. "Ooh! We can totes have a slumber party!" she sang as she bounced up beside you, and you nervously took a step back.

"Give the girl some space, Toy Chica," someone said, and you looked over to see a large bear animatronic step out of the shadows.

"She's probably afraid of us," someone else said, and the mangled animatronic you saw in the room earlier, crawled along the ceiling and into the office.

"Afraid! Why'd she be afraid of us?" she twittered.

"I don't know, why don't we ask her," the bear suggested.

"Say, darling, what's gotten you so uneasy?" the mangled one asked, crawling up above you.

You took a step back and gulped. You looked around the room, and the animatronics stared at you in anticipation. "W-. . . Well . . . You guys are supposed to be animatronics, that are only programmed to move and talk. You all seem to be moving and speaking voluntarily."

"Yes, we are, but that's not a reason to be afraid of us," Toy Bonnie commented.

"Yeah! Just think of us as normal, everyday people," the chicken cheered.

"But with wiring interiors and metal outer casings," the mangled one pointed out.

"The last thing we'd want to do is hurt you, or anyone for that matter," the bear assured you.

"My, my, my! Why, we haven't even introduced ourselves yet," the mangled one realized, and carefully lowered onto the floor in front of you; although she appeared small hanging from the ceiling, she actually stood a few inches taller than you. "My name's Mangle. It's very nice to meet you," Mangle said, and stuck out a hand for you to shake.

You hesitantly put your hand into hers, and she gave it a firm squeeze, shaking it gently. She let it go and leaned back, tilting her head at you in pleasure.

"And, this is Toy Chica," Mangle added, gesturing to the chicken behind her.

"We're BFFs!" Toy Chica blurted, wrapping an arm around Mangle's neck.

You gave a small nod, folding your arms across your chest and leaning on your side. Toy Chica gasped and put her hands on her cheeks in realization. You raised your eyebrows at her.

"The three of us should totally be BFF's!" she squealed, and her and Mangle jumped beside you, shoving the sides of their faces against your cheeks.

You flinched, and looked over at them. They giggled and you squinted as you gazed ahead. You heard Toy Bonnie snort, and you looked over at them. Toy Chica and Mangle hooked their arms with yours as they moved back. You chuckled nervously and looked at the two of them.

"I'm Toy Freddy. You probably already know my original counterpart, Freddy Fazbear," the bear animatronic said.

"Yeah, I used to go to the old pizzeria as a kid. I loved the place," you told him.

"We hope you enjoy this one as much," Toy Freddy said.

"Toy Bonnie told me that the old animatronics don't get along well with you guys?" you mentioned.

"I don't blame them. We did take their places," Mangle pointed out, her and Toy Chica let go of your arms.

"And their faces," Toy Bonnie added, and then snorted.

"I'm sure they'll come outta their shells, sometime," Toy Chica reported.

"Well, she didn't tell me why, I was just wondering," you said and Toy Bonnie's ears twitched.

"Hold up . . ." Toy Bonnie's ears fell back as his pupils and irises narrowed. "She?"

"Oh no," Toy Chica mumbled.

"Here it comes," Mangle sighed.

"What?" you wondered, feeling oblivious to what had happened.

"Did, you just refer to me as a girl?" Toy Bonnie growled, stepping up to you.

"Yeah. I thought you were a girl. Aren't you?"

"I most certainly am not!" Toy Bonnie growled as he thumped his foot on the floor.

He glared at you and stood on his tiptoes, leaning towards you. You heard a constant tapping sound behind him, and you leaned over. His tail was rapidly wagging back and forth. You giggled, and Toy Bonnie huffed.

"Why are you laughing?" he hissed.

"Your tail's wagging," you sneered.

"Yeah, because I'm peeved!" Toy Bonnie barked.

"I think it's cute." You giggled.

Toy Bonnie's ears perked forward as he stepped back on his heels, and his eyes widened. His irises and pupils expanded to their normal sizes, and his eyes glowed a light pink. Toy Chica and Mangle snickered, and he shook his head, getting rid of the pink glow. His ears fell to his sides as his pupils shrunk.

"I am not cute!" he defended himself.

"Toy Bonnie," Toy Freddy murmured, and Toy Bonnie's ears twitched as his pupils grew wide.

"Yes, sir?" he said as he looked back at him; Toy Freddy was holding the tablet.

"H-. . . Don't call me sir."

"Yes, s- Santa . . ."

"Nice save," you sniggered into his ear, and he growled at you.

"Ooh, I like that nickname," Toy Chica mused.

"How long's it been since you last wound up the music box?" Toy Freddy worried, and the animatronics eyes widened.

"Too long," Toy Bonnie chuckled nervously and then gulped, and the animatronics looked at each other.

"What's the big deal?" you wondered. "Toy Bonnie, I thought you fixed everyone."

"There's no 'fixing' the Puppet," he explained.

"The Puppet? Who's that?" you wondered.

The animatronics looked over towards the entrance, and you raised an eyebrow. You saw a tall thin figure step out of the shadows; it resembled a sock monkey, but much darker, and creepier.

"It's me."

Image is by https://animatronicbunny.deviantart.com/