Chapter Text
Honestly, you don't know why you were there that day, it was all a matter of luck.
It was packed, far more than usual, which you expected on a Saturday afternoon. Just walking through the front doors was a hassle with the friends and families hurrying to get a spot in line. You were in no rush, so unlike the hardcore fans bumping shoulders and stepping on feet to push forwards, you simply followed the crowd.
Once inside, there was no question as to why this place was so popularized. Flashing neon lights reflecting off of every surface, intricately sewn banners of the characters hanging from ceilings, futuristic animated signs advertising the attractions, but topping it all off was the dazzling golden statue of their star animatronic, singing into a microphone above a silver fountain. The vibes here alone that greet the front entrance are enough to reel in any guest that lay their eyes on it. It's a wonder you've never been here before.
"Tickets transferred, please proceed with payment." The robot chirps out mechanically towards the family of four in the front. You lean over to your left to peak a look at how long you have left to wait, despair overtaking you as you realize how long the line really is. What is this, Disneyland?
Horribly long lines or not, it's a good thing humanity invented handheld gaming devices before robots. You pull out your phone, opening the mobile game you usually play in situations like these. But, despite the game previously working just fine in other areas, it loads up laggily and barely functions. A frown on your face, you search for solutions to this, finding one in the public faz-wifi. Success!! You continue to game for an indefinite amount of time until you spot your turn coming up.
Putting your phone back away, you ready your card to pay for your ticket as the bot waves off the previous customers.
"Next in line."
You step forwards with a nervous smile- Wait, do you even need to smile? This isn't really a person... But it feels wrong to do otherwise.
"Hi! Yes I-"
"Please state the number of people in your party." The staff bot cuts you off robotically, its blank eyes staring into yours.
You shift uncomfortably on your feet, feeling the eyes of the people behind you.
"Uh, one?"
The bot stares at you emptily for a few moments.
"Hello?-"
"Party members processed, please proceed with payment."
The bot holds out its hand for your card.
"Oh- okay"
There are so many people here using the same service, and yet why does this make you so nervous?
You hand over your card, and the bot doesn't do anything with it, it kind of just stares at it for a few seconds before handing it back to you. The bot lifts its arms and does a little celebratory dance.
"Welcome to Freddy Fazbear's Mega Pizzaplex, have a Faz-errific day of fun. Next in line."
You sort of stand there for a few seconds, blinking dumbfoundedly as the bot returns to its straightforward stance, your hand still holding the card from the transaction.
"Wait, don't I get like a bracelet or anything? How do I gain entry?"
The bot doesn't answer, and the family behind you in line is already stepping forwards to take your place. Luckily the kind old lady in their group spots your anxiety, chuckling as she places a hand on your shoulder.
"Here they remember the faces of all the people who have signed in. Don't you worry, the gate will open once you stand near it dear."
Your shoulders untense in relief as you finally put your card back away in your purse, the lady patting your shoulder before pulling away.
"Oh alright, thank you so much, I was so worried I just got scammed." You smile gratefully, laughing at the situation.
The old lady laughs with you, waving her hand as if to shoo away your worries. The young man in her group is speaking with the bot and paying for entry. A shy little girl stands behind him, clinging onto her mother's dress as the mother runs her fingers through the girl's hair comfortingly. The old lady gestures to her group. "I return here often with my son and his family. Little Clarisse loves coming here for the arcade machines, specifically the arcade with the bunny."
You nod politely, even if you're unsure if the grandmother means something else. After all, the website said this place didn't have a bunny animatronic.
The staff bot behind the counter does its little dance, and the man in the old lady's group nudges her hand. "Hey mom? We're ready to go."
The old lady looks at you apologetically, "It seems my time is up, have a great rest of your day. Bring your family next time sweetheart, it's not as fun on your lonesome, but I think you'll still find something to catch your interest."
The family walks through the gates ahead of you, the little girl holding her mother's hand as she walks in the center of the family. You wave the old lady goodbye before stepping up to the gates as well. You're uncertain as you look down at the futuristic blue neon lights lining the side of the turnstile, but just as the old lady said it would, as you approach, the mini doors pull back, allowing you entry.
Huh, that's pretty neat.
And so you begin your adventure inside the mega Pizzaplex.
Considering you've never been here before, there was a lot to explore. You notice quite a few people taking the elevator in the center, but you focus more on the gift shops to the side for now. People are already inside, bustling about as they laugh with their friends about silly keychains and chat with the cashier bot over plushie prices. You wander over to the shirt racks, sifting through the different designs as you debate in your mind over where you want to go first.
Yeah, you could go to the arcade this place is known for, but most malls already have arcades, and you wanted to see what cool stuff this place had to offer, not the things you've already seen in other places. Most of what you know about the mega Pizzaplex is only from the summary online, and the reviews your friends have texted you about from when they still lived here.
"-but isn't that a bit too far?" You hear the end of one of the teenager's voices, their tone oddly concerned. Nosy as you are, you continue idly looking at the t-shirt logos on the rack as you listen in on their conversation.
The teenage girl with the dyed purple hair laughs, "I don't see why not to, I mean, I think it goes with the whole immersion into thinking the characters have actual personalities. If I were creating a robot, I'd go all out with the personality bits too."
The guy who had said the previous statement crosses his arms over his Fazbear brand grey sweatshirt. "I get that, but I don't think Monty should be kicking chairs over anything, no matter the situation. That's a one-way ticket to scaring a kid over giving a gator anger issues."
Their conversation descends into more personal topics as they begin talking about a friend they have that acts like the robot gator, so you decide not to listen in any longer. Despite that, it gives you a vague idea of how far the Pizzaplex will go when it comes to immersion. Whether that be good or bad, but at least you've never heard of something going wrong at this place, so you're assuming they have programming that keeps the robots from taking it too far.
You leave the gift shops and head up the escalators towards the atrium entrance, and oh lord were you not ready. A bot hands you a map as you walk in, quickly moving from you to each person as they enter the main part of the Pizzaplex. You don't pay much mind to the new map in your hand, as you're led by the shimmer in your eyes.
You have to sidestep through the crowds of chattering people to get a better view, pressing yourself up against the front railing as you get a good look at the atrium itself.
It's ginormous. Upbeat music playing as the smell of food and pizza waft through the air. Children having birthday parties on the main floor below as giant palm trees and picture booths line the area. There's so many lights and colors everywhere, and contrary to your previous thoughts of figuring out what there is to be able to do, now the question is just what you want to explore first. You had no idea the Pizzaplex was so filled to the brim with activities. In a way it feels less like a mall and more like an amusement park.
You step back from the railing and have to apologize to the person you almost bump into as you take out your map.
"Let's see..."
It seems there's three floors to go through, the floor with the main attractions for the characters being on the first floor. Throughout this it includes a golf course, a racetrack, and laser tag. On the other floors there seems to be some more minor attractions, like Ballora's Fitness and Flex (Less a ride, and more like a workout through a series of tubes), Freddy's Fortress (A series of tubes that go throughout the Pizzaplex, sort of like the play tunnels at McDonalds but on a larger scale), and even a mini rollercoaster.
Huh, seems like most of these are advertised for kids though, not quite fit for you.
You know what, all this thinking is making you hungry, and it's not just the food you can smell from the tables downstairs.
You fold up your map and decide to go down the escalator to the food stalls, getting yourself something to eat.
Throughout the rest of your day, you visited places like Mazercize, bumper cars, and even Montgomery's golf course. You were surprised to see just how much effort the Fazbear company put into their attractions, since everywhere you've seen so far has been far more than what the pamphlet described it to be. Throughout your day you noticed from television screens and word of mouth that the animatronics were putting on a final big show before closing, so you made certain to continuously check your phone to be sure you made it in time.
Walking into the atrium, it seems you weren't the only one with the idea to get there early.
Fifteen minutes before the scheduled show, the atrium floor was already crowded with guests, security rails and staff bots set up around the stage to keep people from getting too close. It reminded you of a celebrity concert. You step into the crowd, pushing through in an attempt to get to a place you can at least see the stage.
"Sorry, excuse me- So sorry-"
You bump shoulders with almost everyone you come by due to the tight crowd. People side eye you as you make your way through, and you reason in your head that you don't mean to bother anyone, you just want to find a place where you can see the stage since you've never been here before. Which is a difficult ask, considering the amount of tall people who insist on standing in front, added in with the parents allowing their kids to sit on their shoulders for a better view. You're suddenly really wishing you had come here with people. At least the tables that were previously here were removed to allow more people to fit, but it doesn't help much when everyone wants to go to the same place.
You finally find a spot near the middle that doesn't make you feel claustrophobic, finding a little spot that isn't as packed and allows you to see the stage.
You check your phone. Five more minutes. Alright, that's not too bad.
Similar to before, you pull up your mobile game to pass the time. The show starts a few minutes late, (Which you hear the complaints of the people beside you about), but the lights eventually dim as the loud chatter of the people around you dies down. All attention centered on the stage.
You put your phone away, drawing your gaze to the stage as the lights go out. It's during this moment that you notice the old lady from before standing with her family not too far in front of you, murmuring something to her son as he holds his daughter's hand. Strangely enough, the mom is nowhere in sight, but you think you spotted her somewhere at the food stalls while you were on the way over here. You hope she makes it through the crowd in time to see the show.
The music goes silent before a low hum builds, eventually booming with dramatic effect as the animatronics appear one by one on stage, lifting from below. The music builds as each of them are introduced; Chica on the guitar as she delivers a sick riff, stepping forward into the pink light as she tosses her head back. Montgomery adds the bass to her solo, leaning forwards before hopping back into the green light, tilting his glasses back dramatically. Roxanne wolf flips her hair as she shreds into her keytar, the purple light illuminating her figure.
You look up in awe at the robots, excitement building as the music dies down in anticipation for the star of the show.
Just as the music hits that drop, it lifts back up dramatically as Freddy runs into the golden light, holding a fist up into the air as he proudly displays the microphone stand. It's only then that the show springs into action, the colored lights shutting off to be replaced with blue and pink neon from below to illuminate them, as colored lasers shine about the room, the band playing up a storm as Freddy sings melodies into the microphone.
Their movements are impressive, you've never seen anything like it, and like the rest of the crowd, you can't help but cheer on to the beat.
It's exhilarating being a part of something so big, and just like the old lady said you would, you find yourself having fun even if you're all on your own today. Maybe next time you could schedule a date with your friends to come here.
You smile giddily at the thought, just imagining the fun you'll be able to have, and at the thought, you look forwards at the family in front of you again.
Only, this time you notice.
The little girl is no longer by her father's side.
Confused, you tilt your head, looking at different angles as if she could be hiding on the other side of either the adults. It's not your daughter or anything, but your heart begins to race, and you can't help but feel like something is so terribly wrong. The loud music starts to feel less like an excited beat, and more like a ticking timebomb.
People cheer around you as you anxiously whip your head around, looking through the crowd for someone small, but how do you even find a little girl in a crowd like this? It's not even your child, maybe she just went to be with her mom and you're freaking out for nothing.
Nonetheless, you run off instinct as you continue to look around, and you spot it.
There's little Clarisse, walking the opposite way from the stage, holding the hand of a white rabbit.
You don't hesitate, shoving through the crowd as people glare and curse as you. The darkness of the room compared to the stage making it difficult to see as you frantically make your way through the pit. Each second drags by agonizingly long as your horror contradicts with the rabbit lady's calm stride toward a back door near the food stalls.
And of course no one pays any mind. There's a glamorous show playing right in the middle of the room, who would notice the shy little girl being kidnapped by a person in a costume.
You finally make it through the end of the crowd, but it's too late. You watch as the rabbit lady calmly open the door, ushering the little girl inside. The door closes as you sprint as fast as you can towards it, grabbing the handle and wrangling it in an attempt to get it open. But the door locked as soon as it closed.
Looking around, your eyes lock on the food counters.
"Please state your food ite-"
You jump the counter, sliding over the top and landing beside the security bot. It stares at you in silence at you dash through the employee's door behind it.
You didn't even know if that door would be unlocked, but you're fucking glad it was.
You're greeted with a kitchen and storage room, having just as many boxes on shelves as it does ovens. She can't be far.
Your heart races as you frantically run around, searching through each door until you find on that leads down a hallway, and hearing voices, you follow it.
"CLARISSE?" You call out, hoping to hear her call back, but there's no answer. The room you enter is a larger storage area, more crowded with shelves, boxes, and moving equipment.
You hear footsteps, but it's not the sound of shoes, it's the sound of thumping, like foam padding against cold stone.
You go silent, looking to your side as you hide behind a nearby forklift, crouching down as your hands cover your mouth.
Seconds pass by, and the thumping grows louder, before stopping. You can tell whoever it is is nearby, possibly on the other side of your hiding spot, and your breathing stops. Your eyes lock onto a specific spot on the floor as you hope and pray to god that whoever is right there doesn't see you.
The silence is deafening.
You take a few more moments to be sure they're really gone before finally exhaling, peaking out from your hiding place to check for any signs of people.
Red eyes stare back at you, inches away from your face.
You startle, falling backwards as the rabbit lady stands straight, covering her mouth with one hand as if she's amused by your actions. But you can't help but notice, eyes drawn to the glinting of light shining off of the metal knife in her other hand.
She swings down at you, and you yelp, just barely moving your head out of the way as the knife clinks with the floor. She grabs your wrist, and you jolt your knee upwards into her gut, knocking her off guard just long enough to free your wrist from her grasp, rolling away from her as you clamber onto your feet.
You can hear her groan in irritation behind you as you sprint forwards down the storage area. The rabbit lady came from this way, so that means Clarisse has to be down there too right?
Well, your hunch was right, because you find Clarisse with tears in her eyes, sitting on the floor by a cart.
She looks up at you, and the sight breaks your heart to see her so afraid.
"Don't worry, I'm here to help, c'mon, can you stand?"
You help her stand up as the little girl wipes her eyes, unable to speak through her tears as she sniffly lifts her wrist.
Oh shit. She's handcuffed to the cart.
You hear laughter from down the storage room, and you decide that there isn't time.
And so, you lift the little girl onto the cart, pushing the back as you roll her as fast as you can down the other side of the storage room.
The laughter stops, and you swear you can hear the rabbit lady begin running as she hears the sound of the cart's wheels as you sprint it down the hall.
Shit shit shit.
You pass her, and you making eye contact with her mask's red eyes and all too wide smile, as she turns in her run, now sprinting right behind you.
You pant from the adrenaline, trying your best not to look behind you as you hear the rabbit lady gaining on you.
You nearly come tumbling out of the door as you kick it shut behind you, hearing a thump as the lady runs into it.
Clearly someone here is wearing a mask that's hard to see out of and someone isn't.
You don't waste time, exiting out of the kitchen area and back out into the atrium. Now that you're out in a room filled with people, at least you feel a bit safer, but not safe enough to not constantly look behind you.
The show must have ended, because the lights are now on, and people seem to be exiting the stage area to grab their things from tables and lockers. You get a lot of weird looks. Which is to be expected. You're panting and holding a cart with a little girl sitting on top of it, handcuffed to the bar.
You feel like you should be calling out for help, or police, or something in that moment, but you feel so judged by the looks of people around you that your throat just goes dry.
You swallow, and you feel a small hand placed on your shaking one still holding on to the cart.
You look down, Clarisse stares down at your hand, still wiping her eyes of tears, and then you hear a female voice call out.
"CLARISSE!"
The woman comes running up to you. It's the mom.
"Oh my baby!"
She hugs the little girl on the cart, kissing her face and holding her close to her chest in a tight embrace.
The lady pauses, looking up at you.
"You... You're the person from the front desk."
She looks uncertain, almost as if she can't tell what's going on. Almost like she's considering if you're the one who kidnapped her child.
After all that, you're kinda offended.
"I saw her walking away with a woman wearing a rabbit costume, I-I-" Your words fall short, unable to figure out how to explain everything that went down. It all happened so fast, you're still processing it yourself.
The mother's expression softens, and she looks down to grab onto her daughter's wrist, her thumb messing with the handcuffs. You can see her heartbroken expression as she stares at it.
"Thank you,"
She pauses, looking up at you, her eyes watery, but not allowing the tears to fall, she smiles.
"For saving my little girl."
Your heart squeezes, and you smile sadly.
"Of course, I could never stand by and watch that happen."
You think back to the moment, when you weren't sure if it really was a kidnapping or not.
"I'm glad I trusted my instincts and went running for her."
The mother nods.
The rest goes by in a blur as the mother calls the authorities. You're asked to stay so you can give an account of what happened to the police. It turns out, the mall had very few human workers, and the rest had already gone home for the night, so the only person the police could speak to about this event happening was the security guard. It takes hours for everything to be worked out, and the police successfully get the handcuffs off Clarisse's wrist, and everyone gets to go home for the night while the parents chase the case, encouraging the police to narrow down suspects.
It's crazy how everything went down, and in the end, your life returned back to normal. Unlike in the movies, you're not put in news headlines or framed as a hero by tv hosts. The whole ordeal felt strangely... anticlimactic? Which is crazy to say, because you didn't want anything to come of any of that anyways. It just baffles you how life moves on like nothing happened.
After the traumatic event, you'd get constant nightmares of that day and how everything could have gone wrong. Her catching up to you, the child already being dead when you get there, even her killing you before you get to do any good in the situation.
You're just happy none of that actually happened, even if the thought makes your heart race and keeps you up at night sometimes. It's enough to keep you from going back for a while.
Well, until you get an email.
You're sitting on the couch weeks after the incident, and the tv show you're watching on the screen is just the right amount of filler in this episode that you pull out your phone to clear out your inbox.
You mindlessly swipe delete on the usual emails you receive, but one of the emails from weeks ago catches your eye, it seems like it was sent a bit after your day at the Pizzaplex, it reads:
"Dear cherished Fazbear Entertainment customer, congratulations for your first day of fun at the Freddy Fazbear's Mega Pizzaplex! To celebrate this momentous occasion, Fazbear Entertainment is offering a once in a lifetime opportunity to return with a free VIP membership! (Note that said membership only applies for the dates provided). We hope to see your swift return to enjoy another day of fun at the Freddy Fazbear's Mega Pizzaplex mall!"
"Sincerely, Fazbear Entertainment Inc."
Below the email is an activation link for the VIP pass, along with an image specifying the dates the VIP membership applies for, one of which, happens to be on your day off tomorrow.
You never knew the company did free membership stuff like this, especially since so much there seemed to be so expensive. Then again, it's a nice way to keep customers coming back, since there's more to buy than just the entry fees at the mall.
And yet, you're hesitant to go back to a place you almost died in.
Your brows furrow at the email for a moment. This isn't much of a decision.
You swipe delete.
You place your phone back down on the couch beside you, returning your attention to the show in front of you, which is still going through the boring part of the filler episode. You get comfortable.
This is what you mostly do with your time: Sit on the couch and watch tv. Either that or go to work. Your family is busy, your friends are busy and/ or far away, and you're all out of materials for your hobbies. Something that can't be fixed easily due to your minimum wage income. For going somewhere like the Pizzaplex, it was a miracle you even got to go once, let alone getting to go twice to such a lively experience. A place like that is expensive.
You never get to leave the house anymore.
. . .
You look back to your phone.