Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Michael was not too happy about the new shipment of animatronics coming in that night. 

He had always hated Circus Baby and the gang, and he doubted he’d like the new piles of scrap metal either. And since he’d already finished his tasks, he had nothing better to do than to sit in the break room and wait out the rest of the night.

He walked carefully through the Circus Gallery, as not to disturb the already activated Circus Baby, and gently opened the break room door…

“Hey there! You must be Michael! My name’s Protagonist… I don’t really have an official name. But maybe one day I will!” Protagonist reached out his hand to Michael, who shook it. 

“Are you supposed to be here?” Michael asked.

”Oh, of course! I’m here to keep the Playtime, Co. animatronics in check. And I think the Abstraction Inc. ones too!”

”Wow. HandUnit never told me about you.”

”He didn’t?” Protagonist looked nervous. Michael wondered if this was how he always acted or if he was just uncomfortable being here. 

And he has every right to feel that way, Michael thought. 

“Oops! My apologies for forgetting! This is Protagonist, a new employee at Circus Baby’s Pizza World. He will be your new coworker!” HandUnit chimed in. Michael sighed. He wasn’t used to working with other people and didn’t really want to change that. But Protagonist looked really excited to be working with him, so he decided he’d give it a try.

And that night marked the moment his life became crazier than a drunk HandUnit.

(You don’t wanna know what HandUnit is like when he’s drunk…)

Chapter Text

The casual conversation Michael and Protagonist were having was broken by the deafening sound of the conveyor belt. Michael sighed.

”They’re here.”

Michael stood up and lead Protagonist to the parts and service room, where the new murderers could be unloaded. He untied the metal boxes holding them and then lifted them off of their stands… One by one…

Unfortunately for him, there were two 11 foot tall ones that were too heavy for both him and Protagonist, so they left them in their boxes and focused on the smaller ones.

”Are you sure this one isn’t a companion animatronic?” Michael asked, pointing to a 3”6 box holding a robot in a blue gown with red curly pigtails.

”What do you mean by that?”

”You know, like the minireenas or something?”

”Not at all! I know that one. It’s name is Poppy. She’s a good one to start off with, since she’s one of the… calmer… robots.”

”Okay.” Michael said, gently lifting the small electronic out of its box. He then proceeded to complete the tasks for activation. Open face plates, press secret buttons in them to open the chest cavity, and press the on switch in the power module. Protagonist watched, slowly figuring out how to activate one himself. It was company protocol that all robots were to be initially activated in the same way, so he wouldn’t have any trouble with the others… hopefully.

Poppy slowly opened her eyes, staring at Michael and Protagonist in confusion. 

“Hi! I’m Poppy!” She piped up, looking Michael dead in the eyes as she said it. Michael internally groaned, knowing this could only end badly.

But as he glanced closer at her facial expressions, it was clear she wasn’t actually intending to hurt them. He couldn’t believe it. She was genuinely just trying to be nice.

”Well, she’s better than I thought.” Michael said.

”Aren’t they all supposed to be like that? Do others give you a hard time?” Protagonist asked.

”Ha! You wouldn’t believe the crap the original cast put me through! Just be glad you didn’t have to experience that painful week.”

”Wow. Now I’m scared to help do maintenance on them.”

”As you should be…” A soft, ominous female voice said. Protagonist, Michael, and Poppy turned toward the source of the sound to find a tall red haired girl in a crop top and a skirt. It was Circus Baby.

”Err… Who are you?” Poppy said awkwardly.

Circus Baby giggled. “No one told you? How strange. I’m Circus Baby. Now you tell me, who are you.”

”I’m Poppy!”

”And what are you here for?”

”Uhhh… I’m an entertainment animatronic?”

Circus Baby’s robotic eyes widened. “MICHAEL!!! YOU NEVER TOLD ME THAT THERE WERE GONNA BE NEW FRIENDS COMING OVER!!! I CAN’T WAIT TO TELL BALLORA ALL ABOUT THIS!” 

The crazed metal girl skipped away and crawled into the vent, which left Poppy very confused.

”What was that?” She asked, turning to Protagonist. 

“I have absolutely no idea.”

”Just Circus Baby being Circus Baby.” Michael sighed. “Let’s get this one next, I’ve never worked with Abstraction Inc. hardware before.”

”Excuse me, sir? Is there any place that I should go to right now?” Poppy asked.

”I’m sure you and Ballora would get along. How about you head to her room, it’s just through that vent.” Michael pointed to a barely visible vent. “It’s pretty awkward to crawl through them at first, but it’s the only way to get from room to room around here, so you get used to it.”

With Poppy gone, Michael could open the next box. The robot he found inside was around 7 feet tall, and was dual colored. One side of her was blue and the other was yellow. She wore a gray shirt with black suspenders and a black skirt. To top it all off, she had two mismatched socks, one being thigh high and the other being a regular short sock. To be honest, everything about her was asymmetrical. 

“This one is definitely going to be interesting…” Michael said. He went to go charge his flashlight for a while, as it was getting dark, and got his phone to use as a flashlight instead. But while he was doing that, Protagonist secretly activated the animatronic himself, and then hid so it would surprise him.

The robot gently tapped Michael on the shoulder and he spun around.

”Salutations, sir! Could you please inform me on where I’m currently located?”

Protagonist was surprised from how masculine its voice sounded.

Michael screamed, causing the robot to recoil. Something weird happened when it did. It turned completely white, with dark blue eyes.

”PWEASE DON’T KIWW MEEE!!!” It whined in a more feminine voice. 

Michael, after taking a second or two to calm down, responded.

”Everything’s fine. You just scared me, that’s all.”

The robot switched back to its usual form, smiling again. 

“My sincerest apologies, sir. I did not mean to disturb you.”

This one is kinda weird… Michael thought. But then, a more important thought came to him…

”Did you… Did you activate yourself?”

”I don’t understand what you mean. Could you perhaps clarify?”

”Okay, well I guess it wasn’t you. Then it had to be… CIRCUS BABY I SWEAR IF YOU-“

”Fine! It was me, silly! And now I have the perfect content to put on my YouTube channel!” Protagonist exclaimed, revealing himself from the shadows. 

“Wait… You didn’t record my scream, did y-“

”It’s too late now, Michael! I’ve done it! Now everyone knows you yell like a little-“

All the commotion was making the Picasso looking animatronic overwhelmed. “WHEWE AM I?!” She screamed.

”What is all this racke- wait. ANOTHER FRIEND?! YESSSSSSS!!!” Circus Baby, who had decided to re-enter the room while everything was going on, was ecstatic. “And what’s your name?”

“I’m ENA…” The robot said, calming down from her recent reaction. Her face slowly turned back to normal.

”Nice name! I’m Circus Baby, you know, the ringmaster here!” She giggled at her own pun. “It’s all so overwhelming at first, isn’t it?” She wrapped an arm around ENA, who shuddered and leaned out of her embrace. Circus Baby acted completely oblivious to the response. “But don’t worry, it gets better with experience. You just have to be able to handle children crawling on you every now and then.”

“Oh man, that’s gonna suck for her. She’s allergic to people.” An unknown robot said. She had silky black hair, ripped black jeans, off-white skin, and a dark grey shirt.

ENA looked at the robot for a moment, and then her eyes widened.

”MOONY!!!!!!” She shouted, running up to her and embracing her.

”Hey, uhh, you’re kinda crushing me here buddy…” Moony said.

”How do you guys know each other? Weren’t you activated just five minutes ago?” Circus Baby asked, a little off put from Moony’s sassy attitude. 

“Test runs, of course! We were on a test run to see which entertainment companies we would be the most fit for, and we became acquainted there! It seems as if we both got the same result!!!” ENA explained.

She looked… more than happy. Her whole self had become yellow. She looked kinda like a minion, not gonna lie.

”Why, isn’t that sweet! I’ll just leave you two alone then…” Circus Baby said, making a lennie face and walking back through the vents. 

Wow, I never expected Baby to be the shipper type, but okay… Michael thought.

They got back to activating the rest of the animatronics without another word.

Chapter Text

A weird pink dolphin, a Russian cat lady, two tall furry people (Michael had no idea what to call them), a dinosaur, and two adorable cat companion animatronics later, the two could finally sit down and have some peace and quiet.

Or so they thought.

Michael probably should have expected that Circus Baby would bring the whole gang, even the dreaded Ennard, to meet the new "friends". There was too much noise to relax, and when there wasn't, it was ominous and unnerving. He could never feel safe and/or comfortable here.

"I guess the term " Circus Baby and the Gang" is kinda fitting, considering they can act rather gang-like." Michael joked. Protagonist giggled in response.

"They sure do seem to be ganging up on the newbies, don't you think?" Protagonist added.

"You're telling me. Almost two weeks with them and I'm already near insane."

"I guess I would kind of understand. I've been working at Playtime Co. around 5 years, and the machinery is super annoying." Protagonist said.

"Heh, I'd take the machinery any day over these guys." Michael responded.

Meanwhile, In Circus Gallery...

"Okay everyone! As the founder of the Funtime Gang-"

"Wasn't the founder technically Mr. Afton?" Funtime Foxy cut Circus Baby off.

"You have a point. But since he isn't here, I'll fill in." Circus Baby replied.

"But I should! I've been here the longest!!!!" Ennard complained.

"Ennard, could you please just let me have this one thing in life?!"

"Okay fine."

"As I was saying, I feel as if it is my responsibility to introduce you to our new friends!"

"Well, I guess you can kick that feeling aside, 'cause it's not." Moony said.

Circus Baby just cast her a salty glare and continued. "New people, I'd like to introduce you to my friends! Guys, care to tell them some things about you?"

"My name is Funtime Freddy, and this is my friend BonBon!" Funtime Freddy piped up.

"Hi!" BonBon chimed in.

"I'm Lolbit, and I like partying and chatting with friends, LOL!" Lolbit said, giggling after her sentence. Circus Baby smiled, as if very proud of her friend group so far. Moony, however, stared at her like she was manic.

"My name is Ballora, and one of my favorite hobbies is dancing. Specifically ballet, but I am trained in many other styles as well." Ballora explained, topping it off with a polite bow.

"I'm Funtime Foxy, and I love just being around people! My bestie is Lolbit, and my biggest moral value in life is sharing!" Funtime Foxy exclaimed. She and Ballora seemed like the most sane in the gang.

"I'm Ennard, and I like playing pranks on people! But I can also go to extreme extents if paid enough for it..." Ennard said mysteriously.

"They're awesome, right? I'm Circus Baby, and I love singing, dancing, and entertaining people!" Circus Baby said.

"Did you perhaps forget about ice cream?" Ballora asked.

"Uhmmm..." Circus Baby looked highly uncomfortable, as if it were a rather sensitive topic for her. (Cause, ya know, her backstory and all...)

"Never mind that, then. How about you all introduce yourselves. It's quite a pleasure to see new faces around here." Ballora said, changing the subject.

"I'm Poppy, and I like looking my best! I also like to talk to people! Conversations are always really fun!" Poppy exclaimed.

"I'm Huggy Wuggy, and my favorite thing in the world is my wife, Kissy Missy!" Huggy Wuggy said, giving his wife a kiss on the cheek.

"Aww, I love you too!" Kissy Missy said back.

"Well I'm Bron, and I like working out and watching documentaries." Bron explained.

"And you two?" Ballora looked over at Cat-Bee and Candy Cat. They meowed in response.

"Well then, what about you?" Ballora nodded in Moony and ENA's direction. "I've never met any Abstraction Inc. robots before."

"Oh, uh, yeah. I'm Moony." Moony said.

"Any hobbies or interests?" Ballora asked.

"Nah."

"Are... Are you certain?"

Moony just shrugged in response, obviously not feeling up for any conversation. Much unlike Circus Baby, Ballora didn’t seem to mind all that much. She just moved on.

"Okay then. How about you?" Ballora pointed towards ENA, who had been quietly hiding behind Moony ever since Circus Baby had been talking (there was something about her that caused her discomfort, but she couldn’t seem to figure out what). "You seem rather shy. I apologize if I am causing you discomfort."

ENA decided Ballora was someone she could trust, and slowly  stepped forward. "Hello, Ballora. I'm ENA, and I enjoy going on adventures with my dearest Moony!"

Ballora smiled. "That's lovely. You two seem quite interesting.”

Meanwhile, Circus Baby was internally squeaking, because despite her disliking Moony, she thought they made a cute couple (which is probably out of character for her but I just think it’d be so funny… I’m probably projecting…)

“Anyone I missed? Oh!" Ballora noticed Shepherd and Phindoll standing quietly in a corner (well, Phindoll floating, I guess he floats on a string like Sun and Moon cause I wouldn't know any other way.)

"You two, tell me a bit about yourselves."

"Hey there! The name's Phindoll! Don't wear it out! I like telling awesome jokes and pretending to flirt with people!" Phindoll piped up. He was much more high energy than Ballora was expecting, but she enjoyed his input nonetheless.

"My name is Shepherd. Very few things seem to please me, which makes me wonder why I was brought here in the first place. But one thing I enjoy is turrons. They must be made correctly, however, or whoever prepared them will suffer by my wrath." Shepherd said. She had a strong Russian accent, which Ballora found quite pleasant to listen to (not in a simpy way).

"You all are quite amazing. It will be a pleasure to entertain the children with you next week." Ballora said, bowing, and Circus Baby looked like she could barely contain her excitement.

ENA did the animatronic equivalent of a gulp. She had only three days (It was a Thursday, and due to the shipment of animatronics, the pizzeria was going to be closed on Friday because of a “company holiday”.) to prepare for her first time on the stage, and if she messed it up enough, she could potentially be scooped…

"Okay everyone. It's time to go into sleep mode. You have a big day of testing and cleaning tomorrow night, and you'll need to save up all the electricity you can get." HandUnit said. But ENA could barely hear his words over the jumbled mess of worried voices in her mind.

Chapter Text

“Huh. Looks like ENA has better things to do. Hey, let’s zap her, that should be fun.” HandUnit said. He’d decided to switch to his angsty teen setting after a failed attempt from Protagonist to change his voice to that of Nikocado Avocado.

Michael reluctantly clicked the red button.

”CHEESE AND RICE, HANDUNIT!!!” ENA screamed. There was an audible thud as she jumped up in surprise and fell to the floor.

When the two guards checked the light again, they could see her slowly standing up, covering her ears (do animatronics even have ears?) in pain.

”It’s my least favorite task, but it has to be done. If I don’t, the company will dock my paycheck, and then I won’t be able to pay the bills.” Michael sighed. Being a night guard wasn’t the most glamorous occupation, but he got the job, it kept his life stabilized (financially, at least), and therefore he wanted to keep it for as long as possible.

“I feel bad for her…” Protagonist said.

”Don’t. She’s just a robot, she can’t really feel anything.” Michael said, waving it off as if to not let it bother him.

”Dude, haven’t you seen what they did? I don’t think AI could hold meetings to introduce themselves to other AI. Not in the way they did, at least. And from what you said about your previous week here-“

”Don’t let it concern you. It’s something you learn as an employee here. Even if they can feel, it’s important to act like you think they can’t. Circus Baby has said multiple things, most of which I think are unimportant, but if there’s one phrase of hers that you should follow, it’s the only thing that matters here is how to pretend…” Michael replied.

”Wow. You see? No AI could come up with that! They’re totally conscious!” Protagonist said.

”Well I don’t believe you. Let’s just get back to doing our tasks.”

One at a time, they crawled through the vents to the other rooms and shocked the animatronics awake. The originals had become accustomed to the pain, but the new ones screamed, yelped, and slandered the guards. That got a good laugh out of Michael.

”Good job, or whatever. Now it’s time to experiment on them I guess.” The angsty HandUnit said. “Let’s load them onto the conveyor.”

Lucky for Michael, he didn’t have to carry them. They just walked onto the conveyor and let Michael and Protagonist secure them. Circus Baby knew what the tests were like, and they really weren’t that bad, just some joint inspection and wiping off any dust that might have accumulated during shipping. And there were machines that did the cleaning.

As for the new ones, most of them saw what the originals were doing and followed their lead, but Moony and Poppy stayed back. Protagonist raised an eyebrow.

”Why aren’t you guys going over there?” He asked, pointing to the conveyor belt.

”I don’t trust that thing.” Moony said, looking at the others with distaste.

Michael could almost feel Circus Baby’s returning glare. Seemed like they wouldn’t be the best of friends.

”Why not?” Protagonist asked.

”There’s literally mold growing on it! I am NOT going to smell that.”

“Ugh, then let’s just carry her onto there.” Michael said, tired of the conversation.

”No, she has a point. Has this ever been cleaned?” Protagonist asked.

”Not that I know of…”

”Well than what’s the point of cleaning these animatronics if they’re just going to go back to a dusty and grimy environment?” Protagonist pulled out his phone. “I’m going to talk to the higher ups about this and see if there’s something we can do about it. But for now, you’re just going to have to deal with it.”

”Fine.” Moony replied, reluctantly walking over to the conveyor and trying to keep as much of a distance from Circus Baby as possible.

“What about you?” Michael asked, turning to the short robot in front of him.

”I don’t think I’m tall enough for the securing straps.” Poppy explained.

”That makes sense. But we do have straps for smaller animatronics, so there’s nothing to be concerned about.”

”Okay then.” Poppy made her way to the belt and took the space right in between Phindoll and Shepherd.

”Hi kiddo!” Phindoll exclaimed. 

“I’m actually… am I even a kid? I wouldn’t know.” Poppy replied.

”I wouldn’t know either, ahaha…” Phindoll said, realizing the error of his ways.

“It’s time to be tested, guys. Good luck or… whatever.” Angsty Teen HandUnit said, and started the conveyor.

ENA nervously held onto Moony’s arm. She returned the gesture by using the other arm to embrace her. Circus Baby looked on the verge of squealing, which was very unusual for her.

Sensing her excitement, Moony shot her a cold glare to dispel it.

If Circus Baby had a tongue, she would have stuck it out. But she didn’t, so she settled for rolling her eyes instead.

”You two, quit acting like imbeciles!” Shepherd snapped. Circus Baby stopped, but Moony just looked her dead in the eyes and shrugged. 

When they reached the testing room, Michael looked to the angsty HandUnit for assistance. He had never tested animatronics before, so he needed to know where the equipment was located.

“What things do I need and where are they?” Michael said to the keypad in an oddly threatening manner.

”Jeez, it’s in the safe in the right corner!!!” The HandUnit said, terrified of the exhausted security guard.

Michael noticed the lock on the safe, and realized he didn’t know the code. But trying to converse with the edgy AI was aggravating, and he didn’t want to lose his cool, so he decided he’d try using the code Circus Baby gave him during his fifth night at his job. 

Mercifully, it worked.

Michael took a deep breath, and everyone braced themselves for the tests that would determine whether they would make it in the children’s entertainment industry…

Chapter Text

First was the motor test, which involved a control pad and a Bluetooth device that Michael had to insert into a small input on the robots’ backs. Circus Baby kept resisting, making her motors click and grind in protest.

”Ugh! Why can’t you just be nice to me for once!!!” Michael whined. He knew that would only give her petty satisfaction, but he also knew it could make her feel a small amount of sympathy for him.

”No thank you.” Circus Baby said, as if it were an offer. It didn’t seem like she was in a very merciful mood today.

“If you don’t, I’ll rip your kneecap joints out.”

”And then you will be fired.”

”So? I hated this job anyways.”

Circus Baby noticed that Michael wasn’t joking, and finally stopped messing with him.

When Michael was finished, he felt relieved. The most difficult animatronic was finally over with. Next, he moved on to Funtime Freddy.

He started the motor test, and Freddy did the same thing Baby did.

”Are you fricking kidding me?!” Michael nearly shouted.

”It’s not me, it’s BonBon!” Freddy replied in his own defense.

”Yeah! You forgot to remove me and do our tests separate! It’s protocol!” BonBon squeaked.

”Oh…”

“Maybe you should just leave the motor tests to me…” Protagonist said.

”But you’re only on your second-“

”I think I know how to press buttons on a keypad, Michael. Now you take a break, since you’re obviously too peeved to do this.”

Michael sighed. As much as he wanted to do everything by himself, he knew Protagonist was right. Not to mention that nightguarding was Protagonist’s job, too. So he took a seat and watched.

And for some reason, the animatronics decided to be nice to him, but not Michael! Because obviously Michael wasn’t worthy of their kindness… He didn’t know why he was so jealous, but he was. Except the anger wasn’t directed towards Protagonist, it was directed towards the robots.

ENA seemed terrified of what was going to happen to her, and she went completely pale when Protagonist connected the keypad to her.

”It’s going to be okay, trust me.” Protagonist said.

As if to confirm his words, Ballora walked over to ENA and put a hand on her back.

”Do not be afraid, child. It’s completely harmless.” She whispered softly. A small amount of color returned to her face.

After the first few motors had been tested, the color completely returned. It was no different than one of those reflex tests where a doctor would tap your knee with a hammer thing (I forgot what they’re called).

Once she was finished, it was time to move on to Shepherd. She didn’t put up a fight, but she glared at him menacingly (never breaking eye contact) throughout the whole thing.

Protagonist, slightly unsettled by Shepherd, got that test over quickly and moved on to Phindoll, who would say “WOAH I’M TOTALLY POSSESSED!!!” every time he clicked a button.

Huggy Wuggy and Kissy Missy complied without any complaint. They were probably Protagonist’s favorites. 

Just as they were finishing the final test, which was for Poppy, they heard an all too familiar voice…

“Motion trigger, entryway vent.”

Chapter Text

The clanking grew louder and louder until the intruder was right outside... Michael took a deep breath and prepared himself for a fight. 

"Uhhh... We've got a new friend or something?" Protagonist was trying to be lighthearted about it, but Michael could tell he was absolutely terrified.

Circus Baby face palmed, annoyed, and Ballora sighed. She stepped in front of ENA to protect her, but was stopped by Moony, who was also in the process of stepping in front of ENA to protect her. They settled on standing side-by-side in defensive stances, sharing the space in front of her. She sat there, confused for a second, then scared, then preparing for the fight herself.

Huggy Wuggy and Kissy Missy just stood there smiling, because they didn't need to look intimidating to throw someone off a roof. Meanwhile, Phindoll was scared half to death, or the robot equivalent.

Shepherd just shot a cold glare and gripped her staff tightly. Poppy held onto a small piece of glass and blankly stared at the vent. 

What emerged from it was a purple man. Aside from his abnormal skin color, he looked pretty average. Business suit, brown hair, and brown eyes were also parts of his appearance, but those were easily overlooked. The scary part was that he looked surprisingly similar to Michael.

Without warning, Poppy threw the piece of glass with uncanny precision, aimed straight for the man's neck. He narrowly missed it by jumping to the side.

"WHAT THE HECK?!?!?!" The man screamed. It took him a few seconds to regain his composure, but even when he did, he tried to keep a distance from Poppy. Ballora, as if responding to his fear, gracefully twirled over to her and handed her another glass shard.

"Babe, please! I'm a changed man!" He pleaded. Poppy raised an eyebrow and Huggy Wuggy and Kissy Missy were quick to help out. They walked right in front of the two and gave the intruder condescending glares.

"Ew, get away from her you creep!" Huggy yelled.

"We would never allow her to be with someone like you! She has standards!!!" Kissy Missy shouted.

"Guys, it isn't Poppy, it's Ballora." Michael grunted. He'd had a fair share of encounters with this man before. "Afton, just give up already. She doesn't love you anymore. Find a new lover."

"B-but-"

"Michael is right. Why would I ever get back together with you when you killed children and then shoved me in this animatronic when I figured out." Ballora agreed. The man frowned, depressed, but kept trying.

"But we could adopt children and live a life together again! I could make you a robot that looks so real that people won't tell the difference! You could escape!"

"William, no. I already have a lovely daughter right here." She twirled back to ENA. "And don't you think about killing her, too. Don't you realize the havoc you've created? I am ashamed to be associated with someone like you." She hissed. William flinched.

Shepherd rolled her eyes. She wasn't here for some stupid relationship drama, so she walked out. Phindoll, on the other hand, got some exotic butters and popcorn and sat down. He loved that kinda stuff.

Meanwhile, Moony fidgeted uncomfortably. She hadn't known about Ballora adopting ENA, and was worried that she would have to impress Ballora before-

Wait, it's not like we're dating or anything! But... I kinda wish-STOP BEING WEIRD MOONY NOW IS NOT THE TIME!!!

"But I... I love you... Please give me another chance..." William started lightly sobbing, which made ENA concerned for him.

"Don't worry, child. He's not worth your sympathy." Ballora whispered to her.

Despite her words, ENA slowly walked over to the purple man and gently patted him on the back. "I hope things get better for you soon. I don't know about mom, but maybe you'll find another person just as amazing..."

"That's not possible... She's the only one I could ever-"

"Elizabeth says for you to chill out." Circus Baby piped up. William stared at her.

"My... My daughter?"

"Yes. She also says she prefers Freddy over me now because of you and your stupid robotic claw obsession."

"What do you mea- Oh. Oh yeah. That incident. Well, if you can communicate with her, tell her I still care about her and hope all is going well in the afterlife..."

"She's not in the afterlife. This place is haunted by her, you idiot."

"Oh yeah... Forgot about that one too."

"And I thought there was one person who wouldn't compare me to Freddy, and you took that away too. Get out of my facility."

"But I built y-"

"GET OUT NOOB! YOU'LL NEVER HAVE ENOUGH ROBUX!" She yelled in a spot on Flamingo impression.

William slumped his head down and walked out gloomily. Just before he crawled into the vent, he said "The test logs have already been recorded. You can enjoy your free night off, guards. And Ballora, if you ever want to start over, I can-"

"I think that's enough talking for tonight."

The robots went into sleeping mode without another word. Normally, Michael would be happy and rekaxed, but he started to realize just how melancholy the pizzeria was without the annoying and dangerous scenes Circus Baby and the gang caused.

Chapter Text

Michael walked through the vent to the control room, with Protagonist trailing right behind him. All had gone well that night, and he only had one hour left of work in the pizza-themed hell that was Circus Baby’s Pizza World. Maybe he could survive one night without insanity? 

“Heh. Wishful thoughts. Shouldn’t get my hopes up.” Michael mumbled. 

“What are you talking about?” Protagonist asked.

“Your mom.” Michael replied.

Circus Baby was super excited. It had been nearly five years since she’d last entertained a child. Hmmm, her favorite customer was around seven when she last saw her…

Wow, she’d be twelve now!!!” Circus Baby thought, her eyes widening in surprise. A strange, static whimpering coming from the corner snapped her out of her very Facebook mom esque moment.

She skipped over to the corner, making a loud metallic clanking noise every time her feet collided with the ground. That was sure to annoy Michael, Circus Baby thought, relishing what she thought would be his reaction in her mind. When she reached her destination, she found ENA on the ground, white with dark blue eyes, crying very static tears.

“What’s wrong bestie?” 

“I can’t do iiiitttt!!!!! They’we aww gonna hate me and it’s going to be the most humiwiating moment of my lwiiiffeeee!” 

“The heck?” Circus Baby asked, confused. She didn’t understand, until she realized what today was yet again. “No way! The kids love quirky characters! It’s the only way they’d put up with Funtime Freddy anyways!!!”

An audible “WHAT’S YOUR PROBLEM?!” could be heard from the breaker room.

“B-but I’m INSUFFEWABWEEE!!!” ENA wailed.

“No, not really. You know who is insufferable, though?” She paused for a moment to do the animatronic equivalent of a smirk. “Michael.”

Just as she said his name, he mysteriously appeared behind her (a.k.a he managed to crawl through the vent without ENA or Circus Baby knowing). 

“Sure I am.” Michael said sarcastically, making Circus Baby turn around faster than Sonic could say “fast”. ENA continued sobbing.

“What’s her issue?” Michael asked.

“Your mom.” Circus Baby replied. He glared at her.

“ENA, what’s wrong?” Michael asked.

“Y… youw mom.” She whimpered, giving him a sad look.

Michael facepalmed. “Okay, don’t wanna tell me, and you’ll get a controlled shock.”

“You can’t do that!” Circus Baby shouted. “That’s against company policy!”

“Ha! You think the company cares at this point?! They make me crawl through vents just to get around!”

“Fair point. But that won’t be happening on my watch.”

“Or what?”

“I’ll set HandUnit’s voicebank to angsty teen.”

Michael, knowing the horrid impact this would have on his career experience, thought better of it.

“Fine. You win. But you need to get over it quick, ENA. The kids are gonna be really concerned if you don’t, and you’re here to entertain them, not depress them.”

Michael’s response only made ENA even more terrified, and she began to hyperventilate.

“WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING TO HER?!” An enraged voice yelled. 

“TRYING TO FIND OUT WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED TO HER!” Michael replied. 

A very salty-looking Moony emerged from the shadows of Circus Gallery. And when the author says “salty”, she means “salty”. She looked about ready to scoop someone.

“Ugh, get away from me, whoever you are.” Moony said, shoving Michael aside, leaving him highly annoyed. Protagonist had decided to enter the room that very moment, and rushed over to help him.

“And same goes with you, metalhead.” She shot a menacing glare at Circus Baby, who returned it with a nearly identical one. 

“Hypocrite.”

ENA looked up. They both noticed she seemed to be back to normal, but she wore an annoyed expression.

“Why do you two seem to hate each other so much?” ENA asked.

“Duh. Because she’s a controlling narcissist.” Moony replied, pointing at Circus Baby with a disgusted look on her face.

“I’m a narcissist?! Says the apathetic people-hater who has absolutely no regard for anyone else’s feelings!!!” Circus Baby near-shouted. ENA just let them yell at each other for the next five minutes, then got to the point.

“You know, you two aren’t all that different. I think you should put your differences aside and-“

“You see? You’d make a perfect entertainer! You’re a fun-loving person with a completely intact moral compass!” Circus Baby piped up. 

“That is not what I am trying to get at, my friend-“

“You see, she even has manners! Unlike a certain someone I know…” Circus Baby interrupted, shooting yet another glare at Moony. Moony nearly retaliated, but decided it wasn’t worth it. Instead, she shrugged and walked toward ENA, sat down next to her, and wrapped an arm around her.

“Look, if she did anything to hurt you, just let me know. I’ll rip her to shreds so badly I’ll make the scooper look like a plastic spoon.” 

“Like you could do that! Imagine how many kids would be heartbroken!!!” Circus Baby yelled in the distance. ENA, however, facepalmed. The threat wasn’t completely empty, but Moony definitely wouldn’t go that far. Either way, ENA was very tired of their arguing, and had almost forgotten she had fifteen minutes left until…

Oh no.

“Oh, look at the time! We’re almost open!!!” Circus Baby squealed, jumping up and down, and most definitely creating a scene (as if the arguing didn’t already create one).

ENA started hyperventilating (or the animatronic equivalent of it) again. Moony ran her fingers through her hair soothingly and glared at Circus Baby, who was making a lennie face.

“Alright, you annoying piles of scrap.” Michael said. Circus Baby considered raising a certain finger at him for a moment, then thought better of it. “Time to get to your stages. I’ve seen the media. The kids are hyped for the Funtime Gang, the adults are hyped for getting kids out of their hair, and the teenagers are hyped because of the urban legends about you killing a child, Circus Baby. Which are technically true.”

Circus Baby hid her face in her hands, embarrassed. ENA looked somehow even more horrified, and Moony looked dead inside.

“Well, what are you waiting for?” Michael said.

 “Since the new animatronics don’t have designated spots set up yet, Iguess ENA and Moony can stand next to each other.”

He heard an excited squeak come from Circus Baby, but didn’t pay it any attention. There were ten minutes before the pizzeria opened, and he was the one forced to get it ready.

Well, along with Protagonist. But seeing by the fact that he was currently being mesmerized by a window curtain while all this drama was going on, Michael thought he was a little too easily distractible for this task.

“Protagonist, we have to finish setting the tables, remember?”

“Okaaaay.” Protagonist said. Then, petting the curtain as if it were a dog, he whispered “Farewell, sweet curtain…”

The curtain looked sad as they walked away…

Chapter Text

1. Moony made at least half a billion adult jokes that totally flew over the kids' (and ENA's) heads, much to the teenagers' delight.

2. Ballora talked about the importance of eating healthy while simultaneously doing a mukbang.

3. Circus Baby burnt a turron right in front of Shepherd.

4. Shepherd then proceeded to nearly shove Circus Baby herself in the oven.

5. Funtime Freddy tried doing a bunch of accents for the kids, and they were all awesome.

6. Phindoll overheard Lolbit ranting about how much she hated foxy (original, not Funtime. She's jealous of how famous he is.)

7. ENA didn't have a mental breakdown (thank amogus for that one). 

8. Huggy Wuggy tripped over Candy Cat, and they learned that she could talk when she nearly said the F word and just barely stopped herself in time.

9. Ennard was sad and sitting in the scooper room, because he was too scary to perform in front of the kids. But Candy Cat came and visited him, and gave him a chocolate bar, which he somehow ate and enjoyed.

10. Funtime Foxy was forced against her will to do tiktok dances after she lost a bet with BonBon (who had freed himself from Funtime Freddy's arm).

Chapter Text

Hey guys! First of all, I wanted to thank you all for reading this fanfiction. I never thought it would become my most popular fanfic, but I’m so glad it did! 

Unfortunately, I got burnout after a while and stopped updating it, but I’m proud to say that I’m rebooting it!

 Some Changes That Will Be Made:

- Story will be available on Wattpad as well as AO3

- A fancomic might be in the works

- An Instagram hashtag will be made for the fanfic (for fanart and other stuff if y’all want. I just thought it’d be cool to be honest.)

- I’m thinking about removing a few characters that didn’t play too much of a role in the plot (the ones that barely had any spotlight anyways. And none of the original SL characters will be removed because it’s set in the SL universe.)

Thank you all again for reading and supporting the creation of this fanfiction!