Last Day at Freddy's

Jaune sat at one of the tables, the party hat untouched before him. To his left was Pyrrha, to his right was Ren. Nora and Ruby had begged, literally begged, to come here on its closing day.

Here.

The place that had convinced Jaune he had what it took to become a Huntsman.

The place that still haunted his dreams.

The place where-

Nora jumped up from behind them. Jaune flinched. She draped her arms over him and Ren, a slice of pizza hanging out of her mouth. "Isn' dish grea' guyz! We're ad Freddy'z!"

She pushed away and went to celebrate with the other people who had showed up to the Closing Day Event.

Jaune's fist unclenched.

Yes.

Here.

Freddy Fazursa's Pizza.

Pyrrha, bless her wonderful soul, knew he was not happy. It wasn't Ren's 'I'm exhausted because Nora so I don't have the energy to be happy' not happy either.

At least team RWBY was having fun. Mostly. Yang and Ruby were partying with Nora and a bunch of children, Weiss was looking at the surroundings like they would give her a disease, and Blake simply read a book while nibbling on a slice of pizza.

He envied their ignorance.

"Jaune?" Pyrrha asked. He moved his head in her direction but didn't let his eyes wander. "Jaune you've been staring at the mascots since we got here. Are you ok?"

She placed her hand on his. He hadn't realized he was being obvious about his discomfort.

He tried to explain.

"Gut-wrenching terror."

Well. That came out wrong.

Pyrrha's eyes widened. "Do you need to go outside for a bit? Get some air?"

Jaune shook his head, but his eyes didn't stray. "I can't. I can't leave you all alone to face these things." It was almost closing time. They'd all be safe then.

Ren looked at Jaune for a long moment. Then he sighed deeply and mumbled. "We all have our problems I guess. Nora still has a deep hatred of clowns."

Pyrrha looked Jaune up and down. She had noticed the movements of his eyes were repeating a pattern.

His stare didn't leave Freddy and Friends for more than a few seconds, where they glanced to the out-of-order Pirate Cove. Then back to the stage.

She let her eyes follow his gaze to the front stage where the robots were singing.

Her own eyes narrowed. It was… creepy. It was like Freddy was staring back at Jaune rather than looking at the audience.

"Jaune, the robots are… strange, but why are you so nervous? What's wrong?" She prodded.

"I worked here. Nightshift. Security. Right before I… applied to Beacon. What happened here… gave me the confidence to be a Huntsman."

Pyrrha's eyes widened. "Wha-what? What could have happened here-" She gestured to the children playing. She gasped. "Was there a grimm attack?" She probed.

'He wasn't hurt was he?' She wondered.

"No, no. Not grimm. Them."

Ren chimed in, his head tilting in confusion. "The robots?"

"At night their programming goes crazy. They'll chase you, hunt you down. I'm… they killed the night guard before me."

Pyrrha gasped. Ren scoffed. "Jaune, there is no way those things killed someone. There are safeties and… stuff… that keeps them acting a certain way. They can't do anything but sing."

Jaune took a sip from his drink. He hadn't touched the pizza. "There are stories about this place. All bad. The Bite of '87. A customer came for a slice of pizza. The mascots gave him a slice of his brain."

Ren dropped his slice of pizza. Pyrrha's hand tightened.

"A few months after that a man wearing a Fazursa suit lured a couple of kids to a back room. The bodies were never found."

"Oh my god." Pyrrha gasped. Ren looked unsettled.

"On my fourth night here I got a recorded message from a guy who used to work here. Who had my job. Freddy interrupted halfway through. Bashed the door down."

Ren looked at the greasy pizza slice on his plate. "Ok… maybe I believe you."

"I think I'd feel much better if we all left now." Pyrrha pleaded. She didn't want anything to happen to her friends or to the families present.

"We should be fine. It's not midnight. I'm just being careful. This place closes forever in a few minutes. It's just… no matter how much I want to… I don't think I'll ever forget this place."

A voice came over the PA.

"Alright, everyone. It's closing time. We thank you all for coming on this very sad day. We thank you for your support, and hope you all hold the memories of Freddy Fazursa's tightly forever."

Jaune visibly twitched.

The three of them got up and picked up their belongings. Ruby was pouting and Nora was crying alongside a couple of kids. The pair was slowly dragged towards the exit by Yang, Weiss, and Blake.

"It wasn't all bad. If it hadn't been for this place, I would never have thought I might have what it takes to get through Beacon. And I learned some very valuable lessons."

Pyrrha looked at him dubiously. "What could you have learned from what you described?"

"I learned two things. One: How to survive while suffering a six hour psychotic episode."

Ren paused for a beat in his walk. "Well that's something I guess."

They were the last group out of the building. The sliding glass door closed behind the group. They heard the door motor whine and fade. Team RWBY and Nora walked back towards the car they had rented.

The trio stopped walking as they watched their friends. Jaune continued. "I also learned to be extremely aware of my surroundings."

Ren, still unsettled, tried to tease. "The Deathstalker den disagrees, I think."

Jaune raised a finger. "Point. Since then I have studied Deathstalker habits. Never again."

The three of them looked at the parking lot. The various families were ushering their kids into cars while Nora and Yang fought over the front passenger seat.

After a few moments Jaune spoke again. "But I'm right. Against an enemy I know I will never be blindsided. For example: Freddy's right behind us. Me specifically."

Ren raised an eyebrow. "Jaune that's ridiculous. The mascots are all locked doooowwwwwnnnn…."

Ren's eyes widened as he stared at the glass door. He jumped backwards and went into a combat stance.

Pyrrha shrieked and followed suit a moment later.

Jaune slowly turned around.

Sure enough Freddy Fazursa was there.

It was standing right behind Jaune, as close at it could without actually touching the sliding door.

It had been staring at the back of his head.

Up close and through unblemished glass, Jaune could truly see the terrible creature that still haunted him. Ren and Pyrrha moved to his sides and got a closer look.

Matted fur was stained red around the eyes and mouth. It looked like a grimy film covered it from head to foot. The worst part was its eyes. They were almost lifelike: dilated and bloodshot.

Pyrrha paled. The eyes were bloodshot.

Jaune spoke to the animatronic nightmare. "I'm sorry I couldn't save you, Phone Guy. But it's finally over. As for you…"

A pair of employees came over, picked up the motionless ursa in a top hat and carted it back to the stage.

"I'll see you in hell Fazursa."

AN: This was brought forth by discussion over on Spacebattles. The idea was about having Jaune survive horror games before he came to Beacon.