Title: Metal Guardians

Summary: A young man, desperate for money, takes a low-paying job as a night time security guard at a family pizzeria. What he thinks will be an easy job turns out to be a struggle for survival when he realizes the robotic mascots seem to have a mind of their own, with a history of attacking the night watchmen. But he soon discovers there may very well be more to their motivations than simply mistaken identity.

Rating: T (for language and violence)

Disclaimer: The game "Five Nights at Freddy's" is property of Scott Cawthon. I make no profit from these writings.

Prologue

Mike Schmidt had thought the job would be fairly simple. A six hour shift keeping watch over a family pizzeria. Assuming all went well, and vandals didn't try to break in to cause any damage to the property, it was probably the easiest job one could ask for. The pay, however, was horrid, he had to admit. But his situation was a difficult one, and beggars couldn't be choosers when it came to paying the bills and putting food on the table. It was just a temporary thing. He was still looking through ads and checking in at local retail stores in search of better work, but until that happened, he had to settle for what he could get. He had already had the electricity cut off once. He didn't want to get behind on any other bills.

The interview was nothing special. He had showed up ten minutes early, clean shaven and wearing a nice red polo shirt, neatly tucked into a pair of khakis, hoping to make a good impression. The interview had barely lasted ten minutes before the manager of the eatery shook his hand, affirming he had the job.

"What about meal breaks? I don't actually clock out to eat, do I?"

"No, there isn't a scheduled break for this type of job, since you're the only one working the shift and don't have anyone to cover for you. You're more than welcome to bring a sandwich from home and eat it in the office while on duty if you'd like."

His first shift started Monday at twelve a.m. He had to admit it was going to take some getting used to with coming into work at twelve midnight and getting off at six in the morning. His entire sleeping schedule would have to be reversed.

"What time does the pizzeria actually close? I know I'm starting my shift at midnight, but the place doesn't actually close at that hour, does it?"

"Oh no, it closes at nine on the weekdays and ten on Fridays and Saturdays. Either me or my assistant manager will always help close up the place, make sure everything's ready for the next day. All the dishes have to be washed, carpets have to be vacuumed and the floors mopped. It's usually around fifteen till midnight that we finally wrap things up. But don't worry, me or my assistant Charlie will be waiting for you to come in before we lock the place up. Prep work usually starts at six thirty in the morning, but me or Charlie always come in at six to relieve security."

Mike wasn't completely unfamiliar with the pizzeria. It had been around for decades, and he had been a patron himself once. It was rather disheartening to see the place falling under hard times. But he knew the reasons for it. The stories, the rumors….they could kill a business in an instant. It had been several years ago that an employee of the restaurant (a daytime security guard) had lured two children into the back room, where they were brutally murdered, their bodies stuffed into the furry costumes the employees would occasionally wear while walking around the floor of the dining hall to entertain the children. Evidence had later revealed that the children had been sexually abused before being killed, leading detectives to suspect they were probably killed only because they had fought back. It was a horrendous crime, and it was made even more horrendous by the fact that some people took a sick pleasure in adding fuel to the fire. Rumors quickly spread about how more children had actually gone missing but were never found, leaving ignorant people to suspect a coverup on the part of the restaurant. This inspired some people to take it even further by claiming to have seen blood and mucus secreting from the eyes and mouthes of the animatronic characters, implying that the children's bodies had been stuffed inside them and left to rot.

"I'm….sure you've heard a lot of stories about this place…."

Mike had held up a hand before the manager could say another word. "Yes, I have, and I also have a brain and am more than capable of using it. I know how people are when it comes to shit like that. People love spreading rumors….and they'll believe anything they hear."

The manager had nodded his head solemnly in agreement. "It was just such a disgusting crime. How anyone could possibly get a thrill by trying to make it even worse….It just boggles the mind! The restaurant was under different management when the murders occurred, but the anger and accusations fell into my lap when I took over. Things have calmed over the years, yes, but…the damage is done. This place will be closing its doors at the end of the year."

"I'm sorry."

"It is what it is. Come on…I'll take you back to the office and show you how to check the cameras. Umm….listen, I should point out that the animatronic characters can occasionally act up a little during the night hours."

"Act up?"

ooooooo

Night One

"Oh, hello! Ugh, I wanted to record a message for you to help you get settled in on your first night…."

Mike had shown up at the restaurant just five minutes till midnight, meeting the manager, Phil at the front entrance of the restaurant as he was locking the doors. "Good luck," he had said to him, which wouldn't have been such a big deal, but the way he had said it had been very unsettling. He pondered it for only a brief moment before setting his concentration on the job ahead of him. He had went straight back to the office and sat his lunch bag down on the desk, hardly bothered by the silence of the restaurant. For some, the eeriness of a usually cheerful and energetic environment being deathly silent would have been too much, but Mike always favored silence.

"So just be aware, the characters do tend to wander a bit. Ugh, they're left in some kind of free roaming mode at night. Something about their servos locking up if they get turned off for too long. They used to be allowed to walk around during the day, too, but then there was the Bite of '87. Yeah…"

The newly employed security guard had been four hours into his shift when he had seen something quite literally out of place on one of the cameras.

"Now concerning your safety, the only risk to you as a night watchman here, if any, is the fact that these characters…if they happen to see you after hours, probably won't recognize you as a person."

The character closest to the camera had been the first to move. A few glances at all the cameras hadn't revealed anything at first, but he had eventually spotted the large, seven foot tall rabbit standing in the center of the dining area. It had stayed there for quite some time before eventually migrating into the east hall. The time could not have gone by any slower from that point on.

"They'll most likely see you as a metal endoskeleton without its costume on. Now since that's against the rules here at Freddy Fazbear's Pizza, they'll probably try to…forcefully stuff you inside a Freddy Fazbear suit."

Mike had kept a close watch on the cameras for the remainder of his shift. The two remaining characters still resumed their positions on stage, but the rabbit had continued roaming about through the pizzeria, until finally making an appearance in the darkened doorway of the office. Mike had reacted quickly, shutting the large metal door before the animatronic could enter the office. He had scoffed, almost laughing out loud as he remembered the manager saying the doors had been installed as a way of converting the office into a panic room in case of armed robbers entering the establishment. Oh, it was a panic room all right, but certainly not for robbers.

"Yeah, they don't tell you these things when you sign up."

Author's Note: I must be out of my mind. I got sucked into this fandom so hard, so fast….and I've never even played the freakin' game. I should point out that the animatronics aren't haunted in this story, as I really don't like the idea of them being haunted by the spirits of dead children. Some other details HAVE been changed, as you've already read, and if that bothers some people, I apologize. This idea has been swimming around in my head for about a week now, and I'm not so sure how well it's going to turn out. This story was originally going to be a one-shot, but I found myself wanting to go a little deeper with it. I can't picture this story being very long, probably no more than five chapters, if that. I've already started working on chapter 2, though I'm not sure when it'll be up.