The whole drive through city had been dreadful to say the least. The storm seemed to be intensifying by the minute, a steady shower turning into a torrential downpour making visibility less than a half-mile. And with his rusty worn-out car and slow wipers, that meant his travel had been reduced to a sluggish twenty miles under the already slow speed limit. It served him well though when he came across downed trees and wires, swiftly able to divert his travel to a different road without hydroplaning. The whole city looked like something out of a Hollywood movie, destruction here, destruction there. And there was no one around! The streets were completely barren of life. Luckily, though he arrived at the pizzeria with his.

Mike barreled through the front doors of the restaurant once he finally found the right key to unlock it, immediately shaking the water out of his drenched clothing like a dog. Of course there had to be no roofing over the front doors! Why would they want to keep their employees dry when they couldn't find the right key to get in?

"Are you dry now?" Chica remarked with a smirk.

Mike shot a glance up at her, surprised to see the chicken standing a few paces from him, leaned coolly against the partially-tiled wall. He quickly shook it off as he became aware of her question. "Not really," he answered dryly, pushing on to the next concern. "Now where's this thing you're so eager for me to see?"

The avian arched a brow at his curt question, "Someone's cranky, I see."

"Well, I didn't exactly plan on sailing through the Storm of the Century to get here on my night off." He made sure to emphasize the last part. Chica just rolled her eyes.

"Quit whining," she said. "Not like you were doing anything anyway." He never did anything when he was here, so why would it be any different at his home?

Mike just shook his head at the expected behavior of the animatronic, not bothering to provoke it further.

"Where're the others?" he asked, still shaking his soaked clothing.

"Freddy's Backstage with Bonnie, keeping an eye on the Thing, and Foxy's in his Cove."

"Does he know of this 'thing' yet?"

"Foxy? Yeah, he came out, touched it with his hook, and went back to his Cove."

Mike stared at her expectantly as he waited for her to continue. After a moment passed and she said nothing he asked: "That's it? He didn't, y'know, say anything about it?" Chica shrugged.

"I don't follow him around." She said defensively. "He probably feels the same way we do about it. Why does it matter? You're getting rid of the thing, aren't you?"

"It… look, just…" he waved it off dismissively and pushed past the chicken, entering the main room. He didn't have time to argue over such a trivial thing. Right now, he just wanted to get this stupid suit thing taken care of and get back to his nice warm bed. As he glanced around the party room, he was met with emptiness, but that was quickly put to rest when he heard the chattering of voices coming from Backstage.

Hurrying over, he pushed the thick black door open cautiously, spotting two tall animatronics towering over a hunched figure in the corner. He cleared his throat to inform them of his presence.

"This it?" he asked, sauntering up as the bear and bunny immediately whirled around to face him. Freddy was the first to speak.

"Ah, Michael! Good to see you!" he said. "And yes this is indeed the suit." He gestured for Bonnie to move out of the way so that the guard could see.

Mike took a hesitant step closer to the thing, observing the storm-weathered costume. It looked similar to Bonnie, except riddled with holes, likely from years of usage with little to no upkeep. And its color—a sickly yellowish green—showed hints of a once gold shine. And the smell! He could feel the odor, pungent and thick, coating his lungs with each breath, leaving a ball of filth at the base of his throat. He gagged, taking a warding step back. The animatronics had been right; this thing was not fit to perform. There were wires snaking out everywhere, not to mention exposed metal of the endoskeleton! This thing was a lawsuit waiting to happen.

"I can't believe they wanted something like this to be in the show!" Bonnie said, horrified. He could help the images that were swarming his head; children crying in terror at the sight of the nightmarish suit. If it scared him then it would no doubt terrify the children.

"Me either," Freddy concurred. "All I can say is that it's a good thing Michael's here to dispose of it."

The guard refrained from rolling his eyes, of course all the work was being shoved off onto him! But despite the animatronic's and even his own desires, he couldn't help but feel it was a bad idea. "Do you really think this is a good idea?" he asked, quickly continuing as he noticed their outraged expressions. "I mean, he's obviously here for a reason. I could get in serious trouble if they found out; fired even! I think we should talk to management about it first."

Freddy sighed, "I understand you're skeptical, Michael, but I simply cannot allow this hazard to remain here any longer."

"What if they're going to fix it up?" he offered. "This place has a mechanic, right?"

"But we'd have to wait 'til morning when our servos is locked up." Bonnie pointed out. "And if they just put him in the show like this, we won't be able to do anything about it." When he saw Mike's contemplative expression, he added: "Don't you care about the children?"

Mike blinked in surprise. "Wha—of course I do! It's just… we don't know what they're going to do with it yet. I don't want to jump the gun and do something that's gonna get me in serious trouble. I really need this job." He swallowed as Bonnie took a few steps toward him.

"We're not asking. You're going to do this." He growled, eyes glowing with anger.

Mike took a few steps back to distance himself from the angry bunny. "Jeez, okay, fine! I'll get rid of the stupid suit!" He felt violated by this use of intimation, but kept quiet in fear of what they might do to him should he argue any further.

Following the pleased look on both Bonnie and Freddy's faces he indignantly mumbled his way over to the decrepit figure, pausing only a second to retch at the putrid smell before trying to lift it. He quickly realized it wasn't light. He huffed and groaned as he put all his weight into the lifeless animatronic, managing only to push it over. He sighed, glancing over at the two observing animatronics.

"You're free to help here, y'know." He said gesturing to the suit.

Both animatronics took the clue and came to the guard's aid, easily lifting the suit upright and carrying it into the Dining Hall. Mike helped them carry it (kind of), offering a hand to balance the suit's uneven weight. His other hand was busy covering his nose, shielding it from the God-awful stench that radiated off the suit. There even came a point where he thought he was going to have to run to the bathroom and vomit, but the urge was stifled when they came upon the back door.

"What is it?" the guard asked impatiently as they came to a stop. Freddy spoke first.

"We can't go outside, Michael." He informed, staring almost fearfully at the thick door.

"And it's storming," Bonnie pointed out sharing the bear's apprehensive glare.

"Well how am I supposed to get this thing out there then? I can't even move it a few inches let alone through a door and outside!" He choked as he inhaled a rather copious amount of the rotten scent into his lungs, taking a few steps back from the costume. "Besides, I don't think I can take that, smell any longer."

Bonnie glanced between Mike and the suit, processor whirring in thought. "What smell?" he asked after a short moment. Even though he himself couldn't smell, he was still curious to know what the guard was experiencing. It was a part of their learning programming.

Mike just pointed at the yellow bunny in an averting gesture, "That thing!" he stated. "It reeks!"

"It does?" Bonnie stared at the thing quizzically, analyzing it from head to exposed endoskeleton toes as if the smell would change its appearance somehow. Mike nodded vehemently.

"Makes me want to puke." He said, voice falling weak just at the mentioning of the word. Bonnie's expression changed to one of concern.

"Are you going to be okay?" he asked, head tilting in worry. "There's a mat in the back if you need to lie down."

"Can you try to hold it until we take care of this suit?" Freddy asked. "I'd rather we didn't wait with this, and if it's really that bad of a smell, I don't want it permeating the restaurant."

"But Freddy, we can't have Mike getting sick!" The rabbit pleaded. He didn't like it when kids got sick, it made him feel bad, even though he could never experience the sensation himself. He could still tell they didn't like it by the tell-tale look of illness on their faces just before they would vomit, the way their smiles would fade and seem to never come back. It must've really hurt and that alone was enough to earn his sympathy.

Mike nodded at the bunny's statement, adding: "Besides, even if it didn't smell, there's still the weight problem."

Freddy considered this, metal paw gripping his chin in thought. "Perhaps you could wheel him out there," he suggested. Bonnie smiled in agreement with the idea, seeing no harm in it. Mike shook his head though.

"We don't have anything to wheel him out on." He pointed out. Suddenly an idea came to him: "What if you guys throw him out there?"

The two just stared confusedly at him, clearly not following.

He explained: "I'll hold the door open and you guys can just toss him out. You wouldn't even have to go outside! Just make sure you throw him far enough out there. If he lands too close to the door then we're gonna be stuck with that."

The animatronics exchanged a glance before shrugging. They quickly adjusted their girps on the suit's weight as Mike went to open the back door open.

The world outside was a cacophony of thunder and rain and whipping wind, instantly messing the guard's hair and tousling the table cloths and many wall hangings. He struggled a bit, throwing his entire upper-body weight into the door in order to keep it open wide enough for the animatronic to fit through. Upon a quick command from Mike, the two swiftly threw the suit to the hungry storm and the guard wrestled the door closed.

Mike blew air out through his lips, running a hand through his now-wet hair in a futile attempt to tame it. "The storm's gotten worse." He said grimly. "Guess I'm staying here 'til it calms a bit. Almost died getting here." With a yawn he plopped down into a chair to rest, not caring about his dripping clothes.

"That was some good thinking there, Michael." Freddy complimented. He smiled and patted the guard's shoulder. "Thank you for helping us. I believe there's a blanket in the back if you'd like to rest."

Mike shook his head instinctively, but couldn't help his eyelids drooping. Before he realized it, he was leaning back in the chair and his eyes were completely shut. He didn't even notice a few minutes later when a blanket was placed over him, ends tied firmly to the chair arms in order to stay up, and Bonnie whispered: "Sleep tight," into his ear. He was out, back in his dreams as he was an hour earlier. But even in his unconscious state, he could feel a strange, almost unsettling feeling in the pit of his stomach, almost as if something was staring at him. And it wasn't one of the others...

Author's Note: Left ya with a bit of foreboding, didn't I? Don't worry more'll come soon (along with Foxy). And I'm still working on responding to the reviews, so if I haven't gotten back to you yet, I will soon. In the meantime, let me know what you think of this story so far, like what you think is gonna happen, etc. It really helps!

See ya in the next one!