Chapter Text
Jimmy had woken up that day, bleary-eyed, to the sound of not his alarm clock, but the sound of his doorbell being pressed repeatedly. Groaning, he passed a glance towards the time on his phone. 11:02. Shooting up, he inwardly kicked himself for probably sleeping through his alarm again, but quickly remembering he took the day off for his birthday. He sighed in relief.
Looking through notifications on his phone led him to find many text messages and a call from his contact titled “Grain,” letting him know he is coming to his house and that he arrived. The doorbell buzzed once more, startling his more awake brain that someone is at the door. He made his way out of bed, down the hallway and opened his front door.
He was welcomed by a startled shout and a quick recovery with a polite cough and the one in question giving a smile like that never happened. Grian. “Hi, Timmy! Happy birthday, I got us a reservation for your birthday at the Mega Pizzaplex.” He looked him up and down for a moment, quickly adding, “go get ready then we can go.”
Jimmy blinked. “What?”
The other giggled, “go get ready, sleepyhead, and I'll explain on the way. Now shoo.”
He was gently pushed back through the door by his friend, who let himself in and made sure he got comfy on the couch while he waited. Jimmy rolled his eyes, going back to his room to get dressed for the day. He thought through Grian's rushed words about his plan. Apparently, he'll be spending his birthday with Grian and probably some other friends at the relatively close 80s themed mall with exclusive animatronics that perform. He also heard the place has some attractions as well, going in theme with the rock band. The advertisements of the place do seem interesting, he recalls mentioning that to Grian at some point. That's probably where he got the idea from.
A half hour passed by and he deemed himself ready. He opened his door, wearing his favorite denim jacket over a simple shirt. He knew he could have gotten ready faster, but he may have ended up sitting on his bed for a few minutes doom scrolling through posts. It's not his fault that phones are so addictive!
He walked over to Grian, pulling his attention away from his device. “I'm ready. I'll grab a snack bar or two before we get going.”
The other nodded, “Alright, I'll go start the car while you do that.”
“Wait, we're using your car? It's my birthday, I should be driving.”
“Well, I'm the one who set up your whole party, I'm driving. Plus, it's your birthday, so it's my gift to you.”
“Hmm, alright. I hope you being my Uber driver isn't all you got.”
“Yeah, yeah, keep thinking that,” he giggled. He left, closing the door and a beep could be heard a moment later. Jimmy grabbed a few snack bars and a water for a small breakfast to tide him over until he can get something better. Grabbing his necessities and stuffing them and his snacks into his pockets, he followed the direction Grian left from. He locked the door and walked to where his friend's car was parked, settling into the front passenger seat, putting his water bottle in the cup holder.
He gave a thumbs up, showing he was ready. Grian, already having a GPS route set up to let him know where to go, set the car in drive and they're on their way. Jimmy stared out the window, hands holding his phone in his lap. He let his mind listen to the music that was playing, which was something he didn't recognize. It sounded like pop. It was shortly interrupted by the monotone female voice of the GPS letting them know to turn right. Grian does. The music comes back and he looks over. “You know, I still could have driven us there.”
“Oh hush, last time you drove me somewhere, you almost hit a deer. Before that, we were stuck in traffic which somehow appeared. It wasn't even rush hour!”
“Not my fault,” he looked away with false annoyance. “The deer just popped out right then and there, nothing I could do about it.”
“Alright, deer is an exception. But you can't explain your way out of the awful traffic suddenly appearing.”
“But there probably was an accident-”
“Nope!”
“Fine, any ideas what we'll do when we get there?”
“Well, I do have a birthday reservation for you and we'll play some mini-golf. I think every other hour or something like that, the robots there perform a show. I heard that it's cool. There's also places to eat there other than pizza. Um, if we finish mini-golf and want to do something else, there's bowling and go-karting that seem fun.”
Jimmy mused over this information. He pulled out a snack bar, opening the plastic before taking a bite. “That does seem fun. If we do go bowling, I will crush you!”
“We'll see about that.” He gave a mischievous smirk. “Just watch out for mini-golf, you don’t know who you're going against.”
He grumbled, remembering the last time their group of friends went out to play mini-golf. It was one of those oddly decorated ones, with probably-plastic statues of animals, fake and real trees dotted around, and the water was dyed a bright blue. Jimmy had unfortunately lost, losing his golf ball that had somehow made its way across the street, cartoonishly bouncing off of any surface it found. Mumbo had placed before him, placing lower due to a similar circumstance. Grian came out victorious, getting clean shots and frequent hole-in-ones.
“Who knows, maybe something will change for you. Maybe you'll win and show that you aren't cursed like we all believe you are.”
“I'm not cursed! I'm perfectly normal.”
“Okay, birthday boy.”
Grian glanced over at his mirrors, flipped his blinker and changed to the right lane. The GPS came on, letting him know to change lanes in a hundred feet onto the ramp to the highway. He did just that. The two stayed in silence, Grian focused on the flow of traffic on the highway and Jimmy scrolled on his phone.
Nothing too crazy happened, the only eventful thing was Grian having to change lanes to get around a semi truck. He also did have to blare the horn twice but it was from someone trying to cut him off. The GPS spoke again, telling him to turn off on the next ramp. He looked up from his phone to see how much longer the estimation had. It was about seven minutes till they arrived at their destination. He spoke up, “it looks like we're almost there, just about seven minutes.”
The other nodded, “That's good. This thirty minute drive feels like it's passed through quickly.”
He hummed in agreement. “Oh yeah, who else did you invite to come?”
“You'll see.”
“Not ominous at all.”
“Hey, the only hint you're getting is that you know these people.”
“Oh good, I'd rather not spend my birthday with strangers.”
Grian laughed, “I doubt you would, you wouldn't have anyone to tease you.”
Jimmy, like the mature adult he is, responded by sticking out his tongue, causing Grian to laugh harder. They returned to a comfortable silence, waiting to continue making jokes later when they reached the Pizzaplex. He didn't know what to exactly expect when they got there, probably a refurbished mall to house entertainment that's more focused for kids. He looked back at his phone for the time, 12:21. They seemed to be making good progress. Grian continued to follow the directions the GPS had, eventually turning into the parking lot of the place.
He gasped. It was definitely a redecorated mall adorned with bright neon lights on the building in the shapes of stars and other shapes the designers thought of. When they rounded to the front, the front glass doors were huge with matching neon lights of the main four characters above. Above them was the sign for the place, Freddy Fazbear's Mega Pizzaplex, along with five characters. One was a green alligator, next to it a blue bunny, an orange bear in the middle, then a wolf with a streak of green in her fur, and a chicken wearing pink.
“Wow, this place is huge!”
“Woah.” He slowed the car to a slow crawl to get a good look at the building, quickly receiving a honk behind him. He returned back to a normal speed for a parking lot and traveled around to find a spot. He eventually did but it was unfortunately farther than he'd like it to be. He parked the car and locked it as they exited. “I told them to meet us by the front so they're probably there.”
Jimmy nodded. He thought about the characters on the sign, realizing he doesn't know their names. “Hey, Grian, what were their names again?”
“Who? Your friends?”
“No, the characters,” he gestured at the neon lights.
“Wait, you don’t know them?” He laughed, “I'm not gonna tell you. You had a whole half hour, maybe more, to figure that out!”
He grumbled, “you have a point.”
The two walked through the parking lot, making sure to watch out for any reckless drivers that may appear. None do, thankfully. Once getting close to the front doors, he sees a group of people waiting and he immediately recognizes two. One person with light pink hair that goes just below the shoulder and the person next to them with messy, dark brown hair with a bright stripe of green. Lizzie and Joel.
He quickened his steps, recognizing the other people gathered as he got closer. Martyn, Tango, Impulse, and Gem. He waved over to them, “Hey guys!”
The group looked over, each giving smiles of their own and different forms of greeting him. Gem did so by giving him a friendly hug. “Hi Jimmy, happy birthday! How have you been?”
“Thanks, I've been good, what about-”
A shout is heard behind him, interrupting what he was going to say. He looked towards where the sound came and it was from Grian. He looked surprised. “He isn't here!?”
Martyn gave a confused glance, “Who isn't here?”
“Mumbo!”
“Ah. Did he tell you he was coming?”
“Well…”
“So you did know he wasn't-”
“No, he just left it unclear.”
Impulse chimed in, “He did say he was planning on going on another biking trip. He probably got busy with that.”
Grian frowned, “Yeah, he did say that.”
Tango looked at his now saddened face and put a comforting hand on his shoulder. “Well, how about we celebrate Jimmy's birthday and you can worry about Mumbo later. That's kind of why we're here, after all.”
He rolled his eyes, “Fine, I'll be a needy girlfriend later.”
The group chuckled. Martyn gave a quick smirk over to Impulse who shuffled through a pocket, handing him some cash with a dissatisfied look.
“What was that for?” Asked Jimmy.
“Oh, Martyn and I had a bet for how long it would take Grian to mention Mumbo. Unfortunately, I lost.”
“How can I not mention him? Firstly, he isn't here. Secondly, he's the ideal man.” Grian, who overheard, responded.
“To you,” Martyn laughed.
“Well, then who's your ideal man?”
He fumbled for his words, “Uh, it's…”
“Is it Ren?” Grian had a mischievous smile.
Groaning in annoyance, “Of course it's Ren.”
Joel piped in, “If you guys want to know my ideal man, it's me.”
Jimmy decided to entertain his response. “How come it's you and not someone else? Say… Etho, for example.”
“Well, I'm obviously better. I'm big, strong, powerful, sexy, very humble, and incredibly talented. But Etho is probably a close second. Anyways, we don't have all day to stand around and chat about how hot I am, let's go!”
Lizzie elbowed him.
“Ow, Lizzie! What was that for?”
“You know exactly what that's for.”
“Yeah.” He shrugged, pulled out a pair of sunglasses, one that's a matching pair Jimmy has at home, and put them on. The group followed them into the building, Joel ended up holding the door for everyone.
Jimmy looked around the space and if he thought the outside was huge, the inside was massive. The lobby, an open two-story room, was lit up from bright neon lights that were implemented into the walls. The walls had posters and advertisements featuring the characters and merchandise. Beyond the turnstiles, there were offshooting rooms leading to gift shops. But the main attraction must be the giant golden statue of the bear animatronic singing into a microphone in the middle, light flooding down from the detailed sun roof above it. He gaped at the sight.
Tango must have noticed him staring so he gently guided him back over to their friends. The group was already at the reception desk and he can already hear the starts of bickering between Grian and Joel.
“Joel, why the heck did you already make a reservation? I thought it was made clear I was getting it.”
“Well, it's not my fault I might have gotten peer pressured into getting it.”
“It is entirely your fault! That's what peer pressuring is!”
“Too late now, I got it cause Martyn made it sound funny at the time.”
Martyn squawked, “Don't drag me into this! The entire point was to have your name in question. I'm clear from this.”
The attendant behind the desk looked back and forth at the bickering like it was a tennis match, finally finding a spot to pitch in. “Well, if it helps, the time slots for these two reservations match well, it's just flip-flopped from each other. I could adjust it so your party can go to one attraction, celebrate, then go to another. Does this work?”
Grian looked at them, almost forgetting the employee was even there. He nodded, looking at Joel if he found the new plan suitable. “Yeah, that could work. Jimmy? What do you think, your party and all that?”
“Oh, oh yeah. That sounds good. More things to do here sounds fun.” Jimmy smiled.
“Okay, good. I'll have your tickets all ready in a moment.” The attendant went to the computer and typed on the keyboard. They asked for everyone's names and birth dates, typing them into the system. Multiple cards were printed out and they were handed out to each respective person. “When you go through the turnstiles, you have to scan the pass, register who you are, and you are free to go. At Fazbear's, there is a special system we have that recognizes everyone who's registered. It's for safety procedures and whatnot. I don't really trust it, since the rumors about past locations, but you didn't hear that from me. Anywho, you all should be all set up for the next time you would like to visit us. Have a faz-errific day and happy birthday.”
Jimmy nodded, noticing everyone else left for the entrance, “Uh, thanks. You too? Oh, and what do you mean by ‘rumors?’”
“You haven’t heard of them? They're really popular, lots of people seem to talk about them since they're so bizarre. Apparently, the original owner of Fazbear Entertainment was a psycho and killed five kids. No one really knows why or what happened to them and the owner just mysteriously disappeared one day. No one really knows how much of the story is true or not.”
He stared, thinking about this new information. Could that happen here? Is this place really safe? Sure, he's an adult and can take care of himself, but there is still a threat. “When did- when did this happen?”
They waved off his worries. “It wasn't anything recent if that's what you're concerned about. It happened in the ‘80s. Oh, and green hair, take off those sunglasses. Fazbear Entertainment has a policy against anything blocking the eyes.”
Joel gave a look, hidden behind the shades. “What do you mean? Why can't I wear them while that dumb alligator can?”
They groaned, “I don't make the rules of what is required of guests, so if you have a complaint, go take it to management. It's another safety policy to ensure guests are safe, that’s what the higher-ups say.”
Joel took the glasses off, rolling his eyes, and hooked them on his shirt's collar. “Fine, let's go, gang.”
The group made their way to the turnstiles. Jimmy caught the employee muttering, “God, I hate this place.”
Gem swiped her pass first, selecting her name on the screen. She went through a few general security questions, ending with a fingerprint identification. After all of that, the gates opened and she went in. Everyone else followed the same procedure, each getting in fine. Jimmy noticed that the screen for him was decorated with confetti and cake, celebrating his birthday. He smiled at that.
They gathered up in front of the golden statue. Tango taking initiative, he stepped forwards and asked, “So, what do we want to do first?”