#I'm sorry but Freddy and Friends on Tour is my fave iteration of the gang

[gamequeenanya]

The Park Ranger - (Lee!Phone Guy, Ler!Animatronics) (Freddy and Friends on Tour)

Summary: Freddy discovers a sweet park ranger putting up safety signs. His name tag has been scratched off and he seems kind of nervous. After investigating, Freddy finds his boss and evidence of abuse. Can Freddy help this poor man? // Warning for dark themes, through the lens of children’s show characters.

...

During one of his treks around the area, Freddy found a man in the forest putting up signs. The signs warned people that there was dangerous wildlife in the area and for them to be careful around it. Freddy appreciated the warning, but he was perfectly happy performing here. After all, he could easily scare anything unpleasant off if he had to. The man smiled and leaned against a tree, deciding to take a break and watch the performance.

Freddy smiled at him and performed with the band. Later, he came by to introduce himself, but found the man had fallen asleep! Heh. Well, he knew how to fix that!

"Tickle, tickle~!" he teased, drumming his paw pads along the man's sides and waist. The man kept his eyes closed, but tensed and started to laugh.

"Hahahahahhahaaa! Q-quihihiihiiit ihihihit! Ihihihih'm awake!" He laughed, wiggling around and pushing Freddy's paws away. Looking up, he gulped, seeing how large Freddy really was. "Heh. S-sorry I fell asleep during the concert! N-no hard feelings?"

Freddy looked at him sympathetically. "Of course not. We all need our sleep. And you look like you need more of it!" He noted his eye bags.

The man looked away. "Uhh, yeah... I kind of need to work eleven hours a day right now, without overtime. M-my boss isn't too happy with me, b-but I'm trying my best, really!"

Freddy tilted his head, wondering who the man worked for. And why they demanded so much of him. "Well, you can rest in our van if you want."

"No, I-I can't!" The man looked down at his watch worriedly. "I-I've got to get back real quick! The boss needs me."

He ran back into the woods before Freddy could ask any more questions.

...

Later, in the van, he'd told his friends about the mysterious man.

"Awww, poor little guy! It sounds like he needs a friend." Chica said worriedly.

"Yeah, we should talk to him before we go. Maybe give him free concert tickets?" Bonnie offered. From the corner, a voice piped up.

"...Ayyy, it's worse than that, me friends. I'm afraid our poor matey's sufferin' from an abusive relationship. That boss is givin' him an illegal amount of work."

The others gasped.

"What can we do...?" Freddy said.

Foxy rubbed his chin in thought. "I suggest we don't take our eyes off him."

They came over to the window to check on the man. And he was gone.

...

At a lone cabin at the edge of the forest, there was a single light flickering in the window of the room.

Freddy knocked on the door.

"Is anyone home?!"

There was a scuffling sound as whoever it was came to the door. It was a brown haired man in a purple uniform. He grinned at Freddy.

"Oh, hello. Don't worry, Mr. Bear. There have been no forest fires around here recently! You may go now." And he hurried to close the door. Freddy held it open.

"Wait. I'd like to come in and talk to you a little. Are you employing that nice young man who put up the signs?"

Purple man's smile fell. "Mm. Perhaps..."

"Can you tell me where he is right now?"

Just then, someone came out of the kitchen. It was the man who'd put up the signs. And he was holding an ice pack up to his cheek. He looked curiously to see who was at the door, but quickly stepped back into the kitchen when he saw it was Freddy.

Freddy rushed inside, not bothering with manners. Going right up to him to check him over. "Hey! You! Are you alright?"

The man backed up more.

"Yeah, I-I'm fine! I just, uhh, slipped on some ice!" He said quickly.

"But it's summer..."

Seeming more panicked, he took Freddy's hand and began to lead him to the door.

"Please. Y-you need to go now. Trust me, I-I'll be fine." He smiled, trying to look convincing. As he looked up at Freddy with his fake grin, he realized he forgot to press the ice pack to his cheek. There was a dark mark that looked like it had been made by a hand. And there were multiple points of impact. The ice was quickly put back to hide it.

Freddy growled. "No." He glared at the older man in the purple uniform. He was smiling back at him from the sofa, holding a cup of tea. Like there was nothing Freddy could do and that he needed to leave. Freddy felt an overwhelming urge to clobber the guy right then and there. But sighed and walked up to the door. He felt horrible about leaving, but he didn't want to just attack someone and get sued. So he'd go. There had to be something else he could do...

...

Coming back to the campsite, Freddy told the rest of his band what was happening.

"Poor little guy..." Foxy said. "There must be something we can do."

"Like what?" Bonnie said.

The others thought for a while.

"Well, hmm..." Foxy said. "Now bear with me on this. How about we invite him on our tour? That way he doesn't have to deal with that smelly old brute."

Freddy raised his hand. "Wait. I've seen what he's like. He thinks he's fine, and would probably shoo us out of there..."

Chica put her hands on her hips. "Then what do you suggest?! Kidnap him??"

"No," he shot back. "There has to be a better way."

...

So there the man was, sleeping on the bed in the back of the van. Freddy had made sure to scratch some things up in his old room to make it look like a wild animal had come in through the window and had gotten him. It had been 12 hours since their little heist, and the man was still asleep. The sun was just beginning to rise.

"You think he'll be mad at us...?" Bonnie said.

"Oh yes," Chica replied. "Very, very mad."

Freddy was driving, but he was very worried. They'd just made an impulsive decision to save someone that could cost them. He hoped they made the right choice.

"W-who'll tell him the bad news?" Bonnie wondered. Foxy trotted over.

"Make way, will ya? I'll tell 'im." He sat down in the booth in front of the man and looked him over. It appeared that the man's nametag had been scratched off by a pin. He wondered why. "Err... landlubber, we've err, set sail."

The man hummed happily in his sleep. He was kind of handsome, with light brown hair and soft features. Foxy smiled.

"Ain't he precious?"

He reached out to nudge his shoulder to try and wake him. But the man just rolled over, refusing to get up. Foxy looked at the scene helplessly. Observing his hook, he knew he could easily hurt this man, and that wasn't what he wanted.

Chica chuckled, and handed Foxy one of her feathers. "I have an idea!"

Remembering Freddy's actions at the start of their concert, he grinned. So Foxy carefully secured the man's ankles, being careful with his hook and only pierced the couch cushion. Chica slipped the man's shoes off and paused. She brushed the feather over his socked feet to see if that did anything. A flinch, but nothing more.

So she continued slipping off his socks, and then ran the yellow feather along the sole of his left foot.

The man curled up, giggling.

The friends smiled.

"Aww, is someone ticklish?" Bonnie said. He observed the scene with a grin.

"N-noooooo~!" the man whined.

"Someone needs to wakey wakey!" Chica sang, brushing her wing all over his soles.

"HAHAHAHAAHAAHAAAHAAHAHAAAA!" He gasped, not expecting a full attack so soon. And realizing his feet were trapped. "OKAHAHAHAHAHAY OKAHAHAHAHAAAAY! I'LL WAKE UP!"

Curling up and opening his eyes, he saw the band members whom he'd dreamt about having actually put him in their van. And they were moving.

"Wahaait. W-what's going on?" He looked out the window. "Where are we headed? What have you done...?"

Instead of sounding mad, his voice was sad and a little fearful.

"We rescued you, silly!" Bonnie said. The others nodded.

"Ayy, it's true." Foxy admitted. "We didn't want you around that rapscallion any longer. He wasn't fit to scrub barnacles off the sides of me boat."

Freddy turned around in his driver's chair.

"It's not really a kidnapping. You can get off the bus at any time. If you want, we'll drop you off at a police station and they should be able to help you. Put you in protective custody and all that." He explained.

The man blinked away tears. "N-no one's ever c-cared about me this much... T-thank you. But h-how do I know your plan will work? I-I don't want him coming after you too..."

There was worry in his voice.

"Hey." Foxy placed a hand on his shoulder. "We'll take care of it, alright?"

He didn't have a plan but didn't want the man more stressed than he already was.

And then there were arms around him. And there were tears. Lots and lots of tears. Foxy didn't know what to do, since he wasn't usually the one people sought comfort in. He uncertainly patted the man's back.

"There, there... Things will be alright. Don't worry about a thing."

...

It was now midnight of the following day. The man had sought custody and was assigned a therapist for what he'd went through. The band was stopped at their last location for the tour. Freddy was currently on  the phone with the manager. He looked more and more down the longer the call went on.

"Bad news guys... Our manager quit; he said he found all the constant hassle of the job was too overwhelming. He's settling down for something more local."

The others gasped.

"But-but what about the band?!" Chica said.

"Is this our last spot ever?" Bonnie said worriedly.

Foxy hummed. "Perhaps not. I think we know a guy..."

It was a bit of a long shot, but they had nothing to lose. So they called up their friend.

"Hello-hello?" he answered.

"Yes; it's Freddy and friends. How are you doin'?"

"A-a lot better, actually."

"Okay, so we might just have a job offer in store for you. It pays better than what that jerk gave you, and for less hours. You'll be our new manager! So, what do you think?"

"Oh, yeah. Uhh, what will I be doing?"

Freddy explained that the duties of a manager were to call different places and book showtimes for their band. He'd also be handling all the money and payment duties.

"Ooo, that sounds easy! I'm in!" He said with a smile.

"Great!"

Freddy smiled as he hung up.

"We have a new manager!"

The others all cheered and high-fived each other.