#if not...it's too late

[blametheeditor]

Tempting Fate | Chapter 1

Run Down: The disappearance of Fazbear Entertianment's original owners has left the company declining with every year. Afton Robotics is out of business, only one location is in operation, and night guards have been disappearing. But why should Mike Schmidt care? He wouldn't, if it wasn't for the fact he was dragged kicking and screaming back into the center of it all.

Content Warnings: Cursing. Body horror. Gore. Mentions of death and murder. Darker themes and tones

Canon lore, in this household?!

___________________________

The more Scott has been turned to when it comes to making decisions for Fazbear Entertainment, the more he’s faced with the fact he never had a clue how it worked in the first place. 

Granted, he was never supposed to. Help out wherever he can of course, but never run the business. This is Henry and William’s pride and joy. Something they wanted to share with the people they love and care for, but always at a distance. Because friends and family always get messy when dealing with money. 

So where the hell are the actual owners.

Trust him, Scott has tried everything in order to get in contact with Henry and William. He should’ve stopped a while ago, a few years to be exact if he’s being completely honest with himself, but he holds onto the hope they will come after disappearing off the face of the earth. Especially when Henry came to him even though they barely knew each other. Scott was William’s best friend, however, so that meant he could be trusted. 

Trusted to look after the business until they could return, in which he would willingly sign everything back over to them. But it’s been five years. William disappeared two years before that. Henry disappeared two years after making Scott the sole owner. Absolutely no sign either of them will ever return. 

Scott sighs as he slumps in his chair, head tilted back to stare at the ceiling. Taking advantage of the very few moments where he can just be alone with his thoughts. They are dangerous, however, so maybe it’s a blessing he rarely has them. 

Because he starts thinking about selling the company. Or at the very least signing it over to someone who actually knows how to run a business in the children industry. Maybe even just leaving without a word. 

He never wanted this. William would be disappointed in how his best friend has been caring for the thing that kept him going after that horrific day. 

Scott jolts as a knock suddenly echos through his office, confused before jumping out of his chair to answer it when he remembers Jeremy is working a shift. 

“Hello, hello,” he greets. Expecting an angry parent telling him about an incident that at minimum involved cussing in front of children, at maximum there being a fistfight. Possibly one of the waiters or cooks telling him there’s yet another thing needing to be fixed. 

It’s neither. Instead there’s a young man standing nervously at his door, hood pulled up to cover his features. 

“Sorry for interrupting, Uncle Scott,” reveals who it is, however. Despite the shaking voice and acting like the police will come knocking at any moment, a bright smile spreads across Scott’s face. 

“You never interrupt, Mike,” the sandy haired man says earnestly. That earns him the head tilting back to show familiar features near identical to his father’s. Something Mike hated for a while considering the constant comments of looking like William Afton even after he did everything to erase those connections. At least those have all since gone away with the eldest Afton himself gone. “Come in, before someone drags me into something.” 

The young man smiles as he quickly walks into the office. Scott doesn’t miss the fact it doesn’t reach Mike’s eyes, meaning he opens his arms for a hug once the door’s locked. One that’s immediately accepted, even if it mostly one sided as he’s simply leaned into. 

“I take it your trip didn’t go well?” Scott asks. 

Mike takes a sharp inhale of breath. Holds it before sighing long and loud. “No, no it didn’t.” 

“Would you like to talk about it?” 

Instead of a huff and sarcastic ‘no, that’s definitely not why I came here in the first place’, Mike only gently breaks the hug. Blue eyes refusing to meet Scott’s worried gaze. 

“...something happened at the sister location.” 

God, please don’t tell him his nephew really is running from law enforcement. 

There’s a few moments of silence. Of Mike wanting to say more, but not being able to. Scott then gently pushes the young man into one of the chairs. Doesn’t try and coax the story out, simply walks over to the coffee machine he installed strictly to avoid needing to leave the room in order to refill his fifth mug for the day, starts up a fresh pot. They both sit in silence as the sounds and smell of coffee brewing fill the room. 

This was something William never understood with Michael. He might’ve loved his son, but the man didn’t realize the kid didn’t talk about his thoughts and feelings like the eldest Afton did and could. Michael needed a moment to be able to just sit and think before talking about something like wanting his dad to be at home more often. Or get out the words for an apology. 

Scott wishes he could’ve done more before. If he knew the problems going on in the Afton household, maybe he could’ve stopped everything from happening. If he had, William most likely wouldn’t have disappeared, and Mike would still be an Afton. 

He can’t go back in time. But he can certainly help now. 

Mike finally takes a deep breath before clearing his throat. “The Funtimes are all destroyed.” 

Scott doesn’t let any emotion show at the news. Mike had said he would be going to Afton Robotics to shut it all down. Said he thought about it for a long time, and even though that was William’s last known project, there weren’t any good memories attached to the animatronics. There wasn’t anything to do with them either, not with Circus Baby’s Pizza World having been shut down several years ago. 

He’s not disappointed, far from it. Scott can’t lie and say it doesn’t send a shot through his heart knowing something his best friend worked on is gone forever, though. But that isn’t what Mike needs, so he doesn’t voice his feelings. There’s still Fazbear Entertainment after all. 

“I actually debated not going through with shutting everything down. Especially with how long the elevator ride was. Gave me a lot of time to just...think. But then it just got weird. Like crawling through vents weird. I know Afton Robotics was barely hanging on, but...it was so much worse than I thought it’d be.” 

Scott allows a confused expression. He had heard the same thing about there being quite a few problems, especially considering it was his own signature that pulled the plug of no longer letting the Funtimes get rented out anymore. He made sure there was at least one person visiting it weekly to make sure the facility was still running, but there wasn’t a lot of money to spare with upkeep. Yet he was never given a report about needing to crawl through vents in order to get to other areas. Hopefully Mike wasn’t doing it without actually needing to. 

“The worst part was the Funtimes didn’t act like the other animatronics,” Mike murmurs, eyes locked on the ground as he remembers. “It was surreal, Uncle Scott. Instead of just playing recorded lines, they were taunting me. And HandUnit actually betrayed me. Like, multiple times.” 

Now he’s getting worried. Scott knows this must’ve been a big shock for Mike. Such a big decision and the subsequent actions that’d need to be taken no matter what was chosen would be hard on anyone, and for the young man even more so given his past. But the animatronics built to entertain children taunting him? The AI designed by William to help perform any assigned duties betraying him? These are nothing but robots. It’s not possible for such things to happen. 

It’s honestly a little concerning. And it only makes it worse when Scott realizes that Mike sounds like Jeremy whenever the man starts spouting off conspiracy theories about the animatronics coming to life to kill the night guards for revenge. 

“Something happened when I scooped the last one,” his nephew continues before it can be asked when was the last time he slept. “She, it- I can’t even explain. I, I-I changed.” 

Scott stares into Mike’s eyes as they tear up. Glances down for a moment at shaking hands held out pleadingly. The poor kid looking lost, hopeless. 

That’s when he realizes this must’ve been such an emotional toll. To hate your father is one thing. To destroy his life’s work is another. Even though it may have seemed like the best thing to do and it wasn’t done out of revenge, it’s something that would tear anyone with a kind heart in half. And Michael has always been that kind of person no matter what his past says. 

It makes him feel ten times better knowing Mike isn’t being hunted down by the law. And yet the young man not knowing if he made the right decision can arguably be worse. Because Scott can post bail and hire the greatest lawyer in the state. He can’t fix a broken soul. 

“You know there’s nothing that could possibly happen to make me not love you, Mike,” Scott confides. 

There’s a moment of silence until Mike visibly relaxes. “I know. I know. I just, how would anyone react to someone getting their insides ripped out and replaced with a sentient machine?” 

Well that’s...certainly one way to put how Mike feels. 

“I might not have felt exactly like that before” Scott chuckles. “Mostly just my heart being ripped out, but this was never going to be easy. I know it feels like there’s a big hole inside you, but I’m really proud of you, Mike.” 

Scott blinks when it almost looks like his nephew’s eyes turn violet for a moment, but it disappears in an instant. Hopefully color changing contacts aren’t becoming a trend or else he’ll start thinking he’s seeing things. 

“No, I don’t feel like I’ve changed, I am literally some fucked up cyborg zombie,” Mike almost pleads as he gestures to himself. “I’m not human.” 

Scott hesitates, worried he might accidentally upset his nephew. This isn’t the first time Mike has called himself a monster. Though giving a detailed description on the exact type is new. But it’s been years since the last talk, and facing such a horrible past all over again is hard to endure, especially alone. It resurfaces all of the painful memories that have long since been healed, but the scars never leave. 

“You’re not a monster, Mike.” 

The young man looks like he’s been electrocuted. There’s a long moment of silence as he watches Scott for a moment. Suddenly looks down at the ground as his voice goes soft. “Even if everyone else says I am?” 

“Yes,” is his immediate response. Just like every time before when he was asked. “They don’t know the whole story. They don’t know you. And if you are saying it, you need to remember you’re wrong.” 

“I swear you actively try to make me cry every time I talk to you. Cruel and unusual punishment,” his nephew grouses after a moment. Not happy, but not as tense. Almost completely relaxed compared to when he first entered the office. Sounds more like himself. 

“That’s my job,” the sandy haired man smiles. “How good did I do this time?” 

“You failed, eyes aren’t even misty.” 

“Don’t challenge me, Mike.” 

“Or what, old man,” earns him the smirk he’s been waiting for. “Seems like you’ve lost your edge.” 

Scott rolls his eyes. “I wasn’t even trying and you were already complaining.” 

“Critiquing,” Mike corrects. “So, I heard your night guards keep quitting.” 

That’s just wonderful. If the person who actively tries his hardest not to hear any news on how Fazbear Entertainment is loosing employees left and right, then that means the entire country knows Scott has no idea what he’s doing. 

“Do you actually want to know, or just making small talk?” 

“I actually want to know.” 

Scott doesn’t know if it’s a good thing for Mike to genuinely be interesting in his father’s company, or a really bad one. The only issue is it always having been impossibly hard to tell what the young man’s emotions are from expressions alone. Hopefully this wasn’t spawned out of guilt. 

“I don’t know what changed. A year ago, everything was fine. But recently people have just been quitting during their shifts. I’ve done everything I could think of to stop the excessive turn over, try to contact them and ask if there were any incidents. Yet it’s like they just vanish.” 

Scott swears Mike’s eyes actually turn violet this time as the young man straightens up. “Need someone on the inside to check it out for you?” 

What? 

“No one knows we’re associated,” Mike shrugs, because Scott does nothing to hide his genuine shock from the suggestion. That’s also not why his jaw is on the floor and his nephew knows it. “No one could guess either since we didn’t come from the same family tree. I’ll join the night shift and see what’s going on.” 

“Who are you and what have you done with Mike?” 

Scott actually grows a little worried when he’s given a humorless loud laugh. “Oh, this isn’t to help Fazbear’s. This just gets me unsupervised access with the animatronics.” 

“You will not destroy our only working animatronics!” 

“But I got a taste for destroying robots designed to entertain children!” 

“And that’s the only taste you get!” Scott exclaims, hoping Mike is just trying to get him riled up it’s not an actual threat it was promised a degree in engineering would be used for good God damn it. “I swear to God you will regret it if you get within ten feet of them!” 

“Attach a screwdriver to a fifteen foot pole, got it,” Mike grins. He’s quick to lift his hands up in surrender as a death glare is aimed. “If it’d really help you, I don’t mind joining the shift. Promise not to touch the animatronics.” 

Scott hesitates at the serious tone. At Mike looking genuine to fulfill the favor if it’s accepted. Concerned just how much of a toll it was going to the sister location. If there’s truth in the AI turning against any employee that went down there, or if it was just stress making it bigger than it really was. 

“You know you can just say you missed me.” 

“Pass. I prefer keeping my promise of giving you a heart attack one day.” 

Scott pulls Mike into another hug. “Well I missed you.” 

He knew there wouldn’t be any words said back, but a hand gently pats his back to say the sentiment is shared. And for once, the young man let’s him have as long of a moment as he wants. So he takes it. Happy to finally have Mike home. Away from anything that can hurt him without Scott there to help. 

“What do you think about starting this Friday?” Scott asks, still not making any move to end the hug. When Mike realizes his generosity is being taken advantage of, the standing figure turns into an almost limp one. The sandy haired man only hugs tighter so escape is impossible. “You will need to be trained, so you’ll be working with Fritz for a week, but I think you’ll like him. He’s the only one who’s stayed for more than a month.” 

“I can last a week and give you a report at the end of it.” 

“You’re my favorite nephew.” 

“I’m your only one, old man,” Mike grumbles. “Now free me, I want to steal a pizza from the kitchen before heading home.” 

“Please don’t take one that’s going to a table.” 

“No promises.” 

Scott sighs as he finally frees Mike. Smiles down at the young man. “Go order a pizza and say you’re a new hire so they won’t charge you. I’ll get the paperwork taken care of so you’re set for Friday.” 

“Thanks boss.” 

“And I will be asking Fritz if you so much as look at the animatronics!” 

Mike gives his uncle the middle finger as he exits the office. Carefully closes the door. Groans softly as he puts his forehead against the wall. 

Well that could’ve gone better. 

I warned he wouldn’t believe you.

The sentient machine currently acting as his internal organs doesn’t have to rub it in. He knew it’d sound too farfetched to immediately be taken seriously, but Mike thought Scott would laugh at him. Not think he’s being metaphorical. How would he know the old man would immediately get sentimental instead of panicked! 

Then again, it might be for the better. Scott looks tired and on the edge of wiping his hands clean of everything. Mike doesn’t want to add something else to top it all off. And learning his nephew had his guts scooped out might actually kill him. 

Nope, he’d rather have his uncle by his side even if the full situation isn’t known. Because he loves Scott. Would do anything for the man, including working for his father’s company after swearing to never step foot in a Fazbear location if he didn’t need to. 

That just means he has to figure out the whole never going within fifty feet of a metal detector on his own. Great. 

I can answer any questions you have.

Yeah, he’d rather pass. He’s not trusting spaghetti wires with anything, including the assumption all information given to be truthful. 

Mike takes a deep breath. Brushes back his black hair to fix his hood to make sure it covers most of his face since he learned the hard way certain lighting reveals the fact he’s a zombie. Finally turns away from Scott’s office to make his way to the kitchen. 

Is forced to pull himself up short as a slightly taller figure steps in front of him. Wants to snap how irresponsible it is to assume someone doesn’t have inhuman strength and could accidentally kill them if he hadn’t stopped in time. 

Mike holds his tongue, looking up at a man with curly brown hair. Only glances at odd scares decorating his forehead before raising an eyebrow. “Can I help you?” 

As if he doesn’t look extremely suspicious walking around a children's restaurant after coming in through the back door while actively trying to hide his face. 

“I know what you are.” 

Mike’s blood runs cold...or was that replaced with oil. Ask that later, give attitude now. “Excuse me?” 

“I know what you are,” the man repeats ominously, grey eyes seeming to stare right into Mike’s soul. “And I’m only going to say this once. Fuck with Scott, and you’ll have to deal with me.” 

So the ‘what’ was intentional. He thought he was recognized as an Afton but no, it’s worse. Someone knows he’s not human. How, he doesn’t know, but it seems like his secret is safe as long as he doesn’t fuck with Scott. Which, depending on the definition, might be an issue. 

How does a complete stranger believe it though if they did find out? Not even Scott took him seriously. 

“Oh I’m sorry, is it Freddy tradition to try and intimidate new hires, or are you just an asshole?” 

“Both,” the man smirks. “If you can’t handle it though, then you won’t last a goddamn week.” 

“Well unless your name is Fritz, I won’t be seeing you anytime soon,” Mike growls as he walks away. “Nice meeting you, dick.” 

“Nice knowing you, bastard.” 

And ouch, the randomly chosen moniker hits a little too close to home. Such a wonderful cherry on top of everything else. 

He tries to shrug it off. Walks up to the counter and orders meat lover’s pizza instead of snatching a pizza waiting to be taken to a table. Waits in the corner despite the fact he look suspicious as all hell. Too drained to really care. 

...how did he know? 

The operation was not recorded. Via video, audio, or observation. 

Oh, fascinating. It’s not like someone can’t take one good look at him and realize yep, that’s a walking corpse. 

He may know you aren’t human, but it’s impossible for him to know the details.

Oh. Okay, fine, that’s a good point. Meaning there’s no proof to be spread around if Mike makes an enemy of the man. He has no intentions of ever talking to him again. Though, if he was protective of Scott, there might be discussions concerning the weird new hire. Ones that makes his uncle realize Mike meant it when he said literally. 

So, hypothetically, what can the robot inside him do? 

We can go over the blueprints you took from Afton Robotics.

Guess it’s a date.

[amygdalae]

he can infodump so deep inside me I'll have trivia running down my leg

[tr-shb-g]

"never too late to be who you might have been" by sara yukiko mon | still from i saw the tv glow, "there is still time"

[milkymolle]

i think kabru should be allowed to infodump on laios. equality

[taffywabbit]

they should invent a new type of "staying in bed for 2-3 hours after you wake up repeatedly opening and closing apps on your phone" where it makes you feel awesome and energized and emotionally fulfilled

[marlasbreastlump]

was originally gonna color and post this for pride month but i lost the original file

EDIT: Thank you to @localdisasterisk for making the image discs!! :)

[radiofreederry]

[ruushes]

sleeping arrangements (not sure tara would ever actually deign to sleep in the same 20ft radius as shovel but who can resist those big shiny insectoid black eyes 🥺)

plus:

[the-moon-loves-the-sea]

I’m increasingly worried by all the people on my dash calling themselves insane for loving stories in the way humans have loved stories our whole history. “The brain rot is spreading” — you mean you were changed by art? “I’m not normal about this” — you were moved by it? You felt human emotions about it? “I’m about to be so annoying” — you’re going to talk about art? You’re going to be passionate? You’re going to think deeply about it? You’re going to feel love for the work of someone’s soul? You are not a consumer and art is not a product to be casually used! You are a human and stories are the beating heart of our humanity! You must feel everything and you must know that it is normal!

[everwalldigan]

My favourite thing ever is when Jason is drawn to resemble Bruce because I KNOWW his ass would HATE it😭😭

Dick: hey Jason you haven’t forgotten our meet u— oh my god are you ok?? What happened?

Jason *rocking back and forth on the floor with a traumatised look in his eyes, whispering in horror* someone mistook me for Bruce in the grocery store today.

Random kid at a charity event pointing at Jason standing grumpily in a corner: who’s that?

Bruce (smiling fondly): that’s my son Jason!

Random kid: he looks like you! :D

Jason: *leaves the room*

Bruce (running after him): jason, Jason they didn’t mean anything by it, Jason, you’re going to jump off a balcony just because of a child’s observation Jason?

[carry-on-my-wayward-butt]

having a child has taught me that every toddler is completely justified in their frustrations and tantrums because learning how to do something you have literally never encountered or heard of before is insane. and being expected to be completely calm in the face of this constant barrage of overwhelming information is doubly insane.

i got charlie a sticker activity book and it occurred to me i have to TEACH someone how to unpeel stickers. it's SKILL that requires DEXTERITY and FINE MOTOR ABILITY. i thought it was obvious that you have to curl the page a little bit to create a break in the cut so the sticker comes up.

obviously a fucking BABY wouldn't know that because they have no background experience to inform their thought process. OBVIOUSLY. and OBVIOUSLY the LITERAL BABY wouldn't get it right the first few times. it would OBVIOUSLY take practice. lots of it.

i hate this feeling. it's so obvious. why are children treated so badly when they're learning everything for the first fucking time. why do people treat children so horribly and expect so much. they're brand new. why didn't i get the same grace i give to my child? why did no one have patience for me? why, when it's this easy?

it's so easy. it's so fucking easy.

[spinejackel]

What are dead man walking tornadoes? :O

it’s a multi-vortex tornado. i dont remember the tribe it originates from (i think it was cherokee), but there’s a native american legend…? saying? that goes “if you see a man in a tornado, you are about to die.”

the most infamous shot of a dead man walking tornado hit jarrell, texas in 1997

it did so much damage to the town it caused the scale that tornados are measured by, the fijita scale, undergo revisions, and it made anchoring buildings in the tornado alley region pretty much mandatory. (it took the entire town off the map. only those who had taken shelter outside of the town or in underground bunkers survived.)

two more examples of dead man walking tornadoes looking like a person are a tornado from 2011 that hit cullman, alabama

and a tornado from 1975 that hit xenia, ohio

edit: it has been brought to my attention that the native american “legend” part of this post was a rumor spread by a documentary.

i have been asked to remove it, but i believe in letting my errors stand because i’m not perfect. i make mistakes

[catskullery]

[bacchuschucklefuck]

couldnt draw my thang for mid-autumn so treated myself to a calne redesign instead

[transbeeduo]

IN THE CLUB STRAIGHT UP FORGETTING 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

[emilylovescookies]

if you can’t own the anime figure, why not draw it (lol!)