One For All (Five Nights at Freddy's)

An old pal

They arrived and sat at the table.

Michael set the warm cups in front of them,then sat next to Henry.

"So... Where to start?" He chuckled.

"... You met William Afton?" Susie asked.

"Met? I wish I JUST met him. Unluckily,I was his favourite employee. We worked together for years,building children attractions in that cursed 'Afton Robotics'. It was fun... until his wife got sick. Not just he changed personality,but completely lost his mind. William-... Well,Mr. Afton was always drunk,and of course,not just me but his family itself saw the consequences. He didn't want to entertain the kids anymore,no... He wanted to kill them. He wanted them to suffer,just like he was. It started with a weird idea,the 'remnant',he called it. To be honest,I almost laughed when he told me about that:A substance which was able to retrain your soul into whatever your body became? Impossible. But we did it... Somehow. I didn't know what he'd use that for,but he first applied it to a machine we needed to destroy the broken animatronics:The scooper."

Michael faced away as that was mentioned. Henry continued. "Then,he used it with the animatronics themselves. And soon,we saw its effect. Poor,harmless,innocent children turned into monsters out of control. They weren't human beings anymore,neither could remember their past. It was then when I refused to proceed. We were on our way to open the 'Baby Circus',when I found the courage to tell him. He was mad,and the fact he was drunk didn't make things better of course. It was in that rainy night,I lost my daughter because of his revenge. If William Afton wants something,he'll have it. No matter how." The man's voice was getting shaky.

"It's okay,I think that's enough of that bastard for now. I don't like to talk about him and the past either." Mike coldly said while staring down to the dark coffee.

There was tension in the air,Susie and Gabe were frozen in place by that story. They had finished their coffee while listening.

Michael took a deep breath "...Anyways. Last night we went to the so called,Sister Location. When William left to come and get you,Susie,we managed to get in and search for a few information. Remember when he attacked you,Gabe? We didn't know where he came from... Now we do. You see,while I worked in the Baby Circus as technician let's say I've... seen some shit. However,there was a map of the place on one of the tablets. Turns out it was connected both to Fredbear's and our old house. Not just that,but he was spying on us. On me,especially."

"What's the point?" Gabriel raised his eyebrows.

"Well,simply... He is using that again. He was able to see us through the cameras and had free acess to the pizzeria thanks to the safe room."

"We have a safe room?" Susie asked,then continued "...Why the hell did we NEVER use that?!"

"Because it's hidden." Gabriel answered,then sighed.

"You KNEW about it??"

"Well,just from my dad... But I have no idea where it is honestly."

"The point is that William used it so that he could easily enter the place,wear the suit to hide and disguise as an animatronic,and leave the room to get rid of us. Talking about William,seems like he doesn't call himself that anymore. We found some papers in the office and he now is 'Dave Miller'." Mike said, interrupting them.

"Jee,he sure worked hard to get away from the cops..."

"He did. But he's getting closer to his punishment,for all those lives he stole and used for his experiments,for all the victims... He'll pay,I guarantee." Henry furrowed his eyebrows,having a pretty serious look on his face.

"Mhm..." The boy just nodded quietly,having the man's attention.

"Michael,could we talk? Alone. Meanwhile I think you two could go visit your friend there... What was his name again?Yeah,Jeremy."

Gabriel and Susie glared at each other once again,then stood. "Y-yeah,we're going! See ya tonight!" They quickly left.

As soon as the place was quiet again and they heard the car driving off, Henry stared at Mike.

"...Why do you keep on refusing to hurt him?"

"I'm not refusing..."

"Michael."

"I'm not,I-"

"You had a loaded gun. You were supposed to shoot him. Right there,right then."

"He had the mask and-" Mike quickly tried to make up an excuse,failing as his eyes were getting watery as if he was still a kid,just like years ago.

"Well,what's wrong now?"

"It's nothing."

"I had a daughter,I know that look."

Soon the boy found himself with tears straining down his face.

"I can't hurt him! He's my father!"

"He'd hurt you,and your his son."

"I-i know but...killing him will just make me like him! It's not right!"

Henry frowned.

"...Didn't you call me to get rid of him?To get our revenge,and revenge the other souls too?"

"No,Henry!I called you to help me send him to prison and find another way to free the kids!"

"..." The man sighed and faced away.

"He's the only one I have left..."

"Mike,he's not the only one you have left! He might be alive,but he wants you DEAD! He lost his mind!"

"But what if he changes!"

"And what if he DOESN'T. Because that's how things are going to be,he'll NEVER change! And you know it better than me!"

"I know HIM better than you! I remember he was a father,even if it was a long time ago!"

"But he's not the same,can you understand? And for his fault I'm NOT a father anymore!" Henry shouted.

"...I'm sorry for what he did,b-but-"

"Apologizes from you won't fix what he did! Michael,being as selfish as you are now will cause more families to lose their sons and daughters,OPEN YOUR EYES!"

Mike went silent,and so did Henry.

After one last glare,the boy clinched his fists and turned around,covering his head with the hood and heading to the door. "I guess you're right,I'm selfish. But do you think you'd be better for taking a life for revenge just like he did?" After saying those words,he left.

Henry stood there,in the middle of the room,with his mind now full of thoughts. After exhaling deeply,he followed him outside "Mike,wait... I'm sorry."

Michael was already gone.