Fritz and Fright {Fnaf au}

Highs and Lows

"I don't like how quiet it's been lately" phantom Freddy mumbles while leaning against the arcade cabinet. Chica looked up at him. "Why's That freddy? I thought things were getting better!" She smiles but her concern for her friend his clear. the others had been overjoyed when Chica, now Susie, remembered herself. It gave them all hope that they could be saved. But still freddy was getting worried. Mangle hung overhead and chimed in. "IS IT BECAUSE OF B.B.? HES BEEN WIERD LATELY TOO." She exclaimed. Freddy was quiet, then asked. "Hey... does anyone know if B.B. was possessed by any of us in the past?" The room was silent.
"...we should keep an eye out for Mister Ethan" Chica declares while stepping away from the arcade. "He's doing so much to help us! It's about time we helped him back!" Mangle nodded eagerly in response and freddy soon gave his own nod of approval. "I'll let the others know to keep an eye out for him."
The phantoms soon departed, leaving the room empty.
All except for one purple bunny sitting in the corner.
She hummed and giggles, before standing up and skipping to the arcade. The cabinets screen buzzed and soon a pixilated image of a cake was on the screen.
"Change is coming! I can feel it" they giggled before disappearing in a cloud of smoke.
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Ethan woke up to his phone alarm blaring at him. He groggily reached  over to silence it.
His back hurt and he had a headache, not a good combination. His stomach growled, demanding food. So Ethan reluctantly pulled himself out of bed, he decided he didn't want to see how badly his back has bruised so he just carefully put his hoodie on and put a hot pocket into the microwave. As the pocket slowly spun on the dish Ethan's mind began to wonder. Was going back really a good idea? Sure he was committed now but he actually got hurt.
Then again when was Ethan Smith known for making good decisions? When the microwave dinged Ethan took out his breakfast and went to take some pain medicine for his back, it wasn't too bad but the constant ache was bothering him. So after dry swallowing some aspirin he grabbed his keys and made his way to the car.
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The building was as cold as ever. Ethan shivered as he walked inside, tossing his now empty hot pocket wrap into the trash can. He pooped himself back into the chair and rolled up his sleeve, still written on his forearm, dully glowing, was that number code from the night before.
"What does this mean anyway?" He wonders aloud.
"What does what mean Sir Ethan?" The man whipped around to find Phantom freddy leaning over his shoulder, when did this guy even get here? Ethan didn't know.
"Uh, mystery code, not sure where to put it... you wouldn't happen to know of any secret magical cellphones or something would you?" Ethan questioned with a half smile. The bear hummed in thought and looked around the room, eventually zeroing In on the tile wall.
"What about here?" The bear pointed. Ethan blinked dumbly.
"That's a wall"
"...but it's also a keypad" freddy states, leaving Ethan confused.
"A keypad? On the wall?"
"Yes sir"
"...you know what? Why am I even questioning this?" Ethan raised his hands, sighed, then knelt over to the spot where he bear pointed. Reading the tiles like a keypad he hovered a hand over where three would be and pushed, to his surprise there was a quiet click. "Well I'm an idiot! Never should have doubted you Freddy." The bear smiled proudly as Ethan put in the rest of the code on his arm.
Not long after Ethan's world went black.
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Ethan opened his eyes to find himself on stage, to his side he found a large golden bear animatronic, and a slightly smaller bunny animatronic, below him were kids in the audience smiling.
"Okay, I didn't prepare anything and I suck at standup." Ethan joked. But he didn't get any reaction. It seemed like the animatronics didn't even recognize he was there. "Uh... hello?" The man waved a hand in front of the bear but it remained the same. "Weird..." Ethan mumbled while hopping off stage. "Guess I'm on my own this time, now where would a hidden wall be?" He hummed in thought as he ran a hand along the brown walls of the room, eventually he found a spot where his hand fell though. "Bingo!" He jumped through the wall, landing not far below. "Wait no bottomless void? Okay you won't hear me complaining." Ethan shrugged with a tired smile and walked forward, only to stop confused when he was back where he started, just on the other side. "Wait hold on what?" Ethan walked forward again and the same thing happened. "Oh no.. is this looping?" Ethan tried to go forward again but was stopped, "oh thank god it's not a loop." He gratefully sighed, but now there was another problem. "So, a maze then?" Ethan walked over to the brown box containing the mini scene from earlier, still playing on without a care in the world. "God, I suck at mazes" Ethan grumbled while looking around the box, he spotted some areas that jutted out like climbing rocks, Ethan felt like he knew what that meant. "Should have warn better climbing shoes... no wait I don't think it would have mattered, ghost world uniform" he looked down at his outfit, it was a dressy shirt and long pants and shoes, he silently hoped it wouldn't get ruined as he grabbed onto the wall and started climbing. Once at the top he saw one of the boxes from before, he also saw that there were some above him.
"...oh dear god That's a big maze" he whispered. After jumping around boxes for several minutes Ethan held up his hands and sat down. "Okay! I give up, I'm lost." He dipped his head in defeat. "I don't think I can find the exit either, shit" he swore under his breath. Just as he was considering accepting his new life In some ghost limbo something tapped his shoulder, the man whipped around so fast he heard his neck crack. He looked up to find a purple rabbit looking at him with wide eyes.
"Oh dear! Didn't mean to scare you." They smiled apologetically as the man scrambled to stand up.
"Uh, it's fine I was just- didn't think anyone was here" this got a laugh out of the rabbit.
"Need a hand?" They offered holding a hand out to them. The man hesitated, then nodded and took it. "Yes please." The bunny grinned and pulled Ethan along, back down the side, through some rooms, up again, and back into the stage room where the rabbit paused. Ethan was out of breath trying to keep up with the quick purple bunny, when he finally looked up he saw what the rabbit was focused on.
One of the kids was gone.
"Ethan, do you think bad people deserve a second chance?" They asked suddenly, catching the man off guard.
"Uh what?"
"A second chance, do you think even the worst people deserve it?" They looked towards him, a solemn look on their face. Ethan paused, humming in thought.
"Uh, well I can't speak for everyone... but if you ask me, I think if they want to change and activity try to... I think they deserve that chance." This answer seemed to cheer up the bunny, who once again took his hand.
"Thanks. Let's go find that kiddo" the bunny smiled it's usual grin and once again pulled Ethan along. Soon they were standing across from an empty room, Ethan could spot a greyed out kid huddled inside. "This is your stop Ethan. Bye bye" the bunny waved and before Ethan could thank them they were gone.
The man blinked a few times. "Uh, thanks?" He sighed, holding his hands up the cake appeared in his palms, he gripped the edges and made the final jump over. The kid looked up at him, it was a younger boy with a plaid dress shirt and long pants, just covering his black shoes. His hair was short and styled onto one side. Ethan gave a kind smile. "Heya kiddo, sorry I'm late I'm terrible with directions" the kid was quiet, looking up at Ethan then the cake. "Check it out! This ones made just for you, an entire cake!... I don't think I could finish it all, I'll be honest with you" he joked getting a small laugh from the kid, who made grabby hands for the cake. Ethan kneeled down and handed it over to the waiting child. Moments later his eyes lit up, as if he realized something. He gasped and grinned up to the man.
"Sir Ethan!" The kid jumped up and tacked the man into a hug, Ethan barely caught himself before falling back. He laughed, "hey! Give a man a warning before you do that uh... freddy?" Ethan tilted his head.
"Gabriel! My name's gabriel sir!" The kid grinned happily.
"Gabriel's a good name." Ethan nodded, the little boy laughed happily.
And Ethan's world went black.
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Ethan woke up back at his desk, he blinked and yawned, feeling more tired than usual.
"Maybe all this shit is finally catching up with me?@ he mumbled while checking the time.
2AM
"Got the big stuff out early huh? That's a first" he chuckled while stifling another yawn. He jumped when a familiar pirate jumped out and exclaimed
"Ethan lad! We got ourselves a situation!" Ethan tiredly looked up at the fox. "Hm? What's up captain?" He said rubbing his eyes.
"We lost track of the Springcracken, and we have a hunch that Balloon lad be in cahoots with em' this time."
Ethan nodded, showing he acknowledged the sentence, but honestly he just didn't seem to be that worried. He picked up the tablet and cycled though, spotting the other phantoms scattered about, but no B.B.
"Lad did ye hear me? Ye could be in some real danger tonight!" The fox phases through the window to put his face near the other man's.
"Huh? Oh uh yah yah, heard you loud and clear captain." Ethan nodded. Phantom foxy squinted at the Man and asked. "How much sleep have ye been gettin lately?"
"Uh you know... some..." Ethan gave a tired smile. He switched cameras and suddenly noticed something familiar. BB was uncomfortably close to the camera. Ethan swore quietly and tried to click away but it was too late suddenly phantom B.B. jumped from the screen with a screech, startling Ethan enough that he fell back and dropped the tablet.
"Laddie!" Phantom foxy exclaimed as Ethan rubbed the back of his head. Alarms were blaring and Ethan knew something was out, checking the other tablet mounted on the wall he saw two systems were out. He rebooted both but it took a long time. It's fine, Springtrap couldn't be that close anyway-
"MISTER NIGHT GUARD THE VENTS!" Phantom Mangle popped up behind the window with a screech. Ethan tried to reach for the tablet but Phantom B.B. jumped him again, screeching and causing Ethan to fall to the floor. Phantom foxy charged and grabbed the smaller phantom by the shirt with his good arm. "What ye be doin!? Tryin to kill the man??" The fox accused. B.B. grinned devilishly. "Oh I'm Not." The phantom laughed.
"He Is"
Ethan froze when he saw that Springtrap had crawled through the vents and was looming over Ethan. He tried to scoot away but the rotten rabbit was faster. He grabbed the guard by the scruff of his hoodie and slammed him against the wall, knocking the air out of his lungs and glasses off of his face. Mangle screamed, and phantom foxy tossed B.B. through the wall and tried to tackle Springtrap, but the phantom phases right through the rabbit. Ethan was pinned to the wall by the rabbit, who had a tight grip on his throat. The man vaguely heard foxy tell Mangle to go get the puppet, by Ethan don't listen. He was to focused on Springtrap and the rage burning behind his eyes. He wasn't sure what pushed him to do it, maybe the stress of the week was finally getting to him.
But Ethan laughed.
It was choked, as he could hardly fill his lungs, but he laughed in the rabbits face, which only seemed to make him angrier.
"Are you gunna kill me?" The man grinned, his tired expression looking more crazed and desperate. "Then do it already! I've got nothing keeping me here!" Ethan laughed manically, Springtrap stayed quiet. The man wasn't aware of phantom puppet not standing in the window, looking shocked and afraid. Ethan's grip on the rabbits arm tightened with one final challenge.
"Do it!"
Springtrap stayed silent, his hand tightened around the man's throat, as if at any moment it'd snap tighter and cut off the air completely.
But...
All at one the simple question Phantom Chica asked surfaced in his mind. 'Did you have a reason to kill us?' It bothered him, why was it bothering him? He had the annoying night guard right where he wanted him! This is what he wanted wasn't it? To have the man squirming under his grip as the life faded from his eyes?
Then why did it feel wrong all of a sudden?
Was it because...
All at once the anger drained, Springtrap widened his eyes as if seeing what he was really doing for the first time. He dropped the man, who crumbled into the floor while coughing and gasping for air. Springtrap stepped back, almost horrified. What was he doing? He looked at the man one last time. Then quickly left the room, refusing to look at any of the phantoms he passed.
Phantom puppet watched wide eyed as he disappeared around the corner, she wasn't sure she really just witnessed that. But she didn't have time to question it as her priority was with Ethan. She quickly floated over to him.
"Ethan! Are you alright?" She asked, placing her hand on his shoulder, she wasn't physical but Ethan definitely felt the cold ghost touch him. He took a few deep breaths, looking surprised. Then he smiled, it was an excited, genuine expression as he laughed once again. Unlike before this laugh was filled with relief, joy, and maybe shock. "Ethan? What's wrong? Speak to me."
"Oh my god! He has a chance!" He laughed, much to the phantoms confusion.
"What? Ethan you're in shock, you're talking nonsense" phantom puppet wondered if he should call himself an ambulance. The man calmed from his laughing fit finally and chuckled.
"Hehe, ha, hoo... I'm tired" he mumbled before leaning over and falling to the floor. The phantom puppet was worried he might have dropped dead then and there if not for the soft snoring he was making.
"Did the laddie pass out from shock?" Phantom foxy, who had been watching the scene unfold while standing next to the desk, questioned. Puppet tried to wake him up with her cold ghost puppet hands but he seemed to be out like a log.
"I...I think he might need this" she sighed, looking up to phantom foxy she ordered. "Go ask and see if anyone else has found where Springtrap and B.B. have run off to. I'll stay with the night guard." Phantom foxy nodded and with an, aye captain! He ran off. Phantom puppet looked down at the sleeping, disheveled nightguard and sighed. She lightly pet through his hair in an attempt to comfort the man. "I'm sorry to have put you through all of this Ethan. I won't be able to thank you enough for everything you've done" to her surprise, nobody came to visit for them for several hours.
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"What Was That All About!?" Phantom B.B. crossed his arms, glaring at the slumped over animatronic in front of him. Springtrap had retreated to the basement after he ran, he was huddled in the corner and was silent. "You Had Him Right There! Why'd You Just Let Him Live!???" The boy demanded, he was frustrated, so close to some good old fashioned chaos. But then Springtrap just messed it up! When the rabbit refused to answer the phantom huffed and continued. "Don't Tell Me You're Going Soft On Me? You? Of All People!" Finally the animatronic looked up, gave a small glare and grumbled.
"Leave me alone..." phantom Bebe raised his hands and growled.
"Fine Then! This Partnership Is Over Anyway! Have Fun In Your Little Pity Party!" Phantom B.B. stuck his tongue out and disappeared leaving the robot alone. Springtrap slowly rested his head in his hands, all the anger that had built up over the years seemed to vanish.
All that was left was a feeling of dread and a sickening realization; he had no idea why he was so blood thirsty to begin with.
And now it was gone.
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Ethan woke up stiff and cold on the office floor. His neck and back hurt terribly and his vision was blurry without his glasses.
But the phantoms in front of him were very clear, oddly enough.
"Sir Ethan!"
"Oh thank goodness you're okay!"
"Foxy And Mangle told us what happened, is everything alright?"
"PLEASE DONT DIE MISTER NIGHT GUARD!"
"Everyone! Please calm down, you'll overwhelm him!" Phantom puppet tried to calm the others, but the rest of the phantoms (sans B.B.) were frantic and worried about the hooded man. Ethan blinked surprised, still groggy and asked the first thing that came to mind.
"Has anyone seen my glasses?" His voice was rough, but the phantoms understood him. Mangle scooted aside to gesture to where his glasses sat, one of the lenses was cracked. He reached over and sat up, carefully putting them on, one side was still okay so he could drive home. 'That's good,' he thought 'not sure what I'd do if I couldn't drive.' The phantoms were still hectically asking questions, wanting to make sure Ethan was alright. The man eventually calmed them when he reassured he was alright, if a little sore. They all paused when the bell rung for the end of the shift, Ethan shakily pushed himself to his feet. "Well, uh, that's my cue." He tried to excuse himself but soon found it clear the phantoms didn't indent for him to go home alone the man found himself stuck. "Uh, guys I'll be alright. Besides aren't you stuck in the building?"
"I DONT CARE I WANNA MAKE SURE YOURE SAFE!!" Mangle screeched and the others nodded. Phantom puppet cleared her throat. "Not everyone can go with him. But if it will help ease your minds, I'll follow him home." She volunteered, which seemed to help pacify the other spirits. Ethan shakily grabbed his things. "Okay, So uh... ready to go?"
"One moment" the puppet said, suddenly Ethan felt a cold chill up his spine, but soon after phantom puppet was next to him. She nodded showing she was ready, and the man left the building and the other phantoms behind.
And soon he drove home.
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To say it was weird knowing a ghost was following you is an understatement. There was an unsettling feeling of being watched constantly, and even though he knew Phantom Puppet wasn't going to hurt him, it was weird. Once home he offered to turn on the tv for her. She eventually settled on the local news Chanel, Ethan wasn't sure why but hey he wasn't going to judge what a ghost wanted to watch.
"Uh, I'm going to get changed and cleaned up." He stated, phantom puppet nodded and sat on the couch. "I'll be back in a minute or two." He excused himself and went to the bathroom to check the damage. After removing the two layers of shirts he saw new bruises already forming from where he was grabbed, Ethan hissed slightly when he poked it. "Yah, that's gunna leave a mark" he mumbled. He still had the Aspirin bottom from that morning on his sink so he took a few more pills and washed his face. He was exhausted, even after that power nap earlier. So he just changed into his usual pajamas and trudged back into the living room. He grabbed a snack bar from the counter before sitting across from the ghost puppet to eat it. Both sat in silence for a long moment before the phantom spoke.
"Ethan," Ethan knew that tone. The tone of a parent who isn't mad, but disappointed. He wasn't going to like this conversation.
"Yea?" He tried to remain casual.
"What happened back there?" She asked, Ethan tried to play it off. "Oh I just slipped up, my mistake won't happen again-"
"Ethan when I found you, you were trying to get him to kill you. You can't just shrug THAT off." She crosses her arms. Ethan tried to shrink into the couch.
"Oh... uh... I might have had some previous issues that Uh... surfaced in the heat of the moment." He quietly admits. The puppet's expression turned from something resembling mild anger to pity, "oh Ethan..."
I mean I'm trying to work on it! I just Uh.... haven't gotten around to that therapist appointment yet..." he mumbles even quieter. Phantom puppet rubbed the bridge of her mask where he nods would be and sighed. "My meddling surely hasn't helped either has it?"
"Uh, honestly you asking me for help has been the most I've done this month. So... thanks?" He shrugged. "I knew the stakes, and yet you still got hurt. I'm very sorry,"
"Don't worry about it, it's part of the job-"
"No don't brush this off, I should know better! I should have known better- god I don't want to break you like I did Fritz!" She exclaimed suddenly before covering her mask. Ethan silenced himself and glanced over. "...You didn't break him he just... disappeared..." he mumbled, before sighing and scooting closer. "Look I chose to get involved with this mess, even with my own issues. I'm not dropping out and I'm certainly too invested to just fuck off to Canada." She glanced up and Ethan grinned. "Besides I've got another thing keeping me involved now." The puppet tilted her head. "And what would that be?"
"I think I can help Old Springy there too" The man grinned. He seemed to genuinely believe this, to the puppet surprise. But given what she witnessed... she nodded. "I wish you luck then."
Ethan nodded and took another bite of his snack bar.
"Also Ethan, I'm going to insist you get a full meal tomorrow and plenty of rest, last thing I want is you passing out again." The man laughed and nodded.
"Whatever you say Mom."
The spent the rest of the time chatting before Ethan went to bed, at the puppets insistence of coarse. Soon enough he was curled up in bed and drifted off into sleep.
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Ethan opened his eyes to find himself already in the past pizzeria. The shadow bear in front of him looking at his watch.
"What a surprise! You're early for once" he snapped his pocket watch closed and looked up at the bear.
"Yah had a rough day, puppet insisted I sleep in so here I am"
"Good, if there's time we can chat" the bear nodded while walking towards the message wall room. Ethan followed. "So uh... what was those orb things I saw last time?" He asked, the bear easily explained.
"Remnant. Energy spawned by ghosts during high emotional situations." He explained smoothly. "Anything possessed has the capacity to spawn some, usually passively, but it can spawn in waves during someone's death...assuming its tragic enough"
"Neat" Ethan nodded before asking.  "I'm not going to be tested on this will I?" This got a short laugh from the bear.
"No, I don't believe so" soon they were at the wall, and there was just an image of a bunny painted on it. Ethan questioned what it meant before remembering the purple shadow bunny that helped him in the maze. "That shadow bunny?"
"Ah you've met them already? Good that makes things easier" the bear nodded before motioning for Ethan to follow him. The man did, and soon they passed foxys cove. The fox hopped off before also following the conga line of death.
"So... is this the last memory? There aren't any other robots for that purple guy to destroy" Ethan asked which cases the bear to chuckle and shake his head. "No, there is one more after this." He answered, but refused to say more. Ethan just watched while the purple mane appeared and struck foxy with the axe, taking him apart.
"God this guy has issues." He mumbled, casing the bear to look at him.
"And you don't?"
"Touché" Ethan gave the bear a finger gun before the edges of the world faded.
"Our time together is coming to an end Night guard" the bear suddenly spoke. "Soon the time will come to use the knowledge you've been given of the past. I hope you will make a good decision" the bear warned before turning and leaving.
And Ethan's world went black.