How Am I Supposed to Live Laugh Love in These Conditions?

Chapter 1

The day was over, and Bonnie couldn't seem to keep himself occupied in his green room. He felt far more anxious than normal, unable to keep his mind from racing, his leg bouncing rapidly up and down as he tried to relax on his couch. It was less than half an hour after close, but he needed to walk around. It wouldn't hurt anything if he left his room to go clear his thoughts, right?

He stepped out of his green room and found himself strolling in the direction of the atrium. Normally he would spend the nights with Freddy, always enjoying spending time with the big bear, but he had opted to be alone this time.

Bonnie sighed when he stopped in front of the stage. He knew what the human staff and the company had been planning. How could he not? They were going to replace him with one of the newest animatronics, a gator named Montgomery. Bonnie had nothing against the guy, he knew it wasn't his fault that he would be the replacement, but he couldn't help but feel slightly bitter about the situation. Bonnie had been performing alongside Freddy and Chica since the Pizzaplex opened. It was hard to imagine himself not by their side, performing for their fans.

At least he would still have Bonnie Bowling. He didn't know what he would do if the company took that away from him. Outside of his green room, the alley was his safe space, always helping him feel as close as he can to content and relaxed.

Bonnie didn't realize how long he had been standing in front of the stage until he checked his internal clock, reading that it was already 2:35 a.m. He sighed once more, figuring it was time to head over to Freddy's room, when he heard something strange.

Three sets of footsteps walking across the second floor.

Thanks to the emptiness of the Pizzaplex at night, he spotted the source within seconds. An adult figure in a rabbit costume led a small boy and girl into the East Arcade.

Thanks to how soft the bottom of his feet were, his footsteps were not nearly as loud as Freddy's, and he was able to get up there without bringing attention to himself. Unfortunately, once he reached the entrance of the East Arcade, he had lost sight of them. He silently wandered around inside for what felt like forever, trying to figure out where they disappeared to, when he heard muffled cries coming from the back room on the other end of the hall. He went over and pushed open the door, seeing the two children huddled in the corner, trembling and crying.

"Oh my goodness, are y'all alright? You shouldn't be here this late, where are your parents?" Bonnie crouched near them, slowly reaching towards the small boy, and gently removed his hands from his face so that he could scan them easier. There was a bruise forming on the child's cheek, and Bonnie did his best to smile reassuringly, looking over at the girl and reaching out to her. She set her hand in his paw after a moment, and he scanned them both.

They both seemed to be minimally injured, just the bruise on the boy's cheek and a cut on the girl's arm. After looking through their records and finding their parent's numbers, he decided to take them over to Vanessa's security office until they could be picked up.

"Y'all's party ended quite a while ago. I'm gonna take you over to the security office so that we can call your parents, 'kay? You're safe now, Superstars," he whispered. The little girl smiled at Bonnie shyly before glancing behind him and letting out a shriek. She wrapped herself around her brother as Bonnie spun around.

His vision immediately became distorted, error messages flashing briefly, but he could tell that it was the figure from before. It was a woman in a stitched bunny costume with a knife in one hand and a glowing red button in the other. He stood slowly and spread his arms in an attempt to shield the children, and shook his head in order to kickstart a quick recalibration. Unfortunately, it did very little, so he was forced to squint and glare down at the white rabbit.

"I don't know who the hell you are, but you better set that knife down before we have a real problem," he growled out, glancing around for an object he could use to defend himself and the kids.

The woman only giggled and lifted the hand holding the button, thumb extended. "Bonnie... oh dear, you weren't supposed to come up here." She laughed once more, thumb dragging along the edge of the red button. "Such a shame, especially because of what I've heard about you," she hissed.

Bonnie's brows furrowed and his glare deepened. "What are you talking about?"

"Well, I heard you're being replaced!" she exclaimed, obvious glee in her voice, and pushed down on the glowing red button.

For a moment, time stood still. His vision darkened around the edges, and his stance relaxed, arms falling limp against his sides as he stood up a bit straighter. His feet lead him out of the room and the arcade, unable to react to the shrill screams the children let out as he left.

Before he knew it, he entered a dim room decorated like a jungle. His footsteps were silent against the fake grass and he advanced through the room. There was suddenly a long and thin piece of steel in his grasp, and he moved silently through the area, not thinking about what exactly he was searching for.

Red and green flooded his vision, and he swung the steel on instinct, the weapon making a sickening metal crunch against his target. Error messages clouded his vision further, but he paid them no mind.

He couldn't stop swinging.

"-nnie! The hell are you doing?!"

Shouting was picked up by his sensors, but he didn't listen, simply continuing to swing the metal in all sorts of directions.

A claw grabbed onto his arm, and a fist came in contact with his jaw.

He kept swinging.

His arm was ripped off. The wires were exposed, sparks flying. His body was trembling. His name was being shouted into his ear, sounding desperate and afraid.

Bonnie fell to the ground, and the steel was knocked from his fists. He stared up at whoever he had been hitting, but he couldn't truly see them. All he could see was a shadow, dark and threatening.

He leapt forward, fist coming in contact with the body of his target.

He was pushed, and his legs were torn from his body. Error messages rapidly flashed in his vision. He was going to die, and there was nothing he could do to stop himself.

Everything went black as his faceplate was ripped off and his eyes disconnected from the rest of his head, falling somewhere on the ground. He could only move his arm and ears, his lower jaw dangling uselessly.

Bonnie collapsed, powering down, his sensors clearing long enough to hear familiar, obnoxiously loud metallic footsteps racing towards him.

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Hey, all! I originally posted this on AO3, but I decided to also post the current chapters here.
Dealing with some personal stuff in my life, so updates will take a bit, but I promise I won't abandon this fic lol.
Lemme know what y'all think! Comments are always appreciated