Left Behind

Chapter 13

Michael Afton was a man of many names, Foxy Mask, Eggs Benedict, Lilac Bastard, even Fritz Smith for a while until the actual Fritz came back to reclaim his name. But Mike Schmidt had always been his favorite.

Mike Schmidt was known as a chipper man with a timid smile and a dark sense of humor. He wasn't burdened by his hand in his younger brother's premature death, or all the grievances his father had knowingly caused. He didn't stare in the mirror at the too-wide smile he'd inherited from his father or grip his chest for fear that the stitches would one day pop and his insides would spill out again. Mike Schmidt wasn't Michael Afton because Mike had people to care for where Michael didn't.

Mike had Jeremy and Fritz, two people he'd grown to consider his closest friends in the hellish world they lived in. Mike had Ennard who, admittedly, wasn't his first choice of a roommate considering what happened in Afton Robotics, and even Evan despite all that had happened between them. Michael on the other hand had had no one but his soap operas to keep him company, and that was not a life Mike would ever be willing to go back to.

To Mike, Michael was gone. He'd died in the family diner watching his brother's head fracture between metal jaws, then again in the hospital listening to the heart monitor flatline as his father left the room with little more than a glare his way. He'd died in the scooping room by his sisters' hands. He died on the sidewalk puking what remained of his insides out into the sewer He died piecing together conversations between his brother and a stranger inside of his old logbook, and finally, in a fire with his family by his side listening to Henry as he damned them all to hell.

Michael Afton had died, multiple times in fact, but Mike Schmidt lived on, and he wasn't about to give his father's company any more time of day than he already had...

Or so he had thought.

                                        o0o

Mike grumbled to himself as he stared at the warehouse in front of him, frown deepening behind his face mask as the one and only Freddy Fazbear loomed down at him with a borderline threatening grin, the flickering LEDs only adding to the place's natural unease. A series of clatters came from the building as he closed his car door, and he groaned in annoyance. "Yeah, I get it, this is a terrible idea that's going to get me killed again. What else is new?" He snarked in response, absentmindedly flipping off the Freddy sign as he stormed up to the building.

Testing the door, he wasn't all that surprised when it opened with ease, Fazbears didn't really need to worry about security when they had packs of homicidal robots on the prowl after all.

Rooting through the bag he'd brought along for a flashlight, Mike did a quick once over of the area, expecting to find animal tracks or the frightened faces of some dumb teenagers who thought it was a smart idea to break into the local abandoned building for shits and giggles. Surprisingly enough, the place was relatively clean.

And not in the 'recently bleached and sterilized' kind of way either. There were a few messes scattered around, a pile of what looked to be random parts next to the door, a box that'd been knocked off its shelf, and was that a taser next to some of the old props?

Finally, Mike's eyes adjusted to the darkness enough to pick out a mash of lights behind one of the shelves, he used the slight traces of light to outline the figure in the darkness, and- Mike jolted as they bolted out from their hiding place, running towards the back of the building only to stop in an awkward flurry of movement when they realized it was a dead end.

Thinking quick Mike ripped his arm back out from his bag, uncaring for whatever fell out as he leaped for the taser he'd spotted just moments ago. It fit perfectly in his hand as he lifted himself up to his feet just in time to be slammed into by the other and sent spiraling to the ground. Reflexively, he gripped onto one of their limbs, yanking it roughly until the came crashing down again.

He took advantage of their disorientation, scrambling back to his feet and quickly taking in the person in front of him. Glowing white eyes stared back at him from beneath their hood, highlighting the plastic of their face. Mike didn't dare to hesitate as he shoved the taser into their side.