Anti-Hero

• Chapter 7 •

Monty stared at himself in the mirror. He had gotten everything he wanted.

They had just repaired him to be a Glamrock. He was moved into Bonnie's old greenroom. This was a dream come true, Monty was not about to complain!

But why did it not feel good, though? Why did this not feel like a win?

Monty turned to the sound of his door opening. A security guard walked in.

"You're going to be on for your first show in ten minutes, but come a few minutes earlier so we could fill you in." They stated. Monty nodded as they closed the door again. He glanced back at his reflection.

He was still not very strong on the bass, and he couldn't sing or dance whatsoever. He was only chosen to replace Bonnie because they never found his body and couldn't afford to make a new animatronic. Monty brushed those thoughts off. Things would go great. They had to.

He picked up his bass and paused at the sight of the glasses on the table.

Bonnie had given them to him, but now he grew hesitant to wear them. He feared ruining all he had left of Bonnie... but it was given to him.

He thought for a moment longer before deciding to leave it. The band was barely given time to recover from the loss. Wearing those glasses could make them upset. This would be their first performance without Bonnie. When Monty stepped out of his greenroom, he overheard two security members talking at the end of the hall. He only recognized Vanessa since he had heard of her from the others.

"He won't get out of his room." The officer said. They were speaking outside of Freddy's greenroom, so it was safe to assume who they were talking about.

"Make him come out! He's not king around here. He has a job to do!" Vanessa ordered. The officer nodded and left to get Freddy again.

When they made it to the stage, no one was speaking or making eye contact.

Roxanne looked angered, and Chica was still on the verge of tears. Freddy was only glancing down, his face unreadable. A security guard rushed over to Monty, holding a phone.

"Ok, so Bonnie has two solos in this song, one at the very beginning and one by the end." They lifted the phone to show Monty the first solo.

Monty just stared as he heard Bonnie sing beautifully to open the show. Monty couldn't even sing at all.

"So, can you do that?" The guard questioned. Monty nervously shook his head.

The guard sighed and turned to Freddy. "Can you take that part then?"

Freddy only nodded, still not making eye contact.

"Fine, but you have to do the second solo. The bassist has to do it, and it's a very integral part of the song." They warned before showing him.

It was thankfully not singing, but rather a quite lengthy bass solo. It lasted around forty-eight counts and was very tricky to play. Monty laughed nervously and tried to politely say he couldn't do it, but the guard would not have any of it and left.

Two minutes to perform.

Freddy had taken over the first solo as requested. Things were going...as smooth as they could be, at least. Bonnie's second solo was nearing, and Monty didn't exactly remember how it was played. He also had noticeably less stage presence or confidence than Bonnie did.

It came sooner than expected, and when the others stopped playing for the solo, Monty jumped in.

The first few notes were rough, and the other bandmates noticed immediately and visibly cringed at it.

He was heating up rapidly in embarrassment and was frantically trying to play the notes but kept falling short.

Finally, Chica stepped in and took over the solo. It saved the show, and despite the mistake, it ended up being a success. As they stepped onto the platform to be lowered, Roxanne stormed over to him.

"What the hell happened?!" She growled. Monty held up his hands defensively.

"I-I don't know! I couldn't play it!"

Chica stepped in and placed a hand on Roxanne's shoulder.

"It's ok! Everyone makes mistakes." She reassured. The wolf crossed her arms and glared at him.

"Don't let it happen again." She warned. Freddy still had not said a word. When the platform lowered, everyone left silently, but Monty was stopped by Vanessa, who grabbed his arm.

"What was that?!' She demanded.

"I-I didn't know how to play! I got to hear it once before I performed, I forgot!" He justified.

"How much time did you need?! Bonnie could play a solo after reading the notes once!"

"B-but... I'm not Bonnie!" Monty tried.

"Well, that's obvious!" She snapped. "How much slower do you need this to be?!"

Monty began tearing up out of stress. He had no idea what to say. He jumped as he felt a large hand on his shoulder.

"What is going on here?" Freddy's voice spoke up. Vanessa turned to him.

"We were talking about how he messed up the show! He needs to work faster to learn the songs."

"Then I will handle this. It is not your job." The bear snapped. Monty had never heard him speak to security like that.

Vanessa seemed off-put, too. She huffed and stormed off, leaving the bear and the gator alone.

Monty turned to him, wide-eyed. "F-Freddy, I-" the bear lifted a hand to silence him.

"It is alright, it was your first show. Just try to do better next time." He said simply.  The bear turned to leave back to his greenroom again right after.