Mike stopped counting after a while.
It didn't matter anymore. Die or survive—the clock always reset to 12:00 AM.
Over and over and over again.
But something changed.
Tall and transparent. Red eyes glowing in the darkness. Rows of sharp teeth gleaming under the flickering light.
Nightmare.
Mike knew it instantly. One of his father's creations. Built to collect agony by making people scared.
The hallucination fractured.
The office walls shattering like glass. Fredbear and Spring Bonnie flickered, their forms glitching. Garrett's voice cut out mid-sentence.
Nightmare's red eyes stared directly at Mike.
Then everything went dark.
Mike woke suddenly.
His eyes snapped open. He blinked, trying to focus.
He wasn't in the office anymore.
He was lying on the ground—cold concrete beneath him. The morning sun visible from behind the trees.
He was outside.
Mike looked around.
The building loomed behind him—Circus Baby's Entertainment and Rental.
But he was on the ground now. Outside.
Then he saw them.
The Nightmares.
Yenndo and Bonnet stood off to the side, yellow eyes locked on the Nightmares. Yenndo's frame was tense, ready. Bonnet peeked out from behind him.
"You're awake," Nightmare said, voice low and deliberate. "Good."
Mike pulled himself to his feet, swaying slightly. "How long was I out?"
"A few minutes," Nightmare replied. "In the real world, at least. I suspect it felt much longer to you."
"What are you guys doing here?" Mike asked, voice rough. "I thought he deactivated you guys before I first started working here."
Nightmare said. "We were but somehow something or someone activated us."
Mike's mind raced. "When?"
"Minutes ago. We woke in the facility—still underground. Then we sensed you. Your fear."
"And you just... helped me?"
"When we arrived, you were unconscious. Surrounded by the gas. The one next to you was trying to pull you out."
"And we teleported you out."
Mike didn't ask how. He'd seen stranger things.
The Nightmares disappeared, teleporting away.
Mike stared at the empty space for a moment, then turned to Yenndo and Bonnet.
"Let's go," he said.
Yenndo and Bonnet sat in the back, causing the car to shake slightly when they did.
"So, um... who were they?" she asked. "They looked really scary."
"Nightmares," Mike said, starting the engine. "My dad built them for a side project. They were designed to collect agony."
"Oh." Bonnet paused. "Are they... nice?"
"I don't know," Mike said honestly. "But they helped us. That's enough for now."
"Why did they disappear?" Bonnet asked.
"No idea."
"Are they coming back?"
"No idea."
"I still find what happened back there strange," Mike said quietly. "According to Nightmare it seems like someone was there, waiting to activate the gas and the Nightmares to use them against us. But things didn't go according to plan."
The drive home felt longer than it should have. Mike's mind kept replaying the loops. Garrett's voice. *You killed me.*
He pushed the thought away. Focus on what's next. He needed to get the remnant to Jeremy.
When Mike pulled into his driveway, he noticed movement in the windows.
He unlocked the front door and stepped inside.
And there they were—all the Nightmares.
He sighed.
Bonnet's eyes lit up. "Ooh! They're here!"
Closing the door behind him, he rubbed his face. "My house is not an animatronic daycare."
Nightmare Bonnie turned his head slightly. "We have nowhere else to go and you were the only logical choice and we certainly aren't staying underground for rest of eternity."
"Why didn't you guys teleport us home?" Mike asked.
"Because you would have left your car behind," Nightmare Bonnie replied.
"You could have brought that too."
Nightmare Bonnie didn't say anything.
He walked over to his computer and turned it on, pulling the USB drive from his jacket pocket. He plugged it into the monitor.
The screen flickered to life. Lolbit's face appeared, glitching slightly before stabilizing.
"Finally," she said through the speakers. "We're out of that place. Although it would have been better to have a physical body."
"Don't get ahead of yourself," he said. "It was hard enough getting you guys out."
"Who are these guys?" Lolbit asked, her digital eyes scanning the room through the webcam.
"Your new roommates," Mike said.
Mike started to walked toward his room to change out of these torn clothes. Opening the closet, he looked down to see Nightmare Foxy as a plushie, already getting comfortable. He ignored him, took his clothes, and closed the closet.
He headed back with the others. He glanced around the room. Bonnet was chatting excitedly with the three Freddles, Nightmare Balloon Boy, and Nightmare Cupcake. Yenndo stood near Nightmare, both despite being the quiet type got along with eachother. Lolbit was telling jokes to Nightmare Chica and Nightmare Bonnie through the speakers.
Mike sighed. "Look. I'm going out for a bit. Stay here and don't break anything."
"Where are you going?" Lolbit asked.
"Hospital," Mike said, grabbing a different jacket. "I'll be back."
The hospital is busy as always, injured people coming and going.
He made his way down the familiar hallways, past the nurses' station, toward Jeremy's room.
Mike pushed the door open.
Jeremy lay in the hospital bed, motionless. Bandages wrapped around his head. Machines beeped steadily, monitoring vitals.
Mike stepped inside and closed the door behind him.
He pulled the remnant injector from his bag and put one vial of remnant into it.
Mike approached the bed slowly, hands steady despite everything.
"You know, I always wished I could make up for what I did all those years ago," he said quietly. "That's why I'm not letting you die like Garrett did. This is my chance to help someone."
He paused, looking at Jeremy's bandaged head.
"I know I didn't do this to you. But he is the reason. And that makes it my responsibility."
He rolled up Jeremy's sleeve and injected him.
The remnant glowed faintly as it entered Jeremy's bloodstream—silver light pulsing beneath the skin for just a moment.
He put away the injector and the now-empty vial. Looking back at Jeremy one more time, he spoke quietly. "I hope you get better soon."
Then he left the hospital, making his way back home.
Walking in, everyone was getting along. He paid no attention to them and went to his room after putting his stuff away. It had been quite the interesting night—from meeting Charlie and the other souls, to meeting those three underground, to then encountering the Nightmares.
Some time passed. Jeremiah tried to sue Fazbear Entertainment for what happened to Jeremy, but was unsuccessful. They claimed he got too close and the animatronic malfunctioned. Jeremy ended up dying. It was unclear why the remnant didn't help heal him. After Jeremy's death, Jeremiah disappeared completely. Mike hadn't heard from him in a while.