Jeremy gets distracted by a tangled Mangle

	Jeremy sat in his chair, bored out of his mind. His eyes lazily drifted across his desk, barely registering the crumpled papers and dolls resting on it. Out of the corner of his eyes he could see the posters and drawings hanging on the walls, their colors popping out from the gray walls. The gentle whirring of the fan was breaking the night’s silence, lulling Jeremy even further into his stupor.  The familiar weight of the Freddy mask rested atop his head.

	Stretching his legs, Jeremy sighed and picked up his tablet and absentmindedly cranked the music box. It had been hours since his shift had started, and nothing had happened. It had taken three hours for the toy bots to even get off the show stage, and they seemed content to wander from party room to party room. Balloon Boy was still standing next to the carousel, the old models were staying confined to the service room, and Mangle still lay in a heap in Kid’s Cove where the children had left her. Jeremy felt a small twinge of sympathy for the animatronic. The closing crew had mentioned to him in passing that the restaurant had just made it through one of the busiest days they had ever had. He had arrived just as they were finishing up, which spoke of just how hectic the day had been. Usually they were done long before he clocked in.

	Systematically going through the cameras, Jeremy scratched at his face. Sure, it was nice not having to fight for his life, but a little bit of excitement wouldn’t hurt. The boredom was almost as bad as the frantic pattern of flashing, vent checking, box cranking, and mask wearing. Frowning lightly, confusion filtered through the haze in Jeremy’s mind. He checked the cameras again. The scrapped robots were still in the service room, as lifeless as they were at midnight. However, the active models were gone from all of the party rooms and Balloon Boy was gone from his usual spot. Jeremy checked the vents only to find them empty. The same was true of the hallway in front of him.

	Jeremy fought down the rising panic and went through the cameras once more. It was only when he checked the Kid’s Cove that he found the missing bots. Leaning back in his chair, Jeremy looked on confused. He had never seen all of the performers gathered in one place like this. He squinted down at the fuzzy screen and turned on the room’s light.  There the performers stood, surrounding the collapsed form of Mangle.

Getting a good look at the situation, Jeremy felt sympathy towards Mangle once more. The kids had really done a number on it. The endoskeleton was in a worse state than he had ever seen it in before. The spine was tangled up in a knot and Mangle’s limbs squeezed in as many gaps as possible. Even the few costume pieces that normally remained were gone, scattered around the room.

As Jeremy continued watching, the toy bots surrounding Mangle began to move. Jeremy’s eyes were drawn to Toy Chica as it bent over and grabbed one end of Mangle’s body. Tearing his eyes away from her, Jeremy looked to Toy Bonnie as it too moved to stand over Mangle. With a small shove from Toy Bonnie and a sharp yank from Toy Chica, one of Mangle’s limbs came free. It wildly waved through the air before shuddering to a stop and slowly falling to rest on the floor. Toy Freddy started helping as well, grabbing another limb and beginning the process of extracting it.

While the bots were busy, Jeremy switched cameras to crank the music box. Upon finishing, Jeremy changed back and looked on as the entertainers worked to untangle the complicated knot that was Mangle. Balloon Boy wedged his sign into an empty space and leveraged another one of Mangle’s limbs free. Jeremy sat in his chair absorbed in the task the animatronics were performing. It wasn’t all that interesting, to be honest, but it was the first time all night anything at all had happened. Toy Bonnie and Toy Freddy were working together to untie the knot that Mangle’s spine had been tied in while Toy Chica walked around the room collecting parts of Mangle’s costume.

A triumphant burst of static accompanied the completion of the task. Balloon Boy let out a “Hello!” upon seeing Mangle untangled and then wandered off. Toy Chica followed Mangle as it began to climb up to the ceiling. The yellow animatronic began to put Mangle’s costume back once it reached the top and began hanging. The other Toy Bots slowly plodded out of the room.

A thump sounded through the office. Jumping in his seat, Jeremy tore his eyes from the tablet only to freeze in terror. Arms stretched out to either side and mouth agape, Chica stood mere feet from him. Jeremy scrambled to move the Freddy mask down over his face. Once the mask was in place, he peered through the eyeholes. Breathing heavily, he hoped he had been fast enough. As Chica stared him down, Jeremy stayed completely still. He started to panic. Why had the animatronic not left yet?

It was at that moment that the clock chimed. Jeremy slumped over in his chair in relief. Chica slowly turned around and walked back to the service room. After the colossal yellow robot had left his sight, Jeremy tore off the mask and exhaled loudly. He berated himself in his mind for wishing for more excitement. Placing the Freddy mask on the desk, Jeremy got up and stretched. He walked over to the bathroom down the hall. After that scare he needed it. Washing up once he was done, he went back to his office sat down. As much as he wanted to leave and go home, he couldn’t. Rubbing his eyes, Jeremy wished to himself that he had gotten more sleep the day before. He would need all the help he could get. After all, he had to watch over a birthday party on the day shift.