Job 1x3 - One Pissed Off Bird

"What about hide and seek tag?"

Just to make sure she wasn't charging after you, you take a look at the watch's location for Chica. She was indeed at that trash can, though Bonnie's icon was right beside her. You watch as the two icons slowly move towards the bakery. Looks like Bonnie saved you.

With a sigh you continue to the raceway. You weren't sure how pissed Chica was, but best-case scenario Roxanne would help. And even then, Bonnie could handle her. You stop at the Fazpad Cafe entrance. Like many other nights the lights in the cafe remained off. With quick check of your phone, you look through other ongoing issues in the plex, seeing if anything was wrong here.

Stolen phones, a STAFF bot or two malfunctioning, some criss-crossed wires, crosstalk, or other minor issues but nothing in the Fazpad. You continue on, going through the employee entrance that led to the walkway above Roxanne's domain.

Roxanne's area was the 'Raceway', named after her. One of the largest areas in the plex, it was effectively her 'home'. Its mainstay was a large go-kart course that she consistently dominated (even when staff asked her nicely to lose once in a while for the kids). Another section was stylized as a large sandbox, the likes of which were inspired by aliens and the 1947 Roswell crash. Kids would often dig, find 'treasure' [coupons for other things in the plex] and build sandcastles.

Surprisingly, cleaning sand out of the animatronics wasn't actually a problem. Of course, the gritty stuff could get stuck but like sand-in-clothing they could feel when there was a problem. And even then, getting the sand out was nothing a leafblower couldn't fix.

Currently, part of that area was under construction, Roxanne deciding she needed to spruce it up. She didn't care much for aliens, clearly. Though the Raceway was connected from the main hall you preferred the employee entrance. It gave you an aerial view of the area, giving you a look over at the whole enclosure.

Before you could take a step into the raceway however, something grabs your attention. A ping from your watch.

'The Avenger challenged you to a duel!', Chica wrote in a text. A second later another one came in, this time from Bonnie. 'It's true!'.

...A duel? Nevermind the raceway or Roxanne, you dial Chica on the fazwatch, video call.

"That's right, (Y/N)!" She declared without an introduction.

"Hihiihi, (Y/N)!" Bonnie shouted. He grabbed Chica's arm, putting himself in the video screen. He looked as he always did, a purple animatronic rabbit, though holding his face way too close to the screen to the point you couldn't make out anything but glowing purple eyes.

"Hey Bonnie." You replied. "(Y/N)! Did you see the muffins Chica baked for me? Ohhhh they're soo cool! They're gonna be so good in the clinic!" He said, cheerily. He spoke in his usual high-pitched, cartoony voice. He was always happy to see you.

"Yeah I-"

"Oh, you should try one! After the duel!"

"Okay, okay, what duel?"

"Move out of the way you big bunny." Chica said, pushing him out of the way. You could see Bonnie standing behind her, ogling the muffin like it were a jewel.

"I just spoke to the Avenger, and she said she challenged you to a duel! Said that you took my, I mean, her trash away, that she was, uh, going to throw out! And now we…she wants to make things even."

"You want me to duel the Avenger?"

Duel, as you understood meant take-10-paces-and-shoot, take-swords-and-stab-each-other or even joust. None of those sounded particularly inviting, let alone safe. Maybe she meant with the laser guns? Where did Chica even learn of 'duels'?

"Exactly! And since s he challenged you, she'll pick the battle."

"Chica I'm sorry about trash but-"

"No butts! She's challenged you to hide and seek!"

"Oh."

"Scared huh? You should be!"

When it came to Chica making demands, she couldn't help but sound juvenile. You never said anything, but it always came off ashumorous. At least, before she learned kung-fu.

"So, hide and seek, huh?"

"Yep!"

That sounded do-able. The animatronics were terrible at stealth anyways.

"What about hide and seek tag?" Bonnie suggested.

"That's even better! The Avenger is gonna wanna do that!"

And thus, what should have been a relatively harmless game of just sitting in one spot turned into a full-on chase. And after The Avenger proved how agile she was, catching her would be a challenge.

"I don't know about that." You mutter.

"So, what about it (Y/N)? Do you accept or are you a turkey?" Chica asked mockingly.

"Alright, fine." You agree, rationalizing that if you refused her, 'The Avenger' could have challenged you to something worse, like a kung-fu match. Guess Roxanne would have to wait. "Where do you want to do this?"

"In the maze!" She said dramatically, posing heroically, though through the screen just showed Bonnie waving to you.

You thought she had kicked the 'garbage addiction' but if she didn't perhaps this would help. "Alright. If I win, no more garbage. And if you win, I'll, uh, make you a pizza." You add quickly, hoping she doesn't realize those odds weren't equal.

Chica's eyes lit up. "The Avenger will like that! Deal then. Come over and we'll get started!"

"I'll referee!" Bonnie declared.

"Alright. I'll be over there in a minute." You sigh.

With a huff and a puff, you departed, backtracking your steps again to the bakery.

Now Playing...

Artist: Brothomstates

Song: Dekc

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oh51Nc8BWvg

She wanted the 'duel' in the 'mazercise'. The mazercise was a large area that Chica commanded and dominated. Stylized as a combination of a maze and fitness area it was originally just a place for kids to run around in. Those that completed the maze faster burnt calories and would get coupons to various foodstands in the plex.

Recently the area was enlarged and revitalized, giving the maze more space and adding some plex-branded exercise equipment, practically turning it into a gymnasium. It all came in a perfect storm: The Avenger's heroism, Chica's passion for exercise and imagery of a lone superhero leaping from rooftop to rooftop. All together it fused into one exercise that was added to the maze.

Parkour.

Under Chica's watch and some 'parkour experts' that the plex hired the area had turned into more of a playground than a regular maze. Bars and steps were placed all over to allow people to leap over walls, scale ledges and leap bounds. Though still planned you also heard she wanted pitfalls too (filled with balls...hopefully). Either way you stayed away from the maze, not needing that kind of exercise.

Strategically thinking, hiding be easy, especially at night...but if Chica saw you, outrunning her would be...difficult. You also imagine the thought that Roxanne would dominate this area too but the last thing you needed was to be chased by the wolf. Regardless, Chica had home-court advantage and knew the area inside and out. Hiding and keeping out of sight was the only path to victory.

The mazercise was located sandwiched between the bakery and Montgomery's area. Reaching it you see a large neon sign embossed into the wall reading MAZErcise, a subtitle displaying "Chica's delicious path to fitness!". A frosted glass window hid the view inside though the fact the lights weren't even on inside hid it even more. With a sigh you walk up the steps, reaching the entrance.

A carpeted floor of yellow music notes and stars stood below you as you approached. Bonnie and the Avenger were standing outside the entrance as you arrive, both eager to see you. There were a few security bots roaming around, though all knew who you were. They wouldn't be interfering here.

Thinking on it, you couldn't see how this could go wrong. Running from the Avenger was one thing but how could she possibly expect to hide? She had glowing eyes, and her servos and wires made noise even while she was idle. Plus, it was night, there wouldn't be anyone blaring music to mask her idle. So long as it kept quiet there was no way she hides.

You nod to the avenger and say hello to Bonnie.

Bonnie was one of the band members, a large animatronic and slightly taller than Chica. He was a rabbit animatronic, complete with two long mechanical ears that drooped normally. Though upon seeing you they shot right up.

"(Y/N)! Welcome back!" He shouted in a chipper voice.

Complete with his 'hare-like' appearance he also had two buckteeth that protruded from his upper lip, 'perfect for eating carrots' he said once. Though he didn't have the same 'addiction' as Chica he certainly enjoyed food all the same.

He ran to you, grabbing you into a tight hug and lifting you off the ground. Normally the sight of a 2+ metre robotic rabbit running towards one would be terrifying. Especially since he had his arms out. Though after having been charged by practically every animatronic in this place, it didn't faze you much.

He meant no harm anyways but like all the animatronics he didn't have much of a concept of personal space. At least he knew not to squeeze that hard.

His metal was coloured various shades of purple from pale in the ears to a more neutral violet for the rest of his body to a darker purple for his shoulder pads, palms and paws.

After a few seconds of nuzzling your head with his nose he put you down, having sufficiently shown how much he missed you. After concluding with a light pat on the head he stepped back.

Stylistically he often carried a reddish-pink bass guitar, wore a bowtie and dark purple glasses in the form of stars. Tonight, he only wore the bowtie. In addition to the auxiliary gear, he also had a magenta-coloured leopard-pattern pants (really just patterned-metal) on one leg and a black pant on the other leg, on the bottom piece.

He also wore black gauntlets with spikes that matched his black claws, and suspenders that held up his similarly designed belt.

Like Chica he had developed a 'quirk' though he didn't appear to be in costume at the moment. Thankfully his quirk wasn't as rambunctious as Chica's.

"Oh!" Bonnies said, pointing a finger up. "Look at the muffins Chica made!" With a metal flick, his chest cavity popped open, splitting into two pieces. Inside were an assortment of wires, servos, gears and mechanical bits. You knew what each one did and could do, though that was not the reason he opened it.

Meant for transporting cakes or gifts, Bonnie instead pulled out a muffin, the same ones Chica had baked earlier. The oh-so tempting blueberry muffins. Chocolate muffins as a base, there were visible sapphire streaks of blueberry, practically sparking under the neon sign. "You should try one!"

Before you could reach out, a certain bird intervened. "No." The Avenger said. "We can eat later. For now, we got a score to settle!"

"I'm adding a goal." You declare.

"Hm?"

"If-When I win, I want some of those muffins."

"Oh, you're so on. You know what, here. Take one for now. But don't eat it. How about you see what I have to deal with on a daily basis." She nodded to Bonnie as he tossed you the muffin, wrapped in plastic. You stash it in your pocket, once again cut off from that alluring desert.

With a roll of your eyes you asked, "So what are the rules for this?"

With a finger point, Bonnie explained it all. "It's best of 5 rounds. Each round one of you will hide and the other will seek. It will swap each round. Whoever has the most wins after is the winner! The seeker will count to 60 and the hider has to stay hidden and not get tagged for 5 minutes. You can be found but if you don't tag the other person that doesn't count. No leaving the maze! No combat! And no cheating! You can only use your eyes. You survive for 5 minutes, and you win the round." Bonnie declared, proud of himself.

You nod in agreement. They were fair.

"You should take your watch off citizen." The Avenger said, arms crossed.

"Huh, why?"

"Because you can track us with it. It's not fair if you can tell where we are."

"I won't do that. Honestly." You speak.

The Avenger wasn't convinced, eyes narrowing.

"I'll be watching, Avenger." Bonnie said. "I'll make sure (Y/N) doesn't peak at the watch." He turned to you. "You better not look at your watch." Bonnie said, pointing to you.

"I swear I won't."

"Fine." The Avenger said.

"I'll head up to the gallery. Good luck you two!" Bonnie said, practically skipping away. You and the Avenger stepped into the mazercise. Despite it's upgrade you still weren't too familiar with it. You got enough exercise from occasionally having to run from the animatronics you didn't need more. The maze had its own 'technical team' anyways.

The outer ring of the maze stood a bit higher than the maze, allowing any onlookers to see the whole thing. Though you knew better than to cheat and use the platform to spot The Avenger, you hoped she wouldn't get any ideas from it. Down a few steps lead to 3 open paths to start the maze in, each one leading to its own dead ends. Completing the maze wasn't the goal this time, it was to stay hidden.

"I'll count first. Won't matter though. I know this maze like the back of my beak. I will find you~" To hear such confidence come from Chi-The Avenger was a little surprising. Usually, it would be Roxanne or Monty dishing out the trash talk, not the 'avian animatronic'.

You wind up a snarky comeback for The Avenger but looking at her you see her eyes shining a bright red as she grinned.

"This is gonna be fun!" She said cheerily, eyes flashing back to normal. Red eyes were a feature all animatronics could do. But it was mostly reserved for Halloween...or when they turned evil. She was clearly doing it to screw with you.

When the maze was first built it was a large room with interchangeable floor tiles and walls, each 'contestant' meant to run through it. Those still remained but were far more modular, making any memorization of the path impossible. Bonnie, up in the viewing gallery could also change it at will. You hoped he wouldn't.

The walls each displayed graphics of all the unhealthy food players were meant to be burning through as they ran. You weren't even sure if the plex had any health-conscious options. The soda fountains at the end of the maze certainly weren't helping restore any electrolytes. Regardless, when the maze was updated, those pictures stayed. The walls of the maze stood 2 metres tall and covered in designs of lollipops, chocolate bars and other candy. The walls fit into groves in the ground allowing for easy movement.

While the lights were dimmed upon entering, they suddenly turned to full blast, nearly blinding you. The lights were a damper but long as you kept quiet and out of sight, hiding from her was still possible.

Above the maze, suspended from the ceiling was an operational gallery, console for modifying the maze, playing music and of course, messing with the lights. Looking up you see Bonnie up there, microphone in hand and waving to you and The Avenger.

Around the whole maze were rows of seats, a seating area for less-exercise-interested parents to watch their kids' run marathons. The Avenger was getting into it, arms out as if we she were egging on a crowd.

Though the maze originally contained different coloured areas, days of re-arranging the wall and floor tiles had turned it into a mishmash of colour, more confusing than an abandoned Rubik's cube.

Interrupting your thoughts, a text message rings off on your phone. "I don't know what you're doing but good luck. Looks like you're gonna need it." Vanessa wrote. You hastily reply thanks, going back to studying the maze.

Aside from the size increase and parkour nightmare, the update added two other things to the maze. Firstly, exercise equipment (Fazbear-themed). Some of the dead-ends had them, whoever finding them in the maze expected to do a few reps to get points. You had no intention of doing either and already knew The Avenger wouldn't be. The second was a series of poles, steps and ledges that allowed some people to jump over walls and bypass parts of the maze. Blue mats were situated on the ground in those, just in case anyone fell incorrectly off them. And since the maze was larger, hiding from her should be easier.

"Who should count?" The Avenger asked.

Mind full of strategies, you ask her to. She nods in agreement. "Sure. Let's count this as a warmup." She said, mockingly. Simply put, you knew you could evade The Avenger. You would just have to burn a lot of calories to do so.

"You two ready?!" Bonnie shouted from above.

"Born ready." The Avenger said.

"Yep. Let's go." You said, getting down into a sprinter's position.

"Then start counting!...whoever goes first." Bonnie said. An air siren let ring from above the maze, startling you. A quick glance up said all that needed to be said, Bonnie appearing meek with a slight 'sorry' wave.

With a nod, The Avenger turned around and covering her face started counting. You drop your bag.

"60, 59, 58-"

With no particular direction you bolted off, a gallery of light blue, emerald green, pumpkin orange, water blue and more flashed by as you ran.

"57, 56, 55, 54, 53..."

The next chapter will be called Run Raptor Run!