Set a man to watch all night, My fair lady.

[voiceinthephone]

Who| Phillip Gray and YOU
What| Poor man got lost coming here after Night 4
Where| The Capitol streets then the Training grounds
When| After the Arena closed
Warnings/Notes| Possible graphic description of animatronic violence, spoilers for Night 4 of FNaF1

A. Arrival

Being able to move again was quite the surprise for a man who just a few minutes prior, had been staring into his makeshift coffin's soulless eyes. Phil swore he could still feel Bonnie and Chica's grip as they held him down while Freddy fetched the costume. He didn't struggle or fight, they could've made it even more difficult. They could've gone feet-first, break every bone in his body before finishing the job. Did they feel sorry? They must've if they let him keep his badge.

It didn't matter anymore, Phil wasn't in Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria…hell, he wasn’t in the United States if the announcers were proof of that. The Capitol? The Arena? Was he in some futuristic Roman Colosseum? Like that Stargate movie he watched while flipping channels? Did this mean aliens existed? If so, he owed Jeremy $5, a beer, and a supreme pizza. And what the hell was he wearing? It wasn't his FFP uniform (small blessings, no one needed to see the garish colors of a family restaurant security guard), but he never thought he'd wear what he thought was a dark, leather version of a superhero's uniform, sans mask. Taking pride in his former job, Gray put his head high and briefly polished his badge as he looked around, like a tourist.

"As long as there's no robo-" Spotting a peacekeeper shut that dream down instantly, and Gray sighed, "Never mind."

Robots in a giant colosseum, with weapons…it was both fascinating and terribly familiar to Gray, it reminded him of a certain fox bot. Actually, both fox bots. Maybe Toy Chica if she wielded that cupcake right.

Speaking of toys, all these strange looking people looked like Cher raided Barbie and Ken's closet with a chainsaw and the local Muppet factory. Was this the Capitol itself? MTV on acid? As he wandered around town, looking at his map, Phil briefly surmised that if this place was like this, what would the Training Center looked like? Either way, he was going to enjoy himself before his time was up and he'd have to fight.

B. Training Center

Phil hummed "Groove is in the Heart" (good song to hear as he would fix the bots for the day's activities) as he walked into his assigned district area. According to his map, his District was Transportation, a weird selection in his opinion but he figured the people who rescued him from death, saw something he could help out in. Least he could do after all that, maybe he could help with repairs?

Any illusions Gray had of these games being friendly disappeared as soon as he saw the armory and the dummies. To see an array of weapons, most of these definitely not kid-friendly, Phil was glad he hadn't spotted any firearms.He figured firearms would make for very short games, and not everyone was meant to hold a gun properly. Lord knows what a child could do unsupervised, if Mangle was proof at that.

A terrible thought slipped into his mind and he suddenly tensed up: was he…was he going to hurt, no, kill children here? "I…" he tried to speak but immediately shut up; questioning authority could get him in quite a pickle. It was an unspoken reality as he saw past tributes and victors: these were cruel games. Gray unconsciously placed his hand on his badge, just as he and the Fredbear Diner staff did when they found the boy's lifeless body in the back of the restaurant. For years, he'd been tracking down the child killer and now…now he'd be forced to join his ranks.

"Panem et Circes…heh, coulda work where I came from…"

Comments

B

[justoutrunyou]

As if to answer his horrible realization, a small child appeared from one of the entrances to the large training area. She was wearing a jump suit with a number twelve on the sleeve.

She was young, only about ten or eleven looking with short and messy blond hair and could not have looked more bored with what she was here for.

Crossing the threshold she looked to be paying him no mind but for a brief moment her gaze shifted to meet his eyes. Only a moment before she went right back to focusing on the empty space she was heading for. When she arrived on the padded area she began some warm up stretches with the air of someone who did this every day.

Still as she stretched and twisted and worked her muscles into warmth she kept stealing glances at the newcomer, studying him.

[voiceinthephone]

"Hello? Hello there, are you from around here?" Phil did his damnedest to remain as professionally jovial as he could. He did berate himself internally for his double-hello tic; it slipped whenever he was nervous. Working with kids for a few years before night-shift, he knew they were heaps smarter than most adults gave them credit and by the looks of things, she'd been in this center longer than he ever thought. The former guard knew she was studying him, he recognized that look anywhere.

"Kinda lost in this new place...what's your name?"

He was already trying his damnedest to push back the imminent horror he'd realized earlier. He had to be friendly and get as much information as he could.

[justoutrunyou]

It didn't take long for him to speak, and in a way she was relieved. New people were a mystery and things that she didn't know were usually dangerous. This was a more direct way to figure out if this guy was a threat.

She stood up straighter and shook her head.

"I've only been here for two years. I used to live in New York."

A future New York that had cut itself off from the rest of the world but she didn't feel the need to go into those complicated details.

"I'm Sandy. Sandy Marko."

[voiceinthephone]

"If it's any comfort, it's two years more than me," Phil assured the young girl then said, "Phillip Gray, you can call me Phil, shorter and easier to call out if you have an emergency or in danger...not that you would be in danger. I'm from the Midwest, heh, not much to say about that."

Sandy looked like she was too old for the Pizzeria, though if he could, he'd offer a slice. This girl looked as if she's seen hell and deserved a break to be a child.

That prompted him to ask as he looked for a place to sit down, "What's it like here, Sandy?"

Just wait until he sees the videos of the special "Kids arena" where the five nights cast appeared.

[justoutrunyou]

Oh boy...this guy was really REALLY new. He still had no idea just what he was in for.

Waving a hand for him to follow her she led him over to a row of tables were attendants stood by to help teach skills that tributes might need in the arena. Wanting something to do with her hands while she caught poor Phil up to speed Sandy opted for the table full of ropes.

Taking up a length of rope she sat in a chair next to the table and waited for him to do the same.

"What have they told you?" She countered. While she was small she carried herself like someone much older. Weary was a good word for it and the look of caution in her eyes was mixing with a sort of pity now.

That could emotionally eviscerate Phil to see his childhood icons kill kids... Let's show it to him!

[voiceinthephone]

He mirrored her and picked up a rope as well, "Well, that I'm honored to be here, that I am to entertain and that I have to survive. Not much after that, got the boot to the Capitol then here. I figured...I'll have to face and p-possibly have to fight to the death."

From the way Sandy behaved, "I'm guessing they left out a lot of details."

Wonderful~ Sandy knows it's terrible but watching older arena videos is important training :P

[justoutrunyou]

Her hands moved almost of their own accord not even looking at the instructions on the screen teaching her how to make a noose. She had done it enough times even though she'd never used one in the arena. The option was nice to have.

"Yeah, plenty. For one it's not a possibly. You're either going to die, or you're going to be the last man standing. And since you're new unless you're like...secretly totally bad ass? You're probably gonna die."

That's it Sandy. Break it to him gently.

"I've died eight or nine times...I think." She squinted and her fingers slowed for a moment. "I forget."

PERFECT and let's toss in some advice on his end!

[voiceinthephone]

He fumbled a bit in making the noose then decided against it, preferring to practice other knots. He chose particularly ones he could use to quickly restrain his enemy and leave him or her to the elements or other competing Tributes. Adults were still an iffy subject but he could rationalize his killing as self-defense or survival if he needed to.

"Well that's just great, I'm gonna die," he said, a bitter tone underneath his pleasant demeanor. "At least people will find my body an-"

Did she just say eight or nine times?

"You forget when you die?"

I'm just so happy to finally be tagging with a FN@F character :)

[justoutrunyou]

She shook her head and with a bit more effort managed a decent looking noose. It wasn't perfect but it would get the job done.

"Not usually. The nightmares do a good job at reminding you. But it's happened so many times or I've come close to it so many times I always feel like I'm forgetting one or two of them."

She set the noose down on the table to hold up her hands counting on her fingers.

"Head ripped off by another tribute, Eaten alive by spiders, Eaten alive by a zombie tribute, almost killed by a mutant that pushed an egg in my face and it burst out my chest. Eaten alive by that giant eel, blew myself up fighting with a tribute trying to take her out with me...that didn't work. Then after that there was the time my friend was turning into a zombie and bit me so I turned into a zombie too. Then I got shot in the face by that guy with the evil mustache, broke my neck in a Go-Kart crash...and then the last one was someone smashed open my helmet while we were in space so everything just kinda...popped I guess. I don't know the science about it."

"So I guess that's nine." She decided looking at the fingers before picking up her ropes again. It sounded insane and she knew it but there was unfortunately video evidence of all of it and she had watched each death eventually.

I'm glad! <3

[voiceinthephone]

Phil's jaw dropped at every death the girl had undergone and so young! He let slip, "Freddy ain't got shit on half of those deaths. Jesus Christ, this is horrible."

He was genuinely horrified at the events that transpired throughout Sandy's run in the game. He then realized what had slipped and he fumbled, "Sorry. All this for other people's fun? Wait, did you just describe a chestburster?!"

Phil definitely owed Jeremy now.

[justoutrunyou]

Despite herself, it was always kind of funny to see the looks on peoples faces when they realized just how much she had endured to make it this far. She stifled a smirk and nodded.

"We didn't really have a name for them, but a few monsters escaped into the city and the Capitol asked us to go after them. Big scary monsters with acid drool. But I never saw them because something popped out of an egg and took me out." She tapped on her chest where the scar had once been and was now gone due to the process in which tributes were brought back after each arena.

"Who's Freddy?" She added curiously wondering about his phrasing. Did this guy know some kind of serial killer?

[voiceinthephone]

"Eyup, you had a nasty case of infestation..." For once, all those afternoon feature movies paid off as he saw where the tapping of the chest. He was both fascinated at her toughness and terrified that someone went through and killed Sandy.

When she asked about Freddy, Phil immediately tensed up. He had to remember the managerial speech, "Ah, heh. Freddy Fazbear, he's this animatronic, a kinda icon back where I came from. He sings and performs for kids all around! He used to roam around...then something happened."

When he thought about it, Freddy was just as a serial killer as the man who stuffed the child in the body. "Now he just stays put."

[justoutrunyou]

There was a noticeable tension in the girl and she finished undoing the knot, working on a sling next, the kind to use in a trap for catching a meal or tripping up an opponent.

"We've had a few of those. To make things more interesting in each arena they put monsters or machines in to cause trouble. Like the spiders or the Giant Eel. One arena was almost destroyed by this giant robot dragon. And in another my friend and I had to run away from this robot fox thing."

They were her fingers began to fumble over themselves as she spoke in more detail it was clear she wasn't as cool and collected about the details as she was trying to put out. She had to undo the mess of a knot and try again.

[celebrityskinned]

Venus is already in the Training Center, as she usually is from eight a.m. to noon. She's on a mat in the center of the room, tumbling and rolling and doing flips and twists as if she were performing for an audience rather than practicing combat. If not for the occasional kick or punch she throws in, it could be a dance.

But those kicks could shatter bone and rupture organs if they hit. She clearly knows what she's doing. She pauses at the end of one of her routines, straightening up and then leaning on the rail to the far side of the mat. She grabs a towel and dabs at her face, unwilling to tarnish the trace amounts of mascara and lip gloss she started the day off with.

And she hears music. Her eyebrow rises and she takes a few steps towards the stranger, off the mat and down a step towards him.

"Are you singing Deee-Lite?"

[voiceinthephone]

The fact that this person recognized Deee-Lite made Phil grin like a loon. Finally someone who enjoyed some 90's radio! "It was either that or Informer and I am not Canadian enough to attempt that rap," he confessed, blinking a bit as soon as he realized who was talking to him. Holy Fazbear, this woman was something.

"H-Hi..." Damn double greetings, "Hello there, um what were you doing?" Smooth operator he's not.

He played with the knife he had borrowed from the training center and marveled if he could ever do half the stuff she did.

[celebrityskinned]

"Building a rocketship to the moon?" She raises an eyebrow and a little bit of her lip, as if the question is stupid, but there's no harshness in her tone. She's used to being one of the more impressive Tributes here, used to people reacting with a little bit of awe and a lot of fear at the idea of having to square against her in the Arena.

And you know, good. That means she's doing it right. She stretches her neck to the side until she hears a pop, then to the other side.

"You don't need to be afraid of me, man. I'm not going to beat you up for lunch money."

[voiceinthephone]

"Heh, I, uh, wasn't," this statement is bullcrap, but Phil was jovial enough to get closer, "Name's Phillip, and I swear, I think you're the first one I've seen that knows about that decade."

He was to show off a little too but then remembered just how lean and frankly scraggly he was under the uniform. There was no real meat to him, just 160 pounds of sarcasm, disturbing facts about ghosts and animatronics. He didn't know about a certain troll's affect for one Nicolas Cage.

"Are you District 6 too? I just came here, y'know, um, brush up..." how to talk to women? What is this concept?

[celebrityskinned]

"Venus." She holds her hand out to shake, but not before brushing the chalk from the bars off on her thigh. A grey handprint marks her skin. "And you should find some more people who know about it, I'd say mid-2000's is the most comment time period here by a little. Just wait until you run into people from a time before electricity. It's a trip."

She covers for anything awkward with a warm smile. "Five. I'm your downstairs neighbor."

[voiceinthephone]

"I died before that time period," A pause and he tried to change the subject "Well I could've died if I hadn't been sent here. That or I crash into people in a sleepy daze from my old sleep schedule," Phil blurted out, "Pleasure to meet you Venus. And downstairs neighbor huh? Have you competed?"

It took a second too late for him to realize that there were people not quite in favor of the Games as a whole.

"Sorry about that. That was rude of me to assume and...I'll show myself out."

[celebrityskinned]

"Seven times. Going on my eighth," she says, as if she were just marking off how many times she's had to go to business conferences, as if it were just that, business. Not terrifying or harrowing, because it isn't to her. "And don't stress your sleep schedule. Believe me, no one here's getting the doctor-recommended eight hours."

There's something about her that puts people at ease, a sort of natural charisma associated most with salespeople and therapists. She tries to turn that charm on to Phil, to get him to stop tripping over his words.

[voiceinthephone]

"I was lucky to get 5 hours to be honest, heh," the guard smiled back and allowed himself to relax, "You're so chill about it. How do you deal with it? Have you won any of them?"

He sat on on the ground and played with his knife, "How do you deal with death?"

[celebrityskinned]

"No wins yet. I'm really just playing for the experience more than anything." She realizes how bloodthirsty that sounds and pauses. "I mean. Not like that."

She doesn't want to admit that she intentionally throws each match, if she gets far enough to do so.

"I..." She embraces it like an old friend. Even now that she doesn't look forward to it, there's a certain familiarity, a coziness with which she greets those cold fingers grasping into her brain every time. "I don't think about it that much. It's just like fainting, to me. Not super fun but I forget all about it in a few days."

It's a lie, but nothing about her tone shows it.

[voiceinthephone]

Phil's eyes widened at that admission, looking more horrified than he intended to. "How did you mean it then? Are you learning from all this?"

To be so...nonchalant about dying chilled the man to the core. Venus had seen more arenas than probably most of his District's Tributes, and lost. "Like high-fiving the Grim Reaper every time? Heh...that was in bad taste, I apologize." He believed her lie because to him, Venus had the healthiest outlook of the games. "If you're sure, I'll keep that in mind then." This Arena and future itinerations would break him.

[celebrityskinned]

She isn't offended; if anything, she's glad he gave her the social grace of humor to climb back out of this awkward hole with. "Basically. The Grim Reaper and I are buds."

In more ways than one, given how many people she's brought to his doorstep like a cat with a dead bird, as if pleading, pleading this time to be let in for good from a cold life.

"I kind of like to think I learn from everything I do, right? That's how people grow." She doesn't mention that it breaks them too; she's already starting to harbor a concern about Phillip.

[voiceinthephone]

The concern would be tested as Phil, for everything he's gone through, tried his damnedest to keep hope alive, if to keep himself sane. That one day, he'd be able to avenge the eleven children that haunted every day of his life for his mistakes. That he could beat the Purple Man to death and rest easy for the first time in a decade or more. Or that he could do something to keep someone alive."At least you didn't have to clean after him," Gray muttered under his breath, "Kinda nasty all things considered."

At that learning bit, the guard looked at Venus in the eye, his smile weary, "Maybe..." Though he was probably useless in the Arena but he's willing to put in the job. He offered to help her up, "I guess I should leave you be, and train. You shouldn't have a newbie, um, hovering over you."