Chapter Text
NIGHT 1
12:00 AM
Jason Todd learned quickly that to feel scared is a privilege.
He understood it clearly after his first six years of life. Fear made a person weak whereas anger gave them the illusion of strength, an invisible sword that cut clean through those looking for fights.
Children inevitably pick up small fears from their environments. It is a basic instinct, rooted in the human psyche to help perceive threats.
For example, Jason has always been wary of needles after he witnessed firsthand the devastation one little pinprick could create.
He also, for no discernible reason, was put off by mannequins.
Any kind of mannequin, really. Dolls, dummies, puppets. Anything with eyes that didn't actually see. Anything with delicate limbs that could skitter across the floor in a heartbeat and kill you without a second thought.
Fighting Scarface as Blackbird alongside Batman didn't help either. Having a wooden Al-Capone knockoff shoot a tommy gun at him wasn't the best form of exposure therapy. Really, it was quite the opposite.
The Pit muted most every emotion except rage. Jason vaguely recalls feeling the green acid consume him, the slight tingle over every inch of skin as it burned away the entirety of his identity.
Most of the time, fear and everything else is a phantom sensation. He knows it's there, but it doesn’t manifest in anything except curled fists and bared teeth.
However, the Lazarus Pit must have found his irrational fear of mannequins so fundamental to his person that it left it untouched, tucked neatly away in the recesses of his green-tinged brain.
And now, like a fool, Jason Todd is in a scratchy purple uniform, in Rocky's Restaurant & Arcade, surrounded by six-foot tall animatronic animals.
"Hello! Hello, hello!"
The baritone voice rumbles happily through the archaic landline.
Jason pinches the bridge of his nose and takes a deep, cleansing breath. This is definitely not where he wanted to be. In fact, would rather be back six feet under than sitting in the stuffy security office of a Chuck E. Cheese knockoff.
"Uh, I wanted to record a message for you to help you get settled in on your first night. Like I told you this morning, I've worked in that office for twenty years. And as you know, this is my last week before I finally retire."
Oh yes, yes he did.
The man on the phone is Ivan Roe, chief head of security at Rocky's. A quick background check before Jason came in for his first day showed Roe did have a record, mostly drug charges and assault from about a decade earlier. Still, the guy seems nice enough. About fifty years old, curly black hair streaked in gray, and a fantastic bushy beard.
When Jason first met him (as one Peter Faist), the man took his hand and shook it so enthusiastically Jason thought his arm might fall off. Ivan showed him around the place, talked his ear off about the history and his plans for retirement. Apparently his wife wanted to move to California and paint the ocean for the rest of her life, while Ivan wished to pursue his own hobby: stand up comedy. As much as Jason wanted to be on guard, the man had a frustratingly calming aura around him, the antithesis of Bruce Wayne.
"Okey, dokey! Let's get to it. Gotta read that stupid company greeting thing–" Paper rustles in the background and Ivan clears his throat. "'Welcome to Rocky's Restaurant and Arcade, a magical place of smiles and fun for all ages. DowntownFun Inc. is not is not responsible for damage to property or person. Upon discovering that damage or death has occurred, a missing person report will be filed within 90 days, or as soon as property and premises have been thoroughly cleaned and bleached, and the carpets have been replaced.' Blah blah blah.*"
Jason snorts, kicking his feet up on the desk and took a big gulp of the complimentary heart attack (jumbo size cup of orange soda) while Ivan rambled about the company some more.
The way Jason saw the company was far different than the fantastical land of sunshine and rainbow shitting unicorns Ivan made it out to be.
Rocky’s Restaurant and Arcade opened in 1975, gaining instant popularity with the overworked parents and teenagers of Gotham City. However, it also caused a spike in child abductions both in the restaurant itself and in the surrounding area during the late 80s and early 90s.
At least two kids were taken from the premises: Aaron Porter and Madeline Mayville. The incidents took place within months of each other and the place closed down for about two months. All staff members were investigated and cleared by the police detectives, and the media was content to chalk it up to bizarre coincidence and parental negligence.
Mayville’s case got opened again in the 90s after the girl’s mother bullied the police department. Only one witness ever came forward, a homeless man who saw a guy wearing a purple uniform luring an unknown boy into a car. Nobody bothered getting the plate or following because Gotham. The only reason the person came forward was because the police offered rewards for tips.
After the 90s, the cases and the kids fell out of the city’s consciousness. Rocky’s continued to thrive around Gotham’s underbelly.
The restaurant was allowed to reflect, rebrand, and reopen with an emphasis on safety. Opened its doors to hungry hordes of obese children and true crime nuts who wanted to talk in front of a camera about kids going missing for YouTube hits. All while children continued disappearing without anybody caring.
It makes Jason's blood boil.
Jason only got interested in the place when Bernardo Bertolini, the thirteen year old godson of one of his guys, went missing two weeks ago, last seen hanging around the corner store down the street from the restaurant. The clerk told Jason a sleek black car had pulled up and a guy in a purple uniform grabbed the kid. Same MO as the abduction twenty years ago.
Not only is this case a personal one, but it gives Jason a chance to take down a potential major trafficking ring and find Bernardo.
Bernardo's godfather, Marco is a good guy; a family man without a family, who carried around Bernardo’s picture in his wallet and bragged about the kid's good grades in school.
As Jason understood, Bernardo's parents had left the picture years ago. Marco took him in when he was four and had raised him ever since.
If anything happened to the kid, it would break Marco. Not to mention half the guys working for Jason, and Jason himself.
"Oh, and just remember that the animatronics are set to free roam during the night. Something about the servos locking up."
Jason chokes on his drink.
"They used to walk around during the day, too! I brought my daughter here once and my boss let her ride on Kimmy the Cat's shoulders. She was over the moon!"
"Why the fuck would you think that's a good idea?!" Jason whisper-screams at the phone.
"Anyway, therein lies your only real risk. The characters can get...confused. They might see you or any person as a naked endoskeleton without a suit. And because every performer must have a suit, they'll probably try to give you one, and obviously that wouldn't be very comfortable, what with the wires and the crossbeams and all that. Hah, don't worry kid! I'm just playing with you. But seriously. If that happens, and I'm not saying it will, just wait. We've got a really good team of engineers here at Rocky's."
Oh, HELL NO
Jason put down his drink.
Ivan is screwing with him, yeah. Jason knows that. He also knows that there are only two confirmed deaths in the place: one an employee and the other a child in ‘87 who got half his face bitten off.
Twenty-one year old Mickey Moraz, one of the service workers, was found mangled in the belly of Rocky the Retriever. The young man, the then manager explained, probably wanted to put on the suit and scare his coworkers. A shitty prank. The cops agreed and ruled it accidental.
In his research, Jason looked over the Moraz case. Jason saw the photos from the crime scene and couldn't sleep for days. Images of twisted limbs caught in stiff, metal beams. The young man's face skewered, jaw broken, attached to a neck that shouldn't bend that way.
It was too familiar.
And most certainly not an accident, just as the kids did not disappear into thin air.
That is why Peter Faist is here in this infernal hellhole: to find out what happens when the lights go down and the music stops.
NIGHT 1
2:15 AM
Nobody warned him that being a night guard for a crappy kid's restaurant and probable mafia nest would be so. fucking. boring.
The office offers little to no help to keep his mind busy. If anything, it sets him more on edge. Being stuck in an office flanked by large metal security doors with the threat of (supposedly) murderous animatronic characters does something to a guy.
Sitting alone in a squeaky plastic desk chair, Jason is unbelievably claustrophobic, and that is saying something, coming from someone who clawed his way out of a coffin.
Ivan never cleans up after his shift, so there are empty cups and balled up papers strewn across the black desk. Jason picks one up and unrolls it, revealing a half-completed packing list for his move to California. The only two items are “REMEMBER TOE CREAM” written in capital letters and circled three times over, and Exotic Butters (?)
Gross.
Grotesque drawings of the characters done by visiting kids are pinned on the wall alongside a gigantic promotional poster of Rocky, Kimberly, and Lucy. The characters are stylized in a goofy 70s art style, waving at the viewer. Rocky is dressed in aviator's gear, flying a plane with Lucy in the seat behind him, paws outstretched like she’s on a roller coaster. Kimberly waves at them from the ground.
Tacky.
Resting on one of the paper trays is a small plush version of Rocky. Out of curiosity, Jason reaches over and squishes the dog’s noise. The plush gives a sad honk.
Cheesy.
Jason alternates between coming up with new insults for the Replacement, looking over the details of the abduction cases in his journal, and talking aimlessly at the wire fan whirring away in the corner of his office. Occasionally, he checks the cameras on the glorified Ipad they gave him. The place doesn’t even have proper monitors.
Why Ivan spent twenty years putting up with this shit is beyond understanding.
To keep his mind occupied, Jason cycles through the cameras and takes stock of exactly what he’s up against.
Cams 1-4 are identical party rooms: cheesy purple wallpaper splattered in stars, cheap streamers and other generic party decorations. The tablecloths are plain white. Apparently this place gets all its party decorations from the dollar store.
The hallway leading to his office is framed by naked wires dangling from the ceiling and scarily large spiderwebs. Checkerboard tile floors are covered in confetti and what Jason hopes is spilled soda. Come to think of it, did he ever see a janitor? The whole space is illuminated by the soft glow of the arcade machines in the main hall. Another good question is why the layout designer or whoever in charge of this dump decided to put the games directly outside the restrooms.
The creepiest room by far is overseen by Camera 8. Parts and Service is at the very end of the long hallway which connected Jason’s little corridor to the main hall. An assortment of heads, eyeballs, and assorted limbs are placed haphazardly on long wooden shelves. There is one suit sitting on the worktable, completely out of commission. One leg is disconnected and laying beside it, the left eye is dangling out of its socket. Two sad excuses for ears flop over its bowed shoulders.
Ivan’s words during his orientation echo in Jason’s ears:
“Right, there are five active characters: Rocky the Retriever, Lucy the Labrador, Kimmy the Kitten, Elmer Elephant, and Captain Felix the Fox. We do have one character in the works: Benji the Bunny. Cute lil’ guy – there in Parts and Service. He’s a magician! Said they want to rotate him and the Captain in Adventure Cove. He’s not complete yet, so don’t worry about him."
“Don’t worry about him, he says,” mutters Jason. He knows with his luck that thing is going to slither itself down the hall and break his ankles.
Jason shudders and switches the camera.
Jason’s angle on the Main Stage puts the main Rocky’s triad in profile. Rocky stands in front, a big metal mockup of America’s Dog ™ wearing oversized aviator goggles and a blue checkered bandanna. One paw holds a microphone and the other is held out to the side, partially obscuring Lucy from view. The labrador holds a pink guitar, wears a pink bow, and (shockingly) a pink collar. A little nametag has her name on it. Standing on Rocky’s other side is Kimmy, a purple and white cat with a big red bow sculpted around her neck. Jason notices the cat is made to be just a little shorter than her companions. Kinda cute, I guess.
The fourth animatronic on his list is Elmer the Elephant. It stands on a prop podium overlooking the Playground, a mess of hall pits and jungle jims. A miniature carousel sits in the corner. Elmer himself is baby blue with patches of white, and his trunk is rainbow. To top off the circus theme, he’s got on one of those frilly collar things and two big red buttons. Ivan told him that the trunk is actually an air pump the entertainers used for balloon animals.
Adventure Cove houses the fifth and final animatronic: Felix the Fox. No, Captain Felix the Fox. The whole thing is some kind of exclusive game room offered in the deluxe party package. After stuffing themselves with pizza that frankly tastes like cardboard slathered in cheese, the birthday kid and his friends go hunt for five keys which unlock "Captain Felix’s treasurrrrrrr". Felix himself is stashed behind a comically large treasure chest and plastic gold coins.
Jason is ready to break the tablet over the desk and get back to his journal when the camera sputters out. Actually, all the cameras are dead as Jason flips frantically through the building in a desperate attempt to get a visual on something, preferably the free-roaming animatronic bastards.
“No way I am fucking dying in this piss poor excuse for a resturant –” Jason swears to whatever dieties can see this place.
Abruptly, the static dissipates and the show stage reappears on the tablet screen. Rocky and Kimmy are still standing all the same, not a metal toe out of line.
Lucy on the other hand (paw?) has decided to take herself for a little walk off the stage and wanders along the plastic table. The camera Jason’s looking at is on the opposite side of the room near the entrance, so Lucy is more of a silhouette than anything else.
Don’t panic, Jason commands himself.
He is the Red Hood, scourge of Batman and Gotham’s criminal underworld. He died at the hands of Joker and was raised by the Shadows.
Rocky and his asshole friends are gonna have to try harder if they want to kill Jason fucking Todd.
NIGHT 1
6:00 AM
Lucy moves slowly around the building, appearing and disappearing in various rooms until she is right outside the security office. Luckily, all she does is stare through the window because Jason activates the giant metal security doors in either end of the room. It takes Lucy about fifteen minutes to realize Jason isn’t handing out treats, then she turns her big tail around and wanders back out into the main hall.
The process repeats. Kimmy joins in the fun a little after 3AM. She follows pretty much the same pattern, often criss-crossing one another in the hallway.
Jason doesn’t realize his shift is over until Amanda the purple-haired high schooler comes to relieve him of his shift.
He survived his first night.