“Robbie knows deep down that the minds of the members of the Fazbear Fan Club have been taken over by something.” |
Animatronic Apocalypse is the third story in Tales from the Pizzaplex 4: Submechanophobia and chronologically the Tales from the Pizzaplex series' 11th story. It was written by Kelly Parra.
Characters[]
Humans[]
- Wilson Family
- Robbie Wilson
- Brad Wilson
- Mrs. Wilson
- Tina
- Nathan Bates
- Daniel
- Miller Family
- Johnny Miller
- Mrs. Miller
- Johnny's sibling
- Zabrina Zee
- Jason's Family
- Jason
- Jason's Dad
- Dyson's Family
- Dyson
- Dyson's Parents
- Mr. Renner
- Mr. Finkle
- Rick
- Mr. Homestead
- Coach Baker
- Mr. Gustin
- Ted Angelo
- Will
- Adrian
- Officer Talbot
- Officer Parish
- Mrs. Harp
- Mr. Sanchez
- Officer García
- Mrs. Alvarez
Animatronics[]
- Glamrock Freddy
- Glamrock Chica
- Roxanne Wolf
- Freddy Fazbear
Creatures(?)[]
Locations[]
- Durham Elementary
- Freddy Fazbear's Mega Pizzaplex
- Arcade (Mentioned)
- Monty's Gator Golf (Mentioned)
- Roxy Raceway (Mentioned)
- Willow Park
Plot[]
Sixth grader Robbie Wilson has a ton of pent-up energy due to his frequency to pull apart anything he doesn’t understand. Every year his family spends a week camping in the woods, where Robbie learns survival techniques. Robbie has also been a fan of Freddy Fazbear his entire life, and he visits Freddy Fazbear’s Mega Pizzaplex practically every weekend. At school, Robbie is a part of the Fazbear Fan Club, which meets every Tuesday and Thursday. A year prior, the club created Animatronic Apocalypse, a Dungeons-and-Dragons-like game. Each club member helped design the board game using the school grounds and surrounding neighborhood as the setting. Robbie uses the game as a brief escape from the chores and responsibilities of real life.
One Tuesday, Robbie notices that the club president, Jason, is out. He gets a text from his best friend, Dyson, who left practice early. Ever since Dyson’s parents have made him take Little League more seriously, the two have barely any time to hang out anymore, so Robbie ends his game early. As he’s leaving he bumps into the principal, Mr. Renner, who is filling in as the club chaperone while Mr. Finkle is at a doctor’s appointment. Mr. Renner says he has an announcement to make, but Robbie leaves before he can hear it. On Thursday, Robbie learns that Jason’s dad got a new job and he moved away, meaning the club has to vote for a new president. Mr. Renner runs the vote and, while Johnny offers to organize community fundraisers for the homeless and hold a food drive, Zabrina wins with a passionate speech about winning the Animatronic Apocalypse.
When Robbie arrives at Room 13 on Tuesday, he spots Mr. Renner leaving. Robbie approaches Zabrina and learns that she has some new announcements to make. Once everyone else shows up, Zabrina holds a students-only meeting where she reveals that the club will now copy another classmate’s homework, quizzes, and reports in order to focus on the Animatronic Apocalypse. The club must also sign up for her Special AA Team and keep all Fazbear Fan Club activities a secret. While everyone else is oddly focused on Zabrina’s rules, Robbie isn’t a fan. The next day, Robbie and Dyson arrive to see “Beware the Animatronic Apocalypse!!” spray-painted on the courtyard wall. At lunch, Robbie confronts Zabrina about the graffiti, but no one in the club seems to care and Daniel begins questioning Robbie’s loyalty. Mr. Renner then announces to the whole school that they will be preparing for the animatronic apocalypse together by voting on the Faculty Preparedness Initiative, which will move around funding at the school. While everyone else is excited, Robbie and Dyson aren’t quite on board.
The next day, Mr. Renner shows up during the Fazbear Fan Club meeting and all of the club members praise him. Mr. Renner comments on how important Robbie may be for their Faculty Preparedness Initiative, which finally makes Robbie snap and question Mr. Renner’s intentions. Mr. Renner simply states he just wants students to be more involved, and he goes to quietly speak to Zabrina. Robbie decides to leave early and as he’s walking home he hears a cat scream loudly behind him and later a shoe scraping. When he turns around, he sees nothing. Suddenly, a rock is thrown at his head and when he turns around he hears someone running away. A few hours later, Robbie’s dad returns home and he tells him about the initiative. His dad doesn’t believe him, especially in regards to it going for the animatronic apocalypse, but still decides to check in with the school.
The next day, Robbie spots Mr. Renner and Zabrina speaking. He’s too far away to hear what they’re saying and when Robbie approaches Zabrina she walks right past him. Just then, Robbie spots two people, one being the superintendent, enter Mr. Renner’s office. Robbie later learns that Mr. Renner was fired. As he’s heading home, Robbie spots Zabrina and Daniel leading the club kids through the back gate and he follows them as they enter the forest surrounding Willow Park. There, he sees Mr. Renner explain to the kids that dirt is important for immunity “against animatronic toxics.” Robbie watches in horror as he demands they eat the dirt and they obey. He decides to visit Johnny’s house the next day only to be told by his mother that he’s ill. She brings up toxins but when Robbie questions her she quickly ends the conversation.
On Monday, Robbie approaches Johnny, who claims to have been fine. Robbie notices that there’s red beneath Johnny’s fingernails and he explains that they had to poke needles under their nails to protect themselves. The next day, Robbie watches as his entire classroom eats beetles from tin boxes while the teacher stares glassy-eyed at them. Once the bell rings Robbie rushes to the boy’s restroom where two boys attempt to force him to eat a beetle, calling it toxin protection. Robbie manages to get away and learns that Fazbear Fan Club is canceled for the day. Robbie also learns that Mr. Renner had dismissed Mr. Finkle as the chaperone before being fired.
Robbie overhears a conversation between Zabrina and Daniel that the club will have a secret meeting. That night, Robbie makes his way towards Willow Park with his usual camping equipment. When he arrives, he finds a lantern on a tree trunk and the club members buried in the ground with just their faces above the dirt. Unlike the others, Zabrina’s eyes were open. Robbie digs up Nathan and performs CPR on him, which wakes him up. Before Robbie can help the others Zabrina wakes up and screams “GET OUT!” Robbie and Nathan go to the police, and when they mention the animatronic apocalypse the officer winks and sends a different officer, Officer Parish, with them to the woods. The club members are gone and Robbie discovers they buried his flashlight, but Officer Parish dismisses it and drives them home. Nathan suddenly remembers that Mr. Renner told them that “the dirt had healing properties that purged the animatronic toxins from our bodies,” so they buried themselves.
The next day, Robbie sees his dad eat a black beetle. As he walks to school with Dyson, he tells him about what happened the previous night. Dyson says he should tell his parents, but Robbie knows his dad is compromised and argues with Dyson over Little League. When a familiar tin box falls out of his pocket, Dyson runs away. At school, a lot of kids are home sick and all of the club members are gone. A couple of teachers mention preparing for the animatronic apocalypse and they wink at Robbie before trying to offer him a tin box. After school, Robbie breaks into Mr. Renner’s house, which is in poor condition. He hears voices but is suddenly shoved to the floor by Daniel. Robbie sees Mr. Renner sitting at the head of a long dining table wearing a rubber Freddy Fazbear mask and the club members seated with him. Mr. Renner claims Robbie is the first animatronic of the invasion and that, “Animatronics need to be taught a lesson." The club members start attacking Robbie, so he grabs a fire poker and stabs Mr. Renner as he charges at him. Everyone stops as Mr. Renner begins to twitch and convulse strangely, and all of the club members except Robbie and Zabrina leave.
Mr. Renner pulls the fire poker out for his stomach and a dark liquid spews from him as he stumbles down the hallway. Zabrina calls Robbie a loser and spits in his face before leaving. Robbie decides to follow Mr. Renner to make sure he’s okay. He makes his way down the hallway, reaching a bedroom that smells like a strong cleaner or gas. Mr. Renner, now without his mask, steps out from the closet and lunges for Robbie, getting stabbed again. He grabs Robbie and ignores the fire poker repeatedly stabbing him, and eventually Robbie slips on the black liquid. Mr. Renner lunges for Robbie again, and this time gets stabbed in his eye. Mr. Renner falls to the floor, convulsing as a black foam bubbles from his lips. Robbie makes his way outside right as the police show up and he tries telling them what happened, but when they investigate they cannot find Mr. Renner's body. The police identify the black liquid as motor oil.[1][2]
Robbie tells his parents about what happened before showering off the motor oil and going to bed, tossing and turning all night with chaotic dreams. For the next couple of days he stays home with his mom, and by the weekend he begins to feel better. On Sunday, the police inform Robbie’s dad that Mr. Renner is nowhere to be found and the other club members don’t know anything. A week later, life returns to normal. Zabrina transfers schools, a new principal is hired, and the Fazbear Fan Club breaks apart. Dyson informs Robbie that he told his parents about how he feels about Little League and they agree not to be as hard on him anymore. With this new extra time, Dyson agrees to help restart the fan club. Robbie explains that first on the agenda is to volunteer at the food kitchen, hold a food drive, and prepare for the animatronic apocalypse.
Speculation[]
- There are two theories about what Mr. Renner actually is:
- The first theory suggest that Mr. Renner was a normal human, who was possessed by some kind of entity, possibly made of Agony. This is supported by Mr. Renner bleeding a black liquid, just like victims of The Stitchwraith from the Fazbear Frights series.
- The second theory suggests that Mr. Renner was an android made of scrap, just like Jessica from Frailty. The evidence for this are many piles scrap thrown around Renner's backyard, the fact that police described the black liquid as motor oil, like Jessica which bled oil the same way when she was falling apart, and police not finding his body. If Renner fell apart, police wouldn't consider pile of scrap as human remains, thus saying they couldn't find his body.