Night Of The Vent
is a Five Nights at Freddy's 3 fanfic by LavenderCrystalOfRoses.
Four nights into his week working as a security guard at Fazbear's Fright, Nolan is having a rough time of things. His nerves over the possibility of getting killed by the rotting animatronic bunny are not helped any by the onslaught of hallucinations he's experiencing. Meanwhile, Springtrap is... just sitting in an air vent for hours on end? Why isn't he doing anything?
Tropes visibly inactive this night include:
- Air-Vent Passageway: Springtrap is capable of using the air ducts of Fazbear's Fright to traverse the building... except for reasons known only to himself, he decides to spend over five hours sitting in the same air vent.
- Creature of Habit: One explanation to Nolan's panic attack of Springtrap staying in the vent is that he's so used to Springtrap trying to attack him that when he doesn't, he's severely shaken.
- Companion Cube: Nolan's only companion throughout the night is an empty Freddy suit that he talks to.
- Curb-Stomp Battle: While not a traditional battle in that the Phantom animatronics can't physically hurt Nolan, the specters quickly outnumber him and jumpscare him several times before he loses what little cool he has left and screams at them. He gets jumpscared again in retribution, but the Phantoms give him some space afterwards.
- Have You Tried Rebooting?: Nolan wonders if the reason Springtrap's been at camera 12 for several hours is because the camera feed's actually stuck on a still image, and reboots the security cameras to try clearing them up. Much to his dismay, Springtrap is still there after the reboot.
- Riddle for the Ages: It is never explained why Springtrap decided to stay put in an air vent for five and a half hours.
- Suddenly Shouting: Nolan attempts to reassure himself that it's a good thing that Springtrap isn't actively wandering the building, only to then scream that when Springtrap does go after him again, he'll be powerless to do anything about it.Nolan: Come on, Nolan. Y-you're being v-very s-s-silly. It's a good thing he hasn't moved. A very good thing. EXCEPT EVENTUALLY HE'S GONNA COME AND ATTACK ME AND I WON'T BE ABLE TO DO A SINGLE THING TO STOP IT!!
- Why Isn't It Attacking?: In contrast to Springtrap nearly killing him the previous night, the animatronic enters an air vent at 12:30 AM and stays there on the fourth night of Nolan's shift. Nolan gets more panicked about Springtrap not moving than if he was actively trying to attack him.
