#how about you meet me at the pizzaplex (my trap) when you get out of here. in an hour or so?

[puhpandas]

please draw fan art of tony becker dying in a glue trap

this ask spoke to me

[naffeclipse]

Heyyyy Naff <3

You said in my pre-ending ask regarding Micheal that it depends on editing whether his fate will be revealed, and I'm assuming there are some memories Glitchtrap could have shown Y/N in that regard? (Or if I have missed it amongst my screaming please feel free to just point me towards the relevant bit). But yeah I slide back in here to sate my curiosity and also just. How long was he hunting Glitchtrap, was he involved in trapping him in the run down endo that Vanessa then stumbles upon, how is/ was he involved in everything Cryptid Sightings? Please tell me everything I am twirling my hair and kicking my legs (as you can see) <3

Heyyy, Luce :D

The idea was originally that Michael was going to make an appearance in the epilogue at the campfire that Y/N and Eclipse were dancing around—it's a spook for everyone as the boys could hardly detect his heartbeat from how calm he was (and being engrossed with a very lovely dance partner) and you feared F.E.I. already sent another cryptid hunter after your sweetie. Michael, however, is just dropping in to ask about Vanessa. Or rather, Vanny.

Michael is a rugged, grizzle cryptid hunter. His one and only focus has been on destroying Glitchtrap to avenge his slain siblings. He's been trialing Glitchtrap since before he attacked you and long afterward, but he lost Glitchtrap for a time when F.E.I. had caught him in an endoskeleton and shoved him into the lower levels of the pizzaplex. After that, Michael caught wind of Vanny and tried hunting her down, but Glitchtrap kept moving so quickly and disappearing just as fast.

Finally, Michael gets to hear your end of the tale, how you and Eclipse defeated the child-killer cryptid. Michael is somber, and you almost feel bad for taking a kill he clearly wanted, but you remind Michael about the night he saved you. He remembers you, he remembers all of Glitchtrap's would-be victims and those he was too late to save.

Michael is aware of child-friendly cryptids (he met Henry Emily about the time he first started hunting) and regards Eclipse calmly. Although Michael has no personal connection with Eclipse, they're very civil towards each other. Eclipse wants to know how Michael was able to sneak up on them like that, and Michael explains how he's trained himself to stay calm and not let his heartbeat rise so as to not alert Glitchtrap to his presence. It took a long time to master. Eclipse is begrudgingly impressed but also intrigued to meet the one who save you from your first encounter with Glitchtrap.

You get to thank him again for saving you. He simply nods his head, glad to see that you're doing well for yourself. He leaves after that and the night is a bit warmer for it all.

I ended up cutting this out so as to not distract from the moment between Eclipse and Y/N. But that's what Michael's been up to. Who knows where he'll go now!

[snowygrill]

Had this on my mind, and thought I'd share. (This gets a bit long lmao)

I absolutely love the angst that 'Moon has the Glitchtrap virus' fics invoke, but I also find it hilarious that canonically this fucker doesn't have a virus at all. Like, he's just LIKE THAT. He's just meant to be a little fucked up, and that's so funny to me.

Thanks to the books (oh no not the books oh no-) we know that the DCA was originally stationed in the theater. They were meant to act, and perform for the kids and Moon was just Sun's alter-ego or what-have-you that was supposed to be 'evil' and act scary. It was all an act.

SO CONSIDER THIS:

We have the usual setting of Y/N gets hired at the pizzaplex and works with the DCA. They meet Sun first and he's oh so friendly, walking ray of sunshine, maybe a little anxious, and all that.

Of course, Y/N is told the classic "DON'T turn off the lights no matter what!" with zero explanation because nobody wants to scare off the newbie by telling them about the 'creepy murder robot that will maul them if it catches them'.

And of course, the lights end up going out anyway. Sun panicks. Y/N panicks. And the first meeting with Moon happens! Hooray!

Now, think of it like this: every time Moon manages to come out in the daycare, what do things look like from his perspective?

We know that when the DCA was moved from the theater to the daycare, the Faz. Ent. company didn't wanna bother with removing Moon. So instead, they just installed the generators in the play structures and kept the lights on all the time.

So, what if Moon has no idea that he and Sun had been repurposed into daycare attendants? What if the two had been blocked from interacting with each other in their shared headspace, and so Moon has no way of asking Sun what is going on?

Every other time that Moon came out, it was in the middle of an act/performance so what if Moon just assumes that the same is happening here? What if he assumes that he's putting on an act and is meant to interact with the children directly instead of just from a stage?

And obviously, since Moon can't ask Sun what he's meant to do, he has to take a guess based on his surroundings. He's in a daycare. It's dark. What are children supposed to do at a daycare when the lights are out?

Ah! They're meant to take a nap! So obviously Moon is supposed to put them to sleep! Right?

So, Moon scares the shit out of the kids, not realizing that he's not supposed to be putting on a performance. And eventually, someone brings the lights back on and forces Moon back into hiding.

Now, first meeting between Y/N and Moon:

Let's say that by this point, Moon has been out a few times in the daycare. He's still confused as fuck by this change in scenery, and now suddenly there's an adult here too.

Moon only gets more confused. He's never had to perform beside a human actor before! What is he meant to do here? So, what if he does his best to 'stay in character' but also tries to sneakily get some answers from this 'new actor'.

Moon slowly circles the adult, making his joints click with every step. He looms over them, speaking with a low hiss, "And just what are you doing here, hmm? What is your role meant to be, little troublemaker?"

Now, Y/N is obviously freaking the fuck out. What do they?? How do they respond?? And maybe, while grasping for ideas, they remember something they had seen during their tour of the plex: the theater, with Sun and Moon's faces plastered all over it.

"L-Look, man. If this is some kind of act you're putting on, you better cut it out!" Y/N says, backing away nervously. Moon giggles in an unsettling manner, getting closer and making them stumble back. Y/N's back hits the desk, and they become trapped as Moon slams both his hands on either side of them. "An act? Oh, no, no. This is just how I am~." In a fit of panicked confidence, Y/N yells right in his face. "I'm FUCKING SERIOUS, Moon! You're scaring the kids, for hell's sake!" They point to the group of children hiding away in the play structures. The kids cry and run deeper into the plastic maze the moment Moon turns to look at them. Conflicted, Moon whispers under his artificial breath, quietly enough for only Y/N to hear, "Are you... being serious right now? Is this... part of the performance?" "THERE IS NO PERFORMANCE!" Y/N yells, making Moon flinch back in surprise. "You're not an actor, damn it! We're in THE DAYCARE!" Moon is beyond confused by this point, and drops his act completely. He backs away from Y/N, looking unsure. "But... I am? I'm supposed to-" And then the lights turn on. Moon is forced back down before either of them can get answers.

Once the lights are back on, Y/N tries to grill Sun for answers, but he didn't see what happened, so he can't help much. So, Y/N does some snooping around and finds out that the two used to be in the theatre at first.

So during one day, once the daycare is closed, Y/N turns off the lights on purpose and confronts Moon.

I just think there's a lot of potential here for a different kind of angst, you know? Like, everyone thinks that Moon is this dangerous monster but in reality he was just trying to do his job.

Does Moon lean into it and scares people off as a defense mechanism?

Does he drop the act, and tries to be nice but everyone just thinks he's trying to trick them?

Does SUN even believe him? Has Sun grown to hate him because of the bad reputation Moon had unknowingly given the two of them?

Maybe Y/N is the only one on Moon's side? Maybe the whole story revolves around reintroducing Moon to people and cleaning up this giant misunderstanding?

I dunno, just thought I'd share what the brain worms came up with lmao. Feel free to share your thoughts on this!

[retrospectislame]

(long post)

FNAF Security Breach Ruin theories that I'm sure people have thought of already but I'm still gonna post here because I havn't been able to stop thinking about this game:

(theories are seperated with a 🎈)

(also keep in mind that this is just my personal little theory ramble, I could absolutely be wrong)

🎈 I dont think we ever hear the real Gregory's voice in ruin.

Even when the mimic (That's what its called right? Or at least thats what we're calling it? Idk I'll just go with it) is chasing Cassie, when he's saying, "You were never supposed to go to the pizzaplex" and "Do you really have any other option?" (or smth like that-), I think that is still the mimic pretending to be Gregory.

Why? (more after break)

Well first of all, the instructions during the chase are coming from the walky talky that the mimic has been using to communicate with Cassie throughout the DLC. And like, don't get me wrong, but im pretty sure Gregory wouldn't be able to hack his way into the radio frequencies that the walky talkys are using. The same can be said for the speakers in the elevator before Cassie falls. To maybe even have a chance at communicating with Cassie through either of these, he would probably have to be in the building, which he explicitly says (even if it is the mimic talking) he isn't.

Also, Gregory talks about the M.X.E.S security system that was put in place to keep the mimic down there, but how would he know about that? And how would he know about the mimic being trapped down there to begin with? I mean sure, there is speculations that he had been living in the pizzaplex for a little bit, but i dont think that a evil, sentiant animitronic living down in the basement of a children's pizza place would exactly be considered public information, even if it is just among the employees. Not to mention that he probably wouldnt even be looking for that kind of information in the first place if he was living in the pizzaplex.

Finally, (even though I'm sure there's more things to back this up, I just don't want this to get too long lmao) how would Gregory even drop the elevator? Like I don't this theres a button labeled "button to drop the elevator thats in that old ruin under the pizzaplex," and to actually cut the cords he would have to be there which he isn't. The mimic is the one who most likely dropped the elevator, and if it wasn't them specfically, it was probably someone/thing that was working with them. (or also possibly the fact that that elevator is probably decades old and has probably had no maintainance whatsoever during that time and has also retained at least some fire damage and-) (<also, if the elevator did fall out of just extreme damage, the mimic probably knew that and thats why they led Cassie there)

🎈 But this also sprouts another question:

Why did the mimic drop the elevator?

Well, my theory is that it wanted to disguse itself.

I'm gonna say now that I don't fully know how most of the animitronics work (especially when it comes to the mimic) but I think that it's going to use Cassie's body as a way of hiding itself when it eventually (maybe) makes it up into the real world.

I also think that we may see Cassie again. How far into the future, I'm not sure, but I think we'll see her again eventually. Of course, if my theory happens to be correct, it's not going to be Cassie, but instead the mimic in disguise.

🎈The last thing I wanna talk about is just a few questions that I have now that ruin has been released:

How do Cassie and Gregory know each other? What is their relationship with each other? Are they friends? Siblings? Two runaways that met on the streets? How did they meet? Where the hell are these kids' parents?

Did Cass and Greg meet before SB or after? (before ruin of course) If they met before, then that raises a lot of questions. (How did they get separated before SB, why didn't he mention her at all during SB, etc. etc.)

How did the mimic contact Cassie at all? It probably chose her because 1. It already had a sample of Greg's voice, probably from when he went down there in SB, 2. She's a child, she's guillible enough to go wherever her friends ask her to go. But how???? The only possible way I can think of is call, text, maybe leave her a note, but I don't think she has a phone considering she's like 8, and leaving a note would require literally going to her house, which the mimic obviously can't do.

Who installed the M.X.E.S system in the first place? Was it one person trying to keep the mimic a secret? Was it Vanny? Vanessa? (considering the rabbit, it may be, but im not sure tbh) Was it the company that runs the pizzaplex just trying to hide the past wrong-doings of the previous owner and make more money?

Is the Glitchy Rabbit Thingy(TM) really evil? If you think about it, it may have only been trying to stop Cassie because she was disabling it, which would unleash the mimic and allow it to escape. Maybe the rabbit isn't as bad as we think.

Where is Music Man? Y'know the big one. Did he just retain so much damage that he doesn't work anymore? For a little bit I had thought that the giant endoskeleton in the daycare theater may be him, but after comparing the two, it's clear that they are just not the same model. (Music Man's arms are skinnier, it wouldn't make sense for him to have a jaw considering his mouth is a screen, head shape, etc. etc.) Speaking of which:

What the hell is that giant endoskeleton for? That's what I really wanna know. And why is it only there in the AR mode?

What does M.X.E.S stand for? I feel like that could be really important.

Uhhh, that's all I got for now I think. Thank you for coming to my ted talk lmao I don't really know how to end this-

[angelofrainfrogs]

Spend the Night: Ch. 15

~Coauthored by @zeitghest~

Fandom(s): Five Nights At Freddy’s: Security Breach

Description: The familiar melody of Grandfather’s Clock chimes through the echoing halls of the Pizzaplex…

Charlie wakes up in her Puppet’s vessel yet again with one goal in mind: to stop William Afton’s reign of terror for good. She enlists the help of Glamrock Freddy, the emphatic leader of the newest iteration of the Fazbear Band. But there seems to be more to this bear than meets the eye—and the same goes for the mysteriously familiar kid the duo find tinkering with animatronics down in Parts & Service.

With some help from friends new and old, Charlie’s journey into the bowels of the Pizzaplex will unravel mysteries none of them ever expected. 

Rating: T

Read on Ao3

The night's not over yet You can't escape me You really can't forget You can't escape me The party's just begun You can't escape me You can try, that just makes things more fun!

~You Can’t Escape Me by Dagames~

Together they would reminisce, the old ghosts regaling Freddy of their childhood misadventures until Gregory begun to stir from his nap. When he realized he’d fallen asleep for a few hours, he shot up and glanced around.

“Morning, sunshine,” Charlie told him, attempting to placate with a firm hand on his back. “It's almost 6, buddy...”

With dawn, it was time to discuss the elephant in the room. What was best for Gregory moving forward?

Luckily, Freddy had been thinking through a plan while the others spun their tales. He held Gregory securely as the boy’s heart rate calmed down once he realized he was safe and sound with his protectors.

“Good morning, superstar; do not worry, I have an idea of how to get through the dayshift.” Freddy’s gaze moved between Michael and Charlie as he explained. “There is a fair chance the Pizzaplex will be closed due to the other animatronics being in such a distressed state. In these cases, we are confined to our rooms. Since there are no guests to entertain, there is no need for us to walk around; the only times we are taken out are for routine maintenance.”

He looked around the security office for a moment, letting out a small sigh.

“Ideally we could stay here, but I know that this office is used by dayshift staff… so I think the best thing would be to move our base temporarily to my room,” Freddy continued. “We will keep the curtains shut and stay quiet, and if anyone comes by you three can hide in the back storage area. Charlie and Gregory can fit in the storage lockers, and Michael—” He gave the fox an apologetic sort of smile. “It is not a perfect spot, but your best bet would be to stand in my charging station and cover the window with your cloak.”

Everyone took a moment to think about this idea. Nothing could guarantee Gregory’s safety from other animatronics as much as being in the security office, but… maybe things would be different during the day. Hopefully they’d be less ravenous for human children, at the very least.

“I think that’s the best idea we have,” Michael eventually agreed. “We should probably pick up some food and water for Gregory soon, though—we definitely don’t want to be wandering around for any reason.”

Gregory was going to ask for another bag of Toxic Gummy Bunnies, though his favorite sour-candy may have been ruined by the thoughts of those gummies wanting to inject him with an odd, purple liquid.

“Can I have pizza for breakfast?” he asked, knowing it probably had more substance than the bags full of candy and Fizzy Faz he'd been subsisting on for the past week. He thought about the state of his teeth because of it as well. There was a gross film of plaque that had caked his back molars, and overall Gregory needed water.

After looking to the clock, Charlie reckoned the employees would be coming in soon but there was enough time to fetch their human ward some grub. She’d never complain when it came to food. And anyway, the Fazbear industry was a known death trap. So why shouldn't the food slowly kill you, too?

“Normally I would discourage such a meal first thing in the day, but I believe we can make an exception,” Freddy remarked, giving Gregory a little squeeze before standing to take his hand. “Let us stop by the Faz Pad; it is the closest restaurant and will have the most options.”

“The coast looks clear,” Michael said, scanning the multitude of camera feeds as he slowly got to his feet, tugging Charlie with him. “We’re right behind you guys.”

Gregory had been somewhat cranky. Not outwardly mean to his caregivers but certainly fidgety. It seemed he wasn't a big fan of mornings and was still adjusting from last night’s horror-fest. He was good for them though, and held onto Freddy's hand as they roamed through the very quiet Pizzaplex as morning light shined in.

All was quiet again. The oppressive air from last night had been lifted, in its place a tranquility that one only knew of after hours of relentless chasing. The Faz Pad's automatic lights were on as they arrived. S.T.A.F.F. bots moved slowly around counters and tables to disinfect and clean their surfaces, practically ignoring the four of them aside from occasionally being in their way. Gregory was happy he could sit relatively unguarded at one of stools set up by the pink neon counter as he scanned the menu.

“Let’s see… what’s good to eat in this place?” Michael asked, ignoring the pained creak of metal under his weight as he slid into the stool next to Gregory’s. Freddy was in the back gathering pizza, water, and anything else he thought Gregory might need for the long day ahead, leaving Mike and Charlie to keep watch and entertain said kid. Michael looked over the menu, his eyes widening at all the options.

“Oh, what I wouldn’t give for a burger and side of chips…,” he murmured, knowing he’d be drooling at the colorful pictures of greasy food if he could. He chuckled, turning to Charlie who was stationed near the entrance. “Hey, remember that time we went to the local dinner with our siblings and just got a huge bucket? The five of us demolished that thing in like thirty minutes!”

Mike continued to snicker as he turned back to the counter. “I swear I was wiping grease off my fingers for days after that…”

Charlie stopped her stalwart watch to glance towards her friends, noting Gregory’s particular look of interest. Charlie must’ve been around his age when they took that trip to their local 24-hour diner. She leaned in on her hands and laughed. “Dude, I was so bloated. I don't think I've ever found another place that oils their fries like that!”

As Gregory listened to their insider story, he wondered if he closed his eyes he could imagine what they looked like. He’d seen Michael's ghost, so that was easier to picture even it'd only been a split-second view. It was much harder to put a name to a face when it came to Charlie. 

“I think if I could eat, I'd go back there and down a whole bucket myself!” she mused. It was worth the acne she’d gotten for sure, though that was another time she swore Evan was going to puke. “Remember how Lizzie still ordered ice cream after?”

“I swear that girl had a second stomach for the stuff.” Michael shook his head, the grin on his face still prominent. “But that was fine with me—Evan and I much preferred ice pops. Swore by the blue ones.” He let out a snort, remembering an anecdote from earlier. “Well, until he ate too many; then he decided he liked the red ones instead and stole all mine…”

Michael huffed, though it was full of more brotherly affection than annoyance. He looked at Gregory, lightly tapping the desserts section of the laminated menu. “Anyway, what kind of kid are you, Gregory—an ice cream kid or an ice pop one?”

It was a summer ritual for the Afton boys, Charlie noticed. Every night after dinner Mike would grab popsicles for him and Evan without fail. As soon as the air was warm and humid, that was when Mr. Afton’s fridge was stockpiled with boxes of the stuff.

Gregory had been asked a good question. What did he prefer? As he glanced away in search of an answer, a cake trapped beneath a glass case caught his eye. With an instantly watering mouth he remembered the best dessert he ever had.

“Does ice cream cake count?” He answered with a question, which had Charlie placing her hands on her head.

“I totally forgot about ice cream cake—” she said as if new avenues were suddenly open to them.

“—with blue icing.” Gregory decided, as if he was some kind of icing connoisseur.

“Oh yeah, ice cream and cake, all in one?” Michael gave an approving nod. “That’s definitely the best. They’ve got to serve that somewhere in this huge place, right…?”

“Not in this location, but they do have a variety of options in Chica’s bakery upstairs,” Freddy replied, finally coming out of the kitchen. In his hands was a box pizza, and hung over his left wrist was a plastic bag full of drinks and other assorted snacks. He shuffled out from behind the counter and started for the door, speaking over his shoulder. “Come on, let us hurry back to my room; I can show you everything I picked out when we are there and Gregory can finally eat.”

Michael hopped off the bar stool, wincing as he heard the metal squeak again—he felt sorry for the next person to sit there because he had a feeling he probably broke down the integrity of the seat quite a bit…

Gregory was definitely going to need a dentist when he got out. All those breakfast Fizzy Faz's were about to reduce his teeth to carbon ash by the time he turned sixteen. Still, he was pretty stoked to try the Roxy flavor that he peeked at from inside the takeout bag. He seemed to have a bit more energy and hopped off his stool with a grin.

“You guys excited for pizza?!” Gregory said, so overtaken by the greasy delight he forgot he’d been spending time with things that realistically couldn't—or shouldn't—try to eat.

“Uh... For sure, little dude!” Charlie replied, hating to burst Gregory's bubble. It certainly didn't hurt to pretend for a moment that she could.

“Am I excited for pizza? Hel—Heck yes. Should I be excited? ...Probably not so much.” Mike decided to take a slightly more realistic approach when answering, though he made a point to avoid outright saying “no.” Would he actually put a piece of cheese, mystery meat, and tomato-topped dough in Foxy's mouth if Gregory offered it to him?

...Yes, if only to stop the look of disappointed realization that was spreading across the boy's face.

“You've just got to eat extra slices for Charlie and I, alright?” Michael added, holding out his paw for Gregory to take as they walked. He leaned down to murmur conspiratorially in his ear. “And also make sure to drink an extra Fizzy Faz for me when Freddy's not looking, okay?”

“I heard that, Michael,” Freddy said, not even bothering to turn around, though his tone indicated that he wasn't actually annoyed—he knew Michael was just trying to cheer Gregory up. Although, he wouldn't put it past the fox to help Gregory follow through on his suggestion.

Hmm... Freddy would have to keep an eye on those two when they paired up so they didn't get into more trouble, no matter how innocent.

This would make Gregory burst into a snicker, happily grasping onto Michael's paw. With his free hand, he mimicked zipping up his lips, silently telling Mike he'll keep the secret before shushing him, as if he was already blowing their cover. The sight made Charlie laugh as she got the door for the four of them.

She could see it now—the trend of bad decisions when they were unsupervised would continue to grow. How long would it be before Charlie got sucked into their antics?

At least the two of them meant well, she thought as they spilled into the mall again. Morning sunlight came through the atrium windows, basking the hall in a muted orange glow.

“Hey, look guys—Moon won't be able to bother us anymore.”

Gregory rolled his eyes. Moon...

“Eh, he was afraid of flashlights. He can come back when he scratches a hole in my cheek,” the boy replied in a jaded manner, touching the bandage on his face.

“I wonder if Sun would ever un-ban you from the Daycare,” Michael thought aloud, though he quickly grimaced as he remembered their prior visit. He'd still been stuck inside the Freddy then, and had to watch helplessly through his eyes as Gregory and Charlie were chased around like crazy by Sun's alter ego. “...Not that I necessarily want to go back anytime soon.”

“I think once we get this virus cleared up, Sun will be quite amiable to letting Gregory back in,” Freddy replied with a soft chuckle.

It didn't take long for the group to reach Freddy's room, and after checking to make sure the door was locked and the curtains still tightly closed, the bear set the pizza down on the coffee table in front of the couch. It was shaped like a star, which was great for the aesthetic but horrible in terms of practicality, as it was only able to fit the pizza box and nothing else. So, Freddy simply emptied the contents of the plastic bag onto the floor, laying everything out for Gregory to examine. Along with a whole bunch of napkins, Freddy had grabbed three bottles of water and one of each Fizzy Faz flavor, as well as a few assorted bags of chips and a pre-made PB&J sandwich, if only for Gregory to have something minutely healthier than pizza for one meal.

“Thanks for the grub, Dad!” Gregory made sure to say, sliding towards the table fast as he reached for a handful of napkin.

Charlie had gone to the window, drawing the curtains tighter than before. When she turned around, it was to see the kid scarfing down the pizza fervently. “Dude, slow down!”

She laughed, deciding to pick him up and get him situated on the couch. He wouldn't answer now that he was eating a warm meal, though he didn't seem to complain in the slightest about being relocated.

“You're going to inhale that whole pizza without even tasting it,” she warned. Fazbear's pizza had always been suspicious with its ingredients, but she remembered inhaling the unhealthy slab of grease and cheese the same way. She couldn't forget the look Henry gave her that one time she told Mike that her and Sammy witnessed their fathers put a little something extra in the sauce. He claimed that the customers came back because it was good all on its own after scolding her lightly for the silly lie.

“Yes, save some for later, superstar—we must make this food last until the dayshift staff leaves,” Freddy said gently, though he couldn't help but chuckle at Gregory's clear excitement. It warmed his mechanical heart to see him happy and enjoying something for once.

Michael had settled himself on the floor, curious to examine these infamous Fizzy Faz drinks now that he had them all laid out. They were... interesting, to say the least. Orange soda was the most standard, and Mike found it ironic that this was Freddy's brand—a classic flavor to match a classic character. Grape wasn't too bad either, though the concept of carbonated pink lemonade and sour lime was something Michael couldn't quite imagine. He'd have to ask Gregory to describe what exactly these things tasted like the next time he tried one.

“If I eat one slice an hour, I'll be able to last to night shift.” Gregory said, thinking about how he'd portion his slices in advance. He even decided the peanut butter and jelly were to be an auxiliary snack. There would be no need to stress about another food run for him, at least for today.

Meanwhile, Charlie was thinking about how she would give a limb to taste what the orange soda was like. She remembered the orange creamsicle fountain drink at the diner and hoped that someone in this company had the sense to make it similar. Though even if it was new, she wouldn't complain. To be able to taste any kind of soda would be amazing.

As if he read her mind, Gregory looked to Michael, swallowing a lump of pizza to ask him, “Could you pass me the orange one please?”, bouncing slightly when Charlie decided to crash onto the couch next to him.

“Ready?” Mike met Gregory's gaze as he picked up the can, throwing it experimentally into the air and catching it with his paw. Upon Gregory's nod, Michael tossed the drink in an expert arc that fell perfectly into the boy's waiting hands. The fox blinked, surprised that it'd actually worked—he half expected the soda to bean the kid in the head if Charlie's reflexes didn't kick in fast enough to stop it. “Whoa... guess that was some internal precision-based programming kicking in.”

Gregory opened the can, its cracking noise followed by a light spray of the soft drink. It made Charlie raise her arms as the sugary spritz of orange soda splashed her slightly. It wasn't a big deal, she had been covered in worse over the years. But Gregory still sent her an apologetic look before taking a sip.

While the soda situation was being addressed, Freddy moved to the window, leaning as close as he could without jostling the curtains too much. There were definitely people outside now, their tired chatter heard mutely through the glass. Freddy looked back to the group and pressed a finger over his mouth, signaling for them to lower their voices.

“The glass is thick so we do not have to be completely silent unless we hear someone right outside, but we should still speak in a whisper just to be safe,” the bear informed them in the exact sort of hushed tone he wanted the others to use.

Outside's morning crew looked somewhat baffled at the state they found Chica in. Judging by the body language as she sat by a planter, head in her hands, it appeared they were scolding her. None of the Glamrocks should've been out of their rooms, yet Chica appeared to be covered in pizza grease and scuff marks galore. Worst of all, when she tried to explain herself she couldn't even remember how she’d gotten all the way back to the main stage!

“Are they going to arrest her?” Gregory asked, as the day shift's blue-buttoned shirts sort of reminded him of a mall cops. He was just barely able to peer past Freddy through the curtains, mostly hidden behind the bear's leg. “If they can, they should.”

“No, they are not going to arrest her,” Freddy replied, shooing Gregory back so he wouldn't be seen by passing employees. “They will likely take her to Parts & Service once they finish lecturing her for getting so damaged, and then they will—”

Freddy cut himself off, eyes widening as a thought struck him. Finding one animatronic dirty and damaged could be chalked up to a malfunction specific to that character alone. But if they found Roxy—or worse, Monty—in similar states... 

“Freddy, what's wrong?” Mike asked, coming up to the window and pushing Gregory even further back into the room. As Michael watched he saw one of the staff members gathered around Chica suddenly break off and head right for their position. “Shit!”

“Language, Michael!” Freddy chided, quickly pulling the curtain closed and turning to face the others. “You must hide now—I think I am about to be taken to Parts & Service with the rest of the animatronics. Hopefully they will let me go if they see that nothing major is wrong with me, but please lock the door after I leave and stay hidden in the back until I return.”

“Should we take the pizza?!” asked Gregory in a hurried voice. He threw his slice into the box and managed to close it before Charlie could wrap her hands around him and lift him off the ground.

“Forget the pizza! Mike, get the door. Let's get you to the recharge station—” Heading for the backrooms, the three of them fled as a girl with tanned skin and curly red hair knocked at Freddy's door.

Mike followed Charlie's instructions, shutting the door to the backroom just as he heard the knock. In mild panic mode, when Puppet handed off the kid he instinctively pulled Gregory possible inside the recharge station, apologizing for the constricting space. Mike hadn’t been in one after obtaining his new body, his ghostly soul enough to keep Foxy working without regard for battery power. The electrical whirring that auto-started when he closed the pod door made him jump at first, although his body did connect and began to fill his apparently-depleted battery. It was a weird sensation, but also relaxing in a strange way. He wondered if the Glamrocks enjoyed their small breaks away from the world in these things—he sure would if he was a normal robot.

Satisfied that Gregory was hidden despite the unconventional spot, Charlie gave the boys two thumbs up from outside the charging station and carefully climbed one of the many shelving units, slotting herself in a darkened corner.

Gregory hadn’t been fussy about being haphazardly shoved into the charging pod with Michael. It may have been boring, but Foxy’s peg leg gave him more range of motion to move with. Freddy was just bulky enough that Gregory knew staying in the pods for too long even without being in his stomach compartment would feel claustrophobic fast.

***

The knock was easy going and patient, the voice behind it muffled by thick metal. “Mornin', Freddy! You awake?”

“Good morning!” Freddy replied, setting his face into its default smile. Opening the door, he was relieved to see who it was—though barely starting the job a week ago, this girl had already cemented herself between humans and robots alike as one of the nicest employees by a mile. “It is nice to see you; how are you today?”

The short, kindly security guard outside had an odd name. Or, it’d be more accurate to say that her nametag was strange, reading: “Soapie.” Her first order of business was to give Freddy an ocular pat down. She already knew he’d been out of his room that day from the dirt on his legs, but the thing that stuck out to her most were his hands.

Those green and purple claws did not belong to Freddy Fazbear…

“Hey, big guy!” Soapie replied, knowing she’d get more cooperation from the ursine robot by being as sweet as honey. Her curls bounced as she glanced inside the room, noting some snacks scattered around the table. Yet another odd thing—not only should Freddy be free of dirt, his room shouldn’t have a mess within either. He’d been out of commission and barred from visitors due to his concert malfunction, so he most definitely hadn't had Meet & Greets since a few days ago.

“Looks like you had a big night too, huh?” she finally concluded, her eyes roaming back to those hands. With a sickening twist in the pit of her stomach, the guard finally realized exactly who those claws belonged to: Monty—who’d been missing all morning.

Darn. In the scatter of making sure the others were safe, Freddy had completely forgotten about his new set of appendages. So much for convincing the staff there was nothing wrong with him…

“Ah… yes,” Freddy admitted, looking apologetic as he sheepishly clasped Monty’s hands behind his back. He certainly wasn’t going to tell this woman all the details, though—not without some heavy editing on his part.

“Things were a bit… strange last night. The other animatronics were not acting like themselves—have you gotten an opportunity to speak with them, by any chance?” He paused, tilting his head in concern. “Or perhaps Officer Vanessa? She seemed quite under the weather as well—has she made contact with anyone this morning?”

Soapie let out a whispery laugh, crossing her arms as she nodded, softly interrogating the bear as she decided to answer his questions. “Yeah, we kinda gathered that. We found Roxy at the raceway—you know, as per usual. I just spoke to Ness over the radio, and she was telling me she had issues corralling you all. You know how understaffing at night goes…”

Though she hadn’t actually seen her boss yet, Soapie wasn’t worried. Most of the nights here were fairly calm, although there was a clearly a programming bug going around that seemed to be infecting the robots like a kid with a cold.  

“I found Chica with a torn up pizza box in her stomach hatch. Can you believe that?” asked the guard, who seemed to have nothing but genuine concern for the programmed personalities. With a smile, she stepped out of the way for Freddy to exit. “Don’t worry though, we’re going to take everyone to Parts & Service for a quick tune up and shine—you included, Fredbear.”

Soapie had made it seem like a suggestion, when in reality Vanessa wanted her and the others to gather the band together asap.

“Of course,” Freddy agreed, following obediently. At least if he was gone, staff should have no reason to go into his room—hopefully the others would be safe and sound until he returned.

He allowed the young woman to take the lead, musing on whet she’d said as he followed behind. So “Vanessa” was back this morning—Freddy had been worried that William’s influence was now infecting her 24/7, but that didn’t seem to be the case. He couldn’t confirm this unless he actually saw her, of course, but he had a feeling “Vanny” couldn’t keep up the ruse of being her opposite persona for more than a few seconds.

They caught up to Chica just as her lecture was coming to an end. Freddy watched her closely for signs of the crazed animatronic he’d seen last night, but as she spotted him he could tell that the bright, happy light in her eyes was the same as it should be.

The poor chicken even seemed embarrassed. Chica was as much a rebel as Roxy at times when it came to coming and leaving her room. But she’d never overdone it like she had last night, and with them finding pizza boxes swallowed and shoved inside her chest cavity, she’d been given a rather stern talking to.

On her radio, Soapie called in to her boss. “Hey, Ness. I’ve got Chica and Freddy; taking them to the service elevator now. Over.”

Giving the two robotic friends a wide smile, she told Chica: “Come on, no long faces okay? We’re just gonna go to Parts & Service, ask some questions, then get you guys cleaned up.” It seemed that they believed so wholly in the software issue that no punishments would be doled out today.

“I just wished I remembered…” Chica sighed, managing to smile when she saw Freddy, despite her surprise at the state of the normally-composed bear. With his hands conveniently kept out of her sightline, she had no reason to question the green claws. “You too, Fred?”

“Unfortunately so,” Freddy said, hanging his head in mock shame. Chica’s words rang heavy in his ears. He knew they got temporary amnesia when Gregory moved out of sight after they’d spotted him, but to not recall any of their actions last night was quite a feat. Freddy quickly realized that if he wanted to get through this situation in one piece, he’d best play along.

“My recollection of the night is unclear—I believe there is an issue with my memory banks,” the bear added with a frown. He looked at Chica with eyes full of confusion, hoping she’d believe him in his distress—the anxiety was real alright, but the cause of it was wherein Freddy’s fib lied. “Do you remember anything that happened?”

Chica seemed to feel a great deal of sympathy in that moment. It was scary not knowing what you were up to. However, the excitable chicken was programmed specifically to be one of the most uplifting animatronics around. Nothing bad ever lasts forever, and she was determined to prove it!

“Don’t worry, Freddy! They’re going to fix us up—we’ll be back playing concerts in no time!” Chica assured. Unfortunately, at Freddy’s question she drew a blank. It was terrible; just like every night this week her memory was going bad.

“Uh… I think I ran into a Foxy cardboard cutout and had a mini freak-out. Other than that? Nothin’!” Chica let out a small, genuine laugh. It’s not as if she could imagine herself doing anything crazy like hunting down people like some apex predator. There was no need to be so morose. “It’s just kinda embarrassing. Apparently I ate a bunch of pizza last night, box and all. I’ve gotta go get my endo scraped again…”

The security guard that led them into an unlocked service elevator patted her arm. It must be torturous to be designed with an endless love of food, yet unable to consume it.

“We’ll get you nice and clean for the kids next week,” she dutifully assured as their descent began. At Freddy’s questioning gaze, she cleared her throat and scratched the side of her face. “I’ve got a feeling the Big Boss is going to close us down for a few days; there’s a lot of weird stuff going on, and with him at that huge stakeholders meeting and not here to manage it all, he’s probably losing his mind.”

“Ah. That makes sense.” Freddy offered a tiny smile as the elevator began to move. “That is probably for the best until we can sort all of these odd bugs out.”

Looking to Chica, his face softened. This was the bird he knew—positive and optimistic. Freddy wanted to reach out and comfort her as well, but she hadn’t seemed to notice Monty’s claws yet and he did not want to bring any extra attention to them.

Speaking of which… the guard hadn’t said anything about actually finding Monty, only Chica and Roxy. He’d been in such a sorry state, it was impossible for them not to locate spare parts chopped on that little stage. Hopefully Freddy could get out of there before the gator caught sight of his claws; the bear was still trying to figure out a way to explain them to the technicians, although it seemed like amnesia was going to be the best route for most of this.

Freddy gave a soft laugh, not wanting the others to grow concerned if he got lost in his thoughts too long. While Freddy had the tendency to “think” the most out of all the Glamrocks, it was because he’d been designed as the most protective and logical of the group—as the leader of the band, it was his duty to keep the others in check. He could get away with pausing while his “systems” figured out how to respond or what to do next, but there was an unspoken time limit to this that would be cause for alarm if he continually overstepped it.

“Those life-size cutouts can be jarring; I sometimes come upon one rounding a corner and am surprised when they do not answer me back!” the bear said in response to Chica’s earlier comment, trying to add his own levity to the situation. She’d clearly run into Michael last night, which the fox in question neglected to tell them about. Although, with the William incident likely occurring right afterwards, Freddy couldn’t blame him for forgetting such a comparatively small detail.

Chica let out a sigh. “I'm so glad I'm not the only one! Roxy's lucky she doesn't have that problem. I wonder if Monty gets spooked… We'll have to ask him when we see him.”

The nice security guard, who’d been casually listening to their easygoing dialogue with interest, quirked her brows just slightly. The change in her face was minute, clearly not meant to cause worry.

“That reminds me, uh—” Soapie reached for her walkie, murmuring into the receiver. “Hey, Ness? We're en route for Parts & Services. Did you find Montgomery yet?”

Impatient for an answer, she drummed her fingers over the back of the plastic communication device. He’d been missing from the get go, which was odd for an animatronic, and even stranger for the biggest in the Glamrock band. Adding in every light completely busted in Monty's room, she had a bad feeling right from the start.

Static issued from the walkie for a few seconds, before the telltale beep of the receiver. There was a bit of fumbling before Vanessa’s voice issued forth, sounding a bit far away.

“Ugh, stupid fuckin’—” More shuffling, then her voice came though as loud and clear as the walkie would allow. “Okay—hello? Can you hear me?”

Upon Soapie’s confirmation, Vanessa let out a sigh. Her voice was tired, the exhaustion of the night obviously taking its toll. Something definitely went down… even if Ness didn’t remember 90% of it. If the animatronics weren’t enough proof, her broken wrist surely was.

“So, uh… Monty.” Vanessa paused, her finger still holding the mic down, and the faint sounds of the golf course could be heard in the background. She’d been actively looking for the gator when her coworker called. “We… kind of found him. This is gonna sound really weird but… we found his lower half. I don’t know what the fuck he got up to last night, but it seems like he fell off the catwalks, hit a beam, and got snapped in two.” She paused to grimace, her eyes roaming over the long path he’d taken in his fall. “Thing is, though, his upper torso’s still MIA. We’ve looked everywhere and it’s just… gone.”

Freddy’s eyes widened, but he managed to keep the full-body startle response in check. He couldn’t seem too emotional, even though Vanessa’s statement made him very, very nervous.

Had William taken Monty’s body? If so—why? And why not the whole thing?

Yet again, there were too many questions and not enough answers.

The dayshift guard stepped out of the lift, listening to Vanessa with furrowed brows. That hadn’t been the answer she expected at all, and frankly the fact that even happened to Monty stressed her out. It was going to come out of someone’s paycheck if they didn’t resolve the issue by the time the boss rolled back into the office. Soapie gripped her hair, a self-soothing tactic, only to find Chica in much dire straits over her friend.

“Monty fell?!” the bird gasped, rhetorically questioning the information presented to her. “W—What? Where could the rest of him be?”

Chica leaned against the lift walls as she tried to look past the shock. What had startled her further was Freddy’s lack of concerned reaction. She noted it from the corner of her eye.

“Isn’t that just awful, Fred?” she asked, the concern for both him and Monty apparent.

“Chica, look at me—relax. You’re gonna overheat your circuits. We’ll find the rest of him!” Soapie promised. She wasn’t about to let 500 whole pounds of animatronic tech go missing like that. Monty probably just… crawled off somewhere. Those Glamrocks were designed to keep working even if they were nothing more than a severed head.

Freddy’s arms were once again clasped behind his back as he offered Chica a reassuring smile. His eyes still held concern, though he didn’t want to make Chica more worried than she already was. His goal was to comfort her as best he could, like good friends were supposed to do.

“I am sure Monty will be alright,” the bear said, voice calm and measured. “You know him—he is very resilient.”

Apparently more so than any of us realized, he thought. Where in the world could that gator be?

“He will turn up soon enough,” Freddy continued aloud, moving closer to gently bump shoulders with his bird friend. In normal circumstances, this is when he’d pull her into a hug—in general, Chica appreciated more physical affection than the others, but especially when something went wrong. For now, the nudge would have to do. Freddy was really regretting getting these upgraded claws; they’d been nothing but trouble from the get-go.

Chica might have amnesia from the night shift, but she would absolutely remember the way Freddy was acting. While it was comforting to hear his words of assurance, Chica could just tell something was off.

It's a programming bug; he's had it since yesterday night, she told herself, trying not to dwell on the negatives. When they find Monty, maybe he'll know something. Chica held her arms in a self-hug as they walked into the frankly messy Parts & Service room.

“You party animals really tore the place up last night,” Soapie remarked with a snort, noting how Roxy actually listened to her for once and stayed inside the repair cylinder. She wasn’t one to scold the funny animatronic creatures. It's not as if their AI was capable of taking those criticisms to heart, she always figured.

Roxy sat, trapped in a case of her own ennui. Her claws rapped impatiently against the chair, but she perked up instantly upon seeing her friends and flashed them a razor-sharp smile.

“Man, you guys took your sweet time!” Roxy playfully chided. She’d already been scrubbed clean, though the dents in her casing were apparent in the bright fluorescent lighting.

Seeing Roxy cleaned off and looking much closer to her normal self gave Freddy a hesitant sense of relief. Yes, she was littered with dents and he was certain the virus still lingered in the back of her mind, waiting for the perfect time to reactivate… but for now, it seemed like she was okay.

“Hello, Roxy!” Freddy greeted brightly, inclining his head in lieu of waving. He could feel Chica’s eyes on him, watching him like a hawk. She could tell something was wrong, that much was obvious, but Freddy just hoped she chalked it up to a system-wide issue they were all going through. Freddy stepped up the cylinder, looking through the glass to where Roxy sat in the chair.

“I hear they caught you in the racetrack again,” he said with a light chuckle. Usually she’d either be in the beauty salon primping herself to perfection or practicing her skills on the raceway, both of which caused her to lose track of time, get caught by dayshift staff, and reprimanded for leaving her room.

Freddy wished it had been another one of those situations. Only he was aware of her true goal last night of hunting down a lost child.

Roxy laughed in response. She inclined her head, freshly-groomed mane bouncing as she rolled her eyes.

“If only I could live at the raceway. It's meant to be—I don't even remember getting down there!” she replied with a dreamy sigh.

One day she'd convince them to let her room be inside the actual attraction. Sometimes it was easy for the Glamrocks to forget they weren't actually rockstars with people willing to give them whatever they wanted with nary a snap of their brightly painted, metallic claws. They were mascots to a franchise, owned by a single human man and his band of shadowed shareholders. It was more convenient for the consuming masses to go where all the robots could be seen one right after another.

Chica sat down on the chair, close to Roxy but avoiding touching her for fear of greasing her up by accident.

“You'd run up the electricity bill again if they let you sleep there!” Chica laughed, making Roxy smile.

“Hey, you still there?” Vanessa’s voice crackled through the walkie. “I’m coming down to Parts & Service now with what we’ve got; I’ll be there in about 10 minutes.”

“Copy that! I'm with the others.” The dayshift guard walked away to answer her boss, giving the robots some room to have their own conversation while she paced. “Could you check the Daycare for the attendant on your way? I couldn't find him anywhere.”

Hopefully someone had been able to locate the lanky, sky-themed robot—and even better, hopefully he didn’t need and repairs like the rest of the crew. It’d be double-weird to see him out of his natural habitat.

“Rodger that—I’ll swing by the Daycare and see if I can find him,” Vanessa replied. “Over and out.”

The walkie clicked off, and the night guard changed direction to head for the Daycare, grumbling to herself as she did so. Man did she have one hell of a headache…

Freddy chuckled more at Chica’s statement, nodding in agreement. He moved to stand in the cylinder facing her and Roxy, leaning casually against the window with arms still crossed behind his back. It was already easier to interact with the girls now that they were together, their natural ability to get along infectious.

“The raceway is certainly one of the most entertaining attractions in the Pizzaplex, I must admit,” Freddy had to concede, then flashed Roxy what could only be considered a smug grin. “Although Fazer Blast is a close competitor in terms of guest enjoyment.”

Each animatronic had their own attraction, and though Fazer Blast was arguably the least themed to its animatronic, it was technically Freddy’s. Despite the unfortunate encounter that Mike and Gregory had inside the arena last night, Freddy still held a sense of pride for the game itself.

Roxy subtly sent a smirk Freddy’s way. She couldn’t deny that kids were always begging their parents to buy the two for one party passes so they could go from one high-octane attraction to another.

“It’s a classic combination if you ask me. What day of go-karting isn’t complete without a few rounds of laser tag?” Roxy reasoned, letting Freddy have his kudos while reminding him who the fan favorite still belonged to.

With an indignant squawk, ever defensive about the popularity of her own attraction, Chica questioned: “What about Mazercise?!”

Roxy, at the risk of dirtying her arm, snaked it around Chica’s shoulders and squeezed the chicken into a close hug that instantly cheered her up.

“Chica, honey… No one likes mazes and kids don’t like fitness,” Roxy said in an air of joking bluntness, though a kernel of truth may have slipped through. It made Chica laugh, playfully pushing the wolf away as she pretended to be sadder than she really was.

Coming back towards the group, Soapie clapped her hands together to gain their attention. “Alright! Who’s next for cleaning?" When Chica hid behind Roxy some, she sighed. “Please—not everyone at once.”

“I will go next,” Freddy volunteered, pushing himself off the wall to stand a little closer to the chair.

Chica's cleaning always took the longest due to her tendency to eat human food that clogged up her endoskeleton. With the literal garbage in her system she'd been chowing down on last night, she was probably going to be in that chair all day. The faster Freddy could get out of here and hide in his room, the better. He was already starting to feel anxious being away and hoped the others were doing alright—and weren't too bored, especially in Gregory's case.

“You heard the bear!” Chica went to nudge Roxy off the chair, only following suit when Roxy grasped her hand and pulled the bird along with her. Rolling her eyes, the wolf led Chica out of the safety cylinder to give Freddy and the guard room to work.

“Thanks for volunteering, Freddy. I'll try to be as quick as possible. I've just got to strap down your arms; you know protocol,” Soapie told him, patting the seat as a signal for Freddy to relax before she walked to the command terminal inside the workspace. Entering a few prompts, she allowed the cleaning program to load. Programming and major repairs were saved for the trained technicians, but with Soapie’s level of experience she was well-equipped to run a basic cleaning protocol and replace a few limbs.

“Hey, you don't mind if I ask a few questions, do you?” she asked, her whispery voice coming off amiably enough. Despite Freddy telling her that his memory eluded him, she still had a few burning inquiries she at least had to try and get an answer to.

“Not at all,” Freddy replied easily, relaxing against the chair. He was used to these cleanings and wasn't bothered with being strapped down, save for the fact that he could no longer hide his new claws away. He noticed Chica's eyes widen as she finally caught sight of them, but Freddy couldn't hear what the bird whispered to Roxy outside the cylinder.

He tried not to grimace. What must they think of him, seeing their missing friend's claws attached and functional on another's body? And Roxy didn't even know Monty was missing yet...

Despite their constant competition, underneath it all Roxy and Monty were fierce friends who would protect each other until the end of time. Hopefully she wouldn't lose her cool and try to confront Freddy as soon as he stepped out of the protective cylinder.

Trying to ignore these thoughts, he glanced at Soapie with an easy smile.

“I will answer any questions as I am able to, although I believe my memory banks have been damaged,” Freddy reminded the guard gently. If she asked anything he didn't want to answer, he'd simply claim that he couldn't.

Soapie ordered a sanitation prompt through the terminal. Robotic arms came down to power wash away specs of dirt in fierce, pointed streams. The sanitizer evaporated quickly so as not to settle inside the robot’s casing and cause rust damage. When Freddy reminded her that his memory was faint, she nodded, watching as Roxy walked Chica away from the sight of Freddy's mismatched hands.

“So... You don't remember how Monty's hands got on your arms?” she asked tentatively, her voice and tone delicate as not to make it seem like she was accusing him. She was just anxious to get to the bottom of it all.

After the washing prompt ended, it was onto removal and replacement of Monty's claws. They needed to match Freddy’s hands back with his model before Vanessa saw and had a fit. The last thing anyone needed was to stress out the harried night guard further than she already was.

Freddy resisted the urge to groan aloud as Monty’s claws were unceremoniously detached. It was a good idea to equip him with “weapons” that could break through extra gates in theory, but their plans had gotten so detailed by the Fazer Blast fiasco last night, they hadn’t even gotten to use them.

Good to note that if day staff caught Freddy with any upgrades, they’d be swiftly removed. He wasn’t opposed to switching out more parts if absolutely necessary to further ensure Gregory’s safety, but they’d need to be cautious of how visible any new additions to his body were. In response to the question, Freddy shook his head, feigning the best look of innocent confusion he could muster.

“No, I… I do not know how I came in possession of them. I do not really remember interacting with Montgomery at all last night.” He frowned, as if thinking hard. “I saw him in Rockstar Row at the beginning of the night shift, but after that it is all a blank.”

As familiar blue-clawed replacement paws were attached to his arms, Freddy looked to the guard with an apologetic smile. “I am sorry I could not be of more help.”

It was notoriously difficult to tell when a robot was lying. So much so in fact that Soapie decided Freddy had been telling the truth from the start. After all, he was the most responsible one—she couldn’t remember a time the well-behaved bear ever got in trouble like his companions. Now that the bug wasn't actively happening, she was sure Freddy wasn't going to lie in some vain attempt at keeping the status quo.

Soapie shrugged, wiring and calibrating his hand with the skill and delicacy of someone with years of experience under their belt.

“Don't sweat it, Fred,” she replied easily, trusting the bear completely. “I know you'd tell us if something was wrong.”

Soon enough Freddy's restraints lifted, and she gave him a pat on the shoulder. “Just don't do anything too stressful today, okay? We're going to have the programmers look into the latest software update. Hopefully we'll get this under control soon.”

“Thank you,” Freddy said with a smile, flexing his oh so familiar hands as he was ushered out of the cylinder. “I plan to stay in my room all day, so—”

“Oh my god, I am so done with all these stupid malfunctions!” Vanessa’s exasperated yell made everyone turn as she stomped into the room.

To put it bluntly: she looked like a damn mess. Her clothes were wrinkled and disheveled, and her hair wasn’t much better, frizzy pieces sticking out of her usually tight ponytail with reckless abandon. Her face was pale from lack of water and proper nutrition, contrasting sharply with the dark bags under her eyes. The most noticeable thing, however, was the makeshift sling of gauze holding her left arm securely against her chest. Her shirt sleeve was pushed up to reveal bandages wrapped from hand to elbow, and her wince of pain signaled that it hurt.

“We found Sun—he was huddled in a corner of the Daycare under one of the floodlights,” Vanessa explained to the dayshift guard. She heaved a sigh, pinching the bridge of her nose with her non-injured hand. “He’s being weird, too—refused to let us check him out unless we moved him to a place where there was no chance of the lights going off… so some of the techs are looking him over in the main lobby where there’s natural light.”

The night guard let out an incredulous snort. “That psycho literally crawled up a wall when we brought up checking over Moon, too! We’ve gotta figure out a way to get to him sometime but that’s a problem for the techs to figure out, not me.”

Another sigh escaped her lips, the weariness starting to catch up to her. If she wanted to be awake for her shift tonight, she’d need to take a long nap and get some food soon. Vanessa looked towards the animatronic trio, narrowing her eyes at the state of them all. “Anyway, that’s my update—what going on with those three?”

Soapie had half a mind to tell her boss to maybe relax a little in front of the clearly traumatized robots—what stopped her was the sling Vanessa did not have on yesterday. Had she known Ness was hurt on the job, she probably wouldn't have asked the woman to stay and help figure out the issues with day shift.

“Found Freddy with Monty's claws on him,” she whispered her way. It felt strange reporting on the AIs when they were right there, judging what she said in an eerily similar way to a human. It was her job though, so she cleared her throat and went on diligently. “He doesn't remember how they got on his arms. Chica is full of garbage. Plastic knives, ripped up pizza boxes, solo cups and something that looks like cheese?”

Soapie cringed as she thought about the gross smell it was going to make when scooped out of her. She already reeked—actually, all of them except for Freddy had a pretty foul stink attached to them. It was a particular odor that gave her a headache when she thought too hard on its origins.

"Ness—I didn't realize you hurt your arm...,” Soapie remarked gently. She wasn't one to pry, though it only allowed worry to go through her mind as she imagined the terrible potential of what occurred last night if a human got injured in the chaos—or God forbid something was going on in Vanessa's home life.

“Huh? Oh, yeah…” Vanessa glanced down at her arm with a grimace. “Yeah, I… fell down some stairs last night—landed right on my wrist in the worst way. I’m gonna get it checked out soon, I just had to get all this shit done first.”

Normally Vanessa wouldn’t lie about such things as a major injury, but she’d been doing a good job of keeping her amnesiac blackouts under wraps to everyone but her therapists. She couldn’t risk damaging her career even more if she revealed to those she was supposed to be supervising that she couldn’t remember most of her night shift activities… She’d already been transferred locations in the Fazbear company a few times and didn’t want to go through another adjustment period—or worse, be straight up fired.

Freddy tried to ignore the guards as they talked, though he was secretly listening with rapt interest. That was certainly not what happened to Vanessa’s wrist last night, but the bear wasn’t about to correct her. Whatever motives she had for lying to her coworkers, Freddy didn’t feel the need to concern himself with. Instead, he stayed back until he saw an opportunity when he could interject and ask to return to his room. While he waited, he felt Roxy and Chica’s accusing and confused gazes fixed on him.

“I do not know how that happened,” the bear said, holding up his hands to indicate he knew exactly what those looks were for. “I woke up from sleep mode this morning, and my claws were not my own. I am… sorry you both had to see me like that.”

Roxy was like stone, frozen in disbelief while holding onto her friend’s shoulders. Chica was hunched slightly, averting her sad gaze as if she’d been caught whispering to Roxy when Freddy glanced over.

Roxy told Chica that she was sure it had to be due to the programming bug. Freddy just had the worst of it—after all, he’d fallen over on stage. That sort of incident could cause all kinds of internal injuries, and even mess with their self-reporting software. Freddy must’ve been in a worse state than they were last night, to not remember swapping body parts.

(And how, exactly, had he gotten those new claws attached? That was a whole other can of worms.)

Chica knew she couldn't entirely blame him. It would be hypocritical. Though the thought that Freddy of all people was capable of something like that had deeply affected her.

“Monty will be fine—” Roxy reminded everyone. “—like... When he's all found. I trust you, Freddy.” Trying to apply good peer pressure, she gave Chica an encouraging squeeze to say something.

When Chica's hand covered the paw resting on her shoulder, she nodded in agreement. “Right. Uh—it was just really... Shocking. Like Soapie said—”

“Sophie,” the day guard interrupted with a roll of her eyes. “Honestly, they misspell my name one time in the staff logs and no one can get it right…”

“—Yeah, her. Anyway, the programmers will fix up our code before the day’s out.”

“Yes, I am sure they will,” Freddy agreed with a confident smile, despite his complete lack of confidence in this statement.

The virus infecting his friends had already burrowed its way deep into their coding—not to mention the whole supernatural aspect to this entire situation. He doubted a few hours of running software debug programs would be enough to truly fix what was wrong. Not until William Afton was destroyed and could no longer bend others to his will through nothing more than a simple command.

“Speaking of that,” Vanessa chimed in, looking over at the robots. “Freddy and Roxy, you stay here until the programmers get here. Chica, they’ll work on you once you’re all cleaned up.” The woman grimaced at the state of the bird, not hiding her disgust with how much of a mess Chica had made of herself. “Once your software's been updated, I want you all to go back to your rooms and stay there. I’ll be back to check on you guys during night shift. Got it?”

“Of course, Officer Vanessa,” Freddy nodded quickly, the perfect picture of obedience. Underneath this veneer, his metaphorical skin crawled at the thought of Ness returning for another night. If she just stayed away, maybe she wouldn’t fall under William’s influence again, and then they’d have one less threat to deal with.

But then again, maybe the rabbit was simply just in her head now. Freddy had no way to tell.

“You got it, 'Nessa!” Chica replied.

Roxy backed away from her friend and nodded her understanding. Normally she'd take her warnings with a grain of salt, but tonight was different. Who knew how Freddy was going to react. It could be her disassembled at the raceway tonight, maybe this time with her eyes plucked out... She'd rather not think of that—or to paint one of her close friends as someone so willfully violent.

That wasn't him. It was just a glitch.

“You should go home,” Sophie remarked, meekly suggesting for Vanessa to take it easy. “Get your arm checked, too. I... won't tell anyone you got hurt if you don't want me to.”

She decided it was better to comply. It was clear that Vanessa didn't want compensation due to the clear state that the robots were in. It'd probably piss management off to no end to hear that the understaffing around here wasn't working to their benefit. “I'll stay here until they're done with the Daycare attendant.”

From the sounds of Sun's distress, it was going to take a while until he was pacified. Then they could screw around with his brain a bit and get it over with for the rest of the band.

Vanessa heaved a sigh. “Yeah… I’ve gotta get out of here for a bit. Thanks.”

She gave Sophie a pat on the shoulder with her good hand. Then she narrowed her eyes and made an “I’m watching you” gesture to the animatronics before turning on her heel and heading out to temporary freedom.

***

It didn’t take as long as expected for the programmers to arrive. They decided to start with Freddy, since thanks to the mismatched limbs he was considered the one in need of most immediate care out of the four haywire animatronics they could locate. Though Freddy was relieved to get out of there before everyone else, the dark irony of him being the most volatile animatronic wasn’t lost on the bear.

After nearly another hour in the chair wherein the programmers checked and rebooted every software system they could think of, Freddy was cleared to return to his room. Staff had opted to leave Safe Mode on for obvious reasons, which suited the bear just fine—the less chance of him being somehow influenced by William, the better. With one more reassuring smile to Roxy and Chica, Freddy headed back to his room, trying not to seem too eager to do so.

***

Previous Chapter ~~ Next Chapter

Looking for more? Check out the Chapter Masterlist on Tumblr!

Or check out the entire Wires that Bind Us Series on ao3!

[tiny-smallest]

FIVE NIGHTS AT FREDDY’S RECOMMENDATIONS

I promised fic recommendations like a week or two ago and I'm only getting it to it now but ayyooooooooo here we go! Here are my favorite Sun and Moon fics, asked for by @spama and then it was like well shit let me just dump all my Five Nights At Freddy's recommendations here. They contain a mix of tropes, some of which contradict each other (I enjoy exploring different characterizations, but you’ll notice a lot of these have similarities that keep popping up because I am nothing if not predictable), and I’ll try to note prominent features and tropes in each one with minimal spoilers. So in no particular order!

Solar Lunacy by @bamsara

Reader insert, eventual romance with the daycare clowns. The protagonist has just been hired at Freddy Fazbear's Mega Pizzaplex pre-Security Breach for general odd jobs that need to be done around the complex and quickly finds out how actually fucking weird their job is. They slowly meet the robots one by one and find themselves drawn to the first two they met, the daycare attendants, and the weird mystery surrounding them- in that Sun handles the daycare alone, when Moon is clearly meant to be his counterpart and partner. Why isn't Moon helping in the daycare? What happened? Why is Moon so oddly feral; why does he play with them sometimes but try to hurt them other times? Something isn't right here, and they're gonna snoop until they find out what.

Features the other robots as prominent characters very early, but remains Sun and Moon central. Features Monty as a dick. So far no mentions of Bonnie or Foxy.

Celestial Omens (That Really Like Fishsticks) by @bamsara

This one gets its own separate category because it’s not part of the same story series and is in fact a non-fnaf au.

A mermay fic! Reader insert! Sun and Moon are sirens and you live on the shore. As a child you come across two siren children who are injured, exhausted, and trapped under netting, so of course you do the humane thing and rescue them. You take them back to your house and take care of them, giving them a safe place to sleep for the night. The next day you bring them back to the ocean and send them home, expecting to never see them again and eventually believing your elders about it all being a lonely child’s imaginative game.

Ten years later you nearly get yourself killed at sea, and your silent guardians, now as grown up as you are, finally get their chance to return the kindness you showed them all those years ago.

It’s only one chapter in but them as children is criminally adorable.

Lofi Beats To Capture Children To by @dana-the-control-brain Twin Animatronics With Too Much Time On Their Hands by @twinanimatronics

Lofi Beats follows Sun and Moon from their birth likely up to (maybe even including?) the events of Security Breach, detailing how these two got to where they are in present time- the circumstances of their creation, the abusive situations they were thrown into the deep end to deal with, and how that affected their relationship with one another. To say nothing of the actual child murders. Still ongoing!

Features the other robots as important characters, but takes a bit to meet them. DJ MM is encountered first early on. Yes, he's adorable. Monty is once again a bully in this universe, so be mindful of that if you don't like that characterization for Monty.

Twins is a reader insert that takes place after Lofi Beats and the events of Security Breach. The protagonist has known Sun and Moon for three months now and has grown used to them and their antics pretty quickly. The two are more bonded to one another now than they were three months ago, but they have a long way to go with their healing process and their relationship with each other... especially when neither have fully processed what happened to them, let alone how it affected them. This is further complicated with their feelings towards the protagonist, who remains clueless about all of this until one fateful encounter with Gregory after closing one day forces all three of them to examine themselves and their relationships with each other.

Is starting to feature the other robots, but also more slowly than Solar Lunacy. I'm guessing they and Gregory will be explored later on, as this fic is still a Sun and Moon centered fic. Monty has not been encountered yet at this point in the timeline but what we've heard of him indicates he's still kind of a dick.

Romance with the daycare clowns! Also utilizes the 'Sun and Moon were locked in the daycare and left there' trope if you like that one.

This series features an extremely interesting take on their origins and initial relationship with each other that I’m kind of in love with tbh; just be sure you’re ready to watch them fight. A lot.

Copper Cogs Rusted Through by @paper-lilypie

Reader insert, future romance with the daycare clowns! The protagonist lives in an unassuming neighborhood and works two jobs to support their baby siblings. Life is full of love thanks to their family, but is also mundane and exhausting... until one day they find a ruined robot in the junkyard they work in. A break in the monotony! Being a former engineering student of course the only thing to do is rebuild the robot!

But what happens when that robot turns out to be sentient?

And traumatized.

And also not the only robot inhabiting the body.

Also the other one seems to be a bit murdery.

Whoops.

A post-fire ending where Sun and Moon did not escape the fire, and wake to find themselves being reassembled by a stranger in a strange house a year after the blaze (and maybe two years since they've had contact with people; I don't know yet if this story is going with 'Sun and Moon were abandoned in the daycare' trope). Sun is just grateful to not be dead anymore and overjoyed to be around people again, but his and Moon’s second chance at life is not going to come easily...

Don’t Spare Your Gaze by @inazumaneko

Fun fact this is the first Sun and Moon fic that I ever read!

Sun and Moon encounter and survive the fire ending, but find themselves alone in the big wide world suddenly, injured and traumatized and without a purpose anymore. Now they must figure out how to survive a world they were never meant to fit into, with limited supplies and oh yeah the virus still kicking around in Moon’s head that activates anytime he encounters a human.

Surely this will go smoothly!

(It does not, in fact, go smoothly.)

Sun and Moon’s relationship in this is honestly just absolutely precious as in ‘I squealed aloud at a few points’ precious. If you prefer watching these daycare clowns not fight, this is the fic for you.

(That’s not to say that at some point in this long fic they won’t ever fight, just that their relationship starts from a better place in this one than previous stories on this list.)

Moon also isn’t a weird gremlin in this one. But he is adorable.

This one also has an interesting take on the what the virus is and how it operates!

And finally, NOT Sun and Moon centered, but far too good to not recommend:

To Fix What's Broken of The Unconventional Series by @larxicana

Set during Security Breach, Gregory discovers that Freddy has a missing loved one and that the robots can be flushed of their murderous glitch with a good shock to their systems. Because he is the world's tiniest juggernaut, naturally he decides the only thing to do about these discoveries is to find the missing rabbit release each of the others from the faulty programming compelling them to chase him.

But what starts as a mission to repair Bonnie and collect all of the other robots turns into a much darker mystery that needs solving as it begins to become apparent that something really bad is happening here, something beyond a simple glitch in the system...

Six parts so far, with most of them being one shots but a few being proper fics (though Sum Of Their Parts is short). The latest, To Fix What's Lost, finally deals with the 'where's Foxy' question!

Monty is not a bully in this one, so rejoice if you prefer that characterization of him!

The og four are actually THE ogs, if you like that trope too!

Sun and Moon enjoyers may be disappointed that they're not central characters, but they DO have a place in the family and are starting to feature a bit more.

Gregory is the pov character and he is a riot.

EVERYONE SAY THANK YOU TO THE AUTHORS FOR ALL THEIR WORK YOU PEOPLE HAVE GIVEN ME HOURS AND HOURS OF SERATONIN AND STORIES TO PICK APART FOR ANALYSIS AND THEORIES FOR FREE AND DESERVE ALL THE PRAISE

YOU ARE ALL SO CREATIVE AND TALENTED AND MAKE THE FANDOM THAT MUCH BRIGHTER FOR BEING THERE

[jelly-belly-fish]

I wrote another story. My friends really wanted me to post this one, so here it is. Be warned, it has my own headcanons in it too.

TW: Cursing, Bullying

The First Meeting, Pt. 1

“C’mon, ‘Dreadgory’! Hurry up!” Xavier yelled at the boy.

“I-I’m coming,” Gregory sweetly stammered in response to his fellow classmate.

Giving the Glamrock Freddy plush he was holding a final squeeze, Gregory placed the bear plush back down on the gift shop shelf. He wanted to buy it so bad, but guess it’ll have to wait until later.

“I’ll come back for you,” he cooed softly, giving the plush a soft pat on the head, “I promise.”

The plush only gave silence as a response. Just the happy little expression sewn on its face. Gregory smiled softly back at the empty response.

“C’mon, sissy!” Gregory heard Jaxon call out to him next, “The meet and greets are starting soon! We don’t want to be late because of your slow ass!”

“Language...” Gregory whispered as he ran over to his group of friends. They all slouched and sat around the giant fountain near the grand entrance of the PizzaPlex. There were four of them: Xavier, Jaxon, Zachary, and Ian.

Xavier was a ginger with an undershave haircut. It was both smooth and spiky at the same time. Gregory always thought that the fashion trend of the boy was too mature for his age, but he didn’t question the leather-jacket-wearing 4th grader, less he wanted a bruised jaw again like last time.

Jaxon was the oldest fourth grader in Gregory’s class. With his almost-white-blonde hair and being the fastest one in gym class, he was a crush for every girl in their grade. Gregory couldn’t think of one girl who didn’t want to spend reading time with him or trade food with him at lunch. Anything to get his attention.

Zachary was probably the nicest to Gregory. Then again, that’s not saying much given how many times he dunk Gregory into sinks and dumped food all over the boy. The African American boy wore a white, zip up hoodie and blue shorts. Zachary stuck his tongue out at Gregory as he approached.

Last there was Ian. He always wore black and blue and had green eyes that always seemed like they were emotionally dead. He laughed at the most random things and told terrible jokes. And if Gregory didn’t laugh, he always got what was coming to him...

“Took you long enough, egghead!” Xavier hissed as the boys started to get up from their resting positions, “I swear if we miss these events, I’ll—“

“Xavier, shut your face!” Zachary sneered, “The more you complain to Gregory, the higher chance we’ll miss the shows! C’mon!”

As the boys started making their way to the escalators, Gregory felt a tight grip on his arm. He nervously turned to see Xavier squeezing his arm. Gregory gave Xavier a fearful look.

“This isn’t over, Evans...” Xavier hissed, thrashing Gregory’s arm down before going to join the others.

Gregory shook his head quietly, kneading his arm.

“They’re my friends...” Gregory reassured himself. Then he started to follow the group of boys up to the other parts of the PizzaPlex.

XXX

“Does everyone have their tickets?” Jaxon inquired the group as they approached the Green Rooms.

Ian giggled slightly.

“I don’t have any tickets! I’m gonna see Moondrop!”

“Seems like you guys would get along...all creepy and tell weird jokes...” mumbled Gregory under his breath, looking at the glossy, tiled floor.

“You got something to say, Dreadgory?!” Ian snapped as he grabbed the boy’s shirt collar, pulling him in close.

“You need to be nice to us, Evans,” Jaxon snarled, “you don’t want to be a crybaby who plays by himself at recess again, do ya!?”

Gregory’s heart pounded fast. He could feel the tension in the air as Ian tightened his grip on his shirt, still glaring at him with those dull green eyes.

“I-I’m sorry...” Gregory’s eyes started to sting. His brown eyes were now squeezed tight as he prepared for their punches.

Gregory didn’t get any punches, but the floor greeted him with a harsh slap as he fell onto it. His breathing hitched as Gregory shakily got onto his hands and knees. Head still low, Gregory looked back up at his group of friends. They all towered over him now.

“We’ll let you off this time, shorty...” Jaxon sneered, “It is your birthday after all.”

Ian broke out in hysterical laughter.

“Awww look at da little baby! Is he going to cry?!”

The rest of the boys started to snicker along. It was true, Gregory was going to cry.

Gregory could feel tears start to drip from his eyes. He tried to stay strong, but he could feel himself cracking.

“C’mon guys, let’s leave the birthday boy to his birthday tears!” Xavier cackled.

They all started to leave, talking amongst themselves about what animatronic they were going to see. Jaxon to Roxanne Wolf, Xavier to Montgomery Gator, Zachary to Glamrock Chica, and Ian to Moondrop.

The only one left was the main star himself: Glamrock Freddy.

He was for the birthday boy.

He was the only thing Gregory was looking forward to seeing on his birthday. The only thing to make his day better. Gregory looked down at the blue and white Fazbear Entertainment ticket in his tiny hands. Gregory then held a small smile on his face. Wiping away his tears, Gregory stood up and made his way to the Green Room of the one and only Freddy Fazbear.

His heart started jogging in his chest again. He was both excited and scared at the same time. He wasn’t the biggest fan of animatronics, but there was something about Glamrock Freddy that he loved so much. His kind demeanor, the way he cared about every child he met, his powerful vocal chords when he spoke and sung, he was like everyone’s dad. Everyone’s weird, robotic, bear dad.

As Gregory approached the green room for Freddy, he saw a red curtain draped in front of it. His pulse quickened. Why were the curtains closed? Picking up his pace, Gregory ran to the front of the curtain. There was a white sign in front of the sparkly, red curtain. Gregory’s heart dropped to his stomach.

“OUT OF ORDER.”

No.

No!

NO!

NO! NO! NO!

Gregory’s teeth gritted together. He sucked air through his teeth as tears poured from his eyes.

This had to be fake. It couldn’t be real.

Gregory could sense the teasing and humiliation coming already if the other boys founded him like this. Founded the only dream he had for today to be crushed.

He wanted to cry. He wanted to scream.

He just wanted to hide away forever.

Without even thinking, Gregory dashed into the curtains and into the room behind.

It was a dark room. The only light was the little sliver coming from the cut between the two curtains. Not seeing anything around him, Gregory fell onto his face. A pained grunt slipped past his lips as his face squished into the firm, velvety carpet.

That was the final straw for him.

Curling up on the floor, Gregory hiccuped the smallest of sobs. He laid there for awhile, silently crying over his birthday being ruined.

“It’s not fair...” Gregory pulled himself into a tighter ball, “It’s not fair, it’s not fair!”

“What’s not fair?” A mocking tone asked behind the boy.

Gregory snapped up and scuttled backwards.

In the darkness, the only light being their phone flashlights, were Xavier, Jaxon, and Zachary.

They were all different however, and certainly not for the better. They were all wearing masks of the characters they all went to see. There were not visible eyes in the masks, making them look like empty voids in the darkness. They stared at him eerily, sending chills down Gregory’s spine.

“Did the baby boy not get what he wanted this year for his birthday?” Xavier questioned further. “Did he want to be forgotten?”

Gregory shook his head quickly. No...

“You know, Xavier,” Jaxon said, in a overly exaggerated thinking pose, “I heard there’s something special about these animatronics...especially Freddy...”

Gregory didn’t like where this was going. He slowly started to scoot back.

“Freddy has a special way to treat sad birthday kids!” Jaxon laughed. “He EATS them!”

“Wh-Wha...” Was all a shaken Gregory was able to say before getting snatched up by the bullies.

“And we gotta keep the bear happy and STUFFED, now don’t we Gregory?”

They flashed their lights onto the animatronic who was hiding, decommissioned in the shadows of the room.

Gregory kicked and screamed for them to let him go.

“You did this to yourself, runt,” Jaxon warned, speaking through his Roxanne mask’s wolffish grin, “You just HAD to be upset on your birthday!”

As Gregory continued to cry out louder now, Jaxon clamped a hand over the boy’s mouth, muffling his screams.

Zachary jumped on top of the small stage that Glamrock Freddy stood on. He felt around the animatronic’s chest and stomach like he was searching for something.

“Hey Jax!” He called out over Gregory’s muffled cries, “How do you open this?”

“Press his bowtie, stupid! Just like how my mom showed us!” Jaxon scoffed, struggling to keep a grip on Gregory’s squirming torso. Xavier did his best to control Gregory’s legs.

With a click and a hiss, the bear’s broad chest opened. With only the phone lights as his guide, Gregory stopped struggling for a bit and stared at the now opened chest. In the harsh lighting mixed with complete darkness, the chest cavity of the animatronic looked like a dark void...ready to swallow Gregory whole.

Gregory thrashed about even more now, like a fish trapped in a net. He wanted to cry and scream for them to stop, but Jaxon’s hand only made him make suppressed yelps.

They brought him closer...and closer....

Finally, with a good and quick shove, Gregory was forced into the tight darkness. Gregory quickly turned his head around to see the opening of the chest cavity snap close behind him. Gregory was now soaked in enclosed darkness.

“NO!” He cried.

Gregory pressed himself against the sealed entrance. Sweat made his hands clammy as he pounded against the plastic wall. Tears flooded his eyes as he anxiously knocked against the fake material.

“PLEASE LET ME OUT!!” He begged, choking between sobs, “PLEE-EEASE!!”

His cries only got muffled chuckles in response. Those chuckles made Gregory grasp onto reality. A silent fearful look took over Gregory’s tear stained, sweat covered face.

“Listen to him, the fuckin’ idiot...” A softened Xavier cackled.

“Oh, if only Ian was here,” Jaxon wheezed, “He would be laughing his ass off right now...”

Gregory’s good heart wanted to remind them of their language, but he forced himself to stay silent. That didn’t stop his tears from flooding though. Hitched breaths were sucked in through his teeth.

“Guys... I think he’s been in there long enough,” Zachary whispered, “I don’t want to get in trouble with my dad about this.”

“Oh shut up, Zack..” Xavier snapped, “The little bitch just needs to learn that him crying is so annoying..”

“Yeah,” Jaxon agreed, “No wonder no one is friends with him.”

Gregory’s heart froze. The dreaded reality finally sat in. The one he fought so hard to not accept. Tears continued to flow as he leaned against the plastic wall, sobs ripping from his throat.

Gregory truly was all alone in this world.

As he sat there, bawling his eyes out in the darkness, Gregory couldn’t help but feel something, or someone, watching him. Watching him...and watching the bullies outside his tomb. He felt the omnipresent stare on him. It felt angry. It felt judgmental. It felt...protective.

Gregory looked around the tight space. There was no room for anyone else to be in here. Heck, there was barely enough room for him to be in here. His knees ached with cramps. His feet were pressed against the metal wall behind him. Gregory wanted out...and he wanted out now. And he wanted the feeling of being watched to go away too. It certainly wasn’t helping.

Despite his silent pleas, Gregory continued to stay in that chest cavity, and the feeling of being watched only got worse.

“C’mon guys,” Jaxon sarcastically laughed, “Let’s leave the little birthday boy to his little gift from us. I’m sure he’ll want to be alone to enjoy it alllll to himself.”

That one sentence brought back the fear and dread Gregory had only mere moments ago.

“WAIT!!” Gregory shrieked, “YOU CAN’T JUST LEAVE ME IN HERE!!”

He continued to knock and slam his hands hands against the plastic wall. They seriously couldn’t be leaving him here...they couldn’t be...

“Oh, I think he’s loving it so far,” a much more distant Jaxon called out, “Have fun in there, Dreadgory!”

A burst of the boys’ laughter erupted again, suddenly being even more muffled by a curtain swooshing. Soon, the laughter faded away, only leaving Gregory in complete darkness. Complete, eerie darkness. The only sounds were Gregory’s cries and pleas, hopelessly trying to get their attention, to make them come and get him out of this stupid chest cavity. All he got in response was his cries and knocks echoing in the tight space...

After what seemed like forever of begging and tears, Gregory’s screams dialed down to soft whimpers. He hugged his knees and held them up to his chest. Gregory’s body was soaked in sweat. His forehead was beaded with the salty liquid. The dark air and his clothes were now dampen from the sweat and his tears. Still in utter darkness, Gregory continued to sob quietly, thinking of what just happened. Were his friends right? Did he really deserve this?

The little birthday boy sighed, wiping his tears from his eyes.

“Maybe they’re right...” he croaked, “M-Maybe I...I do deserve this..”

Gregory then buried his face into his knees, his eyes beginning to sting again.

“I’m all alone...” he shuttered, “Tr-Trapped in here... forever.”

“You’re not alone.”

Gregory’s head shot up. His heart began to pound quickly again. He looked around, trying to find the source of the voice.

“Who...” Gregory panicked, “Who’s there?!”

“Do not be afraid, little one,” the voice softly continued, “I’d never hurt you.”

The voice...it was rumbled like thunder and as gruff as rusty metal, but it was gentle and quiet as a butterfly. And most of all, it sounded familiar.

“Gl-Glamrock Fre—“ Gregory started, only to be interrupted again.

“Let’s make this more comfortable,” the voice proposed, “They’re gone now, so it’s safe to come out.”

There was a soft click outside. A click of a button? Gregory’s heart fluttered. Could this really be him? There was a hiss and more clicks. Gregory could feel cool and new air flush against his face. The chest cavity was now open.

Part 2 coming very soon!