Mr Schmidt buckled his seatbelt and looked around as the car came alive in Mr Fitzgerald's hands. It wasn't the best or the newest, but it was clean and fit for a family; Mr Schmidt hummed and nodded approvingly at the younger guard's tidiness.

As they starting driving on the main road, the old man looked up at the other, "So..."

Mr Fitzgerald grumbled and frowned, "You haven't gotten any less curious, have you gramps?" Mr Schmidt chuckled in response. "Fine then..." the young man gave up, "I'll summarize the rest of my week and tell you more about the toys as I do so, so that you know what we'll see when we get there." Mr Schmidt nodded with curiosity.

"On the third night, Paul warned me against The Mangle and how she went from 'the take apart and put back together attraction' to 'just a mess of parts'. At least that was how Paul described the situation, I wasn't there when she was actually fully functioning, nor when she got so messed up." Mr Fitzgerald turned to look at his coworker with a dark expression on his face. "It seems she was so... well, mangled, that it affected her sanity..." He sighed, rolling his eyes, "She emitted this unnerving static whenever she was around- I mean that was very helpful in finding out where she was, but it was also so annoying..." He glanced at Mr Schmidt as he took a turn, "She seemed to have gotten a second head as well," he frowned in thought as the older man raised an eyebrow, "I'm guessing it was a part of the whole 'let's make a crippled chaos out of this poor animatronic' thing- yes, I say 'poor' because even I'm aware that that's just so mean." Mr Schmidt stopped chuckling and nodded in agreement. "Then Paul warned me not to believe any rumors, just out of the blue like that; I can see his point though, I mean, it's Freddy's after all." He shrugged. "And I survived the third night, I call it a miracle considering I dealt with ten murderous robots that got increasingly aggressive."

"Then there I was at the pizzeria for my fourth night, asking myself why on earth I kept doing it." He chuckled dryly, "I was a teenager after all, and a very curious one."

"You're saying that as if you're not curious about all this now, Mr Fitzgerald." the older man interrupted him with an amused glint in his eyes, "And don't tell me you're doing this because of me, because it's easy to see how stubborn you are; I couldn't have brought you with me unless you wanted to."

Mr Fitzgerald grumbled, "You're gonna let me continue or what, gramps?" He got an entertained chuckle in response.

"Anyways, Paul told me about an investigation going on and warned me not to look at the animatronics in the eye. I couldn't understand how or why back then, I mean, how could I not look at them in the eye when they were taunting me while standing right in my face?" He threw his hands in the air, "And I understood what that was about tonight when the 'bots told us about what went on on their side." He sighed, breath rocking his whole body involuntarily, "That night was hellish... They were always near me as if they knew the whole Freddy head thing was just an act; they were getting more and more aggressive, too. I'd lost count of how many times Bonnie, Chica and Toy Bonnie got in my face by the time my shift was over; I was really surprised how I managed to keep Marionette in his box as well..." He looked at Mr Schmidt and laughed, "Pretty sure my parents would've had a heart attack or something if I had told them about all that, they were worried enough because I worked at the pizzeria anyway."

Mr Schmidt smiled and shook his head, "Wouldn't you be worried if Felicity were in your situation?" Mr Fitzgerald shuddered yet kept up with his nonchalant act, "You're telling me, but I don't see you getting worried about Grace here."

"Psh! Why would I? The originals are absolutely harmless." The day guard snorted, "Yeah right, whatever you say, old man."

"The fifth night's message was even more cryptic, Paul said the pizzeria was in lockdown- you know, no one in, no one out- and mentioned the diner. He also mentioned moving me to day shift, but I was a bit too busy defending my sorry butt to get excited about that or even question why I was there if there was a lockdown." Mr Schmidt could almost taste the sarcasm in Mr Fitzgerald's words.

"And then came the sixth night..."

When the phone on the desk rang like it did every night before thatone, Jeremy was already busy fending off the animatronics. He could hear Balloon Boy's ridiculously happy laugh nearby, Mangle was emitting static in the vent to his right (though not yet seen at the end of it), Foxy was at the end of the corridor and Marionette's music box awfully needed to get wound up. Add to all this the other animatronics scattered around the building and the youngster was already on the verge of a breakdown.

"Hello, hello? What on earth are you doing there, didn't you get the memo? Uh... the place is closed down, at least for a while." Jeremy frowned at the phone, unable to believe what he was hearing. Closed? Then why was he here? He was sure he didn't get any memos- come to think of it, he was quite sure there wasn't one. This didn't make any sense. "Someone used one of the suits. We had a spare in the back, a yellow one, someone used it..." The young guard muttered a "What..." as he wound up the music box once again, yellow suit? In the back? He knew he didn't see any yellow suits back there. "Now none of them are acting right." As if on cue, Chica was standing right across the desk when he raised his head from the laptop, Jeremy put on the Freddy head to try to trick her to no avail. She reached for him with a low growl, jaw broken and hands ripped off; the youngster rolled his chair backwards with a whimper until it hit the wall behind him. "Listen j-just finish your shift, it's safer than trying to leave in the middle of the night." There was shuffling in the right vent and Chica left hurriedly, but Jeremy was too shocked at what the guy on the phone had just said to take it off. It was actually better as Toy Bonnie glided into his view in no more then ten seconds. "Uh we have one more event scheduled for tomorrow, a birthday. You'll be on day shift, wear your uniform, stay close to the animatronics, make sure they don't hurt anyone okay? For now just make it through the night, uh... when the place eventually opens again I'll probably take the night shift myself. Okay, good night and good luck."

"That doesn't make any sense." Mr Schmidt said, his forehead wrinkled (more so than usual) in confusion.

"I know," Mr Fitzgerald replied, "There weren't any golden suits in the backstage when I got in to check again, only the original guys..." He shuddered. "I'm guessing Paul was referring to the murders when he mentioned that, but that was years ago! There wasn't even a theft attempt at that place, let alone murders..."

"I can see why the toys started acting odd, considering the originals told them about he murders; but a golden suit triggering them, worn by our killer? That doesn't make any sense..."

"I guess we'll uncover the truth soon," Mr Fitzgerald said as the car came to a halt. He took a deep, shaky breath, "We're here, gramps."

"And that's how you play games on Steam." Grace finished the tiny lecture she was giving to her robotic friends.

"So, what's your favorite game?" Bonnie asked, deeply interested in the concept of video games.

"Oh, I like horror!" the girl replied excitedly, "You know, the kind you get stuck in places and have to defend yourself against monsters!"

"Nice!" came Chica's bellow as the chick high fived Grace, the girl giggling all the while.

"Be ther' any adventurous games ther', matey?" came Foxy's unsure voice as he leaned in to observe the laptop's screen.

"Oh yeah! There are lots of FPS games that are full of adventure, Captain Foxy!"

"What... exactly is an FPS?" It was Freddy, he sounded so clueless it was actually cute.

Grace turned to look up at him as she took a bite from the fresh pizza Chica cooked, "First person shooter." Seeing the bear was no less confused, she moved on to explain, "Basically you see the world through the eyes of your character and get to shoot stuff!"

Freddy scoffed at the idea of shooting people as Chica cheered, "That's so cool! Can we play that some time?"

"Of course! I can launch one now actually, grandpa and Mr Fitzgerald aren't at the other place yet anyway. So I think I'll go with-"

Ring! Ring ring!

"Oh! " Grace exclaimed, quickly getting up, "That must be the phone guy grandpa mentioned!" She made a run for the security office down West Hall before the others could stop her. The animatronics uncomfortably exchanged glances, it was no secret they killed security guards, but the fourth night's recording was a bit... messy.

Grace got in the office, panting a little and no less excited. Remembering what her grandfather said, she didn't touch the phone and waited for the message to start playing.

"Hello, hello? Hey! Hey, wow, day four... I knew you could do it! Uh, hey, listen, I may not be around to send you a message tomorrow." There was a loud, mean banging on what sounded like something made of metal; Grace looked up at the metal doors that were currently open. "It's- It's been a bad night here for me. Um, I-I'm kinda glad that I recorded my messages for you..." Grace watched the phone worriedly as the previous night guard cleared his throat nervously, this sounded nothing like the happy, friendly man her grandfather talked about; he sounded so scared and troubled. "Uh, when I did... Uh, hey, do me a favor." There it was again, the loud banging on the metal doors; Grace wondered if it was the animatronics who caused so much trouble. As much as she could see the logic behind their actions, she was worried about the man on the phone.

"Maybe sometime, uh... You could check inside those suits in the back room?" Grace furrowed her brows, did he think he was about to die? Was he simply curious? It sounded awfully like he was sure he was about to die. The loud banging never seemed to cease in the background. "I'm gonna try to hold out until someone checks. Maybe it won't be so bad." Grace shuddered at the gravity of what he had just said; the animatronics were cute and smart, but it was clear that she wouldn't want to be on their bad side.

The banging made her flinch a little this time, "Uh, I- I- I- I always wondered what was in all those empty heads back there." The man's voice had started trembling and he was stuttering more than he did before; Grace sat at the edge of her chair and held onto its arms, her fingers white and her prosthetic hand giving a dangerous whir and creak because of pressure.

There was silence as a happy, innocent version of Toreador March played, then the man's tiny voice was heard: "You know-" he was interrupted as a chilling moan was heard, who was its source? The girl could feel chills run down her spine as the man on the phone let out a strained "Oh no..."

There was a loud, irritating screech before the sound of static filled the room. Grace looked at the phone with wide eyes even after the message stopped at playing, her face paling visibly.

There was a gentle knock on the window to her left that nearly made her jump out of her skin, Grace turned around with a tiny yelp to see Fredbear standing at the door. It was scary, how dirty, old, bloody and even rusty he looked; although she knew she and the animatronics were on good terms with each other, she could see what the man on the phone saw in them the night he was murdered.

"That recordin' didn't scare y'all, did it?" the golden bear asked with a soft voice. He couldn't help but flinch when he saw the girl's fast-paced breathing and blanched face, he sighed sadly. "Th' others tend to get violent when it comes to the guards..." He took his hat off and held it between his hands in front of his chest apologetically, "Ah'm not the one to talk, of course, but the things they saw made 'em... sensitive. And violent, for sure."

Grace gulped, "I know, Fredbear, but that was... graphic." she managed to say when she found her voice. She got up and grabbed the flashlight on the desk with trembling hands. It took all her willpower to walk up to Fredbear and get past him with a polite "Excuse me." She might love the robotic animals and be a sucker for the horror genre, but the fact that these cute 'bots were the source of actual, real life horrors had scared her more than she'd expected. However, considering the fact that her only source of light was the flashlight in her hands and there was a bloodied, animate bear at her heels, she was proud to admit that she was taking this pretty well.

Grace got in Dining Hall and walked towards the backstage without missing a beat, only pausing at the door covered with the plastic curtains for a brief moment. She could hear her breathe hitch as she shone her light onto the exoskeleton heads and bodies in there. The one sitting on the table in a slumped way being the obvious possibility, she paced through the room towards it with unsure steps. One trembling hand reached for the head to take it off as the other tried really hard to hold a firm grasp on the flashlight it was holding. She slowly moved the head upwards, it wasn't as easy and smooth as she had hoped with one hand.

"They got him out of there a long time ago." Freddy's polite voice called from behind her.

The horrified scream coming from the backstage caught the others in Dining Hall off guard; there was the sound of loud thumping of robotic feet as they made a run for where Grace and Freddy were.

Grace held her chest with one hand as if to try to calm her heart, "I'm- I'm fine, just got..." She looked up at Freddy with an annoyed expression and waggled a finger at him that was reminiscent of Mr Schmidt, "Freddy, why would you sneak up on me like that, you mean bear!"

The brown bear tipped his hat in an embarrassed manner, "I didn't want you to get any more anxious than you already are."

"Ya seem ta have failed at that, Freddy." Bonnie said from where he stood near the door with Chica.

"And more importantly, you didn't call us to help us scare her!" the chick said, followed by Foxy nudging her, "Ow! What? Ugh fine... Freddy, don't go scaring her like that."

"Especially not after th' li'l matey list'n'd t' th' recordin'."

Freddy was about to say something to defend himself when Grace's cellphone rang, taking away the stress and annoyance hung in the air.

"It's fine, guys." the girl said as she brushed past them into Dining Hall, "Just give me some space and let me calm down, alright?" The animatronics nodded shyly as she answered the phone, "Hey grandpa! Got there alright?"

"Yes, dear!" Mr Schmidt replied, looking at the abandoned building. Mr Fitzgerald stood next to him, scoffing with his hands on his hips.

"Cool! You two turn on your cams for me, 'kay?" Grace said excitedly as she got back to her laptop and logged in.

Two minutes of struggling later, Grace and the animatronics had the visuals from the two men's cams in addition to being able to communicate without needing their phones. The animatronics huddled together around Grace as they watched the guards walk towards the double doors of the pizzeria. Bonnie imitated a whistle, "Tha place's sure gotten ruined."

"Eh." Chica shrugged, "That's what they- it deserves."

Six pairs of eyes watched the two brave guards as they carefully snuck into the building, unlocking the door in mere seconds. Mr Fitzgerald motioned Mr Schmidt to follow him as silently as possible and have the empty head around just in case; the design of the building forced them to walk past the three animatronics on the stage after all. Mr Fitzgerald got to the other side of the room in big steps, using his height advantage; Mr Schmidt, on the other hand, wasn't that lucky. He was short and old, which meant he was much slower than the day guard- plus, trouble seemed to follow him everywhere he went.

That was what crossed Mr Fitzgerald's mind when the three on the stage suddenly came alive, their limbs cracking and creaking from years of disrepair and rust.

"H- h- he- heya k- k- kids!" Toy Freddy called out, waving at the unseen audience. His voice lacked the uniqueness of Freddy and Fredbear, albeit just as deep, "W- w- welc- c- come to F-Freddy F- Fazbear's P- P- Pizzeria!"

"Oh wow..." Grace whispered as she watched the commotion through the guards' cameras. Chica crossed her arms, "They look even uglier!"

Unlike the furry look the originals had, the Toys looked as if they were made of porcelain; a close inspection showed that that wasn't a far fetched guess, as they had cracks all over their bodies.

"They look like they've been thrown onto things... Or like things have been thrown onto them..." Grace stated as Toy Chica waved her cupcake with an agonizing creaking sound. "W- w- w- we hope y- you have a niiiiiiiii- ice -ice -ice time here!"

Mr Fitzgerald frantically motioned Mr Schmidt to follow him, but the old man was simply too surprised to move.

"D- d- don't forget t- t- to taste our- our- our delicious p- p- pizza!" Toy Bonnie joined in, his once bright green eyes now dulled and dusty.

And with that, as if someone had snapped their finger, the animatronics' attitude changed. Toy Freddy turned to look at the older guard with cold eyes, "Y- y- you're not a ch- ch- child." He said matter-of-factly, "An- an- any adult without a- a- a child of their o- own must l- l- l- leave the p- premises. A- a- anyone m-must leave th- the premises aft- after midnight!"

The three broken animatronics were looking at the humans with cold, dead eyes now; Toy Bonnie dropped his guitar with a loud bang as he took a step towards Mr Schmidt, looking ready to tear his head off. Mr Fitzgerald grabbed his arm hurriedly and dragged him down the corridor, into the security office he knew too well.

"Th' uniferm idea didn' work well then, did it?" Foxy called sadly. The guards were stuck in the office until they figured out how to communicate with the animatronics- or until the morning if they managed to stay alive.

"At least you don't have us hunting you down." Freddy said in an innocent attempt to see the bright side of the situation. As Mr Schmidt shone his flashlight onto the vents and at the corridor, Mr Fitzgerald snorted, "Gee, Freddy, that's very thoughtful of you! Now we only have six murderous freaks after us- oh crap." There was a brief silence as the elderly guard turned to look at him, the day guard gulped down the nervous lump in his throat. "We need to wind the music box..." he whispered, "But we need electricity so that we can use the laptop here to wind it remotely..."

"And the place hasn't had electricity for years now." Chica finished the sentence. Freddy cleared his throat, "Well, that looks troublesome."

Mr Fitzgerald frantically thought what they could do as his eyes darted around the room and finally settled on the right vent.

"What are you doing, Mr Fitzgera- ooohh." Mr Schmidt flickered the flashlight at Toy Chica at the end of the corridor, "Are you sure?" Mr Fitzgerald nodded quickly, his face pale and his forehead sweaty.

"What's he gonna do?" Bonnie asked, leaning in.

"He'll go through the vent and go to Marionette's room to wind the music box manually." Freddy replied worriedly, "Be careful, Mr Fitzgerald, you know Toy Foxy likes to be around there."

The day guard grunted in response and waved Mt Schmidt goodbye, "Try to get my body along with you when you leave in the morning, alright gramps?"

"Shh Mr Fitzgerald, you'll do fine!" With another grunt, the younger man had disappeared in the vents.

"I sure hope he doesn't encounter anyone while he's in there." Chica said ominously.

"The coast looks clear," Grace replied as she watched what Mr Fitzgerald's camera showed them.

Mr Schmidt walked back and sat in the office chair, putting on the Foxy head he had brought with him since Balloon Boy seemed to be at the end of the vent. Illuminating the corridor he saw Toy Freddy, "C- c- c- come out wherever you- you- you are, murd- murd- murderer!"

That sounded awfully like what Freddy had called him.

"Ooohhh boy." came Chica's voice, "They've actually gotten smarter."

"Yeh, I rememb'r tellin' 'em about th' murderer but they nev'r react'd like this!" Foxy joined in.

"Well, they had years ta think on it." Bonnie replied, crossing his arms on his chest.

Something was off and all of them were well aware of it.

"Crap!" came the yelp from Mr Fitzgerald's side and all the attention was on his camera feed now.

"Are you alright, Mr Fitzgerald?" Mr Schmidt asked as he finally took of the head.

"Marionette... He's- he's gone!"

"You mean he left his box?"

"That's the weird part, the box was closed and by the looks of its appendage, it hasn't been wound up for quite some time."

"So be he cruisin' the pizz'ria fer years, ye say?"

"I'm not sure," mumbled the young guard as he carefully looked around, "He would've attacked us already."

"3 am." Grace announced, stifling a yawn, "Hang in there, guys!"

Mr Fitzgerald hurriedly ducked next to the music box when he noticed Toy Bonnie lumbering past the stage, "He's coming for you, gramps!"

"Bring it on!", followed by a chuckle was the reply. The day guard rolled his eyes and seeing no one was around, slowly got up, "I'll try to see where Marionette is." There was silence on all ends of the conversation.

"He'll kill you if he sees you." Freddy said, finding the young man's decision incredulous.

"He'll kill both of us if he's around and aware of our presence anyway, Freddy. I can at least explore while gramps keeps them distracted."

"Be careful, Mr Fitzgerald." the elderly guard uttered, sounding genuinely worried.

The young man darted and made a run through the open area into Main Hall. He could see Toy Chica looking at a torn poster on the wall at the end of the corridor; using the fact that her back was turned to him to his advantage, he quickly and quietly got into men's bathroom.

Mr Schmidt put on the Foxy head to trick Toy Bonnie who glided into his view. Static came through the vent, so he waited a little longer like that until Mangle left.

"4 am." came Grace's voice, never in their existence had the original animatronics wished 6 am came as soon as possible.

Toy Chica finally left the hall. "She's gone," Chica called out, distaste for her counterpart obvious in her voice. Mr Fitzgerald got out, checked if anyone was there and ran down the hall and into backstage.

Mr Schmidt moved to flicker his flashlight down the corridor since he had heard some shuffling a moment ago, but the batteries died before he could see who was there. He quickly dashed under the table, grabbed one of the backpacks they had brought with them and searched it for batteries. There was more shuffling in the darkness and thumping in the vents to his left, an innocent laugh was heard. It sure was hard to find the batteries in pitch dark, Mr Schmidt decided as Grace gasped nervously.

The backstage was empty, "Absolutely nothing!" the day guard grumbled.

"What did ya expect, man, marionette sittin' and waitin' for ya?" Bonnie teased, Chica and Foxy snickering next to him.

"Well I at least expected to find... something... I don't know, but-"

Thump.

Mr Fitzgerald raised his head and looked around.

Thump thump.

Mr Schmidt hurriedly put new batteries in the flashlight and illuminated Toy Freddy standing right across his desk.

Thump.

"5 am." Freddy announced. Mr Fitzgerald leaned out of the backstage door to see where the noise was coming from. Mr Schmidt quickly put on the Foxy head to fend off Balloon Boy and Toy Freddy.

Thump thump thump.

The day guard got out and hesitantly grabbed the doorknob to Parts and Services. The animatronics left the night guard alone. Mr Schmidt heard static once again, louder this time; he raised his head to look at the ceiling.

THUMP.

THUMP.

THUMP.

Mr Fitzgerald located the source of the sound and took a wary step towards it.

Thump.

Mr Schmidt readied his baton in case the mangled form of Toy Foxy dangling above him decided to make a move.

THUMP.

Mr Fitzgerald looked at the chest before him, it had two locks on it that managed to keep its resident in so far; that was about to change very soon, however.

Thump thump.

Mangle opened her jaw threateningly, Mr Schmidt was well aware of the fact that both vents contained animatronics at the moment.

THUMP THU- CRACK!

Mr Fitzgerald let out a terrified yelp as the long, thin and very angry form of Marionette leaped out of the chest and onto him.

"You..." it hissed, "You locked me in there to commit your vile acts easily! I'm going to tear you in pieces!"

"I DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU'RE REFERRING TO!" the day guard screamed, "WE'RE HERE TO HELP!"

Balloon Boy was giggling joyously in the security office and Toy Bonnie was already climbing out of the right vent, but Mr Schmidt was occupying himself with having a stare-down with the broken fox above him.

"We?" Marionette growled, briefly stopping strangling the day guard. "YOU BROUGHT MORE PERVERTS LIKE YOU ALONG WITH YOU THIS TIME?!"

It grabbed Mr Fitzgerald's neck once again, harder this time.

Mangle leaned towards Mr Schmidt, letting out a mixture of a screech and static.

Grace called out for her grandfather, wishing she could do anything to help him.

Then everything stopped.

Grace's phone's alarm went off, indicating it was 6 am.

When the two guards got back to the new pizzeria, it was already past 7:30; Grace welcomed them with tears in her eyes and brought them some food and water, she had dark circles under her eyes thanks to sleep deprivation and stress.

"That was such a close call." Mr Schmidt sighed as he hugged his granddaughter for the umpteenth time.

"I know." the other man replied, gingerly touching the bruises on his neck, "What are we going to do now, gramps?"

All they could do was to sit and think in silence as the cleaning crew carried the animatronics (who got powered down right next to Grace when the clock struck 6) onto their places.

"Wait..." the day guard said, suddenly alert, "Where's Fredbear?"

"He walked into the backstage before people arrived," Grace explained, looking as confused as the other two were. "I don't know how that was even possible."

"I'll... I'll go check him," Mr Fitzgerald said as he got up with a groan, he must have hit the floor pretty hard.

"Fredbear?" the day guard called out as he got past the plastic curtains, afraid the staff would hear him. There was some shuffling and Fredbear looked at him from behind a bunch of boxes, "Howdy, Mr Fitzgerald."

"How are you even awake?"

"We don' really fall asleep, we jus' power down t' let the day script rule us." He held his hat between his hands, "And y'all know Ah don' really have a day script."

"You mean to tell me you've been fully in control over yourself during the day for years?!" the young man asked as he rubbed his temples.

"Ah hadn't felt the need t' do so for years, Mr Fitzgerald, Ah was in too much pain and Ah lacked a purpose... So, no, Ah wasn't really around durin' the day..."

The day guard nodded understandingly and sat on the table next to the empty exoskeleton, letting out a sigh that rocked his whole body. He looked up at the golden bear defeatedly, "We couldn't do it, Fredbear, we couldn't even talk to them; on the contrary, we nearly died there." He buried his face in his hands and groaned desperately, "What are we gonna do now?"

Fredbear walked towards Mr Fitzgerald and put a kind hand on his shoulder. "Don' worry, Mr Fitzgerald." the golden bear said softly, "Tomorrow is another day."