The five of us stood in a rough circle, Chica, Bonnie, Foxy, Golden Freddy and me.
"Just one more to go," I said.
Golden Freddy looked at me, "And this one will be the hardest. Whatever was blocking me before dissipated when you helped Foxy, but something is off with Freddy's consciousness. The program has given way, but something else is attempting to block me from entering. It's almost as if Freddy himself is trying to stop us."
"But that doesn't make sense."
"Yes, I'm afraid I won't be of much help. Freddy is still in control of his own mind, free of both the program and myself. He is blocking me out. In fact I think he is blocking all of us out, all of us except you."
"So this one I go alone?"
"Yes I'm afraid."
"Great."
I looked around the circle. Four faces were directed to me, all full of warmth.
"Don't worry, you'll be fine," said Bonnie.
"I believe in you," added Chica.
I looked to Foxy.
"What? I'm not one for goodbyes."
Chica fixed a hard stare on him.
"Oh alright. You can do it laddie," he reluctantly said.
"Thank you all."
I returned my gaze to Golden Freddy.
"I'll send you in. Good luck my friend."
Freddy's consciousness, unlike the others, was black.
"This doesn't feel right," I muttered to myself.
Freddy materialised a distance away from me.
He was looking straight at me.
"What are you doing here?"
He seemed angry.
"I'm here to help you Freddy."
"I don't need help, I can't be helped."
"Everyone can be helped Freddy, everyone needs help at some point."
"Well I don't, I'm best left alone, now leave, before I have to make you."
He made to turn away.
"But we don't want to leave you alone Freddy, you are not alone."
"We?"
"Yes, the others, Chica, Bonnie and Foxy."
"The others. I don't want to harm them."
"You only harm them by secluding yourself like this."
"That's better than what I would do if I were near them."
"What do you mean Freddy? They are your friends."
"I … I know, but I don't want to harm them. Please, leave me be."
He turned away and faded.
"Dammit," I cursed to myself.
Chica appeared next to me.
"Chica?"
"Whatever you did weakened Freddy for a moment. Golden Freddy took the chance and sent me in to help you."
"Well, at least I'm not alone anymore. It's more than I can say for Freddy though."
"Where did he go?"
"I don't know, but it seems he wants to be alone, to save you from himself."
"But I don't understand, he would never harm us."
"That's what he used to believe, now he doesn't trust himself."
"We need to hurry then, if he is alone for too long the darkness will corrupt him that much quicker."
"We need a new memory then."
"We must wait until Freddy faces another one."
We waited.
Slowly details came into focus.
This was the fourth time I'd seen this one.
It was one I'd hoped to never see again.
As before, the children were standing in front of the animatronics, one for each.
I saw the others kill the children.
Freddy was the last one.
Unlike the others, he didn't hesitate, he killed the child quickly.
I saw him wipe a finger under his eye, almost as if he was wiping away a tear.
He looked up and saw us.
He began speaking, as much to us as to himself, "I was weak, the program … it … it took over easily.
I enjoyed it, that's the worst part, the part I can't forgive myself for. I enjoyed killing them.
Don't you understand? I'm meant to bring joy to kids yet I found joy in killing them.
I'm scared of doing it again. I'm dangerous.
I need to be left alone.
Go."
"He's blocking us out!" Chica shouted, "We won't be able to help him if he does this."
"And if we don't help him you'll all die."
Chica grabbed her head, "Ow, he's forcing me out! Golden Freddy, take me out now!"
"Chica!"
I reach out to her, but she exploded into many fragments.
I heard a voice in my head, Don't worry, I've brought her out safely. Just in time in fact, any longer and she would've exploded.
Thank God.
Freddy was still standing where he was, but his gaze had wandered to the floor.
I walked up to him.
"Look Freddy," he looked up to me, "I don't care whether or not you enjoyed killing those children, but right now you can keep those who love you from dying. If you don't release your past they are all going to die, you included."
He mumbled in reply, "I deserve to die."
"But the others don't. Please Freddy! You can save them right now. What you do now will determine who you are. Who you are without the program."
"Without the program?"
"Yes."
"But … the program is me."
"No, it's not. It was implanted in you and changed you into this, but this is not you. If what you say is true and the program took full control, then the enjoyment was its own, not yours."
"So I didn't enjoy killing them?"
"No."
He paused. Slowly he sighed, like a huge weight was lifted off his shoulders.
"Well, that's a relief."
"Now, will you help me with the others? We don't have much time."
"Okay, lead on."
"Good, you freed everyone, just in time too. I'll send you out first to help the manager get the bodies ready. But hurry, the clock is still ticking."
"Alright, no time to lose."
The blinding light shone once more.
I jolted upright, the chair hurrying to disengage.
"Jeez, don't scare me like that," the manager said.
"Sorry."
"So I take it the job's done?"
"Yes, they are all free, just waiting for their bodies."
"Ok, here they all are."
The manager pointed to four animatronics laid out on a table.
They were exact replicas of Chica, Bonnie, Freddy and Foxy. They were pristine, except for Foxy, who had the same scars and tears in his suit.
I asked the manager about this, "I think the look suited him. Don't worry, all the systems are good as new, it's just the look."
"Alright."
I looked to Golden Freddy, who was waiting patiently, having been released from the chair.
"Let's start."
Golden Freddy walked up to Chica's body and placed a hand on the side of her head.
He closed his eyes.
Chica's body jerked a few times.
She got up with a gasp.
Golden Freddy moved onto Bonnie.
He did the same thing and soon Bonnie had gotten up.
Soon Foxy had joined them, but Golden Freddy hesitated on the last one.
The manager knew what was wrong, "Oh yes, we've run into a bit of a problem. We're one power core short."
Why did something always have to go wrong?
"There's no others left? What about the ones in their original bodies?"
"Those were damaged beyond use. The three currently in Chica, Bonnie and Foxy are the last ones we had."
"I know what must be done," Golden Freddy whispered.
"What?" I looked at him.
"Is there anything else you can do?" the manager asked Golden Freddy.
"No, this is the only way."
"What way? What's happening?" I looked around confused.
The other animatronics were deathly silent, sorrow in their eyes.
The manager finally spoke up, "Golden Freddy is going to give his power core to Freddy."
My eyes widened, "But that means," I looked back to Golden Freddy, "you'll die."
"I know."
"But, there must be something else."
"No. I want this."
"What?"
"You didn't completely destroy the program inside me and there's no way you can. This one evolved to leave traces and regenerate itself over time. There's no way to remove the traces, even doing everything you've done over this week. Even if I am powered down, it will find a way to make me come back to life, and I would be powerless to stop it this time. So you'll need to destroy my body as well. All traces of me need to be removed."
I choked.
"Please, do this for me. I don't want to harm anyone anymore and this is the only way to stop the cycle. This is how you can help me, please promise me you will."
I hesitated. How could I promise to kill someone? How could I promise someone that I would kill them?
But this was the only way onwards.
"I promise."
Golden Freddy smiled.
"Alright. Here I go. You'll need to take my core and plant it in Freddy. I've transferred his consciousness into the core."
He pressed the release button on Freddy's body then pressed his own.
He reached into his chest and unclipped his power core.
When the last wire was removed, Golden Freddy powered down.
I slowly walked up to Golden Freddy and took the power core.
I clipped it into Freddy's chest.
Freddy's eyes opened and he gasped.
So that's it, the final chapter! Don't worry, I'm going to upload an epilogue with an official ending to the story, or arc. I'm not going to be able to work on this for the next couple of days, so expect the epilogue in two or three days.
Thank you everyone for the amazing support throughout the development of this story!
