Author's Note:

Trigger Warnings: Detailed Blood / Gore , Death , Child Death , fnaf related gore and violence, ect

Holy crap. Heya, guys! Long time no see. For real! I'm so so so excited! I can't believe I did this! I did it! MORE BOC! I'M GOING TO EXPLODE! AAAAAAAAAA

The last time I updated this was in 2016. I really need to apologize for a few things, and I'd like to clear some stuff up from the cruddy attempt at an A/N last chapter when I was a lot younger. I wish I could explain everything and apologize but it'd take far too long. I'm excited to get into this chapter so I won't bore you with it right here. I'll try to summarize it at the end of the chapter if y'all feel interested in listening to my boring life and why it took so long to crank this out!

If you're just dropping in, I really need to point out that this is completely canon divergent. 102%. Younger me tried to sneak in some FNaF 4-5 stuff but...this is an AU set within the first 3 games with maybe a couple of elements from the other games. That's it though!

If you've been wondering where the heck I went, read the end of this chapter! It'll be in the A/N!

I didn't like writing this chapter because of the killer lmao. This killer isn't really related to anybody in the FNaFverse and more or less just the killer from the BoCverse. I hope you guys hate him as much as I do. And if you're eagle-eyed enough you'll see some stuff directly mirror / line up with BoC 1!

So without further ado, here's a new chapter...almost 5 years later. (4 YEARS AND 7 MONTHS TO BE EXACT)

Not beta read at all. WE DIE LIKE WARRIORS OUT HERE

Enjoy!

Click!

Chica and Foxy squinted tiredly at the artificial lighting coming from the lightbulb above them in the storage closet they had taken shelter in. Bonnie, looking a little more manic than he usually did, put his paws out to signal the other two to keep quiet.

Something had woken them, all of them; an uneasy feeling had hit them almost all at the same time. Maybe it had been a noise. They weren't sure. Whatever it had been, however, it had woken the trio up, and they all knew something was wrong, especially with Freddy and Golden gone. Bonnie was quick to host an emergency meeting against everybody's will, taking the role as a makeshift leader with the excuse that he was the current oldest.

"Golden's been acting weird." Bonnie said, hushed and eyes wild. "Really weird. And he's like-sneaking around. Isn't that a little odd to you two?"

"Well, we know that. No surprise to us. I think we've all been noticin' it." Foxy responded, his jaw clattering as he snapped it shut to scratch his chin. A small clump of faux fur fell off into his paw; he ignored it. Upkeep had been going down the toilet as of recently. Sales weren't exactly booming as they had been when the place first opened. People had been complaining about a smell. Probably because of Springtrap. He was pretty stinky, Foxy would admit, and that was coming from a creature who lacked the ability to smell.

"It's weird." Chica confirmed, her arms crossing slowly. "But-is it really?" She questioned, making the two boys look her way in confusion.

"What do you mean?" The rabbit asked, swatting a fly out of his face when it flew too close. He idly watched it land on a half-filled bucket of stagnant mop water, pouting while it continued buzzing annoyingly.

Chica ignored his behavior and continued. "You've known him for a long time, right? Since you were first made. But-I dunno. He just...he's always just given me a weird vibe. Like something's out of place. Something's wrong. Like he's...not good. You've never picked up on it?"

"With Golden? Nahh-" Bonnie waved the chicken off, crossing his own arms in response. "This is Golden we're talking about! He's the best, he's always taken care of us, and he was always our role model, just..." Trailing off, his eyes reached the floor, scanning his own feet anxiously. "Maybe he's just stressed out about Springtrap. That much is obvious, I think we've all heard them arguing in the middle of the night those few times."

Foxy and Chica nodded.

"He's just...acting weird." Bonnie continued on, pacing for a moment. "He's acting weird and even I can admit that! But like-I just can't figure out why or what it is." Looking frustrated, he glanced at the other two. "It's like he's becoming a totally different guy."

Chica glanced to Foxy after Bonnie was done speaking. "Don't you agree? Something's just-..."

"Not right. Yeah, I heard you. Heard ya both. No need to repeat yerselves. I do be agreein'. " The fox paused, his mechanical tail swishing idly behind him. "...I doubt Freddy would be completely on our side with this, though. Just like 'ye, Bonnie. Always somethin' stoppin' ya from making proper assumptions."

Bonnie's brow furrowed. Before he could argue with the fox, the sound of a vent above them rumbling made them all jump and tense up. The trio listened to it get louder, and then quieter as it seemed to move away from them. They eventually all looked at each other, the same level of confusion and worry on their face.

"What was that?" Bonnie asked, as if the other two would know. Chica shrugged, and Foxy shook his head.

"Not a clue. But despite me better judgement, maybe we should be goin' to find Freddy. I got a worryin' wiggly feelin' in me gut."

"Ew."

Freddy and Golden stared up to the vent above them, unable to respond to the two eyes looking down at them both.

Golden wasn't sure how to respond to the fact that his old, original partner had somehow managed to end up in the ceiling of all places. He also wasn't sure how the ceiling was supporting his weight. Sure, he probably didn't weigh the amount a creature like an elephant would, but still-he was, or was near a ton of weight consisting of nothing but metal bits and parts. Stuttering a little, still unsure of what to say, he snapped his jaw shut when he finally heard the ceiling crack, followed by a look of fear from the dingy rabbit above. Golden was the first of the two bears to have backed up just as that area of ceiling caved in, while Freddy wasn't so quick to react. While still backing up enough to not be injured or hit by anything, debris and dust showered onto Freddy's head, leaving him coughing.

The noise of collision was horribly loud as the support under Springtrap seemed to disintegrate and caused the old rabbit to crash to the floor. Falling twice in a row obviously took a toll on the poorly aged robot, as he laid there, gears turning and whirring in protest, cracking forcefully against bone that had been jarred loose into his motors. Not moving for a few moments, Golden took the time to compose himself, eying the rabbit warily. Freddy, however, carefully and quickly brushed himself off and maneuvered his way around the debris and exposed, collapsed vent lining to rush to his newest friend's aid, kneeling to see what damage had been done.

"Springtrap! You-are you okay!? How did you-why were you in the ceiling?!"

Springtrap was unresponsive for several seconds before he finally sat up, arms and body shaking from strain as he did so. Looking at Freddy in a daze, he coughed lightly, letting his head drop a little. "I'm-I'm fine. It's-ugh..." Another cough. "...fine. Don't worry about how I got up there." Resting for a second, he lifted his head again and tried to shake the pain in his sensors away, glaring at Golden. Freddy's gaze followed Springtrap's and went to Golden as well, his eyebrows furrowing.

"Golden, why are you acting like this? You never have before. Springtrap could have died and you're just-standing there!"

Golden didn't respond, he simply looked the two bots over, red eyes eerily vacant of any emotion as he looked between the two. Suddenly, something seemed to spark in him, as if he had a realization of something-or had come up with some sort of excuse. Simply pointing at Springtrap, he growled almost halfheartedly, clacking his jaw. "He's not who 'ya think he is, Freddy."

Freddy was now more confused than ever, but more irritated than anything. Golden's erratic, uncalled for behavior and unexplained attitude towards everybody was making his temper rise. As the brown bear had said, Golden had never acted like this before. At least...so he thought. Was he imagining things? Had Golden always acted like this? Or...was it him? Was he blinded by nostalgia? He wasn't sure. He couldn't be sure, not now. Shaking his head, he ran his paw over his face, letting out an exasperated sigh.

"What do you mean he's not who we think he is, Golden?! I'm getting so sick of you-speaking in riddles or whatever! Just get to the point, stop being so...creepy and weird! We're all family here, we shouldn't have to hide stuff! Springtrap should be allowed to be with us just like Mangle and Tangle are. Why are you so mad at him?!"

Various thoughts seemed to pass through Golden's mind, causing his expression to change almost unnoticeably multiple times. His mouth was half open, but nothing came out at first. It was almost as if he stopped working. Freddy worried that it was the case for a moment, up until he heard hurried footsteps down the hall coming towards them.

As if in the nick of time to witness the chaos unfold, Bonnie had led Chica and Foxy to where the other three had congregated, guided by the noise of Springtrap falling through the ceiling minutes before. Golden turned to look at them, and then to Freddy once more, looking almost...anxious. He narrowed his gaze back to Springtrap.

"He's been hidin' somethin' from all of you this whole time," The oldest of the group spoke, pointing at the decaying rabbit accusingly. Freddy and the others looked at each other in uncertainty. Bonnie was the one to speak up first about the issue.

"You've hardly let us speak to him in the first place! How on earth could we possibly know he was hiding something from us if we can't even talk to him?!" He exclaimed. Foxy and Chica nodded in agreement.

"Besides, what could possibly be so bad?" Chica questioned, motioning her wings out. "We've all been through so much and seen so much! What could he be hiding that's so bad, if he even is hiding something from us?!"

Golden seemed unfazed as he dropped the bombshell for them all. "There's a human inside of him."

Freddy snapped to attention at that. So had the others, all four looking at the two Fredbear animatronics uneasily. A human? In Springtrap? But that made no sense. Not after the story Golden had told them all.

"Golden," Freddy spoke slowly, blue eyes searching him for any trace of a lie. "You told me that they took the human out of Springtrap and brought him to a hospital. You told us he died in the hospital. You never said that what happened was..." He swallowed. "...immediately fatal." Pausing, he turned to Springtrap to look for some sort of sign; some sort of confirmation of what was true or not. The unsteady, lumbering animatronic stared back in discomfort, hurt on his expression. He bowed his head a bit.

"It's true." He said simply after several moments of silence, looking down at his decaying form. The numerous falls he had taken within the last few hours had cracked and broken off some of his exoskeleton, exposing his own endoskeleton and bone. Human bone. Being sealed in a room for so long all while not having have been opened at all for an incredibly long period of time lead to some of the flesh still being visibly wet all while it remained inside of him. Freddy followed Springtrap's gaze to the open cracks in his arm, only to let out a soft gasp of fear and take several steps back. Chica and Bonnie had gasped too, the developments quite shocking despite how badly they knew he had smelled. Foxy was a bit undeterred; it wasn't his first time seeing human bone and innards.

It was true either way; Springtrap had killed a human, whether it be intentionally or unintentionally. And that human was still inside of him, rotting away in its animatronic tomb. That was the smell customers had been complaining about. It had been the smell of rot, decay, and death.

"Freddy, 'ah know 'ah haven't been clear, but 'ya gotta believe me," Golden tried, making the nervous brown bear whip his head around to look at the golden duplicate of himself. He backed up more. Golden seemed frustrated with this. "Ah'm tellin' you, Springtrap's up 'ta no good!"

"No good what, Fredbear?" Springtrap barked, catching Golden off guard. "What could I possibly be doing other than stinking up the place?! I was hoping a human would find me eventually and clean me out. But you're making this pretty damn difficult!"

"You're in cahoots with those damn shadow creatures!"

"I had no choice! They won't leave me alone!"

"Stop it!" Freddy shouted, making them both look up from their argument. "I don't get it," The brown animatronic whined meekly, looking from Golden to Springtrap to gauge their reactions. Had Springtrap purposefully killed a human? Why was Golden lying about things again? He clenched his fists anxiously before holding the sides of his own head.

"Stop playing games with me! With all of us!" He shouted, motioning to the others while distress laced his tone heavily. "For the love of gods just tell me what's going on! The real story behind all of this!"

"I'll tell you," Springtrap promised. Golden interjected.

"No, he's lying!"

"Let him tell us!" Bonnie shouted, backing Freddy up. Chica and Foxy chimed in with their agreement.

The silence was heavy. Golden knew when he was beat; he couldn't win with five to one. Finally, once things had calmed down and were quiet, Springtrap spoke after taking a breath.

"Alright."

With one last shove, the human who had worked at the pizza establishment had completed his task. Blood of the children he had been studying for weeks now coated his arms, their corpses lay lifelessly at his feet. Nothing else was around to witness his crime but the powered down rabbit and bear atop the stage. He had spent weeks hollowing out the animatronic, removing its gears and sensors one by one. He wasn't sure if this one was a spring lock model, but it looked enough like one for him to take caution. Even if it wasn't, he still needed it hollowed out to use as a suit for his plans. He knew the dangers of them, the spring locks; he had studied them enough. He saw what they did to his co-worker and he wasn't about to be mangled. Eventually he had left nothing more than just an empty suit, perfect for wearing. Nobody would notice. Nobody would know.

He wiped his finger prints, and he saved his favorite part for last; stuffing one of the little girls into the suit. He enjoyed watching the lifeless body move limply under his bloody fingers while he attempted to fit her into it.

It was the perfect crime.

The man, however, wasn't mentally sound. Images and flashes of the children suddenly bombarded him, as if they were tormenting him while he stood there. He had spent too long contemplating what had happened. He soon heard movement, and noise. He fled to the back of the restaurant. It was nearly morning, and light was shining through the windows. He was sure that his boss and co-workers would be returning for work. So, he fled to the safe room. The room that nobody went into.

He seemed to have done it at the perfect time; he definitely heard people. He panicked. They would know. They would know it was him.

But then, he saw it. The other suit. The other yellow one. The rabbit. The one that had broken down after injuring someone with a spring lock malfunction. His co-worker crushed their hand within the confines of the suit while cleaning it, but that was it.

It would just be until night. Then he'd find a way out.

So, in a panic, despite how much effort he spent hollowing out the other spring lock suit, he went for it. He cranked the suit open and struggled inside, shutting himself in. And then he waited.

And breathed.

The silence made his ears ring. And then...

SNAP!

Indescribable pain coursed through his body. The spring locks had failed, as expected. He died where he stood, blood pooling into the joints of the animatronic, only to eventually rust and dry, sealing his fate within the mechanical creature.

Springtrap had panicked through the entire event. He had been stuck in the safe room for what felt like eons, after the incident with the worker. Yes, he had spring locked a man-his hand, specifically. While attempting to clean his interior, a gear slipped and shifted, destroying the innocent mechanic's right hand, all the way up to his wrist. He was swept away by a loud flashing vehicle, and Springtrap had been wheeled to the safe room; the room that animatronics couldn't detect. Being in such a place overloaded his sensors and he was unable to figure out where he was, or how to leave. So, he simply stayed there, waiting for the humans to be kind to him and refurbish him.

He hadn't meant to! It wasn't his fault. Well, technically, it was, but he hadn't chosen for his spring locks to fail at that very moment, nor did he want to hurt the human. That was Fredbear's mantra, don't hurt the humans. They had no reason to, they had given them life and took care of them well.

When he was woken by the sound of the human entering the safe room, he wondered if his punishment was over. He recognized this man; he had worked with the human he had accidentally spring locked. Was he here to fix him? Was he here to finally retrofit him? He had heard the humans speak rumors of retrofitting all Fredbear animatronics. Was this finally his chance at redemption? It seemed like the only plausible reason why this human had woken him up. If only he could verbally apologize to the humans for what he did. It was no use. they wouldn't understand him. It would just sound like beeps and clicks to them, and his pre-recorded phrases in his sound bank for the humans to understand had nothing about apologizing for hurting someone.

Until it was perfectly clear that this human wasn't there for such a thing. He was covered in red, the same red that poured from the man's hand after the incident. The same red that dripped from the scuffed knee of a child who ran too fast down the party rooms. The same red that came from a cut of a knife in the kitchen when a human was too clumsy.

Springtrap recognized this to be blood. He recognized the blood on him before he entered, and the blood that slowly seeped and dripped out of his body when his spring lock mechanisms failed and crushed the human to his death.

Only minutes after, he heard screeching where he presumed was in the main area of the restaurant. It sounded like one of the new animatronics, but he wasn't sure. He never knew what happened that day. He watched the managers take the bodies of the children away somewhere, listening to them speak about 'hiding the evidence'. He could only put bits and pieces together, and fill in with his own imagination.

They found him when he began to smell. The humans seemed to understand what had happened, and one seemed to summarize it for their co-workers. Employee targets children, employee kills children, employee finds hiding spot in suit. Suit malfunctions, kills murderer. The Benny Bunny suit had been used as a tool in the murder.

They never reported the incident to the local authorities. Instead, they proceeded to lock the suit away in a room, the room where they had disposed of Golden Freddy's empty exoskeleton, hiding away all of the evidence. Springtrap had initially been horrified, of course-seeing the empty remains of his ex-partner new exoskeleton wadded up in a corner, slumped over and unresponsive. The location closed down shortly after, the exposure of the press and frequent searches from authorities too much to handle.

Springtrap mulled his existence quite often. Sometimes he swore he heard noises coming from the restaurant, but surely it was his own imagination playing tricks on him.

Many years had passed. Springtrap sat in his room, listening to the silence as he always had. The empty suit in front of him had long become discolored from the blood that had stained it, seeming more decomposed and rotted each time he opened his eyes. He often kept himself shut down, but sometimes, when he'd hear a creak in the floorboards or listen to the establishment settling, he'd rouse himself and listen for the possibility of help. It never came.

Until one day, while being shut down, he was suddenly met with static and an intense pain that rocked his servos that awoke him. He's sure he had made some sort of noise of pain, it was impossible not to. During his episode, he was sure he had heard laughter. After a few minutes, he opened his eyes fearfully, and was met with uncanny, pure white ones staring directly back at him from the depths of what used to be Fredbear's suit. Lurching back from his slumped-over sitting position, he slammed his back against the wall with a loud thud.

"Who are you?" Springtrap spoke, his voice broken and harsh from not using his voicebox for so many years. The suit seemed to not respond at first, and Springtrap was sure he was going crazy when it finally did.

"It's me."

"What do you mean?" The rabbit demanded, shifting away the best he could. The movement caused bone that had long settled to snap and crack unceremoniously.

"Oh, Springtrap, never mind that. I'm your friend, I'm not going to hurt you."

"You're not Fredbear," He observed hesitantly, looking worried.

"No, I'm not. Let's...Just call me Shadow Freddy, alright?"

"How are you using his suit?"

"I can use many suits, I can use many things. I'm not Fredbear, but for now, I'll be using this suit."

"What happened? Why is Fredbear's new suit hollowed out-? Why did that human-"

"Never mind that. Say, how about you get us out of here?"

"Out?" He asked, looking around. He wasn't sure about that. "How do I get out? I've been trapped here for who knows how long."

"We'll figure out a way, eventually."

The next time Springtrap looked at the suit, the white eyes were gone and it was slumped over in the same position it had been. He was more than confused. Had he imagined everything? Nothing seemed real anymore.

That wasn't Springtrap's last encounter with Shadow Freddy. Sometimes he was alone, sometimes he'd bring another shadow figure with him. These visits were so spaced out and so random that eventually Springtrap gave up on waiting and remained shut down, up until he heard noises.

Humans. Real live humans. They had come to seemingly restore the restaurant. Make it bigger. Which they did. But no matter how long they worked on the place, they never touched Springtrap's room.

He'd find a way out. Eventually.

A/N: (Read the bottom of my AN for some extra info on this chapter!)

I'm sorry for not updating/finishing BoC3. Truly. I'm going to explain a little bit to you guys clearly about what all happened, and my extremely long absence.

I began BoC when I was 16, maybe 17. It was an escape from my abusive mother and all of your reviews and love helped me very much. I was completely isolated; I wasn't allowed to leave the house, eat or bathe. My situation was horrific and the only outside interaction with people was the internet, and I found solace in writing.

My best friend got me out of the situation and by the time I was 18. I ran away. Everything was completely different after I moved and I wasn't sure how to adjust to real life after being abused and isolated from the outside/real life. I was emotionally and mentally stunted so I was quite literally the mental age of 12 at 18. It was very hard, and my friend's mother used that as an excuse to hurt me more. She used "saving me" from my mom as an excuse. It was horrible.

I left the abuse of my mother and immediately got stuck in this other abusive situation. I was now going through abuse from my friend's mother so everything got to the point where I was entirely too overwhelmed to ever complete BOC or any other stories I began writing. My depression was at its peak. I took any negative feedback incredibly personally (especially death threats for not working on it by a couple of jerkwads) and I couldn't mentally handle all of it. The fandom was getting aggressive in general and the entirety of the community scared me. I lashed out and acted angry towards people and the last time I tried working on the fic was during Hurricane Matthew. I didn't feel good enough about myself to finish it. The abuse I had gone through and was introduced to by moving made me feel worthless. I felt like the fact that I was still being abused after getting out of abuse meant that I was worthless. That I deserved bad things. So, I gave up on a lot of things. Cooking, drawing, writing, games, everything. Despite this, I still thought about finishing it often.

With all of the abuse and changes going on in my life it was hard to keep my story straight, literally. I couldn't remember my original ideas and plots for what I had planned, so I ended up throwing a lot of stuff together when I was younger in hopes that it'd make sense. If you look through the reviews, obviously people hated me for it. But, I didn't know what else to do. I wanted to make people happy, but I couldn't mentally handle it.

I've gone through a lot of stuff in the past few years and I've grown a lot. I've been homeless from being scammed twice, jumped from job to job, place to place, state to state and at the ripe old age of 24 I'm starting to settle down. I feel mentally stable enough to begin writing again! I've never left the fandom scene and I still love being a total dork.

I married the friend that got me out of the situation with my mom. I've been married to him for 2 years and I'm incredibly happy. I've known him since I was 13 so marrying him was the best decision I ever made!

Anyways, that's the reason behind everything. A very shortened reason!

Life aside, I hope this explains a few things about BoC that the previous chapters/my younger self never did, it's hard cleaning up my own mess! I've long lost the original files to the BoC trilogy and I can never go back and fix the older chapters, but I can move forward. And that I shall!

Shadow Freddy/Shaf is up for complete reader speculation. It all depends on your own imagination! He can be a demon, a random spirit, or maybe even the ghost of the killer. Whatever you thought first reading it!

I personally like to think that he's just a bundle of negative energy who can jump into electronics for fun, collecting negative spirits and energy as he goes. Oh, well.

Until next chapter! Which is absolutely coming much sooner than 5 years from now!