"You're the best. You will find him first."

Roxanne's mane and tail looked practically filthy from the viewpoint Gregory had, though it wasn't as if he couldn't use a good bath himself. But the almost frantic way she was stalking across the atrium was something new; she had already apparently knocked over several trash cans and a couple of strollers, causing a few of the S.T.A.F.F. bots to come over to clean up the mess.

Unfortunately, all of the bots in the area weren't giving him much of an opportunity to sneak up on Roxy. "Freddy, this isn't going to work," he said. "Can we lure her into the arcade? There's more open space there."

"Leave it to me, superstar." Freddy stood up from his hiding spot and confidently strode towards the other robot. "Roxy!" he called out, waving a hand.

"Freddy?!" Roxanne turned. "Where the heck have you been?! We've been spending hours trying to track down that lost kid, and whenever I do see you, it's just after that brat gets away, and you're just standing there like you're waiting to sign autographs!"

"He has been difficult to find, yes." Freddy scratched the back of his head. "But I think I've tracked him down! Have you checked the East Arcade recently?"

"Ten minutes ago. All the active CRTs in the arcade cabinets give my optics fits. Some upgrade!" She snorted. "Come on, Freddy. Let's track this kid down."

She grabbed his arm and practically dragged him towards the arcade. Seeing his chance, Gregory headed for one of the vents, clambering through it- thankfully not running across one of those creepy Mini Music Man spider-bots- and coming out into the arcade not far from the air hockey tables. He could see Freddy and Roxy on the far side, approaching him. "...once we get this over and done with, I'm going straight to Parts and Service for a cleanup cycle," he heard Roxy saying. "I'm seriously tempted to just soak myself in the fountain for-"

"Hey! Roxy! Over here!" Gregory waved his arms over his head.

"There you are!" Roxy immediately dropped down to all fours, charging at him far faster than he thought possible; his shot with the Fazerblaster went just over her head, and he let out a yelp as he dove to the side, just barely avoiding being slam-tackled by the wolf. She yipped in surprise as she met one of the air hockey tables muzzle-first, turning it into a cloud of splinters and wood scraps that accompanied her as she tumbled into the nearby wall. "Owww!" she whined. "Why did they design us to feel pain?!"

By the time she got herself situated and started turning around, Gregory had her lined up in the sights of his Fazerblaster. The beam hit her square in the eyes, and as she collapsed, spouting electronic gibberish, Freddy moved in to kneel behind her and slip the thumb drive into her neck. The wolf went still for the expected half-minute as the downgrade took effect. "Initializing FazOS revision 1.21.3. Previous identity version for Roxanne Wolf restored."

Then her eyes raised up to look at him, and she let out a terrified yelp, scrambling away from him to press her back against the wall she'd crashed into. "Kid! Get away from me!" she shouted. "I'm not safe! I'll hurt you!"

"Roxy! Roxy! Stop!" Freddy reached down to grab her arm. "It is okay now!"

"Freddy? What..." She seemed to come to herself, looking around for a moment. "It... it stopped? I'm not..."

"You are back to normal, Roxy." Freddy helped her to her feet. "How do you feel?"

"Freddy, forget about me! We've gotta get this kid out of this building! It's not safe in here for him!"

"I know, Roxy. I have been protecting him."

"You have? I..." Her ears twitched. "That... makes sense. It did seem like a lot of the times I thought I had him, I walked straight into you instead. But how...?"

"I have been hiding him in my chest cavity."

"What?!" She gave him an incredulous look. "Freddy, that thing is for cake and presents! It's not human-rated! You could have turned him into a... into a meat pretzel or something!" Gregory couldn't help but laugh at that, which only got him a confused glare from the wolf. "It's no wonder I didn't think of you doing that!"

"I was not happy with the risk either, Roxy, but I was left with little choice. We have not been able to find another way out of the building. Gregory is stuck here until 6AM."

"That's more than two hours away..." She looked down at her hands. "Freddy, we... we have to protect this kid. There's been so many..." She went quiet for a moment, her eyes half-closed. "What about Chica and Monty? What's going on with them?"

"We downgraded Chica as well; Monty is our next target. After that we intend to reconstruct Bonnie and enlist his help."

"Bonnie?" Her expression immediately brightened, her ears raising high. "Great idea! I've... yeah, I can admit it. I've missed him. But, uh, speaking of rabbits- what's up with that woman in a bunny costume skipping around the place?"

Gregory gasped. "You can see her?"

"Yeah, yeah. You make it sound like that's weird."

"Freddy couldn't see her when she danced right past us. Chica said she hadn't seen her either."

"Huh." Roxy glanced up at Freddy as if asking for confirmation; the bear nodded. "I wonder what could fool your optics like that?"

"And every time I see her, it makes my head hurt. It gets worse the closer she gets. It makes my vision gets all weird." He shivered. "She knows my name. She's out to get me."

"That's... kinda bizarre." The wolf stood up, plucking the thumb drive from the back of her neck and tossing it to Freddy. "Well, since I can see her, I'll keep an eye out for her. I... don't know if I'll be able to do anything to her, but... I'll find some way to stop her. So where's Chica?"

"She is looking for Bonnie's casing in the tunnels near Parts and Service," Freddy answered.

"Cool. I'll swing over to the bowling area real quick, check around there, and then I'll head up to the minigolf course to help you out with Monty. No offense, kiddo, but your little laser-gun trick isn't going to work through his sunglasses."

Gregory nodded. "Yeah, we figured. Though I wonder... why did they only ban flash photography in Monty's Mini-Golf when he's the only one of you guys that the flash doesn't affect?"

Both robots looked at each other for a moment, then shrugged. "I don't have the slightest idea," Roxy answered. "With Fazbear Entertainment, the dumbest answer is probably the right one." She chuckled for a moment before she knelt down in front of the boy. "Hey, Gregory, listen. I know I was a menace to you before, and I said a lot of stuff I'm not proud of, but... Roxy's gonna take care of you, kiddo. Okay?"

"Okay." The boy managed a smile. "Thanks, Roxy."

"You got it, winner." She ruffled his hair before standing up again. "So, Freddy- how do you want to handle Monty?"

Freddy tapped his chin. "I may have a plan."

"Hey kid, come on out. We're only trying to help."

All of the mascot robots were loud when they moved- they were seven-foot-tall metal robots encased in thick plastic shells, after all- but Montgomery Gator seemed to enjoy stomping his way through the Pizzaplex. Fortunately that made it nearly impossible for him to sneak up on Gregory, and likewise made it easier for the boy to sneak around without the gator hearing him.

That was how Gregory had found an excellent vantage point on the second floor of the golf course, giving him a clear shot at anything between Holes 5 and 8 on the lower floor. Now it was Roxy's part in the plan...

"Hey! Monty, you in here?" The wolf's voice called out from somewhere to Gregory's right.

"Huh?" Monty tromped out into the course from the direction of the restrooms. "Roxy, whaddya want? I'm looking for that kid!"

"I haven't seen him in, like, half an hour." She was practically strutting towards him for some reason. "You don't think he got out, do you?"

"He can't 've. Whole place is locked down, even the loading dock. He's not goin' anywhere before six." He snorted. "You giving up already, Roxy?"

"Pfft. Me, give up? Have we met?" She snickered. "I needed a quick recharge, and I was in the area. But since I'm here, I had a question I wanted to ask."

"Uhhh... yeah, sure." He stood stock still as she approached, a little farther away than Gregory would've liked, but probably still within range of the Fazerblaster. "What is it?"

"You mind if I try your sunglasses on? I'm just kind of curious how they'd look on me." She grinned. "I might look even cuter with an extra accessory."

He grunted. "Roxy, you know we ain't allowed to change our appearance without clearance from Marketing. Remember when someone got the bright idea to dress up one of the restaurant S.T.A.F.F. bots as that mouse character from another company? Pink slip for her and retrainin' for everyone else. Even us!" Gregory could barely hear him mumble something about seminars taking way too long.

"Well, I wouldn't wear it during opening hours. C'mon, just lemme give it a try." She winked at him.

Gregory didn't really get what Roxy was up to, but it seemed to be doing a fantastic job of keeping Monty from noticing that Freddy was sneaking up behind him. The gator slipped his shades off and handed them over, and the wolf made a show of putting them on and running her claws through her mane. Seeing his chance, Gregory brought up the Fazerblaster and took careful aim, catching a blur of white just outside of his center of vision-

-just as a S.T.A.F.F. security bot bumped into Monty's elbow, jostling him and causing him to look back.

pew

The shot meant for the gator's eyes hit the shorter bot instead. Monty snorted in surprise, glancing upwards and catching sight of the balcony Gregory was perched on. "Found you!" he roared, crouching down- and launching himself into the air, easily clearing the distance between them. Gregory shouted in terror as he jumped away, the metal guardrail offering about as much resistance as cotton candy as the robot plowed through, managing an unsteady three-point landing just a few feet away.

"Kid! Run!" Gregory heard Foxy shout. He had a backup plan, though; as quickly as he could, he brought up his Faz Cam and aimed it in Monty's general direction-

flash

-but the gator had seen it coming and brought an arm up to protect his eyes. "Too slow, kid!" he snarled, lunging forward with his other hand, claws sharp enough to cut steel chain lashing out- and missing Gregory by a hair's breadth, catching part of the plywood decoration and practically disintegrating it. In a panic, the boy scrambled to get back on his feet, feeling the thundering of heavy metal feet nearby as the far wall brightened.

"Gregory!"

CLANG

A brown blur intercepted Monty, driving him a good couple dozen feet away, shattering more decorative walls and demolishing Hole 14 along with an unlucky cleaning bot. Freddy was doing his best to hold down Monty's arms. "Gregory!" the bear shouted. "Stun him now!"

The Fazerblaster was thankfully only a few feet away, undamaged in the fracas, and the boy managed to grab it and bring it up. This time Monty was caught by surprise, and the beam caused his struggles to cease long enough for Freddy- his chestplate now cracked and dented from the impact- to get the thumb drive into the back of the gator's neck. Roxy had managed to make her way up to them by the time the downgrade had finished, standing by Freddy with the star-shaped sunglasses dangling from her fingers. "Initializing FazOS revision 1.24.5. Previous identity version for Montgomery Gator restored."

Roxy started. "Wait, hang on-"

Monty's arm and tail both swung out at the same time, the tail taking Roxy's legs out from underneath her and sending her crashing into Freddy, while his forearm likewise smacked into Gregory's shins to leave him dazed and sprawled on his back. Monty rolled over onto all fours, reaching up to tug the thumb drive out of his neck before crushing it between his fingers. "What'd you think that was gonna do? Save you?" he snarled, lunging forward to clamp his teeth down on Gregory-

crunch

-only to be stopped by Roxy's forearm, the casing surrounding her limb cracking under the force of the bite. "Kid, it didn't work! Get outta here!" she shouted, pain evident in her voice.

"Gimme my sunglasses back, ya dumb mutt!" came Monty's voice as his teeth ground down on the metal endoskeleton of Roxy's forearm, a couple of them visibly coming loose and falling out.

"Monty! What are you doing?!" Freddy grabbed at Monty's snout with one hand, trying to pry the jaws open, while his other arm went around the gator's neck.

"Grahhh!" Monty relinquished his grip on Roxy's arm, raising his own arms to try to wrestle himself loose from Freddy's hold. "I'm gonna scrap both of ya!"

A high-pitched whine alerted Gregory that the Faz Cam's flash had recharged, and he immediately brought it up. "Guys! Photo op!"

Freddy and Roxy both seemed to understand, turning their heads away, but Monty was caught unprepared, and the bright flash left him reeling. "Come on, you two, let's go!" Roxy shouted, picking Gregory up in her undamaged arm and sprinting towards the nearest exit with Freddy hot on her heels. Neither robot slowed down until they had made it to Freddy's room in Rockstar Row, where Roxy carefully set Gregory down on the couch while Freddy's eyes scanned him carefully. "He's not hurt, is he?" the wolf asked.

"Thankfully, no." Freddy let out a tired-sounding sigh. "I do not understand..."

"Freddy, what happened?" Gregory asked. "Why didn't the downgrade work on Monty like it did for the rest of you guys?"

"I... do not know." The bear seemed defeated. "We did everything right."

Roxy rested her chin on her hand. "Didn't you hear him? His version of FazOS is different than ours. Maybe that had something to do with it."

"Perhaps... but the downgrade was still successful." He glanced up, and seemed to notice the wolf's injury for the first time. "Roxy! You are damaged! We should get you to Parts and Service at once!"

"Don't bother." Roxy slumped against the wall, gazing down at the bare, scratched metal of her endoskeleton. "It doesn't matter."

Gregory frowned in confusion. "Roxy... what's wrong?"

She remained silent, glancing up at Freddy; he seemed to pick up on whatever cue she was giving. "I, err... I will go find Chica," he said, standing up. "She should know what happened with Monty. Roxy, please stay here with Gregory until I get back."

"Yeah, sure." With that, Freddy left, and Gregory took a seat next to the sullen-looking wolf. "Are you sure you're okay, kiddo?" she asked, not looking in his direction.

"Yeah, I'm sure. Roxy, tell me what's wrong."

"I... I thought I was the best. Stupid. So stupid." She put a hand against her head. "I'm not the best. I'm not even real. I'm just a stupid wind-up toy, and I couldn't even do what I'm designed to do."

"Roxy, what...?"

"I've got blood on my hands, Gregory. I... I hurt people. I never wanted to hurt anyone. I'm supposed to entertain people, let them feel like winners. I'm supposed to make kids smile and laugh. But... but I couldn't stop myself from hurting them." She looked up at him with a haunted expression. "Why wasn't I good enough to stop myself from hurting them?"

"Roxy, you can't blame yourself. Somebody messed with your programming. They made you do it. I mean, look what you did when we fixed your programming!" He pointed at her damaged arm. "You saved me!"

"I'm just a robot. I can be repaired. I can be replaced. A human can't."

"You're not just a robot. You're my friend."

She blinked in surprise, staring at him for a moment. "After everything that's happened tonight... you want me as a friend?"

"Yeah." He nodded. "I mean... at first I thought you were just, um... evil, you know? But you wouldn't be so upset about what happened if that was true. And you wouldn't have almost lost your arm keeping Monty from biting my face off."

"Kid, it's the absolute least I could do. I... I can't let it happen again. Not again."

Gregory surprised both Roxy and himself when he lunged forward to hug her as tightly as he could. "It won't," he promised her. "We're gonna stop it. Okay?"

After a moment, he felt her arms go around him in return. "Kid, you're really something else," she said.

A buzzing sound from his Fazwatch interrupted the moment, and Gregory pulled away to look down at it. "Yeah, Freddy?"

"Gregory, you and Roxy should come to the tunnels by Parts and Services immediately. The endoskeletons are acting strangely- they have trapped Chica in a room and will not let me approach her."

Roxy's ears lowered. "That's not good. Let's go."