Protag's POV

This accursed place…

Ever since those first moments I've found myself in this town, I've never thought I would find myself here, standing in front of what otherwise looked like a completely harmless restaurant meant to entertain children. To be honest, I think that's really all it was meant to be, but I knew better. I knew what this place really was, and the four cartoon animal characters sitting on top of the sign above the doors to lead inside did little to persuade me against what I remembered from the games this restaurant came from. However, even with all this said, I still found myself unable to keep walking, as if something I couldn't see was physically holding me back from entering. I guess I was still nervous about going in, given my knowledge of the characters, but something was still holding me back. Although I tried my hardest to remain confident for the others, I could still feel my hand and knees shaking as I stared on towards the establishment, the determined expression I put on slowly breaking into one of fear. My attention was so focused on the restaurant that I shot up unexpectedly for a second when I felt a warm, comforting hand place itself on my shoulders, the hand was in itself connected to Monika's beautiful figure.

"Are you alright?" Monika asked me softly. I turned to her to find a worried expression on her face. I guess I never did explain to them why we came here of all places, but would they believe me if I told them. Part of me was sure they would, but the rest of me… the very idea of it seemed too absurd. I mean, I know they would understand that it's part of a video game, considering they just escaped one, but expecting them to take my word that these were kid-friendly killer animatronic characters just seemed too far-fetched of an idea, and if something were to happen… I couldn't stand thinking about it.

"Yea, I think so." I responded. "It's just…" I turned my gaze back towards the restaurant. "There's something about this place that makes me feel… uneasy. I can't describe it all that well, but I feel like… something's going to go terribly wrong, and I don't know what it is."

"Really, this place scares you?" Natsuki questioned sarcastically. "If this is so bad for you, I would love to see you in an amusement park." I immediately turned around to her, who was wearing a smug smirk on her face. But before I could say anything, Yuri suddenly chimed in.

"P-perhaps we should go inside? I don't think we're really accomplishing anything by standing out here."

Sayori quickly piped up upon hearing this, and rushed ahead in front of everyone before turning back around to face the group. "Come on everyone! Let's go!" She waved towards the entrance and ran off, looking as excited as ever. I truly do admire her optimism sometimes. If only she knew…

I looked around and saw Yuri and Natsuki looking at each other with confused looks, before walking ahead to meet up with Sayori. Hat Kid also seemed very confused, but her focus was up toward the restaurant's logo. Her head was tilting back and forth, as if she was trying to figure out what she was looking at, but then perked up as if she just realized something, her hat almost leaping off her head, and ran towards the others as her hat landed and returned to where it was. I guessed she realized that the others already went ahead. I then saw Monika step up to my side.

"No matter what happens, we'll be right next to you. "You don't have anything to worry about." She told me with her trademark smile and confident look.

I simply sighed. "I wish it was that simple." I stated bluntly before walking past her. I know that probably wasn't the right thing to say, but I still wasn't sure if they would believe it if I told her what was really on my mind. Nethertheless, we made our way towards the front doors where the others were waiting.

Even before we opened the glass doors to step inside, we could already hear the muffled noises from inside, and as we headed inside, those noises became all the more apparent. Just from the first few seconds of being inside of the pizzeria, I could tell it is about as loud and chaotic as you would expect from a children's restaurant, although this one was filled with dozens of different Indie game characters. Kids were screaming and running around, employees were rushing around with plates of foods and drinks and music was blaring from the speakers, overpowering anything the characters were saying. The smell of fresh pizza filled the air, only to be immediately killed off by the stench of the robots, who were performing to our right. Thankfully, they were still on their stage, and only their upper halves were moving. Good, they're not in free roam, that's gonna make things much easier to deal with, but it still seemed pretty sad to look at in person. In fact, the restaurant itself was surprisingly depressing looking. The walls were dark grey and a single thin section of white and black tiles running across it, the ends of the tiles covered with red tape. The occasional drawing, obviously done by younger children, were also hanging on the walls, but looked so out of place given the walls half finished look. The floor was also tiled, only with red and blue tiles instead. Some paper stars were hanging from the ceiling, and the tables were covered with a white sheet with tiny colored polka dots on in random patterns. The chairs were black with a 'V' shape on the top and each featured a large star on the front of them, and there were dozens of plates, party hats, random pieces of crinkled up paper and chunks of half eaten pizza that littered the ground. Other than that however, the place was shockingly barrien, almost unfinished in its appearance, but that wasn't important to me. What mattered is if this place had anything I could to help me get home. We each took a seat at the only empty table, the one closest to the purple, starred curtains sitting in the back corner.

Menus were already on the table as we sat down, it's cover decorated with 2D drawings of the characters and, out of curiosity, I decided to take a look, just to see what they had. Everything on there was about what you would have expected from a restaurant like this. Different variations of pizza filled in the corners of the colorful menu, along with sides of chicken wings, breadsticks, fries and soda. Some of the meals to choose from even had clever little names to them, like 'Freddy's Fredsticks' or Chica's Chicken Basket'. On the bottom of the last page showcased how someone could organize their own birthday party at the restaurant. That definitely didn't bring back bad memories or anything, why would you ask?

We weren't looking at the menus very long before I caught something in the corner of my eye, catching my attention. Someone wasn't walking, but rather twirling their way over towards us, before stopping right next to our table. "Hey there!" The new voice said to us, turning our attention towards the direction it came from. "Welcome to Freddy Fazbear's Pizza. What can I get you all today?" The person in question had the voice of a younger woman, but didn't look to be human. She instead had the appearance of a cartoon character, although she seemed as tall as we were. She had a larger head and big, black eyes with her eyelashes coming from the bottom corners of her eyes sticking outwards from each other, bright pink skin with three large bumps on the top of her head rather than having hair, along with crab pincers for hands. She also had on a light blue and white dress with a yellow belt, light blue shoes and a black apron, the logo of Freddys slapped on the top middle of the apron, just below where her neck was. Slightly off to the right was her name tag. It looked worn, but I could still make the name, Carrie. Must be another one of the indie game characters who ended up here.

"Oh, oh, oh!" Sayori exclaimed, raising her hand in the air like she wanted to get called on by her teacher. "I'll take the pepperoni, and the ham, and the chicken, and the sausage, and the bacon, and the-"

"Alright, alright." Carrie said to her, putting her hands up slightly. "I like the enthusiasm, but how about I just get you a meat lovers instead, Just to make things easier for you? Sounds good?"

"Oh, but I wanted one of each and-" Sayori started again.

"She wants Meat Lovers." I cut her off.

"Meanie." Sayori told me, crossing her arms and pouting slightly. I did end up giggling a little to myself. She really hasn't changed has she? Although, I wonder if that means...

"Alright then." Carrie declared after jotting down the order. "How about for the rest of you?" She turned to us with a curious expression, readying herself to start writing again.

"Do you have a vegetarian option?" Monika asked.

"That we do! We'll make it special for you!" Carrie responded, a powerful smile appearing on her face.

"Thank you!" Answered a glad Monika. Carrie wasted no time getting that down on her notepad.

"Extra cheese and Jalapenos for mine!" Natsuki declared, waving her hand for Carrie to see. I guess the possibility of food caught her attention. "Fill it up all the way!"

"Are you sure you can handle it?" Carrie asked her, with a clear mix of genuine and sarcastic worry.

"Pshh, I can handle anything!" Natsuki declared. "What's the worst a baby place like this can do anyway?"

"Suit yourself." Carrie told her.

"I'll just take a standard Pepperoni and Sausage. Nothing fancy." I said to her.

"Nothing wrong with wanting something simple." Carrie replied as we wrote more notes down, then looked over at Yuri, who simply stared at her for a good second before jumping up as if she was just startled by something. "O-oh I'm sorry." She muttered. "I-I didn't know you were waiting for me."

"No sweat. Take as long as you need." Carrie reassured her. "Despite what it looks like, we're not actually that busy at the moment. Most people came in just to see Freddy and his friends. In fact, there have been a lot of different customers today, a lot of whom I;ve never seen before. I guess this place just invites a lot of different people together? Either way, it's still wonderful to see so many happy faces, even with all this weird stuff going on.

"You've seen it too?" I asked out loud, only realising after how dumb that question sounded.

"Absolutely!" She stated without any hesitation. "I can't even remember how I ended up here. I just remember waking up yesterday and… here I was. I couldn't help how lost and confused everyone looked, so I thought I'd help out the best I could while everyone tried to figure out what was happening, afterwards I found myself here. I wanted to have someplace safe people could go to be happy while they were adjusted to this new town, and I thought this would be the perfect place for that!"

"That's very considerate of you. We're glad to have you here, Carrie." Monika said to her.

"Thank you! I try to do what I can!" Carrie replied with a hint of glee, before her composure suddenly broke as she realized her situation. "Oh gosh, I still need to finish your orders, I'm sorry!"

"It's no problem at all." Yuri assured, before opening up her menu again and picking out the first option she saw. "I suppose I'll just have the Fazspecial then." She told her. That special being a combination of pepperoni, sausage, onions, mushrooms, olives and peppers.

"Sure thing!" She then turned to Hat Kid. "And how about for you?"

I turned my gaze to Hat Kid, who had to stand in order to reach the table. Her menu (which was almost half her size) was propped up to make it easier for her to read, and strangely, she was constantly tilting her head and her menu back and forth and around in circles with a curious look on her face, as if she never seen one of these before in her life.

"What's wrong?" Sayori asked her "Can't decide what you want?" Hat Kid turned to her, her face now bearing a confused look at Sayori's question. I'm guessing that meant a yes. Given the way she was awestruck, yet confused by the menu, I could reasonably make the assumption that she hadn't seen something like that before. With this in mind, I spoke up to Sayori.

"I think she needs your help ordering." I said to her.

"Oh, sure thing." She responded to me before turning back to Hat Kid. "What did you want to get?" She asked her gently. Hat Kid realized what she meant, and quickly looked through the menu again, before turning the menu to face Sayori and pointing at one of the pictures on the side that caught her attention, a puzzled look on her face. Strangely enough, while the other pictures looked like realistic snapshots, the one she was pointing at was instead a 2D drawing of the food. Odd, it looked like they just grabbed the picture off the internet or something.

"Okay!" Sayori said, taking that as a sign Hat Kid made up her mind. "She'll have the Pepperoni and Mushroom mix meal!"

"Sounds like a plan!" Carrie declared. "I'll have your order ready in no time!" She zipped off towards the kitchen at blistering speed, completely catching me by surprise. I didn't know she could run that quickly. But I didn't long to think about that, as I discovered Natsuki was calling my name, snapping her fingers in my face to get my attention.

"Okay so remind me, what are we doing here again?" She asked me, slightly disgruntled.

"Oh right, I should probably explain what we're doing here." I informed them, trying to speak loud enough so they could all hear, but keeping myself down so we wouldn't attract any unwanted attention. "So, you know how everyone here came from some kind of indie game, right?"

"Everyone?" Sayori pondered out loud.

"At least as far as I could tell, yea." I replied. The others seemed surprised by this. It makes sense though. They wouldn't have known they were from any games. "But regardless of that, I could only find a few of the places those games took place in. My house, Mr. Peterson's house, and here, along with a couple others. So my thought process is, if all of these characters are here, but only a few of the places, then the places that are here have to mean something right?"

"I mean, maybe? I don't know." Natsuki said, clearly unsure of my words.

"That's why we're here. Since this place came from an Indie game, and it's only one of a couples of places that are here, to me, that should mean that something must be here that can give me some idea about how to get home." The club members thought about this for a moment, while Hat Kid was preoccupied looking around the room, spinning around in her chair while keeping her hand on her hat, as if she was looking for something. I suppose I shouldn't be surprised if it turns out a TimePiece found its way in here, since they always seem to end up in the worst of places.

"Alright then." Monika announced. "So now that we know why we're here, what exactly should we be looking for?"

"I wish I knew." I told her. "All I can assume is that whatever we need has to be here." I heard Sayori give a concerned "huh?" as she noticed Hat Kid's frantic search.

"What's going on? Did you see something?" She asked her. Hat Kid then turned to her and pointed to her hat, before using her fingers to trace an hourglass shape in the air.

"Oh, I get it." Sayori's eyes widened as she realized Hat Kid's dilemma. "I think one of her hourglasses is here."

"Really? That's great!" Monika said. "At this rate, we'll find them all in no time!"

"Don't worry. We'll get it back for you soon." Yuri told her. "But perhaps we should hold off searching for it until the restaurant starts to clear out. It might be difficult looking for it with this many characters here." I looked around and despite the building's less than stellar appearance, the place was still packed, and I could tell Yuri was extremely uncomfortable being around so many people, so I understood where she was coming from.

"Sure, that makes sense." I said to Yuri. I gave her a comforting smile, and she seemed a little less tense than she just was before.

"You mean we have to stay here longer?! I can already feel my ears bleeding!" Natsuki complained, covering the side of her head with her hands in anguish.

Just at the moment, Carrie came back to our table, carrying a large filled with freshly baked pizza.

"On second thought." Natsuki stated, the food immediately catching her attention.

"Told ya I wouldn't keep you waiting." She said to us as she started passing everyone their respective plates.

"Thanks again, Carrie." Monika said to her as she covered the cost for the food.

"No problem." She assured her. "Don't be afraid to come by sometime and say hello. I'll alway be here when I can. Enjoy everyone!" She turned around and headed back towards the other tables, serving them the same way she did for us.

I took a look down at the dish in front of me. The pizza was a little less than the size of a standard dinner plate, roughly enough to feed a single person, but cut into four pieces and, believe it or not, looked exactly like the picture was advertising! I was honestly flabbergasted, I had no idea it would turn out like this! It actually looked really good, although I still was a little nervous to actually try it. Sayori and Natsuki however, wasted no time thinking about this and started wolfing down their food the second it landed in front of them. Yuri wiped her hands down with sanitister, passing it to me and Monika as well before using a knife and fork to eat her meal piece by piece. We all ate in silence for a bit, savoring the food, and I got to say, it wasn't actually wasn't that bad. Sure, it wasn't perfect, but it was still a legitimately solid pizza, I was impressed. I know it's my history with this place making me pessimistic about everything, but I tried not to let that bother me at the moment. Instead, I turned my attention back to the group and found Hat Kid again, doing the same curious dance she did with the menu, only now with one of her slices, flipping and spinning in her hands as if it was some weird gooey, slimy alien creature. I mean, given that fact she technically was an alien, wouldn't that mean-... you know what, I'm just gonna stop this train of thought before it gets out of hand.

Part of the cheese on her slice fell off and slapped onto the table, making her jump in surprise. This caught Sayori's attention, and she turned towards her, swallowing what she had in the mouth.

"It's just pizza, silly." She told her playfully. "You eat it, see?" and, as if to demonstrate, shoved the last of her slice into her mouth. Hat Kid, still bearing a confused glance, slowly took a tiny bite of her slice. Her eyes shot open the second it entered her mouth, and she immediately began chowing it down just as fast as Sayori and Natsuki were earlier, who at this point, had already finished their plates.

As Monika swallowed another bite of her slice, she turned to speak to me.

"So why exactly were you two standing in your Neighbor's yard anyway?" She asked suddenly. Me and Yuri turned towards each other, unsure about what to say. Yuri then set her utensils down and began to speak.

"Theodore, their neighbor, was struggling to move past the tragic passing of his Wife and Children…" She started, the others gasped as she said this.

"Oh gosh, I had no idea!" Monika said. "I'm so sorry."

"Don't be. There was nothing we could have done." I added. "But that wasn't the only problem. There was this shadowy figure that kept looming over him, constantly repeating the moments those tragedies happened to him over and over, never letting him move on with his life, always keeping him locked in this state of guilt."

"What kind of sick person would do something like that?!" Natsuki demanded.

"But why?" Sayori asked. "Why would it do that to him?"

"I don't know." Yuri answered. "And I don't think we ever will… but it's gone now. We somehow managed to save him from it, and I believe he should be able to finally rest. Part of me wonders what that Shadow really was to begin with, considering it not only trapped him in those memories, but also transformed his house into the unstable contraption we saw before and somehow got its hands on one of Hat Kid's hourglasses." Hat Kid's eyes widened as she heard this, but Yuri quickly attempted to save herself "B-b-but don't worry, I think that was the one we already have." This seemed to calm her down a bit, and she resumed her feeding frenzy.

"Well, the important thing is now he's safe." Monika declared. "What matters now is looking for a way to get Protag back home."

"Right." I responded. "He says he's looking around in his basement for anything that might help, so we'll just have to wait and see if something comes up." Everyone pondered to themselves for a moment.

"So what do we do now?" Sayori asked curiously, leaning back in her chair. Before anyone could respond to her question, a loud hum came over the speakers of the restaurant as the music quickly faded away, and the conversations of the people fell silent.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, boys and girls." The robotic voice of the handunit blared over the speakers. "Please turn your attention to the curtains of Pirate Cove and give a warm welcome to our favorite Pirate Captain, Foxy!" The crowd of characters, mostly the younger kids, cheered and jumped with excitement as they rushed over to plant themselves near the curtain, awaiting the animatronic fox to make his appearance.

"Foxy? Who's that?" Sayori questioned out loud.

"I guess we're about to find out." Natsuki replied. We just happened to be sitting at the table nearest to the corner, so we didn't have to move in order to get a good view of the stage. However, my attention was taken by something else. What looked to be the manager of the building came out of the door in the corner across from the cove, in between the bathrooms and the kitchen, dressed in a red shirt, light blue jeans and a black apron. He seemed like a middle aged man, and stepped out of what looked like his office, closing the door behind him. While the others were busy awaiting the pirate fox to appear, I stood up from my seat, and made my way over to where he was standing, hoping to get any sort of information from him.

Natsuki's POV

Alright, I just need to take a moment to process everything that's been going on the last day and a half. We wake up in this random town none of us have ever been to before, with a whole bunch of random people we've never seen before. Nobody knows what's going on, and then this person show up out of nowhere and acts like they know all of us, even though we have no clue who they are, and starts accusing Monika of doing all this for no reason, then the moment we walk in on him, suddenly they act all guilty and sorry, and then Monika, who was trying to make us ignore everything at first, just forgives him like that, like it wasn't that big of a deal, like she knows the guy would do that! What is going on between those two? And then after that, Monika tells us that we're not only video game characters and our entire lives were fake, but she murdered all of us to be with them, then brought us all back and expects us to just accept that she's sorry just like that! Then Yuri up and disappears along with them for the whole night into this random person's house for no reason, and helps this guy out with his problems, as if they knew the man was dealing with them before they even met him, and now we're in a restaurant made for babies with a kid who fell from the sky and they don't even know what they're doing here?! I know this guy came from the "real world" or whatever, if what Monika says is true, but I get the feeling they're not telling us everything. It's almost like they know everything that's going to happen, but won't say for some reason. What is going on with them? What makes this dump so special anyway? Why were they so nervous about going in? None of this adds up and it's driving me nuts! If they know what's going to happen, why won't they tell us?! Do they have some sick plan or something?! And Monika too! What does she see in them?! She seems so crazy about them that not only is she willing to go with whatever they say, on top of forgiving them on the spot for blaming her for bringing them here to begin with, but she also, may I remind you, LITERALLY killed all of us just to be with them! Whatever it is, I'm going to get to the bottom of it! When they get back, I'm going to give both of them a piece of my mind!

I probably would have kept going with my mental rant, but the lights surrounding the stage began to flash and spin around, snapping my attention back to the moment. Stock pirate music started blaring from the speakers as the curtains pulled back, revealing a large red robot fox standing at the edge of the stage. It looked about as old as the others did, but what was weird about it was just how unfinished it looked. It's head seemed mostly intact, even having an eyepatch covering it's right eye, guessing to match with the pirate theme it had, but it's body and arms had a bunch of rips and tears in it, and it's hands, feet and most of its legs were completely exposed, like they didn't have enough time to finish covering the rest of its metal insides up. At least it's right hand was a hook to match his missing eye, and the part of his leg was covered in what I guess was to resemble brown pants, but even it looked just as torn as the rest of it. Was this thing even supposed to be used? I seriously doubted it. It looked like they just pulled it out of a dumpster or something. The kids didn't seem to care though, since they were screaming and yelling just as much as they were before.

"Ahoy there, me hearties. I'd be welcoming ya to Pirate Cove!" The fox started talking in the most stereotypical male pirate voice I have ever heard, but I guess I shouldn't have expected anything less. "Me name be Captain Foxy, and for the next fifteen sailor minutes, I be taking yar into a world of adventure, danger, mystery and excitement unlike anything ya ever seen before! Strap yourself in, Landlubbers, as I be telling ya only the greatest tales the seven seas has to offer!" At the very least, he seemed to move and speak just fine. I have to admit though, I am a little curious on what kind of story he would be telling us. Wasn't sure why, since I figured it would probably be something dumbed down for the kids, but I don't know, something in me couldn't help but be interested anyway.

"Heya Foxy! Long time no see!" A higher-pitched, cartoon~esque robot voice came from the main stage. Judging by who was moving, I assumed it was meant to be the purple rabbit speaking.

"It's been a while since we've seen you! How's it been? Not getting into any trouble I hope!" A more girlish voice this time. Guessing that one was the yellow chicken talking, or… was it a duck? I honestly couldn't tell.

"I hope everyone here is excited for Foxy's story! I can't wait to hear what he has to share with us all today!" A third voice, this one deeper in pitch, and almost sounded more bored than anything else. Was that supposed to be Freddy's voice?

"Aye, Freddy, Bonnie, Chica, me friends! It be good seeing you all again!" Foxy declared. "The water's been rough as of late, but a little wave's not gonna be enough to scare this captain! Why, I've sailed through more storms in my time than you've eaten slices of pizza, I being sure of that!"

"Are you sure?" Cause I've have eaten a lot of pizza." The rabbit asked, followed by a stock laugh track playing over the speakers.

"Absolutely!" Foxy said. "Would I ever lie to ya?"

"Even that time you said you scaled an entire mountain with just your ship?" The bear replied.

"Hey, that one doesn't count!" Foxy snapped back, which got a laugh from the audience.

"Or the time you told us you sailed through an active volcano?" The chicken added.

"That one not be counting either!"

"What about the one were you said you sailed across the entire desert by yourself?" The rabbit chimed

"Now that one was being a true story!" Foxy said slightly proud in his words.

"There's no way you did something like that!" The chicken told him.

"Of course I've done just what ye said I did!" The fox declared. "Ye can't be proving me wrong if ye weren't there!"

"Now, now. There's no reason to be fighting." The bear said to the others. "Why don't we all just set back and let Foxy tell his story?"

"I'd be happy to oblige for ya!" Foxy announced, before coming back to face the collective pile of children sitting in front of him. "Now then, today I'd be telling ya one of me finest, greatest, and most famous tales of all! I'd be finding meself on the hunt of one of the most valuable treasures ever to grace the ocean floor!" One so sought over, and so desired by every pirate known to man that it cost me own hand an' eye!" He rose his hook up for everyone to see, and a gasp could be heard from the audience. All right, I'll admit it. I wanted to see where this story was going. "That's right! Today, I be telling the story of how I, Captain Foxy, found the greatest treasure of all, the legendary K-!"

"So desired by every pirate known to man that it cost me own hand an' eye!" Foxy immediately stopped talking and shifted its head to face our table. I couldn't even begin to tell you how wide my eyes got and how tense my expression was when I saw the robot's gaze suddenly snap towards our direction in what had to be less than a second, seemingly out of nowhere. I was hoping that his attention had been pointed towards the stage, maybe for a joke or something, but no, his eyes… er, eye, was aimed directly at where we were sitting. It was honestly terrifying, seeing him shift so instantly without any warning, the room suddenly turning dead silent as it did so and from the corner of my eye I could tell everyone else were having the same reaction to this. Well, everyone except the one seeing directly across from me, the place where the voice had come from. The place… where Hat Kid was standing on her chair, turned around to face the stage. I was a little caught off guard at first, since I thought one of the other robots had spoken for a second realizing the voice didn't match any of them, but then I realized, not only was it Hat Kid talking, which she hadn't done up until now, but also, Oh my god! She had to have had the most adorable voice I've ever heard in my life! I couldn't really make her out behind the chair, but I could see she was holding her right hand up, clenched save for her biggest finger, which was bent slightly, almost looking to mimic Foxy's hook hand. If I had to take a guess, I'd assume she also had her right eye shut. Was she trying to copy Foxy?

"Oi!" The Fox shouted without warning. "What you'd be think you'd be doing?"

"What you'd be think you'd be doing?" Hat Kid copied in her best impression of the robot. Me and the others at the table all exchanged nervous glances. While I couldn't help but admit it was kinda funny listening to her poke fun at the pirate obnoxiously overdone accent, the other 90% was beyond dumbfounded that the robot had not only noticed her, but also stopped and recognized that she was copying him, almost like this was planned or something, but that couldn't be right. We only just met her like ten minutes ago, and since she came from space, she wouldn't know this place at all. Hell, Sayori had to spell out what was on her plate in the first place. Besides that, these robots shouldn't even be able to do something like that… right? Damnit, Protag better have a good explanation for all this when they get back.

"You best better not be copying me now Buccaneer, or I'll be having ya walk the plank!" Foxy continued, now having fully turned to face us.

"You best better not be copying me now Buccaneer, or I'll be having ya walk the plank!"

"That's enough out of ya! Any more yapping, and I'll have ya booty cast into the depths of Davy Jones's locker!"

"That's enough out of ya! Any more yapping, and I'll have ya booty cast into the depths of Davy Jones's locker!"

"Grrrrrr…" The robot was definitely getting frustrated with her now, and I was starting to get worried something was going to happen to her. Thankfully, it sounded like the other kids were losing it over what was happening, taking Foxy's attention away from his copycat. I guess they thought it was just part of the act, some even started to copy Foxy themselves, and none of the employees looked to be surprised by this either. Was this something that always happened here?

"So you be thinking that was funny, aye? That this be some kind of joke to ya?"

"You gotta admit, Foxy. It is pretty funny. Not many talk quite like you do." The girl voice from the stage spoke.

"Ar, If I were ya, I'd be thankful I be no longer be in me prime." Foxy commented, still obviously annoyed by what just happened, before turning back towards the crowd once more. "Once, I'd be known as the greatest pirate on the seven seas. Landlubbers and Sailors alike would shake in their boots at the very mention of me name! Why, there only be one other in the whole ocean who dared to challenge me mighty vessel, the Cadmean Vixen. That be the very story I'd be telling ya today!" Everyone stopped their discussions to focus on Foxy's story, including Hat Kid, who I could hear quietly chuckling to herself.

"It be some time ago when this happened. Me and me crew were on the hunt for the Kingdom Stone, a relic as old as time, said to have been passed down through the ages, and rumored to contain power the likes of which had never graced the seas before. I be knowing every pirate from old Brineybeard to the Pirate Master himself would be after a treasure so valuable, so I be making sure that I'd be claiming it for meself. Our voyage took the Vixen to the edge of the world itself, the treasure be guarded by the most fearsome ghouls, skeletons and monsters ye could ever fathom. Me crew and I barely managed to escape before the whole island plunged into the depths of the seas, never to be seen again." The audience gasped and awed as the pirate told his story. I honestly found myself really starting to get into this now, the last thing I expected to happen when we first walked in.

"Aye, we only just made out with the stone, and we be out there thinking that would be the last of it, but as it would to be believed, me ship ain't the only vessel that made their way there. There be another trying to get their mitts on me stone, and it be turning out to be..." Then, Foxy stopped for a moment.

"What's wrong?" The Rabbit asked him. "Did ya forget the rest of your story?"

"N-No!" Foxy snapped. "A pirate never be forgetting his own stories!" I just be doing a little thinking is all. I be telling this story for so long, the same way every time, and I be thinking it be time for a change. The little lass there be giving me an idea. I think this tale be better told, with a volunteer!" A lot of mumbling came from the audience as he said this, some confused, but most sounded interested about this suggestion.

"That's a great idea, Foxy!" The bear stated. "It's alway to work together with others!"

"Aye, ye heard that right!" The fox replied. "Now I want ya all to give me yar best pirate voice, and however I think be the best gets to be part of me tale!" I thought they were loud before, but now the crowd just went completely nuts. Every single kid was now screaming and yelling as they started trying to copy Foxy's accent. I'll be blunt, basically all of them were completely terrible, but out of everyone, one did stick to me, but it wasn't coming from the audience."

"Yar, I be asking to join your crew, Captain Foxy!" It was coming from our table, but it wasn't Hat Kid's voice from earlier. Could that be… Sayori's impression? Sure enough, she was up off her chair, trying her own hand at the voice.

"What are you doing?" I asked her, trying to yell over the dozens of screaming kids.

"Aye, Landlubber Natsuki. I'd be trying me hand at that pirate impression challenge." Bless her heart, I know she was trying, but…

"I'm sorry, but that has to be the least threatening impression I've heard in my life." Sayori's expression quickly as she stared at the ground. Yea, that came out a lot harsher than I thought it would. I gotta save this fast. "N-not that it sounded bad of course, but it doesn't quite have the menace that a pirate voice would normally have. I mean, pirate voices are always kinda loud and intense, they always have this growl and this kinda… force behind it that makes it so you know that they mean business."

"Really? I thought pirates were always really goofy." Sayori perked up as she stated with a confused tone.

"Not at all." I heard Yuri chime in. "Pirates were seen as criminals back during the 1600's. They would murder, rape, steal and burn down entire villages in their twisted games. Commoners back then were scared of pirates, and they needed to have that menacing voice to make sure that everyone understood exactly who they were. They wanted their names to be remembered, and their voice, as well as their actions, was part of how they achieved that." Wow, I wasn't expecting her to know this much. Sayori thought to herself for a moment, then suddenly looked at me with a smug expression.

"Well, what would a threatening voice sound like then, hmm? Probably not something cute like you do, Natsuki." Sayori asked, sitting back down in her seat. Did… did she just?

"Oh! Oh, you want a pirate voice? I'll give you a pirate voice!" I snapped, standing up from my seat and slamming my hands onto the table with a loud 'thud', as I glared directly into her eyes, her face keeping that smug look only set me off even more. I took a deep breath, then I started slowly making my way over the other side of the table where she sat, never once taking my eyes off her.

"So you think ye to be the most fearsome pirate in all the seven seas?! You be not having what it takes to last even a single day on open waters! A pirate be having to learn to survive in the harshest of tides, facing the deadliest of creatures, lasting for weeks on end with nothing but rum in yar gullet and forever be on the run from all who would rather see ya dead! Otherwise sealing yar fate to be forever forgotten at the bottom of the ocean, never to be thought of again! What would someone like ye want from a pirate's life anyway? Fame? Fortune? Fresh meat to serve your crew? Nay, a real Pirate seeks to carve their names into the minds of all who'd be having the honor of meeting em. Eye. to. Eye." I made it to where Sayori was sitting, spun her chair around, and planted myself directly in her face, her composure slowly breaking as my hardened gaze shot into her own, as she tried to lean back in her seat.

"So let me be asking ye one last time. Do you think ye to be the most fearsome pirate in all the seven seas?! Well, you'd be wrong. Dead wrong, and I'd be knowing just that, for you see… you'd be looking right at her." Pulling myself back from a stunned Sayori, I crossed my arms and gave her a smug grin of my own.

"How's that for a pirate voice, hmm?" For a moment, no one said anything. In fact, from what I could tell, the entire building went quiet during my speech. It was honestly kinda creepy, seeing as just moments ago I could barely hear my own voice, now suddenly being dead silent to the point I could make out each breath I took as I recovered from the outburst I just gave Sayori. She just simply stared at me for a second, her face still in that shocked expression, as if she was still processing what she just heard.

"That…was… AMAZING!" She suddenly leaped up and wrapped her arms around me so tight I swear my ribs were gonna break. "I knew you could do it!" She knew I could-

"Aye, I think we be having ourselves a winner there." The robot fox stated out loud.

Son of a bitch, she set me up!

"Come 'ere, don't be shy." Foxy said to me, waving his non-hook hand in my direction. "Stand by me side, so that we may be telling this story together." Breaking out of Sayori's grasp, I looked over at the club, each of them giving me their own comforting smiles and encouraging 'go get 'em' hand gestures. Though I'll admit I was a little nervous, I turned back around and made my way to the left side of the pirate's stage. As I did, I noticed a couple of things. First, I could hear some people talking in the crowd. I couldn't exactly make out what they were saying, but I had the impression that whatever they were talking about, it was about me. Probably thinking I was too old looking to be doing this or whatever. I mean, I didn't exactly think I would end up doing this either, but seeing all of the eyes staring at me as I stood next to the robot fox did make me a but tense. Second, good god, this robot was huge! It easily had about a head and a half over me in size, even without the stage making it seem even taller. Third, it smelled like something died over here, it was disgusting! Do they never wash these things?!

"Welcome aboard, young lassie." Foxy told me, turning his head and upper body to face my direction. "Do ya be having a name I can call ya?"

"Natsuki, and for the record, I'm 18."

"Aye, me apologizes, I be keeping that in mind." Foxy turned back to the crowd. "Now then, without any further interruptions, let us be continuing the tale!" The crowd started cheering again as the music came back and the sounds of waves crashing began to play over the speaker. "Now where was I… ah, of course, I be just getting me hands on the Kingdom Stone with the help of me crew and me mighty ship, the Cadmean Vixen. Just as we be thinking we could rest after barely escaping the island with our lives…

"Cap'n, ship coming from the starboard bow!" The rabbit yelled from the other stage, catching me off guard, since I wasn't expecting them to talk at all. I guess their meant to be his crew then.

"Aye, I see her!" Foxy replied. "That be the same vessel who be trying to take the Kingdom Stone from us, the… uh…" I had to think about this myself for a second, but it didn't take long for a name to come to mind.

"The Neko-Kiba!" I declared.

"A fine name, that be! But now is not the time to be quaking. Get this ship moving!"

"Aye, aye cap'n!" Freddy yelled. The sound of footsteps against the wood and the sails of a ship flapping in the winds was added to the sounds coming from the speakers. "I once believed me ship to be the fastest vessel on the seven seas, but the Kiba be approaching fast, and began to fire upon us!" Cannon shots rang through the speakers. "I couldn't be believing me eyes, not only had this ship caught to me own, but it be firing right at us without hesitation. For the longest time, I thought meself to be the most fearsome pirate of the seas, and now this ship be trying to claim that title for themselves! Of course, that not be stopping this captain from backing down so easily, so we be wasting no time in firing back! The battle was long, the sounds of cannons firing and ship being smashed apart will never leave me ears after that day, but alas, it didn't take long for captain Natsuki to find her way onto me ship, seeking the Kingdom Stone for herself!" More sounds of cannon blasts, gun being fired and ships being smashed blared from the speakers and- Hang on, did I just hear that right?

"Wait, I'm the captain?" I asked

"Aye, of course. Why wouldn't ya be?" Foxy told me. "Now, what will ya be saying to try and intimidate me, eh?" Okay, this was not what I was thinking was going to happen. Not only did I get stuck up here by complete accident, and in the front of at least a hundred pairs of eyes, but now I also had to make up my lines on the spot. Fantastic. I took a deep breath.

"Alright." I thought to myself, "Let's see what I can do with this." After a short pause, I cleared my throat and announced what I had come up with.

"Captain Foxy!" I declared aloud. "I'd be hearing you've gotten your hands on quite the treasure as of late! It took me some time to find ya, but now I be thinking you'd best be handing over the stone to me, before I'd be having to leave this ship a wreck!"

"Har har har!" Foxy laughed. "I'd not be giving up the stone so easily! You'd be dealing with me now, lass, so you'd best be turning back now if ya know what's good for ya!"

"I'd not be leaving without the stone!" I shouted back. "Even if it means blasting this ship to pieces!"

"Very well. To the locker with ya!" Foxy roared, and the sounds the swords clashing took over the speakers, showing that we were supposed to be fighting. "I struck first, the force of me blade striking her own nearly sent her over the port bow, but it took no time before the tides were quickly turned against me. I found meself on the defensive, carefully blocking every blow the aggressive Natsuki swung at me just mere seconds before I be losing more than just the stone!" As Foxy described what was happening between us, I found myself surprisingly getting lost in the moment. I imagined myself there, on that ship, clashing swords with the fox, hearing the sounds that fell from the speakers, and seeing myself in pirate gear, a white dress shirt with a light pink vest, boots, leggings and a large hat. Before this, I never thought I would be so invested in this story, but now, standing here next to the stage and acting alongside the robot, there was a part of me that felt… warm. I couldn't describe it, but it felt… comforting, like something I never really felt until now. It was the weirdest thing, but at the same time, it also just felt… right.

"Argh!" Foxy suddenly yelled, his hook hand rising up in an attempt to cover his patched eye. "One false step on me end and her blade be finding its way right through me right eye!" The audience and the other characters all gasped as this fact. I was actually a little surprised myself. I never thought I would be the reason he lost his eye. The fox then put his hand down and turned back to me. "But I not be letting one minor wound get in me way. The stone be staying with me!"

"I'll tear that stone from ya hands if I have to!" I shouted back. The sounds of clashing swords came back.

"Even with only a single eye, our battle was being just as fierce as before. I'd be putting up the fight of me life, but Natsuki forced me back, knocking me into me captains quarters, and as I be trying to bring meself back to me feet, she quickly slashed off me right hand!" Hot damn, I was on a winning streak in this story. I really hoped I would keep this up.

"How many more before ye give me what I want?" I threatened him.

"Aye, ya beaten me, I be admitting that. But I'm afraid that I be still the victor this day."

"What?!" I questioned suddenly, completely breaking my pirate voice in surprise. "You're down an eye and a hand, and I literally have you on the floor. How do you still win?"

"Har har har." He laughed once more. "Ya might have me defeated, but even if ya get the stone, how 'r ya gonna be leaving 'ere without a ship?"

"Huh? But I have a ship. What are you talking about?" Foxy laughed even harder at this comment.

"While you were busy fighting me for the stone, I was taking the liberty of having me crew here on the cannons. If ya hurry, there still may be a ship left by the time ya be getting there." He gestured to the other robots on the main stage.

"N-no fair!" I exclaimed.

"Aye, in the end, while I lost me eye and hand that day, the stone still be mine for the keeping, the lesson today being while ya might be focused on a single task, it be also just as important to be keeping yar mind aware of all the other important things of ya lifes, otherwise they might be getting ya into trouble." Of course there had to be some sort of cheesy message at the end, I guess this was for kids after all. I'm just annoyed I got jipped out of my win.

"And with that, I be taking my leave for the time being." A loud 'aww' come from the crowd of children. "But don't be worrying, I'd be back before ya know it. The seas call me name once more. Before I be leaving however, why don't we all be giving a big round of hook 'n hand to our guest volunteer, Captain Natsuki of the Neko Kiba!" It was the strangest feeling, seeing all of those people clapping for me, almost like nothing I had ever felt before. I felt a single tear rolling down my cheek, which I quickly wiped away. Just seeing these people, genuinely happy for me was…unbelievable.

"Until we meet again, I be bidding ya all farewell!" Foxy announced as the curtains closed in front of him. The stock music began blaring again, and the clapping continued for a while after I made my way back to our table, but it wasn't long before everything sounded the way it did when we first came in.

"That was so cool! You were awesome, Natsuki!" Said an overjoyed Sayori. Still wasn't thrilled that she tricked me into doing it, but I guess I'm thankful for it at least.

"Great job out there!" Monika chimed in. "Who knew you had it in you?"

"You did well." Yuri told me. "What was it like, being up there next to them?"

"Well, I'll admit, I actually didn't have that bad of a time. The robots seem nice, and I guess I'm happy people enjoyed it at least."

"Say, did anyone see where Protag went?" Monika suddenly asked.

And my good mood just got thrown right out the window.

"Yea, they just left suddenly." Sayori said. "But I'm not sure where they went…"

Before we could say anything else, we suddenly heard a loud, angry outburst come from the other side of the restaurant.

"For the last time, there is NOTHING wrong with his establishment! Whatever you're on about never happened here! Now leave me alone!"

"Please sir!" I heard Protag cry out. "I just need to ask you a few things."

"I don't wanna hear about you or any of your conspiracies, so get out!"

"Please I-" Protag began to frantically look around, as the man they were talking to turned away into what looked like his office, and he was about to shut the door before Protag suddenly yelled out.

"I'll take your night shift!"

Protag's POV

His hands never slapped my mouth shut faster in my entire life. I know I shouldn't have said that, but I wasn't thinking straight and I couldn't stop myself in time. I just saw the help wanted poster hanging next to the door and the words came out without me having any time to process what I was saying. Just as I finished saying those fateful words, I could instantly feel, no not hear, Feel, the building suddenly went completely quiet. Nobody made a single noise, save for the kids, who stopped running around to question what had happened, and the animatronics… oh god, I know they were already creepy back when I played the games, but seeing them like this, in the same room as me, with those cold, lifeless stares, filled me with a sense of dread so overflowing I swear I could start sweating in it. Even Foxy, who had just closed his curtains, I could see peeking through to stare directly at me. Horrifying would be too light of a word to describe the feeling it gave me, but I couldn't think about it for more than a few moments, as I suddenly felt myself getting pulled from behind into the manager's office, said manager quickly shutting the door as he did so. The room he brought me into was just as depressing looking as the rest of the building, with only a few old, wooden shelves, drawers and a single desk which housed a computer, a flat screen monitor, an old radio clock, a couple of wooden chairs, each of which we sat on and a picture of the manager with what looked to be his wife and daughter.

"So uh, sorry about earlier." He apologised, scratching the back of his head. "Normally I don't get that angry" Then suddenly he got a lot more serious in expression. "But I'm curious. Just... how much do you know?" I honestly wasn't expecting that question, given how stern he was just a moment ago about none of those stories being real. I know I couldn't tell him the complete truth, but I could try wording it in a way that would still be accurate.

"I've… done a bit of research, and I came across a lot of those stories and rumors that people would pass around on the internet. I came here…" Crap, can't say that. Gotta have another excuse. "because I just wanted to know the truth. Are they-"

"Real?" He paused for a moment to gather his thoughts. "...yes. Every single one of them." He confirmed, calmer and more quiet than before. "I'll be honest, I'm surprised so many people still even come to these restaurants, given how…" He looked over at the picture on his desk. "This company is cursed." I chose to stay silent as he spoke. He took a deep sigh. "I can't even begin to recall how many have gone missing since this brand first started, how many lawsuits we've swept under the rug, how many… accidents we've had. The animatronics… just stopped acting right after a while and, if he were to come back, after we all ended up in whatever this place is... I couldn't begin to imagine what could happen. That's why we need you for tonight. We can't risk anything happening like that again. Once your shift starts, nothing can get in... and nothing can get out. Are you sure you're able to handle that?" I didn't know what to say. I mean, I understood what I had to do to get through it, but actually being there, in that room for six hours, and if I screw up, then… I didn't want to think about it, but if my gut feeling was right and this meant possibly finding any sort of way of getting back home, then I guess I didn't have a choice. With a pinch of hesitancy, I nodded.

"Alright." He sighed, then started to stand up, extending his hand out to me. "Here. Why don't I show you around your work station." Then a thought came into my head.

"Actually, before that." I said to him. "You didn't happen to find anything… unusual recently, have you?" The manager thought for a moment, then perked up as if he remembered something.

"You know, I think I might have." He then turned around and opened up one of the drawers next to the wall and pulled out… a timepiece?

"This was sitting outside in the back just a moment ago. I've never seen anything like it before. I guess this day's just full of surprises, huh?"

"P-perfect!" I blurted out. "That's exactly what I was looking for."

"Really? Huh. Well, then that just makes things easier for us then. Tell you what, you work the full week for me, I throw this in as a bonus. What do you say?" He held his hand out to me once more. With a satisfied smile, I went ahead and accepted his extended hand for a shake that sealed the deal.

"Welcome aboard!" He declared.

...I just made the worst mistake of my life, didn't I?