The sounds of my shoes pressing against the cracked concrete were the only things to comfort me as I slowly made my way through the darkness, towards the one place I never thought I would ever see with my eyes. I was completely alone, as I had told the others to stay behind at the house, knowing what might happen if they were to accompany me. I had expected the inevitable backlash I received from that suggestion, understanding that they did truly want to help me, but I knew I couldn't take the chance, not here. Being alone like this though, was definitely an unnerving feeling. Not just because of how crowded the streets of the town were just a few hours ago, but because, well, I didn't know what was out here. If truly every indie game character did somehow find their way into this one town, then who knows what could be prowling about at night, and what they could be after. I tried to shake the thoughts from my mind. I already had enough to worry about from why I was walking alone in the dead of night to begin with, I didn't need any other anxiety inducing thoughts plaguing my already overwhelmed psyche. The feeling of dread I got from the pure silence of the road wasn't my only problem though, as it didn't take long before I found myself turning from the path and coming up to the single structure that brought me here to begin with. I stared up at the building, towards the same welcoming logo graced itself above the pairs of glass doors we entered through before, unchanged from the first time I was standing at this exact spot, but now the foreboding feeling I got from the seemingly abandoned looking restaurant was unlike anything I had felt before.

I really am doing this aren't I?

I took a deep breath, trying in vain to calm my hyperactive nerves, as I slowly made my way towards the doors. Placing my grip on my handle, I could feel how cold it was, my hand trembling at just the touch. Every single atom in my body was all yelling, screaming in unison the same thing, wanting anything but to go through these doors, but I forced myself to shut it out. I knew I didn't have a choice. Gathering whatever determination hadn't abandoned me at this point, I slowly pulled open the door and stepped inside.

If I had thought outside the restaurant was quiet, then the silence emanating from the interior of the building was something else entirely. Being greeted by the cold, grey void that was the dining area, the only source of light coming from the other end of the hall, was enough to put my nerves into overdrive. I knew I was unconsciously trying to convince myself otherwise, but I couldn't deny it any longer. This was real. This was happening, and I'm standing here right now. A fact made all the more obvious by the family friendly death machines standing to my right.

The main trio of robots were all back on the main stage, completely devoid of any sign of life they had from before. Frozen in place, the animatronics simply stared ahead, unable to do anything else. Of course, I knew it wasn't going to stay that way for long, but the very idea of me being in the same room alone with these… things, moving or not, was beyond horrifying. Taking a few steps back towards the center of the dining area, I took a good look at the lifeless robots, still struggling to comprehend the idea that they were really standing there, ready to spring to life at any moment. They were already creepy enough just from viewing them behind the computer screen, but seeing them like this, with my own eyes, I couldn't begin to describe how terrifying it was. Not to mention just how huge these things were! Every one of them had a good head over me, not even counting the stage they were standing on, and they looked to have almost double my size. I knew that I slipped up at all, then… it was over, which did nothing to calm my nerves. I took a quick glance at the clock handing over to my right where the kitchen was, 11:56. Not much time left.

I took a deep breath, turning my attention back towards the robots, still having yet to move.

"Well, this is it." I told myself out loud. "I still can't believe this is really happening. Being here during the day was one thing, but this…" My words trailed off. "I guess there isn't any point in arguing about this. I know what I have to, I just don't know if I…" I sighed heavily. It didn't matter at this point. The only thing I needed to worry about was making it through this alive. So, with one last glance at the stationary machines, I turned around and started to make my way down the right hallway, making sure to spare a quick glance over at pirate cove, the curtains covering the fox still shut tight. My steps echoed throughout the empty building, each one a painful reminder of what brought me back here, and what awaited me in the next hours to come. However, it also assured me that I was truly alone here, that no one was here to help me, but at the same time, that no one was in danger should something go wrong. Like I said, I knew what I had to do, and the others were back at the house, so all I needed was to make it through this and... an-!

"WHAT ARE YOU ALL DOING HERE!"

To be honest, I wasn't sure what was more horrifying. The walking-talking murder happy robots I just spoke with 20 seconds ago, or the fact that the five familiar faces of the literature club and Hat Kid, the same ones I specifically asked not to come with me, where all currently standing in my office.

"Hey Protag!" Greeted Monika with a warm smile and a small wave, the only unstartled one of the group. "Sorry for dropping in so suddenly! We just wanted to make sure everything was ready for our shift tonight!" All of the girls, save for Hat Kid, were wearing a black snapback cap which featured the same fazbear logo on it as the one hanging outsi- wait a second, "our shift?"

"No no no! You need to leave, now!" I said as seriously as I could muster up in that exact moment, pointing my finger towards the front doors. Monika's smile started to shatter at the sound of my words.

"... but, I don't…" Her face changed to one of dejection as her eyes fell towards the ground.

"I asked you not to come with me!" I told them sternly. "You have to get out of here before something bad happens!" I grabbed Monika's hand and started to lead them out of the office.

Quickly pulling her hand out of my grasp, a clearly frustrated Monika snapped back at me, catching me by surprise. "But why?! I don't understand! Why do you have to keep pushing us away? We're just trying to help you, but you keep leaving us behind?" She challenged. Yuri then stepped over to us, her hands clapped together in front of her chest, and a sincere expression of her face.

"I know you're worried about us Protag, but you don't have to do this alone. We truly want to help you." She spoke to me calmly. I understood that, I really did. I know how much they want to help me, but right now was not the time.

I shook my head. "I'm sorry, but it's too dangerous for you to be here now!"

"And it's not for you?" Monika questioned bitterly. "I'm not leaving, Protag. We promised that no matter what happens, we were going to make it through this together, and that's exactly what we're going to do. So why do you keep trying to leave us behind?" Darn it, why did she have to make this so much harder than it needed to be!? We're running out of time!

"I don't have time to explain, but please, I need you to trust me! You can't be here right now!" I told them hastefully, starting to get desperate.

"Protag, please. We want to be here with you. You don't need to keep pushing us away." Yuri tried to explain, although I could tell she was getting irritated by my constant denial. I didn't know what else to do, I just needed them out of here now!

"I'm sorry. I'm just trying to protect you!"

"From what!?" I suddenly heard Natsuki yell from across the room, who was sitting on the lone black chair in the middle of the room with her legs up on the desk. She stood up and walked over to us, an aggravated look on her face. "What the hell is so scary that you want to kick us all out for!?" Crap, 11:59. I couldn't hide this from them any longer. They had to know, otherwise they would never listen to me in time.

I sighed in defeat, and gestured over towards the other side of the building. "From the fact those robots out there are gonna come to life and try to kill us all." The room quickly filled up with a barrage of confused, concerned and questioning looks from the girls, Natsuki's in particular almost looking upset in a way, but was quickly replaced by one of resentment.

"Oh, I get it." She told me, sounding somewhat betrayed by my explanation. "This is all just some sick game to you, isn't it?"

"Wait, what? I wasn't-" I was completely taken aback by this accusation. What did she even mean by that?

"I wanted to trust you, I really did." She explained a hint of cynicism in her tone. "But now I see what you're trying to do, and it disgusts me."

"Wait, hang on, this doesn't make any sense. I have no idea what you're talking about." I hastefully tried to defend myself.

"Don't you start playing dumb with me!" She snapped back. "I know exactly what you're up to, and I'm not going to let it happen!"

"Natsuki." Yuri stopped her, stepping between her and myself. "Maybe we should think about this for a moment."

"Think about it, Yuri. This was exactly what Monika was trying to do to us back in the game. Acting like a nice person at first, only to pull the rug from underneath us, just for the sake causing us more misery! They already tried convincing us they were believable with this whole "I'm from the real world" nonsense, but not only are they trying to abandon us now, apparently knowing more than they're willing to tell us, but now they have the audacity to take the one thing I wanted to feel since I was a kid, and try to break it right in front of me?!"

"Natsuki, please stop fighting!" I heard Sayori cry out from the other side of the room, Hat Kid huddling behind her.

"That's enough!" Monika shouted at Natsuki. "Listen, I don't know what going on, but-"

"Oh, don't you get started with this again, Monika!" Natsuki shot back. "You were the one who said we should come here anyway! I bet you're in on this just as much as they are!" Monika's face went into complete shock at this.

"Natsuki, you heard her before!" Yuri spoke up, trying to calm down the situation. "She's already apologized for what she did before, and she promised to make up for what she's done! You can't still be holding those actions against her, can you?"

"And you believe her just like that!?" Natsuki questioned aggravatedly, before turning back to Monika, shooting the president a furious gase. "If I remember the story correctly, you did all that to make them fall in love with you in the first place. What the hell do you even see in them anyway, to the point where you decided to kill us all just to be with them?!"

"Natsuki… I-" Monika took a step back, struggling to speak as tears filled her heartbroken eyes.

"Guys, please!" Sayori pleaded, but her cries were once again ignored

"Fighting like this is going to get us nowhere!" Yuri exclaimed, now having lost it with Natsuki. "Right now we need to-"

Suddenly the sound of what seemed to be the front doors locking themselves shot through the building, cutting Yuri off, but it was quickly filled with the sounds of the room's gasps. Before anyone had a chance to say anything else, the phone that rested on the desk started to ring. Once, twice, three times it rang, and nobody dared to move muscle save for their heads, which all turned to face each other with shocked and confused glances, unsure of what to do. The phone clicked to move to voicemail, and the voice of the phone guy from earlier began to speak to us.

"Uh, hello? Hello, hello? Uh, Protag, was it? Well, if you're hearing this, then that probably means the doors are already locked. Yeah, they have this, uh, "auto locking" system now, they added in a few days ago. Apparently somebody tried to leave in the middle of their shift, and so now the doors can no longer be opened until the manager comes in at 6am, which, I guess in this case is me. Well, I suppose that means there's no turning back at this point, huh? H-hey listen, I know we spoke earlier about everything before you left, but I just wanted to record this message for you, just to help give you a quick reminder, about what you need to do tonight. Figured it might help make everything easier for you, right?"

"Uh, let's see here, first there's an introductory greeting from the company that I'm supposed to read. Uh, it's kind of a legal thing, you know. Um, "Welcome to Freddy Fazbear's Pizza. A magical place for kids and grown-ups alike, where fantasy and fun come to life. Fazbear Entertainment is not responsible for damage to property or person. Upon discovering that damage or death has occurred, a missing person report will be filed within 90 days, or as soon as property and premises have been thoroughly cleaned and bleached, and the carpets have been replaced." Blah, blah, blah, that's not really important right now."

"So, um, I know you're already aware that the characters, will eventually start wandering around at night so their servos don't lock up, and sometimes they might try to get into the office, and should they get in, they'll mistake for an endo-skeleton without a costume and try to stuff into a spare Freddy Fazbear suit, and, uh, all that fun stuff. Probably best not to let that happen, right? You know, when you get out of there, you might wanna, uh, bring up to your pink haired friend how lucky she was. Uh, according to the animatronics' facial scans, she was registered in their database as a child. If she wasn't, then...uh, I guess the last thing we need here is a repeat of "the bite of 87"."

"THE BITE?" Sayori shouted in surprise.

"Yeah…" The phone guy said, as if responding to Sayori's distress. "but, uh, listen, to your left and right, you should see the pair of buttons that control the blast door and the doors lights, right? A-and you got your cameras in front of you, um, to make sure that doesn't happen. Just, uh, try to remember that you only have so much power to spare each night. Um, apparently in order to save on costs, the higher ups have the main power shut off backstage after hours, so you're only working with the backup generator for the night shift. Should have enough to get you by, just uh… try not to go overboard, alright? I don't need to tell you how bad it will be if one of those robots gets into your office, right? Well um, I-I'll leave you to it then. Talk to you soon!"

The phone clicked once more as the voice of the phone guy vanished, and just like that, we were completely alone. Save for the soft whirling of the nearby desk fan and the faint hum of a single dusty light bulb, the room was in complete silence, the girls flabbergasted by what they just heard. Walking, talking, murderous children loving death robots? Sounded something right out of a fever dream, which was why I was so hesitant to say anything before, but now we were all stuck in this madhouse because of it. Nothing I could do about it at this point, I tried telling myself. Now, I just had to make sure nothing happened to them. They were all nervous, scared, and confused about what was to come, and I knew I had to make sure we all made it through this alive. That's all that matters now.

I turned to look over at the clock on my left. 12:03. I guess we're moving in real time, and I'll have to be here for the full 6 hours. Looks like we're not going anywhere for awhile, huh? Taking a deep breath, I sat down on the single black leather chair, and rolled myself up toward the camera tablet. Flipping it up towards me, the screen quickly flashed to life, and I was greeted with the robots still on the stage, not having moved an inch since the last time I saw them, although I knew it wasn't going to stay like that for very long.

This was going to be a long night…