AN: OK, so those who were waiting, sorry for taking a long time. Though, thanks to motivation, slowly got back and we are stepping onto Night 3. Admittingly, I forgot to post this chapter for nearly weeks or for a month; I lost track of time due to focusing on other projects. :p But hopefully now I'll be back on track with my normal writing schedule. Fitting to release this chapter after finishing my other story 'The Suicide Squad - 15 Soldiers on the Shelf'. Enough talk here, let's start.


Recommended Songs

[1] Cold as Ice - Blacklite District


Chapter 28 - Maybe Third's the Charm, Hopefully…

Augustina's POV, Augustina's University, 11 PM

It was a good thing that I didn't choose to have night classes since by then, I wouldn't have enough time to get to the Pizza Plex. And they were quick as well, so if I was nervous, then I would be able to have enough time to work on study or homework the next time. There was something that I noted as I sat in class and listened along.

I didn't feel that strained in my classes after meeting up with Melody again. I wasn't really sure at first since I still felt highly nerved when around the other students. However, something felt different about the entire class. I think it was just me since I didn't feel too worried if somebody got angry at me or try to get on my nerves. In fact, it was like I didn't need to worry about them too much.

I wondered if it was due to me hanging out with Melody. She was the one who gave me those training sessions so far. To help me learn how to fight and defend myself. It allowed me to actually know a bit about myself with what I could do in a fight. I found myself feeling thankful towards her for giving me these lessons. Like she becoming a good friend to me.

Maybe this led me to being more confident in class. Saying that 'I'm not alone' might be vague, but there was something that kept me up and waiting patiently until the class end so that I could catch up with Melody. Being more focused on her presence probably led me thinking that other students weren't my business. Like there were other important things to do.

And of course, these important things were in the form of coming back to the Pizza Plex for Night 3. I found myself excited to get back to it. Was that what Melody meant with feeling the thrill of taking risks? Maybe since we had the ghosts tagging us along and needing to protect Elena and Gregory as well. However, the Pizza Plex felt like the one place I could potentially turn to. As an escape from how I dealt with situations at university.

It seemed that things might be growing better at the Pizza Plex. I was able to be on good terms with Melody, Elena and Freddy. Vanessa had things under control, so we wouldn't be in trouble for having Elena and Gregory over to stay for the night. And as far as I could tell, the ghosts didn't seem to be a problem. While they might turn out to be for the worse, I was confident enough that whatever they were going to throw at us, we would be able to get through them.

I think the real reason why I didn't feel usually nervous in class was because of the pleasant thought of going back out soon to the Pizza Plex where it felt more important than anything else.

As soon as it was over, I found myself to be nearly the first to go out. Usually, I hung around more behind where people could pass by me. But with getting to work on my mind, I made a beeline to the door before anyone else could.

Following behind me were Dinah and Elsa who were in my class at that moment. Normally, we wouldn't really pay that much attention to each other. I don't blame them since they may not like me that much. Though, I couldn't help but notice that Elsa could come off as a bit insufferable when she get too much into conversations about her favorite class subjects, so Dinah tried to keep her distance from her a bit.

However, when I looked behind me, I noticed that they were trying to catch up to me. It seemed that it was more due to news about the rogue Toy Animatronics and how it somewhat connect to the Pizza Plex. Everybody was already getting worried at this point, though I found myself to be a bit surprised by this. Why were they slowly freaking out about me, when they had no business with me, returning to the Pizza Plex for my night shift?

"So, Augustina," said Dinah. "You're sure that you'll be alright waiting for Melody to pick you up? Are you sure that you don't need one of us to drive you there?"

"I-I'll be fine, guys," I reassured her. "Don't need to waste your time when the sorosity isn't on a night out."

"I'm a bit concerned right there," cut in Elsa. "Do you have enough money to pay for what that teacher asked you to do?"

"Last time I checked, not close to 150 dollars yet. Though, maybe tonight might give me the last few dollars to fill in the gap."

Elsa remained quiet for a while. "We can just give you the remaining bucks."

"No thank you," I said. "It's my choice here."

"But-"

I was about to speak, but I just placed a finger to Elsa's mouth gently and shook my head. I didn't want to argue further.

Dinah raised an eyebrow. She looked like she also wanted to add in something, but she eventually backed off.

"Suit yourself then," she said. "Just be careful, alright? Cassandra isn't in for the night, so we don't really want another…I mean, don't want anything to happen to our sorority."

They were scared. They were scared of what I might fall right into. I couldn't blame them since they knew that Cassandra got injured before and I might get myself hurt at the Pizza Plex. However, I felt that it wasn't that bad with going back to the Pizza Plex, but there was take a lot to prove to them that the Glamrock Animatronics weren't bad.

I only nodded back before walking further ahead. Dinah and Elsa didn't try to catch up with me. I didn't look back since I felt nervous in seeing their worried looks. The whole trip back to the sorority house was quiet for a while, but by the time I made it back to my room to get changed, guess who decided to pop up.

"Whoo!" said Ruth, flying out of my body. "That is quite a long lesson there. Shame that I never ever get to go to college before my death long ago!"

"It would have been boring," I said as I started to peel off my clothes that I wore for the day.

"Oh, you're right. Nothing that much interesting."

"I could kind of tell since I felt you squirming around in my body."

The pink ghost chuckled nervously. "Yeah, I tend…to get impatient with a lot of things. Sometimes, I don't really want to hear the whole thing. I rather be on the main details."

"That is something we can agree with," I admitted.

"You too? Especially in anything like talking to people? Studying through a movie to write down this thing called a wiki page? Deciding whether you should take c-?"

"No, no, no. More like just in classes and study and stuff like that." I paused, thinking about it. "Well, maybe in talking to people, but that is just…something else."

As I was starting to change into my security guard outfit, I kept glancing back at Ruth. Since she was a ghost, I was expecting her to fly around and haunt the sorority. I thought that she might want to freak out the other girls (in which I begged Ruth specifically NOT to scare them), but she kept her promise. All she did was jumping around doing star jumps, push-ups and bouncing on my bed.

It was funny seeing her bouncing on my bed. I tried doing that once, but I ended up hitting my head in the ceiling too many times. Thanks to her ghost abilities, her head could go through the ceiling without needing to worry about cracking her skull.

"For a ghost like you, you are pretty energetic," I commented.

Ruth smiled, turning around to hang upside down. "I'm really sporty. Back then when I was alive, I used to like all kinds of sports. Are you a fun of sports as well?"

"Not really. It's fine and all, but…most men watch it."

Ruth pouted a little. "That's kind of stereotypical."

"But men dominated the sports industry…several times."

"That isn't true," said Ruth, rolling again before landing on the bed. "I've heard that they are starting to have more representations including other genders! Though, the more intense sports I like are still coming soon. Being active is probably my passion. I wish that I can really have a physical body properly to do all of that cool training Melody gave you."

"You had me as a body," I pointed out.

"Yeah, but it isn't my body in the end. I would need one where I can feel things properly and not feel like I'm a deity."

I could have said that she had her fun with the feeling of using my body like her own, but I decided to not go there since it would give her an excuse to possess me fully. By the sound of her claiming that she needed her real body, she had her own limits. It might not even satisfy her using a host to move around.

"Good point there," I said. "So to be more grounded than this? Wait, sorry, that might be an insensitive thing for me to say."

"I'm already dead by the way," said Ruth, waving it off.

"So that gives me the privilege to rub it in your face that I'm alive?" I asked sarcastically.

"No, that's just stupid."

"Just checking."

Ruth hummed a little, scratching her chin as she tried to think of something to talk about. "What I want to know a little bit is do you enjoy being trained by Melody? With all of those sick moves, fighting skills and getting ready to punch someone in the face?"

This kind of reminded me back to how I thought Melody was a thrill seeker. How Ruth described her training, both of them really want to go into a fight and never back down from it. It got me worried again, but thinking about it, I found myself not as worried as last time.

"Honestly, I wasn't sure at first if doing this would be a good idea," I said. "I don't really have a lot of fighting experiences and the worse I get was when I get into a vicious beating with a hothead." It was at that point when I remembered how much fun I had with Melody earlier. "Though, I have to give it to her for guiding me in how to fight properly. Maybe…maybe it might help."

"I saw you having the time of your life when running down the streets with Melody," highlighted Ruth. "You enjoyed your time with her just now."

"Yeah. I'm…a bit glad that I did," I said, smiling. "I can give her an opportunity. I don't always open up to people. She is a good person. Even if she can be reckless."

"Reckless like me for sure!" Ruth agreed, flying around. "I'm proud of her as well. She knows my style of living. No tricks that you can pull, no stunt you can't take and no speed you can't rush over! When you're living every second in your life, you will have to use it properly before you can shove it right in! It's an almighty battle between life and death itself. You must take the plunge right there. The very deep plunge!"

As she said all of this, she was making so many poses. Outdated ones. I don't want to add 'dab' into the mix, but yeah, that was what she even did. I don't really need to go into detail of which pose she makes through her narration.

I couldn't really tell, but seeing her living up to this bold description of fighting with a hammy tone pressed a button in my mind. She reminded me of someone else, but who was this someone when I couldn't even remember? It was a strange feeling, but I felt like I know Ruth from somewhere before.

"I feel like I know you before," I said, speaking my mind.

Ruth's eyes light up, suddenly coming close to me. "Oh yeah! I have the same feeling as well. Would you say that…it's fate?"

"AUGUSTINA!" roared Claire's voice from outside. "Can you keep that sound down from whoever your new girlfriend is?!"

"Stay out of this!" me and Ruth shouted in reply.

Once I could confirm that nobody was sneaking around to hear us, I placed a finger over my mouth to Ruth to keep it at a low volume. At that point, I was already done putting on my security guard outfit. Last thing I need to do was to tie up my hair.

"She's right," I whispered. "We could have just read each other's minds to communicate."

"She's right as well," giggled Ruth. "You have a new girlfriend."

"What?"

"I mean, is it Melody?"

My face turned red. "What? No! To be honest, I don't have feelings for her. If you put 'girlfriend' the other way around, I…would consider Melody my friend now. One I can trust."

Ruth nodded, glancing back at where Claire shouted at. "You got a few nice friends around here. Why didn't you talk with them that much?"

I bit my lip. I didn't want to go into the same topic Cassandra tried to drag me into. "Trust issues. T-That's all."

"That sounds too ambiguous," said Ruth, putting her hands on her hips. When she noticed how uncomfortable I was, her face softened. "Don't be scared, it's not like they are going to hate you. You don't hate them, right?"

"I…don't hate them," I said. "I just thought that they are in this bubble of being these 'hot popular princesses', so…doesn't that make them shallow?"

Ruth thought about it. Though, it didn't take me long to know that she would agree with me. I clearly fitted out from Cassandra and her girl posse. Even if I joined the sorority to be near the university. I couldn't really get a good experience out of this without them influencing them to be someone else that I'm. Popular girls can be too intimidating at times.

"That's fair," said Ruth. "But…haven't they tried to let you join them? Have they been nice to you?"

I was a bit confused. "A little? I don't know."

"This is a bit similar to that time when you talked to Freddy. You said all of that stuff about him being treated as an idol."

I shook my head. "That's different. He's new."

Ruth raised an eyebrow. "So, he's an exception to being in this 'hot popular princess' bubble?"

That actually got me unable to come up with a smart response. When thinking about him, he wasn't condescending or rude. If anything, maybe a bit insensitive and innocent? It came to me that the other sorority girls weren't trying to give me a hard time. I was aware of it, but I couldn't tell if it was a trick or them being genuinely nice to me.

"No," I muttered. "Maybe?"

"OK," said Ruth, raising both eyebrows in surprise. "My point there. You think that these kinds of people live in their own bubble like this, but don't you think that you choosing to be reluctant to…I don't know, go along with them, is because you are scared of being judged?"

I was muddled. "…no! No, no. Not really. Maybe…yes?" I crossed my arms, feeling rather tight. "It's not easy making friends. I mean, I have improved, but it's sometimes hard to be nice to people when they aren't nice to you back. I-I can trust Melody and the rest of my team at the Pizza Plex, but it's a bit hard knowing strangers in the real world without hinting any red flags that I shouldn't be a part of. It's…a bit daunting as well since Melody is like the opposite of me since she isn't scared."

Ruth took all of this slowly before telling me, "I see what you mean there. I can't really say the same about finding friends who would treat me right, but…it took me quite a while to tell my parents what I exactly like. They were nervous about me loving 'violence' and intense sports meant for boys, but after a while, I found a space where I didn't need to worry. Seeing how happy I was, they let me do so. It'll take time there, Augustina. You'll eventually find other good people out there."

She was right that she didn't have a problem with making friends, but hearing how she had trouble with being honest about herself towards her family, it was…actually relatable. The part about wanting to be honest to others around you without being relentlessly judged for. Wanting a space where you could feel loved and have a purpose.

"How am I supposed to know that without falling into another betrayal or disappointment?" I said.

"Just watch and learn first. Watch. Listen to them first. If you know the red flags, then take action once you do catch sight of them before assuming. But if they do judge you, you can do better and you deserve better."

I raised an eyebrow. "You…think so?"

"It's not exactly the idea you have for a sorority, but if I were you, I would take the messy path of befriending those girls rather than isolating yourself first."

That came off as a surprise right there. Highs or lows, I rather stay away from any mistake in case they get worse. Especially when hanging around the wrong people. I knew that before. Especially with how I trusted a man that thought I had true talent. However, it felt that I took things too quickly with the sorority girls before they really prove that they are nice people. Even Cassandra pointed out to me that I often tried to stay away from everyone at the university.

I trusted Melody since she wanted to help. And after I took that chance, even though I was concerned, she didn't turn out to be that bad. She played along like a good teammate. This was the same case with Vanessa, but despite my suspicions, I decided not to ask her much unless I found a fact about her that tipped off a big red flag. And while I didn't go well with Elena at the start, after being around her, we came to a truce.

Was I really that scared of the little things that pop up from time to time?

Ruth was right. And there were still a lot for me to unbuckle after all.

"Say, you're like an older sister here," I said.

Ruth smiled, looking a little relieved. "Yeah. I had my experiences. It's…kind of nice getting to talk with another girl here."

There was the same feeling that she was familiar. However, before I could think through, there was a low rumbling from outside.

I wouldn't be surprised if it was one of those motorcycle bikers driving recklessly on the road. Usually, when looking outside the window, I would see a bunch of drunk guys getting themselves into stunt tricks. However, all I saw was a bright-colored, neon motorcycle driving on the road. All on one wheel with the front one in the air. It wasn't that easy driving like this while turning around!

The biker stopped right near the university ground and took off their helmet. It was Melody. She waved towards at the sorority house.

"Melody's here already!" chirped Ruth. "Time to go!"

"I forgot that she is taking us with her bike," I said, tying my hair up into a simple ponytail.

I wondered how I was going to explain this to the rest of the sorority if they got any ideas with why Melody appeared with a motorcycle to pick me up. It was a good thing that I didn't bring along that much or I would have trouble holding onto a bag while on a speeding motorcycle. With Ruth hiding back inside me again, I quickly got outside to be greeted with the grinning Melody.

"Get in, gals!" she said. "We're going out on a bear hunt!"

Ruth whooped. "I love you!"

"Are we really going on one?" I questioned.

"If the Toy Animatronics get in," said Melody simply.

"So, remind me again, are we picking up Elena and Gregory?" asked Iodine's voice from Melody.

"Vanessa is going to pick them up and she has a way of doing so without alerting any other security guards before they leave for the night," explained Melody. "She promises that she'll add in breathing holes."

Hope that didn't mean Vanessa going with human smuggling using a truck.

"That's promising," I muttered.

"Sounds like a challenge to me," said Ruth.

"Ruth, please don't."

"Hop on," said Melody.

I didn't exactly know how I was supposed to sit on a motorcycle before as a guest. Especially with the fact that there weren't any seatbelts or back cushion. All I could do was hopped right behind Melody and wrapped my arms around here.

"Now, please let's go slow here-"

Though, I nearly lost grip when Melody drove off. It was like riding on a wild horse with no saddle. However, I noticed that it wasn't really going that fast. It was just that I never got used to being on a motorcycle before. It felt much lighter than being inside a car, but it also felt more dangerous since we were exposed to crashing into anything.

It seemed that Melody sensed my worry, so she made sure not to go over the speed limit.

"Can we go faster?" asked Ruth eagerly. "Cause I want to see how you do tricks."

"Ruth…" said Iodine in a warning voice. "What did we just agree on?"

"Say, is Cassandra healthy and well?" asked Melody to me.

I scratched my chin as I laid my head on her shoulder behind. "She is, but strangely, she hasn't been hanging around here lately. Last time I checked, she sent out a text message to the group chat that she'll be busy all night until morning."

"Now that must be really serious for her," said Melody.

"I know, right? The only time she stayed up this late was when she drunk at a slumber party where nobody was allowed to sleep."

Melody sighed. "Cade was busy as well since he is currently looking into further detail about the runaway Toy Animatronics. Do you think…Cassandra would help him out?"

The thought of that was actually scary. To think that a close student of mine was starting to help out in investigating the Toy Animatronics. One thing I worried about was that she might find something I didn't want to hear about the Pizza Plex. The other thing was how stubborn she could be when she had something on her mind.

I thought that she would be resting, but going out while having a half-baked leg?

"I don't really think so," I muttered anxiously. "She would be frightened by her near-death experience. I doubt she would be THIS desperate to getting to the bottom of things. Would she?"


Cade's POV, Oswald's Apartment

I wouldn't really like staying late at night. Even though I have desires to stay up all night, I tend to become burn out when it reach midnight. There were a few occasions such as trying to come over to late night parties, but like always, I had a hard time trying to get to sleep. I wasn't about to let anything come in my way for a good night sleep.

Ironically, one thing that kept me up was agreeing to help Oswald. He got to work with finding out the location we were hinted from the security footage before. With the help of his closest workers (some of them were hackers as well), they found out that the number '93' was at an apartment not too far away from us. I was glad that it wasn't outside Vancouver or we might have to take the extra mile.

Oswald played a very risky move by having to investigate the place at night time. Around midnight. He thought that if everybody was flat-out asleep during that time while the Toy Animatronics roam around, then we would get more intel on what really happened if we stay awake. Especially around that apartment where the rabbit lady seemed to be holding someone hostage.

I don't know why, but it sounded like he was actually planning to try to arrest her immediately once they cleared through the apartment.

Surprisingly, Cassandra came along. I guess that she wanted to see it for herself.

I was just waiting outside Oswald's apartment so that I wasn't being fooled that she was coming when I spotted her car. She came out, stopping to move her right leg. Very slowly to not hit it hardly. She hissed a little when she placed her foot on the pavement, but it sounded more like an instinct than an actual pain response. It was brave of her to come this way to revisit the nightmare.

"Welcome to round two, I'm guessing?" I said.

"I'm doing this to find answers," said Cassandra. "That will help rest my worries about Augustina. Night three and things esculated two days ago."

"You're telling me. Though, I'm surprised that no one else got hurt by the Toy Animatronics."

"Do you think whoever is controlling them is hiding at that apartment with the number '93'?" asked Cassandra, scratching the top of her beanie. "Because Oswald is crazy having a full-frontal attack like this."

I shrugged. "As long as it means stopping the rabbit lady and he knows what he is doing, then it's probably for the best. Worst case scenario is that we don't have any clue about her or some way to stop her."

"It's freezing out here," said Cassandra, rubbing her arms. "Let's get inside. I have a creepy feeling about the street now."

It even occurred to me how creepy it felt as well. The street was already empty. It seemed that whatever spell the rabbit lady was using, it was making everyone go inside immediately and mute them out from the rest of the world. It came to me how silent it was as well. But I felt that the dark streets weren't exactly empty. Hopefully we wouldn't be muted out by the spell as well.

Of course, Oswald's room would be in the underground level. He never really want to share his smarts with anyone else. I prepared myself since I knew how condescending he could be at times, but the second I knocked on the door and one of his workers allowed us in, I felt sick to the stomach. [1]

The music they were playing from a radio was loud, but the aesthetic of the room was loud enough. All over the walls were his pictures of himself. Every single one of them had his face. Would have been much better if most of them showed his family relatives, but it felt like he was in love with himself. I hoped that we didn't use blacklight for this. What got on my nerves was that he had many trophies, golden plates and pictures of his graduation.

Even when he got suspended for breaking property, he somehow managed to get a good degree and people were willing to forget.

Ugh, this really reminded me why I didn't like Oswald that much. I wondered if he did all of this by hard work or needing to cheat along the way. If I brought Mojo here, then he would be on my side immediately.

Cassandra was a different story. "I got to take notes on how I can get this many trophies…"

Yeah, she wasn't still out from her popularity phase.

There was already a group of people. They looked like they were part of Oswald's protest party, but judging by what they wear, they look more like a gang of delinquints. While they have bulletproof vests and utility belts, their clothing resembled the kind of kids who would be immediately killed in slasher movies. Hopefully, this batch would survive than the ones before.

One looked like a complete thug, but that was another story…

To my alarm, they had boxes of weapons. Ranging from different kinds of guns, gadgets and what must be small bombs as well. How many licenses do these people have? They seemed to even have equipment normally used by the police. It made me wonder how much Oswald had to do to convince the authorities to let him take legal action during his investigation.

If there wasn't a rabbid lady, then I would say that this was overkill when protesting against a new pizzeria in town. Animatronics could be dangerous, but still…

"Whoa, he has his own posse like this," said Cassanda, impressed. "Respect."

"I would have cheered for the weapons," I said. "Though, it might be a bit too much if we didn't have to battle a supernatural force."

"You have to prepare for anything. Oswald must be on the right mind for this."

I scoffed a little, feeling jealous. "Don't encourage him. Sure, he is smart, flashy and knows what he is doing, but he's a know-it-all. Don't play on his game."

"I'm simply not," said Cassandra. "I'm relying on who I can really trust."

"What about Augustina? Don't you have to encourage her as well?"

Cassandra paused. "I prefer that she doesn't get in this. If she hears, then we are all in trouble. I'm guessing that you wouldn't tell Melody as well."

I bit my lip as little. Me and Mojo never told Melody about the protest party. If we did, she would try everything to stop them and prove the Glamrock Animatronics' 'innocence'. But she could be stubborn. I know so as well. I didn't want her to risk her life for someone who had more power than any of us had.

"Perhaps we can be able to share leadership with Oswald on this one?" wondered Cassandra.

"Oswald doesn't really share at times," I said, rolling my eyes. "Especially if he is in charge."

"Maybe he does for good image. He does need enough people who agree with him on this case"

"Not usually from my eyes. He often tries to do things on his own. Stubborn himself to think that he is supposed to win."

"But wouldn't he be growing to be like a team player?"

"Have you forgot that he condemned me of helping out at first?" I reminded her. "All because I didn't join his group, so I nearly wasn't allowed to investigate on my own accord."

"He seemed to not towards me."

"That's because you were in disguise. And has a terrible accent so convincing."

Cassandra smirked. "Oh thank you. Knew that performing arts is still a tactic I can use."

"No, doesn't sound like you went to the performing arts," I deadpanned.

"But me and nearly every girl in my sorority have performed in performing arts. Flawlessly!"

"I can perform better," I bragged. "I mean, I have a good voice to raise! I have good jokes as well!"

"Maybe your performance might also be better when in a team? I had experiences like that."

"Well, only if you were the leader."

"Ouch," said Cassandra, laughing a little. "Don't have to be precise."

"Maybe be precise by demonstrating this in front of everyone? Maybe you might be able to be their leader with your acting skills."

"Oh, I'm happy to do so." With that, Cassandra tenderly picked up one of the guns left on the table. "Hey there, fellow protestors! Not going to stop this short, are we? Say, may I use this one to test it out?"

A few of the people around only lifted their heads up to acknowledge Cassandra. It didn't take long before they had their noses back into their own conversations.

Cassandra was understandably confused. "Weird. I thought having a good voice would have their attention."

"Hold on, let me try as you," I said. I snatched the gun and placed a hand on my chest as if I was an actor, putting on a very flirty accent. "Attention, freaks! It's me, you vandalizers. We're supposed to be helping out Oswald and we need one of your guns to execute the task."

As before, they didn't pay attention.

"They are ignoring us for some reason," I said. "I wonder why."

"Might be due to them not acquainted with us," said Cassandra, taking back the gun. "But if there is no answer, then I guess we can use whatever we want here!"

I chuckled when I thought about it. "Oswald might not be happy."

"But he might not mind if we use some of his toys."

For a girl who acted like she was very popular at her school, Cassandra seemed to be a bit of a thrill seeker as well. Not only risking her life in investigating what happened there before the explosion, but also willing to play around with a gun. It was kind of funny seeing her trying to juggle with the gun, tossing it around like it was a football.

She tried to kick it with both feet like a ball, only for it have a weaker bounch on the second kick and fell to the floor pathetically. She tried balancing the gun on her finger, but it didn't even started yet when it fell off again.

She looked a bit too invested with the gun.

After striking a pose with the gun, she reached it out to me.

"Want to have a try?" she asked. "It might make you look cooler!"

"Nah," I said politely. "I may know how to shoot, but I don't usually like these kinds of weapons."

"Ah, so you prefer no lethal violence."

"Not that," I said, eyeing the black gun. "It's just that it looks so…dull."

Cassandra raised an eyebrow. "Dull?"

"Yeah, it's just a black object that shoots out black bullets. And that's it. Nothing else. We could have better-looking weapons instead of replicas of black guns. Like having…" I stroke my chin, trying to come up with an answer. "Ninja weapons!"

"Ninja weapons?" repeated Cassandra.

"Yeah! Sure, it's muted colors, but there's some creativity with those weapons. Like in all Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoons where they have those crazy weapons to knock out the baddies. Oooh! Maybe magic as well like shooting rainbows, lasers or projectiles? Like out from a unicorn's horn. And guns should be replaced by acidic guns with color or…bazookas with fireworks! Perhaps, sometimes like paint guns?"

"What would paint guns do?" asked Cassandra. "And you don't wear that colorful."

"I just like wearing what I wear. Paint guns might be a bit more creative. Would even feel like you're in a comic when they are in the shape of large water guns. I still remember that large set of water guns I collected."

Cassandra was dumbfounded. "Wait a second. You have a collection of water guns. At home. And you ever use them?"

"...no?"

She had some more ideas. "Do you have a collection of jackets?"

"No."

"Maybe Barbie dolls for you to gaze at."

"OK, OK," I moaned, my face blushing. "I get it."

"Do-do you have a collection of all the SpongeBob TV episodes?"

"I get it. You can drop it."

"So you have a collection like this for you to just stare at?"

"...yes?"

Cassandra opened her mouth, but her eyes widened as if she realized something. Her initial disgust turned into understanding.

"OK, I can respect that," she said. "I have a HUGE collection of shoes back home."

"That is more of girly stuff," I pointed out. "Not cartoony stuff."

"It might be cartoony." [1s]

Oswald finally appeared and this was what got everybody to turn their attention to him. It nearly felt as if they saw him as a feared leader one should be careful to reckon with. He must have impressed them enough that they didn't want to bother him so much. Wonder how he would able to communicate with his own friends.

"Alright, so what is the status now?" he asked.

"We've checked and five minutes before midnight," said a black-haired woman, checking her tablet. "We've spotted one Toy Animatronic roaming around, but they didn't attack anyone."

"How are the guys near the apartment we tracked down?"

"It's quiet, but there were no attacks." The woman hesitated, looking back at her tablet. "All apartment guests are already asleep, but we detected a light coming through the windows of Room 93. That is the only light in the dark area."

Oswald nodded. "Good. Tell the other two parties to meet us there. It's time to go now."

"Are you sure that this is a good idea?" asked the thug-looking man. "We've just found the location from that picture you found at the suburb's security footage, but we don't know if now is a good time to invade and investigate."

Oswald narrowed his eyes. "We're not going to be waiting around. Best to do so before our suspect finds out that we tracked her location. Our only hope is that we don't get attacked by a full apartment explosion. Besides, she might be holding people hostage there."

"Then I guess that we have to get there immediately before it's too late," said Cassandra.

"Another reminder to keep your eyes focused," said Oswald as he made his way to the door. "This is a dangerous person who are dealing with. And once we get our hands on them, we are going to get everything out from her mouth…"

I noticed that his fists were shaking in anger. Judging by his glance, he looked like he was going to punch the wall.

"You seem tense," I said out loud.

"Oh, sure!" exclaimed Oswald. It wasn't sarcastic to my surprise. "I'm not tense, thank you so much, Devrim. Just can't wait to meet that rabbit cosplayer and getting close to making Fazbear Entertainment to admit their mistakes! I'm just happy!"

WHACK!

Spreading his arms wide to exaggerate his words, he accidentally slammed his right hand to the wall. So hard that I could see cracks appearing through the corner.

"Ow! My hand!"

None of the others chose to point out about his seething anger as they all followed Oswald right out of the apartment. It wasn't my concern, but I noted that he was becoming more unnerved lately. The last time I ever saw him getting really angry was our little incident in high school with trying to cheat. It seemed that he was diving right back into having a short fuse again.

His determination might end up killing him.

"Hope that Oswald is on his best listening behavior," I muttered.

"It's time now," said Cassandra, pushing me gently. "Let's see for ourselves if there is anything."

I nodded. "You know, this is probably our night like how our friends are doing the night shift. Wonder what kinds of horror we will see there and have to fight back. It's strange that we have some animatronics to deal with like the security guards. Sort of, but you get my meaning since it's dark outside with hunks running around in the shadows." I looked back at Cassandra. "Your hands are trembling."

She forced a smile. "It's just cold in here, buddy."

"What do you mean? It feels really warm…and smelly."

"Just the cold, Cade," she repeated, hiding her trembling hands. "Just the cold."

Cassandra sounded a bit confident about how this night would go. She was as desperate as Oswald to seek for clues about the rabbit lady and her relations to the Pizza Plex, but she was scared. She looked like she want to run away, judging by how her facial muscles seem to tighten too much. I would have told her that she could have stay back at the university since she could go into a panic attack if she saw something…triggering.

In fact, I wonder if we might be falling into a trap like last time. Hope that Oswald was kidding about the 'apartment explosion' thing. Night time was an ideal time to strike since the rabbit lady would be sticking in one spot, but the question was: what exactly are we going to find at that apartment room?


Augustina's POV, Freddy Fazbear's Mega Pizza Plex

It was nearly midnight and I was nearly worried that we wouldn't get there in time before the shutters closed the building down. It was nearly too dark to read my watch alongside needing to hold onto Melody the whole way. However, once I saw the neon-lit building, I was relieved.

Melody stopped by when we arrived at the car park. Vanessa was already there, carrying what looked like a human-sized sleeping bag. There was something squirming inside, but not frantically. It looked like the more kid-friendly version of human smuggling.

"Hey, girls!" she said, waving happily. "Glad that you're here with us."

"Are the ghosts with you?" I asked.

"I'm here!" said Ultra, popping out from Vanessa.

"And so am I!" said Ruth hammily, appearing out from the top of my head.

Iodine appeared from Melody's shoulder. "OK, I'm here. But let's not play pop-ups."

"I'm here as well," said Neptune, his head going through the sleeping bag.

"Wait a minute," I said, getting off the motorcycle. "Isn't that Elena and Gregory inside that bag?"

Vanessa placed a finger over her mouth. "I have to take careful measures. Do you know what would happen if I just take a taxi without hiding Elena and Gregory, and the potential risk of the taxi driver being one of the witnesses called over for sneaking those two in?"

"What? But you said that the manager allowed the two to stay for the next few nights."

"Well, yeah," said Vanessa coolly. "But Fazbear Entertainment is still trying to hold onto its reputation. The outside world seeing kids being allowed in is…kind of a thing."

"But there isn't exactly any rules for when businesses should be opened or closed. It's more about the business."

Vanessa nodded. "Hmm, you're not wrong. But the business is already known to be closed from midnight until 6 AM, so that is out question." She looked behind me, smiling. "I like your bike, Melody!"

"Why thank you!" said Melody. "Looks cool, right?"

Saying that, she attempted to quickly do a trick by flipping upside down and using her hand to balance herself. Placing her hand on the motorcycle seat. With expected results, she fell over. I winced, the thought of her breaking bones coming to my mind. I thought I even heard something ratting from the machinery as well.

"I'm OK!" said Melody, lifting up a thumbs-up. "Good thing I wore a helmet!"

"You're a stuntwoman, but you can't do stunts on bikes or cars?" questioned Iodine.

"Those who excessively use vehicles for tricks are kind of lazy! And a bit of cheaters as well. All they do is sit there and spin the wheel around."

"But wouldn't they need muscle work as well?" I asked.

Vanessa cleared her throat, pointing to the bushes far away. There was a pair of glowing red eyes hiding behind the leaves in the distance.

"Crap," she muttered. "We should probably go inside now. They'll be here any minute."

I quickly helped Melody lock her motorcycle with a nearby pole. I wondered if the Toy Animatronics would do anything to it since they were pretty feral. Melody didn't seem to be too worried at first as we walked right back in the Pizza Plex. Just in time as the metal shutters closed the entrance.

"Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for visiting and we hope you enjoyed the show. Freddy and the gang are pretty tired, but they'll be back again tomorrow."

"But they are not tired," said a muffled voice inside the sleeping bag.

Feeling the squirming intensifying, Vanessa carefully lowered the bag and unzipped the full bag. Elena sat up, blinking as she adjusted her eyes to the bright lights. Meanwhile, Gregory shot up, gasping. Trading cars showered them, falling off to scatter on the floor as well.

"Geez, Vanessa!" said Gregory, befuddled. "How many Fury's Rage cards have you been keeping in here?"

"Well, you don't know if you want to play them," said Vanessa, shrugging. "I thought of buying these cards for us to play with the crew."

Melody picked up one of the cards. This one contained the image of Glamrock Freddy.

Or at least the Fury's Rage version of him. He looked much more fierce with more detailed muscles, a hunky body and even his hair tied in a ponytail at the back. The snarl on his face was completely different to the Glamrock Freddy we all know.

Melody's eyes widened, nearly sparkling. She slowly turned to me with a suggestive look.

"I don't think it's possible," I said blankly. "Freddy and Monty don't even have real muscles."

Elena noticed us, waving with a look of tiredness. "Hey there, guys."

"Hi, Elena," I said back.

"Hi, pessimistic prick," muttered Melody flatly.

It seemed that Melody was still on edge with Elena. Even Elena didn't look happy to see Melody, standing up nervously. If they chatted the night before like I did, then they could get along. Hopefully, they could think this through or at least not be in each other's spaces.

"Listen up, everyone," informed Vanessa as she collected all the scattered cards. "I'll be busy for tonight, so I may not be able to chat with you all. I got access to the underground level, so I'll be observing to check on whether the electricity systems and other facilities are functioning."

"Thinking about it," said Gregory. "We've never gone underground. Can we come along with you?"

"No, you'll be staying right here," said Vanessa, sounding firm. "I don't want any funny business going on here. Just make sure that the Glamrocks are well-behaved and that the ghosts don't do anything stupid."

"You can count on us!" said Ruth's voice.

I shivered, feeling her excitement. "Oh boy."

Gregory appeared a bit disappointed that Vanessa was gonna have to catch up to us later on. I glanced at him to see that he was curious as well. However, he shrugged it off.

"Well, what are we waiting for then?" he said. "We got our friends waiting for us."

"Oh yes!" said Melody, grabbing his hand to gently pull him along. "I last heard that they are gathering around at the Main Party Room."

"I wonder if that Mexican restaurant is open for me to eat at…" murmurred Elena, stroking her chin.

As I followed them along, I could hear Vanessa muttering to herself as she walked in the opposite direction. Ultra had just came out of her body to have a chat with her. She sounded somewhat frustrated, though Ultra was a bit more calmer. It made me feel quizzical about what they were actually doing.

Sure that the ghosts here were being friendly, but either there might be a traitor or they were trying to manipulate one of us. That was the scary thing. Ruth was already out of me, blabbering to Melody and Elena, but I wonder how much she knew about Ultra.

And seeing Vanessa wanting to solve something else alone reminded me of what two of my classmates said earlier when me and Melody were outside. It might be true. I didn't want to believe it since I was starting to relax. However, like they said, 'there are just a couple of rotten apples who might be serving to the company's image behind your back'. And I don't know what they mean by 'serving'.

Ruth flew around me, noticing the frown on my face. "Why's the upside-down smile?"

I turned to her. "Do you know what is up with Ruth and Vanessa?"

Ruth shrugged. "All I got from Ruth was his hope in 'reconnecting' with Vanessa. The others are. Though, that's not what I mean. I think it's…spiritually?"

"Oh," I said. She was as confused as I was. It was genuine since I felt it. "Do you think Ruth is doing something with Vanessa?"

Ruth tried to think, her lips curling. "I…I don't know."

"This night couldn't get worse. We've just started having a plan. What's next?"


AN: Finally, now we are stepping up to Night 3. We might be in the middle already, so back to the Pizza Plex, back to the insanity about to come. Let's see what else we'll see right there!

Augustina's character development leads up to her learning to open up to other people. During the writing process, I noticed as well how she tries to distance from the sorority when the other girls have been more civil than cruel. Remembering this, I decide to address it here in which Augustina does have trust issues due to fear of getting eventually harmed by others. The talk between Ruth and Augustina takes inspiration from this one scene in Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle where it addresses that everyone staying in their own bubble is not healthy.

I tried giving a bit of a dynamic with Cade and Cassandra here since the whole build up for their sub plot is how they come to be friends and a good team. I had a bit of trouble being consistent with Cade in terms of being serious and being silly. Cassandra seems to be loosening up a bit, but she is becoming more anxious.

The cards Vanessa brought over would be of characters from the promotional Security Breach game 'Fury's Rage'. Would have make more sense if it is called 'Furry's Rage'. I'm surprised of how detailed and skimpier the characters are in that game. Only thing I got disappointed is that Monty's tail is too short.

This feels like where I'm starting to use a bit of suggestive jokes. I'm hoping I don't get to that since this isn't the true intention of the story. Besides, we need to get back to the horror of Freddy's.

Thanks for reading this chapter! If you enjoy this story, be sure to follow or favorite this story, so you can get updates about this story. Make sure to review this chapter on what you think about this chapter. Please don't be nervous in telling me your thoughts about this as I would like to hear and they help me with working and doing any needed improvements.

Until next time, keep on rocking!