Recommended Background Music

[1] Uptown Funk - Mark Ronson feat. Bruno Mars

[2] Too Much Fun - Akamodo

Chapter 29 - Not Everything is Great through Lens

"Vanessa suddenly having another task to do for the night shift was a rising red sign, but when I thought about it, I eventually decided not to worry. She probably wanted to investigate more since I remembered her telling me about her distrust towards the Pizza Plex before."

"You don't think she would have been wandering around trying to find some way to do something…I don't know, shutting things down?"

"Well, we did accidentally shut the Pizza Plex down for a moment, so there goes that. If anything, she is probably curious."

"Wait, remember when she talked with DJ Music Man and he told her that he found a Toy Animatronic there?"

"Hmm, that could be a likely reason. Well, that turned out to be one. I'm not sure if the blackout that happened led to it."

Gregory's POV

To say that I somewhat felt like home at the Pizza Plex could be an understatement. As I was slowly adapting to coming over to another place instead of back in my personal bed, this didn't feel too out of the ordinary. And it was starting not to feel wrong since there were some crazy robots out trying to kill us and take the ghosts inhabiting around half of our crew.

It even seemed that the Glamrocks were also adapting to us visiting for the night. Maybe they might have done it better with getting ready for an unlikely schedule due to being robots, but I wondered what might be going through their minds as they watched me and Elena return. What was probably strange for them was the return of the ghosts.

I wondered if the ghosts should have just stayed at the Pizza Plex and wait for us, but I guess that they needed to be outside for a while.

Surprisingly, the four Glamrocks were already waiting for us. They even cleared one of the tables as if giving us some room if there was anything we wanted to work on. Not like I have homework on me. I could tell that the backpack Elena carried around, she might want to try to work on something to pass the time.

At the moment, they were in an arm-wrestling contest. Roxy was onto Freddy, struggling under all the superhuman strength to pin his elbow down. Freddy, on the other hand, barely move a single steel muscle, staring at Roxy blankly. [1]

"Whoo!" cheered Chica, waving around pom poms for no apparent reason. "C'mon, Roxanne! You can do it! Just a little higher!"

"I'm trying!" growled Roxy.

The wolf ended up needing to stand up, trying to press Freddy's elbow down. That was when his elbow started to move, but Freddy didn't look like he was struggling. Or trembling at all! Roxy ended up trying to place one foot against the table leg, trying to get a better grip. It looked like Freddy might win the fight here since he had enough strength to pull her back!

CRASH!

Instead, Roxy fell flat on her face due to her losing her grip. Freddy's elbow was still up straight. He looked down sheepishly before back at his hand.

"My, my, Roxanne!" he said, genuinely surprised. "You are really strong!"

Roxy grunted, slowly trying to get back on her feet. "I'm…the definition of being unable to pull a man's hand down, thank you very much!"

"Aww, you did your best," cooed Chica, placing a hand over Roxy's shoulder. "You still beat me in the previous arm wrestle."

"Whelp, we are tied now," said Monty coolly, checking through a clipboard. "So that's one point for Freddy. So far, one point for Chica defeating me. One point for Roxy beating Chica. One point for me defeating Freddy."

"Are we going to keep doing this?" asked Chica. "I might not be able to take down Freddy."

"But Roxy made my arm move a little," pointed out Freddy.

"You barely even flinch during the whole thing!" exasperated Roxy.

"Well, seems that it must be your ego that pushed you to that edge," teased Monty.

"Not that," huffed Roxy, wiping a hair string backward. "It's confidence! That's how I get this far! What about you? Testosterone too hard?"

Monty was oddly intrigued. "Wait, that can actually happen?!"

I took a quick glance at Elena. She appeared a little nervous in meeting the Glamrocks again. Last time, this was mitigated due to the unexpected reveal of the ghosts. But with that settled, it was her facing them again personally with no distractions. She eventually closed her eyes and took a deep breath. From the side, Melody was raising an eyebrow at her.

"They seem to be enjoying themselves so far," said Iodine, popping out from Melody. "Guess that they seem to be friendly for today."

"Especially with Gregory around," said Augustina. "It would be some good company for them as well. And having the task of protecting people. Freddy did remind me of that."

"Just be careful," said Neptune, floating out of me as he wagged his finger. "They look feral."

"No, they don't," I insisted. "They just look cool. They have this wild look to make them not too kiddy."

"I don't really think so as well," agreed Melody. "They are just being silly with games like people do on video games."

A thought came through Elena's mind. "Thinking about, do you…think they might try picking up a fight with each other? I think I kind of know what's going to happen if Roxy's buttons kept being pushed too much."

"But aren't they robots who have 'programs' on how to stay calm and immune to anger?" I asked.

"That might be restricting free will. They are acting freely here."

"Just be cool with them," said Melody cheerfully. "As long as you don't get on their nerves, then you'll be fine!"

"How about we just let our presence be known?" said Ruth, flying out from Augustina. "We can't be just standing around doing nothing."

Neptune thought for a while. "You know, if you're going to be taking a bit of longer breaks during your night shift, then I can offer to look around the Pizza Plex."

I was surprised to hear this. "Wait, really?"

"You will?" asked Augustina.

"What?" said Melody, her eyes widening.

"Call it like making it a team effort," said Neptune. "I like to use my skill to compare how different it is to here. You know."

Elena tilted her head. "Use your skill, huh?"

"I think I'll join along," said Iodine. "Not sure where Ultra is really going with Vanessa, so we need eyes on areas not on watch."

"Aww, you don't need to take my spot," said Melody. "I'll eventually be looking around here as well!"

"Just thought of giving you a heads up first," said Iodine generously.

Neptune and Iodine turned to Ruth.

"Don't look at me!" squeaked Ruth. " Do I need to come along?"

"I think we should give them time for a while," said Neptune. "We had our 'fun'. Let them have their fun with the Glamrocks."

"But I don't have anything against you guys," I said. It was mostly true. I knew that I didn't get to know more about the ghosts, but I was making the effort in trusting them.

"I honestly don't mind," said Augustina, shrugging. "I'll be eventually looking through, but you guys can go ahead first."

"I've just given up and now taking all of this in," said Elena flatly.

"Besides, we are going to need to decide what our next move will be," said Neptune. "We need to really come up with a plan on how we will locate the maniac hunting us. It should be fair that you take this time to not become too stressed after what happened the last two nights."

That sounded logical, I guess. We might not know if any Toy Animatronic broke into the Pizza Plex, so the ghosts looking around for any intruders was a good idea. The downside would be what happened if they get caught.

"Fair enough then," said Augustina, nodding.

"Suit yourself," said Melody. "Though, don't lose our connections to you."

"Be safe out there," said Elena. "You might get hurt."

"But ghosts don't get hurt," I pointed out.

Neptune smiled and gave a salute. He then flew up, disappearing into the ceiling in a blue blur. Ruth groaned, not willing to go off for a meeting. Sighing, Iodine grabbed her by the arm and tried dragging her upwards. She pouted the whole way until we couldn't see them again.

"Ah!" said Freddy, catching our attention. "Hello there, Superstar!"

I turned around, smiling. "Hello, Freddy!"

"Nice to see you too, Arena and Aria Note."

Augustina chuckled. "Hi, Freddy."

"Hey!" said Melody, waving.

"Wait, so…those are your pet names here?" asked Elena.

Melody rolled her eyes. "It's a nickname he gave us."

"Just his friendly way of being your friend," said Chica.

"Does Vanessa have one?" asked Elena.

"I thought of calling her Gold Fang," said Freddy. "It's due to her necklace."

"May we call you something special, Elena?" asked Chica.

Elena grinned nervously, scratching the back of her head. "Urm…no thank you. I-I'm good."

"Of course…" muttered Augustina.

It felt like we were keeping Elena out of this. To be fair, she wouldn't want to get too involved, but it wouldn't be right to leave her out since she had to be part of the team. As me and Elena took our seats at the table with the Glamrocks, an idea came to mind.

This one was actually pretty funny.

"How about 'Edge'?" I suggested.

"Wait, what?" said Freddy.

Augustina connected the dots and started wheezing, bending down as she tried to hold in her snicker. Monty began laughing as well, but not quietly.

Elena was alarmed. "Oh no, no, no, no! Don't call me 'Edge'!"

"Well, it suits you!" I said with a big, stupid grin. " You are 'edgy'!"

Roxy nodded. "That's actually a cool nickname."

"But what-why do you think she should be called 'Edge'?" asked Melody, baffled.

"Because she is edgy!" I answered.

"Edgy?" scoffed Elena. "Pfft!"

"Yes! Someone's acting edgy now!"

"No, I'm not!" hissed Elena, crossing her arms.

"You definitely are."

"Oh c'mon," groaned Melody. "W-Why does she have to be given the appearance of being edgy?"

"Are you jealous?" asked Chica.

"Jealous? No!" claimed Melody, her face reddening. "Just doesn't…really make that much sense."

"Yeah, yeah," said Elena, trying to look away. "I'm not on the edge list."

"What else says that you're edgy?" asked Monty, leaning back in his seat.

"What do you rate yourself to be on the 'ow that edge' scale?" asked Augustina, wiping a tear from her eye from laughing.

Elena cringed, nearly retracting her body in some way. "I'm…a mild 6?"

"Nope!" I joked. "Around 7.5~!"

"H-How about the Glamrocks?" said Elena, shooting a look at the Glamrocks. "How edgy are you all?"

Roxy smirked. "I'm total edge!"

"But you like to take care of your own looks, so that's not really rough!" said Melody, frustrated.

It was at least 5 seconds until Roxy could talk again. "…do I?"

"I would say that I'm around 8," said Monty, placing his hands behind his head.

"How about we call you 'Edge'?" asked Elena. "You seem rougher enough! I-I mean, I don't have a temper or anything."

Monty's sunglasses lowered a little. "Oh, you got a problem with that?"

"N-No! Not really. I mean, just finding the…right person one would feel comfortable being called 'edgy'."

Monty opened his jaw, but he closed it. He closed his eyes and tried to breathe slowly. That came as strange to me. I had never seen him doing this before. I noticed Freddy looking at him, concerned.

This was something different than the last few times I get to meet them personally.

"I would say that I'm nothing close to being edgy!" said Chica, striking a cute pose.

"She's a sweetie pie," commented Freddy with a smile.

"What about Freddy?" asked Monty. "Would you call him 'Edge'?"

Freddy didn't seem to understand the question. "What do you exactly mean by being 'edgy'?"

"Look, just any one of you wants to take the 'Edge' nickname, raise your hand up right now!" demanded Elena.

"You're acting really edgy now!" I guffawed.

"No, I'm not. You don't…even know what that means, so why would…?"

"Well, I do," said Augustina matter-of-factly. "As far back as when we first met, your whining did kind of give you an edge."

"Hey, I'm more the kind of girl to have that nickname 'Edge'," snorted Melody.

"Why's that?" asked Freddy innocently. "You don't seem to act as edgy as the others assume Elena to be."

"B-But I am!" insisted Melody, throwing her hands in the air. "I have a cool leather jacket! I have these dark sunglasses! And I have that attitude!"

"That is just being spunky," said Chica. "There's a difference since you aren't like full heavy metal."

"Well, wouldn't you call Roxy spunky as well due to how she is dressed and can tear a head of its neck?" asked Melody.

Chica turned to Roxy who gave her an expectant look.

"That's actually a good point," I said.

Roxy grinned in response.

"You're just a bit more energetic than edgy, Miss Melody" said Monty, grinning. "And colorful."

"I can just make up a nickname based on something around here!" said Elena. "Let's see. Egg…ou…eee…aye…Edge!" She slammed her fist into the table. "Damn it!"

"No need to bang the table," said Freddy.

"You might break it," said Augustina casually.

"No, let her try!" said Roxy. "It'll be funny to see if she is truly edgy!"

Elena responded by picking up a sharp pencil from her bag and pointing it right at Roxy's eyes.

"How about this?" said Freddy, lowering her arm down. "We'll decide later on what should be your nickname. Would that be fine for you?"

Elena thought about it, seemingly looking relieved. I wasn't sure if she was touched since that would have been too rushed. She considered it, nodding. "Sure. But please don't. I-I'm not really a friend here with…any of you."

I frowned a little. It made me wonder how much she thought of herself around the Glamrock Quartet and the security guards. Guess what happened last night must have been a huge change in her perspective, especially when she started to open up to me. [1s]

A few minutes in and Augustina went off to watch the Pizza Plex for the first hour. Melody decided to stick by to keep an eye on all of us. Including the Glamrocks since they were the building's 'property'. Shouldn't they be involved in being security guards as well? Anyway, they seemed to be more than happy to hang around and keep us safe. Freddy brought a few things we could play around with while giving some space for Elena.

I asked if he could read a story and Melody convinced him to take what must be a really thick storybook. Elena rolled her eyes at this while Roxy laughed at how long it might take. Chica joked a little that it might make me fall asleep, but Freddy eventually read through the book while I listened.

The story was really compelling. I won't go into too much detail, but it was about a group of space travelers flying through different universes. Along the way, they came across many threats and discoveries. With these encounters, there were a lot of ripple effects, but the group continued to find a way to break through, impacting so many people's lives for the better.

I nearly imagined myself in that spot. Floating through space and making a difference for everyone. I wanted to make a difference.

As Freddy was about to get onto the last final chapter, Elena snapped her eyes open as if she realized something. She unzipped her bag and pulled out a binder of several sheets of paper. They looked like she printed them from websites.

"Is that homework?" said Melody, alarmed at how many sheets there were.

"Nah, just a few…slips I'm looking through," said Elena calmly, reading through one.

"They look more like application forms," said Roxy, picking one up. "Must have been a lot to drill your head into such as…'Creative Writing'?"

"No one really benefits from that one anyway," said Elena. Though, her look when Roxy grabbed it says otherwise.

Melody scanned through the number of class information pages. "You don't seem too tense about this."

Elena shrugged. "Yeah, well, I'm deciding which units and classes I want to take for next year. It isn't a huge deal since I'll still end up having my degree in the end."

"What's this one?" asked Chica, spotting one particular page. "Is this some sort of dance class?"

"Oh, it's nothing," said Elena, looking a bit embarrassed. "Just something I considered."

"You don't want it?" said Chica, holding it up. "I can have it?"

"Wait, how are you going to really attend a class with that paper?" asked Freddy.

"By saying that you're 15 years old?" snarked Monty.

"That can happen?" said Chica, surprised. "Awesome!"

"Please give me that," said Melody, taking the page. She read through it and I noticed that she was surprised by the type of subject Elena was thinking of taking. "So, I never knew you took an interest in dance classes!"

"I often see her dancing a lot in an open space," I said. "You should see her!"

"Really? Is that true?"

Elena froze a little. She had a chance of saying 'no', but she nodded a little. It was actually true since I sometimes see her dancing outside with a radio. Playing all kinds of different songs that weren't even radio-friendly. Her dances were amazing since she seemed to pick up different kinds of dance moves around the world.

"Maybe perform a little skit here," suggested Chica. "You can probably keep up with the tempo of one of their songs."

"Oh, I know the one that would be too fast!" said Roxy, pointing a finger up. "It would make you trip over."

Elena looked worried. "Wouldn't that kind of song make you try to play too fast? You would burn your circuits!"

"My fingers are a bit more flexible in guitar playing," bragged Roxy, head high in pride. "It can go up to any speed."

"It is all just keys you're playing," pointed out Monty dryly. "Not strings."

Roxy responded by shaking a fist at him.

Elena chuckled sheepishly. "Erm, not sure if I can. It…may take me a few days? Weeks? Depend on the kind of song."

"So I'm guessing that you think of being a dancer," said Melody, interested.

"I'm thinking of myself as a creator," explained Elena. "Back then, I tried to find a way to get by daily pressures. An old friend of mine took me to an empty warehouse. She had all of those paintings she made for herself. I was allowed to paint a wall. And then, I found myself expressing how I was feeling. You know, art can be a strong way to let yourself go."

"Let yourself go?" I asked. "What do you mean by that?"

"I have to agree," said Freddy, lifting down his book. "Art can go in many ways. It's not just having to create something someone wants you to make. It's about being creative. Some like to put a lot of effort into using love for it. Some cherish their own creations as something that identifies them. It might even brighten up somebody's day."

"I know, right?" remarked Elena, pointing at him. She then proceeded to swing her finger around as if leading the orchestra. "Sometimes, it can be written on paper. It may also be through the sounds of the instruments people would play. Dance is probably stronger for me. It's the concentration you put in, making sure that it's a display for one to imagine the song to be like. To bring in a new fantasy with the emotions that you bring in. One way to communicate and slam the heavy feeling down when it tries to strangle oneself."

"Especially you?" asked Melody.

"Especially me."

Roxy whistled. "A little edgy, but not quite."

Hearing this, Elena's face reddened. "OK, I said a bit too much, so-"

"I think I can understand," said Melody softly.

Elena was incredulous. "Huh? You do?"

Melody smiled, nearly matching the bright colors of her clothes and hair. "When having these worries, you would want to push them away. I can see that you being active exhilarates you. For me, I go out of my way to help people and disarm any harm that comes in the way."

Elena nodded slowly, rubbing her braids. "Remind me again. Why choose to be a vigilante like this?"

"I can't stay still in one spot while the rest of the world goes on, right?" explained Melody with a fist clenched. "If I can do something about it, then…somehow, things will turn alright. I just want to fight in any way so that everyone can be happy. Even for Augustina."

Elena moved her head in a way as if saying 'yes, I already know'. However, it seemed that she decided to listen to Melody for a bit on this one since she relaxed. She looked worried since she didn't trust Melody that much before. But it wasn't too big of a worry anyway.

"It's not going to be that easy," informed Elena. "Not sure if succeeding in art will be easy since I would also be needing to provide for myself when I grow out of the house." She shrugged, looking back at her pages. "But I know that with enough effort, I could keep on living to continue doing the things I like. It didn't feel like a big deal to me since I kind of knew what career I wanted. Is it for you though?"

Melody thought about it. A frown crossed over her face. "Yeah. In a complicated way."

"You'll get there, Aria Note," said Roxy, patting her on the head. "You're on your own path with what you decided, right?"

I glanced at Elena and then back at Melody. I admired how they had their own ideas for the future sorted out. While I wondered if they could do anything, it seemed that they were…happy with what they got so far.

"I'm surprised that you two really know what you want to do," I said. "Elena, I know you the longest. I know that you want to pursue a dance career. Or probably take a job in the art industry. Melody, you are like becoming a superhero. Even the Glamrocks seem to know what they want to do!"

Freddy smiled, nodding in agreement. Roxy and Monty smirked with an appreciative chuckle.

"We already have jobs here when we first awake," pointed out Chica cheerfully.

"Though, does anyone know what Augustina wants to be?" I asked.

Melody shook her head. "That's another story, Gregory. I don't really have a clue about what she wants."

"She told me that she tried this place to try it out," said Elena, scratching her chin. "Have a new adventure and be braver."

"I don't recall what path she wants to take since she seems to be more focused on the people around her," said Freddy.

"Is she going to become like one of those?" asked Roxy.

"What do you mean?"

"Trying to blend in the crowd? The cliche with wanting to be 'normal' when she turns out to be 'special'?"

To my surprise, Freddy actually rolled his eyes at this. "Very unlikely. She looks like she already knew what she wants. The problem is what she is thinking about now."

I wasn't sure if that was the case. Augustina was like a mystery to me. She didn't really share any plans of what she wanted to do when she graduated from university. In fact, it was kind of more like she wanted to get past life or wanted to be the best version of herself. I remembered back on the first night when she sounded weary about studying in university.

"I can't really say that going through university is going to be easy with all the…taxes, people and classes. But…everyone gets there if they turn out fine."

It didn't sound like she had a good time at university. Was it due to what it was like? Was it due to the classes she took? Or was it something else? [2]

"I guess so," I found myself saying. "She seems really cautious with a lot of things. I have to wonder about why she was nervous at first about a lot of things."

Melody sighed, resting her chin on her hands. "I don't really want to think of this, but I also have a feeling that she is scared of…nearly everything."

That caught me off-guard. "Everything? Why's that? When it can be something to enjoy?"

"She's probably just cynical," muttered Melody. "You wouldn't really understand."

"What? I can understand. If this is something I might have to hear, then-"

"I don't think you really want to know what we think as well about her…thinking."

"Augustina seems to be afraid that everything will be too hard and weigh her down," said Elena.

Melody immediately elbowed Elena. "C'mon, don't say such pessimistic things like that to him!"

"What?" protested Elena. "I did make a promise to him not to tell him any more lies."

"Not that kind of lie," said Melody, rubbing her forehead. "You could say that it's something Augustina doesn't want to talk about."

"OK, OK," I said, putting my hands up in defense. "If this is personal, then you don't need to tell me. It would mean we assume too much about her."

Monty slowly got up from where he was sitting at. The whole time, he appeared to be laid-back and bored, if not slightly cranky. The way he took off his sunglasses and his eyes were fully wide, it seemed that he had his full attention on us. In fact, he was curious.

"You know," he said. "Thinking about it, you seem to have a wonder for everything. And even aware of it."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"You came all the way here on the first night to retrieve your friend's necklace. Even after that situation, you didn't back down and hide in the corner." He smiled, crackling his knuckles. "If what I was told was true, then it must be a miracle that you learned quickly when the Toy Animatronics tried to catch you."

"One thing's official," stated Elena bluntly. "We both stomped their asses."

Melody chuckled, patting Elena on the back proudly.

"Please, Elena," said Freddy.

"Sorry, can't help it," said Elena, shifting up and down. It looked like she got a bit excited.

"And along with thinking of being like a glamorous rockstar, such as myself, you also tried out other activities," continued Monty. "Making a pizza and from what Freddy told me, experimenting."

"Wait, you actually did that?" said Melody, surprised.

"Yeah," I said, feeling a sweat drop rolling down my face. "Recently, I fried a car."

"And it nearly killed us both," said Elena flatly.

A lump formed in Melody's throat. She gulped, appearing afraid.

"And what's your point here, alligator?" said Roxy. "Why are you saying this? This would be what every kid does."

"Sure, yes, Roxy," said Monty. "But I'm impressed with how much stride this little guy is taking with everything in general. He is excited, he joins in and he seems to want to try everything. Am I right?"

It was kind of true. "Yes."

"A lot of kids usually say that, but you seem to be acting a bit different from our previous guests. We all know that as they grow up, they would eventually have only one or two interests in something. You're quite…smart in everything that happened so far. Like you want to do everything in the world seriously."

I was stunned.

To think that I got along with the Glamrock Quartet so well that they managed to see through me! This would be a reason why they were experts in taking care of children. However, I found myself feeling ashamed that he pointed out these things. It made me think back on how I told Elena and Vanessa that I have to be an equal part of the team since I would be left blind to everything else.

You're not really the first to tell me this," I said, playing with my fingers. "I'm aware as well. I'm just…a bit excited and keen to try anything out. I mean, I would love to try to be a hero like Melody. Or a dancer like Elena. In fact, I would have accomplished Melody's job due to how much I had to fight. And it kind of improved."

"So what career would you want to take?" asked Freddy.

I smiled without mirth. "I actually don't know to be honest. I just want to do anything I can. It would be like what my parents do. They took so many jobs and they had a good time with so many jobs. Some of them didn't turn out well, but they enjoyed themselves. And it helped them a bit whenever we go out. I often hear them like to point a few things out that I never knew before."

Monty sighed, pinching his nose. "Why do I have a feeling that it's something you inherit from your parents? Or something your parents influenced you into?"

"Don't be so worried," reassured Chica. "He turns out to be fine and healthy."

"Well, but I don't know if he would turn out to be a try-hard like Roxy."

"It's confidence!" insisted Roxy. "Not being a try-hard!"

"I guess…you can say that I'm a 'try-hard'," I explained. "I mean, I'm a bit surprised that Augustina is scared of everything around her. It doesn't feel right to me. But from what I saw, she might be right. There are things out there trying to kill us. A lot of my teachers told me that I can be too eager to get straight to the point or grow faster than the other kids. I am a kid, but I want to put a lot of effort into other hobbies instead of letting the adults take care of the work. I-I know what I can't do since I'm young, but I don't want to be taking the back when I have a clear understanding of what is happening. I don't want to be useless like a struggling child in an alley."

The Glamrocks seemed to understand this, judging by how calmly they were taking this all in. Monty's red eyes flashed in sympathy, even surprised by how much conviction I might have in trying everything. Meanwhile, Elena and Melody looked like they just hit a wall.

"Wow, I…I didn't really think about that," said Elena, moving her papers around awkwardly. "It's been a while if I thought something like this."

"That's because you're already at this age of being an adult," I pointed out. "You don't often feel the need to do something more. Like…running for president or building a charity place or making a shop of your own, all at the same time! You're not really a kid anymore."

"The two of us still are," said Melody. "Not going to lie, we haven't 'matured' yet. I have to admit, I sometimes want to do anything."

"Youth impatience am I right?" commented Monty.

"That's a bit harsh there."

"Just saying. Sorry."

Freddy placed a hand over my shoulder. "You know, Superstar, hearing what you think about the world like this, you are really perceptive."

"Is he?" asked Elena.

"He shows to be eager to learn. Even with your current dilemma. I can't really say that we've all been at this stage. From me and my friends, we are already happy with what we serve to do. Maybe someday we would want to explore more, but that is up to us on what we can do. And what we would want to spend our lives on. For those who do everything in the future, that will lead up to too many paths on your way."

"But then why do some like taking so many?" I said.

"Maybe it's because they want a challenge," suggested Chica. "To take something from it for their benefit. But that doesn't mean they don't have a sole focus and interest. We all eventually have a sole focus."

"You still got a long way ahead of you," said Freddy warmly. "As long as you know what's right in your heart, you get to decide. But you won't always be able to get or really enjoy everything. Augustina may not trust her surroundings, but she'll eventually find something to invest in for her own good. You may even find something you can have a sole purpose in. She might have a reason why everything ins't going to be great, but I believe that there will be some things that will work out for everyone."

"Like what?" I asked. "That doesn't mean I can't try everything first?"

"You can do so first. But as you grow, you'll find yourself drawn to a few things you believe you can dedicate to."

I stared at his glowing yellow eyes for a while. It was like the first time I looked into his eyes as he gave me some good advice. Even when Roxy told me, these guys always knew what to tell me. Even when coming from their own knowledge and feelings. I would have agreed to remember their messages, but I didn't have my head wrapped around them.

"Right," I said, shivering. "This is a confusing situation."

"Don't worry, Gregory," said Chica softly, bending down to my level as she got close. "It may be a bit confronting when you find yourselves not interested in doing everything, but it's more on to live what you like to do. And there is no wrong to that since we would need to understand our own path."

I couldn't really tell, but something about this changed my perception. Maybe it was the feeling of growing a little or not being naive about the world. Eventually, I took this to heart.

"I'll tell you what," I said, smiling. "I can take things steady from now while trying anything first to see what I take interest in the most."

"Cool," said Melody, giving me a thumbs-up.

"Sounds good to me," said Elena.

Freddy smiled. "Nice to know, Superstar." He lifted the book back to his face. "Now, shall we continue?"

"Shall we!" I said.

"I think he probably needs a pair of glasses," said Roxy jokingly. "The way he reads makes him look like a nerd."

"I can give him mine," chuckled Monty as he sat back in his seat. "Makes him look much cooler."

A thought came to my mind. "So with this, would we…also need to go along with which role we do best? With…stopping the Toy Animatronics and the rabbit lady?"

"We have to anyway," said Elena. "We made an agreement to help the ghosts.

Melody looked worried. "Do you…think we have a chance against her?"

Roxy snorted. "I doubt that crazy bunny wins. I mean, she is up against us. And what can great security guards with their own ghostly powers like you can do?" [2s]

"Turning into a nuke," said Elena flatly.

"Exactly!" Roxy's smile dropped. "Wait."

Monty's smile seemed to disappear as well. "This…kind of reminds me of something."

"What may it be?" I asked.

Before he could answer, Augustina finally returned.

"Vanessa is still down there doing whatever she is doing," she said. "I checked around and nothing out of the ordinary so far."

Elena sighed, finished looking through her papers and piling them in a stack. "Sounds good!"

"I guess that it's my turn now!" said Melody. Her watch suddenly beeped. "Huh? OK, this is weird."

"What's going on?" asked Augustina.

"What's the Daycare Attendant doing? Why is he walking around for? Is he lost?"

"...wait, who?" said Monty, lifting his sunglasses.

"Where may he be at?" asked Chica.

"He's just slinking around in the East Arcade," said Melody. "I think I might as well visit him."

"You're sure about this?" asked Roxy. "Ever since he felt much safer to come out of the daycare, he's becoming a bit more…outgoing."

"Don't worry!" said Melody. "I'll be fine! Besides, I need some quality time with the sun and moon! I didn't really get to talk with them. Maybe I should bring Vanessa as well."

"Hopefully we won't have Sun's spikes poking in your eye," muttered Elena. "If so, then Moon's form would look much scarier when unclean."

Melody snorted. "Think positive, pessimistic prick."

"Language!" reminded Augustina.

"Thank you!" said Freddy.

Elena just waved it off. "We've been swearing around Gregory, so he's going to eventually say the same things."

I laughed. "Don't worry. I-I won't copy."

"Sure you won't," said Freddy, raising an eyebrow.

"OK, I'm positive that you'll probably get squeezed to death," deadpanned Elena.

"Wouldn't that be a more embarrassing death by someone who just wants to give a hug?" asked Melody.

"You're expecting to have a greater death?"

"...actually no." Her watch made noises, seemingly coming from Sunnydrop. "OK, I REALLY need to get to them, so see you soon!"

With that, she skipped all the way out of the Party Room. Elena seemed to have ridden her disgust towards her and more appearing concerned. Or interested. I couldn't really tell, but the way her eyes widened told me that she wasn't saying she didn't care about Melody.

"Hopefully, she doesn't kill anyone," I said casually.

Vanessa's POV

I noticed the Pizza Plex had some of its lights off. I thought for a moment that they would keep them on. However, it seemed that due to me and the other security guards taking the same repetitive route, we didn't really explore any other areas that would be considered 'important'. Or maybe it was due to never thinking of checking there on the thought that it would be safe.

Taking a turn, I walked right through an empty hallway. There were a few shops from the sides. To my surprise, it was pretty dark inside. Maybe it was because they decided to close these shops and not let any of us touch them. Though someone could burst through those shops and we wouldn't have that much luck in arresting them without breaking the glass.

With my flashlight out, I searched through the hallway to find the door that would lead me to the underground level. There were a couple of areas underground that were inaccessible for me to get through, so I was instructed to go through this door where I would meet my guide. Weird place to meet there, but I hoped that it wouldn't be a huge surprise.

Speaking of which, I kept thinking that there was going to be a surprise in this dark hallway. It reminded me of when back in the old pizzeria office. Just sitting in the dark with only limited light to help you see. And it was nearly silent the entire time. A couple of creaks from the ceiling or some structure struggling to form its shape. Who knows who might be sleeping there in the dark?

This Pizza Plex had a lot of robots this time and I didn't know if they would pop out from anywhere. I nearly felt like I was really alone, but I knew that nobody was never alone in a place like this. This was enough to make me shiver. For a moment, I thought I felt cold despite wearing a long-sleeved shirt.

There was also something oddly ominous. Not that kind of ominous that could be dangerous or worrying. It was just that there was really no one else here. It felt completely different from the rest of the rooms where everybody else was probably partying off. A quiet place one would want to hide in. Thinking about it, if there was another child who broke in, they would have been hiding here.

Alone.

"You seem to be feeling a bit depressed," said Ultra's voice. "Anything…wrong?"

"It feels lonely in here," I said. "Do you really know what it was like being in a cramped office with a bunch of animatronics on stage ready to stuff you in a suit?"

Ultra scoffed. "Everyone knows that feeling before. Gives you nightmares in the daytime."

"Really?"

"Well, you ever feel that any one of those animatronics could be peeking behind you when you look over your shoulder while eating a sandwich at a cafe?"

I thought about it. I looked over my shoulder to check if nobody was watching me. The other. The green ghost's face appeared.

I yelped, flinching back.

Ultra chuckled. "Sorry. Can't help it.

"...concerning, but it feels different right here," I said, lifting my flashlight upwards. The light shining on the wall revealed its brilliant pink paint. It stuck out from the grim darkness. "You know that most of the animatronics are a bit more friendly. That really makes this part dissonant."

Ultra stared at the wall for a while. He looked down, checking the sparkly purplish-brown floor. He frowned a little.

"I can tell here," said Ultra. "When in a dark room, it feels more like back in the 'good old days' compared to what we got now."

"It feels…sad," I said, finding myself enjoying how the Pizza Plex was designed. It came to me now that it brightened up my hope for keeping people safe from anything. Not the same grim and sorry-looking place of the broken-down pizzeria. "You think that there might be any lingering issues similar to Fazbear's Pizzeria here?"

Ultra shrugged. "We might have to find out. Last time, me and my friends didn't sense that much. Perhaps we may find something underground."

"I just hope that it's…nothing too bad," I sighed. "Gregory and the other security guards don't deserve to be caught up in these kinds of events."

I finally reached the door, opening it slowly while Ultra hid back inside me. Entering through, I turned to the right and went down a staircase. I noticed that the walls were made more out of dull grey bricks instead of the colorful plastic walls I saw at the top. There wasn't really that much colorful paint around. The green walls were stained as if they had just aged.

Why did this feel like when I went in to destroy the warehouse long ago?

Finally reaching the bottom, I was greeted by a S.T.A.F.F Bot. More specifically, a Worker Bot. It only wore a simple yellow, construction hat while the rest of its body was unchanged.

"Welcome to the first day of your new career, Officer Vanessa!" it said in a high-pitched, masculine voice. "Whether it's due to wanting to transport supplies around to other rooms or if this is to enhance your performance on your night shift, we welcome you to your first underground mechanic job. How's your child so far?"

I was expecting I would be meeting a human worker, I didn't expect it to be a robot guide. This might be easier to fool them.

"Uh…thank you," I said awkwardly. "He's fine."

"She doesn't have a child," said Ultra.

"I have one and that's Gregory!" I thought in my mind.

"Wait, what? I thought he already had a mother. And an aunt."

"Who's the aunt?"

"Elena?"

"She's too young!"

The bot didn't notice that I was in a mental conversation with Ultra. He turned around and rolled off. I quickly caught up with him, noticing the change in the room's overall aesthetic. We reached another door that was the size of a garage door. It opened up and I was greeted by a long hallway. One that I never really thought you would see in an entertainment center.

It nearly looked like a construction site due to the yellow symbols on the ground of where vehicles should drive to. Red bridge arches seemed to line up the hallways as if they were gates. A couple of crates and pipes lying around which must be spare parts needed. Or in case of a pipe leaked and needed to be replaced.

"So, tell me, what is exactly this place?" I asked.

"We are now under the Pizza Plex," said the Worker Bot, waving his arms around like a guide. "These utility tunnels connect through all the attractions. You name it: Fazer Blast, Monty Golf, Roxy Raceway. They are all accessible to staff with high clearance like the level you've taken. Guests are never allowed down here as this would risk their safety, their direction of heading back to the surface and the lack of lavatory facilities."

I snorted. "Typical."

"But all three are not guaranteed for everyone."

"That's reassuring for me."

"Yet with the promise, Fazbear Entertainment always mauls things around," muttered Ultra's voice in my head.

"What if I need to use the toilet?" I asked out loud.

"You shouldn't need the toilet here," said the bot.

"I think I drank too much water before I got here," I said.

As we journeyed through the hallways, I noticed a couple of wire gates covering up a few entrances that would lead up to the attractions above. Strangely, most of them had a symbol of an animatronic with a cross over them. I wondered what that might mean, but there was something shocking when I saw thick chains wrapped around the wire gates. I guessed that the company did take some sort of responsibility in making sure that the animatronics didn't go wild.

At one point, we came across wire gates blocking our path. The Worker Bot didn't react or come close, but I did. And looking through the large gaps made my jaw drop.

There was a broken S.T.A.F.F Bot, its parts scattered all over the floor. At least four other S.T.A.F.F Bots surrounded it, staring down at their deceased friend. But none of them were doing anything to help it. It was as if they were some sort of cult trying to bring back a dead person.

"Sense…anything?" I whispered nervously.

Ultra hummed. "I'm trying to, but nothing is left lingering around this area."

"What's that?" I asked, turning to the Worker Bot.

He didn't answer.

"Are you going to answer me?"

There was no remark.

It didn't feel like it was due to supernatural force. But it didn't feel like some random burglar busted in to wreak havoc.

"Please keep on moving," said the Worker Bot. "We don't have all day."

We continued walking through the endless maze of hallways. I knew that he was taking me to where I might start working on the machinery, but I was already impatient. I should get searching soon for evidence. I needed to make sure if there were any Toy Animatronics down here. Or if that someone DJ Music Man told me about would be watching these tunnels. There wasn't that much to look at other than junk, building materials and extra objects.

We did pass something that caught my eye. It was a star-shaped mirror. The coloring appeared to be slightly purple. It looked something like Roxy's mirror. However, the glass appeared to be scratched.

Was that a backup mirror or a mirror Roxy used before?

"Hey, isn't that Roxy's mirror?" I asked.

"Why yes," said the Worker Bot cheerfully. "We had to replace one today. There was an incident Roxy got into. But no need to worry as we will have them fixed right in no time."

Ultra grunted as he tried to sense anything supernatural about the scratch. It was more natural as if Roxy used her claws on it. If what the bot said was true, then something did happen to Roxy. I wondered if she was controlled by the rabbit lady earlier.

However, from what the ghosts told me, she wasn't even here during the first two nights. None of the Glamrock Animatronics were acting out of character. They still retained their own personalities and free will. I could have ignored it and treated it as an accident since the mirror's only deformity was the small scratch. But my mind was already wondering what Roxy was up to.

Maybe it might be more from that. She might have some issues of her own?

I shuddered, deciding to leave that for later.

"Bet Oswald won't have to be dealing with this kind of drama," I thought. "More creepy than emotional."

AN: Sometimes the most frightening things are inside the mind.

I tried to find ways in building up my version of Gregory here. He is young, he is still learning, but so far, he has showed a lot of knowledge and strength. As he is technically the Token Kid of the team, he would have some feelings of wanting to do anything he can to help, but get told that he should wait since he is still young. I figured that in the game with Gregory being homeless, he is more witty and independent. I thought of trying to have some subtle shades of that version of Gregory into here to show that the kid wants to figure things out on his own without the constant need for parents. It is even quite fitting since Gregory here is far from being a brat.

Vanessa being asked if her child is alright is a reference to the 'Don't Hug Me, I'm Scared' TV Series.

The relation to Elena nearly having the nickname 'Edge' can be counted as a reference to one of the new characters in 'Mario + Rabbids - Sparks of Hope'.

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 any needed improvements. Constructive criticism is needed.

Until next time, keep on rocking!