We're back again! This time with a much shorter interval than last. It's been a whirlwind these last few weeks with personal stuff but I've found the time to continue! Once more, thank you to all the new favs, follows and reviews particularly by the ones who go in depth, always a pleasure to read those along with the smaller ones! Also, over 150,000 views on this story. I'm privileged to have gotten this much attention to a story like mines. Thank you guys, truly. And now back to our scheduled programme with Fred-Gregory & Co.
I do not own Five Nights at Freddy's. All rights go to Scott Cawthon.
Enjoy Chapter Eight: The Fourth & Third
My Racingstar Chapter Eight
"…?"
"Yeah, he should be on his way right now. There were… complications… which I'm sure you've felt yourself?"
"…"
"Can you pinpoint it? What if it-"
"…"
"I see. Even with those, everything is still-"
"…"
"Yeah… I guess it really doesn't matter…"
"…?"
"No, no. I'm fine honest. These last few months... After this... Everything changes… for the better right…?"
"…"
"Good. How's the new parts?"
"…"
"Happy for you… You can expect him down very soon."
"I look forward to it."
After a moment of silence after the enigmatic conversation ended, the woman seated in her lair shifted her expression behind her mask.
"Gregory…"
Scrambling for what seemed like forever, the worn Glamrock: Roxanne Wolf, searched frantically for her eyes that Gregory had launched back in her direction.
The silver wolf's mind was a blaze with everything that transpired in these last minutes. Vanny had appeared and tried to scramble her mind with that virus thing, she tried to hurt Gregory and then Freddy reappeared and took the kid away.
All of these weighed on her mind constantly but she had managed to gain back her sentience when… Greg had told her how much she meant to him and… that he was homeless… It hurt but it did fit everything into place… The kid was lonely and what better way to be cheered up then by the famed Freddy gang… The poor child… no parents… She could only imagine the turmoil he'd been through. Compared to his pain… her insecurities were nil at best… She didn't want anyone to know about how scared and insecure she was… But still… He had been there for her and still accepted her even when he saw the ugliest side of herself…
She would get him back. She WOULD get him back.
Stopping herself for a moment, the silver wolf smacked her head to get back more control. She was still all over the place but realising damaging herself even more wouldn't help anything, she simply regulated her modulated breathing and took small breaths to calm herself and focus on finding her eyes. Hold on though… She was thinking normal now… Come to think of it too… she felt no pain anymore… her Force Stop switch hadn't even been flipped and her programming felt no disturbances, nothing trying to bypass any safeties…. She didn't even realise it until now but the corruption… was… gone…
What in the world was going on?
She couldn't dwell on that currently however; Greg was in danger and she had to hurry. Fortunately, in moments, Roxy felt her claws brush over two circular objects. Smiling, she quickly felt them on what part the lenses were located due to the material. Those touch censors in her paws really worked wonders.
Finding them, she carefully inserted them into her socket connectors, hearing a "Click" for one and then the other after a bit of adjusting.
It took a minute or two for her eyes to adjust due to not doing the manual insert activation and it having to be done automatically. However, two minutes turned to three and then four. Roxy began to lose hope when her vision suddenly began to static in and out like an old TV. She then saw there was yellow on her screen… why was there yellow… was that the colour she could see before…? Still, after a few seconds more, she now could see the chequered floors and all of the Atrium once more.
"(Wait… do my eyelids still work…? I'll need to make sure.)" She didn't want to look like an unblinking monster. It took a few more moments for her to try and get the lids to fall down by closing her eyes but after a few tries, she saw dark when she pulled them down, her eyelashes were gone however.
The silver wolf ran her hand through her messy hair in relief that she could see but her mind quickly switched to an even greater issue and down on the floor, she noticed Greg's Roxwatch. Roxy silently smiled to herself, that the kid had thought ahead and picking it up, she connected and accessed it on her interface, there was soon a call icon on the lower, bottom left. Once again, for a bit, nothing happened.
Roxanne bared her teeth, angry that due to the damage, everything would take even longer. She began despairing that it might not even work but after smacking her head again in anger, "Come on! Work!" she heard a click and a notification sound went off. "He-Hello?"
"{Roxy?}" A southern gruff voice answered. Well, it seemed hitting did solve some issues…
"Monty…! Monty, I… I… I Greg! I…" Roxy tried to find the words but kept falling over them.
"{Whoa, whoa, Rox. Take a moment. What's wrong?}"
"Greg's been kidnapped by Freddy."
"{What?! Freddy?! He just nabbed the kid?! How?! What's- What's happened to your voice as well? It sounds a bit glitched man.}"
"I… I… I tried to hurt him Monty…" The silver wolf hating remembering what had happened in the last hour.
"{Huh? Roxy…?}" Roxy's expression turned surprised and then sorrowful when she heard another familiar voice join in.
"Chi… Listen… Both of you guys… I'm not in a bad state… at least… I think so… Vanny ambushed us and she got inside my head like you guys. The virus made me try to hurt him… and I chased him around the Atrium but luckily, he was able to get me back to normal…"
"{With the Force Stop?}"
"I… No… Not with the Force Stop. I was able to get control back without him having to press it." There was then silence.
"{Roxy… I want to believe this is you but how do we know this isn't you playin' us?}" Monty asked hesitantly.
"Guys please… Freddy took Greg just as I was getting myself back, I couldn't see where they went because I didn't have my eyes."
"{Your eyes? You lost your eyes?}" Chica gasped on the other end.
"Yeah… After I smashed into my attraction logo but… Greg was able to throw them back just as Freddy was takin' him away and that's how I'm able to talk to yous now… Please believe me here… I dunno how I was able to get control back without the drastic means but I am Roxanne Wolf and I know we can save Greg and Freddy, both…!" Roxy said with full conviction.
There was silence again when. "{Don't scare us like that Rox…}" Chica's light laugh came through the other end.
"{Yeah, the voice really threw me for a loop but the way your talkin' and your passion in your words. It is you man.}" Monty replied relieved.
Roxy let out a big sigh of comfort. "Thanks guys. Where are yous currently?"
"{Down in the utility tunnels near Parts 'n Service. Didn't find a trace but there was somethin' weird.}"
"Huh?"
"{Yeah, the empty endos. Most of them are missin'.}" Said Monty
"The hare might have called for backup but we gotta get Greg back."
"{Any idea where Fred might have taken him?}" Chica replied.
"Not far… The first place we'll try and look is where me and Greg said we'd go first… Fazerblast…" Roxy glanced at the attraction as she said so.
"{We'll be as quick as we can. See you in a bit. Be safe man.}" Her best friend wished.
"You too." Roxy bid Chica and Monty goodbye and connection terminated. The silver wolf then took a long look down at herself.
Her main core backup systems had engaged to make sure no data would be lost from her central programming and patching up any leakage of the many wires and rods sticking out from her. That took care of that but her current appearance... She was absolutely ruined but no... she wouldn't be ashamed of this. She wouldn't let her appearance define who she was. A little boy thought she was the coolest person in the world and she would honour that kid's admiration.
"This is who I am. Take it or leave it!" She announced to the Atrium which was met with only slight silence apart from the security bots going through the motions and Roxy slightly felt a bit flustered. "It sounded a bit better in my head." She said to herself but she then gave a light laugh that she could find the humour in the situation and with that new found confidence, she began to sprint to the attraction which she hoped held Gregory but not before picking up his flashlight on her way out.
The child in question, awoke to find himself in all too familiar location. There was a round, circular table in the middle with a few items on it with the table being surrounded by a few red benches, that were separately placed right next to three windows respectively, with the windows having slightly transparent blinds that showed the arena below where he played capture the flag before. He recognised the superstar lounge along with the empty stand on the table that should have held the blaster he had on his person. He was in Fazerblast once more… if the giant rocket above the table didn't give away that hint enough for him… oh and the neon lights… again.
Adjusting his position, Greg realised he was leaning up against a red sofa next to a vent after he looked to his side… Hold on… wasn't this the vent he crawled into before…? The youth felt groggy, how did he get all the way up here? Wait… it was coming back to him now. He remembered running from Roxy… and her breaking down but maybe coming back, then the music… and finally Freddy… but wait… something else happened afterwards.
When Freddy had brought him into the arena entrance, the Glamrock bear suddenly stopped and let go of him for some strange reason, Gregory remembered doing a runner and managed to escape from the big animatronic, sprinted to the elevator to get to the lounge that led up to the familiar hideout. "(I must have passed out when I sat down here to rest…)" He wasn't surprised giving how much he had been up for almost a whole day.
It seemed like Freddy was going to bring him to his master, wherever she was right now… but Gregory didn't care. However, with that and after a moment of getting rid of any dimness, it looked like neither Freddy or Vanny were around at all. What was going on?
Another thought that just came to him was how long had he been out for? Had hours past? Days, months even years? Well, those last two seemed a bit dumb, since the place still looked the same from what he could see below of Fazerblast but still he felt very uneasy that he had no way of knowing what had happened between the stuff with Roxy and... Roxy... Gregory hoped he'd get to see the silver wolf again in better circumstances.
There was a moment of relapse that hopefully indicated the Glamrock was back to normal when she shouted after Freddy... How he wished he could have gotten a word out to her before the animatronic bear nearly suffocated him.
Gregory merely hoped that if he was still in the PizzaPlex real time and that hours hadn't past, Roxy would hopefully come and find him along with the other two Glamrocks using the Roxwatch he left for her.
Also, he then remembered that he had lost his flashlight too after Freddy snuck up and surprised him. Well, he'd forgotten he hadn't need to use his flashlight all that much so it wasn't a complete loss he supposed.
Despite all this. He needed to fulfil what he said he was going to do… Gregory eyed the close by vent once more and was about to enter it when…
"Pssst Gregory." Gregory followed the voice to its source to find a familiar small animatronic sticking to the side of the grey wall, just right next to the blue and pink entrance door to the steel corridor. Gregory felt comfort from seeing the friendly damaged animatronic.
"Lil' am I glad to see you..." Greg breathed happily as he slowly slouched down to the floor, again exhausted while the smaller animatronic came up to him and stuck his hand out, so that the kid didn't fall completely to the ground.
"Easy man. Just take a chill for a moment." Lil' Music Man carefully held Gregory, until the child gave him the all clear that he was good and let go, still keeping close just in case.
"Thanks." Gregory panted and slowly was able to catch his breath enough to ask, "What are you doing in here?"
"I was able to split off from big bro since findin' Freddy was coming up as a dud up in Fazcade, so I came to find how you guys were doin'. From the looks of things, not too well. I saw Freddy holdin' you and then when he went mute and you escaped, I followed you here. Didn't want to make a noise in case it alerted him so I did it stealthily. I'm good at being quiet." Lil' Music said cheerfully.
"I could guess that." Gregory returned the look with a small smile.
"But anyhow, what's Freddy doin' taking you in here?" The smaller animatronic then saw the worn state Gregory's clothes were in, especially the claw mark on his chest. "Looks like you were in a rough struggle. You're not hurt, are you?"
"No, no I'm fine. I don't know as well but me and Roxy... we were heading in this direction anyway." Gregory went on to explain the plan he had discussed before with the Glamrocks.
"Arcade machines, eh? Yeah, I've heard the rumours and complaints myself through the ducts. The weirdness just keeps going but you've got my vote of confidence on this Greg. The bit with Monty proves that anything is possible."
"Thanks Lil'." Gregory replied, slowing his chest to take deep breaths meanwhile.
"You sure you'll be alright man? You can take five if you want. No need to push yourself."
"No, no. It's okay. I... know that I'm just a kid and I don't have the stuff that adults do that make them fast or can keep doing stuff but I need to keep going for you guys and Freddy. I want to help yous not get hurt under Vanny."
Lil' Music didn't reply but merely looked at the child. This kid really was a kind hearted boy. It made the small animatronic happy that there were children like him in the next generation.
Carefully putting his symbol worn hand on the child's arm, Lil' Music Man gave him a confiding look. "You've got my support kid."
"Thanks." Gregory took another moment to catch his breath before nodding. "Okay. I'm good. Her hideout is right up here." He motioned his head to the entrance vent. "Before we move up though, want you to do something for me."
"Shoot."
"In case there's anyone not nice up there. It be good to have you up above or whatever way you cling on to walls-"
"So if there is anyone bad, I can ambush them from above." Lil' Music finished.
"Yeah." Gregory smiled.
"I like the way you think man. Good stuff." Lil' Music put his hand to a fist and held it out with Gregory and him connecting a small fist bump and they crawled their way upwards.
After Lil' Music climbed his way up to just above the catwalk on the support crisscrossing structure to keep on standby, Gregory slowly crept out of the vent and onto the highlighted catwalk right in front of him and if he just looked up from where he was leaning on, he immediately recognised and remembered the office door and window of Vanny's hideout.
"Princess Quest 3…" He muttered to himself. He had to get on that game.
Quickly looking back along the slightly lit catwalk platform, Gregory was beginning to get that uneasy feeling again, just like before. Brushing it aside, he tried to see if he could enter the metallic windowed door merely by walking up to it to see if it was automatic to no avail. The door was shut tight just like last time.
However, just as he turned and walked a few paces away from it, the door then suddenly opened without rhyme or reason. The rough clang of metal sounded off his and Lil' Music's surprise, which the latter almost fell off the mesh bars above.
"What the-" The small animatronic managed out as he scrambled to keep hold.
"You okay?" Gregory asked in worry.
"Yeah, yeah… I'm good. Just got a little jump from me there." Lil' Music regained his balance and scuttled into a safer part of the grid where he wouldn't fall from any surprises. "This door do that before for you?"
"It didn't even budge last time." Questions were spinning in the child's head. "Vanny…" Gregory looked down.
Maybe she was expecting him to come back here… or maybe not on the other hand. Seriously, he could never tell with the rabbit lady. She was so unpredictable. Perhaps that's just the way she liked it.
Regardless, he now had a way in to Vanny's and if his hunch was correct, playing the arcade machine in her lair would set everything right… He hoped…
"Hey, Lil' Music, could you keep an eye on Freddy and let me know if any-
"Gregory…" Everything began to slow down.
"thing…"
"It's me…" To an almost frame by frame speed.
"-happens! Where are you?! Who are you?!" Gregory screamed suddenly. Again, he felt it right next to him this time… Every time it happened; the voice felt closer. What was it?
"Gregory? You alright man?" The small animatronic asked.
Gregory shook his head to get rid of the weird feeling. "Sorry… It's nothing… I'll be alright… Anyway, I'm going on the arcade machine now."
"…Sorry to be the downer but… Don't you think this is just a bit too easy?" Lil' Music adjusted himself.
"Yeah… But still, we need to take any chance we get. If we're careful enough, we can get through this."
"I believe you on that kid."
Gregory smiled back and nodded at the smaller Music Man. "Keep an eye out."
"Both peeled bud. Good luck man."
"Thanks."
Saying that he walked inside the room looking all around. Empty soda cans, pizza slices on the floor, dirty marks and creases on the ground and walls, boxes stacked up in the corner almost tipping over. "Jeez, this place is urghh." The youth waved his hand in front of his nose from the small smell. The white bunny certainly made sure not to clean up after herself, which kind of fit her personality Gregory thought but anyway.
Now in front of it, the youth looked at the score rankings on the static screen. Same as the last two he played… That was definitely not a coincidence and added more to his idea that they were connected in some way.
Now, if he was right, then this one should have the same theme and gameplay as the others. He'd be shocked if it didn't.
He pressed the button to start the game that was colourless unlike the last two machines he played on and came up to the title screen with the same layout of the "Princess Quest" logo at the top, with a small bracketed "(Working title)" below, then with the strange golden yellow rectangular bar with "Enter" at the bottom of it, only this time, the music that was supposed to come with it along with the text, slowly phased in and out in a glitching fashion. Okay… so far with the even more eerie undertones.
After the game loaded in, Gregory found himself playing the same golden princess like character, in a sort of office, a door to the right of the character with a table in the front and a vent to the left with cabinets behind. He recognised this place almost instantly.
This area he was in… it was the same place where the previous Princess Quest ended. "Congratulations… Your quest has ended. Time to sleep." Gregory murmured the previous words that were said by the old man right before the Princess entered the office he was in now. "Your quest has ended…" How did it end? It was still going. Was it to throw him for a loop?
Gregory as the golden Princess then walked out of the office area into a dark vertical, liner corridor with black and white chequered floors and a familiar décor to the office area. He was getting some de-ja-vu from this.
Making it all the way to the end of the corridor by walking upwards while fighting off enemies with the handy sword the Princess held that had been given to her by the old man at the beginning of the second after the first game only had her carrying a lantern, Gregory then found himself in a wide-open room.
Well, that explained the de-ja-vu. The area was an exact replica of an old pizza restaurant, complete with the tables and party hats show stage and those checkered floors again… He got enough of that from the pizza place he was in now. "At least it's not neon lights…" Gregory muttered.
The young man was starting to notice a recurring theme with these Princess Quest games. He was always playing the same character in all three, those floating decaying bunny heads or whatever forms they took, always tried to hurt him, along with those weird torch lights that lit up in flames every time he slashed them to lit up an area or to progress.
It seemed there was also a story connecting all three games, first he started in a sort of castle like area and graveyard which ended with the princess character walking up to this weird and creepy decayed purple bunny which thinking about it now… seemed almost real to Gregory… reaching out to him… He thought after the Princess got trapped there that she had possibly died but then in the second game, she was still alive… now in a cavern dungeon like area, beneath the castle, which after collecting keys and getting more health upgrades which was a stable in the first game too and doing that weird annoying puzzle piece with a matching transparent princess, he finally made it back into the castle with the old man being there at the end, only for the princess to enter an office and now she was in a pizza restaurant. What kind of story was this?! Not that Gregory was stupid enough to try and make sense of an arcade game's logic but stranger things were happening right now so… go figure.
After venturing deeper into the game and finding this weird chest next to the main room which damaged the Princess that he couldn't access, Gregory began backtracking, which involved going on conveyor belts where in once instance Gregory noticed a pair of eyes looking at him which almost seemed like Chica, then after that eerie encounter, another puzzle which involved the transparent Princess once more and switching the direction of the conveyer belts in a wide open area, it let him to a chest and finding this weird, little, creepy glowing plushie that the Princess seemed to find strange herself.
As he progressed further, he noticed compared to the last two games that, the restaurant itself, was a ruined mess. There were holes and pieces of the rooms that were broken or missing entirely, some more than others and Gregory having to watch his step, which explained the revolving platforms to link the areas but this was really far removed from the levels he'd played on before...
The Princess then made it into a sort of corn field with a wooden maze separating him from something and wait… there was something else in area… It was trying to find the Princess… It was a Fox…? Wait, he'd heard about another character from previous Freddy locations but he couldn't really remember but its name was… Foxy?
Not keeping his mind on it, Gregory, finally, after some close toss and turns found out what the maze was keeping at its heart.
It was a mask. An all too familiar mask.
It looked like Vanny's...
What did this mean...
Something didn't feel right, as well as the items that the Princess had in her inventory... the objects... the character he was playing... the very game itself... He felt that strange feeling coming over him again... He couldn't turn away... The more he played this... It was like he was getting drawn into it... This felt real...
But he couldn't dwell on that right now. He knew these items had to go somewhere, mirroring the similar find and bring scenarios from the previous and he had just made it back into the main pizza area when...
"Gregory!" Lil' Music brought him back into reality. "We have trouble! You need to get off!"
"But I'm almost-"
"Greg-"
"Gregory..." After Lil' Music was about to speak further and hearing a voice interrupt him, Gregory's attention was forced to acknowledge the deep, gruff, modulated voice and he swiftly turned, leaving the pixeled Princess in the show stage location and with an unsettling feeling in his chest after walking just outside the entrance, saw Glamrock Freddy staring back at him, standing almost in the middle of the catwalk, between the dimmed orange lights that gleamed of his slightly worn look. Compared to the others, he looked slightly better but that wasn't saying much.
The child took a step back but when he did, as if to follow, Freddy did the same in sync. "Gregory." He repeated, "It's... Nice to meet you... finally... I am Glam…rock Freddy… or Freddy Fazbear..." Politeness right off the bat? He certainly was different than the others but his bad intentions were absolutely certain.
"Yeah, I'll bet." Gregory said sarcastically.
"You... ran away from me... That wasn't very nice of you..."
"Why do you think I did it?" Gregory replied back almost rhetorically.
"I... don't know..." Said Freddy, who looked to be in a state of confusion... well, more than the usual state which came with the process. "I... am trying... to help you..."
"What by trying to kidnap me? You almost stopped me breathing, covering my mouth so hard!" The child shouted at the brown bear.
"This... isn't... I intended to search for and help you earlier on but... other things happened... I can't remember what else..." The Glamrock replied indecisively.
Gregory didn't understand what the animatronic was going on about but he knew this was the corruption just messing with his personality. "Freddy, you're not you... You need to get a hold of yourself."
"I know." Freddy replied almost instantly which made Gregory blink.
"Freddy?"
"I am… sorry Gregory... I am aware that I have been... reprogrammed... It appears I have retained some of my functions... since then... However... What I say now... doesn't match with what I want to do... Even if I speak now, my pattern will change in a manner of moments..."
"Looks like you still aren't a 100% then..." Gregory's eyes dimmed slightly.
"Correct... I didn't want it to be like this... I left Roxy alone... when I didn't want to leave her..."
"Roxy..." The mention of her name brought Gregory back to their incident before...
"The only thing that matters now... Is bringing you to him..."
Again, there was another mention of "him". First Vanny, then Roxy and now Freddy.
"Who are you talking about?" Gregory asked.
"He awaits you... He awaits you to come to him..." Freddy replied eerily. "And... I will bring you to him... that's what I must do. I am… sorry…" With that, the Glamrock bear began to walk towards the youth.
"Freddy! Freddy! Snap out of it!" It was no use; the bear's mind had switched over and now he was starting to make a run for him. More noticeably, Gregory was surprised the catwalk wasn't breaking due to the heavy weight.
Wait… maybe he could use this to his advantage.
"Gregory!" Lil' Music called out to the child down below in worry.
"It's alright. I've got an idea! Hopefully it'll work…"
Gregory frantically began waving his arms to get the animatronics' full attention if he didn't have it already and backed right up against the entrance behind him and timing it just right, he leapt out of the way, while Freddy swiftly stopped himself before hitting the exit door in Vanny's hideout and turned his attention to the area where Gregory dodged him.
Meanwhile, the youth was glad he didn't jump too far, which would have made him tumble down into the nearby vent.
"Kid, you alright?" He heard the smaller Music Man call out.
"I'm good!" The youth shouted back and crawled out from the corner, to simply find Freddy a few feet away from Vanny's lair on the walkway, absolutely still… He'd just stopped altogether. "Lil' Music… Could you check on Freddy?"
Music complied and crawling just a bit more aways from the lair above, got to an angle where he could see the front of Freddy, to find the big animatronics' eyes though still blue, completely blank.
"How is he?"
"He's… just stopped… I dunno. He's still turned on and everything from what I can see but it's like he's in a trance. Maybe that hit to the door mucked his servos up?"
"Maybe…" The boy himself went to inspect and stopped just in front of Freddy looking up at him. Gregory had seen this before with the other Glamrocks… Was the corruption doing this or was it Freddy fighting back and an internal struggle was going on? The young man was beginning to think too much on the situation that it was making his head hurt and this was already a lot for a kid his age…
"Penny for your thoughts Greg?" And then, the youth followed the slightly humorous tone and turned to find a familiar silver wolf looking back at him, as she jumped over the safety gate at the spiral staircase.
"Roxy…?" The child just managed to utter seeing the Glamrock with both her eyes and a slightly cleaner look than previously, which brought back a familiar feeling of warmth to him.
"Hey… sport…" Her modulated voice still had a slight glitch, like there were two voices but the tone was hers completely.
As Roxy kept walking forth, Gregory did not move an inch from his spot at all, which made the silver wolf worry as she then knelt down in front of the young man and wondered if he was okay. "Greg… You alri-"
"You're back!" No sooner as she uttered that, Gregory leapt into a hug which nearly toppled both of them over.
"Easy there, short stuff..." She calmed him but Roxy then closed her eyes and hugged him back with feeling. When her eyes opened however, she then noticed the small tear in Gregory's shirt, her eyes narrowing sorrowfully as she caressed her claw on the worn part. "I did that…? Yeah… I did…" She then looked up at Gregory and was about to apologise but then stopped, when the child looked back at her with a still warm expression.
"Please don't feel bad. I know you tried your best to fight it and you won… That's all that matters." He reassured her.
She bowed her in gratitude. "Yeah… and hey, at least I match my spiked collar and wrist bands now." She quipped which got Gregory to chuckle.
"You still look cool though."
"Yeah, yeah, I do... But you're cooler Greg." She gave him a heartfelt expression. "Hope you didn't get too worn out when you were… you know… stopping me before and all that."
"I did but I was able to rest for a bit… But again, it's okay. You're back."
"I'm back but man, I feel like a real wuss… You heard everything from me back then… including the time you had snuck into my room right before I came in. You must have heard me then right…?"
"Yeah... I heard everything..." He replied hesitantly.
"I've always had this… confidence thing… when I'm out in front of everyone… I sometimes thought I wasn't good enough, so I needed to remind myself how awesome I was… but I kinda got a bit too in it… I... stare into my mirror... and tell myself how great I am... almost as if I'm my very own hype person... and sometimes… I would cry. Pathetic right? Yeah... I'm such a loser..." Her head went down from embarrassment of the confession.
"It's okay to cry Roxy." Said Gregory who put his hand to her red almost metallic shoulder.
Looking up slowly, Roxy saw Gregory's earnest expression and she slowly smiled. "Yeah… Yeah, it is." A sweet smile then shone out of the Glamrock's comforted face.
"And very hardcore." Greg, teased which got him a small tap on his cheek from the smiling silver wolf who then put her arms down and then raised them once more.
"Here." Roxy handed the child two familiar items he had been carrying with him for most of the day.
"My flashlight and Roxwatch!" Gregory said happily as he adjusted the watch part on his wrist and kept the flashlight close to him like before.
"You're not you without 'em." Roxanne joked.
Gregory was about to reply but just then, there was a noise.
What was that noise... it sounded like a sort of lullaby music and it seemed to be getting closer...? Quickly though, Gregory snapped out of it. The muscle memory helped since he knew what this meant.
"Kid get back!" Suddenly, Lil' Music Man shouted and with force, leapt onto the now mobile Freddy's back, hitting him with his symbols and trying to keep him at bay, the Glamrock bear now a few feet away, trying to swat the offence the smaller animatronic was dishing out.
It did not last long however, with a growl, Freddy snatched the small animatronic and threw him off of the catwalk to the side. "No!" Roxy screamed but she quickly sighed in solace, when Lil Music attached himself due to his able feet onto the nearby giant, prop orange rocket that was thankfully in close proximity. "Are you alright Lil' Music?" She asked.
"Don't worry big wolf, I'm durable. Plus, with the way I look, you can't tell what's old or new damage. Good to see you again as well Rox! Look a bit worse for wear but then, I can't talk."
Roxy grinned back at him after calming herself. "Same to you man! Sorry we had to meet back up like this."
"It's no sweat. Do you guys still need my help?" He asked.
"Try and see if anything has changed around the PizzaPlex! I should be able to finish the game! Head back to your bro and keep an eye out for things!" Gregory quickly replied.
"You sure?"
"Let us handle Freddy." Said Roxy, "There's no need for you to get hurt anymore. Thanks again."
"Gotcha! I don't wanna do this but it doesn't seem like I can do much."
"You did something don't worry!" Gregory quickly shouted and the youth couldn't see but the small animatronic smiled when he said that and began to make his way back to the West Arcade to help his brother.
Both Roxy and Gregory turned their attention back to the mute and stoic Freddy Fazbear. He hadn't moved after the small tussle with Lil' Music Man and had just been staring at them as they conversed. Did the clashing symbols have some effect after all?
"Gregory, keep back. He might try to go for you." Roxy advised the scared child who nodded and did just that, meanwhile, the silver wolf turned to address her close friend. "Freddy?" Those words seemed to break the Glamrock bear out of his trance and he fixed her with a hard stare.
"R-Roxy…" He stuttered back, still not moving.
"Freddy please…" Roxy stared right into her friend's eyes and could see conflict but it was once more being overruled.
"Roxy…" Freddy said almost blankly. "M-Move… I must… I m-must have Gregory…"
The Glamrock wolf stood fast. "I can't let you do that Freddy. Please… forgive me for what I'm about to do but we need to bring you back." Crouching down, Roxy leapt forth at the Glamrock bear but Freddy simply misdirected the silver wolf's force, by side stepping and shoving her over the edge of the catwalk. Roxy's eyes widened as she looked up at her fallen friend walking forward towards Gregory, not even looking back and realised she was now falling into the arena below.
"ROXY!" Gregory screamed in horror, as he watched Roxy descend down rapidly into Fazberblast but he didn't have time to see what happened next, as Freddy was now only a bit away and Gregory quickly scrambled his shaking legs under Freddy's and into Vanny's lair and shut the door as tightly as possible, after quickly grabbing hold of the small touch device on her desk.
Luck seemed to be smiling on the silver wolf however, for the direction she had been sent to was also the area which held the lime green, giant revolving Saturn planet like structure, which was almost as high as the catwalk, a few meters down but was still close enough. Reaching out as she fell with her speed of trajectory, Roxy barely was able to cling on with her lone arm to the rimmed edge of the metal ring but it wasn't enough for her to hold on to for long, she couldn't even pull herself up.
Her clawed hand slowly began to slip no sooner as she clasped on. Roxanne knew that her endo was still too weak from all the damage previously, also the revolving rim was making her feel quite dizzy so she had precious time.
Meanwhile, as this happened, down at the bottom Chica and Monty had just run into the scene and caught the swift end of the interaction between Freddy and Roxy unfold. Both were in a feared panic, as they sprinted to where they thought their friend would land as fast, as they could, making sure to keep a close eye of where she would fall due to the moving ring. "Blast those elevators!" Monty snarled as he ran as fast as he could.
"Greg…" Her arm gave away and the silver wolf began falling downwards.
Now almost in the green section, Roxy's falling form was plummeting ever closer and thankfully the two Glamrocks made it into the area, luckily, they had been so close before and Roxy was falling right above them.
"Keep close!" Monty shouted.
"You have to time it right!" Chica advised quickly as both watched their friend fall ever more carefully. It was do or die now.
"You as well!" The green gator shouted back. "We'll have a better chance!"
Now close to the floor, Roxy's head turned and she managed to eye her two friends. Suddenly, it felt like time had slowed down for a moment. Was this that thing… Her life flashing before her eyes…? Is this what happened before she'd…
Timing it right on the mark, both Chica and Monty leapt as high as they could from the side, the green gator being the highest of the two and managed to intercept the falling Glamrock wolf just in time.
The combined weight, coupled with the fall, did not leave them unscathed, as they tumbled to the ground and both Roxy and Monty broke through a couple of the neon panels around the arena, while Chica crashed down and rolled on the carpeted, character spaced floor. All three were down and whether any would wake up, only time would tell…
Meanwhile as Freddy, continued banging on the door which he started to do no sooner than Gregory had entered, the child quickly returned to the machine and found himself back in the same place he'd left the Princess, the main pizza area.
Seeing the items in his inventory, he knew he couldn't do any last minute rechecks if he was missing anything. There was a keyhole on this sort of curtain in the top middle of the restaurant, which he had noticed before when searching and if the child's hunch proved correct, with the hidden red chest and backtracking into the liner corridor at the entrance but just going in by the left after the entrance from the main area into the small room that held it.
Bingo.
He acquired another purple key. Just like before and he knew just where to put it.
The curtain which held the keyhole was blocked off by a circular round abyss, only accessible by a ramp from the middle, which Gregory crossed via the Princess, who then slashed the door and walked up the small step on the right to get inside the curtains which parted.
Stalagmites, broken parts of the ground that led to a black nothing and the liner path illuminated by the golden glow of the Princess, who walked down the small staircase on the left in contrast to the one that he had to enter, fought off more black tar floating bunny's and as she walked up and slashed.
"Gregory... It's Me..."
Again, there was that voice... So close now… Was this the source of it? Would he find out when he got to the end? The Plushie, the Mask, another Purple Key that he had found last time, in the previous game.
And then at last... there was the door, the base and edges covered in this weird moving purple slush with green energy pouring from the key hole.
This was it.
He just needed to go up to it with the key and then hopefully—
"Bam!"
Gregory's concentration was smashed literally, as he now saw the screen was cracked and broken in places by a huge worn fist.
The child turned to see Freddy grab him by the hair which made him yelp in pain. He was then slowly dragged out a few paces and chucked violently out from the room, seeing that Freddy connecting with the door, broke it right off its hinges and flatting it right into the ground
Gregory rubbed his back due landing it on it but he was relieved when he found out no major damage had been done to him. He still felt a harsh stinging pain from his side though but he had bigger worries since Freddy was now stomping towards him angrily. The game was ruined... just before he got to the ending...
"...Now I'll never know if I was right..." Gregory muttered. The others were too far away... Was this it?
"Nice children…" Freddy stopped when he heard a voice. A very familiar voice and then some jingling bells.
"Must be saved!" Out of nowhere, something akin to a jester, leapt onto the from of the Glamrock bear, trying to keep him from hurting the child.
Gregory looked on in shock, as he saw the Daycare Attendant: Moon Sun, heave Freddy as best he could away from him. The child could scarlessly believe his eyes but it quickly turned to horror as Freddy began to bash the daycare animatronic up against the door edge to get him off, using his back to smack him up against the hard fabric, hurting himself at times too.
Both animatronics let out shouts of pain and Gregory wanted to look away but had to watch steadily as after Freddy had unknowingly smacked the back of his head against the door in his attempts to remove Moon Sun, he began stumbling uncontrollably towards Gregory at a fast pace, so much so, that the child didn't have time to react and was hit clean off of the metal walkway himself.
Gregory let out a scream as he began descending into the depths of the children's attraction below but he didn't go far when he saw a slightly worn purple and white hand hold his arm and looked up to see the daycare animatronic holding on with one hand to the banister barely and the other holding him. "Nice… children… must be saved…" He said again through aches. Sadly, the damage that had been done to the clown animatronic was visible with the peeled off plating and his endo showing in places, particularly in his arms and chest area, with his baggy starred pants being torn across, thanks to his harsh tussle with Freddy but still, Moon held onto to the child with all his might.
Gregory quickly looked into the still creepy face of the moonfaced animatronic in agitated disbelief. "Why Moon?"
In that moment, Moon's face changed from the normal eerie smile to a genuine one. "Because you were kind to me…" Gregory remembered back to the incident with Vanny and how he stood up for the jester with how harsh she had treated him. "Everyone… is usually scared of me… but you… were nice… Nice… children… must be saved… and I will save… you!" Moon stated with conviction. Even if the child had said very little then, it was enough and he deserved to be happy!
Gathering all his strength the Daycare Attendant heaved Gregory up and over the banister with his lone one arm and with a small tumble the boy was now safe, which made Moon Sun relieved and overjoyed.
However, as Gregory was catching his breath and recovering from the shellshock, his eyes widened in horror as Moon Sun's hand could longer hold on and though he jumped up, just missed the chance to grab it, despite him being a child. "Moon, no!"
"I'm glad… we got to meet…" Moon Sun uttered as he fell and Gregory had to look away but then.
"Game over Gregory."
The child turned in terror as Freddy was once again standing a foot away from him. No major damage had been done in the scuffle to the Glamrock bear. All this made it seem like he was almost indestructible.
Gregory was now truly alone as Freddy was now right in front of him but before anything else could happen, once again, the Glamrock bear stood moot. What was going on? Was he switching again but something about this atmosphere felt different? Just then, Gregory could have sworn he caught something behind Freddy out of the corner of his eye and also a sound of something happening down below but then, the Glamrock spoke up which drowned out everything.
"I'm sorry Gregory..." But Freddy's apology almost fell on deaf ears with the angered expression the child was shooting at him.
"Sorry?! How can you be sorry?! Look at what you just did to Lil' Music, to Moon, to Roxy! How can you be…" But then, Gregory stopped and thought on his outburst… He remembered back to Roxy almost killing him but she herself didn't mean what she did… It was the corruption. Thinking on it further, Gregory remembered the pain the silver wolf felt, along with Monty and Chica…
Freddy was the leader and he seemed to be fighting the most of it… He himself must have gone through so much turmoil seeing an outside force control him and do those horrible things to his friends…
Anger turned to pity and then… to hopefulness.
"I think…" Freddy spoke up again which broke the child's thoughts, "Roxy… was helped by Monty and Chica…"
"She's okay?" Gregory asked quickly.
"I believe… so…"
"Thank goodness." Gregory felt a huge pain leave him.
"Please… Please… believe me… I didn't want to hurt her… I've gotten... some control... back... but... I don't know how long I can... hold it off...!" Again this reinforced the youth's thoughts.
"Do you need me to-"
"Flip... my Force Stop switch... Before it's too late... It's…" But the Glamrock bear couldn't finish his sentence but Gregory saw something in that moment.
There was something else... when the corrupted animatronics looked at him. It's like there was another thing... behind their eyes looking at him... Almost using their eyes to see through them to him... It unnerved the youth. Vanny spoke about someone else before too... What was going on?
But no… this time would be different… It happened with Roxy; it could still happen with Freddy!
"Freddy, listen to me!" Gregory got the brown bear's full attention with his shout. "Whatever is left of you in there. Fight it! Fight this virus corruption or whatever it is! You've been fighting it since it came, I know you've been holding it off! If you can do that, you can get rid of it! Fight it!" The child put everything into his words, so much so, he nearly fell over.
"Gregory… Gregory… Yes…! I-I c-can… I will…!" With those words, confidence arose in the Glamrock bear, who with all his might and soul, concentrated and began to growl in pain as he tried to regain his self-back once more.
It was a stressful and agonising process, which made Freddy's body contort and he fell to his knees trying to exorcize this force and then… Freddy saw yellow on his interface. Why could he see yellow? But now, everything was calmer… tranquil. The pain was gone, he could no longer feel like there was something else, wait… there was a feeling briefly but it quickly left as it came.
In a few moments, Gregory noticed that Freddy wasn't shaking and that any other moment had ceased. He had seen this happen before with Roxy, so he had to be ready in case the brown bear did a sneak leap but nothing came but a simple.
"Gregory." Freddy looked up and gave a cheerful smile.
"Freddy?" Gregory asked a lot from just saying his name.
"Yes." He replied, which made Gregory fall onto to his backside and sigh in absolute happiness. Freddy had done it.
In a few moments more, the child looked up to see Freddy still looking at him but his face was endowed in gratitude that it made the youth feel strangely comforted by it.
"Thank you, Gregory..." The Glamrock stated earnestly.
"Don't mention it..." Gregory breathed out at the end in a tired tone.
"Are you okay?" Freddy adjusted his position so he was kneeling down with one leg.
"I'm alright… Just tired."
"Oh! Then please allow me to carry you! Oh, don't worry as well. My chest cavity is quite safe." In saying that, Freddy's chest plates opened to reveal a giant hole in it that was sizeable enough to carry well… cakes the child guessed but Gregory could barely believe at what he was seeing and he had seen a lot in the last hours.
"Uh… in there…?" The youth hesitantly asked.
"Of course!" Freddy replied happily. "It's the least I can do for you after what you've done for me… I understand if… you might still be weary of me due to… what's just happened but please trust me… I have no malicious intentions… If that's any consolation…"
Gregory was beginning to get de ja vu but this was a good feeling, as he knew like the others, Freddy was just as kind and with his tone here it seemed even more. "You… sure?"
"Well, there's no time like the present to find out is there!" The brown bear replied in a cheeky tone, which Gregory would have found humorous if a little unsettling too…
"That's good..." Gregory sweat dropped. "Alright then… but you better be careful when moving around. I don't want to be crushed and twisted into a meat pretzel." The child stated as he jumped up and climbed inside the cavity. "Huh, it's actually quite roomy in here." Gregory said aloud, while getting comfortable.
"That place is usually reserved for birthday cakes and unusually big piñatas but yours... is a special situation."
"Thanks for this Freddy… I'm sorry if I yelled at you before…" Gregory apologised.
"Don't mention it and it's perfectly fine, Gregory." Freddy beamed on the outside as he began to walk along the lit walkway.
As Freddy carried the child down from the catwalk to the spiral staircase, far on the opposite end, the door located in the back of Vanny's lair, opened slowly and a figure peaked their head round the door, watching the Glamrock leave.
"Good on you kid... Let's see what you do next…"
As the person said that and the door closed, another figure covered in mist, with a peculiar warm colour, phased in and then out of existence, like they were never there in the first place.
"The time is almost near..."
So it is, so it is. Hope you guys liked the stuff with Freddy and our favourite Daycare guy! What of the others? Find out soon! Review at your leisure and have a good one!