Marcus took a sip from his soda as he watched the pair of technicians work to install a security camera in the closet in Kid's Cove. He knew that both of them were from outside of the restaurant, but it was incredibly obvious they had heard the rumors of the killer robots. Both of them frequently snuck nervous glances at Mangle, who was doing her best to remain still and avoid freaking them out. The night guard could tell that she was just as uncomfortable as they were.

"Is something wrong over there?" he called over to the techs.

"N-no! Nothing!" one of them sputtered, but the way he and his friend startled at the sudden noise betrayed their true thoughts. He adjusted the cap covering his short blonde hair before he took a paranoid glance at Mangle and returned to his work. Marcus shrugged and walked over to the stage, making sure to keep an eye on the workers.

"Hey, you find anything on these guys?" he asked Toy Chica, leaning over to whisper in her ear.

"No, nothing," she replied, "Freddy and Bonnie didn't, either. I think they're clean."

"Okay, good to know," the guard muttered, then turned his attention to the Toys, "Thanks for the help, guys."

"No problem," Toy Freddy said, "Does that mean we can move again?"

"Sorry, but no. They've…well, they've heard some nasty rumors about you. If they see you guys move, they'll flip out. You're gonna have to stay here until they leave."

"When will that be?" Toy Bonnie whined.

"I don't know. What they're doing is beyond my knowledge. It could take a few minutes, or it could take all night." Marcus glanced up and saw the techs walking over. "Just hang in there," he hissed before calling over to the other humans, "How's it going?"

"Whoever set up this camera system in the first place was an idiot," the blonde-haired technician said, "The wiring is a mess. It's gonna take a while just to figure out how to get this one hooked up. Then we've gotta hook up the other ones, and we'll have to do this all over again."

"Are you going to have it done before tomorrow?"

"I think so, but it could be a while."

"Alright, well, get to it," Marcus said with a sigh, "I'll be in the office if there's any problems." The technicians returned to the closet and Marcus turned back towards the Toys. "Keep an eye on them. Just in case your sensors aren't working right or something."

Marcus poked his head inside Parts and Service as he passed. "Hey, are you guys doing alright?"

"We've been forced to stay still all day for months," Bonnie replied, "I think we can handle one night."

"Okay, well, sit tight. Hopefully they'll be gone soon."

Marcus collapsed into his chair and began to flip through the cameras. He didn't feel right just dumping his job onto the animatronics. But if they did have ulterior motives, they weren't going to reveal them while he was around. He flipped over to the Kid's Cove camera.

"—telling you, something's not right about this place," the blonde tech whispered. His voice echoed down the hallway and back into the dining room, causing him to look up. Marcus quickly turned down the volume on the monitor. The technician stared off into the main hallway, where his voice had come from.

"Come on," Marcus muttered, "Keep talking." The young man on the camera finally shrugged and did just that.

"And isn't there a little balloon-dispensing one? Where's he?" At the mention of Balloon Boy, Marcus switched over to the Prize Corner. The pile of boxes stacked onto Charlie's box had held strong. The odds of Charlie wringing his neck the moment she got out were incredibly high at this point.

The night guard shrugged and flipped back over to Kid's Cove. That problem could wait until later. The security camera issue took priority at the moment.


Marcus inspected his uniform one more time in the mirror before stepping out of the bathroom. Almost immediately, his alarm clock began to blare, filling his apartment with beeping. Even after a week of knowing the animatronics were harmless, the alarm still served to fill the back of his mind with dread.

"Dammit, I swore I turned that off!" he muttered, walking into his bedroom to pound the off button with his fist. The device fell silent, and Marcus was suddenly tempted to get back under the covers and go back to sleep. The temptation had reared its head before, but now it was much easier to resist. His job didn't take as much of a toll as it used to.

Marcus moved over to the box he had left in his small living room, which also doubled as a kitchen and dining room. He opened it and double-checked that everything was there. Satisfied, he closed the container and set it by the door. He returned to the coffee table, where an envelope of bills sat waiting.

Marcus reached for the envelope, then hesitated. His parent's money had been placed out of his sight since he moved in. He didn't want the temptation of using it. They did enough for him already.

The night guard pocketed his keys and picked up the box before heading out the door. It was going to be a fun night.


The animatronics took immediate notice of the box Marcus carried in his arms. Charlie was the first to arrive at his side, peering into the box to determine what was inside. A voice in the back of her mind screamed that he had just brought a weapon onto the premises.

"What's in the box?" she asked, trying to sound disinterested.

"You'll see," he said in reply. He brought the box to his desk, where he set it down and opened it. The other animatronics had gathered around him, and as he turned around he took the axe in his hands and swung it towards Freddy's neck like he was chopping down a tree.


"What is that?" Chica asked, staring down at the small gray box that Marcus presented in his hands. The night guard rolled his eyes. They really were oblivious to the world around them.

"It's a Nintendo," Marcus answered, prompting confused looks, "You know, the video game console? I thought I would make it up to you for forcing you to stay still for all of last night by bringing this."

"Nintendo makes arcade machines," Bonnie responded, his lack of a face unable to hide his confusion.

"It's been out for almost two years, how have you never—" It occurred to him that he didn't know how long the children possessing the animatronics had been dead for. "Oh. Sorry."

"It's alright, lad," Foxy said.

"So, what games do you have on here?" Mangle said, reaching into the box.

"Hey, easy!" Marcus shouted, wrenching her paw out of the cardboard container, "I know you guys are interested, but this stuff isn't cheap and it's fragile. You guys don't exactly know your own strength."

"That's not true," Toy Freddy protested.

"Yeah?" Marcus grabbed a pencil and threw it at the bear. "Catch." The animatronic's hand squeezed shut on the pencil, scattering splinters of wood and pencil lead onto the floor. Marcus scooped up the shards and dumped them in the trash before simply saying "Told you so."

"Soooo, what games do you have?" Mangle asked again.

"Let's see," Marcus said, taking out some of the cartridges. He held one of them up to the original four. "I assume you're familiar with Donkey Kong." They nodded and he continued to dig out games. "I've got Super Mario Bros., and then my parents got me these two for my birthday." He held up two cartridges, which Toy Bonnie and Toy Chica each carefully picked up to inspect.

"The Legend of Zelda?" Toy Bonnie read.

"Metroid?" Toy Chica added.

Marcus shrugged. "They said they heard the games were popular. Haven't played them yet. Wanna check them out?" All the animatronics nodded enthusiastically, except for Charlie, who just shrugged, and Balloon Boy, who had just showed up and was greedily eyeing the guard's flashlight.

"One moment," Marcus added, picking up the squat animatronic and carrying him off into the hallway. A loud thump was heard, then seconds later, he returned to view empty-handed. Charlie hurried off to check that the little robot was still in one piece. Marcus ignored the puppet's panic and started hooking the little box up to one of the monitors in the office.

"Okay, I'll play a little so we can figure out how, and then I'll let you guys try," Marcus said, grabbing one of the cartridges and placing it in the console. He picked up the controller and prepared to play.


"That was a bit harder than I thought it would be," Marcus said as he stared at the game over screen. He looked back over his shoulder to find that the animatronics were staring at the screen in horror. Even Charlie's normally static face seemed to be twisted in shock. Marcus marvelled at how realistic their expressions were.

"Did-did he just…" Bonnie stammered, unable to finish his sentence.

"Looks like it," Marcus replied, unbothered by the scene they had just witnessed.

"I thought you said this was a kid's game!"

"I did. Nintendo doesn't make anything other than kid's games."

"How is that able to be put in a kid's game?"

"It's not that bad, guys."

"He just exploded!"

"You know what? Fine," Marcus snapped, turning off the console and removing the game, "You don't want to play it? We don't have to." He grabbed the other cartridge. "Let's play this one instead."


"Um," Chica said, "Marcus, I don't want to be rude, but, well—"

"Ye really suck, lad," Foxy interrupted.

"Well, between you guys and sleep, I don't exactly have much time to play," Marcus shot back.

"After that…enlightening demonstration of what not to do—" Freddy said.

"Really, Freddy? You too?"

"—I think we're ready for our turn."

"Yeah, I want to play!" Toy Freddy added.

"Alright, alright," Marcus replied, surrendering the controller to the animatronics.

"Uh, there's a problem with this," Bonnie said, holding up his left shoulder, "It kinda looks like you need two hands to play. I don't even have a second arm anymore. Foxy and Chica don't exactly meet those requirements, either."

"Oh, no, you're right!" Marcus said dramatically, "If only I had quarters for the arcade machines. You guys would probably have an easier time playing those." As he spoke, he lifted up a plastic bag full of quarters.

"Race you there!" Foxy shouted and darted off into the hallway.

"Hey, wait up!" Bonnie called after him, giving chase.

"Boys," Chica muttered before following after the two. Marcus turned to Freddy.

"Please make sure they don't break my stuff," he said.

"You don't think I want to play arcade games with them?"

"You want to blow off your chance to play quality games to play likely lazily-made, Fazbear-branded games?" Freddy looked at the monitor where a green-clad warrior was stabbing at a mob of skeletons, then at Chica, who was watching from the end of the hallway.

"It's not really about the games," the bear replied.

"They'll be fine," Marcus reassured him, then turned towards the hallway, "Won't you, Chica?" The bird nodded before leaving for the dining room. The night guard turned to face Freddy.

"Take care of them," Freddy finally said.

"Don't worry." Marcus followed Chica out into the main area, then turned right to plot a course to the machines crammed in the corner. He paused, then turned around to grab Charlie from her hiding place around the corner.

"You know, if you wanted to play at the arcade, you could've just asked," he teased the squirming puppet.

"Marcus, the machines aren't working," Bonnie said.

"Let me see." The night guard released the puppet to investigate the machine. Bonnie began to move out of the way, but Marcus grabbed him and shoved him into the screen. Sparks flew and the old bunny spasmed wildly from the electricity coursing through him until finally, he fell limply to the ground.


"Found the problem," Marcus said, flipping a switch on the power strip. Almost instantly, the screens blazed to life. Chica moved over to a machine with the words "Fruity Maze" in big white lettering and bordered with a pale pink, while Bonnie gravitated towards a game inscribed with glowing blue text reading "Midnight Motorist." Foxy moved over to a game that wasn't labeled, at least, not that Marcus could see.

After providing Chica with a few games, the night guard decided to check out one that the others hadn't approached. As he placed a few quarters into the coin slot, Charlie came up behind him to watch. Marcus hit the start button and the screen blazed to life, with a pixelated being that vaguely resembled Freddy in the center. He was surrounded on his left and right by what seemed to be children, and all of them were surrounded by a white square with a gap which seemed to represent the walls and door of a pizzeria. The directions "Take cake to the children." appeared on the screen below the whole scene.

"At least it gives you some idea of what to do," Marcus remarked. He grabbed the joystick and began to move Freddy around. As the pixel bear moved around the screen, the children began to turn a shade of red. Marcus moved Freddy over to the closest red children, and it returned to normal. As the other children remained neglected, they turned a darker shade of red, and as time went on, Freddy began to move slower and slower.

"Ah, so there is some strategy to this," Marcus said, "Maybe I didn't give these games enough credit."

The whole time Marcus played, Charlie stared, transfixed, at the screen. Suddenly a purple car came into view, driving towards a child standing outside the door of the restaurant, tears streaming down their face. It stopped at the door, and a purple figure appeared next to the child. The blue lines representing tears thickened, then the child turned grey, and it became very clear that they were dead. The purple man disappeared, and the car drove off.

During all of this, the children inside were turning redder faster than Marcus could satisfy them. Suddenly, the puppet that Charlie lived inside leapt out at her from the screen. Charlie stumbled backwards with a scream, landing with a soft thud on the tiles. Her outburst caused the others to look up from their games.

"Charlie, are you okay?" Chica asked.

"What happened?" Marcus asked. Charlie had considered telling them what she saw. Now she pushed the thought away. She couldn't show weakness, not around him.

"Nothing," she said, "I'm fine."

"I don't think ye are," Foxy replied.

"I don't want to talk about it." The others continued to look at her expectantly, but eventually gave up and returned to their games. Charlie sat back against one of the machines not being played and tried to recompose herself. She knew that car, knew that man, knew that scene all too well. She had hoped she would never experience it again.

Before she could gather her strength again, a loud crash caused her to look over at the Fruity Maze machine, where Chica was lying on the floor. She was trying to drag herself backwards into Kid's Cove, looking around in a blind panic. Charlie instantly forgot her previously shaken state and raced over to her aid. The others quickly followed suit, with Bonnie and Foxy grabbing her arms and lifting her to a sitting position.

"Chica, what happened?" Bonnie asked.

"I saw him!" she cried.

"Who?"

"Him! Spring Bonnie!"

"What?" Foxy and Bonnie turned around and scanned the area, Foxy holding his hook in a position where he could easily swing it.

"Hold on," Marcus said, "Who's Spring Bonnie?"

"He was a character alongside that yellow Freddy whose plush we found," Bonnie explained, "Our killer lured us away with a suit of him."

"Where's that swine hiding?" Foxy growled, but his words were unsteady. He was trying to hide it, but it certainly seemed like whoever this Spring Bonnie was, he had definitely scared the original four.

"Guys, I don't think he's here," Marcus said, trying to calm them down. He turned and knelt down next to Chica. "What happened? How did you see this Spring Bonnie?"

"I-I was playing Fruity Maze," she replied, "It seemed normal, at least until level 3. Then, the fruits I was picking up before were dead dogs, an-and then he showed up behind me!"

"How did you know he was behind you?"

"The game showed my reflection, e-except it was me before I was…this."

"You mean when you were just a little girl?" Chica nodded. Marcus stood up and turned to the others. "Okay, I think I understand what's happening. You guys probably were playing these games before you were murdered, and playing them again is bringing it all back." He switched off the power strip and gestured for them to follow him. "Maybe we'll try to play again when you guys are better prepared."

The other animatronics reluctantly followed the night guard back into the main hallway, leaving Charlie alone in the main area. She began to follow, but a light flickering on caught her attention. She turned to see one of the arcade machines on, even though the power for the machines was off. Sitting on top of the machine was a Fredbear plush, but with a black hat and bowtie. It must have been the plush Bonnie mentioned, but Fazbear Entertainment had never made a plush like that.

Charlie looked down at the screen, where a white rectangle surrounded what looked like four corpses. It seemed like a version of her was in the center of the room, and the phrase "Give gifts" was in the top-right of the screen. The pixelated puppet floated towards one of them. Suddenly, a low robotic voice began to spell out words.

"H"

The puppet on the screen placed a gift box next to the top-right child.

"E"

A gift was placed by the bottom-right.

"L"

The bottom-left one received a present.

"P"

The puppet gave the top-left child a box. The boxes disappeared, and the text at the top of the screen changed to "Give life." The puppet floated over to the top-right kid again.

"T"

Freddy's head was placed on the child's body.

"H"

Foxy's mask found its home on the bottom-right child's head.

"E"

The bottom-left kid assumed the role of Bonnie.

"M"

As Chica's head was put on the fourth body, a fifth corpse appeared in the center before the screen flickered and died. Charlie looked up at the top of the cabinet to find the Fredbear plush had vanished. Her instincts told her to run, but her limbs wouldn't respond to her commands.

"Miss me?" a familiar voice asked.

Then the head of a familiar golden bear leapt out of the screen, jaws open wide to swallow her whole.


Sorry this chapter is about a week late. I meant to get it finished last week, but then I had technical difficulties and was overwhelmed with schoolwork, so I didn't have much time to work on it. It definitely didn't help that I had trouble deciding how I wanted certain parts of the chapter to go. But anyways, here it is now, and I hope a longer chapter makes up for it. Hopefully I'm able to get a new chapter out on time, but we'll see. Two weeks might be the new period of time it takes to write a chapter. Whatever happens, I hope you enjoy the story! And hey, 1K views! Once again, I don't know how incredible that is on here, but to me, it's an honor to get that many people interested in my work.