AUTHOR'S NOTE: Thank you so much for your love, follows and likes/votes everyone. I'm going to edit chapter 2 a bit to fix some grammar and formatting errors. So it's not going to be changed too much.

Also, FYI:

- Italics are for labels of items (e.g. Glamrocks, Fazbear Entertainment) or to emphasise something.

- Italics with 'single quotations' are for the characters' thoughts.

- Bold Italics are for Will/Gregory's flashbacks to William's Past [Being a creation of William's Remnant, it gives him the ability see William's memories whenever he sees something familiar]

- Bold Italics with "double quotations" are also for dialogue in for Will/Gregory's flashbacks to William's Past.

That's all.

—

Location: Pizzaplex Basement Levels

Time: 3:30pm

Will started digging through the drawers not long after Vanny left him again (with a bit more fury than usual) until finally, he found what he was searching for: A plain white ID card. Several blank ones in fact.

'Yes!' Gregory exclaimed to himself, 'I knew she had a lot of them in here'.

Vanny was careless and had underestimated how intelligent or observant Will really was. She always thought his head was buried in his books or toys but in truth, he had been watching her when she had her eyes off of him. Almost every time she came to meet him, he'd watch her arrange that desk and see her put different items in it. Some of these items were White cards similar to the one she held to get out of the room.

'Why would she need so many different ones though?' Gregory thought. The Rabbit woman and the Gold Rabbit man called William...they were enigmas to him. He shook his head, not wanting to dwell on this anymore so that he could leave this room as soon as possible before Vanny returned. All he wanted to do was explore the outside world for a while and then he would come back. No harm no foul. All he had to do was remember how to get back here when he was done enjoying himself...

Before he left, he took a glance at the room for anything else he would need and immediately, he grabbed his Orange Bear plushie.

"You've been with me for the longest so I'll take you up with me."

Stretching high with the White card in hand, Gregory tapped it in front of the box and heard a satisfying click. The door opened instantly. All he had to do now was find the way upstairs.

–

The basement was a labyrinth of corridors and steel doors but luckily, there were green exits that were signs strewn about above and Will followed the signs until he e found a flight of stairs and reached what was presumably the exit: A metallic silver door where he could hear children screaming and loud music from just beyond. Gregory had never really heard music before but what was playing outside gave him feelings of joy.

He found it odd that he never encountered Vanny at all in the empty hallways but that was a good thing he supposed, otherwise he would be in a lot of trouble.

Taking a deep breath, Will opened the exit doors and what he saw made his eyes light up with amazement. For the first few seconds, Will was overwhelmed by the bright colours and the sudden energy of the world outside but not long after that, he found the courage to step out with his Orange Bear plushie into the exciting and spacious new world.

One of the first things he noticed upon exiting, other than the large crowds of people and massive neon lights that streaked across the walls, were the digital holographic signs high above the different shops that advertised Pizzaplex discounts on food or t-shirts, Exclusive VIP Sign-ups and more importantly, a concert later with a bunch of Animatronics known as the Glamrocks, animal-looking humanoid robots that looked very familiar to Will.

Will stared at the screen as he watched it introduce each of the animatronics with a flashy sign. First was an Alligator called Monty with a rock and roll personality, the next was Chica a "glamorous chick" that loved Pizza, the third was Roxanne, a Wolf with a spunky attitude and finally, the Star of the Show and Singer: Freddy Fazbear.

At that moment, Will realised that they were the life-size versions of the different plushies Vanny had given him.

'Freddy huh? So that's your name...' Will stares back at the Orange Bear in his hands. Smiling, he continues to walk.

—

Location: Pizzaplex - Main Level

Time: 3:45pm

Passing one of the first of many gift stores, Will notices clothes that were very identical to his. And, looking in further, he could also see more clothes that came in different variations for boys and girls: Dresses, Long sleeved shirts, pants...and every single one of them had fixed colour schemes that were associated with different animatronics.

Piqued by this, he goes inside and sees what else the store had to offer. Besides clothes, the store also offered a lot of paraphernalia and souvenirs: Purple cars, figurines of characters called Trash and the Gang, keychains of Helpy the Bear and even special versions of the Glamrock Plushies that made honking noises when their noses were pressed. Every item had numbers on them but Will wasn't sure what they meant (Vanessa hadn't really taught him about Math or money).

Approaching a glass display case, Will found himself eyeing a bunch of different Fazbear themed Watches. Will could never tell the time in that room he lived in so he felt a watch would be perfect for him to get. Obviously, he wanted the Freddy one.

"Can I get the Freddy Fazbear watch?" Will asked the cashier. There was no queue so Will had quickly strode up towards him.

The cashier, whose name tag was Vincent, looked down at him. "That will be $54 kiddo."

"$54?"

"Yeah. Don't you have any money on you? Cash or Card is accepted here".

Will asked. He tries to remember what Vanessa told him about money. Something about earning it from getting a job but that was about it.

"No." Will's eyes shifted in embarrassment.

"Well then, go get your parents. Ask them for money. Otherwise, no Watch."

Before Will could return it back from where he found it or even think of stealing it, the shopkeeper grabbed the item away from him.

"Next customer please!" Vincent shouts to the people who just began forming a line behind Will.

Will continues his journey around the mall although now feeling a little disheartened by being unable to have that Watch. He cuddles the Fazbear plushie close to his chest as he strolled by a giant gold statue of Freddy that stood at the entranceway to the mall.

'Woah'.

It's all Will can think of looking at the large statue before continuing to move forward. So far, from what Will could deduce, this place was a very large mall called The Pizzaplex that was run by a group called Fazbear Entertainment and he had been living under it with Vanny who would often buy him merchandise from here with money (or maybe she worked here like that cashier and could get anything she wanted?).

Walking even further in, Will eventually reaches the Mall's end which is a massive area near a huge stage where several birthday parties were being hosted simultaneously. Currently, the Stage was off limits, cordoned off by steel barricades to prevent people from going in and just above the area were floors of more restaurants and stores along with a few attractions called Monty's Gator Golf and Roxy's Raceway.

In this area, Will also saw a lot more children with their families. Children were everywhere: Chasing each other around, inserting coins into some kind of colourful candy dispensing robot or eating different foods. There were also adults having fun with the various arcade games with titles like Midnight Motorist and Fruity Maze. Will frowns at the sight. He can't recall having a parent other than Vanny. He wished she was here now even if he would get in trouble for it.

"Will! There you are! I've been looking for you." a boy's voice called out to him.

Will looked at the boy who had abruptly appeared next to him. The boy had dark hair, had a green short sleeved shirt and wore glasses, holding strawberry flavoured ice cream in a cone.

"Ugh you got the mint one? Gross."

Will looked in confusion at the familiar and yet unfamiliar boy next to him. He felt like the stranger had a name that was on the tip of his tongue but he couldn't recall them. He had never seen him before at all. All he had ever known was Vanny. So who was this?

"We should go. The carnival is getting too crowded. I wanna watch the sunset, it's really pretty when the sun goes down on that hill".

The boy points to a place above them but all Will can see are the glass panels of the Pizzaplex above them. When he looked down again, the boy had vanished and Will was all alone.

'Well that was weird...' Will thought to himself. A triumphant noise suddenly blared in the background as a man with green eyes, slicked back light brown hair and a purple suit walked onto the stage, dramatically twirling a microphone in his hands before speaking.

"Helloooo everyone," the announcer yelled excitedly into the mike, "Freddy and the Glam Rocks will be starting the concert in 5 mins. Remember to show your wristbands to our friendly staff to enter the concert area".

Will had indeed noticed that some of the people in the building had worn multicoloured velcro wristbands strapped around their right hand. Some only had green while others had multiple colours strapped to one hand. Will just didn't know what it meant until now.

'A concert? Sounds fun. I've read about those. And Freddy is singing?' Will looks at his eternally smiling Freddy plushie. 'Hah, wonder what you sound like'.

Will looks around at the other children who are already rushing with family and friends towards the stage area even though the steel barricades weren't open yet. They were all desperate for the chance to be the first in line to get the best view of the event.

'I wanna go in...but I need to find a wristband to do that'.

Immediately, Will went into the birthday area for any sign of a green wristband that was dropped or fell down but for 6 minutes...there was nothing. Eventually however, by some stroke of luck, Will managed to find a green one lying alone, partially buried by confetti-strewn on the floor. He didn't know what poor soul lost it but lucky for him, he had a way into that concert now.

Will picked it up, attached it to his wrist and then joined the very large queue with the other children and their families. Standing at the now opened steel barricades was a yellow haired Security Guard, her hair tied in a ponytail that emerged from the end of her hat. She appeared grumpy and stern, watching the children enter the doors and nodding when they showed her their wristbands.

Gradually, Will's turn was next: He stepped forward and, upon getting closer to the Security Guard, he could read her name tag which was Vanessa.

Her eyes squinted, leaning down to look at the small, unfamiliar child. "Hey there, who are you?"

"Umm...I'm uh..." he shows her his green wristband like he saw the other children do and says the name written on it aloud, telling his very first lie (Leaving the room without Vanny's permission didn't count as he didn't promise her he would stay there).

"Gregory." Will tries to say the name convincingly.

The woman raises her eyebrow at him as she sees his full name. "Greg Miller huh? Are you new here? I've never seen you before".

"Yeah." 'Gregory' rubbed his wrists and smiled anxiously. "I, uh, want to go in there".

Thankfully, Vanessa didn't seem to catch that he was lying and assumed he was just a shy and awkward kid. She huffed, "Ah, you're probably a tourist here on holiday".

However, she then asked him a question that made him falter a bit. "Where are your parents Greg?"

Will paused, trying to come up with a good excuse.. "Umm...Erm...getting food. They'll be with me soon and they told me to go in first".

"No can do. Listen, I think you should wait with me until your parents come before —"

RING RING RING

"AAAAAHH!" Vanessa shrieked and keeled over backwards.

Will's eyes widened not just from the shock of her sudden yell but also the recognition of That Sound. It was exactly like the one he would always hear around Vanny when she had to leave him.

"Damn migraines. Not again." she muttered.

"Are you alright?" Will asked her.

"No. I have to go for a bit." the security guard rubbed her temple, "Just go to my friend Dave. He'll take care of you until your parents arrive".

Will nodded, choosing to ignore her instructions as she ran away from him with unsteady legs, leaving him behind. He thought it was a weird coincidence that that woman had the same ringtone as his caretaker. Vanny and that woman couldn't be the same person...could they?

"Hey! Are you going to move or what?" a person behind him rudely shouted.

Will glared at the person behind him for a second before bolting into the area. He would think more about this later. Right now, he wanted to focus on having fun.

–

Location: Pizzaplex - Main Level

Time: 5pm

'I definitely don't regret coming here.' Gregory thought to himself as he entered with the audience. 'Still, I wish there was more room for me to breathe'.

Due to the fact that he only had a green wristband, he could only be packed in with the kids and adults who also had green wristbands. And there were a lot of them! The ones who had more wristbands than others were nowhere to be found with them and were likely directed to another section of the concert.

'Maybe they have a better view as well...' grumbled Will internally.

Additionally, Will also wished that he was taller because from where he was right now, he couldn't see anything from where he was due to the fact that he was a really small child. And so, he had to do his best to scramble forward for a better view.

"Excuse me, coming through..."

"I can't see anything."

It took a lot of effort but thankfully, the crowd wasn't too rude to him and he advanced to the front slowly, wriggling like a worm in the soil until he reached his ideal view at the perfect moment.

He could hear their hushed whispers as the lights above suddenly dimmed and the neon blue pink and blue spotlights twiled to life, playfully shining across the room. As that happened,, a large cloud of smoke began to manifest onto the stage, getting thicker and larger until it became practically opaque. The guests murmured in anticipation.

"Where's Freddy?!" one kid shouted, "I can't wait anymore!"

As if to answer the random child's question, the announcer's voice loudly blared on the speakers.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, Boys and Girls. Fazbear Entertainment would like you to put your hands together for the One, the Only: Freddy Fazbear!"

The children squealed and jumped with delight as the four animatronics emerged from seemingly nowhere on the stage in a puff of smoke, jumping high in the air. Monty and Freddy waved while Chica and Roxy blew kisses to the cheering crowd before they took their positions excitedly on various stage areas. Freddy of course took the centre stage and winked.

Gregory beamed at the sight and also made sure his plushie had a good view, propping it in front of him and under his chin. This was going to be good.

The Bear with the Blue Lightning Bolt was about to sing. Everyone was anticipating Freddy's wonderful voice, the crowd waiting with bated breath and then...Will noticed his head twitching oddly and it went on and on. The Bird Animatronic, Chica, was the first to actually notice something was off with Freddy but couldn't do anything since she wasn't near to him and so, all she could do was watch the Leading Star collapse on stage.

A collective gasp ran through the audience. The other animatronics paused their performance.

"Help!" Chica squawked.

The music abruptly cut off as the Staff Bots and technicians rushed to the stage to examine Freddy. The other animatronics also moved to the centre of the stage as well. Will frowned, watching this disaster unfold with the others around him, and witnessed one of the employees press a button to the side, causing the Stage they were on to descend into some kind of pit below.

"Uh...I'm so sorry everyone. We are having technical difficulties." The announcer apologised, "To compensate for this, we have free vouchers and meals waiting for you outside."

The children around Will panicked hushedly or screamed in fear among themselves.

'What a let down.' Will sighed mentally, 'I thought this would have been more fun'.

A group of security guards came to escort everyone out of the audience area but none noticed the lone boy holding a Freddy Fazbear plushie that was slinking away (and had already taken one box of free food from the workers outside as he left). Despite the disappointing finish, Will decided that he had enough fun for the day and hoped that he could find his way back. He really didn't want Vanny didn't find out that he'd vanished without her knowledge...

'Especially today of all days', Will remembered the words she said earlier...'Wonder what that meant?'

Chapter 3 END

Next Chapter Title: Conquer and Override