AUTHOR'S NOTE: The Layout of the mall is very different from the game mainly because a) This is an AU and b) It's difficult for me to describe everything. Also sorry, this chapter is a bit dry I feel. The next chapter will be more fun, I promise. Also, reminder, reviews give me motivation to go on too.

Location: Utility Tunnels

Time: 9:08pm

'Keep moving and don't draw any attention to yourself'.

Gregory repeats the words in his head trying to stay brave. The next place he enters is some kind of bathroom area. To his left is a men's bathroom and on the other is the women's bathroom. The main corridor he was traversing had been blocked off by boxes with open paint cans on them. In the other bathroom, he hears sounds of...chewing?

Gregory peeks in and sees one of the animatronics, Chica, eating trash in the corner. He goes to check the men's bathroom and sees that it's been blocked off by boxes he couldn't climb over due to his height.

'Oh just great, that Trash eating bird is blocking my only pathway out of the area. Maybe I could distract her with something...I know Freddy said don't draw any attention but...'

Back in the main corridor, he topples the open paint cans in the corner and topples them down with a simple push. Gregory quickly goes into the women's bathroom, just in time to see Chica hears the noise and leaves, turning into the left corner to see where the noise came from.

Gregory quickly sneaks past Chica, not noticing that she had now started to try to eat the spilled paint. The boy keeps walking past messy shelves of cleaning items and then up a flight of stairs which lead to the next more eerie area: An industrial corridor lit only by a dim red glow, containing pipes on the sides, lots of boxes in the corridor and some control panels on the walls that Gregory wasn't sure of what purpose they served.

He walks in and looks left and right. The left side was blocked by a gate but the right had a long pathway. Gregory walks right and is about to make the next turn when he hears the sound of a chain and a gate breaking, he turns his head to look behind and sees Montgomery Gator emerging from the smoke caused by the pipes.

"There you are!" A deep southern voice exclaimed, "Mr Afton has been looking for you kid!"

Gregory breaks into a sprint again. The Gator chases after him, making unsettling guttural noises as he did so.

He runs in a straight path until he sees two diverting pathways. He looks left and right, unsure which one to take until he hears the voice of Roxy call his true name in the right corridor. "Are you lost Will?"

Gregory immediately starts heading left and runs in that direction up another flight of stairs. He was already getting tired.

'Please', Gregory thinks, 'let there be a place for me to breathe for a moment.'

Gregory ran and ran until finally, he found that his wish was granted when he saw a sign with a Shield and Star on it and an open gap to his right. He ran into it and realised he was now in a room of sorts. It had green walls, a desk surrounded by two small screens on it's left and right and a very large on in the middle. More noticeably however, there was a big red button in the shape of a bear.

He hears Monty Roar getting nearer and, with no hesitation, Gregory presses the bright red button instinctively and mercifully, it does something helpful. Two thick metal plates slide down from above and close the gap in front of and behind him, shielding him from the two animatronics threats outside.

BANG. BANG. BANG.

Roxy and Monty futilely try to claw their way in.

"Argh. My claws don't work here." Monty grumbled.

Gregory breathes a sigh of relief and presses his Fazwatch.

"Freddy come in. I'm in some kind of office and I activated its metal doors."

"Well done. Gregory. You entered a Security Office. You should be quite safe here as long as the door stays closed and there is ample power.

Gregory checked the battery levels of both doors. The one with the animatronics was starting to drain fast. Whoops.

"Yeah Uh Freddy. The power is at 15% on one door. Monty and Roxy are pounding on that door right now".

"Do not panic. You should see an interface on the security desk. Hold on while I make it accessible to you...there. You can now access security protocols".

Gregory checks the control panel and sees that he can choose to open both doors at his side or just one. Gregory chooses to open the door on his right. The one with 100% battery. It opens, revealing another corridor for him to go into and Gregory uses this chance as a head start. Hopefully he could leave the area before the door that Roxy and Monty were behind ran out of battery.

Location: PizzaPlex - First Floor, Lobby

Time: 9:16pm

Gregory finally makes it to the Lobby, the place familiar and yet so foreign at night without the chatter and presence of crowds. The only things that were present other than himself were various types of machines. The first were rectangular-shaped robots with circular "ears". Pasted on their surface was a "Caution: Wet Floor" sign. They seemed to follow Gregory's movements but remained fixed to one spot, not bothering to chase after him. Gregory classified them as "Safe" in his mind.

The next type of robots were Cleaner Bots. Gregory didn't get a good view of them back then as he was busy running from Vanny but now that he had more time, he could see that they were humanoid in shape but were just as stationary as the Wet Floor Bots. However, Gregory felt like he had to be careful around them as while he walked, he accidentally caught the attention of one of them and it started making a small alarm noise until he took three steps away from it in shock. Once he did take those steps away, the robot simply just went back to work scrubbing the dark coloured floor.

I should be careful not to get too close to them. Gregory noted.

The most dangerous type of machines however were the Security bots that were making rounds everywhere in the Lobby. Even though they looked identical to the Janitor bots, what made them stand out was their black Caps, flashlights in their metallic hands and more rapid movement around the area. Their purpose, Gregory guessed, had to be the same as Vanessa: To catch intruders inside the Pizzaplex.

While hiding behind a pillar from one of the Security Bots, the Fazwatch beeps and Gregory answers Freddy's call.

"Hello Gregory." greeted the Giant Bear, "Good news, I've connected your Fazwatch to the security camera system. Check your map on the Fazwatch when you have the time. Those boxes on your mini map are nearby security cameras. When movement is detected by the motion sensors. you should see red alert icons''.

"Thanks Freddy." Gregory acknowledged.

"You're welcome."

Gregory looks around the lobby, unsure of where to go now.

"So I'm in the lobby. What do I do next?"

"Find a complimentary Pizzaplex entry pass located near the main entrance receptionist counter. It will help you get past the turnstiles".

Gregory looks at the turnstiles where the Gold Fredbear statue surrounded by artificial palm trees is.

"Can't I just climb over it?" Gregory tilts his head.

"You could but if you do that, the alarms may trigger and security bots will be on your tail."

Gregory frowned. He thought about going down to the basement to get past the turnstiles but then he remembered that it was confusing as hell down there. Furthermore, what if he ran into Vanny again? With no other options, he does as Freddy says and finds the pass at the receptionist area, using it to enter.

"Well done Superstar, you got in".

"Yeah but it's useless for anything else in this place." Gregory quotes the terms and conditions he read earlier, "Only good for entrance to the lobby shops. Upgrade options available at customer service. Also good for one free prize at Glamrock Gifts cashier, while supplies last..."

Gregory grinned proudly at himself at reading all those words in one go without stopping. For once, he had managed to put his reading into practice.

"Then that means you have to upgrade it." Freddy informs him, "There should be a machine somewhere that will allow you to do that."

"What does it look like?"

"Look for a Yellow Machine with Bear Ears."

Gregory wanders around for a bit while trying to avoid the spotlight of the security bots patrolling about. While sneaking about, he observed that the bots seemed to have a pattern and once he figured out what that pattern was, he could more easily figure out where and when to dart between them as he crossed from place to place.

Eventually, Gregory enters a locker room on the first floor that had the ticketing machine Freddy had described and so, he inserted his ticket into it. Gregory waited, watching the walking Helpy stroll across the digital screen for 1 minute..2 minutes...and ... Nothing happened. The ticket wasn't even ejected out.

"Freddy, the stupid machine ate my ticket when I tired to upgrade it." Gregory complained, "and it's not giving it back."

"Hmm...Perhaps there is a way to hack it back out. I heard rumours from some customers that magnets tend to mess with the ticketing system. Try looking for some of those at Glamrock Gifts which is one floor above. They have lots of special gifts, knickknacks and doodads so there's bound to be at least one..."

Location: Pizzaplex 2nd Floor

Time: 9:34pm

GLAMROCK GIFTS

The Pink neon sign surrounded by White Circles flashed noticeably above Gregory as he walked into its already ajar red doors. It's a smaller, less nicer looking gift shop than the one he entered earlier. It had fewer shelves, all of which had three rows that were mostly empty and at the far end of the store, right next to the cashier, was a Free Prize Counter.

However, what wasn't going to make it easy for Gregory to get there was a lone security bot darting about with a flashlight.

'I really need one of those.' Gregory muses to himself. 'Still, I should just focus on finding the magnet first.'

Gregory looks at the first shelf he sees. It's full of pins and keychains. Nope. Not what he was looking for.

The next shelf was full of plushies. On the third Row were a bunch of smaller Glamrock Freddy plushies on the third shelf staring silently at him. The boy silently looks back at them, thinking of the one he abandoned on the other side of the mall. He hoped it was still lying under that table, waiting for him...

'Focus on what you have to do Wi- I mean Gregory'.

Gregory keeps searching for any sign of a magnet in all of the shelves while trying to avoid the spotlight of the security bot. Nothing.

It's bizarrely inconvenient that this place is out of magnets

There was only one place left to check: The Free Prize Counter. Gregory carefully heads towards it and checks the compartments. There are some orange boxes inside. He takes one, opens it and, pulling it out, he looks at the low quality, silly face of the Purple Hippo plastered upon it before turning it around and reading the label behind it.

It stated 1x Magnet [Mr Hippo].

"Freddy," Gregory whispered, "I found a shitty looking Mr Hippo magnet."

"Gregory! Remember what I said about language."

"Right...I mean...I found a crappy Mr Hippo magnet."

"That's...a little better. And I'm sorry Gregory, I'm truly sorry that you found that terrible magnet".

"It's lame but...I think it could be useful for that machine."

Gregory exits Glamrock Gifts and immediately hears a voice that gives him the chills.

"There you are little boy!"

The Bird woman with the flashy clothes was heading straight towards him. Gregory quickly ran and swerved himself to the right, going down the flight of neon edged stairs and then turning left into one of the rooms where there was a stroller of sorts behind a wall. Opening the cover, he hides in it, surprised that he can even fit inside it.

"Where did you go, Will?" questions Chica before breaking into a very familiar laugh, "OR SHOULD I SAY 'Gregory Miller'?"

The voice of the Chica had abruptly changed to that of William Afton.

"Is that what you're calling yourself now my Vessel?" The Gold Rabbit keeps laughing cruelly, "That's cute. Unfortunately for you, a fake ID won't hide you from me. Speaking of which, I know you are hiding here somewhere..."

Gregory hears the animatronic kick something over. It then kicks over something else.

"Hmph. I'm not sure where you went but I can see and control nearly everything in this place. You can't hide forever. Vanny or one of the animatronics will find and bring you to me eventually. Mark my words".

With that, the Gold Rabbit leaves Chica but the bird lady still remains under his orders, her eyes occasionally flickering a neon purple.

Chica wanders around the area for at least 15 minutes more before she leaves (Gregory found that very annoying) and, after he was sure Chica vanished from the area, Gregory retraced his steps back to the machine on the first floor locker room and placed the magnet on it.

He watched it do its magic and witnessed the animated Helpy figure on the screen suddenly fall unconscious.

WHIRRRR

The Machine began to churn out a ticket for him.

"Freddy! Your advice worked!" Gregory grinned excitedly, "The Magnet scrambled the machine..."

However what emerged from the machine wasn't an upgraded ticket but a Blue-Coloured Pass to a Daycare Facility within the building. Printed on the Pass's front were the clouds and the icons of a smiling sun and moon.

"Aww man...Now it's some kind of ...Daycare Pass?" Gregory whined.

"A Daycare Pass? That's great news! I'll meet you there. The entrance is on the second floor to your left. Just walk through straight into that corridor and you should be there."

"Alright."

Gregory climbs the stairs to the second floor and walks to the left where he sees a large, curved corridor with a colourful sign that points out to him where the Superstar Daycare is.

Gregory's watch beeps. "Oh one more thing," Freddy adds, "When you go in there, you'll likely meet the Daycare Attendant. He is very friendly. If you get bored while waiting for me, you should play with him".

"The Daycare Attendant? Is he a person?" Gregory asks.

"No. He's an animatronic like me and the other Glamrocks. He doesn't really do any performances though."

"I see...Thanks for letting me know that."

As Gregory walks into the corridor, he thinks about William's words.

I can see and control nearly everything in this place...Vanny or one of the animatronics will find and bring you to me eventually.

Gregory shudders. If William controlled everything, even the animatronics, was Freddy really helping him or was it a friendly ruse by William? And what about the other animatronic? This Daycare Attendant? Could he also be under his control?

Steeling himself, Gregory remains on high alert as he trudges towards the Daycare...

CHAPTER 8 END

Chapter 9 Title: The Two-faced Jester