AUTHOR'S NOTE: This is where the fun begins. Also this is a Two-Parter because you know...Sun and Moon. Also, your reviews and votes encourage me to go on~
Location: Pizzaplex - Superstar Daycare
Time: 9:05pm
Fun and joyful music full of strange sound effects reverberated throughout the Daycare Drop-off area as Gregory entered.
In the middle of the blue coloured room was a Gold statue of a tall, creepy looking figure with a Cheshire grin. To Gregory, it resembled a lanky jester wearing a mask that resembled the Sun, it's poofy pants and pointy toed shoes further emphasising it's jester-ish appearance. Upon closer inspection, Gregory could also see that the other half of its Sun mask was eclipsed by a Crescent Moon.
The plaque under the statue read: The Daycare Attendant.
Meanwhile, placed at the left and right sides were several seating areas along with horizontal lockers for children to put their shoes or belongings in before they entered the daycare. Farther right, there was a counter where someone would have likely sat, probably to check if the children had brought their daycare passes before they were let in.
The Fazwatch on his wrist beeps.
"Hello Gregory," Freddy beamed, "I am now fully charged but I am unable to reach you from within the daycare. When you're inside, tell the Daycare Attendant to let me in".
"And what if he doesn't?" Gregory asks, his feelings of suspicion still on high alert after what William Afton had mentioned earlier.
"What do you mean?"
"Like...what if he doesn't want to let you in?" Gregory re-iterated his question.
"Well...then you'll just have to find a Security Pass. There's a Security Desk there that should have one somewhere. Good luck Superstar."
Freddy ends the call.
Gregory walked towards the netting that lay just past the statue and takes in the sight that lay just beyond: The Daycare looked fun. It was a wide open space that was more lit up and overwhelmingly colourful than the rest of the mall. In it, he could see the Security Desk Freddy mentioned, a huge playground full of slides and tunnels to crawl in just in front of it, a large ball pit and so much more.
'If I weren't running for my life right now, I would have loved to take my time and play around here...'
Gregory then turned around and froze. He didn't notice it at first but now he could clearly see that there was another gold statue hidden behind the Sun one. This one however, even though it looked identical, was now in a more hunched over position. The triangles on the sides of its face, which made up a part of its sun mask, were now gone and this time, he wore a sleeping cap instead.
'How odd. Why is there another Daycare Attendant statue behind the first one?' Gregory wondered. Fortunately or unfortunately, his question would be answered soon enough.
Gregory looks away from the gold statue and walks towards the counter where he sees a sign above an entrance to a cylindrical slide.
SLIDE INTO FUN The bubbly words beckoned him. Having walked around the room earlier, Gregory noted that it seemed to be the only way into the Daycare. Taking a deep breath, he launches himself down the slide and slips into a whirlwind of colours before falling feet first into a pit full of colourful, multicoloured plastic balls.
Standing upright, Gregory soon realises with alarm that the amount of balls surrounding him practically reaches his shoulders due to his short height. Another memory is triggered but this time, this one goes far, far back to William's past, to an age where he very much resembled Gregory (if not maybe a little younger than that)...
William has hidden himself well within the depths of a large Ball Pit. He's stalking the dark haired boy who is trying to search for him anxiously. His green eyes dart back and forth, trying to find any sign of odd movement among the colours.
Little does he know, William is right behind him!
"Gotcha!" William pounces on the child.
"Ah!" the green-eyed boy lets out a funny sounding squeal as he is tackled by William and they both fall into the ball pit. Lying beside one another, they laugh.
"Caught you." William says, tickling his stomach playfully.
"Hahah Will cut it out! You know how ticklish I am there".
"Can't help it Henry." William grins, "You're way too easy to catch off guard."
The briefly happy memory finishes.
"Henry?" Gregory utters. It's a name fills him with warm, good feelings but there were also feelings of sadness and rage attached to it too...
Furthermore, he also remembered Freddy telling him that he mumbled his name in his sleep...
'But Why? Who is Henry'
Thinking about that name again, Gregory feels himself starting to cry but shakes his head to refocus his thoughts.
'Argh, I can't keep dwelling on William's past like this. I have to find that Security Pass or that Daycare Attendant guy'.
Gregory trudges forth through the multicoloured pool as fast as he can and, walking further from the slide, he soon hears the sound of something mechanical stirring from above. He gazes up to see a painting of a tower on the walls and, in the middle of this "tower", was a large stage platform that protruded outwards.
Gregory didn't have to wait long to see what was hidden behind the stage's red curtains as, after a few seconds, The Daycare Attendant energetically emerged from behind them. The humanoid animatronic looked exactly like the sun-faced Jester statue he'd seen earlier outside save for the fact that it was a little larger and not entirely golden. The animatronic's sun mask was a bright orange that was eclipsed with a white crescent moon while it's arms and body were more of a dull yellow colour in contrast. Additionally, he could also see that the stripes on his puffy pants alternated between reddish-brown and mustard yellow.
Exiting the curtains, he did a dramatic twirl before suddenly striking a dramatic pose with his hands outstretched and legs poised straight in the centre of the stage. As he did so, the small bells that were attached to his wrists with ribbons made a small jingling noise.
"Hooo. Hooo. Hooo." the Jester cried playfully and then, its head turned to stare DIRECTLY at him, "Don't Move ~ "
Swiftly, the Jester dived head first from the high platform into the Ballpit like a professional olympic diver and, freaking out, Gregory scrambles desperately backwards, trying to return to and climb back up the slide but before he can even reach it, he's pulled upwards by a pair of long, spindly fingers.
"AH!"
"Hello New Friend~" The Jester greeted him in a sing-song voice before turning him around to face him like Freddy had done earlier. However, unlike Freddy, the Daycare Attendant had a much creepier appearance. Especially now that he was holding Gregory a hair's breath away from his blank stare and enormously unnatural, permanently wide Cheshire grin.
'Who in the world thought this design was appealing for children younger than me?!'
"You sure are up late." he noted while strolling away from the ball pit with the child in his arms, "Are we having a slumber party?"
"No." Gregory responded. He felt like a large baby in the arms of the Daycare attendant and not in a good way.
"Would you like to?"
"Maybe." Gregory said one word again, trying to give the Daycare Attendant a hint to stop chatting to him. However, it seemed he wasn't going to let up with talking to him anytime soon...
"Where are all your friends?"
"I don't have many." Gregory lies to him with genuine sadness in his voice.
'And even if I did have any friends, they're probably long dead by now because William outlived or killed them all.'
The Jester eventually stepped out of the Ball pit and kept on carrying him, making a beeline towards the playground area.
"Oh? That's sad but...you know what? How about I become one of your new friends then?" the Jester suggested excitedly, "We can stay up all night getting to know each other by finger painting, telling stories and drinking Fizzy Faz until our heads ex-PLODE!"
At last, the Daycare Attendant finally stops carrying Gregory and puts the child down below the playground's bridge-like structure above them.
"We can do anything in this Daycare together BUT" he raises one finger, "...there is only one rule:"
His voice suddenly changes ominously, "Never turn the lights off. Keep the lights on! ON! On!"
Then, the Daycare attendant sits down in front of him, trying to make himself look less intimidating by being at his height (or trying to at least. He was still taller than Gregory even when seated).
"Alright." Gregory chuckles nervously looking behind him. "That sounds great but I need to find a Security Pass. Do you know where I can get one?"
Gregory already knows the answer of course for the moment he looked behind him, he could see the Security Desk just ahead. The daycare exit's, which took the form of a massive wooden gate, was located right next to it as well.
'Great. Now all I have to do is run to that Security Desk ahead, find the Security Pass, leave by that large door and then contact Freddy to fetch me. Simple'.
"Ahhhhahahah." The Jester chortles in a way that was meant to be whimsical but instead came off as disturbing, "Why ever would you need that for?
"Well erm...one of my friends says he's coming to collect me here and he wants me to let him in with that Pass. Unless you could maybe help me let him in as well?"
"Oh, your friend, you're talking about William right?"
Gregory backs away from the Sun, taking a 'flight or fight' stance.
"How do you know that name?" Gregory questions him fearfully.
"He spoke to us - I mean- me a while ago inside my head somehow and told me that if I found a lost child in a blue shirt, I'm supposed to contact him and keep the child - You - here until his lady friend arrives".
The Daycare attendant sits up. "Come to think of it, I should tell them you're here right now!"
"NO NO DON'T!" Gregory commands him at the top of his voice.
The Sun animatronic thankfully obeys, staring at the boy in shock seemingly.
Gregory breathes and adjusted his tone to be softer and calmer, "Please...don't tell them I'm here".
"Why not?" The Jester asks obliviously.
"They want to kill me."
"Kill? Don't be silly." The Daycare Attendant waves off his concerns literally with a flick of his hand which jingles a little, "They just want to bring you back to your parents. I'm going to call them now."
"Wait!" Gregory tries to halt him again.
"Hm?"
"Before you call them," Gregory comes up with an idea, "Can we play a game?"
"A game? Sure! That sounds fun! What do you want to play?" The Jester squeals eagerly.
"Ermmm..." Gregory quickly decides on a simple game with simple rules that would buy him time to escape, "I want to play Hide and Seek. I'll hide around this playground, you come find me and, when you do find me, you can contact them alright? And we can do whatever we want until they arrive."
"Oooh I love that idea. How long do you want me to count for?"
"One minute." Gregory smirked. He wasn't planning on losing this game anytime soon.
"Alrighty then! I'll start now." The Daycare Attendant puts his hands over his empty eye sockets, "One~Two~Three~"
Gregory quickly dashes toward the Security Desk that's behind him and, the moment he arrives, he begins to look frantically into the drawers for the security pass, opening them one by one since he was unable to see it on top of the desk.
One drawer is full of pencils and pens, another is full of unfinished paperwork, another is full of trash and poorly scribbled drawings of the animatronics. Eventually, he stumbles across the drawer with the Security Pass. Additionally, beside it also a small cardboard box. Will wasn't sure what it was but his curiosity was piqued and so, he pulled it out along with the Pass. A marker on the side labelled it as a "Prohibited Items Collection Box".
Putting the pass in his back pocket for now, Gregory opened the box and his eyes widened in happiness. Inside were just the things he needed: A small Fazbear entertainment brand flashlight (for some reason) along with a very good tool: A Pocket Knife. The child picks it up and gazes at his reflection smiling back at him the blade's surface. The knife felt...bizarrely comforting to have in his hands. It felt right and made him feel...stronger. He wondered if this was the "William" side of himself acting up...
"Argh! where is it?"
William dug through a stack of papers in a drawer until he found what he was looking for: His trusted pen knife that was usually by his side.
He breathes a sigh of relief as he grabs it, using the blade to cut open all the unopened mail he received recently. Most of it were bills or notifications of the happenings at Fazbears and his own Robotics company.
"William? Are you there?" A woman's voice called from afar...
"New friend?" he heard the Daycare attendant call him worriedly, breaking Gregory out of William's memory, "I can't find you. You're very good at hide and seek but now I'm worried you've disappeared entirely and if you vanish, William's going to be mad".
Gregory didn't realise how long he'd been stuck in that memory as now, he feels a shadow fall over him and looks up at the Daycare attendant who was already in front of him. However, he hadn't noticed him yet due to, once again, Gregory's short height being beneficial.
"How about we stop playing hide and seek and do a puppet show instead? OR we could do arts and crafts? I have glitter glue! Do you like glitter glue? Googly eyes? I have lots of those...Ah geez I hope you aren't-"
The Jester then spots Gregory as he was in the midst of sneaking away. He towered over him almost menacingly from behind the desk.
"New friend!" He jumps onto the desk, "You can't be here! This area is off limits! And is that a knife in your hands?!" The Daycare attendant leans away slightly, "You're gonna get us in trouble~"
"Yeah, it is." Gregory playfully swings the knife around in his right hand, bravely bragging a little. "What are you going to do about it?"
As if in answer to his question in a darkly funny way, the lights and music within the daycare abruptly go out.
"NO! NO! Why would you do that?!" the Daycare attendant screams, looking around frantically
"I didn't do anything!" Gregory spoke feeling just as confused as he was.
"Oh no. Oh No no no...Get the Lights on! Lights on! I warned you - I WARNED YOU".
The Sun began howling in agony for several seconds, clawing at it's own face before finally falling backwards off the table, letting out one final inhuman screech. It was almost as if had suffered some kind of heart attack.
Gregory was freaked out and now, things were about to get worse.
CLACK CLACK CLACK CLACK CLACK
Gregory hears the joints of something stir not far from where the Daycare attendant fell and sees the Jester rise, climbing back up again from behind the desk but now, he had a completely different appearance. His puffy pants were now blue and covered with stars, fingers coated the exact same colour and his arms, dyed silver. His face had also changed: the crescent moon side of his mask now being given more emphasis because the orange colour of his sun mask had now transformed into very dark black. What's more, the Spikes that made up his sun mask were gone and replaced by navy blue sleeping cap.
'Now he looks more like that Second Statue'. Gregory recalls what he observed earlier.
The Daycare Attendant's formerly blank eyes suddenly began to glow an eerie red colour, glaring directly at Gregory's own eyes with cruel intentions.
"NAuGhTY BoY. NAuGhTY BoY. It's past your bedtime." The Jester's presently demonic voice spoke, "You ran away from Mr Afton".
He suddenly jerks forward in an unsettling manner. It seems what changed in the process wasn't just the Daycare Attendant's looks but also his entire personality and voice.
"You must be brought back to him. You must be punished. Nighty Night." The Daycare Attendant then jerks forward again but this time, it leaps straight towards him like a grasshopper. Gregory jumps out of the way, barely avoiding his tackle.
CRASH!
He collides with the TV monitors in the wall behind Gregory and the boy instinctively heads to the large exit door. However, upon pushing it twice, he realises that it's locked!
If it was electronically powered, it was likely it wasn't opening because of the sudden power outrage. All lights and anything electric in the room were completely non-functional for now. Gregory heard the sounds of shifting movement near the Security Desk and realised the Daycare Attendant was already recovering. Thus, Grgeory had no choice but to run inside the playground area and hoped that the tunnels within would be small enough to protect him for now.
The Daycare Attendant gives chase as Gregory crawls into one of the tunnels. Gregory looks behind him while crawling farther in, seeing that the now Moon-faced animatronic is trying to catch him but tragically, its head is far too large for him to enter the tunnel.
"Grrrr You can't hide forever." He snarls at the clone and leaves, likely trying to find out where to grab him from next.
"Gregory come in!" Freddy's voice flickers to life on his Fazwatch, "I do not know what happened but the lights are out in the Daycare!".
"I'm well aware of that!" Gregory huffs at him with frustration, "I don't think this is a good time to be talking to me."
"Are you being chased by The Daycare Attendant's Moon Side?"
"Moon Side?"
"Yeah. That's what everyone usually calls his Other Self."
"And you didn't think to tell me about his 'Other Self' earlier?!" Gregory half-whispers and half-shouts.
"I'm sorry Superstar. It's just that I felt that information wasn't important because his Moon side is often as harmless as his regular self. Usually, when the lights go out, he'll just tuck children into a bed somewhere in the Daycare and watch over them as they sleep. However, if he senses someone is threatening him or the children, he'll become aggressive."
"Yeah um...I think he's sensed me as a threat and now, he wants to capture and bring me to the people who are after me!"
"Stay calm Gregory," Freddy tries to console him, "Are you hidden somewhere safe in the playground?"
"For now..."
"That's good. All you have to do now is find the emergency backup generators and turn them on. That's your only hope. They are in the play structures."
"That sounds...extremely dangerous." Gregory becomes frustrated again, "Who puts Generators around a children's playground?!"
"I don't know Gregory but I will inform the management about your complaint. Good luck Superstar".
The line cuts off and, as always, Gregory is alone in the dark. However, this time, he had a flashlight and knife in his hands. And he wasn't afraid to use either of them...
CHAPTER 9 END
Chapter 10 Title: Two Faced Jester - Part 2
AUTHOR'S NOTE: FYI, Both the Sun and Moon sides of the Daycare Attendant are working for William Afton and are under his command to capture Gregory. However, both of them are being lied to and misled by him. Additionally, both of them have different methods of capturing Gregory: Sun just wants to keep him entertained in the Daycare until Vanny arrives and genuinely wants to be his friend. Moon on the other hand, just wants to catch Gregory and deliver him to Vanny directly instead of just waiting for her to arrive.
Also, for those who spotted the "The Silver Eyes" reference, Good Job.