Author's Note: A New Chapter of Dark Rebirth will be uploaded every Sunday/Monday (just not this Sunday) from now on because of my new work schedule. Please be patient with me.

Location: Tunnels - Basement Floors

Time: 12:39am

"I'm so sorry. I didn't manage to catch up with him on time." Vanny apologises as she walks down the pathway to one of the Security Offices.

"That's alright. It doesn't help that the rabbit is clever and may be getting help from "other" places as well…" William informs her.

"Other places?"

"An old friend is still lingering about, along with my son…" The Gold Rabbit on her smartphone explains.

"Wait, didn't you tell me a long time ago that the two of them were dead?" Vanny is perplexed.

"They should be and yet they aren't."

"You mean they're like the other children we—"

"Yes."

William is silent for a moment, another idea lighting up in his mind. "Hopefully we have the chance to meet and capture them too. I'd love to add their souls to the 'collection'".

"I doubt they'd come quietly though." Vanny reminds him, "They hate you."

"I suppose we can try to negotiate. If not, we'll take their souls by force…"

—

Location: Parts and Service Room

Time: 12:52am

In a cylindrical chamber with several windows surrounding them and one entrance/exit just in front (which was unfortunately closed), a cluster of mechanical appendages with claws and other devices hung lifelessly above the giant robot bear whose head was detached from his body on a metal table at the moment. However, he was still active, seeing and hearing everything around him.

Meanwhile, a man in a purple shirt sat casually on the bear's torso, humming some kind of song that Freddy can't quite recognise. Being a translucent, weightless ghost, he wasn't really affecting Freddy that much.

"They sure are taking a while…" Mike remarks out of boredom as he finishes humming the song, "I wonder if they decided to abandon us."

"They wouldn't." Freddy comforts him even though he doesn't really need it, "They'll certainly be here soon."

"You sure have a lot of faith in them…." the man looks left and right at the cylindrical chamber they are both trapped in before groaning, "Ah man,I hate this place. It looks too similar to…another place I really hate."

"Do you want to talk about it?" Freddy inquires.

"I'm not sure I should. It's an uncomfortable memory." Mike closes his eyes.

"It's alright. If you don't feel like talking about something that makes you feel upset, I won't push you." Freddy comforts him again.

"What is this place anyway?"

"Parts and Service. The animatronics usually come here to be repaired or scrapped or, as some of the employees call it, 'scooped'".

Mike felt distrubed by the word. "Scooped?!"

Freddy nods. "Scooped is another word for being scrapped."

"Yes. I know that. Listen Freddy, did that Daycare Attendant thing bring you here to get scooped? Because I don't want that. For either of us." Mike makes his arms in an 'X' gesture.

Once again, Freddy speaks in that comforting tone of his. "No. They wouldn't. Not now at least. I have only been brought in for routine maintenance".

Freddy can't scan Mike for his current emotional state (as he's dead) but he does recognise a troubled expression when he sees one. "You seem distressed Micheal, Are you alright?"

"No. I hate this place. I was torn in half in a room just like this by one of my father's own creations."

"You don't look torn in half."

"I was. And so much more."

Mike slowly pops off the buttons off of his shirt. One after the other. After that, he pulls it apart from the middle, exposing a particularly brutal purple scar wound that split down in the middle of his chest and torso. Freddy also noticed that the scars also extended to the top right and left of his chest to where his arms were.

It was as if someone had cut him open during a surgery to remove his bones but horribly botched the operation and did a poor stitching job to cover it up. Furthermore, there were other scars of various shapes and sizes that lined his body like morbid tattoos. Some of them were from school fights or self-harm attempts but most, if not all, of them originated from the abuse he had to endure from his father over the years.

"Look!" Mike gestures to the ugly markings all over his body, "This is the reason I hate him. This is what my Father did to me!"

"I'm so sorry to hear this Mike." Freddy's expression is disgusted but his voice remains warm and curious, "Would you like to vent to me your feelings? Maybe it would relieve some of the anger and hurt you are currently feeling. Also, I am curious about the large scar you have in the middle."

"You're blunt. I like that. The story of that one is not pleasant but I have nothing else to do so…sure".

Mike jumps off Freddy and starts pacing around the Parts and Service Room. "Where to begin? Well, I was watching TV when my Father commanded me to go down to the basement below our house and fetch my sister. Here's the problem though: She was Dead, killed by one of his machines in an accident".

"I didn't know you had siblings."

"I wasn't kidding when I said my father was a Rabbit, especially in the bedroom." Mike sniggers, "I had a younger brother too but that's a story for another time…."

Mike clasps his hands, "Anyway, so I had no idea what the Hell he was talking about, assumed he was drunk again and I refused. He then punched me in the face and threatened to kick me out of the house if he didn't obey him and so, grumbling, I went down to the basement the next night. I hadn't been down there before at all and, when I walked in, I felt like I was in a sci-fi movie because of the metal corridors and my father's strange machines. At some point during the night, I started hearing my sister's voice and I was just…compelled to find her, hoping that maybe my father was right and that she was still alive".

"And did you find her?" Freddy asked.

"It took me some days but yes, I did. She was alive but not in the way I expected. My father turned her into one of his animatronic abominations. Twisted her into something like himself physically and mentally." Mike laughs darkly to the point where Freddy thinks he might cry. "She was this…misshapen mass of wires and a clown mask that fused herself with my father's animatronics that were also lying within the basement".

Mike takes a deep breath (out of habit).

"Then, the mass of wires that was my sister knocked me out and when I woke up, I was tied to a chair in a room just like this one. I heard her tell me that she 'needed my body to get out of here' and 'this would only hurt for a moment' and then, I felt a sharp pain and collapsed to the ground. I was in great pain and I felt..…things falling out from my torso…eugh." Mike makes a disgusted noise before continuing, "And then, going in and out of consciousness, I passed out as my sister stood in front of me. The next thing I know, I woke up on the side of the road at night just outside my house and felt….Out of sorts. I noticed how numb I felt and how my skin was red and purple all over and, when I walked back in and looked in the mirror. I screamed."

"Why?"

"Because I died from blood loss back in that room and became a decaying, shambling zombie with metal parts and wires poorly placed around my body. Any internal organs I had were gone because my sister used me as a fucking meat suit to get out of that basement".

"That sounds…excruciatingly painful." Freddy pities him.

"It was." Mike cringes, "Perhaps I should be glad I died before I had to feel her pull out the rest of my bones and organs…".

Finishing his story, Mike turns to look at Freddy. "Do you see why I hate my Father now? Do you see how he ruins lives and poisons the minds of everyone he meets?"

"I see that your Father is a cruel man but…Gregory doesn't feel like that. He's violent, true, but all he is currently is a broken child with no moral guidance that desperately needs love and support."

Mike snaps, "He'll turn out like my father eventually. I just know it!"

"But technically, even though Gregory is him, Gregory did none of those terrible things and I feel you don't have the right to punish him for what happened to you in the past." Freddy says, "Don't you think that by constantly reminding Gregory that he is a bad person, he'll also slowly come to believe it?"

"You're a dumbass." Mike shakes his head. "He already knows he's a bad person and he can't change".

"I think you should talk about what you told me with Gregory as I feel like you both have something in common with people who tried or are trying to take over your bodies." Freddy tries to give Mike a helpful suggestion.

"Please don't insist I have anything in common with my father." Mike scowled.

"It was just a suggestion." Freddy remarks feeling a bit miffed that he was unable to pet Mike's head to console him, "I just want you to get along with the child."

"Like Hell I will." Mike gazes away to the closed entrance to the room in front of them, "What I don't get why you still want to protect him even after all I've told you."

"I'll only repeat what I said earlier: I don't see Gregory as William. He's simply a broken, violent child in distress, a child that's in need of love and support".

"Yeah right."

Before Freddy can say anything more, a small spotlight shines on him. The source? Vanessa's flashlight. The usual grumpy look plastered on her face as she stood outside the cylindrical repair room.

"Hello Freddy." she greets him with an unflattering, exasperated tone. Unknown to her, her voice was slightly muffled by the thick and curved walls of the Parts and Service room.

"Officer Vanessa. What a surprise to see you here".

She folded her arms, "The Daycare Attendant told me you were hurt by Monty. What did you do to piss him off?"

"I'm unsure. He really isn't himself tonight." Freddy responds.

"I see…" She sighs, "Anyhow, I found the child I was searching for earlier and tried to bring him to the lost and found but then I fainted. There was no sign of him anywhere when I awoke and so I was wondering, would you know where he is?"

"Not at all." Freddy responded.

"This is frustrating. There's no record of him or his parents in the database. At all. Which leads me to believe he's a homeless or thief or…something more?"

"Oh lady, you don't know the half of it…" Mike crosses his arms as he talks, practically invisible to Vanessa.

"That's unfortunate." Freddy remarks, "Perhaps if you reattach my head now, I can go look for him with the others".

"No. You're working with him aren't you?" Vanessa accuses, "You know how I know that? I saw footage of him exiting and entering your chest cavity".

"You did?" Freddy pretends to play dumb (but poorly). Mike facepalms.

"Yes. The proof is right in the cameras." She shakes her head in disapproval, "When the higher ups find out about this, you're getting scooped tomorrow morning. Monty will run the shows until Parts and Service can slap your casing on a new endo. Hang out here for a while. I'll find the kid myself."

"Vanessa. Do not leave me like this!" Freddy pleads.

Too late. Vanessa has already turned on her heel, ignoring his cry as she makes her exit from the stairs to her right. She walks up and up until both Freddy and Mike can't hear her footsteps anymore. Mike gulps and goes closer to Freddy, looking at his wires below his head.

"Okay that settles it. We have to leave! Now!"

Mike tries to pull one of the wires to reconnect Freddy's head back to his broken body but his hand can't reach it at all. It just goes right through it.

"Dammit if only I could re-attach your head somehow…"

"Freddy!" a child-like voice calls to them. "We're here!"

Both of them wonder where his voice is coming from when they see a small shape and a larger shape emerge from the shadows to their left.

"Sorry. We were lost in the vents for…." Henry apologies but trails off as he sees that Mike is shirtless, all his wounds laid bare for them to see, "Mike. What the hell?"

"Oh, I was just showing Freddy my Father's cruelty." He stares pointedly at Gregory who looks away. Before Mike could say anything more that would hurt Gregory, Freddy interrupted him.

"Gregory, Henry, I'm so glad you are here!" Freddy exclaims happily, "Please use that computer to the right to open the door."

Gregory nods and presses the on switch. It's less advanced than the other computers he'd seen in the building and seemed to appear more like one of those old computers that existed in the very distant past.

'It's odd that something like this still exists in a future where cloning and advanced AI are possible'. Gregory notes.

"Welcome to Parts and Service." a polite robotic voice that almost sounded human spoke, "Please select your desired procedure."

Gregory pauses, suddenly feeling some form of recognition towards this place and the voice. His fingers linger above the keyboard as his mind once again begins to recall memories of his previous life for him.

'This voice … I heard it earlier when the doors were closing but I didn't recognise it before until now.'

Henry sees that Gregory is getting a distant look in his eyes. He recognises it now after witnessing it several times in the corridors earlier as Gregory only seems to look like this when he's about to get lost in another one of William's memories.

"You ok?" Henry asks Gregory.

"Why does this all feel familiar?" Gregory says his question aloud, "It's like–"

"The basement in our house?" Mike rudely finishes for him, "The place where you sent me to die and get turned into a walking corpse? Where you murdered Elizabeth and shoved her body into another metal prison?!"

"Mike!" Henry scolds.

"When I told you to talk to Gregory about your past, I didn't mean for you to do it like this…" Freddy also reprimands him, feeling shocked.

"Ugh." Gregory's head starts to get dizzy again and he stares at his hands. They feel odd. Turning them over, he sees that his palms are coated with some kind of liquid. Still warm and very red.

He can't hear Henry or Mike arguing anymore, only the sound of a girl laughing behind him and, when he looks behind, he sees a 7 foot tall, doll-like animatronic with green eyes idly standing there. The robot had orange hair put up in pigtails, a cutesy bright red dress and a round white face with a large, inviting smile. On her torso was a very prominent hole where red liquid was dripping down from its corners. Gregory goes up to the Giant doll and presses a button, opening its stomach cavity to reveal the contents inside.

"AHHHHH!" Gregory screams in horror and falls over.

Everyone swerves their heads towards Gregory. He stayed rooted to the same spot and only hallucinated moving towards the large mechanical doll but the feelings he was experiencing were very real. Elizabeth, His- No, William's - daughter was dead, her body violently shredded by one of his Funtime Animatronics called Circus Baby until it was nothing but blood and fleshy bits stuck to the grinding device within its torso.

"AHHHHHH!"

He screams but he's unsure if it's him being frightened or William being genuinely upset over Elizabeth's death. Henry and Mike approach him but Henry of course is the one to tell and reassure him to calm down.

"Gregory, I don't know what just happened but whatever you're seeing right now isn't real."

"I saw her." Gregory partially sobs, a few tears falling down his eyes, "I saw Elizabeth. His daughter. She was there. In a giant orange-haired doll. She was everywhere…inside."

"Calm down. Take deep breaths." Freddy says weakly. "You're not there anymore, You're with us now."

Freddy watches Henry continue to reassure Gregory and wishes he could say more but he's running out of battery and needs to conserve his strength. Eventually, after a few minutes, Gregory calms down and wipes his tears away.

"Are you better now?"

"Yeah." Gregory places a hand over his still rapidly beating heart. "I'm surprised to learn William had a daughter though."

"Well, I wasn't lying when I told you my father was a 'Rabbit'." Mike snickers, "Oh boy, wait till you remember the third —"

"Mike." Henry cautioned him. "Let's not bring him up. Not yet. I know you don't like talking about this either. This will just hurt us".

"This might sound wrong but…I want him to suffer. I want him to remember every single wrong thing he did." The man clenches his fist.

"Mike, you need therapy."

"As far as I know, they don't cater to ghosts." He shrugs.

"Gregory, go talk with Freddy. I have WORDS with Mike about this private? LOUD, RUDE ONES?"

Gregory nods, still feeling shaken by witnessing Elizabeth's death, as Mike and Henry (as well as Mike's shirt) vanish somewhere.

"Gregory…" Freddy calls him urgently from behind the Parts and Service room door, "My battery life is running at 19%. I need to speak with you".

The boy turns to face Freddy who is getting weaker by the minute and, deciding to refocus on the present instead of the past, he goes back to the laptop and chooses the "Full Body Repair" procedure to enter the room where Freddy is in. The metallic door opens, being retracted from above.

"Procedure selected. Please enter the protective cylinder to continue." the AI instructs him.

Taking a deep breath, Gregory approaches the partially-destroyed Freddy, grimacing at the sight as he wonders what Freddy will say to him...

Chapter 18 End

Chapter 19 Title: ?

Summary: Gregory has to repair Freddy's body using William's skills.