Location: Loading Docks - Kitchen
Time: 3:45am
"Why are we going in circles Gregory?" Freddy asks after he and the boy make a fifth round about the large area. In the distance, the echoes of Chica's greedy, mechanical munching could be heard.
"I'm trying to familiarize myself with this Kitchen's layout. I've only been here once before when you told me there was an exit past this place." Gregory explains while simultaneously gazing at the Fazmap, "Once I've gotten used to where everything is, I can see how to lure Chica to where I want her to go using the Monty Mix I stored in your stomach".
"And where do you want her to go?"
"That…I haven't figured out yet." Gregory sighs. He looks around at the various cabinets and appliances until he sees something unusual.
"What's that?" Gregory points to a contraption at the right end of the area. On its outer wall was a control panel and a red button labeled "Trash". On the inside, It had two large and thick metal plates by its sides. One had no split in the center while the other did. The ground below these plates was also a bit dirtier than the others and wasn't even really a ground. Upon closer inspection, Gregory noticed it was, in reality, a small conveyor belt strip and that meant there was a mechanism below it.
"That's a garbage compactor. The employees use it to crush larger garbage and then, once that is done, it is automatically sent down the chute into the garbage disposal area below".
Gregory recalls the note which he read in the Bonnie Bowl earlier and presses the Fazmap in his Fazwatch, formulating and fleshing out the already existing plan in his head. There's silence for about 5 minutes until Mike speaks up.
"Let me guess Father: You're thinking about how to lure and crush that animatronic in there aren't you?"
"The latter, no. The former, yes." Gregory assures him, "I just need it to hold her in place as a last resort."
"And did you come up with a plan yet?"
"Yep." Gregory shows Mike the Fazmap. Henry and Freddy move in closer to see his plans as well.
"So Chica is here right? I toss a can and lay out the Monty Mix in front of her. She sees it and eats it. Then I get her attention again by laying out another small pile of monty Mix. I do it again a third time and lure her into this corridor that leads to the garbage compactor. She eats and I get her attention one more time. This time, I stand in front of the garbage compactor and in front of her. Once she sees me, I stun her with the Fazer Blaster, she gets temporarily distracted and then I run towards her and shut her down. Easy." Gregory smiles, "And if that doesn't work out, I also have a backup plan".
Henry observed Gregory lay out his plans before them with concern. He really was starting to act more like William. Especially with the way he was planning how to shut down Chica. It reminded him a bit too much about the time William told him how he would kill his victims discreetly.
"So here's my idea: Children are gullible. It's why they will be the most ideal targets for me to obtain souls and therefore, Remnant, from. I'll wear a disguise, maybe my Spring Bonnie costume or a security guard uniform and then, I promise them whatever they want and lure them into this room here." William points to an isolated room at the back of the Pizzeria on a Blueprint, "It's foolproof. No one will hear anything nor will it interrupt the business during the dayshift".
Henry was already having second thoughts about their plan.
"How can you say these things heartlessly William? These are children with families…."
"Hmmm you're right. I need to pick my victims carefully. Maybe lonely children. You know, those whose parents won't miss them until it's too late."
"You know that's not what I meant right?" Henry glared.
William saw the tranquil fury in Henry's expression and glared back at his friend with a much colder intensity.
"Henry, you want your daughter brought back to life do you not?"
"Yes."
"Then do as I say and let me do this or you'll never see her again…"
"Would the backup plan also involve killing her with the garbage compactor?" Mike asks with a disapproving tone.
"No. I promised I would save Freddy's friends, remember? If she gets out of hand, I'll just hold her down by using the machine and stop it before it can fully crush her".
Gregroy steps away, "Ok I'm going to start luring her about. Be quiet ok Freddy?"
"Alright Superstar. I'll be nearby if you need me".
Freddy loudly stomps away. Gregory cautiously sneaks closer to Chica and starts by laying out the Monty Mix a few feet in front of her. He throws a can to get her attention. Chica looks up and sees the Monty Mix.
"Pizza!" She sees the new food in front of her and she starts to eat at it.
As she does that, Gregory then sets up the second and third small piles of Monty mix, ensuring that they were within Chica's line of sight. He watched her eat greedily, eating both piles in about a minute.
Eventually, Chica reaches the last pile and Gregory steps between her and the garbage compactor.
"Hey Chica, looking for me?"
The very second she stands and tilts her head up, Gregory stuns her with the lazer from the Fazer Blaster.
"Aaaah!" Chica makes panicked clucking noises as her body spasms into a twitching seizure from the effect of being stunned. Her eyes roll to the back of her head and her body then leans over, going limp but she remains standing.
Gregory wondered why Fazbears would allow their animatronics to feel pain in the first place but he didn't want to question that for now. He takes the chance to run up to her, thinking he can press the button before she awakens but as he does, he gets a rude surprise.
One of Chica's arms springs to life and grabs Gregory by the wrist. She then stares into him with eyes that were suddenly filled by neon purple.
"Got you!" A William-possessed Chica smirks.
"What? How? How did you know I was coming to the kitchen?"
"I have eyes everywhere, Gregory. Even in places where you don't think I have them," William then tightly pulls Gregory towards Chica. "Now return to me!"
Freddy charges towards them and instinctively tries to protect Gregory from Chica by tackling her. However, in the heat of the moment, it seems that he had forgotten about Chica's special ability.
"Freddy No! Don't get too close she's—"
The warning comes too late. Chica emits a deafening, high pitched noise. Gregory cringes from the jarring yell but can't cover his other ear with only one arm. Meanwhile, Freddy is instantly shut down. Gregory looks behind him, seeing the bear's eyes now completely closed and remaining in position.
"Hmm seems the animatronic disabling feature of her voicebox is more useful than I thought it would be…It has a far range too." Glitchtrap muses happily, "Freddy can't hear you or save you now Gregory".
"I haven't lost yet!"
With that, he uses his left arm to grab a hardened chunk of Monty Mix that he stuffed into his pockets beforehand and throws it at the garbage compactor behind them.
"What was that meant to do?"
Gregory smirks at him, "You'll see."
"I smell Pizza!" Chica cheerfully wakes up smelling the scent of Monty Mix, overriding William's control temporarily.
"What No! Why!" William yells in vexation.
Chica releases Gregory to attempt to eat the Monty Mix he had thrown, pecking at its hard surface and trying to crush it in her hands in order to devour the solid chunk.
"Om nom nom."
Now that Chica was directly in the range of the compactor, Gregory saw a chance to use the compactor to keep her in place, he stretched his hand to press the button by the side that was labeled 'Trash'. However, it's only at this moment he sees that there's a pressure setting near the button and that he forgot to set it before he pressed it on impulse. Currently, it was set to High.
What was even worse however was that Gregory could see no emergency stop button. At all.
"Oh Shi-" William exits the body of Chica before he gets crushed by metal for another time in his existence as the heavy and hard metal plate slams into her from the right side. The confused bird lets out a pained squawk as she is instantly crushed by the sudden force. The plate then releases and Chica falls to the floor unconscious.
Believing she was down for the count, Gregory went up to the now partially crushed Chica to press the button that would shut her off for the time being but, much to his chagrin, Chica it seems wasn't entirely out of commission yet.
She lets out a garbled yell at him, grabbing his foot. Gregory screamed and kicked her before quickly grabbing his knife in the other pocket to stab her in the eye. Chica wasn't expecting the boy to fight back like this causing her to reel backwards and, fortunately or unfortunately, the plate swiftly came down again but harder this time and crushed her head against the walls to such an extent that her eyes popped out slightly. Then, the plate rescinded and Chica's body fell down once more. She let out a pained moan.
Dammit, this didn't go as planned. I just wanted to hold her in place. Gregory cringed at Chica's cracked form, 'I should have thought this plan out more….checked and tested the damn compactor beforehand but that would have alerted her to me and Freddy as well..'
Gregory only gets a second to dwell on his mistakes before everything yhappens too quickly for the child to process: The chute doors at the left that lead to the garbage disposal area abruptly open, the small conveyor belt below activates and pushes Chica into said chute and, unable to get her hands off of his foot in time, Gregory is also dragged down into the depths of the Pizzaplex with her…
—-
Location: Garbage Disposal Area
Time: 4:02am
"Ahhhhh!"
Gregory and Chica dropped at least seven feet into a pile of garbage bags that were filled to the brim with trash that was waiting for them below. The area smells of rotting Mexican Food and Pizza (with hints of fish).
"Blegh!" Gregory gagged at the stench. This place stank, like it hasn't been cleaned out for weeks. The dirty, moldy look of the floor and walls didn't help either.
Searching left and right with his eyes, he tries to find the exit in the dark room but before he can even think of escaping by himself, he's grabbed up by a pair of neon armbands that brought him close to a pink, metallic chest.
"Gotcha!" Chica says lovingly with an extremely garbled voice, "Will…happy…see you".
Chica then walks away with Gregory held tightly in her arms, holding him by the chest and under his legs like a baby.
"Let me go!" Gregory screams, hitting at her hard exterior angrily. His knife was still stuck in her eyes. He had to reach it.
"Why? Father …. wants you …Why …. hate him so much?"
"He's not my Father! If he gets me, I'm going to stop existing!" Gregory tried to explain the situation to her.
"Don't understand…don't believe you."
Gregory outstretched his hands to try get the knife quickly from her eyes quickly and managed to do so. He then attempts to stab her face again, hoping to get another pained reaction from her but quickly, she uses her right arm which was carrying his legs, to restrain his attacking arm. Gregory also falls down slightly, the knife landing closer to her shoulder instead of her face".
"Uh Uh…your age….no knives."
With that, she tosses it to the side and keeps walking. Once again, Gregory found himself without a knife and was freaking out. He had nothing left to defend himself with! Still, there was one more thing he could do: They were deep underground but it was worth a shot.
Gregory presses the small button on his watch. The display turned on but only read: No Connection.
"Freddy!" Gregory whispers urgently, "Help!"
Freddy doesn't answer. The display remains the same.
"This is bad. This is really bad!"
Was this all over or could he escape somehow? Gregory looks around and struggles, thrashing in Chica's firm grip. Eventually, he stops, exhausted.
Nope. He couldn't get out by wriggling himself free. So what was next? Wait for an opportunity to distract Chica…? Or perhaps he didn't need to wait, he could take action with his words right now!
"Chica, can I use the bathroom? I need to pee."
It wasn't the best excuse Gregory had but it was all he had for the moment.
"No bathrooms here." Chica stated.
"Can I just pee in the corner or something?" Gregory pleads with her.
"Do that…when…closer to…. William…."
"Closer to William?" Gregory repeated her words himself and a thought instantly clicked to mind, "Wait, where are you bringing me to?!"
As far as he knew, William was everywhere in the Pizzaplex. Why did she need to bring him to a specific location if he wanted to transfer himself into him? He also recalled that Vanny would have brought him somewhere as well had he remained ignorant to what was going on.
"Not sure…William gave me…coordinates ….out of range from the mall."
'Shit. Out of range? Where the hell are we going?' Gregory wonders internally.
With nothing left to lose, he decides to do one last thing. It was pathetic but he didn't have a choice now but to sacrifice his dignity…
"HELP ME! SOMEONE PLEASE! MIKE! HENRY! FREDDY!" Gregory shouts desperately and helplessly. They echo through the concave corridors but nothing happens.
"HELP! SOMEONE! ANYONE!" Gregory calls out again, "PLEASE SAVE ME!"
As he shouts a second time though, Gregory notices something odd out of the corner of his eyes. At this segment of the garbage disposal area, There are dismembered staff bots and every single one of them had marks on them that resembled tears. They looked disturbingly familiar to something in his memories.
"No…one…here…but us." Chica simply states as she keeps bringing Gregory to his doom. The boy starts to lose hope.
"ANYONE! SOMEONE! PLEASE HELP ME!" Gregory cries out one last time, "I DON'T WANT TO DIE!"
CLICK CLICK CLICK
Gregory's head turns to the sound of the noise. Chica didn't seem to notice it. Seconds later, he then sees movement, a dark shape crawling on the concave walls in front of them but at the sides. Another party had heard his calls…Something else was with them now.
Without warning, it descends from the darkness of the ceiling and falls down onto Chica, fortunately wrapping itself around her beak and face so that the bird lady couldn't use her special voice box. She let out a muffled, panicked squawk and, in her agitated need to get it off of her head, she dropped Gregory who fell to the concrete floor with a "Thud", using both of her hands to pry off the attacker. However, it was in vain as the attacker was far too fast, nimble and flexible to be torn apart or off by her.
Gregory gets to his feet and registers what's going on: There was some kind of shapeless figure covered from head to toe in black that was attacking Chica and trying to kill her! However, this isn't what he wanted. He didn't know what the goal of the mysterious figure was but he hoped it was on his side (and knew English).
"Hey! If you can understand me, help me shut it off. She has a shutdown button at the top of her head."
The being paused its movements for a second before going back to dealing with Chica and made one its tendrils press the button on her head that Gregory mentioned. Much like Roxy, Chica slowly but surely begins to slow down and eventually, she falls and stops moving. Once she stops, the shadowy figure also gets up, slinking towards the boy and manifesting itself into a more humanoid shape.
"Thank you," Gregory breathes, "If it weren't for you, I would have been done – "
The boy freezes, staring at his saviour in horror.
"You're welcome." A girly, child-like voice replies from the hollow smile of a blank white face which had single, purple lines that ran down from each of its two equally hollow eyes.
"AHHHHH!"
The boy screamed. It was: Charlie Emily. Henry's beloved daughter and His first victim.
She was still in the same animatronic but it seems she hadn't come out unscathed from the fire that happened those years ago and as a result, Gregory could discern that she had made some modifications to herself using various parts that she likely salvaged from different items in the Pizzaplex. The lanky, very flexible body it had was still the same: A long, humanoid shape covered by a black cloth-like texture, white stripes on the wrists and ankles, three white buttons that lined its chest… However, parts of it had recently been plastered with white and grey tape to prevent its circuits from being exposed to the elements. Additionally, the familiar white face with rosy cheeks and red lipstick it used to have was now gone, replaced now by an almost identical metallic faceplate of a Staffbot that was modified to look like her original face through the use of paints and markers.
"Don't be afraid." She reassures him gently, one of her spindly tendril 'hands' reached out and stroked his hair, "I know I may look scary but I'm here to help. I protect children like you".
"Yeah…yeah erm Thanks." Gregory smiled at her nervously with a wide grin as her fingers made contact with his head. He felt like he was going to break into a sweat at any minute.
How could he tell her he wasn't what she thought he was? How could he tell her he was the man who ended her life without risking being strangled by her? He couldn't and so, he had to lie, pretend to be the frightened child she thought he was.
"I'm G–Gr-Gregory." He fakes a stutter.
"Gregory. That's a nice name. I'm Marionette. You may call me Mari or Puppet. Whatever you feel like."
"What are you doing down here?" They ask in unison.
Gregory responds first with a lie: "I was with my parents when everything went black. Next thing you know, I was trapped in the Pizzaplex above and kidnapped by Chica. She was taking me to someone called William. I don't know who that is…"
"William…" She spoke the name with utter contempt, "That monster…It's good that I got to you before he did or else you would have been his latest victim".
"What does that mean?" Gregory asked, confused, fear seeping into his heart, "I'm not the only child who has been kidnapped recently like this before?"
"No. You haven't heard the news? Around town, there have been more children going missing, like before, and they have been vanishing around this Pizzaplex for 3 months…"
3 months…wasn't that when Chica started to get her weird eating habits?
"I kind of have..." Gregory lies, "And is this William guy responsible for it? The disappearances?"
"Yes. He and I have a long history with one another but all you need to know is that he's an evil and cruel man who caused me to be trapped in this body. He kidnapped and killed children like me and you in the past and now, he's come back to do it all over again using the animatronics from this mall".
"I see...That's not good." Gregory mutters, "I wish I could do something about it".
"You can." Charlie consoles him, "Just leave this place alive and well for me. There's an elevator ahead that goes back to the Pizzaplex above. Up there, you can find someone to help you. I don't use it but I'll bring you there anyway".
"Why don't you go up?"
"I'm staying down here to protect more children from being kidnapped by the animatronics and that creepy Rabbit lady that's obeying William for some reason. Also, I'm trying to rescue my own friends as they're somewhere down here too".
"Maybe we can rescue them together?"
"No. I don't want an innocent kid like you involved." Charlie refuses and starts to slink away from him on her long legs and small, knub-like feet, "Just run, get as far away from here as possible and go back to your family".
"Actually, I'm pretty involved with this already Charlie." Gregory admitted.
"Huh? How do you know my real name?"
"I met your father…Henry."
Charlie stops backing away and slides back closer to him, piqued by this child, "How?"
"I…I can see ghosts and I saw him possessing the Freddy animatronic in the Pizzaplex. Henry told me he was looking for you and some missing kids and asked me to help him out since I was here and could talk to him. He misses you. Also, there was another guy with him as well: Michael."
"By any chance, is his last name Afton?"
"Come to think of it…" Gregory pretends to recall, "Yes."
Charlie has a troubled look on her face upon learning that her Father and Mike were currently ghosts possessing an animatronic like her.
"I think we should help out one another." Gregory suggests with a friendly tone to his voice, "Will you join us back above? I know where they are."
"Yes." Charlie agrees to his offer instantaneously, "I'll bring you to the elevator and then, you lead me to them."
"Hang on." Gregory halts her, "before we leave, do you mind helping me carry Chica with us too?
"Why?" Charlie enquires.
"I promised the Freddy animatronic that I would fix his friends. They're usually not so hostile and are being affected by William tonight as he's trying to get me."
"How kind of you." Charlie compliments him, "Okay, I'll help out. Just give me a minute."
Charlie lets out a small shrill and then goes completely still. Gregory had no idea what was going on…
"Ummm What's happening?"
"Be patient. They'll be here soon".
"They?"
"You'll see…"
After waiting for a few minutes. Gregory starts to hear noises from behind them.
"Ah there they are…" Charlie says.
Gregory looks back and sees four Staff bots arriving into the fray with a large warehouse trolley that was reserved for larger boxes. Under their eyes were vertical, purple stripes that were identical to The Puppet's. They stop just in front of Chica and quickly load her presently lifeless body onto it before they move behind, getting into position to push the trolley forwards by the handles. The third and fourth ones stood behind the first two, giving them additional support to push the heavy load.
"I learned how to do this a while ago." Charlie quickly mentions to him as she wraps herself around a large gap in the trolley's backing board, "It's going to take a while to get there so you can sit down here while I guide the Bots to bring us to the lift."
Charlie pats the empty space next to Chica's deactivated body with the tendril which was meant to represent her right hand. Gregory nods and sits on the trolley with Charlie and Chica. Charlie then does a motion, instructing the bots to get them to the nearest exit in the sewers.
CHAPTER 24 End
CHAPTER 25 Title: All is Hell in the Afton Family Part 1
Summary: Gregory and Charlie discover an odd room. William attempts to tempt Mike and Henry with an Offer.