Author's note:
Here we are. The Final Chapter of Dark Rebirth. Prepare to cry or just feel a lot in general.
Honestly, I didn't think I would get this far with my fanfic. I quit writing fanfics 5 years ago but Security Breach dragged me back because of its lacklustre plot but because of it, I met some wonderful people who helped with my fanfic. Thank you MermaidMagick and Solomon for your wonderful ideas and feedback. Without you, I don't think the fanfic would have been as good as it is right now.
So something you noticed is that there's no more Location and Time. The reason I stopped using the Location and time is because things get less chaotic towards the end and Gregory has no more Fazwatch to even tell time and gets stuck in dreams…Twice!
Also, FYI, It's probably around 7:15am by the time they exit because yeah, even though the whole thing felt very long, that's mainly because Gregory was in the dream sequences.
A certain 'Angel' Appears btw. To me, he sounds like either Morgan Freeman or Khonshu from Moon Knight.
Lastly, "Cassidy" appears in this chapter and goes by They/Them pronouns when fused. When separated into their individual characters, they go by 'she/her' and 'he/him'
Anyhow. Enjoy the final part.
Gregory no longer knows what time it is anymore by the time they all get out. The sky is very cloudy this morning and thus, he can perceive the sunlight peeking through several clouds but can't tell how high it is above the horizon. However, noting that the clouds were coated in purple and blue hues, he could estimate that it was presently either sunrise or past that time already.
Heading far from the fire and the flames, DJ Music Man scuttles past the entire length of the wide, empty and grey Pizzaplex parking lot and drops them at its edge where a conglomeration of green trees were spread out. They were the last of the those he had been ordered to rescue by the Daycare Attendant and so, the DJ took his rest, plopping himself on the ground near an oak tree and powering down into sleep mode right next to the Attendant who sorts through a pile of toys and miscellaneous items that he rescued from the Daycare while Roxy and Chica make sure every surviving bot is accounted for.
Meanwhile, farther left, Gregory spotted Vanessa standing under a nearby streetlight as she contacted someone on her smartphone. He was a bit apprehensive with it in her hands but with the fake William gone, he was convinced she was and could no longer be under His control.
"Hey everyone!" Freddy yells, waving his right hand, "We made it out".
Roxy and Chica are the first to run up and greet them and Vanessa acknowledges them from a distance with a smile, returning Freddy's wave with a single wave of her own as she's busy talking with whoever is with her on the line.
The Attendant on the other hand doesn't seem to react to them for he was lifting some heavy objects from the pile at the moment. However, he was conscious that they were there and would properly greet the boy once he put the items down.
"Gregory! Freddy! Monty! Charlie! What a relief. You're all alive." Chica chirps happily before immediately noticing that Gregory's bandages have fresh red blood stains.
She holds one of the boy's wrists, examining them, "Oh dear...I'll see if the Daycare Attendant has anything for your wrists".
"Thanks Chica".
A small glow shines to Gregory's left. Roxy is scanning him for injuries with her special eyes.
"Good news kid, your body is still in one piece with the exception of your wrists." Roxy reports, "How are you feeling right now?"
"I think I'm fine but I'm going to need a lot of therapy after this" Gregory responds to the wolf and the bear, "I've also stopped melting. Which is good".
"Melting?!" Roxy exclaims.
"It's erm complicated." Gregory says touching the one part of his shoulder where what was left of William's Remnant was injected into him, "Heh, in a strange way, that Fake unintentionally saved my life..."
"Gregory...Henry..." A girl's distorted voice calls to them. The boy gazes left to see that Monty is carrying the Puppet in his arms towards. The Puppet's mask is broken in half, the other having gone missing in the chaos, and its body currently damaged beyond repair, its circuits exposed and most of its outer material gone.
"Charlie? What happened to you and the Puppet?" Henry's voice raises with concern, asking the same question Gregory was about to.
"I tried to pry apart William from within and find a weakness but he was too strong. The arms and machinery within tore the Puppet apart. It's breaking down...I can't move anymore...It can't..."
The eyes of the Puppet stop glowing, its head slumping lifelessly downwards and begrudgingly, Charlie phases out the animatronic with a mournful expression on her face.
"He's gone." Charlie states blankly, "I can't move the Puppet's mechanisms anymore. My protector is finally gone."
Tears well her eyes as she places a ghostly hand on what was left of the Puppet's mask, treating the animatronic's permanent shutdown with the same reverence as a dear friend which had passed away, "I can't believe I'm saying goodbye to you after so many years. You've been with me for so long and having to let you go, it hurts".
She kneels down as she rests her head against its own, "Goodbye Security Puppet".
Then, Charlie starts to sob, releasing heavy waterfalls from her eyes. Henry instinctively goes to kneel beside her, stroking her back soothingly.
"I'm back with the medical supplies." Chica is blissfully ignorant of what transpired as she notices Charlie crying, "Did something happen?"
"Yeah. Charlie's Puppet can no longer function. She's very upset about it." Gregory discloses, "We should leave them alone for now. Give them some space to grieve."
"I see..." Chica's head lowers, "Let me help you with your wrists then".
Chica unwraps the dirty bandages, tending to Gregory's wounds as Henry sticks by his daughter's side, providing her with consoling words.
"If you want, I'll make you another one when we get to Heaven." He assures her, "I'll make all the toys you want".
Charlie sniffs, "You promise?"
"I promise." He opens his arms in welcome of a warm embrace and Charlie lets go of her dead guardian to be held in the arms of her father. He scoops her up and then, his eyes shift to Gregory, Freddy and Chica. The Bird Lady was nearly done with bandaging him up and he recalled there was something he needed to talk to him about.
Thus, he approached him with Charlie, still stroking her back over and over as he spoke, "Gregory, may I have a word with you?"
"What is it?"
"I need to talk to you about what you said to Vanessa earlier. I don't think you should have manipulated her like that".
"You're lecturing me about this now? Really?!"
"Yes."
"But...I thought it was for a good reason. I manipulated her, sure, but we did get her help in stopping William didn't we?" Gregory made puppy eyes at Henry, "Wasn't what I did a good thing?"
Gregory's words evoke memories of William and Henry glowers at him, "I mean yes but..."
Henry trails off. Similarly, next to him, Micheal's expression becomes less relaxed, his eyes darting around rapidly in search of something while concurrently, Charlie ceases her sobbing. She wipes away her residual tears on Henry's shoulder as they sense it: Two intense presences full of wrathful vengeance, headed straight towards Gregory.
"It's them." Charlie shivers in distress.
"Henry?" Gregory asks, currently very disturbed by the shift in the ghosts' moods, "What's wrong with Charlie?"
Behind Gregory, Henry, Micheal and Charlie spot Cassidy taking the form of Fredbear except with empty eyes and a cracked up body. It was almost a dark mockery of everything that Henry's iconic, friendly bear mascot stood for.
"Gregory, Ru–"
Charlie's warning comes a little too late. The Fredbear teleports behind Gregory and grabs the poor child by the throat, soaring upward until they are at level with the streetlights.
"AHHHHH!"
Everyone turns towards Gregory's extremely terrified shriek, focusing on the boy with various expressions of terror and worry.
"What the Hell?" Vanessa's eyes widened upon catching sight of the boy suddenly dangling mid air and being choked by an unseen force, feeling as though watching a scene from a horror movie.
"Vanessa, what is it?!"
"Sorry, I'll call you back Luis." The woman ends the call and charges towards Gregory.
"Hey! What's going on?! Why is the boy strangling on something and floating in the sky?!" Vanessa demands, "Is he possessed?"
"It's worse than that: He's being asphyxiated by a creepy Golden version of Freddy!" Chica informs her.
'Why do I keep getting choked so much.' Gregory whines in his thoughts, 'Well at least it can't get worse...'
Right below, unbeknownst to him, Fredbear slowly opens a portal below the boy's feet that emits a reddish light. The others below witness it simultaneously happening as well.
"What's happening now?" Vanessa asks, "I see something red below him!"
"That...I don't know." Chica replies.
"Can't we save him?"
"Unfortunately we can't attack something we can't see...or touch." Roxy states.
"What about other ghosts? Can't you tell them to float up there and save him?!"
"I would lady but ghosts like me who are trapped on the mortal plane can't fly like that." a sudden male voice speaks from Chica, "We can only levitate slightly. Believe me, I've tried".
"AH!" Vanessa jumped back, startled, "Who are you?!"
"Micheal Afton. A pleasure to meet you."
"Yeah...Nice to meet you too. We've never met face to face." Vanessa greets him awkwardly, "So what happens now?"
"Unfortunately, we can only hope that Gregory says the right words and gets out of this alive..."
—
Andrew is the first to speak from Fredbear, "You know, when we heard there were two Williams back on Earth, I wasn't expecting one of them to be this...small. Why is he so short Cass?"
"Maybe he shrunk in a washing machine like our Nan's clothes did that one time." Cassandra sniggers nastily before she and him erupt into outrageous laughter at their own joke.
Gregory just feels humiliated and petrified as they dangle him from high above,
"Not...short!" Gregory chokes out, hardly able to form sentences due to the bear's tight grip on his neck, "Let...go...monster!"
"Monster? You have the gall to call us that? After all you've done!" Cass snarled.
"Also, that's a very poor word choice." snarks Andrew, "You wouldn't like it if we let you go now".
The figure of Fredbear then lowers him downwards, deliberately loosening their grip on the boy's neck the lower and lower they bring him.
"I'm not like my past self!" Gregory protests, "I don't want to be evil ... I ..." .
Abruptly, Grgeory hears a cacophony of voices hideously screeching and cackling before he feels an intense heat reaching his ankles. He stares down and realizing that what lies below him isn't the carpark but a fiery landscape and several humans being tortured. Everyone below can distinguish the horrific sights clearly as well.
"H-Hey, that's not Hell below me is it?" Gregory questions fearfully.
"Oh yes it is." the twins voices become one, "And we have a special hole at the very bottom of Hell reserved just for you!"
Gregory prayed that they were joking but judging from the spiteful way they said words, they weren't. His heart rate spiked tremendously in that instant.
"HEY!" Charlie shouts from below. Cassidy annoyedly looks towards the source of the voice, "Leave him alone!"
"Oh Charlie...Seems you're still here. Just as the Old Man said. That's depressing." Cassidy remarks scathingly.
"Close that portal." she commands, "Don't hurt him. The boy's been through enough tonight".
"Hmm...what an odd request Charlotte, didn't you hate William just as much as we do?"
"I did but...that's not William you have there. This child is different from that murderer. He willingly saved the souls of several new children who were killed by the Fake and somehow, he convinced them to destroy him too. I saw it with my own eyes".
Cassidy scoffs, "Even so, you're not the boss of us! Sure, you were our leader back then but we never really did obey you soooo we're going to throw him in whether you like it or not!"
"Did you both not hear a word I said!" Charlotte forgot how rowdy and stubborn the both of them could be, "I'm telling you that this boy is not like William".
"And we don't care. William Afton is still William Afton no matter what form he takes and this child is destined to do horrible things!".
"Still, you can't truly be thinking of tossing a child into Hell." Henry intervenes and shakes his head, "That's insane!"
Their voices separated again.
"Oh but we are." Andrew announced gleefully, we planned to have some fun with him for a bit here and then, once we're done, we chuck this short slimeball down into Hell and punish him while he's still alive...you know, since he's a soulless clone who will just disappear if we kill him".
Gregory growls at being called short again.
"I agree with you Andrew. Death is too good for him. When he's there we will make him suffer again and again. The same way we do with the real William!" Cass proclaims sadistically, "Oh this is going to be fun. Now we'll have two WiIlliam's to torture!"
"Hey H-Henry's right! I don't deserve this! I'm only 2 weeks old for crying out loud! Release me now!" Gregory orders.
The twins' voices unite once more, their tone composed entirely of rage.
"Well neither did we! And once again, another poor choice of wording!"
Cassidy releases Gregory from their grasp physically. The boy lets out a high pitched scream as he falls towards the red portal but just before he breaches the entry, then they grab and lift him up again. He's hyperventilating.
Cassidy cackles, "Oh my god. He sounds like a frightened little girl".
"Both of you! Whoever you are! Return my son into my arms right now!" The animatronic bear steps forward, narrowing their eyes at them. Cassidy stares at them with interest while Freddy and Gregory stare at each other in surprise, both astonished that the mechanical bear had used such a word.
"Your son? Is this some kind of joke we aren't getting? How can anyone love a person as heinous as William Afton".
Freddy clenches both of his fists and raises one at them.
"Take those words back! He's not William. He's my son, and my Superstar." Freddy enunciated his words more assertively this time and changed his raised fist to a pointed finger which aimed directly at the boy, "Give him to me".
Cassidy spurns his demand, "I don't think we will".
"Cassidy, please be reasonable!" Charlie pleads with an insistent tone.
"Reasonable? You expect us to be reasonable after all he's done! YOU DO NOT UNDERSTAND OUR ANGER!"
Freddy Fazbear becoming protective of the child and genuinely furious at the Golden Bear above them, "Listen, I don't know who you both are or what William did that making you act so malicious towards Gregory here but this child has been through enough trauma and near death experiences tonight so please, give him to me this instant!"
"Or what?!"
THUNK THUNK THUNK
Cassidy feels someone hitting their head from above. It's a girl with orange hair piggybacking on them.
"Ow! What the?!"
"Leave him alone!" Elizabeth screams, slamming her bare hands on Fredbear, "Stop hurting the boy who may or may not be my Daddy!
Micheal, Charlie and Henry become stunned at the abrupt appearance of the recognisable girl who courageously and recklessly assaulted Cassidy while on their shoulders and then, much to everyone's further shock, the bear splits into two like a cell undergoing mitosis.
When combined, Fredbear obviously had both his tophat and neck bowtie but when split apart, the notable difference was that the Fredbear that Andrew possessed only had a top hat while the Fredbear that Cassandra possessed only had a neck bow tie.
"AHHH!" Elizabeth yells while she lurches backwards with Andrew-Fredbear whereas Gregory remains held by Cassandra-Fredbear.
"Who are you?" Andrew-Fredbear speaks.
"I'm Elizabeth. Elizabeth Afton." she pouts, "I still don't fully know what's going on but what I do know is that he saved me and those other children from that THING pretending to be my Dad. It's why I don't think he should go to Hell".
"Ah, no wonder, you're the murderer's daughter. We've heard about how William made you into a killer like him...of course you want to support him. In any case, would you like to go in with him?"
"Jesus Christ! What's wrong with the both of you?!" Gregory shouts in horror at the twins' callous disdain for the two of them.
"Hey Andrew, That's a great idea: Let's do it. Let's toss both of them into Hell. The less Aftons the better... Except for you Mike." They focus on the half-shaven haired ghost, "You and Henry helped us trap him in that fire so that we could drag him to Hell and for that, we are forever grateful".
Mike can't help but be reminded of himself and what he had tried to do earlier. Andrew-Fredbear grabs Elizabeth from behind him and she screams, struggling in vain to get free.
"Okay Andrew, on the count of three we throw them in together. One...Two...!"
Suddenly, the environment goes from colourful to a dark red and the portal to hell also closes below them. Vanessa gazes around in shock and then, she realises that the animatronics have frozen in place in their various positions and that she can identify three new strangers that she's never seen before.
'Are these the three ghosts Gregory was talking about?' Vanessa thinks to herself.
"What's happening?" Charlie is frightened, "Why is the sky red? Why can we see each other now?"
"I don't know." Vanessa says to the girl, examining the landscape, "But judging from what I see, I think we're frozen in time".
Vanessa points to a flock of birds in the sky which were flying past them but now they were unmoving and silent, hanging from the sky like artificial props.
"ENOUGH! BOTH OF YOU! CLOSE THE PORTAL AND PUT THEM DOWN!" A booming voice thundered from above and not long after, it was followed by a large, feathery winged humanoid which descended before them.
The creature was bizarre, having a mishmash of contrasting features. For example, it had angelic wings and a red, elegant robe but at the same time, it wore a crude straw hat and had the face, sharp teeth and slit eyes of an actual Alligator (unlike Monty). Further emphasising this theme was also what he carried on his back. Gregory could perceive the elegant gold hilt of a Staff with a single orb at its top alongside a...fishing rod for some ungodly reason.
"THANK GOD I ARRIVED." The humanoid figure rubs his temple, "One second later you'd probably have thrown them in already..."
Both Cassidys' pout at him.
"Well what are you waiting for?" he gestures, "Pass the boy and girl to me".
They reluctantly and sulkily bring Gregory and Elizabeth over to him, continuing to hold them firmly but lightly by the torsos while they all lower themselves until they are at ground level with the other ghosts and animatronics.
"Sooo...Gregory, are you my Daddy or not?"
"It's complicated. I'm like a...copy of William but at the same time, I don't want to be. I'm two weeks old but mentally, I'm 50 and physically, I believe I'm around 13? Which means I should be due for a growth spurt soon...I hope".
"That's confusing." Elizabeth I'm just going to see you as my Dad but younger and nicer." she states
The twins grunt as they put Gregory and Elizabeth down before fusing together into one Fredbear again, "What took you so long anyway, Old Man?
"I had to make a quick stop." he explains, "Had to gather a few more souls to make this trial I'm organising a fair one".
"Wait! You mean you were actually serious when you said you wanted to give this child murderer a chance?!"
"Yes. Even if he's a clone of said murderer, he is still a human being. Not entirely good and not entirely evil either. I say we should give him a fair chance".
"A-Are you a demon?" Gregory inquires nervously.
"Heaven's No. I'm an Angel. If I were a demon, I would have dragged you to hell already.
"You don't look like an Angel though. Or at least not like the ones I've seen in the Bible..."
"Appearances can be deceiving boy".
The moment they landed, every ghost (and human) he came to know and care for came rushing to him, arriving in one cluster.
"Gregory, are you ok?"
"Gregory Gregory!"
"Settle down everyone!" the Angel commands authoritatively, "I'll explain everything. It's a pleasure to meet all of you."
He courteously bows, "I'm afraid I cannot give you my true name but I am an Angel known as 'Old Man Consequences' or 'Old Man' as Cassidy is so fond of calling me. My goal is to judge whether this boy will live or die and all of you, will serve to help my verdict".
Gregory gulps anxiously.
"But...before I pass judgement on you," The gator-like Angel continues, "I have brought two people who wish to reunite with everyone here first".
He dramatically unfolds his wings to reveal said people who magically materialised right behind him. The first is Evan who had helped Gregory out of the first dream world and next to him is Violet, William's former wife, wearing a vibrant orange sundress. Gregory never thought he would see her again but here she was, looking as young and as beautiful as the day William first fell in love with her all those decades ago.
"Hi Mikey." Evan excitedly levitates to his older brother. However, instead of a heartfelt hug, Mike reels backwards with an anxious expression on his face.
"No No No you can't be real. This is all a hallucination I'm having again! You can't be here. You can't forgive me. You want me to rot in Hell".
"That's not true." Evan shakes his head, "I've forgiven you. Don't you know it was me talking to you tonight and all these years?"
"No. It can't be you. You hate me".
Everyone examines the two brothers with perturbed expressions. Henry and Charlie are about to interfere when Evan makes a 'stop' gesture.
"It's ok." He assured them, "Let me try to talk with him more".
The Emilys are reluctant but nod respectfully as Mike hangs his head, not even desiring to take a peep at his brother. Nonetheless, Evan keeps talking.
"Micheal, I'll be honest, I was angry at you for a while after I died because I never got to grow up but Old Man Consequences had a discussion with me. He told me he knew it was your fault I died but despite this, he encouraged me to forgive you. He said you were a child like me who didn't know any better. He even showed me that you were abused and that William told you to keep quiet about it".
Evan steps further and reaches out for his brother only for him to whimper and turn away.
"I...I watched you suffer you know. I know that you became very sad after my death, drinking and smoking your life away. You barely smiled anymore either".
"You must have thought I was pathetic." Micheal wrings his face in his hands.
"I did and after watching you be in this state for years, I slowly let go of my hate for you. As much as I wanted to hate you for killing me, I couldn't keep seeing you going on like this. It hurt me to see you like this and so, when I could, I tried to appear and talk to you many times in your dreams, trying to tell you to forgive yourself again and again but like right now, you aren't listening. And I'm sorry you had to live with that guilt for so long".
"Stop it!" Mike decries, "You aren't real! You can't forgive me. You hate me and this...forgiveness is not making me feel better".
Evan frowns at Mike's refusal to believe he could be forgiven, heartbroken that he still was convinced by this ugly train of thought. He wished he could derail it somehow...
"Evan. Let me take it from here." Violet pats him on the shoulder as she advances to her mentally broken older son.
"Micheal? Micheal. It's me." his mother's hand touches his shoulder, "Do you remember me?"
"Mom? Is that really you?" Micheal raises his head at the sound of her voice.
"Yes. I'm real. I'm here. And look: So is Evan. We were in Heaven together and I can honestly say that he's telling the truth so please, calm down. Forgive yourself".
Micheal takes a deep breath and scrutinises the boy in front of him again. Evan grasps his hand and Mike's eyes widen.
"So you're real?" He rubs his brother's hands in disbelief.
"Mm hmm." Evan nods.
"Then that means...what you're telling me right now is all true." Mike has an epiphany, "All these years...I wasn't hallucinating, your voice forgiving me because of my own guilt? But what about the times you taunted me. That you told me I deserved to die and suffer?"
"Those were hallucations." Evan protests, "I think you were so depressed after I died that you couldn't differentiate your dreams from reality. You kept denying that you couldn't be forgiven because you felt guilty for my death, which you were but...I wanted so badly for you to forgive yourself with or without my words but you never did".
Micheal weeps, "Oh Evan, I'm so sorry! I'm so sorry."
"It's ok. I forgive you and you're going to come back with us to Heaven alright?"
That's all Micheal needs to hear as he fully breaks down into a sobbing mess like Charlie did and holds his brother close to him.
They too stay that way for a long while and Violet stands up, leaving them time to console one another.
"Violet." Henry calls her name, "it's been a long time since we last saw each other huh?"
"Henry!" Violet whirls around rapidly and beams in elation at the older man. Henry strides towards her and then, unexpectedly, he places his hands behind her back, pulls her close to him and they lock lips in a passionate kiss.
Gregory was dumbstruck, his mouth hanging agape like a fish whereas Elizabeth and Charlie stared at their respective parents in bewilderment, unable to process what was going on. Wanting his brother to be acquainted with the unforeseen romantic reunion as well, Evan lifts up Mike by the chin and motions his head to look left. Upon witnessing Uncle Henry make out with his mother, Mike then stands up and gives an equally bewildered stare.
Then, after what feels like forever, Henry and Violet separate, entrancing themselves deep into each other's eyes and holding hands.
"Henry darling! I've missed you. I can't believe we're back together at last".
"I hope I didn't keep you waiting long. I was trapped with your son in another version of Freddy. I couldn't move on but it wasn't that terrible".
"Well it was for me!" She huffs. "I was heartbroken and so lonely in heaven without you but..at least Evan kept me company".
"Ah Hem." Charlie coughed, "Did...did you both forget to tell us something?"
Henry and Violet redirect their attention back to their children who now circled them and had several questions on their mind.
"Yes actually." Henry confesses, "We do have something to tell all of you".
"If you're about to reveal that my mom had been sleeping with you this whole time to get back at William for cheating on her several times behind her back, I wouldn't be shocked." Micheal crosses his arms.
'I wouldn't blame her either'. Gregory thinks to himself.
"Actually Micheal, it's a bit more than that." Violet showed him a silver engagement ring, "Henry and I, we got married 5 years after I divorced from William".
"And it was also after I was fired from Fazbears with William which was around the same year." Henry adds.
"HUH?!" Mike, Gregory and Charlie exclaim in unison.
"Hoo boy," Cassidy whistles, "we're gonna have to tell old Will about this when we get back! He'll have a fit!
"Henry! Why the Hell didn't you mention this before we died in the fire?!" Mike complained.
"Ahahah" Henry scratches his head in embarrassment, "I was going to save the surprise for when we both got to Heaven but, well, things didn't turn out as planned and since she's already here. I thought I might as well just let the cat out of the bag now".
Micheal pauses. The fact that Henry set up the trap to kill them both without considering her meant only one thing.
"Henry, tell me...Did mom die before we died in that trap you set up?"
"Yes. She did..." Henry confesses sadly, "How did you not know that Mike? It was on the news for a bit. Sure she wasn't as big as Madonna but people still loved and grieved her passing".
"Sorry Henry. I've been living in the shadows. I haven't kept up with much music for years... unless it had to do with George Micheal or something".
Violet goes up to her older son, youngest daughter and daughter and pulls them into a tight hug.
"Elizabeth...Micheal. Oh How I've missed you both so, so much. I wanted to come back for you Mike, I really did but William cut off contact with me, I was struggling with my career and then, I heard about the fire at his home. Everyone told me you died and I didn't know that you were a...zombie at the time".
"To be fair, nobody did. I really was a dead man walking." Mike leans further into his mother's embrace, "SOOOOO Ummm, would you both Care to elaborate more on how You and Henry happened?"
Violet finally lets go of her children to narrate the tale of her unanticipated romance with Henry, taking a few steps backward to where Henry is..."Well, I remember that I was on a break at the time and trying to find inspiration for my next album: Nostalgia. So in accordance with the theme, I went and looked through photos from my past in and well, I came across a picture of me, Henry and William. I tore my husband out of the picture of course but then I thought about Henry, wondered what he was up to and decided that I would try to contact him, you know, see how he was doing?"
"She found my number and, much to my surprise, gave me a call one Sunday morning." Henry smiled fondly at the memory, "I remember at that time, I was working in a modest thrift shop located in New Harmony and so, we met up at a cafe I liked which was nearby. We talked for a long time, caught up with each other's lives and realised that we missed and liked each other's company and so, we kept meeting up every few months until slowly but surely we just...fell in love with one another and one day, I bought her a diamond ring".
"I accepted his proposal and the next thing you know, we had a private wedding in a modest hotel." Violet continues, "Henry's sister was there along with a few of my closest friends who swore that they would keep our marriage a secret from the paparazzi. For a few years we were happy, I kept being a singer and he kept working at the thrift shop but...there was still something missing from our lives..."
"Violet wanted a child to replace the ones she lost and I...desired the same." Henry admits sheepishly, "We missed all of you dearly but, believing that we were never going to see any of you again, I thought it was best to move on and have another child that we would raise lovingly together and soon, Violet became pregnant".
Violet places a hand over her stomach, "I gave birth to a boy we named Samuel or 'Sammy' as Henry likes to call him."
Henry chuckles, "Oh Charlotte, you would have loved him so much and he would have loved you if you'd been his older sister..."
"I have a younger brother?!" Charlie squeals at this newest bombshell.
"More like a younger half-brother from another mother." Mike corrects her, "Hmmm...then that would mean...Elizabeth, Evan and I, We're all your step-siblings now!"
"That's right Micheal." Henry validates his answer.
"And erm, where is he now?" Charlie inquires, still buzzing with excitement at the news.
"He moved away a long time ago to Canada but he's still alive. Very old now but definitely still alive".
"Did he erm...know about your past?"
"I left him a tape that explained everything before I went to die. I can only hope he understood and didn't grieve for me too much".
"He understood, don't worry. I spoke with him in his dreams. He's alright. We'll see him again soon," she smiles at Henry before looking back at their children, "Honestly we didn't know our relationship would happen this way but I'm glad it did. We found happiness with each other in a way that we never had before".
"I'm glad that you're happy now, Bunny." Gregory speaks unthinkingly before quickly slapping a hand over his mouth.
'Oh god why did I say that?'
Violet stared directly at the boy who had been watching their heartfelt reunion awkwardly as a (kind of) outsider and the moment they made eye contact, Gregory tried to dash away but almost immediately, he got stopped by Cassidy who teleported in front of him.
"Oh no you don't. Don't you dare run away." Cassidy menacingly threatens him, "Stay here and let her make you suffer".
Gregory presses his lips together anxiously and turns around to face William's wife. He nervously gives her a weak grin.
"Hello." A blush formed on his face and his stomach fluttered as he recalled memories with her that weren't his.
"Don't be afraid. I won't hurt you." She shoots a cold glance at Cassidy before glancing back at him, "I know who you are but ... you don't feel like Him".
"I'm...I'm not. My name is Gregory. However, I'll say this: I'm very sorry about everything that HE put you through".
Violet kneels down and pats his head. Although she's a ghost, her hand feels solid and warm unlike the other ghosts who had interacted with him throughout the night. Perhaps it was a quirk granted when one entered the afterlife?
"You don't have to apologise for him but I accept it." She embraces him, "You haven't hurt me in any way and I don't blame you for the sins of the past".
Gregory's grin transforms into something more genuine this time, his eyes getting a bit sparkly with tears.
"Pfft. Crocodile tears!" Cassidy mutters under their breath.
"Ok that's enough." The Angel claps once deafeningly to get their attention, "Let's move on to the trial. Miss Emily, what is your verdict? Does he live or does he die by my hands? I didn't just bring you here for a mere reunion with your loved ones".
"I think...the boy should live." Violet states confidently, "He doesn't seem as cruel as my husband".
Cassidy talks in Unison again, snarling, "YOU'RE WRONG?! This boy is like a baby snake! It'll grow up into an adult one day, and wreak havoc on innocents, mark our words! He deserves to burn ... AGAIN!"
"Please control your anger Cassidy. We aren't even done with the trial yet but if you can't, you're free to go torture William below again. Nonetheless, I've taken your answer as you both want the boy to die".
He casually opens another portal to Hell for them which leads to a blood filled lake.
"Nah, we'll remain for the trial." Cassidy grudgingly concedes and falls silent but stares daggers at Gregory.
Old Man Consequences acknowledges their choice and closes the portal.
Evan then sends a reassuring grin to Gregory and holds his hand, "Don't mind them; Andrew and Cass have been in a perpetual bad mood for decades".
"You know this how?"
"We're friends in Heaven. We get therapy together with the other missing children".
"Free therapy? In Heaven? That's awesome." Mike reacts to Evan's words cheerfully, "Am I eligible for it? I think I need it".
"Yes. You obviously are." Evan remarks.
"So...what about you six?" Old Man Consequences directs his next question to Charlie, Micheal, Evan, Henry, Elizabeth and Vanessa, "What's your judgement of the boy?"
"It...took me a while to get used to him but he's a good kid at heart." Mike begins his sentence, "Despite the fact that I tried to kill him several times, he saved me from getting absorbed during the final battle. He got out of Freddy's protective chest, in a collapsing, burning building ... to rescue me. He even forgave me for trying to murder him minutes before...or tried to at least. So yeah, as much as I don't want to admit it, the boy can live".
Charlie is the next ghost to reply to the Angel's question. "The boy has some of his traits but he's not as cruel as He was. Me and Micheal, we saw him shed tears and feel guilty for the things William had done. The real William would have never felt sorry for anything he did and this proves that unlike that man, this boy has a heart. He's capable of feeling compassion and growing up to be good. That's why I think you should let him live."
"Like my mum, I see Gregory as a different person from my father. He has his body but not his personality. Not all of it anyway. He should live." Evan states.
"William was my dearest friend but only after everything transpired did I realise that he never saw me as his equal, only his closest pawn. Gregory on the other hand, he genuinely sees me as a good friend." Henry beams at the boy, "So yes, I think you should give him the chance to live as I believe he can grow to be an even better person than he is now. Provided he has guidance to do so".
"Gregory saved me from being under William's control. From what everyone's told me ... I was in a pretty shitty situation: Forced to murder kids, running around and doing dark deeds for that man." She frowns in disgust, "He also saved me from getting entranced a second time. I owe everything to this boy and that's why I think he should live".
"And finally, last but not least, you Elizabeth. What should be his fate?"
"I'd like him to be alive." Elizabeth says, "I'd like to have Daddy back again in some form."
"Didn't he abuse you though?" Old Man Consequences raises an eyebrow.
Elizabeth twiddles her fingers, "That's... true but from what little time we spent together in the dreamworld, I like this clone. He's funny, nice and more importantly, he's honest. He's like the father I wish I could have had and maybe, he could grow up to be a better Dad than my Dad as well if he lives".
"So you just want me around to be your second Dad?" Gregory huffs and crosses his arms, "Elizabeth, I'm barely a teenager. I'm not qualified for it".
"Oh. Then...how about my third brother? Is that better?"
"Yeah. That I should be able to work with more." Gregory nods.
Old man Consequences claps loudly using both hands once again, stopping the conversation from continuing, "Very well, I've taken all your answers into consideration".
"Woah Hang on," Gregory halts him, "You're not going to ask the Animatronics as well?"
"Nope. Neither of them know you that well." he justifies his reasoning to Gregory, "Also, I'm not sure if the judgement of the animatronics will be valid because their programming makes them naturally inclined to support children no matter how naughty or nice they are".
"C'mon please." Gregory makes his puppy eyes at the Old Man.
Next to him, Evan snickers, "Gregory, he's an Angel. I think that he's seen lots of goo goo eyes from other souls before, even mine".
Old Man Consequences ponders this request for a bit, "Hmm, very well. If it will satisfy you".
He brings out the staff from behind his back and taps the ground two times, the Glamrock animatronics unfreeze and also look around as confused as Vanessa had earlier.
"Who are all these people? Why is the sky red?" Monty is uneasy.
"Woah, those must be the other ghosts the boy talks to." Roxy tells him.
"Hello there." Mike greets the animatronic Gator.
"Ahhh?! Why does that...winged red gator animatronic kinda resemble me" Monty is both piqued and scared by the Gator-like Angel.
"I'm not an animatronic." Old Man Consequences groaned, "Allow me to illuminate what's going on".
The Angel quickly catches all of them up to speed before presenting his next question.
"Now then..." he gazes at the animatronics, "Machines, tell me what you think should be the fate of this child".
Roxy jabs Freddy in the chest cavity, "You've been with him the longest. Go first."
"Gregory has problems." Freddy begins, "That I will admit. But he's good deep down. He's a child with few morals for now but, as Henry says, he can improve if he lives and he's done mostly good tonight. Thus, I vote for Gregory to be kept alive".
"He pulled out my eyes but in the end, he did give them back and said sorry instead of leaving me blind so yeah, it's all good." Roxy gives a thumbs up, "He should live".
"He didn't have to but he tried to free me even at the cost of his own safety. That was kind of him." Chica placed a hand over where her heart would be, "So yes, you should let him live. Also I have to thank Charlie as well as without her, I would have already brought him to William".
Charlie warmly smiles at the bird lady appreciatively.
"And what about you Monty?" The Gator addresses him when he doesn't speak up, "What's your judgement?"
"Uhhh don't know much about the little guy but I'll say what Freddy said: He's a troubled but good kid. He doesn't deserve to be bullied for things that he hasn't done. When I witnessed him being hurt and almost killed by that William guy...it spooked me". Monty shuddered, "I never want to see that again and overall, I think the little guy should live".
Old Man Consequences nods, "Very well, I've taken all your opinions into consideration and here's mine. Gregory. Step forth."
Grgeory does as he's told. He doesn't want to disobey an Angel who could clearly strike him down in an instant.
For several minutes, he does nothing but stare deep into his eyes, analysing his soul thoroughly.
Gregory stays rooted to the spot and keeps eye contact with the Angel. He was very scared of the final verdict but still, it was 9-2 votes for him to live and the odds were in his favour. There was no way he would die!
"Hmm...you are so alike and yet so different to him." The Gator finally speaks, "Your soul doesn't have a lot of darkness in it and you can still redeem yourself unlike HIM. My verdict is decreed. Gregory will live".
Everyone cheers at the result happily.
"Oh and one more thing. All of you appear to have some of that Other William's corruption in you except Evan, Cassidy and Violet. Hold still."
Old man consequences rubs the sphere on his staff a few times and a bright light washes over Gregory and soon the corruption that Fake William had left on everyone disappears.
"You feel better Mike?" Gregory asks him.
"Yeah I do." the Ghost replies.
"Good." Old Man Consequences partially floats away from everyone, "If that's everything settled then—"
"Wait, What about her?" Cassidy points to Vanessa, "Shouldn't we punish her too?"
"Huh? What did I do?" Vanessa exclaims, annoyed.
"No. Vanessa was under His control. She didn't kill willingly. However, you made a good point, there is something I want to ask of her..."
The Angel floats down, "Vanessa, would you be the guardian of this child?"
"Woah, it's ok Old Man, I can take care of myself. I know how to be independent." Gregory declares coldly. He didn't want to be adopted by someone who was forced to love him.
"Hell no. You're being adopted by me because there's no way I'll let a child like you end up homeless." Vanessa vows, "I was like you you know: Orphaned and without parents for years. It was horrible...I don't want you to end up miserable and alone for years like I did".
Gregory recalls what Glitchtrap learned about Vanessa and held her hand.
"If you're adopting me consensually then sure." Gregory says, "as much as I hate to admit it, I'd like a home to live in. I can't survive alone..."
Old man consequences nods, "It's good that you accepted my offer Vanessa because I have one more offer for Gregory too".
"Huh?"
Old man consequences kneeled down before him like Violet had done earlier, "Gregory, I have the power to take away your memories of being William Afton. If you agree to it, I'll rewrite your memories so that you will have always believed you were a homeless child. Furthermore, if I erase your memories, William's evil will be cleansed from your heart. You can begin again on a clean slate and his sins will not tally with yours. To put it simply, you can enter heaven much easier if you remain a good boy for most of your life".
"Is there a catch?" Gregory questions, "I don't have to sell my soul for it do I?"
"Nope. It's completely free of charge. The only drawback is that you'll forget almost everything and everyone you ever met today and tonight. When I erase your memories, you will only be Gregory, a child beloved and adopted by your mother Vanessa, nothing more than that."
Gregory is silent. He can have his memories erased. Be a normal child. The offer was very tempting.
"I'll give you a while." Old Man Consequences grants the boy some time, "but I'll expect your answer back in a few minutes".
Gregory gazes across all the faces he's met tonight, people and machines from the past and present and deeply reflects on what he should do...
On the one hand, he could begin anew ... no more trauma and horrific memories of murdering people. He could have a normal happy childhood and life. He grinned at the thought ... but then his face fell as a pointed fact came to mind. He would forget everything that happened ... all of his friends. The Glamrocks (barring Freddy) had hunted him around the Pizzaplex, true ... but that hadn't been their fault. They were decent people at heart; and could be the best of friends ... given time! Even Monty! Freddy ... Gregory gulped as he looked up at the big bear animatronic; who'd become overnight the closest thing to a father that Gregory had ever known so far. The boy remembered Freddy's speech of fatherly love and affection; the speech that had resurrected his will to live. How could Gregory leave his dad like that? All those things that had happened to him tonight: the good and the bad ... they had all played a part in shaping the person Gregory was now. He was a better person now; and Gregory needed to face the past in order to move forward ... not run away from it.
It's at this moment that Gregory fully comes to his decision and declares his answer which shocks everyone.
"I want to remain as I am and carry on living with William's memories. I don't want to forget the friends I've made at the Pizzaplex including Freddy because even though there were bad times, there were good ones too".
"But you can always befriend them again can't you?" the Angel challenges him.
"Yes but it won't be the same. Friendship is not something that can be replaced easily. I would have thought you would know that, being an Angel, old timer?"
"Hmph. You're wiser than I thought." The Angel respects that Gregory has had more character development in a single night than William did in an entire lifetime.
"Also," Gregory continues, "I can't fully abandon my identity as William because the real one...he's already aware I exist and he wants me. I've spoken to him: He wants me and can see into my dreams. What if he tries to come back again somehow? If my memories are gone, he'll be able to manipulate me like he did with Vanessa. Heck, he might even come after her again too, come to think about it!".
"He won't. He's where he belongs: Eternally suffering in the depths of hell." Cassidy brags.
"Oh but I'm sure he will one day once he finds a weakness that he can exploit wherever he's being kept in." Gregory retorts, "And even though his soul and body perished, a part of him was still left behind and that part unintentionally made me".
"Then what if I gave you a blessing to ward him off?" Old Man Consequences proposes, "It will protect you from him permanently. I'll even get Cassidy to watch over and protect you if the blessing should fail".
"Really? You want them to watch over me? No thanks!" Gregory crosses his arms in an 'X' gesture, "Aren't there better options?"
"I agree," Cassandra huffs, "I'm better off making the real one suffer in Hell anyway."
"You know, Cass ... this boy is William too?" Andrew points out, "And there are lots of ways to torment people, even when you can't kill or maim them..."
"Hey. You two. When I assign both of you to him, you are not to torment the boy until he breaks understand?" The Angel reprimands, "You are meant to be my eyes and report to me on his weekly activities. That's it".
"When? Don't you mean if?" Gregory is alarmed, "I didn't accept or decline your offer yet!"
"Nope. It's decided. Whatever you choose, they will be your watchful guardians either way." The angel announces, "However, because I don't trust the both of them together. They'll take shifts. One of them will watch you every week".
The three of them groan altogether at this news but ironically, it's Gregory who groans the loudest.
Evan puts a hand on his shoulder, "Hey, don't worry. I'll keep an eye on your situation, and so will Old Man Consequences. We won't let the twins bully you".
"Alright. So tell me Gregory, is your decision final? Are you really prepared to carry on living with William's painful memories?
"Yes. I can't just forget all this happened. I'll carry his sins but at the same time, I want to move forward and exist as my own person and maybe, I could use the positive and negative knowledge of my past life to live a better life this time".
"How curious. Few people risk recurring painful trauma to do the right thing, but that makes them also the bravest people of all. Gregory, since you have chosen to live with his memories, understand that you will face obstacles and make choices that will determine where you'll end up. Should we find out that you repeated the same mistakes as your previous life or spill innocent blood, you know what will happen".
Old man consequences reopens a small portal to Hell slightly for emphasis.
"But wait, I don't have a real soul?" Gregory questions, "Won't I just fade away?"
Andrew responds to the clone with a creepy reply, "Remember what we promised we would do to you in Hell? You won't be dead when we torture you down there...There are always worse fates than death 'Gregory'".
Gregory cringes, not wanting to know what they could possibly mean by that.
"But don't fret, there is still enough time for you to avoid Hell if you feed the right wolf." Old man consequences reassures him.
"Uhhh Wolf?" Gregory's eyes drift to Roxy unconsciously.
"There's a story about how there are two wolves inside all of us. One good and one evil. In your case, the evil wolf in you is a full grown adult and the good one is a puppy".
"That's not very motivating." Gregory mopes.
"If so, then..."Old Man consequences, putting a hand on the boy's shoulder, "You gotta feed the Good one more in this new life you've been given."
"You know," Cass quips to Mikey "You came dangerously close to damning yourself to Hell if you had murdered Gregory earlier".
"Really?" Mike exclaims.
"Yes. As much as we would have liked you to murder him. I don't think it would be worth it for you to suffer down there with William." Cassidy admits.
"Alright, If nothing else, It's about time we all leave." Old Man Consequences raises his staff.
"Umm wait, what about me don't I deserve judgement too?" Charlie raises her hand, "I mean...I realise I've done terrible things and well..."
"Charlotte Emily." The Angel addressed her by her full name, "You were troubled and enraged by your death, lashing out at the world and killing innocents but do not worry, I did not sentence you nor the children to Hell because you were ... misguided and I merely classified your actions under accidental murder".
"Misguided and accidental murder are hardly the terms I'd use." Gregory grumpily mutters, "Seems to me that you're letting these kids get away with everything ..."
"Well Gregory, the issue of the souls involved in the missing children's incident was...complicated to sort out morality-wise to say the least and also, we don't usually send kids to Hell unless they've done something utterly heinous".
"You know, for an Angel. You're more morally ambiguous than good".
"Thank you." he bows, "It's my reputation".
"Is that why you can allow Cassidy to torment William? And speaking of why on earth haven't those two moved on to Heaven? Shouldn't they be happy up there and not—"
Old man Consequences sighs in frustration, "That's enough questions for now".
"But I have so much more I want to ask like...how can I get a soul and—"
"ENOUGH! This trial has gone on long enough and I need to get back to other duties. I'll bless you later when I'm in Heaven and Cassidy will leave you alone for the day but tomorrow, their duty commences".
"Hmph!" they sulk in unison at their new task of 'babysitting' the clone.
"As for all of you, Come with me. It's time to go".
"I know you said no more questions but this is just a request." Henry speaks up, "Can we wish him goodbye before we go?"
"Yes. Do be quick though and don't worry, all of you are still permitted to visit him after this but only when he dreams."
"That's a relief. We can visit our second father anytime." Elizabeth expresses her delight with the same wide grin that William had wherever he got excited.
'Huh? Guess that smile of his is a genetic trait...' Gregory notes.
Old man consequences opens a rectangular entrance that leads to a tunnel bright light. Cassidy of course is the first to go in without any argument. Gregory can't see what's beyond but staring at it gives him feelings of peace.
Soon, every single ghost from his past goes into the portal and vanishes from the mortal world but not before giving Gregory their own unique goodbyes and best of all, none of them refer to him by his original name.
"Farewell Gregory." Violet bows, "I wish you the same happiness I found with Henry".
Gregory blushes at that.
"See you." Evan drifts past his father.
"So long, third brother." Elizabeth waves as she walks backwards, following after Evan who goes beside their mother.
A light slap hits the boy's shoulder.
"Goodbye Gregory, I wish you have a better life than the last one, yeah?" Micheal grabs his hand and gives him a high five as he goes to rejoin his family and the Aftons stride into the light.
The last two to leave are Henry and Charlotte, "We'll meet sometime again, new friend. I promise".
"Same here." Charlie tacked on, "Bye bye Gregory."
With the last two ghosts gone, OMC taps his staff on the ground before entering the tunnel to Heaven himself and sealing it. Then, a second later, everything goes back to normal: The colours return to the environment and time resumes as they feel the morning breeze blow gently around them and observe the birds continue moving in the sky.
However, the ambience is soon broken by a very bombastic voice in the distance.
"Ness! Ness!" A man shouts worriedly. Gregory and Vanessa focus upon the figure approaching them speedily from the carpark entrance.
Getting closer, Grgeory could see it was a dark skinned man with brown hair sprinting towards Vanessa and instead of stopping, he opened his arms and gave her a big hug, lifting her off the ground
"Ness! Oh god I've missed you".
He twirls her around in a spinning motion once before placing her down, his chest heaving erratically as he panted from exhaustion.
"I heard about the fire and came here as fast as I could! Are you ok?Are you hurt?"
"Yeah. I'm alright. It's good to see you again Luis".
Luis's eyes then gaze right and that's when he notices the small boy with a blue standing next to her.
He raised an eyebrow, "Vanessa, is this the boy you were talking about over the phone earlier?"
"Yes. This is Gregory. Or at least that's what his fake ID says. He...refuses to tell me his real name." She turns her head to the child, "Gregory, this is Luis. Say hello."
"Hi." The boy waves at him awkwardly.
The dark skinned man draws in a sharp intake of breath, "Are those bandages on his wrists? You poor thing. What happened?!"
"Gregory here is a...homeless and abused orphan that I found living in the rafters Pizzaplex." Vanessa I've been chasing all night and erm, it's a Long story. Also, I've decided to adopt him".
"Oh...Why?"
"He caused me some trouble tonight, sure but when I got to know him more, I started to feel bad for him".
"It's true. I was kind of awful to her as I didn't trust her but Vannesa was very nice to me." Gregory plays up his 'innocent child' charade, "and when the fire suddenly began and the rubble fell on me, Vanessa pushed the rocks aside and saved me".
"Woah, that was very brave of you Ness".
"Thank you Luis".
He suddenly pulled her in for yet another hug before kissing Vanessa on the lips in front of Gregory.
"Woah hang on! You're lovers?!" Gregory was astounded by this second romantic revelation today.
"Yeah..." Vanessa parted their lips with Luis, making a smacking noise while she did so, "What's wrong with that?"
"No, it's just that you didn't erm...erm seem like the type of person to have a boyfriend".
The couple laughs at Gregory's blunt statement.
"Ah Ness is hard to deal with but I love her." Luis chuckles playfully, "Although, I have to ask, what's been up with you lately?"
"Hm?"
"You've been acting off for months: First, your search history has been weird and triggering red flags in the computer system. Secondly, you've been zoning out and acting like two different people. Thirdly, ever since you began your new job as a Security Guard, you've been avoiding me more and more, only chatting with me by text and then one day, you started telling me that you were hanging out with this cute new guy named "Brad" who was better than me in every conceivable way and then, out of nowhere, today you call me out of the blue and tell me you still love me and that the Pizzaplex burned down. I thought you wanted to break up for a while and I was so scared I'd done something wrong..."
Vanessa cups his face and kisses him again, "No, No...You did nothing wrong baby. It's me who was at fault. I wasn't myself. I mean..I just haven't been well mentally for a long while and I thought I just needed some time alone and...you know what? It's...another long story for another time".
Weeeo wooo WEEE WOOO
The sound of sirens permeated the air as a horde of firetrucks and firefighters arrived to hose down the inferno consuming the Pizzaplex.
"Woah, they're finally here...which means the cops will be here soon too. You were the only one on duty so be prepared to be interrogated." Luis alerted her.
"Duly noted".
From behind, a warm, yellow light cascades over all of them, casting their shadows on the ground, especially Gregory's. He turns around to see that the sun has finally surfaced out from the clouds at last and is continuing to rise above the horizon.
Gregory's gazes at the source of warmth and new beginnings.
"Hey Vanessa, can I watch the sunrise for a while?" The boy is amazed by the sight, "I've never seen a real one before..."
"Sure."
Gregory nods and walks to what he thinks is a clearing past the trees. However, upon going past them, he arrives and realises it's actually a high rise hillside that overlooks a portion of Hurricane. In the distance are a few mountains to the left and to the right, are several fluffy clouds that seem to part as the rising sun lies between them.
Gregory seats himself down in a comfortable area with the least grass. While it wasn't the same place, sitting here felt nostalgic to Gregory. However, the view felt lonely without Henry beside him.
'Isn't this spot great? You can see almost every building from here.' a memory of Henry's voice echoes his ears, planting distant feelings of longing in his heart.
However, in his place, Vanessa and Luis sat beside the boy to his left before he was also joined by the other animatronics who sat down by his right. Freddy of course is the one who sits down right next to him and Gregory shifts his position, standing up and going to sit between his legs instead. Freddy holds him tightly, ruffling his hair playfully. Gregory laughs.
Chica is the last to arrive with three different flavours of Fazbear-brand ice cream in her hands. One was shaped like Freddy, one like Chica and one like Monty.
"I got you three some Frozen treats." Chica offered three different flavours to the three people in front of her, "These were the only ones that I found that were left unmelted I'm afraid".
"Thanks Chica." Gregory expressed his gratitude to her before grabbing the Freddy one immediately and biting off its ear. It was artificially sweet and tasted like oranges.
"Hey Vanessa, why are the animatronics joining us?" queries Luis as he takes the Monty ice cream from her.
"That's because They're my friends." Gregory cuts in, replying for her, "Can't they watch the sunrise with me?"
"Erm...sure?" Luis shrugs, "It's not like it's forbidden for them to."
The IT Employee was well aware that the animatronics were programmed to Iove children but he presumed it was always at a surface level which is why he was uncertain as to why the Glamrocks were so attached to this child to the point of following him to watch the sunset. Any other machine would have simply left the boy alone and carried on with its other duties. However, these questions could wait for another day...
Gregory grins at Luis gratefully as Vanessa takes the last ice cream from Chica. Once her hands are empty, she goes to sit at the last spot right near Monty.
"So...we're just going to stay here and watch the sun rise until the Cops and other staff come here and question us?"
"Yes Luis. Yes we are." She lovingly leans on his shoulder.
He chuckles and pulls her even closer to him, "I missed you beside me like this Ness".
"Me too Luis".
On the start of a brand new day, William Afton ceased to exist. Only 'Gregory Miller' and his new family, consisting of both machines and humans, remain under the dawn of the morning sun which was surrounded by purple and orange clouds.
THE END
End credits playlist:
1. This comes from the inside - Living Tombstone
2. Kids of yesterday - My Chemical Romance
3. Love Like You - Steven Universe
…. But wait, it's not over just yet!
Epilogue: Gregory Cabrera
Preview: 10 years after the events of Dark Rebirth, Gregory has grown up and is in the middle of gaining an engineering degree while also interning at Fazbear Entertainment...