The first time Freddy heard Gregory cry out in pain was horrible to the animatronic bear. He had heard the children of the pizza plex cry many times when they fell and hurt themselves or when they threw a temper tantrum. But this time was different. Gregory had pressed the signal to call Freddy to his location. The young boy was being chased at the time by Roxy. Freddy moved as fast as he would following the boy's signal. He could hear just how terrified Gregory was and Roxy's taunting laugh as the loud thumping of the animatronic wolf was closing in. The signal was close as Gregory came into Freddy's line of sight. Freddy could not believe the scene before him. Roxy, one of his dear friends, looked deranged as she chased down Gregory. Freddy ran at full speed closing the gap between the boy and himself. Stretching out his arms to grab Gregory, Freddy's plan was to turn tail and make a run for cover. Fate had different plans as time seemed to slow for the bear when he saw Roxy bunch her legs and lunge forward. She was determined to get to Gregory before the leader of their band. Freddy grabbed Gregory and tried to lift the boy out of harm's reach, but he just wasn't fast enough. Roxanne lashed out with her left arm out in a sweeping motion. Blood sprayed the floor as her claws contacted human flesh leaving four long gashes along Gregory's back. Fear and protective instincts drove Freddy to swing out his right leg, launching the wolf away from his boy and onto the wall with a sickening crack. The animatronic laid slumped against the wall, unmoving, but Freddy couldn't bring himself to care. That was not his friend, he refused to believe that was one of his friends. Sure, she had an attitude problem at time, but she would never hurt a child like this, never.
Freddy held his nonexistent breath for a moment. Gregory was quiet, too quiet. Freddy was afraid the worst had happened but as the shock wore off Gregory let out a howl of pain. Freddy moved fast as the boy kept wailing. He held the boy close but made sure to keep his hands clear of the wound. Freddy was sure the others were to be alerted by all the commotion and were on their way. If Roxy was anything to go by, he didn't want to be caught by the others, especially Monty. They were leaving behind a trail of blood but there was no time to worry about that. Gregory needed medical help right away. There was something wrong with his friends, there was no doubt about that now, and until 6 am Gregory would not leave Freddy's side. Unknowingly to Freddy, that would not be the last time he heard Gregory's screams that night.
The animatronic bear could feel Gregory's grip tighten as he tried to keep his own wails in check. Freddy admired the boy's strength. Any other 10-year-old would not last as long in a situation like the one Gregory was in. The bear didn't know what drove the boy to be so resilient. Even though he was in pain, the boy understood they were still in danger of being followed by Chica and Monty. Freddy wasn't sure if Roxy was completely out of the picture either.
Freddy desperately tried to think of where he could take Gregory to receive medical help. He couldn't take Gregory to the first aid station and expect the boy to be able to patch himself up. Blood kept its slow but steady flow from the claw marks. Freddy scolded himself to think harder. Where would be safe for his boy? Who could he take Gregory to for help if not his friends and band mates? Was there anyone with the first aid knowledge? Freddy's ears perked as an idea popped in his head. What about the daycare attendant Sunrise? The large bear felt desperate enough to try. Hoped that the sun animatronic was not on the fritz like the rest of his friends.
"Gregory," Freddy kept his voice at a lower comforting volume as he spoke "hold on. I'm going to get you some help." He only got a whimper in response but that was all Freddy needed. The animatronic bear was glad that they were already on the second floor of the mega pizza plex. "I will keep you safe." Freddy tried not to think on how he had already failed. He should have kept Gregory close, if he did the boy wouldn't have been hurt.
"Gregory," Gregory whimpered at the sound of Chica's sickly-sweet voice, it was close to them. "Where are you?" Freddy hated the way she drew out her words in mock play. It was obvious the chicken had yet to see them as she called out trying to lure Gregory to her. The menace behind each word made Freddy cringe. He had to get Gregory to the daycare before they were spotted. What was wrong with his friends? Freddy desperately wished he could go talk with them and see why they were acting so strange. Unfortunately, Freddy couldn't, the bear would not dare to put Gregory in any more danger. Leaving the boy alone to approach his friends would do just that. Perhaps if the daycare attendant was stable, he could request him to watch over his boy. The daycare after all was one of the safest places is the mega plex. "There you are!" Freddy's thoughts were broken by Chica's distorted voice. They were spotted. "Freddy! Yay! You caught him!" Chica clapped her hands in glee as she approached him. Her eyes were locked onto Gregory, arms outstretched to take the boy from him. "I can take him to officer Venessa for you!"
Freddy took a few steps back from the chicken clutching Gregory closer to his plastic body. "No!" Chica looked surprised by the bear's outburst. Freddy cleared his throat and spoke with his usual calm demeanor. "No, it's okay Chica I got it handled" Chica stared into Freddy's eyes at his denial of her request to take Gregory. Her eyes were empty, devoid of any emotions even the programmed ones in their systems. She seemed to be thinking, this scared Freddy. Chica was normally the more reasonable one in the group. She often respected his wishes and could have a conversation with her with the chicken blowing up at him. Perhaps she still is one of the reasonable ones maybe she could be the first one he could talk sense into.
"Then let me walk with you to take him to officer Venessa." She gave Freddy a smile of reassurance. "After what happened today on stage, I want to make sure your system doesn't crash again." This seemed more like the kind friend Freddy remembered. He didn't know how to respond in this situation. Gregory needed help and for whatever reason Chica seemed to be looking over his injury. As if reading the bear's mind her next response made him feel even more cornered. "She can take care of the boy's injuries on his back since Venessa is human."
Gregory's scared and desperate whispered plea broke Freddy's nonexistent heart. "No, Freddy please." Freddy looked once more at his dear friend then back to Gregory.
"I believe I should be fine Chica, thank you for your concern." An idea came to Freddy "I would appreciate it if you found the other and let them know that that they can stop their search." Chica looked at him skeptically for a moment waiting for him to continue. "I wouldn't want the others draining their batteries on a useless search."
Chica looked to Gregory once more before nodding slowly. What Freddy said made sense to the chicken, but her systems kept screaming at her to take the boy and bring him to Venessa herself. Something in her programming didn't feel right. She knew she could trust Freddy. He always had the best interest at heart for kids. Chica, for whatever reason, could not bring herself to leave Freddy alone with the child. He looked scared and was injured she wanted to help. Her programming wouldn't allow her to hurt a child, she herself didn't like the idea of hurting anyone. Commands in her programming kept overriding her normal sense of reasoning. Her robotic mind felt twisted into something that wasn't her own. It was something dark and it scared her. She wanted to take the boy by force even if that meant hurting him or worse. Chica felt like she wanted to voice these concerns to Freddy, but something kept her from doing so.
"Freddy I- "Chica's voice box locked up. Her voice changed to a cold and distant one against her will. "Freddy I will be taking the boy to Venessa myself. You're supposed to be on lock down after your mess up on the stage tonight anyways." What was that? That wasn't Chica. She would never say anything like that to Freddy. She could see the hurt from her cruel words in Freddy's eyes and the visible flinch. No, Freddy that wasn't me. Chica desperately wanted to say these very words to her friend, but they would not budge from her mouth. She reached for the child in Freddy's arms. The large animatronic bear pulled away from her twisting his body to shield the boy from her. Why was Freddy resisting her?
Suddenly there was a click then followed by a bright flash in Chica's eyes. Chica cried out in shock. She was blinded and didn't know where it came from. Freddy was equally as shocked. As he was watching Chica for any attempts to grab at the boy in his arms, he heard Gregory whisper to turn his head. Against his better judgement he followed the boy's instructions. When he did, he heard the commotion. Freddy looked and saw a Fazzer blaster in Gregory's hand and a blinded Chica. Freddy had forgotten that Gregory had obtained one. He took the moment to turn and run away from his friend.
"FREDDY!" The angry cries of his dearest friend pulled at Freddy's metaphorical heart. Freddy quickly came upon the large wooden door of the daycare. Supporting Gregory with his right arm he used his left hand to knock on the doors. Anxiety spiked as he heard distant calls of Chica. The doors cracked open and out peeked the sun shaped head of Sunrise. The daycare attendant tilted his head in confusion at the sudden visit. "Hello Freddy? What brings you here-" Sun's question was cut off as Freddy opened the door and forced his way in.
"I apologize for my rude and sudden entrance, but I need your help." Sun didn't know how to respond. This large animatronic bear just barged into his daycare out of the blue. The main performers never come to his area unless requested for a birthday surprise, but that was during the day. Why Did Freddy seem so frantic and desperate to be in here? What was he holding? With closer inspection Sunny finally took notice of the child in Freddy's arms. Many questions were going through Sunny's head, but his programming took over.
"Hello new Friends!" He started moving in a little wave like dance from side to side. "Are we having a late-night slumber party?! How fun!" Something was setting off alarms to sunny as he watched the kid in Freddy's arms. He was too still, too quiet, and Freddy seemed to be shielding the kid from Sunrise. Then his scanners finally zoomed in on the gashes and blood on the kid's back. "Oh no! What happened?!" His first aid programing kicked in and the sun animatronic ran to find the first aid kit in the daycare.
Freddy sighed in relief, he could detect no malice from the sun animatronic. The large bear carefully sat Gregory down on one of the tables. Freddy was grateful the blood had stopped flowing from his wound. There was only light oozing of blood. He now worried for the boy before him. He seemed lethargic and tired, rightfully so. He had been through so much tonight and it was only 2 in the morning. There was still four more hours until the doors unlocked. Freddy wasn't too sure how he felt sending Gregory out if the plex on his own. He'll have to think of that the best course of action would be, but what was he going to do until then? It was unsafe to keep Gregory in Freddy's room, he never knew if or when Venessa would appear to check for the child there. Freddy couldn't expect to keep Gregory here after barging in so rudely the way they did.
Taking a step back Freddy watched as Sunrise came up to Gregory and in a soft voice talked Gregory though how he was going to help. Sunny cleaned and dressed the wounds praising Gregory for his good behavior through every step of the prosses. Freddy walked away giving Sun the space to work, the bear needed to prosses everything that had happened tonight. With one last glance back at Sun and Gregory Freddy left the daycare with trust that Sun would keep the boy safe while he was gone. Freddy allowed his feet to carry him to the bathrooms on the second floor. He looked into the mirror and internally cringed. He was very dirty some spots on his plastic casing looked cracked. Freddy was sure that if he was a living being he would have been sick at the sight of blood on him as well. The sight did cause discomfort to the robotic bear. With a sigh he took some paper towels carefully dampening them and cleaned himself to the best of his abilities. He wouldn't be able to fix the cracks but at the very least he could clean himself of the grime. When finished Freddy gave himself a once over before nodding in satisfaction. With that he left the bathroom. The robotic bear had a few places in the plex to visit before heading back to the daycare.