The abandoned Freddy's was quiet early in the morning, until the animatronics that were left behind within its walls began to malfunction out of the blue.

The spirits that inhibited them had returned from Fazbear's Fright, but not in the best state of mind.

Golden Freddy was sprawled out in a corner nearby, but as soon as Michael's soul was back inside it, the costume shook. Michael noticed immediately that his friends were losing control over the animatronic bodies. As he had no way to still the animatronics himself, Michael hefted his empty costume up though sheer will alone. He swiftly glided away down a hall to find Cassidy or Charlie. Michael knew that one of them would be able to calm the others down, as Michael knew the cause of the panic, as he too felt some himself.

William Afton.

Despite being souls lurking in Fazbear's Fright to observe the dead man, William was still able to strike fear into Michael's friends.

And himself.

The mutters of a madman had been enough to send a chill through even a soul, all of them being reminded of just what those words entailed.

Golden Freddy twitched sporadically, reflecting the helplessness and anger Michael felt over being able to do anything to help his friends or stop William in some way. Michael let out a disembodied sigh, shoving back the anger as he kept an eye out for the marionette and Fredbear. Michael wanted to focus on the here and now, and not the past, and luckily, his search didn't take too long. Michael brought Golden Freddy to a halt within an open doorway, waiting for the other two in the empty room to notice his presence.

Charlie and Cassidy appeared to have been speaking with one another, but both went silent when they noticed Golden Freddy hanging just above the floor inside the doorway.

"What's wrong, Michael?" Charlie asked, turning away from Fredbear as the puppet's hands twitched.

"I need one or both of you to help me calm everyone down." Michael said grimly, pinpricks of light flicking in the darkened eyes of the Golden Freddy suit. "The animatronics are glitching and attempting to go through a routine while the others are trying to be in the present, and not the past."

"What did he do?" Cassidy demanded, the light in Fredbear's eyes brightening.

"You need to understand that Mr. Afton is unaware of us being in that other building with him." Michael began, as he made Golden Freddy's suit stop shaking in what was a nervous tick. "Mr. Afton thinks that he is imagining our voices but that doesn't stop his words and actions from affecting us."

Charlie was already floating past Michael as he finished speaking, going out into the hallway. The marionette's features reflected worry with some effort on her part.

Fredbear followed, Cassidy's anger and concern near-palpable, even as it was reflected in the animatronic's features, twisting them into something unfriendly and unapproachable.

Michael eerily drifted above the floor, Golden Freddy taking the lead to show them to the main area of the restaurant.

The animatronics had since moved on the stage from where they had started.

Freddy was holding on to Chica, who had flung her arms around him to press her face against a shoulder, as if to hide from something. Bonnie was further along the stage, the purple animatronic rabbit twitching and spasming as Foxy held onto the other's shoulders to prevent Bonnie from walking off the stage.

"Fritz?"

Freddy's head turned to look at Charlie, but merely gave a shake of his head as a paw patted Chica's back reassuringly.

"What happened?" Cassidy demanded as she stomped Fredbear's bulk up onto the stage to help Bonnie. With a light touch, she was able to stop the other animatronic from glitching out. Nodding to the grateful look Bonnie gave her, Fredbear's head turned to take in the other animatronics. "Did he do anything to you?"

"We be sprits over there, matey. Nothin' to harm without a body to skewer with a knife." Foxy said as he dropped hook and metal paw from Bonnie's shoulders. The fox animatronic gave a little shake of his head as he overrode the voice programming. "It is more what he did while we were observing that caused Susie and Gabe to leave sooner than the rest of us. I don't think he was aware of us being there, and I hope it stays that way."

"He was singing and dancing." Susie said, distraught as she leaned Chica heavily against Freddy. "It was...I wasn't expecting to see or hear that again. I couldn't stay any longer. Needed to get away before I lost myself to those painful memories."

"Mr. Afton didn't seem to be fully there in the present." Michael added, as Golden Freddy settled onto the ground, back against a table. "He attempted to corner the guard again, and when the guard left, Mr. Afton went and sewed buttons onto the Spring Bonnie suit he's trapped inside. At first, it seemed like the animatronic's AI was forcing him to sing, but then..."

"He danced to a mirror and started to sing some more, with his own voice. It was..." Freddy held Chica to the front of his suit, when he sensed her animatronic body shaking. "It was chilling to see, remembering what he'd done to us. And it only got more unnerving when he kept on with it down the hall."

"What made us return here was him laughing and talking about family." Bonnie finally spoke, head shaking a little before stilling. Gabe's voice overtook Bonnie's AI programmed one. "I ran away first. It...what was being sung made me remember being lured away and..."

"It reminded all of us." Freddy said, the eyelids of the animatronic lowering slightly over blue eyes. "Implying he had done us a favor by killing us as he did."

"He lacks remorse." Fredbear's voice echoed in the room, missing the secondary tone that belonged to Cassidy. "No guilt over making us all relive the moment our lives ended, even if he is still unaware of our presence."

"Mr. Afton said our opinions didn't matter to him." Michael said, glowing white dots flickering within Golden Freddy's empty eyes. "But from the sound of it, he doesn't comprehend that we were really there."

"He was still singing under his breath when we left." Foxy added, inspecting his hook. "But he was doing something with the cameras, and maybe even the ventilation system."

"But the vents are already terrible to begin with." Chica turned her head. "What if it hurts the guard when they come back to work tomorrow?"

"Charlie and I will make certain that doesn't happen." Cassidy said. "At least, up to a point. And you all said before that as long as the ventilation is reset, everything would be fine."

"That is true but only so long as Mr. Afton doesn't block the guard from the device that is needed to reset the ventilation in that place." Michael said, as Golden Freddy's head ended up tilted to one side.

"Are you all going to be all right?" Charlie asked, as she floated up to the stage and hovered near each of her friends in turn. "I don't want your animatronic bodies to be causing you trouble in addition to being around our killer in the other building."

"I should be all right to go later tonight." Chica said in a small tinny voice.

"No, you and Gabe will stay behind tonight." Cassidy said, Fredbear's head shaking once. "If you happen to freeze up instead if leaving, you may end up stuck in that other building for the day. I don't know if William will be able to eventually see or notice us, and I'd rather you not be temporarily trapped if that happens."

"All right." Chica said with a soft sounding mechanical whirl that was like a sigh. She stepped back from Freddy and offered a faint smile that was able to be reflected with her beak. Yellow and white feathers bounced and fluttered over the animatronic as Chica made her way over to Bonnie. "We can help you and Charlie get this building better prepared. Keeping occupied would help keep the bad memories at bay."

"We could use some more help around here." Charlie said, as she held up spindly puppet hands. "I can't do too much heavy lifting without dropping something."

"I said I was fine with doing the bulk of the work." Cassidy pointed out. "I think we will be ready soon, and will have to find a way to lure William here."

Bonnie's animatronic suit malfunctioned briefly before it was brought back under control.

"Gabe?" Charlie asked, floating back over to the purple animatronic rabbit.

"I'll be okay." Bonnie's AI voice was back. "I guess I wasn't thinking about him actually coming to this place, instead of the other way around."

"I would rather he stay far away, but I only know so much about how the animatronics function." Charlie said, eying Bonnie for a moment before going back over to Fredbear. "But William learned from my father, so if anyone can reset an animatronic and allow it to go outside this building, unfortunately we that'd be him."

"How are we supposed to get him to change the settings without sabotaging us? How are me even supposed to lure him here?" Freddy asked as he walked slowly and awkwardly down the stage stairs. Freddy's head jerked to the side to look at Cassidy, as if a thought just occurred to him. Blue eyes briefly blanked out to white dots on a black background. "The night guard?"

"That was my plan, if only we can get the details through to the guard." Fredbear's voice was back to two-toned.

"Why bring someone else into a mess that doesn't concern them?" Freddy asked, walking over to Cassidy with deliberate steps. "William almost corned the guard once. What do you think will happen if he gets to the guard and there is nowhere to run?"

"It will work out." Cassidy said, unperturbed by how close Freddy got, nearly nose to nose with Fredbear.

"We'll need to try and drop hints to the night guard when they return for their next shift, then." Michael was suddenly upright and had pushed Golden Freddy between his two friends. The head turned toward Freddy. "We can keep an eye on the guard and if worse comes to worse, we can make ourselves known to Mr. Afton. That would pique his interest and likely prevent him from doing anything to the guard, and would make him attempt to get answers about our presence."

"If things go bad, we will have to rethink things. I certainly don't want him to see me unless there is no other option." Freddy didn't seem particularly happy with Michael's words but but the animatronic bear's eyes had gone back to their usual blue. Freddy turned away with a mechanical groan. "I need to go clear my head if I'm going back to that place tonight. Thinking about that man seeing us as sprits again makes my skin crawl." Freddy paused. "Or whatever it is I feel within this animatronic body."

"I'll go with ya, matey. No sense in sailin' alone in the darkness when you don't hafta." Foxy's voice became a mix of programmed voice and spirit, as the animatronic fox swiftly left the stage to join Freddy, who merely gave a nod at the idea of company.

After a long moment, Golden Freddy's head swiveled to the side to meet Fredbear's softly glowing eyes.

"This all needs to be brought to an end, Cassidy, one way or another. The others are at their limit, as am I." Michael turned the empty animatronic suit away and silently drifted off into the darkness after Freddy and Foxy.

-x-x-x-

Charlie watched Michael leave the main area of the restaurant, before she quietly directed Chica and Bonnie to the places she needed help with for setting things up. Once they were off on separate tasks to accomplish, Charlie turned to Cassidy. The marionette saw that Fredbear was standing there, as if waiting patiently for her to say something.

"That night guard won't be able to prevent William from getting to them eventually. And I would rather he not learn about us, because, as Michael said, it would pique his interest to learn that there are more souls that remained behind." Charlie said. "If William is adamant about cornering the guard, he can find a way to do so. And from what Michael said before, William is slowly regaining memories, which will certainly encourage him to learn more. He may even remember seeing our spirits before he was spring locked in that suit. If he does, then he will most certainly come here to find us, when he learns of our location."

"We will worry about that when the time comes." Cassidy said, before Fredbear's mechanical eye lids dropped in what passed for concern. "What about the guard's...condition?"

"The night guard's condition is stable, for now." Charlie said, after a moment's pause. The puppet's eyes narrowed as the mask reflected disapproval. "But not for long. We need to go again, in order to delay what should have already been."

"Then let's go right now, while the others are occupied." Cassidy said. "I will leave Fredbear in a locked room, in case we get more visitors looking for some fun in an abandoned building."

"The last group was driven away, wasn't it?" Charlie quieted for a moment, before the puppet's mask looked unhappy again. "Were there more intruders while I was in that box, unaware?"

"Nothing major for you to worry about." Cassidy said in an evasive way. "You were already exhausted from the last batch of souls and we didn't want to wake you..."

"As long as there aren't any more spirits that found their way here..." Charlie began, with a tilt of the puppet's head. "Because you're right. I'm so tired of having to break the tie between the dead and Freddy Fazbear's Pizza locations..."

"No, there aren't any more, so long as we don't have any more break-ins, have souls of William's other victims come here, and...so long as what we discussed before is closely monitored." Fredbear turned and headed out of the room, and headed down the hall, as the marionette floated along from behind. Fredbear settled in a corner of another room after closing the door. After a moment's hesitation, Cassidy spoke. "I'm ready, if you are." A pause. "I know you thought I shouldn't have done what I did, but...trust me, this will work. I know the others are tired as well..."

Charlie was silent as she reached out with the puppet's hand, and called Cassidy's soul out from Fredbear. The marionette's hand curled around the soul's own, a small hand that was barely able to be seen. As Charlie made her way out of the old Freddy's building, Charlie felt only sorrow over the anger and hate that radiated from within the sprit she guided along.

"Charlie?" Cassidy asked. "Is something the matter?"

"It's nothing." The marionette's face had become its usual mask, giving nothing away.

"All will be fine in the end." The girl's spirit whispered. "I won't let William hurt anyone else."

Charlie still could not speak, and merely held tight to Cassidy's hand as she guided them along a darkened side alley. If only things could soon be brought to an end...then maybe that hatred within Cassidy would be quelled. Perhaps all of the souls tied to the animatronics would finally be able to rest, as others had been able to.

The souls that remained of William Afton's victims were trapped, for now, and they could only do what they all believed would free them, even at the cost of other people's lives.