A single car rolls to a stop in the middle of the night in front of Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria. Daniel then steps out, breathing a sigh of relief at being back home. The short yet emotional trip to Circus Baby's Pizza World took only a few hours, but always felt good to be back.

Daniel passes the short distance between the door and his car in a few strides. He opens the door and goes inside, ready to finish his last task. He walks into the dining hall, and the sight he is met with confuses him exponentially.

Each and every animatronics was bouncing around in happiness, some of them even dancing. Daniel's head tilts as he watches this scene, wondering what was going on. That was when he notices the most important details. Tears. Sparkles. He isn't imagining things, is he?

"No kid. Things are finally coming to an end."

Daniel's eyes widen at Nightmare's statement. "The end?"

Nightmare nods mentally in response. "Yep. It's time for your friends to pass on."

If possible, Daniel's eyes widen even more. "W-What?! I thought that I needed one more group for them to pass on!"

Nightmare simply chuckles. "Why don't you ask that puppet friend of yours those questions."

That was when Daniel notices that Marion was walking towards him. His body also has sparkles around himself, along with tears flowing down his face, but nothing else seemed to be happening.

Despite that though, Marion had the largest grin on his face Daniell's ever seen. And this was a true grin, not the fake one put on by his mask. Marion then shouts "Daniel! You're back just in time!"

Daniel's confusion just keeps rising. "What do you mean? Why does everyone look like they are passing on? Don't I need to save one last group?"

Marion just waits patiently for Daniel to finish asking his questions. Once he does finish though, Marion simply shakes his head, chuckling. "Oh Daniel. You already saved the last group!"

And there goes Daniel's confusion meter. "What?"

Marion just grins again and says "Wait and see."

And Daniel does just that. He watches once again in awe as each and every animatronic transforms back into their old selves. Each one of them seemed to be around Daniel's age, and they all looked similar to their human-animatronic forms.

Soon after the transformation comes the part Daniel was almost hoping wouldn't happen. Each person then begins turning transparent, the sparkles around them flowing into a single point to create a large tunnel of light. But this wasn't even the strangest part.

Daniel then begins feeling a strange feeling within his gut. He looks around, wondering what's going on, when an explosion of energy rips out of him. He screams in pain as something is torn from his very soul, but curiously makes him feel more complete than ever before. Daniel drops to ground, gasping. He then looks up again, and his jaw drops at what he sees.

Standing directly in front of him are the group of nightmares that Daniel housed within his mind. Nightmare stood directly in front of the group, standing as menacingly as ever. But his malevolence seemed to be fading, and his body was beginning to change.

Nightmare's whole shape begins changing into that of a human. His skin turns a purple-peach color, and black clothing appears overtop of the skin. A purple trench coat soon follows the clothing, and long purple hair runs down his back to his hips. And finally, his eyes. His eyes were a blazing red-purple, burning with emotions.

It was the last part that stopped Daniel from attacking what seemed to be Michael Afton reborn. The Michael that murdered his friends had no emotions, and he was ALIVE. No way was Nightmare his murderer!

"In disbelief I see. Kid, you should know by now to not trust everything I do."

Despite the jabs sent at Daniel, Nightmare was smirking warmly. He was floating mid air, black magica flowing around him. Daniel could only watch in complete disbelief at Nightmare. "B-B-But… HOW?! How are you here?!"

Nightmare just chuckles and says "Well, I haven't been alive for a long time. Remember Vincent saying that I had messed with an evil spirit named Nightmare that took me over?" Daniel nods dumbly.

"There was no such thing as Nightmare. Nightmare was just magic. But it was the perfect disguise for me. That magic consumed me, making me desire fear and destruction. But I couldn't do that without a host. So I did the next best thing. I made myself a host." Daniel's eyes widen as he begins to put the pieces together.

"I see that you are catching on fast. I created a version of my living, human self that I could control. But I couldn't make him perfect. The Michael I made had no emotions, acting like a robot. Anything that had emotion within it was me."

"And then you came along, Daniel. I was furious that someone had somehow stopped my manifestation. So I lashed out at the closest thing at the time, which was you. I trapped myself within your mind, using the Nightmare stories as a cover up for my true self."

"But there was something about you, something that made me want to help you. I began warming up to you, sending harmless jabs and tests at you. And you passed each one with flying colors. Soon, I began seeing that my goal wasn't destruction and fear. It was to help. But then comes the problem."

Michael sighs as he remembers the moment. "The only way I could help was freeing those I hurt in the first place. But how could I do that? It was only when you allowed me to take control of you against Nightmarionne that I was able to do something. I saved somebody intentionally, and it was enough for me to begin helping."

"After that I began sending subtle messages to your mind, invoking you to save your friends. It was all I could do, but it was enough. You then saved my daughter Elizabeth and her friends, allowing me and my gang to appear here."

Daniel's face was in complete turmoil. Anger first flashes across, old anger taking surface against his persecutor. But then comes the understanding. Michael figured out that his crimes had been wrong, and he tried to make amends for them. Daniel couldn't be angry at someone like that.

Slumping down in defeat, Daniel begins chuckling. "I can't believe my friends murderer was the last one I needed to save." Nightmare laughs out loud as well, the joy of passing on making his actions much more boisterous.

Nightmare grins widely at Daniel and says "I believe it is time now."

Daniel looks around and finds that each of his friends was now holding a balloon. Recognizing the universal sign of passage to heaven, Daniel begins crying as well. But his tears aren't of sadness. No, his tears are of pure joy as well. His face is set in a warm smile as he sees each of his friends ready to get the life they deserve.

Each person then looks back at the light tunnel and takes off. They all begin crying out in joy, running forward with each other to reach the afterlife. Marion looks back as well, but doesn't move just yet. He looks at Daniel one last time, waiting for something.

Daniel, however, doesn't notice Marion's gaze. His focus is completely on Nightm-, no, Michael Afton. Once enemy made friend. It's like history in the making.

Michael floats down to Daniel and smiles proudly. "Kid, I want you to have something before we go."

Michael holds out his hand and channels his energy to it. He then makes it take shape, forming into a familiar black top hat. Michael then gives the hat to Daniel, who is in awe at the simple item. "For you to remember us by. Never forget us, K?"

Daniel looks up, his face showing confusion. But then he smiles and says "I won't."

Michael simply grins in response.

That was also when they both notice that Marion was watching them. Marion has a small smile on his face, simply watching the farewell. Michael straightens up and floats over to Marion, a guilty expression on his face. He stops in front of Marion and opens his mouth to say something, but Marion stops him. Marion simply smiles up to Michael and says "No need to apologize. I've seen enough." Michael's mouth hangs open, but he then smiles in response.

The two remaining spirits then begin making their way into the afterlife, their bodies becoming more transparent as they go along. But just before they pass on completely, Michael stops. He turns around and looks at Daniel again. Daniel tilts his head in confusion, his fox ears flopping to the side with his head. Michael chuckles at the adorable sight and then shouts "Kid! One last thing before I go! Ready?!"

Daniel arches an eyebrow in confusion, but nods yes anyways. Michael grins in response. "Just remember! Nothing is ever as it seems! You know this, right?" Michael doesn't wait for a response. He turns around and heads into the light, the tunnel disappearing behind him.

Daniel watches in slight confusion at Michael's words. He then looks down at the Freddy hat Michael gave him, and smiles. He puts it on his head, grinning all the while. "I do, Michael. I sure do."

-Author Note-

And thus ends my first ever story. It was a joy writing this, and an even greater jot to see it end. I started this back in July. I know it might seem like a short development period for some people, but I still enjoyed this. I can only hope you all enjoyed it as well. Thanks for reading!