Unknown Location, 12:00AM

The girl stood in front of the screen. A camera placed on a shelf showed a video feed of a tall man with sallow skin. His thin body filled with notable scars. The girl made her way over to the elevator, oh how it mocked her. It was the only exit to the darned place they called 'home'. Yet, their programming did not allow them to leave. Buried deep below ground, where memories sleep. Where anger is restless, where secrets don't keep. She sighed and let her pigtails move. She was really hoping that his plan would work. With her technology, their mission would be so much easier. What was it called again? It didn't matter. All she knew was that if she helped them, they would come down to visit them. And maybe they could help her escape along with her friends. And then they could have fun together. She smirked to herself. All that mattered was that she- no, they could be happy. She gave the screen a smirk and observed the man. They were never going to be lonely ever again.

Mike woke up with a start. He had a dream about a girl who was asking for help. She said things which he couldn't understand. 'Don't hold it against us.' 'You don't know what we've been through.', stuff like that. He brushed it off and went to question Marion about 'Operation Springlocked' or whatever it was called. The guard worked his way towards the Puppet's box. He knocked on the lid three times. No response except for a slight creaking of the box. He just dismissed it as the Puppet being awake already. It would explain why the music box wasn't playing. He groaned at the realization and noticed BB drawing.

"Hey, BB. Whacha drawin'?"

The small boy looked at and proudly showed Mike the paper he was holding. It was a crudely drawn picture of BB holding hands with another slightly differently colored BB. "I drew me and my new friend JJ! She's very cool and magicky!" He placed the paper on the wall and continued drawing on another paper.

"The others don't believe she's real though… it's like they think I'm a crazy person!" BB whined. Seeing that the kid was feeling kinda down, Mike tried to cheer him up.

"Well, I believe you." The child beamed at him and hugged his leg. "Yes! Thank you Mr. Mike! I'm gonna tell Puppet that you've enlisted in the JJ Believing Squad!"

The child hobbled over to the door screaming the Puppet's name. Mike smiled and he followed the child. He finally saw the child happily talking about the newest member of the JJ Believing Squad. BB chatted about how he was going to enlist more people while the Puppet just nodded nonchalantly. After BB ran out to enlist more people, Mike decided to ask the Puppet his question.

"Hey Marion, what the heck is Operation Springlocked?"

The Puppet stared at him. He seemed shocked despite the mask that blocked his face. He shook his head and pushed the guard to the side. "That is… confidential, Night Guard."

"What are you hiding, Puppet? I've heard of some mentions of 'her', something about already knowing about Afton, this 'Spring' person, and what exactly am I supposed to do? You've already found him, you have info about him, what is the purpose of bringing me here?"

The puppet sighed. He glared through the holes through his mask. He looked like he was about to walk away, but he spoke with a shaky voice.

"Th-The souls. They want their final rest. They demand their final rest. They want me- they want us, to kill the purple guy. The killer. The only ones who don't want imminent revenge are Jack and Ryan. The souls in me and Fredbear, respectively. Jack's bound here because he wants to free the others, if he moves on, then I'll be gone. Charlie's intentions are unknown, as Gold says that "kid doesn't want me to tell". I've coordinated with our team, we plan on truly freeing the souls. And that's exactly what we're going to do. Remember, Mr. Schmidt. You are the key. You will unlock a door, but not yet."

The puppet walled around Mike and left towards his box. Mike heard the box close with an audible 'thud'. He sighed and just walked out of the room. He decided to go for a walk to clear his thoughts. Maybe he could learn more at Fredbear's Family Diner, but he didn't need to anger anymore potential murder-bots. For now he just went out for a nice, quiet walk.

The puppet sat quietly in his box. He didn't mean to vent like that in front of the Night Guard. The watchman was not supposed to know until a later time. The music box tinkled softly, its old tune worn out because of its age and how much it's been used. He still remembered the lyrics of the specific part that the music box played.

90 years without slumbering… (tick tock, tick tock)

It has been too long. Those poor unfortunate souls deserve to get their closure. They need to finally rest.

His life seconds slumbering… (tick tock, tick tock)

William Afton will not cause any more pain. His time will come soon. And when he does, he will not escape. Not anymore.

But it stopped, short, never to go again…

We will make him feel our pain. We will make him know how we suffered. He will pay for what he has cast upon us.

When the old man ḓ̸̺͈͎̠ͅi̘̠̮̟̭͙̿̉̄̽ͬ͒ͅę͇̬̰͓̩̲d̞͈̲͙̼̘…

He will know the Joy of Creation.

Mike sat on a bench in the park. He stared at the frozen lake. Families happily skated over it, while some chose to build snowmen around it. It was December, after all. With the all the snow gathered all over the place, the lakes all iced over, and the over all cool atmosphere, families were sure to have fun. Be it a snowball fight, ice hockey, or ice skating. The weather was perfectly fine. Snow covered trees littered the area and little snowflakes fell from the overcast.

Mike thought about the things Marion said earlier. The souls wanted their revenge. He was the key, but he must wait. He decided not to ponder about it. He just decided to rest. He'd just have to ask the others later. Again.

Fredbear's Family Diner, 8:00PM

The shabby old building was quiet for most days. Today was not one of those days however. There had been rumors about the old diner, saying that whispers had been echoing through the overgrowth. Some even say that at midnight, laughter can be heard along with the cheerful music of the past. A teen decided to check it out, partially to see if the rumors were true, partially for personal reasons.

Josh Afton walked into the old diner. The Fazbear's that he visited as a kid didn't exist anymore, so that monster would mostly be in the diner, rotting away. The tattered drawings of the monster and his stupid friends seemed to gaze at him with a mocking look.

He moved onwards through the dump, glass shards clinking under his sneakers. At the end of the hallway, he noticed an old table, surrounded by six chairs, one being a high chair. Moonlight came through the broken ceiling.

Laughter echoed through the halls as a childish voice whispered.

"Oh, what do we have here? It seems like someone is in the building! Little Josh has grown up, it seems!"

The teen tensed up. Whatever was speaking, it knew his name. 'Pop Goes The Weasel!' started playing. The childish tune was suddenly so… menacing. The laughter hadn't ceased, eyes seemed to watch him from all over the room. Two figures seemed to emerge from the darkness, one resembled the 'human' Fredbear, and the other resembled a 'human' Bonnie. The two figures whispered incoherent phrases, a childish laughter echoed throughout the building. But then, everything became silent. Josh looked around the room, seeing a human version of that puppet thing.

"Why have you returned, Josh? I thought you hated this place."

"I've come here to destroy that wretched monster."

A deep laughter was heard from the table directly to the right of Josh. Fredbear sat at the seat closest to him.

"Oh, hello Joshua. Come back to blame me again, I see."

"I know what you did."

The gold-wearing man chuckled. "Don't you think I should be saying that to you?"

Josh was taken back on what he said. "What are you talking about? You're the one who killed my brother!"

"But do you know why he died? Don't you remember, Josh?"

A voice recording seemed to play from inside Golden. It seemed to have the sounds of an ongoing birthday party. Many people sounded happy, except for one. The crying of a small child could be heard, increasing in volume as if coming nearer to the recorder.

"Hey guys, I think the little man said he wants to give Fredbear a big kiss! On three… One… Two…" Younger Josh said.

Laughter from four kids can be heard. They continued laughing over the faint cries until…

CRUNCH!

The recording stopped. The diner fell quiet. The others were quiet. Some were surprised, some indifferent. Fredbear stared at the teen with his white pinpricks.

Josh stuttered as tears began to run down his face. "I-I'm sorry. I-I'm s-so sorry f-for blaming you."

"I'm not the one who you need to apologize to."

"H-How? He's dead because of me!"

Fredbear stood up. "Follow me."

Graveyard, 11:59PM

Josh arrived at the cemetery with the old diner's retired mascot. They easily located the grave of the younger brother. Josh was skeptical about this, as Fredbear found the grave with ease, and it would be weird for the robot to know where his brother's grave was.

"How did you know my brother's grave was here?"

"… his soul lingers."

"What are you going on about?"

"He is here. Say what you must."

The cemetery no longer had its solemn vibe, but had some sort of feeling, like childish innocence. A faint outline of a young boy appeared on the grave.

"Michael, is- is that you?" It spoke, in a familiar voice.

Josh seemed to recall something. He backed off slowly. "N-No… I'm Josh now..."

The child looked disappointed with his answer. After a short pause it responded.

"You changed your name… it was because of me wasn't it?" It began, sounding quite tearful.

It continued, floating over to Josh. "You wanted to cut your ties with us… so you changed. After dad went mad, didn't he? He lost two of his children, and the only one remaining was the one who killed the youngest." It stopped, the outline was now more detailed, looking more like how the child looked like after The Bite.

Josh was flooded with a flurry of memories. Of how he tormented his brother. Of how he laughed at his cries. Of how he caused the infamous Bite of '83. Tears welled up in his eyes.

"I'm sorry…" Josh said through his tears. The feelings given out by the cemetery were now replaced with warmth.

"I forgive you." said the spirit. "I love you, and I forgive you."

The two brothers hugged, the child's touch felt… real. As if he was really there. Josh noticed that his brother was fading away.

"W-Wait, don't leave me!"

"I have to move on, Michael. I just needed to let you know that I forgive you. I know you didn't mean to kill me. Goodbye, Michael."

"…Goodbye, Ryan."

Unknown Location, 1:30 AM

The girl kept watching. His report should come in shortly. It should've come in half an hour ago. But something happened. She'd have to ask him about that later. The phone rang. She picked up the phone. It wasn't the call she was expecting, but it was something.

"Hello?" she spoke in her soft voice. The other voice was deep and seemed to be accompanied by someone else's soft sobs and the patting of someone's back.

"Heya. It's me."

"Goldie? Did Puppet tell you to give me a report?"

"Nah, but I made progress. He has moved on."

She thought for a moment, but only for a moment. Good. Progress has been made.

"Alright. Is Michael the person with you?"

"Yep. You want to speak with him?"

"No, it is fine. Just tell him that the Circus is coming."

"Alrighty then. Bye sis."

"Goodbye, little brother. Talk to you soon."

After Golden hung up, the girl smirked to herself. Everything was going according to plan. One by one, they would move on. She would help them be free. And in return, they would help her be free. She and her friends would be able to get out of this hell. They will find a way out.

A/N: While writing this, I didn't even realize this was long enough for my standards. Enjoy this slightly longer chapter. Updates may either come more/less frequently. Thanks for reading and the continued support!