Author's Note: We're back! And you can look forward to a lot more updates over the next few weeks! Hope you enjoy!

Chapter 167

The Last Time They Spoke

"Dad. Dad, please," Jeremy's voice stammered. "Dad! Would you just listen to me for once!"

"I told you, Jeremy. You aren't quitting!" Joseph's strained voice answered.

Ruby scowled at the screen along with quite a few of the bots.

They watched Jeremy with dark circles under his eyes that were visible even with the grainy old video. He followed his father into an office as Joseph gathered tools without even looking at his son.

"Dad, you don't understand. We...You have to talk to the Manager. We can't be open right now."

"The Manager..." Joseph stiffened as he let out a small growl. "She wants this quiet, you understand? Which means operations like normal until we're told otherwise."

"How can you just say that! Hedwig's in the hospital, Dad! How are you letting them get away with this?"

"Jeremy, you listen to me very closely," Joseph hissed. "You don't go running your mouth off to the management, understand? You cannot quit right now. Not after you told the night guard you were taking his shift."

"H-how do you know about that..."

"Because I just had the Manager get on my case about you being here when she opened this morning," Joseph snapped. "I had to come up with some story about the kid calling in sick and you being the only one without a schedule."

"Did you tell Scott?" Jeremy asked quietly.

"You care more about Scott's approval than mine."

"No...Dad... that isn't it. I just..."

Joseph huffed. "I didn't tell Scott if that's what you're worried about. He's got enough to deal with. And so do I. Keep your head down and don't do anything to piss off the Manager or any police that are poking around. And stop talking to that detective."

"What?"

Ruby growled. "Asshole." She paused and looked at Hedy and Jeremy. "No offence. But he is."

The siblings looked sad.

"He's scared..." Hedy said quietly.

Mike gave her a small side hug.

Jeremy had a guilty expression as he watched the screen.

"He was afraid of me getting framed if I upset the wrong person..." Jeremy muttered instead of admitting his dad probably blamed him for what happened. It explained the colder attitude.

Ruby grumbled. "He didn't need to act like that though. You weren't an idiot." She paused again. "Well, sometimes you were."

"I wasn't exactly aware of how much the company would be willing to do," Jeremy admitted. "I guess dad was..."

Hedy thought back to months before when the Originals mentioned that the management had threatened their dad with them, but she didn't bring it up.

Ruby mumbled something probably insulting but settled down again. Honestly, she understood where they were coming from. But at the same time, their dad had been wrong. He shouldn't have treated Jeremy like that. At the very least, he should have listened to him instead of getting angry and dismissive.

That right there had done significant damage to their relationship. Even if Jeremy didn't realise it.

What kid wouldn't be affected by the realisation that their parent refused to even listen to them. Especially when they were in genuine danger?

They were startled by the sounds of crashing, the video switching to the next clip just in time for them to witness a jittery Jeremy panicking about the dozens of boxes he just knocked down.

"Why do we even have wigs!" He muttered, haphazardly trying to kick the tangles back into a box in the corner of the guard room.

"We have wigs?" Ruby asked, perking up. "Why did I not know we have wigs?"

"Why would you want wigs?" Teddy asked suspiciously.

"We don't have them anymore. They were probably left in storage," Freddy explained.

There was a thump as a box dropped next to Ruby.

"...in some deep dark corner of the building's crawl spaces apparently," Hedy muttered.

Jeremy almost didn't seem to notice, too busy staring at the screen with a tense frown as he eyed the wigs on screen instead of the present ones. They were a reminder of yet another unpleasant experience from that week.

Ruby naturally started digging through the box, keeping an eye on the video at the same time.

They continued to watch the younger Jeremy fiddle around with the boxes looking for something.

"Jeremy? What are you doing here? We're closed, you know."

Jeremy yelped at Scott's voice and spun around, hyperventilating.

"Uncle Sco-"

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Scott asked from the doorway, concern colouring his voice. "What are you doing here? You're supposed to be home, kid."

"Steve!" Ruby cheered. Then she frowned. "Oh don't act all common sense now. We all know you've got about as much as me Mr. Play Dead. That was a terrible plan."

No one could really argue with her there.

"I-I just..."

"We're closed, Jeremy. What are you...?" His eyes darted to the security guard hat. He sighed and rubbed his eyes. "What are you doing, Jeremy?"

Jeremy fidgeted. "There's got to be proof. Answers. Somewhere."

"And you think you'll find something the police missed?" Scott asked, softly. "Jeremy, you need to be home with your little sister."

"I can't!" Jeremy snapped.
Scott stilled. He frowned at the boy. "What do you mean?"

Jeremy looked away. "They…" his voice cracked. "They won't let me near her!"

"What?"

Jeremy angrily threw a wig back into the box as he sobbed. "I don't know. But some social worker showed up and said I can't be around Hedwig while I'm a suspect. Dad argued, but I had to go to a hotel." Jeremy cried, desperately trying to wipe his tears and turning away from Scott in angry embarrassment.

"Jer-"

"If I can't even see her, I'm not going to sit around on my ass while someone gets away with this!"

"Jeremy, calm down. This is bullshit. We'll talk to Detective Stone in the morning. He told me you're not a suspect. They can't do this."

"WELL APPARENTLY THEY CAN!" He abruptly sat down in a chair and pulled at his hair. "I don't... " He buried his face in his arms. "I-I don't even know what's going on anymore."

"Horrible stuff. That's what," Scott sounded pissed about something specific but wouldn't say what. "Look, Jeremy. I know about you going behind my back and sending Smith home. I know you want to do this night guard job to snoop around. But if the wrong person learns about it, you're going to look too suspicious hanging around a crime scene-"

"I thought they couldn't find anything here," Jeremy said bitterly without looking up. "I thought the company was all ' oh they were probably taken somewhere else'."

"Still a crime scene, no matter what that bitch says. Seriously, leave this to me, kid."

Jeremy suddenly glanced up and paled. He shot a look down the hallway. "N-no. I'll be fine."

"What?"

"You should leave. I'll be okay. Maybe I just need to...uh...talk to the bots...o-or something. To get my mind off things. You know?"

Scott looked confused at the change in attitude. "What?"

Jeremy still had tears streaking his face but he was stubbornly swallowing them.

Jeremy barely reacted. His expression was blank. He jumped as Hedy took his hand and silently leaned on his arm in comfort. She barely remembered the details. She didn't know he had been kept away from her… The thought made her sick. She had needed her brother…

Jeremy huffed and pulled her into his side and sighed heavily into her hair.

Ruby glanced at them before looking back at the screen. For once she didn't make a comment.

Michael, however, who had been so quiet they almost forgot he was even there, couldn't help let out a mocking "aw."

Ruby's head snapped around and she pinned him with a glare.

"Don't push me, you pathetic excuse for a ghost."

Michael shut up. For now. Ruby was clearly on edge after all of this.

"Seriously. I'm fine tonight," Jeremy said.

Scott didn't look convinced. "Well, alright. If you need something to do..." Scott turned, staring at the desk hesitantly before fishing something out of his pocket and walking over.

"What are you..."

"Don't worry about it. Manager wanted me to make new...training tapes," he had an odd tone of voice. "You don't need to listen to them. There're just for whoever might come later."

"Oh yeah...uh... I listened to one yesterday. What the heck were you talking about? You brought up Puppet's glitch thing."

Scott froze. "Don't worry about it. You should be fine. The bots were just...acting a little strange today."

Jeremy was frozen and they could see him contemplating telling Scott what happened the previous night.

Scott was turned away from him and didn't notice. He chuckled. "I'll record these as if it's not you listening, okay? I'm not even supposed to know you kicked Fritz out, you know."

"Steve seems like a cool dude. You don't snitch," Ruby nodded in approval.

Jeremy huffed.

They watched Scott put the familiar tape in the weird custom phone/player.

He turned to leave and patted Jeremy on the shoulder. "Take care of yourself. Don't go poking at anything you can't get out of. And you know..." He gestured down the hall. "Don't let anyone in or out." He winked.

He seemed worried when Jeremy didn't look as amused and just nodded.

"Steve, Steve," Ruby sighed. "Why stay in the office at all?"

They all rolled their eyes. Ruby was never letting that one go.

Mike looked a bit indignant. After all, that's how he managed to survive. He wisely didn't say anything though.

Scott stared at Jeremy for a moment before pulling the teen into a hug, Jeremy squeaking in protest.

"Everything will be alright, Jeremy," Scott said gently, before pulling back. He smiled at Jeremy and patted his arms before turning to leave.

Jeremy watched him before shakily seating himself in the chair.

The cameras followed Scott instead of Jeremy as he left, taking a detour. He stopped in front of Parts and Services, his hand frozen on the doorknob. He sighed, deciding against going inside.

"Puppet first..." he muttered.

Goldy tensed, would Scott have found the bodies if he thought to talk to the Originals and her first?

The kids, their bodies, weren't around for much longer. It wasn't long before the smell was noticed and the management put Harrison and the other cleaners at the time in a terrible position.

Soon, Scott was standing in front of Puppet's closed box.

"Kid... you gotta talk to me."

Silence.

"Kid?" Ruby wondered to herself softly.

Puppet didn't respond except to stare blankly at Scott on-screen.

Goldy heard Ruby and looked a little more pained. "Scott treated us like people, like our age, even if we mature faster than humans. Even if Puppet, Spring, and I were basically adults by then. He always looked out for us..."

Ginny flinched and stared at the floor. Every time Scott appeared, she did that, unable to look at his image. It was like the video was more a ghost of Scott than she was.

Ruby glanced at Puppet but didn't comment further.

Puppet didn't respond at all.

"Marionette, I know you're in there." Scott knocked softly on the box. "You can't shut everyone out again. This wasn't your fault. We'll find the kids and..."

"No you won't," Puppet's muffled cold voice came from the box.

Scott kneeled in front of the box, talking through one of the thin walls like a door and lowering his voice. "What? Mari. What do you mean?"

"They're dead, Scott."

Scott violently stiffened. He couldn't respond for a minute.
They watched him try to process Puppet's words but he ultimately gave up. "How do you know?"

"I talked to them. They're ghosts now. And they're bodies are...still here."

Scott sucked in a short breath and squeezed his eyes shut. He hit his hand on the box as he sagged. "Mari! NO. You can't still believe in ghosts. Ghosts aren't real, kid! I'm sorry but they aren't, no matter how much you want them to be."

Scott paused and shakily rubbed his face in grief and frustration but his voice was calmer next.

"I get if you're panicking and coping but you need to seperate fantasy from reality in that thick metal skull of yours, alright? You're going to hurt yourself if you keep relying on fairy tales, Marionette. Please."

Ruby frowned slightly. "Still believe in ghosts?" she asked, looking at Puppet.

Puppet didn't want to answer. And yet…

"A part of me always knew there was such a thing as ghosts," he admitted in a blank tone. His eyes shot up to glare at the ceiling before darting to the kids. "I wasn't surprised to meet the children in the same way I perhaps should have been."

Timmy winced a little.

"If there was anything I might have said was a 'hobby' of mine when I was younger, it might have been my interest in ghosts, supernatural, and things relating to an afterlife. Our...creator figured it was me 'looking for my soul' so to speak, and trying to find some explanation for why we were alive. I wondered what would happen after we died. If we could. No one was very aware of the building, so I didn't have an explanation why I believed certain things so strongly. Then after certain events happened..."

Michael scoffed.

"Some thought it was an unhealthy coping mechanism of mine."

"Then I happened," Goldy said softly. "We didn't tell Scott about me until a long while later though."

"Hmm," Ruby hummed. "I wasn't surprised to see the brats during my first week. I've always believed in ghosts though." Her eyes got a little distant. "I used to wish my parents came back as ghosts."

The kids flinched, Cheryl looking ill and panicked.

"It's good they didn't. It really sucks..." Benji reminded quietly. He ignored the other ghosts glaring at him as he talked, shoving down whatever hatred he still had for Ruby at the moment. He was still not over the news about his mom. "They probably didn't want to leave you behind, but they probably thought you would be safe and okay in the end. So they had peace. But...I dunno if anyone gets an actual choice if they can stay or not. We just...woke up."

"I think it matters where our hearts are when we die," Timmy spoke up softly. "And heads. Like, if we really feel like there's more to do. So it's kinda our choice...but not really. Subconscious..."

Ruby just gave a non-committal hum. She was glad her parents didn't get stuck here. But back then she would have given anything for them to come back somehow.

Hedy was still being side hugged by Jeremy but she shifted to face Ruby more."You okay?" she asked softly after exchanging a look with Foxy, even if she knew Ruby wasn't going to want to answer a question like that.

Her answer was a predictable "I'm fine," and the teen didn't look over at them.

"Just get out. I don't want to talk to you," Puppet snapped at Scott from inside his box.

Scott looked a little shocked and hurt. He stepped back. "Marionette. I'm sorry. Okay? Please talk to me? Tell me what's going on. Jeremy...Jeremy is scared of something. He's…terrified. What's going on? Did something else happen last night."

Puppet didn't answer. "Get out. Now!" There was a pause, then Puppet's voice lowered. "If you care about that idiot, take him with you!"

Scott just looked more confused and alarmed at the malice in Puppet's voice.

Ruby idly wondered if this was the last time Puppet spoke to Scott.

She doubted he was kind to the man before being sent to the Warehouse.

She glanced at Puppet but he didn't exactly give away what he was thinking at the moment.

He just stared at the scene silently.

Goldy was a little easier to read. She looked at Puppet sadly and nudged him after a moment.

"Hey...Scott didn't take it personally," she said.

"I don't want to talk about it," Puppet said firmly.

Goldy wasn't one to listen to Puppet when she had something important to say. "When he found out what happened-that you and the Toys were gone-he never stopped looking for you guys."

Hedy flinched and looked down, hugging her arms as she thought about how she ended up at the Warehouse. About those voice messages Scott had left her and his weird clues about where to look. What to do. He didn't stop. But he couldn't leave the restaurant, so...in a roundabout way, did he find Puppet and the Toys and decide to send her to get them since he couldn't? It was a strange coincidence how she had been hired, given a past the company had to know about. She hadn't exactly hidden her identity. Did Scott have something to do with that, even after he was gone?

Ruby leaned over and nudged her lightly, looking concerned. "You okay?" she whispered while the attention was on Puppet.

"Goldy's right," Hedy murmured back. "I don't think Scott stopped looking for them. I think he got me the job because he couldn't get to them himself." She wasn't sure how the timing worked. Did he push things into motion before or after he died?

Jeremy had a distantly disturbed look. He was over it now, but he would always be a little upset about Hedy taking the job secretly. It was a little more upsetting if Scott did something to help, knowingly putting Hedy in potential danger.

Ruby leaned back and looked back at the screen.

"He wanted the family to be back together. And that included you," she murmured.

"I miss him so much," Hedy admitted, her voice cracking.

Goldy hung her head.

"I'm sorry..." a quiet voice startled them.

Felix looked at Ginny in shock.

Ginny's eyes were closed and her head was bowed as her clenched hands trembled.

"What are you talking about?" Fredrick forced out a brief scoff.

Ginny opened her eyes to shoot him a glare.

Fredrick snapped his mouth closed at the pained look.

"Sorry for what?" Hedy asked.

"...Please…don't make me say it, Wiggy," Ginny begged in a whisper.

Hedy just stared at her. She turned away. "Sorry you killed Scott?" she said, her voice dry. "Murdered him in a horrible torturous way while traumatizing Goldy when he sacrificed as much as he could for you? I'm sorry Ginny. I want to believe you mean that, but I can't." There was a vicious tone in her voice.

Ginny flinched back from Hedy's anger and looked away. She abruptly disappeared, tears pricking at her eyes.

Jeremy blinked while the other kids except Benji looked confused about what just happened. "Hedy... She was apologizing."

He was confused. And a bit shocked. Hedy was the one who he expected to take any barest of humanity the kids presented and latch onto it. She wanted them to be human again.

Ruby was watching Hedy with an unreadable expression, but she didn't say anything.

"She didn't mean it." Hedy wouldn't look at anyone.

"You don't know tha-"

"Yes I do!" Hedy snapped. "Yes I do. Damn it Jeremy I have them stuck in my head every night! She was just sorry that I was mad at her! She doesn't care what she did to Scott!" Her voice cracked.

The bots didn't say a word although Puppet, Spring, and Goldy looked concerned about Hedy's anger. The Toys, even Mangle, looked more confused.

Mike was just watching, keeping a concerned but mostly neutral expression.

"It was a start," Jeremy scolded, surprised he was the one saying it.

Hedy looked away and back at the man on the screen who stayed frozen in time.

Ruby stayed quiet for once, lips pressed into a thin line as she studied Hedy out of the corner of her eye.

She glanced over the ghost kids briefly before looking away again. It wasn't her place to get between the two.

Jeremy couldn't tear his worried eyes away from his little sister, even though she ignored him. He didn't think he could be more worried about her mental state through this. But throughout her life, Hedy had always been one to prove him wrong.

Jeremy looked at Mike, wondering if he had a better grasp on Hedy's psyche.

Mike just looked sad. These tapes weren't about him so he had resolved to keep mostly quiet except for the occasional joke and comfort. He met Jeremy's eyes and immediately looked away.

The building started the tape again, but it was slow, like it was hesitating. Perhaps it was sensing that those that belonged to it, especially its Mechanic, were reaching their limit.

"How much more is there?" Ruby muttered, rubbing her face tiredly.

She was so done with all this shit.

"I don't want to watch the rest of my week," Jeremy grumbled, eyeing the screen. "I don't see why any more of it's really important. We know what happens. There's nothing new there."

Foxy grimaced.

The bots all seemed pretty subdued after everything and Hedy and Ruby were pretty... shocked, over the revelations.

"The only thing we might need the building to show us is anything we couldn't tell each other anyway," Freddy said wisely.

"I dunno…" Mike chuckled. "I kinda want to see how Jeremy faked his death."

Jeremy grimaced.

And the building obliged, pleased with even weak instructions. It wasn't sure how to navigate the hurt its actions were bringing up.

It clearly skipped over or sped through the rest of Jeremy's week and a few more appearances of Derrick that made Ruby tense as they flashed by.

It was a little painful to see a few more scenes of Scott skip by but Goldy didn't think she'd be able to handle much more of him right now. She might watch more of the tape on her own if the building didn't mind…

Most of the room had similar ideas. They just wanted to watch the parts they were curious about alone.

People flashed by along with the nights. It was hard to follow but even with the time-lapse they could see Jeremy's panic rise along with the number of close calls.

Mangle twitched as she caught a few frames of her swinging down for a bite at Jeremy. She remembered that. He dodged and hit her with the flashlight hard enough to make her reset. It was morning by the time she woke up again, with mixed feelings about her failure.

The bots didn't age the same way as people but…she was a kid at the time. She didn't know what was going on. She was scared. She trusted Puppet.

Puppet barely showed up anymore.

Hedy or Ruby never did but they expected that. They didn't return to the restaurant until recently. When the deal was finally fulfilled.

Finally, the time-lapse slowed.

Cameras clicked through empty halls. Even the old building through the video felt old and tired and melancholy. The time said 11 pm.

Finally the camera scanning stopped in the kitchen where three figures were crouched by the loading door, a trickle of moonlight offering them only a little visibility. But the camera could see more.

"Uncle Scott…" Jeremy's younger, shaking voice cut through the static.

The older man's head snapped to him as he paused straightening the jacket on the third figure who sat slumped over as Scott fussed.

Jeremy shut his mouth and looked away.

Scott sighed, clearly tense. "Hand me a wig."

"...Which one?"

"Whichever one looks the most like your hair," Scott snapped. He paused at Jeremy's flinch. "I'm sorry Jeremy." He pulled the boy into a hug. "None of this is your fault…"

"I-I don't know what's going on…" Jeremy whispered, his voice cracking with barely reigned in sobs. "Why…why do they think I did it?"

"They don't. They're….they're lashing out."

"Why would the bots…?"

"It's not the bots," Scott said tension and grief dripping from his voice.

Ruby frowned, glancing at the kids again. When did he figure out about the ghosts?

"Did he ever speak to you?" she asked the ghost kids, although she mostly directed the question to Benji who seemed the most receptive to her at the moment.

Benji looked surprised she was asking him but hesitated. "Yeah…" he mumbled. It was mostly them hurling hateful things at him while he tried his best to help them. "He tried a few times…" There was really only one thing he thought Ruby would find interesting. "He made a deal with us to keep us to night six."

Beji shut his mouth as he thought about it a moment longer. After that they figured he sort of…gave up? He still tried to help them. Tried to convince them what they were doing was wrong.

Benji swallowed, knowing Fredrick was going to bother him about saying too much. "But we stopped showing ourselves to him. He didn't stop talking to the walls though, saying nice things. Saying "bye" and "good morning" after six. Asking if we wanted anything. If we wanted to talk…"

"The Manager thought he went crazy," Chica murmured.

Ruby looked thoughtful. "He was trying to be your therapist before you were ready for therapy," she said suddenly. "Makes sense. Thank you."
And she focused back on the video.

Bonnie made a vague 'wtf' gesture at her but she ignored him and everyone else giving her a weird look.

"But…"

"Jeremy, I need you to listen to me," Scott interrupted. "After tonight, I need you to go home and take care of your sister. Don't worry about this anymore. Don't question why the bots would do this. Forget about it. Pretend like they are just animatronics with faulty code. Not people. Not alive. You do that and I'll take care of this place."

"They tried to kill me, Scott!"

"Shh! I know," he grabbed Jeremy's shoulders and shook him sharply. "I know… Just…trust me when I say it's not all their fault. Can you trust me?"

There were clearly tears of stress in his eyes as Jeremy slowly nodded.

"Good." Scott said quietly. He turned to the man just…sitting there. "Who ever thought I'd be dressing a corpse with my nephew in the middle of a closed children's restaurant?" He looked back at Jeremy. "Temporarily closed."

"It can fucking stay closed for all I care," Jeremy spat venomously. He shuddered. "And don't say it like that!"

"Like what?"

"L-like this is normal!" Jeremy stepped away from the third figure. "T-this is sick, Uncle Scott. That's…that's a person."

"Who donated his body to science to save lives. I don't think this is a stretch."

"How did you even–!?"

"I know a guy. Or several. Now calm down before you wake someone up. Goldy is a light sleeper."

"Who?!"

"Don't worry about it." He sat back and looked at the cadaver. "That should do it. Close enough. Good thing his face is already messed up."

Jeremy spun around and dry heaved, looking weak.

"Don't throw up," Scott said, calmly.

"This isn't going to work…" Jeremy whispered. "They're not that stupid."

"Humans all look the same when they get smashed up." Scott deadpanned, looking haunted for a moment as the boy looked more ill and whimpered. "We're just lucky none of them have a sense of smell so they won't notice the formedalhyde."

Most of those watching looked disturbed or sick. Except Michael who looked amused and somewhat impressed.

Ruby looked awed.

"Steve is my hero!" she declared.

"Ruby!" Hedy tried but Ruby kept talking over her.

"That's genius. No graveyard investigations since it wasn't stolen from there. And no icky desecration of grave's issues. Valid argument in that he donated his body to save lives. And he gets to save one after death!"

Most of them were now looking at her in disturbed horror. She didn't particularly get that. They were dead already.

Hmm, this might be that lack of empathy thing Hedy mentioned.

"What? It's the solution that hurts the least amount of people? Practical and logical."

Jeremy just groaned and covered his face. She was right though. He knew there was something familiar about Ruby when he met her and now he had confirmation. Ruby and Scott would have gotten along great and that in itself was frightening.

"Do NOT take out your notebook to write this down!" Goldy barked at Ruby who pouted and put her book back.

"It's a good backup plan," she muttered.

"We..uh…" Mike said. "We aren't going to see the whole…smushed human thing right?"
The bots looked horrified at the idea of their humans seeing any of that.

Even if the guy was already dead.
"Wait." Mike frowned. "Who did it? How did you not notice he was already dead!?"

Hedy frowned. That was a good question even if she would rather be anywhere else than listening to this topic.

There was an awkward silence for a moment.

Felix looked embarrassed. "Foxy's eyesight was shit…" he muttered.

Instead of being horrified at the confession Mike looked more confused. "And you didn't notice him not kicking or screaming or something?"
"...I thought he was asleep…" Felix said. He glared angrily as Michael burst out laughing.

Ruby clapped a hand over her mouth to muffle a cackle of laughter at that. Sleeping?! Really?!

She was annoyed to be having a similar reaction to Michael…

It was funny!

Hedy looked too disturbed to be amused, looking a little miffed that several others were trying to hide their morbid amusement. Ruby and Michael just clearly had the most…obvious reaction.

Goldy had noticeably looked away from her and was shaking slightly as she controlled her laughter. And Puppet had snorted.

Jeremy was staring straight ahead. His sense of humour had gotten a little darker in his line of work.

Mangle was making a funny rattle noise.

Hedy shot Timmy a betrayed look as the boy squeaked.

"Shut up!" Felix shouted. "I wasn't thinking, okay!?" He would have been blushing if he had any blood, but the paleness of a ghost was a bit persistent.

"Oh come on it's funny!" Ruby said in exasperation. "We're not mocking you brat. It's just a funny concept."

It was throwing them all that Ruby wasn't being as hostile as usual with them.

"Did Felix brag about murdering me after?" Jeremy asked, genuinely curious.

"Jeremy!" Hedy gasped.

"Yes," Felix said with a huff, still amused by Foxy's nearsightedness.

"Well… you were the first weren't you?" Ruby asked. "So wait, their first kill was a lie?"

"Ruby!" Goldy scolded.

"What?! It was! And it was the first one!"

Freddy dropped his head into his hands. "Why are you like this?"
"Do you want the list?"

Hedy groaned and looked up at the ceiling. The building seemed pleased with the mood, although it hadn't been expecting this reaction to that scene.

The tape popped out of the recorder.

There was a pause as everyone shut up and processed that.
"We're done?" Toby asked, surprised.
"Dang it I wanted to see them prop the body in the chair," Mangle said sarcastically.

Ruby clapped her hands together, the sound loud enough to startle them. "Right, great, that's over. I am going to need a very long time to process everything I just saw. I will probably get violent so I'm going to go to Fright."

"Then I'm staying right here," Michael muttered, still stuck in the salt circle. Secretly, he was glad the building stopped the tapes. He didn't think he could handle watching himself die again. And he was sure there were tapes of that rainy dark day, even if the building had no power at the time. And Ruby would find some way to kill him again if she saw him take an ax to the Originals…

Ruby smiled sweetly. "It's cute you think you're safe."
She swiped at part of the circle with Betty and the building happily obliged, dragging Michael by his feet towards Fright.

"You fucking shack!" Michael swore at the ceiling.

Everyone dispersed in their own way, some offering comfort and awkward laughter to others.

Puppet was a little more noticeable, practically bolting in the opposite direction as Ruby, probably taking the long way to his box in the prize corner.

Goldy glanced at Hedy as the ghost kids vanished. Timmy was also lingering.

"You okay Hedy?" the bear asked.

Hedy hesitated, not liking how everyone's attention was on her for a moment. "I'll get back to you on that…"

The building rumbled happily around them. Job done.

"Oh shut up," Goldy muttered to the ceiling.