...So much for blitzing this thing during spring break. Sorry about the delays, guys. Hopefully it'll be worth the wait for this fight; I feel like I did better on this one, but y'all will be the judge of that.

Just so you know, I'm not giving up anytime soon. I'm gonna see this story through... But be warned. With two nights to go, things are gonna start getting nasty. Hold onto your hats, folks; Alex is in for one heck of a rude awakening.

I immediately headed for the back office, starting to shuffle through all the different papers and documents within, trying to find some kind of clue as to who could be running the Marionette. There had to be a controller, some kind of documentation for how it happened… As well as something on that jammer device. I finally stopped when I saw a file: "Work Records – Night Guards". I couldn't help myself as I pulled the file out and set it on the desk.

I opened it… And immediately felt a feeling like ice pouring into my veins. There were the names of previous guards at this location there, each one with a brief bio, their work records – including 'nights survived' – and a set of three check marks. "Left", "Sac", and "Dead". I felt chills going down my spine as I flipped through the pages… Every single one seemed to be either "Sac" or "Dead". There were also files attached to each document about cleaning costs, 'hush money', and other bribes.

Even though I had a bad feeling about this, I also couldn't help but grin as I hunted out my phone and took photographs of every document I could. I now had solid, concrete proof that the manager knew what was going on, and was trying to cover it up. I had the info I needed… But one thing bothered me. There were two categories for guards who didn't leave… Dead seemed clear, but what was 'Sac'?

I had a bad feeling about this as I closed the file up… Before one document caught my eye. It was the one with "Left" checked off. I checked on the name, and grinned as I made a mental note of it.

Fritz Smith, the only guard to live through the night shift at the new location. I'd have to talk to him; maybe he knew a bit more about what was going on here… With a nod, I closed up the file. Night Four was about to begin for me, and I'd have to get ready; I checked my watch and nodded. 11:45, time to get back to the office.

The screen flickered on; it was Freddy's perspective again, back at the old location… His vision panned from side to side. Bonnie and Chica were back in position, normally. I figured this was around the time they had started attacking night guards… When I froze as their vision panned to center.

The Marionette was sitting there, staring at Freddy. And no matter which way his vision panned, the Marionette stayed right there in the center… And just like that, my theories turned to confusion. How was the Marionette involved? Was it even part of the old location? I'd never seen it…

My confusion was cut off as the screen turned blank and "It's Me" appeared once more. I frowned slightly, thinking… Maybe the Marionette and Golden Freddy had been working together at one point, but had a falling out? Maybe the old band was supposed to be Gold's trump card against the Marionette, but it – or its controller – sabotaged the plan. If that was the case, then the controller here had to be someone who worked at the old location.

But there simply wasn't anyone that it could be that had worked at the old place that also worked here – besides me, of course.

Except…

My train of thought was interrupted by the phone ringing. I hit the 'answer' button, waiting for Phone Guy to read off his latest spiel.

"Hello? Hello? Uh, hey there, night four! I told you you'd get the hang of it!" I scoffed audibly. I'd had a lot of experience, buddy…

"Ok, so uh, just to update you, uh, there's been somewhat of an, uh, investigation going on. Uh, we may end up having to close for a few days... I don't know. I want to emphasize though that it's really just a precaution. Uh, Fazbear Entertainment denies any wrongdoing. These things happen sometimes. Um... It'll all get sorted out in a few days. Just keep an eye on things and I'll keep you posted." The plot thickens… I raised my eyebrow, remembering the story Faz had told me. Was this around the time that he took over? After the murders?

"Uh, just as a side note though, try to avoid eye contact with any of the animatronics tonight if you can. Someone may have tampered with their facial recognition systems - we're not sure. But the characters have been acting very unusual, almost aggressive towards the staff. They interact with the kids just fine, but when they encounter an adult, they just...stare." Oh, they've been doing a lot more than staring, buddy.

"Uh...Anyways, hang tight. It'll all pass. Good night!" Click. And with that, I was alone once more.

Somehow, I had a feeling that wouldn't last long, so I quickly donned my combat gear and checked over the new device I had brought. Seeing the signal jammer, and figuring that the Marionette was the 'ringleader' of this group gave me an idea on how best to handle them and buy myself some breathing room, so I had gotten myself a much more powerful version.

The size of a soda can, this machine would block every signal within a five foot radius. I drop it next to the Marionette, and at best the Toy animatronics are uncoordinated in their attacks. My hope was that they'd simply power down for the night, but I didn't hold my breath. So, with that in mind I slipped down the halls to the Prize Counter, set the device down next to the box, and turned it on.

And heard a deep, electronic screeching from the Show Area. Seems like it was doing something nasty to the other robots…

I didn't have time to celebrate as in stomped an enraged-looking Bon-Bon, who screamed at me unintelligibly before leaping at me. I jumped over the counter, letting her smash into it and grinned at the crunching sound, before tugging my newly-magnetized machete out and driving it straight through her back. That managed to shut her down pretty neatly, but I didn't have time to celebrate.

Out in the hall, I heard whirring and clanking. Either a Withered robot or Mangle, I didn't know. As it rounded the corner, I took it by surprise by charging directly at it, shotgun drawn and firing off a quick blast. Fred staggered as the shot took off a chunk of the plastic suit, revealing his endoskeleton midsection. I jump-kicked him and kept moving, rushing down the hall to a Party Room.

There, waiting for me, was Cheeks… And Withered Chica, grappling each other in a clear fight. Apparently my jammer had disrupted something vital, because they didn't pay attention to me for more than a second. My self-congratulation was short-lived, however, as Withered Chica threw Cheeks at me, forcing me to dive to the floor. I came up with the shotgun firing, catching it square in the broken jaw.

It screeched and charged me, and I stashed my shotgun before drawing my second machete and going to work. It threw a punch, which I blocked with one blade and came back in a stabbing motion for its middle, which it sidestepped in order to twist me around and throw me into one of the tables. I groaned as the thing collapsed under my weight, flinching in pain before grabbing one of the plates and tossing it at it. It screamed and I jumped back to my feet, coming in with two quick slashes to its arms and followed it up with a kick to the torso.

It flew back, and I had the pleasure of seeing the magnetized blades in action as its arms decided not to follow it on the trip… Before feeling a heavy fist hitting me in the back, sending me tumbling forwards.

Withered Freddy stood, teeth bare and eyes a menacing black as it reached for me, that microphone in its hands sparking with electricity. I decided I didn't want anything to do with that and made my discontent clear with a stab into those bared teeth, its eyes widening as the blade cut through something vital within its components. It staggered back, trying to recover which gave me time to grab a chair and bring it smashing down on its head.

The old robot groaned and collapsed, going limp rather nicely… And then I heard a crashing racket from behind me. I spun and threw my machete, grinning triumphantly as the blade cut directly into Withered Foxy's open jaw mid-pounce. I ducked, dodging the jump attack… Only to be grabbed by the Mangle, who seemed quite intent on biting my head off as it snapped its jaws inches from my face.

Oh, this would not do at all.

I took it by surprise by charging forward, grabbing its muzzle. Its teeth dug into my armored glove and I winced, but managed to hold together long enough to smash the animatronic part abomination into the nearest table, collapsing it quite nicely. I followed it up with a good stomp to the 'center' of the mess, and it went limp.

That was Bon-Bon, Withered Chica, Withered Freddy, Withered Foxy, and Mangle dealt with. Slowly, my mind processed something I'd missed…

Before letting out a cry as Cheeks grabbed me from behind, immediately biting into my arm. I yelled in pain, the armor holding in spite of its powerful jaws as I pulled a revolver with my free arm, turned and put three shots through her torso, the plastic shattering and breaking from the heavy magnum rounds.

She let me go, and screamed as she tried to stab me with a kitchen knife. I countered the blow, kicking her in one of the knee joints. The servo started grinding angrily at the impact, forcing her down on one knee. I brought the handles of my blades down on the back of her head, and my armored knee up to her face, smashing it up and revealing endoskeleton beneath, screaming and screeching its robotic noises.

A point-blank round from my shotgun dealt with the noise quite nicely, and I caught my breath and did a mental tally. The Foxys were dealth with, as were the Chicas… That left Withered Bonnie, Fred, and that infernal Balloon Boy – who I was sure was hiding in one of those lousy vents. Cowardly little brat didn't want a 12 gage present again.

I headed to the Game Room, figuring that would be a nice place to have it out with the last two robots. Turns out, they were thinking the same thing as I entered the room, just in time to see Withered Bonnie ripping Fred's top hat off and smashing it into his face. When they saw me, the glanced back at each other, then charged straight for me as one.

"Enemy of my enemy, huh? Too bad you rust-buckets can't innovate worth anything!" With that, I charged straight for them, before ducking and sliding between them and getting two nasty cuts on their knee joints as I passed. I jumped onto the carousel and switched it on, feeling it beginning to rotate as the robots pushed over each other to be the first to get to me. Fred managed to outrun Withered Bonnie.

I decided to reward him well, and grabbed hold of the carousel's 'top', using it to boost myself up and give him a double-booted kick straight to the midsection, forcing him back into a stumble… And falling directly onto Withered Bonnie, who took offense to it and started their own brawl again. With a grin, I leaped from the carousel directly into the fight, blocking a blow from Withered Bonnie and punching it in the exposed endoskeleton 'skull'. Fred took this as his chance to work Withered Bonnie's torso a bit with a few brutal punches.

Thinking quickly, I grappled Withered Bonnie and let Fred work it over, finally finishing with a punch that went straight through its torso and nearly hit me. Taking this as my chance, I kicked Withered Bonnie onto Fred, bowling them both over before jumping and landing squarely on Fred's face. I felt plastic and metal crunch beneath my weight, and finished the fight with a single downwards stab through his head.

That's when I heard the vents rattling, and realized Balloon Boy was in there… And then remembered something else. Faz had told me that he was more of a support machine… Which meant that he was pulling the Toy animatronics back out of the line of fire in order to repair them, leaving me alone.

And judging by how exhausted I was, and the time being 5:30 AM, that suited me fine. I headed back to the security room and flipped through the cameras just in time to see both Balloon Boy and Golden Freddy pulling their respective allies back into the depths of the pizzeria to be repaired and prepared for the next night. A glance at the Prize Counter caused me to swear as Balloon Boy glared at the camera before smashing my jammer. I wound up the music box just to spite him, and waited for the night to end.

6 AM arrived, and with it one screen flickered on with yet another game. This time, I played the Marionette, with the words "GIVE GIFTS" above. There were four grey figures… The ones I knew from earlier games were supposed to be dead children. I moved the Marionette from figure to figure, leaving presents at the bodies.

In the background, the highly digitized voice was spelling out H…E…L…P…T…H…E…M. Help Them? This was getting weird… And it got weirder as the text changed to "GIVE LIFE". I went to each body once more, eyes widening as the boxes were opened… And a mask from each animatronic was placed on their 'heads'. The game finished, and the screen froze for a long moment…

Before flashing to Golden Freddy's face, staring into me, and then going dark. But those eyes stayed with me as I sat there…

This didn't make any sense. Were these games telling me the story of what happened to the murdered children? Was it the backstory, why the person controlling the Marionette was doing what he was doing? I wasn't sure at all.

Packing up, I got in the truck and drove home. I had a lot of questions and not many answers… But I did have a few leads. As soon as I got some sleep, I'd call Adams up and see what he could make of the files.

Then, I'd call up Faz and see what he knew about the survivor, Fritz Smith…

And my current boss – the only employee of both restaurants, Damien Mitchell.

A connection, perhaps? Either way, something's clearly got Alex's attention on this one.

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