Well, it looks like core four certainly has a rough night ahead of them. What horrors await them? Will they be able to outdo the four animatronics or will they be at their mercy? Read on and find out!

Felix bit his lip, scrambling over to the laptop and flipping it open. Now, this was not like in game play, where there were five different nights, or levels, and each night was six "in-game" hours. No, this was after hours at the arcade as well as in game; it always was after hours in game anyhow, except for a small window from when it was two hours exactly before Mr. Litwak arrived in the morning to when the arcade actually opened. The physical arcade's security timer was set to shut the night mode off at, as you would have it, 6 am as well, and then Mr. Litwak arrived two hours later. This was because the air conditioning would pop on during the summer to make sure all the machinery wouldn't overheat. After the arcade closed, the security system kept its main power running until 12 as well, where then the AC would shut off, giving the machines a chance to cool down.

So, to the core four's dismay, unlike in game play, this was far worse in that they had to survive six physical hours, not in game hours. Also to their misfortune, the animatronics in this game were much like cybugs in that they did not know the difference between game play and end of day. Now, for Mike Schmidt, if he was attacked by an animatronic, because it was his game, he could simply respawn.

However, the core four did not have this luxury now.

"Where are they, where are they?" Felix muttered in a panic as he hurriedly rushed through all the cameras' locations. He jumped back with a yelp when the face of a duck; Chica, filled the screen. She had a jagged row of teeth filling her beak and wore a 'Let's Eat!' bib. "Jiminy, I'm never complaining about the ducks in MY game ever again!"

Calhoun leaned down to read the screen better while her husband hid behind her legs. "It's in the party room according to this," she recited coolly; this thing looked no scarier than a cybug in her eyes, but she knew it was just as dangerous.

Vanellope whined as she stayed curled up on Ralph's shoulder, and Ralph felt sick that he couldn't get her out of here. If anything happened to her, he'd never forgive himself.

"Guys, don't worry, if those things come in here, I can just punch them out," Ralph said as he held up one of his huge fists to remind them of his physical strength. "I took on Turbo when he was a giant cybug mutant, and surely he was more dangerous."

"It's foolish to assume the enemies' power before one even comes in contact with us," Calhoun stated as she kept her eye on the cameras.

Vanellope glanced up at Ralph, biting her lip. "Ralph, this is my fault..."

Ralph frowned deeply, hugging Vanellope closer. "No... you had no idea about this, kiddo. Don't worry, I'm going to protect you."

While Felix continued to switch through the cameras, Calhoun paced back and forth slowly, peeking out the doors to the east and west hallways. She could not rely on her scanner now due to the lack of wifi.

"How are we on power?" She asked.

Felix took a peek, biting his lip. "Already down to 85%... and it's barely after midnight."

Calhoun narrowed her eyes. "Say, Felix. Turn that laptop over to Vanellope for a second. I want to see if you can reset the power source with your hammer. If you can do that, we can just shut these doors and keep them shut."

"Jimminy Tammy, why didn't I think of that!" He smiled, hopping off the chair as he went over to the battery located under the desk. He tapped it lightly. "Vanellope, what does the battery level say now?"

"Uh... 100%?" Vanellope replied.

"Great codes, we're saved!" He smiled, and Calhoun smiled lightly and gave him a nod before closing both doors. "Now... you just keep tapping that battery when it gets low and we should make it through the night."

"When we get out of here, I'm gonna give that Mike guy a piece of my mind," Ralph grumbled as he stayed positioned in between both doors, ready to punch whatever might appear.

"I guess I know why he was so skittish now." Vanellope sighed as she shifted seating positions on Ralph's shoulder. "He didn't really want us going in here, but I insisted he take a break..." The normally feisty, out-spoken little girl was now on the verge of tears, blaming herself still for this.

"Calm down, rookie…" Calhoun said in a gentler voice than she used with her soldiers, putting a hand on the child's shoulder. "We've got Short Stack keeping the battery alive, Wreck-It as the muscle, and yours truly packing the heat." She patted her handgun that was strapped to her belt. "Plus, you can always glitch away from those freaks if you need to."

"Not that we're going to need to," Ralph added with an overconfident air. He didn't want Vanellope to think they really needed to worry about their lives. "We'll be fine so long as we stay here and we got Felix's hammer with us."

Vanellope smiled lightly. As the tension in the room began to dissipate, so did hers, and she hopped off of Ralph's shoulders. "Well, now that we're going to survive, we should have a party or something!"

"Well, let's not get TOO laid back…" Felix said. "We still have killer costumed assailants roaming around, so even though we're safe for now, we should still keep our eyes and ears open… we still don't know this game too well."

"Hm… he has a point. Just take a look at those cameras when you can, see if they're doing anything funny." Calhoun said.

Felix nodded, flipping open the laptop and switching between the different cameras. "Oh dear… the d- duck is right outside the restrooms…" He switched to the backstage/storage room camera, and jumped; he held his chest as Bonnie's face was staring right into the camera. "Gracious, that frightened me…"

Vanellope was once again playing with the small cupcake plushie from the desk, humming the Sugar Rush theme lightly. When she heard Felix gasp, her head popped up, furrowing a brow and hugging the plushie to her chest.

"What is it?" Calhoun asked, going over to him and scanning the laptop screen.

Felix's eyes widened. "I- I was just checking this hallway and I saw something move very quickly on the-"

His sentence was interrupted when there was a loud pounding on the door, just outside the west hallway. Ralph immediately went over to Vanellope, scooping her up to console her. Calhoun grit her teeth, slowly taking her gun off her belt and taking the safety off. The banging continued for a few more moments, and was followed by the sound of fading footsteps and "Dum dum, dum dum, dum dum…"

"Oh my land… that was close…" Felix breathed a sigh of relief. "Goodness! How did the power get so low already?" He tapped the battery lightly, bringing it up to full capacity.

Calhoun sighed, putting the safety back on her gun and placing it back on her belt. "I have a feeling they aren't going to just stand around and wait for us to come out. We have no idea what they're capable of."

For the next couple hours, they checked the cameras and Felix would tap the battery, allowing them to keep the doors shut. However, Felix and Calhoun still monitored the cameras, and every once and again they would hear the sounds of shuffling outside the door, sometimes one would pound on the door or make odd noises. They noticed that Freddy hadn't really moved too much, but Bonnie was a frequent visitor, Calhoun growling at the fact that she had been hanging around the west door and hallway for quite some time now.

Vanellope yawned as she stayed in the corner, being guarded by Ralph at all times. She rubbed at one eye sleepily, having been up for too long. "Is it six o'clock yet?"

"No," Felix told her with a frown, not looking away from the monitors. "We still have a few hours to go."

Vanellope groaned, pulling her hoodie over her eyes as if to try and sleep. "I am never offering to babysit a game ever again. This is getting boring."

"Would you rather the carnivorous fuzz balls come in here to liven things up?" Calhoun dryly asked as she switched positions from one door to the other.

Ralph groaned as he flexed his arms out in front of him. He was getting cramped in this room and needed more room to stretch out. "Hey, if nothing's going on, you think I can jog up and down the hall at least once?"

"Negative, Wreck-It." Calhoun glanced at him with a fierce look. "You lost your marbles? Those things will hear you and swarm to you faster than flies to honey!"

Ralph was about to groan in annoyance when Felix scream pierced the air, making them all jump. Vanellope furrowed her brows, staring at Felix as he pointed in her direction.

"Are you trying to scare the candy hearts out of me, Felix?" Vanellope exclaimed.

"V- Vanellope... b- behind you... the d- d- duck!" Felix cried.

Vanellope's eyes widened, slowly swiveling the chair around. And indeed, in the east window just behind her, Chika tilted her head to the side, twitching a bit as the light flickered a bit.

"Hi, kids! I- I'm Chi- i- ika the CHICKEN!"

Vanellope screamed, scrambling off the chair and threw herself at Ralph, who hugged her close. Calhoun narrowed her eyes, gritting her teeth. "You're not going to do anything to us standing out there." She said, taking out her gun for good measure.

They all jumped again when Chika thudded her head against the glass, twitching a bit. While everyone was concentrating on her, Vanellope heard shuffling just outside the west door, trying to get Ralph's attention as he growled lowly at Chika, cracking his knuckles. Felix was closest to the west door, and the small child bit her lip, hopping off of Ralph and taking Felix's arm, trying to drag him closer, to his horror, closer to "the duck." But this would not be the source of his horror in the next moment. Some scratching and shuffling was heard outside the west door, and Vanellope gasped when a small spark flashed from inside the west door switch. The light turned red, and before she could even warn anyone or scream, Bonnie was upon them. It happened so fast, the sound of Felix and Vanellope's shocked scream filled the room. Ralph did not give himself time to process how he went from anticipating the yellow animatronic's attack to Bonnie rampaging through the small office. He growled, grabbing onto the Bonnie who was surprisingly quite strong. He pulled her off of the helpless Felix before he could be hurt. Just when Ralph had a handle on her, he gasped as Vanellope screamed shrilly again, the sound of Calhoun firing her gun filling the room as Foxy dashed inside. However, to Calhoun's surprise, as fast as he came in, he simply scrambled around a bit, shoving Felix and Vanellope to the side before running out. Bonnie, who was shoved out by Ralph, scurried down the hall, not bothering to attack again. The ordeal left all four in a state of shock, their hearts pounding in their chests.

"Kid! Felix! Are you okay?" Ralph asked, embracing a tearful Vanellope to him.

"Shaken up... but alright..." Felix got to his feet. "How did this happen...?"

Calhoun grit her teeth, shoving past them and looking out the west door into the hallway. She noticed something then, looking to the wall just outside the door. She knelt down, realization coming to her and she pounded the wall in anger. "Damn it! That's how that freak got in... it tore off the panel cover and ripped the wiring out for the door. This is how they got in."

Felix brushed himself off. "Jimminy... well, that will be no problem... I can fix that in a jiffy! Let me just..." His voice faded as he felt for his hammer on his belt, but it wasn't there. He looked all around, looking back to the east hall window to see Chika was gone. He slowly turned to look at the others, their dread soon matching his.

"They took it." Calhoun spoke for him. "That was their plan. To distract us."

"Tammy... without my hammer I can't fix the door or keep the battery going!"

"So they leave us with two choices. Wait here like trapped mice to be killed... or go out and try to get the hammer back... and get killed one by one." Calhoun took out her gun, taking the safety off. She looked upon her husband for a few moments, glancing at Vanellope. "I will not stand here and wait for them to come kill me. I'm getting that hammer back."

"Tammy, no!" Felix leaped up to grab her hand, causing her to jerk back and look down at his worried expression. "I can't have you going out there and getting hurt!"

Calhoun blew her bangs out of her face, putting her free hand on her hip. "You got any better ideas? You need your hammer back regardless of the situation or you won't be able to work!"

"NOBODY'S going to be able to work period if we get killed by those things!" Ralph pointed out with an angry wave of his hand towards the left door. He cringed when he remembered Vanellope was still there, clinging to his leg out of fear. "Sorry, kid."

"This game quit being fun hours ago, and I for one would like to speed it up and LIVE through it." Calhoun took her hand out of Felix's and went to double-check her handgun.

"It was never fun to begin with," Felix said quietly, his eyes going back to the monitors. "Wait, that thing was a chicken? Sure looked like a duck..."

"Never mind that!" Ralph groaned impatiently. "Sarge, you go get the hammer while I stay here and guard the other two."

Calhoun nodded, glad that someone was agreeing with her. She leaned down to kiss Felix on the cheek. "I'll be fine, pint-size, I can handle myself."

"I-I know," Felix muttered quietly, still not wanting her to leave. He held his breath as he watched his wife step foot outside the door. "Be careful."