Morning came quickly, much to Freddy's displeasure. The bear blinked awake slowly, feeling even worse than how he had when he had fallen asleep. Looking down at Bonnie's sleeping body, he sighed a bit, petting the back of his brother's head. Guilt was overwhelming him, but what was he to do?

He thought about what had happened last night. What did B.B. mean? It was probably nothing; he knew children said some really creepy things unintentionally sometimes. Something stuck out about it, though. What was the key for? What connections did the boy have to the Master?

Feeling Bonnie shift, he looked down at him. He smiled a bit when the bunny's endoskeleton eye lights turned on, flickering for a moment.

"Mornin', Fred!" He said through a yawn, sitting up carefully. Freddy nodded and smiled, sitting up himself.

"Good morning, Bonnie." Freddy spoke through a mostly fake smile. His guilt and confusion was getting worse in his mind, which made him feel a bit agitated. He wasn't in any position to snap at anybody, so he decided to remain silent.

The two older animatronics worked the kinks out of their joints before standing up. Freddy yawned himself, shaking his head clear. They remained silent for a while before the lounge room door opened, revealing T-Chi.

"Good morning, boys!" She said in a chipper, sing-songy tune, walking over to them. They looked at each other before looking to the chicken girl, tilting their heads.

"Red wants to talk with us all today! Would you mind?" T-Chi questioned, looking between them both. They had all reached a silent trusting level where they didn't really need to question the Toy animatronics. The two old mascots nodded, watching her carefully.

She seemed happy at their response, taking their hands quickly. She led them out of the room and down the hallway, smiling up at them occasionally.

"I hope you guys weren't busy! It's just an important day for us."

"Right, what's so important about it?" Bonnie questioned, earning a harsh elbow from Freddy. The bunny grunted in pain, looking at the bear. "What'd I say?!"

As they neared the corner of the Stage Room, they heard Red chuckle. He looked at the three for a second before going back to brooming, wagging his tail lightly.

"It's alright, you two." He spoke, smiling a bit. "I didn't expect you to know; not even the others knew at first."

T-Chi left Freddy and Bonnie's sides, going over to the other bear. He stopped sweeping, resting the broom against a table. He patted the chicken on the head, before turning to the older animatronics. "We're finally opening again tomorrow! We need a bit more help cleaning, if you don't mind. We slacked off a bit."

"Of course," Freddy muttered looking around the room to inspect it. It looked relatively clean, asides for a few things on the floor and a few messed-up tables. He opened his mouth to speak to Bonnie, but jumped a bit when the rabbit ran faster than usual to pick up some cleaning supplies from across the room.

"I CALL WORKING WITH CLYDE!" He shouted, nearly tripping on himself several times. Just as he yelled, he nearly slammed into the blue bunny, making them both jump back in surprise. Stifled laughter came from the other animatronics, causing Bonnie to snort a bit.

After the initial shock wore off, Clyde smiled at Bonnie a bit, putting down some things he was carrying. He grabbed the other rabbit's remaining arm, giving him a toothy grin. "Ah, we'll have a lot of fun. Kitchen sound good?"

Everybody slowly got into their separate jobs, quickly getting everything done. Everybody chattered excitedly, while Red instructed the others to do various jobs after they finished their first assigned ones.

Freddy felt a twinge of jealousy overtake him, but he attempted to shake it off. He sighed, watching Bonnie have fun with the others. He should be happy that they all found other animatronics who'd accept them. Why wasn't he happy?

"Freddy."

Freddy froze at the eerie voice again. Clutching the mop he was holding, he slowly looked around, flattening his ears.

"It's okay to be jealous. I mean, after all, YOU'RE the original. You should be the happiest..."

Growling under his breath, he flattened his ears all the way and continued mopping.

"Leave me alone." Freddy grumbled under his breath, squinting a bit. His breath quickened when he felt a small amount of static cover his vision.

"Do you really think they care about you? You're not one of them. You're a mistake. A burden. A failure."

"N-no, I'm not..." He huffed under his breath, shaking his head violently. "I'm not, I'm not, I'm not..."

"Freddy?"

Freddy's head snapped up, his eyes widening a bit in shock. Red stood in front of him, mop in hand, eyebrow raised.

"Are you alright? You were muttering to yourself about-"

"I'M FINE." He snapped, only to recoil himself a bit after doing so. He received a few surprised stares in response, making him clear his throat. "I-I'm fine."

There was a prolonged pause from the others as they stared at him before they slowly went back to their chores. Red stayed in place, eyeing the old animatronic.

"Are you quite sure, Freddy? I'm here if you ever need to talk."

"I'm sure you are..." The older bear spoke slowly, staring at him. Red stared back, detecting the odd coldness in his voice. About to say something, he stopped himself and decided against it, clearing his throat and smiling politely to him.

"Yes, well, alright..." Red coughed and turned to the other animatronics in the room, whistling to grab their attention. "Hey! Take a quick break, would'ja?!"

Mangle, Tangle and T-Chi all exchanged worried looks, unsure if they should really stop and leave the other two alone. After a few moments, they all slowly agreed, dropping their cleaning tools. The leader gained collective reluctant 'yes sir's from three toy animatronics in the room as they trod out of the area, probably leaving to go meet up with Bonnie and Clyde.

After they were gone, Red turned to Freddy. They stared at each other for the longest time before Red finally spoke up, studying him carefully.

"What's wrong, Freddy? You've been like this ever since last night. Did something happen?"

"No." Freddy responded coldly, staring to walk away. Red quickly stopped him, his eyes narrowed. Freddy growled lowly in attempt to intimidate the other out of the way, but he didn't budge.

"I want to help. I'm asking, Freddy. What happened? You're never like this. I want to help because I care."

"Do you really care?" Freddy shot back, catching the other male off guard.

There was a tense pause before Freddy suddenly lunged at Red without warning. The younger bear expertly leapt backwards without a second thought, skidding across the floor with practiced ease. Freddy, on the other hand, fell over and collided with the floor harshly, roaring out angerly.

Red backed up a few more paces to watch the other's eyes flicker from normal to pure black for a second. Hissing quietly to himself, he backed up even quicker, turning a corner. He slammed into Clyde in the process, making the bunny cry out a bit.

"A-ah, Red!" The blue animatronic said quietly, brushing himself off. "You're sweet, but you don't have to go crashing into me to get my attention. Anyways, what was that noise?"

"Freddy." The bear said quickly, looking at the other's green eyes for a moment. "He's under the Puppet's control. He's fighting it, but it looks like he's fallen into its trap more than once."

All amusement dropped from Clyde's face. He began to move towards the Stage Room, but was stopped by Red. They looked at each other, the bunny allowing his ears to droop. "A-are you sure?"

"Positive. I've gone through it enough to know." He trailed off when he heard Freddy's heavy footsteps. Red protectively grabbed Clyde's arm, pulling him down the hall.

"T-Bone, go tell T-Chi and M&T. All of your safety is my number one concern right now."

"W-what about Bonnie?! He's too sweet to be under control! What do you want me to even tell them?!" Clyde squeaked out, nearly melting into the bear as they speed walked. Red shook his head, flattening his ears.

"Just tell the others to be on high alert. If Freddy's under control, then Bonnie could be as well. I'll deal with them myself."

Shoving the bunny gently, he waved him off quickly. Clyde looked at him with an unsure expression before going towards the kitchen, going to go look for the other Toys.

While Clyde went one way, Red went the other. He began to search for Bonnie, hoping to find him before Freddy did. He had to speak to him before the older bear did.

As he turned a corner, he froze when he saw Freddy go towards the lounge room. He waited and watched, his ears twisted upwards in attention. He relaxed when the broken animatronic went in and slammed the door shut, probably wanting to be by himself.

Seeing that the coast was clear, Red continued walking. He searched various rooms until he came upon his office. He stopped and relaxed when he saw the purple bunny and T-Chi goofing off, doing various things like drawing on a miniature whiteboard he had on the wall, and play with the cupcake the chicken always carried around.

"T-Chi," Red wheezed, slightly out of breath. She looked up, tilting her head at the bear. She turned around to face him, placing a few things she was holding aside.

"Reddy, what's wrong?" She asked worriedly, slightly alarmed and confused by his expression. He huffed a few more times before standing up straight, calming himself down.

"I need to speak with Bonnie alone, would you mind?"

"Oh, of course not!" The chicken said, a skeptical look still present on her face. She studied the bear before he tilted his head towards the office's exit, frowning.

"T-Bone needs to speak with you."

"Oh, right?" T-Chi spoke in a slightly questioning tone, starting to walk out of the office. Deciding to take the vent instead, she crawled into it and disappeared, the metal thumping fading out as she left the area.

After he made sure she was gone, Red turned to Bonnie. The faceless animatronic tilted his head at him, a smile present in his tone.

"What's up, Redhead?"

"Bonnie." He said firmly as the bunny sat down on the chair, watching the younger male. Red sighed, pressing his palms against the desk.

"Have Freddy's eyes ever turned black before?"

When everything quieted down, Red knew he had struck a nerve. He waited patiently until Bonnie let out a single, dry huff, tilting his head downwards.

"F-Freddy..." He started, an emotionless amusement filling his vocal tone. He paused again before continuing, slightly hesitant. "Something happened. Ever since then, he's never been the same. H-he'd get really angry sometimes, and his eyes would do...Um, what y-you said."

Red nodded quickly, trying to speed up the process of the story. He shifted a bit, not taking his eyes off of the rabbit. "Yeah, yeah, what about you?"

"U-um." Bonnie grew quiet for a moment, shrinking back a little from the bear. "Y-yeah, the others told me it used to happen from time to time."

Red let out yet another sigh, this time sounding more exasperated and forced. Standing up straight, he began to walk away. He was promptly stopped by Bonnie, who grabbed his shoulder with his remaining arm.

"W-wait!" He cried out, his voice cracking just a bit. "What does it mean?"

"It-...I'll tell you later, Bonnie. I need to get back to the others." He said quickly, walking away. He left Bonnie quite dazed and confused.

As Red left the office district of the restaurant, he could've sworn he heard giggling.

Only it wasn't B.B.'s voice, it was a girl's.


The day passed by quickly, and the cleaning was finished. They only had a few more things to finish, but they decided to do that later. As dusk fell, the Toys played games with each other, with an exception of Red. He sat at a table, smoking his cigar. He rubbed his forehead, trying to get rid of his headache. His circuits hurt.

Freddy's actions and B.B.'s odd behavior was getting to him. Something was wrong, but what? It seemed as if everything had gone wrong since the older models showed up. He didn't blame them; it wasn't their fault. The Master just didn't like them, he guessed.

"HEY, GIVE IT BACK!"

Jumping a bit from the sudden screech, Red looked up. T-Chi was chasing M&T around, looking quite enraged. He had to take a double take to realize she was missing her beak.

"Try and get it, Chicky-poo!" Tangle yelled out, laughing after doing so. They crawled into the ceiling without warning, making the chicken girl screech in rage. Red chuckled a bit, standing up.

He walked over to her, trying not to wince at her face. He had to admit, she certainly was creepy without her beak. Much prettier with it on. He shook it off and smiled either way, standing up straight.

"I'll get you a new one, hold on."

She relaxed at that, nodding in agreement. After getting the okay, he walked off, heading towards the Parts and Service room.

Red walked into the dusty, under used room after making his way to it, glancing around for a new beak for T-Chi quickly. Finding the correct bin instantly, he rummaged through it and pulled it out, making sure it wasn't broken or damaged. Shining it up first, he walked over to the wall and banged on a nearby vent. He tossed it halfway in, resulting in a metal 'twang', and a few clunks afterwards. A small, sheepish 'thank you' came from the other side after a few moments. He didn't respond, and simply rubbed the back of his neck.

Rummaging through his exoskeleton, he pulled out the odd little item that B.B. had found the previous night.

He looked at the key that he held in his hands, sighing. He jingled it around a bit until he heard Clyde shut the door. He perked up when he watched the bunny walk over to him.

"Do you know where this goes to?" He asked immediately, looking to the bunny for answers. The blue animatronic looked at the key curiously, gently taking it with his hands. After a fee moments of inspection, he shook his head, handing it back to Red.

"Sorry, honey bear. Can't say I've seen it before."

Red snorted a bit at the nickname, shaking his head. He leaned against the wall, looking at all of the spare exoskeleton parts.

"What do you think is wrong with him, Boss? Did we say something to upset
him? Did something we say shove him back into being weak enough to be possessed? " Clyde's voice was low and soft, his green eyes flickering worriedly. Red was leaning against the wall across from him, taking a drag of his cigar.

"I don't think it's us." Red said after a long pause. Taking one final inhale of it, he put the cigar out on his exoskeleton, brushing any ashes away. Making sure it was fully out, he put it into his 'hip-pocket' for later. He looked to Clyde, shrugging.

"I think it's something deeper than that. Something we obviously don't know." He concluded, scratching his chin in thought.

Clyde frowned, tilting his head. "What is it, then?"

Both of them jumped when they heard a loud clang and clatter from the basement that was connected to the room. Looking at each other, Red raised an eyebrow, treading towards the door.

Jiggling the handle, he snorted when he realized it was locked. Pausing for a moment, he slowly put the key to the keyhole. Surprised when it turned, he opened the door a bit slowly, blinking.

"Well, we found where the key goes."

Clyde laughed a bit, only to be silenced from another clang in the basement. He looked to Red in worry, who was inspecting the door.

Opening it without worry or fear, the bear turned his eye-lights on and began down the stairs. The bunny followed close, nearly riding on his heels like normal.

As they got further down, the brown mascot caught an odd glimpse of something in the corner of his eyes. He blinked and finished his transcend down the staircase, going towards the general direction he saw it in.

"Mind hitting the light, T-Bone?"

Clyde didn't have to be asked twice. He nodded and quickly walked around, locating the switch in no time. He pressed the button quickly, looking up to the ceiling.

As the lights flickered to life, he smirked to himself. His smile faded when he suddenly heard a sharp, panicked yelp from Red.

"What?!" Clyde asked in loud, obvious alarm, spinning around to look at the bear.

The other animatronic was bent down inspecting something, his hands raised as if he were going to touch it, but was too afraid too.

"T-Bone, come here."

Tilting his head from side to side, he made his way over to Red. Eyes widening, his ears fell back a bit at what the other had found.

The exoskeleton of a rusty, yellow-brown bear laid slumped on its side. The eyes were fully gone, along with one of its ears. Various wires protruded from it, parts of the endoskeleton were visible, and it smelled horrible. It looked almost as if humans had attempted to repair it, but failed.

"W-what is it?" Clyde asked, gripping tightly to Red's shoulder in fear. Red ignored the bunny for the most part.

Tilting the yellow bear's jaw up with his hand, he frowned when he realized most of the endoskeleton was gone. "Looks like an older model. Maybe it was part of Freddy's band at one point, I'm not sure. It's dead, that's for sure..."

"Poor dear. Looks kind of like Tangle, huh?" Clyde said gently, reaching out to touch the exoskeleton. An unbelievably large wave of sadness came over him, making him pull his hand back. Feeling tears well in his eyes, he blinked them away quickly and looked to Red for answers.

"Who were you?" Red questioned the suit softly and curiously, gently letting its head rest against the wall. Thinking for a few minutes, he bit his lip, looking to Clyde.

"T-Butt, grab me a screwdriver and an upper torso, would'ja?"

Clyde blushed a bit at the name verbally being used, giving the bear a stern glare. Nodding nonetheless, he ran up to the parts and service room.

Red studied the animatronic while the bunny was gone. He sensed something very, very wrong with it, but pushed the feeling aside for now. Looking around for some sort of tag on it, he finally found some information on the bottom of its foot. Only seeing the year it was made, he snorted, rubbing the back of his neck.

"1973..." He muttered to himself, furrowing his brow. "Isn't that when Freddy was made?"

Perking up when Clyde ran back down, he waited for the bunny to get over to where they were. Placing a toolbox and the upper torso of an endoskeketon down, he looked to Red, smiling. "Here, boss."

"Thank you, Clyde." Smiling back at the blue rabbit, he grabbed a screwdriver and began opening the other bear up, much to the other toy's horror.

"What are you doing?!" He cried out, biting his own knuckle in anxiousness. Red looked up at him, his eyes hardened in concentration.

He had the nagging feeling that this exoskeleton was a puzzle piece to the mystery that clouded their lives since day one.

"I'm going to see if I can fix it. Grab me a flashlight and a blowtorch."


Author's Note:

Heya, guys! Merry Christmas Eve! (Or Christmas, depending on your timezone!)

I apologize for any typos! I feel like this is too ramble-y. I kinda. Um. Didn't re-read it. I'm sorry. (I caught about 5 just by skimming over, even after a beta read by Chillaid. I did a horrible job being literate.) I did about 99% of this on my 3DS screen, just like old days. And my 3DS screen is dying. So. Eck. I promise I can English, honest!

I'm not sure when Chapter 10 will be out, but I'll try to get working on it as soon as possible! (I'm indeed sick. It's horrible. Sorryforwhining.)

Big thanks to Chillaid for beta reading!

Also, I'd like to thank Miiv12, Elysion Wish, Anon Lolz, LevitatingPiez, Purest of the Hearts, Anon Guest, DeathClaw1787, Anon MissDarkRaven, Anon Jules, Anon xxToxicWolfxx, Pokeythewarrior, wildchild00, koyboy, Anon big banana, Anon Lilyml, The Ghost-Ninja Guy, Anon Bardeni, SkeletonDragoni

Reviewer Spotlight: Today's reviewer spotlight goes to Pokeythewarrior! Because. You're awesome. Also, cheeto Freddy.

Song Spotlight: Today's song spotlight goes to "Expand Dong Country: Theme", by the Youtube user Michael Fontaine. I laughed so hard at it. I can't even. (Sadly, I'm a huge sucker for the Expand Dong meme. No pun intended. It's one of my favorite memes.)


CLEARING UP CONFUSION:

Since people are having a bit of trouble with the nicknames, here's a handy little guide to help!

Freddy/Fred: Freddy Fazbear (Original)

Bonnie/Bon: Bonnie The Bunny (Original)

Chica/Chi: Chica The Chicken (Original)

Foxy/Foxface: Foxy The Pirate (Original)

Red/Reddy: Toy Freddy

Clyde/T-Bone/T-Butt/(Ect): Toy Bonnie

T-Chi: Toy Chica

Mangle: Toy Foxy

Tangle: The severed head on Mangle's body (Toy Golden Freddy, basically my OC)

B.B.: Balloon Boy

Marionette/The Master/Puppet: The Puppet


Just in case I can't get the next chapter out in time...

Merry Christmas, friends!