Robbie had never been so happy or excited in his life. He had gotten to go along with his big brother Will for his 8th birthday party along with his three friends, Lucy, Greg, and Peter. And even better, it was at Freddy Fazbear's Pizza! It was the first time Robbie had ever been here. He had seen Freddy and his friends walking around and singing in the store for a while, and he had always wanted to go in. Everyone did. It would be five months until his 7th birthday, so Robbie had thought that he would have had to wait forever for his Mom to take him, but then Will had said that he wanted to have his 8th birthday at Freddy's!

Robbie had a great time eating pizza and cake, cheering Freddy, Bonnie, and Chica on, laughing at Foxy's pirate jokes and singing along with his pirate shanties, and hugging them when they came down off of the stages. Robbie had heard about other places like Freddy's where talking animals like Freddy would sing, but would just stay on the stage where no one got to see them. That sounded so boring to Robbie.

Unfortunately, it was getting late, and Robbie got the feeling that his and Will's Mom wanted to leave soon. She didn't seem to enjoy herself that much. She didn't eat any of the pizza. Robbie couldn't get that. Freddy's pizza was the best, because Freddy served it! Robbie knew that the fun was going to end soon when his Mom realized that she had left her purse in the car.

"Will, Robbie, stay here while I get my purse, alright?"

"Mommy, can I use the bathroom?" Robbie asked. He had drunk a lot of lemonade.

"Sure honey, but come right back here, alright?"

"Yes Mommy."

Mom left and Robbie saw his disappointment reflected in his brother's eyes. They were going to have to leave soon, but they were having so much fun! Lucy, Greg, and Peter all got the idea too. Lucy and Greg mopped while Peter began shoveling down as much pizza as he could before they had to leave. Robbie went back to the bathroom. When he finished and walked out though, he wasn't watching where he was walking and bumped into someone in the short hall leading in and out of the bathroom.

"Oh, I'm sorry…"

Robbie looked up at who he bumped into…and it was Freddy!

Freddy looked down at Robbie with his perpetual smile.

"No problem kiddo! Are you having a good time?"

Robbie jaw dropped when he smiled. Freddy was talking to him!

"Freddy!"

Robbie sprang forward and wrapped his arms around Freddy. Freddy laughed and gave Robbie back a big bear-hug.

"Yep, that's me alright!"

Robbie looked up at Freddy again, but realized something was different. This Freddy was yellow, not brown like the Freddy on stage. Wait… 'this Freddy'?

"Hey Freddy, why are you yellow? And why is there another Freddy on stage?"

Golden Freddy gave a big laugh, clutching his big belly.

"Oh, that Freddy's just a fake. I'm the real deal, kiddo! I'm the original thing, all the way from the first Fredbear's Diner!"

"Really?" Robbie asked, his eyes glistening in wonder.

"You better believe it, kiddo!" Freddy gave Robbie a little punch on the shoulder for fun. He leaned against the wall coolly. "By the way, what's your name, buddy?"

Freddy just called Robbie buddy!

"My name's Robert, but most people call me Robbie."

"Robbie huh? That's a great name. So, you here by yourself, Robbie?"

Robbie shook his head.

"No, I'm here with my big brother and his friends for his birthday!"

Robbie pointed to where his table was. From their point in the Dining Room, none of the other kids could see Freddy or Robbie. Freddy looked over to them.

"Say, Robbie, where's your Mom? I don't see her anywhere."

"Mom's getting her purse from her car." Robbie looked down, remembering that his time was short. "She's going to take us home soon."

Freddy looked at the table for a moment, and then back at Robbie.

"Hmm…and you don't want to leave just yet, do you, Robbie?"

"No…" Robbie let his arms hang by his side. "I wish I could stay here forever."

Freddy put his fist under his chin in thought.

"Well jeez Robbie, I sure wish that there was a way I could let you do that. But hey!" He pointed his finger into the air. "You're not going to be leaving just yet, right?"

"No, not yet." Robbie answered.

"Well then, you should make the most of the time you got left!"

"But how? Mom will be back soon."

Freddy waved Robbie's worry away.

"Oh, pfft. That's plenty of time! It could take a while for her to find her car in the dark, let alone her purse!"

"But what can I do Freddy?" Robbie tried to think of what there might be left to do. He was full of pizza and cake, and he had run out of tokens.

"Well…" Freddy looked from one side to the other to be sure no one else was listening. He leaned in and whispered to Robbie. "Between you and me, I know the best game in the place."

"What is it?" Robbie whispered back.

"It's a secret. You can't tell anyone else. Do you want to play?"

Robbie nodded.

"Good. Now though, if you want to play the game, we'll need four other players." Freddy pointed at Will, Lucy, Greg, and Peter over his shoulder with his thumb. "Do you think you can get your brother and your friends to come to the back room? It's just past the bathrooms down the little hall. You'll need to be careful not to miss it."

"You bet Freddy!" Robbie said excitedly.

"That'a boy." Freddy ruffled Robbie's hair and stepped aside.

Robbie ran over to the table.

"Hey guys! I just talked to Freddy!"

"Yeah, we all did." Peter said through a mouthful of pizza.

"No, this one's different!" Robbie insisted. "He's gold!"

"Gold?" Lucy repeated, interested.

"Yeah! He says he's the real Freddy!"

"But Robbie, the real Freddy's up there." Will pointed at the stage.

Robbie looked back towards the bathrooms and pointed.

"Than who's that?"

The four older kids all span in their seats to get a better look. Peeking out from a corner, they could see Freddy waving at them. Smiles split open in each of the kid's faces. Freddy put his finger in front of his mouth in a 'shush' gesture and beckoned to them, slipping down the hall to the back room.

"Wow!"

"He says there's a game in one of the rooms back there, but he needs all of us to come if we want to play!"

Peter, Lucy, and Will all jumped out of their seats, but Greg was still looking over the edge of the table at where Freddy had headed. Greg was always a little nervous and shy.

"I…I don't know guys…Will's Mom told us to stay here until she got back."

"Oh, c'mon Greg, it's Freddy!" Lucy said impatiently.

"We're not going to get this chance again, Greg!" Peter added.

"We'll be right back before Mom comes back." Will said.

Robbie came up to Greg and tugged lightly on his shirt. "Freddy really wanted to meet all of us Greg, please?"

"Oh…um…" Greg looked back and forth from the hall, to Robbie, to the main entrance that Robbie's Mom and left out of. "Um…well…alright."

"Yay!" Lucy jumped up and down. Robbie shushed her.

"Freddy wants it to be a secret, okay?"

Lucy nodded her head and put her finger to her lips.

Will, Lucy, Peter, and Greg all followed Robbie to the hall where Freddy had told him to find the back room. Freddy was right, it was hard to find. It was all the way at the back of the restaurant, where Freddy's…or the fake Freddy's band could only be barely heard. Greg kept on wringing his hands.

"Oh…oh, we shouldn't be here…"

The others were getting worried too.

"Uh…Robbie, are you sure this is the right place?" Lucy asked.

"It should be…" Robbie said, scanning over the walls for a door. Will defended him, even though he looked uneasy too.

"Freddy went back this way, he should be here."

"There it is!" Robbie exclaimed, pointing to an old black door. He reached up and opened it.

There were only a few dim light bulbs illuminating the area. The room was dominated by boxes of junk; spare pizza boxes, paper cups, straws, and some imperishable pizza ingredients.

"It…it's dark…" Greg whined, clutching his arms.

"Are you sure that this is the right room, Robbie?" Will asked.

"I…think so."

"Hey, what's that?" Lucy pointed at something at the other end of the room.

Lucy's attention had been caught by a huge puppet leaning against one of the boxes and staring at the door. They hadn't noticed it until now because it was so skinny, like a sock monkey. The children went closer to look at it, though Greg stayed in the back, unnerved by the doll's appearance. It had long, thin, black body, and a face like a mime's, with purple streaks under its eyes.

"Is…this the game?" Peter asked.

"I don't know." Robbie answered. "Freddy said that he'd be here."

They all jumped when the door closed behind them. They turned and saw Freddy.

"Freddy!" They exclaimed.

Golden Freddy didn't respond. At first, he just looked at them all. Something about his eyes didn't seem right to Robbie; they seemed empty.

"Hey Freddy!" Will said. "What game are we going to play?"

Freddy looked to the puppet. He walked over, shouldering the children out of the way. He picked up the puppet.

"Hey Freddy, who's that?" Robbie asked. "Is he one of your friends?"

"No." Freddy answered without turning. "Just an old puppet." He shut the puppet inside a box. Just before the box was closed, Robbie saw something that he didn't like. The puppet was looking at him. He couldn't explain how in that brief second he knew that, but the puppet was looking at him. As Freddy pushed it inside the box, Robbie thought that he saw the puppet reaching out to him with one of its hands.