A/N: Hey guys, and welcome back! Man... it's been so long. But, you've been patient, you've been supportive, so as a little reward here is the longest chap to date! But please don't expect every single chapter from now on to be this long. I'm barely able to find time to write nowadays, so please keep that in mind. Nevertheless, I'm excited for the future of this fic, and this chap should give you an idea of where we're going to.

But boy oh boy did we come a long way. Guys, you did it! Thank you so much for 100+ reviews! When I published the first chap almost five months ago I never, never thought it'd come to this. From the bottom of my heart, thank you again and happy reading.

Oh, and finally, we reached the answer to life, the universe and everything when it comes to follows! There'll be virtual cookies to anyone that gets that reference :)

Chapter 20: The new game

It was another late October afternoon. Outside, leafs were dressing up in their autumn colors, ready to lay themselves down in big orange and brown patches for the kids to play with and for the grown-ups to clean. Pumpkins were being carved, costumes were being sown, and candy was being bought; the world went on with its ever-changing rhythm almost a year and three months after that rainy Tuesday.

But here, in the still closed-down pizzeria, few things had changed over the past four months. Today, Ferny was reading one of his books, Sarah was watching some cartoons in the security office with Mangle and Balloons, and Junior and Mini were punishing the arcades while Marionette kept a good eye on them. Basically, everyone was being nice and quiet.

Well… almost everyone.

"Ready?!" I yelled out, walking backwards and pulling along the wheeled chair from the security office with TB on top until I was against the back wall of the Game Area.

"Heck yeah!" he answered with confidence, tightening his light blue fingers around the handles of the office chair as he tried to take a more solid position.

"Umm, Bon?" called out my brother nervously, standing up next to the carousel, "Are you sure this is a good idea?" Sitting a few feet next to him, Jack looked at me with the same skeptical eyes.

"C'mon Freddy, we did this a lot of times!" I replied smugly, remembering the late afternoons we played with Dad's office chair in our small apartment. No wonder the neighbors never liked us; half the floor had to take sleeping pills because of our games.

"Yeah, but we were… I mean that was… eh… different." stuttered Sean.

"True," I admitted, "this chair is much better." As if to prove my point, I gave the nylon backrest a little pat. My brother must've given up then, because he just sighed, raised his shoulders, and sat back down.

"Okay TB, at the count of three." I whispered, lowering my head next to his. "One… two…"

"Wait!" interrupted my counterpart. He quickly opened his chest's frontal plate and pulled the fake rose from the piece of tape that stuck it to his inside. Then, turning his head and bright eyes at me, he handled me over the plastic flower. "It's your turn."

"Thanks little me." I said softly, grabbing the bent and twisted stem before putting the thing inside my own chest. "All set now?"

"Sure am!" he replied cheerily before twisting around and clenching his hydraulic fists around the handles.

"Alright then. One… two… THREE!"

I broke out in a little sprint, pushing ahead the chair and the squealing TB with my only arm until we reached the dinner tables. Then, I let go of him. He let out a whopping "WOO-HOO!" as the spinning chair sped past the tables and arcades before bumping against a stray dinner chair. The rolling piece of furniture wobbled a bit before finally tipping over, sending TB on a long slide across the tiled floor that stopped only when his head banged loudly against the little side door of the Game Area.

"You okay?!" My brother and I shouted at the same time, our ears rising up in alarm as we jogged and limped to him. A bit in front of us, Mini and Junior let go of the arcade's controls to go to the thrown-down figure with Marionette right behind.

"Ouchie…" TB slowly rubbed a side of his head and sat back up. "I think I hit something else than the door."

"Looks like that old newspaper saved your little shiny head." teased Mini, pointing a small yellow hand at the crumbled-up paper in a plastic bag that was leaning against the door.

"Aah… I see." Still sitting on the floor, TB grabbed the package, tore off the plastic wrapping effortlessly and laid down the creased newspaper before looking through it. I thought that he was going to just see the comics since he wasn't a big reader, but he suddenly stopped turning the pages and, petrified, stared at a grey page.

"What is it?" I asked, kneeling down in front of him.

"Great news!" he chirped as he raised his overjoyed eyes from the page to me, "We're going to open up soon Mr. Bonnie!" He shoved the paper to me.

I looked down at the little add with the three main Toys on it. "Help wanted." I read out loud as my heart sank, "Grand re-opening…" I threw down the thing, and letting out a sigh, dropped my head.

"This is great!" chuckled Junior, snatching the paper from TB's hands, "We can finally go on the stage and sing songs!"

"And I can play guitar!" added TB joyfully.

"I'm sure Ms. Chica and cap Foxy will be so happy!" squealed Mini, almost jumping up and down in excitement, "Let's see who can get to them first."

"Oh, this time you're going down Small Bird." boasted Junior as he bent his knees to run off.

"We'll see about that Boo-Boo Bear." huffed back the yellow Toy, "Ready, set, GO!"

And just like that, the three Toys ran out of the Game Area, laughing loudly as their heavy footsteps echoed away. Marionette, my brother, Jack and I remained alone in the big, quiet room.

"Umm, Puppet," started Sean before clearing his throat, "what happened to us… it can't happen to them, right?"

Marionette's white pinpoints dimmed slightly as he dropped his head. "Yes." he answered weakly, "When the place gets a night guard, we…" he sighed, "we all… will be taken over. Just like you were over a year ago."

"But there must be something you can do!" I cried out, looking up at him with expectation, "You have the mind seal, right? You can help us out, block off our evil side like you did with my fear and the Toys' memories!"

"You think I haven't tried Pizza Boy?!" answered the slender figure, "I don't know everything, alright? What happened and will happen is out of my control. I don't know how Walther did it, but I…" his tone became low and helpless, "…I can't do anything."

The room fell into silence once again. Over the last few months I'd learned to trust Marionette. After all, he put himself at risk by telling me the whole story behind the blood seals and our murders the very first day I met him. But I couldn't shake off the feeling that there was a piece of the puzzle missing, or left out.

"It's the truth Brandon." he whispered, reading my mind. "What do I win by lying?"

I nodded. "I believe you Puppet. But I think we have to tell the Toys, warn them maybe."

"But it won't help at all!" he looked down at me pleadingly, "If you go out there now and tell them the truth about what they are and what will happen to us, will it change anything? Please, just let them be happy while they can. Let them be the kids they should be."

My ears dropped down along with my head; he was right. It was then that I felt a heavy hand rest down on my downed shoulder.

"We will figure something out Don." soothed my brother as he patted my shoulder, "We're together in this, don't you forget that."

I nodded, not saying anything. A minute or two passed before I turned around and looked at Jack, who was silently tracing circles on the checkered floor.

"Jack, come over here buddy." I called out in a flat tone. He stood up and walked to me in silence before sitting down by my side. "You know what will happen, right?"

"Y-Yes." he mumbled sadly as his head went down.

"Alright. Remember that last time you didn't turn evil like us?" He nodded. "I don't know why that didn't happen, but I want you to promise me something." Slowly and shyly, Jack raised his head to look me in the eyes.

"Promise me that you will hide, and do everything you have to do to keep yourself safe..."

"Sure, I-I will." he said breezily.

"…even if that means hurting me."

Jack's eyes filled with shock and terror. "N-No…" he whimpered, shaking his head desperately, "I c-can't! You k-know I can't d-do that!"

"Promise me." I repeated slowly, "I don't want to hurt you or anyone else again. So please… promise me."

He looked away from me, and after a long silence, gave me the smallest of nods. "I… I promise." He mumbled quietly.

"Thank you." I looked around the darkened Game Area as a feeling of dread and nostalgia came over me. "What will happen after we open up?" I asked, facing Marionette.

"I honestly don't know." he sighed, turning around to walk to the Prize Corner, "But for now, we'll just have to wait and see."

I nodded and pushed myself up before helping Sean get on his feet. Jack stood up and followed us as we started walking back towards the Main Hall. We didn't know what to expect of tomorrow, but one thing was certain.

Our little time of peace was over.

"You think they're alright?" asked Ferny nervously, his voice cutting through the faint sounds of playing children that rung through the service room. It surprised us how many kids came this first day, and how many were still around right now as the place was closing.

"Don't worry, I'm sure they are." I replied, trying to sound calmer than I was. Is this how Mom and Dad felt the first day I went to school?

"They should be, especially after that lecture we gave them." added Sean, "Heh… though they were disappointed when we told them that they wouldn't actually sing."

"Yeah, but then they'll free-roam around between shows!" countered Fer, "What if something bad happens with all those kids around?"

"What could possibly go wrong?" said Sarah, lying a broken yellow wrist on his tattered red shoulder, "You're worrying too much. And Mangle's gonna be okay too; she said that she wouldn't mind as long as they don't break anything important. Plus, you can always fix her up, right?"

"Well," he shrugged, "that depends on what you call 'fix'. I can only do so much."

We then heard some peppy voice call out through the building's speakers that Freddy Fazbear's was going to close now, but would open again tomorrow for another day of fantasy and fun. After a few minutes, the kids' voices started disappearing, until there was just silence.

I felt a finger touch my shoulder and turned around to see Jack's glowing pinpoint eyes. "I'm… I'm a bit s-scared." he whispered softly.

"You're gonna be okay buddy." I hushed, laying my hand on his shoulder, "Just be careful."

He nodded, right as we heard some footsteps approach us until they stopped outside the room. The five of us quickly scrambled back to our places just in time. The door swung open, and a couple of familiar men, one in his purple security guard uniform and the other in a formal white shirt, looked keenly at us from the lit-up Main Hall.

"See, they're fine!" reassured Erik, leaning against the doorframe, "I don't know why you were worried."

"I… umm… I had a bad feeling." mumbled Dave, "I thought something happened to them."

"You actually like the damn things!" chuckled back the manager as he shook his head.

The head security guard smiled and raised his shoulders. "Yeah… there's just something about those old models, you know?"

"Not really, the new ones are so much better! It's like they have a mind of their own!" Grinning smugly, Erik pointed at his own head. "We're gonna make buckets of money with those things. Hell, I might even give you and Fritz a rise." Dave looked at his superior with wide, surprised eyes.

"Ha! Just kidding!" laughed Erik as he pinched away a tear, "Anyways, is the new guy coming or not?"

"Kevin told us that he'd be here before midnight. It's barely eight-thirty."

"Then call him and ask him to come sooner!" demanded the manager, "Tell him that we'll pay him overtime or something. Since your old pal called me again I don't want to leave the place alone for all that time."

"Walther is not my friend!" growled Dave, "And do you think making the guard work more hours is a good idea after what happened to Caleb?!"

"He was lying Dave!" Erik raised up his hands like it was the most obvious thing in the world, "You know as well as me that those animatronics," he pointed at us, "can't do a damn thing."

"Then who killed Caleb?" asked Dave calmly and coldly.

Irritated, Erik turned around and stomped away from the man in purple. "Just call the kid, alright?" he mumbled from a distance. Dave sighed, and looking at us once more with puzzled eyes, closed the door of the parts and service room.

After a long time we finally heard the main doors open and close. I stood up hastily, stepped into the Main Hall and almost jogged to the Show Stage with everyone else close behind. TB and Mini waved cheerily at me as they watched me approach; Junior tipped his hat.

"You guys okay?" I asked nervously, stopping in front of the stage.

"It was great Mr. Bonnie!" beamed Mini, "The kids were really nice and we actually played together."

"You… you did?" I stuttered, baffled by her answer.

"Yeah, walking around the place was amazing!"

"And being controlled during the show didn't hurt?" asked Sarah, stepping by my side.

Junior shook his head energetically. "We didn't even feel anything!"

"And the lass Mangle?" continued Ferny, "She alright?"

TB climbed off the stage. "Don't worry cap Foxy, I'll go check on her." He was about to go to the Kid's Cove, when he turned around and waved at me. "See you later Mr. Bonnie!" he chirped.

"See ya." I replied weakly as he walked away; they had no idea.

"Umm, Bonnie?" called out Sarah behind me. I turned around quickly to see her, Sean, Ferny and Jack staring at the rattling doorknob of the Game Area's door.

"The guard." I hissed anxiously, "What do we do now?"

"No time to hide!" shouted Sean, "Just… don't move!"

The door swung open and a slender beam of yellow light cut through the darkness of the large room before resting on each one of us. Holding a flashlight in one hand and a can of soda in the other, the teen in purple uniform stepped into the building and walked to the middle of the room.

"I thought you guys weren't supposed to move." he mumbled, more surprised than scared. "Guess I'll have to tell Mr. Hobbs in the morning." He casually walked towards the Main Hall between the frozen Sean and Sarah. Before turning around the corner to the party rooms, he flashed us with his light once more. "I have to say…" he turned off the flashlight, fastened it to his belt and cracked open his soda, "…you're freaking creepy at night."

Making sure not to move a gear I followed the man with my eyes, until he was out of sight.

"Aww, c'mon!" whined Sarah as soon as it was safe, "We're not so scary if you see us in the daylight!"

"Except for you Ms. Chica!" teased Mini behind me. None of us could resist and we all started laughing.

"Alright, that was a good one mini-me." giggled Sarah, "But I don't think we should make a lot of noi-"

Her happy voice cut off abruptly and turned into a hiss of pain as a side of her torso started to glow softly in a blood-red hue. Clutching at her chest, she stumbled backwards before falling on her knees.

"MS. CHICA!" Mini and Junior cried out at the same time, jumping off the stage and running towards the knelt-down yellow figure with me right behind. Ferny and my brother stared at each other with fear and surprise. Jack was frozen on his feet, looking at the groaning Sarah with horror.

"It can't be." I thought as I knelt down in front of her, "It's too early, it's way too early!"

"B-Bonnie…" she moaned, raising her pleading eyes to mine, "Get h-him out of h-here…"

Knowing exactly who she meant I nodded, before another heart-stopping scream made me turn around in haste.

Junior was lying sideways on the floor, cringing and twisting around. "Wh… what's going on with me…" he cried, looking in fear at his own chest that was lit up in an evil red. Mini covered her beak in shock, her light blue eyes flooded with fright.

Ferny rushed to them before he too let out a short cry and fell down on the floor with a heavy clang. "P-please…" he rasped as his tattered torso started to glow, "I d-don't want… don't want t-to do t-this again…"

Almost simultaneously, the yellow, brown and red silhouettes started to twitch violently on the floor; their eyes flickering on and off as they slowly lost control. I stood up quickly, ran towards Jack and tightly grabbed his arm, waking him up from his trance of terror. "We need to go, now." I hissed. He nodded nervously without making a sound. I turned around and pulled him along the Game Area where three, no, four mechanical bodies were twisting and twitching on the floor; Mini was now in the same position as Junior. I was almost through when I felt something tug back at Jack.

"Where do you think you're going?" cooed Foxy, looking up at me with his dead yellow eyes as he tightened his hold on Jack's foot, "I thought you liked playing with us Bonnie!"

"Fer, please fight back!" I begged, getting back a toothy grin from the animatronic.

"Never heard of him." he said innocently, right as a big brown foot slammed itself on top of Foxy's red arm. He snarled in pain, let go of Jack's foot and growled at my brother.

"I'm so sorry Ferny." sighed Sean, looking down at the raging figure with pity. "Don, I'll keep them busy as long as I can, but you have to hurry up."

"Thanks brother." I whispered, turning my back to him and running towards the kitchen with Jack. I slammed the door open with my shoulder, dodging the empty boxes of dough and cheese until I was in front of the main shelf.

"I'm gonna need your help here buddy." I said as I started to push the heavy thing aside. Jack grabbed the other side of the shelf and quickly pulled it back, revealing the huge hole in the wall that led to the secret room I discovered by accident months ago. He reluctantly stepped into the darkness of the room, and looked at me with pained white eyes as I started to shove the shelf back in place.

My ears shot up when I heard a short cry coming from my brother, followed by a series of dark laughs from everyone else. "You're gonna be alright Jack…" I groaned, my gears and servos screeching as I closed back the hole. I looked at his glowing eyes through the last narrow gap between the shelf and the wall, "…I promise."

With a last push, the shelf was back in place. Completely exhausted, I slumped against the nearest wall and fell on the floor. It was then that I heard the kitchen door open.

"Mr. Bonnie!" yelled TB, running towards me. "Are you alright?!"

"I'm fine." I wheezed, "What's happening out there?"

"Everyone is acting so… weird. They're talking about playing with the guard. I don't know why, but it scared me."

"Maybe he's like Jack," I thought, "maybe he can't be taken over."

Confused, I saw how TB pointed at me with a shaky finger. "Umm, Mr. Bonnie?" he gasped.

"Yeah?"

"What's happening to your chest?"

I slowly lowered my head to look at my red-glowing side, right as a burning pain shot through my body. "TB, g-get outta here." I groaned, looking up at his shocked eyes.

"But you're hurt! I can't leave you if you're hurt!"

My body started to bend over from the pain as I tried desperately to stay in control. "This is d-different. I… I'm n-not hurt… but I c-could hurt you…"

"That's not true, you're my best friend!" he whimpered.

"I am… t-that's why… I'm b-begging you… t-to run!" I clenched my fist as the pain got worse, "He's… he's s-stronger now… I c-can't…"

My body started to twitch uncontrollably on the floor as the whole world seemed to flicker on and off. My mind filled up with darkness, and I slowly felt how a strange cold crept into me. I tried to fight back, but then I thought… why bother?

"Mr. Bonnie, are you better now?" asked a strange voice as I stopped twitching.

"Oh, I'm much better now!" I beamed, standing up and dusting off my knees. The smaller version of me seemed strangely familiar, like I'd seen him before somewhere. "Are you going to play with us?"

The light blue thing started to walk backwards away from me. "T-That's… that's what they were saying."

I couldn't help but chuckle at his terrified and pathetic stutter. "Aww, what's wrong little guy?" I taunted as he fell on his back and crawled to the corner of the room, "Scared of a little game?"

"W-what game are you t-talking about?" he asked shakily.

"Simple. Let's say that the night guard is an endoskeleton without his costume on. Do you know what has to be done then?" He shook his head. "We go out and help him get into a suit! Isn't that nice?"

"No it's not! That could kill him!" shot back the little animatronic, looking up at me with anger, "I don't know who you are, but you're not Mr. Bonnie!"

I sighed and shook my head. "How rude… you know, you remind me of someone else who didn't want to play along with us. Do you know what happened to him?" When he started to shake his head again I grabbed one of his ears and yanked it up, making him whimper in pain before I swung him against the opposite wall. "Yeah, the beginning was something like that."

The small thing started to get up, only to fall down again on his hands and knees. It was then that I saw him clutching at his side as it started to glow in a beautiful, bright red. "What… what's happening?" he panted.

"Don't worry little guy," I purred as he started to cringe and groan in pain, "you'll feel better soon enough."

His body then started to twitch on the floor like he was being electrocuted; his bright green eyes flashing on and off like a broken lightbulb. Suddenly, it all stopped just as fast as it started. He was spread out on the floor, not making the smallest movement.

"So, what do you say now?" I asked after a few seconds.

Raising his head, the blue animatronic slowly started to push himself up until he was sitting against the wall. Satisfied, I looked at his cold and empty green eyes; the eyes of a killer. "You know what?" he whispered, letting out a vicious and wicked grin, "I think I'll like that new game."

A/N: What? You thought it'd all be be sugar and spice after Tape 1? Haha! You know me better than that! So, will Kevin... Survive the Night? (And yes, Sarah's dialogue was a reference to that song.) What will happen to Jack? Will I stop asking these cliche and unnecessary questions at the end of every chap? Find out next Sunday, and...

*Checks university's e-mail account* Wait, what?! Exams next week already?! *sigh* Guys, I'll have to ask you for two weeks. I'm sorry, but hey, you waited five weeks for this! Besides, an 'interesting' character will come back next time, and you're in for a reveal! And now that I made you more impatient (sorry about that) see you in 14 days and take care.