...Not exactly the next weekend, is it? Sorry about yet another delay. Real Life decided to get in the way and make a pest of itself. Between looking for a job and constantly being unsuccessful (up until recently, actually), to moving, to my computer going down (this is written on my old school laptop)... Things have been interesting in life lately. I hope this epilogue is at least up to snuff, it was time I got it out and got it to all of you.

Here's hoping it was worth the wait, folks. I apologize if it wasn't.

City Hospital, Intensive Care Unit.

POV: Captain Joseph Adams

I sat in the chair next to the hospital bed, hearing the rhythmic beeping of the heart rate monitor going off in its slow, steady pace. Every beep, a sign that even though the individual in the bed had been through a lot, he was still hanging on – a miracle, there was no other real word to describe it. It was a miracle that he was alive at all.

I looked at my closest friend, Alex Redding, as he lay in the bed, bandaged heavily. He looked almost… Peaceful. Fitting, really – the man was asleep… in a way.

When Alex had hung up on me, I'd started putting some plans of my own in order. I'd given orders for several of the officers on duty that night to keep an eye on Fazbear's Fright – the explanation I'd given was that it was threatened by some of the local vandals and scumbags in the town, people that had been protesting AI since day one. They hadn't questioned it – at least that was one good thing about them being there, it made a convenient reason for when I had strange orders to give out. They were deployed to watch over the place shortly after Alex hung up, with orders to call me if anything strange happened.

Later into the night I got a call – apparently they'd seen Alex, looking like he'd been put through the grinder. They'd seen him starting to step out… Then coming back in, before staggering and crying out in pain. That was when they called in the cavalry… And a moment later, they saw what they could only describe as a Fazbear animatronic that had lost a fight with a rock crusher charge out – and straight into a pipebomb. They relayed all of this to me and I decided enough was enough, rushing everyone I could out – police, fire, and EMT were all ordered to the scene.

And then the firebombs detonated and the place turned into an inferno.

Firemen rushed in to try to save Alex – on their way they'd stumbled across the burning, charred remains of one mangled up animatronic… And the endoskeleton looked like a human body.

That had taken some work to explain, especially when I had no idea myself what had happened in there. They'd managed to save Alex, though – save him and pull him into the ambulance, where he was rushed here.

He was in critical condition, the medics explained – numerous second and third degree burns. Dislocated shoulder. Left forearm is absolutely wrecked, as was the right calf. Several broken ribs, possibly others just cracked or bruised. Concussion – no idea how bad. Numerous lacerations and internal injuries. Blood loss. Heart damage – potentially would have been fatal. And to make things even better, he was currently in a coma.

It was a miracle he was even alive. Every doctor had said the same thing when he was brought in… Roughly five weeks ago. He had been out the entire time, and the doctors were very honest – they didn't know if he would ever wake up.

I couldn't worry about him forever, so I threw myself into the investigation proper. Alex was the primary suspect in an arson case, so now it was up to me to figure out what happened. A search of his house had turned up massive folders full of documents, all dissecting what had happened to the Fazbear band, possible leads on what had happened to Faz himself, and a massive folder all devoted to Fazbear's Fright. It had initially looked like he had been planning this as a form of revenge for what had happened to the band… Then we examined the folders. We started piecing things together, the same way Alex always had been able to at such a rapid rate.

And then the investigation of the fire turned up even more documentation. Sure enough, the charred remains were human – the victim of an old model of Fazbear suit gone wrong. DNA testing had eventually turned out that the DNA belonged to Fritz Smith – a man that had been reported missing several months prior. The Toy band came forward when this developed, saying that they had reason to believe that Fritz had been the original killer back in the original days of Freddy Fazbear's Pizza. With nothing to the contrary, we had dropped the investigation of his death… Especially after finding the remnants of a USB drive that, after a bit of recovery analysis, had a copy of the virus that had killed Bonnie on it. A modified copy, coded for patterns that matched what was reported to be Golden Freddy's AI.

These things combined to exonerate Alex of all charges, claiming circumstances did not suggest him to be guilty of any crime.

At that point, all I really had left to do was to sit around and wait. The chief had decided not to assign me any major cases until the dust had settled and Alex either woke up or… Anyway, I mostly spent my time sitting with him in the hospital room as well as tending to his affairs at home.

I sighed as I got to my feet, deciding to leave and head home for the day. On my way out, a nurse came up and stopped me. "Excuse me, are you Officer Adams?" I nodded. She turned, handing me a moderate sized box, wrapped like a present. "This was left at the front desk, addressed to you, sir." I nodded again, taking it from her. She smiled, before heading off.

I decided that now wasn't the time to look into this, so I headed out to my car, threw the box in the passenger seat, and headed for home. My mind idly traced over, wondering what it could be…

I got home, opened up a drink, and started opening the package. I'd set it on my table, next to the odd folder I'd found in Alex's house. It didn't seem to match any of the other information I'd gathered regarding his activities – rather, it was labeled R.A.T. and had references to Candy's Burgers and Fries, a Fazbear competitor that the Toy Band had looked into for AI research. All the information they got was black-bagged and above my paygrade, so I didn't pay much attention to it.

I opened the box up, flipping the lid off… And there were two things inside it. First, was a letter.

My Dear Mr. Adams,

I apologize that I was unable to deliver this parcel to you in person – in fact, I apologize that I was unable to deliver it to our mutual friend, Mr. Redding, at all. Circumstances prevented me from making my way there physically in order to do so, and I left this package with you at great personal risk.

I have no doubt that Mr. Redding 'clued you in' on the letter I left and the situation regarding my sudden disappearance, so I will not attempt to waste your time by retreading old ground – after all, the current situation requires speed to handle properly.

I am sure that you believe with the complete and permanent death of our mutual adversary, my safety is ensured. I regret to say that it is not. In fact, with Alex no longer capable of fighting I have reason to believe that my life – and possibly yours, and Alex's – are in even greater jeopardy.

I wish Alex was able to explain all of this to you, but suffice to say that there is another adversary that we must face. I learned of his existence after the ill-fated attempt by the Toy Band to locate other potential AI via the location known as Candy's. He is a brutal, bloodthirsty opponent, and will stop at nothing to ensure the demise of any who may know of his existence.

Mr. Adams, I know that I am putting you at great risk by bringing you knowledge of this opponent's existence, however believe me when I tell you there is a reason. You see, it is possible that the original band has backups of their entire AI and sentience – including much of the data that they gathered in the time after their 'awakening'. It is just a matter of where this data is located.

I believe that Candy's holds the key to this. However, it is also the lair of this new opponent, so I am afraid that I am unable to investigate myself. I will have to leave that to you.

One last thing, Mr. Adams – take heart. Having known Mr. Redding personally, I sincerely believe that he will survive this. The end of his story has not yet been written.

I thank you again.

Yours,

Frederick Faz.

I read and re-read the letter, eyes widening as I realized the implications it had. AI backups… And a new enemy… And Candy's. I looked at the R.A.T. folder again – it had to be the connection, I just had to work it out.

There was one last thing in the box. I pulled it out, and my eyes widened… It was Freddy Fazbear's hat. There was no mistaking its design, the dings and marks in it, or any of the many scratches it had accumulated. I turned it over in my hands, and a note slipped from within.

"We hope you're ready for an encore!" It was 'signed' with what looked like a large pawprint.

I turned the hat over in my hand again, before putting it on my head. Something about it just… felt right. Taking the R.A.T. folder, I headed to my office to give it a closer examination.

It was a long shot, for sure – this was all news to me, and for all I knew it could be some twisted prank. But Alex wasn't the only one with instincts, and mine all told me the same thing.

Faz was right. The end hasn't been written, yet…

And Adams is right. The end isn't written - however, the close of this particular portion of Alex Redding's story has arrived upon us all. We do have a few clues and pointers towards what may come next, though... After all, with Candy's in the mix things could get interesting - fast.

Once more, I sincerely apologize for all of the delays in getting this chapter out, and I hope that it's at least worth the time that you all spent waiting for me to get around to it. I'll admit that it probably doesn't have much polish, but I hope it does the job of getting you interested in what I'll do for FNAF 4.

As for when I'll work on 4's story... Don't expect much until after Sister Location is released. I still need to wait for replacement parts for my main computer, and I'm going to be starting work, so it may take a while.

Also, I'd like to give you all a little heads-up; I will be entering this November's National Novel Writing Month, so if it takes until mid-late September/October for SL to be released, then I may not work on FNAF 4's story until after NaNoWriMo concludes. More details will be released later, possibly on either my Twitter or right here on my profile.

Probably I might end up working better with a hard deadline instead of one I set myself. Who knows?

Anyway, that's enough rambling from me. Thank you all for reading and sticking with me through this adventure, folks - it's hard to imagine that I started writing... Two years ago? Not sure of the exact dates. It's been a wild ride, and I'm looking forward to more.

Read and review, and I'll see you again either in FNAF 4 or in whatever I end up writing for NaNoWriMo!

-Freelancer Josiah