A/N: Glad you guys enjoyed the Minecraft chapter. I'm still accepting requests for FNAF songs and will continue to do so until the Halloween chapter next week. This chapter will not only provide critical setup for said Halloween chapter, but it will take a concept that we have only just recently explored and make it much…happier, peaceful, and all around lighter. Hah, I bet you expected me to say "darker", didn't you? I don't write dark stuff ALL the time :P

Everyone who wants FNAF fan games: I honestly don't know any FNAF fan games outside of "Five Nights at Fuckboy's", so that option is likely off the table simply because I wouldn't be able to write chapters properly for them. Sorry.

WriterRA01: I…actually didn't know that explosives don't trigger Redstone. Shit. Though with that being said, since the fic is currently taking place around 2025, it's entirely possible that in that universe, Minecraft has been updated to allow explosives to automatically trigger Redstone. And they were in creative mode, there's NO way they would have been able to build all the houses with only a week's worth of experience in Survival Mode (and heck, the only reason they would even be able to make those houses in a week AT ALL is because they literally had nothing else to do).

TARDISFan: Fritz might be somewhat creeped out by Mangle but otherwise either be indifferent to it or think it's kind of cool-looking.

Ghostlyassassin Jesse: At this point, the only way that Mike could get genuinely enraged at the kids is if they did something like start murdering innocents again just for the hell of it. Which would (a) defeat the entire point of this fic to begin with and (b) essentially has a 0% chance of happening.

Chapter 88 – The Beauty of a Dream

Charlie counted down as the rest of the ghost kids eagerly watched. "And 3…2…1…"

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The ghosts cheered as they watched the effigy of Springtrap that they had created explode into a million broken pieces, leaving a massive crater where it had once stood. They had spent most of the day on this statue, giving it just enough detail to vaguely resemble the decaying rabbit animatronic without putting in the effort to actually care about the specifics of murderer's appearance. Once the explosions had ceased, Susie and Liz quickly got to work filling in the crater with lava, creating a symbol of William Afton's defeat and damnation.

"I wish our characters could piss in the crater," Fritz commented ruefully as he stared at the lava pit.

"I wish we could have added five Withers like Gabe wanted to earlier," Liz added, shuddering at the unpleasant memories. This was actually second time that they had blown up the Springtrap effigy, the first time being when they had tried to summon a Wither to unleash havoc on the statue as well. Unfortunately, the rampaging Wither had rapidly spiraled out of control, attacking both the ghost children's characters and the entire surrounding landscape, even going so far as to target their houses. Without either the strategy or the items to even consistently damage it, let alone take it down, the Wither effortlessly fucked up the entire server before Charlie finally got fed up and reset the server.

Needless to say, none of them were keen on summoning a Wither again.

"I think this is a good place to stop for the day," Charlie decided. "As entertaining as it is to blow up William Afton over and over again, I am not going to let anything representing him disgrace our server."

"Yeah, me neither," Jeremy muttered. "Let's just enjoy the lava pit we created for him and leave it at that."

Susie yawned. "I'm so tired…" she murmured sleepily. "How long have we even been up?"

Gabe looked at his laptop's clock. "Oh, geez, it's already 11 PM? Man, we've really spent a hell of a long time on this game today." He shut down his computer. "I'm going to bed now. Night, everyone."

"Night!" his siblings chorused. As Gabe left, the ghosts shut down their laptops and made their way to their rooms, ready to call it a night. Cassidy was the last to leave, and as she made her way to her and Susie's bedroom, she heard a groan of annoyance from Mike's room. The former Golden Freddy inhabitant approached her father's bedroom, filled with concern at what could be bothering him.

"Dad?" Cassidy asked as she peered into the room.

"Oh, hey Cass…" Mike answered her with a somewhat irritated tone. "I've just been trying to go to sleep for the past couple of minutes and I just am NOT falling asleep no matter how hard I try," he laid back on his bed, covered his face with his hands, and groaned. "Ughhhhh…there's a certain state of mind where you're too lazy to work, bored as hell and yet can't fall asleep, and let me tell you, Cass, that state of mind is a special kind of SUCK."

"…I'll take your word for it," Cassidy answered with a frown.

"You know what?" Mike suddenly sat up on his bed. "Let's try this. I know that you have some magic power, Cass, even if you haven't worked on it as much as Charlie. Put your hand on my forehead and try to magically make me fall asleep."

Cassidy stared at him. "Are…are you sure, dad?" she asked with some hesitation. "Wouldn't Charlie be better for this? And what if I accidentally hurt you?"

Mike chuckled dryly. "Cass, I was able to handle a demonically empowered William Afton invading my head and beat the everloving shit out of him. I'm pretty sure I can handle a little magic from you. Besides, at this point I'm too irritated to give a shit about the risks. Just put your hand on my head, focus your energy on it, and lull me to sleep." He smiled encouragingly at her. "I'm sure you can do it!"

"O…okay!" Cassidy agreed. The black-haired ghost girl approached her father and raised a tiny spectral hand towards his forehead. "Just close your eyes, dad. I don't know how well this is gonna work."

Mike did as she instructed. "If I feel like things start going to shit, we stop and get Charlie to help out instead. Sounds good?" he asked.

"Yep!" Cassidy confirmed.

"Okay…go for it." Cassidy closed her own eyes and focused her power into the ghostly hand that was trying to touch Mike's forehead. She willed her dad to fall asleep, to close his eyes and relax. "Ehhh…" Mike muttered, "I felt that a little but not as much as I'd like. Try again, a little harder."

"All right!" Cassidy acknowledged as she repeated her movement, this time putting more force and will into her desire to lull Mike into sleep. "Sleep, dad, sleep…"

To her delight, she heard her dad yawn. "Good…job…" Mike murmured sleepily. "Keep…going…"

"Sleep!" Cassidy commanded, pushing one more time. Suddenly, Cassidy felt herself falling forward, straight towards Mike's body. "Wait, what?" she gasped. She didn't even have time to open her eyes before she suddenly felt herself passing through an invisible barrier of some kind that she couldn't quite comprehend and found herself falling, falling through an expanse of nothingness. "What's going on?" she exclaimed as she finally opened her eyes, panic filling her. She had never experienced anything like this before, and had no idea what was going on.

Suddenly, the void flashed a brilliant white light, causing her to close her eyes again and cover them with her arm. When the light faded, Cassidy found herself standing in the living room of a house that she had never seen before. It was a far smaller and simpler room than the one in Mike's mansion, and yet there was a sense of familiarity and comfort that soothed the panic she had initially felt when everything had suddenly gone wrong.

"A little different than what you're normally used to, isn't it?" a familiar and very welcome voice asked.

Cassidy turned around to see Mike standing in the doorframe, whatever lingering fears she had quickly evaporating at her father's presence. Mike smiled faintly as he looked around the room. "This was Oskar's old home," he explained wistfully. "This was the first place where my life wasn't a complete and utter piece of shit after my mom died. I try to remember what it looked like as best as I can, but there's only so much you can remember after 30 something years." He shook his head and looked down at Cassidy. "I didn't expect you to end up in my mind, Cass, though I tried to calm things down as soon as I realized you were around."

The former Golden Freddy inhabitant shuffled about guiltily. "Sorry, dad…" she mumbled. "I didn't think this was going to happen."

Mike brushed her apology off. "Nah, if it's anybody's fault, it's mine since I was the one who insisted that we go through with this shit to begin with." His face took on a thoughtful expression. "You know, now that I think about it…you ending up here actually reminds me a lot like how William Afton invaded my mind." Seeing the horrified look on Cassidy's face, he quickly added. "Though unlike with that fucker, it's not at all invasive, hostile, or anything even remotely bad this time around."

He inwardly breathed a sigh of relief as he saw the guilty feelings fade. "Dad…is this…your dream world?" Cassidy asked, the gears slowly turning in her head. "Did I somehow enter your mind?"

"You know…I think you have," Mike answered. A look of realization and happiness appeared on their faces as they realized the implications. "I think you can actually give me a hug now, Cass." He held out his arms. "Want it to give it a try?"

Cassidy didn't need to be asked twice. With a yell of delight, she rushed towards her father, who scooped her up in his arms and wrapped her in a tight embrace. Ever since they had first met Mike, she and all her siblings had wanted nothing more than to hug their father like any child would hug their parents, a wish that had always been denied to them because of the boundaries that separated the physical body from the spirit. But now that she was in the world of Mike's dreams, those boundaries no longer mattered. For the first time, Cassidy had access to Mike's mind and soul.

For the first time, that long-desired dream could finally become a reality.

Cassidy let tears of joy flow freely from her eyes as Mike kissed her gently on the forehead and held her up into the air, the two of them laughing together like any other father and daughter playing together. "This is AWESOME!" the girl cheered as she wrapped her tiny arms around her father's neck. "I can finally hug you for real!"

Mike grinned at her, before a sudden thought occurred to him. His smile faded just a tiny bit as he lowered Cassidy backed down onto the ground. "You know…" he said slowly, "it isn't fair for just the two of us to enjoy this. Now that we know this is even possible, it just wouldn't be right to leave everyone else behind."

"…you're right, dad," Cassidy agreed. A small, selfish part of her wanted to have this moment with her father all to herself, but she forced it back down and crushed it. She knew she'd feel hurt and even betrayed if another one of her siblings had discovered the opportunity she now had and hogged it to herself. Besides, she had gotten the first true hug from her father out of all of them. And that was enough for her. "How do I get out of here so I can tell the others?"

Mike thought for a moment. "When that fucker Afton tried to escape after I beat his ass down into the ground, he simply tried to float up and out. Obviously I wasn't going to let him get away, but it seems to be surprisingly simple. Still, considering how you came in here by accident, it would probably be a good idea to help you out." He raised a hand towards the sky, and a portal tinged with green energy suddenly swirled into existence. Cassidy could see her dad's bedroom in the real world beyond it. "Hopefully by making this portal it'll send you right back outside. If it doesn't, I'll bring you back here and we can think of something else. If you do get out, get the others and have Charlie bring you back in this time. She's better at controlling her magic than you are and would have a much better chance of bringing you all in here, especially since I'll be helping her out this time around."

"All right, dad!" Cassidy gave her father one last quick hug and started floating up towards the portal. She let out one last giggle. "I can't wait to see the looks on their faces when I tell them all about this!"

Mike smirked back at her. "It'll blow their minds, that's for sure!"

Cassidy laughed and flew into the portal. To her immense relief, she felt herself pass through that same indescribable barrier she went through the first time, and after a flash of white, she found herself flying out of Mike's head and back into the real world. Wasting no time, Cassidy immediately rushed over to Susie's room and started shaking her frantically. "Susie!" she positively shouted. "Susie, wake up!"

"Hnrrrrrrggggghhhhh…" her sister groaned sleepily.

"Susie!"

"Go…to…sleep…Cass…" the former Chica inhabitant muttered groggily.

"SUSIE!" Cassidy insisted.

"Ugh…what?" Susie grumbled with more than a bit of irritation.

"The most amazing thing happened!" Cassidy exclaimed. Her sister gave her a skeptical look, but as Cassidy explained what had happened in the past few minutes Susie's fatigue made a very fast exist. By the time Cassidy finished, Susie's eyes were positively glowing with excitement and she was practically bouncing up and down in the air.

"OHMYGODOHMYGODOHMYGODOHMYGODOHMYGOD!" she babbled. "I WANNA GO HUG DAD! I WANNA GO RIGHT NOW!"

Cassidy giggled at her sister's enthusiasm. "I know, Sus, but we have to get everyone else first," she pointed out. "Otherwise they'd hate us for leaving them out, and I can't really blame them."

Susie sighed. "Yeah, you're right. Let's go get everyone else as quickly as possible!" With excited shouts, the two girls spread throughout their brothers and sisters' bedrooms, waking them and spreading the news about Cassidy's unexpected discovery. Some of their siblings had already fallen asleep and were less than pleased with being forcibly awakened, while others had only just gotten settled in for the night. But regardless of how they might have been feeling, all of them quickly shared in the joy and excitement of finally being able to interact with their father on an equal plane, and it wasn't long before they were gathered around Mike's bed and his sleeping form.

"Are you sure about this?" Gabe asked, skepticism creeping back into his voice. "He looks so peaceful. I feel like we'd be bothering him."

Cassidy shook her head. "He's waiting for us, Gabe!" she protested.

"Then let's not keep him waiting any longer," Charlie declared. "Everyone, I'll send you guys into Mike's mental world one at a time, and then I'll come follow you in from behind. Get in line, and close your eyes as I send you in."

The ghosts did as they were instructed, with Jeremy being the first in line. Charlie closed her eyes and focused her power on sending Jeremy into the dream world. To her surprise, Jeremy disappeared into Mike's body almost instantly, and she not only felt no resistance, but felt an unknown force actively helping her achieve what she wanted. Realizing that Mike was indeed helping them access his dream world from within, Charlie sent the rest of the ghost kids into Mike's mind in quick succession. After she sent the last of her siblings in, Charlie closed her eyes and focused on entering Mike's dreams herself, and felt herself pass into the world of her father's mind just as Cassidy had just a few minutes before.

Even before she opened her eyes, she could hear the excited gasps and shouts of the children, and instinctively understood that their passage into Mike's mind had been a complete success.

"Took you guys long enough!" Mike addressed them with the dry and amused tone that the ghosts had long come to associate with their father. "Come and give me an ACTUAL hug for a change!"

The screams and cheers of the children were positively deafening as they rushed towards their father, wanting more than anything to finally feel their father's warm embrace, and the gentle love of any parent, for the first time in decades. It was a good thing that Mike was prepared for this and had made a comfy sofa behind him, because he was so overwhelmed that he immediately fell over backward due to being hit by the combined force of so many eager children. The ghosts scrambled over each other trying to hug their father first, or at the very least trying to find a good spot on the couch to snuggle next to him once they had gotten their turn. Out of all the ghosts, only Charlie and Cassidy refrained themselves, the former since she wanted her younger siblings to get their chance first, and Cassidy because she had already gotten her turn.

Once Cassidy had gotten her (technically second) hug, Charlie finally approached the sofa, moving more slowly and reservedly than her siblings. With a hopeful smile on her face and tears of joy brimming in her eyes, she leaned forward and hugged her father, burying her head into his chest. "This is real…" she murmured. "I can't believe it. This is actually real."

"This is my dream world, Charlie," Mike answered gently. "Here, our dreams can come true." The two separated slowly and Charlie sat down on her father's right side, the other ghosts making room for her. "Now then!" he declared, his mouth stretching into a mischievous grin. "For the next few hours, I can basically make reality my bitch."

Gabe's eyes widened. "Oh my God, that's right!" he exclaimed. "This is DAD'S dream world! And he can do anything here!"

"There's so many things we can do here!" Jeremy added. "I can't even think about what I want to do!"

"And that is the big question of the night, Jeremy. What DO you guys want to do?" The ghosts opened their mouths to barrage him with answers, prompting Mike to immediately add, "talk to it, come to a group decision, come back to me."

For the next few minutes, the ghost kids vigorously debated on what they wanted Mike to do for them. Some, like Fritz, wanted Mike to go all-out with his imagination, with similarly extreme suggestions like recreating an entire city for them to explore or even recreating a D&D campaign with them playing as actual characters. Other cooler heads, like Gabe, quickly reminded everyone that Mike was doing this for their benefit, and that he could very easily exhaust himself from the strain of holding seven ghosts in his head and bending the mental world to his will in such an extreme way. In the end, Susie of all people was the one to come up with a solution that everyone could agree with, an experience that would be very fun for all of them that they wouldn't be able to ever enjoy in the real world due to their ghostly natures.

Liz was the one who presented the idea to Mike. "We want you to make us a water park!" she declared. "We saw Alex and Meghan talk about going to a water park during the summer, and it sounded really fun!"

"We can't swim in water because we're ghosts, but we can now that we're in your mind!" Susie added.

"This won't be too hard for you, dad, will it?" Charlie asked worriedly.

Mike smirked and shook his head. "Nah, if I can make an entire army of shadowy monsters and warriors from my own inner darkness and single-handedly massacre an army of thousands of demons from the depths of Hell itself, making a water park for you guys will be easy shit in comparison," he replied nonchalantly.

"That's good," Gabe replied, sounding relieved. Then, Mike's words clicked in his head. "Wait, wha…?

"WATER PARK TIME!" Mike interruptedly loudly. "I've only been to water parks a few times in my life, but I think I've got plenty of imagination to fill in the missing bits." He clapped his hands together. "Let's have some fun, kiddos!"

The ghosts looked on excitedly as Mike closed his eyes and concentrated. There was a blinding flash of light that caused everyone to cover their eyes, and when the light faded they were standing at the gates of a water park. Past the front gate, the ghosts could see the silhouettes of water slides recreated from the depths of Mike's memory, many of which emptied into large pools. Some of the slides were steep, straight drops, while others twisted and winded around. The ghost children might not have remembered much of their childhoods before their violent deaths, but they all knew one thing.

These were by far slides that were much cooler than anything they'd ever seen while they were alive.

"Now, before you guys all go crazy, I have to tell you that we're going to tackle one slide at a time," Mike instructed, his eyes and tone making it perfectly clear that he was not joking around. "This might look like I'm basically making this water park with a snap of my fingers, but the truth is that I'm only really thinking about the basic shape of the rides. To make sure these water slides are both safe and as realistic of an experience as possible, I can only focus on one slide at a time. Which means that we all go on one slide at a time as a group. Do you guys understand? Do NOT go off to do your own thing, because if I'm NOT focusing on a slide then it might not even manifest properly. Do I make myself clear?"

"Clear!" the ghost kids all responded as one. Even Fritz, the chaotic troublemaker of the group, knew better than to go against his dad's orders when they were serious. Satisfied with their response, Mike guided the kids over to the first water park ride, which seemed to solidify into focus the closer they approached. It was a tall wooden structure with stairs leading up to it. At the top of the structure there was a wide wooden platform, out of which seven slides snaked down to the bottom in a wave-like formation, each a different color of the rainbow but otherwise all identical. Even from further away, the kids could see the water rapidly rushing down the length of the slides.

"I thought we'd start with a little race," Mike smirked. "Have each of you go down a slide at the same time and see who wins. Oh, and before I forget," he snapped his fingers, and suddenly each of the kids was in a bathing suit of some kind that had a similar design and fashion to the clothes they had worn coming in. "Now go have fun, kids!"

"Thanks, dad!" the children all exclaimed, before rushing towards the entrance at the bottom of the water slide and quickly climbing up the stairs leading to the top. Each one sat down on a slide of their fancy, eyeing each other competitively. If they had still been alive, Mike would have needed to demonstrate the necessary safety posture to avoid harm. But this was the imagination, and the only thing the kids needed to be safe was Mike's will to make the slide safe.

Mike lifted three fingers into the air, and even from a far distance the kids could somehow clearly him as though he were right next to them. "On your marks! Three! Two! One! GO!" At this last word, the kids raced down the slide, whooping and cheering in delight as they felt gravity and the rush of the water on their back push them down towards the ground.

"WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" Susie screamed happily.

"THIS IS SO MUCH FUN!" Cassidy cheered.

"WE'RE GOING SO FAST!" Fritz hollered.

Whether it was because the natural rules of gravity still applied even in Mike's dream world or just an odd coincidence, Charlie was the first to reach the bottom, making a huge splash as her slide leveled out even as the others followed a few seconds behind her, each making their own smaller splashes due to their smaller size. "THAT'S what water slides are like?" Jeremy asked incredulously once he got out of the slide. "That was so COOL! Outside of roller coasters this has to be like the best thing ever!"

"The water is so realistic!" Charlie marveled as she dipped her hand into the slide's water. "I don't know remember what water really feels like after so long, but this feels like the real thing!"

"What's next, dad?" Liz was practically hopping down in excitement. "Can we go on something with a tube like Alex and Meghan did?"

"Oh yeah, those tube rides looked really fun!" Fritz piped in. "I think the slides are bigger too!"

Mike grinned. "That is an excellent idea!" he agreed. "In fact, the tube rides at water parks are easily my most favorite parts of the whole thing. Let's start out with something simple and then we can take things up a notch from there!"

The kids cheered as Mike led them away from the race-like water slides, which faded back into obscurity as they left them behind. Another ride solidified into focus in front of them, this time with slides starting from more than one floor. Unlike the relatively straightforward nature of the slides that they had just enjoyed, these ones twisted around in less predictable patterns, including spirals and other crooked shapes as they descended down into a giant pool at the very bottom. Some of the slides were only partially covered, alternating between exposed to the open air, while others were covered completely from beginning to end. And as Fritz had predicted, every single one of them was larger and thicker than the slides they had just previously gone on.

The kids could see a few tubes laying around next to the pool, inflated and ready for use. "A lot of the time people go up on these tube slides in pairs," Mike explained, "but you can ride single tubes if you want. Either way, it'll be perfectly fine, since we've already established reality can go fuck itself."

Fritz looked over at Liz. "Wanna go down that really crazy looking slide that's completely covered?" he asked eagerly.

Liz grinned. "Sure thing. I can't even imagine what it's going to be like going down a completely dark slide?"

Susie shuddered as she picked up a tube. "Going in the dark might be cool and all, but I want to see what Dad's park looks like while I'm going down the slide."

"I'm with you, Sus!" Cassidy agreed.

Gabe, Jeremy, and Charlie each picked their own tubes. "We can handle the slides by ourselves!" Gabe declared proudly.

"You do you, man," Mike replied nonchalantly. With their inflated riding tubes in their hands, the kids climbed the stairs leading up the platform to the slides of their choice. The experience felt almost a bit too authentic, as the tubes felt almost as exactly as heavy as they would have been in the real world, and more than once the kids struggled to pull them. Once they were at the top, they were surprised to find that Mike was already waiting there.

"What the hell?" Jeremy spluttered. "How did you get up here before us?"

"Uh…the world of my mind? I can do whatever I want? Hello?" Mike answered in amusement, causing the former Bonnie inhabitant to facepalm. "I realized I forgot to tell you how to actually get on the tubes, so let me show you real quick." Using Liz and Fritz as an example, Mike showed them how to position themselves properly on a double tube and then showed them how to get on a single tube using Charlie. "Normally, you'd have to wait until someone was done riding down to the bottom before being able to go next for safety reasons, but what's the motto here?"

"Fuck reality!" the ghosts chorused, earning a grin from Mike.

"Yep!" he replied cheerfully. "Fuck reality indeed." As if to prove his point, he snapped his fingers and vanished, reappearing at the edge of the large pool several feet below them. The ghosts looked at each other uncertainly, shrugged, and positioned themselves at the slide of their choice.

The rides on the tube slides turned out to be even crazier than the water slides they had slid down before, causing them all to scream in delight. The children who had chosen the fully covered slides were treated to a thrilling ride in absolute darkness in which the unpredictable twists and turns took them completely by surprise and left them guessing what direction they were going to go next. Those who had opted for a more open slide were treated to occasional glimpses of the world that Mike had created, able to see the rest of the park for a brief moment before they were plunged back into momentary darkness. Regardless of the type of slide, however, all the children felt the rushing water propel them downward, and all of them were treated to a thrill that reminded them so very fondly of the roller coaster they had anchored themselves to back in Las Vegas. Only now, they could feel the joy of riding the water slide in its entirety, without the barriers of physical and spiritual blurring the experience.

"HELL YEAH!" Gabe cheered as his tube zoomed into the pool with a huge splash. "This is so fun!"

"I'm coming in hot!" Jeremy shouted as he charged out of the black mouth of his chosen slide a few seconds after Gabe.

"WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Liz and Fritz both shouted, laughing together as their tube sped out of the slide and into the pool.

Mike watched contentedly as the rest of his kids slide into the pool one tube at a time. He still remembered how much he had at the first water park he had gone to, when his friends had invited him over during one of the less busy weekends at college. He was glad he could share tha moment with his kids in some form, since they would never be able to fully experience it in real life.

The kids climbed out of the pool drenched in water, still giggling and laughing as they tossed the tubes aside. "What's next, dad?" Cassidy asked eagerly.

Mike smiled. "Believe it or not, not everything cool about water parks is about crazy slides. There's other things you can do when you want to take things easy for a change. Let me show you…" Mike led them away from the slides, which too faded away into an obscure shadow, and for the next few minutes he showed the kids the calmer and more relaxed aspects of a water park. The ghosts greatly enjoyed riding the chaotic waves of the wave pool, the fact that they had long since forgotten how to swim since their deaths easily negated by Mike's will (and the life jackets he created for them). And while they were initially skeptical of the "lazy river", which seemed positively boring compared to the excitement of the slides they had just ridden, the ghosts soon quickly realized just how relaxing a calm ride around a large circle could actually be, and many of them ended up outright snoozing as they began riding around in their tubes.

Mike smirked as he looked at the sleeping ghosts. Lazy rivers often had small fountains and even miniature waterfalls pouring down on them from above to keep things interesting…but they didn't know that. He snapped his fingers, and seconds later he heard the shrieks of indignant ghosts as their slumber was rudely broken by sudden blasts of water splashing on them from above.

"Gah!" Fritz yelped. "The hell?"

"Eeeek!" Susie shrieked as a waterfall fell flat on her face and the shock nearly knocked her off her tube.

"Screw you, dad!" Cassidy called out, sulking that her nap was ruined. They could hear Mike laughing at them in the distance, which only caused them to roll their eyes in irritation. Still, the kids enjoyed the rest of their ride throughout the lazy river, though they kept a careful eye on the fountains that were now spouting out water to make sure they didn't get any more unpleasant surprises.

Once they had left the river, Mike guided them over to other water slides that he conjured from his mind, most of them falling under the category of body or tube slides similar to the first two rides. The kids eagerly rode on all the slides that they could, and without the long wait lines that so often plagued amusement parks in real life, they had more than enough time to ride down every water slide that they possibly could. After an amount of time that simultaneously seemed to go on forever and yet also pass by in a blink of an eye, they had gone through almost every variety of water ride that Mike could think of.

"Yeah, there's only so many ways you can play around with the idea of a giant water slide leading down into a large pool," Mike commented dryly once they had climbed out of the pool of their latest ride, a tube slide with a basin in the middle that stimulated the feeling of being sucked down a whirlpool. "Kinda running out of ideas here."

"It's okay, dad!" Liz assured him. "We've had so much fun here!"

"Yeah!" Gabe agreed. "Now I know why Alex and Meghan loved going to that water park so much!"

"I think now would be a good time to wrap things up," Charlie advised. "It seems like Dad is pretty close to finishing this water park anyway, and we don't want to tire him out especially after what happened a week ago."

"I'm not getting tired exactly, but I should probably get some actual sleep soon," Mike agreed. "With that being said, I have one last water ride that you definitely haven't seen before, and I think you're going to enjoy it."

"Lead the way, dad!" Liz insisted, with the other kids making various noises of agreement. Mike grinned and guided them over to one last water slide. Unlike the others, this one was accompanied by a humongous funnel decorated with yellow and blue stripes that dwarfed even the platform leading up to the start of the ride. The kids could hear the sound of water rushing rapidly inside the funnel, far faster and louder than the water coursing through the other slides they had ridden up until this point.

"No water slide can ever really beat a roller coaster in terms of pure thrills," Mike explained, "and I'm not sure I can even make a roller coaster in my mind since there's a lot more to think about than what's basically a glorified slide. You're probably better off just anchoring yourself to a roller coaster in all honesty. But I think this last slide will come pretty close."

Jeremy shrugged. "Who cares? It looks fun, so I'm down!"

Charlie being, more observant, noticed that the tubes at the edge of the pool were also MUCH larger than what they were normally used to. "Oh my God, these are huge!" she exclaimed. "You could fit like four people in those!"

"That's because you're SUPPOSED to fit three-four people in those," Mike chuckled. "You're in for a wild ride, kids, and single and double tubes just aren't going to cut it here. Split up in half, take a tube, and go see yourself what you're about to get into."

The ghosts were only too happy to comply, and they shared the burden of the bulky tube amongst themselves. To make things a bit easier, the older kids split up between the two groups, with Charlie helping out Cassidy and Fritz, while Gabe and Jeremy went along with Liz and Susie. As they climbed up the staircase leading to the start of the slide, they were able to see the full view of the funnel from inside…and bore witness to the full fury of the rushing rapids within.

"Holy crap!" Fritz gaped. "Look at all that water!"

"It's like those rapids we saw back at the Grand Canyon!" Liz agreed, eyes wide. "Only inside of a water ride!"

"Damn, this looks insane!" Gabe whistled. "Let's get going, quick!" They quickly climbed to the top, carrying the large tubes between them. When they got there, Mike was already there waiting for them.

"This is a bit of an extreme ride by water park standards, so I'm going to make sure you guys only go in one at a time just to minimize what little safety concerns existed to begin with," he explained. "Plus, since I can see everything from this angle too, I can watch you guys from up here just fine. So who's first?"

"US!" Cassidy and Fritz shouted before anyone else could.

"Awww…" the others groaned.

"Welp, they called it," Mike declared. "Put your tube down and hop in." Charlie, Fritz, and Cassidy all sat down in the tube, stretching their legs out and leaning back while grabbing the handlebars. Once they were all settled, Mike pushed the tube through the opening of the slide, where was water pouring down from the top. The kids all shrieked in delight as their riding tube sped downward and the slide spat them out into the funnel, where the rampaging rapids pushed the tube up the walls of the funnel, only to fall back down and go flying in the other direction.

"WHEEEEEEEEEEEE!" Cassidy and Fritz screamed as they were propelled up the sides of the funnel again and again. "THIS IS AWESOME!"

"Hang on!" Charlie yelled as the tube finally approached the end of the funnel, slipping past another waterfall that drenched them all as the tube landed in the pool with a tremendous splash.

"Best water slide ever!" Cassidy cheered as she stumbled out of the tube. "Does something like this actually exist in real life?"

"Dad said that all of the water slides he made were based on things he actually went on, so yeah!" Fritz pointed out.

"Man, now I wish we could go see an actual water park," Cassidy remarked a bit sadly. "Too bad we can't ever really enjoy them because we're ghosts."

Not wanting her sister to dwell on gloomy thoughts, Charlie fortunately had the perfect distraction at hand. "We should get out of the pool, the others will be coming down soon."

"Oh, right!" Cassidy, Fritz, and Charlie quickly scrambled out of the pool. A few seconds later, the other four siblings zoomed through the mouth of the funnel and into the pool, laughing and giggling just like they had been seconds earlier.

"I don't know how I'm having almost as much fun on a water slide as I had on a roller coaster," Susie gleefully commented as he waded out of the pool. "I think this was the most fun I've had outside of our vacations!"

"The water is so realistic!" Jeremy marveled. "How is Dad able to make all of this feel so real?"

"Maybe he remembers what it's like and was able to recreate that here?" Gabe asked.

"Has to be," Liz remarked. "Some of this stuff can't be all that hard to imagine, because otherwise if Dad had to think hard about every little detail, he'd either screw something up or his head would probably explode!"

"It's actually not that hard, surprisingly," Mike interjected, having overheard their conversation after teleporting back down to the edge of the pool. "As long as I'm only focusing on one thing at a time. That's why I made you all stay at one water slide, so that I wouldn't have to split my concentration and therefore not have everything turn into a giant mess. And with that being said, did you guys enjoy my little water park recreation?"

"YEAH!" the ghosts all cheered. Mike grinned and snapped his fingers, vanishing the water park and returning them back to the living room of Oskar's home. The children rushed their father to give him another giant hug, who was ready for them this time and sat down on the sofa in advance to stop himself from being barreled over a second time.

"You're the best, dad!" Liz gratefully complimented him once they were all settled on the couch and cuddling up to him like teddy bears.

Mike smiled. "Thanks, Liz. I'm glad I was able to make all this work out so well."

"Can we do this again soon?" Fritz asked, and many of the others looked just as eager. "Please?"

To their surprise and disappointment, Mike shook his head. "Not often, Fritz. Maybe once a month or twice a month at most, but that's it. This is a dream world, a fantasy. Like it or not, this isn't reality. It isn't a good idea for us to get lost in our dreams while forgetting all the things that we have to deal with in the real world, good or bad. Not only that, but we don't know just how dangerous having multiple ghosts stuck in my head can be for my health, or at the very least how quickly it might tire me out. We can do something like this once in a while, but no more than that."

"Aww…" the ghosts groaned in disappointment.

Charlie spoke up to Mike's defense. "Dad's right, guys," she commented. "Maybe most of our existences were nothing but a nightmare, but ever since he adopted us we've seen a lot more good things in the world than we'd ever expected to see back in that Fazbear hellhole."

"…I guess you're right," Cassidy reluctantly admitted. "And I don't want Dad get to somehow get hurt from doing this."

One by one, the ghosts expressed their agreement, some more willingly than others. Mike smiled gratefully at them for their understanding, and then his lips suddenly stretched into a grin. "With that being said…" he interrupted them, causing them to look up at him hopefully. "Halloween is coming up next week. And I have an idea of what I want to do that night."

"Trick or treating with the Marshalls again?" Susie asked hopefully.

"Well, yes, but I want to do something a little different," Mike explained with a glint of mischief in his eyes. "I want you guys to come back into my mental world on Halloween, and this time I'm going to try to scare you."

"How are you going to do that?" Liz asked. "Are you going to recreate the Five Nights at Freddy's games in your mind?"

"Pfft…no!" Mike snorted contemptuously. "I'm going to recreate a different game…one that me and my friends absolutely adore and still play all the time to this day. It will also serve as a little test for your courage. I obviously won't force you to relive your horrible deaths or anything nearly as obscene as that, but there will be references to murder. How far have you risen above the fears and nightmares of your past? I learned a long time ago that the best ways to defeat your fears is to face them head-on."

The ghosts looked at each other uncertainly, and then looked up at their father with resolve in their eyes. "It'll take more than a little murder to scare us!" he proclaimed defiantly. "You won't scare us that easily, dad!"

Mike nodded approvingly. "Good," he answered. "And now it's time for you guys to go." He lifted up his hand to the sky, and a portal similar to the one that Cassidy had seen earlier appeared. "Fly up to that portal and you should find yourselves back in the real world. Good night, everyone."

"Good night, dad!" his children chorused. As one, they flew up through the portal and back into the real world. Mike felt the children's presences fade from his mind, and a quick message from Charlie confirmed that they had all made it back into the real world without any problems. Mike smiled, glad that they were safe…and then promptly raised his hand again.

Only this time, for a very different purpose.

Chanting in an unholy tongue that had long since been forgotten on Earth, Mike spoke the words of a spell to open up a fiery portal very similar to the one that Nightmare Fredbear and Charlie had used to spy on the man's battle with William Afton. The flaming portal distorted itself into existence, a vortex ringed with faint flames. On the other side was a mighty black throne…and a very familiar figure slouched atop it, staring at him with burning scarlet eyes.

"Good evening, Nightmare," Mike greeted the demon lord coolly.

"SCHMIDT…" Nightmare growled, though his tone carried surprise more than any genuine anger or even annoyance. "I MUST CONFESS, I AM QUITE SURPRISED THAT YOU ARE BOLD ENOUGH TO CONTACT ME DIRECTLY. AND OUTSIDE OF AN EMERGENCY SITUATION, NO LESS."

"If you're busy with something at the moment, then I apologize," Mike replied, his tone conveying respect but not a trace of fear.

Nightmare chuckled in sinister amusement. "YOUR TIMING IS FORTUNATE, AS IT TURNS OUT. WE HAVE JUST FINISHED TESTING OUR LATEST TORMENT ON WILLIAM AFTON. NIGHTMARIONNE WAS QUITE IMPRESSED BY YOUR FLAYING TECHNIQUE, SCHMIDT, AND HE FELT THE NEED TO PROGRESS ONE STEP FURTHER. HE HAS FLAYED THOUSANDS OF DAMNED SOULS WITH HIS FINGERS THROUGHOUT HIS CENTURIES OF EXISTENCE…BUT THIS IS THE FIRST TIME HE HAS EVER FORCED A SHADE TO DEVOUR HIS OWN FLAYED ETHEREAL FLESH AFTERWARD." Mike was suddenly very grateful that he had already sent the kids out of his mind. "THE SPECTACLE HAS PUT ME IN ENOUGH OF A GOOD MOOD THAT I FEEL GENEROUS ENOUGH TO SPARE YOU A FEW MINUTES OF MY TIME."

"Yes, well…here's the thing," Mike explained. "A few moments ago, I invited my kids into my mind to try and let them enjoy themselves in the world of my dreams. I plan on doing the same next week on Halloween…only this time, I'm going to try and scare them instead. Nothing that would actually traumatize or genuinely terrify them, but I'm thinking I might be using my dark aspect. Maybe even…my demonic one."

Nightmare suddenly sat up straighter on his throne. "NOW THIS IS A SURPRISE…" he hissed. "I THOUGHT YOU WERE GOING TO HIDE THOSE ASPECTS FROM YOUR CHILDREN. WHY THE SUDDEN CHANGE OF HEART?"

"I promised myself I'd keep as few secrets from them," Mike explained. "And I don't want them to discover my darker side in the worst possible way, like Charlie did. I'm going to reveal my darker and maybe even my demonic aspect to them in a way that will clearly show them what they are without utterly horrifying them. In fact, I think that what I have planned will even be fun for them while still being scary enough for Halloween without going too far."

"YOU HAD MY IMMEDIATE AND UNDIVIDED ATTENTION THE MOMENT YOU MENTIONED YOUR DEMONIC ASPECT," Nightmare answered. "BUT I FAIL TO SEE WHY YOU REQUIRE MY HELP FOR THIS."

"It's actually a rather…unique request," Mike explained. "I need a way to temporarily access things from my short-term memory. Things that I would see on a computer screen and then promptly forget only minutes later. I have no idea how to go about this, and as a demon lord who is an expert in the mind I figured you would be my best source of help for what I'm looking for."

"I CAN INDEED OFFER YOU SOME AID IN THIS PARTICULAR SITUATION," Nightmare replied, "THOUGH YOUR FRAIL MORTAL MIND WILL ONLY BE ABLE TO HANDLE A FEW BITS AT A TIME, AND ONLY FOR A SHORT WHILE."

"A few bits at a time is all I need," Mike replied.

"HOWEVER, YOU HAVE STILL NOT TOLD ME WHY YOU NEED MY ASSISTANCE, AND UNTIL YOU ANSWER THAT QUESTION I WILL NOT OFFER YOU ANYTHING," Nightmare growled.

Mike's mouth stretched into a grin. "It's actually quite simple, Nightmare," he replied. "Have you ever heard of a game called…Trivia Murder Party?"

/

A/N: That's right, ladies and gentlemen. The Halloween chapter will be Trivia Murder Party from Jackbox Games, with Dark!Mike and possibly even Demon!Mike as the host. I told you that you hadn't seen the last of Dark!Mike or Demon!Mike, but I bet you didn't expect them to come back so soon. This is going to be one of my first real exercises in Black Comedy (something that has popped up surprisingly rarely in this fic so far), and it's either one of the best or one of the worst ideas I've ever had. But fuck it, WE'RE DOING IT ANYWAY!

Trivia Murder Party is BY FAR one of my favorite games ever from Jackbox Games, and if you watch a few videos of it on Youtube you'll soon see why (especially 2). At first, I was merely going to have it as another "Fun with Video Games" chapter, but then I was like: "No. Fuck that. There is WAY too much potential here to waste it on a Fun With Video Games chapter." The Trivia Murder Party that will take place next week will have combined elements of Trivia Murder Party 1 and Trivia Murder Party 2, as well as my own unique spin to keep things fresh and interesting.

Both Trivia Murder Party games feature an audience playing along, especially TMP2 where the audience can actually win the entire game and kill all the main players. Obviously, we won't be able to simulate that in the next chapter, but that doesn't mean that we can't have some…audience participation…in advance.

Choose ONE Nightmare out of the two listed below.

Nightmare B) Nightmarionne

Why am I making you pick a Nightmare? It's quite simple. We only have seven ghost kids, and Trivia Murder Party, at max capacity, is an EIGHT player game.

Anyway, hope you guys enjoyed the wholesome dream world water park chapter!