A/N: What's up, everyone? Gotta say, it's a bit of a relief to write about something that isn't about "Five Nights at Freddy's." As fun as it was to write the last slew of chapters, I need a break from it once in a while just like anything else. Thank you all very much for the support and attention you've given to the fic, as it's one of my biggest motivators to keep going even as my schedule gets busier and busier.

With that being said, I think it's time for another trip! I may have hinted at this one before, and if not, sorry for not remembering XD.

Keep in mind that any communication between the ghost kids and Mike is telepathic in nature. You know, to avoid the general public thinking that Mike is crazy or that they're haunted XD

Also, to anyone who's asking about why "The Phantom Hero's Realm" is gone, it was taken down by because of the copyrighted songs and I don't have a copy of it to reupload the chapters. A more detailed explanation can be found on my profile, I'm not gonna go into further detail here.

Chapter 151 – Trip to the Big Apple Part 1

After forcing Fazbear Entertainment to admit their mistakes and deliver a public apology and promise to improve themselves, the Schmidt family was eager to pull the trigger and go even further to making sure that they would follow through on that promise.

It was a pity that reality had other ideas.

"You've gotta be kidding me!" Fritz groaned in exasperation after he had returned to the house with Liz for their day of spying on Fazbear Entertainment. For the past few weeks, two of them had gone to the local Fazbear Entertainment office every few days to spy on Mr. Averus and try to get a hint of what the corrupt organization was doing. But every single one of their attempts had yielded nothing but meaningless drivel and frustration. The most they had been able to get was the faintest hint of a "new project" that the company working on down the line, but there was nothing concrete to support it.

It was possible that Fazbear Entertainment was being very secretive about their next project until they were ready to release it to the public. Given how many scandals had plagued them, it wouldn't be unreasonable to assume that they were keeping a very tight lid on their plans until they were ready to be revealed (something which, if true, would make them even more suspicious as far as the ghost kids were concerned). It was also possible that Fazbear Entertainment were too busy dealing with current events, either the public's response to their most recent scandal and apology or basking in the success of their VR game, to focus on the future. Hell, it was entirely possible that they didn't even have any solid ideas period, and were just that clueless on how to approach their own future.

At the end of the day, it didn't matter what was going on behind the scenes. The plain and simple truth was that the kids had nothing to work with.

"All right, you know what?" Mike declared as November transitioned into December. "I'm officially gonna put this espionage mission on hold for the time being. We're not getting anywhere with this, and at this point it's a waste of your guys' time."

"But what if Fazbear Entertainment come up with something while we're not spying on them?" Cassidy protested.

"If there were any clues pointing to anything concrete, then I'd agree that we should keep being vigilant," Mike countered. "But right now, we have nothing. Nothing except for the faintest hint that something might be happening further down the line. And in my opinion, that's not enough to justify spending entire days down at Fazbear Entertainment just so you can watch Averus type a bunch of random shit into a computer. If something pops up, if we actually get an idea of what Fazbear Entertainment might be planning in the future, then we can go back to our spying sessions and see what we can do. But until then, let's not waste our time on pointless nonsense."

"You do have a point, I guess…" Jeremy conceded, still looking conflicted.

"The moment we see or hear anything, we can get back to work," Gabe assured him. "But I'll be the first to admit that spying on Mr. Averus has been boring as hell when all we see is more of the same."

"A break would be nice…" Susie reluctantly admitted.

Mike grinned. "Good," he replied, "because the lack of success wasn't the only reason why I wanted you guys to take a break. It's been a long while since we had another vacation, and I think you guys have earned one."

The ghost kids' eyes widened in surprise and they lit up as they heard the word "vacation." "Wait, REALLY?" Fritz exclaimed.

"Yep," Mike chuckled at their enthusiasm. "And I've already got a destination all planned out and everything. Do you guys remember that one hotel we visited in Las Vegas that looked like the inside of a modern American city?"

"You mean that New York hotel?" Charlie asked after a moment of thought.

"That's the one," Mike confirmed. "And having already visited American cities in the forms of Las Vegas and Chicago, I think it's time we visited New York and see what the city has in store for us. I hear that there's some really interesting sights to see especially around the wintertime."

"That sounds amazing!" Cassidy exclaimed excitedly. "I want to go!"

"It would be a great way to spend Christmas together!" Liz eagerly agreed. "Just like how we did in Florida last year!"

"Where exactly is New York?" Jeremy wondered.

"You know how we live on the west side of the country and we've visited the middle with Chicago? Well, this time, we're going all the way to the east instead. And believe it or not, the city that's one of the biggest and most famous cities in America is all on an island just off the mainland."

"I'm so excited already!" Susie gushed. "It's going to be so much fun!"

"We'll be going in about a day or two before Christmas," Mike explained. "A couple of places we'll visit I've already set in stone, but there's plenty of room to improvise and freestyle a lot of the trip. If you see anything that particularly catches your attention, let me know and we can fit it in."

"Will do, Dad!" Gabe assured him, the other ghosts making various sounds and gestures of agreement. None of them had expected Mike to offer such a colorful and momentous reprieve from their duties in dealing with Fazbear Entertainment, but with nothing to go off of and fulfill their mission, they would take what they could get.

A Few Weeks Later, on December 22

"God, that airplane flight was soooooo long…" Fritz whined as they finally got off the airplane that had taken them from Utah all the way to JFK airport. It had been quite a long time since the last time they had gotten on an airplane, but once they had they quickly remembered just how mind-numbingly boring airplane flights could be. It wouldn't have been a problem if they could access their laptops and smartphones, but since they were…well, ghosts…the only form of entertainment they had access to was the in-flight movies. Which, while not bad by themselves, certainly didn't compare to the freedom that came with unrestricted online access.

"Quit your whining," Charlie retorted with a roll of her eyes. "Remember the 14 hour plane trip to Korea? Be thankful this flight was nowhere NEAR as long."

"Don't remind me," Liz groaned. The Korea trip had brought nothing but pleasant memories. But nobody like a 14 hour plane flight, Internet access or no Internet access.

"Well, at least it's over, right?" Mike asked through his thoughts as he walked to the baggage claim to pick up his suitcase. "Luckily, New York isn't too far away from the airport."

"What are we going to do there, Dad?" Jeremy wondered as he and his brothers followed their father to the Lyft pickup spot, where Mike had already ordered a car to drive him to the Big Apple.

"Well, it's almost night time, and I don't know about you guys, but I'm pretty damn tired after that long plane flight," Mike answered. "So we're just going to get settled into our first hotel and take things a bit easy."

"That's it?" Cassidy asked, a bit disappointed. "Kind of a crappy way to spend our first day here, doing nothing!"

Mike smirked. "I didn't say we're doing nothing," he replied. "From what I've seen, the hotel that we're visiting has a VERY interesting underground area, perfect for people who like to eat really exotic food.Especially desserts."

The word dessert caught all of their attentions. "I'm not gonna say no to that!" Gabe replied as the car drove on. "Are you gonna let us possess you so that we can taste all the food."

"That's the plan," Mike confirmed. "I had to skip lunch for this, because I would've ended up obese as all hell with a fresh heap of diabetes by the end of tonight."

The ghosts snickered as the car drove onwards. Within a few minutes, they caught their first glimpse of the New York City skyline, and their eyes widened with wonder and amazement at the first city they had seen in months. Though the sight of several towering buildings reaching high into the sky was one they had seen before with the previous cities they had visited it, the perspective itself was quite different. An entire riverbank lay in front of the city, surrounding it on all sides, stretching out all the way from one side to the other as it met the horizon on either side. And unlike the previous times, they were directly crossing over a bridge to get to New York City, almost as though they were passing a gateway to another world. "This is so cool!" Fritz exclaimed. "I can't wait to see what we can do in the city!"

"Easily just as much as Chicago," Charlie replied. Her expression was predictably calmer than those of her siblings, but even she couldn't fully hide her excitement at visiting a whole new city.

"We can go flying around the city to explore it like we did in Las Vegas and Chicago, can't we?" Cassidy asked eagerly.

"Sure can!" Gabe confirmed with a grin as the car approached the city. As it finished its crossing of the bridge, the car drove away from the main road and down a ramp until it entered a highway that was at the level of the city streets, right next to the river. The ghosts spent several minutes enjoying the much closer view of the city's skyscrapers to the left and the open river to the right, admiring the juxtaposition between the two vastly different scenes. Across the river, they could see the outline of more buildings on the other side, as well as a giant cliff face that led up to about the same level of the bridge that they had departed from minutes ago.

"What's over there?" Liz wondered.

"That's New Jersey," Mike replied. "A whole different state just across the riverbank. Don't ask me what's over there, though, because I honestly don't have a clue. I do know that one of my old college friends once hiked along the bottom of the cliff face next to the riverbank."

Susie's jaw dropped. "They hiked across the ENTIRE state of New Jersey?" she spluttered.

Mike couldn't resist a chuckle. "Nah, they only hiked for a couple of hours. Was still a really interesting experience for them, especially since most people don't go anywhere near the parts of the river that aren't already part of a town. Apparently there's a small stone ruin somewhere that they saw, which was easily the most interesting sight along their entire trip."

"That sounds awesome," Jeremy replied, and then a thought suddenly occurred to him. "Did they have to climb all the way down from the top of the cliff to the bottom…and then ALL THE WAY BACK UP?" he asked.

"Well, there's roads that take you safely down from the top of the cliff face to the bottom, but yeah. They actually had to walk all the way from the bottom of the cliff to the top as part of their hike," Mike answered, grimacing at the idea.

Cassidy cringed. "That sounds like a huge pain in the ass."

"It probably was," Mike agreed nonchalantly as the cab finally turned into New York City proper. Immediately, the children were bombarded with the sights and sounds of the city and its many buildings, just like they had been inundated with the atmosphere of Chicago back when they had first entered the Midwestern city. It was very similar to Chicago, as all around them were tall buildings that extended high into the sky, streets filled with people walking back and forth, and the cacophonous sound of countless cars that could be heard even through the closed windows of their car. But the kids had little doubt that the differences and unique features of New York City would soon make themselves apparent, just as Chicago's had.

And one of those differences made itself glaringly known as they left one of the more crowded streets into a much wider area.

"Whoaaaaaa…." The ghost kids' jaws dropped in wonder as they stared around the new location they had found themselves in deep within New York City. The area they were in now was much wider and more open than the other more crowded parts of the city, but that barely registered in their minds compared to everything else. The buildings were all positive glowing with colorful neon lights, with countless electronic signs and billboards flashing so many different messages and names of buildings that they couldn't possibly keep track of even a fraction of them. Despite how crammed the buildings seemed to be, each and every building had its own identity and its own characteristics to distinguish them from each other, almost as though they had their own personalities. There were also FAR more people here compared to the other parts of the city they had seen so far, as the streets were positively FILLED with people who were milling about and visiting the different buildings depending on their needs and wants at the time. In that moment, the ghost kids remembered the New York hotel that they had visited in Las Vegas, and realized that its imitation completely failed to do the real deal any justice.

"Welcome to Times Square," Mike announced. "Easily one of the most famous places in all of New York City."

"I can see why…" Gabe breathed. "Holy crap, there's so much going on here!"

"This is one of the coolest things I've ever seen!" Fritz exclaimed.

"Can we visit here?" Susie begged. "Please?"

"Hold on, hold on," Mike interrupted their excited cries to calm them down. "Times Square absolutely IS part of our planned vacation schedule…but not today. We have to get settled in the hotel first, and after our long plane trip today I am just too goddamned exhausted to take you around. And besides," he added with a smirk, "you're forgetting that I've got my own plans for tonight."

"Awww…" the kids let out disappointed sighs, but none of them challenged their father as they left Times Square behind. The rest of the streets the Lyft car drove through weren't nearly as exotic or lively as Times Square, though there were still many different buildings to see. Mike was quick to make it clear that they would not be seeing EVERY single place that caught their attention in the city, even if they were staying for several days. Just because a building looked interesting didn't mean it actually was interesting, and even if it was, such a comprehensive exploration of the city just wasn't feasible or practical for several reasons.

Just as Fritz was about to ask/complain when they were going to get there, the street they were on suddenly opened up to another wide space. However, unlike with Times Square, this vast expanse in front of them was covered with countless trees, completely contradictory to Times Square or even the rest of the city for that matter. It was a rare spot of nature within the otherwise industrialized world that was a refreshing sight to see, even if several of the trees lacked leaves due to the wintertime. And it seemed that whatever hotel Mike had chosen for his first night sat at the very edges of this natural landmark.

"Here we are, sir!" the Lyft driver declared. "The Plaza Hotel! I hope you enjoy your stay and your trip in New York City! Central Park is right over there, if you're interested!"

"Thanks!" Mike replied as he got out of the car, taking his suitcase with him. The ghosts followed him, and together looked up at the hotel where they would be staying their first night in NYC.

Even from a bare first impression, the Schmidt family could immediately tell that the Plaza Hotel was a Luxury Hotel through and through. It was a large towering edifice of white brick and marble, designed in the style of an elegant chateau straight out of the French Renaissance. A building that looked dignified and proud of its existence. "Damn," Jeremy whistled. "Whoever made this thing has some serious style!"

"Imagine living in something like this," Cassidy commented in agreement. "You'd have to be BEYOND rich."

"Even if I had the money to afford something like this, which I most definitely don't, what would I even do with that much room?" Mike asked rhetorically. "This place makes more sense being a hotel anyway." He proceeded to make his way towards the entrance of the hotel, the ghosts following closely behind.

The inside of the hotel proved to be even more impressive than the outside. Aside from the obvious elegance of the architecture of the room itself, there were several ornate art pieces scattered throughout the first room of the lobby, from decorative tapestries hanging high on the walls to several vases holding candelabras and wooden cases holding smaller pieces of furniture in them. Right in the center of the room was a table that looked like solid gold, proudly holding a large with many decorative flowers in it. And hanging just above the table was a gigantic chandelier emanating light that seemed to cast the entire room in a soft golden glow. It was truly a beautiful sight to behold.

"I really can't tell whether I like this hotel more than the other ones we've visited," Susie murmured as she took in the view around them.

"Well, keep in mind that I've only been ordering rooms in the best of the best hotels so far," Mike pointed out. "Most other hotels aren't NEARLY as extravagant as the ones we've been to. I've only been able to afford these because I'm a secret millionaire who's mostly saved up with the money I've gotten from the lottery."

"This isn't too expensive for you, is it, Dad?" Charlie asked, giving her father a worried glance.

"Nah," Mike replied nonchalantly. "Even with how expensive the price would be for anyone else, I can easily afford a few nights in one of the fancier rooms here. I can tell you right now that we're not gonna be staying at the Penthouse though, that's too expensive even for me.

"Awww…" some of the younger ghost kids groaned in disappointment, although the older ones were more understanding.

"Let's see what the room looks like!" Gabe suggested. "Maybe it might not be a penthouse, but it still probably looks pretty awesome."

Nobody had any argument against that, and Mike made his way over to the concierge desk. The man working at the desk raised an eyebrow when the man informed him that he had booked a night in a Deluxe King Room, but a quick check of the records confirmed his reservation.

"Here you go, sir," the concierge declared, handing him his card key. "Enjoy your stay at the Plaza Hotel!"

Mike grinned. "Thanks," he replied as he picked the key up and made his way over to the elevator. Once he was inside, he pressed the button to go all the way up to the 18th floor.

"So what are we gonna do once we get up to there, Dad?" Liz wondered. "Are you just gonna call it a night?"

"Hell no," Mike replied smugly. "Just because I'm not gonna go out exploring the rest of the city today, doesn't mean there aren't things we can do inside the building itself. And what I'm interested in tonight is the basement area of this hotel."

"That's that underground area you were talking about with all the food earlier, isn't it?" Susie realized.

Mike smirked. "Hell yeah," he replied, "but I'm dropping off my suitcase first. I don't feel like dragging this heavy thing around the underground restaurants and getting a bunch of weird looks from the other tourists."

A fair point that nobody had an argument against as the elevator reached the 20th floor and slowed to a stop. The doors smoothly slid open, and Mike walked out into a hallway. Compared to the main lobby and the exterior of the hotel, it was much simpler in design and appearance, but still well-maintained. The Schmidt family made their way down until they reached the appropriate door. "I think this is it," Mike muttered as he placed the card key into the slot and swung the door open to the room where he would be spending the next few nights.

"Whoaaaaaa…" the ghost kids murmured, awed at the sight of their new hotel room.

It wasn't the first time they had stayed at a luxurious hotel and it wasn't a penthouse suite, so the impact wasn't quite as great as it had been when they had visited Las Vegas. But there was still plenty to be impressed by the Plaza's Deluxe King Room. The entire room was filled and decorated with golden furniture that smoothly complimented the white walls, a color scheme similar to the one in the lobby. The curtains of the windows, the desk table, the couches on the sofas and even the bed itself was framed in the golden color that signified a residence worthy of the elite. Whatever furniture that wasn't gold was colored a warm and comforting brown, along with the carpet itself designed with the pattern of several lighter brown squares in an array with a darker brown border.

It might not have been nearly as large as a penthouse suite with more than one floor, but the room had plenty of character that set it apart from the other rooms they had been in, and it would be more than enough to suite the Schmidt family's needs.

"Good shit," Mike commented as he lifted his suitcase and tossed it onto the bed. "Now let's go get some dinner."

"Hell yeah!" Susie eagerly replied as Mike left his hotel room and descended through the elevator back down to the lobby. Once he was there, he navigated through a set of brown doors in the lobby, making his way through corridors that seemed to take them away from the main hotel itself. After a few minutes, they had arrived at a set of escalators that let down below the level of New York's streets.

"So what exactly is down there?" Jeremy questioned.

"You'll see," Mike answered with a smirk. Knowing that they wouldn't get much more in the way of answers from him, the ghost kids had little choice but to follow their father down the escalator and into the basement. When they reached the ground floor, their jaws dropped as they entered into what seemed like yet another world completely hidden beneath the already opulent Plaza Hotel.

"Holy shit…" Fritz breathed. The escalator had taken them to an underground food hall that looked like a combination of a foot court and a marketplace. Everywhere the kids looked, they could see shops and vendors that sold any type of food that they could possibly imagine. From pizzas and sushi, to bottles containing the finest wines, the underground market of the Plaza Hotel seemingly had it all, and in far superior quality than what they would have found in a run-of-the-mill grocery store or food court. But what REALLY caught the attention of the ghost kids was the desserts being offered, with two standing out in particular. To one side, the kids could see fried donuts being dipped in numerous different powders, giving them flavors that they'd never even imagined before today. And further to their right was a stand selling cake slices with just as many different varieties, ranging from triple chocolate cakes to red velvet slices, tiramisu, and even green tea cakes. Just the sight of these desserts was enough to make the kids' spectral mouths water, a sugary feast that was the perfect way for the ghosts to be introduced to one of the most iconic cities in the world.

"Welp," Mike dryly commented as the ghost kids rushed to pick a dessert for him to eat, "time for a one-way ticket to diabetes!"

/

A/N: And with that, the Schmidt family have their introduction to New York City! I figured now was as good of a time as any to give them a well-deserved break, and there aren't many ways you can beat New York City around Christmastime and New Year's. Regardless of how you might feel about the city itself, it's definitely worth visiting it during the holiday season at least once!

As the story itself mentions, this vacation will take place around Christmas to New Years. That doesn't mean that every single day of this vacation will consist of a chapter, but there WILL be multiple chapters in this fic, likely more than the Vacation to Chicago arc. Partially I grew up in New Jersey, and I've been to New York so many times I'm WAY more familiar with NYC than pretty much any other city in America. I'm open to suggestions for locations for the ghost kids to visit, although there are some places that are set in stone and are non-negotiable.

The Underground Market in the Plaza Hotel is a real thing, although last time I was there it was closed to the public. But they had some AMAZING donuts and cakes there that my family got practically every time we visited it. I didn't go into detail since I've written chapters about the ghost kids tasting foods before through possessing Mike, I'll let your imagination determine just how delicious those desserts truly are 😊

Lastly, for those of you who are bringing up FNaF fangames and even video games in general, the chances of me doing a "Fun with Video Games" chapter in the future are going to be pretty low from here on out. There's more research that goes into these chapters than you think, and if it's a game that I've never played or heard of the chances of me doing a video game chapter on it is practically nonexistent. I'm sorry, but I just don't have the time or the energy to devote a significant amount of research to what's basically a single filler chapter.

With that being said, I hope you guys enjoy the Schmidt family's third trip to a big American city!