MUCH LATER

Gregory and Sean were now watching TV when they heard a knock at the door. Wondering who it was, Gregory got up and walked over to the door. He unlocked it and opened it to find a man looking middle-aged. This must be Michael's friend that he was talking about earlier.

"Hi" Gregory smiled slightly.

"Hi. I'm Sebastian Wilson. I'm an old friend of Michael's. Is he here at all?" The man asked.

"Uh…yeah. He's just lying down at the moment. He's a bit unwell" Gregory said. Before Sebastian could say anything else, he was interrupted by Michael.

"Sebastian?" Michael's voice suddenly spoke in a weak tone from the hallway. Gregory turned and Sebastian looked. Sebastian's eyes widened at the sight of Michael. Not just because he looked young and less dead looking but also because he looked sick. And because of the amount of scars that were on his shirtless upper body.

"Jeez dude! Haven't seen you in over two decades and you still look the same as you did in 83. Minus the purple colour to your skin. It's even more shocking you're alive again" Sebastian said in shock. Michael smiled slightly.

"You're not looking too bad yourself" Michael chuckled, walking over to Sebastian and hugging him. Sebastian hugged him back.

"You look awful. Is everything alright?" Sebastian then asked out of concern.

"It's nothing. Just a little under the weather" Michael smiled. Sebastian didn't believe Michael but chose to ask no further about it.

"How was the drive here?" Michael then asked as he walked over to the kitchen bench to make some drinks.

"Yeah. The drive was good. Long. But good" Sebastian replied, walking over to the bench. Gregory shut the front door and walked back over to the sofa.

"So, how have you been since I saw you last?" Sebastian then asked.

"I've been ok. I've been taking care of Gregory. Who I met seven years ago at the Mega Pizzaplex in the city. And also Sean, who I adopted last year" Michael began.

"I heard about that. The incident at the pizzaplex. How are you holding up?" Sebastian asked.

"Doing my best. Gregory's trying to do the same" Michael answered as he looked over at Gregory.

"What happened there shook him. A lot. And even to this day, it still affects him. Affects me too. Mostly because of how my father was involved" Michael continued. A look of shock appeared on Sebastian's face.

"I'm not sure how he did it but he transferred his consciousness into some A.I system and began acting as some sort of virus. Eventually he got into the security system at the pizzaplex and while I was looking for Gregory, my father found him and possessed him using the watch Gregory had on at the time. Then after I found Gregory and saw that my father had taken over his body, he stole the remnant from me. Which is what keeps me alive" Michael said.

"A remnant? Like what your father was going on about before he died?" Sebastian asked. Michael nodded.

"It's why parts of my hair are purple. And also why my eyes are purple" Michael told him.

"How did you end up looking like this?" Sebastian asked.

"Originally, I was a spirit and I had taken over Freddy's body" Michael answered, pointing over to Freddy, who was standing in his charging station.

After the hot drinks were made, Michael and Sebastian headed for the backyard porch. Once outside, they sat down and continued talking.

"After my father possessed Gregory, he took the remnant from me and somehow, that separated me from Freddy and gave me a body of my own. My old body. Before what happened at Circus Baby's. But because the remnant was gone, my body immediately began giving up. It took forever to find Gregory after that. And it was painful. But luckily I found him and he restored the remnant to me after he defeated my father" Michael said. Sebastian nodded.

"What's got you looking like shit then?" Sebastian asked.

"Honestly. I'm not too sure. I went from feeling absolutely fine to feeling like I've been hit by a truck. The doctors have said that I'm just coming down with something but…..I don't know…I'm not thinking it's that. I'm thinking it's something else" Michael answered.

"You think it's related to a lot of what you've been through?" Sebastian asked.

"Most likely" Michael answered. Sebastian nodded.

Then just as Michael was about to continue talking, a searing pain started happening in his head. He groaned loudly as he grabbed his head and slipped off his chair.

"Michael!?" Sebastian spoke in concern, quickly putting his drink down on the porch table and kneeling down to Michael.

"Michael? What's happening?" Sebastian asked, putting his hand on Michael's shoulder. Michael couldn't speak at all due to the overwhelming pain. But as he looked at Sebastian, a look of shock appeared on Sebastian's face.

Michael's eyes were glowing bright purple and there was some thin black lines forming near his eyes. And the black lines in Michael's eyes started to get worse. Then, without warning, he pushed Sebastian away from him, which caused Sebastian to fall onto his back.

"M-Michael?" Sebastian said, immediately getting to his feet.

"Michael isn't here….Sebastian" Michael spoke. Except, it didn't sound like his own voice. It sounded more like William's voice with only a little bit of Michael's voice seeping in.

"W-William? What have you done to Michael!?" Sebastian asked in shock.

"Oh, just gave him a little something" William smiled.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Sebastian asked.

"Remember how Michael talked about the remnant. The thing keeping him alive?" William asked. Sebastian just looked at him.

"Well, before that little snot-nosed kid of his returned the remnant to him, I infected it a little with a bit of my powers. I knew that my plan might fail so, I made a backup plan" William continued.

"And why did you do this to Michael? To get back at him or something?" Sebastian asked.

"Yeah. And also, to continue what I started" William answered. Sebastian knew what he meant by that. William was planning to murder again. Then, he suddenly started wincing in pain. This told Sebastian that Michael was trying to fight back.

"Go to hell, William!" Sebastian growled.

Michael dropped down to his knees and groaned loudly in pain. Grabbing his head once again. Then, within a few minutes, he collapsed onto his back unconsciousness.

"Michael!" Sebastian exclaimed.

Michael woke up a few seconds later and immediately asked what happened. Sebastian didn't entirely know how to explain it to Michael. So instead, he insisted on Michael going to bed to rest. Michael didn't want to only because Sebastian was there with him but he told him he needed it. He was exhausted. So, Michael agreed, promising to make it up to Sebastian. Sebastian told him he didn't need to.

"Michael? Are you ok?" Gregory asked as he watched Michael come inside. Michael shook his head. And Gregory knew exactly what it was.

"Do you need me to help with anything?" Gregory asked.

"Just…..try and figure out how to stop what's going on with me" Michael said, sighing a little as he walked into his room and shut the door behind him. Leaving Gregory and Sean sitting on the sofa, still very concerned. Soon, Sebastian walked inside and over to Gregory and Sean.

"Something's going on with Michael. And it's something his father did" Sebastian told Gregory.

"I think I know. This has been happening even before you got here" Gregory said.

"How bad has it been?" Sebastian asked.

"He's becoming irritated quite easily. He's less patient. He's starting to be quite mean with his words. Especially towards me and Sean. Before the headaches and blackouts started, he was nothing like this. Even when I returned the remnant to him. He seemed fine. It's weird how all of this is happening now" Gregory explained.

"Well, we need to figure out how to save him. If we don't, William returns and everyone is going to pay for it. Including you, Sean, myself and everyone else you guys know" Sebastian told him.

"What do you think we should do?" Sean asked.

"I've got a storage house in town here. It's got a lot of stuff from years ago that I had on William. Hopefully one of those things should help us with figuring out how to stop William and save Michael. Because from what I'm gathering…. if William returns, Michael dies. Permanently" Sebastian answered. A look of shock appeared on Gregory's face.

MICHAEL'S ROOM, BATHROOM

Michael stared at himself in the mirror while leaning on the bathroom sink, using his hands as support. He was panting. Like he had just run several miles in less than ten minutes. Sweat was running down his head, saturating his neck. He suddenly hunched forward, groaning loudly in pain. He grabbed his head as he felt searing excruciating pain. And because of that, his ears rung.

"Stop it! Get out! Get out of my head!" Michael growled, clenching his eyes shut.

"How does it feel, Michael? To be….helpless!" William sneered. Michael stared back at himself and saw his reflection smirking evilly.

"How does it feel to be weak?" William asked.

"SHUT UP!" Michael yelled, punching the mirror out of rage. The mirror shattered on impact and shards fell into the sink. Some of the shards from the remains of the mirror cut Michael's knuckles. Which Michael knew would happen. He then slid down the back of the door and sat there, looking at where the mirror once was while holding his bleeding hand.

"Why is this happening to me?" Michael asked himself.

"Because you are more important than what people make you out to be" William's voice said from beside Michael. Michael turned his head and saw his father sitting next to him.

"What did you do to me?" Michael asked as tears slowly formed in his eyes.

"Well, if you must know…back when you were busy trying to save Gregory from me, I infected the remnant I stole from you. Because I knew that my plan might've failed. And….it did" William said.

"So you made a backup plan" Michael said, looking at him with a sad-angry look.

"Yes. And with what you've been through, I knew you were too important to just dispose of" William said. Michael dropped his gaze from his father and turned his head to look back at the sink. The tears in his eyes rolled down his cheeks.

"Awww don't worry Michael. I'll fix everything and make everything right. You'll see" William told him, laughing evilly a little.

"Michael?" Sebastian's voice suddenly spoke. Michael looked to his left and saw Sebastian, Gregory and Sean knelt down beside him with worried expressions on their faces.

"Are you ok? What happened? We heard glass breaking" Sebastian asked. Michael looked at where the mirror was and then back at Sebastian, Gregory and Sean.

"Nothing. I just….I guess I just blacked out or something" Michael answered, pushing himself onto his feet. But as soon as he got to his feet, he stumbled back a little.

"Woah! I got you!" Sean said, putting his hand on Michael's back to support him. Gregory then noticed the blood dripping off Michael's hand.

"Jesus Michael! What the hell did you do to your hand!?" Gregory asked, grabbing Michael's bloody hand and looking at it with a shocked expression.

"I uh….I don't know" Michael said in a sort of uncertain tone as he looked at the mirror shards in the sink. He knew that he had punched the mirror and all but that answer came out of his mouth due to how shocked and horrified he was by his father appearing and what his plans were.

"Come on. I'll start the car" Sebastian said as he helped Sean and Gregory walk Michael out of the bathroom.

"It's not that bad, Sebastian" Michael told him, shaking his head.

"Michael. With wounds that deep and that much blood, it is bad. We're taking you to the emergency room. Don't argue with us about it" Sebastian said back to him, looking at him with a stern expression.