Discovering the Past

by Tora Stariun

Iza Fasben knew her father hid many things from his past, but what happens when he leaves a property in his will she knew nothing about? What if the property is an entire abandoned pizzeria? What will she discover and are certain memories better left buried?

24. Chapter 24

I do not own Freddy Fazbear or any other Five Nights at Freddy's characters, only my own original characters. Now please enjoy!

—

"He's…won." The silence was like a record scratch across the room; any sound, any remnant of vibration halted after Freddy uttered those words. They were like acid. It stung his voice box and weakened his body as if the sheer thought of them existing would degrade Freddy to a husk of his former self. And in some ways, they already had. From the moment that glitch began to appear in his memories, Freddy didn't feel like himself; he never did unless he was helping someone, which made the following words that came out of his mouth feel like torture. "We can't help Roxy and Chica." His voice flowed with venom and pain at the thought of being useless to his friends. "He's actually won."

Freddy's voice cracked as he ran a tired hand over his face and leaned against the debris pile for support. His body slumped weakly, and he let out an exacerbated yell, frustrated at the situation. He peered through his fingers at the floor, eyeing the crushed endo at his feet. "He's trapped them. He gave us an ultimatum and knew if we couldn't make it, he'd…" His voice fell off as his teeth clenched in anger. "He's playing us for a fool!"

From afar, Freddy's yell startled the others who watched him with concern. Iza practically tripped over her duffle bag and would have hit the floor if not for Monty catching her by the shoulder. She bit her lip as pain shot through her right arm and looked up. Red and white eyes watched her in concern. "You alright, kid?" Monty asked, pulling Iza to her feet.

Iza nodded. "Yeah, I'm alright," she replied, rubbing her right arm and feeling Monty place a protective arm over her left shoulder. "Just caught off guard. Is he okay?" She glanced over at Freddy.

Monty perked up at the question and turned his head without a word. From their distance, he could see Freddy still hunched over, staring at the endo while more inaudible mumblings left his voice box. Monty frowned at the sight. "I don't know," he sighed. "He—"

"AAAAAAHHHHHH!" a voice shrieked, followed by a metallic thud.

Immediately Monty snapped his head around to see Freddy in an aggressive stance, and his right arm extended. He quickly turned to Iza and whispered. "Stay here." Before releasing his arm from her shoulder and rushing toward Freddy.

Iza was still in shock when she heard him speak; only when Monty started to move away did she register that he was gone. Then she heard another voice. "Iza?" She turned around to see Sun and Music Man. "Come here," he whispered, beckoning her forward.

Although still in shock, Iza walked toward him and, once at his side, glanced back at Monty and Freddy. "What's going on with him?" Sun didn't respond as he wrapped an arm around her left shoulder and pulled her closer. "Is he still freaking out about the path being blocked? Can't we just find another way?"

Sun stopped and stared ahead. "Sun?"

He looked down and, although not physically visible, closed his optics. "Iza," he started. "We can't find another way because there isn't—"

"There is no other way!" Freddy shouted as he narrowed his eyes at the wall. His voice had caused Monty to jump. After initially getting closer, Monty discovered that not only had Freddy punched the wall but his right hand, which held the crowbar, was embedded up to his elbow in the debris. In a moment of shock, Monty demanded what he was doing, and the rest was already known.

Monty stared at Freddy wide-eyed as he tried to free his arm from the rubble. "What are you talking about?"

Freddy growled, his deep voice sending chills down everyone's spine as he talked. "How many times, Monty? How many times has he tried to get back at us? Tried to make us pay?" Monty didn't have time to respond before Freddy pulled his arm free with a grunt. He steadied himself, then turned and looked at the smaller animatronic. "Hundreds. Hundreds of times he has tried to trap and kill us. And you know what? With each attempt, I was able to shrug off because no one got hurt, and we were always safe."

Freddy held up two fingers. "Only twice have his actions truly gotten under my casing," he said, sounding like a desperate man. "Twice has he pushed me to the edge, with this being one of those times, Monty! HE HAS GONE TOO FAR!"

Monty flinched at Freddy's harsh tone. He looked at his friend, and for a moment, Freddy seemed like a volcano with eyes and a crowbar. Ready to blow, hit someone over the head, or do anything to relieve the pressure building up inside.

Monty nodded and thought back to Freddy's words. "Okay," he said, holding up his hands defensively. "Okay, I get it. You're angry."

Freddy's head snapped to Monty. "Angry? ANGRY DOESN'T BEGIN TO COVER IT!" Freddy's blue started to flicker. "That demon has followed us since the day we were constructed. He has haunted our predecessors and our franchise, destroying everything he touches. Yet, nothing is enough for him! Not the possession of Vanessa, not getting this place shut down, and not even my son's death could calm his murderous greed!"

Freddy's face darkened. "And you know what else? I could have forgiven all of that if not for this." He pointed at the destroyed endo. "He sees this as a game and our friends as pawns. So if he wants us to play by his rules, then I'm not going to play by mine." Suddenly Freddy's eyes melted into red, and the blue vanished from sight; a crimson light flooded his face that had Monty backing up in fear.

To everyone watching, Freddy looked like the devil. His gigantic form turned monstrous as he towered over the shaking gator with a crowbar in his clawed hand. He scowled at the image of the enemy appearing in his mind, revealing the synthetic but razor-sharp teeth pulled into a vengeful snarl, all while doused in light the color of blood.

He took a step toward Monty. "I will find Roxy and Chica, and I will send that glitch to the grave, even if it means my own destruction!" Then Freddy plunged the crowbar into the debris and scraped back his hand.

As he did, a wave of scrap metal and concrete shards spilled on the floor, creating loud plinking sounds against the concrete. Freddy freed his arm before digging back into the mound repeatedly. He clawed at the rubble, increasing his pace faster and faster until another skinny pipe spilled in front, which quickly joined the crowbar in his endeavor.

Monty watched in horror. "Freddy!" he called.

His cry fell on deaf sensors as Freddy grunted heavily. "Roxy! Chica! I will find you! F-f-f-find y-y-y-y-ou!" The longer he went, the more robotic Freddy became, the glow of his eyes grew brighter, drowning out Sun's industrial flashlight, and his voice became more broken and mechanical. A constant static noise filled the background as a whirlwind of orange fists hacked at the wall ahead. "Glitchtrap, I will k-k-k-kill you!"

Then Monty got closer and called out again. "Freddy, stop!" He saw the casing on Freddy's hand begin to crack and could hear his joints strain under the force. "You're destroying yourself!"

"Stay-stay-stay-stay out of this, M-M-Monty!" Freddy snarled, side-eyeing the smaller Glamrock harshly. "This is the only way-way-way we're going to reach them-them-them!"

Neither seemed to be listening as the other screamed for them to stop. "Freddy, your arm is getting chipped!" He surged forward and grabbed Freddy's left arm when he refused to stop. "Fazbear, stop being a freaking martyr! You're only hurting yourself!"

Freddy growled lowly when Monty grabbed his wrist. He stopped doing what he was doing and glared daggers at him. "What are you doing?" he asked, his words clear and concise.

Despite every fiber of his endoskeleton and alarm in his mind going crazy, Monty did not flinch nor back down. Instead, he returned the glare with an angrier albeit much less intimidating look. "Calming you the heck down!" Monty swung a leg at Freddy without another word and kicked him in the legs, causing his knees to buckle.

Surprise overcame the red-eyed Glamrock and was used to Monty's advantage as he shoved him to the ground. He lunged for his wrists and managed to tear the pipe from Freddy's left hand but missed when Freddy snapped out of his shock and began to fight back. A struggle ensued. Monty and Freddy struggled for control, yelling child-friendly obscenities at each other as both fought to get on top. The entire time the glow of Freddy's optics grew brighter until Monty's white eye was drowned in a sea of red, and his red was subsumed with the surrounding color.

The wrestling continued for several more moments before a well-placed hook to the jaw made Freddy go limp with shock. Once again, Monty took advantage of the situation and flipped Freddy on his stomach. Next, he grabbed his large wrists and pulled them behind his back, finally pinning him to the ground.

Freddy growled in annoyance. "Get off me!" he snarled, failing to free his hands. Despite being the larger Glamrock, it was common knowledge that Monty was the stronger of the two and the strongest of the Glamrocks, second only to Music Man in his large body. However, despite knowing all that, Freddy continued to fight.

He thrashed, kicked, cried, and clawed until Monty finally had his body restrained and pinned against the ground. He snarled angrily as he was forced to stare sideways at the metal wall. "Monty! Get. Off. Me. Now!"

"Not until you agree to calm down and stop this…this insanity!" He tightened his hold when Freddy began to get loose.

Freddy grunted when he felt Monty's grip constrict. "So now it's insane to want to help them?!" he said, eyes still red. "You know that's the only way to the old pizzeria, and I'm doing what I can to clear the path!"

"Freddy, look at that endo and then look at the hole you made," Monty deadpanned, pointing at the crushed head. "Your endo is over eight feet tall and buried up to its neck, while that dent is at least three."

Freddy looked between the animatronic and carving before asking in an irritated tone. "Your point?"

"My point is that even after digging out a three-foot deep hole, if you still haven't managed to break through, what makes you think we're going to get to the other side?"

Upon hearing Monty's prediction, Freddy stopped struggling. "I…" he said, unsure what to say. Then, as his red eyes darted around, trying to find the right words, his expression became calmer, more like that frantic upset where there's nothing one can do but cry, yet one can't even do that. "I don't—" His voice started to crack. "I just wanted to—I'm sorry."

Monty perked up, surprised at Freddy's apology. "You're fine," Monty said, beginning to loosen his grip. "Just don't do that again."

At this point, Freddy's eyes had returned to their usual blue, and a sheepish and slightly guilty look spread across his face as he stood up. He held his arm in shame and looked away. He apologized again. "I'm sorry for going crazy. I don't know what came over me."

Monty gave him a sympathetic look before slapping him on the back. "Yeah, well, don't beat yourself up over it." Then he paused. "Freddy?" Monty voiced, gaining the bear's attention as he stared into space. "Can I ask you something?"

As the final punch was thrown and the cursing died down, Iza felt herself release a monumental breath as the tense weight of the situation melted away. She held her hand over her beating heart while mumbling under her breath. "If my heart survives this hell tonight, I will never watch another horror movie again."

"Then you may want to hold out on that promise." Another voice chimed in, startling Iza for the umpteenth time that night. She looked down and saw the fazwatch. Immediately Iza's head snapped toward the tiny spider perked in Sun's hand. He chucked at her reaction.

Iza sneered and gave him an annoyed look, then her face grew more serious. "So what's going to happen now?" she asked, tracing the edges of the wall with her eyes. "Is there really no other way?"

Sun felt his body tense before he stared down, avoiding Iza's gaze. "In truth, there is another way, but it's impossible to reach." He lowered himself to the ground before setting Music Man down.

Iza tilted her head in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"As far as I know, there are two ways to reach the old pizzeria, this one and a door on the far end of the building that leads directly outside." He sighed and leaned his head against the wall. "Reason we can't reach that one is because it's deadbolted from the inside, and the hallway that leads to it has been sectioned off for years, even before we shut down."

After Sun finished talking, an uncomfortable feeling surrounded the small ground. The three stared in silence while the only sound audible was the quiet talking between Monty and Freddy about ten feet away. Iza licked her lips nervously. "So that's it?" she asked, breaking the silence. "There's truly nothing we can do anymore?"

Sun and Music Man looked away, hiding their overwhelming emotions despite their permanent smiling faces. "Even if we managed to clear this and get through, there's no way we'd get down there in forty-five minutes to save Roxy and Chica."

Music Man clenched his fists, and although quiet, Iza could hear him mutter under his breath. "Bastard's been doing this kind of shit since he was alive."

As much as Iza wanted to question Music Man about those words, she didn't have the will or energy left to ask more about whatever lore was still in this place. Iza joined Sun on the floor. "Then that is it," she stated, curling her knees to her chest. "There really is nothing we can do. We can't find Roxy and Chica and can't help them."

The fazwatch lit up, but everyone ignored it. Sun turned his head and frowned internally. "Hey, it's okay," he lied, trying to reassure her while trying not to cry. "Roxy and Chica are strong. I know they didn't go down without a—"

"THE PRINCESS PLAYER HAS ACTIVATED THE PRINCESSQUEST CONTAINMENT PROGRAM HELP MENU! PLEASE RESTATE THE NEEDED REQUEST!" A voice accompanied by a blinding light boomed through the room.

Instantly everyone shielded their eyes as the glare illuminated the corridor. Iza wasn't fast enough and hissed as bright spots filled her vision even when she closed her eyes. "What the hell?!" she yelled, turning her back on the light. Iza took off her glasses and hung them on her shirt as she rubbed her eyes, grumbling irritably.

However, as she did, the spots only seemed to grow worse. Her eyes squeezed tighter as she turned away, trying to escape the light. But it followed her. For another minute, Iza kept turning in circles as the light only seemed to grow worse the more she did it. Eventually, she cried out. "Why won't the light go away!"

"Iza, stop moving!" Sun's voice called. "Just freeze!"

Iza did as she was told and kept her eyes shut. "What's going on?" she demanded angrily.

Sun didn't respond and instead walked closer. "Don't panic; just go along with this."

Iza was confused but jumped when she felt Sun's cold fingers gently grab her arm and lower it. Despite her utter bafflement, she allowed him to do what he wanted and felt the fazwatch being unclasped and removed from her arm. Sun hummed when done. "Now open your eyes."

Doing as instructed, Iza cracked an eyelid, hissing when more light flooded her senses. Gradually the spots disappeared, and her vision returned to its regular blurry self without her glasses. She opened her eyes fully and to see the yellow and orange outline of Sun watching her intently. He spoke. "Better?"

Iza nodded and reached for her glasses. "Yes, thank you," she replied, placing them back on and looking through the rims. Once settled, she asked. "So what was that?"

Sun tilted his head and showed her his cupped fists, where some light was seeping through his large fingers. Slowly Sun removed his hand, and the same light that blinded Iza came into view, but this time, she was prepared. And as Sun released his whole hand, Iza's eyes widened.

Projecting from the fazwatch was a familiar screen with the letters PQCP plastered across the top, along with the three pixelated images of the fazwatch, crown, and sword. Iza's mouth dropped in astonishment. She remembered this thing appearing moments before they were thrown into the collapsing hole. She scanned the item, reassuring herself this was the same thing that gave them all the trouble, but then noticed something different. Apart from the hologram now having a slightly more goldish tint to the light, the pixel sword was crossed out with a fat red X, while the letters PQCP were now neon green in color.

Iza felt her gut churn as she stared at the sword icon. But before she could voice any discontent, Freddy's voice broke through. "Isn't that the thing from before?" he asked, recalling the same memory.

Again before Iza could answer, the robotic female voice said. "PLEASE RESTATE THE NEEDED REQUEST!"

Everyone looked at each other, and Monty spoke up. "Uh, explain what you are?"

"...PLEASE RESTATE THE NEEDED REQUEST!"

Monty narrowed his eyes and repeated. "What is the PQCP?"

"...PLEASE RESTATE THE NEEDED REQUEST!"

Monty felt his eye twitch. "This freaking…" He inhaled sharply, trying to keep his cool.

"...PRINCESS PLAYER, PLEASE RESTATE THE NEEDED REQUEST, OR THE SYSTEM WILL GO INTO SHUT DOWN IN SIXTY SECONDS!" Then a timer appeared on the screen and started counting down.

"Princess player? Does it mean?" Music Man turned to Iza and stared at her earnestly.

She gave him a strange look. "What?" she asked, weirded out.

He pointed at her. "Ask it something."

"What? Why?"

Music Man crossed his arms. "Remember what the purple-eyed freak said back in the lobby before the floor collapsed? He called you the princess player." His attention turned to the hologram. "Maybe the fazwatch will only respond to your voice."

Iza looked at the others who shared her skepticism but shrugged. Finally, Iza sighed in defeat. "Fine." She turned to the screen to see the timer at thirty seconds. Iza cleaned her raspy throat and spoke. "Uh, hi? I guess I am the princess player, and per my request, I want you to show me where my friends are?"

"REQUEST RECEIVED! LOADING RESULTS!" The pictures on the screen disappeared and were replaced by a rotating wheel and the word loading…

Iza stumbled her way through the words. When she finished, Iza turned to the others, who watched with dumbfounded and slightly amused expressions. "Per my request?" Music Man snorted.

Iza smiled mockingly. "Yeah, and what would you have said—"

"LOADING COMPLETE!"

The conversation went dead in the water, and Music Man and Iza faced the fazwatch, still resting in Sundrop's palm. The loading screen vanished and was replaced by the hologram projecting a 2D image onto the wall. The hologram revealed a big rectangular maze-looking picture, with hundreds of lines zigzagging left and right with random gaps in between. Four different colored dots surrounded a smaller version of the pixelated fazwatch. A small green line jetted out from the fazwatch icon, moving between the lines before disappearing a few inches away; the same thing repeated every few seconds. On the side of the screen were eight different boxes stacked vertically that were numbered one through five, with the next two having the numbers 1B and 2B, and the last one having no label on the box; the box labeled 2B had its colors inverted.

Iza blinked in confusion. "What is this?" she asked, scanning the hologram again.

She heard heavy footsteps from behind and turned around to see Freddy. He stared in disbelief at the screen. "It's a map of the pizzaplex. I think that's us." He pointed at the glowing dots. "And the fazwatch must be Iza, or at least when she's wearing it."

"Makes sense," Monty agreed, coming up behind him. "There are seven levels, and we're on the lowest one."

"No, we're not."

Everyone turned around to look at Iza. "What?"

She pointed at the unnumbered box. "This one's sitting below 2B." Iza tapped her chin, deep in thought, before calling out. "Hey, program, click on the box below 2B."

"SWITCHING FLOOR MAP LAYOUT TO UNMARKED LEVEL!"

Iza's eyes widened, surprised that it even worked before scanning the screen. She noticed the previous dots and fazwatch icon disappeared and were replaced with a similar image with fewer lines and two new gray and pink dots along with a different unique pixelated icon. This new icon was strange to Iza; it looked like a purple rabbit that was either mutilated or melting, with several pixels branching out from its head or gone altogether.

The Glamrocks froze in shock. "Is that?"

"There's no way."

"Seems we found Roxy and Chica."

"But how do we get there?" Iza asked.

"TURN LEFT AT THE FIRST CROSS-SECTION CORRIDOR FROM THE CURRENT LOCATION, THEN CONTINUE STRAIGHT FOR ONE THOUSAND FEET!" Then, without Iza's command, the screen turned back to the 2B floor, revealing the moving green line speeding up.

Everyone stood dumbfounded. Music Man looked around, waiting for someone to do something before finally giving up. "What the hell just happened?"

Freddy stepped forward and carefully took the fazwatch from Sun's hand as he looked at the map. "I have no idea, DJ, but I think we just got another chance to save our friends!" His face lit up, and if he had tear ducts, he would've started crying right then and there. Freddy turned to the others like a child on his birthday. "Guys, we can reach them! We can reach Roxy and Chica!"

Freddy nearly started jumping for joy if Monty hadn't taken the fazwatch, and before he could ask why, Monty said. "Agreed, we have another shot, so let's not waste another moment. Kid, come here." He turned to Iza and latched the fazwatch around her wrist after asking her to extend her left arm. Monty then proceeded to hand Iza the duffle bag and pick her up bridal style like before. Then once Iza clarified she was ready, Monty turned to the others. "Everyone ready?"

They all nodded. Freddy stepped in front of them, crowbar in hand and a new found spring in his step, while Sun stood behind them with Music Man and the flashlight in his arms. Just before they started running, Monty spoke up. "Oh, and Freddy?"

Freddy turned in surprise. "Yeah?"

Monty pointed with his free hand. "Don't think our earlier conversation is over; once we get those two out of there, we're going to have a long discussion."

Freddy stayed silent, and Iza swore she saw a hint of dread in his eyes but ignored it once he turned around. "Everyone ready?" Freddy repeated again. "Then let's go." Before sprinting down the corridor of the unknown path, directed entirely by a sketchy fazwatch program that no one knew anything about.

"TURN LEFT!"

"TURN RIGHT!"

"CONTINUE STRAIGHT FOR ANOTHER THOUSAND FEET BEFORE TURNING LEFT AT THE FORK!"

"GO UP THE—"

"Holy shit!" Music Man's voice played through the fazwatch speakers, slightly silencing the female AI voice acting as the GPS. "Doesn't that thing have an—"

"No!" Iza shouted, "No! It doesn't! And your screaming voice alongside this robotic one is not helping me or Monty's eardrums!" Her raspy voice echoed through the tunnels as everyone else went silent, the only sound being water sloshing about.

For the last half hour, they had been following the directions of the fazwatch. At first, it was just through the bottom floor of the pizzaplex, areas that the Glamrocks recognized, and then they came to the door. Finally, the map had led them to a dead end where an abandoned and small metal door with the words Septic Tank Maintenance Room Entrance plastered in faded red letters across the door.

Everyone was confused at first but considering there were only fifteen minutes left on the timer, no one questioned it when they started running through the cesspool and vermin-ridden tunnels of the sewers. They tried not to think about the filthy liquid splashing against their legs as they ran through, kicking up old, stagnant water and God knows what else that resided in that nightmare place.

A heavy exhale came from Iza as she looked from the fazwatch's screen, which now had the map displayed at a usual size, to the dark and putrid-smelling tunnel barely illuminated by the flashlight on Sun. "How much longer?" Sun whined as they sprinted. "The smell is starting to make my sensors malfunction."

Iza rolled her eyes and covered her nose. "At least you guys can deactivate your aroma sensors. I'm stuck being human down here."

"Ha! Loser!" Music Man teased.

"Stop!" Freddy said over his shoulder as he led the way, not wanting another fight to break out.

Iza rolled her eyes and faced forward, listening to the next instruction. "CONTINUE STRAIGHT FOR ANOTHER THREE THOUSAND FEET, THEN TURN RIGHT AT THE SECOND CORRIDOR!"

Everyone grumbled when they heard more running was involved, Iza among them. Wanting to get her mind off the eye-watering smell, Iza stared down at the fazwatch. She watched their live location as they slowly progressed toward the gray and pink dots; Iza sighed loudly.

"Don't worry, kid, we'll find them soon."

Surprised, Iza looked up to see Monty. "I know," she said, putting her wrist down and grabbing onto the duffle bag. She could feel the contents shifting with each step he took. "Just didn't expect us to be down here this long."

"It's only been five minutes," Monty commented, glancing back at the path.

"Feels more like twenty," she snorted, holding her breath. "This place smells worse than when Dad used to drag random parts home he found on the street to build things with."

Monty looked back at her, puzzled. "He did what?"

"He used to drag home spare parts he found on the street to use in his workshop. Frequently those things smelled like ass." She shivered when the memory of the smell entered her mind. "I remembered Nana would scold him the first time she saw him do it. She was not happy." A smile crossed her face.

Noticing her brighter mood, Monty smiled and asked another question. "Seems Gregory was passionate about robotics even with his home life."

"Better believe it, I remember as a kid he took me to the hardware store to get a custom toolset built so I could practice at home without hurting myself." Iza laughed at the memory, then another thought entered her mind. "Hey, I just realized you never answered my question before."

Monty and the others glanced over, curious. "And that was?"

"What did you do before we met?" Iza repeated. "What was an average day like for you guys before all this?"

Monty looked up as he thought back. "Well, I suppose most of my time was spent practicing the bass, probably spent a good five hours on that thing every day now that I think about it. Hmm…"

Iza tilted her head. "Wait, the bass guitar? I thought you said only essential things still had power. How'd you get an electric guitar to work?"

Monty smirked. "Easy, it wasn't electric. I practiced on an acoustic guitar."

"Where'd you get an acoustic guitar?"

"Found it," Monty's eyes trailed to the ceiling. "About a year into the shutdown, the others and I started exploring different areas of the pizzaplex we hadn't before, and eventually, we found non-electric versions of our instruments."

Iza chuckled. "Makes sense. So you were the bassist?"

Monty nodded. "Yup, and I was bloody good at it too!" He flashed a toothy but slightly scary grin that would've made a crowd go wild back in the day. "Sometimes I miss those times."

"Would've been awesome to see you guys perform!" Iza pumped her fists as best she could. "What did the others play?"

"For starters, Chica was guitarist, Roxy was keytarist, and Freddy was the lead singer." He readjusted Iza gently. "After the shutdown, we found some old instruments in the basement, two guitars and an upright piano." He snickered to himself. "Man, that thing was hard to move upstairs."

Iza smiled and looked forward, where she saw a familiar orange back. "What about Freddy? Did you guys just practice in an area with good acoustics?"

Monty's face dropped, and he went silent. "Well, you see, he—"

"I stopped singing after we shut down," Freddy said, his echoing voice finishing the sentence. "I sort of lost interest in singing after the kids left and saw no reason to continue."

Iza hesitated before asking her question reluctantly. "Why?"

From behind, Iza could see Freddy's back straightening, not out of anger, but something else. "Guess, I just never felt inspired." He looked over his shoulder and flashed Iza a sad smile, giving her a full view of his blue eyes. Freddy turned back after a minute. "In any case, we should focus on the subject…at…hand…" Freddy's voice trailed off as his pace rapidly slowed.

Although they didn't crash into each other like before, Monty quickly slowed to a trot and eventually stopped behind Freddy; Sun did the same. They looked on, confused at his actions. "Freddy?" Monty spoke. "What's wrong?"

The bear didn't respond and held up a hand, a signal to keep quiet. This only made everyone else more confused, but they obeyed the order. Then he pointed into the darkness. Confused by the fancy hand movements, Monty and Sun walked to either Freddy's left or right and stared into the darkness like him. Iza squinted and allowed her eyes to adjust to the light.

She didn't see much, maybe a few cobwebs hanging from the rusted pipes overhead or the occasional rat or mouse that scurried between the intersecting tunnels that formed a crossroad every few meters. Rushing water echoed through the sewers as all other noise vanished. Then she looked further. At first, it was nothing, but something shiny appeared in the distance. She squinted harder; what was that? Those floating dots seemed to get more apparent, and then she realized what they were…endos.

Iza's heart sank, and she wasn't the only one. She felt as Monty and the others started to move back slowly, not wanting to set off the currently white-eyed endos. Freddy whispered to the others. "Turn slowly, then book it."

Everyone nodded and started to turn away when: "CONTINUE STRAIGHT FOR FIVE HUNDRED FEET, THEN TURN RIGHT AT THE SECOND CORRIDOR!"

The room went silent. The Glamrocks turned to the hall, where the increasing sound of water rushing became closer, followed by the rapidly growing clarity of the red eyes racing toward them.

"Everyone, move!" Freddy yelled, pushing on Sun and Monty. "NOW!"

Immediately, Monty and Sun tightened their holds on Iza and Music Man before sprinting in the opposite direction. They trained their eyes ahead, not daring to look over their shoulder at the horde of endos close behind. Iza held on for dear life but gasped when Monty stopped dead in his tracks in the middle of a tunnel crossroad.

Her head snapped up to see the path blocked by more endos. Iza felt her breathing get faster. Monty looked for an escape route and tried to run to the left, but more endos and some STAFF bots appeared, with the same result to the right. Soon they were completely surrounded. Monty, Sun, and Freddy backed into each other, trying to remain calm as they brainstormed a way out of this.

Terrified, Iza clung to Monty. From all sides, white-eyed Monty and Freddy endos and some new ones that resembled Roxy and Chica's body types, closed the distance between them. Her eyes trailed around, and when she looked at the endos, they would stop but quickly resume once she glanced away. Her body trembled in fear. "M-Monty," she whispered, voice quaking violently. "What do we—"

Suddenly something crashed into them from behind; the strength of the force was enough to throw Iza from Monty's hands and face plant into the mucky gutter. She lay there in shock. Iza inhaled and choked on the dirty water before she pushed her face above the surface and inhaled sharply. She sputtered as air reentered her lungs.

Then, in a panic, she darted around and realized everything was dark. The light meant for Sun was gone, and all she could hear was the clashing of metal on metal as hundreds of pairs of glowing optics wrestled for control.

Pain shot through Iza's arm as the fight stirred up the water and slashed back in her face, knocking her back to the ground. She tried calling out but was silenced as more water entered her mouth.

Then Iza felt a metallic grip on her arm. She was pulled from the chaos just before a heavy leg came down right where her head previously was. "Holy—holy shit!" she coughed, water still in her lungs. "Monty, thank you, you saved—"

Iza's voice went quiet as she stared into the sadistic red eyes of Moondrop. His plastered smile widened. "It's my pleasure, dear princess. Now let's talk about how you're going to repay me."

Before Iza could ask, Moon whirled her around and slammed her back against his chest. Iza cried out in pain as soreness radiated everywhere in her body. "I'd be quiet if I were you," Moon hissed as he held something sharp to her throat. "Don't want to ruin the surprise."

Immediately Iza muffled her screams and bit her lip until it bled as tears mixed with sewer water ran down her cheeks. Moon chuckled at her response. "Good," he hummed, then stood to his full height and looked at the glorious anarchy surrounding them. His head tilted to the side, and he waited a moment more, soaking in the last few seconds of pandemonium before pressing the object closer to Iza's skin and shouted. "EVERYONE FREEZE, OR I'LL SLIT HER THROAT LIKE A PIECE OF PAPER!"

Immediately the room went silent. Despite the fear, adrenaline, and other survival chemicals coursing through her blood, Iza stared up at Moon with a strange look. "A piece of paper?"

Her badly-timed sarcasm was not appreciated as the blade began to dig deeper into her skin, causing a sticky drop to roll down her neck. "Now," Moon spoke, growing more irritated by the second. "Everyone is going to follow my directions, or the boss is getting free early, understand?!"

Moon peered into the darkness to see the hundreds of red eyes accompanied by one much larger pair than the rest. "Right? Mr. Fazbear?"

Iza's eyes snapped forward as her arms clung desperately to the object pressed to her throat. She noticed the outline of Freddy's face by the light of his crimson optics. He glared at Moon, daring him to make the next move, which he did, by pressing the edge closer into Iza's neck and causing her to cry out in pain.

Immediately after, Iza heard a heavy crash hit the water before Moon's low chucking filled her ears. "Good," he purred, then got closer to Iza's ear. "Now, let's get you to your friends; there's someone who's been dying to meet you. Someone who's finally ready to go free."