A/N Hey everybody! Hope you're having a great day and are ready for the new chapter. First of all, I have to thank everybody once again for the positive feedback I've been getting. This is the first time in a while where I have had a complete story enter my head, and now that I am getting it out, I'm ecstatic to see that people like it so far. Thank you all so much again, and I hope I can keep this story going in a good direction. But that's enough of me for now. Let's get started with this new chapter!

Without saying a word, Gregory and Vanessa immediately began walking in the direction Charlie indicated. They were somewhat bewildered that the puppet was now being so cooperative, but at this point, it was the only clue they had for where Roxy would be. So, they needed to act on it. Still, Vanessa felt the need to speak her mind about one thing.

"You know, you didn't have to defend me back there," she said. "This is still a dangerous situation, and one way or another, it's my fault you're here."

"Like I said, Vanessa, it was my choice to come," the boy replied. "This is my responsibility now just as much as it is yours, and I don't want you to bear it alone."

The blonde had to smile at that. "I'd have probably liked my job a lot more if there were more kids your age who think like you do."

"Well, most kids my age haven't been through what I have."

They continued straight down the hallway silently for a few hundred feet. It was eerily empty. Not even a S.T.A.F.F. bot seemed to be patrolling here when they have typically been all over the place. And of course, there was still no immediate sign of Roxy.

"You think we should have seen something by now?" Gregory whispered, feeling more uneasy about this than ever.

"Probably," Vanessa replied. "She's always liked to make a spectacle of herself…Maybe we should—"

And that's when they heard it. Music. The beginning of a somber melody of synthesized sounds. It didn't sound like anything prerecorded, so that had to mean…someone was playing a keytar. Now, who would they have known here that could possibly be doing that?

Vanessa turned to Gregory and raised a finger to her lips, and the boy nodded understandingly. If there was any time that they needed to be quiet, it was now. They listened to the music and followed the sound about a hundred more feet, and sure enough it was coming from a room on the left next to a blocked-off hallway. The door was open, so they could see more and more of the room as they got closer.

There were two vending machines immediately visible, faulty obviously, and next to them a stack of metal folding chairs against the wall. Then a kitchen counter came into view, followed by a table in front of it, and then, the moment they were waiting for. There, sitting in a folding chair at the front of the table, was none other than Roxanne Wolf. She was indeed playing a sad song on her keytar, her fingers gingerly pressing each key. Aside from that, she made no notable movement, and there was no expression on what was left of her face.

Gregory and Vanessa stood cautiously to the side of the door. They reached the point they've been trying to get to all night, but now they had to be more careful than ever. The blond quietly pulled out the flash drive with Henry's antivirus from her left pants pocket, then she motioned for Gregory to move closer so she could whisper in his ear. He obliged.

"I think our best bet now is to try and download this first," she whispered. "That way she might actually have a chance at listening to us. If we can sneak up behind her, the two of us should be able to get her hair out of the way and put this in her neck. Just follow my lead, okay?"

Gregory nodded, then Vanessa took him by the hand, and they stepped through the doorway. They had just gotten through when…

CRUNCH

The sound of plastic being crushed under Vanessa's feet made the humans freeze. Having heard the sound as well, Roxy instantly stopped playing and her ears perked up. The blind wolf stood up surveying her surroundings, leaning in close to try to hear as well as slightly sniffing the air. Seemingly not having detected them, she balled up her free hand and her body shook with anger. Then she growled and slammed the keytar down on the table behind her. After pausing a moment to take a deep breath, she then stormed out of the room through a door on the opposite wall from where Gregory and Vanessa were standing.

After her footsteps faded, they finally relaxed, and Vanessa looked down to see that she had stepped on an empty water bottle, likely the cause of the noise from just then. She slightly kicked it out of the way in frustration.

"Would it have killed them to at least clean up before abandoning the place?!" she softly exclaimed.

Shaking her head, she marched back out the door they came from. It took a moment for Gregory to notice this, and when he did, he quickly went out and caught up to her, just as she passed the blocked-off hallway.

"Now, what do we do?" he whisper-yelled after stopping her. "We just lost our best chance!"

"We'll just have to find her again is all I know," the blonde responded. "It might be harder, sure, but she can still pop-up at any time."

"…Okay, fine," he said worriedly, looking at his watch. "Let's hope it doesn't take too long."

They turned to move forward…but froze when, right on cue, a deep feminine voice rang out softly.

"How nice of you to come and see me again…GREGORY!"

The two humans immediately jumped forward as the sound of crates being crushed sounded behind them. After just three more good hits, the blockade of boxes and crates came tumbling down, revealing one angry animatronic wolf.

"Hello there!" she taunted.

"Crap!" Vanessa screamed.

The two humans bolted down the hall, pursued by the frenzied animatronic. Their brains were on survival mode now and they only knew they needed to survive. They ran for several hundred more feet until finally the way was blocked yet again, and this time it was a dead end. By this point, however, some distance was gained between the humans and Roxy, and when they turned around to see her coming, Vanessa took the initiative.

"I don't want to have to do this, Roxy," she called out.

Then she pulled out and activated her taser, but then something strange happened. When Roxy heard the sound of the taser, she yelped and skidded to a stop about ten feet in front of them. Then she instantly crouched down and put her hands above her head. She was visibly shaking as she did this.

Vanessa had known Roxy for a while, but this was new. She hadn't known of the wolf being afraid of her taser before, so why was she cowering at the very sound of it now? What has happened in the past month? Even after the former guard released the button, Roxy was still shaking.

For once, Vanessa was beginning to feel sorry for the old girl, but right now, it seemed an opportunity presented itself. She traded out the taser for the flash drive, and walked towards the blind wolf. She readied herself to pull Roxy's hair out of the way and insert it…And that's when the wolf quickly stood up and tackled her through the blockade. Immediately after breaking through the boxes the blonde found herself pinned against the side wall, a row of sharp metal teeth grinning back at her.

Gregory's first instinct was to try to rush over to help, but then he stopped when he noticed Vanessa wasn't holding the flash drive anymore. Then he looked down at the debris, and to his surprise he instantly found it…but it was flattened! It must have ben crushed under Roxy's weight!

"No!" he yelled as he rushed to assess the damage, but the sound of Vanessa in pain made him aware of the situation again. It looked like Roxy was about to crush her arm.

"Should've figured you'd be here, too," the wolf growled at her. "I bet you'd just love to see me crush in a hydraulic press, wouldn't you?"

Vanessa grunted under the pain, "No, I…"

"I heard what you said about me! That I'm some knock-off of that stupid pirate character that came before me! I could knock your head off for saying that right now…heh heh heh, but I don't have time for you tonight. So instead…"

The blind wolf gave her head a slight nod and the door on the other side of the hall, revealing what appeared to be a 'Nightmare' version of Foxy, roaring loudly.

"I'll let him deal with you," she finished.

She then threw Vanessa into the monster's waiting arms, and she screamed as it forcibly dragged her into the room it came from.

"Vanessa!" Gregory yelled, and he instinctively went toward the door, but he instantly turned the other direction when Roxy swiped her claws at him, missing by an inch. Not knowing what else to do, he ran past her. The Fazerblast would do him no good now, since she had no eyes, so the only thing he could do was get away as fast as he could. Once again, he was on his own.

Straightening up after missing that swipe, Roxy faced toward the sound of his footsteps.

"I've waited so long for this," she snarled. "You got lucky last time, but now I'll show you. NO ONE MAKES A LOSER OUT OF ME!"

And she began her pursuit.

Back in the lower level, a seemingly casual but tense conversation was occurring between Freddy and the Blob, now presenting itself as Evan Afton. They had been talking regarding some memories, Freddy pulling from his memories as Michael, and discussing everything that had led them to this point. It wasn't what one would call exciting, but it seemed as though the brothers were beginning to connect again.

Still, Fifi was beginning to get a bit dubious about the whole situation. This thing was just about to go after them not long ago, but now it's playing nice just because of a family connection? She wasn't sure she bought this act. But Freddy seemed to be connecting a bit more now, so maybe it wasn't such a bad thing. Ultimately, she kept her mouth shut, but kept watch for anything suspicious.

"So, you all wound up being stored under the Pizzaplex to be used for parts?" Freddy asked as the conversation moved forward.

"Yes," Evan's voice replied. "It was so dark and cold down there. We were all scared. But after that place burned down, we of course were brought here. This company just knows how to trade one dark basement for another, doesn't it?"

"I suppose so," the bear said casting down his eyes. "You've been through so much even after you died. It is just really upsetting to think about…The thing I don't understand is why are you still here facing this? The other missing kids moved on after I burned down Fazbear Frights. Why didn't you go with them?"

Fazbear Frights was a haunted house attraction that was made revolving around the rumors about Fazbear Entertainment. Michael had worked as a security guard there as well, but burned the place down after his father was uncovered, still in the springlock suit that killed him.

"There's things keeping me here that you wouldn't understand, Michael," said Evan. "The last thing I wanted, though, was for anyone else to suffer because of Dad. I still can't believe you went through all that trouble to help us."

"…Honestly, Evan," Freddy replied, "I wish I could have done more. I made so many missteps along the way, and I let more people get hurt. Families are still missing their children because of this company. I failed to stop them from never experiencing that void I felt in my heart…after I lost you."

The bear's voice began to get strained as he tried to hold back tears.

"Evan, I want you to know," he said, "I am so, so sorry for what I did. I was so stupid! I wish I would have figured out what was happening. I could have helped you. There's nothing I can do about it now, but…I couldn't let it go until I told you… I'm so sorry, Evan."

Freddy raised an arm to his face and continued to sob. While still keeping her guard up, Fifi, who had seen this, gingerly placed a hand on his arm, gazing empathetically. Both were surprised, however, when a tentacle found its way onto Freddy's shoulder.

"It's okay, Michael," Evan's voice came reluctantly. "I forgive you…I do."

The bear held on to the tentacle for a moment after he heard this. After all this time, it just felt good to finally hear that. After that moment of connection between the brothers the tentacle returned to the Blob, and Freddy took this as his cue to continue.

"Either way," he said, "as you can see, I've made a few new friends lately and…we're here to make things better. We're trying to figure out Dad's plan once and for all…and put a stop to it."

The mass in front of him seemed to tense slightly at this.

"You mean," Evan said, "…that boy from last night was here with you?"

"Yes," the bear replied, giving a little chuckle. "I think you two would have been great friends…Maybe you still can be. We need help looking for information on this."

Complete silence for ten seconds.

"I'm sorry," Evan replied finally. "If your after what you say you are, and that boy is here…I think we're going to need him to join us?"

Concern was written all over Freddy's face. "Join you? What do you mean?"

"Freddy," Fifi interrupted with fear in her voice, "something's wrong."

He turned to look at her and noticed she was staring at the ceiling. He followed her gaze, and what he saw made his jaw drop. Multiple tentacles from the blob were reaching to the ceiling above, almost as if an octopus was wrapping its arms around it prey. But it seemed they were searching for something. Due to his eye enhancements, Freddy could just make out one tentacle entering a vent and it seemed to feel around for something. When he noticed similar movement from the other tentacles, what was happening hit him hard. They were searching for Gregory.

The bear returned his attention to the golden suit in front of him.

"…No," he breathed, "You're not planning to…You can't do that. You wouldn't."

"It's not my choice, Michael," Evan's voice retorted. "You don't understand. I don't have a say in this. I've shared this body with Cassidy for so long, and I have to tell you, she'll do anything to get back at Dad. Horrible things have happened, and I couldn't stop them."

"Why not? You have as much control over that body as she does. How can you speak to me if you don't?"

"It's because she's letting me. She has more control over me, over everyone, than you think! It's hard to take, but I…I just don't want to deal with this anymore. We've been suffering for so long. I just want to hide away from everything now, even if people die from it!"

This led Freddy to do something he had rarely done before—raise his voice.

"You can't do that now!" he exclaimed. "We're talking about another child here! A child your age! You can't just sit by and let her push you around, especially not with a situation like this! You can't let what happened to you happen to another child!"

The lights in the golden suit's eyes suddenly went out, and it lunged forward.

"That's enough!" Cassidy's voice rang out. "You don't get to talk anymore."

A tentacle threw Freddy onto his back, but he immediately sat up.

He called out, "Cassidy, please—"

"No more talking, I said!" she roared. "That's all you and your cursed family ever do is talk, talk, TALK! It's exactly how William killed me, by talking his way into my head and leading me to his trap. And you keep saying how you want to help us, but so far, you've done nothing but make things worse! I would have killed you years ago if I had shut your stupid brother up sooner, and your sister made it even worse when she used you to escape. If it weren't for your resurrection now and this company's incompetence, your father would still be trapped, and none of this would have happened.

"I've had it with you and your whole family! All you ever do is get in my way! I wish none of you were ever born! Just you watch, Michael. I'll have my revenge on your father, but I need that boy to do it. So, if you and your friend won't help us find him willingly…"

The Golden Freddy suit sunk its way back into the amalgamation and the tentacles drew back and were aimed at Freddy, a new target in sight.

"WE'LL MAKE YOU JOIN US!" the chorus of voices exclaimed.

The pink and white Freddy head lunged at them followed by at least six tentacles. Freddy was too stunned to think and was frozen in place as the Blob rushed toward him. Thinking fast, Fifi jumped in front of him and used the Fazcam, and the amalgamation instantly roared and thrashed about, heavily affected by the flash.

"RUN!" the mouse yelled at Freddy.

The bear quickly picked himself off the ground and they both ran for the exit. They were several hundred feet away at this point, and neither realized how far they had walked. But they bolted as quickly as they could, because they knew there was no other way out. They were a good distance away from the Blob by the time it recovered, and it looked at them with contempt.

"Afton blood will be destroyed!" the voices yelled.

It rushed them once again, quickly gaining on the animatronics. They were just about one hundred feet from the door, but the blob was not far behind, reaching a tentacle out towards them. Finally, Freddy made a bold move, he picked up Fifi in his left arm and sprinted at full speed. He made it through just as the tentacle was about to grab him and he quickly ascended the stairwell. When they reached the top, he put Fifi down and made her hold the door closed while he replaced the 2x4 in the handles.

When the door was secure, both animatronics leaned against the door for a moment, huffing and puffing. Suddenly, Fifi turned to Freddy with a scowl on her face.

"So, let me get this straight," she said through gritted teeth. "You thought it would be a good idea to try and get someone who's been trying to kill you for decades to join us?!"

The bear retorted, "She doesn't understand. All I've done is tried to help her and everyone else that went through what she did. I just can't get that through to her, and I don't know why."

"You can't get through to her! Didn't you hear what she said? She doesn't want your help; she just wants you dead!"

Now Freddy was starting to get mad, too. "Well, you're the one that wanted to come with me, you know! You said you were made to help kids! Why can't you help her?"

"That was not a kid we were just speaking to, Freddy. That was someone with a grown-up mind who's been living in a gutter for forty years thinking about nothing but ending the man that put her there! I can't fix that kind of damage!"

"Well, what about Evan, then?! Why couldn't you help me talk to him? We could have at least gotten him to hold her off and help us!"

"You act like he's the same Evan you knew from before William tortured him! You go through trauma like that when you're young, you'll never be the same again! And if what everyone's been saying is true, it's still going on somehow! Did you think I would just wave a magic wand and everything would be fine again? Especially after YOU KILLED HIM?!"

"I don't know what I was thinking! I JUST WANTED TO SEE MY BROTHER AGAIN!"

Fifi started backing away when she heard him yell that. She instantly regretted the last thing she said when she heard his response and he started shaking. There were times when she had an outburst like this in training, but now it seemed, she had gone too far.

Freddy shut his eyes and shook as he took a breath. "I just wanted a chance to make up for what I did. That's all…I wasn't thinking about anything else."

He turned around slowly then forcefully shoved a crate off of a pile next to the door. He sat down on the pile and put a hand to his face.

Fifi took a few steps. "Freddy, I'm—"

"No, no…you're right," he interrupted. "This was a mistake. I've ruined our whole plan for tonight just for someone I've already lost. That's all I seem to do, even now, as Freddy; I make mistakes and lose people. I've lost Evan. I've lost Monty. I've lost Elizabeth. And now because I was so impulsive…I might lose Gregory." He began to sob again. "…Why am I such a screw-up?"

The mouse watched as he continued to cry, but she couldn't do it for long. She brought this on; she was going to end it. She rushed up to Freddy and cupped his head in her hands.

"Freddy…Michael…Gabriel, whoever you are," she said, "look at me…You're not a screw-up, okay? You made a mistake, that's all. You can't dwell on your mistakes like you have been anymore, you just have to learn from them.

"You've seen how many mistakes I've made since I met you guys. Believe me, I made even more in training. For some reason, I'd just get so upset whenever I made them, but then one day, my head tech, Nick, told me the same thing I'm telling you now. Ever since then, I've accepted that I'm going to make mistakes, but if I learn from them rather than dwelling on them, I'll be all the better for it. And I think you will, too, Freddy. After all, from what you told me, you wouldn't have met Gregory if it wasn't for a mistake."

Freddy looked at her sadly. He was touched that his new friend had already cared about him so much after so little time, despite everything that's happened. Of course, still dealing with Michael's memories, he didn't know how much he believed what she said, but at least someone was on his side, here. He pulled her into a soft embrace, which she returned.

"Thank you," he said. "I needed that."

"No problem," she replied, "and I'm sorry for what I said before. I knew it was too soon to mention that, but sometimes I get so mad I can't even think. Programming bug, I guess."

"Hmm, hmm…you're fine."

They let go and Fifi got them back to the task at hand.

"Now we should still have time to find Gregory and Vanessa and help them out of any trouble they're in, and if we're lucky, we can help find Roxy, too."

"Then we should get going now," he concurred. "We've wasted a lot of time here, and William may have things on higher alert, now."

"I bet," she replied. Then she gave a disconcerting look as she turned to the side. "And, that probably won't help."

Freddy turned where she was staring and saw more tentacles, but it seemed they were coming from animatronics separate from the Blob. One appeared to be a pig in overalls and the other was another white and pink Foxy variant, wearing a bow tie. There was no purple in their eyes so given their aesthetic, they must have been with Cassidy. They looked at the duo with contempt.

Freddy and Fifi faced each other again.

"After you," he said, and they took off.

A/N And that'll do it. Hope everyone enjoyed. This was probably one of the best ideas I could come up with for showcasing Evan aka Crying Child. The idea here was to at least give insight on what the years could have done to him and how he might deal with living in the same body as Cassidy, if that theory is, in fact, true. Either way, I hope you liked it.

Also, I just had to characterize Fifi a little more with this, since she's my OC. I had a few reviews at the beginning wondering if she would be a damsel in distress, but I will let you know now, that was never my intention. I think you'll be surprised from what I have planned for her later, but for now let me know what you thought of this moment between her and Freddy, especially his characterization.

I'll tell you now, though, I'm really excited for the next chapter, so please make sure to follow this story and leave a review if you can. Alright, that's enough for now. See you in the next one.