A/N Hey everybody. It is finally time for the new chapter. Still a long wait, I know, but this wound up being a long chapter. This is going to be the conclusion of Night 5 and I'll be tying up everything, story-wise, that needs to be tied up here. It took a lot to get things the way I wanted them, but maybe a bit of a longer chapter would be a treat for everyone. Anyway, I hope you enjoy it! Here we go!
Freddy stayed there a moment looking at the command line that just appeared in his vision: strength-level: _. He could set his own level of strength? He knew as an animatronic he was stronger than the average human, but he could be even stronger than that? How could that be possible? Why were animatronics made for children's entertainment have this feature in the first place? But that's when he remembered who he was dealing with.
Just then, William barged back into the room, looking none too amused.
"It just had to be a smart one, didn't it?!" he muttered to no one in particular.
Baby was first to rush to her father's side in this state. "Daddy, what's wrong? What happened?"
"…The little brat managed to escape. Slipped in a pocket knife while no one was looking."
"You're kiddin'!" Monty growled. "How does he keep pulling stuff like that?!"
Freddy turned his head in shock. Gregory made it out! There was still a chance! There had to be!
Then William gave a low chuckle. "No matter," he breathed. "Vanny still managed to get our little secret weapon working. He can run all he wants…but it won't be enough. We'll still have our fun…Now let's see if we can just find our favorite little tyke on the cameras. Oh, and don't worry Mike, we'll make sure you get the best seat in the house. We sorely don't want you to miss out on your friends tearing each other apart."
Friends? Does that mean…he knew about Fifi's blueprints? The full realization of what was happening hit Freddy like a ton of bricks. That was it! That lunatic, William, had gone too far! Neither Gregory nor Fifi had anything to do with this before, and now he was making them kill each other for his own amusement! All so he could keep up that delusion of grandeur he always had. It was one thing for Freddy, or even Michael within him to face this torment, but why did those two have to be part of it? It was then the bear decided they wouldn't be. Not while he was still functional.
He finally looked toward the decrepit rabbit with distain. "I see…so this is what you don't want me to miss out on."
William turned abruptly from the screen. "…What?"
"Don't play dumb. You weren't there for any of my huge milestones. Birthdays, graduation, not even a stupid ball game. And what did you say to me when I confronted you about it, huh? You said, 'You always miss out on my triumphs, so why should I care about yours?' And you said it knowing I didn't care about Freddy's at the time. Well, it seems I was right to miss out if this is what you consider a triumph."
William rushed him and slapped him across the face.
"Shut up, you fool! You've no idea what I've accomplished here!"
"Oh, I think I do. You took countless innocent kids from their families. You've ruined the lives of every single person in your family. And your newest accomplishment…you've turned my friends into killers. I sincerely hope you're proud of yourself for all of that."
William forcefully cupped the bear's face. "What a hypocrite you are! Need I remind you, you killed Evan!"
"Yes, I did! And unlike you, I actually felt remorse for it. It has haunted me for so long, but now I have people that are willing to accept my past and help me move forward from it. I refuse to let you have your way with them anymore, especially not Gregory."
The killer laughed. "You still think you can save him? You can't even break out of these chains! You lack not only the strength, but also pride to do so! And yet you still try to be the hero. You are truly pathetic!"
Freddy smirked as his father haughtily turned away. "Well…maybe I'm stronger than even I think."
It was then that an input was entered into the strength level command line: max. Then, Freddy pulled against his arm restraints with all his might, and slowly but surely, they began to move, lifting from where they were locked in place. The sound of warping metal as he did this alerted his captors.
"W-What's going on?" Baby said, shaking at what she was seeing. "His restraints are buckling."
"What the—You said he couldn't break out of those!" Monty barked at Afton, who was stunned himself.
"I—He can't! It's impossible!" He stuttered. "Unless…GRAB HIM! NOW!"
Freddy grunted as he made one last pull and one by one, his arm restraints broke, freeing his upper body. It was then that Monty finally rushed him, going for a punch in the face, but Freddy easily blocked it, following up with a punch to the gut. The gator was thrown off balance by the force of the blow and was immediately grabbed by what was left of his mohawk.
"Monty," said Freddy looking him dead in the eye. "If you didn't want to be friends…you should have just said so."
Then he threw Monty into a pile of crates and quickly freed his legs, ripping off the restraints like paper. When he stepped onto the floor, he noticed Baby charging at him screaming. She tried to kick him when she reached him, but he blocked that with his hand, and in one swift movement lifted her upside-down to his eye level.
"I'm sorry Elizabeth," he said solemnly. "It seems that neither of us will get the family we wanted."
And he threw her into the wall. Then he turned to William, who it seemed had simply opted to try and tackle him. Freddy however, acted on this quicker and rammed the murderer into the security console. Then he reared up and punched him in the face several times. When it finally seemed William was getting unstable, Freddy lifted him up above his head and dropped him by the back onto his knee, immobilizing him. He watched as the murderer fell to the ground in a heap, finally shutting down.
The bear looked around and saw that his other captors were down as well. For some reason, looking at the scene before him, he felt an immense sense of relief, like a weight was lifted off his shoulders. He took a deep breath, standing there processing it all, when Charlie's voice suddenly arose.
"Seems that turned out quite useful," she said.
He turned to see her standing in his spot on the restraints and smiled. It was clear what she was doing here.
"You freed him, didn't you?" he asked knowingly. "Evan."
"It was the least I could do," the puppet mused. "He wanted to do something that could help you for once, but he never had the chance until now. He's moved on now."
Freddy pulled out a thumb drive from behind his head. That must've been how it happened. He stared at it with longing.
"Yes," he breathed. "I suppose he has…You didn't have to do that. I don't deserve it."
"Perhaps…but I wanted to. For once, I felt I should thank you for everything you did for us…for all of us."
The bear's smile grew. After all this time, Charlie was still the same kind, brave, forgiving kid she always had been. And now he knew…so was Evan. He felt freer than he ever had before.
"I'm the one that should be thanking you," he muttered.
The puppet gave a slight giggle. "Don't mention it…now you should go. There's not much time, especially if you still want to save your friend…Good luck."
Realizing she was right, he quickly stood up and took off for the door. Not looking back, he heard William shout "STOP HIM!" and the sirens of S.T.A.F.F. bots coming after him. Now more than ever, he prayed Gregory would be okay.
Gregory himself was feeling the furthest thing from 'okay.' Being pursued relentlessly, by the friend he never thought he would have. One he had grown so close to in such a short amount of time. He kept running and running, but as he did, he constantly felt tears welling up. How much longer would he have to endure this? Constantly losing everyone that was close to him?
Fifi, in her new monstrous form, was in hot pursuit. She was running animalistically on all fours, using her claws to propel herself faster. Every breath she took was punctuated by a growl, and she never stopped bearing her threatening teeth. She chased him relentlessly through each hallway and office, and he kept on running. That was until they came to a hallway that split, and Gregory finally stopped not knowing which way to go. He turned and faced Fifi as she rushed right at him.
"FIFI! STOOOOOOP!" he called desperately, but to no avail. She pounced at him and he ducked out of the way as she swiped her claw at him, leaving marks in the wall. Without thinking Gregory immediately rushed down the left hallway, but after a few hundred feet, he ran into a pile of crates. He looked back and Fifi was about to strike again.
"IT'S ME! IT'S GREGORY!" he called again, still to no avail. He barely managed to dive away as she jumped at him again. She completely shattered the crates as she rammed into them. While she was recovering, Gregory reluctantly took the opportunity to run again. He separated himself by about a hundred and fifty feet as they continued to run. He was trying to get his watch to work, but he couldn't see from how frantically he was running. The only chance he had to try and get away would be to shoot her with the Fazerblast. He didn't want to, but he felt he had no choice. Once it was finally charged he turned around and pointed it at her.
"I'm sorry!" he called. He hit Fifi directly in the eye and she recoiled, but unfortunately, it did not have the usual effect. Rather than stun her, the laser only seemed to fuel her rage. She stopped for just a second to let out another bloodcurdling roar, then ran at him more furiously than before. Gregory yelled as he dove for the hallway next to him, just avoiding Fifi's claws once again. The chase continued for a few more pathways and turns before Gregory realized where he was. He wasn't far from the closet where they started tonight, so he figured he could hide in there until she went away at least.
At last, he found the closet and ran straight for it. However, in his frantic state he failed to remember the trail of ice cream mix right in front of the door. He only realized this when he slipped on it as he ran across, and he slid into the closet stopping just short of the shelf of memorabilia. How he hadn't done anymore damage to his broken shoulder, he didn't know. He had just gotten his bearings and flipped himself over when he saw Fifi sprinting right at him at full speed. Acting on instinct, he grabbed the first thing he could, a pinata stick, and held it in front of him lengthwise with both hands just before Fifi pounced on him again.
Thankfully this had finally halted her, but she was now dangerously close to him, and she was biting down on the stick, the sound of wood buckling under the bite's force. Keeping his grip, Gregory's tears began again as he looked at Fifi's wrath filled face. He finally understood now. How Freddy felt that night at the Pizzaplex, when he saw his friends trying to harm a child when he knew nothing but good from them. Gregory was in that same situation with Fifi now. He didn't want to believe it, but here she was, about to attack him after they had built such a friendship with one another. And the worst part was, he knew she wasn't doing this of her own volition. Compared to his experience at the Pizzaplex, when he hadn't known about Afton's control, it hurt a lot more to see this.
"Fifi, please stop!" he begged through the tears. "You can't let him control you like this! You have to fight it! YOU HAVE TO! PLEASE DON'T DO THIS! PLEASE! I CAN'T LOSE YOU!"
He knew this was futile, but he didn't know what else to do. He didn't want to die at the hands of his first friends. But still see struggled to reach him, fury filling those glowing eyes. That's when he heard a cruel laughing from the door. He looked past Fifi to see Vanessa's doppelganger standing to the left of the doorway. Of course, she had to be here to rub salt in the wound.
"I CAN'T LOSE YOU!" Vanny mocked. "You put on quite a performance, Greggy. I just wish you could've waited a little longer for me to get the cameras working so Mr. Afton could see it! Oh well, I can take comfort in the fact you won't live long enough to get an Oscar."
"SHUT UP!" he retorted angrily. "YOU'RE THE ONE THAT DID THIS TO HER!"
"So what? You ought to learn right now that there's no one that's ever going to stay friendly with you for long. People change at the drop of a hat. I just made that process a little faster for little Fifi here. All I need is to give her a little more of a push, and the lesson will really…sink in."
Vanny then pulled out a remote control, and Gregory grew mortified as he realized what she was about to do.
"DON'T YOU DARE!"
"OR WHAT!? You keep trying to act tough, kid, but you're just like the rest of the ones I killed. A cocky, spoiled little brat! Vanessa wants you so much? Too bad. I'm taking something from her for once!" Her finger hovered over a button on the remote. "Ha, ha, ha. Time's up for you Gregory. I've waited for long enou—"
WHAM!
Vanny suddenly flew across the room, crashing into the opposite wall. Gregory eyed her in astonishment. What—or who—could've done that? But when he looked back to where she was standing, he got his answer. Stepping out from the shadows, slowly limping with a folding chair in one hand, was none other than Glamrock Chica, her bulged out eyes focusing on Vanny. If Gregory hadn't known he was in trouble before, he knew it now, but at least the ice cream worked.
As Chica continued lurching toward her, Vanny began to back away on the ground, getting frantic.
"You!" she exclaimed. "What are you doing here!?"
Since she had no voice box, Chica said nothing, but continued forward.
"You can't do anything to me!" Vanny panicked. "I've got—"
But at this point, the chicken reached her and began brutally beating her with the folding chair. Gregory was completely bewildered by what he was seeing. Whose side was Chica on? After about six or seven good whacks, Vanny tremored slightly trying to get up until she finally became limp and stopped moving. Seemingly satisfied, Chica threw the chair to the side and turned her focus to Gregory, the maw where her beak once was fully visible.
The boy had been so engrossed in what was happening next to him that he almost forgot what position he was in. The snapping of wood, however, brought his attention back to what was in front of him. Fifi, biting down ever harder, was breaking through the pinata stick. He held it up with all the force he could, but the frenzied mouse shook her head forcefully and ultimately ripped away the piece of the stick that was in her mouth. Then she briskly spat it out and began to lunge at Gregory again. He braced himself for that final stoke, but it never came. Instead, when he removed his arms from his face, he saw that Fifi was now being held up off the ground in Chica's arms.
He instinctively backed into the wall, the fear at the uncertainty of this situation evident on his face. He watched, as Fifi writhed in Chica's grip until the shattered chicken turned her around so they were face to face. The mouse tried to swipe at her a couple of times, but Chica quickly evaded them and held her close to her side. The bird continued to watch her captive struggle for a moment more before finally turning her attention back to Gregory. The boy stared at her trying to wrack his brain on what to do next, and also to try and figure out what she was going to do. He stared into Chica's expressionless eyes for what seemed like an eternity, neither one of them moving from their spot or taking any action, until…she gave him a thumbs-up!
The expression on the boy's face at this gesture was one of shock, relief, and excitement all at once. She was on his side!? He couldn't believe it!
"Chica!" he exclaimed with an astonished smile.
In response, she offered her hand to help him up, which he gladly took. Once he got to his feet he looked at her gleefully.
"You're not under Afton's control?" he asked.
She shook her head without hesitation.
"And you're not working with Cassidy?"
Again, she shook her head.
The boy could no longer hold back a triumphant laugh.
"This is officially the best thing that's happened to me since the Pizzaplex! Thank you so much!"
She placed a hand on her hip and gave a proud nod.
The moment of revelry was broken, however, when Fifi's growling began to get more intense. The scowl was still present on her face when they looked, and she seemed to be banging her head against Chica's side, desperate to free herself. Chica turned back to Gregory, seemingly out of concern. It almost seemed he would cry again, but he shook himself out of it.
"We can find out what happens with her later," he said, getting to business. "Listen, we're trying to stop Afton, and we think you might be able to help us. I'm living at Vanessa's house now, and there's someone there who can fix you. If we do that, can you help us?"
After a second, the bird vehemently nodded.
"Awesome! Then we better get going; we don't have much time. Just follow my lead."
She nodded again, but before they could go, Vanny jumped to her feet, snarling. She now looked like something out of The Terminator, with half her face ripped off, revealing the robotic endoskeleton underneath. She took a rattling breath.
"You think it's just going to end that easy?!" she challenged, "TRY THIS ON FOR SIZE!"
The doppelganger pulled out another remote and pressed a button. The sirens of the S.T.A.F.F. bots could be heard instantly.
"And that's just BACKUP!" she yelled as she began to rush him, but she was cut short when Chica gave her a good punch to the gut, throwing her across the room again. Seeing the damage she could do, Gregory was really glad to have Chica on his side.
"Let's go!" he called, and she immediately followed, still holding Fifi to her side, as they both ran for dear life. Gregory knew all too well this victory could be stripped away at any time, so he was going to keep things moving forward as much as he could.
Back with Vanessa and Roxy, they had managed to get quite a head start on the tentacled animatronics that were now pursuing them, but they still had no idea where to go at this juncture. All they knew was they had to find Gregory. They were completely tearing one office apart trying to look for him, taking down animatronics whenever they appeared.
"This is the tenth office we've looked in already!" Vanessa said as she was tasing one of them. "Where could he possibly be!"
"I don't know, but we gotta find him!" Roxy exclaimed as she punched another one. "Maybe he's hiding in the vents!"
The wolf sprinted toward a vent on the other side of the room and opened it, recoiling when a Mini Music Man jumped on her face. Screaming, she struggled with the bot for a moment, before chucking it across the room.
"I HATE THIS PLACE!" she shouted angrily.
"Don't we all?!" Vanessa barked back. "But we're not leaving without Gregory, so let's get moving!"
They both ran out into the hallway, Roxy fixing her hair as she went. After a few more moments of running, they came to central hall.
"Let's try to the left!" Vanessa called, but as they rounded the corner, Freddy suddenly appeared in front of them. It happened so suddenly that neither party could register what they were seeing right away, especially with Freddy's disrepair. Both parties screamed when they saw each other, and started to run in the opposite direction of where they came from, but then Roxy stopped in her tracks.
"Wait, Freddy!" she exclaimed. Then they all turned back toward each other.
"Oh, you're both alright," Freddy said, releasing a breath. "That's good, at least."
"Holy crap! What happened to you?" Vanessa asked concerned, but when he tried to answer, a noise from behind cut them off.
"It can wait!" the bear decided. "Have you seen Gregory?"
"That's who we're looking for!" Vanessa confirmed.
"We thought he might've been with you!" Roxy added.
"GUYS!"
They all turned towards another hallway on the other side, and they could clearly see their young companion rushing towards them, Chica not far behind.
"Gregory!" Vanessa shouted.
"There you are!" Freddy joyfully called.
"Yeah, and I got Chica. Let's get outta here!" the boy exclaimed.
Nothing more needed to be said. As the veritable collection of S.T.A.F.F. bots, tentacled animatronics and other pursuers built up behind them, the group bolted for the entryway. When they were within five hundred feet of it, Roxy took the initiative to call Foxy, and when she did, the door immediately opened with the pirate standing in it.
"SWEET MOTHER O' PEARL!" he shrieked when he saw what was chasing the group. He ushered them all in as quickly as he could. Once they were all in, he briskly shut the door and he and Sun leaned against it as if they were trying to hold it closed. The walls immediately shook when the mob crashed into the door, and they could hear a mix of sirens, roaring, and parts grinding as they stood there.
"Oooooh, it sounds like a massacre in there," said Sun, highly disturbed.
"That it does," Foxy concurred, then he turned to Gregory and the others. "I don't know how you scallywags keep surviving this kind o' stuff. If I had your kind o' luck, I'd have choked out Afton a long time ago."
Freddy straightened up after a breath. "I don't know that I'd say that, but we try our best. Speaking of which," he turned to the shattered hen, "Chica, are you really with us?"
She gave another bold thumbs up, and both Freddy and Roxy heaved a sigh of relief.
"Good to have you back, Chi," said Roxy.
Chica nodded in agreement as her "Funtime" counterpart stepped up to observe her.
Meanwhile, all the running Gregory had done that night was beginning to catch up to him. His legs buckled under him from the exhaustion and he collapsed to the floor. He remained conscious, but did not currently have the will to stand. When they heard him fall, Freddy, Vanessa, and Roxy quickly gathered around him, all frantically speaking at the same time trying to figure out what was wrong.
"Holy crap, kid! What's wrong?! What happened when you—"
"You do not look well! Are you injured? Please tell me you're not—"
"What happened?! Who did it?! Was it Baby!? I swear I'll tear—"
"GUYS, I'M FINE!" he called out, finally sitting up. He took some deep breaths and spoke a little more. "I just…did a lot…of running."
Vanessa wasn't sure what came over her, then, but she quickly got down on her knees and wrapped Gregory in her arms.
"If that's the worst of it," she said breathlessly, "I think you did pretty good."
Freddy quickly kneeled down as well. "We are just glad you're safe."
Gregory was a bit taken aback from Vanessa's embrace, but gave a small smile. "Yeah…at least I get to see you guys again."
Roxy was observing this scene and smiling as well, but then a thought struck her. She looked back and noticed Chica was still holding Fifi awkwardly in her arms. She could not see the mouse's face.
"Well, what's going on with Fifi?" she asked as she stepped towards them. "Is she able to walk?"
"Roxy!" Freddy exclaimed.
"WAIT!" Gregory yelled.
But before the wolf could react, long metallic claws swiped right by her. She yelped in shock and fell down on her rear. She scooted away backwards when she noticed the monstrous scowl on Fifi's face, and Chica putting a hand up as a warning not to come any closer. Vanessa looked upon this scene in horror. The moment she dreaded since looking at those blueprints had come.
"W-What the…" Roxy stammered, wide eyed.
"Oh m—what happened?" asked Vanessa.
"…Vanny happened," Gregory confirmed darkly. "She put that stupid virus in her. Chica saved me, but…the anti-virus got destroyed before she could."
Then he began to whimper, an expression of both sadness and anger evident on his face. When Vanessa saw this, she held him closer, her expression seeming just as heartbroken.
"Oh, kid," she breathed.
"I can't take it anymore!" the boy cried. "She's taken everything I'd hoped for and twisted it into the worst thing imaginable! Look what she did to Fifi! I'm going to have to live with Fifi like this for months while we fix her…I make a friend so fast and she turns into a monster. How do I deal with that? How do I deal with any of this?! What are we going to do now!?"
The room was dead silent save for his sobs. Everyone in the room just looked between him and the snarling mouse that was still struggling against Chica's grip. None of them knew what to say or what to do. Of all the pain Afton and his sympathizers inflicted over the years, the more experienced ones had never seen anything like this, and the newer ones in the fray and never imagined something of this nature would happen. They all looked around and waited for someone to give an answer, but it never came…That was, until Roxy suddenly doubled over laughing, wildly.
All attention was now on the wolf as she rolled around howling (no pun intended) with laughter. Given the situation, they all may have thought she was crazy, but Vanessa finally spoke up after a few more seconds.
"Roxy, what is wrong with you?!" she demanded.
Roxy sat up and quickly composed herself. "Nothing, I just…Let me talk to Greg a minute."
She crawled over to where the boy was sitting, still with a big smile on her face. He was definitely confused now.
"Uh, Roxy? What's going on?" he asked.
The wolf sat down on her heels in front of him, still clearly giddy about something.
"Kid…have I got a surprise for you!"
She then opened the panel in her casing on her left forearm, and from it, she pulled out…a thumb drive. All eyes immediately widened. It couldn't be another antivirus…could it?
"W…Wha…For real?" Gregory finally stammered out.
Roxy nodded, now positively beaming.
"Bu-But Henry said he couldn't make anymore."
"Not with the data he had," Roxy confirmed, "which is why he asked to copy some of mine. I didn't know why at the time, but I just wanted to do something to help. So, I let him do it, and now you get to save her. Isn't that great?"
Vanessa looked on, astonished. Was this really the same stuck-up, go-karting wolf from the Pizzaplex? It was proving hard to believe.
"Roxy," she breathed.
"He told me it was the best version of the program he's ever made," Roxy continued. "I wanted to tell you guys earlier, but he made me keep it secret. Guess I know why now."
Tears began welling up in Gregory's eyes again, and the canine became concerned when she saw this. That was…until she saw they were accompanied by a smile. When she noticed this, the boy suddenly pounced around her torso and wrapped it in a warm embrace.
"Thank you, Roxy," he squeaked out.
Looking just as happy as the child was now, she returned his embrace, her large arms encasing his small body.
"I'm the one that should be thanking you…Champ."
Freddy brought a hand to his chest as he watched this unfold. He may not have had a heart, but he was sure it would be melting at this if he did. Foxy stepped up beside him, chuckling warmly at the sight.
"So, she's got nicknames too, does she?" he said, referring to the bear's whole 'Superstar' motif from earlier in the week.
"Only for a few special people," came the touched response.
When Gregory and Roxy finally pulled away from each other, they turned their attention back to their growling comrade, who had just sliced the map bot's arm off after it tried to give her a map…again. Sun dragged the mindless bot off as it simply droned "Thank you, please enjoy."
Gregory tried to stand up, but Roxy put a hand on him, stopping him. She then tucked her arm under his shoulder and lifted him up, holding him upright. She handed him the drive, and he nodded as he took it, knowing exactly what to do.
"Chica!" he called.
Funtime Chica, who was still looking over her counterpart, jumped up. "Yes?" she responded.
"Uh…Glamrock," Gregory clarified.
FT Chica then walked away, embarrassed, and Glamrock Chica, still holding Fifi, stepped forward.
"I need to put this in the back of her neck," the boy continued. "Can you hold her still?"
The bird complied, holding Fifi's head tightly to her shattered body. As Roxy brought Gregory closer, he took a deep breath. When he good in a good position, he mouthed "Sorry" and plunged the drive into the USB port on Fifi's neck. The mouse immediately recoiled, roaring and grasping for the back of her head, but was stopped when a strange monotone emerged from her speakers.
"Antivirus software accepted. Initializing preliminary scan for malware and viruses. Subject entering rest mode."
As the voice said this, Fifi's claws, limbs, and teeth retracted to their original sizes. Her eyes stopped glowing and began to droop until she finally went limp, resting her head on Chica's broken chest. Vanessa, who was now standing, sighed when she saw this.
"Well, Freddy," she said, "I guess we have some explaining to do when she wakes up."
"To say the least," the bear responded. "But at least we got her back."
Foxy joined in with a hearty chuckle. "Cut yourselves some slack. Ye ain't done too bad. Matter of fact, I'd say you did real good. Better than I even thought. Just wish I could o' been there to see it meself."
Vanessa smirked. "Well, hey! You could come with us some time. This kind of thing seems right up your alley."
"Ah, never mind that now," the pirate rebuked playfully. "You scallywags have had too long a night. Go on home and get some rest, the lot o' ya. We ain't going nowhere."
The blonde simply rolled her eyes and called for the others to come on. They all followed suite, Chica still carrying Fifi and Roxy, surprisingly, still carrying Gregory. The boy was a bit confused about why his haughty companion was still carrying him, so he decided to speak up.
"Uh, Roxy?" he said. "You can put me down, you know. I'm pretty sure I can walk now."
The wolf stifled a laugh. "Not happening, kid. You've been doting on me all week. Time for me to return the favor."
It was then he knew there was no arguing with her, so he relented and rested his head on her shoulder. After a moment of looking at him like this, Roxy kept marching forward with her chin held high.
"Forgive me for being blunt, Roxy," said Freddy, who was walking behind then, "but…I cannot remember the last time I've seen you this happy."
She shrugged. "It's just…for the first time in so long…I actually feel like a winner."
A/N And that's that. This chapter was a piece of work, I have to say. I knew it was going to be a challenge writing Chica for this chapter at least, since she couldn't talk, but I did my best to get in a bit of starting characterization with what I wrote here. Also, I hope no one's head is spinning from the amount of plot twists I put in here. I got a PM from one of you asking about Roxy's favor for Henry and I told them they'd be surprised. Hope I didn't disappoint. Anyway, though this chapter was really long and took a while, it was a lot of fun to write. I really hope you all enjoyed it, and if you did, please leave a review. It would make my day. Thanks again for reading, and I'll see you for the next chapter.