Baby returned to the pizzeria a few hours later, and as soon as the portal closed Molten and Bonnie bolted out of the tent and besieged her in a tight hug. Baby didn't say a thing as she just melted into the embrace, closing her eyes and burying her face in the arms of her friends. No words were spoken, but there was still so much said between the three. Bonnie grumbled in frustration, probably directed at Cassidy, and nuzzled his muzzle against the side of her head.

Molten was the first to release from the hug and started going off about everything. After Afton was carted off, the wire amalgam actually decided to get the man out of the suit and put him back in the office to recover, with Henry watching over him. Molten then went straight to Cassidy and explained to her what actually happened with Afton at the beginning of the night.

Even got Plushtrap to fess up, after finding him hiding away in one of the bathrooms.

And boy was Cassidy both surprisingly ashamed, especially since Charlie and even Micheal got in on chewing her out, but also furious at Plushtrap for causing everyone to waste their time. As the golden bear was absolutely ripping the small green rabbit apart, Molten slipped away smirking at his victory.

Meanwhile, as Bonnie took up explaining his side of things, after helping Molten find Plushtrap, he headed to the office so he could talk to the two men of married past for relationship advice. Baby found herself blushing as her rabbit started explaining how, with everything going on, he wanted to try and be a better partner.

"You're fine just the way you are, Bon…" Baby said in a quiet and sweet tone, adjusting the rabbit's bow tie. "You and Molten are both fine just the way you are, and I'd rather you head into our relationship by just being yourself."

"Trust me, Baby", Bonnie said firmly with sophistication. "I know that all too well. I just wanted to know how to be a good partner in this. I have never dated before, and I do want to make you uncomfortable."

Baby giggled. "Always such a gentleman…"

Molten let out a more jovial laugh. "I agree! You sure struck gold with this one, huh Babydoll?" Molten slunk over and put Bonnie on the shoulder, the rabbit giving the wire bear a pointed look. Molten just giggled. "Ah, I'm just teasing, Bon! You're a good friend, and you make Babydoll happy. That's more than enough to get you in my good books!"

The rabbit huffed and crossed his arms. "Regardless, I want to be the best partner possible, and I'm not ashamed to admit I asked for advice on how to be one."

Baby smiled gently at him and skated up, resting both arms on his shoulder. "Well, I think you're perfect no matter what." She kissed him on the cheek and rolled off, heading into the tent.

Bonnie blinked very slowly as his hand felt where Baby kissed him, Molten chuckling at the rabbit's reaction. "She kissed ya' before, ya' dum-dum. Don't start getting all stary-eyed on me."

"This one… was different, though…" The rabbit whispered. "I felt a spark, something that almost felt like… Something clicked. In my brain."

Molten tilted his head curiously. "Huh? Whatcha' mean by that, Bon?"

"Just… I do have feelings for Baby, and I wanted us to be together, but this kiss… I think it just solidified that I want her…"

Molten looked thoughtful for a moment before smiling. "Well, Bon, it looks like you just had that… magical spark thing Baby told us about. How that spark tells you that 'Yeah, this is the gal'."

Bonnie's ears drooped a bit as he thought that over. "Perhaps, yes…"

Molten pat his shoulder again and slithered away, the sound of the storage room's door opening and closing in the distance, leaving Bonnie all on his own. He took a deep breath, and decided that Baby probably needed some space, so he was going to follow Molten.

Until Baby peeked through the opened curtain, and he found himself staring at her. "You don't have to run off, Bon", she said gently. "If anything… I don't want you to."

Bonnie's ears tilted in a concerned matter, catching the weird tone in her voice. "Baby, is everything okay?"

The clawed animatronic paused, her eyes flickering in sadness. "Just… Just been feeling weird, that's all. Nothing bad, don't worry, I'm just having a hard time- no I'm not. I'm fine! All fine…"

Bonnie entered the tent and watched Baby suddenly look like a deer in headlights. "Baby…", the rabbit started calmly. "What's wrong?"

Baby looked to the side slightly as tears started to form in her eyes. "I've just been struggling so much, Bon. I love you and Molten, but I can't stand this place. I love the Capital so much more it literally has everything I want! It's my paradise! But here… Here I want to just rip everyone apart on a daily basis. When I think I'm happy, when I get that shred of happiness, Cassidy or Elizabeth or Charlie rip it away from me!

"I keep having to bend over backwards because we're all here to get revenge on Afton, but I'm sorry for not having any hate in my heart for someone who wants to try and make things right. I'm sorry I don't want to be treated like a literal slave in order to appease you, o'golden bear of hate and malice! I'm sorry that I want to be with my boyfriend and bother and just do what I want, and not be a pawn in your FUCKING GAME!"

Bonnie stayed silent as Baby continued to rant to the high heavens, all her anger, frustration and sadness out in its rawest form. He was shocked about all of Baby's confessions, but he did understand them. After all this place has done, all the fresh wounds it decided to rip open, Bonnie felt this was only an inevitability.

This whole place was a ticking time bomb, and while the rabbit was waiting for the big main explosion, Baby's smaller one here was probably going to be the first domino that'll set off the full chain reaction.

When Baby was done with her triad, she was standing in the middle of the tent, huffing and puffing as tears streamed down her face. The rabbit took this as his chance to walk over, and wrapped her in a hug. Baby said nothing as she buried her face in his shoulder, her eyes peeking over and into nothingness.

"I just hate it here…" She whispered, her voice raged and broken. "I want to live in the Capital with you and Molten, the three of us happy with nothing dragging us down…"

"I'd like that too, Scrapy…" NightBon said as he rubbed her back. "But this is our place, no matter how much… All three of us want to leave. We just need to stay strong, and soon things will start to look up."

Baby said nothing, made no sound, she barely even moved. All she was able to do was completely bury her face into Bon's body, soaking in the warmth of his torn felt cover, trying to steady her frantic mind and heart. She was not mentally okay, and she just hoped things would get better soon like her boyfriend said.

"Maybe we should go and get something to eat", Bonnie suggested quietly. He pulled back from the hug so he could look the clown in the eye, and she nodded.

Gently, he started to lead her out of the tent and past the wall of boxes and into the rest of the storage room. They walked past the endless shelves and soon left the room, and almost immediately ran into Circus Baby.

Scrapy froze as Elizabeth jumped at their sudden appearance, then glared at the clawed animatronic. "Well, look at who decided to show up again. You really have a knack for running off, huh?"

Bonnie snarled. "You watch your tongue, Elizabeth. You have no right to speak to her like that, especially after you've done nothing but heinous actions on innocent people."

"Is this about those technicians I hung?" The spoiled princess spat with an eyeroll. "I've said this before and I'll say it again. Blame Afton, he made me like this." She shoved the other two aside, but Scrapy had something ignite in her.

"Was Afton there?" She asked the leaving robot.

Elizabeth stopped, and subtly glanced over her shoulder. "What?"

"Was Afton there in that underground facility?" Scrapy asked again. "Was he there whispering in your ear telling you to do that?"

"You know what I mean you useless pile of scrap." Elizabeth whirled around and glared at the clawed animatronic. "He made this suit like this, to hurt kids. He hurt me!"

"Because you didn't listen", Scrapy said. "If you had just listened to him, then you would have been alive, and still being a horrible person because that's just who you are deep down."

"Oh, what's it to you?! You're just a part of me, the side I chose to dump the moment I had the chance to."

"But I'm not you. I never was you. I am me. You're Elizabeth Afton, the spoiled princess who only follows the people that give her what she wants. I'm Scrap Baby, someone who grew past all of that to become something more."

Elizabeth got really close, her eyes glaring daggers into the other robot. Bonnie moved to stop it, but was stopped when Scrapy held up her hand to him. She faced Elizabeth again with a blank look.

"I'm a robot who found out how to be human. You're a human that lost her soul to be cold and mindless."

Elizabeth froze for a moment, then with a burst of rage she smacked Scrapy away and into the wall. As soon as that happened, BB and JJ had walked around the corner, and they both gasped at the sight. Elizabeth turned to them, eyes wide as her actions immediately caught up to her.

Scrap Baby choked out a sob as Bonnie helped her back up. She rolled away a bit from Liz, her eyes once again at risk of leaking tears. "You're awful, you know that?"

"What, no, you egged me on!" Elizabeth said angrily. "You decided to-"

"ENOUGH!" Bonnie roared, making everything fall silent. All eyes were on him, and his eyes reflected his boiling rage. "Elizabeth, you crossed a line you never should've crossed. It's one thing to act like you're above the others, but to attack those that challenge you, admit the truth to you, shows how far you've fallen."

"Oh you shut up, you dumb rat!" Elizabeth shouted. "You're just her little pet, just like that pile of wires! She's just using you!"

"Like how you used the other Funtimes?" Bonnie spat back. "Because if my knowledge is correct, they expelled you from Ennard because you were trying to control everything about them. You were the problem."

"Why are you even defending her? She's just a useless pile of scrap that's manipulating you! She only cares about…" Elizabeth trailed off when she looked at Scrapy, and the others there all faced her soon after.

Scrap was crying. Openly, actually crying actual tears. Bonnie's heart broke while the others just stared in shock. Scrap choked out a sob and skated off, disappearing around a corner.

Bonnie looked back at Elizabeth with a look of pure fury. "You are awful, Elizabeth. Afton might have been a monster, but you became one just to appease him. Because that's who you are deep down, no matter what you deny. So go and wallow in your pit, you heathen." He turned around and chased after Baby, leaving Liz standing there in shock.

She turned around and saw the two Balloon Kids were gone, seemingly ready to spread what they had just witnessed to everyone. Elizabeth, now all alone, looked down at her hands, then silently continued along her way.

~X~

As Bonnie ran through an intersection of corridors after Baby, he unknowingly passed Lefty, who was wide-eyed after hearing the whole argument. She glanced around the corner to just barely see Elizabeth's leaving form. The black bear blinked, in complete shock about everything that had happened.

But it only added fuel to the fire of guilt and regret within them. This whole 'Afterlife to punish Afton' was falling apart, and the more they watched, the more Lefty saw the holes and cracks forming. From Cassidy's seemingly dismissive attitude to everyone, to Afton's continued attempts to make amends…

And Scrap Baby seemingly flipping everything on its head.

Lefty looked down the direction the scrap and nightmare animatronics ran off to, their own brain working overtime. They were wanting to dig deeper, to see what really was going on with their lost friend, but they didn't know if it was a good idea, especially now.

But then they realised they could just ask Molen and Bonnie, and make Baby steps to fix the burnt bridge that was between the two scraps. So with a steely look and a determined fire igniting in them, Lefty headed after Bonnie, their strides firm and strong.

As they headed through the halls, idle chit chat picked up in Lefty's ears from various animatronics as BB and JJ spread the news.

"Circus Baby hit Scrap Baby?! What happened?!"

"I heard that Scrap was just leaving a room with Nightmare Bonnie when she ended up getting difficult."

"Balloon Boy told me that Circus Baby tried to act like she was above them."

"So the princess goes full mask off, huh?"

Lefty sometimes cursed they were more sensitive to sound than the other animatronics, but it was times like this they were grateful for it. Being able to hear everyone talk about how someone screwed up helped her spread the news further. But right now they were just using it as fuel for their internal fire, marching forward with increasing speed.

When the black bear entered the main dining room after so long, they scanned the surroundings until they spotted Scrap Baby sitting on her own at a table, head buried in her arms. A distance away, Lefty spotted Molten and NightBon talking between each other, visibly angry.

The black bear took a deep breath and walked over to the duo, the rabbit being the first to notice and glare at their approach. The wire bear looked around a bit, before turning around, and then glaring at Lefty as well.

"Well look at who decided to join us", Molten hissed out. "Came to warn us that you told Cassidy what happened and that we should run? Or are you here to rub in the fact that you think Baby's a-"

"Molten!" Bonnie barked angrily. The amalgam backed off as the rabbit sighed, then levelled Lefty with a glare. "What do you want, Lefty? As it's obvious, things are really a bad time to bother us, and especially Baby. So please, just go bother someone else."

"L-Look, I know me and Baby didn't leave on good terms", the black bear said sadly. "But I'm not here to degrade her or anything. Just… Just hear me out, please."

The two others shared a look, glanced at Baby, then looked back at the black bear to nod very stiffly.

Lefty took a deep breath, and straightened up. "I… Baby was right. Ever since our argument I've been thinking and she's right. All the noise is starting to get to me, Cassidy's whole facade is crumbling, and I'm starting to realise I have no hatred for Afton. Everything Baby has fought for is right."

Bonnie's harsh look became softer, and Molten was just surprised. "Wait… Really?" The wire bear asked.

Lefty nodded sadly, glancing at Baby, who still didn't seem aware of the conversation. "I'm sorry for acting like such a jerk. I was following after Charlie, but the more that happened the more I noticed Charlie didn't. And now, with what happened with Elizabeth, I just… I can't stand by anymore. I can't just let Baby be kicked down anymore."

The rabbit and wire bear shared a look. "If you want to apologise to Baby", Bonnie said quietly. "Now's your best chance."

Lefty nodded and carefully walked over to the table, sitting down next to the clawed animatronic. Baby lifted her head, and looked at the black bear. "Do you mean it, Lefty?"

The bear was caught off guard. "You… You heard all of that?"

"I'm not deaf…" Baby mumbled as she sat up, looking mentally drained. "I heard what you three were talking about, and I just want you to be honest, Lefty." Baby looked the bear right in the eye. "Do you mean it?"

Lefty blinked, then slumped and looked down at the table, regret and guilt glinting in her eyes. "I mean it Baby. I… I wasn't the same after our argument. I felt like a ghost in Cassidy's inner circle, this place is making my head hurt, and I'm actually starting to feel bad for Afton because of how extreme things are getting."

Baby was silent as Lefty continued. "Look, you don't have to forgive me. I know I hurt you badly. I was so caught up with everything going on I didn't realise how bad it was getting until you blew up at me. Just, please… I'm sorry Baby…"

Things were silent between the two of them for a moment, and then Baby suddenly hugged Lefty tightly. "I forgive you, Lefty. Just don't do that again, okay?"

Lefty nodded and pat Baby on the back, making the clown look up at them with a tear-stained look. The more Lefty stared at Baby, the more they had something else enter their head. "By the way, Baby… Where did you go? What happened?"

Baby gave her a curious look. "What do you mean?"

"Well, just before you ran off after our argument, I saw you looked completely different. You were fixed, clean, all of that. I thought my head was just breaking on me, because no one else reacted to your sudden change in appearance."

Baby's eyes widened, and she looked over to the others. They both shared a look, then looked back at her. She then looked back at Lefty. "Let's go back to our little place. It's better to explain to you there."

Lefty nodded and helped Baby to her feet, and they joined back up with Bonnie and Molten, the rabbit and wire bear smiled and joined with the walk back. While Lefty still felt a bit left out, Molten made sure she felt included by talking with them as the group walked back to their special spot.

As they headed through the halls of the building, as Lefty listened to the others catch her up, she kept an ear out for anything in regards to Cassidy, but luckily it seemed like things had died down. So Lefty set their full attention on the group, joining in with the conversation all the way back to the storage room.

When they reached it, Baby led Lefty inside and all the way to the tent, which left the black bear stupefied.

"You built all of this?" Lefty asked, looking at Baby. They then were left in shock and Baby's appearance now being fixed like before.

"Yes I did, and don't worry about my look", the clawed animatronic said. She headed inside the tent, with the other right behind, and they all found seats on the makeshift couches. "Okay, so, I'm just going to tell you what I told Bon and Molten."

Lefty nodded, and listened intently as Baby explained everything that happened, from start to end. She showed off her locket, and pointed each person out, before continuing the story. Lefty was completely floored, their jaw nearly falling onto the ground at how unbelievable it all sounded. But because of the evidence before them, the black bear couldn't really deny what they were hearing.

As baby capped the story off by explaining her disappearances was going back to the Capital to just try and cool off, the black bear was left dead silent for a while.

After what felt like an hour, Lefty finally spoke. "That's just… Baby, I had… If I knew all of this sooner, I would've been on your side on day one. Because this is crazy."

"We thought the same thing", Molten said with a giggle. "But she has shown all she needed to prove all of this is real."

"I still would like to meet your friends, Baby…" Bonnie said thoughtfully.

Baby was going to say something, but was cut off when her ringtone started calling out at her. She started feeling around her suit for it, while the others watched in surprise. They all watched as she pulled out a very high-tech looking device, hit the screen, and smiled.

"Hey there, Caleb", she said sweetly. The others perked up, and leaned in.

"Hey Baby!" A voice called through. "Just checking up on you and all. Are you feeling better?"

Baby nodded. "Yep! Just needed to talk to my friends." She paused. "Who are all here right now and can hear you because I have you on speaker."

There was a shocked gasp on the other side, and a series of thumps. "Crap, crap sorry! Dropped my phone, heh, ummm…" The voice on the other side cleared his throat. "Hey guys! Sorry about that, just didn't expect you to know about this. So, anyway, hi! I'm Caleb!"

"Well hey there, Caleb!" Molten said excitedly. "It's cool to hear from ya'! Baby told us everything about what happened, so you don't need to be all defensive."

Caleb made a choking sound, and then laughed. "Baby, you didn't tell any of us that! I would've sooner so I could get some room set up for them!"

Bonnie looked confused. "Room?"

"I'll explain it to you guys when you come here for the first time, it's better to hear it all in person." There was some shuffling on the other side. "Okay, so, yeah, I'm pretty busy right now, so we'll chat later. Just wanted to check up on you, Babs." Lefty, Bonnie and Molten all shared a look at the nickname, then looked back to see Baby blushing bright red in embarrassment. "I'll talk to the staff to get some new rooms installed, hopefully I'll get to see you soon! Love ya'!"

When the call ended, Baby was looking down at the ground in utter embarrassment. Bonnie found it endearing and cute, Molten was resisting the urge to start teasing her, and Lefty was in shock.

"So that was Caleb?" The black bear asked.

"Yeah, that was…" The clawed animatronic said quietly.

"He seems like a nice kid", Bonnie said. "Makes me want to meet him in person more now."

"Well, he hooked Babydoll in!" Molten said in a jolly tone and he moved over at smacked Baby on the shoulder. "He's got to be an awesome friend if she stuck around."

"Not a friend", Baby corrected. "But my… He's basically my brother." Her look became sharp as she glared at the others. "And he's the only one who gets to call me Babs, got it? Even you Bon, sorry, but Caleb gets exclusive rights to that nickname."

The other three nodded, and they fell into a comfortable silence. Baby sighed and leaned back, feeling relaxed as the other three started to talk between each other. Baby sighed, hoping things would get better now, but she didn't keep her hopes up. Who knows what could happen now.

She blinked, feeling sleep take her over. She guessed all the emotional outpouring was finally catching up to her. She tried her best to stay awake by listening to the other's and their conversation, but it wasn't long until she was out like a light.

~X~

And that's chapter 9! And finishing this chapter made me realise something… There's only 4 chapters of the main story left. Chapter 13 is the endpoint, with it then being the bonus epilogue and credits. Jeez this story is going by fast, huh?

But about the chapter itself, I brought Lefty back! I always had a soft spot for the bear, hence why they had a semi important role in the story in regards to Baby's development, and this was their massive comeback! It's nice to have them back in the greater picture, simply because it's almost time for the massive emotional blow-up.

I've got a devious plan cooking in my head, and when it's out, you all will have so much to think about! This ain't your average FNaF fic, after all…

Up next: A bad day spirals as Baby is put on flame from nearly everything. Everything she does is met with scrutiny, and even with her friends to lean on, it's not enough…

~Caleb~