Hello all and here is the first chapter of 2018 and I deeply admire your patience for waiting until the next upload. :-)
This stuff takes time to write down and more importantly getting it right and not releasing it as a complex mess of jumbled up words.
Also with what I said previously about the word count, I'll try to keep below 10,000 words unless I feel it's worth going the extra mile.
So do enjoy.
Also, thank you to Daniel. Slugocki 1997 for deciding to follow this story, glad that your enjoying it.
Time is no one's friend and the Fazbears know it all too well...
Chapter 29.
Time Is A Friend To No One.
"Time flies over us, but leaves its shadow behind."
Nathaniel Hawthrone.
Tap, tap, tap…tap, tap, tap.
Tap, tap, tap…tap, tap, tap.
Jeremy's fingers repeatedly pressed several keys on his computer's key pad as he brought up several documents which he had stored on the machine, documents all relating to Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria.
Since his retirement from the company in 1988, he had been gathering as much information as possible on the company's history, trying to piece things together and help the Fazbears unlock the mystery which constantly hung over them like a dark cloud.
So far, he had collected documents detailing the two Missing Children's Incidents, the Bite of 1987 and some information on Fredbear's Family Diner, however he had found nothing on the 'Bite of 1983' or the establishment which Goldie had referred to as Fredbear and Friends.
Like the former children entertainer said, it was a closed and isolated incident.
Unable to find anything new, Jeremy slumped back onto his chair and sighed, covering his eyes and giving them a rest from the bright computer screen.
"Why must everything be hidden or locked away," he muttered out loud, trying to work out key dates in his head.
Around his office which was a fairly small room were pictures pinned to the surrounding walls with sheets of information stapled next to them…all relating to Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria.
Photos, company complaints, some financial records not that they yielded much other than the steady collapse of the company.
And last of all newspaper articles, dating the timeline of events from Fredbear's Family Diner in the late 70s, to the opening of the two pizzerias in the early to late 80s with their respective 'incidents' and finally the reopening of the first Pizzeria in the 1990s, with its permanent closure in 1994.
The last article read as:
"FAZBEAR'S CLOSES ITS DOORS FOREVER, COMPANY COLLAPSES UNDER THE SHADOW OF TRAGIC EVENTS AND FINANICAL PRESSURE!"
After that announcement, the eyes of society moved away from Fazbear's, remembering it only as a place of innocent deaths and terrible mistakes.
The Fazbears were left behind within a rotting and worn out building, a relic to a golden era in show business.
When Jeremy found out about the closure of the place in 1994, he headed over to catch up on events and for the first time meet Mike Schmidt face to face after exchanging various emails for over a year.
Putting his hand to his head to ward off an impending headache, Jeremy's thoughts wandered onto recent events.
Why was Vincent using the Nightmares of a random child to hunt them down and what was their personal motive for attacking the Fazbears?
Up until a few days ago no one had known about the existence of the Nightmares.
Jeremy had a strange feeling that those two questions might hold the answer, yet equally they produced more questions than answers.
However, his mind wouldn't give up on trying to think of a possible explanation for why things had turned out the way they did.
At first and for a long time Jeremy saw Vincent as nothing more than an insane psychopathic child killer, yet that was before recent events.
Now Jeremy felt there was more to the man than there first appeared…something distinctly human…which initially Jeremy outrightly rejected…but still it was something which he couldn't deny completely. Besides, thinking back over past events was building up a theory which had been massing in the back of his mind as he added more vital documents on Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria to his ever-growing collection.
And it was based on one particular question…if Vincent was just a child killer who went round to various Fazbear Pizzerias and murdered children then why did he come back when Fazbear's Pizzeria had long since closed…why return?
And that question actually produced an answer, it wasn't confirmed to be real, but either way real or not Jeremy did not want to admit it.
Why would a child killer pursue them…unless…he held some sort of grudge against them?
Within an instant of that thought entering his head, the mental floodgates opened up and suddenly a whole wave of new interpretations of events came rushing forth, so many that Jeremy couldn't process them all.
What if everything Vincent had done was part of a well thought out strategy to bring down Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria, after all it would explain why he was still chasing them after all these years.
Yet, if his theory was to be true then what was his motive exactly?
As Jeremy mentally searched for more answers, he was interrupted by the sound of someone moving nearby.
He opened his eyes and saw a cup of fresh coffee being placed on the desk before him, his eyes flicked upwards to see Mike towering over him.
"You ok?" he asked, tilting his head for a better angle. "You look as if you could do with something strong to pick you up?"
Jeremy merely chuckled at Mike's concern.
"Yes," he replied cheerfully.
"This is exactly what I need, it'll keep any potential headaches at bay."
Mike's eyes however found the computer screen.
"So…you're still looking up info on Fazbear's?" he asked, scanning the Word documents currently on display.
"Any luck?"
"I've reached a dead end, so far I've found nothing new on the web, although my mind is compensating for that by creating new theories," Jeremy replied sluggishly, switching from one Word document to the next. "It's just the same information now, closures, statements of the company apologizing for the incidents and how they'll take any criticism to heart for future lessons, you know…the normal trash."
Then the question he had been pondering on recently resurfaced in his mind. "Tell me Mike, what do you think of Vincent?" he asked abruptly throwing the question out into the open.
Mike was initially stunned by the question, but he gave Jeremy his opinion.
"I think he is a nutcase, a twisted man and a child murderer, case close shut."
There was a slight pause.
"Yet…I think there's more to him, looking back…not everyone is born a physco, some are, but not all."
"Go on," Jeremy remarked, interested to know if Mike's words would match his little theory.
Mike pulled up a nearby chair and sat down, preparing for a long discussion.
"If Vincent was just a child killer then he would have left Fazbear's Pizzeria long ago, but he didn't and if anything he's been targeting the Fazbears themselves even though the business is long gone…why?" He turned round to see if anyone was listening in on their conversation through the open doorway, before turning back to meet Jeremy in the eye.
"To me that's speaks of something much bigger, what if Vincent had a reason for going after the Fazbears, we've all wondered why he killed the kids, why he targeted this particular fast food chain…and I think with what Goldie has said we may have the answer…I don't know if it is true, but I am edging my bets that's it's a strong possibility."
He sighed, trying to put everything together so his inner thoughts could be translated into words.
"You do know what I'm hinting at right?"
"Yeah…I've got an idea of what you mean," Jeremy replied, fearing the Fazbears' reaction to their little theory being true.
From outside in the kitchen they could hear the Fazbears talking and joking with one another.
"You know at times I'm still surprised how close they stick together," Mike muttered, turning briefly in the direction of the doorway from which the sounds came. "That family bond of theirs has not been on the strongest of foundations at times."
"Well when you look at it, family is all they've got left, I'm not surprised that they are a close knit unit," Jeremy added, hearing the sounds of Freddy's classical deep laugh.
"Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha."
"Hang on let me try," Toy Freddy announced.
"I mastered vocal class."
And then he let rip.
"HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA!"
"Toy Freddy you're too loud," Toy Chica moaned, covering her ears.
"You'll send someone deaf, let alone scare them!"
"It's get your attention, there's no doubt about that," Puppet remarked causally.
There came the sound of a chair sliding, properly Bonnie moving next to her given what she asked.
"Hey Puppet, do the Pop Goes The Wessel song?"
"Give me a second."
Slowly came the haunting sound of the Puppet's musical, the classic tune of approaching dread.
"Hey quit jump scaring me!" Balloon Boy shouted, followed by sounds of chairs moving with the kitchen table shaking.
"YAAAAA!" went Toy Bonnie, jumping Balloon Boy right out of his skin with a shriek.
"HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" which was Goldie's jumpscare.
"JESUS THAT'S LOUD!" Mangle yelled.
"GUYS, GUYS, GUYS, WHO WANTS TO BE NOMINATED AS THE BEST FREDDY!" Freddy shouted over the others.
"Well I hate to brag, but I am officially the new and improved Freddy Fazbear," Toy Freddy exclaimed, followed by the sound of a chair being pushed backwards, as if he was standing up to make a speech.
"Only in your dreams, besides you six don't exist anymore as according to Fazbear Entertainment, you laddies were….'put down' supposedly," Foxy argued, one could imagine him waving his hook victoriously at Toy Freddy to cement his point.
"You owe us one."
Jeremy laughed, finding the whole argument humorous, because it was quite pointless.
"They're still arguing over who is best despite everything, although suppose it's natural healthy competition."
"Once I got to know them a little better in nearly every conversation one of them would bring it up and that would just unleash a whole powder keg of verbal fights," Mike muttered, recalling his former days as a nightguard.
"I think I can play the guitar better, I've been around longer and thus can claim to be a professional," Bonnie stated, deliberating aiming to get Toy Bonnie to react.
She didn't need to try so hard.
"You saying my guitar playing is crap!" Toy Bonnie shot back, visibly looking offended.
Bonnie folded her arms and smirked, this could not be any easier.
"Well…I could be right, you only preformed for a few months and then you got shut down."
That was followed by everyone else going.
"OOOOOOO, BURN BONBON JUST GOT BURNT!"
"Fine then!" Toy Bonnie yelled, slamming her fists down onto the table, accepting the challenge.
"I'll go and get my guitar then we'll see whose better!" she fumed, turning to run off down the hall and up the stairs to fetch her guitar.
Bonnie responded in kind.
"I'll go and get mine also," she stated proudly, before heading off towards the room she shared with Freddy.
And then Foxy decided to introduce a competition of his own.
"Ok, ok, ok, whose act is better mine or Mangle's?" he asked, obviously excepting one answer and one answer only.
"Well Mangle never really got a chance to shine due to the kids bullying her, although you didn't act much in the third pizzeria, so I guess you two can call it even," Goldie suggested with a shrug of his shoulders.
Foxy's expression of pride fell to one of confusion.
"Even…but I was Foxy the Pirate."
Goldie amusingly raised his hand to make a point.
"And a great one at that, but Mangle had untapped potential which was capped by bullies."
"But, but, but that doesn't count-"
"Foxy just accept me as your equal and be done with it," Mangle ordered folding her arms in a dominating posture.
"But your-"
"Accept it," Mangle ordered with a stern tone and with that Foxy folded, lowering his head in submission.
And then Toy Chica added herself into the fray.
"My cupcake is cuter than yours," she argued, pointing at Chica, ok now it was beyond doubt that they were just arguing for the sake of it.
"My cupcake is still pretty, just because I don't look like blooming Goldielocks doesn't mean me or my cupcake is not cute," Chica replied courtesy, although it wasn't hard for anyone to detect the annoyance in her voice.
"But I didn't mention you," Toy Chica remarked, looking somewhat stunned.
Then her confused expression dropped, replaced with by a playful smile.
"Then again, I was far more beautiful than you were back then, very innocent looking."
Chica hated to admit it but she was right, back when they first met in 1987 Toy Chica was very pretty. When she walked into a room you would stop and stare and then be further taken away by her warm smile.
One wouldn't be surprised if young boys had eyed her as their first crush.
"Yeah, you were meant to be better…in every way," Chica muttered, brushing her hair back behind her ears.
"You were quite the looker Goldielocks."
And that Goldielocks comment had often been accompanied by a very degrading one liner when they were both at war with each other back in the second Pizzeria.
"Awww, come on Chica, I think you look pretty, plus you're a fine actor," Toy Chica squealed, wrapping her arms around the woman before she could react.
"How about sometime later I give you a makeover, bring out your inner beauty."
That brought a smile to Chica's face.
"I like that," she said, feeling all fuzzy in her young counterpart's arms.
Then the two Bonnies returned with their respective guitars, playfully shoving each other aside as they walked in through the doorway.
"Ok, best of three," Bonnie announced.
"You're on," Toy Bonnie replied, grinning.
"Oh God I fear for my ear drums," Freddy moaned, covering his ears as did the others.
"One…"
Both Bonnies readied themselves.
"Two..."
Eyes locked.
"THREE!"
And then all hell broke loose.
Loud, ear screeching sounds filled the house, powerful enough to make objects move, Mike and Jeremy could feel their chairs vibrate as the sound traveled through the floor.
"YOU TWO STILL WOULDN'T MAKE IT INTO QUEEN!" Mangle yelled admist the sound of everything shaking.
"SPEAKING OF QUEEN, DO YOU GUYS REMEMBER WHEN WE FIRST PREFORMED TO THE STAFF IN OUR PIZZERIA, WHEN WE ALL TURNED UP!" Toy Freddy yelled, trying to be heard over the thunderstorm of noise.
"IT WAS KIND OF MAGIC WASN'T IT!" Toy Chica shouted.
"WHAT!" Toy Freddy shouted back, even though he was sitting next to her.
"I SAID, IT WAS KIND OF MAGIC!" Toy Chica screamed at the top of her lungs.
"YEAH, IT WAS BRLIANT!" the Toy replied joyfully, although you would have to be sitting next to him to get even a chance of hearing his words.
He then turned to Freddy seated nearby.
"AND YOU GUYS TIRED TO KILL US BECAUSE WE TOOK YOUR PLACE, EXTREME, BUT SOMEWHAT UNDERSTANDABLE!"
His words confused the elder Fazbear, largely because of what he and the other three attempted to do to get rid of the Toys.
"UNDERSTANDABLE!" He yelled, standing up and pointing at himself.
"WE TIRED TO WRECK THE BUSSINESS JUST TO GET RID OF YOU LOT!"
Toy Freddy chuckled and responded with.
"YEAH, BUT YOU MADE UP THAT BY RESCUING US!"
To which Freddy held his hands up, accepting defeat.
"TRUE!"
Puppet meanwhile just sat there on the other side of the table with her hands over her ears, watching the speed at which the Bonnies' hands moved.
"I'm just waiting for the sound of a wrist snapping," she thought as they got faster and faster as the frenzy climbed to record heights.
And that frenzy was making Jeremy worry.
"I should go and stop them before they break something."
He turned and closed all of his opened documents and proceeded to shut the machine down, watching the green light which represented the power button died down.
"This stuff can wait for now."
"You coming Mike?" he asked turning to his longtime friend.
Mike however was in a posture of deep thought resting his head on his hand with his eyes staring off into the distance.
"Are you going to tell them…about what could possibly be Vincent's motive?" he asked, his eyes remaining in their dreamy position.
"It's just a theory, but it'll send out shockwaves for us all if it turns out to be true."
Jeremy sighed.
"I'll tell them tomorrow, they're having fun and I wouldn't want to burden them with more scary ideas, they all looked quite shaken after Goldie recalled his experience," he replied.
Mike slowly nodded, before adding.
"Well they do need some time to get to grips with the past, I don't know how they would cope with…something like this…especially Goldie…I don't want him to undergo another breakdown."
He stood up.
"Therefore, it's for the best that we keep this between us until tomorrow, it's been a long day with the Nightmares kidnapping Goldie, us going to get him back, losing Springtrap and now Goldie's experience of being in the Nightmare World and having accidently bit a child."
"GUYS, YOUR GONNA BREAK JEREMY'S STUFF IF YOU DON'T STOP!" Chica yelled from the kitchen out of which all manner of chaos erupted.
Jeremy took his cup of coffee and drank it in one go with it having cool down enough to be drinkable.
Mike did the same, thus removing the risk of them dropping the cups and spilling the coffee as the two Bonnies' music was enough to make people lose control of their nerves.
They then exited the room, following the rather loud music which emitted from the two Bonnies' guitars. When they both entered the kitchen, they found not too surprisingly, all other Fazbears hiding under the table, covering their ears whilst the two Bonnies were creating absolute chaos with the music they were making.
"So, I see your all hiding in the bunker," Jeremy commented, chuckling at the Fazbears' situation.
"JUST MAKE THEM STOP!" Balloon Boy shouted, burying his face into the floor to escape the loud music.
Mike sought the easiest solution by simply taking the guitars out of the Bonnies' hands, needless to say that caught their attention.
"Awww come on, I was winning," Toy Bonnie moaned, looking annoyed that her most prized possession had be taken off her. "You were too loud," Mike replied calmly, keeping a firm grip on both guitars. "Sorry…I got carried away," said Bonnie sheepishly, lowering her head in embarrassment.
Jeremy laughed, kneeling down besides Freddy and Toy Freddy who like the others hadn't got out from under the table.
"I find this all to be very ironic, largely because when I was nightguard at the 'new and improved' pizzeria, things were very loud, in fact you lot were the ones making the noises with the child like laughter, odd singing and of course the unforgettable always in your face jumpscares."
"That was before I grew to hate loud noises," Toy Freddy replied, looking up.
"Well now you know how I feel," Jeremy stated.
He then stood up and pulled the chairs back so they could get out.
"And to think it took you thirty something years to reach my understanding of what it was like to be a nightguard."
"Hey, our professions are two very different things, I can only imagine your situation," Toy Freddy shot back, although not out of anger, but rather playful banter.
"Mike, please can I have my guitar back?" Toy Bonnie asked, gazing at him sweetly.
"Just play softly ok or not at all," he said, handing it back to her.
He then turned to Bonnie, who still had her head down in embarrassment "The same goes to you, too much noise may break something and you don't have that much money."
Or rather it was no money at all in her case.
Mike gave her back her guitar to which she replied with a small smile.
"Ok," Jeremy announced, catching everyone's attention.
"After that….'crisis', I hate to take us onto a topic that is sad, but..."
He turned to Goldie, who was patting Balloon Boy on the head, much to the latter's annoyance, but that's why Goldie was doing it anyway.
"Do you have any idea of what you want to do with regards to Springtrap's funeral?"
That made everything tense as well as making the whole room go cold.
"It's just that we can't keep the body."
Goldie's expression went blank, unreadable, he stopped ruffing Balloon Boy's hair.
For a several seconds, he said nothing, however he eventually turned in Jeremy's direction.
Everyone held their breath, wondering what he would say.
"I think he would preferred to have be buried, we can't actually cremate him," he said softly, although everyone could sense the pain in his voice.
"We could try," Balloon Boy remarked, only for Puppet to smack him lightly in the back of the head.
Toy Chica slowly reached over and squeezed Goldie's hand for support, as did Bonnie with his other hand.
"He can be buried tomorrow in the back garden if you like…or do you need more time?" Foxy asked, eyeing Goldie with concern.
"No…he can be buried tomorrow out in the back, I won't forget him, but we can't keep his corpse forever," Goldie replied, although he didn't turn to meet Foxy in the eye, but rather stared down at the floor.
"Ok…we'll do that…" Jeremy muttered, bringing the whole conversation to an end, he didn't want to linger on the issue…no one did.
"So now what?" Mangle asked, looking around whilst raising an obvious question.
"Well, it's early evening…so…any ideas?" Freddy asked.
"A game perhaps."
"Cards?" Chica suggested.
"Boring?" Balloon Boy moaned, rolling his eyes in dismay.
"How about twister?" Bonnie proposed, throwing the idea into the ring.
"Errr…I think that'll end in fights," Toy Chica muttered.
"The last time we played did."
Then Balloon Boy shot his hand up.
"Oh, I know we can play a video game."
"That's in the lounge…where Springtrap is," Mike stated, instantly shooting down the idea.
"Oh…yeah," Balloon Boy replied, lowering his head in embarrassment.
"We could just play rock paper scissors?" Foxy muttered.
"Now how would that work with thirteen of us?" Toy Freddy asked, pointing out the impossible.
Then Puppet got an idea…an insane idea that made her smile like a creeper. "I know…" she said, straightening her jet black hair.
"You said we don't know what it's like to be a nightguard, I am curious Jeremy, really I am."
"What's your idea?" Jeremy asked, he could grasp where she was going.
"I'm interested Puppet."
So Puppet explained her idea in full.
"It'll take some effort and teamwork, but how about we recreate your shift, fit a few cameras around the house, connect them to a laptop or monitor of sorts, have a flashlight."
"What about the Freddy mask?" Mike asked, folding his arms.
"It's an important part, crucial if I may say."
"Dam right it is, saved my life on a couple of occasions," Jeremy remarked highlighting Mike's point.
"Easy, we'll just use a cardboard box and cut out some eye holes," Puppet replied playfully.
"After all, considering what we've been through in the present day, wouldn't it be nice to reembrace the past?"
Jeremy smiled, although it was a sarcastic smile.
"Yes, reembrace the past, the same past where I was sitting on the edge on my seat, scared shitless, hiding inside a mask, barely making it through the night and then going home, too scared to sleep, and having nightmares of being chased by you lot and unable to find the God dam exit!"
"You know with your ramblings Jeremy, I'm surprised you're not in therapy by now," Goldie muttered.
"Well that was the only downside to being employed at Freddy Fazbear's, once I got to know you guys…things quieten down quite quickly."
"Until the Second Missing Children's' Incident and the Bite of 1987," Chica whispered, although everyone heard her.
Mangle instantly went very quiet, lowering her head upon mention of the Bite of 1987.
"Yeah, the past has its ugly moments, more than we would like, but…"
Then Balloon Boy raised his head and spoke.
"It wasn't all bad…we had our good moments…if not then…why are we all together?"
He looked around at everyone.
"One big family that loves each other very much."
He was right, the past wasn't always a horrible experience, there were happy moments, touching ones even.
"We don't need to always think of the bad times when we think of the past, tonight let's just focus on the good ones."
Once again, Balloon Boy was proving that he was more mature than he looked.
He turned to face Goldie, who was now had his back against the wall.
"Springtrap would, he would find a way to relive happier days."
Goldie's dark red eyes meet BB's light blue.
The former smiled.
"Yeah…that's just like Spring…you're right BB…the past wasn't all bad."
He pushed himself off the wall and walked forward.
"I'm in, I mean I'm game."
"I'm in," Freddy added.
"Count me in as well," Toy Bonnie said with a playful smile.
Soon everyone was announcing their support for the idea.
"Well…" Jeremy muttered, looking at his watch.
"The time is six pm, now six hours would take us to midnight, but we could cut it down to thirty minutes each or an hour if we want to take turns."
"So, it's on, Five Nights at Freddy's is back on!" Chica exclaimed, punching her fist in the air.
"Well Mike and I can set up the cameras, BB you can make the mask, Toy Freddy you go and find a flashlight and everyone else can decide who takes the role of being the nightguard," Jeremy ordered, dividing everyone up in separate roles.
"Ideally, we should decide with choosing straws, whoever gets the shortest must be the nightguard," Mike suggested as he left to get several cameras.
"That's how I'll do it."
Within ten to twenty minutes everything was set up and running, the cameras were placed in various rooms around the house, the Toys and the Originals had chosen their starting positions, trying to portray the shift as accurate as possible.
And the nightguard…the one having picked the shortest straw…was Toy Bonnie.
Soon she was sitting in a chair at the kitchen table with a monitor which could access the cameras as well as remotely wind up the music box and a flashlight at her side.
Jeremy had even given her his old nightguard cap to add more realism to the whole scene.
Because she wasn't with Toy Freddy or Toy Chica, Mangle had taken up her role as well as her own, doing a balancing act of sorts.
From where she was positioned there was one door off to her left, another door some way ahead of her to the right and then the hallway right in front.
Mike and Jeremy were staying out of the whole game, they were watching by means of another computer from inside the office.
They could see Toy Bonnie in the kitchen through a special camera as well as having access to the other cameras, so they could see where the others were.
And finally, to top it all off, both men agreed that the whole thing would be nothing without Phone Guy, so they gave Toy Bonnie, all five to six of his recordings which would play automatically.
Toy Bonnie checked the time…they had all waited an extra ten minutes for the clock to hit to six thirty.
The game had begun, announced by the dong of Jeremy's grandfather clock which stood in the hallway.
Toy Bonnie steadied herself.
She could do this…survive for just one hour.
Then without a moment too soon, Phone Guy's recordings started…night one, the easiest of the five slash six nights.
"Uh, hello? Hello, hello?"
Those classic first words of uneasiness.
"Uh, hello and welcome to your new summer job at the new and improved Freddy Fazbear's Pizza."
"Boy, you don't sound nervous in the slightest," Toy Bonnie sarcastically remarked.
Phone Guy continued.
"Uh, I'm here to talk you through some of the things you can expect to see during your first week here and to help you get started down this new and exciting career path."
Toy Bonnie looked around, she was sure she heard something.
"Yeah…" she muttered, eyeing her surroundings.
"Tell me, does this career path involve a rather messy and violent end?"
Meanwhile back in the office, Mike and Jeremy watched with satisfied grins as Phone Guy lectured to Toy Bonnie about the protocols of the Fazbear Pizzeria establishment.
"You know…it is oddly satisfying when it's not you that's in the chair," Mike stated, clearly amused by the spectacle.
He turned to Jeremy.
"Tell me…did you agreed to this idea out of revenge?"
Jeremy smiled and leaned back in his chair.
"Well…I thought it was time for them to experience what I did…after all it'll be something which we can all relate to after this."
"However, I won't deny that revenge had some part to play in my thinking."
He then reached down and pulled up a bag of popcorn which he had been saving much to Mike's surprise.
"Oh, Jeremy you really shouldn't have," he said, taking a handful.
"No really I insist," Jeremy offered.
"Besides when are we ever gonna get another opportunity like this," he muttered, turning to look at the computer screen.
"I bet you Toy Freddy has moved, if we are keeping to the original timeframe, then the Originals shouldn't move until much later on."
Meanwhile back in the kitchen, Toy Bonnie had grown bored of Phone Guy's ramblings.
"But most importantly, we trained them to remember vast range of known criminals, photographic memory and all that, they should notice one the moment they step foot inside this building, heck, we should be paying them to guard you."
Toy Bonnie sighed, she remembered the company conducting mind experiments on them, putting a whole load of criminal identities within her head as well as the other Toys.
Hence when they were in their pizzeria, they could ideally protect the children from any criminals that walked in through its doors, they could recognise anyone on the criminal list that was prone to commit child murder.
She could still recall certain people, but since their escape from the pizzeria in 1987 with the Originals they had been able to remove such information from their heads.
It was all part of the company's attempts avoid a repeat of what had occurred in the previous Pizzeria.
In all honesty who could blame them for trying to improve the safety of their customers when five kids had been killed on their watch.
Except as they all knew it didn't stop Vincent, he wasn't on the list…so he could just walk on right past them and conduct his killings.
He was on even terms with the company at that point, often helping the Toys get suited to their new roles.
A part of Toy Bonnie blamed herself for not stopping him, but Vincent as always was one step ahead and how could she stop him, she didn't suspect him of anything…none of the Toys did.
Back then the Originals described that they had an uneasy feeling when Vincent was around, but they could never figure out why.
Largely that was because the childrens' spirits were still trying to come to grips with the new reality of them being dead as well as using five random people as vessels in order to cling to the physical realm.
No one suspected Vincent…no one but Puppet.
Whenever he was around, she would always narrow her eyes and become very withdrawn…more than she normally was.
Even when he had interacted with her on several occasions, she always looked like she was trying restrain herself…properly for lashing out at him which wasn't too surprising seeing how it would involve her anger as well as that of the child's that dwelt within her.
She knew what Vincent had done and what was he properly going to do, yet she was always tied in her strings entertaining children and back then who would believe her? The staff wouldn't, nor would the Fazbears themselves, largely because she had no hard evidence to back up her claim.
So, much to her own disgust, she kept herself quiet and she properly regretted it.
Then of course came that fatal day in November 1987…
Stomp!
The sound of something moving off to her left instantly derailed Toy Bonnie's chain of thought.
She shone the flashlight in the general direction of the noise, revealing it to be Toy Chica standing in the left doorway frozen in position, her olive green eyes staring into hers.
Toy Bonnie had never thought of Toy Chica being scary…until now, especially with her sinister smile.
And as usual Phone Guy was still talking
"Uh, now that being said, no new system's without its... kinks. Uh... you're only the second guard to work at that location."
"Go away," Toy Bonnie mouthed, her eyes remained locked with Toy Chica's who refused to move.
There was red line marked out around the table and if anyone got inside that line then they could jumpscare her and end the whole game.
"Uh, the first guy finished his week, but complained about... conditions, uh, we switched him over to the day shift, so hey, lucky you, right?" Phone Guy remarked, talking as if nothing serious was going on.
Suddenly she remembered the Freddy Head…which in reality was just a cardboard box with two eye holes cut out.
Although Balloon Boy had gone the extra mile to attach cardboard ears and colour it brown to make it look like Freddy Fazbear himself.
"Uh mainly he expressed concern that certain characters seemed to move around at night, and even attempted to get into his office."
She pulled the cardboard box over her head and stared Toy Chica down…although her expression didn't change, she properly got the message that she couldn't attack so she left, heading back to square one.
Relieved Toy Bonnie took the cardboard box off and breathed a sigh of relief.
"Thank God that's over."
Phone Guy of course was still talking as if nothing had happened.
"So, no one at the moment has an explanation for this, but the working theory is that... as a side effect of their training and the repetitive nature their job causes the entertainers to wander around at night. Basically, it's like they're sleepwalking, so they'll just walk into your office sometimes, acting out their performance."
Actually, they weren't sleep walking, at least not until after the second Missing Children's Incident. During the first few months, they did like to roam around at night and in all honesty, they were just interested in finding out who the night guard was.
It was the only time in which the whole pizzeria was empty and they could relax and be themselves, let their hair down.
"We just wanted to make friends, why be so difficult?" Toy Bonnie asked, grumbling under her breath.
Although the first guy was grumpy and didn't like them that much…hence why he 'complained of issues'.
"Why take up the job if you didn't like the staff," Toy Bonnie muttered sarcastically, turning to the computer so she could check the cameras.
Phone Guy was still talking however.
"So, our temporary solution is this: there's a music box over by the Prize Counter, and it's rigged to be wound up remotely. So just, every once in a while, switch over to the Prize Counter video feed and wind it up for a few seconds. It doesn't seem to affect all of the entertainers, but it does affect... one of them."
He was of course referring to Puppet…she liked the music box…it helped her cope with the misery of their situation by means of isolation.
Switching to the first camera brought up the hallway outside and guess who was there, staring at the camera…Toy Freddy with his blue eyes glowing in the pitch blackness.
She swore he wiggled his eyebrows at her, giving Toy Bonnie his mischevious grin.
"Very funny," she chuckled, briefly ignoring the fact that he was her 'enemy' in this game.
She shone the flashlight down the hallway to see Toy Freddy as expected staring back at her.
Flashing the flashlight repeatedly in his eyes was the trick apparently it got them to turn away from the office.
With the bright light stinging his eyes, Toy Freddy backed away into the darkness.
So far this was quite easy however it had only been five minutes, plus Toy Bonnie hadn't encountered the others…no doubt Balloon Boy would soon become a problem.
And then of course there was Puppet...hiding inside her music box…Crap…THE MUSIC BOX!
Quickly Toy Bonnie switched over to the camera which shown the music box inside one of the bedrooms.
"Rewind, rewind, rewind!" she pleaded, watching as the timer pushed itself back to the start.
And of course throughout all of it, Phone Guy hadn't stop talking.
"Uh, and as for the rest of them, we have an even easier solution, you see, there may be something underlying all of their behaviour at night and sometimes they can get aggressive, the Original lot in the back room especially get odd at night, but more on them later. As for the Toys, well they sometimes like to play this cat and mouse game where if they'll try to get you and stuff you inside a prop suit, so hey, we've given you an empty Freddy Fazbear head to fool them into thinking that you are one of them, problem solved!" Phone Guy exclaimed, happy that he was able to provide a solution.
"Again, the mind does weird stuff when it is sleep walking, so just be careful ok."
Ok, first things first, only the Originals hunted down the night guards in I987 and even then they weren't good at it..hence why they never got Jeremy, although at one point they got very close.
The Toys on the other hand did partake, but they were doing it as a joke, never intending to harm the security guard. It was only after them becoming possessed by the spirits of the children killed at their establishment that they actually tired to kill someone.
And yes, they did stuff them inside suits like props which…sadly ended up killing them and it wasn't quick.
"You can put it on anytime, and leave it on for as long as you want, eventually anything that wandered in will wander back out," Phone Guy muttered plainly.
And the mask did just that…although it to be fair it was a little…odd, for someone to think that someone else putting a mask over their face equaled them to being a robot, when clearly their hands, legs and torso were visible.
Anyway, Toy Bonnie gave a sigh of relief for having remotely rewind the music box.
"Hope you like sleeping Puppet, because that's what you'll be doing for this shift," she muttered softly, letting her heart relax.
Inside the music box, Puppet was merely waiting for the chance to strike.
She smiled…the whole game reminded her of her glory days, this sort of thing got her blood pumping.
However, she was also under the control of the child spirit within her, determined to get revenage for the fate which befell it outside Fredbear's Family Dinner back in the late 1970s.
The child which Springtrap had tired to save, yet the whole orderal ended up putting him in a coma for more than a good quarter of a century.
Normally when the music box had stopped playing she would rush out and attack the nightguard, regardless of who it was or what they had done.
The child's anger and her own rage was a force to be reckoned with.
She knew that Toy Bonnie would be regularly checking the camera to make sure she didn't get out, so she had plenty of time to think.
She laid her head against the box's inner walls and recalled past moments.
Her first memory was waking up inside the old prizzia, when Freddy, Bonnie, Chica and Foxy were still preforming, but just before the First Missing Childrens' Incident.
She had no idea of what she was supposed to do, so she just sat down on the floor and started to think…until she heard a voice…a child's voice…coming from inside her head.
Initally and quite understandablely she was scared shitless that there was another voice insider her mind.
Until the voice started to tell her its' name, its' family, its' life…its' former waking life.
As time slowly passed and day became night, she grew closer to the ghost child who was in fact a boy.
He told her everything and that he was sorry that he was using her as a means of staying within the physical realm, but she said it was ok and that she would help him catch his killer.
In fact, she made a promise to help him find enteral rest.
At that point in time, she thought it would a balanced partnership, him and her working together, yet with their own separate minds.
Yet that was before he fully possessed her back in the second Prizzia and nearly made her attack Vincent outright.
Boy that took a lot of willpower to contain the child's anger, especially when Vincent actually patted her on the head…if he had done it again she wouldn't have been able to prevent the ghost child from regaining control…she felt drained afterwards and was unable to do anything else for a long while.
It was then she learnt that she was a prisoner to the child's anger as well as her own…and it scared her.
Anger was an emotion…a strong emotion, it didn't use logic to separate the innocent from the guilty.
And it was same situation for the others who later became possessed by the spirits of the other dead children…it was why so many nightguards had died….innocent nightguards.
They felt bad afterwards, the children did also…yet being trapped, all alone in the darkness of the afterlife for so many decades…alive or dead that length of isolation does stuff to the mind. Out of all the Fazbears, the Puppet seem to contect with the ghost children the most, largely because she had given them life…a second chance, inhabiting the bodies of their favouritive characters.
She had promised to help them find peace, she hoped that when it was all over things would return back to normal, the nightmare that had lasted for thrity years would end.
Yet it was still ongoing with Vincent still hunting them and now with living Nightmares at his side.
She physically shuddered as her memories of encountering Nightmare Freddy came racing back. He was evil made real in both body and mind, the complete mirror opposite of Freddy and Toy Freddy, as were the other three Nightmares.
Although she had never actually seen them in the flesh, she bet they were the same as Nightmare Freddy.
She cringed at the very thought of coming face to face with her nightmare counterpart, Nightmarionne, the darker version of her…what was she truly capable of?
Because if she the Puppet could give life…then could her mirror opposite just as easily take it away. She hoped she would never have to meet her, yet if she had learnt one thing it's that life is a strange experience filled with all sorts of outcomes, both good and bad.
Mostly bad though in her case...
Chica slowly peeked her head out of a doorway, her eyes looking down towards the kitchen where Toy Bonnie was sited.
The hallway was dark and gloomy, much like the ones in the second pizzeria when the night rolled in.
Being back in the role of a hunter playing cat and mouse filled her with a rush which she hasn't felt in years.
The thrill of the hunt only further served to excite her, after this was only a game, not like. . .all those other times, which ended in blood.
The image of an upright prop suit covered in blood splatters with other bodily fluids leaking out and visible sections of torn skin and gore filled her mind.,
Amy, David, Laura, Richard, Henry and Jessica, old time companions, well known by her and the others, they were the first to die and then when the old guard was gone, the new lot were up.
They sure did put up a fight, one hell of a struggle as they were grabbed and pulled towards their deaths.
She remembered smacking one of them, maybe Richard or Laura in the head as they were pushed into the prop suit, screaming out her name and for her to stop before the suit was slammed shut and locked.
And then the endoskeleton would spring back into its original position, stabbing them from all angles and puncturing their lungs, stomach, intestines, liver and heart.
Soon it was an iron maiden with blood splining out of every hole.
And then she along with the others still possessed mind you would taunt them as their victim cried out in pure agony as the pain was next to insufferable.
And once they got bored, they would leave and retire to bed, with the victim still screaming as each little movement only further pushed the metal compartments into their body.
Left to die in the dark. . .surrounded by monsters.
If they were luckily then they might survive until morning where the Fazbears would find them and put them out of their misery humanely, before burying them out back.
And the memory haunted her like it with the others, each one had killed one of those thirty nightguards over the course of a few years.
She could feel her guilt pooling in the back of her mind threatening to burst out and emotionally overwhelm her.
Then suddenly something grabbed her from behind and pulled her in close.
"Hey laddise, why the sad face?" a male voice asked curiously.
It was Foxy.
Being back in his arms quiten Chica's guilt to the point that it was almost invisible.
"It's just, I had a flashback…to a darker time," she muttered.
Foxy immediately knew what she meant and cuddled her, his presence further breaking down her fears.
"Chica, that was then, this is now, is it the game that's done this?"
"Partly, it just came to me, maybe it is the atmosphere of it all, the setting you know," she answered slowly, keeping her tone plain so not to get all emotional.
"I hate it so much, but even now twenty years on I can still feel it, gnawing away at the back of my mind."
"The imagery, it seems so real, almost as if it was yesterday."
She could feel her emotions begin to bubble, rising and threatening to break the mental barriers she had placed on them.
"And when I remember, I cannot stop the wave of imagery that bursts forth –"
Foxy pulled her in close, preventing what could be an emotional outburst, letting her rest her head against his chest.
"I know honey, I know how you feel, you're not alone in that."
He could see those images for himself, he had been present alongside her as it happened.
It made him feel awful, trying to act in front of children who were awed by his performance when he knew that somewhere out back were the buried decomposing bodies of murdered innocents who would never see their families again.
"I hate it too, but we promised to make amends," he whispered, stroking her golden hair, it wasn't as bright as it was when she was in her prime, but it was still beautiful.
"We can fix this."
He could feel Chica do a huge intake of air before speaking
"It's just that even if we do win, Vincent is killed and we get our lives back in order, become popular again. However it draws some unwanted attention, people reopen the investigations into the missing night guards. They find the bodies or something, then we are all arrested, put on a public trial, found guilty, the business closes and we get to face a lifetime in jail or. . ."
She did another intake of air, but Foxy could hear her voice breaking as she did.
"Or. . .or. . ."
An image rose up in her mind, a small white room with a metal chair in the middle attached to various wires and all sorts with a head brace attached.
"The electric chair," Foxy said plainly, voicing what she could not say.
Instantly Chica broke into a sob, clutching his clothes tightly as she lowered her head in fear.
"Yes," she croaked.
Out of the corner of her tear streaked eyes, she saw Foxy's hook hand shaking, she reached out and grabbed hold of it, making it stop.
He may have put on a stoic expression for her benefit, but on the inside, he was quaking with fear like she was.
He couldn't deny that he had thought about such things, being jailed for a crime which he didn't actually commit.
But there was no way in hell that the police would ever believe their story that they were possessed by dead children and murdered people because they mistook them for their killer, the elusive 'Purple Guy'.
The supernatural doesn't count as evidence in the mindset of the law, just deluded fantasies of an insane mind.
Amidst Chica's quiet sobbing he could hear Toy Bonnie from the kitchen screaming at Toy Chica to go away.
Everyone else was having fun and enjoying themselves for once, while he and Chica were being mentally pulled back into the past.
The others might see and that'll bring the collective mood down.
Not here. . .not now, they could mourn and cry elsewhere, away from the others.
Straightening his back, Foxy pushed Chica away slightly so he could see her face.
In the dim light he could see her bright green eyes filled with both fear and dread.
Because they had always existed in an insecure position. First they were unsure of what was really going on at night, when they 'sleep walked' as the staff put it and then when they did find out the truth from Puppet, they were scared as hell about the possibility of somebody finding out.
Even when Fazbear Entertainment had closed its doors and they were left behind in the pizzeria, there always existed the faint possibility of someone reopening the case. There was even the fear of the Purple Guy coming back or some other unseen force at work.
And because of that constant sense of paranoia they never got the chance to settle down and start over, to find a permanent sense of closure.
From the moment they become possessed their lives were never their own. Always under someone else's control, be it Fazbear Entertainment, directing them on what to do or through the manipulative schemes of Vincent Afton.
The specter of death or imprisonment hung over them like a black cloud, for the police or even the CIA could just burst in through front door right now and arrest them all for murder and that would be that.
No. . .that would be too easy, too simplistic and way too scary for Foxy to even contemplate.
He would rather die than let that happen.
The quiet sound of Chica crying brought him back to reality and out of his moment of mental speculation.
"Chica, don't cry," he hissed, cradling her face in his hand as his other gently ran down the side of her face.
"Don't cry no more. . .chicken."
Despite having a tear streaked face Chica giggled humorously at the word.
"When did you last call me that. . .a week before we left."
Foxy gave her a small smile and replied sarcastically.
"Believe it or not I've been distracted as of late."
"Really you don't say," Chica remarked coolly, playfully stroking his chin.
She wiped her tears away, although her feeling of sadness remained.
"Do you think that we'll ever be free of the past, even if Vincent is removed from the picture and the children find peace?"
Foxy stared at her longingly before answering.
"I can only hope that we'll find peace at the end of this, otherwise what's the point in fighting to change it?"
Chica sighed, allowing herself to fall once into his chest, savoring the warmth.
"True, it's just a fear which I can't shake off and I hate being upset at times about it, but. . .it's just gets me at times you know."
Foxy wrapped his arms around her again.
"I feel the same way as you already know, as do the others."
He looked away to see light stemming from the kitchen along with the frantic shouts of Toy Bonnie for Mangle to get lost.
"Go away, I've flashed you four times now, you know the rules!"
Although knowing Mangle, she wouldn't go away that easily.
Foxy then turned back to face the matter at hand.
"It's ok to cry Chica," he whispered.
"I know, but I didn't want to do it here and not when everyone else is having fun."
"Although at the end of it all, even if the worst does happen…"
She reached up and held his face in her hands.
"I'll always have you, Freddy, Bonnie, Goldie and the others, to the bitter end."
"You'll never be alone Chica," Foxy replied warmly, lightly pushing his head against hers.
"I'm still here. . ."
Chica didn't say anything in her response, instead she kissed him on the lips, it was brief, but it was no less affectionate.
They had always a relationship of sorts, at first it was friendly interactions with sarcastic humor, then being in each other's company for days on end.
And finally, subtle love which grew to be more obvious to them and everyone else as the years went by.
Although it hadn't exactly reached the boyfriend/girlfriend phrase.
Chica breathed out, finding herself to be releasing a gasp of breath she wasn't even aware that she had been holding onto.
"I love you," she whispered, letting her heart fly free, but she knew how Foxy felt.
"And I you," was his answer.
Which lead him to ponder onto something.
"When I went into your dream two nights ago along with Goldie, it was a church, you were dreaming about a church?"
Chica blushed, feeling her face go warm.
"Errr…yeah, I was…dreaming…"
She bit her fingers as she thought her next words over.
"I was dreaming about us getting married…and then 'he' turned up."
The 'he' being of course Nightmare Freddy.
"And we don't have to get married if that's what you want, I can wait until we're both ready, there's no sudden demand for you to get down on your knees and propos-"
She was swiftly silenced by Foxy putting his finger to her lips, cutting her off abruptly.
"Shhh," he whispered calmly, which only served to make Chica feel all wobblily and weak in the knees.
"You can dream whatever you like Chica, true I don't want to get married, I haven't really thought about it given what's going on around us."
"I want to focus on us, you and me, if time will allow it," he said, wrapping his arms around her once, which only made her turn red even more.
"Yeah…me too," Chica mumbled feeling evermore embarrassed, she knew that Foxy loved her and he knew about her feelings in return, it was just that they hadn't got enough time to be together.
Events had put a halt to that, for time is a friend to no one…
However here, in the dim darkness of Jeremy's home they might be allowed a few moments of privacy while everyone else as distracted.
Chica lightly pressed her head against Foxy's and closed her eyes.
"I want to get to know you more, it's just about finding the time in all this chaos," she whispered.
"Do you want to see a movie then?" he asked plainly, his response was that unexpected it made Chica laugh.
"That's your hook up line!" she teased.
"What did you expect, besides you said that you wanted to get to know me more and people do bond while watching films together."
In more ways than one Foxy…in more ways than one.
"Sure…" was Chica's quick response.
"Why not, what's the harm."
There came another sound of Toy Bonnie screaming for Freddy to depart from the kitchen.
"GO AWAY, GO AWAY, GO AWAY, GO AWAY!"
"STOP LOOKING AT ME LIKE THAT!"
"Sounds like she's enjoying herself," Foxy muttered sarcastically.
"Oh yes, she is in heaven right now," Chica remarked humorously.
A grin crept across Foxy's smile, one of mischievous delight.
"Wanna double jump scare her?" he asked, grinning from ear to ear.
"Of course," was Chica's response with her own look of mischief to match.
"It'll be fun."
Then out of the corner of her eye she saw something.
Turning to face the thing also catch Foxy's attention making him follow her direction.
It was Bonnie, standing a fair distance away in a posture which suggested that she was sneaking, properly moving between the cameras before Toy Bonnie could get a chance to check them.
And she was looking right at the pair.
For a good long while both sides just stared back at each other with the silence only being broken by the shouts of Toy Bonnie for the other Fazbears to leave her alone.
"GET LOST!"
Then Bonnie slowly raised both her hands and backed away slowly, clearly not wanting to disturb them, disappearing into the surrounding darkness.
For a while both Foxy and Chica continued to maintain their gaze, when Foxy finally asked.
"You're still there aren't you?"
"Yes," was a slightly embarrassed reply.
"Why?" Chica asked in a long and drawn out expression of annoyance.
"Look I was sneaking by to move closer to Toy Bonnie and I happen to come across you guys, so I took an interest."
Then her tone changed to one of teasing, something which Bonnie didn't do that often.
"You know you two look cute when you're hugging each other, not to mention the adorable words of affection."
Chica could easily sense that Bonnie was pulling her leg so responded in kind.
"What about the unspoken words of affection between you and Freddy, at least we're out in the open about us."
Bonnie fell silence for a moment before replying determinedly.
"We'll see about that Chica, I have him in my sights so to speak."
She then sighed, but it sounded. . .pained.
"Like you guys. . .I need time to do it."
"I just need time."
"Hey Bonbon, what if we were to find a way to give you the two space you need?" Foxy suggested, throwing the question out there.
Although they couldn't see her expression, her tone matched the face of one who was surprised, but in a good way.
"You'll. . .you'll do that for me?"
"Listen Bonbon, I've watched you eye our lead singer since the day we all turned up and after what's happened in the last few days I've decided if we do end up being sent to the electric chair then at the very least we should die knowing how we really feel for each other."
She flickered her hair behind her ears.
"Call it sloppy if you wish, but it is what we deserve, and you deserve your slice of happiness, or pizza pie to put it in 'Fazbear' terms."
"That's sounds. . .somewhat comforting," Bonnie replied sounding very unsure, the electric chair part had thrown her off.
However, her confidence kicked in.
"But yes, it's what I want, more than anything else."
"Then it's settled," Chica announcing, punching the air with her fist.
"Bonbon will get some 'loving' soon."
"It's 'Bonnie'," the Fazbear replied plainly, she didn't like that nickname the others had given her, never had.
"What if Freddy uses it?" Chica asked teasingly.
"That's. . .that's different."
"Sure it is Bonnie, there'll always be a different set of rules for Freddy."
Foxy meanwhile had turned around in the direction of the kitchen which sat at the far end of the hallway, lit by an aura of bright light.
"Hey Bonnie."
"What?" she replied.
"Do you want to help us jumpscare the hell out of Toy Bonnie?" Foxy asked, keeping his gaze forward, not bothering to look back.
There was the soft sound of footsteps and soon Bonnie was beside him, flanked by Chica.
She surveyed the area far ahead of her, spying out the small figure of Toy Bonnie, sitting at the kitchen table…all alone.
She twisted her neck, making several cracking noises as she loosened her joints.
"Sure, why not."
Then she smiled mischievously.
"It'll be fun. . ."
I did enjoy writing in the actual gameplay for FNAF in this one and there's more of it to follow.
And with them being human means that some things have to be taken with a grain of salt, but it mostly works within the lore of FNAF.
Please Review.