Hey all, FNAF AR has come out and it is lots of fun, I love it!
Although it has interesting elements of lore in it that indictate that something is with Fazbear Entertianment, possibly involving Vanny.
If you have the game and or have seen the emails on FNAF Reddit, then you'll know what I mean. ;-)
Also, the trailer for the new Freddy in Space 2 has just dropped.
Anyway, here is the next chapter. I know that I said at the end of the last chapter that the story would begin to move quickly and it will, but I want to focus on the characters and what I have in mind for the next two chapters has to be built up first.
There will be a pay off to all of this.
Thank you to both August Frost12 and thx for your reviews, yes we are approaching the 'endgame' for this story. Also, a huge thanks to Tenebrae Vesper for favouriting this story, I hope that you continue to enjoyment.
Apologies for any grammar mistakes, do enjoy.
No songs for this chapter, I want to avoid overusing them until it is the right moment.
Warning, this chapter contains dark themes depicturing harm towards children.
Chapter 43
A Friend's Farewell
"Be the things you loved about the people who are gone."
Unknown.
Slowly, the backdoor was pushed opened by Jeremy, clearing the way for Freddy and Toy Freddy, who were bearing Springtrap's makeshift coffin with everyone else following on behind in procession.
Normally at a funeral those attending would wear black to symbolise that they were in mourning for the deceased, but Jeremy didn't have much in terms of black clothing, so everyone wore something black to compensate.
Only Puppet came close to wearing full black given that it was her main colour.
Between the two of them, Toy Freddy and Freddy carried Springtrap's coffin to a grave in the middle of the garden dug by Mike sometime earlier. Goldie led the host forward, his head down and clasping his hands together as if he was in silent reflection, which given the circumstances he properly was.
Mike and Jeremy followed on behind the two Freddies, their eyes occasionally looking at the coffin. They were lucky to find a sturdy wooden box that could fit Springtrap's body as he was quite tall. Bonnie, Chica, Foxy, Toy Bonnie, Toy Chica, Mangle, Balloon Boy and Puppet trailed at the back, all with their heads down, they didn't really wish for this, but…they had to burry Springtrap. Maybe later when all the chaos had finally settled, they could find a better place and burry him in the style which he truly deserved. They soon reached the hole which Mike had worked hard on to make sure it was deep enough to contain the box in its entirety.
The procession stopped in its tracks; Goldie turned round to face the two Freddies.
There were no words, only a silent nod from Goldie which signalled to the others that it was time.
Together with help from Jeremy and Foxy, the two Freddies posited themselves on either side of the grave with the coffin itself being held above it. Everyone else merely stood around the grave with Goldie taking his position at the grave's far end. To say that he was nervous would be an understatement, he had never thought of what to say at a funeral because 'oddly' enough he never thought he would need to actually attend one.
Yet…here he was and seeing how he was Springtrap's best friend it was only fair for him to give a farewell speech. He momentarily tensed up when he felt a hand grasp his, although he quickly relaxed when he saw it was Toy Chica, trying her best to reassure him.
With everyone else looking at him, Goldie mentally readied himself before speaking.
"Well…here we are," he began, his eyes focused on the coffin.
"I first met SpringBonnie back in 1974, he would be the sort of guy who would make the extra effort to make any child happy, be it entraining them with his banjo, serving them cake or even helping them find their parents when they got lost."
Goldie chuckled to himself, those were good times when everything just worked itself out.
"He was well humoured, eventually he developed what I would call a sarcastic streak, he was quite witty with his remarks, hell I can even hear him right now, just rolling his eyes and muttering to himself the stupidity of everything."
That last part made everyone smile, even if they didn't knew Springtrap that well his sarcasm was the first thing they had noticed.
"Even though we haven't been the best of friends' due to a number of events which I helped to cause, and I have not been the best friend to him and that nearly brought both of us down."
Goldie paused for a moment, trying to think of what to say next, he hadn't written a speech beforehand.
"Yet he never forgot what was most important to him, even if he was lost and that is family and the ability to forgive others."
Goldie sighed; his eyes still glued to the coffin.
"In the end, after all the hell he went through, he died knowing that he had a family and that there were no more grievances to settle."
"He went with peace and although no one likes death, I do hope that I myself can die peacefully, with no pain or regrets."
The others slowly nodded in agreement, if there was any way in which they would like to go out of this world, it would be to die in their sleep.
"I owe him my life, without him I wouldn't be here to say these very words, I miss him, and I will continue to do so, but…"
A small smile appeared on Goldie's lips.
"I will not remember him as he was in his anger, but rather as he mostly was when he was happy and always smiling."
Goldie then turned to look at the others.
"He would have loved to see the Fazbear name restored and in many ways, he has helped to bring that forward."
"So, I think it is only right that we give him something in return…"
Goldie reached into his trouser pocket. "I didn't actually think I would ever see one of these again, the last time I did was in 1983, I thought Fazbear Entertainment had destroyed them all."
He finally got hold of it.
"Luckily Jeremy had been able to hold onto one, so SpringBonnie...this is for you buddy."
He pulled out a small SpringBonnie plushie, it was a little faded with age, but it was intact for all to see. The eyes of everyone widen with surprise, they had never seen a plushie version of Springtrap before with its bright green eyes and the little purple bowtie decorated around its neck.
Goldie stepped forward, he took hold of the wooden cover and lifted it up.
He slowly and gently placed the plushie in Springtrap's hands.
"Rest in peace…and for the love of God Spring, don't try to intermix your performance with hip hop, it went bad last time remember," Goldie whispered. It was one last bit of humorous banter for Springtrap to take with him into the afterlife. Goldie could almost hear him laughing and saying 'sure, I'll stay away from the modern stuff until you and the others arrive'.
Then Goldie closed the coffin shut and stepped back into line beside Toy Chica, who instantly proceeded to squeeze his hand.
"He really did care for you," she whispered reassuringly, resulting in a small smile from Goldie, as his eyes shifted over to hers. "I know, he always did despite the worst of times," he said warmly, squeezing her hand in return.
"As did you," she remarked, her bright green eyes searching his.
Yet Goldie's eyes were plain in their expression as he spoke softly.
"Yes, for the most part I did care, but I need to stop Vincent, my refusal to help Spring back then allowed him to get away, Vincent is the sole remaining chain that I need to break."
"I haven't fully made it up to Spring until Vincent is stopped."
Toy Chica consciously ran her fingers over his as she replied with. "We'll stop him together, as one and Spring will be with us in spirit all the way."
Goldie say nothing, but he merely smiled and replied to Toy Chica's finger rubbing with that of his own, entangling their hands together.
Then his gaze shifted over to Freddy and gave him a small nod of confirmation.
Seeing Goldie's instructions, Freddy turned to Toy Freddy, Foxy and Jeremy, he knew what to do next.
"Ok, on the count of three we lower it, one two THREE!"
Together as a unit of four, they slowly lowered the coffin into the grave, being extra careful to make sure they didn't drop it. Only at the last bit did they let go, allowing the coffin to fall for the last few cemeteries, it fitted perfectly.
Then as a sign of family unity, they all had a go in filling the grave with soil, pouring it off the spade, although Mike and Jeremy finished the job, patting the soil down so it was smooth once the coffin had been buried beneath it.
"You know Goldie if you want to leave a mark, I brought this slab of stone which we could plant in the ground to act as sort of tombstone, do you want that?" Jeremy asked.
"Yes, that will do nicely," Goldie replied sounding very solemn.
Jeremy ran off to fetch the stone tablet, leaving the others to ponder.
After this was all over, they would go back inside and return to trying to beat Vincent and the Nightmares. Freddy was surprised Goldie was holding himself together, maybe it was because he knew that they needed to focus on other things right now, they could all mourn properly later if they got the chance that is.
Looking round Freddy could see that everyone was obviously sad, yet there were no tears, no emotional outbursts. The vibe he was getting off everyone was one of determination, to avenge Springtrap's death and to salvage their tainted reputation.
They had shed most of their tears in the past, by now they were used to being put down and suffering nearly constant failure. Now they had been come accosted to it, although the existence of the Nightmares had thrown them off balance, they weren't expecting it to be fair.
For most of their lives, they had been stuck at rock bottom, but if Freddy knew one thing it is that when you hit rock bottom you can either stay there or try to get back up and he wasn't done trying to get back up. Jeremy returned with the slab of stone, judging its appearance it looked quite heavy with Jeremy himself having to use both hands to carry it.
Upon reaching them, Mike went over to the top end of the grave site and started to dig, creating a hole for it to stand in. Foxy meanwhile volunteered to use his hook as means for Goldie to scratch his words into the stone.
"You say what you want, and I'll mark it in for you," he said, gesturing to the stone slab which Jeremy held in his hands.
"Could you put in…Here lies SpringBonnie, beloved family member and friend, loved by all and greatly missed," Goldie muttered.
"Sure laddie, I'll do that," Foxy replied, narrowing his eyes as he focused on the stone.
With several starches with his hook, he craved out the words which Goldie wanted and he made sure that they were deep so that they wouldn't fade away with time.
Finally, he craved the dates 1974 to 2015 to give a sense of how long Springtrap had been around for.
"Do you want to do the final honours?" Jeremy asked, still holding the stone slab, which by now was starting to get quite heavy.
Goldie nodded and proceeded to take the stone slab off Jeremy, much to his relief as the weight left his hands. He headed over to the grave where Mike had just finished digging the hole, he stepped aside as Goldie approached.
Slowly Goldie got down on his knees and placed the new tombstone into the hole, making sure it was secure. He stared at the craved words, Springtrap was gone and he wasn't coming back, but Goldie accepted that, if he wanted to move on then he would have to accept reality, but he knew that he had emerged from this as a stronger person.
He looked up at the sky, it was a nice clear day, no clouds in sight, and it was almost tranquil. Then he had an idea, he leaned forward and gripped the headstone with his hands.
"Listen, ghost children I know you are still undergoing the horrors of your murder and that you are struggling to come to terms with reality, but I need a favour, could you please help Springtrap get to heaven safely," he whispered.
"My family and I have been trying to help you lot for so many years, but could you do something for us, if you can then I'll be extremely grateful."
He sighed, breathing in deeply as he leaned back, looking up at the sky.
"I hope you heard that, because I am counting on it."
Somehow, he got the sense that they did.
He rose up and slowly backed away, staring at the tombstone.
Then he took his top hat off and bowed, a final display of respect to a great friend and companion.
"Rest in peace my friend, you've earned it," he muttered under his breath. He put his top hat back on, turned round and headed back to re-join the others.
"Although I want to grieve for longer, we have to focus on the matter at hand given the extreme circumstances that we find ourselves in," Goldie stated, his eyes moving from one face to the next as he expressed a determined gaze. Freddy felt a nagging fear in the back of his mind was Goldie maybe moving on too quickly given that they had just buried Springtrap, but he quickly put that fear to rest. Goldie was right, they faced an unprecedented threat and needed to focus, otherwise they risked all ending up like Springtrap and no one would be left to bury them.
"We need to start now, I suggest that we carry this 'lucid dreaming' out in one of the bedrooms," Jeremy commented, immediately earning several nods of approval from the others.
"It is a big enough space for all of us. . ."
Several minutes later…
"Ok, who wants to be first?" Goldie asked, walking around the others in a massive circle.
"It'll be painless I promise, the entry part that is."
Everyone looked at each other who would be the first to step into the unknown. They were understandable nervous, what if they couldn't control their own minds, or let their fears get the best of them.
Finally, Freddy raised his hand, it might as well as be him, and he was technically speaking the leader. "I'll go, I only have the unknown to fear, and it shouldn't be too hard once I got my head around it."
Goldie smiled; he had a feeling that Freddy would volunteer.
"Actually…I'll train you in pairs, once you've got the hang of it, I'll start to pull the others in and then you can train each other and then we should all reach the same level in our abilities," he stated.
"Plus, it would save a lot of time on our hands."
"Then I'll go too, I might as well do," Foxy announced, stepping forward.
Goldie gestured that they should stand before the bed.
"Just stand there please."
Freddy and Foxy did so, standing still with their arms at their sides. Goldie walked in front of them, studying them both intensely.
"Just how do we fall asleep; don't we need to be relaxed first?" Freddy asked, to him feeling relaxed and sleepy was the usual way to fall asleep.
"Yeah, I thought that was the standard pattern," Foxy added, also feeling unsure.
Goldie placed his hands on their shoulders and looked them both in the eye.
"Don't worry I have a method that will be quick, feel natural and is completely painless," he reassured them. That last part raised more questions in both Freddy's and Foxy's heads, but Goldie leaned in close and whispered.
"By the way out of sheer observation, do you two think Bonnie's and Chica's skirts are a little bit…'revealing' today?"
Freddy and Foxy cocked their heads round to look past Goldie and to see that he was actually right, their eyes widen at the sight of their crushes' legs, those smooth soft curves...the devil's fruit.
However, Goldie quickly brought his hands round and proceed to smack both of them in the back of the head in one rather swift motion. They stuttered briefly before falling forward onto their knees and hitting the floor as their minds departed for the unconsciousness.
Goldie couldn't help but smirk to himself.
"Just like clockwork, I may have lied on the painless bit though." he whispered.
He turned around to face the others, who just stared at the motionless Freddy and Foxy with their mouths wide open.
"THAT'S NOT SLEEPING, THAT'S KNOCKING SOMEONE OUT!" Mike yelled, pointing to the two sleeping Fazbears who lay on the floor.
"It worked didn't it," Goldie replied, smiling rather smugly.
"You're not going to use that approach on me, are you?" Puppet asked warily, backing away.
Goldie shook his head.
"No, I'll try a different method," although he secretly crossed his fingers as there really wasn't a different method.
He would just to have to club her when she was distracted.
"So now what?" Bonnie asked, sounding unsure as she stared down at the sleeping forms of Freddy and Foxy. "Well I now need to enter their heads and connect them to together and then train them, it would be a waste to not have you all in the same dream," Goldie stated, getting down on his knees besides Freddy.
"Wait, we'll be in the same dream?" Toy Chica asked, feeling very confused.
"Yeah how does that work, Freddy and Foxy are clearly two different people," Mangle remarked.
"You can't just bond them, together can you?"
Goldie just smiled.
"Well, that's what it may look like, but remember if I can enter your dreams then there is no reason why you can't cross over into each others."
He reached out, placing one hand on Freddy's head and the other one on Foxy's.
"Ok, here's to nothing," he muttered, starting to feel an out of body experience wash over him.
He felt his eyes roll to the back of his head and he fell into the depths of his own unconsciousness, falling asleep on top of Freddy and Foxy. That left everyone else standing around, looking at three sleeping people who were quietly snoring away to themselves.
"Awww, they look so cute when they're asleep," Toy Bonnie squealed, clasping their hands together.
Bonnie smiled; Freddy did look sort of cute when he was sleeping.
Then her mind instantly casted her back two to three nights ago, when she and Freddy almost kissed, the feeling of warmth with sweet temptation beckoning them in the safety of the surrounding darkness, she felt herself blush, her cheeks becoming warm.
Instantly she looked away, trying to hide herself.
Then she remembered what she said to Chica and Foxy not long afterwards.
"YES, I LOVE HIM…"
She felt a knot form in her stomach and she knew why.
"They wouldn't tell him, would they?"
No, they weren't the sort of people who would do that, her mind breathed a sigh of relief. However, she then remembered her confession to Goldie when they were on the airship and hanging on for dear life by means of a towing rope.
"I'm in love with Freddy, I have been for several years."
Yet she had forgotten that because of all that had happened in the last few days and what happened wasn't easy to forget either.
However, she was in love with Freddy, she remembered when she first felt her heart strings being tugged. It was May 1980 when she first met Freddy and the others, ok she didn't warm to him the moment she first laid eyes on him, but she did later when he sung his first song under the stage's spotlights.
It was a practice run, Goldie was teaching him how to sing along with how to interact with the audience when on stage, but that was the moment when she truly noticed him. Freddy singing his absolute best under the spotlights, seeing him there all confident, brave, and charismatic and of course not to forget handsome.
Her eyes widen, her breath was taken away, her cheeks grew warm and a knot took shape in her stomach, Freddy wasn't a boy…he was a man, an ideal man.
However, that didn't mean he didn't restore to acting like a child, Bonnie remembered that he was the one to start the legendary pizza fights back in the first pizzeria.
"Hey guys who wants get a camera and start taking pictures, this is just too cute to pass up," said Toy Chica, gesturing towards the doorway.
"I'll get one," Chica exclaimed, taking off and running out of the door with Toy Chica in hot pursuit.
"Now hang for just a dam second," Jeremy yelled, following them.
They stopped dead in their tracks and turned round to face him, seeing a hard cold look in his eyes, he had his arms folded…not a good sign. However, he smiled with all signs of coldness rapidly fading away.
"You'll both need the high definition lens and if we can get the pictures onto my computer then we can edit them, make them even cuter and more embarrassing for the others."
That sent the two Chicas into hyper overload, evident by their eyes sparkling with joy as they jumped up and down.
"YES, YES, YES, YESSSSSSS!"
Yes, they clearly still possessed an inner child…'literary'.
"Come, I'll get them for you," said Jeremy, walking past them and leading the two fangirls up the corridor. Behind them the others exited the room, watching them go.
"So now what?" Balloon Boy asked curiously.
Goldie hadn't exactly stated what they should do while he taught Freddy and Foxy. "I guess we just wait around until it is time for us to go," Puppet replied, she herself wasn't entirely sure of what to do next to pass the time.
"Well, anyone up for cards?" Mike asked, looking around to see if anyone was edger.
"It'll pass the time I suppose," Mangle muttered.
"Ok best of three rounds or at least until Goldie returns," Toy Freddy added.
Mike grinned in delight at the chance to challenge the Toy.
"You're on."
"Actually, you guys can go on and play, I can watch Freddy, Foxy and Goldie, you know just in case something bad happens to them, I can alert you then," Bonnie suggested much to the surprise of everyone else, although her reasoning did make sense.
Although one could argue that it would have been a complete waste of effort for the Nightmares to get BB to agree to pass on their request for a 'meeting' and then just break that pact and attack them anyway.
Still…they couldn't afford to take any risks.
"Ok, call us if you see or hear anything odd and I do mean anything," Mike stated, stressing the seriousness of what they were facing.
Bonnie nodded, she got the message.
"I understand."
Then from further up the hall came the sound of boxes being moved in a nearby cupboard.
"Ok, I know I put these lens in here somewhere."
"Come on Jeremy the longer it takes to find them, the closer they get to waking up."
"Well Chica, seeing how you know my house better than me, why don't you take a look?"
"I didn't say that!"
"Tough luck, see if there is anything on the lower shelfs, I may have missed something."
Mike chuckled, when Chica wanted something, she really wanted it. "Come we can use the kitchen, that way we are nearby should anything arise," he said, leading the others away.
That just left Bonnie on their own.
She turned and re-entered the bedroom, seeing the three Fazbears asleep on top of each other.
Seeing Freddy fast asleep made her smile, he really was cute when he was sleeping, he snored like a child. Goldie still had his hands on Freddy's and Foxy's heads, his only form of connection to their minds. Bonnie got down on her hands and knees, sitting beside the sleeping trio.
He reached out and gently stroked Freddy's brown hair. "I wonder what you're dreaming of?" she asked out loud, it was ok no one else was here to hear her.
"What do you dream of Freddy, what goes on in your mind?"
"Maybe he dreams about you."
Bonnie swiftly turned around to see Toy Bonnie leaning in the doorway with a smile on her face. "How long have you been spying on me, plus were you meant to be with the others?" Bonnie asked, feeling very much off balance and suddenly vulnerable.
"Oh, I've been here long enough to hear you say those sweet words, besides I told the others that I needed to double check something, I'll join them later," Toy Bonnie replied, pushing her off the doorway.
She walked forward and sat down next to Bonnie, who had tucked her knees into her chest, as if she was trying to protect herself.
"I know you like him, I see it clearly, but then that's love isn't it?" she asked, smiling.
"Yeah…love is weird," Bonnie muttered back, going very silent.
She turned away.
"So weird…"
"Do you feel like you're in the deep end?" Toy Bonnie asked.
"Pretty much," Bonnie replied sourly, to which Toy Bonnie sighed, leaning her head back, letting her light blue hair flow down her back. "I know why you're acting like this, your kind of like Mangle and the Puppet," she said, enjoying the relative peace and quiet.
"How?" Bonnie asked, turning to face her.
"You are not a girly girl like me or Toy Chica, Chica is somewhere between you and me personality wise and then there's you, Mangle and Puppet."
Toy Bonnie turned in her direction and smiled. "You put on a restrained exterior for most of the time, sometimes it comes off as cold, and you can be stern, although you largely situate yourself in the real world."
"What are you saying?"
"You have a 'don't take crap' attitude Bonnie that's what I'm saying."
Bonnie chuckled to herself, Bonbon was right, she didn't take any nonsense.
However, it stirred up memories of her early days.
"I wasn't always this hard to other people, you should have seen me when I was younger."
"But you still look like you did back in 1993, you haven't changed physically at all?" Toy Bonnie questioned. "I mean when I was mentally younger, you were like a teenager when I first meet you in 1987," Bonnie replied.
"Yeah, I was an utter goofball, a typical teenage girl," Toy Bonnie remarked, smiling…those were the good old days.
"I was kind of like that before 1983, happy, go luckily, an innocent type of girl," Bonnie muttered.
"I'm sorry you know, for mistreating you, getting into fights and even trying to wreck your show on one occasion," she whispered, lowering her head, feeling shame for her past actions.
Toy Bonnie reached across and hugged her tightly, wrapping her arms around her waist.
"You don't need to apologise anymore, you effectively said sorry when you and the others saved me from certain death."
She rested her head against Bonnie's shoulder.
"And I am forever grateful, you put yourself at risk to get me out, to get all of us out in fact, I wouldn't be here right now if it wasn't for you and others," she whispered, embracing Bonnie entirely.
"Thank you, Bonnie…"
"You know we both have one special thing in common," Bonnie stated, her eyes flickering over to the sleeping Freddy. "Yeah and that is?" Toy Bonnie asked, burying herself even into Bonnie's shoulder, enjoying her body warmth.
"We both love a Freddy."
They both laughed, finding their situation to be somewhat hilarious.
"Yeah, we are pretty much in the same position, we love them…but do they love us?" Toy Bonnie asked, her voice going very quiet at the last bit.
"Toy Freddy, he doesn't to see my attempts, back at the second pizzeria, everything just went over his head, even now he remains blind to my feelings, and I have tried so hard to get him to notice, but. . ."
Toy Bonnie went quiet for a moment, she pulled out of the hug, resting her hands on her knees.
"I want to display my affection, but I feel like I'm hitting a brick wall, that it is all a wasteless effort."
Her bottom lip appeared to tremble.
"And recently a part of me has been thinking, what if he doesn't love me at al-"
She was abruptly cut off by Bonnie bringing her into a hug of her own.
"Don't cry, don't you cry on me Bonbon."
Toy Bonnie could feel the tears starting to build up in her eyes. "I love him, I want to protect him, he's sweet, but I just can't break down the barriers, I can't get in!" she sobbed.
"I have done everything I can think of in terms of trying to get his attention…well."
"Tell him . . ."
Toy Bonnie instantly spun round to meet Bonnie eye to eye, emotional bright green meeting a rational purplish red. "Just tell him how you feel, if you've tried everything else, then that's the route you should take," Bonnie said warmly, folding her arms.
"Be open."
"But I would be putting on my heart on the line," Toy Bonnie protested.
"And what if he doesn't feel the same way towards me, I wouldn't be able to…."
She trailed off, once more lowering her head.
"He's been my main focus ever since the beginning, even before we arrived at the Pizzeria."
Bonnie's eyes widen as she stared at her younger counterpart.
Out of the two, Toy Bonnie was always the most cheerful, sweet natured and innocent in everything she did…. Well nearly everything.
She was fun to be around, happy, humorous and just found life to be fantasising.
To Bonnie she was her polar opposite and Toy Bonnie's warm nature did remind Bonnie of her younger days.
Now here she was on the verge of crying, unable to tell if the man she loved so deeply even loved her back. Toy Bonnie wasn't one for crying unless it was serious which had kind of become the norm for all of them, but she was certainty not one to get angry.
And when she got mad…everyone could see it.
The only time Bonnie remembered seeing Toy Bonnie lose it completely was back in the November of 1987, just shortly after her and the others had rescued the Toys from being 'put down' as the company once put it.
Sometime during the night back at the original pizzeria which was undergoing a refurbishment, the ghost children possessed them and they murdered in a rather brutal fashion the first night guard that was hired to look after the place...later the next day, they discovered what they had done and they were appalled by it.
The security cameras had caught them on tape in the act…strangely enough though those records quickly vanished and were never recovered.
Then at that very moment, Puppet guilt ridden by her actions of giving the night guard killing children new life within the Fazbears confessed why they did it and why they had been acting strange ever since the incidents. She also told them who the murderer was and that she hadn't done anything to expose him because from a logical perspective she hadn't got any proof other than the words of the ghost child that dwelt with her.
Unfortunately, the Fazbears in that moment weren't exactly in a rational or calm mood and once the Puppet revealed to them the horrific truth, they lost it. They were all rightfully angry, but Toy Bonnie was by far the angriest of them all.
She didn't hold back any punches both verbally and physically against the Puppet. Bonnie remembered the image of Toy Bonnie pinning Puppet up against the wall, her rage filled eyes baying for her blood.
She wouldn't forgot that look of utter hatred on her face and neither would the Puppet.
Those were very dark days. . .
The sound of Toy Bonnie's stressed breathing brought Bonnie back to reality.
She now looked as if she was in deep thought, her facial expression being one of contemplation, there was a dull look in her eyes.
"I need to tell him, otherwise I am just hurting myself with endless doubt, I need know what he thinks and then….
Her hands turned into fists, her breathing became more rattled.
"Accept it."
She feared the worst scenario being that Toy Freddy didn't share her feelings and Bonnie could easily sympathise with her, she had wondered how Freddy felt towards her, but certain near actions with Freddy himself had eased her fears of her feelings never being returned.
Why would he try to kiss her if he didn't feel affectionate towards her?
She took hold of Toy Bonnie's hand.
"You are a sweet, kind girl, personally I would be surprised if he didn't feel something towards you, but…"
Toy Bonnie turned to face her and for what seemed to be the first time in many years, Bonnie appeared to look all mother like, the sun which was shining through the nearby windows cast a heavenly glow around her coupled with her warming smile.
"Bonbon, if he doesn't the feel same way you do about him, then he would do his best not to hurt you, he does love you as family and he would protect you from any harm, he will be as gentle as he can."
She pulled Toy Bonnie into another hug, letting the latter's head rest on her shoulders.
"Let your worries go, I know you're scared, but you know him and if you need consoling, I'll be there ok."
Toy Bonnie chuckled, Bonnie's affection really did touch her.
"I know you will, but I can handle this on my own, my fears are only inside my mind."
She giggled like a child, something which Bonnie had kind of seen her younger counterpart to be. "Besides I'm trying remember the last time when you were this affectionate."
Bonnie's eyes widen with annoyance.
"Really?" she said slowly, yet there was an edge of sternness to her voice, however this only served to make Toy Bonnie laugh.
"There it is your attitude again, the one I know and love, you sure do go from one mood to the other really quickly," she stated.
"So, I am prone to mood swings?" Bonnie muttered under her breath.
"That's nice."
Toy Bonnie pulled away from the sisterly hug and started to get up just as Chica and Toy Chica entered both carrying cameras. Their sudden entrance caused Bonnie to jump up as if she had been caught doing something wrong, she properly wasn't excepting an interruption.
"Oh…are we interrupting something?" Chica asked, stopping in her tracks.
"No, we were just having a 'sisterly chat'," Toy Bonnie replied, smiling looking happier than either of the two Chicas had seen her in a long time.
Before Chica or Toy Chica for that matter could say anything, Toy Bonnie turned round and hugged Bonnie tightly, the latter's body freezing due to the sudden speed of the former's action.
"Thanks for pep talk, it really helped," Toy Bonnie whispered in her ear loud enough only for Bonnie to hear.
She then withdrew and left, sidestepping the two Chicas who just looked confused if anything at the scene before then.
"Sisterly advice girls…nothing more," she muttered, walking out of the doorway and heading off to join the other Fazbears in the kitchen.
This time Toy Chica was about to speak, but Bonnie merely pulled a chair up and sat down in one corner of the room.
"You can take your pictures, I won't stop you I'm just here to make sure nothing goes wrong," she said, setting herself down.
"By the way. I think editing a Santa hat on Freddy would make him look adorable," she smirked, there was a glint of childlike joy in her eyes, something which she didn't expressed all that often. To see it again sent Chica's mind into detective mode, clearly the two Bonnies had held a heart to heart talk before they arrived.
However, she quickly decided not to question her close friend and just smiled as she held the camera's sights to her eyes, capturing Freddy, Foxy and Goldie in the centre frame.
"Sweet dreams guys!" she mentally giggled as she took the first of many pictures.
Bonnie smiled as she watched the two Chicas enjoy making amusement of the others, but her mind wandered as her eyes fell on Chica.
She remembered Chica's offer to help her get closer to Freddy last night.
"Hey Bonbon, what if we were to find a way to give you two the space you need?"
She wanted to accept the offer and she needed to speak to Freddy, in case things took a dark turn before this nightmare reached its end.
If it had an end that is.
She just wanted to confess and let Freddy know, regardless of how he would react, yet deep inside she could guess at his answer.
It made her smile on the inside.
Her happiest day in a dark world. . .
Inside the dream world. . .
Foxy's eyes flashed opened, his entire surroundings were shrouded in bright white, and he initially shielded himself from its intensity.
"It's ok, this is what to except when you first enter your own dreams, and your mind will soon create a surrounding you'll recognise," said a familiar voice.
Slowly, Foxy lowered his hands and what he saw made he doubt his vision. He was back in the Pizzeria, the first one, the one which he had long called home, and everything was exactly as he remembered it, decayed, abandoned, empty and lacking any soul.
To his immediate left was Freddy also in a state of bewilderment as he gazed about the wreckage that was their old home.
Despite them both knowing this was a dream, everything looked so real, if he didn't know this was a dream beforehand, he could have easily accepted it for reality, however a few minor details stand out that told them this was not the case. Most notable was the closed fire door that lead up to the pizzeria's roof, however in reality it had probably been opened by Vincent as he was able to reach the roof when they're evacuating.
So, this was indeed a dream based solely on their collective memories.
"So, your minds have recreated your home, good, this is an ideal testing ground."
Both Freddy and Foxy looked up to see Goldie, floating above them with his arms folded and looking all dominant.
"Ok, as far as I understand it, we are aware that we are dreaming, yes?" he asked, looking around. "Yes, I know I'm dreaming, I can tell because I am aware of the real world, in a normal dream I would accept the world around me for what it was," Freddy asked, looking around, the pizzeria sure did look real.
Foxy reached out and touched a nearby table, its cold yet smooth and metallic surface met his hand, and it was real. "This is a dream, but the realism is overwhelming," he muttered, clearly amazed by the realism of it all.
"So, we are already lucid dreaming?" he asked, turning to face Goldie.
"Yes," Goldie answered warmly.
"The fact that you're aware of it already means that you are lucid dreaming. Furthermore the reason why this all looks real is because your subconsciousness is creating this scene from your memory and because our memories are so good, the dream can add a large depth of realism to it, basically the better you remember it, the more real it will appear," he added.
He continued to hover above them, staring around the room.
"So, Goldie, if we know that we are dreaming, then how do we control the dream?" Foxy asked. "Yeah shouldn't it be rather simple; I just need to imagine something with my own mind?" Freddy also asked, trying to simplify things.
Goldie however shook his head in disagreement.
"No, from what I have read about Lucid dreaming, the next stage is all about balance, you can control your own dream, but only if you can control your emotions, if you cannot then your dreams are dictated by your unconscious mind."
Freddy and Foxy only looked more puzzled, Goldie sighed.
This wasn't an easy topic to discuss, but they needed to understand it, otherwise they would be at the Nightmares' mercy and they certainty didn't have any to speak of. "Ok, I'll try to make this very simple, basically when you normally dream, your unconscious mind shifts through your memories and creates a world which you travel through and it makes no sense after you've woken up, but in the moment, you believe it is real and everything weird that happens there is normal."
He held his hand, before Freddy or Foxy could ask more questions, hinting at them to be quiet.
"Your feelings dictate the dream's path, so when you feel happy something nice occurs, but when you feel scared your worst fears come to life.""The difference between normal and lucid dreaming is that you don't know it is your inner emotions that are controlling the dream, but in a lucid one you do."
Goldie then gestured to their surroundings, that being the Pizzeria.
"The trick is to control what you feel, you can then decide what you want to happen or have for that matter, if you don't then your unconscious mind will run amok and things will rapidly spiral out of your control."
He then clasped his hands, looking impressed with his explanation.
"And that's what several online articles and Wikipedia gives you as an explanation for Lucid Dreaming, all thanks to Jeremy's computer."
He then looked at the pair seriously.
"The main risk with all of this is if your fears take control, then things will get very nasty." Immediately in Goldie's mind, the words of Nightmare Freddy when Goldie and Foxy first encountered him came racing back.
"Or if you like and this is my specialty, I can take you to the depths of your terror, make your fears real and have them...kill you and not in a nice way."
All three of them had seen what a Nightmare could do when they were at their most powerful, Nightmare Freddy was a prime example and to think he was only one of four Nightmares present in the real world.
Thank God it was only four and not nine. . .for now at least.
"So, first, I will give you an example of how to control the dream, so watch carefully," Goldie said, spreading out his arms.
He closed his eyes for a moment, becoming completely still. Then without warning, a pistol flashed in out of nowhere, appearing in mid-air, but Goldie caught it in his hands before it could fall to the floor.
"I thought of a pistol and thus a pistol appears before me, you need to have a strong demand for what it is that you're wishing for though." He smiled, twisting the weapon around in his hand, feeling quite proud of his little achievement.
"You're making this look too easy and I am wondering as to why we never tired this method before, it could have saved us a lot of trouble earlier," Freddy remarked.
"In fairness when were we ever in a situation when we would consider lucid dreaming to be an option?" Goldie asked back and Freddy found himself to be agreeing with the latter's words. Although given the bizarre supernatural scenarios that they had been forced to endurance over the decades, the possibility of Lucid Dreaming being an actual thing wouldn't have surpised him back then, in fact it would have been normal by his standards of 'weird'.
"Ok you two try and remember to focus," Goldie instructed, bringing Freddy's mind back to the present.
Freddy closed his eyes and thought of something, something simple to start with.
"I want a slice of pizza?" he thought, bringing the image of a peperoni pizza slice to life inside his mind.
Suddenly he felt something in his hand, something warm, he opened his eyes and saw that the object was indeed a pizza slice with cheese and peperoni on top. Freddy smiled, so far this was actually easy, at this rate mastering lucid dreaming wouldn't take very long.
He turned to see Foxy holding a pirate sword, clearly, he had gone back to his roots.
"Ahh, ahh, me laddies, there be golden treasure to grasp from Davy Jones' Locker!" he roared, clearly impressed with his results as he tested the sword out.
Goldie smiled, the first step was completed.
"Well, both your attempts are good…for starters, let's try to imagine something a bit more complex?"
He raised his eyebrows in amusement.
"Controlling your fears."
"How?" Foxy asked, eyeing him.
"Won't they run amok like you said?"
"Only if you let them Foxy, you need to keep them submerged," Goldie replied. He then snapped his hands as if he had just realized something.
"Hang on, I can give you both an example of what could happen if you let your fears get to you."
Once more he closed his eyes and became still.
And for a moment there was nothing, just Goldie hovering in midair, not moving at all with his eyes closed. However, it soon be obvious that something was up, there was an uneasy feeling in the air and it was growing.
At first there was a wind, a feeling of air blowing around the building, growing in intensity as it began to howl, turning into a hellish shriek as it whipped itself into a ferocious furry.
Both Freddy and Foxy could feel, it was so strong that Freddy needed to keep a good hold of his top hat, unless he wished to lose it. Then everything went dark, pitch dark, everything around them had become so shrouded in darkness that neither, Freddy or Foxy could see anything, not even their own hands which they waved in front of their eyes, but to no avail.
"Goldie, what are you doing?" Freddy asked, although Goldie didn't answer him, there was only silence.
Then suddenly the light returned as did their vision, although the Pizzeria looked different…very different.
Freddy's breath was taken away and Foxy swore his heart skipped a few beats. Everything was burning, the whole Pizzeria was on fire with the flames entrapping anything which it encountered. And of course, there was the traditional thick black smoke which hugged the ceiling, further locking them inside the deadly ring of fire.
However, that wasn't what shocked the two Fazbears…
Bodies…about a dozen of them, all lying on the floor and for each one there was a large pool of blood by its side.
They looked if they had been mauled, savagely beaten, with multiple limbs missing..
Seeing a scene such as this was shocking enough, but Foxy felt all of the blood drain away from his face when he recognized one of the bodies.
"Chica…"
In fact, now doing a double take, Foxy could see that the bodies were of the Fazbears themselves, all eleven of them including Mike and Jeremy.
Then he saw himself. . .he had been decapitated.
Everyone was lying there, having met a gruesome end by unknown hands…although in all honesty Foxy could easily guess who had done it. "Goldie…is this what you fear?" Freddy asked, looking round, he knew this wasn't real, but it felt real, more than he would like.
"You fear death, you fear us losing all that we hold dear and you're scared of failure most of all."
"You aren't alone in this feeling Goldie, I feel it too, sometimes during my darkest days, I think that it wouldn't take much to finish us off," Foxy muttered, casting his eyes from one brutalized body to the next.
"I know, that's why I've been fighting so hard to prevent it."
Both Freddy and Foxy looked back to see Goldie now with his eyes wide open, staring at the horrendous destruction around him. "This is what I fear, I fear death, it is natural for any living thing to want to live," he remarked.
"For me, this is the worst-case scenario possible, I fear losing everything to Vincent and his Nightmare friends."
He held his hands out as if he was sending out an order. "However, the key lesson is that once you recognized what you fears are and know that they are not real…you can control them along with your emotions."
A sense of calm descended on the room as the fire, the smoke and the bodies along with the blood rapidly faded away, returning the Pizzeria to its original state which was decay, abandonment and a strong sense of being lifeless.
Freddy and Foxy looked around, everything was back to the way it once was.
"Now you two try, be sure to find a balance between your emotions and what you want, especially the negative ones, otherwise you'll end up somewhere similar to where I took you," Goldie suggested.
Foxy using his own mind reached out and created his worst fear which was something not far off from which Goldie feared. Freddy and Goldie watched with ever widening eyes as a seriously injured Chica rose out of the floor before him.
Except she wasn't alone. . .
Behind her rose Nightmare Freddy with his claws at the ready and of smiling like the psychopath that he was. Instantly before anyone could do anything the Nightmare rearranged his claws as a makeshift blade and then stabbed Chica right through her back, effectively impaling the woman. Chica screamed, clutching her chest as blood started to flow, running down her body like multiple streams.
Foxy of course was frozen in fear and Goldie knew he seriously risked falling into the fatal trap, the more you feared something, the more real it becomes. Freddy wanted to rush forward and help, but he knew that it was just an apparition, it wasn't real, but Foxy needed to be the one to control it, this was his fear.
Nightmare Freddy laughed as he slashed Chica's back with his other claw, enjoying her pain filled reaction with each new swipe.
"FOXY!" Chica screamed, reaching out with one hand while desperately trying to break free.
Foxy just stare, frozen to the spot with his hands trembling.
"You're not real," he whispered, watching as Nightmare Freddy butchered Chica and loving every second of it.
"You are not real," he muttered again, only this time it was louder than before.
Nightmare Freddy with one of his claws gripped Chica's head and positioned his other claw under his throat.
"You are not real!" Foxy yelled, his sudden outburst actually startled Nightmare Freddy, he stopped and turned to face the intruder.
He smiled, displaying once more that detached coldness which existed in all Nightmares.
"I am what you fear, I am what you know will come, even if you don't want me to be real, natural chance would say otherwise," he hissed, but it wasn't Nightmare Freddy's voice that came from his lips…but rather Foxy's.
And Foxy was clearly shocked, judging by his eyes going wide, he wasn't expecting that at all.
Nightmare Freddy continued, still using Foxy's voice.
"You know there exists the strong possibility of this becoming real, you feel it, you fear it, and should you fail to protect her."
He gestured to Chica who was struggling to break free from his grip, but clearly failing to make any serious headway. "It would destroy you utterly and you fear that too, you would never forgive yourself for allowing it to happen."
Foxy shook his head, his expression became angry. "You're not real yet…and whilst I still live you won't become a reality."
Nightmare Freddy's smile widen.
"Be careful," he playfully teased, again in Foxy's voice.
"Don't make a promise you know you can't keep."
Foxy's eyes narrowed as he stared the Nightmare down, his stance one of absolute determination, he was in no mood to back down. "I will certainty try to keep it, just watch me." Nightmare Freddy chuckled in Foxy's pirate accent as he started to fade away before Foxy's very eyes.
"We shall see laddie."
He released Chica from his grip as she too now started to fade away.
"We shall see…"
Then they were both gone, vanished into thin air.
Freddy looked surprised, was it really that easy to master your own fears?
Goldie however looked very impressed, evident by his smile.
"Well done Foxy, bravo!" he cheered, clapping his hands.
"You faced your fears and won, remember fear is an emotion, it doesn't listen to reality, so don't let them cloud you, just keep a clear and focused mind and you'll do well."
He then turned to face Freddy, who instantly felt Goldie's shadow fall over him. "Ok Freddy, now it's your turn, remember to attack your fears with reality, they need to be contained for this whole trap scheme to work."
Freddy gulped, he knew what his worst fear was, in fact he had several, of which one of them was worst depended on the situation, but needless to say they all involved death. Slowly and with a steady hand, Freddy reached out with his own mind and made his worst fears manifest themselves before him, appearing out of thin air, becoming ever more real with each passing second.
Goldie's eyes widen when Freddy's fears became clear, he shouldn't have been shocked seeing how they all feared the same thing, yet he was still shocked by the realism of it all.
The human mind sure was a crafty machine in its own right, capable of frightening itself into submission with situations which weren't even real.
Yet it was in dreams where humanity's' fears became real.
Pain…physical and emotional pain was the one word to sum up the scene which Freddy had laid out before him.
It showed himself along with Bonnie, Chica and Foxy all on stage as if they were preforming, only that they weren't preforming.
Instead they were screaming in pure agony, gripping their heads as they underwent some sort of uncontrollable fit. Their high-pitched screams filled the pizzeria, but Freddy, the real Freddy just stood in a lonesome silence, staring at the group as they suffered wave after wave of indescribable pain.
"Freddy, is this your worst fear?" Foxy asked.
Freddy didn't turn around to face him, he only shook his head as if to say 'no'.
It was what came after the pain that he truly feared.
Just when they thought that the screams couldn't get any louder…they stopped, the Fazbears on stage halted in their cries almost instantly, they fell deathly silent, their heads dropped and their hands fell by their side, becoming virtually motionless.
However there now appeared to be children surrounding the group, wondering what had happened, evident by their curious, yet warry expressions.
Some were on the verge of asking the Fazbears if they were alright, only for the Fazbears to raise their heads, cutting the children off before they couldn't even get a word out.
At first their eyes were closed, but they soon opened, only to reveal four pairs of white dots which accounted for pupils.
Slowly and like a predator, the eyes shifted from one child to the next, studying everyone in detail amidst a tense silence.
Not too surprisingly the children started to back off, they could easily sense the tension.
"Minster Fazbear, are you alright?" a little girl who was clutching a Bonnie plushie asked.
"Do you need help from a staff member?"
At the very mention of the word 'staff member', Freddy or rather the dream version of Freddy turned to face her, his white dots for eyes staring at her, like she had said something bad.
There was anger and mistrust all rolled together in his body posture. He dropped his mic, letting it fall to the floor, hitting the wooden floor boards with a defiant thud.
Bonnie dropped her guitar, the sound of it impacting the wood spooked several children. Chica released her cupcake from her grip, allowing it to fall to the floor, rolling away once it made contact. Foxy brought his hook away from his side and into a more aggressive stance, as if he were getting ready to pounce.
"Is something wrong?" another child asked, a little boy to be precise, raising his hand like one would do in school.
Bonnie instantly snapped her neck in his direction, her icy stare putting the boy on thin ice, those white pupils for eyes didn't exactly come over as inviting. Chica started to twitch, rather uncontrollable, her head constantly jerking as if she had a nervous jolt in her neck.
And of course, the surrounding children noticed this, including Foxy's hook hand which was shaking with the fingers on his other hand caught in a tremor.
Then the little girl who had asked Freddy previously, held up her Bonnie plushie to him as if she was offering it.
"Do you want a plushie?" she asked…the usual sweet innocence of a child who didn't know much about the wider world.
Regardless of how she intended to say it, Freddy appeared to take her words to great offense, narrowing his eyes in immense disapproval.
His hands quickly turned into fists.
"Murderer. . ."
The girl's eyes widen upon hearing those words, overall, she looked confused as did other children.
"Minster-"
She was cut off by Freddy letting out an all mightily yell, instantly joined in by the other Fazbears.
Freddy looked down at the girl who was now shaking in absolute fear, he pointed at her.
"MURDERER!"
Then he leapt at her, aiming to slam her to the floor in which he did with horrific results. Both Goldie and Foxy gasped as there was a loud girlish scream, silenced by the undeniable crack of bone, the snap of a neck.
Of course, the other children starting screaming too, but Bonnie, Chica and Foxy were upon them before they could attempt to escape.
Screams….it was all anyone could hear, the high pitch hails of children and the shrieks of the possessed Fazbears, their original voices mixing in with those of the ghost children who dwelt within them.
In short, they were killing the children, displaying absolute brutality, no mercy was being given.
Foxy noticed that Freddy had his hands over his ears as if he was trying to block out the noise. He then fell to his knees, pressing his hands into his ears even further, doing anything to stop the fear inducing screams.
"Oh shit, his fears have got to him," Foxy mentally cursed, instantly rushing over to help his beleaguered friend.
Goldie had also thought the same thing, if Freddy couldn't control his fears, then they would control him.
In short it wouldn't take much for his own fears to effectively make him powerless within his own mind.
The scene was becoming ever more real as Goldie could see himself in it, in his possessed state of course and he was killing several children, teleporting before them, preventing their escape.
In one case, he grabbed hold of a child by the arm, in fact it was the boy who had asked earlier if something was wrong.
Then the dream version of Goldie in his possessed rage which the real Goldie remembered all too well, took hold of the boy's other arm and in one swift motion…dislocated both arms, pulling them out of their sockets, plunging the boy into a whole world of unimaginable pain.
Goldie reached Freddy who was still on the floor with his hands over his ears, his eyes were shut tight as the sounds of chaos and death encircled him.
"This is real, it could happen one day, and it could happen at any time," Freddy muttered, sounding very depressed as the screams grew in their intensity.
"FREDDY, THIS IS ALL IN YOUR MIND, IT ISN'T REAL!" Foxy shouted, trying to pull Freddy's hands away from his ears, but to no avail.
"No one is safe from us, we're living with a ticking time bomb inside of us, and so many will die," Freddy whispered, not even reacting to Foxy's cries.
The scene grew, getting bigger and bigger as more and more children appeared only to be set upon by the Fazbears and worse still the Toys had now entered the stage in their possessed rage. Toy Freddy, Toy Bonnie and Toy Chica had trapped several children in a corner, their heads constantly twitching violently as their white pupils for eyes stared into their soon to be victims. Mangle meanwhile dropped down from the ceiling, crushing two children, trapping them with her body and endoskeleton arms.
In her possessed rage, she proceeded to pin down several other children, whose cries were swiftly silenced by the cracking of their necks.
"I don't know when they're coming, it could be within an instant, but this will happen, vindicate emotions know no boundaries," Freddy hissed to himself, bowing his head and still covering his ears.
Goldie knelt beside Freddy and grabbed him by the shoulders, shaking him in an attempt to get his attention.
"Freddy, listen to me, none of this has actually happened, it could have happened, but it didn't, you know it wouldn't and the ghost children wouldn't allow it either, they've never attacked children before," Goldie argued, trying to instill some sense of reality into Freddy's mind.
His fears had dragged him in deep, Goldie could see it, judging by Freddy's withdrawn behavior and the realism of the scene which played out before them in a never-ending cycle.
"Freddy, would you really let this happen, would you stand for it?" Foxy asked, desperately trying to get Freddy's attention in order to pull him out of this mental spiral.
Then Balloon Boy appeared alongside Puppet, who were also in their possessed state and instantly started to brutally gang up on nearby children, inflicting their anger through physical means, they knew no bounds, someone had to pay for their suffering and anyone would do if it gained a few seconds of sweet vengeful pleasure.
"Freddy…what did you love the most about your past job?" Goldie asked, his voice having all quiet and calm as he knelt beside him.
"What brought you the most joy?"
Foxy gave Goldie a confused look, he was asking about that right now!
"My talent…being able…to let it bring happiness to someone," Freddy answered, although his voice was low, making it hard to hear over the screams and yells. "Do you want to take that happiness away from them?" Goldie asked, his eyes briefly flickering over to the chaos that was unfolding in front of him.
"No…I don't," Freddy replied, remaining in his withdrawn posture with his eyes still downcast.
Foxy only looked even more confused and mouthed the words, 'where you going with this?'
Goldie merely mouthed back, 'regaining his willpower, I think'.
He then returned to Freddy.
"Do you think that the ghost children want to kill other children Freddy, to give them the same fate which befall them?"
Freddy slowly shook his head.
"No…that wouldn't be right, they would become what they hated if they did that."
Goldie internally smiled, injecting some sense of realism into the debate was appearing to bring Freddy back from the brink.
"And throughout their time with us, did they ever lash out at other children, when they took control of us from time to time?"
"No…it was only adults."
Then Foxy jumped in
"And why do you think they only lashed out at adults, laddie?"
"Because their killer was an adult."
Foxy smiled, putting his arm around Freddy's shoulder and pointed at the unfolding scene of misery before them with his hook hand. "Then does this scene come from, because I don't remember this?"
Slowly Freddy raised his head and looked at the chaos around him.
"It is what I fear, although this never happened," he said slowly.
For a split second, the entire scene flickered with everyone involved fading away briefly only to quickly regain their density as Freddy continued. "It could happen one day, we could only keep them at bay for so long when we feel their anger, but most of the time it is quite sudden."
"True, there is a faint possibility that it could occur, but would the children allow it, would you Freddy Fazbear allow it…I know I wouldn't," Foxy replied, calling Freddy by his full name to get his attention.
"No…I wouldn't," Freddy replied, again the scene momently disappeared before reappearing before them.
Freddy's fear obviously didn't want to let go anytime soon.
"I do share your fear Freddy, but we would all rather die than let this happen," Goldie stated, gesturing to the savagery that surrounded them.
"Anger knows no bounds."
"Yet it can also be controlled and tamed, can it not?"
He turned to face Freddy, whose eyes were looking forward.
"Can it not?" he asked again.
"Yes…it can be tamed to an extent," Freddy answered. The scene once more flickered, only this time it took longer for it to reappear.
"You have free will Freddy, what would you do?" Goldie asked. For a while Freddy didn't speak, his eyes remained glued on the dream vision of himself, sadistically killing any child that he came across.
"Aren't we the same, you and I?" a sly voice asked from inside his head.
"We both have the ability to commit some much harm, don't we?"
"Yes…we both have the ability to inflict pain on others," Freddy mentally replied, he knew who was speaking to him, his self-doubt and in Nightmare Freddy's voice no less.
Typical. . .
"And so do the children, except they don't really ask permission to possesses you beforehand and they have a lot of anger, justified of course due to their murder," the inner voice cooed, its words were like honey, wrapping themselves around Freddy's mind like chains.
"You may not want to hurt children and yes they haven't outright attacked any children, but…"
Freddy felt himself tense up with anticipation of the voice's next words.
"If that little moment in Jeremy's van is to prove anything it is that they have no control over their anger and a victim can quickly become vindictive, a little push and boom, the beast is out and no one is safe, not even children."
"You're both right and wrong," Freddy mentally answered.
"How?" the voice asked, sounding like it was snarling at him.
"I have a choice and they have a choice, a little rash action can lead to conquences, but we both wish for that not to happen, they know who the really enemy is and so do we, yes I fear the worst case scenario, but I would try my best to prevent it and so would the ghost children."
"This scene of us killing children hasn't happened yet, it could have happened in the past but it didn't, you have no argument to make."
There was nothing else from the other end, self-doubt appeared to have gone quiet. Then the scene appeared to freeze, the Fazbears and the children froze on the spot, all sound ceased to be. Foxy and Goldie looked a little bewildered as everything around them had come to a complete standstill.
However, when they turned to look at Freddy, they saw him smirking and they knew that he was taking back control of his fears.
"Hello…is there anyone out there?" Freddy called.
No answer.
"Freddy to self-doubt," he jokingly remarked feeling his inner confidence rise in strength.
"You fool!" came an angry reply in the form of a vile hiss.
"You fear it and it would destroy you if you became what you hated, if you attack the ones which you hold so dearly!" it snarled.
Freddy chuckled to himself.
"You're right, it would destroy me, I can't deny that, hence why I fear it, if I didn't then I would be committing those acts, but I don't want to and I choose not to, how does that logical assessment work for you?"
There was a loud scream from the other end, for logic doesn't mix with emotion for logic uses common sense and emotion relied on feeling and speculation and self-doubt was an emotion.
"YOU KNOW IT CAN HAPPEN ONE DAY!" self-doubt yelled from the depths of his subconscious.
The scene started to flicker rapidly with everyone beginning to fade away.
"No while I'm here it won't," Freddy stated with his determination now stronger than ever.
The screaming grew louder as if self-doubt was announcing its death throes. The overhanging lights started to tremble, their brightness quickly switching from intense light to low.
"Go away and die," Freddy demanded.
The lights started to shake rather uncontrollably.
"NOOOOOOO!"
The entire pizza appeared to groan and tremble with the scene involving children being killed by possessed Fazbears disappearing and the lights flashing on and off.
"You are not real," Freddy stated.
Then everything stopped dead in its tracks.
The lights returned to their normal intensity of brightness, the whole nightmare scene had vanished in it's entirely and there was no more screaming inside Freddy's head. He had won, he was in control of his fears. "Well…I have to say, that could have gone a lot worse," Goldie muttered, getting up off the floor.
"Define worse," Freddy asked in a somewhat humorous tone.
Goldie turned to face him, he smiled.
"You giving in, for me that would be worse then what actually happened."
He reached out and softly patted Freddy on the head.
"Well done Freddy, it wasn't easy, but you did it."
"So now that we can control our fears and lucid dream, what happens next?" Foxy asked, pushing himself off the floor.
"Well, now we need to bring the others in and then we can train them in groups and that should help speed up the process, everyone needs to be on the same level if we are to stand a chance against the Nightmares," Goldie answered, now looking at the empty space where Freddy's fear had previously materialised.
"The human mind is a creative yet deadly invitation of the universe that is a certainty," he muttered to himself. He sighed out of sweet relief, controlling one's fears was not easy, especially in a tense situation which they were sure to encounter later on.
"Second step completed," Goldie mentally noted, surveying his surroundings.
"Now to bring the others in and then complete the final step together, I just hope that this works."
Obviously, the 'second' stage will be more complicated with more people involved as dark memories rise to the surface, but it will serve a purpose. :-)
The chess broad is being set up again. ;-)
Thank you for reading and please review.