Bonnie held tight in his grasp, Gregory took long, shaky breaths until his heart slowed and his breaths evened out. His headache passed and he could think clearly again.
Bonnie? Are you there?
"Yes! Gregory? Are you okay?"
Yes! Gregory stopped himself from laughing aloud. Why didn't you answer me earlier?
"I couldn't. I couldn't think. Something felt wrong, but I couldn't say anything. I couldn't hear you."
Gregory took a deep breath. "Well, we need to get out of here. I can't stay here a second longer."
"That's fair. I don't want to, either."
Gregory peeked his head out of the laundry tub and looked up and down the utility tunnel. He climbed out and walked back in the opposite direction of the white rabbit–hopefully toward a door he could open. A second pair of footsteps joined his own.
Gregory froze and clutched Bonnie to his chest. He looked around, but the cement hallways echoed the steps and made them impossible to track. At least they sounded like shoes and not rabbit feet.
Still, he took a few slow, silent steps back.
A voice demanded from behind him, "Kid? What are you doing here?"
Gregory jumped and darted down the hallway.
"Wait, no! Kid!" the woman yelled and ran after him. "Come back!"
She didn't sound like that murder rabbit, but that murder rabbit was using a voice mod so she could be anyone–maybe even a he for all he knew! What he knew for certain was that he couldn't get caught. He threw a glance back at the lady chasing him–a pale, blonde woman wearing a security uniform.
Sore but not tired despite how long he'd been on his feet and his previous run–how long had he been sitting in that tub?–he blundered through a couple of sets of double metal red doors already cracked open and shut them both behind himself. He dove into a small "room" on the right wall. A few boxes with glass walls facing outward lined the wall, but one was boarded over, and he shoved himself through the broken glass of the one beside it and hid behind the boards.
She followed him inside, hissing to herself, and searched the space. Eventually, she either gave up or imagined he had run out behind her because she turned and left right back through the red double doors.
Gregory peeked his head out from behind the boarded wall and squeezed out. Now he took a good look around the room. To the left of the room were engines or giant generators blocked off by a chain-link fence. A metal skeleton-like thing with ears and eyes with holes instead of pupils and irises hung from the ceiling. In the center pushed near the back of the room was a huge cylinder with giant tubes and wires connected to it and the ceiling. Huge windows ringed the outside and a big door faced the front. A computer terminal flanked the right side of the built-in door. Wrapping around the cylinder on either side were curled stairs with a very long landing connecting them, as he discovered after climbing up them. Four doors, each with a band member's symbol in different colors, were painted on them.
He hesitated and then walked through Monty's door down a brick hallway with a lime green edging. Gregory stepped into the weirdly small elevator and pressed one of two buttons in it–the glowing "up" arrow. The "down" arrow was currently dark.
The elevator jolted and its ding came out as a raspy croak that slowly, painfully died. The elevator doors opened, showing part of the floor as the elevator hadn't even gotten the full way up before dying.
Gregory climbed out into the cramped cement room made tighter by boxes, machines, and a small chain link fence segment separating the walkway to the door from a huge red tube cylinder with a porthole and lightning bolt.
Gregory bristled as Monty spat, "Crap! Not again!" He stiffened as a hard thump emanated from his room as if something hit the door and then the shriek of metal on metal.
"This might not have been a good idea."
Maybe not.
Gregory looked back at the broken elevator and stuck his head inside. Both buttons were dark. He pulled his head back and looked up. Nope, no vents. Maybe he could just wait here until the end of the night. The elevator croaked again and shut its doors before shutting off for good.
The noise within the room–which dramatically decreased to that of shuffling–stopped.
Gregory glared at the elevator and cursed it in his head. He looked around at his monotone surroundings, but it was too little too late as the door opened. The green and yellow alligator animatronic stepped out of his room and into the darker back room. The animatronic's umber eyes stared at Gregory behind his star glasses. "What are ya doin' here, kid? It's after hours! An' you ain't supposed to be in my back room!"
"It closed that early?" Gregory asked.
"Early? Kid, it's eleven twenty-five at night," Monty pointed out. "It ain't exactly early. What are you doin' here?"
"Well, I wasn't here because I wanted to be," Gregory scoffed. "But I got tricked by some stupid rabbit lady and she chased me here. I don't think she knew I came here, but she definitely chased me through the utility tunnels."
"The utility tunnels? Ain't no one without security clearance allowed in there! That place's dangerous fer guests, and definitely fer kids." He hesitated and put a clawed finger to his chin. "Did ya say a rabbit chased you?"
"A white rabbit lady," Gregory confirmed.
"There aren't any rabbits in the 'plex. You sure…?"
"Yes, I'm sure! She tried to kill me!"
Monty nodded his head to the door. "There's a security off'cer who should be roamin' around here any minute. We could get her help."
"Her" help? As in that blonde lady in the tunnels? "No. I don't know who she is, but I don't trust her. Please, you gotta help me. I just… need to get out."
Monty nodded. "That ya do, Little guy. Alright. If some is lady lookin' to murder a kid, I'll need ta sneak you out. Real easy. Bots ignore me when I walk around."
Gregory furrowed his eyebrows. "Um… you're not going to call her, anyway?"
Monty scoffed and waved a clawed hand. "Ah, all she'd do is help you get outside. I'm as good as any staff member." He chuckled to himself.
"He has to help you if there's an adult after you; ever since the late eighties, Fazbear animatronics were programmed to protect children against aggressive adults. Just be glad it's not the… early eighties."
Gregory nodded. "Okay. Thanks. Uh, wouldn't they find me, though?"
Monty scoffed, "Not with me helpin' you! C'mere!" He turned and walked back into his green room. Gregory followed, hesitating as he looked out the giant window that made up the entire opposite wall, the teal curtains drawn wide open. Monty stopped by his vanity and rifled through the drawers. "Lemme jus'…" Greenery draped from the walls. Monty balloons stuck to a few barrels of mini golf supplies. A couch with pillows and plushies sat up against the wall. Torn string lay scattered in the middle of the shiny floor. Most interesting was the ravaged hunk of metal that was probably once a S.T.A.F.F. bot lying near an arcade cabinet of a mini golf game.
Finally, he let out a victorious growl and pulled out a set of glasses like his own but much smaller. He gently picked them up and handed them over to Gregory. "Here ya go! A set of Gator Glasses!"
Gregory gasped and took the object. He immediately put them on. "Thanks, Monty!" The world took on a darker, slightly purplish hue.
"You're welcome, Little guy! If ya ever need to contact me, jus' use those! I won't be able to talk to you directly. We'll only be able to send messages to each other. But we can still communicate anywhere in the Pizzaplex. Oh, an' it keeps a log o' conversations an' shows the time. So even if we get separated, I'll still be able to guide you!" Every few sentences, his explanation came up in the chat log, which did take up some space in Gregory's vision, but he could minimize it so he could see again. He opened it again immediately.
"Can I talk back to you?" Gregory asked. His response appeared in the chat log. "Oh, cool!"
"The mall closes at midnight. We should get going."
Right! Gregory tapped the side of his glasses and minimized the chat log. "So, um, how do we get out of here?"
Monty started. "O-oh! Heh, yeah, should get on that." Monty strode forward and tried to open the door of his greenroom. Click. He shrugged. "We're normally locked in our rooms for another few minutes, then we're allowed out on our patrols."
Gregory asked, "Is there any way we can get out before that?"
"Why's that?"
"Er, well, just in case that rabbit lady shows up or security tries to stop you or something?"
"…oh. Good point. You can climb through this vent. Go get a maintenance light from the back room while I open this." Monty reached up to the vent register of the vent above his door. Gregory ran to the back. A long, thin flashlight sat on a box against a wall. He flicked it on. It technically lit up the area in front of him, but not by much. Still, it gave off light. So, Gregory pocketed it and ran back into the main room, where Monty had discarded the vent register. The animatronic alligator held his hands out for Gregory. Gregory stepped forward and allowed Monty to pick him up and lift him into the vent. Monty went on, "You should be able to open my door from the outside. Just go right!"
"Okay!" Gregory crawled through the short bit of vent into the main part, taking an immediate right once presented. He quickly came across a vent register leaking in bright white and pink light. The riff of a guitar spilled through the vent. He kept moving. Though the sound faded a little, it strengthened again as he took a turn and another vent connected to Chica's room. He peered inside to see Chica rocking out on her guitar. Her very tidy room with pink walls and a jungle green floor glowed under the bright bulbs and neon lights. Weirdly, over a half dozen pizza boxes piled up in one corner.
He stopped at the end of the vent, pushed Bonnie out first, and then threw himself out feet first, catching himself with his hands on the edge to break momentum so he wasn't falling as far. The edge of the vent cut his arm as he brushed past, and he sucked in his breath. When he inspected it, a few drops of red swelled along the slice. He'd live. Gregory plucked Bonnie off the ground.
The time was eleven-thirty pm.
The intercom stated, "Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for visiting and we hope you enjoyed the show! Freddy and the gang are pretty tired, but they'll be back again tomorrow! Have an awesome night, and we'll see you again soon!"
Gregory looked over his dark, sparkly surroundings. The lights above were dark, and the neon lights of the gang's faces and various symbols didn't spread much multicolor light very far. A couple of wet floor sign bots with glowing circle eyes watched him at the end of the hall by a set of closed shutters, giving him a warning sign of where to stop. The light spilling out from Chica, Monty, Roxy, and Freddy's rooms was enough to light his immediate path.
He walked past glass cases set on pedestals protecting various ancient artifacts of the past. The outline of a star-shaped guitar from one of the old rockstars in a case near the door was lit up by Chica's room, as was a cupcake almost directly in front of it, and then a huge, stepped pedestal holding a golden statue of Chica lined with fake fronds. Monty's green room sent pale green light over the hall. Monty stood in front of his window and gave him the thumbs up. Gregory tried to open his door, but the handle merely jerked. "It's not opening for me, either!" Gregory complained.
"You can't? Try, uh… swipin' your Photo Pass the other way?"
"Photo Pass?" Gregory echoed. "I don't have a 'photo pass'. Do I need one?"
"Oh. Sorry, I thought ya did. Well, there should be one at a convenience counter," Monty offered.
Great. Gregory bit back a sigh and walked into the hall. Hopefully, the convenience counter was close.
Before the violet curtains of Roxy's greenroom was another red guitar, presumably from a rockstar. Roxy herself stood in front of her glowing star-shaped vanity in her spotless, mechanics-covered room playing with her mane and tail.
Then there was Freddy, the star of the show, in a bear-themed room with child drawings pinned on his wall, his greenroom exposed by the red curtains drawn and tied to the ends. He stood in the middle of his room, looking at a bowling ball. Freddy's body remained still in his pose and his head rotated to the side. For just a moment, Gregory met Freddy's intense lavender eyes. Then, his line of sight was broken as Gregory was too far down the hall to be seen.
Gregory stared ahead at the dark, checkerboard-trimmed shutters. He ducked under them as they opened a couple of feet, but no further. TVs attached to pillars held up the ceiling in intervals down the hall connected by red couches and potted plants. The first two pillars had nothing connecting them, allowing for a huge, open space and winding pale tile to weave around the space-patterned carpet. More decorations covered the walls, but the light emitting from Rockstar Row was too faint to properly see them. The bottom parts of a few gold poles in a line glinted. He saw the faint outline of the floor trim and a box at the close end of the narrower hall. He blinked and stood for a few seconds to let his eyes adjust. He pulled his sunglasses up to his forehead. Neon strips of light glowed above, making themselves known and glinting off the shiny metal of the poles and plastic TVs. At least with no brighter light source, he could use them to see their reflection in the pale, winding tile, the counter beside the poles, and the box ahead of him.
A pair of big red eyes glinted further down the hall. He jumped and lurched back. Gregory took out his flashlight and pointed it at them. The eyes vanished, leaving empty darkness in their wake. The boy sighed and took a few long, deep breaths to calm his racing heart and jittery nerves.
Gregory stepped forward, transferred the light to his hand holding Bonnie, and ran his fingers over a piece of thin, smooth plastic jutting upward and then to the side and closed around a handle. He pushed the handle forward and pulled it back, winding it and listening to it creak until finally it cracked, and the box lid popped off, letting out a burst of confetti. Gregory gasped and started, releasing the handle. He hissed to himself the ridiculousness of the situation, stuck his hand inside, pulled out the pass, and got to his feet.
As he turned and walked back, pulling his glasses down over his eyes as he did so, his headache returned. He looked down the hall and bristled upon seeing two big red eyes. He turned the flashlight on them. This time, the red eyes didn't go away.
He ducked under the shutters, put away his flashlight, and darted through Rockstar Row, making sure to keep his head down and stay on the other side of the artifacts so that he could hide from the purple-eyed bear. Just in case, he glanced at Freddy. Freddy stood perfectly still and faced the hall, his baby blue eyes sweeping over the hall like a security camera. Roxy swung her head back and forth as she searched the hall, back to her vanity and hands raised at her sides as if ready to swipe.
Gregory stopped in front of Monty's room and opened the door. Monty opened his mouth.
Gregory cut him off with a hiss, "Monty! We're in trouble!"
Monty started. "Trouble? What'd'ya mean?"
"That white rabbit's back a-and she's gonna kill me! We need to get out!"
Monty nodded. "Get in my chest cavity. I'll take you out through the utility tunnels. It's the safest way out."
Gregory threw another nervous glance back. "Okay. But be careful moving around."
The yellow plate decorated with smaller plates opened to show a space inside of Monty's shell that his endoskeleton and wiring didn't completely take up. Gregory climbed inside the tight space, clutching Bonnie tight to his chest, and wrapping his coat tighter around himself to keep it from catching on anything. The plates closed and Monty prowled forward, body tipped forward to allow his massive tail room to move. Weirdly, Gregory's glasses connected to a camera set in, and automatically projected by, the cameras in Monty's eyes and he could see through them. He passed by Roxy and Freddy's room, sparing them a look they didn't return, and took an immediate left once the space opened up and the artifact pedestals ended. They passed a stage Gregory could see as Monty's eyes caught way more light than Gregory's, partially because they glowed.
He opened the double red doors with his massive, clawed hands, revealing a cement landing with a microphone and circle symbol painted on it immediately turned left into a staircase down into the dim-lighted cement walls–one wall painted lime green–and lime green metal stairs broad enough for animatronic feet to tread with unpainted landings.
Monty finally got to the end of the stairs and took a turn through a doorless walkway into a wide cement hallway akin to the one Gregory sprinted through earlier that night. A pair of shutters blocked their way, but they opened completely when Monty approached. He didn't even need to duck his head.
A warning beep sounded in his system and the animatronic alligator stopped. "You're hurt."
"Don't worry about it; I'm fine," Gregory reassured him.
"Nope, sorry. Somethin's wrong, Little guy. I'm takin' you to a first aid station," Monty stated.
"There's no time! I'm fine!" Gregory's complaints fell on deaf ears–or whatever Monty had–as Monty turned down the first tunnel branching off on the right. It wound down a few turns before finally stopping in a small, cluttered room with a three-walled, red-and-white room without a roof and a fourth wall made of a red curtain. A stand-up post that looked like a sawhorse stating "DANGER" in a big red circle and then under it in plain black and white "HIGH VOLTAGE" "KEEP OUT" sat next to it, blocking him from further entry. Well, those two mixed perfectly.
Gregory rushed into the first aid station and picked through the supplies until he found some antiseptic to clean off his arm. He clenched his teeth at the sting but made little noise as he cleared off the dry blood and dirt. The action reminded him of the cut on his cheek he needed to dress as well.
"Gregory! I hear someone!"
Gregory, wrapping his arm, froze and then peeked out of the curtains. Monty stood in the doorway. The gate and chains high up the stairs to Gregory's left shuddered. A flashlight glared off his yellow, green, and purple casing. Officer Vanessa walked out; her flashlight trained on Monty.
"Monty?" Officer Vanessa asked. "What are you doing here? You're supposed to be in your room!"
Monty tipped his head up and swished his tail. "I'm on patrol!" he proudly declared.
Officer Vanessa shifted her weight and cocked her head, her free hand on her hip. Her exasperated tone turned accusatory. "You're not due on patrol for another five minutes."
Monty barked out a laugh.
The security guard let out a groan. "Okay, whatever. Look, we're like fifteen minutes from closing, and some kid is sneaking around backstage. If you see anything, notify me immediately. I already alerted the others. Go back to your early patrolling I guess." She turned around and went back in the direction she'd been walking. She muttered, "There's a loose wire in that head of yours."
Gregory glared after her, cut off the bandage on his arm, and stepped out to meet Monty. "I told you she was after me."
Monty scoffed. "I didn't say a thing. Now come on! Let's rock!"
The kid pulled on his coat and climbed into Monty's stomach hatch again. The animatronic started off down the utility tunnels. Gregory asked, "Where are we?"
"The utility tunnels," Monty stated. "Told you that. Oh! Uh, probably mean where-where, huh? We're under the Pizzaplex. These tunnels go to pretty much everything."
Gregory raised his eyebrows. "We can go anywhere?"
"Yep! Monty Golf, Roxy Raceway, Fazer Blast… an' all the staff places. But ya need to get through the doors an' gates an' such. Guests aren't allowed down here, but you're an exception." A chain link fence blocked them, so Monty took a right through a small doorless doorway up another set of square-spiral, lime stairs. The stairway ended at a turn, the left side being a fence with locked chains and a Monty symbol that had been crossed out, and the right leading to an open room with another one of the red cylinders with the portholes and lightning bolts. A set of red metal doors stood ahead of them.
Monty hesitated. "That's a recharge station in case we get low on power. I'm usin' more power holdin' you, but I still got some left in me, I think." He continued moving.
This hallway was half pink, the walls halfway up being painted a vibrant pink as far as he could see. A red arrow with the black outline of a desk and maybe a person or bot and "LOBBY" pointing down through the hall stamped into the wall. Unfortunately, a table with stacks of paint cans on top and under it as well as a few boxes blocked the way. A gray door with a Chica and Freddy before and after the table cut into the right side of the wall.
Monty opened the door.
The hallway curved a few times before opening into a thin room with a long shelving unit full of stuff in the middle. Monty stopped and let out a nervous growl. "Sorry, kid, but I don't think I'll fit through here naturally. How about you walk on ahead an' I'll try an' follow?"
"Uh, okay."
Monty's stomach hatch opened, and Gregory climbed out. He took off his coat and loosely tied it around his neck like a cape, again. He squinted in the darkness, but the umber light given off by Monty's eyes helped somewhat. He wove around the block, made it to the door, and looked back. Monty looked at the given space and his paws and shuffled around to try and get through sideways. Unfortunately, his tail wouldn't bend at that angle that easily, and he needed to tip his head pretty far back as well because of his combined snout and mohawk. His chest bumped against the shelving unit and caused it to shudder. He stopped and shuffled back. "Actually, I'll find another way. See you on the other side, kid!"
Gregory grimaced but waved back. "Okay! See you on the other side!"
He turned ahead again and, clutching Bonnie, walked into the pitch-black hallway. He took out his pitiful flashlight, which with not even a neon light to help guide him, it looked extraordinary. He walked into a storage room a few times, but eventually, he made it to a door leading into a hall full of technology that whirred, buzzed, and glowed with various degrees of light including monitors with screen savers on. It wasn't a good amount of light, but it was some light, and he could see it.
To his left was a gate with an anti-Monty symbol and locked chains. But to his right was hopefully the way out.
So, he continued on the right path.
At the end of the path was a symbol painted on the wall he couldn't see, a chain link fence on the right, and an open area on the left. As he approached, something slammed into the left side and a yellow light glowed over the hall. Gregory jumped and picked up his pace. Roxy pushed into the fence, her clawed fingers in the holes in the linked metal. Lavender light glowed over him as he passed, his quick pace even quicker as he sprinted down the now half-purple, half-white brick hallway. The symbol on the wall was the same arrow with the desk, person, and "LOBBY" on it. "Hey, kid!" she called, but he didn't slow down.
He shoved through a door into a wide space he could barely see into and slowed so he didn't trip over himself. Something crashed behind him in the technology hall and feet slammed into the ground.
Then, stacked barrels exploded over the ground as Chica rammed through them, some edging toward the stairs at the opposite side of the room. "Lost boy over here!" she sang. His glasses beeped.
Gregory took the stairs heading up, running as fast as his legs would take him. Chica's clawed feet took longer to climb up the steps than his own despite being faster over flat ground. Despite that, the stairs shuddered under her feet and her eyes threw lavender light over him and he could swear he heard the crackle of her electronics in his ears and his heart felt like it would burst.
The stairs ended on a landing. A symbol of a badge with a circle around it stamped into the wall. He rushed onto the landing and stumbled into the room, slamming his hand into the glowing green, Freddy-head-shape-button on the wall. Chica ran into the door with a hard thud! The other door slammed shut as well.
He squinted in the harsh gray light as static from the giant monitor filled the room, glinting off metal and plastic and seeping over cloth. Gregory leaned on the control panel, gasping for air and struggling to stay on his feet as his legs burned and threatened to give out on him. His glasses beeped again, and he pressed them.
The first message read, [I see you, kid! I'm behind you!]
The second message read, [Chica and I are at your door, and she wants in pretty badly.]
Beep! [Those things are tough! They're meant to keep the staff safe and all that as long as they're powered and closed.]
Gregory looked at the door power. He gasped. "Monty, the door's at fifteen percent! How am I going to get out of here?!"
Beep! [Uh, don't panic! Look, there should be a security panel on that desk. Hold on while I make it available to you.]
…
Beep! [There we go! Ha! Now you can activate the security.]
Gregory pressed the Freddy-head-shaped button on the security desk amidst the clutter of technology. The right door opened. Weirdly, the left one had gone quiet. His glasses beeped and another panel appeared beside his chat log labeled "CAM".
Beep! [Your glasses are connected to the security cameras. Check on them! You won't be able to read these messages while you look at the cams, and the cams aren't attached to a real good map, but they are labeled.]
Beep! [If a camera detects sound, it'll light up yellow. If it detects movement, it'll light up red. Look for a way out of there and to the main lobby. That's where the exit is. By the way, you think you can open the door now?]
Gregory went to the left door, but when he pressed the button, it just buzzed at him in return. "No. I think it senses that you're nearby or something. No one's on my right."
Beep! [Oh, well. Maybe I'll see where Chica went. You keep going!]
"Okay!" Gregory switched to the CAM tab. Monty was right; if that was a map, his plush Bonnie was a Freddy action figure. It was barely a few squares with tilted squares on it. Given, the tilted squares had triangles coming from one end and all of them were numbered. So that was somewhat useful. At the top were the numbered boxes and their labels. The box with a 2 for "SEC_LOBBY2" lit up red as did the square tilted up at a forty-five-degree angle at the bottom right of the weird geometry pretend-map. He tapped the edge of his glasses and highlighted "SEC_LOBBY1", which was the landing in front of the left door, thankfully empty, and then "SEC_LOBBY2", which was a bench in the square. Chica moved through it and rifled through some trash in the corner. "SEC_LOBBY3" was the opposite corner of the square. Was it just a loop? Yeah, it was a loop with the security lobby on one end and the main lobby on the other. Weird. The cameras were dark, but like Monty they were visible.
Gregory minimized it and walked into the dark hall, passing a dark spotlight, plastic tubs, and an empty laundry tub. He pulled out his meager flashlight and kept it low. She got to her clawed feet and continued moving. More tubs and cardboard boxes on the floor and on shelves lined the walls. Between the cameras was a branching hall that led into the main lobby. So, all he had to do was follow her… yes! There! Her eyes lit up the checkerboard-trimmed doors that led to the branch in the hall as she passed. He waited for her to take the corner before sneaking up to the corner and taking it.
The short hall led to another short set of doors and then passed into the entrance area before the ticket stands. Neon lights on the walls and ceiling as well as parking lot lights glowing through the massive front windows and glass doors lit up the shiny, dark tiles.
The time was twelve am.