Bonnie? Are you there?

"Gregory! Gregory, are you okay?! I was calling and calling but you weren't answering! Where were you?!"

Gregory walked through the kitchen just skirting the security office. It's a long story.

"We've got a while between now and Parts and Service. You did convince Chica to come to Parts and Service, right?"

Uh… yeah. I hope so. But you got a point. Gregory walked into the security office and picked the glamrock rabbit up off the desk. For a long moment, he simply stood there, hugging Bonnie tight to his chest and getting his breathing under control. Okay. Let me make sure power is on at Parts and Service first.

When Gregory went to check the power, "PARTS AND SERVICE", "CUPCAKE FACTORY", "WEST ARCADE", "FAZER BLAST", and "KITCHEN" glowed green.

TIME UNTIL NEXT RESET: 0:15

Weirdly, Gregory didn't feel that much of a sense of urgency. The time had changed recently. But time didn't move like it should in the Pizzaplex. So it could be that fifteen minutes would pass in about an hour or in three minutes or fifteen minutes.

Gregory left the power room. So, when I set that trap for Chica, I thought that when I jumped on her, it would knock her out. It turns out that bots are kind of tough…

Gregory took Roxy's elevator to Parts and Service. Monty's tail disappeared into the protective cylinder. Gregory ran up to it fast enough to see Monty helping Chica inside. Chica herself looked up at Monty and her surroundings and spat out garbled static and metal screechy noises. Gregory stayed outside and out of sight.

Monty said, "It's okay, Chickadee. One of the engineers is gonna fix you right up. Yer gonna need to lay down, though. Trust me on this, okay?"

Chica squawk-screeched again and nodded. With no further hesitation, she lay down on the red and white dentist's chair. Monty backed out of the cylinder. A few of the arms swooped down and something plugged into her. Her eye lights went dark, and her twitching ceased.

Gregory said, "I have her beak."

Monty jumped and raised his hand. "What the–kid!" He lowered his hand. "You about set off my alarm! Stop sneaking up on me like that, alright?"

"Sorry."

"Nah, it's fine. What… what happened?"

"There was an accident with the garbage compactor. She fell in. I mean, we both fell in, kinda." He twisted around to show off his filthy back and then straightened out again. "Then that white rabbit turned it on. I think she wanted to destroy Chica and scare me out so that I wouldn't have anywhere to go, and I wouldn't be able to make Chica my friend like you. But it kind of backfired because Chica grabbed onto me and wouldn't let go until we were in the garbage place. I broke her beak off trying to escape." He pulled out her beak and voice box.

"Ya managed to escape Freddy, too," Monty stated. "I was afraid ya wouldn't."

Gregory grinned, put away the beak, and pulled out his Fazerblaster. "He isn't wearing glasses."

Monty blinked and then laughed. "You're a clever kid!" He looked at Chica through the window of the closed door and his laughter tapered off. "Could you, uh… fix her? Reconnect her voice box?"

Gregory looked through the window and grimaced. "I dunno. It looks complicated."

"Just do what the cylinder thing says. But be careful. She's not actin' right at the moment."

Come on, you said you would! You can't back off now! Gregory nodded. He walked around to the computer terminal. The bot declared, "Welcome to Parts and Service. Please select your desired procedure." A list of upgrades showed, but the boy pressed the down arrow and it flipped to the next screen. Computer bot announced, "Preparing for repair procedure." A pause. "You may now enter the protective cylinder."

The door opened again to allow Gregory inside. He set Bonnie down on the computer. "I can't hold you and do repairs. You'll be okay with Monty," Gregory promised and walked up to the door, which yielded to him. Gregory stood so his chest was level with hers as she lay down. Most of her shell was dented or broken in some way. There was a good amount of damage to her neck and her beak was still incredibly messy. Wouldn't all that food be bad for her system or something?

The bot said, "In case of emergency, the protective cylinder will protect important service personnel outside of the protective cylinder. Deactivating animatronic safety protocols now." She had safety protocols in the first place? "It is recommended that no mistakes are made during the procedure."

Gregory pulled up a stool and got up on his knees so he could look down on her.

The bot said, "To access the voice box, we must access Chica's chest cavity. Please remove Chica's chest cavity."

I removed her voice box without doing that. Still, Gregory tried pulling at the warped and cracked plastic. He sucked in his breath and yanked his hands back as a few metal arm-things swooped down and latched onto the chest plate. Another arm hissed a covered flame at a few choice spots and then reared back up into the ceiling. The chest plate was pulled off and placed to the side as it wasn't attached to her. It exposed a mess of wires, beams, and buttons. A few colored wires where her voice box used to be were flanked by buttons of corresponding colors. More of the colored wires stuck out of the bit of endoskeleton showing beneath her broken facial shell.

"Please replace the voice box."

Gregory pulled out Chica's voice box and did as he was told.

"To replace the voice box, repeat the correct sequence by reattaching the correct colored wires. It is important that you match the pattern correctly." After a short pause, the bot stated, "Left blue. Right green. Left green." Gregory plugged the corresponding wires into the voice box, though he had a little trouble fiddling with it considering how roughly he'd taken it out in the first place. "Right red. Yellow. Right blue. Left red."

Eventually, the bot stated, "Well done. Return the chest plate." Gregory sat back as a couple of arms retrieved her broken chest plate and set it back down. One arm came down and reattached it by the seams. "Time to replace the beak. Firmly reattach the beak to Chica's endoskeleton. Be sure to match her endoskeleton with the beak slot for a proper fit."

Gregory pulled the beak from his coat and looked at the back and then her face and then the back again. He measured the slots in the beak and stamped it into her face. He pushed until he heard a hard click.

"Good job. Now, use the testing console to run diagnostics and complete the procedure." A new arm swooped down in front of Gregory's face. Its hand was flat with four colored buttons. The red button flashed. He pressed it. Chica's beak twitched open, and she let out a high-pitched squawk. The red and then the blue button flashed. The blue button caused her to make a lower-pitched noise. After a total of four patterns, the arm retracted.

"Testing phase complete. Scanning for irregularities."

…

"Scanning complete. It seems Chica's basic security protocols have been tampered with. A report to the main office has been filed. For liability reasons, Chica will now be disconnected from the main network until further notice. Activating safety protocols. Rebooting in Safe Mode."

Gregory left the protective cylinder and went to the computer terminal to complete the procedure. He picked up Bonnie and turned back to Monty and the cylinder, which opened as Chica staggered out. With her endoskeleton bent, she leaned to one side and her feet pointed inward, but she still managed to stand. "Monty?" she asked, her voice clear. "I can…" She looked over at the terminal and then down at Gregory. "You're Gregory. Are you the one who fixed me?"

Gregory nodded. "Long story, but yeah."

Chica asked Monty, "What happened?"

"What do you remember, Chickadee?"

Chica blinked and lowered her head a little. "I… do not know. I remember there being a cupcake and then… I woke up here?"

Monty admitted, "That sounds like what Gregory said. He said you two fell in the compactor?"

Chica's narrowed eyes widened. "That's right! Gregory!" She turned back to the kid. "I didn't hurt you, did I? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," he reassured her. "You chased me around a lot, but it wasn't your fault. It was the rabbit lady."

"The rabbit lady?" Chica prompted.

Gregory nodded. "Yeah, she's the one who infected you guys with some virus that's made you all act crazy and try and kill me! And then just now she tried to crush us in a garbage compactor! I was trying to knock you out so Monty could bring you here and I could put you in Safe Mode like him. But, uh… but that didn't work."

Chica looked at Monty, "She infected you with this virus, too?"

Monty nodded. "Yeah. But this little guy found me at the beginnin' of the night in my room and asked fer my help an' there was no way I was sayin' no. Guess it doesn't work that well on kids we know! But, uh… but it did when he got caught by that officer and tried to run. She tossed me off the balcony by the Prize Counter."

Chica put a hand on her beak. "The Prize Counter? How did you survive?"

Monty nodded to Gregory and patted his head, causing the boy to laugh and duck out of his grasp. "This little genius! Vanessa fixed me, but he found a way to clear me o' that dumb virus thing. We thought it would work on you an' Roxy."

"And Freddy."

"I don't know about him," Gregory mumbled and ran his hand over Bonnie's ear. He winced upon realizing he had spoken out loud.

Chica asked, "What about who?"

"Bonnie said it should work on Freddy, too. But I don't know," Gregory admitted, petting Bonnie's ears. "When I met Freddy in the garage, he didn't act like any of you guys. He didn't even talk, and his eyes barely glowed. I got him to hesitate for a few seconds so I could recharge my Fazerblaster, probably because I surprised him when I said I wasn't scared of him, but I don't think that'll work again. If he doesn't listen to you guys, and he won't listen to me, I don't know how we would fix him."

"Freddy's a good guy. There has to be a misunderstanding somewhere. Monty's abrasive and rude. He's just not trying hard enough."

Gregory stopped petting Bonnie and shifted the rabbit to look at him. Bonnie! Monty's our friend! He's a good guy. You weren't there. Freddy was scary.

"I know him. You don't. He's a good guy."

Chica sighed. "I don't know what happened to him, but he's started acting differently. He's not as patient. I guess we have all been acting differently ever since we've gotten those upgrades."

Gregory stated, "Since the rabbit lady made you start acting weird."

Monty growled and lashed his tail. "Are you sayin' she's the reason I've been feelin' this way? We've all been feelin' this way? That's why I felt different aft'r you fixed me?"

Gregory nodded. "Probably. That would make sense."

Chica chipped in, "What about Roxy? Is she okay?"

Gregory shook his head. "She's still under the influence of the virus."

"We're going to help her, though, right?"

He nodded. "Yeah. First, we should find her. She'll probably be at Roxy Raceway."

"I'll see if she's in Rockstar Row or Backstage."

The time was four-fifty-five am.

Chica jolted. "Hide, Gregory! I-I'll see you both later. Good luck, Monty!" With that, she turned and ran off to the elevators. She stumbled and ran with a messy gait, but she got where she needed to go.

Gregory and Monty ran in the other direction to where the charging station was just outside. Moon met them there in the hallway. "Good night…" it cooed.

Monty took a moment to snarl at Moon and then stopped by the recharge station long enough for Gregory to climb into his stomach hatch and climb in. Moon stared at him from outside. After a long moment, the jester animatronic hopped away, vanishing into the hall.

The time was five am.

They left the recharge station.

Gregory nodded. Oh, yeah. This should be a snap! …heh. Hopefully.

They went through Roxy's elevator, though Monty was a little slow and missed it. That was fine; he could take the next one. In the meantime, Gregory walked out of Roxy's greenroom, through Rockstar Row, and into the atrium.

"Kid, I'm sorry for scaring you. Please come out." Officer Vanessa's voice reached him from the dining hall.

He hid behind the planters and booths and crept quickly, but quietly, out of the dining area and up the stairs.

"Are you hungry?" Officer Vanessa's voice was barely audible from where he walked. Good.

The hall leading to Roxy Raceway wasn't too far from the stairs, the stairs being the midway point between the extreme ends. The hall itself overlooked Kid's Cove, which stood right beside Fazer Blast. He passed the security bot making wide rounds.

Gregory stopped. A pair of shutters stood before him. On a branching path to the right, another pair of shutters stood. He took a deep breath, wincing as he heard Monty's heavy steps approaching.

"Somethin' wrong, Little guy?"

"This is where I found her," Gregory said. "After I left Monty Golf, I came here to watch the show. She was standing right there." He pointed to a spot just within range of the now open shutters. "I didn't know who she was. She told me that she could get me backstage and meet you after the show."

Monty grunted. "You should be able to trust adults. It's plain wrong when you can't. Well, I'm here to help ya now. We're gonna make sure she won't get you."

Gregory let out a short sigh and smiled. "Thanks, Monty." With that, he strode done the hall to Roxy Raceway. The path split further down to the nail salon. But why would he go there?

At the end of the hall was a round and glowing pillar and racing items. They had to stop to allow the shutters on their right to open.

As soon as they passed the threshold into pale red and black checkerboard tile, Roxy's voice said, "Hey. I'm Roxanne Wolf. If you're looking for high-speed motor mayhem, Roxy Raceway is the place to be. Sign up today and be a winner! No one likes a loser."

He stepped further out onto the floor, which dropped off suddenly with a guardrail around it. Various pop-up shops lined the floor. He couldn't see much past that as his tiny flashlight and Monty's eyes didn't spread light too much farther than that. Tiny lights just bright enough to be seen lined each side of the road so he could vaguely see the giant, winding go-kart track with an overpass consuming most of the area.

"I don't see her," Gregory said and walked forward until he got to the guard rail. The white rabbit led him across the balcony here to the left and down to the utility tunnels by a small bumper kart area. Ahead of him should be the go-kart track. Unless Roxy was concealing her eyes like Freddy, he should see her. He should at least hear her. He did see three security bots roaming the ground, flashlights pointed down.

"Yeah, I don't think she's here." Monty voiced their thoughts aloud. "Maybe we could find a way to get her here, though? She's real stubborn, so be careful of that."

A set of stairs led down to their immediate right. Immediately across from the stairs, up against the opposite wall, stood the information registry.

He entered the unlocked red door at the end of the information registry building. Monty, too big to fit inside without making them claustrophobic, waited behind the desk. On the ground before a wall separating the front from the back room was a duffle bag with a note.

"Chasing cars: ERRANT BEHAVIOR REPORT – Roxy never misses a race. Every time there's a test run in the track she gets in the way. She's broken every test dummy we've sent out on the track."

"Huh."

Monty shook his head. "She's always been real competitive. And none of us like these S.T.A.F.F. bots too awfully much."

"Weird that she would jump in front of one, though." Gregory walked around into the back of the small building. If she's so eager to get in front of a go-kart, maybe he could just… let her. After all, of every animatronic in the building, including that jester one, she was the most eager to kill him. She had killed him. Getting run over one time if there was no other way to get her to Parts and Service didn't seem too far-fetched. Besides, it would be her choice to jump in front of the go-kart.

Shelving units and lockers filled the space in the back room.

Ugh.

Boring.

Well, Gregory needed a go-kart. Surely, there would be one next to the racetrack, right? With this information in mind, he walked to the end of the room, peered out into the open space to be sure Roxy wasn't around there, and walked toward the racetrack. He hesitated and then decided to turn left instead and investigate the garages under the balcony.

Shutters showing garages of various things sat beneath them. He searched them but they were fairly plain with a couple having party supplies with neon pink stars glowing on the walls. Under one table in a corner as if it had fallen off and gotten forgotten was a neon blue and pink ticket labeled "DANCE PASS," which he didn't hesitate to grab.

The time was five-fifteen am.

Among the others, there was a small garage full of go-karts with an animatronic recharge station. One kart was missing, and the one behind it was blue with yellow stars, which none of the others had the star pattern or the same shade of blue. He didn't know how he'd get any of these to the racetrack without a ton of noise. Maybe he should've gone there first and looked for a trailer or something. Outside, two lines of bright squares lined up on the path outside of the garages, all empty. More garages of go-karts lined up until the very end where a set of stairs came down from the floor above. The room at the very end was circular. A duffle bag sat in the middle of a ring of shelves.

"PQ2 MAINT LOG: MAINTENANCE LOG – Princess Quest 2 – Won't boot properly. No idea why! Shuts down when I try to play? Like it's personal. Doesn't matter anyway. Still haven't found PQ1."

"Princess Quest 2"… so "PQ1" must be "Princess Quest 1". Everything about this place was weird. Well, he had the Dance Pass, and he could get the security badge and then come back. After all, time technically didn't move until something happened. Though, that something could be triggering the security alarms when he took the badge.

…nah. It was five-fifteen. He had time.

"Monty? I think we have enough time to go to the West Arcade really quickly, get that badge, and come back. She's not here right now, after all. Maybe we'll catch her when we get back?" Gregory suggested.

Monty nodded. "Yeah, we might. I'll come with ya. We'll have this over and done with in no time."

Gregory nodded and led him around the garages and balcony. He took out his map as they moved and, flashlight in his mouth, checked their position and the position of the West Arcade… on the third floor. He groaned and put away the map. He took the flashlight out of his mouth. "Why does this place have to have three stories?"

Monty chuckled. "It's a big place, Little guy! There's a lot of stuff fer kids to do durin' the day."

"And at night," Gregory agreed.

Monty snorted. "True. The Mega Pizzaplex used to hold overnight shut-ins. They were like sleepovers, where a party o' kids would come in and stay overnight. No one was allowed in or out of the building. We stopped havin' those. None of them involved any o' this."

Gregory looked down at Bonnie and relaxed from his bristling.

A ticket bot tried to block him until he gave him the Dance Pass, at which point it allowed him to the elevator onto the West Arcade.

The first thing Gregory noticed upon stepping out was the giant golden statue of Freddy and Friends, Freddy standing on top of giant speakers. Neon lights and arcade screens threw multicolored light across the floor, walls, and arcade cabinets. Still, the darkness was harsh, and Gregory absolutely needed his tiny flashlight here, especially on the shiny, dark dance floor. Monty's eye lights helped.

Gregory stepped out onto a futuristic hallway. To his left was an arcade. To his right was a dancefloor. A giant robot lay on the stage. His squarish head the size of a minivan lay on two of his hands, his black circle eyes staring into nothingness as he "slept." A massive set of headphones sat on his head. As Gregory approached, he saw its huge row of teeth modeled after a keyboard.

Pinks and blues colored his otherwise white face and red and gold headphones sat atop his head. His were black and white like keyboard keys, but the inside of his mouth varied in color, changing like light shimmering off a dark pool with antifreeze. So, those things in the vent must be miniature versions of this–albeit slightly modified.

Beside him was a platform with a metal safety railing interrupted by a short set of stairs. A breaker switch clung to the wall. He stepped back and walked to the arcade, where a set of spiral stairs led him up to a landing with arcade cabinets and then another set of stairs leading to more arcade cabinets set up to make a winding pathway. Behind him was a round platform with dining tables and chairs sectioned off with faux walls. He didn't need those. Probably. Instead, he walked to the other end past all the arcade cabinets and a few rooms dominated by a single color with a mic near the end. Once he got to the last door past some games with chairs and a door that was out of order, he escaped the lights and colors and emerged into a poorly lit brick-walled hall. A metal security door cut into the bricks on the left with a long, small window beside it looking into the hallway.

Gregory walked in. A large repair machine with a slot in the front metal part stood before him. A box of S.T.A.F.F. parts sat in a bin beside it. A security desk armed with electronics and empty food boxes lined the left walls. A vent entrance cut into the wall left of the door.

. He grabbed the security card off the far desk. He tapped the nose of the Freddy security badge holder. It slowly opened, let him take the card, and then snapped shut again.

The scant lights went out.

The computer bot who helped him in Parts and Service called, "The West Arcade was not shut down properly. Some data may be corrupted. Initializing start-up sequence. Before proceeding, reset the audio manager circuit breaker, located next to the dance floor."

That breaker by the DJ!

Monty growled and looked around the dark room, "Gregory, the security system's locked you out. We gotta reset the breakers and restore power to the West Arcade. Then the elevator out will power up again."

"Got it!" Nothing had moved, no one had entered–that he could see–but the backup lights came online. Gregory ran, glancing around at his surroundings now dipped in blood. He kept a lookout but didn't see Roxy, Chica, or the white rabbit as he moved to the stairs. Monty stopped following.

On the little raised platform by the stage on the dance floor, the breaker switch's light glowed red. He pulled it down. It clicked and the circle and lightning bolt glowed green. The lights went out completely and the neon walls turned on bright. Electric music boomed through the arcade. Something shuffled rather quickly. He looked beside himself.

The DJ was gone.

The computer voice said, "Great job. Safety protocols deactivated."

Oh, come on!

"Pram zapped. Brun DJ protocols. Reticulating splines. Please reset the breakers to all zones. Three zones remain: Janitorial service. Arcade. Arcade."

Neon lights and arcade screens threw multicolored light across the floor, walls, and arcade cabinets. Still, the darkness was harsh, and Gregory absolutely needed his flashlight here, especially on the shiny, dark dance floor.

He ran through a wall and checked the girl's bathroom. Nope. He checked the boy's bathroom. A door led off into a janitor's closet. A breaker clung to the wall. He pulled it down immediately.

"Two zones remain: Arcade. Arcade."

Gregory stepped out into the bathroom and froze. The bathroom door opened, revealing DJ Music Man's head cocked to the side so both eyes could stare in. His head retreated, replaced by a gloved hand reaching in. Gregory ran around to the other door. When DJ Music Man's arm extended fully inside, the boy darted out straight under his legs and toward the arcade.

He ran around to the lower arcade, searching the walls.

Then, a roar blasted nearby, and a huge green and purple shape rushed out of the bowels of the arcade and landed before him.

Gregory yelped and held up his flashlight to Monty's face.

Monty cackled. "You got on the DJ's bad side, little guy. Not good." The mirth died from his voice. "Switch is over there. I'll keep lookin'." He pointed to the wall behind himself and hopped off further into the arcade. Gregory could barely hear Monty's feet hit the ground under the blaring music. Gregory put a hand to his chest. At least warn him, first!

Gregory wanted to hate this atmosphere, but surprisingly the music and the glaring lights were way better here than anywhere else in the dark and boring mall.

Still, he gathered his wits and ran to the breaker. It clicked on.

"One zone remains: Arcade."

Gregory looked up to see DJ Music Man crawling out of a giant, lit-up hole in the wall.

Welp, time to move.

Gregory bolted for the spiral staircase. He ran deeper into the arcade, away from the repair bot tunnel. He found the next breaker across the bridge.

"Rerouting encryptions. Almost done. There is a software update available. Reset the final circuit breaker located at the south end of the arcade maintenance hallway."

That was the place with the security room, right?

Gregory ran back over the bridge and wove through the arcade cabinets. He burst through the door, ran down the hall, and turned. Arcade cabinets and equipment sprinkled through a long hallway with a giant circular hole at the end wall. At the end of the hall, he spotted a lonely arcade cabinet pressed against the wall. Princess Quest II. The screen was dark. A cutout of Bonnie in a sailor's uniform and bandana, covered in seafoam, leaned against the wall on its side. Free of danger for the moment, hopefully, Gregory ran to the breaker. He took a few deep breaths and stayed still long enough to regain some energy. Then, he grabbed the last breaker and pulled it down.

The music reached a crescendo and then paused as if holding its breath.

The ground shook and from the giant hole in the wall emerged DJ Music Man. His hand-feet stomped as he emerged, causing the very ground to shudder.

The beat dropped.

Gregory ran.

Arcade cabinets fell over and stuff fell from the ceiling or walls to block his path. He still managed to find a path, but with each turn he had to make, or time needed to slow down, the DJ got closer.

Finally, Gregory broke free of the hall and took a turn. As he ran to the security door, he glanced behind himself to see the DJ in the hall.

He shut the door behind himself.

…

The noises within the hall died down. The lights came on–enough that he no longer needed his flashlight.

The time was five-thirty am.

He breathed a sigh of relief. He looked to the repair receptacle, and then beyond that at the vent. Well, he had the security card. May as well, right?

"Where does this vent go?" he wondered aloud as he crawled through the dark space. No little music man vent bug thing crawled in behind him. Which was for the best considering how long this vent was–and sloped downward, too!

Then, he was on a short section of catwalk against the wall.

He got up and looked down at his feet. Below him, a whole arena maze spread out beneath him–Fazer Blast. Small, orange lights only bright enough to be seen and guide whoever was on the catwalk glowed at specific intervals. At a few points, a dull purple light shone from the ceiling. Well, the catwalk was purple with the safety rails and beams crossing the grates a sharp blood red. So, it fit in with the spontaneous colors of the neon and blacklight arena below him. At the end was a wall with a metal security door with a window. He stopped and peered inside. He couldn't see much but did find a door with a window opposite him, a stack of boxes… there was a computer with a ton of notes scattered about and some pizza boxes on the floor. There might have been some blankets just out of his sight across from the computer desk, the corner of a blanket just within the window's view if he pressed his face against the glass's edge. Some other technology sent a pale blue glow over the wall from his side. He couldn't see the electronics, but… was that the arcade cabinet? If so, this was the other side of the weird room!

"Monty! I found that weird room in Fazer Blast but from the other side. There's a vent leading there from the security room in the West Arcade!"

Beep! [You found what now? Another entrance? You should get back here; we should be leaving.]

Gregory bit back a sigh. "Yeah, I guess so. Okay, I'll be right there."

"He's right, you know. I have a bad feeling about this place."

Gregory shot a look back at the room as he walked back to the vent. …maybe.