Gregory stepped into warmth.

A shiver ran through him, and he stared into the dazzling atrium with wide, misty eyes. "No. Oh, no, no, no." The others weren't dead, but he was back again!

"You're kinda in the way," someone said behind him. Gregory wasn't aware he was walking until his dirty shoes started taking him over the checkerboard floor.

"This is insane."

You're telling me! This can't be happening. This… it can't be. Gregory looked over the crowd. He ran his hands over his arms, over the dirtying bandages of various ages. He winced as he moved the wrong way. Gregory stopped and stretched despite his body's protests. He spotted Chica's tufted feathers over the crowd as she walked among them. That's how she found Gregory last time–she was already by the stage. Monty must already be in Monty Golf. Roxy was in Roxy Raceway prior to the show, so that's likely where she would be now. Where was Freddy?

Whatever. He needed to get out. Obviously, anything that included him going somewhere guests were not permitted was off limits. Gregory tapped his glasses. His chat logs and CAM tabs were both empty. He fished out his cupcake light and found his signed Monty Golf score sheet and signed cupcake liner in his pockets as well as his Party Pass. He replaced the items. Okay. Okay, well, there was still the fire escape… that was VIP required.

Gregory took a steadying breath and hugged Bonnie as he stepped onto the escalator. Normally, he didn't interact much with Bonnie in public past holding him–definitely nothing as babyish as hugging him or petting his ears. But it helped, at least somewhat, with the turbulent emotions just made all the worse by hunger and pain and exhaustion. If he tousled his hair the right way and acted in the right manner, he could pass off as a child much younger than he truly was. He was already short, and Bonnie made things easier.

But he didn't want to look like a little kid because he wasn't. He was eleven. He was mature enough and sly enough and smart enough to sneak into Freddy Fazbear's Mega Pizzaplex. He spent the night here–twice–and survived. But he was an idiot and got his friends killed.

"You didn't. You saw Chica just now: functioning and walking around, good as new. You're back at the start of the time loop again. None of that happened, as far as they're concerned."

Gregory rubbed his shoulder, wincing where he'd hit the floor. It happened to me.

"I know. But it won't happen this time."

He nodded, taking another set of escalators up to the third floor. People laughed and complained and chattered to each other in the arcade, turning the already crowded floor into one big obstacle. Gregory managed to squirm his way through to the Prize Counter. Then, while the worker closest to him checking out the shelf of toys wasn't looking, he strolled past and walked straight up to the doors to the fire exit.

Cli-clunk.

Nope. Not VIP enough.

Gregory turned and walked back as quickly as he dared. So, the fire escape was, again, out of the picture. No way he was going to the loading docks. The only other way out was through the front doors. Even then, he ran the risk of getting stuck without an entry ticket. Though, did the utility doors need clearance? He nodded. "Front doors it is."

He looked over the balcony just in time to see Chica vanish over the top of the stairs from the atrium to the balcony. Chica was probably going to her cupcake factory. Monty was likely still in his golf course. Was Roxy in her raceway? At night she was pretty much everywhere but the raceway.

Gregory couldn't shake off his curiosity. He knew entering the raceway would prove to be futile–sure, he might meet Roxy, but then he'd just have to go through a whole new night in the Mega Pizzaplex. Maybe it was interacting with the animatronics that was making him go through these time loops.

"Or maybe it was interacting with, and befriending, them that was saving you."

Gregory walked past quite a few people to get into Roxy Raceway. With the ceiling lights on, the raceway felt both larger and smaller at the same time, which was weird? Smaller in that it had space and therefore was not an endless void, but larger as in it had a taller ceiling than most any other place in the Mega Pizzaplex barring the main atrium.

Go-karts zoomed over the track. People whooped and called all along the sides, watching their friends and family and random people as they waited or simply watched for the fun of it. Some people shopped for snacks and trinkets along the balcony Gregory left as he quickly climbed down the stairs. A cluster of kids played bumper-karts. Roxanne Wolf stood by the starting line, watching the go-karts race.

He hesitated partway down the stairs as he heard quiet sniffling.

Gregory's eyebrows wrinkled. He made it all the way down the stairs and looked into the first garage. All the shutter doors were open. Within the first garage, a kid just about his age sat against the wall, curled up with her arms around her knees, her red violet sweatshirt a flare against the checkerboard white and black tile.

Gregory threw a look around at his surroundings. Other kids younger and older ran and walked past as did adults and teens–staff and guest. None of them seem to notice her existence. Gregory turned to her and walked into the room. He grabbed one of the napkins, knelt beside her, and offered it to the now cautious girl.

"Um… hey," he offered. "Did you get your make-up done at the salon? It looks nice."

She sniffled, the caution breaking in lieu of her misery. "Yeah, but it's all ru-unny, now," she mumbled. "…thanks." She took the napkin and tried dabbing at her tears without messing up her make-up worse than it already was.

Gregory shrugged. "I dunno, I think it looks cool all messed up."

She scoffed and hiccupped again. "Guys don't know what make-up should look like." She still smiled a little at that. "Thanks."

"So, uh… what… happened?" Gregory edged.

She squinted at the napkin, but not in anger as he might expect. She more looked at the blackened thing with… resignation. "It's my birthday. I had my party here. But no one showed up."

Gregory's eyebrows raised. " What? Who wouldn't show up to your birthday?"

"My friends, apparently," she mumbled.

"You need better friends," Gregory stated plainly.

"They're not all bad," she argued, but didn't look up.

"Yeah, not all bad," he agreed. "Like abandoning someone on one of the most important days of the year."

She sniffled and dabbed uselessly at her face again.

Gregory lost a little of his indignation. He fetched another napkin for her. "Hey, sorry. I just… don't like seeing people put down. I'm sorry your friends didn't come to your party." He hesitated. "Is, um… is the party over already?"

"Roxy had to go, so yeah," she said. "Roxy's the best. She's so nice and special and cool. I hope I get to have my next birthday here again."

He opted to nod. "I heard she's pretty cool. Chica told me a little about her, and so did Monty. But if your birthday party's over already, does that mean we can host the afterparty now?"

She gave him a quizzical look. "The what now?"

"The afterparty," he said simply. "When you had your party, but then you have enough stuff left over for another party. I mean, it's okay if you don't want to. But I know some good ways to play with the machines around here and have some fun."

The girl laughed and sniffed. "Why are you being so nice to me? You don't even know me."

Gregory's smile fell and he looked at Bonnie. "Eh, well, I kinda know what it's like to be alone. It really sucks. I mean, I've got Bonnie. He's my best friend. But it's hard for him to do some things."

"The only things I can do are limited to anything that is just talking to you in specific. So, yes. It's hard for me to do some things."

The girl looked at Bonnie and then him. "You know, Bonnie was always my dad's favorite. I was pretty young when I met Bonnie. My name's Cassie." She held out her hand.

Gregory go of Bonnie with one hand and took hers. "I'm Gregory."

"Heh! Now, what's this you said about the machines?"

Gregory got to his feet and helped Cassie to hers. "Well, if you kick a few of the ones in the Starcade in just the right spot, they'll give you extra tickets. Some will even give you your coins back! Some soda machines will give you five quarters back instead of four when you ask for a refund," he told her as they walked up the stairs and out of Roxy Raceway. "So, we could go to the Starcade and mess with those machines or… it's your birthday, right? So, Chica must have given you a Party Pass. Have you used it?"

Cassie shook her head. "Nope. I still have it. Why? Do you have one?"

"Yeah. We could go to the Starcade or blow these tickets on Fazerblast and show the rest of the babies there who's boss. What do you think, Birthday girl?"

Cassie grinned. "It's been a little while since I've blasted anyone."

Gregory cackled. "Yeah! That's what I'm talking about!"

Cassie chuckled, hiccupped, and took a deep breath. "But first, I really should go wash this off in the bathroom."

Gregory nodded and followed her back to the Salon. He waited outside, looking around at the desert themed exterior with the giant scissors on the building. Girls, mostly, occupied the space. The boys that he could see tended to be older. When she came back out, she'd washed off the runny part of her makeup and dried her face. She smiled and asked, "Fazer Blast?"

"Fazer Blast!"

Then the two were off. Cassie called, "Gregory! Slow down! I'm not as fast as you!"

Gregory slowed his sprint to match her run, cackling, "For a Roxy fan, you're pretty slow!" They walked down the escalator to get down faster and both presented their Party Passes to the ticket bot in Fazer Blast when prompted.

Cassie picked up the blue helmet with alien antenna, what looked like a bulletproof vest with a glowing lightning bolt and tie, and Fazerblaster, prompting Gregory to shrug and do the same. He had to take off his knitted hat, fold it, and stick it in his coat pocket. The helmet pressed down on his star glasses, but he'd done it enough it didn't matter. "SCORE" with "0/3" under it popped up in blue letters at the left edge of his vision. "HEALTH" with six short bars under it glowed green on his right. A blue "10/10" and an orange "10/10" showed on the bottom left. An icon of his blaster and six boxes stacked on top of each other lined the right side of his vision. He held Bonnie in the crook of his arm and wielded the Fazerblaster in both hands. Cassie asked, "How many times have you played?"

"A couple," Gregory admitted. "But never with anyone. So, stay together?"

"Yep. We should stay on the ground first. Everyone's going to rush the top flag first and then get each other out. What do you think?" Cassie prompted as they took a right through the glowing hallway to the alien elevator along with a little over half a dozen other kids ranging from ten to fourteen.

"Sounds good. Left side first," Gregory determined. "I know a few sneaky ways out of there in case we get cornered."

"Do they involve cheating?" Cassie prompted.

"No," Gregory answered immediately. He hesitated. "I couldn't find a way to cheat it without climbing over. Uh… is hiding in those boxes cheating?"

Cassie shook her head. "Nope."

The elevator grew dark around them.

Gregory grinned. "So, if we tag the flag and then one of us happens to get scared and hide in the box, but then get out courage back when someone walks past the box, that's totally legal, right?"

She snickered. "Yes!"

The doors opened, revealing a huge glowing maze. The kids ran out, seeking their prospective targets. Gregory instinctively tried going for his cameras before remembering his glasses currently weren't attached to any cameras. Eh, well, he had his memory. That, and he had Cassie, who ran through the maze without hesitation. How often did she come here?

Computer bot chirped, " Orange team has captured a flag!"

They stopped and each hid behind a wall before an opening to one of the flags. Two kids in orange helmets with ears and top hats stood at the ready beside the flag, watching the entrances. Cassie muttered, "We'll get shot if we're spotted."

"What if I run distraction?" Gregory whispered back. "You shoot them in the back."

"Then you'll get shot," she pointed out.

"What if I run distraction?"

Gregory nudged his head toward Bonnie. "What if he does it? I'll go over there"–he tipped his head to the other entrance they stared down–"and then toss Bonnie. They'll shoot at Bonnie, or at least get distracted, and you shoot them. Then they'll see you and I'll join in."

The blue "10/10" on the bottom-right of his vision turned to "9/10".

Cassie narrowed her eyes and then nodded. "Could work. Alright, go. I'll be ready."

" Orange team has captured a flag!"

"My teammates suck," Gregory muttered to himself, stifling a yawn, as he ran to the other side, his shoes silent on the carpet.

"Hopefully your luck turns. If not, you and Cassie will at least get this one!"

Gregory stopped, took a breath, and then tossed Bonnie into view with a quick, "A flag!"

Both boys turned their attention on Bonnie and the one nearest to Cassie, the younger one, shot him twice. The one closer to Gregory wrinkled his eyebrows. "What the–?"

The younger one squeaked and turned to Cassie, but it was too late as his glowing suit buzzed and went dark. "Hey!" he complained. "That wasn't fair!" The orange "10/10" on the bottom-left of his vision turned to "9/10".

The older one turned to her and Cassie, laughing, ducked out of the way of his shot, giving Gregory clearance to shoot him a few times and knock him out of the game. Three of the glowing blue bars under his Fazerblaster on his helmet turned dark. "8/10".

The older boy jolted and looked at Gregory and then rolled his eyes and walked away. "You're too old for toys, you know that, right?"

Gregory retrieved Bonnie. Cassie called back to him, "Better luck next time!" She pressed the button on the flag and they both took up position beside it. The dark squares on his Fazerblaster lit up again. "0:29" in purple numbers glowed in the middle-top of his vision.

The computer in their helmets declared, "You have captured the flag! Time to defend!"

Time ticked down. A few more kids were taken out. Another orange-team kid came to investigate their flag and got knocked out by the duo. "AREA CAPTURED" briefly glowed in green letters in his vision. Their score went from "0/3" to "1/3".

The computer congratulated, "You have successfully invaded the station! Move onto the next one, Space Conqueror!"

Their teammate counter ticked down by one. Cassie commented, "They're probably all on the top flag right now."

"You want to take out some people?" Gregory asked.

Cassie shrugged. "Sure."

" Blue team has captured a flag!" Their score went up by one.

Gregory hissed as he heard footsteps and pointed to the corner ahead of them. Cassie stopped and started to run away when Gregory pointed to the box and then himself. She snickered and nodded.

Gregory darted ahead and hopped inside. A few orange team girls ran past. They stopped upon seeing Cassie.

Cassie called, "I come in peace!"

The older girl, maybe a year older than Cassie, laughed. "Well, I don't!" The younger one, eight perhaps, giggled to herself. Cassie ducked behind a wall as both shot at her.

Gregory slipped out of the box and shot the older one in the back.

The girl jolted. "What the fffrick?! Is something–? Hey!" She looked back at Gregory and raised her gun to shoot him, but its tip had grown dark.

Gregory grinned and waved his gun.

Cassie jumped out of hiding and shot the girl's partner as she was distracted. As the two slunk off to the loser's elevator, Cassie and Gregory ran up to meet each other with a high five.

The boy cackled, "They didn't know what hit them!"

"They got a little too cocky," Cassie agreed. "Now the rest are probably defending the last flag. How good are you at capturing flags?"

"I dunno, how good are you at capturing flags?" Gregory tossed his Fazerblaster up and caught it again. He snickered and tipped his head toward the hall. "Oh whatever. Let's rock!"

They had to slow down at the base of the ramp and stay low and quiet. The raucous sounds of battle poured in from overhead. Lights not part of the environment flashed. Gregory and Cassie sent a look at each other. Cassie hissed a warning and they both stopped and hid behind a wall as someone came down. But their suit and gun were dark, and they trudged down the walkway. Their helmet had alien antennae. Not good.

Up closer to the flag, the walls were tighter together in a few broken rings around a flag. Someone on the blue team tried darting out and touching it, but three other people from around the circle popped up and shot them. The blue team kid abandoned their mission and fled, but were hit, anyway. A couple other blue teamers tried firing back, but the orange teamers retreated instantly. The sounds had died down, now, at their stand-off.

They were up three to four kids, one to two flags. Unfortunately, that "one" they needed and the "three" they were up against had the advantage.

They joined up with a ten-year-old boy and fourteen-year-old girl near the ramp up. Cassie asked, "Do you remember where they were?"

They nodded. The girl scoffed, "Yeah, but that won't help. They've got their flanks covered, and any time we try to come through, they shoot us. When we try to land a hit, they retreat. But by the time they've retreated, whoever we've sent out's already dead."

Gregory suggested, "Why don't we rush them on both sides? Then that will force them to shoot or move back. Or that'll at least distract them. While that's happening, one of us will go and press that button to get the flag and come back. Then we just sit and wait for victory."

Cassie chipped in, "We'll need someone staying back and shooting the person in the middle continuously to keep them down, too. Due to the shot limit, watch your shots."

The older girl pointed out, "Then we'll lose one of us and it'll be over, anyway."

Cassie countered, "Even if that person gets shot, they'll still probably hit the button first."

"It might be a good idea, but we'll get shot by the people on the side."

Gregory chipped in, "Leave that to us. We'll take care of them. Little guy, you're a small target. Want to go grab the flag?"

The boy started upon being singled out. "Uh… sure."

The girl sighed. "Guess I've been out-voted. Sure. What's the signal?"

Gregory smirked. "When you hear screaming."

He and Cassie split up and stalked around the circle. He stopped upon seeing the tips of shoes on the floor. Gregory waited until he heard Cassie shout before he yelled and started forward, shooting the wall once. The shoes retreated and a few shots went off. Gregory pressed forward and then ducked out of the way of a shot. Four shots, so far. Two to go. Gregory shot again and cackled, pressing forward around the circle. The boy reciprocated instantly. The health bar on Gregory's screen went down and a bullet hole appeared before rapidly fading. Gregory ducked back again. Wow, those shots were really powerful. Three shots, maybe? So, he could technically just take the last one this kid had, but then he'd leave himself completely vulnerable.

The younger boy's laughter broke through the buzzing music and sound effects.

"He got the flag!" one of the orange teamers shouted.

Gregory popped forward and shot the distracted boy a few times. He turned back to Gregory too late as his vest and gun went dark. The boy swore and stood up straight. Gregory stepped to the side to allow him passage. Then, the boy yelled, "A kid's coming for you, Josh!"

Gregory bristled. "Cheater!"

The boy stuck his tongue out at Gregory and ran off.

Gregory kept moving regardless. The kid in question, Josh, shot as soon as Gregory got near a corner. Gregory jumped back, suddenly very glad he didn't just take a shot in exchange for defeating the other kid.

"YOU WIN" blazed across his visor in blocky, electric, green letters and yellow stripes with thin stripes missing above and below with green furls on either side.

The computer bot said, "You have defeated the human fleet and destroyed Earth! Good job, Space Conqueror! Proceed to the winner's elevator for your reward."

Gregory cackled and ran into the open flag area and toward the ramp, where he met Cassie. "That was awesome!"

"You bet! You took down your guy, too?"

"Yeah, and he was a lousy cheater."

"Ugh. I heard. Want to go for another round?"

"You bet!"

They played as orange team–Space Cadets–once and then aliens again before getting tired and opting for a snack break. With no adult supervision, said snack break consisted of a large Fizzy-Faz, jumbo slice of pizza, and some nachos for Cassie, and a large Fizzy-Faz and peperoni for Gregory. When Gregory accidentally admitted he didn't bring enough to get anything else, Cassie added some garlic knots, cheesy sticks, and candy for them to split and then paid for the entire order herself.

"My mom told me I could get whatever I wanted. She's kinda expecting a party of, like, five kids," Cassie reassured him.

"Thanks," Gregory mumbled, playing with their receipt proclaiming their order number. The practical side of him didn't want to offer to pay for his part, but the proud part of him didn't want her help.

Eventually, they got their order and dragged it to one of the smaller tables. Gregory traded a garlic knot for some nachos and they split the cheesy sticks. Bonnie sat on a seat scooted away from the table with a napkin on his lap just in case. The two laughed about their recent game and Cassie enthused a bit about Roxy when Gregory pointed out her Roxy sweatshirt.

Cassie asked around a soaked nacho, "So did your parents drop you off? I don't recognize you."

Gregory nodded, finishing his last bit of pepperoni pizza. "Yeah, my stepfather did. Did yours?"

Cassie shook her head. "No, not really. Well, sorta. I–" She cut herself off as someone in a security uniform with a very sour expression stopped at their table. "Yeah?"

Gregory turned on him. "What's the problem, officer?"

The security officer–Dylan, as his nametag implied–glanced at Bonnie and then Gregory's wristband and then back at Gregory. "Where's your ticket?"

Shit.

"I gave it to my brother. I didn't want to drop it," Gregory said and held up his wristband. "Isn't this good enough for you?"

"No, because we got a tip that some boy with a Glamrock Bonnie plush and an orange wristband snuck in. Come with me, you're going home." He held out his hand.

Cassie burst out, "Wait! He's with me, he hasn't caused anyone any trouble."

The security officer scrutinized her. "Go back to your… Shouldn't you be in Roxy Raceway?"

"Well, I–"

"Go back, Cassie. You, come with me." Dylan reached for Gregory, who jumped out of his seat and tried to run. The security officer grabbed him by the wrist and pulled him back. "Ap-ap! No."

Cassie abandoned her seat. "Let go of him, you jerk! He's not doing anything wrong!"

Dylan, holding Gregory tight even as the boy thrashed in his grasp, threw a look at her. "Cassie, go back to Roxy Raceway. You, kid, are coming with me."

"No! You–"

"Or I'll call your mother and you can sit in the maintenance closet until she picks you up after her shift."

Cassie closed her mouth and glared at him. She sent an apologetic look at Gregory, who stopped struggling. Gregory glared at the security officer. Clutching Bonnie, he followed without further resistance. "Bye, Cassie."

"Bye, Gregory."