In Roxanne's green room, Austin and Roxanne were relaxing after a long day. Austin sat on the couch, looking exhausted, while Roxanne paced around the room, deep in thought.
"Phew, with all we did today, I'll be sleeping good tonight. Right, Roxanne?" Austin asked, rubbing his eyes.
"Yeah… but not before we do a little sneaking around first!" Roxanne replied with a mischievous grin.
Austin looked at her in surprise. "You want to sneak around? Even though Officer Vanessa told us not to?"
"Yeah! Come on, when do we ever listen to Officer Vanessa?"
"Well… that's true, but I think we should listen this time. You heard what the S.T.A.F.F bot said—things might be unsafe."
"Don't worry!" Roxanne said confidently. "We'll just take a quick look at a few places and leave before anyone sees us. Aren't you curious to check them out? What if they're competition?"
Austin frowned, clearly torn. "I… don't know…"
Roxanne noticed his hesitation, and her expression softened. "Alright… how about we just visit a couple of places, and then wait until the others open up before we explore more? Sound fair?"
Austin looked up at her, not wanting to disappoint her but also uneasy about the idea. "Well… alright, I guess."
"Great! Let's go!" Roxanne exclaimed, grabbing his hand and dragging him out of the room.
The two snuck through the Pizzaplex, eventually making their way to the atrium. There, they scanned the neon signs advertising different attractions until one caught their attention—a sign featuring a clown with orange twin ponytails.
"'Circus Baby's Pizza World,' huh?" Roxanne said with a chuckle. "Didn't know they were making another daycare. What do you think, Auzzy?" She elbowed Austin gently, snickering.
The large garage doors to the venue opened, allowing them inside. The interior was decorated with black-and-white checkered floorboards, and the rooms felt far larger than the exterior had suggested.
"Huh. Gotta admit, it's not bad," Roxanne remarked. "But it's nothing compared to us, right, Auzzy?"
Austin nodded absentmindedly, his gaze drawn to something on the main stage. There was only one animatronic in the entire pizzeria—a tall, white animatronic with orange twin ponytails, wearing a bright red mini skirt. It stood slumped over, inactive.
"It looks like the mascot of the pizzeria," Roxanne commented, examining the animatronic. "Kinda like a big baby, don't you think, Auzzy?"
When she didn't get a reply, Roxanne turned to find Austin approaching the animatronic, his eyes fixed on it.
"Auzzy?"
Austin stopped in front of the animatronic, studying it curiously. Though it appeared lifeless, he thought he heard faint whispering coming from within, as if the machine were alive.
"Auzzy, are you okay?" Roxanne called again, snapping him out of his thoughts.
Austin turned to her quickly, a bit startled. "O-oh… sorry, Roxy. I thought I heard… never mind. Are we done sneaking around now?"
"Not yet! Let's check out one more place before we head back, okay?"
Austin sighed and yawned. "Alright…"
The two left the pizzeria, unaware that the animatronic's head turned to follow them as they walked away.
Their next stop was a much smaller pizzeria. It had basic plastic cups and plates set on tables, a small duck pond, and a stage. However, the animatronics were made of literal garbage.
"Wow," Roxanne said, poking one of the 'animatronics' on the head, causing its metal pan face to tilt. "Did they just go dumpster diving for this stuff? This place won't get many visitors, that's for sure."
"Well… the sign did say 'Trash and the Gang,'" Austin pointed out.
"Yeah, I thought that was just a joke, but I'm not laughing."
After a quick look around, the two moved on to their final stop: Freddy Fazbear's Pizza.
"Alright, kid, last stop," Roxanne said, grabbing Austin's hand. "Let's check it out."
They entered the old-fashioned pizzeria and were immediately hit with a wave of nostalgia, despite neither of them being alive during its heyday. The main area featured star-shaped decorations on the ceiling, a pirate cove with an "Out of Order" sign, and a main stage.
"Jeez, for being one of the first, this place feels like a Chuck E. Cheese," Roxanne said, examining her surroundings.
"Can we go, Roxy?" Austin asked nervously, glancing around. "This place is giving me the creeps…"
"Yeah, sure. This place looks boring anyway. Let's head back before someone spots us."
As they turned to leave, Austin suddenly froze. "Roxy… did you hear that?"
"Hear what?" Roxanne asked, raising an eyebrow. "You're starting to worry me, kid. First the thing with the crate in the warehouse, and now this."
Austin could hear faint, childlike laughter. He glanced toward the corner of the room and saw a child with hollow eyes staring back at him. But when he blinked and yawned, the figure vanished.
"Maybe… maybe it's just me being tired," he murmured.
"Yeah, come on," Roxanne said, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Let's get some rest. We've earned it after all this sneaking around."
The two left the pizzeria, unaware that six ghostly children were watching them from the shadows, whispering to one another.
Are you sure he's ready?
He has to be… or he'll end up like us.
But what about HIM?
Don't worry about HIM… we should be more worried about HER.
Regardless, we must keep him alive. We've done it before, but this time… we must succeed.
Yes… and I know exactly how to do it.
To be continued…
Hello everyone! I'm so sorry for being inactive for so long. Life's been keeping me busy, but I finally found some time to write another chapter. I hope you all enjoy this one!
