Grey cursed as the building came into sight. He couldn't see the front from where he was, but it had just clicked in his mind that the front door never got closed. And now that he was thinking about that he also realized that he hadn't looked into more than two rooms of the entire building. Sighing with a slight shake of his head, he pulled around to the parking lot and backed up to the door. He shut the truck off and hopped out, walking into the still open door of the restaurant. He walked straight to the dining room barely avoiding the distraction of wandering. "Yo, Big Bear! Where'd you go?" Grey shouted into the empty dining room. He didn't figure the old bear had enough mobility left in him to hobble off the stage, but he was obviously wrong. Grey walked up to the stage and grabbed the flashlight he had set down next to his chair. He turned it on and looked around the dusty room. He took in the state of everything with the eyes of nostalgia for the first time.
The dining room was fairly good sized for a restaurant not even including the space for the stage and arcade. The moldy, dirt stained tables still had the remains of table cloths, party hats and dishes strewn about as if everyone had just disappeared from their seats during the middle of a show. He remembered hiding under empty tables as a kid, drawing with crayons or playing hide and seek with other kids. Grey smiled a sad smile as he looked towards the arcade. He had fond memories of button mashing the consoles he could barely see over, too young to understand the controls or to care about the actual game. Across from the stage on the opposing wall, he could make out the lighter shade of paint where the old menu used to hang. Pieces of it lay scattered and rotting on the floor, unintelligible and probably a biohazard. That thought made him chuckle a bit, realizing that the food they used to serve here was likely just as dangerous to eat. The food tasted fine as a kid, but even he remembered the texture being odd. "The bread is soggy and the cheese is firm, how did they mess up pizza this bad?" he vividly remembered hearing someone complaining though he didn't know whom the memory was of.
Grey came back to himself with a small jolt as Freddy thumped his way into the room. The lumbering mess of parts stopped in the doorway and stared back. Grey cringed slightly as he finally took in Freddy as a whole. Freddy's head was rotten, old matted fur and mold made the holes and missing chunks look like nothing. His right eye drifted occasionally, so dirty it was likely blind. His split jaw hung slightly loose on the right side, shifting with the soft squeaking of protesting metal. one ear was missing completely and his nose was caved in. That wasn't too bad considering the state of the rest of his body. Other than the typical mold and rot, it looked like he'd played Frogger on the highway and lost. His left arm was missing below the elbow, rusty twisted endoskelleton protruding from the remains of his upper arm. His chest piece was rotted beyond recognition, showing the edge of a large rusty cabinet in the center of his chest. Wires and hydraulic lines ran out through the box to the different limbs. His legs shouldn't work with the amount of rust and other junk clogging the joints. It honestly looked like he had been sitting in a puddle of garbage under a roof leak for months, and with a quick examination of the stage, found a spot that matched the description perfectly.
"Hey, Fred. Sorry about leaving so abruptly. I, uh... I was wondering where the rest of the band was. Are they..?" he trailed off, feeling a bit awkward as he saw the shifting look on the mechanical bear's face. After a moment of silence he responded.
"They aaaren't here." he said with a twitch of his hand and a guarded look. "What were yyyyou doing?" Freddy asked, his eyes flicking around the room. Grey smiled and took another quick look around.
"Reliving memories, big bear. I used to love this place as a kid. I didn't take the chance to look around earlier since I was so focused on you." Grey sighed and looked Freddy in the eyes again. "I wanted to revive this place, but I don't think I can. I'm about five years too late honestly. So my plan is to save what's left in here." Grey paused as he collected his thoughts for a moment, Freddy staring back with an unreadable expression. "I'm going to take you home with me, Freddy. I'll fix you there while I have people tear this building down and clean it-"
"NO." He shouted, his old speaker screeching as it peaked for the first time in years. The room was silent except for the loud hiss of feedback from Freddy's speaker. Both Grey and Freddy stood staring at each other, shocked. "Nnno. This is my home." Freddy finally said, quiet and looking at the floor.
Grey took that as Freddy being ashamed that he snapped and immediately felt bad. "Shit big bear... I'm sorry. I didn't even think about-" He stopped suddenly, the gravity of what he'd just been about to say finally sinking in. Grey hadn't thought about Freddy's feelings. "Oh fuck..." he muttered under his breath as the evidence for the living bear became too much to deny any longer. With a slight wobble to his legs, Grey sat heavily in his lawn chair he'd forgotten earlier. Grey sat like that for long minutes in the light of his flashlight, letting the new reality of his situation sink in. Freddy had stood there for a minute, watching Grey before hobbling over to the edge of the stage and standing there.
After a few quiet minutes, Grey seemed to come back to himself a bit and Freddy spoke up. "Yyyou just realized." Freddy chuckled his iconic laugh, the upper vantage point making his split jaw appear as a grim smile. "I already told you that I'm alivvvvve." he said, chuckling his iconic laugh. "Do you believe me now?" the bear asked as his face took on a serious look. "This is my home. I will nnnot abandon itttt." he stated firmly.
Good grief that was a long wait for a long chapter. I hope y'all enjoyed and as always, feedback is the best way to help improve the story. Peace