Liam struggled to form words—he had never spoken to anyone as the robot. He once attempted to speak with the night guard at the pizzeria, but that incident made him realize that living humans only saw a disturbing animatronic bunny and nothing more. Now, Tae and the rest of this boy band were witnessing the same unsettling sight.

Liam inhaled deeply, trying to steady himself, yet it was clear that the stress of the moment was too much. As he attempted to move forward, Tae hurled something in his direction.

"Come on, let's get out of here!" Tae shouted to his bandmates. But Jesse wasn't having it.

"What?! We can't just leave this thing here!" He yelled to Tae.

"Yeah!" Aaron T chimed in, "It clearly came from the door!"

"But how?" Robaire questioned. "I thought only Mark could use the door?!"

Liam tried once more to step forward.

"Ahh!" Tae screamed as the sight of the animatronic rabbit—with its deep, dark eyes and a radiant glow within—made everyone shudder.

'Guys... It's me!' Liam attempted to speak.

"Oh God, it's making that weird sound again!" Robaire exclaimed.

Liam exchanged glances with Robaire, then Tae.

Determined, Liam summoned every last bit of energy to call Tae's name, his voice cracking from the effort. "T-Ttttaaaaae..." he managed, though it left him visibly drained.

He saw Tae locking eyes with him. After a moment, Tae looked towards Robaire, then back at the rabbit.

"D-Did... did it just say my name?" Tae asked in disbelief.

"I thought I was tripping..." Aaron T stuttered. "It did say your name... Why did it...?"

"Should we still run?! Why are we still standing here?!" Robaire barked.

'I have to try again...' Liam thought to himself. Taking another shaky breath, he braced against the draining power and thought, 'Tae... It's... me... Liam...'

Tae's face transformed into an expression of shock. Had he really heard that? The other bandmates, or at least Robaire, seemed oblivious. "What did it say?" Tae asked in a hushed tone.

"I only heard the name Liam," Jesse offered.

Tae blinked. "...Liam?" he murmured.

Toy Bonnie's head tilted a little bit. The glitching simmered down a little.

"L-Liam?!" Tae gasped.

"Wait... what? Is that his name—the guy you were with?" Jesse asked.

Tae hesitated, stepping closer to the glitching Toy Bonnie. "W-What? This makes no sense... Prove you're Liam—there's no way you could be him!"

Liam didn't know what to do. He didn't spend enough time with Tae for him to know a lot of things about him. 'Crap... What should I do the prove that I'm Liam?' Liam thought to himself.

He mustered another deep, internal breath and tried to say, "Freddy... Fazbear's... Pizza..." That was the one detail Tae recognized about him—at least, the only one that came out.

Tae gasped. "L-Liam... It is you...!"

"Huh?!" Robaire blurted.

"What do you mean it's him? How could this be him?" Aaron T questioned.

"I don't know..." Tae replied, then fixed his eyes on the rabbit. "What happened, Liam? Why are you... why are you like this? And what's with that haunted look?"

Liam tried to speak again, but overexertion left him drained; he couldn't fend off the glitching. The stadium lights began to flicker ominously.

Startled by the twitching in Toy Bonnie's face, Tae and the others gasped as the lights danced erratically in the Skydome. That might have been the final straw—but then something strange occurred.

As Liam's glitches intensified, his form began to shift. In a blink, he reverted back to his human self; the Toy Bonnie façade vanished, Liam now in it's spot

"L-Liam!" Tae exclaimed, rushing to his side.

Liam felt utterly weak, barely able to stand. Without hesitation, Tae caught him before he could collapse. "Gotcha!" he managed as he held Liam in his arms.

Liam panted, exhausted and relieved under Tae's support. After several tense moments, he regained enough strength to meet the questioning stares of the others.

"What the hell... did I just witness?!" Robaire demanded. Liam met his gaze. Even he didn't know what just happened.

Tae finally released him, concern etched on his face. "A-Are you alright?" he asked gently.

Liam could only nod, at a loss for words. "Y-Yeah..." he whispered.

Tae held onto Liam's arm. "Follow me, come to my dressing room," Tae said, as he slowly started to walk while holding onto Liam's arms.

"Y-You're just going to take him into-," But Robaire couldn't finish his sentence since Tae told him to shush.

Once inside Tae's dressing room, Liam took in the sight of the dark, eerie marks that stained every surface—It felt a little eerie, to say the least. Tae seemed unbothered by them as he gestured for Liam to sit on the worn couch.

"Usually, it's only me or a few select fans who get a private meet and greet, a glimpse into our dressing rooms," Tae explained. "But you... you're a rare exception." he smiled soflty.

Liam managed a small smile before scanning the room. "T-Tae... I can't keep quiet anymore," he said, gesturing at the disturbing markings. "What the hell happened here?"

Tae's gaze wandered around, sighing heavily before hiding his face. "I was hoping you'd never notice that..."

"Never notice it? T-Tae, it's covering the entire goddamn room..." Liam replied in disbelief that Tae would expect him not to see.

Tae settled beside him. "Well, that door... it brought something else in."

Liam tilted his head. "Something else?"

Tae nodded. "Yes. A strange creature cloaked in a dark, inky mist. I think we... killed it."

"W-We? You and the rest of 4 Town?" Liam asked.

"Uh... Y-Yeah," Tae confirmed. "It kind of exploded, leaving these stains on the walls and ceiling."

Liam blinked and looked at the weird marks again.

Liam studied the bizarre marks once more before Tae redirected his focus back to him. "But enough about that—I need to know more about you. What's your story?" Tae inquired, his eyes drifting to the door outside. "What was all that about?" He tilted his head toward the door back out.

Liam hesitated—he knew Tae was referring to his transformation into Toy Bonnie. Even he didn't fully understand it himself, nor why he was now human again. Why did he change back into the animatronic, and then back into a human being again?

"Tae... there's something you should know about me," Liam began hesitantly.

Tae adjusted his position on the couch and nodded. "Hm-hm, I'm listening."

"Okay... where do I start? You remember me mentioning Freddy Fazbear's Pizza a little over an hour ago?" Liam asked, hoping Tae remembered so he wouldn't have to rehash every detail.

"Yeah, I do," Tae replied.

"It's a pizzeria with mascots, but these mascots aren't just costumes—they're animatronics," Liam explained.

Tae blinked. "Ok, Animatronics? Wait... aren't animatronics a type of like... Robot?"

Liam nodded. "Yes,"

Tae tilted his head, his voice catching. "But what happened to you... it really looked like you were a robot," he gasped, eyes widening. "You were one of the mascots? A robot? B-But how?"

"I... um..." Liam is a robot. But he's not at the same time. Or at least, never used to be. But he doesn't know how to word that to Tae. He knows if he just came out to him, and said that his soul haunted the animatronic, he'd definitely sound stupid. Especially with the fact that he is alive at the moment.

But it seemed like Tae had an idea of what was happening.

"Liam, I saw that animatronic glitching—it was speaking in a strange language," Tae said softly.

"I—I..." Liam faltered, nerves overtaking him.

Tae placed a reassuring hand on Liam's shoulder. "It's okay... I just want to know how I can help," he murmured.

Liam blinked, and then decided to share his burden.

"I used to go to Freddy Fazbear's Pizza all the time when I was a kid—I practically lived there. Not for the greasy pizza or arcade games, but for the animatronics. I was obsessed, especially with Bonnie. I loved his whiskers and his overall look. But not everyone did—parents often thought the designs were too creepy, and the restaurant's past with its owner was... well, troubled.

The company later redesigned the animatronics to be more appealing. Although Bonnie received a noticeable upgrade, I always preferred the original version. Then, one night after the pizzeria emptied, the owner offered me a tour—he noticed my fascination with the lifelike figures. I thought I was about to live out a dream...

Instead, the rumors about him turned out to be horrifyingly true. He was a murderer. He killed me. I don't know how or why, but shortly after, my soul was transferred into the newly designed Bonnie..."

When Liam finished talking, he looked up to find Tae Young staring at him, a mix of confusion, worry, and something unspoken in his eyes.

"So... that's my story," Liam said quietly. "I'm dead. That's why you couldn't hear me before—I lost the ability to communicate with the living." He shook his head ruefully.

"Liam... I... I'm so sorry," Tae managed, his voice thick with sympathy. "You shouldn't have had to endure all that..."

Liam sighed. "Long story short... I ended up here just hours ago." He glanced toward the dressing room door. "Do you really think I came through that door out there?"

"I'm not sure," Tae said. "But... do you really want to go back? You don't have to. You can stay with us." He met Liam's eyes earnestly. "Something clearly happened when you came here... You... You seemed like you became alive again,"

Liam considered this, torn by an inexplicable yearning to move on and the weight of leaving the other lost souls behind. "I'd like to... But I wasn't the only one the owner killed."

Tae gasped. "He killed more?!"

Liam nodded. "I told you, the rumors were true. The other animatronics are possessed by those lost souls."

Tae pulled Liam into a sympathetic embrace. "That's... that's so sad..."

Liam, caught off guard by a blush, returned the hug. "It is. He stole their childhoods, and they were so young..."

Tae's voice cracked. "Young? How young were they?"

"About 10 to 12," Liam replied, his tone heavy with sorrow.

Tae gasped. "WHAT?!"

Liam exhaled a long, resigned sigh. "I know... It's shocking. Afton makes you realize that there are truly horrible people in this world."

Tae shook his head slowly. "And in other worlds too..." he murmured. "Geez, that's all disturbing to think about..."

"You know," Liam continued, his voice growing distant, "when I first became Toy Bonnie, I thought it was rad. I was an animatronic—a real robot. But then I saw the other souls, and the fear in their eyes. They controlled broken, nearly immobile animatronics, trapped in a room day after day while those kids felt hopeless... I felt so wrong for ever thinking it was cool to be a robot."

Tae's soothing hand rubbed Liam's back. "No, you weren't wrong. You didn't know then what you know now."

For a while, silence wrapped around them. Then a low growl emerged from Liam's stomach—a reminder of his renewed humanity.

"Was that your tummy?" Tae asked softly.

Liam pulled his gaze downward, a sheepish smile breaking through. "Y-Yeah, I'm hella hungry. Becoming alive again made me forget food exists."

"I can ask Robaire to get us some takeout," Tae offered, already rising. "What do you feel like?"

"This might sound ridiculous after my pizzeria disaster, but I'd really like some pizza..." Liam admitted.

A gentle smile played on Tae's lips. "Pizza it is," he confirmed, leaving the room. In the ensuing quiet, Liam could hear nothing but the low rumble of his stomach.

"Oh geez..." Liam muttered to himself. He had kept so much bottled up inside, including that confession about Afton. That secret had weighed on him for too long. Now, his thoughts drifted to the children; he wished they could feel relief too. They deserved happiness far more than he did.

After several moments, Tae reentered the room. "Alright, Robaire got three boxes of pizza for us," he announced, sitting beside Liam. "he placed the order,"

"Are you okay?" Tae asked gently.

Liam met his concerned gaze and nodded, managing a quiet, "Yeah, I'm fine..."

"Liam, it's perfectly normal to feel overwhelmed by all of this," Tae continued, settling closer to him.

Liam nodded again, but felt an unexpected flutter in his chest every time he looked at Tae—a sensation he hadn't felt in years. It reminded him of a school day when he nervously planned to ask someone out, that peculiar beat skipping in his heart.

He was feeling it again, but looking at Tae Young.

"You alright?" Tae asked once more, tilting his head. "Feel free to rest on the couch," he offered, standing up, "I can give you some space."

"No- I-," But then, Liam went with that. He felt as if he probably could do with some rest. "Yeah, maybe I should..."

Tae gave a small smile and ruffled Liam's hair teasingly, "Alright, 80s hairdo, rest up. The pizza should be here in about a half hour."

Liam blushed slightly as he watched Tae leave the room. Alone now, he sighed heavily. "Oh no... Do I like him?" he murmured aloud. "Four hours of being alive again, and I've already got a crush..." He rolled his eyes at the absurdity. "Like I have any chance with him—he's famous here!" As he turned his head toward the back of the couch, exhaustion crept over him. "Damn, I haven't felt this tired in ages..." he whispered, closing his eyes to drift off.