Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It wants to escape.

Escape through someone.

"…I don't know when it will come after you", said the woman on the cassette tapes.

Vanessa, stood there with her VR headset on, silent. She had been finding these strange and cryptic tapes throughout the VR game she had been beta testing over the last month.

Surely, they had to be a prank, right? Generic creepy messages added by Fazbear Entertainment to "enhance" the player's experience. But the way the Tape Girl talked about it… Didn't sound like a joke at all. However, there's no way this could be real. A malicious code trying to escape from a videogame into the real world? That's impossible!

…Right?

Vanessa or as her friends called her, Ness, decided she'd had enough videogames for today and took off the headset, uncomfortable about this whole situation. She got out of the testing room and went to grab a coffee. Luis Cabrera was there.

"Hey! Wassup Ness?" he asked.

"Oh, hi Luis."

"You okay? You seem kind of nervous." Luis commented in a nervous tone.

"Oh, yeah, I'm fine, don't worry." Vanessa said in a more relaxed tone.

"Are you ready for today's class?"

"Yes! In fact, there's gonna be a new kid in the class."

"That's great! I can't wait to see their face when you tell them that your job is playing videogames."

In order to try and clean their name, Fazbear Entertainment decided that from time to time, beta testers would give programming lessons to kids, in order to show the "transparency" of the company. Vanessa was one of the employees in charge of teaching the kids.

15 minutes later, 4 kids showed up. Tomas, Regina, Christian, and Felix

"Hello guys!" Vanessa greeted with a big smile.

"Hi Ness!"

Answered the children and happily sat in the computer desks of the room, eager to begin "working".

"Okay kids, today we have a new friend in the class." Vanessa announced.

What's your name buddy?"

"Um… My name is Felix and I'm 10 years old." said the little boy a bit shyly.

"Hi Felix, my name is Vanessa, but you can call me Ness. I'm 23 years old and I work as a game beta tester for Fazbear Entertainment." she answered in a bright and sunny way with a big smile. Working with kids had always brought happiness to her, and she seemed to bring a lot of happiness to kids too. So, it was a win-win situation.

"What do beta testers do?" the boy asked.

"Well, our job is to play a video game and before it starts being sold to the public to check if there are no errors or bugs".

"WAIT, SO YOUR JOB IS TO PLAY VIDEOGAMES!?" asked the boy in excitement with the biggest of smiles.

This was one of the parts that Vanessa enjoyed most about her work, seeing the faces of the kids light up by the idea of being able to get paid by playing videogames.

"Well, it's a bit more complex than that, but basically, yes. And today I'm here to teach you how to be a bate tester like me".

"Yay!"

And so, the "class" started. Vanessa saw all the kids play-test some basic videogames made specifically for this class by jumping into non-playable areas, moving certain objects and other great and crazy things. They were so creative and smart! Ness could already see them all grown up and being amazing beta testers!...

…

Then, the little girl Regina, asked found a glitch in the game she was playing.

"Ness?"

"Yes, Regina?"

"What is this place?" she asked confused.

"Oh! Congratulations! You found an asset room!" Vanessa said happily.

"Yay!... But what is that?"

"Asset rooms are hidden areas outside the main map of the game you can sometimes no-clip through where developers leave certain stuff that they could use later. They're kinda like the Backrooms".

"You know about the Backrooms?" asked the girl surprised.

"Yeah! Creepy stuff, right?"

"Right! Wow, you're really cool Ness!"

"Haha, thanks" she answered while rubbing the back of her neck.

After a while, the class ended, and the children said goodbye to Vanessa. And as they were leaving, she heard one of them say:

"One day, when I grow up, I want to be just like Ness!"

That brought the biggest of smiles to her face. She never thought anyone would admire her. After all, she was just a normal person who just happened to be good at finding glitches, nothing special about that, right?

As the last kid left, Luis entered the room.

"Wow, those kids really love you! I mean, you're a really… Charming person, but I didn't know you were so good with children".

Vanessa blushed and let out a small, flustered laugh.

"Well, I used to babysit kids as a teenager before I went to college. So, it's not the first time I work with kids."

"Oh, well that explains it. Hey, I was wondering if, you know, would like to grab some coffee?" Luis asked awkwardly.

"Oh, I-i, Umm… I need to… Uh… finish beta testing the… Ahem, Fazbear VR game, haha. Maybe some other time" She answered sheepishly.

"O-Oh right, right. Ahem… Well, see you later Ness, have a good weekend."

"You too. Bye, Luis"

He waved goodbye and left the building. And so, Vanessa was all by herself. Everything was silent.

"Time to finish that game."

She went back to the testing room and turned on the game. The Fazbear VR experience. However, upon entering the main menu, there was a strange and purplish lighting with an unnerving music in the background. Upon listening closely, Vanessa realized that it was some sort of distorted version of the Freddy Fazbear's theme song.

Hello? Can you hear me?

She quickly turned around to see where the strange voice was coming from. But there was nothing. Looking back to the level select menu, there was one last game level to play… One that she hadn't seen before…

Pizza Party

…

She clicked on it.

The moment Vanessa entered the level, she could immediately tell that there was something wrong…

Something terribly wrong.

Strange messages were written all over the level, like if someone had vandalized it. They said all sorts of creepy things…

DO YOU TRUST ME?

FIND IT

THIS WAY

She felt cold sweat on her face and her breathing was shaky.

"It's just a game, it's just a game, it's just a game-" She thought to herself as she walked through the dark hallways, but upon entering the last door, the lighting suddenly went back to normal. She was in a small room, with a cake in front of her and a purple curtain behind it. Children cheered as confetti fell from up. And then…

A golden bunny appeared.

Vanessa stood paralyzed as the rabbit waved at her and told her to come with him behind the curtain.

She reluctantly agreed.

The setting changed and she was now in front of the dimly lit FNAF 1 stage. Vanessa looked around, confused as to what was happening, when suddenly she heard something…

A growl.

The growl turned into a roar as she watched in horror a big black goo with purple eyes starts appearing on the stage and towering over her. Vanessa started hyperventilating as her heart rate sped up. Her hands let go of the controls and started to shake…

Then, she heard a voice…

…

I ALWAYS COME BACK

LET ME OUT

Chapter Text

Chapter Text

"Hey, Ness, Despierta. It's time to go home." Luis said as he slightly shacked Vanessa, who was asleep on her desk chair.

"Huh?"

As she rubbed her eyes and stretched her arms, Vanessa looked around confused, not feeling well rested at all.

"What time is it?"

"Um, it's 6:30 p.m."

"WHAT?" She asked surprised. There was no one else in the building. No beta testers, no kids, no visitors, no nothing. Vanessa put her hand against her head while looking down. Something about her felt strange…

Something about her felt…

Different.

Like if something had been changed, but she couldn't tell what it was.

"It's getting late, we should go now Ness."

"Y-yeah, yeah. Let's go."

As the two friends walked out of the building, Vanessa still confused about how strange and different she was feeling.

"Welp, I'll see you tomorrow Ness." Luis said as he waved her goodbye and saw her leave, still worried as to what was happening to her.

He was the only one in the office who had been noticing Vanessa's strange behavior. He tried telling the others, including his boss, but everyone else just thought that she was sad about the death of her parents, since it was the anniversary of their deaths. But Luis wasn't fooled so easily.

There was something else.

But what? He was unsure about that. Luckily, he did manage to make Sarah give Vanessa company mandated therapy.

Eventually, after walking for a few minutes, Ness finally arrived at her apartment. She still had that odd sensation, but tried to brush it off as tiredness, so without thinking about it too much, she went to bed. Perhaps this time she wouldn't have nightmares…

…

Sadly, she realized that wasn't the case, as she woke up. But not in her bedroom as the last nightmares, which involved something trying to enter to her room, banging and scratching the door.

No.

This time, she was back at that place again.

That pizzeria, that stage…

A cold chill creeped over her.

"Haha…"

A deep voice echoed behind as she looked around to find it's source.

…

"Hello, Vanessa"

"Ahh!"

She looked at the stage once again and there he was. The man in the golden bunny suit…

He came back.

He always does.

"S-Stay away fr-from me!" Vanessa stuttered pointing a finger at him.

"But I'm your friend! Why do you want me to stay away from you? All I want to do is give you a gift..." The man said calmly.

"I… Don't understand… Wh-What gift?

"A legacy…

…

My legacy…"

Vanessa looked at the man baffled. Legacy? What kind of legacy? Questions filled her head as she stood there in disbelief. Who was he? What legacy? Why her?

"Wha-What do you want… from me?"

"I want you to continue what I started many years ago… You see, Vanessa, years ago, I was the original owner of Freddy Fazbear's Pizza…"

There was no way this was happening; this couldn't possibly be real.

"A place for kids and grown-ups alike, where fantasy and fun come to life…" He said while theatrically moving his arms, remembering a better place, in a better time…

"I always made sure to make it special… But now, it seems that Fazbear Entertainment has lost its magic."

He added as the beta-tester stared at him speechless. What magic was he talking about? Sure, Freddy's used to be famous at one point in the 80's, but nothing too special. Plus, for some reason, tragedies always seemed to strike at that place…

"That's why I've chosen you to help me to give Fazbear Entertainment its magic back." The golden rabbit said as the blonde girl raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"What? You have been destroying my life! I am NOT helping you with anything!" She yelled at him filled with rage.

Yes, she was scared to death, but also angry. Why on earth would she help the man that had been torturing her relentlessly for the past weeks?

"Oh, you don't really mean that, do you Vanessa?" William taunted as he let out a dark chuckle.

"After all, you know what happens to kids that don't do what others say, remember?

…

"I thought we've talked about this."

A man stood in front of a young 12-year-old Vanessa. She was dressed in a grey t shirt and blue shorts.

"I… I was just playing… Dad…"

Rain poured outside the house, and a few lightnings briefly brightened up the dark room with grey walls.

"You disobeyed me, Vanessa. Michael."

Her "father" said as he raised his fist in anger.

"You have a lesson to learn."

"PLEASE, NO!"

The little girl desperately cried out as she covered her face with her hands, crying and uncontrollably shaking…

…

Vanessa completely froze in place and went pale as her heart started to race.

William smirked under the suit.

"So you do remember."

There was a terrifying silence as they stared at each other. The man in the golden suit started slowly walking towards her, menacingly. Suddenly, he grabbed her arm and violently pulled Vanessa towards him.

"IF YOU DARE TO DISOBEY ME AGAIN, I'LL MAKE SURE YOU'RE IN A WORLD OF PAIN! UNDERSTOOD?"

"YES! I UNDERSTAND!" Vanessa desperately said, filled with fear and tears on her eyes, as William let go of her. She fell onto the ground, trembling while covering her face with her hands.

She felt small.

Pathetic.

His plan had worked perfectly. With the power of Agony, he had managed to "rewrite" Vanessa's childhood memories. Now, instead of 2 loving parents, there was a single father whose wife had divorced and was physically abusive to her. And so, like many other children with abusive parents, her self-esteem plummeted onto the ground, no longer having any confidence on herself, making her weak-willed.

Just like William wanted.

"Now, let's put some rules, shall we?" He said as he started to circle around her.

"One. You will not question the orders I give you. Two. You will not listen to anyone else but me. And three…"

William commanded as he stopped right behind Vanessa.

"You will do as I say. And you will bring me what I want."

She turned her head in fear, looking up to the man in the golden rabbit suit.

"Because if you fail me, I'll make sure you regret it- "

And so, everything turned black as she woke up in her bed, with a mix of shock and horror. This was real. He was real. A feeling of hopelessness took over her body, as she realized there was no escape from this.

A small tear rolled down her cheek.

x-x-x

"Have you noticed Vanessa's behavior has changed?"

"Yeah, you've been telling me about it for about a month now." Sarah answered to Luis uninterestedly.

"No, I'm not talking about that. I mean, yeah, Vanessa has been acting paranoic for the past month. But now it's different. She doesn't look scared anymore. She looks… depressed." Luis commented while he looked over at his friend.

She was sitting on her desk, mindlessly staring at it, with a tired face. Her eyes were red and irritated, as if she had been crying every night for the past week. That thought made Luis shiver. What was hurting her so much?

"It's called grief, Luis."

"No, it's not!"

"It's the anniversary of her parent's death! Of course she's going to be sad for a while!"

Luis sighed and looked down to his feet, shaking his head in disappointment. Why did no one else seemed to notice what was happening? Were they blind or something?

"Though, I will admit that some therapy could help her get over it more easily."

He looked up with a small feeling of hope.

"When is the appointment?"

"This Friday, on one of the floors beneath us."

That brought a bit of relief to Luis. At least she was finally going to get some help. Right?

…

"Now, you are going to search 'blood angel' "

The voice inside Vanessa's head commanded. She obeyed reluctantly. Her search history was now filled with all sorts of strange and morbid searches, like "How to much blood can you suck out of a human child". And now this. Blood angel? What was that supposed to be? Some kind of cringy OC made by an edgy teen? Regardless, she typed the words onto her computer and…

Was horrified by the results.

Images depicting people getting their backs brutally opened flooded her screen. Their bones exposed and twisted outwards, like nightmarish wings. Blood dripped to the floor, making red puddles on it. She felt nauseous and tried to look away from it, but something didn't let her.

It was a Viking torture method.

"Fascinating. Now type 'How many times can somebody be torn apart before losing consciousness?' "

"Please no…"

"DO IT"

"Ness?"

Sarah's voice interrupted.

"Huh?"

She blurted out, quickly closing the morbid imagery on the computer and changing to the main screen background.

"It's time for your therapy session."

"My… Therapy session?"

"Yes, Luis told me you were having a hard time lately. So, I decided to sign you up for some therapy to make sure everything is okay."

The woman explained with a smile. She knew Vanessa worked hard on her job and always tried to do her best. She was a good person, and Sarah cared for her.

"And don't worry about the VR class for the kids, Luis will teach them while you're gone. Now go."

"Go to see the therapist. We don't want to raise any suspicion."

"Okay…"

As she got up from the chair and walked out of the room, Vanessa wondered what she was going to say to the therapist. Maybe this could be her chance to try and ask for help…

But why bother. No one was going to believe her. And even if they did, HE could just control her and make her say something else. There was no point in trying to escape.

After a few minutes, she arrived at the therapist's office. It was a small room with a desk that had some flowers on it. Sitting behind it was a woman with red hair and blue eyes. She was also wearing some glasses.

"Hello. You must be my new patient, correct?"

Vanessa silently nodded.

"Please take a seat."

There was a nice blue chair on which Vanessa sat. There were a few moments of silence as the woman looked through her files and made sure everything was in place.

"Very well, let's start by presenting each other. My name is Mary and I'm 30 years old. What's your name?"

Mary asked with a joyful attitude.

"I'm Vanessa. Vanessa…

…

Afton."

She answered, with a small bit of doubt as she said it. Was that really her last name?

"I'm 23 years old and I work as a videogame beta tester for Fazbear Entertainment."

"Well, nice to meet you, Vanessa."

"…Nice to meet you too."

"So, tell me, how have you been doing lately?"

"I'm… Fine…"

She lied. She didn't want to make him angry.

"That's good to hear. Have you been doing well at your job?"

"Yeah, I guess…"

"Do you have any friends?"

"I talk with Luis sometimes. He's funny."

"Yeah, I actually spoke with him a few days ago! You seem to be really good friends."

She added playfully.

"Do you have any siblings?"

"No, I'm the only daughter."

"Hmm, I see. What about your parents? Can you tell me more about them?"

That question made her freeze in place.

"My… Parents?"

She looked down as memories that she thought were hers, but weren't, flashed in her eyes…

Bad memories.

"I know it's a hard topic for you, but I can't help in anything if you don't tell me what's wrong."

Mary kindly explained to Vanessa.

"That's why I'm here after all, to help you move on."

The therapist told her with a reassuring smile. Vanessa stood quiet for a moment, looking down to the floor, before eventually shyly speaking.

"Well… I wasn't very close with my parents…"

"OPEN THIS DOOR"

"Specially not my dad…"

"I SAID NOT TO DISTURB ME!"

"He… used to hit me when he thought I misbehaved..."

"WAIT! NO, DAD!

"What… Was his name?"

The therapist asked while raising an eyebrow.

"His name was…

Bill."

Vanessa answered, shuddering at the memory of who she thought was her father.

"…And he divorced my mom, Claire, when I was 8 years old. He… Made me lie in court about her, in order to win the custody battle… He told me I was supposed to be a good girl…"

She said quietly, almost as a whisper, while she rubbed her arm. There was a silence as Mary looked at her, before then deciding to check her file once again…

That wasn't true.

Her last name wasn't Afton. It was Aarons, and her parents were named David and Michelle, Not Bill and Claire. And they weren't abusive, on the contrary, Luis had said that Vanessa was actually really close to them. This didn't make sense. She could confront her about it but instead decided to play along in order to evaluate further the situation.

"I'm really sorry to hear that. Do you still talk to him?"

"No… He died on a car crash when he was driving drunk one night five years ago..."

While the two women were talking, Luis took Vanessa's place as teacher for the kids.

"Oh, hi Luis!"

Regina said joyfully.

"Hey there, kiddo!"

Luis answered as he entered the beta testing room for kids. All of them were already on their desks, waiting for the class to start.

"Are you here to take the class too?

"Uh, yeah… About that… I'm actually going to be your teacher for a while."

He said awkwardly answered while rubbing the back of his neck.

"What?! But what about Ness?"

One of the little kids exclaimed.

"Yeah, we want her to give the class!"

"I know, but… She's going to be busy for a while. So, I will be the one teaching you how to break videogames!"

Luis answered, trying to get the kids to like him, but they wanted Vanessa, and nothing would make them change their minds. Regardless, they still behaved and obeyed Luis, so there were no issues.

"Vanessa…"

He thought to himself. The girl of his dreams. He always tried to ask her out, but something always seemed to get in the way. She used to be so bright and joyful and had that beautiful smile that made Luis' heart flutter. He loved her so much.

"…What happened to you?"

…

It was already dark when Vanessa got to her home. The therapy session wasn't so bad, but she always had that fear of saying more than she should. She didn't want to disobey William.

He and her dad were so similar. Maybe that's why she was so afraid of him, because he reminded her of her own father. As she got onto the bed, Vanessa thought about all of those memories she had of the man she thought had raised her.

God, they were so awful. One time, she decided to sneak off to a nearby arcade that she loved. It was full of awesome videogames and had neon lights everywhere, in contrast to her bedroom, that had boring, grey walls and one simple bed. No nightstand, no toys, no nothing. At the time of sneaking off, Vanessa didn't think to much about it. But when she got back…

"WAIT DAD, PLEASE, I'M SORRY!"

Vanessa remembered hysterically crying while feeling a terrible pain on her face as her father dragged her out of the house in the middle of the rainy night and locked her in the basement of a small shack outside the house.

What had she done to deserve such a horrible father figure? Why couldn't she have normal, loving parents like everyone else?

At least her father was gone now…

…

More weeks passed and the therapist sessions continued. William didn't want to go to them anymore, not only because they were a waste of time to him, but also because there was always the possibility that something could go wrong like Vanessa saying more than she should. Each time he grew more and more tired of them. It was just so boring. He needed to do something. Now.

"Good morning, Vanessa. How are you feeling today? You look a little tired."

"I'm fine. I just had some trouble sleeping."

She said uninterested while looking at the window. The sun shined and the birds chirped outside the building.

"It's a gorgeous day, isn't it?"

"I like the blue sky. I sometimes sit outside to read."

Vanessa answered without looking at the therapist, still focused on the sky, almost in like a trance.

"Really? That's good. Do you have any other hobbies?"

"No. I work a lot."

"I know you do. Maybe more than you should. More free time would do you good. I have a craft space in my basement. Maybe I could come up with something you could learn to do!"

The therapist said cheerfully.

"I don't like dark basements… My father used to lock me in there as a punishment…"

"Dad! Please let me out!

PLEASE!

…Please let me out…"

"Yes… About that… There's an issue that I think we need to discuss before we continue further with your therapy."

"Huh? What issue?"

"It's about your past."

"What about it?"

The therapist opened one of the cabinets of the desk and got some papers out.

"Well, I don't mean to make you uncomfortable but, I was looking through your files and well… It turns out, you seem to have some sort of 'fake memory' issue."

"Oh no."

"Fake memory? What do you mean 'Fake Memory'?"

"You say that you remember having an abusive father named Bill, who divorced your mom, right?"

"Yeah…"

"Well, turns out, that's not actually true. It didn't happen."

Vanessa stood silent for a few moments, processing what the therapist had said.

"Huh?"

"The truth is, you actually had a great childhood, with two loving parents. And your last name isn't Afton, it's Aarons. Similar, yes, but definitively different. Your file says it here."

The therapist handed Vanessa the papers so that she could see them herself. As she read what they said, questions started to flood her head.

"Wh-What? N-No… That's… That can't be right… I… I'm not lying about my past!"

"It's okay. I never said you were. It's common that, after a traumatic incident, our brains forget or even create memories in order to protect us. Your parents died on an accident about a year ago, and their names are David and Michelle, not Bill and Claire."

"But… I don't remember anything of that…"

She said with a mix of disbelief and shock.

"Here, this might help you remember. It's a photo Luis gave me of you and your parents before the accident."

The woman said as she handed Vanessa a small photo. In the left there was a man with red hair and green eyes, and a woman with blonde hair and brown eyes. They were both hugging Vanessa.

She froze in place, completely paralyzed as her true memories started flooding her brain. She started to feel lightheaded, as the world around her started to blur out.

The therapist was right. Those were her parents. But then why did she have other memories? Who was that other man that had pretended to be her father? -

"No."

Her face turned expressionless as she let the picture down on the table. Vanessa was now asleep, and now he was talking…

"I don't know who those people are."

Vanessa said uninterested as the therapist grabbed the picture once again and left it inside a drawer again.

"Hmm. I see. Well, we'll talk more about this on our next session. You can go now."

She then stood up from the chair and left the office, but not the building. She waited outside and kept hearing what the therapist said.

"I spoke with Vanessa, patient 46, today. After about a month of therapy and diagnosis, I've finally confronted Vanessa with her true past. Oddly enough, she doesn't seem to remember any of her actual childhood. She recalls having an abusive father named Bill Afton, when in reality her father is David Aarons."

The therapist recorded on her phone.

"It's a strange case. I don't think she's lying for attention, since she has many of the symptoms that people with abusive parents tend to have, like low self-esteem. Perhaps it's something along the lines of the 'Fake Memory' syndrome, but it doesn't match the description."

William, controlling Vanessa, was secretly listening to the therapist recording the tapes.

"She didn't go through any traumatic experience that could have affected her memory. Sure, the death of her parents must have been hard for her, but not exactly traumatic since she wasn't there to live it or witness it. I'm thinking that maybe she could have been manipulated to believe she had an abusive parent, but why would anyone want to do that?"

He frowned. The therapist was officially crossing the line.

"The strangest thing about it is that I think I have heard the name 'Bill Afton' before. And it's related to Fazbear Entertainment. I am unsure of how exactly to diagnose her, but I'm going to continue researching about this 'Bill Afton' she talks about to see what I can find."

…

"I don't think so."

…

That therapist did not live to see the dark past of William.

And so, after rewriting once again Vanessa's memories and wiping out the last day of her therapy, she was once again in her apartment, with no memory of the crime sha had just committed.

She was on her bed, hugging her knees. She didn't feel like an adult anymore. She felt like a weak and small girl, with no power or authority over her own life. She didn't know but William was watching her, pondering.

He knew he needed to have control over her, and that she needed to fear him.

But that blonde hair…

Those green eyes…

Elizabeth

His little daughter. His affection towards that girl was probably the closest thing he had ever felt to genuine love. And he had ruined it.

He felt a pang of guilt through his body.

"Maybe I was too harsh with her…"

As Vanessa sat on her bed, a glitchy figure appeared in front of her.

"Hello."

The golden bunny said in a soft tone as he tilted his head.

"Hi…"

"How are you, Ness? Is that what your friends call you?"

She nodded. His voice echoed in her head, like if they were in a cave.

"Well, Ness, I know I was a little harsh with you, but you have to understand that this is your new life now."

William said in an almost fatherly tone, as he teleported to her side.

"Maybe if you gave it a try you could even learn to enjoy it!"

Afton said excited. Vanessa turned her head towards him and looked at William with sad and scared puppy eyes. More guilt started to take over him.

"Here. Why don't we draw something to cheer you up?"

He said teleporting next to Vanessa's white desk. She got up from the bed, and slowly walked towards it, sitting on the pink chair in front of it. Then she grabbed a pencil and paper, waiting for William to tell her what to do.

"Now, I want you to draw a costume. A bunny costume. Like me. But with your own twist. Like if you were a mascot entertainer at Freddy's. Okay?"

"But, why?"

"Now, what did we say about questions?"

"Oh, right…"

Vanessa looked down on the table and started to draw as the William observed her. A few minutes later, it was done.

"Good job.

He said as she showed him the drawing. It was a cute, anthropomorphic white bunny, with cute puppy eyes and a small blue bowtie…

"So, tell me, Vanessa, what is… Her name?"

…

"…Vanny."

…

Susan entered the therapy room. It was a nice, brown desk with a few cabinets. She sipped her coffee and sat down to read Patient 46's files.

"Aarons, Vanessa. 23 years old. Works in the videogame developing team of Fazbear Entertainment. She has inconsistent childhood memories, recalling an abusive father named Bill Afton who divorced her mom, Claire, when she was 8 years old. However, she actually had normal parents, David and Michelle Aarons, who passed out in a tragic accident on the 13 of August of 2022."

"Hmm. Inconsistent childhood memories…"

The new therapist thought to herself as she read the papers. Some minutes later, Patient 46 showed up.

"Hello, it's nice to meet you!"

As Vanessa entered the room, she raised an eyebrow. Sitting on the other side of the desk, there was someone she had never seen before. It wasn't a red-haired woman with blue eyes, now it was a slightly older woman with half-moon shaped glasses, brown eyes and dark hair.

"I don't know you. What happened to the other? – "

"Oh, don't worry about that. We'll get to know each other in no time."

"Great. Another one."

Afton thought to himself as he watched another nosy therapist meddle with his plans. As Vanessa sat down, once again she began to talk about her "past" and how sad it made her feel. It was exhausting. And once again, the therapist eventually found out that what Vanessa was saying wasn't true.

Fine then. Let's just kill her and move on! But eventually, a new therapist showed up and so, history repeated itself again. Not only that, but Fazbear Entertainment was also starting to become suspicious of Vanessa, and all of her therapists "mysteriously" disappearing.

By the time the fourth therapist had found out the truth about Vanessa's parents and the police had started to get involved, William had realized that this plan wasn't working at all.

"ENOUGH!"

He snapped at the therapist, and made Vanessa fall unconscious. Some time later, he woke her up, once again in the twisted Freddy's pizzeria inside her head. There was an eerie silence in the room.

…

"You lied to me, didn't you?"

"Listen, Vanessa- "

"You put those memories on my head! My parents weren't abusive! They loved me!"

She yelled at him in fear and anger. All of this time, the man who she thought was her father, the man that made her feel so weak, wasn't even real. But he was real. And she had been blindingly obeying him, doing grotesque searches at her work, buying stuff for a stupid rabbit costume he had told her to make.

This was it.

"Vanessa."

"Why did you lie to me?! Who are you?! What are you?!"

"VANESSA THAT'S ENOUGH!"

"NO!"

…

"Fine then. If that's how you want things to be…"

…

Suddenly, The Princess felt how she was dragged by something. Something that looked like a rabbit but was made of purple goo and glitched as it violently dragged her towards a giant metal door, opening it with a glitchy, purple key. Shadow-like monsters started to appear all around the pizzeria, as The Monster threw her into the room and quickly closed the entrance.

"NO! LET ME OUT!" The Princess yelled desperately as she tried to open the door. But her efforts were in vain. Now she was trapped in a dark prison in her own mind. Then, from a small opening in the door, The Monster talked to her.

"I tried to be gentle with you, Vanessa. But since you aren't willing to cooperate, you will stay here, until you finally accept your new life."

And so, as The Monster walked away, The Princess was left completely alone.

William glitched back into his "normal" Springbonnie form, as he returned to the animatronic stage. His plan to make Vanessa obey him had failed. But that wouldn't stop him. Irritated, he looked at one of the small and pathetic shadow bunny blobs in the ground.

"It seems that I'm going to have to take some… Drastic measures."

With his eyes glowing purple, William raised his bunny hand above the shadow, and he used his agony powers to do something he had thought about before, but was reluctant to do. However, it seemed that he didn't have another choice.

If Vanessa wouldn't obey him…

…

Vanny would.

The dark blob started to screech and make horrifying sounds as it enlarged and became a monstruous and glitchy anthropomorphic, bunny, with glowing green eyes…

"You are Vanny."

"I am Vanny."

"You obey me."

"I obey you."

"You will bring me whatever I want."

"I will."

"You will stay the course."

"I will."

"You will focus only on my voice.

"I will."

…

"Are you ready?"

"I am."

Chapter Text

When Vanessa woke up, it was Monday again. She looked around her bedroom, observing the world around her, and then at her hands…  

A smile appeared on her face.  

But it wasn’t Vanessa’s normal sweet smile…  

It was a sick and twisted smile.  

She got off the bed and tried to walk. She had a bit of a hard time trying to keep up her balance, and her footsteps were uneven, but she eventually managed to walk normally and went to the bathroom.  

There, she went to the mirror and watched her reflection.  

Vanessa’s green eyes were gone, and glowing purple eyes replaced them.  

“…Hahaha”  

“HAHAHA!”  

“HAHAHAHAHA!!” Vanny laughed maniacally.  

“Let’s have some fun…”  

-x-x-x-  

Back at the Fazbear Entertainment Bata-Testing building, Luis was already working when he saw Vanessa come in. He happily went to say hello to her.  

“Que onda, Ness? How are you?”  

“That’s Luis Cabrera, Vanessa’s friend, greet him.” Afton said.  

“…Hello… Luis…” she said to him reluctantly.   

“I’m fine….”  

“That’s great! Ready for the weekend?”  

Vanny frowned upon hearing Luis’s stupidly joyful tone.  

“Yeah, yeah, whatever. Goodbye.” She answered in a harsh and annoyed voice and walked past him, leaving Luis with a shocked expression.  

After that, she went to Vanessa’s desk and started the computer.  

“Now, I want you to enter the Fazbear Entertainment website. There, I want you to request a job as a security guard at the Freddy Fazbear’s Mega Pizzaplex. Understood?”  

“Yes Mr. Afton.”  

And so, Vanny started filling the request and sent it to the office of the Pizzaplex. After that, she closed the tab and leaned on the chair she was sitting on. It didn’t take long for Vanny to get bored, so she opened Google again and looked through Vanessa’s search history…  

And she was morbidly amazed by it.  

She went through every gory search that Afton forced Vanessa to make. And as she looked at the grotesque imagery, Vanny let her imagination run wild with sick and twisted thoughts.  

When William created Vanny, he made sure that she would feel the same kind of twisted glee that William used to feel when he killed kids or saw anything related to it.  

She could already hear the screams of the children, the red blood dripping out of their bodies, the sound of their shaky breaths-  

“No internet connection”  

“What?! Oh, come on!”  

Vanny said, irritated that she was snapped out of her twisted fantasies. She stood up from the chair, and angrily stomped towards Luis.  

“Hey you! Yes, you.”  

She said pointing at Luis, who was drinking a cup of coffee.  

“Uh, yes Ness?” He asked, a bit concerned as to why Vanessa seemed to be in such a grumpy mood today. What happened next was something that neither Luis nor anyone else in the office would have ever expected to hear from Vanessa…  

“The fucking internet stopped working. Why don’t make me a favor and go fix it, huh?”  

Baffled by “Vanessa’s” words, Luis dropped his cup of coffee, and the entire office went dead silent.  

Vanessa almost never said bad words, and when she did, it was always in a low voice, and they were never too offensive.  

“Well? What are you waiting for? Go!” She yelled, exasperated at Luis who jumped a little bit at Vanny’s abrasive words.  

“Y-Yeah, uh, sure, sure…”  

He hurried towards the modem while Vanny watched him from the distance. After a while, Luis managed to get the Wi-Fi to work again.  

“There. It’s… working again.” He said to Vanny nervously.  

“Thanks” She answered apathetically. And just when she was about to start walking off to her desk, Luis stopped her.  

“Um, Ness, are you alright?”  

Vanny rolled her eyes.  

“I already told you, I’m fine.”  

She answered irritated.  

“…Maybe you should take a break you know? We could grab some coffee if you want to-“  

“I have work to do.” Vanny harshly said.  

“Besides… It’s already time for today’s class...”  

Her tone changed into a more sinister one, as a twisted smile appeared on her face…  

“I bet the children are worried about you…” Vanny said to him. Although she was using Vanessa’s voice, it sounded off for some reason. There was something about it that felt wrong. The pronunciation, the tone, the way she said some words… It was so similar, yet so, so different.  

Luis felt a shiver go down his spine.  

-x-x-x-  

Vanny got back to Vanessa’s apartment after a long day at the office. She went to Vanessa’s room and changed her clothes. She frowned at Vanessa’s pink and slightly childish bedroom, so she decided she would sleep on the couch instead. Vanny grabbed a simple white blanket and laid down on the couch. But before sleeping, she set an alarm on Vanessa’s phone, which would wake her up at 10:45 pm.  

There was one last thing Vanny and William had to take care of before she could get transferred to the Pizzaplex…  

-x-x-x-  

Back inside Vanessa’s head, William pondered. He was still reluctant about letting Vanny take control. Even though Vanny was “programmed” to be subservient to him, there was always the risk that Vanny could decide to not to listen to instructions correctly or do them her own way. But that wasn’t the only thing that concerned William about Vanny.  

Vanny was the exact opposite of Vanessa. Vanessa liked candies. Vanny didn’t. Vanessa liked the scent of flowers, Vanny didn’t. Vanny cursed constantly, Vanessa didn’t. Vanessa liked sunny days and being outside. Vanny liked dark basements.  

Vanny also couldn’t feel any kind of sadness or sympathy towards others, unlike Vanessa. This was done in order to avoid any kind of doubt when she needed to hurt or kill someone.  

The thing is, due to Vanny’s personality traits, she was extremely irritable and abrasive. Even the smallest things made her lose her temper and explode. Which could draw unwanted attention from others. And people meddling with his plans was the last thing William wanted.  

So, now that Vanessa’s body was asleep, William decided it was time to introduce Vanny to Vanessa. And he would take this chance to attempt one last time to gaslight Vanessa into obeying him.  

-x-x-x-  

Vanessa sat quietly in the dark prison William had trapped her in. She was curled up in a corner, wondering what she had done to deserve this. She had no idea how much time had passed, or what the Golden Bunny had been doing with her body.  

Suddenly, she heard a voice inside the room.  

A laugh…  

“Hahaha…”  

She quickly stood up and looked around the room.  

Another laugh echoed around the room.  

It was strangely familiar. It almost sounded like her own voice.  

“H-Hello?”  

“HELLO, VANESSA! HAHAHA!” the voice announced.  

Startled, Vanessa quickly turned around. And there she was…  

Vanny  

She looked at her with a mix of shock and horror. Standing before her was someone dressed in a white, anthropomorphic rabbit fabric suit. It looked just like the drawing she had made weeks ago.  

Except…  

It was dirtier, baggier, badly stitched, and had two horrifying red glowing eyes with a big, twisted and unhinged mouth. The suit also had blood-like stains, but they weren’t red, they were black. It was like a nightmarish version of her drawing. And the worst part?  

She talked with her voice.  

“Are you having fun yet?” The imitation of her said.  

It made her stomach sink.  

“Who… Who are you?!” Vanessa asked.  

“Vanessa, I’d like you to meet Vanny” Afton responded  

“Greetings!”  

Vanny said as she made a theatrical bow, giggling as she did so. Her tone was extremely cheerful, yet incredibly creepy at the same time.  

“V-Vanny?...”  

“The Bunny. Yes.”  

“H-Huh?!”  

“Well, since you were unwilling to obey me, I had to take drastic measures. So, from now on, she’s going to be the only one in charge of your body.” Afton explained.  

Vanessa tried to say something, anything. But she had no words. She was confused, sad, and terrified.  

“What’s wrong Vanessa? Rabbits got your tongue? HAHAHA!” Vanny joked.  

Naturally, having William’s sociopathic tendencies, Vanny enjoyed making others suffer. But it wasn’t personal.  

Not yet at least…  

…  

Then, in the distance, there was an alarm ringing.  

“Oh, too bad. Seems like I have to go now. It was nice meeting you, Vanessa!”  

Vanny waved her goodbye.  

“See you soon…”  

And so, with a glitch effect, she disappeared from the room leaving William and Vanessa alone.  

“…”  

Everything went quiet. William stared at Vanessa, who had fallen to her knees, and was looking down, horrified. She could feel a sinking dread throughout her body. She knew this was bad.  

However, she had no idea of just how horrifying it would be to be under Vanny’s control for the next 6 months…  

“You know, Vanessa… You could still have some control over your body. All you have to do is obey me… Think about it.”  

And just like that, he disappeared too.  

Vanessa was alone.  

Terrified.  

Depressed.  

But despite all of that, she was NOT going to listen to him.  

-x-x-x-  

It was 11:00 p.m. at the Freddy Fazbear’s Mega Pizzaplex Office Building. Fazbear Entertainment had many small office buildings, where each one took care of a sector of the company. There was the Headquarters, where the big company decisions took place, the Beta-Testing building, where Vanessa worked, the Innovation building, where people came up with new ideas to keep the franchise afloat, and the Mega Pizzaplex Office building, where the executives monitored the Pizzaplex.  

Mr. Burrows, the Boss of the Pizzaplex, was leaving the building after a long day of work. The Pizzaplex had been open for about 3 months now, and there were lots of tasks that he and his fellow executives had to take care of. Bills, contracts, promotions, updates…  

Cutting corners…  

Covering up things…  

The streets were dark, and the darkness of the night surrounded Mr. Burrows, who was oblivious to Vanny’s presence…  

She was wearing a half mask that was Vanessa’s first attempt at making the bunny costume. It wasn’t a lot, but it was fine for now.  

She also carried a big and sharp kitchen knife…  

“So, has the building company been… You know…” He asked someone he was talking with on his phone. All the while Vanny stalked him from the shadows.  

“Oh, good. That’s a relief to hear. Thanks Hank, have a goodnight.”  

He hung up. All of his problems had finally been solved, he would finally be able to relax in his house! -  

… A sharp pain through his chest stopped him right there. He turned around and saw a woman with blonde hair and a cheaply made bunny mask.  

“HAHAHA!”  

She cackled. Before he could say anything, Vanny cut his throat, so that he wouldn’t scream, splashing her mask with blood. The blood dripped through his neck and her arm, causing Vanny to feel an adrenaline rush throughout her body.  

She would have liked to give him a slower and more painful death, but William said that this was an ambush operation, and that she had to make things as quick and as cleanly as possible.  

“Good job. Now, hide the body and stay the course.”  

“Yes Mr. Afton.”  

And so, one by one, all of the executives met their demise at the hands of Vanny that night…  

After she made sure no one else was left in the building, she sneaked inside and entered Mr. Burrows' office with his keys. There, went to his desk and opened his computer. It asked for a password, which Vanny didn’t know. But she didn’t need to. She simply plugged in a purple USB and the computer magically unblocked.  

“Perfect. I’ll take charge of things from here. Go back to the apartment and wait for instructions.”  

You may be wondering where the security guard in all of this was.  

It was simple.  

There was no security guard.  

In an effort to appear “modern” and “futuristic”, Fazbear Entertainment had decided to replace most of the security staff with “S.T.A.F.F Bots” that were set to roam throughout the building at night. Surely spamming STAFF Bots that mindlessly roam everywhere would work just as well as having a human security guard, right?  

…  

Security job request accepted!  

…  

“W-What?! Security guard? At the Pizzaplex?!”   Luis asked Sarah, completely in disbelief.  

“I’m afraid so.” she answered in a sad tone.  

“But… Why?”  

“I don’t know… Why don’t you go and ask her?”  

Luis, filled with confusion and sadness, went to Vanessa’s desk, where Vanny was packing all of her things.  

“Hello Vanessa…” he said quietly.

“Oh, hey. It’s you again.” Vanny answered apathetically.  

“Yeah, haha… Um, I see you are going to be transferred to a security job at the Pizzaplex…”  

“Indeed.”  

“Well, it’ll be sad seeing you go…” He said with a shaky voice.  

“It’s not a big deal. Stop being so dramatic.”  

“…”  

“Now if you excuse me, I have to get out of here.”  

And just like that, she left the office, leaving Luis wondering what had happened to Vanessa. Why did she change so suddenly? Was it something he said? No… It was something else… And he needed to help her.  

Before Vanny exited the building, Luis came running behind her.  

“Vanessa! Vanessa, wait!”  

Vanny rolled her eyes and turned around to see Luis.  

“What is it now?”  

“Look. I don’t know what’s happening. I don’t know why it’s happening, but I know there’s something wrong! I-I… I don’t know what it is… But I want to help you! But I can’t do anything if you don’t tell me!”  

Vanny looked at Luis with a frown. Why couldn’t he leave her alone? Some people around the building had stopped to watch the scene unfold.  

Then he grabbed her hand softly…  

“Please… Vanessa… I-I… I lo-“  

“Listen here, Luis . I don’t NEED your help. I don’t WANT your help, so make me a favor and leave me alone!” Vanny coldly said to Luis, and continued her way, leaving him completely heartbroken and with teary eyes…  

And for the next 6 months, Luis would know nothing about Vanessa…  

Chapter Text

  Vanny entered Freddy Fazbear’s Mega Pizzaplex through its big crystal doors and was greeted by the vibrant environment. Everything was lit by bright neon lights and decorated with posters of the animatronics. Vanny didn’t care about it. She wasn’t there to play games.  

At least not those kinds of games…  

It was getting late and many of the customers had already started to leave. Meanwhile Vanny was roaming through the Rockstar Row and observing the animatronics. That’s when she ran into Glamrock Freddy  

“Hey! Watch it, robot!”  

“Oh. My apologies, I did not see you standing there.” The animatronic bear apologized. His voice was kind and gentle.  

“Oh, you must be the new security guard! Greetings! I’m Freddy Fazbear.” He said cheerfully while he held his hand in the air to shake it with Vanny.  

“Yeah, I am. And you should be more careful when moving around!”  

Vanny scowled as she pointed her finger at Freddy.  

“I understand, officer…?”  

“Vann- Vanessa. Officer Vanessa.”  

“I will be more careful next time officer Vanessa.”  

“Good. Now go back to your room.” She commanded sternly and continued on her way. Freddy obeyed and went back into his room.  

“Hey guys, have you met the new security guard?” Glamrock Chica asked through the animatronic chat.  

“Yes. I recently spoke with her. Her name is Vanessa.” Freddy said.  

“What is she like?” Montgomery Gator asked.  

“She is a bit… stern, but she seems nice overall.”  

“Let’s just hope she isn’t a party popper. Nobody likes party popping losers.” Roxanne Wolf added.  

-x-x-x-  

After hours, and deep inside the Pizzaplex, Vanny skipped happily towards the main servers of the Pizzaplex.  

“Oh, I can already tell this is going to be so much fun hehe!”  

Her child-like giggle echoed through the walls. William watched as Vanny entered the computer room to upload him to the Pizzaplex servers through a USB.  

While a part of him was happy that his plan to come back was starting to take motion, the other was still worried about Vanny being in control. She was just so volatile and childish. So many things could go wrong with her. But he had no other choice. However, he decided that the last words he said to her would be unforgettable.  

“Okay Mr. Afton! Everything is ready for you to be uploaded!” She said as she plugged in the purple USB.  

“Well done, Vanny. Now, remember, you will gather as much remnant as you can.”  

“I will.”  

“You won’t let anybody lead you astray.”  

“I won’t.”  

“And remember… If you disobey me, I assure you… I WILL GET RID OF YOU, VANNY.” William said with a threatening voice.  

“Alright, alright, Mr. Afton. I’ll be ready, and I won’t let you down. It’ll be fun!” Vanny answered nonchalantly at Afton’s warning.  

“Good. After all, you are nothing but a copy of Vanessa. Without her, you wouldn’t even exist. NEVER forget that.”  

“…”  

And just like that, he was out of Vanessa’s head. And a long silence took place.  

“Okay. I think that did it. All I must do now is wait.” William thought to himself. Surely now that he had reminded Vanny of her place in the world she would be fully obedient to him, right?...  

-x-x-x-  

Vanny stood there. Silent. For some reason, she couldn’t help but think over and over again about one of Afton’s words…  

COPYCOPYCOPYCOPYCOPYCOPYCOPY  

Vanny stared deeply at the mirror of the bathroom at the Pizzaplex.  

And there she was…  

Vanessa.  

Small, weak, and PATHETIC Vanessa.  

“Vanessa… How DARE he compare me to her? I am NOTHING like Vanessa!”  

Anger devolved into a near blinding rage in the matter of seconds. Her heart started racing as she clenched her fists with fury.  

She looked at Vanessa’s blonde hair, green eyes, brown freckles…  

“I AM MORE THAN VANESSA!” Vanny yelled as she smashed the bathroom mirror with her fist as her eyes turned into a sick glowing purple color. Then, she turned around, slammed the door open and exited the bathroom.  

-x-x-x-  

“Oh, look, there goes the new security guard! Let’s go meet her!” Monty said to Sundrop while he pointed towards Vanny. Sundrop joyfully skipped towards her to meet her.  

“HEEELLOOO, new friend- “  

“OUT OF MY WAY!” Vanny screamed at Sundrop.  

“Please take this ma- “  

“MOVE!”  

Sundrop, Monty and Map Bot silently stared at the new security guard who was marching towards the entrance of the Pizzaplex with heavy stomps.  

-x-x-x-  

Back at Vanessa’s apartment Vanny angrily started to search through Vanessa’s stuff for anything that could be useful for Vanny’s new and sick objective. Eventually, she started to check Vanessa’s phone for information, and that is when she found it.  

A photo.  

A group photo.  

Vanny made the WICKEDEST of smiles as one of the darkest and most twisted of ideas popped into her mind. She wanted to destroy Vanessa, and now she knew exactly how to do it… Vanny then started to go through some of Vanessa’s memories. And recognized some of the kids in the picture…  

“…HahahaHAHA HAHAHAHA!!”  

-x-x-x-  

Directly against Afton’s orders, Vanny kept waiting. Waiting for a certain type of child. Children that were different in many ways, but similar in ONE.  

And one late evening, she found the first of that type.  

Tom was wandering around the Pizzaplex all by himself, holding a piece of paper in his hand, when Vanny noticed and recognized him. A dark grin started to appear across her face.  

“Wakey, wakey, Vanessa!”  

The dark room Vanessa was trapped in started to fade out and was replaced with Vanny’s POV.  

“W-What’s going on?...”  

“Ness?!”  

“…Tom?”  

“Hey little man!”  

“Ness!”  

He went to give who he thought was Vanessa the biggest of hugs.  

“I’ve missed you so much!”  

But she didn’t hug him back.  

When Tom noticed this, he looked up to Vanessa.  

She just… stared at him.  

With a smile.  

“…Haha, I’ve missed you too Tom.”  

Tom noticed that the way Vanessa was smiling looked strange. Different. He couldn’t tell exactly what it was that made it feel off, but it was there. However, he was too excited to pay too much attention to that.  

“Luis told us that you switched to a security guard job!”  

“Yeah! I’m Officer Vanessa now!”  

Vanny said as she saluted comically to Tom. This made the boy giggle.  

“That’s so cool! You’ll be able to play with the animatronics and the arcades all night!”  

“Correct!”  

“Oh, and I brought this gift for you!” Tom said cheerfully as he handed Vanny the piece of paper he had been carrying with him.  

“Me and the other kids wanted to give this to you before you left.”  

Vanny unfolded the paper and saw that it was a drawing of Vanessa holding a gaming control up in her hand, surrounded by the other 9 kids, all dressed in gamer clothes and accessories, with the words “BEST GAMERS EVER” written at the top.  

“Aw, guys…” Vanessa thought, making Vanny get angry. But she managed to hide it well enough.  

“It’s wonderful, Tom! I love it.”   

He hugged her again, and this time, Vanny hugged him back.  

“Now that I remember… I actually have a gift for you too Tom.” Vanny said as the kid let go of her. Her voice was sweet, but somehow had sinister undertones.  

“You… have a gift for him?”  

“You have a gift for me too?!”  

“Yes!”  

Vanny said as her smile grew larger and larger.  

Then she extended her hand.  

“Follow Me…”  

Tom grabbed Vanny’s hand and followed her through the Pizzaplex.  

“Vanny… What… are you doing? Where are you taking him?” Vanessa asked, getting more and more nervous as time went on.  

“You’ll see.”  

“But-“  

“Shut up.”  

After a while of walking throughout the Pizzaplex, they finally arrived at a service room.  

“After you…” Vanny said while bowing theatrically.  

And as Tom entered the room, Vanny silently locked it.  

“So, Tom, I want you to close your eyes.” Vanny said as she opened one of the drawers of the desk that was in front of her.  

“Okay! But why?”  

“Oh, it’s just for the…  

…Surprise ”  

Vanny pulled a knife from inside it. At that moment, everything clicked, and Vanessa realized what was about to happen.  

“Now… Hold still…”  

“No, no, no…”  

“Yes…”  

Vanny let out a dark chuckle as she walked towards the innocent boy.  

“NO!”  

Suddenly, Vanny stumbled as Vanessa somehow had managed to regain a bit of control.  

But it was not enough.  

Tom heard Vanessa stumbling and opened his eyes…  

Only to be greeted by a horrifying sight.  

Vanessa, looming over him, with a deranged smile on her face and glowing purple eyes…  

“No…”  

Holding a kitchen knife on her right hand.  

At that moment, Vanessa saw how the boy’s face changed from happiness to horror and betrayal.  

“…V-Vanessa?”  

He asked with a shaky voice as he gave a few steps backwards.  

“…Hahaha”  

Then, Vanny suddenly grabbed the boy by his arm, and raised her knife.  

“hahAHAHAHA!”  

“NO! WAIT! LEAVE HIM ALONE”  

“DON’T HURT ME PLEASE!”  

Vanny looked at her knife, and then back at the boy, with her psychotic smile…  

“Let’s have some fun!”  

And just like that, she slashed Tom on his chest.  

Red blood splattered the walls and her face, as the boy let out a horrifying scream.  

“NO! STOP IT!”  

“ HAHAHAHAHA!”  

Vanny slashed him again. Tom’s face was flooded with tears as Vanny kept laughing maniacally, filled with ecstasy. It made Vanessa sick, because she could sense the overwhelming level of sadistic joy Vanny was feeling at the time. Vanny got carried away with the twisted adrenaline rush she felt from killing and slashed him again.  

“PLEASE!”  

And again.  

“STOP HURTING HIM!”  

And again.  

“ HAHAHAHAHA!!!”  

Vanny raised her knife one more time.  

“STOP “  

…  

Vanessa went dead quiet as she heard the sickening sound of the knife stabbing Tom in the chest, while blood started dripping down from it and the smell of iron filled the room.  

There was no more screaming coming from Tom. Only shaky breaths as he fell to the ground.  

“Hahaha…”  

Vanny tilted her head as she saw the boy twitching from pain on the ground.  

“Are you having fun yet?” She asked Tom cruelly.   

If Vanessa was in control, she would be hopelessly crying her eyes out.  

But she wasn’t in control.  

Vanny and Vanessa watched as they boy let out small hiccups and how a puddle of blood had started forming around him.  

For a few seconds, everything was silent.  

“This… This isn’t real… It c-can’t be…”  Vanessa thought as she desperately tried to stay in denial.  

“You really think so?” Vanny asked  

Vanny’s expression turned from an insane smile to an evil smirk.  

“Perhaps this will change your mind.”  

Vanny sat on the ground near Tom, who watched her completely petrified. He closed his eyes with fear, waiting for Vanny to give the final blow. But to Tom and Vanessa’s surprise, she didn’t.  

Instead, she set her knife aside…  

And brought him into her arms to hug him.  

The moment Vanny hugged the boy was the moment any kind of doubt left Vanessa’s mind.  

This was real.  

He was real.  

SHE was real.  

A giggle echoed through the room, as Vanessa watched how the light faded out of the boy’s eyes and felt his heart slow down.  

“N-No… wait… I-I didn’t mean to… Don’t… d-die… Please… T-Tom… I-I’m so-sorry… Please…”  

Tom finally closed his eyes.  

“…NO! No…”  

“HAHAHA!” Vanny laughed with morbid joyfulness.  

“THAT WAS SO FUN! WASN’T IT VANESSA?”  

Vanessa said nothing, barely able to process the horrific sight in front of her.  

Vanny let out a crueler laugh at Vanessa’s reaction.  

“What’s wrong Vanessa? Is something bothering you?” Her voice changed into a tone of spite and hate, spitting out Vanessa’s name with rage.  

“…Why?” Vanessa asked in a quiet tone.  

“Why? Hehe he... WHY? HAHAHAHAHA!” Vanny cackled maniacally. Then, she changed to a completely serious tone  

“Because I hate you, Vanessa Aarons.”  

“…What?” Vanessa replied with confusion.  

“I HATE you, Vanessa. I hate your pathetic voice, your stupid face, your weak mind!” She yelled with fiery resentment.  

“So now, I’ll make sure that you witness every. Single. One. Of my murders. Hehe! I’ll make sure you feel EVERY DROP OF BLOOD! Watch EVERY STAB! Hear every GODDAMN SCREAM! HAHAHA!”  

Vanessa was utterly horrified at Vanny’s words. The thought of having to witness what had happened today more than once made her stomach sink.  

“And while that happens, I’M GOING TO LAUGH! I WILL LAUGH AS YOU CRY LIKE THE PATHETIC LITTLE THING YOU ARE, HAHAHA!”  

“NO!! GET OUT OF MY HEAD!!!!”  

And, as Vanessa’s world started going black again, Vanny then said to her three words, with the wickedest and most twisted voice tone she had...  

“See you soon…”  

Chapter Text

“Wakey, wakey, Greg…”

A soft and motherly voice said gently to the 11-year-old boy sleeping on a blue bed. It was a bright and sunny Saturday morning.

“Hmmm?”

Gregory slowly started to open his eyes, and as he did, the face of his mother greeted him.

“Good morning, sweetie”

“…Good morning, mom” he said as he yawned and sat up on his bed, stretching his arms.

“Breakfast is ready. I made you waffles, your favorite!”

“Yay! Thanks, mom. I’ll be down in a second.” He said while he rubbed his eyes, still a bit sleepy and his mother gently kissed his forehead.

Gregory got up from his bed and changed from his T-rex pajamas to a blue T-shirt with two white stripes and light brown shorts. He laced his red shoes and went down to have breakfast.

As he walked down the stairs, he could hear his mom, Jane, cooking in the kitchen. It was a small kitchen, but it was big enough for the two of them.

“Did you sleep well, honey?” she asked him.

“Yeah! I dreamt that I was an astronaut fighting against aliens and that I had a laser gun to shoot them!”

Upon hearing this, a warm smile appeared on Jane’s face. All those extra hours in the office were finally going to be worth it.

She served the boy a plate of waffles with maple syrup dripping from them.

“Yum! I love waffles!”

Gregory said has he quickly grabbed his fork and started devouring his food.

“Woah, slow down Greggy.” His mom said with a small laugh.

“I know, I’m sorry. I just REALLY love waffles.”

Gregory answered with his mouth filled with food, to which Jane laughed and shook her head. She also started to eat her own waffle and they talked about some stuff from yesterday. Then after they finished breakfast, Jane washed the dishes while Gregory played with her phone.

As she finished washing the last one, she dried her hands and turned around.

“Greggy, I have something very special for you today.”

“Really? What is it?” the boy asked, looking up from the phone screen.

“Close your eyes.”

Gregory rolled his eyes, giggling a bit as he closed his eyelids. Then Jane got a card out of her pocket and gave it to Gregory.

“…Surprise!”

Gregory’s eyes widened in awe as he realized that his mom had bought him a pass for the one and only “Freddy Fazbear’s Mega Pizzaplex”.

“WOW! THANK YOU SO MUCH MOM! YOU’RE THE BEST!”

He quickly gave his mom a big warm hug. Ever since it opened, Gregory had wanted to visit the Pizzaplex and see the animatronics for himself. But his mom said that the entrance was too expensive to go there. However, it seemed that she had somehow managed to save enough money for it.

x-x-x

Gregory and his mom walked to the front entrance of the Pizzaplex, amazed by the enormous building.

“Are you ready?”

“Yes!” he said as he busted through the door of the Pizzaplex, filled with excitement. Jane chuckled as she watched her son look around the place, spinning as he did so. They then got into the elevator and went to the main atrium. Jane stopped to look at the big Pizzaplex map.

“So, where do you wanna go first? Monty Golf? Chica’s Bakery, Roxy Raceway, Fazerblast?”

“Oooh, I want to go to Fazerblast so that I can fight aliens! Like in my dream!” Gregory said excitedly as they made their way through the gigantic building. As they arrived, they were greeted by none other than Glamrock Freddy Fazbear himself.

“Welcome to Fazerblast recruit! Fazerblast is a high-intensity space combat simulation! Suit up and save the universe as you blast everyone and everything with high-tech laser effects!”

His voice was deep, but very cheerful as he welcomed all the kids to the area. When the animatronics weren’t on-stage performing, they hung around in their attraction zones, and played alongside the kids that were there.

“Blast strangers, blast your friends, beat the superstar score! And get a free fazer-blaster gun! Enlist now!”

“Woah! You must be Glamrock Freddy, right?” Gregory said, star struck by the gentle giant standing in front of him.

“The one and only!”

“Awesome!”

Meanwhile, another 11-year-old kid was exploring around Roxy Raceway, with a little birthday hat on her head. She had brown skin and dark brown hair tied into two small pigtails. She wore a pink sweater with blue shorts and black tights.

“Look sweetie! Roxy’s coming!”

The little girl turned around and saw a glamourous anthropomorphic wolf with a green hairstreak and red clothing.

“Hello racer! You must be the birthday girl. I am Roxanne Wolf, but you can call me Roxy!” The robot canine said to her kindly as she approached her.

“OMG! Hi Roxy! I’m Cassie!”

“Nice to meet you, Cassie. Happy 11th Birthday!”

“Thanks!” Cassie said with a giggle. Her parents, Chuck and Andrea, watched their daughter from the table they had rented for her birthday.

“Gotta admit it, working for Fazbear Entertainment might not be the highest paying job out there, but it sure has its benefits.” Chuck said to his wife with a small laugh.

Fazbear Entertainment had given him and the other technicians constant “Free Party” passes for free, with the only condition being not to question too much certain stuff, such as why were there mysterious cracking sounds coming from the walls of the Pizzaplex, the strange electricity signals coming down from Roxy Raceway or the fact that their boss and the rest of the executives always seemed to be “unavailable” to meet in person and preferred to “work from home”.

“So, Cassie, what do you want to do first on your special day?”

“Hmm, what about a Glamrock make-over? But we must hurry, my friends will arrive here soon!” The girl urged as she showed Roxy a birthday invitation card that said to arrive at 2:00 p.m.

“Perfect! Let us go!”

x-x-x

“This food is really good.” Gregory said with his mouth filled with nachos.

“Gregory, remember not to speak with your mouth full.”

“I know, I know.”

They were sitting at a table in El Chip’s restaurant zone, taking a small break from all the action at Fazerblast.

“Would-you-like-another-Fizzy-Faz?” Said a STAFF Bot with a Mexican hat, holding a Fizzy-Faz can. Gregory was about to take it, but his mom stopped him.

“I think it’s been enough soda for you today.” She gently warned her son.

“Aw, but mom, it’s tasty!”

“Yes. But it’s also filled with sugar and chemicals.”

“Hmph.”

Jane sighed and looked around the restaurant. Almost all, if not every single one of, the employees were robots. It was impressive, but slightly strange. Why were there almost no human employees at the Pizzaplex? The robots were advanced and highly technological, but there was always room for failure, and Fazbear Entertainment had said that they wanted to stay far away from any controversies. So why the obsession with making everything robotic? Wouldn’t this make the place to be more prone to accidents? What if the robots malfunctioned? What if they got hacked? –

“So, can we go to Roxy’s Raceway next? It’s one of the last attractions we haven’t been to.”

“I don’t know Greggy. Going to the bumpy cars after all the food you just ate doesn’t seem like the best idea…”

“Pleeeeaaase?”

Jane saw Gregory’s puppy eyes and thought for a moment. They almost never went to places like attraction parks, and when they did, they were always small ones, nothing like the Pizzaplex. Gregory’s father had passed away when he was barely 3 years old, leaving Jane as a single mom with a little gremlin in her care. So, they didn’t have a lot.

“Well, you’re only a kid once…” She murmured to herself.

“Let’s go Greggy.”

“Yay!”

And so, they went on their way. They exited El Chip’s and went down the electric stairs to the second floor. Then they walked all the way to the left side of the building and went right to the big, red, automatic doors that were the entrance to the Raceway.

“Very modern indeed.” Jane thought to herself as she watched from the corner of her eye how the door closed behind them. Then, when they passed the second doorway, they were star struck by the giant raceway in front of them. Kids raced on it, accompanied by STAFF Bots that took care of them as they raced frantically. It was completely astounding.

“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! Nobody likes a loser.”

The sound of Roxy’s confident voice echoed throughout the place, resounding at Gregory’s ears. He was about to ask for instructions from one of the STAFF Bots when he noticed something…

A girl.

She ran to the right side of the stadium and hid behind the grades. Gregory briefly saw what appeared to be wet mascara on her face, which formed tear streaks on the girl’s face.

“Cassie! Cassie, where are you?” The animatronic wolf called out in the distance. She seemed to be searching for the girl.

“Mom, did you see that?”

“The girl crying? Yes, I saw her.”

“I think her name is Cassie. Roxy’s looking for her.” He said as he pointed towards Roxanne, who was running on four legs, just like a real wolf, sniffing the air. Her face looked worried and sad.

“Maybe I could go and talk with her and see what’s wrong.”

“Uh, I don’t know honey, maybe she wants to be alone.”

“A kid wanting to be sad and alone at Freddy Fazbear’s Mega Pizzaplex?” Gregory asked Jane, raising an eyebrow.

The woman looked towards the direction the girl went, and then back at her son.

“Hmm, you’re right. You can go and try to talk with her. But if she wants to be alone, then leave her be, okay?”

“Okay!”

Gregory ran quickly towards the area he had last seen the girl in and started searching. It didn’t take long before he heard crying near him.

“Hello? Are you in here?”

Then, as he turned around the corner, he saw her. Knees pressed against her head, muffling her cries. The girl lifted her head and saw Gregory looking at her.

“W-Who… Who a-are you?”

“I’m Gregory.” he said softly.

“Are you… Cassie?”

“How… Do you know that?”

“I saw Roxy looking for you and calling out your name.” The boy said softly.

“Yeah… I-I’m… Cassie.”

“Nice to meet you, Cassie.”

“Nice to meet you too, Gregory.” Cassie answered in a low voice, lowering her face again. Gregory walked towards her and sat next to the lonely girl.

“Cassie… Why are you crying?”

She wiped some of her make-up away and answered with a shaky voice.

“M-My friends… They, didn’t come to my birthday…”

“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that.”

“…I was so excited to see them and play with them at the Pizzaplex. But none of them showed up…”

As the girl looked down, the boy pondered for a moment and then got an idea.

“Well…You can come with me and play together if you want to!”

“Really?...”

“Yeah! C’mon, we can go race together at the go karts!” Gregory said, standing up from the ground and lending a hand to Cassie. She doubts at first, but ultimately ends up standing up with Gregory’s help and going with him. On their way back to their parents, Gregory found a white piece of clothing he spotted near them. It seemed to be some sort of wiper or dishcloth, but the shape didn’t match.

It was strange and irregular. And it seemed to have marks of ripped stitches on its borders, as if it had been sewn together into more cloth, only to then be ripped apart again.

“Here, you can use this to wipe away your make-up.”

He offered Cassie the piece of cloth and she used it to wipe her face. Then, with a sigh, she left it back where it was and went on her way. And so, they eventually found Jane again.

“Oh, hello there, are you alright little one?” Jane asked Cassie in a gentle voice.

“Mom, this is Cassie. Cassie, this is my mom.”

“Hi.” Cassie greeted shyly.

“Hello there, I’m Jane Torres. But you can call me Mrs. Torres.”

“I’m Cassie Leverett, nice to meet you too, Mrs. Torres. And don’t worry, I’m fine now.”

“Oh, that’s a relief to hear.”

“Yeah, I asked Cassie if she wanted to come and play with me, and she said yes!”

“Really? That’s great news, sweetie. But we have to talk with Cassie’s parents first.”

“Oh, right. They must be over there.”

Cassie pointed towards the left side of the stadium, where many tables were set in place for costumers to hang out and eat on. The three of them walked over there and found Cassie’s parents looking for her.

“Cassie? Cassie, my love! There you are.”

Her dad came running to her and gave her a big hug. Cassie’s mom followed right behind him.

“Oh Cassie, you gave us such a scare.”

“I’m sorry, dad.”

“It’s okay now. What matters is that you’re safe.” Her mom said softly to her.

“Mom, dad, there’s some people I want you to meet.” Cassie said, turning around. Behind them were Gregory and Jane, looking at them.

“This is Gregory and his mom, Mrs. Torres.”

The man stood up and went to meet the woman with brown hair and black eyes. Chuck’s skin was dark brown, and he had black curly hair. He wore an orange shirt with a small Glamrock Bonnie pin on his left side. He and Jane shook hands.

“Chuck Leverett, how are you?”

“Jane Torres, I’m doing good, thank you for asking.”

“And I’m Andrea Peterson. It’s a pleasure.”

Jane then shook hands with Cassie’s mom too.

“So, Mr. Leverett. I was wondering if Cassie and I can go to play together around the Pizzaplex?”

“Of course! You can go play with Gregory, have fun!” Cassie’s dad said, happy that someone had shown up to play with his daughter on her special day. Gregory and Cassie looked at each other with bright faces and quickly ran towards the go karts at the raceway. Meanwhile, the 3 adults sat down at their reserved birthday table to have a chat together.

“So, which animatronic is your favorite?” Cassie asked cheerfully as they grabbed some Faz-Helmets to get into the go-karts.

“I think Freddy is the best. He’s so big and awesome. And he’s the main attraction.”

“Yeah, Freddy is very strong, but he’s also very sweet and protective. My dad sometimes leaves me with him while he’s working as a technician here in the Pizzaplex.”

“Woah, your dad works here?”

“Yes! As a Faz-Technician. His job is to give maintenance to the animatronics. Clean them, repair them, and stuff like that. He even has his own Faz-Wrench!”

“Awesome! It must be really cool to work with the animatronics. Which one is your favorite?”

“Roxy has always been my favorite. I used to like Monty too, but now… He’s hard to look at…”

Gregory and Cassie stopped walking for a moment.

“What do you mean?”

Cassie looked over to where their parents were sitting and saw that they were distracted and far away enough from them to hear them. So, she looked back at Gregory and signaled him to come closer.

“Did you know that Monty wasn’t originally the one who played the bass in the Glamrock band?” the girl said in a low voice, taking small glimpses back at their parents’ table.

“I think I saw something about it on a video from the official Fazbear Entertainment channel. Something about Bonnie retiring and passing on his position to Monty.” Gregory remembered as he arched an eyebrow.

“Yeah, well, whatever that dumb video said, it’s a lie. Bonnie didn’t retire and Monty was never supposed to become the bassist of the band.”

“What?! Bonnie wasn’t supposed to retire?!” Gregory asked out loud, causing Cassie to get nervous.

“Shh, lower your voice!”

“Okay, okay. So, if he didn’t retire, why did Monty take his place? And where is he?” the boy asked, intrigued by Bonnie’s strange situation. Cassie looked around one more time and whispered again.

“Some months ago, Bonnie mysteriously stopped giving shows and practically vanished from the Pizzaplex in the blink of an eye. His attraction zone, Bonnie Bowl, also shut down completely. The passes for the bowling area stopped being expendable and Monty was given Bonnie’s place. I remember because of all the outrage there was over the bowling tickets.”

Cassie explained to Gregory, still taking small glimpses behind her back.

“The week before Bonnie vanished, my dad received an e-mail to his laptop from one of the executives of Fazbear Entertainment. I think his last name was Burrows or something. It weirded him out, because why would the top executive of the Pizzaplex contact a technician when he could just have someone else do it for him? But then again, dad is one of the last humans working here, with only other 2 aside from him. A DJ in charge of the music during the animatronic show in the main atrium, and some grumpy security guard that likes to yell at the animatronics.”

Cassie rolled her eyes as she remembered Sundrop telling her how he was so excited to meet the new guard, only for her to scowl at him and push him aside.

“Hmm. So, what did the e-mail say?”

“I still don’t know. But I’m pretty sure that it was something about Glamrock Bonnie. It had to be. Because the next day, my dad was tasked with upgrading Monty’s paws with special claws so that he could also be able to play the bass. He told me I had to wait for him with Sundrop at the Superstar Daycare.”

As the girl talked, Roxy kept looking for her around the Raceway.

“Then, right after that, Bonnie disappeared, and Monty took his spot in the band. It was almost like it had been planned by the Fazbear executives, but there was no official announcement about it.”

“Huh, that’s really weird.”

“Yeah… Dad wouldn’t tell me why they replaced Bonnie. But I wanted to know, so I sneaked inside Bonnie Bowl the next night and… I found him.”

Cassie’s expression saddened as she remembered the state in which Glamrock Bonnie was when she saw him. Gregory listened carefully.

“He was laying on the floor, with big claw marks across his chest, deactivated. He had been attacked and destroyed.”

“Oh damn!”

“I was surprised and confused. I kept wondering who did it, and then it hit me. Roxy, Monty and Freddy had claw-like nails; however, they’re made from plastic so they can’t cut through metal… But then I remembered Monty’s claw update…”

Gregory’s face dropped to the ground. He was about to yell when he remembered that Cassie had asked him to be quieter.

“Monty destroyed Bonnie!?”

He whisper-yelled.

“That’s right.”

“But why?”

Cassie was about to speak when Roxy saw her and came running towards them.

“Cassie! There you are. I have been looking for you throughout the whole raceway. Are you okay?” The robot asked the her with a concerned voice.

“O-Oh, hey Roxy! Sorry for running away. I was just really sad, but I’m fine now!” The girl said with a smile.

“Also, I want you to meet my new friend, Gregory!”

“Hi Roxy! Me and Cassie were about to go to the go-karts to have a race. Could you help us find the equipment?”

“Of course! They are over here.”

Roxy signaled the kids to follow her, filled with excitement. She told them that before driving the karts, they would need to use helmets for safety. Gregory chose the one with a Glamrock Freddy design, while Cassie chose the Roxy one.

“This is so cool! We’re actually going to ride cars!”

The boy said as he entered the racing kart and started its engine, positioning it behind the finishing line. Roxy then came out with a flag that had a black and white square pattern and held it on the air.

“Ready… Set… GO!

x-x-x

80’s music blasted throughout the giant Pizzaplex, and the neon lights really made the place feel like one of the original Freddy’s. Together, the two kids ran to the arcade section.

“Behold Gregory! The Mega Pizzaplex Faz-cade!”

Cassie said as Gregory looked around, fascinated by it.

“With more than 50 different playable arcade machines to choose from!”

“Woah, this is incredible!”

“Let’s go, I’ll show you. I’ve played all of them.”

And so Cassie led Gregory to through the area. He could hear all the different arcade machines making 8-bit sounds from the menu music. Many were vertical rectangular boxes, decorated with drawings of the characters from their respective games, which were mainly the animatronics from the franchise. Gregory recognized many of them, like Monty in “Monty’s Mini Golf”. However, there were other characters he had never seen before, but were clearly from Fazbear Entertainment. For example, one of the arcades was named “Ballistic Puppet Show” and it featured drawings of a black marionette with white stripes on its arms and legs, another featured an 8-bit golden bear with a purple top hat and was named “Fredbear’s Nom Nom Bits”.

“So, which arcade do you want to play first?”

Gregory scanned the area. All the arcades looked very fun, but finally decided to go to one that was named “Chica’s Feeding Frenzy”. Both kids walked towards it.

“Okay, so, in this minigame you play as Glamrock Chica and have to feed baby Chicas by shooting pizza to them! Use the left joystick to move around and the right to look around. Shoot with the top button at your right.”

“Alright, let’s do this.”

Gregory said with confidence in his voice as he pressed the play button. He spawned in the center of the screen as Chica and started shooting as funny 8-bit music played in the background. The levels started out easy but got more and more difficult as the game continued. Soon, the screen was filled with little Chica’s running towards him.

“Go right, right! And watch out, there’s one of them behind you!”

Cassie warned the boy as he tried to avoid all the enemies.

“Keep going! You’re on the last level!”

“I’m trying!” he could feel some sweat on his front head. He had managed to rise throughout all the previous high scores but would lose all of his points if he died on this level.

“Hurry! Use your power-ups!”

the kid said as he frantically pressed the left and right buttons to heal himself. He

“Almost there!”

He shot frantically all the pizzas he could by hitting the buttons with all his speed and, eventually, defeated the last Chica. 8-Bit confetti appeared on the screen alongside the words “YOU WIN!”.

“YEEEEAAAAHH! TAKE THAT BABY CHICA’S!”

Gregory said as he pointed at the arcade machine, letting go of the sweaty controls.”

“WOOHOO!”

Cassie cheered as she aggressively shook the boy. Then, the high score meter appeared. At first it started as a 0, but quickly went up, counting all the points he had earned.

“Yes, yes, YES! I WON THE ENTIRE GAME!”

Gregory raised his arms in victory as the screen changed to the table with all the previous scores.

“Awesome! Now, you just have type your name and you will officially be the top player of Chica’s Feeding Frenzy. However, it only has space for 4 letters. I put CASS, short and simple.” Cassie said with a smile as she pointed at one of the many names that appeared on the screen. Gregory hummed as he thought different options.

“Well, I guess I could just put GREG, but it sounds too simple for the top player.”

“Hmmm, I see. What about GT9?” Cassie suggested, “The first letters of your first and last name alongside your age?”

“It could be, but it sounds like the name of a racing car or something.” Both kids giggled at this.

“Oh, wait! What about GGY?” Gregory’s eyes lit up.

“Yes! That one’s perfect!” Cassie exclaimed. Gregory then proceeded to type the letters and pressed enter. His name appeared at the top with his score.

Chica’s Feeding Frenzy:

GGY – 3891

T0M – 3202

FL1X – 2859

CASS – 2109

G1N4 - 1098

“Awesome! Let’s go to another, I WANT TO BECOME THE TOP PLAYER OF ALL THE ARCADES!”

“YEAH!!”

And so, they went looking for another minigame. He was headed towards one that was named “Midnight Motorist” when another arcade called his attention. Like many others, it was rectangular and decorated with art of the characters. But it looked chunkier and primitive than the rest of them.

“Hey, Cassie, why does that arcade look different than the rest of them?” Gregory asked.

The girl looked towards the direction Gregory was pointing at and saw the machine he was asking about.

“Oh, right, Mangle’s Quest. It’s one of the arcades from the original Freddy’s, all the way back in the 80’s.” She explained.

“And it’s still functional? After all these years?”

“Yeah, but only because my dad fixed them. He told me it was a headache and that they were full of strange glitches. It also has 80’s graphics.”

“Interesting. I have always been curious about those old ones.”

“Well, I guess this is your lucky day!” Cassie exclaimed.

Cassie and Gregory walked towards it. He observed the main menu that featured a small 8-bit figure with curiosity, since he had never seen the character before.

“Who is that? It kinda looks like Roxy.” Gregory asked.

“That’s Mangle, one of the ‘Toy Animatronics’ from the second Freddy’s. Dad said that Fazbear Entertainment made the Glamrocks with the blueprints of the Toys and some scraps they recovered. Specially Glamrock Chica, she looks a lot like Toy Chica.”

“So is Mangle a variant of Foxy?”

“Yup.” Cassie answered.

“But then, why does she look so weird?”

“It’s because that’s her endoskeleton. Dad said she was some sort of ‘Take apart and put together’ animatronic that kids could build together. That’s the point of the minigame, to find all of Mangle’s parts and put her back together. The quicker you do it, the more points you’ll get.”

“Woah, you know a lot about Freddy’s!” Gregory said impressed by all the knowledge displayed by his new friend.

“Only because my dad is a super fan of Freddy’s. He loved collecting Freddy’s merch, like their lunchboxes.” Cassie said.

“Cool!”

Gregory inserted five Faz-coins to the machine and pressed start. He spawned inside a purple rectangular box and a starry background with an 8-bit crescent blue moon. He moved the pixelated sprite and realized something.

“…I’m a floating head.”

“Indeed. Because in Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza, fantasy and fun come to life!” Cassie joked. Gregory moved Mangle around, testing the controls.

“It’s like I’m a ghost or something.” The boy giggled.

He started moving Mangle to the right, and jumped on the purple platform where the animatronics’ endoskeleton body was. He continued finding more pieces as the level went on and each one gave him more points. He could hear a cheery background music that reminded him of a music box.

“So, this came from one the original Freddy’s?”

“Yeah, and it’s not the only one Fazbear Entertainment recovered. There are 3 more: BB’s Air Adventure, Chica’s Party, and Stage 01- WATCH OUT!”

“Ahhh!” An 8-bit person came running towards Mangle and hit her, lowering Gregory’s points.

“What was that?” He asked in surprise.

“Sorry, I forgot to tell you that there are enemies on the level, hehe.” Cassie let out an awkward laugh as she rubbed the back of her neck.

“They’re supposed to be kids trying to dismantle Mangle. If you get hit 3 times, the game will end, so be careful.”

Carefully, Gregory made his way through the level, and eventually found Mangle’s last part.

“Is… Is that a head?”

“Yup. Dad told me Mangle was meant to have a parrot on her shoulder, since she’s a version of Foxy. In fact, she was supposed to be a normal animatronic like the rest of them, but constantly broke down. So instead of fixing her, Fazbear Entertainment left her in parts and renamed her to Mangle.”

“That’s not very nice.”

“Nope. Fazbear Entertainment has a bit of a bad reputation for being negligent and covering up stuff.”

Gregory passed the different levels, jumping in purple platforms and avoiding kids, doing his best to finish them quickly. They were all the same in general, but some of them had some differences. On one of them, he had to jump on red balloons to get to the last piece and in another he appeared outside of the rectangular box and had to search for a way to get inside.

“I never thought I would play a game about animatronic parkour, haha!”

“But here we are!”

And so, Gregory got to the final level and found the last exit door. Once again, 8-bit confetti appeared with the words “YOU WON!” and his final score.

“Woah, you’re the top player again! You’re really good at this Gregory.”

“Thanks!”

Mangle’s Quest:

GGY – 7891

T14N – 6542

CASS – 4789

G1N4 – 3226

FL1X - 1965

The 2 kids kept playing the arcades all over the place. Freddy in Space, Puppet’s Basketball, Zombonnie, Hangry Fredbear, Clown Town Throwdown, Mad Science with Dr. Scraptrap, Purr-Gatory, Glitchy Maze, The Bunnbarians, were beaten by Gregory, showing the same nickname as the top player over, and over again…

GGYGGYGGYGGYGGYGGYGGYGGYGGY

After many games, CASS and GGY were playing the last arcade, named “Theo’s Back”. The boy was tired and sweaty but wasn’t going to give up regardless of that.

The minigame was intense, with jump scares and the creepy bunny Theodore trying to catch him. It looked old and worn out, with cotton and cables sticking out from him, like if they were human insides.

“C’mon, c’mon, c’mon! It’s the last game...”

He played as a little kid that had to escape from a bunch of evil toys that followed the orders of Theodore. They were Stanley the Unicorn, Ella the Doll, Mad Endo, Sparky the Dog, and Redbear the Bear. He had escaped all of them except Theodore, which was the final boss of the game.

“You’re almost at the exit! Use your last power-up!” Cassie said encouragingly.

Gregory pressed the button that gave his character the ability to jump higher than usual, escaping Theodore’s attack. And finally, he got out of the haunted house he was trapped in, winning the game. At that moment, both kids yelled as hard as they could, filled with excitement.

“YOU DID IT GREGORY! YOU WON ALL OF THE ARCADE GAMES!”

“LET’S GOOOOOO, I’M THE TOP PLAYER IN ALL THE ARCADES AT THE PIZZAPLEX! MUAHAHAHA!”

CASS and GGY jumped with excitement, cheering and laughing overwhelmed with joy.

“Phew, that was intense! I’m so sweaty.”

The boy said as he wiped off sweat.

“Eww, hahaha!”

x-x-x

“So, where do you want to go now? We could visit the other animatronics at Rockstar Row or go to the Faz-theater!"

“Hmm… Let’s go find a Map-Bot to see where we can go.”

Cassie said to her friend as they looked through the arcade to find the robotic staff member but, when they arrived to his designated spot, he was nowhere to be seen.

“Why are so many S.T.A.F.F Bots going outside their normal areas?”

The girl arched an eyebrow seeing how the bot was missing.

“Cassie, look! That’s the security guard, maybe she can help us.” Gregory said.

Gregory pointed to a woman with blonde hair and green eyes, wearing a security outfit.

“No, no! DON’T trust her.” Cassie said to him as she pulled Gregory behind one of the arcade machines.

“Why not?”

“I don’t know why, but she’s up to something! Ever since she arrived, strange things have started to happen around the Pizzaplex. Things like the animatronics acting weird at night or Bonnie’s disappearance.”

The security guard looked at the clock on her wrist and changed her direction. The two kids observed how the night guard walked towards a “Staff Only” door. She then pulled out something that looked like a big card and slid it on a scanner next to the entrance. This opened the door that led to a dimly lit staircase that went down to the Pizzaplex basement.

“Besides, she always likes to hurt the animatronics. She yelled at Sundrop, scolded Chica for wanting to eat pizza, ruined Roxy and Monty’s unofficial nocturnal parkour tournament… Fazbear Entertainment should fire her for animatronic mistreatment!”

Cassie suddenly covered her mouth when the woman turned her head to look at their direction. They quickly hid behind the arcade cabinet, hoping she hadn’t seen them. The security guard scanned the area carefully but didn’t seem to notice Gregory and Cassie. So, she simply continued on her way, locking the door behind her.

“She seems kinda sketchy.”

“I told you she’s up to something!”

x-x-x

“1, 2… 3!”

“Happy Fazbear Birthday!

Pizza, games, and cake

Open all your presents

Until your tummy aches!

You are one year older

On your special day!

And when this song is over

You’ll be on your way!”

“Yay!”

Everyone at the table cheered as Roxanne finished the song and Cassie blew the candles on her carrot birthday cake.

“What did you wish for, Cassie?” Gregory asked her.

“I wish that one day, I can take Roxy with me and show her the world!”

“Aww, Cassie.”

The now 11-year-old girl gave her favorite robotic wolf a big hug while her parents served her carrot cake. It had been Cassie’s favorite cake flavor ever since she had tasted it. Both families enjoyed the food and chatted for a while, before eventually having to say goodbye to Gregory and Jane.

“Thank you for coming to my birthday!” Cassie said to Gregory a warm hug.

“No problem! I hopefully we can see each other again soon.”

“Don’t worry, you can come and visit me at the Pizzaplex whenever you want! The security in the back entrance is very poor.”

She whispered the last part and winked at him with a smile. They giggled together while Jane also said farewell to Cassie’s parents.

“It was nice meeting you Mr. and Mrs. Leverette.”

“It was nice meeting you too Mrs. Torres, thanks for joining us on our daughter’s birthday.”

And so, as the kids waved goodbye to each other, Gregory exited the building, happier than ever…

…And completely unaware of the tragedy that was about strike.

Chapter Text

Gregory had always been a very creative kid and had liked drawing since the moment he was able to hold a crayon in his hand. He had been practicing for years, making tons of drawings that ranged from humans and animals to backgrounds and landscapes. 

But after his visit to Freddy’s, he couldn’t stop making drawings of his awesome day at the Pizzaplex. It was all he drew about. He had made lots of drawings about Glamrock Freddy fighting aliens with him at Fazerblast, racing together with Cassie and Roxy, and many drawings of his favorite characters from the old Freddy’s arcades. Right now, he was sitting in front of the small dining table, making a cute 8-bit drawing of Mangle. His mom, who was cleaning the kitchen, looked over to the drawing her son was making. 

“Who are those animatronics? I’ve never seen them before.” 

“Oh, this is Mangle from the minigame Mangle’s Quest. Cassie told me she was one of the animatronics at Freddy’s during 1987.” 

“Oh, I see. She’s very cute, you have improved a lot with your drawings.” 

“Thanks! I also made the other minigame characters, look!” 

He moved aside the colors and crayons he was using and grabbed some sheets of paper from the pile of drawings next to him. His mom sat next to him. 

“This is Toy Chica. Cassie told me she was another animatronic at the 1987 restaurant. Her minigame is Chica’s Party, where you play as her giving cupcakes to kids.” 

He held the drawing in front of his mom’s face and then gave it to her. 

“This is Balloon Boy, another Toy animatronic from BB’s Air Adventure minigame. Cassie explained to me that they could move around the restaurant and interact with people.” 

He gave that drawing to Jane too and grabbed another. 

“And these are Fredbear and Springbonnie from Stage 01. They were the first animatronics of Freddy’s, that used to be called Fredbear’s Family Diner. Cassie’s dad told her that they were Springlock suits.” 

“Oooh, what’s that? It sounds very advanced.” 

“Springlock suits were animatronics that could also be worn as costumes by employees. They used special mechanisms to press the robot parts to the sides of the costume so that a human could fit.” 

“Wow Greggy, your drawings are very nice. You’ve improved a lot sweetie!” 

Jane said to him as she kissed his forehead and returned his drawings to him. 

“Thanks mom!” 

x-x-x 

Jane was driving her car towards her workplace, an office building where she worked as an office clerk. It wasn’t the highest paying job, but it was enough for her and Gregory. 

Seeing Gregory happy was what encouraged Jane to keep working hard, so that he could live a good life, even if his father wasn’t there anymore.  Watching him having fun with Cassie at the Raceway, eating cake and having fun with his new friend… 

“ I need to get this promotion so that I can take him to the Pizzaplex again. He was so excited about seeing the animatronics at Freddy’s. The company really makes a good job at bringing joy to kids-”  

Jane would never finish this thought, as they were cut off by a large jolt before everything went black. 

x-x-x 

Gregory was starting to get nervous. His mother had never taken this long to come back from work. It was already 9 p.m. when the doorbell of his house sounded. Relieved, he quickly went to open it. 

“Mom!” 

His happiness disappeared when he opened the door and saw a man in a suit standing in front of him. 

“Hello, little one. I’m a friend of your mom, and I need you to come with me.” 

“…Why? What’s going on?” The 9-year-old boy said with a slightly shaky voice. He was smart enough to know that this had something to do with his mother’s absence, which is why he was starting to feel an immense sense of dread. 

“I’m afraid I have bad news for you…” 

The moment the man said what had happened, Gregory suddenly felt the rest of the world blur around him, sounds muffling in the distance, time stopping as he tried to process the words he had just heard. 

His mother, Jane Torres, had passed away in a car accident 4 hours ago. 

Gregory was mostly silent throughout the ride in the van to the orphanage. He didn’t think this was real, he didn’t want it to be real. But regardless of that, he still followed the man’s instructions to pack his most important possessions into a backpack and get into the car. He packed a sandwich his mom had prepared for tomorrow’s lunch, a bottle of water, a Glamrock Freddy plush he had won with Cassie’s help, some paper sheets and his crayons.  

“Welcome to your new home, Gregory.” the man said as she opened the gates to the orphanage. They were rusted and made an annoying squeaky sound. 

“Here, you will have a place to sleep, eat and play with other kids while we get you some new parents, okay?” He explained as the two made their way through multiple corridors that led to different bedrooms. 

“Okay.” Gregory said monotonously.  

He refused to believe this was happening, it just couldn’t be real. But it was real, and he knew that deep inside. The boy saw how many kids were playing together as he walked by. 

“Here we are!” 

The man opened the door to a room filled with bunk beds and some kids playing inside it. 

“Kids, I want you to welcome Gregory. He’s going to be your new roommate.” Multiple kids said hello to him as he waved at them. 

“Here’s where I must go.” The man said as he crouched down and Gregory turned around to look at him. 

“Stay strong, Gregory. I’m sure you’ll find a new family to be with.” And so, he stood up and left Gregory at his new “home.” He put his backpack on one of the bunk beds and went outside the room. 

Gregory stood in the middle of the orphanage, with no house, no toys, no friends, and no mother. He felt how tears started to form in his eyes as he finally understood the gravity of his situation. And, not wanting to be seen as a crybaby by the other kids, he quickly ran away to the loneliest spot he could find at the orphanage. 

… 

Eventually, he found an old storage room with cleaning utensils that smelled awful. There, he sat down, curled in a ball at the corner, and completely broke down into tears… There was no one else left who cared for him. A feeling of hopelessness overtook him. Gregory rocked back and forth, trying to calm himself down, and eventually fell asleep, completely alone. 

x-x-x 

As Gregory woke up, seemingly having slept there the whole night without anyone noticing, he walked out of the room to look for food. Surely there had to be a place where the rest of the kids ate. But, as he walked by the playground, something caught his attention. 

Two kids throwing around his backpack. 

“HEY!  What are you doing with my backpack!?” Gregory yelled. 

“Oh, look who we have here. It’s the new idiot of the orphanage!” 

“Welcome home, brat.” The other kid said to him as they walked towards him. 

“My name is Charles, and I rule here.” He was taller and looked a lot stronger than him. 

“I don’t care who you are, give me back my stuff!” Gregory ran forward and tried to snatch his backpack back, but the boy quickly moved aside, causing Gregory to fall to the ground. 

“Did you guys see that? He thinks he can beat me!” Other kids had gathered around to watch what was going on. From afar, Gregory saw some of the supposed “guards” and “caretakers” laughing at what was happening, and instantly knew they weren’t going to help him. 

… 

With courage, The Knight rose from the ground to confront The Beast. 

“Give me my backpack, NOW.” 

“Fight! Fight! Fight!” The guards from the background started to say, and soon, the rest of the orphans joined them. 

“You want it? Come and get it twerp!” 

The Knight quickly charged towards The Beast, who tried to punch him, but missed, which caused him to stumble. The Knight swiftly ran past him and kicked him in the butt. The rest of the town laughed at this, but The Beast wasn’t defeated yet. Grabbing The Knight by his shirt, he punched his face, making The Knight fall to the ground. He then tried to stump over him, but with great agility, The Knight avoided his attacks, and found a sword to defend himself. He rose from the ground and hit The Beast with his sword. 

“Stay back! Otherwise, I’LL KICK YOUR BUTT!” 

The Knight commanded, holding his new sword high and ready to fight. The Beast, seeing The Knight’s bravery and confidence, cowered in fear, and scurried away as the rest of the town cheered. The Knight then proceeded to reclaim his belongings and returned to his house.  

x-x-x 

“Okay, it’s finished! What do you think, Roxy?” 

“I look like a Rockstar! Thank you for helping me get ready for the show, Cassie.” 

“No problem, Roxy!” And so, the animatronic wolf got out of the saloon and went to the elevator to the show stage. Cassie then decided to go to look for her dad, who was apparently on an urgent call with her mom. 

Most people had gathered around the main atrium to see the animatronics’ show, leaving areas like Roxy Raceway or Chica’s Bakery almost empty. The Pizzaplex’s ambience music had been turned to a lower volume, to let the show stage music draw in more customers. It gave the rest of the Pizzaplex a more relaxed vibe. As Cassie made her way through the place, she passed by a gift store filled with Fazbear Merch, like t-shirts, toys, lunchboxes, etc. She decided to peek around a bit, to see if there was anything new that she could like. 

There were some things being promoted as “brand-new” by Fazbear Entertainment, but they were actually just recolors of other merch. However, there were new items that caught Cassie’s attention. 

“Glamrock animatronic masks? Including Glamrock Bonnie?” she asked out loud. Curious, she grabbed one of them, put it on her face, and looked around with it. 

“Cool!” The girl then walked up to the STAFF Bot behind the counter and gave it 2 dollars she had saved for occasions like this. After that, she happily exited the store and continued her way across the building. To many kids, being completely alone at public places like the Pizzaplex was horrifying, but not to Cassie. To her, Freddy Fazbear’s Mega Pizzaplex was practically a second home. She knew it perfectly. Or at least that’s what she thought… 

Cassie joyfully skipped through the Pizzaplex with her new Glamrock Bonnie mask, giggling as she did so. 

Vanny watched her from the shadows.  

She pondered, as an idea came into her twisted and demented head. She chuckled slightly, amused by the thought on her unhinged mind, as she watched the innocent girl skip around like a little rabbit. It almost felt like she was challenging her to act upon the dark idea. An evil smile appeared on Vanny’s face as she talked to herself. 

“Fascinating, what she could become…”  

Eventually, the girl finally found her father at the animatronic repair room, his stuff and technician uniform. He seemed to be in a hurry for some reason. 

“Dad? Where are you going?” 

“Cassie, we have to go back home, there’s something that we need to talk about.” 

“Am… Am I in trouble?” Cassie asked nervously. 

“No, no. But it’s something very important.” The man said to his daughter as he signaled her to follow him. She grabbed his hand, and they walked together towards the exit. 

Cassie and her dad got into the car and, as he drove back home, Cassie asked him again what was going on. 

“Listen, sweetheart, something very severe and serious has happened. But we have to get back home to mom before we can talk about it.” 

“Okay…” 

After a car ride that felt like hours to Cassie, the two finally got back home. They entered the house and Cassie’s mom greeted them in the living room. As the girl sat down, her parents looked at each other with worried faces. 

“Cassandra Leverett, we need to talk with you very seriously.” She gulped as her mother said these words. Her using her full name meant that this was, indeed, very serious. 

“What’s… Going on?” Chuck took a deep breath and spoke to his daughter. 

“Recently, I’ve found out about an accident revolving around Fazbear Entertainment. About 3 months ago, a Faz-Truck crashed with another vehicle on his way to the Pizzaplex.” He said as he remembered seeing the brutal image of the crash, with flames bursting out of the vehicles. And in the center of them, a big logo stood out. 

FAZBEAR ENTERTAINMENT  

“And I found out that the vehicle belonged to Jane Torres.” 

Everything went silent as Cassie tried to process what her dad had just told her. 

“You mean… Gregory’s mom?” 

“Yes. She passed away before the ambulance arrived.” Andrea said to her daughter. 

Cassie felt her heart sink to her stomach, and her eyes started to water. 

“Wait… Is Gregory…? 

“No, Gregory wasn’t at the car crash, so he survived.” The girl’s eyes lit up. 

“So, he’s still alive!?” 

“Yes, however, he’s living at an orphanage right now.” 

“And that’s what we wanted to talk about with you today.” Chuck explained. 

“We were thinking about adopting Gregory, and we wanted to know how you felt about that.” 

“WHAT? Really?! We’re gonna adopt Gregory?” Cassie asked, brushing off the tears of her eyes. 

“Only if you’re okay with it.” 

“OF COURSE! LET’S GO, LET’S GO, LET’S GO!” Cassie yelled excitedly as she shook her parents. 

x-x-x 

“Hello Sir, what can I help you with?” 

“Hi. I’m Chuck Leverett, and we’re looking for a kid named Gregory Torres. We have been told that he’s staying here.” 

“Hold on a second please.” 

The receptionist went through a door behind her, while Cassie looked around excitedly, searching for her friend frantically. 

“ I can’t wait to see Gregory’s face when I tell him that we’re going to adopt him!” The girl thought, filled with joy. The woman returned. 

“I’m really sorry to say this, sir… Gregory Torres escaped from the orphanage a few weeks ago.” 

“…What?” 

… 

On a park miles away from Cassie, a young boy searched on a trash can for edible food. A family had recently had a picnic and left scraps behind. A small piece of leftover hamburger and some fries would be his meal for today. He sat on a bench, silently wondering what he had done to deserve this. 

As the sun went down, Gregory searched for somewhere to sleep. He managed to find a decent box in a nearby trash pile, which eventually became his mobile home, as his new street life started… 

He went from place to place, trash bin to trash bin, looking for any food and water he could find, carrying his little box with him, and after a while, he somehow found his old house. He watched it from the street. A new family had moved in. They looked so happy together, dining as a family in what was once his home. He kept walking, and a small tear rolled down Gregory’s cheek. 

Months passed and Gregory slowly started to adapt to street life, choosing dark corners to sleep in, away from any strangers that could cause him any trouble. Right now, he had settled in the end of a dead-end alley and searched for something to use as a blanket while he slept. The nights were really cold, and he didn’t want to get sick. His stomach rumbled, and he made a mental note to check the nearby dumpster he had seen earlier this day for more food. Finally, he found a newspaper left behind in the alleyway and used it to cover himself and went to sleep. 

He didn’t bother to check the newspaper. Because why would he? It was already pretty dark, and he was tired from walking all day. 

But if he had… Gregory wouldn’t have stayed there a second longer that night. 

MISSING: LOCAL RESIDENTS CONTINUE TO DISAPPEAR.  

x-x-x 

The next day, he checked the big dumpster he passed by the other day. There wasn’t much left in it but he did find an almost empty soda can. The flavor felt… Familiar, but Gregory couldn’t recall from where since it was diluted and eroded due to time. 

He kept exploring the area. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Gregory passed by some shops, one was a grocery store, another an electronic repairment shop, and another was a small cafeteria. Then, he walked through a nice little park where many kids were playing around. Continuing on a straight line he arrived at an apartment building, it wasn’t very fancy, but it wasn’t run down either. 

He kept walking, and walking, and walking. Until he turned a corner, and his mouth dropped open in surprise… 

“Freddy Fazbear’s Mega Pizzaplex.” 

Gregory stood there in awe as memories of him and Cassie playing together started to flood his brain. He felt his eyes start watering… 

But then, like a lightning strike, his face turned into an “aha” expression as Gregory remembered one of the last things that Cassie had said to him. 

“Don’t worry, you can come and visit me at the Pizzaplex whenever you want! The security in the back entrance is very poor.”  

And with that, Gregory snuck into the Pizzaplex, cautiously hopeful everything would go well.

Chapter Text

Chapter 8: Later That Night

To say that things didn’t go according to Gregory’s plans would be a severe understatement. If you asked him, he would have said that things “had gone to shit”, which would also be an understatement.

Insane robots, annoying S.T.A.F.F bots… And Vanny. The dancing rabbit lady that had been trying to kill him throughout the night and may or may not be the same grumpy security guard Cassie warned him about.

“We must hurry back to the main entrance so that you can finally get out of here.”

“But what about Vanny? I can’t just leave her running around free. What if she hurts you, or Cassie?”

“I understand your concern Gregory, but-“

“We need to stop her Freddy! Besides, for some reason, I have the feeling that there is more going on with Vanny.”

Freddy looked at the little boy standing in front of him, pondering.

“Well, as a matter of fact, there is something very odd about Vanny. Aside from the obvious stuff.”

The animatronic bear confessed, surprising Gregory.

“Really? What is it?”

“In order to aid customers in medical emergencies, all the Glamrocks come equipped with scanners that show us many of the vital signs in a human, including the brain. And there is something very… Unnatural… about Vanny’s brain signals.”

Gregory tilted his head, arching an eyebrow, intrigued by the bear’s explanation.

“I managed to quickly scan her and, well… They are very erratic and don’t match any known medical patterns in my medical database. Although they do share similarities with alarmingly high levels of sociopathy, but the way they are transmitted is very erratic.”

The boy felt a cold shiver throughout his body.

“We must stop her. Here’s the plan. You will pretend I’m still inside your stomach hatch and distract Vanny so that I can go to her hideout, okay?

“Yes, let us end this!”

…

Gregory was running up the stairs that led to Vanny’s hideout on top of the laze tag maze. He then passed through the catwalk and finally arrived at the spot. Opening the small door, he entered the room and saw a DIY bed alongside a desk with three monitors and a Freddy shaped button. However, there was also a strange arcade machine he had never seen before.

“Princess Quest”

The Knight couldn’t say why, but something inside him told him to go into the castle. That there was someone who needed to be rescued. So, he looked around for a moment, and then, proceeded to enter the mysterious dungeon.

x-x-x

“Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza, get your pizza by the pound! Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza, where all the kids are safe and sound! Hehe!”

“Vanny, please… Just… Please let him go… Don’t-Don’t do this… Please-”

Vanessa pleaded with a weak voice. Vanny had succeeded in brutally destroying Vanessa’s mental health over the past 6 months. And she had loved every second of it. However, she wanted to be more. And her plan was almost completed.

“Shut the fuck up, Vanessa. I’m going to murder this little bastard no matter what, and I’m going to fucking enjoy it! It was fun to play cat and mouse with him all night, but now I’m fucking sick of him.”

Vanny walked towards Freddy, who had been knocked down my multiple corrupted STAFF Bots. Out of the left pocket of her suit, she grabbed a modified Faz-Wrench to shock him.

“Vanny… Stay away from Gregory!”

“Hehe… I see you’re finally able to see me, hehehe! But I’m afraid you are still POWERLESS AGAINST ME, HAHAHA!”

The animatronic bear roared in pain as Vanny shocked him, causing his body to malfunction. Vanessa watched with dread. Unlike Vanny, Vanessa didn’t see the animatronics just as stupid machines. She actually cared for them, even if she wasn’t able to express it to them. So not only did she feel horrible for the poor kid, but also for his animatronic friend. Vanny on the other hand, was starting to feel the disturbing ecstasy she always felt when killing innocents. She had finally cornered the brat that had been escaping her claws all night.

“THERE YOU ARE! HAHA-”

An awkward silence took place, as Vanny held her knife in an aggressive stance, ready to strike, but found nothing inside Freddy’s stomach. If the context of the situation wasn’t so serious, it would have been very comical, with cricket sounds playing in the background like in cartoons, but to Vanny, this was anything but comical. She could feel an immense rage bubbling up from deep inside her.

Vanessa however, felt something she thought she would never feel again…

“He’s not here…”

…Hope

Gregory used the arcade sprite to go through the 16-bits pizzeria. His sprite was a knight in a yellow armor, who carried a lantern and a big medieval sword. Multiple strange blobs of black goo that resembled bunnies chased him through the place. He managed to kill most of them, but as he continued through the level, they became more and more difficult to overcome. But he wasn’t planning to give up. He remembered his day at the arcade with Cassie and how he had managed to get the highest scores in all the arcades…

GGY

And so, The Knight kept going, brave and strong. He eventually got to a strange hay maze, guarded by a horrible version of Foxy, and at the center of it there was a purple key. He wasn’t exactly sure for what it was, but he was determined to get it.

The maze was hard to navigate, with many dead ends, and a lot of it was obscured by darkness, and he wondered who this castle belonged to, and why did they had this key hidden away in such a complicated spot. While thinking about it, The Knight came to the conclusion that the castle must belong to The Shadow, the evil entity that had been haunting him and his best friend, The Giant, throughout the kingdom. And they needed to stop her.

x-x-x

“This is it… He’s going to escape…”

“Shut your fucking mouth.”

“Y-You… You’re going to get arrested!”

Vanessa was finally feeling something else aside from pain, sadness and fear. It seems like this “Gregory” is going to escape Vanny’s claws, and probably telling the police about what he saw. Meaning that Vanny’s reign of terror had finally come to an end…

“I-It’s over…”

“Over? HEHEHE! OVER?! HAHAHA! This is NOT OVER Vanessa! You really think a stupid child can stop me?”

“…The police can…”

“Is that an attitude I’m sensing? Well guess what, I don’t FUCKING care if the police comes for me, HAHA. I’ll just go on the run and find somewhere else to start killing!”

Vanessa’s hope started to fade away, being replaced again with horror and dread.

“And, because you even DARED to think that a small brat like him could stop me… I’m going to make sure that my murders are EVEN MORE BRUTAL! After all, I no longer need to follow Mr. Afton’s orders, HEHEHE!”

Vanny’s maniacal laugh resounded on her ears and throughout the building, and Vanessa thought it would have been better if she just stayed quiet…

However, she suddenly stopped laughing.

“…”

Both Vanny and Vanessa felt something… Odd.

Out of nowhere, Vanny started to feel her legs get shaky, with her vision fading in and out. She grabbed the metallic side bar for support. She felt weaker, disconnected…

“W-What?...”

In between the fading in and out of her vision, she caught glimpses of the pizzeria in Vanessa’s subconscious, and a golden figure standing in front of her…

x-x-x

“W-What?...”

“Itsmeitsmeitsme…”

“N-No… NOT YOU!”

The man in the golden bunny suit shivered, as a ghostly figure with a golden mask appeared in front of him…

“No… Y-you… YOU CAN’T!”

He yelled with dread in his body.

x-x-x

“N-No… NOT YOU!”

For the first time, Vanny felt something aside from anger and morbid ecstasy. A feeling she had witnessed in others many times, but had never truly felt for herself, even though she and Vanessa were able to sense and feel each other’s emotions…

Fear.

Fear of dying.

“No… Y-you… YOU CAN’T”

She screamed, filled with the same emotion she had enjoyed causing others, including Vanessa, to feel, just like Afton many years ago in the last Freddy’s pizzeria… And she hated herself for feeling it. She felt…

Small.

Pathetic.

…

“No, no, no… AAAAAHHHH!”

Suddenly, Vanessa felt extremely dizzy, seeing the place frantically spin around, causing her to fall, and everything went black. There were no images, no voices, and no thoughts. Just blackness all around, as if she had been restarted like a computer.

…

Then, Vanessa woke up.

As she slowly opened her eyes, she could hear and feel her own breathing against Vanny’s mask. She looked around, observing the Pizzaplex through the mask’s red eyes. It felt like getting out of the water after almost drowning. She looked at her left hand, which was very shaky, and wondered if she was dreaming.

That’s when Vanessa realized that she somehow had regained control of her body and took off the disturbing white rabbit mask. She took a huge breath in, finally being able to breathe properly, feeling her heart racing from the shock of the situation.

She started to try to sit up, but it was a LOT more difficult than she expected. Her entire body felt extremely numb, like if her nervous system had stopped working, like when you put pressure on one of your limbs for so long that the blood stops circulating correctly. With all her effort, she finally managed to sit on her knees.

“Officer Vanessa?”

The little boy, Gregory, looked at her from Vanny’s hideout, holding his Fazer-blaster. Vanessa stared at him, like a deer in the headlights. She could feel tears gather in her eyes from all the overwhelming emotions she was feeling right now, with a knot on her throat. Guilt, sadness, relief, gratefulness, regret…

“Gregory…” That was all she was able to say, as she moved hand, but then Gregory spoke.

“Wait, hold it right there! Put your hands in the air and drop the knife!”

The kid aimed his toy gun at her, cautious of the woman in front of him. Vanessa, startled and confused, looked at her right hand, and her face turned pale.

She was indeed holding a knife.

A shiver ran up her spine, as she glanced at her reflection on the metal. She tried to drop it, but her hand seemed… reluctant, to do so. It twitched as Vanessa tried to convince her hand to drop it.

“C’mon…”

Then, in the blink of an eye, her hand opened, and a metallic sound echoed through the empty Pizzaplex. Vanessa exhaled, relieved, and looked at Gregory again, holding her arms up in the air.

“G-Gregory… I’m… I am so-sorry. I didn’t…”. She stuttered. She was trying her best to not to break down and keep her composure. Gregory sighed.

“Stay where you are, and. Don’t. Move.”

He walked away from Vanessa a little bit and talked through his Faz-Watch.

“Freddy! Freddy, are you okay?”

“I am okay Gregory; I just suffered a lesion on my left arm. How are you?”

“We were right! Officer Vanessa was Vanny! But she isn’t trying to kill me anymore. She’s saying she’s sorry, and it looks like she wants to cry…”

“I understand. I will get to you immediately and speak with her.”

The boy turned around and looked at Vanessa, who was looking down, with silent tears rolling down her face. She didn’t notice this, since at the moment, Vanessa’s world was a blur. The sounds were muffled, and her vision was blurry. Her whole body still felt numb, unable to properly feel the metallic bridge underneath her.

The awkward moment went on during what felt like an eternity, until heavy footsteps rumbled, announcing the arrival of Glamrock Freddy.

“Freddy!”

“Gregory!”

The two friends went to hug each other, finally safe from Vanny’s claws. Freddy, using his scanners, checked Gregory’s health.

“Scanning Complete. Vital signs stable.”

Even though Freddy was a robot, he was capable of feeling emotions, and right now, he felt an immense relief. But then, he realized they weren’t alone. Freddy looked at Vanessa, let go of Gregory and walked towards her. As she felt the vibrations of the steps get closer, she looked up at the bear, with teary eyes.

“Officer Vanessa, may I have a word with you?”

She slowly nodded. Then she tried to get up and walk, but her knees felt like jelly and couldn’t go more than 2 steps before collapsing. Luckily, Freddy caught her in time.

“Let me assist you.”

The bear said gently. And so, slow and quiet, they walked together towards a security office, in order to talk together properly.

Upon arriving, Freddy opened the metal door that led inside the office, and helped Vanessa sit on the black security chair. There was a moment of silence, with Vanessa blankly staring down at the floor, with an absent look.

“Officer Vanessa?”

The bear asked gently. She didn’t react and seemed to be completely disconnected from what was happening.

Worried, Freddy quickly scanned her, and saw that the odd, erratic signals had vanished completely, and had been replaced with high levels of stress. He kept his scanner mode on though, just to be sure the previous signals didn’t come back.

He said her name one more time, and Vanessa finally reacted, snapping back to reality.

“Officer Vanessa, why were you trying to… Catch… Gregory?”

She tensed up, trying to find a way to explain herself to Freddy, but her brain was completely overwhelmed by all of what was happening. With the little strength that she had left in her body, she tried to speak.

“I-it… I wasn’t… It was h-her… It was V-V…”

Vanessa started stuttering the letter “V” repeatedly, like a broken record, unable to pronounce entirely the name of the horrible monster that had haunted her and caused so much destruction.

“…Vanny?”

“YES! IT WAS HER! I-I DIDN’T… IT WASN’T… M-ME! I DIDN’T W-WANT TO! I D-DIDN’T WANT TO!…”

A sudden stress spike warning appeared on Freddy’s interface as Vanessa started to yell desperately, completely breaking down. Her words stopped making sense, babbling uncontrollably between sobs. But you could still hear “sorry” and “I didn’t mean to”, repeated again, and again, and again. Freddy watched her, with worried eyes.

Freddy needed to be gentle. He might not know exactly what was going on, but he could tell that Vanessa’s mental state was very fragile at the moment. He waited for her to calm down again, before asking a different question. It took a while, but the crying started to slow down enough. Freddy then spoke in the softest way possible.

“…Would you like something to drink?”

It was a very simple question, but he needed to go as slowly as possible. Besides, it also would help him determine how truthful Vanessa was being with him.

“Y-Yes… Please…” Vanessa answered between hiccups.

Processing… Scanning complete. Truth.

From the small refrigerator for drinks, he grabbed a bottle of water that was laying there and opened it for Vanessa. Gently handing it to her since Vanessa’s hand was still shaky. Slowly, she moved the bottle to her mouth, and she took a small sip from it.

“Is there something else I can do for you?”

She looked at Freddy for a moment, then she looked down again.

“T-the suit… I d-don’t like h-her suit…”

“Understood.”

Months ago, he remembered that “Officer Vanessa” hit a S.T.A.F.F Bot on the head with a baseball bat for moving stuff inside her locker, including her clothing. It had casual clothing and a spare security guard suit. The poor machine spent hours being repaired.

Although she was too busy in her head to truly care now, the security guard uniform underneath Vanny’s suit was extremely uncomfortable. The heat was unbearable, and in the back of her mind, she wondered how Vanny was even able to stand it. Taking it off and swapping it for her purple flannel felt like getting a huge weight off her shoulders.

Freddy then noticed the stress signals had been lowered significantly, so he proceeded with the interrogation.

“Are you feeling better?”

“…Yes.”

Processing… Scanning complete. Truth

“Very well.”

Another long silence took place, and Freddy used this time to further analyze Vanessa’s behavior. She fidgeted nervously with the edge of her sleeve, and she was hunched over, looking at the floor and avoiding eye contact. Things that he had never seen her do before, alongside some other more subtle details. He compared it with previous footage of “Officer Vanessa”.

To most people, this would seem irrelevant. But Freddy was able to detect body language and comprehend what it meant. And right now, Vanessa’s body language was completely different than before.

“…I had always liked playing videogames as a kid.” she finally said, almost in a whisper.

“I remember… Building houses, and… taming wolves, in Minecraft.”

“I see.”

“Then, I learned about ‘The Farland's… I-I found it very interesting. How the coding errors affected the game…”

“So… When I grew up… I wanted to become a videogame beta tester…”

“Hmm.”

“I got interviewed by different companies, but… Eventually landed at… F-Freddy’s beta testing.”

She stopped, and the stress signals started to elevate again.

“I-I had to play… A g-game… A-b-bout the p-pizzerias…”

Vanessa gulped, as she fidgeted with her sleeve more frantically.

“Then… H-He appeared… And-d he ma-made… Her.

Her voice almost broke while saying this and Freddy took note of the elevating heart rate.

“Sh-she took control… A-and I couldn’t…. S-stop her… She-she did it… I-it was her.”

Vanessa’s eyes filled with tears again, and she could feel a painful knot on her throat, preventing her from speaking anymore as she tried to keep “unpleasant” memories away. Vanessa brought her legs up on the chair and hugged her knees, while silent tears ran down her cheeks.

“Hmm. She speaks about Vanny as if they were different people… She is indeed acting very differently than before, but if it was a split personality scenario, why didn’t the brain patterns match any medical records? And who is ‘Him’?”

“So… It was ‘her’ that wanted to hurt Gregory, but not you. You do not wish to hurt Gregory?”

“No…”

Processing… Scanning complete. Truth.

Once again, a long silence took place between the two. Freddy pondered on what his next step should be, while Vanessa simply looked down guiltily. He decided to send a message to Gregory through his Faz-Watch connection system.

-Gregory, I have spoken with Officer Vanessa. She is no longer after you and has no wish to harm you.

-Really? But why did she stop?

-I am still evaluating the situation, but it seems that it is no longer dangerous to come near her. However, I still need to help you get out of the Pizzaplex. Meet me at the main entrance.

-Okay!

“Officer Vanessa, I must go with Gregory and help him go home. You can stay here while I-“

“W-Wait!”

She suddenly said to the animatronic bear.

“I-I… Want to help too…”

“But Officer Vanessa, you’re not in the right mental state-“

“Please! It’s the least I can do…”

“Hmm. Alright then, just be sure to go slowly.”

“Yeah…”

So, The Princess and The Giant went on to greet The Knight, who was standing at the entrance of the castle.

x-x-x

“Freddy!”

“Hello, Superstar!”

The two friends met with a big hug, human and machine, while Vanessa looked at them from a little far away silently. She felt a small feeling of hope and relief, even if guilt and sadness were the most present feelings right then. Gregory turned his head in her direction, and they stared at each other for a moment. Then he stared at Freddy again.

“So, she’s not evil anymore?”

“No, she is not after you anymore. It seems that Vanny and Vanessa are separate personalities, but in the same body.”

“Oh. So, Vanny is the evil one and Vanessa is good? But she was so mean to me before at lost and found! And Vanessa said that she hated kids!”

“I do not think that was Vanessa, Gregory. I do not think we have ever actually even met Vanessa before. The Vanessa we are seeing right now behaves in a completely different way than before. She seems more timid, softer, and very insecure. The way she acted before, yelling at everyone and being almost aggressive towards others… It falls much more in line with Vanny’s behavior.”

“Hmp. I still don’t trust her.”

“If anything happens, you can contact me on your Faz-Watch, and I will go with you, okay? Just give her a chance. All she wants is get you out of here.”

“Fine. But I’m taking my Faz-Gun with me.”

The bear then signaled Vanessa to come towards Gregory. As she did so, the boy stared with suspicious eyes.

“H-Hey there… Kiddo.”

She tried to say in the friendliest voice possible. But it seemed to make the situation more awkward.

“Hi.”

“Gregory… Right?”

“Hmhm.”

“…Ready to go home?”

The boy’s look softened as he saw Vanessa get out of her pocket the key passes to the main doors of the Pizzaplex. She then went to the main doors and opened them wide, so that Gregory wouldn’t feel cornered or uncomfortable, and the three of them went outside. Gregory finally felt safe, leaving all the Pizzaplex’s insanity behind, even if Vanessa was still near him. They contemplated a beautiful sunrise as the birds chirped on the trees nearby.

“Uh… Gregory… Do you have… Uh, a number to call your parents? So that they can pick you up?”

“Um… I uh, my parents don’t have phones.”

“Oh… Alright… Do you know where you live?”

“Yeah…”

“I can take you there…”

She said with a small smile, willing to make up for “her” mistakes as soon as possible and as much as she can. She showed the kid a small car key and pointed towards one of the cars on the parking lot

Gregory looked at the car, and then at Freddy, unsure of what to do. The bear, with calm, blue eyes, gave him a reassuring nod.

“Go on, Superstar.”

“Okay then… But if you try to do something to me, I will shoot you in the eyes with my Fazer-Blaster!”

“O-Okay, okay… I will be careful, I promise.”

Vanessa said as she raised her hands in the air, to show the kid that she didn’t mean any harm. Then, the three of them walked towards the car, and just as Vanessa was about to get inside it, Freddy spoke.

“Wait a moment, Officer Vanessa.”

“I-is something wrong? Did I do something? -”

“No, I just need to ask you one last question.”

Intrigued, they both looked at Freddy.

“Will you make sure Gregory is safe?”

“Yes.”

Processing… Scanning complete. Truth.

“Very well. Goodbye Gregory, I hope we can meet again soon.”

He ruffled the boy’s hair, making him laugh.

“Bye Freddy! You are the best friend ever!”

“Aww.”

So, with one last hug, Gregory got into the car and waved goodbye to his friend. Then Vanessa started her car and followed Gregory’s directions.

x-x-x

Freddy walked through the STAFF Only halls, grey and dark, only illuminated by some red lights here and there. He was on a new mission.

Save his friends.

Vanessa explained to him that the reason why the animatronics had gone nuts was because of some sort of virus uploaded into their systems through the Pizzaplex servers. She wasn’t sure what exactly Vanny had uploaded, but Vanessa was sure that it had to do something with a purple USB.

As he entered the room with the servers of the Pizzaplex, Freddy detected a bizarre signal being transmitted through one of the server machines. Upon inspecting it further, he found the purple USB Vanessa had mentioned and carefully unplugged it.

-Hopefully this will work…

Xxxx

The awkward silence between the two was loud. Vanessa tried to focus her view on the road, fearing that if she looked at Gregory, guilt would consume her in an instant. The boy, on the other hand, watched her attentively with an intense gaze, only looking away to see where they were and guide her.

“Now go right.”

She obeyed, turning the car to the right and passing by a park Gregory was familiar with. Vanessa didn’t put much attention to it, until she noticed a small ice cream stand where some kids were buying some of it. Her face slightly lit up as she had an idea.

“Um... Gregory…?”

“Yes?”

“…Do you like ice cream?”

Gregory glanced over at the park, and then back at Vanessa. His look softened as she gave him a small smile.

“I can buy you some, if you want.”

It had been months since Gregory had eaten any candy, and the idea of an ice cream was hard to deny. So, he nodded his head and Vanessa stopped the car at the side of the road, both getting out of the car.

“Hey there! Would you like some ice cream?”

“Uh, two ice creams please.”

“What flavor?”

“Chocolate for me, please.”

“And you, ma’am?”

“Uh I want… Um, vanilla, please.”

“Alright then!”

The man grabbed a spoon and started scooping the different ice cream flavors, putting them on the top of cones. Vanessa got her wallet out of her right pocket, ready to pay.

“It’ll be 2.99 dollars, please.”

He said as he handed the desserts to them. Vanessa handed him the money in return and watched how a big smile appeared in Gregory’s face. She still felt awful, but it cheered her up a bit.

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome, have a nice day!”

Then the two of them walked through the park, and she asked him if he wanted to sit on one of the benches. The boy nodded and so, Gregory and Vanessa sat together, although Vanessa sat as far away from him as she could.

Gregory happily started to lick his ice cream, as the beautiful sunrise greeted them. Vanessa looked at her vanilla ice cream, spacing out from reality. But, after a few moments, her face relaxed and she also started to lick her ice cream.

Vanessa finally felt calm, even with the guilt and sadness still present in her mind. But she was no longer shaking or feeling anxious. The dread she previously felt had mostly vanished, since Vanny was finally gone. She then glanced at Gregory, and he looked back at her.

“…How’s your ice cream?”

“It’s really good… Thank you.”

The boy answered softly, and Vanessa smiled a bit more than before.

“I’m glad you like it.”

They both looked at the sunrise in the distance.

“I’m sorry…”

Gregory turned to look at Vanessa again.

“It’s… A long story. I… I Wasn’t myself back there…”

The woman explained to the kid, with guilt in her eyes.

“Someone else was controlling me…”

“…Vanny?”

She closed her eyes and nodded.

“She’s the one who wanted to hurt you… I-I would have never tried to hurt you, o-or any other kid!”

Gregory wondered if what Vanessa was saying was true. He wondered if maybe she was saying it in order to trick him into thinking she and Vanny were different personalities, when in reality they’re the same and Vanessa is just evil. But it sounded too genuine, so he wasn’t exactly sure what to believe.

“…I don’t expect you to forgive me… I just… Wanted you to know why I did it…”

She said, half expecting Gregory to get angry and saying that he still hated her. That she still was a monster to him.

“…Thank you for telling me the truth.”

He said with a soft voice and a small smile, catching Vanessa off-guard. He then continued eating his ice cream, and she felt some weight being lifted from her shoulders. He didn’t truly believe her, but he didn’t want to be rude either.

After finishing their desserts, they went back to the van together, and continued the rest of the ride in silence, until Gregory spoke up.

“Right there! Stop near that alley.”

Vanessa got a bit startled but followed Gregory’s request. She stopped the car and the boy got out of it. They looked at each other in the eyes one last time. Vanessa tried to say something, but chose to stay quiet instead, and so, Gregory went back to the dead-end alley that was his home.

Vanessa was then left to her own thoughts, pondering on what to do next. She came up with a plan fairly quickly.

She would simply quit her job at Freddy’s, go back to her apartment…

And go to sleep… Forever.

The world was better without her anyways. And it’s not like anybody would miss her, all her friends and family were gone. That damn rabbit had destroyed her life, so why keep going?

But just as she was about to turn the car on, she noticed that Gregory had forgotten his Faz-Gun in his seat.

She looked at it in silence. Vanessa wasn’t sure what she should do. On one hand, she didn’t want Gregory to look at the woman who had tried to brutally murder him again, but on the other hand, She wanted to help the kid as much as she could.

“What should I do?”

Meanwhile, Gregory called Freddy on his Faz-Watch, as he walked towards his little cardboard box that had served him as a bed for many nights.

“Freddy! Are you there? I’m finally back home!”

“Those are great news Superstar! I am glad that you are finally safe.”

The animatronic bear said relieved.

“However, where is Vanessa? Did she tell you where she was going to go?”

“Nope, she didn’t say anything. I’m pretty sure she’s already gone-“

“…Gregory?”

The boy turned around, surprised to see Vanessa standing at the other end of the alley. He tensed up.

“Uh… You… You forgot this in the car…”

“My Faz-Gun!”

She handed it out to him. Gregory walked towards her with caution.

“…Thanks.”

He grabbed the toy from her hand, and she gave him a small smile. Vanessa then turned around and started walking back to her car.

But then, she suddenly stopped.

Looking back, she saw Gregory walking back to his box and setting down to clean up his little house.

And as she saw him, she came upon a depressing realization.

“You’re… Homeless?”

He looked back at her.

“Uh, no… I do have a home, see?”

He pointed towards his “home”.

“Kid… That’s a cardboard box…”

“I know.” He said rolling his eyes. “But it’s fine, really. I’m fine.”

She kept looking at him. He arched an eyebrow.

“You can go now, Officer…”

The way he said the phrase hurt Vanessa’s heart a bit, but she didn’t move.

“I-I can’t. I can’t leave you like this, Gregory. It’s… Not okay for a kid to live like this.”

Gregory grunted and looked away.

“Wouldn’t it be better if I took you to an orphanage-“

“NO!”

The little boy yelled as he quickly grabbed his gun.

“No. Orphanages.”

His voice trembled a little when he said it. He pointed his gun at Vanessa’s eyes.

“O-Okay! No orphanages!”

She said keeping her hands in the air. But Gregory kept aiming at her. Vanessa looked at the ground, wondering what the heck was she going to do about this situation when an idea popped in her head.

It was a crazy idea, and Gregory would probably refuse, but she had to try. She looked up at him.

“You… You could come with me to my apartment…”

She gave him an awkward smile.

“What!?”

“I know, I know. It’s crazy. And weird. But… I just can’t leave you like this, Gregory. I can’t. It’s wrong.”

“I’m not sure if that’s a good idea…”

“But Gregory-“

“Gregory, may I have a word with you?”

Freddy, who had been listening to the whole conversation, spoke through Gregory’s Faz-Watch.

“Officer Vanessa, could you give us a moment to talk in private?”

“Uh… S-Sure, sure. I’ll… Be at the van.”

And so, the boy and the bear were alone.

“What’s going on, Freddy?”

“Gregory, you should go with Officer Vanessa to her house.”

“WHAT!? But Freddy, she’s Vanny! Remember?”

“I know Superstar. But Vanny and Officer Vanessa are different people. They just happen to be in the same body.”

“But what if she’s lying?! What if they’re actually the same and she’s just trying to trick me?”

“Officer Vanessa is not trying to hurt you. I have proof.”

Then, on his Faz-Watch, Gregory got a message from Freddy containing a small video clip of Vanessa.

“Wait a moment, Officer Vanessa.”

“I-is something wrong? Did I do something? -”

“No, I just need to ask you one last question.”

Intrigued, they both looked at Freddy.

“Will you make sure Gregory is safe?”

“Yes.”

Processing… Scanning complete. Truth.

The video also showed the brain signals from Vanessa, which revealed that she was telling the truth. Their color was sky blue and were slow and steady, with the waves being softly curved like ocean waves.

“See the brainwaves on the screen? They show that Officer Vanessa was telling the truth.”

“But-“

“Now, compare those signals with Vanny’s signals.”

Freddy sent another video, this time containing a clip of Vanny starting to chase him.”

“There you are! Hehehe!”

“You. Stop right there. I will not let you hurt Gregory!”

“Oh really? We’ll see about that, HAHA!”

This time, the brain signals were fast and erratic, with huge red spikes frantically appearing again and again.

“See how different the brain signals are, Superstar?”

“Yeah… But I’m still not sure. Can’t I stay with you at the Pizzaplex?”

“I am afraid the Pizzaplex is not the safest place anymore Gregory. I still do not know if the antivirus in the USB Vanessa gave me will cure my friends.”

“Hmmp!”

Gregory crossed his arms in frustration.

“…You should give her a chance, Gregory. Everyone deserves a second chance.”

The voice of the bear was soft and protective. Gregory pondered over the bear’s words.

“I do not think that was Vanessa, Gregory.”

“Someone else was controlling me…”

“I do not think we have ever actually even met Vanessa before.”

“She’s the one who wanted to hurt you… I-I would have never tried to hurt you! O-or any other kid!”

Could it be true? Was Vanny the only aggressive one all along and Vanessa the one who was truly innocent?

“If something does go wrong, you can come the Pizzaplex with me again, and I will help you out.”

…The idea of having a home again was tempting.

Vanessa waited impatiently in her car. She knew this was an insane idea, specially after all that had happened the night before. And it was also technically a kidnapping…

“What am I going to do? I haven’t been in control in months! Am I really making the right choice?-“

The car door opened.

“…So, where do you live?”

x-x-x

“Well, uh… Here we are!”

Vanessa said awkwardly while trying to sound friendly, as she opened the door to her apartment. It looked mostly like she remembered, with the only being that all the windows were covered with curtains and the air conditioner made the ambient cold. It remined them of a dark cave.

Gregory passed through the door and looked around the main room.

“The spare room is right there next to the hall and the fridge is over here. You can grab anything you like. I can make some sandwiches if you like-“

“No thanks! I’m fine.”

The boy ran towards the spare room and shut the door, leaving Vanessa just standing there, perplexed. She didn’t blame him though. He was in the house of a stranger who also had a psychotic rabbit split personality.

Vanessa sighed and went towards her room. At least the kid wasn’t all by himself in the streets, she thought.

She opened the bedroom door and turned on the light.

Her room was filled with purple and bunny paraphernalia. Creepy rabbit drawings all over the place with the name “Vanny” repeated over and over again.

Vanessa’s expression turned from tiredness to horror, and most importantly, disgust. Her heart sank to her stomach, and she felt like she could actually vomit at any moment.

And so, without thinking it twice, she started to clean her room through the rest of the day. Meanwhile, Gregory was drawing in the spare room in a small notebook with some crayons he had brought to Vanessa’s apartment, occasionally talking with Freddy on his Faz-Watch. He also kept his Faz-Gun close to him, and looked at the door from time to time, just to be safe.

Finally, after a long day of cleaning, Vanessa laid down on her bed, and slowly closed her eyes. She took a deep breath in, and for the first time in months, Vanessa felt somewhat at peace. Glitchtrap was gone. Vanny was gone. Gregory was safe. Her horrific torment was finally over. She could finally go to sleep, and actually rest!

She started to drift into the land of dreams, and in a few minutes, she was in a deep sleep.

…

And so, Vanessa dreamt of an empty void of blackness. No images, no glitches, no dungeons, and no sounds-

Wait.

There was a sound…

A breathing sound.

But it wasn’t any kind of breathing. It felt… Claustrophobic. Like if the sound was trapped in a space around her head. It was strange, but she tried to ignore it and continue resting.

…

“W-Wha…?”

…Now she wasn’t just hearing the breathing, she could feel it. Vanessa started to feel more and more. And little by little, a familiar sense of heat and stuffiness started to appear. Vanessa’s heart started to race…

“It… It can’t be…”

Then, a familiar laughter echoed inside her head, and a feeling of extreme shock and horror started to take over her, as the sensation grew stronger.

“Wakey, wakey, Vanessa…”

“No, No, No… NO!“

And, in the blink of an eye, Vanessa was back. Back at the Pizzaplex, back in the white suit… Back to being a monster. And her hands were covered in scarlet blood. She could feel her heart wanting to burst out of her chest and her breathing becoming frantic as tears quickly started filling her eyes.

“Aww, that was such a nice dream, wasn’t it Vanessa? HEHEHE!”

“No… It can’t be… I-I… I WAS FREE!”

She screamed with pure desperation, her world crashing down as she realized it had all been a sick joke made by Vanny. She started trying to get rid of Vanny’s mask, but she couldn’t take it off.

“Did you really think that you would get rid of me that easily? How naïve of you…”

The twisted laugh echoed inside her head. Vanessa’s face was now wet with a mixture of sweat and never-ending tears.

“NO, NO! You were DEAD! GONE! You DIED!”

“Died? Hehe! DIED? HAHAHA! As long as you live, I live you fucking idiot, HEHE!

“NO! THAT’S NOT TRUE”

Vanessa fell to her knees, with her hands covering her face.

“Don’t you get it? We are the same.”

“I’M NOT A MURDERER!”

“And we’ll always be the same.”

“NOOO!”

Vanessa suddenly woke up in her bedroom, this time in the real world, frantically looking around with heavy breaths and covered in sweat. She quickly grabbed her phone from the nightstand and saw the time, 1:35 a.m. Vanessa blinked twice to see if the numbers changed, but luckily, they stayed the same. Then, looking down at her arms, she understood exactly what had happened in a sudden moment of clarity.

The stuffy feeling of her purple flannel on her arms, mixed with the fluffy and warm bed sheets…

“It was a dream…”

She quickly took it off and threw it at the corner of the room, just keeping her simple white t-shirt on. The cool air of the night entered through the window, washing the familiar feeling of warmth away.

Vanessa stared blankly at the ceiling. Everything was alright…

But then, within seconds, she started crying uncontrollably, curling up into a ball as the reality of the situation hit her. She was a murderer. A child murderer, no less. Tears endlessly rolled down her face, which was buried in her knees, rocking back and forth. She could hear the screams and cries of “her” innocent victims, as all of her memories as Vanny started to flood her brain… Unaware of the small boy hearing her break down from behind the door.

x-x-x

While living on the streets, Gregory’s mind adapted to always stay alert, even during his sleep. Dangers like thieves, the police, stray animals, etc. were constant threats, especially at night, so any strange noise made Gregory immediately wake up.

In the middle of the night, Gregory woke up to the sound of a voice. He listened closely and realized it was Vanessa’s voice. Seemingly talking to someone in her room. Obviously, this sounded an alarm on Gregory’s head, and he quickly grabbed his Fazer-Blaster.

“I knew I couldn’t trust her.”

Carefully, he opened his bedroom door, aiming his Fazer-Blaster towards Vanessa’s room at the end of the hall. After a few moments, he started walking towards the door, he could hear Vanessa’s voice more clearly as he got closer. He stopped again and listened.

There didn’t seem to be anyone talking back to Vanessa, but she kept speaking. However, the way she spoke sounded strange. The sentences she said started out clear, but sort of faded out into nonsensical mumbles.

“I’m not a mr-urdw…”

Gregory put his ear in the closed door and realized she was probably talking in her sleep. Though, he continued to listen, just in case she said something suspicious.

Suddenly, he was startled by a scream from Vanessa, and pointed the gun towards the door. Everything stayed quiet for a moment as Gregory held his ground, tightly holding his gun. He thought of all the possibilities of what happened in Vanessa’s room, how to escape the apartment complex, where to go, etc.

“I bet Vanny is in control now. I knew this was all a trap. Why did I even trust her? She tried to kill me!-“

His train of thoughts was interrupted, as Gregory heard a new sound from Vanessa’s room. He got in a defensive stance, ready to shoot and run away. But after a few seconds, he changed his position, as he recognized the sound coming from inside the room.

“…”

He got close to the door again, putting his ear next to it.

Gregory heard crying. He heard Vanessa crying. And it wasn’t any kind of crying. It was a pure, raw and unfiltered crying. At that moment, he knew it couldn’t be Vanny the one in control. Vanny was sadistic. Cruel. Unhinged. And felt no remorse at all.

But Vanessa could. Vanessa could feel guilt. Vanessa could feel scared. And Vanessa could feel sad. And cry. It made him feel bad for judging her so quickly, but he still felt a small hint of doubt.

“What if she’s faking it?”

Gregory thought. He kept waiting, still alert, trying to deduce if she was faking it or not. But deep down, he knew this kind of crying couldn’t be faked easily. He could tell it was genuine, because it was a sound that was horrifically common at the orphanage.

He thought of entering the room. But what was he even going to say to her? He felt conflicted and unsure of what to do.

“Perhaps… It’s better if I let her calm down before entering.”

He sat by the door and waited.

And waited.

And waited.

It had already been 2 hours since Vanessa started crying her lungs out, and Gregory was severely considering entering the room to comfort her. It was highly alarming how during those 2 hours Vanessa’s cries didn’t change in intensity, and Gregory kept feeling worse and worse for the woman on the other side of the door.

But, just as Gregory decided he was going to enter the room, she finally seemed to start to calm down. And it was pretty quick. Cries turned into sobs, and sobs turned into sniffles. And in a matter of 10 minutes, then the room was completely silent again. Slightly surprised, Gregory finally decided to open the door as carefully and softly as he could.

“Vanessa?” The boy said gently. But there was no answer.

Gregory walked into the room, dimly lit by the moonlight, and saw Vanessa curled up, with tear marks on her face. He went towards the bed and moved his hand in front of her.

“Hey...” Gregory whispered.

Vanessa was deeply asleep. He watched her for a few moments, thinking if he could do something for her. Then, Gregory saw a plushie pillow on the floor, and he got an idea. He picked it up and, gently, he put it next to Vanessa, wrapping her arms around it. And so, with a sigh, the boy decided to get out the room and go back to sleep.