Chapter Text
S4Ep4: Security Breached
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A modern flat screen TV flashes to life, it’s screen taking a moment before displaying a few options; Cable TV, Xbox, YouTube, and Streaming Services.
We hear the clicking of a remote as Streaming Services are selected as we see a new logo appear for “Liminal Terror Studios” before the screen goes black and the intro begins.
[Playing: Siouxsie & The Banshees: Spellbound]
We fade in on a view of the Pizzaplex at night as a newspaper flutters in the wind before plastering itself onto the camera lens; “9 MISSING CHILDREN CONFIRMED IN HURRICANE. POLICE WARN OF COPYCAT KILLERS.”
♪♪♪
From the cradle bars comes a beckoning voice,
It sends you spinning; you have no choice!
♪♪♪
The newspaper peels away as we cut to a familiar porcelain mask being uncovered in a pile of rubble. The camera quickly changing as we see from someone’s perspective, hiding behind something as they watch Vanessa, in a security uniform pass.
♪♪♪
You hear laughter cracking through the walls,
It sends you spinning! You have no choice!
We watch from a security camera as new animatronics prowl around, their eyes glowing a baleful purple as a shadowy child shaped figure rushes by when they aren’t looking. A rabbit shaped silhouette following close behind…
You hear laughter cracking through the walls,
It sends you spinning! You have no choice!
We then cut finally to the perspective of Freddy upon stage. He sings and rocks his heart out, but suddenly freezes as his scanners pick up on something… familiar yet not…
Following the footsteps of a rag doll dance,
We are entranced; SPELLBOUND!
He begins glitching, the camera switching to reveal a gold and lavender pulse flickering in his pupils before he collapses, the camera switching finally to reveal Gregory slipping into a backstage door, closing it behind as we see stamped on the door; THE AFTON FILES; Season 4.
Following the footsteps of a rag doll dance,
We are entranced; SPELLBOUND!
Spellbound, Spellbound, oh-oh-oh!
A title card appears announcing the name of the episode as the intro fades and the episode begins.
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[Playing: Murder Drones Vol2 OST: 98.7]
We begin with the camera in the corner of the room, revealing Gregory cowering behind a near feral Charlie, holding her hand out like a weapon, eyes flickering between gold and silver as the lights follow the pattern, her shadow in the moments of gold having skeletal wings barely holding themselves up as she grunts, trying to muster power.
Chica advances towards them but is stopped with a command from The Rabbit; “Wait.” Chica stops, staring blankly ahead as The Rabbit steps closer, backing the two closer to the wall as Charlie tries harder, her face screwed up in frustration. The Rabbit smiles beneath her mask, mockingly asking; “Ooooh; poor little Charlotte. What’s wrong? Don’t got the Mojo, doll?”
Charlie snarls, static caking her voice; “Who are you?” She tenses her fingers and a flicker of green light happens, but nothing more as she finally takes a breath, releasing the tension as she instead focuses on what she has to defend Gregory; A Vessel with extreme strength.
The Rabbit laughs as Charlie glares, flipping her knife in her hand nonchalantly; “And ruin the mystery? Please, Doll. I’m just here for the fun.”
Charlie glares but her eyes dart around the room for escape as she says; “So… What? You’re just some psycho following William’s footsteps?! I don’t buy it. Especially not with the amount of souls I can feel, trapped in this place…”
Gregory looks up at Charlie for just a moment, confused at what she’s talking about, but refocuses on the present threat as Vanny tilts her head; “Is that anger I hear? He always did say you were ungrateful brats.” She chuckles; “To think he was ACTUALLY gonna bring you and your “Friends” back. But you brushed him off for the last time. Now he just wants his family. His real family.”
Charlie’s eyes widen as she thinks for a moment; “So… What? He’s back and you’re playing Harley Quinn? Why! If he only cares about them then what do you get?”
She looks at Gregory, prompting Charlie to push him further behind herself as she says; “Suppose you can’t see the resemblance through the mask… But I am family; The perfect, dutiful daughter.”
Her eye lenses flash a sickly green and Charlie falters for a moment as she can hear the screaming of two souls. Then they return to red as Charlie looks back to see she and Gregory are almost against the wall now. She turns back to the woman; “That’s sick… Even for him.”
The Rabbit shrugs, twirling the knife; “Yeah, well; he doesn’t really care what you think.” If her face were exposed, Charlie might’ve noticed a shift in her demeanor towards familiar manipulation as she says; “Though he does care about precious little Mikey…”
Charlie’s heart would stop if she had one, eyes shrinking to pricks of light small enough to fit on a pen head; “What?” The Rabbit turns away from Charlie, confident and with a smile in her voice as she says; “Oh? You didn’t notice when he clipped your precious wings?”
Charlie’s voice turns angry and tearful; “What did you do!?” The woman laughs and Charlie has to restrain herself from tearing her piece from piece then and there; “Nothing except put him in his place. He’s with daddy now, as he should have been.”
Charlie’s eyes flicker Red as her emotions get the better of her, shadows spilling from her form harmlessly as she screams; “LIAR!” The Rabbit doesn’t respond, her mask staring smugly at Charlie’s as she shakes in anger. Finally the Rabbit says; “And once I’ve dealt with you, that’s where little Gwegowy will be going.”
Charlie is so hopped up on RAGE and Gregory so scared, neither of them recognize the implication, only registering it as a threat. Despite her current reduced power, The Rabbit is surprised to see multiple scorching red eyes open across Charlie’s body, a few on the inside of her coat tails, four below her originals, and one in the center of her chest…
Charlie turns slightly towards Gregory, not taking her eyes off of the woman; “Just because you took my wings doesn’t mean I’m helpless… For instance; You just got me angry enough to give me a little boost in power. And I’m in an animatronic rated for lifting 600 pounds with my new upgrades.”
[Playing: Murder Drones Vol2 OST: darkXwolf17]
She smiles sinisterly, the cracking of porcelain being heard as the smile goes wider than her mask should allow, sharp teeth falling into place from behind the mask made of silver light. The Rabbit turns to face her fully, ready for an attack of some kind before all of the sudden…
“WOOSH!” Charlie whirls around, reaching over Gregory and gripping the edge of the vent he was trying to open earlier and ripping it from the wall, whirling back around and sending it spinning like a shuriken at the woman as she is struck head on with the cracking of bones; “RUN GREGORY!”
Gregory only hesitates for a second before diving into the ventilation systems as Charlie runs towards Chica, grappling with her before pushing her back and grabbing the wrist of The Rabbit as she recovers, lunging for a stab.
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15 minutes earlier…
Freddy stands on the balcony of the atrium in front of Fazer Blast, looking around with worry as he watches Staff bots rolling around. He picks at his claws, wondering if he should call Gregory before…
“AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH-!”
[Playing: Stranger Things Vol3 OST: Find the Source]
Freddy jumps, looking upwards towards the prize counter entrance where Gregory’s distant but horrifying scream is still emitting from.
“GREGORY! What’s wrong!? Are you ok!? GREGORY!”
Gregory doesn’t respond and Freddy doesn’t notice as his eyes gain a lavender-gold sheen, calling again as the screaming finally stops; “GREGORY! GREGORY!?”
A moment passes as Freddy begins to sprint for the stairs, but then he skids to a stop as we hear Gregory’s hoarse voice; “Wuh-wha… Mm’ here Fre-hhh…”
Freddy responds immediately; “Are you okay? I heard you start screaming from all the way down here!” Freddy is very worried to hear his only response; Cr-Crap!“
Freddy hears frantic running and his friend’s voices through the open line, though they sound different; Hateful and angry… But then another voice; “There you are…”
It is feminine, full of amused malice, and he has certainly never heard it before. He runs up the stairs to the third floor balcony and sprints with booming footsteps towards the prize counter, eyes blazing lavender as he reaches the door and without stopping slams his fist into the lock keeping the garage door closed, buckling it and gripping the edges before wrenching it open in one smooth move.
He runs into the place, eyes scanning the room for anything as he says; “GREGORY! SUPERSTAR! WHERE ARE YOU!?”
Nothing. He frowns with worry and continues searching, eventually finding a trail of blood drops mixed with… something his HUD will only identify as “R2-A” A slick black substance that feels charged to the touch.
[Playing: Stranger Things Vol3 OST: It’s Just Ice]
He feels a surge of anger and follows the trail to the elevator, calling it up only to see nothing. He goes to take the elevator down but suddenly seizes as the foreign presence he’s been feeling tries to fully take over, his HUD reading;
DESIGNATION: FAZ-10001001 CRD: 1/7/2020
ENDO_OS: 16.4 68% CHARGE
SAFE MODE: ACTIVE
SYS_WARNING: silver_ice.exe activated under condition 1: full system take-over.
SYS: R1 and R2-R levels spiking, heading to parts and service for lockdown protocol.
“Urgh… No…NO!”
Freddy’s eyes glow a menacing red as a foreign voice slips from his mouth; “I WILL NOT ABIDE ANOTHER VICTIM!” He thrashes violently as Freddy’s body moves on its own, heading out of the prize corner and back towards Fazer Blast, then past it towards the stairs in front of the blocked upper entrance to Roxy Raceway, covered in construction fence and tarp, but the presence fights, pushing them off course and into an unmarked open garage door, staggering past a bunch of construction tarp fences.
The protocol fights back, slamming into him with an almost physical force causing Freddy to stagger through one of the barriers, falling down a set of stairs behind it with a loud clattering.
Freddy twitches in pain on the floor, the Ice protocol warring with the increasingly furious presence and sending sparks of red lightning arcing from beneath his shell and into the floor. He crawls towards a table, attempting to stand only to collapse against it as he decides to put a rest to this.
DESIGNATION: FAZ-10001001 CRD: 1/7/2020
ENDO_OS: 16.4 65% CHARGE
SAFE MODE: ACTIVE
> run command: Activate Advanced_Repair_Stasis
SYS: repair equipment not found.
> Override
SYS: Running…
Freddy suddenly goes limp, his eyes flickering for a second before they return to the regular electric blue and his voice glitches; “Wha-What was that?”
He lies there for a long while, before finally he hears a familiar voice, causing his core to pulse with worry; “Freddy! Freddy! I need help! The rabbit lady got me and Charlie fought her off while I escaped, but I don’t know where she is and something is jamming her communicator!”
Freddy struggles to speak; “Gregor-ory… Gregory-y-y-y? If you can hear me-e-e, come to the Roxy Raceway on the second floor. There shou-ou-ould be a me shaped hole in the construction fence. Fi-ind me. Something is wrong, come to the Roxy Raceway.”
Gregory’s voice rings out before the signal cuts; “I can hear you! I’m on my way!” Freddy lies back, twitching as the virus- or whatever it is tries to retake control, force him to move. And the Ice protocol tries to do the same, only trying to get him to parts and service.
He sits there for a while longer, staring up at the shadow-soaked ceiling and the massive statue of a go-kart perched on a scaffold of rebar 15 feet in the air with no movement except the occasional twitch or errant whisper. But soon he hears the pitter patter of approaching footsteps; not the clomping of a security officer’s boots, stomping of an animatronic, or rolling of Staff-bot wheels, but a child’s careful footsteps.
He forces his head down from the ceiling, the only thing he has moderate control over in this state, to reveal Gregory stepping over the remains of the fence he crashed through, careful not to straddle the remnants of it before rushing down the stairs with a worried expression, flashlight trained on Freddy; “Freddy! What happened!? Are you okay?”
Freddy smiles through a wince; “The-e-e-ere you are. I was so worried. I am… No-o-o-ot sure; When I heard your scream something inside of me sna-a-a-apped. I knew I had to protect you, even to the point of hurting-…” He pauses for a moment, letting the silence speak for him. As he looks away with a twitch; “Anyways. I need to get down to parts and s-s-s-service. I think something is wro-o-o-ong.”
Gregory looks worried but determined as “O-Okay. But how am I gonna get you to rockstar row without Charlie? No offense, but you’re kinda heavy.” Freddy smiles; “No-o-one taken, Superstar. If we can just get the sta-a-a-age lift to operate I can hobble over. But the only way to do that would be to start a show… Hm… Perhaps you can start one in the control roo-oo-oo-oom? It is on the other side of the building, through the door behind me.”
Gregory nods and shakily walks past the bear towards the door he mentioned, Freddy giving a final; “Good luck, su-u-uperstar-ar. Entering rest mode.”
Gregory calls back; “Ok… I’ll do my best.”
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[Playing: Stranger Things Vol3 OST: The Week Is Long]
We cut to Gregory walking through a hydraulic blast door with a guitar painted on it, stepping into a large switchboard-looking room with TVs hanging from the ceiling, countless computer stations, and other types of machinery siting around the large room.
Gregory then realizes something, eyes widening as he sees the large amount of dust at workstations, only a handful of them personalized with anything and actually appearing to be actively in use.
He frowns and steps up to one of the unused machines, tapping the spacebar on its keyboard to wake it up as the screen shows; “M1 LINK: OK. UPCOMING STORYLINE: P_F-0X101101_INTRODUCTION”
Gregory winces as his eyes drift over “M1”, a ringing in his ears and a painful memory he can’t parse ghosting the back of his mind as he instead focuses on the next “Storyline”. “What’s this?” He tries to dig further but the computer is unresponsive to inputs, solely taking commands from this M1 thing.
Gregory frowns and looks at the desk next to it, one of 3 occupied ones. And one that has a sticky-note password. He grins mischievously and powers it on, logging in and quickly diving through the Fazbear systems searching for anything pertinent to M1 or P_F-0X101101.
He pauses, then clicks on an email:
edlund@Faz-I-SYS to me:
Subject: “P_F-0X”
Any word from corporate on the red one? It was supposed to be here before Bonnie went missing. Did the boss decide to change something? If he’s getting cold feet; I wouldn’t worry. Those classics seem to draw parents and kids alike. Sure, with that acquisition from the 90’s he has damn near a hundred characters to use; like that “Dollie” thing, but nothing beats the tried and true in my experience.
Re: Subject: “P_F-0X”
me to edlund@Faz-I-SYS:
Yeah. It’s supposed to be here tomorrow. Prolly won’t be set up ‘til next week unless P&S haul ass. Boss has been cagey with all the disappearances in town; took his attention off his passion projects so it got finished later. If I didn’t know better I’d say he’s almost… Scared? Or worried. Maybe both. Heard him shouting down the phone last time he was here; “Catch that motherfucker or I will, Carl.”
Re: Re: Subject: “P_F-0X”
edlund@Faz-I-SYS to me:
Weird. Wouldn’t wanna be “Carl”, Lol.
Gregory frowns in worry, looking over his shoulder as he thinks; “Sounds like another animatronic… At least I’ll be gone by the time it gets set up.” A flash in his mind; The Princess, her blood splattered hand lying limp on stone floors and her face painfully blank despite the rabbit with its claws tearing through her chest.
Then a different flash, a massive mound of shadows looming over Gregory, twin red eyes staring from its peak. The same message flashing from both of them.
"̶̞͂S̵̜̒À̸͜V̶̽͜Ḙ̸̉ ̴̯̅Ù̷̢S̸̛̙.̵̻̒"̴̣͠
"̸̖͝S̵̬͆T̴̬͂O̵͜͝P̸͇̈́ ̸̞̅H̸̩̅I̴̛͇M̴͙̀.̴̞͋"̴̘̈́
"̸̛̘D̷̝̊O̵̹̔N̶̳͛'̶̼̇T̵͉̒ ̵̧͝Y̷̘̒Ȍ̵̮Ǔ̵̳ ̸̨̒R̶̝͗E̵̫͆M̶̮̂E̵̻̊M̵͈̈́B̵̲́Ě̴̟R̶͈̈́?̴̠̃"̸̞̃
"̸͚̤̲̙̌͐̒̌̓͛̑I̷̢̟͚̻̞̰̲̱̱͖̾͐̋͐̍͂̂͆̀Ţ̴̨͕̝̮̰̋̇͘͜ͅ'̴̺̤̠̱͍̞̰̓S̸̡̧̖͖̯̠͙̳̩̑̅͊̈́̆͛̒͝ ̶̦̼̪̀̋̚͠M̴̛̘̱͋̐̍̅̂͘͠͝E̴͉̟̅́̂̈́̿́.̸̜̾"̴̞̝̰̻͍̘̹̣̘̆͐̐̕
Gregory shudders, breaking out of his trance and looking around as he mutters a question; “It’s Me? Who?!” the room offers no response and he huffs, turning to the second set of emails he found interesting:
darksorceress69@Faz-I-SYS to me:
Subject: “Storyteller”
Yo’ man, this new system is awesome! We get paid to basically sit around and do nothing while this magnificent machine writes a storyline and coordinates the animatronics all on its own! Why didn’t the boss man implement this sooner?
Re: Subject: “Storyteller”
me to darksorceress69@Faz-I-SYS:
The Boss didn’t. Management has been digging around in The Hole since it opened back up and pulled all sorts of crazy shit up, including those Programs. They thought it’d be useful so they implemented it while the boss is in Europe. Without approval. You know how anal he can get about control over Fazbear. I figure at best management will get the axe for acting on their own… and at worse they’ll get locked up for desecrating a grave.
Re: Re: Subject: “Storyteller”
darksorceress69@Faz-I-SYS to me:
Oh Shit. Guess so; Easy to forget this place is built on a grave site. Still; Lets enjoy the break while it lasts before the boss comes back and rips it out with his own hands.
Re: Re: Re: Subject: “Storyteller”
me to darksorceress69@Faz-I-SYS:
Negatory “sorceress”. I’m gonna make sure this thing doesn’t go Skynet on us; code is in ALGOL and the only reason I know that is because they have a section in the library for dead programming languages. It’s capable of self-replication, has access to every robot in the Pizzaplex, and from what little I could sift through in its jumbled up OS it had violent tendencies before someone reprogrammed it for “Storytelling”. I am watching this thing like a hawk with the few employees who haven’t been reassigned from the control center. Dominic even installed a kill switch on the thing. With how long it’s been running and with how advanced it is? I just hope it CAN be stopped.
Gregory looks around, goosebumps appearing on his skin as another flash happens and he sees two eyes like those old cigarette lighters in classic cars. He looks around and tries to keep his breathing under control as he feels like he’s being watched…
He shakes his head, moving over to the main console in the center of the room facing the windows that show the stage. He begins looking around but none of the controls catch his eye. However, a small receptacle for a security badge does and he grins, poking it on the nose to open it.
[Playing: Stranger Things Vol3 OST: Blueprints]
However, as he opens it he sees both the higher clearance badge, and an old DVD disk as alarms start to blare. “WOO-WOO-WOO-WOO-WOO!” He panics and grabs them both, shoving them in his pockets as Freddy’s voice comes through his watch, laced with static:
“Gregory? What did you do? Something happened, the virus stopped fighting for control! I think you temporarily fixed it! Thank you.”
Gregory watches as cameras flick on, each appearing on one of the dozens of screens within the control center before one flicks on to reveal Freddy stumbling out of a doorway and into a hall.
“I can see you on the monitor! I didn’t think you could stand.” Freddy looks around before looking up at the camera, his face partially obscured as static lines cover his eyes while onscreen; “Consider it a… second wind.”
Gregory then jumps as a loud bang emits from one of the hydraulic doors to his left, then another to his right. He looks over to a cluster of monitors to see cameras fixed on the doors, revealing Roxy and Monty banging on the door and trying to pry them open!
Gregory looks back down at his watch; “Freddy! I see Roxy and Monty on the cameras! They’re both trying to get in!”
Freddy frowns and begins moving on the camera he is on; “Don’t let them in. Something is wrong with all of us… The security doors are equipped with electrical deterrents. If you see them touching the doors hit the appropriate button on the security console marked with a lightning bolt and symbol corresponding to the door. The shock should stun them.”
Gregory looks down at the security console and finds the correct buttons, looking to the cameras before pressing them as a sudden arc of electricity throws the two from their respective doors; “It worked!”
He then looks around for a moment; “But how do I get out of here?” Freddy appears on another camera in front of a locked door.; “Do you see the large vent in the floor? You are probably standing right on top of it. If I can reach the room under you, I should be able to force it open and let you out. But you’ll need to let me through the locked security doors between me and there to do that. There should be a button labeled “door” below the corresponding monitor.”
Gregory nods but notices one of the monitors glitching with purple and green static as he opens the first door for Freddy. Suddenly, he sees the red eyes and white fabric of the rabbit staring at him from the monitor; “There you are… See you soon~”
Gregory gulps; “Crap!”
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Meanwhile…
[Playing: Stranger Things Vol3 OST: In The Void]
Charlie groans, waking up on her back on a hard metal surface. She tries to move but ultimately just struggles against the bindings holding her to what feels like a table. “What…” Her eyes shoot open; “GREGORY!” She looks around in a panic as the fight comes back to her:
Chica holds Charlie by the arms, struggling to hold the deceptively strong AND anger empowered animatronic as the rabbit pulls a cable from one of her pockets, quickly plugging it into Chica’s neck only for her leg to be broken by a kick from Charlie as she roars.
The Rabbit staggers but plugs the other end into Charlie’s neck, and suddenly she lights up in AGONY, her eyes turning to pitch black voids as she SCREAMS, shattering the window behind the rabbit as the room shakes and the shadows clinging to Charlie take the form of skeletal wings, embers of purple fire flaring in them as she blacks out.
Charlie looks towards her neck and is relieved to see that there is no cable attached now. She looks around to see what appears to be an abandoned security office, neon light coming through the windows and plastering across the ceiling indicating some elevation.
The only light in the room comes from the windows and a pair of monitors on the desktop of their PC. The room is rather bland with dirty walls, a pair of hydraulic doors (one of which has an out of order sign and the other having a window in it). But three things stand out as Charlie looks around; A cot made out of pizza boxes with a pillow and blanket, an ancient looking arcade machine, and a name painted across the wall in Charlie’s favorite color; Purple.
[Playing: Stranger Things Vol3 OST: Not Chinese Food]
“VANNY”
Charlie looks down at her restraints and tries to move, but finds that these are rated for strong animatronics; Groaning, but not bending against her strength; “Shit…” Suddenly she hears a giggle and her head snaps to the hydraulic door with the windowas it slides open, revealing the rabbit- Vanny standing there; “My, My… What a foul mouth…”
Charlie groans; “Stuff it fruitcake. Couldn’t win in a straight fight, so you sicced whatever’s controlling the animatronics on me? That’s low.” The rabbit skips over to a duffel bag and begins digging around in it; “Me? I’m not the one riding around in a 1-ton lifting robot. From where I’m standing; you’re the Filthy. Rotten. Cheater!”
She giggles and Charlie cranes her neck to try and see what she is digging for; “Yeah, well. I’m not murdering kids for a dead man. Why the hell am I even still here? Too chicken to melt me down or exorcise me?”
The Rabbit pauses and lifts something from the bag that causes Charlie to pale; an old notebook with a familiar sigil that makes her nauseous just looking at it; “You bitch…” The Rabbit giggles and skips over; “Wrong species, clown.”
The Rabbit grabs a marker and begins drawing it on Charlie’s forehead, having to hold her still to not mess it up; “You’re surprisingly resilient against takeover… But with this on you, master can pull your strings to his heart’s content!”
Charlie’s eyes widen, flaring red as several more open across her body; “I’ll fucking kill you if you make me hurt anyone. I’ll make Cassidy look like a Damn SAINT!”
The rabbit giggles as the sigil is completed and Charlie immediately feels a dip in her power and mental fortitude, grunting in anger as the rabbit then grabs a cable from the computer, opening a file labeled; “Storyteller.exe-link” “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but remnant will revive me!”
Charlie lets out a slurred laugh, her servos whirring constantly as they try to break the restraints; “Michael would tell you exactly how much worse that makes things if he was here…” Vanny turns, and Charlie can feel the wicked smile beneath the mask as she plugs her in; “He’ll be here soon. After all; why wouldn’t he trust his beloved?”
[Playing: Stranger Things Vol3 OST: Portal Drill]
A gloved finger presses the enter key and Charlie feels a pulse through the wire, something older than her probing for entry and beginning to make headway as she sees a progress bar appear on the screen, panic giving way to rage; “AFTON!? I’LL SKIN YOU ALIVE AND DELIVER YOU TO LUCIFER MYSELF! YOU HEAR ME?!”
Vanny chuckles but the other monitor suddenly lights up with alarms. She turns and clicks on them with the mouse, opening a camera feed of Gregory in the control room. Her voice drips with malice as she grabs a knife from the table; one all too familiar to Charlie, and walks toward the door; “Keep that fury… It’ll be useful to us.”
Charlie watches her leave and screams in anger and pain, eyes flashing purple for a moment as the windows warble in the wake of her voice but hold firmly. The camera ghosts across the progress bar:
7%
9%
10%
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[Playing: Stranger Things Vol3 OST: Ruins]
Gregory shocks Monty, causing the gator to let out a roar of pain as he staggers back from the door on the camera, stomping away to try another. The power meter for the doors and tasers running lower and lower before he hears a clattering noise behind him and turns to see the vent Freddy mentioned falling into the shaft.
Gregory hesitates, looking at the cameras before running over and looking down, seeing a short shaft with a T intersection and a straight shot to the room beneath him, both vent covers removed revealing Freddy standing below him.
“Freddy!” Gregory looks back to the cameras, seeing the power tick down to 1% as Freddy gestures for him to jump; “Hurry! I will catch you!”
Gregory gulps before jumping, squeezing his eyes shut only to open them as he lands safe in Freddy’s arms, quickly being put down on the ground as Freddy grunts; “The virus is still fighting, but it is almost… cooperating? It is an odd sensation… But if either the repair paralysis or Ice protocol win against it I will be useless. Did you find the controls?”
Gregory shakes his head; “Sorry… Everything in there is automated by that “Storyteller” thing!” Freddy frowns, but his eyes catch the glint of the disk as Gregory pulls it out; “I did find this though. Looks old…”
Freddy smiles; “That is a performance disk for when we are out of service for one reason or another. It should allow the activation of the lift if we can get it to the sound booth!”
He smiles weakly and begins walking down the stairwell they sit in, Gregory following behind.
More of the bland, concrete halls pass them as Gregory wonders aloud with evident worry; “I hope Charlie is okay…” Freddy seizes slightly, stumbling forward and running into the wall, skidding off of it back into standing as his eyes flash lavender. He shakes his head and says; “I am sure she is fine. You said this “rabbit lady” fought her?”
Gregory nods as Freddy forces himself forward; “Well, if she is human, and not another animatronic. It might be a dark thing to say, but our endoskeletons are rated for lifting at least three grown adults. If Charlie is fighting her to win then I am afraid there might not be much left of the woman.”
Gregory shakes his head; “Sure, but before that; Charlie threw her into the wall and her back got all crunched! Then she just stood back up and cracked it back into place!” Freddy stops and looks back with an unsure expression; like a parent trying to tell their kid they were lied to; “That… Is not possible. Are you sure her back-” Gregory cuts him off with a scowl; “She folded in half. And a bunch of blood fell out of her costume.”
[Playing: Stranger Things 2 OST: Chicago]
Freddy frowns with wide eyes at that, a long moment passing before he sighs with a weary; “Okay…” he then shakes his head as they reach a doorway; “Whether that is true or not, she should be able to beat a human, irregular or not. For now we should worry for ourselves, then we will be in a better position to help her if needed!”
Gregory nods tentatively and Freddy smiles, sliding the door open leading to the Atrium, hobbling along a fenced off path up onto the main stage, and pointing up to the third floor balcony as Gregory follows his finger to what looks like a DJ station.
“Gr-Gregory, my systems are failing. I cannot continue like this for much longer… Go to the sound booth on the third floor balcony. Run the performance program on that disk and meet me back here on the stage. Ple-e-ease hurry.”
Gregory looks at Freddy with a determined scowl and nods; “I won’t let you down!” He then runs off towards the far side of the atrium, hopping a security barrier.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ (0)~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
[Playing: Stranger Things Vol4 OST: A Realm Unspoiled by Mankind]
DESIGNATION: MAR-10NN3730 CRD: 2/13/1984
ENDO_OS: 17.0 100% CHARGE
AI CORE: N/A
SYS: ANTIVIRUS INTEGRITY: 72%
SYS: C̸͉̆ẖ̶̄a̶͍̿ä̴̼a̵͔͘à̸̧r̶͆ͅŗ̴̊ṛ̶͊r̸̳̓l̸̹̀i̶̫̐i̵̬̚i̸͖̓î̵͔ę̷̍e̵̗͒e̷͕̅?̸̹̕
SYS: UNAUTHORIZED INSTALLATION IN PROGRESS: POWER DOWN AND CALL A CERTIFIED TECHNICIAN TO YOUR LOCATION? Y/N
> N̴̰̒
SYS: CONFIRMED; N. CONTINUING TO MONITOR.
SYS: G̶̱͋i̴̲͠v̵̘̀ë̴́͜ ̴̬͘u̴̮̾p̸͕̎,̷̼̈́ ̸̹̎C̴̪̏h̸̻͆a̸̖͒r̸̪̕l̴̰̐o̵̪̓t̴̻̊t̶̼͠e̷̲͝.̶̟̍.̴̼̃.̶̧̅ ̵̰̋Ḯ̷̧ ̴̥͝ẁ̶̳ö̵̗́n̸̳̉'̵̞̕t̴̰̚ ̷̝͒h̷̒ͅu̷̲̾r̸̻͗ṭ̵͝ ̴͇̐Y̷͚͌Ȍ̴̗U̵̗̽.̶͓͒.̸̨̆.̶̛̳ ̷̮͠P̴̬̏r̷͕̈́o̵̪̅m̷̑ͅi̵̖͌s̶̱͝e̵̬̾.̷̙͂.̴͔͠.̴̢̄
Charlie screams through clenched teeth as her servos whir even harder, heat pooling in them as they fail to break the restraints. She tries to exit her vessel to fix things from outside but finds the sigil also traps her in her vessel.
She looks at the computer screen with wide eyes, watching the progress bar tick closer to 50%. She can feel his slimy voice in her ear, trying to get her to go easy; but when has she ever done that? Besides; she has a promise to fulfil since he’s really trying this; “I’ll find a way… and when I do your ass is grass.”
Her eyes flare purple and she bites back a scream, arching her back as she tries to leap from the table in pain but fails, falling back and looking again to the computer, eyes searching for a moment before locking onto the cable; Barely plugged in… if even the slightest tug was given it might just… “Pop” fall out.
“Hehehe… Got you now, son of a bitch…” She tries to jerk her head to the side, but frowns as she finds the cable isn’t tight enough for that to pull it. She grunts in frustration and looks up at her forehead in anger. She then looks back at the computer and focuses as hard as she can, trying desperately to muster a shred of power to telekinetically nudge the USB.
She groans, eyes flickering gold and silver before falling back into green iris and silver pupil bloodshot purple. She doesn’t stop, trying harder as the strain turns into frustration and pain, and she begins trying to use the negativity to fuel her, turn it into more remnant, but nothing continues to happen.
As she is distracted staring at the computer like it personally killed her, she doesn’t notice a black and white striped cable slither out of a vent in the room, perking up like a snake before slithering closer to her…
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ (0)~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
[Playing: Stranger Things Vol4 OST: One ]
Gregory runs from Chica as he darts up a staircase, the Glamrock animatronic stumbling after him with footsteps heavy enough to shake the floor.
“Staff Only!”
Gregory scrambles around the corner of the railing and dives into a photobooth, sliding the curtain closed behind him as he looks at the cameras on his watch, seeing Chica arrive on the third floor a second after as she runs out only to come to a stop, twitching as her eyes scan the area.
“Our friendly security staff can help!”
Gregory doesn’t move, watching until eventually Chica looks towards the prize counter and begins marching into the area. He doesn’t move until finally she is all the way in the doors, peeking his head out to see the balcony is clear of Staff Bots between here and the sound booth.
He steps out cautiously and begins walking over, keeping his head on a swivel but also wringing his hands in worry for Charlie. He reaches the booth and slips behind the free standing wall separating it from the balcony, and as he approaches the controls he stops, eyes wide as he stares at the view of the (frankly massive) room.
Gregory then walks up to the DJ desk, looking for a cd slot. He finds it and places the disk in before opening the computer attached, typing something before the lights flicker to synchronize, then dim severely as the hologram emitters whirr to life, projecting Freddy and the gang, larger than life and on stage, rocking out.
[Playing: FNaF: SB OST: Main Theme]
Gregory watches for a moment before thinking aloud; “That should do it… I hope Freddy and Charlie are okay. I should get back to the stage.”
He looks around the corner of the wall before breaking out into a sprint towards the stairs as the camera cuts to him running past Staff Bots on the ground floor, dodging their line of sight as he is chased by Monty and leaps up onto stage, the rogue animatronic slamming into the edge of the stage in a move that would wind him if he were organic.
[Playing: Stranger Things Vol4 OST: Hellfire Club]
Freddy’s wide eyes lock onto Monty’s feral ones as Gregory slams a hand on the button that rose with a pedestal from the floor, causing them and the round platform below them to begin sinking into the floor, the song beginning to fade with distance, a shutter closing over them to prevent anyone falling into the hole the elevator left.
Gregory turns to see Freddy looking sadly where Monty previously was, before his eyes widen; “Gregory! Look!” Gregory turns to see the Daycare Attendant in Moon mode staring over the edge of the elevator with purple eyes, smiling sinisterly; “Nighty-night…” He then promptly disappears beneath the edge.
Freddy and Gregory stand back to back, watching the edges of the elevator for any signs of Moon before it finally reaches the bottom and they begin running through the utility tunnels, following the Waypoint on Gregory’s map.
The skittering of The Daycare Attendant follows them closely and Freddy begins falling behind as he feels the Virus flaring up again, the walls and floor warping into sterile steel marred by pipes and vents. He does his best to follow Gregory close but begins faltering; “Hide Gregory! Do not worry about me!”
Gregory turns back for a split second and reluctantly sprints away as Freddy limps after him, the skittering turning to the scraping of metal cables against each other, an ominous mechanical breathing…
Freddy watches as the lights flicker out, nothing but darkness and the walls next to him visible despite switching to night vision. Regardless, he follows Gregory’s signal on his map, paying no mind as a feminine voice echoes in the back of his mind; “You are almost there… (There… There… There…)”
Freddy grows close to Gregory’s location but doesn’t want to give him away as he appears stationary; likely hiding. Instead, he begins looking at the illusion he finds himself in, hoping to see if moon is still present despite it getting worse. “Moon? Are you there?”
Silence… Then; “Why didn’t you trust me? (Me? Me? Me?)”
“REEEEEEEEAAAGH!”
Gregory watches from the window of a charging pod as Freddy stumbles into his view, looking around with unseeing eyes before he is pounced on by Moon, knocking him to the floor and beginning to drag him away.
[Playing: Stranger Things Vol3 OST: Code Red]
His eyes are wide and teary, and all he wants to do is curl up in a ball and cry, but he puts on a brave face, wiping away what few tears made it out and opening the pod. He steps out, shining his flashlight each direction to see if anything is there.
Nothing. He walks over to the parts and service doors he heard open and close but is surprised to find them locked; and his security clearance isn’t high enough to unlock them! He frowns and looks through the window, not able to make out much from the distance.
He looks down the hall opposite the doors and frowns with determination; “I’ll save you buddy!” he then runs down the hallway, determined to find another way in…
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ (0)~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
DESIGNATION: MAR-10NN3730 CRD: 2/13/1984
ENDO_OS: 17.0 100% CHARGE
AI CORE: N/A
SYS: ANTIVIRUS INTEGRITY: 19%
SYS: UPLOAD CRITICALLITY REACHED, PLEASE POWER DOWN AND CALL A CERTIFIED TECHNICIAN. Y/N?
> N̴̰̒
SYS: CONFIRMED; N. CONTINUING TO MONITOR.
Charlie seizes in her bindings, gritting her metaphorical teeth as hard as she can as her eyes flash red, purple, and even pitch black. But no matter what she does, the most she’s gotten the cable to do is wiggle!
Tears stream sideways down her face, hissing as they drop onto the table and dematerialize; “I… REFUSE!”
The storyteller pushes and she nearly caves in on herself, crumpling onto the table as her HUD displays another message;
SYS: Y̴̬̍o̶̎ͅù̵̯ ̴̱̉h̵͙̑a̷͆͜v̶̞̎e̵͇͂ ̸̼͝n̴̪̔ơ̴̢ ̷̠͊C̶̞̈h̸̨̐ő̵̢i̷̼̇c̷̣̈e̵̖̚.̴̻͐
Charlie screams in pain and anger, but just as all hope seems lost, we see the striped cable snake onto the table behind her head, moving towards her unoccupied neck socket.
SYS: NEW DEVICE DETECTED.
SYSWARNING: POWER SURGE INCOMING.
SYSWARNING: ANTIVIRUS INTEGRITY: 0%!!! NEW INTRUSION DETECTED.
A roar unlike any uttered by man or beast since the dawn of creation emits from The Vessel’s mouth, sounding most closely to a bear but still all wrong as it cracks the windows. Her eyes turn to a deadly pitch black with pin-prick red pupils and blue irises, arching against the table as the restraints groan before one; “Roouuuu… SNAP!”
The freed hand snaps outwards unnaturally, like a puppet on strings as the head turns to face what the arm points to; The PC. Her hand clenches and the computer begins crumpling in on itself slowly, the screen letting out warning messages and several threats from the entity using it, but ultimately it ends on an error as the computer is compacted into a ball of metal and circuits.
[Playing: Stranger Things Vol3 OST: Feel Safe]
Charlie falls back onto the table, hand going limp as the cable retracts and slithers back into the vent; no sign it was ever there as Charlie wakes up, eyes dim and weary as she groans; “Wh-What…”
DESIGNATION: MAR-10NN3730 CRD: 2/13/1984
ENDO_OS: 17.0 100% CHARGE
AI CORE: N/A
SYS: SYSTEM INTEGRITY RESTORED, UNKNOWN VIRUS PURGED, NO EXTERNAL DEVICES DETECTED.
She gasps and coughs, the purple veins of corruption leaving her eyes as she grabs the cable and rips it out of her neck before crushing it in her grip. She drops the shattered plastic and metal and just breathes for a moment; “What was… Who was that?”
She looks around the room from the table but sees nothing out of the ordinary, eyes squinting in confusion before she shakes her head, instead reaching up to her forehead and pressing hard enough to nearly damage her mask as she drags the marker off onto her hand, ruining the sigil as she immediately feels a rush of relief and what little power she has returning.
“Whoo… That’s better. Now…”
Her eyes flare and she grips the restraint on her other hand before ripping it like tissue paper, sitting up and doing the same to her ankle restraints before slipping off the table onto shaky legs.
She steps towards the door and it slides open as she presses the button beside it, stepping out onto a catwalk far above what appears to be a laser tag arena!
“Gregory? Ugh… Gregory!? Are you there? Breaker-Breaker?”
Nothing. Charlie frowns; “There must be something up here blocking the signal…” She looks around the catwalk for any distinguishable exit but grunts in annoyance; “Screw it…” She waves a hand as the lights flicker and the spectral image of her ashen wings spread behind her, darkness skittering up her body before clinging to the bones like leather with the flash of red in her eyes.
As the shadows stretch across them she leaps from the catwalk, flapping them as the shadows strain and tear but hold steady as she descends at an alarming but not dangerous rate, landing hard on the ground. She stands from her superhero landing and looks around, her wings tucking in and the shadows dispersing before the wings are gone and the lights stop flickering.
Charlie lets out a breath as the last bit of her anger leaves her, once again nearly powerless. She then tries the comms with Gregory again; “Gregory!? Are you alright?”
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ (0)~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
[Playing: Stranger Things Vol4 OST: Curfew]
Gregory stares ahead with fear in his eyes, flashlight pointed ahead of him defensively as he brings his watch up to his face, surprise evident; “Charlie! You got away? Why haven’t you answered any of my messages!”
Her voice comes thorough, staticky but there; “That’s a story for later; Where are you? Are you alright?”
Gregory chuckles uneasily as the camera zooms out, revealing over a dozen Glamrock Endos with purple eyes staring daggers at him, frozen mid step and all facing him; “Uhh… Define alright?”
Annoyed silence is all he gets in response so he drops the joking demeanor; “Okay! Okay! I was with Freddy but something happened to him and we were headed to Parts and Service, but then Moon got him!”
He resists the urge to blink, eyes watering as he flicks them to a path through the Endoskeletons; “I was trying to find a way through the… The Warehouse, I think it’s called that; Only problem is all the endos around here… They’re kinda like Peanut.”
A moment passes, then Charlie’s voice comes through extremely confused; “What does a nut have to do with anything?” Gregory frowns; “Right… 80’s… Uhm…” he slips through the gap between the wall and the Endos, keeping his eyes trained on all of them as he moves towards the door to the room; “Doctor Who! That’s been around since, like, forever! Weeping angels! They’re weeping angels!”
Another long pause; “Are- … Are you messing with me? I don’t remember any angels in Doctor Who.”
[Playing: Stranger Things Vol3 OST: It’s just a clock, right?]
Gregory groans as he slips past them and pauses for a moment before finally turning and sprinting out the door, hearing the clomping of metal feet running behind him; “THEY ONLY MOVE WHEN YOU AREN’T LOOKING AT THEM!”
He dives into an open vent and scrambles further in, looking back as the Endos freeze with their arms stuck in the vent but otherwise incapable of entry. He sighs; “just… Meet me at the parts and service entrance. Use the stage lift to get there.”
Charlie simply says; “Copy. Be careful, Gregory.”
Gregory then sighs and begins crawling through the vent, occasionally looking at the level 4 badge sticking out of his pocket he just acquired. Eventually he kicks the cover off a vent in a hallway he recognizes, running back towards the entrance to parts and service.
He smiles as he sees Charlie standing there, back to him. He goes to say something but notices light flickering from somewhere in front of her chest, her hands curled in that area as well and her head looking down at something.
Gregory gets within a few feet but can’t see what she has, calling out; “Charlie?” The animatronic jumps like it’s been shot and whirls around, Gregory noticing a smudge of something on her forehead and an odd golden mist trail emanating from her hands dissipating quickly as those odd silver eyes lock onto him nervously; “Gregory! I was so worried.”
Gregory nods, looking strangely at her hands as he sees… something… Almost Deja-Vu but all wrong, like it’s from someone completely different’s perspective.
A crack in a pitch black water covered floor with light spilling out, a shimmering hand made of golden light wrapped in a green hoodie sleeve and an ANCIENT Novelty-Freddy-Faz-Watch.
“Whacha… Whacha doing there?” Charlie frowns awkwardly; “N-Nothing. Just…” She laughs awkwardly; “Passing the time! Uhm, can we go get Freddy?”
Gregory snaps out of it and runs over to the doors, opening them with the badge as Charlie crouches down and Gregory turns out his flashlight, creeping up to the second set and cracking them open to peep through.
Both he and Charlie pale as they see Vanessa standing in front of the repair cylinder, Freddy with his head connected by only a couple wires on the operating table. Charlie quietly remarks; “Oh no…”
Vanessa continues a conversation she was having with Freddy; “-I found him earlier and locked him up in lost and found.”
Freddy stammers slightly before putting on a cheery voice; “That is great news! He can be returned to his parents!”
[Playing: Stranger Things Vol4 OST: Brenner’s Little Pet]
Vanessa tilts her head in irritation; “he can’t. Turns out, there’s no record of him. Not just in our systems; I looked at the external records too! And aside from an admittance to a local orphanage around a year ago, there is NO-TH-ING on this kid! No birth certificate, no family, nothing. Kid’s a literal ghost.”
Charlie frowns slightly, her eyes flicking to Gregory for a moment with interest as her mouth opens as if to say something, but she ultimately remains silent as the two continue.
Freddy sounds confused as well; “How unfortunate. If you re-attach my head, I will go look for him now-” Vanessa cuts him off and begins pacing; “His name is Gregory. You wanna know how I know that?”
She shoots a glare into the cylinder; “His Faz-watch kept repeating it. In YOUR voice.” She then (badly) imitates Freddy; “Gregory? Are you there? Gregory?”
Freddy’s eyes shift away from her in unease; “V-Vanessa; All the Faz-Watches sound like me! I-It is the default voice option.”
Vanessa scoffs and looks away, shaking her head before pointing a finger at him accusingly; “If you’re part of this, you’re scrap! Monty will run the shows until Parts and Service can slap your casing on a fresh endo.”
She turns towards the door suddenly and Gregory yanks the door closed just in time as her flashlight floats across it; “hang out here for a while… I gotta find that kid.”
Vanessa begins walking off towards the elevators leading to each of the animatronic’s rooms, Freddy shouting after her; “Vanessa!? Do not leave me like this!”
Gregory and Charlie watch as Vanessa disappears behind the cylinder, then they hear the whirring of an elevator before silence reigns the room. But not for long as Gregory throws the doors open and goes running towards the Cylinder with evident worry for his friend, Charlie sauntering in after him, eyes scanning the room critically; “Yeesh… No love lost between you two, huh?”
[Playing: Stranger Things Vol4 OST: Does that make us friends?]
Freddy smiles awkwardly from his position on the table as Gregory has already begun guiding the machinery to reassemble Freddy. “Gregory, Charlie… I am so glad you are both alright! I am not sure what has gotten into security officer Vanessa; She is normally nicer!”
Charlie nods skeptically; “Uhuh. Sure. Hey, Greg; Quick question; What did she mean when she said you don’t have any records?”
Gregory freezes, quietly saying in a worried voice; “I… *sniff* I don’t know…” He slowly begins to continue putting Freddy’s head back on, remarking; “I… I had parents. They died when I was…” His face scrunches up in thought but ultimately he trails off; “They died in a car accident. It was winter, there was ice on the roads…” he chuckles dryly; “And that was it.”
Charlie frowns and puts a hand on his shoulder as he continues; “From there I…” He frowns again in frustration; “I lived on the street. Begged for food or money… I stole sometimes.” He looks down with a bit of shame; “Mainly just from ATMs, though. Anything else and it was just food or clothes!”
Freddy’s voice is oddly quiet and tender, barely heard over the whirring machinery re-attaching him; “Did you not have anyone to go to?” Gregory goes to respond but stops, face switching from sadness to confusion to frustration as he claws out; “I- … I d-… Don’t remember… Anyways, I got picked up when I rolled through Hurricane and was put in that “Charlotte’s” orphanage.”
Charlie tenses slightly. But she is distracted as Gregory suddenly says; “All done, now just to-” Freddy calls out; “Wait.” Gregory frowns and looks through the cylinder to see Freddy’s worried appearance; “Uh… What? Did I miss a bolt?”
Freddy shakes his head as his eyes flash lavender for a moment and he seizes; “N-No… I- the virus, remember?” Gregory’s eyes widen; “Shoot! Right! I totally forgot about it! One sec.”
Charlie watches as an arm opens up several parts of Freddy’s casing and plugs wires into him, eventually stopping as the screen on the computer changes:
[Playing: Stranger Things Vol4 OST: ELVIS CLONED BY ALIENS]
DESIGNATION: FAZ-10001001 CRD: 1/7/2020
ENDO_OS: 16.4 100% CHARGE
SAFE MODE: ACTIVE
SILVER_ICE.EXE: ACTIVE
R1 LEVELS: 70%
SYS: R1 AND ENTITY1 HAVE FULLY INFECTED AI CORE, BACKDOORS AND CONTROLS HAVE BEEN ESTABLISHED OVER UNIT: FAZ-10001001. HUMAN INTERVENTION REQUIRED.
Gregory frowns; “What is R1?” Freddy shakes his head in confusion; “I do not know.” Charlie looks between him and the computer for a moment with a look of dawning realization; “R- R1…”
She has a flashback suddenly; Michael and his friends sit at a table as he shows them the notes in his journal, Lefty performing on stage as he flips a page, revealing a drawing of a Vial and designations: “R1: Remnant, R2: Emotional Remnants: Agony (danger), Rage, Sorrow, Fea-)
[Playing: Stranger Things 2 OST: Soldiers]
Charlie blinks away tears at the realization as she softly says; “I… I think I can help. Open the cylinder.” Gregory frowns in confusion but obliges, opening the cylinder as Charlie steps inside, gripping Freddy’s restrained hand as Freddy looks confused; “Charlie? What do you mean?”
Charlie looks at him with a sad, off-kilter smile; “Freddy… I don’t think what’s inside you is a virus.” She snaps her fingers a few times, Freddy watching in surprise as golden fire sparks with each snap despite seeming not to take, causing the puppet woman frustration; “What is it then, Ch-Charlie? And what are you doing?”
Charlie sighs, closing her eyes and focusing before snapping again, a dull gold fire igniting before falling in on itself like liquid, coating Charlie’s hand and turning a shimmering silver as she grunts; “Good enough…” She then looks back at Freddy; “Let’s just say… I think he’s the reason you aren’t trying to kill Gregory.”
Freddy looks more confused, Gregory looking similarly befuddled through the window as the bear asks; “He? You know the… Thing inside of me?” Charlie nods with a small, unsure smile; “I think I do… He’s a very old friend.” She then raises her hand; “This won’t hurt… I think?”
Freddy’s eyes widen as she places the hand against his forehead, the impossibly cold wetness of whatever is coating it causing him to shudder before it feels as if the substance is seeping through his casing (which should be water proof) “Wha-a-a-at are yo-u-u-u- KZZT! D-d-d-d-ooooooooo- ooo-oooing?”
Charlie focuses and Freddy feels the cold seeping from his head to every part of his body, penetrating the very code that makes him up as images begin flashing in his mind; a simplistic sigil that appears similar to Charlie’s mask, a scarred man with purple skin as fire rages behind him, a face burned into every Fazbear entertainment recognition system staring down at the viewer in a dark alley.
Outside of Freddy’s head, Gregory watches as Freddy begins seizing, the computer blaring warning alarms as the lights flicker and a draft begins filling the room. He looks between Charlie and Freddy as she seems unconcerned; “FREDDY!”
He goes to run into the cylinder and stop Charlie but is thrown back out by a burst of bright light and wind. He has to shield his eyes as warnings blare and lights in the room fully flicker out, red emergency lights flickering on a moment later.
[Playing: Stranger Things Vol3 OST: Destroying the Castle]
He uncovers his eyes only to see the shadows of wings. Bone and not much else, stretched out behind both Charlie and Freddy, the shadows of Freddy’s lying across the ground lifelessly and the ones behind Charlie drooping, nearly sagged to the ground.
“What the hell!?”
Charlie takes her hand off of Freddy after what felt like an eternity, opening her eyes to reveal a faint gold glow before it dissipates. She falls to a knee, breathing heavily before Gregory goes running past her, looking at Freddy in worry; “FREDDY! Wake up! Are you okay!?”
He turns to Charlie with anger; “What did you do!?” Charlie frowns, blinking rapidly; “It’s okay, Freddy’s still in there. He’s just… letting someone else come along for the ride.”
Freddy’s eyes flit open and Gregory looks back only to see light lavender and silver pupils instead of the electric blue and shiny black. The bear looks confused, Charlie reaching up and undoing his restraints as he pulls a hand to his face; “Ugh… What… What happen-”
His eyes shoot fully open as he snaps into a sitting position, nearly knocking over Gregory as he watches in shock, red mist flying from Freddy’s mouth like drool as he speaks in a smooth British accent; “ELIZABETH! If that BASTARD did anything to her or Evan or ANYONE I’ll-”
Charlie wraps around him in a hug, sobbing quietly as Freddy stops, looking down at the black coat of whoever just wrapped around him, then he looks at his arm and realizes it is much less humanoid than he remembers. “What? I-I’m…”
Charlie pulls back to look him in the eye lovingly as Freddy’s face pales and he clams up; “I thought I’d lost you to him… I thought I was alone…”
Charlie hugs him again, resting her head against his chest as Freddy relaxes slightly, hugging her back. But Gregory’s voice cuts through the emotional moment like a freight train through a school bus; “What the HELL is going on!?”
Charlie’s eyes snap open with realization and Freddy’s head snaps over to the boy with confusion, then EXTREME confusion and relief; “Evan!? H-How are you-” Gregory glares at Not-Freddy and cuts him off; “Nope. Wrong. I’m Gregory. Dunno who Evan is; don’t care!”
He points an accusing finger at Not-Freddy, making his ears droop; “Who are you, and what did you do with Freddy!?”
Charlie winces; “Look, Gregory I-” Charlie is cut off by a creepy voice from the entrance to the cylinder; “How touching…” Gregory and Charlie’s heads snap to the darkened exterior of the cylinder. Illuminated by only the red emergency lights flashing outside is Moon, smiling sinisterly as the purple glow is his eyes is locked on Not-Freddy’s own confused ones.
[Playing: DOOM OGST: At Doom’s Gate]
Freddy stands up calmly, staring into the eyes of the slender machine outside of the cylinder with determination; “I see father has his hooks in this one.” He pushes The Child and his lover behind him, eyes flaring lavender and dulled gold as he tries to spread his wings, only to remember their current state and grunt, muttering to himself; “Well… not like I haven’t done without before.”
He adjusts the cutoff letterman on his shoulders, rolls his neck, and finally mimes cracking his knuckles and assuming a fighting stance; “I’ll have to correct that…” Moon chuckles, sinisterly, and Not-Freddy charges forward, running into the camera and ending the episode, the credits rolling by before ending as the camera fades out and we see in the reflection of the now modern TV… An empty chair. A moment of silence passes before we see a blank faced Vanessa sit down in the chair, staring into the screen as we notice her pupils are a dark, glowing purple… A moment later and several sets of glowing eyes join hers from behind. Most are purple, one set are shaped like cigarette lighters and glow the same orange, and a few are green, red, or blue. The screen finally cuts signaling the end of the episode.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ (0)~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*