Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Your performance was perfect tonight!”  Roxanne Wolf stares at her reflection in the mirror, perfection staring right back.  “Thank you.”  She knew she was perfect, anyone with eyes could see that, but quite frankly she wasn’t hearing it as much as she should.  “Your hair is beautiful.  Your tail was beautiful.”  And if she was the one who had to say it, so be it.  “Everyone was watching you.  Everyone loves you.  Everyone wants to BE you!  You are the be-”

“Oh shut it, will ya!”

Roxy turned her head, her mind now on high alert at the unmistakable voice in her room.  A child’s voice.

“Who’s there?  Where are you!”

A small child, a boy, crawls out from under her sofa, a grimace on his face.  Roxy rushes over, kneeling down and scanning the boy to decipher where the hell this kid came from.

“Why don’t I have your guest profile?”  She stands up, narrowing her eyes at the unknown child.  “Who the hell are you?”

The boy suddenly looked nervous, as if he wasn’t prepared for the question.  “I-I’m Gregory…”

A grunt escapes Roxy’s lips, rolling her eyes as she attempts to contact the main office.  She pauses, feeling on edge as her connection is denied.

“Weird…I can’t connect to the main office..?”

“It’s her.  She cut you off.  She’s not gonna let you call for help until she gets me.”  Gregory huffs, plopping himself on the sofa.

“And who’s her, twerp?  Your mom?”  Roxy had barely known this kid barely a minute and she was already fed up with his attitude.  Every word she said was met with more huffing and eye rolling.

“Shh!  I hear footsteps!”  Gregory whispers, quickly ducking back under the sofa.

“HEY!  Don’t shush me!”  Roxy starts to stomp towards the boy’s hiding place before she sees the security guard stalk towards her room.  The guard, Roxy recognizes as Vanessa, shines her flashlight into her room.  Their eyes lock before Vanessa turns away, muttering things under her breath as she continues her rounds.  Something’s up with her.

“Obviously a security guard is trying to get you, twerp, that’s her job!”  Roxy pushes the sofa back, forcing Gregory to come out of his hiding spot.

“I know who she is, but that doesn’t change the fact that she’s trying to get me!  And can’t you talk without being so loud?!”

“Fine!  I’ll whisper if it keeps your sorry ass from complaining so much!”  Roxy lowers her voice to an obnoxiously low tone.  “Happy?!”

“Can’t you just take me to the front doors?”  Gregory glares daggers back at Roxy, a mutual dislike between them.

“Fine!  If it means you’re gone, I will gladly take you outta here!”  She grabs onto the loose vent on her wall and pulls with a grunt, throwing the piece of metal half-hazardly to the floor, landing with a loud clatter.  “I’m tossin’ you up twerp, step on my hands.”

Shakily, Gregory steps onto her hand before being abruptly thrown into the crawl space, nearly hitting his head on the way in.  As the kid goes out of her immediate view, Roxy continues to follow his outline as he ventures through the vent and towards her door.

Roxy wastes no time in guiding Gregory towards the utility door, ushering him ahead of her.  Something about Freddy’s room makes her stop, though.  Standing perfectly still, staring at his reflection in the mirror, is Freddy.  Roxy can see his unblinking eyes staring at his reflection, his unmoving body unsettling her as she feels herself stiffen, and their eyes lock.  His eyes…They’re different…

“Roxy!  Let’s go!”  Gregory yells from the utility door, already running off down the stairs.  Roxy breaks her gaze with Freddy to watch Gregory run off, but when she looks back Freddy is gone.  She shakes off her nervousness and follows after him, meeting him at the bottom of the stairs.

“What is this place..?”

“Utility tunnels.  We used to be able to get anywhere but they threw so much shit down here we can barely use them anymore.”  Roxy groans, walking with Gregory further down the tunnels.  She glances at Gregory for a moment, pausing when she notices the cut along his cheek.  “Shit, when did you get hurt, twerp?”

“What?  It’s nothing, I'm fine!”  Gregory looks away from Roxy, holding his cheek to keep his cut from view.

“C’mon, there’s a first-aid station just over here.”  Roxy grabs his arm and starts dragging him to the side room, struggling as Gregory kicks and swipes at her.

“I’m fine!  Let’s just leave!  Quit pulling me!”  Gregory is pushed into a bench and is forced to sit when Roxy grabs a band-aid and tries to put it on the squirming boy.

“Hold still, damnnit!”  The band-aid is barely on his face before Gregory pushes Roxy away, adjusting the band-aid himself with a glare.  

“There, was that so ha-”  Movement.  Roxy eyes dart toward the faint outline slowly approaching them.

“Get in the first-aid station.”  Gregory is left with a confused look on his face while he is pushed behind the curtain, his face peering out slightly as he watches as Roxy glares at the approaching figure.

“Roxy!  What are you doing out of your room?!”

“Well hello Vanessa!  Didn’t see you there!”  Roxy says with false shock.  A look of mutual dislike is shared between guard and animatronic as Vanessa rolls her eyes.

“Look, there’s some kid running around backstage and we’re 5 minutes till closing.  If you see anything, notify me immediately.  I already alerted the others.  Now get back to your room!”  Vanessa stalks away, Roxy glaring her down as she goes out of sight.

“See!  I told you she was after me!”  Gregory rushes out from the curtain and walks over to Roxy.  She glares back at the kid, following behind him as he already starts off deeper into the tunnels.

“I coulda ratted you out too!  You really are lucky you got such a nice person to look after you, huh?”

A groan escapes his mouth, “How much longer?!”

“We’re literally here twerp, quit your complaining!”

Gregory pushes open the doors, ushering Roxy towards him.  “C’mon, we’re so close, let’s g-”

“Freddy Fazbear’s Mega Pizzaplex is now closed.  Initiating nighttime protocols.”

“SHIT!”  Roxy carelessly grabs ahold of Gregory, throwing him onto her back as she breaks into a sprint towards the exit.  With every slam of her metal feet against the tiled floor, the metal shutter gets closer and closer to the ground.  She’s so close, with one leap she could just barely make it.  She snarls as she lunges forward, only to be met with solid force as the shutter fully closes and locks into place.

“FUCK!”  She screams, kicking the shutter and causing it to lightly ratter.

“...Now what.”  Gregory asks, slowly climbing off of Roxy’s back.  She turns back to him sharply, but calms herself enough to speak more than just swears.

“You’ll have to wait till 6 for the doors to reopen.  Just…get a pass or something, I’m sure there’s one here somewhere.”  She starts to stomp back towards Rockstar Row but is stopped by Gregory pulling on her arm.

“Well what about me, huh?  You’re just gonna leave me alone for the next 6 hours?!”  

She swipes his hand away, continuing to walk back to her room.  “I’ll be back in a bit.  Just find a damn pass and don't get caught.”

Chapter Text

Tired eyes meet an empty corridor as Roxy scans the entrance room for any sign of Gregory.  She passes by a lone security bot before she sees the faint outline of a moving child.  Why is he in the daycare?

As soon as she makes her way through the doors, Roxy is plunged into darkness as the lights in the area are turned off.  She runs towards the railing, her eyes quickly adjusting as she hears frantic screaming below.

“No-no!  Why would you do that?  Lights on!  Lights on!  I warned you-I WARNED YOU!”  The inhuman screeching alerted Roxy to Gregory’s location.  Jumping from the railing, she rushes over to a window and watches as Moon jumps out of sight.

“What did you do?!”

“I don’t know!  I just took the badge and the lights went off!”  Gregory yells back, frantically looking around for Moon, who was just barely out of sight in the shadows.

“Just go find the generators in the play structures, I’ll keep Moon distracted!”  Running towards the daycare doors, Roxy began to pound against them, but every pound did nothing against the wood.

“Fuck…”  She rushed back to the window in time to see Moon crawling just feet away from Gregory, the ladder frantically trying to make his way through the tight playplace.

An urge she hadn’t felt before overwhelmed her, compelling her to get to the kid.  As if on autopilot Roxy slammed her first into the glass, several cracks appearing in the once pristine window.  Both Gregory and Moon’s heads turned to look towards the sound before Gregory took the chance to get further away from Moon.

WHAM

A second punch caused a few loose pieces of glass to fall to the ground, Moon crawling out of the structure and towards the scattered glass.

CRASH

With one final punch of Roxy’s fist the window had completely shattered, hundreds of pieces lay around the daycare’s floor.

“Rrrrrggh... clean up! Clean up!”  Frantic movement from Moon caught Roxy’s attention, the caretaker now attempting to pick up every piece of shattered glass across the floor.  Smirking to herself, Roxy pinned the animatronic to the floor, looking over to Gregory.

“Did you get all the generators yet?”

“Almost…There!”  Light flooded the daycare as the final generator was switched, Gregory sliding down to meet Roxy at the bottom.

“Good job, twerp.”  Roxy got up from the still Moon, who was now turning back to Sun now that the lights were on.

“Thanks…”

“Rule-breakers!  Rule-breakers!  You both are banned from the daycare!”  Sun yelled, pushing both Gregory and Roxy out through the daycare doors.

“Security alert!  Security alert!  Wooo!  Woooo!”  The rapid sounds of feet hitting the ground surrounded the duo, Chica and Monty on either side of them. 

“Jump on my back.”  Gregory looked over in confusion as Roxy got into a defensive stance, pushing him behind her.  Rolling her eyes, Roxy grabs the boy and puts him onto her back, breaking into a sprint towards the exit.

Chica lunged at the boy, desperate to grab him from off Roxy’s back.  Her attack was returned when Roxy elbowed Chica away, knocking her to the ground.  Gregory’s snickered filled Roxy’s ears as she leaped up the stairs.

The lights went dim again as a chime rang throughout the pizzaplex.  “What’s going on?”

“We gotta get to a recharge station.  Every hour all the power in the plex gets redirected to the recharge stations.  When that happens all the lights go out, and when that happens Moon is free to wander the plex as he pleases.”

Leaping over the fencing, Roxy ran through the doors and into the recharge station near the daycare entrance.

“Roxy..?  What’ll happen if you don’t get to a recharge station in time?”  Gregory spoke, standing on Roxy’s feet to avoid touching the electronic floor.

“I’ll run outta power.  I’d be more worried about yourself, if that creep finds you…”  

A light ringing echoed out, both Roxy and Gregory instinctively looking up to see a rather peculiar sight.  Skipping, as if without a care in the world, was a rabbit.  It passed their station, sparing them no more than a glance before skipping away.

“What was that..?”

Fear.  For the first time ever Roxy was experiencing fear.  Something was wrong, horribly wrong, and she didn’t know what.

“I…I don’t know…”  The station opened abruptly and Gregory peeked his head out just enough to see where the rabbit had gone.

“It’s not here, I think we’re safe…”

Were they?

“Let’s get going, we get into the atrium with that badge you got.”  Distracting herself, and hopefully Gregory, Roxy ushers him towards the elevators, away from where the rabbit could’ve been.

Chapter Text

“Oh yeah, here, this is for you.”  Gregory presses the elevator button and looks back at Roxy, confusion on his face.  Grabbing his arm, Roxy slides a Fazwatch onto his wrist, locking it into place.

“Oh, sick!  Where’d you get this from?”

“Stole it from Freddy’s room.”  She snickers, walking out of the elevator as the doors open.  “You wouldn’t believe how easy-”

“Hi!  Please take this-”

“FUCK!”  Startled, Roxy swung in shock and punched the map bot, who was now twitching on the ground.

“Listen, you have to stop attacking the animatronics.”  Gregory makes out between laughs, causing Roxy to huff and turn away in embarrassment.

“Well maybe it shouldn’t have startled me!”  Crouching down, she grabs a map from the now still bot and starts walking away.

Gregory ran to catch up with Roxy, getting handed the map when he got next to her.  “Where are we going anyways?”

“There’s another security badge in the arcade, and you’re gonna get it.”

Gregory groaned, staring at the arcade as they approached.  “Why can’t you do it this time?  I got the last one, it’s only fair!”

“Because I can’t fit through the vent you’ll have to crawl through, obviously.”

“I’m sorry, what?”

Pointing toward a low vent, Roxy ushers Gregory to crawl through.  With a glare, the boy started his trek through the vent, leaving an exhausted Roxy behind.  She sits herself against the wall next to the vent, her mind running a mile a minute.

Who’s the rabbit?  Why is everyone acting different?  Why were Freddy's eyes different..?

“Roxy!  Cmon, I got the badge, let’s go!”  Roxy is forced out of her thoughts by Gregory running up to her, clearly anxious to leave the area as fast as possible.

“Damn, what happened to you?”  Roxy can tell Gregory was just itching to tell her everything, as as soon as the words leave her mouth he’s already ranting.

“So there I was, just crawling through the vent, when this weird little thing just started crawling at me!  And then when I get away from it, it just leaves!”

Roxy thinks for a moment before remembering overhearing a few of the employees talking about a missing display that broke out of its casing.  “Well that’s not that bad!  It could’ve been worse!”

“That’s not even the worst part, though!  When I go to grab the security badge some random alarm just starts going off and I have to hide from both Monty AND Chica!”

Roxy whistles in response, clearly exaggerating for the sake of Gregory.  “Damn twerp, that must’ve been rough, huh?”

Gregory just nods in agreement, staring back forward as the two make their way through the arcade.  The boy clearly still has more on his mind, but Roxy can tell he’s holding back from asking for some reason.

“Alright, what else you wanna talk about?”

“...Why haven’t we run into Freddy yet..?”  Pause.  Roxy stops, feeling unable to move any closer.  Gregory stops with her, concern written all over his face.

“...Let’s just hope we don’t run into him tonight.”  She quickly whispers, ushering Gregory forward.  She can tell he wants to know more, but he’s staying quiet for her sake.  At least he has some manners…

Stopping before the doors to the prize counter, Roxy turns to Gregory, kneeling down to his level.  “This is another one you’re gonna need to do solo, kid.  It’s almost time for my hourly recharge and the nearest station is in the atrium.  There’s a fire escape somewhere in the prize counter, see if you can open it.  If you can, let me know and then leave.”

“But what if I can’t?”

“Just go up the elevator and I’ll meet up with you there.  Listen, I gotta go, I’ll see you in a bit, okay?”  Roxy watches as the boy leaves, waving him off as he turns the corner.  She can’t help but feel a deep pit in her stomach, and she hates it.  He’ll be fine, it’s just for a few minutes.

A sharp pain washes over Roxy’s robotic frame as she feels her vision go dark, a cheerful, almost distorted laughter lulling her into a deep rest.

Chapter Text

Roxy awakes in an area she quickly recognizes to be the entrance to her nearly abandoned raceway.  The remnants of construction and debris seemed all too familiar as she lay amongst them, her body almost entirely paralyzed.  It’s then when she’s scanning her surroundings does she notice the figure walking towards her, clear intent with every step.

“Well hello Roxanne, didn’t see you there!”  Lead pipe in hand, glare across her face, is Vanessa.  She steps closer to Roxy, kneeling down to match her eye level.  

“I’m gonna ask this once, and if you want to be repaired you’ll give me what I want.  Where is the kid.”

Roxy only scoffs in return, turning away from her as much as her body will allow.  “I don’t know what you're talking about.”

A swift blow to Roxy’s head forces her to look at Vanessa again, her jaw dislocating to the point where it’s only hanging on by wires.

“Let me ask this again, where is the kid?!”

“Bite me!”  A final slam to Roxy’s face forced her into unconsciousness.

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Give in…Get the boy…Bring him to me…

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Genuine fear courses through Roxy’s body as she wakes up, still in the same spot and unable to move.  The distant voice of Gregory calls out to her, and in a daze she moves to look around, only to see nothing in return.

“Gregory…Gregory…If you can hear me, get to my raceway…I’m behind the construction fences…please just…get to my raceway…”

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Why do you fight so hard for him?  Just give in, it’ll be so much easier than what you’re doing now.

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“Roxy!”  Gregory’s yell jolts Roxy alert, his body just barely being visible to her through her damaged eyes.

“Hey kid…glad to see you made it out okay…”  A weak laugh escapes her as she looks back at the approaching boy, a look of horror etched across his face.

“What happened..?!  Who did this to you?!”  He knelt down beside her, attempting to adjust the parts of her that were out of place.

“That security guard really did me in…”  Another laugh echoes around the room, “Who knew she could surprise even me..!”

Feeling a small bit of her strength returning to her, Roxy sits up slightly, using her slightly fixed arm to lay a comforting hand onto Gregory’s shoulder.

“You need to help me get to parts and service, alright?  It’s under the main stage, if you can somehow start the showtime program we can use the lift to get down there.”

Gregory nods, a look of pure determination on his face as he starts off towards the backstage, not even bothering to check for any threats first.  Roxy scoffs in return, chuckling to herself as she begins to reconnect some of her looser limbs.

A roaring headache causes Roxy to hold her head, a screaming erupting within her.

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One last chance Roxanne, help me catch the boy and I'll make it worth your while..!  The attention, the praise, it can all be yours if you just help me catch the boy!

No.  I’m not helping you, I won’t give you him!

Such a shame, you really had such good potential…

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A blaring alarm forces Roxy out of her daze, a new determination within her as she starts to steadily stand.  “Gregory!  I’m not sure what you did, but I can talk to you again!”

“Roxy?  I can see you on the monitors, I thought you couldn’t stand?”

A smirk appears on Roxy’s face, “Like that wench could keep me down!”

“Roxy, I can see both Freddy and Monty on the cameras!  They’re trying to get inside!”  Another jolt of fear, she can’t let Freddy get him.

“There are electrical deterrents on all the doors in that office, if one of them tries to get in, just shock em!”  She yells, already running towards the security room.  “There’s a vent underneath that room, just hold them off till I get there, okay?”

“I’ll do my best!”  Gregory answers, a mix of both fear and determination between them.  I have to be faster.  I have to be stronger.  I have to be there for him!

A scream echoes through the security room and into the tunnel below, where Roxy stops.  “He’s here, he’s here!  Freddy got in!”

Wasting no time, Roxy jumps up and starts pulling on the vent, scratching away and screws that could be a hindrance.  The vent comes off after a moment, and Roxy falls to the ground with a slam.

“Jump down, kid!  Just get down here!”  Roxy is further pushed to the ground as Gregory falls into her arms, a look of both fear and joy across his face.

“I don’t know how he even got in, I just turned for a second and the next thing I knew the door was open and he was walking towards me!”

Setting the kid down, Roxy pulls herself together, attempting to look brave for him.  “It’s fine, I’ve got you now, he can’t do anything to you.”

Ushering Gregory down the steps, Roxy takes a look back to the vent above, only to see a pair of dim eyes staring back at her from the now dark room.  Rushing back to Gregory, Roxy let’s herself relax as she listens to the boy’s rambling.

“I’m really sorry Roxy, I couldn’t find any lift controls…all I could find was this disk thing…”  Taking the disk in her hands, Roxy smiled at the boy, nodding encouragingly.

“This is the performance disk!  If you put this in the sound booth we’ll be able to activate the lift controls from the main stage!”  A brief cheer erupted from Gregory, the boy opening the door ahead of them and ushering Roxy towards the main stage.

“Just wait here, I’ll go put this in the sound booth.  Don’t leave, alright?”  Looking down at her partially damaged body, Roxy can only lightly chuckle in response.

“Wouldn’t dream of it.”  Gregory nods with a smile, running towards the third floor with a new vigor in his steps.  

Letting herself collapse against the lift control button, Roxy takes a moment to fully realize what has been going on.  Her friends acting differently, that weird bunny, Vanessa acting more aggressive than usual, it’s just too much for her.  What happens when morning comes, do we just go back to normal..?  Is this the new normal..?

“I’m back!  Let’s go get you patched up!”  Gregory rushes up and slams his hand on the button, the lift slowly descending as Roxy sits herself up.

“And how are you gonna do that, huh?  You a secret mechanic or something?”

“There’s probably a manual around here somewhere!”

“Oh yeah, I’m sure there’s-”  A sickly chime echoes throughout the pizzaplex, something that has quickly become more familiar than it should’ve been.

“Bad children must be punished…”  The haunting image of Moon climbing down after them fills both of them with fear.

“Quick, get to the recharge station!”  Roxy yells, hoisting Gregory onto her back as she makes a beeline for the recharge station at the end of the hall.  She can hear Moon’s footsteps rapidly approaching as they get closer to the station.  Grabbing Gregory from off her back, Roxy pushes him into the station, having barely enough time to close it before she feels Moon grabbing her, her systems failing soon after.  

Chapter Text

“Y’know, we really have to stop running into each other like this.”  Roxy is forced awake by the machine restraining her, a small shock moving throughout her body.  She attempts to look towards the voice, but is startled to find her head being inches above the rest of her body.

“Real funny Vanessa, you should just quit your job and join a comedy club at this rate!”  Roxy feels the machine pulling slightly on her head, a momentary threat of her wires snapping.

“Y’know, I found the kid a while ago.  Had him locked in Lost and Found till he managed to slip out.  Wanna know what I found?”

“Not really, but if you insist I might as well.”

“No, I'm sure you’ll wanna hear this!  When I locked him up I confiscated his little fazwatch, kept repeating his name over and over again.  ‘Gregory…Gregory…’  Weird thing was it was in your voice.”  Roxy let out a small chuckle before quickly silencing herself, trying to keep her face straight.

“Probably just a big fan of mine, not that I blame him, I’m pretty great.”  Another tug at her wires stopped her small laughter, Vanessa’s cold stare on the other side of the glass.

“If you’re part of this, you're scrap.  We wouldn’t even need to find a replacement for you, it’s not like you were that big of a favorite anyway.”  Vanessa turns to leave through the elevators behind them, Roxy’s glare never leaving her.

Finally left alone, Roxy starts struggling against her arm restraints, trying to break the metal clasps without damaging her exposed wires.  The slamming of doors broke her concentration, looking up to see Gregory running in.

“Roxy!”

“Kid!  Oh thank god you’re alive…Quick, use that console and get me out!”  With a few clicks, probably randomly if Roxy’s being honest with herself, her head slowly reattaches as the doors slide up.

“How’d you even get locked up like this?”  Gregory asks, loosening her restraints enough for Roxy to break free herself.

“Vanessa.”  Snapping her restraints, she starts to storm towards the elevators, fully intending to follow the security guard.  She mashes the button to her room, muttering under her breath about how these elevators break all the time.

“Whoa…what’s all this?”  Gesturing towards the framed blueprints, Gregory leans closer to read the small notes in the margin of the papers.

“Just some upgrades they started handing out a few weeks back.  Something about a budget increase or something…”  Pointing at a blueprint of a pair of eyes, Roxy smirks at Gregory, “And that one was mine!”

“So you can see through walls?!  What can everyone else do?!”

“Chica got this voice box thing, Monty some claws, and Freddy just got some bigger chest cavity or something.”

Gregory gets starry-eyed, gesturing at each of the upgrades, “We have to get these!  We could upgrade you!”

“Absolutely not, I’d rather not take parts of my friends if I can help it.”  Freddy’s elevator door opens, Roxy turns to Gregory, winking at him, “Besides, I clearly got the best one.”

“Well where are we going anyways?”  Gregory hops in the elevator after Roxy, the duo leaving soon after as they break into Freddy’s vacant room.

“Monty golf.  You talk’n about upgrades made me realize you’re kinda defenseless…no offense.”  Looking through the walls, Roxy pulls Gregory into a corner to avoid a searching Security Bot, slipping by before it could turn back.

“None taken?  But what’s a golf course gotta do with protection, do you want me to attack the animatronics with a golf club?!  I’ll do it if you let me!”  Roxy barks out a laugh, quickly silencing herself as they enter the main atrium and follow the wall to Monty Golf.

“Nah kid, they store these Faz-cams in Monty Golf.  They can scramble our programming or something, the flash just fucks with something…Move.”  A bot standing in front of the Monty Golf elevator gets shoved to the ground as Roxy enters, Gregory quickly pushing the button for them to go down.

“Roxy!”

“What?  It wasn’t gonna move till we got a party pass and I can’t remember where we keep em!”  The doors open and the smells and sounds of a swamp fill the elevator.

“Yeesh, why’d they have to go for the smell too?!”

“Realism.  So you see that big Monty head against that wall?”

“Yeah?”

Roxy pushes Gregory onto her back, breaking into a sprint as she jumps from the ledge and towards the head.

“There’s a ladder behind a maintenance door, we can take it up to the rafters.”

Using Gregory’s collection of security badges, Roxy starts climbing the ladder, Gregory arms held tightly across her neck.  “Why do they keep cameras in the rafters?”

“I honestly have no idea, they just keep shoving them up here so nobody can use them I guess.”  Poking her head out, Roxy lifts Gregory and then herself onto the platform, cars to a separate attraction whirling around the area.

“I see one down there!”  Gregory yells, jumping off the platform and grabbing the camera.  Roxy came up behind him, placing a hand on his shoulder.

“Good job kid, now we just gotta get-”

A deafening roar interrupts them, Gregory holding his ears as they both look up to see Monty jumping down from one of the moving cars, the rafters shaking under the sudden weight.  “Rock and roll.”

“Gregory, get outta here, I’ll try to hold him off!”  Roxy pushes the boy behind her, squaring up against the gator before her.  As Gregory runs off, there’s a brief pause as they both stare each other down, waiting for the other to strike.

Roxy charges towards Monty, attempting to tackle him as the gator does the same.  They both meet in the middle, hands clasped in a test of strength.

“Why are you doing this, Monty?!  You’re trying to hurt a kid for fucks sake!”

“That don’t matter, our orders were clear as crystal, nab the kid no matter the cost.”

“What..?”  Monty, seeing Roxy’s moment of confusion, kicks her in the stomach, sending her tumbling backwards.  With a growl Roxy pounces onto Monty, the two rolling into the nearby railing.

She starts scratching and crawling at the gator, his glasses falling to the side as he rears back and punches her square in the jaw.

“Who told you to get the kid, huh?!”  Roxy jumps back from Monty, taking a moment to let herself breath.  He was stronger than her, much stronger, she couldn’t afford to be reckless.  Especially not with Gregory potentially somewhere nearby.

“Aww…if only you’d get the answer you were looking for..!”  A voice so different from Monty’s spoke through him, his body becoming rigid for a moment before he returned to normal…or whatever he was before.

“Roxy, quick, get Monty to the bucket!”  Roxy turned in shock to see Gregory waving her down, the giant bucket next to him flashing colors.  She grinned, turning on her heels to run from Monty, the slamming of his feet never far behind.

“Get over here!”  Gregory calls as Roxy runs from under the bucket, his fist slamming into the flashing button as Monty runs after them.  He teters in confusion, looking up as cheering and alarms ring out.  A gasp escapes him as the bucket tips, sending hundreds of plastic balls falling around him, the bucket falling onto him.

The rafters shake as the bucket’s weight becomes too much for the gator to hold, the metal giving way as all three of them fall below.  Roxy acts fast, grabbing hold of Gregory’s frame as she falls to the stage below with a slam, quickly followed by several slams as parts of Monty fall as well.

“Holy…is-is he dead..?”  A crestfallen Roxy only shakes her head, looking at Gregory with a sigh.

“No…no, he’ll be fine…We can’t really die…”  A weak laugh escapes her as Monty’s twitching eye ceases, “Nothing morning shift can’t fix, right?”

Gregory only awkwardly laughs in return, guiding Roxy back to the elevators.  “Roxy, are you…okay?”

A whirlwind of questions fills her mind, images and sounds overwhelming her as she feels herself collapse to the ground.  Why am I doing this?  What is happening?  Why did this happen?  Is this worth it..?

Gregory throws himself into Roxy, wrapping his arms around her neck.  “I’m glad it was you who found me…”  A choked sob escapes Roxy, she breaks away from Gregory and takes his hand.  Leading him to the elevator, Roxy feels them lifted higher, her muffled sobs subsiding enough for her to speak.

“I am too, kid…”

Chapter Text

With her face as hardened as stone, Roxy pulls Gregory out of the elevator and the duo finally sit down on the stairs together, each trying to process what had happened.

“How much time till six?”

“Thirty minutes.”  Roxy replies, resting her head back against the step behind her.  She takes the resting time to appreciate the silence, it’s not something that comes often in a pizzaplex…okay, maybe not at all…but it’s nice to finally not have to deal with the sounds of constantly patrolling…

Roxy jolts up, her ears moving slightly as she strains to hear even the faintest of movement.  She sees nothing either, no patrolling security bots or janitors sweeping the floors.

“We need to get to the entrance.”

“What?  Why?”  Gregory gets forced up by Roxy, struggling to keep up with her strides as she drags him through the main party area.

“Somethings wrong, all of the bots are gone.”  As they passed the stage and tables, Gregory noticed the lack of, well, anything.  The bot’s patrolling had been so familiar, the atrium now silent for the first time.

They stop at the base of the escalator, the overwhelming sense of dread filling Roxy.  She feels…watched.  Turning, her eyes lock with Freddy’s, his still form standing on the stage.

“Gregory…Gregory, we have to go!”  Forcing him onto her back, Roxy turns tail toward her raceway.

“What?  What’s wrong?”

“It’s Freddy!  He’s…different from the rest of us.  He’s the leader, so if anything were to go wrong, if one of us got too aggressive or…defected…he could override our sentience and control us for a while.  It was just some insurance clause, in case an animatronic got too out of control and they had a big show planned they could just have Freddy force them to perform.”

“Is he the one who’s been making the others attack me?!”

“No!  Something must’ve happened to him too, he always hated controlling us!  He would apologize for hours if he was forced to for a show…something is wrong with his eyes…”  The duo are forced to stop as the missing security bots all file out from the shadows, planting themselves in front of the doors to Roxy Raceway.

“Shit…”  Roxy mutters, turning back to run up the escalators as more doors to other attractions are blocked.

“Let me guess, he can control those too?”  Gregory’s joke is met with a glare as Roxy books it up the escalator, stopped again as more bots stand still before the doors.

Taking Gregory off her back, Roxy kneels to his level, “Listen, the antenna controlling the bots is in his hat, I’m gonna go down there and break it.”

She looks up, seeing Freddy walk down the stage and into the party area.  “You need to stay out of this one, okay?  Stay out of sight and away from the bots, their safety protocols are likely turned off and there’s no telling what they would do if they got you.”

Taking a deep breath in and out, Roxy pats Gregory’s head and shoos him away.  Freddy has gone still again, clearly waiting for Roxy’s arrival.  Stepping down from the escalator, each step felt like a thousand needles piercing her every wire.

Freddy’s eyes stared unblinking, never moving from Roxy’s own as she stood a few feet away from him.  They’re yellow now…

“Call off the bots, Freddy, it’s already over, just let the kid go.”  The desperation in her voice is clear, she wants this over with.

“You know I can’t do that, Roxanne.  Where’s the fun in that?”  That wasn’t Freddy’s voice, nothing about this was Freddy.  

Roxy wastes no time in charging at Freddy, swiping at the hat atop his head.  Her attack was blocked with ease, Freddy grabbing and twisting her arm behind her back.

“There’s still time, Roxanne, we can end this before anyone gets hurt.”  ‘Freddy’s  voice whispers next to Roxy’s ear, her arm slowly twisting further.

Roxy kicked at Freddy’s knee, barely breaking free before he grabbed her again, throwing her against a nearby photo booth.  Falling to the ground, leaving a dent in the photo booth, Roxy looks up at the steadily approaching Freddy.  “You should’ve backed down when you had the chance, Roxanne.”  Freddy stands above her, his foot pressing hard against her head.  She scratches and hits at his leg to no avail.

“I really do feel bad, you could’ve been one of the best…”  His foot presses harder into Roxy’s head, the framing around her endoskeleton threatening to snap at a moment's notice.

“Goodbye Roxanne, I’ll let the morning shift-”

“Say cheeze, bitch!”

Freddy looks up in surprise, a bright flash blinding him as he stumbles back.  Gregory comes out from inside the photo booth, picking up Roxy’s limp arm and ushering her up.

Roxy smirks at Gregory before tackling the blinding Freddy, taking him to the ground as she starts scratching and punching his head.  She feels herself go numb as her body acts on her own, Freddy’s twitching body weakly hitting at Roxy’s body.

Opening her eyes she didn’t realize were closed, Roxy looks down at her friend below her, his head unrecognizable from the person she’d known.  She lets out a sob she didn’t realize she had, standing up from Freddy’s body.

Gregory grabs her arm, leading her towards the escalator, “Nothing morning shift can’t fix, right?”  Another sob escapes her, this one mixed with laughter as she looks at the disconnected bots scattered across the floor.  They step over them, the elevator playing the familiar jingle as Roxy’s sobs get quieter.

“So…How’s it goin?  Saw what you did to Freddy!  That’s…uh…real nice of you!”  There’s clear humor in Vanessa’s voice, though whether she actually finds this situation funny is debatable.  “Look, it’s six, I'm tired, and I have to somehow explain what happened to the morning shift so could you please just leave?”

Gregory sticks his tongue out at the intercom, Roxy laughing to herself as the doors open.  The duo walk out, the shutter opening with a loud clang.

“C’mon, the door’s open Roxy, let’s go!”  

“Kid…I can’t…I can’t leave this place.”  

“Of course you can!  We can just hide you somewhere, let’s go!”  

Roxy sighs, “Kid, without a recharge station I'd be done within the hour.  I’m sorry, but I have to stay here.”  Gregory rushes towards Roxy for a hug, grasping him tightly as she holds back sobs.  Not now.  Not in front of the kid.  

“Roxy…If i leave now, nothing will change, will it?  Vanessa will still be here, there might be another attack.”  She sighs and nods, looking the boy in the eye.  

“Gregory, the door is open, and you can leave, but if you want you can stay and continue to investigate the Pizzaplex.  It is your decision, so what is it that you choose?”

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