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"F-Freddy. I-I don't think this would be a good idea!" Gregory attempted to turn around and flee, but Glamrock Freddy was having none of it. His whole metal body blocked a doorway.
"Gregory," Freddy was flabbergasted. "You now told me you are ready to see the others. What is making you change your mind?"
"I-I don't know, Freddy! You know I always change my mind at the last second." Gregory muttered the last sentence to himself as he crossed his arms over his chest.
"I hate to stress you out more, superstar, but if you are going to live here in the Megaplex with me, then you will eventually have to bond with the others. It will not be healthy to avoid the inevitable."
"Freddy, please... just one more day. I promise I will meet them soon. I will go visit Monty tomorrow if I have to. I need to think more about this." Gregory's puppy dog eyes forced Freddy to agree with him.
He would allow this form of leniency only once.
"Alright, Gregory." Freddy gave in. "But you will be visiting Montgomery tomorrow like you said. I cannot allow you to live in fear for the rest of your life. I only want what is best for you. No matter how stubborn you may be, you will always be my superstar. I will be patient for you one last time. I hope you have a good night's sleep." Freddy looked at Gregory one more time with a hint of sadness and worry. The concerned animatronic bear ruffled the boy's hair. He turned away from the stubborn, lonely kid and left his room to visit his dearest friends.
*****
"N-No, not again!" Gregory hissed as he scrambled away from the giggling threat behind him. Of course Vanny would find him again. She always did. There was no stopping her nor getting away from her.
If he imagined that he could ever have a normal life, then he might as well would have started dreaming about rainbows and unicorns. It's never going to happen.
"Are you having fun yet?"
Her cold, rough voice and soft footsteps kept inching closer and closer. There was no way he was going to make it. He swore he could feel her breath on his neck as he stumbled from his aimless running.
Suddenly, he felt her knife slash deeply along the back of his arm. He screamed as he fell on his hands and knees. He flipped around and scooted away from her as fast as he could. Holding onto his bleeding arm, he felt woozy from all the desperate movement and the constant blood loss. She skipped towards him. Everything was always a game to her. Nothing was ever important to that insane bunny. Well, the only important thing to her was completing Glitchtrap's duty.
Vanny flicked the blood off the blade with only an index. She snickered as Gregory was finally trapped in a corner, his back pressed against the wall. He so badly wanted to disappear. He wanted to cry, but the nightmare didn't allow him to feel more than the fear gripping his chest. She aimed the knife close to his face; hovering the knife close to his left eye. He squeezed them shut as he waited with anticipation for the worst to happen like it did in all his other nightmares.
... Instead, there were clatters and shouts coming from Montgomery Gator far away from where they were. Somehow, that caused Vanny to run away from the area, never looking back towards Gregory's startled expression.
It all didn't matter anyways since he was still bleeding out profusely. Before he could lay on the floor from weakness, he woke up.
*****
Gregory sat up. He might as well have had a whiplash because he raised his body up so fast. It seemed he was sleepwalking to Monty's Gator Golf. He looked at his fazwatch. The technicians reupdated the watch so he could see what time it is without having to repeatedly search for a nearby wall clock. It said 7:00am.
It was a miracle that there were no customers around at this time going to Gator Golf. However... he wasn't ready to meet Monty yet.
"Fuck it! I need to see him. I can't just keep running away. It's not like me to do that at all." Gregory snapped to himself as he stomped into the play area. The boy figured it was because he finally had someone to look out for him and care for his life, also to carry all of his burdens. Now, he's become often vulnerable and delicate like a real, normal child would be.
He didn't know whether he hated it, or appreciated it.
Entering farther and farther into the room, he could finally hear Monty playing with his game. "Cool move! Hole in one as usual. Ya haven't lost your style yet." Monty's voice was muffled and far away. Gregory knew he had to go on a full search for the gator at this point.
After searching for more than 10 minutes(did the place really have to be this big?), he found the animatronic about to hit the next golf ball into its respective hole. Gregory waited graciously until he did. The least the boy wanted to do was make Monty angry of all things. That gator was always enraged enough. Gregory would've not been in the mood to deal with it.
"Hole in one again! Monty, you're truly-" Monty stopped from moving once he turned around and saw the boy stand in his spot stiffly.
"Hey, little guy-"
Gregory's mind immediately switched onto a horrid memory of him running away from Monty when he was maliciously hacked. The poor boy always thought he was going to lose his life. If he tripped even once-
"Gregory! Snap out of it!" Monty sounded desperate as he kept his clawed hands on the kid's shaky shoulders. "Tis only a bad memory. Don't let it get to ya, kid."
Gregory's eyes were shut tight. His lip was quivering. Finally, he was slowly opening his eyes as he laid his hands onto the sides of Monty's face.
"There. That's it, kiddo. You're fine. You're safe. There's no need ta worry your socks off anymore. I've gotcha, Gregory."
There. Monty said his name again. The gator never called him by his first name before, even when he was hacked. That was what snapped Gregory out of his trapped, suffering mind.
"I-I-I'm s-so sorry, Monty. I don't kn-know-"
"No." Monty growled. "It's not your fault for having PTSD and you know it. We should be the ones apologizing for not trying to help you heal from it sooner. So, I..." Monty cringed a little. He was not used to apologizing to anyone before, but even he knew how important this would be to do so. He only just learned how horrible PTSD was, after all. Let alone a child suffering with it. He couldn't allow the poor kid to go through with it any longer. He also couldn't allow his ego to take full control of him so often. "I am sorry for what I and the girls had done to you. We know we were hacked and all that bullshit, but that still doesn't excuse what we'd done to you. The girls and I all planned that once you wanted to hang out with us, then we would allow you to play our games with us. So, now you play golf with me. How's that sound, little guy?"
"Um..." Gregory was never the kind of person to immediately agree on many things, unless if his life depended on it. Now, he didn't have to fight to survive. It made him feel weird. He felt as if something bad had to happen soon. There was no way things could work out so suddenly. He couldn't believe that any of this was becoming his new reality. The boy looked at the floor and crossed his arms over his chest.
"Hey," Monty's robotic voice was the softest it ever was. Both of his arms were raised. "If ya don't want to play, then that's okay. We can just simply hang out and talk about random things. I don't care either way. I only want ya to get better, kiddo."
Gregory sighed. His eyes averted from the floor and were trained onto Monty's eyes. "I will play golf with you. If I keep on sucking at your game, then we can hang out and talk. Deal?" The 10-year-old reached out a hand.
Monty shook the boy's hand. "That's a deal, little guy. Okay, let's get started!"
Whenever Gregory couldn't hit the ball correctly into its hole, Monty would make fun of him for it. Gregory knew the gator was being playful, so he always stuck his tongue out at the animatronic after every mock he was given. The few times when he did get the ball as a hole in one, Monty would congratulate him with a high five. These moments he spent with the active and sometimes aggressive animatronic made him actually feel... a little more important. Gregory wished he trusted Monty enough to share his inner emotions with, but he just couldn't make himself do it. Number one, Monty was never the type to spew about his emotions, let alone talk about such a thing with anyone else. Number two, Gregory was always too stubborn to allow himself to become that vulnerable to anyone, especially to those who he's just met. He simply wanted to have a good time with Monty. To him, it was the best way to bond with someone like the gator. He knew he had to do the same with Roxanne. She and Monty weren't too different in that regard.
Finally, the games were over. The animatronic and boy sat down on a bench. After awkwardly sitting there for a few minutes, Gregory finally started a conversation.
"So... how are the others doing?" Gregory twiddled his thumbs. He couldn't look at the gator.
"Could be better," Monty grunted, "but it also could be a lot worse. We are still recoverin from what happened, but I believe we are doing just fine."
"M-Monty?"
"What is it, little guy?"
Gregory wasn't sure if he was ready to continue, but his stubbornness told him otherwise. "I am very sorry for what I did to you, Chica, and Roxy. I-I-"
Monty laid a hand on the 10-year-old's shoulder. "Hey now. Don't blame yourself like that. You had to do what you had to do. You were survivin. And it's not like we weren't attackin ya or anythin. We were provokin ya to attack. We attacked you and put you in a grave amount of danger. We should be the ones apologizin, not you."
"B-But... I hurt you guys. I think I may have hurt Freddy too for placing all your parts on him. It w-was-"
Monty was having none of it. He held in his non-existant breath, then hugged the troubled boy roughly.
Gregory's eyes widened as his arms immediately wrapped around the gator's large body by instinct. He couldn't believe that this animatronic in particular was hugging him. Out of all of them, he least expected Monty to hug him. Yet, here they were. Monty let him go. "I want ya to know that what ya had to do was not your fault. It will never be your fault. If one of the others ends up sayin so, then call me over. I'll be changin their minds quick." Monty cracked his knuckles.
Gregory giggled. "Okay, Monty. That's another deal we can shake hands on." They do so.
"Also, if what ya did really was the wrong thing to do at the wrong time, then I would think Freddy would've punished ya at this point. Right?"
"Weeeell... I don't really see Freddy having the heart to punish me ever." Gregory crossed his arms once more and smirked at the gator.
"Heh... kiddo, ya will be surprised at what he can be capable of. He is the leader for a reason, after all. I've seen him on a couple of bad days."
"Really? I don't believe that for a second." Gregory raised an eyebrow.
"That's exactly what I thought before, little guy. I soon figured out how wrong I was to deny how tough your papa bear can really be."
Gregory smiled. "Well, I'm glad he at least isn't 100% a pushover."
"Yeah, he's more like 99%." Monty winked.
Gregory laughed. Monty of course was right.
"Yeah, Freddy acts like a pussy, doesn't he?" Gregory then realized that he swore in front of an adult. He shivered with a little bit of fear at what may happen.
Monty grunted as if trying not to laugh. "Hey, kiddo. It's okay if ya swear around me. I already said a couple swears in front of you. Trust me, ya will not die if ya swear again." Monty shook his head. He never understood that stupid swear rule anyways. That could be because he and Roxy tended to have teens join them instead of little kids.
"How many swears will it take to break Monty?" Gregory smirked.
"None. The least I will do is maybe make sure that Freddy don't hear ya. If he did, then I would be the one to blame. Heaven knows I don't want to have another stupid argument about no swearing allowed." Monty rolled his eyes.
"Well, fuck. Let's hope he never finds out, then." Gregory snickered.
Monty chuckled. "Ya really are an awesome kid. I still can't believe we all attacked ya the way we did."
"It's alright. I've forgiven you three for a long while now." The boy assured.
Suddenly, an animatronic cleared his throat behind them.
"U-Uh, hello Freddy! What brings you here?" Monty scratched the back of his neck nervously once he saw Freddy's facial expression.
"Have you been teaching Gregory new swear words, Montgomery Gator?" Freddy glared. He laid a hand on Gregory's shoulder in a protective, paternal way.
"No. The little brat said it all on his own!" Monty snapped.
"He's telling the truth, Freddy." Gregory sighed. "I was homeless for who knows how long before you guys took me in, so I learned a lot of... colorful language while surviving out there."
"It is unfortunate that you had to deal with that, Gregory. I am so glad I adopted you and I will never regret doing so under any circumstances. Nor would I even think of such a thing. I could not imagine what you must have went through back then." Freddy's ears and eyelids moved down with sadness. "Hopefully you may never have to go through that ever again."
"Ugh, it's turning too sappy around here." Monty groaned. "I'm gonna start playin golf again while ya two just... do whatever." Monty jumped to another area and rushed far away.
Gregory laughed at Monty's reaction, but immediately stopped at now Freddy's determined expression. "Gregory, you will not be seeing Monty again for a little while."
"Hey!" Gregory exclaimed. "Why not?" He tried to pull away once Freddy had a hold of his wrist. They were exiting the golf course.
"I do not tolerate someone as young as you speaking the... horrid language you said earlier."
"Freddy, it's really not that bad! Honest!"
"Gregory, just wait here in my room. I'll be back soon." Freddy sat Gregory down on the couch full of Glamrock Freddy plushies. Gregory was a little nervous by Freddy's reaction. He had to mentally admit it to himself. He waited and Freddy came back like he promised.
It looked like the animatronic bear had a little Nintendo Switch in his hand.
"Freddy... is that what I think it is?" Gregory's eyes widened with child-like wonder.
"Yes. Do you like it?"
"Yeah, of course!" Gregory snatched it out of Freddy's big hands. "Why are you giving this to me now? Am I missing something here?"
"No, not at all." Freddy beamed. "I simply felt like spoiling you."
"Uh... isn't that what grandpas do?"
"Well... yes, but... I am giving this to you because you deserve to have something you may have never had before in your childhood."
"Y-You're right, Freddy. I've never gotten something like this before. Thank you." Gregory began to cry softly as he hugged his new dad.
Freddy pat his back. "I will always allow you to live the rest of your childhood the way you are supposed to. You deserve that much and so much more, my superstar. It's the least I can do."