Chapter Text
The Pizzaplex was up and running.
It’s been a few weeks since Gregory had fought that weird corpse in the basement. Apparently, the thing was behind everything that was going on. He was the reason why Freddy’s friends had attacked them and the reason for Vanny even existing. It was kind of scary how much a dead guy could ruin other people’s lives.
Vannesa looked like a wreck for a week after the incident. He could only imagine how awful it must feel being mind-controlled to kill people. After a few days, she managed to pull herself back together, hoping to right the wrongs she had done.
Freddy was ecstatic to have his friends back. All of them, after looking back in their memories, were horrified at what they had done. Ever since then, they have all been trying to make it up to Gregory.
Speaking of Gregory, he was living happily in the Pizzaplex. Ever since Vannesa found out he was homeless, she decided that an empty storage closet could be turned into a room. Freddy, after finding out Gregory was going to live at the Pizzaplex, immediately began helping in any way he could think of.
In short, these past weeks have been chaotic but nice. Gregory was learning something new every day. About him, about his new friends, and about the Pizzaplex.
Speaking of which, he was now doing another round of exploring the place. This time in the construction zone in Roxy’s Raceway. You would think they would get back to finishing the place now that there isn’t anything draining the power source but Gregory thinks at this point that they’re just lazy.
Walking down the dark hallways, Gregory hummed a tune he heard Freddy sing on stage, dragging his hand on the wall to keep himself balanced while holding a flashlight in his other hand.
That’s when he felt it.
His hand bumped into something cold and metal and Gregory stopped humming. He turned the flashlight onto the bump to find a hidden door handle. It was nearly impossible to see but it was there. Whoever made this door didn’t want it to be found. Gregory excitedly grabbed the handle and opened the door, his childish curiosity getting the best of him. Cool mysterious room to explore? Count him in!
Suddenly, as if flicking a switch, the atmosphere changed. It felt cold and dark as he shined his flashlight into the room. Files and boxes were scattered around the room everywhere as if a tornado came in and messed everything up. He began looking for a light switch only to see that it was taken out, only leaving wires coming out of a wall.
Walking forward, he bent down and picked up one of the files on the ground. Opening it revealed papers that seemed to be about taxes and bills for an old building, Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza, immediately boring Gregory. Who knows, maybe the higher-ups were committing tax fraud back then.
Gregory chuckled at the thought before throwing the file across the room. Not like it was anything useful inside.
Continuing his way forward he made his way through the sea of files on the ground just to get to a dead-end.
“Oh, come on! A secret room just for some boring files! Lame…” He let out a sigh.
Who knows, maybe one of these files does have something interesting in them. Bending down again, Gregory began picking up files and boxes in hopes of finding something interesting.
Shoving away a box, Gregory let out a surprised gasp at what he saw.
A trapdoor, perfectly hidden away.
He grabbed the handle and pulled on it but the door refused to budge.
“Gah! Stupid door!” Gregory glared at it as if that would make a difference.
‘Hey, wait a minute…’ Gregory facepalmed as he opened the door by pushing instead of pulling.
Inside was something that shocked him. A mini office, looking like it hasn’t been touched in years. It had eight mini tv screens and a bunch of buttons, all of them unlabeled. He could picture the poor adult sitting back here and watching the cameras on their knees and pressing the weird buttons. He could only imagine how annoying that got. It was also quite dark in the room. However, his flashlight made sure that wasn’t a problem.
Luckily, Gregory was quite small for his age. He should be able to enter the office and still be standing on his feet.
He did exactly that, entering the room and shutting the trapdoor behind him, Gregory immediately felt out of place and a chill climbing his back.
It felt like he didn’t belong where he was standing and someone was watching him and whispering at him to leave. That if he didn’t, he would be in danger. He silently began debating whether or not he should turn back.
Maybe he should ask Vannesa about this. She should know every room in the place, right? Maybe she could tell him what was back here. No need to do anything risky.
He turned around and noticed that the trapdoor had blended into the walls of the room, just like the door he found previously did. How great, wonderful even.
There was another, non-hidden door, but it most likely led deeper into whatever he just found.
Sighing, Gregory decided to approach the door and reach out towards the handle. Right as he was about to touch it, he suddenly heard voices speaking through the wall.
“I remember these posters.”
“I remember this, too,”
Oh no, this wasn’t good. Other people were here. While the animatronics and Vanessa knew about Gregory living in the Pizzaplex, no one else is supposed to know.
Immediately turning around, Gregory began feeling for the trapdoor on the wall to escape.
‘Where could it be? It’s not like it can disappear!’
The voices got closer to his location as he desperately looked for the door. Some footsteps stopped as one got closer to him.
“My whole life I’ve felt uneasy when I’ve seen that phrase, even if it’s just at a vending machine.”
“I know what you mean.”
The doorknob to the room visibly jiggled a bit.
“Found it,” A man’s voice right outside spoke.
Gregory’s eyes widened. He was trapped. There was nowhere for him to go.
Someone turned the knob and tried to open the door. The door, however, didn’t open.
Gregory felt the tension leave his body. Whoever was out there couldn’t get in. Maybe he could wait for them to go away.
“Locked?”
“I don’t think so…”
“Let me try!”
The knob turned once again and the door opened. Gregory felt like time itself stopped as he came face to face with four other people.
~~~
If Carlton didn’t know better he would assume that the child in front of them was one of the missing kids from ten years ago. The boy's hair was unkempt yet his clothes looked new on him. His shirt was red with black stars on it and his pants had little lightning bolts on them. He was holding a flashlight and looked horrified as if his parents just got murdered in front of him.
No one said a word, as if they just began a staring contest and the loser would have to admit to the worst crime they did.
“Uh, hi there?” Carlton waved nervously.
The boy continued to stare at them. If Carlton didn’t see his eyes move up and down, he would be sure the boy was a statue.
“Who are you?” The boy asked.
His voice was clear and cautious as if he was on defense. How long was this kid here for? Why did he look so scared?
“Well, my name is Marla, the others next to me are Carlton, Lamar, and Jessica,” Marla took over, pointing at the others as she introduced them, “Who might you be?” Her voice was calm and steady.
Marla was amazing at working with kids. Normally, she could calm down a child with ease but the kid in front of them looked like he didn’t trust them a bit. In fact, Carlton was sure if he got any closer the boy would bite him like a feral animal.
“...Gregory….”
The boy finally spoke. He sounded hesitant as if he was scared of saying something important to them.
“Gregory? What a nice name! Can you tell me what you’re doing here?” Marla asked.
“I’m here to do nunya,” Gregory eased his body a bit, tilting his head as if to see if anyone else was there.
“Nunya? What’s that?” Jessica spoke up.
“None ya business!”
Carlton held back a chuckle as Gregory grinned to himself proudly. To him, he just told the greatest joke in existence. To the others, their reactions ranged. Jessica didn’t even look shocked, instead, she looked disappointed in herself for not seeing that coming. Marla and Lamar, on the other hand, looked at each other with a bit of amusement.
Honestly, it was a shock no one expected those words. Why would someone they just met tell them what they’re doing?
Carlton grinned as he pointed to Gregory, “I like this kid. He’s funny,”
“Of course you do, he’s like a mini-you,” Jessica sighed.
“Hey, kid. I know we must look scary to you but I promise we ain’t gonna get you in trouble. You can come out, ya know?” Lamar stated.
“Alright, I’ll come out,” Gregory sighed.
The group moved away from the Control Room door, allowing Gregory to climb out and get a look around.
~~~
Gregory looked at everything around him with a sense of awe. The being displaced feeling faded as he looked at what was around him. He was in a room with a mini-stage with a curtain and sign that states Out of Order. It looked worn down though as if it has been untouched for ages.
Actually, the whole room looked like that.
“Gee, why are you looking at everything like it is brand new? Didn’t you see all of this before?” Carlton asked.
“No, I have never been to this part of the building,” Gregory admitted.
“This part of the building?” Jessica muttered but Gregory wasn’t paying attention to them, instead, his eyes focused on his surroundings.
He walked towards the mini-stage and grabbed the curtain before looking back at the group, “Am I allowed to look inside?”
“Uh, sure?” Marla nervously fiddled with her fingers as Gregory peeked inside the curtain.
An animatronic stood tall inside. Gregory looked over at it, taking in everything about him. His right eye was covered with an eyepatch and his right hand was a hook. Gregory gasped before blinking in surprise.
“Oh, this is Foxy! Foxy the Pirate Fox!” He grinned to himself, proud that he remembered the fox’s name. He remembers Freddy talking about him. Apparently, he had his own ride and everything but just like Bonnie, he was decommissioned.
He wonders if this was the same Foxy or not. He doesn’t seem to fit Glamrock's style at all.
“You know him?” Carlton seemed surprised.
“Yeah! I see him everywhere around the mall!” Gregory exclaimed like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
“There are images of Freddy’s in the mall?” Marla whispered, way too low for Gregory to hear.
“That’s strange,” Lamar whispered back.
“What is?” Gregory asked, facing the duo.
“Ah- It’s nothing. Though, may I ask you a question?” Lamar asked.
“Yeah, sure,” Gregory nodded.
“Where are your parents?”
Ah…the dreaded yet inevitable question. He remembers when Vanessa asked him after he got rid of the corpse. That wasn’t a fun time at all. He bit his lip nervously and began messing with his hands.
“My parents? They’re both…busy at the moment,” He answered.
The group looked at each other and then back at him.
“Uh, alright then, do you want to come with us for right now?” Carlton asked.
“Sure, why not,” Gregory shrugged.
Freddy and his friends wouldn’t be done performing for a few hours and Vannesa was busy with paperwork. Following a group of strangers through a weird part of the Pizzaplex? Sounds fun, great even. If something goes wrong, well, Gregory survived killer robots. Teens can’t be that much harder, right?
Well, whatever is ahead he’ll be prepared for.
Hopefully….