Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The car slowly pulled into the parking lot of the establishment. The driver of the car parked and climbed out. His purple suit took in the warmth of the sun as he looked at the building, particularly the sign that was placed over the main entrance. Freddy Fazbear's Pizza, boy what a wild ride it had been for the place in the past few weeks. Five children had gone missing on the premises of the place, and five children had never been found.

Today was the day that the place was finally allowed to be reopened to the public. It took a lot of convincing, but the owner, William Afton, had managed to persuade the police department into giving up their investigations. To call it a miracle that the police were able to be convinced to drop the case so soon would be an understatement. Either way, William was just relieved that he could finally be back to running his business as usual.

He unlocked the front doors and went over to find the main power switch to turn on all the lights. William made his way to the office and was greeted with the sight of papers being scattered across his desk. Just how he left it. William felt rather relieved that the office was still the same. It felt nice knowing he wouldn't have to dig through his desk drawers just to find certain papers or files.

About a half hour passed by as William sorted through and organized various files when he noticed that one of the employees had clocked in. It must've been one of the newer employees, since William didn't recognize her all too well. The only way he was able to tell she was an employee was from the purple uniform she wore. He watched her on the cameras as she looked up at the animatronics for a moment. She seemed fascinated by them before turning around and heading towards the office.

William turned around and saw the employee standing in the doorway. She was a rather short and young looking woman. If he had to guess, she was probably fresh out of school and possibly in college.

"Is there something I can help you with?" William asked to break the silence.
"Oh, uh, I was just here to ask about that request forum I made before the place closed." She said in a rather professional tone.
"I see. What was the request forum for exactly?" William turned to his desk. He remembered he had seen a request forum a few minutes ago. Perhaps it was still on the desk.
"It was to transfer shifts, sir. I came in early to talk to you about it."

He managed to find the request forum she had mentioned. At the top was the name, "Stephanie Ryan," along with the photo of the girl.

"Ah yes, it says here you want to get moved to the night shift. Correct?" William read the paper and looked at her.
"Yes. I heard that the previous night guard had quit and the position was open." Stephanie explained, "Besides, I don't think the dayshift is for me."
"What makes you say that?"
"Oh nothing. Just sometimes parents and kids can get a bit much to deal with, y'know?"
"I understand." William nodded.

William would put down the paper and stood up. He practically towered over Stephanie. The height difference between the two felt cartoonishly exaggerated, "In that case, I'll show you around the office." Stephanie fully entered the office as William went over to one of the doors. He placed a hand on one of the buttons and pushed it. The door slammed down and William began to speak.

"As you know, there's two doors in the office. Both doors have these buttons that do different things. As you saw, the one I just pushed closes it shut. This is to ensure the safety of any of the night guards in case of a burglary." William pushed the button to open the door. He then pushed another button and lights flickered near the door, "This is so you can see. We have to keep the building dark due to our faulty generators. We plan to get new ones, but that won't be for at least a month or so."

Stephanie was listening intently to what William said. She was mentally making notes in the back of her mind. William walked over to the security system and showed Stephanie how to use it, "Here is the security system. It's very easy to use. You just push the little squares and you'll see out of the camera in that spot." He then paused, "I believe that's everything you need to know. Any questions?"

"No, I think I got everything done." Stephanie said after thinking for a moment.
"Good. You'll start Monday." William informed her.
"Got it! I'll see you later, Mr. Afton! Thanks for showing me around!" Stephanie would wave to William and exit the office.
"Farewell. Stephanie."

Chapter Text

It was Monday morning and Stephanie was out on her daily walk. She was zoning off, thinking about her upcoming shift, when she felt a wet nose of a dog touch her leg. She looked down and saw an old basset hound sniffing her leg. Stephanie smiled as she recognized the basset hound. It was her neighbor's dog named, "Dog."

"Hey, Dog. I didn't know you were on a walk too." Stephanie said as she pet the basset hound. She saw that the dog was attached to a leash and at the other end was her neighbor. He was an older man with a wife and kids, and worked at the local police department. Stephanie greeted him with a smile, "Morning, Mr. Columbo."

"Morning,Stephanie." The lieutenant greeted her, "I didn't know you went on morning walks."
"I can say the same for you, Mr. Columbo. It's usually just me wandering around the neighborhood at this hour."
"Oh, it's just something we started today. My brother-in-law told me that I should start walking the dog each morning. He said it would be good for his health and all."
"Ah, I see." Stephanie nodded, "Oh! Remember how I told you I was applying for the night shift at my job?"
"Yeah, I remember you telling my wife about it, and then she told me."
"Oh, right- Anyway, my first shift starts tonight!"
"Really? Shouldn't you be sleeping right now? Y'know that way you're awake for your shift."
"Well, technically I could be, but I have to run an errand or two. I plan to go back to sleep around noon."
Columbo nodded, "I'll get out of your hair then. You have a good rest and good luck with your shift." He waved her goodbye and began to walk off
"You have a good day, Mr. Columbo!" Stephanie waved back before continuing with her morning walk.

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She entered the building at around 11:50 pm. Just 10 minutes before her shift started. The building looked rather eerie to her at night. It was quiet and dark, it was like all the life in the place was now gone. Stephanie did her best to just shrug it off and went to the office. She stretched her arms as she got in the swivel chair.

The clock struck 12 and her shift officially started. Stephanie occasionally flipped through the cameras. A few minutes passed by and Stephanie pulled out a tape recorder. She figured it would be a nice way to pass the time since she was going to be all alone for the next 6 hours.

"Hello? Hello, hello? I hope this thing is recording." Stephanie set the recorder on the desk, "My name is Stephanie Ryan. The recent guard at Freddy's Fazbear's Pizza. I requested to switch over shifts after our last guy, Mike, decided to quit. The building looks very different from the day shift, but I'll get used to it. I'm honestly not too sure what I plan to accomplish by making these recordings. I just bought this recorder to pass the time. Welp, I guess I'll end this part here so I don't waste the whole tape." Stephanie stopped recording and went back to looking at the cameras.

To her surprise, the blue rabbit animatronic, Bonnie, was looking right into the stage camera. It was very off putting to say the least. However, Stephanie kept herself calm. It would be ridiculous to get worked up over something like this. The animatronic must be just acting up and she could tell the mechanic to fix it in the morning.

Time slowly passed by, and the animatronic problems didn't stop there. Two of the stage animatronics, Bonnie and Chica, had begun to wander around on their own. Stephanie was recording herself in an attempt to put her mind at ease, "Bonnie and Chica are moving on their own. It's honestly eerie as all hell. I think there's something wrong with their systems or whatever it is that causes them to work. I plan to tell the mechanic or Mr. Afton about this whenever my shift is over. I'm mainly focusing on keeping them out of the office. I have a feeling that letting them into the office would be a dangerous move."

Chapter Text

Stephanie was relieved once 6 am finally rolled around. The animatronics had stayed away from the office throughout the night, but it had still been stressful to keep track of them. Even though it was 6am now, Stephanie still wasn't too sure if it was safe to go out of the office. She decided to just want for someone else to arrive.

She didn't have to wait for long. One of the day guards had clocked in. He walked into the office and was surprised to see Stephanie, "Oh, you're still here?"

"Yeah. I didn't feel quite safe leaving the office. Apparently the animatronics stroll around the place at night." Stephanie felt like she sounded crazy when she said it.
"Oh, no one told you about that?"
"What?"
"Yeah, the animatronics are put in a free roaming mode at night. It's supposed to keep their servos from locking up."
"I did not know that…"
"Well, I can't really say it's common knowledge. Really only the mechanics or people who know the mechanics know. Well, the night guards too, but no one really talks to the night guards. No offense of course!"
Stephanie laughed, "None taken."
"Sorry about you having to go in without knowing the animatronics roam freely at night. I heard it's also a huge thing to not let them in the office. I heard a rumor that they'll attack you or something. None of the guards have actually been attacked by them though. I think it's just a precautionary tale someone made up."
"Good thing I made sure they stayed away too then. Oh crap, where are my manners? Sorry, my name is Stephanie Ryan." She extended her hand to him
"The name's Lucas." He shook her hand.
"It was nice talking to you, Lucas, but I think I'm going to head home now. I'll see you later." Stephanie got up and walked out of the office.

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It was late at night. Freddy's had just closed and William was all alone in the building. He had a few hours before the night shift began. Enough time to finish up something he had been thinking about for awhile. He opened the supply closet door and went inside.

He turned on the light for the supply closet and opened up one of the large cabinets that had been placed in the room long ago. Inside were a few boxes labeled, "Spring Bonnie." William took the boxes out. He opened the boxes and looked at all the pieces of the yellow suit that he purposely scattered through the boxes. If you were to put all the pieces of the suit together, it would create a giant rabbit costume that only William could fit in. The rabbit costume itself had once been a beloved mascot for a place called, "Fredbear's Family Diner."

The Diner was closed around two years ago in 1983 due to an incident that was named, "The Bite of '83." It was a tragedy that actually had involved William's own son, and is one he'd personally not like to discuss. He looked at the pieces and began to take them out. William took the time to carefully reassemble the suit. He gently placed the suit against the wall and picked up the now empty boxes.

William entered the parts and service room. He went over to one of the suits, specifically a spare Bonnie suit. The suit William chose for this was an older Bonnie suit, it looked decayed compared to the rest. No one would really notice it would be gone, so William took apart the Bonnie suit and placed the pieces in the boxes. He then simply threw all the boxes into the trash.

Back in the supply closet, William put on the Spring Bonnie costume. It was easier to move the suit around this way. William walked around the empty building. He stopped to look at the animatronics, a wide smile across his face. William then walked into the bathroom hallway and went to the very back. He placed his hand on the wall and opened up a hidden door that blended in perfectly with the wall. William went inside the room. The only thing inside were two tables, a knife, a jug of embalming fluids, and various tools that were commonly found in funeral homes.

William remembered his days as a mortician very well. It was his first job before he decided to change careers and open up Fredbear's Family Diner with his business partner at the time. He still had the keys to the funeral home and was still friends with the workers. He even offered to help them from time to time. Unknown to them, however, they were all pawns. Pawns in a complex game just so William could easily access these tools and chemicals. Tools and chemicals whose only purpose served to keep bodies fresh.

William took off the suit and sat it upright against the well. The rabbit suit held nothing but precious memories. Tossing it out would be like putting down the family dog for him. All he needed to do was one more thing.

Ten minutes was all William had before Stephanie would be arriving to take her shift. Ten minutes to get rid of the security footage that would expose him if anyone looked through them. Ten minutes to stage a perfect and reasonable accident. William had a cup of coffee placed on the desk. It was still hot. He placed the cup near the security system and knocked it over.

William watched happily as the security system began to malfunction. His smile was reflected in the glass of his watch as he looked down to check the time. Stephanie would be here any minute now. As he expected, he heard someone enter the office.

"Hey, Mr. Afton. What are you still doing here? It's 11:45pm." Stephanie said.
"Stephanie! Oh, I didn't see you there!" William acted surprised, "What bad timing too."
"What do you mean? I've arrived on time for my shift." She looked at him, confused.
"Well, you see, I was finishing up some paperwork. I did it that way I can get a head start for tomorrow. As I was working though, I accidentally spilled my coffee all over the security system." William explained.
"Wait, so the security system malfunctioned right before my shift?!"
"Unfortunately, yes." William sounded as upset as she did, "I'm sorry, Stephanie. I'll give you a bonus to your paycheck this week."
"It's alright." Stephanie lied. She knew she would have an extremely difficult time with keeping track of the animatronics now, "I can just keep the doors closed for tonight! Nothing will be able to get in the office, and nothing will get out."
"Yes, that sounds like a great idea." William then walked to the door, "I'll be heading home now. I'll see you tomorrow in the morning."
"I'll see you tomorrow as well, Mr. Afton."
"Have a good night, Stephanie."
"You have a good night too, Mr. Afton."

William then left the building, leaving Stephanie and the animatronics all alone.

Chapter Text

Stephanie really wished William hadn't accidentally ruined the security system. She was curled into a ball on the swivel chair. It was scary to be in the office without being able to see what was going on. There had been a few times Stephanie had heard banging on the door and footsteps running around. The only thing keeping her sane was her recorder,

"Night 2 on the job and I have no security system! I must have the luck of the Irish, haha." She sighed, "God this night feels like it's been dragging on forever. It's only 2am and I just want to go home. I should've asked Mr. Afton to take tonight off when I saw him. I've had the doors closed for a while now. I should open them. It would save power. I'll check the lights first."

Stephanie reached over to the buttons and flickered the light. Chica was staring directly at her through the window. She let out a scream, "Nope! Certainly not!" She held the recorder close to her chest,"Alright. I'm gonna turn off the recorder for now. I'll just stay here and, uh, reassure myself that I'll be ok." Before Stephanie turned off the recorder, she looked at one of the monitors. It showed her that she had 87% power left. She let out a sigh before turning it off.

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The night continued to drag on. It was 5:55am now. Stephanie managed to keep the power still going by periodically opening the doors back up and closing them. She was beyond excited. All she needed to do was wait a little longer. Her excitement quickly faded away as the office went dark. The swivel chair was pushed all the way to the back wall of the office. Fear began to rush through her body as two eyes in the dark appeared in the left doorway.

The sound of an old melody filled the office as the eyes glowed. They were staring right at the terrified night guard. The melody then stopped and the eyes disappeared. Stephanie thought for a split second she was safe before an animatronic bear suddenly attacked her. Freddy let out a horrible screech as he knocked Stephanie to the floor. Stephanie put all her might into fighting off the robotic attacker. Their hands were locked as she used her strength to keep them away from her body. That was when Stephanie felt nothing but pure agony as Freddy bit down on her neck. He tore off a chunk of her flesh from her neck down to her shoulder. Warm blood began to profusely ooze out of the wound and Stephanie's screams filled the building.

Through her screaming, Stephanie felt the bear pick her up and take a few steps before suddenly dropping her. The chimes of 6am could be heard as Freddy walked off and headed towards the stage. To him, everything that he just did to the night guard never occurred. Using what was left of her strength, Stephanie crawled towards the desk and grabbed her recorder.

"I made it through! Haha…" She was breathing heavily as she sat against the wall, "Y'know I thought for a moment I wouldn't be making it out of here and would be dead by 6, but here I am!" The recorder was picking up each of her uneven breaths, "Man, this bonus better be worth it…"

She suddenly heard footsteps and saw a light in the hallway. William's figure entered the office with a flashlight in hand. He sounded shocked when he saw Stephanie.

"Stephanie!" He rushed over to her, "What happened?!"
"Hey…Mr. Afton." Stephanie was struggling to speak at this point. The words struggled to leave her mouth, "It turns out the rumor about the animatronics attacking the guards is true…Man, that bonus you'll give me- "
"Yes, yes I promise the bonus will be worth it! Just hold on!" William begged
"It's…getting so- "
"No! Stephanie, don't go into the light! Stay with me!"
Stephanie looked like she was about to speak, but her breath began to slowly die out. Within that moment, she was gone.
"Damn it!" William yelled.

William then reached over to Stephanie's recorder and turned it off. His devastated expression then turned into one of pure, sadistic joy. He then stood up and looked down at Stephanie's corpse.

"I told you those generators were faulty."

Chapter Text

Columbo sighed as he looked down at the body. It was early in the morning and he was staring at the bloody, mangled corpse of his neighbor. This wasn't the first time he had seen a body. The lieutenant had grown used to the sight over his years in the homicide department. It was just the state the body was in that seemed to really get with him, not to mention that he knew the victim as well.

The police had only been at the pizzeria for an hour and were already able to figure out that Freddy is what killed Stephanie. The bear had blood all over his face, not to mention the trail that led from the office all the way to him. It felt like a sick, proud trophy that someone had put up. The lieutenant walked over to the guy who called the police in the first place, William Afton.

"Mr. Afton, I'm Lieutenant Columbo. I'm in the homicide department for the Hurricane Police." He introduced himself, "I'd like to ask you a few questions. It's just for my report."
"Go right ahead," William looked down at the lieutenant.
"How exactly did you come across the body?" Columbo took out a small notebook and began to fumble through his coat pockets, "Oh, this is embarrassing, do you have a pen? Sorry, my wife told me to take a pen with me today, but I guess I must've lost it."
"Here, you can use mine," William gave Columbo a pen from his pocket before speaking, "You see, lieutenant, I actually had talked with Stephanie when he first got here to start her shift. I was staying here late to finish up some paperwork. It's something I do quite often, it always gives me time to relax by the end of the week. Unfortunately, I had spilled coffee on the security monitor right when Stephanie came in. I explained to her what happened, but she didn't seem all too worried. She told me that she would just keep the doors closed for the night," William then sighed, "I told her it was a bad idea."

William felt a part of himself chuckle. Of course on the outside he had a somber expression, but on the inside he was having the time of his life. It was such a simple detail to lie about, but it felt so fun to him.

"I see," Columbo spoke as he wrote down a summary of William's alibi, "What happened when you came in this morning?"
"I noticed the power was out, so I came in with a flashlight. When I entered the office, I saw her all mangled. I tried to tell her to hang on and to stay with me," William then sighed, "But she died."
Columbo finished writing, "I noticed there was an audio recorder near the body. Do you know anything about that?"
"Oh yes, I do. When I came in, I noticed it too. I turned it off shortly after she died. If you listened to it, you could probably hear her last breaths."
"I'll have one of the boys take it. Y'know, see if we notice anything suspicious in its audio."
"I believe most of what you'll find is Stephanie speaking to herself."
"How do you know that?" Columbo looked at William curiously.
"She wasn't my first nightguard, lieutenant." William replied, "There's been a few guards before that have brought in audio recorders. It's like a verbal way of writing in a diary to them."
Columbo then nodded, "Got it. I'll leave you now. I'll look into that audio recording. Y'know, I actually used to own one myself."
"Really?"
"Yes, I got rid of it though. I prefer paper and pencil over recorders."

Columbo put away his notebook. He then began to walk away from William. The lieutenant then stopped and turned around,

"Just one more thing, Mr. Afton. I read one of the signs in the hallway. I read rule #6; Don't Touch Freddy, and it got me thinking. Why aren't kids allowed to touch Freddy?"
"You see, Freddy is not only a special character in the hearts of children, but he is also a special animatronic," William explained, "Freddy may look like the others on the outside when it comes to the simplicity of his design. However, when you take off his covering, you'll find that his endoskeleton is actually rather complex and unique."
"I see," Columbo wrote that down,"Thank you for answering my questions, Mr. Afton."
"It's no problem at all, lieutenant."
"I'll let you know if we find anything in the audio recordings." Columbo said simply before walking off.

Chapter Text

To William's massive displeasure, the police department had ordered for the Pizzeria to shut down once again. The place had only been open two days and it was already under police investigation again. Great. The only upside to this that William found was that he was allowed into the building, but the only way he could go to the back part of the building is if he had permission from the police.

He entered the building and looked over to see the lieutenant staring up at the animatronics. Columbo seemed to be in deep thought before he noticed William.

"Sorry, I didn't see you there, Mr. Afton." Columbo smiled sheepishly.
"It's alright, lieutenant. Is there something I can help you with that relates to the case?" William walked over to Columbo and stood next to him.
Columbo didn't seem to acknowledge William's question, "Y'know, my wife never liked these things. She always found them to be creepy, and always turned down the kids' whenever they asked us to come here. No offense of course."
William chuckled, "None taken. You didn't answer my question though, lieutenant."
"Oh right, sorry about that. I want to let you know that I requested that the animatronics be fully inspected."
"Why?"
Columbo pointed at the blood stains on Freddy, "For one thing, Mr. Afton, Freddy is covered in Stephanie's blood. He's classified as both a murder weapon and a culprit."
"I see."
"You know, I find it a little suspicious that only two days after we closed up the investigation on those missing children that somebody else ended up dead." Columbo sighed, "Such a shame too, another young life being taken in this place. I can't imagine it's easier on your end, your business must be really suffering for this."
"That would be correct. I only had two days to make up for the time that this place has been closed." William spoke, "I just hope that hopefully this will be the last death here. Not only is it bad financially, but it ruins the image of this place."
"I understand." Columbo nodded, "Well, I'll be on my way. The boys who'll be picking up the animatronics should be here any minute now. I'll let you know if we find anything interesting."
"I trust that you will, lieutenant."

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William was in his home office working. Since he couldn't work in the office at the pizzeria, he had resorted to working at home. His wife was currently out with his children, they had all gone to the park. They offered William to join them, but the British man chose to work. While he was in the middle of writing, he heard a knock on the door. The sight of Lieutenant Columbo was what greeted him when he answered the door.

"Columbo? What are you doing here?" William looked down at him.
"I couldn't find you at the pizzeria, which is where I thought you'd be, so I decided to check to see if you were home." The lieutenant explained.
"Oh, well if that's the case, come on in."

Columbo gave him a small smile to show his thanks and stepped in, "Lovely place you have here, sir." He commented as he sat on the couch. William nodded, "Thank you. My wife was the one who picked out everything." Columbo fished out a cigar from his pocket, "Is it alright if I smoked here?" William placed down an ashtray in response. Columbo then lit his cigar before speaking,

"Y'know, my wife also picked out most of the decorations in our home."
"My wife mainly took over because she believed I would've made the entire house purple." William sat down.
"Is purple your favorite color?" Columbo asked.
"It certainly is, lieutenant." William smiled. His smile felt rather unnerving to look at, but Columbo ignored it.
"I should've figured out the color of your suit. I've always seen folks in either black or more neutral colors. Never have I seen anyone in a purple suit before."
William would chuckle, "I appreciate the conversation, but I believe you didn't come here just to talk about house decor and my favorite color."

Columbo ashed his cigar in the ashtray before pulling out his notebook.

"Oh right, sorry." He flipped through his notes, "I wanted to talk to you about what we found inside of the animatronics."
"What you found?" William sounded confused.
"Yes, sir." Columbo's tone then shifted to be very serious, "We found the bodies of the missing children in the animatronics."
"You must be pulling my leg, lieutenant! If they were in the animatronics we surely would have at least smelled them!"
"I'm sorry, William, but I am being extremely serious about this. We had the bodies go through an autopsy and the surgeons reported that there was formaldehyde in the bodies. The same chemical that is used to preserve bodies in funeral homes."

William grew quiet. It was mainly to appear to be shocked, but at the same time he knew this could mean trouble. The police could easily discover his past career as a mortician and connect him to the fluids. William then reassured himself deep down that while they could find out he used to work at a funeral home, it wasn't enough to nail him down as the murderer. Columbo noticed William's silence and just kept talking.

"The part of the formaldehyde is what really nags me." Columbo stated, "Usually a killer doesn't think of things like that. They simply take the life of their victim and then hide it, not giving a single thought about the decaying process. This isn't an ordinary murder, we're dealing with someone who planned this all out."
William broke his silence, "What does that have to do with the death of Ms. Ryan?"
"Mr. Afton, this is beyond the death of Stephanie. There's a possibility that someone committed a murder in your pizzeria, and possibly do it again."
"Meaning…?"
"Mr. Afton, we're reopening the Missing Children's case."

Chapter Text

William got quiet once the lieutenant broke the news to him. He simply nodded, "I understand. It's what needs to be done." The lieutenant nodded and got up to leave. He stopped before he got towards the door and turned back around. William had waved goodbye to the detective before closing the door.

'Of course they would reopen the case.' William thought to himself, a tad bit annoyed. He knew there was a chance it would happen, but it was still a thorn in his side, 'Oh well. If I survive one inspection, I can surely survive another.'

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Columbo was standing in the bathroom hallway. It was a more quiet part of the building and he had just finished taking a moment to relieve himself. He fished around his pockets to pull out his notebook to write something when a coin fell out of his pocket. The coin had landed on the floor and rolled all the way over to the wall. His steps echoed through the empty hall as he walked.

He crouched down to pick up the coin. Columbo didn't think much of it until something in the wall caught his eye. He squinted for a moment and pressed his hand against the wall. Was there a line in the wall? He kept feeling the wall and found that the line went vertically upwards to a height he could not reach. Minutes went by as Columbo continued to press his hands against the wall and traced the lines he felt. He then picked up the coin he originally dropped and wrote something down in his notebook.

"Is there something wrong, lieutenant?" One of the officers was at the other end of the hall.
Columbo put his notebook away, "I want to look at the blueprints of the pizzeria. Call Mr. Afton and ask where he put them."

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The purple car had pulled into the parking lot and from it came none other than William himself. He had a folder in his hand containing a copy of the blueprints. William had made these copies awhile back in case the original had gotten lost. Columbo met him in the main party area.

"May I ask why you want the blueprints, Columbo?" William spoke as he handed Columbo the blueprints.
"Well, I was in the bathroom hallway earlier. Y'know, to relieve myself and use the John." Columbo started, "I ended up dropping a coin, and when I went to grab it, I noticed a weird line in the wall."
"A line in the wall?"
"Yes, a line in the wall. I know cracks in the walls tend to happen, but a line? A perfect vertical line? I don't know about you, but I find that to be very odd."
William watched as Columbo began to look at the blueprints, "I agree, that is rather odd."

Columbo began to carefully examine the blueprints. The blueprints provided a perfect layout of both the building and its outer walls, which was square shaped. To his knowledge, Columbo knew that the building wasn't originally meant to be Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria. It was originally a clothing store, but had been first abandoned, then bought, and then converted into a pizzeria. In the layout, Columbo could see several spaces.

While examining the blueprints, Columbo took notice of a space in-between the wall of the outer building. That's what he was looking for. All he needed now was to get permission to take down the wall and see if there was anything.

"Lieutenant?" William broke the silence. He had been following Columbo's eye for the past few minutes. William knew what he was planning and was certainly not happy about it.
"Yeah?"
"What exactly are you planning?"
"Oh uh, I just wanted to see if there was a space in-between the outer wall and the bathroom hallway." Columbo explained, "The lines I felt reminded me of a doorway."
William suddenly burst out laughing, "What? Are you going to break down the wall and find a hidden room?" William wheezed, "Lieutenant, if there was a hidden room in my establishment, I would certainly know about it!"

William pushed a button there, a button that very few manage to actually push. Columbo formed a fist with his hand and suddenly slammed it on the table, "Let me get this straight," Columbo's tone shifted to an annoyed, but serious one, "I come to you to get blueprints to find a hidden room in your establishment. A hidden room, mind you, that could potentially have the information we need to nail down the culprit who killed those children and could have had a place in the death of Stephanie Ryan. A hidden room that could help your business by finally putting rest to all the rumors about the murders here. I tell you all of this, and you start laughing?"

William's laughter had died down at this point, "I'm sorry lieutenant, but it just seems a little ridiculous. You have the blueprints in front of you, there's so many places a 'hidden' room could be." He pointed at the blueprints, "For example, one could be here in between the two back hallways and in front of the office. Are you going to try to burst a hole in all the little crevices of my establishment because of a small hunch you have? All of that work, all of that time because you felt a few, small lines?"

The lieutenant glared at William, "If it means finding more evidence or hints about who caused all this, then yes I will do it."

William smiled, "Well, if you deem it necessary then I guess I can't stop you. Well, I'm going to head back home. I find your idea to be absolutely ridiculous, but good luck."

Columbo then watched as William exited the building. He simply sighed and went back to looking at the blue prints.

Chapter Text

William hadn't slept well the night before. He knew that there was an overwhelming amount of evidence against him that he could not weasel a way out of. Never in his mind did he ever expect that anyone would find out about his hidden room so quickly. Either he was extremely unlucky, or that damn lieutenant had help from the gods themselves. William simply drove up to Freddy Fazbear's. Even though the man knew he was caught, he still wanted to see his pizzeria one last time.

It was a rainy day, oddly suitable for the current mood William was in. He stepped inside the building. To his surprise, it seemed relatively empty. Of course there were officers here and there, but not nearly as many as the days before. William walked over to the bathroom hallway. Just as he expected, there was a rectangular gap in the hallway. The gap revealed his beloved yellow rabbit costume for all to see. Lieutenant Columbo was near the gap, smoking a cigar. Columbo began to speak, it was like he had detected William's presence.

"Y'know, William, I had my suspicions about you the moment I asked you that question about Freddy. The one where you told me that he wasn't allowed to be touched because he was fragile. Now, I don't know what you consider fragile, but a robot that can mangle an adult woman in a matter of minutes isn't something I would call fragile." Columbo looked at William, "At first, I figured it was a simple slip up on your part, but something else about you didn't sit right with him. Now, I have been in this line of work for over 15 years and I can sometimes tell someone is guilty or innocent just by looking at them. Of course I am sometimes wrong, but I had a gut feeling something was wrong with you. The condition of the children's bodies, your shaky alibi in the missing children's case, and your past as a mortician were all good points. Points that can nail down a fellow, but we still couldn't figure out how you did it or what you used to kill the children with."

There was a small pause as Columbo motioned his hand to the no longer hidden room. William remained silent, he had nothing to say to the lieutenant.

"It all came together though when I found those lines in the wall. The real kicker, though, is what is in this room. Mr. Afton, I believe you used that costume to lure children into this room and kill them, you didn't stop there though. Mr. Afton I also believe you destroyed that security footage on purpose and left Stephanie Ryan here overnight, knowing that the animatronics would mangle her one way or another. In other words, sir, you're under arrest."

William grew his usual wide, eerie smile as the lieutenant finished. He started to chuckle, "You know, lieutenant, you are remarkable. Absolutely remarkable! I thought I had everything planned out so well, but you came in and ripped the rug right out from under me!" He cackled. He could hear police officers come into the hallway.

Columbo looked at the officers, "Boys, take Mr. Afton to the car and read him his rights on the way to the police station." They nodded and grabbed William, putting handcuffs around his wrists and taking him away. Columbo watched as William was taken out of his sight. He took a moment to sigh and look around the building one last time. It satisfied him to know that finally, after all these weeks, he managed to close this case. This is what he loved about his job. He loved to know that he was able to put another criminal behind bars and to get justice for the victims.

Columbo walked to the door and opened it, the noise of rain filling the empty building. He grew a small smile on his face before closing the door and walking back to his car.

Chapter Text

William hadn't slept well the night before. He knew that there was an overwhelming amount of evidence against him that he could not weasel a way out of. Never in his mind did he ever expect that anyone would find out about his hidden room so quickly. Either he was extremely unlucky, or that damn lieutenant had help from the gods themselves. William simply drove up to Freddy Fazbear's. Even though the man knew he was caught, he still wanted to see his pizzeria one last time.

It was a rainy day, oddly suitable for the current mood William was in. He stepped inside the building. To his surprise, it seemed relatively empty. Of course there were officers here and there, but not nearly as many as the days before. William walked over to the bathroom hallway. Just as he expected, there was a rectangular gap in the hallway. The gap revealed his beloved yellow rabbit costume for all to see. Lieutenant Columbo was near the gap, smoking a cigar. Columbo began to speak, it was like he had detected William's presence.

"Y'know, William, I had my suspicions about you the moment I asked you that question about Freddy. The one where you told me that he wasn't allowed to be touched because he was fragile. Now, I don't know what you consider fragile, but a robot that can mangle an adult woman in a matter of minutes isn't something I would call fragile." Columbo looked at William, "At first, I figured it was a simple slip up on your part, but something else about you didn't sit right with him. Now, I have been in this line of work for over 15 years and I can sometimes tell someone is guilty or innocent just by looking at them. Of course I am sometimes wrong, but I had a gut feeling something was wrong with you. The condition of the children's bodies, your shaky alibi in the missing children's case, and your past as a mortician were all good points. Points that can nail down a fellow, but we still couldn't figure out how you did it or what you used to kill the children with."

There was a small pause as Columbo motioned his hand to the no longer hidden room. William remained silent, he had nothing to say to the lieutenant.

"It all came together though when I found those lines in the wall. The real kicker, though, is what is in this room. Mr. Afton, I believe you used that costume to lure children into this room and kill them, you didn't stop there though. Mr. Afton I also believe you destroyed that security footage on purpose and left Stephanie Ryan here overnight, knowing that the animatronics would mangle her one way or another. In other words, sir, you're under arrest."

William grew his usual wide, eerie smile as the lieutenant finished. He started to chuckle, "You know, lieutenant, you are remarkable. Absolutely remarkable! I thought I had everything planned out so well, but you came in and ripped the rug right out from under me!" He cackled. He could hear police officers come into the hallway, "Before you take me away in cuffs, can I show you one last thing? Please, it is something I now have the chance to show you since you found my costume."

Columbo tilted his head, suspicious of what William wanted to show him. Before he could even respond, William was already making his way to the room. Right in front of everyone, William began to put on the rabbit costume, "Do you know what a springlock suit is, lieutenant? A springlock suit is a mascot suit that can function as both an animatronic and a costume. It is a simple concept, really. All one has to do is wind back the springs inside the suit for it to go into costume mode. When the springs aren't wound back, it would be in animatronic mode."

The lieutenant and his officers were in confusion. One was reaching for his gun, the others were just watching. Why was William explaining this to them?

"Like every mechanism, however, it has its flaws. One major flaw is that the springs can unwind when it gets wet. Even the slightest drop can trigger the locks to unwind. What would happen if a person, such as myself, was inside the costume while the locks opened?" William happily spoke as he finished putting on the costume. He then continued, "Two things will happen; first the locks themselves will snap right into you, making deep cuts all over your body, and a split second later, all the animatronic parts, all that sharp steel and hard plastic will instantly be driven into your body. You will die, but it will be slow. You’ll feel your organs punctured, the suit will grow wet with your blood, and you will know you’re dying for long, long minutes. You’ll try to scream, but you will be unable to; your vocal cords will be severed, and your lungs will fill with your own blood until you drown in it!"

At this point, all the officers noticed that there was rain leaking from the ceiling. They all began to assume the worst was about to happen. Columbo then spoke, "William, take off the costume! There's rain leaking through the ceiling, the costume will get wet and kill you!" To which William simply laughed and responded with, "That's the point."

That was when it happened. Clicking noises echoed as the locks opened. William had a wide smile as he stared directly at the lieutenant and his officers. Just as he said, the metallic parts dug themselves into his flesh. Blood began to ooze out from his body. Before William had the chance to scream in pain, his vocal cords had been severed. The only noise he could make was gargles and chokes as he fell backwards. The others watched in horror as William began to slowly die right in front of them.

The scene continued on for long, agonizing minutes. William had finally stopped making noises, but his body was still twitching. His blood had formed a large pool underneath him. Columbo looked away. This had to be his most grotesque case in all his years in his line of work. There was a silence between him and his officer.

Columbo gathered the strength to speak, "Call the paramedics and mechanics. Make sure to warn them about this sight of the scene. I need to make a phone call." The officers nodded and Columbo walked away from the sight. He went outside and headed to the nearest phone booth. After the horror he had just witnessed, Columbo needed to call his wife.

Chapter Text

Well, holy shit. It's been what...2-3 years(?) since I wrote this story in high school, and here I am now looking back on it after getting an email that someone commented on this fanfic of mine.

I am glad to see that people have enjoyed this story as much as I enjoyed writing it. It may not be my top tier quality work with layers of story and plot line that twist and turns like a pretzel, but what matters is thar it's a fun, goofy crossover.

I just made this mini post to thank you to whoever continue to discover, reads, and rereads this wonderful memory of mine.