Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Geez, V, you could've brought a coat or something. I'm freezing my ass off over here.

He ignored Griffon's complaints about the mildly chilly weather as he approached the ginormous, obnoxiously neon building that was the Freddy Fazbear's Mega Pizzaplex, the parking lot empty by the time he had arrived, as per the instructions of the client.

Making it to the building's front entrance, there wasn't a soul in sight, save for the bored out of her mind security guard leaning against a decorative statue, busy with tapping away at her phone to not notice his presence.

Wowie. She's a cutie, isn't she?

"Quiet," V quietly scolded.

Now this got the guard's attention, her lime green eyes observing him as in with analysis.

"You're the guy Devil May Cry said they would send?" she said, thankfully not catching to his scolding of his mouthy familiar.

"Um, yes I am," he confirmed. "You called about the strange activity in this place?"

"Strange is kinda stretching it. But come on in, I'll show you." She motioned him inside. "And don't worry about the other guards. I'm the only one left since I haven't been replaced by a security bot...yet."

Before he could asked for clarification, she was already heading inside, V hurriedly following her into the grand, open lobby-like entry area, the color scheme more dark and subdued, and less in your face, than the exterior of the building. Past the gates with cartoony bear faces was a two-story shopping area, similar to something you'd find in a mall, hosting an assortment of shops and services, a giant golden bear statue standing proud and tall in the center of it all.

But the guard led him to the left end of the lobby, specifically to the double doors painted in a bright red.

"We'll be taking the utility tunnels. It's much faster that way, being what I personally use to get to the stores and attractions I have entry clearance to as fast as possible. Normally I would forbid guests or anyone without clearance from entering, but since you're a demon hunter, I'll give an exception."

"You seem to know quite a bit about this place," V remarked as they entered the more dimly lit, and slightly grimy, tunnels, the sound of their footsteps bouncing off the walls while they walked.

"I've worked here for three months now. At this point I know the place like the back of my hand. I would give you the grand tour, but I can't. Not when weird shit's been happening almost every night since I've worked here."

"Care to elaborate?" he asked.

"Oh boy, where to begin? I don't know if I should start with the strange camera glitches, or people's visions getting fuzzy when in certain areas of the building, or the off behavior demonstrated by the animatronics for three nights now. I mean, at least it's a bit tamer than having to deal with kids disappearing."

"Kids disappearing?"

The guard stopped briefly to turn around, seemingly confused by his response. 

"You know, like the missing children's incident back in eighty-five?"

He gave no response other than confusion of his own.

"When five kids were lured by a guy in a Bonnie suit and were never seen again, if that rings a bell?"

"I do not recall," he answered.

Not like Vergil had any memories of that event, V thought.

"Weird. Most people in Red Grave City know all too well about the darker history of Freddy's. Even today, people will never live down about what happened to those poor kids. At least it's not like the other incidents the company has dealt with, like the bite of eighty-seven. Or as I call it, you can continue live after having your frontal lobe chomped off."

Ick, Griffon uttered in disgust. What kind of place is this?

"But don't worry, the Glamrock animatronics don't bite. Speaking of, you won't get the chance to see them tonight, as they're on lockdown after Freddy's unexpected shutdown during a performance. The look on the poor birthday girl's face, though. That's something that sticks in your mind forever..."

She continued on about what she knew about that incident while they kept on walking, the guard eventually taking him to a metal door. With the push of a button on the wall, it slid right up for them to enter the cramped security office, the many monitors of various sizes sitting on the wooden desk in the center, either displaying a logo or static. Next to that was another doorway, the door lifted up to lead into another utility hall, a strange battery-like meter on the doorway reading "Fifteen percent charge."

"And here we are," the guard announced. "This is just one of our many security offices within the Pizzaplex, but it's the office that seems to record most of the weird things going on." She began typing on a keyboard. "It's supposedly state of the art according to management, as well as the safest place to shelter in the event of an emergency. And knowing Freddy's, that's saying a whole lot..." The screens suddenly flickered on and off, the guard rapidly trying to type after trailing off on her words, appearing frustrated when all of the screens suddenly went black. "What the hell?"

"Does it always do that?" V asked.

She wasn't paying attention to his question, putting all her focus on the malfunctioning monitors. "What? No no no!" She attempted to get them back online, nothing happening no matter what method she used. She slammed a fist on the desk. "Shit!"

She moved away to speak into her walkie-talkie.

"We've got a camera shutdown in Security Office A, over." She waited for a response, nothing coming from the other end. "I repeat, we've got a camera shutdown, over." Still nothing. She gave an exasperated sigh. "Great. Just one more problem I have to deal with."

"If I'm correct, you did mention that there are other offices," V said.

"Yes, but it might take us a while just to reach any of them, and with the building closing in fifteen minutes, I'm not sure if I can show you the problem and let you do your job in that span-"

There was a loud, booming roar coming from the other hall, followed by the squeaks of sneakers running on a smooth floor.

What the hell was that? 

Without another word, the guard peered out from the doorway, a strange, confused look forming on her face, confusion then giving way to shock.

Out of curiosity, and out of anticipation over whatever it was that finally decided to show itself, he peered out with her, both watching in shock as the short, scrawny kid ran fast towards them, as if he were trying to run from something. Behind him, the ground began to shake, another roar emerging as the hulking, animatronic alligator ran out of the dark to chase after him.

The boy was halfway to the office when he lost his footing and tripped, about to get up again when the alligator grabbed him by the ankle, the boy screaming and clawing at the floor in panic like his life depended on it, the alligator snapping his jaws while it gave a sadistic, maniacal type of laughter as he dragged his prey closer.

"Monty!" the guard then yelled, unclipping a stun gun from her belt. "Monty!"

The alligator stopped what he was doing, freezing up in a stiff, robotic manner to stare at the guard blankly...assuming that's what he was doing, the star-shaped shades over his eyes making it hard to tell.

Glancing down to the boy, V felt his heart sink upon seeing the boy's wide, teary eyes, further compounded by the way he gave a few scared, pained whimpers similar to an abused animal.

"Let the boy go," she ordered, aiming the stun gun for the gator's head. "Unless you want to know what a thousand volts of electricity feels like."

The alligator never responded, opting to remain still as a metal statue, keeping his stare on the guard like they were engaged in an uneasy staring contest.

The guard made a few steps forward, the animatronic crouching down in an attack stance, giving her a low warning growl.

"Easy, Monty. I don't know why you're suddenly acting like this, as you're usually not this aggressive, but I'm only gonna say this one last time."

She got even closer, the gator almost ready to pounce.

"Let. The boy. Go."

The gator complied with her command, releasing the boy's ankle, the boy running over to hide behind the guard, his body shaking very violently. 

"Now, go back to your room, where you're supposed to be during lockdown, and no one has to get hurt."

The alligator responded with a horrifying roar before making a large leap right for them. The boy only ran to the hall's dead end next to the office, failing to notice V as he, like the guard, were frozen with fear as the gator landed in front of her, lifting up a clawed hand to strike.

Let me at 'em! Let me at 'em!

Agreeing to his familiar's demands, V pointed his cane to the alligator, the ink of what tattoos he still had on his body scattering as flakes in the air to form the shape of his trusted avian companion, the blue bird with pulsing streaks in his wings flying fast past the boy and guard to unleash an overwhelming flurry of lightning bolts at the alligator. The animatronic screamed in garbled, glitchy words as electricity visibly flowed through his immobilized body, sparks escaping through the cracks of his body's metal plates, more showering out of his mouth and eyes stuck wide open. With another bolt, the gator went down, yet Griffon never ceased with his attacks.

The guard and the boy, instead of fleeing now that they were given the chance to, remained where they were once more, their eyes wide as saucers at what they were bearing witness to.

"What the hell?" the boy muttered.

They remained like this until another, more wolfish growl came in, causing Griffon to stop and stare at the darkness in front of him.

"Huh?"

From there emerged a pair of golden, glowing eyes.

"Roxanne?" the guard questioned after snapping out of it.

From there the wolf-like animatronic jumped from the dark, her jaw wide open to let out more howls, her eyes glowing with a greater intensity. 

"To the office!" the guard ordered, the boy and V not hesitating in retreating back inside the secured room.

"Wait for me!" Griffon shouted, the guard waiting for him to enter before getting the door shut, the guard nearly jumping back when the hard thud came from the other end, leaving a slight indent in the metal.

They all jumped away when the banging and shrill screaming came soon after, creating more indents at a rapid rate.

"You can't hide from me forever!" a robotic, feminine voice yelled from the other end.

"And we're at fifteen percent power!" the boy cried. "They're gonna get us!"

"I'm normally not one for panic, but the kid's right on this!" Griffon added. "What are we supposed to do?!"

"Do not panic," came the calmer, if unexpected voice. "I have an idea."

They, save for the boy, glanced around in confusion, until they noticed the strange watch on the boy's wrist.

"Freddy?"

"Officer Vanessa? Well, isn't this a surprise?"

The boy brought the watch close to his face. "Freddy! How do we get out of here? They're gonna get in at any minute!"

"You should see the interface on the security desk. Or, since Vanessa is in the office with you, have her connect the watch's jack to the system itself."

"Got it," Vanessa confirmed. "Hey kid, mind if I see that watch for a jiffy?"

The boy held it to her, Vanessa pulling out the tiny jack to connect it into a jack socket of the small computer tower underneath the desk. After a second, the screens flashed back to life, blaring static giving way to security footage of the utility tunnels, including the tunnels that led from both doorways to the office, one camera showing the wolf banging her fists on the door.

"There, your Fazwatch is now connected to the security systems. Check the map on your watch or monitor to plan out an appropriate escape route, and from there you can reach the exit."

Getting on the keyboard again, Vanessa switched from camera to camera to find nothing on the screens for the hall she and V had came from.

"Good. We can safely go back the way we came."

The boy suddenly screamed, the others looking to the reinforced window next to the closed door, or what remained of it after the wolf smashed her arm through, wildly clawing at anyone within its reach.

"Way ahead of you, 'cause I'm ready to get the hell outta here!" Griffon exclaimed.

"What the bird said," the boy added.

"No, Griffon," V began. We still have a job to do."

"I know you want to go all in, kick ass, and prove yourself as an effective devil hunter and all, but maybe we should throw in the towel for now until we can get reinforcements to help deal with these kiddie terminators."

"Assuming I can get you all out of here, as we're closing in ten minutes," Vanessa informed them. "And once those security gates go down, we're all trapped like rats until morning."

The grinding of metal got their attention, the boy and Griffon screaming as the wolf's fingers stuck through from under the doorway, the animatronic using all of her strength in lifting the slab open, her eyes losing their golden color for a more purple hue, her accompanying howl more feral and mechanical.

"And that's our cue to START RUNNING!" Griffon shouted.

V didn't argue on that, him and the bird joining Vanessa and the boy in running for their lives down the hall, the snarls and growls of the wolf right behind them.

"You can't outrun me!" the wolf bellowed, the wild and angry stomps of her feet drawing closer to V in particular. "Because I'm the best!"

"Oh no you don't, bitch!"

V briefly glanced back to Griffon moving past to shoot an electric arc at the wolf, who was close enough to V to be able to take him down in one swipe, going down in one hit, looking away as Griffon rejoined the others, the wolf's pained cries fading away the farther they ran.

After many minutes of running, at least it felt as such, Vanessa practically body slammed the familiar set of double doors open, waiting for the others to pass before fumbling with her keys to lock them tight.

"There. That should keep them contained for a while," Vanessa said with relief. "Now, we should get you guys out of here before the-"

"Freddy Fazbear's Mega Pizzaplex is now closed," an echoing voice from the intercoms announced. "Initiating nighttime protocols."

"No!" the boy cried, running to the front entrance as the painted security gate descended over the doors. "No! No!"

Griffon accompanied the boy, but they were too late, as the gate decorated with many cartoony bears had already come down, blocking off their only way out.

"Wait! We're still here!" Griffon cried.

"Thank you for your visit. We hope to see you again next week after a few days of scheduled maintenance."

"Fuck!" Vanessa yelled. "I thought we had enough time too."

"Isn't there another way out?" V asked.

"Nope. Security protocols state that no one can enter or exit the building upon closing."

"So now what?" asked the boy.

"I...I don't know," Vanessa replied.

Chapter Text

"How unfortunate. But don't fret, Gregory. You should be able to escape when the security doors open at six a.m. Or since you're with Vanessa, maybe she can be of help," the voice of Freddy said from the Fazwatch.

"Not like I can do much at this moment. And before I forget." Vanessa motioned to the boy, Gregory, to lift his wrist so the Fazwatch could be close to her. "How did you get your hands on a Fazwatch? And how do you know this kid? And do you know that you're friends are trying to kill us?! In fact, where the hell are you?"

"I understand your confusion and upset, but I'm afraid I can't explain what I know at the moment."

"And why's that?" she questioned.

"I'm still undergoing an hourly recharge. I'm afraid I can't communicate further until I'm fully charged. Until then, keep moving, keep Gregory safe, and try not to draw too much attention to yourselves. Once I'm able to, I will try to find you and help in any way I can."

An audible feed cutoff came from the watch, Gregory drawing his wrist back as she pinched her nose.

"Great. Just great."

"Um, now what?" Griffon asked.

The double doors they exited from banged and crashed, muffled roars and howls coming from the other side.

"Still can't go that way," V remarked.

After some consideration, Vanessa finally said,

"Hmm...we can always take shelter in my office until we can figure this out. But since it's back in the atrium, which requires a few passes for guests to access, we'll use my handy, dandy..."

She put her hands in her pockets, coming out with nothing. She checked again more frantically, only for the results to remain the same.

"Crap! I thought I had it with me," she muttered. "Stanley must've left it back in the daycare after I told him to give it back.."

She spoke up more clearly to address the others.

"Alright, guys, we'll have to make a quick detour to find my keycard after a certain someone didn't return his borrowed shit like he's supposed to. But enough about my evening shift coworkers, as, unfortunately for me, the card's in my least favorite part about this place." Her face cringed as she spoke the words, "The Superstar Daycare."

V tilted his head. "What's so bad about that?"

"I prefer not to say. Especially since we won't be there for too long. Now come on, we need to get going. I'd rather get this over with so you can do your job Mr...and I just realized that I haven't even asked for your name."

"I guess we can spare some time for introductions," V agreed.

"Well then, the name's Vanessa, but my coworkers tend to call me Ness."

"I'm V."

Vanessa gave confused stare. "Is that like a nickname or something?"

"I...guess you can call it that."

"And I'm Griffon," Griffon abruptly barged in, speaking with a confident swagger. "An ass kicking extraordinaire, just like my master, a prodigy of shock and awe, as well as being his-"

"Very mouthy bird," V finished for him.

"Hey! Don't talk over me when I'm trying to impress the lady for you!"

V and Vanessa went wide eyed at Griffon's words, Vanessa moving her face away to hide the faint blush on her face.

"What? Was it something I said?" Griffon turned to the kid. "Okay, how about you, kiddo? You got a name?"

"I'm...I'm Gregory, Mr. Griffon," Gregory said more timidly. 

"Nice to meet ya, Gregory." Griffon offered an outstretched wing, Gregory acting stumped at the gesture.

"Huh. I guess a wing-shake isn't a good substitute. And no need for the formalities, unlike Mr. Shakespeare here."

V shook his head.

"Does he always do shit like this?" Vanessa asked him.

"All the time."

Introductions out of the way, they followed Vanessa to the gates, her using a different keycard to get them open.

"Can't you just use that card?" Gregory asked her.

"Nope. It only allows me clearance to enter the 'plex as well as the daycare and certain utility tunnels. Most guards sans the S.T.A.F.F. bots require higher levels of clearance for the more secured or outright restricted areas. A draconian rule, if you ask me, but at least it keeps the weirdos and creepy types out. But nothing about demons or whatever this is."

They continued on, climbing up the stairs to the lobby's second level, V and Griffon taking in a better view of the shops and décor, the bird in particular moving his head around in awe.

"For a place with a killer robot problem, this is pretty nice," Griffon said as they walked.

"Wait 'til you see the atrium. Once we're there, I think you'll find lots to love and awe about."

Moving through the double doors with the clouds and rainbows decal reading "Superstar Daycare Pick-Up" above them written in a whimsy font, they entered the darker and more subdued hallway, the few neon lights integrated with the architecture shining the way to the baby blue security gate at the other end.

"What the?" came Vanessa's bewildered response to the door not having closed all the way, leaving a gap for one to easily crawl under. "Well, if it'll let us get inside."

She bent down to stand on all fours, quickly crawling under to enter the daycare.

"I'm next!" Griffon declared, his small size allowing him to simply walk under the door.

"Me too!" Gregory added, crawling under after the familiar.

Which meant V was last. He carefully bent down to scoot his cane in, Griffon grabbing it with his beak to hold it for him as he got down and slowly crawled under, Vanessa helping him up once he made it through, taking the cane back from Griffon.

"Thanks," he said to her.

"Not a problem. Now, let's find that card."

Exploring the lobby, V took in the bright, colorful aesthetics. From said lobby alone, with its blue walls and floors, the colorful cubbies and tables and seating areas, the TVs advertising some sort of sun and moon themed hard candies, V knew this was going to be a very interesting place, one that he was glad Vergil didn't have to endure as a child. In front of him stood another golden statue, this one displaying two figures, one based off the sun, the other based off the moon.

"Who are those supposed to be?" Gregory asked about the statues before V could.

"That's for the two forms of the daycare's state of the art dual animatronic. One form is only active when there's light, the other when there's not. But right now, they're in quarantine until a few issues with their systems are fixed. And hopefully it's not what's gotten Monty and Roxy to act so homicidal. Anyway, we enter the daycare through the doorway farther down."

They went past the statue to follow Vanessa, but not before Gregory stopped in place to stare at something, causing V to stop as well to see what's gotten the boy's interest.

It was the entry for some sort of slide, another clouds and rainbows themed sign encouraging those reading it to "Slide Into Fun!"

"A slide entrance?" Griffon noticed. "Can't we just use that?"

"If you can fit, I'm sure," Vanessa said. "But that's just for the kids to use."

"Like me?" Gregory asked, almost hopefully.

"I guess, but not now."

Gregory gave a rather pouty face more fitting for someone younger than his apparent age.

"I know, I know, but we don't have time for fun when we're busy trying to survive a real life survival horror game."

They turned their focus forward, V and Griffon about to accompany Vanessa down the walkway overlooking the bright and colorful play structures below, a large safety net going from the walkway's rails all the way up to the ceiling.

They didn't follow her far, as V turned back towards what sounded like a fading "Woo-hoo!" By then he saw that Gregory wasn't right behind him, or anywhere else for that matter.

"Gregory? Gregory?" V called out, trying to keep an odd panic he had never felt before at bay. "Gregory! Where are you?"

Griffon flew over to the slide, peering into the multicolored tunnel that was seemingly endless.

"He really entered through there, didn't he?" V said.

"Yep." Griffon peered deeper into the slide. "I wonder..."

Without another word, Griffon went right in, keeping his wings scrunched against his body as he slid out of the surprised V's sights.

"Geronimo!" his voice echoed.

"Hey!"

V looked into the slide, then looked over to the walkway, Vanessa already gone. He weighed his options, knowing that on one hand, he could catch up with Vanessa and find the others then, but on the other, and because he was starting to become fearful over anything else happening to Gregory, he could slide right in after them.

After some considerations, he made his choice.

Be glad Dante and Nero aren't here to see this.

V moved both legs inside the slide to partially sit inside, using one hand to keep his cane against his chest, the other to keep him anchored where he sat until he was ready to slide in, peering into the abyss of green, yellow, and blue one last time.

Here goes nothing.

Letting go, he slid right in, his body moving down the colorful plastic tube at an accelerated rate that was faster than he was comfortable with. He could feel his breath starting to pick up, wondering how much longer this would last when the bright light filled his vision, followed by the plastic balls in many colors splashing all around him like water, more of them cushioning his arrival.

Quickly standing himself up, his body feeling a bit wobbly, he took in the expansive pit of colorful balls he had landed in, a padded castle-like wall surrounding the perimeter, along with a few, more smaller play structures and two rainbow bridges leading out to the rest of the play area.

Ahead of him he heard the laughter, trying to make his way through the ball pit to find Gregory and Griffon happily playing around, Gregory kicking up balls while Griffon desperately shielded himself using a wing, sometimes using a talon to toss a ball back at Gregory.

V could only roll his eyes at the sight before him, but also feel some assurance that the kid was okay.

As long as there was nothing else here they had to worry about, hopefully.

In the middle of their battle, Gregory came to a stop once he noticed V, Griffon doing the same with the turn of his head.

"Wow. I didn't think you would actually do it."

"My surprise as well."

A strange laughter, akin to someone shouting Hoo hoo hoo! unexpectedly came from above, V catching sight of the castle-like balcony with a spotlight shining on the figure emerging from behind the curtains. A figure with an orange and tan color scheme, a jester inspired costume sans shirt and hat, and a permanent, bright white smile on their face, all while boasting a sun-inspired design...just like the sun statue.

They did a brief twirl before diving off the balcony into the ball pit, Gregory and Griffon hurriedly moving out of the way.

"What the hell was that?" Gregory said.

"The robot Vanessa mentioned, I think," Griffon replied.

Before V was able to add his say, a sound similar to an eruption came from behind him, V spinning on his heel to come face to face with the sun animatronic, who wrapped their arms tightly around his frail body in a swinging hug, V too shocked and bewildered to properly process let alone react to the robot as it happily spun him around before carrying him out of the ball pit.

"Hello, hello, new friend! My gosh, you're so thin! I hope you're parents are feeding you well. And my goodness, it's late! I wonder if that means we're having a slumber party. I just LOVE slumber parties!"

A few feet from the ball pit, where the many toddler sized tables and chairs sat, the robot released V from their vice-like grip, the man having to regain his proper breathing pattern as the robot danced and skipped happily around him.

"But don't you worry. I know what to do in situations just like this, and to take care of any kids here past closing!"

V peered behind the sunny animatronic to Gregory and Griffon, who just remained where they were with bewilderment as he had, occasionally exchanging an unsure glance at each other, as if both were at wits end over the scene before them.

"Um, about that, my sunny friend. I'm not actually a-"

"We can stay up all night, doing whatever we want! We can finger paint, play games, tell stories, and drink so much Fizzy Faz that our heads will ex-PLODE! But there is just one rule everyone in the daycare must follow. Keep the lights on. On. On."

The ominousness of their tone gave V a very bad feeling about this. Now he knew how the protagonist of Dante's stupid action movies felt in these kind of situations.

From over them flew a blue blur, V's eyes following the form of Griffon as he landed on top of a play structure, squawking at the robot. They ceased their manic movements, setting their sights on the bird.

"Look at that! It's a blue chicken!" they exclaimed. "I never seen a blue chicken!"

"Chicken?! For your information, tin can, I am not a chicken!"

V felt something tug his hand, glancing down to Gregory, who said nothing and pulled him away while Griffon kept the animatronic occupied in a shouting match, the duo reaching the desk at the far end of the daycare, a tall, castle-like door standing next to it. Around that were a series of tinted windows looking into the area surrounding the play area, while acting a barricade for both. From the other side of one such window stood Vanessa, who wasn't too surprised at seeing them on the other side.

"I figured a kid like Gregory couldn't resist the temptation. And that might've been a good thing, as the door is jammed from my side." She pointed over to the desk. "Somewhere on that desk is my card. Once you two find it, push button in the shape of a bear's head. It should hopefully get the door open."

"Got it," they both said.

Getting behind the desk, they searched up and down, left and right, when V spotted the light blue card with the white magnetic strip and yellow badge symbol. Picking it up, he read the name "Vanessa A." aloud.

"That's it!" Vanessa said.

Without warning, Griffon landed right on the desk, startling V and Gregory.

"That thing can climb up walls!" He noticed the card in V's hand. "Good. You found it. Now let's get out of here!"

"New friends!" the bot called out. "Don't go behind there! That area's off limits! You're gonna-gonna get us in t-t-trouble," they stammered more nervously. "If you come out, I can perform a puppet show," they tried offering. "Or maybe you like glitter glue crafts? With googly eyes?"

Griffon was startled when the robot leapt on the desk, their body towering over the trio.

"Please! Anything! I can't let them know that I failed! I can't!"

"No worries," V assured. "We won't even be here much longer."

V slammed his palm on the door's big red button, but instead of opening as expected, the room was devoured by darkness, the few lights in the room coming from the faint, twinkling ones coming from the ceiling, resembling the stars of a night sky.

"What did you do?!" Vanessa yelled in panic.

"No-no! Why would you do that?! " the sun animatronic panicked also, their movements suddenly becoming more twitchy and erratic. "Lights on! Lights on!"

A blasting, static roar erupted from them, Gregory and V quickly moving back until their backs hit the wall, Griffon landing down to huddle himself against V's legs protectively. The robot's white eyes gained a glowing, bloody red hue, putting their hands over their face as they screamed,

"I warned you! I WARNED YOU!"

They made what sounded like pained whimpers and cries as they fell backwards off the desk in a dramatic fashion, a pair of hands grasping over the desk counter seconds later.

"Naughty boy..." came the deep, sinister voice. "Naughty boy..." In the dark pierced the flashing red eyes of a face like the moon, a more creepier grin etched on their face, with a starry night cap on their head, matching their nighttime coloring and clothing. "It's past your bedtime," they growled, their eyes fixated on V in particular. "And naughty boys deserve to be punished." A wire deployed from the ceiling, latching onto their back as the robot hopped on the desk to dance a jig. "Nighty night..."

It flew upwards out of sight, the trio staring at the ceiling with fear as Vanessa cleared her throat.

"Okay, that didn't go as planned," she said with her bravest tone. "But don't fret. Management has left all the backup generators within the play structures. Don't ask why they thought it was a smart idea. You can tell from the power cords leading into the structures in case you missed it. And next to you is the flashlight charging station. Just push on Freddy's nose to get it open. And because I can't provide any more help at the moment, good luck."

Due to the close proximity of the button, V moved his hand over the box as described, the nose giving a goofy honk before the mouth of Freddy opened, letting him retrieve the flashlight within.

"So, what's the plan?" Griffon spoke first. "It's not like you can fit in those structures like you did the slide."

"But I can," Gregory brought up.

"I don't know. I'd rather not let the kid go if that...thing is still lurking about."

"Then how about you come with me, Griffon? You're small enough to fit like I can. And we can cover ground more faster than if I did it myself."

"Oh no. I ain't leaving V defenseless and out in the open like that."

"I'll be fine," V said. "And he is right, you know. The sooner we can get them on, the sooner we can escape this place. And here." V handed Gregory the flashlight. "You'll need it in the dark."

"But what about you, V?"

"Don't worry about me, little wanderer. Focus on the task at hand."

A strange growl came from above them, it's source hard to make out in the pitch blackness.

"Naughty children must be found..."

"I think that's our cue to get going already," Gregory whispered.

"Way ahead of you," Griffon whispered back.

Chapter Text

V weaved past the play structures as fast as his mobility issues would allow, the static snarl of the now hostile robot echoing after him.

“Naughty children must be found.” 

He heard the small thumps of Gregory crawling through the play structure next to him, along with the low, guttural growl from right above him.

As well as the crimson eyes that cut through the darkness, giving away the robot hovering its way towards the structure.

“Naughty children must be punished .”  

V whistled, quickly departing as soon as it diverted the bot’s attention.

“Naughty children must be found ,” it repeated from above closely.

Too closely.

“Naughty children must be punished. ”

V felt something trying to grab the back of his coat, dodging its grasp at the cost of crashing right into a stack of metal canisters, hearing them rattle with a CRASH alongside what was either LEGO bricks or Lincoln Logs spilling across the floor he fell onto.

“Argh!” the bot yelled. “Look at this mess!”

V attempted to get back up before that thing could take advantage of his moment of weakness, going deathly still when the bot landed right in front of him…to focus on cleaning up the mess?

“Why must you kids be so messy?!” they yelled, their back turned towards V as it scooped up a handful of Lincoln Logs, singing an all too familiar tune as they worked.

“Clean up, clean up. Everybody, everywhere…”

God, not THAT song, V thought, recalling the one time Dante sang it at the top of his lungs-badly-during a rare babysitting gig.

But rather dwelling on that, V slowly stood himself back up, balancing on his cane before he silently left the scene.

And right in time for the first light to come on, illuminating one of the spaces between the structures, followed by another from within the structures itself.

Good work, you two.

With some of the lights back on, he now noticed how some of the play structures had thick cables weaving in and out, along with one of the generators being within the play structures itself.

He would’ve attempted a Dante-like quip about this place’s taste in safety standards-having heard way too much about Fazbear Entertainment’s several controversies before he arrived-when he flinched at the bot’s violent hiss, at their violent cries, like the very light was painful to them.

“Bright light! Bright light!”

He watched as it stumbled backwards in the darkness, abandoning their task before using the cord on their back to hoist itself back in the air, forcing V back on the move.

But considering how it reacted to the accidental mess, V had an idea…

He kept to the shadows as he knocked over another stack of canisters, the bot abandoning the hunt to clean it up with a snarl.

A third light came on, the bot hissing and shielding themself as V hid in darkness, readying himself to create another distraction. 

And he wasn’t the only one who had the same bright idea.

He could barely make out the figure of Gregory emerging from the blue slide before punching down another canister, hiding inside the opposite structure as the bot chased after the sound.

“Messy! MESSY!”

Light four came on, the bot once more ditching their task to retreat into darkness.

“There should be one more light!” Vanessa called out. “And hurry! This bot’s nighttime mode can get a bit aggressive when there’s too much light!”

“I’ll get it!” Gregory shouted back.

In turn catching the bot’s attention as they hovered in the air, the cable releasing them as they clung onto the structure’s side like a spider on the wall.

They let out a mechanical purr at Gregory’s surprised scream. “There you are…”

They reached an arm through a wide gap, Gregory screaming in pain as they let out a laugh.

“I found you!”

“Help!” Gregory cried like his life depended on it. “Somebody help me!”

“HEY!” V then yelled, his throat hurting from not having to shout this loud before. “Over here!”

The bot quickly turned its head at an unnatural angle, emitting a low and static growl as crimson eyes locked onto V.

“You…YOU!” they screamed, a semblance of the sun variation glitching in and out of its angered tone. “You’ll pay for what you did!”

It leaped off the wall, landing on all floors before breaking into a feral run towards V.

V, realizing the gravity of the situation he put himself in, ran for it, doing his best to avoid tripping over the mess of building toys he had made, alongside the now visible cables snaking across the floor between play structures.

“Hey metal face!” Griffon taunted from above. “Get a taste of this!”

In a blur of blue feathers and purple lighting bolts, the bot cried out in pain from behind V, the man daring to turn and watch as they convulsed and spasmed on the floor, more bolts coursing through their body as sparks shot out of their joints.

“Please!” they were now begging, the voices of nighttime and daytime mode coming together as one. “We-we didn’t mean to! It hurts! We’re hurt!”

Despite his inner conscious telling him to get away while he could, V instead approached the robot, stopping only a foot away as they continued to distort and plead out to him,

“We-we didn’t ask for thi-this! Sh-she…she did this! To us! To all of us!”

“She?” V questioned. “Who?”

“Th-th-the rabbit. The whit-white rabbit. Don’t t-t-trust her! Run…run…run…”

With that the light dimmed from their eyes, dark sockets staring blankly at V as the fifth and final light came on.

“Systems back online.”

The room went dark if only briefly, the lights returning to showcase the entire daycare once more.

And an empty spot where the bot once was.

“What the hell was that all about?” Griffon asked, landing where the bot would’ve been.

“I…I don’t know,” V said honestly. 

“What do you mean, you don’t know? From what I’m seeing, with the killer robots and now some cryptic shit about a white rabbit, I here believe we might have more than a simple demon issue on our hands.”

“V! Griffon” Gregory shouted as he appeared before them. “You’re okay! And I got the power back on!”

“Good job, kiddo!” Griffon said, raising his wing much to Gregory’s confusion. “What? You’ve never seen a wing high-five before?”

“Oh!” Gregory returned the gesture with a light smack to Griffon’s wing.

Griffon then glanced down, V’s eyes following to find the bruise marks on Gregory’s ankle.

Gregory noticed the concern on their faces in turn. “It’s fine. It’s not the first time something or someone has manhandled me. But anyway, do you think the button will open the door this time?”

V wasn’t given the option to answer, finding himself being hoisted up roughly by a familiar set of robotic hands.

“RULE BREAKER! RULE BREAKER!” the daytime version of the bot screamed as they carried V all the way to the now opened door. “You are BANNED from the Daycare!”

V was tossed roughly across the tiled flooring, his body rolling right next to Vanessa’s feet.

“And take you’re friend and blue chicken with you!”

Gregory and Griffon were each tossed out soon after.

“Security alert! SECURITY ALERT! WOO WWWWOOOO!”

“Uh, I’m literally standing right here,” Vanessa simply said in a very deadpan tone.

“Oh! What a relief. Please take these ruffians to the main office. As they’re not allowed back here ever! You heard me?! EVER!”

The bot slammed the door hard enough that the earth could shake, the four taking a moment to stay put and attempt to process what just happened within the last thirty seconds.

“So…you got my keycard back?” Vanessa spoke first to break the stunned silence.

“Yeah, thankfully,” V said, struggling to get himself up, even with the support his cane gave him.

Until a hand was outstretched to him, their fingernails painted with a dark and glossy shade of purple.

“Need a hand?” 

V, as much as he didn’t want to come off as weak, let alone to a client who relied on him and not the other way around , accepted albeit reluctantly, letting her help him stand until he was able to support himself on his cane.

“And here.” He pulled the keycard from his coat pocket, Vanessa happily taking it, giving it a quick lookover.

“Good. No scratch or dent.” She stuffed it in her pocket. “And with all that outta the way, I think we can finally-”

“Gregory! Vanessa!”

They were alerted by the hard stomping that this time shook the earth, tracking the source to the giant bear animatronic that ran towards them before slowing it down to talk.

“Thank goodness you’re okay! And I see you have some…who are they?” the bear said as he eyed V and Griffon cautiously.

“Oh, these are those demon hunters I told you about earlier. At least, before everything went to hell.”

The bear tilted his head. “What do you mean by that?”

“She means that your fellow bots nearly killed us!” Griffon spoke up, V giving him a hard nudge with his foot. “Hey!”

“My friends? Tried to kill you? Oh dear. This is worse than I thought…”

“Freddy? Is there something you aren’t telling us?”

“Well, uh…actually, what time is it?”

Vanessa checked her watch. “12:55. Why…Oh, crap.”

As if on cue, all the lights went out, save for the faint glow of the backups.

“What?! I thought we fixed the power!” Gregory said.

“Okay, so don’t panic,” Vanessa began. “But one thing I neglected to tell you is that a few times during closing, all power within the Pizzaplex is diverted to the recharge stations. Recharge the recharge stations, if you will. As you can see, the lights go out when it starts, and when that happens, it will get out and have free roam beyond the daycare. Someone did try to reprogram it to stay put, but given how finicky its programming is-”

THUD! THUD!

They all turned to witness the moon version of the daycare bot bang their fists against the glass barrier, desperate to get out.

“You. You! I will-”

A screeching static broke through their voice, the sun version’s voice briefly breaking through to warn them-

“Run. RUN! ”

That they did, rushing up the stairs decorated in grassy green paint and flower decals to pass by empty party rooms before they made it back to the lobby, a maniacal laughter echoing after them.

“Through here!” Freddy said as he lifted the security gate fully. “And quickly!”

He waited until everyone had passed through to exit himself, using his full strength to pull it back down, the daycare bot hissing angrily as Freddy brought it down to a close.

Freddy stood back as the violent THUDS echoed off the steel barrier, backing away in case they did manage to break through.

“Yeah, now would be a good time to get to my office.”

V then felt…weird.

And not the feeling weird as in being sick or something, but like…he was losing his sense of the world around him.

Especially when his vision grew bright before getting dimmer, the lights flickering in and out like a dying lightbulb, black lines blinking in and out like a broken TV screen.

He winced when the sharp ringing in his ears followed after, fighting to keep his sense of balance and clarity, as much as he was losing the battle.

But he did keep them open long enough to notice the figure in the distance.

A figure in a homemade rabbit costume white as snow, the occasional mismatched patch of fabric keeping the thing together, donning a mask whose eyes glowed crimson in the darkness.

The whit-white rabbit. Don’t t-t-trust her! Run…run…run…

The figure simply stood there, giving a brief wave before V lost consciousness.

“See you soon, son of Sparda…”

***

…V…V…V!

V’s eyes flickered as he came to, his vision as clear as day compared to…whatever that was.

“Need another hand?” Vanessa’s voice was the first thing he heard.

“I’m fine, actually, but thanks,” V simply said as he helped himself stand up.

“V!” Gregory cried out. “You’re okay! But, what happened?”

“But what the hell was that?!” Griffon said.

“That is a fountain,” Freddy said, pointing to the fountain in question across from the daycare entrance. “A fountain is a decorative reservoir used for discharging water-”

“Not that, tin can! I meant that strange rabbit chick who was here a second ago, and…whatever the fuck that was.”

“Watch your language around Gregory,” Freddy scolded.

“I think it's too late for that,” Vanessa said. “But yeah, that rabbit lady. And that, how to say it…glitching in my vision. I don’t know if she’s a demon or some weirdo in one of those anthro suits, not like I have a problem with that, FYI, but maybe she’s the one behind all this?”

“What do you mean?” Freddy asked. “There is no rabbit in the Pizzaplex. Not any more…” he added more solemnly.

“This is crazy. It’s like the whole place is trying to get me!”

“Don’t forget the rest of us,” Griffon added.

“But I'm not,” Freddy told Gregory.

“Why?” V asked.

“I…do not know. But I want to help you. All of you. And maybe they want to help you too.”

“Considering Roxy and Monty’s feral frenzy earlier, I doubt it,” Vanessa said. “But for some reason, you haven’t done anything to us…yet.”

“For some reason, you’re different,” Gregory added.

Freddy opened his mouth to reply, but went stiff for a brief second. And right in time for the lights to come back on.

“It’s 1:00 a.m. Which means the front doors will be open in five hours.”

“Good news?!” Gregory said.

“Five hours?!” Griffon added. 

“We’re not gonna survive five minutes!”

“Um, you know that’s why we were hired, right?” Griffon said. “But even then this is a lot for us, and on our first day on the job.”

“Wait, so you’re, like, the newbies in this?” Vanessa asked V.

“In a way, yes.”

“As for survival, that’s what my card is for. We can just hunker down in my office, and when we’re not busy waiting for the clock to read six, we can maybe try to figure this shit out from there.”

“Mind if I accompany you all? Just in case,” Freddy asked.

“I don’t see why not.”

“Thank you. But should circumstances arise and we end up separated once more, Gregory here can summon me with his Fazwatch-as long as I have enough power and am able to reach his location. And I do think I know of a few exit points, should the need arise.”

“Finally! Give it to us, bear man.”

“First, there’s the loading dock under the food court on the atrium first floor, but there’s also a fire exit in the gift shop on the atrium’s third floor. I will mark those locations on your Faz Map.”

“The Faz-what now?” Gregory asked.

“I see. You don’t have one. On our way, we can obtain one-or four-from the greeter on the center balcony.”

“Oh no. There’s no way I’m going anywhere near that bot!” Vanessa said.

“Who?” V asked.

“Probably the worst kind of robot ever to be conceived by the higher ups of this place.”