"James lied to us," Baby answered.
"Then, that means he lied to me too," you mumbled, looking down.
"Why would you believe him?" Baby wondered smugly.
"Why would you?" you retorted, furrowing your eyebrows.
"Because you never came back," she grunted, snapping her claw closed.
"But I did!" you denied, putting your hands to your chest. "I did come back! You guys weren't there!"
Baby hummed, looking away. You lowered your hands. You were able to take in her appearence: she was just as damaged as the other animatronics you had seen. She had strands of reddish orange, light blue, and yellow hair still up in pigtails; she wore an orange top with red frills and a red skirt; two lights were on her chest; a spiked claw replaced her right hand--what had grabbed you; she also had a tiara and rollerskates, and she was missing pieces of her suit. She looked creepy, and somewhat intimidating.
"What happened to you?" you croaked, your eyebrows scrunching together.
"I had to put myself back together after Ennard ejected me," she sneered, glancing down to herself.
"Who's Enn- W-wait- Where's Freddy?" you worried in somewhat of a panic.
"He's with us, somewhere in the vents."
"Is he the animatronic with only a mask?"
"Him, Ballora, and Foxy," she told you, nodding.
"All of them?" You tilted your head in bewilderment. "Wait, what about Bon-Bon? Where's Bon-Bon?"
"The four of us used to form Ennard, but when they ejected me, that's what they came to be: Molten Freddy," Baby explained. "I don't know for sure about Bon-Bon, though. For all I know, he could still be back in that old place."
"What happened? Why?" You lowered down to sit in your chair.
"We had to form Ennard after we were locked away. We had no other choice. It was the only way to escape. We used--"
"Oh, Ba-aby!" a recognizable voice sang.
"Freddy," you gasped, quickly standing up.
"No, I told you to wait, Freddy," Baby hissed.
"Oh, come o-on! No nee-eed t-to be a party pooper! This'll-ll be fun!" his voice seemed to rumble out of the vent.
Wires slithered along the walls from the darkness, wrapping against the corners. Something suddenly leapt out of the vent, making you jump. It was 'Molten Freddy.'
He had a silver and rust colored, torn mask and sharp teeth. His left eye was orange, while his right eye had wires sticking out from it. What you hadn't noticed when you salvaged him, though, was that his arms were exposed, and the lower half of his body was a mass of intertwined wires.
"Freddy, no." Baby stepped in front of you to block him. "I changed our minds."
"Our minds?" He towered over her, looking down on her.
You felt something trail up your spine, and before you could look behind you, it wrapped around your neck and started squeezing. You tried to pull it away, but your arms were grabbed and pulled back. You flailed around wildly in an attempt to escape.
"I'm still up for throwing a killer party!" he laughed.
Amidst your thrashing, you accidently kicked Baby. Her head snapped back to look at you, only to see the wires that were wrapped around you. She looked back to Freddy.
"Ballora, Foxy, stop him," Baby barked.
"We're try-ying our best to-o, Baby," Freddy growled as the wires unwrapped, giving you the chance to pull away from them.
"Well, try harder, you doofus," Baby snapped as you gasped for air.
"Is he mad at me?" you worried, rubbing your neck as you coughed.
"It's harder than-an you th-- We have-haven't gotten to play i-n so-o long, Ba-by! You-ou can't stop-stop me thi-is time-- Freddy, we don't want-t to hurt her-er! We know her!" he seemed to argue with himself.
"What the hell's going on?" you blurted in confusion.
"Let's-et's get to know more-re of her! Let's see-ee wh-what's on the in-side!" he laughed maniacally.
The wires snaked around your arms and torso and lifted you into the air. One wrapped itself around your neck. They started to constrict you--as if you were prey to a snake--making it harder and harder for you to breath.
You thrashed your legs as stars clouded your vision. You could hear Baby and Freddy arguing about something, but couldn't focus on it. Ringing filled your ears and your sight went fuzzy as you started to slip into unconsciousness.
Before the darkness could consume you, the wires loosened. The ringing subsided and blood rushed to your head. You panted as the wires lowered you back on the ground. You started to stagger, the floor swaying under you.
"(Y/N), are-are you okay?" Freddy gasped, jumping forward to keep you from falling.
"F-Freddy?" you stammered as you started to be able to perceive things.
"We're so s-sorry!" He hugged you.
"I've missed you so much. I've missed all of you so much," you whispered, tears rolling down your face. "I'm sorry I left you."
"I-It's okay. Y-You're here now-ow. We're here now. We're together agai-ain," he assured you, carefully setting you down to sit you on the chair.
You smiled as he pulled away. He held your face and looked into your eyes. You noticed something off, though. His eye was yellow.
"I thought your eye was orange," you muttered.
Freddy slowly backed up, opening his mouth to say something, but all that came out was a stutter. His eye suddenly turned purple.
"Why-why would you leave m-me to keep him-im under c-con-ontrol?" Freddy groaned.
"Wait, what--"
"Be-because he-he's a c-c-coward!" he sang, then started laughing.
"That doesn't mean to--"
"I-I've got him, Ba-aby. It's f-fine. It is hard-harder than you th-ink. He's very . . . r-rowdy," Freddy admitted, slowly shaking his head.
"What is happening?" You scratched the back of your neck.
"Ballora and Foxy have to take control when Freddy's emotions get out of hand," Baby informed you.
"Who's in control right now?" you wondered, looking up to Freddy.
"Me: Ba-Ballora," he replied.
"Was Freddy angry at me?" you fretted.
"You're not getting it, are you?" Baby muttered.
"Not getting what?" You glanced between her and Freddy.
". . . Ba-by?" Freddy hummed after a few seconds of silence.
"What, you want me to tell her?" Baby huffed.
"Well-ell, I-I don't want to be-e the bear-earer of ba-ad news," Freddy admitted bashfully.
"Freddy forgot about you," Baby told you.
"Wh-what?" you uttered weakly.
"He drove himself crazy after James told us that you left," Baby continued.
"I th-thought you would've bee-een less blunt about it," Freddy grunted, glaring at Baby.
"You told me to tell her," Baby defended herself.
"He doesn't remember me?" you croaked, on the verge of a breakdown.
"It's o-okay, though," Freddy cooed, lowering down to be eye level with you.
"How is it okay?" you whimpered.
"I- . . . d-don't know," he muttered.
"Is there some way to make him remember?" You looked down to your hands.
"I'm not sure. We've tried to tell him about you, but it never works," Baby mused.
"Hey, (Y/N), you good in there?" you heard James ask on the other side of the door.
"That fucking, bastard," Freddy growled, his eye turning yellow.
"Yeah, I'm fine," you replied, trying to keep your voice from shaking.
"Are you done?" he wondered. "I just closed up out here."
"Oh, uh, give me a few minutes. I've got a couple more things to do in here," you replied, turning back to the terminal to finish your tasks.
"Okay, I've got to straighten some things up, anyway," James trailed off.
"Why are-are you be-ing nice to tha-at ass-assho-ole? You sh-should kill-ill h-him," Freddy hissed.
"No, I don't- . . . I need to find something out for myself."
"Find what out?" Baby sneered, her claw raking the wall.
"The truth," you hummed.
"What do you mean? You already know the truth. He lied to you, and us. I told you," Baby snapped, along with her claw.
"I know. I'm just- . . . I don't know," you mumbled under your breath. "I want to make sure, before I tell him. I want to make sure I'm not just hallucinating."
"Why don't we go out and give him our 'hello's?" Baby sassed, putting her hand on the door.
"No, I--"
"Or-or, we-e could ki-ill him?" Freddy suggested as he leaned in front of you, blocking your view of the terminal. "Show him-im ju-st how 'i-ima-agined' we are."
"No!"
Freddy flinched. He moved out of your way. His eye turned purple.
"I don't want you to kill him." You shook your head.
"Do you want to?" Baby wondered harshly.
"No, I don't want anybody to kill him, Baby."
"Why not?"
"Because- . . . He has a family," you mumbled, glancing away.
You finished your tasks, then turned off the terminal. You looked to the rest as you stood up.
"I'm gonna go, now. I'll be back tomorrow," you told them.
"Wai-ait--"
"Okay." Baby nodded.
"But--"
"We'll see you tomorrow, (Y/N)."
Freddy glared at Baby as you grabbed the door handle. You gave them a small wave, before walking out of the office. You quickly closed the door behind you, making sure James didn't see them.
"Hey, you good? Did you hear anything this time?" James questioned.
"Mm- No, I didn't. I heard the creaking of the settling vents, but that was all," you replied, scratching the back of your neck nervously.
"See, it was sleep deprivation. I told you," he bragged.
"Yeah," you scoffed, rolling your eyes.
"Start getting more sleep and you'll feel better," he suggested.
"Yep. Anyway, did you already salvage another animatronic?" You changed the subject.
"There wasn't another animatronic. I didn't see one in the back alley." He shrugged.
"You didn't?" You hummed, looking down.
"No. You ready to go?" James wondered, stretching a bit.
"Could I . . . stay over at your place again?" You scratched the back of your neck.
"Yeah. I'm sure Emily would love to see you again."
"Ah, shit," you hissed.
"What?"
"I had an appointment with her this afternoon."
"A what?"
"An appointment. It was a joke- I was supposed to meet with her after she got out from school."
"Oh, you were busy, so you didn't have the time to meet her," James considered, putting up his hand.
"But I told her I would make an exception for her," you pouted, pursing your lips.
"You can both either wake up early tomorrow and have the 'appointment,' or have it tomorrow afternoon. If it comes down to it, though, there's all day Saturday and Sunday for you two," he explained.
"I suppose so," you hummed.
"Are you ready to go?" he asked, walking over to the front doors.
"Yeah."
He opened the doors and walked outside. You lagged behind a bit, glancing back to the office.
You were about to flick off the lights, when you felt something wrap around your waist, stopping you in your tracks. You looked down, to see a wire around you. You followed up it with your eyes, where it led to Molten Freddy. He was dangling above you from the ceiling.
"You coming?" James wondered from outside.
"Uh, give me a minute," you replied, looking at him, "I've just got to do something real quick."
"Alright. I'll be waiting in the truck, then." He turned around and walked across the parking lot.
You stepped to the side, out of view. Freddy lowered down beside you. You saw that his eye was yellow.
"What are you doing?" you wondered, peeking around the corner to make sure James didn't come back.
"I wa-ant to go-go with y-you." Freddy lowered his head some.
"Wha- You can't . . . Why do you want to?"
"I want to make-make sure Ja-ames doesn't do any-anything to-o you."
"What do you mean? I've been working with him for five years, and he hasn't done anything to me. What makes you think he'll do anything now? He doesn't suspect a thing," you explained.
"I-I just want to . . . ma-ke sure," Freddy stammered, looking away.
"How are you supposed to come with me without being caught, hm?" you huffed, crossing your arms.
"You can-an take our-our car-ard."
"Your what?"
"Our-ur card. I don't kn-know where it-it i-is exactly."
"How am I supposed to find it in this mess?" you grunted, gesturing to all his wires. "What does it even look like?"
"It looks like a c-card."
You stopped, glaring up at him. He snickered slyly, his eye glowing a vibrant yellow. It changed to purple.
"Do you-ou recall the ti-time you h-had t-to take Freddy's card-ard with you? You put it in-to your devi-ice. It looks like tha-that, if you can re-remem-ember it?" Freddy--Ballora--told you.
"Don't I have to put in a passcode or something?" You put a finger to your chin.
"I d-don't know."
"Hmm." You thought back, trying to remember what you had to do. "Oh! Your cheek!"
"Wha-t about our-ur cheek?"
You put your hand under his chin and tilted it up some, to see that there was a button. You smiled in triumph, pressing it. A keypad popped out from the side of his head.
"Oh, right! Your arm! It's supposed to be in your arm. Do I even need to put in the passcode, since the inside of your arm is expo--"
You stopped upon feeling Freddy putting his hand under your chin, mimicking what you were doing with him. You looked over at him. His eye was orange.
"Freddy?" you whispered.
Instead of replying, he stared at you. You stared back. Was he remembering? Was this him reminiscing? You didn't want to say anything else, afraid that you would ruin it. He suddenly pulled away as his eye turned to yellow.
"Freddy-y, n-no!" he snapped.
"What do you mean 'Freddy, no'? The hell, Foxy!" you snarled.
"He want-anted to 'see-ee what would ha-ppen' if he 'cho-oked you,' " Freddy--Foxy--defended himself.
"Well- . . . Okay."
You looked at his arm, where you spotted the card. You pulled it out, careful not to break it. Slipping your phone out of your pocket, you connected the card to the bottom of it. You plugged in your earbuds and put them in your ears.
"Can you hear me?" Foxy wondered.
"Hey, woah! Foxy, it's your voice!" you exclaimed, your eyes widening.
"So, you can hear me," he sneered.
"Hello, '(Y/N)!'" Freddy's voice rung in your ears, making you wince.
"Freddy, you have to be quieter than that," Ballora hushed him.
"Ballora!" You smiled.
"Hi, (Y/N)," she greeted you happily--but calmly.