"It'll be like a red light, green light game!"

Earlier you had wondered where all the bots where. Looking into the main hall now you found them. Well, not all of them but there sure were a lot here. You, Bonnie and Monty hid behind the Golf sign, peering over.

Earlier Bonnie had filled Monty in on the plan.

Unbeknownst to you, Gregory and Moon had just left the area, making their way to Rockstar Row. Had Bonnie not been focused on all the bots in the area he might have heard them.

You also notice a few downed bots in the direction of the entrance. You don't think much of it.

You didn't really consider the bots a threat at this point. You picked up on their programming and had a good understanding of their routines by now.

In their 'corrupted' mode they picked up whatever they could to either knock you out or kill you. You'd seen them holding a variety of items; some which if hit by would be deadly. You were thankful the bot in the last area only had a spatula. You rub your head; it was going to leave a bruise. Though it did get you it was just trying to take you...somewhere.

The whole night had been nonstop action so you didn't really have time to think about what exactly the bots endgame was. They wanted you or Gregory clearly and had for the most part ignored Bonnie and co.

But now that you thought on it, all the bots that had attacked you indicated they wanted you alive. Chica, Sun, and Monty to an extent had indicated that someone or something wanted you. At least, for Monty he wanted you alive at first. You look at him.

He was hiding with you, though clearly in pain from the fight. You wondered how much of the 'corruption' was him letting out what he truly thought and how much wasn't. It was almost like it amplified his desires when he was infected.

While the bots were pushovers, in such a large number you guess they could be a problem. You consider your options. With the super-tazer, Bonnie's ruthlessness and Monty's rage you figure you could take them all. Although a killing spree was tempting you knew you'd have to repair them all in the end.

Plus, going on a rampage would get all sorts of unwanted attention.

After all, Freddy, Roxanne, Vanessa and the DJ were unaccounted for. You didn't need the extra attention. Just fighting Monty nearly killed you and Bonnie.

"What do we do?" Bonnie asked.

"Well, the bots don't seem to care about you or Monty."

"I could take them out." Bonnie offered. "No sweat, big ears and I can handle this." Monty started to get up.

"No. We don't need any more senseless killing. I don't want to fix any more than I have to." Never even minding more destroyed robots you weren't sure if you'd keep your job after this. Nah, they were desperate to hire you, you doubted you'd get more than a write-up.

"I could distract them." Monty offered.

"Can you?"

"Yeah! I'll say I got you and y'all can run across." Monty.

"You sure that'll work?"

"I don't know, why not? I need to get something behind the stage anyways." Monty said, now rising fully.

Looking at the tables you get an idea. "I figure I could hide until the tables and you just follow alongside. While Monty distracts them." You say to Bonnie.

"Oh! I like that. It'll be like a red light, green light game!" Bonnie said cheerily.

If there was one thing about Bonnie that astounded you it was how easy he bounced back in tense situations. Only a moment ago he was about to murder Monty, now he was ecstatic again.

"Everyone ready to go?" Everyone nodded in agreement.

Monty got up and limped towards the stage. If not for his wounds he would have ran and jumped up but instead climbed up.

"Hey all you stinkin' varmints! I got your guy right here! Just behind this stage!" Monty shouted to the crowd of robots.

Some of the bots go to Monty just to see what all the fuss was about but not many move. You guess however they were communicating was not the way Monty was, that or there wasn't as much coordination as he thought.

Now Playing...

Artist: 4th Pyramid

Song: Thieves in the Night

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hqbPU0hwF_s

"Sorry guys! It's not working. I'm gonna get what I need from back here. I'll see if I can find any stage controls." Monty said and disappeared behind stage right.

Despite Monty calling you and Bonnie out none of the bots take notice. Maybe they just thought Monty was talking to himself? You think.

"Alright. Let's start." You motion to Bonnie. Sneakily you and Bonnie leave the sign.

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

You duck under one of the tables. They are thankfully large enough that you can stay hidden.

"Wait." Bonnie said, placing a hand on the table. A bot came by looking around. Now getting a good look at the 'corrupted' face, Bonnie found it disturbing.

"Ew."

The bot, content there was nobody around rolled away. Bonnie tapped the table. "Go." He whispered. You did so, pushing the tablecloth aside and going to the next table. Bonnie's ears perked up. "There's something happening nearby. At the Row."

"What is it?"

"Shhh." Bonnie said, your voice having alerted a few nearby bots. Maintenance, chef and waiter bots started circling the table. You still had your tazer handy but didn't want to use it.

Whatever was going on at the Row had to wait. Bonnie considered just smashing the bots up but recalled what you said about 'senseless killings'. Maybe he could distract them?

"Don't move." He whispered.

Below the table you see nothing but Bonnie standing there and a few bots whirling around it. In an instant you see one of the chairs get lifted off the ground. "Yuh!" Bonnie said. It was followed by a smashing sound a few seconds later.

Whatever happened was enough to send the bots away. You peer out of the tablecloth. Though you couldn't get a good look, you can tell he chucked the chair somewhere.

"Hey what are you doing, they're gonna see you!" Bonnie said, pulling you to the next table.

This continued, Bonnie tapping on the table as the coast was clear and you moving. None were smart enough to actually pull up the tablecloth.

"Whoa! I-is this for me?" Bonnie said suddenly. You almost get up, hitting your head on the table.

"What is it?" You whisper to him.

"W-welcome back, B-b-bonnie. Awwww." Bonnie's voice trembled.

Suddenly the table cloth was lifted up and Bonnie peered under. "Did you do this for me?" He handed you a card. You use your phone to light it up.

It was a birthday card someone had scribbled out and wrote 'welcome back on it'. On the inside were a bunch of pleasantries written from the various animatronics. Not all of them as signatures from Freddy and Sun/Moon were missing.

"No. I didn't do this." From behind Bonnie you can barely make out a cake currently melting on one of the tables. It had purple and white frosting. The candles on it had long melted too.

Before you could respond Monty shouted "No!" from the stage.

Bonnie got up, dropping the tablecloth. "You aren't supposed to see that." He frantically said.

"Aw, shoot." Monty said finally. He sat down on the stage. "Sorry, Bon, it was supposed to be a surprise. Chica made you a cake. We were gonna throw you a welcome back party."

"Aww, thanks Monty. Uh, (Y/N), we can still have the party right?"

You were getting impatient with Bonnie, you wanted to fix the plex before any parties.

"We'll have it after this is over. Alright?" You say loudly. It somehow doesn't alert any bots but Bonnie and Monty hear it.

"Alright, but as soon as we fix everything we're having that party. Promise?" Bonnie asked.

"I promise. Soon as we're done."

"Awesome!" Bonnie jumped up ecstatically. Now with the party on his mind he continued tapping tables and watching for bots. The game continued. During the 'game' you accidentally trip a bot with the golf club and revealed your location. It's eyes lock onto yours.

Without even thinking Bonnie grabbed and chucked the bot off somewhere else. He apologized for doing it, claiming he was just trying to keep you safe. Monty enjoyed the show, complimenting Bonnie when he threw the bot.

Figuring there wasn't much he could do at his position Monty stayed put watching the two of you manoeuvre around the small crowd of robots.

He was aimless looking around before he heard something at Rockstar Row. "What the?" He muttered. Bonnie and you were too focused on moving to notice.

"Did ya hear that Bon?" Monty asked aloud.

"Here what?" Bonnie put his hand on the table to stop you. "All I hear is...static?" He said, ears flicking as he listened around.

"The kid! He's using it...I gotta go! I have to help him!" Monty said suddenly, jumping off the stage and running off towards the Row.

"What's going on?" You ask.

"I don't know." Bonnie responded, unsure what had happened.

Whatever alerted Monty had alerted a few bots too as you hear them whirr off in the distance.

When safe you duck into the nearby greenery and wait till it's safe to leave. After a few minutes the remaining bots go off on their own way.

"Should we go after him?" Bonnie said, referring to Monty. You shake your head. "He'll be fine." Truth is you weren't sure what Monty had freaked out about but you needed to stick to the mission at hand.

Now fully secure in the hall you and Bonnie make for the escalator.

"Good job." You say to Bonnie. "That was fun! We should do it again sometime!"

The second floor of the hall was relatively empty. This was good, as there weren't many hiding places this time. Bonnie and you walked down the walkway to the third floor escalator.

Now that you had some time, you had a few questions for Bonnie. There was something that had been gnawing at you.

"Whenever we get into fights, your eyes change colour. Why?"

He looked away, a feeling of unease washing over him. He sighed.

"What's wrong?"

"It's just-*sigh*, I guess I have to tell you."

"If it's bad-"

"Don't get mad please." Bonnie asked.

"I won't, just tell me."

"Before I was...killed." He had trouble saying the last part.

"They were testing some kind of 'angry' program on me. To help with security and stuff."

"Uh-huh."

"But, the guy working on me changed it so that I could control it. The guy said not to tell anyone though." Bonnie looked down in shame. You didn't care at all about Bonnie breaching secrecy. You were more interested in this 'program'.

"So it's not the same as when Monty and Chica were red?"

"I don't think so. Maybe? I don't know."

"Has it affected you at all?"

"I...lost control when we fought Monty. Butthatwastheonlytime! I swear!"

The two of you went onto the escalator. The arcade was within sight. What Bonnie had told you gave you a new question. If Bonnie could 'control' it, did that mean that he was immune to the 'corruption'?

"Don't beat yourself up over it. You had reason to get mad. You just need practice."

"Practice?"

"Well, controlling your anger is like a skill."

"Y-yeah. You-you're right!" As if a light bulb appeared above his head Bonnie figured it out. "I just need to work on it!"

"Good. Just don't go overboard next time."

"No. I won't!"

Seeing how Bonnie acted, his 'rage' mode and the chip you had a good idea of what could've happened. That chip was meant to trigger some sort of control mechanism on the animatronics. Some feature they all had. Somehow, it worked during last year’s incident and all the animatronics went along. You guess under someone’s orders. But tonight, something had gone awry.

You weren't sure 100% though as you were sure Bonnie had nothing to do with last year’s incident. His location wasn't even known at that point...unless his body was being used. You shake your head. After this you'd decide to re-read the report with that info in mind.

But you were sure in the difference between tonight and last year was that there wasn't someone giving orders or some key factor had changed.

Some animatronics were either exempt from it (Moon) or actively trying to fight it (Monty). You weren't sure what had gone wrong but you believed that chip was the source of it.

The only other thing that was left unexplained was 'who' it was that was supposed to be controlling them. You figure your answer to that would be with Vanessa or Gregory.

The two of you reached the top of the escalator. You could see the arcade entrance. It was lit up with the same lockdown colours you'd seen elsewhere. Before proceeding there was another thing you wanted to ask Bonnie.

You turn only to find Bonnie had abandoned you again. For someone as large as him you found it odd he was able to move so quietly. Like a rabbit, you think.

Hoping it's not another attempt to scare you, you glance around. It doesn't take long to notice he had run to the entrance to his former area.

Clearly he had other plans than the arcade right now.

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The next chapter will be called Welcome Home.