Disclaimer: this will mostly be based off of Markiplier's gameplay.

Freddy Fazbear Pizzaplex
Ken's POV
With our group up to five members, Roxy's elevator was getting pretty crowded. We tried some rearranging, but someone always ended up smushed against the back wall. I ended up having to ask Freddy to let me into his stomach hatch; he obliged, but he left his chest slightly open as to not apply unwanted pressure to my arms. It meant that I couldn't see through his eyes, so all I had to tell me when we arrived on the upper floors was a thin sliver of light along the upper region of Freddy's hatch door. Through the sliver, I could watch as the elevator doors closed as we took off, then opened as we arrived.

We stepped into Roxy's back room and Freddy let me climb out of his stomach hatch. The animatronics started to head towards the main room, but I stopped them. "We need a plan before we do anything," I explained. "And the best time to make one is in here, where there aren't any cameras." I had checked on my FazWatch - there weren't any cameras that showed the back rooms of Rockstar Row.

"He's got a point," Roxy admitted. She pulled over a couple of cardboard boxes and sat down with a dramatic sigh. "Settle in, campers."

Once everyone got situated, I carefully clapped my hands and brought up the most pressing issue. "How do we lure Monty out? You guys know him the best, so where would he this time of night?"

"Oh, that's easy," Chica spoke up from where she was leaning against the wall. "When he's not in his room or wandering around the Pizzaplex, Monty's most likely in his Gator Golf attraction. And..." She made a show of tilting her head to listen to the atmosphere. "He's not in his room right now - otherwise we'd hear something like a loud cat fight right about now."

"Well, I do have a Party Pass," I offered, taking out the paper Freddy had given me. "Maybe we can use it to enter Gator Golf and find him?"

The animatronics all shook their heads at once. "No good - he's hardly ever by the entrance," Roxy told me. "He's probably in the catwalks ABOVE the main floor."

"Huh?" I asked. "Why would he be up there?"

"We do not know," Freddy supplied. "Monty has been spending a lot of time up there recently, though. We have tried to ask him about it, but he always changes the subject."

"Probably views himself as a 'god watching over his domain'," Roxy muttered disdainfully. She closed her eyes and raised her arms self-importantly. "Frankly, I don't see the appeal. I always find it better to get in on the fun!"

It was weird, but it was all we had. "Alright, how do we get to the catwalks?"

"Unfortunately, no one knows a direct way up to the catwalks besides Monty and the maintenance workers," Freddy admitted sadly.

I groaned. "Great, so now what?"

No one seemed to have any more ideas, so we just sat in stony silence for a while. Then Chica lifted her head. "Wait - there's an air vent in my Mazercise attraction that leads to the Gator Golf catwalks," She revealed excitedly. "The higher ups thought they could save money by having a few of the attractions share ventilation."

This revelation got me excited as well. "That's great!" I told her, though something occurred to me. "Wait - how can you be sure that it leads to the catwalks? It could just lead to the main floor."

"Like I said, the higher ups wanted to save money," Chica replied. "The vent isn't that long; Mazercise is on the second floor while Gator Golf is on the main floor. And I KNOW because the kids keep complaining that they can hear the sounds of Gator Golf while they're trying to enjoy MY super-fun Mazercise attraction." She huffed through her beak. "They could have at least added a sound muffler, or something."

I was liking the sound of this plan. "Sounds easy! Can you tell us the right way through the maze?" I asked her.

She hesitated before answering, "I don't think so. In order for the attraction to be interesting for the guests, the maze has many combinations, which are changed every hour via a control panel located in a special room just outside the maze entrance. The vent is only exposed during a handful of those combinations, and I'm not programmed to memorize all of them."

"Okay, slightly more complicated," I relented, scratching the back of my neck. "Can we access the control panel, at least? Maybe if we push enough of the buttons, the vent will eventually show itself."

Chica looked off to the side and tilted her head. "The panel itself isn't hard to get to," She revealed. "But you need a special Control Key in order to actually use it. Otherwise, you're just pushing a bunch of buttons that don't do anything."

I pressed my fingers to my face and sighed. "And WHERE is this Control Key?" I asked, already dreading the answer.

"Not really sure," Chica said, shrugging. "The higher ups entrusted it to some guy named Leo so he could work the maze, but he got lazy and gave it to one of the S.T.A.F.F. bots."

"Like MOST of the workers tend to do," Roxy growled.

"Last I heard, the Control Key was left somewhere in the Daycare theater," Chica finished. "And I only heard about it because Leo's boss was LOUDLY chewing him out for leaving it with a bot."

As soon as my hopes lifted, they were squashed. "The DAYCARE..." I groaned, covering my face with my hands. "Of COURSE."

"Oh? Is everything okay, Ken?" Freddy asked from somewhere beyond my fingers.

"It's nothing, just..." I moved my hands to run them through my greasy hair. "I kinda promised Sunny that I'd stay away from the Daycare after the lights went out the last time I was in there." I growled. "Another ploy by Vanny, I take it. Anyways, the poor guy's got enough going on."

When I opened my eyes, the animatronics stared at me with wide gazes. "You... actually made friends... with the creepy Daycare Attendant?" Roxy finally inquired.

"Well, with Sunny, at least," I said nonchalantly, shrugging. "He's not too bad once you get to know him. Moony, I'm not so sure."

Roxy whistled lowly. "You are FULL of surprises, kid," She said in appreciation.

Their hesitation wasn't all that surprising given Moony's personality, so I decided not to press the issue. The main problem, however, I did press: "How are we going to get into the Daycare without Sunny or Moony spotting us?"

The others didn't appear worried. "Do not worry, Ken," Freddy explained calmly. "The theater is separate from the play area, which is where the Daycare Attendant usually resides. As long as we do not find a need to enter the play area, we should be fine."

"And if the creep DOES decide to show his face," Roxy added fiercely, holding up a handful of neon green claws. "He's going to get an eyeful of THESE bad boys!"

"Roxy..." Chica groaned, tipping her head back.

"What?" The wolf asked, confused.

"Just... just no." On the chicken's pink shoulder, Music Man also shook its head.

That information lessened my worry the slightest bit - the Daycare, not Roxy fully willing to claw poor Sunny's eyes out. "Okay, so we just go to the theater, get the Control Key, head to Mazercise, change the maze, go through the vent to Gator Golf, and somehow find a way to get Monty's sunglasses off so we can use Project Reboot on him," I listed off my fingers; our agenda took up one and two-fifths of my hands. "Sounds easy, right?" The others mumbled their trepidations. "Yeah, I didn't think so, either."

With the plan written in very brittle stone, we made our preparations. The animatronics each took a turn in Roxy's Recharge Station while I charged my flashlight in the machine mounted on the wall. I also double checked the cameras on my FazWatch - still too many security bots for comfort, though still no sign of Vanny or Monty.

I wasn't entirely sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

When everyone was charged up and ready, I climbed back into Freddy's stomach hatch - to which Roxy commented "You usually don't see that everyday." - we left Roxy's room and headed back to the main atrium. Once there, we passed by several security bots on our way to the main elevator; they paid no attention to us. Into the elevator on the main floor and out onto the Lobby, where this entire nightmare of a night had truly gotten its stride.

Chica and Roxy left the elevator and took a left to the Daycare entrance, Music Man still perched on Chica's shoulder. Freddy made to follow them, but I made him stop and take a longer look at the far end of the Lobby.

The front doors.

I'd encouraged Freddy to close his hatch entirely so as to not draw the curiosity of the security bots, which allowed me to gaze at the full entirety of the entrance. No more than a few minutes ago, the doors had been open, offering me the first taste of freedom that I'd gotten all night. I'd chosen to stay, though, so now the metal wall had resumed its place over the glass doors. It was almost as if they hadn't moved at all.

Once again, I thought of the family waiting for me behind those doors. They probably had no idea where I was or what I was doing. Had my parents called the police yet? Had my SOS signal reached the Monastery, and if so, were PIXAL and the others looking for me?

What would they all say if they saw the situation I'd been thrusted into?

I let loose a small sigh. It didn't matter in the end. I'd chosen to stay. I'd chosen to set them free. Would I regret that decision somewhere along the line? Maybe. But not right now.

"Ken?" Freddy spoke up quietly. I flinched - I'd fully forgotten that I was still in his stomach hatch. "Are you alright?"

"Y-yeah," I claimed weakly, trying to regain my bearings. I felt my cheeks turn a bright pink within the shadows of the hatch. How long had I been using Freddy's eyes to stare at the front doors? A full minute? Two? Had Chica, Roxy, and Music Man seen? "I - I just..." What could I possibly say?

Freddy seemed to understand, though. "It is okay, Ken."

"We'll get you out another way - we promise!" Chica proposed from somewhere beyond Freddy's field of vision. I felt the color of my cheeks go from pink to red; she and the others HAD seen.

"L-let's just go," I muttered, turning Freddy towards the Daycare. Enough of this embarrassment.

Through the bright red double doors, down the colorful brick hallway, under the large roll-up door, into the bright blue waiting room, and onto the upper floor. This time, Freddy took me down to the main floor next to the net-lined play area (which I nervously watched out of the corner of his eye for a particular yellow animatronic) and to a red roll-up door with a bright rainbow stretching above it. Through this new door was a tomato-toned movie theater-type room with numerous bean bag chairs in front of a large screen, where cartoon images of the main animatronics were walking in a repeating loop.

"So Chica," I spoke up, still inside Freddy; the roll-up door slid shut as we entered. "Any ideas where the Control Key is?"

"Not a clue," Chica admitted, gazing around the theater with her hands on her hips. "All I heard was that the bot Leo had given it to had left it somewhere around here."

"There are three levels," Roxy told us, staring at our surroundings with a glare. "The projection room, the viewing room, and the storage room. The Control Key could be in any of them."

I nodded slightly. "We'll just have to split up," I announced. "Freddy and I will take the storage room, then make our way back up."

"I'll take the viewing room," Chica offered immediately.

Roxy sighed. "Guess that means I have the projection room," She relented.

"Hold up - I have to connect to Roxy before we go our separate ways," I told them, holding up my wrist. I went into Settings and selected the <<CONNECT TO ROXY>> option. Like Chica had predicted, the option had become accessible now that I was close to her. "How does that feel, Roxy?"

She shook her head slightly, though it looked more like an attempt to get rid of a fly than an actual answer. "Like a foreign link just requested to connect with my central server," She replied simply. "I accepted and it made a nice clinking noise in my brain."

"Yay, it worked!" I jested.

So we split up - Chica and Music Man stayed on the main floor while Roxy, Freddy and I went opposite directions. With me still inside Freddy's stomach hatch, we made our way around the back of the theater into what looked like a backstage area with a bunch of bright costumes on hangers and whiteboards with agendas scribbled on them. The space led to the beginning of a set of stairs that descended further into the Pizzaplex. We went down the stairs to another platform that led even further down.

And then we saw it on the floor just beneath us.

A large doll of metal and wire, with glowing red orbs for eyes.

"Oh no," I muttered, shuddering against the sides of the hatch. "It's an ENDO."

"You know about endos?" Freddy asked, sounding surprised.

"Yeah, there was a whole army of them down in Parts and Service," I explained, not daring to keep mine or Freddy's eyes off of the endo. "I ran into them when I was looking for a way to break in after Moony dragged you in there. What are they, exactly?"

Freddy hesitated before answering, "The higher ups ordered more endos made in case more than one animatronic was decommissioned at a time. Maintenance made a few more than they had anticipated, so now we have a surplus of them. I do not know why they would be so far from Parts and Service, though."

A single thought passed between us; it was so obvious, neither of us bothered to voice it: Vanny.

I nodded, wondering if he could feel it. "They seem to freeze up whenever a bright light is on them," I pointed out. "Do you have that ability?"

"Yes," Freddy confirmed, then proceeded to detail, "Since the endos do not have a core system as of yet, which gives us our personalities, their systems are ultra sensitive to high stigma, like bright lights. Loud noises also tend to stun them."

"Maybe we should have brought Chica with us," I mused sadly.

"We will just have to make do," Freddy agreed.

So we continued our trek down the stairs and reached the bottom floor, taking extra care to keep our distance from the endo. We passed several dressing rooms with curtains, stage lights, and blue screens, though nothing that looked like it could contain a Control Key. We also ran into a concerning number of endos - luckily, the light from Freddy's eyes kept them at bay.

Finally, we entered a room with a bunch of metal shelves - a storage room. It was here that we discovered a thin, pink plastic rectangle placed casually on the top of a cardboard box, as if someone had left it there with the intent of coming back for it, though obviously never did. I piloted Freddy over to the shelf to confirm my suspicion; the words MAZERCISE CONTROL KEY were printed in festive font on its surface with a cartoon picture of Chica in the corner.

"Bingo!" I exclaimed. I pressed against the hatch door to open it slightly, then grabbed the plastic rectangle and ducked back inside. Once safely within the shadows, I held up my FazWatch to dial up our allies. "Guys - we found the Control Key!"

"Hey - that's great news!" Roxy spoke up.

"Way to... go... Kenny!" Chica also came through; her sentence was punctuated by the sound of loud chewing.

"Chica, are you EATING the theater popcorn?" Freddy asked incredulously.

"Duh - why do you think she wanted to search the viewing room?" Roxy responded sarcastically. "It's the only floor that serves popcorn!"

"Don't - CHOMP - judge me!" Chica protested; her claim was interspersed by an indignant crunch.

"Just meet us at the entrance to the Daycare," I interrupted their arguing. "Go ahead and charge yourselves at the Recharge Station, too! All this running around has got to be draining your batteries."

"Will do," Roxy commented.

"See you there!" Chica promised. A familiar clicking noise in the background let me know Music Man also agreed.

With that, I closed the transmission and piloted Freddy to turn back towards the stairs to the main floor. We went back through the storage room door and froze.

The endos were all around us now.

The ones that we'd noticed before had taken advantage of our distracted attention to crowd around the storage room entrance. Ones that we hadn't even seen before had sprung up and joined them. Now that they were caught in the light from Freddy's eyes, they froze up and simply started at us.

Without proper facial expressions, they seemed almost... hungry.

The Mazercise Control Key turned warm in my clenched hand. "Um... Freddy?" I asked nervously. "You're one of the main animatronics. They won't hurt you... right?"

"Theoretically, yes," Freddy replied, but he sounded uncertain. "Though, because they have no central systems, that theory is debatable."

That didn't sound good. "Then we better get moving."

"Agreed."

It wasn't easy, but we were able to maneuver around the endos by quickly swerving Freddy's gaze around to freeze them periodically. We eventually made it back to the stairs and took them back up to the main floor, not even glancing behind us to check if we were still being followed. Back through the backstage area, through the viewing room (devoid of Chica), under the roll-up door, past the play area, up to the waiting room, and back into the colorful brick hallway.

Chica and Roxy were standing next to the Recharge Station; they snapped to attention when they saw Freddy. "Do you have the Control Key?" Roxy asked him.

"Yes - Ken has it," Freddy told her.

Roxy blinked. "And Ken would be...?"

"In here," I spoke up within Freddy. "I never left the stomach hatch - I wasn't taking any chances."

Roxy blinked again, this time in my general direction. "Yeah, that's never gonna stop being weird..." She finally declared.

"I second that," Chica added. Music Man also nodded.

I rolled my eyes, thankful that they couldn't see me. "Let's just get this over with, please?" I asked, turning Freddy's head towards the Recharge Station.

I had to briefly exit the stomach hatch so Freddy could charge without me frying inside of him, but once he was done, back in I went. We exited the brick hallway to the Lobby, took the elevator back to the main atrium, had to go down to the seating area because of the multitude of security blockades, then took another set of escalators that put us right next to the entrance to Mazercise.

Like every other attraction, there was a pink toned Party Bot standing stationary in front. Figuring it was probably okay now, I exited Freddy's stomach hatch and handed it my Party Pass. It fed the ticket into its scanner, did its pleased little dance, then waved our party through the glass double doors and rolled away. I gave my allies one last backwards glance before pushing open the doors.

I was immediately met with pink. Pink toned floors, pink toned waiting areas, pink toned snack vendors, even large TV screens that played pink toned cartoons of Chica. As we entered, a voiceover that sounded like Chica played over hidden loudspeakers, "Welcome to Mazercise! Work off the calories while you eat. Sign up for a membership pass today! Super cool perks include discounts on pizza, nachos, fries, and cookies! Now, that's the smell of fitness!"

"Chica..." I said over my shoulder, feeling a little sick to my stomach. "No offense... but I can HEAR the kids gaining weight."

Chica laughed uneasily. "Yeah... pretty clever marketing ploy, huh?" She asked.

"This place has way too many of those," I grouched before returning to business. "Okay, where's the control panel?"

Chica pointed to a doorway at the far end of the room. "Through there." Leaving Freddy and Roxy in the waiting room, we went through the doorway and found ourselves in a dark hallway with two other doorways at opposite ends. There were a couple of security bots milling about, but with Chica beside me, they were none the wiser. She proceeded to show me to a rectangular bulge in the wall that turned out to be a small closet-like space.

Mounted on the wall was a large panel with two rows of numbered lit up buttons and a computer screen showing nothing but snowy static. Chica kneeled down and pointed to a slot underneath the screen that looked about the same width as the Control Key. I joined her and took out the pink strip of plastic from where I'd slipped it into my pocket, then slid it into the slot. As soon as it locked in, the static fell from the screen and gave us an elevated view of a bunch of colorful felt walls.

"So these buttons control the walls in the maze?" I asked Chica. At her affirmative sound, I held my fingers readily over the bright circles. "You said that the vent to Monty Golf is only open during a handful of these combinations - which would those be?"

"No idea," Chica said blandly. When I shot her a SERIOUSLY look and Music Man clicked its teeth in agitation, she gave an annoyed sigh. "I told you, Kenny, I'm not programmed to memorize all of the maze combinations! I'm one of the main players, so knowing how the maze is set up every time would give me an unfair advantage!" She giggled and then added, "It really helps me bond with the kids."

I stared at her for a few seconds before groaning loudly and focusing back on the buttons. "FINE, just - where's the vent located?" I asked of her.

"The kids say that they can hear the sounds of Gator Golf..." Chica drew out, loosely tracing her finger across the computer screen before coming to a rest at the far wall. "Right around here."

"Okay, so we just need to reposition the walls so they form a direct path to this space," I muttered, pressing a few of the buttons to see which walls they affected. Once I got a feel for it, I pressed a few more. "What did that do?"

Chica looked at the screen. "Moved a few walls, though not the ones we need."

I pressed a few others. "How about now?"

"Still not the ones we need."

"And now?"

"Now the vent is exposed, at least."

"Great, now we just need to open up the path to it..."

For the next few minutes, it went back and forth like this: I would press the buttons and then check with Chica to see if anything important happened to the maze. It wasn't easy and I had to press some of the buttons more than once, which made me sympathize with Leo, but we eventually did it. Chica finally cried out in excitement, "That's it! We have a straight path to the vent!"

"Awesome - let's go!" I exclaimed, jumping to my feet.

After leaving the control room, Chica led me to one of the two doorways in the outer hallway. "The kids are supposed to enter the maze through THIS door, and then hopefully find their way through the maze and exit through THAT door," She explained, pointing at one and then the other. "The maze has many twists and turns, which are changed by the hour, and there are always more than a few dead ends. It all depends on how good the kids' memories are."

I nodded to show I understood. "Let's just hope that WE can remember the way to the vent," I told her.

Turns out that the events of the night had worn down my memory even more than I'd thought - we ran into a handful of dead ends before we ever saw the vent to Gator Golf. When we finally found it, Chica hesitated. "I... don't think me or the others will be able to fit through there," She told me, eyeing the vent.

I took note of the vent's size as well. Chica had a point - it was WAY too small for her and the others. It looked just about the right size for me, though. I tapped the front of my coat and sighed in relief; Project Reboot was still there. "Alright, I'll go by myself," I told her, kneeling down to the vent's level. The sound of cymbals clapping loudly made me pause, and I glanced over my shoulder to watch as Music Man scurried down Chica's outstretched arm and lept onto my back. As it pressed comfortingly into my neck, I laughed and rephrased my sentence, "WE'LL go by ourselves."

Chica nodded and made to go back through the maze. "Good luck, Kenny. We'll be waiting for you outside Gator Golf," She said over her shoulder as she left. She disappeared around a wall, then quickly backtracked to peek around it. "And please - be gentle with Monty. I know he looks like a big brute, but he's actually a HUGE softie." With that, she whipped around the wall and vanished.

I watched as she left and then sighed, "I'LL stop viewing him a big brute the second HE stops viewing me as a chicken to hunt," I told Music Man.

And so we entered the dark recesses of the vent. It was smaller than the other vents I'd been through, which meant that Music Man had to ride uncomfortably on my lower back, so it was slow going at best. After a few minutes, though, the sounds of loud growling and numerous other jungle noises ricocheted through the vent's metal walls. The reflected light turned from pink to green, and the smell shifted from one of felt and sweat to one of plastic and something tropical. The end of the vent eventually came into view, so I swept my feet out from under my crouched body and planted them firmly on a metal catwalk.

Straightening up, I had to gawk; I felt as if I was in the canopy of a great jungle. Deep shades of green and ochre painted the walls and ceiling, giving the illusion of a dense wilderness. The only things that broke the illusion were the catwalks and a system of airborne carriages in the shape of alligator heads. Sneaking a peek down below, I took in the sight of several plastic trees shooting up from the floor and a series of interconnected golf courses that got more complex as one progressed. There were even makeshift moats with large alligator heads that occasionally poked out and roared at whoever was above them.

You had to give credit to whoever designed the attraction - it looked absolutely AWESOME.

"I've said it before and I'll say it again," I told Music Man, breathlessly taking in the expanse of the space. "This place. Is. GINORMOUS." A slight shaking on my shoulder let me know that it agreed. "Okay - now we just need to find-"

A growl that was slightly louder than the others in the room cut me off. My eyes went stretching for the source, though I had a feeling that I knew what made it. Everything was green; it was hard to discern anything from my surroundings. Then my eyes landed on an alligator carriage that was heading directly towards me. It seemed a little greener than the other carriages.

Because something green was RIDING it.

That something green saw me and roared in my direction, then jumped off its carriage and landed on the catwalks with a loud THUMP. It stared towards me with a fearsome aura, then turned towards a cannon-like gadget attached to the catwalks and seemed to get an idea. Making sure I was watching, it lifted its large purple fists over its flat head and brought them down hard on the cannon. The thing was instantly destroyed, caving in on itself and releasing a dark smoke. With its display of strength over and done, it fully turned back towards me. It leaned forward slightly to level its gaze at me, then lifted a black claw to tilt its star-shaped sunglasses, revealing its red eyes. "Rock and roll," It growled menacingly.

"Welp, we found Monty," I said nonchalantly enough before quickly adding, "RUN."

I quickly followed my statement and sprinted in what I hoped was the opposite direction from Monty. When I thought I was far enough away, I slowed down and turned around. I couldn't see the alligator animatronic anymore, but that could mean anything. Everything was green, anyway.

"Okay, so Monty knows we're here," I informed Music Man, who was shaking up a storm on my shoulder. "We just gotta... figure out a way get his sunglasses off so we can use Project Reboot on him." I glanced at my traveling companion. "Any ideas?"

Music Man shook its head in reply, then seemed to catch sight of something over my head and started nodding. It used one of its cymbals to point at what it saw and I swung my head around. Located at a place of honor was a giant bucket with a large disk above it that was painted with Monty's open-mouthed face and several bright arrows. HURRICANE HOLE-IN-ONE was spelled in illuminated letters on the bucket.

Memories came back to me of the time that my family took a vacation to a water park. There was a giant bucket there that would fill with water, then douse whatever unlucky person was standing beneath it. I noticed that there were dozens of the cannon that Monty had destroyed all around the catwalks; most of them were pointed towards the bucket. Maybe this bucket works the same way as the water park bucket, only with plastic balls instead of water, I thought. If I can fill the bucket up with balls, then get Monty to stand under it when it tips, maybe that'll be enough to distract him long enough for me to get his sunglasses off! "Great idea!" I congratulated Music Man.

The next few minutes went something like this: I would run up to a cannon and use it to fire at the bucket until it ran out of balls, then switch to another. Monty spotted me a few times, but I was always able to get away. Luckily for me, the catwalks were long and I was also wearing green - it must be as hard for Monty to find me as it is for me to find him.

The bucket released a loud ringing noise whenever I made it in, which was often. But for some reason, the cannons could refill themselves, though they combusted into showers of sparks and smoke more often than not. I kept having to find new cannons, which led me to think that I'd be running from Monty forever.

Finally, the patriotic sound of a trumpet emanated from the bucket. Realizing that it must be full, I let out a quick breath of relief and sprinted in its direction. A sharp growl let me know that Monty had seen me and was giving chase. Good, I thought with a slight smirk. This is one race I don't mind cutting close.

My thighs were burning, but I made it to the catwalk beneath the bucket. I'd found it concerning that the bucket hadn't tipped even a little bit yet, thinking that Vanny had already gotten to it before me. Then I made it to the very end of the catwalk and solved the mystery: the bucket was activated by another Freddy-head button.

I reached the button the second I felt a thunderous thump ricochet through the catwalks beneath me, followed by a cruel chuckle. I didn't have to turn around to know Monty was there. I didn't think - my hand just shot out and pressed the button. Almost immediately, the sound of whirring machinery filled the air. I whipped around to watch as the bucket finally tipped forward with a great force. Monty also looked up to watch the bucket. I almost thought that he wasn't going to catch it in time, but his clawed hands reached up and grabbed the rim of the bucket. He actually started to tip it back.

Now's my chance.

I rushed forward and reached for Monty's face, his sunglasses. My fingers hit true and I pulled the purple stars off his eyes, allowing me to see the surprised look in his red eyes for a split second before I pulled away again. One hand tossed the stolen item aside while the other reached into my coat.

Project Reboot was out and firing into Monty's eyes before either of us could blink.

As soon as Monty started twitching from the effects of the blast, his arms started to collapse the bucket started tipping at a faster pace. Shit, I didn't think this through, I cursed myself. I held the FazerBlaster in one hand and grabbed Monty's quickly weakening shoulder, pulling him away before the bucket could crush him - or at the very least, push him to the floor of Gator Golf, several yards below us.

Without Monty to block it, the Hurricane Hole-In-One tipped completely over and created a mighty clanging noise as it connected with the catwalk. Its contents spilled onto the floor far below, a sea of multicolored balls tumbling loudly over each other and the rafters on their way to the floor far below. Anyone who would have been caught beneath the downpour would have been bombarded with a storm of plastic balls. A true plastic hurricane.

But we had been able to bypass it.

Adrenaline-fueled shock told me to continue staring at the rainbow puddle below, trying to catch my breath. Monty's momentum had caused our trio to fall down onto the catwalk, so Music Man struggled to reposition itself on my shoulder while I leaned over Monty's bulbous chest to watch the puddle spread. For a while we just lay there, resting off the events that just happened. We lay there for so long, the bucket tipped back to its original place.

Then a deep voice spoke up, "Hey... kid?"

With a start, I looked down to see that Monty was done restarting and was staring at me with half-lidded eyes. "You mind getting off of me?" He asked with a suspicious drawl.

I fully realized the position we were in - mostly proud of myself for not injuring my body again - and immediately scurried off of him. "S-sorry, Monty," I apologized, feeling my cheeks heat up. How humiliating!

Monty slowly lifted himself into a sitting position and glanced over the side of the catwalk. "Looks the Hurricane Hole-In-One was triggered," He mumbled to himself when he saw the spilled balls. When he turned back to me, his red eyes were lowered in a glare. "Just what are you doing up here, kid? The Gator Golf catwalks are closed after hours."

Remembering what Freddy had said about Monty coming up to the catwalks often, I fixed him with my own glare and crossed my bandaged arms over my chest. "I could ask YOU the same question," I told him firmly. Music Man also pressed its cymbals together in a show of determination.

Monty's eyes narrowed further, but he nodded. "Touché," He said in admiration. "I wish I could answer that, but to tell you the truth, I don't really remember how I got up here." He glanced around his surroundings with confusion before looking back at me. "And since I asked first, I'd say that it's only fair that you explain things first."

I sighed. "Well..."

(A very long explanation later...)

"...so I thought tipping the bucket would distract you long enough for me to use Project Reboot. Of course, it didn't occur to me that the bucket would try to take you with it. I-I pulled you away before you fell, though. And... that's how we got here."

Monty didn't say anything the entire time I was explaining things. Even after I finished, he just slowly swiveled his head away from me and stared at the floor far below. At first I thought he was just digesting the information I'd given him. But when the seconds stretched into minutes, I felt it necessary to speak up, albeit timidly, "Monty?"

"That long-as-heck explanation," Monty growled; my eyes widened at his cold tone. "And you still couldn't tell me how or why."

I blinked. I'd thought that I'd explained how and why for a lot of things. "Excuse me...?"

"You said that Freddy told you that I've been coming up here recently?" He asked, glaring at me out of the corner of his eye. I nodded. "And that the others have told you why they do the things they do?" Another nod. Where was he going with this? "Well, since the others have told you their problems, might as well tell you mine."

He shimmied himself over to the edge of the catwalk so he could dangle his feet towards the floor. His eyes refused to even glance at me. "I wasn't a part of the original band," He started to explain softly. "Gator Golf used to be the only attraction kids could see me in. The original bassist was a purple bunny."

"Bonnie," I broke in helpfully.

Monty hesitated before nodding. "Yep. Good ol' Bonnie. Ah, the kids loved him. Only a few guests came to my Gator Golf because they were too busy playing over at his Bonnie Bowl." He sighed. "I'd be lying if I said that I wasn't jealous of him. He really had it all: a place in the main band, an army of fans, a popular attraction, everything."

"I hear a 'but' coming," I gently proved him. I hadn't yet moved to join him at the edge of the catwalk, afraid of what he'd do if I did.

Monty closed his eyes. "BUT everything started to change. Strange things started happening around the Pizzaplex. The animatronics started getting forgetful, and I was no exception. Then Foxy got decommissioned for getting into trouble with a child. No surprise there - with that big hook of his, it was bound to happen sometime.

"But then one day, old Bonnie came up to me and asked if I remembered anything from the night before. I didn't; I just thought one of the nosy maintenance workers had put him up to it and told him off. Imagine my surprise when he came to the Gator Golf catwalks later that day and asked me the same question. 'Come on, Monty,' he'd probed, 'You've gotta remember something'. I told him the same answer, but he just WOULDN'T LEAVE IT ALONE." His hands clenched into fists in his lap. "By that point, I just wanted him to leave and told him so. But he still wouldn't leave it be. Some part of me thought that since he was part of the main band, he thought he was owed my memory, no matter how many holes were in it. I got really mad, I admit it. I just remember that I started advancing on him, trying to scare him away a little bit, and then..."

He didn't need to finish that sentence. Luis had already told me in his experiment logs. "The accident that got Bonnie decommissioned."

Monty nodded again, this time slower. "I don't really know what happened after that. All I know is one minute he was in front of me, and the next minute, he was on the floor way way beneath me." His fists unclenched. "I didn't want to get in trouble with maintenance, so I skedaddled after that. The next day, Bonnie was announced for decommissioning and it was decided that I would take his place in the main band. You should have heard what they said to me." His voice took on a bitter tone. "'Consider yourself lucky, Monty - now you don't have to pretend to be the fan favorite.'"

He tipped his long snout forward, then leaned back on his claws and looked towards the ceiling. "Say what you want about me, kid," He said in a mere murmur. "But I would never do ANYTHING to get Bonnie to get decommissioned. Sure, I was jealous of him, but I wouldn't hurt him. Whatever happened to him wasn't my fault; I know that's what most people think."

Monty fell quiet after that. There was still something on my mind, though. "So why DO you keep coming up here?" I asked him. "If anything, this just brings back bad memories."

His eyes still didn't meet mine as he answered, "But that's exactly what I WANT to happen. I WANT the memories because I WANT to know what happened. I told you, kid, all I remember is getting mad at Bonnie, then he was just a pile of broken metal on the ground. So my theory is, if I come up here enough and retrace my steps from that day, something will eventually click. I-I've heard that it works in humans..."

His voice broke and I genuinely felt sorry for him; even Music Man clicked it's teeth sadly. It's true that retracing one's steps can spur a memory, but only in humans. An animatronic was basically a walking computer - once they lost a memory, odds were it was gone for good.

I eyed the distance between me and Monty, a defined boundary, then decided to breach it. I slowly slid over to him and swung my legs over the side of the catwalk, dangling my feet towards the floor below. Sometime in the not too distant past, one of the more beloved animatronics of the Pizzaplex had laid down there between the moats and the fake palms, a crumpled heap of metal and wire. He had probably laid right beneath our feet. The only one who'd been there when he'd fallen had no idea what had happened.

The Pizzaplex was all too good at covering its tracks.

We sat in silence for a little bit, just two angels watching over the world below. Monty was brooding, I was trying to figure out a right moment to speak. When he'd seemed to have calmed down, I tried my hand, "Monty - there's a cover up in the works here. Someone or something is trying to hide what's happening behind the scenes. When this night started, all I wanted to do was get out of here and go home. But now all I want to do is get to the bottom of this... and help you guys in the process."

A tired chuckle came from Monty. "Are you trying to get me to help you like the others?"

"Is it working?" I asked truthfully, tilting my head in his direction.

Another tired chuckle and Monty finally looked at me. "Tell you what, kid-"

"Ken," I interrupted. "You can call me Ken."

"Yeah, okay," Monty said in a way that let me know he was still going to refer to me as 'kid'. "Tell you what - I'll help you get out of here on one condition."

"What would that be?" I inquired, curious.

Monty leveled his red eyes at me. "You promise me that you'll find out what happened to Bonnie," He told me gruffly. "Give everyone here some closure - and hopefully clear my name while you're at it. He's owed that much." He offered me his purple palm. "Deal?"

I stared at his hand for a second before taking it in my best imitation of a firm grip. "You didn't need to get me to promise something like that, Monty," I told him. "Because I intend to not only solve THAT mystery, but every mystery in this rotten place."

Monty grunted; he would be smiling if he could. "Let's get to it, then."

—————

7512 words.