Author's note: Here we go! Starting off with some familiar faces and jarring new realities. I'm sorry if updates are inconsistent. I'm moving across the USA, but I'll try my best! Hope you enjoy this sequel, and also, please review. With each comment I grow stronger, more powerful! Mwahahaha!


The droning, almost soothing sound of rain pattering against the roof contrasted sharply with the lively conversation the four people were currently wrapped in.

"You know he'll find a way, he can weasel out of anything!"

"There was a literal body! There's no way the police will just overlook that!"

"Nice place you got here."

The discussion stopped abruptly, and everyone turned to stare at Mike, who was absently looking around the kitchen.

Scott seemed to recover the quickest. "Um… thanks. It's my house, well, you already know that… But thanks anyway, don't really get any visitors."

"And what am I then, chopped liver?" Cade replied, allowing himself a slight smile.

Scott chose to ignore him, instead looking back to Mike.

"I appreciate the complement, but what's my house got to do with our… predicament?"

Mike shrugged stiffly. "Nothing, just, not what I expected."

Scott raised a brow.

"I sort of just assumed you disappeared as soon as sunlight touched you, or that you lived in a cave or something."

Scott shook his head with stilted laugh, choosing not to dignify the sentence with a response.

"Do you think the police will come after us?" Fritz spoke up, redirecting everyone's attention to the issue at hand.

"Not sure." Scott admitted, easily slipping back into a smile. "But if they do, we've got to have a story that doesn't involve ghosts."

They all nodded in agreement, before Scott spoke again.

"It all happened the same way, except William jumped into the suit to try and protect himself from us. We're just that scary."

Mike rolled his eyes. "And what about the animatronics attacking him?"

Fritz spoke up. "They used to be hooked up to a criminal database, remember? We could write it off as him being on the watchlist."

Mike fell silent at that, turning to look out the window, still wearing a halfhearted scowl.

###

Rumors were funny things.

Outside of the pizzeria, rumors ran rampant. Everyone was talking and gossiping and the teenagers were swapping scary stories and the parents were swapping horror stories and the children were whispering half-truths around the playground about what they had overheard from the other two groups.

In all, everyone was talking like it was '87 again. Or '83. Or even '85, when the breath had left the children's lungs.

Inside the pizzeria, there was a singular rumor. The rumor was that Freddy's was going to close for good.

Murders had happened at Freddy's before, of course they had. And not just the guards. The very existence of Puppet and the others proved that vile things had happened here.

But besides the the bites… the daytime accidents, there had never been a body found. Freddy's was good. Far too good to get caught like this.

That was their problem, Puppet mused. They had gotten confident, gotten cocky. And now look. Look at this mess.

Puppet was happy, of course. They were happy the reign of terror was over, and they were happy there would be no more death, no more dirty little lies.

But they were scared as well. And as a shiver ran through their fabric body and their legs struck the drywall, Puppet wondered what would happen to the animatronics… to the spirits.

###

It was a week later, and the yellow police tape had been replaced with a sign that read "CLOSED"

Scott stared at the picture, shoulders hunched as he read through the article.

It seemed Freddy's was gone for good.

He gave a bitter laugh, and shut the newspaper, setting it down on the table gently.

The animatronics would be scrapped. Nobody in their right mind would propose anything different. Once again, Scott decided that he must not be in his right mind.

He stood, walking over to the door. His hand shook as he grabbed his jacket, pulling on the dark, desaturated red garment. He stepped out the front door, and the January chill in the air colored his breath into puffs of smoke.

Good morning. Happy new year. Time to make the second-worst decision of his life.


Author's note: I should tell you that in this AU, the story takes place in the high desert. I haven't pinned down the exact location yet, but around Northern New Mexico or Arizona. For those of you outside of the USA: Think mesas, red dirt, and coniferous trees. Medium amount of snow in the winter, and hot summers.