Chapter Text
Gregory held his breath as Vanny skipped past his hiding place, and he didn’t let it go until she passed through the doors at the other end of the room. She was almost harder to escape than the animatronics.
“You okay, kid?”
He looked down at his watch just in time to see the map displayed on the screen change to what any normal person would assume to be a video call. Vanessa leaned forward as if that would help her see him better; as if the watch had a camera at all.
“I’m fine,” he whispered. “She’s not that fast.”
“I can practically feel your pulse,” she replied.
Cautiously emerging from the shadows, he took off in the opposite direction Vanny had come from. “Liar.”
“Freddy would back me up. Speaking of, go find him, please. You’re giving me gray hair just watching you have to run around like this.”
Gregory made sure to roll his eyes in full view of the screen. “Freddy can’t go in the west arcade, remember.”
“Then screw the west arcade.”
He paused at an intersection, checking that the coast was clear before looking down at his watch. “What? But that’s where the next game is.”
And he had to find all three Princess Quest games and beat them to free her. He wasn’t exactly sure how a human could be uploaded into a video game, but he was sure that Vanessa was a person. A person who could worm her way into pretty much any electronic device connected to the pizzaplex’s systems, from the arcade machines to the security office monitors to his FazWatch.
A person who thought she had died and had somehow possessed the pizzaplex right up until the moment Vanny spoke with her voice. Dead and alive all at once.
“Forget about the games,” Vanessa said seriously. “Just find Freddy, stay alive, and as soon as it hits six, get out of here. I’m already gone, kid, your life isn’t worth a Hail Mary plan to try and bring me back.”
“But you’re not gone! Just, someone else is in your body right now, so we gotta switch you back.” Gregory let his arm fall to the side to run down the hall and out onto one of the mezzanines, something upset and frustrated bubbling in his chest.
“There’s no guarantee it’ll even work!” Vanessa shot back. “Vanny and the animatronics have been getting more aggressive. Running around on your own isn’t an option anymore.”
He scoffed. “Yeah? And how’re you gonna stop me?”
Her answer was the familiar beep of his watch calling for Freddy. “I’ll make him lock you inside his stomach if I have to,” she said.
Shoving his way into an elevator, he smacked the button just as the sounds of Freddy’s footsteps approached. He caught a glimpse of his protector just before the doors closed.
“You can’t stop me from helping you!” he yelled at the same time as she cried, “I won’t let you die for me!”
They glared at each other as the elevator slowly trundled to its destination.
Vanessa broke first, her shoulders sagging. “I can’t let them catch you, Gregory,” she whispered. “I… I don’t remember, exactly, what happened to me. All I know is that I was scared and alone and it’s so, so cold in here. I can’t let that happen to you, too.”
“It’s not gonna.” He jutted his chin out. “They’re all real bad at chasing me. I’m gonna beat the next game, find the last one, and put you back in your body. And I’ll leave my watch here if I have to!”
“No!” She raised her hands and pressed them forward, as if against the screen itself. “No,” she repeated, quiet. “Please don’t do that. I… I won’t make Freddy stop you, just… please don’t go off alone.”
Gregory stared at her for a moment, trying to determine if she was telling the truth. “Okay,” he finally agreed. “Okay.”
Vanessa slowly relaxed, remaining silent as the elevator doors opened and Gregory rushed out. A STAFF bot shrieked at the sight of him, but he moved on before they could find out who answered its summons.
It wasn’t long before Gregory entered the west arcade. DJMM paid him no mind as he warily edged past him before taking off at a sprint through the maze of arcade machines and security bots. Monty roared a challenge from somewhere on the second floor.
Gregory only paused to catch his breath once he reached the second Princess Quest game.
“You’re really determined to do this? Risk your life for a stranger?” Vanessa asked.
He sent her an unimpressed look. “Like you aren’t willing to give up your chance at life for a stranger.”
“That’s different,” she insisted. “I’m an adult, you’re a kid. Children aren’t supposed to—” She waved her hand at the screen, encompassing him and the arcade game and the shadowy corners of the utility room he stood in.
“It’s a little late for that,” he reminded her, turning to the game. “Besides, I’m used to running and being in danger and stuff.”
“You shouldn’t have to be.”
“Yeah?” he said, trying not to sound too smug. “You don’t like that I live on the streets? That I have to dig through dumpsters to find food sometimes? That I have to run away from real monsters?”
“Of course I don’t.”
“Then, if you wanna do something about it—”
The arcade machine’s screen lit up as a little boot-up jingle sounded off. He settled his hands on the controls as the level began.
“—you’re gonna have to let me save you.”