Sun stayed by Monty's side as he helped him balance himself. Roxy was next to me, watching the scene unfold as Michael and Vanessa explained the situation to Monty together. He looked as if he was in a state of shock and confusion, and I couldn't blame him. Everything about this was messy.

"Just to recap," Monty mumbled, rubbing the bridge of his muzzle as he processed everything, "Michael built me, Vanessa betrayed Vanny, and Vanny wants to kill Gregory to resurrect Michael's father, who is a child murderer ."

"You're taking this pretty well," Roxy said, pleasantly surprised.

"Argh! I'm about to break something!" he growled, moving around his new hands. Guess he wasn't taking it as well as Roxy thought. He spotted the claw attachment that Vanessa had dropped a while back and picked it up, carrying it above his head as he prepared to throw it back down.

"Wait, wait! Don't break that!" Michael called out. Monty moved it closer to his chest. "Gregory's right, we could use it as a weapon," Michael explained.

"What? That was my idea!" Vanessa said, but Michael ignored her.

"Here, I'll make some adjustments to it," he said, walking past Vanessa and approaching Monty. He took it from his hands and let out a heave, surprised by its weight. He brought it over to the operation chair in the protective cylinder, using it as a desk. He took off his backpack and rummaged through his tools.

"Mazercise is our next target," Michael said as he began modifying the giant claw. "Vanessa, where's the chip specifically?"

"I think it's hidden on the dumbbell shelves," she said.

"Dumbbell shelves?" I repeated. "I didn't see any equipment when I went in there." All that was there was a concession stand that sold bakery goods in front of a small maze made out of thin panels.

She turned to me. "Did you complete the first maze?" she asked.

"First maze?" I said.

She groaned. "Mazercise consists of several different trials. The first is a shifting maze, the second is a short obstacle course, and the third is another larger maze with a ton of equipment inside."

It was then I realized I never actually made it through the maze. I just made my way to the vent grate so that I could take a peek into Gator Golf.

"Oh," I sighed. That sounded like a lot of work. Hopefully we didn't have to go through it all.

"It is Mazercise ," Roxy said, stressing the exercise part of the name, "it's supposed to be a challenge." That small maze wasn't much of an exercise when I thought about it.

"Oh! I've always wanted to check out Mazercise!" Sun squealed with excitement. He brought his hands together as he cheered to himself. "Chica's always going on and on about how fun it is!"

"You haven't been?" I asked, and Sun shook his head in response.

"I'm always up in the daycare. But I hear about it from time to time," Sun said.

"I'm excited to see it, too," Michael admitted from inside the protective capsule, still working on his upgrade.

"You haven't been either?" Monty asked him. "I thought you were the genius behind this place."

"I was around when the idea was pitched, but I never actually saw it," he explained. He must've left before he saw it. "I had to rewrite some parts of Chica's personality for it."

"Really?" Vanessa asked, suddenly piquing her interest. "Why?"

"She had to go from a food fanatic to a food fanatic who loves to exercise. It wasn't that big of a change, she's still as kind and happy as ever," Michael replied.

Roxy brought her hand up to her face as she thought about Chica. "I can't imagine her not liking exercise. She and I go through the course all the time together," she said.

"Well, you joined after her change, didn't you?" Michael said, but he already knew the answer to that. Roxy nodded in response anyways. He then had a realization. "Hey, whatever happened to Chica's Cupcake Factory?"

"It's still around," Vanessa said. "It's not as popular as it used to be, though."

"Hm, oh well. Mazercise is probably better for the kids, anyways," Michael said. I actually wanted to hear more about Michael's time while he worked at the pizzaplex, but he'd finished with the alterations to the claw.

"Check it out!" Michael shouted. He picked up the pincer and showed us his modifications. It now had a shoulder sling made from Michael's backpack, letting it hang off the user's back but easy to move when needed. The handles allowed the user to clasp the claw open and close without having to worry about the weight.

"That's great, but who's going to use it?" Vanessa said. There was only one of them after all.

Michael approached Monty and handed it to him. "Monty will," he said.

"Yes!" he howled excitedly. He took it from Michael and swung the sling around his chest.

"Hey, why can't I have it?" Vanessa said.

"You couldn't carry it," Michael teased. "Besides, you're not the fighter here."

"What?" Vanessa asked.

"We've got roles here," Michael said, as if this was some kind of game. "Monty and Roxy are the fighters, Sun's the diversion, and you, Vanessa, are the hidden intel." Of course Michael would give us hypothetical roles to play.

"Then what are you?" she asked.

Michael chuckled and said, "The mastermind, obviously."

"Who am I?" I asked.

"The princess in distress," he said, poking fun at me.

"Hey! I am not!" I refuted.

"Oh, oh! What about me?" Bowtie delightedly asked.

"The princess's animal sidekick," Michael said with no hesitation.

Bowtie nodded, thinking to itself. "I can work with that..." it murmured. I hoped it wasn't going to take its role too seriously.

"I am not a princess!" I yelled, still bothered by that title.

"But you are in distress," Michael said, ruffling up my hair. I groaned in annoyance, but I couldn't let Michael's teasing mess with me. The only distress I was in was from the irritation I had.

It wasn't long before we all began our trek up to Mazercise. Sun bounced ahead of us, checking each turn before we walked ahead, pretending to be a scout. Monty played with his new weapon, getting used to its maneuvers. I told Roxy I didn't need her to hold my hand as we walked, but she was adamant, no matter how much I tried to convince her. It was sort of embarrassing, but it didn't seem as if anyone was going to make fun of me for it. Michael and Vanessa took the rear, talking amongst themselves.

"Vanny's always been super secretive," Vanessa said. "I don't even know her real name."

"Is Vanessa your real name?" Michael asked. "I, personally, have gone by a lot of aliases."

"It is," she confirmed, "Vanny chose the name Vanny because of it."

"What do you mean?" Michael asked.

"Vanessa, bunny... C'mon," she chuckled at Michael's ignorance. I spun around to turn to them.

"That's what I thought!" I yelled. That was my main reason for believing Vanessa and Vanny were the same person.

"The kid got it faster than you," she laughed. Michael groaned, looking away.

"Michael," I questioned, "what names have you gone by?"

"Huh? Why do you wanna know?" Michael asked.

"Just curious," I replied, but in truth, I wanted to see if I recognized any of them. What if my mom knew him by one of those other names, and I actually had heard of him before? Then I could try to link him to any of the stories she may have told me.

"Let's see," Michael said as he thought, "Mike Schmidt, Fritz Smith, Eggs Benedict–"

"Eggs Benedict?" Bowtie yelled in disbelief.

"I-I didn't choose it!" Michael refuted, moving his hands around. "The stupid machine broke and called me that."

"And you went along with it?" Vanessa asked.

"Well... yeah," he sighed.

I turned away, disappointed. None of those names rang a bell.

"Monty," Roxy said, "how's that claw?"

"It's awesome!" he said, turning around with a giant grin. He had lost his claw hands, but it wasn't much of a loss as he now had a giant pincer to use.

"Don't swing that thing around!" Roxy shrieked, putting her hand up and blocking me from getting too close.

"I'm going to snap Vanny in half just like how she did to me!" Monty snarled, swaying it behind him to give his arms a break.

"You're going to kill her?" I asked softly. Monty's bottom half had been completely cut off. If a human suffered from that kind of injury...

"I won't let you see it," Monty replied.

That wasn't the issue. I didn't know if I could live with myself with that kind of guilt. Regardless of what she had done to me and my family... I'd rather see her rot in jail for the rest of her life than cutting it short. It seemed more fitting as a punishment anyway. Though, I supposed her crimes might put her on death row.

"Don't kill her," Michael ordered. "Let's get information out of her first. Then you can do whatever you'd like."

He sounded so hostile. I knew Vanny deserved it, but death was a horrifying prospect. I knew for a fact I'd feel liable if any of us killed her. I... I couldn't bear the weight of another death on my shoulders, even if it was Vanny. I strengthened my grip around Roxy's hand and clutched onto her arm. She noticed and patted my head in an attempt to console me.

We were getting closer to Mazercise, and Sun bounced up excitedly. "I'll go in first! I'll see if the coast is clear!" he declared cheerfully.

"Okay, go ahead–" but Sun didn't wait for Michael's permission before he entered the elevator and ecstatically pushed the button. Sun very clearly enjoyed his role as a scout.

When the elevator doors closed, Michael lightly giggled. "He's a handful," he said, delighted. Though, Michael didn't seem all that mad, even if Sun had almost botched the plan to return Roxy.

"I know, right?" Roxy agreed, her ears dropping.

"I like him. He's funny," Bowtie said.

"Why are you talking about him like he's a child?" Vanessa said, scowling at them. "No offense, Gregory," she said as she glanced down at me. I just glared at her.

"Because he acts like one," Roxy replied. She wasn't the most friendly with him, I've noticed. It wasn't that she hated him, but his demeanor seemed to get on her nerves. She was like that too when we interrogated him way back.

"He's the daycare attendant, of course he's childish," Vanessa said.

"At least he follows orders, unlike most kids," Michael said.

"That's because he respects you," Vanessa replied. "You're his creator. He probably thinks of you as a dad."

"Wouldn't that make Michael Monty's dad, too?" Roxy teased. Monty lifted his head in defiance.

"That makes you fatherless, then," he replied. I stifled back a laugh.

"Don't be ridiculous," Bowtie said. "The only person who should think of Michael as a dad is Gregory!"

"Bowtie!" I yelled at it, feeling my face get red. I knew it was listening in on Michael and I's conversation in parts and service while we repaired Monty, but it didn't have to share that with everyone here!

"What does that mean? Michael's your dad?" Roxy asked.

"I-I am technically his legal guardian now," Michael stuttered, rubbing the back of his neck and shuddering a bit. "Did I not say that?"

"No, no you didn't," Monty said.

"Heh, sorry," Michael chuckled awkwardly.

The air felt stiff, but luckily that discomfort didn't settle for long as the elevator doors opened with Sun inside. I was expecting him to yell with excitement about how much he loved the entrance of Mazercise, but instead, he was staring down at the floor, shaking a bit in place.

"We can't go up there," Sun finally muttered nervously.

"Why? What's up there?" Michael asked.

"A body," he admitted.

Michael was taken aback, but he thought about what that possibly meant. "An animatronic body? Or–"

"Human," Sun interrupted.

The air became tense. Roxy squeezed my hand. The only thought that repeated through my mind was, Who is it?

"Is there any other way up?" Michael asked.

"No..." Vanessa answered. That seemed like a massive fire hazard, but saying that now felt inappropriate.

Michael let out a sigh and came up with an idea. "Okay," he said, "animatronics go in first, make sure Vanny isn't close. Vanessa and I will ensure Gregory doesn't see it." He reached out and pulled me from my backpack, forcing Roxy to let go while keeping me by his side. I didn't want to see it, of course, but it still felt rather dehumanizing.

As Michael intended, the animatronics went up first as we all couldn't fit in the elevator together. Once it dropped down, Vanessa, Michael, and I walked in together. He turned me so that I was facing him. This way, when the elevator door opened, I'd be facing him instead of the open room. Bowtie snuggled into my neck to avoid seeing it, too.

The door opened with a ding, and I flinched as I thought about what could possibly be behind me. I saw Vanessa gasp, reaching towards her face. "I think I'm going to be sick," she muttered, but she must've choked it down. Her eyes never left the scene. I instinctively tried to turn around, but Michael put his hands on my cheeks, keeping me from looking at it.

I glanced up at him. His eyes were also fixated on the scene, just like Vanessa, but instead of seeming sick, his face was drained of all color. Bowtie looked up at him, too, and I felt its ears graze my skin.

"What is it?" I asked.

"It's... Joel," Michael answered slowly.

Joel Carston. The detective that was working on my missing person case. Once again, I tried to turn around, but Michael forced my head back to him.

"Don't look," he said. He kept his sentences terse from the shock he was in.

"Let's... Let's just make it to the maze," Vanessa said.

"Vanessa, take Gregory with you," Michael said, lightly pushing me towards her.

"Huh? What?"

"I need to check something," he said between breaths.

I stood by Vanessa's side, and she put her hand on the back of my head, letting me look down. She then took off her hat and put it on me, keeping her force on the bridge of the hat to block my view. She hesitantly grabbed my wrist and slowly walked out with me by her side. I heard Michael walk with us before suddenly stopping. Vanessa kept her pace.

I couldn't keep down my curiosity anymore. It wasn't that I wanted to see Joel's dead body, but it felt wrong to just walk past it without seeing him. Once I could, I lifted my head up to see what it was.

I immediately regretted it. Joel had been decapitated, a pole sticking through his head and displaying it against the backdrop of the bakery stand. His face was contorted into an everlasting screech, and it was possible to see the glistening red and silver pole in the back of his throat. Behind him, scribbled on the chalkboard menu, the words "Fucking pig" were written in blood, with sloppy white chalk arrows pointing to his head. The rest of his body was there, too, several feet away. Michael was leaning over him, examining something around Joel's waist.

I stopped staring and clung onto Vanessa tighter. I don't think she knew that I saw it. I wished I hadn't.

Sun was messing with the maze inputs while Monty and Roxy gave instructions. Clearly, none of them knew the solution, but they frantically tried to reorganize the panels to reach the end.

"Try moving blue–"

"No, green!" Monty interrupted Roxy. She glared over at him.

"Red's blocking green, and blue is blocking red, so move blue first," Roxy explained, turning to Sun at the end.

"Okay! Which button is blue again?" Sun said.

Vanessa shoved through them, leaving me at the door frame. "Move, I'll do it," she said. She pushed a combination of buttons, pressing them faster than they could move. Michael walked in and stood behind me, watching Vanessa solve the puzzle.

"There," she said, finishing the challenge. Roxy traced her finger along the monitor to check the path, reaching to the end.

"Huh, how'd you do that?" Roxy asked.

"I've got a couple tricks up my sleeves," Vanessa said. She glanced at Michael and asked him, "So, what'd you have to check? Not his pulse, I presume."

Michael glared at her from her comment, but he turned away with a melancholy face. "His holster is empty," he muttered.

"What?" Roxy exclaimed. "You don't think Vanny took his gun, do you?"

"Of course she did," Vanessa said.

"She's armed?" Monty added.

"Oh please," Vanessa said, unfazed, "Freddy and Chica are walking-talking tanks! A gun isn't nearly as bad as them."

"Right," Monty thought out loud, "Chica has extendable arms now."

"And Freddy has Chica's voice box. And Roxy's eyes. And Monty's claws," Vanessa listed.

"What? What's Freddy doing with my claws?" Monty yelled.

"How'd he get my eyes?" Roxy added.

"Thank Gregory for that one," Vanessa said, glancing back at me. I moved my head closer to Bowtie. I really couldn't say anything. I was too far into a state of shock to say anything. How were they all acting so... normal? There was a beheaded corpse only a few feet away.

"Let's go," Michael ordered. He took hold of my hand and moved to the front of the maze, waiting for the others to join. He rubbed his thumb on the back of my hand to give me some reassurance. He couldn't say it, or even act upon it, but he was grieving. I didn't know the specifics of Joel and Michael's relationship, but it was strong enough for Michael to convince him to let him see me in the hospital.

Vanessa maneuvered past us and continued through, leading the group through the maze. Michael and I were in the center as the animatronics took the rear.

The maze was short, and the entrance to the next area was obvious. It had a large arch leading into a colorful room. The only way I could describe the structures inside was a massive playground with tanbark embedded into the floor. The structures inside the daycare were kiddy, while these seemed more oriented towards a slightly older demographic. There were slides, climbing equipment, and even a set of swings. Honestly, I could probably have some enjoyment here if I was in the right mood.

"Still no dumbbells," Michael commented. Everything in this room was for kids, and there was no exercise equipment in here.

"The adult section is farther up," Vanessa replied.

I stopped paying attention to the world around me. I think I still wasn't well after what I saw. It felt as if my senses were melting away, and truthfully, I didn't care if they vanished forever. I could still stand and walk, and Michael still held my hand as we stepped through the playground, but it was as if my body wasn't my own.

"Gregory? Are you okay?" Michael's voice rang through my head. He shook my arm to jolt me back to reality. I glanced up at him, feeling like I was seeing real shapes again. "Hey– woah, what's wrong?" Michael asked, dropping to his knees to be on the same level as me. I didn't realize until now that I was crying and breathing heavily.

"I-I killed Joel," I muttered. Michael grasped my face and wiped my tears away with his thumbs.

"No, no you didn't," he said, his eyes becoming red as he fought his own fears.

"I killed my mom!" I sobbed, collapsing into his chest, not able to stand under the weight of my guilt. He wrapped his arms around me, catching me with an embrace.

"Oh, Gregory..." Bowtie whimpered from behind me.

"What? What's going on?" Roxy asked, approaching us.

"Looks like a panic attack," Vanessa commented, her voice low.