Put Your Records On | Fronty

. .-.. . ...- . -.

There was a few seconds of awkward silence where Monty and the kid were staring at each other. Both were utterly confused, while the boy was mildly disgusted as well. Not even Freddy spoke up. he simply watched the two stare at each other, ready to break up any fights that started.

"Are you trying to fuck Freddy????" The kid spoke up. His eyes were squinted and the corner of his mouth twitched as he tried to make sense of what he had just witnessed. Freddy was less than pleased.

"Gregory, language!" The bear scolded, looking down at the boy in his stomach cavity. He was having a hard time masking his embarrassment while he was at it. "He doesn't even have- We- It's none of your concern."

"Freddy, why's there a kid in yer hatch???"

Monty's gaze flicked from Gregory to Freddy, and then from Freddy to Gregory. The two of them had been working together clearly, but he still couldn't shake the feeling of bewilderment. Why did the bear keep it a secret? And why was he even helping the little intruder in the first place?

Freddy held his hands up defensively, trying to calm them both down.

"Alright, alright. Let me explain." He let out a robotic sigh. "Gregory came to my room tonight because officer Vanessa was hunting him down. I am taking him to the atrium right now to help him escape the pizzaplex. I just didn't want to tell you guys because... well, you know."

They were also trying to catch Gregory.

Monty felt confliction tug at his wiring. On one hand, his moment to confess had been ruined again, this time by the same kid he was trying to 'kill'. He wanted nothing more than to rip the little brat into shreds of meat.

But on the other hand, Freddy was protecting him. He wasn't sure that he wanted to hurt someone that the bear was keeping safe. It just wasn't right.

"Why're you even protectin' him? He shouldn't be here." Monty reasoned. He fought the urge to punch the boy that stuck his tongue out.

"It is what I was programmed to do, is it not?" Freddy tilted his head. "Don't you guys feel the same?"

Monty stopped to think.

How come Freddy's programming was letting him keep the kid safe, but the others' was making them hunt him down? Was his system failing, or was theirs'?

When the gator went silent, Freddy took the opportunity to speak up again. He sounded more desperate than before, though this time he did try his best to hide it.

"Monty, you have to promise me that you won't tell the others. If they find out, they'll kill him." Gregory's expression turned into what looked like fear for a few seconds before he covered it up. "Promise me you won't either. He needs to make it out alive. I want him to."

Damnit.

If Freddy wanted the boy to survive... then he supposed that he did too.

"Fine." The gator stated curtly. "I promise."

He didn't understand the bear's thought process at all, nor why he wanted the little brat alive. But at that point, it was already obvious that he'd do anything for him.

Because like Roxy had said, he was down bad.

Freddy's face lit up when he said that, making him instantly realize how worth it his decision was. How hard could protecting the little guy really be? There were only two others hunting him down, they were evenly matched. Unless there was some third outlier of some sort.

But that was impossible. The only other animatronic that would think of doing that was the Moon, and he only came out every hour. Everything would be fine.

The elevator doors opened with a ding shortly after Monty's words. The atrium was on full display, lights still on after hours despite nobody really being there. Staff bots were zooming around in search of the boy.

Maybe it'd be a little harder to protect the boy than he initially thought, but it was fine. They did have chest cavities, afterall. And Freddy was already using his.

"Right. We should be going then." Freddy started. He closed up his stomach hatch and walked out of the elevator, Monty trailing close behind him. But he stopped suddenly when Gregory was ripped out of it.

Monty spedwalked next to Freddy in wake of the moment to see what had happened.

The perpetrator of the sort-of-kidnapping was none other than Map-bot, which quickly cooled the two animatronics down. Map-bot wasn't exactly a threat, but rather just very... well, intimidating with what he did. But they knew what his best interest was.

"Take a map. Free map."

Gregory nervously took the map that was offered to him. It was somehow added to his fazwatch at the same time, but he thought nothing of it. Everything was weird at the pizzaplex. He stuffed the paper version of the map in his pocket, just in case.

"So." Freddy turned his attention to Monty as the gator started to speak. Gregory did the same. "Where are we goin' from here?"

"Well, I did think of two ways he could exit before six am. There is the vent near Salads and Sides that leads to the loading docks, and then there is also the fire escape behind the Prize Counter." Freddy looked down at the child that was considering his options. "Which one do you choose, Gregory?"

"The vent sounds good, I think." Gregory scratched the back of his neck.

"Then that is where we'll go." Gregory climbed back inside of Freddy's chest cavity, allowing the hatch to close once he was fully in. The bear started to move forward a bit before stopping. "As for you, Monty, please help keep the others from reaching him. I know that they are capable of a lot."

The gator nodded.

There was a few moments where nothing really happened. Freddy didn't move, and neither did Monty. Not too long after, though, Freddy walked up to the other animatronic and briefly placed his snout on Monty's cheek. He then coughed in a flustered fashion, his circuitry heating up.

"Thank you- you know, for everything."

And then, without another word, he left. Monty's jaw was stuck wide open.

Oh, one hundred percent worth it.