The thunder rumbled deeply, the rain crashing down to the ground outside. The sky was horribly overcast, making it hard to tell if it was day or night. Everything was silent, asides from the vibrating of the truck and a few soft snores from the sleeping cargo-which happened to be a group of childrens' animatronics.

The truck was hauling the well-known Freddy Fazbear, Bonnie the Bunny, Chica the Chicken, Foxy the Pirate, and another animatronic to a new location to be remodeled and reused. They were all excited, so excited that they had all tuckered themselves out and had basically passed out on top of each other.

The only animatronic awake in the vehicle happened to be none other than the fifth and final animatronic, Golden Freddy. He wasn't as new as the other four, however. He was the eldest in the truck, the original Fazbear. He was highly respected by others for this.

The bear's breathing was gentle and relaxed, his red eyes darting out of the small window on the side of the truck as the scenery zoomed by. He would occasionally glance over at the other animatronics before looking out the window again.

They weren't the only tired ones, though. Golden could feel the strain of everything taking over, slowly but surely. Exhaustion was ebbing at his entire being. Every 'breath' he took made him even more tired than before. The previous night had been exhausting, but no matter what he did, or how hard he tried, he just couldn't sleep.

The defeat of the shadow creatures and the 'Master' had been highly celebrated by the old animatronics in the truck. Freddy and the others had even sang some songs in celebration, much to the driver's terror. But even as they laughed, danced, sang and celebrated, Golden couldn't shake the feeling of dread looming over his mind. It felt as if something was wrong, out of place. Something wasn't right.

Golden's victory felt off. It seemed far too easy to him; how was he simply able to shun the "Master" away? Why did the shadow demons vanish at the same moment? Was he more powerful than he thought, or was there something more to it?

Hearing and feeling the truck make a few sharp turns, his ears flattened and he clutched the frame to the small window. As he did so, he saw Freddy sliding across the floor at one of the turns, his head snapping upwards in alarm. He proceeded to crash into Foxy, who let out a shriek of panic, activating quickly.

"Argh! Freddy, what do ye think ye're doin'?!" The fox exclaimed, his voice filled with exhaustion and confusion. He snorted when Freddy wobbled a bit as he rose onto all fours, his exhausted face mirroring Foxy's confusion. There was a pause before the truck moved and lurched, making Freddy collapse onto the fox again. Foxy snarled as the bear struggled to all fours again.

"Get off 'o me!"

Before the brown bear could respond, the truck took another sharp turn. He slid into the opposite direction, still on all fours as he did so. He smashed into the wall separating the back of the truck and the driver's seat, nearly slamming into Chica and Bonnie in the process. Chica awoke at the loud noise, but Bonnie remained asleep.

"Freddy, stop it. You're not funny, you're annoying. Don't you see we're tired?" She sneered, her eyes illuminating the dark area. She grunted when the truck turned again and the tires squealed, tensing herself up so she wouldn't move too much when the vehicle turned again. Freddy simply groaned in pain, slumping to the floor.

Golden looked at the four in worry, about to open his mouth to speak and ask if they were alright from the rough ride. Before he could, the truck took the chance to lurch once more, finally jarring the yellow bear loose from his grip on the window. He slid backwards and collided into Freddy, making them both cry out in pain.

The truck finally screeched to a halt, much to their relief. All of them seemed to relax from their previously tensed-up positions. They all looked around in confusion (asides from Bonnie), before all looking to each other.

"What was that all about?" Freddy finally spoke, his voice a bit lazy and annoyed from being so tired. Golden struggled from his sitting position to a standing position, wobbling as he did so.

"Heck if 'ah know." He muttered, rubbing his face in attempt to wake himself up. Staggering towards the window again, he peeked out, squinting his eyes to look past the large droplets of water scattering on the glass. In the midst of the rain, exhaust from the vehicle and fog, he was able to make out a large sign quite a ways away from the truck.

"Looks like we're here, gang." Golden announced, eliciting a simultaneous, unenthusiastic collection of tired sounding cheers from the three awake (yet still exhausted) animatronics. They were all visibly VERY exhausted due to age and lack of fuel, especially considering how much they had been through.

"Good. Maybe now we can get some sleep." Chica growled, shooting very irritated look at Freddy, making sure that he was very aware that he had woken her up. The brown bear sighed, rolling his eyes a bit. Sure enough, they soon heard the front door to the truck slam shut.

"Come on, guys! Cargo's in the back, I need some help getting them out and cleaning them up! You know how heavy the second 'gen animatronics are!"

Perking up at the sound of the human, the three younger animatronics seemed excited to finally be around children again. Even Bonnie had woken up at the noise, seeming a bit confused at first until he was informed that they had arrived. They all shared their excitement and expectations, their programmed emotions filled with pure joy.

Golden, however, was still staring out the window. His brows were furrowed in concentration. The uneasy feeling had returned, much stronger than before. He stared out at the sign, his ear twitching a bit. He was having a severe case of déjà vu. His eyes darted around the visible space of the parking lot, only to nearly jump out of his exoskeleton when a loud crash of thunder sounded out. It was much louder than before, causing all of the animatronics to jump a bit. Their surprise was followed by the door to the back of the truck being opened.

The light and the strong, stormy winds hit them like a ton of bricks. They all winced a bit, looking at the group of humans in heavy rain coats. They were shouting to each other over the rain, wind and thunder, only a few words carrying to the ears of the animatronics.

"Come o...have to hur...n't get them we...!"

Before they could even move, the humans rushed in and covered them in tarps to protect them from the storm. To their surprise, the workers were incredibly gentle with handling them. There was no tossing, no shoving, nothing. They were gently placed onto large hand truck dollies and wheeled into the new restaurant.

Everything went by so quickly. They were moved to the back room quicker than they could even register anything. They were all placed into either a corner or onto a table, the older ones being placed onto the tables first. Their broken parts were replaced at the speed of sound, and they were all cleaned up without a second thought. These humans were so much different from the old ones; they showed genuine interest in the animatronics.

They seemed happy to be around them.

All of them were surprised at how kindly they were treated, even though they were just animatronics. As the group was being cleaned up, the humans conversed about which ones were their favorites, various lore about the older locations, and many other things. Some of the workers seemed to have some sort of history with the restaurant, either being long-time customers, have gone to the location many times when they were children, or even working at previous Fazbear franchises. The animatronics felt at ease with these humans, and safe enough to communicate through clicks and beeps with each other. As they spoke, they found themselves not really paying any mind to the conversations.

"Hey, speaking of these guys, I just remembered. Remember that guy who supposedly killed the kids?" One human mused as he buffed up Golden's leg to a shiny, acceptable condition, glancing over to another worker.

This caught Golden's attention.

The animatronic's red eyes glanced over to the human the other one had addressed, blinking. The other worker nodded, not looking up from Freddy's open chest, which was in the process of being inspected for any frayed wires.

"Of course. I was around five when the papers stated he had been killed, it was all over the news. I moved away from town, though. Never learned the ending to that story."

"Well, turns out it was the wrong guy. The guy who had been sent to prison hadn't been working at the location. I'm guessing he was framed. Old news, I know, but looking at these fellas just reminded me about it. That, and they just recently brought up the topic again online."

Golden tensed up at that. His eyes darted from the humans to the other four animatronics, wondering if they had heard what he had. They seemed completely oblivious to the humans talking, as they continued to chatter away in happy beeps and clicks.

He hadn't noticed that he had been finished being cleaned until the human rose up and patted him on the head, tossing a cloth over his own shoulder. He went to the corner of the room and began rummaging for something, before helping a different worker with another animatronic.

The yellow bear was frozen in a state of shock. His eyes darted in a bit of panic, his ears flattening. Had he killed somebody completely innocent? Why had the 'master' been after them? Perhaps he was just over thinking everything; the others seemed fine.

They only had to wait a few more minutes until they were all cleaned, and they were all placed onto the hand trucks again. They were hauled out into what they were guessing was the main show stage room, and were all placed onto the large stage. Freddy in the middle, Golden on his left side, Bonnie on Freddy's right side, and Chica next to Bonnie. Foxy was placed in a new version of Pirate Cove, something much more detailed than he had resided in before. They were all plugged into the outlets, allowing them to charge up finally.

The other three on the stage were still happily chattering away. It was only a small amount of time until they had all said their good nights and had fallen into sleep mode, leaving Golden alone with his thoughts. Mixed feelings coursed through him. He felt happy and uneasy at the same time; maybe he was the only one? Perhaps it was just him, he was just panicking over nothing.

He was sure being shut down for so many years messed with his memory and A.I. chips.

"Second load's here!" Shouted a human from the front of the store, something so faint that Golden was sure he had imagined it. He looked to his family to see if they had heard it, but only for his ears to droop when he noticed that they were all still asleep.

After a few more moments of listening to the silence and the soft clanking of the workers doing their jobs, Golden soon fell asleep himself, his breath evening out as he did so. Such a large two days with no sleep had hit him hard.

As his sleep continued on, he was sure he had heard some soft thumping coming from the other side of the restaurant.

It didn't sound human.

Author's Note:

Heya, guys! Long time no see! Wow, are we really all the way up to BoC3? It seems impossible, I remember just starting chapter 1 of the original BoC! Oddly enough, I can't remember most of BoC 1, though.

This one is taking place directly after BoC 2. It won't actually take place IN FNaF 3, but it's going to lead up to the FNaF 3 story.

I want to thank each and every one of you. If it wasn't for the support I got on the first two stories, this wouldn't be here. I wouldn't be where I am today. I can't thank you all enough, you've all helped me so much. I'm eternally grateful.

Anyways, I really hope you enjoy this. Thankfully enough, due to the plot of FNaF 3, I can keep the original idea I was writing! This means that the few chapters that had been completed/started before the game launched can stay, including all of my original ideas!

I really, REALLY apologize if this chapter moved too fast. I wrote this after staying up for 26 hours.

Also, I'd love to thank Chillaid for beta reading and all of the help she gave me! She helped me with a LOT of decisions I was tied on, and even helped me choose between a few options for the title! I can't thank her enough. She has her own Fanfiction account, you know. She writes great stories (including an ongoing FNaF fanfic), go check it out!

If you spot a typo, just PM me or drop a review saying so! I'll be sure to fix it.

(I personally think Flames of Truth sounds silly, what do you think?)

Until chapter two, my friends!