The Aftons and Emilies React to Game Theory

Meeting

The park was peaceful; bird were singing, children were playing, dogs were running. William and Henry stepped out of the Monte Carlo and stood perplexed. Why was he meeting in a park?

Before they left the house, William had searched the box for any other material that they might have missed, only to find a note with one name; Pioneer. This could mean various things. Perhaps it was referring to the pair being the "pioneers" of Fazbear Entertainment? Eventually, they settled on the possibility that it was a place. They could only think of one place with that name; Pioneer Park.

There they stood, confused but at peace. They had put aside their differences, and decided to meet this man. They scanned the park, but aside from the children and their parents, one stood out. A lone man sitting on a park bench, wearing a bright green hoodie.

They approached him and he sat up attentively. "Took you long enough. I started to think you wouldn't come."

William and Henry stood and just stared at the man. "Who are you?" Henry finally asked.

"My name doesn't matter," the man said. "I don't belong here anyway."

"Where do you belong?" William asked, crossing his arms.

The man looked off, and said, "Far away."

After a prolonged silence, the man spoke again. He sat forward, on the edge of the bench. "How are you?"

"'How are we?'" William repeated angrily as he stepped forward. "How are we? You gave us a box filled with tapes that haven't been proven to be truthful, you knew our projects before we even told our families... Are you working for the rat?" (William, of course, was referring to a competitor in children's entertainment; an establishment with a certain rodent as a mascot.)

The man smiled, and said, "No. Nothing like that. I'm here to warn you. 'If your path remains unaltered, the child will die.'"

They stood still, the singing of birds and laughter of children filling the silence. "Christmas Carol? Charles Dickens? Eh, doesn't matter." The man stood up and began to walk off. "You can change, and live happily ever after, or...you don't change, and everything will fall around you."

The man walked off, leaving Henry and William speechless.

Finally, William turned toward Henry, and said, "That's it? After all he put us through, that's all he has to say for himself?"

"Will," Henry interrupted. "You heard him. And you said it yourself, he knew too much about us. He knew us intimately without ever speaking to us. What he said and what he's shown us deserves consideration."

William placed his hands on his hips thoughtfully, and sighed. "You're right. Henry..."

Henry approached his friend, and asked, "What is it?"

"I admit that I wasn't the best partner. I'm not the best husband. I'm not the best father..." William trailed off. He rubbed his face and turned from Henry. "I'm sorry for everything. I was wrong to think of you as stealing from me. Did you ever expect that coming from me?" A moment passed before he spoke again. "I'm leaving the company. It's...poisonous to the brand and to the children to keep me on."

Henry stepped forward and put a hand on his friend's shoulder. "Will...this is your company. You founded it. I just build the robots, but you had the idea."

"Henry—" William started before Henry interrupted him.

"No, Will. It's yours. I'm not kicking you out of your own company."

William sighed, a tear streaming down his cheek. "I'm unworthy...but glad to call you 'friend.'"

William turned back around in time for Henry to pull him in for a hug.

"We'll do everything in our power to make sure those things never happen," Henry said. "Won't we, Will?"

William balled up his fist in grief for what has not happened yet. He desired nothing more than to bring joy to these children the way he had received joy when he was younger by the same prospect.

"Right," William said. "Whatever it takes."

When they withdrew from the embrace, William looked around. He recognized this area from somewhere. He just could not place it.

Then, it dawned on him. He knew what this place had been. It was the location of the act that had inspired his work; Fredbear's Singin' Show. His eyes grew wide in realization.

"What is it?" Henry asked. William just shook his head.

"Nothing," William said. "Wait for me in the car. I'll be there in a moment."

Reluctantly, Henry agreed and walked back to the vehicle. Seeing that Henry was out of sight, William hastily withdrew his flask from his jacket pocket. He unscrewed the lid and was about to take a sip.

However, he stopped. He just stared at the container. He desired to drink. He longed for the alcohol within this flask, but instead, he slowly turned it over and poured it onto the ground, soon dropping it.

He took one deep breath and smiled to himself. He left the flask on the ground, as a token of his old ways, forgotten and abandoned.

III

In the following weeks, Fredbear's boomed in sales. Freddy Fazbear was but a distant memory; the restaurant was voted unanimously by Henry, William, and even Clara to be shut down indefinitely.

Henry remarried to a brunette a few years younger than him. William worked on becoming a better father by watching Henry, ironically enough, and a better husband. It took quite a while for him to sweat the alcohol out of his bloodstream, but once that was over, he was clean.

Years later, William passed the franchise down to Evan, Michael wanting nothing to do with it. Evan and Charlie, who became his wife, continued the franchise for the next generation of young minds.

The prophet was never seen nor heard from again, but his message was never forgotten by Henry or William. They held onto the hope of a better day, and that was what they received. A happier day for all of them.

III

A/N: Congratulations! You made it to the end! And I finally finished something! 🥳🥳

Anyway, make sure to check out my Easter special entitled Home and my TWD story where you, the reader, are Maggie's boyfriend and lover instead of Glenn, entitled The Walking Dead: Together. Thank you all for reading! Please, stay tuned for future stories! ❤️