"This ends for all of us. End communication," the tape recorder said, its message echoing throughout the entire pizzeria.
"Hey! Wait! What?! What's going on here?! Where am I?! And WHO DID THIS?! SOMEBODY LET ME OUT!" Michael didn't remember falling asleep, but he did remember waking up, though he had no clue where he was. He tried to get up, move from his sitting position, but he could barely move because in every direction he tried to go, there was a solid metal wall in the way. Panic tore through his heart.
"Good God, is this some kind of metal box?!" he wondered. It was pitch black so he had no clue if his guess was correct, but as he managed to move his hands around and try to get a physical sense of where he was, he began to think that this theory just might've been true...
"NO, NO, NO, NO! LET ME OUT!" Michael screamed at the top of his lungs, pounding on all six of the walls that surrounded him, but they were so cold and hard, so unyielding and unforgiving, that all he managed to do was nearly break a knuckle. He took in a deep breath, ready to scream out one last time, but then the sound of something slamming into his box made him jump, though he didn't go very far or high. But the sound was muffled and the box was totally undeterred by whatever it was that had just collided with it. Once again, panic clouded Michael's mind. Where in the pizzeria was he that something so presumably loud and heavy could slam into him and all he would know of it was a muffled thump? Then, all around him, the sounds of things collapsing and crashing continued and, at last, Michael realized something.
"Henry's plan!" he was speaking to himself, but referring to the plan that he and his employer had come up with. That plan was to burn this pizzeria and every single one of those possessed robots to the ground so that everyone could finally move on into the afterlife. But Michael was supposed to have burnt with them! So where was he? And how and why? He couldn't even feel a temperature difference, though he could hear what sounded like hissing and sizzling so he knew that the pizzeria really had been set on fire, just like Henry had wanted. But why was Michael not able to see it and burn with it just like Henry had also wanted? Or had Henry not really wanted that at all? Had he really wanted Michael to live this whole time and this box was his way of protecting Michael?
"If that's what this is, Henry, then you better hope to high Heaven that I live or I swear that when I die, I'm going to kill you again!" Michael muttered to himself, panic subsiding now that he had a better understanding of his current predicament. It still wasn't good but, knowing that Henry was probably the one responsible for this, Michael at least knew his fate had been placed in the hands of someone he trusted. Sure, maybe this wasn't the most orthodox ways of saving the life of a friend, but Michael was willing to bet that this box had been specifically designed by Henry to survive an inferno and that it would hold true to its design.
In fact, as Michael continued to run his hands across the walls, slower this time, he felt a hole in an upper corner that led to a tube. An air supply! And on the upper corner across from that was a box-shaped lump. Since Michael couldn't see it, he had no clue what it was, but he was willing to bet it was some kind of lock for him to escape the box once the fire subsided. Much calmer now that he knew he was somewhat safe, Michael could only shake his head sadly, somewhat grateful at the lengths Henry would go to protect him and save his life, but also somewhat hurt because they were supposed to have all died together. That had been the whole point of this last pizzeria, for everyone to move on together, both man and machine, good and evil. They were supposed to have gone together...
Michael didn't remember falling asleep, but he did remember waking up. This time, though, instead of pick blackness, the bright white light of the sun was what greeted him. Wait. What? The sun?! All at once, Michael shot awake, rubbing his eyes and hardly daring to believe that it was true... But it was! That surely was the sun! The door to his box-prison had opened! And now, with the light streaming in, he could see that his conjectures about the box had all been right! That little hole in the top corner was in fact an air supply, the tube disappearing into the flat and seared ground and, doubtless, popping up somewhere a ways away from the burn site. Then that tiny box thing had in deed been a lock, though it was set on a timer to open at 6:00 am. Ha ha, very funny Henry. Additionally, on the wall his back had been pressed against was a message in sharpie:
"I know I promised you that we would all burn together, but you must forgive me one last time for yet another failure on my part. Although you are most certainly a man, when I look at you, even now, I still see you as a little boy, and I could not bear to burn you, so I saved you, hid you, in this little safe. Now, you are alive. Please forgive me," and it was signed in Henry's signature.
Michael's relief at being freed from the box was diminished as he read the sobering message, conflicted feelings about Henry's actions returning. Again, he was grateful for Henry being so protective of him, but did the man not know that death might've been the kinder option? Because what did Michael have to live for now? No job or friends or purpose or will to live, and most importantly, no family. Those animatronics and the two men that had created them, though very twisted, had been his family, and now they had all gone up in smoke, leaving him behind as the lone survivor and the only family member still in this life instead of the next. He was all alone.
Screeeee, thump CRASH! Hmmm, maybe not so alone after all? The grating sound of metal on metal, followed by the two loud crashes, roused Michael from his stupor and he whipped his head around to see... a part of the vent shaft. It was the only thing still standing in the now flat, barren, black stain that had once been the ground on which the pizzeria used to reside. Michael almost laughed, seeing that one tiny vent still mostly upright, albeit black and still smoking a little. Guess he wasn't the only one who accidently survived the fire! But then, something below the vent began to move and that was when it occurred to him that the sound had not been the vent, but something quite massive within it falling back out. Wait. Weren't the things in the vents supposed to have been reduced to mere soot and ash? So then who...?
"Elizabeth!" Michael's eyes widened as he gasped out the name. At the same time, the thing that had fallen out of that lone piece of vent rose up. As sure as he was Michael, that giant thing was the twisted, broken, charred, smoking metal body of Circus Baby, the robot his baby sister had possessed. How had she survived too? And in such good condition (given the circumstances)! Surely that one little puny vent shaft hadn't been what had saved her! Right? Well, Michael was going to find out...
Elizabeth's massive back was turned to Michael, all kinds of wires and junk coming off and out of it. Michael could only stand and stare at her massive metal form as she swiveled her head around, just as confused as Michael had been moments ago. He only waited tensely for her to turn around completely and see him. He didn't have to wait for long.
"You're not who I expected to see..."
What followed was a very strange reunion.
"Elizabeth? Oh! Elizabeth!" although Michael knew how dangerous she was, he was far too relieved to see that she hadn't been changed to terribly by the fire to care. Instead, he almost smiled at her, though the expression was not returned at all.
"What happened? Where are we? Where is Daddy?" she demanded, voice low and growly as she glared down at Michael.
"Oh, Elizabeth, don't you remember? Everything was burnt down last night! We're standing right here, on the pizzeria! Don't you recognize it? And Father? Well, with any luck, he's dead!" Michael's pleading expression turned grimly satisfied.
"Don't you dare say that!" Elizabeth snarled. Because her voice was still in Baby-mode, it was soft, smooth and flat, but Michael heard the aggression behind it and he knew he had it a sore spot. But if it hadn't been her tone, it would've been the way she raised her half-melted but still sharp claw and aimed it right at him.
"Whoa! Wait! Hang on a second!" Michael commanded, taking a step back as Elizabeth lurched forward.
"Hold on? Hold on?!" Elizabeth mocked as she jabbed. Michael dodged the blow nimbly, having already escaped most of her range of attack. "You tried to kill me, to burn me down! You and that awful Henry man! Yes, I remember it, I remember it all now! He said that you had tricked us! Had brought us all back together just to get rid of us again! And now you, sneaking out of the plan and surviving as well, have the gall to tell me to hold on?!" all throughout her soft-spoken rant, she had swung and stabbed at Michael with her claw, but since the fire hurt her more than it hurt him, he was able to evade every blow and it took her a physically long time to wind up for another attack.
"It's not like that, Elizabeth!" Michael pleaded. "I wasn't trying to survive either! We were all supposed to go down together! But Henry chickened out at the last second and he saved me!"
"Of course he would!" Elizabeth spat, trying to take a step towards Michael. But it took her too long, and he jumped away again. "Is he alive too?"
"No, he's dead," Michael replied with a certainty that could not be shaken even though he had no proof. "Everyone is... Except you and me."
"Good riddance," Elizabeth snarled, taking yet another low swipe at Michael's legs. She still missed. It was kind of heard to be a psychotic robot-killer if you could barely move or, you know, kill!
"How did you survive anyway?" Michael asked, ducking this time as Elizabeth made a painfully pathetic swipe at his head.
"That vent! Thank goodness," she growled, gesturing with her non-clawed hand to the piece of metal standing tall behind her. "It was quite an accident too, like your survival! I had been stuck in it when his recording went off. He said he wanted to burn me too, but I guess that I was lucky and, somehow, the flames didn't reach my part of the vents..." she paused, clearly just as confused by the logic and luck of that as Michael was.
"But that doesn't matter now!" she muttered at last, waking herself up again and trying for another attack, which still missed. "I'm free and alive and that is all that matters and even if you took Daddy away from me, I can still honor his memory! I will rebuild myself and I will unleash a wrath that would make even his pale in comparison! He would be so proud! And you, dear brother, would be the first to die!" she grinned wickedly, the one facial plate she had left pushing outward in a smile. The other plates were all gone, either melted or hanging by literal threads off her face.
Suddenly, then, with an inexplicable surge of strength, speed and agility, Elizabeth lunged and Michael was finally hit. He was able to avoid most of the blow, jumping to the side, but Elizabeth still slammed into him and because she had a massive metal body that was seven feet tall and weighted 585 pounds, that glancing blow still really hurt. It sent Michael flying and, when he landed, the wind was knocked out of him. He coughed and gasped as Elizabeth shakily skated over to him, claw raised.
"You'll regret killing Daddy, Michael. You always were so much weaker than him. Was it jealous that drove you? Or just stupidity?" she asked mockingly, then she plunged the claw down. Michael was able to roll away again, but he could practically feel the metal gaze his ear.
"No! Elizabeth! Stop!" he commanded, surprisingly unafraid given that he was literally inches away from death. "Father was a monster! You and I both know that! So forget any of those stupid, poisonous lies he tried to plant in your head and LISTEN!" while Elizabeth continued to try and attack, coming very close each time, Michael rolled closer to her once to avoid her claw and then grabbed onto her leg to swing himself back upright and under her legs. She turned around relatively quickly, given down dilapidated she was, but Michael was still able to get a few seconds heard start as he fled, still shouting over his shoulder to Elizabeth about how evil and manipulative their father really was.
"I know you loved him and I know you think he loved you, but I assure you that he felt nothing for you beyond what you could offer him physically! He didn't really care about you, just how powerful your body was! And the man you were loving was only the man he was pretending to be in order to gain your trust! The father you love does not exist! You've been loving a lie, an act, a show!" he cried.
"No, no, no, no, NO!" Elizabeth shouted in frustration, skating after her pesky brother in outrage. "You take that back!"
"But even if he were, even if was truly genuine, was that really the life for you?!" Michael continued to shout, panting as his legs began to weary. Elizabeth saw this and urged her own on faster, ignoring his words. "Is killing really want you want to spend the rest of your life doing? Is that really what'll make you happy? Because I don't think so! I know you, Elizabeth, and while you definitely have your faults, yes, you are not a killer! You are not a monster! You are so much more than that and have the potential to have a life equally as grand! This is not your only option! Maybe this was Father's, but that's because he was a scum bucket! But not you, Elizabeth, you can be so much more! You don't have to kill in order to have a good life! There is more out there for you, I know it!" Michael continued.
"LA LALALALALA LAAAA! I CAN'T HEAR YOU!" Elizabeth pretended to sing over Michael, but it didn't work. His words still managed to burrow into her head. They wormed their way in so quickly that even when Elizabeth managed to catch Michael again, she still failed to kill him.
"Listen to me, Elizabeth," Michael panted as her hand closed around his torso and she lifted him up, ready to snap his head clean off with her claw. "I know you think that this is what you like and you think it is what you were born to do, but I tell you that it's not! No one is ever born to do anything! Sure, circumstance may put them in certain situations, but that's not birth! That's the environment surrounding birth! There is always a choice in who you get to be, even if it's not always the best choice or even if it's not always your choice! But the point is, no matter what, you were never "made" to do or be anything. You got to choose! Now, maybe you didn't exactly choose this life, I grant that, but you can still change, Elizabeth. This doesn't have to be your end!"
"Oh? And what could possibly be left for me?" Elizabeth spat, lowering her claw but bringing Michael in closer to her razor-sharp teeth.
"Anything," he replied. "Because I will help you get there."
"You?" she cackled, teeth clicking together as she did so. They were the only thing on her body that were mostly still intact.
"Yes, me," Michael replied softly, coaxingly. "Your big brother, Michael. I wasn't there for you before, but I will be here for you now. That's the choice I have made, and the person I have decided to become. Whatever you want or need, I will help you. Even if a killer is really what you want to become and you really want me to be your first victim, I will allow it. I just want you to know that I'll be here to help you explore other options first..." he continued to pledge his faith and loyalty to Elizabeth and although such submission was very dangerous, it actually began to work on the poor robot's confused mind and her gears began to turn the other way...
"You can't be serious, Mikey," she murmured, Baby-voice slipping back into her real, Elizabeth-voice, accent and all.
"Deadly," Michael replied with just a touch of humor, relieved to hear his sister's real voice talk to him and not her animatronic Baby voice.
"And you would really help me with anything at all? No matter how crazy?" she pressed. He nodded. "What happened to wanting to burn me?"
"We did that to set your soul free and stop your rage-induced pain. We could still do that even now, if you wanted," Michael answered calmly.
"A suicide pact?" she scoffed, but Michael only nodded again, still deadly serious. That was when Elizabeth slowly lowered Michael's body. She did not let him go, but she did begin to ponder, his words finally really making her think.
It was a big thing he was offering her, and quite a new and attractive thing, if she was being totally honest with herself. It would've been the first time anyone ever let her take charge of a situation and actually respond to it positively instead of trying to cut her down or brush her off. Even Daddy had always been so bossy! But now here Michael was, promising her anything! Including the keys to his and her own life and death. That was a pretty big offer on multiple levels. And while those were extreme examples, they weren't even close to covering all the possibilities in Michael's promise. If he really meant he'd let her pick her life and he'd support her through it, just how far would that loyalty really go?
At last, Elizabeth set Michael back down.
"I accept your offer," she said formally, even offering to shake on it (with the non-claw hand, of course).
"Deal," Michael grinned up at her, his hand barely even covering one of her fingers.
"But you'd better be telling the truth and keep your promise!" she warned, just a slight childish and warning whine entering her voice.
"Pinky promise!" Michael was still grinning, but he raised his pinky up either way.
"I'm being serious Michael! You'd better not disappoint!" Elizabeth crossed her arms.
"I won't, I promise! I'm being serious too," Michael vowed, still holding out his pinky. Elizabeth continued to stare at it in disgust, but then at last, something of a sigh escaped her massive form and she uncrossed her arms, once again extending her non-claw hand and touching pinkies with Michael. Her fingers were far too big to wrap around his.
"Deal," she said.
"Deal," he replied.
"But now, what do we do first?" Elizabeth almost sighed again, straightening back up.
"Well, first, I'm taking you home and both of us are going to do a bit of self-repair," Michael chuckled darkly. "Now come on, I can have you hold onto the back of my car as I drive and you can just skate home after me," he said.
"And you don't think that'll be weird or that people will stare?" Elizabeth almost sounded amused.
"Eh, what do I care what they think? I'm already the freak of my neighborhood. My neighbors look away when they see me coming and they cross the street when they pass my house!" he spoke as he led Elizabeth out of the ash and to the parking lot where his car was, thankfully, unharmed.
"How awful," Elizabeth mumbled actually somewhat sincere, also relieved that Michael's car had been unburnt.
"Not really, actually," Michael replied as he climbed into the driver's seat. "It makes it easier for me to keep alone and keep secret."
"I suppose," Elizabeth replied, then, while Michael revved his car's engine, Elizabeth grabbed onto its back and both of them propelled forward at the same time, Michael hitting the gas and Elizabeth pushing herself forward on her skates. With that, and without another look back, both of them left the burnt pizzeria behind them, only a little box and piece of vent still standing.
30 minutes and many terrified, disgusted, disbelieving, shocked stares later, Michael and Elizabeth had reached Michael's home. As Elizabeth released Michael's car and skated up the driveway to his door, she could hear cries of terror from the other neighbors. It didn't bother her nearly as much as she thought it would. Instead, she only followed Michael's lead as he unlocked the door. It still took a few minutes to fit her inside the house but, in the end, they managed to do it with only a bit of collateral and, once Elizabeth was standing in her brother's living room with him at her side, she couldn't help but smile, but this time, it was one of true happiness and not malice or sadism.
"Hmmm," she said. "It feels like home..." and it was.
AN: Here you go, Nightmare noob! Your AU to the Simulator game's ending! Hope you like it!
Also, I understand that Michael and Baby's survivals were both a bit unlikely and that the whole "skating Baby home on the back of Michael's car" is also unrealistic, especially with all the people that would see them, but hey, you can't deny that this gave the ending at least a bit of happiness, am I right? Anyway, don't forget to review!