The sound is like the very world itself is roaring in agony, for half a second every last person in Beacon feel their ears bleed as the sky turn black then gold, brown, yellow, blue and red before purple lord over the world for an instant and the heaven turn back to its nocturnal hues. What follows is the crash of metal against stone as every team looking through the windows can see something falling to the ground.
But for team RWBY and the others still outside it is much, much worse because what they can see is awfully tall humanoid animals with glowing eyes , a man in purple with a far too big grin and another with a clown mask on the side of his head grasping him. Yet what is more terrifying is the colossal aura of wrongness surrounding them.
The purple man rolls his head and his grin widen further. "Well, it seems I've become all the more real. What do you say Mike? Puppet? Do you think it's the afterlife? If it's hell I'm going to be so disappointed. You would think I at least deserve a royal welcoming." His tone is mocking, like speaking to a child.
His opponent's eyes narrow in what is clearly a mixture of disgust and rage. "You deserve nothing else than rotting away for eternity!" He roars in an echoing voice, hate lacing every word, as he headbutt him.
The purple man takes a step back, chuckling. "Like our rabbit friend tried? Oh, we all know how it ended, hmm? You should have heard him when we pursued you guys: 'Stop, please stop, don't hurt them, I don't want to do it'. It was great!"
To every spectator's surprise the golden rabbit start running, letting out a screech everybody's hair stand on end. "I'll m-m-make y-you p-p-p-pay!" Images of the other animals, covered in tar like stains with cables jutting out, start popping up at random, jumping on the man.
The man sidesteps the clown guy's punch and embed him in the ground, not batting an eyelash as the images pass through him. "Did you really think I would let such a thing affect me? When we've been working together for so long? You wound me, really, Springtrap." The last syllable is pronounced like it is the greatest joke ever.
The golden rabbit is suddenly over the man, roaring in fury. "I-I-I am Sp-p-pring B-B-B-Bonnie!"
"Spring! Don't!" The clown man seems panicked as he vainly tries to get out of the ground.
The punch is strong enough for the shock wave to mess with the hair of the now crowd of spectators. The man catches it with seemingly no effort at all.
"Now, now, you're going to scare the kids. We wouldn't want that, do we? Springtrap?" As he says that the man rip the rabbit's arm out, tearing cables and metal as if it was nothing, before he stab it through the rabbit's neck.
"Spring!"
A sobbing voice makes itself heard. "I don't want to die again Foxy!" As one, everyone turn in the direction of the voice, the spectators' eyes widening as their eyes fall on a transparent child, crying in the arms of a decidedly terrifying fox.
"Don't cry matey, Ah be feedin' the sharks before that landlubber put a finger on ye all."
The purple man holds his hand together next to his head in a cooing gesture. "If it's not cute! But you should not make promises you can't hold captain. We both know you can't do anything. And anyway, it's not fun when they're already broken. I'd much prefer one of our dear spectators." He turns toward the crowd. "Hmm, I really like little red riding hood." Ruby lets a frightened cry and hide behind Yang as he point to her. "She looks so innocent, imagine Mike: the life slowly fading away from her eyes-"
"Shut up!"
Yang takes a step forward, Ember Celica raised. "If you think I'll let you touch my sister..."
"Hush, child, the adults are talking. Where was I? Ah, Yes. Blood streaming down her skin, her-"
"Shut up!"
"-Pained cries as she would call for help,-" The guy held himself in a hug, a shiver clearly shaking his body as his smile widen even further.
"Shut! Up!"
"But nobody would come to save her." He point towards the ghosts. "Like the puppet failed to save them."
The floor around Mike, since such seem to be his name, crack before exploding outward as he extirpate himself from his rocky prison. "We'll kill you! We'll make sure you never come back this time! Murderer!"
The purple man starts laughing. "That's the spirit! But I've already told you, I have a name and it's-" "You have lost any right to have one!"
"Goodness, you are so impatient, now why don't we make a game out of it? If you can make it to six a.m., in half an hour, without me killing anyone, you win."
"You will be dead by that time!"
"Then let the game begin."
What happen next will go down in history as the first Mike Schmidt incident: 'The monster battle of Beacon'.
"Toys! Put the children in security" Is all Mike manage to say before the purple man disappears to reappear in front of him, a punch flying toward his stomach.
The crowd can only watch in bafflement as three of the animals and a mess of metal start pushing them toward the building.
"Stop! We have to help him!" Ruby exclaim
To her surprise the bear pushing her is the one to answer. "With all due respect miss, you'd just get killed. Plus Mike and Marion are strong and they've got the others."
"But!"
"Please, no but. My siblings and I have to put you in safety before we can try to gain them time." He shoves a red... Thing in her hand. "If you need to ask a question he's your best chance to get an answer."
Meanwhile the fight is not going in Mike's favor, the purple man had already been monstrously strong as a ghost, yet it is nothing compared to his current state. In the few minutes since the beginning of the battle he has already gotten a broken rib and a small concussion, he's pretty much defending himself while trying to not get knocked out. Alone he will lose. Good thing he's not.
He barely dodges an uppercut destined to his chest and catch it under his arm.
"Foxy!"
The pirate is already next to them, faster than ever, his hook glowing under the moon as it sinks toward the murderer's nape. It's not supposed to work and it doesn't, in a flash Mike is thrown in the fox, sharp metal ribs dig into his shoulder as they soar toward a pillar.
"Bonnie!"
The rabbit understand in a second, he jumps, place his feet on the night guard's and is sent toward the purple man. A second before hitting him, he contorts in mid air, dig his hands in the ground and his legs crash against the man's guard, the earth shatter in a small crater but the guy's doesn't look bothered. It's not a problem, because without a word Freddy jump from behind Bonnie and send his two fists in the strongest hammer strike he can muster, the earth explodes outward as the man is suddenly in the center of a fifty feet wide crater, still standing, not looking the worse for wear.
"Chica!"
The chicken jump from the pillar she's climbed a few second earlier and hit the murderer with her beak, the strength of her coiling endoskeleton backed by gravity pulling down almost five hundred pounds from a height of thirty feet. The shock is enough to make the ground shake as the crater grows to be sixty feet wide and seven feet deep.
"Is that all? Because I'm a little disappointed."
"We just needed to distract you. Look to your left."
Because to the murderer's left there is Fredbear, shadow oozing from his eyes and mouth before it agglutinate in twisted versions of the animatronics. The golden bear raises his head toward him.
"It is time your dreams turn to nightmares."
"Sorry big guy, I've stopped dreaming years ago."
The nightmares don't make any strategy, they can't do that, so instead they do what they know how, they rush the man in a barrage of fangs and claws. He idly takes a step back, catch Nightmare's hand and flip the hulking bear over his shoulder, letting the inertia give it speed as he send it back toward its brethren. In a flash he's behind them and he wrenches Nightmarionne from under Nightmare Mangle, using it as a whip to pierce Nightmare Chica's eye before crushing its head under his heel, shattering the ground under its mask.
"Spring!"
From the still damaged animatronic hallucinations start coming to life, mixing with the nightmares to form a sea of apparent death, fake indistinguishable from the real ones.
The murderer only laughs. "Good idea, Mike. Apart from a small detail: I can see through it!"
The toys choose this moment to get back. "The cavalry's here!"
Mike let a smile take place on his face. "Perfect. Blue! Hen!"
In perfect synchronization, Toy Bonnie et Toy Chica sprint to the left and right of the night guard, catch his hands and send him sailing toward the sky. They bend forward and half a second later toy Freddy use their shoulders to jump toward Mike, Mangle on his back.
"Cub! Mangle!"
When they get to him, Toy Freddy punches his feet, sending him headfirst toward the ground as Mangle jump to Mike, reassembling herself around his arm, a metal rib repurposed into a deadly blade in the prolongation of his arm as he punches. When they get to the murderer, it's akin to a meteor trying to skewer him.
He catches it effortlessly.
"Well, that's a good knife you're offering me. You really know how to make me happy." He proceeds to rip the blade away from its support before he slam Mike into the ground, blood trickling from the guard's mouth, and kick Mangle's head clean off.
He turns to the horrified animatronics. "Now, I'd love to keep playing with you, but I have less than ten minutes if I want to win. And while I see a volunteer coming toward us, I don't think you'll just let me kill her. So no hard feeling okay?"
In a second he's behind Fredbear, his blade planted solidly in his metallic skull. Without letting the golden bear time to fall, he throws him toward Spring Bonnie, shattering their endoskeletons. He dodges Freddy's fist that go sinking into the ground, stone flying everywhere, before he take his head between is hands and twist.
"Now, now. Why don't you all take a nap?"
It takes less than a second for Foxy to be next to him, hook raising toward his jaw, it takes less time yet for the fox to fall legless on the gravel. The three toys are right behind him, Toy Freddy catches Toy Bonnie's hands to send his feet flying in a wide arc while Toy Chica roll over him, her momentum lending strength to her blow. It's a marvel of teamwork and with Bonnie and Chica blocking the only opening it is inescapable.
From the windows the fight seems surreal, it's a view beyond comprehension, a display of power like the students have never seen before. It is awing, it is breathtaking, it is terrifying.
Ruby can hear someone panicking in the back. She's really close to join them. The way that man had looked at her, what he said. It's the kind of things she has only heard of in horror stories. Her grip tightens on the thing the bear gave her as she feel the ground shaking under her.
Yang is swearing profusely next to her, Weiss seems even paler than usual and Blake looks like she's ready to unsheathe at any time.
She yelps when the red thing starts ringing, letting it fall. When it hit the ground a part breaks, bound by a swirly thread.
"Hello, hello? Uh, can somebody get me off the floor? Um, please? Miss in red? Anybody?"
She sends a pleading look to Yang who's staring at the thing. Her sister cautiously approaches it before taking it from the tip of her fingers.
"Ah, uh. Thank you. Um, I know it's a little freaky, but there's no, uh, nothing to fear. Um, where's the girl Cub gave me to?"
"Cub?"
"Ah, yeah. Mike's not all that great with nicknames. So, uh, do you have any questions?"
For once, Weiss let the heiress mask fall. "Questions?! Where do we even begin?"
"Uh, yes it was maybe a little stupid. Um, how many people are there? Because I can only see, uh, the people touching me. You could, maybe, um, put a finger on the dial, just so I can know who's there. Please? Because I can't, uh, see otherwise."
He does realize he's repeating himself, right? But everybody puts a finger on the thing anyway.
"That's a, uh, lot of people. Um, Mike has told me I should introduce myself before, uh, giving life preserving information. So, um, I'm the Phone Guy, but my friends call me Scott. So, what do you want to know?"
"Grimm!" Jaune yell and Ruby turn her attention back to the fight and oh my god there really are grimm joining the fight.
"Uh, excuse me, but what's happening?"
"There is grimm in the school!" Yang answer
"What does it, um, look like?"
"I have never seen grimm like those before, they look like the beast who came with you, but more demoniac." Weiss reply shortly, she looks irritated.
"Oh, that's the nightmares! They're not, um, dangerous. Not really, Gold is the one who makes them, uh, maybe I should tell you, um, Spring makes phantoms too, so don't freak out."
"We've seen."
"Oh! Well, good, I guess. What's Mike doing?"
Ruby doesn't really know how to explain it, because Mike is falling like a meteor toward the man. She feels her mouth hang when the ground shake again and the purple man holds his opponent like it is nothing.
"Wow, uh, that bad? Is his right eye completely black?"
"N-no." His eyes are blue and grey.
"Then, uh, that mean he's not taken the big guns out yet."
The big guns? Beacon's courtyard is in ruin and they've not gone all out?!
She see the five last animals make a really impressive combination that sends cracks running along the ground. She blinks and the colorful rabbit is on the ground, impaled with the bear's leg, the bear is crawling on the ground and the last childish animal has a blade in its nape. Monster! That man is a monster!
"Well, look at that. Now there's just you two."
The murderer jumps to Bonnie and knee him in the chest, wrecking the bot's endoskeleton to pieces.
"Just one."
In a second he punches through Chica's head.
"And now for our volunteer." he sings.
Oh, the woman tries to fight back, but let's be frank: compared to the Fazbear crew, flying rocks and raining ice is like a lion compared to a tiger, the lion might be strong but the tiger is just that much mightier. He idly backhands a stone flying toward his head, sidestep an icicle and he's behind her, holding his blade against her neck as he strangles her.
His grin widens a little. "Now, you're a little older than I'd like, but you know what they say miss, it's the inside that matter. I win Mike!"
He brings his hand back.
"Balloon!"
There is no blood because suddenly the blade is not in his hand anymore.
"Hi!" It's at Balloon Boy's feet. He's smiling next to a battered but smug looking Mike.
The purple man throws his would be victim away, no fun in killing somebody if it's not bloody. "Ooh, good job Mike, really. But we've still got five minutes."
"Then come and get us." Mike's right eye, the fake one, has turned black, a white dot glowing in the middle. He's got a last ace in the hole, he's not sure it will work, but it's how he did it with Marion. "The toreador seeks his glory, but is he ready for Freddy?" As soon as he stops speaking, the body of the bear start glowing, retracting to a mask that fly toward his head. Once it comes in contact with his face, he can feel his body shifting: metal bear ears jut from his head, brown leather cover his arms and legs and he can feel the top hat and bow tie. He reels back when he feels the singer's mind, it's so different from Marion's.
"Now that's not something you see every day. I knew there was a reason I like you."
The two crashes into each other, the strength of the impact making the last pillars fall and the windows of the building shatter, to the horror of the spectators.
Like that Mike is stronger than either he or Freddy were. He's strong enough to destroy a big house in one hit. The purple man is still stronger and faster. Before his Haymaker can hit his opponent, he's got a knee in his stomach and Freddy's mask is snatched from his face. The bear and him revert to their previous form in less than a second and he's on the ground again, the murderer sitting on his back.
"Really impressive, Mike. I was almost afraid for a second. I think you deserve a reward. But what?" The purple man scratches his appropriately purple stubble. "I know! I'm going to give you a hand to go with your eye and your foot. Am I not generous?"
Mike's eyes widen in horror as he thrashes around. "No! Don't you dare!"
"Not the right though, it would be overloaded. I think you're ambidextrous. Right?"
"Well that's, um, that's not good."
From his place next to the shattered window, Jaune can only agree with the Phone Guy. Now that they can hear what the guys are saying it's clear the man in purple is pretty much evil and he's the one doing the butt kicking even though the clown man is more powerful than anybody else he's ever seen.
He haphazard a look at his team, Ren's calm, nothing new, Nora is calm too, which is not good because the last time she's been like that was... Well, he's never really seen her like that. But what's really driving the gravity of the situation home is the fact Pyrrha look as lost as him and there's a bunch of ghosts cowering in a corner of the classroom, and how weird is that?
But for all the fight is freaking him out he can't say he's not in awe at the sheer magnitude of what's happening. It's a battle he knows will go down in history because it's the stuff of legends. And he's at the front row.
And when he looks back through the window, he thinks he might throw up because the purple man is crushing the other's forearm in a bloody mess and with a disgusting sound he rip the hand off. The clown man, Mike he thinks the Phone Guy said, roar in pain and he hear somebody throwing up behind him. Nobody say anything and he understands because his mouth is going dry too.
The purple man gets up. "Now you're just exaggerating. Jeremy didn't even cry when his leg was crushed." His voice echoes in the silent school and Jaune really want him to stop talking because a missing hand is definitively not the kind of thing you can laugh about.
"What... Did you... Just say?"
"Oh, I said Jeremy didn't cry. You know? The guy you shared a room with in the asylum?"
Apparently it's the wrong thing to say because Mike tackles him to the ground and start stabbing him repeatedly with the bones jutting out of his stump and it's just sick, there's blood everywhere and the evil guy is just laughing.
This time Jaune really throw up and when he raises his head, it's to see Mike getting punched away as his opponent gets up, still grinning.
"Well, six a.m.! Congrats, you win. And because I've really had fun and I always honor my promises you get a prize. I won't attack anybody for three months and once it's time you're the first person I'm going to find. No need to thank me."
"What makes you think... What makes you think we'll let you go?"
The man laughs. "You're not really in condition to stop me. Now you get stronger and I'll see you in three months. Bye!"
And just like that, he disappears in a purple flash headed toward the rising sun.
Nobody dares to move, what they've just seen is too overwhelming. Jaune startle when the ghost kids, still weird as all grimm, pass through him and run to the man.
He's pretty fucked up, the animatronics are in a mess he's gonna need hours to repair and Purple Guy is still alive. But Mike can't really feel sad. Nobody is dead and he's got three months to prepare himself. But first he needs to stop the bleeding so he put his remaining hand on the mask at the side of his head and gently tug on it. He shudders as the Puppet turn back to its original form, it's been so long since the last time they separated.
"I'm sorry."
"Don't be. It's not your fault. Guess I'll need a new arm now. You think you can bandage it before the children get here?"
The puppet takes his uniform's jacket and tear it into cloth strips.
"If I hadn't brought you in all of this you would not have been hurt." It says while covering the stump.
"Now that's bullshit and you know it. If you had let me out of it, I'd be stuck in a suit with my eyes popping out or back in the asylum after beating up an asshole."
"Please, watch your mouth, there are children."
"See, now that's the Marion I know. Stop beating yourself up for things you can't do anything about. At least the children seem to be free now."
"I suppose you are right. But still, I am sorry."
"Heh, better than nothing I guess."
The ghostly children crash into them, sending them tumbling to the ground.
"Mister Puppet! Mister Night Guard!"
"Hey, it's okay kids, we're good. Happy to see you guys out of the crew." Ouch, maybe he should not have said that because now there's tears welling up their eyes.
"The robots! Will they be okay?"
"It's good, we'll repair them. Marion, please, tell them." Okay, maybe he's panicking a little, but the amusement he can feel from the Marionette is totally vexing.
"You don't have to worry children, their souls are still there. Now I believe there is a paradise waiting for you."
"Do we really have to go?"
"What, you're worried for us? Don't worry kids we'll be good."
"But I don't want to say goodbye!"
"Then do not say it child. Let's say 'see you later'."
"Say, mister Puppet? Do you think you could sing for us one last time?"
"With pleasure dear. What song would you like to hear?"
"The one from when we met."
"Now that's one I like too. Good choice kid."
Marion takes the children in a hug and start to sing.
Don't you cry dear children.
Don't you cry dear children.
Those old bodies just won't do.
Dust yourselves off, and hop in there.
'Cause I've got a gift for you.
When the world stop spinning Glynda can see Pyrrha Nikos is trying to see if she's good, Jaune Arc panics behind her as Lie Ren and Nora Valkyrie help her to get up. What just happened is a terrible thing, a man of such power he can simply brush her semblance and Dust manipulation before shattering her aura simply by holding her is already terrifying. But for him to be so clearly inclined toward plain evil is an omen of tragedy to come. The only person she knows who would be able to rival him is Ozpin and he's been summoned by the council to talk about the upcoming Vytal festival.
Yet there is somebody who managed to stop him from going on a rampage. She turns her attention toward the other fighter. He's in such a shape she can hardly believe he's not dead: he's swaying on his legs, an arm replaced by a mess barely hidden under a dripping red bandage and she can hardly see a place not covered in blood.
Who brought the tears to these kids?
Why were their souls evicted?
Isn't that better, you're stronger.
See you're all heroes now.
Walk around and see how they fit!
Make this puppet proud.
And there is the matter of these robots he showed up with, they are clearly artificial and broken, yet she can distinctly feel aura coming from them. But stranger yet is the floating puppet next to him, singing to a group of ghostly children. She can feel a shudder running down her spine at the sheer emotion and power in the song. Uneasiness rising as she hears the next lines.
Who brought the tears to these kids?
Why were their souls evicted?
When I find the guy, we will take him out.
Now who was it who broke you?
Show me where it goes 'Oww'.
Let me see if I can find him because he's in trouble now.
Who brought the tears to these kids?
Why were their souls evicted?
To Yang the situation is just overbearing, she's strong and she knows it. But she understands clearly that without that Mike person the man in purple would have gone after her sister and there's nothing she could have done. She's always believed she could take on anything. But now, as she takes in the absolute destruction surrounding her, she's cruelly reminded of how outclassed she is compared to the true monsters out there.
Beacon's majestic courtyard is little more than a field of ruins in a crater full of broken robots and blood. Team JNPR is helping Goodwitch back to her feet from where she's been thrown like she was not one of the few people Yang has never been able to imagine beaten. Yet the one who did all that had looked as if it was nothing, toying with a group who could probably destroy the school itself from what she's seen.
When I find the guy, we will take him out.
Who brought the tears to these kids?
Why were their souls evicted?
When I find the guy, we will take him out
Who brought the tears to these kids?
Why were their souls evicted?
The song gives her the creeps, the tone is almost loving but the lyrics are just terrifying. Like the singing puppet is just creepy yet hugs the ghosts in a loving embrace reminding her of a parent's. It takes her a second to understand how jarring the situation is for ghosts to seem normal in comparison.
She risks a look at their savior and gulp. He's smiling. It's not right, his friends are in pieces, he looks like he can keel over at any moment and he just lost his arm in what must be the messiest way she can think of. He should not be smiling. She can't imagine how she'd feel if the same thing happened to her, but she knows she would not be smiling.
When I find the guy, we will take him out.
What shall we do with him, children?
What should his punishment be?
When Peter reaches the school, he's horrified. He knew something was happening when he heard explosions as he was giving a suplex to this Creep he intended to bring at his next lecture. But by his cabbage smelling grandfather's beard is what he finds much worse than anything he thought. It's like the apocalypse has decided to come early to Beacon. The white pillars have fallen to the ground, the windows are shattered and he can see blood trails and metal pieces everywhere. As he take a step forward, he feels something beneath his foot, as he looks down, he find a bloody hand, the forearm crushed to a pulp of blood and bones. He feels dread creeping in the back of his mind as he rush toward the center of the crater. If anything has happened to his students while he was away, he will never forgive himself.
"Professor!" He turns his gaze toward the voice.
"Goodness gracious miss Schnee! What happened here?"
"I have no idea how to say it. The Phone Guy has promised to explain if you wish to talk to him."
The what guy? No, it's not the time for that Peter. "Lead the way miss Schnee."
Stick him in a suit, you say?
Well, let's give it a try, shall we?
A shudder runs through him as he hears the song. He turn toward its origin. Is that a grimm? No, grimm don't sing, he would know. And are those floating children? Not the time Peter, he has students to see. He sweeps the place from his gaze, he can see the rest of team RWBY surrounding a red box, team JNPR surrounding a wavering Glynda and the rest of his students standing in the building's entrance.
But then who's this young man next to the not grimm? He does look like he's the right age to be in second or third year, but Peter can't remember seeing him before. He catches a glimpse of a messy stump hidden under red cloth bands. Ah. So that's where the hand comes from. Poor boy.
The young man raises his head and start singing alongside the thing.
You brought the tears to these kids.
Why were their souls evicted?
You brought the tears to these kids.
Why were their souls evicted?
Make this puppet proud.
"Did we make you proud mister Puppet?"
"You did, child. Now off you go, you have more than earned your rest."
"Yeah. You've been true little soldiers for years. And if Saint Peter is too annoying tell him I'll personally come and kick his behind."
"Thank you mister Night Guard. Sorry for trying to kill you."
Mike can't help but smile. "What, you're still going about that? Come on kids, it's forgotten. Now shoo."
"Yes! See you later mister. We'll be waiting for you."
"See you later children."
There's no light falling from the sky, no fanfare sounding in the distance. One second the kids are waving, the next they've disappeared.
"You think you're going to paradise?"
"I doubt it."
"Yeah, same here. Guess we'll just make Satan pray for the day we'll be sent to him to never come." He tries to take a step forward and stumbles. "Whoah! Anemia's a bitch. I want to know if the locals are alright before checking on the others. Mind giving me a hand?"
He can feel the disapproving look Marion is sending him. "Was that a pun?"
He shrugs as much as he can with a bleeding stump of an arm. "What do you want? Old habits die hard. So you're gonna help me?"
"I should strangle you... Well, I suppose you're hurt enough as it is."
The puppet pulls an arm around him and starts floating in the direction of the woman who almost got gutted by the purple asshole, slowly enough for him to not just fall and break his nose against the ground.
"Aw! You know you love me."
"I swear on my music box Mike, I will strangle you once you're well again."
"I don't doubt it." He turns toward the small group, three are helping the woman and a fourth is panicking. "Hey! White Knight! Mind coming here for a second?"
Wow, the five are looking at him like he's crazy. Well, he is walking around with a missing arm and supported by a freaky floating marionette so maybe he is.
"What? I'm not gonna do anything. I just want to ask a few questions."
"Your arm." The red haired girl, he'll call her Athena, say.
"Yeah, I know, it's gonna be a pain to wash the blood. So, anyway, everything's good with you? Nobody's dead?"
It's funny, White Knight is turning greener and greener. "N-no. Everybody's good." Ouch, the kid passed out, it's hilarious. Plus Athena freaking out over him make it even funnier.
"You have our excuses, we did not mean to frighten you." And now they're staring at Marion, like they can't believe it's really sentient. Priceless!
The woman takes a step forward. "We need to tend to these wounds. The loss of a limb can often be a traumatic experience so we need to treat the injury before the shock wear out. Please follow me."
"Wow lady, stop. It's not that bad. Not like it's the first time I lose a bit of my body. I'm fine."
"Excuse me?"
He pulls on his trouser to show his animatronic right foot as he darken his right eye. "See, it's not a problem. I'll just get a new hand too. Speaking of which, I have to see how damaged the guys are."
"Despite what you say we still need to tend to your arm. I believe your companion can take care of your friends in the meantime."
"Indeed, I can. May I only ask you a question?"
"Marion, you traitor! It's for the pun isn't it?"
"I'd be happy to answer." Hey! Hey! Why is he ignored?
"Could you please tell me where we are?"
"You are at Beacon Academy."
"In what country?"
"Vale."
"Well, shit. Marion, I think we're not in Kansas anymore."
"Please Mike, watch your language. But indeed we seem to be far away from home. He is all yours, Miss?"
"Goodwitch"
"Oh, you've got to be kidding me!"
"So you're the ghost of a night guard in a children pizzeria. And you've started haunting this phone thing after you've been killed by the robotic mascots who were themselves haunted by the children we've seen. And they went after the night guards to get revenge on their murderer, they had already killed him, but they were too far gone to understand they had already gotten what they wanted. Except the murderer managed to come back by possessing the robot who killed him and he's the psychopath your friend was fighting who, after getting killed a second time, came back again. Mike, the other guy, got the job after you and after a lot of I quote 'titanium-ball badass actions mixed with some seriously suicidal decisions' managed to befriend the creepy puppet, who's a genuine supernatural entity and the one who brought the children back in the first place, warm up to the robots, repair the other robots, found the undead psychopath, found a way to bring back the possessed robot and a few weeks later there was a fight with the still coming back guy. That brought you here." Weiss recapitulates.
"Uh, yeah. More or less."
"You understand how absurd your story sound, right?"
To be frank, in any other situation, Blake would agree with the heiress. But the explanation, as far fetched as it sound, matches the situation.
"Please, miss Schnee. You have to understand that as a true huntress you must always expect the unexpected. Why, I myself have encountered an interdimensional time traveler, I mighty nice fellow. A little eccentric, but his tales were most impressive. I sometimes see the Doctor on Sundays to talk about our respective adventures." Professor Port say.
"Um, does he go around in a blue box that's bigger on the inside?"
"My, would you happen to know the man?"
"Uh, yes. He, um, came once to see us. Mike and the others have decided it never happened. They're, um, in denial."
"Would your place happen be called Freddy Fazbear Pizza?"
"Um, yes. Did he tell you about us?"
"Indeed my red friend! Would you believe me if I told you-"
Before she can hear the rest of the conversation Blake is taken to the side by Weiss.
"Blake, did you see how Ruby is acting?"
"Yes. Do you think it's what the Purple Man said?" As terrible as it might seem, Blake's upbringing in an organization that turned to terrorism had the little side effect of making her a little jagged to the ugly face of the world. But her leader still believes Remnant is a generally good place.
"I'm not sure. That's why I'm asking you. I don't know what I should do and I thought with your... Background, you would be better placed." Right, they know about it. Weiss must really be lost for her to even admit it.
"I think it's just too much to take in. For all she's mature Ruby is still innocent and tonight she was just put against a highly dangerous terrorist organization and a monstrously powerful child killing psychopath. I don't think she's taking it well." And Blake understands because she's gone through it during Adam's descent into madness.
"Then what do we do?!"
"I don't know." And she doesn't, she has not been saved, she just took it in and ignored the problem. She doesn't think Ruby can do that.
"Why don't ye two be askin' Mike fer help?" They both jump at the voice coming from the ground before pointing their weapons toward the speaker.
"Har, ye be a jumpy bunch. Now put yer fancy tools down before ye skewer ol' cap'n Foxy. Ah be havin' enough bein' legless." Blake is puzzled. She has no idea of how the robot crawled to them without anybody remarking. And his accent is just like one of those stereotypical pirates in the show she watched as a kid.
"What do you want?" Weiss asks.
"Right now Ah just be wantin' a bottle o' rhum but I think that not be what yer askin' about." The robot chuckle, it's strange. "Marion told those that can move must go to Scott. Ah just happen to hear ye talkin' on my way. Ye could ask Mike fer yer troubles, he's lived in a loony house fer years so he be knowin' a lot about traumatized people."
"Wait, he lived in an asylum?"
"Sure did missy white. But it's not me story to tell."
"Thank you for your advice." Blake bows her head toward the pirate.
"Ye be welcome matey. Now can a ol' sea fox ask for ye to help him? It not be easy to crawl wit' a hook."
"Hi! Hi! Hi! Hi!" Three laughs. "Hello! Hello! Hello!" Three laughs. "Hi! Hello! Hello!" Seven laughs. "Hello! Hi! Hello! Hi!" Three laughs. "Hi! Hello!" Three laughs. "Hello! Hi!" Seven laughs. "Hi! Hi!" Seven laughs. "Hi! Hi! Hi! Hi!" Three laughs. "Hi!" Three laughs. "Hi! Hello! Hi! Hi!" Three laughs. "Hi! Hello! Hello! Hi!" Three laughs. "Hi! Hi! Hello! Hello! Hi! Hi!" Balloon Boy tugs at the Puppet's leg.
"It is really kind of you. Could you please try to find our friends' missing parts? It would be a great help."
Rather than answering the small animatronic salute before starting running around the crater.
"Still as enthusiast as ever. You know, I've always been curious about why they gave him this speaking module." Fredbear say.
"It is a mystery to us all. Can you move?"
"Sorry old friend, my joints are broken and my wiring is torn. My eyes and vocal are the only things I can use and the nightmares are too wild for now."
"I will need to ask for our hosts' help. Spring, I know your speaking module has been pierced but is there a way for you to communicate?"
Marion doesn't even flinch as his phantom counterpart appears, nodding its head slowly.
"Can you move?"
The phantom shake its head.
"I will see to have you two brought with the others. Now, did you see what happened to Mike's arm?"
The phantom nod.
"I did, the poor boy really doesn't have much luck. I think my left arm's wrist is too damaged for a graft, sorry."
"You have no need to apologize. I am sorry to ask this of you Spring, but would you agree to lend him yours?"
The phantom slowly shrug and point to the arm, thankfully intact from the shoulder down, where Spring Bonnie's bulk has protected it from the impact with Fredbear.
Marion bends down and gently disconnect the arm at the elbow, removing it from the golden casing. "Thank you. I will make sure you are both repaired soon."
The phantom nod before disappearing.
"I would be grateful if you could send help."
"I will."
With that Marion start floating toward their hosts, the metal hand cradled in its arms. It stops to take a look at the toys, Cub has managed to take his leg out of Blue and they are supporting each other to walk toward Scott, Hen on their shoulders. It turns its gaze in time to see Balloon Boy running with Mangle's head held over his head, the fox's eye twitching with each step.
For Freddy the situation is really hard to take in, fusing with Mike was incredibly disorienting. He knew Marion could technically provoke such a phenomenon, but it is the first time it was not the one subjected to it. And he can't move his body, his wiring completely snapped, so he can't turn his head to look at anything else than the ground. Instead, he listens and try to get a feel of what's happening.
Mike has been transported to be healed, jokingly whining the whole time, by one of the peoples around. One of them, apparently named Jaune, seem to have fainted and a girl is trying to wake him up by calling his name. Scott is talking with some cheerful man, Foxy's being helped by two girls, the golden duo probably can't move from what he heard Fredbear and Marion say. Balloon is cheerfully singing his salutations as he runs around with Mangle's once more damaged speaking module. He recognizes Cub, Hen and Blue's gentle banter. Which means there's only Chica, Bonnie and him left to do something about.
He hear footsteps, too light to be an adult's, too heavy to be a child's. Booted feet, small jingling of a belt buckle against reinforced metal, the fluttering of cloth in the wind, too big to be a scarf. Ah, it's the girl the murderer chose to taunt them with.
"Good morning, miss."
"Eep!" He hears her jump back startled.
"You have my excuses, I did not mean to frighten you. May I ask for your help in a small predicament I am faced with?"
He hears the nervous shuffle of her boots against the dirt. "I guess?"
"I really am grateful. Could you please help turn me so that I would be able to see you?"
There's hesitant footsteps, a pause, then he feels his body being turned over with apparently great efforts if the small sounds she make are to be believed. When his head turns it's to let him see the girl is indeed the one he thought.
"You have my gratitude miss. But where are my manners? My name is Freddy, Freddy Fazbear. It is a pleasure to meet you. I hope you will excuse me if we don't shake hands."
The poor dear seem a little lost. "Oh, it's not a problem. My name is Ruby."
"It is a delight to see you and your friends seem unharmed. I don't think any of us could have forgiven ourselves if anything had happened to you because of us."
She tilts her head. "But you didn't do anything wrong."
"And yet if we had failed to hold him back the Purple Man would have gone after you all. When cities fall and nations burn the defenders are as guilty as the attackers. The attackers for bringing the war to the walls, the defenders for being too weak to protect what they have sworn to keep safe. We have already failed too many times."
"But it's the bad guys who start it!"
"I understand your thinking miss Ruby. Alas the story is only written by the victors. Be they the one who start it or not, be they truly evil or not, the enemy will still come at the gate. The guardians have no choice but to be ready."
"But it's just..."
"Cruel. For as much as I contemplate it the world is still beautiful. Yet it is most cruel to its inhabitants, I'm afraid."
"I... I don't..." She seem ready to cry, her shoulders falling.
"Do not cry young miss. For all they may fall, the guardians are still here and that alone is proof there is something worth protecting. Please believe these words for this sad bear has rarely heard ones as true as those."
She let a half sigh. "I... Guess you're right."
"Now, let this ugly frown fade away and tell me. Why did you approach this broken bot I am?"
And, as Freddy see a smile slowly growing on her face as she ask him about his functioning, he finds himself happy. This is why he was built: to keep a smile on people's face.
"I can't tell you how good it is to have somebody who's not complaining! It's always 'My leg hurt!' 'I need blood!' and you're just okay with having a robot arm."
"Eh, never understood why people were so whiny about a little wound. I mean, I've lost a foot and an eye. What's the big deal? I've got new ones."
Mike can really say he like the place's doctor. She's so much more upbeat than the others he know and she doesn't treat him like he's a freak. Well, Glynda the good witch of the South mentioned the place trained monster hunters, so it's probably a given to have a few injuries from time to time.
"Exactly! The last guy I had to give a prosthesis to just whined the whole time about his arm. Now, please, get in your underwear I have to check the rest of your body."
"What? Not even gonna knock me out? The last doc I met had me unconscious." He take is blood soaked shirt off with a little difficulty.
She frowns. "Now, what a rude thing to do to a cooperative patient. I hope he learned his lesson since then."
"Oh, he did, he ended in the asylum after I invited him to the pizzeria in thanks." He snickers. "The guys didn't like him at all." He wrestles a little with his belt before letting his trousers fall.
"Good! Now could you please stand still while I scan you for injury?"
"No problem."
He turns his head when he hears the door opening. There's Marion, holding an animatronic arm.
"Hey! Marion, I've finally found a doctor I like! This is the doctor Grey. Doc, this is my friend Marion."
"It's a pleasure to meet you miss. May I proceed to his arm's replacement?"
The doc doesn't raise her head from his left foot she's holding her hands over. "Sadly, I don't have a prosthesis so it'll have to wait."
"I have one with me. Might I install it?"
"Sure! You can borrow my instruments."
Marion puts the metal limb next to his stump. "I don't need it thank you." It place its hands over the stump. "I am the puppet who gives gifts, I am the one who gives life"
With that, Mike forces the limb in his stump as Marion binds his soul to it. There's a spray of blood as the metal and the flesh adapt to each other, detachable yet indistinguishable. But the pain is almost non existent and after a second he can feel his new fingers bend to his will.
Doctor Grey is looking at them. "You are without a doubt among the most fascinating individuals I have ever had the pleasure to meet."
"Thank you doc. Hey Marion, what about the others?"
"They are in a sad state, but miss Goodwitch allowed us to make use of their mechanical engineering equipment."
"Wait! They've got mechanical engineering equipment?"
"Why, yes! This is a school for huntsmen in training after all. Just try not to make a Dust container explode."
"Why would filth explode?"
"I was talking about the power crystals."
"Magic crystals?! Marion, we're going now!"
"I will go make sure they have a good insurance."
Heeello, people! Anima here, and at the same time who else?
As you can see I'm trying my hand at some Fnaf RWBY crossover, but really RWBY is just perfect crossover material. What brought this idea? Souls, Remnant work around the souls of people. And the puppet is able to manipulate the souls of the children. So my theory: what if it was a Semblance? Just the semblance though, not the empowering force field.
Now, you know me a little, I try to not fall in the easy routine of fanfictions. With this chapter I decided to go with the fact that in every RWBY crossover I read, if the characters come from another univers, as in: are transported to Remnant, they always end in one of the forests and almost always at the beginning. Nope, here they landed smack dab in the middle of Beacon, poor courtyard, a few hours after volume one's ending.
For Fnaf, when Mike appear he's almost always a desperate guy who just try to survive, here he's a full fledged badass with quite a few screw looses. The animatronics are generally seen as good guy who don't know what they're doing bad or evil eldritch abominations. Let's be clear, I'll make good guys but good is not nice and you have to remember: they are born from dead children souls implanted in sentient machines for the almost sole purpose of revenge against their murderer. And said murderer, in this story, is gonna be somebody overpowered at midway between a sociopath and a psychopath.
My take on the past of the Fazbear Crew plus Purple is gonna be explained in the story. Just know I take sister location into account.
Before anybody tell me I made the non-native to Remnant too OP, know that I fully intend for the purple man to be the worst nightmare fuel in universe and that the mere fact of them being strong will lead the rest of the cast to do their goddamn best to catch up. The ultimate objective of this fic is to make a grey world of adaptational badasses.
There will be songs, non-negociable. My favorite antagoniste in Fnaf is the Puppet. There will be no bashing, not even Cardin though he'll get his due. And the religious references don't make Mike a believer.
I'll put small competitions in the Author notes, those who win can ask for a specific scene to take place: this time, the winner is the first who'll find how Balloon boy communicate.
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