It's the penultimate chapter folks. That is, if you don't count the epilogue as a chapter (I expect most would, though).

Here we see Abaddon, Why he wants to kill Charlie, and all that juicy stuff that no one really cares about, but whatever. You're not here to listen to me speak gibberish. You're here for the chapter.

So go on. Don't be shy. No, really. There's nothing important in this Author's Note. Not at all. Nope. Nope, nope nope. Nopity nopity nope. No secret messages in the texts. Nope. Ignore all those italics. Yup.

Chapter 14

Remember Thy Dead

The darkness was spreading; fanning out through the air, slithering up the walls and spilling over the floor. The small amount of light that trickled through the tiny skylight in the ceiling was soon swallowed up by the black void, as it fed hungrily. And sitting in the middle of it, with his back to the floor, lay an endoskeleton, his lifeless eyes staring and limbs stretched in positions which would have been impossible for the human body.

A finger twitched once, then twice, as his eyelids fluttered and his razor sharp teeth began to gnash together. The machine began to rise, his legs twisting back into shape and claws extending from the tips of his fingers. He dug the sharp blades into the wall next to him, and pulled himself up. The darkness was still spreading. The skylight was no longer visible, and now was the closest shadows began to recede, he could see what they had been hiding.

There were hundreds of corpses, all piled around him like flies around a bug zapper. They were all different varieties; male, female, young, old, but all of them shared one thing in common; they all had that same terrified expression frozen on their faces. That realisation that they were going to die, and that there was nothing they could do to prevent it.
The endoskeleton had done this. He'd done it as soon as they had bound him to this stupid body. He nudged a body with his foot, and stepped back, disgusted as he noticed the red lines drawn beneath the bodies. He was standing in the centre of an enormously large pentagram, drawn with crimson blood. There were imperfections in the lines, caused by the splatter of the liquid when they had made the symbol.

They'd summoned him. Brought him up from hell, from that place of burning fire and smouldering ruins. But why? Why had they gone so far? What had these people wanted?

"You know, when I told them to summon you, I didn't think they'd do it like this." The endoskeleton snapped his head towards the direction the voice was coming from. The shadows were still present, just drifting aimlessly in the air.

"Who are you?" He asked, an edge of malice in his tone. But the unseen speaker just chuckled, not at all fazed by the endoskeleton's threatening inquiry. Faint footsteps approached him from the dreary shadows, barely audible but with an air of importance to whoever they belonged to. However, whoever had been talking stopped at the very edge of the darkness, masking themselves from the endoskeleton's view.

"Who am I? Oh, just a desperate man in need of help. I figured I could knock out two birds with one stone; shoot down these idiots, and get what I want: your help." The voice said cheerfully as the endoskeleton started to step forward, into the shadows as his eyes became bright beacons of shining light. His headlights swept through the abyss of darkness as the voice seemed to start coming from every direction within the thick layers of black mist.

"What is it that you wish to demand of me? Surely you know that I do not merely accept every request; I am a demon king. I have little time for affairs in mortal worlds." The endoskeleton growled, swiping at where the voice had last been, only for the taunting echoes of laughter to move farther away.

"I am certain that this will interest you, Lord Abaddon. Do not doubt my words; I know about your friendship with the mortal man." Abaddon froze, as the voice spoke to him. How could he know about that? It was a secret he'd kept only to himself, and Henry had taken it to the grave. Unless…

"Well? What about him?" The demon king inquired curiously, the voice chuckling to himself as it moved behind him.

"He had a daughter, Charlotte. She's been doing something terrible; and I doubt that anyone mortal can stop her. She has an entire team behind her back now. It's only a matter of time before power goes to her head, and she tries to destroy the entire city." The voice told him, suddenly sounding extremely urgent. "So when I learnt that the military were conducting experiments on artificial intelligence, I suggested summoning you instead of asking for help. You are the only one who could stop her, Lord Abaddon."

"Now you're speaking in gibberish." The demon king sighed, shaking his head. "For the brief time I knew her, Charlie was an innocent child. I find it very hard to believe what you are saying."

"Then go. See for yourself." The voice asked, almost pleaded. Abaddon frowned, his servos whirring as he whipped his head around. Joints squeaked and his feet clanked as he walked back towards the pentagon, out of the darkness. He'd had enough of this foolish game of hide-and-seek.

"I will send a person." He announced to the person who he knew now watched him from the darkness. He willed his eyes to stop shining their light, and at once the luminescent glow dimmed. "A person who already has reason to hate her; I will gift him with abilities like my own, and tell him to observe her for me. If he fails his job and she lashes out to him…then I will believe you, mortal. But until then, Charlie Stillwater is mine to judge, not yours."

"Very well, Lord Abaddon. I look forward to the day we meet again." The voice said, and Abaddon could hear the same faint footsteps fading away into the distance. The darkness began to clear, as the demon king shook his head, scraping at a line of the pentagon with his metal foot.

"I certainly do not."

xXx

Sam Brown was silent as he trudged into the facility, his head held low. In his hands he held the black Bonnie head, shadows still radiating from the fabric prop. The white dots of light in the eyeholes glowed fiercely, even though Sam wasn't channelling his power into the head. Ever since the incident at Freddy's with Charlie Stillwater and The Scourge, the head had taken on a life of its own, becoming its own separate shell of shadows and eternal darkness. But Sam was here because of an agreement, not because he wanted to meet at an abandoned military research facility. But Abaddon was a demon king, one of the four beings as powerful as Satan himself. And you didn't want to mess with anyone possessing that level of power.

The fuses in the building were all fried, thanks to the explosion that Abaddon had accidentally created when the idiotic scientists had decided summoning a demon king was a risk that was worth it for the reward of a functional battle machine. Even Sam would have realised that the action was suicidal, but apparently some people were just blind to logic, despite their excelling in everything else.

However, Abaddon was always easy to find in here; all Sam had to do was follow the trail of shadowy mist which led to the massive room housing the pentagon. And standing in the centre of the satanic symbol was the demon king himself, an aura of dark shadows swirling around him his mechanical eyes glowed a fierce bright red. His razor sharp teeth glinted evilly in the scarce amount of light provided by his eyes, and his movements were loud but intimidating, deafening clanks echoing throughout the room as he walked towards Sam with a natural air of authority.

"Sam. So nice to see you again." The demon said roughly, but without any malicious intent. "How did it all go?"

"I met Charlie." Sam replied, as he set the Bonnie head down. His eyes drifted towards the skylight, which for once was surprisingly clear. "It's true. She's playing the vigilante. I wouldn't say that what she's doing is bad, though."

"You are aware that she's killed scores of people, right?" Abaddon asked him, and Sam gave the demon king a slight shrug as he scratched his head.

"I know that Charlie kills people. But she stopped me from killing a lot more than I would have. She's a good person, Lord Abaddon."

"Cut it out with the Lord crap, Sam. And don't be so damn formal." Abaddon told him with a hint of amusement as Sam gave him a small sigh. Abaddon might have been a demon lord, but he was a good person; he could see that clearly. "However, it seems that I've been told the truth about her. If she is truly Springtrap, then it's her who's ripping this city apart. It won't be long before someone goes too far in an attempt to kill her; then fires will burn, buildings will be ash, roads will be split, and life will be ended. I don't intend to let any of that happen."

Sam didn't reply as the demon king trudged away, his machinery working away on the inside of his heavily armoured endoskeleton. He was already aware of what was to come; Abaddon would use his powers to strip this facility of its usable resources. Then he would begin to build his army, until he was satisfied that Charlie would be killed by the onslaught. He would barely pay attention to collateral damage, only focusing on his main goal. And that was probably a bad decision to make, letting an all-powerful demon run amok to wreak havoc and destruction upon the city. But there was no point in fighting against Abaddon; he could only hope that Charlie got out of this alive.

xXx

Charlie didn't bother looking up as Arty walked down the stairs, his ear pressed to his phone. She was modifying the gauntlet, trying to see if she could amplify its strength. But there was a lot that she still didn't understand about remnant, so she tried her best to not look too disappointed whenever her experiments failed. She picked up a pair of wire strippers as Arty made a frantic motion with his hands.

"Uh huh. Yeah. Okay, Clay." He made a scribbling sign with his hand, as Charlie rolled her eyes and pulled a pen out of the front pocket of her overalls, tossing it over to him. He fumbled with it for a moment, shooting her a quick glare before returning his attention back to the phone. "Right, sure. That's fine. Uh huh. Cool." He wrote something down on his hand, nodding fervently. "Okay. See you." He hung up, sighing. "Clay again; asking about Jessica. Said that Carlton needed to see her."

"She's at her house." Charlie pointed out as she stripped the wire she was holding, and intertwined it with another. "I don't see why he couldn't just go there."

"I asked him that; said it was too insecure. Needed a more discreet location." Arty explained. Charlie just snickered as she closed the hatch on the back of the gauntlet.

"That just makes it sound dodgy as hell." She remarked, and he gave her a nod.

"Exactly what I was thinking. Reckon we should tag along?" He asked, and she gave him a small shrug, though the grin on her face said enough about her decision.

"Why the hell not?"

xXx

Jessica sat across from Carlton in silence, her expression stony cold. The rest of the diner was filled with noise, enthusiastic people telling each other about whatever made a good conversation starter, but in their booth there was only silence; it had been so for the past five minutes. She fingered the strands of her ponytail as she tried to figure out a way to talk to him. Usually it was simpler; just saying hello, or waiting for someone else to start the conversation. But in this instance, Carlton was just as silent as she was. It really wasn't helping either of them in this situation, but for some reason, she welcomed the lack of noise coming from their booth. Maybe it was all those years, of no contact with anyone else apart from the weekly trip to the grocery store, or the days where she'd been a waiter, occasionally exchanging a few words, but mostly staying mute to customers. It was a gift of hers, after all. Silence didn't come easily these days.

"Are you going to tell me why you asked me to come here?" She finally asked after a while, and Carlton bit his lip.

"I'm fairly sure you already know why you're here, Jessica." He said, his gaze not breaking in the slightest. "I came to your house, and I asked you about Charlie. You lied. You told me that she wasn't Springtrap, but I know the truth now. I saw her. We talked about it. But I haven't talked about it with you." Jessica silently looked out the window, watching a car pull into the lot. She wasn't in the mood to discuss with Carlton why she had lied to him.

"Carlton, I couldn't have told you, even if I wanted too. You know that I never would have given Charlie away. She already thought that you suspected her. She told me to be weary around you." She admitted. A group of teens; two girls, two boys, exited the car that had just pulled in, and started walking towards the diner.

"Jessica; how long were you doing this?" Carlton asked and Jessica frowned, unsure of how to answer his question.

"You mean joining up with Charlie? A little after she became Springtrap." She told him, but he shook his head. "Well? What do you mean then? If you're talking about-"

"I'm talking about being The Mangle." He said, and Jessica fell silent. "Jessica, let's face the facts; before you went vigilante and joined The Scourge, you were already on your own mission. Whether I like it or not, you were a serial killer before you even started thinking about the greater good. And don't pretend that you don't know what I'm talking about; reports of The Mangle? They started appearing a little after the breakup." She cringed silently, as she averted her eyes away from the window, and looked him in the eye.

"Why don't you just tell me what you want to say?" Jessica asked him coldly, and Carlton glanced around uncomfortably.

"Freakshow, The Children of the Masks…that wasn't about revenge. You could have pulled it all off years ago. Instead, you did it to get back at me. Because you knew that it would break me. Because you knew that I would never catch you." She remained silent throughout his entire speech, waiting for the inevitable. "Every single one of those deaths; you left us a clue to find you, a hint that we never saw until the image of you and Charlie in the street flood found its way onto my father's desk. You took out their frontal lobes, and left them next to the bodies. And you even called yourself The Mangle, after that goddamn animatronic. I should have seen the signs. But I didn't; I was a fool, and idiot. But now I see it all differently. Because you did it all to get back at me. And to be honest, I'm not sure what to think about that."

Jessica laughed, as she saw the teens open the door, standing in line impatiently. Suddenly she locked eyes with one of them; a blonde boy who froze when he saw her. He nudged one of the girls, who nodded to him.

"What do you want me to say, Carlton?" She asked angrily. "That I felt hurt? Angry? Cheated? Sad? Well, fine. Because I felt every one of those things. I tried my damn best to fit into this world. Do you know how difficult that is, for someone like me? I could only imitate other people; I could barely think for myself. You told me that you didn't care. You said that everything was going to be alright. And I believed you. Like an idiot, I believed you. But then it became too much for you too." She could feel tears welling up in her eyes as she spoke, silent streams of water running down her cheeks. "You lied to me. You filled me with false hope, and then you abandoned me. So don't accuse me of lying, when you were the one who told the ones that hurt the most." She spat at him spitefully, wiping her eyes. Carlton looked away, averting his eyes.

"So that's it." He murmured. "That's how you felt about it. I-I don't know what to say, Jess."

"Really? Because you always used to, back in the day." Jessica muttered, pulling at her hair. "Did you enjoy it, Carlton? Breaking me? Making me cry? Did you?" He gave her a puzzled look, then shook his head. Behind him, the group of teens were beginning to approach them.

"God, Jess. No. God, no. Why would you think that?" He asked, but before she could answer, the blonde boy was rushing forward, switchblade in hand. Thinking fast, Jessica threw her glass at him, rising from her seat as the boy shielded his eyes from the resulting shards. She twisted his arm, disarming him before kicking the girl in the stomach. She reeled, stumbling back into the other two teens. Other people in the diner were panicking now from the sudden fight, and she rolled her eyes as she held the knife to the boy's throat.

"Okay. Anyone want to explain why you tried to send me to stabby-town? Or should I slit his throat?" There was no response as the teens halted, eyes glaring with hatred. The boy made a gargled croak as Jessica pressed the blade harder against his skin. A drop of blood began to drip down from the small cut. "I'm going to give you three seconds before I kill pretty boy right here. 3, 2, 1…"

"Fine!" The other girl yelled angrily in defeat, motioning for the others to back down. "Let him go, dammit." Jessica obliged, shoving him away as she twirled the blade absentmindedly while her eyes shifted to each of them. "We were blackmailed. If we don't take you to the old military research facility just outside of town, we…we die." She muttered, looking down at the ground.

"Who was it that said that?" Jessica asked, and the girl looked away.

"He said that his name was Abaddon. We never saw his face, but he had a really deep voice. I remember feeling really…intimidated." She muttered quietly. Jessica said nothing as she looked over to the booth where she knew Charlie and Arty were sitting, listening in on every word. Abaddon didn't want Jessica; he wanted Charlie, and to get her he'd need to lure her in. So he'd gone for Jessica, her closest friend, probably not knowing that she was just as powerful as his actual target.

"Alright. I'm going to give you an address, and you're going to go there. A friend of mine will hide you until Abaddon's dealt with; and someone else will deal with the witnesses." She told the girl, who gave her a stiff nod. She scribbled Charlie's address on her napkin, and sent them off. At that moment Charlie and Arty stood up, and walked over to Jessica.

"…so. Any ideas?" She asked, and Jessica frowned.

"Abaddon must want to get you really badly. If he's blackmailing teens to get to me, then he'll be sending even worse after you. You're going to have to watch your back now, even more than you were before. She said, and Charlie grimaced.

"She said that she was going to take you to the research facility. If I went there, do you reckon I'd meet him?"

"It's possible." Jessica replied, watching as the teens piled back into their car, and took off down the road. "They're off. You two should probably be home to greet them."

"Uh huh. We'll be there." Arty grinned, and poked Charlie's shoulder. "Come on. Can't let them meet William." Without another word, the two raced out of the diner, leaving only Jessica and Carlton in the building.

"I'll call William." She said, turning to him. "He can erase memories, with a little time. And replace them, with a little more."

"I don't like this." Carlton grumbled. "This Abaddon person is going all out on you guys. It's not safe in Hurricane anymore."

"It never was." Jessica shot back, as she looked around the deserted restaurant. "But this is bad. We need to take action, or this city falls apart."

"So what do we do?" He asked, and she growled, gazing out the window.

"We find Abaddon. And then we take him down."

xXx

Sam watched uncomfortably as a shadowy figure walked out of the darkness, strolling over to Abaddon. The humanoid figure whispered something to the armoured endoskeleton, who just nodded and flicked his hand. Instantly it dissipated into a dark mist, re-joining the rest of the black clouds.

"It went as planned. Jessica Evans is on high alert, and Charlie is going to be joining us here as soon as the teenagers are safe." The demon lord told Sam, glowering as his shadows surrounded him hungrily. "Then if I don't kill her here, we switch to Plan B."

"You know that I want no part in that." Sam frowned. "It's an insane idea; if she doesn't kill you, then the citizens will. You can't be serious about executing it."

"I'm ready to do whatever is necessary to stop her." Abaddon growled back as he paced back and forth, his heavy footsteps clanking loudly against the floor. Servos whirred, gears ticked and his processors whined like dying animals, but the ridiculous sounds hardly damaged the authority that the demon carried with him. "I owe that much to her father."

"You owe him the death of his daughter, and the destruction of this entire city?" Sam spat, then drew back, afraid of Abaddon's reaction. But if the demon king was angered at his response, he didn't show it. He simply shrugged, staring at the skylight in the ceiling, and the miniscule amount of light that had managed to fight its way through the darkness.

"I'm ready to do whatever is necessary to stop her." He repeated calmly. His eyes flashed red for a second, before reverting to their usual pure white. "Cities can be rebuilt, my friend. It only takes patience."

"Maybe so." Sam admitted, though a scowl was on his face. "But the dead can't be brought back. The collateral damage that this operation could cause-"

"I'm ready to do whatever is necessary to stop her." His head snapped towards Sam as he repeated the sentence for the second time, and began to advance towards him. His pointed teeth flashed in the darkness as he gnashed them viciously. "I have nothing else to add." The two stared at each other in silence, Abaddon still looming over him intimidatingly, Sam eyeing the endoskeleton's razor sharp claws.

"Fine." Sam said grudgingly, as Abaddon stepped back, seemingly satisfied by his answer. "But don't expect to see me fighting on your side, when you wreak havoc on the streets."

"Go, then. I have no further use for you." Sam glowered at the demon king, before swiftly heading out of the building, his shoes making a soft click-clack against the cracked floor. Behind him Abaddon sucked the circling shadows back into his body, and his eyes began to glow brighter.

"Don't worry, Henry." He smiled to himself as power coursed through his body. "I'll keep my promise."

xXx

Charlie was waiting for the teens when they pulled up at her house. She leaned against the door, pulling her jacket around her as the strong wind buffeted the trees. It was almost like she was being pushed by an actual person; come to think of it, the wind was likely even stronger. As the four boys and girl climbed out of the car, she opened the door, and motioned inside.

"Get in," was all she said, as the teens obediently filed into the house. She closed the door behind her, sighing happily as the wind was reduced to a low droning sound. "You guys stay in here; don't bother trying to get into the basement, it's locked. When I come back, you can leave, but right now Abaddon is probably focused on finding you, so for now, lay low. Don't use your phones. Don't use any tech. It would be like sending up a beacon. I'll be back, and by then you should be fine." They nodded as she smirked, heading upstairs to meet Michael in her room.

"Abaddon will probably come for them. I need you to keep them safe." Charlie said to him, the golden bear giving her a nod. "Alright, thanks. Me, Jessica and Arty are going to head over to the research facility. We're hoping to shut down Abaddon before he starts blowing up buildings just so he can kill me."

"It's probably not safe for you to go there." Michael told her plainly. "You should stay here. Let him come to us."

"And let him get away with more of this crap? No thanks." Charlie shook her head, picking up Theodore from his chair. "We bring the fight to him, and if he isn't dead by the end of the day, then he'll at least be badly weakened. Then we're free of this stupid idiot, and we can keep doing what we do."

"It's a suicide mission."

"A necessary one."

"It's reckless."

"We're reckless every time we go out there, Michael. This time won't be any different." She argued, but he put his hands on her shoulders firmly, shaking his head.

"The difference is that this time, it isn't Clay who's going after you. This time, you could die. And I can't let that happen to you." The two stood in silence as Michael drew back, and Charlie looked down.

"Even if I die, it doesn't matter. People are dying, because I'm alive. I can't let that keep on going on. It's either me or Abaddon." She said, a hint of finality in her tone. Michael stared at her concernedly, but sighed.

"Fine. I wish you luck, Charlie." He said, before teleporting away, leaving her alone in the room. She placed Theodore back on his chair, and left the room. She slid the basement key out of her pocket, sticking it into the lock and turning it. William was already downstairs, clad in purple. He acknowledged her with a small nod, motioning towards her armour. Charlie donned it without hesitation, placing the rotten rabbit helm onto her head, ignoring the horrible stench that followed. After all the time she'd spent wearing the suit, she'd quickly gotten used to the horrific smell, even though it only got progressively worse over time.

"The witnesses have been taken care of." William said as she sheathed her twin blades, the springlocks on the edges clinking together loudly. She winced as one of the edges slipped between the gaps of rotten fabric, pricking her finger and drawing blood. "It's about time we go."

"I'll be with you with a second." She replied, giving him the thumbs up as he headed up the stairs. Her voice was muffled by the mask, but was still somewhat intelligible. As the basement door closed with a resounding click, she walked over to her table, slipping the gauntlet over her fingers. She didn't have time to test whether the alteration had worked, but she'd just have to hope so. Glancing at the computer, she bounded up the stairs, suddenly feeling like logging in and looking over the Afton Robotics Archives. It had been too long; but that could wait. Abaddon was a ticking time bomb waiting to explode, and he wouldn't sit around for her as she surveyed blueprints and wrote notes. This was a war now. And it all revolved around her.

xXx

There was a chance that she would die today; there was a chance that all of them would die today. Not just The Scourge, but all of Hurricane. Charlie hadn't met Abaddon yet, and she wasn't looking forward to. In her head, she was already running through all the possible scenarios she could think of as she bounded over rooftops, the springs in her legs springing lightly as the pressure was released to launch her into the air. Maybe they would die. Maybe only she would. Maybe Jessica. Maybe William would finally come to an end. Perhaps they would win. Or maybe they'd come to a resolution. Maybe both would leave unsatisfied. There was no way to tell, against an enemy whom you knew nothing about apart from their name.

The research facility had once looked intimidating, with its bright colour and menacing spotlights which would sweep the area around it like a pair of glowing eyes. But now the building was abandoned, the glass of the spotlights were broken and they shone no more. The once sturdy barbwire fence was now rundown and tangled with weeds, leaving an entrance for any teens looking for a place to hang out. Just like the four from earlier. But Charlie was convinced that Abaddon take care of that. As she jumped over the fence, she could almost feel the aura of fear radiating from the inside of the building. Arty landed next to her, Jessica and William following shortly after.

"Well. This is it." Jessica murmured, looking up at the facility. "We're going to see Abaddon." None of them replied, as the wind almost seemed to grow stronger, buffeting them with unbelievable force. Dust was beginning to rise like clouds, the moon glowing brighter every second that passed. The sky looked clear of clouds, and yet all four of them felt something obscuring the stars. Without another word, they advanced into the building, Charlie in the lead with both blades drawn out. Wires hung from the ceiling in large clumps, but no sparks of life flew from the fuses. The power was definitely off.

As the group made their way down a long hallway, they glanced through random doors on their way. All of them were barren, not a single sign of life. Jessica came across a broken beer bottle, but that was all that could possible indicate people being here. The hallway ended at a large door, covered with an unintelligible string of graffiti. William brought it down with one powerful kick, the frame breaking as plaster splintered. And just like that, they lay their eyes on Abaddon.

The endoskeleton was sitting in the centre of the pentagram, his back to them and his eyes closed. All four of them stepped back as his shadows engulfed him like fire, dark tendrils snaking at the air hungrily. Charlie could hear his mechanisms whirring as he lifted his head, and snapped it around 180 degrees. A grin spread over the demon's face, as his body rose to its inhuman height, spinning around to match the direction of his head. He bared his teeth, as the glowing red orbs that were his eyes painted the darkened room with a sickly dark shade that resembled blood.

"Charlie, dear. It's been far too long since we last met." Though while Abaddon had been speaking to Sam his voice was rough, it now sounded smooth, like his mood had suddenly lifted. "Look at you! You grew up into a pretty girl, didn't you? I remember when you were still a toddler, playing outside all the time. I told your dad to bring you inside because you'd probably get a sunburn, but Henry never listened."

"Who the hell are you?" Charlie growled, and the demon tilted his head, almost mockingly. He replied with a sickening grin, striding out of the pentagram with his flashlights on. His unoiled joints squealed at the strain of his movements, though this hardly affected his pace. The endoskeleton halted when he was right in front of her, and smirked.

"I'll help you to jog your memory." He said, and suddenly dropped to the floor. Charlie edged away, and screamed as his arm twitched unnaturally. Then his leg followed, bending at an awkward angle. His head jolted wildly to the side, and his mouth began to snap open and shut.

"No." She mumbled, clutching at her head as her blades clatter to the floor. "It can't be. It's not possible."

"Oh, it is, dear." Abaddon screeched energetically as he seized on the floor, limbs jolting and twitching erratically. "I was there for all of those years, watching over you. You never liked me, but I was always there for you, watching as you played with your toys and stole those little glances at me whenever Henry wasn't looking. And that question that you would ask yourself when you saw me, I heard it every time. So now let me ask you…" Without warning, the demon king lunged upwards, grabbing Charlie by the throat and slamming her onto the ground. The others quickly moved to help her, but stopped when Abaddon's razor sharp claws extended from his fingers. The message was clear: If they tried anything, Charlie was royally screwed. He lifted off her mask with one hand as his limbs twisted unnaturally, grinning. His clawed hand was held to her throat as he laughed at her terrified expression. It shocked the rest of The Scourge that she was doing nothing to fight against him, but they stayed back, afraid of what might happen.

"Does…" Abaddon's claws glinted evilly as he laughed, and Charlie drew back. "…it…" He pressed the sharp claw to her throat, and her eyes widened. "…hurt?" He slid it across her skin in one quick motion, and she whimpered as blood spilled from the wound. Her eyes bulged, and her breathing quickened as Jessica suddenly rushed forwards, claws out.

"Charlie!" She yelled angrily as she slashed at him. Abaddon apparently anticipated this, because before she knew it, the shadows had swallowed him and Charlie, teleporting them to the end of the room. He gave her a mocking smile, poising his claw over her neck.

"One more slice, and your friend dies." He tilted her head back, and laughed as she cried silent tears, dripping onto the ground. "It's all over now, it's all over now," He sang, his hand edging closer and closer to her skin, "it's all over now…Henry especially liked that phrase. I understand why; it meant finality. All the bad things were gone. Everything was over. And when he died, it should have been. But you…" He poked her shoulder, and she cringed. "…you shouldn't have come back. You shouldn't have taken up that helm. I can see it; a future of havoc and this city burning in endless fire. I know that it happens; and I know that it's linked to you."

"Then I'll stop!" Charlie screamed at him, eyes filled with tears. "I'll just stop! You don't have to kill me!" Abaddon didn't seem swayed in the slightest as he shook his head sternly.

"The events have already been set in motion. If I kill you, it all stops. And-" Before he could say anything else, William was wrenching him off of her, tossing the demon king into a wall.

"Teleportation. Neat trick, isn't it?" The purple man said smugly. "Guess what; I know it too." Abaddon roared in anger, lunging at him as his tendrils whipped around him. However, Jessica was there in an instant, her extendable armour plates creating a crisscrossed mesh of metal cables and hard plastic. Then Arty had fired his strings at him, the blades embedding themselves into his endoskeleton. Suddenly the demon felt himself being thrown across the room as Arty swept his arm to the left, slamming him into the wall. Meanwhile Charlie scrambled backwards, eyes still wide as she saw Abaddon rampaging about.

He was the endoskeleton from her childhood. The one from the garage. The one who would twitch and jerk around, with silver eyes that blazed like fire. The one who she had looked at constantly, always thinking that same question, never getting an answer.

Does it hurt?

And it did. As she felt her neck, she cried out at the stinging pain. Abaddon glanced towards her, stopping for just enough time to allow Jessica to barrel into him. The demon yelled something incomprehensible, before slamming her mask into his knee and sending her careering onto the floor. Arty attempted to help her up, but Abaddon's shadows surrounded him and tore at his wings, reducing them to shreds. William was probably faring the worst; he was a ghost, but without a vessel there was no way he could help in the fight. And his purple rags were now hanging in tatters, his sack head rented down one side. He was trying his best, but without arms, there wasn't much he could do apart from throwing himself as the demon lord, who responded every time by slashing off another part of his body.

Charlie eyed her blades which were still lying by the door, and began to crawl towards them. Abaddon hadn't noticed her moving yet; he was still too occupied by William endeavouring to knock him off his feet. Her hands clasped around one of the springlock loaded swords, as she pointed it towards the demon, arms trembling. But she didn't want to shoot William by accident; that would help neither of them, and Abaddon would kill her shortly after. Squeezing her eyes shut, she pulled the trigger.

The springlock his its mark, slamming Abaddon backwards as it was lodged into his forehead. The demon growled angrily as he clawed at the sharp projectile. He ran towards her, but Charlie kept on pulling the trigger, and he was hit by every single springlock that came for him. His legs, arms, chest and head were all heavily damaged by the fighting, so when the projectiles hit him, he didn't stand a chance. Already there were five or six of the makeshift bullets lodged into him in different places. He didn't have any time to pull them out; she kept on firing relentlessly, ignoring the steadily growing stream of blood coming from her throat.

Then the trigger clicked, and her heart stopped. It was only for a beat, but it was enough. Abaddon rose, snarling as he raised his hand, shadows swirling around it violently.

"Now you've done it. It's time to end this." He growled, and the darkness burst forth from his palm like a stream of fire, ready to skewer Charlie in a million different places. She screamed, jolting backwards and shielding her face from the deadly tendrils. But the blow never came. As she pulled her hands away, she screamed when she saw what had happened.

Arty was in front of her, bent forward unnaturally. His mask was cracked in places, but she couldn't make out his face. The demon king's shadows as impaled his body, the dark energy still jumping wildly, almost like flames. He'd jumped in front of her, sacrificed his life. And Charlie could see that he was already dead. There were no last words, no fleeting glances, or angry screams of anguish as his body fell to the ground, filling the silence. Abaddon seemed equally shocked; he was completely still, his expression unreadable as he fell to his side, and the shadows swallowed him up. Just like that, he was gone.

But Charlie didn't care. She crawled forward, lying next to Arty's body as she began to faint from the shock and blood loss.

"Charlie! He's gone! Charlie!" Jessica called her name, but she didn't respond. She stared at Arty's lifeless body, and then she screamed.

"I'm going to kill you!" She yelled at the room, her eyes filled with tears. "I'M GOING TO FUCKING KILL YOU!"

xXx

Abaddon was breaking apart. He'd known that it would be risky to shadow walk in his state, but he needed to get away to recover. Like a fool, he'd allowed the darkness to swallow him up, but this time the mist didn't let him back out. Shadow powers were dangerous; a person who didn't know how to use them could rip themselves apart in seconds. Abaddon was supposed to be better than that; he was better than humans. He was a demon king. But it had always been dangerous to warp, and his instability in structure didn't help.

The real problem? He had no clue how to escape. Normally he'd just think of the place he wanted to go to, and if there were shadows, then he's be there in an instant. But shadow walking was not a simple skill. When you entered the Shadow Plane, all was dark. You weren't exactly there; you were more or less everywhere. Every second, you whizzed through every shadows present in the world, shifting positions trillions of times a second. It was exhausting, stopping at exactly the right time, but it was something you got used to. It just took time.

He would have died in there if it hadn't been for Sam pulling him out. Abaddon stumbled out of the darkness, placing his hand against a nearby tree as his energy was drained. Sam stood in front of him, looking unimpressed.

"I had to go to the forest to pull you out." He explained matter-of-factly. "There was too large a chance of you shattering into pieces, without a sufficient amount of shadows. The demon didn't reply as he looked around, legs still shaky. "I take it that it didn't go as plan." Sam said grimly.

"Indeed. Abaddon muttered, sighing. "Well, you know what to do." He waited for the man to reply, but only received a snicker.

"I'm sorry; what should I do?" He asked, and the demon king frowned. "You gave me these powers, and you said I owed you a debt. And now I've saved your life; my debt is repaid. You can commence Plan B by yourself." Abaddon was silent, his mechanisms completely freezing up.

"Fine. Leave. I have no further use for you, anyway."

"Good. I'll take no part in this insane plan." Sam started trudging away, but suddenly halted. "I was about to wish you good luck." He said slowly, as if he couldn't believe himself. "But I don't think anyone wants Plan b to happen; no one but you." The man disappeared into the shadows, and Abaddon waited. And waited. Until the sun rose and the moon passed, until he was back to his full strength. But still he waited. Because he was coming.

"I'm glad you stayed." He spun around, and managed a grim smile when he saw his partner walking towards him, the one who had raised him from hell.

"Is everything ready?" He asked, and Michael Afton grinned.

"Oh, yes. Everything is ready."