A/N: Hello guys, welcome back.

Now, I once again owe you an apology. I now I said last time this update would be the last main chapter, but I really need another one to fully round off everything. I'm sorry if you were excited to read the end in this update, but I want this ending to be the best it can be, and I don't want to sacrifice quality over speed. Thanks for understanding.

Nevertheless, happy reading! As always, your honest reviews are highly appreciated. Take care, and have a good week.


Chapter 52: The final night

"Is everybody in?" Mike asks, inserting a key in his pickup's ignition switch

Yin answers with a shrug as she closes the door of the passenger's side, eager the keep out the chilly air of the night. Behind her, a coffee thermos in hand, Evelyn says flatly "Not yet."

Mike checks out another figure through his rearview mirror. "How are you doing, Jeremy?"

The sexagenarian in the backseat grumbles as he tries to fit his walking cane through the door's frame, cursing the thing repeatedly. He then decides to just lay it flat on the floor, instead of holding it vertically between his legs.

Evelyn inspects the man discretely as she takes a sip of coffee. A baseball cap is fitted snugly over his silver hair, covering his more severe scars; a few discolored scratches are still visible between his light wrinkles. However, under the shadow of his cap, his eyes still keep some of that spark that saved his life multiple times.

"You don't need to come, if you don't want to." offers Mike.

Jeremy huffs back, saying somewhat sharply "Do you really think. I can choose not to come? I just want to. Finally end this."

Nodding, Mike turns the ignition key, and the motor soon sputters back to life. "I knew you'd say that." The pickup then drives away from Jeremy's apartment complex, its back covered with a thick black canvas.

The group's plan is simple. At the end of the previous night, thanks in large part to Brandon's tape, Sarah, Ferny and Sean managed to recover themselves to a large extend. Evelyn had received a phone call from Markus in the late morning, where he enthusiastically told her of his latest discovery. The woman knew immediately that it had to be the murderer, paralyzed until midnight but very much conscious and willing to be free. It was now nine-thirty at night, meaning that the building should be empty. They would arrive at 10 o'clock, Evelyn would open the locked door with her working keys, allowing Mike and Yin to enter the building. Armed with her tools and a battery, Yin would work on repairing Brandon while Mike did his part in destroying what remained of Freddy's. Meanwhile, Jeremy would stay outside with the pickup's unusual cargo until the three came back. The deed should take an hour or less, meaning that the murderer wouldn't have a chance to move. If all went well, there would be a last reunion before the final destruction of the building and its monstrous inmate.

They arrive five minutes before the intended time. Mike doesn't park his car directly in front of the building, fearing that it might be associated with it by a bystander. Instead, he kills the motor in the most distant corner of the lot, covered partially by a tree. The four leave the car quietly, their eyes fixated on the building.

Mike turns back to his car, knocks briefly on the pick-up's covered cargo area, and whispers "We're here little brother."

The heavy canvas shuffles, creases and bulges in a corner, before being pulled back by two golden mechanical hands from underneath. Jack pushes aside more of the canvas covering his body, sits up against the backside of the car, and inspects his chauffeurs and surroundings with fearful wonder.

"I can't believe this is happening." Evelyn mutters to herself.

Yin only shrugs and burrows her hands in her pockets, seeing how Jack handles two canisters of gasoline to Mike. "Yeah, it's a bit weird, isn't it?" She walks over to Jack, who takes a large toolbox and battery from the back of the car, before giving them to the woman. "Then again Evie, what's weird depends on your point of view." Yin barely manages to carry her instruments as she takes them from Jack, and Evelyn quickly walks to the elder woman, taking the battery from her hand. Evie inspects the curious object for a moment, and recognizes it as one of the batteries of the classic animatronics.

Jeremy comes next to the car, leaning heavily on his cane. "How long is this. Going to take?" he asks, somewhat nervous.

"Less than an hour, I'm sure of it." replies Yin with confidence.

"Mikey, be careful." a concerned Jack says from the back of the car.

The man gives an easing smile to his brother. "Take care, and don't let anyone see you." He looks at Jeremy as he finishes the sentence, laying some responsibility on him. The scarred man replies with a diligent nod.

Mike, Yin and Evelyn walk briskly to the front door of the building, each one carrying their respective items. Evelyn eagerly insets her key in the door's lock, only to find it unfastened. Surprised, she slowly opens the door to see some lights turned on in the hallway.

"Evelyn, is that you?!" Mark's voice booms from the office. "Uh, why are you so early?!" The woman urgently gestures at Mike and Yin to go back to the car, and the startled pair follow her orders. Evelyn lays down the battery on a side of the door outside the building, hoping that it won't be found. She's done just in time to neuter her startled expression as Mark turns around the corner.

"Hey Mark, good to see you!" Evelyn beams with exaggerated joy. "What are you doing here?"

"Uh, I was gonna ask you the same thing, he he." He chuckled awkwardly. "Your shift starts in, like, two hours."

"Y-Yeah, I know." She imitated his awkward laugh. "I simply wanted to come here early, you know?"

A doubtful Mark stares at the woman with furrowed brows, and raises his shoulders. "That's good… I guess."

"I didn't see your car outside. How did you get here?"

"Well, uh, I'm staying with a friend for the night and he lives, like, two blocks away. So I just walked."

"That's… convenient. That means that you can go there now." Evelyn gestures to the door inadvertently, desperate for the man to leave. "I'll take over from here."

Mark smiles broadly, almost dumbly at her. "That's very kind and all dude. Like, I really appreciate it. But I have to get some stuff done first, like put on some new speakers for audio effects." The man's eyes suddenly widen in realization. "I almost forgot! You still haven't seen what we found!"

The woman's smile falters, then disappears completely. "The animatronic?"

"Yeah, the animatronic! Dude, there's even a prop that looks like a dead guy inside it! Must've been for Halloween, y'know? It's awesome!"

"Yeah… awesome." Evelyn's false enthusiasm finally disappears from her voice, which only prompts Mark to infect her with some of his own.

The man walks up to her, and Evelyn can't help but wince slightly as he threw his arm around her shoulder; Mark didn't seem to notice her response. "C'mon, I wanna show him off to you!" he exclaimed with passion, "And if you want, you can help me out with that audio. Don't worry, we should be done by midnight!"


"What's taking! So damn long?!" mutters Jeremy, anxiously staring at the building through the pickup's backdoor window.

Mike can't help but feel impatient. Checking the car's digital clock only worsens this feeling: it's a quarter for twelve.

"She told us she'd send a message when it's okay to come." says Yin to no one in particular, trying to ease out the tense atmosphere. "I'm sure it won't take long now."

As soon as these words had left her mouth, the building's only door opens, spilling feeble light into the dark parking lot. Mark is the first to leave, looking tired but thoroughly satisfied. Evelyn soon follows him unto the doorstep, waving goodbye to the man as he walks in the opposite direction of the cramped pickup. As soon as he's out of sight, Evelyn makes frantic gestures at the hidden car.

Mike and Yin exit the pickup rapidly, each taking the particular objects they had laid outside the door: the man grabs the two canisters of gasoline, while the woman reaches for the large toolbox. Fidgeting nervously in his seat, Jeremy sees them walk to the door, until he feels the impending need to leave the car and stand guard next to it; being on two legs with the help of his cane does ease some of his tension. The older man leans against the back of the pickup while Jack peaks through the canvas, seeing the pair enter the building.

They're both received by Evelyn, who bleakly tells them: "We have less than fifteen minutes."

Mike nods and flips on all the lights, receiving a doubtful glare from Evelyn. "These circuits need time to heat up." he clarifies, "We can't afford to turn them on after we leave the building."

"But if they overheat while we're inside…"

"I know." interrupts Mike, unscrewing the cap off a canister, "That's why we have to be quick." With a flick of his arm, he splatters part of the wall with gasoline, and Evelyn can't help but imagine the consequences for the three of them if they get caught right now.

"Evie, I need your help!" Yin calls out from farther down the hallway, "I forgot how heavy these things are!"

Evelyn leaves the entrance, leaving Mike to apply the inflammable liquid where he deems more effective. She bypasses the opened wall, purposefully ignoring the paralyzed monster in the opened room, before turning to the hallway leading into the arcade room.

She finds Yin knelt down by the crate with Brandon's body, trying to push it on its side. The lid has already been laid down, exposing the boxed animatronic. Evelyn kneels down next to the woman and grabs the edges of the crate.

"Ready?" asks Yin. The other woman gives an assertive nod, and together they try to topple the crate and its cargo with all they have. But it's no use; they barely manage to separate its undersides from the floor with an inch or two, before releasing it forcefully.

"Mike!" Evelyn calls out, "We need some help here."

"I'm a bit busy right now!" the man replies, "Give me five minutes!"

"We don't have five minutes!" A hint of annoyance seeps into Evelyn's voice, and as Yin stands up and reaches for her toolbox she turns to her. "Please tell me you have a saw in there."

Yin smirks, grabs a large Philips screwdriver from the box and turns back to Evelyn. "Don't worry, this should be faster than sawing through wood." With great urgency, the elder woman begins to loosen one of several screws holding together the broad side of the crate.

Meanwhile, Mike has finished covering a good portion of the walls around the entrance with gasoline. He rounds the corner and finds the opened hidden room to his right, its gaping hole seemingly begging for his attention. Carrying a half-empty canister in one hand, and an unopened one in the other, he enters the room and meets the murderer of his little brother once more. Springtap, currently sitting against a wall close to the back corner, can't do anything as the man lays down the full canister on the floor and approaches him.

An unsettlingly calm Mike stops in front of the sitting body. His steely blue eyes, focused on Springtrap's grey ones, conceal his wrath as he dumps the rest of the gasoline on the body. The soaked murderer curses the man mentally, who lets the few last drops of liquid fall on top of his rusted head, before putting the empty canister aside and walking back to the hole in the wall.

In the arcade room, Evelyn has taken a screwdriver for herself and worked on removing the broad right side of the crate. Both women work in perfect unison, and the wooden side is soon separated from the rest of the crate, finally giving Yin much-needed room to work. She grabs a loosely-connected arm and stretches it out to a side as Evelyn begins to work on the other side of the crate.

"So, what are you going to do after this is over?" asks Yin, trying to sound comforting to the younger woman.

Evelyn smiles nervously yet earnestly as she begins to loosen a screw. "Try not to get involved is a good first step. I can already see the headlines in a couple of days: 'Assistant DA charged with arson, claims she was trying to save possessed animatronics.'"

Yin chortles, wrench in hand. She adds with the mocking intonation of a news anchor: "Crazy assistants caught fleeing the scene." The two women laugh together, bringing momentary relief to their stress.

It doesn't take long for Evelyn to separate the opposite side of the crate, and the whole thing soon falls apart.

"Leave it to me, Evie." says Yin, tightening the bolts connecting the arms joints. "Go to the office. If that thing comes after me, let me know."

"What will you do then?" replies her companion.

Yin stays silent for a second or two as she works on the repairs. She then says calmly "We'll figure something out. Just go for now." But Evelyn doesn't leave, and the elder woman notices the concern in her eyes. "Evie, I have two boys in college that are coming over in a week." continues Yin in a reassuring tone, "I'm not planning on dying tonight."

Evelyn nods in comprehension, then quickly leaves the room and heads to the office. She sits down on the rickety chair and checks the cameras; Yin can be seen in the arcade room through camera number 4, diligently working on the animatronic's feet. Checking the seventh camera reveals Mike behind a cluster of dangling wires, pouring some gasoline in the walls behind a couple of arcades. Evie doesn't like what she's seeing; less than five minutes for midnight, and they're still not done with their tasks.

She hesitates for just a moment before taking out her phone, and dials Yin's number. The woman at the other end of the line takes some time to answer, but she eventually accepts the call.

"Evie, this is really not a good moment." she says with a hint of annoyance.

"I know, I just have to ask you something. Let me get Mike into this." Evelyn puts Yin on hold and dials Mike's number, who doesn't take too long to answer. As soon as he does, she merges the calls together and tells them sternly: "We're almost out of time."

There's silence at both ends of the line.

"We can't defend ourselves against that thing." resumes Evelyn, "If we come back tomorrow, just a bit earlier…"

"We can't leave now." interrupts Mike, "There's nothing to keep Walther, or whatever's left of him, in this building. We all know what he's capable of. If we don't stop this now, more people will get hurt. But you can still go if you want, Evie. This isn't your fight."

A short, thoughtful silence befalls the group. "You're wrong." she says after a few seconds, "My dad died here, in this place, because of this man. Just tell me we'll see him burn tonight."

"I'm working on it." replies Mike. "How's it going Yin?"

"Going as fast as I can." answers the woman. "Assuming that nothing else is missing, I might be done before midnight. That'd certainly help us out."

"Good luck with that." says Evelyn as she switches to camera number eight. The massive tear on the wall, illuminated partially by a spotlight in a loose Chica head, remains blissfully empty. Some relief comes over the woman, but it soon disappears when she checks her watch: 11:57 PM.

Evelyn goes back to the cameras closer to the office, and catches a glimpse of the man's side on camera five. "Mike, don't be so careful with that." she commands nervously, "Just pour it along the hallway before it's too late." Almost immediately, the visible part of Mike disappears from camera, and Evelyn checks camera two just to see him reappear at the end of the hallway. "Yin?"

"I'm done with the last leg." she replies, "All I need to do is put the battery in place and… hi Mike!"

Evelyn switches to camera three, just in time to see husband and wife great each other by the passage to the hallway.

"Where can I dump what's left of gas without burning you to a crisp?" asks Mike somewhat teasingly.

"Under that other camera, away from me." replies the impromptu mechanic. "Come over here when you're done, I need some muscle."

The man does as he's told; pouring the last ounces of gasoline under Foxy's ornamented and disembodied head. He then returns to his wife, who's currently on her knees, holding unto Bonnie's broad side. Mike gets in the same position, and on the count of three, the two manage to turn the hefty steel body on its side.

Yin removes the cover of the back panel. It doesn't take her long to spot the old battery, and she eagerly reaches for it. However, her enthusiasm soon turns sour when she sees the broken power cable connected to the object. "That's not good."

Both Mike and Evelyn hear her, and the woman in the office immediately checks the time as Mike asks: "What happened?"

"I need a new piece of cable to wire the battery, or this won't work."

"Please tell me you brought some." The man pleads.

"No." Her answer comes as a hit to the gut for Mike and Evelyn. No one says a thing for a few seconds; in the meantime, Yin scans the room thoroughly, until her eyes fall on the arcades behind her. "But I might find some in there."

"We need to do something." says Evelyn urgently, "There's less than a minute left!"

Mike only stares blankly at his wife and the animatronic body for a few seconds with crossed arms and pursed lips. He then marches over to Yin's toolbox, grabs a medium-sized hammer, and goes to the hallway.

"Mike, what are you doing?" Yin demands urgently.

The man stops momentarily in the passage connecting the room to the main hallway, and turning his wife, tells her rapidly: "I need to make sure that thing can't come for us. I'll just break his legs before he can get up, nothing else. Don't worry." He's already marching through the hallway before Yin can protest, going straight for the room housing the murderer.

Evelyn follows his movements through the cameras with a hammering heart, before checking in on camera eight. In the corner of her display, the small digital clock goes from 11:59 to 12:00.

As Mike approaches the passage with the opened room, he can hear a series of metallic creaks and hisses. The man stops in the opposite end of the hallway, hammer in hand, before creeping slowly through the room. He can already feel the acrid smell of melting rubber coming from the entrance. It's in this moment that Evelyn's despaired voice comes out of his phone: "Mike, get out of there! Come back!"

The woman has spotted a dark silhouette leaning right behind jagged opening to the hallway, still in his dark chamber yet partially illuminated by the spotlight in Chica's head. As Springtrap leaves the room for the first time in thirty years, more and more of him comes into the light, and a frozen Mike can soon appreciate the hideous monster.

The creature stares blankly at the wall in front of him, before slowly turning its rotten head to the man. His eyes, glossy and grey like the cadaver behind them, lock unto Mike, and his hideous smile grows even more. With a raspy, low voice, he playfully whispers: "I remember you…"

"Come back, NOW!" Evelyn's anxious command snaps the man back to reality, and he quickly dashes into the previous hallway, followed closely by the creature. As he hears the piercing grating of rusted joints, punctuated with the squelching of his flesh between them, Mike can't help but think to himself: 'Not again...'

Yin, who's busy removing the back panel of an arcade machine, hears the commotion and distant steps approaching her. She struggles to not let her fear and worry paralyze her as she unscrews the last corner of the panel and drops the flat piece of thin metal to a side. A plethora of differently-colored wires show themselves inside the machine. She takes the thickest power cable she can find, cuts a sizable piece it with her pliers, and goes back to the body.

Mike barges into the hallway leading to the lateral rooms on the east side of the building. Yin is in the farthest room, not directly visible from the hallway. Noticing this, Mike stops for a moment and whispers to his phone: "Yin, hide somewhere! You too Evie!"

Springtrap then rounds the corner, grey eyes filled with bloodlust as he stares at the man. "Did you think you could hide?" The raspy metal tone of his voice grows deeper, becoming more robotic than human. "What are the odds? Thirty years, and the first face I see after leaving that room is yours. Why are you here? Are you trying to save them?" His smile grows as he steps towards the man. "You can't."

In the office, Evelyn is looking at all the corners in haste, trying to find a place to hide. But there's none besides the low desk, which doesn't provide much protection. Meanwhile, Yin is slowly pulling an arcade machine to a side. As soon as the space between it and the wall is large enough, she squeezes herself in it, listening intently to the heavy footsteps closing in on her.

"What's that? A hammer?" Springtrap chuckles gravely as he sees the object in Mike's hand. "Did you really think you could harm me with that? I thought you were going to set fire to me… Like that could solve anything." He sweeps at the man, who barely manages to step back and avoid the metal hand. "You're slow. Time's taken its toll on your body."

"Not as much as yours." mutters Mike, unable to hold back a little grin. "You're even uglier now."

The playfulness in the creature's eyes becomes anger, and with a low growl, he makes a grab for the man. But Mike still manages to step away from his grasp and goes deeper down the hallway, close to the passages leading to his wife. He hopes that Springtrap will follow him down the path to the office and away from Yin, but as the murderer approaches Mike, he catches a glimpse of the disassembled crate in the corner of his eye. He stops, inspecting the gloomy rooms.

Evelyn has been following all the events through the cameras. She wants to warn Yin over the phone, but the monster might hear her through Mike's device. Despaired to help in some way, she can only see how Springtrap enters the first room.

Anxious to get him away from his wife, Mike yells: "Where are you going, Walther? I'm right here." He approaches the doorway with Springtrap, hoping to get its attention.

The creature stops for a moment, then turns around to look at the man with a mocking glint in his eyes. "What are you hiding, Michael Schmidt?" He waits for a moment, hoping to get an answer from the man; but Mike only glares at him with anger and fear. "Let's find out, then."

Yin can feel the slight vibrations of the floor's tiles as the heavy creature steps into her room. She clutches her legs, trying to make herself as small as possible behind the arcade machine.

Springtrap stares down at Brandon's body with genuine surprise and intrigue. Clutching his hammer firmly, Mike keeps himself at striking distance from the killer's back. "So someone has been working on Bonnie. Funny, for all that's worth, I do miss him sometimes. He had… spirit."

"You killed an innocent child's father, brother and best friends." replies Mike, anger seeping through every word. "And now you say you miss him. Tell me: how the hell does that make sense?"

The creature huffs in mild annoyance. "You wouldn't understand. They were going to be free. Free of guilt, of doubt, of remorse; all the things that hold other people back. They were going to be happy."

"They were going to be ruthless, psychotic killers like you." replies the man, "True happiness can never come from the suffering of others."

Springtrap stays quiet for a while, seemingly pondering this possibility, though his mind was made up decades ago. Mike was speaking nonsense in his eyes. He then says somewhat teasingly "Fair enough. Now, tell me: who's hiding behind that machine?"

The hearts of both husband and wife skip a beat. Mike brings down the hammer on the back of Springtrap's head, easily piercing through the cracked and rusted suit. The creature growls in pain as the hammer lodges itself in his human skull, fracturing it. A wide-eyed Yin doesn't move as her husband takes out the hammer and prepares himself for another swing, but the murderer is faster. He turns around and catches Mike's hand in mid-swing, grinning despite his pain at the man's fearful and angry expression.

"You're too old for this." he taunts as he twists Mike's wrist, causing him to drop the hammer with a hiss of pain. As soon as she hears it, Yin quickly leaves her hiding spot to see her pained husband trapped in the creature's clutches. Springtrap soon notices her presence and his eyes fill with amusement.

"Looks like you've been quite busy, Michael." He whispers playfully, eyeing the ring on the man's finger as he twists his wrist further. Mike bites down a scream of pain as his aged ligaments stretch more than they should. "If you really loved her, you shouldn't have brought her here to me. Now she will see you die."

"Leave him!" Yin cries out, her slim hands balled into feeble fists. "Let him go, now!"

Springtrap turns to her, looking at her with feigned affection. "As you wish, sweetheart." He releases Mike's bruised wrist as he easily flings his body towards the entrance, then goes to the woman with a hungry smile and eager eyes.

However, his body freezes instantly as a boy's taunting laughter is heard in a nearby room.