In the few moments he felt a fresh night breeze flow by him, smoke filled the air to dance and lap towards the bright moonlit sky. Foxy felt all the instances of pain numb down, allowing him a quick breath to clear his mind and survey his current situation.
He was absolutely exhausted, filthy, and pained. When he made it home, if he makes it home, he'll have some serious explaining to do. Mangle would probably throw a fit, Goldy would go into protective mode, Marionette would probably not even be there, Ava would ask where she could fight some people, same with Jason, and Claire would probably be dealing with Kimber while having a motherly attitude about it. Compared to a painful death atop a building, dealt by what ever the fuck the unholy abomination in front of him was, he saw that as a blessing from a deity, and in its entire holy glory. He raised his right arm towards it, the blade poking out straight towards the recaller's chest as the shadowy mist lapped to cover up the soot-covered metal endoskeleton.
'Let's dance.'
He dropped his snout level with the machine, flames lapping at the concrete around their feet as the building was being engulfed at a constant rate. The recaller did nothing in return or preparation, probably surveying it's odds of success or survival. And while Foxy was determined and hopeful, he still doubted he could take it head-on. But now wasn't the time for doubt, right now he had to press on.
Several seconds flew by, feeling more like minutes, as neither of them moved, the flames getting even closer. Both of them instead began to circle around, slowly closing in as they both watched each other for an open gap in their defense, and as they circled again, Foxy saw it, the joint caught its arm for a second giving him a moment to strike which he took.
He sliced from the right, downward, at a diagonal angle, watching as it struggled to counter him-
Instead of slicing toward his gut like it usually did, it sliced his arm, leaving another brutally long, deep, cut down the inside of his right upper arm, causing him to kick the machine back as he moved back a bit. As he thought earlier, head-on is a no-go. The grenades came back to his mind, so he unhooked one, pulled the pin, and tossed it just behind the machine only for it to seemingly 'teleport' out of the way, the blackened mist even more obvious in it's tracks as it didn't attempt to strike again, instead just getting outside the range of the explosive as Foxy did the same. He soon wouldn't be able to use them due to the blast radius, but he'd be damned if he didn't kill this thing tonight.
'Immobilize it.'
He noticed how it was sluggish, now, most likely worn down from the blast from below, when it dashed it was much slower as well, meaning it wasn't invincible. Foxy and the recaller went back to their circling match as they both grew weary of the fire around them; if he didn't finish this soon, the grenades would likely be the death of him.
The machine sliced from his left, coming at him strong as he parried, only for it to do something which shocked him; mist was all he saw as he suddenly watched it quickly slice all across him, counting almost seven new cuts across his torso and arms, they weren't deep, but they were long and shallow, meaning the faster it went, the weaker it got in terms of brute strength. If he didn't have those coils in his body which upped his strength, he wouldn't have survived that.
He quickly pressed forward as blood poured down from all across his body, quickly managing a strike on it's left thigh before sending a left hook into it's jaw. The move probably hadn't registered on the recaller as it didn't expect him to use such a brutal tactic, or either it simply did not expect him to survive the previous attack. He saw as it buckled from the punch, hunching over for a second which he took the opportunity to unhook a grenade, kick it while it was down, and pull the pin, stuffing it into the thing's chest area before shuffling backward, watching as the explosive went off and the roof below it began to crack, however, the same could not be said for the recaller.
He did not know who designed it, what it was made from, or why they expected to need something like it, but he did know it survived the explosive force of a grenade point-blank without being blown into shrapnel.
It's joints creaked and groan in response as it crawled away from the crack slowly, definitely too injured from the blast to be able to fight much longer. Hope grew in the vulpine's chest as he saw the roof collapse, nearly swallowing the recaller, but it managed to grab the roof and in a last show of power, dashed upwards to it's feet once again, the mist even darker behind it as it suffered from not being able to hide in the darkness. It's blades struggled to form properly and he noticed molten metal dripping from it, its left leg was totally trashed, flames spewing off the wires while it dragged it across the concrete roof.
He knew it wouldn't survive much longer.
They continued fighting, neither of them able to gain an upper-hand on the other. They parried, punched, kicked, and sliced at each other for what felt like hours. The recaller dashed once again, behind him, and before he could parry it sliced him down his shoulder and horizontally across his back, making him grit his teeth in anguish before he spun around simply slamming his elbow into its head stunning it.
Foxy rushed forward, watching as it barely managed to scan his charge in an attempt to counter him, but he instead simply pressed forward, eventually slamming into it with his shoulder as he saw its left arm fail to properly slice at him due to the damage. It got tossed into the air before skittering across the ground limply, Foxy once again walking forward with the belt as he simply pulled the pin to the one and left it and the belt on top of the machine as he walked backward, watching in pride as it exploded, leaving behind the pieces of the machine around the roof. What few pieces were still together were swallowed up in the flames below, as a few smaller explosions chained together reacted from below, but Foxy didn't think on it much.
'Stay dead.'
He instead looked at one of the metal structures that had wires connected to the other buildings, looking for the most suitable line to cross which would provide him with a stable building to run away from. He eventually found one which led to the building behind the compound. After climbing up the metal tower and crawling across the line like a monkey, the shrouded fox dropped into the window and continued onward, starting a trek from the fiery inferno that was now the northern district of the island towards the eastern which housed his own home, crossing from house to house as they grew increasingly more stable while more burned down behind him. Inside them laid several dead 'androids' as he learned they were all called, but some soldiers were still around, shooting at buildings rampantly to probably make it seem like a gang hit, but he knew better.
'I'm going home.'
Against his own better judgment, he stepped in again, slicing down soldier after soldier through the streets and buildings, in front of countless people as they saw the fierce side of the vulpine who probably scarred many and inspired others. As the events blew by, he quickly realized how fast he'd lost track of it all. All he knew was that he wouldn't let it go unheard, and he definitely wasn't about to let a single one of them beg for mercy. In his opinion, Johnathon was a different story, he was augmented to not express himself in a downing way at all, these soldiers had full range of emotion, simply here due to fear of the process which would make them simpler machines. He killed their recaller, he knew what he was facing, and he'd never show fear in the face of them again so long as they were being hunted down.
'I'm going home...'
He eventually came across the side of town he was personally used to, the eastern side, furthest from the coast, closest to the forest where he and Mangle marked each other, and home to himself and countless others here. It was usually peaceful, full of androids who'd make merry in the streets and countless bars with each other, in the stores, or in the singular risque establishment on the block, but now, the streets were filled with total chaos as several of the people had heard, seen, and felt the explosions.
Some of them saw him, covered from head to boot in synthetic blood, smelling of smoke and ash, covered in several cuts and brandishing his large wrist-mounted blade without a care as his coat hung by shreds to his figure, a rifle slung to his chest, and under his mask was an emotionless face as he continued forward, and they knew they best not step in his way if they wanted to wake up in the morning.
Foxy continued up the hill, eventually making it past the crowds before he took off the mask and hood, feeling light-headed from the lack of synthetic blood in his system, while also noticing he was starting to wobble, but he apparently blacked out, suddenly seeing the door to the house in front of him as he opened it up and watched as several of the people there turn to look at him, Jason and Goldy immediately going to work as they ran up the steps – Goldy simply teleporting – to pick him up and drag him towards him and the vixen's bedroom who watched in shock as he simply hung from their shoulders.
He couldn't hear anything either, as a deafening ringing sound took over and he grew nauseous, while he slowly realized they had stripped him of his coat and shirt, leaving his upper body bare to the cool air as he could feel something prod at his chest, going slowly up from the bottom left to the right.
He could barely keep his head above the water of consciousness as he continued to swim in and out.
The vixen was forced out of the room by Jason, who held a binder in his hand which was covered in blood on the front, yet looked relatively undamaged. All she knew was that tonight had been a nightmare. Foxy was supposed to be out in the northern end of the city searching for a new house for them, to give them the opportunity to grow on their own, except an explosion rocked the entire island and she saw as the entire northern side was engulfed in flames in what felt like seconds to her, watching as chaos spread through the streets below them, and hoping that he would come back soon.
Her prayers were answered as the front door was slung open by an obviously injured, out-of-the-loop Foxy who was covered in blood, cuts, and bits of viscera. His blade was out and dulled with blood lathering it as well, his coat was tattered and he could barely even speak, mumbling out simple things like 'hunting,' 'fallen,' 'inferno-'
"What in the god damn?" She instantly turned towards the second red vulpine in the house, who was currently looking through the binder that was stuffed in his jacket pocket. Mangle pulled herself to her feet and walked over to the round table in the entertainment room to see what he was looking at when she saw everything. "The fuck is Afton Robotics?"
They all gathered around Jason, except for Foxy, Goldy, and Claire, the former was of course injured, getting patched up by Goldy, and the latter was watching Kimber.
"Subject 'VAI-7X' and the hostile, now codenamed 'The Captain,' are top priority in the reclamation project, moving Subject 'VAI-7X' up in priority status as the main objective, while simultaneously moving up 'The Captain' to kill on sight. While the skills that could be attained by him are great, we simply can not afford to capture him as it could risk the overall mission objective. Recaller-X9-SU has been made to combat him specifically, featuring a combat module provided by Afton Armaments while also harnessing the Gen 7B variant which was made with a larger intelligence and reaction time potential, while also releasing the safety limiters in place to prevent harm towards our operatives. This specific model has a prototype technology based on what we've found linked to why the androids gain cognitive capabilities, some evidence calls it "The Void," however, we haven't been able to successfully send a team without casualties, but we have managed to gather some 'remnant' which helps power the abilities.
Recaller-X9-SU is much like some creatures that were found in the void, featuring long-distance teleportation and short-distance dash capabilities which appear to seem like teleportation, when in actuality the 'remnant' warps reality around the android, slowing down time around it and speeding up the android. We haven't been able to replicate the abilities they have like forming weaponry from the remnant itself, but we do have a simulated variation that allows it to manipulate the length of the blades by use of a low-melting-point metal which is frozen by use of extendable rods inside the hand and wrist. Extremely specific magnetic utilization allows it to form like a blade which can be easily sharpened by focusing the magnetic fields further. While lacking brute strength, it should be able to outmaneuver 'The Captain' in any scenario."
Silence was all that engulfed the room as they continued reading.
"Remnant is a source of energy from 'the void' that has somewhat paranormal activities, while we're not sure why, we assume it has to do with agony suffered, which the void has plenty of. - Research and Development Team; FazEnt."
The next page was a collage from what seemed like specific pages which listed out names and descriptions.
"Afton Robotics is the advanced company which creates state-of-the-art androids for utility use in warehouses, stores, restaurants, and several more establishments you can think of, while sub-companies develop more specific androids, like Fazbear Entertainment, which produced androids for use in singling, acting, or consumer use, like assisting at home. They also house their famous R&D team which leads the market in androids, using an animalistic theme to avoid their designs entering the 'uncanny valley,' and using a specialized process to avoid the need for dedicated factories across the world, in turn saving millions and making the androids cheaper. While a lot of them are seen in the civilian side of things, they've also been making rounds in the military and law enforcement communities by use of advanced androids and intelligence which revolutionizes both professions, reducing the need for real people putting their life on the line..."
It continued into more advertisement nonsense, however, what Mangle saw made her legs get uneasy.
Much like the vulpine had seen previously, she read through the distinct logs that marked each event of their time here, even mentioning when the camera had been mounted to spy on them and what the rat had attempted to have Foxy do before she read up the hunt for her and very distinct accounts from the dead of night where she'd assume the vulpine was asleep, was actually out in the streets fighting. There wasn't a known motive, but she could assume a few reasons seeing as the binder was here.
"Protocol-0-1; If a survey station is compromised, forces will move to silence the immediate area, secure the perimeter, and retake the station. If recapturing the station isn't an option, demolish it and destroy the evidence by any means necessary."
"Protocol-0-0; If the previous step fails, the company's currently most advanced units will be dropped in to wipe the entire island by any means necessary; number one goal is to resecure the island, number two is to recall as many androids as possible for reset-"
"Seems the fires are spreading," Claire said as she looked out the window while Kimber was asleep on the couch.
The vixen turned her attention towards the window, walking towards it as she saw the northern side of the island was filled with smoke, but through it she could make out the bright glow that radiated from it.
"And I thought I was the crazy one," Jason grunted to himself as he stared as well, awe written across his face as he looked out the window, smoldering embers and ash that flew in the breeze raining down on the houses below. If they hadn't seen the fire, they would've thought it was a blizzard. None of them could figure out what possibly happened, and they really couldn't comprehend the actuality of the situation.
Each of them watched in silence as the fires lapped at the air above the city, struggling to compete for the precious oxygen left in the area, smoke masterfully twirling in the wind, showing tranquility in the chaotic night below that none of them could see, flames engulfed building after building until a storm came through, slowing it down and preventing it from spreading much further.
On the other end of the island, transports were settling back into position as soldiers dismounted and awaited debriefing, maintenance works shutting the valve for the fuel towards the eastern section. In a war-room officers were sat at a table with a researcher on a screen as they reviewed what was left of the footage from the rooftop that was recorded from a neighboring building, showing the vulpine and recaller's bout. Awe shown in each of their faces as he fought tooth-and-nail against the machine, even when he survived the surprise attack from the recaller which even the vulpine thought he shouldn't have, but it quickly turned grim for them as they saw him kill the machine and escape the rooftop by a cord attached to another building.
"Do you know if it made it past the fires?"
Everyone turned towards the researcher on the screen as he looked extremely distraught, and before anyone could answer another soldier walked in.
"Almost two-thirds of the fifth platoon didn't make it back," The android quickly said as another one walked up behind him.
"The second platoon was mostly wiped by the explosion, the rest were presumably killed on the way back."
The air grew tense once more as they saw another coming into the room from behind them, only to stay silent as he could tell none of them had good news, but he hoped they could possibly help a bit.
"Fourth platoon found approximately nine injured men and fourteen KIA on their route back. Most suffering puncture or slash wounds."
"Did they see who attacked them?"
"A masked fox android attacked them, most likely 'The Captain.'"
"The experiment's a bust," The researcher mumbled as they all turned towards him. "It's time to initiate code zero-"
"Wait!"
They all turned towards one of the officers of the group who had a stern look on his face.
"Let us resecure the island, it isn't over yet."
"You've lost at least a third of your forces in a single engagement with one enemy whom you still managed to lose."
"We still have the backups, we can throw this island into an artificial martial law and proceed to burn the pest out."
Silence was all that was heard as both the android and the researcher sternly stared at each other until finally, the researcher sighed.
"It will take about a month or two for us to gather the necessary resources for the operation, so you have at least a month to find and exterminate the android. Goodbye." The screen cut out and a wave of relief flooded the room.
"We've held off the corporate dogs for now. Ludlow, bring up everything you can on 'The Captain' currently in the system."
A rookie that was set in the back of the room with a computer system started working away at the computer for a few seconds before something shocked them.
"It says there's nothing here." The air grew tense once again as they all looked over at him as if he was crazy.
"What do you mean there's nothing there?"
"Sir, there's nothing here in relation to the fox. The database seems to have been wiped."
"Look through the access logs!"
He quickly went to work once more, finding the logs that marked every time someone accessed the data, and finding that the last one was for the current day.
It was marked 'IAA-4.'