This chapter was... difficult. The concept of introducing two new characters wasn't fully fleshed out (it was more of a tangent idea) but I knew it was something I wanted to do from earlier brainstorming sessions. Thankfully I already had a characterization for Plushtrap from the headcanons I have stuck up in my head, or the second segment of this chapter would have been a lot harder than it should have been.

I also didn't have the time or motivation to write for a while, so my last update in December was just a little memo in my bio and a posting of a fic I wrote in what, October? Just a little shameless self-promotion here, but I'd you like character fusion fics, you can check out the oneshot I posted. Who knows, maybe I'll add on to it one day.

And thanks to everyone who commented to show their support! I think I'm only going to reply to longer comments, but I still read the short ones!

Myra the Dovahklin: I agree, it does feel like they're going to be assuming a parental role, but I actually plan for them to have more of an older sibling relationship with their plush counterparts.

AlchemyWriter: Yeah, Mari can do magic, but I'm not sure if I should say if it's because she's magical like Springtrap, or because ghosts in the FNaF world usually have anomalous, or 'magical' , capabilities from what I've seen in canon, theories, and other fanfics. I guess it's just a little of both in my opinion!

Thank you to everyone who favorited and followed my story! It means a lot to me that not only am I enjoying the content I put out, but so are all you readers!( I understand that this crossover category is fairly slim when it comes to Springtrap!)

~

Sunburn (The Living Tombstone)

"I still need you, 'cause I'm free too

My daydream may be fake, but babe you are too"

~

Seeing their toys unexpectedly come to life sure was a shock. Springtrap and Marionette were understandably confused, but for a few moments it seemed that the plushies weren't going to move any more than that, leaving the two larger animatronics to hurriedly whisper to each other before engaging the smaller robots.

"What happened?" Mari whispered, glancing back at the still forms of the smaller robots.

"I don't know! I was just holding it and then it…" he trailed off, before the thought dawned on him. He snapped his fingers, or at least, he tried to. "I was holding it! That's gotta have something to do with this! I was trying to fix the light before, like how you made the box bigger inside, and it didn't work until after I touched it!"

As soon as this conclusion had been reached, both Springtrap and Marionette heard mechanical whirring. They turned to see the smaller, formerly-plush rabbit start to move. Springtrap nervously shifted his weight as he stood in place, but didn't say anything quite yet. Marionette, one the other hand, chose to move closer, drawn in by curiosity and the feeling that these small robots weren't dangerous. She was just about to look back at Spring when one of the mechanical plushies walked up to her.

Now that she was closer to the former toys, she could see they were a great deal bigger than they had been previously. Looking them over, Mari took note that they couldn't have been over three—maybe three and a half—feet tall at base height, and the rabbit was maybe four feet when she took the ears into consideration.

"Hello!" The small robot spoke in a voice pitched higher than her own, but not so high that it was grating. Realizing that it must have expected her to respond, she decided to say something back.

Trying to remember what her teachers used to do when introducing themselves to a new student, she remembered that they always got down on the same level, so they could look you in the eyes when they shook your hand. Shaking off the memories, along with the feelings of loss and sadness that came with them, she decided to try and do the same thing. Floating lower to the ground, Mari descended until she couldn't see over the small robot's head anymore. Then she tried to flash a smile, even though her face was already permanently fixed into one by the mask. "Hello there; it's nice to meet you! My name's Marionette, but Springs over there calls me Mari. What's yours?"

As she looked at her miniature doppelgänger, Mari began to think she wouldn't get a response, but a few seconds later she did.

"I don't have one," the plush robot said quietly. "Do I need one?" Marionette was a bit surprised at this, but shrugged it off. It was expected that someone that had just come to life would need a name.

"Well, it would give me something to call you, other than just saying 'hey you' all the time!" Mari brightened a bit, knowing that what was about to come next would be important. Names were important things, after all. "Why don't we try and come up with one for you?"

This seemed to catch the small robot's attention. Mari saw as their eyes seemed to just about glow in excitement.

"Really?" They asked, full of hope and eagerness.

"Yep, really!" At this, the bot seemed to crash into her, and Mari found herself holding onto the smaller figure as they hugged her and cheered. 'Aww, that's so cute.' Mari thought to herself while she gave the smaller robot a hug back. Maybe it was just her, but she felt a connection between herself and the smaller bot, and had a warm, almost fuzzy, feeling about this.

Maybe their plushies coming to life was more of a gift than she realized.

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Springtrap watched as Mari interacted with her doppelgänger, trying to decide if he should make a similar move towards dealing with his own. Before he could come to a choice however, he was brought out of his thoughts by a tugging on one of his arms. Looking down, he saw the smaller, child-sized version of himself.

"Hi! Who're you?" This robot wasn't shy or wary, but more impulsive and energetic, and wasn't afraid to show it.

Oh. Oh! He was supposed to introduce himself, right? Hopefully this would go well.

"Umm, h-hi? I'm Springtrap. It's nice to... meet you?" He trailed off at the end a bit, unsure of what to do in the presence of something, no, someone that had just come to life from being an inanimate plushie. It was a little unnerving, though that feeling started to fade as he noticed how the small being acted. He could deal with a younger kid, right? Right.

This robot was full of curiosity and wasn't afraid of meeting new people, as emphasized by how the smaller rabbit tugged at his arm and started talking at a rapid pace. "You look just like me! But bigger. Waaaay bigger. Why do you look like me? Oh, and what's that for?" This last question was emphasized by the small bot tugging a little at the bow Springtrap was wearing. Springtrap was a little surprised by the smaller bot actually touching him, but shrugged it off and chose to answer as best he could.

"Oh, well that's my bow," he began with more confidence than before, "It's not my only one, but this is the one I'm wearing today. And for your other question, umm, I think it's because you used to be a plushie that was based off of my suit?" He wasn't sure about saying the last part in case the small bot didn't react well, but it would seem there wasn't any reason to worry after all as the mini-rabbit reacted well enough in the end.

In reaction to hearing Springtrap's reasoning for their lookalike-ness, the smaller rabbit became even more exuberant, ears sticking straight up and hands shooting up to smack his 'cheeks' in an excited manner.

Taking a moment to process, the small rabbit posed a weighted question. "Since I'm based on you does that make us brothers?"

"I.. don't know, maybe?"

"Will you be my brother then? Please?" The small bot drew out the last word, sounding more like a child than before, if that was possible. It was then that Springtrap knew what he had to do. It was the only thing he could do, really.

Carefully lowering to his knees, Springtrap tentatively scooped the smaller (younger?) into a hug, which was returned readily. Then he gave his answer.

"Okay."

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"I'm gonna count to three!"

"What? You have to count longer than that!"

"No I don't! Nobody said I have to!"

"But Pluuush," the little puppet groaned, hoping that her twin would stop being unfair. "I counted to ten, and I can't hide in three seconds!"

He seemed to consider this, and after a moment gave Patchlock a tooth-filled grin that spoke of mischief. "Okay, I'll give you 'till the count of ten then. You'd better run though, because I'm gonna start counting… now!" With that last word he put his hands over his eyes and started counting out loud as the other ran off to hide. In the background Mari turned to Spring.

"Hey, Spring." Mari said, prompting Springtrap to answer back.

"Yeah Mari?" He replied, wondering what she was about to say.

"What are we? To each other, I mean."

"What do you mean?" He was confused. He watched as she glanced down at the concrete floor, as though she was deliberating what to say next.

"Well, I just..." she paused, making an exhaling noise before continuing. Gathering up her courage, she asked him the question. "I know we're already friends, but I think I want you to be my brother too." She looked at him as she said this, waiting for his reaction.

Springtrap was stunned. Mari wanted him to be her brother? But what if he wasn't going to be a good one? He didn't know how to be a good one, and why would anyone want him to be their brother? All he did was get into trouble and—

'Stop thinking like that,' he scolded himself. He didn't just get into trouble; trouble found him, and that wasn't his fault, he knew that now. Besides, Plushtrap wanted the same thing too, didn't he? If he could accept that from someone he hadn't known for more than an hour he could accept it from a friend who had been there for him already. He had his answer.

"Really?" He asked, just to be certain.

"Really." She said, completely serious.

"Mari, I… I think I'd like that a lot." He answered, his voice choking up a bit in the middle of his sentence as his emotions started leaking through. Happiness, caring, and a few other things he couldn't place. Mari saw this and knew what was going on, because she was feeling the same way, so with that prompting she wrapped her arms around him in a hug. Springtrap smiled, even if she couldn't see it, and reached back, and soon they were both laughing from the emotional intensity of it all.

As the noise between them died down, they both felt a little more tired than before, but in a good way. They were family now; self-proclaimed family, but family nonetheless, and it felt good.

I'm not really satisfied with the first part, but I'm not going back to rewrite a character interaction for the fifth time, so this is what we're gonna stick with. Also, Plushtrap!!! And an OC, technically, but I don't want to focus on that—instead, I want to have more of Springtrap in the next chapter! I want to write him coming out of his shell a bit more, but I'm not sure how well it's going.

Some of the keywords I was thinking of when trying to come up with a name for Patchlock:

Patch, plush, string, stripe, stitch, chain stitch, lock stitch, cotton, ventriloquist

(I thought "Stringlock" too—because I was mixing and matching the words to come up with something decent—and I was like, 'lmao no that's too obvious.' It sounded too similar to 'springlock'; Im serious, that's it, that's why I didn't want to use it.)