Millie gasped for air as she reared away from the Stitchwraith, their arm slipping out from the trench coat and coming away from the rest of their body. A bubble of bright color seemed to burst behind her eyes, or perhaps directly in front of her-it was impossible to tell. It was a bright myriad of every color from black and brown to pink and green. There was every shade and tone imaginable, all blurring together in a barely comprehensible glittering rainbow.
The colors swirled, and she saw many pale, ghostly shapes surrounding William Afton, in the flesh. The missing children.
She witnessed him as he climbed into the Spring Bonnie suit and began to laugh, mocking their fear as they all backpedaled away, desperate. One spirit stood strong though, their dark eyes meeting William's seconds before the sharp cracking sounds began.
William fell to the floor screaming, blood spurting out from the crevices in the suit and pouring to the floor like a waterfall. He spasmed wildly, the suit forcing him to spin and jump around as it snapped his bones and crushed his organs.
Justice. The spirits whispered, fading to nothing.
It was the springlocks. A soft, feminine voice whispered to Millie, seeming to come from the colors. The springlocks are what killed him, but it was his arrogance that was his downfall. As it will be again.
The beautiful bubble of color swirled around Millie again, and she brought the Stitchwraith's arm closer to her chest. To her heart. "I am here. I can hear you."
The colors parted like a curtain, and Millie watched as William stood before a horrible machine, the scoop still dripping with blood and body parts. It churned loudly, an awful grinding sound that eventually faded to a fast slopping, making her sick. The man removed his goggles and approached the machine, a leather bound journal in his hands. He stopped at a laptop hooked up to the machine and typed a few equations in before scribbling in the journal.
He opened the door to the vat in the back of the machine and began to laugh, dragging a hand through his hair. His eyes were bloodshot, his smile unnaturally wide. He looked proud.
Stop him. The child's voice said again. Save them.
The color seemed to seep down into Millie's bones, making her flesh tingle and form goosebumps. She clenched the arm and drew a deep breath, blinking away the light. She didn't know how she had survived the Stitchwraith's agony-filled touch, but she had for a reason.
She stared back at the Stitchwraith, who looked very surprised. They had cast the trenchcoat away, clutching at the stump where their arm had cleanly disconnected, as if quickly and efficiently sliced from the rest of them.
"There is hope for you." She said with a tremble in her voice. "I know you're here, William. I heard you in my head-you're in there with those kids, still hurting them, taking advantage of them. Well, no more!" She clenched her fist and grit her chattering teeth. Now that the colors were gone, she felt ice cold and frightened as ever, especially with the Stitchwraith-and William Afton himself-so close.
"I don't know what he's told you." Millie said. "But there is always hope, there is always peace. You may be dead, but you will always be remembered. You will always be loved." She tapped at the mourning necklace that hung around her throat, fingers curling around the locket. "See? This is from victorian times-I don't know who it once belonged to, but it's a mourning necklace...made to help remember someone who died. Even all these years later, they're remembered. They are treasured, their death thought of and their life appreciated. Even when their story is unknown."
Stupid girl. Once you are de-
"I love you!" Millie cried, speaking over Afton.
You think love is strong enough to defeat me? To aid broken ghosts and-
"Yes, I do!" Millie screamed then, tears freely flowing down her cheeks. "I love you Andrew and Jake, I love you! Your families love you! Your friends love you! No matter what happens, that love will always be there. It happened, and so it will live forever. You've left your mark on this world, on other people's hearts. And no matter what… That matters! You aren't pawns, or specks in time. You are loved!"
Such pathetic crying, like any other child. Give me your desperation, girl. Feed me. William's voice was not physical speech, but a dark voice echoing through her thoughts, caressing her brain and encouraging her to give up. It felt toxic and deadly, a venom seeping into her bloodstream.
Millie could feel the sickly mixture of agony and hope sloughing off of the Stitchwraith, each component fighting for dominance. It was a physical force, feeling as if it could knock her right off her feet. She kept her eyes on the pools of agony surrounding her, separating her from Funtime Freddy and Bon-Bon, who were still fighting off the various toys and animatronic components.
The Stitchwraith cocked their head. With a single hand, they gestured to where their heart would be, then mimicked tears running tracks down their cheeks with their fingers. They stepped backward, shaking their head. Whatever pain Millie was feeling, they were feeling a thousandfold. They were nothing more than mere fuel to William Afton.
"You are loved," Millie repeated, choking up. "That's all there is to it. You have to believe me. Don't let his hatred drain you. Let my love fill you! Think of your families, of friends, of pets, of each other!"
Love is terribly fallible, easily broken and difficult to prove. It is without substance and easy to forget in the depths of despair.
The Stitchwraith stepped forward, their head jerking wildly before going straight again, their still gaze settling directly on Millie. Her skin crawled, the feeling of dread heightening. She had a feeling she knew who was in control now.
"Hey, kids!" Funtime Freddy called, shrugging off a child sized Freddy animatronic. "You should really listen to Millie here, she knows her stuff! After all…" His body sparking from various wounds but his smile wide as ever, he held up Andrew's tombstone. "Look what it says here! You will always be remembered. I bet your folks are awful sad they can't go to your gravestone anymore, but I bet a new one has already been made. I bet there's pictures and flowers everywhere."
His voice box sputtered, apparently wounded as well.
"I wish I could have gotten to know the two of you." Funtime Freddy said.
"Me too!" Bon-Bon called, pumping his little paws in the air. "We would have been best friends and partied all day and night!"
"I... I love children. I love my friends. I love my family. I love Bon-Bon, and Foxy and Bonnet. I love Millie." Funtime Freddy paused. "And I love you kids. I'll do anything to send you home."
Millie smiled gently at him, feeling a wave of something sweet wash over her. Something kind and genuine. It battered back the evil like something beautiful. The Stitchwraith paused, radiating the same sort of beauty. The same sort of hope.
And then the Stitchwraith-no, William Afton, grabbed her right wrist.
Millie screamed as the pain overtook her, the feeling of her cells collapsing in on each other and ceasing to be overriding her completely. She began to spasm and foam at the mouth, eyes rolling back into her head as she desperately tried to escape. She finally felt herself fall away, stumbling backwards and splashing into a pool of agony. She gasped in pain, hissing through her teeth as it dissolved through her leggings and shoes, burning her skin. She felt the sickness rush through her and stumbled out of it, tracking it across the floor and falling to her knees.
She tried to catch herself and let out a whimper when she realized one of her hands was gone. Her wrist and everything below was simply missing, the skin blackened and withered, trailing dark black veins of agony up her arm. Her entire body throbbed with pain and her spirit with suffering, until she finally collapsed facedown on the floor.
Where is your hope now? William Afton loomed above her, in complete control of the Stitchwraith now.
"Still here." Millie forced out through the tears. "I'm not dead, am I? Fight him! Andrew, Jake! Fight him! You can win!"
Fool. You will be. William Afton leered down at her, his head flicking down to see the flowers that had spilled from their pot at some point during the scuffle. He crushed them beneath his endoskeletal heel, raspy laugh bouncing around Millie's head and making it ache. Breaking you will create the sweetest agony and the strongest remnant. Maybe you're what I've been looking for all along.
Millie spit on the floor, trembling as she tried to push herself to her feet. She felt weak. So close to breaking. But still… She had to hope.
The Stitchwraith stepped forward.
Millie let out her best roar, voice breaking.
He leaned down, single hand extended for her head.
"Hey, Willy? Don't you think you're taking this a little too far?" An unfamiliar voice called out, ringing throughout the shed. "Why don't you take a break and we can go out for some drinks, eh?"
...Henry? William turned, the Stitchwraith's body going completely rigid.
A wall of white and pink slammed into William, wrestling him to the ground. The much smaller endoskeleton crumpled under Funtime Freddy's weight, reduced to wriggling and clawing at the animatronic bear's metal hide. His fingers managed to find his way into one of Funtime Freddy's wounds, tearing at the wires within.
Ah, I see your mimic is still working. You were always my favorite, Funtime Freddy. Always performed so well. What a disappointment. I'll have to reprogram you.
"Program this, you party pooper!" Funtime Freddy jerked the Stitchwraith's arm away from his wound, restraining William as best as he could. "Y-You always were a sour pickle o-of a person!" His voice box sputtered and he let out a groan as the agony slipped over his feet, staining him black. The pools were growing. "Hnng… Bon-Bon, go get 'er! Do what we talked about!" He held his arm out, gaze softening as he met the little rabbit animatronic's, both of them nodding.
He launched Bon-Bon out like a little blue missile, the little rabbit skidding across the floor and coming to a rough landing right next to Millie. He heaved himself forward, his paint scuffed and body sparking from injuries. "Millie?" He said quietly, voice catching. "O...Oh… Oh, Millie,"
Millie stared at him, eyes glazed over in pain. "It hurts so bad, Bon… I can't do this..."
"I know." He said, voice brimming with grief. "Let's get you out of here, okay? We're going to get you help and you'll be okay, alright Millie?"
Millie struggled to her hand and knees, cradling her injured and blackened arm to her chest. It throbbed with pain, same as her feet and ankles. She gritted her teeth and forced herself to crawl forward, Bon-Bon doing his best to help her shuffle along.
She looked over her shoulder and felt her heart stop. William had managed to wriggle out from beneath Funtime Freddy, darting around him as the agony seemed to grow thicker, heavier and spread ever outward. Funtime Freddy was up past his ankles in it, all of the agony seeming to gravitate toward him. Trying to defeat him.
"I know you two are in there." Funtime Freddy said. "I-I know y-you can hear me. It's going to b-be okay. He's a very bad man, a very smart man, but y-you two are so much better and smarter than him. Because you love. Because y-you are ki-ind. You can hope, so much more than he co-ould ever dream of."
Why don't you kill me? Burn me alive? Skewer me with springlocks? Wouldn't that be so much easier, my creation? William mocked as he darted around the animatronic, splashing agony as he went. Maybe I won't come back this time, eh?
"All that hate would only make you stro-onger, wouldn't it?" Funtime Freddy chuckled. "I do hate you. But not enough to let you win. Not this time, Afton."
"Freddy…" Millie said, pausing. "We can't leave Freddy, Bon-Bon." She coughed, her entire body on fire. "We have to get him."
"Let's go, Millie." She had never heard Bon-Bon's voice so hard. "We need to leave."
Millie was confused.
"What do you mean?" She asked before collapsing onto the floor.
Bon-Bon took her cheek in one of his paws, gently rubbing at the tearstains there. "Millie. This… This is Freddy's choice. You gave him hope. He's paying it forward. You've already done more than enough here... But he made me promise to make sure you stay safe." His eyes darkened, ears clicking anxiously. "We just have to get through that door."
"Wait… What will happen to him?" Millie asked, her voice small. "We can't leave him!" She whipped around. "Freddy! Let's get out of here!"
She gasped, all the pain in her body suddenly seeming so very, very small. The Stitchwraith stood before Funtime Freddy, all traces of Jake and Andrew gone. William lifted his single arm up and flexed his fingers as all the animatronic parts and toys were swallowed up and drowned in the agony. It was no longer mere pools on the floor, but instead some sort of amorphous blob, alive and hungry.
It slid around Funtime Freddy, leaving vile streaks of black on his hide as it slid past, piling up higher and higher behind and around the Stitchwraith. It seemed to take on a faint and ghastly purple glow, the amorphous features slowly forming something resembling a twisted sort of rabbit, complete with a horrifying gaping mouth and ears that dripped pure agony. Multiple limbs and endoskeleton-like faces wriggled and writhed throughout the blob, making it bulge and ripple grotesquely. Tentacles of it reached across the floor, groping for Funtime Freddy.
"FREDDY!" Millie screamed, her throat raw. "GET OUT OF THERE!"
The horrible amalgamation of agony and the Stitchwraith turned in tandem to look at her. Going somewhere? William cooed. But we've come so far! Don't you want to be a part of this, to be a part of me? The blob of agony swelled, screaming faces pressing against its surface as if struggling to escape. You are nothing. You will all die, and you will all burn forever, as nothing more than fodder for my power! You-
William was interrupted by Freddy lurching forward, the bear's body heaving and crackling with the sheer effort. "Not today!" He wrapped his arms around the Stitchwraith's shoulders, pulling them in close. "I know how scary this must be-e kiddos." He said gently as he wrapped them in a hug, his arms firm despite William's protests. "But it will be over so-oon. I will be here with you, holding you close. I will keep you safe. Together, our ho-ope can do this. I believe in you. Do you believe in me?"
"Freddy!" Millie's chest began to heave, heart threatening to beat right out of her chest. Sweat poured down her brow, ice cold. "Please, come on! Get out of there!" Panic gripped her, the entire world narrowing down to a single point-Funtime Freddy. Her big brother. Her best friend.
The abomination swelled as the Stitchwraith suddenly went limp in Funtime Freddy's arms. The sickly purple glow grew stronger.
"I'll protect you too, always." Funtime Freddy said, smiling wide at Millie, his blue eyes shining bright. "It is you who gave me this gift. It is you who gave me this life. And it is you who gives me this strength."
Bon-Bon tugged on Millie's shirt, his voice impossibly small. "Millie, we need to leave!"
Funtime Freddy seemed to glow then, the same bubble of color Millie had seen in her vision glinting off his metal. It seemed so much more like armor now. "I love you. Thank y-you for everything. Please, p-promise me you'll go. Promise me to be safe." Agony began to creep up his legs, tentacles of it forcing their way in through the cracks of his metal and into his endoskeleton-though even that could not dampen his shining light. "Ah… It looks like I won't be able to reap the rewards of my end of our pinky pro-omise after all, Silly Millie. Looks like you'll just have to live a long, h-happy life instead."
"Freddy, please, no, please no, please no!" Millie dissolved into sobs, scrabbling desperately at the floor. "Please, don't go! I love you!" She collapsed again, the pain becoming too much for her to bear. Her injured arm hit the floor and she screamed in pain, the tears burning her cheeks.
Bon-Bon gripped her shirt in his teeth and began to tug as hard as he could, heaving himself along with all of his strength. "Millie," He said through gritted teeth. "Please!"
Millie sobbed, struggling to pull herself along with Bon-Bon's help. She would keep this promise. She had to. But she couldn't! How could she leave him behind?!
The monstrous beast almost seemed to fill up the entire room, tentacles and sickly limbs spreading out over the floor and encircling Funtime Freddy. Millie and Bon-Bon made it to the door, struggling to force it open. Millie couldn't help but think of the irony that she was desperately trying to escape a shed once more, but this time...leaving something so very important behind.
The door opened, sunlight filtering inside. Millie twisted around despite Bon-Bon's protests, her eyes wide and unblinking.
Funtime Freddy held tight to the Stitchwraith, cradling their head into his chest. "It's okay." He stared up into the face of the amalgamation of agony, unflinching even as the black tar dripped onto his face. His blue eyes flared brightly, tophat spinning atop his head. "I know who I am now, William Afton." He said. "I may not be good, but I'm not bad either. I will do anything for my family, for love, something you could never understand. I will be more than your tool, a slave to the agony."
The rabbit's mouth gaped open wide, dripping goo. It roared, arms spreading open wide, shining claws of viscous black dripping in the light.
"You will never ruin another birthday party again."
Time stopped.
Millie screamed, flinging herself forward, arms outstretched.
The wave of agony crashed down, smothering Funtime Freddy completely. It expanded rapidly as it ensnared him, filling up the room even further. Sickly purple battled against Funtime Freddy's rainbow of color, the agony writhing about and suddenly letting out a penetrative and sickly shriek.
The world around Millie suddenly exploded, making her ears pop and throwing her backwards. Pain enveloped her once more, and she was sent flying through the air. She skidded across the concrete ground, tumbling head over heels until she finally came to a stop, the entire world going black.
XXX
"Millie? Millie? Millie Fitzsimmons?!"
Millie groaned, reaching her hands up to rub at her temples before realizing one of them wasn't there anymore. She stopped for a moment, shaking her head and feeling her stomach lurch. She sat up, leaning forward to look down at Bon-Bon.
The little blue rabbit looked worse for wear, almost all of his paint scraped off, a good bit of his metal hide missing, bowtie hanging off from a few wires, and one arm dangling limply at his side.
Millie looked around and gasped. The shed was gone, completely crumpled. Broken metal and wood was cast about everywhere, stained black. There was a little fire burning where the shed once was, seeming to shimmer various colors, a few bits of the scraps cast out from the explosion alight as well. It seemed that some of the scrap had sliced Millie up during the explosion, blood oozing from various cuts all over body. She could feel bruising over her stomach and ribs, head pounding and vision blurry.
"Freddy? Where's Freddy?!" Millie exclaimed, scrambling to her knees as she struggled to get to her feet. "Where is he?!"
"Millie…" Bon-Bon covered his eyes with one paw. "Oh, Millie."
Tears brimmed in Millie's eyes. She looked around, eying the various piles of scrap and the stains littering the ground. A few pools of black were strewn about as well, but now...they didn't look alive. They just looked like dirty water.
Millie stumbled forward, cradling her arm to her chest. Each step brought shooting pains up through her legs and back, but she pressed on.
She gasped as a pair of footprints appeared in front of her, making trails through the weak pools of agony. She felt Bon-Bon touching her calf, trying to help her balance as two ghostly shapes materialized in front of her.
Two young boys-the taller one with an alligator mask and shaggy black hair, the other with cropped brown hair and bright blue eyes. Both had bittersweet smiles, holding each other's hands.
"You… You must be Andrew and Jake." Millie said slowly. "Are… Are you okay now?"
"We're free." Andrew said, his voice sounding far away.
"Thanks to you and your friends." Jake said. "You never gave up hope."
"How could I?" Millie choked out. "But I… I couldn't…"
"Don't say that." Andrew said bluntly. "You fought for us. You fought with him. You have him, and us, everything. Never forget that, Millie."
Millie fought against her tears. "T...Thank you."
She flinched as the ground seemed to open up beneath the fire, sucking in the flames with a ghastly and shrill scream of air. It seemed to suction the rest of the muck toward it, watered down agony flooding into the sinkhole. Millie could only stare in shock as a roar shook the ground, until it died down into the pathetic screams of a broken man.
The earth took it all, and then sealed itself back up like nothing had ever happened.
Millie blinked, trembling.
"Do not worry," Jake reassured her. "You are safe. There was just someone waiting for him."
"Thank you. For everything." Andrew said. "But we have to go now, don't we Jake?"
"I'm so tired." Jake confessed. "It's time to rest."
Millie nodded, throat dry and face wet.
"Remember us." Andrew said.
"Always." Millie nodded, wiping at some of the blood on her lip.
"Always." Bon-Bon repeated, solemn.
The boys smiled gently, squeezing each other's hands before turning away. They walked forward, their forms glittering like a thousand specks of light before dissolving away into a rainbow of color and disappearing.
Millie stood there for a moment, her body and emotions wrestling with everything she had just witnessed. She put a hand to her chest and steadied her breathing.
"We need to find Freddy."
"Millie…" Bon-Bon started.
"I can fix him if he's hurt." Millie said, stumbling forward. "I did it before. I can do it again. Me and Grandpa. And you. And now we've got more friends, more hands…" She approached the scorched ground where the shed had once stood, dropping to her knees and digging through the rubble with one hand, wincing when the still-hot scrap burnt her hand. "He'll be good as new in no time."
Bon-Bon stood behind her, head bent as he stared blankly at the ground, silent.
Millie struggled to comb through the rubble, spitting blood onto the ground. "He's gotta be around here somewhere. He's…" She stopped cold, grabbing a single white and pink ear by one dangling wire. Her heart dropped, a solid lump forming in her throat. "No.." She dropped the ear, twisting around and turning to another pile.
She tore through it like a madman, beginning to choke on air. She couldn't get anything past the hard lump in her throat. "Please," She whispered. "Freddy, please." She found a finger.
A piece of his chest plating.
Some of the coils of Freddy's endoskeletal neck.
A portion of his leg.
Wires.
Circuit boards.
A voice box.
An eye, dim and devoid of life.
Her tongue felt thick in her mouth, heart unwilling to believe the reality in front of her.
She ran despite the pain in her feet, despite the glass digging itself into their the blood dripping into her eyes and the black scars pulsing along her arm and legs.
She stood in front of another pile of rubble. "We have to take him home."
Bon-Bon turned away, clutching at his head, letting out the closest thing to a sob a robot could make.
She ripped through the pile, praying, believing, hoping. Hoping, hoping, hoping.
She found a burnt and torn up power module, carefully opening it.
There was no remnant, no agony. It was clean.
She pressed a hand to her mouth as she stared down at the power module's heavily damaged internals. The circuit boards were twisted and burnt, the AI chip bent and broken. Wiring splayed out, not even sparking.
It just looked like a piece of junk.
Sirens began to go off in the distance, howling like a pack of wolves.
Millie held the power module close to her chest, right at her heart, her entire body throbbing with sheer pain-emotional and physical.
She tilted her head to the sky and screamed her despair to the sun and clouds above, a beautiful sunny day that seemed to mock her. She screamed until her throat was raw, until the tears couldn't flow anymore, until the sirens were deafening, until Bon-Bon was screaming with her, until she was completely numb.
Tomorrow was here.
A/N: And so we've hit the climax. Ouch. Thank you all for sticking around. Here's some tissues.