Local twenty-something considers punting child spirit while two ex-Fazbear employees go into Protective Dad Mode (literally in one case) against murder gremlin in the other room, more at 8.

(Title from 'The Resistance' by Skillet)

"You're wasting your time."

Jordan crossed his arms, raising an eyebrow at the entity in front of him. At this point, he knew it meant him no harm, so he wasn't bothered by the strange, doll-like face hovering a few inches away from his own. "Is that because you're not going to pass on no matter what we do?"

The phantom made a strange hissing, staticky noise. Now, that was a bit eerie. Still, Jordan pushed himself to his feet, dusting his hands off on his pants. He turned back to her with a sigh. "Is there anything I can do to convince you?"

She was the last one. They'd coaxed all the others into moving on, and only the first remained. She was stubborn, though.

"Depends."

Oh, come on. "Depends on what?"

"On if the fire works."

He wondered how much she'd heard, if she'd overheard the trio's plan for the building. "...Works how?"

"I won't let him escape again. Not after what he did."

"…You mean your killer."

The phantom nodded.

"But… that's…" Jordan felt his stomach drop, as if he'd been thrown off of a ledge. "Springtrap."

"Of course."

"You could've mentioned that!" Jordan grabbed his bag from a hook, slinging it over his shoulder. "Shit, Iris, Keith-" He turned back to the phantom, who'd risen to her full height, neck craning to meet his gaze. "Springtrap's your killer. You're sure?"

"He confessed. The night guard can confirm it."

"Night gu-shit, I don't have time for that." Jordan shook his head, then bolted for the door. Hopefully it wouldn't drop him directly into Springtrap's lap-though he had to admit, he still didn't quite understand the exact physics of the weird flashback-between-dimensions they entered to help the children. "I need to go. They might need my help." He glanced over his shoulder one more time. "Please, I… I promise. He's going down. Just… tell me you'll move on once we've burned this place down."

She didn't answer quickly, and he couldn't spend more than a few seconds waiting.

"Keith!"

Iris could barely hear her own voice, over the snapping of wood, the grinding of metal, the pounding of blood in her ears. But she could feel her friend's hand grab her own, and when she turned, she saw the fear in his eyes.

"Iris, I-I'm sorry!" She turned back to the animatronic that stood between them and the rest of the building, a jagged and shattered beam in its hands. Even with its inhuman features, she could read the malice in its eyes. Keith took a deep breath, as if he was going to say something else, but nothing came out.

"…I can kill it," Iris muttered, hand traveling to her pocket. "Jordan passed me the lighter. But…" The two of them shared a look, considering the old wood surrounding them, the trail of gasoline they'd laid. She didn't need to finish the sentence. "Maybe it'll end with us, at least."

Keith seemed like he was about to answer, when a disgusting crack filled the air. They turned to the source, turned to Springtrap, right as it stumbled, almost taking the axe lodged in its hip with it. An older man lifted the axe yanked the axe loose and yelled, "Now! Hurry!"

"Fuckin-" Iris didn't stop to think for long, though, and dragged Keith with her down the hall. Right as they approached Springtrap, the man raised the axe again, and she flinched for only a second before he planted it in the animatronic's back. An animalistic-and yet all too human-scream escaped it, and it failed to grab them as they ran by.

They almost fell through the door behind the man, and he slammed it shut, propping it shut with a pipe. "That should… slow him down, at least…" He turned to face Iris and Keith, and a tired, frazzled half-smile crept onto his face. "How are you kids doin'?"

"What're you doing here?!" Keith dropped Iris's hand, shaking his head. "You-"

"Keith," the stranger said, his voice suddenly hard, "you can't just leave me a voicemail like that and expect me to ignore it!"

"I-"

"You basically read me your will! First time I've heard from you in five years, and that's what you open with?!"

"I'm sorry, okay?!" Keith took a deep breath, running both hands through his hair at once. Iris, meanwhile, faintly heard a cracking sound. "Old man, I… I'm so sorry, I can explain-"

"Can this wait?" Iris pointed over the man's shoulder, at the splintering door behind the stranger. He shot it a look and grimaced, picking the axe up from against the wall.

"Yeah, that's… Man, he's a stubborn bastard, huh?" He turned back around, seeming to lock eyes with Keith for a moment. "Look, just… get out of here, okay?"

"Our friend's still in here," Keith said quickly.

"We gotta get him outta here before we light the fucker up," Iris added, finally revealing the lighter from her pocket.

The man looked between the two of them, then laughed under his breath. "I like it. Thorough." He slung the axe over his shoulder, turning to the door. "I'll keep him busy, you find your friend, alright?" Keith started to say something, but the stranger continued, "Don't worry, bud. I'll meet you guys out front."

Keith stared at the man's back for a moment, before he nodded quickly. "Yeah. You got this, old man." He glanced at Iris, who gave one quick nod in response. "Follow me, I think I know the fastest way."

The two took off down a hallway, Iris fumbling for her phone. There wasn't any cell signal in that fucked-up limbo, but hopefully Jordan would text or call as soon as he was back in Fazbear's Fright.

"Fancy seeing you here, huh?"

Iris shot a look over her shoulder, right before she rounded the corner. There were two figures facing the door now-one taller than the other, its form wavering in the same manner as the mildly-surprising number of ghosts she'd seen this week. Despite that, and despite the fact that she could make out his bloody, gruesome wounds even at this distance, the living man spoke like he was just seeing an old friend again.

"I swear, it's like you know when I'm about to start some shit." The door broke down fully. "Let's show 'im how the professionals do it, yeah?"