Power: 59%
Auto update date and time: 11/14/1993 01:17:56am
The voice rang so loud and sharp that Mike and Vanna both winced. All around them, the games and lights stabilized. Mike pulled away from Vanna and stepped forward to better see between Chica and Freddy. The two animatronics moved quickly, each touching the other's waist to form an X between them, and positioned their other arms to box the humans in at the prize counter, with the counter itself forming a back wall. Mike made no effort to try to cross the sudden barrier, only to get a better view of the scene. The Spring Bonnie suit staggered once more, with Greg trying to bite back further cries of pain. Will immediately turned to his younger companions.
"Mike?" he asked. "What's goin' on?"
Mike waved him off as the voice died down. Behind him, Vanna shook her head to relieve the residual dizziness, feeling her mind clear a little.
"Jeremy…?" she whispered.
Freddy and Chica both turned their heads completely around to witness the scene. Will leaned over Freddy's shoulder to get a better look. Bonnie and Foxy both stood at the ready, uncertain if they should intervene.
Why is he fighting her? Freddy wondered. It can all end right now.
Mike glanced up to him.
"Because this isn't right," he said. "Not when there's a better way."
Spring Bonnie stiffened again, then regained its balance. It ground its feet firmly into the tile. The hands clenched into broken fists as its face formed into a look of hatred. Soft sounds of quivering metal came from inside. Greg whimpered. The white noise from the speaker died down again.
"St-stop fighting me!" crackled Bonnie Wickes' voice. "He's going to-going to pay for w-w-w-what he did!"
The quivering stopped for a moment. The hatred on Spring Bonnie's face softened temporarily. The fists uncurled, and Spring Bonnie gently crossed its arms over its chest, its fingers holding firm to its upper arms to keep them in place.
I have just as much right to vengeance as you do, Jeremy said calmly, trying to assuage Bonnie. But not like this.
From inside the mask, Greg stared at the silently moving jaw. He briefly wondered if it was a glitch in the system...or if it was something else.
"...Fitzgerald?" he whispered.
The hatred in the golden rabbit's face came back. Bonnie Wickes succeeded only in unwrapping the arms from around the body and holding them awkwardly before her. Around them, code from the games flickered and moved, shifting in attempts to correct themselves. The speaker crackled on again.
"You might have-might have suffered," Bonnie Wickes hissed, "but you don't h-h-h-have nearly the right that I-that I do!"
The metal springs threatened to snap. Greg shifted his arms to try to center them as far from the spring locks as he could. He felt them scratch and tear at his sleeves and gently cut in his skin. He watched the jaw silently click again.
Is this how you want it to end? Jeremy asked. With more blood on your creations?
Greg bit his lip as the spring locks vibrated around him. With how the suit scratched and twisted his body with its spastic movements, he regretted his earlier taunts. Even from the prize counter, the trapped humans heard his heavy breathing from under the mask.
"Aunt Bonnie, listen to him!" Vanna screamed.
"Listen to who?" Will asked.
"Jeremy," Mike answered, keeping his voice quiet so Greg wouldn't hear. "He's trying to talk her down."
"He's got a battle ahead of 'im, then," Will said, shifting a bit in their cramped prison. "Once Bon sets 'er sights on somethin', she's like a dog with a bone and doesn't back down."
He doesn't seem t' be havin' much success, Foxy said. He positioned himself to grab Spring Bonnie if the suit got too out of control. Personally, I agree with th' lass. Let's gut th' lubber an' be done.
But he's right too, Bonnie said, ready to step in as well, but hesitant to do so. There's been enough sorrow here. We shouldn't add any more.
"It doesn't-doesn't matter anymore!" Bonnie Wickes screamed. Her voice started to waver. "He s-s-said it himself."
The golden hands reached up to cover Spring Bonnie's face. A few small, bitter sobs forced their way out of the speakers. The entire suit trembled as the arms crossed over the chest again. The video game code continued to shift.
"Bon..."
Will tried to push past Freddy to get to her, but the bear's head swiveled back around to keep an eye on him. He shifted his stance and moved his arm to better keep the janitor back, blocking him at the prize counter, and tightening the space in the human pen a little more.
"Why does-does it...m-m-matter...if he's here or in-in jail?" Bonnie Wickes asked.
Because one is vengeance, Jeremy said, relieved to have control for the moment, and the other is justice.
"...He needs to un-u-u-understand," she said again.
Even with only getting one half of the conversation, Greg recognized the opportunity to get out of this unharmed and pounced on it.
"I do understand!" he burst out, more than a bit exasperated. "I'll confess! Just don't do this, Bon!"
Crackling noise blasted at almost deafening levels from the speaker.
"RRRRRRRRRRREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAHHHHH!"
Mike, Vanna, and Will all shuddered as they covered their ears. Greg tightly winced and hissed as more of his skin scratched against the metal animatronic pieces. Unable to protect his own ears, they began to ring, with a minor headache forming from the noise.
"YOU SHUT UP!" Bonnie Wickes screamed at him. "YOU HAD YOUR-HAD YOUR CHANCE!"
The metal twitched again, louder this time...and the sharp sound of a metal rod cracking through bone filled the room, distinct and horrifying. Mike felt his blood chill as his right arm suddenly throbbed. A sharp gasp from Vanna mingled with Greg's anguished cry. Beside him, he heard Will fall down to one knee while making a retching sound. Freddy shifted his legs to ensure Will couldn't try to crawl out from under the makeshift prison, not that he could squeeze by with his broad shoulders and large gut. Seeing a chance, Mike tried to duck under Chica and Freddy's crossed arms, only for Chica to quickly grab his collar.
Mikey, she warned. Stay put!
Mike glowered at her as he reached up to try to undo his collar. Chica simply pulled him back into the pen with Will and Vanna.
All around them, the lights and games went haywire. Mike and Vanna reached up to shield their eyes in the rapidly flashing lights. Even the animatronics seemed concerned at the sudden chaos. Freddy and Chica turned their heads to try to find a source. The purple Bonnie stepped back, his paws held up to his chest, his ears drooping in fright. Foxy held up his hook, his eyes darting around to try to find the culprit. Will got a hold of himself, but kept his gaze to the floor to mitigate the flashing brightness. He barely held the vileness back and wiped his mouth on his sleeve.
The main lights stabilized. The games continued to flash. Without the main power going haywire, the emergency lights provided just enough light to see the room. Mike and Vanna lowered their hands to let their eyes adjust.
"Bon..." Will managed, after a moment, his voice wavering.
"...Aunt Bonnie..." Vanna said, sadly.
Her hands hovered near her mouth, as though uncertain if she needed to hold back a forming scream. Will slowly pushed himself back to his feet, using Freddy's arm as a brace.
Blood gushed from Spring Bonnie's right wrist, with long red trails dripping over the hand and catching at the fingers. Another quivering sound made it clear another one threatened to snap. The suit's balance was thrown off again as Jeremy wrested control back. He went to the nearest wall, just before the west hall entrance, and shoved the suit's hands against it. Jeremy ignored Greg's agonized howl from his bent and broken wrist as he tried to keep the suit stationary for a moment.
Bonnie, stop! Jeremy cried. Think about this a moment!
"What's there t-t-to think about?" Bonnie Wickes demanded, her voice still trembling. She tried to pull the hands away from the wall. "He's a mur-m-m-murderer!"
We're both trapped in here, Jeremy said, maintaining control for as long as he could, fighting for control of this suit. If you kill him, he joins us.
"Then let him!"
Greg screamed again as a second lock snapped, doing more damage to his right arm. The games all flashed as the blood dripped from the suit's elbow and leaked down onto the floor.
"Bon!" Will screamed. He tried to push past Freddy to reach for her, with no luck. "Bon, stop!"
Spring Bonnie turned its head completely around to glare at Will. The speaker crackled in an attempt to respond, but died down. The quivering noise started again, barely forced back only a second later.
And what if he gains control? Jeremy asked. What then?
"He-h-h-he won't," Bonnie Wickes said, firmly, still facing Will down.
And if he does? Jeremy asked again.
He barely kept a third lock from snapping, and shifted his control to try to keep the rest stationary. The sound of the clicking jaw filled the room.
Really think about this, Bonnie, Jeremy continued. You built this thing to last. I bashed in metal walls last night, and I almost hurt Mike in blind fury.
Mike shuddered with sickness at the remembered demonstration of the suit's power the night before. Vanna held him tightly, her mind on the same thing.
Look at the hands, Jeremy said, softly.
He made the suit's mask turn back around to stare at the hands pressed against the wall, one bloodied and one still clean. The flashing lights from the games made a few shards of glass glimmer from the tears in the cloth, but the frame underneath remained mostly undamaged, the fingers and knuckles still nearly whole. Spring Bonnie's jaw silently moved again.
There's barely a scratch on the endoskeleton, Jeremy pointed out, and there's no pain to make us hold back. Do you really want to risk Greg gaining that much power? Being in control of it?
Another spring lock wavered. The speaker crackled, but once more, no voice spoke. It merely played static, like an old radio in a dead zone, broken only with an occasional sob. Jeremy pulled the bloodied right hand away from the wall - once more ignoring Greg's pained reaction - and pointed over at the purple Bonnie and Foxy. Bonnie stepped back, while Foxy turned his head in curiosity.
And unlike them, Jeremy said, this suit doesn't have a time limit for when it can move freely. It's not bound by the same rules.
Bonnie hesitantly nodded in agreement.
He's right, he said quietly. At 6am, we go back to the stages.
Spring Bonnie's speaker remained on radio static for a long moment. Will looked back to Mike and Vanna, who both listened intently to Jeremy, their gazes fixated on the Spring Bonnie suit. Mike leaned over Freddy and Chica's crossed arms to somewhat see it properly.
"Erm...mind filling me in?" Will asked, quietly.
Before either of his companions could answer, Greg spoke.
"...I-if you're going to...do this, Bonnie," he said, trying to keep his voice steady, "then just...do it already and get it over with. Don't just...leave the job unfinished, you-you crazy bitc-!"
"Shut the fuck up, Greg," Mike interrupted. "It's the only thing keeping you alive right now."
He just needs to keep the suit charged, Jeremy pointed out, his words calm, but with an undertone of a twisting knife, and he's effectively immortal. That's our eternity, Bonnie: spending our strength keeping Greg under control. All it takes is one of us wavering, even for a moment, and he can usurp power. If that happens, who knows who he'll be able to hurt once he has it? After that, it starts all over again: more people die until he's satisfied. That's what vengeance will get us.
The radio static continued for several long moments. Five processors hummed, with Spring Bonnie's rising as the loudest. Greg tried again to keep back any more pained noises with little success. The speaker crackled again, with quiet ghostly sobs fading in and out between the static.
"Aunt Bunny."
A small blue light began to grow brighter as Vesper's ghost reappeared. She floated up from the floor, her gangly limbs poised on invisible strings. Her empty sockets glowed with white pinpricks. Eternal tears streamed down her cheeks.
"You are sad," she said in simple monotone. "Puppet would not want you to be sad."
Spring Bonnie turned to the ghost, her own pinpricks flickering and obscuring what little could be seen of Greg's face. She reached the non-bloodied hand to Vesper's face, and pantomimed stroking her cheek.
"...M-my little one…where is…?"
Vesper simply pointed to the prize counter, where the Puppet's gutted, headless body still hung over its box. A sharp gasp came from the speaker as Spring Bonnie's hands covered the mouth, the one good ear straightening up in horror. The metal feet loudly clanked against the tile, obscuring some of Greg's pained noises as the suit hurried toward the prize counter and knelt down beside the present box.
"Li-Li-Little one…"
Gregory did it, Freddy said softly. We watched him, right after he brought William to the kitchen, but we were unable to assist.
And then he shut us down, Chica added.
Spring Bonnie wordlessly looked over the thin marionette, her hands hovering over it, the ghostly pupils wildly moving back and forth as she examined the damage. A bit of Greg's blood dripped onto the tile nearby. Bonnie Wickes moved the right hand away, if only to keep her creation free of it. Vesper floated over without a word, gently hovering behind the old animatronic.
It brought us back, Jeremy said gently, trying again to assuage Bonnie Wickes.
The speaker remained on radio static for another long moment. The mask's eyelids turned down into an angry glare. The hands pressed into the floor as Greg hissed in pain.
"Where-where is the rest of it?" Bonnie Wickes asked.
"The mask is over by the stage," Mike offered.
He pulled from Vanna's arms to point in that direction.
"Not y-y-you," Bonnie Wickes said.
She turned the suit's right arm solely to shift Greg's broken bones a little more out of place and savored the sudden yowl of anguish. Bonnie Wickes allowed the animatronic's arm to twist back into its proper position. She waited for his snivelling to die down before she spoke again.
"Where is the-is the rest, Gregory?"
Greg let out a helpless laugh that formed into a sob.
"You're going to...kill me anyway," he managed. "Why should I tell you...anything? You can st-stay in...in Hell with n-no answ-argh!"
Greg winced and hissed as one of them slowly began to bore through his right shoulder blade, giving him a taste of another one ready to snap through it.
"I can drag your death out as long-as long as I like so long as I plan-plan which springs to use, h-h-how deep they go, and don't hit anyth-th-th-thing important," Bonnie Wickes said, coldly. "Your-your choice, Gregory."
Greg's breathing grew harder. Between the agony and the blood still leaking from his arm, he began to feel a little light-headed. He tried to reach for his shoulder, but Bonnie Wickes kept the left arm frozen in place solely to let him suffer.
"The...end result is the same," Greg said. "I won't...tell you anything."
It's outside, the purple Bonnie said, quickly, in an attempt to prevent more bloodshed. He took the pieces outside.
He pointed towards the front door. Mike tried again to slip away. Once more, Chica grabbed his collar before he got too far. Mike glowered up at Chica.
"Let me go," he said.
I can't.
"Yes, you can," Mike said. "They're probably in his car. I can get Puppet's pieces if Bonnie will let me get his keys."
"Later," Bonnie Wickes said, "when he's-when he's a corpse."
She readied the spring locks again. Once more, Jeremy fought to keep them back.
A small blue glow shifted in front of Spring Bonnie. Vesper knelt down on the tile between Puppet's long arms and set her own little hand over the yellow rabbit's. Her deformed ghostly fingers slightly phased through it, while her own empty eyes matched with Spring Bonnie's.
"The wine made you sad," she said in her mechanical monotone, "and then it made you break things. Breaking things made you sad too, Aunt Bunny."
Spring Bonnie tilted her head to face her.
"H-how did you…?"
More tears trickled down Vesper's cheeks, in a thicker stream than before. She reached up to rub her eyes to try to wipe them away.
"Breaking him will not...make you happy," she whispered. "Please do not break him. Then you will be sad again, and then…"
Vesper moved her hand from her face and place it with the other over Bonnie's. Her voice hitched as she pleaded with her aunt.
"...Puppet could not...fix you. It made Puppet sad, and then it...it broke. ...Please do not...break again."
Spring Bonnie remained still for a moment. She turned her hand and pantomimed taking Vesper's in it, then moved the other over it to gently clasp over the ghost's.
"My...little one," Bonnie Wickes said, softly. "I…"
Vesper kept her hands in Spring Bonnie's.
"We have done what you asked," she said. "We watched. We listened. We protected. But we cannot...do it anymore."
The voice box remained on radio static as Spring Bonnie simply nodded. Her ghostly pinpricks glanced to Vesper, and then Puppet's body behind her. She heard Greg whimpering and ignored it as she allowed her thoughts to go blank.
"...All these...years," Bonnie Wickes whispered. "Puppet...oh, my little-little one. You've done so much. You've-you've watched over her, y-y-y-you..."
She gently reached to take Puppet's hand in her clean one.
"I didn't mean to leave you-leave you alone."
Vanna glanced up to Freddy and Chica. Freddy and Will both watched Spring Bonnie, and Chica still kept her hold and her focus on Mike. Mike's escape attempt left her a little more room to maneuver in the small enclosed space. Vanna carefully ducked under Chica's other arm, her footing light, graceful, and hardly making a sound. With practiced grace, she sidestepped to get out of Chica's reach should she notice, then circled around Chica and Freddy to run towards Spring Bonnie.
"It brought us here," Vanna said, stopping a few feet from the Spring Bonnie. "It's been helping Mike all week."
She ignored the sound of hissing servos as Freddy broke his part of the barrier to follow her. Vanna felt his hand on her shoulder, a bit surprised at the animatronic's speed. Freddy firmly gripped her shoulder and tried to pull her back with the other humans. Vanna planted her feet, wanting to stay as close to her aunt as she could.
"And it's helped these guys for a lot longer than that," Mike said, with a gesture to the other animatronics.
Yes, Freddy agreed. It helped us with our role as vessels.
We learned to soothe and speak for the children, Chica added.
She gently ran her fingers over Dulcie's frosting.
An' it tried t' help us find this lubber, Foxy said, gesturing to Spring Bonnie with his hook.
We can finally bring the Smiling Man to justice, Bonnie finished.
Spring Bonnie looked up and gently turned its head to face each of the animatronics, then Mike, Will, and Vanna. The eyelids turned to show sorrow. The one good ear drooped forward as it turned away again, once more glancing down at Puppet. Will put a hand on Spring Bonnie's forearm.
"It's okay, Bon," he said. "You're not alone. You were never alone in this."
Only radio static played in response. A soft creak sounded from the mask as Spring Bonnie gave a gentle nod in response. Inside the suit, Greg tried to blink back tears and suck in snot. He shifted a bit to try to be more comfortable, though an occasional pained whimper left his throat.
The lights went out, save for the video game screens. The streams of code stabilized. They all flashed a flat yellow, then black, then yellow again. All of the room's occupants, human and animatronic, turned to look at them save for Spring Bonnie, who simply took Puppet's hand in her clean one. The voice box still played static broken up between gentle sobs.
All of the start screens suddenly went to black, before large text covered their surfaces. One by one, the letters popped up, typed by an invisible hand:
B...O...N...
They appeared on one screen after another, until every game showed the same word across the top of each screen:
BONNIE.
The screens flashed again in deliberation. The purple Bonnie tilted his head in confusion.
Me? he asked.
Mike shook his head at Bonnie, then looked over at Spring Bonnie. Neither Bonnie Wickes nor Jeremy seemed to notice the flashing screens with the suit's gaze focused on Puppet. Slowly, the typing began again, leaving another message just under the name:
YOU ARE
NOT ALONE.
I'M HERE.
Foxy tilted his head in confusion.
What be this, then? he asked.
I don't know, Bonnie answered.
Vanna stepped closer to the screen. Her eyes widened as it clicked in place.
"...Holy shit," she whispered.
Mike simply stared at the screens. Will's eyes widened as he got it too. His hand trembled as he gently shook Spring Bonnie's shoulder to try to get her attention.
"...Bon," he said softly, "I think...I think you need to see this."
The old animatronic perked up. Inside, Greg barely bit back a pained noise.
"S-s-see what?" Bonnie Wickes asked.
Will pointed to the video game screens. Spring Bonnie followed his hand and glanced at the words. The animatronic eyes widened as far as they could go.
"...Wh-wh-who…?" Bonnie Wickes managed.
A labored gasp came from inside the mask.
"...No," Greg whispered. "It can't…"
The screens changed again, then typed out another message.
I HAVE ALWAYS
BEEN HERE.
IT'S YOUR
FREDDY-BEAR.
A sharp gasp crackled out of the old voice box as Spring Bonnie's hands lifted up to cover its torn mouth. The entire suit shook, creating a soft rattling sound.
"Fr-Fr-Freddy…my-my...how?"
The screens blacked out again in a clean slate before another message began to form. As soon as one finished, it disappeared to allow another to take its place.
I HAVE BEEN
TRYING TO
BE HEARD.
IT TOOK YEARS
TO FIGURE OUT
THE WIRING
AND CONTROL IT.
Mike glanced up to the lights above them, and recalled the monitors that only worked at sporadic times. That explained all the random power surges...and maybe some of the other weirdness.
The messages continued.
IT TOOK LONGER
TO LEARN THAT
I HAVE CONTROL
OVER THIS
BUILDING AND
EVERYTHING
INSIDE IT.
Spring Bonnie pushed itself back on its feet, with Greg making a few exasperated noises as it shifted and moved. The animatronic then stepped toward the closest video game monitor.
"Then you've..." Bonnie Wickes started.
The last message blanked out so one more could be written:
ALL THIS TIME.
Spring Bonnie moved both hands to gently touch the screen. Both ears twitched, with the good one drooping forward. Greg tried to stay quiet. No one else moved or spoke. Only Greg's wounded whimpers and the soft sound of five processors running broke the silence.
"...'Where-where I always th-th-th-thought he was'," Bonnie Wickes said after a moment, repeating what Greg told her earlier.
Her voice sounded distant and detached. Will carefully made his way toward the Spring Bonnie, shaking a little himself.
"You always...always said you...f-felt 'im near," he said, gently. "I always thought...I-I-I can't believe…"
Bonnie Wickes didn't answer. The Spring Bonnie suit stilled as she simply watched the words on the screen change again.
I AM HERE,
BONNIE. I
HAVE ALWAYS
BEEN HERE.
Spring Bonnie stared at the words on the screen. The voice box simply played radio static as Bonnie Wickes processed her thoughts. Will carefully put a hand on the suit's arm.
"Bon..."
A broken sob cut through the radio static. Spring Bonnie pulled away from him. The suit's hands reached up to cover the face as a soft rattling made its way through suit.
"...All this time," Bonnie Wickes whispered at last. "All this...a-a-a-all this time…"
Her sobs died down as Spring Bonnie slowly shifted into its default pose. Greg winced as the suit moved, but relaxed when it finally stood at attention and eased some of the pain in his arm. Upon hearing him groan, Spring Bonnie's eyelids formed into a glare as they re-read the last message again.
"From-from the beginning…" Bonnie Wickes said, "he t-t-took everything…"
Jeremy sensed danger and immediately started to talk her down.
Bonnie... he said. Freddy's here with us. You have everything he took away again. We can end this.
"...You're right," Bonnie Wickes said after a moment. "I c-c-can."
Spring Bonnie's servos hummed a little louder, though it remained in its steadfast position.
A sudden scream echoed in the room as another spring lock shot into Greg's left forearm. Jeremy quickly tried to fight for control, only to find the spring locks no longer moved at his command.
How did you- Jeremy started.
"This is-this is my suit," Bonnie Wickes answered, "and I think i-i-i-it's time-time for an override."
What are you-no! Jeremy cried. Stop!
Spring Bonnie's servos hummed with use. Fresh blood dripped down over the suit's left hand. Quiet, bitter laughter broke the radio silence on the speaker.
"Bon," Will said. "What are you-?"
She's changing the codes! Jeremy cried, his words tinged with horror. Mike, I can't stop her! She's locking me out!
Vanna quickly ran over and grabbed for Spring Bonnie's mask. Mike followed behind her, looking for any way he could assist.
"Aunt Bonnie!" she cried. "Stop!"
But the mask was locked in place. Spring Bonnie remained still for another moment, and when it moved again, it shoved Vanna away, leaving a few small, dark stains on the old polo. She crashed into Mike, and both of them fell to the floor.
"It seems I've solved-solved our earlier conundrum," Bonnie Wickes said with spiteful glee. "E-e-e-even if he joins us, only-only I will have access."
Greg softly whimpered under the mask. The video game screens flashed urgently.
BONNIE.
Spring Bonnie turned to look at them again, and watched as one large, red word filled all the screens:
STOP!
The animatronic actually looked taken aback. The quivering stopped and the speaker went back to radio silence for a second as Bonnie Wickes tried to think of a response.
"Why-why should I, Freddy?" she demanded. "He t-t-took you from me! He took-he took everything from us!"
The screen blacked out, then typed another message.
WAIT FOR ME.
"...What?" Bonnie Wickes asked.
Another message replaced that one.
I'M COMING.
WAIT FOR ME.
The screens all died as the building's power went out entirely. In the sudden darkness, no one moved. Even Spring Bonnie's suit stilled, with not even a creak from its old joints. Mike shot a glance to his watch.
1:47am glowed with green digits.
In the silence, a new sound emerged. Mike knew that sound only too well. A metal foot on tile, followed by another. It sounded faint, far away, and gradually increased in volume.
"...Foxy?" he whispered. "Is that you?"
Nay, lad, the fox answered.
It isn't us, either, Jeremy confirmed.
A new set of glowing eyes suddenly appeared as the footsteps came closer. A long creak sounded with them, of metal joints that hadn't been used in years. The eyes grew in size as their owner stepped closer.
The emergency lights shot back on. All of the video games began their start-up sequences. Mike blinked away the sudden brightness. He heard Vanna gasp beside him.
"Mike, look!"
He glanced to her, then followed her hand to where she pointed. The endoskeleton from the back room stood between the stage and the fighting game at the end of the row. Its brown eyes gazed at the floor. Its left hand was clenched just under its mouth, holding an invisible microphone. Its other hand stretched forward, with its index finger pointing down to the floor.
Spring Bonnie cautiously stepped forward.
"...Fr-Fr-Freddy?"
Mike looked at where the endoskeleton stood. He curiously stepped towards it. The brown eyes on the monitors entered his mind, and with them, he thought of the tile, the edge of the stage...and where the endoskeleton stood, the images made some sense now.
Just as he reached the endoskeleton, the vision of hands, of falling, came back.
In the twilight, a hand grabbed his. The other hand held two of his fingers. Then it shifted, until it only held one...or rather, the ring attached to it.
The ring slipped away.
And with it, so did his grip.
He landed hard against his back. Something broke. Pain paralyzed him where he lied.
Then an earthy wetness covered him, until he could no longer see or move or breathe.
Mike vaguely heard someone call his name. Strong hands caught him as he fell back. His eyes started to dry from wide, unblinking horror while his lungs struggled to work. He saw nothing but darkness as he tried to move.
He couldn't.
The hands held him up, one around his chest, the other around his waist. Rust and rot entered his nose. A whimpering human voice choked on pain. Radio static mingled with it. Dingy softness pressed into his back, with a firm shell underneath it.
Mike weakly clutched the sordid forearms. He closed his eyes and choked on a long, gasping breath as his body finally let him breathe again.
We've got you, Jeremy told him. Breathe.
Mike took a moment to refresh his lungs, his breaths occasionally broken with a choking cough. He opened his eyes and blinked a few times to wet them and allow his vision to clear. The endoskeleton still stood before him and still pointed at the tile. Around them, the games were rebooting again.
Vanna stepped in front of him, looking worried.
"Mike," she said quietly. "Are you okay?"
Mike shook his head. His head swam as it tried to comprehend what he saw. He always knew the hand that slipped away wasn't his own. The palm was too wide, the fingers too thick. Before, he assumed the twilight in the vision created a dark silhouette of the hand. But what he really saw...
"...No one…" Mike managed, trying to collect his thoughts. "That game…"
"No one what?" Vanna asked.
Mike weakly pointed to the endoskeleton.
"There," he whispered. "Fr-Freddy's there."
"Y-y-yes," Bonnie Wickes said, gently. "My Freddy-bear came, just-just like he promised."
Mike shook his head.
"No," he said. "There. That spot, wh-where he's pointing. That's where he's buried!"
The video game screens flashed again, then typed out another message.
YES. THIS IS
WHERE I'VE
ALWAYS BEEN.
Will's breath caught in horror as he looked from the endoskeleton to the floor beneath it to Spring Bonnie.
"I always thought he an' Greg just...finished settin' the foundation," he whispered. "I never thought…"
Spring Bonnie shook its head.
"Neither-neither did I," Bonnie Wickes said.
She let go of Mike, who stumbled forward into Vanna. She caught him and helped him stand, then pulled him toward the stage to leave Spring Bonnie with the endoskeleton. Spring Bonnie's right arm twisted again. Greg wailed in anguish.
"I trusted you," she said, bitterly. "I believed-believed you when you said Freddy n-n-n-never showed up at the bar, that you-that you thought he went home."
Greg tried to speak, but the words wouldn't come. A spring lock slowly coiled against his neck.
"No more-no more lies, Gr-Gr-Gregory," Bonnie Wickes threatened.
The video game screens flashed again to get her attention.
BONNIE.
Spring Bonnie turned to look at them.
PLEASE.
NO MORE.
The game screens retained their final message for only another moment before they shut off. All of the lights save for the emergency ones went off again. They flickered for a moment, then stilled. In the dark, the sound of metal footsteps started again. Old servos hissed. Joints creaked. Soft clicks and gentle whirs sang in a quiet undertone. The soft brown eyes came closer, then stopped about where Spring Bonnie stood.
Vanna simply held Mike to her for a moment. Will stayed nearby, aghast at the scene before him. The humans watched the endoskeleton move in the dim light. It wrapped its arms around Spring Bonnie in an embrace and angled its head in an almost kiss. Spring Bonnie remained still, either unsure of how to react, or caught in another battle between the ghosts.
A new voice spoke in a baritone to rival Freddy Fazbear's.
I'm here, Bonnie, it said. We're together again.
Mike perked as he recognized that voice, though it took a moment to place it. It had been a garbled mess on the phone, but the pitch and timbre sounded about right. A soft gasp crackled on Spring Bonnie's speakers, before the rabbit's arms lifted and awkwardly wrapped around the endoskeleton. The golden animatronic rested its head on the endoskeleton's shoulder.
"My F-F-F-Freddy-Freddy-beaaaaaar!" Bonnie Wickes sobbed.
The endoskeleton pressed its head against Spring Bonnie's mask.
We'll make things right, Freddy Wickes told her. And we'll do it together.