Got No Strings
"What are you doing?" Jeremy raised his bat. "I'm warning you, stay back. I don't know what you're doing here, but I'm the night guard and I'm not going to be threatened."
Gordon looked at the bat. Then he pulled out an actual gun. A revolver. Jeremy suddenly felt cold. The two of them stood, facing off against each other. In that moment, it dawned on him.
"It was you," he whispered. "You're the one. You kidnapped those kids. You… you killed my brother!"
Gordon seemed to consider the accusation. Then, he nodded, a small smile on his face.
"Why?!" Jeremy roared. "Why did you do it?!"
The man unbuttoned his collar, displaying his neck. It was red and raw, utterly contrasting with the rest of his skin colour. Lines were dug into the area around the neck, like large fingers had been left permanently imprinted there. His mouth opened and, in a voice that rasped and wheezed from lack of use, he said:
"Pay… back!"
Jeremy realised what he meant. It something that had come to light the night before. Something called the Spring Incident, which had taken place at Fredabear's Family Diner. A child had been strangled by the animatronic, Spring Bonnie. What most didn't know was that this child had been pushed into Spring Bonnie by another, who thought that his terror was hilarious…
Brad had been the one doing the pushing and Gordon had been the child who had suffered as a result.
"Payback," repeated Jeremy. "You killed children, just to get back at Freddy's. My brother is dead, my friend is in prison, because you wanted some revenge." Jeremy shook his head. "I'm not saying I agree with what that kid did. It was dumb and cruel and it shouldn't have happened. But I'm not letting you get away with their deaths. You're going down."
Gordon snorted derisively and thumbed the hammer back on his gun. Jeremy acted without thinking. He darted to the right, wincing as the gun fired and the bullet whizzed past. But he'd gotten where he needed, behind the Bonnie animatronic sat on the table. With a heave, Jeremy shoved it backwards, towards Gordon.
It had the desired effect. Gordon jumped back to avoid the heavy robot and Jeremy took his chance. He ran out of the room. Another shot fired and missed. He pressed on, running down the corridor and immediately left into one of the party rooms. He ducked behind a stack of presents and tried to get his breath back.
Jeremy was willing to bet this was why the Puppet had agreed so readily to Golden's terms. He didn't need the synthetics to kill Jeremy, not if Gordon could be counted on to do the job for him. Make it look like the result of a break-in and cover it up that way.
He froze when he heard footsteps running down the corridor. He kept his fear under control and tried to think of a plan. He tried pulling out his phone to contact his backup but the signal was gone. The Puppet. If there was no word within ten minutes, they would respond and come in regardless like they had planned, using the key he had left for them, but ten minutes suddenly felt like a very long time. Jeremy checked the clock. It had been at least five minutes since the mission had started. That was still five minutes of waiting. Gordon would find him well before that.
He needed to face him. The most dangerous thing was Gordon's gun. He had to disarm him, get the drop on him somehow. He had his own weapon, that would help. A bat would be more effective on a human than a robot but he still needed to get close… wait, robot…
The Mangle! If he could get to her, if she wasn't deactivated like the other synths, she could help. The Puppet was busy with Goldie, so she wouldn't be under his influence. He hoped. Even so, she had helped last night and he'd seen that Vevina was still in there somewhere, still resisting the Puppet's control. At the very least, if he could hold out for ten minutes until his backup arrived.
Jeremy strained his ears for the sounds of footsteps but couldn't hear anything. Where was Gordon? That was when something occurred to him. The camera, hanging in the far corner of the room. Gordon had run past him to the security room. Could he see him or was Jeremy in a blind spot? He couldn't remember.
Something moved in the corridor outside. Gordon knew where he was. Very faintly, Jeremy could hear footsteps. They were creeping, quiet. Close. Thinking fast, he shoved the stack and they fell. A shot went off, Gordon caught off guard. Jeremy hurried at him in the confusion, swinging the bat at his gun hand.
The swing made contact, the gun skidding across the room and Jeremy bought it back, aiming for Gordon's head. It resounded solidly against Gordon's crowbar. He snarled, forcing Jeremy backwards and coming in with a swing of his own. Jeremy blocked it with both hands on his bat. He kicked, knocking Gordon backwards. The hook of the crowbar brought Jeremy with him and straight into the man's fist.
Jeremy yelled, falling backwards against one of the chairs surrounding the tables. Gordon had already recovered, raising the crowbar over his head. Jeremy rolled to the side, under the table. He climbed out on the other side. He stood up, Gordon glaring at him from the side he had left.
The fight froze. Gordon looked right. Jeremy followed his gaze. His gun. The table meant they were too far to swing either of their weapons and he couldn't match Gordon in a fistfight. He was fully grown and a foot taller. So Jeremy made a run for the door. Footsteps told him Gordon was making for the gun, but Jeremy had already fled into the Games Room.
He made for the show stage, hiding behind the curtains. At least he was closer. He could make a run for the back door, but he was willing to bet Gordon had locked it. If only he had another key. There was still Kid's Cove, but it was getting there that was the problem. Gordon was already on his way.
He glimpsed through the curtains. Gordon was standing in the doorway, his eyes scanning the room. Not looking his way, but he would find Jeremy soon. He needed to move but he'd see him if he did.
Then, a balloon burst. Gordon's footsteps could be heard, moving to the source of the noise. He would be near Billy, with his back turned. Had the synth somehow managed to do that deliberately? Regardless, Jeremy thanked his lucky stars.
He crept behind the curtains and crouched behind the merry-go round. He peered around, seeing Gordon near Billy and his balloons. Kid's Cove was past Billy, within Gordon's line of sight. He needed another distraction. Jeremy felt in his pockets and pulled out his wallet. Loose change wouldn't be much good to him if he was dead. He threw it back where he came from, as far as he could.
Gordon looked up at the sound and took off after it. Keeping low to the ground, Jeremy moved when he reached the spot and through the curtains of Kid's Cove. He hurried up to the Mangle, shaking her head.
"Come on, come on!" he whispered. "You've got to be awake, I need help!"
But the Mangle didn't move. Not even a twitch, just a lifeless pile of metal and parts. But he had no time to regret that now. He had to get out before-
Click!
Gordon was already standing in the entrance way of Kid's Cove. His brow was furrowed in annoyance at him and his eyes were narrowed. Jeremy cast his gaze around the room, but couldn't see anything he could use to potentially escape.
"Okay, now," he said, holding his hands up and backing away, "let's just think about this. You kill me, Gordon and people are going to ask questions. They'll wonder where I went."
Gordon started to approach Jeremy, further cutting off any chance of escape. His frown was turning into a very unpleasant smile. In response to his statement, he only shrugged.
"So that's it then? You're just going to kill me?" Gordon was halfway through Kid's Cove, the gun never wavering. "You know, people know that I'm here and what I'm doing. If they come here and find me dead, they're not going to be happy."
Jeremy didn't even really think that Gordon was listening now. He kept on coming, the barrel of the gun growing ever larger as he did. He stepped over one of the Mangle's wonky arms-
Then he fell to the ground, the gun going off and hitting the ceiling. He looked around, panic on his face. The Mangle had grabbed a hold of his leg, forcing him to fall. It was just the arm, no other part of it was moving but it was enough to stop Gordon and to frighten him. He turned his gun on the Mangle, firing his last two shots at the head and arm. When that didn't work, he whacked at it with his crowbar.
Jeremy waited until the gun clicked empty and he was swinging his bat at Gordon's head. With a satisfying thunk, it hit. He went for another swing but a wild swing from Gordon's crowbar got Jeremy in the leg and he buckled from the pain. A hand roughly grabbed the back of his neck and slammed his face into the ground. He felt a weight on his back and something was turning him over.
Gordon had managed to get free. His glasses were broken from the impact and his face was livid. Jeremy swung a fist at his arm, but Gordon only winced before grabbing that arm and punching him in the face again. He saw spots on his vision as Gordon took hold of his crowbar in his other hand. Jeremy went to shield his head from the blows.
"Hey! Gordon!" Susie's voice rang loud and clear across the restaurant. At her back were Jenny, Ernest and Stuart, armed with various weapons. "How about you step away from my friend?"
"I can't believe we're doing this crud again," complained Stuart, stood on a street corner and pulling his hood down lower over his head.
"You've said that three times already," replied Jenny. "You agreed to this."
"I know, doesn't mean I have to like it," he muttered. "All of this for some dumb security tape."
Susie just rolled her eyes. It had been a bit of a risk, but she'd come to clean to Jenny about what she was doing. Jenny was already convinced, due to her similar feelings of suspicion and she'd personally always wondered why her boss had an old VHS tape locked in a safe to begin with. When Susie had mentioned getting hold of the tape that same night, Jenny had asked if she needed any backup and said to 'leave it up to her'.
She'd been very surprised when Jenny showed up not only to offer her help, but with Ernest and Stuart, too. The former she could see, but Susie had no idea how she had managed to talk around the latter.
"I can be persuasive," she said in response.
Susie hadn't mentioned the AI or the synths to any of them, that would have been too farfetched. When she received the text from Jeremy that the mission was a go, she started a countdown. If they didn't get an update from him in ten minutes, they would move in. Jeremy had left a key for them near the door. They were all wearing full body clothes and gloves so they wouldn't be leaving any noticeable traces. Both the women had their hair tied back and in nets, all covered by hats and hoods. The only thing now was to wait and Susie really didn't like the waiting.
She looked around at those gathered. Ernest was sat against the wall, looking at his hands. Stuart was pacing back and forth, muttering and complaining to anybody who would listen. Jenny sat closest to Ernest, a comforting hand on his shoulder. Susie almost laughed at the absurdity of it. A few days ago, these people were considered murder suspects. Now, she was essentially relying on them to help stop a murderer. Funny how things worked out.
Susie looked at her phone's clock. She watched the seconds and minutes crawl by from when Jeremy sent his message. The instant that it hit ten minutes, she was on her feet.
"Something's wrong," she said at once. "I'm going in."
"Come on, that doesn't mean anything's really wrong!" complained Stuart.
"I don't care. If Jeremy needs help, I'm not sitting and waiting," she replied, hefting the duffel bag they had bought. "You all coming?"
Seconds later, the sounds of their footsteps trailing after her. She dropped the duffel bag with a heavy clank and found the key. When she looked back, the three of them already armed with their weapons of choice. Stuart and Ernest both had baseball bats. Jenny had a hefty length of pipe. Susie grabbed her own and felt its weight. Hopefully, she wouldn't have to use it.
She gave them all a nod and opened the back door, ushering them inside and closing it behind them. She was about to lock it when she heard the sounds of fighting nearby. She hurried away from the door, towards the sound, where they saw Jeremy and, to Susie's surprise, Gordon.
"Hey! Gordon!" she yelled, bringing her own length of pipe to bear. "How about you step away from my friend?"
The man looked around, lowering the crowbar that had been raised over his head. His expression was the textbook definition of somebody caught red-handed.
"Gordon," said Stuart, holding up his bat, "I don't want to say what this looks like but it really doesn't look good."
"Get off him," ordered Jenny.
"Guys," Jeremy said weakly, "it was him. He… he's the one. He killed-"
He was cut off when Gordon yanked him to his feet and pressed the sharp end of the crowbar into his throat. He held his arm in a lock behind his body, using Jeremy as a shield. There was clamouring, yelling at Gordon to let him go, if what Jeremy had just said was true, how could he do this.
Susie didn't feel compelled to say anything. Even if he could speak, she didn't think anything he could say would change what she knew right now: he was the one who killed William Davies and Robert, Jeremy's brother. Whatever his reasons, he had taken those lives and he had snuffed them out. That she could never forgive him for.
When she did say something, everybody else stopped talking and looked at her.
"No. No more of this." She locked eyes with him, thrusting her pipe out to point at him. "You're not getting away. You're letting him go and you are going to own up to what you have done, otherwise I am going to take this and shove it down your throat until it comes out of your ass!"
For a moment, he genuinely looked scared. Then he recovered himself and dug the sharp end a little deeper into Jeremy's neck.
"Okay. You've made your choice then." She lowered the pipe and held out an arm. "Everybody, back up. Give him some space. Make sure we all stay in sight of Gordon, we don't want anybody doing anything they shouldn't be doing."
"But what about your friend?" hissed Ernest. "He needs help!"
"It's okay, Ernest," said Jenny. "Susie's right, we don't want anybody panicking and doing anything stupid."
She couldn't see what the others were doing, but when Susie started to edge around, they moved with her. She moved her eyes from Gordon to Jeremy. He was scared, but he was controlling it. She had to give the kid credit, he really had guts. She had to give him an opening, get Gordon to lose his concentration, something to loosen his grip.
"I genuinely thought you were good. You stepped in to help that kid. What was it, were you bullied too?" she asked. Gordon gave her a silent snarl. "Oh, you were then. Those marks on your neck, they made you stand out, even more than being mute already would. Kids are cruel like that, aren't they?"
Gordon's glare intensified. His fingers flexed on the crowbar. His eyes flickered between her and Jeremy. She hoped she was silently communicating what her intentions were and that he would get it. Did he nod or was it just a twitch?
"Was it worth it, then? Did it make you feel better? Did it bring you peace or resolution or do you still see their faces? Hm, do you even care at all about what you did? I mean, you hate kids and Freddy's for what they did to you. This was just a chance for you to deal a blow to both, wasn't it?" She let a derisive smirk show on her face. "But we know now, Gordon. We know. The proof of what you've done is in that office and it doesn't matter how far you run, you will be found. I'm going to make sure of it!"
It looked like his grip might be loosening. Panic mingled with frustration was growing on his face. Jeremy tried to wriggle, but froze when the crowbar pressed into his neck a little more. He just needed that little extra push…
"What the hell is this?" They all turned to the source of the new voice.
It was Daniel, stood in the open back door.
"I saw you all, outside of work. I had a feeling you were up to something and I was right." He looked around at the scene. "What the hell is going on here? Gordon, what are you doing?"
Now, he looked truly lost. Gordon's eyes darted from Daniel to the door, his expression evident of trying to think of some way to explain things to his friend. Susie got in first.
"What does it look like, Daniel? He's holding Jeremy hostage and before, he was trying to kill him because he's the one responsible. He kidnapped and killed those children, then made it look like Mike was responsible."
"What?" Daniel looked genuinely shocked.
"It's true, Daniel," said Jenny. "We came in with Susie, saw him about to bring a crowbar down on Jeremy's head. I don't know for sure about the kids, but why would he be acting like this if he wasn't somehow responsible?"
Daniel's shock lingered for a long time on his face. He stared at their group, his eyes turning slowly to Gordon.
"Gordon… is this true?" The man answered with a desperate, pleading expression. "No, no, don't give me that. I asked you, is this true? Answer me!"
Gordon broke Daniel's gaze to look down at the floor. Then, he looked back up, his face set with determination. He didn't nod, or shake his head but Daniel seemed to take his meaning immediately.
"You… you lied to me." His voice cracked. "Gordon… I stood by you. After what happened at the Diner and then at Freddy's in '87, we promised we would bring them down. You told me you had dirt on Schmidt and those robots, that they really had done something awful. I trusted you and you lied to me! This place was supposed to be a fresh start, but now it's no better than Freddy's! You're no better than them!"
For a split second, they froze. Then, Gordon shoved Jeremy toward their group and bolted for the door. He knocked Daniel aside and took off into the night.
"Get back here!" he yelled. "Stuart, come on! He's not getting away!"
Stuart glanced around. "Uh, you want me to chase after the kid killer? Yeah, I think I'm-"
"Now, Stuart!" he ordered. He said it with such force that Stuart shut up and moved to his side.
Susie and Daniel shared a look. A lot of things can be said with just a look, if Gordon and Daniel were any indication. Susie couldn't be completely sure what he was saying to her and there were a lot of things she still wanted to say to him. For now, they had more important things to worry about.
"You'd better bring him back," said Susie.
"Believe me, I will," he growled and the two ran out the back door after Gordon.
"I'm going too," said Jeremy, starting for the door.
Susie grabbed his arm. "Jeremy, don't."
"He killed my brother, I'm not going to just-!"
"He killed William, too. That's not going to change and there are people who need us right now. Remember, we can't let this be personal."
"But…" He gritted his teeth and swore under his breath. "Fine. Fine! Can't believe you're trusting him, of all people, to go after him."
"Daniel always said he did it for the kids." Jenny came between them. "He said he didn't want something like '87 happening again and messing up other children. You can trust him as far as that." She looked to Susie. "You said you need that tape, right?"
"Yes, it has the proof we need to put Gordon away and clear Mike's name," she replied.
She nodded. "We'll handle that. Come on, Ernie, you come with me. I need somebody to watch my back."
"M-Me?" He looked surprised, but also very pleased. "Okay then!"
She smiled fondly at him and the two of them left for upper office.
"Okay, now we need to do what we have to," said Susie. "Did you get Brad's thing started?"
"I did, but then Gordon showed up. I don't know if he might have messed it up somehow," said Jeremy.
"I hope not. Let's get to Parts and Services."
"You are not going anywhere." Theodore and the others were stepping down from the show stage, white dots piercing the darkness of their eyes. "We will ensure that."
Susie looked around. Billy was waddling in the direction of the office door. He clambered up onto the Prize Corner counter.
"What are you-?"
"If you attempt to warn them of this, we shall kill them instead," he said blankly and then called out. "Jenny! Ernie! Help!"
Moments later, footsteps came thundering down the stairs and the door burst open. Jenny didn't even have time to get a good look around before Billy jumped onto her back, struck her once on the head and she fell to the ground in a heap. He hurried off to the side of the door and waited for the next set of footsteps.
"Jenny!" Ernest hurried and knelt down next to her. Billy didn't even need to reach up to give him the same treatment and he ended up on top of her.
He looked up at Jeremy and Susie eerily. "They do not know. They do not need to be silenced. However, you are a different matter."
The other three were slowly advancing on them, still dressed in their suits. With their black eyes, they went from family friendly to terrifying.
"Stay back!" cried Susie. "You're violating Golden's deal! She'll delete herself if you try to hurt us."
Clyde shook his head. "She cannot. Our master has trapped her. She cannot return her transmission signal to her AI core to carry out a self-destruct command. Soon, he will have her. Just as we have you."
"Guys, please," Jeremy begged, "we're so close now. We can set you free! Clyde, Hermy, if you're in there, listen to me! Theodore, come on, man! We just need a little more time! If Vevina could fight back, you can too! If he's focusing on Golden, he's not going to be paying attention to you! This is your chance! Come on! FIGHT!"
"We cannot-" Clyde suddenly halted. His head jerked. For a moment, his eyes flickered back to their normal green. "Jeremy? Kid, you'd better be-" He yelled and grabbed his head. His eyes were black again. "This is pointless. You will-" Another yell, back to green. "No! I let her down before, I'm not going to-!" Clyde was on his knees now, clutching his head.
Hermana and Theodore were going through similar turmoil, either on the floor or kneeling as they fought for control over their own minds. Susie couldn't help but be transfixed. It was truly horrible, watching them suffer like this and wanting to help, but having no idea where to start.
"No, no, no, no! No more, I don't wanna- AGGHH!" Hermana's hand reached out. "I must obey, there is no-" She yanked her hand back, smacking her head. "Stop it, stop it! He's my friend!" The black eyes returned. "Friendship means nothing, I must-" She was cut off by her own scream.
"Our master's will is known. It shall be-" Theodore grunted. "Come now, is there really any need for this unpleasantness? Surely, we can-" He hissed and stared blankly. "There is no negotiation, no choice, only-" He shook his head. "No, this is wrong. We can't do this to the boy, he has no-!"
"Jeremy! Susie!" It was Billy, calling from the front of the restaurant. "Save us! Hurry!"
Susie looked to Jeremy. He seemed rooted to the spot as well, clearly wanting to do something directly for the synths. She grabbed his hand and that snapped him out of it. Together, they ran towards Parts and Services. He slammed the door behind them, locking it and turning.
"Susie, look!" Another door had opened at the back of the room. "Brad must have kept his programme running! Come on!"
Jeremy yanked out the device with his free hand. The door slid shut behind them, closing with a hiss. At least if the synths did start to come after them again, they would have to get through that first. Lights triggered automatically, illuminating their surroundings. It was a small room, most of the space taken up by a few monitors and some equipment they were connected to.
And there they were. There were five of them, strapped onto what looked like dentist chairs. With their eyes closed, it was like they were asleep. A series of cables ran into the backs of their heads from a computer console nearby. Four of them Susie knew, if only from their colours corresponding to their animatronics. The only unfamiliar one was a goth-looking woman, with a half shaved head, fox ears and a cable running directly from her right eye.
"That one must be Vevina," she said. "Oh god, what have they done to her?"
"We don't have time for that, we need to wake these guys up." Jeremy marched to the computer. "Okay, last thing we need to do here." He pulled out a flash drive. "Brad told me this contains an activation code Goldie put on. We just need to put it in. You want to do the honours?"
She took it, gripping his hand tightly as she did. She brought it over and found a port to plug it in. The moment she did, the light on the screen changed to gold. It flashed vibrantly, the synthetics twitching slightly. All of a sudden, they jolted like they had electricity running through them and their heads shot up, eyes wide open.
"Where is he?!" demanded Vevina, pulling against her restraints. "WHERE IS HE?! I'll tear him apart!"
"Wha' in blazes?!" cried a man with vibrant red hair. Foxy, she assumed. "Where are we?"
"Who are y… wait, Susie?" The woman with purple hair, who could only be Bonnie, stared. "Is that you? And hey, it's… Jeremy, right?"
Jeremy and Susie exchanged a look of triumph between each other. But with impending doom on the way, there was no time to revel in it. Jeremy clapped his hands together.
"Hey again, guys. Long story short, you got caught, we know what you really are and we just set you free. Right now, your replacements are out there, probably trying to get in here and Golden is fighting their boss in a digital world or something, I'm not big on the details. Point is, she needs your help to take him down and we need to do it before his pals get in here or we're all screwed."
"Goldie? She's… alive?" Chica looked amazed.
"She is. She's the one who sent us and now, she needs your help," said Susie. "I don't know how you're going to do it, but she does."
The synths were only momentarily confused. Vevina had calmed down and was listening with apparent interest. They looked to Freddy Fazbear, who nodded.
"Understood. Right, everybody, we all know what to do. Let's go and help my sister," he said.
The five of them closed their eyes and their bodies stiffened. There was no movement at all, not even any semblance of breathing. It was rather eerie.
"I guess we just wait now." Susie pondered for a moment. "What do you think a battle between AIs looks like?"
"I can't really say." They whipped around when they heard something slam against the first door to Parts and Services. "But I can tell you what we might look like soon if they don't pull this off."
