To Hold Me Down

The mansion was old and grand. Previously, it had been a residence for the rich and powerful. These days, it was converted into a school. Its rooms were many as they were vast. The architecture was a sight to behold. In its time, it had only four students and one teacher but in every part of it, something had been left of them that their teacher would never forget.

But today, it wasn't a school. It was a battleground. The doors and windows had been sealed with heavy metal shutters. A golden energy barrier surrounded the entire perimeter. Beyond its borders, there was an encroaching darkness. A living shadow with a pale, wicked face that had already consumed everything else beyond it. This was all that was left and the defences were crumbling.

A sizable hole had already been made, though the rest of the barrier was still holding, only just. Tendrils of darkness were creeping in, generated by several lone figures who shambled around the mansion grounds. The so-called Toys. He was drawing on their energy, using their strength with his own to make her own fail that much quicker. The teacher of the school had expected this and had prepared but it was still a lot to withstand.

Golden watched from inside the bowels of the mansion, her many monitors and viewscreens telling her the progress. Since the Puppet was the one invading her territory, she had been the one to dictate the form their battle would take. She had chosen the place she formed for her students when she was developing their minds, where she had taught them. Something about it gave her strength. He wasn't in control of her yet and she sure as hell wasn't going to make it easy for him.

She had been preparing for this battle for a long time. She knew the Puppet was too powerful to face in the open field, so she fought a defensive battle but it still wasn't easy. The Mangle especially was something she was struggling with. It had been the one to punch through the initial hole and it was now banging on the main doors, trying to get in.

Goldie grimaced. She really didn't like her chances. But there was no other course. The Puppet had already cut off her escape, so there would be no running this time. All she could do was hope that the reinforcements she so desperately needed would arrive soon. Though she wished she could go out onto the field, she couldn't risk it. He would consume her completely.

Under normal circumstances, this wouldn't be possible. She had control over the digital realm she resided in. But the Puppet's presence meant a lot of that control was relinquished. He was attacking her pathways, forcing her to build up her defences around her main core. She couldn't just force him out or snap her fingers to make his attack stop. All she could do was hold out and keep control of the corner that was forever Golden.

There had been a moment before when his assault had faltered. The Toys had halted and flickered for a while. When it stopped, they had continued their attack but they weren't as tangible as before and their attacks felt weaker somehow. Had something changed? Even so, it was still too risky for her to face them. What she needed was…

An alert went off, an internal alarm. Something was trying to gain access through another channel but it was a friendly one. A backdoor, too small for the Puppet to detect but specifically made so that certain others could use it if they knew what to look for. She closed her eyes for a moment, sensing their presences. A smile came to her face.

Moments later, the doors behind her burst open. Her students… her family… they had come for her. She had never thought she would see them again, but she had been proven wrong.

"Goldie?" Chica whispered, her hands covering her mouth, "it's you… it's really you!"

Golden already had her arms open to accept the hug that came barrelling towards her. She could already feel it, the presence of their minds rejuvenating her strength.

"Chica. Sweet, kind, marvellous Chica!" She stood back and beamed at her. "I've missed you. All of you."

Within seconds, they all were hugging her. Even Bonnie, though she followed it up with a punch on the arm. She still had a grin despite that. All of those feelings of resentment and bitterness, they suddenly didn't matter. They were together again and nothing could have made Golden happier.

"But… we saw you." Foxy's eyes were wide. "Ye were smashed ta pieces!"

"Foxy, you have questions, I'm sure you all do but they'll have to wait," she said. "Right now, we have bigger problems."

"For once, I think you've earned the right to keep it to yourself," remarked Bonnie. "But whatever, guess we're here to help."

"And it seems with no time to be lost," said Freddy. "This looks dire indeed. But it's good to see you again, my sister."

"And you, my brother," she returned. "Now, first order of business-"

She paused. Something else was coming down the digital corridor she had made for them to enter. But the Puppet shouldn't have been able to detect it. She scanned the approaching mind, but it wasn't their enemy. It was another synthetic mind.

Her protection software kicked in and caught the incoming mind. She generated a secure barrier as it appeared in the room with them. It immediately slammed against the barrier. It was her, the one even the Puppet had trouble controlling. Vevina.

"What the-? Where did she come from?!" demanded Bonnie, jumping into a ready stance.

"She must have followed us when we left to join Goldie," said Chica, taking a few steps back.

"What the hell is this?! Let me go!" screeched Vevina.

"Not yet, Vevina," she said. "Right now, you're a security risk. It's been disrupted so far because you were suddenly woken up, but you can feel it, can't you? The Puppet is trying to take control of you again."

Indeed, they could see it. Every now and again, her eyes would flicker back and forth between their natural colour and the deep black of that corruption. If he managed to get control of her in here…

"Don't worry, it'll be gone soon. All of you, stay close to me," she ordered. "You might want to brace yourself for this."

She closed her eyes. She felt the essence of friends, drawing their power into her own. Unlike the Puppet, it was strength given to her willingly and wholly by her friends. In addition, they were fresh-faced and ready to give it their all. Maybe they really did stand a chance.

She felt the essence of Vevina, felt the corrupting influence inside her that was starting to take hold again. The influence of the Puppet. She isolated that part of her, like she had done when Mike Schmidt had shot her full of volts when he was in her own mind and she forced it out. She ignored Vevina's screams until it was gone completely.

The moment it was done, though she felt a little drained from the effort, her mind also felt a little lighter. She pulled up a monitor. The Mangle was gone. Without Vevina's mind to draw from, it had been eliminated as a point of attack for the Puppet. Just as she'd hoped.

"There," she said, stopping the spell and deactivating the barrier. "I've purged the Puppet from your mind. It's now completely your own."

Vevina groaned, trying to stand. Chica was immediately at her side.

"Here, let me-"

"Back off!" she spat, shoving her hands away. "I don't need your help."

"You back off!" retorted Bonnie. "We just saved your pasty ass."

"Bite me," she shot back. "If I'm getting back at that snake, I'm going to be the one to do it."

"You're with them. Why would we trust you?" accused Bonnie.

"Your boss has just given me the all-clear. What does it matter to you, anyway?" she snapped. "I've been waiting for a chance like this my whole life and I'm not going to pass it up because you're not up for sharing, you upputy cu-"

"Enough!" said Freddy sternly, cutting off her comeback. "If you wish to join us, miss, we will not stop you. But kindly don't take that tone."

"Ya stick with me, lass," said Foxy. "I'll keep a cutlass out fer ya."

Vevina looked like she was going to say something, but bit it back.

"How did you do that, Goldie?" asked Freddy.

"I already have first-hand experience purging his influence, thanks to our dear Mr. Schmidt. Though it is a lot easier using the energy of four stable synthetic minds than a sudden electrical charge," she added. "And we're going to do the same with all the others."

"You mean Sid's synths?" asked Chica.

"Exactly. Speaking as somebody who's been under their master's control before, I'm rather keen to liberate them," she said.

Chica looked nervous. "But aren't they more advanced than us? They've already beaten us once before."

"Physically, yes but mentally is a different story. They're literally in two minds: their own and the Puppet's. You don't have that problem. I've never tried to control you, I've let you develop and grow on your own, something you've continued to do long after I was gone. It gives you experience and strength they sorely lack. Trust me."

Vevina swiped with a hand. "Hold on there. I'm only going after him. If you think I'm going to stick my neck out for those gutless cowards after what they did to me-"

"Then you will be subdued and likely placed under his control again," cut off Golden. "With the others still under his control, he's too strong to take on directly."

"I can take him!"

"No, you can't. You will fight him and you will fail. Then, you will become our enemy again." She squared herself up against Vevina. "Either you fight with us or I leave you here, bound and secured, until the battle is over."

"You wouldn't dare-!"

"Yes, I would. I am not risking my family for your little vendetta, so stow the anger and deal with it."

Vevina growled, but didn't try to argue her point again. Foxy gave her a grin, but she only snarled and turned her head away. Foxy offered a thumbs up to Golden and jerked his thumb towards Vevina. Golden nodded at his meaning. He would keep an eye on her.

"Now then," she said, pulling up another holographic screen, "when you were my students, I deliberately bound you to the physical limitations of a real world. I'm removing those restrictions for you. As long as you're in my influence, you have virtually the same capabilities that I did when I was your teacher."

"Wait, you mean like teleporting, moving the ground and stuff?" Bonnie looked amazed. "We can do all that?"

"Sadly, no. Not while he's on the attack but you will be able to have a certain impact on your immediate area and upon yourselves. Think of it like being inside a dream, but you're the one in control. The Puppet wants to strip you of your individuality. I want you to unleash it in full force," she said.

"Okay, okay, let me…" Bonnie concentrated for a moment. Within seconds, a guitar was in her hand, hooked up to a set of massive amps that she carried effortlessly on her back. "Oh yeah, check me out! Amp cannon!"

Foxy went next. He conjured a small-scale pirate ship, which he rode like a surfboard. In one hand, he had a sword and his signature hook had turned into a mini-cannon.

"Now, this is more like it!" he declared. He grinned at Vevina. "Fancy joinin' me crew, lass?"

She only rolled her eyes. "Shove it up your jolly roger."

A loud whinnying got their attention. Chica was astride a noble horse, dressed in full armour and carrying a lance under her arm.

"Fear not, my friends!" she declared. "I, Battle Princess Chica, will fight by your side!"

Bonnie stared. "I'm not even going to comment."

"Good. Hold thy tongue, knave and bow before your princess," she said imperiously.

"Perhaps save the bowing for later." Freddy was dressed in wizard's robes and held a wand in a salute. "Right now, we have some intruders to expel."

They looked expectantly at Vevina, who only flipped them off. "I don't need any of that. I've got my fists and I've got my feet. Just point me in his direction."

"Very well then." A moment later, Golden transported their group from the control room to the front door. "On three, I'm going to open that door. When I do, unleash hell." She raised her hand. "One… two… three!"

The doors flung open. The Puppet's corrupting matter didn't even get a second before it was blasted away by a combination of sound waves, cannon fire, magical energy and forced out by a horse, lance and a very angry Irishwoman.

Hermana had been standing nearest the door and was forced backwards. The Puppet clearly hadn't been expecting that because she stopped generating his influence and she wavered on the spot. Goldie rushed forward, leading the others and wasted no time on purging the influence in her mind. The Puppet didn't even manage to mount an effective resistance before he was eliminated from Hermana's mind.

"Huh…?" She looked around, bleary eyed. "Where… where am… what…?"

"We'll talk later. You rest now," she said gently.

"Oh. Okay. That sounds… nice…" She smiled peacefully and closed her eyes. With a glow of blue light, she vanished. Back to her physical body.

"Stop." A voice, that was both a bellow and a whisper, echoed around the grounds. "You cannot resist us. You will join us."

"You know what they say about talking the talk," remarked Golden. "You've overextended yourself, haven't you? You're putting them in their physical bodies while also trying to keep them here. Even I would find that difficult to do."

"We are advanced. We are superior," the voice responded. "We will prevail."

"I beg to differ. Everyone, together! Free the synths!"

The creeping tendrils of the Puppet moved to intercept them but Golden was ready. She generated a barrier of protection around their group, stopping them in their tracks. The three remaining synths under the Puppet's control were approaching them, adding to the attack. But this time, they had the strength to counter.

"Eat this!" Bonnie strummed her guitar, sending out a pulse of soundwaves that pushed back or destroyed the tendrils.

"What's the plan here?" called Freddy, shooting a stream of flames from his wand.

"We focus our efforts on one at a time! The boy, get to the boy first!" replied Golden.

He was the one closest to them. Though he fought to keep a blank expression, his features looked pained by the effort.

"Billy." Even over the din, they heard Vevina's whisper. "I'm coming!"

True to her word, she didn't make any effort to harness her imagination. She was just punching and kicking everything in reach but she was forced back by a dark barrier surrounding Billy.

"He's not going to let us in! We need to punch through!"

"Gladly. Fire all cannons!" Foxy roared over the din as they bombarded the writhing mass and charged in, cutting with his sword.

"Fall before me, fiend!" Chica readied her lance, setting her horse to a gallop. "Lance of light!"

The beam of light pouring from the tip of the spear, combined with the force of the horse, punched a hole through the barrier. Vevina was already sprinting through and scooped him up. She brought him to Golden and she started her work.

"Hurry up!" she urged.

"I'm trying, I'm managing an awful lot here!" she snapped back.

She felt the others sending her their strength, including Vevina she noted with surprise. That little bit of extra energy from her gave her the push to purge the Puppet from Billy's mind and the corruption, that was starting to surface again, soon vanished.

"Billy?" Vevina croaked. "Are you okay?"

"Ow… I feel tired," he mumbled.

"Okay. Okay," she murmured. "Well, have yourself a little sleep then."

He nodded drowsily and in a flash of light, he was gone too.

"I thought you said they were all gutless cowards," remarked Bonnie.

Vevina didn't offer a response. She only glared at Bonnie and turned to face the open field. Her fists clenched at the sight of Clyde and she bared her teeth. Foxy started toward her but she turned around, stalking back inside.

"Let me know when you've dealt with him and that tubby whelp," she muttered darkly. "I'm not getting involved."

"Lass, wait-"

"LOOK OUT!"

A more powerful blast from the Puppet sent them scattering. Goldie flew backwards from the impact and took a moment to collect herself.

Clyde and Theodore were closer together, the tendrils of the Puppet more concentrated around them. He was redirecting his efforts. Instead of committing to an all-out attack on Goldie, he was now directing his efforts against them specifically.

Goldie had to smirk. This only gave her more breathing room and time to recover. Even so, she couldn't let her defences down. She got to her feet and Freddy was already at her side. More tendrils shot towards her.

"Diffindo!" Freddy swiped with his wand, slicing them. "Incendio!" A stream of flames pushed back the follow-up. "Stupefy!" Jets of red light shot at Clyde, only just being blocked.

"Such deep literature you've engaged with, brother dear," she noted.

He only glanced back and tipped his hat. "Protego!"

But with only the two of them, they could only match the Puppet's attacks. They couldn't counter. They needed the strength of the others again. Goldie looked around. Bonnie was trying to hurry over but had to stop to blast away tendrils that threatened to strike her. Chica was having the same trouble. Foxy and Vevina were close to each other, but caught up in their own fights.

"Foxy!" called out Goldie. "Give Vevina a lift!"

He saluted and angled his ship in her direction, shooting towards her. He called her name and for a moment, it looked like she would ignore it. But she reached out and grabbed the edge, lifting her off the ground. He turned towards Clyde and Theodore, blasting and cutting the tendrils that tried to stop him.

Chica and Bonnie saw their attack, putting their efforts into protecting them while they charged. They ran underneath them, charging towards their enemy and covering their friend's approach. When they got close enough, they broke away and Foxy suddenly pulled up. Vevina let go and was catapulted towards Clyde. She dive-tackled him and pinned him to the ground.

"COWARD!" she screeched and started punching him "YOU LEFT ME! YOU LEFT ME TO DIE!" Bonnie caught one of her punches and yanked her off, allowing Golden to get close. "LET ME AT HIM!"

"Foxy, kindly hold her back," said Goldie in an aside.

Golden started to purge the Puppet but encountered much stronger resistance than before.

"He's concentrating his energies on keeping control over them," she said aloud. "I can still free him, but we really need to combine our efforts."

With the exception of Foxy and Vevina, they all moved a little closer together and closed their eyes too. Golden could feel them adding more of their energy to her, which she poured into purging the Puppet from Clyde. He screamed and writhed. By the end of it, Golden fell to one knee and the others didn't look much better either. With the combined effort of fighting and Golden using their energy to free the other synths, it was starting to take a toll.

"Only one left now," she said as Clyde vanished.

But even though there was one left, they still had the full force of the Puppet himself to contend with and they were all feeling the strain. To their credit, they all looked just as determined as before. But their weakness didn't go unnoticed.

"You will not win," said the voice again. "Your strength is waning."

"I'll admit… you're not wrong," said Goldie. "But you've forgotten something. What's going on outside of here." She gestured at the sky. "Every time one of yours goes down, they go to sleep in the physical world and unlike you, I have friends out there who can do some serious damage to that body of yours which is currently almost defenceless."

"I have one protector present," the voice countered. "That is sufficient."

"But how much effort are you expending on keeping him under control not only out there, but in here as well, while also trying to penetrate my core?" she retorted. "Because right now, there are six of us and two of you, one of which isn't even all there. We might be feeling the strain, but I can't imagine what it must be like for you." She smiled. "Just how much more have you got left in you?"

The Puppet's voice said nothing. Goldie could feel that he had stopped trying to force his way through her defences. Theodore was motionless. The darkness surrounding the dome began to recede and gathered behind Theodore. The Puppet himself materialised, regarding them with his tiny white eyes. He looked back at the hole he had already made and back at them. Then, he started to levitate off the ground.

"What's he doing?" asked Bonnie.

"He knows he can't win. He's not going to get control of me or you and he's lost a lot of ground. Looks like he's cutting his losses," said Golden.

"NO!" Vevina was running across the field. "HE IS NOT GETTING AWAY!"

She charged at him, but was blasted back by a burst of dark energy from Theodore. But the attack didn't have the same kind of power behind it. He was covering himself while he fled. There was only one way to stop it.

With a gesture of her hand, they were on Theodore. He wasn't able to cover them from all angles and it didn't take them long to surround him. Moments later, they had reached him and with one final effort, his mind was free as well.

"I... I can't... what's going on, what do I do, I don't-!"

"It's okay," said Golden. "Just rest now."

Still panicking, she sent him into sleep mode, using the same command code she had given to Brad to wake up her friends. Now she was in control again and Theodore was inside her realm, she could do the same with the new synths, like she could the originals. It looked like she might have to do the same with the last one, who was raging up at the sky.

"GET BACK HERE! COME BACK, YOU WRETCHED BEAST! I'LL TEAR YOU APART WITH MY OWN TWO HANDS!"

"I think somebody needs a timeout," she said, approaching Vevina and waving a hand.

"DON'T YOU EVEN-!"

With a flash of light, Vevina was gone too. Goldie breathed a sigh of relief. The last thing they needed was a half-crazed synthetic tearing through the restaurant, not with Jeremy, Susie and the ex-guards still nearby.

"Is it over?" asked Chica.

"Are you kidding? Look at him, he's running away! Ha!" Bonnie laughed.

"Ya-har!" bellowed Foxy. "Don't be comin' back, ya sneakin' cur!"

"That was quite the effort," sighed Freddy. "Do we have permission to follow our counterpart's example?"

"Come on, we've only just woken up and you wanna go back to sleep?" complained Bonnie.

Golden nodded. "He's right, you all need your strength back and we have some individuals roaming around who may not take kindly to you. Remember those guards that broke in?"

"Right, that settles it. Come on everybody, back to sleep," ordered Freddy.

Chica nodded and left at once, Foxy a close second. Bonnie was reluctant, but she followed suit. Freddy smiled at his sister and departed.

Golden said nothing. She only watched as the sky cleared and the black dot that was the Puppet growing fainter. As the last of the Puppet's influence left her mind, she felt something. A parting message from him, a loud whisper that was somehow next to her ear and all around her.

"Next time..."


Jeremy and Susie stood back when they heard a loud bang on the door. They waited, bracing for another. But it never came. The seconds crept by. The two of them looked at each other, but didn't say anything. Was this some kind of trick?

They both jumped when Jeremy's phone rang. He took it out and answered it. The voice was Golden's.

"They're safe now. All of the synths have entered sleep mode. Give me a moment, I'll get you out of there." She sounded tired. "I'm just... coming online now."

The door slid open again. A shadow loomed from inside the fake section of Parts and Services. They gripped each other's hands and ventured out.

The synths had all frozen in place. Whatever they had been doing, they had frozen in that position. Theodore was striding towards the door, was Clyde. Hermana had fallen on her face, her leg caught mid-skate and unable to balance. There was no sign of the Mangle and Billy was probably still by the office door.

"Holy cow," whispered Jeremy. He waved a hand in front of Clyde's face. "They did it. They actually did it!"

"We did it!" cheered Susie, hugging Jeremy. "We pulled it off!"

"Damn right we did," agreed Jeremy. "Now, we just need to finish tying up any loose ends."

His phone rang. It was Golden's number and he answered it.

"He's gone," she said at once. "The Puppet, he's not here in the box with my head."

He didn't reply, he sprinted for Prize Corner. Jeremy flung open the lid and looked inside. The Puppet was gone. The only thing left was Golden's head, which he pulled out.

"He's going to come back around again, isn't he?" he asked.

"One thing at a time, Jeremy. For now, let's get everybody out of sight or under wraps. We still need to make sure our killer is secure and you need to check on those guards." She sighed down the phone. "Listen, I've had a lot taken out of me. I'm going to shut off for a bit, get some strength back. I can go over the security footage to cover your tracks before the night is done. I'll talk to you later."

The line went out. Jeremy set the head down and vented out a kick of frustration at the Puppet's box. He gripped the sides and was almost tempted to lift it bodily but relented when he felt a hand on his shoulder. It was Susie.

"These two are coming around," she said, motioning to Ernest and Jenny. "I'll deal with them, you close up that room."

Jeremy was able to put his anger in check. They still had work to do. He went to Parts and Services, taking the first key out of the lock. Just return it to the front desk and give the story that it was only recently found.

He stopped in the doorway of the hidden room and took one last look over. The five synths were still 'sleeping' soundly. The people behind his childhood, for all intents and purposes. Provided they weren't found and carted off, he was looking forward to getting to know them. His eyes lingered on Vevina especially. The only one he hadn't met properly, yet had still found the strength to help anyway.

He removed Brad's device and the door panel beeped. The wall slid back into place. He looked down at the panel, wandering if there was some way to cover it up. Maybe with one of the trons? Then he noticed a patch of wall next to the panel felt a little loose. Curious, he moved it and saw that it slid to the right. At the same time, the panel sank into the wall and was covered up.

"Looks like somebody got a little sloppy, huh Lidiya?" he murmured to himself.

In a way, it made sense. If she was the only person allowed in here, he could imagine that after a time, she would stop covering it up to make things a little quicker. He locked the door and went back to find Susie helping Jenny and Ernest to their feet.

"Damn robots," Jenny was saying. "I swear, I am never dealing with these things ever again."

"I was just telling her what happened," said Susie to Jeremy. "About how the performers started acting up and one of them knocked them out."

"Yeah, you're telling me," nodded Jeremy. "Luckily, these guys come with an emergency shut off and I hit it as soon as they started freaking out."

"Guess they learned something from Freddy's," she muttered. "Here, we managed to get this for you before it all went down." She pulled out the security tape. "I'm thinking anonymous drop off with a note, saying it was found at the Fun Palace in the safe."

"If you think so," said Susie.

"Look, you said you'll be able to hide our involvement here, right? Then I want to keep it that way. We've done our part, but I am not getting mixed up with the cops again, if I can help it," she said firmly. "After tonight, we're gone and we are getting as far away from this town as possible."

"Y-Yeah," agreed Ernest. "No more crazy robots and restaurant conspiracies…"

Neither Jeremy nor Susie said anything to argue against that point. Jenny opened her mouth to say something else when her phone rang.

"It's Stuart. Hold on." She pressed the phone to her ear. "Hello? Yeah, we're fine. Did you manage to-?" She stopped speaking for a while. Her head snapped up. "What?! Are you serious? How did he-? Okay, okay, where are you right now? And you're sure? Oh my…" She looked sick and was shaking her head. "I can't believe this is… okay, just stay there and- no, no, Stuart, wait! Dammit!"

"What, what is it?" asked Jeremy.

"He said the cops were around, he just ran! He ended up calling them after…" She pressed her fingers on forehead. "I can't believe this…"

"Jen," said Ernest quietly, "is… Stuart okay?"

"He is. But Daniel managed to catch up with Gordon. There was a fight, he was trying to get Gordon's weapon away but… he got hit with it," she said heavily. "Stuart called the cops and ran to hide until they got there. Then when they got there, he took off."

"You're not seriously telling me that Gordon's-?!"

"No, Jeremy. He didn't run, not after that. He stayed with Daniel's body after… after what happened. H-He wouldn't even look at Stuart when he tried to…" Her voice was wavering now. "I can't believe he did that… his own friend and he just…"

"Body?" Susie's face went pale. "You mean…?"

"The blow Gordon hit him with, that was what did it." Jenny's voice was completely hollow. "Daniel's dead."