Oh my, several long reviews this time! You guys do so spoil me!
PK - SPRINGTRAP HUG MEH: No no! Don't apologize! I love it when people theorize! It makes me so happy that you read it let alone want to figure things out! Theorize away! It is more then welcome! As for your questions and theories, you know, tbh at first I was just going to cut the nights short and get to something that will be coming up...but now you've got me thinking, which may or may not be a good thing! We shall see! :'D. Thank you so much for such a long review!
Fantom Knight: (Fingers to chin) Hmm, maybe you are right about those suppressed memories, we shall have to see won't we? Also I'm sorry if Freddy's thoughts were confusing! Sometimes when I write it comes out as rambling, I hope it was understandable enough!
TU4QU0I53T4IAN6L3: Oh yes, trauma here, trauma there, trauma everywhere. Perfect little mess isn't it? This fic ain't labeled angst for nothing now is it? Yes, I honestly can't imagine what it would be like to personally go through that, thank goodness it's fiction am I right? Yes, father and son relationship forming and Acidrew HATES IT, so, that will be fun going forward. As for the mysterious girl? Well...we shall have to see hm? I'd say you are pretty close on ONE of your theories. Yes, Freddy is slowly figuring things out.
I hope you guys enjoy the chapter, there is a bit of surprise coming up!
I own nothing but my characters.
Credit to my bestie for all her amazing help on this story.
Warning for some descriptions of violence.
Chapter 45
Familiar Faces?
Fred stumbled forward as they reached the kitchen, audio receptors still buzzing from when Suzie had shrieked at the sight of them. He could tell his human companions were struggling a bit after the sound as well, as Ashford stumbled forward and leant against the counter, heaving for breath and rubbing his ears violently. Between the two Enix seemed to be faring better, he was already searching the kitchen for something they could use.
Fred knew what he needed to do.
Out of the three of them, he was the most equipped to face up against the onslaught of haunted bots.
He turned to face the door and curled his paws into fists. The toy bear was really lucky that Jake was so easy going, if the child wanted to he could turn on the humans easily.
Now, Fred wasn't the biggest fan of their night guards, especially the midget who reeked of drugs. But Enix wasn't half bad, the man made sure to have consideration for the children, and always treated the toys with respect. Something that Fred and the others in his generation appreciated.
Fred couldn't understand the fascination that the originals had with Leo. Why they insisted upon defending a very obviously erratic man. The older bots had always claimed how naïve and inexperienced they were due to their age. But now all Fred could see was the originals foolishness in trusting the man who freed...and defended the criminal that caused this entire mess.
Did they not see what he and his companions saw? Did they not understand that Leo was not a good guy?
Honestly, he would be out there with the others if it wasn't for the blue haired man behind him.
Because Enix was different, Enix was not a criminal, Enix did not pose a threat to children.
Leo did.
His unpredictability, his past, the reality of his emotional instability. He was not a safe person, and if Fred and the other toys had their way…
They didn't want him back.
When the door started to swing inward, Fred immediately went over and planted both hands on it. Pushing against the door to prevent entry of whomever was on the other side.
"***k, why is this so difficult?" Enix demanded as he shuffled through the cabinets looking for something.
"Well...we are being hunted by quite a few animatronics. I do remember it being quite difficult." Ashford mumbled, causing Fred to look back at him.
Right, by protecting Enix, he was also protecting Ashford.
Honestly...Fred didn't particularly believe the man, he had seen what he was like back then...but Acid was also a very sketchy person.
For all they new the two of them could be working together.
"Let me inside! They need to pay!" Screeched Jeremy, and Fred stumbled back as the door swung in forcefully.
"***t!" Enix shouted as he grabbed a pan from under the counter and held it up defensively. Ashford darted behind him as Fred recovered.
After being forced to back up Fred managed to stabilize on his feet and look up at the large rabbit that entered.
Jeremy ducked under the doorway and lumbered into the kitchen, behind him Fred could spot the others.
Would they make it?
His eyes flickered back to the humans. What could he possibly do? Up against all of the animatronics and he didn't even have the other toys with him! Anywhere they go they would be cornered...there was no way out of here.
"Enix! Behind you!" Ashford called and Fred looked behind him only to find Ashford trying to grab at Charlotte who had wrapped one of her spindle limbs around the blue haired man's neck. Enix had dropped the pan and was clawing at the thin arm.
Fred was about to go over, but he felt a large paw land on his head, his eyes swerved up to meet the magenta eyes of Jeremy.
"No, don't help them." He said firmly, but Fred looked to his right as he watched Anne enter the room.
The blue rabbit went over and grabbed Ashford as the Puppet dragged Enix out of the room.
Fred watched them both be taken and made a move to go after, only for a pressure to erupt on his head.
The plastic groaned under the force of Jeremy's paw squeezing. Fred's eyes slowly went up to him again, and he wondered if he would be able to unlatch his head before the child noticed.
"Don't try it..." the child warned and Fred tensed up.
"This isn't right..." Fred tried looking up at him, the glowing eyes gazed down at him and the bot shifted a bit.
"This is the deal they made with us. Enix chose to do this, we are just doing our part of the deal. Now come along." He grabbed his arm and hauled Fred out of the room.
They entered the main room, with Enix on his knees gasping for air, hands on his throat, Ashford was held by Anne and Charlotte was hovering before the both of them, sparks shooting out from her head.
"You both are terrible at this." She told them frankly, Enix let out a harsh breath.
"Well we have quite a few of you hunting us down! The odds aren't very fair now are they!?" He demanded looking up, but Gabriel scoffed.
"You are the one who made the deal in the first place!" He barked, and Ashford whimpered a bit from where he shivered in Anne's hold.
"Exactly, if you didn't like it, you didn't have to make the deal." Charlotte hissed, and Enix took a hard breath and opened his mouth but then Suzie stepped forward.
"That's enough! No more talking!" She turned and looked at Fritz, "go get two suits from the back." She barked, and the fox looked at her and then at the two men, his eye settling on Enix. Before he set his large jaw and left the room.
No one spoke for a few long moments, the tension growing in the air, Enix was still rubbing his throat as he watched all the bots around him.
However there was a sudden crashing sound, causing everyone to look at the hallway. There were a few ticks of silence before another crash resounded, a shout from an unfamiliar voice, and suddenly Fritz came barreling down the hallway, with another bot following behind.
Another...fox?
Everyone tensed as a strange, white and pink bot followed after it's red counterpart.
"Come on back my red friend!" The new fox barked as he followed Fritz into pirates cove.
Everyone stared, not sure of what to do or what the heck just happened.
That's when a man came running into the room, only to stop as he stared at everyone in the room.
Fred stared at him, he was pale and dark haired, in purple overalls and pants with a dirtied white tank top, and large welding gloves on his hands. His dark black hair was pulled back into a ponytail.
"Uh..." he trailed, but before anyone could respond Charlotte was in front of him.
The man jumped back gazing up at the puppet and gave a nervous little laugh. "He...heh...um, hi? What's uh….what's your name….? I...I'm C...Colt..." He introduced himself.
"Where did you come from?" Her spindle hands twitched and she started to raise them to grab his throat only to drop them and look over him at the sound of footsteps.
From the hallway, there emerged a purple bear with a blue rabbit replacing one of his paws. Following from above, as the other bot clung to the ceiling, there was an animatronic design they had never seen before. It appeared the most humanoid of all the bots, blue hair with jewelry, a pale white face with closed eyes and pronounced eyelashes.
"Uh...what..." Enix mumbled from where he was, he slowly got up, and no one cared enough to stop him. "What the ***l is going on?" He demanded looking at the man dubbed Colt.
The dark haired mechanic chuckled a bit and looked back at the bots and turned back to everyone.
"Err...I suppose this means we are in the only other location open then..."
"BoNbON! ThEy lOOK LIke mE!" The purple and white bear called in a distorted voice pointing at Fred and Gabriel.
Fred stared at the other bear, and he knew Gabriel was looking as well.
"Yeah...yeah they do Freddy, remember what we talked about though, inside voices okay?" Colt advised, and the visibly crazed bear looked at him and nodded clamping his mouth shut.
"No! Don't get distracted! Who are you all!? Where did you come from!?" Charlotte demanded, her spindle points curling into balls.
Colt jumped and backed up looking up at her again.
"Right...right, uh..." he took a breath and turned to them clasping his hands before him. "This is gonna be weird to ask...but we need help. Or...more accurately, I need help...and these guys need a place to hide. They are being hunted down...and if they are caught...they will be destroyed." He conveyed, just as a spark flew from Charlotte's head again, and she swayed from where she hovered.
"And why should we help you?" She asked with a hiss.
"...cause my brother is in danger...and I think a little girl is as well." He said, glancing at everyone. All the bots stiffened up and looked at each other.
"Wait, kids are in trouble?" Enix asked, stepping forward, and Colt nodded glancing at him.
"I screwed up, and now my brother was taken by my boss...I managed to convince these guys to stop hunting them down...but just as everything was fine..." he glanced back at the bots behind him and the humanoid bot dropped down from the ceiling, only to reveal that one of her legs was missing. "This...other bot came, he took one bot and ripped off Ballora's leg. And then my boss took my coworker and the kids with the help of...another bot." He then took a step toward Enix startling Charlotte enough to make her jerk back. "Please, I know this is weird and out of nowhere, but I'm not stupid, this guy is crazy and has apparently been torturing this little girl for years...I need help and these guys can't do anything with that other bot on their tails." Enix stared at him a moment before taking a breath and looking at Charlotte.
"Well, you heard him. Are you going to let us help?" He asked warily, Charlotte was staring at the ground thinking before slowly she nodded.
"Go." Enix stared at her and then nodded, he looked back at Ashford who Anne reluctantly released, Ashford looked to be thinking hard, brow furrowed deeply. But he came over to Enix and stood next to him. The blue haired man turned back to Colt who looked hopeful.
"Okay. We'll help you."
The dark haired man nodded and opened his mouth, but Ashford spoke first.
"I hate to stamp on this hopeful moment...but are we just going to leave all the bots here by themselves?" He asked looking at everyone along with the new additions. Enix looked around and took a hard breath.
"Right...right, one of us should stay here."
"No, I will watch over everyone. You need to go save the children." Charlotte said, causing both guards to look at her. Enix stared for a long moment before slowly nodding.
"Okay."
Leo didn't want to go to bed.
The day had been a good one. He and Scott played card games, watched movies and spoke, it was a nice and peaceful interaction.
The days weren't the problem.
It was when the nights came.
To say it was night probably wasn't very accurate, the sun was still up. But Scott had retired, said something about his joints getting tired.
Leo wasn't sure where he retired to, but he presumed there was a bedroom he was staying in or something.
However Leo didn't want to retire to bed.
He tried to convince himself that it was just nightmares, that he was fine, he was safe, and it wasn't like he hadn't had nightmares before. But as he stand in front of his door, his legs were locked and they refused to go inside.
He didn't want to face what happened when his eyes closed.
Or...maybe it was just something in that room.
Never did Leo remember actually falling asleep, and yet both times he was terrorized.
Was he finally losing it? Was his sanity fading from his grasp?
He wished he knew the answer, because as he stood Before the door to his assigned bedroom, he could not motivate his body to go inside.
Gritting his teeth, Leo grasped the edge of the doorframe and practically yanked himself inside the room. He wasn't going to let a stupid fear keep him outside all night.
It had been proven the past few nights that it had been nothing more then night terrors. Conjured by his mind over the events that had transpired.
It gave him a slightly unsettled feeling to realize just how terrified he was of the animatronics. To imagine them in such a horrific way...had he always thought like that...subconsciously?
With a breath, he padded into the room and took a glance around, hands curled into fists in an attempt to get them to stop shaking.
He was fine, he would do fine…
It was just a nightmare.
Leo would like to say that this night went better then the others, that he wasn't as frightened because of the firm mantra in his head that this was all just in his head.
But it wasn't a good night.
Foxy...or the nightmarish distorted Foxy was horrible. He was so active Leo barely had any time to check on Bonnie and Chica. Not only that, but he was starting to hear a extra pair of footsteps in the hallway.
He tried not to think about it too much.
Despite the difficulties, he was faring a bit better this night.
Using his substantially smaller body that he was sure was just a conjuration of his mind in this dreamscape…
He darted about the room, from door to door, looking back on the bed. He couldn't mess up, he didn't want anymore of those shadowy figures. They were bringing up strange and confusing feelings within him and if he could avoid it at all costs he would like to.
The bots mockery wasn't helping either. Bonnie and Chica were the most talkative, taunting him, mocking him, calling him all the things he scathingly called himself.
What's worse is their voices were no longer this distorted version of what he knew, they had cleared up and now sounded exactly like the bots at the pizzeria.
With the exception of how nasty and cruel their words had gotten.
At the moment, he was holding the closet door closed counting to ten, Foxy was in there, waiting, waiting for the chance his jaws could come down upon Leo.
The unemployed guard flinched hard at the memory of those teeth buried into his body.
He certainly didn't want a repeat of that.
"Oh Leeeeo!" Chica called, her voice breaking off into a high pitched noise that made him wince and curl in on himself.
His eyes flickered up to her door and after opening the closet and no longer finding Foxy there he darted over to it. The only good thing about them talking was he could quickly estimate where they were at.
"Why did you betray us Leo? Why did you side with that man?" She asked, and he winced at the hurt in her voice.
"W...what...what you were doing was wrong! What you did to him was wrong!" He countered, pushing the door closed and holding it. If she wanted to get in she could, they had proven this the other nights.
He hoped they didn't feel up to it.
"Says the criminal. Didn't you go to jail for doing something wrong?" She pressed, and he felt the door shudder and groan. He knew then that only the slab of wood divided them.
"Y...yes...but I served my sentence...I...I'm working on being better." He countered resolutely, and the giggle from behind the door made him wince again.
"Are you though? You almost had us hurt that man..." she trailed and he gripped the doorknob at the reminder.
"But I stopped you." He wouldn't let her get under his skin.
"Laddie...ya can't fool us..." the sea faring voice made his soul nearly leap from his body as he whipped around gazing at the closet wide eyed.
It was cracked, two beady red eyes stared back at him and he stared back in return.
***K.
"We know all that goes on in your head!" The voice of Bonnie made him flinch the hardest. Slowly he peeled his eyes away from Foxy and to the door across from him. Bonnie had it fully open now. he leaned against the doorframe like he was casually hanging out.
***t.
He was doing so well, he had spent too much time with Chica.
"You aren't my bots...they wouldn't...do this..." He murmured and there was a chuckle from each of them that made him flinch.
But he held his ground, holding the doorknob, despite how it had begun to rattle in his hands.
"Do you so easily forget the first few nights?" The new, yet all too familiar voice made him freeze in place. Slowly his eyes swerved over to the bed, only for his mouth to go dry.
There sat Freddy...but of course not the Freddy that he was used to.
Like the others, he was distorted, nightmarish, horrific.
He, along with Bonnie and Foxy gazed at Leo with hungry eyes.
"T...that was before..." he stammered, trying to hold his resolve. "You are all just n...nightmares." He bit his lip to keep it from shaking.
He really sucked at this didn't he?
"Perhaps." Freddy admitted, before getting up to his feet with unnerving ease, he came over and Leo was forced to let go of the doorknob as he leaned back gazing up at the enormous and frightening bot before him.
A clawed hand reached up and held his face, Leo bit his lip and did his best to inhale and exhale shakily through his nose.
Freddy leaned down holding his jaw firmly, the claws digging into his flesh enough to cause warm and wet trickles to run down his face.
"Or maybe we are real…? Do you ever truly remember falling asleep?" The bear's other hand reached up and lightly ran the claws down Leo's face, causing the man to shudder hard and squeeze his eyes shut.
This wasn't real...this wasn't real…
How did he keep losing?
There was a chuckle from the bear, and in one swift move, the claws that were holding his face suddenly pierced him. Leo let out a cry and reached up to remove the bots hand, but to no avail.
His weak and unusually small hands were o match for the metal hands of a creature built to be better than humans.
"Stop!" he yelled, pain surging through his system once more. "Stop! Please! I'm sorry! I don't want to do this anymore!" He screamed as the pressure and pain only grew worse on his face.
He was in a haze of pain, and was unable to notice the others coming over, or the door opening up behind him and Chica looming over him.
He failed to notice all of this.
His body shook, and he took sharp and quick breaths, yet he stayed still.
Somewhere in his head he knew that if he moved he would only make it worse.
"You are so mean sometimes you know that? Even when we did attempt caring for you...you always got mad and upset with us..." Chica trailed from behind him, but her words were foggy in his ears.
He felt multiple points on his back, a hand, it was over where his heart should be.
"I wonder if your heart is as black as they say bad people's are..." then she leaned down, her frightening beak right by his ear. "If you even have one at all."
Out of the corner of his eye he looked at her, she was looking at him with amusement lighting those red eyes.
The only noise of protest he could muster was a whimper.
He flinched when suddenly regular Chica was there, her purple eyes turned crimson as she gazed at him hungrily.
"I wonder if it tastes good." That made his stomach drop.
Just a dream...just a dream…
A quick glance at the others proved that like Chica, they were suddenly back in their normal and less frightening forms.
But that only made it worse.
They now all had red eyes, gazing at him with malice and hate, Freddy's hand was still on and partially in his face. Wet blood still dripped from the wounds, his body was trembling involuntarily.
"W...wait..." he tried as they drew closer, the pressure of Chica's hand on his back growing. "W...wait! J...just wait!" He tried, tears springing up in his eyes and blurring his vision. They spilled over, mixing in with the blood.
He tried to struggle, but Freddy's grip was impossible to break.
They all loomed over him now, red eyes glowing...and they started laughing again, laughing, giggling madly. Bonnie was smiling so wide it looked as though he won the lottery.
It's just a dream…
Pain erupted in his back as Chica pressed further, her rounded fingers replaced by the same claws that Freddy still had.
"N...no! No! S...stop!" He screamed, trying to free himself, but it was only making things worse.
Leo wished he could say he remembered the next part, that he grit his teeth and withheld a scream, that his knees didn't buckle and his mouth didn't release the blood curdling scream.
But it did.
And all Leo remembered was blood and pain.
However, as predicted, the scene once again changed, but suffice to say, he did not believe it was an improvement.
The pain did not go away, but it lingered, he was no longer standing but was face down on the ground. There was talking above him, but it was warped and garbled words he couldn't understand.
His vision did not clear, his back felt like it was on fire, and he did not have a shirt on.
Cold floors were under him, and he shook and shuddered with hard breaths. The hot and cold contrast helped to ground him in this new situation.
He was in a room with four or so other people.
Leo couldn't understand what they were talking about, but he had a sense that it was about him.
Anger was coursing through his body, like lifeblood it spread within him as he took deep and steady breaths. The pain in his back was almost a dull throb now.
As the world began to clear around him, the once black figures began to gain a more defined shape and color.
Three men….one woman.
Lifting his eyes revealed they all stood before him in a group discussing, and as the moments ticked on, their conversation became clearer.
"...I don't know what it is, no matter what we do he won't comply. He bit Sheryl the other day." One of the men said, a blond one on the heavier side. A rush of anger flashed through Leo in his voice.
"He is stubborn, but everyone breaks eventually." The brunette woman glanced back at him before at the three men around her, "how has he been around the other children?"
"Reclusive, the only interactions I've seen were them ganging up on him, making fun of his size, weight...etc, what children do and such." Answered the darkest man of the group.
"Hm." Hummed the woman, she looked at him again and rubbed her chin thoughtfully. He gazed up at her, feeling that firey feeling coursing through him.
But he didn't move.
Despite the fire, there was a certain chill that kept his limbs locked in place.
He was angry, but he was also afraid.
"He has certainly got a fire." She murmured, and the others looked at him as well. His hands curled into fists and his jaw clenched.
He couldn't explain where this anger was coming from, just that it was coursing in him.
"Yeah? We'll see how defiant he is after a few days locked up." The third man, a brunet, spoke finally. His eyes falling on Leo, his gaze invoked less of the fire and more of the cold chill.
He didn't want to be anywhere near that man.
Before Leo knew what was happening, he was half dragged, half walked down the stairs, a deep sense of dread washed over him, and he tried to pull against them, only to wince and hiss as the dull throb of his back raged against him.
It wasn't long before he was tossed into the cold and damp basement. The door shut and locked behind him, but Leo didn't race over toward it, instead he stayed on his hands and knees, panting and curling up more.
"H...hello?" A voice from the dark made him jump and jerk up suddenly, only to let out a hiss as the pain in his back flared. His eyes swerved around until, when he squinted, he could make out a figure in the dark.
He didn't say a word, and watched as the figure moved and came closer, within the ring of dim light illuminated by a flickering light bulb above them.
The kid was small, but still bigger than Leo's tiny form. And despite the entirely confusing situation he was in, this child...this child he recognized.
"Y...you just got here right?" The kid asked, and Leo nodded mutely, his eyes running over the child before him.
He knew him...he knew him…
How did he know him?
The distance between them was closed as the kid sat before him, a bruised eye and a red nose. He offered a smile, his dark brown eyes lighting up as much as they could in the dark environment.
"M...my name is Colt...what's yours?"
Gasp! A sudden merging of two fics! Yes, it has reached that point in the story...and yes, I am aware that the sister location fic is still in it's fairly beginning stages...and I will work on it!...eventually.
I hope you guys did enjoy and all the jumping around wasn't too confusing!
What did you guys think? You have any theories as to what was going on in Leo's past? Do you think when (or if) Colt and Leo meet that Colt will recognize him?
I'd love to hear what you guys think!