Hey guys, long time no see

Good god, how long has it been almost 5 years since I updated this.

When I started writing this, I was 15 and in my spring semester of my freshman year of high school (I think, memory and timing is fuzzy). Now I'm 22 and finishing my last semester at college. Time really flew, seven years doesn't even seem like that long of a time at this point.

I have a thousand reasons why I disappeared, and it kinda began with burnout. I was pumping chapters out so often that it became almost a chore. I loved writing this but for a while it seemed like it became less and less fun. The more characters I added, the harder it was to keep up with the plot. (I actually used to have a sheet with the names of every character and their status, ie what they were doing or if they were dead) But because I have been away for so long, I had to reread the entire storyline I created on here. In that time, if I'm going to be honest, I got cringed out by some things. Younger me was never clear on how these things happened, like how non-anthropomorphic animatronics can do basic biological things. I always wrote with a younger fanbase in mind, which is also why I toned back on the romance and shit. Around the time of "Our lives together" I was dating someone who was very much the classical fangirl and was a huge fan of shipping and stuff. A lot of my writing, during this time, reflected that. In fact, I plan on rewriting my original three stories to fix grammar issues and remove some unneeded details.

Also, on the topic of my base series, I have reached a point where I am looking for a publisher for Watchover. Its taken this long due to three rewrites. Many things have changed, from Watchers no longer using strictly melee weapons to Torcher-713 no longer being a part of the canon to a more existential threat than even Heterima.

This has been a long author's note, but I wanted to say something about my hiatus since it came out of the blue. With the fandom blooming again and new people following and favoriting my stories and profile, now is the best time to make a return. Let's do this.

Chapter 19

The chains, unbroken

Somewhere in the 3rd dimension

"What is your purpose?"

"To uphold your will."

"What is my will?"

"To sow chaos and unrest amongst the masses."

"What ends does this meet?"

"Their souls shall be feasted upon."

"Why do you follow me?"

"It is my purpose."

"Arise, Nightmarrione…"

Heterima's hooded silhouette stood apart from the hellish landscape around him. Acolytes, enslaved humans who had been turned into enforcers and soldiers, were marching through the streets below. Gunfire echoed throughout the night as the rain poured down. Heterima stepped out onto a balcony of his tower, a converted skyscraper that stood out as one of the only standing structures in the city. As the rain fell, Heterima removed his hood and mask. He sighed, feeling the water hit his face, and thought about home.

Our species were a noble people. We arose from lowly bipeds, were gifted the symbiotes from the sky, and became one of the most powerful species that our home dimension had ever known. We had a pillar of society dedicated to warfare, but we were not an aggressive people. Our galactic alliance thrived, with laws in place to dictate the workings of life amongst the countless beings that inhabited the galaxy.

Among those laws was the Pact of Androskikca, a ruling that no home planet would ever be damaged or destroyed. The Androskin people were a technological and enlightened people, but a release of a mechanical superweapon caused them to become paranoid. When they suspected a nearby civilization of being infested with the mechanical organisms, they set their homeworld ablaze. While they saw their actions as noble and heroic, the galaxy at large did not. Because of this attack, the now forgotten civilization declared war on the Androskins, who completely and utterly obliterated them.

Before the high council, the Androskins begged for forgiveness, but when traces of the machines did not come to light, they were punished. The high council imposed harsh sanctions and when they fought back, the Trikoditdes, my people, crushed them.

The galaxy was at peace for centuries, with piracy and occasional rebellions causing our military to take action. Despite this, our alliance was caught completely off guard when humanity began cutting a bloody swath across the galaxy. Our supreme military commander, K'lhotik, and its H'jerike, my creator, lead our military against humanity.

The war ended with massive casualties, every allied species had been driven to extinction. Earth had been destroyed, and our homeworld met the same fate. My creator was the last of our kind, with K'lhotik departing to find any survivors and never being heard from again. Then, my creator formed my siblings and I. We were trained to survive, then sent out into three new dimensions, each carbon copies of the original. We were instructed to keep humanity at peace, but once I saw the extent of evil that was in the world, I chose to impose a forced peace on them. After all, peace through violence was still peace, and humanity deserved every bit of violence I could dish out.

Of course, Heterima never saw his homeworld. Every bit of his people's history was learned through reading historical recordings, journals, or ancient manuscripts that his creator had collected. His foggy pinkish eyes stared towards the sky. He sighed, being a mutant meant that he was technically half human, at least biologically. He never could be a true trikoditde, not like his sibling or his creator. This fact only fuelled his rage.

His moment of silence was abruptly halted with a voice from behind him. "My lord, Nightmare Bonnie has engaged the watchers in Shevikka's dimension." Heterima snapped around, his teeth bared in anger. "Under whose orders? They were supposed to remain here, they jeopardized everything by being reckless!" The acolyte recoiled, backing towards the door, saying "My lord, Nightmare Fredbear ordered the attack. Shall I send for him?"

Heterima groaned and looked back to the hellish landscape before saying "No…I'd prefer to deal with this myself. You will accompany me.". At this statement, the acolyte nodded and agreed as Heterima fastened his mask and walked out of the room.

The two walked towards the apothecary wing of the tower, where the remaining nightmare animatronics were gathered around the desiccated body of Nightmare Freddy. The acolyte could feel the seething anger emitting from Heterima as they entered the apothecary.

"Ah, lord Heterima, how may we be of assis-'' Heterima locked the door behind them, turning to look back at Nightmare Fredbear. "Silence. Do you understand what you've done by sending Nightmare Bonnie back to my sister's dimension?" There was a long silence in the air, Nightmare Foxy stared in silence from the corner of the room, watching as Nightmare Fredbear cleared his throat and responded. "M-my lord, I did not know this action would offend you. Had I known… I would have reconsidered."

"Fear is a powerful thing, that is why you were designed as such. However, you must rely on it just as much as cunning. Which is why I noticed one of you is missing. Where is the plushtrap?" The acolyte hadn't noticed the smallest member was missing, but heard something scurrying in the rafters. Before he could say something, Heterima had caught Plushtrap in the air, who had attempted to attack him. "Treason… explain yourselves." Heterima said as he tore Plushtrap's head off. The nightmare animatronics, shocked, began pleading with Heterima, who approached Nightmare Fredbear. "Its just… we know about your plans with Nightmarrione, and we were trying to complete our mission without him! We didn't do anything to spite you, honest!" Nightmare Fredbear pleaded, backing away from an advancing Heterima.

"You defied my wishes. I tried leading your group with Nightmare, but when that went south and you sent Nightmare Freddy, I did away with him. You should realize that he was wrong, your souls belong to me, and I decide when and if you get back up when you fall. And now, you outwardly defy me by sending one of your own to attack me? An example must be made." Heterima shouted, disemboweling Nightmare Fredbear. He screamed in agony as Heterima tore him apart, the others watching on in horror. Once his head had been cut into, a light left his body, dissipating into the air.

"I do not need several rouge variables when I have one controlled variable. Nightmarrione will rise with your deaths. Now, my nightmare friends, goodbye…" Heterima glared at the remaining nightmare animatronics for a moment before exterminating them. The acolyte watched in silence as the Trikoditde destroyed every single animatronic.

Wiping the oil and grease from his sleeves, he turned to the acolyte. "My ring, we must retrieve it from the human I sent back to Shevikka's dimension." As Heterima opened a portal, he instructed the acolyte to retrieve the ring and return using any means necessary. As the acolyte crossed the threshold, he looked around. A dark alley was the ideal placement position, now he needed to find the one known as Sean and retrieve the ring. As he looked towards the shadows, he saw someone laying in the dark. Next to the sleeping person, he saw a pair of scissors, so he reached for them. When the man grabbed his wrist and struggled, he was killed, and the acolyte left the scene, scissors in hand. His mission was clear, and Heterima's choice to send an acolyte was wise, as he did not attract the attention that an animatronic would. As he walked towards the Laboratory at the end of the street, the rain poured around him. The darkness of the night sky masking his approach.

Hey everyone. I felt really bad about how long this took to get out, since I planned for this to be released like four weeks ago. College stuff and trips got in the way, but in the end I hope you all enjoy it. This is setting up something great, I can't wait for you all to see what's in store.

As always, if you saw this, thanks for sticking with me all these years. You guys rock.

-1287