Left Behind

Jeremy found it odd how despite how similar his current situation was to a few days ago, there were key differences. Once again, he was in a stolen truck with the synths and Lidiya on the wheel. But this time, they weren't running away. They had come right back around and this time, they were going to win.

He ran a hand over the faceplate. He'd been amazed at the job Lidiya had done in repairing it and in such a short space of time too. Goldie actually working with her and not just hurling abuse probably helped too. Regardless, he was grateful and all the more eager to bring down Sid's factory, not just sneak into it. Even though the man was no longer their main concern, it would still feel good.

"Pretty funky how things have turned around, huh?" Hermana tapped one of the plates. "First, it was us synths hidin' inside suits and pretendin' to be bots. Now, it's the humans in the suits and tryin' to be like bots."

"It is funky," agreed Billy. "But I like it. It means you're safer than you were before."

Jeremy chuckled. "About as safe as you can, about to break into a factory churning out evil robots."

"Yeah, but that's fine. You've got us right there with you." Billy waved his little fists. "I'll be sure to break lots of stuff for Vevvy, since she's not here."

"You and me both, little man." Clyde bumped his fist and grinned. "They're not going to know what hit them."

"Indubitably!" crowed Theodore from the passenger seat.

"I have to admit," said Lidiya, "it's almost a shame to have to shut down all of that equipment. I mean, I helped to keep a lot of it running, you know."

"Eh, call it another funky turnaround," said Hermana. "Besides, it'll be fun! We didn't get to tally up our scores last time, so we start from scratch and go again."

"Oh, you are so going down," said Clyde. "I'm not going easy on you this time, Hermy."

She giggled. "Funny, I was gonna say the same to you, Clyde."

"Oh no she didn't!" cheered Billy.

"Don't worry, I think there's going to be plenty to go around," said Jeremy. "So Lid, all we need to do is get you into Sid's office and that's it?"

"Pretty much," she said. "It's behind a panel in Sid's office. Pull that and the entire production line shuts down."

Clyde rolled his eyes. "Why do I get the feeling it's not going to be that easy?"

"'Cause you're a grumpy guts who always thinks bad stuff's gonna happen," said Hermana.

"Yeah, because it usually does," he retorted.

"See, there ya go again. Mr Grumpy Guts."

"I'm not being grumpy, I'm being realistic. Better than having your head in the clouds."

"Now, now, you two," said Theodore. "Perhaps a middle ground of sorts can be found here. Let's hope that the shutdown works, but be prepared in case it doesn't."

"Yeah," agreed Billy. "If something like that does happen, Lidiya can help us find another way."

"Sure can," she said. "Don't worry, I've got inside knowledge. If worse comes to worse, we'll find a workaround. But it should be fine. The shutdown can't be accessed digitally, so not even an AI could stop it if it does get put into action."

"That doesn't mean they can't stop us from getting to it," said Jeremy. "Now Spring's put his plan into full swing, that place is probably going to be churning out extra bots for him. Get ready for a fight."

"What if they have one of those Nightmare things?" asked Hermana. "Not lookin' forward to havin' to deal with them."

"Remember what Goldie said: most of them will probably with Spring, attacking the town. But that doesn't mean they'll all be gone. If we do, we work together to bring it down or we try and get through to them, depending on which one."

"Uh-huh." Clyde glanced around for a moment. "Look, Jeremy, I know about what you think happened at the house but-"

"No, don't even say that. I know what happened," he snapped. "That Nightmare said my name and we know what's powering them now. What's left of my brother is inside it and he recognised me, I know he did."

"Be that as it may," said Theodore, "it also attacked you shortly afterward. I know you want to believe there's hope to do something for your brother, Jeremy but I fear it may be too late."

Jeremy shook his head. "If you want to believe that, fine. But I'm not going to give up until I know for sure."

"Then we won't either." Billy came over and took Jeremy's hand. "If you think you can help Bobby, then we will too."

"Billy-"

"No, Clyde. Jeremy helped us, remember? Back when we thought we were all trapped and we'd never get out. But we did and it was because of him. He didn't have to, but he did. So if we can help him save his brother, save all those kids, then that's what we're going to do."

Clyde started to speak a few times, but was stopped each time by the look that Billy gave him. Eventually, he sighed.

"You're very hard to argue against, you know that?"

Billy beamed proudly. "Yep."

"Okay, guess that's what we're doing. I don't know what we're going to do, but we'll do it." Clyde looked at Jeremy. "I hope you're right about this, man."

"Yeah, me too. Thanks though."

"Hey, we should be the ones thankin' ya, Jer-Bear!" Hermana gave him a hug. "We were all just a bunch of broken screw-ups 'till you came along. Whatever happens, you're stuck with us."

"Yep, you are." Billy hugged his legs. "You can always count us."

"Depends on how I'm feeling." Clyde flashed a smirk. "No, but seriously, we've got your back."

"And the rest of you as well!" added Theodore. "No matter where you are or what you decide to do, we shall be at your beck and call. Through thick and thin until the bitter end, my young friend. That is our most solemn vow to you, one that shall never be broken!"

Clyde raised an eyebrow. "Overdoing it a bit, don't you think, Ted?"

"Possibly, but blast it all if I am, Clyde!"

"Thanks, guys." He opened his faceplate to look over them all. "It's been one hell of a ride and despite everything that's happened, I'm glad I could take it with you all. Still think they're 'just machines', Lid?"

She laughed. "We're well past that. But if you ever do need someone to give you guys the once over, just let me know. Least I can do, after everything."

"Aww you're a sweetie, Lid! Thanks! Hey, you're definitely comin' along on the girl's night out. I'll text you the details later!"

She looked into the back. "Hermana, do you even have a phone?"

"No, why would I need that?"

"I…" Lidiya shook her head. "I'll tell you later. We're coming into the city now, won't take us long to get to the factory."

"There doesn't seem to be any sign of disturbance here," said Theodore. "It all seems rather normal."

"Everything Spring is doing must be happening in the town," said Billy. "They probably don't know anything is happening yet, but if Spring decides he wants to spread his party to here as well…"

"We need to stop him." Jeremy walked up to the front. "I remember seeing some alleys next to the factory. Park us in there and we'll head up over the wall."

They continued the rest of the drive in silence. Jeremy caught a glimpse through the gap at the streets outside. Theodore was right. It was just people going about their normal lives. They had no idea how much danger they were potentially in. But if they were successful, they would never have to know.

Lidiya backed the truck so the end came out into the alley, the wall on one side and the neighbouring building on the other. They worked together to hoist each other up and over, landing on the other side. There didn't seem to be any sign of the bots patrolling the exterior. The hole they'd made during their first escape had only been partly covered. That gave them a way inside.

"So, the stealthy approach?" asked Theodore.

"No time. That place is going to be too locked down and they're counting on us to get this done quickly," said Jeremy. "Compared to synths, these bots are pretty easy to take down. We hit them hard and fast, get in there and out before they can mobilize. Hermy, Billy, you two get Lid up to the office. We'll hold their attention and meet up with you there."

"Okay-dokey!" Hermana approached Lidiya. "Hope ya don't mind, but it's quicker if I carry ya."

She nodded and Jeremy caught a small blush in Lidiya's cheeks when Hermana scooped her into her arms.

"Ready?" Everybody nodded. "Okay, let's do this!"

"TALLY BALLY HO!"

With that battle cry, Theodore lowered his shoulder and charged alongside Jeremy. The two of them crashed through the rough barricade that served to cover up the hole, knocking aside two bots as they did. Another turned to face them, but Jeremy had already grabbed it and smacked it to the ground.

Another two came running, but Clyde bounded over their heads. He landed his feet on top of both bots, forcing them to the ground. With a yell, he crushed both of their heads with his feet and bounded backwards. More of them were coming. It was then Jeremy noticed their eyes were glowing white.

"They're under the Puppet's control!" he yelled. "I thought he was meant to be helping us!"

"I can't say I'm very surprised either way!" Theodore bumped into a bot with his belly, sending it reeling. "Unless Spring has potentially done something to him!"

"Who cares?!" Clyde jumped from the grasp of a bot before springing back and kicking it. "Means I get another excuse to throw him through a window!"

Jeremy silently agreed, but that still threw something of a spanner in the works. They had banked on the Puppet no longer being a factor and if he was still here, had changed his loyalties again… well, it was too late for that now. They'd deal with him if they had to.

He glanced to see Hermana zooming past with Lidiya in her arms and Billy riding on her shoulders. She weaved and dodged around the bots trying to grasp for her, knocking one of them over that was in her way. They barged through the door at the far end and out of sight.

Jeremy felt something heavy thud on top of him, then another and several more. The bots were jumping down from the catwalks above. Jeremy tried to swing his arms, but two of them were already pulling down on them. The rest were either hitting him or trying to pry away the metal plates of his suit.

"Oh no you don't!"

They hadn't gotten hold of his legs yet. He swung his right leg at the same time as his right arm. He kicked the bot where its pelvis would be, knocking it off-balance enough that he threw it off him. He punched the one holding his left arm, but more of them were jumping down, even partly completed from the assembly lines. They cranked and wheezed, relentlessly churning out more of them.

"We're too exposed out here!" Theodore boxed down a bot, but three more took its place. "I propose a retreat into a more sheltered area, gentlemen!"

"Back through there!" Clyde jerked his head back to a nearby door at their rear. "Least they won't be dropping on our heads!"

"Good idea! We can head upstairs from there and link up with the others!"

The doors burst open and a squad of bots filed through. Clyde bounded up and landed on the centre-most bot. The others turned to attack, but had their backs to Jeremy and Theodore. They tore through them, hurrying off the factory floor. Theodore heaved a stack of crates next to the door, causing them to fall and bar the way. Parts for bots rolled out as a few of them fell open and spilled their contents.

Spying a staircase, the three men hurried for it. The bots advance had been slowed by the barricade and the majority had jumped down from the upper levels, but Jeremy knew it wouldn't take them long to regroup. They hurried through the offices, only to find the advance party stuck outside the security doors.

"We can't get these open!" Hermana was trying to ram it. "It won't budge!"

"I could override them from out here, but it'd take some time," said Lidiya, crouching by a panel next to the door.

There was a collective grinding of gears and whirring from the factory beyond. The bots either started climbing up or approaching down the hall.

"We may not have time," said Clyde.

"Wait, I've got it!" Billy jumped up and down. "Boost me up to the vent! I can crawl through and get us in!"

Jeremy looked up. There was indeed a vent cover right above them. Clyde sprang up and tore it open. Jeremy knelt and let Billy step onto his hands, then lifted him up to the vent. He hopped to reach it and scrambled inside.

"I'll be quick!" They could hear him clanging around inside as he moved.

Meanwhile, the first wave of bots was nearly upon them. The corridors had confined them slightly, so they had to bunch up next to each other. That would make them easier to handle at least. Jeremy crouched into a stance, but Hermana stood in front of him.

"Boys?" She held her arms out. "Boost me!"

Theodore and Clyde seemed to grasp her meaning. They took hold of her arms, pulled her back and pushed her down the corridor. With a trilling squeal, she shot straight at the bots and sent them falling like dominoes. She kicked off another and skated back the other way, but not before a fallen one grabbed her ankle.

"Hey!" She almost fell, but kept her balance. "Oh no, I'm not fallin' for that again!"

She clicked her heels and the wheels went up into her shoes. With stable footing, she kicked the bot's head off like a football and yanked her leg out of its grip.

"Good show, Hermana," said Theodore as she skated back over.

"His own fault for bein' too grabby," she huffed lightly. "Goin' for my ankles and not even buyin' me dinner first. So trashy!"

"Preach!" said Lidiya.

"Well, looks like you're going to get another chance to remind them of their manners." Clyde nodded at the bots getting back up or replacing the ones knocked down. "Here they come to ask you out again."

"Sorry fellas!" she yelled. "I already got a date lined up after this!"

This didn't deter the bots, continuing their mindless advance towards them. Then Jeremy heard the security door open and Billy frantically ushering them inside. He slammed the door shut again when they were all inside, Lidiya isolating the controls from any interference.

"Okay, let's bring this place down!" She slid her hands along the wall before stopping and pressing part of it. It popped out and a large lever emerged. "Shutting down!"

Grunting with effort, she pulled it down. The lights dimmed and the sounds of the machinery below ground to a halt. Even the bots outside sounded like they'd stopped moving. For a moment, Jeremy dared to believe they'd been successful.

But then the lights flared back on. The machinery started moving again. The bots resumed their advance and by the sound of it, were trying to get inside.

"I get the feelin' that's not what should have happened," said Hermana.

"No, no, no!" Lidiya clutched her head. "That should have worked! Why didn't it work?! Okay, okay, let me think…" She started muttering under her breath and snapped her fingers. "Backup generators. The shutdown only cuts off power from the mains, they must be running it down there."

"You mean we just spent all that time getting in here and have to go downstairs again?" Clyde groaned. "I hate it when I'm right."

"If the Puppet is against us again, then I would wager he's down there too," said Theodore. "This is, in all likelihood, a trap."

"I figured that. But we know he can be beaten now. Clyde's already done it." Jeremy clenched his fist. "So let's go and show him that you're not his to control anymore."

They looked frightened still. Jeremy couldn't really blame them. But none of them tried to argue against it. He looked at Lidiya.

"If you want, we can see about getting you out of here. You can tell us where the generators are and we can take it from there."

"Not a chance," she said at once. "You might need me down there and I'm not running away when we've come this far. To the bitter end, right Ted?"

"Indeed, though I would rather avoid it if possible," he replied.

"Well first," said Clyde, "we need to see about actually getting out of here. Those bots know where we are now and they won't exactly just leave us here."

"Then why are they doing it right now?" Billy was pointing at the door.

Through the window of the factory floor, they could see the bots were indeed moving away from the security doors. They looked like they were going somewhere towards the rear of the factory.

"Where're they all goin'?" asked Hermana.

"Probably where we're going," said Clyde. "He's bringing them all down there with him."

The moment he said that, the monitor on Sid's desk turned on. Jeremy recognised it as the Puppet's room. But it wasn't the Puppet that was stood in front of the box. For a moment, he thought it was Freddy Fazbear in his old costume. But the surface was much more smooth and shiny, more like metal than synthetic fur. The colour was different, a dark grey with red around the accessories. It was staring blankly at them with one dead-looking eye.

"Who the devil is that?" asked Theodore. "What's the matter with his left eye?"

"Maybe he's a lefty." Clyde snickered. "Get it? Lefty? Because his eye is-"

"Yes, we got it," groaned Theodore.

"Yeah and that's mean!" Hermana slapped his shoulder. "Ya can't make jokes about someone missin' an eye!"

Clyde groaned. "Come on, he's probably one of the bad guys! Don't tell me you're actually-!"

"It's him," Billy whispered. "It's the Puppet."

"What?" Lidiya frowned at him. "How do you know?"

"Like Teddy said, the Puppet is probably down there. But he isn't that guy is. We know that Spring made new suits for the synths made for him to trap them and make them do what he wants." He pointed at the screen. "He must have done the same for the Puppet."

"That actually does make sense," agreed Clyde. "And we're still going down there?"

"We have to and he knows it." Jeremy walked to the door. "Let's not keep him waiting."

He opened it. The bots didn't attack. They just stood and stared. He led the way, the others falling into step with him. The bots stood in tight rows, fencing them off from other parts of the factory. Like they were being herded towards where the Puppet wanted them to go. Many more waited behind them, silent as statues. It was only now that Jeremy could see just how many.

They could have started fighting again. But they would be overwhelmed in seconds and Lidiya didn't have the protection that he did. So much for being quickly in and out. He cursed himself for his earlier decision. If he'd known what had happened to the Puppet, that he'd still be involved in this… still, it was done now. They'd just have to deal with it. He just hoped nobody would get hurt because of it. Or worse.

The lines of bots led them back down to the maintenance tunnels into the testing area, all the way into the room where the Puppet called his own. His box was still there and so was he. Jeremy could almost feel his eyes, staring at them from inside that bear suit. He didn't know if it was more or less unnerving than his usual appearance.

"Alright, here we are," he said. "What do you want?"

He said nothing. Instead, he pointed to the monitor. A basic outline map appeared, one depicting several rooms in a square formation, connected by lines. Jeremy recognised it from their earlier planning sessions. The map for the testing area. The central square was flashing, along with one off to the far left in the top corner.

"That's where the generators are," whispered Lidiya.

"Okay," said Jeremy to the Puppet. "I'm guessing you're not just going to let us walk there and shut them down." The Puppet shook his head. "Another one of your games, is it?"

He nodded. He raised his hand slowly, pointing to Jeremy and Lidiya.

"Right, just us against all of those bots?" she asked.

An image of the bots flashed on the screen. A big red X went through them. It showed the synths and Jeremy's springlock suit, crossing them out too. A green circle appeared around a joint image of himself and Lidiya, showing them making their way on the map to the generators. It looked like somebody had quickly edited it and thrown it together.

"You utter…" Theodore's voice broke and he cleared his throat. It still tremored a little. "Utter fiend! Y-You simply can't stop with these g-games of yours, can you?"

"Yeah, what if we decide to say screw that and help anyway?" asked Clyde.

Hundreds of bot images appeared in the corridors. They surrounded the images of their group. Big red crosses went through all of them.

Jeremy considered. If this were any other situation, he would suspect it was nothing more than a twisted game of the Puppet's. But this didn't add up. If Spring had him under his control like Billy thought he did, why not just kill them right now? Why help the others to escape in the first place, if he wasn't somewhat genuine in his intentions?

He also remembered what happened last time he'd played a game with him. It was as much what the Puppet didn't tell them as what he had told them. He said that no bots would be in there with them, but that didn't mean that nothing would try and stop them. Even so, this felt like it was their best chance. He had Lidiya anyway and they knew where they were going. They just had to get there. Once they turned it off, the synths could have a chance to take out the Puppet.

"Alright then, we'll play your game." He released the controls for his springlock suit and stepped out of it. "You're on."

"Jer-Bear, no!" cried Hermana. "He's tryin' to trick ya!"

Theodore nodded quickly. "Indeed, he cannot be trusted!"

Jeremy caught Billy's eye. Though he didn't say anything, he could tell by the look on the boy synths face that he was having similar feelings to Jeremy. Billy's instincts had never been wrong before and Jeremy wasn't going to doubt them now.

"It'll be alright, guys. We'll beat this thing. When do we start?"

The Puppet approached them and handed the two of them flashlights. They looked quite powerful. A timer appeared on the screen. Fifteen minutes and counting. He stared at Jeremy, his meaning clear.

Nodding quietly, he let Lidiya take his hand and the two of them walked out together. The door to the Puppet's room closed behind them. The corridors were pitch black. Jeremy couldn't even see his hand in front of his face. He turned on his flashlight, using it to penetrate the gloom.

"I hope you know what you're doing," whispered Lidiya.

"Me too," he replied. "What is it, right here?"

She nodded and they walked down the corridor. They had just reached the end, were about to turn right again when a new sound met Jeremy's ears.

A low, growling sound. He looked at Lidiya. She'd heard it too. He cast the beam around, but it was hard to tell where the noise came from. He heard it again. That sounded a lot closer. Was it behind them?

"Jeremy, there!"

He turned to look down the corridor behind them. Up ahead, he thought he saw a pair of red eyes vanish behind the corner at the far end. Lidiya's terrified whisper confirmed his fears.

"There's something down here with us."

Guest: What can I say? I'm a Foxy x Mangle shipper XD

Arc of Carona: This is only the beginning.

Yellowscar1: Hey no pressure, you do whatever feels right :)