A dark chuckle, ghostly and foreign, emitted from broken jaws. The breath of the monster smelled of decay and blood. Four eyes were locked onto him, two dots of white in the eye sockets of the mech and two beyond the imposing sharp teeth that were large and bright enough to blind like high beams on a car. The broken jaws twitched and jittered with low rumbles as they honed in slowly on their prey.
In damaged servos, Max grimaced and tried to lean away from the jagged teeth that lined Springtrap's mouth. "By the gods, you reek. I have one word for you: mouthwash."
Springtrap roared directly at him and pieces of slimy, dark red chunks flew out hitting Max's clothes and some of it even got onto his face. It was a shame the zombie-like abomination had his arms pinned to his side in the tight grasp, otherwise Max would have wiped off the ooze now running from his eye down to his chin.
"Ew...please tell me...you ate an animal or something..."
"Wouldn't you like to know?" A gruff, strained voice said.
Springtrap gargled inhumanly and shook his helm, his broken horn sparking from the sudden movement. Max did the same, shaking off, or at least attempting to, the nasty slime embedded on his skin and suit.
He crudely smirked at the monster holding him, "I have to hand it to you, you were just a bastard before. Now you're a real bitch in sheep's clothing. Tell me, did becoming a walking corpse really worth murdering children over? Because I would think you were smarter than that, William Afton."
"A mere setback," William growled beneath the ten tons of mecha he inhabited. "I will get out! I will make you suffer!"
Max narrowed his eyes and grew confused, "Wait, so you want to be human again as well as mortal but you have immortality right now, so far at least, and can combat not only adult humans but also Cybertronians, and you are going to give that up just so you can kill children again but be vulnerable to die by bullet or by being stepped on by a pissed off alien. Yeah, that's illogical as Shockwave would say. Buddy, I will shoot your ass the moment you become mortal again."
Springtrap began to hum in thought before the far edges his faceplates creaked with a twisted grin, "So you want me to stay like this? Nigh-invulnerable? I would give you a challenge, wouldn't I?"
"Well, I didn't say that," Max quickly spoke. "Forget what I said, go back to doing what you want to do, it's fine."
"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAaaa...!"
Max gave Springtrap a horrified look as the latter's voice box stuttered, darkened then briefly died before reactivating. That was one of the most disturbing sounds he had ever heard in his lifetime. That was saying something too because Bendy had quite a roar and the Ink Machine had terrible sound effects rivaling even him.
"I hate this body but if it makes all of you pathetic 'heroes' more miserable than what I can do as a human, I'll gladly keep it," Springtrap hissed.
The Guardian groaned to himself, "Nice job fixing it, Max."
He suddenly felt the grip on his body tighten and his organs began to wail in pain. He found himself face to face with not just Springtrap, but William Afton's decapitated and rotting head that supported by interior cables, impaled by the various mechanics holding the dead Transformer's body together.
"Aha ha ha, I'll be sure to write that on your tomb. With you out of the way, there will be nobody to stop me! And I'll be sure to pay your dear little sisters a visit and throw them a party they will never forget."
"Optimus...will...stop...you!" Max closed his eyes as the pain increased tenfold. He remembered when Ennard did this, it wasn't fun then either.
"Doubtful, the Prime is just a large animatronic and I'll disassemble him just as easily as those brats you and that puppet protect."
Just then, Springtrap lurched back as something hit him in the optic, dropping Max who landed hard on the ground in a forced roll. He clutched his sides and saw a black and white form skittering across the mech's faceplates before clawing at the other optic.
Although William was a man behind the mask albeit unwillingly, his soul trapped inside, it linked him to feel the mech's body. Any exterior damage registered in his mind the same as a normal body would. At least that's what Marionette explained the curse to simulate.
Speaking of whom was right on time. Marionette had always looked out for him since he first met the children and knowing their responses to their own pain of killing adults was their coping mechanism helped him bond with them. Marionette never let anything happen to him while he stood in her presence and for that, he was grateful.
Marionette crawled up and over Springtrap's form like an elusive spider, "biting" her way to and fro. She avoided his swinging claws and feral movements easily as her agility rivaled even Max's. Having technically a cartilage-type endoskeleton helped. Once she caught sight of Max and knew William was too distracted by the pain she inflicted, she leapt off him and helped Max to his feet.
"You never learn, do you?"
Max scoffed, holding his right rib area, "Comes with the perks of being me."
Springtrap recovered and roared at the two with his claws open and ready to hurt them. Dried blood cracked as he opened his helm into three pieces to let his rotting skull see better.
"Damn, he's so ugly."
Marionette shook her head at the childish comment before a blue haze swept over her. She transformed back to her normal height that put her on equal terms with Springtrap's disturbing size. She was about as big as Soundwave from Max's perspective, maybe a few inches shorter. She was also just as threatening. Her mime-like features did nothing to deter her anger despite her mouth being in a permanent empty smile.
Blowing steam from damaged nasal vents, Springtrap eyed Marionette before charging crookedly. It would be funny had the wobbled legged monster not been one of the deadliest killers on the planet and running fast from the determination to tear them to pieces.
The black and white femme swung her fist but to her surprise, Springtrap quickly caught it and twisted it downward to where skeletal cracking could be heard. Marionette grabbed her own arm to try and dislodge him while saving it from being broken off but Springtrap didn't stagnate in his defense. He then cracked his own knuckles forming a fist and shot it straight into the puppet's abdomen earning a surprised expression of pain from the latter. She fell onto her hands and knees before a kick to the face sent her backwards as Springtrap laughed.
Max still babied his ribs which he definitely could confirm that they were broken. Seeing Marionette fall despite her being a powerhouse normally made him scoff but this being Springtrap, he knew she wasn't faking or had a brief moment of error. The monster than once was human was just that cunning and strong. It amazed him how brutal, even when he was human, Afton could be.
"You're weak just like the children and when I break you, I'll see what makes you tick. The others were just mere robots with complex processor algorithms and magnetic pulse amplifiers purified into an energy orb that mimicked hearts," Springtrap laughed as he grabbed Marionette by the throat and hauled her off the ground.
"But you aren't one of them, are you? You're a different species, a non-transforming mechanical being who embodies magical and mystical properties. If I tear out your circuits and reverse engineer your technology, imagine what I'll find. Powers beyond comprehension? The ability to warp death itself and suck out souls as well as bring them back? You're a mystery, my dear. As I am a mechanical engineer and a biomechanist, more specifically a biomechatronics professional, I can't help but be enthralled by your system and you would be a perfect subject for a new project I wish to start."
While Afton did his monologue which Max had to scowl at, he snuck behind Springtrap's decaying chassis and crouched low to assess the situation. Springtrap was invulnerable to most types of attacks and being undead, he felt little pain unless it was a good shot but his most sensitive areas were on the interior like his optics. Their only chance was to run because facing Springtrap head on was suicide even for expert fighters like him and Marionette. They just needed to distract him first.
Marionette struggled as the grip on her throat tightened. She may not need oxygen but certain wires and cabling did provide vital services and crushing them would kill her. She froze out of fear when Springtrap's loose servo dug at her skin, under her faceplates. When he began to pull upward slowly, she let out a cry as blood started leaking from under it due to the strain. The mask was a part of her face, to remove it was like removing one's own skin. She could survive without it but it would be painful.
"What lies beneath that mask that you hide from the world? I wish to know and you will show me!"
The lower left of her mask lifted off her chin and the antagonizing sound of flesh-like muscle ripping made Max's eyes widen and Marionette scream. He needed to do something and make it fast. He grabbed a metal rod from the scattered remains of Afton's amusement park and lunged, jumping to lodge the rod in between the metal plates of Springtrap's heel into the decaying protoform.
Engulfed in pain, Springtrap nearly kicked backwards and hit Max blindly, letting Marionette fall who pressed on her faceplates to put pressure on the tears underneath. Springtrap kneeled and removed the rod before whimpering slightly. The Achilles' heel trick never failed.
Marionette crawled away and hid behind the old pizzeria building, still covering her mask with her servos. Max slid behind the corner and slouched down, ignoring his ribs to instead look over his friend. He frowned when he noticed cracks barely visible beneath the edge of the covering servos. Afton must have dug a clawed finger up between the space when he used the rod causing the monster to jerk his servo out and rip through the faceplates. If Marionette was in excruciating pain, she wasn't being vocal about it.
He panted strenuously, "You alright, Mari?"
A low groan emitted from her and her legs curled more inward in fear. He felt guilty for not realizing how deep Springtrap was digging beneath her mask before pulling a move like that. Hesitantly, he climbed onto her thigh and placed a cautious hand on her abdomen.
"Mari?"
"I-I'm fine, just...my face. I can't..."
He honestly had never seen what was beneath her puppet-like face, but there was a way she could remove it naturally so he deduced due to the replicas he found when visiting her domain before. When she lifted her servos from her face, he stood shocked. The entire lower right half of her mask was gone, cracking up to her eye socket to where he could make out the outlines of black flesh-like material. She had razor sharp teeth but no lips to hide them and it made her look demonic, but Max wasn't afraid. She was an improvement over Springtrap's decomposing corpse and certainly had an appeal for those who had a thing about fangs for days. She wasn't hideous at all.
"You look fine, Mari. Honestly, I thought it would be a blank slate or something but the details of teeth and skin make you look really impressive. Like why hide that? People have a problem with how you look, fuck them! They can go be bamboozled by some Barbie doll plastic surgery mistake. They don't deserve you; you're too good for them."
"Max," Marionette painfully giggled, "it's not my appearance I care about. It's the meaning of my mask and the fact that it's connected to my skin unless I willingly let it go. I was too enticed by the pain to let my skin release it when Springtrap was pulling it off. There was nothing I could do."
"Ah, so I wasted a 'beauty doesn't mean everything' speech on someone already confident. My bad," Max shrugged.
"The effort is appreciated though. To my species, I'm very beautiful, more teeth means more power."
Springtrap made a mechanical screech and both of them winced. Max frowned, "Truth be told, I don't think we're going to beat him. He can't leave the carnival perimeter so if we beeline it to the gates, we can escape."
"But he'll be free to kill any soul that wanders in this terrible place."
"You can't always stop everyone who does evil, but you can live to prevent others from dying. Not everyone will survive as long as the world turns. It's just how life is and we can only protect as many people as we possibly can. No more and hopefully no less. I am only human. I can battle what other people cannot, doesn't mean I'm above mistakes or losses," the Guardian said.
Marionette reluctantly nodded.
Then they both noticed how quiet everything had gone. Under normal circumstances, that was a good sign but with Springtrap-
"You pathetic cowards! You cannot hide from me!"
A clawed servo surged between them through the building almost cutting Max's face off and hitting Marionette's arm. It was rare Max feared anything having seen all there could possibly be but this time he was legitimately scared from the action and scrambled to his feet, running straight towards the gates.
"Mari!"
Marionette followed suit and ran as Afton tore the pizzeria apart, digging through it to pursue them. The rest of the building was heard going down but neither she nor Max dared to look back. Dense footsteps trailed them and growls weren't far behind.
Closer the gate appeared, the more hopeful Max was becoming and he could sense Marionette's relief too. "We can make it! We can make it! We-yes!"
Max slid to a halt passing the gate and the twisted Freddy Fazbear sign hanging above lingered in disapproval. He smiled and cheered only to look back and see Marionette just about to pass through when suddenly Springtrap leapt up and caught her, tripping her by the ankle. Her upper body was through the gate but her lower half was still on the other side with Springtrap trying to drag her back.
Snapping jaws made Marionette try and claw her way to the other side to no avail. As Springtrap lifted up to a kneeling position, he grabbed her other leg and began pulling harder which if she resisted for too long would break her legs from the brutal hold he had on her.
"I won't let you escape me! Just give in and die!"
"Max! Run!" Marionette screamed.
The human froze. If he let Marionette die, he could never live with himself. If he tried to save her, he was at risk of dying if everything went wrong which wasn't uncommon with William Afton. Marionette was his best friend other than Kia...he couldn't leave her. What could he do though? Eyeing the support beams of the arch sign, an idea hit him. Making up his mind, he fled to the side. As soon as Springtrap's attention focused from him to Marionette again, he did a complete one eighty.
He launched himself at one of the gate's main support pillars, using it to swing himself around with his legs pointed out straight into Springtrap's faceplates. This had a good portion of momentum to send the corpse's helm snapping back.
"See you in Hell, Afton!" Max shouted.
It was enough to loosen his grip on one of the legs in which Marionette then retaliated by twisting herself in a left roll and kicking Springtrap to the side. Using aerobics to stand up from the maneuver, she huffed and crossed the gate. Max managed to use the kick he performed to slingshot back through the gate that Marionette was nonetheless impressed by.
As soon as they were both in the clear, Springtrap tried to reach through to them but something prevented him from doing so and he held his servo like he was in pain.
"NO! Wait until I get out of here, Max. Your head will be my trophy," growled the monster. "I will kill you however long it takes!"
"Keep telling yourself that. Oh, and William, fuck you," Max remarked, smirking a little as the decaying Transformer roared at him.
Both he and Marionette left the remnants of William Afton to his destroyed carnival of carnage as they walked away from the gates that reminded them how much suffering lied beyond its steel boundary. Even as far as they got in two minutes of walking, they still heard Springtrap's bellows and other horrific noises.
The day had been a nightmare, one Max probably couldn't forget for years even if he tried. He hated checking up on that thing, having only captured the deranged corpse once out of thirty plus years of Springtrap existing. After Springtrap somehow escaped the Devil's Den did Max give up on detaining him and placed a curse on the carnival with Marionette's help to prevent the murderer from leaving. Making sure the body count of Springtrap hadn't rose led to said checkups and this shit was eventually bound to happen.
"I'm sorry, Mari, for putting your life at risk."
"Max, my task of protecting the children and keeping Springtrap from harming others is always going to be life threatening. I just didn't expect having to confront him face to face to save you. Had I not needed to, I could have outflanked him easily and tricked him into going elsewhere to complete my tasks."
The Guardian grimaced, "My bad. Well, hopefully we won't need to deal with him for a while."
Another roar in the far distance made them pause and look at one another.
"Then again..."
AN: "Biomechatronics" is actually a real thing. It deals with the integration between robotic and organic matter, specifically for humans as artificial limbs and such. As you can imagine, someone as psychopathic as William Afton could do much harm with that knowledge. In real life, this is also a legitimate fear as well, someone misusing such information. Thankfully, our technology isn't advanced enough yet to cause those types of major problems in science but it is not impossible. Sleep well on that.