Begin Prompt in 3, 2, 1…
Phantom Burns
Prompt: Does Phantom Puppet know why it needs to be done?
It has already happened numerous times and yet it never helps, and it never changes. He's not sure why he's even surprised anymore.
He wipes some of the lingering ash off his mask and feels like a phantom of his former self. Once again, he has seen into the blaze and barely managed to escape without burning. Once again, he has escaped alone, the sole survivor of another fire. The long hours of roasting have left him feeling weak, empty, and hopeless. He's slumped beside a dumpster and not even alert enough to clean his mask of the thick residue caked in.
He always thinks that this is the last time, but it never is. This is, in fact, the third time that a good Samaritan has opened a trap under the guise of a pizzeria, gathered a bunch of animatronics together, and then set the place ablaze. The Puppet has learned by now that there will always be another caring person who becomes convinced to set them free. Whoever whispers in their ear convinces them that this is what be done, and they gather whatever animatronics they can find- usually himself and him- and do what they believe is right.
Every time the Puppet gets to listen to the screams of souls forced out of their bodies. He gets to hear as they face a second death and then lingers in the quiet after they're all gone. They have no chance to get free in their clunky bodies, so they are forced out of their bodies do a fate they never wanted, lingering in the void. Once again, the Puppet has gotten himself free, but he doesn't feel safe anymore.
As the Puppet looks up at the charred remains of the most recent fire, he wonders how long it will be until the next one is open. He'll still go to it, as he has nowhere else to go. Even if it's a trap- it will be- he will be there to watch as the souls are set free.
He wonders if their 'saviors' have the same wide smiles as he did when he killed them. Maybe they will be smiling when they finally catch him. He has vivid daydreams of them forcing him in a box, pouring gasoline over the top, and burning him alive. He knows that they won't stop coming until he burns too. He only has until the fire fully dies before someone scours the remains and realizes that something is missing. Then he will be back on the list, with a new pizzeria trap awaiting him.
He has to be a living phantom; he has to disappear. And so, as he has done every time before, he hides until the next trap is set. He slides behind the dumpster to wait until he knows the coast is clear. Then he will leave to find a safer- but never safe- resting place. A haunted phantom wandering the streets and waiting for the next time.
He doesn't know why it must be like this. Frankly, he doesn't care.