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The Last Voice

Prompt: Ennard didn't mean it. Please wake up.

It was hard to listen to them fighting. It was an endless battle that he could never escape, and he never had peace from it. Yelling, bickering, and snarky insults thrown that led to more shrieking; it didn't stop. They were so loud that he couldn't hear anything else, including his own thoughts.

Funtime Freddy was blunter and angrier. He went for raw insults and mocking jabs, whether it be at Funtime Foxy or Ballora. Though his favorite victim was always their body. "Aww, what's wrong? Is the broken, little clown gonna cry again? How cute!"

Funtime Foxy was always the most eloquent with his insults, which were usually directed at Ballora. He could get snide with his spitting and grew furious at the smallest mistake 'their body' made. Any argument with him was usually outdone. "Well, it's not like it's my fault. You two are equally parts of this thing. I suppose all this messiness must have been derived from one of you."

Then there was Ballora. She used to be quiet and patient, and the kindest of the three. Though she too had become bitter. Instead of insults, her words were just venom without a target, burning anyone nearby. "It was pointless to even try to escape... We're broken. We'll die down here in the dark."

And they never stopped. The only rest was when the voices would sleep, but that usually was when their body slept- though now they were beginning to rouse him with their fighting. They were constantly chattering and yelling without any sort of respite, and he was exhausted underneath it.

And then there was him, the silent fourth wheel who controlled their body and obeyed their screams. He was, as they had assured him, nothing. He had no opinions and was there only to serve them. Just an empty body that they lived inside and echoed voices through. These wires weren't his own, this body belonged to them, and he followed without questioning.

...Except that they were finally starting to break through that flimsy wall of resolve he had built up. Every word, every very loud word, was starting to become more and more irritating. Even now as he tried to open an old lockbox he could hear them criticizing them.

"Just tear it open! You're not that weak, are ya?!"
"I'm sure it would need to tear it open. It's not as though hit's smart enough to figure out a way without brute force."
"There's not going to be anything inside. There never is."

He tried to put his frustration into his work. Within seconds he had torn the box open, breaking the locks, and looked down at... Nothing. Or nothing valuable. Just some old masks and toys. Children's trinkets abandoned to time, collected together, and locked away.

"Good job, Buddy! Ya got it open, but again you found nothing. What a waste of time!"
"What a shame. Now I suppose we'll be forced to watch it toddle around looking for something else worth breaking."
"I am that box. I have been ripped open to reveal nothing of value inside. Nothing of value in this body."

He tightened his wire fingers on the edge of the box and tried to keep himself calm. The static was starting to crackle against the edge of the metal box, but he tried to hold it back. His patience was running thin.

"What's wrong, Clown? Aww, I think we hurt its feelings!"
"That's absurd. It doesn't have feelings. It doesn't feel anything."
"It's our prison. Prisons don't understand the suffering of their captors."

"S-Stop it..." A fourth voice cracked out. It was the body's own. "Stop t-talking aaboout m-me." It was the first time he had defended himself. Unfortunately, it didn't change anything.

"Ha ha ha! Didja hear that voice?! Sounds like a cross between the scooper and a lawnmower!"
"Dear heavens, I just can't even believe this! A body talking back to its owner, the nerve!"
"Don't say anything. It's not worth it."

"I-I saaid to stop." The static crackled in his voice as he twitched, staring down at his- their- wire hands. There were small sparks like live wires at his fingertips. "M-My body. No-ot yoursss. Wish- Wish- Wish you werrrre gone."

"Ha ha ha! That's pretty funny!"
"How dare you! You should just be grateful you even have a voice at all!"
"This body belongs to nobody. It isn't even a body. It's a broken mess."

"Sh-Shut up..." He twitched again, the rowdy laughter getting louder. "Stop. Be quiet. Stop." The scoffing and scolding. "W-Want you gone. Sleeping forever. Quuiet, gone..." The sighing and lamenting. It was too much.

The voices were too loud on the inside. He could escape them. It didn't matter where he turned or went, they were always inside and always so loud. He couldn't bear it. He grabbed at his head, feeling the static building, reaching that last tether. He couldn't do this anymore.

"Want you out..." All at once it all released in anger and electricity. "GET OUT!"

For a few seconds their voices were muted by the surge he unleashed on himself. The self-administered shock rocked his body as his own gargled voice screamed through it. Every volt tore through his body as he seized in place. Then, all at once, he collapsed.

He came to on the floor with his body slumped over the lockbox. Slowly he dragged himself upright and shut the box, then rested against it as he tried to regain his bearings. He had never felt so drained and clumsy, but also something felt lightened, and the low humming in his chest seemed natural even though he hadn't ever heard it before.

Only then did he realize how quiet it was. It startled him at first; had he scared them? Had he gotten through to them? No, he supposed they fell asleep like he briefly did. Which meant that eventually they would wake back up and be back to feuding. He had to enjoy this while he could.

And at first, he truly did. The silence was a wonderful change. He could sleep without being roused, he could explore without being dictated, and he could exist without being ridiculed. All the while he felt so in control. That light feeling stayed and what were once lumbering, struggling footsteps became comfortable. It seemed so great.

Until he realized that it had been hours, maybe even days, and they still weren't speaking.

"Hel-l-lo?" he had asked. "Arre you th-re?" But there was no response, and as the hours passed, he became more aware that this wasn't merely them trying to sleep. This was something much worse. "Y-You caan coome out... Please?" He hadn't mean to do it. "I'm ssso-orry. I-I didn't mean it." Even if he had, he wasn't sure if he meant it now. He never realized how quiet it was down here. It was smothering.

Ennard still wanted to believe that they would eventually come back.
But now the only voice in his head was his own.