School goes on, siblings are tangled in purple webs and the Puppet takes some matters into its own hands.


He was the one that made us, you'll be the one to save us.

"Wait dude, so, you mean to tell me that your friends with Cassidy? The Cassidy that'll totally kick your butt if you piss her off?" the redhead asked, still skeptical.

"Yeah, that's her. I really don't get what's so hard to believe." Carlton leaned back in his chair, running his hands down his face dramatically in response.

"It's hard to believe because she's known to get into fights with anyone who dares to even look at her the wrong way. You must've been super lucky to get her to speak to you at all without threatening to kill you." Lamar explained. At least he believed him.

"Oh, she did threaten me when we first met, but now since we're pretty close she doesn't do that."

"Close huh, would you say you're close enough to, I don't know, hold hands?" Carlton raised a brow as he studied Matt the same way a cop would if he was interrogating him.

"What? Nah, where'd you get that idea?"

"People talk, man. There's a bunch of rumors going around about how you and Cassidy sat on a bench pretty close to each other on the first day. It's like all everyone talks about." there was a momentary pause as the boy in question processed the redhead's words. Then, like a tilted statue, Matt fell head first on the table, letting out a groan that perfectly encapsulated all of his frustrations for the past month.

"When did people start talking about it? I never heard anything like that."

"So, you're not denying it!? Holly crap dude! You two are actually a thing!" Carlton seemed like he had struck gold with how excited he was, or maybe he was amazed?

"Gossip's done away from the person you're talking about, usually. Plus, you rarely leave the classroom." added John, trying to sound sympathetic. Matthew decided to ignore his statement.

"We are not a "thing", Carlton. Cass and I are just friends."

"And you're on a nickname basis with her! Don't try to deny it now, man, it's too late for that. At least tell us how she is in private." Matthew raised his face to stare the other boy with a baffled expression before smiling brightly.

"Hey, Charlie!" he called to the other end of the room. "Carlton here has something he wants to tell-…" he was cut short by the redhead who had rushed to cover his mouth.

"Nothing! Your brother's joking. Don't mind him." the girl tilted her head knowingly before turning back to her conversation with Marla and Jessica. "What the heck, man!?" he half shouted half whispered. "I thought we agreed you wouldn't tell her about that!"

"Keep teasing me and you'll see how quickly I can break that agreement."

"Alright dude, chill, chill. I'll back off, no need to be like that." the redhead raised his hands in defense.

"Thanks. And sorry, but being at the receiving end of Fritz's pranks has kinda made me sick of jokes." Carlton grimaced, nodding.

"…Yeah, I get it. It's not fun when you're the one being pranked."

"I just wish he'd stop already. It's been a few weeks now; you'd think he'd get tired of the same old crap when no one's laughing anymore."

"That's how Fritz is, Matt, he'll stop when something more interesting than pranking you comes along." Mike gave him a slap on the back. The boy had been through the same torture from what he had told Matthew due to moving to Hurricane at the end of winter.

"The worst part is that now everyone in school knows who I am. So much for keeping a low profile and not standing out." Matt sighed. "Though I guess the bench thing was a big reason my popularity increased so fast, but eh, I couldn't really go anywhere at the time." he muttered. "I wonder if Cass beat up anyone recently. She did say people were beginning to have more courage to bother her."

"Why don't you go ask her? While you're at it you could also tell her Fritz won't leave you alone and get her to make him stop. I mean, no one in their right mind would have a problem with you after that." Mike suggested.

"I don't want her to solve my problems, that'd make me feel even worse, if I were to use her rep to be left alone, you know?

"And what a rep she's got. I'm still trying to understand how she hasn't been expelled yet for all the stuff she's pulled." John crossed his arms in thought, meanwhile Carlton shrugged.

"Beats me."

"It must be her parents. She is filthy rich after all. Although on the bright side, she doesn't go parading it to everyone, like some people like to do." Lamar narrowed his eyes at the animal obsessed blonde that was taking with Elizabeth.

"Didn't peg you for the type to hate on rich kids. Like, your folks are pretty well off too."

"I'm cool with most things, rich kids included, but when you feel the need to tell every single person you meet the last island you were on this summer or what exotic dish you ate or whatever then I'm not gonna be so cool with you. Okay, go ahead and boast if it makes you feel better, but you don't have to do that every day, all day." this was probably the most anyone could rile Lamar up. The guy was so laid back and collected the most he would do was complain a little.

"Heh, you and Cass would get along great."

"You think? I really don't wanna be part of a future where me and her see eye to eye. I'm good with just being acquaintances."

"Dunno, whatever you say. Maybe that'd be for the best. Alright well, the break isn't over, I'mma go find her." the boy got up, saluting his buddies.

"Yes, go and have fun with your girlfriend! Leave the less fortunate of us behind!" the redhead couldn't keep himself from speaking.

"What did we just talk about, Carlton?" he turned around, pointing at Charlie.

"Yeah, okay, sorry…" like the other boy's father did when he reprimanded the redhead, Matthew shook his head in a way that was strikingly evocative of him.

"You should be afraid, Carlton."

"Uh huh."

"Be very afraid, Carlton." he warned as he finally left the classroom, snickering. The halls were just as easy to get lost in as they'd been in the beginning, although that might've been because he'd never actually familiarized himself with the school's layout as he should've, given how he spent most breaks in class either catching on some much-deserved rest or chatting with his colleagues. He did know where Cassidy's class was, however, as the few times he'd go out of his own he'd head straight to hers. Matthew had become a sort of figure in her classmates' minds for putting up with her so well, though in all honesty, she was the easiest kid to deal with in the whole of Hurricane excluding a couple minor exceptions, and over the past half a year he'd known her he'd grown to greatly enjoy her company.

Underneath the tough exterior was a caring, thoughtful girl who'd always look out for you. It was hard to think that she'd go on to become a vengeance obsessed spirit if left to her fate, though he'd make sure it wouldn't come to that. It would be hard to let any one of the kids die, and utterly unbearable if he got to know any of them beforehand like he did with her, which was why he was even more determined to save them.

By now, he'd met the whole MCI gang. Not counting Gabriel who shared a class with Cassidy, all of the incident kids were his colleagues, and so were those that had been kidnapped by Willy in the novels.

The relationship between him and Cass was indeed special, though not in the way Carlton liked to suggest. Cassidy didn't have many friends, if any- people would annoy or leave her alone- due to her tomboyishness, and while Matt talked with others more than he used to, he wouldn't go so far as to call them his friends. She got him, he got her, they hung out and it was nice.

He'd missed it, just being able to do nothing with another person beside you, joking about whatever and generally having a fun time.

He'd also gotten more used to his de-aged self. In fact, he didn't feel a day older over fourteen. Technically speaking he was fifteen, but having to play the role of a little kid had changed him, if only slightly. Fake it till you make it had been a constant for a while, so he wasn't all that surprised that his own mind had started to believe the unfortunate lies he told daily. Well, self-deception aside, he sped up his pace to round the corner only to bump into someone.

"Oh, fu- fudge. Sorry, I didn't see you." he panicked for a moment before he saw who he'd bumped into.

"Didn't know you were so excited to see me, dummy." Cassidy flashed him a smile. Her usually loose hair was kept in a red bowtie today, kind of like a certain black-haired girl sitting on a hospital bed with very familiar covers to Evan's in a particular Security Breach poster. "You in a hurry? Where're you going?"

"Uh, nowhere now, I was looking for you."

"Really? Well, what's up?"

"The usual, Miss Lawrence talks like it's the end of the world, I fell asleep seven time today- I'm trying to go for twelve to beat my previous record-, watched some new movies, I don't know, didn't do anything exciting."

"Right? Everything's just so boring. This is why I can't stand school. How about we book it?"

"Huh?"

"Yeah, let's get the hell out of here. I'm not feeling like staying for two more hours." Matthew scratched the back of his head. The look she was giving him would soon turn into one he couldn't refuse if he didn't stop her train of thought right there.

"Um, sorry but I can't leave. I mean, besides my teacher not buying any kinds of excuses, Charlie would also tell Henry and then I'd get in trouble and well, I'm not you, I can't just wave my finger and make it seem like I didn't skip classes. Plus, I don't want to lie to her dad." she tsked dissatisfied.

"You're no fun, you know that?... Fine, if you're not leaving, I'm not either." she let him win so easily he had to do a doubletake.

"Wait, that easy? I kinda expected you to drag me out of here, you know." Cassidy rolled her eyes, holding her hip and putting a hand on her chest.

"You're right when you say you're not me. My folks have no issue making our teach forget I've left, but Charlotte's old man would probably go berserk if he found out you were ditching school." that might've been an exaggeration, but frankly he hadn't tried to find what Henry's reaction would be to him skipping class- not in a million years would he be able to convince Charlie to do it too- and didn't intend to do it, at least not in the near future. "And while it was cool to leave back when you weren't around, now that you're here it'd be lame to do it without you, so if you're staying I'mma stay too."

"Thanks, I guess, for not dragging me by the hair out the front door." a snort left her lips.

"Please, I only rip people's hair when they mess with me. You've got a knack to not do that so you're good. For now, anyway. Don't let it get to your head, Matt. I don't discriminate." she pinched his shoulder right in the spot where it hurt the most. Matthew had to resist squirming under her grip despite the throbbing pain.

"Mhm, I think ya like me too much to hurt me like that." which was rewarded with a punch to the same shoulder. "Ouch. Um, that's gonna be a nasty bruise."

"That was me beyond going easy on you. If that hurt then I don't want to see what you'll do when you get in a real fight. You're lucky to have me to keep your sorry butt safe."

"I'm a pacifist when it comes to physical conflict, you know that. I don't think I've ever thrown an actual punch against someone." he defended, brushing her hand off.

"And that is something we'll have to fix. You haven't gotten the attention of the more violence-oriented students in Hurricane Elementary yet" Matthew leaned against the wall, holding his chin as she explained what awaited him.

"-Except you"

"-Shut it- but when you do those guys are gonna harass you constantly, and if you hang out with me, you're gonna be hounded like no one else."

"For real? Like, I'm surprised there's people who go out of their way to start stuff with you so often."

"They get a kick out of it even if they end up with broken noses and shattered prides, and most do it to get back at me for humiliating them in public. Some people just don't know when to quit, they just think that doing something over and over again will get them a different result." an "Ah" of realization escaped his throat.

Now that's ironic coming from you, Cass. He briefly spotted a couple of dirty looks thrown his way from kids walking down the hall. In return, he raised both eyebrows and grinned.

"Well, when that starts happening, I'm gonna make sure to come to you to teach me how to fight" he air-quoted. "-but till then I'mma survive the nonviolent way."

"Your loss, dummy. Don't come crying when you get your butt beaten `cause I wasn't there to defend you."

"If it gets that heated, I'll just run, I'm not sticking around for idiots to gang up on me. Trust me, Cass, no one is catching me if I start running." fact truer than one would think of a scrawny kid like him. Matthew had been the fastest in his soccer team back home, and while he might've lacked the muscles he'd built up over the years, the experience was still there. Running fast wasn't all that complex if you knew what you had to do. Generally, all one was required to do was move his legs as quickly as he could, extend them further than normal to cover more ground and push himself forward with each step to gain a little boost. If all of those things were done correctly it'd be like you were flying, barely touching the ground. So long as he didn't let himself get cornered, he was confident he could escape any confrontation.

"If ya say so." the girl sighed, then relaxed her posture. "How have you been, Matt?"

"I'm okay, been sleeping better too."

"You look better, but you seem kinda tense."

When am I not? Mr. shadow golden rabbit made a lasting impression on me. The boy shifted in place, making a so-so motion with his head.

"That's my default state of being, but screw that. Um, have you heard anything about"

"-Yo, Emily! What's cracking, my guy!" an obnoxious, flamboyant voice shouted from the other end of the hallway. Cassidy made an expression of pure disgust at the sound. It was him. Matthew looked up at the ceiling, praying, before facing the incoming boy. Wearing generic high school bully clothes that probably belonged to an older brother who'd been a jock, Fritz approached from behind Cass, waving at him with a shit-eating grin. "Man, let me tell ya something, yesterday-…" before Fritz could go on Cassidy stuck her foot out, tripping the boy. Unable to catch himself, the blond hit his nose on the floor along with his elbows, letting out a pained yelp. Rolling onto his back, he held his red stained face as he groaned. Oh, how long Matt had waited to do something like that, he owed Cassidy for life. The satisfaction he felt was inexpressible.

Fritz opened his eyes in confusion before filching when he saw that the one to trip him had been Cassidy. The glare she gave him was enough to burn the soul out of anybody.

"The only thing that's cracking is your bones if you don't get outta here." she threatened in a low tone, causing the blond to swallow whatever rebuke he would've said.

"Oh, damn. It's her! Forget it, Emily. I don't know how you got her to talk to you but I ain't gonna be part of this!" he squeaked like a little girl. Just like that the boy forgot his pain, got up and rushed the other way. Odd stares form other students turned understanding and fidgety once they saw who he was running from, though some chuckled at his misfortune. No one said a word to the two of them, preferring to avoid Cassidy and the weird kid who spoke to her without getting whooped.

Seeing her bloody a boy without trying was an enlightening sight to be certain. Of course, he'd seen her fight other kids before, but even then, she'd struggle, if only slightly. Then again, she did have the element of surprise here, but she was so used to hitting what she didn't like it made Matthew question if she had any form of martial art training like Karate or Judo. He was too out of the loop to tell, but there was a sort finesse with which she hit that could've only been achieved with training. Frankly, he didn't know where one would go to train in this backwater town and from what she'd told him she'd always lived in Hurricane. It may have been that her parents had hired a private instructor. Now that would be a massive flex, wouldn't it?

Maybe this was why William picked these specific kids as targets. Each one of them stood out from the crowd in some way: Cassidy was a menace, Fritz was the embodiment of a problem child, Susie was a loud mouth, Jeremy seemed like the kid everyone picked on and Gabriel was most likely in the same boat, given how Cass didn't despise him out of the rest of her classmates, and she only did that to those who were shier than normal. If that was in fact true than it could mean that William had a preference to target either those that caused the most amount of trouble and those that didn't at all. Obviously, Matthew had no way to test his theory, but it was something to keep in mind if he ever needed to consider who else Willy might try to kill if he figured out the pizzerias were off limits.

He seriously hoped it wouldn't come to that and that he'd be able to stop the man before things got so bad. Sadly, only time would tell.

"You've no idea how happy you've made me." he beamed at her.

"I've been waiting to do that for a long time. He was avoiding me since school started, but you're welcome. So, what was that you were saying before he interrupted you?"

"Uh, oh yeah, did people start talking about us?"

"Us?" Cassidy squinted at him, clueless as to what he meant.

"Okay, so apparently there's been talk about us being a thing, and I was wondering if you've heard anything about it, `cause I can't tell if the other guys in my class are joking or not." she took a moment to think before shaking her head.

"Can't say I've heard anyone talk about us like that, heh, but then again no one would do it near me so… unless your classmates are pathological liars, I'd say it's pretty possible." the casual way in which she said it raised a couple of red flags in the deepest depths of his subconscious. He had to ignore the short-lived shock it brought him.

"I mean, maybe Carlton is but the rest… nah, they're not like that." he rubbed his temples at the thought of being the primary subject of gossip. "How did I end up being the talk of school?" he mused, oozing despair.

"You're not exactly good at not standing out, believe it or not. For one thing, no one in Hurricane sounds, looks or talks like you so it's easy to pick up that you're not from around here, but the biggest thing that makes people remark you is the fact that uh, um… how do I say this in the nicest way… you're a quirky guy that doesn't act at all like other boys. You have this air of been there done that that I at least haven't found in anyone else, and that's a good thing. Other boys would be envious of you for being so popular, you know. Why do you think Fritz is the way he is? He's a glory hound with the attention span of a goldfish that wants to be in the center of the spotlight. For him any popularity is good popularity."

"Hmm, well, I'm don't envy myself. In fact, if I were to be replaced, I'd pity the poor fool that took my place. And where the hell did you become so wise?"

"Must've caught it from you. Being a geek is a condition you're born with that unfortunately, can be passed down to others."

Geek, he cringed internally. Or course, we're in the eighties.

"Yeah, on an unrelated note, I'm starting to think my life's the drug den version of the Truman Show."

"The what?"

"It's a masterpiece of a movie that'll come out in 1998 and after doing some introspection I kinda relate to the main character. Like, if I kick the wall is a camera gonna fall out of the sky? Is there someone laughing behind their screens at home?" he ran his fingers through his hair, embracing the inner turmoil that raged inside him rather than putting on a show, attempting to make him freak out each passing second. "Is my life nothing but a comedy?... What even is life?"

"…So, you're a psychic now too, aren't you, is what you're saying? Besides being insane."

"I'm not insane, Cass. You'll see, in seventeen years I'm gonna say I told you so and you'll have to admit I have superpowers."

"Dumbass. That's the only thing I'm gonna admit."

"You'd die without this dumbass, ya know." it was wrong to say that to her, and pretentious as all shit, but the acknowledgement he felt for what he was trying to do, even if it had been from himself and not some other person, flooded his system with relief. It was as if he'd finally been validated after months of work. To be able to openly express it to someone…

It was unfair to Cassidy to tell her she'd die, because things could- had changed since he came here… But what guarantee did he have that all of the events he knew would be different? She was a fighter, one that would never go down easy, but that wasn't enough to shape her fate, and it wouldn't save her just because he was here.

"Remind me again who keeps who safe from bullies?"

"I'm not talking about bullies." Matt looked to the side; eyes distant. He didn't follow up on that, and for some reason the girl didn't want him to.

He'd get these looks once in a blue moon, changing his mood in an instant. Seeing her usually levelheaded friend drop his demeanor so suddenly made it seem like she was getting glimpses of the real Matthew, and if she was being honest, those glimpses scared her no matter how hard she might've tried to disregard them.

It was like staring into a mirror, only said mirror showed her a reality where there was no tomorrow, either for her or him. A reality she wanted to dismiss with all of her heart.

But she couldn't.

Something told her that timeline had already been written.

o0o

Her face shrank when she saw the white hairs stuck to the brush. They hadn't been there a couple of weeks ago. She'd seen them in passing earlier today but thought they'd been a trick of the light. It was far too early for her tresses to be turning silver, but perhaps it was due to the stress she'd been enduring for months now that was taking its toll on her. In spite of her tries, he'd noticed there was something wrong with her. The contemplating glances and the look he had when they were alone as if he was wanting to say something but couldn't put it into words… it was enough to let her know he suspected her, which doubled her anxiety. Every day she was drowning, going deeper into a lake she wouldn't be able to rise from. Whenever he'd wrap his arms around her waist, or kiss her, or compliment her, all he was doing was dragging her further into water. It burned.

Oftentimes she thought he might've realized that she'd seen him that day, and was only toying with her, telling her how powerless she was to intervene. She didn't think it was true, but then what did she really know about her husband? If his goal was to terrify her, he was doing a marvelous job. Not one second went by without the image of him standing over the bodies of her babies, smiling, popping into her mind.

She'd caught new things about him after her discovery in the way he spoke and acted at home versus when in the presence of other adults, but after a while they blended with the old quirks that he'd always had, and Laura was left uncertain as to what was an act and what was real. There was no basis for her to go off of, and everything he did seemed like a calculated move that played into a much grander game. If only she knew what game he was playing…

The sole reason she'd managed to make it for so long were her children for the strength they got her. But even they appeared different lately. Elizabeth was quieter around her, and they hadn't talked like they used to in weeks. Her little girl had ceased speaking so proudly to her mother about all of the fun she'd had at school, or share whatever new thing was a trend for girls to discuss, or express a desire to go out shopping like they loved to, or be excited to practice ballet together.

Laura's daughter was slipping away from her, and the woman was hard-pressed to help keep their mother-and-daughter relationship afloat.

Michael was another story entirely. The two of them hadn't had the best of relationships after she'd given birth to Liz, partly as a result of her neglecting him, but Laura had been trying so desperately to be there for her eldest and express the fact that she was proud of him as he was, and that there was no need to change himself to appease to his father's expectations, and normally Mike would have responded positively, but now, he was just… uncaring to the attention. Like he had better things to do, or that her reassurance didn't matter to him anymore. He would've been ecstatic to receive praise- she hadn't done it nearly as much as she should have- and yet now it was brushed off. Michael had always been a complicated boy that would've liked nothing more than to make his parents happy, especially his father, and was afraid of being a disappointment to them, but even when she spent time and voiced her happiness with him, he'd be unfocused, wanting to either be left alone or to get it over with as soon as he could. At least that was what Laura understood from his expression. It was gut-wrenching to see how her negligence had led to her son becoming so reclused.

But her baby boy was the one to be the most shaped by the recent events in their lives. Evan only got along with Elizabeth half of the time, and would purposefully avoid angering his brother while still making and effort to connect with him. Now, it was like the flimsy link he'd had with Liz had been severed completely and the inspiration his brother brought him was replaced by absolute fear. He would wince every time he was near Michael, like he was trying to not make the older boy snap. He'd go along with anything Mike would say with no argument when in the past he'd put up more resistance and would be less likely to trust him as readily. He was willing to partake in any activity Michael was interested in- as strange as it was that the older boy would want to spend time with his sibling. Evan cried more frequently as well. Things that didn't set him off before did so now. It was pointless to try and get Evan to not listen to his brother as if he was a saint, as Laura had learned quite recently when her baby boy had burst into tears the moment she'd attempted to tell him just that.

All of these drastic changes invited the same question in the woman's mind. Why. Why had her children been corrupted to such an extent? What could have made them turn against each other? If she paused to think the answer was crystal clear.

William. He was the cause of these changes; Laura was sure of it. He'd dug his claws so deep in their family that the only way her children's behavior could be explained was by using him as the scapegoat. It made sense. All of them were either seeking his acceptance or wanted to not be a bother to him. It honestly made her seethe with rage, wanting to murder the man in his sleep. But she couldn't. Which was why she'd secretly been looking to get a divorce and acquire custody of her children. Easier said than done. For them to be safe they'd all need to be under her care and not his, but getting all of them for herself would be incredibly hard if she didn't have any evidence to suggest Bill- God, she still used the nickname- was unfit to raise them. He wasn't an alcoholic or a problematic husband, nor was he abusive. He was too careful to do anything like raise his hand against them and even if he did, none of her babies would admit to it.

That was all she would really need. For one of them to confess to being mistreated by their father, but she knew how much they adored him, and getting them to side with her, even if it was for their own sake, was almost impossible. Liz loved him too much speak against him, Michael was frightened by the retaliation while Evan's pureness would never allow him to condemn his father.

They were all caught in William's little web of lies and manipulation, but she would not give up. Laura would fight tooth and nail to get her kids away from him. It didn't even have to be her to take care of them, Henry could make for a great substitute if something happened to her, but she'd need to inform him of Bill's true nature before she left her kids with him, matter of great difficulty considering the other man had also been ensnared by her husband. Not to mention that Henry was already taking care of another boy besides dear Charlotte. She couldn't just leave her children at his doorstep and expect him to take them in, though he'd probably do it in a heartbeat. It wouldn't be fair to them or to Henry…

Laura would figure it out. She only hoped she'd have enough time.

She sighed, watching from the hallway mirror as Evan searched for his brother.

Michael chewed on some gum as he awaited Evan to find him. He wasn't doing this out of a desire to play with his brother, but rather to correct the fact that he'd been a mistake for so long. His father had finally, actually spoken to him in a tone vastly distinct from the usual let down he'd use to criticize every move Mike made. The boy had no idea what had made his father change his opinion of him like that, if it was anything he had done or not, but he really couldn't care less. What mattered was that his father was accepting him. It was so incredible to think that after all this time, all of his hard work to be remarked had been rewarded. Michael was not bothered for the years of ignorance he'd received in the slightest. What he was feeling now made all of it worth it. All of it.

The single thing he was afraid of was to lose that appreciation. If he managed to disappoint his parent a second time, he was sure to be the failure his father had always made him out to be, and he wasn't certain he could live with himself if that came to pass.

Initially, he'd been skeptical of his dad's sudden one eighty, but after showing him the finished drawing of Foxy, which he'd spent more time on than any previous drawing, and seeing his reaction… what doubt was still in Michael's mind had left it the next second.

He bit his lip as he waited. The silver eyes of his father went over every inch of the paper. This wouldn't have been that big a deal to anyone else, but Michael's heart was pounding in his chest to the point where he thought his father could hear it. Sweat ran down his forehead as the room had seemingly gotten hotter. Being in any other place was a very appeasing idea at the moment. The boy could see it. His dad's hands ripping apart the paper like he'd done so many times before then being told to clean the mess off the floor.

But that never happened. Instead, his father looked Michael straight in the eyes, smiled the brightest, most sincere smile the boy had ever seen from the man, and patted him on the head before pulling him into a hug without saying a word.

The world had paused.

While Mike wouldn't want to be compared to his younger brother anytime soon, the abrupt urge to cry was all too strong. Still, he managed to hold in the tears so he wouldn't make a fool of himself for the hundredth time right before his dad. He hugged back, as tight as his arms allowed, and they stayed like that for a quiet couple of minutes.

The entire scene had imprinted itself in his memory, and he'd cherish it until the day he died.

If stomaching Evan's whining and being more "well-behaved" was what he had to do to in order for those bouts of recognition to repeat, then he had no problem following his father's commands to the letter. The hard part would be to not fail said commands. When he'd been told to help toughen Evan up- semantics for bullying the boy into submission, he hadn't been given any indications as to how to go about it, and asking was out of the question lest he appeared incompetent and ungrateful for the second chance he'd received. He also hadn't been given a deadline, so he reasoned he didn't have to finish instantly.

What he'd come up with was simple. Recreate how the other kids would treat his younger brother at kindergarten to better explain it to him so he'd know how to act the next time it happened and eventually get them to stop…

Although, if Michael was being honest, that was more of a lie than anything. Of course, he'd do what his father told him, but that excuse was what he had told his brother to, well, rationalize his actions. What Mike had been permitted to do was simply too good to pass up. It was what he'd dreamed of doing since Elizabeth had been born, and now he'd officially gotten the permission to go ahead and have fun…

Liz was untouchable, but Evan, who'd ran away, who barely made his parents happy unlike his sister… No, his brother was fair ground. Michael resented Elizabeth for not deserving the attention she got, and hoped he could get there as well someday, but while she could be the most annoying, entitled person he'd met, she was far more valuable than the little man in their father's eyes, and therefore, he didn't despise her as much as he did Evan. Mike wouldn't be feeling sorry for the little man. His sibling had been pulling that card since speaking his first word six years ago. He could fuck off and keep on crying. It'd get him nowhere.

Just as he thought that, he'd heard the light footsteps of his brother coming near the room, where he had hidden in the boy's closet. Mike got ready when the door creaked, signaling that Evan had entered his bedroom. He clenched his teeth, waiting for his sibling to get in front of the closet. The younger boy did not call out for him, merely looking around, dreading the moment he'd find Michael, but the older brother did not wait for that to happen. Instead, Mike pushed the closet doors open, lunging at his brother when he'd stepped into his line of sight, gripping both of his shoulders and shaking him. Evan yelped like a baby, reeling back and almost hitting himself on the bed if Michael hadn't caught him.

Mike let go of the little man, making him fall on the carpet with a loud thud. The eldest Afton doubled over, laughing as tears spilled down Evan's cheeks. Seeing that scared face of his, the actual fear for his life reflecting in his eyes, it was so hilarious it made Michael's chest hurt from laughter. Why the hell was Evan playing along with this? Was he so stupid as to not realize that it was all just a ruse for Mike to get back at him? The idea served solely to make Michael laugh some more. Meanwhile Evan brought his legs to his chest, sobbing into his knees.

"T- This is why everyone at kindergarten l- likes to pick and play- y pranks on you. Eheh, it's just, you make the funniest faces." Michael's voice cracked as he paused to breathe only to be interrupted by his own sniggering. "They're not g- gonna stop unless you show them that it's doesn't work o- on you, but if you keep this- s up that'll never happen."

"…I don't like it, Mikey. I don't want to do this anymore. Please, can we not do this?" despite begging, Evan didn't raise his head to look at him.

"Well, too bad, little man. We're doing this until father says we don't, and he'll say that when he sees you've stopped being such a crybaby. If you want those other jerks to leave you alone then you're gonna have to stop crying from the dumbest shit. He was right, you know. You won't make friends with this attitude. No one wants someone they have to manage and be delicate with… unless you're mother, but she gets a pass. Maybe. Start like, putting yourself out there, I don't know, be more assertive I guess."

"How do I do that, Mike?" he sounded so hopeless. Michael restrained himself from wheezing like a tea kettle. The joy this was bringing him made the older brother want to make this his new hobby.

"Um, well, you just chug that fear down and keep it underground. Keep doing it and eventually you should get rid of it. That's how it was for me." that was bull, but Evan didn't need to know that.

"…Really?" he finally looked up at Michael with bloodshot eyes. The boy grinned, nodding curtly.

"Yup, pretty much." he clasped his hands together, but was startled when the door to Evan's room was opened by their mother and man, did she look absolutely furious. She was so angry that it even made Michael drop the entire stunt. It was rare to see her mad, but when she got pissed off, she could be scarier than their father, which was saying something of the usually kind and warm person the woman was.

"What do you think you're doing, Michael?" he couldn't help but flinch at her tone. Trying to appear defiant, he opened his mouth to speak only for her to cut him off. "Don't answer that with some sorry excuse! I don't want to hear another word out of you unless I tell you you're allowed to speak, understood?" he frowned, looked away and nodded, failing to keep his lips from forming into a snarl. His mother gently scooped Evan up, kissing the side of his head while whispering sweet nothings into his ear. She faced Michael again, squinting her eyes at him in dissatisfaction. He hated the look she was giving him. That "I thought better of you" expression that screamed you are a failure. He'd often seen his father wear it, but his mom had never shown it. It took him off guard as it didn't fit her one bit, but it made him just, if not more annoyed.

Whether at himself or her was up for debate.

Even though she hadn't said it, the message was clear. This wasn't over. But what crap did Mike give? None. So she had interrupted his fun, so what? Pretending to care now, when all those other times she'd turned a blind eye?! She and Evan could go screw…

Michael rolled his eyes, sighing. They weren't worth his, or father's time. Evan was quite literally cut from the same cloth as their mother.

Useless to dad. To Liz.

To him.

They were better off dead. He wouldn't miss them, neither would father. And there was no part of him that felt he was lying to himself. He wasn't. Because all he was doing was being honest and admitting his feelings. There was no shadow with glowing dots pricking at the corner of his vision. Mike refused to believe the crap Evan was always saying. He was just seeing things, figments of his imagination.

Nonsense. Lies. That was all it was. There was only one real truth, and that…

Wasn't it.

o0o

"-He's not gonna do much. He'll be gone for like 30-40 years before he finally decides to get up and do something, but even then, it won't be to help anyone, he'll do it so he can feel better about neglecting all the pain that was caused over time. I mean, all that matters to him after she dies is his own grief. He'll go so far as to actually lobotomize anyone that gets in his way. Now, I don't mean to make him out to be the bad guy, he really isn't, but the methods and the time he's gonna choose to fix this will be garbage. I just want to let you know that he's not perfect. He's gonna wake up one day and say: if I go out, I'm burning everyone else with me. It'll all be an elaborate scheme to kill himself, `cause he's too guilty to do it the old-fashioned way and wants to feel like he's helping. But, you know, that's not even the worst part of it all. That would be the fact that all that time he'd know where Charlie was but never try to reach out to her. He'll built like this black bear that'll trap her inside, electrocute her to keep her "soothed", and then he'll burn her with the rest of them. His own daughter. He won't even be sure the guard is Michael; he'll just assume it's him without checking and then leave him to die. He's not gonna ask Michael if he wants to die too, he'll just say there was an escape route planned for him and leave it at that. He won't give Mike the chance to choose if he wants to burn alive or not. And the funny thing is that in the end it'll all be for nothing `cause he'll be too senile to realize that there was only a possibility that remnant is destroyed in heat, not a fact. If that thing really did have a weakness to fire, then William would've died in the attraction since he only got out of the building after that fire stopped. Henry's whole plan is repeating what happened in Fazbear Frights when that didn't work because he read those blueprints and misinterpreted them. Afton will still survive, no doubt about it, and Henry's so-called sacrifice will be useless."

Its Matthew shifted in its arms, leaning back into the fabric if its chest. He'd been ranting for an hour since waking up. Mari had liked hearing him talk so passionately, but the things he did speak of however… They made the Puppet sizzle with anger. At its creator for proving once again just how inept he was. At Afton and the suffering he inflicted on children and their families... At the injustice in all of it.

If the Puppet could've had its way William would've died the first time they met. It regretted hesitating in that moment. If it had wanted it could've snapped his neck in a quick motion, leaving him unable to react, but instead it had chosen to choke him to death, which was what allowed Mr. Emily to pull it off of him and shut it down. Knowing what it knew now thanks to its little one, the decision to spare his life had been its greatest mistake since its conception. All the anguish and torture it could've prevented had it been sensible enough to end the waste of space that was his existence… Mari hated itself, perhaps more than it did him, for letting him go.

Now it had to play the long game and wait. It agreed with Matthew's plan, but that didn't mean it liked it, because for every day they waited someone could be hurt or killed. Matthew's visions did not include every single moment of Afton's life, signifying there could be many more victims that they'd have no way to account for and therefore miss. It often weighed whether or not the livelihoods of three children were worth the lives of so many others, if it was the right thing to wait for their mother to be able to sustain their family before going after Afton. Those thoughts further added to the loathing it had for itself for even considering something so horrendous as to ruin their childhoods to stop their monster of a father.

Mari would begrudgingly go along with its boy's solution, but half because it couldn't think of a better alternative and half because on some level it shared his opinion, even if it was muddled under confusing feelings. It was just… emotions were the greatest thing to have ever happened to the Puppet as well as the worst. Now, it could feel the world it inhabited, and experience it as a human would, but it had also lost the advantage of cold code logic. Nothing was binary anymore. There was not simply right or wrong, black and white or ones and zeros. Everything melted into a grey, a neutral color with countless shades, all having the possibility to be justified one way or another.

Due to emotions, it had been introduced to morals, and the weakness they produced in oneself, but it had been made capable of appreciating the joys in life. Of watching the little ones under its care grow and see, hear and smell new things.

Live.

They were alive, and they could be happy.

That was its only real desire. To make them happy. To offer them the world.

"And then William is gonna-…" Matthew continued eagerly. The Puppet curled his hair as it listened, trilling comfortingly.

Stop Memory File

Mari let out a chime that was akin to a sigh. It pointed its finger to the door that led to the basement, concentrating. After a few moments of silence, a click was heard from the lock. Exercising its Telekinesis had paid off. Being able to suspend tiny objects in air also meant it could affect them from a distance. Waving its hand, the door opened to reveal a mess of boxes containing various mechanical parts, dusted shelves being home to all sorts of equipment and pieces of cut golden fur and hard plastic shoved under a table. With a flick of its wrist the light turned on, illuminating the dingy room.

In front of the western wall there were two yellow figures, kept in pristine condition compared to the rest of the basement. They stood suspended on supports chained to the ceiling in hunched positions, staring at the floor with cold, dead eyes. One of them would be used by him as a disguise to lure the children away as it had been informed by its own child, while the other would by proxy make him responsible for the death of little Evan.

Cursed creations.

Mari glided before the robots, the static in its music box growing louder as it approached. The Puppet's veil lost its smile, morphing its expression into one of tragedy, similar to theatre masks. It glared at the both of them, taking its time to reflect on their involvement in the murders.

They were accomplices. Equally as guilty as him.

Lifeless. Empty. Mere husks destined to kill.

Junk.

It floated away from them, repulsed at the sight of what it had once called its siblings. The three of them couldn't be more unrelated.

Rattling softly, it turned to inspect the basement. A cobweb had formed in the left corner of the room since the last time it had been here all those months ago, before its fellow creations had been moved from the shed. There was a white computer on top of the desk, with schematics and papers laying near it disorderly. It went over to pick them up, thinking it had found what it was looking for. The drawings detailed the smaller components of the golden suits such as the voice boxes and springlocks. Useless.

Mari peeked under the desk and pulled out a smaller cardboard box from under it. It searched for anything that might help it in removing Fredbear's intentional design flaw, but all it found were electronic pieces. Putting the box back, it moved on to the next, then the next, until finally finding one that contained multiple books. Picking them up one by one and breezing through their pages, it read for any information on the animatronics. The notebooks were filled with drawings made by Mr. Emily; prototypes, "fun" ideas he had, genuine plans for servos and articulation, early designs for faceless wooden robots that had body shapes weirdly similar to its own, concept sketches of Bonnie and Fred as well as potential names. There was even a colored sketch of what Mari assumed to be itself early on, if the lanky, striped figure with a white mask was any indication. It stopped to read the small note next to the drawing that said: Coils the clown

What a dreadful name. Bless Matthew for coming up with an indisputably better one for the Puppet.

Mari shuddered at the idea of being named anything close to that.

It went through the rest of the book before moving on to the next. After precisely twenty minutes of rummaging through pages it had found the one it was looking for. Drawings of the jaw mechanisms, how to assemble, mount and repair them. It copied what it saw into its Memory Banks before discarding the book to search for the replacement pieces. It was untidy with the way in which it spread the parts onto the floor to look through them, but that had been the fastest way to find the proper pistons for Fredbear. The ones it had seen in the shed that day.

Taking them in its hands, it hovered over to the bear and set them on the table to the right of the robots. Reaching behind Fred's head, it pressed its fingers on the buttons at the base of his neck where the spine connected to the lower jaw. A hiss of air and a cling were heard before the yellow head became detachable. Mari felt nothing as it lifted it in the air. Decapitation was a perfect end for the golden bear.

As the costumes were in stage mode there was no need to de-wind the springlocks to allow the parts to connect for maintenance, so it hadn't been required to use a hand crank. It pried open the robot's mouth as wide as it could to make space for itself to reach in and pull on the small lever that would unlock the pistons. Once they were decoupled, it carefully took them out and set them next to the originals. Thankfully, these operations could be done manually, without tools.

The sets of pistons were virtually identical, save for their size, with the bigger ones being thrice as large as the others. The Puppet took the smaller ones and retraced its steps. It would dispose of those it had replaced after it was finished. Closing Fredbear's mouth, it held the mask to eye level, checking to see if the change would be visible. Unless the bot would open its jaws then the cheeks would be enough to cover the weaker pistons, and even if its maker figured out they'd been switched, he wouldn't be able to fix them if he couldn't find the stronger ones to do so.

Pleased with its efforts, the Puppet looked at the scattered components and notebooks on the floor, chiming dejectedly. It would have to clean all of that up before it left.

Standing below the light, its feet were cast in shadows. The darkness creeped away from climbing up the Marionette's body as it knew what awaited it if it were to try that. But where there was light, there would always be shadows.

Still clutching the head as if it were a present, Mari gazed down at it with glowing optics. Its shape reminded the Puppet of the entity. It hated the resemblance.

In a forgotten, bygone future it never got the opportunity to offer this gift, a gift of life, to one of the tormented souls, as that one had become aware by herself. The golden mask it has hanging onto was a door it had no intention of opening. It would leave it buried in the other time where it belonged, among the rest of the wreckage. The corpses of that story would not be welcomed here. Ever.

Mari and its child would make sure to keep that door shut.


Mike is an absolute ass, but we're dealing with a pre-bite Michael here. There's a lot of pent-up aggression/angst that he's been dying to find an outlet for, and with William's allowance he can finally let loose a little.

I had a lotta fun writing all of the dynamics between our dear characters this chapter and I hope you've enjoyed reading them! I shall see you all next week👋. In the meantime, have a wonderful day ^_^!

Chapter title from "Bellow The Surface" by Griffinilla.