Greeting: Previously, the Fazbear crew learned that the Apocalypse is truly worldwide and they are in danger like Jenny said.
This time: No idea. I'll just move on. Enjoy!
( Springtrap and the kids. Springtrap's nap room)
To them, it was unclear how much time had passed. They had been sent to the nap room quite a while ago.
Julisa had gone after a while.
Springtrap was sitting in the middle of the kids. He agreed that it was easy to lose the sense of time in there.
The dim lighting and the calming sounds tended to make everyone sleepy. Nobody could say if they had been sleeping or not.
Some children had lain down on the fake grass.
Springtrap glanced at their direction and saw their eyes were closed. It was clear that they weren't sleeping though, at least their sleep wasn't very deep.
They had witnessed another child get killed and Fang had been fighting her for real.
No wonder they found it hard to sleep.
No child in there could have forgotten the way Fang had attacked Betsy. There was no hiding that sort of lust for death.
Fang's killer instinct had been showing in his eyes. For the first time, the kids began to doubt if Fang was their friend after all.
Springtrap hoped that they wouldn't lose their trust.
He looked at the children, lying on the grass. Then he looked at the starry sky, above his head.
" Please, let these innocent children sleep. Strengthen their trust, stars", Springtrap thought.
He had been looking at fake ones but his request had been meant for the real stars. He wasn't sure why he was praying the stars to help his children.
At the factory, the stars had been the only pleasing thing in Springtrap's life. Wherever he had been imprisoned in, he had always been able to see the stars.
Back at Fredbear's own hideout, Springtrap had had a small window to look out of.
At night, the stars had shone their light at him.
Back at the Summers residence, Springtrap had had a window as well.
The skylight at the factory had given him something beautiful to look at. The stars had turned out to be his guardians and dear friends.
When no one had been concerned about his health or cared about his suffering, the stars had been there for him.
Maybe it had caused him to send his prayers to them.
Springtrap had never been a religious animatronic.
In his eyes, religions only made people hurt one another. Right then, he needed somebody to help him.
Springtrap didn't know what was going on out there. He felt as if they could die any second.
So far, the only people that had come into the room during the past hour had been the kids from outside and some other children.
That one girl who hadn't doubted Fang's kindness was one of them.
She had told him that her friends had been suspicious but that she had known Fang to be a kind wolf.
Springtrap was grateful to her for that. This exact girl was lying on his lap at the moment.
" Can you get sleep, little one?", Springtrap asked her.
The girl's eyes were open so she wasn't sleeping yet.
" Springtrap. Are we going to be okay?", the girl looked at him.
Springtrap would have wanted to give her an affirmative answer. The truth was that he didn't like lying at all.
He was just as afraid as the children. He wished he could have looked into the girl's eyes and answer her with determination in his voice.
Golden freddy could have done that, he was so brave.
" I don't know. I'm really scared. I hope somebody can help us", he gave the girl a realistic answer.
" I think Foxy, Golden freddy and Fang can help us. They will not allow anyone to harm us", responded the girl.
Springtrap thought about it. He had not allowed Springlock to harm the kids. He had given himself to Springlock in exchange for the children's lives.
" I will neither. I'll protect you even if it costs me my own life", Springtrap told her.
This time, the determination was clearly heard in his voice. It wasn't an angry, brave speech like what Golden freddy would have said in his place.
Springtrap still sounded like a scared bunny but it was convincing enough based on the girl, smiling at him.
" I wish you don't have to give your life. Julisa would become really sad if you didn't make it. She already lost Nina, her best friend", the girl said sadly.
She pushed the side of her head against Springtrap's thigh and used it as a pillow.
Springtrap went silent due to what she had said. Nina's name was not good for him.
The expression on Nina's face as the knife sank into her neck. That was what Springtrap saw in front of him.
" Why didn't I stop her in time?", Springtrap thought about Springlock's mean face.
He glanced at the girl and the other children around him. Maybe they could make Nina's face disappear.
All the kids were trying to get near him.
There was hardly enough room for everyone. Luckily, the class hadn't been too big to begin with.
Those extra kids from outside and the children who had already been there, were lucky.
If the class had been bigger, they wouldn't have been able to fit into the nap room.
Springtrap heard an owl in a nearby tree. The sound system was working fine.
Even though, the news anchor had claimed that there would be blackouts, the pizzeria's electricity was working fine.
The stars were working and so were the sound systems. Springtrap was grateful to fate for letting the nap room stay the same as before.
The Apocalypse had not affected it.
It almost helped him forget the worries of the outside world.
He didn't know what everybody was doing outside the nap room but he could feel that the situation was not under control.
Like Scarlett and Storm Jr., he had a weird feeling too.
When the Sorcerer had come to his room back at the factory, Springtrap had sensed uneasiness radiating from him.
That same feeling had covered him right then. Springtrap tried to pet the children's heads and comfort them but they were not sleeping.
He whispered to them that everything would be okay soon.
Springtrap liked the calm atmosphere but it was unnerving not to know what was happening outside.
Someone seemed to hear his prayer right then. Springtrap and the kids heard a sound.
Somebody opened the door to the room. Springtrap hoped it wouldn't be another monster.
He saw the light shine through the door. A fluffy kitty cat walked into the room.
" Hi, kids", Catty greeted them in a calm tone.
Springtrap saw her friendly eyes and sighed a small bit.
Catty was with Lara and Golden freddy. Springtrap smiled as he saw so many of his friends.
" Hi, Catty. Is everything alright?", asked Springtrap.
Catty nodded to him.
" We wondered if you wanted to come out now. We have calmed down and hopefully you have too", Lara explained to him.
Springtrap didn't have an opinion himself. It was up to the children.
" I want to come out. I would feel much safer with more of you guys around", one boy said.
Some others agreed with him. The children stood up and came out of the room.
" Do you want to come with us, kids? Everything's okay now", Catty asked the rest.
" If they want to stay here, I can stay with them. It's not a problem, Catty", Springtrap told her.
It was pointless since most kids had wanted to leave and the others wanted to follow them.
The rest of the children came out with Springtrap and Catty led them to the Arcade palace.
Golden freddy remained by the door, waiting for Springtrap to come out. Golden freddy wrapped his left arm around him.
Springtrap leaned into him snugly.
" You were afraid in there, weren't you?", Golden freddy could feel it in him.
" What happened today? I'm afraid what's going to happen to the kids now", Springtrap revealed.
Golden freddy rubbed his soft cheek.
" It's nothing you need to worry about, buddy. I think we have got this under control", Golden freddy told him.
Springtrap raised his head.
" You are lying, Goldie. What happened while we were in the nap room? Did something get in?", Springtrap looked into his eyes.
" Nothing happened, I can assure you. We are safe", insisted Golden freddy.
Springtrap's eyes were widened in fear. He had been with Golden freddy a lot.
Springtrap could see that Golden freddy wasn't as sure as he wanted Springtrap to think.
" The only reason why you would lie to me was if kids were about to die. Tell me about it. I can take it", Springtrap's lower jaw was shivering.
His teeth were clanking and his hands were shaking.
" You are terrified out of your mind. What makes you think you could take it? You need to calm down, Springtrap", Golden freddy looked at him.
He grabbed Springtrap by the arms to keep them from shaking.
" You can't take it, buddy. I know how sensitive you are. Even the thought of the children being in danger, makes your eyes glint.
The others can't see it but I can. Your eyes are getting ready to cry", sighed Golden freddy.
Springtrap looked around. They were alone in the very old part of the pizzeria.
" Knowing our current life, I'll find out the truth sooner or later. It's either now or when I see the children breathe their last breath.
I will live in fear of the truth from now on if you don't tell it", Springtrap looked at him.
" There are no children here. No one will see me cry. The last thing that should happen, is me crying in front of the kids.
You know, my crying makes them sad too. It's better if I burst into tears right here than out there", insisted Springtrap.
" I don't want you to cry", Golden freddy told him.
" I need the truth", claimed Springtrap.
Golden freddy sighed.
" Betsy was not the only one. We have to protect our pizzeria by killing more monster children like her.
The second thing is that this is worse than we expected. The whole world is falling", Golden freddy said, looking at him.
" What do you mean, the world is falling?", Springtrap was shocked.
" All the children, out there in the world, can't be helped. This attack is worldwide. We can't help any of them.
We have to accept that they will die in horrible ways.
We can only physically protect our children here but sooner or later they are going to see us kill a bunch of other children.
It won't be good for their trust but we have to tolerate it. We just have to ignore their cries and keep on killing in order to protect them.
Those are the two worst things I know right now", Golden freddy told Springtrap.
" I expect there will be lots of crying and fear among the children", Springtrap said with sadness in his voice.
" It's like when you saw Springlock in her room with all those kids. This time, there's nothing you can really do to stop the bad guys from hurting the children.
You can protect some but not everyone that this affects", Golden freddy nodded to him.
" The monsters will be like Betsy. Horrible, cruel things but still so innocent looking kids", Springtrap was thinking about what the battle would be like.
" It's our burden. You don't have to fight, Springtrap.
Remain inside and make sure you ease the kids' sadness as much as possible when needed", Golden freddy told him.
They were looking into each other's eyes. Springtrap was starting to cry. No child was there to see it just like Springtrap had said.
Springtrap buried his face into Golden freddy's chest.
" How hard will it be to keep their eyes dry?", Springtrap asked him.
" It will be impossible. You have to stay strong and try to save some parts of their lovely childhoods", Golden freddy shrugged.
He let Springtrap cry for a moment.
" All those children out there. The monsters will kill them and I can't do anything about it", cried Springtrap.
" I know, buddy. It makes me sad too", sighed Golden freddy.
" We have to stay strong for the kids, here. Are the others alright with this?", Springtrap asked him.
" Of course, they are not. You know, we might seem like we are strong all the time, like Storm for instance.
Deep within, every single one of us is sensitive like you. We are crying on the inside even if we don't show it", Golden freddy told him.
" I should be like that", said Springtrap.
" No! Never. Don't ever change, Springtrap. Be yourself. Your sensitive, empathic self", Golden freddy looked into his eyes.
Springtrap nodded and wiped his tears.
" Thank you, Goldie. Thank you for telling me the truth. Let's go to the kids now", he smiled, joylessly, at his friend.
Golden freddy followed him to the normal part of the pizzeria. Springtrap had needed some time to cry.
He had let his fears and worries flow out. He looked ready to do his best to defend the children.
Springtrap's eyes were dry as he arrived at the Arcade palace. Lara was telling the kids not to touch the arcade machines.
Catty was gently playing with some of the children. Springtrap went to them and joined in. No one could see that he had been crying.
Golden freddy was quite astonished to see it. Springtrap was able to smile again.
Usually, it took a long time to get Springtrap smiling again. Was he faking it?
Golden freddy had no idea why Springtrap had taken such a horrible piece of news so casually.
Maybe, it was due to Golden freddy warning him that it was going to be bad.
Golden freddy even considered that maybe Springtrap had grown up.
It made him really sad because no one wanted Springtrap to grow up. Deep within, he was a child and that was the best part of him.
Golden freddy shrugged it off very soon. Springtrap was never going to grow up.
Golden freddy should have focused on being happy about the situation.
Springtrap was helpful when he was happy. He could easily ease the children's sadness and fear.
Fate put that to a test.
Golden freddy was about to sit down when everybody heard a scream from another room.
" Mom!", the son of Mrs. Grandy shouted after the scream and tried to run out of the Arcade palace.
Golden freddy's core jumped up to his throat and was about to come out.
He was forced to gulp it back in. That had not been a promising sound whatsoever.
" What's happening? Ricky! Come back", Springtrap told Mrs. Grandy's son.
Golden freddy caught the boy and lifted him up.
" Stay still. Let me go first! It might be dangerous", Golden freddy told him.
Mrs. Grandy's son nodded as he was put down to the floor. He went back to the others.
The children were trying to hide behind Springtrap's protective arms. Catty was behind him as well.
Golden freddy could not hear any fighting sounds. Mrs. Grandy had not screamed due to anything getting in.
Maybe, everyone was already dead.
Perhaps, Mrs. Grandy was the last to die. Golden freddy, Springtrap, Catty, Lara and the kids had been away for a while.
If the enemies had gotten in during that time, they wouldn't have heard it. Lara was walking beside him.
" Are you ready to fight?", she asked him.
" I have to be", was Golden freddy's answer.
They tiptoed closer to the doorway, leading to the main hall.
Springtrap, Catty and the kids were staying behind them.
Lara and Golden freddy reached the doorway and there was still no sound.
Suddenly, a fox ran at them, coming from behind a corner.
Crystal would have hit Lara if she hadn't hit the breaks first. Lara shouted in fear, Crystal had startled her.
The kids jumped in the air as Lara let out the shout.
" Crystal?", Springtrap saw her.
Golden freddy and Lara sighed, they had thought it to be a monster.
Crystal certainly looked she had just seen one.
" What are you doing in here? Get to the main hall, you fools", shouted Crystal.
She ran past Lara.
" Where are you going?", asked Springtrap as she ran past him.
" Mrs. Grandy needs water and we need a miracle to get her up", Crystal explained to him.
Based on Crystal's unclear report, nothing too serious or lethal had happened.
Golden freddy and Lara ran to the main hall and Springtrap as well as Catty followed them with the kids.
The two animatronics at the front stopped as soon as they arrived at the main hall.
The rest of the animatronics were there, staring out.
Scarlett, Marionette, Foxy, Fang, Storm and Vixey were in their fighting stances, and the reason was clear.
There was a teenager boy outside the pizzeria. He was touching the front window, trying to find a way in by all accounts.
His grim smile shoved fear into everyone's hearts. Springtrap knelt down to the kids' level and extended his arms to the sides.
Springtrap and Catty had the children under control.
Whereas, Gretta and the other adults had Mrs. Grandy under control.
The animatronics could concentrate on the enemy. The boy's hair was grimson red and his eyes were as red as his hair.
" Fazzzbearsss", the boy's hissing voice said.
There was a vent above the window. The boy's voice could be heard through that.
Marionette was the one closest to him.
" Who are you? Stay out!", he looked angry.
The boy smiled.
" Who am I? Sso rude. You are sso ignorant, dear Marionette", he claimed.
" Should I know you then?", asked Marionette.
" No, sstupid. We know you sssince you have been sstanding in our way for a long time. For that, we have come to kill you!", the boy said.
" Come and try, wicked creature. We'll defend our kids", Vixey got her hook ready.
The boy glanced at her.
" Kidsss? You want to protect them, don't you? How about the adultsss then? Will they die?", the boy asked a stupid question.
" Never. Even if you came in, we would kil..I mean stop you before you could do any damage", Vixey answered him.
" You don't ssay kill becaussse there are kidss around. How sssweet. It will make sslaughtering you more fun.
We will make them sscream. Unlesss", the boy smiled wickedly.
" Unless what?", Marionette looked terrified.
" Massster isss merciful. He wantss to offer you a choice", the monster hissed.
Marionette sighed, the boy was there not to attack them but to give them a message.
" There are kidss, adult humanss and then there'sss you. If you wissh to live with your kidss, you mussst kill the parentss", the boy explained.
" Listen to me, monster! They won't be able to kill us!", Gretta shouted all the way from the back of the room.
" But you can kill them, can't you Gretta? If you adultss want to live with your innocent children, you musst ssslaughter the animatronicsss for us.
Then Masster will let you and you children live", the boy offered Gretta a choice too.
The animatronics looked at her and one another.
" You have ssome time to decide. If you are all alive when we come, we'll kill every lasst one of you.
Your blood will sstain the building from the floor all the way up to the ceiling. Decide but do it fasst", the boy laughed at them.
Vixey walked to the front of the window.
" Listen to me, ssscum", she said, mimicking his voice mockingly.
" You let us be. We won't take threats from hidious creatures like you. You'll never get us!", shouted Vixey.
" We'll ssee about that very, very ssoon.
And remember that if we don't desstroy you from the outsside, then you will be desstroyed from the insside", the boy said his last words before running away.
He disappeared into mist that had surrounded the pizzeria. The animatronics were left to wonder what would happen next.
Marionette had been staring into his eyes for a while. At that point, it was clear to Marionette who they were.
The red eyes had looked familiar. Elleroth had had the same kind of eyes. It was shocking but he should have seen it coming.
" The big boys are in town now. They crawl out of the shadows after all these centuries.
Beast witches truly live up to their name", he thought.
Farewell: The next chapter will be a surprising one. Not going to reveal it yet.
I hope you'll enjoy it.
For now, it's time to finish this chapter and make sure everyone on the earth knows that: THE ONLY WAY TO LIVE IS TO WRITE.
