What's up, readers?
So, couple things real quick before we start this off.
Tgonthefiery - I'm glad that you're glad that I'm doing this. And I do agree that it's a pity that Steel Vendetta was stopped.
Zuskato Zyus - Thanks, bro.
Between the posting of these chapters, Tea Blade Writer has responded to my questions regarding this story. He's completely fine with me making an alternate version of his story, just as long as it's not completely plagiarizing his work. Of course, I won't intentionally do so. So thanks for that, Tea.
Anyways, enough chit-chat from me. Onto the story.
Vixey fell to the ground, her new body already showing signs of damage from the dents and exposed innards.
"Get up, Vixen! It ain't quitting time yet, girl!" shouted the opposing lizard.
She gripped the hilt of her blade tightly, her anger rising as she rolled to the side to avoid being kicked in the stomach. Swiftly getting onto her feet, she held her buckler in front of her, and her sword pointed over the buckler at her enemy, her legs bent and spread apart slightly.
Looking at the opposing lizard animatronic, she saw that he was using two swords, one of the blades having teeth on the lower half of the sword while the other was double-sided. He was wearing very little armor, with many exposed areas along his chest, arms, and legs, but his tail was coated with a bit of armor with metallic spikes at the end to serve as a third weapon to use in case his swords were inaccessible.
Taking a chance, she took a few steps forward, deflecting his left sword to the side with her own as she swung her buckler at his head horizontally, hoping to have some sort of contact.
However, her hopes were dashed when he ducked under her swing and tripped her in the process. After making contact with the ground, she instinctively brought her buckler up to deflect his blade swing at her midsection.
As their weapons made contact with each other, a voice boomed over the battle, saying "HALT."
The lizard sheathed his swords and held out a hand to help Vixey up. She took it and was hauled to her feet surprisingly fast, almost causing her to lose her balance. She stood up and looked over to the owner of the voice, and saw a very thin, very lithe, and very black figure with a mask that put the puppet's to shame in terms of scariness; the mask itself was white, while the rosy cheeks and blue stripes under the eyes that were from the puppet were now raven black. stood to watch over the two, judging them with every move they made.
Walking over to the pair, he revealed the dozens of tiny, sharp teeth that were just inside his mouth as he said "Good work, Hephaestus; yet another success on the durability of your weapons. I'll have a need for your private services within the next month. Vixey, I can see the progress that you've made in the short week that you've been here, and it's grown leaps and bounds over the first day. You've got a natural talent for combat, my girl."
Vixey simply smiled and bowed her head while saying "Thanks, Marion. It's all due to your training, though I still have a ways to go before I'm ready."
The elevator at the end of the practice arena dinged, and the doors opened to reveal
Foxy walking out, some light armor on him as he wielded a pirate sword in his non-hooked hand.
He walked over to Vixey, smiling as they made eye contact, and kissed her before looking over to Marion and saying "Shall we get on with today's lesson, Marion?"
Marion smiled and nodded to the lizard. He took this as his sign to walk out of the arena, and once the elevator descended down with its passenger, the fox, vixen, and the nightmare sat down in front of each other, the two foxes' eyes on the nightmarionette as he started his lesson.
"So, what do you two remember about my lecture on how is animatronics can use teleportation?" He asks.
Vixey was the first to speak, saying "Teleportation isn't dematerialization in one place and re-materialization in another. It's about entering a part of the world that holds the spirits of all that have fallen, both as civilians, machines, or gladiators. It's a world filled with the souls of those who wander aimlessly throughout the rest of their existence until their spirits turn to dust. These spirits have done neither something tremendously good nor tremendously evil. They are part of the void, and in turn, can never know peace."
Pleasantly surprised, he smiles and is cut off from praising her when Foxy speaks up, saying "In order to get there, you need to detach your central intelligence from your physical body. The right way to do this is to be thinking about nothing at all, as even the slightest thought will cause you to lose your concentration and drain your energy much faster, while the best way is to let one strong emotion completely flood your mind and only have that one emotion dominating your CPU. Entering and leaving the spirit world is like any other skill; the more you use it, the easier it'll be to use, the longer you'll be able to stay, and the farther you'll be able to travel. Once you enter the spirit world, you'll be moving at a speed much faster than that of the real world, which is the key to how it looks like teleportation."
He chuckles, thinking about how wrong he was to doubt their ability to recall these kinds of things.
"Excellent. Now, for today, we're going to be doing something practical. I'm going to take both of your through to the spirit world for a few seconds. I would not recommend doing this until you have complete mastery in teleportation. Taking one other is troubling, but two is downright dangerous unless you've had the several decades of dedicated training like I have. Now, close your eyes, take a deep breath, and when you've felt a change, open your eyes."
Vixey closed her eyes, and took a deep breath, trying her best to clear her mind. Whatever helped get both herself and Foxy through this so that they could try to start a new life together where they were on top. Whatever it takes to get there, she would try her best to do so.
Suddenly, she felt as if her mechanical innards were ripped from her very body, able to know of every single rip and tear though feeling no pain whatsoever. Once the ripping feeling stopped, she opened her eyes and looked at her surroundings.
Everything was grayscaled, including the animatronics surrounding her. She looked over at Foxy, who looked back at her, and they both looked around the area to see that, even though the entire area was grayscaled, they could see disfigured spirits around them, all having different animalistic characters in varying shapes and sizes.
A few looked at them, but most ignored their existence.
They then looked towards Marion, who then nodded and was about to bring them back when he felt another presence enter their area.
And it just so happened to be the last voice that Vixey ever wanted to hear.
"So… This is where you ran off to, Vixey," a voice said.
~~~~POV CHANGE: FOXY~~~~
Suddenly, a golden rabbit appeared in front of the trio, all the spirits immediately fleeing the area as soon as the rabbit materialized in front of them.
Foxy stood up and put an arm in front of Vixey.
"You know this character, Vixey?" he asked, not taking his eyes off the new animatronic.
The golden rabbit only chuckled as Foxy's question went unanswered. He looked back only to see her still in her sitting position, a look of complete terror on her face as she stared at the rabbit.
He looked back to the animatronic, and asked: "Who are ye?"
The rabbit merely chuckled and said "I am the one who first took Vixey apart all those years ago. I'm the reason she was dismantled in the first place. My name is Springtrap, and I am her ex."
The oil in Foxy's systems suddenly felt ice-cold as he heard these words. Her ex? What kind of boyfriend lets her girlfriend get destroyed like how she was when I found her, though I doubt he's speaking the truth.
He looks back over to Vixey, and she's clutching her head with both her hands, her eyes going wide as a few oiled tears make their way down her face.
...Well, there goes my optimism…
He looks back over to Springtrap, a look of hate adorning his otherwise calm face as he growls out "What kind of being lets their partner get completely destroyed, left a crumbling mess for someone else to put back together?"
"The same one that put her in that position on the first place," he retaliated.
This caught Foxy off guard, as he wasn't expecting that sort of response.
"At the first location, some 50-odd years ago, there was three animatronics; a golden bear, a golden rabbit, and a puppet. When the location closed down and was bought out by FAZBEAR ENTERTAINMENT, we went our separate ways. The bear went to the location in Springfield, The Puppet decided to start giving the animatronics around the world the gift of freedom, and I participated in The Forge. For the last decade, I've held the position of The Blade, but things here were getting… a bit boring. I decided to take a little break and got into the location in Mississippi, where I met Mangle.
"We kicked it off like it was nothing, the toy animatronics and I had a blast together, killing night guard after night guard almost every week for the next fifteen years afterward. Then, Mangle came in out of nowhere, the newest model, and even though I confessed my love to her, she said that she had no interest in me. So, late one night, I altered her programming and had her kill a small kid during one of her performances.
"Once she figured out that it was me, two days later as to my surprise, she went ahead and attacked me, trying to kill me. I'll be honest, she got me good, but I had programmed the other toys to come in later that night, and maliciously tear her part for part, and then fuse her parts back together. Her screams of agony are something that I will relish for the rest of my existence."
Foxy snarled in anger, and ran forwards, closing the distance between them and hitting him right in the face with a right hook.
At least, that was what he both thought and wanted to happen.
In reality, his fist was stopped mere inches from Springtrap's face, the golden rabbit's stoic face un-flinched, and before he knew it, Foxy found himself on the floor of the arena.
"You're fast, Fox, I'll give you that. But I'm faster than you. I'm stronger than you. I'm smarter than you. You don't stand a chance against me," Springtrap said, a crazed smile on his face as he took a couple steps towards Foxy, who was still on the ground.
He reaches down, grabs Foxy by his throat, and lifts him in the air, his feet dangling as he tried to pry Springtrap's hand from its stone grasp around his neck.
"You will never beat me. You'll be nothing more than an ant that squirms around on the ground looking for its next meal. And when we fight, I'll squish you just like the insignificant ant you really a-"
THWACK
Springtrap's grip around Foxy's throat went slack as he stumbled backward, Foxy falling on the floor as he was released.
Coughing a few times, he heard a voice he recognized say "You may be the current Blade, but let us not forget who the first was, or the one who was one for the longest amount of time by far, rabbit."
He looked up, seeing Nightmarionette standing between himself and Springtrap, his left hand stretched out to his left side as Springtrap held his left cheek.
"A battle between Blades is forbidden unless in an official gladiatorial match. We both know that. However, the next word that comes out of your mouth will not start a battle between Blades. It will start a massacre of your mind, your body, and your soul, for I will not hesitate to kill you where you stand. Do. I. Make. Myself. Clear."
Springtrap's eyes took on a glow of malice as his face started to turn into one that contemplated the look in his eyes before he disappeared entirely, the three animatronics finding themselves back in the real world.
A moment of silence overtook the three animatronics as Marion started to walk towards the elevator. Upon reaching it, he motioned for the two to follow. Shaking himself, Foxy turned around to help Vixey up only to find her still shellshocked.
Sighing, he picked her up bridal-style as he started walking towards the exit. Vixey clung to Foxy as if her life depended on it.
They arrived in the elevator, and Marion closed the gate, causing the elevator to start its descent.
"...Well… I'm not sure what I was expecting when that happened, but it definitely wasn't that, let me tell ya. Anyways, I'll briefly explain Wizard's Island for you, and you can tell her when she recovers."
The elevator had bullet-resistant glass as its walls and door, which showcased nothing but rocks and dirt for the first thirty feet before opening up into a huge, 500-square-foot room filled with both humans and machines alike, doing various activities from talking to eating to arm-wrestling.
"The entire island is hollowed out, with layers of thirty feet worth of rocks, dirt, and titanium support beams to keep them all in place and to separate each floor from the one above and below it. The first floor is where our most esteemed patrons, both humans, and animatronics that keep this place running with their vast sums of cash, can relax and take a breather between matches. Every floor below belongs to either one or two teams, depending on how many teams show up to participate. Ours is on the lowest level."
After about ten minutes of explaining the 15 other teams, what level each was on, along with their participants, the elevator stopped on the lowest level, roughly 860 feet below the crater. There were metallic sheens covering the entire floor from the elevator's sight and only opened when the elevator doors did as well.
"Welcome to your workspace. Steel-plated dummies off to the left side in the back, the last twenty feet in the back is for your resident smithie to work on your armor and weapon systems. Off to the right towards the back is Vixey's room, where we'll store her weapons and armor for her to use in the arena, towards the entrance on the right side is Foxy's room, and right between them is the control center where the smithie and myself will watch the fight, analyze it, and prep for fixing the weapons and armor to see if it needs repair and to see how his creations fare in the field. Both of your rooms come with beds, alarm clocks, and the usual works to make it livable. If you need anything else in your rooms, let me know and I'll get it for you.
"The main room takes up most of the space, and this is where you can have practice matches between each other, host company whenever the patrons come by and test out the equipment you're given. And that pretty much sums it up."
Vixey releases her hold of Foxy, who got the message to let her down onto her feet. She started making her way to her room. Foxy went to go comfort her when he felt a hand on his shoulder.
"Give her some time to process this. She knows you're here for her, but she'll open up when she's ready."
She then closes the door to her room, leaving Foxy feeling slightly saddened by her absence.
Marion noticed this and said "Lighten up pal. If all goes according to plan, then you'll be the one to turn her ex into the scrapheap that he ought to be. Now, I'll explain everything as best I can to her later, but for right now, it's time for you to get acquainted with your new body."
Foxy looked over his shoulder at his friend, a dubious look on his face as he asked "New body?"
All he gets in response is a smirk as he leads the fox into his own room, where he saw a hammock in one of the corners, next to a dresser to store a few sets of clothes, and a computer system hooked up to a few outlets in the wall, Hephaestus at the keyboard.
"Hephaestus, is he ready to showcase?" Marion asked.
"As long as it's only a showcase. He isn't completely ready for activation, but he should be in the next couple of days. Shortly after their updated civilian forms, of course."
He taps a few keys, and the picture frame next to the desk slides up to reveal a holographic keyboard built into the wall alongside a big red button. He punches in a few words into the keyboard, going too fast for Foxy to keep up, and eventually he hit the red button, and a section of the wall next to the desk depressed into the wall six inches before opening like double doors away from them, showcasing off a room full of servers, machines, and a crimson monstrosity.
"This is an alteration to your current form that we've designed specifically for the gladiator fights. These new forms, Ferocious Exoskeletal Animalistic Reapers, or F.E.A.R. forms as we call them, are designed to instill fear into their enemies as they are about to be killed by you, whether it be the two rows of teeth in your mouth you're using to bite their heads off, your clawed hand to punch through their armor to rip out their internal systems, or it's your Blood Hook you're using for dismemberment or decapitation. And that's just the start of it. Wait 'till you're in the body itself. It's got a surprise that can only be activated once it's CPU is powered up."
Foxy continued to stare in awe at the construction in the room before Marion said: "A couple of other things if you will."
Foxy walked out of the room, of which Hephaestus hit the button again, causing the doors to close and form back into the wall as if the room had never existed.
"These forms are only to be used in either the arena fights or in extreme circumstances. Do not talk about them outside of this room, and do not speak about them to anyone aside from myself, Hephaestus, and those that we are ok with. For now, only us four know about it, and I'd like to keep it that way for now. We wake up at 0700 every morning, and we're going to train every single day on both your FEAR forms and your upgraded normal forms when we get those done. I'll explain more about your battle forms when we get you into them. For now, rest and relax. Starting tomorrow, you're going to be molded into what you need to be in order to win."
Marion and Hephaestus then left the room, leaving Foxy alone in his thoughts. He immediately walked over to the hammock and lied down in it, thinking about what happened throughout the day.
Sure, teleportation would be awesome to master, but that little bit with Springtrap… I don't think that Vixey would be using it if she acted this way by seeing him again. On the brightside, these FEAR forms are gonna be fucking awesome to use in combat. Might take us a bit to get used to them, but it's going to be completely worth it. I wonder what Vixey's FEAR form looks like…
~~~~POV CHANGE: VIXEY~~~~
Looking at the computer monitor, Vixey seems to have found the profiles of every single member of all the opposing teams, shifting through them with little interest as she looks for Springtrap.
Shifting through the final team, she sees some interesting characters to have been introduced, but none of them had the one she was looking for.
"You won't find him in there," she hears from behind.
Vixey turns around as quickly as she can, and sees Marion leaning in the doorway.
"How much of the conversation have you heard in the spirit realm?" Marion asked, a bit of care in his eyes.
"...not much… I think I stopped paying attention once Springtrap started talking, losing myself in the memories of him and the other toys abusing me. What happened?"
Marion sighed, walked over to her, and sat down in her bed as she turned the chair so she could face him as he explained everything that happened.
Alright, Readers. That marks the end of the second chapter. lemme know your thoughts in a review or a PM if you don't want the world to see, and I'll address them as soon as I can. Considering that I have both this story and another story I'm working on at the same time, I'm not going to be promising any specific scheduling for the updating of these stories.
'Till next time, Packmates!