Author's Note

Just wanted to add this quickly. My weekends have become super busy lately so I'm shifting the update schedule up to Mondays instead. Should stop me from uploading late again. Otherwise enjoy the chapter!

Chapter 61

Hello Springtrap

Ruby slipped into the pizzeria early for her shift. The manager had phoned her to let her know that the new animatronic was arriving that night and she was determined to be there.

Alone.

She appreciated the fact that the Originals worried about her and didn't want her to get hurt. And she understood why Hedy was so adamant every night about dissuading Ruby from making a deal this time. She still needed to though. It was the only way to get the result she wanted.

And Ruby was nothing if not stubborn.

She waved absently at the staff members who were leaving for home, getting more friendly smiles and goodbyes than glares. Despite her pranks she got along with most of the people who worked there.

The bots were all powered down at this point, getting ready for the night. They didn't know she was coming early today. It would be easier to do this without them fussing around her.

She headed towards the newly built part of the building. It wasn't big, just a series of winding corridors and vents with a few small rooms packed into a small area.

As she unlocked the door separating the new attraction from the pizzeria she looked around at the décor. Admittedly it looked pretty cool. The older kids were going to love the spooky atmosphere. There was going to be an age limit to who was allowed in and it was difficult to sneak inside but she didn't doubt that some would try.

The office was the first thing you saw as you entered. Since the place wasn't actually going to be open to the public for a couple of weeks, nobody had been hired to play this part yet. The room was still filled mostly with boxes of random Fazbear stuff. The path took you past the room through winding corridors that ended back at the office again. She knew there were some vents that acted as shortcuts as well but the guests wouldn't be allowed in them.

The place looked good so far. And the layout worked for what she had in mind. It wasn't as big as the pizzeria but then again, there was only one bot that she'd have to worry about.

She strolled through until she reached the storage room where she heard the delivery people talking.

"Geez it's a creepy one." A male voice said.

"Stinks too." A female complained. "Why are we still here? Can't we wait in the main building? This place gives me the creeps."

"The manager said the night guard has to sign off on the delivery here." The first voice answered calmly.

"They're late." She grumbled.

"Actually, you're early." Ruby interrupted as she entered the room, throwing the woman a mild glare.

"Who are you?" the woman asked rudely.

The teen just pointed to her night guard cap with an 'are you stupid' expression. She took in the room while the guy ignored his coworker and handed the forms over to her.
"Ruby Stone?" he checked.

"Yup." She eyed the ragged animatronic leaning against the wall, apparently deactivated.

"Sign for one creepy robot." He grinned slightly.

Ruby smirked back as she scanned the forms and signed at the bottom.

"My creepy bot now." She told him cheekily. "You look kind of familiar?"

"My brother delivers most of your weird orders to your residence." He explained as the woman stalked out of the room in an annoyed huff. Someone didn't like being ignored.

Ruby laughed. "Oh! Sammy's brother. He's the only delivery guy who will brave my front yard anymore."

"He's always got some story about you." The man shook his head. "Anyway, enjoy your night Ruby."

"Bye!" Ruby shut the door behind him and her grin disappeared as she turned to face the new animatronic.

He was a rabbit, probably golden once but now horribly dirty. He clearly hadn't had a clean in decades. His ears weren't in a great state, actually he wasn't in a great state in general. She could see why they'd chosen the horror theme. Since they were too cheap to try and fix him instead. In a dark room he could be pretty terrifying. The teens would love the fright.

She leaned on the door and studied him.

"Hello Spring." She started, eyes locked on the bot. "Or should I say, Springtrap?"

And she saw it. A spark of light in his eyes, even as the rest of him didn't move. She felt the familiar anger rise in her as she noted that the light was red, like when the brats possessed her bots.

"Are we going to play possum all night then? I already heard the whole story from Goldy."

Nothing for a moment and then...

"That bear is still around? I thought they got rid of her after she bit that kid's head off." The voice was deep and scratchy from disuse. The bot's head slowly lifted to look at her. She'd never seen so much malice in an animatronic's eyes before. Not when the brats possessed her bots. Not even the in Puppet's.

"And he talks!" Ruby cried out sarcastically, clamping down on the furious urge to smash his head in for the comment about her friend. "We have quite a bit to talk about you know."

"Oh do we?" he had started to stand up, joints protesting from age and lack of care. "I feel I'm at such a disadvantage. I know nothing of you, yet you seem to know some secrets about me."

"Like the fact you're a child murderer?" she asked sweetly. "Clinging to an animatronic body that isn't yours because you're afraid of what happens next?"

"Afraid?" he took a creaking step forward. "No child, not afraid. I'm just not finished."

Ruby laughed. "Am I supposed to be afraid of you? You're a pile of parts about to fall to pieces. I've been faced with much more terrifying things."

"Things are never normal in this building girl." He growled. "A night within these walls and I'll be at full strength again."

"Probably." Ruby nodded, surprising him. "I realized it when I found out that the Originals could still work with the occasional squeaky joint and fried circuit as their worst problem. Even though they were scavenged for parts years ago and then put back together for this last restaurant. I saw it happen when the Toys showed up with more problems than Hedy could keep up with but they suddenly could jump right back to work after a couple of nights. So yes, I know after a night you'll be dangerous. You'll try to kill me."

She smirked contemptuously. "You're not much danger now though, are you?"

His eyes narrowed and she snickered.

"Why, a little kid could push you over with hardly any effort. Imagine what a pissed off teenager could do?" she was swinging Betty absently beside her. "A teenager who has already had tons of experience with possessed murderous animatronics? When I hit them though, all they get is a headache. When I shock them, they get a bit twitchy for an hour. I do wonder… what would happen if I put the same force into a swing at your head? I've been told I've got one hell of an arm for baseball you know."

He was watching her warily now.

"Have I got your attention now?" she asked.

"Since you haven't actually attacked me yet, then I assume there's something else you want?" he asked calmly but she could see the rage in his eyes.

The madness.

"Good guess!" she exclaimed. "You see, I have a particular distaste for ghosts possessing bots. The brats that haunt this place were hurting my bots for a long time by doing that. On top of that, I'm quite fond of Goldy. And you upset her. So I'm quite determined to get you out of that bot."

"You assume there's anything left in here but me." He pointed out with a sadistic smile. "He's been gone for a long time girlie."

"Now, I don't believe that." She smiled dangerously. "I'm not in the habit of taking psycho killers at their word after all."

"This body has been mine for decades. He's gone and I'm not giving it up." He growled at her.

"Then how about a game?" Ruby asked, heart pounding in excitement. Logically she shouldn't be looking forward to this again, she shouldn't be happy about another game.

But she was.

"Game?" he echoed, sounding interested despite himself. The ghost kid was right it seemed.

"Yes, I've played it twice now you see. With the ghost brats. I won of course. Then with the Toys. Again, I won. Since I won, they can't try and kill me again and the brats can't possess the bots while I'm working here. They're also not allowed to kill anyone else that happens to be working with me at night."

"What kind of game?" he asked after a long moment of silence. She smirked inwardly. She could hear his eagerness in his voice, even though he tried to hide it.

"You get a week. One week, Monday to Sunday, to kill me during my shift. If you do, you win and I die. If you don't I win, and you can't possess Spring anymore. Or any other bot." the room was eerily quiet but it was almost like the building sat up and took notice as she spoke. Like it had with her two other deals.

"Why should I agree? You want this robot intact so you wouldn't destroy him now and I won't be weak for long." He pointed out.

"Ah, but you see, I have five bots who don't like you. And who will make your stay extremely…difficult. They don't like it when anyone tries to kill me. Plus you can't fit in the vents in the main building. Catching me would be extremely difficult. And I can delay the opening of this attraction indefinitely. Or maybe I'll just trap you in a secret room for a few decades. You're outnumbered here buddy." She explained gleefully. "Of course, if you agree to my deal, no one else can participate. It means you can't interfere with anyone else in the building either. Just me. And we stay in this attraction, not in the pizzeria. Less places for me to hide and no small vents."

She let that sink in.

"Foxy already almost tore the Barbie Rabbit to pieces when he hurt me. You wouldn't last ten seconds." She added. "And Goldy can appear anywhere and teleport anyone with her. They would make your killing attempts near impossible."

He was glaring hatefully at her by now.

"My deal sounding better yet?" she asked innocently. "The building doesn't let either of us break it once it's made too. It's binding."
They stared at each other in silence for a few moments.

"A week." He finally ground out. "You're trapped in this part of the building with no assistance from anyone else."

"None." Ruby nodded. "Human or bot. They're all safe from attacks from you too until the week is up."

"I'll kill you. Just like I killed all those other children. You're older than I prefer, but you'll do for now." He was smiling now, a twisted and cruel grin.

"If I win, you're out of Spring. And you can't possess any bot while I'm working here." Ruby felt the slight urge to add the condition of her working at the pizzeria, just like she had before. The deal had to be fair, she was sure the building influenced the conditions every time.

"Deal." He agreed, smiling viciously as he held out his hand.

Ruby stepped forward, ignoring the smell of death that hung around this monster like a cloud.

"Deal." She shook it, locking eyes with him. "We start tomorrow night."

"I do hope you give me a challenge little night guard." He pulled her closer so they were almost nose to nose.

"Be careful what you wish for creep." Ruby hissed with a dangerous light in her eyes. "And enjoy that body while you have it. It won't be yours for much longer."

The building shuddered around them as the deal was set.

She turned away from the killer, picking up the delivery forms to file.

"Until next time Springtrap. By the way, it's Ruby. Call me girlie again and I'll choose rebuilding Spring's head over keeping my temper." She slammed the door behind her as she left.

"Oh this game will be fun." He laughed quietly to himself. "This is the perfect way to get back into practice. Foolish girl. Risking her life for a robot that's not even there anymore. I erased that rabbit long ago."

On the other side of the door, Ruby leaned against the wood. "Never underestimate animatronics. They're stronger than you think Springtrap." She whispered before straightening up and walking back to the main building. Time to face the music. They would have recognized the signs of her making the deal.