Chapter 66
Chase
"That girl is the incarnation of chaos." Springtrap muttered to himself as he struggled to pull his foot out of a vat of caramel.
He didn't know how she stuck the vat into the floor. He actually didn't want to know if he was being honest with himself. He was rapidly realizing that he had severely underestimated the girl. Both nights. It wasn't just luck that had her surviving night one.
She was fast, resourceful and seemed to lack most of her self-preservation skills.
In other words the girl was mad but dangerously capable.
It was irritating.
The night had started off with a bang. Literally. He had a sneaking suspicion that she was irritated with something and was now taking it out on him.
He was still reeling from that glitter explosive to the face.
With a grunt he finally pulled his foot out and backed away from the vat. He never had liked caramel. The same with chocolate. They were too sweet.
And they stuck to everything.
He grimaced down at his foot which was coated in the sticky stuff.
"That's going to take hours to get out." He muttered.
"I'd hope so. I made it extra sticky just for you." He spun around, still surprised that she could be so quiet when she wanted to be compared to her natural, explosively loud behavior normally.
"There you are brat." He growled and took one step forward.
That's all he managed to travel before something hit his chest and knocked him over onto his back. What? He could hear that ridiculous girl snickering.
"I think pink is your colour you know?" she giggled at him.
Pink?
He struggled upright and glanced down at his chest to find a blob of pink paint splattered across the fur. The night guard was holding a paintball gun which she waved at him.
"Specially modified to have a bit of an extra kick." She grinned. "It might not be paint night but I've decided that this place needs a bit of redecoration. Including you."
He tried to dodge the next shot but it caught him in the shoulder, sending him spinning in the wall. A bit of an extra kick?! That much force should have been impossible to coax out of a mere paintball gun.
"Come now Springtrap. I thought you were actually going to give me a challenge tonight." She chided.
He saw red and lunged for her, causing her to dive to the side.
"Better but not there yet!" she called, shooting him again. "You're going to have to try harder murder man!"
With that she spun around and sprinted away. Springtrap didn't hesitate in following.
He regretted that decision for the rest of the next day.
On the surface Ruby seemed very impulsive and reckless. In actuality he was convinced she was an evil master strategist in disguise.
She led him on a merry chase, through trapped hallways that minutes ago he was sure weren't trapped.
A paint bucket over a door. (How'd she get through the door without it dropping?)
A glitter bomb mine field that she just hopped carelessly through.
A room with automatic (how?!) paintball guns that left him feeling bruised from head to toe.
A giant ball of chewing gum- WAIT WHAT?!
He actually had to pause for that one. She peeked out from behind the boulder sized sweet.
"Don't ask, I have my ways." She looked ridiculously pleased with herself. "Ever watched Indiana Jones? I really should make a night of it."
Then she pushed.
He could hear her cackling all the way down the corridor as he ran. It still caught up to him and rolled over him and beyond. Now he really felt bruised...
"How?!" he demanded as he dragged himself back to his feet.
He was almost positive the building laughed at him for a moment.
A short shriek followed by a clang told him that she'd met another Phantom but frustratingly enough, she barely seemed bothered by them anymore. She got an initial fright, reacted and then moved on as though it hadn't happened.
It was frustrating.
He stalked back towards where he last heard her. And he didn't run into a chocolate bomb. Not at all…
"Did you like my movie reference?" she asked as she dodged his grab again. "Personally I think it was one of my best."
"Stand still you infuriating girl!"
"How about…no." his world exploded into nothing but glitter for a moment.
Everything about her, from her attitude to her abilities, were just made to irritate him, he was sure.
Was this what hell was like?
"It's almost time for my shift to end." The teen pointed out from out of arm's reach. "You did better last night. Off your game tonight?"
He glared and lunged.
She dodged.
"Or were you just lucky last night?"
Lunge, dodge.
"Was that really the best you could do?"
Pounce, dodge.
"Can-ACK!" she was cut off as another Phantom leapt at her unexpectedly, causing her to swing her bat, even though there was nothing to hit.
He grabbed her hoodie and lifted her off the ground.
"Got you." He snarled, grabbing hold of the bat to prevent another Betty induced headache.
"Not really. It's cute that you think so." She grinned at him and pulled out a pen.
What?
The teen viciously jabbed it into his elbow joint and clicked. Waves of electricity rolled through him, causing all his joints to lock up. She got free easily while he fought off the paralyzing effect of the shocks.
"Taser pen!" she declared victoriously. "Enough to fry a human and frazzle a bot!"
The innocent little pen disappeared back into her jacket. Evil, foul pen.
"It's one of my favourite inventions." She confided in him, looking amused. She knew he couldn't get his limbs under his control yet and she was mocking him for it. "I'm quite proud of it."
She stood over him for a moment. "You know, you could just surrender by leaving Spring for the week."
He glared at her.
"Yeah I know, but a girl's got to try." She shrugged and rubbed at the bruise forming on her elbow from when he almost caught her an hour before. "It doesn't matter how much you hurt me you know. I'll just keep coming back, and I'll beat you and get Spring back."
She backed away and turned to leave.
"See ya around Springtrap. Two nights down, four to go." Her grin was downright sadistic.
It took a good fifteen minutes before he could move properly again and by then the chimes had already gone off. He slammed a fist into the wall and growled.
"I'm going to enjoy killing you Ruby. Things have only begun. He was getting a handle on her movements, he'd gotten closer to grabbing her a few times than the previous night. "Four nights is a long time."