Author's Note

First, thanks to Corona Pax for her help. She wrote about half of this chapter again.

Second, the first Asks chapter was replaced and the next one will be started relatively soon. Hope you enjoy the chapter!

Chapter 74

Full Circle

Jeremy watched Ruby go, a mix of emotion boiling underneath the surface. He wanted to feel sorry for her, but he couldn't get past his anger at the injustice.

He walked into the main area a few minutes later, not wasting any time dawdling in Springtrap's side of the building. He didn't even bother collecting the gasoline or the remains of the taser. He didn't look up at any of the occupants but he wasn't exactly hiding the stress in his movements. Case in point, he shoved his jacket into his duffle-bag with a little more force than normal.

He winced and jumped as someone unknowingly poked his injured shoulder, thankfully in the back.

"Ow.".

Mangle looked startled but waved at his face with a questioning look. Her optics went down for a moment as she pointed at the wound in his shoulder with a worried frown.

"What happened?" Freddy asked warningly. "You were gone for a while. And where's Hedy?"

"Why's your hair sticking up?" Teddy asked soon after.

Jeremy ignored them for a moment, looking around for his water bottle as a distraction.

Ruby was going to tell them anyway.

"Wait, are you leaving?" Toby wondered.

"What happened, lad?" Foxy snapped, not pleased the former night guard wasn't answering them.

Jeremy threw his water bottle into his bag and straightened sharply. "I tried to kill Springtrap and almost killed myself because of your STUPID BUILDING!" He shouted at the ceiling, letting his frustration out and startling the animatronics.

Puppet opened his box and looked at Jeremy in confusion and surprise.

Goldy stared in shock and not a little horror. That made him feel bad.

"Ask Ruby. I'm sure she'll be more than happy to tear into me and Hedy with you. Goodbye. I hope Ruby wins, for your sakes, but I'm done. Tell Hedy I'll be at her house packing."

Jeremy's path out the door was suddenly cut off by a wall of yellow. He glanced up at the suit.

"Are you hurt?" Goldy asked, quietly.

"I just tried to kill your friend, don't play nice." Jeremy answered stiffly, any fear he had was faded even though he half expected them to attack him. But he didn't care. He wasn't trying to avoid them. He knew they must hate him and he was resigned to that fact. He was just done trying to pretend like he had any power. He wanted to leave Ruby to her devices and apologize to Hedy when his head was clearer. He probably was in no condition to drive but he'd call a taxi outside if he had too.

Goldy flinched back and looked away. "I didn't ask her to try and save Spring." she said quietly. "None of us did. None of us really believe that he's still in there. We know what it feels like to be possessed and it felt like I lost a bit of myself after every time it happened. And that was only one night a week. He's had Spring permanently. But she wouldn't be Ruby if she didn't try and save him. Even if she doesn't think he's there either...she just won't say it out loud but she'd never forgive herself if she didn't try and help him."

"It would kill her." Bonnie said quietly. "If she didn't try."

There were nods of agreement all around among the Originals.

"She'll win." Foxy all but growled. "She's bloody playing with him. If she needed to she could incapacitate him in one night. She won't though because she's too selfless to leave someone to suffer."

Jeremy looked at the fox for a long moment. "You may be right." He huffed. "Sorry to leave you with the aftermath, but it'll be worse if I'm still here when Ruby is done with tonight. She hates my guts. Keep an eye on Hedy for me. Ruby said...some things she might regret later. Hedy's not in a great place right now and I don't want to make things worse between them."

The Toys and Originals frowned at that, concerned over the girls.

"You really should at least check that Hedy's alright." Goldy suggested timidly. "Ruby won't go for a confrontation straight after a fight. She sulks for a while first. Hedy might need her big brother though."

Jeremy paused, looking toward the door. His bag felt heavier as the strap dug into his shoulder.

He didn't really want to admit it but the bear suit was right. He should at least talk to his sister instead of leaving without a word. Especially after all that.

Grudgingly, he nodded and walked away from the exit passing Goldy. He sat down on the closest chair, still ready to leave with his bag set down next to his feet. There were just an hour and a half left of the night before Ruby showed up. He could wait.

Mangle tapped his shoulder, the good one this time.

Jeremy looked at her and the fox pointed at Hedy's stuff before drawing a question mark in the air.

"She probably needs to be alone for a little bit." Jeremy said softly. "She was very sorry about helping me and probably doesn't want to face anyone until she has some time to calm herself down." He frowned slightly. "Didn't you see her come through here?"

"No. But we were distracted with the movie-" Chica said.

"-and our game." Teddy added, pointing to a pile of playing cards.

They needed things to distract them at night.

"She's probably in the office." Chi murmured, after watching to see what direction Mangle was gesturing since she didn't know much sign language.

Jeremy nodded slightly, leaning back in his chair and crossing his arms. "I'll go get her if she doesn't show up in an hour."

Hedy was in the office, just not the main building's.

She didn't want to go to the main area. She couldn't face Goldy, not after what she and Jeremy tried to do.

"Stupid..." she said to herself as she fiddled with some wires she could reach without getting out of her chair. The wires hung under the desk in Fazbear's Fright's office and went up through a hole in the wood to connect to the tablet dock. She knew she couldn't actually fix the ventilation until Ruby and Springtrap's game was over. That would count as interfering. But at least she could figure out why it was so buggy so she could fix it later.

Hedy sniffed and wiped her eyes with the sleeve of her shirt. She could barely see straight with the tears in her eyes, but at least she was alone. Ruby wouldn't come into the office because it was too easy of a dead-end to get trapped in and Springtrap wouldn't waste what precious minutes he had to kill Ruby just to verbally taunt Hedy. He'd save it for when he caught her outside the shift. So she was relatively safe for now.

What was she thinking? Why didn't she stop her brother? She...she was willing to go through with it. She was willing to possibly murder someone. For what? Because she was scared? Pathetic.

Hedy gave up trying to sort out the wires and threw them away sharply.

"You're weak." she whispered to herself as she sobbed. She was a monster. Just like him. Just like...

"Hedy?"

The small voice startled her. Hedy looked at the ghost.

"Ginny? What are you doing here?" she said quietly. She could barely stand being in this part of the building, it made her skin crawl and her head ache. She knew it had to be painful for any of the ghosts to be anywhere close to Springtrap.

Ginny looked unsure as she drifted closer. "W-we were listening... in the main room, and Jeremy said you were hurt."

Hedy wanted to shrink away. At the same time, she wanted nothing more than to bring her best childhood friend into a hug and cry. "I'm fine, Ginny. I just had a fight with Ruby that's all."

As the others faded into sight after seeing she wasn't upset with them for some reason, Hedy half expected them to launch into a tirade of how much Ruby sucked. But they just looked at her with tired empty eyes and for the first time, Hedy realized that her eyes probably looked just like theirs. It wasn't a surprise after all the stress that week caused. Springtrap had sucked the life out of all of them, herself included. Bit by bit.

Felix was the next to try saying something. "You...really care what that night guard thinks, don't you?"

"She's my friend, Felix." Hedy said, her voice still soft. She reached out to ruffle his hair, but her fingers drifted through the cold mist. It hurt her hand a little, but it was all she could do. "Well, she was...she hates me now." Saying it aloud caused a lump in her throat.

Ginny sniffled. "Did you try getting Purple Guy for us?"

"Maybe." Hedy answered honestly. "I don't know. I just...just wanted it all to stop." She hung her head. "I couldn't think. I was scared and for a moment, I didn't want to think about Spring or anyone else." Her chest hurt and she sobbed. "I turned into you."

The ghosts didn't seem to know how to respond to that.

"But..." Fredrick tried to speak. "Night guards..."

"You hurt so many innocent people." Hedy said, interrupting him. "You killed people and you don't even care. I don't want to become you." She seemed angry at herself and a little desperate. "Can't you see what you did was wrong?!"

"I'm sorry, Hedy." Ginny whispered.

"No you're not." Hedy replied, lowering her voice again as she buried her face in her hands. "No, you're not..."

"Thank you...f-for trying, at least."

Hedy nodded weakly. They didn't understand why she was upset. They couldn't.

The building seemed eerily quiet tonight. They'd all been expecting near constant explosions but after the earlier confrontation it was silent. If they didn't know any better they'd think that Ruby just left.

The ghost kids left not long after, too uncomfortable in this part of the pizzeria. And uncomfortable with Hedy's tears.

She wasn't alone for very long though.

"Hello Hedwig." A voice drifted into the room. "Here to try and electrocute me too?"

Ruby couldn't quite find the enthusiasm for the game that she usually had. She was a boiling pot of anger, guilt and hurt at the moment.

Anger over the betrayal of her trust.

Guilt for her harsh words.

Hurt...Hurt over her friend going behind her back.

"What did you expect Ruby?" She muttered to herself, barely flinching as a phantom jumped out at her. "You're an unstable, untrustworthy teenager. Why the hell would they ever take you seriously? Why would they trust you at all..."

She leaned against the wall for a long moment before straightening and going back to looking for Springtrap. At the very least she could work the anger off by irritating him.

Hedy felt her blood run cold. She made a serious miscalculation about staying in this part of the building. But besides the faint tear stains on her cheeks, her eyes were dry and her head was clear. Well, clearer since she suddenly had something else to focus on.

She stared at the possessed animatronic as he sauntered into the room. She cautiously rolled her chair back a few inches.

"You're enjoying this, aren't you?" Hedy asked, eyeing how far away Springtrap was from the door. He was in between her and it, and though she knew he couldn't hurt her, she wasn't keen on getting too close to him in order to get out of the room.

"Of course I am. You messed up Hedwig." he gave her a predatory smile. "Poor little Ruby. Too upset to play the game properly. She was so distracted in that argument that I could have killed her so easily. But why would I ruin my entertainment?"

He was slowly coming closer, that smug grin on his face.

Hedy flinched, glaring at him weakly. He was right. She and Jeremy could have gotten Ruby killed, distracting her like that. It was then Hedy noticed something in his hand. A rusty metal pipe, jagged and sharp from where it was torn away from the building. "You're wasting your time messing with me. Here I was thinking you wanted to win this awful game." Sarcasm dripped from her lips as she forced herself to stare him down. Fear was churning in her stomach but she ignored it.

He couldn't hurt her.

"Ah but I wanted to test something. You see, I think Ruby made a massive mistake. Even bigger than yours. And now," he chuckled. "You're going to pay for it." he stopped right in front of her and leaned in close. "Aren't you curious, Hedwig?"

He reached out and caught her chin, like he did earlier that night but now she was alone with him. No bots to get between them.

"Or have you already figured it out? And you're just denying it?"

Hedy liked to imagine she would have literally bit his hand down to the bone if he was a person. However, she was frozen, her fingers gripping the wheels of her chair like a lifeline. "D-don't..." her voice cracked as she was forced to stare eye-to-eye with him. "Don't touch me. I don't know what you think you're doing. Ruby told me the wording of the deal. Sh-she made sure humans were protected."

He leaned down until he was just whispering in her ear.

"But dear little Hedwig, the building doesn't recognise you as a human now does it?"

There was a terrible wet ripping sound, one Hedy couldn't process for a moment.

Her eyes dilated and unfocused. Her lips parted slightly. A line of blood dripped out the corner of her mouth. She looked down, staring at the pipe suddenly shoved in her stomach.

Nothing had stopped him. His joints didn't lock up, the building didn't suddenly move her chair away. It did nothing and Springtrap smiled in triumph.

"The building sees you as a ghost Hedwig." he whispered in glee. "You were supposed to have died with the rest of them."

He watched with that same excited smile on his face as she tried to speak and coughed up blood instead. He'd definitely hit a lung. It was so quick, so sudden and unexpected that she was still in shock. Blood was leaking out around the pipe and staining her pants, her chair, his hand still wrapped around the weapon. She choked as the pain hit at the slightest shift of the pipe and blood dripped out the other end like a straw.

What just….? She thought.

"Scream for me little girl." he twisted the pipe with a sadistic smile and ripped the gurgling scream from her throat.

"Oh, the night guard must have heard that." He murmured in excitement. "Will you stay around once you die Wiggy? Will you join your old friends in haunting this place? Will you watch me kill Ruby next?" he stood up and took a step back to study her, that sickening and familiar light in his eyes. "You'll die from blood loss soon enough." he commented.

She glared at him as her shaking hands wrapped around the pipe in her torso. This was all... it was too surreal. It was a nightmare. The pipe felt slick in her hands despite the mottled rust.

"Ah ah. I wouldn't pull it out, Wiggy." He suddenly moved forward and grabbed her by the back of her shirt and her hair, pulling her out of her chair and throwing her to the floor, sending waves of pain through her body. The pipe twisted deeper and the ribs it initially broke going into her torso cracked more, puncturing other organs. She couldn't hold back a second scream and gasped for the blood soaked air it stole.

"I don't want you to die too quickly. Then I wouldn't get a show."

He was enjoying this, watching her bleed out and slowly suffocate. The sadistic bastard.

There was a new sound, almost like coughing, but different because Hedy made the sound by sharply breathing in and out regardless of the extra pain.

She was...laughing?

"Y-you're so...s-so screwed." she forced out, her lips twisting into an agonized, bloody smile.

"What?" he frowned slightly in confusion, making her laugh more even if it hurt.

"Th-there's...no w-way." she sucked in a raspy gasp of air even as the pain almost became too much. "There's n-no way you'll w-w-win now, Michael." she struggled to breathe. It felt like she was slowly drowning. "I...I l-look forward to meeting Sss-Spring." She grinned at him. Grinned.

He almost jumped at the use of his name. So, she knew from the beginning. He'd begun to think that she had forgotten that little detail along with most of her early childhood.

"Delusional from blood loss already now are we?" he moved to stand over her. He cruelly kicked the pipe with his foot, making Hedy cry out.

"She..." Hedy forced another breath even though it probably tore a wider hole in her lung. More blood in her mouth was her reward. "Sh-she was going easy...o-on you." She coughed up another thick mouthful of blood, the coppery taste making her nauseous. She could hear footsteps approaching rapidly, faint thuds vibrating through the floor against her clammy chilled skin. "Sh-she m-made the d-deal fair. She h-hates...cheaters. She'll break...y-you. But that's...that's okay." She giggled, just a little hysterically. "I c-can f-fix anything in that body sh-she breaks. Spring's body."

She could feel herself slipping away so she forced one last gleeful smile to her face.

"I..." she gasped, forcing her voice as steady as possible just to rub it in Michael's face. "Heh. I...almost feel sorry f-for you…"

She wasn't sure when the grayness around her vision blanked into blackness, but she was aware, for a moment at least, that the pain was drifting away. It was still there, but it felt...far away, like a raft bobbing in the ocean and steadily moving away from her faster and faster. She was terrified of dying alone, without saying goodbye, but the silly part of her mind told her she wouldn't have to worry about it for long. She hoped the Toys would be okay without her and someone would fix Mangle's voice. She hoped Jeremy would go home and make sure her niece and nephew didn't forget her. They were pretty young. Above all, she dearly hoped Ruby didn't blame herself. It's funny how priorities come out when you don't have any time left to consider them.

Ruby sprinted into the room as the clock chimed six. It was the colour that hit her first. The bright red smeared across the wheelchair and floor, splattered on the animatronic, dripping from the pipe and pooling underneath Hedy. The smell hit her next and she gagged, memories she tried so hard to keep locked away rushing to the front of her mind. Her parents bleeding out in front of her, someone screaming (it was her, always her screaming begging them not to die, not to leave her). The wail of sirens and lights flashing, hands pulling her out of the car (no help them, they're hurt HELP THEM!).

Ruby snapped out of it, finding herself shaking as she stared at the form of Hedy. She was too still. She looked like a lifeless doll. Springtrap was saying something, she didn't care what.

She wasn't a ten year old kid trapped in the backseat anymore dammit.

She ran forward, slipping on the blood and falling down next to Hedy as she frantically checked her pulse. Faint but it was there. She pulled her tablet out and began flipping through cameras with bloody fingers.

"Come on come on come on." she whispered frantically to herself.

After what seemed like forever Goldy popped in and screamed. That halted Springtrap's monologue.

"Ruby! Hedy! What-"

Ruby cut her off. "Take Hedy to the front room. Call an ambulance." she ordered. "Now Goldy!"

The ghost bear floated down to take Hedy's limp hand carefully, worried about causing more damage. "What about you?"

"I'll be fine. Now go!" her voice was harsh and Goldy swallowed and teleported the mechanic away.

Silence descended between the killer and night guard.

"How did you get around the deal?" Ruby sounded almost conversational, eyes still on the blood pooled on the floor.

Springtrap grinned widely. "That would be telling now wouldn't it?"

The teen looked at him and he was surprised by the lack of emotion on her face.

"You made a big mistake tonight," she murmured, turning her gaze back to the bloody floor. "And I'm going to make you regret it."

"Oh? And how do you plan to do that?"

She looked up again and smiled; a twisted, pained expression that sent a shiver down his spine.

"Now, that would be telling wouldn't it?"

The group in the front room had been surprised when Goldy abruptly disappeared.

They were even more surprised when she reappeared, shakily holding Hedy's bloody hand.

Mangle let out a horrified crackle.

"Jeremy!" Goldy yelled, on the verge of tears. "Hedy she...!" Her voice cracked and she sobbed. "W-we need an ambulance!"

Jeremy's gut twisted in anguish as he tried to process what he was looking at. He choked, falling to his knees beside his little sister as he scrambled for his phone, his instincts taking over. He pressed his jacket around the pipe, trying to staunch the bleeding, but he needed both hands.

Hedy didn't react to the painful pressure and continued to bleed out. Her face seemed pale and grey and blood dripped out her mouth. Worse of all, her storm-grey eyes were half open, staring blankly at the ceiling.

Mangle saw them and recoiled in terror, acting on instinct as she placed a hand over Hedy's eyes and Chi gripped her other arm, both shaking as panicked tears pooled.

"Hold this down, hard, with both hands. Put more pressure than you think you need." Jeremy ordered, grabbing the fur or plastic of whoever was closest then immediately turned to bark into the phone. He wasn't sure what he said. Everything settled into a blur of noise. He was aware of the sound of sirens, crying, someone with a tinny operator voice telling him to remain calm, Ruby appearing in the doorway. There was an emptiness in her eyes.

That was all that stood out. He couldn't focus on anything else beside Hedy and the blood slicking across his hands.

Everything dissolved into chaos after that, chaos that Ruby walked into. She caught snatches of what was going on.

Goldy holding a jacket to Hedy's wound and vanishing at the sound of sirens, blood staining her ghostly fur. Jeremy taking her place, kissing Hedy's forehead and begging her to hold on. The Originals forcing the frantic and yelling Toys from the room just before the paramedics arrived.

She waved off the paramedics with a vague reassurance that it wasn't her blood.

Blood coating her hands and pants and-

She watched the ambulance drive away with both siblings and glanced back into the room at the bots.

The Originals grim and looking worriedly at her.

The Toy's devastated expressions.

Mangle was collapsed against a wall in the hallway just outside the room, sobbing with Chi crying in her arms as Toby sat beside them , ears harshly pulled over his face with his hands as he cried. Teddy covered his face, just standing next to them as he silently trembled.

Puppet lurked in the doorway with a blank mask for a face.

"Lass…how?" Foxy asked in a gentle voice. He was the fastest and the one that woke up most often after a possession to bloodstained claws and fur. He could handle the sight better than the others, even when it was someone he knew. Better than Freddy who was rapidly collecting himself and shoving the emotions behind a practical mindset. Better than Bonnie and Chica who were shaken by the sight but too used to blood to break down.

Far better than the Toys who hadn't been as exposed to it as they were, who hadn't seen someone they knew and liked die.

"Springtrap." Ruby answered in an even, emotionless voice. "He got around the deal somehow."

Silence descended until the teen started heading towards the door.

"Ruby…" Bonnie trailed off as she waved her hand.

"At least clean up." Freddy suggested sternly, making her pause.

Silently she changed direction towards the bathrooms. She was gone from the pizzeria ten minutes later without another word.

"Do you think they'll be okay?" Chica whispered.

Freddy glanced at her.

"Chica…"

Chica shook her head. "I know Hedy will. Sh-she has to..." She said it firmly, clearly in denial and daring him to argue even after all that blood. So much blood...Hedy's eyes... "But Ruby?"

"I'm actually more concerned over something else." Freddy admitted softly.

"Yeah."

They turned to face Foxy behind them.

"Like whether there's going to be anything left of Spring for Hedy to fix if... when she gets back. Ruby is ..." He stopped, shaking his head. Furious, wasn't going to cut it.

"And if she does damage Spring beyond repair..." Freddy trailed off.

"She'll never forgive herself." Bonnie finished.

Puppet remained quiet, still in the room.

"Hedy's gone." he eventually said after the Originals had a moment to consider the consequences of what happened.

The Originals immediately glared at him.

He just stared back. "Don't tell me you don't know what death looks like." His voice was strange. Clipped. Quiet. It cracked. "We…" he snarled at himself and tried again. "We need to accept it now, before someone else gets hurt." Like the children Springtrap would target after he killed the night guard.

"Didn't think you cared." Freddy said evenly.

Puppet squinted. "Don't assume anything about me. Point is, we've lost Hedy. She's not going to survive that. Denying it is going to harm us further."

Chica growled at him. "Hope is better than nothing, Puppet!" She broke off into a sob. Hedy couldn't die. They still had a tense relationship, but Hedy was too much of a sweetheart under her usual mask.

Foxy glared at him before turning to comfort Chica with Freddy.

Puppet stared for a minute before pushing off the wall and turning to walk out of the room.

"Ruby won't let him get away with this." Bonnie suddenly spoke up, making Puppet pause. "She went easy on all of us. She's been going easy on him too."

Puppet scoffed quietly and continued out the room.

He walked by the Toys, glancing at their shaking forms. He got a couple steps past before he stifled a grunt and turned around, crouching in front of them.

They were too shaken to tell him to go away.

Mangle let out a weak growl but there was nothing behind it.

"Puppet…" Chi sniffled. Yes, he betrayed them, hurting Mangle what seemed like ages ago, but in the end he was the still the second one ever there for them.

Puppet was quiet for a minute.

"He'll pay for this." he promised.

Mangle snarled.

"Who cares!" Toby snapped, brownish oily tears streaking his blue paint. "Who cares anymore! I just want Hedy to come back!"

Puppet blinked.

"D-do you…" Chi whimpered. "D-do you think Hedy will be okay?"

Puppet hesitated. His face was hard to read as always.

"Yes." he said eventually. "She'll be fine. She's too stubborn to die. I'd think you'd know this better than most."

Chi let out a whimper-like laugh. "R-remember when she hung you upside down from the rafters?" She thought back to the Warehouse.

Puppet hummed as Toby cried more and laughed. "By my feet." he muttered.

"Then she just taunted us by reading fairy tales over the loudspeaker." Teddy whispered. "I think that's when she decided Teddy was my nickname."

Mangle's eyes lowered, freeing her hands from Chi so she could sign, slow enough for them to follow. "And she stayed behind to help me right after I tried to kill her but hurt myself."

Toby winced. "You did slam into that door really hard. I heard it from the ground level."

"She's too stubborn to die. That's something she and the night guard have in common." Puppet said, distaste tinting his voice but he stifled it. "She'll be fine."

They nodded and the tearful nostalgic moment faded.

Puppet stayed for a minute longer before he stood up. "I'll be back. Don't follow me." He glared at Mangle, knowing she was the most likely too. "Do not."

Mangle glared back but nodded, glancing down the hallway.

Puppet went to Fazbear's Fright, ignoring the familiarity. He lightly dragged his claw-like fingers across the wall paper, tearing bits off.

Springtrap was waiting for him, grinning.

Puppet stopped. If he had blood, it would boil at what he saw.

Springtrap was sitting in Hedy's blood soaked chair, leaning on an armrest. He was clearly still too big for it, but Spring always had a smaller frame than the others and being designed to be worn, Goldy and Spring were just lighter.

Puppet clenched his fist. "Get out of that."

Wet red on yellow fur. It was uncannily familiar.

"Hey Mari Mari."

Puppet stilled. Right out of the gate huh? "Springtrap."

Springtrap rolled his eyes. "Oh please. Still sticking with it huh? I know you know."

Puppet scoffed. "If you want to be a coward and hide behind a different name, who am I to deny that?"

Springtrap chuckled. "Did you like my latest work?" He glanced at the blood spread across the floor by footprints and streaks. "I think I was going for a Jackson Pollock look but I'm not sure I pulled it off."

Puppet didn't say anything as Springtrap stood up, stretching and almost bouncing on the balls of his feet. He kicked Hedy's chair away. It slammed into a pile of boxes and fell on it's side, props crashing down. Several wheel spokes were bent and snapped. "What a rush. I really missed that. You know what I mean, don't you Puppet? That thrill." He shivered. "Nothing like it."

He came forward and grinned sadistically. He poked Puppet on the forehead, leaving a spot of blood on the mask. "Then again, maybe that robot brain of yours can't feel it."

"How."

"Hmm. How what?"

"..."

"Oh! How did I kill Wiggy?" Springtrap laughed. "Really, Puppet, I thought you already knew."

"Knew what?" Puppet asked, lowering his pitch.

"Come on. Don't tell me you didn't notice at all. How the lights flashed when she was upset. How the rooms she entered chilled." he chuckled, " Haven't you noticed how close she is with those little brats? Close enough that it's like she can feel what they're feeling. Didn't you even hear that one kid earlier? 'She's one of us'."

Puppet stared as he realized. "Not possible." he shot back calmly.

"You're a living animatronic, the first of a new kind of life. It hilarious you think anything is 'not possible'. You didn't see the bruises I left on her shoulder earlier?"

Puppet narrowed his eyes. "Anyway. Whether you kill Ruby tomorrow or not, you've lost."

"How do you figure, buddy?"

"If Ruby loses, if she dies, I'm released from my own deal." With that, Puppet turned to leave. "All of us are."

Springtrap smiled and crossed the space between them to stand right behind the slimmer bot.

"You have no idea how much I look forward to having more bots to torment. It's been oh so boring since I shut Spring up." he leaned in close. "Maybe I'll target those Toys first. Charlotte would have loved them don't you think?"

Puppet tensed as a hand dripping in blood landed on his shoulder.

The next moment Springtrap was shoved violently away and he slipped on the pool of blood behind him and went crashing down. Shocked he looked up to find a tearful but furious Goldy floating between them.

How had she…

"I'm not a bot now am I?" she spat, correctly guessing his thoughts. "Just a suit that's somehow still moving. Ruby didn't cover that in the deal. Stay the hell away from us Michael."

She grabbed Puppet and vanished from the room leaving the shocked killer behind.

Goldy reappeared with Puppet in the deserted prize room.

"I know we haven't gotten along since...since that happened, but please Puppet… for five minutes pretend to be the friend I had back then while I mourn for my lost best friend?" she looked at him with a desperate and broken expression.

After a moment's hesitation he pulled the ghost bear into a hug and she shattered, sobbing into his shoulder.

"Ruby's going to kill him…" she whispered and this time Puppet felt a shiver run down his spine. The Originals had said essentially the same thing but Goldy's voice contained a certain amount of resignation and dread and suddenly made him worry about night six in a new way.

The anxiety of waiting for nightly verbal torment seemed like nothing now...

Author's Note

Sooooo...don't hate me...

Also, because I know I'm going to get a whole bunch of comments on the lore, I do watch Game Theory and all those channels on Youtube and I love their videos. But writing fanfiction is so much more fun when I can mess around with the world. So a lot of the characters might not be what you're expecting. This was just the first.