This story is part of the 'The Banishers' universe, and takes place during the events of Stage 01 and Let Me Breathe.

Disclaimer: I do not own Five Nights at Freddy's or Five Nights at Candy's. Five Nights at Freddy's belongs to Scott Cawthon, and Five Nights at Candy's to Emil Macko. I do NOT own any of the characters currently featured in this fic (keep in mind that OCs may be introduced later on in the story).

Please view my profile if you wish for more information on 'The Banishers', or any of my other stories.

Thanks to smilesforeverhappy for reviewing.

Enjoy the chapter, and read and review :)

WARNING TO SENSITIVE READERS: Blood, Gore, and Trauma, minor themes of Self Harm.

Chapter 4

Darkness Through a Mask Made of Light

"What do you think happened to him?" Marilyn asked, and Tracey frowned.

"I don't know. It's almost like he was killed by another Shadow." She replied, and looked over at Shadow Rat. "You didn't see this happen?"

"No." He said sulkily, and kicked at the water. "Not at all; I found him like this."

"This doesn't make sense; there shouldn't be any other Shadows in this part of the Deepscape." Marilyn muttered. They were observing Shadow Cat's body; nothing had changed, albeit the fact that a single piece of his casing had floated away.

She touched his suit, and jumped back quickly as the entire thing suddenly dissolved.

"What the hell? I swear guys, I didn't-" When she turned around, she realised that Tracey and Shadow Rat were staring at her.

"Holy crap." Tracey muttered. "She bonded with it."

"Yeah." Shadow Rat said in a hushed tone. "I've never seen this before."

"I've done it, but I thought it was just an abnormality. But if Marilyn's doing it…"

"Guys." Marilyn said as she interrupted the hushed conversation the two were having. "Please, tell me what's going on." Shadow Rat looked at Tracey uncomfortably, who shrugged.

"May as well tell her. Marilyn, look at your reflection." She gave the two an odd glance before looking down into the water; but it wasn't her face that was there. Instead she saw Shadow Cat, with his lifeless eyes, purple costume, and sharpened teeth.

"W-What the hell?!" She looked at her hand, and realised that it was now a purple claw, covered in stitches and embedded with nuts and bolts. "Guys, what's happening to me?!"

"Marilyn. Marilyn, calm down." Tracey grabbed her shoulder and steadied her as she attempted to touch her face, only to feel hard fabric. "It's okay. Just calm down, just calm down. Don't panic." Marilyn's breathing began to slow, until it was just as steady as it had been before. "Now try and imagine how you got here. Find the climax. You've done it before."

Marilyn nodded fervently, and began to picture the scene where the Cat had died. She'd already done this twice now, but for some reason this seemed harder than the other times. It was like there was a force trying to fight against her, in some twisted battle for the domination of her mind.

"Just picture the climax, Marilyn. The climax." Tracey said in a soothing voice, and gave her a small hug. "You can do this." Her smile glowed warmly, and Marilyn tried harder.

Hands. Neck. Squeeze. Cat.

Puppeteer. Gasping. Screams. Falling-

Marilyn jerked forward suddenly, and threw up in the water, the bile forming a sticky mixture with the liquid. She gasped for breath as she looked at her reflection, watching as Shadow Cat's image began to fade away, and was replaced by hers.

"Are you alright?" Tracey asked, and Marilyn gave her a shaky nod.

"I think so. Just a little…" she sighed, and looked back at the place Shadow Cat had lain earlier. "I'm a little shaken up. W-What was that?"

"A bond." Tracey explained. "I had the same thing happen to me; I touched a fallen Deepscape creature, and I bonded with its body. I freaked out a lot. I was terrified; but then I remembered the climax. I let myself get consumed by the memory, and before I knew it, I was back to normal."

"Are you still bonded with this thing?" Marilyn asked, and Tracey nodded.

"Yeah. It's name is Paper Cut." She said, and Marilyn forward a little bit. "Can you show me?" She pressed, and Tracey shrugged.

"I don't see why not. Just watch my arm." There was silence as Marilyn focused on Tracey's arm, and drew back a little as a layer of blue began to appear over it, extending all the way to her hand. From there it grew into a gleaming silver, which studded out like a chimney from a house; out of place, yet natural.

"Wow." She blinked once, twice, before standing up and shaking some of the water out of her shoes. "And I thought I'd already found out how weird this place is." Tracey laughed a little and shook her head knowingly as she joined her.

"God, you barely know 50%. Even I don't know the full picture. This place…it's shrouded in mystery." Marilyn didn't respond as she placed her newly bought earphones in her ears, and took her tape player out of her jeans pocket. She clicked the Play button, and hummed along with the melodic tune.

Tracey rolled her eyes as Marilyn turned to Shadow Rat.

"Tell us if you see anything else. I'm gonna go catch a nap."

"Yeah, you do that." He muttered dejectedly. "I'll just stay here."

"Sounds good." Marilyn pulled down her hand, and walked without hesitation through the portal that formed. Tracey sighed as it closed, and looked over at where Marilyn had puked.

"Tough life." She said, and Shadow Rat shrugged.

"I'm okay with it. At least I'm still SLIGHTLY useful, even after I'm dead."

"Always looking on the bright side, aren't you?" Tracey asked.

"Hey, EVERY cloud has a silver lining." Shadow Rat remarked, and she chuckled.

"That's true. Well, I'll be off. I've got business to take care of."

"Take care of yourself."

"Right back at you."

Shadow Rat sighed as Tracey meandered onto the path, and strolled off into the distance. The particles glowed brightly every time she stepped on them, making little waves of light, until she had faded away and was only a speck on the horizon.

xXx

"They talk about them everywhere. I mean, come on. It isn't that interesting. Just let it be; if you're clean, why would you worry? Just leave them be!" Marilyn rambled as she walked down the footpath, reading the latest headlines. "More Scourge activity? Who gives a fuck? They're better at their jobs than the police, anyway."

Living in a city populated with vigilantes, was, without a doubt, quite a bother. It was the only thing that got the headlines, and in the end, it was all old news. Marilyn didn't give two shits about whether Springtrap and her gang of merry murderers had slain another rapist dead; it didn't make a difference to her. If they killed the puppeteer, though; now, that would be an interesting story. Catch a killer and a rapist in one. Sounds like a deal.

She paused momentarily, taking the tape player out of her pocket and pressing the rewind button. Marilyn sighed as she heard the familiar noise of a portal opening behind her.

"You're looking pretty roughed up." Tracey remarked as she stepped out of the Deepscape, and closed the portal behind her. "What's up?"

"Don't give me that nonsense. You know what's up. I'm fucking bonded with a purple cat costume."

"No, that's not what I meant." She motioned at the passing cars, and frowned. "You said that you wanted to sleep. What are you doing here?"

"Opened the portal in the wrong place." Marilyn explained. "I'm walking home."

"You could have just went back in and out." Tracey pointed out. "Why are you stalling?" Her friend sighed, as she rubbed her leg.

"I don't want to see Matt. He keeps questioning me." She said. "I don't want to lie to him, but I can't tell him the truth either."

"Ah. Yeah, okay, I feel you. I understand." Tracey bit her lip as Marilyn tossed the newspaper aside.

"The only headlines are about the Scourge. Who gives a fuck?" She asked bitterly as Tracey's face concerted into a frown.

"That's been going on since the start of the year. If anything, their presence is just encouraging more crime."

"Really? Well, fuck them, then." Marilyn muttered as they walked across the street. She ignored the honking horns as she took the tape player out of her pocket, and pressed play. "What are you really doing here, Tracey?" She asked, and Tracey shrugged uncomfortably.

"You made a bond, Marilyn. I thought that I was the only one who could. But now I know differently. I…I need to show you something." Marilyn raised an eyebrow, then sighed.

"Okay. What is it?" Tracey opened up a portal with her hand, and Marilyn stepped in after her, ending up back in the Deepscape.

"I've been to your section of the Deepscape." Tracey said as she led her down a path. "But you haven't been to mine."

"And why did you want me to go to yours?" Marilyn asked, and Tracey just laughed.

"Oh, you'll see soon enough." Up ahead, Marilyn could the see the faint outline of a building, painted an extremely dark shade of blue. It wasn't very tall, and had a completely flat roof. There were small figures walking around the outside of the building, and she frowned when she saw them.

"There are people there." She said, and Tracey laughed.

"They don't like that word. They're not exactly human." One of the figures turned to look at them, and Marilyn froze. She couldn't tell exactly what it was, but it was coloured purple, like a shadow, and its eyes were glowing brightly. Then it ran behind the building, disappearing from their view.

"Who was that?" She asked Tracey curiously.

"That's William. But he changed his name when he arrived here; everyone did. Now he's the Midnight Motorist." Two bright headlights came to life in the shadows behind the house, and suddenly a purple car was roaring towards them. The tires squealed as the driver slammed his foot onto the brakes, and the car came to a halt. The window came down, and Marilyn realised that the driver was William. It was hard to tell what he looked like; the light shining from his eyes blinded her.

He gave Tracey a smile, and chuckled.

"Paper. Everyone's been looking for you." Marilyn twisted her head towards her, and frowned.

"Paper?"

"Just managing some business, Mid." Tracey replied, ignoring Marilyn's question.

"Right then. I'm guessing that the business is this young lady?" He asked, and she nodded.

"Yeah. She hasn't got a name yet, you know." She said. "She's been in the Deepscape for 10 years, though."

"Wow." William laughed, pressing a button which made the back door swing open. "That's longer than anyone else. Hop in. I'll drive you to the core." A feeling of distrust lingering at the back of her mind, Marilyn hesitantly stepped inside the car, Tracey following right after her.

"There was an attack the other day, Paper." William said nonchalantly, and suddenly Tracey was sitting upright, completely alert.

"What? Who was it?" She asked in a concerned tone. The man gave her a dismissive shrug, and turned the rear view mirror a little to the right.

"Not sure. A bunch of men dressed in black arrived and tried to get to the core. They failed tremendously, in case you were wondering. I ran a few of them over before they could do anything, and the others killed the rest." Tracey looked out the window into the endless darkness, and muttered something to herself quietly. Marilyn didn't pick it up, but William let out a raspy laugh as he pulled up next to the building.

"Well, get out, then." He said briskly, and the two girls silently obeyed.

"What's up with him?" Marilyn asked Tracey as she led her to a glass sliding door. "And what the fuck is the core? None of this is making sense; heck, what even is this place?"

"Relax." Tracey said quietly as the door slid open to let them inside. "And as long as we're in the presence of another entity here, you can't call me Tracey. They know me as Paper."

"You're avoiding the question." Marilyn huffed, and looked around the interior of the building. The light was dim, the only sources being seemingly tiny LED lights on the ceiling, which flickered every few seconds. The interior of the building seemed to be constructed almost entirely out of metal. Pipes ran along the walls and ceilings, all leading to a grey cylinder in the very centre of the room.

"That's a conversion chamber." Tracey said immediately after noticing Marilyn's gaze. "I'll tell you what it does a little later. And don't worry, all your questions will be answered." She led her to an intimidating door on the other side of the room, and pressed her hand against a panel. She pulled her hand away, and Marilyn watched in fascination as it read her handprint, and opened the door. The metal slid slowly out of the way, and she watched, breathless as an incredibly bright light began to seep through the ever growing gap.

"That," Tracey pointed towards the light, and smiled, "is the core, Marilyn. It's the reason why this building exists, why the Deepscape exists."

"It's beautiful." Marilyn muttered as the door came to a halt, and she walked inside, her eyes blinking into the light. There was a glowing orb floating in the air, sending out the luminescent rays of light as it hovered there, moving up and down slowly.

"Don't let yourself be hypnotised by how beautiful it is." Tracey said, shaking her shoulder and snapping her out of the trance. "I did that once; it wasn't pretty. I stood there for a whole week before someone found me."

"Why is it here?" Marilyn asked. "It's just…floating there."

"Think of this place as…say, another Plane of Reality." Tracey said, in an attempt to explain the situation. "We have our world, and the Deepscape. Now imagine that there are hundreds of these Planes, possible even infinite; and now imagine that every single one of these shares a core, which is present in every single world. Its presence is shared in every Reality, the very same core. Every Plane runs off of this core, draws its energy from it. But it that core was destroyed, then…" She snapped her fingers, and scowled. "…well, the universe would be gone. Just like that. The core is present in every Reality, but those places are infinite, full of space. The Deepscape, however, is just one flat expanse of land. It was easy for people to find the core. And we, the people who know about this place; we have to protect it. It's our job."

Marilyn looked back at the core, and reached out a hand to touch it.

"Don't!" Tracey pulled back her hand, causing her to stumble back. "One touch, and you'll evaporate." Marilyn shivered, and shrank away. Tracey sighed, placing her hand on the panel to seal the door. "The things out there, like William; I told you that they aren't really human, or at least not anymore. The truth is, I was the one who found the core." Marilyn whipped her head towards her in disbelief.

"No way." She muttered, and Tracey shook her head,

"No, it's true. When I found it I was an idiot; I looked at it for a week, like I told you. And I saw all the other Realities, stacked on top of each other. It was the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen. Worlds without violence, only peace. It was…incredible. And that was how they caught me; the shadows, I mean. That was how I woke up. That's why I returned as soon as I could; I understood the power, the responsibility I'd taken on, just by looking into the core. I bonded myself with Paper Cut, and I started recruiting.

"I knew I couldn't defend the core just by myself. It was a ridiculous task, and one I never could have achieved without help. Then I found William. He was dead when I found him; in fact, it wasn't even him I found. I found the car which he drove. With that car, he'd managed to kill a little girl. I didn't know what her name was, but he was a broken man. His spirit still lingered in that car, and I brought it to the Deepscape.

"It was an object of malice, one of evil that had once killed an innocent person. But that was when the conversion chambers appeared. You said it yourself; the Deepscape adapts to what you need. The building built itself up, and I used the conversion chamber to change its allegiance. And now William is here today, no longer broken. He's helping me defend the core, with all the others who I managed to convert as well." Tracey laughed at the dumbfounded expression on Marilyn's face. "It's a lot, isn't it? But hey, don't worry, everything's cool. We've got a lot of defences now."

"So you've been doing this since you returned?" Marilyn asked, and Tracey nodded. "Holy fuck." She muttered, and leaned against the wall, looking at the floor. "Is that why they call you Paper? Paper Cut?" Tracey smirked, and rubbed her arm.

"Yeah. Paper Cut; I'm not sure what he was. I'd never even seen him before. But I bonded with him, and now I can become him. It's a weird feeling."

"Weird indeed." Marilyn agreed, as she flexed her hand, and let it transform into a purple claw. "I'm getting the hang of changing. It's a strange feeling, but I like it. When I'm Shadow Cat, I'm stronger. I'm faster."

"It's a lot of power." Tracey said, folding her arms. "It's possible to let it blind you, though. Don't let that happen."

"What do you think I am, an idiot?" Marilyn asked, and shook her head. A wave of purple consumed her body, and suddenly it was Shadow Cat who stood before her, his empty eyes looking right into hers.

"Do you want to meet Paper Cut?" Tracey questioned, and Marilyn nodded her head, after a little hesitation. Tracey closed her eyes, and took a deep breath. A wave of light blue began to fold over her body, like paper. Her arms became long and slender blades, and suddenly her face was covered with blue paper, shaped like an origami cat. A few more blades extended out of her back like arms, drifting up and down.

Marilyn took a step back, and Shadow Cat melted away.

"No way. You disappeared." She muttered. "No, you're gone. You…" She clutched at her head. "Fuck."

"What is it?" The paper began to fold back on itself, and Tracey took a step forward, halting abruptly as Marilyn put up her hand.

"Wait a second. Just give me a minute." The girl tucked her black hair behind her ear, breathing heavily. "He's dead. You bonded with him-oh my god." She looked at the floor and sniffled, tears in her eyes. "You bonded with the Origami Cat. You bonded with him." Tracey noticed that Marilyn's left hand clenching into a fist, and gulped nervously.

"Marilyn-"

"I made him with my mum." The girl muttered quietly. "A week before she died, we made him. I took him everywhere, I saw him everywhere; he was the only one of my possessions who followed me to the Deepscape instantly. And now he's…a part of you. You didn't even know what he was."

"Marilyn, I get it." Tracey held out her hands in front of her. "Paper Cut was important to you. But you have to face the facts; he's long dead."

"I know." Marilyn replied wistfully. "I know. It's just that I can't believe I didn't know he was gone. I'm such an-argh!" She suddenly turned her head towards the wall and bashed her face into the hard metal.

"Marilyn!" Tracey grabbed her shoulders and attempted to pull her away, but the girl held fast, continuing to bash her head. "Stop it!"

"I could never do anything right! I'm useless! Fuck! Fuck!" Marilyn's tears hit the ground like a steady rain, as Tracey pulled her into a hug.

"You're not useless. You're not useless." The brunette said softly, and Marilyn hugged her back, crying into her shoulder.

"I am. I didn't even know that he was dead. How did I not get suspicious that he just disappeared that day? I might have been able to save him, and I didn't." She said bitterly. "Bad things happen to everyone close to me, and it's my fault. All of it."

"Don't say that. You know that's not true."

"Think about it, Trace. The Rat and Cat; both dead. My brother; put into a coma for a whole year. You; raped by the puppeteer and thrown into the Deepscape. And now the Origami Cat." Tracey noticed that Marilyn's forehead was bleeding, and cursed.

"Fuck. How fast can you heal?" She asked.

"Pretty fast in here. Why?"

"It's nothing." Tracey said hurriedly, as she separated herself from Marilyn's embrace. "We should probably get out of here." The other girl looked up at her, a confused look on her face. Her eyes were red from crying and the blood was beginning to drip down the side of her face, but she nodded anyway, taking her hand.

"How did you get the possessed items?" Marilyn asked suddenly as the sliding door slid open for them to exit. Tracey gave her an odd look, before stepping back into the building so the door would close.

"I could tell. I did my research, and I figured out what was what." She answered as Marilyn leaned against the wall. "I mean, they aren't too difficult to see; though I'm pretty sure that people don't notice. They're even transporting a haunted mask to a museum tonight, and they don't even know what it is." Tracey frowned when she saw Marilyn perking up. "What?"

"Do you normally go it alone?" The dark haired girl asked her. "Or do you usually have people with you?"

"I normally do it alone." Tracey replied. She noticed the look on Marilyn's face, and sighed. "Oh, god. You want to come with me."

"It can't hurt, can it?" She stood there for a moment, lost in thought, before lowering her head.

"No. I guess it really can't."