Aye, yi, yi. So much for having this done before Halloween, huh?
Normally I'd come here and make excuses for how long it's been, but... Considering the last update you heard was in September, and how scarce I've been except for answering PMs... I think making excuses is in bad taste, eh?
Instead, I'm going to take some time and thank Your Intelligence for giving me a swift kick in the rear and getting me back on writing this thing. Occasionally, that's what I need and I certainly did this time. I'm sorry it took so long, folks... I'm not going to make any promises about when I'll finish this story because we both know by now I probably won't be able to keep 'em. Instead, all I'm gonna do is thank you all for sticking by me despite the delays.
And enough of my rambling. You guys came here for a chapter, and I'm gonna give you one - one with what I hope is one heck of a fight, to boot.
Read on, folks. Also, to anyone attached to my characters on an emotional level... I'm sorry in advance.
I finished wrapping another bandage around my ankle, hopefully stopping the bleeding for now, before glancing back to the monitors… And my eyes widened. I couldn't see Springtrap. Where the heck was he?! As I frantically scanned through the cameras, I heard a metallic 'thunk'… The vents. He was in the vents. I flipped the camera overlay, and found him… Before quickly sealing that vent off. "Sorry buddy, but you'll have to come the long way."
He glowered at the camera, and I shuddered as I saw that cold, menacing gaze. "Clever, Mr. Redding… You think you've got the entire situation under control. Just like you believed yourself to be in control with Mr. Faz's disappearance… And yet you never investigated, did you? Six long years, and you spent them ignoring the files that could have revealed everything… Humans are so simple."
I stared into that monitor, before leaning up close to it. "I swear, if you had anything to do with his disappearance…"
He rolled his eyes. "PLEASE, Mr. Redding. If I wanted him dead, I could have killed him at any time. It was never about Mr. Faz; if anything, his reluctance to shut the business down helped me further my plans… Until you came along, of course. But I digress… The fact remains that his disappearance has nothing to do with me.
"My… 'associate', however…" He trailed off, before grinning. "Ah, what does it matter. You will go to your grave not knowing what truly happened to Frederick Faz, Mr. Redding. I find that to be sufficient as an additional punishment. Stripped of your friends, your reputation, your love, and any answers you could use to put your mind at ease… All because you had the misfortune to get in my way. In fact, that sounds wonderfully familiar. After all, you still have a few friends left who are DYING to see you…"
I flicked the monitor down, shuddering as he began to laugh in his slow, menacing way… Before my eyes locked on a shadowy figure, slinking outside my window. Hunched over, looking battered and stained from inactivity, Freddy Fazbear was slowly working his way towards my door. He paused, staring into my eyes. "ALEX… WHY DID YOU FORSAKE US… BRING BACK… BRING BACK… BRING HER BACK TO ME…" My mind swam for a long moment as memories began to wash through my brain. Memories of what had happened to Freddy and Bonnie, the two bots that had been so in love…
It was around the one year 'anniversary' of Chica's death, and we'd agreed to get together to mourn and provide some support for each other. Freddy in particular had told Foxy and I that he was worried. "Bonnie hasn't been doing too well ever since Chica… I'm hoping that it'll solve itself. She's not accepting any help from anyone, and… I just want to make sure she's going to be okay." I thought I understood; Foxy hadn't been the same either, ever since. But when they came in, I knew how wrong I was.
Bonnie looked like she was barely on her feet. Her eyes were dimmed, her ears were drooping and she was only barely getting around. She had this strange static noise whenever she spoke, her joints creaked with every move she made… In fact, she genuinely looked like she was sick. Badly so. We'd tried to have a good time together, but Freddy was clearly worried and Foxy was obviously affected by how bad she seemed. Finally, I left Foxy and Freddy to talk by themselves for a bit and took Bonnie off to my workshop to have a chat with her.
"Bonnie… I'm not gonna lie. You look pretty bad. What's going on? We're all worried about you…" I spoke with concern, resting a hand on her shoulder. She just shrugged, static coming out from her voice whenever she spoke again.
"I'm… Alright, Alex. Just… A bit of… A bug, I assume. We AI… Get them… Too, you know… And with Chica… Gone… It's harder for me to… Fight it. But don't worry… Alex… I'll be fine…" She tried a weak smile, which I returned with a half-hearted one before hugging her.
"Just take care of yourself, okay? We need someone to keep Freddy out of trouble, after all." I chuckled softly, and she hugged me back as best she could with a nod.
"Wouldn't… Dream of it… Alex."
The visit carried on for a few hours, and we had a good time. Laughing, talking, sharing a few stories and remembering Chica as our friend. We even caught a movie, before Freddy finally nodded and started taking Bonnie home. I stopped him as he was leaving.
"Freddy… Take care of Bonnie. She says it's just a bug, but I suspect it's more than that. You may have to take her over, see if our friends over in AI research have any idea how to help her." Freddy nodded.
"Alex, my boy… I've said it before and I'll say it again. You're the best friend an old bear could ask for. I never even thought of that… If she gets much worse, I'll bring her over. Thanks." We shared an embrace, and I watched them leave before turning to Foxy and asking her what Freddy had told her.
She just shook her head. "All he knows is that Bonnie hasn't been doing too great ever since last year, but it was only in recent weeks that she started really falling. I figure she may have caught a virus of some kind, hopefully something that can be fixed."
I nodded. "Yeah, I told him to take her over to the Toys if she keeps getting worse. I guess she'll be alright, either way… I hope so, at least." She nodded, and we sat back together and just held each other.
I heard her whimpering, and I knew it was the closest to crying she could have. I just slowly held her as she let it all out. "I want Chica back…"
I just nodded, softly rubbing her ears. "Me too, hun. Me too…"
It was only two weeks later when Freddy told us he was taking Bonnie over to the Toys. Apparently she'd fully collapsed one day and was unresponsive, not even to his diagnostics. Foxy and I rushed over there, trying to see what happened. By the time we got there, the technicians had confirmed our worst fears. Bonnie had suffered from a total hard drive failure that had blown her CPU out as well. There was no way to recover her; apparently the data was wiped by a computer virus that none of them had ever seen before.
She was gone.
In the aftermath, Freddy became reclusive. The comedy club was shut down, and he spent all his time alone. Foxy and I had tried to come over and check on him many times, but we were always met with the same response; he didn't want company. He was grieving, and wanted to be left in peace. We were worried, but decided not to intrude. In hindsight, we should have bashed that door in and forced him to come to grips…
Especially since, after roughly two months of silence, we finally forced our way in and found Freddy sitting there, completely shut down. We checked his diagnostics, and found that he'd completely wiped his own hard drive, leaving only a note about seeing Bonnie again in whatever afterlife existed for AI.
He was gone as well.
And there he was, standing before me and occasionally twitching slightly from the pain and malice. "Get him, Freddy… Make him pay for my death…" I froze. That was Bonnie's voice… "I will, Bonnie… I won't let him get away… YOU DID THIS, ALEX!" He brought his microphone down on where I was sitting, and I dove to the side… Just in time to see it nearly split the back of my chair in two. I quickly drew my blades, shaking my head as my eyes darkened.
"Freddy… I didn't do this to you. But if you're going to fight me, you don't give me a choice!" With that, I charged in and stabbed one machete directly into his midsection, following it up with another strike to his forearm. He growled, before throwing me over his shoulder, causing me to let go of one of the blades. I landed on my feet and threw the second one in, landing it neatly in his head.
He just stared at me for a long moment, before grabbing both machetes and forcing them out of his body, twirling them around him. "YOUR OWN WEAPONS BETRAY YOU, REDDING!" He charged, swinging rapidly and forcing me to retreat. I fell back, trying not to trip as I brought my batons out, blocking a few strikes… Before crying out in pain as I felt a blade rake across my side, leaving a nasty, bleeding cut. I swore, pulling the shotgun from my back and opening fire.
Three blasts fired off, each one hitting the Phantom Freddy squarely in the chest, tearing off pieces of his suit and revealing the jet-black endoskeleton beneath. He screeched at me, before coming at me and bringing a blade down on the barrel of the shotgun, forcing the fourth shot into his arm and neatly blowing it off. I dropped the shotgun, moving quickly to trip him up and curb stomp his head.
He grabbed my ankle and threw me backwards, sending me down to the floor and knocking the wind out of me. I looked up just in time to see him raising my other machete high, before plunging it down towards my head. I dodged to the side, and he swung again, forcing me to dodge a second time. I couldn't keep this up forever…
Then an idea struck me. It might not work, but it was the closest thing I had to a way of getting away from this situation currently. As he cackled, blade raised high… I fished my taser out and forced the prongs into his leg joint, squeezing the trigger.
He responded exactly as I'd expected, dropping the machete and screeching in agony and frustration as he backed up, falling over onto his own rear end and giving me the breathing room I needed to get back to my feet, hissing in pain at both the fall I took and the cut across my side. I pulled my batons back out and started bludgeoning the phantom bear again and again, smacking him repeatedly. His menacing laughter continued through every hit, before he groaned and threw me off of him again, forcing me against the wall near the locked exit.
I groaned as he punched me one-handedly again and again, wondering how I was supposed to take this bear out… Before remembering the fight with Balloon Boy. He had a focus; somewhere that his power was coming from and being channeled into his spirit. It was preventing him from holding any permanent damage, so clearly if Freddy had taken a beating like this he'd have one as well… Thinking quickly, I grabbed his tie and pulled it off.
He screamed in anger, and I forced the tie – which was razor sharp, as I learned from the gash now cut into my palm – straight into his mouth and upwards, into where I assumed his CPU would be. He stumbled back, gurgling and groaning angrily… Before collapsing onto his back.
Breathing heavily, I shook my head and moved to retrieve my weapons… Before groaning as he pounced onto my back and forced me down again. I grit my teeth as I fell, wincing as my head hit the ground. I could taste blood and knew I'd just split my lip open. That was going to require a fix… If I could get out from under this psychotic bear. But how… How was he alive? The answer came with his… Bonnie's voice.
"ALEEEXXXX! YOU DID THIS TO USSSSSS!" Us. Somehow, Freddy and Bonnie had possessed one phantom. There were two focuses. I struggled out from under him once more, kneeing him in the stomach and forcing him away… Before I saw his form flickering. It altered between Freddy, sans bow tie and missing an arm, to Bonnie, her ears lowered and glaring menacingly at me. It was during one of these flickers that I saw it. Her ears were tucked in… Almost as if to fit in Freddy's hat!
I grasped my blades, coming at him once more as he settled on Freddy's form, blocking his punch and coming in with a hard kick to his midsection that forced him against the wall. I followed it up by chopping downwards, removing his other arm, and finally kicking at his legs and sending him down to sit on his rear end… HARD. He glared up at me as I prepared to chop the hat off.
"GO AHEAD, ALEX… KILL YOUR FRIENDS… AGAIN…" He closed his eyes and began to laugh in that dark way… Even playing a distorted, evil version of Toreador as he did so. I sighed, shaking my head.
"You're not Freddy. You're not Bonnie. You're in my mind, understand?! IT'S ALL IN MY MIND!" With that, I chopped the hat clean off… And twin decayed, purple but faded ears flew out from underneath it as it flew through the air before simply fading into blackness. The phantom before me did likewise, and I finally breathed a sigh of relief…
Before suddenly, I felt that agonizing pain in my chest again, forcing me to collapse once more, feeling darkness closing in around the corners of my vision. I shook my head, trying to clear it as my heart protested the stress it was undergoing from both my injuries and the terror and adrenaline saturating my bloodstream. I managed to flick the vents again, and leaned against them to gasp in the fresh, unpolluted air as best I could. Slowly, my heart began to stop trying to escape my chest, and my arm no longer felt numb. With the symptoms of a heart attack easing off, I opened the medical kit and started patching my wounds up.
The cut on my side was long, but not very deep; just enough to bleed a fair bit. I wrapped bandages around my middle, making sure to pad and keep pressure on it as best I could, wrapping my hand as well before glancing to the cameras again. Sure enough, Springtrap was just a few cameras away from me now.
"Ah, you're still alive! Excellent… I'd hate for you to die before being reminded of all of your FAILURES, Mr. Redding… After all, the entire point of this evening is to prove to you that you've lo-o-loooooost…." He twitched slightly, and his eyes went foggy… Before blinking, looking around in an almost panicked fashion… And then suddenly looking back to me, even more malice in his vision. "As I was saying… There is only one more of your ghosts that you have left to face. I so look forward to seeing how you do!" His menacing laugh echoed through the building, and I shuddered… I knew the last ghost he was referring to. The one I felt the most guilt over.
A thought crept into my mind… What had happened to Springtrap, just then? Was it a glitch, a malfunction in his decayed, psychotic programming? Or…
I had to think for a long moment. The 'endoskeleton' he was currently using was Mitchell's accomplice during the murdered children. Someone familiar with Fazbear Entertainment, but able to act and put on convincing performances… Something about what Springtrap had said, about how he could 'act' mental and emotional trauma, and how I met him before…
I shook my head and finished patching myself up, grabbing a few more breaths of fresh air. Whatever it was, it didn't matter much at this point. After all, whoever Springtrap's victim was, it was unlikely he'd come back to haunt me.
Besides, I had bigger problems to worry about… One last phantom, and then I could confront Springtrap himself and end this.
And so we find out what happened to Bonnie and Freddy... One last ghost between Alex and Springtrap. We all know who it is, and it's going to be the most painful fight of them all.
Read and review, folks.