A long muzzle lined with gleaming teeth poked its way through the gap, two blood-scarlet eyes staring at them. A guttural growl rumbled from its chest, a long metal tongue snaking from its steel jaw as it leaned slowly into the room.
The four froze, eyes widened. Michael's heart began to pound painfully in his chest as he uttered a command to the others in a shaky whisper.
"When I say now... make a run for it..." he muttered quietly as the animatronic crept closer on all fours, claws scratching on the floor with every stalking step.
He felt Laura's hand digging almost painfully into his arm as they took a cautious tread backward. The robot's wolf ears twitched, a ragged tail swishing threateningly behind it. It came to a slow pause where it bent lower to the ground when the boy realized what it was about to do. His eyes flashed, nudging Laura's shoe warningly as his grip tightened around the box under his arm.
He waited until the wolf braced backward.
"Now!" He shouted, tearing to the side and pulling Laura with him as the four split apart in time to dodge the animatronic that had pounced, crashing into metal shelves behind them.
The four ran, swerving around boxes and scattered machinery in a frantic dash toward the open door as the wolf tried to regain its footing behind them, roaring angrily.
Michael rounded just outside the wall, waiting for the second Henry and Charlie passed through before tugging the door shut in time for the animatronic to ram into from the other side with enough force to knock him backward onto the floor. He stared up at the small window in the barrier where he could see it clawing madly, jumping to his feet to seize a metal folding chair leaning against the wall.
He jammed it underneath the doorknob before taking a step backward, and Henry's hand clutched his arm.
"Come on, the elevator-!" he urged as the robot continued to bang against the door. He turned, feet pounding on the tiled floor as they rushed away from the workshop, hearing the door creaking under the strain of each blow.
They came to the elevator where Laura hurriedly pressed the "up" arrow, but to their shock and dismay, the doors remained closed, lights turned off.
"What-" Henry stuttered as she pressed it again, but the only reaction that came was electricity spitting from the button panel as smoke seeped from its cracks.
The man swore, bending to examine the framework as Michael turned back to face the workshop.
His eyes widened as he watched the door bust further and further apart with enough room for the animatronic to poke its gnarled head through, the folding chair knocked to the floor. His sight moved further down the darkened hallway where he spotted a set of crimson eyes stalking closer to the light of the workshop.
"Guys..." he stammered, backing into Henry.
The others turned to see the remains of the door collapse onto the floor, the freed wolf striking out into the hallway where its bright eyes faced them with its partner.
The second animatronic came into the light, a lithe fox-form standing on all fours as it stared ahead at them. Without looking away, its crude jaw opened, a grated voice spilling a command to the wolf beside it.
"He wants us to take the boy alive. Kill the others," it snarled.
Before the two had the time to move forward, Michael urged the others the opposite direction.
"RUN!" He shouted, but it seemed they didn't need any direction, already sprinting down the long, winding corridor. He could hear the animatronics pursuing them, growling and spitting. He stole a glance behind, heart skipping at how closely they were following and he pushed himself to go faster.
Charlie, who was flying beside them, stopped for a brief moment to overturn a precarious tower of containers that fell onto the robots, slowing their pursuit.
They turned a corner, passing an open security door and Michael skidded to a stop, pulling a lever on the wall next to it and the barrier slid shut. Not three seconds later, the sound of furious clawing came from the other side, but the barricade seemed stable.
"What do we do now?!" Laura questioned frantically as the robots hammered into the door.
"There's got to be stairs somewhere, right?" Henry panted, breath coming out in deep gasps.
"Yeah-" Michael nodded, hope suddenly filling him as he vaguely remembered seeing an emergency exit on one of the building's blueprints. "Yeah, there is- but I can't remember if it was on the East or West side-"
He looked down the corridor to see its end where it forked.
"It'll be somewhere down one of those hallways, but I don't know which," he said, trying to catch his breath.
"Well, we have to pick one- sooner, rather than later, too," Charlie added, eyes focused on the door. Michael's brow furrowed. "I think we need to split up. We'll cover more ground that way, and if those two get out or there are more of them, that'll hopefully help at least half of us get out of here," he reasoned, looking at the others as he tried to gauge their reactions.
While he didn't say it, he was mostly worried about Henry.
The man was leaned against the wall, still breathing hard, legs quaking beneath him. He didn't want to admit it, but the man's years were showing now and he wouldn't be able to keep this up for much longer. Michael wanted to ensure him an advantage if he could.
The man's brow furrowed, apparently apprehensive. "We can stay together, can't we?" He breathed out heavily.
Charlie's eyes met Michael's. They seemed to be worried about the same thing, and without exchanging words, she lowered next to him and put her clawed hands on his shoulders.
"He's right, Papa..." she uttered softly. "We all have a better chance covering more ground."
Henry panted, bent over as he tried to find breath. He finally nodded, apparently too tired to push back against that decision. "Okay..." he relinquished, looking down the hallway. "Which way?"
"Go left," Michael answered. He was more certain that that was the closer route to the exit, though either one would eventually lead to it. But he wasn't taking chances. "Laura and I will take the East side-"
He paused, realizing that the sound of the animatronics trying to get in had also stopped.
The others fell silent, noticing the same when Michael looked up at one of the walls, spotting a security camera focusing on them. His heart dropped, looking back at the door.
"We need to go. Now." He ordered, urging the others down the corridor.
"What is it-?" Laura questioned worriedly as they hurried to the fork.
"I think they're trying to open it remotely," he answered, stopping for a moment to look at Henry and Charlie. He nodded once. "We'll see you guys up there," he spoke firmly as they returned the gesture and the four split.
Michael listened to the sound of Henry's quickened footsteps getting quieter and quieter as he and Laura hurried the opposite way.
"No exit signage here, is there?" Laura commented disdainfully.
"'Fraid not," the boy replied in an equal tone. He was, however, gratefully to see few security cameras on this side of the building. That made their job easier. He was also grateful that the two of them had experience on a track team- turned out it did count for something, after all, even if just to escape killer robots roaming his dad's old business.
But that would be a great prize if they could get out of here.
"What on Earth..." Laura muttered as they moved further and further down the hallway.
They deeper they went, the less like an industrial building it seemed to become. The corridor began to wind, metal walls turning into red-curtained enclosures, lanterns hung over deserted cannons and carnival prizes. It was like they'd walked straight into a circus tent.
"I think this was the deluxe attraction dad was working on before the place shut down," Michael murmured quietly as they proceeded down the hallway with no exit in sight.
"Where do you think we should-" Laura started before throwing a hand over her mouth, stopping dead in her tracks.
Michael's brow furrowed, confused. He started to speak before she crouched behind a prop TNT barrel, jerking him down with her.
Crouching at her level and thoroughly puzzled, he looked at her and the direction she was pointing as she raised a finger, only to see the fox animatronic further down the hallway, silently prowling out of one of the adjacent rooms. He swallowed, trying to ignore how sharp its teeth looked as he urged her to follow him into the room closest to them, remaining close to the ground. She followed him, trying to ease the door shut behind them as they got to their feet.
They found themselves in a much darker, narrower hallway with only one path forward at the end; a giant lion's gaping mouth for an entrance into something unknown separated by a purple curtain.
"Wow," was all Laura had to say, sticking closer to Michael as they proceeded forward.
"Into the lion's den, as it were," the boy muttered as they came closer. "Let's hope it gives us a way out of here."
She nodded and he slipped his hand into hers, gripping it tightly. "Stay close," he murmured.
"I will," she replied quietly as they pushed through the curtain. The first thing they did was stop dead in their tracks, met by hundreds of reflections of themselves illuminated by soft pink and violet light.
"A mirror maze?" Laura asked curiously, head tilting.
Michael didn't answer for a moment, eyes fixed on the reflection closest to him, almost mesmerized. The warped image almost had him thinking he was looking at his father if not for his eyes, one crystal blue and the other a faded ghost of the other.
"Mike..?" She asked, looking up at him worriedly.
He shook his head, shaking himself out of his daze, blinking. "Sorry- let's get through this thing," he spoke, moving forward with her at his side, trying to ignore the dozens of misshaped Michaels following them through the mirrors.
They began weaving their way through the narrow passageways, bumping into the mirrors as they went- this would be harder than they thought... they'd been walking for scarcely two minutes when a low, guttural chuckling echoed from somewhere in the domed room, causing them to freeze.
"I thought I caught your scent in here..." the fox's voice cooed. "Where are you?"
Michael's heart began to beat as he motioned for Laura to follow him down one of the other passageways, trying to remain as silent as possible, searching for the other side of the maze with eyes peeled for wherever the creature might be prowling.
"It's Michael... isn't it?" The animatronic continued, causing the boy to stop in his tracks in cold fear at the sound of his name. "That's what I remember from your father's programming... you have something he wants..."
Michael exchanged looks with Laura, both equally confused as they inched around another mirror.
The fox said nothing for a moment before laughing to itself. "I think I remember you."
The boy couldn't help himself. "What are you talking about?" He spoke, voice ringing around the theater without a place to pinpoint its source.
The sound of metal knocking a mirror echoed in the auditorium. "He built us from the leftover pieces those animatronics left behind. We have their memory, too," he answered. "Their life, as it were... let me see... a sister? But there's something else here that knows you too."
At this point, Michael had stopped moving, forgetting the danger that lurked among them, mesmerized by the animatronic's words.
"Is this... a mother?" The robot furthered.
The boy's eyes flashed open wide, mouth parting. Even Laura looked shaken as his frame began to quake at a sickening realization.
Ballora.
"Yes, I think so... but perhaps, more accurately, a mother's disappointment. Whatever did you do to make her feel so resentful of you, Michael?" It coaxed with a snide sneer.
Michael felt like he was punched in the gut, the air caught in his throat as his mouth quivered. Guilt gripped his very core as a series of terrible memories tore through his mind like a film reel- was that all his mother really felt for him after everything? Had every forgiving word and reassurance been a lie?
His mind raced as he felt Laura's hands on his shoulders, trying to pull him back to reality.
"Was it because you tormented him, Michael?" The animatronic growled as a sliver of its reflection glimmered in one of the adjacent mirrors, a glaring red eye burning forward.
Its eyes narrowed as Laura pulled the boy away down one of the passages.
"Perhaps this time you'll get to experience being hunted by a monster," it snarled as they ducked behind another set of mirrors, but it seemed to know where they were, now, as it laughed.
"Ready or not."
"Come on!" Laura cried, not letting go of Michael's hand as they frantically weaved between the last series of mirrors, carefully avoiding reflections as they tried to follow a steady path, all while the roaring animatronic pursued.
The tore through path after path, and miraculously, they spotted the end ahead of them.
"Keep going- just keep going!" Michael shouted as the fox crashed into mirrors behind them, causing them to topple over and shatter.
They pushed themselves through another curtain to a new hallway, where, at its end, a glowing green EXIT sign lay burning ahead. They ran faster than before while the animatronic got tangled in the fabric behind them, urging themselves further and further to the door.
Michael tore it open, slamming it shut behind them as they sprinted up the flights of stairs, legs burning in agony. They'd made it almost to the ground floor when the door banged open from the bottom, the sound of pattering feet ascending frightening fast following.
They pushed through the level door into one of the abandoned party room hallways, and beyond the old arcade machines and tables, Michael could see Henry waiting anxiously outside.
He pushed the door closed again as they rushed forward, spotting the safety window barrier lever near the front entrance.
"GO!" He shouted to Laura, his words spiriting her as she ran faster, past him and out the front. He slowed only to yank the lever down as the stairwell door crashed open, the fox robot pouncing out speedily.
Michael ducked under the metal doors as they slid down behind the glass and the door, crashing to the sidewalk. A loud thud resounded on the other side, but it was clear that the barrier was too sturdy to get through this time. He breathed in the night air heavily, chest feeling fit to burst as his eyes carefully examined the windows dotting the building.
All were shielded.
He let out a sight of relief, eyes closing as he took big breaths and reluctantly got to his feet and looked at Laura, counting his lucky stars they got out of there safely- he didn't know what he'd do if she hadn't made it.
Her eyes met his and she offered the smallest, equally grateful smile, seeming to have thought the same.
He moved closer to her, putting his arm around her shoulders in a side-hug, finally casting his gaze to Henry when he noticed something wrong. His chest constrained anxiously.
"Henry, where's Charlie..?"