Author's Note: Hope you guys are enjoying the frequent updates lol
Chapter 170
Karma
That night, Hedy finally managed to drag herself out of the house two hours earlier than usual, stopping by the late-night supermarket for more salt and something explosive.
Hopefully, this was just one night and Ruby would be fine after a few proper hours of sleep to reset her.
"Hedy!"
There was the slam of a car door.
Hedy glanced at Mike as he ran up behind.
"Is Ruby okay?"
"Well, no. She hasn't woken up yet if that's what you mean."
"I didn't really understand what you meant," Mike said, taking her hand. "She just...shut down?"
"I really don't know how else to explain it. She might not even remember even being awake."
"Are you okay?"
"I'm fine. Just..." she gestured at the door.
"Have you spoken to any of the bots yet?"
"I called Puppet earlier, so they know. But that's why I asked for you to come early with me."
"Have you..." Mike hesitated. "Talked to the kids?"
Hedy scowled and looked away. "No. Let's go."
Mike nodded, reaching out to squeeze her shoulder comfortingly before they went inside.
The atmosphere they walked in on told them that everyone knew already. The Toys were the only ones waiting with Puppet.
"Spring won't leave Fright and we don't know where the others went," Mangle told her in a subdued tone.
"Right..." Hedy breathed. They had barely gotten through the night last time. They were lucky Ruby came in. However, Hedy highly doubted Michael was going to be able to trick the kids into helping him again.
Still, it was a possibility. Hedy didn't trust her 'friends' to have really learned anything.
"First, I want to know if the kids are stupid enough to try that bullshit teaming up with Michael again."
Mike sighed. "How do we do that?"
"Wait in the main room until one walks in and ask them," she said bluntly.
"Uh, getting us all in the main room was how we almost lost last time?" Toby pointed out.
"Well, they won't be expecting it then," Mike tried to go for a cheerful tone but he didn't think he really hit it.
All the Toys looked at them like they were stupid.
Puppet shook his head, already trying to word an argument that could convince the two humans to leave if things got really bad. He was considering knocking them out and putting them outside, but he'd rather prefer to avoid giving either of them brain damage.
Mangle had a distracting thought about how cute it was that Mike was so willing to back Hedy up.
"This is bad...this is so bad," Chi whimpered. "Like really really bad..."
"Is Ruby okay?" Mangle asked.
"She will be. And then she'll be upset this happened. But she's fine for now. Jeremy's watching her and she's getting some sleep."
"Puppet said you said it was like a coma," Teddy said.
"It's not," Hedy said, simultaneously shooing them toward the main room. "She's awake, but she's shut down, in way. It's hard to explain."
Teddy nodded. He pulled Hedy's bag off the back of her chair and unzipped it. "You got more salt? It doesn't work as well when they have bodies."
"Better than nothing," Hedy said.
They knew they should have spent the time before midnight setting up traps and dangerously messing with the electrical systems, and they did, just not as much as they probably should have.
Mike helped Toby set some of Ruby's paint traps.
Mangle placed explosives in the ceiling in certain spots that would break the water pipes for the fire sprinkler system. She and Chi also stashed some salt up there.
It wasn't well thought out or very intensive and pretty soon they were all back in the main room quietly waiting.
No one really wanted to talk.
Midnight struck and the Toys flinched.
Silence. It was off-putting. They didn't hear anything. No screams.
Puppet stared at the floor.
Spring was too far away to hear and the Originals were expecting this, so they were bracing themselves.
The quiet stretched on for nearly a full half-hour and still, nobody said anything.
Hedy looked toward one of the doors at the sound of metallic footsteps as the others stiffened.
Mike stepped closer to her and she felt his fingertips brush her shoulder.
Bonnie, or rather Benji they supposed, turned the corner into the room, looking a bit confused.
Immediately, Hedy thought something was off but she wasn't sure what. She'd deal with it later.
Hedy opened her mouth to start yelling at Benji, pointing the paintball gun.
Any curse words were cut off as "Benji's" eyes widened and the ears went straight up at the sight of two super soakers, four dent inducing paintball guns, and a stun gun pointed at him. He ducked out with a yelp.
"Don't shoot! It's me!"
They stared.
Hedy blinked. "Benji," she said through gritted teeth.
"I'm not Benji!" Bonnie shouted, ducking his head back in.
Mangle shot him in the ear, mostly on instinct, and he yelped in pain as the force hit the hinge and dented it.
At the same time, Hedy noticed that his eyes were the softer pink like usual and not a bright harsh red glow.
"I'm so confused..." Mike stared at the rabbit. He didn't have the same 'human' mannerisms that he got whenever Benji was possessing him.
"Did you have to go for the ear?" Bonnie grumbled, rubbing the joint.
Toby winced in sympathy. Their ears were pretty sensitive.
Hedy stared. "What?"
Mangle squinted and kept her gun pointed at Bonnie.
The rabbit stared at her. "Uh...can I come in? I'm serious. Benji...he..." Bonnie sounded very confused. Almost as confused as the rest of them. "He didn't do anything."
Now everyone was confused. And suspicious.
"Is he just biding his time?" Teddy asked.
"Is it a trick?" Chi mumbled.
"What about the others?" Mike ignored the bots' muttering for now.
"We all split up. I don't know where they are."
Hedy was still staring quietly.
"BENJI!" she shouted, noting how Bonnie seemed startled at her volume, but not the shout itself.
It was several seconds before the kid shakily shifted into focus. His transparent appearance didn't look smooth like usual. He immediately glanced around, as if he wasn't sure where he was going to pop up before he noticed where Bonnie was by the door and took a couple of steps further away. He seemed to be trembling a bit and wouldn't look at anyone. He held his shaking hands close to his chest.
Hedy recoiled as she sensed the immense amount of pent up energy rolling off the small boy as he tried to reign it in as little tendrils kept trying to reach out to Bonnie before he yanked back.
Everyone who couldn't sense that sort of stared at Benji for a long moment.
"I'm confused," Mike muttered.
"Benji," Hedy said.
Benji flinched at how angry and distrustful she sounded.
"What are you doing?"
He didn't answer. Instead, he stared at the floor.
"Ben-"
"I'm not going to hurt Bonnie..." His voice was soft and there was desperation. He glanced up at Bonnie before immediately looking away. Embarrassed? Shamed? "I'm not going to possess you. I promise."
There was utter silence.
"Why?" Mike ended up being the one to ask.
Even Bonnie looked a bit too surprised to say anything.
Benji flinched at Mike's voice as it struck through his head. The boy was feeling too hyper-aware of everything. Everything was too loud. Too bright. He could probably make himself corporeal without needing to even try. His whole body was buzzing with pent up energy that usually would be used up possessing Bonnie while a deal wasn't locking it away out of reach.
"I-I just..." Benji stuttered, still not looking at anyone. "I just...don't want to." The problem was that he did. The temptation was almost physically painful. "I told everyone, Hedy...a-and Ruby...would be too mad at us. I tried to get everyone to promise not to possess anyone tonight." He glanced up, looking sorry. "I don't know if they listened to me..."
"I don't listen to anyone,dummy," Felix said, shifting into view and startling them. He looked almost made of static, bits of his form shifting in and out. "I just don't want to deal with Ruby spanking me. That's freaking embarrassing."
Benji stared at Felix wide-eyed, genuinely shocked to see him not inside Foxy.
Felix crossed his arms. "And it's pointless if Jeremy's not here." But a flinch and worried glance at Hedy before he shoved it down put some doubt in his threat. He pointedly ignored Mike's existance.
They were all completely stunned by now. This was completely different to what they'd been expecting...
Mike glanced at Hedy.
Hedy's eyes were open wide and her lips were parted in a small "o" as she tried to process what was happening.
Felix sat down on the floor and crossed his arms, not saying anything else.
"Unexpected…" Hedy muttered distrustfully.
Benji flinched and Felix rolled his eyes.
"I'm...going to go find the others..." Bonnie said, unsure.
"We'll help," Mike said.
"...You and Hedy should probably stay here with Puppet," Bonnie said. "You know...just in case the other kids aren't being...unpredictable."
"Uh, guys?" Goldy said, popping in next to Mike, who yelped in shock.
His nerves were still set for playing the game and he dove away from Goldy on instinct while swinging the crowbar he had dug up from somewhere. Luckily he redirected at the last second while losing his grip in the middle of his fall and the weapon went flying into the wall behind Goldy who didn't even flinch.
The building was a little irritated about the new dent in the wall though.
Goldy glanced apologetically at Mike but didn't react as she awkwardly gestured at Ginny who was standing next to her.
Ginny let go of Goldy's fur, looking dizzy and nauseous, and without a word walked up to Benji and slapped him in the back of his head.
"Ow! What?"
"You didn't say it was going to hurt!"
"I didn't know! How would I know?"
"Why do I even listen to you?"
"...because you don't want to hurt Hedy's feelings either?"
Ginny smacked him again, not as hard, and sat down pouting, refusing to look at Hedy or anyone else.
No one knew what to say as Bonnie got the other Originals.
Mike ended up being the one to break the silence. "Well, Ruby's going to be damn proud of them, but what about Michael?"
A light exploded over the kids at the name and everyone jumped as the glass rained down.
"Oops..." Fredrick's voice echoed in the room a little.
"No that was me…" Cheryl's voice said. "Sorry…"
"Are you idiots going to come in or what?!" Felix snapped and another light flickered.
Fredrick appeared and glared at Felix distractedly as Cheryl flickered next to Ginny.
She didn't settle though and continued to flicker in and out as she hugged her knees and moaned from a horrible headache.
Hedy stared, flinching at the physical effect of Felix's prickly words and Cheryl's headache.
There was a lot of energy swirling around the ghosts. They were much more powerful than usual.
Even the others could sense the air was charged. The deals usually kept everything back but with them gone, there was a broken dam of built-up energy washing over them. The kids usually only had one outlet for that energy that they knew of and they were actively choosing to ignore it.
"I seriously doubt Michael had such a change of heart," Hedy said, now truly worried about Spring.
The kids were acting like a live wire. They were trying, she supposed, but there was no telling if they would react to Michael on instinct. And in this state, even not possessing anyone they could cause damage as the shattered light demonstrated. Or they could snap and give up on not hurting the Originals.
Mike bit his lip worriedly.
"Well...right now he's really outnumbered isn't he?" he said hopefully.
He was always a bit more optimistic than Hedy.
Goldy looked contemplative.
Hedy didn't react besides a distrustful and confused glance at the kids who seemed to be mentally struggling a little.
The Originals all eventually came in led by Bonnie, all looking nervous and confused while Goldy and Ginny continued to give awkward looks at each other.
Felix ignored Foxy's stare.
Mike got the tablet and checked it, finding Springtrap already roaming. Like a bitch.
"Michael's already left Fazbear's Fright."
"Asshole," Hedy spat.
Freddy opened his mouth to say "language" but decided better of it and shrugged.
Felix muttered something and the light above him flickered but Ginny smacked him on the back of his head. Mean as it was, it seemed to work since the light settled.
"So...what do we do?" Mike asked, looking from Hedy to the bots to the kids. He didn't know if they could trust the kids to stay this cooperative. Maybe Benji and Ginny. But he wasn't sure about Felix at all.
"I don't know everything," Hedy muttered, "We'll wait, I guess."
Mike didn't look the happiest with that plan, nor did the others.
This was twice Hedy decided to "wait." It was a bit disturbing. She was more reserved than Ruby, but waiting for something to happen wasn't her usual behaviour.
Foxy glanced at her after a moment, clearly unable to help the question. "How's Ruby?"
Benji noticeably perked up to hear the answer as well. He and Ruby had a weird relationship now. Most of his hostility towards the teen seemed to have dried up and she was slightly gentler when she spoke to him as well. Closer to how she interacted with Timmy, who noticed the change. The older ghost noticed a lot. He and Hedy had talked about how happy Benji's progress made him. Oddly, he was most upset with Fredrick rather than the ill-tempered Felix.
For Felix, the boy was just so emotional that everyone pretty much knew that once he eventually could get over his knee jerk reactions and actually think without his temper, he could get better. Maybe.
With Fredrick however, his reasoning didn't leave him much room for growth. He could logic himself into thinking the worst things were right and it was frustrating.
Actually, where was Timmy right now?
Hedy answered Foxy. "She's with Jeremy at my place. We got her to eat something and she's sleeping in my bed." Hedy's expression broke into a small smile. She could guess, accurately, that Jeremy was staying awake in a chair, keeping an eye on Ruby from across the room as he read a book or watched videos on his phone. Or he was working, case files piled on the floor beside him, while resisting the urge to pick up his phone and call them.
The Originals relaxed slightly at that news. They'd come a long way from not trusting Jeremy at all. If Foxy trusted him to watch Ruby, then he'd definitely made it with the group.
Benji bit his lip like he wanted to ask something but wasn't sure if the question would be welcomed.
Goldy noticed and hesitated before speaking.
"This is...weird enough," she said quietly, getting Hedy and others' attention and directing it to a suddenly very freaked looking Benji. "What do you want to say?"
"Yeah, you're kind of being the confusing one anyway," Bonnie pointed out, speaking to Benji for the first time in a long while.
Benji looked disturbed about that too.
The ghosts and the bots they possessed didn't like to speak to each other much. It was too much to even try.
Not even Goldy and Ginny told anyone about the small, mostly-pointless conversations they had once in a while.
Benji froze up for a long moment before he looked away. "Why did the visit affect her like this? Nothing scares Ruby..." he mumbled.
"I don't know if it's fear," Hedy said, forcing through her severe distrust to answer. "I don't know exactly what happened. I wasn't there. But she saw the man who killed her parents and nearly killed her. She knows him. She trusted him as a family. Whatever he said must have hurt too much and her mind couldn't handle it. So her mind shut down while her soul recovers. That's the best way I can describe it."
They all fell silent again for different reasons. Some of them were trying to come to terms with the fact that Ruby wasn't emotionally invincible. People could still hurt her. Foxy looked like he wanted to hunt down Black and shove him in a suit though.
"Ruby doesn't trust a lot of people," Goldy said softly.
Hedy nodded with a soft hum as the kids all had different reactions.
Benji looked upset and reserved while most of the others wanted to pretend they were ignoring anything to do with Ruby that could possibly make them feel bad for any reason.
Hedy didn't get a chance to say anything else as Springtrap and his awful timing (for everyone involved) walked in the doorway.
Michael halted at the sight of far more people than he expected. He didn't expect any gathering at all really. His eyes flicked over the humans (mostly Hedy-he didn't give a crap about Mike most of the time) before they landed on the kids.
He forgot to ask if Ruby had kicked the bucket. That would have been an amazing reason why he had run of the place now.
It was a little funny watching his expressions, which were somehow still distinct from Spring's. Murderous intent, then surprise, then confusion, then comprehension flashed over what was currently his face.
"...fuck..."
Foxy let out a snarl and Hedy abruptly realised that he was probably going to channel his anger at Black towards Michael. He wouldn't actually hurt Spring but he was one of the faster bots. Plus, the Originals never had the chance to get a bit of revenge on Michael for putting the kids' bodies in them while they were shut down.
Goldy actually looked kind of terrifying right now as she glared at him.
Michael stared for about a second before he forced a sneer and tried to step back to go somewhere else. He didn't notice BB sneak up behind him. Where had the little menace been actually?
There was a zap as BB stabbed the back of Michael's knee with Hedy's taser and Springtrap tripped into the room with a pained scream, falling a bit too close to Hedy for Mike's liking.
Mike silently pulled Hedy back a little and she didn't even take offense.
"You little shit," Michael spat at BB, who looked very pleased with himself as he obediently handed Hedy the stolen weapon. The shock only paralyzed Michael for about three seconds, but Spring had enough wiring issues that the body was going to be twitchy for a while.
It was still annoying that Ruby had taught BB how to pickpocket but this was a very satisfying result.
Foxy let out another snarl and Mangle didn't look too far from following suit. They were technically the most dangerous and usually the most protective. Bad combination for Michael.
His chances of getting to the door now were pretty slim.
"Hold the fuck on," he snapped, shakily standing up as he pointed at Foxy. "Don't try anything." He leaned on a table, not able to move fast enough. His eyes flicked toward the door.
There was a flash of concern in the red eyes, but it was shoved under his cruelty.
Mike glared. Try anything? It wasn't like everyone in the room didn't know Michael was planning to 'try' killing Hedy tonight.
"You fuckers wouldn't hurt Spring would you?" he said, forcing his voice to take on a taunting tone even if he was panicking a little. "Yeah, he doesn't freaking care, but I bet Wiggy'll cry about it."
Hedy bristled, pissed he was already trying to pull that card. It only took him about fifteen seconds and he couldn't even threaten them at this point without making them angrier. Surely he realized pissing them off was not a good idea right now.
"You are digging your hole deeper with every stupid thing that comes out of that mouth," Mike said dryly. "Do you even realize that?"
Foxy spoke before Michael could say anything more. "We routinely play around with Ruby. If we can manage not to even bruise a teenager I'm pretty sure we can handle dealing with you without hurting Spring," he growled.
Mangle was grinning in a concerning way.
Goldy was still glaring viciously at him.
Michael shifted. He glanced at the kids, staring for a moment.
He chuckled, but it was strained. "Imagine that...How are the withdrawal symptoms, you brats?"
Felix silently gave Michael the middle finger while the others glared.
"This is hilarious," Michael snorted with a sneer. "What is this even supposed to prov-"
"Okay, I'm going to stop you there," Freddy said, his deep voice startling Michael.
Michael cut off with a small squeak as Freddy's hand suddenly was grasping his shoulder in a none too friendly manner. Springtrap stiffened at the sensation of actually being touched.
It had to be hitting Michael that the Originals were a lot harder to push around than the Toys were. They were built solidly, more so that Goldy and Spring were.
There'd been jokes before that Freddy, Chica and Bonnie could probably pick the Toys up fairly easily. Toby had vehemently protested any experiments on that front.
But that didn't stop Mangle at the time from jumping into Foxy's arms with no warning much like Ruby liked to. The male fox had nearly fallen over. Mangle was still quite a bit heavier than a petite teenager.
"How about you have a seat, Michael?" Chica said with a fake sweetness that looked nearly as dangerous as the smiles Foxy and Mangle cracked.
Something in Michael's head clicked as he realized there were a lot of painful things that didn't necessarily cause lasting damage to Spring.
The bots were not sadists, but they could be creative if they wanted so he really didn't know what to expect.
Grasping desperately, Michael tried to pull Spring up from the recesses of the processor so he'd be forced to experience the pain along with him. If there was pain in store. He didn't believe the animatronics had it in them to do crap that he could come up with, but he didn't know how far the bots were willing to go with the chance they were now presented with.
He wasn't prepared for Spring to abruptly shut himself down and cut off any sensations to Michael, besides sight and sound specifically.
Spring was aware enough to realize what was going on and did the equivalent of giving Michael full control of the body, which was shocking. Usually, Spring was scrambling for purchase, trying to fight Michael as hard as it could.
Instead, he was sitting behind some firewalls Hedy had built in his code just watching what was going on and wishing for popcorn. And the ability to eat it.
Bastard.
Michael tried to make a break for the door, twisting out from under Freddy's hand a bit clumsily.
He really didn't get far before both foxes grabbed him and shoved him into a chair. Even Mangle was stronger than a possessed Spring despite her smaller frame.
Bonnie was sitting next to Hedy on the stage. He was content to watch. And he kept glancing at Benji now and then, for once with less fear and more curiosity. BB sat on the floor in front of Hedy. He was still a bit scared of Michael after the whole voice box thing but he still sat between him and Hedy. It was sweet.
Goldy crossed her arms. "Even if you get out of this room do you really think there's anywhere you can go where I can't find you and teleport you back?" she asked in a hard voice.
The Toys weren't really sure what to do in the entire situation. They were still very nervous around the killer.
Michael crossed his arms, trying to maintain some level of dignity after being manhandled into a chair. Instead, he just looked defensive and a bit pathetic compared to Goldy.
"What are you going to do then, huh?" he asked. "Beat me up? There's not much you can do without hurting Spring."
Puppet made an odd noise that wasn't quite a laugh. "There's more to torment than physical pain, Michael."
"Puppet," Mike deadpanned. "I really don't think you realize just how freaking creepy that sounded."
"Besides," Puppet continued, ignoring Mike, "Spring has specifically told me, and Goldy, what we're allowed to do if a situation like this arose. For example, breaking your arm off at the elbow is very painful, but ultimately harmless if we do it right."
Hedy looked slightly alarmed and really annoyed. She was disappointed, but not surprised by Spring giving the other bots permission to harm him. Without telling her.
Michael looked worried and glanced at Foxy. "What happened to not hurting Spring?" He actually sounded accusatory.
"Technically, Spring is fine if Hedy repairs anything before he wakes up," Puppet said uncaringly.
It was an act, but he really sold it.
"I could have him awake right now," Mike hissed, tapping his head with a cruel smirk. "Feeling everything I feel. Are you going to risk it?"
Hedy stared him and realized something. She suddenly laughed, which confused the hell out of Michael.
"Or," Puppet said as if he hadn't heard Michael or Hedy at all. He looked at Goldy.
Goldy smirked. "Michael. It's been such a long time and I know your brain's rotten away." She sounded almost pitying as she mocked. "But maybe you remember when we were kids."
She said it that way to specifically mess with him.
"Remember how we found out magnets cause migraines, thanks to you?" she asked sweetly, bringing up some long passed torment they had endured from him.
"I was going for the fact Spring is ticklish, but that works too," Puppet said.
"That's pathetic," Michael snapped. "You're pathetic. You don't have it in you to do anything worse."
"I wouldn't push them, man," Mike warned sarcastically. "Ruby's not here to save you."
Michael looked at Mike like he was crazy. It was a weird phrase. Ruby was the one who tormented him. The hell was Mike talking about, Ruby saving him?
Mike stared back at him. "You do know that the only reason the bots didn't gang up on you long ago is because Ruby said they couldn't right? She got the deal in before any of them could do anything. And Spring has now given them permission to do what they want if you took over again. And you really think Hedy hasn't come up with some way to prevent Spring from feeling the pain you could cause again? She can fix anything that happens long before Spring wakes up and feels it."
"I could dump him in my poster for the rest of the night?" Goldy suggested.
BB had asked to visit it once out of curiosity. He'd been traumatised by the experience.
He nodded. That was a perfect idea.
Being two dimensional couldn't be pleasant, at least that's what Hedy assumed. She shuddered.
"There's got to be something else," Mangle snarled. "I'm not opposed to pulling out his eyes if Spring's okay with it."
"That got dark fast..." Mike muttered while Hedy blinked.
Michael was starting to look much more concerned.
The bots may be more "disassemblable" and easier to take apart than a human but the pain wasn't dulled just because they were artificial. At all.
It was a balance Hedy had to deal with, being careful where they had sensations or not.
The foxes and Puppet looked like they were on board with the plan to make Michael suffer tonight. Goldy looked torn between dumping him in her poster and getting some revenge for her friend and brother.
It was a little startling to realise that they trusted Hedy to have made sure Spring couldn't feel anything if this very situation happened.
BB suddenly waved his hand in the air. "What about using Ruby's supplies?"
"Wait..." Michael tried but was distracted by a sense of satisfaction that came from an odd part of his head.
Spring didn't care about himself, or any revenge the others might enact for him. He just cared that the others got the chance to stand up to Michael for once. He understood why Ruby was the one to get in the way of that all the time, but he felt like the other's needed this.
The fact he wasn't going to suffer along with Michael was just a bonus.
Getting his eyeballs pulled out sounded horrifying and he wasn't entirely surprised it was Mangle who suggested it, but he could deal with it.
Not for the first time Michael was grateful those on the outside couldn't hear Spring.
Stupid rabbit was fine with Bonnie or Foxy punching him in the stomach or face.
Foxy still looked like he wanted to punch him.
"She left a bunch of her stuff here last night," Bonnie added. "Paint, glitter, chocolate."
"Aw, don't waste the chocolate on him," Hedy complained.
"Shut the fuck up, Wiggy," Michael said through his teeth.
It ended up being Mike who punched Michael in the face.
It was very satisfying.
But Mike possibly broke his hand.
Michael grunted in shock and pain and held the bottom portion of Spring's mouth.
The hinge was a little crooked now.
"...fuuuuuuuck.." Mike hissed as he winced and held his hand "Ow…ow…Sorry Spring."
"How on earth did you think that was a good idea!?" Hedy yelled at him while Foxy snorted in surprise.
It took a minute to realize what just happened before a couple bots made faces like they weren't sure whether to laugh or not.
Puppet facepalmed but was silently snickering as he bowed his head and covered his eyes.
Doofus, Spring thought, but he seemed amused.
OW! Keep your Fucking mouth shut!
I don't have a mouth right now, Spring said. You do though. And Mike punched it.
If he could, Spring would be grinning.
"Worth it," Mike admitted, grinning at Hedy despite how sore his hand was. How did Ruby smack the bots around so easily?
"He deserved it," Bonnie added. "But you could have just used Betty."
"Too easy," Mike said, still smiling as Michael glared at him, "Besides, I think I've been wanting to punch him in the face for ages now. Betty doesn't seem as personal."
"There's your crowbar. Make it personal," Mangle suggested, pointing at the tool that was still lying by a wall under a sizable dent.
"Ooh. Can I name it or will Ruby take offense and call me a rip off?"
Hedy rolled her eyes and huffed as she continued to dig in her bag for a chemical icepack.
"You idiot," she muttered.
"You're going to regret that," Michael hissed at Mike, still in pain.
Hedy glanced at him. "Don't push it."
Michael blinked at her vicious tone, surprised. Her usual method for reacting to his threats was ignoring him or flinching. He glanced at Mike. Then again, it was usually her he threatened.
"I was also about to compliment his right hook," Michael said sarcastically. "His form didn't suck that bad."
"Keep talking. Give the rest of us more of a reason to punch ya," Foxy growled.
"I'd just use Betty," Goldy muttered darkly.
Michael just glared at them, incapable of even pretending to drop his pride for the sake of avoiding pain.
"Go to hell," he snapped.
"The irony..." Hedy said dryly.
Michael sneered. "Are you just going to stand around like a bunch of cowards or actually do something to me? And you're idiots if you think I'm just going to sit still and 'behave'."
Goldy suddenly appeared in front of him and grabbed his shoulder before disappearing. She reappeared alone after a few seconds. "He can cool off in my poster while we figure out what we're going to do."
The kids looked immediately relieved he was gone.
BB cackled. It was a concerning noise. "He's going to be begging to come out."
Goldy tilted her head as if listening to something only she could hear and smirked. "I think he's still trying to figure out if he's suddenly in hell or not."
"You can hear him?" Mike asked, confused.
"I'm always connected to my poster so yeah," she answered calmly.
They stared at her for a second.
"Ah. Now he's freaking out," Goldy said with a still calm smile.
Puppet looked viciously amused while on the other end of the spectrum, Mike looked disturbed.
Hedy snickered. "I suggest we tie him to a wall and have target practice."
"Can we still pull the eyeballs out?" Mangle asked.
"Why are you so up for that!?" Mike shouted. "I'm not saying 'mercy for Michael' but fucking hell that's really dark for you."
Mangle's smirk turned a little sour. "Fifteen years ago, when we first started working, he came in to look at me after the first time I got pulled apart by some kids. He introduced himself as Michael, said that he was our..." Here she paused.
"Uh...that he knew our creator..."
That got some very sharp winces and Mike and Hedy shared a questioning glance.
"Then he used some pliers to pull out one of my eyes while holding me down. Then he stepped on it and shattered it."
Hedy blinked while her fingernails curled into her armrest in rage. "You had both your eyes at the warehouse," she said, keeping her voice even.
Mangle glanced at Foxy. She pointed at her left eye. "This one used to be yours. Joseph took it from you."
He squinted as he thought. "Ah, I remember that."
Hedy swallowed. She had noticed Mangle's eyes were slightly different shades of orange. The reminder of what her father did to the Originals stung, the video still fresh on her mind.
Mike stared at them for a moment. "Okay, I take it back. I think you guys deserve to go a little sadist on him."
"Hmm," Hedy hummed.
She was being oddly reserved. Besides the target practice suggestions, she wasn't acting particularly interested in making Michael suffer. Outwardly.
Puppet looked at Hedy.
"Spring's fine. By the way," she said, answering his unspoken question. "If Michael has him conscious enough to feel anything, he's conscious enough to put himself in the program I made. It's like an...anesthetic. I'm still mad he gave you permission to hurt him but he's not going to get hurt."
"Don't you want to take a swing at Michael then?" Mike asked curiously.
Ruby was going to be miffed that she missed this...
Hedy was very quiet for a moment. Her eyes drifted to the kids.
Timmy appeared, clearly having been paying attention to everything. He didn't say anything just yet though.
She shook her head.
"I hate him too much," she said softly.
"Okay?" Toby looked confused.
"No, I've thought about this. I'm still a ghost..." she trailed off and picked at her armrest with her fingernails, looking a little disturbed at her own thoughts. "I'm not sure, but even having a living body to handle it, my mind might tip. I'm a bit unstable when it comes to Michael. I'm already enjoying this more than I should. It's not healthy. You all will be able to keep it fair, but I might get carried away. So I'll shoot him with paintballs or whatever, but..." She shrugged. "You guys handle the sadism. You'll be able to stop."
"I don't think you're that much of a ghost, Hedy," Mike comforted with some reasoning.
Timmy frowned.
The kids were all looking away from her now. They knew what she meant.
"I don't think you'd lose it," Goldy told her softly. "You care too much."
"She's right," Timmy spoke up. "I think you'd be okay, Hedy."
Still, Hedy shook her head with a forced smile. "Maybe that's precisely why I should pass. I don't want to risk it."
Goldy nodded in understanding.
Puppet looked at Hedy for a moment. Hedy was a better person than him. Than most of them really.
The others were all busy throwing ideas out. Michael was going to be busy all night…
"Oh, you should play Michael Jackson over the speakers," Timmy suggested. "Michael hates his music."
"I knew he was a monster," Mike said. He looked at the kids, "Besides the murdery bit."
Timmy groaned while the other kids grimaced. Ginny slipped out a weak snicker.
There was no sense of time inside the poster. Everything was too fast or too slow or nothing.
He couldn't see but at the same time he saw everything but he couldn't interpret it.
He couldn't move but he could-what the hell was going on!
Visually, everything around him was a void. With nothing but a pile of stuff neatly organized on the "floor". It wasn't really the floor because he could suddenly be on the other side of it or with it as the "ceiling" at the slightest thought.
There was no sound. He couldn't even speak. Or shout. He was shouting. He knew he was. But at the same time, there was a sense of voices very far away that he couldn't make out. The only thing that was ever clear was the occasional mention of 'Michael'.
The bots were getting together some of Ruby's supplies. They'd decided on using the paint since Hedy looked sad whenever one of them mentioned using the chocolate.
"Want me to bring him back?" Goldy asked when it looked like they were about ready.
Foxy gave her a thumbs up with a vicious grin.
Hedy snorted and turned on her headset she took from the gaming console in the staff room.
"Testing..." she said and her voice came over the loudspeakers over the sounds of Smooth Criminal. She smirked as she sat back with the kids, relaxing on a beanbag with her chair in close proximity and her tablet in front of her. "Ladies and gentlemen and others, welcome to our first annual Michael Hunt. You know the rules, or rather, lack therof because this isn't a deal or anything. I'll be tallying everyone's points as we go. Ready when you are Goldy."
"You're filming right?" Bonnie asked as Goldy vanished to fetch him. "It'll make Ruby feel better when she gets back."
Hedy gestured to the video camera Ginny was holding. She hadn't expected it to work, but apparently, ghosts could hold it too.
She supposed the building wanted the memory too since it had been the one to drop it on Felix. It didn't even pass through the boy to the beanbag.
"I got it," Ginny said, checking that sure enough, it was recording. She could teleport with it too.
Maybe it was the extra energy she had that let her be corporeal enough to handle the device.
"I have my phone too," Hedy said, holding it up.
Bonnie grinned as Goldy reappeared with Michael. He looked sick which was an achievement in an animatronic body.
This was the most relaxed the Originals had ever been around the ghost kids.
It was ironic given how the kids technically had so much power over them at the moment. But they weren't acting on it.
Michael wasn't used to the gravity and immediately swayed as up and down righted itself, falling to his knees as Goldy let go of his arm. His human mind tried to make him throw up.
"Wh-what. The. Fuck. Was. That?!" he demanded with wide-eyed staring at the floor as he panicked.
The kids giggled as Ginny pointed the camera just in time to catch a splatter of paint hit the back of Michael's head, the force tipping his balance enough that his arm slipped and he faceplanted into the floor with a shout.
Benji even laughed, leaning back into the bean bag.
"That's one point for Mangle," Hedy announced over the speakers. "Extra two for bringing him down."
"Aw! How is that fair! He was already down!" Toby complained.
"Down means flat on the floor," Bonnie immediately interjected.
"That, was my poster," Goldy answered the murderer with a wicked smirk.
Michael looked up at her in horror.
Meanwhile, Mangle was making a mocking face at Toby.
"It's Mangle's point," Hedy insisted. "Flat on the floor or faceplant."
"That's favoritism," Toby groaned.
Mangle smirked. "You're just mad I got the first shot."
Foxy decided to use the distraction to dump an entire bucket of paint on Micheal's head.
"I feel better now," he muttered, walking away.
Goldy just floated there serenely. "Some people can't handle going two dimensional.
"Five points for Foxy," Hedy announced.
Michael sputtered and coughed through the paint. "Two di-!" He coughed as more paint dripped into his mouth. "You..that's not...That's impossible. You put me in your poster, you bitch?!" He was still so caught up in recovering from the experience, he didn't have the "brain cells" to fully process the paint yet or what was happening around him as a few bots who weren't quite as ready as they say they were earlier finished loading up their ammo.
Goldy gave him a condescending 'are you stupid?' look. "It's a poster. Of course it's two dimensional. And the building is alive, I'm a ghost bear and you're a flat out ghost. Impossible doesn't really apply. On top of that, you possessed and hurt my best friend you bastard. Of course I'm going to make you suffer." She delivered it all calmly and with a smile.
Puppet shivered a bit. He'd almost forgotten how scary Goldy could be when she was actually mad. Apparently Michael had forgotten that fact. He distinctly remembered a day where a younger Michael did something to Spring as a prank which ended up hurting him. Goldy had verbally torn strips off of him and he'd been a shaking mess by the time Af–his father arrived.
"You shouldn't call Goldy that," Chica tsked warningly.
Goldy may have been older than her, but they had fifteen years together. She was almost like one of the Originals, and they were close.
As his mind settled Michael became aware of what a precarious situation he was in. He managed to glance around despite the paint dripping in his eyes.
There was an assortment of paint and paintball canisters neatly laid out on the tables. Some of the bots had paintball guns, others had paint-filled super soakers that were already dripping everywhere. Water balloons. Full paint cans.
"What? Bitch?" he snapped, his first instinct to be aggressive when cornered.
Hedy wondered how long until he noticed the open door behind him. It was too easy to get points if he just stayed in the main room. Then again, one of the rules was that Goldy could teleport him anywhere she wanted every three minutes.
Just to make him a little more miserable. Teleporting with Goldy just once in a while made everyone sick.
Bonnie got him directly between the eyes for that.
"Language," several bots said at the same time.
"Two points for Bonnie," Hedy said, pleased.
"You might want to start running," Goldy told him. "They're not going to be very patient."
Hedy gestured behind Michael at the door and he looked at them like they were crazy.
Hedy smiled, slightly unhinged. "Run."
That got him to his feet. He paused in the doorway, glancing back as it occurred to him what was happening.
"Shit," he said, disappearing.
The bots got grins on their faces as they all dispersed in different directions. It didn't matter if they followed him. Goldy was going to be teleporting him soon anyway.
BB stayed by Hedy though. He didn't want to participate and just wanted to watch. It wasn't surprising considering how traumatising his last one on one encounter with Michael had gone.
"I'm keeping time, Goldy," Hedy said, the referee of this game. "No cheating."
Into the microphone, she said, "One-minute thirty seconds until teleporting. We've got Foxy, Bonnie, and Chi down Eastmost hall. Freddy past the prize corner. Mangle is heading toward the guard room."
It was also her job to make it a little difficult for everyone by announcing their location occasionally. Not all at once though.
She nodded to Ginny, who grinned as she turned invisible.
It was a pleasant surprise to see the camera turn invisible with her.
Hedy didn't want to consider how it was able to still work like that. Realistically, the technology of how a camera translated light into an image shouldn't work if the light just passed through it like that.
Then again...living building. Nothing really made sense here.
Goldy waited impatiently for the timer to tick down. She wasn't watching the tablet because she didn't want to give anyone an unfair advantage by teleporting to them. It was going to be just luck.
All of them were mostly waiting for the first teleportation.
Goldy's internal clock hit zero and she dutifully disappeared.
Hedy snickered as Timmy shimmered back into view a few moments later, looking amused. He had run around taking account of the traps Hedy, Mike, and the Toy's had already set up.
Goldy grabbed Michael, teleported to the cove and dropped him. Then she hit him with her bedazzler gun. "That's one," she told him sweetly and disappeared again.
Hedy's irritating voice came over the speaking again as she laughed, cutting through nausea and a headache he suddenly had.
"Michael's been teleported. Goldy has one point with a bedazzle."
Michael sneered and grabbed a ball from the ball pit, tossing it at the camera angrily. He missed.
Everyone started moving at that news. Chica and Freddy ended up finding him glaring at the camera and he got splattered with paint balloons thanks to Chica and glitter from Freddy.
Hedy announced the points.
Chica and Freddy calmly high-fived.
They heard Ginny giggle and Michael growled at a seemingly empty space of air. His "stomach" didn't even get to settle before another three minutes were up and Goldy appeared.
Again she grabbed him and dropped him near parts and services from five feet off the ground.
Bonnie and Toby had been having an argument over who got the better paintball gun but when they saw him they mutually paused it to pelt him with paintballs. A truce was worth it for some things.
Michael yelped. They were the high-pressure paintball guns that Ruby made with a setting that could dent a bot like him.
His nausea was awful and his head was spinning but Michael still managed to scramble to the door, making a break for it as Bonnie and Toby continued to pelt him.
He didn't really know where to go but somehow still lost the rabbits.
He turned the corner only to be brutally slammed in the stomach and knocked to the ground.
He instinctively caught Mangle's foot as it came down to stomp on his chest and pulled.
Mangle grunted as she hit the floor hard enough to probably break something.
Hedy might be upset about that later.
But Mangle still twisted around from where she was laying next to him and shot him in the mouth point-blank. She then knocked the butt of the gun into his side and Michael felt a few springlocks bend and catch as she harshly shoved them out of place.
Shit.
Before he could really do anything more he was hauled off the ground by Foxy. He forgot that the Originals were technically stronger and more sturdy than the Toys or Spring and Goldy. The Toys were more lightweight and Spring and Goldy were built differently.
The fox splashed a balloon that was almost more salt than paint in his face before dropping him. "Idiot," he muttered. Hedy was still watching and she was protective of Mangle. She wasn't above giving the bots clues to his location if he irritated her.
Mangle pulled herself off the ground, smiling as Michael bent over his broken "ribs" with a gasp as he stumbled to remain standing on his feet.
He angrily wiped the stinging paint out of his eyes.
"Seven points to Foxy," Hedy said. "Negative one to Mags."
"Aw! How come?!"
"No getting hurt."
Mangle rolled her eyes. "It barely stings."
"Well, you need to make it up now," Hedy said.
Mangle shrugged and shot Michael twice. Once for each ear.
Goldy popped in then and disappeared with him, dumping him on the main stage. She kept hitting him with the bedazzler after every teleportation.
He was starting to see stars now...
So dizzy.
His depth perception was way off as he tried to slide off the stage to more solid ground.
Hedy, BB, and the kids must have moved to another room because he couldn't see them. Then again it was hard to really see anything until his processor stopped rattling.
That was lucky for them, in his opinion. He was more than willing to throw a hail Mary and just go for snapping Hedy's neck.
He wouldn't have even tried to drag it out for the pleasure. Just snap!
Done.
And this would stop.
Spring actually scoffed from where he'd withdrawn to. Did he really think that Goldy would ever drop him near Hedy? And if she did, did he think she wouldn't be watching him for just that exact reaction? Foxy was right. Idiot...
A paint bucket dropped from the ceiling and covered him in neon green paint. That wasn't a bot or ghost...
Spring actually laughed to himself. The building didn't seem happy with Michael's thoughts.
Michael growled and lashed out, kicking a wall hard enough to dent the sheetrock paneling. He tried to reach for Spring to hold him down and force the bot to see some of the crueler imaginings he could come up with.
The building rumbled in annoyance, hard enough that he lost his balance and hit the floor again.
Spring was still safe behind what Hedy had made and just watched the disaster unfold. Who annoyed the sentient building that you were inside of?
The building poked at Hedy and she got the feeling it was asking for points.
"Two points to the building," Hedy announced indulgently with a snicker.
Hedy heard a few bots crack up in amusement.
A laugh, an honest-to-goodness genuine laugh bubbled out from Timmy.
"Heh..." he said, covering his mouth. He really hadn't expected the building to actually want to play.
Before Michael could really do much more than get to his feet again, Goldy popped in, grabbed him, and drop him near the back room. Puppet was the closest bot this time. She waved at him and shot Michael with the bedazzler again before disappearing once more.
"Hello old friend," Puppet said calmly.
Michael sneered, moving to wring that bastard's scrawny neck.
But without a warning, lime green exploded across his eyes, the salt-infused compound seeping in through the gaps and little spaces that made up Spring. And it freaking burned.
A moment later, while he was still blinded, he heard the unmistakable crackle of a taser.
He should have expected Puppet to be the least fun and games.
Spring silently agreed. Puppet and Goldy were the most vindictive of the entire group.
He swung and screamed in pain, locking up as the taser jabbed into his spine. Just for a moment so as to not damage the computer and Spring inside.
Puppet knew the best places to hit him and sure enough, Michael felt his elbow cave in backward from Puppet slamming something, probably Betty (ah! even he was calling the stupid bat that?) into the joint.
He cried out, but he was still standing. That was probably on purpose, making him hurt but not downing him. The night had only started after all.
Michael frantically tried to wipe the paint out of his eyes with the hand from the uninjured arm. He felt gravity painfully pull at the other arm as it hung from the clean break.
That was two "ribs" and an arm broken now. Too much more and he wasn't sure he'd be able to run from them. He got flashbacks to the night Ruby beat him after he juiceboxed poor Hedy. She shattered the body to the point it was just done and he felt most of it.
"I give your form an eight," Goldy said from somewhere. "You held your arm too high up Puppet."
Was she just hanging around to watch it all now?!
"I'm out of practice," Puppet said moments before swinging the bat into Michael's back, right at the backside of the rib-like struts that Mangle had already damaged. Puppet saw the dent she had left, even if he wasn't aware of what had happened.
"Okay that one's a nine," Goldy said as Michael staggered forward.
"Nothing's good enough for you," Puppet sighed.
Michael grunted. His vision still had green streaks from the paint. "Here I was thinking you guys wanted the moral high ground."
Goldy snorted. "Yeah right. We just want to blow off some steam. What on earth gave you the impression that we were keeping the moral high ground?" she sounded amused. Actually amused at the question. And like she thought he was stupid.
Michael stared.
Where were the tortured bots depressed because they were forced to hurt anyone? Where were the bots who were supposed to be the "good guys?"
Goldy just crossed her arms and stared back.
It was an easy if very frustrating answer. Ruby happened. Ruby who bent morals frequently and yet never crossed the line. Ruby who protected them and yet could still reach out to the kids when they were at their lowest.
The gray area of right and wrong for the bots was so much wider and more complicated, yet at the same time, simple, compared to before they met her.
Michael's stare twisted into an irritated glare.
"I remember you being too afraid to do much getting back at me," he said. "Because you were smart enough to know I would make you pay when I got the chance."
"No you would make Spring pay. There's a difference," Goldy snapped back at him, cheerful act falling away. "The only thing that kept us from acting was that you were hiding behind Spring like a coward. I've never been afraid of you Michael. I've been afraid of what you can do to my friend. Now that Hedy is keeping him safe? I've got years of payback to dish out."
Hedy listened to the conversation and the ghosts saw her crack a weak smile at Goldy's words.
She was keeping Spring safe.
It was a nice thought...even if she didn't think it was entirely accurate. If anything, she helped Spring keep himself from harm, but it didn't really change the fact his body was still being damaged. He just couldn't feel it.
But it was nice. Nice to imagine she actually did something good rather than just patch up the bad after the damage had already been done. That was all she was really good for usually.
She healed.
Ruby prevented.
The ghost kids looked away to the floor guiltily while Timmy tried to give Hedy's thoughts more privacy.
They sensed how Hedy always thought she couldn't do enough. She was happy to finally prevent one of her friends' pain rather than fix it, or cause it like she did during Ruby's coma.
Even if that was really their fault…
Goldy was maybe a little more rough than necessary when she teleported him next, dropping him near Fazbear's Fright this time.
"And we've got all night to get it out of our system," she added sweetly.
Eventually, one of them actually maybe went a little too far.
Foxy was incredibly amused that it was Chica who did it. He was honestly expecting Bonnie's temper to do it or for Freddy to snap like a rubber band.
It was her turn with Betty for that hour and frankly the chicken had enough pent up frustration to lash out with. So Michael had a few more dents, but that wasn't what they were all circled around a downed possessed rabbit for.
"Oh shut up!" Chica said to Foxy as he just grinned at her.
"I didn't say anything!"
Bonnie poked at Springtrap with a foot while Teddy ignored Chi's anxiousness as she fidgeted behind him while he poked an ear cautiously.
Mike wasn't going to dare getting that close but he was studying Springtrap too, although he didn't want to think about how scary the guard office doors were and how many close calls he had with them.
"Fuck off…" Michael snapped, but didn't move to attack them. He groaned at the slight movement, clearly in too much pain.
Chica scowled. She didn't regret attacking Michael, but she hoped slamming the guard office doors down on Michael's leg didn't cause anything Hedy couldn't fix.
It was pretty disturbing looking at a flattened leg with the foam casing cracked and crushed. Although to be honest, Spring's suit was in bad shape anyway.
Foxy and Bonnie had dragged a cussing and howling Michael out from under the door.
The ghost was calm now though, probably in shock from the pain, but now Hedy's swearing over the loudspeaker punctuated the air.
"Chica!" Hedy shouted in concern for Spring and exasperation.
Honestly, after everything Spring had seen Michael do and experienced at his sadistic hands… it wasn't too far in his opinion…
He hadn't really told everyone the things Michael had done to him over the years they were alone and stuck with each other.
This was extremely cathartic for him. And it was difficult to be afraid of Michael when he was fleeing from the other bots.
He was surprised over how much this was helping him. Chipping away at the fear he still had of Michael bit by bit.
"I'm sorry!" Chica called at the ceiling. "He was being annoying!"
"He was," Mike snickered, backing the chicken up.
Hedy muttered, forgetting her microphone was still on. "Oh great, I have to order Spring a new leg endo…"
Mangle was observing the damage and hummed with a nod. "Oh yeah, new endo. And the plating is going to make Hedy annoyed." She sighed. "Shoot. Crushing Michael was a great idea! Why didn't I think of it first?"
"It was an accident," Chica insisted.
"Sure, just like that dent in his chest is," Foxy teased, pointing at the dent that matched up to the width of Betty.
"Foxy I swear–"
"It's only 2 am," Freddy interrupted.
Bonnie whined like a child. "Come on Michael. You can keep playing right? For old time's sake?" He laughed as Michael blinked then glared at him.
"Keep talking when I can reach you, you Bug's Bunny knock off," Michael hissed through the pain, apparently forgetting he was also a rabbit at the moment.
Bonnie laughed harder.
Hedy's annoyed sigh crackled over the speakers. "Bring him to the Toy's Room. I'll see what I can do to get him running again."
They stilled and shared concerned glances, ignoring how ridiculous most of them looked covered in paint (though not as bad as Michael).
"Hedy, are you sure?" Puppet asked.
Mike didn't look happy about letting Michael near Hedy either.
"Obviously some of you are going to have to hold him down while I work."
Michael shouted again as Hedy not so gently yanked another crushed piece of springlock engo out of its hinge.
He fought again but he was very securely held down by an irritated Foxy, Bonnie, and Freddy, with Puppet watching and Goldy ready to teleport him if he got loose. Even the bots that were more squeamish about maintenance were doing their best to stick around.
Bonnie was looking a little ill but he did his best to not look at the open leg or chest as he kept Michael still for Hedy.
"Oops," Hedy said in a bored tone.
"Bitch!" Michael howled.
Mike snorted. "Watch your mouth. Punching you hurts."
"Use the crowbar!" Puppet said in exasperation.
"You're such a baby," Mangle said to Michael in amusement while the other Toys grimaced. It was interesting seeing what Michael would react to. Most of what Hedy was doing was pretty routine for them. It didn't even hurt the way Michael was yelling. She figured it was just a human being not used to being poked around inside while conscious. According to the day staff after they swapped bodies back, it was very off putting and kinda scary until they got used to it.
Michael screamed again as Hedy sliced another wire. "OW WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT?!" He strained to see.
Hedy decided to remove the whole leg and replace the springlock endo with a normal one borrowed from one of the Toys' spare parts until she could order a better fitting replacement. She always meant to get started on removing Spring's springlock feature anyway so she decided to take the opportunity to get some feedback on whether she could get Spring's wiring working in the new slapped-together leg without making Spring uncomfortable. So Michael's shouts and yelps were a good sign.
This whole situation was Michael's fault too so as far as she was concerned, he could deal with it. He shouldn't have taunted Chica.
The others were wondering how long Hedy could take it before she muted the man.
Mike and Bonnie had a bet going.
Foxy rolled his eyes as Michael shouted again. "Oh shut yer yap! It doesn't hurt that much." He had to put up with Hedy doing the same thing to him when she found some rust eating up his ankle.
"SHE'S CUTTING MY LEG OFF!"
"Spring's leg," Goldy corrected.
Spring crept a little out behind his firewall to see if it was as bad as Michael was acting and immediately laughed. Yes, it stung a lot when Hedy cut wires and there was a painful ache from the crushed leg that was still attached but it wasn't anything tortuous.
It wasn't anything like what Ruby had done before. Michael was being a baby about routine maintenance.
Hedy was just clearly being less nice as she worked. She usually warned before she cut something, for example. With that, Spring retreated back to let Michael deal with it again.
"Hold this for a second," Hedy said, earning her some confused looks.
Bonnie jumped as she stabbed a pair of wire cutters into Springtrap's torso right where Michael could see it.
Michael squeaked before he realized he couldn't feel it through the suit.
Spring burst out laughing, the annoying sound rattling around Michael's head.
Hedy often used Spring's suit as a pin cushion when she worked on him when they were alone. What was one more hole if he couldn't even feel it in the suit? There was a spot for her wire cutters, her tweezers, a few screwdrivers. "Pincushion Spring" was an inside joke between them.
The others decided not to ask.
"You're fucking enjoying this, Wiggy," Michael snapped. He yelped as Hedy zapped something to test the connection.
"Says the man who would torture me without a second thought," Hedy said idly. "Foxy I need to reach the torso. Scoot a bit."
Foxy eyed Michael for a moment, figuring out the best position while keeping a secure hold. Eventually, he huffed and raised an arm up. "Duck under."
Hedy scowled, not happy with the solution but didn't argue as she scooted closer to Springtrap and ducked under Foxy's arm. She reached into the chest.
"The fuck are you doing now?!" Michael whined.
Hedy looked him in the eye. This was the closest she'd even been to him without worrying if he could hurt her. "Don't move." She warned before pulling.
Michael yelled as Hedy snapped the broken ribs from earlier back into place with a screechy pop. Weirdly he was trembling as Hedy backed up again and moved back down the table.
Puppet frowned as he realised why Michael was being so loud. All those sounds of springlocks snapping probably reminded the man of his death. Puppet and the Toys had been shipped away by then but Goldy had described what happened. Still, did Puppet have any sympathy for Michael?
No.
What he did to the children was far worse than the less-than-kind mechanical care Hedy was offering in her mercy.
Although was it really mercy if the purpose was to get him up and in their little "game" again?
He shrugged in the end. Despite everyone feeling more sadistic than usual, it was basically a rough game. They were taking all their cues from Ruby in all honesty. The crushed leg was the worst thing and it had happened by accident when Chica hit the door switch without meaning to after she downed Michael.
And with the maintenance, Michael was just being a baby. Honestly, Hedy was just acting… well more like her father was during maintenance in the end. Efficient and slightly less considerate than usual. She wasn't going very far out of her way to hurt the man.
Puppet almost wished she would, but he could respect her decision. He wouldn't have made the same one.
Had Michael always had such a low pain tolerance? You'd think it would be higher now after Ruby …
"Are you almost done?" Mangle whined. "I wanna get back to the game. It's almost three."
"I don't even have any points," Mike added his whine.
Mangle looked at him. "That's your own fault!"
Mike grinned, "I wanted to leave him to you guys first."
"Awwwww," Mangle said.
"Five more minutes," Hedy muttered.
All of them groaned. That was what she said when it was going to take a while but they were being annoying and impatient.
"My arm's going to lock up," Bonnie complained.
"You don't need to hold him down that hard," Hedy said.
Bonnie eyed Michael. "Not taking chances."
Mangle leaned over Michael's head with a considering frown. She looked up to Hedy. "Hedy, can I pull an eyeball out?"
"No, Mangle."
"Spring's not gonna feel it!"
"I don't see the problem," Ginny muttered from wherever she was hovering, probably with the camera still.
Ruby never liked seeing the endo of any of the bots so Ginny apparently was only filming this part for herself.
"I said no," Hedy said.
Michael gasped out a taunt. "How nice of you." He yelped as Hedy suddenly twisted something in the new leg.
She eyed him, fighting down dark and tempting thoughts. Instead of answering she looked up at her fox. "We're not him. We don't torture people."
Mangle sighed. "Yeah you're right. Fun scaring him though."
"Ah sorry," Hedy apologized for ruining the effect.
Foxy chuckled. Mangle had one hell of a mean streak.
"Ruby will be proud," he muttered.
Michael still had no idea where Ruby even was and it was driving him insane.
Hedy closed up the parts she was working on and sat back. She grabbed the paintball gun Bonnie had set down. She calmly shot Michael on the nose.
"One point for me," she said idly as he yelped before hopping off the table and getting back in her chair. "Okay, done. Have fun! Let me know how the new leg works, Michael."
"Bitch," Michael hissed but there was a thread of fear in his voice.
"Be nice, Michael," Timmy said, amused. "They still have three hours."
Ginny switched off with Benji to handle the camera and follow Michael around, which just pissed the man off more since he could still tell that they were there.
Benji kept his mocking to a minimum.
But seeing Michael bounce around when Toby and Mike reused an old trap to hang the man upside down sent the little boy into peels of laughter.
This was way more fun than their other game.