A/N: Before we begin, I'd like to talk about the Ultimate Custom Night some more. I've seen arguments for both the "William Afton in Hell" and "Michael Afton in Purgatory" theories, and I freely acknowledge that there is evidence to support both (though I'm more convinced by the William Afton in Hell theory).
But there's one argument for the Michael theory that just makes me shake my head and facepalm, because it speaks to a complete lack of imagination and understanding of what an Ironic Hell is.
The presence of two Springtraps in the UCN DOES NOT DISPROVE the "William Afton in Hell" theory. On the contrary, it actually SUPPORTS William Afton being in Hell, though it might not seem like it at first. For starters, this is Hell, a supernatural kingdom of torment. The normal rules of logic and reality do not apply – the fact that there are two Springtraps and Babies to begin with already throws the laws of reality out of the fucking window. Secondly, most of the animatronics represent William Afton's victims, that is true. But think about what Springtrap actually is. He is the Purple Man after being trapped in the Spring Bonnie suit and bleeding to death after being brutally ripped apart. And after William Afton was resurrected as Springtrap, what did he accomplish?
Absolutely nothing.
He didn't manage to kill a SINGLE person after becoming Springtrap (as far as we know), and even when he came back to the FNAF6 Pizzeria with a corrupted Scrap Baby, it was a trap the entire time and the only thing he accomplished was the destruction of the nightmare that he created in the first place. He tried to continue his legacy of tragedy and terror as Springtrap, but all he accomplished was the complete obliteration of himself and everything he tried to do.
Springtrap and Scraptrap in the UCN are not actually William Afton, the damned soul. Like all the other UCN animatronics, they are representations, two of his many demons come to torment him. They are representations of William Afton's failures, taunting him about how he didn't accomplish a damn thing after his first death. And they are representations of Afton's inner evil, forcing him to confront the monster that he has become as they tear him apart endlessly. For bonus points, Scraptrap only ever keeps saying "I Always Come Back," mocking William Afton about how he thought he was immortal on Earth, and how he is finally immortal in Hell, just so he can be tormented endlessly. Have you ever heard the phrase "you are your own worst enemy?" The Springtraps are a literal expression of this phrase x2 for William Afton in Hell.
I hope this explains why the presence of two Springtraps in the UCN makes sense and even supports the "William Afton's Hell" theory once you stop thinking about them literally and instead think about them in a metaphorical and symbolic sense.
But speaking of Michael in Purgatory…it's time for the Nightmares to introduce their own special Hell to Michael. Did you think Nightmare was being cruel to the family before? You haven't seen ANYTHING yet.
Jacko: The problem is that there are also death lines that are even LESS applicable to Michael Afton than the one you chose for William Afton. For example, Marionette's line: "I don't fear you. Not anymore." There is absolutely NO evidence suggesting that Charlie and Michael ever knew each other when they were still alive in ANY of the games, and Scott wouldn't suddenly just throw this in now with NO buildup to it at all. Besides, Charlie never had a reason to fear Michael in the first place – it's unlikely she ever knew him to begin with, and if their first encounter was in FNAF2, she didn't fear him then, she just straight out attacked him if the music box turned off. But Charlie DEFINITELY had reason to fear William Afton, cause you know, he killed her as a kid. It isn't just Marionette, either. Nightmarionne calls himself "a fearful reflection of what you created" – Michael had absolutely nothing to do with the Puppet's Creation, but William's murder of Charlie is what created the Puppet in the first place. And Nightmare calls himself a manifestation of the player's wickedness – Michael Afton isn't wicked, and only one person throughout the entire franchise is consistently portrayed as wicked throughout the games: William Afton. Heck, even Elizabeth Afton is treated sympathetically and Scrap Baby's intentions of continuing her father's murdering spree are far eviler than what the Big Brother ever did.
But the biggest line that points to William Afton is Orville's: "He tried to release you, he tried to release us, but I'm not going to let that happen. I'm going to hold you here, I'm going to keep you here, no matter how many times they burn us." The Us is clearly the murdered children, and the He could either be Henry or Michael. But the THEY is the key word – there were only ever two people involved in the burning of pizzerias – Henry and Michael. This means that Orville can't be talking to Michael, leaving William as the only candidate.
I've given a lot of thought about the "I don't hate you" line from the Marionette that you brought, and I don't think it automatically disqualifies the William Afton in Hell theory. Instead, I think when she says that she means one of two things: 1) she's being sarcastic and mocking him. In this case, her thought process when she says that to William isn't "Hey, I forgive you, we're all good now," but more like "Yeah, suuuuuure I forgive you, ha ha lol, yeah no, go fuck yourself." William strikes me as the kind of person who would mock and be sadistic towards his victims (which seems to be in character for him based on his FNAF6 lines), so the Marionette is now giving some of his own medicine back to him. Or 2) Charlie is considered by Henry to be a kind and sweet girl, and as sa result it isn't all that hard for me to believe that she is the ONLY one of William Afton's victims willing to forgive him, or at the very least let go of her hatred so that she can rest in peace. At the same time, however, Afton's OTHER victims are much more vindictive and spiteful to him, and she's staying behind to watch over them cause it's in her nature to watch over the children. But while she might not despise William Afton anymore, that doesn't mean that she won't enjoy getting a free shot on him if he fucks up with the Music Box.
Regardless of whether the UCN is William Afton's Hell or Michael Afton's Purgatory, the background music of the OMC scene is William screaming at Henry or Michael, either cursing them or begging them for help. He's almost certainly in Hell, whether the nature of that Hell is the UCN or not.
Also, please be aware that I wrote this chapter and this arc BEFORE I learned about the tidbits in the Logbook. So this means that in my story, the events of FNAF4 take place soon after the Bite of 1983 happens, as opposed to around the time of FNAF1 like the Logbook suggests.
Warning: Violence and Blood. Cause Nightmares.
Chapter 42 – A Brother's Despair
"When they started to torment me in my dreams, they trapped me in Evan's old bedroom, recreating the house that we used to live in as kids," Michael began his tale as Liz climbed onto her brother's lap as though she was listening to him tell a bedtime story, just like in the days of old. "The first night, they didn't actually do much to attack me. They barely advanced at all, and whenever I shined my flashlight down the hallways, they always retreated from the far corners and out of sight. And every so often, a little monstrosity in the form of a Freddy plushie showed up on my bed, but when I shined my light upon it, it quickly disappeared." Michael's eyes glazed over at the distant memory. "That night wasn't about trying to kill me. It was about trying to bring out my fear, to intensify my terror of the monsters that I knew lurked in the shadows but couldn't do anything about. I was so relieved when 6 AM hit and I could wake up. I thought that maybe it was just a bad dream, that I could forget about the whole thing," he chuckled bitterly. "Oh, how wrong I was."
Liz gripped her brother's arm tightly, clearly afraid of whatever horror he was about to reveal. "They came for you the next night, didn't they?"
The grim expression of Michael's face confirmed her fears. "The second night I had these horrific dreams, the Nightmares made their presence known to me fully. If I had any hope that they had simply been fleeting figments of my imagination, they thoroughly proved me wrong. Even though I didn't understand what those creatures were or what was going on at the time, I instinctively understood that when they caught me, I would be in for an agonizing, horrible death."
"That sounds just like Nightmare," Liz muttered.
Michael sighed. "If only the Nightmares were so merciful. You've met Nightmare before, Lizzie. You know how he works, how he goes after his prey. You and I both know that it isn't just what the Nightmares do to you that makes them so terrifying."
He looked straight into Liz's eyes. "It is what they say."
Night 2
The terrified teen swung his flashlight frantically at the closet and the doors. The monsters that he had barely caught a glimpse of last night, the horrific abominations that had taken on the forms of the animatronics from Fredbear's Family Diner, were now surrounding him at all sides. The demonic versions of Bonnie and Chica blocked the left and right doors of the bedroom, while the grotesque parodies of Foxy and Freddy peered out of the closet and loomed over him from the bed respectively. They had him completely cornered, and there would be no escaping whatever horrific fate they had planned for him.
"WELL, WELL, WELL…" Nightmare Bonnie sneered at him from the left door. "WHAT DO WE HAVE HERE? A LITTLE BRAT WHO HAS BLACKENED HIS SOUL WITH THE DEATH OF ONE HE SHOULD HAVE PROTECTED AND LOVED?"
"INDEED," Nightmare Chica bared her razor-sharp teeth in a predatory grin. "AND AT SUCH A YOUNG AGE, TOO! BARELY THIRTEEN AND HE IS ALREADY GUILTY OF FRATRICIDE. IF THIS IS JUST THE BEGINNING OF HIS SINS, THE WICKEDNESS IN HIS SOUL WILL MAKE FOR SUCH A DELIGHTFUL FEAST WHEN WE GET OUR CLAWS ON HIM IN THE WORLD BEYOND!"
Michael shrank back from the Nightmares, holding his hands out in front of him in a futile gesture to ward them off. "I…I…I'm not a murderer!" he desperately stuttered. Even as he said them he knew his words were empty, and the mocking laughter of all four Nightmares showed that they knew it too.
"NOT A MURDERER, YOU SAY?" Nightmare Foxy asked as he began verbally tearing Michael's defense to shreds. "THEN TELL ME THIS, MICHAEL AFTON…WHY DOES YOUR BROTHER LIE MOTIONLESS IN A HOSPITAL BED EVEN NOW, FEEBLY CLINGING TO LIFE AS HIS LIFEBLOOD SPILLS OUT ONTO THE GROUND? IT WAS YOUR ACTIONS, YOUR CRUELTY, THAT REDUCED HIM TO THIS."
"It was an accident!" Michael tried to explain even as Nightmare Bonnie, Chica, and Foxy left their positions and advanced towards him. "I…I didn't mean for that to happen!"
"AN ACCIDENT?" Nightmare Freddy scornfully repeated from behind him. "WHAT DID YOU THINK WOULD HAPPEN WHEN YOU LIFTED YOUR BROTHER AND SHOVED HIS HEAD INTO AN ANIMATRONIC WITH MOVING JAWS? AT BEST, YOU'RE AN IMBECILE. BUT YOU'RE GUILTY OF FAR MORE THAN THAT, AREN'T YOU?"
"W…what?" Before he could say anything more, Michael started to hear something in the distance. A cold chill crept down his spine as he realized what it was.
"No, no, no!" his little brother's voice echoed from the shadows, saying the exact same words he had spoken at the party just before the prank that had destroyed his life.
"It's hilarious," Michael heard his own voice taunt his brother, and he felt physically ill at just how cruel and monstrous his voice was. "Why don't we help him get a closer look? He will love it!" He remembered Evan's fearful, tear-stricken face, remembered how he had begged for mercy and for him to stop.
And he remembered not caring about any of his feelings.
"YOU COULD HAVE STOPPED," Nightmare Bonnie pointed out, as if he could hear his thoughts. "YOU COULD HAVE STAYED YOUR HAND. YOU HAD YOUR CHANCE."
"BUT YOU DIDN'T," Nightmare Chica added with a vicious grin. "YOU ONLY LAUGHED AT HIS MISERY AND SEALED HIS FATE."
"ISN'T THIS WHAT YOU WANTED?" Nightmare Foxy taunted. "YOU WANTED HIM TO STOP CRYING SO MUCH, DIDN'T YOU?" He broke out in a menacing laugh. "CONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR SUCCESS, MICHAEL AFTON. YOUR BROTHER WILL NEVER CRY AGAIN!"
"No, no, no!" Michael whimpered. "He'll wake up! He'll come back! I know he will! I know he…oh, my God…oh, my God! I…I…"
Before he could even finish his thoughts, the voices from the past rose up to mock him again.
"No, please!" his brother begged, and Michael wished more than anything that he could undo the events of that terrible day. "No, I don't want to go!"
"Come on guys," his own voice replied, dripping with malice. "Let's give this little man a lift! He wants to get up close and personal!"
"HE DIDN'T UNDERSTAND," Nightmare Freddy growled, and now he was glaring directly down at the cowering teenager. "IT WAS HIS BIRTHDAY. WHY WAS HIS BROTHER TORMENTING HIM LIKE THIS? WHY DID HIS BROTHER HATE HIM SO MUCH?"
"I…I didn't…I didn't hate…" Michael feebly spluttered, tears pouring out of his eyes.
"IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN HIS HAPPIEST DAY," the animatronic demon ruthlessly continued his condemnation, "CHERISHED AND CELEBRATED BY HIS FAMILY ABOVE ALL ELSE. INSTEAD, THAT DAY AND THE DAYS LEADING UP TO IT WERE A NEVERENDING NIGHTMARE. ALL BECAUSE OF YOU."
As if to punctuate Nightmare Freddy's words, Michael's voice permeated the room like a poisonous miasma. "You heard the little man! He wants to get even closer! Ha ha ha! I think the little man said he wants to give Fredbear a big kiss! One! Two! Three!" A sickening crunch echoed throughout the dream, and what little of Michael's composure was left shattered completely. The teenager collapsed onto the floor, wailing uncontrollably in horror and remorse at the brother he had all but destroyed and the monster he had become.
"HE CALLED OUT FOR HELP," Nightmare Bonnie hissed. "HE CALLED OUT FOR SOMEONE, ANYONE TO SAVE HIM."
"BUT NOBODY CAME…" Nightmare Chica cackled. "NOBODY CAME…TO SAVE HIM FROM YOU."
A sharp, agonizing pain suddenly erupted in Michael's throat as he felt a hook tear into it and jerk his head upward, straight into wicked, burning eyes of Nightmare Foxy. "AND NOBODY WILL COME…" he snarled viciously, "…TO SAVE YOU FROM US!"
With a fluid, sweeping motion, Nightmare Foxy tore his hook out of Michael's throat and swung it across his neck, slashing it open from the left to right. The teenager could only gurgle unintelligibly as blood splattered across the floor and his lifeblood began to pour out onto the ground. As one, the four Nightmares roared with laughter as he fell face-down onto the ground and the pain overwhelmed him. "I deserve this," was Michael's last thought as the world around him faded into black. "I deserve every bit of this."
Present Day…
"When I came back to life in that dream, the Nightmares were there again," Michael's voice trembled as he remembered those horrible moments. "They told me that they would never let me go from the Hell that they had created for me unless I could win a game of survival against them, each night, for an entire week. But that didn't even matter, not at first…"
"Why…why not?" Liz stuttered. Had the Nightmares violated their rules before they had even forced Michael into their twisted little game?
The despairing expression on his face shocked her to the core. "Because I let them torture me," he confessed. "I let them get their hands on me. I let them kill me and tear me to pieces over and over in that nightmare."
"WHAT?" his sister nearly shrieked. "Why would you LET that happen to you?"
She recoiled at the empty look in his eyes, but the dread it sparked in her was nothing compared to his answer. "Because it was the only way I could think of to show Evan that I was sorry for what I did to him."
Night 2, 100 Deaths Later…
Michael sat at the foot of Evan's bed in the dream world, just as he had done throughout the entirety of this accursed night. His hands instinctively went up to his stomach – it had been Nightmare Freddy who had killed him last time. The demonic bear animatronic had torn open his stomach and ripped out his inner organs, showing them to him one at a time even as he writhed on the floor in agony.
"I wonder…I wonder who's going to get me this time?" he mumbled to himself as he looked around the four places the Nightmares always started from. He couldn't see them, not yet, but he knew that it would only be a matter of time before they got their hands on him again. He looked down at the Fredbear plush that sat on the foot of the bed next to him, and tears filled his eyes again as he remembered how Evan had always loved that particular plushie even though he was terrified of the animatronic that it was based off of.
"I'm sorry, Evan…" his voice wavered. "I know…I know there's nothing I can do to take back what I did. I'll understand if you hate me forever. But please…please know that if nothing else, I AM sorry for what I did to you. And if it takes me getting killed a thousand, a million times by these monsters to prove that…then I'm ready. I'm ready to make up for it…with as much pain and blood that you want me to give."
He put down the Fredbear plushie and heard the familiar mocking laughter in the right corridor – it seemed that Nightmare Chica was the one who was going to be the one this time around. As he wearily braced himself for yet another death, he suddenly heard a new voice whisper in the bedroom.
"Mikey…"
Michael jolted up in shock. That voice, could it be…
"Mikey!"
"Evan?" the teenager was too shocked to do anything but whisper. "Is that you?"
"Don't give up, Mikey!" Evan's voice, if it even was his brother's voice to begin with, urged him. "Don't give up!"
"Wh…what?" Michael asked desperately. "What are you…"
"Fight back!" the voice shouted in his mind. "FIGHT BACK!"
All his thoughts of despair and hopelessness were forced away from his mind, replaced only with the overwhelming need to do what his brother wanted him to. With a cry, Michael charged at the right door before Nightmare Chica could force her way into the room. With a shout, he pulled at the doorknob and slammed the door shut, right in front of her face.
"WHAT'S THIS?" Nightmare Chica asked in surprise. Michael had expected to hear rage at being defied, but instead she let out an almost eager laugh that disturbed him far more. "IT SEEMS THIS LITTLE WHELP HAS SUDDENLY GROWN A SPINE!"
"INDEED," Nightmare Bonnie chuckled menacingly from behind the door on the other side. "PERHAPS HE ISN'T SUCH A PATHETIC WEAKLING AFTER ALL!"
"I WILL get out of here!" Michael declared, trying to sound braver than he actually felt. "I WILL escape this Nightmare!"
"YOU WANT TO ESCAPE?" Nightmare Freddy's voice hissed from the bed. Even as Michael's flashlight shined on him, three demonic plush-like versions of him crawled out of the holes on his body. "YOU WANT TO BE FREE FROM THE HELL YOU CREATED FOR YOURSELF?" The larger bear animatronic vanished, leaving behind only the three Freddles that quickly vanished under the bed.
"THEN SURVIVE."
Present Day…
"I didn't know if it really was Evan who told me to fight back that night," Michael told Liz, who was utterly engrossed in the story that he was telling her and giving him her full attention. "But all I could think about at that moment was how I didn't want to fail my brother again. I didn't want to fail Evan like I'd failed him for the entirety of his life. If Evan wanted me to fight back, then I would play the Nightmares' twisted game for his sake. Apart from the many deaths that I suffered in that Hell, that was the only offer of repentance I could give him."
"He wouldn't have wanted you to suffer," Liz tried to assure him. "That wasn't the kind of person he was."
Michael lifted an eyebrow. "People can change when terrible things happen to them," he pointed out. "Even Charlie, a sweet, kind girl who loved to hold people close to her to comfort them, succumbed to the black haze of vengeance and rage, even if it was for a much shorter time than the others. But even if Evan did want me to suffer for what I'd done to him, he didn't need to do anything. The Nightmares took care of all that and more."
Liz shook her head sadly. Between William Afton and herself, there were already enough monsters in their family, and she couldn't bear the idea of either of her brothers falling to the darkness along with the two of them. "What game did the Nightmares force you to play?" she asked, wanting to change the subject.
"As Nightmare Freddy told me, the name of the game was to survive," Michael explained, sounding relieved that he could talk about something that wasn't Evan despite the grisly topic. "Nightmare Bonnie and Nightmare Chica would approach the left and right doors, trying to get in my room. If I shined my flashlight on them while they were at the far corners, they would retreat. However, if I shined the flashlight while they were directly behind the doors, then they would kill me. Nightmare Foxy would also run back and forth between the two hallways, but unlike the others, if he got into my room he wouldn't kill me immediately, but instead hide in my closet. I had to shine my flashlight on him to keep him at bay within that closet, otherwise he would kill me."
"Remember those Freddles that I talked about earlier?" When Liz nodded, he continued. "They would appear on the bed as time passed, one at a time. I had to make sure to shine my flashlight on the bed every so often to drive them away, or else they would summon Nightmare Freddy and he would kill me instantly. With these rules, I had to survive every night from 12 AM to 6 AM, and if they got their hands on me then I would have to start over after a brutal and gruesome death. They swore that they would never let me go unless I completed those nights, and though I don't know if they were telling the truth for certain, I can tell you that I never woke up unless I succeeded."
"I'm sorry, Mikey…" Liz murmured as she leaned into her brother's arms.
"Don't be," Michael replied, his expression making it clear that he didn't want any sympathy for himself. "I deserved every moment of my suffering. And whenever the faintest thought that maybe I was being too hard on myself materialized in my mind, the Nightmares made sure to crush that fleeting hope as thoroughly as possible."
Night 4
Michael frantically rushed over to the left door and listened carefully at the crack. He could hear Nightmare Bonnie breathing in the darkness, and quickly shut the door to block him out. He breathed a sigh of relief as he heard the demon walk away down the corridor and returned back to the main room. But his relief wouldn't last long.
"IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT," he could hear Nightmare Chica hiss from further down the right hall. He rushed over to the right door to try and block her off, but the accusation had already fractured his composure.
"YOU CRUSHED YOUR BROTHER'S LIFE BEFORE IT COULD EVEN BEGIN," Nightmare Foxy spat from the closet, causing Michael to panic and flash his light down the right hallway without checking for breathing first. Luckily, Nightmare Chica had only been at the far corner of the hallway and she retreated, though Michael knew that he might not be so lucky next time.
"YOU TURNED HIS HAPPIEST DAY INTO HIS LAST DAY," Nightmare Bonnie snarled, causing Michael's heart to sink even further – not just because the demon animatronic was already making another assault on his bedroom so quickly, but also because the Nightmares were once again throwing the weight of his sins in front of him, shattering his concentration in the process.
"HIS BLOOD WILL STAIN YOUR HANDS UNTIL THE END OF TIME," Nightmare Freddy's voice growled from the direction of the Freddles, and as Michael instinctively looked at his hands he swore he could see them being covered with his brother's blood. "NO MATTER HOW WELL YOU AVOID US, YOU WILL NEVER BE ABLE TO HIDE FROM YOUR SINS."
"I know," Michael thought despairingly. "I'll always be the sick bastard who killed his own brother for a joke."
His thoughts were suddenly broken by a plea for help in the distance. "Mikey!" the voice screamed. "They have me, Mikey! It hurts, it hurts so much! Please, help me Mikey!"
"EVAN!" Michael screamed back. All thoughts were cast aside as he rushed to the left door and swung it open. "I'm coming, Evan! I won't let them hurt you!" He took his flashlight and shined it into the corridor…
…straight into the waiting face of Nightmare Bonnie. "GOT YOU!" the demon cackled as he lunged forward, grabbing Michael and piercing his shoulders with his sharp, brutal claws. "DID YOU FORGET? THIS IS YOUR DOOM AND YOUR DOOM ALONE! YOUR BROTHER ISN'T HERE, AND HE CERTAINLY WOULDN'T WASTE HIS TIME ON A WRETCH LIKE YOU!" Michael could only watch in horror and struggle fruitlessly as Nightmare Bonnie reached around his throat and squeezed, simultaneously crushing it and skewering it at the same time. "IT'S SO MUCH MORE FUN TO STRANGLE THE LIFE OUT OF YOU WHEN YOU TRY TO FIGHT BACK."
And as the black haze of death clouded his eyes like it had so many times before, the teen could hear Nightmare Bonnie taunt him one final time. "WHAT A GIFT OUR BROTHER HAS GIVEN US TO RELISH. A LIVING VICTIM…WHO CANNOT PERISH!"
Present Day…
"They actually imitated Evan's voice just to try and get to you?" Liz gasped in horror and revulsion.
"A trick that was as effective as it was cruel," Michael had to grudgingly admit. "They tried to pull it on me a few more times afterwards, but I had learned that it was nothing but a lie very quickly, and as much as it tore at my heart to ignore the false pleas for help, I knew that I had no choice if I wanted to survive. The only small comfort was that they soon gave up using it, though by that point I knew that they had something worse in store for me."
Liz put a hand on her brother's arm. "It's okay, Mikey," she tried to comfort him. "That's all in the past now. The Nightmares can't hurt you anymore. Not now."
Michael sighed and stroked his sister's hair. "I know, Lizzie. And as terrifying as it all was, I WAS making progress. I slowly but surely got used to the demons' attacks and could figure out strategies to block them all efficiently and survive. But then, on the fifth night, everything changed."
"They sent a new Nightmare after you, didn't they?" Liz asked.
Michael nodded grimly. "There is a hierarchy to the Nightmares, Lizzie. An order to their otherwise savage nature. The four animatronics I had been tormented by up until that point – Freddy, Foxy, Bonnie, Chica, they were merely the weakest and least powerful of their kind. And they would not let their prey slip out so easily. Once they realized I was starting to beat them, they brought forth a new Nightmare. One that was not just more powerful, vicious, and cunning compared to the others, but one that represented my sins and regrets far more effectively than the rest ever could."
Night 5
Michael waited anxiously as he sat at the foot of the bed. Every night before this, the four Nightmares had greeted him with their mocking laughter and promises of death. But now they had vanished from sight, nowhere to be found. Had they finally decided to leave him alone?
"LOOKING FOR MY KIN?" a new voice hissed from the shadows. "THEY HAVE BEEN RELIEVED FROM OUR HUNT FOR THIS PARTICULAR NIGHT. BUT I ASSURE YOU, WHEN I AM THROUGH WITH YOU, YOU WILL BEG FOR THEM TO COME BACK!"
Michael screamed in horror as a new Nightmare animatronic appeared in front of him. It was even larger than the other Nightmares, a golden bear-like monstrosity wearing a purple hat and bowtie. Even if its many demonic features weren't enough to terrify Michael, simply seeing the animatronic that he had killed his brother with was enough to break apart his mental state in a way that the other animatronics could not.
"I MUST THANK YOU FOR YOUR GENEROUS HOSPITALITY," Nightmare Fredbear mockingly thanked him. "YOUR BROTHER'S HEAD MADE FOR SUCH A DELIGHTFUL FEAST!" At this, the teen lowered his face and buried it into his hands, trying and failing to hold back tears as he was once again reminded of his unspeakable crime.
Nightmare Fredbear sneered, his expression utterly devoid of sympathy or mercy. "YOU WEEP FOR HIM NOW," the demon ruthlessly snarled his condemnation. "BUT WHERE WAS THIS LOVE, THIS COMPASSION, WHEN HE WAS STILL ALIVE? TELL ME, MICHAEL AFTON. IN THE DAYS, WEEKS, EVEN MONTHS LEADING UP TO THE DAY HIS FATE WAS SEALED, DID YOU SHOW HIM EVEN A SINGLE ACT OF KINDNESS? DID YOU EVEN ONCE ALLOW HIM TO FEEL SOMETHING OTHER THAN FEAR AND YOUR MALICE CRUSHING HIS SPIRIT?"
"I…I…I…" Michael stuttered out. He tried desperately to think of any moment when he had been kind and loving to Evan, but he couldn't find one. All that he could think about were the many times he had bullied and tormented his brother. Nightmare Fredbear was right – his sins reached far beyond just that cursed birthday and the days leading up to it.
As if he could hear his thoughts, Nightmare Fredbear's mouth twisted into an unholy sneer. "YOU NEVER SAW A BROTHER, DID YOU?" his next words tore into the teen's soul. "ALL YOU EVER SAW WAS A WEAKLING UNWORTHY TO BREATHE THE SAME AIR AS YOU!"
"That's not what I think of Evan!" Michael shouted, blinking away tears. "He's my brother! He's someone I should have…I should have cared for from…from the beginning…" his voice trailed off. "He deserved someone better than…than me…" he finished quietly.
"HOW RIGHT YOU ARE," Nightmare Fredbear agreed, his voice dripping with acid. "HE DESERVED BETTER THAN SCUM LIKE YOU. THE RUINATION OF HIS BIRTHDAY WAS MERELY THE CULMINATION OF COUNTLESS DAYS FILLED WITH YOUR WICKEDNESS AND HIS FEAR. AND YOU MUST LIVE WITH THIS TRUTH FOR THE REST OF ETERNITY."
The teen didn't say anything, for what was there to say? There was no hiding from the truth that Nightmare Fredbear was forcing upon him, no matter how much he wanted to deny it.
"IT'S QUITE FASCINATING HOW CRUEL THE WORLD REALLY IS, ISN'T IT?" the demon tilted his head, speaking almost pensively. "THE MORE YOU HATE SOMEONE, THE MORE YOU DESPISE THEIR EXISTENCE WITH EVERY FIBER OF YOUR BEING, THE EASIER IT IS TO TEAR THEIR LIFE FROM THEM AND LEAVE ONLY A LIFELESS CORPSE BEHIND. BUT NO MATTER HOW MUCH YOU CHERISH AND CARE FOR THOSE YOU LOVE, YOU CANNOT BRING THEM BACK FROM THE DEAD, NO MATTER HOW HARD YOU TRY."
Nightmare Fredbear's blood-red gaze suddenly snapped down onto Michael, and he knew that yet another agonizing death would soon be upon him. "BUT THE LAWS OF THE WORLD DON'T APPLY HERE, DO THEY?" he questioned as his mouth stretched into a terrifying grin. "AFTER ALL, WE CAN PUT YOU BACK TOGETHER, AND THEN TEAR YOU APART AGAIN, AND AGAIN, AND AGAIN!"
The golden demon animatronic let out a terrifying laugh as he rushed towards Michael with much greater speed than the teen had expected from him. Michael scrambled back, but it was no use. Nightmare Fredbear reached out and grabbed him by his shirt, his claws tearing into fabric and skin as he lifted the teen up…straight towards his jaws.
"LET US SEE HOW MANY TIMES I CAN TEAR YOU APART. HEH HEH HEH HEH…HEH HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!" Michael screamed as Nightmare Fredbear forced his head into his mouth. The last thing he remembered seeing was two rows of razor sharp fangs before the demon slammed his jaws shut. Then, with a sickening CRUNCH, his head exploded in unbearable agony, and the world around him vanished in blurs of bloody red.
Present Day…
"I have to hand it to the Nightmare Fredbear…" Michael chuckled weakly. "He might have been a cruel, tortuous fiend just like all the others, but when it comes to poetic justice he's an expert at it like nobody else. I crushed Evan's head inside of Fredbear's jaws, so it was only fair that a demonic version of him do the same to me."
Liz whimpered as the mental image of a yellow version of Nightmare crushing her brother's head in his jaws appeared in her head. "You really weren't joking earlier," she murmured. "Nightmare really WAS merciful to us compared to what he did to you."
Michael grimaced. "Nightmare hadn't even shown up yet," he commented. "At this point, I was only dealing with his subordinates and his second in command. Before Nightmare Fredbear arrived, I could almost say I understood how to play around the Nightmares' game and give myself a decent chance at survival after my fair share of failures. But once Nightmare Fredbear arrived, he changed the game entirely. The other Nightmares only fulfilled one role at a time, but he took on the role of all of them. He constantly switched between hallways, forcing me to run back and forth between the doors to try and close them shut before he got his hands on me and killed me. And sometimes he would even appear in either the closet or the bed, and the only way I could know was his laughter, mocking me throughout the night."
He wrapped his arms around Liz and hugged her. "I haven't told this story to a single person, Lizzie, not even to Henry. I didn't want to weigh down someone's happiness in Heaven by sharing the knowledge of my sins. But I feel comfortable sharing this with you, Lizzie. Because I can use my story to show you that I love you and forgive you, confessing my sins and my nightmares will lift your spirit up instead of dragging it down, at least in the long run."
Lizzie gently returned the hug. "I'll always be here for you, Mikey," she promised as she closed her eyes. "After everything I did, it's the least I can do for you." The two of them sat there on the bed together, content in their silent embrace for several moments. Then, Liz's eyes snapped opened as she realized something. "Wait a minute…you said that Nightmare hadn't even shown up YET. Does that mean…"
"Yes…" Michael sighed, grimly confirming her worst fears. "Nightmare did come after me personally, though not at that point. He didn't appear the night Nightmare Fredbear attacked, nor even the night after. On the sixth night of my tortured dreams, every Nightmare that I had ever encountered came after me, more aggressive and determined to see me suffer than they had been in the past. They did not say a single word during the entire night, which was fine by me, and instead focused entirely on hunting me down and killing me. At 4 AM, Nightmare Fredbear took their place, and that transition disoriented me enough to kill me a few times. But I made it through the night well enough, and I dared to hope that, soon, my suffering would end." He shook his head and let out a bitter, sardonic laugh. "It's frankly amazing just how much of an idiot I was…"
Night 7
When Michael appeared in the same place that he always did, he knew that something was different. Nothing outwardly about the bedroom had changed, but he could feel it. An aura of menace and despair that hadn't been present before, even with Nightmare Fredbear. "I know you're there!" he called out to the darkness. "The others…they always said something to me and killed me in some messed up way before moving on to the game. If you're going to do the same, just get it over with already."
For several seconds, there was no answer. Then…
"EAGER TO DIE SO QUICKLY, ARE YOU?" a guttural, bestial voice echoed all around him. "PATIENCE. I HAVE MUCH THAT I WISH TO SAY TO YOU FIRST BEFORE WE BEGIN THE FINAL STAGE OF OUR LITTLE GAME." A new animatronic-like demon appeared in front of Michael, and instantly the teenager felt himself shrink before his burning red eyes. Physically, the creature didn't look much different from Nightmare Fredbear – a black version with a yellow-colored hat and bowtie, instead of purple. But this demon exuded power and malice, far more than any of the others before him. Michael instinctively understood that the monster that now stood before him was the lord and master of the Nightmares, the true orchestrator of his week of corrupted nights, and the cruelest of them all.
"WE'VE HAD QUITE A LOT OF FUN OVER THE PAST WEEK, HAVEN'T WE?" Nightmare asked, his tone almost conversational. That only put Michael more on edge – whatever politeness the demon expressed was almost certainly fake. "MY LOYAL SUBJECTS HAVE THOROUGHLY ENJOYED TEARING YOU TO PIECES AND HUNTING YOU DOWN IN YOUR DREAMS."
Unholy laughter echoed from the shadows all around the bedroom – apparently, the Nightmares agreed with their master's words. "I'VE BEEN QUITE GENEROUS TO THEM, ALL THINGS CONSIDERED," Nightmare tilted his head thoughtfully. "ALWAYS GIVING THEM THE FIRST SHARE OF OUR VICTIMS AND TOLERATING THEIR NONSENSE WHEN I WOULD HAVE BUTCHERED OUTSIDERS FOR SAYING THE SAME. THERE IS A REASON WHY NONE OF THEM HAVE CHALLENGED MY RULE FOR HUNDREDS OF YEARS."
Michael blinked his eyes and looked at Nightmare blankly. Why was the demon lord talking about a topic that seemed completely irrelevant to him?
"IF A DEMON AND A MONSTER LIKE ME, ONE DEFINED BY EVIL AND WICKEDNESS, CAN SHOW KINDNESS AND CHARITY TO HIS FAMILY, THEN SURELY IT WOULD BE A SIMPLE MATTER FOR A HUMAN TO LOVE AND CARE FOR HIS BROTHER. AND YET…"
Nightmare's eyes glared down upon Michael with a blazing red glow, and suddenly the point he was trying to make became horribly, horribly clear to the teenager.
"I HAVE ONLY EVER STRUCK DOWN A FELLOW NIGHTMARE WHEN THEY DARE TO BETRAY ME. BUT WHAT IS YOUR JUSTIFICATION, MICHAEL AFTON?" Nightmare ruthlessly interrogated. "WHAT SIN, WHAT GRIEVANCE DID YOUR BROTHER COMMIT AGAINST YOU TO JUSTIFY TORMENTING HIS EVERY LIVING MOMENT AND ENDING HIS LIFE BY CRUSHING HIS HEAD IN FREDBEAR'S JAWS?"
Michael stayed silent. He knew that there was nothing that he could say that would justify what he had done. Even if he could rationalize the Bite as an accident, he couldn't say the same for the rest of his actions.
"THE ONLY CRIME YOUR BROTHER EVER DID WAS TO BE HIMSELF," Nightmare answered the question for him. "HE HAD NO CONTROL OVER HIS OWN NATURE, CHARACTERISTICS THAT DEFINED HIM FROM THE BEGINNING. YOU COULD HAVE BEEN HIS ANCHOR OF COURAGE, HELPING HIM TO OVERCOME HIS FEARS THROUGH LOVE AND SUPPORT. INSTEAD, YOU SAW HIS LACK OF BRAVERY AS A WEAKNESS AND A SIGN OF INFERIORITY, AND YOU PUNISHED HIM FOR IT ALL THROUGHOUT HIS LIFE."
The demon lord advanced towards him, and Michael instinctively flinched as he waited for a brutal death to come. But it seemed that Nightmare wasn't done speaking yet, for he made no move to grab him. "A DEMON WHO TREATS HIS FAMILY WITH RESPECT, AND A HUMAN WHO TORMENTED AND KILLED HIS OWN KIN. LET ME ASK YOU THIS, MICHAEL AFTON." He stared straight into the teen's eyes. "WHO IS TRULY THE BETTER PERSON BETWEEN US? WHO IS THE TRUE MONSTER HERE?"
Michael's heart sank to his stomach as he realized just how low he had sunk. The unholy creature wasn't just attacking his mind or body anymore. He was challenging him for moral superiority, and Michael couldn't deny that challenge. Not after everything he had done to Evan.
"I CAN SMELL YOUR FEAR, LITTLE BRAT," Nightmare sneered. "I FELT IT SLOWLY DWINDLE AS THE NIGHTS PASSED, YET NOW IT IS STRONGER THAN EVER BEFORE. PERHAPS IT IS MY APPEARANCE THAT FRIGHTENS YOU? SOMETHING ABOUT ME THAT STRIKES FEAR INTO YOUR HEART IN WAYS THAT THE OTHERS COULD NOT?" The demon's mouth stretched into a menacing grin. "OR MAYBE…IT IS THE TRUTH THAT YOU FEAR. THE TRUTH ABOUT HOW FAR YOU HAVE FALLEN, AND HOW BLACK YOUR SOUL HAS BECOME."
Nightmare reached out with his claw, but instead of grabbing Michael's head, he pulled the teen's chin up until he was staring directly into the demon's blood-red eyes. "YOUR INNERMOST THOUGHTS ARE LAID BARE BEFORE ME. YOU WANT TO SUFFER. EVEN AS YOU SCURRY IN THE DARK, FLEEING FROM THE FANGS AND CLAWS OF ME AND MY KIN, YOU WANT US TO CATCH YOU AND PROLONG YOUR AGONY. BECAUSE THE SHEDDING OF YOUR BLOOD IS THE ONLY JUSTICE YOU CAN GIVE TO YOUR BROTHER."
At last, he grabbed Michael's neck and lifted him into the air, just like Nightmare Fredbear had done. "WELL THEN…ALLOW ME TO GRANT YOU YOUR WISH." Nightmare raised his hand, then suddenly slashed his claws across Michael's face and neck with a savagery even greater than that of his kin. Michael screamed as his head and throat exploded into agony and blood splattered out, but Nightmare was far from done. Even as he flailed in the air, Nightmare used his other hand and impaled Michael's stomach with his claws, before shoving the teen's head into his jaws and crushing it with his fangs, just as Nightmare Fredbear had done. Michael screamed in agony and terror, not just because Nightmare's brutality far exceeded that of the other demons, but also because unlike every other time, he couldn't feel himself fading away. The gaping wounds in his face, head, throat, and stomach were pouring blood and intensifying in agony with every growing second. Nightmare was prolonging his life, holding him by a thread just so that he could suffer even longer.
With a cruel laugh, Nightmare shoved Michael away from him and his mutilated body stumbled backward, toppling to the floor. The demon lord glared down at the broken teen and raised his massive foot, ready to stomp on the boy's chest.
"YOU WILL NOT BE SPARED," he growled. "YOU WILL NOT BE SAVED. YOU BROUGHT THIS UPON YOURSELF." And even through the haze of red that was consuming his vision, Michael could have sworn that underneath the familiar cruelty and malice, he could see the same contempt and disgust that he felt towards himself in Nightmare's gaze.
Then, the demon stomped his foot downward, shattering organs and bone, and the rest of Michael's world exploded in pain before finally fading to black.
Present Day…
"So cruel…" Liz blinked away tears of fear at the horrific image her brother was describing. "Why was Nightmare so cruel to you?"
"I hope it was cruelty, Lizzie…" Michael replied grimly. "I hope cruelty and brutality was all it was."
"WHY?" his sister exclaimed. "Why would you WANT that?"
"Because the alternative is so much more horrifying," Michael shuddered, "at least it is to me. What does it say about me as a person, if I committed an act so evil that even a demon is disgusted by it? What does it say about me as a human being, if a creature borne of evil can look me in the eye and say, without any hypocrisy, "I'm better than you as a person?"" A pained look crossed his face. "I've seen the Nightmares act, Lizzie. How well they coordinate with each other, how they look up to Nightmare. For all his wickedness, Nightmare treats his kin with far more respect than I ever gave to Evan, and in his own twisted way, he spoke on Evan's behalf when nobody else did," He shook his head and let out a bitter laugh. "I failed so fundamentally as a brother to Evan that a literal demon could do a better job at it than I could."
"That's not true, Mikey!" Liz countered, trying to reverse the incredibly negative portrayal that her brother had of himself. "You were a good brother! At least you were to me!"
Michael shook his head. "If that were true, Evan would still be alive and I would never have let you die. My entire life is nothing but a history of fuck ups and trying to correct them."
Despite everything, Liz's lips stretched into a humorless smile. "Then I guess we have even more in common than we thought," she commented wryly.
Her brother gave a weak chuckle, then sighed. "Those last two nights…they were the hardest of all. Nightmare Bonnie, Nightmare Chica, Nightmare Freddy, Nightmare Foxy…they moved so quickly in their attacks that I could have sworn that they were cheating. It would seem like I had fended off one of them at the doors, closet, or bed, only for them to advance back seconds later. And at 4 AM, Nightmare took their place. And his attacks…" Michael shuddered before continuing, "his attacks were by far the most brutal. Every time I lost to him, he would kill me in a different way. Sometimes, he would kill me exactly in the way I described. Other times, he would rip my limbs off one by one or stab both of my eyes out with his claws and then tear my head in half, skull, brains, and all. The only thing I could look forward to if he caught me was a death far more excruciating than anything I had ever experienced in my entire life, and it took all my focus to see past his tricks and make it to 6 AM. I almost gave up so many times, but after what seemed like eternity, I finally made it to the end." To Liz's shock, he suddenly smiled. A genuine, happy smile. "And what I found at that end almost made all the pain and suffering worth it."
Night 8, 6 AM
Michael cried out as he fell to the floor, exhausted but relieved beyond description. He had finally done it. He had finally made it through the 8 nights of torment that Nightmare had created for him. It was finally over.
The room around him faded into black, and Nightmare appeared in the void in front of him. The demon lord glared down upon him and sneered, causing Michael to tense up in fear. Was he about to be tormented yet again even after he had made it to the end?"
"WELL, WELL, WELL…" Nightmare began. "YOU HAVE MADE IT TO THE END OF THE EIGHTH AND FINAL NIGHT. I SUPPOSE I SHOULD OFFER YOU CONGRATULATIONS, SHOULDN'T I?"
"Enough, Nightmare!" a voice interrupted him. Michael's eyes bulged in surprise as Nightmare turned around to face the one who had called out to him. It was Evan. Michael's little brother looked up at Nightmare, his hands curled into tiny fists. "You promised that if my brother made it through your game that you would let him go!" he shouted.
Michael gaped in blank shock. His brother, the one who had cowered in fear from every shadow, was now standing up to a demon lord for an asshole like him. And to his even greater shock, Nightmare didn't react negatively to his intervention like Michael had feared. If anything, Michael could see a faint gleam of…was that respect in the monster's eyes?
"I DID INDEED," Nightmare agreed, some of the malevolence fading from his voice. "I PROMISED YOUR BROTHER THAT I WOULD LET HIM GO, AND I STAND BY MY WORD. BUT I HAVE ONE LAST THING TO SAY TO HIM FIRST BEFORE I DEPART AND ALLOW HIM TO CONTINUE HIS PITIFUL EXCUSE FOR A LIFE."
He suddenly turned back to Michael and grabbed him, lifting him up so that they were staring at each other eye-to-eye. Michael wondered what insult or taunt the demon would have to throw at him before he left.
But Nightmare would speak neither of those things. What he offered instead was much more ominous. "YOU WILL REAP WHAT YOU SOW, FOOLISH CHILD," he snarled hatefully. "ONE DAY, YOU WILL PAY FOR WHAT YOU HAVE DONE." Then, the demon dropped Michael and slowly faded away, letting out one last bout of menacing laughter as he did so. "HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH HA HA HA HA!"
Michael stayed on the floor for several seconds, prompting the specter of his brother to approach him worriedly. "Mikey? Are you all right?"
"EVAN!" the teen screamed his brother's name as he got off the floor and rushed towards him. Before Evan could say anything, Michael had his brother wrapped in the tightest hug that he had ever given him, tears pouring out of his eyes as he cried out "I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" over and over again. Evan gently returned the hug and buried his head in his brother's chest, a demonstration that he had already forgiven him without speaking a word. The two brothers stood there in the void, embracing as family for the first time in living memory as they left the darkness of their past behind them.
There would be so much for them to talk about, in time. But for now, celebrating the end of the nightmare that had lasted a week and a day and the recreation of their relationship would be enough for them both.
/
A/N: 17 pages on Word, Jesus Christ. Definitely the longest chapter I've written in a long time.
There's a certain irony in the fact that, in my interpretation of FNAF, the Crying Child is the only member of the Afton family (besides the mom) that DIDN'T get tortured by Nightmare in some way, shape, or form. Makes you wonder how bad William Afton has it when Nightmare was already being this vicious to Michael.
I have a question for you, specifically about Nightmare's character. As a demon lord, Nightmare is monstrous, sadistic, and hateful. This we already knew about him. But he also has a small shred of morality and honor – at the very least, he values family to a surprisingly high degree, which is more than what I can say for William Afton. So here's my question. Why do you think he was so brutal to Michael (and even to Elizabeth to a lesser degree)? Do you think he was being the cruel and malicious demon that he always is, and that Michael's crime of tormenting and accidentally killing his brother gave him plenty of material to work with? Or do you think he was genuinely disgusted by his actions, and that his vicious treatment of the teen was motivated by a twisted sense of justice just as much as it was by his typical cruelty? I'll leave that for you to decide.
I would like to hear your thoughts on this chapter, since it is one of the chapters I have worked the hardest on out of this entire fic so far. Next chapter, whenever I get to it, will discuss Michael Afton's life, and the long path of atonement that he walked.
Hope you guys enjoyed!
