A/N: I wanted to give you guys a quick heads-up that I will probably not be uploading a chapter next week, as I will be moving out of my apartment and will be very busy in general. That being said, let's continue on with the story.
BarcodeMan47: I might actually do that "church" chapter sooner rather than later, especially since Nightmare will probably be busy for the next few weeks (working on the VR game) and won't come back until I reach Curse of Dreadbear.
Properman: Possibly, although I'm pretty sure the ghost kids don't want to go to school any more times than once. They're still kids, after all :P
Grisword: He's somewhere in Utah. I originally envisioned him in Hurricane, like the books, but he could theoretically be in a town close to but not exactly Hurricane as well (probably either the same county or county next to the one that has Hurricane).
FrostTheFrozenFox: Matt R. Nacht is meant to be a play on "Mitternacht", the german word for "midnight." And yeah, this is part of his plan for incorporating the Nightmare animatronics into Help Wanted. Nightmare himself will be absent since manipulators/strategists have major advantages when others don't even know they exist, and Nightmare Mangle is essentially a dog so Nightmare won't be programming it into the game since it has less sentience and intelligence than the other Nightmares. As for Fazbear Entertainment, they probably will fuck up, but it won't be through the VR game (since there hasn't been any major developments since Curse of Dreadbear).
Jack0Lanterns: Right now, I'll probably keep to the original Curse of Dreadbear minigames, although if I come up with a REALLY good idea I might add that in instead. And yeah, Helpy's the most minor of minor characters either way thanks to the lack of focus I've had on him XD
RicAlbuquerque: I'll be honest, Fuhrer King Bradley is far from my mind whenever I think of a human Nightmare XD. And yeah, I could and probably should have made it so that Mike and Glitchtrap fight on more equal terms, but oh well. Hindsight is 20/20 after all. In such a scenario Mike would probably fight dirty and attack Glitchtrap in a way that was meant to cause as much pain as possible…that, or unleash some of his shadows on him because Mike doesn't give a single flying fuck about fighting fair against monsters with no honor.
Deblod100: I'm not gonna say or do anything about Vanny yet until we get more information from her. And I won't have Mike do all of the Curse of Dreadbear levels, but he'll almost certainly be doing Corn Maze at the very least.
Thanatos D.E.M.: Thanks! I was originally going to not include Curse of Dreadbear or the Nightmares, but after playing them myself I absolutely had to. Especially since I can do so in a way that affects the plot significantly.
Guest: Actually, Glitchtrap's existence would be counter-intuitive to the type of manipulation the Nightmares would utilize. One of the most important aspects of creation is free will, how every individual can commit acts ranging from the greatest good to the most horrible evil entirely by their own choices. If a demon possessed someone or corrupted them with evil magic (assuming the victim was forced and didn't go through with it willingly), then any evil actions they commit afterwards would no longer be their own, and Heaven would rightfully not count those sins against the victim (as well as beat the shit out of the demon who tried before kicking them back into Hell). The Nightmares would never interfere with free will in such a manner, since then the sins committed by those they manipulate would be done entirely of their own volition instead of coerced by an outside force. If this doesn't make sense, there will be some exposition about Glitchtrap presented in this chapter.
Guest: Gee, I wonder…
Ginopippofreebooter: Maybe, but it's definitely low on the priority queue, and I can't guarantee it'll happen to begin with.
ObsidianPhantom: Mike and Nightmare might be on opposite sides of morality spectrum, and they might have their fair share of disagreements with each other, but they really do work incredibly well together and they also agree on plenty of things (their loathing and disgust towards William Afton and Fazbear Entertainment being on the top of that list). They'll gladly work together to fuck up their enemies' plans, and they'll enjoy every second of it.
MothaRanger: Sounds like most people so far want Helpy to stay, so he's safe for now lol. Fazbear Entertainment is doing what Fazbear Entertainment does, which is why Mike made sure to have such an airtight and indisputable alibi when Averus came calling. Nightmare will probably just pass off the Nightmares as part of "program" he implemented to get rid of any present or future glitches, but at the end of the day he doesn't need to explain jack shit. Fazbear Entertainment gave him complete autonomy over the game, written as a contract and everything, and there's nothing those fuckers can do about it.
MegaMaster68: I did, although this decision honestly didn't come about until I was writing mid-late into the Help Wanted arc.
Fnaffan418: They could, but that's probably not high on their priorities right now.
Guest: That's what I'm hearing so far.
Awesomesniper86: Thanks, and you too!
FireFlamerx9z: You have a good nose :P
Chapter 133 – Intriguing Discoveries
Night had fallen by the time Mike and Nightmare returned to the former's house. When they entered, they found that the ghost kids were already waiting for them in the living room, anxiously waiting for any news on their latest meeting with Fazbear Entertainment. "How'd it go?" Susie asked once they had all gotten settled.
Nightmare grinned, reverting back to his "standard" black demon bear form once he was inside the house. "WE ARE MAKING PROGRESS," he declared, holding up the copy of the VR Game that they had secured from Mr. Averus. "I NOW HAVE COMPLETE AUTONOMY OVER THE DEVELOPMENT OF FAZBEAR ENTERTAINMENT'S VR GAME. WITH THIS, I CAN IMPLEMENT MY OWN FAILSAFES TO PREVENT ANY FUTURE IDIOCIES CAUSED BY FAZBEAR ENTERTAINMENT, AS WELL AS INSPECT THIS COPY MYSELF FOR ANY POTENTIAL CLUES LEFT BEHIND."
"I…guess that's good news?" Liz hesitantly congratulated. She personally wasn't sure how useful all of this was, since the Glitchtrap in this game had already escaped, but she wasn't going to question it since her father and Nightmare were doing more than she and her siblings could right now.
Gabe, meanwhile, was eyeing the VR game itself with no small amount of suspicion in his eyes. "Do we know for sure that Glitchtrap's gone from this VR game?" he asked skeptically. "He can't copy himself to start this whole mess over and over again?"
"Oh fuck…" Fritz breathed. "We didn't think about that."
Nightmare, on the other hand, didn't look at all concerned. "THAT IS ONE OF THE REASONS WHY I HAVE CLAIMED THIS COPY OF THE VR GAME," he declared. "I AM GOING TO CONDUCT AN IN-DEPTH EXAMINATION OF THIS GAME TO MAKE SURE THAT THE ABOMINABLE INCARNATION OF WILLIAM AFTON'S SOUL IS NOWHERE TO BE FOUND."
"I didn't know you were a video game programmer," Mike commented with a raised eyebrow. "I honestly thought you were going to just pull off some magic bullshit stuff and call it a day."
"I HAVE LIVED FOR THOUSANDS OF YEARS, SCHMIDT. IF I SPENT THOSE MILLENNIA DOING LITERALLY NOTHING BUT TORTURING DAMNED SOULS AND FIGHTING DEMONS, I'D BE BASHING MY HEAD INTO MY PALACE'S WALLS FROM BEING BORED OUT OF MY FUCKING MIND," Nightmare replied dryly. "I'VE ENTERTAINED MYSELF WITH MANY DIFFERENT EXPLOITS OVER THE YEARS. VIDEO GAME PROGRAMMING WAS ONE OF MY MORE RECENT AND SURPRISINGLY ONE OF THE MORE INTERESTING HOBBIES, ALTHOUGH I STILL DON'T CARE ENOUGH TO PURSUE IT SERIOUSLY. HOWEVER, COMBINED WITH MY MAGIC, IT WILL BE MORE THAN ENOUGH TO SUFFICE."
"That's…actually kinda cool," Cassidy admitted.
"So you're gonna sit down somewhere and start programming?" Jeremy asked, unable to fully hide his skepticism.
"IN DUE TIME," Nightmare answered. "HOWEVER, I WOULD LIKE TO USE A MORE THOROUGH METHOD FOR MY INITIAL INVESTIGATIONS." He turned to face Mike. "SCHMIDT. WILL YOU BE WILLING TO ACCOMPANY INTO THE WORLD OF THE VR GAME?"
Everyone's jaws dropped and they stared at Nightmare in stunned silence. "…that's possible?" Susie asked blankly. "You can…teleport yourself into the VR game?"
"WILLIAM AFTON ATTEMPTED TO INVADE THE WORLD OF MIKE'S MIND, AND FROM WHAT NIGHTMARIONNE HAS TOLD ME, YOU ARE ABLE TO ENTER THAT SAME WORLD YOURSELVES," Nightmare coolly retorted. "IT SHOULD NOT COME AS SO MUCH OF A SURPRISE THAT I AM ABLE TO ACCOMPLISH SOMETHING SIMILAR WITH THIS VR GAME."
"More to the point, this is actually a pretty good idea," Charlie provided her own input. "I know for a fact that I won't feel completely safe that there isn't anything left of Glitchtrap in this VR game until one of us checks that personally."
"Same here," Mike easily agreed. "If I skipped out on the prep work and learned that we accidentally copied Glitchtrap just like Fazbear Entertainment did, it'd be the biggest embarrassment of my entire fucking life."
"FROM YOUR OWN PLAYTHROUGH OF THE VR GAME, IT APPEARS THAT THE GREATEST DANGER OF A GLITCHTRAP INVASION WOULD BE IN THE MAIN LEVEL ROOM, THE DARK VOID WHERE THE TAPES ARE LOCATED, AND THE PIZZA PARTY LEVEL AT THE VERY END," Nightmare mused. "I BELIEVE THOSE WOULD BE THE BEST PLACES TO BEGIN OUR INVESTIGATION."
"I'll come with you," Jeremy suggested. "I played the Pizza Party game, so I know my way around it." He also didn't want to leave Mike alone with Nightmare, even if the two of them were allies at this point.
Nightmare pondered Jeremy's offer for a few seconds. "ACCEPTABLE," he decided. He turned to face the rest of the ghost children. "I AM GOING TO BE LAYING THIS COPY OF THE VR GAME DOWN ON THE FLOOR. DO NOT ATTEMPT TO TOUCH OR MOVE IT IN ANY WAY," the demon lord warned. "THE SLIGHTEST MOVEMENT COULD HAVE A MUCH MORE PRONOUNCED EFFECT IN THE WORLD OF THE GAME. I WILL BE VERY DISPLEASED IF I HAVE TO EXPERIENCE UNEXPECTED TURBULENCE…AND YOUR FATHER MAY NOT SURVIVE THE AFTERSHOCKS."
The ghost kids looked at each other in horror and immediately backed away from the game, revolted at the idea of doing anything that could lead to their father's death, even by accident. Satisfied that they had gotten the message, Nightmare reached out a clawed hand that began to glow with a dark purple aura towards the VR game, before offering his other hand to Mike. "SHALL WE?" he invited.
Mike and Jeremy both grabbed onto Nightmare's hand, and both of them felt themselves being pulled into a vortex of darkness.
/
"Wow…" Mike looked around at the room that he found himself in. "They really DID recreate the old 1993 Freddy Fazbear pizzeria." Now that he was inside the level hub itself, he could see the room much more clearly than when he had been playing the game. They were standing at the far side of the dining area in front of the show stage, right in front of the computer setup where he and his siblings had picked the levels. He could also see the Prize Corner right behind him, as well as the hallways that led down to where he knew the office would be.
His main concern, however, was the area immediately to his right, with the doorway that led to the bathrooms and the secret backroom. That was the area where Glitchtrap had been standing whenever he had appeared in front of his kids, though fortunately there was not a single soul in sight.
Nightmare confirmed his observation a second later. "I SENSE NOTHING THERE," he reported. "IN FACT, THERE HAS NOT BEEN ANY PRESENCE IN THAT AREA FOR A VERY LONG TIME." A statement which only confirmed the fact that the Glitchtrap in this game had likely vacated it a long time ago, possibly months back. "I DOUBT WE WILL FIND ANYTHING MORE USEFUL HERE. WHERE DID YOU FIND THE TAPES?"
"Right here," Jeremy explained. He reached out and touched the Tape Recorder that was on the machine to the right, and he found himself being teleported to the black, empty room with the recorder and the shelf of tapes. He quickly realized that he hadn't actually brought Mike and Nightmare with him and was about to go back, when he suddenly caught sight of the shelves themselves and stopped.
All 16 Tapes had been collected and were stored neatly in the shelves.
"Oh shit," he breathed. "This beta tester must have collected all the Tapes and gotten possessed by Glitchtrap directly." Which meant, unless his understanding of the situation was completely messed up, that she had somehow managed to avoid the trap laid at the end of Pizza Party.
He quickly returned to the main level hub and saw Nightmare and Mike both staring at him. "I, uh…I didn't know it would only take one of us at a time," he confessed.
Mike shook his head. "It's fine," he replied. "Did you find anything?"
Jeremy quickly explained what he had discovered, and both Mike and Nightmare each went individually to confirm his findings. "I BELIEVE YOU MAY BE CORRECT," Nightmare declared when he returned to the main level hub, having been the last to visit the Tape Room. "I COULD NOT SENSE ANY ACTIVE TRACES OF GLITCHTRAP INSIDE THE TAPES, ALTHOUGH I WAS ABLE TO DETECT A FAINT SIGNATURE TO MARK THAT HIS PRESENCE WAS INDEED INSIDE THE TAPES AT ONE POINT. THAT SIGNATURE IS VERY OLD, HOWEVER. WHILE THIS EXPLAINS HOW GLITCHTRAP ESCAPED THIS GAME, IT DOES NOT CHANGE WHAT WE ALREADY SUSPECT."
"No, it doesn't," Mike agreed. "Which means there's really only one place left to look, since we didn't see Glitchtrap anywhere else."
"Actually, Dad," Jeremy interrupted, "while we're here, let's have Nightmare check the Springtrap in the FNaF 3 levels. Gabe said Springtrap didn't feel any different like Glitchtrap did, but it might be a good idea to have him check while he's here."
"A FAIR POINT," Nightmare agreed. He entered the FNaF 3 levels by himself, vanishing the moment he touched Night 4 on the main screen. Jeremy and Mike waited awkwardly in the room for a few seconds before Nightmare returned, looking unimpressed. "THE SPRINGTRAP IN THE VR GAME IS MERELY A CONSTRUCT MADE BY FAZBEAR ENTERTAINMENT, JUST LIKE ALL THE OTHER ANIMATRONICS," he reported. "THERE IS NOTHING NOTEWORTHY ABOUT HIM WHATSOEVER."
"Didn't think so, but it was worth a shot," Jeremy commented.
"Okay, so there's only one area left where any of us saw Glitchtrap," Mike mused. He looked over at Jeremy. "Ready to go?" he asked.
"Yeah," the former Bonnie inhabitant confirmed. This time, all three of them pressed the Pizza Party level together, and all of them appeared in the bedroom room that marked the start of the Pizza Party labyrinth. Even though it had been a while Jeremy had played the level, he still remembered the path, and was able to guide Mike and Nightmare through the corridors, doorways, and rooms easily.
"THE FLAVOR IMAGINATION IS SO PATHETICALLY LIMITED," Nightmare growled in contempt as they passed through Chica's kitchen. "CHOCOLATE? VANILLA? IS THAT REALLY THE BEST THEY COULD COME UP WITH? AND THERE ARE SO MANY MORE WORTHY OPTIONS FOR PIZZA THAN CHEESE AND PEPPERONI!"
Mike chuckled. "I think that was done more for simplicity's sake more than anything," he commented. "But I do agree that if your only types of pizza are cheese and pepperoni, then you just fucking suck as a pizza joint."
Nightmare sneered. "THIS IS FAZBEAR ENTERTAINMENT WE ARE SPEAKING OF," he retorted. "THIS WOULD BE JUST ONE MORE ON A GRAND AND EVER-INCREASING LIST OF MEDIOCRITIES AND FAILURES."
"I'm not gonna argue with you there," Jeremy commented dryly as he directed them through the vent and up to the room where he had seen Glitchtrap. When the lights flashed on, he noticed immediately that the cake and pizza were completely absent, suggesting that Glitchtrap had indeed been the one who had presented those options. Something about that utterly disturbed Jeremy, reminding him of how William Afton had lured him to his death, even if the circumstances weren't quite the same.
"THERE IS NO ONE HERE EITHER," Nightmare's rumbling voice interrupted his thoughts, and now that he had pointed it out, Jeremy noticed that the curtain where he had seen Glitchtrap last time wasn't moving at all.
"The only way out of here now is to either go through that curtain or quit this level, right Jeremy?" Mike asked, which the former Bonnie inhabitant quickly confirmed. "Let's go one at a time, then. That way, if one of us somehow gets fucked somehow, the other two can help deal with the problem."
Nightmare scoffed. "IF I WERE TO FALL INTO A TRAP AND FAIL TO ESCAPE IT, THEN I DO NOT DESERVE MY RANK AND TITLE AS A DEMON LORD," he growled.
"I'll go first," Jeremy offered. Part of Mike wanted to argue and insist that he go first, but instead he reluctantly nodded in acceptance of his son's need to take the initiative. "Wish me luck." Taking a deep breath, Jeremy walked past the purple curtains into the darkness where Glitchtrap had been hiding. There was a tense silence for several seconds, and Mike started to worry that maybe something terrible had happened to his son. And then…
"Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls!" HandUnit's voice suddenly announced. "Fazbear Entertainment would like to put your hands together for the one, the only, the only, only, only…" the announcement suddenly glitched out, dissolving into static.
"What the heck?" Jeremy exclaimed from behind the curtain. His voice wasn't fearful or panicked, but rather…bewildered. "We're back here?"
"Wait, what?" Mike spluttered. He charged through the curtain, his world falling to darkness for a few seconds. When the light returned, he was…standing on the Show Stage, Jeremy next to him. The ghost boy had peeled back the purple curtain, revealing the Dining Area/main level hub that they had started at, the Prize Corner's brightly lit in the far distance. Mike cautiously took a step forward, and then another, and another, until he was walking out of the Show Stage and back out into the Dining Area proper. As he did so, HandUnit's voice began to speak around them.
"Congratulations on completing the Freddy Fazbear Virtual Experience," HandUnit announced as one of the music box tunes that Mike recognized from the original FNaF 2 started playing. "You did an amazing job! You might be wondering if you missed anything or if there's anything left to see, so just take my word for it, you didn't miss anything, and there's nothing left to see."
Mike tuned out the rest of HandUnit's speech, not in the mood to listen to Fazbear Entertainment's drivel about how there was CLEARLY nothing wrong about their pathetic excuse for a company. "For FUCK'S SAKE…" he ranted, causing Jeremy to jolt at his sudden shouting. "They aren't just corrupt as fuck, but they way go about trying to hide it is just so fucking stupid! Only a fucking imbecile with the intelligence of a lobotomized baboon would fall for this shit! How the fuck does a company this fucking stupid not stay buried in the fucking ground where it belongs?"
By now, Nightmare had arrived in the same area they had, and from the way the demon lord bared his fangs Jeremy could tell that he was just as irritated as Mike was. "EVERY TIME I THINK I HAVE DISCOVERED THE DEPTHS OF HUMANITY'S STUPIDITY, THERE'S ALWAYS ANOTHER EXAMPLE TO PROVE ME WRONG AND LOWER MY EXPECTATIONS EVEN FURTHER," the demon lord snarled, his eyes glowing with fury. "THIS IS SOME OF THE MOST APPALLING IDIOCY I'VE EVER WITNESSED IN MY EXISTENCE, AND I'VE SEEN DEMON LORDS START WARS WITH EACH OTHER OVER WHETHER TO SPELL THE WORD COLOR WITH THE LETTER U!" he finished with a frustrated roar.
"God, let's just move on," Mike grumbled. "If I keep thinking about this I'm going to give myself brain damage from overexposure to extreme stupidity."
"I'm with you there, Dad," Jeremy immediately agreed. His expression turned thoughtful. "But…this is weird. We go through the entire Pizza Party maze, and end up back here? And that terrible feeling I had back when I went through this the first time, I didn't feel anything like that at all."
"Well, that part isn't so surprising," Mike pointed out. "There's no Glitchtrap here, after all. He's already gone, so he wouldn't be around to try and possess you."
"I know, but still…something's off," Jeremy insisted.
"I SEE WHAT THE LITTLE BRAT IS SAYING," Nightmare agreed, surprising both of them with how suddenly he provided his input, "AND I AGREE. SOMETHING ABOUT THIS FEELS OFF. I THINK I WILL NEED TO GO BACK IN AND DO SOME MORE INVESTIGATING." He looked back at the Show Stage curtain, and then down at the Pizza Party level they had just left. "WAIT HERE. I WILL RETURN SHORTLY." The demon lord reached out his claw to press on the Pizza Party level, and he immediately disappeared.
Mike and Jeremy stood (or floated) in the dining area, neither of them saying anything for a few moments as they waited for Nightmare to finish whatever work he needed to do. "You know," Jeremy broke the silence, "maybe it's just because it's been so long since it all happened, but I honestly don't remember ever seeing a Prize Corner in the pizzeria you worked in."
His father raised an eyebrow. "Come to think of it, I don't remember seeing one either. And from what little I remember, there weren't really any games that you could even win tickets or coins for prizes on either. I guess we know why the Puppet wasn't being used by that fucking company back in 1993."
"I don't know why people keep trying to bring back Fazbear Entertainment," Jeremy threw his hands in the air in frustration. "Like, out of all the dead franchises out there that you could bring back, isn't Fazbear Entertainment literally the worst option you could possibly choose?"
Mike sighed. "Who the hell knows what goes on in their heads?" he asked, before adding, "That was a rhetorical question. I don't know, and honestly I don't want to know. Take some advice from your old man, Jeremy. Don't try to understand the minds of the stupid, or else the only thing you'll be giving yourself is a headache."
Jeremy smirked. "I learned that a long time ago from you, Dad."
Mike laughed. "Oh, I'm sure," he deadpanned, the two of them chuckling for a few seconds.
"Dad?" Jeremy's smile had shrunk a little, letting his father know that they were moving back into serious territory. "Why aren't you trying to get rid of Fazbear Entertainment? Wouldn't it be better to just get rid of them now?" he questioned. "I'm pretty sure that it would be easier, and we wouldn't have to deal with their bullshit anymore."
Mike didn't immediately answer. To be honest, he hadn't realized until the moment Jeremy had asked that question that he hadn't ever actually explained the reason why he was allowing Fazbear Entertainment to continue existing to any of his children. "I'll explain once we're back with the rest of the kids," he promised. "You all deserve to know my reasoning."
Jeremy nodded his understanding, and it was at that point that Nightmare returned. Mike couldn't read the demon lord's expression, which was somewhat concerning. "Nightmare?" he prompted.
"INTERESTING," the demon lord muttered, as though he hadn't heard him. "VERY INTERESTING." There was a tone of…grudging respect in Nightmare's voice, and Mike had the distinct feeling that he knew who he was referring to. "PERHAPS I MIGHT HAVE UNDERESTIMATED THIS TWISTED COPY OF YOUR SPIRIT AFTER ALL, WILLIAM AFTON…"
"What did you find?" Mike asked, struggling not to sound demanding or urgent.
"LET US RETURN TO THE REAL WORLD FIRST," Nightmare suggested. "IT WILL BE BEST IF I EXPLAIN IT THERE." He held out his hand, which both Jeremy and Mike took. They felt another whooshing sensation, this time taking them out of the VR game, and back into the real world.
The remaining ghost kids all felt a sigh of relief as they saw Mike and Jeremy return unharmed. Despite the fact that Nightmare had helped them much more than he had hurt them overall, they still felt uneasy around the demon lord, and part of them had been afraid that the demon lord was simply pretending to be helpful and respectful only to stab them in the back at the worst possible moment. Clearly, that wasn't something they had to worry about any longer; if Nightmare had wanted to hurt them, he couldn't have had a better opportunity than their time in the VR game.
"What did you find?" Charlie asked the question that they all wanted the answer to.
"IT APPEARS THAT THIS…GLITCHTRAP…ENTITY IS SMARTER THAN WE ASSUMED," Nightmare began, his words earning scowls and disturbed looks from the ghost kids. "THAT, OR MORE FORTUNATE IN HIS CIRCUMSTANCES. BY NOW, YOU ARE ALL AWARE THAT GLITCHTRAP'S ESSENCE WAS TRAPPED IN THE GAME AND SPLIT INTO 16 TAPES, AND THAT THE ONLY WAY FOR HIM TO CONSOLIDATE WAS BY RECOLLECTING THE TAPES, YES?"
"That's what we know so far, based on what we saw and heard," Gabe agreed.
Nightmare shook his head. "IT APPEARS THAT THERE WAS ANOTHER FOCUS FOR WHICH GLITCHTRAP COULD CONSOLIDATE."
There were gasps and other expressions of surprise from the ghost kids. "WHAT?" Fritz's jaw dropped. "ANOTHER one?"
"How?" Susie exclaimed. "We heard what the Tape Girl said! She split the Tapes into fragments to stop Glitchtrap from reforming!"
Nightmare sneered. "AND SHE IS JUST ONE BETA TESTER," he countered. "ONE WHO COULD NOT EVEN FULLY SOLVE THE PROBLEM OF GLITCHTRAP ON HER OWN. WHAT MAKES YOU THINK SHE WOULD HAVE FULL KNOWLEDGE OF THE GAME AND HOW GLITCHTRAP INTERACTED WITH IT?"
It was a valid point, and one that nobody had an argument against. "THERE WERE ACTUALLY TWO FOCI IN THE GAME IN WHICH GLITCHTRAP COULD CONSOLIDATE HIS ESSENCE," he continued. "THE FIRST WAS THE 16 TAPES, WHICH YOU ARE ALREADY FAMILIAR WITH. THE SECOND, HOWEVER…IS WHY I MUST GIVE CREDIT TO GLITCHTRAP WHERE CREDIT IS DUE, NO MATTER HOW MUCH I DESPISE DOING SO. THERE IS A SMALL AREA OF THE GAME, AN ISOLATED CORNER, WHERE GLITCHTRAP COULD CONSOLIDATE HIS ESSENCE EVEN WITHOUT ALL OF THE TAPES BEING COLLECTED."
"An isolated corner…" Jeremy's eyes widened in the realization and flashed with horror. "Oh my God!"
"THAT LOCATION WAS INDEED THE AREA LOCATED BEHIND THE CURTAIN AT THE FINAL ROOM OF THE PIZZA PARTY MAZE," Nightmare confirmed.
Jeremy stared blankly at the VR game. "Holy shit," he breathed. "I almost went behind there. If I hadn't exited the level when I saw that…"
Susie floated up behind her brother and hugged him. "It's okay…" she murmured. "You didn't fall for the trap."
"Damn…" Fritz breathed. "You really dodged a fucking bullet there, bro."
"No kidding," Cassidy shook her head in amazement. "That could have been nasty."
"NASTY IS CORRECT," Nightmare commented. "THE AREA BEHIND THAT CURTAIN IS THE ONLY LOCATION WHERE GLITCHTRAP WAS ABLE TO FULLY MANIFEST WITHOUT ALL OF THE TAPES BEING COLLECTED. HE CANNOT LEAVE THE AREA AT ALL…UNLESS SOME POOR FOOL WALKS BEHIND THAT CURTAIN, AND STRAIGHT INTO A TRAP."
"What kind of trap?" Charlie asked warily.
Nightmare scowled. "EVEN I DO NOT FULLY UNDERSTAND THE PROCESS, BUT IT SEEMS THAT IF SOMEONE WERE TO FOLLOW GLITCHTRAP BEHIND THE CURTAIN, GLITCHTRAP WOULD BE ABLE TO…SWITCH PLACES…WITH THEM. HE WOULD BE ABLE TO LEAVE THE STAGE AND MOVE FREELY, WHILE THE VICTIM WOULD BE LEFT ON THAT STAGE, TRAPPED. UNABLE TO MOVE OR DO ANYTHING EXCEPT WATCH AS GLITCHTRAP WOULD BE FREE TO LEAVE THE VR GAME IN THEIR BODY, AND CONTINUE THE ATROCITIES HE HAD COMMITTED AS WILLIAM AFTON."
Everyone stared at him with a look of stunned horror. "Thank God I didn't fall for that," Jeremy breathed. "Holy shit. Even without that flashback I had to when I got killed, that whole place was screaming at me that something was horribly wrong."
"Trust your instincts," Mike agreed. "They're rarely wrong."
"But you said that this beta tester collected all the Tapes," Liz suddenly realized. "Which means that they picked up the Tape here and the Tape in the gallery, and didn't fall for this trap either."
Nightmare scoffed. "I DON'T KNOW HOW THIS OTHER TESTER AVOIDED THE PIZZA PARTY TRAP," he sneered. "MAYBE THEY TURNED OFF THE GAME AND WENT TO GO TAKE A FUCKING PISS AND GLITCHTRAP MISINTERPRETED THAT AS AN ESCAPE, FOR ALL I KNOW. REGARDLESS, IF PIZZA PARTY SOMEHOW FAILED, THEN THE TAPES WOULD BE HIS BACKUP PLAN, AS COLLECTING THEM ALL WOULD ALLOW HIM TO MANIFEST FULLY IN ANY LOCATION."
"Which is what he tried to do to Dad," Cassidy commented, before her mouth stretched into a smirk. "Too bad for him."
Because resolution not to actively hate William Afton or not, seeing their murderer get the shit beaten out of him by Mike was never not going to be satisfying.
"Nothing happened when we tried to go through the curtain, though," Jeremy pointed out. "We just showed up back at the Dining Area and that was it."
"Well, Glitchtrap's already gone," Mike pointed out. "So it makes sense that there isn't a trap anymore."
"ESPECIALLY NOT AFTER I DESTROY THE LOCATION'S ABILITY TO ACT AS A CONSOLIDATION POINT WHEN I BEGIN MY WORK PROPER," Nightmare added.
"So we now know what Glitchtrap's game plan was," Gabe mused. "Honestly, this is probably one of the better plans William Afton's ever come up with. Which is really ironic considering how stupid he was earlier."
"This copy must have gotten some of his sanity back," Jeremy hypothesized.
"Which is shit news for us and everyone else," Fritz muttered.
"Well, look on the bright side!" Susie suggested hopefully. "He won't be doing it to anyone else since we blew up all the VR copies except for this one and Dad's!"
"INDEED. GLITCHTRAP MIGHT HAVE SCORED A VICTORY THAT WE WERE IN NO POSITION TO STOP, BUT IT SHALL BE THE ONLY VICTORY HE…HMMM?" Nightmare's voice trailed off.
"What is it?" Mike asked.
"IT APPEARS THAT ONE OF MY FELLOW NIGHTMARES IS ATTEMPTING TO CONTACT ME," Nightmare answered pensively. The demon lord held out his right hand, palm facing upward, and the Schmidts watched as a ball of fire appeared in his hand. At first, Mike thought that he was trying to make a scrying portal similar to the one that came out of his phone, but something even stranger happened instead.
The ball of fire began to writhe and swirl in his Nightmare's hand, transforming into the shape of a head. The ghosts jolted as they realized it was a Bonnie head, but it was far more grotesque and horrible than any Bonnie that they had ever seen before. His jaw was heavily exaggerated and his mouth was curled into a permanent sneer of cruelty, complete two rows of glowing yellow-razor sharp fangs. The upper half of his head was just as horrible as the lower half, with two empty eye sockets that glowed unholy flames. Everyone realized that this must be one of Nightmare's siblings/servants, and unlike the demon lord himself, Infernal Bonnie lent very much towards the "fire" part of the fire and shadow that would forever be associated with Hell.
Infernal Bonnie, however, paid no attention to any of them. His attention was focused entirely on his lord and master. "MY LORD," Infernal Bonnie's head bowed to Nightmare in what was most certainly a sign of respect.
"WHAT IS IT?" Nightmare growled. "I AM CURRENTLY IN A MEETING WITH THE SCHMIDT FAMILY REGARDING SOME IMPORTANT MATTERS. IF YOUR CALL PROVES TO BE IRRELEVANT TO MY CURRENT PURPOSES, I WILL BE VERY DISPLEASED," he finished with a menacing hiss.
Infernal Bonnie was unfazed. "I ASSURE YOU, MY LORD, THAT MY REASON FOR CALLING YOU IS VERY RELEVANT TO THOSE MATTERS INDEED," he assured his master.
"THEN SPEAK."
"I AM CONTACTING YOU TO INFORM YOU THAT I HAVE COMPLETED MY…EXPERIMENTS…ON GLITCHTRAP," Infernal Bonnie informed him. "I BELIEVED I HAVE COLLECTED ALL THE INFORMATION THAT THERE IS TO BE GATHERED."
"GO ON," Nightmare prompted, as he and the Schmidt family focused their attention on the Infernal Bonnie head.
"GLITCHTRAP'S EXISTENCE IS AN UNNATURAL ABOMINATION," Infernal Bonnie began. "AND WHILE WE HAVE FREQUENTLY USED THAT TERM AS AN INSULT, THIS DESCRIPTION IS APPROPRIATE FOR MORE THAN JUST SLANDER TO VENT OUR HATRED."
"I'm really not liking the sound of this," Gabe muttered.
"WHEN FAZBEAR ENTERTAINMENT SCANNED THE CIRCUIT BOARDS FROM SPRINGTRAP'S REMAINS INTO THEIR VR GAME, BEING THE FUCKING IMBECILES THAT THEY ARE, THEIR SCAN INTRODUCED EITHER A FRAGMENT OR COPY OF WILLIAM AFTON'S SPIRIT INTO THE GAME," the demon bunny continued. "EVEN I AM NOT SURE WHICH ONE, ALTHOUGH I AM FAIRLY CERTAIN THAT REMNANT MAY AT LEAST PARTIALLY EXPLAIN WHY SUCH A THING WAS POSSIBLE TO BEGIN WITH. REGARDLESS, THIS MANIFESTATION OF WILLIAM AFTON, GLITCHTRAP…FUSED TO A DEGREE WITH SOME OF THE PROGRAMMING WITHIN THE GAME, BECOMING NOT QUITE A SPIRIT, NOT QUITE A VIRUS, BUT SOMETHING….IN BETWEEN. SOMETHING THAT SHOULD NOT EXIST, AND HAS NOT EXISTED BEFORE NOW."
"Well that's…disturbing," Mike commented. "Thank God you guys destroyed almost all of them with that forbidden ritual you used, or whatever the fuck it was."
Nightmare, on the other hand, looked thoroughly unimpressed. "THIS INFORMATION DOES NOT TELL US ANYTHING THAT WE COULD NOT ALREADY EXTRAPOLATE," he growled. "IF THIS IS ALL YOU HAVE TO OFFER ME, THEN I CONFESS MYSELF DISAPPOINTED."
Infernal Bonnie grinned. "OH I ASSURE YOU, MASTER, I HAVE FOUND FAR MORE THAN JUST THAT." The demon made a sound that looked like he was clearing his throat, began continuing. "I HAVE ALSO DISCOVERED THE MEANS THROUGH WHICH GLITCHTRAP CAN TAKE OVER SOMEONE'S BODY. USING ANOTHER DAMNED SOUL AS PART OF THE EXPERIMENT, OF COURSE."
Nightmare's eyes narrowed. "GO ON…" he growled.
"A WORD THAT WOULD BEST DESCRIBE GLITCHTRAP WOULD BE A VIRUS," Infernal Bonnie continued, and from the way his grin faded Nightmare knew that what he was about to say next would be very important indeed. "A DESCRIPTION THAT FITS WELL SINCE GLITCHTRAP INFECTED THE VR GAME WE CONDUCTED THE RITUAL ON…AND IT WOULD ALSO FIT HOW GLITCHTRAP WOULD HAVE INTERACTED WITH THE SOUL OF HIS VICTIM, HAD HE BEEN ALLOWED FREE REIGN."
"He infects the soul?" Susie repeated, before her and everyone's eyes widened in horror. "Oh no."
"GLITCHTRAP CAN…INFECT…THE SOUL OF HIS TARGET, ACTING LIKE A VIRUS IN MORE WAYS THAN ONE," Infernal Bonnie elaborated. "THIS INFECTION CAN BE RESISTED, DEPENDING ON THE INNATE STRENGTH AND WILL OF THE TARGET. FOR EXAMPLE, GLITCHTRAP WILL NEVER BE ABLE TO INFECT A SUPERNATURAL ENTITY LIKE AN ANGEL OR A DEMON. HE WOULD BE DESTROYED BY HOLY LIGHT OR THE FLAMES OF HELL SHOULD HE DARE TO TRY, AND EVEN IF THIS WERE NOT THE CASE, ANY ANGEL OR DEMON WHO ACTUALLY GOT INFECTED BY GLITCHTRAP MUST BE SO PATHETICALLY WEAK THAT THEY WOULD BE A DISGRACE TO THE ENTIRE AFTERLIFE."
"What about humans?" Cassidy pressed. "That's the most important part!"
Infernal Bonnie looked over at Nightmare, who nodded. "THE BRAT'S QUESTION IS ENTIRELY VALID," the demon lord growled, "AND I WISH TO KNOW THE ANSWER AS WELL."
"AS I SAID BEFORE, THE INFECTION CAN BE REPELLED," Infernal Bonnie continued his explanation. "A HUMAN CAN RESIST THE INFECTION OF GLITCHTRAP IF THEIR WILL IS STRONG ENOUGH, AT WHICH POINT GLITCHTRAP WOULD NO LONGER HAVE AN ANCHOR LIKE THE VR GAME OR AN ACCEPTING HOST TO MAINTAIN THEIR EXISTENCE, AND HE WOULD SIMPLY CRUMBLE APART INTO OBLIVION. OR, IN THE SCHMIDT'S CASE UNIQUELY, HE WAS ABLE TO DESTROY GLITCHTRAP OUTRIGHT THANKS TO THE ANATHEMA CURSE."
"My original plan was to let Glitchtrap possess me and then go to town on his sorry ass in the world of my mind like I did with Nightmare Springtrap," Mike admitted. "What I actually did cut out the middle man, but I'm still surprised things turned out the way they did."
"YES, SCHMIDT, BUT YOU HAVE SEVERAL KEY ADVANTAGES, AND MOST OTHER HUMANS WILL ONLY POSSESS ONE, MAYBE TWO AT MOST," Infernal Bonnie countered. "IF GLITCHTRAP FINDS A HOST THAT DOES NOT RESIST HIS INFECTION, THEN HE WILL BEGIN TO INFECT THEIR VERY SOUL, AND THEIR SOUL WILL START TO MERGE WITH GLITCHTRAP. I DO NOT KNOW HOW LONG THAT PROCESS WILL TAKE, BUT IT IS AN INSIDIOUS FORM OF CORRUPTION AS GLITCHTRAP SLOWLY BREAKS DOWN ANY RESISTANCE TO HIM AND THE VICTIM WILL START OBEYING HIS EVERY WHIM."
"A merging of the soul?" Liz repeated, utterly revolted. She gave Jeremy a sympathetic glance. "Thank God you avoided that, Jeremy!"
"THAT MUST HAVE BEEN HIS SECONDARY PLAN, IN CASE THE PIZZA PARTY TRAP FAILED," Nightmare mused. "OF COURSE, IT WOULD BE PREFERABLE FOR GLITCHTRAP TO SIMPLY LEAVE A VICTIM'S SOUL TRAPPED IN THE SHOW STAGE AND COMPLETELY TAKE OVER THEIR BODY FROM THE BEGINNING. MUCH MORE EXPEDIENT."
"Can the process be reversed?" Charlie asked urgently. "Is it already too late for whoever Glitchtrap possessed?"
"IT CAN," Infernal Bonnie confirmed, "BUT THE FORCE REQUIRED TO DO SO WOULD BE…EXTREME. A DIRECT APPLICATION OF EITHER HOLY LIGHT OR THE FIRES OF HELL WOULD BE NECESSARY TO PURGE GLITCHTRAP'S CORRUPTION FROM A SOUL. ALTERNATIVELY, I WAS ABLE TO TEAR GLITCHTRAP'S ESSENCE APART FROM THE DAMNED SOUL I INFECTED HIM WITH USING MY CLAWS AFTER I IMBUED THEM WITH HELLFIRE. I CAN IMAGINE THAT YOU WOULD BE ABLE TO DO THE SAME WITH GREATER SUCCESS THAN I COULD, MY LORD, GIVEN HOW MUCH MORE POWERFUL YOU ARE COMPARED TO MYSELF. IN ANY CASE, BOTH OF THESE METHODS WILL CERTAINLY BE…EXCRUCIATINGLY PAINFUL…FOR THE SOUL IN QUESTION."
"So the corruption can be reversed, it's just gonna hurt. A lot. Like, A LOT, a lot," Jeremy summarized.
Mike sighed. "Not the worst answer that we could have gotten, but it sure as fuck isn't the best one either."
"WELL, THIS HAS CERTAINLY BEEN INFORMATIVE," Nightmare commented. "SO NOW WE BETTER UNDERSTAND HOW GLITCHTRAP CAN AFFECT THE SOUL OF HIS VICTIM. WELL DONE."
Infernal Bonnie's head bowed again. "THIS WAS CERTAINLY ONE OF THE MORE…INTRIGUING EXPERIMENTS I'VE CONDUCTED IN A VERY LONG TIME. I HAVE ALREADY TAKEN THE LIBERTY OF COMPLETELY DESTROYING THAT COPY OF GLITCHTRAP."
Nightmare's eyes narrowed. "I DO NOT RECALL GIVING YOU PERMISSION TO DESTROY HIM JUST YET."
"NO, BUT I DID IT ANYWAY BECAUSE IT WAS THE MOST LOGICAL AND PRACTICAL DECISION TO MAKE," Infernal Bonnie countered. "VUCARIK INVADED OUR PALACE, PROVING THAT OUR DEFENSES ARE NOT IMPENETRABLE. THERE IS ALWAYS THE POSSIBILITY THAT AN ENEMY DEMON LORD COULD LEARN OF GLITCHTRAP'S EXISTENCE AND SEEK TO STEAL HIM FROM MY LABORATORIES. THE CHANCE OF THAT IS INFINITESIMALLY SMALL EVER SINCE WE INCREASED OUR DEFENSES, BUT IT IS NOT ZERO. AND THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NO REASON WHY THAT RISK SHOULD NOT BE ZERO, ESPECIALLY WHEN YOU WERE ALMOST CERTAINLY GOING TO ORDER THIS GLITCHTRAP'S DESTRUCTION REGARDLESS. I AM FINISHED WITH MY WORK, AND HE HAS OUTLIVED HIS USEFULNESS TO US."
Nightmare nodded. "YOUR LOGIC IS SOUND, AND I AGREE WITH YOU. FINISH CLEANING UP YOUR STATION, AND SEND YOUR REPORT TO ME ONCE YOU ARE DONE. I WILL BE PRESENTING IT TO LORD CONSEQUENCES LATER, SO MAKE SURE YOU PUT YOUR BEST EFFORT INTO IT. ANY APPROVAL OR CONTEMPT I RECEIVE FROM HIM WILL MOST CERTAINLY BE TRANSLATED TO REWARD OR PUNISHMENT TOWARDS YOU," he finished warningly.
"YES, MY LORD," Infernal Bonnie bowed. "IT SHALL BE DONE. IN ORDER TO ENSURE THAT ANY CHANCE OF LINGERING CORRUPTION FROM GLITCHTRAP'S ESSENCE IS THOROUGHLY ERADICATED, I HAVE INITIATED STERILIZATION PROTOCOL OMEGA."
Nightmare's eyes widened. "WAIT, WHAT?" he bellowed, but it was already too late. Infernal Bonnie had disconnected his transmission, and his flaming head vanished. The ghost kids watched as Nightmare palmed his face with his hand and growled something in an unknown but likely unholy language, a behavior so shockingly human that it was amusing in its own way.
Gabe asked the question that they were all wondering. "What's Sterilization Protocol Omega?"
"INFERNAL BONNIE JUST SET THE ENTIRE FUCKING LAB ON FIRE," Nightmare growled in irritation. "WITH HELLFIRE."
This time, the ghost kids couldn't hide their mirth entirely, letting out giggles and chuckles as they struggled not to laugh. And it was a moment of levity that they were happy to receive, given everything that they had just learned.
/
A/N: Infernal Bonnie's a mad scientist and also a demon. Of course one of his security protocols is to set his entire lab on hellfire. XD
Well, this was certainly a loaded chapter, wasn't it? Lots of exposition going on here. The information that the Nightmares gave about Pizza Party and how Glitchtrap can affect the souls of his victims reflects my own opinions and theories on Help Wanted. I always found it interesting how Glitchtrap could carry out his plan to steal a victim's body at the end of Pizza Party, and how the end of that level is the ONLY time he looks fully solid and colored properly.
This has led me to believe that Glitchtrap could consolidate himself in TWO ways rather than one, each of which has its advantages and disadvantages. The advantage of "Pizza Party" is that he can bypass Tape Girl's attempt to seal him away through the Tapes, and he can fully take over a person's body by trapping their soul on the Stage instead of needing to "merge" with them. The disadvantage is that he cannot manifest himself fully outside of that specific area so he needs to wait until all the other levels are played (otherwise he'd be able to possess anyone he wanted to at any point in the game), and if someone catches on to the trap like Jeremy did then they can flee by exiting level.
This is where the 16 Tapes, Glitchtrap's alternate strategy, comes into play. Even if someone doesn't fall for the Pizza Party trap, they can still end up assembling all 16 Tapes and reconsolidating Glitchtrap that way. The advantage here is that Glitchtrap can manifest fully anywhere and can attack at any time. The disadvantage is that he cannot fully take over their body like with Pizza Party, and instead has to "merge" with the victim. This is what Glitchtrap tried (and failed) to do with Mike, and this is what I believe he did to Vanny.
A while ago, some of you suggested that Glitchtrap should be able to corrupt or destroy souls since he's a type of abominable form of life that has never existed before. I firmly disagree that he'd be able to destroy souls (why should he be able to do it if demons and hellfire can't obliterate them?). Corrupting souls, on the other hand…I find that possibility much more feasible, especially since this seems to be what's happening to Vanny. I consider Glitchtrap's corruption to be a kind of "infection," which is fitting given his nature as a virus. And while Mike had several unique advantages that let him overcome this infection (especially with the Anathema Curse basically acting as a full-blown vaccine in this analogy), Vanny has none of them. At least the Nightmares destroyed the vast majority of Glitchtraps out there, because given what Infernal Bonnie's told us about Glitchtrap, even one is bad news…
That was a lot for me to vomit out on this document, and that's all I have for now. Hopefully this cleared up some things and gave you guys some insight on my perspective toward Help Wanted. Hope you guys enjoyed!
