A/N: Given Nightmare's disdain for incompetence and his own interactions with Fazbear Entertainment, if you thought that he was simply going to "leave things be" after Susie's rant to him…I have an animatronic factory in the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean to sell you.
Chapter 164 – Unholy Ultimatum
Later That Night…
When Averus jolted awake, he was not in his bedroom.
"What the fuck?" he spluttered as he frantically looked around him, trying to orient himself to his surroundings. "Where the fuck am I?"
The room he was in was a dingy, cramped office of some kind, covered in shadows and only faintly lit by a single overhead light hanging from the ceiling. In front of him was a black desk with all manner of small TVs and screens stacked on top of it, all deactivated, and a large fan that blew air towards him. The wall behind the desk was covered in drawings of Fazbear animatronics that looked like they had been made by little children, along with a large "Celebrate!" poster featuring the Fazbear animatronics that covered the entire left side of the wall. The walls to each side were covered by glass windows, with an open doorway on each side of his body. Next to the doorways were two switches, one that turned the Lights on inside the hallways, and one that opened and closed the doors.
Averus' eyes widened as he realized where he was. He had never been inside the office of the 1993 location, the place having been closed down and left to ruin long before he had joined and risen through the ranks of Fazbear Entertainment. But he knew of it, had seen it before in Cawthon's Five Nights at Freddy's 1 game and in the VR game they had made.
"Oh hell no!" he declared. The executive tried to move from the chair he was sitting in, only to discover that something was keeping him immobilized. Averus looked down and realized that he had been bound to the chair by a giant length of chain that had been wrapped around his entire body, completely preventing any sort of movement or attempt to escape. "What the fuck?" he breathed.
"HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH HA HA HA HA…" a demonic, inhuman voice echoed with laughter around him, bombarding him from seemingly everywhere at once.
"Who's there?" Averus demanded, trying his best not to let his panic get the best of him.
"ONE WHOM YOU WILL SOON HAVE VERY GOOD REASON TO FEAR," the voice answered.
The shadows in front of the desk seemed to deepen and distort, and out of the black portal a creature manifested. One that looked vaguely like an animatronic at first, but Averus could easily tell with one look that this was no animatronic that Fazbear Entertainment had ever created. A black monstrosity with menacing red eyes that glowed with hateful fire, a mouth filled with razor-sharp fangs, and hands and feet that ended in a set of vicious claws that looked like they could carve through diamond like it was paper. There was something about the creature that struck a primal terror into his very core, and not just because it was a vicious, violent beast that could tear him to shreds without any difficulty. There was something fundamentally horrific and unholy about the monstrosity, as though it could look straight into the blackest depths of his very soul, and rip out his worst secrets for all the world to see.
Nightmare grinned as stared down at the cowering mortal. It had been years since he had been allowed to mentally torture a mortal in the world of his dreams, with Michael Afton's grueling trial being the last time. If he was honest with himself, he hadn't expected to be given permission to invade the minds of a Fazbear Executive, and had been pleasantly surprised when Old Man Consequences had given him that permission…albeit with some conditions besides the obvious one of directly going against Mike Schmidt's own plans.
"YOU MAY NOT KILL ANYONE," the entity of the Crimson Lake had made his terms very clear. "YOU MAY NOT CAUSE ANY PERMANENT DAMAGE TO THEIR BODIES OR MINDS. YOU MAY NOT DRIVE ANY OF THEM INTO PERMANENT INSANITY. AND SO LONG AS THEY COMPLY WITH YOUR DEMANDS, YOU WILL CEASE TO HARASS THEM ANY FURTHER."
All limitations that he could easily work with. Whereas most demons would rant and rage at the perceived unfairness of Heaven's restrictions, Nightmare saw it as an exercise of his scheming capabilities, to parse out what he was not allowed to do, and operate fully within the bounds of what he could do instead.
And OMC's restrictions gave him more than enough to work with.
"GULLIVER AVERUS…" Nightmare hissed the name, his voice dripping with contempt. "I KNOW YOU QUITE WELL. YOU ARE BUT ONE OF A NUMBER OF CORRUPT IMBECILES CONSUMED BY YOUR OWN GREED, COMPLETELY UNCARING OF THE TRAGEDY THAT ONCE PLAGUED THE ESTABLISHMENT THAT YOU SEEK TO RESURRECT. HOW FITTING IS YOUR LAST NAME, INDEED…"
"What do you want from me?" Averus demanded, trying to show some bravado and gain any sort of control over the situation.
Nightmare's eyes flashed in response. Moving far quickly than what his animatronic-like body would seemingly allow, Nightmare raised his claw and slashed it across Averus' face. The executive screamed in horrific agony as he felt his face being shredded by the impossibly sharp talons. Blood poured out of the wounds left by Nightmare's claws before the wound itself began to close and heal inexplicably quickly…but the atrocious agony from the attack still lingered.
"I DID NOT GIVE YOU PERMISSION TO SPEAK, WORM," Nightmare snarled. "YOU AND YOUR FELLOW EXECUTIVES ARE BLIND FOOLS, ONE AND ALL. IF THAT WAS ALL THAT YOU WERE, THEN I WOULD HAVE BEEN HAPPY TO LEAVE YOU TO ROT. I WOULD HAVE WATCHED AND LAUGHED AS YOU FELL FURTHER AND FURTHER INTO THE DEPTHS OF YOUR OWN SINS, AND THEN STAKED MY CLAIM UPON YOUR SOULS ONCE YOU WERE CAST INTO THE DEPTHS OF HELL."
"I haven't done anything wrong!" Averus feebly protested, the lie dying on his lips even as he spoke it.
The only reward his statement received was mocking laughter from Nightmare. "HA HA HA HA HA HA!" he bellowed. "YOU CAN LIE TO ME AS MUCH AS YOU LIKE, MORTAL. YOU CAN EVEN LIE TO YOURSELF AND DELUDE YOURSELF INTO BELIEVING THAT YOU ARE BLAMELESS. BUT IN THE DARKEST DEPTHS OF YOUR HEART, YOU CANNOT HIDE FROM YOUR OWN CORRUPTION. AND YOU ARE A GUILTY OF GREAT MANY THINGS WRONG INDEED," the demon lord threw Averus' own words back at him.
"What do you want from me?" Averus repeated his earlier question, though this time with desperation instead of bravado. If he could just give the demon lord what he wanted, perhaps it would leave him alone…
"WHEN YOU AND YOUR FRIENDS CREATED THAT VR GAME, YOU DID SO IN A HAPHAZARD MANNER THAT WAS AS BLATANT AS IT WAS APPALLING IN ITS CARELESSNESS," Nightmare explained. "AND IN DOING SO, YOU VERY NEARLY UNLEASHED AN ABOMINATION UPON THE WORLD. AN ABOMINATION FORMED FROM A MONSTER OF A HUMAN BEING, WHO COULD HAVE EASILY THROWN ALL OF SOCIETY INTO CHAOS, AND IN THE MOST EXTREME SITUATION POSSIBLY EVEN CAUSED AN APOCALYPSE AS IT CAUSED HUMANITY TO TEAR ITSELF APART. AND THIS WAS SOMETHING THAT NEITHER HEAVEN NOR HELL COULD ALLOW. AND SO, WITH THE AUTHORITY GRANTED TO ME BY BOTH, I TOOK MATTERS IN MY OWN HANDS."
Averus' eyes widened as he realized the full implications of Nightmare's words. "It was YOU!" he all but shouted. "You blew up our old versions of the VR game! You nearly ruined our entire project!"
Nightmare merely laughed in the face of Averus' impotent outrage. "YOU SPENT SO MUCH TIME CHASING AFTER MIKE SCHMIDT, THINKING THAT HE WAS THE ONE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE NEAR-RUINATION OF YOUR PROJECT. WHEN ALL THIS TIME, IT WAS HELL ITSELF THAT HAD RISEN AGAINST YOU TO BRING ABOUT ITS DESTRUCTION." Of course, he conveniently left out the fact that he and Mike were allies. A minor detail that Fazbear Entertainment most certainly did not deserve to know.
"But you failed!" Averus pointed out, feeling a hint of triumph for the first time. "Mike brought his friend to me, and he single-handedly saved our game from being cancelled. And that game is a bestseller to this day!"
Nightmare sneered. "MY ONLY CONCERN WAS DESTROYING THE ABOMINATION, WHICH I SUCCEEDED IN," he retorted. "I COULD NOT GIVE LESS OF A SHIT WHAT HAPPENED AFTERWARD. WHETHER YOU MANAGED TO SAVE THE VR GAME, OR WHETHER IT COLLAPSED INTO THE ASH HEAP OF HISTORY. BUT BECAUSE OF FAZBEAR ENTERTAINMENT'S OBSCENE IDIOCIES, ONE SUCH ABOMINATION ESCAPED BEFORE MY INTERVENTION. AN ABOMINATION WHO WAS ABLE TO INFILTRATE YOUR LATEST PROJECT, AND INFEST IT WITH HIS MALICE. THE IGNORANCE AND APATHY OF FAZBEAR ENTERTAINMENT NEARLY DESTROYED THE LIFE OF AN INNOCENT MAN, AND MANY MORE WILL FOLLOW IF THESE SHADOWS REMAIN UNCHANGED."
"Shit…" Averus breathed. He'd known that at least some of their new animatronics might have been tampered with from the outside, as Mike had made very clear in his earlier conversation. But now it sounded like the problem was even more extensive than they had imagined. Mike might have shown enough restraint to not sue them into the ground and ruin them completely, but there was no guarantee that other potential customers would show that kind of restraint if they were attacked by their animatronics.
"YOU AND YOUR FRIENDS HAVE ANGERED A GREAT MANY BEINGS IN THE WORLD BEYOND, GULLIVER AVERUS," Nightmare hissed. "AND IT FALLS TO ME TO ADMINISTER JUDGMENT UPON YOU FOR YOUR FOOLISHNESS."
"Why me?" Averus demanded. "Why are you singling out ME for punishment? All the other executives and I made those decisions together. They're just as guilty as I am!"
"YOU ARE ABSOLUTELY RIGHT!" Nightmare declared, shocking Averus with his agreement. Then, a sinister grin began to spread across his face. "BUT WHAT MAKES YOU THINK THAT YOU ARE THE ONLY FAZBEAR ENTERTAINMENT WHO IS GOING TO BE VISITED BY ME TONIGHT?" The demon lord laughed at the executive's horrified and disbelieving look. "DON'T BE SO SURPRISED," he growled. "I AM A BEING BEYOND MORTAL LIMITATIONS AND THE LIMITATIONS OF YOUR EARTHLY REALITY. IT IS CHILD'S PLAY FOR ME TO SPREAD MY INFLUENCE TO OTHER LEADERS OF FAZBEAR ENTERTAINMENT. AND I WILL DO UNTO THEM, JUST AS I WILL DO UNTO YOU NOW."
Unholy, demonic laughter began to echo all around them, this time coming from outside of the Office, right outside the two doors. Averus gasped in horror as demonic and monstrous incarnations of Bonnie and Foxy stepped out of the shadows and into the doorframe on the left, gazing at him like a predator about to devour a cornered prey. And to the right, similarly horrific versions of Freddy and Chica appeared, leering at him with unholy delight in their eyes. In the back of his mind, Averus vaguely recognized the demons as the same as the Nightmare animatronics that Matt R. Nacht had incorporated into his VR game, though in the face of his incoming torment it was a detail that was quickly brushed aside.
With no other option available to him, Averus closed his eyes and desperately began to pray. Pray for deliverance, for God to save him or for him to wake up.
But his prayer was answered only by mocking laughter from the Nightmares. "YOU SEEK THE POWER OF PRAYER TO REPEL US?" Nightmare asked mockingly. "YOURS IS NOT THE PRAYER OF A VIRTUOUS MAN, OF ONE WHO SEEKS FORGIVENESS FOR HIS SINS AND DESIRES TO REDEEM HIMSELF IN THE EYES OF THE LORD. YOURS IS THE PRAYER OF A COWARD AND AN APOSTATE, OF ONE WHO SEEKS A FAVOR FROM GOD YET DOES NOTHING TO DEMONSTRATE THE ATONEMENT NECESSARY FOR SALVATION. YOUR PRAYER POSSESSES NO TRUE FAITH, AND IT IS WORTHLESS AGAINST US."
The demon lord raised his hand as a signal, and the four Nightmares who he commanded stepped into the office, gazing hungrily at the helpless Fazbear executive wrapped in chains.
"I'm sorry!" Averus pleaded, all restraint broken in the face of the incoming assault. "I'll do what you want! Just please, let me go!"
"YOU SHOULD BE GRATEFUL," Nightmare hissed. "IF I WAS ALLOWED TO OPERATE AS I PLEASED, THEN I WOULD ALREADY BE DRAGGING YOUR SOUL TO HELL TO BEGIN AN ETERNITY OF TORMENT, AT THE VERY LEAST INFLICT SUCH HORRORS UPON YOU THAT YOUR MIND WOULD BE FOREVER REDUCED TO GIBBERING INSANITY." The demon lord frowned. "UNFORTUNATELY, I HAVE BEEN DENIED THAT HAPPY PRIVILEGE. COMPARED TO WHAT I COULD HAVE DONE, THIS IS MERELY A LESSON AND A WARNING."
Averus started to breathe a sigh of relief, which was quickly short-lived as an unholy grin appeared on the demon's face. "BUT I THINK I WILL ENJOY THIS ALL THE SAME."
Nightmare snapped his claws, and the Nightmares lunged at the helpless Averus, Nightmare Foxy foremost among them with his hook aimed straight at the man's throat. The claws and fangs fell upon him, and agonized screams echoed throughout the Office as the demon lord laughed at the misery he had unleashed upon just another corrupt fool amongst countless others.
Meanwhile, Back at Mike's House…
"Susie?" Charlie floated up to the girl in her room. After the call had ended, the ghost girl had felt utterly worn out and decided to retire to her room early. The others had been willing to give her some space, but after a while the former Marionette decided it was time to check in on her and make sure that she was doing okay. "Are you all right?"
The former Chica inhabitant sighed. "Not really," she admitted. "I've just been super anxious after Toy Bonnie attacked Dad and stuck him in the hospital."
Charlie nodded sympathetically. "I know, Susie," she murmured as she wrapped the younger girl in a hug. "I feel the same way. I'm sure we all do, even if some of us are better at keeping our emotions hidden than others."
"I just HAD to talk to someone," Susie confessed. "Someone outside of the family who was in on our secret and wasn't going to stab us in the back." She gave her older sister a sheepish look. "But I guess Nightmare wasn't the best choice for that, was he?"
Charlie shook her head. "I don't think telling Nightmare about Toy Bonnie's attack was necessarily a bad thing," she replied. "For better or for worse, Nightmare has been our biggest ally when it comes to dealing with Glitchtrap and Fazbear Entertainment. If anybody has the right to know what's going on with our family and everything major that's been going on since the VR game, it's him."
Susie sighed. "I didn't mean to lose my temper. But if I didn't let it all out, I felt like I was going to explode."
"I get that," Charlie murmured in understanding. "Sometimes you just have to let what you're thinking all out. It's healthier that way. And I'm glad that our family's on good enough terms with Nightmare that you could rant to him without him getting angry and swearing revenge for our insolence or something dumb like that."
"I just hope I didn't mess up Dad's plans," Susie confessed as she buried her face in her hands. She wasn't quite at the point of crying yet, but she was getting dangerously close to it. "Nightmare's going to do something, I know he is. And if what he does ruins everything, it's going to be my fault."
"I think you're worrying too much about what Nightmare's going to do," Charlie reassured her. "Yes, there's no doubt Nightmare's going to do something, and that there's nothing we can do to stop him. But he hates Glitchtrap and wants to stop his plans just as much as we do, and he doesn't have any more respect for Fazbear Entertainment than we do either. Whatever Nightmare has planned, I genuinely believe that he wants to help our family out in his own way."
The words seemed to comfort Susie, who leaned into her hug. It was a good thing that her eyes were closed, because Charlie had some troubled thoughts of her own about Nightmare's involvement. While every single word that she had spoken just now was completely true regarding Nightmare's intentions, she knew full well that Nightmare's definition of "help" usually involved violently attacking or torturing their mutual enemies. An intervention that would throw an element of unpredictability in how Fazbear Entertainment responded to Mike's own involvement, with consequences that could be good, bad, or even both.
Charlie could only pray that Nightmare's cunning had prevailed over his bloodthirst, and that whatever he did would be guided by pragmatism and strategic thinking rather than mindless, savage fury.
"Thanks for worrying about me, Charlie," Susie's voice interrupted her thoughts, and she glanced down to see her sister looking up at her with grateful eyes.
Charlie smiled back down at her little sister. "No problem at all, Susie," she replied as she gently rubbed her hand through her hair. "It's okay to be a little angry sometimes, Susie, as long as you don't go overboard with it."
A Couple of Hours Later…
"I'M PLEASED THAT WE COULD SPEND THIS TIME TO GET TO KNOW EACH OTHER, GULLIVER AVERUS," Nightmare spoke almost conversationally…as he allowed the blood to drip from his claws.
Averus could only whimper from the chair where he had been forced to sit all this time. The chains that had once bound him had been torn to shreds by the Nightmares in the middle of their attacks, though that did nothing to change the fact that he had been viciously mauled and torn to shreds by the Nightmares time and time again. First, it had been the four lesser Nightmares who had performed most of the actual torturing, and then after a few "hours" had passed (it seemed like hours, even though Averus couldn't even tell the time anymore) the demon lord had taken matters into his own hands.
The only saving grace, if one could even call it that, was that all of his many, many wounds had healed themselves shortly after one of the Nightmares inflicted them on him. Those wounds on his very mind and soul, as grievous as they might have been, healed far too quickly for the process to be considered natural…but the pain wasn't so quick to fade away.
"NOW THAT WE HAVE GOTTEN OUR INTRODUCTIONS OUT OF THE WAY, IT IS TIME FOR US TO DISCUSS BUSINESS," Nightmare sneered at the helpless mortal in front of him. "YOU WOULD KNOW ALL ABOUT THE IMPORTANCE OF BUSINESS, WOULD YOU NOT?"
It took every ounce of self-control for Averus to not shout "Fuck you" at Nightmare. By now, he was fully aware that trying to mouth off against the demon lord would only result in another attack.
"YOU WERE ALWAYS GOING TO SUFFER TONIGHT, MORTAL," Nightmare hissed. "THAT FATE WAS AN UNAVOIDABLE CONSEQUENCE FROM YOUR GREED. HOW MUCH FURTHER YOU SUFFER IN THE FUTURE, ON THE OTHER HAND…THAT IS ENTIRELY UP TO YOU."
"I'll do whatever you say!" Averus pleaded. "Just leave me alone!"
"I WILL SPARE YOU FROM ANY FUTURE TORMENT ON THIS EARTHLY PLANE, SO LONG AS YOU COMPLY WITH MY DEMANDS," Nightmare declared. "FIRST, YOU WILL ENDEAVOUR TO DO EVERYTHING IN YOUR POWER TO ENSURE THAT MIKE SCHMIDT'S PLANS COME TO FRUITION. YOU WILL FACILITATE SCHMIDT'S PLANS AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE, AND TAKE ACTION AGAINST THOSE WHO SEEK TO OPPOSE THEM."
"Okay…okay…I can do that…" Averus conceded. As much as he might dislike the man personally, Averus had to admit that so far, Mike Schmidt had been fairly reasonable in his negotiations with Fazbear Entertainment, all things considered. Then, a revelation hit him, and his eyes narrowed. "Wait…are you…working together with Schmidt?"
Nightmare sneered. "ONE PAWN SHOULD NOT CONCERN HIMSELF WITH THE ACTIONS OF ANOTHER," he growled. That was a straight-up lie; Schmidt was much more than a mere pawn, one of the few mortals he would consider a genuine ally without insulting his own dignity. But scum like Averus did not deserve to know the truth.
"AS FOR MY SECOND DEMAND…" he hissed, directing the conversation away from Mike Schmidt, "YOU WILL NOT CONSPIRE AGAINST MIKE SCHMIDT IN ANY MANNER. I SEE INTO YOUR DARKEST SECRETS, GULLIVER AVERUS. I KNOW THAT YOU HAVE CONTEMPLATED THE IDEA OF SENDING SPIES INTO HIS HOUSE, TO TRY AND GAIN SOME LEVERAGE OVER HIM. AND I SAY TO YOU NOW, SHOULD YOU PROCEED WITH YOUR SCHEMES TO VIOLATE THE MAN'S PRIVACY, YOU WILL SUFFER GREATLY BOTH IN THIS WORLD AND THE NEXT FOR YOUR FOOLISHNESS."
Averus gulped at the idea of spending even one more night like this one, let alone an entire eternity's worth of suffering. "I…I get it…" he mumbled. He had been planning on bringing up this idea as a possibility to the executive board, but now he was going to have to scrap those plans completely, lest he continue to suffer the unholy torments of tonight.
"AND FINALLY…" Nightmare growled, "YOU WILL TELL NO ONE ABOUT THE EVENTS THAT HAVE TRANSPIRED HERE TONIGHT. IF ANYONE ASKS WHY YOU HAVE CHANGED YOUR WAYS, YOU WILL LIE ABOUT YOUR TRUE MOTIVATIONS. NO ONE WOULD BELIEVE YOU EVEN IF THEY KNEW THE TRUTH…" the demon lord's eyes flashed menacingly, "BUT I AM NOT GOING TO TAKE THAT CHANCE. YOU MAY SPEAK WITH NO ONE…NOT EVEN WITH THE OTHERS WHO I HAVE HAD THE PLEASURE TO VISIT THIS NIGHT."
"What do you mean by others?" Averus nervously asked, not sure if he wanted to know the answer.
Nightmare's mouth curved into a fanged grin. "AS I HAVE INFORMED YOU PREVIOUSLY, I HAVE VISITED MANY OF YOUR FELLOW EXECUTIVES TONIGHT. AFTER ALL, IF I WERE TO ONLY CONVERT ONE OF YOU TO OUR CAUSE, THEN FAZBEAR ENTERTAINMENT WOULD SIMPLY REMOVE YOU FROM THE GAME AND REPLACE YOU WITH ANOTHER EQUALLY CORRUPT AND INCOMPETENT IMBECILE. NO, I HAVE INSTEAD VISITED SEVERAL OF YOUR FELLOW EXECUTIVES. SEVERAL…BUT NOT ALL."
That had been a calculated decision on Nightmare's part. If he had mentally tortured all of Fazbear Entertainment's executives, then they might have made the decision to shut down Fazbear Entertainment themselves out of either fear or conscience, which would have allowed Glitchtrap to disappear and continue plotting from the shadows with no way to track him down. Tormenting only half of them into doing the right thing (even for the wrong reasons) would be more than enough to facilitate Schmidt's and his purposes, keep Fazbear Entertainment as a whole functioning, and prevent the other still-corrupt half of the executives from simply firing the rest without severely destabilizing the entire company.
"BUT AS I HAVE ALREADY SAID BEFORE, YOU MAY TELL NO ONE ABOUT OUR LITTLE MEETING HERE TONIGHT," Nightmare growled. "NOT EVEN THOSE WHO YOU SUSPECT MAY HAVE SUFFERED THE SAME FATE AS YOU HAVE. I DO NOT WANT THOSE WHO HAVE REMAINED IGNORANT TO SUSPECT A CONSPIRACY GROWING WITHIN THEIR RANKS."
"I…I understand…" Averus choked out. At least he wouldn't be the only one who was sharing in his fate tonight, and at least he wouldn't be alone in trying to advance Schmidt's agenda, whatever the man was planning.
"GOOD," Nightmare hissed. The demon lord stomped towards the executive, who flinched and cowered back as he wondered if he was about to be attacked yet again tonight. Instead, the demon lord extended a single claw underneath Averus' chin without actually puncturing his flesh and tilted his head upward so that he forced the executive to look straight into his unholy, burning eyes. "UNDERSTAND THIS, GULLIVER AVERUS," he snarled. "I AM NOT JACOB MARLEY FROM DICKENS' OLD TALE. I DO NOT CARE WHETHER YOU CHANGE YOUR WAYS, AND I HAVE NO INTEREST IN SAVING YOUR SOUL. I HAVE ONLY DEIGNED TO INTERVENE BECAUSE YOU AND THE REST OF FAZBEAR ENTERTAINMENT'S LEADERSHIP WAS FOOLISH ENOUGH TO MEDDLE IN A WORLD THAT YOU HAD NO KNOWLEDGE OF OR BUSINESS MEDDLING IN, AND UNWITTINGLY CREATED AN ABOMINATION THAT HAS EARNED THE HATRED OF HEAVEN AND HELL ALIKE."
The demon lord suddenly grinned malevolently down at him. "YOU HAVE WITNESSED A TASTE OF THE HELL THAT IS TO COME," he hissed. "THE ONLY QUESTION NOW IS WHETHER THIS WILL BE THE ONLY LESSON I NEED TO TEACH YOU…OR WHETHER YOU WILL SUFFER COUNTLESS MORE IN THE DAYS TO COME BEFORE I FINALLY CLAIM YOU ONCE AND FOR ALL IN THE DEPTHS OF THE ABYSS."
With a final demonic laugh, Nightmare vanished back into the darkness, disappearing as quickly as he had arrived. Leaving a broken man sitting alone in an office that had long since fallen into oblivion in reality, alone in the memory of his torments and the ultimatum that an unholy monstrosity had forced upon him.
/
A/N: Leave it to Nightmare to make things fun for anyone he decides to "visit" in the world of their dreams. At least this time, he's doing it to someone who arguably deserves it.
As you probably already guessed, Nightmare was pissed when he learned about Toy Bonnie's attack on Mike and how one of the few mortals he genuinely respected ended up in the hospital because of Fazbear Entertainment's negligence (even if Glitchtrap was the one responsible for it). Obviously, he wasn't going to share that with a Fazbear Entertainment executive, which is why he was labeling Mike as a "mere pawn" to Averus. A man who was very much in need of a little lesson…which the demon lord was more than happy to give him.
Nightmare was very specific and methodical in how he went about attacking Fazbear Entertainment's executives, the rationale for which was already presented in the fic itself. This was arguably the best way for him to spread his influence and his ultimatum throughout the ranks of the executives, while still working alongside Mike's own plans.
That being said, just because Nightmare might not be intentionally working against Mike Schmidt and might share the same goals as him, doesn't mean that his actions won't have their own side effects. Dealing with demons always has consequences, even when the demon himself has genuine intentions and isn't trying to stab you in the back.
That's all I have for now. Hope you guys enjoyed!
