Trigger warning: gore, mentions of suicide
I do not own Freddy Fazbear or any other Five Nights at Freddy's characters, only my own original characters. Now please enjoy!
—
Déjà vu, déjà vu, déjà vu. That was something Iza couldn't seem to escape. Since she first arrived at the pizzaplex, it seemed like every ten minutes, something was eager to knock her out, she had a crackhead dream, or was in constant physical or emotional pain as she slowly unraveled her trainwreck of a family history from the little shards her father left behind. It was exhausting, and as much as she loved her dad, she was honestly questioning his sanity when he thought it a good idea to leave the pizzaplex in his will.
The whole ordeal was tiresome and a bit traumatic. There's only so much one human can take without proper nourishment and rest. However, as had been proven time and time again, Iza had no say in the matter whatsoever. And now the fates seem to be having fun with her once more.
Iza woke up on the ground, her mind in a clutter. She could feel jagged rocks digging into her back as she lay unevenly. Her brown eyes struggled to open, held together by a thick crust layer before she pried them apart. Iza stared up at a darkened ceiling without a trace of light, almost thinking she was still asleep due to the identicality of the lighting. Yet, that notion was quickly tossed out when she felt the soreness in her body.
Iza's body stung from head to toe, her muscles in anguish. She ached with a startling heaviness and felt tiny pin pricks nipping at her skin, as if her extremities were gently stabbed repeatedly with sewing needles, especially around the wrists and ankles. Other soreness overlapped the sensation, snaking along her arms and legs and curling about the skin by making random points hurt worse than others.
She winced weakly when a migraine joined in, making her aware of more pain covering her face. High-pitched ringing joined the fray and just made Iza feel miserable. Her entire existence felt crappy; however, she wanted to know where she was.
Carefully, Iza started to move her head and arms but stopped when a sharp pain shot through her neck. Immediately, Iza lay back down and grimaced as the blood sped up in her body, worsening the soreness. For a brief moment, Iza felt far worse pangs than before, and her muscles swelled. She could feel her skin push against something soft when her muscles flexed. Iza sucked in a sharp gasp when the worst came from her chest, forcing her to hear the stridulous breath from her straining lungs as they tried to provide adequate oxygen.
Soon, it was over, and Iza lay back on the ground. The roar of blood within her ears had already died down and allowed Iza to hear the high-pitched wheeze from her shallow breathing, making her wonder what caused such pain.
She wanted to contemplate the thought because she couldn't remember anything before blacking out but found even that task quite tricky. As a side effect of her sudden movement combined with her weak body, Iza felt an overwhelming desire to sleep when a tsunami of fatigue washed over. She grunted, trying to fight the feeling, but eventually gave in when her strength waned.
Closing her eyes, Iza sighed heavily, allowing her conscious mind to quickly slip away. She didn't know how much time had passed since falling asleep, but she was woken abruptly by aggressive shaking.
Her eyes flew open, scared and confused, as Iza felt two hands gripping her shoulders and a single red light blinding her eyes. "Stop!" she groaned, dragging out the word and feeling the intense dehydration in her throat.
The shaking stopped almost instantly, and Iza was left muzzy. She stared into the red light, completely unsure of what it was, before she felt something chilly brush past her ears. Iza flinched from the frigid metal's touch but widened her eyes once she opened them back up.
The previously fuzzy red light was now clear and chilled Iza to the bone. Standing directly in front was not a light but a crimson optic staring straight at her. Due to the currently dazed nature of her mind, Iza was slow to react or understand what she saw when she suddenly jerked back.
Her quick movements surprised her and any onlookers as she tore herself from the creature's grasp. She was confused for a moment before her brain finally caught up. Her eyes widened to the size of dinner plates, and her veins turned to ice as Iza recalled the horrendous memories that led to her falling unconscious.
Moondrop, that wire amalgamation abomination, the Glamrocks pierced through their necks; every recollection surged through her mind without mercy and rattled Iza to the core. Her gaze never moved from the red optic as the realization slowly dawned: an endo.
Iza's heart began to quicken, she felt her blood pressure spike, and her lungs started to hyperventilate. Adrenaline coursed through her body and powered her muscles as Iza stumbled onto the floor. She clawed and grabbed to propel herself back, never taking her eyes off the endo. An action that left her blind in the already dark room and left Iza to crash into something hard. The headfirst crash stunned her movements and crumpled Iza to the floor. Her sudden stillness was taken advantage of as three and a half pairs of hands grabbed hold of her body. Two each went around her arms and legs, pinning them to the side while a third pair restrained her torso, and a single hand clamped over her mouth.
Pure fear coursed through Iza's body. However, the feeling was nothing compared to the sheer agony she experienced. After she had been forced to relax, the adrenaline wore off. The tiny prickles that previously littered her body now exploded with barbaric strength across her arms and legs as they sharpened into dagger-like stabs that penetrated deep below the skin's epidermal layer, through the muscles, and reached the bone itself. Iza's back tightened and forced her forward, pushing her chest against the hands that restrained her body and sending horrific pangs through her ribcage. Iza started to sweat and cried without tears, feeling as though her sternum was pushing down on her heart and lungs, threatening to break the protective cage of her internal organs and snap the skeleton.
It was the most agonizing thing Iza had ever experienced, making part of her want to die. She tried to scream, but the metal gag silenced any noise, allowing only hushed whimpers.
The red-eyed endo stood over her, making eye contact. She could see in her peripheral vision the reflection of its metal frame and arm that held her lips shut, including the glint of its other arm slowly creeping toward her. She couldn't move, only watched as the hand on her face moved to her cheeks and squeezed them, forcing her mouth open. Iza took the chance to scream but was cut short as the endo's other hand put something into her mouth and sprayed some water immediately before covering her face again. She felt a little bead-like object roll about her tongue before Iza instinctively swallowed, item and all.
Internally, Iza was freaking out. She did not know what she had swallowed nor where she was. She was alone, petrified, and injured; the Glamrocks were nowhere to be seen, and as far as she could tell, these endos wanted her dead. Iza was their victim—no, their prey. The bloodhounds had finally caught the quarry of the hunt and now awaited obediently for their glitchy master to come by and finish the job.
As if on cue, Iza felt the floor begin to tremble. It started small but quickly grew, shaking the walls as items surrounding her were heard falling from great heights or the ceiling. Fear spiked through her body, and a few tears brimmed her eyes; a familiar voice suddenly reached her ears.
"WHERE ARE YOU PRIN-PRIN-PRINCESS?!"
Iza's heart sank when she heard the glitchy words.
"I KNOW YOU'RE HERE! I KNOW-KNOW-KNOW YOU'RE ALIVE!"
Her lungs breathed sporadically as she entered a complete panic attack. The room shook like a 9.5 earthquake but with a rhythmic tone. Along with the ear-splitting scrape of wires slithering down an unseen hall, thousands of footsteps marching in unison followed closely behind. Iza could only imagine the mindless animatronic army composed of endos and STAFF bots following their leader as they moved to her location.
Iza was bawling, struggling to get away. Her blurry vision turned glassy, and her chest grew tight. There was no escape; there was no freedom for her. Iza was trapped, soon to die. She couldn't move, she couldn't breathe. The glitch's voice was getting closer, louder, deafening to her ears. He was near, quickly moving in when. "Iza!"
Everything suddenly went still. Iza's panic froze in its tracks, and her heart nearly burst.
"Breathe." There it was again. That voice, familiar like the glitch but more calm and warm. It whispered quietly, guiding her gently despite the rapidly approaching monster. "Deep breath," it repeated again.
Iza could not see the source of the voice but did as instructed, feeling safer in its presence. Her aching chest gradually slowed down, rising up and down until her breathing was under control and the panic subsided. It took several minutes for Iza to calm down completely. However, once she did, she realized the glitch's voice had moved and was no longer running toward her; it was actually moving away.
Abrupt confusion filled her mind, wondering what on earth had just happened when a light suddenly blinded her. Iza flinched, grunting as spots littered her sight. She blinked annoyedly until they finally cleared and looked back with a glare.
She sneered at the source before any anger gave way, leaving Iza shocked. What should have been an endo with a single crimson eye was none other than Montgomery Gator, or at least she thought it was.
Staring with wide eyes and unable to look away, Iza saw the animatronic's destruction. His entire face was devoid of casing, leaving behind the metal framework of his snout and face; his lower jaw was missing, and one white eye hung uselessly from the socket by a single wire. Overall, he almost didn't look like Monty, but due to her position on the floor, Iza knew it was her reptilian friend by the yellow and green casing remnants that clung stubbornly to his chest and the clean hole going straight through his neck.
Iza's eyes conveyed horror but also joy upon seeing a friendly face. She was about to call out his name when Monty raised his other hand and put a finger to his mouth; he shushed her as if reading her mind, and only then did Iza realize the room still shook. The glitch's voice rang through the thick walls, spouting unintelligible nonsense until it finally faded from earshot; the quaking stopped a few minutes later.
After the room was silent and still, Monty's shoulders fell heavily with relief. He emitted a strange buzzing sound from his chest as his gaze moved from Iza to someone else; then he heard another voice. Confused, he glanced down and met Iza's gaze; she gestured to his hand with her eyes.
He tilted his head and then realized what she meant; he jerked back and pulled away with an apologetic whine. Iza felt the metal break contact with her skin, and the other hands were also removed. She sucked in a dramatic breath, dry hacking when she inhaled the dusty air and a mixture of soot, plaster, and metallic scent. Amid her coughing fit, Iza felt something light tap her shoulder.
She turned, gasping for air, and saw a familiar spider holding her water bottle. Iza didn't think twice before she snatched the drink from his hand and jolted to a sitting position, downing the quart of water in under a minute. Ignoring the amazed and concerned gazes watching her, Iza sucked the bottle dry until not even the air remained.
Finally, Iza pulled back with a satisfied exhale. She looked at the bottle, noticing a small red splatter on the side that led to a view of her arm where a large bandage with similar crimson stains wrapped her skin. Iza was confused, but her jaw fell open, and she dropped the bottle noisily to the floor. From her toes to knees and fingers to shoulders, both arms and legs were swathed in bandages with the fabric stained red, especially around the area encircling her wrists and ankles. Iza's shoes and shirt were missing, leaving her in only a blue sports bra and ripped leggings with even more bandages across her torso. A quick swipe of her face revealed gauze across her cheek and a bandaid on her eyebrow, while her chest, the only spot without any form of bandages, was deeply bruised.
Iza blinked, trying to process before she ran her hand over the skin. "Ow!" she hissed and quickly pulled away; sharp pangs ran through her sternum. She did a second glance over her body, flexing her arms as best she could. "What the hell?" Then she remembered who was watching.
With bulging eyes, Iza turned to Monty, her body tense. "W-What happened to me?" she practically begged, frightened by the injuries. Before he could answer, Iza saw more lights from the corner of her eye. Confused, she turned, and her heart sank.
Beside Monty and in equally rough shape were the other Glamrocks. To his left was Chica, missing much of her casing, beak, right arm, and face while one eye rolled freely to the side. She was covered in soot, grime, and whatever else was down there, a characteristic Iza noticed, along with a large hole in their necks, was consistent among all the animatronics. Turning to the right, Iza saw Roxy and Sun, one missing the entirety of her face, eyes, and upper snout while the other was dressed in torn fabric resembling a combination of Sun and Moon's color schemes.
Iza was weirded out, especially by Sun's appearance, as his yellow triangles and left white optic were deployed simultaneously as Moon's darkened face and red eye. Sun noticed her staring and crossed his arms anxiously. Iza felt terrible for making him self-conscious before she finally lowered her gaze to the floor.
Music Man was next to Monty; at her feet, he was damaged like the others, but instead of a hole through the neck, he had one in his head. The tophat was missing, and deep cracks extended downward, with one going directly through his nose and another wrapped around his cranium and overlapping his eye, which made his pupils different sizes. There was also a light shining from his body and hand, and upon further inspection, Iza saw him holding a miniature flashlight while the fazwatch sat around his neck.
Silently, she moved between the Glamrocks and herself again before finally meeting their eyes. She opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out; nothing until she heard Chica's voice. "A-Are you alright, dear?"
Iza lurched, startled by the sound. Since first arriving at the pizzaplex, Iza regrettably had the shortest interaction with Chica despite their similar interests. However, what little time they did spend together, even just talking, was fun and memorable to Iza; she fondly remembered Chica's slight country accent and motherly personality that always beamed through her energetic tone that attracted anyone who listened. She was expecting the same voice, but now it was gone. Likely damaged and torn, Chica's once feminine and high-pitched voice sounded raspy and guttural with a quick skip every few words.
Silence followed the avian Glamrock's question, which worried the others, and after a few minutes, Chica asked again. "Iza?" She hesitantly reached out a hand with missing fingers. "How are you feeling?"
Iza was snapped from her trance when the hand rested on her shoulder, startling her again. She whipped her head around and met Chica's warm purple eyes. "C-Chica?" Iza whispered shakily. "W-What happened to us? Where's the glitch? Where's Freddy?!"
Iza's heart raced as the floodgate of questions burst open, stopping when the thumping heartbeat became too much for her chest. "Ah!" Iza hissed and recoiled in pain.
"Hey, take it easy!" A familiar voice, the same one that guided her breathing, exclaimed. "And keep your voice down. He might hear us."
Immediately, Iza clamped her jaw shut and turned to the right. She saw Music Man limping toward her, the fazwatch glowing against the flashlight.
"Music Man?" she asked, squinting when the light shined in her eyes.
"Yes?" he asked, worried.
"Could you?" She pointed at the flashlight.
His eyes grew, and he quickly aimed the light away. "Oh! Sorry!" he apologized profusely. "I didn't realize."
Iza grumbled and rubbed her face. "It's fine." She was preoccupied with the second round of blotches in her vision before reality hit her. Iza dropped her hands to the ground and looked around. She saw they were in an enclosed room, maybe ten by thirteen feet, filled to the brim with trash that left a putrid stench in the air. Gagging, Iza realized they were all cramped together.
"Where are we?" she finally asked, surprising the others. She noticed the contents of her bag spilled across the floor and intermixed with waded bloody bandages and fabric as she lowered her gaze to the floor, eyeing the objects she had procured over the past week, including the damaged body of a particular little android. Her brow furrowed, and she looked away. "What happened after I blacked out?"
Music Man perked at her voice and glanced, seeing the object that further dampened her mood, and sighed. "We survived, that's what happened."
"Barely-Barely-Barely-Barely." Once again, Iza was spooked when she heard another voice. She immediately identified the owner as Roxy before she turned and saw the eyeless wolf. Her tone was exactly the same, except now she unwillingly repeated words.
Iza frowned. "What's wrong with your voice? What happened to you guys?" She paused and faced the others. "How are you all still functional? The glitch, he…" Her voice trailed off when she recalled the gruesome fight.
Roxy felt Iza's disturbance and held out a hand; she tried to touch Iza's shoulder in a comforting way but was pulled into a hug. Despite her large size, Roxy was stunned when her face was embraced tightly by the shorter human. She could hear the weak rhythm of Iza's heart; the sound was strange to an animatronic like her, but before she vocalized her thoughts, Iza whispered. "I'm so glad you're okay!" And deepened the hug.
At that point, Roxy couldn't hold it in any longer and began to cry. She returned the embrace and unleashed a torrent of mechanical sobs. Iza could hear the skips in her voice as she continued to wail, causing Iza to tear up herself. The two remained like that for a while, each filled with sadness and delight at seeing one another again when Iza finally pulled away.
"Roxy! Chica!" she laughed with streaks on her face. "I'm so glad we found you! How do you feel?!"
Iza could feel vibrations come from Roxy's chest as she released her but kept her hands on her shoulders. "I think," Roxy chuckled. "I think that's-that's-that's-that's my line."
Iza sniffed but then dropped the smile slightly when she looked over Roxy's face. "What happened to you?" she asked gently.
Roxy paused and swung her jaw freely. "A lot," she sighed and removed her hands. "More-More-More-More than you can imagine."
"Can you tell me?"
"We can." Iza turned to see Music Man. "But first, how do you feel? Are you alright?" he asked with urgency. "Does anything hurt? Anything broken? Do you need anything at all?"
Iza shook her head. "No, I…" She paused and moved her hand. Then she did it again and again. Over and Over, Iza stretched and articulated various parts of her body, each action subsequently growing the shock on her face. Eventually, she faced the spider again. "I don't feel anything," Iza stuttered in disbelief.
Chica got closer. "What?"
"I don't feel anything," she repeated with wide eyes. "No pain, no nothing. Just a bit of soreness. What's going on? I thought I was going to die a while ago." She squeezed her arm without much thought.
Like a sixth sense, Iza could feel the room tense and looked up in confusion. "What?"
Music Man stared before asking. "Iza…you said you felt like you were going to die a moment ago, right?"
She nodded.
"Did the worst of it happen to be in your chest?"
Her brows furrowed. "Y-Yeah, how'd you know?"
Music Man exchanged a look with the others. "Because I'm the one who caused it. But! Before you freak out," he rushed when he saw her getting ready to scream. "Let me explain what happened."
Looking him up and down, Iza stayed silent and eventually relaxed. She furrowed her brow and crossed her arms, motioning for him to continue.
"Thank you," Music Man chirped happily, then got serious. He took a mechanical breath and rubbed his head. "Where should I start? After you stunned that…creature and the other animatronics, the rest of us could break free. Freddy was the quickest, catching you when you fell before he told us to start running." Iza recalled seeing the orange flash before she blacked out as Music Man continued. "We struggled for a while and encountered some stray endos; hence the further damage, but Sun and Moon managed to find this giant ventilation shaft covered with trash." He crossed his arms tightly. "The thing was large enough for Freddy to fit, so we started crawling through due to lack of options and eventually found this room, covering our tracks from the glitch."
"Does he know where this is?" Iza asked after he paused. "This place is…odd." She eyed the ceiling-high garbage mounds.
"I don't know." Music Man placed the flashlight facing up. "But at the time, it wasn't our main priority."
Iza tilted her head, confused. "What do you mean?"
"Iza," he said delicately while looking around the group. "After you passed out, you were not in good condition." He pointed to her wrists and ankles. "You lost so much blood, I cannot even fathom how you're still—well, anyway, we managed to patch you up, going through a lot of medical tape in the process." He gestured to the bloody crumples on the floor. "We were lucky you found a medkit in Gregory's office, but we had to use your old sweatshirts and even a bit of your black shirt to mop up the blood."
Iza glanced at her body. "That explains the bra." She frowned. "But what about my chest pain? I never injured myself there, not to that extent, at least."
"Well, you did a little. You free-fell about ten feet after being dropped. Freddy caught you, but it caved in his chest plate." He pointed hesitantly to the furthest corner of the room.
Iza had to squint because the light barely reached that area, but her breath hitched when she saw something glinting. Lying on a mound of rubble and covered in soot was the motionless form of Freddy. Blood roared in her ears as she looked at him from afar; from what she could tell, his eyes were blank and devoid of life while a giant, human-sized crater caved his body in.
Iza's breathing quickened, making the stridor more apparent. "I-Is he…"
"NO!" Music Man shouted before being hushed by the others. "No," he repeated. "He's not gone, just deactivated." He turned his head sadly. "The strain of carrying you and ensuring we all escaped drained his battery. He's got a little left, albeit running on fumes."
"Can he hear us?"
Monty created another buzzing sound identical to what Iza heard before. She faced him. "What?" she questioned, perplexed. "Why are you making that sound?"
"He says Freddy can't hear us, and he can't talk, Iza," Music Man clarified.
"Why?"
"Remember these, dear?" Chica asked, rubbing her neck. "That jerk tried to destroy our chips, but thankfully he missed. Unfortunately, he did graze our voice boxes. Roxy and I received only minor damage, but Sun and Moon, and Monty can't talk anymore; they use comms to communicate."
Suddenly, she heard two distinct chirps apart from Monty. Startled, Iza whirled around and came face to face with Sun. His one white and red eye bore into her soul, watching her movement with two very different expressions of concern and ire.
The red one sent a chill down her spine. "Uh, I heard you keep referring to Sun as Sun and Moon; are…are they both here?"
The caretaker's head tilted ninety degrees as the unique tweets sounded again. Sun's white side repeated a soothing hum while Moon's red squealed angrily and gestured toward Iza aggressively.
Given their close proximity, Iza flinched back and looked to the others for clarification.
Music Man sighed and shook his head. "Yes, they are." He scanned Sun and Moon's face. "It seems when the glitch pierced Moon's neck, he caused a malfunction with their light sensor, allowing both of them to be here. Sun on the left and Moon on the right, each fighting for control in a single body."
"So, like an eclipse?" Iza looked around but was met with blank stares. "Yeah, bad joke, I know." Then she looked over them again, staring mainly at Moon's enraged pupil. "He's not trying to kill anyone. Does that mean Moon is…good now?"
That statement made Moon rage as the right side grasped toward her violently, causing Iza to flinch. His right arm attempted to snatch Iza's when the left side stopped him, and a strange wrestling match ensued. Both sides struggled to keep the other down before Monty intervened and put them in a headlock; he buzzed at them like a parent to a child.
Brown eyes darted to Music Man. "What the hell was that?!" Iza demanded, feeling her heart pound. "What did I say?"
Music Man grumbled and walked to her side, watching the event unfold. "You said nothing wrong, Moon is just…sensitive." He listened to the quiet argument between the three beeping personalities. "You must remember that Moon is a glitch who took over Sun's other personality." Then he turned to Iza. "Wait, did anyone explain—"
"What the glitch is?" Iza interrupted.
He nodded.
"Yeah, Freddy explained it while you were charging. Keep going."
Music Man nodded again. "Well, as I said, Moon is a glitch, similar to the one that affects Freddy. His sole purpose was to serve Glitchtrap, but he was betrayed. You almost want to feel bad for the guy, but given how his hatred for us runs deeper than his broken loyalty, not angering him and staying neutral through all this is the best we could hope for."
"Basically, don't say anything to him at all."
Music Man snapped his fingers. "Exactly."
Iza sighed and rubbed her neck. "Man, this is some weird shit." She lowered her hand and stared at her palm, tracing the thick crimson markings. "Can you finish what you were saying before? What happened after you guys got here?"
Music Man stiffened. "Well…" He drew out his words. "After we patched your wounds, your heart started to fail." He crossed his arms tightly. "I think combined with the stress of the week and the blood loss, your heart couldn't take it anymore, so it…stopped."
Iza didn't blink.
"Sun counted about forty seconds where your heart wasn't beating, your breathing sped up, your skin was turning purple, I…" He paused when a loud crackle came through the fazwatch. "I had to perform CPR. Sun guided me, and I did chest compressions for around four minutes. Your heart started working again the second time, and we let it be." He unfurled his arm while pointing at her bruises. "It worked, but I think I broke some ribs. Sun says likely a broken sternum and at least two fractured ribs on each side, given more bruises are under your bandages."
The room was silent as Music Man finished talking. Monty had calmed the caretakers from destroying themselves and now listened with the others. They all stared at Iza while she absorbed the information. Her face was hard to read, blank and partially obscured by her wild hair. It was a good five minutes before she moved a muscle and scared everyone.
Iza itched her hand, feeling their gazes on her. "I…died?" Her voice was emotionless and empty.
"No!" several Glamrocks shouted together, startling Iza and Chica.
"I mean, not officially," Music Man clarified immediately, trying to run damage control. "Yes, your heart stopped, but you didn't stop breathing. It was just a really, really close call."
"I see," Iza said, scratching her hand and pulling back some of the bandages.
Chica leaned forward. "How do you feel?"
Iza didn't meet her eyes. "I don't know."
Chica's expression grew worried. "You…seem to be taking this better than expected."
"I'm not sure about that," Iza sighed deeply, picking at her dirty nails. "I think it's more shock than anything." She turned away and looked at the strewn items from her bag. "Plus, I kinda expected something like this to happen eventually. I just wasn't sure when."
Moon buzzed loudly and earned a glare from the others.
"What did he say?"
Roxy growled and bared what was left of her canines at him. "He said if you knew-knew-knew-knew you were going to get a fatal injury, you should-should-should-should have just allowed him the opportunity to kill-kill-kill-kill you." Her sockets glared daggers at Moon. "You are so-so-so-so lucky you're stuck with Sun."
Moon chortled at the threat, and Roxy huffed, frustrated.
"Glad to see some things haven't changed," Iza commented sarcastically, exhaling loudly and running a hand over her head. "But like I said, I think I'm just in shock." She returned her attention to the ground and picked up the fazcam, the first object she remembered touching associated with the pizzaplex. "This entire week has been one bad trip, both physically and mentally." Her nails rapped against the plastic. "I came here hoping for answers but got thrown into a confusing hell while dragging you guys with me, including…" She shook away a tear and set the camera down.
Monty's shoulders slumped and released a sound similar to her name.
"But hey, at least I found what I was looking for!" She flashed a pained smile, with her voice getting progressively more uneven. "It only cost Inox's life…" Her eyes widened when she said his name for the first time in a while and continued. "...my sanity, and your physical well-being. All to learn how Glitchtrap fucked up my family, made Gregory Anderson change his name, wiped your memories, and caused Mia Alejandra Inés Vázquez-Marroquín's death!" She breathed deeply after struggling through the name, feeling like it was a foreign language that was once familiar. "Oh, yes, truly worth it." She gritted her teeth and hugged her knees to her chest, burying her head.
"I'm sorry, what?" She heard Music Man say. "What were those last things?"
"Huh?" Iza grumbled, raising her gaze slightly.
Music Man repeated. "That last part about Gregory and that woman. Who did you say it was?"
Iza stared at him and then raised her head with a dark chuckle. "Oh, Mia?"
He nodded. "Did you know her?"
"Nope!" Iza's smile widened eerily. "But she was my mother!" She stared at the others with brimming eyes and rummaged through the pile before pulling out the picture frame of her parents and the Glamrocks. Iza handed it to Music Man with an unsettling grin. "Freddy found it while you were charging and right before Inox…" She hesitated, then kept going. "Well, we discovered it in his office and learned from a damn fever dream that to save me from being the object of slaughter as a baby, my dad pressed an experimental button that shut down every animatronic in the pizzaplex around the year twenty-fifty. Fortunately, and unfortunately, it saved me but made you guys lose your memories!" Her brown eyes turned frantic, and her heart rate sped up. "He thought it best to keep me away, a decision that I heavily questioned at the time but now understand the reasoning of…" Her voice began to crack. "Glitchtrap killed my mom!" she giggled nervously, wheezing after each word. "And Dad didn't want me to share the same fate, so he kept everything hidden."
The entire time, the Glamrocks watched Iza ramble like a madwoman. Their faces twisted in horror the more unhinged and cracked her voice became while tears poured from her eyes, slowly losing her mind as her supposed 'shock' wore off.
Iza kept going. "But you know what the best part is?" She slapped her knees like she was about to say the funniest thing in the world. "None of it matters anymore!" She turned to the Glamrocks. "Dad's efforts to keep me safe? Pointless! Your efforts to get me out of here! In vain now that we're cornered miles underground! My promise to Inox to never change?" She blew a raspberry while laughing. "Quadruple pointless now that he's gone, and I'm still here."
Her eyes fell to Inox's body, and noticed the dim optics. "Still here," she repeated, her smile faltering. "I'm still here and acting like a fucking lunatic as a result." Her voice lowered the second half and began to crack. "I've lost so much because of him, because of that worthless bag of wires and his need to 'escape the game.'"
The others remained silent as Iza cried quietly into her arms. "Maybe I should have taken Moon's offer. At least then, I could have been spared the heartache of all—"
Suddenly, Iza yelped as she was pulled by the shoulders and pressed against something hard. A brief flash of pain coursed through her limbs and chest, but it quickly faded when she opened her eyes. "M-Monty?!" Iza stuttered, stunned when she realized she was embraced in a constricting hug. "What are you doing? Why—"
Monty started to buzz loudly, cutting her off. He tightened his grip and increased the sternness of his noise in a way that almost sounded like a combination of scolding and pain. Iza stopped struggling and looked up at him; she could see the inside of his metal endoskeleton before he craned his neck down and revealed his narrowed optic.
Iza squinted as it illuminated her face. "What?" she asked, completely lost, and turned to the others, moving what little she could as Monty restrained her body. "What did he say?"
Everyone shared the same perturbed expression as they froze in place. Iza glanced between them, trying to get an answer and unsure if they were more shocked by her or Monty's words.
Eventually, Music Man spoke up, disbelief in his voice. "He…He says to never speak like that again, and I have to agree." His eyes dropped to her. "Iza, why would you say such a thing? Why would you wish for death?"
She turned away and didn't answer, resting her forehead on Monty's casing.
"Do you still blame yourself for everything?" Music Man whispered, walking closer. "Remember what we said, you can't—"
"I don't," Iza interrupted, straightening her back. "Throughout this week, I have been tortured and forced to confront my demons. I watched my brother's chip explode, learned more about Dad's issues, Freddy's, yours, even that psychopath gave me more insight into why he started this shit. I have been given more perspectives than I ever hoped for, and the one thing I learned from this, even if I have been incredibly impulsive and a little hypocritical, is that none of this is my fault; it never was."
Moon put his hand on his hip, twisted his head, and buzzed mockingly.
Iza glared at him disdainfully. "No, Moon," she scowled. "It's not the other Glamrocks nor Dad's fault either. He lost his wife and nearly lost his only child the same way. I would have done the same thing if forced to choose between my child's life and their family forgetting them."
The others' eyes widened. "How-How-How-How did you know what he said?" Roxy asked, dumbfounded.
Iza huffed in Moon's direction. "That asshole has run his mouth so many times already, it's pretty obvious what he was implying." She narrowed her eyes further at him. "And for the record, the only one who is at fault in this situation is Glitchtrap. I understand that now, especially after the last encounter."
She shuddered when the scene of Freddy's match with the glitch replayed in her head. Her expression then warped into a snarl. "I don't give a damn what happened in his life. He killed my family, innocent people, and, from what I've heard, many others for no good reason."
Music Man tensed at her last statement and averted his eyes. "Alright then, I'm glad you don't blame yourself." He paused. "But then, why did you say that?"
Iza's gaze softened. "Because I'm tired," she mumbled. "I'm hungry, I'm thirsty, I hurt, well I did hurt like hell, and I want to go home. Maybe it's the exhaustion talking, but after so much loss, it doesn't seem like any home left for me to return to."
She exhaled, blinking slowly. "I may know it's not my fault, but the guilt is still there, and now that I know what I do, I…I can't help but wonder what would've happened to everyone if I never set foot in this place."
"Iza…" Chica muttered softly.
She leaned into Monty further. "I guess what I'm saying is, I just wish I knew why Dad sent me here to begin with. Why he went through all that trouble to protect me if he was just going to leave this place in his will with no note or instructions and let me experience all this pain." She lowered her voice. "And wonder if it was even worth it."
She lowered her head with a single tear going down her face. "I wish…OW!" Iza's grief-stricken tone rapidly changed when a scorching twinge shot through her chest when Monty tightened the hug. He immediately released her, backing up and standing while apologetic rumbles came from his chest.
The others grew more concerned. "Iza?" Roxy gasped. "Are you-you-you-you okay?"
Iza didn't meet their gaze and instead pulled back her hands to scan her chest. She could see even more bruises forming over her tan skin, revealing her worsening condition yet hurting less as time passed.
She narrowed her eyes in frustration. "Why does this keep happening?" Iza demanded, annoyed.
Music Man walked to her side. "Why does what keep happening?"
"This!" She pointed at her chest. "Look at the bruises; they keep getting worse, yet it's like I feel nothing. I mentioned earlier I felt like I was going to die. I just felt that again, but now the feeling is already gone." She grazed the skin and hissed. "Like that!"
"Okay, first off, stop doing that; you're making it worse," he sighed. "Second, it doesn't hurt because we gave you painkillers."
Iza looked over. "Excuse me?"
He nodded and turned around, walking behind Monty. "After we restarted your heart, we gave you painkillers right as you woke up."
Iza stared at him before her eyes widened. "Wait, was that the bead thing I felt earlier when water was forced into my mouth?"
Music Man nodded. "Yeah."
Iza frowned. "Dude, not cool! I thought I was going to drown."
"Sorry," he sighed. "We had to give it to you before you started screaming and gave away our position."
"I guess that makes sense," she exhaled, scratching her hand. "But where did you find them? I don't recall the medkit having any medication."
"That's because it didn't," Music Man chuckled nervously. "See that new flashlight over there? We found it here along with this." He held up something shiny in the light.
Iza tilted her head, tears still dripping from her eyes, as she extended her arm to grab it; the pain was also long gone. The item was cool to the touch, and as she turned it over in her hand, Iza could hear little pellets rolling around inside. Upon closer inspection, Iza realized it was a tiny opaque glass bottle, purple in color, and resembling an old peanut butter jar that someone repurposed. There was no prescription label, branding, or name on the sides apart from a faded paper note with chicken scratch attached via old scotch tape.
After she failed to find some kind of clue to its origin, Iza grabbed the flashlight off the ground and held it to the bottle. She could barely make out the handwriting in the dim lighting but read aloud.
M
I got a refill. Stop throwing them away, these are VERY hard to find. We need the plan to work so suck up your pride and take the pills or we'll never catch him.
—Emily.
Silence spread across the group as Iza finished reading. She had already set down the flashlight and lowered the jar with a baffled look. "Who are these people?" she mouthed, rotating the jar and searching for more information. She spent another moment looking before she raised her head with a startling realization. "Music Man?" she spoke blankly. "Did you give me someone's unmarked medication without knowing who or what they were for?"
"No," he said after a long silence. "I know exactly why these are here, meant for someone injured far worse than you." He started walking away from her. "Iza, we want to talk to you about something. Something I know you're not going to like."
She looked at him skeptically. "And that is?"
"The plan to get you home." He hesitated, curling his fists. "How we're going to help you escape."
Iza's face remained stoic. "You found a way out?" she asked with lessening doubt. "Is there actually a chance of us leaving?"
Music Man nodded.
As she allowed her brain to slowly take in that information, Iza's hardened expression, face marred with wet streaks through her dirty skin and bags that hung from bloodshot eyes, morphed and melted away until a genuine smile shone through.
She jumped suddenly and scooped Music Man up, hugging him tightly and frightening the poor spider. "That's amazing!" Iza yelled with a raspy voice, quieting when shushed harshly by the others. She released Music Man but kept holding him. "Why would I not like that? What could possibly be better than all of us escaping? I can show you the world, fix you up, we—"
"We're not going."
Iza stopped and frowned. "I'm sorry?"
Music Man stared at the ground, refusing to look at her. "I said we're not going," he repeated, balling his fists. "Iza, we're not coming with you. You're the only one who will leave here alive."