"Don't even think about screaming or calling out for help," Vanny hissed into Gregory's ear, keeping her knife pressed tight against his throat though not quite hard enough to draw blood…yet. "If you even breathe too hard I'll harvest your remnant here and now."
Now Gregory has had his life threatened before, a hazard of being homeless, but this was different than those other times. The threats before had just been a means for those attacking him to try and scare him into giving them whatever else it was they wanted, but with Vanny… all she wanted from Gregory personally was his death and he knew if he put up too much of a fight, she wouldn't hesitate to finish him off. This realization caused him to freeze in fear rather than fight back like he normally would.
"Good…" Vanny practically purred as Gregory made no moves to resist. "Now let's go get the only reason you aren't bleeding out right now."
Vanny stood, easily carrying Gregory, and disappeared further into the mini golf course, leaving the still-offline Helpy behind.
"Hello? Freddy are you there?" Mike called as he walked through the dimly lit course, using his voice-mimicking software to imitate Gregory's voice perfectly. In the distance, Mike could hear Chica calling out similar pre-chosen lines. While it was true that William wanted Mike just as much if not more than Gregory, it didn't change that the initial order William had given the animatronics was to locate Gregory, meaning using Gregory's voice was the best bet to draw the gator in.
"I'm detecting movement," Moon whispered to Mike as the animatronic followed behind the cyborg, scanning the surrounding area with his superior night vision. "It seems too subtle to Monty… might just be a cleaner bot."
"Keep an eye on it just in case," Mike replied, pausing to tap on his Fazwatch. "I'm going to check in on the others."
Moon just nodded and Mike tapped away, flipping through cameras. He found Dipper and Chica easily enough, though no sign of Monty near them yet. On another camera, Mike spotted Freddy, though something seemed wrong. The animatronic was looking around somewhat frantically and was carrying a limp Helpy. Mike felt his blood turn cold as he realized Gregory was nowhere in sight. Mike began rapidly flipping through the cameras, spotting several patrolling staff bots, seeing that Roxy seemed to be on the move, but no sign of the kid.
Mike was about to send a message to Dipper when the screen on his Fazwatch turned to static and the vision in his animatronic eye began to glitch slightly. A moment later there was a metallic thunk and Mike looked over to see that Moon had fallen over, his eyes dim and his limbs twitching occasionally as the robot glitched out.
"Vanny…" Mike hissed, knowing she could be the only one behind this. Mike let his hand transform into Taser Mode and electricity began sparking between his fingers as he scanned the area.
As if summoned by her name, Vanny stepped out of the shadows, her mask's eyes glowing gleefully as she showed off her hostage. Gregory had his teeth gritted in anger at being trapped like this, but with the knife blade still pressed against his throat, there wasn't anything he could do at the moment. Mike's eyes widened as he took in the sight, before narrowing in fury.
"Let him go!" Mike said in a deadly calm voice, his eyes glowing brightly as his remnant reacted to his heightened emotions. "Let him go or I will be forced to take him from you… by any means necessary."
"Oh, I don't think you will Michael, not if you actually want to save him," Vanny replied with a manic giggle, pressing the knife further into Gregory's neck and drawing a few drops of blood. Mike jerked as he wanted to take a step forward, but couldn't in fear for Gregory's life. "You and I both know why my master wants the child and I could do it so easily… but he' wants you more. You are his heir and he's willing to spare the child if you surrender yourself instead. So what will it be Michael? Will you submit to my master or do you forfeit the child's life and soul?"
Mike's mind raced furiously, trying to figure out a solution. He could run of course, but that would be an instant death sentence for Gregory. Dipper and the other animatronics were nearby, close enough that if he yelled they could probably hear him. All of them together could easily subdue Vanny, even with the animatronics not being able to see her. Heck Mike himself could take her if he didn't hold back from causing her serious injury. But Mike knew Vanny wasn't bluffing about killing Gregory if Mike tried to stop her. Even if she knew she couldn't get away if she did so, she'd probably kill Gregory just to punish Mike and try and break him. There was very little chance of Gregory's survival if Mike tried to do anything to fight back and save himself.
In the end, there wasn't a choice at all.
"I surrender," Mike forced the words past his gritted teeth, letting the electricity die out as his hand returned to normal and raising his arms to show he wasn't going for any of his other weapons. "So what do we do now?"
"We'll head somewhere a little more private," Vanny replied, nodding in the direction of the exit. "Then I'll direct you to where the family reunion will take place."
Reluctantly, Mike began turning to walk in the direction Vanny had indicated. As he did so, Vanny relaxed her grip on Gregory, confident in her position of power. It wasn't by a lot, so little that Mike didn't notice, but it was enough that the knife was immediately pressed against Gregory's neck and that was all Gregory needed to act.
Yanking the arm as much as he could away from his neck, Gregory bit down on her arm with all his strength. The padded costume meant his teeth didn't break the skin, but it didn't protect her from much more than that. She shrieked in pain and instinctively let go of Gregory as she tried to jerk her arm out of Gregory's mouth. Mike acted immediately, running forward and pulling Gregory out of Vanny's reach. Vanny recovered quickly though and lunged forward with her knife. Mike quickly shoved Gregory behind him and raised his animatronic to block the oncoming blow.
Before the knife could connect, Roxy came bursting out from around the corner and her jaw clamped down on Vanny's outstretched arm. Roxy jerked her head back to pull the knife further away from Mike and Gregory, pulling hard enough that the animatronic broke Vanny's wrist, making the woman shriek again and drop the knife. Roxy released Vanny's arm after that and the woman immediately cradled her injured arm against her chest.
"I've got you, Superstar," Freddy said as he arrived a moment later, picking up Gregory and holding him protectively. With the bear animatronic keeping Gregory safe, Mike was free to attack without worrying about leaving the boy vulnerable. Seeing the group glaring her down (well Freddy's glare was a little to the left of her as he could've actually see her), Vanny knew she had to retreat, especially as she was injured.
"I'll get you next time," Vanny declared venomously, messing with something in her bow.
A high-pitched ringing filled the air, making the humans present instinctively clamp their hands over their ears. The animatronics felt their systems begin to glitch out, not enough to shut them down but enough to severally slow down their reaction time, while the humans felt nauseous and got an extreme headache. Vanny took advantage of her opponents' weakened states to start making her escape.
"You're not… getting away… this time!" Mike grunted, forcing himself to go after her despite the pain in his head. (He had once forced his hollowed-out and decomposing body to stand and walk when Ennard had left him a broken heap on the sidewalk. A little migraine was nothing compared to that.)
Mike forced his sluggish systems to transform his hand as he prepared to shock Vanny into submission. He was about to tackle her when it felt like a freight train rammed into him. His hand turned back to normal as desperately tried to catch himself as he suddenly found himself airborne from the force of the hit. He barely thought about using his wires before he found himself slamming into the nearest obstacle, knocking the wind out of him and making his vision blacken for a second. As he crumpled to the floor, trying to force his lungs to function again, Mike was pretty sure the only reason he wasn't a broken and bloody mess right now was that his cybernetics made him more durable than an ordinary human. He barely got his breathing back to normal when a large metal hand wrapped around his throat, its sharp claws drawing blood.
"Did you really think I wouldn't figure out what you were doing?" William said using Monty's body, lifting Mike into the air by his grip on Mike's neck and making Mike instinctively try and pull the hand away. "That I wouldn't set a trap of my own? That I wouldn't have backup plans just to make sure you wouldn't get away? You've learned a lot over the years Michael, but you aren't as clever as you think you are."
Even if Mike had the oxygen to spare to respond he wasn't given the chance to as he was soon tucked up against Monty's chest. The arm wrapped across his chest kept him pinned tight, leaving no room for Mike to deploy his wires. Monty's hand was wrapped tightly around Mike's animatronic arm, applying enough pressure that he could hear some strain on the metal and keeping Mike's hand at an angle where he wouldn't be able to use its more offensive abilities without hurting himself. It also served as an unspoken threat to completely crush Mike's arm if he tried anything.
Not like that would stop Mike though, sure it'd suck to have his animatronic arm crushed but it was worth it if he managed to escape capture. So while his arm and wires weren't an option, his legs were free and he immediately started kicking the gator animatronic, trying to aim for the weaker joints. Unfortunately, the angle he was being held meant that he couldn't use enough force to do more than surface damage, which Monty ignored.
With his captive secure, Monty used his robotic strength to leap off several of the various decorations until they landed on the catwalks, immediately making it nearly impossible for any of Mike's allies to come to his aide in time. Moon, the one that would have the easiest time following them, was still rebooting after Vanny's tech messed with his systems. Roxy was fast and she was already sprinting to get up there, but it would take time and while she could hold her own, she wouldn't be able to stop Monty on his own and none of the other animatronics had any abilities that would help in this situation. Monty seemed to know this as he stomped across the catwalk at a leisurely pace.
But Mike wasn't out of options yet and he was never one to give up.
"I'm not sure why you even want me father," Mike spat, hoping to distract William while his human hand slowly inched toward his belt. "Considering all the trouble I've caused you, I'd think you'd be more interested in getting rid of me than recruiting me."
"Despite all the trouble you've caused me you're still my son," William replied in a tone that was more possessive than caring. "I'll always want you by my side. Still, I've learned not to underestimate your rebelliousness."
To prove his point, Monty grabbed Mike's wrist just as he was about to pull out his taser, forcing Mike to drop it where it clattered onto the catwalk.
"Try anything else and I'll break your wrist," William informed casually like he was talking about the weather rather than harming his own flesh and blood. "And then rip off your metal limbs just for good measure. Don't worry, I'll put you back together once I'm sure you're under control."
Mike couldn't help but shiver in fear. Just as Mike thought this might be hopeless, Chica came flying up over the side of the catwalk, using Dipper's magnet gun to get up there while the man himself was hanging onto her back. They landed surprisingly gracefully on the catwalk and both of them dropped into defensive stances, Chica giving the magnet gun back to Dipper.
"I'm going to only say this once," Dipper said coldly, eyes glowing with power in his anger. "Let my brother go."