The first thing Mike noticed was that he was cold. He was laying on something hard and uncomfortable that seemed to just suck the heat right out of him. His mind felt like it was full of cotton, making his thoughts slow and sluggish and it wasn't helped by the dull painful throb on the back of his head. When he automatically tried to lift his hand to check his injury, Mike discovered restraints were strapping him down to the cold surface he was laying on.
Realizing he was a prisoner, Mike tried to force his mind to become clearer so he could be more alert and prepared for whatever danger he was in, but not even the adrenaline he should be feeling by now was doing much to sharpen his thoughts.
Right… he had been drugged hadn't he…
Mike forced himself to relax, knowing that panicking wouldn't help him figure a way out of this situation. Keeping his eyes closed and his body mostly limp in an attempt to keep his captor ignorant of his return to consciousness, Mike tried to access his surroundings as much as he could with his other senses.
Now that he was more aware, he could tell he was laying on a metal table of some kind, set up at a mild angle rather than just horizontal. Subtly testing both his animatronic limbs and the bonds holding him, Mike was relieved to find that he didn't seem to have been damaged or tampered with while he was unconscious, but the bonds were strong and fairly tight, only leaving his head free. The air smelled of rot and ash along with a hint of damp earth that came with being underground.
Mike had a strong suspicion of where he was and who had him.
Sure enough, he could hear the metal steps of an animatronic coming closer, bringing an even stronger smell of rot. But more than that was the smothering presence that sent all of Mike's senses on high alert, that dark evil aura of someone that had not only killed but had actively tampered with the laws of life and death. Mike briefly entertained the idea of still pretending to be unconscious but swiftly dismissed it as he was unlikely to gain anything from it and Mike didn't want to act more helpless than he already was.
Mike opened his eyes and turned his head to glare at his father as the mix of animatronic and decomposed flesh approached.
William immediately noticed that Mike was awake, approaching the table he was strapped to and looming over him as he greeted, "Hello Michael, it's good to finally see you again."
"Father," Mike spat, turning the simple word into an insult to convey his hatred and disgust for the creature before him.
William's body was looking a lot better than when Mike had last seen him, despite having been trapped in a burning building in the meantime. More had survived the fire than Mike would have expected, including bones and vein-like flesh, but most of the body seemed newer as if someone had repaired it with modern parts.
Guess Mike finally knew what happened to Glamrock Bonnie's stolen body.
"I never got the chance to properly see you when last we met," William commented casually, running a metal finger along Mike's jaw which Mike attempted to jerk away from. "What with the mask covering your face. Did you really think that I wouldn't recognize you with it? Or were you more concerned about the possibility that I would have figured out that the demon had managed to bring you back to life?"
"Jealous that there was an even bigger sadistic bastard out there that managed with a snap of his fingers what you've been chasing after for decades but will never achieve?" Mike shot back.
"And yet I'm the one still here," William chuckled darkly, moving out of Mike's line of sight and messing with some equipment. "For all that that triangle boasted about the power he had, the rewards he'd give me if I helped him, and how much I would suffer when I refused to fall for his string-attached promises, he still failed to conquer this world while I'm closer than ever to reaching my goals. You even managed to get the best of him and whatever deal he had settled on, but then, you always were cleverer than people gave you credit for."
Was it Mike's imagination or did William sound proud that Mike had been able to outsmart a demon?
"Why did you have me brought here?" Mike asked deciding to just cut to the chase rather than dwell too much on the complicated feelings that came with the idea of his father being proud of him. Mike, of course, had very strong suspicions about why he was here, but he wanted to make his father say it.
"You think I would bring you here with ulterior motives?" William asked with mock offense, coming back to the side of the table. "Is it so wrong for a caring father to want to be reunited with his child?"
"Some 'caring father' you are," Mike couldn't help the bitter disbelieving laugh that bubbled up from his throat as he looked at William with pure hatred. "Considering you're the reason every single one of us died, you've lost the right to call yourself a father. After all, what kind of father would get his children, that he supposedly cared so much about, murdered by the very things he had created? You don't care about us. You just can't admit that you screwed up and that you'll never be able to fix what you've done."
The words had barely left Mike's mouth before William's hand was wrapped around his throat, the sharp claws drawing blood as they dug into his flesh.
"You insolent CHILD!" William snarled, his eyes burning brightly with his fury. "You don't know anything! Everything. EVERYTHING that I've done has been for this family. Every life I've taken. Every experiment. Every deed I've done that you considered monstrous has been to make our family perfect and eternal. You've just been too stubborn to see it. You've always been so STUBBORN!"
The hand around his throat squeezed even tighter, cutting off his airway, and suddenly Mike wasn't an adult that survived the end of the world and goes on crazy adventures for the fun of it. Instead, he was a terrified teenager trapped under his father's wrath with no escape and no one to turn to help. Mike's hands clawed uselessly at the metal table beneath him as he panicked, helpless as his vision began to darken and his lungs burned.
Just when he began to believe William was actually going to kill him, the hand released him and Mike desperately gasped for air.
"Even after all this time you still refuse to see that the sacrifices I've made are all for you and your siblings' benefit," William went on, his calmer tone somehow far more terrifying than the rage that Mike had just witnessed. "No matter… once I'm done with you you'll finally see things my way…"
"I'm not going to become a puppet for your stupid virus!" Mike said as firmly as he could with his horse voice, coughing as his breathing stabilized.
"I can understand why you would assume that's what's about to happen, but no," William said with slight amusement, getting a confused look from Mike. "I have a much grander purpose for you in mind."
"W-what are going to do to me?" Mike asked, hating how his voice trembled in fear.
"You see, ever since you burned my body this last time, I've been having trouble getting a proper vessel," William explained, slowly walking around Mike's trapped form. "Vanny was a good temporary host, but she's always been reluctant to fully commit to my vision. So I had her start reconstructing and repairing my original body. Unfortunately, even with my guidance and genius her mechanical skills were lackluster and this body still lacks much of the finesse I'm going to need to bring your siblings back. But then I found out about you…"
Mike had a sinking feeling about where this was going as William leaned over him, desire etched in his every movement.
"You are just what I need," William grinned, his hand trapping Mike's chin and forcing his son to look right at him. "The perfect balance of human and machine and stuffed to the brim with all the remnant I could need to get my strength back. I'll have all the fine motor skills I'll need to create the perfect vessels for myself and your siblings. And thanks to my cybernetic designs installed throughout your body and mind, I won't have to worry nearly as much about things like free will getting in the way and slowing down my progress."
"NO!" Mike shouted in fear and denial, desperately struggling against his bonds for the slightest chance to escape. "NO! I won't let you!"
"You don't have much of a choice Michael," William sneered, digging his metal claws into Mike's human shoulder. "And not even your new little tricks will be able to save you."
Mike grit his teeth and refused to give William the satisfaction of hearing him cry out in pain as William carved deep gashes in his flesh. When William pulled his hand away, the bleeding wounds had completely cut through the tattoo's design, rendering its magic useless and leaving Mike far more vulnerable to what William was about to do. Without even bothering to wipe off the blood still dripping from his fingers, William firmly pressed Mike's face to the side, keeping Mike's head still as William pressed the hidden buttons to open up the face plates around Mike's eye and reveal the ports underneath.
"Please, father! Don't do this!" Mike begged desperately, body trembling in terror. If there was even a shred of the caring man that Mike once knew and that William still claimed to be, he wouldn't force Mike to relive one of his worst nightmares again.
"Oh don't complain, you'll have your body back when I'm done with it," William replied uncaringly, connecting cables to the ports in Mike's head. "Once I finally get rid of your persistent rebellious streak."
Hearing William's heartless words helped Mike get over his terror and replaced it with steely resolve. If William just thought Mike was just going to sit back and let William do whatever he wanted with his body and soul then he clearly underestimated Mike. No, Mike had gained a lot of experience and control over his own soul from learning to use his astral projection abilities and of course, was no stranger to all sorts of mind control. Mike would fight as long as he can and when William inevitably gained the upper hand, Mike would slip out of his grasp at the last second. Mike's animatronic parts might have been originally designed by William, but he and his family had improved upon them and added plenty of their own code and safety measures. Mike knew his own systems better than anyone else ever could and he knew he could find places to hide in his code until there came the perfect time to strike back.
All he would have to do is wait until his brother came to his rescue as Mike knew with his heart and soul that Dipper was already on his way.
Mike would be ready.
There was no more time to plan or prepare as William connected his own systems to Mike's and started trying to break into Mike's systems and even his very mind.