"Take that, dumb Pawadan!" Hazel crowed, stabbing Lucas with a cheap plastic lightsaber. The twins, who had never actually seen any of the Moon Wars films, being five, had been making up a twisted version of the series, with Hazel being Queen Yoda and Lucas being the incredibly evil Darth Pawadan. The play had been very entertaining for both Ruby and Birch. Almond was at her friend Effie's house for a sleepover, and Lily was hiding away in her room-cave. Again. Seriously, Ruby needed to go have a talk with her. Ruby loved hiding in her room too, but Lily needed to have some human interaction.
Adam and Trent had felt so terrible about going for an all-night work project, and had apologized to Ruby profusely, but Ruby assured them it was no big deal, that she did this all the time. It was currently eight-thirty on a Saturday, and the twins had been having a blast for the past two hours.
Ruby stood up. "Hey, I'm going to go talk to Lily for a bit. Can you two watch Birch for a sec?"
Hazel and Lucas saluted and continued on their epic lightsaber fight, just barely dodging lamps and vases. Ruby sighed. Those kids were going to be the death of her.
"Hey, Lily? Can I come in?" Ruby knocked on the door and called softly. There was a pause and then a muffled, "Whatever." from Lily's end.
Ruby creaked the door to Lily and Almond's room open and gasped. It was one of the most beautiful kids rooms she'd ever seen. The room was large and a beautiful shade of light mint. Certificates and ribbons for horse riding, swimming, and coding hung on the walls, signed to Almond for horse riding and swimming, and Lily for coding. The two girls shared a bunk bed. Lily on the top, and Almond on the bottom, her side covered in stuffies. Lily was curled up in several fluffy blankets, her face hidden by the glow of her sticker-coated laptop.
"Hey. So, what's your deal? I've let it slide the past four times I've baby-sat, but now it's becoming a problem. You can't just hide in your room all day, you need to come out at some point." Ruby said, with a stern edge.
The small girl didn't flinch. "Whatever. You can't tell me what to do." She pressed a couple more keys on her laptop, then gasped when Ruby snatched it. "Hey! Give that back, that's mine!" But Ruby was holding it up too high for the little girl to reach. Lily bounced up and down a couple times, then stopped, glaring at Ruby and straightening her black curls.
"And...bam. No more WiFi for you, missy. Now tell me what's going on, or else no more laptop." Ruby instructed.
Lily rolled her eyes and jumped on the bed. "I know how to get the WiFi password, that's one of the first things I learned how to do. You just go into settings, and then type internet-underscore-"
"LILY! Please, just tell me why you're like this! I swear, I won't tell anyone else, and you are just going to make this harder for yourself." Ruby sighed in exasperation.
Lily's eyes darted from side to side, as if thinking about making a mad dash for freedom, but she sighed and plopped down on Almond's bed. "So, you know how me and my siblings are adopted- wait, sorry, stupid question. Of course you do. Well, after my biological mother had me, she put me and my brother Oakley up for adoption. Even though we were nine years apart, we were still really close. And then three years later, when he was twelve, my dads adopted us. But now that he's gone for college-"
She sniffled, her eyes glimmering. "It's like everyone just forgot about him! I've caught Daddy saying that they only have five kids! It was only once, but still. It hurt to see them almost forget about Oakley like that. And I know it's been a year now, and I should be over it, but he's all the way in Alberta and I just miss him so much!"
She burst into tears at that. Ruby leaned over and wrapped the little girl in a hug, patting her back. Why did she always have to reassure people who were crying? She was terrible at it.
Lily sniffled and wiped her nose. "I'm sorry." She murmured.
Ruby shook her head. "Hey, don't be sorry. My sister Raven is going to college in September too, and she's going to California. Plus, I recently found out that I was adopted, which was kind of weird. So I can sort of relate."
Lily smiled, and gave her another hug. "I'm sorry I was such a brat. I'll really try to be nicer from now on. I'm just going to finish up this minigame I'm coding, and I'll be out there in a couple minutes."
Ruby gave her a thumbs up. "Okay, see you out there!"
When she got back to the living room, Hazel was proudly showing off a tray of baby carrots that she'd arranged to look like a smile. Birch especially found it interesting.
"Love the smile, Hazel. What's its name?" Ruby asked, taking a seat on their large red couch.
"Mmm... Professor Sprout of CarrotClan!" Hazel decided.
And Ruby was just about to make a comment on how absolutely fantastic the carrot face was, when she heard a scream from down the hall.
Ruby froze. Her blood turned to ice. She got up from her seat and ran down the hallway, pausing at Lily's door, slightly ajar.
"Lily? You okay?" She called nervously. No response. She creaked open the door.
Lily wasn't there. No sign of her on the top or bottom bunk. The window was open, her yellow curtains blowing in the wind.
Oh God... Ruby's worst fear as a big-kid-sitter was coming true. She had probably been kidnapped, or abducted, or-
No. She had to think rationally. Maybe Lily had stepped outside for a breath of fresh air? But then why would she go to all the trouble of sneaking out, when she could just go out the front door? Some creep probably saw her through the window and snatched her! Ruby fell to the floor. She was the worst big-kid-sitter ever…
"Ruby! Ruby! Your phone is making noises!"
Hazel ran, pushing Lucas down the hallway, Lucas carrying Ruby's phone in his hand.
Ruby picked it up and realized someone was spamming her on her Messages app. She put in her password and checked the texts.
thefoxiestfox: COME TO THE PIZZERIA, MATEY!
chicachick: ruby come to the pizzeria quick please it's an emergency.
chicachick: someone is here and they're saying that william took lily
chicachick: seriously come here Ruby.
bonniebell: Ruby hurry up
bonniebell: Chica did you change my username omfg
chicachick: that's not relevant right now
bonniebell: I'm going to stab a fork in your eye socket
chicachick: omg shush we're trying to get Ruby
mangarang: RUBYYYY
mangarang: WHY AREN'T YOU ANSWERINGGG
fredbread: Ruby seriously come here this is a big deal
thefoxiestfox: RUBY LASS GET OVER HERE
rubyred: give me a second I'm big-kid-sitting here
chicachick: HURRY UPPPPPP
Ruby signed out of Messages and stood up. She had to get there as fast as possible! It was about a fifteen-minute bike ride, she could handle that- right?
But as she stood up to leave, she remembered. Crap. Who was going to watch the kids? She couldn't bring them with her on her bike, that wouldn't work. Aha! Ginger. She said that she babysat a lot for her younger cousins, Edalyn, Luz, Willow, and King. Okay. So if Adam and Trent were going to be back by seven AM the next day, that meant she'd have all night.
She quickly dialed Ginger's number. When a little pastel blue, pink, and white sheep profile picture showed up and it said 'calling gingerbreadfloof', Ruby held the phone up to her ear.
"Oh, hi Ruby! What's up?" Ginger's cheerful voice popped in.
"Hey. So, I need to ask you a favour." Ruby leaned on the wall and ran a hand through her velvet-cupcake hair. "Uh, could you babysit three kids for me till six? I know it's a lot...they live on 5798 Amity Drive-"
"Oh, the Carters! I've sat for them before, they're only a block away! Plus, my parents are out of town for their anniversary tonight, so I can be right over in five."
Ruby breathed a sigh of relief. "Thanks Ginger. I'll be sure to drop the money off at your house." Ruby hung up. She turned to the curious eyes of the twins and leaned down to look them in the eyes.
"Hey, so I have to go get Lily. It might take till six, so a friend of mine is going to babysit- er, big-kid-sit. You two remember Ginger?" The twins nodded. "Good, well she'll be over soon. Not a word of this to your dads, okay?" Ruby looked at them both carefully.
They nodded solemnly. Ruby ruffled their fluffy dark hair and they giggled and squirmed. "Alright. See you two in the morning."
Hazel grinned and began to push her brother over to the front door so they could say hi to their new big-kid-sitter.
Ruby sighed and ran out to grab her bike. This was going to be... interesting.
The moment she stepped in the door she was immediately pounced on by her friends yelling about how late she was. And wait...there were two new faces here too.
The first one was a tall, slim girl with brown hair in low pigtail and black eyes with white pinprick pupils. She was wearing a baggy gray T-hoodie with striped sleeves and- wait, wasn't this the girl in her dream? Huh. That must be the new guest. But then, who was this other person? Looked like a little kid. The other one was a small boy with curly brown hair and wide blue eyes. He had two rosy red cheeks like the rest of the animatronics and a blue-and-red striped pinwheel hat. His shirt was striped the same with two black buttons and he wore simple jeans and sneakers lower down. He carried two small cars and a large yellow-and-red balloon.
The child looked up and grinned when he saw her. "Hi Ruby! It's me, Malcolm. Do you remember me?"
Huh. It was the kid in the bunker. How'd he get this makeover, then? Did Charlie do this? It made sense.
"So...you're Charlie, right? I remember you...kind of." Ruby walked over to her.
Charlie shifted from side to side. "Um, I'd actually prefer it if you called me Mari. Just while I'm in the animatronic suit." She looked away shyly.
Ruby smiled. "Can do. So, what's up with Mal's new body?" She gestured to the small boy, who was looking under tables as if searching for something.
Mari grinned. "Do you like it? I found it in a spare parts closet in some random building. I figured I should contain him so he doesn't slip into Shadow again, like I did."
At the mention of Shadow, the small boy shivered and turned away. Mari gave her an apologetic look. "He doesn't like to talk about it. Apparently his experience was a lot worse than mine."
"So, shouldn't we be goi-"
The door opening cut off Bonnie's sentence. Everyone froze as two people stepped in.
"We came here as fast as we could! We are ready to save Lily!" Tulisa yelled, putting up her fist in a sort of superhero pose. Josh rolled his eyes and tugged her fist down.
Bonnie turned to Foxy. "Did you send it in the group chat with them?!"
Foxy rubbed the back of his neck. "I, ah, might've done something like that. But c'mon, matey, the lass is good with tech. And the lad...er, he's quite shiny."
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?!" Josh yelled. Tulisa pointed to his gold necklace, earrings, and nose piercing that he'd recently got, and his lavender hoodie with sequins on the bottom that made little sparkles on the floor like a disco ball. "Okay, fine. Keen observation. But I'm useful too! I'm fast!" Josh protested.
Tulisa shrugged. "Eh, he's got a point. So, what are we waiting for? Let's go save Lily!"
The ten - wow, their group had really expanded - people rushed to the door, but Freddy halted. "Wait a second. Guys, we can't leave the building."
Mari tilted her head to the side. "What? Why?"
"It's some dumb thing William figured out how to do, something with our souls. I'm not sure how it works exactly, but it's what's kept us here." Bonnie rolled his eyes.
Mari thought about it for a moment, then an idea flashed in her eyes. "Hmmm. Let me try something. Hop out of your suits."
The five complied dubiously. Mari rubbed her hands together and stepped back.
"Alright. I'm not sure how well this is going to work, but I think I might be able to reverse it. Now stand extremely still."
The five stood stone-still as a bright blue light began to envelop Mari's hands and their bodies. The five of them suddenly lifted into the air, ascending a few feet. It was an interesting feeling...warm and tingly and also kind of fuzzy. Almost like a can of soda, except they were the soda.
Then suddenly there was an electric jolt of pain, and the five animatronics yelped. Mari winced. "Sorry! So sorry. Ah, let me see here…" She moved her hands in a detailed and complicated way. Ruby watched, transfixed. "Got it!" She grinned, and moved her hands up, then brought them crashing down to the floor. As well as the animatronics, unfortunately. Bonnie muttered something colourful under his breath at the sudden drop.
Mangle rubbed her head, her white hair standing on end like a cartoon character. "Oww. Warn me next time."
"Sorry." Mari held out her slender white hand, which Mangle took gratefully.
"Oh, stop apologizing. Let's see if it worked!" Chica squealed, bouncing up and down in excitement. She couldn't wait to feel the wind on her skin, the sun on her face, the rain in her hair. It would feel so nice...
"Race ya to the door, bilge rat!" Foxy crowed, dashing past her. Chica narrowed her sky-blue eyes. "Not if I get there first!" She sped off after him.
"I really hope this works, or they're going to get a nasty shock. Literally." Freddy said, taking a tentative step forward.
Bonnie shrugged. "I'd be happy with either outcome. Boop." He booped Freddy's nose and ran off. A wonderful squeaking sound emitted.
Ruby gasped in wonder. "Y-your nose...it squeaks!" She leaned over and booped it again and giggled wildly when it made a squeaking noise.
Freddy rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah, whatever. Now just- hey, what are you doing?"
"Boop." Ruby booped Bonnie's nose, who growled and tried to claw at her, but she ducked away quickly, cackling. "Boop." She booped Foxy and Mangle's noses.
"Boo- NO! SHE DOESN'T HAVE A BOOPABLE SNOOT!" Ruby leaned over to boop Chica, but cried out and sunk to the floor when she realized the travesty that her nose did, in fact, not squeak, as her animatronic form lacked a snoot. In replacement was an orange beak, or in her ghost form, an orange triangular arch above her boopless nose. Truly a curse of the ages.
Chica smiled and shrugged apologetically, and looked like she was about to say something, but was cut off by Foxy's yelling.
"IT WORKS! Haha, slow sea slugs, I'm first an' yer last." He stuck out his tongue. Chica copied the gesture and stepped out, the three other animatronics following behind her.
"Wow...look at that sunshine. I haven't seen that skylubber in years." Foxy sighed.
Mangle punched his shoulder affectionately. "Idiot. Yes you have, you can just look out the window. And don't look at the sun!"
"Aye, I've only got one eye!" Foxy grinned.
Bonnie took a small step down the front stairs, then another. Freddy joined him, and so did the others. They all felt a bit like Rapunzel leaving her tower for the first time. Everything was so cool and different. Nothing too unexpected, they kept up with the world by watching the news and regularly going on social media, but it was still a bit of a shock to actually get to experience it all for the first time in years.
Ruby smiled, happy that her friends were happy. But it was then that she remembered something. "Um...where exactly are we supposed to go? Do you know where William took her, Mari?" Ruby asked. She really hoped the sick serial killer didn't hurt her, but she knew he wouldn't be past that. It seemed nothing was too low for him.
Mari nodded. "Yeah...Cassidy told me. She showed me the way in a dream." Mari told them. Freddy, Chica, Foxy and Mangle gasped, but Bonnie nodded.
"Yeah, she mentioned that. So, which way?" He asked.
Mari pointed down the road. "Just follow me, it's on the other side of town, by the forest. We're pretty close already, we can probably make it in ten or so minutes."
The ten friends began their walk down, making sure to stay safe and look both ways before they crossed the streets, which luckily weren't too busy, it being nine o'clock at night, and Hurricane being a pretty small and quiet town.
Malcolm tugged at Ruby's sleeve. She looked down. "Hey, what's up?" She asked. Malcolm held his favourite toy cars up and frowned.
"Well, these cars were racing cars, but then I lost the batteries. Do you have any?" He asked, tilting his head to the side.
Ruby dug around in her leather jacket's pockets but found none. And her light red skirt had no pockets. She shrugged. "Sorry, kid. Maybe try asking the others?"
What Ruby had meant by that was politely requesting they check for batteries. Not, in fact, hopping up and down and pestering each and every one of her friends for batteries. This kid was an insane beggar, Ruby would've given him all the batteries in the world just to shut up. But he was only about five or six, so she really couldn't blame him too much. She had certainly been much more annoying when she was his age.
After seven more minutes of an energetic Malcolm, a whiny Bonnie and Foxy, and a tired Freddy, they reached a manhole by a forest on the other side of a road. Mari nodded and with great strength, she lifted it up. Darkness loomed it's gaping mouth below, and a small rusty ladder was there to help get down.
Chica gulped. "W-we have to go d-down...there?" She asked, stammering. It looked a little scary, and a lot illegal. Then again, she killed people, so maybe that wasn't such a bad thing in the grand scheme of everything.
Mari went down first, followed happily by Ruby, then Malcolm, Foxy, Bonnie, Mangle Tulisa, Freddy, Josh, and finally, Chica. They looked around in wonder at the...darkness. There was literally nothing there, they couldn't see. But luckily, Ruby remembered she had her night guard flashlight. She flicked it on, and now they could finally see. They appeared to be in a sewer...well, obviously. They were on the left side of it, and the sludgy dark water went all sorts of ways. Ruby turned around to talk to the group and-
"ARG! Stop it with that blinding light, lass! Argh!" Foxy covered his face and growled in pain.
Ruby pointed it away and winced. "Sorry!"
Mari sighed. "Cassidy didn't tell me which way to go here, we didn't get this far...I guess we could just wander around aimlessly, but that would be...well, we'd probably get lost." She groaned.
This seemed hopeless. They needed to find and save Lily, but how could they do that when they didn't even know where she was? In this maze, this labyrinth, they could wander for hours and hours and never find her. It seemed there would be no escape, until they spotted a bright blue light from down a hallway to their right.
"Quick! Turn off your flashlight!" Tulisa hissed, nudging Ruby. Ruby quickly flicked it off, and they watched in fascination as a little girl with two light pigtails on her head, slightly darker shorts, and a striped shirt wandered down the hall and to the left.
Malcolm's eyes lit up. "Joey!" He gasped. He looked up at the older ones. "That's Jojo! She's my big sister! I thought she died too!" Malcolm grinned. "Let's follow her!"
Everyone looked at Mari, who shrugged. "I mean, it's the best lead we have. Keep a safe distance from her though, we don't want her knowing that we're following her."
Unfortunately, for three humans and seven animatronics, this task proved difficult. While the ghosts were not technically in the suits, this meant ten people, one tiny ledge, trying to be sneaky and not alert the girl of their presence.
Finally, though, Jojo reached the door. She quietly stepped in and shut the door behind her. Ruby grinned and ran over. She tried the handle.
"Dammit, it's locked. Why is it always locked?" Ruby cursed. She took a couple steps back, and rammed into it. "Owww…" Turns out, 17-year-old-girl + one heavy metal door = lots of bruises. And pain. Lots of that, too.
Mari frowned. With her slender form, she wasn't exactly built to bust open a door. And Malcolm only went up to her knees, he was in no shape to do that either.
Bonnie shrugged, and switched into his animatronic form. He figured he could control himself enough. "Bam. Done." Bonnie smashed open the door and as quickly as he could, before his eyes could switch to black, he shifted into human form. Not exactly a quiet entrance, but it worked.
When they entered the room, lights flickered on the floor, as if they were on a runway, and the door, which had apparently been replaced, slammed shut. Ruby looked around. The room they were in was weirdly large, about the size of a gymnasium. The walls, floor, and ceiling were all made up of hard gray cracked concrete. The lights on the floor shone purple. And if Ruby squinted, she could just make out a stage in front of her. Wait. A stage?
Applause suddenly broke out, and a loud, cheerful, game show song played. A spotlight shone down on the stage, and a man with a microphone stepped out. He had fluffy dark hair streaked with silver put in a ponytail. He had stubble on his chin and a wild look in his one gray eye and one violet eye. He had on a button-up white shirt, and a sparkly, star-printed purple vest on top. He wore black ripped jeans and a silver-studded belt. His shoes were fancy black dress shoes.
Ruby would recognize that man anywhere. He was none other than William Afton.
"Hello everyone, and welcome to tonight's show! Now, tonight we've got plenty of guests! Some from around here, some from the other side, if you know what I mean." He winked, and a generic laugh track played. "Now, we've got the Fazbear Gang here. All fluffy and adorable, as usual! Plus some twins! My my, looks like you're the ones being trapped now! Stop trapping parents, am I right?"
Agreeing murmurs rang around the room. There must be speakers surrounding them of some sort.
"Plus we've got the lovely Marionette. Lucky us, we got her here, no strings attached!" Cue laugh track. "And it looks like bootleg Pinocchio is here too! Been a while since he was a real boy, must say." William took a step closer and grinned with an air of confidence that only he would have. "And our special guest, with hair that could rival Cat Valentine's and a temper to match the colour, please welcome...Ruby Roxanne!"
Applause burst out, and suddenly, bright fluorescent lights from above shone down, and William grabbed her hand and twirled her around. "Ruby, Ruby, Ruby. How long it has been since I've seen you. You're quite good at running, you know. But this time, my dear, you will not get away." He said lightly.
"Where. Is. Lily." Ruby growled through clenched teeth.
William snapped his fingers. "Ah, the bratty one. She's right here. You may give her to the others, she is no use to me other than bait."
With two claps, a door was opened, and Lily ran crying into Ruby's arms.
"I'm so sorry Ruby! If it wasn't for me, you wouldn't be here, and it's all my fault!" She cried harder, her shoulders shaking.
Ruby stroked her black braids soothingly. "Hey, it's not your fault. Blame him."
She shot a glare at William, who had a cocky smirk plastered on his face. "Now, I must go back on the stage! I have some people to thank for this show tonight. First of all, I'd like to thank Cassidy for helping with the setup. Really, dear, I couldn't have done it without you."
Cassidy glared daggers at him. If looks could kill, William would have instantly evaporated.
"Next, I'd like to thank Jojo for getting all the information on the animatronics. I'm sure she had a blast going to the pizzeria every day, so thank you Jojo." The little girl with the pigtails stepped out, beaming. She gave him a hug and looked out into the audience, her smile faltering when she saw Mangle's shocked expression. She remembered Mangle...no. Her pretend-father was more important.
"And finally, for getting all the information on your plans and whereabouts, a big thank you to Isaac Martin! I mean, betraying your girlfriend too? That's true loyalty." William grinned maliciously. He knew exactly what he was doing, and he was here for every second of the drama.
Isaac stepped out, then gasped when he saw Tulisa's face. He took a small step forward. "T-tulisa? What...what are you doing here?"
Tulisa shook her head. Tears welled in her eyes. "You sold us out? To him?!" Ruby had informed her and Josh of what had happened to the animatronics, with their permission of course. They said they trusted them enough.
Isaac shook his head and backed away. "No- he said that it would only be Ruby here! He said that he was her uncle, and he wanted to see her! He said that-"
Isaac was cut off by a knife being driven into his stomach and twisted harshly. He gasped and a gruesome gurgling sound emitted from his throat. His eyes rolled back so that you could only see the whites, and then Isaac was dead. Dead.
Tulisa made a strangled sound and reached out uselessly. Tears ran down her face and she let out a choked sob. Ruby quickly covered Lily's eyes and backed away in horror. He'd just...killed him. Like that. Without even getting a chance to explain himself.
William wiped the blood off the blade with a light blue linen cloth and let his limp body fall to the floor. He brushed it aside with the toe of his fancy shoe and glanced at it, tilting his head to the side, then shrugging. "Hmm, how unfortunate. Young love. Anyways, where was I?" He smiled and pulled out a green-and-pink beaded necklace from his jacket pocket, then turned to an expectant Jojo, who didn't even look fazed at the death that had just occurred. How many deaths had she seen to not even get a reaction? One? Ten? A hundred?
"To my favourite daughter." He said proudly, staring right at Cassidy with a pointed look.
Cassidy, who was wearing handcuffs, struggled against her restraints and glared at him with sharp golden eyes. "She is not your daughter. Murdering her brother and her, and then manipulating her into thinking that you saved her is not family." She hissed.
William shook his head, but he looked somewhat panicked. Ruby took note of this. This was his weakness: not being in control. He would mold people into his twisted little family, edit them to be what he always wanted for himself. He was a control freak, and Ruby needed to figure out how to take that away.
"Cassidy, Cassidy, Cassidy. Children don't have to be blood related to be family! I thought that was obvious. It seems you haven't been able to grasp that properly." William led her offstage with a struggle and closed the door. Cassidy banged on the frame, but it was no use. She closed her eyes and sunk to the floor. Just block it out. Go to your happy place. She hummed a tune, willing herself to fall asleep into a dreamland. Just run away, block it out, stash it away for a time that will never come. Just be fine, be okay.
She shook her head. No. She couldn't just run away from all of her problems, throw them in the corner for later. This was later, and she needed to figure out a way out.
Back in the main room, Ruby stood up and shook her head. "This is dumb, you know. We have seven large animatronics, plus three humans who can easily take you." That bit was more of a lie, Ruby doubted they could take him. "And you have yourself, a girl who hates you, and a toddler version of JoJo Siwa."
Jojo glared at her. "I'm eight! And I'm not JoJo Siwa! Stupid octopus!" She yelled and stamped her foot.
Ruby shrugged. "And William, I know you're some big shot serial killer or whatever, but how are you going to take seven animatronics? You're a flesh and blood human, you don't stand a chance." She had no intention of leaving the murderer alive, by the way. He deserved to sink down to the lowest fiery depths of hell for what he did.
William smirked. "Confident, are we?" He pulled out a small button from his jacket and pressed it.
Then was a creaking sound, and then Ruby watched as hundreds of tiny red eyes emerged from the darkness, rising and falling like waves. Her friends backed away slightly, as more and more kept coming.
Ruby gasped, and looked at William. "It was you. You were the one who led the scraps to the pizzeria!" She yelled.
"Guilty as charged. I wanted to see how you fared with oh, maybe fifty or so. How are you going to do with two hundred?" He laughed lowly, his shoulders shaking. He eventually stopped and exchanged a callused hand towards her. "Listen here, Ruby. You or your friends don't stand a chance. I'm going to kill them and take you anyways, so why don't you forfeit now? Your friends and that insufferable little child can leave, free of charge, and I'll take you. How does that sound?"
Ruby looked behind her. Every single one was shaking their heads, including Lily. Ruby smiled softly. Her friends would never give up without a fight, that was for sure. She took a step forward and glared straight at him.
"Listen here, Afton. I don't know what you think you're doing, or who you think we are, but we are not going to give up just like that. We've defeated these things before, we can kill them again."
"You do realize nobody's ever beat me before, correct?" William laughed, as if talking to a dumb child.
Ruby grinned as she looked at the determined faces of her friends.
Mari and Malcolm, she barely knew them but she felt like she'd known them for years.
Freddy, the leader of the band who appeared like a pushover but was really one of the bravest people she knew.
Bonnie, tough with a hard exterior, but was caring and sweet to the people he loved the most (though he'd never admit it).
Chica, energetic and bouncy, and was the kindest person she knew, would always lend a helping hand to those in need.
Foxy, who was sort of an idiot at times, but he was creative and hilarious which made him a charming character.
Mangle, an artist and a designer who would always listen if you were having a rough day.
Lily, who'd started out an annoying brat, but to her friends and family, she was the most empathetic little girl ever.
And finally, Tulisa and Josh, her cheerful best friends who were always amazing to be around.
Ruby turned back to William, who had an expectant and somewhat bored look on his face. She gave one last determined look at her friends, then wielded a crowbar she'd found on the floor and yelled out.
"Then we'll be the first!"
The two sides sprung into action and the battle for freedom had begun.