"Then we'll be the first!"
As the scraps, humans, and ghosts sprung into action, William's eyes glinted with rage, he swiftly threw something small and dark onto the floor. The stage exploded with purple smoke - man, this guy really likes purple - and William quickly dashed off to a hidden door to the side. It led to a hall with four other doors. He ran a ways down, then selected a door to the right, entering it carefully.
He smiled as he took in the surroundings. Perfect. This small, fancy room would do nicely. Now, all he needed was some company. He picked up the phone and dialed a number he'd seen on a billboard. William felt the tiniest bit bad for going back on his word, but he was paranoid that this person would reveal his secret. Yes, his time had simply run out.
Steve groaned and ran his hands through his messy blond hair that he hadn't bothered to brush for months. It was still pretty short, and besides, what did it even matter how he looked? What did anything matter? He had nobody to impress, nobody that actually cared about him.
His apartment was long overdue for cleaning and paying the bills, his job wasn't going anywhere, and he had no friends or family to spend his time with. Even going to a park cost money, gas prices were off the charts these days.
He was sitting at a tiny folding desk, rummaging through piles of bills and papers that required signing. Stupid, stupid papers. Stupid, stupid job. Stupid, stupid life.
He sighed. Sometimes, Steve wondered what his life would have been like if he still had his old house, his old job...Stella and Ruby. Really, they had the potential to be the perfect family.
Ruby was so smart, learning new words in the blink of an eye and energetic, always wanting to go outside.
And Stella...Steve would wonder how he managed to marry a girl as perfect as her. She was stunning, having won prom queen in their high school. They met in an art class during the summer when they were both around nineteen. And Stella was working towards a promotion to get her dream job as an orthodontist…
And all of that had been ripped away by-
No. No, no, no, no, no. He wasn't supposed to think about this. He wasn't supposed to think that name, that horrible, terrible name of the man who'd ruined his life. Then Steve would get all riled up. He'd punch a wall, or maybe he'd slump to the floor and cry, or he'd just have a panic attack in general.
Suddenly, his phone began to ring. Panicked, Steve dug through the papers until he found the damn phone six feet deep beneath the mess on his desk.
"Uh, hello?" He asked, trying to keep his voice steady. The number wasn't one he recognized.
"Oh, hey Steve! It's Jim, from work. I got a new phone. Listen, could you meet me here? 8904, Imogen Road. I wanted to talk to you about an exciting new opportunity that I think would suit you perfectly!" The voice said.
Steve tried to contain his excitement. Jim was his boss, and a new opportunity could mean his co-worker Aimee's position, which would definitely be a huge opportunity. Aimee had retired, so that could mean that he'd get the job! "Oh! Yes, okay, I'll be right there. Thank you!" Steve hung up and did a little fist-pump. This was great. Maybe he could turn his life around! He ran down the hall to the elevator and got into his car. Time to drive.
When Steve arrived, he was slightly confused. This road just led off into a ditch and then a thick forest on the outskirts of town. Why would Jim meet him here? Usually they met at coffee shops, or a sunny park somewhere, but this was pretty much the middle of nowhere.
Steve parked his car on the side of the road and stepped out, heading towards the forest. Rain poured down onto him, and he grumbled in annoyance, putting up his hood. Why was it so rainy? It was the middle of July, for God's sake.
"Hello? Jim? I'm here for the meeting." He called out. Jim might just be taking a walk around while he waited.
Just as he thought. Steve spotted a tall silhouette in the woods in front of him. Steve waved, and squinted. Did the figure look taller than Jim was last time he saw him…?
The figure turned his way...and ran straight towards him with an almost inhuman speed.
Steve took a slow step back. "J-Jim?"
The figure laughed, a low, sinister laugh. Steve recognized the laugh. He knew it all too well. It was the laugh of a killer, a monster. The laughter of William Afton.
Steve shook his head and began to run away, but he was tugged back with a harsh grab, nails digging into his skin.
But ever since that day, Steve had been taking self-defense class after self-defense class, preparing for this moment. Steve grabbed his hand and twisted it sharply to the side. By instincts, William let go, and Steve took the opportunity to kick his leg- oh shoot. Never give your attacker an opportunity.
William grabbed his leg and pulled him closer, pressing a wet paper towel to his face. Chloroform. Steve tried to bite and scratch and kick, anything to get this horrible man away from him, but William had an arm wrapped tightly around him and eventually Steve's mouth opened, lungs burning, and the world swam black.
Steve woke up to ropes digging harshly into his wrists and the comforting sound of piano playing. The ropes were expected, the piano playing was not.
He took this opportunity to look around the room and...what? Where was he?
The room he was in had the sickly, overpowering scent of lemon, as if somebody had taken bleach and scrubbed every last inch of the small room twice. The walls had an old-ladyish floral print wallpaper, and the room was dimly lit with a yellow lamp. He sat at one end of the table, and a chair sat at the other. The table was simple and plastic, but covered with a fancy beaded white tablecloth. China plates, cups, and a teapot were on the table, with mini cucumber sandwiches and tiny scones placed on the platters. The cups had steam and a lovely chocolatey scent emitting from them. And to the side was a small electric piano with the man himself, William Afton playing it.
He played three last chords, then turned to the side and smiled when he saw Steve. William sat up, and took a seat on the large chair at the other side. He folded his hands politely. What was almost scarier than what Steve knew he was capable of, was the plastic gloves covering his hands...and his fingerprints. Steve knew the intention of those, and that was what terrified him the most.
"Ah, Steve! You're finally awake. I must admit, it gets lonely down here sometimes. How's life going for you?"
Is he kidding?
"Oh, it's been just peachy." Steve spat. "What do you think? It's been hell since you murdered my family, thanks for asking."
William grinned and took a sip of his chocolate chai tea, and was that pride in his eyes?! That cocky sadistic bastard. Steve wanted to rip that smug grin right off his stupid face.
"Correction: I murdered your wife. Your daughter is still alive and well and living with a new family who loves her more than you ever will. But I didn't bring you here to discuss them. I brought you here to have tea and scones and have a friendly chat." William lifted up a warm, buttery, sugar-coated scone and took a small bite of the dessert with relish.
"If you think I'm just going to sit here and eat desserts and have a normal conversation with you, then you're fucking delusional." Steve snarled.
William raised a thick eyebrow. "Language."
Steve would gladly scream every curse word he knew at William if it pissed him off that much, but then he looked up to see the T rating glaring down at him with a massive ban hammer, and contained himself.
William leaned down, picked up his phone, and put the music on autoplay. A song played that Steve had heard on the radio a couple times, but had never remembered the title...something about the middle of June and heatwaves.
Steve realized William was looking at him expectantly. He figured he should probably say something. "Why did you kidnap my daughter?" He asked. Maybe he could find something out while he was here.
William rolled his eyes. "You're still hung up on her? That was fourteen years ago! And I don't like to think of it as kidnapping...more as rescuing."
Steve's eyes widened. "You think we abused her?!" This coming from a child killer.
William waved a hand. "No, no. I mean I rescued her from a boring life! Suburbs, two-story houses, boring, boring, blah blah. Straight white cookie-cutter dad, straight white cookie-cutter mom, big happy family with the promise of more in the future. You and your wife were nice people, sure, but so plain! Ruby had spice to her, but she wouldn't be able to properly express that in such a simple, basic household! I brought depth and layers to her, I made her what she is today! She'd simply be unhappy with you.
"Now I told you I want to get to know you! Really, I want to be sure you aren't just a simple piece of blank cardboard." William grinned and drank another cup of tea.
"You really like tea." Steve observed. Maybe he could pour the boiling water over his ugly head. William was, technically, a pretty good-looking guy, but the beauty only went skin-deep. If he was being judged by his past, personality, and what he'd done, he'd be a giant pimply hideous purple monster. Hmm. That was a fun mental image.
William laughed. "I'm British, what do you expect? The flavour is chocolate chai, it's quite good. Found it at the farmer's market, locally made. You should try some...oh, that's a shame, the ropes. You can't. Now, I don't quite trust you, as I know that you are quite the slippery fellow. Guess you'll just have to look at it then."
I actually hate him even more now. I didn't think that was possible. Steve thought to himself.
"Tell me about yourself, Steve. Let's see...what's your favourite song? I personally like Control by Halsey. It has a nice beat to it."
Steve snorted. "What, are they relatable to you?" The lyrics of Control were more or less involving murder, which of course made sense.
William shrugged. "Yeah, kind of. I guess I never really thought about it." It was weird how normal he sounded. If Steve had heard just his voice, he'd think he was just talking to a pal, having a nice casual conversation. It was scary. "Now, don't be shy, tell me your favourite band! I really need to expand my library."
"Um, I like Chlorine by twenty one pilots." Steve was a big fan of them, he listened to the band on the radio all the time. Music was a good way to pass the time, the long hours seemed to fly by when a good playlist was on.
William nodded approvingly. "Well, I can't say you have bad taste. I think I can play Heathens on the piano, actually."
He stood up and headed towards the electric piano. William positioned his large hands on the keys, did a couple scales to warm up, and hummed the beginning notes to himself. Then, he began to play.
The notes and chords flew up and down. Scales and arpeggios, flats and sharps, half notes and rests. The song was a good one, but it somehow seemed even more beautiful when played on the piano. Steve was taken aback by how amazing it sounded. He almost congratulated him on how wonderful it was, before he remembered the person who was playing. But Steve had to admit, William was seriously incredible.
Wait. He shouldn't be focusing on the piano playing, no matter how amazing, he should be focusing on escape. Steve wasn't stupid, he knew William brought him here to kill him. But he'd escaped once before and he could do it again. Right now, all he needed to focus on was survival, escaping from these ropes, and freedom out of this room.
Steve wiggled around to get a better grasp of what he was tied up with. This time, William had not only tied up his hands, but his legs and torso too, with many layers of rope. He wasn't getting out easy, that was for sure. But then again, he'd taken an insane amount of self-defense and escape courses after his family was taken. He could find a way out.
First off, hands. Steve focused on pulling and twisting the thick brown rope. Hmmm...this was a lot harder than before. Aha! His left hand was out, and that made it a trillion times easier to get the right hand out. It seemed William had tied his left hand with a lot less rope because most people tended to be right-handed, but Steve happened to be left handed. One of the only times it had ever come in handy - have you ever tried to write on a whiteboard left handed? It always smudged.
But he couldn't go anywhere with his chest tied to the chair. This one would be a lot more tricky. Plus, the song wasn't that long. William would be done soon. Why couldn't he have requested something longer?
The knot was luckily behind him, on his back, so Steve focused all of his attention on getting out of that one. He glanced worriedly over at William, but he looked too absorbed in his playing, lost in his own world, to notice.
Aha! Done. Steve grinned to himself. This was great. Now all he needed was to do the feet- oh crap, William was finishing the song. He needed William to keep being distracted. What would make him keep playing?
"That playing was...wow! Fantastic! Um, do you know how to play that Control song? I'd like to hear it." That's it. Play into his sick and twisted mind. He wanted Steve to cooperate, well, he would. Feed his massive ego until it was too big to control. He knew William hated when things didn't go his way.
William's face broke into a smile. "Do I? I practically wrote this one, it's quite a fun one to play, I must say." He began into the introduction of the song while Steve worked on the legs. "Now Steve, if you're going to play this, I'd advise you use the pedal, as it can really add-"
Bang. He threw his chair to the ground with a flourish, and knocking the plates of the table, he bolted for the door, perfect china smashing behind him.
William growled in frustration. How dare he use his piano playing like that? How dare he ruin the perfect tea he'd set up? Well, the end could come early, he supposed, grabbing the thick blade, heavy with little marks and dents from use. This knife had seen a lot, and it would see many more - if things went right, that is.
William smiled to himself and ran out the door, knife in hand. Steve wouldn't make it far, that was for sure.
Steve exited the room, panting. He was met with a long hallway with six doors on each side. Which to choose. He started with the one in front of him, but before he could open the door, he was yanked back by the collar of his white button-up shirt and a razor-sharp blade was pressed to his neck, a thin line of red leaking out. Steve winced at the sharp sting and his breathing increased.
William spoke slowly and carefully, as if speaking to a dim child. The knife did not wobble, it was perfectly still.
"I told you not to leave. And you did. So this is your punishment." The blade was lifted slightly, his grip weakening. "I let you off easy last time. But this time, you have no escape. You cannot run away. And I will stop at nothing to have you dead." The cold brashness of the words made Steve shiver, the man was completely, deadly serious.
But instead of cowering anymore, He whipped his arm up as fast and hard as he could and kicked his leg back as roughly as he could. William choked, falling back against the wall from the kick. Steve felt an ounce of self-pride, looks like the classes and hours spent were all worth it. Steve grabbed the knife and pinned him up against the wall with his hand over William's mouth.
He lifted the blade, and was about to bring it down when he felt a twinge of hesitance. Was he really going to kill another human being? No matter who it was, wouldn't that just make Steve stoop down to his level, no better than him?
Before he could make any sort of decision, he felt something warm and wet on his palm. Steve yelped and flung his hand back, reflexes kicking in.
"Eww! What the hell, did you just lick me?" Steve gasped, wiping his hand onto his shirt. He was not expecting that, caught off guard, and was furious at himself for letting his guard down. William cackled at his reaction and, quick as a flash, grabbed the knife out of his grasp, spinning right back into action and into control.
Steve cursed under his breath. Now the enemy had a weapon back. Why, why, why didn't he just take the chance when he had it?! Who cares if that was another human being...he shouldn't even count as a person! He was an evil creature, worse than the fairy-tale monsters Steve grew up with. But one thing was for sure, he wouldn't go down without a fight.
And William knew this. Ruby must have gotten it from him. They were both extremely stubborn, refusing to do something they didn't want to do. Despite everything, Steve clearly wanted to live. But if William could knock him down a few pegs (or a whole staircase), then that would surely make him less of a thorn in his side and much, much easier to off.
"Steve, I've been wondering...why are you so determined to live? What are you going to do if you get out, tell the police that some crazy guy had a tea party with you? That he's the Fazbear killer? Do you think they'll believe you?"
He paused. That was true, and he still didn't even know where he was. He had just assumed he was in a house, but he could really be anywhere. What would he tell the police? And would he even tell them?
"And besides, who would miss you if you died down here? Your co-workers don't care. You don't have a family or any friends. I bet nobody would notice if you disappeared just like," he snapped his fingers. "That."
Steve shook his head. "No, wait. I need to get back to my daughter. She's still alive, you said so! I need to find her." He took a step forward, but William put a hand on his shoulder. Not in a grabbing sort of way, but more of a gentle way.
"Do you even recognize her? Would she recognize you?" William asked softly. Steve froze. That was also true. What would she look like? He knew she had blonde hair, but hair darkened over time, plus she could have dyed it. And it had been fourteen years, so she'd be... seventeen. He'd missed her whole life.
A black fog began to engulf him, and Steve sank to his knees. William kept the hand on his shoulder. "She was there. At the beach. You spoke to her, Steve. And yet, you didn't recognize her." He whispered.
Flashbacks to when he took a beach day at Saffron. He remembered her, the girl with red hair who had the name Ruby. How could he have been such an idiot?! He should have realized that this was his daughter he'd been searching for all these years. She was right there in front of him, and he did absolutely nothing about it.
"You know, I can easily recognize my own children on the streets. Even after seven years, I'll pass Michael every now and then. And I easily recognize him. I guess it's something that every good parent has, a sixth sense if you will. I'm a serial killer, Steve. If I can remember my own child off the street and you can't…"
William leaned down. Steve could feel his hot breath on his ear.
"Then what kind of a father does that make you?"
Steve dropped further down. His legs didn't work anymore. What kind of a father did that make him? A bad one. A terrible one. Worse than William, who literally murdered children.
"Maybe...maybe you were right to take Ruby." Steve murmured. "I mean, I couldn't even remember her."
William nodded. "See, now you're getting it. Smart. Now, would Ruby care if you died, right now?" He asked, pacing around him.
Steve was completely numb. He couldn't move even if he wanted to. "No."
"Exactly." William purred. "She wouldn't even notice. Because she has a new family, new friends, and she's doing much better than you would ever do. You're just a failure, Steve. As a father, and a person. A waste of room, and of space."
Steve felt the strings coil around his heart, squeezing and snapping. He was a terrible excuse for a person. How could he have been so dumb? She was right there, and he just yelled and groaned and stormed off. William was right...he didn't deserve life. He didn't deserve anything.
William leaned in closer.
"Goodbye Steve. It was lovely knowing you."
Steve felt the sharp blade enter, twist, and exit his body, and he was lost to the fog.
Blood splattered William's white shirt and purple vest. He looked down at Steve, making sure the light had completely faded from his eyes before letting go. William brought the blade to his face as he licked the blood off it, smirking down with red-stained teeth. How easy it was to manipulate someone. All you had to do was find the cracks, and break them open.
He looked around and noticed the door to the fancy room was slightly ajar, revealing tea and scones and mini cucumber sandwiches. It would be a shame for all that delicious food to go to waste. William stood up, doing a little leap over the blood-soaked body, and went to wash his hands before munching on tasty miniature foods until he was needed again.
"GET CROWBAR-D, BITCH!"
Ruby swung the rusty metal crowbar down into a spaghetti-lookalike scrap animatronic. She beat it over the head several more times until it slumped to the floor.
"Dang, you're really getting into this." Josh said as he kicked a smaller one to the ground. Ruby slammed another one into the wall. She panted and wiped her forehead. Tulisa, led by Mari, had managed to run to Lily's house and back with the small girl. They figured they shouldn't let another kid be traumatized.
"Eh, it's a good way to relieve stress. Also, it's fun." She clobbered another one to either side and held it under her boot until it stopped twitching. Ruby glanced to the side, seeing Tulisa curled up in a corner with Mari.
Josh sighed. "Yeah, she doesn't look too good, does she? Isaac's death really shook her up."
She frowned. Poor Tulisa. It must be terrible, having your dream guy betray you, then be murderer right in front of your eyes.
Josh pointed into a small room. "Hey, there's one in there. Wanna get it?"
Ruby nodded. "Sure." She jogged over and entered the room, wielding a crowbar, but once she was fully in the room, the door swung shut. She gasped and banged on the metal door, but it was no use. No amount of kicking, banging, or punching would get it to open now. A bright light flicked on from behind her and Ruby spun around.
The little girl from before, Jojo, was standing there. She had on a white shirt with a heart on the pocket, and a knee-length lime-green skirt. Her sneakers had Velcro straps and her light hair was tied into two bouncy pigtails. Jojo's narrowed blue eyes flashed with an anger way beyond her years, and her purple-gloved hands held a small, sharp silver dagger.
Ruby backed up, but soon realized she was pinned up against the wall. Her crowbar wouldn't do her much good, but she kept it in her hands just in case. Jojo advanced slowly.
"Every single day, I went out to spy on you and the animatronics. I never understood why you were so important, but I did it anyway. Because he saved me, and he looked after me, better than anyone ever could. Turns out, he wanted you as a daughter. A replacement for me." Jojo swung the blade forward, which Ruby deflected with her crowbar hastily.
Rage blossomed in her eyes and she swung it wildly. "But this time, I'm not going to listen to him. I want you dead. I'll kill you right here, and nobody will know it was me. I-I don't care, and I'm not weak. I put in all this work an' I want the reward to be worth it!" She stopped swinging for a moment, her chest heaving. Tears started to form in the corners of her eyes.
"Please just die already!" She cried out, throwing the knife straight at her head. Ruby yelped and dodged to the side, the knife just grazing her cheek and leaving a small cut.
Jojo dropped to the floor and sobbed. She wiped at her cheeks furiously, but the tears wouldn't stop. "I'm so weak. I-I can't even finish off you. I'm supposed to hate you. So why can't I?!"
Ruby placed a hand on her shoulder. "Because you're strong. It's easy to lose your temper and stab everyone in sight, but you can control it. That takes great strength, and I even find it hard sometimes."
The little girl sniffed. "B-but...I thought not having the guts to kill someone made you weak."
Ruby shook her head, somewhat horrified. What had happened to her to make her like this?
"What...what happened, how did you end up here?" She asked gently, taking a seat on the concrete next to her. Jojo curled up tighter and took a deep breath.
"I don't really remember much...but when I was two, my dad died. Then, my mother died having Malcolm. So we were put into an orphanage, and me and Mal went with a family into foster care. The family had three kids, all older than us. The kids were terrible, and so was the mother, I think her name was Janey. Janey was...abusive, towards me mainly, but when Mal got older, she started being more abusive. Then, one day, when Mal was four and I was six, we snuck out. An' I don't remember anything else until I woke up here. I've been in a room here for one year."
Ruby frowned. One hour was too long to be stuck down here.
"The only other people down here were Cassidy, William, and sometimes Isaac, but I never got to talk to him. William told me what happened. He said that some guy named Henry had kidnapped us and killed us, but he brought us back to life...I mean, kind of. Like as ghosts."
Ruby tilted her head to the side. Henry killing someone? She didn't know the guy at all, but it seemed highly unlikely that he'd do that. Plus, William-the-child-killer seemed like a much more likely candidate for killing the two and blaming it on someone else. And Ruby knew that he had the power to wipe memories.
Jojo looked up. "Listen Ruby. I'm so sorry for trying to kill you. I just...I guess I was jealous." She admitted.
Ruby smiled softly. "I forgive you. But you do need to understand that William is a bad man, an evil man, and he is not your friend. I can almost guarantee that he killed you and your brother. Killing is wrong and you should never do it unless absolutely necessary, okay?" Ruby looked into her shimmering blue eyes.
She nodded and sniffled. "I know now. Thank you, Ruby."
Ruby smiled and grabbed her hand. "C'mon. We've got to finish this."
Jojo wiped her eyes, and the two sped off.
"Oh- hey there lass!" Foxy called out as he and Mangle battled a particularly large robot.
Ruby waved. "Hey! Do you know where William is? We've got to confront him at some point, we may as well do it now."
Foxy shrugged. He gave the robot a punch and it landed on the floor, with Mangle leaping after it with teeth and claws bared. "I don't know. After that rusty bucket o' squid guts took off, I haven't seen him since. We could ask Cassidy, she'd know better than any of us."
Ruby grinned and gave him a thumbs-up, then the two girls ran to the stage, dodging animatronics as they did so. Ruby slammed against the large door, which was locked, of course. The hinges were surprisingly weak for being metal, and the door fell to the floor, sending a cloud of dust around them. Jojo mouthed a 'wow' and they ran inside to look for Cassidy.
The room was surprisingly empty, with the occasional taped-up cardboard box or splash of oil on the floor. But in the corner, they could see the shape of a girl. Ruby and Jojo nodded and they ran towards her.
Cassidy's eyes were closed, her fluffy dark bangs falling down. She was curled up and probably sleeping - considering ghosts didn't breathe it was hard to tell.
"What's wrong with her? Why is she asleep?" Ruby asked quietly, trying not to wake her up.
Jojo frowned. "She does this a lot. She'll sleep for most of the day...and night, she gets me to sneak pills when I go out to spy. She calls it her coping mech-an-is-m. Cassidy says that she can escape into a sort of dreamworld."
Ruby glanced over at the tall girl's sleeping form. How bad was it down here that Cassidy literally had to drug herself asleep to survive?
"Should I wake her up?" Ruby asked.
"Sure, go ahead."
Ruby placed two hands on her shoulders and shook them rapidly. Once, twice, three times, then her golden eyes blinked open. She groaned and sat up.
"What- ugh, what time is it?" Cassidy asked, pinching the bridge of her nose tiredly. She rubbed her eyes wearily and squinted, like she was trying to get used to the room around her.
"Hey. Me and the others were thinking we should try and find William, do you have any idea where he is?" Ruby asked.
"Why do you want to know? He's probably got something planned, you know. He's tricky that way."
Hmm. That was true. William wouldn't just disappear with no reason. He was probably setting up something...like a trap. They'd have to be prepared for anything. Ruby turned to Jojo, but she wouldn't meet her gaze. "Um, well, we figured we should...I guess try and kill him. Is that...okay with you?" For some reason, Ruby felt like asking permission. Who knows, after all that time, Cassidy might feel some sort of attachment to him. She basically completely depended on him and Jojo for food, clothing, items, and social interactions.
Cassidy broke into a wide smile. "You kidding?! I'd do anything to see that loathsome bastard dead-" She paused when she saw Ruby's and Jojo's expressions. "Too much?"
"Not nearly enough, but there is a child present." Ruby told her, ruffling Jojo's light blue hair, which Ruby assumed to be blonde...hard to tell with all that glow.
"I'm not a child!" Jojo squeaked, squirming away and smoothing down her already messed-up hair.
Cassidy and Ruby shared a laugh and the younger girl smiled happily, the spark back in her eyes. She obviously hadn't laughed in forever. Being trapped for a year, probably longer with the person that tortured and killed you, and your friends in front of you? It must have been hell.
"Yeah, I know where he might be. I found this hallway here when we were setting up. He's probably there."
Ruby gave her a thumbs up. Cassidy was the first to leave, followed by Ruby and a slightly reluctant Jojo.
Mari, who had discovered that long spindly limbs might look cool, but turned out to be not very effective and extremely fragile when doing battle. So she had taken it upon herself to hide with Malcolm in the corner and pray that nothing found them. Freddy and Bonnie were fighting nearby, just in case.
Mal noticed them first. "Guys, look! Ruby's here with Cassidy! And...Jojo." When Mal had first seen his sister, he'd been both surprised and happy, but when he found out she was working with him, he'd been a lot less excited. Honestly, he didn't know how to feel.
The animatronics and humans all looked up, grinning. They waved to the trio, who were all on the stage and heading down. Ruby laughed and took a bow, blowing kisses to the crowd. One of the scrap robots giggled and blushed shyly before being promptly punched in the face by Chica.
"Hey guys! Wanna head to a hallway with a bunch of rooms in it to look for William and kill him?" Ruby asked, skipping over to them.
Freddy shrugged. "Sure, why not."
Giving a few robots some friendly punches in the face, the twelve people filed out to a small door hidden behind some boxes in the corner. Foxy threw the boxes aside and helped to push open the door.
Ruby was the first to step in. At first, it looked like a relatively normal hallway. Concrete walls and floor, wooden or metal doors on either side and one at the end. But when Ruby looked down, she noticed in horror the cold, limp corpse lying on the floor, a pool of sticky red blood around it. The blue-glowing figure beside it was slumped down. They looked up and gasped when they met Ruby's shocked hazel gaze.
"Ruby?!"
AN
DUN DUN DUNNNN. Who could it be? Any guesses?