Remnant of Agony 2 - (FNAF AU + Xovers)
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Michael Henry Afton was sure this was a trap of sort.
Years and years of facing the ramifications of the greatest betrayal he could have suffered through had made him grown out of any trust or sympathy he had for people. Especially if those were even so slightly related to his family.
He had been on the lookout to see if he could find his father. The bastard has survived the Fazbear Frights' fire and he had gone under his radar for months now. He thought that a large charred animatronic would have been easy to track down but... it was not. Even looking at online forums yielded close to no results. There have been moves.
Circus Baby, or something similar to her, was caught in picture while haunting a specific section of the sewers, but that wasn't something Mike wanted to check himself. He had lost enough hopes with Elizabeth and he didn't need to be put down for good by her haunted animatronic in such an enclosed space.
Then there were rumors of a potential re-opening. Insane, and yet he was soon caught off-guard by the advertisement of a new Pizzeria on the grounds of old Fredbear Diner. It was absurd to think his father had anything to do with this, and he knew for a thing that the only one that could make this kind of moves was... Uncle Henry. It had to have been him.
He had a bone to pick with William, and maybe he got tipped off that the bastard was still alive after the fire Fazbear Fright. Especially with the 'Golden Bonnie' suit appearing in the front page of the newspapers mentioning that particular event.
But... why?
There was also the fact that a letter came through to his personal mail. And he was given confirmation it was Henry. He had a plan. But he needed Michael for the job. He had set everything up to 'end it all for good', but he needed someone that could act as the manager and director of that particular business. And Michael should have refused... if not for the tempting offer that he would find the sweet release of death in that place.
It would be by his own decision, and with the chance of ultimately destroying his father and his sins.
Michael took the lure without hesitation, but he was further perplexed by the uniform he was meant to wear. It reminded him of the one security officers had to wear in the old locations, but it had a happy white bear mask - one that was good at hiding his grotesque features and didn't feel itchy on his deformed purple skin.
The worst bit of getting at the restaurant wasn't even the familiar setting reminding him of the old bygone times, but the one that was meant to be his 'helper' and someone that had been hired by Henry as an assistant for Mike.
"Hello, hello, hello~ I am Sparky the Dog and, while I may look like an Animatronic, I am actually a real dog, Woof Woof~!"
"What?"
He guffawed at this. "What? What? I am just here to assist you, Mr. Afton-"
"Mike, my name is... Mike."
"Oh gee, sorry for that, Mr. Mike! I meant to disrespect so... how about I get you started on the way things work here?"
Sparky was, initially, the bane of his existence. He had no clue on why Henry was torturing him with this. Not only was the guy an insufferable goofball, but there was something that Henry had definitely planned with this one: Sparky was his uncle's thing.
Michael G. Afton was his namesake, and he had been William's younger brother that went missing around the time the kids started to die after Charlotte's demise. William usually had something to mention if someone was dead or not, and the way he worded Uncle Michael's disappearance made him think he had indeed left for good after a fight.
...
What if that wasn't the case? Michael had been told so many lies by his father, that it was fair to assume he may have also leaned on being outright secretive on some of his most nefarious crimes. He didn't know about Elizabeth until the damn scooper claimed his guts, he didn't know about the rest of the crimes and the purpose behind such brutality until after that.
Michael had taken notes in his scrapbook, and the fact that he was guided about in relation to the truth behind the murders, he could tell this one had occurred away from other spectators. It was too personal - William never willingly killed in the family, which would make Uncle Mike the exception to that rule. Something that William would have never been too keen to reveal.
Still, the newest manager of the pizzeria focused on Henry's plan: it was a plan to rally them in a single place... but why? He had taken the chance to explore the perimeter of the pizzeria, but saw nothing that stood out.
As the first week approached its closure, he was surprised when he discovered a few points he had missed in the contract: a 'salvage' process to recover any animatronic that 'so happened to appear by any of the pizzeria's alleys'. This was clearly part of the plan, and he was deeply disgusted that the first one to 'stumble' in an alley was part of those circuits that had temporarily housed his shell of a body.
It felt like a mockery, but Michael had breezed over the process with ease. The shock device helped whenever it moved, causing it to be stuck in position through the process and then be safely disabled for the remainder of the week. Another week, more juggling between profits and expenses to try and 'keep the business afloat'.
Another animatronic was found and... this one was a surprise.
It was father.
"Gee, Mike. Can I tag along? I heard from Mr. H that you have been doing this tough job so I wanna be here to see how that works."
Acting like this can be easy if within a short amount of time. It can be quite frustrating if this was meant to last for hours. Each 'Woof' burning my brain cells one by one, but I was able to hold out considering it was a must. I had gone through Henry's plan from the get-go, liking the general points but...
Soon finding it troublesome to keep a stoic effort around William. He was there. The bastard was here within reach. He looked utterly ugly. That wasn't the original springsuit, and Henry had suggested that William had to shed some of his 'original skin' after a fire that almost got him.
The new version looked utterly deformed, the cracks on the mask showed skull's fragments and actual flesh latching onto the wiring of the arms and legs. Still, against Henry's wishes, I decided Mikey needed someone around when dealing with William. That thing felt like a fitting form of the bastard. Comeuppance and all of that.
I could tell the bastard had noticed me. He was trying his hardest to appear like a harmless amount of scraps. And then Mikey started the session. I remained quiet, a request from my unwitting nephew as he started to get the audio tapes. It was a challenge for me considering the tapes reproduced sounds meant to trigger responses by those in William's situation. And I was one of those cases. Luckily for me, Mikey was too focused on William to pay attention on my brief hands' jerks and my wobbling legs.
To my surprise, William made no effort of breaking his act. He barely moved, the few head jerks causing the shocking device to put him back in place. And yet nothing came out of that visit. I have to admit I was disappointed, but I was also aware this was less about expecting him to move more and... more about wanting him to give me reason to smack his skull.
I was looking forward to get him roasted for good, and I tried to ignore this disappointment but... William always loved the flair. He didn't need to scare or maim, he just needed words to truly cut into people.
As I was following Mikey out of the room, he had something to say.
"How was the junkyard... brother?"
I paused, holding back a growl at that infuriating question. But I gave him no response. I just walked away as soon as I could force my body to move and... and I noticed Mikey was giving me a weird look. And then I realized he had heard what the bastard had said.
"...Uncle Michael?"
I gulped nervously. I could feel a hint of fragility in his voice. "...Hello, Mikey."
"So... you too?"
"Yes."
"Are you... good?"
"As good as one can be after spending a few decades stuck in the trash by the local junkyard."
I mentally chided myself for being so angsty over it. But I could still wrap my mind over this detail. I wasn't in the finest shape, but I was sane. I had to be sane.
"I see... so... the plan?"
"You don't need to know. It will all work out this time around."
He merely nodded, stiff and all but-
"You should not feel guilty for what happened, Mikey."
Not for Cassidy, not for Elizabeth, and definitely not for the other victims.
He paused, he bowed his head and... he left.
And my hatred for William could only grow from that point onward.
AN
I think this 'FNAF prologue arc will end in two chapters from now. Setting up the business, getting all the bastards in a single place and then burn that shit down for good. Then... wanna take a guess? I will listen, but I have plots already planned out.