A/N: We've hit the 50 chapter mark! Quite a milestone for this fic, and it's only right that this fic be an intense one. So hold on for the ride, because the status quo is about to be shaken up in a big and permanent way.
The possibility of Jeremy existing as his own separate character is based on two things, one based on logic and one based on hard evidence. The Logbook mentions a character who was working the night shift at an unknown pizzeria for about a week before switching to the day shift, and he also mentions that the animatronics became aggressive towards the staff. This matches up surprisingly well with what we know of Jeremy Fitzgerald in FNAF2. The character's statement also mentions him being followed home, which could very well be William Afton investigating him to see if he suspects anything about the murders and debating whether or not to "silence" Jeremy. As for the "logic" part, why would Michael Afton suddenly feel the need to switch names between Jeremy and Fritz if he was indeed both? Just something to think about. I don't think I'll retcon things to make Jeremy his own separate character just yet, but I may do so if I feel the need.
On an unrelated note, have any of you guys seen the poster for the book version of Baby? It's, uh…it's...quite something…to say the least. All I'll say is…Thot Baby might actually be a thing in the books…and it kind of says something about William Afton's mental state that he thought this was a good idea. Then again, this is William Afton we're talking about, so…
Chapter 50 – Madman's Legacy Part 2
"So what WAS the Scooper used for anyway, Liz?" Cassidy asked as the family ventured towards the Scooping Room.
"Well, the Scooper was made to extract the endoskeletons of the animatronics," Liz answered, "or at least, that was the official purpose." She shuddered. "But knowing what we do now, he probably made it to inject Remnant in the animatronics and take out the remains of the children he murdered. Like me."
Gabe gave her a concerned look, while Fritz cursed under his breath. "I'm going to enjoy burning it to a pile of ash," he snarled.
"Technically, it takes more heat than we're capable of generating to burn metal," Mike replied. "We're just going to be dismantling the Scooper and dunking the inside with lighter fluid. Then pouring more lighter fluid all over the place and then setting this whole place on fire."
Jeremy chuckled. "I keep forgetting you're such a nerd sometimes, dad."
Mike snorted. "There's my college education for you," he replied dryly as they approached a locked door on the other side of the Funtime Auditorium. This door didn't have a special mechanism sealing it shut, and it was easy for Charlie to open it. Mike stepped into the control room, where he could see mechanisms that would allow him to operate the Scooper from behind the safety of a glass window. To the far right, he could see a door that would allow him to access the Scooping Room itself.
He was about to approach the door, when Liz suddenly rushed in front of him, spreading her arms out to prevent Mike from moving any further. "No, dad!" she declared. "Stop right there!"
"Wait, wha…"
"There's no way I'm letting you anywhere near this thing!" Liz almost shouted with a ferocity that she had only barely demonstrated in the months Mike had known her. "It ruined my brother's life, even if I was the one behind it. You're not going anywhere near it!"
"I know how to be careful around dangerous machines…" Mike began, but he was surprised when Charlie joined Liz's side.
"I agree with Liz," she added, staring Mike down with an intense glare. "The one thing that would be worse than seeing you die is seeing you turn into a zombie like Michael. If anybody is going to be tearing down the Scooper, it's going to be me and Liz. Not you."
"But what if you get hit with the Scooper?" Mike challenged. "You could still get hit by it."
Charlie chuckled dryly. "Dad, I don't know what you saw in those documents, but you're not thinking clearly. The Puppet is already surrounded by Remnant. I'm ALREADY trapped. The Remnant can't do anything to me because it already has. And as for Liz, she's a ghost with an enhanced ability to interact with the physical world thanks to her animatronic form. And she has a giant claw. Do the math."
Mike opened his mouth and closed it again, realizing that Charlie was right. He'd been so infuriated by what he had seen in the Private Room that he'd let his desire to destroy William Afton's tainted legacy cloud his judgment. From a strategic and practical standpoint, Charlie was right. She and Liz were the best ones to dismantle the Scooper. He sighed and waved his hand. "All right, you win," he gave in. "I'll stay here and watch you guys do your work."
"Thank you," Charlie answered, and Mike could hear the satisfaction and a tiniest hint of relief in her voice. He rolled his eyes as Charlie turned to the other ghosts. "The rest of you guys know the drill – make sure that nothing gets at dad while we're busy."
"Got it!" Susie affirmed as they swarmed around Mike, ready to protect him from anything that would threaten him. Liz floated through the glass wall into the Scooping Room while Liz entered it from the side door. She half-expected to see the broken metal corpses of the animatronics she had once called friends, but they were nowhere to be found. In the years that had passed, Afton Robotics must have removed them from the room for one purpose or another. Once they were both inside, the two sisters looked silently at the Scooper.
"You all right?" Charlie asked Liz. She knew it couldn't be easy for her, looking directly at an embodiment of her sins.
Liz took a deep breath. "I'm fine. But I'll feel a lot better once I tear this thing apart," she replied as she snapped her claw.
"Then let's not waste any more time," her sister replied as they floated up to the Scooper. The actual scooping mechanism itself was attached to a small reservoir, which itself was attached to the wall by a small metal arm. Charlie studied the metal parts that attached the Scooper to the wall. "Maybe you can try to unscrew the Scooper from the reservoir by winding it around?"
Liz nodded and put her claw around the metal rod to enhance her focus. She tried to pull the Scooper arm clockwise and then counter-clockwise, but it refused to budge. "It's not working!" she reported to Charlie. Then, she looked down at her claw again, and promptly palmed her face. "Oh my God, I'm an idiot…" She repositioned her claw around the arm, then promptly started snapping it shut, aiming to crush the metal with her supernatural force.
The metal creaked and groaned as Liz repeatedly pincered it. Gradually, the metal slowly began to bend and weaken, unable to fully withstand the pressure of her claw. After several seconds of relentless and ruthless attacks, the former Afton crushed the Scooper's arm with one final shout, breaking it completely. The Scooper fell to the ground, hitting the metal floor with a resounding clang.
Charlie gazed down at the Scooper and then back to Liz. "Good work, Liz," she praised. "I have to ask…how did it feel to tear this thing down?"
Liz let out a giggle that would have been chilling to anyone outside of her family. "That was the most fun I've had in a long time," she admitted.
"I had a feeling," her sister merrily replied as she bent down to inspect the Scooper. She could immediately tell that the inside was coated with some sort of viscous, liquid substance that was of a different nature then the metal that made the Scooper. Charlie floated over to the reservoir and peered inside. As she suspected, the reservoir was filled with that same substance. Charlie knew immediately that this was the Remnant that had caused so much pain and suffering to her family.
"It's Remnant all right," she informed Liz. "Let's go tell dad that we're ready for the next stage."
Liz nodded and the two girls returned back to the Scooping Room's control room, where Mike and their siblings were waiting. "We're all done," Liz informed her father.
"Great," Mike grinned. "I've been thinking about how we're going to go about burning this place down while you were working. I brought a couple of jugs of lighter fluid with me, but that by itself isn't going to be enough to set the whole place on fire. Fortunately, it doesn't have to be. Remember those oxygen canisters that we saw back in the Private Room? Oxygen's a fire hazard because it makes fire burn a lot more quickly and violently, possibly causing an explosion. If we douse the vital machinery in different places with lighter fluid, set it on fire, and have an open oxygen canister nearby, that should be enough to destroy Circus Baby's Entertainment and Rental, along with any Remnant that might still be hidden."
"So we need to go back to the Private Room and drag those oxygen canisters out?" Gabe asked. "Let's take care of this."
The family agreed and left the Scooping Room. As they made their way back to the Private Room, Mike thought he could hear the faintest sound of electricity crackling.
Charlie's eyelights flickered towards the sound and her eyes widened in shock. "Mike, look out!" she shouted.
"Wha…" Mike didn't have time to even wonder what was going on as a Bidybab glowing with electric energy leaped out of the shadows towards him, arms outstretched as it tried to grab at Mike. But before it could get its hands on him, Charlie lunged forward and pushed at Mike, using all her strength both physically and magically to push Mike out of the way. The man fell to the floor as Electrobab grabbed Charlie instead and unleashed a vicious dose of lightning that would have fried Mike to a crisp had he grabbed the man instead.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Charlie screamed as Electrobab's lightning coursed through her body, blasting through and destroying mechanical systems that had stood the test of time for decades. The ghosts and Mike stared in abject horror as the Puppet collapsed on the ground and flailed about, trying to throw off Electrobab with strength that was rapidly fading with each second.
Mike and the ghosts prepared to rush to her aid, the former completely forgetting the fact that the altered Bidybab had tried to kill him with electricity seconds earlier. But as quick as they reacted to try and come to Charlie's aid, Liz acted before any of them.
"RRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!" Letting out the very same roar she had made when she attacked Nightmare so many months ago, Liz lunged forward and grabbed Electrobab with her claw, forcing it off Charlie. The Electrobab struggled in Scrap Baby's claw, trying to shake itself free or even try to zap the ghost that had grabbed it. But Liz had transcended beyond the boundaries of a physical form long ago, and even if Electrobab's attacks could have affected her, her fear for her sister and her wrath at seeing one of her family attacked drove away all other thoughts regardless. Screaming and snarling incoherently out of pure rage, Liz crushed Electrobab with her claw repeatedly until the force of her attacks crushed the small animatronic' s stomach, causing sparks and mechanical parts to fly. With Electrobab's body weakened, she lifted the animatronic into the air and slammed it onto the ground, the force of her blow splitting the animatronic's body in two. To everyone's surprise, the top half of Electrobab still seemed to have some form of life in it, as it tried to crawl away from the vengeful ghost with something akin to fear on its face.
But Liz was far from done. Letting out another bestial howl, she lifted her claw and smashed it down onto the broken ElectroBab, slamming it to the ground and bringing its already weakened structure to the verge of collapse. She smashed her claw on Electrobab over and over, looking every bit like the monster William Afton had tried to make her into, until nothing remained of Electrobab except for piles of metal and scrap. It was only after the last crackles of electricity and vitality faded from the ruined remains of Electrobab that Liz finally stopped her ruthless assault.
Liz slowly looked up at the rest of her family, who were staring at her now with genuine and undisguised fear in their eyes. Even Mike, who had a better idea of just how far Liz was willing to go to protect her new family than the rest of her siblings, had been stunned into silence. Even the girl herself seemed to realize just what she had become in those fleeting seconds and was starting to regret the excessive brutality of her actions, even if she felt no pity whatsoever for Electrobab's destruction.
But before she could apologize, a small groan escaped the Puppet's mouth. All other thoughts vanished from their minds as her family rushed over to her. Externally, there didn't seem to be much of a difference except for the smell of burning and smoke rising from her body. But the truth was clear to them all.
The most beloved of Henry's creations had finally been broken beyond repair.
Charlie coughed and let out another weak groan. "That…was…kind of…painful," she murmured as she let out a weak chuckle, and Mike was horrified to hear that it sounded like she was asphyxiating, even if that shouldn't have been possible for her as a spirit. "But still…I saved…dad…so…worth...it…"
"I'm sorry, Charlie!" Liz lamented, kneeling next to her as tears of black ichor poured out of her eyes. "I swear, I didn't know that there was an electric Bidybab! The ones I worked with NEVER did anything like that! I had no idea there was anything like that here!"
"It's…all right…Lizzie…" Charlie breathed out comfortingly. She tried to reach out to stroke her sister's face, but she could barely lift the Puppet's arm. "This…isn't… your fault. We all…know…who…really is to blame…"
"You shouldn't be talking, Charlie," Mike interrupted gently but firmly. "You sound like you're being strangled."
"It's…worse…than it…sounds…dad. I'll…be…" she coughed, "…fine…"
Mike stared grimly into her eyes. "So I guess the time has finally come then, Charlie."
"Yes…" Charlie answered. "Time…to burn…the last…remaining…legacy…of Freddy Fazbear…and friends."
"Wait, what are you guys talking about?" Cassidy asked. Then, it hit her, and her jaw dropped. "No way…"
"Yep…" Mike confirmed, his good humor and relaxed nature nowhere to be found. "It's easy to forget, considering how Charlie uses the Puppet as a physical body, but keep in mind. She's still a spirit trapped in an animatronic body. She's still not free in the same sense that the rest of you are. Long before you guys even showed up, we've been tossing around the idea of when to destroy the Marionette's body, when to set it on fire and release her spirit." He sighed. "Guess we have the answer decided for us. Talk about things being convenient in the worst way possible…" he muttered under his breath.
"If we're…going to burn…the Puppet's…body…it…might as well…be…here…" Charlie gasped out. "We're…already…setting…this place…on fire. Might…as well…save…time…"
The ghosts looked at each other uneasily. Something about leaving Charlie to burn here just didn't sit well with them. But none of them could deny the logic and practicality behind Charlie's words. "Then let's not waste any more time," Gabe decided. "Let's blow this place up and get the hell out of here."
"On the bright side…we'll finally be able to see what Charlie looks like. I'm kind of curious to know…" Susie admitted.
"Let's worry about that later," Mike interrupted. "It's time we burn William Afton's final legacy to the ground. And after what that thing did to Charlie...I'm going to enjoy every second of it."
The ghosts all flinched as the same shadow of Mike's hatred crossed his face, even though it vanished almost immediately after. Once they were inside the Private Room, some of the ghosts flew out to the room where Mike had seen the oxygen canisters while others (including Liz) stayed behind to guard over Mike and Charlie's broken body. The remaining animatronics of CBEAR must have gotten wind of Liz's fury, because not even one showed up in the screens or tried to attack the room itself. Soon enough, the ghosts returned, carrying the full set of oxygen canisters between them.
"Great, looks like we have more than enough," Mike said as he opened his bag, which was revealed to contain multiple bottles of lighter fluid and a pack of matches. "All right, Liz, this is your show now. Where do we need to put these oxygen canisters?"
"Let me show you," Liz replied. For the next several minutes, she proceeded to guide the family around to different parts of the facility where vital machinery and building systems had been set up by Afton Robotics so many years ago. At each location, the ghosts set up two oxygen canisters and doused the machinery in lighter fluid while Mike stayed a large distance away with a small guard, minimizing the chances that he could be connected to the fire that was about to happen. Of course, one of the first and biggest priorities for them was the Scooping Room. Liz insisted on being the one to take care of the Scooper itself, and she did so by pouring two entire bottles of lighter fluid onto the scooper itself and the reservoir of Remnant. Perhaps it was a bit excessive, but it was better to more thoroughly deal with the danger that they knew existed rather than one that might exist.
"Good work, Liz!" Susie declared once she had come back from the Scooping Room. "Looks like we've set everything up!"
"All right, now just to make sure…can any one of you smell lighter fluid or anything strange on me?" Mike asked.
The ghosts floated around and started sniffing experimentally on Mike's clothes. "Nothing," they reported after several seconds of this.
"Great, time for the final stage. It's for me to leave, and to get myself FAR away from here before this shithole goes Ka-Boom. In fact, the most ideal place for me to be in when you set everything on fire is in a place with people, so that if by some bizarre circumstance I'm somehow connected to blowing this place up, I'll have plenty of people around to confirm that I was somewhere else."
"Got it," Jeremy agreed. "So…how many of us should get out with you and how many of should stay down here to set this place on fire?"
Mike opened his mouth to speak, but to his surprise Charlie interrupted. "It…should be…as…few…of you…here…as…possible," she coughed out.
"What?" Cassidy exclaimed. "Why?"
"Fire…it is…a terrible…thing…" she explained, her breath barely above a whisper. "I…have seen it…I…have…remembered it. Even though…I could…get to safety…I still…remember…the sheer…terror…the raw…heat…burning…at me. For days…after…I had…nightmares…about it…even in…dad's care. You…do not…want…to be…here…when the burning…begins. The only reason…why…I am staying…is because…being in a crippled…broken…body…terrifies me…more…"
"You guys should all go," Liz agreed quietly. "I'll stay here. I'll light each of the fires myself."
Fritz's face twitched a bit. "I kind of want to burn this place to the ground though…" he admitted. "Just as a final fuck you to William Afton."
"Fritz…I know how you feel, I really do," Gabe countered. "But this place means a lot more to Liz than it does to us. She's the one who's been tortured here for God knows how long. She deserves to destroy it more than anyone here."
Fritz opened his mouth as if to say something, then thought better of it. "Yeah…I guess you're right," he conceded. "So let's get Dad to safety so Liz can finally burn this shithole to the ground."
The ghosts all made varying noises of agreement as they returned through the vent leading to the Primary Control Module. Mike went over the plan one final time, giving Liz a pack of matches to light the fires. Then he and the ghosts of the Missing Children Incident departed from the building. Liz and Charlie waited several minutes in tense silence as they waited for Mike's signal that he was safe and far away from harm. Then, after fifteen minutes, they heard Mike's voice in their heads, weaker than it would normally be from a close distance but still clearly audible.
"All right, I'm at a diner," Mike informed them telepathically. "I'm making a point to have a casual conversation with some of the employees so that they remember that I was here. The rest of the family's here with me. You're good to go, Liz."
Charlie breathed a weak sigh of relief. "We…can…finally…begin. Get…to…work…Liz…"
"Are you going to be all right waiting for me here alone?" Liz asked, her eyes and voice filled with concern and worry.
"I'll…be…fine…I'm…going…to…burn…anyway…" Charlie assured her. "I…will…feel…more…at…ease…once…the Remnant…burns…"
"Then I'll get this over with as soon as possible," Liz promised. She turned around and ventured into the vent leading back to the Funtime Auditorium, disappearing from Charlie's sight. She would normally have just floated through the walls, but carrying a physical object necessitated her to travel through the open space of the vent. Once she was back in the Auditorium, she made her way over to the Scooping Room, where the broken Scooper and Reservoir filled with Remnant were waiting.
"You caused so much pain, William Afton," she thought, her eyes hardening and flashing with hatred and betrayal. "To them, to me, to Mikey and Evan. This Remnant…it was the reason why our torments didn't end even after our deaths. You're burning in Hell now, right where you belong. And now I'm going to destroy what's left of your tainted legacy."
Concentrating with her mind, she manipulated one of the matches to strike the lighter on the pack. The tip of the match burst into flame, and Liz dropped the match straight onto the Scooper. The lighter fluid covering the mechanical claw burst into flames, and even as they hungrily ate at the Remnant inside of the Scooper Liz moved on to the reservoir. When she dropped a second match into the reservoir tank, the reaction was even more violent than the first one, and a blast of flame erupted out of the tank as all the material inside it was set ablaze.
Smiling with satisfaction, Liz departed from the Scooping Room as the flames did their work. She moved on to the Funtime Auditorium which had an arson setup next to the stage where Funtime Freddy and Foxy had used to work. "There was a time when I hated you for ejecting me from Ennard, Funtime Freddy," she thought as she regarded the empty stage. "And maybe you never really truly saw me as a friend. I thought I was your savior, and I hated you for betraying me. But now I know better. I know that it was just as much my fault as it was yours. The rot…the rot was growing in me, and I couldn't see it for what it was. Maybe it was growing in all of us, I can't tell for sure. The best I can do now is to burn the traces of our shared torment to nothing but ash…for all of our sakes." She carefully opened the oxygen tanks, letting the gas escape from the two of them. Then, she tossed the lit match onto the setup and quickly backed away from it at the same time.
It was lucky that she did so, for the results were far more violent than she had anticipated. Instead of simply burning quickly like the Scooper had done, the machinery began to outright explode, in no small part thanks to the oxygen gas that was making the entire area more combustible than it would have been otherwise. Even though she was impervious to extreme temperatures as a ghost, Liz could feel the heat even after backing, and seeing a second explosion from the machinery after the first made it clear that the flames would only grow stronger as time passed. Quickly retreating, she made her back way through the Funtime Auditorium, passing by Charlie as she did so. With little time to waste, Liz didn't do anything but give a quick nod to Charlie to show her sister that the flames had already begun. She made her way over to Ballora's Gallery next, which was just as empty as the Funtime Gallery, not even any Minireenas around. "I'm sorry I forced you into following my plan, Ballora," Liz thought as she lit her match. "I should have taken your warnings more seriously. You knew our plan would fail, and I should have listened. If you still exist in some form in the afterlife, I hope you're in a better place. If not, I'm glad that at least your suffering has ended." She tossed the match onto the arson setup, and was met with the same results as the Funtime Gallery.
There was only one place left to go. She quickly left the gallery and made her way to one last location, the gallery where she had once stood as Circus Baby. It was just as empty as the other two galleries, no Bidybabs in sight. Not surprising, considering that by now they almost certainly feared her rage after the destruction of their electric counterpart. "So many years ago…" she thought wistfully, "I loved Baby more than anything else, and even after everything that's happened to me, a small part of me still does. I barely remember anything about the time when I was alive anymore, but I think…there was a time when I always wanted to be Baby. I wanted to sing and provide laughter to children the way she did." She shook her head and couldn't hide a trace of bitterness in her voice. "I guess I got my wish in the worst way possible," she muttered. Then, the unpleasant feelings faded. "I have a new dream now. One that I understand more than I ever did my old one. But I can't truly follow it while the past is holding me back. So now it's time that I put that past behind me, once and for all."
She dropped the match onto the arson setup next to her old gallery, watching as the exhibit burst into flames like all the others. It was done. With the Scooper and all three galleries set aflame, with the machinery in the soulless halls exploding in the distance, the total destruction of CBEAR and the legacy of William Afton's twisted experiments was all but assured.
Now there was only one thing left to do.
Liz turned her back onto the gallery that had once been her home, returning through the vent to the Primary Control Module where Charlie was waiting. To her surprise, she could see Bonnet on the ground, crawling next to Charlie.
A red haze of rage descended upon Liz as she prepared to brutally punish the puppet that would dare to attack her sister after she had shown mercy the first time. But before she could descend and demolish Bonnet like she had destroyed ElectroBab, she heard Charlie's voice cut through her anger.
"Stop…Liz…" Charlie tried to calm her. "Bonnet…is not trying…to attack me…"
"Then what is she doing here?" Liz gritted through her fangs, forcing herself to calm down.
"She wants…mercy…" Charlie explained. "She doesn't…want…this life…and she doesn't…want…to die…here. She saw…the flames…and she came…here…I can tell…even without speaking…that she is begging…me…for mercy…"
"And why should I give it to her?" Liz challenged. The pink bunny puppet turned around to face her, and Liz's hard expression faltered slightly when she saw the pleading, scared look in her eyes. A look that she had seen on her own face when she had first awakened in Baby and realized that she had been trapped in her favorite animatronic.
"Maybe…dad…or Melody…can…reprogram…her…make…her…harmless…or even…useful…" Charlie suggested, breaking into a coughing fit before continuing. "But…it…is up…to you. Choose…quickly…you have…very…little…time…"
An orange glow emanating from the depths of one of the vents emphasized her words. Liz looked at the puppet again, wondering she had the cruelty in her to abandon Bonnet to her fate. It only took her a second to recognize that no…she didn't. Not after joining Mike and her new family.
But that didn't mean she was going to be careless or foolish, either. "If I agree to save you from here," Liz stared hard into Bonnet's eyes, "then I turn you off. Right here and now. I'm not going to let you be a threat to my dad. Either you accept that, or I leave you here to die. Make your choice."
The pink bunny puppet perked up instantly and nodded frantically, happily agreeing to Liz's terms. Liz nodded her acceptance and picked up Bonnet, opening a panel on the back of the puppet's head and hitting the power switch inside it. Immediately, Bonnet went limp, the light fading from her eyes.
"Do you mind wearing her?" Liz asked Charlie.
"I don't…but…how does…that help?" Charlie asked, confused. "I'm going…to burn…here…remember?"
"No…" Liz shook her head. "No, you're not. Because I'm going to get you out of here."
Charlie's eyelights flickered in shock. "But…the plan…"
"Think, sis…" Liz stared straight into the Marionette's eyes. "The Marionette was one of your dad's first inventions, one of his first gifts to you. Do you really want it to be destroyed like this? Do you really want it to be burned in a hellhole of torment made by his own worst enemy?"
"…"
"And it's not just that," the girl continued before Charlie had a chance to speak. "I don't really know what you and dad talked about before I came here, but it sounds like you wanted to save the destruction of the Puppet for a particular time. And if that's true, then trust me when I say that you DO NOT want this. You don't want to spend the Marionette's last moments alone, not when you have an entire family with you."
"How…are you…so certain?" Charlie asked in wonder.
The intensity in Liz's gaze nearly caused her to shudder. "Because that's what happened to me," Liz answered forcefully. "In that trap pizzeria, while I screamed and clawed at the walls as the flames consumed me, my brothers were only a few rooms away. Both of them. Mikey spent his last moments on Earth together with my younger brother, at peace with himself and with family at his side, while I spent my final moments alone and with nobody and nothing to comfort me as I died. And I can't let a family member go through the same thing, not while I can do something about it."
"Lizzy…" Charlie was completely surprised by her sister's revelation. "I…didn't…know…I'm…sorry…"
Liz's gaze softened. "Don't be, Charlie. Actions have consequences, and I could have suffered worse than dying alone in that place." An explosion interrupted her thoughts, this one closer than the other ones had been. An orange glow was emanating from all three events, the flames brighter and closer than they had been before. "I know about the picture of the two of us, Charlie."
Charlie's eyes flashed even more brightly in shock. "You…do…?" she gasped.
"I do…" Liz confirmed, "and I know why you and dad hid it from me. There was no point in showing it to me, not when the only thing it would do is cause painful memories. We were friends once, but we're family now. I've failed everyone in the past in some way, even you. I should've noticed that you were missing the day that you died. Maybe if I had seen where you had gone, I could have saved you and stopped dad from killing you before it was too late."
"That's…not…your…fault…" Charlie protested.
"It doesn't make me feel any less guilty about it, though," Liz countered. "I failed my brother when I betrayed him all those years ago. And I failed you as a friend when I allowed you to die." She stared straight into Charlie's eyes again, and the girl inside the Puppet could see a fiery determination and resolve in Scrap Baby's eyes that she had never seen in her before. "But I won't fail you as a sister."
Another explosion rocked the area around them, and this time flames outright billowed from the passageways leading to Funtime Auditorium and Ballora's Gallery. "We have to hurry," Liz declared. "I hope this doesn't end up hurting you." She concentrated all her energy on lifting the Puppet's body, while Charlie used the last of her strength to carry the deactivated Bonnet with them. Liz pulled Charlie's body through the last safe passage, the vent passageway leading back to the entrance of Circus Baby's Entertainment and Rental. Once they were through, Liz ignored the elevator and instead sped towards the emergency exit. As fast as possible, she flew up the circular flight of stairs, all the while making sure that she didn't accidentally drop Charlie and abandon her to a fiery death in the doomed facility. She didn't stop until she passed through the antechamber of CBEAR and pushed the front door open, letting all three of them open into the starry night sky. As the earth underneath them began to quake, and the sound of rumbling grew louder, Liz barely had enough time to carry Charlie over several feet away from the building and to an empty field where she thought they would probably be safe.
And not a moment too soon.
With a deafening roar, Circus Baby's Entertainment and Rental exploded, shooting a massive fireball into the air that illuminated the night sky. The explosion itself billowed outward, covering an entire area several feet around it in a storm of flame and smoke. Even through the column of smoke, both sisters could tell that there would be nothing left of the Circus Baby franchise, Remnant, or anything related to William Afton's black legacy. Nothing except for a small pink bunny puppet that lay on the ground next to them, deactivated and lifeless. It was finally done.
Liz finally shifted back to her human form and lay on the ground next to Charlie, whose animatronic body was sprawled on the ground. Neither of them said anything for several seconds, instead watching the ruin of Circus Baby's Entertainment and Rental. The metal frame of the building, weakened by the massive damage to its underground infrastructure, began to collapse in on itself, and the two sisters couldn't help but wonder just what the remains would look like when the smoke finally cleared.
"Uh, guys?" Jeremy's voice unexpectedly cut through their minds. "You all right? We haven't heard from you in a while."
"Talking to the barman is nice and all, but I can't help but worry about you two. Are you all right?" Mike's voice added.
"We're fine, dad," Liz assured them. "But there's been some slight changes in plans. We'll need you to pick us up somewhere other than her."
"Uh…okay…not sure why, but let me think about a safe place for me to do that."
"Thanks. I'll explain everything later," Liz promised. Then, she cut the connection.
"Won't…they…be…surprised…when…they…find…me…here," Charlie commented dryly, her broken body not enough to break her wit.
"Eh, they'll understand," Liz brushed it off. Then, both sisters began to laugh. Laughter filled with not just humor, but also of relief and joy. They laughed with the realization that while what they once had in life might be gone, they had created something new from the ashes of CBEAR.
And neither of them would have it any other way.
/
A/N: Whoo, this was quite the intense chapter. I wonder how many of you expected things to turn out the way they did, what with the ruination of the Marionette's physical body and all. Not to mention Liz's inner thoughts about her past life as Circus Baby and the bonding moments between Charlie and Liz. I would greatly appreciate any feedback you guys can give me on this one, especially since we're so close to 400 reviews.
Of course, the Marionette's body may be broken, but it hasn't been destroyed. That is something that will be taken care of next chapter. Because I just can't leave Charlie alone in a broken, lifeless body incapable of any physical movement for long.
I've gotten quite a few reviews on the fate of the small animatronics in CBEAR. I decided to spare Bonnet and ONLY Bonnet. Because let's be real, after ruining the Marionette, there was absolutely NO way that Liz was going to spare Electrobab, and it's unlikely that she would spare the regular Bidybabs or even the Minireenas after the shit that Electrobab pulled. I imagine that all of them except Bonnet were too scared to come out after Liz's show of rage, which ironically meant they were dooming themselves to a fiery death.
Speaking of Electrobab, it's meant to be a "support" type in FNAF SL's Custom Night, but considering that it channels electricity through its body it could almost certainly kill someone via electrocution. Liz got to play the role of "protector" sooner than she expected, just not in the way that she expected (or wanted).
Anyways, that'll do for now. I know I've left Shadow Freddy's actions in the previous chapter unexplained, but I'll get to that in a few chapter. Hope you guys enjoyed!