A/N: And here it comes. The moment you've been waiting for. There's a lot coming up in this arc, and I will have plenty of surprises to throw your way before the arc reaches its conclusion.
For those of you who didn't understand the Zalgo text last chapter, I have added regular translations in parenthesis immediately underneath the dialogue. This will hopefully clear any confusion regarding what Nightmare was saying.
Rockstar Ballora: Nope, I don't have a Quotev, sorry.
TheFedoraCritic: Thanks for the advice, though that'll have to wait until after this arc.
Guest: I couldn't find the typo that you pointed out when I went back to the other chapter.
LogBook: There's a couple of Zalgo text generators on Google. I just used one of the earliest searches.
Ghostlyassassin Jesse: You're welcome! And I did incorporate your idea that we talked about ever so slightly in this chapter, as you will soon see.
Chapter 74 – He Always Comes Back
Mike sighed as his mind ran through all the preparations and defenses that he and the kids had established to counter the impending threat of Springtrap's return. Drawing on the strength of her siblings as well as her own, Charlie had set up defensive wards that would attempt to hold William Afton at bay for as long as possible. Though she had little doubt that they would fall to a concentrated assault, they would be enough to alert the family of William's presence and buy them a few precious seconds to get into position and fend off the threat of William Afton as best as they could.
They would not try to confront William Afton one at a time, as they had so foolishly done years before in the events that had led to the creation of Springtrap. Now, they would fight together and as one, hoping that the strength given to them through the Rockstars would be enough to overwhelm and defeat the murderer together.
Mike had even ordered the ghost children to possess him all at the same time, training his body to withstand levels of possession far greater than the semi-inhabitance they employed whenever they wanted to taste a meal through Mike. His sons and daughters had all been horrified at the idea of William Afton trying to possess him, and Mike had been forced to placate them with assurances that this was a last resort to prepare for a worst case scenario.
He had deliberately avoided informing them that this was the scenario he had planned, for fear that it might motivate the ghosts to break their oath and attack William even in their vulnerable ghostly forms in their drive to prevent such a scenario from coming to pass.
The first time, he had been completely knocked out cold from the duress of being possessed by seven ghostly children at the same time, but after two days of strenuous testing he could now successfully withstand simultaneous possession from all of them (albeit barely). Mike could only hope that this newfound strength would be enough to endure possession from one demonically empowered damned soul, and that being able to converse with Nightmare in his dreams was proof that he could stand his ground against the demonic within the landscape of his mind.
Night had fallen, and now he sat on his bed in his bedroom, deftly checking the cameras where the ghosts and animatronics were. Mike had originally planned to confront William Afton alongside his children in the living room, for he was no coward, but the ghosts had ardently shot down that idea. "If you're going to make us promise to flee the battle the moment the Rockstars get destroyed," Gabe had argued, "then you have to promise to stay up in your bedroom where you'll be as far away from that bastard as possible. It's only fair, and we're not going to stop bothering you until you make that promise to us!" With repeated insistences from him and the other ghosts, Mike had caved, and all he could do now was make sure that everything was in place and nothing had been missed.
They had done the best they could. Now, all they could do was wait, and hope that when the time came and darkness descended, they would triumph over it like they had for every other challenge of the past.
/
Several miles away, on an abandoned road far away from any semblance of civilization in Hurricane, a portal wreathed in flames writhed and tore itself into existence. A depraved, hateful soul took his first step into the world of the living since his final death in his former business partner's trap more than a year ago. The power that Vucarik had stolen from the Nightmares and given to him had reacted to the violence and cruelty in his heart, transforming him into a demonic and monstrous version of the animatronic that had caused his death and defined his existence after his rebirth. Though he could not see himself in his dark glory at this moment, he could feel his razor-sharp fangs grinding next to each other in his mouth, see the snarling and mewling mouths that defined the junctions between the warped and rotten metal that now defined his arms and legs. He looked down at his hand, flexed the claws that now defined his fingers, and his mouth twisted into a grin that would have sickened even hardened war veterans, if any had been around to see it.
"I ALWAYS COME BACK…" William Afton hissed, letting out a cruel laugh as he contemplated the good fortune that had fallen upon him. He knew that such respite was only temporary; both Heaven and Hell would stop at nothing to see that he was brought back down into the Abyss, but he had been given time. Time to get his revenge on the man who had made his torments so much worse than they had already been, and he would relish the misery of the brats as they watched him utterly destroy their father and symbol of hope.
Nightmare Springtrap began to take in his surroundings, and he realized to his surprise that he was on the road that led away from the main part of Hurricane to Circus Baby's Entertainment and Rental. He grinned at this stroke of luck; perhaps he could find some of his old animatronics to assist him, and maybe even take some of the Remnant he had stored with him to further his revenge…
He began to run towards his underground factory, delighting in the fact that his movements were no longer as stiff or as painful as they had been back when he had been inside the Spring Bonnie suit. But as he approached closer and closer, he began to realize that something was wrong. Even with his memories blurred from the torments that he had suffered in Hell, he knew instinctively that he should have seen the outline of the facility in the darkness even if it had already been closed down. He covered the last few meters more warily…and screamed in fury as his eyes fell upon the ruins of his life's work.
"NO!" he bellowed, eyes blazing with flames of rage and disbelief. "NO, NO, NO, NO, NO!" His life's work, the factory where he had created the Funtimes to carry out his malevolent will and truly started his experiments with Remnant, had been completely and utterly destroyed. One of the most advanced robotics companies of its age…reduced to nothing more than broken foundations and piles of ash. The explosion that had destroyed CBEAR, for only an explosion could have left a gaping pit where the facility had used to be, had wiped out everything. All of the animatronics he had created, all of the research he had compiled on Remnant and its ability to grant immortality through the trapping of souls, and most importantly, the storage of Remnant that he had collected inside the Scooper…all of it gone. Just as a single fire had destroyed William Afton and cast him to hell, so too had a single fire stripped him of every resource that he had collected and created on Earth…and William knew exactly who was responsible.
"SCHMIDT…" Nightmare Springtrap snarled the name out with pure loathing, then howled the name into the sky. "SCHMIDT! I WILL TEAR YOUR SOUL TO PIECES FOR THIS! WHEN I AM DONE WITH YOU, YOU WILL BEG FOR THE SWEET RELEASE OF DEATH! THE MURDERS OF THOSE LITTLE BRATS YOU ADOPTED WILL BE NOTHING COMPARED TO YOUR SUFFERING!"
Caught up in his berserk rage, Nightmare Springtrap raced away from the broken ruins of CBEAR and towards Mike Schmidt's house. He knew instinctively where his enemy was, for he could sense both him and the ghosts of the children he had killed all those years ago. By now it was near midnight, and the streets of Hurricane were all but deserted. But there were still a few who would claim in the days to come that they saw a beast race past their homes, far larger and moving far more quickly than any animal they knew of in this area.
William Afton didn't stop his charge until he arrived at the outer gate of Mike's house, slowing down once he sensed the magical barrier that had been erected to keep him away from the threshold. It was almost invisible even to him, only the faintest outline of blue-tinted energy giving away that there was any defense at all. But he had seen what Henry's brat was capable of before, and he would not be so foolish as to underestimate her. "SO…" he hissed, mockery dripping in his voice, "THE PUPPET GIRL HAS SEEN FIT TO RAISE A BARRIER TO TRY AND BAR MY ENTRY INTO THIS PLACE. VERY CLEVER…BUT THIS WILL NOT STOP ME! NOTHING WILL STOP ME!" He lifted his claws into the air, his hand burning with demonic flames…and swung at the force field with all his might.
/
Charlie let out a gasp of shock as she felt William Afton smash her wards like a hammer blow. "He's here…" she whispered, unable to mask her fear. "He's here…and he's stronger than he ever was before."
"Nightmare levels of bad?" Mike asked grimly.
Charlie shook her head. "No…" she answered, "he's not as powerful as Nightmare, thank God. But Nightmare never really wanted to hurt us outside of messing with our emotions. William Afton, though…we all know what he's going to do if he gets his hands on you."
"We can't waste any more time!" Jeremy insisted frantically. "We have to get into position NOW!"
"Let's get moving!" Susie shouted. The ghosts quickly dispersed, entering their respective animatronics. They had positioned themselves beforehand so that they were just out of sight from the main hallway, ready to attack the moment Nightmare Springtrap invaded the house proper. In their minds, they recalled as clear as if it were yesterday how William Afton had easily dismantled their first animatronic bodies, their near-deactivated programming and old machinery preventing from resisting as he cut them to pieces with his axe.
This time, no matter what the outcome might be, they weren't going down without a fight.
/
With one final strike, William smashed through Charlie's barrier, shattering the magical defense to pieces that faded into wisps of nothingness. Laughing at his triumph, he charged into Mike's grounds, thrilled at the prospect of hunting easy, helpless prey after being the tormented for so long. The small mansion loomed ahead of him, and William grinned as he noticed that there was no magical barrier around to stop him this time. His eyes fell upon the workshop to his left, and he decided to break into it first just in case Mike had decided to try and evade his fate by hiding there instead of in his house. He approached the workshop's garage door, sunk his claws deep into the metal, and tore the entire door off with a snarl. Tossing the hunk of metal aside, William scanned the inside of the garage with feral eyes that could now see keenly in the dark. He sneered as he realized that the garage was empty and left the small building behind, his sights now focused entirely on the larger mansion in front of him.
"YOU SHOULD HAVE FLED WHILE YOU STILL HAD THE CHANCE," Nightmare Springtrap growled as he approached the front door. "BUT IT IS FAR, FAR TOO LATE FOR THAT. NOTHING CAN SAVE YOU NOW!"
Letting out a bestial roar, he clenched his claws into a fist and smashed it into the front door. The impact of his attack smashed the door clean off its hinges, leaving a gaping hole where Nightmare Springtrap's arm had punched through. William let the door fall forward uselessly onto the ground. He had a clear view of the living room from his vantage point, and was just in time to see Mike's head jolt upward from scanning the rooms, clear shock and horror on his face.
"YOU ARE MINE, SCHMIDT!" Nightmare Springtrap roared as he charged down the main hallway and into the living room. He lifted a flame-wreathed claw and swung it towards Mike's head…only for the man to vanish completely just as his attack was about to crush his head to a pulp.
"WHAT?" he growled. "WHAT TRICKERY IS THIS!"
"Now!" a voice shouted. William barely had time to whirl around as no less than six animatronics lunged at him from shadows unseen, the Security Puppet being the only one staying behind so that she could concentrate her energy on neutralizing the flames that flickered form their hated enemy's demonic essence. Howling and screaming with fury and a determination to stop William Afton in his tracks, the animatronics collided into Nightmare Springtrap, wasting no time in assaulting him with whatever weapons Mike could have provided for them. Rockstar Freddy whacked repeatedly at William's head with a metal shovel, while Rockstar Bonnie swung a large metal rake across the demonic monstrosity's chest, hoping to tear open his body with the metal spines. Rockstar Chica carried a large wrench in one hand and a hammer in another, and she alternated between both weapons to attack Nightmare Springtrap's head with less force but more frequency than Rockstar Freddy's shovel whenever he lifted it away to prepare for another blow. Rockstar Foxy had discarded his accordion and peg leg and replaced them with a shiny new hook and a spare proper left leg, becoming just like the Foxy of old as he charged at William Afton, striking frenziedly with his hook as he tried to cause as much pain as possible and tear open any weaknesses he thought he could find.
As the recreations of four iconic figures that had once defined the childhoods of Hurricane assaulted William with all of their strength from the front, two other animatronic bears contributed to the ambush in more indirect but no less meaningful ways. Being the only one without a usable weapon, Rockstar Golden Freddy couldn't initiate a prolonged attack on William in the same way that the others could. Instead, the ghost within concentrated on her inner power with more effort than she had ever done in the past, blasting at Nightmare Springtrap's sight and throwing him into further confusion and disorientation with illusions of Rockstar heads with black eyes, bloodstained tears and snarling mouths. And as Nightmare Springtrap stumbled backward, flat-footed and too stunned to properly react, Lefty approached him behind with a large kitchen knife she had found and shoved the blade deep into the demonic animatronic's neck.
William Afton roared in rage and pain, a sound that gave the animatronics hope and encouraged them to intensify their attacks. Maybe, just maybe, they could overwhelm and defeat him before he even got a chance to retaliate, and neutralize the harm he could cause to their father and their home.
They should have known that things would never turn out that easily.
The Security Puppet's eyes widened as she suddenly felt Nightmare Springtrap's demonic energy flare and intensify. "Get back!" she shouted to her siblings, trying desperately to warn them about William's incoming counter-attack. But she was too slow. A fiery orange aura suddenly erupted from Nightmare Springtrap, hitting the animatronics with such force that they were all blasted away from William and sent crashing into various pieces of furniture with enough force to outright destroy some of them. The Security Puppet let out a gasp of exhaustion – it had taken everything she had to reduce Nightmare Springtrap's counterattack into merely a "knockback" and not a fiery explosion that would destroy both animatronics and the house they were currently in.
Nightmare Springtrap turned his gaze on each and every one of his past victims, his fangs stretched into an amused and malicious grin as he ripped the knife out, the blade warped and melted from being in direct contact with the flames of the demonic. "WELL, WELL, WELL…THIS BRINGS BACK SO MANY MEMORIES…" he chuckled menacingly. "I SEE THAT YOU HAVE CHOSEN A COORDINATED ATTACK THIS TIME AROUND, INSTEAD OF BUMBLING IN TO YOUR DOOM LIKE YOU DID SO MANY YEARS AGO. VERY CLEVER…BUT IT WILL NOT SAVE YOU." He looked around the room, and then up at the ceiling…right towards Mike's bedroom. "AH…SO THAT'S WHERE HE IS. HIDING AWAY LIKE A COWARD WHILE HE SENDS HIS CHILDREN TO FIGHT FOR HIM. I WONDER…IS HE NOT ENOUGH OF A MAN TO MEET ME FACE-TO-FACE?"
The unbridled hatred in the animatronics' eyes seemed to intensify, if that were even possible. "He's not a coward!" Rockstar Freddy snarled. "The only reason why he's not here is because we refused to let him come even near you!"
"AND YOU THINK THE MERE DISTANCE OF A SINGLE FLOOR WILL BE ENOUGH TO SAVE HIM FROM MY WRATH?" William countered with a sneer. "FOOLS. THERE IS NOWHERE FOR HIM TO RUN, AND NOWHERE FOR HIM TO HIDE!"
"You're not getting anywhere near him!" Rockstar Bonnie shouted. "We'll smash you down to a pile of scrap long before you ever get the chance!"
Nightmare Springtrap only let out a ghoulish. "IS THAT SO?" he asked mockingly. "AND HOW DO YOU PLAN TO SAVE HIM…WHEN YOU CANNOT EVEN SAVE YOURSELVES? EVEN AFTER ALL THESE YEARS, YOU ARE STILL THE SAME IDIOTIC BRATS. I HAVE ALREADY SLAUGHTERED NOT ONCE BUT TWICE, AND THIS TIME WILL BE NO DIFFERENT FROM THE REST. SO COME!" He brought his claws down onto the table and pulled, leaving deep scratches and scorch marks onto the ruined furniture. "LET US REPEAT THE PAST ONCE AGAIN!"
The animatronics let out more screams of fury and renewed their assault, but they had already lost the advantage of surprise, and this time William Afton was ready for them. Eyes blazing with malicious delight, he raised his hand to intercept Rockstar Freddy's shovel, and only a quick strike with the hook from Rockstar Foxy prevented William from ripping the tool out of Rockstar Freddy's hands. Rockstar Chica had tried to attack from the other side, but her arms had been too close to one of the many mouths on Nightmare Springtrap's body and it snapped its jaws at her arm, forcing her to withdraw and abandon her attack to avoid getting her arm crushed. Barely sparing her even a glance, Nightmare Springtrap raised his other arm to block a strike from Rockstar Bonnie's rake, and as he did so the jaw on his elbow clamped down on the handle behind the toothed crossbar, snapping the metal part of the rake clean off and rendering the tool useless for anything more than a wooden beatstick.
Rockstar Golden Freddy tried to disorient William Afton with more illusions, but this time he recognized them for the mere distraction that they were. Ignoring them, he wrenched the shovel out of Rockstar Freddy's grasp and snapped it in two, tossing both pieces to the side where they fell uselessly. Their best weapons had been neutralized or flat-out destroyed, and Rockstar Freddy looked torn between trying to retrieve a part of the shovel to use as a one-handed weapon or continue to fight Nightmare Springtrap with nothing more than his bare fists.
Rockstar Chica tried to attack Nightmare Springtrap with her wrench and hammer again, but the murderer simply raised his arm to block both weapons, and this this time he was done toying around. He viciously shoved the weapons away, and the impact was strong enough to send Rockstar Chica tumbling backward. But before she could regain her balance or be intercepted by one of her siblings, William Afton reached out and grabbed her by the arm, forcing her to drop her wrench. The other Rockstars cried out in horror as Rockstar Chica desperately tried to pull away from his grip, and the remaining Rockstars tried to attack William Afton with their fists to force him to let their sister go. But it was too little, too late. Nightmare Springtrap crushed his claws deep into Rockstar Chica's arm and slashed his claw across the animatronic's chest, tearing massive, gaping scars that would have caused excruciating agony if they had been inflicted directly on the soul within. William Afton forced Rockstar Chica's head forward toward his mouth, and with little choice Susie was forced to flee from the animatronic as Nightmare Springtrap crushed his fangs into Rockstar Chica's head and ripped it clean from the rest of the body. He spat the mangled animatronic head onto the ground and threw the rest of the broken metallic carcass alongside it, the first casualty in a desperate battle.
His hellish eyes focused on the now exposed Susie, who's own eyes widened in fear as she realized that William planned to attack her directly now that she no longer had an animatronic body to protect her. But before either of them could move, Rockstar Golden Freddy suddenly teleported in front of Nightmare Springtrap and began pounding at his head with both of his fists, the spirit within determined to save her sister from any harm. Nightmare Springtrap snarled in irritation, his original target forgotten, as Susie suddenly felt a hand grip her arm and pull her backward to safety. A ghostly human hand.
"What are…" she looked up at the figure dragging her back to safety, and her voice trailed off as she stared at the man's face. She had seen it only once, during their first Christmas, but it was face she would never forget.
"Shhhhhh…" Michael Afton interrupted quietly, holding a finger up to his mouth. "Your part to play is over, Susie. You promised your father you'd flee to safety once your animatronic body was destroyed, and even if you didn't, the only person you'd be hurting if you tried to join the fight now is yourself."
"What if the rest of us lose?" Susie whispered fearfully. Now that one animatronic had been destroyed, it was entirely possible that the others could too even with their teamwork and preparation.
"You aren't alone," Michael assured her gently. "I promise you this: William Afton will not succeed tonight. Not if we have anything to say about it."
Susie shakily took in deep breaths to slowly calm herself down. It wouldn't do anybody any good if she broke out into a panic now. "Thank you," she murmured as she turned back to the battle that she could now witness from a safe distance.
It was then that a thought suddenly came to her and she turned around. "Wait a minute…" she asked. "Who's we?"
But Michael had already vanished.
/
From the moment that Nightmare Springtrap destroyed Rockstar Chica, the battle had gradually but decisively begun to swing in his favor. The animatronics no longer had any real weapons; not even Rockstar Foxy had his hook anymore since one of Nightmare Springtrap's mouths had chomped down on the hook and snapped it off of his hand. After seeing Rockstar Chica so easily destroyed by William Afton, the Rockstars had done their best to coordinate and attack him with their fists at the same time so that he wouldn't be able to single out and destroy one of them as he had done with Susie's animatronic.
But without the advantages they had brought with them to the start of the fight, it simply wasn't enough. Rockstar Foxy was the next to fall, his only remaining fist caught in one of Nightmare Springtrap's shoulder mouths when he tried to land a punch on his head from the left. With a grin, William Afton ripped Rockstar Foxy's arm clean off of its socket, leaving him without any hands to fight with. Dodging two more blows from Rockstar Bonnie and Rockstar Freddy, Nightmare Springtrap reached out towards Rockstar Foxy's head and began to squeeze, intending to crush the animatronic's head to a pulp. Realizing that he might soon feel the crushing weight of William's grip on his head, Fritz fled the animatronic's body and could only watch forlornly as Rockstar Foxy joined Rockstar Chica as another ruined carcass. Rockstar Golden Freddy blasted William's sight with more hallucinations, giving Rockstar Bonnie and Rockstar Freddy time to land two more assaults and, though none of them knew it yet, for Michael to pull Fritz to safety.
And so it continued, the past repeating despite all the animatronics' best efforts to avert it. One by one, William Afton captured, attacked, and tore apart the rest of the animatronics, laughing maniacally with each kill. The ghosts that departed from the ruined shells of the Rockstars didn't need any prompting from Michael to flee to safety, as they knew full well that if they stayed they would be a prime target for Nightmare Springtrap's vicious bloodthirst. Lefty was the last to be destroyed, and with his patience running thin, William Afton didn't even bother to wait for a ghost to depart from the black bear before he tossed the headless and broken body to the ground.
With all the animatronics that had attacked him now destroyed, William turned his malevolent glare onto the Security Puppet, who by now was exhausted from the effort of weakening William Afton's demonic aura. She looked up wearily at Nightmare Springtrap, knowing that she couldn't do anything to defend herself from her murderer's wrath. William grinned as he stepped forward, flexing his claws to demonstrate the promise of violence and destruction that he had already delivered onto the others. "I CAN SENSE YOUR POWER, LITTLE PUPPET BRAT," he taunted. "I CAN FEEL IT HOLDING ME BACK EVEN NOW."
Despite her increasing fatigue, the Security Puppet managed to glare at William Afton. "You ruined all our lives," she gasped out. "I won't let you destroy his too!"
"SCHMIDT'S FATE WILL MIRROR YOUR OWN," Nightmare Springtrap hissed. "JUST LIKE YOU, HE IS OUT OF WEAKLINGS TO HIDE BEHIND. AND ONCE YOU FALL THERE WILL BE NOTHING LEFT TO STOP ME. THERE IS NO ONE LEFT TO PROTECT YOU NOW."
"No one but me," a soft voice coldly retorted from behind him.
William Afton paused and turned slowly, for he recognized that voice. The voice of the first animatronic he had made with the intent to kill, the animatronic that had come to define his daughter's existence. Floating over Lefty's body a few feet away from him was the spectral form of Scrap Baby, her claw snapping open and shut as she glared at Nightmare Springtrap with utter loathing.
The damned wretch's mouth turned upward in a twisted smile. "ELIZABETH…SO GOOD TO SEE YOU AGAIN. WHY DO YOU ALIGN YOURSELF WITH THESE BRATS, THESE WEAKLINGS WHO NEVER HAD A CHANCE TO BEGIN WITH? COME, JOIN ME, AS YOU DID IN THE PAST," he coaxed, though the mockery in his tone was still clear for all to hear. "AFTER ALL, ISN'T THAT WHAT YOU'VE ALWAYS WANTED? TO MAKE YOUR DADDY PROUD?"
A look of pain and regret flashed on Scrap Baby's face as she remembered how she had so foolishly given her loyalty to a murderer in the year leading up to their final destruction. She had given herself to evil so easily in the past…but not anymore. The hatred and fury returned in full force, her green eyes glowing with the intensity of her emotions. She would not break down in front of this bastard that had once shared her blood, not when her family, and especially her father and favorite sister, were in grave danger. "Did you really think I couldn't figure it out?" she snarled. "All those promises you whispered into my ear when I first met you…they were nothing more than empty lies! You never cared about me as anything more than a tool to serve your ends, any more than you ever cared about Mikey." Her voice quieted to a pensive, almost conversational tone. "I know what love feels like, now. I know what it means to be loved and cared for, and to give that love and care back. I finally know what being part of a family feels like now, AND YOU NEVER GAVE ME EVEN A SECOND OF IT!" she shouted as she glared viciously into her birth father's eyes. "You almost destroyed everything good about me just so you could try and kill more kids like us," Liz hissed as she gritted her teeth. "You didn't deserve my love or loyalty then, and you don't deserve them now. I will never listen to a word you say ever again!"
For a second, William Afton stood there, too stunned by Liz's condemnation to react. Then, his eyes started to blaze with the unholy malice of Hell, and he let out a snarl of pure, primal rage. "A TOOL?" he roared. "YOU WERE TOO USELESS TO SERVE EVEN THAT PURPOSE! YOU COULDN'T EVEN KILL A SINGLE VICTIM IN SIX DAYS, A LIVING CARCASS WEAKENED BY THE YEARS WITH BARELY THE STRENGTH TO MOVE! YOU ARE JUST AS MUCH OF A DISAPPOINTMENT AS YOUR WORTHLESS BROTHERS," Liz felt a brief pang of sadness at hearing the father she used to idolize insult her so viciously, but it was quickly replaced by another surge of rage at how callously he disregarded her brother as a broken corpse. "I WAS THE ONE WHO GAVE YOU LIFE, YOU PATHETIC LITTLE INGRATE! AND I'LL BE MORE THAN HAPPY TO UNDO THAT MISTAKE!" He flexed his claw threateningly at Scrap Baby, his talons flaring with demonic energy that the Security Puppet only barely managed to suppress.
"And I'm going to do what I should've done from the very beginning!" Scrap Baby retorted, and with those words she lunged at Nightmare Springtrap. The demonic monster grinned as he saw his former daughter charge him with her claw held out in front of her, and prepared to grab both parts of the claw to counter and end Liz's feeble resistance. But Scrap Baby had learned well the lessens of both her failed assault on Nightmare months before, and the few lessons Mike had given her since her reunion with her brother. Seeing William Afton move his hands in position to grab her claw, she instead raised her left arm and slashed at Nightmare Springtrap's eyes with her left hand. Though the talons on her free hand would never be as dangerous as a Nightmare's or even her own claw, they were still sharp and more than capable of doing damage in their own right. William's eyes widened as he realized Liz's feint, and he barely had enough time to cover his eyes as Scrap Baby's fingers tore at his upper face. The demonic murderer gritted his teeth furiously, refusing to give his daughter the satisfaction of expressing pain. Temporarily blinded with his eyes closed, William Afton lifted his arms out to protect his neck from being crushed by Scrap Baby's claw, but Liz had a different plan of attack this time. She raised her claw high above her head, and then smashed it down onto Nightmare Springtrap's skull. The force of her claw collided onto the demonic murderer's head with a sickening crunch, and this time Springtrap couldn't stop himself from crying out in agonized fury as pain shot out from the location where Scrap Baby had tried to crush his skull.
Perhaps, if he had been a regular damned soul or even a weak demon, Scrap Baby's strike would have been enough to defeat her old father outright. But Nightmare Springtrap was more than just a wicked spirit. Even as he recovered, William swung his claw at Scrap Baby's chest, his desire for vengeance against his daughter for her defiance eclipsing even his motivation to attack Mike Schmidt at that particular moment. Scrap Baby lifted her claw up as a defense, its bulk shielding the rest of her body from harm. But though it might have taken on the appearance of metal, the claw was still part of Liz's ghostly body even in an animatronic form, and she could feel Nightmare Springtrap's claw tear into it as though he had attacked her arm as a human. Liz screamed in agony as she tried to cover up the gashes he had left on her claw, hideous scars that left little to the imagination in terms of how much pain they were causing her.
/
"What the HELL is she doing?" Mike nearly screamed when he saw Liz attack William Afton in her Scrap Baby. "I told her not to attack outside of an animatronic!"
He reached to press an intercom button on his security tablet, to order Liz to back off before she could get hurt anymore. But before he could do so, a large, shadowy hand reached out and grabbed his right forearm. "Let me go!" he started to snarl…but his anger gave way to surprise when he realized just who had been the one to grab.
"Do not give yourself away," Shadow Freddy warned as he stared straight into Mike's eyes, daring him to argue. "You gave your children a promise that you would stay in this bedroom and minimize your presence, just as they promised not to attack Nightmare Springtrap outside of animatronic bodies."
"Oh, yeah?" Mike spat. "In case you haven't noticed, Liz broke that promise and now she's in pain because of it! I told her not to attack William Afton as Scrap Baby and she's gone and done it anyway? What the hell was she thinking?"
"She was trying to distract William Afton from attacking Charlie, for one," Shadow Freddy calmly explained. "If Charlie lost control over William Afton's demonic aura, then he could very well burn the entire house to the ground or even attack your children with hellfire if he knew how to master the power he now wields. And more than that…this is her way of finally being able to completely forgive herself, Mike. To prove, once and for all, that she has risen above her evil past by directly fighting the evil responsible for her past fall to darkness in the first place. A small trace of guilt and self-hatred still existed all this time, lingering even after Michael's forgiveness. And for my sister, a moment of physical pain is a worthy price to pay to finally be rid of it."
"If this keeps going, she's going to pay with a lot more than just a moment of physical pain," Mike countered. Even now, on the tablet, he could see Scrap Baby desperately trying to fend off William Afton's attacks while trying to counter with her own quick assaults. Now that both combatants knew that William Afton could directly inflict pain and wounds on Scrap Baby's ghostly body, he had become much more aggressive in his attacks, while Liz desperately tried to avoid the worst of the attacks or deflect them with her claw if she needed to. All the while, she tried to identify any weak spots that she could strike at with her claw or her fingers, but she could find none. William was simply too powerful for her even with her enhanced strength as Scrap Baby, but she couldn't give up. Not while so much was at stake.
"I do agree that it is time for us to intervene," Shadow Freddy acknowledged. "Neither my brother nor I want to see our sister harmed any more than you do." A brief flash of bitterness appeared in the specter's eyes before it vanished just as quickly. "I have waited long enough to confront father about his crimes anyway."
Before Mike could say anything, he suddenly vanished from the bedroom.
/
"THERE IS NOTHING YOU CAN DO TO STOP ME, LITTLE BRAT," William Afton sneered as he watched Liz cradle her claw. He had managed to inflict another set of gaping wounds during the course of their battle, and Liz couldn't ignore the pain any longer. "YOU ARE JUST AS USELESS NOW AS YOU WERE OVER A YEAR AGO. I SHOULD HAVE JUST LEFT YOU TO ROT IN CIRCUS BABY'S. IF ONLY I HAD KNOWN HOW MUCH OF A WASTE OF TIME YOU TRULY WERE!"
"You boast about your superiority, father, and yet you blindly stumbled into the same trap that she did when you sensed a lie. You are more of a fool than she ever was, father," a soft and cold voice dripping with contempt interrupted them. Both Liz and William turned to see Michael's spirit floating a few inches away from his sister, the son viewing the father with contempt and loathing.
William's fangs curled into a sardonic grin that didn't match the malice in his eyes. "AH, MICHAEL…ALL THIS TIME, I HAD UNDERESTIMATED YOUR CUNNING, RESOURCEFULNESS, AND DETERMINATION. AS MUCH AS I DESPISE YOU FOR AIDING THAT MEDDLING WRETCH HENRY IN BRINGING ABOUT MY DESTRUCTION, I MUST ADMIT THAT I HAD FOCUSED MY DESIGNS ON THE WRONG CHILD. YOU SHOULD HAVE BEEN THE ONE I CHOSE TO FOLLOW MY LEAD AND CARRY OUT MY LEGACY, INSTEAD OF THAT INCOMPETENT LITTLE BITCH."
Michael let out a snarl of rage as Liz felt another pang of pain at the cruel insult. "I would never have joined you, father," he spat. "Not after what I did to Evan and I realized just how far I had fallen. You deserved every ounce of pain and suffering heaped upon you both in this world and the next." His gaze suddenly shifted to someone behind William. "Isn't that right?"
Everyone else's gaze turned to Shadow Freddy, who had just materialized into the room. The moment he had arrived, Charlie felt a great weight lift off her shoulders as she felt someone else take on the burden of neutralizing Nightmare Springtrap's demonic energy and she allowed the Security Puppet's body to collapse onto the sofa in exhausted relief. Liz's jaw dropped as she remembered just who Shadow Freddy truly was. But William, it seemed, didn't recognize the true identity of the newest arrival.
"AND WHO ARE YOU SUPPOSED TO BE?" the murderer asked disdainfully.
Shadow Freddy let out a bitter chuckle. "You don't recognize me? I can't say I'm surprised. You never gave the slightest shit about me when I was alive. Why should things be any different now in death?"
He turned to face William, the glowing white pinpricks of his eyes staring directly and accusatorily into Nightmare Springtrap's monstrous orbs. "After all, if you cared about me to begin with, you would never have allowed the Bite to happen. You saw Michael torment me and did nothing to stop it. You are just as responsible for my death as he is…father."
/
A/N: The cliffhanger might seem a little weird since many people in this story already know about Shadow Freddy's true identity, but keep in mind…William Afton doesn't.
There's a "prevalent" version of Nightmare Springtrap that's around in Google Images and FNAF Youtube videos that I've envisioned for this fic, albeit without the demonic fiery orange eyes and unholy essence flickering around his body that I envisioned for this fic. The only reason why I didn't have it become full-blown flames is because Charlie spent the battle neutralizing the worst parts of Nightmare Springtrap's energy…otherwise he could have set the entire house on fire.
As much as I would have loved to have the Rockstars beat Nightmare Springtrap, that was never gonna happen without diminishing his credibility as a threat to the family and, by extension, decreasing the intensity and weight of this story arc as a whole. Even Scrap Baby couldn't do much despite her smarter tactics, even if she managed to get a good few hits in at the beginning.
If you got the impression that Shadow Freddy seems to hate William Afton on a personal level (beyond disgust at his crimes and the damage he did to their family), you'd be right. But that's something to be addressed in the next chapter.
Hope you guys enjoyed!
