Ok, this time the delay isn't due to my quality checking, but rather bad Wi-Fi, its been a struggle to upload my updates, it can really curtailed your ability to get things finished on time.
But here it is at long last, sorry for keeping you waiting.
A major change has been implemented, I've changed the writing style a bit, its now a mix of sentences being put together into paragraphs with others being on their own, its just to ensure easier reading.
The tension just keeps on building as the chapter's title suggests.
Also mjstimpson, thank you for deciding to follow this story, there's much more to come and we're still in Act Two.
Also the song in this chapter is You Know My Name by the late Chris Cornell for James Bond's Casino Royal 2007, although it isn't one that is sung, but rather placed in the background for the theme of lurking in the shadows and espionage.
Enjoy...
Chapter 22.
Nightmare Roulette.
"Truly evil people don't just hurt others, they take pride in the pain they cause and then try to blame their victims."
Unknown.
It was quick, unexpected and catastrophic beyond anyone's imagination.
The explosion caught everyone by surprise, even the ones who had set it up were shocked by the level of destruction it unleashed. The endoskeletons in the basement finally broke into the storage room only to witness the last five seconds of the timer…If endoskeletons could swear then they certainly would have done.
The resulting blast completely incinerated them to a crisp, destroying any remains and leveling the basement as well as the ground floor to utter hell. The second floor suffered massive structural damage with the majority of the assembly area's floor collapsing under the feet of both the Toys and the Nightmares. Toy Freddy fell forward, he would have fallen to his death had Toy Bonnie not grabbed onto his feet at the last moment as he went over.
Mangle found herself being buried alive under concrete rubble and Toy Chica fell through the floor, but just managed to grab onto the edge of the hole, leaving her legs kicking about in the pitch blackness.
The Nightmares were only able to escape death's grasp by scattering towards the walls and hugging them like they were caught in hurricane. Although in their attempt to escape they were hit by falling rubble which caused serious agony and dizziness.
The third floor suffered on less than the second with large parts of it breaking off and falling through to the other floors below. The Originals were almost at the staircase aiming to reach the second floor when the explosion struck with full force.
The floor beneath them fractured and broken away in many places, with Foxy nearly falling over the edge of a massive hole that suddenly appeared and would have done if Bonnie hadn't grabbed hold of him in time. Mike and Jeremy had to run for cover as both the floor and ceiling collapsed. Luckily, they were able to take shelter inside a large steel locker in one of the nearby rooms.
The same however couldn't be said of their endoskeleton attackers who fell through the floor as it gave way beneath them.
The Originals saw them fall through the remains of floors three and two, screaming all the way down to the basement, their electric cries being overshadowed by the loud cracking and rattling metallic groan which emitted from the building's core. "I can see what BB meant by something along the lines of boom," Freddy muttered in shock, watching his surroundings shake with immense intensity.
Up on the sixth floor Springtrap had shielded Goldie with his body, allowing all manner of cracked concrete to fall upon him from the floor above. The whole floor shook like a can caught inside a compressor as the shockwave which was racing up from the basement rattled everything out of its holdings. Vincent meanwhile was thrown right off his feet as the entire office craved in on its self nearly burying him in rubble, the same couldn't be said of the nearby endoskeletons.
In the chaos of it all, the electric systems were knocked out with everything immediately going offline including the countless security cameras.
The gas and water pipes racked with old age were discounted and then fell apart, with the power lines being completely cut...the lights died out and the entire building went dark.
The whole explosion traveled through the ground, causing nearby buildings to shake and wobble with surrounding cars having their alarms set off because of the sudden movement having jolted them. If anyone had a seismometer they would have detected a mini earthquake racing through the earth. Balloon Boy and the Puppet were crawling as fast they could when the shockwave hit them. The pipe they were in shook like a bag caught in a ferocious thunderstorm, its support beams buckling under the immense pressure.
Nearly every pipe in the building was impacted by the shockwave and then by the fire wave that quickly followed it.
It surged throughout the system, bursting out of every hatchway and engulfing most of the corridors in a storm of utter hellfire, although it rapidly lost power as it travelled upwards. Luckily for Balloon Boy and the Puppet, the fire wave died out before it could reach them settling back down to the lower levels, leaving most of the ventilation system a charred, moulded and misplaced mess.
The fire fell back to its point of origin and started to spread across the building's lower floors.
Anything that was flamlable burnt and the fire's absorption of various chemicals that were stored in basement made it produce a thick black oily smoke that flowed throughout the building's lower levels in a smothering fog.
And of course with the power now out no one could see it until surrounded them in its smothering embrace.
Down in the 2nd floor assembly room the Toys were in a very bad position; Toy Freddy for one had fallen into the massive hole that had opened up at the room's centre and he was only still alive because Toy Bonnie had grabbed onto his legs, leaving him dangling upside down and unable to do anything.
Toy Chica meanwhile looked around, everything was shrouded in blackness and there was the strong smell of smoke in the air. "Guys…Guys are you there?" she called out. She started to cough, each intake of air had a sweet taste to it…chemicals.
Suddenly she felt her grip slip, she fell even further into the hole, but she instantly strengthened her hold on her surroundings, bringing her fall to a standstill. It would take all her strength to pull herself out, yet she clearly needed help as her grip wouldn't hold for long.
Mangle slowly opened her eyes, revealing two golden pupils as she adjusted to this new reality. She choked on the heavy amounts of dust that filled the air and could feel a wet liquid running down the left side of her head, no doubt it was blood from a recent head wound. Pulling herself out of the rubble heap and desperately gasping for fresh air, she heard Toy Chica's cries for help.
"Someone help me…please I can't hold on!" Mangle didn't know of the Nightmares' condition but she knew them well enough that they wouldn't waste any time in taking advantage of the chaos. She hurried over to where Toy Chica was, finding her gripping onto dear life at the edge of a rather large bottomless hole.
"Help me!" she pleaded as the strain of her endeavor shown in her face as it became ever increasingly harder to hold. "Hang on, I've got you," Mangle replied, hastily getting down on her hands and knees. As she grabbed hold of Toy Chica's hands, the latter looked up and her eyes widen in horror.
"MANGLE, BEHIND YOU!"
Mangle turned round only to get a metal crow bar in the face brutally knocking her aside.
Slowly a figure stepped forward out of the surrounding darkness, revealing themselves to be Nightmare Freddy no less, holding the crow bar in his hands. "Such a waste of potential…that's what I've heard about you Mangle," he said in a calm and cold tone which matched his detached nature.
With a stern and icy look in his eyes, he then smacked Mangle harshly across the chest, keeping her pinned."Toy Foxy was it, ha…it was never meant to last," he muttered, reaching down. He then undid her endoskeleton belt and held it up high, inspecting it with great interest. "Forever in Foxy's shadow."
He pressed his foot onto Mangle's chest, applying a slow but steady pressure. Although she was clearly injured wouldn't let it slide as she attempted to push herself back up. "Give…that…back!" she hissed, reaching up with her free hand. Nightmare Freddy without even shifting his gaze kicked her hard in the stomach and slammed his foot back down upon her chest. This brought an agonizing groan from Mangle as the pain pulsed throughout her entire body.
"I wonder if anyone actually remembers you," the Nightmare stated plainly, his eyes still fixated on the endoskeleton belt which he held like a trophy.
"GET AWAY FROM HER YOU MONSTER!" Toy Chica shouted attempting to pull herself out of the hole. However, she didn't need to, as someone grabbed her by the collar of her clothes and lifted her up out of the hole and into the air.
She turned and came face to face with Nightmare Foxy, his head was slightly bleeding due to a gash he had received from some falling rubble, but apart from that he looked unscathed.
Toy Chica was going to attack him, but he grabbed her by the throat and whispered sternly.
"I could just drop you and it's a long way down…so I strongly suggest that you don't provoke me."
Toy Bonnie meanwhile could hear the confrontations taking place behind her and she would have gone to assist, but she couldn't as her grip on Toy Freddy's feet was the only thing keeping him from plummeting to his death. It was pitch dark and she couldn't see anything, her whole body was aching with sores received from falling debris. Not to mention the raw bleeding gashes on her back as well as the throbbing open wound in her shoulder.
All the while Toy Freddy was dangling upside, he knew that falling to the bottom of the hole would result in his instant demise. Apart from falling, he had properly suffered less damage than anyone else, however that was greatly overshadowed by the fact that he couldn't intervene in the chaos around him. Toy Bonnie was using all her strength to maintain her grip on him, if she let go she properly couldn't live with herself for letting Toy Freddy fall.
"Toy Freddy are you ok?" she asked worryingly, peering over the edge and trying to catch a glimpse of him.
"Yeah I'm ok, just hanging around," he joked, trying to make light of what was a very grim situation.
Toy Bonnie quickly looked around, so far there was no bright nightmarish eyes to be seen.
"I'm gonna try and pull you up ok," she shouted turning back to face him. She pulled on his legs, trying to slowly drag him out of the hole although it was a hard-enough challenge as it was without the Nightmares around.
Speaking of which…
"You'll more likely kill him that way," a bittersweet voice hissed in Toy Bonnie's right ear.
Reacting instantly Toy Bonnie turned right and came face to face with Nightmare Chica smiling with her three rows of sharp teeth.
"I'll help," said another voice from her left.
Then Toy Bonnie's hands were pulled away and Toy Freddy started to slip further down the hole, his eyes widening with fear as it hit him what was going on.
Toy Bonnie reached accordingly. "NO!" she screamed, reaching forward and grabbing onto Toy Freddy's legs which stopped his fall.
Now Toy Bonnie turned and saw Nightmare Bonnie kneeling on her left, smiling coldly in an aggressive posture.
"Don't you want him to fall to his death?" she asked sweetly, fluttering her eyelashes.
"YOURS YES, HIS NO!" Toy Bonnie shouted back fiercely, tightening her grip on Toy Freddy's legs. "You'll have to kill me first!"
She wouldn't let him go...
Yet Nightmare Bonnie's smile only grew as her purple blue eyes gleamed with delight.
"He will die, you lack the strength to pull him up, and anyway…"
She paused to think, her tattered bunny ears twitching as she thought her words over.
"If you don't wish for him to die upon hitting the ground, then there is a more humane way to deal with this."
She signaled to Nightmare Chica to hold Toy Bonnie down should she try to do anything, but the Toy wasn't really in any position to resist them.
Nightmare Bonnie turned round and reached out for something in the darkness, her sick smile gave Toy Bonnie a good indication of her wicked intentions.
When her hands became visible, Toy Bonnie saw why she looked so amused.
She had a pistol and one which was still loaded…to kill.
The Nightmare rose up slowly, taking extra care with her badly injured knee and aimed the gun down at Toy Freddy, putting him right between the ironsights.
"NO, DON'T KILL HIM PLEASE!" Toy Bonnie screamed, sweeping her leg across the floor to trip Nightmare Bonnie up. Nightmare Bonnie merely kicked her foot away and looked down at Toy Bonnie, only now she had a stern emotionless expression written across her face. Gone was the smirk and bloodlust which had filled her eyes.
"I'm not going to kill him," she said softly, shaking her head as she knelt down beside her.
Then she held out the gun before her.
"You are."
Within an instant, she grabbed one of Toy Bonnie's hands and slammed it down onto the floor, pinning it in place. Toy Bonnie tried to resist, but could not as she had to keep a hold on Toy Freddy with her other hand.
Nightmare Bonnie forced Toy Bonnie's hand opened and jammed the pistol in. She then raised her hand, keeping a steady grip as Toy Bonnie try her hardest to break her hand free.
Under intense pressure she directed Toy Bonnie's hand down to Toy Freddy who looked shocked above anything else to see a gun being pointed straight at him. "Go on, shoot him, he's just the main singer, it's not as if he's anything special to you," Nightmare Bonnie whispered, keeping a firm hold on Toy Bonnie's hand. She wrapped her finger around Toy Bonnie's and placed it on the trigger.
"No," Toy Bonnie whispered, with her hand shaking from the sheer terror that was drowning her senses.
"Why?" Nightmare Chica asked coldly as she leaned in, seeking more answers.
"If I may ask?"
"Because I don't want to kill him idiot, isn't it obvious!" Toy Bonnie snapped back, glaring at Nightmare Chica.
Nightmare Bonnie smiled, she could easily guess why Toy Bonnie wouldn't shoot Toy Freddy.
"You love him, don't you?"
The reaction she got confirmed her suspicions, even in the pitch darkness she could see Toy Bonnie's cheeks turn deep red, as she fought to control her inner emotions. "I KNEW IT!" Nightmare Chica yelled, loud enough for everyone to hear.
"TOY BONNIE LOVES TOY FREDDY, TOY BONNIE LOVES TOY FREDDY!" she sang, her voice echoing off the walls.
"An even more important reason to kill him," Nightmare Bonnie muttered.
"How about you instead!" Toy Bonnie screamed and with a sudden burst of strength she broke free of Nightmare Bonnie's grip, pointed the gun at her and fired. However, she missed…by an inch, the bullet raced past Nightmare Bonnie's ear, leaving a loud irrating ringing sound in her ear drum.
One thing you shouldn't do around Nightmares was anger them…it has terrible results. Nightmare Bonnie growled savagely, grabbing Toy Bonnie's hand and aimed the gun at Toy Freddy. She pushed Toy Bonnie's finger against the trigger and…BANG!
The bullet impacted into Toy Freddy's left shoulder, logging itself into the bone. He screamed in agony, clutching his shoulder as Nightmare Bonnie smiled in sick satisfaction.
"That hurts, doesn't it, your 'girlfriend' shouldn't had angered me!" she shouted, turning her hawk like gaze towards Toy Bonnie.
Nightmare Freddy at that point decided to pick up a theory he'd been pondering on for the last few minutes. Still standing above Mangle who lay on the floor groaning, every time she tried to get up Nightmare Freddy would just smack her with the metal crow bar knocking her back, often with injury.
"Now if I have got this correctly, Freddy loves Bonnie, Chica loves Foxy, the Puppet loves Balloon Boy, Toy Bonnie loves Toy Freddy and Toy Chica loves Goldie."
He looked down at her, his dark red eyes staring into hers, his expression was one of curiosity as well as utter mischief. "That leaves only two people who are as far as I'm aware of are not in a relationship."
He bent down, his stare creeping Mangle out.
"You…and Springtrap."
"What makes you think I love Springtrap?" Mangle asked, her expression quickly turning angry. It was then that Nightmare Foxy jumped in.
"The fact that you are the only two Fazbear family members who are still single."
Nightmare Freddy nodded in agreement, his eyes still fixed on Mangle as he started to walk around her, like a wolf taunting its prey.
"For starters, you both have a similar backstory of tragedy, you were rejected by the children who you were required to protect and caused the infamous bite of 1987 and Springtrap, well he suffered a catastrophe mental breakdown after witnessing a child get killed and was locked in a coma for the past few decades."
"That still doesn't prove anything you sadistic nutcase!" Mangle shot back with a fierce tone.
Yet it only made Nightmare Freddy turned in her direction and smile.
"Oh really," he said amusingly. "Because if I'm not mistaken Mangle, you've always been…an outsider…like Springtrap."
"I'm not an outsider!" Mangle shouted, clearly enraged.
"She's loved just like any other family member!" Toy Chica shouted, to which Nightmare Foxy clapped his claw on her mouth to silence her. "Shut it, or I will drop you," he threatened, running his hook lightly across her neck.
Nightmare Freddy leaned down, breaking into Mangle's personal space. "Then why did the children hate you and not the other Toys then?" he asked sinisterly, his dark red eyes glowing with sinister delight. "Why did they proceed rip and tear at your clothes and call you nasty names?" he inquired, getting very close to Mangle.
"Because they thought I was a rip-off version of Foxy," Mangle answered cooly, she wouldn't let Nightmare Freddy beat her with psychology. "What are you trying to prove, why do you want to put me and Springtrap together?" she asked firmly, trying to maintain a strong face.
Nightmare Freddy just gave her a mere shrug.
"I'm curious, I wondered if it was possible for two misfits to come together and fall for one another and when you consider that everyone else is in a relationship 'of sorts', then it seemly perfectly naturally for the last two to fall into line."
"However, I think I'm right in my little theory and do you want to know why?" he asked coldly.
"Go for it," Mangle muttered, she couldn't care less about what the Nightmare thought.
"Knock yourself out."
Nightmare Freddy got down onto his knees and with his hands, he turned Mangle to face him directly.
"You didn't deny it...simple as that."
Now Mangle's eyes widen in shock as well as in embarrassment, to which Nightmare Freddy grinned in sweet satisfaction.
"What about you four?" Toy Chica asked, her green eyes glaring at Nightmare Freddy, as she turned a blind eye to the 'shut up or I'll kill you expression' she was getting from Nightmare Foxy.
"You seemed to a closely knitted family unit."
Nightmare Freddy just laughed, throwing his head back with his dark red eyes glowing as he stood up. "You're really curious you know that Toy Chica," he said, shaking his head with amusement. "I'll let you guess whether there's anything going on between us four, let your yuri, yaio or hertosexual imagation go wild," he muttered, turning to face Mangle who was still on the floor, groaning in agony.
It was then that a certain something else caught everyone's attention…
It was Nightmare Chica who noticed it first, it's black surface lumating in the dark. Reaching into Toy Bonnie's top pocket, she pulled out a phone and studied it with interest.
"Hey, give that back!" Toy Bonnie shouted, reaching out to grab it, but Nightmare Bonnie held her down by merely pressing her foot into her back wounds. The painful sensenation of touching something so raw made the Toy whimper in agony as she gritted her teeth trying to fight off the urge to scream out loud.
Nightmare Chica pressed the on button and the screen lit up with a bright white light, making her look away as her eyes adjusted to the brightness.
Unlocking it, she found the menu and tapped on the contacts app. "Mmm, which one to call?" she asked, speaking her thoughts out loud. "Call Mike and Jeremy!" Nightmare Foxy shouted, shaking Toy Chica about, his brownish red eyes glowing as his snake like tongue rolled across his sharp teeth. "No," Nightmare Freddy yelled, catching Nightmare Chica's attention, who upon turning in his direction saw that his dark red eyes held a stern look to them.
"Call the Originals if you can," he ordered to which Nightmare Chica nodded in agreement.
Nightmare Freddy then turned round, reached down and grabbed Mangle by the throat and lifted her up into the air, his eyes gazing into hers.
"Unloved, hated, what's was the point of having you around if you couldn't even get children to like you!" he hissed, roughly shaking her.
"I am wanted, I am loved, even if I had a crap start in life and failed to do my duty, I won't stop trying and that's something you can never take away from me, so forget trying to psychologically beat me!" she yelled, anger blazing in her eyes which made Toy Chica smile…that was the Mangle she knew and loved.
However, Nightmare Freddy was also smiling, which wasn't a good thing. "So, there's some fire in you after all, I admire you spirit and determination, however…" He appeared to sigh and his expression changed to one of sadness.
"Nothing lasts forever, people get older and then die, loved ones fade away as our worlds become forever smaller."
Then he looked up, staring into Mangle's eyes, right into her very soul as if he was searching for something. "What's the point of being so determined Mangle, why fight when the children you once entertained have now grown up, the Fazbear business has dired up and gone, so why continue?" Mangle couldn't tell whether he wanted to mess with her or was genuinely curious to why they were all still fighting.
She frowned at him, shaking her head in disbelief.
"You are such an idiot, you do know that."
Nightmare Freddy only stared, letting her continue uninterrupted. "We fight to restore a serious injustice that was brought upon us by evil, our lives were wrecked, our reputations forever tainted, innocents murdered."
Now that she was on a roll she wouldn't stop.
"Everyone blamed us for the murders, accusing us of failing to do our job properly or even having committed the act ourselves."
The Nightmare said nothing, he only started back at her with his dark red eyes, slowly digesting Mangle's words. "We got very little left to lose other than each other, yet we have a dream to restore ourselves and see justice done," Mangle hissed, narrowing her eyes as unpleasant memories surged about in her head. "And you can't take that away from me, even if you kill me."
"I have a dream and it is immortal."
For a moment, Nightmare Freddy said nothing and the room fell silent.
Then a smug smile slowly formed on his lips and his eyes shone with renewed excitement. "Unless of course the dreamer were to die, thank you Mangle, your motivation was unclear to me, but now I see, I see why you fight, why you are so determined to win, killing Vincent will settle the ghosts of the past and then you can go back to being who you've always wanted to be."
He then turned round to face the other Toys.
"Unfortunately for you four, dreams don't always come true and even if they would come true by another means, you won't be alive to see it."
A horrible thought ran through Mangle's head, had she just said something that she shouldn't.
"Guys, the phone ringing!" Nightmare Chica shouted in triumph. She then turned to face Toy Bonnie and held the phone out towards her.
Giving her a stern look, Nightmare Chica mouthed the words.
'Don't say anything about what's going on right now...or else!'
Several minutes previously up on the third floor.
Previously Freddy, Bonnie, Chica and Foxy had been running amidst the destruction as the building slowly fell apart from under its own weight. Parts of the floor were unusable and would easily collapse under the slightest amount of pressure.
And worse still it was completely dark, there was no emergency lighting at all. Once the lights went out they were reduced to a snail's pace, inching their way forward inch by inch.
Their only source of light they had for comfort was from the phone which Freddy held, having to turn its brightness setting up to max to see anything clearly.
And there were a lot of holes to fall through and the bottom could not be seen with the naked eye. The gang of four kept having to jump about with Freddy going first so to light up the way for the others. "Ok guys, let's just stay together, the entrance to stairs should be up ahead somewhere, Freddy stated, his eyes scanning the way forward.
"You've been saying that for the last ten minutes Freddy," Foxy scoffed being at the back.
"It should be somewhere nearby, we didn't take a wrong turn did we?" Bonnie asked, following Freddy closely as he had the only light source.
"I sure do hope not or else we'll jump down through the holes to get to the Toys," Freddy replied plainly, his mind was focused on finding a way through the chaos. "You're kidding right, we won't survive the fall," Chica remarked in immediate disbelief to Freddy's words.
But the Fazbear merely replied with.
"Desperate times call for desperate measures Chica."
And then he stopped dead in his tracks and the other three followed his example, leaning out behind him to get a better look of why he had stopped.
"Ok…now how do we get past this lot?" Freddy muttered, stating the obvious.
Before them were a lone group of endoskeletons…about ten at least, their lifeless grey eyes fading in and out in the blackness. Best guess they were properly an isolated group who had been cut off from their companions when the earthquake hit.
Having already spotted the Fazbears beforehand by the mere sound of their footsteps, they had been merely waiting in ambush.
And they struck with unrelenting force, leaping forward towards their enemy.
For being mere endoskeletons, these things were tough and very clever, even more so when in a pack.
The first one landed before Freddy and bellowed him hard in the stomach, the impact sending him stumbling backwards. Luckily, they all still had their guns with them or else this would be a lot harder as Bonnie demonstrated by firing a single shot from her rifle. The bullet flew home and struck an individual endoskeleton in shoulder, wrecking its ability to move its left arm, as it now hung loosely by its side.
Although Chica and Foxy couldn't get the same measure of success as the other endoskeletons caught on and dogged them by diving onto the walls and ceiling going back to their tactics of swarming their enemies. One jumped and landed on top of Chica, pushing her to the floor with its mechanical muscles.
"CHICA!" Foxy yelled moving swiftly to knock her endoskeleton aside, but he was equally jumped by two of them, tying him down. Bonnie resorted to melee by straight up punching her opponent in the face, however that method was a double-edged sword as whilst it clearly hurt the endoskeleton it equally bruised her hand in the process.
"Fuck!" she cursed gripping her hand which throbbed with pain. "You're a tough one, aren't you?" she scowled.
Freddy meanwhile was picking himself upright after being knocked backwards, only to get attacked again. But this time he was prepared as he brought his shotgun up and blasted the attacking endoskeleton into oblivion.
"I love this gun," he smirked, brandishing the shotgun for it was very useful in close quarters.
He knew that he faced one more endoskeleton to his front, but he needed to see how the others were doing. He swung the phone round to see Bonnie locked in a furious struggle with at least one of her two endoskeleton attackers.
She had just used her rifle as a bat of sorts to smack the second one in the head to keep it off balance.
Its head was slightly dented, but it didn't go down like she hoped. All which served as an opening for the other one to jump onto her back, making her drop her rifle.
Chica had finally broke free of her attackers, by firing into one of them, its ribcage was soon filled with multiple bullet holes. It ended with the thing dying and then collapsing on top of her, quickly becoming a dead weight.
She pushed it off her, swiftly getting to her feet and moved to meet the second one.
Foxy meanwhile was unsure of which one to go for, both were ready to act regardless of which one he chose.
So he adopted a more radical approach…
He grabbed hold of one them and harshly pushed it towards the other, before turning to counter both so they were squarely at his front. Had it not been for the light from Freddy's phone he wouldn't have seen them clear enough to do a sweep attack with his hook.
It was like a sharp knife, dicing through one of them in the mouth, destroying its voice box. Revealing his pistol from his back pocket, Foxy fired a single shot straight into the endoskeleton's head.
It worked like a charm with the endoskeleton now completely lifeless after having its' robotic version of a brain destroyed fell backwards.
However now the second endoskeleton caught wind of Foxy was trying to do and swiftly sided stepped him…only to then kick his pistol out of his hand. Where it went Foxy didn't know, now he would fight his opponent hand to hand. Freddy meanwhile had kicked his opposing endoskeleton down into a hole of unending blackness, sending it to its death far below. Now he could go and support the others.
Bonnie was having the most difficulty with one of the endoskeletons now latching itself onto her back and threatening to drag her backwards, ideally make her lose her balance and fall backwards down a hole into the unknown. The other endoskeleton was repeatedly punching her in ribs, trying to make her stumble and of course her hands were tied because she was having to deal with another one clinging onto her back.
She could feel her balance going just as a shotgun blast tore into the first endoskeleton attacking her front. The result ripped the endoskeleton apart into two halves and thus freeing Bonnie to fling the second endoskeleton off her back. Before Freddy could do anything himself, Bonnie spun round and grabbed the dazed endoskeleton by its neck hinges and tore its head clean off. Then she tossed it aside before repeatedly kicking the now dead endoskeleton in the groin.
"Bonnie…Bonnie...Bonnie," Freddy sighed.
"Can you at least give the endoskeleton some dignity?" he asked as she slammed the end of her foot against its non-existing private parts. "It has no dignity!" she snarled in thinly veiled anger.
Upon giving up on trying to make her stop, Freddy turned his full attention to Chica's dilemma.
"Hey Chica duck!" he shouted turning to face her.
He fired another blast, this one dented the endoskeleton in the ribs, distracting it enough for Chica to get the drop on it with her automatic, ripping the things to pieces in a matter of seconds. By now nine of the ten endoskeletons were dead, the only one left was facing Foxy.
He leapt forward, jammed his hook right into chest and twisted it right and left doing an incredible amount of internal damage.
And then he delivered an immense kick to its weaken chest, making the endoskeleton stumble backwards into a hole. Its screams only lasted for a second before being sharply silenced by a hard sounding thud. Despite the fight having lasted about a minute or two, no one had considered the weaken state of their surroundings.
At first it was nothing just a faint sound on the edge of everyone's hearing, but then as the battle subsided, it grew in its intensity. Using the phone's light Freddy shone in the sound's direction, looking back the way they had all come.
Yes, it was coming from somewhere in the darkness.
"More endoskeletons?" Chica asked, looking over, crouching in a defensive posture should her suspicions be true.
Foxy however knew better. "No lassie, it isn't endoskeletons, I hear no grinding gears." The sound continued to grow, cracking, bending, snapping and wrapping. "I don't like this," Bonnie whispered as the feeling of terror crept up her spine whilst she nursed her bruised hand. Yet Freddy had an idea.
"Foxy…Foxy," he called, now shinning the light on him "What Freddy," he answered back, although the red-haired pirate lookalike with foxy ears maintained his gaze forward.
"Take a few steps back…slowly."
Foxy did so and each time he did, the sound only grew louder. "It's the floor…" he muttered as the realization dawned on him. Those sounds were it slowly giving way under its own weight after having been shaken by a mini earthquake and then a ravenous firestorm which quickly followed.
"Guys," Freddy whispered in an urgent tone which caught their attention.
"The floor is very unstable so I suggest that we move slowly towards the staircase, even though we are bit rushed for time." He then looked at all three of his friends in the eye.
A concerned bluish reddish from Bonnie, a tense vibrant green from Chica and a stern, but understanding brown from Foxy. To them, they all saw a worried but confident baby blue. "If I may suggest should we move one at a time so not to cause a disturbance," Chica stated softly. "Yeah good idea Chica, but Freddy has the light so he'll go first," Bonnie commented, gesturing over to the phone which Freddy held up like a beacon.
"I'm always going in at the front, to you guys I'm like a canary in a cage."
"Well leaders should lead by example," Foxy remarked casually proving a point.
"Next time it's you lot for a change, you did say you wanted to take turns of being the leader back in the treehouse," Freddy replied humorously as he turned around, shinning the light on the area before him.
If nobody makes a loud noise then they should be able to make to the stairs without incident.
"Ok we move on three…one…two…..thr-"
And then the phone in Freddy's hand rang, vibrating with a pulsing sound.
It caught him unaware and in his panic he dropped it.
"Shit, now's not a good time!" he mentally cursed.
"Turn it off Freddy turn it off!" Bonnie hissed, keeping her voice low but stressing her heighten concern setting off a collapse.
"I'm trying, but I can't find it, it's on the floor."
Everyone got down on their knees and started to feel around.
"I can't see it, it's too dark in here," Chica moaned her hands running over nothing but a cold hard floor.
"Then it must have landed upside down, Freddy how about you?" Foxy asked, trying in vain to make anything out in the inky blackness. He may have the best hearing of the four, but he didn't have the best eye sight. "Shit if it's fallen down one of the holes then we're seriously screwed," Freddy cursed, frantically sweeping the floor for the hope of touching anything remotely metal.
"I can't find it, it's like we never had it," Bonnie stressed as the horrible sensation build up in her chest.
"Where the hell is it?"
"Wait, everyone stop…listen and be quiet," Foxy ordered…everyone was silent from then onwards.
The pulsing noise it had first made, if it was still here then they would hear it.
At first there was absolutely nothing of interest.
Then slowly out of the dark came a tiny sound of 'hmmm…...hmmm…...hmmm'.
Narrowing down its location, Foxy carefully moved his hand towards the sound.
He lowered his hand to finally touch something metallic, it vibrated…the phone!
Quickly he picked it up, letting out a sigh of relief which he didn't know he was holding.
"Oh thank sweet merciful Jesus," he groaned. "That was close…too close."
"I'll take the call Foxy," said Bonnie, reaching over to him, whom passed the phone to her.
Now he could take the time to search for his pistol which he had lost when one of the endoskeletons kicked it out of his hand. "Guys it's the Toys," she announced to her relief that they were still alive in this hellhole. She then tapped on the answer call option. "They're calling us now?" Foxy questioned, turning to look at her as he now sat down on the floor like the others.
"Why?" he inquired further.
Bonnie ignored his questions and spoke into the speaker "Hello?" she asked calmly.
Static…just cold hard static came from the other side.
xxx
"If you take a life, do you know what you'll give?"
"Odds are you won't like what it is."
"When the storm arrives, would you be seen with me?"
"By the merciless eyes of deceit?"
xxxx
Down in the assembly area.
Toy Bonnie looked at the phone, the screen showing the words 'call engaged'.
"Hello, hello guys?"
She could hear Bonnie's voice coming out of the speaker.
Nightmare Chica held a very cold intense look with her eyes narrowed and her three rows of teeth gritted. 'Answer it!' she mouthed.
So Toy Bonnie did.
"Hey Bonnie."
"Bonbon, how are you, what's going on, why did you call us?" Bonnie enquired getting straight to the point. "Hang on, I'll switch this onto loud speaker so the others can hear."
That made Nightmare Chica smile, her eyes shining with excitement.
"Bonnie, we called to let you know…that…despite the explosion and the fire wave…we're fine and so far, we've found nothing of interest, how are you doing at your end?" Toy Bonnie asked, trying not to sound all shaky and worried. Nightmare Chica reached down and patted Toy Bonnie on the head, to which Toy Bonnie shivered at her touch. 'Good girl' she mouthed, slowly raking her claws through Toy Bonnie's light blue hair.
'That's a good obedient Bonbon...'
Yet Bonnie felt unsure, something was off, her counterpart's tone was not exactly one of confidence. Freddy, Foxy and Chica after hearing it for themselves shared the same view when they casted each other concerned looks, they felt it …something wasn't right.
xxxx
"I've seen angels fall from blinding heights."
"But you yourself are nothing so divine."
xxxx
Bonnie sighed and beckoned the others to come closer.
"Bonbon, is everything ok, we're one floor above you, do you need help?"
"If we group up now it'll be easier to take on the Nightmares."
Toy Bonnie looked around to see Toy Freddy dangling down the hole, gripping his bleeding shoulder and gritting his teeth to numb the pain. She turned and saw Toy Chica being held above another hole by Nightmare Foxy with a rather bloody scar running across her face.
And finally, there was Mangle being held up in the air by Nightmare Freddy, seriously bruised, beaten and groaning.
xxxx
"Just next in line!"
xxxx
"Do you need our help?" Bonnie asked again, her tone was one of clear concern.
Yet Toy Bonnie herself was locked within an internal conflict, say the truth and get her and her family killed or lie to avoid another beating. Nightmare Chica smiled and stretched her neck, looking up towards the ceiling.
As she did Toy Bonnie made her decision.
"Bonnie, we're trapped by the Nightmares in second floor's assembly area, they're gonna kill us, hur-"
She was cut off by Nightmare Chica smacking her in the face with her claws.
"THAT'S A BAD BONBON!" she shouted, jamming one of her claws into Toy Bonnie's shoulder wound which caused Toy Bonnie to scream out in pain. Nightmare Bonnie joined in by stomping fiercely on the Toy's back, the impact of her foot rippling through her already bleeding back.
Her screams were heard over the phone causing Bonnie to jump back in shock. "BONBON, SPEAK TO US!" Chica shouted, trying to reestablish contact. There was more screaming in which Toy Freddy could be heard yelling at the attackers to leave Toy Bonnie alone.
Then there was just static, cold tense static…
"GUYS, GUYS!" Foxy yelled into the speaker, but yielded no answer. "Come on, the staircase is over here, they'll kill them if we don't get there in time!" Freddy exclaimed, pointing towards the darkness before them which shrouded everything from sight.
Then a voice came out of the phone…but it wasn't Toy Bonnie's.
"So…you…'Originals' wasn't it… you think you can save your younger irrelevant counterparts." It sounded a lot like Chica, but it was more demonic and had a sickly-sweet edge to it.
Chica was very alarmed to hear the voice of her Nightmarish counterpart, it was clear in her eyes.
xxxx
"Arm yourself because no-one else here will save you!"
"The odds will betray you."
"And I will replace you."
xxxx
"Who are you, where's Bonbon?" Foxy asked, determined to get an answer.
"Foxy, I'm so glad to hear your voice, I've got something very special in mind for you," the cool voice replied, crackling through the static. "You're Nightmare Chica aren't you?" Freddy asked, his eyes narrowing in anger.
"Does it matter if I'm Nightmare Chica…to answer your question Freddy and yes I do know who are, Bonbon is still alive, for how long through…is anyone's guess."
xxxx
"You can't deny the prize, it may never fulfill you!"
"It longs to kill you!"
"Are you willing to die?"
xxxx
Bonnie tipped her head towards the darkness ahead of them, giving the others a sign that they should really get moving.
So, they did with Foxy having just found his pistol, good now they were back to full strength.
"I can hear you four moving, but in the end you won't make it," Nightmare Chica scoffed, clearly enjoying the supremacy of her position. "You don't know anything you vile hag!" Chica snarled, shouting into the speaker.
Nightmare Chica laughed, her high-pitched laughter ringing out of the speaker and echoing off the walls. "Ouch, I'm so hurt," she mocked as the Originals finally discovered the staircase door, still standing in place despite the damage to the rest of the building. "You will be soon!" Freddy yelled, throwing the staircase door wide open and quickly making his way down the stairs, being swiftly followed by the others. It was risky, moving about in the dark inside a building which was collapsing by the minute, but they no choice…time was not on their side.
"Hey, do you guys want to speak to the others, say hi it's the Originals," Nightmare Chica called out, beckoning the other Nightmares to have a say. "HI!" was the collective announcement from three no so dissimilar voices through the speaker.
That sure sent a shiver straight up the Originals' spines.
Nightmare Freddy then slowly approached Nightmare Chica as did Nightmares Bonnie and Foxy, who still holding Toy Chica up in the air.
Nightmare Freddy with his free hand, proceeded to take the phone off Nightmare Chica, whilst still being able to keep a firm grasp on Mangle with the other.
xxxx
"The coldest blood runs through my veins."
"You know my name…"
xxxx
He then spoke calmly with a sinister edge.
"Hello Freddy."
Freddy froze upon hearing his voice, the memory of his first meeting with the Nightmare came racing back. "Freddy, what's wrong?" Bonnie asked, looking concerned as to why he had just stopped in mid-step.
He shook his head, dismissing his negative thoughts, pushing them far to the back of his mind.
"It's just bad memories," he replied, his voice going very quiet.
"I'm rather surprised to hear that you are still good friends with Chica," Nightmare Freddy inquired, making Chica feel very uneasy.
Seeing Chica look unsettled angered Freddy, it reignited him, he swiftly took the phone off Bonnie.
"I now know what you were trying to do, it was well played with your realistic projections," he answered, his voice being one of annoyance. "Especially with you faking your death."
Nightmare Freddy chuckled, making Freddy's anger levels rise.
"Well your silence helped, I gambled on that part."
xxxx
"If you come inside, things will not be the same."
"When you return to the night..."
"And if you think you've won, you never saw me change."
"The game that we've all been playing!"
xxxx
Then Nightmare Foxy jumped in.
"If one could do that much damage, then just imagine what the four of us can do," he snarled, his eyes glowing with excitement.
Then Nightmare Bonnie spoke up.
"Did you guys meet Nightmare Fredbear?" she asked.
"Yeah, he's a strong bastard alright," Bonnie answered, her mind flickering back to recent events. "And very quick on his feet," Foxy remarked.
Nightmare Bonnie giggled.
"He told us so much about you four…so much, so many secrets."
"So, what, I don't care what you know, all I care about is beating you to death," Foxy replied, clearly angered by the Nightmare's attitude of taking them for fools.
Nightmare Chica smiled.
"Ohhh, we're so scared!" she mocked. "You four don't want to see us get angry," Freddy answered, spying the door to the second floor somewhere below them, flickering in and out of the elusive darkness.
"And you four don't want to see us get angry," Nightmare Freddy stated.
He smiled as his tone went from calm to sarcastic.
"We will bite, it's 'particularly' guaranteed."
Then there was a beeping sound making Nightmare Freddy looked down at his hand, his watch tracker flashed to show a message from Vincent.
It read as: "GET TO THE ROOF NOW, POLICE ARE ENROUTE!"
"Not now, we're having fun," the Nightmare mentally noted, but he knew that he would have to cut the fun short. "Anyway, we would love to stay and chat, but we've got some issues that really need taking care of, but we would love to meet you four, face to face."
"YOU AIN'T GETTING AWAY WITH THIS!" Bonnie shouted down the line.
Nightmare Freddy just laughed, a laugh which sounded more demonic than human.
"Oh, my dear Bonnie, I'm afraid we're about too, goodbye…"
Then all four Nightmares shouted into the speaker. "AND COME BACK TO FREDDY FAZBEAR'S!"
The Originals' reply was simply shouting back "FUCK YOU!"
Then both sides cancelled the call.
"Come on, the second floor is just down there," Foxy cried, racing ahead of them, rushing through the darkness as Freddy lit up the way with the phone's inbuilt light.
xxxx
"I've seen diamonds cut through harder men."
"Then you yourself, but if you must pretend."
"You may meet your end!"
xxxx
Nightmare Freddy threw the phone to Nightmare Bonnie, who caught it with one hand. Then along with Nightmare Foxy, the two Nightmares dragged the wounded Mangle and Toy Chica over to where Toys Bonnie and Freddy were.
They stood on separate sides of Toy Bonnie, with one on the left and one on the right. Then they dangled both of their captives over the chasm in which only darkness could be seen.
"WHAT…WHAT ARE YOU GONNA DO TO THEM!" Toy Freddy shouted, desperately wanting to intervene somehow.
All four Nightmares smiled with a dark scene playing out in their twisted minds. Finally Nightmare Bonnie turned to face Toy Bonnie with a sinster expression which held only a love for dominance.
"Bonbon," she cooed sweetly.
"I'm going to give you ten seconds, ten whole seconds to decide which one you want us to drop, Toy Chica, Mangle or Toy Freddy."
"BONBON, DON'T LISTEN TO THEM!" Toy Chica shouted only for Nightmare Foxy to swipe her arm with his hook leaving a bloodily gash behind. "Do you want to die, it might be better than having Nightmare Fredbear gut you to death!" he hissed as the Toy groaned in sheer agony.
"So, Toy Bonnie, who do you want to lose, the girl you love like a sister," Nightmare Bonnie gestured to Toy Chica.
"The girl you pity," she tipped her head towards Mangle.
"Or the man you love," she pointed down at Toy Freddy.
"I don't want to choose," Toy Bonnie replied, looking directly at Mangle, Toy Chica and then lastly Toy Freddy.
xxxx
"Arm yourself, because no-one else here will save you!"
"The odds will betray you."
"And I will replace you."
xxxx
Nightmare Bonnie smiled mercilessly, flexing her claws.
"You cannot back out my dear and if you do not choose…then we may drop all three of them."
"The Originals are coming, they'll be on the same floor right now," Toy Freddy shouted, anger blazing in his eyes.
"They won't reach you in time," Nightmare Chica muttered leaning over the hole to stare down at Toy Freddy.
"We'll guarantee it with your deaths."
xxxx
"You can't deny the prize, it may never fulfill you!"
"It longs to kill you!"
"Are you willing to die?"
"The coldest blood runs through my veins..."
xxxx
The door to the second floor was forced wide opened as Foxy emerged with the others in tow.
"Which way to the assembly area?" he asked eagerly, looking around in the dark, but failing to see anything of note. He sniffed the air, it felt thick and sicky and it dawned on him that it was smoke, hidden from the human eye as it covered everything in a thick smothering blanket.
"I don't know," Chica answered, unable to tell where the exits where. "We've got to get there and quickly," Bonnie added, she coughed as she inhaled the immense smoke.
Freddy sighed, taking a moment to rest.
"If every floor possesses the same layout, then it's one of these unseen hallways," he muttered, trying to see the corridors through the thick smoke, but struggling to do so.
"But which one?"
Then out of nowhere a bright white light exploded in front of them, forcing them to cover their eyes for the fear of being blinded. When they removed their hands, they saw much to their shock and surprise…four ghostly children with only their eye colour visible, one a bright blue, another a pinkish purple, a third a bright green and finally a fourth with a brownish colour.
Now their entire surroundings were fully visible in the aura which the ghosts emitted. The Fazbears knew the urgency of their current situation, but they were too shocked to move.
"Hello," the Freddy ghost child said, reaching out to touch Freddy's hand.
"Hi," Bonnie squeaked, her eyes widen in surprise as was Chica.
Foxy was just utterly speechless.
"Why are you four doing here?" Freddy asked, feeling his breath being ripped away at the mere sight of them. Despite their recent past appearances, they hadn't seen the ghost children this up close and personal since the mid-1990s.
And they hadn't aged a day...obviously.
"Aren't you four meant to be in here?" Freddy asked, pointing directly to his chest.
He then felt the ghostly hand of the Freddy ghost child touch his, wrapping his small transparent fingers around that of the Fazbear's. "You need help, we can help you save them," he said in a somewhat angelic tone, his bright blue eyes staring into Freddy's.
"The other four children are screaming!" The Bonnie ghost child exclaimed in a hysterical wail. "Save them, we'll show you the way," The Chica ghost child added pleading.
"But it will require our direct intervention," The Foxy ghost child stated mournfully.
"However, it won't be anything new."
"Wait, where is this going?" Chica asked, feeling very unsure. However Foxy knew what they meant, but the Freddy child spoke before he could get any word out.
"We're sorry for any discomfort."
Before Foxy could warn the others, the ghost children grabbed their respective hands.
They seemed to be sucked into their very skin, disappearing before them with their soul like essence flowing through their entire bodies. The four Fazabears gripped their heads as a second presence took up residence in their minds, rapidly expanding.
Now that they were gone, the light quickly faded away and the darkness returned.
"Go right, straight down and turn left and keep going," the Foxy ghost child informed them. "Thanks for the directions, but a little warning next time would be nice," Freddy answered annoyingly, shaking his head to get rid of the discomfort.
"Sorry," the Chica ghost child replied sheepishly.
"Regardless let's go, we can't afford to waste any more time," Bonnie muttered.
She took off first, racing ahead with the others following not far behind.
Back in the assembly area, Nightmare Bonnie was about to begin her countdown.
"Do you want to make a decision now Toy Bonnie," she ordered, staring down at her injured counterpart. "I, I, I don't want anyone to die," Toy Bonnie answered, her eyes were pleading for mercy, but she knew that she wouldn't find any. "Mmm, no, sorry that's not an option Bonbon, we'll go straight to the countdown then."
"Bonbon, don't worry it's properly not even that deep," Toy Freddy stated, trying his best to see what was occurring above him.
"You may want to rethink that," said Nightmare Bonnie, smiling as she held the phone out above the chasm.
"Let's find out shall we..."
She then dropped it, the phone fell through the darkness, nearly hitting Toy Freddy on the way down. Everyone listened, for a while there was nothing…just cold dead silence.
Then…came a faint clang from somewhere far below, signaling that the phone had hit the bottom.
Nightmare Bonnie smiled, turning to face Mangle who was still groaning from her injuries as Nightmare Freddy held her above the hole. "It's a very long way down," she whispered smugly, foreseeing the most likely outcome of the current situation.
She then snapped her fingers.
"10."
xxxx
"Try to hide your hand."
"Forget how to feel."
(Forget how to feel.)
"Life is gone with just a spin of the wheel."
(Spin of the wheel.)
xxxx
"Turn here and keeping going until the end of the corridor and then go right," the Foxy ghost child instructed, as the Originals raced down the corridor, their hearts pounding their ears.
"THEY'RE GONNA DIE, THEY'RE GONNA DIE!" The Bonnie ghost child screamed, filling its host mind with nothing but dread and sorrow.
"9," Nightmare Bonnie announced walking around Toy Bonnie, who was struggling to decide.
"I don't want to lose any of them," she shouted in anger, as the bitter conflict of who to drop raged within her.
"8," Nightmare Bonnie remarked snapping her fingers, at that instant Nightmares Freddy and Foxy loosen their grip on Toy Chica and Mangle.
Mangle reached out and grasped Nightmare Freddy's hands, desperately not wanting to fall to her death.
The Nightmare just shook his head and smiled in an expression of complete supremacy, he knew that she knew that it was all in vain.
"7."
xxxx
"Arm yourself because no-one else here will save you!"
"The odds will betray you."
"And I will replace you."
xxxx
xxxx
"You can't deny the prize, it may never fulfil you!"
"It longs to kill you!"
"Are you willing to die?"
"The coldest blood runs through my veins."
xxxx
"Come on, your nearly there, just two more turns," the Chica ghost child exclaimed, clearly wanting the Originals to reach their destination.
"We know you can do it, we believe in you," the Freddy ghost child yelled, encouraging the Originals to run even faster.
xxxx
"You know my name."
xxxx
"6," Nightmare Bonnie sang, edger to see the countdown reach its end.
"I'm not choosing anyone you sadist hag from hell!" Toy Bonnie shouted, angered and clearly scared at the same time.
"No one!"
xxxx
"You know my name."
xxxx
Nightmare Bonnie's eyes glowed a bright bluish purple, enjoying her position of power.
"Then I'll just have to choose for you then Bonbon and in the end, you would have forced the decision on me, 5."
xxxx
"You know my name."
xxxx
After following countless instructions from the ghost children. running through smoke filled and unstable hallways; Freddy, Bonnie, Chica and Foxy at long last found themselves staring down a single corridor with an iron door at the far end.
"THERE THERE, THEY'RE IN THERE, HURRY!" the ghost children screamed in one collective voice of sheer panic.
They all charged, eyes solely fixed on the door.
xxxx
"You know my name."
xxxx
"4."
"Come on, come on!" Foxy urged, racing as fast as his legs would carry him.
"3."
"Have your guns at the ready!" Freddy yelled, bringing out his shotgun.
Toy Bonnie reached out and grabbed hold of Nightmare Bonne's leg, making her look down.
"Please," the Toy desperately begged, staring up at her.
xxxx
"You know my name."
xxxx
Their eyes locked for a moment as emotional green stared into emotionless bluish purple.
"Kill me instead," she pleaded.
"Just let them go."
Nightmare Bonnie just kicked her hand away without so much as a second thought.
"Nope, this is much more fun, 2."
xxxx
"You know my name."
xxxx
"Almost there!" Chica shouted, her hands reaching out for the door.
"Hang on Toys!" Bonnie yelled, putting her finger on the trigger of her rifle.
"1..."
xxxx
"You know my nameeeee!"
xxxx
I like cliff-hangers, you can never quite sure of how things will turn out.
Hoped you enjoyed this one, thanks for reading and please review, I would love to know your thoughts. :-)