Hey everyone, happy Halloween!
FNAF Security Breach is getting steadily closer and closer, although it might be released in early December, but hopefully Steel Wool will release a new trailer soon showing us some gameplay footage.
Plus we have new Fazbear Fright books arriving next year and some of their front covers do generate alot of questions. . .
Anyhow, here is the new chapter, as with the previous one it was meant to be bigger, but I decided that I didn't have enough space to cover what I wanted sufficiently, so that section will be covered in the next chapter.
A huge thank you to AugustFrost12 as always for their reviews, yes the Nightmares have their own motivations and goals that are somewhat similar to Vincent's, but ultimately lead to a different outcome.
A enemy of my enemy is my friend. . .for the most part. ;-)
As for that creature that was hunting both Tommy and Nightmare Fredbear, you haven't seen the last of it. . .
Thank you to ViridiNocturne and Child of Jesus for following/favouriting this story, glad to know that you are enjoying it. :-)
There is a song in this chapter, it's 'Remains' by Avaitors and it is a long one (8 minutes in total), there's plenty of stage directions in it and hopefully you won't get confused. I had thought about using 'Our Little Horror Story', but the lyrics for 'Remains' really work well in this chapter, particularly as they are written from the perspective of a serial killer from the Fallout game series.
Eventually O.L.H.S will have its day, it's just about finding the right moment to make it work.
Once again, apologies for any lingering grammar mistakes and do enjoy. :-)
Chapter 54.
Shattering Revelations.
"Something bad happened yesterday."
"Something bad always happens. . ."
Circus Baby from FNAF Sister Location Night Five
"Keep focused Fredbear," Vincent said, still speaking in a mixture of both encouragement and ill intent as he stared longingly at Goldie.
"I am quite sure that you will be shocked with what you should uncover, but in the end, one's interpretation of events are not so clear cut when you look at them again."
"And yet. . .that is often when we discover the most tragic and darkest of secrets that are otherwise best left buried. . ."
Goldie's eyes widen as he wrenched the repressed memory free from the depths of his subconsciousness, fully bringing it to the surface with all the baggage that accompanied it.
In his mind's eye images rushed pass him, a swirl of colours as his mind tried to process the memory and play it from the very beginning.
Screams, blood curling cries echoed about in his head, the shrieks of a terrified boy begging to be spared from his brother's torment. The cracking sound of his teeth with their jaw extenders biting down hard on something soft. . .the boy's head and echoing sound of the boy's blood slowly dripping down onto the wooden stage.
Every horrific detail was given a new leash of life and presented to him in vivid detail.
Goldie couldn't block the memory out as it began to consume his focus, even though he could feel the presence of Toy China's hand on his shoulder.
"It's ok," she whispered gently into his ear, with her hair briefly touching his skin. he felt his heartbeat start to lessen; the panic that had gripped his mind subsided somewhat.
"If you don't face this, it will haunt you forever, but if you get through it, you'll remerge a much stronger person because of it," Toy Chica whispered again, her reassuring tone, being the lighthouse in the raging storm that was his repressed memory of the Bite of 83, as it howled within his mind.
"We can finally uncover the truth that has plagued us for so long."
Goldie internally sighed, Toy Chica was right, if he wanted to remerge from the nightmare intact, then he would have to face it head on, regardless of the dangers involved. He needed to find out the answers to the biggest questions that had stalked them ever since Vincent had lured those five children away into a back room and sent them all spiralling headlong into the dark.
Steeling himself for the worst, Goldie took a huge mental leap down memory lane, diving into the heart of the storm. . .
He was done running from the past and he knew very well what awaited him and it terrified him to revisit such a traumatic event. Yet he was even more afraid of what he might uncover, given Vincent's malicious intentions for him to remember a blood chilling tragedy. . .
5th May 1983
Fredbear and Friends Pizzeria
Columbus Ohio
"Welcome Kids, welcome to Fredbear and Friends' Pizzeria!" Fredbear announced in a cheerful tone to what was largely a sparsely crowded dinner.
The big lunch rush was yet to begin with it being 11:45am, but there were enough people present to be defined as an audience; even though they were strung out in separate groups across the pizzeria, largely preoccupied by the various arcade games that dotted the establishment.
Yet that didn't stop Fredbear from making further announcements.
"We have a great show lined up for you all today that I'm sure that you'll all enjoy," he called out enthusiastically.
"Keep preforming, with there being a considerable gathering for the birthday party that is set to begin at noon, play the Fredbear Welcome song," his mental programming told him as though he was being issued an order and Fredbear complied without question.
To him, preforming was just as natural as breathing, it almost took no effort on his part to act and bring a smile to many children who usually crowded the area beyond the show stage.
Gesturing to his immediate left, Fredbear announced in a booming voice so to grab everyone's attention for good measure.
"And I am joined by my helpful band mate and best friend SpringBonnie, are you ready to light up the stage with your guitar buddy?"
"I sure am Fredbear!" SpringBonnie yelled, positioning himself to play a series of playful songs.
"Get ready for a pretty crazy concert kids!"
SpringBonnie laughed heartily, being fully invested in the moment as his green eyes gleamed with joy. . .as his programming dictated and he performed his role pretty much flawlessly. He re-stringed his guitar to make sure that it would function correctly and then he started to play out a cheerful tune.
SpringBonnie's amazing guitar playing did catch and maintain the attention of several groups of people and seeing their admiration did put a smile on his face.
Yet Goldie knew deep down that the smile wasn't real, none of SpringBonnie was. . .
There was some magic that an AI couldn't recapture and only Goldie seemed to notice the difference, however small or invisible it was to everyone else.
He remembered the real SpringBonnie's breakdown. . .that fateful day, which only now came to the mental surface from the oceanic depths of his subconscious, before being swiftly repressed by his mental programming. Yet it couldn't supress the brief physical shudder Goldie felt whenever the moment occurred. Although it didn't dimmish his happy go luckily expression as he began to sing the pizzeria's iconic welcome song.
"Welcome to Fredbear and Friends, a place of joy and fun."
"Win special prizes and hang out with me Fredbear," he sang in a booming voice, gesturing to himself.
"And sing along with me SpringBonnie," SpringBonnie called out, also gesturing to himself as he played his guitar without error.
"There's something fun here for everyone," they sang together in unison.
"Fantasy and fun is our motto, here at Fredbear and Friends."
Together with their singing talent, they were able to create a more festive atmosphere and gain the attention of a few more children.
"Have a hearty slice of our famous pizza, enjoy the show."
"This is heaven on earth and you'll always feel welcome here at Fredbear and Friends."
SpringBonnie played out a final musical blast with his guitar before slowly reducing the sound and bowing out with a satisfying musical conclusion.
There were several claps of approval from some groups who were evidently impressed by the duo's performance. Other groups, often those who stood around arcade games just returned to their previous occupation of cheering their friends on as they resumed playing, trying to beat the game's high score.
Fredbear smiled though, feeling pleased that he and SpringBonnie had been able to brighten the day for some people.
"That went well," SpringBonnie remarked joyfully, turning to face Fredbear, who responded in turn.
"Yeah, although I'm sure that with a few more songs, we'll have a real concert, just like the ones you've dreamt of," Fredbear replied eagerly.
SpringBonnie's green eyes lit up with excitement and he looked beyond joyed.
"Well, dreams can become real. . .one day."
Fredbear chuckled in assument, but underneath his smile, his subconscious bitterly hissed.
"You're not the real SpringBonnie, just an animatronic puppet that wears his likeness!"
Then his programming or rather mental conditioning crushed the independent thought like a large hammer against a nut; quickly pushing it back down below the mental surface of his mind and proceeding to give him orders on how to continue the festivities.
"Play the showtime song, then when the clock hits noon play the birthday song for the birthday boy; he'll be instructed to approach the stage with his family for the special moment when the birthday cake is presented to him, followed by a photoshoot of him, you and SpringBonnie on stage."
It dominated his mind and Fredbear had no choice but to listen and comply.
"Let's play the Showtime song SpringBonnie, that'll sure give our guests something to cheer about," he announced enthusiastically
"Right you are Fredbear," SpringBonnie replied warmly, high fiving him, before he quickly restrung his guitar.
So, they started to sing like always and everything was normal, with Fredbear's booming friendly voice being supported by SpringBonnie's more drawn back gentle tone. Their combined playful music filled the pizzeria, entertaining some kids and adults, whilst being ignored or half listened to by others.
However, as Fredbear and SpringBonnie continued their song, there was a minor disturbance during their performance that Fredbear couldn't help but notice; even though he remained in constant sync with SpringBonnie and blindly obeyed his mental programming.
Near one of the groups of tables, there was a small brown haired boy surrounded by a group of four older boys, who all wore face masks of Freddy, Bonnie, Chica and Foxy. Judging by the boy's frighten expression and that he was crying, the other boys were clearly bullying him.
He desperately held onto a Fredbear plushie, trying to find comfort in its presence, as the other boys continually tormented him to no apparent end. Suddenly, one of the older boys, the one wearing a Bonnie face mask grabbed the crying boy's hair and pulled on it hard, making the boy cry even more.
"Wow, your brother is kind of a baby, isn't he?" the older boy asked, turning to face the boy wearing the Foxy face mask.
"It's hilarious," the crying boy's brother remarked, clearly taking a great deal of pleasure in bullying his younger brother.
He then turned in the direction of Fredbear and SpringBonnie and the former felt their eyes lock.
In the boy's eyes, Fredbear could perceive a devious mind seeing an opportunity to cause further his younger brother even more torment.
Suddenly the older boy made an announcement to the others.
"Hey, why don't we help him get a closer look, he'll love it!"
His younger brother immediately seemed to understand the horrifying implications of the boy's intentions.
"No, please!" he cried, as the other older boys swarmed him, much to his older brother's delight.
"Come on guys, let's give this little man a lift!" he yelled, as he and his friends lifted the younger boy up off the ground and proceeded to carry him towards the stage.
"He wants to get up close and personal!"
Yet the younger boy protested fiercely, but he couldn't overcome the strength of his tormentors.
"No, I don't want to go!"
And his cries only seemed to further fuel his brother's enjoyment.
"You heard the little man," he said sinisterly.
"He wants to get even closer!"
The younger boy's cries for mercy did catch the attention of a few people, but they preferred not to interfere and before long the bullies reached the stage, despite the younger boy's desperate attempts to pull himself free of their grip.
"Hey guys, I think the little man said he wants to give Fredbear a big kiss," the boy's older brother said mischievously, looking up directly at Fredbear himself.
With the other boys' help, they positioned the crying younger brother just below Fredbear's mouth.
"On three!" the older brother yelled, tightly holding onto his younger brother to pin him in place.
"One. . ."
They were timing themselves to act when Fredbear next opened his mouth.
"Two. . ."
When Fredbear opened his mouth wide to sing a long note, the bullies struck.
THREE!"
They forcefully shoved the poor younger brother into Fredbear's mouth, regardless of how hard he fought back.
"I DON'T WANT TO GO IN!" he screamed, utterly terrified as his head was forced into the gaping mouth of Fredbear, before feeling it begin to close shut on him like a trap.
Fredbear felt himself gag as the crying boy's head heavily restricted his ability to breathe, but he was able to inhale and exhale through his nose.
Yet he was unable to continue the song, so he instead bit down hard, and he repeatedly kept on doing so, whilst his programming continually relayed orders.
"Play the song, play the song, play the song!"
"You are leaving SpringBonnie to sing on his own, join in!"
So, he kept on biting down, trying to sing, even though it was physically impossible for him to do so. . .his mental conditioning hadn't factored in this particular situation.
Yet his subconsciousness in a panicking state began to scream, telling him to instinctively help the crying child and thus conflicting with his programming.
"SAVE HIM, STOP TRYING TO SING AND GET HIM OUT OF YOUR MOUTH!"
"SAVE HIM!"
Meanwhile the crying child was trying desperately to free himself, but because Fredbear was consistently biting down, the boy found himself to be pinned. He even repeatedly smacked his Fredbear plushie hard into the side of Fredbear's head as he tried to dislodge himself from Fredbear's jaws.
"GET ME OUT, GET ME OUT!" the boy screamed in absolute terror and it was because of his blood chilling screams that several people turned in the direction of the stage, their shocked reactions gaining the attention of those near them.
"MICHAEL, GET ME OUT!" the boy yelled at the top of his lungs, his panic was beyond evident and Fredbear could feel him thrashing about in his mouth, trying desperately to break himself free, but he wasn't strong enough.
"ELIZABETH HELP ME!"
"DAD, GET ME OUT!"
All the while, the crying boy's brother, presumably the one called Michael just laughed at the boy's poor misfortunate. His friends laughed as well, finding humour in the boy's suffering as their 'prank' had worked perfectly.
They were seemingly immune to the younger boy's cries for help and oblivious to the immense danger that they had placed him in.
Yet the boy's shouts for help and the apparent harm that he was enduring had fully dawned on several staff members and a few of them had started sprinting towards the stage in order to recuse the kid before something terrible happened. Despite standing right next to Fredbear, SpringBonnie didn't respond as his programming had locked him into 'performance mode', plus it didn't cover the odd possibility of having to deal with a child's head being wedged into his bandmate's mouth. So, the unfolding incident slipped him by as he just kept on playing, his cheerful voice being drowned out by the crying child's frantic screams of terror.
Meanwhile Fredbear was suffering from a crisis of indecision as his instincts were screaming at him to stop biting down and actually help the child; whereas his programming was adamantly insisting that he resumed singing, despite being physically incapable of doing so.
Each time one yelled, the other would shout back even louder.
"KEEP SINGING!"
"HELP HIM, STOP BITING!"
"RETURN TO THE SONG, SPRINGBONNIE CANNOT SING SOLE, SUPPORT HIM!"
"HELP THE CHILD, YOU'RE CRUSHING HIM!"
"MAINTAIN FOCUS AND SING THE SHOWTIME SONG!"
Fredbear could hear the heavy footsteps of multiple staff members approaching the stage at a rapid pace.
"QUICK, SOMEONE ACTIVE HIS LOCKDOWN PROTOCALL, GET HIM TO GO LIMB!" one of the male staff members yelled in desperation, sprinting at full speed in the hopes of averting a disaster.
"GET ON THE STAGE AND PREFORM THE SHUTDOWN, QUICKLY!" another one, a female shouted, equally closing the distance.
All the while Fredbear kept on biting down, as his mind was racked with conflicting instructions.
"PREFORM!"
"SAVE HIM!"
"SING!"
"GET HIM OUT!"
The crying child kept on screaming, unable to pull himself free.
"MICHAEL HELP MEEEEE!"
"GET ME OUTTTT!"
Yet Michael was unresponsive to his younger brother's cries for help and he kept on laughing with his friends at the poor boy's misfortune, clearly unaware of the danger that he had placed his younger brother in.
A danger that quickly made itself known in a devastating way. . .
"MICHEAL GET ME OUT, GET ME OUT!" the crying child screamed, unable to prey himself loose, no matter what he did.
Fredbear's jaws with their jaw extenders came down once more, amidst the screams.
"GET ME OUT, GET ME OUT, MICHAEL GET ME OU-"
CRACK!
The screaming stopped almost instantaneously and Fredbear felt the immediate sensation of a warm liquid pooling in his mouth, it caried a strong metallic flavour to it. . .blood.
The crying child immediately went limb, with his arms becoming motionless as were his legs, they were no longer kicking about in a mad fashion driven by a desperate desire to escape. His Fredbear plushie dropped out of his left hand and hit the stage's wooden boards with a considerable thud. With his inner instincts having ceased their screaming, Fredbear's 'programming' took over and he resumed singing, moving about on the spot, with the unconscious boy's legs moving about aimlessly whenever Fredbear moved his head.
It was a fairly chilling display to be witnessed as the Showtime song was played, whilst everyone else stared at the stage in stun struck horror.
Despite being locked into his performance, Fredbear noted the expression of haunted realisation in the eyes of the bullies. He could see a deep-seated sense of shock and horror in their eyes, fear even. The nearby staff members who had been running towards the stage at full sprint had all stopped, transfixed by their sense of shock.
Blood from the younger boy's head's wound fell down onto the stage, making a dripping sound as it hit the wooden boards. Looking further beyond the four boys, Goldie could see a scene filled with staff members, parents and children all frozen in horror.
All eyes were on him and him alone.
The birthday party which was being thrown in the honour of the boy who now hung lifeless in his mouth had come to a complete stop. No one was eating any of the party food, no one was drinking anything, and no one was playing any of the party games.
No more Pac Man, no more pin the tail on the donkey and no more tag your it.
Everyone was quiet, all save for SpringBonnie and Fredbear himself, who both continued to perform for a non-existing hyped audience. It was like all of time had just stopped in that one moment, everything had frozen on the spot and would never move again.
But surely, it would. . .as it soon did.
Sounds came rushing back like running water, being quiet at first, but then quickly building up to an almighty explosion of noise.
The staff reacted first, with those nearest to the stage, pushing the group of bullies aside and jumping up onto the wooden boards.
They immediately proceeded to switch off SpringBonnie by pressing a hidden button around the back of his neck, with his voice dragging itself out as he powered down, before going completely limb. As for Fredbear, one of them merely uttered the safe word to turn his programming off into Fredbear's ear and he stopped almost instantly, before relaxing.
Yet his usual personality didn't return as his mind immediately entered into some sort of catatonic state, unable to process what had just happened as he stared headlong into the crowd with a disconnected gaze.
"OH MY GOD!" one of the customers, a young woman screamed, falling onto her knees and gripping her face in a full display of shock and terror.
"HE'S DEAD!"
"SOMEONE CALL AN AMBULANCE!" another one shouted.
"THERE'S SO MUCH BLOOD!"
Then the children started to yell, running about in pure terror, unable to cope with the situation and if their parents were screaming then it must be bad. Then the staff members turned SpringBonnie back on, rebooting his systems and clearing them of any scheduled events, allowing him to help once he fully registered what was going on.
He only needed to see the terrified masses of people running for the exit and then notice the limb blood stained body of a boy hanging out of Fredbear's mouth to get the full picture.
His reaction only added to the hysterical chaos.
"FREDBEAR, LET HIM GO!" Springbonnie screamed, dropping his banjo, his emerald eyes were now only filled with horror, all sense of warmth had departed.
He quickly grabbed hold of Fredbear's jaws and tried to pry them open, hoping to remove the child and if possible save him, although given the state of the boy's mangled head it didn't seem likely.
Suddenly, an array of hands grabbed hold of Fredbear from all sides, as he was being shaken by the already present staff members.
"LET GO, LET GO OF THE CHILD FREDBEAR!" one of them shouted urgently.
"OPEN YOUR MOUTH WIDE NOW!" another one yelled, trying to get his attention.
"WAIT, GUYS, HIS MOUTH MIGHT HAVE LOCKED SHUT," a third staff member cried out, trying to get their comrades' attention.
"JESUS CHRIST, HOW THE HELL DID THIS HAPPEN!"
"OH, MY LORD, IS HE DEAD?"
"THERE'S SO MUCH BLOOD!"
As the screams continued to build, amidst the rising sense of horror at what had occurred, three of the bullies, those wearing face masks of Freddy, Bonnie and Chica slowly backed away from the stage and away from the boy with the Foxy face mask.
"This. . .this isn't what we wanted to happen, we just wanted to scare him," the boy with the Bonnie face mask said, evidently panicking whilst trying to justify their actions.
"Crap, we're in big trouble guys," the boy with the Freddy face mask remarked, clearly dreading the punishment that their action was sure to bring down upon them.
"Dude, is this what you wanted Mike, I thought that you wanted to give him a good scare?" the boy in the Chica face mask asked, eyeing the Foxy child with a posture which spoke of fear.
"No guys, I didn't mean for it to be like this!" the boy evidently identified as Michael replied, his voice was one of dread and shock.
This isn't what he wanted, not in the slightest.
"Heck Liam if you, or David or Alex thought that it wasn't such a good idea, then you should have said so!" Michael growled in annoyance, but more so in fear of what he had allowed to happen and the implications it carried.
"It was an accident, Thomas was just meant to get scared and we would have a really good laugh, like all the other times remember?"
"Oh God, we're all going to go to jail, we've killed someone!" Alex cried in immense shock from behind the Freddy face mask, as he backed away from the other three boys are fast as possible.
"Mike, you've really done it this time, we're all in for it now," David cried, giving Michael a look of genuine concern though the Chica face mask, before he legged it, followed swiftly behind by Liam.
"We have to get out of here Mike, I don't want to go to jail for manslaughter!" Liam shouted, sounding very fearful as he disappeared into the crowds of terrified people who were now making their way towards the entrance in a distorted stampede.
With Michael having been abandoned by his friends, he turned to see the staff members and SpringBonnie all try together to yank his younger brother Thomas out of Fredbear's mouth.
"His mind is currently in lockdown, he isn't responding to our demands," one staff member remarked, trying his dam hardest to separate Fredbear's jaws, which were coated in blood.
"I always believed that the company's decision to give him jaw extenders would be economically wasteful, but I would never imagine in my darkest days that it would backfire like this."
"Hang on, he's moving, pull the child back slowly, but keep up the pressure," another one stated, a female staff officer, overseeing the whole operation.
She then turned to two other members of staff, who had just turned up to help.
"You two go and get everyone else on hand to contain this crowd, as of now this is effectively a crime scene, lock the pizzeria down now."
Immediately the two staff members ran off to find help and to ensure that everyone remained reasonably clam.
"Well the company is going to take a hammer blow from this, that's for sure," one staff member, a male said, having got the child's shoulders and neck free from Fredbear's jaws.
"This kid will be lucky to have survived this scarring incident, given the damage dealt by Fredbear's jaws."
"Is someone going to call the police?" SpringBonnie asked in a concerned tone, as he looked around at the already gathered group of staff members.
"Crap, good point, I'll do it, I'm the most senior member of staff here," the head female staff officer replied, sounding overwhelmed by it all.
She quickly left the group in their attempt to free the child as she ran off stage towards the nearest office with a phone in it.
"The media is going to have a fucking free for all over this shit," she cursed under her breath, intending to make the fastest dial to 911 in human history.
Screams, shouts, the frantic pulling of people, the dead eye yet horror filled expression of Michael with his Foxy face mask and the desperate pleas from SpringBonnie to release the child from his jaws did nothing to stir Fredbear's catatonic mind into action. He couldn't move, it was like he had snapped. He possessed no control over his own body, his mental programming had been turned off and yet he couldn't find enough of his own strength to break free from the fog that surrounded his mind.
He was trapped inside his own head, a mere spectator to the world as it moved around him like a rock jutting out of the sea.
Just like in 1978, his world had been shattered once again, his image would now be tainted beyond redemption…even if it wasn't of his own making.
Within the depths of his mind, that part of him which remained conscious and aware, turned to that of his family.
Freddy, Bonnie, Chica, Foxy.
What was to become of them, when news of this incident came out, would they be caught up in the fallout?
Would they still see him as their father figure, or would they come to despise him for harming a child, accidently or otherwise?
And also, what would become of the replacement SpringBonnie, would he be tossed to the side. . .just like the original SpringBonnie was?
Would the replacement SpringBonnie share the same fate as his predecessor, to be locked away in the basement of Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria, hidden away from the world and preying eyes.
Fredbear didn't know the answer to any of it and not knowing frighten him to his core.
Then a new voice entered the fray, completely derailing his chain of thoughts, as well as of that of everyone else.
"OH MY GOD, TOMMY!"
It was high pitched and clearly female.
A girl, roughly the same age of the boy in the Foxy mask came running onto the scene, her green eyes consisting of nothing but sheer horror.
She wore a purple pinkish t-shirt with a bluish skirt and possessed bright blonde hair that held a red bow in it.
The sight of the lifeless boy locked in Fredbear's jaws made her physically sick, going pale in the face, but she didn't throw up, although it looked as though she might, however she was somehow able to supress it.
"TOMMY!" she yelled, exasperating her feeling of concern.
Then instantly she turned to face Michael, so fast that her blonde hair whipped around her head.
"MICHAEL WHAT DID YOU DO!" she yelled; her concern being quickly replaced by anger.
Immediately Michael put his hands up as a form of surrender.
"I…I...I…I didn't mean to Elizabeth, this wasn't meant to happen, I swear I just wanted to-"
"TO SCARE HIM SENSELESS AGAIN, TO KICK HIM DOWN AND GIVE HIM NIGHT TERRORS!" Elizabeth screamed, her emerald eyes were ablaze with rage and sadness.
"I didn't. . ."
But she wouldn't give him the chance to reply.
"EVER SINCE MOTHER DIED, YOU'VE BEEN A BULLY TO HIM, YOU AND YOUR FRIENDS!"
She then smacked him, whacking the Foxy face mask off, fully revealing his face.
Black brownish hair and brown eyes, a stark contrast to his sister.
"TAKE THAT STUPID MASK OFF YOUR FACE!"
"I was only trying to teach him a lesson."
"FOR WHAT. . .FOR TELLING DAD WHAT YOU AND YOUR FRIENDS DO TO HIM ON A DAILY BASIS!" Elizabeth screamed back, clearly on the offensive.
"YOU'RE A HORRIBLE PERSON MICHAEL!"
"I ONLY LEFT HIM ON HIS OWN FOR A MINUTE, SO I COULD GO AND TALK TO MY FRIENDS!"
She then pointed at him, firmly in the chest.
"Dad is going kill you, he'll be mad, this is unforgiveable."
"DON'T YOU THINK I KNOW THAT ALREADY!" Michael shot back, now it was his turn to get angry.
"Where's Vincent Afton, this is his youngest kid, right?" one staff member said, as they neared completion of their task to free Thomas from Fredbear's jaws.
"Yeah. . .oh shit, here he is, poor guy," another one muttered, sounding very downcast, he knew what was coming.
Suddenly, a man in a purple staff uniform rushed up, pushing his way through the dense crowd, which was still steaming towards the exit, trying to get away from the scene as fast as it was humanly possible.
When he reached Michael and Elizabeth, he saw the scene fully for what it was, and he immediately fell to his knees.
The blood, the motionless body of his son, the screams of the terrified crowd and the dreaded horror-struck expressions of both Elizabeth and Michael who stood nearby.
There were no words from Vincent, only a facial expression which quickly degraded from seldom sadness to one of complete and utter despair.
In the end, he only said one thing in a quiet tone that it was almost a whisper.
"Oh, my lord. . .Thomas."
Instantly, he leapt forward, getting off his knees, with his emotions now pouring out like a waterfall in a monsoon.
"GET HIM OUT, GET MY SON OUT!" he shouted in a plighted desperation that hit everyone's hearts.
"WE'RE TRYING TO, BUT FREDBEAR HAS HIS JAWS CLOSED TIGHT AND HE ISN'T RESPONDING!" SpringBonnie yelled, but his words on the situation did nothing to advert Vincent's distress.
"JUST GET MY BOY OUT NOW!" he screamed, pushing the other staff members aside, so he could grab his son's legs.
With great force which only a loving parent could provide in such a moment, Vincent pulled his son out of Fredbear's mouth by the legs, using immense strength to accomplish the deed.
The bloodied and mangled head of Thomas Afton was now fully revealed for all to see and he would have dropped to the floor like a stone had Vincent not caught him. Some people fainted at the ghastly sight of the child's crushed head, with SpringBonnie having to act fast to catch two members of staff in one go alone before they could hit the stage.
"SOMEONE CALL AN AMBULANCE!" Vincent screamed, cradling his child like it was a new-born.
"PLEASE!" He wept with all manner of tears falling down his face.
"SOMEONE HELP!"
He looked down at the blood covered face of his son, who for the large part was unresponsive to the world around him, it was as though he was in a deep sleep. Thomas's head was mostly covered in blood, amidst the signs of other bodily fluids like plasma.
His eyes were closed, and his arms and legs hung lifelessly towards the floor, not to mention that his clothes were also covered in blood spatters.
Vincent put his hand to his son's chest, trying to feel a pulse.
But clearly, he was struggling to do so, as his face became even paler with worry.
"WHERE'S THE AMBULANCE, HE NEEDS HELP NOW!" he screamed, shouting to anyone who would listen.
Members of staff had already raced off to find the onsite first aid knit.
"Come on Tommy, stay with me please!" Vincent begged.
"Evelyn wouldn't want this," he sobbed, unable to control himself.
Then Elizabeth leapt up onto the stage coming in from the left side.
"DADDY, I'M SORRY I DIDN'T MEAN TO LEAVE HIM ON HIS OWN FOR LONG!" she wailed, clinging to him, as she gazed down at her brother's motionless body.
"I ONLY WENT TO TALK TO MY FRIENDS!"
She tried to wipe away her tears, but more kept on coming.
"Is he…alive?" she asked, her voice was shaky, now being barely a whisper as she struggled to accept the reality that her younger brother might very well be dead.
"I don't know sweetie, I don't know anything," Vincent replied, his voice cracking with despair, as he looked upon the lifeless body of his son.
"Tommy wake up, please come on. . .just wake up," he wept, gently shaking his son to try and hopefully get a response out of him
"Michael is still here dad," Elizabeth muttered, as she shivered, pointing over to the boy in question without turning round to face him. Michael so far had remained with his eyes downcast, looking at the floor with his Foxy mask in his hand.
A mixture of immense shame and regret was his only facial expression. . .with the feeling burying itself deep into his heart.
Slowly, he breathed in deep and raised his head to meet his father, who had his back to him, still cradling Thomas.
"Dad. . .I. . ."
But Michael couldn't say no more, he couldn't push himself to do so, the situation was clear. He had messed up big time and there was no coming back from the tragedy that he had created.
Besides, Vincent's screams for help prevented him from attempting to speak again.
"WHERE'S THAT FUCKING AMBULANCE!"
"Daddy," Elizabeth sobbed, stroking her younger brother's hair, hoping that the sensation of being touched would somehow stir Tommy awake.
"Is he dead?"
This time however Vincent didn't answer her with his purple hair having fallen over his eyes, hiding them from view. Instead, he started mumbling to himself, as he gently rocked his son, whose eyes stayed closed as he remained completely lifeless. Then a group of staff members turned up with the first aid knit, they set it down and opened it up.
"It's ok Vincent, just lie him down on his side so he can breathe," one of them said reassuringly, before turning to face his teammate.
"Hurry, get out the bandages."
"He'll need more than just bandages!" Vincent hissed, glaring at their basic equipment. Compared to the urgent medical support that his son needed, this kind of half assed response was an insult.
Then the air began to fill with approaching ambulance sirens, drowning out the wailing of people who remained, staring at the sicking scene mortified beyond anything and unable to move.
"Please Tommy wake up, please don't go," Elizabeth begged, gazing desperately at her brother, it was clear that she adored him. . .unlike Michael.
She slowly turned in his direction, their eyes meet. Sad filled, but enraged emerald pupils staring intensity at regret and sorrow filled brown ones.
Neither one of two siblings said anything to each other, but as the approaching ambulance sirens grew ever louder, Elizabeth mouthed something at Michael.
'You coward.'
She then turned back to Tommy, who was now being attended to by members of staff, while the screams and wails of the remaining crowd continued unabated alongside the continuous shrieks of the approaching ambulance sirens.
Elizabeth, having noticed a fallen item alongside Fredbear's feet, slowly reached over and picked it up.
It was a Fredbear plushie, Tommy's Fredbear plushie to be correct, covered in his blood spatters.
"Here Tommy, this. . .is yours," she croaked, her voice cracking with emotion, as she gently placed it in his hands.
"Come on Tommy, please wake up."
Then finally, the ambulance crews arrived on the scene, carrying with them more professional medical equipment for the task at hand.
"It's ok guys, we'll take it from here," the lead one said, brushing aside the staff members, who made space for the newcomers.
"Where's are his parents?"
"I'm his. . .father," Vincent replied, barely audible, as his voice now having gone all sombre and distinct.
"Right we need to take him with us to the hospital, there's nothing we can really do here," the leading paramedic said, immediately taking charge of the situation.
Given Thomas's state, it was obvious that he would need major medical attention.
"Bring up the stretcher," another medic called, as two others came up with a sizeable stretcher to hand.
The leading paramedic spoke to Vincent again.
"Sir, the police will be here soon, they'll wish to ask you some questions about what happened."
"I'm going with my son, the police can question me, later at the hospital. . .I'm not leaving his side," Vincent answered back, not taking his eyes off Tommy, who was being slowly picked up and placed onto the stretcher with extreme care by the other paramedics.
He still had his Fredbear plushie in his hands, holding it tight like a personal treasure which he couldn't be parted from.
"I'm coming too daddy," Elizabeth stated, clinging ever more tightly onto Vincent's clothing, her eyes held a deep seated desperation for reassurance.
She wanted to be with her younger brother that was beyond evident.
However, it was clear that she couldn't go with Vincent, nor could Michael, so SpringBonnie stepped in, fulfilling Vincent's unspoken wishes.
"Come with me, I'll take you both somewhere safe," he said softly, gently taking hold of Elizabeth by the arm, but she stubbornly refused to move.
"NO, I'M STAYING WITH TOMMY, DADDY GET HIM TO STOP!" she screamed, tugging against SpringBonnie's grasp.
"LET ME GO!"
"Elizabeth. . ." Vincent said, sounding distant, yet there was a degree of authority in his voice.
"Go with Michael and SpringBonnie, I'll come and collect you both later on. . .when things have become more stable with Tommy."
SpringBonnie slowly pulled Elizabeth away from Vincent, amidst their screams and protests.
"NO, DADDY NO, I DON'T WANT TO BE WITH MICHEAL, HE DID IT!"
Vincent gently stroked Tommy's soft brown hair, if it weren't for all the blood and damage around his head he would appear to be sleeping peaceful.
"DADDY PLEASE!"
But Vincent remained motionless, only continuing to stroke Tommy's hair, as SpringBonnie now grabbed hold of Michael and started to pull him along as well, although unlike Elizabeth, Michael offered no resistance.
Then several members of staff took hold of Fredbear from all sides, pulling him backwards.
"Get him off the stage and in the back now, the police will make this place secure," one of them said firmly, dragging Fredbear away towards one of the backrooms.
The sounds of SpringBonnie struggling to control Elizabeth Afton was audible to everyone within earshot, as the latter ferociously tried to pull herself free of the animatronic's grip.
"LET ME GO!"
"Can someone please send over a few staff members to help SpringBonnie keep an eye on the Afton children as well, especially the daughter?" the leading staff member asked, which immediately resulted in another staff member motioning for two of their teammates to detach from the group and headed off in SpringBonnie's direction to help out.
Then the leading staff member muttered in a low tone of disgust.
"The company will be shitting itself for what is to come, but the technicians kept telling them that they hadn't successfully worked out all of the kinks in the mind performance program, idiots."
All the while, Fredbear had remained completely unresponsive, still locked inside his own mind and too shocked to do anything else but watch and listen.
All he could see before him was a scene of unbridled trauma and standing at the centre of it all with his lifeless eyes was Vincent Afton. He hadn't resumed crying, but instead wore a crestfallen expression that behold a great deal of dread, worry, fear, panic and shock, all rolled into one. Nearby several paramedics assessed the damage done to Tommy's head as they prepared for his immediate transportation to the nearest hospital.
Further behind Vincent were his other two children, Elizabeth and Michael who were being taken away by SpringBonnie, with Elizabeth protesting as if her life depended on it.
"NO, I CAN'T LEAVE HIM, HE NEEDS ME, HE'S MY YOUNGER BROTHER!"
Michael on the other hand however was remaining silent, in a cold deathly fashion with his eyes seemingly glued towards the floor that was covered in tiny blood splatters from Tommy's vicious head wound.
Further behind came the blaring sound of police sirens as they grew ever closer, with the last of the shell shocked crowd being able to come to their senses as the reality of the pizzeria now being a crime scene fully dawned on them and they quickly departed, without looking back.
Fredbear could see it all, what had started out as a day of fun and excitement had quickly descended in chaos and sorrow. . .as it had before back at Fredbear's Diner in 1979. The big difference between then and now was that the hammer would surely fall on him and not SpringBonnie, but perhaps at least Freddy, Bonnie, Chica and Foxy would be spared any ill effect from the fallout, that did give Fredbear a small semblance of comfort amidst the chaos.
Vincent remained where he was, staring as the unresponsive body of his son Thomas was slowly lifted up by the paramedics, ready to take him to the nearest ambulance. Although Vincent wasn't acting out his distress, his inner turmoil could be seen howling away behind his eyes like a stormy abyss, never ending and all consuming.
There came more of Elizabeth's cries of desperation.
"TOMMY, TOMMY WAKE UP, LET GO OF ME SPRINGBONNIE, PLEASE LET ME GO, DADDY HELP ME!"
Suddenly, with multiple hands to support him, Fredbear was quickly dragged towards the backroom for whatever it was that they were going to do to him.
Hopefully, it would involve the start of removing his mind programming, as well as those wretched jaw extenders.
As he was taken away, Vincent suddenly turned in his direction and for a singular moment their eyes locked.
Fredbear could see Vincent Afton clearly, with everything else being pushed away to the sidelines. Vincent looked like a man who had been broken and was steadily disintegrating into an emotional wreck, but somehow had the willpower to hold his intense feelings of distress and sorrow within himself and keeping it buried so he could maintain some level of composure.
Yet it was obvious to Fredbear that Vincent was feeling as though his life was seeping away from him, being lost forever and if Thomas died then he certainly would have permanently lost a major piece of it.
Yet for a mere glimpse, Vincent's facial expression changed, the demeanour in his eyes flickered to that of something else.
Anger, rage, agony. . .and lots of it, all amidst the emotional chaos that his face held and was trying desperately to contain for the sake of his children.
Yet Fredbear could see it and he could feel Vincent's agony radiating out from him like a violent whirlpool, that sought to consume everyone and everything in an embracing tide of red mist.
In that one moment, Fredbear felt as though Vincent viewed him to be personally responsible for what had happened and suddenly, he felt very afraid. Vincent's agonised yet wrathful gaze only further added to Fredbear's sense of impending dread.
"I WANT TO SEE TOMMY, DADDY PLEASE LET ME GO WITH YOU!"
There came another cry from Elizabeth and Vincent's gaze immediately changed, the anger vanished, disappearing behind a thin veil of composure as Vincent regathered himself.
Yet Fredbear couldn't dismiss what he saw, as he was dragged further away from the stage into the pizzeria's back rooms.
He could sense the overwealhming sensation of agony that was coming from the Afton family; the sorrowful and shamed demeanour of Michael, the desperate and pained manner of Elizabeth and the distressed, shocked and almost vengeful appearance of Vincent, even though he tried to hide the latter emotion from view.
Elizabeth's heart wrenching cries of agony and despair followed Fredbear, echoing through an open doorway as he was pulled through it by staff members; ready to prepare him for immediate isolation as well as for questioning by the approaching police. Then the door to the back room was closed shut by one of the staff members, cutting out the light and suddenly everything went pitch black. Elizabeth's agonised screams faded away into nothingness, as the traumatic memory morphed, taking Fredbear, or rather Goldie as he was now known somewhere else. . .
Indeed, Goldie found himself being transported to somewhere else, but when the blackness finally cleared, it was a familiar sight, and he immediately knew why his memory had brought him here.
This was where Vincent had told him why he killed the children, why he was still hounding Goldie and his family, the reasoning behind all of his actions until now.
Goldie was back in the old, abandoned factory on a cold wooden table, held down by metal restraints, with Vincent leaning over him. The other Nightmares were standing nearby and the sounds of the soul sucking machine that had brought in Nightmare Fredbear whirled away before Goldie, looming over him like an executioner.
Although Goldie knew this to be just a memory, the level of reality with which his mind had gifted to it was disturbing to say the least.
"If I were to sum up my entire life with one simple phrase, I would say if I couldn't have it, then why should anyone else," Vincent said, his face was nearly all that Goldie could see as the memory played itself out.
"So, you're jealous of other people. . .something which others have?" Goldie heard himself asked, his dark red eyes locking with Vincent's lifeless green pupils.
Vincent laughed, somehow finding the situation amusing.
"Correct Goldie," he answered, he almost sounded pleased with past Goldie's answer.
Then Goldie suddenly felt his senses undergo an overload, his vision was now starting to fade, everything he heard was now loud and unfocused, he felt pins and needles stabbing him all over his body.
Yes, his memory hadn't spared him any level of realism here, but he knew that this wasn't real, there was no real danger here.
He could focus and try to listen to Vincent's words before the memory itself ended.
"Ah, now that'll be the first set of chemicals overloading your senses, it's only temporary, it's what happens next that you should be more concerned about," Vincent stated, making no attempt to hide his pleasure in causing Goldie immense pain.
Vincent smiled, it was a psychotic smile that would be entrenched in Goldie's mind for a long time and it still was in current Goldie's eyes.
"Well, you've waited long enough Goldie, it's time for the truth, please listen. . .if you can," Vincent said softly.
Then he leaned in close and whispered something into Goldie's ear.
Vincent's voice was direct and confident and as whereas past Goldie had struggled to hear as his vision faded into blackness, current Goldie fought back, fighting to prevent the memory from ending, to hear those precious words.
As the memory began to go dark, despite Goldie's efforts, he reached in deep, fighting with everything he had to reestablish the memory; to make himself remember what Vincent had said, focusing only on him and blocking out all other sounds.
Because he was keeping the memory alive, it kept repeating its final moments in a continuous loop, unable to end, as Goldie wouldn't let it.
When Vincent leaned in close again, this time without interruption from anything or anyone else, Goldie mentally strained himself to his upmost limits to hear.
Vincent spoke clearly into Goldie's ear, with his words being audible, despite speaking in whisper, but it didn't cushion their impact.
"You killed my son, Thomas Afton, Fredbear, remember the Bite of 83?"
"The pain that I have delivered onto you and your family, may never be as agonizing as what I felt that day and I know that I am destined to meet the devil; but as long as I can put my family to rest, destroying everything you love is a small price to pay to give my family their happiest day and set them free wherever they might linger."
Vincent's words shocked Goldie to his core and in his shock, his grip on the memory weaken, making everything start to go black again and become unclear, but thankfully Vincent seemed to be ending his little speech.
"You may die from the process Fredbear, but I am not going to let that happen, death is no longer the end that people think it is and I intend to keep you alive in whatever manner I can for as long as it is possible. . .so you can feel my pain and suffer as I did, until I decide to let everything fade away into nothingness, as all terrible tragedies should."
"Yet, until that day Fredbear, watch, listen and befall your family's tragedy, which shall be my masterpiece. . ."
Goldie let go, his mind was now in complete emotional turmoil, as the realisation of Vincent's motivation for everything stood out before him like the bright light of day.
He couldn't ignore it, only accept it for what it was.
Goldie's hold on the memory was now too weak and the whole scene shattered like glass around him, never to be reassembled. In his intense state of shock, Goldie's mind rapidly recoiled and made a hasty return to reality, as all the while Vincent's words echoed about him, never allowing Goldie to escape their horror as Vincent himself so clearly desired to do in real life. . .
"You killed my son, Thomas Afton, Fredbear. . ."
"You may die from the process Fredbear, but I am not going to let that happen. . ."
"So you can feel my pain and suffer as I did, until I decide to let everything fade away into nothingness. . ."
"I know that I am destined to meet the devil; but as long as I can put my family to rest, destroying everything you love is a small price to pay to give my family their happiest day. . ."
"Watch, listen and befall your family's tragedy, which shall be my masterpiece. . ."
As horror filled him, Goldie realised that Vincent was indeed right, for it is in the most sorrowful and damming moments of one's past, when one would discover the most tragic and darkest of secrets.
Given how far Vincent had gone in his efforts to devastate Goldie's life, his family, his home and livelihood, it was now beyond clear that Vincent aimed for the absolute destruction of everything that Goldie held dear, nothing else would satisfy his vengeful desire for payback for the death of his son as well as potentially other things.
Without realising it Goldie found himself reliving the past, seeing the whole rotten timeline of dark events that Vincent had carved out with gruesome fashion.
Looking back at everything that had happened, with Vincent's motive very much fresh in his mind, the whole reflection gave Goldie mixed feelings of dread, shame, remorse, horror, shock, and an ominous sense of dread for the future, given how dedicated Vincent was utterly ruining him and his family.
Yet there was one thing that Goldie couldn't deny, Vincent had enjoyed creating this hell which everyone was seemingly locked into and he wouldn't let it truly end. . .until absolutely nothing remained. . .
(Begin song here if you wish).
The lights slowly come on, revealing to Goldie a new reality.
He finds himself in the centre of a decayed and rotten version of the main dining room from the Greenfield Pizzeria. It stretches on for miles, disappearing into the horizon in all directions.
He is surrounded by everyone, the other Fazbears in their possessed states, showing a mixture of enraged or vengeful expressions. The Possessed Prop Suits with their rusted bodies and creaking limbs that hide their suffering. The Nightmares in their original forms, all smiling with sinister intent and finally, the Fazbear Entertainment animatronics, all twitching and jerking in a malevolent fashion as they stare longingly at Goldie.
There is a dark presence in the air, a heavy feeling of agony that is as thick as fog yet is equally invisible.
Standing in the centre of the ring alongside Goldie is Vincent Afton in his iconic purple staff shirt, yet he is the one in control of this mess.
Goldie looks at him, feeling afraid and yet sensing that he is the source of the agony that seems to be infecting everyone and intermixing with their own; creating a maelstrom of negative emotions that keeps everyone locked into this nightmare.
Vincent holds a sharp blade in one hand and a plushie of Goldie in his Fredbear persona in the other. . .Thomas Afton.
Goldie can feel Vincent's rage surging behind his cold green eyes.
Destructive. . .all-consuming and ever-present.
Slowly Vincent steps forward, casting a shadow over Goldie, before gesturing to everyone else like a puppeteer.
"Human minds, frail and scared."
Everyone is chained together in more ways than one.
"Freed by death, and death is fair."
Innocent souls that are now as wicked as their tormentor.
"Hopeless souls, play a part in my wicked work of art."
Vincent relishes the moment.
"Such relief every time, taking life, to take what's mine."
He stares at Goldie coldly.
"At the end, here we lie, here we're killers or we die."
We see the plushie of Fredbear covered in blood splatters.
"When the world was turned to grey, the hatred wouldn't go away."
Agony is all that is left behind.
"Resentment in chains. . ."
We see a vindictive Vincent lowering the head of SpringBonnie onto himself.
"In the coldest of all hearts, a voice descends, the light departs. . ."
The suit's eyes glow purple and Vincent laughs joyfully.
"Madness remains. . ."
We then see Vincent in the SpringBonnie suit towering over a group of frighten children in one of the pizzeria's back rooms.
Vincent smiles as he steps forward, wielding a sharp knife.
He is doing this to free Thomas, to free his family and to make Goldie suffer the conquences of that fateful day.
The ends justify the means.
"Play the game, paint your scene, taking this to the extreme."
He relishes seeing the fear in the children's' eyes.
"Masterpiece, dark design, your last moments, only mine."
The pleasure soothes his inner pain for a time.
"It's a need, here in dust, kill the world that stole from us."
His knife is soon dripping with blood.
"Take your place, let it be, in my crimson symphony."
Yet the act doesn't hold back the crippling pain for long.
"When the world was turned to grey, the hatred wouldn't go away."
Anger burns brightly in Vincent's eyes as the years go by.
"Resentment in chains. . ."
There is nowhere else to go but continually forward.
"In the coldest of all hearts, a voice descends, the light departs. . ."
With bittersweet memories to haunt his steps.
"Madness remains. . ."
We see the Fazbears become possessed by the ghost children of the 1st MCI, wandering the empty rooms of their pizzeria, looking for vengeance that can never be found.
We then see Vincent smiling deviously from the shadows, as a rampant aggressive Mangle dives down and viciously attacks Helen in the Bite of 87.
We see Vincent again in the SpringBonnie suit again, towering over another group of frighten children, bringing death and despair once more to Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria.
Cuts to 1993 and we see the Fazbears possessed, stumbling around their old pizzeria, searching for Vincent, while he watches them from the safety of the outside world.
Observing. . .waiting. . .preparing to return and finish the game that he has started so long ago.
We then see Goldie again, finding himself to be in a control room of sorts, with numerous monitors on display. Each one is continually replaying a dark event from his family's past, including his own; the bite of 83, the 1st MCI, the bite of 87, the 2nd MCI and the bloody violent deaths of the nightguards at their hands.
And there standing before Goldie is Vincent once more, with a cold smile and malice intent.
This is his masterpiece, his joy of creation through the destruction of countless lives, giving him a purpose that is as torturous for him as it is pleasurable.
Vincent then approaches Goldie, gesturing to himself.
"I feel it in my bones, a need to be your god, a need to strike you down."
All the monitor screens change to show the Afton children and Vincent's expressions softens.
"When order disappeared, and madness took control, the conscience in me drowned."
Vincent then points his knife at Goldie.
"I want to be your guide into the afterlife."
His expression is now both pained and vengeful.
"It's a gift, look past the pain like I do."
Cold green eyes stare into anxious dark red pupils.
"I want to see your eyes, just before your demise, when only fear remains inside you. . ."
He then pushes Goldie backwards, making him fall into nothingness.
As he falls, Goldie sees Vincent staring down at him, still vengeful, but encumbered by years of endless sorrow, pain, and an undying conviction.
In many ways, he is like his victims. . .you are what you created.
As he falls further and further, the similarities become clear and clear to Goldie.
He sees the mindless revenge driven aggression of the ghost children, slowly being hallowed out by their rage.
The Fazbear family turning inward and trusting no one else but themselves.
The Nightmares' burning desire to escape their reality and become free of their fear of permanent death.
He sees the Possessed Prop Suits, screeching and yelling in the darkness of Limbo, clawing away at themselves in desperation for release, to escape their metallic hell.
Finally, Goldie sees himself, struggling to accept that he threw Springtrap under the bus, allowing the emotional pain of his betrayal to act as a chain and weigh him down.
The more he sees it, the more he realises how trapped everyone really is.
Everyone is either:
Broken. . .
Vengeful beyond reason. . .
Afraid. . .
Depressed beyond hope. . .
Denying the conquences and allowing the pain to fester and attract new victims.
No one is ever truly be free of this nightmare.
There's too much blood on everyone's hands and too much agony that cannot simply be buried.
Everyone is on puppet strings, being influenced by a puppeteer that doesn't want to stop the show, even if the puppets are falling to pieces.
Yet even a damaged puppet can still be broken, torn into even more pieces and smaller pieces still.
This show has no end until nothing remains, and both the puppets and their puppeteer are gone.
Vincent wouldn't have it any other way. . .
He won't, the puppets will be stripped of everything but their lives and perhaps only then can final show begin.
The finale to end all finales. . .
We see rage burning in the possessed Fazbears' eyes.
"When the world was turned to grey, the hatred wouldn't go away."
Jealousy surging within the Nightmares' eyes at their imprisonment.
"Resentment in chains. . ."
The Possessed Prop Suits' face plates opening up and revealing their agonising fate.
"In the coldest of all hearts, a voice descends, the light departs. . ."
The Fazbear animatronics twitching aggressively.
"Madness remains. . ."
Goldie suddenly finds himself back in the dining room, with everyone else, only now the entire room is a raging inferno.
There in the centre of it all is Vincent once more dancing along to the screams and cries as the flames consume everyone.
A final destructive act to a torturous play.
We see the Fazbears screaming as they are burned alive and the children's souls be released.
The Nightmares smiling in sweet relief as they are finally freed from their prison, even though their physical forms are destroyed by the fire.
The Possessed Prop Suits tearing themselves apart to speed up their deaths and be set free.
And the Fazbear animatronics crumbling into pieces as the flames devour the last lingering remnant of Fazbear Entertainment's dreams for expansion.
Everything dies. . .
The flames surge around Goldie, pushing him closer to Vincent, as the latter is equally pushed further forward by the fire.
Vincent stops dancing and he stares at Goldie, still holding his signature knife and Thomas's Fredbear plushie.
He doesn't advance on Goldie, instead he just stands and stares as the ravenous flames get closer and closer.
He wants to see Goldie's fear, to see him realise that this is truly the end and that he is the one who caused it.
Just like Goldie in a way caused Thomas's death, trapped with no way out and no help in sight.
Sow the wind, reap the whirlwind. . .
Then suddenly Vincent lunges forward and pushes Goldie into the encircling flames.
As he falls Goldie sees Vincent's twisted smile, enjoying the moment, relishing his revenge, but he also sees something else.
Relief, a strong sensation of relief now that the end has truly come.
Even though Vincent knows his destination once the smoke finally clears, but it was a price worth paying.
Nothing else matters now, just let the flames take everything away, including the pain.
Vincent closes his eyes and hugs the Fredbear plushie tightly as the flames begin to consume him whole.
Let the nightmare end, as all terrible tragedies should.
End communications. . .
Yet everything slowly goes dark, leaving Goldie falling away into nothingness as he departs for reality, away from the horrifying realisation of how twisted and tragic Vincent's motivation really is.
Everyone is prepared to do dark deeds to break free of their pain, to jump into the abyss.
The only remaining question is who would go deeper?
This question haunts Goldie as he returns to consciousness and away from the shadows of the past. . .only that they will follow him and everyone else forever. . .
(The song fades out).
As Goldie steadily retuned to reality, two questions echoed about in his mind, these being the loudest ones to those already present, shouting above all the others to be heard. Given how much control Vincent liked to have and how he had withheld his motive from them for decades on end, why reveal such a critical piece of information anyway?
Why would he be willing for it to be revealed, when playing a war of information against the Fazbear family was a vital part of his strategy?
He was always in the shadows, knowing a great deal about them whilst deliberately keeping any information about himself hidden, or at the least vague as so to keep them constantly off balance.
Why give away so much if he had used the mystery of his motive to misdirect and torment them for years?
And above all else, why now, what was going on with Vincent Afton that made him commit to this choice of action?
Goldie already had his suspicions, above all with Vincent wanting to make him realise his part in creating the circumstances for so much blood soaked horror, regardless of Goldie never having the desire to harm anyone.
Alternatively, though, there was. . .
No. . .
Goldie felt his shock and fear rise like a tidal wave, as the full realisation of what his own thoughts meant hit him full on.
That can't be the answer. . .could it?
Vincent had often described this whole tortuous affair of theirs as a game, with him being the director, controlling just about everything through direct or indirect means; often beating everyone else, and forcing them to keep playing.
The only understandable reason as far as Goldie could see, as to why someone like Vincent would allow such precious information about themselves to be discovered by their enemies. . .was if he didn't want to play this game anymore. . .or at worst end it.
And knowing Vincent Afton as well as he did, Goldie could only imagine what Vincent's endgame scenario was, and he would want everyone to be present for it.
He would keep them here in this game. . .
He would hold them in place. . .
He wasn't going to let anyone go until he was ready, not until the darkest pit of hell had swallowed him whole.
Death. . .permanent death was how Vincent envisioned ending this nightmare.
Although as Vincent himself had told Goldie earlier, death wasn't quite the end that it has always been believed.
Therefore, this nightmare might never end.
It would be Vincent's triumph. . .Vincent Afton's masterpiece. . .
I have been wanting to get this to plot point for a long time, hopefully the build up has been worth it.
In an ironic twist, Vincent's intentions are a double edged sword for him, as it gives him a purpose and satisfies his dark desires, yet it is constantly reminding him of what he has lost, locking him into an emotional hell of sorts from which he can never move on from.
Although you could argue that his victims are in an even worse state as a result of his actions and his never ending desire to commit harm.
Chapter 55 will be uploaded when it is possible, hopefully next month, but we'll see.
Thank you for reading and please review, I appreciate your thoughts. :-)