Chapter 8: Night Five. Fight to Survive

"Can you survive the night?"

Once back in the safe confines of his apartment, the first thing Jack did was call Adam. Unfortunately, no matter how many times he rang, his brother never picked up. Sure, Adam gave him a heads-up that he'd be away for a while, but Jack didn't think that meant he'd be unable to answer phone calls.

Jack spent a whole hour trying to call Adam, to no avail. "Dammit!" He cursed, leaving a voicemail before tossing his phone to the bed.

Since Adam was out of the picture for now, he had to deal with this himself. Two options came to mind.

His first option was to go to the police and report what he found. There was, no doubt, sufficient evidence in the secret warehouse and in the girls themselves—enough to shut Fazclaire Entertainment down for good. But Jack hesitated.

Adam had mentioned the nightclub's terrible infrastructure, implying he had nothing to do with the building's construction. Regardless, it was obvious Adam was the manager of the club, or at least a supervisor. Should Jack report his findings to the authorities, Adam would definitely take flak for this, even if he was clueless about the warehouse's existence. Not to mention the building already being under investigation because of Fexa.

What really made Jack reconsider going to the cops was the fact that Adam personally knew the four girls who went missing. Knowing cops, they would somehow pin their disappearance as Adam's fault and convict him of a crime he had nothing to do with. Even if Adam didn't go to jail, it would certainly be hard for him to get a job ever again—which would be especially bad if Fazclaire Entertainment went out of business.

As much as Jack hated the company for what they did to his childhood and those poor women, he couldn't do that to his brother. If he wanted to put this matter to rest for good, he needed to bring the culprit directly responsible down, which led him to his second option: confronting Braxton.

Not ideal, to be honest. But it was the best way to get answers, and maybe even some justice, as opposed to going to the cops and risking Adam's career.

He gave himself a small pep-talk, steeling his resolve for what would come next.

Jack didn't get much sleep before his shift. His constant thinking on how to confront Braxton kept him up.

It didn't help that he was starting to hallucinate about Goldie. Sometimes, he'd see her in the corner of his eyes, but when he'd turn to look, she'd be gone. Other times, he would see her outright, only for his view of her to be broken—whether by him blinking, flickering lights, or something else—then she'd vanish without a trace.

Considering his current mental state, he was sure it was all just a trick of the mind. Her moving through the basement? He was misremembering her original position. Her turning to look at him despite being jointless? His eyes playing tricks on him. That giggle he heard clearly coming from her? An auditory hallucination.

At least, all of that was what he told himself to keep from freaking out more than he already had. He wouldn't even bother questioning why she was the only one he hallucinated about.

Despite the lack of sleep and hallucinations, Jack would arrive at Fredina's Nightclub, albeit ten minutes later than usual.

He got goosebumps as he stood at the front door, thinking about what exactly to say. How would Braxton even react? Maybe he should just be cool about it. It wasn't like Braxton already knew he knew what was going on... Yeah, he'd just act like himself, then hit Braxton with the questions. He wasn't sure what he'd do if Triple B retaliated physically, but he'd cross that bridge when he got there.

Jack took a deep breath, then opened the doors. To his surprise, Braxton wasn't standing there waiting for him as usual. Then he realized the times he caught Braxton were always before his shift started. Jack mentally cussed himself out, thinking he had already gone home for the day.

He walked further inside, only to get a surprise in the form of Bonfie hopping off the stage. Her sudden movement startled him, and he fell back with a yelp.

"Oh! My bad, sugar. Didn't mean to scare ya," she voiced while Jack was still disoriented. "Lemme help ya."

Jack finally got a grip of himself, staring up at the towering bunny girl. He almost whipped out his Reboot Remote but stopped when he saw Bonfie holding out her hand to him. He didn't understand why she didn't take this opportunity to pounce on him. In fact, judging from the look in her eye, she seemed more concerned than lustful.

Suddenly, Jack recalled Adam mentioning the girls'...for lack of a better word, 'horniness level' would adjust throughout the week. Maybe it was finally mellowing out?

He looked down at her purple hand, thinking about whether or not he should accept the help—he had spent so long avoiding them, it wouldn't make sense to trust them now, right? After thinking about it, he realized the animosity he once had towards them vanished. After finding out who they were, he couldn't see them as sophisticated machines anymore. All he saw were people who were victims of Fazclaire Entertainment.

Slowly, Jack reached out to grab her hand, making sure his other hand was close to his Reboot Remote—just in case. Once Bonfie got ahold of it, she helped him to his feet. After he regained his balance, she took a step back.

"There you are! Good as a button." She said with a smile.

Jack noticed she held her guitar in her other hand, which threw him off. Whenever he encountered her, her guitar was always absent. Now that he thought about it, even Fredina was without her microphone when she cornered him in the generator room. Where were they putting those items?

"You alright, sugar?" Bonfie asked with a tilt of her head, snapping Jack out of his thoughts.

"Why are you asking?" He responded absentmindedly.

"Well, you ran off in such a hurry last night. I never got a chance to talk to ya!"

"You...wanted to speak with me?" Jack thought out loud, to which Bonfie nodded.

"Lately, I've been wonderin' why you haven't taken kindly to our advances. But, after hearin' you talk a couple nights ago, I figured we might've came onto you a lil' too strong. So... I wanted to give ya a proper apology." Bonfie bowed apologetically. "Please understand, we was just tryna do our jobs!"

Before Jack could respond, Chiku also stepped off the stage and bowed. "I-I also wanted to apologize f-for that one time. I might've been a bit too aggressive... Please forgive me!"

Their sudden actions took him by surprise. "You've got nothing to be sorry for. And what do you mean you were just trying to do your jobs? D-Don't tell me you actually volunteered for..." Jack couldn't finish his sentence, unable to stomach what happened to them.

"Volunteer?" Bonfie said in a questioning tone. "We ain't volunteer for nothin'." She clarified, much to Jack's confusion.

"Y-You didn't? Then what's up with your bodies?" He pointed.

"W-Well, we were made like this... oh no. Are they not to your liking?!" Jack frowned at Chiku's response, picking up what was going on.

The girls don't remember what happened to them. He doesn't know why he expected them to, but a small part of him had hoped they would. "I'm so sorry..." He mumbled, eliciting a squeak from Chiku.

"I knew all those guys were lying when they said thick girls were the best! You hate us, don't you?" She stammered, sounding like she was about to cry.

"What? No! I don't hate you. I was apologizing for something else." Chiku seemed to calm down from his response.

Bonfie wrapped an arm around her feathery friend. "You got nothing to apologize for, sugar! In fact, one of us still needs to say sorry." She glanced behind her at Fredina, who had been standing on stage and staring forward the whole time.

Once the bunny's gaze landed on the bear, Fredina scoffed, crossed her arms, and looked away.

Bonfie frowned. "C'mon Claire. All you gotta do is say sorry."

"Say sorry for what? Trying to show him a good time? I don't think so."

Bonfie narrowed her eyes. "Claire."

"Nein. I won't do it."

Bonfie unwrapped her arm from Chiku, visibly getting annoyed now. "Claire!"

"He attacked me!"

Chiku clasped her hands together, sporting a nervous expression on her face. "I'm sure he didn't mean to. Maybe he was startled?"

"Startled is an understatement," Jack added.

"See! He ain't mean to harm you none. Ya just scared him."

"I will not be apologizing for trying to do my job." Fredina finished with a 'hmph.'

Bonfie looked like she was about to say something else, but Jack stopped her. "It's fine. I'd rather not have you force an apology out of her. Then it won't be genuine."

"Ah, I suppose you're right..." Bonfie stood down.

Jack stepped up to the stage, gazing up at Fredina. He never expected himself to be so comfortable being near or speaking casually to the girls, but here he was. "How's your head?"

Fredina scoffed again. "Better, no thanks to you."

"Hey, at least I tried to help. Who do you think wrapped those bandages around you?"

Fredina laughed pompously. "If you're going to lie, you could at least put more effort into it."

Jack looked insulted. "Lie? Why would I lie about something like that?"

"Because there were no bandages on me, schweinhund."

"What? But I..." Suddenly, a thought came to Jack.

If Fredina hadn't removed the bandage and walked back to the stage on her own, then Braxton would have found her, patched her up, and put her back on stage himself. Further proof that he was the one behind all this.

"Where's Braxton?" He said in a demanding tone rather than a questioning one.

All the girls donned a confused look.

"Who?" Bonfie asked.

"Braxton! The day guard!" Jack yelled, making her flinch.

"S-Sorry, sugar. But we don't know any Braxtons."

"What? What about Berry?"

They shook their heads.

"Benedict?"

They shook their heads.

"Triple B?!"

They shook their heads.

"Gah!" Jack grabbed at his hair in frustration. "Remember when I was talking about the Pizzaplex that one night?" Bonfie nodded. "Braxton was the guy standing next to me! Where is he?" Bonfie and Chiku looked at each other, concerned. Even Fredina looked a little on edge. "...What?"

"Sugar... no one was standing next to you that night."

"...What...?" Jack repeated, baffled.

"Y-You were talking to yourself... As you had been most nights..." Chiku noted with a nervous expression.

As much as he wanted to say they were lying, their faces told him everything—they were telling the truth. This meant that, despite seeing him every day, they genuinely never saw him. They had no idea who Braxton was. It was like he didn't exist to them...

"Wait a minute." He remembered Braxton saying something like that in a conversation once. But that would mean the story he told wasn't to fuck with Jack... but if that story was true, it contradicted everything he thought he knew about Braxton...

What the hell was going on here?

"Jack?" Bonfie and Chiku called out at the same time, snapping him from his thoughts briefly.

If they couldn't see Braxton, then there was a chance he had left already. But if he hadn't, where would he be?

...

"The basement," Jack said suddenly.

"What?" Bonfie tilted her head, confused.

Without saying another word, Jack turned on his heel and ran through the nightclub. Bonfie reached her hand out and called to him. "Where are you going, sugar?!"

"The basement!" Jack yelled back. He could faintly hear Chiku asking when they had a basement.

He ran all the way to the Tipsy Bar, remembering Braxton said he would check it last night. Jack also remembered he forgot to put the poster back up on the wall when he fled, so it'd be very obvious that he had discovered the secret warehouse. With any luck, Braxton was still down there, probably getting rid of evidence.

Jack threw the door open, only to have a plume of smoke get thrown into his face. He coughed violently, then looked down to see the light was already on, and that more smoke was coming from the basement.

"The hell?" He cautiously walked down the steps, only to find that the whole basement was set ablaze. Even though a majority of the place was engulfed in flames, Jack wasn't afraid of the fire. His main focus was finding Braxton.

This crazy bastard! Jack thought, waving away the smoke as he brought up the collar of his uniform to cover his mouth and nose. Burning the evidence was one way to get rid of it, but extremely overkill. He'd burn the whole nightclub down at this rate! Actually, how did the fire even start? Last he checked, there were no flammable sources in the basement or the secret warehouse.

Jack looked around, searching for any signs of Braxton and Goldie. He didn't want the former to get the jump on him, and he didn't want the latter to get reduced to ash, for Adam's sake.

He found no traces of Goldie anywhere, but he did find Braxton. The day guard was lying face down in the middle of the floor, far from the ever-growing flames.

"Braxton!" Jack yelled out to the man, but got no response. Annoyed, he called him again.

"Braxton!" Still no response. Now Jack was getting pissed.

He stomped up to Braxton, grabbing him by the shoulders with one hand, and another reared back to punch him. "I should kick your fucking—" Jack flipped him over and froze.

Braxton was dead.

His face was frozen in anguish, signifying his final moments were those of horror. His clothes weren't any better, as they were torn diagonally, like someone had swiped at him. There were also deep gashes in his chest, resembling claw marks.

Now that he was so close, Jack could see Braxton was missing one of his arms. Worst of all, the blood pouring from him was fresh. He died minutes ago.

Jack let go of the deceased day guard and backed away fearfully. The fire didn't do this. So what—

"You..." An incredibly glitchy and distorted voice spoke out, breaking the steadily rising ambiance of the flames. Despite how broken and robotic it sounded, the voice was unmistakable.

It was Braxton's.

A chill went down Jack's spine as he slowly turned to where the voice came from. Standing in the flames was the same hulking robot he'd seen back in the secret warehouse, no longer suspended by cables or connected to wires—The Defect.

Its once-vacant black eyes bored into him with an ominous red hue. "You did this..." it spoke, still using Braxton's heavily distorted and glitchy voice. The Defect approached with heavy footsteps that shook the ground. Jack wanted to run, but fear held him in place. "You did this to us!" it boomed in a tone of sadness mixed with anger.

The Defect reached out to grab Jack, showing its claws were still stained with Braxton's blood.

Jack fell backward, only for a piece of the ceiling above to collapse right on top of The Defect, pinning it. It struggled and writhed underneath the rubble, growling like a wild animal.

Jack stared for a moment, only snapping back to his senses when he heard the crackling whip of fire. Seeing Braxton's corpse and the now active Defect somehow made Jack forget the place was on fire. If the murderous robot doesn't kill him, the fire or smoke just might.

He scrambled to his feet and ran for the stairs, wheezing the whole time.

"DON'T RUN." The Defect screamed, which made Jack haul ass even faster.

He charged out of the basement and down the hall, inadvertently colliding right into Bonfie. They both fell like dominoes.

"Pinnin' me down again, huh? Ya sure are the dominant type! No wonder you an' Claire don't get along." Bonfie said with a small giggle. Jack didn't even entertain her.

He got up and helped her off the floor. "We have to go." Bonfie tilted her head in confusion. "Now." Jack said in a more stern tone, catching her off guard.

"Sugar, what's..." Bonfie trailed off, looking behind Jack. Her eyes widened in exaggerated concern.

Already having an idea of what could make her make such a face, Jack whipped around to see The Defect at the end of the hall. The rubble didn't hold it long.

"Don't. Run." It echoed down the hall, still mimicking Braxton's glitchy voice.

The light of the area behind The Defect was noticeably flickering, making the shadows rise and fall rapidly. He soon realized it was the fire. It had already spread beyond the basement.

"S-Sugar, what is that?" Bonfie asked, hearing the slightest hint of nervousness in her voice for the first time ever.

"We have to go! NOW!" Jack yelled, grabbing her by the wrist and pulling her away.

"DON'T. RUN." The Defect demanded and followed after them. It wasn't even running—Its pace was equivalent to that of a brisk walk. And yet, it was gaining on them.

"Shit! Sarah!" Jack raised his arms, seeing as the Defect was right on top of them.

It threw a heavy punch, only to have it blocked by both of Bonfie's arms. He never noticed her guitar wasn't on her until now, so both her hands were free. She winced but held firm. Judging from the force of the blow, Jack knew if he had tried to block it, his arms would've broken instantly.

The Defect pushed down harder on Bonfie, making her groan slightly. Her worried expression was now replaced with a look of determination. Jack knew she was strong, but to hold back a hunk of metal like The Defect with such ease? Her strength must've been on a whole other level. But she was struggling... if it could do that to her, just how strong was this thing?

Seeing no progress being made, The Defect took a different approach and raised its other arm, swiping down at Bonfie with its sharp claws.

With a small "hmph," Bonfie pushed herself off the arm she held back and ducked underneath the incoming slash. She'd then hop off the ground and deliver a devastating dropkick to The Defect, sending it stumbling backward.

Jack watched as it backed up, seeing the now visible flames down the hall. The fire was spreading incredibly fast.

He turned back to Bonfie, watching as she swiftly flipped herself back on her feet, quickly crouching into an offensive stance. Movements like that couldn't be pulled off by some rookie.

"Y-You can fight?" Jack questioned, earning a confused glare from Bonfie. Her expression told him this should've been common knowledge. That's when he remembered Adam saying she was originally supposed to be the club's in-house bouncer.

"Yeah? Only a lil' though."

At this point, 'a lil' was all they needed. "S—" He stopped himself, knowing she wouldn't remember that name. "Bonfie, a fire started in the basement. I don't know how or when, but it's already spread to the Tipsy Bar, and it's moving quick. We have to get the others out."

"And what 'bout this troublemaker?" Bonfie gestured to the Defect, who stared back at the two, mostly glaring at Jack.

"I wouldn't fight it if I were you."

"I doubt it'll let us just walk on out, either." She clenched her fists. "'Sides, hurting a patron, especially a hottie like you, is against the rules."

"T-Thanks..." He said awkwardly. Before, he could brush off any comment she made with ease, since he always assumed it was just an AI speaking to him. Now, however, he felt like it'd be rude if he continued to do so. Still, there were more pressing matters than getting a compliment from a girl. "Do you think you could hold it off?"

Bonfie smirked. "I can certainly try, sugar!"

The Defect's eyes suddenly glowed a brighter shade of red. "No." It answered in a deeper tone, similar to Braxton's voice, but not quite his.

It'd then speed walk to Jack and Bonfie, but Bonfie was quicker on the attack, jumping up and wrapping both her legs around The Defect's neck. She performed uncannily precise acrobatics, spinning around its head which disoriented it, allowing her to strike its head a few times.

How someone could be so clumsy yet so skilled at fighting was beyond Jack.

As much as he wanted to stay and enjoy the show, the fire was still spreading, and he had little faith in Bonfie's ability to stall for more than a few minutes. So he turned on his heel and ran back to the Fun Lounge.

He found Chiku and Fredina still on stage, though surprisingly, they were conversing with themselves. Is this what they'd do whenever he was in the office not watching the cameras? He shook the thought away and ran up to both of them, startling Chiku in the process.

"Fredina, Chiku, we have to go. Now!" He announced loudly, making Chiku flinch.

"The proper way to interrupt a conversation is by saying 'excuse me.'" Fredina replied condescendingly.

"What? Did you not hear what I said? We have to go!"

"G-Go where?" Chiku meekly asked.

"Away from here!"

Fredina sighed before crossing her arms, microphone still in hand. "Haven't your superiors told you already? You can't take us home. Regardless of how badly you want to."

A look of shock washed over Jack's face. The fact that Fredina could even assume that's what he was trying to do was absurd. He thought he made it abundantly clear he wasn't into any of them like that. "THE BUILDING IS ON FUCKING FIRE!" He yelled in both frustration and panic.

Chiku's face looked more concerned than usual, but instead of Fredina responding in a reasonable way, she simply sighed. "Dummkopf. I said before, if you're going to lie, at least put some effort into it."

Jack felt his eyes nearly pop out of his skull. "Lie? Why the fuck would I lie about something like that?!" He was getting so mad his voice cracked a little.

Before Fredina could reply, Chiku spoke up, but only slightly above that of a whisper. "His clothes do look dirty... His hair is messy, too."

Fredina crouched closer to Jack's level, still needing to look down at him since she stood on stage. "He probably messed it up himself," she said, smirking soon after. "I bet you've finally realized just how great of a catch I am and wanted to apologize to me privately—perhaps through a show of intimacy..." she purred.

This big brown bitch. Jack wasn't sure how many hoops Fredina mentally jumped through to get to that conclusion, but he was certain it was more than he had ever jumped through in his entire life.

Sure, there was a lack of a smokey smell and no fire alarms or sprinkler system to back up his claims. Even so, to assume this was some desperate attempt to get in her thong was crazy. If Jack wasn't aware of her past, he probably would've smacked her by now.

"Mama might be willing to forgive and forget if you—" Fredina's insufferable dialogue was thankfully interrupted by a shrill yelp, causing her to stand and Jack to spin around.

Soon after the yelp, a heavy metallic thud echoed through the hall. The thud was followed by Bonfie rag-dolling out the side hall and into a mini-stage. As Jack expected, she didn't last long at all.

"BONFIE!" Fredina and Chiku screamed before hopping off stage. Fredina tossed her microphone away as Jack followed close behind.

They got to Bonfie, seeing she was still alive, just unconscious. Jack noticed her skin was bruised, not dented. It was hard to see the discoloration because of her dark purple color, but the bruises were there.

Jack looked up at the hall she flew from, seeing it was engulfed in flames. "See! Fire!" Jack gestured, only for The Defect to step out from the flames, seemingly undamaged.

"What is that?!" Fredina shouted in surprise.

"The thing that caused the fire," Jack informed, realizing he hadn't mentioned The Defect, which glared at them. Its gaze was all it took to scare Chiku; she ended up hiding behind Fredina.

"You can't escape." The Defect stated, its tone shifting from anger to arrogance. It was clearly talking to Jack, but he didn't understand why it was after him. He didn't even do anything!

It approached the trio in heavy strides, slightly shaking the ground with each step. Jack backed away from the girls, resulting in The Defect moving faster. Chiku looked between the two, noticed The Defect was focused on Jack, and did the unthinkable. She threw herself in front of Jack, spreading out her arms to cover him.

"D-Don't hurt him!" She pleaded. He couldn't see her face, but she must've been absolutely terrified, judging by the quaver of her voice. Whatever gave her the courage to suddenly protect him was admirable.

In the end, though, it was for naught.

"Move." It barked before swatting Chiku away with a single smack, sending her rolling across the Fun Lounge like a tumbleweed.

The Defect reached out to grab Jack once again but was soon stopped by Fredina jumping on its back. "Nobody, and I mean nobody, hurts our Chiku!"

The Defect grunted before thrashing around, attempting to shake her off. All the while, she was striking at its head repeatedly, resulting in resounding bangs and thunks.

Seeing Fredina fight for Chiku really spoke out to Jack. What the hell was he standing around for? Bonfie fought and got her ass kicked, and even Chiku stood her ground for his sake.

Even if he didn't like Fredina, he still had to help her. It was his job to make sure nothing bad happened to them, and right now, he wasn't exactly doing it. But what could he do? He didn't have the same supernatural strength as The Defect or the girls. Going blow for blow was out of the question.

He looked around the Fun Lounge, searching for a weapon. That's when he spotted it—Bonfie's guitar. She had left it on the main stage in the corner, just out of eyeshot from the camera's view, which would explain why he never saw it when she left the stage.

Jack looked back to see Fredina still hanging on and pummeling The Defect to the best of her abilities, though it didn't look like she was doing much damage to it. He ran to the guitar, hopping onto the main stage and clumsily grappling it. He paused once it was in his hands.

"What am I doing...?" He asked himself, only now fully realizing the situation he was in. The building was on fire, Braxton was dead, and there was a killer machine out for him. It didn't dawn on him until now that he could die tonight.

He turned back to see Fredina still holding onto the Defect for dear life. Throughout the whole week, these girls have been trying to do nothing but fuck him, possibly to death, or at least until he received a few broken bones. Any sensible person would use this prime opportunity to run while the Defect was distracted. But something about that didn't sit right with Jack.

After uncovering the truth behind Fazclaire Entertainment's mascots, leaving them to die like this... It wasn't right. Their lives had been stolen from them, and they didn't even know it. Their bodies were being used for greed by a company they shouldn't belong to. The worst part was they truly believed they were meant for this type of life. He couldn't just leave the girls to die. What type of man would he be to let that happen?

Besides, his brother trusted him to handle this... He may not be able to save the club, but he'll be damned before he lets these women succumb to an unjust fate!

Jack was brought to his senses when a loud slam jolted him to attention. He saw the Defect had finally gotten ahold of Fredina and slammed her onto the ground. Judging by how much pain she was in, that was probably the first time anyone had smashed her that hard.

He looked up to see the Defect was walking towards him once again. Jack was a better runner than a fighter, so he wasn't exactly confident in his ability to take this thing down. But fuck it. It wasn't like he'd be losing much if he died now, anyway.

"Alright..." He took in a deep breath and jumped off the stage, staring his opponent down. The Defect had no visible expression on its metal skeletal face, but he had to imagine those red eyes held nothing but anger and malice for him, for whatever reason. Jack was more than willing to fight fire with fire.

He pushed his glasses up onto his face, making them gleam in the light. "Rock and roll." Without fear, he charged.

The Defect surged forward, its mechanical limbs whirring with intense hostility. One swipe from its large claws would split him in two for sure, but unfortunately for it, Jack wouldn't let it get a chance.

He darted to the side, narrowly avoiding its lunge. Before The Defect could turn, Jack slammed the guitar into its back knee with all his might, causing it to buckle and fall. While it was on its knee, he swung again, aiming for the head. A loud clank reverberated through the flames, followed by a heavy bang after The Defect fell.

Jack never considered himself a strong person, but the way he made The Defect fall had him reconsidering. Not to mention, there wasn't a scratch on Bonfie's guitar! Whatever it was made of, it had to be just as tough or tougher than The Defect... To think they'd allow Bonfie to hold such a weapon...

The Defect started shuffling underneath Jack, alerting him. He raised the guitar, about to deliver the beat down of a lifetime. Then, a strange crumbling noise suddenly came from above. Jack looked to see a piece of the ceiling careening down towards him. Without much time to react, he dove to the side, narrowly avoiding an untimely death.

He looked around while glued to the floor, noticing the whole place was drowned in flames. "What the fuck?!" Jack hadn't expected the flame to spread so quickly. He thought the heat he felt was just the adrenaline pumping through him.

Clank

Jack whipped his head, seeing a pair of metal feet across from him. The Defect was up again, glaring down with beaming red eyes. Before he had a chance to react, it grabbed him by the collar of his shirt, bringing him up to its eye level.

After a brief staredown, The Defect tossed Jack across the Fun Lounge. Fortunately enough, he didn't get thrown into any flames, but his back smashed violently into the wall, knocking the air out of his lungs.

Jack tumbled to the ground with a pained gasp. His glasses clattered to the floor, and Bonfie's guitar slipped out of his grasp. He wheezed heavily with blurred vision, catching his breath. He only got two breaths of clean air in before inhaling a bunch of smoke, sending him into a coughing fit. Jack covered his mouth and nose with his shirt, but that only partially saved him.

The ground trembled, alerting Jack of an approaching figure. Though his vision was blurry, he couldn't mistake the ominous silhouette of The Defect, especially not with the flames in the background providing light.

His body screamed for him to stand up, but upon trying, he found his legs failing to cooperate. Worst of all, he wasn't even within arm's reach of the guitar. He was completely helpless.

This is it. Isn't it? Jack wondered as he watched his executioner approach. The closer The Defect came, the clearer he could make out the depiction of a grim reaper. At the very least, Jack wanted to close his eyes so he couldn't see his death coming, but he couldn't bring himself to do even that.

Just when The Defect was four steps away from reaching Jack, another loud crumbling noise sounded off from above. Jack looked up, but The Defect didn't. If it had, it would've seen chunks of the ceiling plummeting towards it.

It outstretched a hand, about to grab Jack, only to be intercepted and crushed by the falling rubble, pinning it once more. At first, The Defect didn't seem too bothered. But, after wriggling around for a few moments, it and Jack realized it was stuck. The rubble was much heavier than last time.

The Defect reached out to grab Jack, its hand being an inch away from his foot. "You..." It croaked, once again using Braxton's voice. Then suddenly, all its movements stopped. It was as if a switch had been flipped. Before Jack knew it, The Defect went limp, and the red irises in its sockets gradually faded out. It seemed the rubble falling on top of it did more damage than he thought.

He stared at The Defect, making sure it truly was deactivated. After not seeing it move an inch for two minutes, Jack inhaled a gulp of air through his shirt, unsure when he held his breath.

He wanted to say he narrowly dodged a bullet, but after calming down, he remembered the burning flames. I'm not out of the woods yet...

He stood, looking around to see the fire had spread. Despite its coverage, there was still plenty of room to move around and avoid the flames. That probably wouldn't remain the case for long, but Jack couldn't leave. Not yet.

He rushed over to where he last saw Fredina, seeing her laid out on the floor within a small crater.

"Fredina!" Jack knelt to her, seeing her eyes were closed. "Fredina, you gotta get up." He patted her cheek, getting no reaction. Now he was getting worried. "Come on, you Big Brown Bitch!" Jack screamed, still receiving no response.

Fredina didn't look that banged up, nor did Chiku, who was curled up on the floor a short distance away. There was no way The Defect had knocked her and Fredina out in one blow, right?

Many thoughts ran through his mind. Suddenly, one in particular stood out: the heating mechanism.

"Shit," Jack muttered, remembering what Braxton said about heat making the girls lethargic. Considering the current state of their surroundings, there was no way in hell they'd be getting up on their own.

But he couldn't just leave them...

Jack wasn't even given ample time to think about his next course of action, as the flames only grew hotter and more rampant with each minute that passed.

He knew what he had to do. "Alright... here goes everything." He grabbed Fredina's arm, flipping it over his shoulder. Then, with both arms, he grabbed her upper body and hoisted the large bear over his shoulder. As expected, she wasextremelyheavy, but surprisingly, not impossible to carry. Still, that didn't stop Jack from feeling like Atlas, carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders.

One step, two steps, three. Jack heaved and winced, keeping a firm grip on Fredina. If he kept his imagination as a child, he might've envisioned himself as a firefighter rescuing those in need. However, all he could think about was how heavy Fredina was.

"This is what I get for not hitting the gym..." He groaned and complained, but never once stopped moving.

Once outside, Jack collapsed at the edge of the parking lot, dropping Fredina. The chill, fresh night air washed over his body, cooling him off in the process. Jack wheezed and coughed, inhaling as much air as his lungs could hold.

"One down..." He exhaled, getting back up on his feet and heading once more into the inferno.

He repeated what he did with Fredina to the other two mascots in the Fun Lounge. Each time he went back in, the place felt hotter than before. The heat, coupled with the mascots' weight and the fact it was getting hard to breathe, made everything incredibly challenging. It didn't help that Jack was not trained to handle situations like this and was more or less copying what he'd seen in action movies.

Despite all of this, it was working. Saving the girls was not impossible.

Bonfie was the last he carried outside, but unlike with Chiku and Fredina, he didn't drop her or fall down. He simply staggered as he set her down, knowing if he were to fall now, he wouldn't get back up.

Jack's muscles ached in pain, and his chest burned with searing hotness. His throat became coarse from all the coughing, and his legs felt broken. The body pleaded for rest, or at least water. But his job wasn't done yet.

"Three... down..." He panted through slow breaths. His heart felt ready to explode, and yet he marched back into the burning nightclub.

This time, he had quite the distance to go. By now, the fire had spread all throughout the building. The flames were more severe in certain areas than others, and the building looked to be standing on its last legs, evident by the bits and pieces of the foundation crumbling to the ground.

Jack pressed on through labored breathing, feeling his vision blur and his head pound.

He weakly opened the door to Lustful Cove, finding it enveloped in flames. His eyes scanned the cove, quickly fixating on a small red figure in the center, Fexa.

From the looks of it, she noticed the flames, albeit too late, and attempted to get out. She was posed in a crawling stance—Jack felt sorry for her.

He moved as fast as his body allowed, stopping right in front of Fexa. To his surprise, her head tilted up, showing she was still conscious. Her eyepatch was gone, allowing both her slitted irises to stare at Jack angrily. "You..." she growled, showing distrust.

If he weren't so exhausted, Jack might've been afraid to get any closer. But she looked helpless, and he wasn't about to leave her to die simply because of her hostility. Besides, he already came this far...

Fortunately for Jack, Fexa was the lightest of the four girls, allowing him to scoop her up and carry her bridal style. He caught the briefest glimpse of her face, seeing it was full of confusion.

"What... are ye doing...?" she snarled, limply raising her hook.

Jack didn't respond. He couldn't afford to expend any unnecessary energy. Instead, he carried her out of Lustful Cove and through the halls.

Part of him expected her to attack, but she never swung her hook. She just stared at him.

Jack trudged through the flames, feeling the blazing heat tickle the edges of his body. He let out another violent cough, barely able to tolerate the suffocating smoke.

When he made it to the Fun Lounge, he found the place completely covered in flames. The ceiling was also coming down at a much faster pace than before. Miraculously, there was still a clear path leading to the main exit.

Jack hurried across the Fun Lounge as rubble and debris collapsed all around him. Once he made it about halfway, a big chunk of the ceiling caved in and fell right in front of the exit, blocking his path. All Jack could do was suck his teeth in frustration.

He quickly swiveled his head around, looking for another exit. There had to be more than one...

Then, amidst his blurry vision, he spotted it—the door at the back of the main stage. A passing conversation between Jack and Braxton replayed in his head.

Bingo. Jack hobbled up the stage and to the door, it becoming increasingly difficult to hold Fexa. To his horror, Jack realized he couldn't turn the knob to open the door, as he needed a free hand to do so. Freeing even one of them would mean to drop Fexa, and he wasn't confident he'd be strong enough to pick her back up.

Fexa, seeing the predicament they were in, used the last bit of her strength to reach out and open the door for him. The act surprised Jack, but he didn't waste another second.

Once inside the backroom, he found the place free of flames, and just like Braxton said, there was a fire escape exit directly across from him.

Jack moved as fast as he could with Fexa in tow, ignoring the other items that were present in the room. Unlike the previous door, the fire escape was a push door. Jack pressed his entire body against the door, hearing an audible click of salvation ring out as he did so.

He stumbled out into an alleyway, still moving until he was a safe distance away from the burning nightclub. Once his brain registered danger had been avoided, his body finally relented.

Jack, unable to go on any longer, used the last bit of his strength to set a still semi-conscious Fexa down. Once she was safely lowered, he fell backward, unable to move an inch.

Jack stayed sprawled out on the ground, staring up at the nighttime sky. His vision rapidly darkened—The overexertion of his body had finally caught up to him.

"I...saved...them..." Jack gasped, satisfied with himself for saving the four girls from the blazing heat.

Then, everything went dark.