The Exalted Guard

The Show Ends

Mike felt various emotions as he landed on the creaky, wooden boards that made up the stage. Chief among them was anger as he watched the bear hold Jeremy with his large, mechanical arm around the human's neck. Jeremy struggled in the animatronic's grasp, kicking his legs ineffectually at the bear holding him hostage. His hat had fallen off at some point, leaving his disheveled, revealing blonde hair.

Tunnel vision set in as adrenaline mixed with anger in his mind. He felt his fist tighten and hearing shorten until the only thing he could hear was the sound of Jeremy's struggles. Without any deliberation, he kicked off the stage to hit the ground running. His arms pumped with purpose as he went to save his best friend.

Almost as soon as his shoe hit the ground, Mike heard a sharp intake of breath come from his friend. He stared up in horror as Foxy's hook dug deep enough into Jeremy's neck to draw a trickle of blood. However, the sight of the dark red liquid only served to spur Mike on. He was certain he could get there and save his friend. He just had to move a bit faster.

Teeth grit in concentration and drive, the vivid nightguard put as much force behind his legs as he could. The image of Freddy's caved in face flashed through his mind as he rocketed towards the robot. He faintly saw Jeremy's lips moving, but he couldn't hear the words through his fugue. His fist was brought back in preparation to knock Freddy's block off again.

Out of the corner of his eye, Mike saw something glimmer in the air. He payed it little mind as he reached the middle of the room.

Then, pain lanced throughout his entire body.

His momentum abruptly came to a stop as long, black wires, completely hidden within the darkness of the room, hugged his body until they covered him from head to toe. A soft, stretching sound echoed through the room as the taut wire cut into Mike's skin. Faster than he could see, the wires were pulled back and brought him to a screeching halt.

Mike, his tunnel vision gone in the face of the pain and bleeding, grunted loudly at the sharp pain he felt. His entire body was on fire, his movements were restricted, and his hat had fallen from his head again. His right hand involuntarily opened, dropping his lighter to the ground with a soft ding against the floor. Mike twisted in his bonds to get out, but all it accomplished was digging the wire deeper into his skin. He grunted out, eyes flicking every which way to find the one who did this.

It couldn't be anyone of the animatronics he fought earlier. Each and everyone of them was in too much disrepair to do anything save aimlessly wander the perimeter of the room. Freddy and Foxy were in front of him, their permanent smiles mocking him as he struggled in the web of cables. That Balloon Fucker was no where to be seen, and he wouldn't be able to do anything like this anyway. That leaves—

"You acted just as I predicted," the low, mechanical, menacing voice came from behind Mike. He tried to turn his head to look behind him, but he could hardly move with the amount of coil around his neck. He was forced to watch as the Puppet elegantly floated above the wires and down in front of the captured nightguard.

Mike's eyes looked up and stared at the strings that connected the Puppet to the machinery in the roof. Jeremy understood more about the inner workings of that shit than he did, but that didn't mean he couldn't understand how this mechanical fucker managed this.

The Puppet daintily lifted Mike's chin with one hand. The wires connected to its fingers shifted, but not enough to let the human snap them in two. The animatronic examined Mike's face like he was a piece of meat much to his frustration. Eventually, the machine let his head drop, "You're not him."

Mike attempted to reply, but the coils around his neck tighten to silence him. He still manages to growl with enough threat to make the Puppet unwillingly step back. The room is filled with the sound of the other animatronics trying to put themselves back together. While Mike hand bent their outer shells in multiple places, some of which had wiring sticking out of the side, he hadn't put them all out of commission. Old Bonnie and Chica put their associated body parts back on with ease, while Toy Chica and Toy Frieddy started to pull themselves out of the ground. Even the Mangle was slowly making its way back into the ceiling. Part of its head was caved in, but most of the damage had been negated by the Puppet's intervention.