The Mountain King

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A/N:
... just...
I hope this is going to be okay. Phew. Deep breaths.
(The video not functioning is already a bad start, I hope it at least links to what I want it to link to. I'm so nervous, I'm dizzy)

I tried to pull out all the stops.
Lots of... action. I guess.
It'll be super cheesy, even worse than the rest of this shitshow.
ALSO WARNING. SUPER LONG CHAPTER. DOUBLE AS LONG AS MY USUAL CHAPTERS.

Enjoy!


---

It was quiet.
The air outside was moving gently, brushing against the windows.
Branches and leaves were dancing about in the dark.
Dave was vaguely aware of it.
Lying in bed, half asleep, Dave tossed and turned as his thoughts turned from the gentle fuzz of dreams to the cold, creeping awareness to the reality surrounding him.
Today was the last day.
And he wasn't sure if this was enough preparation.
Sure, they probably COULD trap Henry, they COULD smoke him out and even Jeremy seemed full on board, with his ability to lie in a way that WOULD be believed-
The real Fredbear, the Marionette, and when all they lights would go out-
He took a deep breath.
Everyone else had left.
It was noticeable.
The price corner abandoned, the kitchen stayed cold, the stage was empty-
None of them would get wrapped up in this.
It was for the better, really.
Even if he didn't know where his kids were right now...
... maybe he really hadn't been cut out for a family.
Yet.
Ever.
But it would hardly matter after tomorrow.
It would be done.
It was for the better.
Something itched in the back of his mind and he tossed again, feeling incredibly uncomfortable, finally opening his eyes.
His vision was filled with black and orange.
"Wh-WHAT-"
Catapulting himself with one hearty push right off the bed and against the wall, sliding to the ground, his dazed mind managed to catch another glance at the Orange Guy standing near his bed, raising an eyebrow.
An obvious question.
But the Purple Guy had his own question.
"O-Old Sport have you... have been watchin' me sleep!?"
"Yes?"
"... christ..." Slowly managing to stand up again, he kept staring down Henry in hopes of an explanation. "... why?"
"Because I wanted to see you."
Despite the fact that he was very much aware that this wasn't his Old Sport talking to him, his heart skipped a beat.
A bitter taste filled his mouth as he came to terms, for maybe the hundredth time, with the fact that he wouldn't ever get this back. Old Sport was probably beyond pissed with him, for having allowed it to come so far.
And Henry?
Sometimes wished he could open his mouth and tell him.
Tell him that he would kill him.
That he would have to.
He wanted to somehow apologize for a choice he had made, he wanted to make up for feelings that had changed without him ever having the chance to realize when or why.
It wasn't fair. It didn't feel fair.
They used to be the ONLY people to trust for one another.
But Dave had found someone better.
Not fair.

Things HAD to be fair, Henry always said.
Otherwise they were pointless.
And Dave had given his best all his life to uphold all of these things- all these thoughts and opinions that Henry had taught him in detail.
"H- hey!" Barely managing to safe his sentence, Dave grinned thr widest grin he could manage. "Ya don't gotta... stand over me if you wanna see me. Ya could have woken me up. Gotta say- I missed hangin' out with ya too- so- what'cha say? Ya wanna spend a day with me?"
"We spend every day together, Dave." Patiently the Orange Corpse pointed out. "We live together."
"No, no, that's not what I meant! And ya know that. I want this day for MYSELF. That you and me- we're just- that I have your attention! Just like it used to be."
These words stumbled out him so utterly clumsy and unconvincing, that if he had the choice, not even HE would spend the day with himself. He was about willing to peel off his own skin and watch it walk away-
To his surprise the expression on Henry's face wasn't appalled or mocking, it was...
... sad.
"... I agree that I have not paid much attention to you. Certainly not as much as I should have. I treated you unfairly."
"You- agree?"
"Yes. Of course I do. Today is your day. It is the least I could do for you. I want you know that despite how I sometimes acted, I still appreciated every little thing you did for me."
A sudden, intense wave of pain washed over Dave too.
Who's words were these?
... maybe it didn't matter.
Maybe it just hurt because this- this was the thing he wanted to hear.
"... I... didn't always hold up my end of the bargain up either..." Quietly he mumbled.
The Orange Guy slowly nodded.
"That is the nature of people, I suppose. I expected quite a lot of you. Nobody should." Stepping closer, he almost made his purple counterpart wince in an unexplainable fear, before realizing he was just being offered a hand. "... shall we then? Let us get to the place early and make the most of the day. Carpe diem!"
Hesitantly Dave put down his hand into Henry's, put as soon as he did, the grip closed tightly and he was dragged out, into the whistling dawn.

When they arrived, it seemed to be just in time.
Weird, it seemed that everyone had the same idea of arriving early today.
Henry smiled, moving forward.
"Excuse me everyone? I wanted to have a short talk-"
Dave in instinctively pulled him back, the others having slightly turned towards him.
"You promised- WE would spend the WHOLE day together!"
Only Jeremy managed a somewhat genuine smile, while Marion slowly slipped out of his backpack. Clearly on edge and ready for anything.
Henry looked at Dave and-
There was nothing.
His voice was soft, but there was something MISSING-
"I merely want to say a few short words. I promise, it will only be a minute, and I think these things should be said before we are too busy."
Finally Dave nodded, very slowly, letting go, so Henry could step in front of them.
And he did, with a spring in his step and a pleased tone in his voice.
"Everyone, do I have your attention?"
The guards had gathered into a line, standing in front of him, but with plenty of... safety distance.
For a moment Dave drowned in the uncomfortable association-
They have been here before, hadn't they?
This all had happen before.
But the thing on the stage-
This time wasn't wearing its suit.
But the crowd had gathered and now-
The magic show was about to-
"Everyone, I would first like to thank you all that you each spend a day with me. I think I learned a lot and I will keep these lessons close to my heart."
Mike made a noise like he was about to spit on the floor- but seemingly didn't decide to go through with it. Not that it would have made a difference. Or maybe it would have?
"... I want you to really understand that I have the upmost respect for each of you. I think we can drop the act now. Neither of us is foolish. I am Henry Miller... we can all say it. Even if I applaud your dedication to keeping the act up. I felt beyond accommodated. You are good people, all of you, people with traits that I deem beyond desirable. Even you, Scott- pardon, Simon. You remind me somewhat of him, so please forgive me that little slip up. It will not happen again."
It was as though as the air had turned to ice.
Nobody could move, nobody could react.
"... either way. I hire and gather a very specific type of people in my restaurant. Those who do not fit the standards take care of themselves and become useful in other way. You must have been a mistake, Simon. Or maybe everything went as it should have. All of you however have showed mindfulness, dedication, a strong soul and most of all, a loyalty, a dependency to Fredbear's."
"D-dependency?!" Simon managed to croak, not willing to believe how- confident Henry talked, as though he had planned this from the very start- but that was impossible. Completely and utterly impossible.
"I am not sure how familiar you actually are with the technology I have developed and its implications. Of course you have SEEN the machines, you have seen how souls could puppeteer them with ease- why, Marion over here being the best example!"
A disgusting noise came out of Marion's throat, as slowly teeth lowered out of his jaws, stained with something black. He looked about ready to jump and tear him apart, regardless that Jeremy was desperately trying to keep him calm by squeezing his large claws-
"A wonderful one indeed. No damage to the personality. Astounding abilities that he would have never developed during his life. Yes, I think all of you can agree with me that he is superior to humans in every way. But if you would not want it to be all that drastic, you may direct your attention to Mike here. Regenerative abilities close to immortality... sure, the damage to the personality are notable, and I would not take this route, but if you enjoy your heavy flesh, then that might be an option for you."
"Shut up you pink-" Mike snapped.
Jeremy was holding his head. "What are you even SAYING!?"
"Is it not obvious?"
Heavily Henry sighed.
"I think humanity is ready for immortality. I really do. I have made my way back. I have gathered enough data that I am very much convinced that I could replicate the effects I want on any human needed. That much is a fact. Now the only question is what to do with you."
Putting his hand to his chest, where a normal human would have a heart, he looked from one to the other.
"If I had to eradicate you now, it would be a terrible waste. And you all have shown, very clearly that neither of you will back up! That is ironically something I admire even more, making it even harder having to give up on you. Thus, my only choice. I have to ask you this question: Would you like to continue working at my restaurant?"
He took a break, a break that felt both eternal and too short to speak up.
"... the world will be fixed, if you like it or not. The question is if you would like to stay and keep going as you have. We are a family here at Fredbear's. I would welcome you to stay. Nothing would have to change at all. All you would need to do is to keep quiet and not bother me too much. I would give you eternal life, forever together in your group, forever able to enjoy the joy this world holds."
It went quiet again, but this time the pressure of the silence was aimed squarely at Henry.
With genuine pain in his expression he looked down.
"... I did not expect anything else of you. Even if I had hope."
He looked up, this time focusing Dave.
"Dave. William. My old friend. My only friend. What is your choice?"
The Purple Guy first looked at the ground-
Then up at his former friend.
"Henry... you took Old Sport from me. He's my family."
"I did not have a choice."
"You said it YOURSELF! Never mess with FAMILY! Henry, I- I DON'T KNOW YOU! THE HENRY I KNEW WOULDN'T HAVE TURNED INTO A HYPOCRIT LIKE THIS!"
Mike stepped forward. "Okay, I take this as our cue. You seriously think you can take all of us on?"
"Yes." He didn't even bat an eye as they all stepped closer.
Hysterical the aggressive guard started laughing.
"Jesus CHRIST man! I can't- I CAN'T EVEN SWEAR. You are THAT PATHETIC. Like, I don't want to waste a single f-word on you That is how bad you are. Who made you like this?"
Slowly he pulled his bat out of his backpack, waiting for Henry's response.
The man just shook his head, seeming mildly tired at best.
"... I hope none of you expected to actually stand a chance against me."
A suddenly loud sound from behind made all of them jump-
The doors had just all slammed shut.
An echoing click showed they were SEALED.
Henry cleared his throat then spoke calmly and clearly.
"... as owner of this establishment, I am telling all of you to stand back. This is not professional behavior, employees."
A sudden pain went through the entire group, so intense that it seemed to be ripping at something right inside of their throat- pulling it up-
There was this quiet, gentle chuckle.
"Oh my. You all really did not see this coming? Not even you, Charlie? Come on."
"Don't- dare to- call me-"
"Aw, please. They will all die within the next..." He checked the clock on the wall. "... ten minutes I think. I will make it as quick and painless as possible. Do not act like those doomed already should be denied your name. You have been a team, all of you, your silly secrets have no more space here."
"Wh-what did you do?!" Panicked Jeremy looked at his friends, the only one still left standing.
Henry frowned.
"... excuse me, Jeremy... do you have a contract to work here?"
"Uh- y-yes?!"
"Huh. Was the contract you signed red?"
"N-no? I signed one when I joined the nightshift and-"
"Aaaaah... tsk tsk. How tardy of you, Simon. I expected better of you. Well then. It makes no difference."
"What are you DOING to everyone?!" The kid screeched, his hands tightened into painfully clenched fists.
"Jeremy. Think. Have you never read anything about haunted locations?" As Henry fell back, a chair instantly swooshed between him and the ground, lifting the man slightly up into the air. The other furniture followed suite, circling the suffering people, as the lights went off, only leaving Henry in the spotlight. "You all have never spent a second considering that not only the robots were haunted, did you? You never wondered why you were not allowed to read the red contracts, why they were red, why you just were unable to talk to the police... all of these things... they seemed normal to you I suppose. I created a world in which the impossible turns possible, in which fantasy and fun comes to life and you accepted it, because it was what you all needed as well. I do not blame you. But I WILL miss you."
The young guard stepped forwards towards Henry.
Simon pressed all the air out of his own lungs.
"J-jeremy- no-"
Mildly interested Henry looked down at Jeremy.
"... what will you do now? You arrived at your location. You were never hired, which means... you were messed up from the start, coming back over and over despite the restaurant hardly caring about you. Then again, that might be more than anyone else ever did, huh? Were you EVER wanted somewhere? You are not even an employee of mine. You never even BELONGED here."
The last part was said with such spite, such vitriol, that Jeremy winced under it like under a whip, his face slowly growing wet. But despite that, he got ready to-
"He's... an employee..."
Dave's voice was choked, but filled with righteous anger, to the very brim.
"He... is a fuckin' good one at that."
Forcing against whatever kept him down, with shaking legs, Dave stood up straight, struggling against the weight.
"Henry... this ain't your restaurant. This restaurant is MINE."
Abruptly Henry got off his chair, as all of the employees finally managed to stand upright again, whatever force had been over them now seemingly losing its power.
"This place not only belongs to ME, Henry, ME, who DESIGNED it, who BROUGHT THE EMPLOYEES IN, me who OPENED this place and MADE IT INTO WHAT IT IS WITHOUT YOUR HELP-" Now fully upright and shaking with his anger, Dave's bright white eyes shined almost painfully. "It doesn't belong only to ME, but to MY EMPLOYEES! To the KIDS! TO EVERYONE WHO MAKES THIS PLACE WHAT IT IS. THIS ISN'T JUST FREDBEAR'S, HENRY. THIS ISN'T JUST FREDDY'S. IT AIN'T EVEN JUST CIRCUS BABY'S. THIS IS THE PLACE WHERE FANTASY AND FUN COMES TO LIFE! AND YOU AIN'T TAKING IT FROM US!"
A second spotlight activated itself, this time capturing Dave.
"YOU HAVE NO MORE RIGHTS TO THIS PLACE THAN ANY OF US, YOU SELFISH, CRUEL MAN! THIS IS MY LEGACY TOO, AS MUCH AS YOU TRY TO DENY IT!"
For a moment Henry seemed cornered, but only his body language admitted to it.
His face was completely closed off, his next words well-chosen.
"... that may be the case, William. You have created this place with me. It was foolish of me to brush that fact aside. But... it seems your little speech, as endearing as it was, has not convinced the spirits of the location fully. It seems only you and I are seen as their rightful owners. And YOU never cared for THEM."
Mike, who was suffering a terrible headache, tried to follow. "Fucking... them?!"
The Marionette had grabbed and dragged Jeremy back, Henry's little display of power seemingly knocking some sense back into him. His voice was shaking with disgust and barely suppressed panic.
"Children. They didn't... they weren't just dismantled... they were reused... oh god, what have I- what did I allow to happen-"
Spitefully Dave moved closer to the man on the stage, the spotlight following exactly.
"... neither did you. Are you really THAT insane that you believe what YOU did was ever CARING?!"
"I CARED FOR THEM! I CARED FOR YOU! BUT YOU COULD NEVER APPRECIATE IT!"
"LIKE HELL DID YOU CARE! YOU TREATED ME LIKE A PET! YOU TREATED THEM LIKE A TOOL! YOU USE AND ABUSE PEOPLE- AND FOR WHAT? YOUR EGO!"
"YOU COULD HAVE SAID THAT YOU FELT MISTREATED! YOU ACTED LIKE A WILD ANIMAL, SO I TREATED YOU AS SUCH. YOU RIPPED MEN AND WOMEN INTO BITS! YOU WOULD HAVE BEEN EXECUTED TEN TIMES OVER IF I WOULD NOT HAVE FORCED YOU TO BEHAVE! WILLIAM, LOVE IS NOT ALWAYS BLINDLY SUPPORTING THE OTHER'S SICK DELUSIONS AND BAD HABITS. And do not DARE to talk to me about the kids. You would have killed them for FUN. You would have killed them and discarded their soul, a POINTLESS death and THAT is true cruelty! I AM TRYING TO ERADICATE ALL PAIN AND DEATH! SO, WHAT IF IT COSTS A FEW UNFORTUNATE LIVES HERE AND THERE? THEIR SACRIFICES WILL FOREVER BE REMEMERED AS HEROIC!"
"Sacrifices?! WHAT SACRIFICES!? To sacrifice something, you have to have a CHOICE. You STOLE from them. You... stole from me. I thought this was what friendship was about. What trusting was about. You stole it from me."
Dave sobbed, a terrifying noise, as the air around him got heavy with sadness, spreading along.
Filled with disgust Henry stared at him.
"... no. I never took anything from you. You never offered me any of the things you seemingly now so fluidly understand. William, you would have discarded me like an old toy if you would have met your precious "Old Sport" while I would have been still around. You were never loyal to me. I was merely your only option. You could have turned on me at any second, without a drop of regret."
"Henry, I-"
"BE QUIET, TRAITOR. You would NEVER have sacrificed ANYTHING for me. Do you even KNOW what I had to go through to keep your around? Busting you out of prison, more times than I can COUNT?! Having to keep my reputation high while the man I showed myself in PUBLIC with was found connected to SO MANY CRIMES? Do you know how HARD IT WAS to CONSTANTLY provide you secret identities, BECAUSE WITHOUT ME YOU WERE A SELF-DESTRUCTIVE WRECK!"
It seemed to be Henry's turn to shake in anger.
"My life could have been so much easier, so much more fun without you. But I sacrificed these things because I saw potential in you. Even if you would betray me in the end. You would rather destroy yourself than become a true partner, someone to be believed in. That was- that was okay though! Because, you know what? I had my ways to keep myself safe! I had my ways to KEEP. YOU. IN. CHECK."
The black grin under the bright light was eerie, as though the mouth, the eyes were a portal into the void that he had come crawling out of.
"You and your stupid delusions... that was the only reason I could stand you. You and your illusions. About all needles being an ovipositor of some kind, that there was an infection going around, tiny, tiny worms, all inside of everyone's skin. Guess what, William."
Filled with hate Henry looked at him.
"I did not see them either. They never were real. But I lied to your stupid face. I lied, I made you tools to "repeal" them, I told you ways to cleanse the body so it would not spread- I told you that it COULD spread in the first place. Whenever you feel discomfort with a situation out of Fredbear's, I started talking about these things. Picked a victim. Set you loose. You would never have someone else close to you if those even remotely close to you would get infected. It was pathetically easy. You never wanted help. You wanted someone to indulge you. So I did. We both got something out of it. But I have to say, Will. That you did not catch on disappointed me. I called myself the devil incarnate in front of you. I revealed myself as the lord of your flies. And you were too fucking stupid to realize."
Coldly he laughed.
"Newsflash, William. The worms were always in YOUR head. Maybe you should have cracked it open for a proper cleaning decades ago."
Mortified Dave reached up to his ear, not believing what he was hearing there.
Erratic he began scratching over the skin, trying to figure out if it was true and there were some eggs-
He scratched and scratched and yes, his fingers were slowly covered in something warm and sticky, it must have been the eggs cracking open, dripping down his-
"STOP SCRATCHING YOUR HEAD OPEN, EMPLOYEE!" The commanding- albeit a little hysteric- voice of Phone Guy sounded, snapping Dave out of it in an instant.
When Phoney was mad you LISTENED.
Not real, not real, not real, this all wasn't real-
Henry's laugh though-
Henry's laugh was very real.
But before he could say- THINK- anything-
Marion rose up.
"I'm not waiting for Fredbear any longer."
And before anyone could move, he leaped forward, letting out his signature scream, metal and soul both screeching at the loudest possible volume, both having been brought to the edge of their abilities.
Instantly Henry had his weapon out, a modified taser, which with he instantly pressed against the body of the creature, causing a bright flash to shortly blind everyone else. There was nothing they could hear but the scream of the Marionette, not desperate, but far, far more hateful than before.
As soon as their eyes had adjusted again, they could see them standing in front of each other, Henry smirking, while Marion made another move.
"You know, Charlie... I had SUCH high hopes for you."
Jeremy tried to rush up, but he couldn't get in the way of the fight without getting in the way of Marion-
The Marionette didn't answer, merely making an animalistic sound as it faked out, avoiding another dose of electricity.
"I thought you would be my best work. The first child to successfully be transplanted, and it is such a capable one too? Maybe I overestimated you however. You never REALLY learned, did you? You lead Jeremy right to me, keeping him close. I will kill him, just as I killed Lucas back then, but you will not see HIM again."
The long black claws rushed over his face, only barely managing to scratch over his face as he moved back. The attacks became sloppier, more erratic, easier to predict-
"Charlie, don't fucking listen to him-"
Mike was close to a breakdown, grappling the bat, halfway willing to just run in.
"You never go easy on the guards. You seem to have an instinct for how to torment them the best. If you would have used HIM as your personal chewtoy he would never have gone through this hell. You would have RIPPED him into pieces if you could have."
Marion moved forwards abruptly, moving down, past the ground, slipping past the taser and the ending up behind Henry, attacking with full force, ripping through the fabric and skin, splattering black and dark red everywhere and causing him to fall onto the ground.
But as Henry was going down, he turned slightly, the wound seemingly not bothering him in the slightest.
As Marion tried to finish him off, rising up before swooping down, ready to tear apart the body, the others slowly cutting off any ways for Henry to get away-
With a single movement Henry reached forward, stunning him with the taser, yet before Mike could lower his bat-
Dave cried out, panicked. "MIKE YOU'RE GONNA HIT MARION! IF YOU HIT HIS MASK, HE-"
- they slipped to the side, the energy put into the movement causing them to get out of the way with ease, as the bat hit the ground, making a terrible sound, however not as terrible of a sound as the one Henry's hand made, as it pushed between the cables and metals just right-
Pulling out a still beating heart.
Everyone was thrown off, everyone but Dave, who tried to get around, get to Henry from behind, being forced to stop as Henry held it up, Charlie shaking in pain below him, yet no sound escaping the body anymore.
"You were an anomaly indeed. And my best assistant. Capturing souls, attaching them to machine, getting rid of guards who became too much of a liability... all your actions aided me. Yet your refused all of your potential. We could have been amazing together. But... it is okay. If you want to leave this mortal coil, it is acceptable. You did well, you earned it. Goodbye, Charlie."
Jeremy leaped forward, crashing into him, getting hit in the shoulder painfully-
"If you want to go first, kid, I will GLADLY grant you that wish!"
- but before the youngest guard could be finished off, with a high voltage attack, a wave of awe washed over all people present.
"HOLD ON JUST A MINUTE."
A commanding voice echoed through the hall.
Where Mike had stood just moments before, a golden bear had appeared.
"IT IS I-"
"The real Fredbear." Henry shoved Jeremy off him, not paying any attention to him anymore. "We were all wondering when you would show up. I think you made your friends sweat. I was already considering breaking Charlie's heart for a second time. Maybe having a bite out of it first!"
"HENRY MILLER. LAST TIME I HAVE NOT BEEN WILLING TO CRUSH YOUR SKULL BETWEEN MY TEETH. YOU WERE THE MOST REPREHENSIBLE PERSON WE HAVE EVER MET, YET I WAS HESITATING KNOWING THAT YOU WERE DOING WHAT YOU THOUGHT WAS A GOOD ACT. I BELIEVED THAT DESPITE ALL YOUR ACTS, THERE WAS A GRAIN THERE, A SEED FOR GOOD."
"... so you decided to doom me in the void. My soul would have been dissolved in the great unknown. The truest form of destruction."
"I DOUBTED LESS THAN THE OTHERS THAT YOU COULD RETURN."
"But you were not sure."
"EVERYONE. STEP BACK. I WILL TAKE HENRY TO A PLACE WHERE HE WILL NEVER RETURN FROM. WE HAVE A PLACE FOR HIM. NO SUIT IS NECESSARY."
The guards followed the command, Dave helping Jeremy to pick up the broken body of the Marionette, who still couldn't get a sound out.
No sounds were left inside of the room, aside from erratic sobbing coming from Jeremy.
"Don't worry lil guy." Dave whispered to him, trying not to disturb the scene. "We can put him back together. It will be fine. Charlie was always a fighter."
Henry watched them, unimpressed, both of the standing in front of each other, willing to finish this with honor.
The other guard took him from Jeremy, Simon seeming beyond disturbed at the sight of bones that seemed to be... stretched.
Dave didn't comment on that.
He had only one worry.
"... Fredbear... can you- will- Old Sport be okay?" It wasn't a question.
It was a plea.
Fredbear slowly nodded.
"WHAT I WILL DO WILL LEAVE HIM UNHARMED." Shortly he stopped, stretching his paws, and showing his teeth. "... CORRECTION. WE WILL LEAVE HIM IN A STATE THAT HE CAN RECOVER FROM."
Henry smiled a little at that.
"We will see about that."

The stage was set.

Both of them stood across of each other, having chosen the actual stage as the beginning of their battle, no doubt expecting to be down from it again in no time.
"One last thing, if I may."
"LAST WORDS?"
"Not... particularly. More a matter of... clarity. Am I correct in saying that you are currently... overwriting Mike? Is he inside of you? Are you some sort of shell? Peculiar, I never have seen you using these means of possession to appear. Usually you have appeared on your own, out of nowhere. No anchor needed. Is he not at risk now?"
The bear paused, it's warm, but sad eyes unmoving.
"HE KNEW WHAT HE WOULD BE DOING FOR US. UNLIKE YOU HE KNOWS THERE IS VALUE IN THINGS BEYOND HIMSELF."
Henry chuckled.
"I take it that you are not what you used to be anymore. Have you grown weak, Fredbear? Tired? Tired of what, I wonder. Tired of all the death you have seen?"
Fredbear stayed silent, slowly moving closer.
Henry leaned in, just barely out of reach.
"... you know, perhaps if you would have liked to save more souls... maybe you should have been a little bit quicker."
The bear roared loudly, then moved forward for a mighty swipe, his claws only barely missing Henry, who had jumped back to avoid it, avoiding the rapidly following attack, quickly having to leave to the ground.
Strong and fast.
A bear was no fun to fight.
"Look at you, Fredbear! You are pathetic! Do you not care about your friend anymore, Lucas? The poor Marionette. All mangled now. Because YOU were late. Maybe he should become the next pull apart and put back together attraction?"
With a growl the golden being jumped down too, the impact easy to feel for all around.
Henry was still moving backwards.
There was no way he could beat him in a fight.
Nobody was really concerned.
Merely overall tense and anxious, but Fredbear being there was reassuring.
It was hard to be afraid when he was near.
Henry would be dealt with quickly...
... like obnoxious vermin, all you had to do was corner it and then smoke it out.
The taunts were death throws.
Even so, Dave still winced at every word.
Cruel.
"Well, I doubt you would care much, would you? Is there ANYONE you care about? Mike did so much to you. How do you thank him? By puppeteering his body. If I stab you, will I hit him? You always were willing to sacrifice other people's lives for your own gain. But unlike Charlie, you are too much of a despicable hypocrite to actually do it yourself. You let others pay the agonizing price of their innocence, staying in the back."
The bear refused to answer, which was probably a wise move.
Right?
It wasn't as though Henry's words could ever hold any weight, right?
But the walls were watching.
It was almost painful.
Henry rushed forward catching Fredbear off guard, getting a hit in.
Barely a scratch, the soft fur seemed to simply absorb the electricity. The little flashes of light danced between the hairs, fitting in almost naturally with the rest of the glow radiating from the body.
Instantly, the bear slashed back, throwing the Pink Guy right off his feet, onto one of the long table a few feet away. As he was crushed against it, a cracking noise was audible-
However Henry managed to stand up again, letting himself fall down to the ground on the other side forcing the bear to first having to break apart the tables before being able to get to him again.
He used these seconds to his advantage.
"You have hidden behind others, behind people you have manipulated and used and for what? You condone the violence they acted out, you break all your morals and have turned into a hypocrite. But that is NOT the worst part! Do you want to hear what the WORST part is, old friend?"
"I AM CORRECTING THE MISTAKE I MADE SO LONG AGO. ALL THOSE YOU HAVE ABUSED WILL FINALLY FIND RELIEF!"
Getting on all four the creature ran forward with fletched teeth, Henry only barely escaping, jumping back onto the table, which promptly fell to the side, but it was enough to get away.
"Too little too late, I regret to tell you! Now, I have all the sympathy in the world for you. You were but a boy. You saw your friend slowly becoming unrecognizable. But you see, if you stop me now, their deaths have become even more pointless. No- the worst part is that you could have saved SO MANY! Every time you turned up, their lives became a little more miserable! Sending me away forced so many machines into being scrapped for parts! It is MISERABLE, Fredbear! Put together with other minds, until it becomes a mess of noise and pain and loneliness! Then you allowed William to walk away unharmed! So many, Fredbear. So many fell to his delusion that I wanted the locations to close! But then- THEN! Then you made Old Sport."
For a moment the bear stood up, but he staggered as though he was injured.
"ENOUGH! YOU CANNOT SAVE YOURSELF WITH WORDS. I WILL NOT-"
"So many things! You could have prevented Charlie from forcing anyone to stay behind. They could have moved on, yes, perhaps to purgatory, but is this existence truly that different to purgatory? So many souls that would not have succumbed to the darkness. Children, Fredbear! They cried out for you! Where WERE you!?"
Instead of answering, the golden bear smashed the party table sending it flying towards Henry, catching him off guard.
The man was bleeding a bit of a liquid, but the wounds disappeared while watched, smoothening over in an instant as Henry focused.
Still, he was tired.
Just- a little bit-
Jeremy wasn't paying attention at all, Marion was halfway delirious, only Simon and Dave were witnessing the happenings, paralyzed by the way the environment was slowly changing. Dave tried to keep a grip on the location, but between him, the real Fredbear and Henry, it was all going off the rails.
Finally Henry climbed back onto the stage, backwards, moving still as his creation approached.
"... they went insane under the pain. A few more so than others. But especially those who were ripped apart. Over and over again. Why did you not do anything, Fredbear? Do you even remember the unfortunate souls? Do you remember Susie? Do you remember what happened to her? Were you even watching?"
Abruptly Fredbear stopped.
His echoy voice was joined by a new, sore one.
Mike.
"... S-susie..."
"Do not worry. She certainly is still here. I took her in. A little less of a miserable life than her previous one. Despite everything!"
Simon wanted to step in, but-
"Who's Susie?!" Distressed he asked Dave.
Dave only shook his head, equally as panicked.
He didn't KNOW.
Maybe on of the souls?
But- why HER in particular?
How would have HENRY taken a soul in-
"You want to hear from HER, Fredbear? Or would you rather forget her? Like the others?"
"WE- WE c-CAN STILL s-SAVE THEM!"
"YOU DO NOT SOUND SO CERTAIN ANYMORE DEAR!" Henry was growing manic, something dark dripping down his mouth, as though he was a wild animal salivating at the sight of a good meal.
The lights went out.
In the shadow, something SHIFTED.
Small.
Little bright, white dots.
Looking around.
Stopping.
"... Fredbear... is that... you...?"
Susie.
"... why are you here. WHY are you here. Why NOW?"
The bright, childish voice was shaking.
"Fredbear- I needed you. I-it was TERRIBLE, Fredbear! The suit I was in- Fredbear, they did- they did THINGS to me! Fredbear, they BROKE me. I was in the fox and they- THEY BROKE ME OPEN. FREDBEAR. THEY OPENED ME AND TOOK ALL OUT. AND THEN THEY PUT THINGS IN ME! THE WRONG THINGS. THEY THOUGHT ABOUT REMOVING MY TEETH! RIP THEM ALL OUT! THEY TRIED! FREDBEAR! I THOUGHT YOU- YOU WOULD DO AT LEAST SOMETHING! HELP ME! SAVE ME!"
An agonized noise was audible and a sound of something big falling with a muffled tone.
Someone was MOVING in the dark-
"BUT YOU DIDN'T. I HAD TO SAVE MYSELF. THE ONLY THING THAT KEPT ME FEELING OKAY WAS PUTTING MY TEETH INTO OTHERS. LIKE THEY DID TO ME. I TOOK THEM APART. I TOOK THEM APART WHEN I COULD. AND IT WAS DISGUSTING... BECAUSE THEY KEPT SPLATTERING ALL OVER ME. BUT IT WAS ALL I HAD. ALL I HAD. WHEN IN THE DAY THEY WOULD LAUGH AND PULL AND RIP AND PUT GRIME AND SMUDDER ALL OVER ME!"
It went awfully quiet for a few seconds.
"... I'm glad you're here now, Fredbear."
For a moment the kid sounded sincere.
Then something wicked rose it's head-
"It means I get to take you apart MYSELF."

The lights flickered back on, the walls painted in an intense violet, the whole light having changed to something absolutely appalling, ripping the eyes out by the sockets-
Henry was sitting on top of the bear, slowly ripping at the little seam that revealed the springlocks, that just barely showed that he wasn't ACTUALLY an organic creature, but a COPY, an IMPOSTOR.
It's paws were hanging loosely.
It was crying.
Weeping.
It was a mortifying sight-
Shaking Dave called out.
"FREDBEAR! NO! DON'T- DON'T THINK THAT'S REAL! IT'S NOT- I-"
How would he KNOW it wasn't real?!
No matter what... it was far, far too late.
One last second Henry stopped, smiled.
Looking at the flickering figure below him.
"... I am sorry Lucas. You should have never gotten involved in this. If it brings you any solace, I will forgive you."
Aiming straight for the throat, Henry rose his tool-
And was flung straight back by a kick to the abdomen.
As he scrambled to get back up, holding his stomach, he looked up in confusion and anger-
To see Mike standing up.
He was wiping off a few of the black drops that had landed from Henry on him.
His teeth shining and filled with righteous rage.
"... you really start getting on my fucking nerves. Do you seriously fucking think Fredbear was the only one you had to try and attack with your idiotic fucking words? Who wanted you DEAD?"
"Ah... now I am worth some swears?"
"I'm not fucking swearing for you." Mike was banged up, but his eyes were little glowing white dots, shining bright as LEDs. "You think everything is about you, huh? Honestly? Not even fuck surprised. Y'know what I hear when I hear you talk? A whole lot of ME ME ME!"
His bat had been dropped where the real Fredbear had emerged, but Mike didn't even care. He pulled his heavy flashlight off his belt, it would be enough to beat him into a pulp.
"You know what, Henry? I'm a fucking cunt. I'm the ultimate piece of shit. I don't fucking CARE about Fredbear. I don't fucking care about Susie. Life is a shithole. Terrible things happen to us all. We pay for our damn mistakes in blood and tears and sometimes not at all. She tried to fucking kill me. Then you showed up and- did this THING to her. Fuck you. Fuck you so much. But it's not on ME. Can't turn that one around here."
The same black liquid that had been dripping from Henry was dripping from Mike's nose, as his shadow slowly grew to the back.
"I don't give a fuck. Life is terrible. You know what I DO care about? YOUR DELUSIONAL FUCKING RAMBLINGS! You really think you're THAT great, huh? I bet you do. Talking about the joy of creation, talking about fixing the world."
"Your mother would not have had to die from the sickness, Mike-"
Abruptly Mike stopped-
And proceeded to break out into laughter.
"You just don't fucking GET IT do you? Living in your world with nothing but machines- you talk about your ideology, about flesh merging with steel, yes, I bet you're proud of that, talking about a world perfected- Henry, answer me this, do you REALLY think YOU'RE HELPING?"
"... do you enjoy losing family members? Pets? Do you enjoy watching humanity doing the same mistake over and over again? Do you enjoy the innocent vanishing young and the bad being able to amass power and status? Do you enjoy knowing the fact that knowledge get lost and it only takes one event to wipe out everything? Do you not think smart people should have the right to continue their work and the loving people to keep improving everyone?"
"You THINK that? You THINK that will happen? Henry. Buddy. Let me be real for you. All that YOU want is to control people. Even if you do what you say- do you know what DEATH means?! Do you know what becoming STAGNANT is like? When you exist unchanging, forever, existing in the same day- eternal creation... I think you don't get what you're trying to preserve. You're like a child. And if the world stopped turning around the sun, it would stay summer forever! Hah- hahaha- you think you're SO smart- and then you just fucking-"
Finally there was anger in Henry's expression, and he was the one stepping closer.
"And what do YOU think truly matters?! Tell me, Michael Schmidt. Tell me what I am missing!"
Instantly Mike went cold.
"The name is Mike. And I will only ask you this once. Do you think Fredbear had a choice?"
"I-"
"Do you think the Marionette had a choice?"
"Of cou-"
"Do you think all the Phone Guys had a CHOICE?"
"You-"
"Do you think DAVE HAD A CHOICE?"
Finally Henry remained silent, looking about ready to attack.
Mike didn't bat an eye though.
"No. You know NOTHING about choice. Maybe you yourself don't have a fucking choice. Maybe something fucked up in your brain. Still. You don't have the fucking RIGHT to do this. You never HAD. All the roads led back here. You manipulated every inch of this place, you tried to cement it all, making us into part of your- disgusting creation, a figure of cold steel. But you didn't MANAGE. No matter what, you didn't MANAGE. You've beaten us down, manipulated us, you've messed with our minds, bodies and souls, you fucked up our whole reality. But we're still free. Still alive like that. We still can change. Even your literal Marionette- even he changed. Without you."
Turning on the flashlight, it's light broke through the purple, letting a circle of reality back in, where the floor was not checkered pink and dark red, but black and white.
For a moment Mike became very calm, all rage, all spite leaving, only leaving crushing inevitability.
"You think you can capture lighting in a bottle, you think you can freeze people's greatness in time. You think it is merely a trait like any that some people are born with and other weren't. Miller. People can only be themselves when they can make the CHOICE to it. When they are FREE.
But you won't ever understand.
Everything you have created.
It wasn't because of you, but in spite of you.
I'll give you a taste of the greatest joy of all.
Not some happiest day.
Fragile and depending on everyone playing along.
Not your stupid fucking creations.
Long dead remnants of yourself, replicating over and over forever.
No.

You will now get a TASTE of the JOY OF FREEDOM!
"

The long shadow behind glowed up in a bright gold, taking on a distinctly bear-like shape.
There was something golden about Mike- but it was clearly still him.
Everything about the way he moved, the way he looked, his eyes a bright and clear yellow color, his shadows a shine into another reality-
Maybe not a BETTER one, but THEIR reality-
And maybe that was what counted.
Swiftly he jumped forwards, his impact once more throwing Henry off his feet, this time however the guy didn't hesitate to get back up and taking on a certain distance.
Long claw marks went over his face.
A paw?
As though...
... he had taken on everything Fredbear had been missing...
... what the kids sleeping beyond the wall had lost...
... never mind.
Henry got his taser ready.
Mike still bled.
Everything that could bleed could DIE.
A feeble human form- no matter in what way he was getting strengthen from the beyond.
And Henry wasn't afraid of getting a few scratches himself.
He charged forward, pulling forward a chair, distracting Mike long enough to shock him right into the throat, shortly stunning him so he could get a few hits in before getting distance once more-
No, this wouldn't take long-
Simon and Dave exchanged a look, standing beside each other.
They didn't have the gasoline.
Which was absolutely terrible.
Everything was going wrong-

But they would keep TRYING!
While Jeremy was still trying to close Marion's wound, the other two were slowly moved to the side, Dave getting out his trusty rope.
They kept increasing their distance to each other, until they were just the right length away, that as soon as Dave would throw one end to Simon, they would be able to wrap it right around Henry.
Mike's and Simon's eyes met for a split second.
Understood.
Henry was moving forward, Mike trying to deflect and get around the dancing sparks. All he needed was to properly get his hands on Henry's wrists, then perhaps he could simply shove him into the rope-
It HURT to be hit by the jolts of electricity, though his brain was numbing it down, the pain was THERE, but it didn't feel like HE was the one in pain. Certainly, he knew the feeling, it was upsetting, it was enraging, he needed to keep his mind calm though, he needed to FOCUS.
Nothing hurt.
Get it DONE.
He felt himself lose a little blood.
It seemed that the tips of the spikes on the weird modified taser were sharper than expected-
And longer-
His left arm started to feel numb, though he got Henry easily off him by opening his maw and attempting to maul the enemies face.
Stumbling backwards, Henry was forced to try and protect his head.
Dave's chance.
Suddenly a purple arm wrapped itself around Henry's throat from behind, starting to choke him out while he threw with his free hand the one end of the rope to Mike, Simon quickly rushing past the both of them, around Henry, Mike instantly moving into the other direction, and as Dave was thrown off and to the ground, it was already too late-
Henry had been restrained.
Funny, how easily it was. To get something done, when you were three to one.
No need to aim for harm on an enemy that was immortal.
Maybe that was why most people who had faced Old Sport before struggled-
Aiming for the throat it only ever really effective if your enemy actually needs the throat.
His arms caught in the rope that was being held by some sort of bear demigod and a Phone Guy, the only way he would be able to do anything about it was if he somehow could rip it-
Wouldn't be possible with the taser.
Unamused Henry seemingly tried to calm down, even if his state had very obviously deteriorated. His hair was standing up, looking almost like horns, his eyes were wide and filled with an animalistic aggression. His whole face was tense.
Shortly glancing back, Simon spotted Jeremy dragging Marion back into guaranteed safety, who seemed at least somewhat capable of moving on his own again.
"... will they be okay?"
Henry scoffed, staring straightforward.
"Of course. Charlie and Lucas were both capable. None of the children I picked would have fallen victim to such easy hits. And the mechanic may be damaged quite badly, but these machines function in more ways than one."
"Shut the fuck up."
"You really have not ONE polite bone in your body, do you?"
Dave seemed the one still brought close to having his nerves snap.
Still shaking he looked at his hands.
"O-okay. Time to smoke him out, right? We're gettin' Old Sport back."
"No." Henry answered abruptly. "THEY will get Old Sport back. You will-"
With a loud slap, Mike covered Henry's mouth.
The Purple Guy just shook his head.
Simon shifted on the spot. "Let's wait until Jeremy and Marion are okay, then we'll get something to put this place on fire. Or- uh- y'know. Just... Henry's general area."
Leaning in, Dave whispered to Henry. "... I KNOW they will kill me, Henry. I'm NOT stupid, no matter what you think."
"HmmHmhmHHHmHH!" Annoyed Henry retorted.
"YES. But I don't CARE. It's worth it-"
"HmhmmmHhMmH mMHmhhm mmhHmhHHHM."
"Well- he- it'll be okay-"
"NO FUCKING WHISPERING, GRAPE. Or I'll eat you from the waist up." Mike interrupted them, rudely.
Instantly Dave put his hands up.
"Okay, okay, geez, Mikebear, I'm sorry."
"Mikebear?!"
Panicked Mike checked his hands, but seemingly didn't see any of the thin golden veil around it. Instead he snapped up to look at Simon.
"Si, Fredbear didn't give me bear ears, did he? Like the fucking possession didn't do some weird furry shit, right?!"
For a few seconds Simon looked at him- then he broke out into gut-wrenching laughter. He was shaking on the spot, holding his stomach, wheezing and whistling as he had to force air back into his body.
First Dave and Mike exchanged a look of confusion, then a bright smile crossed over Dave's face too and he began to join in with the laughter, leaving only Mike to play offended.
"What the fuck you two! This is some REAL SHIT! I was just being POSSESSED! And then I had to beat up a pink bitch all by myself! Literally, I might be forever scarred! If I wake up with a tail, I will make you two pay money for a surgery, you hear me!"
Teasingly Dave pointed his finger at him.
"Mikebear, if ya had the guts, I'd do the surgery for you free of charge!"
"WAIT IS THERE ACTUALLY A TAIL-" Letting go of Henry Mike attempted to look at his own backside, ending up spinning in a circle-
The other two were laughing so hard, they were almost crying.
All the stress had taken its toll, this was the freedom they needed.
Henry himself surprisingly stayed quiet, just sighing to himself.
Small.
Weakly.
It was like a slap to the face to Dave.
He KNEW that noise too well.
He spun around, the laughter stuck in his throat.
Henry looked up at him-
The other two followed suit, quickly growing confused why the panic mode was back in action-
For a moment both parties simply looked at each other.
Then Henry shook his head.
"... you really think you said something smart, did you not, Mike? Freedom of choice. I think freedom is an overly celebrated illusion. Nobody is free to not get sick. Your joy is built on nothing and that might be exactly what the universe desires. In the end there will be nothing. Not to mention, how much suffering and pain choice has brought. Are humans to be trusted with such a thing? But I will remember your words anyhow. You are right to some degree. All thoughts and views should be preserved after all..."
Something suddenly dropped from the ceiling, instantly everyone looked up.
The seemingly omnipresent black liquid.
Shadows were gathering, small and nimble, glancing at the audience before entering the spot overhead, the drips turning into a stream, covering Henry more and more.
"... William. You may own the location. But the children are mine. And always will be. I am the one who made them dream. This is their home, we are their family, and all they know is that their beloved guards have turned against them. They will not be stripped of everything. Not again."
Mike wanted to grab into the goo that was covering Henry, but something in his mind was filled with such intense levels of dread and disgust, he could only stumble backwards with the others.
The expressions of the other two showed they felt the exact same, as though this feeling was less of a subject viewpoint, but rather a blanket covering them, a pillow suffocating them-
The liquid turned into something much more resembling black fur, with patches being ripped open, revealing metal.
Size increased.
A dark bear, made out of seemingly only teeth.
It felt familiar to Mike.
Like something he saw- before-

Maybe inside of his worst nightmare.

The maw opened, the ropes falling uselessly to the side.
Henry tilted his head.
"... been a while since I have worn a suit. I admit I missed it. Even if I did not expect it to come like this."
His voice had turned slightly weird, a voice that always sounded like it was right behind you-
The bear rose to his full size and reached up to adjust with one of his giant claws his pink-ish purple hat.
Then he opened his arms, the mouth on his belly grinning.
"WELCOME TO FREDBEAR'S FAMILY DINER!"
Below them the ground SHIFTED, breaking open, revealing nothing but a purple void below, the dimension twisting on the spot-
For a moment the ground turned stick and sucked them down, them stumbling back to avoid becoming fully sucked in-
"WHERE FANTASY AND FUN COMES TO LIFE!"
The posters on the wall changed, the music was a mess-
A ballpit- wasn't that from an older location?
Foxy's curtains were waving in a breeze, from within another room, long hallways-
"REGRETABLY IT SEEMS SOME OF YOU HAVE HAD SOME BAD THOUGHTS TOO IN THESE HALLS."
Raising his claws, he got ready.
"I WILL BE ABLE TO FIX THOSE PESKY, HATEFUL MINDS FOR YOU."
With that it moved forward, not moving RIGHT instead flickering and then being in front of the crew, slapping them to the side with full force, causing them all to be flung across the rooms.
Mike was the first to be back up, and he showed his teeth, the ghostly paws on him, claws fully out.
Screaming he rushed forward, willing to fight for everything he wanted to protect.
Of course, the black mass of dripping shadows was mortifying, radiating a sense of terror, a freezing wave of hatred washing over the surroundings- this time though Mike wouldn't hesitate. Wouldn't stop. He would eradicate it, whatever it took.
Dave, was shaking his head, aching all over, before he registered to his shock that the connection, the grip he had on the world around him was slipping.
It all centralized around this nightmare Henry.
Simon was standing again too, shaking as well.
They were all going to die, weren't they-
Dave made a step forward to where they were fighting, getting out his trusty knife.
... he wouldn't go down standing to the side, gawking.
Quietly Simon nodded to himself, appreciating this little gesture from his frenemy.
"This is a damn labyrinth now-" The Purple Guy mumbled. "How are we supposed to get to the office to turn off the lights properly- we gotta kill him ourselves, Simon. We have to get him together-"
"No."
"W-what?!" Abruptly he turned his head 180° to stare at his boss-employee. "Ya just wanna GIVE UP?!"
"I didn't, uh- I didn't say that. I'm NOT giving up. I'm saying that the place ISN'T a labyrinth- I know all these locations. I can get to the office."
"Seriously?! You remember ALL the locations?!"
"... everything Henry can do, I can do better."
"That's kinda-"
"Okay MOST things. Certainly when it comes to the locations."
Both of them gave each other a look, then silently agreed.
"Hurry, Simon. I ain't so sure if we can hold him back all that long. I don't think he's bleedin' chief."
"I'm running."
With that Simon aimed for the nearest door and slipped through.
Part of Dave almost wanted to crack and start believing that the Phone Guy was merely trying to safe his own skin and wouldn't be seen again-
But no.
He couldn't allow himself to think like this.
Steading himself, he aimed for Henry's back, waiting for the right moment to swoop in and bury the blade within it.
It almost got stuck-
The part opened up revealing another set of teeth and a metal tongue that was trying to wrap itself around the blade and simply EAT it-
Mike gave Henry a harsh punch against the chest, forcing him to shake for a moment, it allowed Dave to rip out his knife again and get out of the line of damage.
A few eyes opened on Henry's neck, staring into Dave's very soul.
"... look at you. Doing what you do best. Destroy and distract."
At that Henry was abruptly reaching forward, grabbing Mike's arm, crushing it slowly, ignoring as Mike's other golden paw was scratching over him, going down to the metal, ripping off fur that turned to smoke.
"I have all the time in the world for you now, Dave. Just let me get rid of this one and we will have a little one on one."
Despite everything, Mike didn't scream when his hand was turned into mush and he was being thrown headfirst against the wall.
Actually- that made it worse- was he unconscious?
Fully turning around now, Henry showed his tooth-y, needle-like grin to Dave.
"It is hard to kill you. Ridiculously so. But that is fine. You said you wanted a day, right?"
Moving backwards, Dave looked at Henry, calculating his best chance.
He couldn't hurt him, much like Henry couldn't hurt Fredbear-
A sting went through him.
Poor Fredbear.

But- no time- much like Henry he had to more so buy time. Not time to break his spirit, but if they managed to cause a full-on power outage, maybe Shadow Doggo would be able to get to Henry. It had been dark before- but not the right type of dark.
A darkness controlled by Henry was worthless.
A darkness NOT controlled by him was their best bet.
There was NO way Henry could harm shadow doggo.
Not even like this.
Well- there was one way he might be able to do it, but he didn't seem to have his dreadful machine on him-
A black claw crushed down, breaking the nearest object between them into tiny splinters.
... this was no the time.
Dave tried to catch a glance at where Mike was laying, but he couldn't, Henry was towering over him.
"Why so quiet, William?"
Another thing was shattered, Dave barely managing to get out of the way in time.
One of these would probably turn him into fine wine.
"Eh, ya know how it is, Henry. I'm easily overwhelmed in big events. Rather leave the talkin' to you."
"You seem to not nearly tense enough for this. Usually your playful spirit vanishes when things get tough."
Henry grabbed a chair and hurled it at Dave, who got hit painfully, but managed to at least shield himself from some of the damage.
"Really? Never noticed."
"You did not notice quite a lot of things. Like the Orange Guy merely using you. For shame."
Instantly every muscle tensed up inside of Dave's body.
"Shut up Henry."
"There we go again." He sighed. "Only when it is about your little plaything, you grow serious. I never have seen such an unhealthy mockery of a friendship as between you two. Frankly, he could have turned on you in a heartbeat, yet you never even THOUGHT about what would happen when he was sick of you. When your gimmick was growing boring."
Part of Dave wanted to rush forward and shove the knife down Henry's throat-
But that was what Henry wanted..
He wasn't stupid.
And as much as he hated hearing these things, they kept this man busy, and that was all he wanted.
"Can't wait to see you getting ripped apart by dogs, old pal."
"Your god does not care about you. Your friend does not care about you. You are an unloved abomination. Have you considered that maybe they will LET me rip you into bits before trying to actually fight me properly, because they want to get rid of you?"
"They WILL get rid of me and it'll be FINE. I told you, I TOLD YOU ALREADY, FUCKING LISTEN TO ME ONCE, HENRY!"
"Of course, you said it." Henry grabbed the long table, picking it up with ease, even if it groaned under its own weight. "But you never seem to be quite aware of the true consequences of your actions. You were not made for hard decisions."
Roughly he moved the table to the side, being able to hit Dave on a range-
Thankfully he managed to drop down in the last second, the long mess of plastic and wood flying over him, before he rolled to the side as Henry rose the table up as well as he could and letting it crash down.
The entire table shattered at the point where Henry was holding it, causing the floor to now completely being covered in shards.
When in doubt, ensure some arena damage, huh?
Shoving himself back, the Purple Guy tried to get back into a better position, his fingers and back stinging and burning, Henry approaching a too fast for his liking, his mouth opened to reveal a SECOND row of razor sharp teeth.
"... seeing as I am not bound to most laws of reality anymore- would you like to know what it feels like to ACTUALLY have eggs injected into you?!"
In utter disgust and panicked Dave tried to scramble even more erratic, getting more of the painful shards digging into his flesh- as he stumbled to his feet, he almost went down instantly again, as some nerves seemed to be fully blocked by this-
Henry leaned over-
Then a heavy bat hit him in the back of the head.
He turned and looked at Mike who was standing again, out of breath, scratched up, but back in business.
His fingers were stilled gloved with the paws, and his expression was one of pure hatred.
"Hey. Hey, look at me. BITCH."
Stepping forward, the shards were crushed to dust under him.
"Thought you had me already fucking done, huh?"
Henry let out a nightmarish scream that somehow sounded like a thousand of animals, yet EXACTLY like hundreds of children at the same time, then he rushed forwards, claws ready.
Mike steadied himself and caught him, his paws against Henry's, the places they touched was slowly generating more and more black smoke as both tried to push the other one back.
The illusion around Mike started to flicker a little-
Helpless Dave picked the splinters out of his skin, feeling sick, knowing he had to GET THERE, save them, save HIM-
Except, this time, it wasn't him who was needed.
A voice from behind a wall, muffled, yet still loud enough to be understand with ease.
"KN-KnoCK, KNOCK!"
Distracted Henry looked to the side, it was enough for Mike to shoved him backwards, causing him to stumble, but not enough to make him fall.
He snarled at Mike, but his attention was on the things behind the wall.
"I am not participating in something THAT stupid. Get out here, NOW."
"O-OH?! What- WHAT a p-pARTy POOPER! I d-DON'T li-LIKE party POOperS! W-whAT do YoOOu say, B-BON BON?"
The high-pitched voice of a little bunny animatronic joined in.
"He sounds like a baaaad daaaaaad!"
"R-RIGHT! Let's- Let's- LET'S GO GET HIM!"
The wall cracked, one hit, two hits-
It broke down, leaving a cloud of dust flying about, out of which a few silhouettes became visible.
The one wearing a crown stepped forward.
Her claw snapping in anticipation.
Her green eyes focused square on Henry, as she tilted her head a little.
"We're here to get our daddy back."
All four of the sister location animatronics stepped forwards, into the scene.
Dave quietly cursed himself for having told Baby that "daddy" was an actually great name to differentiate her two dads-
But that was washed away by the intense relief of seeing his children, all okay and together.
Mike couldn't help but grin.
"God, bitch, could you have waited for a more dramatic time?"
She giggled.
"Weeeeeell... I meant to only go in AFTER you died, but you took too long."
"Go to fucking hell."
"Maybe sometimes when I come to visit you."
Ballora shut them down. "... the front door was locked. We had to find another way inside. Excuse our late arrival."
Foxy screeched in excitement, all words having slipped them again, only leaving the animal beneath, his tail wagging in intense anticipation.
Freddy nodded.
"Y-yEAH, FoX-xy! We're h-here TO g-Get s-SOMEthING DONE!"
On cue all of them faced Henry, who showed a grim smile.
"I should have broken ALL of you when I had the chance... so be it. At least you will not constantly regenerate when I tear you limb from limb. It will be even easier than last time, Circus Baby!"
Without wasting another second, Circus Baby rushed forward, her skaters allowing her to bridge a surprising amount of distance in just a few moments, but that didn't bother Henry in the slightest.
Swiping at her, she evaded one attack, while preventing the other one catching him with her claw, which she looked on his wrist and started pressing DOWN.
A few electric sparks flew out of where Henry had been grabbed, but she didn't have enough fire power to rip it off like this, she had to-
Henry rose his arms, separating her from the ground, leaving her legs to kick helpless in the air.
"You pesky machine." The black bear mumbled.
He was getting ready to crush her down-
"BONBON! GO GET HIM!"
As he turned around, he was just soon enough to see something blue and heavy fly towards his face, hitting him squarely.
It started to claw at his eyes-
Baby was letting go and getting away, but he didn't have the time to worry about that, instantly, trying to get the thing off him-
A claw hit him in the side and with hysterical laughter something heavy rushed into him from the front, causing him to finally fall over.
At last getting a grab on BonBon, he screamed violently and hatefully at the sight of Freddy on top of him, trying to rip him apart to get to his insides-
Baby was standing behind him, her claw ready.
"Hold him like that- I want to decapitate him!"
"G-Go GET it, GiRLL!" Freddy laughed amused, not stopping, as Bonbon was biting into his hands-
He crushed the tiny machine.
Instantly Freddy snapped up, a sense of terror and sanity never before present in his eyes.
"BEN- YOU-" Even more cut off than usually, Funtime Freddy tried to get a word out, his usually hysteria gone. "Y-you killed BENJAMIN, YOU MONSTER!"
"You were the one to throw him at me, friend. Your actions have CONSEQUENCES."
Kicking the metal creature against the chest, he dented it as though it was merely made out of thin plastic and threw he machines back.
As he was done, before he could get off, a maw closer over his head-
Foxy.
He moved up with all his force, shaking his head and thus Foxy's by proxy, grabbing upwards and flinging the machine too, somehow also managing to evade Baby's claw attack like this.
Ballora, who had been helping up Dave, giving him some pain killers, was watching from the sidelines, shaking in rage, but refraining until she was sure Dave was able to at least move properly on his own.
Mike had come over too, his whole body still sucking in air rapidly, trying to keep it together.
The animatronic looked down at him, he looked up at her.
Both of them looked at Dave, who was slowly crushing his fists until his knuckles were completely white.
"... we'll get him all at once. We'll rip him apart."
"Hurry!" Ballora hissed, before moving forward, interrupting Henry as he was reaching INTO Funtime Freddy, flailing off the metal and ripping out cables and parts of the endoskeleton, before being jumped at from the side by Foxy, who was scratched up and ANGRY.
Baby tried to swoop in from the other side, but Henry could bite into BOTH direction, ripping and scratching both of the attackers, but he certainly wasn't ready for Ballora coming from behind, readying herself-

The door, the door, there was the door.
Simon was rushing through the corridors, one leading into another, patterns, posters, all changing at every other turn, but it didn't bother Simon, he KNEW this place, he was MADE to know this place.
All routes lead to the office.
One way or another.
The place had pattern, it had purpose, the lines were there if you could read them.
No matter how many places he had to go through, the office was at the end of it.
There was a weird, unnatural sense of nostalgia in the air...
He knew these places and it was as though he was back there.
Back when it all was a little easier.
And you only had to worry about robots.
... he focused his mind.
No time.
He wanted to go to the office-
And there it was.
The last door.
Everything around him was spinning, moving up and down-
But he could do it, he could get in-
When he stumbled into the office, everything was grey and calm.
Safety location.
But not for long.
Simon moved under the table, grabbing a screwdriver and getting to work.
The office controlled most of the building.
Sucking all the energy dry.
Maybe it wasn't the heart of the location, but it was the regulator.
Simon closed his eyes.
He prayed it wasn't too late.
Then he hit down.

Everything went black.
What a familiar noise.

Simon stumbled back, trying to stand up-
He wasn't where he had just been a second ago.
Something around him was RUMBLING, steps, whispers, the frustrated scream of Henry-
Was he back?!
"M—Mike?!"
"Simon?! I'm- I'M HERE. Listen to my voice, get here-"

Full of rage Henry's glowing pink eyes flared up.
"WHAT DID YOU DO?! DO YOU KNOW WHAT YOU HAVE DONE!?"
"I'm here, I'm here, I'm here-"
As Mike kept whispering, Simon reached out, finally touching something warm, being grabbed and instantly pulled closer.
It was Mike, no doubt.
They held each other hoping their plan would work-

A howl.

Everyone stopped.
Then everyone retreated, as a presence approached.
It was there.
EVERYWHERE.
Passing the guards, passing the robots.
"Stay... stay away." Henry said, trying to sound calm. "You will not get me this time. You will not win this. STAY BACK!"
It surrounded Henry, as the others gathered on one side.
They couldn't see anything, but they could FEEL it at their core what was happening.
There was no doubt.
Henry was cornered.
And whatever was cornering right now wasn't a dog.
It was the universe itself.
The very foundation.
A shadow on a wall.
People often talked about shadows as though they were truly there.
Fact of the matter was that this was wrong. A shadow wasn't a presence. It was the absence of something.
Any type of energy had a shadow.
A wind shadow.
The common light shadow.
The counter field of the electrical currents.
... life itself came with a shadow.
Borrowed energy, that was now lack somewhere else.
Which would be fine, if the life and its shadow would merge once more, when its time came...
... but for a few of them, it never did.
Gathering more and more shadows, until it became a mockery of what it was supposed to mirror, until it became the same, from the other side.
Playing around with spirits and souls...
... what did you expect would come from it?
Did you think chaining souls to the mortal coil would be without consequences?
Did you think a herd of souls would not attract a protector?
Did you think that you would be able to reshape a universe?
You are pathetic.

"A shadow without a heart, without a soul, without a body. You are not here because you care about the souls. You even created a body to live forever. How do you think that will be balanced out again?"
By destroying an unneeded soul, to forever take its place.
"... last chance. Stay back."
Goodbye Miller. Nobody will be able to remember you.


It
Jumped

From all sides
Darkness
A loud howl
A
Scream-
Bites, bites, bites
It tried to fight back
Slashing and clawing
Pointless,
It was already
Behind
Above
From the side
It was leaving nothing behind
Bright teeth, avoiding claws, biting off
Shadows disappearing in others-
But then-
Light flashed, something glowed-
A yelp,
Whine,
Noise of pain-
A- a syringe?!
Glowing through the dark, unnatural, brutal-

Panic flooded everyone, as it was impossible to see what was going on-
The noises were animalistic-
Then the lights flickered on again.

Henry stood in the middle of the location, looking completely human again.
It was Henry.
Not Old Sport.
In his pink hand, there was his masterpiece.
It was filled with a black liquid, the glass slightly cracked.
Slowly the Pink Guy breathed out, fully relaxing.
"Finally. That took long enough. I was already getting worried it would never appear."
He looked over the group in front of him.
Everyone had stopped moving.
This WAS the end.
"... I will not insult you any further, by offering you to join me one more time. I have the highest respect for you, and I will tell stories about you to the immortals of the future. It was not enough, what you did, but that is not what matters, what matters is that you tried and fought for what you deemed right. Just as I did."
Everyone slowly looked at each other.
Out of the back, Jeremy rushed up, Marion floating slowly towards them too.
"You won't get away with this, Henry."
Henry rose an eyebrow.
"Charlie. I am glad you are here. It would have been quite the shame if you missed this ending to your story. All of our stories. I am glad I only broke one machine."
Freddy held the blue pieces of metal and parts, his body shaking rhythmically as though he was sobbing.
"The more witnesses, the better."
Mike, Simon, Jeremy, Marion.
Baby, Freddy, Ballora, Foxy.
Eight minds, one goal.
Slowly Charlie extended his claws-
Everyone stopped as Dave made a small movement.
A tiny gesture.
His hand.
Rose a bit.

Wait.

Henry didn't even seem to notice it, caught up in his monologue, as he rose the machine to his arm.
"I will become a god with this. My reach will be far beyond merely Fredbear's. I have my own body back. For shame, actually. William, you could have had him back so easily."
"... I would not have wanted it like this. I don't want to exist in a universe- that belongs to you, while everyone else is just living in it! It's- I did that for long enough, Henry. I'm done with you."
"... you are breaking my heart."
"You never had one to begin with."

For a moment Henry glared at him, then he looked at his arm and inserted the soul into his body.
"Alas. It hardly matters anymore, I suppose. It is time for the new century to begin."
Shuddering, he dropped the syringe and stretched himself, reality slowly distorting around him.
Shadows were creeping outwards, covering the walls, creating a new place out of it-
Fredbear's.
Where it all began.
"I will create a reality of peace, of knowledge, of agreement and of achievement. I will ensure there to be a reality where there will be no more waste, no more repetition of the cruel life cycle. We will be free of sickness and loss. We will be the best that humanity can achieve. There will be no more reason to struggle over pointless things. No more despising of the own body, or the surroundings one is trapped in. No more fighting for resources, they will become mostly unnecessary. The perfect world."
Shortly he looked at Mike.
"I of course will give them a choice."
Then at Jeremy.
"And I will not despise those who turn against me. All of you, I will send you to your next life. Or heaven. Perhaps hell. I have to admit, I do not know what is waiting for you and I cannot control it. Thus, I am trying to be optimistic that each of you get what they need the most."
Slowly the shadows released themselves from the changed walls, crawling back towards the group, surrounding them, getting closer and closer.
Simon was trying not to hyperventilate, Mike and Marion were ready to try to fight their way out- so were the animatronics, judging by how their stance shifted-
Only Dave was still looking at Henry, expressionless.
They were surrounded.
It didn't matter though.
The way Dave looked-
As if he was waiting for something.
"Would anyone else like to say something?"
Henry politely asked into the group.
Nobody was moving, they were putting all their faith into Dave.
The Pink Guy sighed, then smiled.
"... okay. Thank you once more for everything. Now we-"
Suddenly, Henry was interrupted by a loud cough.
Black droplets came out of his throat, ending on the floor.
The shadows abruptly moved back.
Irritated Henry looked at his fingers.
Black.
Slowly he rubbed over his chin, where the liquid was staining.
Black.
Again, a coughing fit took him over, shaking him to the core.
In front of him, the little black puddles had started to dry away and turn into smoke, moving upwards before disappearing.
Another cough.
The smoke started to come out of Henry's mouth directly.
Choking on his words, he stumbled back, the shadows now surrounding him, quietly watching with the crew.
"N-no- what- what i-is this?! What is going- going on-"
It sounded pained.
His words were stop as he started dry heaving, piles and piles of smoke coming out of him-
The tips of his fingers had started to smoke too, slowly disintegrating.
"WHAT- TH-THAT'S NOT POSSIBLE!"
He scratched at his throat, peeling away skin, opening another place where the smoke could come out of, as the man broke down, coughing and gasping for air, trying to puke, but only disappearing particles coming out, out of his mouth, his nose, his throat, his ears-
"N-No- no-"
Looking up, he stared into the cold eyes of everyone.
"That- was not- I-"
Jeremy was the first one to move.
Everyone glanced at him-
But he simple turned around.
Charlie looked about ready to try and get his ultimate satisfaction-
But then his hands grew limp and he turned too, slowly, until he didn't see the man on the ground anymore.
He wouldn't even watch his demise.
He wasn't worth it.
The animatronics followed suit.
Turning their back to the dying man.
Mike, Simon and Dave were the last to stare him down, watching him writhe in absolutely agony, slowly parts of his chest melting away, revealing organs and a ribcage, smoking, growing darker by the second-
Then Simon gently tugged on Mike, and hand in hand they turned away.
Only Dave looked at him now.
Witnessing the last moment of this-
Person.
He couldn't feel anything but pity for Henry.
Genuine, and all breaking pity.
He came into this world with no soul, with heart and now his body was being taken from him too.
All his ideas, all his dreams going up into smoke-
Smoke without a fire.
Henry never sparked anything.
Henry never truly CREATED something, did he?
Nothing that lasted.
Black liquid was streaming from his eyes and Dave wondered if it were tears or just his inner rot making its way out.
Or if there was a difference between it.
In the last few days, in the last few hours he had realized how badly Henry looked down at him.
His best friend.
His only friend.
Back in the day Henry talked a lot about projection.
Dave could only wonder...
...
It probably hurt Henry more than anything else to see that the man he had considered below him, needy and pathetic- that this man was the only one being there with him when he took his last breath.
Dying at his own hands.
Under his own ego.
And suffocating on all the wrong doings he had committed in his blindness.
Dave and his eyes never broke contact.
Perhaps he saw for a split second something like gratitude, regret or maybe mere understanding-
Then it all turned to smoke and dust.

Slowly the lights turned dimmer and dimmer until finally it was all gone.

"... is it... over...?"
Simon's whispers broke the night.
"Can't fucking see. But I know he's gone now." Mike's words didn't allow any doubt.
Suddenly, a new voice-
No, an old voice, an old and familiar voice that they hadn't heard in maybe half a year-
"G-Guys?" Coughs interrupted his words. "... what the everloving f r i c k happened-"
Two white dots slowly growing in strength-
"OLD SPORT!" Dave suddenly jumped forward, tightly hugging the body on the ground and as Mike turned on the flashlight that had somehow made its way back to his belt. There was the Orange Guy, tightly hugging Dave-
Then bursting out into tears.
"I'M SO SORRY- I DON'T KNOW WHAT HAPPENED TO ME- I'M SORRY, I'M SORRY, I'M-"
"Shhhh, it's okay, you're back, it's okay-"
The lights slowly turned back up, making it easier to see again.
Old Sport was stained black and roughed up, but he looked like HIMSELF again.
Finally.
Jeremy rushed over to give Old Sport a hug, before quickly moving away, towards the animatronics who were standing to the side in quiet mourning.
"I-is everything okay?"
Freddy shook his head, still silently sobbing, without any tears coming out.
He was still holding the pieces.
Alice was sitting on his hand, half-heartedly trying to puzzle them back together, but being unable to.
"Oh god- Bonbon-" Jeremy reached towards it, but not touching it. "N-no worries, I'm- Dave c-can repair him, i-it will be fine-"
"His name was Benjamin. He w-was my half-brother." Freddy suddenly started, cupping the shards. "W-we can say his name now. And- we don't- don't- we shouldn't- try to bring him back. He n-never wanted to be here anyhow. Th-this is... right."
"Wh-what? But- then- what's your actual name?"
"No names." Funtime Freddy shook his head, then put the parts into his own body, into the whole that the cables were still coming out of. "I- don't w-want to be the person I was be-before."
Baby nodded.
"No names. That was the old life."
Mortified Jeremy looked back at the utterly guilty looking Dave.
Funtime Freddy shook his head, his voice slowly going back to his usual hysteria.
"N-No MATTER. I- w-wiLL see him again. SOMEDAY! N-nOt today. It's- not- the time. I- I am not ready. I just want to h-HAVE f-FUN now!"
Forcing a smile, Funtime Freddy picked up Jeremy.
"KNOCK KNOCK!"
"W-who's there?"
"Wh-WHO!"
"Who who?"
"O-Oh I diDN'T knoW yo-YOU werE an O W L!"
Breaking out into laughter, he let Jeremy drop down to hold his stomach.
Ballora managed to catch him though before he could get hurt.
"... don't worry, Jeremy. We'll... look after him. He won't be alone... I think Alice will help him get used to not having Benjamin around anymore."
"A-are you sure...?"
She nodded. "Give him space, okay?"
Before someone got hurt.
Freddy was turning to Baby.
"N-NOW- y-yOU look th-THE COOLEST! C-can't LET thaAAaT co-continue on! DAAAAAD! I WANNA H-HAVE A VERY DANGEROUS LOOKING BOOOOODYYYYYY!!!"
Dave was so exhausted, he simply burst out into laughter.
"Can do bud! In- In a bit, okay? Dad and daddy have a bit- catching up to do."
The Purple Guy was holding Old Sport in his arms, snuggling into him as best as he could, for once the Orange Guy not fighting back.
Mike and Simon meanwhile were standing on the outside of the chaos within the group, watching everyone hugging, crying and just being relieved.
It was a good sight.
Suddenly Mike grabbed Simon and kissed him, right on the dial.
The poor Phone proceeded to make a dial-up noise.
"Wh-what was THAT for-"
"I told myself that IF we fucking survive this, I might as well tell you that I love you."
The metal-headed man was so flustered, even his neck was a little bit red.
"Y-you know, uh- usually you say that BEFORE you go into a dangerous situation!"
"WELL I FUCKING DON'T. YOU WANNA REJECT ME? YOU CAN REJECT ME."
"MIKE DON'T SCREAM AT FREDDY'S."
"CIRCUS BABY'S!"
"NEVER MIND-"
Both of them looked at each other, before bursting into laughter, Mike grabbing Simon and hugging him so tightly, he squeezed all the air out of him.
"I love you."
"I love you too."
Everyone was busy enjoying the fact that they were survived.
Only Marion was seemingly left worrying.
Slowly he approached the two colorful killers.
Dave's grip on Old Sport slowly tightened, but he tried to stay steady.
"... Marion."
"... Charlie is okay now, I think."
"Charlie."
Old Sport tried to get out of his friends grasp.
"It- wasn't Dave's fault. Everything that happened- I don't know- I just kept getting worse and worse and eventually, my mind became so fuzzy and-"
"Shh." Charlie glared at him, quieting him down before leaning down to Dave. "... my insides hurt. Badly. Can you do something about that?"
"... of course! Probably just- problems with the endo. You're kinda stuffed with- never mind, I didn't mean to say that."
There was a VERY cold glare, but the Marionette turned away.
"William?"
"Dave."
"... Dave." Charlie rolled his eyes. "... we will decide what to do with you later."
"You're not gonna kill me?!"
"Please don't kill Dave-"
"We will DECIDE later."
Jeremy rushed up, hugging the Marionette, who was a little surprised, but then proceeded to pick him up, holding him close, nuzzling his haphazardly glued together mask against his face.
Jerry smiled a bit hopeful. "... we don't have to kill him, do we? I think he learned his lesson-"
"We will talk with everyone. Dave, Old Sport, you guys-"
Stubbornly Old Sport stood up, trying to be intimidating with his size, even if he was merely half of Charlie's at BEST.
"WE will stay here. We... have some making up to them to do."
They looked over to the animatronics.
Charlie stared him down, then relaxed and quietly smiled.
"... yes. Please do that."
Without a further words he gently took Jeremy's hand in his own and turned to leave.
Dave had stood up to hug Old Sport from behind, looking after them.
"Hey- don't 'cha want to get yourself fixed up-!?"
The machine stopped, looking down at Jeremy.
"... later. First I want to bring Jeremy home."
"Out in the open?!"
"Yes."
Old Sport shrugged. "Doubt someone will mind!"
"If they mind they ain't gonna say shit about it!" Dave snickered.
As soon as they left, both Mike and Simon moved in front of them too.
"So. Fuckface."
"Glad to see me back? Or couldn't you h a i r less?" Old Sport grinned. "Getit? Hairlikeincare-"
"Fuck you, I wish you were dead after that one. That was TERRIBLE, TASTELESS and NOT FUNNY." Mike for a moment crossed his arms and glared at him, then suddenly starting snickering and gave the Orange Guy a slap on the face. "Missed you, buddy. Glad you're back."
Simon nodded.
"Same, uh- for me. But also, employee. Channeling ancient evils through your body is against the rules. You're fired."
"WHAT-"
Dave instantly spoke up too. "Ey, ey, ey, this is MY location, you can't just fire people, Simo!"
The Phone Guy looked at them sternly, then relaxed shaking his head. "It is McCall to you, young man! And... you have to be fired, since you'll do a very different job in the future. But we'll talk about that tomorrow. If and how you're supposed to work."
Mike spoke up. "Same goes for you, Dave. We're deciding on your fate tomorrow. If you run away, we'll make your life HELL."
They turned, but as they did, Mike spotted the syringe on the ground, the so-called masterpiece.
The key to immortality.
For a moment he gathered himself.
"Dave-"
"Yeah?"
"... will... Fredbear be okay?"
"... yes." Gently Dave said, fully convinced. "... he was hurt badly... but he was with us to the end. I think seeing us succeed was all he needed to hold on for long enough. I'm sure we'll mee him some day. Somehow."
"Good."
With that Mike stepped forward to the door, crushing the tool under his heel, until nothing was left.
Both of them left, leaving the Funtimes to gather around their parents, weeping and hugging them.

This was finally a home again.

---

A/N:

Yes, there will be an epilogue!
But this is it. All plothooks done.
I hope.
A climax has been written and I'm-
I don't know.
But this is it. The last chapter will just a bit of feel good closure and a bit of an outview what they'll do after this has passed. I'll post it up in two days or so! It's already done!

Thank you guys for all the time you put into reading my work, and especially who put in even MORE of their time to comment and interact with me!
To the people who created something for me or around my stuff!
Thank you to those who read this bullshit twice or more for SOME god forsaken reason. I couldn't have dealt with the cringe!
Heh, no really. Your enjoyment is what made this happen. I wouldn't have stuck so long to it, if not for guys.

But also, thank you to all the ones lost on the way, who stopped reading for one reason or another- they'll never see it, but I still enjoyed having you with me for the time you were there.
And to the people who never interacted, but silently lurked too!
Even if something prevented you from interacting, it warms my heart to think that there are people out there enjoying, no matter how they chose to do it.

Okay, now before I get too mushy and stupid and totally overhype it, I'll stop here.
Thank you for enjoying my story.



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