Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Lewis Dawkins could honestly say that he was terrified.

He didn’t know where he was or how he’d even gotten there. The last thing he did remember was walking down a street. Someone had grabbed him from behind and then there was a pinch in his neck, and then... nothing.

He’d woken up in what could only be described as some kind of prison cell. No one would answer his questions or his cries for help. They only brought him food and nothing else. He didn’t know how long he’d sat in that cell before they’d finally opened the door. They’d shackled his wrists and drug him down the hall to another room.

This room only had a table, two chairs, and a camera recording everything on a tripod. Lewis’s shackles were connected to a ring on the table, and he was left sitting in one of the chairs. He tried to keep calm as he looked around the cold room. The lights were too bright and the silence was near maddening.

After what felt like forever, the door opened again and a man stepped through. The man was dressed in an expensive suit and was carrying a folder of some sort. It was surreal. It reminded Lewis of those spy movies where the hero was being interrogated. But he had no idea who these people were and he wasn’t sure if honesty would be the best policy here.

The agent sat down and checked the camera next to him. He then folded his arms atop the table and fixed Lewis with a look.

“Where am I?” Lewis asked. “Why did you kidnap me? What’s going on?”

The agent chuckled in a condescending manner.

“It’s hardly considered kidnapping when the person is considered a threat,” he said. He had an accent that Lewis couldn’t place. “It’s more... we took a dangerous person off the streets.”

“Dangerous?” Lewis asked. “Me? You have the wrong man.”

“I don’t think we do,” the agent opened the folder. “You are Lewis Dawkins, correct? Twenty five years old, birth date December 30 of 1993. You have a youtube channel where you go by the alias ‘Dawko’.”

Lewis blinked.

“Yeah?” He said slowly. “That’s me. I haven’t committed any crimes lately so I still don’t know what you mean when you call me ‘dangerous’.”

The agent continued through the papers in the folder.

“I’m sure you’re aware of a recent... phenomenon,” he said. “People with supernatural or otherworldly powers have been appearing all over the world, and with a little digging on the internet we determined that these people were once characters that were played on youtube.”

“But what does that have to do with me?” Lewis shook his head. “I don’t have any characters.”

“Don’t you?” The agent tossed a few papers down on the table.

Lewis looked and saw that they were large pictures. The quality wasn’t the best, but he could clearly see... himself. The subjects looked slightly different, but they both looked like him.

“What?” He picked up the pictures and looked closer. “What’s... what is this?”

“They are your egos, as we’ve learned they are called,” said the agent. “We’ve found two of them so far. Do you have any others?”

“I don’t even know these two!” Lewis said. “I don’t have any egos. I've never played characters on my channel. I don’t know who these people are!”

Who the hell were the men in the pictures? Lewis didn’t have any egos, was this a joke? Was he being framed for something? What was going on?

The agent sighed and leaned forward.

“Listen,” he said. “It’s not looking good for you, I’ll be honest. We haven’t decided what we’re going to do with you yet, but... if you cooperate with us and help us find your egos, then we’ll be able to show lenience when we make that decision. It is really in your best interest that you stop playing dumb and tell us what we want to know. You’re hardly the only youtuber we have in our custody...”

Lewis’s eyes widened. He wasn’t the only one? Who else was here? Where even was here? He looked back at the pictures and clenched his hands into fists. He didn’t know these people. He didn’t have egos. He didn’t know who this man was.

“I don’t know anything,” he said firmly. “At all. I’m not playing dumb, I’m telling the truth.”

The agent was silent for a few minutes before he gathered the papers back into the folder.

“If you won’t cooperate... we’ll have to try something else. You could have avoided all of this and made things easier on yourself...”

“What do you mean?” Lewis asked as the agent stood up. “What are you going to do?!”

The agent didn’t answer, and the slamming of the door he exited through sent a chill down Lewis’s spine.

“Missing,” Dawktrap repeated. “You’re sure?”

“Positive,” said Darko. “No one’s seen him, it’s like he vanished.”

“And you say someone’s got a grudge against youtubers?” Dawktrap slowly sat down. “Is it just Lewis, then?”

“I dunno,” Darko shrugged. “I’ve only been keeping an eye on Lewis. My contacts have told me about the group that’s going after us and our creators.”

“Why are they?” Dark asked. “What do they want?”

“Well that’s the thing,” said Darko. “They’re split. Some just want to murder us all to make sure we never try to take over or something. The others want to be more humane and dump us in a prisone. There’s also a rumor going around that if you kill a creator, you kill their creations too. That’s probably why Lewis was taken.”

“Then we need to find him,” said Dawktrap. “Before they kill him!”

“I don’t think they’ll kill him that quickly,” said Dark. “Youtubers tend to form bonds with other youtubers fairly easily. They might try to use him to find other creators.”

He was silent for a moment.

“I need to speak to Mark. If this is all true, then he and his loved ones are in danger. All of our creators are in danger. We need to get them into hiding before they’re caught too,” he said.

“What about Lewis?” Darko asked.

“If I can spare anyone, I’ll have someone accompany you in your rescue attempt,” said Dark. “But I need to focus on Mark now.”

Darko frowned, but he understood. He shook his head and began to pace, trying to think of where Lewis could have been taken. The world was a big place, he had learned that early on in his arrival. Lewis could be anywhere...

Madpat frowned when his phone began to ring. He saw a familiar number on the screen and was confused. Why would they be calling him?

“Hello?” He said as he answered it.

“Madpat?” It was Stephanie, and she sounded like she was crying.

“Stephanie?” He asked. “What’s wrong?”

“It... it’s Matt,” Stephanie sobbed. “H-He’s been taken...”

Chapter Text

“Are you serious?”

“Mark, when have you ever known me to make jokes?” Dark said into the phone. “Darko said that his contacts confirmed it. And even if he is mistaken, this is not something that I want to risk. I would like for you and Amy and anyone else you can think of to come stay here until we can be certain that things are safe again.”

“I don’t understand, though,” Mark said. “Why haven’t they come after me yet? I mean, I probably have the most egos out of any youtuber.”

“You also have a lot of subscribers,” Dark pointed out. “They’re probably going after smaller channels first so as to not arouse suspicion. But I would rather not wait until they go after you. Pack your bags quickly, only the essentials for now. Anything else you’ll need, Host can get for you later. And you should inform Ethan as well. They’ll probably go after him too.”

“Oh crap, Ethan!” Mark groaned. “Ethan’s not here. He went to visit his family in Maine.”

“Damn,” Dark sighed. “I’ll have someone go retrieve him.”

“Maybe not his own egos?” Mark said slowly. “He... doesn’t exactly know about you guys...”

Dark blinked.

“What the hell does that mean?” He asked.

“I didn’t want too many people knowing,” Mark explained. “This is a big secret so I figured we should keep the list of people who know very short. But yeah, Ethan doesn’t know anything about egos popping up.”

“Well, that’s going to be interesting,” Dark pinched the bridge of his nose, feeling a headache coming on. “Regardless, get packed. Someone will be there to pick you up in ten minutes. Only the essentials for now, understand?”

“I do,” said Mark. “And Dark? Um... thank you. I know we haven’t always gotten along in the past, but I am very grateful that you’re willing to keep us safe like this. We appreciate it.”

Dark felt as if he might gag.

“Just get packed,” he said before hanging up.

He shook his head and tossed the phone aside with a shudder. Even if Damian was glowing from Mark’s gratitude, Dark himself did not like it.

“Let’s focus, gentlemen,” Logan uncapped a marker. “Whose egos do we currently have in this house? We have Mark and Sean’s...”

“Ethan’s,” said Bing. “Um... that one AJ guy...”

“Tyler’s,” said Maidthan. “And I know Nate has some.”

“Matpat’s,” said Shawn. “Dawko’s.”

“Zalzar’s,” said Roman. “And then of course, us. So Thomas’s.”

Logan wrote each name on a whiteboard and then turned towards a map. With the others’ help, he began pushing pins into each location where the creator resided, or at least the general area.

“Dawko has already been captured,” Logan said, marking a star next to Dawko’s name. “And Madpat informed me that Matpat has been captured as well. We will use this board to keep track of everyone. Can anyone think of any other youtubers who have egos?”

There was silence as everyone else thought about it.

“I mean...” Shawn said slowly. “It’s hard to say. Maybe there are youtubers who have fanon egos but no canon egos. I’m considered a fanon ego, and I had enough fans to make me exist. If they’re going after egos to, it’s impossible to know for sure who else is out there.”

“I see,” Logan frowned. “I suppose we shall have to keep our eyes and ears open.”

“I got a guy on the outside,” said Mad Mike. “Heapass. He’s a crafty kind of guy, and I bet he’d be able to sniff out any unknown egos. He’s really good at finding things.”

“Good, contact him and see if he can offer any assistance,” said Logan. “Does anyone know of any egos that might need protection?”

“Nate’s egos are pretty powerful enough,” said Mad Mike. “Phantom and Natemare should be fine. But without more information, we have no way of knowing who’s already captured or how powerful these people are...”

“And we must certainly ensure Thomas’s safety,” said Roman. “Perhaps Joan too. And Talyn. And Terrance. And Quill-”

“Perhaps we should just make sure all of his friends are protected,” said Logan. “It is a very common procedure for people like this to use one’s loved ones as leverage.”

“What is this?” Dark suddenly appeared, scaring a majority of the crowd.

“We are keeping track of any creators who are in danger as well as who has already been captured,” said Logan. “If you have anything to add, you may do so.”

“Get with the security egos and make a list of every ego currently residing here,” said Dark. “I’ll have a few more names for you to add shortly. Keep all of this information together... just like this. It will make things easier.”

“Yo Boss, what about Ethan?” Mad Mike asked.

“Ethan will be coming here too,” said Dark. “I don’t want anyone trying to use him to get to Mark, and as he is a smaller channel, he is in more danger than Mark is currently.”

“You should get Tyler too,” said Bing. “That dude has egos too. Fanon or not, they’ll come for him too.”

“This is true,” Dark mused. “Yes, we should have him come as well. I will be sending someone to retrieve Ethan as he is visiting family. I will not be using any of his own egos as he does not know any of us currently exist.”

“What?” Bing said. “Mark didn’t tell him? Bruh...”

“Mark wanted to keep this a secret for everyone’s safety,” said Dark. “We will have to ease Ethan into this very carefully.”

“Hey Dark!”

Dark turned to see Madpat approaching, his phone in his hand.

“Dark, I need to leave. Stephanie’s having a meltdown over what happened with Matt and I need to make sure she’s ok.”

“Are you bringing her back too?” Dark asked.

“I dunno,” Madpat shrugged. “They didn’t seem interested in her. I think I’ll have her go stay with family for now. If anything changes, I’ll let you know.”

“Very well,” said Dark. “Come back quickly. I don’t want you out there for any longer than you have to be.”

“You got it,” Madpat said before walking off.

He sent a quick text to Stephanie to let her know he was on his way. Even if she had rejected him before, Madpat wasn’t heartless. If she needed him, he would help. Circumstances had certainly changed.

Chapter Text

Mark zipped up the duffel bag he was stuffing things into. He checked his watch to see that he had a few more minutes. Dark was very strict when it came to time. If he said ten minutes, someone would be there not a second later.

“Done,” Amy set her bag next to Mark’s. “I’ll get the leashes on the dogs and then we’ll be ready to go. Have you talked to your Mom?”

“I told her to stay in Korea for now,” Mark looked around to make sure he wasn’t forgetting anything. “But now I’m worried. Do you think she should come with us?”

“She’ll be ok, Mark,” said Amy. “I don’t think they’ll go after her. Don’t worry.”

She gave him a peck on the lips and then left to get the leashes. Mark sighed and carried the bags after her. Amy had just wrangled the dogs into the living room when there was a flash of light. Shawn appeared in the living room and quickly looked around.

“Clear,” he said. “You guys ready to go?”

“Shawn?” Amy asked. “I thought Madpat was picking us up.”

“He got called away,” said Shawn. “Apparently Matt’s been captured too.”

“No way!” Mark’s eyes widened. “Matt’s gone? Oh god, poor Stephanie. She must be freaking out.”

“And that’s why Hatter was called away,” said Shawn. “He went to calm her down. Anyway, you guys have everything you need? Locked the doors? Turned the oven off?”

“We’re ready,” Amy said. How do we do this?”

“It’s simple,” Shawn began to fiddle with his watch. “Amy, you hold onto Mark. Mark, you hold onto me. Now, I haven’t teleported with animals before, so... they might freak out a bit, but they should be fine.”

Amy looked like she wanted to protest, but Shawn’s watch was already whirring and powering up. She wrapped the leashes around her wrist and quickly grabbed onto Mark. There was another flash of light... and then the room was empty.

Tyler was streaming on his computer like normal, enjoying the new game he was playing. The sunshine and fresh air was pouring in from the window he had open in his room, and the chat was behaving themselves.

All in all, it was a good day.

Which made it all the worse when his game began to glitch.

“What the?” Tyler narrowed his eyes at the screen, moving his mouse around.

The screen continued to glitch, pink and purple pixels bursting across it, burying the game beneath them. The chat froze and the camera stopped recording. Soon, the whole screen was pink and purple glitches. Tyler reached down to turn the computer off, but then a hand shot out of the screen.

Tyler cried out and scrambled back, nearly falling out of his chair. He pressed his back against the wall, staring in terror as a man crawled out of the computer monitor, hands gripping onto the sides... and then he promptly fell forward and crashed to the floor with a yelp of pain.

“Ow! Ugh...” The man slowly stood up and pressed a hand to his forehead. “You couldn’t have gotten a bigger desk? That hurt!”

“What the hell?!” Tyler moved as far away as he could. “Who are you?”

“Whoa, calm down,” the man waved his unoccupied hand. “I’m a friend. My name’s Dawktrap and I’m here to collect you.”

“Collect me?” Tyler repeated. He was inching his way to the door, eyes not leaving Dawktrap. “What for?”

“The short version is that someone might target you and Mark wants you to be safe,” said Dawktrap. “So I was sent to bring you to the safehouse. Look, I know this is all weird and nothing’s making sense and you just saw me crawl out of your monitor like The Grudge’s oversized brother. But you need to come with me.”

“I don’t-” Tyler was interrupted by a knock.

“Mr. Scheid?” A voice came from the front door.

“Do you know anyone who calls you that?” Dawktrap asked.

“Not... really?” Tyler said slowly, clearly confused.

A louder knock came and the voice called Tyler’s name again. Before either of them could move, there was a crash and then the thunder of footsteps.

“Oh sugar!” Dawktrap grabbed Tyler and pulled him back towards the computer. Tyler cried out as he was pulled into the computer and his vision was overcome with purple and pink pixels.

Ethan was out walking Spencer after dinner. The sun was nearly set and the street lights were coming on. He didn’t have much further to walk, so he wasn’t worried, but he did hate that he’d forgotten his phone. Some music would be nice right about now...

He sighed and shook his head, smiling at how Spencer kept sniffing at everything. Maine was very different from California, and Spencer seemed to really enjoy the wide open spaces. They only had a few more days before they went back, so Ethan wanted to enjoy the time they had left.

Ethan moved off to the side when he heard a car coming behind him. He tugged Spencer’s leash, moving the dog further off the road. Spencer looked behind Ethan and started barking.

“Huh? Spencer?” Ethan started to look behind himself-

Someone grabbed him.

Ethan tried to scream, but a black bag was placed over his head, and a then a hand pressed over his mouth. Ethan struggled, feeling someone yank the leash off his wrist. He could hear Spencer barking and whimpering as someone pulled him away.

He tried to scream, call out to Spencer, call out for anyone to help him, but then he was pulled into a van and heard the door slam shut.

“Quick!” He heard someone say. “Inject the sedative!”

Ethan knew that it was all over if that needle made it to him. He began to struggle harder, kicking his legs out and moving as much as he could to make it harder for them. Soon, he felt someone pin him down and he couldn’t struggle anymore.

“I have it!” Someone said. “Hold him still while I inject it!”

Ethan felt tears of fear well up in his eyes while he tried once again to scream. But before he felt anything else, someone was screaming and the van was lurching to a halt.

“What’s going on?”

“There’s a man in the road.”

“What? Run him over then-”

A gunshot, and the sound of a windshield shattering. Ethan curled up into as small a ball as he could. He was no longer pinned as he heard the people move around. The door was suddenly opened and Ethan heard two more gunshots and felt something warm splatter over him. He waited for whoever was shooting to shoot him too... but it never came.

Someone pulled the bag off of him, and he scrambled away, pressing his back against the wall of the van. He tried to wipe away the blood that was on his shirt, but he froze when he saw the gunman.

He stood tall in all his bright pink glory. Spencer was tucked under one of his arms and his other hand was holding a still smoking gun. His face looked like...

“M-Mark?” Ethan gasped.

The man smiled.

“Not quite, Darling,” he set Spencer down and his gun vanished. “The name... is Wilford Motherlovin’ Warfstache...”

Marvin appeared in a shower of green sparks. He quickly sent out his magic, looking for threats but finding none. He’d teleported into Sean’s house, but the silence did not bode well...

“Sean!” He called as he began to look through the house. “Sean, are you here?! Sean!”

He made it to the living room and froze. The front door was broken and hanging open. The was a messy trail that led right to it, and Marvin felt a chill run down his spine.

“No...” he cast a spell to see what had happened.

He watched the ghostly figure of his creator get dragged out of the house by two faceless figures. The spell vanished when they made it outside. Marvin readied his magic. He’d put a tracking spell on Sean’s glasses. He could track him down.

But then he looked down and saw those very same glasses lay cracked on the floor. They must have fallen off of Sean in the struggle. Marvin slowly picked them up, feeling tears well up in his eyes.

“Dammit!” He punched a nearby wall in his anger, leaving behind a hole.

He had failed. Sean had been captured.

ELSEWHERE

A man in a trench coat and fedora answered his phone.

“Anything new?” He asked. “I see... so they got another one? How many does that make?”

He was silent as he listened to the person on the other line.

“We can’t wait any longer,” he said. “We have to make contact with them. We have to help before more go missing. Lie low and wait for my call. I’ll let you know the next course of action.”

He hung up his phone and sighed heavily.

Shaking his head, he typed out a text and sent it to the number they’d managed to get a hold of. Hopefully they’d believe him and respond back...

I’m on your side in this. I want to help you.

He signed with his initials: OK.

Chapter Text

Chica had run off to play with  Security Chica and Angel Chica, and Henry had left for the quiet of their room. Amy had gone to speak to The Host about other things they would need but had to leave behind for now. Host was very gracious and patiently listened as Amy listed things.

“Mark!”

Mark turned away from where he’d been talking to Dark, seeing Tyler rushing towards him.

“Mark! I’m... you... you can see them, right? I’m not crazy, right?” Tyler then noticed Dark and stepped back with a yelp. “Mark, I think I’m seeing things!”

“You’re not,” Mark sighed. “I... look, I’m sorry I didn’t tell you before. I didn’t want too many people knowing. A few months ago, egos from youtube began to appear in the real world, mine included. This is Darkiplier, I’m sure you remember him.”

“I remember when you dressed like him,” Tyler said, but he did look curious about the other ego. “So... wait, are all your egos here?”

“We are unsure,” said Dark. “We managed to find a good bulk of them and had to kill one of them, but... there may be more out there...”

“Killed one?” Tyler repeated. His eyes were wide. “I... I don’t know what to say. I don’t know how to feel about this... I mean... I was just transported here through my computer by a guy in a tacky suit!”

“Oi!” Dawktrap frowned as he entered the room. “You should be happy I showed up when I did. You were about to be snatched up like the Freddy plush at the prize counter.”

“Wait, what?” Mark asked.

“Apparently they found him,” said Dawktrap. “They’d busted in right before I got him out of there. I trashed the computer so they can’t do anything to trace it.”

“You what?” Tyler squawked. “Do you know how much that cost me?”

“You will be reimbursed for your troubles,” Dark said diplomatically. “In fact, we’ll even get you a better one.”

“Tyler, relax,” said Mark. “This is very serious. I asked them to go get you because someone is kidnapping youtubers who have egos. Matt and someone named Lewis have already been taken.”

“But... but I don’t have any egos,” Tyler said slowly. “Do I...?”

Dawktrap held up two fingers and wagged them slowly.

“They should be around here somewhere,” he mused. “Benjamin’s usually doing dishes by now.”

“Benjamin?” Tyler repeated. “You mean... from Who Killed Markiplier? He’s considered an ego?”

“Apparently,” Mark shrugged. “And you’re not the only one in our group who has them. Look, I promise we’ll all talk later. I’m waiting for Ethan to get in so that I can talk to him too. In the meantime, just... go watch some tv or something. Go calm down, ok? Everything’s going to be just fine. I promise.”

Tyler looked as if he wanted to argue, but he also looked very dazed and confused. Instead, he just slowly nodded and walked off, pointing and chuckling nearly hysterically as he passed Darko. Darko looked at Tyler as if he was crazy.

“Any luck?” Dawktrap asked.

“None,” Darko shook his head. “No one has any idea where they’re being kept. We’re not even sure if they’re all being kept in the same place...”

“We’ll talk about that in the meeting I’m going to call when Ethan gets here,” said Mark.

As soon as he finished speaking, Spencer suddenly appeared. He happily ran around Mark and the egos, barking and growling playfully.

“Oh, doggy!” Dawktrap knelt down and scratched behind Spencer’s ears. “Does he know how to fetch?”

“Dark! I’m home!” They heard Wilford call. “And I brought the blueberry!”

Wilford walked into the room, carrying Ethan bridal style. Ethan looked terrified out of his mind, shaking and clinging to Wilford as if his life depended on it.

“Ethan?” Mark said as Wilford carefully sat Ethan down. “Oh my god, is he ok?”

“Don’t worry, that’s not his blood,” said Wilford. “But I do think the poor thing has shell shock. I’ll fetch Dr. Iplier, shall I?”

He vanished and Dark rolled his eyes.

“Ethan?” Mark gently put his hands on Ethan’s shoulders. “Ethan, can you hear me? Ethan?”

Ethan slowly looked up and focused on Mark. His eyes suddenly went from glassy to narrowed and full of anger.

“Why didn’t you tell me?!” He yelled, pushing Mark away. “They had me in a van with a bag over my head! They were going to take me away and leave Spencer just wandering around the woods with my family not knowing a thing! How could you keep something like this from me?! Especially since my own egos are here too?!”

Mark looked immensely guilty as Ethan spoke. He wilted and looked away.

“I’m so sorry,” he said. “I didn’t want this getting out for this exact reason. I had no idea something like this would happen, but I always hoped it wouldn’t. Only a few of us knew.”

“And you didn’t think that I should know that my egos are here and they’re real live people now?” Ethan was still shaking. “You’re lucky Wilford found me when he did. Otherwise-” he choked on his words and collapsed back onto the couch, breathing very heavily.

“I have the doctor!” Wilford said as he reappeared, Dr. Iplier in tow. “There he is, give him a good look.”

Dr. Iplier began running a few tests on Ethan and helping him get his breathing under control. As he did, Darko’s phone chimed and he looked at it. He tilted his head, looking confused.

“What’s wrong?” Dark asked.

“Someone’s texted me,” Darko said, showing him the screen. “I dunno who this is.”

Dark read over the text message and frowned. He glanced between the others and then turned away.

“Hey!” Darko tried to grab his phone back, but Dark held it out of his reach.

“Let me speak to Host about this,” he said. “We need to see if they’re telling the truth or not.”

“If everyone could please clear the room,” said Dr. Iplier. “You’re making things worse for him.”

Mark followed Wilford from the room and ran a hand through his hair.

“I feel awful,” he said. “I should have told him.” He sighed. “But thanks for saving him, Wilford. If you hadn’t been there...”

“Oh think nothing of it,” Wilford waved his hand dismissively. “I’m rather fond of the lad. Reminds me of myself when I was his age...”

Mark somehow believed that. He opened his mouth to speak, but was interrupted by the doorbell.

“Oh, they’re here!” Wilford began walking towards the front door. “Perfect timing.”

“Who’s here?” Mark asked as he followed.

“Well, with people going missing, I figured we could use some extra help. I asked my old friend Abe to assist us,” Wilford explained. “He was very happy to.”

Wilford opened the door and smiled warmly.

“Abe, my good man!” He pulled the other into a hug. “Wonderful to see you again! Oh, and who’s this?”

He nodded at the other man who was with Abe. A man with gelled hair and a brown jacket.

“It’s my old partner!” Abe said happily. “He... he’s come back to life somehow!”

“You can call me The Detective,” the man removed his yellow glasses and flashed a badge at them all with a smile.

“Wait...” Mark blinked. “You’re one of Matt’s egos!”

ELSEWHERE

The man pulled out his phone when it chimed, lowering his reflective sunglasses to read the response.

Tell me more.

The man chuckled and began typing out a reply.

Not like this. Let’s meet in person.

Once again, he signed it with his initials: OK.

Chapter Text

Madpat kept his eyes out as he approached Stephanie’s front door, but he didn’t see anyone or anything suspicious. That made him feel only slightly better. He still looked around as he knocked and waited. It took a few minutes, but the door eventually opened to reveal a puffy eyed Stephanie. She’d obviously been crying.

Madpat could see the hope swell and then die in her eyes when she realized he wasn’t Matt. With a sob, she lunged forward and threw her arms around him, crying into his shirt. Madpat carefully helped her inside and made sure to lock the door behind him.

“I’m sorry,” Stephanie sniffled. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t... I didn’t know who else to call. I-I called the police, but... they said they didn’t have m-much to go off of. And you said you h-have really advanced tech, so I was hoping you.... you could...”

“Hey,” Madpat gently said as he rubbed her back. “Don’t worry. Of course I’ll help. What do you remember happening?”

“It was late,” Stephanie finally let go and stepped back. “I was putting Oliver to bed upstairs when I heard the doorbell ring. I thought it was weird, but I let Matt get it. When I came downstairs, the door was open and Matt was gone!”

“And there are signs of a struggle,” Madpat said, seeing the marks on the otherwise clean walls. “I see. Well, I think I have an idea of what’s going on. Matt’s not the only one who’s been kidnapped.”

“What?” Stephanie’s eyes went wide. “What do you mean? What’s going on?”

Madpat led her to the living room and had her sit down.

“Someone is kidnapping youtubers that have egos,” he told her. “They don’t like us, and they want us dead or imprisoned. Matt was kidnapped because they wanted to get to me. I’m so sorry, Stephanie.”

Stephanie was quiet for a moment, lips pressed into a thin line.

“So... so it’s because of you that Matt was kidnapped?” She said. “What do they plan to do with him?”

“I don’t know,” Madpat sighed.

Stephanie’s hands curled into fists.

When Madpat made it back to the house, one of his cheeks was red and still stinging slightly. He wasn’t angry. He didn’t blame Stephanie at all, he probably would have done the same. But he hoped that she would at least take his advice and go stay with family for a while...

As he passed one of the common rooms, he heard two new voices that he hadn’t before. Curious, he walked back and peeked inside.

His eyes widened.

“This one is sure to be dangerous,” said the one in the coat and funny hat. “Just like old times!”

“You know me,” said the one in the yellow glasses. “Always ready for a thrill!”

They both looked over when Madpat slowly made his way over. He stared openly at the one with the glasses.

“Abe...” the other man said. “He’s staring at me.”

“Maybe he hasn’t seen another ego like him, TD,” Abe shrugged.

“I... I thought I was the only one,” Madpat said. “I didn’t know Matt had another one. Fanon or canon?”

“Um...” TD waved his hand side to side. “Kind of a hybrid? Fancanon? Basically, I’m from a youtube series where Matt participated in one of those reality game show things. And you?”

“I’m... I’m Matt’s dark side,” said Madpat.

“Oh!” TD smiled widely. “So you’re Madpat! I’ve heard about you, you’ve had a very interesting existence so far...”

“What have you heard?” Madpat asked. “And who told you?”

“One of my abilities,” TD said. “As a detective, I have ‘sources’ that will whisper into my ears when they know something important. Doesn’t always work, but it’s very handy when it does. They told me that you didn’t always live here. You were once on the other side of the line, so to speak. What changed?”

“I went through a whole journey of self discovery,” Madpat shrugged. “And then I died and came back to life.”

“Oh wow, you too?” TD laughed. “Small world. At least tell me your death was better than being beaten to death...”

“Stabbed, actually,” said Madpat. “By a knife.”

“Ouch,” Abe winced in sympathy. “I was shot, so I can kind of understand how painful that is.”

Madpat blinked. So it appeared that dying and coming back to life was pretty common among his creator’s egos. Still, it was nice to know that he wasn’t alone and that there was another ego under Matt’s name.

“What are you guys doing here anyway?” Madpat asked.

“I’m a friend of Wilford’s,” said Abe. “He called us for help in finding these missing youtubers. Now, as far as I know, my own creator isn’t missing, but TD’s is. It’s why he wanted to come along so badly.”

“I can understand that,” said Madpat. “Matt’s a nice guy.”

“Have you met him?” TD asked excitedly. “I bet you guys are great friends.”

“Um... s-so have we figured anything out about the missing people?” Madpat asked.

“He’s really in there,” Mad Mike said as he paced one of the other common rooms. “He’s really in that room right down the hall with Mark and Tyler. We’re going to actually meet him!”

He paused and suddenly began to smooth out his hair.

“How do I look?” He asked. “Damn, I should have changed shirts, this one has a chocolate stain.”

Maidthan lightly spat on a rag and began to rub at Mike’s shirt, much to the disgust of the other.

“Oh gross!” He said. “What are you-”

But then the stain was gone.

Maidthan pocketed the rag and swept some of Mike’s blue hair out of his face.

“You look fine,” he said. “Stop worrying so much, you’ll get wrinkles.”

“Besides, our creator is hardly one to be buy into vanity,” said Father Ethan. “He will not judge us.”

“Easy for you to say,” Blank looked like a complete ball of nerves. “You’re not a demon.”

MerEthan looked from the others to himself and then back.

“Do you think I should put a shirt on?” he asked.

“The future is unclear,” Host said as he sat with Darko in Dark’s office. “But the Host cannot see any hostility with this mystery person.”

“Who are they?” Darko asked. “Another ego?”

“The Host is unsure,” said Host. “Their story is clouded in shadow.”

“In your opinion,” Dark asked, looking at Darko’s phone that sat between them on his desk, “should we accept their help?”

The Host was silent for a moment.

“The Host feels that this is a very delicate situation,” he finally said. “We could make things much worse if we do not handle it carefully. If this person is offering help, it would only be beneficial to accept it.”

Dark was silent. Then he slowly nodded.

“Very well,” he picked up the phone. “Let’s meet them.”

ELSEWHERE

The man smiled at the text that he received. He dialed a number on his phone and waited as the line rang.

“Deb,” he said when the person picked up. “They agreed to meet with us. Let the others know.”

Chapter Text

“Impressive,” Abe said as he looked over the board of evidence they had gathered. “Damn fine detective work.”

“Thank you,” Logan smiled at the praise. “But we sadly don’t have much.”

“And this is everyone staying here?” TD asked as he looked over the list. “Oh wow, that’s a lot of people. You guys must have some interesting parties...”

“We have fun,” Shawn shrugged as he pet Chica. She was snoozing with her head in his lap.

“So!” Abe put his hands on the hips and looked at the map. “These people must have agents all over the world if they’re able to move this quickly. It has to be a large organization, so we’re not looking at some mom and pop ransoming.”

“We’re not looking at a ransoming at all,” said Logan. “No one has made any demands for their lives.”

“Oh,” said Abe. “Then I guess they just want to kill them all.”

“We must save them!” Roman drew his sword.

“Calm down, pretty boy,” Abe said. “We can’t just go running in guns blazing. That’s how you get your hostages killed. We’ll need a plan. A good plan.”

“Does anyone know where they’re being kept?” TD asked. “It’s... they’re not being kept in a carnival, are they? Were there any mentions of time travel?”

“We have no idea,” said Shawn. “We need to figure out a way to get an idea. You guys are the detectives, how do we find clues?”

Abe was silent for a moment, but then he smiled and clapped his hands.

“We need to speak to Professor Beauregard,” he said. “She has all that fancy tech, she might be able to help us. TD, you have her number, right?”

“You know I don’t have a cellphone, Abe,” TD rolled his eyes. “But yes, I do have her number in my notebook. You can give her a call.”

He pulled out a small notebook and flipped through the pages before handing it over to Abe.

“Anyone have a phone I can borrow?” Abe asked.

Logan handed his phone over, but everyone was distracted by a sudden flash of green light. They looked over to see that Marvin had appeared.

“Marvin, you’re back!” Shawn’s smile faltered when he realized that Marvin was alone. “...Marvin?”

Marvin sniffled.

“I was too late...” he said softly. “They got him.”

“And... that’s everything,” Mark said. “For now, you two will be staying here for protection. No one is going to hurt you here, you are both completely safe.”

Ethan and Tyler stared at him from across the table. Both of them had no idea what to think about all of this. So much had happened so quickly and they were both in danger as well.

“So they’re kidnapping us... to get to our egos,” Tyler said slowly. “And some people have already been captured?”

“So far we know of Matt and Lewis,” said Mark. “But there could be others.”

“What about Sean?” Ethan asked. “Is he ok?”

“We sent Marvin out to get him, but he hasn’t come back yet-”

The door suddenly opened, and they all jumped. Tyler and Ethan stared at the ego that stood in the doorway. It was so weird seeing someone who looked just like your friend, but clearly was not your friend.

“Marvin?” Mark asked. “What’s wrong?”

“They got Sean,” said Marvin. “I went to get him, but he was already gone.”

“No way!” Ethan’s eyes widened. “Sean? Why Sean?”

“Marvin, are you going to be ok?” Mark asked.

“If they’re after us, then I need to get home,” said Marvin. “I need to ward the house to prevent them from finding us. After that, I’ll do all I can to find Sean again. I might go grab Gab and BB too.”

“Keep us updated,” said Mark. “We’ll let you know if we find anything.”

“She’ll be here in ten seconds,” Abe smiled as he hung up the phone. “You’ll like her, she’s quite the spitfire.”

“Ten seconds?” Logan asked. “Impossible-”

He was interrupted by a flash of bright light and a puff of smoke. When it cleared, a short woman was standing in the room with them. She had curly brown hair and was dressed in a lab coat, striped shirt, and plaid pants. She coughed and waved her had in front of her face.

“Nice to see I’m not the only one with a teleporter,” Madpat grinned.

“Abe!” the woman smiled and hugged Abe. “Great to see you! You said you needed my help?”

“We sure do, Professor Beauregard,” Abe smiled back. “Have you heard from your creator lately?”

“Not lately,” Beauregard shook her head. “Why do you ask?”

“Someone is targeting our creators,” said Abe. “You might want to get in touch with her, make sure she’s ok. In the meantime, we were hoping you could help us find the ones that have already been captured.”

“Sounds like a challenge,” said Beauregard. “But, I never back down from one! After all, I was the one who helped stop the zombie invasion of my town. I’m sure I can figure this out too!”

She nervously looked at the phone in Abe’s hand and then grabbed it.

“After I check on Rosanna,” she said, dialing a number.

ELSEWHERE

It was the next day that the man finally met the egos on the other side of the phone. They were meeting on a dock by the ocean, far from prying eyes and ears. The man simply waited for them, sunglasses reflecting the environment around him. He suddenly stepped back when a dark portal opened and three egos stepped out.

“Darkiplier,” the man greeted. “I see you brought some friends.”

“The Host has secured the area,” said the ego with bloody bandages.

“Let him try anything,” said the ego in the FNAF shirt. “I can take down an army by myself, he won’t stand a chance.”

“No need to be hostile,” the man held up his hands in a placating manner. “We’re on the same side.”

“So you’ve said,” said Dark. “But you haven’t said much else.”

“They have eyes everywhere,” said the man. “We think they’re tapping cell communications as well. I didn’t want to risk them hearing. I belong to a group of like minded individuals who are trying to rescue the youtubers that have been captured. And the egos as well.”

“They have egos too?” Dark asked.

“We can confirm three,” said the man. “But our intelligence is limited. We’re hoping that allying ourselves to you will help all of us get our creators back.”

“Yours got captured too?” Darko asked.

“Sadly yes,” said the man. “he doesn’t know about me, so he was woefully unprepared.”

“Another fanon ego,” said Host. “But why can The Host not see you?”

“My story isn’t over yet,” said the man. “I’m not quite set in stone, and I’m relatively new. A mascot that had new life breathed into him by the creative minds of our fans.”

He then removed his sunglasses.

“Allow me to introduce myself,” he said. “My name... is Overkill.”

Chapter Text

“Hey Beau!”

Beauregard looked up from the formulas she was scribbling on a clipboard and smiled as TD walked up to her. Her smile took on a tinge of sadness, knowing what he was going to ask her. He'd already asked her so many times before. TD could already tell the answer by her look, but he wanted to ask anyway.

“Have you found her?” TD asked.

Beauregard slowly shook her head and TD wilted.

“I’m sorry, TD,” Beau reached up to pat his shoulder. “We’ve been looking for months. At this rate... it’s looking like she didn’t make it over with us.”

“I can’t just give up,” said TD. “She didn’t get a happy ending. I want to change that. She deserves that much!”

“I know, Sweetie,” Beauregard sighed. “Listen... I’ll keep looking for a bit longer. But I really don’t think she’s here.”

“She’s here,” said TD. “I can feel it. She’s definitely here. I just have to find her.” He shook his head. “Thanks for your help, Beau. You’re a good friend.”

“So are you, TD,” Beauregard smiled as TD walked off.

She hated seeing him so sad. TD had been devastated to learn that his dear friend hadn’t been found yet. Beauregard was certain that TD would go to the ends of the world to find her...

TD sighed as he walked down the hallway. He should really get back to Abe so that they could go over any new evidence, but he knew that nothing had changed. It was all just the same...

He stopped and looked around to make sure he was alone. He pulled out his wallet and opened it, tugging a very old picture from the leather folds. The picture was of him and another of Rosanna’s egos. This ego also had curly brown hair, and she wore a yellow beret and a green fuzzy coat over a plaid dress. She and TD were both clutching stuffed animals, posing in front of the carnival game they had just won.

It was a picture that had been taken before everything had gone to literal hell...

“Oh, but what a beautiful face,” someone said. “That my fingers should desire to lightly trace...”

TD yelped and spun around to see Roman standing there. He pressed a hand over his heart and grit his teeth.

“Don’t sneak up on me,” he said. “I hate it when people do that, it... it brings back bad memories...”

“Sorry,” said Roman. “But who is she? She’s very cute.”

“She’s a friend,” TD sighed as he put the photo back into his wallet. “I’m looking for her, but I haven’t had any luck yet.”

“Ah, a noble quest!” Roman lit up. “Well, you shouldn’t give up, brave knight! I’m sure your princess is out there somewhere.”

“Princess?” TD chuckled. “Please. She’s more a knight than I am. Oh, you should’ve seen her when we were doing challenges. She was smart, she was strong, she was fast, she was a big teamplayer and she cared about everyone so much that she even cried a few times. She was known as The Jet Setter, or JS, but... I would call her 'Jess' as a nickname..."

“What happened to her?” Roman asked.

TD’s expression became somber.

“She died,” he said. “Twice. She didn’t come back after the second time. I... had been so happy when we brought her back after her first death. I really thought we would both get out alive, but... we don’t always get the ending we want...”

He looked up at Roman to see the other sniffling and fanning his face with his hand.

“Such a sad story,” he cried. “Oh, I hope you find your princess. You deserve her.”

TD said nothing. He just shook his head and walked off.

Mark was busy getting things ready for Rosanna. Beauregard had convinced her to come stay with them for her own safety, and Shawn was about to leave to pick her up. As Mark passed by the entryway, he could see Dark and the others returning with...

“Matthias?” Mark asked, recognizing the man they had with them.

The man smiled.

“Not quite,” he said. “Matthias is my creator. My name is Overkill, I’m an ego of his.”

“I... I didn’t know Matthias had any egos,” Mark said in surprise.

“I’m... complicated,” said Overkill. “I was originally just a mascot for his channel. All I had was a look and a name. But his fans recently combined me with his recently successful Key Series and fleshed me out. I am now a secret agent working to rid the world of the evil influence of Nelson Syphus. Well... me and my associates are.”

“A fanon ego with a canon story,” Mark’s eyebrows raised.

“Whoo!” TD said from a nearby couch. “Samesies! We should start a club...”

Before Mark could respond, a shout suddenly came from upstairs. The heard rushed footsteps and Marvin himself walked over, eyes full of tears and phone crushed in his grip.

“They struck again,” he said. “They must have got him just outside the barrier I put up. He... he must have wandered outside of it...”

“Who?” Mark asked. “Who did they take?”

ELSEWHERE

The cell was very cold, and she was grateful for her coat. But even so, the bed was nothing more than a lumpy mattress on the floor, and there wasn’t much else in terms of comfort. She continued to pace her cell, trying to find anything that could help her escape. How many times had she searched for clues before?

She suddenly paused when she heard voices outside.

“Are you sure? We don’t want anyone plotting together.”

“We don’t have any more empty rooms yet. He won’t be able to do much with her.”

The door to the cell opened and someone was shoved inside. She gasped and rushed over to him, kneeling down to help him sit up. The ego had purple hair and a black and white striped shirt, and his... his hand had popped off.

She recoiled as the ego grabbed his hand and reattached it with a few clicks. He then looked up at her and shivered.

“Cooooold,” he said slowly.

Her heart melted as he started to sniffle.

“Oh Honey,” she removed her coat and pulled it around his shoulders. “Here, this should keep you warm. Are you ok? What’s your name?”

“Roooobbbiiiiee,” said the ego. “Scaaaaaredddd...”

“It’s ok,” she moved closer and put an arm around him, pulling him into a hug. “We’re gonna be ok. We’ll get out of here. I’ll find a way out... somehow. You sit here and warm up. I’m gonna keep looking around. If you’re tired, you can have the mattress, ok?”

She stood up and went back to the wall she’d been examining earlier. Robbie groaned softly and slid his hands into the coat’s pockets to warm them up. He felt something in one of them and curiously pulled it out.

It was an old detective badge...

Chapter Text

“Um... Mark?” Rosanna said softly. “They’re all staring at me...”

Mark followed her line of vision to see that the egos were indeed staring at her. When they noticed him watching, they all looked away and went back to whatever they’d been doing.

“Sorry,” Mark chuckled. “I think it’s because you and Amy are the only girls in the house. They’re harmless, though. I promise.”

“What about my ladies?” Rosanna gestured at the dogs that were sniffing around. “Will they be ok?”

“Sure,” Mark smiled. “They love dogs, they all play with the Chica egos and spoil them whenever they can-”

He broke off when he noticed that Dark had appeared and was currently holding one of Rosanna’s dogs up in front of his face.

“Blueberry!” Rosanna sounded scared.

Blueberry seemed nonchalant, leaning forward to sniff at Dark’s face. She snuffled and went back to panting slightly.

“This dog,” Dark said. “I like this dog. Good girl.”

He set Blueberry down and pat her head before walking off again. Rosanna lunged forward and scooped Blueberry up, holding her tightly. Her other dog Coconut had found one of Chica’s toys and was chewing on it.

“See?” Mark said. “They’ll be fine. If Dark likes them then everyone else definitely will. Anyway, there are still lots of rooms available, you can pick whichever one you want. Just write your name on the board on the door so that people know it’s occupied. There’s not really a meal schedule, so you can just sort of eat whenever you want, but Chefiplier does cook for others and won’t mind cooking for you too.”

“Can I bake?” Rosanna asked, eyes lighting up.

“Of course,” said Mark. “We have five ovens available in there.”

“Ok,” Rosanna chuckled. “Maybe this won’t be so bad. Like a little vacation! I just need to... keep my eyes on the bright side.”

“There you go,” said Mark. “Keep the morale up. That’s very important.”

“Hey Mark,” TD appeared. “Ethan is looking... for... you...”

He slowed down and his eyes went wide behind his glasses. He’d never met Rosanna before, and it made his heart hurt to see those eyes light up and smile at him. It didn't help that she was wearing a yellow beret...

“Well there’s a look I haven’t seen in years,” Rosanna chuckled. “Hi! I’m Rosanna.”

“Pleasure to meet you,” TD stiffly held his hand out for her to shake. “Anyway, Ethan wants to speak to you, Mark. He’s upstairs.”

“Oh, he probably has some more questions,” Mark sighed. “Hey TD? Can you help Rosanna get settled? She needs a room. Maybe help her find one?”

“Wh-what?” TD stepped back. “B-But...”

“Thanks, TD!” Mark pat his shoulder before walking off.

“So,” Rosanna smiled brightly and began petting Blueberry’s head. “Do you have a name I can call you?”

TD whimpered softly. This was going to be hell...

ELSEWHERE

Matt shivered in the empty room. Why was it always so cold here? Where even was here? How long had it been since they brought him in?

For once, he didn’t have any theories...

His shackles were connected to the table he was sitting at, and there was only one other chair and a camera. He struggled to stay calm, but his thoughts kept going to Stephanie and Oliver. He hoped they were ok...

The door opened and a man in a suit stepped in. Matt swallowed heavily as he tracked the man’s movements with his eyes. The man didn’t seem to have a care in the world, comfortable in the environment. He obviously had nothing to be afraid of.

Shame that Matt couldn’t say the same...

The man sat down and began to dig around in the folder he brought in.

“Matthew Patrick,” he said. “Birthdate November 15, 1986. You often go by the alias ‘Matpat’. Is this you?”

“Yes,” Matt knew to keep his answers short. Never give your interrogator anything more than what they ask for.

“And you have... two egos,” said the man. “Correct?”

Two? Matt only knew of one, but he wasn’t about to tell him that.

“I don’t know what you mean,” he said. Time to put those acting skills to good use. “Where am I? Why did you bring me here? Are you some kind of... freaky serial killer?”

“Matt,” the man shook his head. “You and I both know you’re lying.”

He produced two photos and set them down on the table. Matt recognized one as Madpat, but the other...

“Ok,” he chuckled. “I have no idea who this guy is, but this picture? This looks like a picture of me when I competed in that show Escape the Night.”

For a moment, the man looked unsure.

“If you’re talking about those character things that some of us do for fun, then neither of these apply to me,” said Matt. “I don’t do that stuff. I do theories.”

The man looked at the photos and withdrew one of them.

“Regardless,” he tapped the one of Madpat. “This ego of yours is still out there. I know you know something about him. Some of you are hiding your egos, and that is not going to fly with us. We are only looking out for the safety of this country and this world. These beings are dangerous. We’ve seen what some of them can do.”

“I don’t know what to tell you,” Matt shrugged. “I don’t have a clue about any of this stuff.”

The man sighed and then produced another photo.

“Such a shame,” he set it on the table. “You know, maybe your wife would know more.”

Matt found himself staring at a picture of Stephanie and Oliver. He barely managed to keep from reacting, but he couldn’t fight the ice that had just filled his veins.

“Stephanie Patrick, maiden name Cordato,” the man grinned. “We know where she is, but we left her because we didn’t think she was useful. But... if you’re not going to tell us what we want to know... we could always go visit her. Her... and little Oliver...”

Matt’s hands began to shake, and he could feel tears slowly run down his face. This was too much. Threaten him, he didn’t care. But his family?

“See that’s the nasty part of this business,” said the man. “Sometimes for the greater good... you have to sacrifice innocent lives.”

He pushed the picture closer to Matt.

“Something for you to think about,” he said. “I’ll be back later to see if you’re more willing to talk then.”

He left, but Matt didn’t even hear him leave. He slowly reached forward and picked up the picture of his family, finally letting himself sob. He was trapped, and he knew it.

He had to make a choice between Madpat... and his family.

ELSEWHERE

“Everyone pack your bags!” Marvin snapped. “We’re staying at the Iplier house for now.”

“What?” Jackie asked. “Why?”

“Because apparently, putting up a barrier won’t keep us safe!” Marvin said, eyes glowing with magic. “Apparently I can’t help them over there and feel confident that you all won’t end up kidnapped! So pack up and let’s go! We’re leaving in ten minutes, move!”

HIs aura flashed, looking like a stormy sea, and his brothers actually recoiled in fright. It was Chase who had the courage to step closer.

“Marvin!” He said. “Marvin, calm down!” He grabbed Marvin’s shoulders. “Listen to me! Listen... no one is blaming you for what happened to Robbie!”

Marvin gasped, his aura slowly fading.

“No one is blaming you,” Chase repeated. “What happened was an accident. It was not your fault. He wandered off and they got him. But if we’re going to get him back, we have to stay calm and think about this.”

“Yeah,” said Anti. “We can’t just start acting crazy.”

“We know you’re working hard to keep us safe,” said Jackie. “And we’re very grateful for that. I... I don’t think we need to stay over there, but I do think it will help take a bit off your mind and make you less worried. So we’ll go.”

You have not failed anyone, Jameson’s text box popped up. It was unfortunate, but we know you will get him back. We do not doubt you at all.

Chase pulled Marvin in for a hug, and the others joined in. Surrounded by his brothers, Marvin broke down. He still hated himself for what had happened, but it made him feel better that he was the only one who blamed himself. He had his brothers’ support... and he was glad for it.

Chapter Text

The feelings came out of nowhere, and they struck hard.

One moment, Madpat was feeling fine and heading to the kitchen for dinner, and the next... he was collapsed against the wall. His heart suddenly began to race, and he felt an overwhelming feeling of fear and despair wash over him. He groaned and collapsed the rest of the way to the floor, feeling tears welling up in his eyes.

His thoughts were a blur, but then one burst through: Stephanie. He was worried about Stephanie. And Oliver too. But why? Why was he feeling this way? Why so strongly?

He shakily sat up and began to use the wall to pull himself up. He scrubbed the tears from his and tried to catch his breath. He was... terrified. He felt an ominous and foreboding feeling that something bad was going to happen, and it would happen unless he did something.

Madpat took a few deep breaths, nearly bent double against the heavy thudding of his heart. He needed to see Stephanie. He... he needed to protect her. He needed to protect her and Oliver both. With shaking fingers, Madpat punched in the coordinates of the house that Stephanie was staying at. Hopefully she was still there and she was ok. Madpat didn’t know what was going on, but he knew that he had to act fast...

He activated his teleporter and disappeared.

“TD!”

Abe worriedly caught his partner as the other ego suddenly collapsed with a cry. He looked pale and his eyes were wide and full of fear.

“TD, what’s wrong?” Abe asked, helping TD sit down. “I’ve got you, partner. I’m not leaving you! We’ll get through this together, but you gotta tell me what’s wrong.”

“I don’t know,” TD sobbed, removing his glasses to wipe at his eyes. “I don’t know. I just... I feel so... helpless... and scared. I’m so scared, Abe.”

“What are you scared of?” Abe asked. “Did you see a ferris wheel?”

TD clung to Abe, burying his face in the other’s chest and sobbing into his shirt. Abe held TD close, rubbing his back and trying to calm him down.

“I don’t know,” said TD. “I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I just... it came on so sudden. I was fine before...”

“You’re just emotional is all,” Abe said. “Don’t worry about it, I’ve got you. You go ahead and cry. I’m not letting go.”

Madpat appeared on the street of Stephanie’s friend’s house. To her credit, the house had a huge fence and looked pretty well protected. Still, he just couldn’t shake this feeling. Something bad was going to happen to her if he didn’t do something...

Madpat easily scaled the wall and landed in the backyard. He found the window of Stephanie’s room and carefully approached it, sticking to the shadows to keep from being seen by someone else. He reached up and lightly knocked on the window, hoping she would speak to him.

He saw Stephanie carefully approach the window and then pause when she saw him. Her expression twisted into something angry and she opened the window.

“What are you doing here?” She hissed, keeping her voice down. “Do you have any idea what trouble you’ll cause if someone else sees you? My friend doesn’t know about any of this. She doesn’t know about you or the other egos.”

“I’m sorry,” Madpat said. “I had to see you. I... I just got this terrible feeling that you were in danger.”

“We’re fine,” Stephanie said. “Now leave! I’m still mad at you.”

Madpat let his forehead hit the side of the house with a sigh. She was ok, but the feeling wasn’t fading at all. The idea of leaving her here made it even worse.

“Come with me,” he suddenly looked up again. “I need to take you somewhere safe.”

“We are safe here,” said Stephanie. “No one knows where we are.”

“Please,” said Madpat. “I... I can’t explain it. I just feel... I feel like you’re in danger. I need to protect you.”

“You are not my husband, so don’t you dare try to act like this,” Stephanie snapped.

“Please!” Madpat reached up and took Stephanie’s hand in his.

Stephanie opened her mouth to argue, but no words came out. The light of the nearby lamp had finally fallen over Madpat’s face, and she could see that he was crying. The hand that was holding hers shook, and she knew Matt enough to know when he was legitimately terrified of something. Madpat was terrified right now. Could he be right?

Stephanie began to grow nervous and doubt her safety. If she was right, Madpat was going to take her to the safehouse with the other egos. She did not want to expose Oliver to that. The egos there had no idea how to act around children or babies. They could hurt him.

Still... Stephanie began to wonder if it would be better than staying.

“Wait out front,” she said. “I need to get Oliver ready and talk to my friend. I’ll meet you out there and we’ll leave.”

Madpat nearly collapsed again with relief.

“Thank you,” he said. “I promise, I’ll keep you safe.”

“You better,” said Stephanie. “If anything happens to Ollie there, I’ll kill you.”

ELSEWHERE

Matt woke up with a jolt, having cried himself to exhaustion. He looked down and saw the photos were still on the table and the man hadn’t returned. But as he looked at the picture of his wife and child, he felt... relief. He felt as if they were both going to be ok. He felt as if they were no longer in danger. He smiled softly at the picture, happy that they were going to be fine.

He took a deep breath and felt a new strength bloom within him. A new sense of determination. He was not going to fold so easily. He was not going to betray anyone. He was going to stay strong. These people would get nothing out of him.

He heard the door handle began to turn, and he glared at it defiantly. He was ready. He was ready for the man to return and try to threaten him again. The door slowly opened...

Robbie was asleep with his head in her lap. She slowly ran her fingers through his hair and hummed softly. She hadn’t found anything to help them escape, but she wasn’t going to give up hope. She wasn’t going to let Robbie see her like that. She would stay strong for him.

She gasped when the door to the cell opened and two men stepped inside.

“Get back,” one of them growled. “We got a new cell for him.”

She felt a surge of protectiveness flow through her, and she held Robbie closer.

“No!” She growled. “You’re not taking him.”

Robbie woke up and slowly sat up, looking confused. One of the men grabbed him and began to pull him away.

“No!” She clung to Robbie. “No, please! You can’t take him! Please!”

Robbie began to whimper, trying to hold onto her, but the man yanked harder and Robbie was pulled away. She jumped up to grab at Robbie again, but the other man grabbed her and held her back.

“Nooooooo...” Robbie was still reaching out for her.

She felt another surge within her, and an anger came with it. She had promised him that everything would be ok. She had promised him that she would get them out. Suddenly, it wasn’t a man holding her back, it was three women with black outfits and horns on their head. She had been helpless then, unable to stop her death.

She would not be helpless here. She would be strong. She would be strong!

“Let him go!” She shouted, grabbing the wrist of the man who held her.

The man cried out as he heard his bones break under her iron grip. With a growl, she tossed the man across the room. He hit the one that had pulled Robbie away, and they both crashed into the door, busting it open with a loud bang.

She gasped, looking down at her hands, unable to believe that she had really just done that. Even Robbie looked surprised. With a smile, she straightened her beret and began to lead Robbie out of the room.

“Come on,” she said. “We’re getting out of here...”

Chapter Text

“Here,” Madpat set down the suitcases and bags he was carrying. “That’s everything, right?”

Stephanie looked around the room and then at the bags. Oliver was perched on her hip.

“That’s everything,” she said.

“Great,” Madpat sighed. “I’ll go grab Mark to talk to you and have your names registered with the security egos.”

“Where... where is everyone?” Stephanie asked. “I didn’t see anyone when you brought us in.”

“I took you through the back door,” said Madpat. “No one’s in that area this time of night. I... I didn’t want you or Oliver getting scared, so...” He sighed again, leaning on one of the suitcases.

“Are you ok?” Stephanie asked, suddenly noticing the dark shadows around his eyes.

“Just... haven’t been sleeping well lately,” Madpat shook his head. “Wait here, I’ll go get Mark.”

He was gone before she could say anything else.

“Do you think it’s just one location?” Beauregard said as she looked over the map.

“I don’t,” Abe shook his head. “I’ve seen it before with organizations like these. You have only one location, and you put too many pickles in a basket. If your one location goes down, gets infiltrated or hacked... you’re dead in the water.”

“So it’s multiple facilities?” Beauregard asked. “Makes sense. Especially since the targets are all over the world...”

“Not too many though,” Abe said. “You spread yourself too thin and your facilities don’t get the power they need. Ideally, you’re looking at three, four, or five at most. And if we can find one of them... we might be able to find all of them.”

“Do you think they have it separated?” Beauregard asked. “Youtubers in one, egos in another?”

“No telling at this point,” Abe shrugged. “Now, let’s think about this. If the targets are all over the world, they can’t have a facility in each country. So it stands to reason that they would need to travel to bring the target to the facility. And worldwide travel usually implies planes...”

“But planes are so risky,” said Beauregard. “The target would have to be incapacitated in some way, and they wouldn’t want the target knowing their location. If you walk through an airport dragging someone who’s unconscious or tied up, you’re going to be noticed and the cops are gonna get involved.”

Abe held up a finger and smirked.

“Only with public planes,” he said.

“So you think they’re using planes that they own?” Beauregard asked. “Makes sense.”

“So what we need to do is a little hacking,” said Abe. “Now I’m no great shakes at the tech you kids use these days, so that’s why I asked you to help. They say Madpat is the scientist here so you can work with him, or you can try asking the Google and Bing androids. Whichever way you go, I’d like you to see if you can find a plane or a group of planes that have been very busy lately. Look for ones that have been flying worldwide and returning to the same place each time.”

“Got it!” Beauregard gave a salute. “I’ll start with Bing. Google makes me a little nervous.”

“I don’t blame you,” Abe chuckled. “He was programmed to destroy mankind.”

“He was what?!” Beauregard's eyes widened behind her glasses.

ELSEWHERE

Matt inhaled sharply, hands curling into fists and eyes narrowing. He was ready. He was ready for-

“Robbie... Honey, come inside. We're going to hide here for a little bit.”

A zombie entered along with a familiar looking woman.

“Oh my god, Ro?!” Matt stood up from the table, but the chains kept him from going too far.

“Huh?” She turned around and her face lit up for only a second before her smile fell and she tilted her head.

“You’re not him, are you?” She asked. “Who are you?”

“You don’t... Ro, it’s me! It’s Matt,” Matt said. “You know me, we’re friends.”

“Oh!” She chuckled. “Sorry, you must be thinking of my creator. My name is The Jetsetter, or JS for short.”

“Jetsetter?” Matt repeated. “Wait... you’re dressed like Ro from...” His eyes widened. “No... no way! Oh my god, he's real?!”

“Who?” JS asked, moving closer to the table. Robbie growled and stayed close to her.

“Th-The guy!” Matt said, pointing at the table. “He... he had a picture of me dressed like my character from that show. I-I... I thought it actually was me, but... if you’re here... then maybe it wasn’t.”

“TD?!” JS squealed. “TD made it over? Oh, I need to find him! Do you know where he is?”

“No,” Matt pointed at the other picture. “No, I only know about Madpat.”

“Oh darn...” JS looked sad. “Well... we can get out of here and find him, then. Hold your hands out.”

“They’re handcuffed- whoa!” Matt stared as JS snapped the handcuffs apart as if they were made of brittle plastic.

“Yeah, I apparently have super strength,” JS shrugged. “Listen... I’m pretty sure there are other people here that were captured, but if we try to save them all they’ll get us and we’ll be right back to where we started. As much as I hate to leave people behind, we’re going to have to for now. When we get out there, we can find someone to help us rescue them.”

“Yeah,” Matt nodded. “I already know plenty of people who can help.”

“Great!” JS beamed. “But I’m gonna need your help. One of the side effects of time travel is that modern technology doesn’t work for me. So unless there’s a car that was made in the 70’s out there, I’m not going to be able to drive it. I’ll get us outside, and then we can find a getaway car. You’ll have to drive it, ok?”

“Yeah,” Matt nodded. “Yeah, I can... I can drive.”

“Robbie, we need to be quick, and you’re not able to move as fast as I need you to, so I’m going to carry you on my back, ok?” JS pat the zombie’s hand.

Matt subtly looked at the difference in height between them. But to his surprise, Robbie was able to carefully climb onto JS’s back, and JS was able to hold him up and still move.

“Ok, let’s go,” JS said. “Try and stay quiet.”

She had plenty of experience with sneaking around...

ELSEWHERE

Sean was exhausted.

He couldn’t tell how long they’d been interrogating him, but they refused to let him sleep or eat or drink anything, and his body was about ready to call it quits. They were after his egos, saying that his were some of the most dangerous they knew. They said they already had one of them, but they wanted the rest.

Sean of course refused to talk, and that had made them very angry. They started trying to break him and make him talk, but Sean wasn’t about to betray his creations. He could hold out. He had to.

He was currently hanging from the ceiling by his wrists, panting in the sweltering heat of the room. He had already vomited, and he felt as if he’d pass out at any moment. When he got out of this... he was going to let Anti and Marvin go crazy on these people...

He sluggishly looked up when he heard the door open. A man carefully walked inside, turning off the camera that was running off to the side. The man was dressed in plain clothes and had short dark hair.

“Sean?” He asked. “Sean McLoughlin?”

He had mispronounced it, but Sean had no energy to correct him. He nodded instead.

“I’m going to help you get out of here,” said the man. “Don’t worry about a thing. You’re in good hands.”

“Who...” Sean’s voice broke and he coughed. “Who are you?”

“I’m Hoverkill,” said the man. “And I’m an ally.”

Chapter Text

“Have you found anything?” Beauregard asked as she sat next to Bing.

Bing was busy typing at a virtual screen, brows furrowed in concentration. He tapped at his chin as he read the data that he had found.

“Nothing yet, Munchkin,” he said. “There’s a lot of flights to sort through, even for private ones. Plus we don’t even know if their flights would be recorded in the airport systems. They could like, have their own landing strip or something...”

“That’s true,” Beauregard said. “Well... it’s the only lead we have so far. Please keep looking, we really appreciate it.”

“Anything for you, Munchkin,” Bing smiled and began bringing up more data.

“Three more youtubers have gone missing.”

They looked up to see Overkill enter the room and head over to the board of evidence to add their names.

“Zalzar, Thomas Sanders, and my own creator Matthias,” he said.

“Oh no,” Beauregard walked over to him. “Are you ok?”

“I’ll be fine,” Overkill capped the marker and set it aside. “One of my associates allowed themselves to get captured. If all goes to plan, we’ll be able to access their database to get information about where they’re keeping everyone.”

“Thomas Sanders?” Beauregard grimaced. “Oh no... that’s the Sides’ creator. They’re going to be devastated.”

“Do you want me to tell them?” Bing asked.

“No,” Beauregard shook her head. “You keep looking. I’ll break the news to them. Um... thanks for letting us know, Overkill...”

She walked off and the others watched her leave.

“This is gonna take forever,” Bing sighed. “Like...why didn’t she ask Google? His hacking technology is way better than mine...”

Overkill tilted his head.

“I might have a hacking tool that you can use,” he said. “If it’s compatible with your software, it’ll increase your capabilities immensely.”

“An upgrade?” Bing’s eyes lit up at that. “Bro! Gimme the goods!”

“Let me go grab it,” Overkill chuckled as he walked off.

“Missing?!” Patton shrieked. “My kiddo is missing?! We have to find him!”

“Patton, calm down,” Logan said. “Getting worked up like this is not going to help matters. We must remain rational and calm if we are to think of any kind of rescue plan.”

“Don’t tell me not to worry about my kiddo!” Patton snapped. “He was captured by those awful people who also took poor little Robbie and who knows what they’re doing to him! They’re probably hurting him! He’s probably scared out of his mind and all alone! He’s probably-”

His voice suddenly choked with a noise that sounded like a frog croak.

Patton pressed his hands over his mouth while Beauregard looked at him in confusion.

“As I said before,” said Logan. “You must calm down, Patton. You will work yourself up into another transformation.”

Patton whimpered behind his hands and slowly sat down on a nearby couch. Virgil pulled up his hood and looked at the others with wide eyes.

“Guys, this is bad. What do we do?” he asked.

“Obviously, we are going to save him!” Roman said. “We shall launch a daring rescue-”

“We’re gonna go in and murder everyone in the most painful manner and then put all of their heads on pikes as a warning to anyone else who thinks that can **** with us,” Remus snarled.

Beauregard stared.

“Guys,” she shook her head. “We’re already trying to find the ones who have gone missing, but it’s very slow going. We can only do so much when we don’t know where they are or who even has them. So... if any of you have any special abilities or anything that can help us...”

Roman snapped his fingers.

“Remus! That... that thing you created that helped you find this house,” he said. “Surely you can make another one that can lead us to Thomas?”

“Well... not really,” said Remus. “One of the ingredients needed is a few hairs from a time traveling woman. That’s what makes the whole thing work. Something about the energy in the hair allowing the device to look through time and space to find who I’m looking for. I used all the ones I had for the last device. So... unless anyone knows where to find a woman that can time travel...”

“Perhaps we can ask the Dragonwitch?” Roman suggested.

“Did the Dragonwitch even make it over, Roman?” Janus raised an eyebrow.

“I suppose not,” Roman sighed. “So there’s not much we can do for now. I apologize, fair maiden.”

“I’m a scientist,” said Beauregard. “But thanks for trying. Please let me know if you come up with anything else...”

ELSEWHERE

“Here, I’ve got you. Just lean on me.”

Sean could barely hear Hoverkill as the other spoke, but Hoverkill at least was able to help him walk as Sean had very little strength left in his legs. Sean just wanted to sleep, he was exhausted. But Hoverkill refused to let him sleep, saying something about how Sean needed food and water first.

“We just need to make a quick stop, and then we’re out of here,” Hoverkill said, leading him down the hall. “I have an associate that we can meet up with and she’ll give you a place to rest and recover. Doesn’t that sound nice?”

It did. Sean couldn’t wait to meet this associate and was already thinking of all the ways he would pay her back when this was over. Hoverkill paused before an office door and carefully picked the lock with a piece of metal. He set Sean in one of the office chairs and booted up the computer.

“Try to stay awake,” he reminded Sean as he typed on the keyboard. “Not much longer, I promise. I just need to... implant a few things and then get a distraction going so that we can hopefully leave without anyone knowing.”

Sean took a deep breath, trying to will his nausea away. He'd never felt this awful before, not even when he’d been struck with viruses or stomach bugs. But he refused to let himself be beaten by these people. He’d pull through. He would.

He closed his eyes and all he heard was Hoverkill typing and muttering. After a few minutes, an alarm sounded in the distance and Hoverkill made a noise of triumph.

“Got it!” He said. “This is going to help the others out so much. We might even be able to find other locations. Let’s hope, bro.”

He helped Sean up again, but Sean could not open his eyes.

“Hey,” Hoverkill shook him. “Hey, don’t fall asleep. Sean?”

Sean tried really hard to obey, but he was quickly pulled into darkness as he passed out.

ELSEWHERE

Lewis flinched when the door to his cell opened.

“Oh sugar!” He scrambled back.

“Ow! Hey!”

A man was shoved into his cell and the guard muttered something about needing more room before the door was shut and locked. The man had blue hair and was wearing a... boy scout uniform?

“’Go camping’ they said,” he muttered. “’You can put your skills to use’ they said...”

“Are you ok?” Lewis reached down and helped the man up.

“Just a few scrapes,” the man shrugged. “Do you know where we are? They grabbed me from my campsite and... I don’t remember how I got here.”

“No, I don’t-” Lewis blinked. “You look familiar...”

“I just have one of those faces,” the man said nervously. “You can call me Scout.”

“Scout?” Lewis eyed his uniform. “I take it your part of the boy scouts?”

“Eagle Scout and on my way to becoming a Scoutmaster,” Scout grinned. “Hopefully one day... if we get out of here.”

Lewis sighed and sat on the mattress he used as a bed.

“Hopefully,” he agreed.

Chapter Text

“Everything is fine,” Rosanna muttered as she stirred the batter in the bowl. “Yes, people were kidnapped, but there are other people working on finding them and they all seem to be very smart and very strong and I’m sure they’ll succeed. In the meantime, just gotta keep positive. Keep positive. Everything will be fine...”

She wasn’t afraid to admit that she was a stress baker, and today the numerous ovens and giant kitchen came in handy. Some egos filed in and out to grab their own food, but they mostly left her alone (except to ask for a cookie or cupcake that she had finished icing).

Rosanna was full of a nervous energy that made her skin prickle and itch. She had tried to do something else to calm down, but nothing seemed to work. So, she may as well be productive and also share some treats with her new housemates.

Housemates.

It still hadn’t really hit her that she was staying here now because of the danger out there. She’d met some of the egos, but it was near impossible to meet everyone quickly. Plus, she didn’t want to get in anyone’s way, hence why she was spending her time in one place today: the kitchen.

“Matt will be fine,” she added another egg. “Matt will be fine. They’ll find him. Stay positive. Stay... stay...”

Rosanna let go of the spoon she was mixing with and it flopped out of the bowl, spilling batter on the counter. She covered her face with her hands and took a deep breath. Nothing was helping her anxiety, not even baking. The house was a constant reminder that Matt was in danger. That someone out there actually wanted to kill her and her friends.

“Hey, are you ok?”

Rosanna yelped and nearly fell off the step stool she was standing on. Someone grabbed her and pulled her back towards the counter, holding her while she steadied her feet.

“Thank you,” she said. “I wasn’t paying... attention...”

It was two men sitting at the counter right in front of her. Both shared a face so both had to come from the same creator. They looked familiar...

“Sanders Sides!” She snapped her fingers. “You’re... you’re from that series, right?”

“Guilty as charged,” said the one who had scales on his face and wore a yellow long sleeved shirt. “Allow us to introduce ourselves. My name is Janus.”

“I’m Virgil,” said the one who looked like your stereotypical emo.

“Hi. I’m... I’m Rosanna,” she said. “I didn’t hear you guys come in, I’m sorry.”

“We figured that,” said Virgil. “I could sense your anxiety from across the house. We just wanted to make sure you were ok. And... maybe get a brownie or two while we’re here.”

“Oh!” Rosanna looked around before setting a plate of warm brownies in front of them. “Sure, help yourselves. I... I was hoping that doing some baking would help me feel better. It usually does, but...”

“Oh, I know that well,” Virgil chuckled. “I’ve had my share of coping methods stop working for me. It sucks when you have to find another one. But you didn’t answer my question. Are you ok?”

“Yeah, I’m... I’m fine,” she gave a strained smile.

“Lie,” Janus said through his mouthful of brownie.

“He can sense lies,” Virgil explained.

Rosanna sighed heavily.

“I’m... I’m hoping that I’ll be fine,” she admitted.

“That’s better,” said Janus. “We heard that your friend was captured. We’re very sorry. Our creator was captured, so we know how you’re feeling. If you ever want to talk, you can talk to us. Or to our therapist. Emile is very nice.”

“Oh dear,” Rosanna gasped. “I’m so sorry to hear that.”

Her mood plummeted further. Of course she wasn’t the only one affected by all of this, that was why she tried so hard to keep a positive attitude. She needed to be a rock for the others to lean on. But it was so difficult sometimes.

Rosanna didn’t even realize she was crying until Virgil was pulling her into a hug. His hoodie was very soft and smelled like makeup remover, but the scent was almost comforting at how normal it was and how it grounded her.

She sobbed, she cried, she eventually just stood there and let Virgil hold her, enjoying the feeling of being held and soothed.

“Remus!”

Rosanna slowly looked up over Virgil’s arm and saw another man who had the same face but with a mustache. He was busy eating the raw batter she’d been mixing and trying to look innocent.

“What?” he asked. “It has raw eggs in it, and you know how much I love the taste of salmonella.”

He stuffed the spoon into his mouth and made happy noises as he sucked it clean.

Rosanna stared, and then... she began to laugh softly. She wiped at her eyes as she continued to laugh, feeling much better than before.

“Thank you, guys,” she said softly.

TD had been napping on the couch when he woke up to a strange buzzing noise. He groggily opened his eyes and saw Roman standing over him with a set of hair clippers.

“What are you doing?” he asked.

“I need your hair,” said Roman. “It is of the upmost importance that you let me shave some of it off.”

TD stared at him for a moment before launching himself over the back of the couch and scrambling away from Roman. Roman ran after him.

“Just a little patch!” He said. “I can shave it in way that no one will notice!”

“You’re crazy!” TD shouted back at him. “Get away!”

Roman eventually cornered him in the common room, holding up the clippers in a triumphant manner.

“Just hold still,” he said. “It will all be over soon-”

“What kind of funk is going on in here and why wasn’t I invited?”

Remus entered the room, clutching a large bowl of batter and sucking on a spoon. He glanced between the two and raised an eyebrow.

“You said we need the hair of a time traveler for the device that can help us find Thomas!” Roman said excitedly. “I have just recently learned that our friend here has time traveled. We can use his hair to build your device and find Thomas!”

Remus pulled out the spoon and sighed.

“Roman, you ignorant slut... I said a time traveling woman. We need hair from a woman,” he said.

“But why does it have to be a woman?” Roman asked. “Surely it could work with a man’s hair too!”

“Because the ritual is from a book that I stole from the Dragonwitch,” said Remus. “And the Dragonwitch really really likes women. Sexually.”

The room was silent as Remus’s words sunk in.

“Oh,” Roman said slowly. “Oh. I see.” he turned towards TD. “Sorry. I am so sorry. That was my bad. The onus is on me. I’ll... I’ll just...” he turned the clippers off.

“Shame,” Remus flicked batter at Roman. “Shame.”

TD looked between the two brothers and wondered if Mark hadn't been exaggerating when he warned that some of the egos were nuttier than a fruitcake...

Chapter Text

Sean had no idea where he was, and he really didn’t care. He was far too tired to care.

He felt something at his lips and slowly realized it was water. He opened his mouth and tried to gulp it, but something stopped him from doing so.

“Hey, don’t gulp it,” said a voice. “I know it feels really good, but you need to take little sips or you’ll get sick. Here, I’ve got it for you. Little sips, ok?”

The voice sounded familiar, and Sean obeyed. He slowly sipped the water that was offered to him until his mouth no longer felt dry and his throat was no longer scratchy. To him, it was the best water he’d ever had.

“There, I bet that feels better. Here, I have some banana slices,” the voice was speaking again. “Easy to chew and easy on the stomach. Eat some of this and I’ll let you go back to sleep, ok?”

Sean did so, slowly chewing the banana that he was given. Eventually the voice told him to go to sleep and he did so, sinking easily back into slumber.

This was the state that he maintained. He never full woke up, but he would wake up enough to eat or drink whatever the voice told him to. Eventually, the voice changed to a new one that Sean didn’t recognize, but sounded very kind and soothing.

The first time he managed to wake up all the way and open his eyes, he was in a room that he did not know. The bed he was lying in was very comfortable, and a glance to the side showed that he was hooked up to an IV.

As he tried to sit up, he heard footsteps and a woman with curly dyed hair entered the room.

“Oh,” she looked surprised. “You’re awake. How are you feeling?”

“I’m... where am I?” Sean asked instead. His throat no longer hurt, but his voice was still fragile.

“You’re safe,” the woman began to fiddle with the IV, switching out the bag of fluids. “My name is Overhype and Hoverkill brought you here. You were in pretty bad shape, but we’re gonna help you get better. I have you on an IV to replace the fluids you lost and we had you take sips of water as often as you could healthily do so. We’ve also started reintroducing food to you. Hoverkill didn’t know exactly how long they were torturing you, so we’re going to play it safe and keep you here for a few days to make sure you’ve fully recovered.”

Sean yawned slightly.

“I’ve been asleep for so long,” he said. “Why do I still feel tired?”

“Probably because of the sleeping pills that Hoverkill gave you,” said Overhype. “He needed you to rest and recover while he brought you here and was worried that you wouldn’t be able to fall asleep because of the pain, so he gave you some sleep aids when he gave you food and water the first time. I’m sorry that he did that, but you were in a very delicate state and needed to rest.”

Sean shook his head.

“He saved my life,” he said. “I’m not mad about that. But... he came into the room they had me in and rescued me. Was he there to save me specifically?”

“He was there to gather information,” said Overhype. “He managed to install a special software in their computer that will allow Deb to copy their encrypted data. With any luck, she’ll be able to decrypt it and we’ll have more information on who was taken and where they are. Hoverkill grabbed you because you were close by and he didn’t want to leave empty handed. He felt it wasn’t right to do so, so he risked his mission to rescue you.”

Damn, Sean was going to repay Hoverkill for that. He didn’t know how, but he’d figure it out later.

“So what happens now?” He asked.

“Well... since you’re awake, you need a bath,” said Overhype. “And then you’re going to get better. We’ve already sent a message to our associate who I believe is with your friends. We don’t have any cellphones, though. But you’re in good hands. And when you’re better, Hoverkill will take your friends’ safe house.”

A bath sounded amazing right now, and Sean didn’t argue as Overhype helped him out of bed,

ELSEWHERE

“Keep running, Matt!”

“You do not need to tell me!”

For a moment, Matt could swear he was back on Escape the Night. Rosanna in her cute green coat and running from bad guys? Yep, sounded about right. Only difference was there would be no coming back from this if he died.

Something he noticed, the guards were not shooting actual bullets, but rubber bullets. Obviously, they were meant to catch them, not kill them. But why? What was the whole point of keeping them here? Were they really just after the egos? But Robbie and JS were egos, so why were they still alive?

Something wasn’t right, and Matt’s brain was already looking for a theory.

He was also pretty impressed at how well JS was able to run with a full grown man on her back.

They ran down a hallway and Matt knew they couldn’t run forever. They either had to find a way to block the guards that were chasing them or duck somewhere and hide. Hiding didn’t seem very likely as there was no way of knowing which rooms might have more guards or worse, and they had nothing to use as a barricade.

Or so Matt thought.

“In here!” JS led them into what looked to an archive room of some sort. She quickly closed the door and pulled down two massive filing cabinets to block it. They guards began to beat on the door, and Matt heard one of them call for backup.

“We need a plan and we need one fast,” he said. “What room is this? Is there another way out?”

“Doesn’t look like it,” JS looked around. “And there’s no note or clue either. Shoot...”

“No!” Matt growled. “It can’t end like this. I am not staying here, I am getting out of here and I’m going back home to my wife and son! There has to be a way out!”

Robbie growled, and they both turned to look at him. He was pointing to a map on the wall that showed the evacuation route in case of a fire. The route was all but useless since they would need to go back out in the hall, but it did give them a map of the floor they were on.

“Oh wow, great job Robbie!” JS pat Robbie’s arm. “This map says we made it down to the second floor, and there’s an underground garage. If we can get down there, we might be able to find a car and leave.”

“But how do we get down there?” Matt asked. “We’re stuck in here.”

JS thought for a few minutes before she had an idea. She climbed up on a cabinet and ripped the map off the wall. She studied it for a moment before climbing down and walking over to another wall.

“You know what they say,” she said. “If there’s no door... make your own.”

She threw herself at the wall and busted clean through it into the next room.

"Oh my god!" Matt cried out and rushed over. "JS!"

“Matt!” She poked her head back through. “Grab Robbie and help him keep up. I can’t carry him while I do this or he’ll get hurt. Come on!”

She disappeared into the next room and Matt pulled Robbie after her. As they squeezed through the JS shaped hole in the wall, they heard her bust through another wall. Matt realized that she was following the escape route on the map, but without using the hallway. They ran as fast as they could, pushing past other people who were in the rooms they broke into, and finally ended up... in a room that held three guards.

“Hey!” One of them reached for his gun-

JS smashed her fists against the floor, and it crumbled beneath them, sending them falling to the floor below. Matt grunted in pain as he collided with the ground, but JS was already helping him stand up.

“Matt, get up! We have to go! I’m so sorry, guys! Robbie, let me help you put your arm back on..”

Matt stumbled a bit as he regained his footing. His whole left side was in pain from the fall, but he pushed through it. True to the map’s word, they were in some kind of underground garage and cars were everywhere. Now the question was... which one had keys that they could steal?

“Look for keys!” JS shouted. “They usually hide them by the wheels!”

Yep, it was definitely another episode of Escape the Night.

Still, Matt ducked to his knees and began searching the cars nearby. JS split off and searched her own, and even Robbie was looking. They heard shouting and footsteps and new the guards were closing in. Matt wasn’t finding anything, and his frustration grew.

“KEEEEEEEYYYSSS!”

Matt stood up and saw Robbie holding up a car key. He quickly booked it over and took it, unlocking the car and opening the door for Robbie.

“Get in!” He shouted, looking over to see the guards appear. They drew their weapons and began to fire on them. JS shrieked and all but dove into the car, and Matt got in and started it.

“Seatbelts!” JS helped Robbie but his seatbelt on and then secured her own, but Matt was already backing up and peeling out.

He breathed heavily as he wove his way through the garage, looking for a way out. Guards jumped out in front of him, but he did not slow down. Screw being a good guy, screw trying to spare lives, they had threatened Stephanie and Oliver. Good Guy Matt had left the chat.

He finally saw a way out and gunned the engine, swerving and drifting around the other cars and pushing the gas pedal harder. JS screamed in the back and Robbie was making his own concerned noises, but Matt ignored them as he hyper focused on the road in front of him.

They came up on a gate, and the guards there fired real bullets at the car. Matt yelped, but the windshield held strong, and he revved the engine harder, breaking through the gate and flying down the road.

“Oh my...” JS stared out the window. There was snow and trees everywhere, they had to be in the middle of some kind of forest. “Wait, they’re going to follow us, we need to hide!”

Matt nodded and drove off the road, maneuvering the car into the dense forest and shutting off the engine. They heard several cars fly by on the road and held their breath.

No one said a word for a few minutes.

“Ok...” JS carefully looked through the back window. “I don’t think they saw us. I think... we can’t keep the car. What if they have a way to track it?”

“What?!” Matt turned around to face her. “You want to go out there and freeze to death?”

“Well, I’m out of ideas!” JS frowned. “What do you think we should do, Mr. Smarty Pants?”

Matt sighed and drummed his fingers against the steering wheel as he thought about it.

“You’re right,” he said. “They might be able to track this car, but we can’t just abandon it out here. We’ll die from exposure or get eaten by wolves or something. Let’s... let’s see if we can’t find a town nearby. If we do, then we’ll be able to regroup from there...”

JS nodded and them wormed her way into the front seat next to Matt. She sighed as she put her seat belt on and then offered Matt a reassuring smile.

“Sounds like a plan,” she said. “Fingers crossed.”

She crossed her fingers and held them up.

Chapter Text

“We need to get out of here,” Scout was pacing. “Otherwise I’ll never be a Scoutmaster!”

“We could also die if we don’t escape,” Lewis deadpanned. “Did you forget about that?”

“Meh,” Scout waved dismissively. “Death isn’t so bad.”

He walked over to the door and examined it.

“Ugh! If only I had my lockpicking badge...” He shook his head and walked back over to sit on the floor in front of Lewis.

He spread out his sash, revealing numerous badges. But it looked as if some were missing.

“Some of them fell off when they caught me,” Scout said. “But I can get them back later. Hopefully one of these will prove to be useful...”

“A badge?” Lewis raised an eyebrow. “How is a badge going to help us? The only badge that could would be a cop’s badge, and I don’t see any of those around here.”

“Oh ye of little faith,” Scout grinned. “Obviously, you’ve never seen a scout like me.”

“No, but I do buy cookies from the ones in my neighborhood,” Lewis shrugged.

“Let’s see...” Scout trailed his finger over the badges. “My Flight badge? No... there aren’t any windows. My Accuracy badge? Well, I’d need a weapon first. Hmm... oh!” He picked a badge from his sash. “My summoning badge! This is sure to come in handy now. Let me just...”

He stood up and slid his sash back on.

“What are you doing?” Lewis narrowed his eyes.

Scout ignored him and walked over to the other side of the cell where there was more room.

“Make sure the area is clear of anything that might hinder the summoning,” Scout looked around. “Make sure the room is well ventilated to avoid suffocation-”

“Avoid what?” Lewis jumped to his feet.

“And then... name them,” Scout held his badge up high over his head and closed his eyes. “I need... Gladys!”

The badge began to glow, and dark smoke began to fill the room. Lewis backed up as far as he could, covering his mouth and nose to avoid inhaling the smoke. He was grateful for his height as the smoke stayed around waist level for him.

He looked back over at Scout to see the smoke form a sort of cloud, and he could see claws and a tail poking out of it, moving and swishing around. A strange hissing noise came from the cloud, and then it finally vanished, revealing...

Well, Lewis could only describe it as a demonic looking iguana.

The things scales were pitch black and the eyes were literally glowing with fire. Lethal looking spikes lined its back.

“Gladys!” Scout picked up the large reptile and smiled. “So good to see you again. How have you been? Listen, we need your help. We’re trapped in here, so I need you to go out there and find someone who can help us. Look for powerful egos, ok? You were always so good at finding those. Look for them and lead them back to us. If you can’t find anyone, I’ll call on Dennis instead. Now go!”

He set the demonic looking reptile down and it rushed at the door, disappearing under it in a flash of flame. Scout smiled and turned back to look at Lewis.

“Wha... what the... what was that?” Lewis’s voice had risen several pitches in his shock, and he slowly slid down the wall to flop on the mattress. “Who are you?!”

“All in a day’s work... for a scout...” Scout’s eyes suddenly turned pitch black, and he grinned maniacally.

ELSEWHERE

The car was nearly silent as Matt drove. Robbie was snoring softly as he napped in the backseat and JS was humming softly in the passenger seat while she looked out the window.

“Doot doot doot...” she hummed. “Babababa bum... bum bum bum... bop bop...”

It seemed to be a random tune that only she knew.

“I... I have to admit,” Matt finally said. “This is kind of weird.”

“Huh?” JS turned to look at him. “Why is that?”

“It’s just... been a long time since I was on that show,” said Matt. “I keep forgetting you’re not Ro.”

“Did you have fun on the show?” JS asked.

“I did,” Matt managed a smile. “It was so much fun. I love solving puzzles and putting my mind to good use. I was so happy when I was chosen to come back after my character died...”

“Yeah,” JS sighed happily. “I was really happy when TD came back too. He was such a great friend. Always protecting me when I needed it, but he wasn’t afraid to let me take a risk if I wanted to. He was just the sweetest!”

She giggled and wiggled slightly in her seat.

“But... if you’d like, I can change my outfit,” she said. “I have another one I can change into. It’ll only take a few seconds. Actually, it might be warmer than what I’m wearing now. Pull over to the side, please.”

Matt did so, glancing at her curiously. JS took off her seatbelt and got out of the car, walking to stand in front of it for Matt to see. She clapped her hands and then began to wave her arms slightly at her sides. As she did so, her outfit began to slowly change right before Matt’s eyes. Gone was the plaid, the green, and the yellow. In its place was a vintage polka dot dress, a matching feather hat, white gloves, and a white fur coat.

“See?” She posed. “How do I look? Is this better?”

“O-Oh!” Matt blinked, having to quickly get over the wonder of seeing actual magic done right in front of his eyes. “Y-Yeah, you look great!”

“Are you sure?” JS twirled as if she were wearing a princess dress. “You don’t sound like this is better.”

“JS, I promise,” Matt couldn’t help but chuckle at her. “It’s fine, come back in before you get cold.”

JS got back into the car and Matt started driving again. She went back to her humming and scenery watching.

Matt drove for another hour or two and began to get worried when he noticed that the car was very low on gas and they had yet to see any signs of civilization. Wherever they were, it was very remote.

“We’ll need to find a gas station soon,” he said. “Or else we’ll be sitting ducks.”

“Oh dear,” JS looked out her window again. “I haven’t seen anything except trees and snow. Where even are we?”

“I have no idea,” Matt shook his head. “That just makes things worse-”

“Matt stop!”

Matt slammed on the breaks and the car screeched to a halt.

“What? What’s wrong?” Matt asked.

“Look!” JS pointed. “There’s a path into the woods over there.”

Matt looked and saw that she was right.

“So?” He asked. “Forests have paths.”

“No, that is way too clean to be natural,” JS said, “Someone would have had to make it. I bet it leads to a house or a cabin or something.”

“You want to go into the woods to hopefully find someone living in a very very remote wilderness?” Matt asked. “That... that goes against so many common sense rules.”

“Have more faith,” said JS. “And we’re doomed either way. We can either keep driving and run out of gas and then freeze to death when night comes... or we can try this path. If we find nothing, then we find nothing... but we should at least try.”

Matt thought it over and sighed.

“Fine, we’ll try it,” he said as he pulled the car over. “But if there’s a serial killer in there, please promise you’ll use your super strength powers to protect us.”

“I promise,” JS smiled and flexed her arm.

They got out of the car and JS wrapped her coat around Robbie. The zombie looked around in confusion and shivered.

“Coooooolllld,” he said.

“I know, Honey,” JS said. “We’re gonna find help soon, ok? And then I’ll get you a treat for being such a good zombie.”

Robbie smiled at that, and they all began to follow the path through the woods.

“You know, it’s kind of pretty out here,” said JS. “This would be a really nice vacation spot. Imagine the epic snowball fights you could have!”

Again, Matt couldn’t help but chuckle. There was just something about her that seemed to raise everyone’s spirits when she spoke. It reminded him so much of the crazy antics him and Ro had gotten up to together in the past.

“Oh,” he suddenly saw a very large and very luxurious looking cabin. “Well... you were right. Someone does live here. What... what should we do?”

“We knock,” JS said. She scaled the steps to the porch and knocked before Matt could stop her.

“Careful!” He hissed as he and Robbie caught up with her. “It could be dangerous.”

“Super strength,” JS said as she flexed both arms. “I can handle it.”

They both fell silent as they heard footsteps from inside. The door then opened, and Matt’s eyes grew wide.

“Well, well...” the man who had answered the door had dark eyes and purple eyeshadow that trailed down his cheeks to his jaw line. “Here’s a face I never thought I’d see again...”

Matt took a step back. No way in hell...

“Hello!” JS stepped in front of him. “We got lost out here and we were hoping you had a phone that we could use?”

She smiled brightly, and the man’s eyes moved to her before moving to...

“Robbie?” the man gasped. “What are you doing out here?”

“Maaaaareeee!” Robbie moved forward and gave the man a hug.

“Hey,” the man chuckled and ruffled Robbie’s hair. “Marvin told us you got captured-”

His eyes widened as he realized what Robbie’s presence meant.

“Come inside,” he said, opening the door wider. “Quickly!”

Matt felt better that Robbie seemed to know this man. He knew the man too... kind of.

“Nate!” The man called as he shut the door. “Company!”

There were more footsteps and then an actual friend appeared.

“Nate!” Matt said in shock. He glanced between Nate and the other man. “But... I don’t... Oh! Wait... you have them too? Egos?”

“Oh good, you already know about them,” Nate sighed in relief. “Well, I guess you would. Phantom told me all about Madpat. You remember Natemare here.”

Natemare grinned at them, and Matt suppressed a shudder.

“Oh I could never forget him,” he said.

“What are you guys doing out here?” Nate asked.

“Well, that’s kind of a long story,” said JS. “Do you have a minute... or two... or twenty?”

“Come sit down in the kitchen and I’ll get you something warm to drink and eat,” Nate said. “And tell me everything.”

Chapter Text

“How did they escape!”

The man listened to the person on the other end of his phone call. He growled in frustration and had to stop himself from throwing his phone across the room.

“She’s tiny! How did she cause so much damage?!” he asked. His eyes widened slightly. “Super strength, you say... and I trust you saved the recordings from the security cameras.” He listened some more. “Good. Put her file with the others, she may be useful. How many do we have left?”

He picked up a photo from his desk as he listened. The photo was of a man who had dark hair and a suit. The photo was grainy around the man as if there was some kind of energy or radiation that emanated from him. He put it down and picked up another photo. This one had a man who was wearing a lot of pink.

“Double the security,” he finally said. “Enough have escaped to alert the big targets. Keep an eye out for anyone else we can use as bait and do your damn jobs!”

He angrily ended the phone call and sighed as he looked over the rest of the photos: A man with a bleeding neck, a woman with glasses and a bandana tying her hair back, a man with reflective sunglasses, and more.

“It’s so frustrating to have to spend so much time and effort picking off the guppies... when the sharks are just waiting to bite at your hooks,” he smiled. “Well... the waters will be chummed enough soon....”

ELSEWHERE

“I have good news,” Overkill said as he entered Dark’s office. He paused when he saw that Dark had a small French bulldog sleeping on his desk, but then continued. “My associate was successful with installing the software in their systems. They managed to find and destroy it, but Deb was able to copy some of their data before they did. She’ll need time to decrypt it, but hopefully it will be information on where everyone is being kept. They also managed to recover Sean.”

“That is good news,” Dark agreed. “Host has been very frustrated that he cannot find the missing people himself. He says something is blocking them from his Sight. I think I might know what’s causing it, and I very much hope that I’m wrong.”

“What do you think it is?” Overkill asked.

Dark was silent for a moment.

“I’d rather not say anything until I have more information,” he said. “Thank you for your assistance so far. I hope you’re... settling in well here.”

“It’s a bit chaotic,” Overkill smiled. “But I know there are good people here. That’s all I could ask for. I’ll let you know when I get any more information. From what I’m told, Sean needs time to recover before he’s well enough to travel.”

“Keep me informed,” Dark reached out and started petting the dog. “And thanks again.”

ELSEWHERE

“And that’s... pretty much it,” said Matt.

Three identical faces stared at him from across the table. Another of Nate’s egos, someone named Phantom, had joined them during Matt’s story. Robbie was sitting next to Matt and chewing on a rare steak. JS was on Matt’s other side, lightly blowing on her hot cocoa.

“Wow,” Nate finally said. “Sounds like a hell of a time. I’m glad you’re ok.”

“Me too,” Matt chuckled. “So what are you guys doing out here?”

“We’re protecting our creator,” Natemare said, setting a hand on Nate’s shoulder. “When youtubers started going missing, we grabbed him up and decided to hide out here. It’s very remote, and we wanted to keep Nate safe.”

“Where even is ‘here’?” Matt asked.

“Montana,” Phantom shivered and pulled his black fur coat tighter. “Ghastly weather, but we couldn’t find anywhere else that was remote enough in time.” He paused, and then began to smile. “Although... if you fled from the enemy, that means that they are only a few hours away from here. So we’ll need to move somewhere else to keep Nate safe.”

“No!” Natemare said. “No, you just want to go back because you hate cold weather.”

“Your love of cold and snow aside,” said Phantom. “It’s for Nate’s benefit. The enemy will be looking for them, and they might find us as a result. How about we go to Florida? Florida is very far away.”

“So is Alaska,” Natemare countered. “We could go there.”

“I will never go to Alaska,” Phantom growled. “If I am ever found there, please assume that I fell from a plane that was flying over it.”

“At this rate,” Nate mused. “We might need to get with Mark. We can’t just keep waiting around while others get captured. We need to do something to stop this.”

“That’s right!” said JS. “No one left behind. We should help them!”

Nate glanced at JS and squinted slightly.

“Do you belong to Rosanna?” He asked. “I swear you look familiar.”

“She’s Rosanna’s,” said Matt.

“I had no idea Rosanna had egos,” Nate said. “That’s interesting.”

“Well, she did have a character from when we did A Heist with Markiplier,” Matt mused. “So... that ego might be running around too.”

“Ooh! I have a sister?” JS asked. “That’s so wonderful. I want to meet her.”

“And apparently my character from that show is also running around,” Matt sighed.

“Another one?” Nate asked. “Phantom only told me about Madpat.”

“I thought he was the only one,” Matt shrugged. He suddenly looked awkward. “I... how is he? I haven’t really... spoken to him much...”

“Dunno,” Nate shrugged. “Phantom and Natemare haven’t been by that safehouse in a long time. Last I heard, he was doing ok... which I thought was weird when you consider what happened.”

“What?” Matt looked confused. “What do you mean?”

“You don’t know?” Now it was Nate’s turn to look confused. “Madpat died.”

“He what?!” Matt said. JS gasped loudly from her seat next to him.

“Yeah, apparently he was working with some of the others to help save the world,” Nate shrugged. “They managed to succeed, but Madpat died as a result, but then a couple of gods brought him back because of all the good he’d done for them. Phantom told me it was pretty epic.”

“Oh no,” JS said. “The same thing happened to TD...”

Matt was shocked. Madpat had left that part out when they’d met and spoken. He’d only told them about how he found the safehouse and then later about his dark past. But he had helped save the world and sacrificed himself to do so? That changed so much...

“So what do we do now?” JS asked. “You said there was a place for us to go?”

“I do think it would benefit everyone to stay at Mark’s safehouse,” said Phantom. “Dark told me that several others have taken shelter there as well because of all this. Besides, Robbie’s brothers are there and they would be very happy to have him back.”

“True,” Nate mused. “And as nice as it is here, I’m not really suited for so much snow. I say we move.”

“Ha!” Phantom pointed at Natemare. “We’re going back to the sun and warmth!”

“Ugh,” Natemare groaned. “I hate you both.”

“Well, we all love you,” JS smiled at him.

Chapter Text

I was chosen for this job because of my skills in this field, but I can’t help but feel as if I’ve sold my soul to the devil. They didn’t tell us anything about the project before we shackled ourselves with legal jargon and our signatures. That was a mistake, I should have been more careful. I should have known something so secret couldn’t be good.

It was a group of us that were chosen and hired. They put us on a bus with blacked out windows and drove us to some remote facility. They told us that we would be studying an unknown... specimen. That’s the only word we knew it by.

And it was easy to see why.

No one knew what this thing was. It was massive, and it had incredible potential to be powerful. Maybe it was, but we had captured it in a weakened state. They told us to study it. Find out what it is and what it can do. Spare no expense and leave your conscience and your ethics at home. The security of the world was at stake, and we were no longer playing around in college labs.

We did what we were commanded to do. We had no choice. For months, we studied it, we experimented, we spent so long trying to figure it out. It got to the point where they brought in occult experts. They had information on it too. They could fill in the blanks on our reports. We managed to find a middle ground, a blend of science and superstition that finally unlocked the door and revealed the thing’s secrets.

But it came at a cost. It died. Just crumbled into nothing.

They told us to celebrate. We had learned so much from it and now we were ready to tackle a different threat: egos.

Of course, none of us had any idea what an ‘ego’ was, but they were quick to tell us. Fictional characters portrayed by actors and actresses that had somehow come to life. We were skeptical, thinking it was all a joke or that some idiot had seen a cosplayer and raised an alarm.

But they had proof, and they showed us all.

What we saw on those videos was nothing like we had seen before. People were teleporting, summoning fire, shutting down electricity, and doing so much more. And they did these things with their bare hands. They told us that these ‘egos’ were a threat to the world and that our new mission was to find a way to capture and contain them.

There were quite a few SCP jokes thrown around when they weren’t listening to us.

They split us up. Some went to work on a different project while the rest of us were told to scour the internet for any information on the egos. It was... odd. Our research had us watching youtube videos and reading posts from websites like Reddit and Tumblr and even something called Archive Of Our Own. Though... that last one was a bit tricky as we had to figure out what was ‘canon’ and what was something known as ‘fanon’ or an ‘alternate universe’.

Not to mention that some of the stories were... graphic.

There didn’t seem to be too many people who had egos, but these people had more than one. In fact, one youtuber alone had dozens, and more than half of them were violent and homicidal in some way. I began to understand the concern. These egos were very powerful and very dangerous. They could easily topple governments if they wanted to.

The first ego we captured looked normal enough. If we didn’t know who he was, we’d have thought him just another average joe. He was working on a construction site and nothing about him screamed otherworldly or dangerous. He was just working for a paycheck and paying rent every month to a landlord. The documents we found matched up to an identity in our records, and it looked solid... unless you knew what to look for. We had seen fake documents before, but finding a matching fake identity in the government’s system was whole other level.

They tried to speak to him, but he kept his mouth shut for each interview. He knew that we knew, and he wasn’t going to try to play dumb like some thought he might. He just straight up refused to speak at all. All we had was his name: Randal Voorhees.

They chose me to try next. He seemed to warm up to me. At least, he spoke. He told me that he was just trying to make a living in this world like everyone else. No harm in that, right? His powers couldn’t even be considered dangerous as his only power was the ability to build things at a much faster and efficient rate than your average worker... or even your average machine.

There was no way he’d be able to hurt anyone or destroy whole cities like the others, but they still made us imprison him.

The next ego was captured while she was enjoying some ice cream on a park bench. The others laughed at how she could be considered dangerous when she was so small. Unlike Randal, she had no problem talking to us.

It was pleasant to talk to her. She was bubbly and friendly and funny, but we all quickly noticed that she would only talk about herself and not anyone else that she knew.

“It’s not nice to gossip behind someone’s back,” she’d said.

She told us she was known as The Jet Setter, or JS for short. She told us stories about a cursed carnival and a supernatural museum and how she’d even died a few times. That had raised several eyebrows and started an investigation into if it was even possible for an ego to die. From there came the theory that you could kill the egos by killing the person who had created them. That’s still untested and no definite conclusion has been drawn.

They hired me to help protect the world and contain a threat, but something’s bugging me about all of this. I can’t help but think that something else might be going on. I want to look into it, but I fear for my life if I do manage to uncover anything. I’ll have to keep this journal safe in case anything happens to me.

After all, it’s not unheard of for a government to murder people to keep their works and projects a secret from the public...

Chapter Text

Some of the egos managed to escape! And they took one of the youtubers with them. Our boss is raving mad, but... I can’t help but feel relieved. I’m falling into a pit that I don’t want to fall into just yet. A pit where people think it’s ok to torture or blackmail or threatens someone’s loved ones. I understand that the world is at stake, but what line do you stop at? Where does the bar sit?

Davidson didn’t turn up to work today. They say he was dismissed because he was poking his nose where it doesn’t belong. They reminded us all that if we are meant to know something, they will tell us. Any other information is highly classified. They say that Davidson went home, but... I’m not so convinced.

I want to learn. I want to help. But it seems that the deeper I go, the darker it gets...

They’ve captured another ego! This one was heavily sedated when he was brought in. I saw them carry him to one of the cells. Such a strange outfit to be wearing. White and black with a cape... like something from a comic book.

He’s a special one. He needs special containment. The men who caught him said he can fly, so they are ordering him to be chained to one of the walls to keep him on the ground. They want me to examine him, but I’m scared. I know they will use what I find. Any weaknesses I list will be used against him.

Maybe I can fudge my report. Maybe I can give him a chance...

I examined him today. He was barely coherent, they gave him enough drugs to bring down an elephant. But the guards say they have to or else the sedatives won’t work. Either way, he didn’t say much during my examination.

But he did say that he’s a superhero...

His musculature is very pronounced but slender at the same time. Like he was built for agility and speed. If he can fly, I would assume that he would be shaped to be aerodynamic. I would love to see him fly. I bet it’s quite the sight to see. Other than that, I couldn’t find any obvious signs of special powers or abilities. I’ll need to convince them to allow me to speak to him. I’m sure I can get more information that way, and information is worth more than gold these days.

Besides, he seems to be the type that you would not want as an enemy. No harm in making friends...

The Host hummed softly to himself, grabbing Dark’s attention. They were both enjoying a break on the back porch, sunning themselves and breathing in the fresh air. Dark had Rosanna’s dog in his lap, and said dog was snoring slightly.

“What’s wrong?” Dark asked.

The Host was silent for a moment.

“The Host had a flash of a vision,” said Host. “But it was not very clear. Someone out there will have a great effect on us, one they were put on this earth to fulfill...”

“Is that good or bad?” Dark asked, petting Blueberry’s back.

“The Host is unsure,” said Host. “There are too many outcomes. The future is not yet decided.”

Dark sighed heavily, leaning back and rocking his rocking chair slightly. As much as he appreciated The Host, the man could really get his anxiety thrumming. Sometimes he wished that he could just forget some of the things that Host told him. Host had told him many possibilities of events so far into the future that Host could barely see a thing. Dark made sure to keep those visions on a list he kept in his desk. They weren’t clear now, but they would make sense one day...

“The Host apologizes,” said Host. “He wishes that he could say more.”

“Don’t worry about it,” said Dark. “You do plenty for us. I could never fault you for not knowing when no one else can even hazard a guess. But... are you still unable to see the others? The ones who were taken?”

Host gravely nodded.

“The Host has tried everything he can think of,” said Host. “But he cannot-”

He suddenly fell silent and seemed to stare straight ahead. Dark looked at him with concern.

“Host?” He asked. “Are you ok?”

“Matthew Patrick is free,” Host said. “He escaped with Robbie and another ego that Dark has not met. They have taken refuge with Nathan Sharp, Natemare, and Phantom...”

“You can see them?” Dark asked. “But you can only see them now that they have gotten free?”

“Indeed,” Host nodded. “The Host is still stumped as to what could be causing the black outs. But he can clearly see Matthew Pattrick and the others. Perhaps we should inform Stephanie Patrick. She has been very worried...”

“Hmm... not yet,” said Dark. “I would hate to give her hope and then have something bad happen.”

Ethan sighed as he looked for something to do. Being cooped up had pushed his ADHD into overdrive and he was restless. He was sprawled on one of the couches, idly tossing a dog toy to Chica With Angel Wings and Spencer. Spencer had been overjoyed to have so many new dogs to play with, but Ethan could not say the same about his new housemates.

He was still getting used to everyone. True, no one had hurt him, but a lot of the egos were... intimidating. Ethan still remembered the first time he met Darkiplier. To him, he may as well have met Satan. Actually, Satan would have been less scary. Dark had welcomed him warmly, but Ethan knew enough about the ego to know that Dark could easily turn him into a blood smear on the nearest wall.

And then he’d met Wilford and Google and Anti and Dawktrap and others. Each one had a fond memory in Ethan’s mind, but still made him freeze in terror. When Wilford was twirling a gun around you, you didn’t make any sudden movements.

“Bonjour!”

Ethan sat up and saw one of Sean’s egos smiling at him. Such a familiar greeting to him...

“You look bored,” the ego said. “Come with me and we will paint. Or I will paint and you will pose. It will help pass the time, non?”

Ethan shrugged. He had nothing better to do.

“Sure,” he said. “I’m Ethan.”

“My name is Jacques,” said the ego. “I know you. Tu es le garcon bleu. Come with me, Bleu. The easel is calling my name!”

Ethan couldn’t help but snort in amusement. This guy didn’t seem so bad...

Chapter Text

His name is Silver Shepherd.

He’s a superhero, a man of many powers. They’re still keeping him drugged, and he hates it. He says the drugs make him feel as if bugs are crawling in his veins and make his skin itch. He can’t think and he’s hallucinating.

They say he’s too dangerous to keep awake, they want to put him into a medically induced coma until they know what to do with him. He doesn’t deserve such cruelty. I feel as if I should do something, but I don’t know what to do. I have no power here and more people are being ‘dismissed’ for various reasons. The higher ups are all silent on what they want exactly. Any question is either ignored or they crow about safety and peace.

I don’t buy it. Something is going on here, but I don’t know what. Either way, it would seem that there’s no

They just brought someone in, I can hear them. They’re talking about him. It’s an ego. A powerful one. They say he will come in handy and he’s going to change everything. I don’t like the sound of that.

I’m scared.

I’m trapped.

I need to get out of here somehow...

Chapter Text

It was strange to walk into a room and see a group of people who all shared your face. Ethan wasn’t expecting this and, judging by the others’ expressions, neither were they. But Ethan knew these people. In a way. He remembered playing them, he knew the names they’d been given.

“Jacques,” said Mike. “What the hell, man?”

“You did not inform us that he would be here,” said Father Ethan.

“I’m not dressed for this!” MerEthan crossed his arms in an effort to hide his bare chest.

“Don’t like... surprises...” Blank nervously stepped back.

“Hi!” Maidthan beamed.

“I apologize for not telling,” Jacques strode over to his canvas and easel. “But I thought that if I did, you would not show up. And I didn’t exactly hide anything. I did say that I want to do a group painting.”

An uncomfortable silence followed Jacques’s words as Ethan’s egos tried to think of what to say. Mad Mike fussed with the collar of his shirt, MerEthan ducked as much into the water the bathtub he was reclining in would allow, Father Ethan looked curiously at Ethan, Maidthan was still beaming, and Blank was fidgeting with his bracelets.

Ethan cleared his throat, unable to take the silence for much longer.

“So...” he said. “I’m Ethan. But... I’m sure you guys already knew that. I... I’ve been meaning to meet you guys, but... to be honest, you’re all kind of intimidating. Especially Mark’s...

His egos nodded, understanding his words.

“And, since we’re all here... why don’t we get to know each other?” Ethan said. “Um... Jacques? H-How do you want us all to pose?”

Jacques smiled. This was going to be an amazing painting.

ELSEWHERE

Matt slurped up some noodles and savored them as he chewed. The food they’d served him during his imprisonment had tasted awful. But Phantom was surprisingly a good cook. Pasta was a specialty of his, and Matt agreed. He'd never had noodles so soft and flavored as these before.

JS was beside him, showing Robbie how to twirl the noodles around his fork. Robbie was trying, but most of the noodles would fall off back onto his plate. JS finally just shrugged and told Robbie to go ahead and use his hands, tucking a napkin into his shirt collar as she did so.

“So what’s the plan?” Matt asked. “Are we going to Mark’s or hiding somewhere else?”

“I haven’t decided yet,” said Phantom. “Isolation has pros and cons. Such as, if they are after creators and their egos, then they will be drawn to that safehouse like a moth to the flame. But... if we are alone, we will have less help with fighting off any attacks.”

“How much damage could the do?” Natemare asked. “I bet any egos they’ve caught are small fry. They probably haven’t captured any powerful ones like us.”

“We shouldn’t underestimate them,” Phantom shook his head. “We don’t know who they are or what they are capable of. All that we do know is that they’re after us all.”

“And they’re very mean,” said JS.

Natemare snorted.

“Yes,” Phantom smiled. “And they are very mean.”

Nate opened his mouth to say something, but there was a sudden crash in the living room. Everyone leapt up, and Matt pulled JS and Robbie behind him. Natemare did the same to Nate, and Phantom carefully approached the living room. He blinked when he saw that something was there.

“What... is that?” Nate asked.

It looked like some kind of reptile, but no one could be sure.

“It’s a Runner,” said Phantom. “A demon that’s used to deliver messages or search for things. Very fast. Someone must have summoned it.”

“Wasn’t me,” Natemare shrugged.

The reptile opened its mouth and released an ear piercing screech. Everyone covered their ears to try to block out the noise, but it did no good. The reptile finally stopped after a moment.

“Ow...” Matt dug his finger in his ear. “What was that?”

“A message,” said Phantom. “The one who summoned it is being held prisoner in a strange facility. I’m willing to bet it’s the same place that you were being kept at. It must have been an ego who summoned it.”

“So what do we do?” Nate asked. “We can’t just launch an attack on this place.”

“Hmm...” Phantom thought about it. “Inform your master that we know of his plight. We are already working on a plan to free anyone captured. We will not forget him.”

The reptile blinked slowly... and then took off. Matt shrieked as he leapt out of the reptile’s path, and it was gone.

ELSEWHERE

“Get in there!”

Thomas was shoved into the room and he heard the door slam and lock behind him. The room was bare save for a mattress on the floor. Thomas slowly stood up from where he had stumbled and sighed.

This was the second time they had moved him. He’d overheard them mention an escape that warranted being moved, and this place was no better than the last cell he’d been kept in. He still had no idea why he’d been captured in the first place, and no one seemed intent to tell him or help him. It was just like in the movies. There was probably some guy petting a fluffy cat while he watched over a wall of tv monitors or something...

“What am I going to do?” Thomas sighed.

“Oh? Who’s there?”

Thomas yelped and spun around, hearing a voice behind him. He looked around, but... didn’t see anyone. He blinked and narrowed his eyes.

“I must be going crazy,” he said.

“Not quite,” the voice said. “There’s one direction you didn’t look in...”

It took Thomas a moment to figure out what direction the voice was referring to.

Up.

Thomas slowly looked up... and saw a pair of glowing purple eyes watching him from a dark corner of the high ceiling. Thomas couldn’t really see what the eyes were attached to, but he could see movement in the shadows. It looked like long limbs...

“H-Hi...” Thomas began to back away, and the creature began to slowly follow him, crawling along the ceiling. “Um... I’m Thomas. Thomas Sanders. I-I was... I was captured... like you probably were too. I... I don’t really know-”

The creature lunged from the ceiling, and Thomas fell to the floor in his effort to get away. He scrambled back, throwing his arms up as if to protect himself, waiting for the attack...

But it never came.

Thomas slowly opened his eyes to see a face that looked relatively human... and almost kind of cute. Its hair was black and its face had been painted white with rosy cheeks and a blue streak under each eye. The creature’s body was very lanky with long thin limbs. It was hanging by what looked like several strings, and caught in the strings with it was a scary looking mask and a strange box.

“Please don’t kill me,” Thomas said, eying the creature’s fingers. They were very long and ended in sharp points.

“Why would I kill you?” the creature giggled. Its voice sounded male, but it was also very light and echoed slightly. It also had an accent. “You haven’t done anything...”

“I... I’m just...” Thomas slowly stood up and backed up another few steps. “I-I don’t know where I am or... or why I’m here.”

“Me neither,” the creature rearranged itself until it was hanging on the strings as if sitting on a swing. “I was having so much fun before this, but then they came and took me away.”

“That’s awful,” said Thomas. “Um... I’m Thomas. What’s... what’s your name?”

“They call me The Poopet,” said the creature. “Because my creator has a very strong accent...”

From this angle, Thomas could see that the creature’s body was completely black... or maybe it was just wearing some kind of body suit. It had large white buttons on its chest and stripes on its wrists and legs.

“Poopet,” Thomas repeated. “It’s... nice to meet you.”

“It’s nice to meet you too, Thomas,” Poopet smiled. “We’re going to get along great. I can tell. We’re going to be very very good friends...”

Chapter Text

This new ego... they weren’t kidding. He really is powerful. But apparently his power can be easily taken away or stifled. They think it’s funny to see him yell and curse at them. They like to mock him and taunt him. He won’t say anything in his interviews, just glares at whoever is speaking. There’s a rumor going around that the higher ups have a particular interest in him and will be coming to see him.

We don’t know what they hope to achieve...

They gave me another ego to interview. He’s a security guard of some sort and he always seems to be very nervous. He constantly looks around himself as expecting for someone to appear at any moment. He speaks so softly during our interviews and my heart breaks for him. He's terrified to be here, he says he just wants to go home. He says his shift is over and he should be allowed to go home. He also says he misses his ‘puppet friend’.

I want to help him too. If I can get Silver out of here, I’ll ask him to take this ego with him too. I’m sure he’ll be very safe with someone like Silver. As for a puppet... I think I saw a file on an ego that had strings like a puppet. I don’t know where they are, though. They have us spread between multiple places. Some of us are going to be moved to a new facility. If I’m chosen, I’ll need to figure out a plan before I go.

I don’t think anyone else here is willing to help these egos. But if I help them escape and am discovered, I have no doubt that I’ll be facing down the literal firing squad. Could there be a way to save them without getting caught?

I need to find their files. They should have more information that I can use...

Username: DrThoruf 
Password: B3!yYzuX7 

Chapter Text

Thomas’s new roommate was a little strange...

Inhuman looks aside, he loved to wait by the little flap in the door and grab the wrist of whomever was shoving the trays of food into the cell. Sometimes he gnawed on the other person’s hand, sometimes he licked it, other times he just held it in a tight grip. But he never did any actual damage, he just thought their reactions were hilarious.

It kinda reminded Thomas of Joan.

With nothing else to do, Thomas decided to ask Poopet about himself. He was kind of curious as to how this creature had come to exist.

“I was like you once,” Poopet said. “I had a beating heart. I had bones. I had ssssssskiiiiinnnn...”

He traced one of his pointed fingers over Thomas’s face.

“I was the night guard,” he continued, swinging slightly in his strings. “Back when William Afton walked the halls like a king in his castle. Back when everything was just starting to go to hell. I should have seen the writing on the wall and run far far away, but... I was young...ish. I needed the job.”

“So what happened?” Thomas asked as he ate the stale bread they’d given him.

“Afton had a better use for me,” said Poopet. “One night I went into work and then... I never left. I still don’t know what Afton did with my body. Whether he burned it, buried it, sealed it up in a wall somewhere... All I remember was the pain. It hurts to have your soul torn out. It hurts to have it sewn into cloth and wood. I remember the pain... and the lullaby. The lullaby that put me to sleep whenever I wasn’t needed.”

“Needed?” Thomas asked.

“I think I was meant to replace someone,” said Poopet. “Or some... thing. But Afton vanished and people started dying, so I never discovered just what I was meant to do...”

They were silent for a few minutes.

“Maybe that’s not such a bad thing,” said Thomas. “Sometimes it’s good to not have anything to do.”

Poopet shrugged.

“Maybe,” he said. “But I do know one thing I need to do. I need to get out of here...”

“Why don’t you just leave?” Thomas asked. “You seem strong enough to break out.”

“My music box,” said Poopet. “They have it. It’s the only way they were able to catch me... because that music box makes me fall asleep and I can’t wake up until the music stops.”

“So... if we got that music box back, we could escape?” Thomas asked. “Not... that I don’t mind hanging with you... I just need to get home.”

Poopet leaned in uncomfortably close. He was so close that Thomas could see the chips in his paint.

“If you get me my music box back... I’ll help you get to wherever you need to go. My box of tricks,” he reached up and tapped the white and red box that hung from one of his strings, “can really come in handy. But they’re useless if I fall asleep...”

“Box of tricks?” Thomas repeated, glancing up at the box. “Sounds interesting...”

“It is!” Poopet beamed. “In fact...” he opened the box and pulled out a Freddy Fazbear plush. “Why don’t you take this?”

“Um...” Thomas carefully took the plush, half expecting it to explode. “Thanks.”

“Just make sure that you never lose him,” said Poopet. “Never... ever... lose him...”

“Sure,” Thomas chuckled nervously. “I won’t.”

What was he getting himself into?

ELSEWHERE

“I think I got something!”

Beauregard looked away from the board of evidence she was going over as Bing carried his laptop over to her.

“Dude!” He looked excited. “This new hacking software is totally righteous! Makes things totally easy! Anyway, here’s what I got.”

He set the laptop down a began tapping at the keyboard, bringing up rows of data and maps.

“This company here. It only has a few planes, but one of those planes has recently been to the UK and Sweden around the times that Dawko, Sean, and Zalzar went missing,” he said. “Each time, the plane came back to the same hanger which is privately owned. I went to the website of the company, and it’s a skeleton site. Looks good, but you can’t actually do anything on it. Totally sus! And even more, from that hangar, the planes went to four different areas before coming back. I think this is it.”

“Does it say where the planes went?” Beauregard asked.

“No,” Bing shook his head. “I barely got this information before it was scrambled. They’re encrypting their data as fast as they create it or just outright deleting it. But... if this software is as good as Overkill says, I might be able to get more info. Still, this is good, right? I... I did good?”

“You did great!” Beauregard smiled and hugged him tightly. “Great job, Bing! I knew you could do it!”

Bing puffed his chest out proudly and struck a pose.

“Google can suck it,” he said. “For all that talk about fancy tech and ****, I don’t see him doing anything.”

“But we need to keep going,” said Beauregard. “We need to know where those planes went. Only then can we rescue the others.”

“Yeah,” Bing picked up his laptop. “I’ll get back to it. I just wanted to give some good news. Figured we could all hear some.”

“Thank you, Bing,” TD called from where he was lying on the couch.

He was starting to get a migraine from all the work he’d been doing. He hated leaving a puzzle unsolved, and that’s what this all was: a puzzle. A big one. An important one. One that he needed to solve.

But it was like trying to put a puzzle together when you didn’t have all the pieces... or even know what it was supposed to look like. But Dark was counting on them, and so were all the others who had been imprisoned. Including his own creator, according to Madpat.

TD sighed and rubbed his hands down his face. He'd taken off his glasses hours ago, eyes burning from trying to read through the yellow tint for so long. He was exhausted and they had very little to show for it. Overkill was promising more information as soon as it became available, but even then he didn’t know what kind of information it would be.

TD covered his eyes with his arm, letting the other one flop over the side of the couch. He couldn’t give up. Not yet-

His eyes opened and he suddenly sat up. His sources were whispering in his ear, and the information they gave was something that he’d been wanting to hear for months.

“Jess...” he said softly. “She’s out there?”

Chapter Text

Dawktrap was busy fiddling with his headset.

It hadn’t been working lately. Every time he tried to contact his followers, he got nothing but static. If he tried to jump into another reality, however, it still worked. This had never happened before. He’d never had his headset work and not work at the same time. It was as If every other door opened to him except one...

Dawktrap put the headset on and once again tried to tune into the frequency of his followers. Again, nothing but static and white noise. He sighed and went to take the headset off-

>NEW USER FOUND

“Huh?” Dawktrap stared at the message for a moment.

He knew what it meant. He could connect with people on the same frequency as himself. People who were tainted by Afton’s ‘influence’. There was only one other ego he knew of who was on that frequency with him.

>NEW USER FOUND

<<SCAN FREQUENCY

>SCANNING...

>SCANNING...

>FREQUENCY COMPATIBLE

>CONNECT NOW?

<<CONNECT

>CONNECTING NOW...

>TIME LEFT... 10 SECONDS...

>CONNECTION COMPLETE

Dawktrap opened his eyes to find himself back at the pizzeria. It served as a central hub for him, and made a good meeting room whenever he ‘invited’ others. He could only hope that Poopet wouldn’t ignore him.

They weren’t on the best of terms...

“And here I wondered if I would ever see that mangy rabbit head of yours again...”

Dawktrap looked up and found Poopet in his usual perch: hanging above the prize counter. Poopet’s form looked odd, as if it were nothing more than a projection. It technically was. Poopet and Dawktrap weren’t actually here, they were only connected virtually. Poopet needed no headset of his own, having his own powers to establish and maintain a connection.

It made Dawktrap slightly jealous, but then... his virtual powers were much more powerful than Poopet’s. He’d let Poopet have his little trick...

“How are you doing, Pinnochio?” Dawktrap grinned.

He dodged when a Fazbear basketball was thrown at him.

“You know I don’t like being called that!” Poopet snapped, his eyes glowing brightly in the dim lights. He slowly lowered himself, allowing Dawktrap to see his face better. “But... I am glad to see you. As sickening as it is. It means that they haven’t caught you...”

“Caught me?” Dawktrap repeated, dropping the party hat he was fiddling with. “You’ve been caught?”

“I’m not the only one,” said Poopet. “I have a cellmate, and he’s a youtuber. And there are more here. I can hear them sometimes...”

“Why are you still there?” Dawktrap took a step closer, setting his hands on top of the prize counter’s glass display case. “You should be able to escape...”

Poopet sighed and retreated back into the shadows, moving slowly in his strings like a spider on its web. Dawktrap tilted his head and looked to a very specific shelf behind the counter. The shelf was empty.

“Your music box,” he said. “They took it?”

“They took it!” Poopet roared, lunging down at Dawktrap. “They took it and then they imprisoned me! I’ve tried to get it back several times, but it’s well hidden... and they use it on me before I can find it. I know they are experimenting on it... trying to find a way to keep it wound indefinitely so that they can keep me asleep. Make me into a truly lifeless puppet...”

Dawktrap shuddered despite himself. He may not get along with Poopet all that well, but even he had to admit that such a fate was cruel.

“We’re working on finding everyone,” said Dawktrap. “Do you know where you are?”

“Not a clue,” Poopet sighed. “There are no windows in this cell, and I was asleep when they brought me in. They took some of my strings too... As if having some of my strings stolen once before wasn’t bad enough. I swear, when I find that imp who stole them... I’ll rip his throat out even worse than that gash he already has...”

“Relax,” Dawktrap said. “Those strings will only live so long as you’re there, otherwise they can’t be used to control others. When we get you out of there, they’ll die.”

Poopet said nothing for a few moments.

“I’m scared,” he finally said. “This all reminds me so much of that night... of Afton. These people are not good. They’re trying to accomplish something, and I don’t know what it is, but I know it’s nothing good. You have to get me out of here and fast.”

“We’re working on it,” Dawktrap said. “But there’s only so much we can do. I didn’t even know you’d made it over. Has Dawkguard made it over too?”

“I have no idea,” Poopet shrugged. “Afton never touched him so he doesn’t have a connection like us. Maybe he made it over, maybe he didn’t...”

“Damn,” Dawktrap shook his head. “I’ll keep as a ‘maybe’. In the meantime, try to keep your head up. And don’t give them a thing. Don’t say anything either.”

“I haven’t, and I won’t-” Poopet’s eyes widened.

Dawktrap heard it too. A familiar tune coming through the speakers.

“They’re coming!” said Poopet. “They have my music box playing!”

“Poopet!” Dawktrap leaned forward and grabbed the other’s hand. “I swear we’re going to rescue you. On Foxy’s hook, I swear it!”

“Please hurry...” Poopet’s form was glitching out. “Please...”

Poopet vanished.

>CONNECTION LOST

Dawktrap removed his headset with a growl.

“Damn it!” He slammed his fist against his desk. “Damn them! I’ll kill them all!”

First his followers and now this. Brother aside, Poopet was very powerful. He’d been gifted those powers by Afton and whatever black magic he’d used to create Poopet. If they fell into the wrong hands... Dawktrap didn’t even want to think about it.

Dawktrap set his headset aside and quickly left his room. He rushed through the house and up the stairs to Dark’s office. Dark was inside, having another meeting with Overkill and The Host.

“Dark!” he burst through the doors. “We have a serious problem.”

Dark straightened up and narrowed his eyes.

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

“They’ve got my brother,” said Dawktrap. “And if we don’t rescue him... there’s a good chance we’re all doomed.”

Chapter Text

“Ok... we can do this, Freddy. We can do this...”

Dawkguard stared at the Freddy head he always kept close by. The head said nothing back to him, but he wasn’t expecting it to. He sighed and shook his head.

“I can do this,” he said. “It’s scary, but I can do this. We have to escape, Freddy. We gotta get out of here. Gotta get help. Maybe then the others can be saved too.”

He was terrified. He was alone, he had no place to go, he had no means to survive...

But he couldn’t stay here. He was pretty sure he’d end up dying here. And he hadn’t spent so long fighting the Freddys and Chicas and Foxys and Bonnies just to die here. He would get out of here and... he’d figure out what to do after that.

“I can do this,” he said softly. “I can do this. Be brave... Gotta be brave...”

He had to be brave, even if he knew he wouldn’t stand a chance if the guards found and fought him. Unlike the animatronics (and the weird glitching man) that had tormented him, Dawkguard was on the smaller side. He was only about five feet and six inches tall and slender to the point that his uniform was actually a bit baggy on him. Granted, that was more because they didn’t have his size when he was hired...

He slid his Freddy head on and settled down to wait.

They had asked him about his Freddy head. The doctor had. The nice one. He’d told them about it, how he’d used it to survive his shifts at night, but he didn’t tell them about the special ability it had in this world. How it rendered him invisible to anyone who wasn’t an ego. He felt bad about leaving the nice doctor behind. They’d become the closest thing he had to a friend in this prison...

Dawkguard didn’t know how long he waited until the little flap on his door opened. He saw a tray of food get shoved in, but the flap didn’t close.

“Huh?” He heard rustling sounds as if someone was moving around outside his cell door. “The hell?”

The flap finally closed and the door opened. A big mean looking guard stepped inside and looked around.

“Where are you?” He growled. “You know better than to hide!”

Dawkguard stood on shaky legs and carefully snuck out of the cell. He took slow and silent steps until he was further down the hall, then he began to walk faster. He didn’t dare run, there was too much risk of running into someone around a corner. He had to be slow and careful if he wanted to make it out alive...

It had taken him so long to work up the nerve to attempt an escape. He had to keep moving lest he lose it. And if he did, he knew it would be even longer before he’d try again. This was his one chance...

Dawkguard called for the elevator and nervously waited for it. He kept looking up and down the hall, then flinched and nearly cried out when he heard the guard from earlier sound the alarm. He pressed his hands over his mouth beneath the Freddy head, and his eyes widened. He heard the elevator lurch to a halt and the screen over read ‘Override Needed. Emergency Use Only’.

No! This wasn’t good. He needed this elevator...

He flattened himself against the wall, watching guards rush past him and down the hall to his cell. His fingers dug into the plaster, locked with fright. What could he do? Find some stairs? How many floors down was the ground?

He looked up when he heard footsteps. It was the nice doctor! They looked around as they walked down the hall.

“Get out of the way!” one of the guards barked. “This floor is being closed off. One of the subjects is missing, and we don’t need you making things worse.”

The nice doctor rolled their eyes and then swiped their badge on the pad next to the elevator. Dawkguard heard the elevator start up again and stifled a sigh in relief. The elevator doors opened and the nice doctor stepped inside. Dawkguard carefully entered the elevator as well, staying pressed against the wall. The nice doctor pushed the button for the fifth floor.

Dawkguard was already trying to think of his next step. This elevator would take him to the fifth floor. After that, it would stop and he wouldn’t be able to override it without a badge. Maybe he could take the doctor’s? Oh, but then they would get into trouble. He didn’t want that...

Soon enough, the elevator dinged and the doors opened again. The doctor moved to step out, but then they paused. Dawkguard’s eyes widened as they slowly turned to look around the elevator. They looked... confused. They stepped back into the elevator and swiped their badge before hitting the button for the ground floor.

“Did I forget something?” they said softly. “Must have. I’ll need to look for it.”

Dawkguard had no idea what they were talking about, but he stayed silent as the elevator continued to descend. The doors finally opened again, and the doctor stepped out and walked off. Dawkguard carefully got out and looked around. There were security cameras, but he knew from experience that it was impossible to watch all the cameras at once...

He was taking a risk, but it was necessary.

He found an exit and quickly walked out through the door. Now he was outside, but it was going to be impossible to get through the security that surrounded the place. The guards out here had dogs and they would smell him...

Lucky for him, he found a man loading something into the back of a truck. The man walked back into the building, and Dawkguard seized his moment. Before he could think about it any further, he rushed forward and climbed into the back of the truck. As he settled down, he heard the man return. The man tucked a blue tarp over the back of the truck, and then walked off. The truck suddenly roared to life, and Dawkguard felt a swell of relief as it began to move.

He was doing it! He was actually escaping! All by himself, too.

He was starting to sweat in the Freddy head, but he didn’t dare take it off. Not yet...

Dawkguard didn’t know how long the truck drove until he felt it stop and heard the man leave. He carefully peeked out from the tarp and saw that it was night time and the coast was clear. He climbed out and removed the Freddy head before calmly walking away as if he hadn’t just escaped some highly guarded facility. As if he wasn’t technically a fugitive on the run.

He still had to get away. They would be looking for him, and he could only hide for so long. He found a bus station, but he had no money for a ticket. A bus was leaving soon for... Las Vegas? That was far away, that would be a good place to go, right?

But he still had no ticket.

He deflated slightly with a groan. What was he going to do now?

“You ok, Hun?”

Dawkguard yelped and looked up to see an older woman staring at him. She had a bus driver uniform on.

“U-Um...” Dawkguard curled into himself. “I-I just... I don’t have a... a ticket.”

He sounded so pitiful, and the driver frowned.

“Are you trying to get away from someone, Hun?” She asked, noticing the bruises on his face and arms. “Is someone hurting you?”

Dawkguard gave a small whine as he nodded. He just wanted to get away from here so that he could be safe...

“Oh, you poor thing,” the driver said. “Here, come on my bus. I’ll let you ride for free. I can’t in good conscience leave you here when you clearly need help.”

“Huh?” Dawkguard looked surprised. “O-Oh! You... you don’t have to-”

“It’s the right thing to do,” the driver slid an arm around Dawkguard’s shoulders and ushered him to her bus. “Here, sit up here behind me. No one will bother you.”

There were only a few other people on the bus, but Dawkguard still sat all the way against the window. He held his Freddy head tightly to his chest and sighed. He was so tired and hungry... but he couldn’t stop now.

Could he?

The bus was moving now, and Dawkguard watched the bus station vanish from sight.

Maybe he could rest for just a little while... His eyes slid closed as he fell asleep, still clutching his Freddy head.

Chapter Text

Someone else has escaped.

The night guard I had interviewed before just vanished! No one knows what happened, and the cameras didn’t see anything. I’m happy, but also worried. They think I had something to do with it, but I didn’t! At least... I don’t think I did. There was that weird moment in the elevator. I was about to get out and go get lunch in the cafeteria, but... something told me to stay and take the elevator to the ground floor instead.

They’re going to move me to a different facility. One that has heavier security. I think they suspect me, but they can’t prove anything, so they’re sending me somewhere that will be harder to help an ego escape. I swear I didn’t have anything to do with his escape! I was just going to lunch and forgot to grab something on the ground floor.

Either way, I hope the night guard is ok. He was always such a sweetheart. I still have the Cuddly Foxy sticker he gave me in the first interview...

Don’t forget umbrella.

Lunch: 3-4pm

Send report to Mr. A for previous interview.

“Hun? Hun, you need to wake up.”

“Mmm?”

Dawkguard groggily opened his eyes and tried to sit up. It took him a few tries because the angle he’d slept against the window had done him no favors and made his neck and back rather stiff and sore. He finally managed to sit up and stretched until his back popped.

“We’re here, Hun,” said the driver. “Las Vegas. Do you have a place to stay?”

Dawkguard froze as he realized that his problems were not over. He frowned and slowly shook his head.

“No,” he said. “I don’t have anywhere...”

The driver gave him a look of pity and dug in her pocket.

“Here,” she pulled out some cash. “This should at least get you a few nights in a hotel. And make sure you get some food too. You’re so skinny that shirt is hanging off you like a scarecrow.”

“Oh, you don’t have to-” Dawkguard faltered when the driver shoved the money into his hands.

“You’re no older than my youngest, and if I was your mama, I’d want you safe,” the driver said. “Just promise me that you’ll take good care of yourself, ok?”

“I... I promise...” Dawkguard pocketed the cash and his eyes lit up. “Oh! Here... I have... I can give you... stickers?”

He pulled out a small bundle of Fazbear Crew stickers and held them out to the driver. She took them with a smile.

“How cute,” she said. “My kids play these games. Thank you.”

Dawkguard got off the bus and looked around. Yep, this was Vegas. He could feel his skin crawl at all the hidden dangers. He’d have to be careful-

“Hey baby!”

Dawkguard looked over to see a group of women calling to him.

“Come have some fun with us!” One of them called over to him.

Dawkguard choked and then promptly rushed off in the opposite direction. He could feel the eyes of every person he passed, clutching his Freddy head tightly as if afraid that someone would steal it. He looked at any nearby hotels, trying to figure out which one was within his price range. All the ones on this street looked like luxury hotels who would probably laugh at him if he tried to get a room.

He sighed and looked around. Maybe he could buy a map from a store?

He ducked into an alleyway and put his Freddy head back on. He was at least safe this way, no one would be able to see him. He carefully wove through the crowd of people and grabbed a map from one of the street vendors. Stealing was wrong, but he was a little desperate...

Dawkguard pulled the head up to see better, hidden behind a statue next to a store, and opened the map. He chewed on his thumbnail as he looked it over, but it seemed to be a map for tourist attractions. With a sigh, he tossed the map into a nearby trash can and lowered the head again.

Two years of working for the ‘Fazbear Family’, two years of living in a tiny apartment and struggling to make ends meet because the ‘Fazbear Family’ was cheap as all hell. How had he ended up here, lost and alone in a bustling city with nothing but a handful of cash and the clothes on his back?

He stood behind the statue as he tried to come up with a plan, slowly smacking his head against the wall next to him. There had to be something he could do. It couldn’t end like this. Maybe... were there people who could help him? A homeless shelter? A charity? But where would he find one?

“What do we have here?”

Dawkguard yelped as he noticed someone standing in front of him. He reached up to pull his head down... but it was already lowered. He was wearing it, so why could this man...

“Are... are you an ego?” He asked, raising the head to get a better look. The man looked rich, wearing a smart red and black suit and carrying a cane.

“An ego?” the man tilted his head. “Ah! You must be one too.” He tilted his head the other way. “You look lost...”

“I am,” Dawkguard said. “I... I was... I was being held prisoner. I only just escaped, but I have nowhere to go.”

The ego’s eyes widened as he spoke.

“Prisoner?” He asked. “Were you up in Montana?”

“I don’t know,” Dawkguard shrugged. “I hid under a tarp in the back of a truck when I escaped and then took a bus here.”

“But your ticket would say where you took the bus from!” the ego said. “Let me see it.”

“I didn’t have a ticket,” said Dawkguard. “The driver felt bad for me and let me ride for free.”

The ego said nothing as he looked at Dawkguard with narrowed eyes.

“You look very familiar,” he said. “How old are you?”

“I’m nineteen,” said Dawkguard. “My creator is Lewis Dawkins...”

“That’s why you look familiar!” The ego snapped his fingers. “I know where two of your brothers are. We’re actually on our way there now. They’re at a safe house for egos. You can stay there for now until we get things figured out.”

“R-Really?” Dawkguard looked hopeful. “I can really stay there?”

“Of course!” The man slid his arm around Dawkguard’s shoulders and began to lead him back to the street. “I’m sure Dark won’t mind. For tonight, you can stay in our hotel room. I’ve already hunted for a few souls and I’m ready to turn in for the night.” He glanced at his watch. “Early morning. Just be quiet when we get there, my friends will all be asleep. I’m Phantom, what’s your name?”

“Dawkguard.” He slowly allowed himself a smile. Maybe things wouldn’t be so bad...

Chapter Text

Mr. A was busy.

That ego had escaped, and the higher ups were breathing down his neck to keep it from happening again. He knew what he was doing, he didn’t need anyone to gripe at him. It only looked bad because the higher ups were idiots who couldn’t see the bigger picture. And that’s what was important: the bigger picture.

He was the new guy, so of course people doubted his capabilities. No matter how hard he worked or how many good results he got, he was still sneered at and brushed aside as If he were nothing.

Oh, but he would show them. They would all see just what he was capable of...

Mr. A looked up when there was a knock at his door.

“Come in,” he called.

“Hello sir,” the doctor said as they came in.

“Dr. Thoruf,” Mr. A smiled at them and gestured to the chair in front of him. “Please sit down.”

Dr. Thoruf did, looking very nervous.

“There’s no need to be scared,” Mr. A said. “I merely wanted to have a nice chat since you are now under my authority and we will be working together.”

“Oh,” said Dr. Thoruf. “Yes, I was surprised that I was transferred to you. I thought that I would be placed in a different department...”

“No,” Mr. A shook his head. “I requested you specifically. Your work is phenomenal, and I think this is the best place for you to be. Maybe you can help us with the subjects we have here. They’re a bit... stubborn.”

“I’ll certainly try my best,” said Dr. Thoruf.

“I did want to address something,” Mr. A slid on a pair of glasses and looked at a file on his desk. “On your health chart, in the section that asks if you are male or female... you circled both. Why is that?”

“Um... I am what’s known as genderfluid,” said Dr. Thoruf. “I feel that I am both male and female and sometimes it shifts. I prefer to go by they/them pronouns to make things easier...”

“Strange,” said Mr. A. “Your previous supervisor neglected to tell me that.”

“He... doesn’t believe in genderfluidity,” Dr. Thoruf said softly. “He just called me whatever he wanted...”

“I see,” Mr. A said. “See, this is why I wanted to speak to you. It’s important to know these things. Now... it says here that you got your degree at a very prestigious university. You majored in psychology and also took a course on critical thinking as well as... literature. Is that correct?”

“Yes sir,” Dr. Thoruf nodded. “I graduated with high honors.”

“And this is your first official job out in the field, as it were,” Mr. A removed his glasses and set the file aside. “I imagine you must feel a bit out of your element. Your coworkers said you were a bit of a loner. You only really talked to the subjects but otherwise sort of... kept to yourself. Is there a reason for that?”

“I just... work best when alone,” said Dr. Thoruf. “Without distractions, you know? Especially when I have to write these detailed reports from the interviews. Some of these subjects are quite... complex. I don’t want to get anything wrong.”

“And that is very admirable,” Mr. A smiled again. “Well, it’s good to meet you. Please let me know if you need anything and keep submitting those reports. They have proved to be very helpful.”

“Of course,” Dr. Thoruf smiled and stood up. “Thank you for meeting with me, sir.”

They shook his hand and then made their exit. Mr. A looked at their file again, eyes narrowed slightly. This one might become a problem if he wasn’t careful...

ELSEWHERE

Of course Phantom would be staying in some kind of luxury suite...

“What are you doing?” Phantom asked as he unlocked the door.

“I don’t want to track in dirt,” Dawkguard said as he removed his shoes.

Phantom glanced down and snorted in amusement. Dawkguard was wearing Bonnie patterned socks.

“I had an employee discount,” Dakguard said defensively. He wiggled his toes slightly.

“No, they’re adorable,” Phantom chuckled. “Come on in.”

Dawkguard followed Phantom into the suite and stared. The suite was HUGE. He had no doubt that it was bigger than his old apartment, and it was so much more lavish. He walked deeper into the suite, turning his head from side and side to take it all in.

“I bet you’re hungry,” Phantom led him to the kitchen area. “We got room service earlier, but they’ve already closed. We have plenty of leftovers, though. You can chow down on whatever you want.”

“Oh!” Dawkguard pressed his hands against his stomach as it growled loudly. “I-I don’t want to impose.”

“We won’t be here much longer,” said Phantom. “It would be a shame to let this food go to waste. Help yourself, you’d be doing us all a favor.”

Dawkguard fidgeted with his security hat. He slowly set his hat and his Freddy head aside and glanced around Phantom at the enormous fridge that stood behind him.

“Well... if you’re sure,” he said. “I could... maybe just make a sandwich...”

Phantom laughed.

“Sure,” he said. “The rooms are taken, but the beds are pretty big if you want to just squeeze in.”

“I’m sure the couch will be fine,” said Dawkguard. “Um... thanks for this. I don’t... I don’t know what would have happened if you hadn’t found me.”

“To be honest, I was hoping to get a deal out of you,” Phantom grinned. “You looked so desperate. Anyway, good night. Don’t forget to eat something.”

He left for one of the rooms and Dawkguard looked at the fridge again.

“Just a sandwich,” he said as he opened the door. “Maybe some fruit-”

His eyes widened and he gasped softly.

The containers of leftovers were clear plastic, allowing Dawkguard to see what they held. Burgers, chicken, steaks with tender pink middles... there was even pasta and desserts. It was food that Dawkguard dreamed of, but could rarely afford. His paychecks were a joke and most of his food was either ramen or canned food. To have such fresh portions... large ones too...

“Holy crap,” he said softly. “There’s so much.” He paused. “Well... Phantom did say that it would go to waste otherwise. And I could get captured again. I should eat as much as I can while I’m still able to...”

He slowly pulled out one of the containers. It was a beautiful pasta with lobster and some kind of creamy sauce. Dawkguard’s mouth was already watering, and he pulled out another container that had what looked like nachos. He hesitated... and then he grabbed another container that had a large piece of chocolate cake.

“Ohmygodohmygodohmygodohmygod....” Dawkguard muttered as he heated the food up. He then took his haul to one of the couches and turned the television on.

“If I die...” he took a large bite of pasta, savoring the noodles and lobster meat, “I die happy...”

He settled back against the couch cushions, propping his feet up on the coffee table. 

Chapter Text

Dr. Thoruf sighed as they looked over another subject’s file. The facility they had been moved to had subjects that they had not interacted with yet, and Mr. A was counting on them to help out and possibly get the subjects to speak. They had no idea why Mr. A seemed to have so much faith in them. Granted, they did seem to be able to get the subjects speak without much effort. They didn’t know how they did that, the subjects just seemed to like them...

“Get back! Make way! Coming through!”

Dr. Thoruf looked up and their eyes widened as they saw a group of guards coming down the hall. Between them was a stretcher with something on it. Whatever it was looked like some kind of long limbed creature with a painted face. One of the guards was holding some kind of music box that played a song. The guard made sure to keep the box wound and the music playing.

As they passed, Dr. Thoruf could see the creature was asleep and whimpering softly, fingers twitching and shaking. They held their breath as the creature passed by and stared after it as the guards took it further down the hallway.

“Are you ok?”

Dr. Thoruf jumped and spun around to see Mr. A standing there. He looked concerned.

“Oh! Mr. A. I-I just... I was a little... startled, I guess. I’ve never seen that subject before...” they said. “I’ve also never seen a subject moved like that...”

“Yes, well... we decided it would be best for everyone’s safety that this subject have his own cell,” said Mr. A. “This is the only way to safely move it without risking injury to anyone else. I assure you that it’s fine, it’s merely sleeping. But... I can understand why seeing this would be... distressing.”

Dr. Thoruf nodded silently, fidgeting nervously with the file they were still holding.

“How about this?” Mr. A began to steer Dr. Thoruf down the hall in the opposite direction. “Why don’t you take an early lunch? And add... thirty minutes to it. Take some time to calm down. It wouldn’t do for your work to suffer because of your emotional state.”

“I-I... sure,” said Dr. Thoruf. “Yeah, that sounds nice right about now. Thank you, Mr. A.”

“Of course,” Mr. A smiled. “And remember... if you ever need to talk about anything, my office is always open.”

“Yes sir,” Dr. Thoruf nodded. “Thanks again.”

ELSEWHERE

JS yawned softly as she woke up. She carefully untangled herself from Robbie’s limbs and then climbed out of bed. Sunlight was shining through the curtains, revealing the huge room she was in. She walked into the attached bathroom to brush her teeth and try to comb through her bedhead. Maybe she could ask for a hair brush to be sent up? Was that asking for too much?

JS went back into the bedroom and smiled as she pulled the blankets further over Robbie. She left the room, intent on grabbing something to eat, but she paused when she heard a noise coming from the living room area.

It was... a young man. Someone she’d never seen before.

He was asleep and sprawled out on the couch, snoring slightly. JS blinked, unsure of who he was and where he’d come from.

“JS.”

JS turned around to see Phantom beckoning to her. They went into the kitchen area and Phantom began to fiddle with the coffeemaker.

“Who is that?” JS asked.

“His name is Dawkguard,” Phantom explained. “I found him last night. He apparently escaped from a facility like you did. His creator is missing, but two of his creator’s egos are staying at the safehouse we’re going to. I figured he could tag along.”

“Of course he can,” JS said. “It... might be a bit of a tight fit in the van, but... I’m sure we can make it work. I can always sit on someone’s lap...”

“You won’t need to do that,” Phantom chuckled. “I’ll just make the van bigger, don’t worry. But... I was hoping you could keep an eye on the kid. He’s a little jumpy and he could probably do with a more... gentle touch.”

“You got it!” JS saluted. “I’ll take good care of him. Are these containers from him?”

She pointed at the small pile of empty food containers that were stacked in the trash can. Phantom looked at them and blinked in surprise.

“Guess so,” he said. “I did tell him to help himself. Poor kid must have been starving.”

“I don’t blame him,” JS shook her head. “They didn’t feed us very well at that place. He did look a little skinny, we’ll need to feed him. Well, I’m glad he’s coming with us. He looks so young! He shouldn’t be going through all this trouble. Anyway, what are we doing today?”

“I want us all to have a talk before we go anywhere,” said Phantom. “And I need to call Dark and let him know about the kid. But first I’m going to call his brothers and see if they recognize him.”

JS nodded and went back to the living room as Phantom dialed a number on his phone and waited for the other line to pick up.

“You’ve reached Freddy Fazbear’s where the prices are killer and the children never leave! How can I help you today?”

“Dawktrap,” Phantom snorted. “It’s Phantom.”

“Phantom!” Dawktrap said. “What’s going on? I heard you guys were coming to stay with us.”

“Not just us,” Phantom walked back into the living room and snapped a picture of the sleeping ego. “I found someone last night.” He walked back into the kitchen and began pouring some coffee. “He says he’s one of Lewis’s egos. I’ll send you a picture real quick. Let me know if you recognize him.”

He sent the picture and waited for Dawktrap’s response. A sudden shout came from the phone, causing Phantom to yank it away from his ear. Obviously, Dawktrap knew this ego...

“OH MY GOD!” Dawktrap screeched. “Oh my god, it’s Dawkguard! Little Dawkguard! Darko! Hey, Darko! Look! Look, look, look! It’s Dawkguard! He made it over and they found him!”

“Dawkguard?” Phantom could hear Darko speaking. “Is he ok? If they hurt him...”

The silent threat hung in the air.

“Is he ok?” Dawktrap asked, voice now at a reasonable volume.

“He’s a bit skittish,” said Phantom. “And a bit bruised. And I think they all but starved him. Last night he ate... one bowl of lobster pasta, a double cheeseburger, half a medium rare steak, some fries, and a piece of chocolate cake. Wow... I’m surprised he didn’t get sick.”

“He’s always been a bit skittish,” said Dawktrap. “And he’s been eating Fazbear food for who knows how long. His stomach has to be made of iron by now. Bruised, you say? Ooh... we’re gonna need to have a chat with him and find out who did it. I’ll be sure to slit their throat for it.”

“Leave some for me!” Darko said in the background.

“Just make sure you get him here safely,” said Dawktrap. “He may not look like much, but he can be pretty handy in a pinch. You don’t want them to get ahold of him again.”

“Don’t worry,” said Phantom. “We’ll get him home. I just need to talk to Dark first and get things settled. And I want to make sure the kid has a chance to rest.”

“We’re counting on you,” said Dawktrap. “We’ll see you then.”

Chapter Text

“You want to interview the subject known as The Poopet?” Mr. A asked. “Why?”

“We’ve been keeping it asleep, but surely there is a better way to restrain him,” said Dr. Thoruf. “I want to interview him so that we might find a more... humane method.”

Mr. A sighed and ran a hand through his dark hair.

“Dr. Thoruf,” he said. “You are a brilliant individual... and your heart is as big as your brain. I understand your concerns, but you must remember why we are doing this. This is for the safety of the entire world. Imagine what kind of havoc these subjects could cause. They could destroy everything and kill-”

“I don’t think so,” said Dr. Thoruf. “In most of my reports I explained the psychological profiles of many of the subjects. I don’t think any of them would desire to murder and destroy. I can feel it.”

“You can feel it,” Mr. A said. “You would risk the safety of this world and all the people in it... on a feeling?”

“I... W-well...” Dr. Thoruf floundered, but Mr. A stood up.

“Dr. Thoruf, your empathy is admirable,” he said. “But in circumstances such as these, we must think with our brains and not our hearts.”

“But...” Dr. Thoruf hesitated. “Surely the Poopet could be restrained a different way. Keeping him asleep is just... so cruel.”

“Is it?” Mr. A asked. “It’s sleeping peacefully, and I’m sure it’s having good dreams. I know it’s not ideal, but it’s necessary for now. But I promise... as soon as we can safely allow it, I will let you interview it. But for now, I want you to focus on someone else. We have three different youtubers that you can interview instead. See if you can get any information out of them. One of them must know where their egos are...”

“Yes sir,” Dr. Thoruf wilted. “I’ll get on that...”

ELSEWHERE

“Twenty six chapters and you’re just now mentioning me?” Wilford pouted.

He was still upset over losing his link with The Audience. Of course, he could still wind his way behind and between the scenes, but the window to The Audience was boarded up, and the corgi wasn’t in their room. He knew that the corgi had not forsaken them. They never would. But it made him a bit uneasy not knowing where they were exactly.

Especially with so many people going missing these days...

“What happened?” Jackie asked. “I haven’t seen or heard them since that whole Xyler business.”

“It would appear that they are blocked off,” said Wilford.

“Again?” Jackie asked. “Do we need to talk to Devil Mark?”

“I don’t think it was him,” said Wilford. “I think that this time it was done for a reason. The corgi wouldn’t just board up the windows without a good reason. I’d ask, but... they don’t seem to be around these days.”

“Is that bad?” Jackie looked worried.

“I wouldn’t worry,” Wilford smiled and ruffled his hair. “Let’s keep our heads up, lad. I’m sure everything will be fine.”

Jackie didn’t look so convinced.

ELSEWHERE

When Dawkguard woke up, he found himself staring into the eyes of what could only be a zombie. Anyone else would have freaked out, but for Dawkguard... he’d seen much worse. A zombie wasn’t nearly as bad as murderous animatronic.

“Mooooorrrrrniiiiiing,” said the zombie.

“Is he awake, Robbie?” Dawkguard heard a different voice. “Come eat some pancakes and let him get up.”

Robbie smiled and rushed to get his pancakes. Dawkguard yawned and slowly got up, stretching his limbs and popping his back. The room smelled amazing with hot breakfast foods that had probably been delivered by room service. Dawkguard wasn’t starving anymore, but he wouldn’t say no to some eggs and bacon... and maybe some sausage... and a bagel.

“You’re hungry?” Phantom asked, seeing how Dawkguard was sniffing the air. “After all that food you ate last night?”

“It was so good,” Dawkguard groaned. “I’ve never had lobster before. Had a bit of a stomach ache afterward, but it was worth it!”

“You shouldn’t stuff yourself so much or you’ll get sick,” said JS.

“Morning everyone,” Matt yawned as he entered the living room area. He did a double take at Dawkguard. “Who’s this?”

“Someone you’ve been dying to meet for a long time,” said Nate. “A living breathing FNAF security guard.”

Matt’s eyes widened slightly.

“No way,” he said. “So you know all about the Afton Family and how things work with Fazbear Entertainment and the animatronics, right?”

“Not really,” Dawkguard shrugged. “I never really got into all the hype like the others did. They’d come by and try to interview us and figure out what was true and what was a rumor.” He shook his head. “I always thought it was kinda stupid to dissect and obsess over such silly things so much...”

“Yeah...” Matt chuckled. His eye twitched slightly.

“Come eat, Matt,” JS pulled him over, sensing the tension in the air. “We have plenty!”

“I called your brothers,” Phantom said as he sat down. “They’re very excited to see you.”

“Brothers?” Dawkguard repeated, reaching for some bacon. “But I’m an only child...”

“I mean other egos that your creator made,” said Phantom. “They sounded very excited to meet you. You’re much younger than they are. You said nineteen, right?”

“Nineteen?!” Matt said. “And you were working at Freddy Fazbear’s?”

“Since I was seventeen,” Dawkguard said.

“Seventeen?!” JS asked. “They let you work there at that age?”

“I think they were too excited at the fact that I had a pulse to worry about my age,” said Dawkguard. “But I worked the night shift at every location they had, I think. The rules changed each time, but the bottom line was always the same: Keep them in and everyone else out.”

“Why did you keep working for them?” Matt asked. “Didn’t you think maybe the job was a bit dangerous?”

“They kept promising to move me to a day shift,” Dawkguard said. “And I needed the money. Besides, the Sister Location wasn’t that bad. Ballora was actually very nice, she taught me how to dance.”

“She didn’t try to kill you?” Matt raised his eyebrows.

“Nope,” said Dawkguard. “But Baby did. I almost got scooped! But I managed to escape and they moved me to another place.” He was silent for a moment. “I miss Ballora...”

“Morning everyone,” Natemare yawned as he appeared, bedhead looking fabulous. “I smell food. Feed me.”

“Grab something to eat and come sit down,” said Phantom. “We have a few things to talk about before we leave.”

Chapter Text

“Gladys!”

Lewis looked over from the wall he’d been staring at to see that weird reptile crawl back into their cell. Scout happily picked Gladys up and smiled brightly.

“Did you find anyone? Are we going to be rescued?” He asked.

Gladys made some weird growling sound and Scout frowned.

“Bad news?” Lewis asked.

“Gladys found someone who can help, but they said they have to come back for us,” said Scout. “No idea when that will be.”

Lewis sighed, covering his face with his hands. Things were getting dicey. He’d overheard some of the guards talking about others escaping and how they might just put everyone into one facility with security beefed up until it would be impossible to escape. If they didn’t get out now, they might lose any chance of doing so.

“What do you want to do?” Scout asked. “Do you want to wait or try to escape ourselves?”

“You’ve heard what they’ve been saying,” said Lewis. “We might not get another chance. If you know a way out of here, we should try it.”

“We could get killed,” Scout said as he pet Gladys’s back. “Are you willing to risk that?”

Lewis had never really risked his life before. Then again, he’d never been captured by crazy people and kept in a cell before either. He had to decide if the risk would be worth it. Did he dare put his life in danger? At least for now it seemed like he would be ok, but that could change in the blink of an eye. Which route would be safer?

“Yes,” he finally said. “If I stay here... I could die here as well. At least... at least this way I have a chance. Even if it’s a slim one, it’s still a chance. If you know a way to get out of here, we have to try.”

Scout slowly smiled and Gladys vanished from his arms.

“You would have made a great scout,” he said. “I do have an idea, but there’s no guarantee it will work. If you’re absolutely certain, then we’ll try it.”

“Let’s do it,” Lewis stood up. “I’m ready.”

Scout once again removed his summoning badge.

“I’ll need some of your blood,” he said. “For safety precautions.”

Sure. Why not? Lewis had already done a bunch of weird stuff lately. He held his hand out, and Scout began the summoning ritual. An intense heat filled the room, and Lewis felt as if the air had suddenly become charged with electricity. He felt a sharp pain in his hand and saw that something had cut it, and it was now bleeding.

“Dennis!” Scout called. “I summon you.”

Lewis once again covered his face as fire and smoke flash in front of him. When it cleared, he lowered his hands... and gasped.

Dennis... was an enormous undead moose.

Entrails hung from his massive horns, and you could see muscle and bones through patches of decayed flesh. His eyes glowed a bright yellow, and he made a low noise as he nuzzled Scout’s hands.

“Dennis,” Scout smiled. “Good boy. It’s so good to see you again.”

“He’s... he’s going to help us escape?” Lewis asked.

“He will,” Scout said. “We’re going to ride him out of here. Or... we’re at least going to try...”

Lewis swallowed heavily. Too late to turn back now...

ELSEWHERE

“We have information,” Overkill said. “Deb was able to decrypt the data we received. Most of it was useless, but we did learn a few things.”

He pressed a few different colored pins into the map on the board.

“We have the location of three facilities,” he said. “One is in Montana, one is in Texas, and one is in Ireland. There were a few reports of an escape from the facility in Montana. Two egos and a youtuber were able to escape: JS, Robbie, and Matthew Patrick.”

“We know about them,” said Dark. “Phantom was kind enough to inform us. Do we know about anyone else?”

“We found out that the youtuber known as Lewis Dawkins is in the Texas facility,” Overkill said.

“Texas?” Dawktrap asked. “Why put him there if there’s a facility in Ireland?”

“Easy,” said Overkill. “When you’ve captured someone, you want to keep them in an area they are not familiar with. They’ll be less likely to have any allies to help them, any places to stay or hide in, and it’s easier for them to get lost because they don’t know what’s around them.”

“Makes sense,” Dawktrap shrugged. “So when are we going to rescue him?”

“We can’t rush into it,” said Overkill. “We don’t know what kind of weapons or defenses they have there. And if we’re not careful, they’ll take everyone else and move them somewhere else and make it that much harder to find them.”

“So what do you suggest?” Dark asked.

“We would have to hit each facility at the same time,” said Overkill. “That way, they won’t be able to move anyone and we’ll be able to rescue them all. The data we got says that there is a fourth facility, but doesn’t give the location. Deb is working on it, and we’re doing all that we can here too. Bing has a lead, I’m sure he’ll get more information for us too.”

Dark was silent for a moment.

“Very well,” he said. “We’ll wait.”

“What?!” Dawktrap growled. “We know where Lewis is and we’re going to leave him there to rot?”

“Overkill has a point,” said Dark. “If we go rescue him, we’ll be telling them that we know where they are, and they’ll move everyone else so that we cannot find them and we’ll be right back to where we began. We have to wait.”

Dawktrap growled, but said nothing further.

ELSEWHERE

Dr. Thoruf yawned as they headed to the cafeteria. They’d been putting in so many hours of work and were exhausted. But their work had been highly praised. Mr. A had told them that they were providing valuable information and to keep up the good work.

“Dr. Thoruf.”

Speak of the devil...

“Mr. A?” Dr. Thoruf asked. “What’s wrong?”

“I’ve been thinking about your request,” said Mr. A. “Perhaps we were too hasty. Maybe it would be a good idea to have you interview Poopet. I’ve already submitted the request and I’m just waiting to hear back. I’ll let you know what the verdict is.”

“That’s fantastic,” Dr. Thoruf smiled. “Thank you. If it’s approved, I promise I won’t let you down.”

“I know you won’t,” Mr. A smiled. “You enjoy your lunch now.”

“I will,” Dr. Thoruf said as Mr. A walked away.

They felt excited. Poopet was such an interesting subject, and they wanted to know more. To have a chance to interview Poopet would be a dream come true.

Dr. Thoruf glanced back at Mr. A and did a double take. Mr. A’s hair had always been pitch black, but... for a moment Dr. Thoruf could swear his hair looked as if it were a much lighter brown...

“I must be more tired than I thought,” Dr. Thoruf said, shaking their head.

Chapter Text

Lewis’s hands shook as they held onto Dennis’s antlers.

Dennis had slowed to a walking pace, a big difference from the galloping he’d been doing earlier. The terrain around them was full of mountains and rocks and miles of...he believed the term was ‘prairie’. It reminded Lewis of the old American western movies he’d seen before.

It also made him feel so much smaller because he was alone.

They’d been so close. So very close to escaping together. Dennis had trampled and stabbed everything in his path, but he hadn't been able to break through the gate. Scout had sacrificed himself to stay behind and open the gate, allowing Lewis to escape on Dennis’s back.

Dennis was very fast, faster than anything Lewis had ridden before. He’d carried Lewis out into the wilderness and then slowed when he sensed there was no danger nearby. Lewis had escaped, but at what cost?

He still remembered the sad smile Scout had given him.

“Don’t forget about me,” he’d said. “Find the others. They’re out there somewhere. Be safe...”

And then he’d run off.

The sun was beginning to set, and thunder rumbled in the distance. Lewis sighed and pat Dennis’s head.

“What do we do now?” He asked. “You wouldn’t happen to know where we are, do you?”

Dennis huffed.

“Thought not,” Lewis sighed again. “I don’t remember much about those old cowboy movies, but I guess it’s all the same, right? Find shelter, build a fire, get fresh water and food... you’ll protect me, right? If anything comes at me looking for a chomp?”

Dennis huffed again and stopped.

Lewis carefully climbed off of Dennis and looked around. There wasn’t much he could do about shelter, but he could still get a fire going. There was plenty of wood and kindling he could use. He gathered up whatever was nearby and tried to find a good place to build a fire. He managed to find a place and carefully arranged what he had.

But he had no lighter, he’d have to do this the old fashioned way.

Lewis started rubbing two sticks together like how he’d seen in the movies. When that didn’t work, he tried banging rocks together. When that didn’t work, he growled in frustration.

And then Dennis inhaled and blew a jet of fire at Lewis’s pile. The pile ignited and a warm fire was soon blazing brightly. Lewis stared for a moment and then threw his arms in the air.

“Of course!” He giggled. “Why wouldn’t you breathe fire? Why did I just assume that you didn’t breathe fire?”

He laughed and then flopped onto his side, his laughter dying down.

“What is going on?” He asked softly. “Everything was normal before this! I was making youtube videos and playing games! What happened to change all of that? Why me? Who were those people in those pictures?! Who's hunting us?!"

Dennis settled down next to him and said nothing. Not that Lewis was expecting him to...

Lewis slowly sat up and leaned back against Dennis’s side.

“Everything’s gone to pot,” he said. “I don’t know what to do. I don’t know if I even can do anything. Why is all of this happening?”

Dennis once again had nothing to say.

The next morning, Lewis woke up to a stiff neck and a burned out fire. He had no idea of knowing what time it was, but the sun wasn’t too high in the sky yet. He stood up and stretched as much as he could, groaning softly as his joint popped.

“A new day,” he said. “Still have no idea what to do, but... staying here isn’t going to solve anything. Maybe we’ll find a town or something...”

Dennis let him climb back onto his back, and Lewis settled down. He held onto Dennis’s antlers and the zombie began to walk.

“We’re waiting every night,” Lewis began to softly sing, “To finally roam and invite...”

Singing was good, right? It would keep his spirits up.

“Newcomers to play with us,” he was singing slowly. “For many years... we’ve been all alone...”

Things would be ok, right? Scout had sacrificed so much for him. He had to find someone to rescue him.

“We’re forced to be still and play... the same songs we’ve known since that day...”

Since when had this become his new normal?

“An imposter took our life away. Now we’re stuck here to decay...”

ELSEWHERE

Dawktrap sighed as he once again removed his headset.

“No luck?” Darko asked.

“Nothing,” Dawktrap set his headset aside. “I can’t connect with him. They’ve probably got him asleep.”

“Damn it!” Darko hissed. “What can we do?”

“Not much,” Dawktrap said. “They have the music box.”

Dawktrap had tried again and again to get back in touch with Poopet after their last meeting. But each time, the headset would inform him that there were no other users online. They had no other way to contact Poopet, so they were left with only their worries.

“Why do they want him?” Darko asked.

“You know why,” Dawktrap said. “If they’ve learned enough about him... then they know about his strings. He can use them to control people. I bet they want to harness that. Poopet said he felt like something more was going on. That they wanted him for something. I’d bet all my Fazcoins that those strings are what they want.”

Darko shuddered. If they managed to harness Poopet’s strings then things were going to get much harder. They had no idea how powerful Poopet’s strings actually were, but William Afton had spared nothing to craft the perfect tool that he’d intended for Poopet to be.

“We have to do something,” said Darko. “We can’t let this happen.”

“We don’t even know where he is,” said Dawktrap. “And if we leave to go looking, we leave ourselves vulnerable. Listen, I highly doubt they have any way of knowing what they’re dealing with let alone knowing how to harness it. This isn’t science, and I’m pretty sure the magic isn’t widely known either. We can’t afford to just go running out there. We have to wait.”

Darko sighed heavily and shook his head.

“I don’t like this,” he said. “I don’t like just leaving him out there, knowing what they’re doing. But... you do have a point. But as soon as we can, you and I are getting him back.”

“Of course,” Dawktrap put his hand up. “I swear on Baby’s pigtails.”

“On Baby’s pigtails,” Darko put his own hand up and nodded.

Chapter Text

Hello all my puppers!

Your favorite doggo is here to welcome you all to a break in the story.

Now I know you’re all thinking the same thing:

“But Corgi... isn’t it usually Wilford who does this stuff?”

Well, you’re not wrong. But due to recent events, Wilford is... unavailable to be here right now. I know, you were all expecting everyone’s favorite candy scented, dapper, mustache-twirling, no-pants-wearing murderer, but you got me instead.

Much disappoint.

Still, if there’s anything I’m known for, it’s audience interaction. As such, I wanted to tell you guys that I enjoy seeing all the theories you have going. I won’t confirm or deny if anyone’s on the right track, but I will say that you guys sure got creative (which isn’t a bad thing).

Anyway, please take this chapter to hash out and discuss those theories along with any observations or clues you may have uncovered. You can also take the time to talk about what you like about this story, what you don’t like, or if there’s a specific ego/youtuber that you want to see.

Thank you all for reading and have a great day/night!

Chapter Text

“Nervous?” Nate asked.

Dawkguard was ducked down against the window of the van, peeking out through it as if hiding.

“Yes,” he said. “Everyone keeps saying they’re my brothers and I want to make a good first impression. What if I mess it up? What if they think I’m a coward?”

“You escaped from a highly guarded military facility,” said Matt. “I hardly think they’re going to think you’re a coward. And even if you didn’t escape, the fact that you’ve been facing off against killer animatronics for two years suggests that you’re incredibly brave.”

“Or incredibly stupid,” Natemare grinned.

Phantom smacked Natemare on the back of his head, frowning at his words. Natemare yelped and glared at Phantom as he rubbed the spot that got hit.

“Don’t listen to him,” said JS. “Everything’s going to be fine. We’re safe here, and they have plenty of food and shelter. Just think happy thoughts about all fun you’re going to have here.”

“I guess that’s true,” Dawkguard straightened up and sighed. “Ok. I’m ready.”

They got out of the van just as Dark walked out to them, accompanied by Wilford and...

“DAWKY!”

“Huh?” Dawkguard had no warning before he was swept up in a hug and literally lifted off of his feet. “Agh! Help!”

“Relax,” Phantom chuckled. “These are the brothers I mentioned. Darko and Dawktrap.”

“They are?” Dawkguard looked between the two egos. “Guys, please put me down. This is a little uncomfortable.”

“Can you blame us?” Darko said. “How can we not give our favorite smol a hug?”

“Smol?” Dawkguard looked at Darko and then at Dawktrap. He frowned. “You!”

“You recognize them?” Phantom asked.

“I dunno who he is,” Dawkguard pointed at Darko. “We never met. But this guy! Oh, I remember him. He made my life hell while I was testing out that stupid VR game. He’d sneak up on me and shout ‘Boo’ right into my ear, he’d make the game glitch, one time he literally tried to blow up one of the levels I was playing, and he even once deleted all my saved data!”

“I restored it,” said Dawktrap.

“Only after I nearly had a breakdown!” said Dawkguard. “It took me forever to get through some of those levels and they were all terrifying! I didn’t want to have to do them all again!”

“This is not how imagined this going,” Phantom said softly to the others.

“Ok!” Dawktrap put his hands up in surrender. “I’m sorry. I was a bad bunny. Can you ever forgive me?”

“No,” Dawkguard said. “I’ll tell you what my boss told me ‘You want it, you have to work for it. We don’t do free handouts at Freddy Fazbear’s’.”

“Fine,” Dawktrap shrugged. “I’ll make you some cupcakes?”

Dawkguard frowned... and then slowly looked away.

“Cupcakes would be a good start,” he said softly.

“Hang on,” Phantom said. “Darko, how do you know about Dawkguard if he’s never met you?”

“I make it a point to know about every member of the Dawko family,” said Darko. “Considering how I’m the head of it.”

“It’s true,” said Dawktrap. “He’s like... the British Godfather.”

“I liked that movie,” said Dawkguard. “Does this mean I have to kiss your ring?”

Dawktrap burst into laughter as Darko shook his head.

“If I may,” Dark quickly stepped forward and spoke over Dawktrap’s laughter. “Before you can get settled, I just need you to register with our security guards. After that, you are free to settle into any of the unoccupied rooms. I would like to welcome you all and hope that you enjoy your stay despite the current circumstances.”

“Thank you!” Dawkguard and JS chorused together.

“Thaaaaaankkksssss,” said Robbie.

Registering wasn’t too difficult. Matt compared it to airline security or something similar. Stand in line, answer the questions, and then have your picture taken. Things were moving smoothly until it came to be Dawkguard’s turn.

“Hey!” Security Nate pointed at Dawkguard’s badge. “You’re a Fazbear guard.”

“I am,” Dawkguard smiled. “How did you kn- oh! You guys are too! Small world...”

They had a brief chat about what location they worked at and the animatronics they had to deal with. They were shocked to hear that Dawkguard’s animatronics had tried to kill him as opposed to being friendly like theirs had been. The Security Egos both gave Dawkguard a nod of respect as they processed his information.

“They had friendly animatronics that sang?” Dawkguard said as they moved on. “So unfair...”

JS opened her mouth to console him, but she paused when she heard a familiar voice. She rushed over to the nearby common area and gasped.

“Teddy?” She asked.

TD froze and slowly turned away from the board he’d been looking at.

“J... Jess?” He said.

Both of them were silent as they stared at each other.

“Teddy!” JS rushed forward and TD scooped her up into a hug, twirling her around.

“Jess!” He said. “I knew it! I knew you’d made it over! I never gave up. But where have you been?”

“I was dead and stuck in purgatory,” said JS. “I had to fight my way out, and I did! I’m so glad I’ve found you! I missed you so much!”

“Teddy?” Abe asked with a grin.

TD’s eyes widened as he remembered that Abe was standing right there.

“It’s my nickname for him,” JS explained before TD could say anything. “You know... TD... Te-ddy. It’s like how he calls me Jess...”

“How cute,” Abe’s grin grew and TD blushed.

“Oh hush,” he set JS down. “You’re just jealous.”

Abe laughed as TD huffed and put an arm around JS’s shoulders.

“Now there’s a sight I haven’t seen in years,” Matt chuckled as he walked into the common area.

TD looked over and his eyes grew wide again. He nervously took off his glasses and smoothed back his hair.

“Mr. Patrick!” He said. “I-I didn’t know you’d be coming...”

“I was saved by your friend JS here,” Matt explained. “She’s really something.”

“Oh I know,” TD chuckled. “You should have seen her when we were in Everlock.” He paused. “I mean... um... I guess you were there... You know what I’m trying to say.”

Matt laughed.

“Do my ears deceive me, or do I heard the faint melody of cupid’s harp?”

TD blushed again as Roman showed up. He tried to make subtle motions for Roman to shut up, but the creative side continued.

“Ah, you are lovelier than the picture he has of you,” Roman said. “It’s good that you’re here. Maybe he’ll be able to cheer up and not be so glum all the time- Agh!"

“Bad Roman!” Remus had appeared and began spraying Roman with a water bottle. “Bad! Leave them alone!”

“Are these your friends, Teddy?” JS giggled at the twins’ antics.

“I guess you could say that,” TD shrugged.

“Remus, stop!” Roman was furiously trying to dry himself. “I was just introducing myself to TD’s... friend... here...”

He trailed off and slowly looked back at JS.

“You... you were there with him, right?” He asked. “When TD was on his brave adventure to slay the evil forces and rescue the town?”

“I was!” JS beamed. “I... didn’t make it, but I gave it my best.”

“But you were there,” Roman repeated. “You went back to 1978 with him. That’s correct?”

“Yeah,” JS said. “Why do you ask?”

Roman and Remus shared an excited glance.

“WE NEED YOUR HAIR!” They said together.

Chapter Text

“You... are a very hard man to find,” Mr. A said to the man who sat in front of his desk.

The man wore a black and gray suit with a leopard print tie. He also wore a rather smarmy smile.

“It’s on purpose, I assure you,” said the man. “In my line of work, a certain amount of... privacy... is needed. But you still managed to find me...”

“I assume you know what I’m going to ask you,” Mr. A said.

“Of course,” the man smiled. “I want the payment upfront.”

“You get half upfront,” said Mr. A. “And the rest upon delivery. It’s going to be a large order and I wouldn’t want you running off to some new hidey hold with all my money.”

“You think so little of me,” the man said in a dramatic tone. “But I’m sure you remember my rates.”

“Of course I do-”

“Add thirty percent,” said the man.

Mr. A’s eye twitched slightly, smile frozen on his face. He slowly took a deep breath and lowered his steepled hands to his desk. He should have expected this. Of course the little rat would pull a stunt like this. This was borderline extortion!

“Thirty percent?” Mr. A asked. “Pray tell... why?”

“You’re not having me build ones like before,” said the man. “You want special ones. These... upgrades... are going to be costly and I expect to be compensated for those materials as well as the extra labor. And like you said... it’s going to be a big order.”

Mr. A took another deep breath and cleared his throat.

“Very well,” he eventually said. “Thirty percent added to the standard rates. Crunch your numbers and give me an estimate. I’ll see what I can do with it. But... I do have a... request.”

He slid a picture across the desk and the man picked it up. His brows furrowed and he glanced between Mr. A and the picture. The picture was of a man that had a pink mustache.

“Start with him,” said Mr. A.

“Him?” the man asked. “Why him?”

“He’s one of the most powerful of the group,” said Mr. A. “And his mind is in pieces. It’ll be interesting to see what you do with that. If you’re successful with him, I have no doubt you’ll be successful with all of them. How long do you think it will take?”

The man looked at the picture again, head tilting as he thought about it.

“A week,” he said. “At most. With any luck I’ll have it done before then. Depends on how well I can get it to work.”

Mr. A kept the smile on his face even while he was seething inside. This man was playing with fire and Mr. A would have no problems with burning him if he wasn’t careful. But he needed what the man could build. So much hinged on it. If the man decided to run off or if he couldn’t deliver... Mr. A would be very displeased.

“Get started as soon as you can,” said Mr. A. “And make sure you send me daily reports. I want to know how things progress.”

“I wouldn’t expect any different,” the man pocketed the picture and stood up. “I’ll get right on it. I know how impatient you get...”

Mr. A said nothing as the other man left.

Dr. Thoruf swallowed heavily as they rested their hand on the doorknob. Their file and notebook shook in their other hand, and they took a deep breath to try to calm themself. This was going to be the most nerve wracking interview yet, but they had to do it.

“Try to soothe it,” Mr. A had said. “Try to make it see that we are on its side. If you can get it cooperate... things will be so much better for it...”

Dr. Thoruf finally opened the door and then walked into the room. The noticed that the table was empty, but the chain that was used for the subjects was stretched taught towards the ceiling. Dr. Thoruf looked up and saw the Poopet hanging from the ceiling.

“That can’t be comfortable,” they said, walking closer to the table. “Don’t you want to come down?”

Poopet narrowed his eyes, but said nothing. Dr. Thoruf sighed and sat down at the table, opening one of the files. They could already tell this was going to be difficult.

“We’re not here to hurt you,” they said. “We’re just... we’re scared. You’re something we’ve never seen before, and we’re worried about what you might do. We’re only thinking about the safety of our world. If you would... just talk to us-”

“Is that what you think?” Poopet hissed, suddenly right in Dr. Thoruf’s face.

Dr. Thoruf cried out and tried to move back, but Poopet grabbed the arms of their chair and held them in place. They leaned back as far as they could go, but Poopet kept leaning closer.

“Do you really believe those lies?” Poopet continued. “This is nothing to do with safety. I’m not stupid, I know they want something! I know you’re all trying to get your hands on something that I have to offer!”

Poopet’s strings retracted, pulling it back up towards the ceiling. Dr. Thoruf screamed as they were suddenly lifted into the air, clinging to the chair to keep from falling.

“Why are you really here?” Poopet asked, holding Dr. Thoruf upside down. “Tell the truth!”

“I just want you to be treated better!” Dr. Thoruf shouted. “I swear! I begged for this interview because I didn’t want you to be put to sleep so much!”

Poopet looked carefully at Dr. Thoruf, trying to see if there was a lie hidden in their words. But Dr. Thoruf seemed to be telling the truth. Poopet drew back slightly, unsure of what to do. He wanted to believe that perhaps he’d found an ally in this doctor, but he knew better than to let his guard down so easily.

With a growl, he dropped Dr. Thoruf, and they hit the floor with a loud smack. They quickly crawled away, pressing against the wall. The door suddenly opened and a few guards rushed in, one of which was holding Poopet’s music box. Poopet fought, but the music soon overtook him and he passed out. The guards carried Poopet out, and Mr. A rushed in.

“Dr. Thoruf!” He knelt next to them. “Are you ok? Are you hurt?”

“I-I...” Dr. Thoruf was shaking. “I’m...”

“Here,” Mr. A helped them stand up. “Come with me. I’ll get you to the nurse.”

He took Dr. Thoruf to the infirmary and the nurse sat them on a bed before leaving to get some ice for their bruises. Dr. Thoruf removed their coat, but paused when they felt something in one of the pockets. Dr. Thoruf reached in and pulled out... a Foxy plush.

“What?” They were confused. “How did this get there?”

Dr. Thoruf shook their hood and put the plush back in their pocket. They’d worry about it later...

Chapter Text

“I am not sending you back in there,” said Mr. A.

“I know that I can do this,” Dr. Thoruf said, holding a pack of ice to their arm. “You have to let me interview him again.”

“It’s too dangerous,” Mr. A said. “I am not having you try again when you were injured. You should count yourself lucky that it didn’t do more damage to you.”

“He’s scared,” said Dr. Thoruf. “And it’s understandable. We’ve been treating him like a monster this whole time, and I’m sure he doesn’t understand why he’s here or what we’re trying to accomplish.”

“You tried,” said Mr. A. “Everyone knows that. And your efforts were very good, but this... creature must be restrained and if it really is scared, then we have no way of knowing when it will lash out at us. For the safety of everyone here, we must put it back to sleep.”

“That’s not fair!” Dr. Thoruf shouted.

Mr. A raised his eyebrows. Dr. Thoruf gasped and covered their mouth with their hands. They’d never shouted like that before, let alone at their supervisor. Still, they couldn’t say they were sorry for it. They were not being heard. They could understand both sides of the argument, but they had to at least try one more time.

“Dr. Thoruf,” Mr. A said slowly, “Your record has been spotless, so I will forgive your outburst. But may I remind you that I am your superior and you will respect me as such. I have this entire facility to consider, as well as the lives of all who work within it. Gambling it all just so that you can ease your conscience is not going to happen. You wanted a chance and I gave it. You tried your best, but that thing will not cooperate. It’s too dangerous to allow it to run around unchecked. If it will not talk, then it will sleep. That. Is. Final. Am I understood?”

Dr. Thoruf clenched their fists hard enough that the ice in their ice pack cracked. They were so angry, angrier than they’d ever been before, and they didn’t trust themself to speak lest they say something they would come to regret.

“Am I understood?” Mr. A repeated, leaning into their space.

“Yes sir,” Dr. Thoruf said tersely.

Mr. A opened his mouth to say something else, but he was interrupted by a sudden screech. There was a loud crash and then several people were yelling.

“Wind it!”

“The key fell out!”

“Hurry and fix it!”

Dr. Thoruf gasped as the Poopet came stumbling around the corner, clearly trying to run but still weak from so much sleep. He began to gain speed, climbing onto the walls to avoid obstacles and other guards, but he froze when he saw Mr. A.

“You...” Poopet hissed. “How... how are you here? You can’t... how?! You’re supposed to be dead! How did you get here?! After all that you’ve done to m-”

A melody floated down the hall and a guard ran over, carrying the now repaired music box.

“No!” Poopet tried to flee, but he quickly passed out and crashed to the floor.

“What happened?” Mr. A angrily approached the other guards and they began to explain.

Dr. Thoruf quietly made their exit, chewing on this new development. Did Poopet know Mr. A somehow? But how did he? Did they have a history? Was Poopet just mistaken and thought Mr. A was someone else? There were too many questions and... things just weren’t adding up.

The Poopet had warned them that Mr. A was up to something. That he was trying to get something from Poopet. But what was that exactly? Did it have to do with the plush that Poopet had given them?

Dr. Thoruf snuck off to the bathroom and locked the door behind them. With a sigh, they pulled out the plush that Poopet had given them and examined it. It looked like a regular plush. They recognized Foxy from the games they had seen before. It was very cute, but why had Poopet gone through the trouble to slip it into their pocket?

Something was going on, and Dr. Thoruf was going to find out what exactly...

ELSEWHERE

“Step inside, meet your doom. None survive the breaker room. Shut down, turn around, better not make a sound. I know you won’t be back another round...”

At this rate, Lewis was going to run out of songs to sing. He’d been traveling all day. He was hot, he was sore, he was thirsty and hungry. He tried to think back to the random bits of survival knowledge he’d managed to soak up in the past, and none of it painted a good picture for him. He knew he’d need to find water somewhere. He was hoping to find a lake or some kind of river, but it had been nothing but dirt and grass and flowers for miles.

As for food... well, he liked to think Dennis could help him hunt something. He'd seen birds and rabbits around, and even if he’d never skinned an animal to eat it, he would learn if it meant life or death. Surely it couldn’t be too difficult, and Dennis’s antlers would be sharp enough to help out.

“Out of danger, into death. There’s no time to catch your breath, oh... Breaking and shaking, we’ll never forgive you...” Lewis fell silent for a few movements.

“It can’t end like this!” He suddenly shouted. “It can’t! I refuse to let it end like this! Come on, Lewis... you’ve played survival games before. Surely some of that can be used right about now? It can’t... I can’t just die out here. Not like this. Not in some unknown country on the back of a dead moose...”

Dennis huffed and Dawko pat the side of his head.

“No offense, Dennis. You’ve been a good friend to me so far,” he sighed. “But things are looking grim. Who knows how far we are from any kind of civilization...”

He looked up to see birds circling above him.

“Well that’s just rude,” he frowned.

It wasn’t until the sun was once again setting that Lewis saw something besides nature. Off in the distance, he saw the glow of a fire and rising smoke. A camp!

“People!” Lewis gasped. “Dennis, there’s people! We’re saved! Quick, go on over there to that fire. Um... please?”

Dennis seemed to understand because he quickened his pace and they were soon heading in the direction of the camp. As they got closer, Lewis could see two men sitting around a fire with various supplies. They looked up when Lewis got close enough, and Dennis stopped right by their camp.

“Oh my god!” Lewis nearly sobbed. “Can you please help? I’m lost and have no idea where I am, and...”

His eyes widened when he got a good look at the other two men. One of them had his face.

“Well...” his lookalike said in a heavy Southern accent. “Didn’t expect to see this today.”

“No kidding, mate,” the other man said in a strong Australian accent. “But it’s not the weirdest thing I’ve ever seen.”

Lewis stared at them... and then he slid off of Dennis as he fainted.

Chapter Text

He didn’t have an official name, but he had a few to choose from.

Some called him The Salesman. Some called him The CEO. Others called him FazMark. He rather liked the name FazMark. It was unique, but it also carried the Fazbear brand, and branding was essential in this day and age.

Especially since he no longer had a business to speak of.

Fazbear Entertainment was gone. The company that he had pulled from the muddy sewers of scandal and bankruptcy, and made into something that had worth was gone. Years of hard work down the drain and now FazMark had to sell his other skills in order to make ends meet.

One of the reasons why he’d been successful as the head of Fazbear entertainment was that he knew animatronics, and he knew them well. He knew how to design them, he knew how to build them, how to program them, everything he needed to know. He’d spent every penny he’d earned in his youth to send himself to a university that would teach him these essential things.

He’d even tried to get a job as a repair tech at the local Fazbear Pizzeria, but they’d shooed him away with a dismissive look and uncaring tone. No one appreciated the animatronics like FazMark had when he’d been a child.

It was that nostalgia and a thirst to prove himself and put his skills to use that caused him to take over Fazbear Entertainment. No one wanted to touch the company anymore for fear of falling victim to whatever curse haunted it with bad luck and blood. No one... except for FazMark. True, he had no idea how to lead a company, but he had enough good looks and charms and designs to lure in investors and from there, he built his empire.

And now he was back to nothing. But... it wasn’t so bad. He still had his animatronics, and he still had his skills. He took odd jobs doing repairs or building things from scratch for anyone who wanted to commission him. Which was probably how he’d been found...

FazMark looked up when he heard footsteps. He smiled when he saw an endoskeleton appear in the doorway, cloth sack slung over its shoulder.

“Endo,” he smiled. “What did you bring me?”

Endo carefully dumped out the sack on top of FazMark’s desk and made a whirring noise.

“Oh, you had a good haul?” FazMark asked. “Let’s see...”

He began to sift through the salvaged parts on his desk, humming and nodding and giving Endo praise for each good piece he found. He finally had it all separated into two piles.

“I can use these,” he pointed to the bigger pile. “You can keep these.” He pushed the small pile towards Endo, who swept it into his sack with a happy chirp.

“Where are your brothers?” FazMark asked.

Endo gave a few whirs and beeps, gesturing wildly with his arms.

“Ah, they’re on their way back,” he said. “Well, I think you’ve done enough for today.”

Endo noticed the designs on the desk and pointed at them with a curious whir.

“It’s a new project,” FazMark said. “I’m to build some new animatronics for... him.”

Endo knew very well who ‘He’ was. He made an angry grinding noise and stomped his metal feet.

“I know you’re angry at him,” said FazMark. “And I don’t blame you. But don’t worry, he’s not going to come anywhere near here. You and your siblings are safe.”

Endo huffed, a bit of steam erupting from his vents. FazMark chuckled and pat Endo’s head.

“Go recharge,” he said. “Your batteries must be low by now. And all good endoskeletons go to bed at a reasonable hour, don’t they?”

Endo nodded and gave a few chirps before he walked off. FazMark sighed and turned back to his desk. The project he’d been handed would be very difficult. The animatronics would have to be very powerful and durable to be able to do the things desired of them. And FazMark would have to pay very close attention to the details. His... buyer was a stickler for details and always demanded perfection... where it counted...

ELSEWHERE

Dawkguard was settling in well enough. Mark had been worried that his timid nature would make him uncomfortable around the loud crowds of egos, but Dawkguard had assured him that he didn’t mind noise or crowds.

It was when he was alone and things were dead silent that his anxiety spiked...

The house was enormous and the room he’d chosen had a large comfortable bed, a window, and lots of room. He’d also been very happy to learn that the kitchen was always kept well stocked and the egos were always invited to help themselves. Finally, no more crappy Fazbear pizza...

Dawkguard had written his name on the nameplate of his door and then decorated it with the stickers he always seemed to have in his pocket. Cute little cartoon versions of Freddy, Bonnie, Chica, and Foxy all smiled at him as did so. He’d chosen the room next to Dawktrap. While they may not be on good terms, they at least had a history. Dawkguard was familiar with him, and that made things a bit easier.

“Hello, little brother!”

Dawktrap chuckled as Dawkguard flinched.

“Stop doing that,” he said, turning to frown at Dawktrap. “You’ll give me a heart attack.”

“Oh honestly,” Dawktrap said. “If your heart hasn’t given out after two years of Freddy, then it has to be made of steel. My sneaking up on you will not tip it over if Freddy’s laughter didn’t do it...”

“Still,” Dawkguard blinked. “Wait. What’s with the mask?”

Indeed, Dawktrap was wearing some kind of purple and white bunny mask. Dawktrap smiled and struck a pose.

“Lovely, innit?” He asked. “I found it while I was cleaning up the clutter. I meant to give this to my first follower, but... things didn’t work out. So I got a new follower, but... I haven’t been able to speak to them lately. I’m hoping to give this to them some day. If we’re ever able to meet in person.”

“Follower?” Dawkguard tilted his head. “I didn’t know you had a cult...”

“It’s not a cult,” Dawktrap rolled his eyes. “Why does everyone keep thinking that?”

“The mask just makes it seem even more cultish,” Dawkguard chuckled. “Or maybe you’re trying to copy that man with the cat mask.”

“Please,” Dawktrap shook his head. “He wishes he could be me. I’m sure he envies my charms and good looks.”

“Pity he has no idea that you have none...” Dawkguard laughed as he walked off.

It took Dawktrap a minute to realize he’d been insulted.

“Ay!” He chased after Dawkguard. “Get back here!”

Chapter Text

“What secrets do you hold?” Dr. Thoruf said, examining their Foxy plush.

They had thought perhaps the plush had some kind of hidden message, but any attempt to cut it open had failed. The fabric was surprisingly durable and the scissors hadn’t been able to penetrate it. Other than that, the plush was utterly unremarkable. Foxy smiled cutely at them with his little gold fang smile.

“Poopet had to have given you to me for a reason. He slipped you into my pocket instead of just giving you to me. He was making sure that no one else would see you,” Dr. Thoruf held the plush in front of them, turning it around and around in their effort to find something. Anything.

Foxy continued to smile at them, and Dr. Thoruf sighed.

“Am I losing it?” They set the plush down on their desk. “This job has been demanding so much of me. I can barely even remember the what day it is, I’ve been so busy...”

They paused and glanced at the calendar on the wall.

“Oh,” they said. They began to pace. “Think. Think! Why this plush? What was the significance of Foxy? You had to do all that research when they brought you on, and you spent an entire day learning the lore of that series. Did one of the games have a Foxy plush?”

They began to jump up and down in place, eyes closed and hands gripped in their hair.

“Was there a Foxy plush? Was there a Foxy plush? Was there a Foxy plush?” They continued to chant it like a mantra, still jumping in place.

“Was there a Foxy plush? Was there a Fox-” They gasped, eyes flying wide open. “Oh my god, there was. There was a plush! It was... um... which one was it? The fourth game!”

They picked up the plush again.

“In the fourth game there was a plush... inside the closet,” they said slowly. “And if you opened it...”

They trailed off as they ran through their memories. They had played the games out of curiosity, claiming it was for research even if it was just an excuse to take a break. But they had played through all the games there were except for the VR game as they had no VR headsets. And they remembered the fourth game. They had died quite a bit, and a lot of it did happen to come from Foxy.

They slowly looked down at the plush in their hands. In the game, the plush had been in the closet, and if you opened the door, a monster Foxy would jump out at you and kill you. Did... was that it? Did they have to put this Foxy plush in a closet?

“Oh my god, I have completely lost it...” Dr. Thoruf dug the heels of their palms into their eyes, groaning slightly.

They were so tired. This had to be the ramblings of a sleep deprived mind. There was no way... but at the same time... they had seen many strange things. Maybe there was something to it?

“Ugh, fine. Come on you,” Dr. Thoruf took the plush out into the hall and found a small supply closet. “I know this was Bonnie’s spot, but... we don’t have any children’s bedroom closets here. I’m sure Bonnie won’t mind, huh?”

They put the plush inside and closed the door. Now what? Well, usually you had to wait a minute or two before Foxy became any sort of threat. Dr. Thoruf stood outside, trying to look casual in case anyone walked by. Nothing to see here. Just a doctor losing their mind. Nothing to see at all...

After a few minutes, Dr. Thoruf grabbed the knob of the door. They suddenly froze. The logical part of their mind told them that nothing had happened. But the less logical part told them to open the door carefully and be ready to jump back. Foxy had always struck quickly in the game...

Dr. Thoruf slowly opened the door and then yanked it the rest of the way open while they jumped back with a cry...

Only to see Foxy’s cute smile staring back at them. The plush hadn’t so much as moved let alone changed into some kind of monster. Dr. Thoruf sighed and shook their head.

“Why did I think that would work? There really must not be anything special about this plush,” they sighed again and closed the door.

They’d come back and get the plush later. Maybe. They had a dinner break to get to...

Thomas Sanders was really starting to hate his cell.

He was actually starting to hate all of this in general. This whole... thing. He wanted to go home. He wanted to go back to making youtube videos and not having to worry about being caught by some James Bond villain.

He sat back on his little mattress and noticed the plush that Poopet had given him... before he’d been dragged kicking and screaming from this cell. Freddy looked at him with his bulging eyes as he picked the plush up.

“Guess it’s just you and me,” he said. “You and me against the world, huh?”

He sighed and set Freddy down on the mattress. He stretched out and tried to settle down to sleep. He'd been sleeping horribly lately...

ELSEWHERE

Dawktrap was running diagnostics on his headset. He was leaning back in his chair and munching on popcorn, watching the screen of his headset as the loading bar filled and then declared that no problems had been detected.

Dawktrap smiled and reached up to remove the headset-

>NEW USER FOUND

“Poopet?” Dawko gasped. “Oh please let him be ok..”

>SCANNING

>SCANNING

>̷S̶C̸A̵N̷N̵I̸N̵G̷

≯̙̼͑̇̓S̴̨͙̪̳̋̍̍C̵̡̰̞̝͘Â̶̖̤̓̄N̵͔͎̈́͋͒͝Ñ̸̫̣̈̀̕I̶͔͆̋͛N̶̨̨̓̍̾G̵̱͕͓̓ͅ

“What the?” Dawktrap stood up, watching as his screen began to glitch. “Who is-”

>̴̛͉͙̟̥F̵̨̝̝̂͂͝R̶̦̈̏̔̐E̷͇̠͆͜Q̴̖̈́̑̓͘U̵̺̿Ě̷̳̝̘͑͜Ṅ̸̮̪͔͒̅̐ͅC̸͚͙͇͈͊̕Ŷ̵̦̋ͅ ̵̪͍̜̔̉C̵̦͂O̶̤̯̐̋̓M̵͍̓̽Ṗ̷̮Ȧ̷̢̈́͌̂T̴̳͓͚͆Ȉ̸̺̜͉̈̔B̷̫͚̥͂̎͌L̷̻̜̉̓̎Ẹ̷̙̝͎̾̐̈́

>̷͈̰̮̾͛́ͅḞ̵̢̨̬͉̎͌Ř̶͎̩͑͒̉E̶̛̠̩̳͌̆̈́ͅQ̵̬͗̏Ṳ̵͚̦̭̂E̵̡̮̗͝͠ͅN̸̟̺̺͑C̶̳̑͛͐̋Y̸̦̻͎̫͆̑ ̶̨̽͛ͅI̶̩͎̗̾S̵̡̳̬̍̕ ̵̗̟̖̬̐̏͑L̶̢̳̻̆͌̈̈́Õ̶͍̟͇̜͘̕C̵̰̦͂K̴͉̐̕Ȇ̵̹Ḍ̵͈͊̏

>̵̬̻̮̼̌͠E̶͉͊N̸͇̞̂ͅT̵̤͑̆̂E̸̡͉̊R̶͓̺̉̑͜ ̴̣̖͊͛̔̕P̸̖͎̫͝Ȁ̸̪͔̺Ṣ̶̼͐S̷̙̓̈́̾̕W̷̥̞̺̮̓̕Ȯ̸̧̞͓̙R̷̝͂̑̾͠D̸̡͕̓̈͂̂

“Password?” Dawktrap reached out and tried to get more information.

He kept an eye on the blinking cursor while he worked his magic to see who was on his screen. His aura surged and reached through reality...

>USER HAS DISCONNECTED

The screen erupted in a bright flash of glitchy pixels, and Dawktrap hurriedly took it off and set it aside. He breathed heavily, eyes wide and unable to believe what he’d seen.

“It can’t be,” he said. “It can’t. It can’t!”

But the screen had displayed it very clearly.

USERNAME: WILLAFTON

Chapter Text

Virgil stared at the television, but he wasn’t really watching it.

It was late and he was still awake, but that wasn’t anything new. He’d always been a night owl at heart, but now it was due to something else.

Virgil was, big surprise, anxious.

Thomas was still missing, and they all knew that he’d been captured. This caused Virgil to remember all those movies they’d seen with similar situations and thus, he’d almost immediately began imagining every horrible scenario that could come from it.

That was why he was such a wreck now. Janus and Patton both tried to help him calm down, but Janus’s soothing white lies no longer worked, and Patton’s optimism could do nothing to penetrate the terrified thoughts in his mind. This led to Virgil not getting as much sleep as he should be.

Even worse, now Patton was losing hope. The father figure was having trouble with sleep too, plagued by nightmares of Thomas dying or staying lost forever.

“Do you think he’s ok?” Patton asked from his spot next to Virgil.

Virgil didn’t respond.

“I’m... I’m sure he’s fine,” Patton continued softly. “I mean... he’s smart. He’ll know what to do and what to say. Logan... Logan taught him so much, I’m sure he paid attention to it...”

Virgil still didn’t say anything.

“I just... I wish there was more that we could do,” Patton said, sounding as if he were talking more to himself than Virgil. “I feel so helpless sitting here while he’s in trouble.”

He finally glanced over to see that Virgil was just staring at the television with a glazed look. He knew that look well, he’d seen it on Virgil many times before. He pulled Virgil into his arms, letting the other lean against him.

“But we can’t give up,” he said. “We have to keep hoping. He’ll come back to us. He will...”

Virgil said nothing, but a tear managed to slip down his face.

“Darko!”

Dawktrap burst into Darko’s room, looking terrified. Darko sat up in bed and yawned.

“Dawktrap?” He rubbed his eyes. “What’s wrong?”

“We have the Golden Freddy of all problems,” Dawktrap began to pace. “I was running diagnostics on my headset because it’s still not doing what I want it to, and then a message popped up that a new user had been found. I thought it was Poopet, but the connection was password protected, and my screen began to glitch while I tried to access it. The connection was lost, but... I saw the username of who it was.”

“And?” Darko turned on the bedside lamp. “Who was it?”

“Afton...” Dawktrap’s voice cracked nervously.

Darko’s eyes widened and he was silent for a moment.

“Michael?” He asked, clinging to a bit of hope.

Dawktrap shook his head.

“William,” he said. “William bloody Afton...is here...”

“Are you serious?” Darko asked.

“As serious as the Bite of 198-freaking-7!” Dawktrap snapped.

Darko’s brows furrowed and he got out of bed to sit at his desk instead. William Afton here? It was impossible.

“It couldn’t be him,” he said. “Afton’s not an ego, he’s a canon character. There’s no way he could possibly be here. Are you sure it wasn’t just an old connection or a saved profile?”

“I’m positive,” Dawktrap said. “I even ran another diagnostics and looked into the history to confirm it. It was Afton’s profile, and it was active. He was the only one who had the password for it, remember? He never gave it to anyone else because he didn’t want others to find out what he was doing.”

“And you’re sure that no one else maybe hacked it?” Darko asked.

Dawktrap gave Darko a deadpan look.

“Yes, Darko,” he said. “Some random person hacked the account of a man who was not a real person in this world and used it to gain access to my VR headset that is linked to my aura.”

“That was some heavy sarcasm,” Darko frowned. “But I’m just... I’m just trying to make sure that we are a hundred percent certain with this. Because if it’s true... then something more than just a shady organization is going on here. There was a wave of egos, we all know that. But this would imply that fictional characters are becoming real too, which opens up a whole other basket of exotic butters...”

“No kidding,” Dawktrap huffed. “But it’s the truth!”

Darko was silent as he thought about it. He then pulled his laptop over and began to search the internet. Was Afton only a canon character... or had someone played him in a video? If someone had, then... did that count? Would that technically make Afton an ego? It was hard to say as there were no experts on such a subject...

“What are you looking for?” Dawktrap leaned down to see the screen.

“I’m trying to see if anyone ever played Afton in a video,” Darko said, scanning the page.

So far, there had been no results. Darko moved through youtubers who were famous for FNAF. Mark’s channel only showed him in one of the game trailers. Sean’s channel didn’t have anything. Lewis’s channel had a video of him interviewing Afton’s voice actor, but nothing else-

Wait.

Darko narrowed his eyes at one of the videos he saw. It was an animated video about William Afton kidnapping a child on his birthday. The credits said that the person who voiced Afton in the film... was Lewis himself.

“No way,” Darko’s eyes widened. “This can’t be enough to do it. I mean, all he did was voice him!”

Dawktrap was trying to wrack his own brain, and he suddenly recalled a memory of his. On the day that he came to live in the ego house, he remembered the security guards mentioning Afton while he was registering. They were laughing about mistaking another ego for Afton. He eventually came to find out that the ego they were talking about was...

“Look up any FNAF skits that Matpat has done,” He said suddenly.

“Matpat?” Darko asked. “He’s a theorist. He doesn’t do things like-”

“Look it up,” Dawktrap repeated. “I remembered something...”

Darko did so, and there were plenty of videos about Matt’s FNAF theories, but not much else. As they scrolled, they came across a video for a channel called Random Encounters. It was a FNAf musical. In the thumbnail, they recognized the security guard egos, so they settled down to watch it. At the end, Darko shrugged.

“I mean... that’s just an implication,” he said. “He even said he was Phone Guy, not Afton-wait... hang on, there’s another one here.”

This one had Matt in the thumbnail and was called ‘Web of Lies’. Darko clicked on it, and they began to watch. The opening scene had Matt’s character being interrogated by a bald man in glasses.

“Still just an implication,” said Darko. He moved to exit the video when...

“Clean up your restaurant, Mr. Afton,” said the bald character.

Dawktrap and Darko both froze and their eyes grew wide. The video continued to play, but they weren’t watching it.

“They... they called him Afton,” said Darko. “They confirmed it... they confirmed that he was playing William Afton...”

“So William Afton is technically one of Matt’s egos,” Dawktrap chuckled hysterically. “Th-that’s how he’s here. It’s... it’s really him! He’s here! He’s really here!”

“Dawktrap!” Darko grabbed Dakwtrap’s shoulders and shook him. “Calm down! We can’t lose our heads over this. We need to tell Dark about this. If Afton is involved, then the whole playing field has just changed, and everyone needs to know. So take a deep breath... and come with me. We’re going to Dark’s office...”

Chapter Text

“I think he’s waking up.”

“I should hope so. He took a big fall.”

Lewis slowly opened his eyes and found himself to be staring up at the night sky. Stars filled the great expanse of black and they would have been beautiful if Lewis didn’t suddenly remember where he was. With a gasp, he sat up and once again saw his face on someone else.

“How are you feeling?” his double smiled. “Hungry? We have some venison here.”

His double was wearing dirty clothes: jeans, a pair of boots, and a green plaid shirt. A jacket was resting on one of the backpacks, and Lewis saw a bow, a large knife, and a hatchet attached to the backpack as well.

“Lewis?” his double waved a hand in Lewis’s face. “Lewis, you ok?”

What was that strange southern accent? It was so different from Lewis’s normal one...

“I... who are you?” He finally managed to say. “Why do you... why do you look like me?”

“I’m your ego,” said his double. “You named me Bawko. Remember?”

That weird little character he did for that Walking Dead game?

Well... that explained the accent. The game was set in New Orleans.

“Ego?” Lewis repeated. “I don’t understand. What do you mean?”

“You really don’t know?” said the other man. This man looked more like Sean and spoke with an Australian accent. “The wave of egos! There are dozens of us here. Granted, we haven’t seen many of them. We’ve been backpacking it and living off the land for a while. We’re survivalists, it’s what we do.”

“You look like Sean...” Lewis said dazedly.

“Well, he’s my creator,” the man smiled. “My name’s Angus. What are you doing out here? There isn’t any civilization for miles! Have you just been wandering around?”

“I... I was captured,” Lewis shook his head. None of this made sense, but he wasn’t about to turn down food, water, and knowledgeable company. “They took me to some facility out here and kept me prisoner. I managed to escape with Dennis here.”

He pat Dennis’s flank.

“Quite the unusual pet,” Bawko tilted his head. “But, as long as he’s friendly we won’t mind him. So you were captured, huh? Sounds awful. If you need help getting home, it’s a day or two to the nearest town, and we heard there’s a safehouse somewhere in California. They’ll shelter you for free.”

“A safehouse?” Lewis asked, accepting the cup of water that Angus offered him. He gulped it down and then coughed. “What safehouse?”

“It’s a safehouse for egos,” said Bawko. “But they also take in creators. We’ll go with you. We can survive out here, but if the rumors are true and people are getting kidnapped... then we’ll be safer there. Hopefully there will be a bus station at the town...”

“Hopefully,” Lewis was still feeling a bit lightheaded about all of this.

Egos? Dozens of them? Was this all real, or had he died out there in the wilderness and this was some... he didn’t know. He didn’t know, and it was just another thing in a long line of other things that he didn’t know. Why question it? It only made his head hurt...

“Eat up,” Bawko passed him some roasted meat. “You’re probably hungry.”

Lewis took the meat and stared at it. A voice in his head told him it might be poisoned or unsafe. A different voice said to just eat it and stop thinking. Lewis obeyed the second voice and took a bite. If he died, he died. He was doomed out here anyway. Might as well go with a full stomach...

“Egos,” he said softly. “This is all so weird. I can’t even decide if this isn’t some fever dream or hallucination...” His eyes widened. “But... if it’s true...” He remembered the pictures they had shown him. “Oh sugar!”

“Sugar?” Angus repeated. “I think we might have some.”

“N-No, I meant... the-the pictures!” Lewis said. “They showed me some pictures and I thought they were fake, but... they must have been egos!”

He knew the name of one them. He remembered playing Dawktrap and developing his story to use in the song. But the other... he wasn’t sure. He’d only ever played up his Dawktrap ego. Unless... unless that other picture was supposed to be his 'dark side' Darko...

“They probably were,” Bawko agreed. “I hope we run into them. I’d love to meet them.”

“You don’t know them?” Lewis asked.

“From what we’ve figured out, egos only know about others if their stories crossed at some point,” said Angus. “I don’t know if my creator has any other egos, but if he does I’d like to meet them too.”

“Look, don’t worry about it,” Bawko said. “Just eat up and get some water in you and then go to bed. We’ll need an early start tomorrow if we want to get to that town quickly. I don’t have an extra sleeping bag, but I don’t mind sharing. If you don’t mind a tight fit...”

Lewis shook his head.

“That’s fine,” he said. “I... yeah... it’s fine.”

Just eat and don’t think about it. Lewis had a feeling that things will be much easier as long as he doesn’t question them...

ELSEWHERE

The problem with using an old music box as a way to restrain someone was that there would always be the risk of it not working the way that it should. Poopet had been left with his thoughts in his slumber, and he was busy trying to think of what to do. The man that he saw... he knew that man well. It put everything into a perspective that he didn’t like.

He wanted to leave, to escape. But it was risky. He knew that he would be hunted down wherever he went, and he couldn’t bear to risk the lives of others just for himself. Especially not his brothers.

So what was the plan, then? Stay here and wait to see what happens? Hell no. Poopet was a being of action. He’d already planted the seeds, it was time to reap them. There were two people in this place that he could save. He could help them escape. There might be more here, but he might never get another chance if he waited to help them too.

He had to strike now.

And he got his chance when the music box jammed for exactly thirteen seconds. He was able to pull himself out of sleep just enough to lash out with one of his strings. It drove itself into the wiring and from there he managed to short out the electricity for the entire facility, plunging the building into darkness.

When the music box restarted and he was once again pulled into slumber, he was smiling. They would know what to do from here. That was why he gave them away...

Thomas slowly woke up to a pitch black room and strange noises. He rolled over onto his side, wondering what had happened, but unable to see anything. He pushed himself up to sit on the mattress and looked around the dark room.

What was going on?

He could hear shouting in the distance, but couldn’t make out what was being said. He could also here... metal clanking and machinery whirring and... other metallic sounds.

And then... something suddenly grabbed him.

Thomas tried to cry out as he was lifted into the air, but something pressed against his mouth.

“̶͂ͅS̷̠͒ḧ̴ͅh̵̰̽h̸̋ͅh̵̫̄.̴͕̽.̸̖̋.̵̬̑”̶̞̌ a distorted voice spoke in the dark and it did not help Thomas’s nerves.

Still, he wasn’t stupid. He would keep his mouth shut.

Whoever was in the room with Thomas picked him up bridal style and began to carry him. The door’s electronic lock was no longer working, but it wouldn’t have mattered as whoever had Thomas slammed against the door and broke it open.

It was an odd sound. Not your typical meat-against-the-door sound. It sounded more like a battering ram...

Thomas didn’t dwell on it as he was carried down the hall. Again, the footsteps were strangely metallic and echoed loudly. In fact... Thomas shakily pressed his hand against whoever was carrying him... Thomas could feel metal there too. Metal and circuits and... it also felt strangely fuzzy?”

The emergency lights flashed on, bathing the hallway in red light. Thomas looked up into the face of who was carrying him and gasped.

“F-Freddy?!”

Dr. Thoruf did not like the dark.

They had spent quite a bit of money with therapists trying to root out whatever childhood trauma had caused such a ridiculous fear, a fear that had stuck with them well into adulthood. Sadly, they’d had no luck and were just stuck with a crippling fear of the dark.

Luckily, this irrational fear kept them prepared, and they had a bright flashlight on hand to help them navigate the halls. They didn’t know where to go or who to speak to, and everyone else was running around. They suddenly heard shouting in the distance as well as a loud roar. Had one of the egos escaped? Their sounds were getting louder.

Dr. Thoruf looked around for a place to hide and spotted the supply closet. Not much for protection, but there was nowhere else that didn’t have an electronic lock. They quickly opened the door and moved to jump inside-

Something jumped out at them.

Dr. Thoruf fell back and ended up on the floor. Their flashlight began to roll away, but they quickly picked it up and shined it on whatever had popped out of the closet. Their eyes widened.

“Foxy?!” Indeed, it was a Foxy animatronic. One that looked like Nightmare Foxy from the game. “Oh god... th-the plush. Y-you were... th-the plush!”

“Steady as she goes there,” Foxy’s mechanical voice spoke as he bent down and scooped Dr. Thoruf up. “Ye be needin’ to be trustin’ Ol’ Foxy. We’re here to help.”

“’We’?” Dr. Thoruf repeated. “Wh-what do you mean-Hey!”

Foxy took their flashlight and turned it off before sticking it somewhere inside one of his chest cavities, allowing them to sink deeper into the shadows. Dr. Thoruf’s breathing picked up, and they clung to Foxy even tighter. They were terrified, but... they felt slightly better in his arms.

“Don’t ye be worryin’,” said Foxy. “The captain wants ye alive. It’s why I’m here...”

“Captain?” Dr. Thoruf asked.

But Foxy didn’t say anymore as he rushed into the darkness. Dr. Thoruf whimpered and squeezed their eyes shut as he picked up more and more speed.

Oh... maybe that was the significance of it being a Foxy plush... he was a notorious sprinter...

Thomas cried out Freddy pushed through a group of guards as if they were nothing. Judging by Freddy’s size and bulk... they probably weren’t. The guards fired at them, but rubber bullets did nothing against Freddy’s metal frame. Thomas clung to the holes in Freddy’s body as the animatronic rushed this way and that, plowing through whomever tried to get in his way.

Thomas soon noticed what Freddy was running towards: a window.

“Nonononono!” Thomas screamed as Freddy broke through it... and then they were falling.

Freddy landed and then rolled, tucking Thomas against his frame to keep him safe. Thomas kept repeating ‘oh my god’ over and over as Freddy got back to his feet and then began to run again. Thomas tried to stay conscious, but it the fear was taking its toll, and he slowly passed out in Freddy’s arms.

Foxy was still running, and Dr. Thoruf had no idea where they were. They kept hearing people shouting or guns firing, but they were still in total darkness with nothing but the random flashlights of other workers to briefly light their path. Dr. Thoruf’s eyes were still closed, but they soon felt wind on their face and realized that they were now outside somehow. Foxy finally began to slow down, and then... stopped.

Dr. Thoruf could hear running water as they were set back onto the ground. They held onto Foxy until they got their legs under them.

“Here ye are... M’Lady? M’Lord?” Foxy sounded uncertain as he spoke.

Dr. Thoruf felt something being pressed into their hand and realized it was their flashlight. They quickly turned it on and would have screamed if Foxy hadn’t quickly covered their mouth.

Now they understood who ‘we’ was. Nightmare Freddy stood right there, and in his arms...

“Thomas!” Dr. Thoruf rushed forward and checked for a pulse. They sighed in relief when they found one.

“̵H̶e̸ ̷i̷s̷ ̴a̸l̷i̶v̶e̴,̴”̵ Freddy said. “̸I̷ ̸k̴e̷p̵t̷ ̸h̷i̶m̴ ̸s̴a̵f̵e̴.̴”̶

“Why did you two do this?” Dr. Thoruf asked, taking a step back and shining the light at them.

“The Captain be wantin’ ye two alive,” said Foxy.

“Captain?” Dr. Thoruf repeated.

“̶T̵h̴e̴ ̷P̷o̸o̴p̶e̶t̵,̵”̴ said Freddy. “̴H̷e̶ ̴a̶s̷k̵e̶d̵ ̴u̶s̵ ̷t̸o̷ ̶s̵a̷v̷e̸ ̴y̵o̴u̶ ̴t̸w̷o̷.̵ ̷H̴e̷ ̴c̴a̵u̸s̸e̸d̴ ̷t̵h̸e̶ ̴b̵l̸a̴c̶k̸o̴u̸t̶ ̶a̴n̸d̷ ̶g̴a̷v̵e̶ ̸u̴s̷ ̴a̶ ̴c̶h̵a̸n̶c̷e̵ ̶t̴o̵ ̷e̴s̶c̷a̵p̵e̸.̷”̴

“Poopet,” Dr. Thoruf said softly. “We have to save him too!”

“̸W̵e̴ ̴c̵a̴n̷n̴o̸t̴,̷”̸ Freddy shook his head. “̸H̷e̸ ̶t̷o̶l̵d̴ ̴u̶s̸ ̴t̵o̸ ̸t̸a̷k̴e̴ ̴y̸o̶u̵ ̴a̴n̴d̵ ̸r̸u̵n̸ ̶f̶a̶r̴ ̴a̸w̷a̷y̵.̴ ̸H̶e̵ ̴d̴o̶e̴s̸ ̶n̴o̶t̷ ̷w̷a̶n̵t̷ ̶t̸o̵ ̴r̸i̵s̵k̴ ̵y̶o̴u̴r̸ ̴l̴i̴v̵e̶s̸.̸”̵

Dr. Thoruf wilted slightly, feeling awful. They wanted to go back and get Poopet, but there was no way they’d be able to do so and then escape again. Poopet had sacrificed his freedom to save them. They should go so that it wouldn’t be in vain.

“Where can we even go?” They asked. “I don’t know where this is.”

“Any pirate worth his salt knows how to navigate,” Foxy pointed up at the stars. “I’ll find us a place to stay. Ye both are in good hands.” He paused. “Good hands and a hook...”

Dr. Throuf couldn’t help bus snort slightly. They shook their head and sighed.

“We should get going, then,” they said. “Before they find us.”

“Agreed,” Foxy picked them up again and Dr. Thoruf turned off their flashlight.

The woods around them were alive with the sounds of the night... but for once, the darkness wasn’t so scary...

Chapter Text

Nobody knew what to do when Virgil suddenly had a panic attack.

Patton had tried his best to help, but Virgil was too far gone for breathing exercises and soothing words. Patton had to call in Dr. Iplier, who ended up having to sedate him. He decided to keep Virgil in the infirmary overnight.

“Is he going to be ok?” Remus asked, busy grinding ingredients in a large stone bowl. Patton didn’t even want to know what was in there.

“The doctor says he will be,” Patton said. “It was... it was just really scary. He was fine and asleep and then he just started gasping and thrashing. It was horrible!”

Remus paused his grinding, eyes narrowed in thought.

“You don’t think... Can he still feel Thomas’s anxiety?” He asked.

“I don’t know,” Patton shook his head. “Logan’s not really able to make any solid conclusions without Thomas here to help test that. Maybe Virgil can, and... maybe he was feeling Thomas’s fear. Which does not make things sound any better...”

“No, it doesn’t,” Remus yawned, looking tired. “But... with any luck, I’ll have this done soon and then I can find him.”

“You’re... you’re not planning on going alone, are you?” Patton asked. “You can’t! It’s not safe to be out there alone. What if you get captured?”

“Well, who’s going to go with me?” Remus chuckled. “You?”

“Yes!” Patton said.

Remus gave Patton a surprised look.

“I know we haven’t always gotten along,” said Patton. “And that was my fault. But you are still my kiddo. I’m not going to let you go out there alone and risk your life. I’ll come with you.”

“Patton...” Remus sighed. “Look, let’s not worry about that now. We’ll figure it out when this is done.”

“If you try to leave alone...” Patton said. “I’ll know.”

“Oh yeah, and how will you know?” Remus asked.

“I’m a dad,” said Patton. “Dads always know...”

“Who is William Afton?” Dark asked.

Darko and Dawktrap stared at him.

“How do you not know who William Afton is when your creator claims to be the King of FNAF?” Dawktrap asked.

“Because Mark was the one who played those games,” Dark snapped. “Not me. So who is he?”

“He’s the villain of the whole series!” said Dawktrap. “The man who made the restaurants and the animatronics. The man who murdered kids and then stuffed their corpses into said animatronics. The man behind the slaughter!”

“And... you think he’s somehow crossed over into this world?” Dark asked. “How?”

“All the evidence points to it,” said Darko. “And we think he’s here because Lewis and Matt played him in a few of their videos. Lewis voiced an animation of him, but Matt did a whole skit!”

“And that counts?” Dark raised an eyebrow.

“Apparently!” Dawktrap threw his arms in the air. “And if he is here, we are all screwed. William Afton will be looking for anyone and anything he can use for his own personal gain, and he is smart enough to find it if he looks hard enough.”

“So what do you think he’ll do?” Dark asked.

“I... I dunno,” Dawktrap confessed. “But it won’t be good.”

“So you’re not even sure that he will affect us in some way,” Dark said. “What if he doesn’t? What if he just goes out and makes another overpriced gimmicky restaurant and leaves us all alone?”

“He’ll probably still murder children,” Darko pointed out.

“As long as it’s not anyone we know, or any other egos, I don’t care,” said Dark.

Dawktrap and Darko stared at him again.

“That’s cold, Dark,” said Dawktrap. “That’s really cold...”

“Regardless,” said Dark. “If you’re worried, then keep an eye on the situation. Unless he shows himself to be any sort of threat to us, I’m not going to engage him. I’m not risking lives so that you two can settle some sort of... gaming grudge.”

Dawktrap frowned. He could see Dark’s point, but it still left him with a bad feeling. William Afton was a man of blood and violence. Of misery and woe. He sewed death and destruction everywhere he went and wore those taken lives proudly like badges of honor. He was a man with no heart and a soul he’d long since sold to the devil. The very thought of him existing in this world made Dawktrap angry.

“Very well,” said Darko. “We’ll keep an eye on things. If he does present any sort of threat, we’ll let you know.”

“Thank you,” said Dark. “That’s all I ask for...”

“Do you think Afton and Dark are related somehow?” Dawktrap asked after they had left Dark’s office.

“Dawktrap!” Darko smacked his shoulder. “Don’t be mean.”

“I’m just saying,” Dawktrap shook his head. “How can you so casually shrug off child murder like that?”

“He does have a point, though,” said Darko. “And you know it. He can’t just go out there and hunt Afton down in this present climate. He has a lot of egos counting on him for protection. What would happen if he got captured?”

“I imagine he’d burn the place down,” Dawktrap shrugged.

“Or maybe they actually know a way to keep him imprisoned,” said Darko. “Poopet is powerful too, and they got him locked up.”

“They’re cheating, though,” said Dawktrap. “They’re using his music box!”

“And stealing that box would have not been easy,” said Darko. “They would have had to have a lot of power and a lot of... knowledge... about it...”

Darko’s eyes widened as it finally dawned on him. Dawktrap seemed to understand too.

“Afton,” he gasped. “They would have needed Afton...”

ELSEWHERE

Looking back, she was glad that Poopet had the sense to think ahead.

“There will come a time when you will be able to leave,” he’d told her. “When that time comes, I want you to escape and then go out there and find him. I’m not sure if he made it over, but if he did... he’ll need someone to protect him. You always liked him more than the others. Can I count on you?”

Of course he could count on her. She was created to be a mother, after all. And she did care for Dawkguard very much. It would be difficult to find him in such a large world, but she was determined. Her programming allowed her to pick out egos from regular people, maybe she could speak to one of them. Surely she would eventually find someone who knew something...

When she’d escaped the facility, she could hear Foxy and Freddy escaping with their own charges. She had yet to find hers, but she wouldn’t give up.

Not yet.

Chapter Text

“Look, we don’t want to scare you.”

“We don’t, but there is something that you need to know.”

Dawkguard looked between Darko and Dawktrap, confusion written on his face. They had both come to find him in one of the common areas. Others may have been asleep, but his job at Freddy’s had completely wrecked his sleep schedule and he wasn’t sleepy as he was usually working at this time.

“Maybe we shouldn’t tell him,” Dawktrap whispered to Darko.

“He has to know,” Darko whispered back. “And anyway, it’s too late to back down now.”

“What are two trying to tell me?” Dawkguard asked. “You’re starting to worry me...”

“Well...” Dawktrap struggled to find a way to put the matter delicately. “You see... some recent discoveries have been made that have led us to be 99% certain that... someone has made it into this world with us.”

“Why is that a bad thing?” Dawkguard asked. “Who... who came over?”

Dawktrap made a few noises as he tried to find a nice way to put it-

“It’s Afton,” Darko said, raising an eyebrow at Dawktrap.

Dawkguard paled slightly.

“M-Michael?” He asked, sounding desperately hopeful.

“No, it’s not- wait,” Dawktrap’s brows furrowed. “You knew Michael Afton?”

“Yeah, I worked with him a few times,” said Dawkguard. “He was going by a different name, though. He was transferred to different locations too. He was a really nice guy... but he was also really smelly, and I think he developed some kind of skin condition? He would cover up as much as he could, but you could still see his skin in some areas. I dunno, I didn’t want to ask and embarrass him...”

Dawktrap and Darko shared a glance. Yeah, best to not comment on that.

“Anyways,” Dawktrap brought them back on track. “It’s not Michael. It’s... It’s William. William Afton made it over.”

Dawkguard gasped, paling even further.

“Mr. Afton?” He repeated. “It’s Mr. Afton? Oh no... oh this isn’t good. I mean, I never met him because he died before I was hired on, but... I heard stories about him. Some people said he murdered children. Some people said he was assassinated by the mob. I even overheard someone say that he wasn’t even human. That he was some kind of demon...”

“Well... one out of three isn’t so bad,” Darko said. “Afton was and is human. He did murder children too. As for his death... it wasn’t pretty. But he has a bad habit of not staying dead. As do his victims.”

“What do you mean?” Dawkguard asked.

“As far as we know, if you get killed by Afton, you pretty much are guaranteed to end up haunting an animatronic,” said Dawktrap. “It’s what happened to his victims.”

“So the animatronics I had to guard...” Dawkguard’s eyes widened. “They... they were all possessed? Is that why they tried to get me? Well, everyone except for the Funtime animatronics. They were just mostly mean. Except for Ballora. I’m still mad at Baby for trying to scoop me...”

“Query,” Dawktrap said. “Did you work there before or after Michael did?”

“Before,” said Dawkguard. “I actually got transferred because Michael asked to work there. He said... there was something he needed to do? I was hesitant because I didn’t want him to get hurt, but he confessed his real name to me and told me he had something important to do there. I didn’t know what it was, but he was nearly begging me... so I let him take over and was moved to a different location...”

Once again, Dawktrap and Darko shared a glance and decided not to comment.

“But what does it mean if Mr. Afton’s here?” Dawkguard asked. “Is he a threat? Are we all in danger?”

“So far, no,” said Darko. “But we don’t know what he plans on doing, and we just... wanted to let you know so that you can be prepared if something does happen.”

“What does he look like?” Dawkguard asked. “I never met him, so I don’t know...”

“We’re not... entirely sure,” said Dawktrap. “He could look like one of two people, or... maybe even some mix of both. Hang on, we’ll show you...”

He pulled out his phone and then played the Random Encounters video. Dawkguard tilted his head.

“He looks like Madpat,” he said. “Weird...”

After that, Dawktrap pulled up the video of Lewis’s animation. When it got to the part where William pulled off the costume head, Dawkguard’s eyes widened.

He then screamed and scrambled away from the phone.

“Dawky?” Dawktrap dropped the phone and knelt down next to him. “Dawky, what’s wrong?”

Dawkguard pointed a shaking hand at the phone, whimpering slightly as he tried to speak.

“H-H-Him... I-I... I saw h-him...” he said, breathing harshly.

“You saw him?” Darko repeated. “Are you sure? Where did you see him?”

“At... the facility... wh-where I they k-kept me...” Dawkguard curled up against the wall. His hand moved as if he was trying to grab something and pull it over him. “The... the nice doctor... I saw h-him speaking to them... H-He.... He gave m-me this really creepy grin...”

He sniffled and began to cry.

“H-He knows my f-face...” he said, hiding his face in his knees. “H-He knows I m-made it over...”

“Oh hell no,” Dawktrap frowned. “Dawky. Dawky, listen to me. Listen... that man is not going to hurt you. He is not going to even get anywhere close to you. Darko and I will not let him. We'll keep you safe, ok?”

“We promise,” said Darko. “He’s not going to get you.”

Dawkguard didn’t say anything, but he did stop shaking...

ELSEWHERE

“This is the best that you can give me?” Mr. A looked angry. “Did you lose your skills when you came into this world?”

“If you want an animatronic to do all the things you want it to,” FazMark growled. “Then you’re going to have to sacrifice its looks. This thing may not look like much, but it will do what you want. I can guarantee it. And if you don’t like it, then you can just build your own...”

“If I build it, it will take too long,” Mr. A growled back. “You’re the only one who can build what I need in the shortest amount of time. I’m already behind schedule, and I need to be able to strike soon.”

He glared at the animatronic that stood before him.

“Are you absolutely certain that it can do what I’m asking for?” He asked.

“Positive,” said FazMark. “It took me a good bit of magic and a few upgrades...”

Mr. A huffed and crossed his arms.

“Very well,” he said. “I suppose it will do. Go ahead and get started on the next one...”

The animatronic that stood before him twitched and tilted its head.

"̷P̶o̸t̵a̶t̸o̷ ̵s̷a̴l̴a̶d̴.̸"̸

Chapter Text

As Poopet slowly woke up, he could hear someone humming.

Even in his groggy state, he could recognize them humming the very same song his music box played. He hated the humming even more than the tinkling keys. He knew who was humming it, and when he opened his eyes... he made sure to glare at the man.

William Afton.

Afton was tapping at a tablet, humming to himself. He suddenly looked over and gave Poopet a look.

“Was your little stunt really necessary?” He sighed. “Did you think I wouldn’t know it was you? As if anyone else here can summon animatronics like that...”

He reached into Poopet's box, pulled out a plush, and then tossed it aside.

“Maybe you’re just crazier than usual...” Poopet snarled.

“Please,” Afton shook his head. “I know all about your powers. Your... Joys of Creation. I know about them... because I’m the one who gave them to you.”

Poopet tried to move, but found that he was secured very tightly to some kind of table. His stings had been secured as well.

“I had planned on waiting a bit longer, but you forced my hand,” Afton sighed again. “I’m not mad, just disappointed. After everything I’ve done for you... you act like an ungrateful brat and make things so much harder for me..."

“You killed me!” Poopet snapped. “I don’t owe you a damn thing!”

“I gave you a job!” Afton snapped back. “When you came crawling into my restaurant and begged for a job, I didn’t turn you away. You told me your story, remember? You were all alone because you had run away from your horrible family years prior. You were desperate. I gave you the means to stay alive. I gave you life. And all I asked for in return... was a little help... Fritz.”

“Don’t call me by that name!” Poopet shouted.

“Why not? Was that not your name?” Afton laughed. “Before your creator gave you a new one? This whole ego and cannon thing gets a bit... complicated...”

Before Poopet’s eyes, Afton’s form changed. His hair grew out and brightened to a brown color. His eyes turned brown as well, and he looked several years younger.

“Does it not?” Hell, even his voice was different.

Poopet frowned and once again tried to break free. Whatever they’d used to secure him held firm

“If you really are an ego,” he said. “Where’s your aura? Every ego has one.”

“Oh, I have one,” Afton smiled. “It was simply stolen from me. But don’t worry. I’ll take it back soon enough...”

He picked the tablet back up and began cycling through data. He held the tablet at an angle that allowed Poopet to see what he was looking at. He was sorting though pictures.

“You really should have been more thankful,” Afton said. “I gave you powers the likes of which you could never imagine. I gave you a purpose beyond whatever pitiful existence you had as a guard. You were going to be my greatest creation. The replacement for the marionette that was destroyed. We could have done amazing things together...”

“I want nothing to do with you,” Poopet said. “I’ll never help you.”

“Oh, you will,” Afton pet Poopet’s cheek. “Even if you won’t do it willingly. Tell me, Fritz... do you know why you can act and speak freely? It’s because you’re incomplete...”

Poopet felt a chill run down his spine at those words. Incomplete? What did that mean? What was Afton going to do?

“That night, I was interrupted,” said Afton. “The ghosts of my previous victims saw fit to come after me and force me into one of the springlock suits. I died that night, and you were left as an unfinished project. But it’s ok... I’m here now. I can fix you. I can make it all better. And you were just so kind enough as to bring me the final piece that I need...”

He slowly held something up and Poopet’s eyes widened as he recognized it. The mask that was always tangled in his strings. The one that was painted much like the previous marionette’s face.

“This mask will seal the magic I used,” said Afton. “And it will make you into the puppet I had always intended for you to be. You will obey my every order... no matter what it may be.”

His grin turned downright vicious.

“You know... I saw another ego not long ago,” Afton said. He showed Poopet a picture of someone familiar. “One of your creator’s, if my memory serves me correctly. I believe his name is... Dawktrap?”

Poopet choked and looked away. He could feel tears welling up in his eyes.

“I have information on another one as well,” Afton’s grin did not falter. “Darko. He looks so much like you. They both do, now that I think about it. And of course... we had a very special guest here. Dawkguard.”

Poopet’s eyes widened. Dawkguard had been here the whole time? Right under his very nose. But then where was he? What had happened?

“i wonder... perhaps I should put together a little... family reunion. Wouldn’t it be lovely to see them all again?” Afton leaned in close, enjoying Poopet’s torment.

“Please...” Poopet’s voice was so small. “Please don’t hurt them. I’ll do anything. Just please.... please don’t.”

“Why Fritz,” Afton chuckled. “It almost sounds as if you care about them. Whatever happened to the Fritz I knew? The one who preferred to be alone and said he didn’t need a family. Changed your mind, have you? Well, then I simply must reunite you all. I bet they’d love to see you again.”

“No!” Poopet shouted. “No, please! Please, don’t!”

He was freely crying now, and Afton wiped away one of his tears.

“Poor little Fritz,” he mocked. “Tears never did work on me before. They won’t work now. You caused this. If you had simply behaved, I wouldn’t have to move things along so quickly. I’d be better prepared. There would be less lives to be sacrificed and lost... But, we shouldn’t worry about that now.”

He held the mask over Poopet, giving one more sadistic grin.

“Don’t fight it,” he said. “Just relax and let it happen. It’ll make things so much easier...”

“No!” Poopet struggled. “No! NO! YOU CAN’T! PLEASE! PLEASE DON’T! NO!”

He continued to cry and struggle as Afton pressed the mask over his face. Poopet arched his back slightly as the dark magic spread through him and took hold. His last thoughts... before he lost himself... were of his brothers.

Eventually, Poopet went limp. When Afton removed the restraints, Poopet fell like... well, like a puppet that had had its strings cut. Afton looked down at Poopet’s limp form and clasped his hands behind his back.

“Rise, my puppet,” he said. “My marionette. Rise and see your master.”

Poopet’s body slowly moved and stood up, eyes glowing white and blank behind the mask. Afton examined him, looking him over carefully. Everything was in order. Poopet was finally finished.

“Wonderful,” he smiled. “I need to get my aura back so that I might regain the power it gives me. We also have targets to lure over here, and I'm dangerously low on bait. I’m sure you’ll help me with that, won’t you?”

Poopet didn’t say anything, unable to do so. He slowly nodded instead.

“Perfect,” said Afton. “Then let’s begin...”

Chapter Text

“How am I even supposed to do this one?”

FazMark looked between the picture and the half finished animatronic.

“Do I put eyes in the sockets and leave them turned off, or do I leave the sockets empty?” FazMark sighed and dropped the picture.

It didn’t help that Afton was demanding he work even faster, saying that he had to move ahead way sooner than expected. This was his third one and he was already exhausted. Not for the first time, he weighed the options he had... which weren’t many.

Afton was a powerful man and even worse to have as an enemy. His crossover into this world may have brought him to a weaker state, but FazMark knew it would be just a matter of time before he regained his power. FazMark did not want to be his enemy when that happened.

At the same time, he couldn’t help but feel as though he was betraying his own creator by assisting Afton. But maybe... maybe he could at least help the other egos in some way?

“Fetch!” He called. “Come here, boy...”

A tattered dog animatronic came bounding over, tail wagging happily. FazMark pet its head and smiled.

“You can find anything. I need you to find these people and deliver a message for me. Can you do that?” Fazmark said as he plugged his phone into Fetch’s CPU.

He typed out a message for Fetch to share and then showed him the pictures that Afton had given him. Fetch looked at each one carefully and then barked. Fetch would get it done.

“Ok,” FazMark set the pictures down. “I’m counting on you. Try to be fast, ok?”

Fetch nodded and then turned around and ran off, leaving through the doggy door FazMark had installed. FazMark sighed and turned back towards the animatronic he was working on. Hopefully they would get his message and not get caught up in Afton’s trap.

Unfortunately... Fetch didn’t make it very far before he was snatched up by a bundle of strings and taken away.

ELSEWHERE

Dawktrap stared at his headset, chewing on his thumbnail in thought. Last time he'd worn it, he’d found Afton, but... maybe if he tried again he’d find Poopet? He needed to warn Poopet about Afton, but it was risky. If Afton was there again, he could possibly track Dawktrap’s signal and find where he’s staying.

But Dawktrap needed to talk to Poopet.

With a sigh, he slid his headset on and flipped the switch.

He didn’t see anything strange when he connected to the hub. The pizzeria looked the same. He walked around and carefully looked at everything, but nothing seemed different or changed. Did Afton even know about this place? He had technically been there before as Glitchtrap, but how did that even work now? Could Afton access this place, or could he only connect to the initial network?

“Dawktrap?”

Dawktrap gasped and spun around, seeing Poopet back at the prize counter.

“Poopet!” He rushed over. “You’re... a-are you ok? Have they hurt you?”

“I’m ok,” said Poopet. “They’re letting me stay awake now. I don’t know why. They’re not saying anything around me.”

“We’ve learned something serious,” Dawktrap said. “William Afton is here! He’s... he’s considered an ego because Lewis and Matt played him. But he’s here!”

Poopet’s eyes widened.

“How can you be so sure?” He asked. “What happened?”

“One night I was running diagnostics on my headset,” said Dawktrap. “I came across a password protected connection that made my headset glitch when I tried to get more information about it. I wasn’t able to get much, but I could see the username. It was his username! And then when we did research, we realized how he got here.”

“No!” Poopet looked terrified. “It... it can’t be!”

“It gets worse,” said Dawktrap. “Dawkguard said he’s seen Afton before. He’s at the facility that he was caught in. Afton’s involved in all of this somehow. We don’t know what he’s done or what he’s planning, but I need to know something. Have you seen him in the facility you’re being kept in?”

Poopet took a moment to think.

“No,” he finally said. “I haven’t seen him at all. But I’m pretty sure there’s more than one facility. He might be at another one.”

He curled up and began to shake.

“Dawktrap... I’m scared,” he whimpered. “If he’s really here... what will he do to me? What if he tries to kill me? He’ll know how to, he was the one who created me!”

“We won’t let that happen,” Dawktrap reached out and rubbed Poopet’s shoulder. “If you let me completely connect, I can copy your data and have someone trace it. I found out that we have someone here who can do that. We’ll be able to find you and come rescue you. It’ll be ok...”

He held his hand out and Poopet quickly grabbed it.

“Of course,” he said. “Here...”

He opened the connection wider and allowed Dawktrap to see the hidden data. Dawktrap examined it all until he found what he needed, carefully copying it to store in his headset. When he tried to let go, Poopet grabbed his hand with both of his own, squeezing tightly.

“Please come find me,” he said. “I don’t know what’s going to happen to me here. Please hurry!”

“We will,” Dawktrap said. “I promise you.”

“You... you said that Dawkguard’s with you?” Poopet asked. “I’ll get to meet him, right? When this is all over... we’ll be together again, right?”

Dawktrap knew that Poopet was seeking comfort. He smiled reassuringly and nodded.

“I promise,” he said. “We’ll be together again. And you’ll be safe and away from his clutches.”

Poopet nodded and let Dawktrap go.

“Hurry,” he said again. “Please...”

Dawktrap nodded and then vanished as he disconnected, no doubt rushing off to share the data he’d gotten. Poopet disconnected as well, coming back to the real world and seeing Afton’s grinning face. Poopet said and did nothing, empty mind waiting for Afton’s next command.

“Good show, Marionette,” he said. “You managed to completely fool him. Now all we have to do is wait. With your data, they’ll find out all that they need to know, and they won’t be able to stay away. They’ll all come running to the rescue and when they do... then the real fun will begin. And we’ll be that much closer to the completion.”

He pet Poopet’s head and chuckled.

“And it’s all thanks to you...”

Chapter Text

“Hey Thomas, what’s going on today?” Thomas was talking to himself. “Oh not much. Just... hanging out with some animatronics that are from a fictional game. We’re out here in the middle of nowhere and have no idea what to do or where to go. And there’s this random doctor here too...”

“I think the lad’s got a touch of the madness,” Foxy said softly to Dr. Thoruf.

“People deal with stress in different ways,” they said. “If it helps him, I’m not going to stop him.”

Foxy glanced at Freddy who shrugged back at him.

“But you do have a point, Thomas,” Dr. Thoruf said. “We need a plan. We can't just wander aimlessly. We need to find people who can help us.”

“If I can get to a phone, I can call one of my friends,” said Thomas. “Maybe they can buy us a couple of plane tickets.”

“Not a bad idea,” said Dr. Thoruf. “But I know from experience that they’re going to be watching the airports for us. Besides, I don’t think Foxy and Freddy will qualify as carryon luggage.

“Oh,” Thomas’s shoulders slumped. “A bus station?”

“Maybe,” Dr. Thoruf considered it. “But I want to put some distance between us and that place first. They’re going to be watching anything that we can use to get away. But if we walk far enough, we might be able to get out from under their eyes. And we still need to figure out where to go.”

“I just want to go home,” said Thomas. “I don’t want to get involved with all of this.”

“Well it’s too late,” said Dr. Thoruf. “You already are. You and your egos...”

“I don’t have egos,” said Thomas. “I have... Sides...” he trailed off, eyes widening. “Wait... does that count? Do you know?”

“I remember seeing a file on two people who looked like you,” Dr. Thoruf said. “It was an incident in New York. The picture... I remember purple and green...”

“Virgil and Remus!” Thomas gasped. “Holy cow, are they really here? Like here here? As in real? What if all of them are here? How many do I have? Do minor characters count too?”

“Thomas, calm down,” Dr. Thoruf said. “That’s what I’m talking about. We’re involved whether we want to be or not. We need to find a place to lay low, maybe find some people who can help us. Or... maybe even some egos.”

“What if we found my Sides?” Thomas asked. “What would I even say to them? Would they know who I am?”

“From what I know, egos know who their creators are,” said Dr. Thoruf. “They would know you. I imagine you would have a lovely conversation. You all would have a lot in common...”

They were silent for a few minutes.

“Ok, I have to take care of this,” they said. “If you guys could please wait here for me... I need to use the bathroom.”

They walked off and disappeared into some bushes.

“I’ve been thinking,” Freddy said to Foxy. “Should we put them in disguises? The doctor will stand out with that bright blonde hair of theirs.”

“Blonde hair?” Foxy asked. “Are ye blind? The doctor has hair as black as the sea at night.”

Thomas narrowed his eyes in confusion as he listened to them speak. Not much later, Dr. Thoruf reappeared.

“Well... that was an experience,” they said. “Let’s keep going.”

Thomas decided that Foxy and Freddy were both having vision problems. Dr. Thoruf was clearly a redhead...

ELSEWHERE

Remus carefully snuck out of the house, carrying something with him. It was early, the sun having barely risen above the horizon, still sending rays of light between the trees in the woods. Remus wanted to get going before anyone else noticed him leaving. He’d decided to go alone. No sense in risking anyone else-

“Hey Kiddo!”

Remus flinched, nearly dropping his device. He turned around to see Patton standing there and smiling at him.

“Patton! How did you know I was out here?” He asked.

“I told you before,” Patton tapped the side of his head. “A dad knows. I couldn’t just let you go off alone. What if you get in trouble? You need someone to help you. I packed for the trip and everything!”

He showed off his backpack that was decorated with cats. Remus rolled his eyes and sighed.

“Patton, you can’t come with me, it’s too dangerous,” he said. “If the enemy sees us, you’ll have to fight them. I’m pretty sure you can’t fight.”

“Can too!” Patton said. “You remember those ghost things? I tore them apart while in my frog form. A dad always fights to protect his kiddos.” He suddenly turned serious. “Look, Remus... I know we didn’t get along in the past, but... I still care about you. I don’t want you to go alone in case you get into trouble.”

“Jannie raised me to be a fighter,” said Remus. “But... you’re not going to go back inside, so I guess you can come. But if you get captured, I get to keep your cate onesie.”

“Why do you want my cat onesie?” Patton asked.

“That’s for me to know and you to lose sleep over,” Remus grinned. “Now... let’s see which way we need to go...”

He held the skull up by the antlers and watched one of the empty eye sockets light up. He slowly turned until both sockets lit up then nodded.

“This way, then,” he said. “Come on, Patton. We’re burning daylight.”

“We’re on an adventure to save Thomas!” Patton said, following behind Remus. “I can’t wait to finally meet him. But what would we even say to him? Would he know who we are?”

“From my experience, creators know their egos,” said Remus. “So he’d know us. I imagine your conversation with him would be sickeningly sappy since you two always seem to have so much in common. I’ll probably end up vomiting from all the happy feels...”

“Remus!” Patton frowned. “Well, we won’t know until we find him. Can that thing really help?”

“Trust me,” said Remus. “This thing is the best tool we’ll ever have for finding Thomas.”

Patton certainly hoped so...

Chapter Text

“Tell me about Poopet.”

Dawktrap looked up from where he was lying on the couch to see Dawkguard standing above him. Dawktrap had been an absolute wreck after everything that had happened, especially after they’d figured out just who was behind everything...

“Why do you want to know?” Dawktrap asked, not bothering to move.

Dawkguard lifted Dawktrap’s legs and sat down before setting them in his lap. He bit his lip, looking nervous. Dawktrap sighed and slowly sat up, leaning on Dawkguard instead of sprawling out. He couldn’t resist ruffling the other’s hair.

“He’s my brother,” Dawkguard finally said. “I want to know more about him.”

“Ah,” said Dawktrap. “Well... we didn’t always get along in the beginning. Personality clash, you understand. I’m a prankster at heart and I loved to mess with him. He always made it so easy to mess with him. I’d steal his little box or tie his strings in knots and watch him trip and fall. Then... one day I was moved to a different facility. They had been working on the game in the same building as him and then decided to move the project somewhere else.”

“Do... do you think he’ll like me?” Dawkguard asked.

“Of course he will,” Dawktrap smiled. “He asked me to keep you safe until he can escape and come meet you. Why, do you think he won’t?”

Dawkguard was silent for a moment, his hands fidgeting with his hat in his lap. He looked scared, shaking slightly and not looking Dawktrap in the eye. Then he began to sniffle and tears welled up in his eyes.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” Dawktrap asked. “What’s wrong, Dawky?”

“I-I just...” Dawkguard sniffled. “I... I h-have... a secret. B-But I’m scared to tell you. I’m... I’m afraid that you w-won't like me anymore if I tell you...”

He sobbed and covered his face with his hands.

“Hey, hey...” Dawktrap pulled a purple handkerchief from his pocket. “None of that now. We’ll still care about you if you tell us your secret, I promise.”

He began wiping Dawkguard’s face. Dawkguard sniffled and let him.

“I won’t force you to tell it,” said Dawktrap. “But when you’re ready to tell it, Darko and I will be right here for you. And Poopet will too when we finally rescue him. We’re not going to leave you over some silly secret...”

Dawkguard sniffled again and pulled up the collar of his shirt to wipe his eye. Dawktrap saw a flash of the black shirt that Dawkguard was wearing under his uniform. He gave the other a reassuring smile and rubbed his back.

“It’ll be ok,” he said. “Don’t worry. We’ll get Poopet back and everything will be great. You’ll see.”

Dawkguard slowly smiled and nodded.

“Ok,” he said. “And... I’ll come to you when... when I’m ready. Just... please don’t get mad at me when I finally do...”

“I won’t,” Dawktrap tapped Dawkguard’s nose. “Bunny promise.”

ELSEWHERE

Sean had been sleeping when he was suddenly woken up.

“Sean!” Overhype shook him harder. “Sean, wake up! We have to leave!”

“What?” Sean sat up and yawned.

“They found us,” Overhype said. “They’re on their way right now. We have to leave now.”

Sean’s eyes widened as Overhype rushed from the room. He’d recovered enough to move and function on his own, and he quickly pulled his shoes on. He ran after Overhype to see Hoverkill shoving bags of tech and supplies into the trunk of their car. Overhype was dashing around, packing up everything important. Sean hurried to help her, following her directions for what to pack.

“That’s everything important!” Overhype said as she closed the trunk. “Get in the car, Sean!”

Sean wasted no time in getting in and putting his seatbelt on. Overhype and Hoverkill jumped in, and Hoverkill quickly started the car and peeled away from the house. Overhype turned in her seat to look behind them, and Sean watched her press a button on a strange device.

“Whoa!” Sean flinched in his seat and turned to look behind the car as well. In the quickly growing distance, Sean could see smoke and flames. Overhype had blown up the safe house.

“Why...?” Sean asked.

“DNA,” Overhype said as she turned back around and put her seatbelt on. “We don’t want them finding out that we have you. They don’t know yet. They just know that we stole some of their data...”

Sean leaned back against his seat and pressed a hand over his chest. His heart was pounding, but he took deep breaths in an attempt to calm it.

“So where are we going now?” He asked.

“Overkill sent us the coordinates of the safe house he’s staying at,” said Hoverkill. “We’re going to meet up with him there. We’ll figure what to do next when we get there.”

“A safehouse?” Sean asked. “Wait... is it the safe house that Mark’s egos are staying at?”

“You know about it?” Overhype asked.

“Yeah,” Sean nodded. “My own egos stayed there for a while once before. The place is huge and packed with different egos. It would be like a treasure trove for whoever is kidnapping egos and youtubers.”

“It’s that diverse?” Overhype asked. “Interesting. Overkill did mention that some creators are staying there as well for their own safety. We need to make sure we’re not being followed when we get closer. If they find the safehouse it’s over for all of us.”

“I dunno about that,” Sean mused. “A lot of Mark’s egos are super powerful. They could wipe out whole armies if they had to. And Dark is the most ruthless of them all. If anyone tried to hurt the others, he’d destroy them.”

“Still,” Hoverkill smiled. “Best not to make too much work for him and get on his bad side before we even get there.”

“I’ll calculate a route for us,” Overhype began to tap at her tablet. “We can drive in shifts if we need to. I don’t want to stop for too long in case they catch up...”

“We’ll be fine,” Hoverkill said. “They don’t know nearly as much as they think they do. We’ll get there.”

Sean sighed and looked out the window. At least he’d get to see his friends again...

Chapter Text

Camping was never a hobby of mine.

At least... I think so. Did I ever go camping when I was little? Guess it doesn’t matter...

I can’t help but feel as if I’ve been made the leader of this little group. They probably think I know more than they do. Not so. Mr. A kept his cards close to his chest. I only saw what he wanted me to see and knew what he wanted me to know. Everything else was kept under tight lips and locked cabinets.

Still, it all feels... strange.

My thoughts are becoming strange.

Sometimes I can’t think straight, and other times I get dizzy from it. This has never happened before. Why is it suddenly happening now? I need my wits about me if we’re to get out of this alive...

But... why am I here? Why did Poopet want to ‘save’ me? What is he saving me from? I was never in any danger. Mr. A looked out for me and made sure that I didn’t get hurt. They could have just grabbed Thomas and left, why take me with them?

And then there’s the mystery of Poopet’s reaction to Mr. A. He looked so... angry. As if he knew him from somewhere. But that’s impossible unless Poopet was referring to an incident at a different facility...

None of this makes any sense, and I don’t know what to do. I don’t have the heart to tell them that I am just as hopelessly lost as they are. I have no idea what to do after this. Where could we even go? Where would we be safe from Mr. A?

Does Mr. A think I was kidnapped? What will he do if he finds me?

I will keep this journal going. At least then if I die out here, people will know what happened. Would anyone even miss me? I... I have no family of my own. Nor friends. Nor... nor anyone really. Well... at least the trees and mushrooms will be able to enjoy my rotting cor

I think I just heard something...

Chapter Text

“That’s a flashlight!”

Bawko pointed at the distance. Angus and Lewis stopped and watched, but the light didn’t move.

“Someone’s over there,” Angus said. “I can hear someone snoring. Do you think they’re friendly?”

“Only one way to find out,” said Bawko. “Does anyone want to volunteer to see?”

The flashlight suddenly moved and then shone at them.

“Hello?” Someone called. “Who’s there?”

Lewis suddenly froze when he heard a very familiar mechanical sound. The bushes in front of them suddenly parted and two figures were silhouetted against the flashlight's beam. But a silhouette was all that Lewis needed, and he recognized both figures easily.

“Oh sugar!” He backed up until he was behind Dennis. “It’s Nightmare Freddy and Nightmare Foxy! Guys, get back! They are not friendly!”

“Guys!” the light moved again and someone else popped up. “Guys, it’s ok. They’re egos. I recognize their faces.”

All through the confusion, Dennis hadn’t so much as flinched, completely unfazed by the animatronics and new person. Lewis peeked out and saw someone with a flashlight, a lab coat, and... blue hair?

“Um... I’m actually not an ego,” he said. “I’m a youtuber. Wait, but this means you’ve seen one of my egos, right? Who was it?”

Caution was pushed aside by curiosity, and he moved around Dennis to better see the new person. He spared Freddy and Foxy a glance, but they didn’t seem to be acting in any kind of hostile manner...

“You’re a creator?” The new person said to Lewis. “My name is Dr. Thoruf. I work... or, I guess I used to work for Mr. A. He was the one studying the egos.”

“You mean kidnapping them?” Bawko folded his arms. “You’ve got us all running scared for for our lives. Why are you even doing all of this?”

“Well... I don’t know,” said Dr. Thoruf. “All they would tell us was that it’s in the interest of public safety.”

“Well that’s a bunch of bull dust,” said Angus. “If we wanted to destroy the world, we would have done so months ago! Do you have any idea how powerful some of us are?”

“They do,” said Dr. Thoruf. “That’s why they came after you in the first place.”

“I hate to interrupt,” Lewis said as he stared. “But... have I finally gone mad or are Foxy and Freddy really here?”

“Oh, we’re real,” Foxy leered. “And we be the Captain’s crew what was sent to protect this... doctor person. So ye’d best be forgettin’ about any ideas of pillagin’.”

“We’re not going to do anything violent or stupid,” said Bawko. “We’re just trying to find a safehouse. We took a bus here from Texas.”

“Where even is here?” Dr. Thoruf asked.

“Well that sounds familiar,” Angus laughed. “We were hoping you knew. Last location we saw was Nashville, but we may have crossed a state line by now...”

“No clue,” Dr. Thoruf shook their head. “I was never told where the facility was and we’ve been wandering around-” they broke off when they realized that someone was missing. “Thomas! Thomas, it’s ok. They’re friendly.”

The bushes rustled again and out stepped...

“Thomas Sanders?” Lewis asked. “I know you! I watch your videos. I love Sanders Sides.”

“Oh?” Thomas looked around. “Um... thanks. I take it you do youtube too?”

“Mostly video games,” said Lewis. “But I also do a lot of FNAF stuff. Nowhere near Matt’s level, but I’m still pretty proud of it.”

Thomas glanced between Lewis and the egos.

“I’m guessing you guys are egos? You... look like Jacksepticeye,” he stared at Angus.

“He’s my creator,” said Angus. “I’m Angus the survivalist. This here is Bawko. He’s one of Lewis’s egos.”

“Oh wow...” Thomas’s eyes widened. “So... I’m like almost certain that my sides must be out there somewhere.”

“You don’t know?” Lewis asked. “Well... I didn’t either, so that’s understandable.”

“Hey, you wouldn’t mind us tagging along with you, do you?” Dr. Thoruf asked. “I’m... not exactly sure where to go.”

“Of course,” Angus smiled. “We’re looking for a safe house for egos. It’s said to be really well protected.”

“Sounds better than wandering around,” Thomas did a double take when he finally noticed Dennis. “Wow. Nice moose...”

“He is, isn’t he?” Lewis smiled and pat Dennis’s flank. “Got him from a scout. He helped me escape.”

“Wait, you got him from a scout?” Angus’s eyes widened. “Did this scout have blue hair?”

“Um... yeah?” Lewis asked. “Do you know him?”

“We’ve run into him a few times!” Bawko smiled. “He was out there roughing it just like us. He’s a hardy one for sure. What happened to him?”

“I... I don’t know,” Lewis frowned. “He sacrificed himself to save me. I’m hoping to ask for help in rescuing him when we get to the safe house.”

“Oh I imagine plenty will want to help,” said Bawko. “At the rate that they’ve been snapping us up. And some egos are very tight. Like a family. You kidnap one of them and the rest will come rescue them and burn your house down.”

“That’s very... wholesome,” Dr. Thoruf looked a bit worried. “So you think they’ll launch an attack against the facilities?”

“There’s more than one?” Lewis asked. “I only knew about the one I was trapped in.”

“Yeah, I escaped from another one,” said Thomas. “I had this big guy to help me.”

He pat Freddy’s chest and Freddy carefully pat Thomas’s head.

“It is my duty to protect this helpless and weak human,” Freddy rumbled.

Dr. Thoruf giggled while Thomas gave Freddy an offended look.

“Anyway, we were looking for a place to camp for the night and it looks like you guys found a great spot,” said Bawko. “Angus, let’s get a fire going. Are you guys hungry? I should still have some smoked meat in here somewhere...”

Bawko began to dig in his backpack while Angus wandered off to find firewood. Dennis huffed and then plopped himself down on the ground.

“So now I’m going to camp with two FNAF animatronics, a demonic looking moose, a youtuber, a doctor, and two egos...” Thomas nodded slowly, giving a tight smile. “Yep... when I asked myself months ago what I was going to be doing this year, this is exactly what I thought of.”

“Best not to question things,” Lewis shrugged as he sat down next to Dennis. “Things got way easier when I stopped questioning it all.”

Chapter Text

TD was looking over the information on the board, lightly chewing on the end of a pen. They’d found out quite a bit, but there were still blanks to fill. His sources had been useful enough, but not as much as they used to be. For a while now, the voices sounded strangely... muffled. Only a few sentences would come through clearly and the information was only slightly useful...

“Teddy?”

TD turned around to see JS holding out a mug of coffee for him. He took it with a smile.

“Thanks,” he said.

“You should be getting your sleep,” said JS. “It’s almost two in the morning.”

“Is it?” TD yawned loudly. “I had no idea...”

JS smacked his shoulder and TD chuckled.

“Always working so hard,” JS shook her head. “Mr. Puzzle Solver. I had hoped you would have been able to relax after you helped saved Everlock. But... I guess I shouldn’t ask someone to stop doing something they’re good at.”

“I wasn’t that good at it,” TD said. “Or I would have been able to save you too.”

“That wasn’t your fault,” said JS. “I got cursed because I was saving someone from the witches. I lost the challenge because I couldn’t swallow that potion fast enough.”

“If anything, you were bringing it back up faster than you were downing it...” TD mused as he sipped his coffee.

“Exactly,” JS giggled. “It tasted so horrible! But... it’s ok. I never blamed you for my losing. I was happy to hear you had made it to the end and survived. If anyone walked out of that town, I wanted you to be one of them. Did you take Blanche with you?”

“I did,” TD laughed. “I found her when we were leaving and took her with me. I still have her somewhere...”

He paused, remembering something else.

“I, um... I also took something else,” he said. “I kept it to remember you by, and since you’re back...”

He walked over to the table where an old and worn briefcase sat. TD locked it tightly and then flipped it over. It was a special briefcase. One that acted like a pocket dimension. It allowed him to store documents, evidence, weapons, tools, spare clothes, anything that he needed, and then allowed him to retrieve it very easily.

TD hesitated, then opened the briefcase and pulled something out. JS gasped when she saw what it was.

“I know it sounds weird that I kept it,” TD held up a blue puppy plush. “But... I couldn’t bring myself to just leave it there...”

“Blueberry,” JS felt tears well up in her eyes as she took the plush from TD.

She had no idea why she was suddenly so overcome with emotion, but it felt as if this plush brought back every memory of Everlock. Every puzzle, every challenge, every time she and TD had worked together...

“Hey,” TD looked worried. “Oh, don’t cry. It’s ok! I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to make you sad, I just thought you might-”

“I love it,” she said softly with a smile. “Thanks, Teddy. I’m not sad, I promise. I just...” she paused for a moment. “We made a really good team in that town, didn’t we? I was so happy when Joey brought you back to life. And then when I saw you again in the museum... it felt just like old times. You and me against the forces of evil...”

TD chuckled softly.

“I’m just glad that we’re both here now,” he said. “Together. Safe and sound. No more ghosts or demons or spirits. No more puzzles and challenges. No more watching our friends die one by one...”

He set his hand on her shoulder and squeezed it gently. JS blushed softly as he did so, looking up at him through her lashes. Before TD could say anything else, there was a loud crash from the next room and a very familiar voice cried out in pain. TD’s eye twitched slightly.

“I should... go see who that is,” he said. “Make sure they’re ok. I’ll be right back.”

“Ok,” JS smiled, turning to look at the board.

TD grit his teeth as he left the room. That dumb prince was going to get it!

Dawkguard was pacing his room.

It was so late, but he wasn’t tired. He was never tired this time of night. And even if his sleep schedule wasn’t completely wrecked, he would still be pacing. He sniffled and scrubbed at his eyes, wiping away tears. His hands shook as chewed on his knuckle or drummed his fingers against his hip.

“Oh, would you just stop?” He snapped at himself. “You always do this!”

He sighed heavily and wiped at his face again.

“Everything will be fine,” he continued to talk to himself. “Dawktrap says that Mr. Darkiplier is very powerful. And so is Mr. Warfstache and Mr. Host. They’ll be fine. And with Dawktrap and Darko helping them, they’ll be able to rescue Poopet just fine...”

So why did he have trouble believing that?

There was a deep pit in his heart that held nothing but fear for everyone. Fear for his brothers, fear for the other people in the house... fear for himself. Dawkguard had never been very brave in his life, and he’d been called a crybaby a few times. While he didn’t count himself as strong or brave by any means, he felt awful for thinking the same of the others. What kind of brother was he to not believe in Dawktrap or Darko? How much of an ungrateful guest was he that he didn’t believe in Dark or Host?

Dawkguard plopped down on this bed and gripped his hair with his hands. They were all more than capable of going up against Afton. They would bring Poopet back safe and sound. They would rescue the other egos and creators as well.

Everything was going to be just fine....

“Tomorrow is another day,” he said softly to himself.

He peeled back the blankets of his bed and slid under them, curling up and grabbing the Freddy Fazbear plush that had fallen on the floor. Dr. Iplier had encouraged him to try to get back to a more normal sleep schedule. He’d told him to try sleeping even if he didn’t feel tired. Dawkguard certainly didn’t feel tired, but he was hopeful that he might fall asleep with a pleasant dream. A dream where Afton didn’t exist and everyone was together and happy...

Chapter Text

“I thought the plan was to hit all facilities at once,” Overkill said.

“According to Darko and Dawktrap, we need to act now,” said Dark. “Apparently their brother is very powerful and he can be very deadly in the wrong hands. I don’t want to strike early, but... “

“My sources say that we need to do this as soon as possible,” said TD.

“You’re sure?” Overkill asked.

“It was a bit muffled, but I definitely heard them say that we needed to save Poopet,” said TD. “And my sources are never wrong.”

Overkill frowned, but turned his attention back to Dark.

“So what do you want to do?” He asked.

“I don’t want to put anyone in danger,” said Dark. “I will only be taking a few egos with me. Powerful ones. If anything happens, I have others ready to jump in if needed. Poopet gave us the coordinates of the facility he’s being kept in.”

“And if they move the other egos?” Overkill asked.

“According to Dawkguard, they don’t seem to be hurting them or have any intention to,” said Dark. “We will be able to rescue them later.”

“This is a bad idea,” said Overkill.

“I know,” Dark sighed. “But it’s one that needs to be done. I don’t want to leave Poopet there and risk him being used against us. Dawktrap was very adamant about it.”

“I see,” said Overkill. “Then I understand. I’ll have Deb see if she can’t get back into their system. That way, if they do move the egos, we might be able to find out where.”

“Worst come to worst, I’ll have Anti do some hacking,” said Dark. “Bing already has an idea of how they’re moving the egos around. We’ll go with that.”

Overkill nodded, brows furrowed in thought.

“Good luck, then,” he said. “Make it back in one piece.”

“We’ll be fine,” Darko said. “And when we come back, you’ll get to meet Poopet.”

Dawkguard continued to frown, looking between Darko and Dawktrap. He was holding a Glitchtrap plush (a gift from Dawktrap) in his lap, hugging it tightly.

“I don’t like this,” said Dawkguard. “Afton is bad news. He could kill you.”

“I like to think I’m a bit hard to kill,” Dawktrap said. “Since I’m not quite human...”

“Same,” said Darko. “Afton is just a man. Human. He can’t do much against us.”

Dawkguard silently shook his head.

“Afton is not human,” he said. “He’s a monster...”

He suddenly jumped up and threw his arms around them both, pulling them in for a hug. Dawktrap and Darko returned it, hugging tighter when they heard Dawkguard sniffle. Dawktrap gave Darko a look over Dawkguard’s head, one that clearly said they were going to damn well make it back alive for Dawkguard’s sake.

“Please be careful,” Dawkguard said softly. “Please come back ok. I don’t want to lose either of you...”

“You won’t lose us,” said Dawktrap. “We promise.”

“We swear it,” said Darko. “On Bonnie’s bowtie.”

ELSEWHERE

William Afton had emptied the facility, sending any remaining egos to the other facilities. He wanted the building empty for when the others inevitably came for Poopet. He didn’t want anyone getting in the way of his plans. He would have only one chance at this. If he failed, then everything was for nothing.

He was not going to let it end like that.

He was watching the security cameras for them, waiting for them to appear. Poopet had given them the location and really hammered it home that he needed to be saved quickly. Just as Afton had told him to. Such a good puppet...

Afton gasped softly when he saw a few figures appear on one of the screens. He counted out five egos. Two he could use, two that weren’t needed, and one that... oh.

Yes, he could use the other one too. Just for a different reason.

“Smile, puppet,” he grinned at Poopet. “Your family has come to see you. It would be rude to keep them waiting, wouldn’t it?”

“I... do not like this,” Phantom said. “We got into this place way too easily. Where is everyone? Where are the guards and the workers and the soldiers and stuff?”

“Maybe we’re too late,” Dark said as he looked around. “Maybe they’ve already moved him...”

“We have to at least look and make sure,” said Dawktrap. “We can split up.”

“I don’t think splitting up would be best,” said Phantom.

“This place is huge,” said Darko. “It will take far too long if we stay together. Just split up, look around, and meet back here when we’re done. I’ll take Dawktrap with me.”

“Dark, I doubt they’ll be able to do much against us,” said Wilford. “We’re not exactly human...”

“Very well,” Dark sighed. “I will search the top floors.”

“I’ll take the underground,” Wilford smiled and disappeared in a puff of pink smoke.

“I’ll check the middle floors,” Phantom struck his cane against the ground and vanished as well.

“That leaves you with the lower floors,” Dark said. “Stay close together and call me if you get into trouble. I will be able to hear you.”

“Got it,” Dawktrap nodded.

He and Darko walked off, leaving the lobby area and heading into the back offices. Dark summoned a dark portal and stepped through it.

Wilford kept his gun steady as he carefully navigated the underground halls. It was far too quiet, and Wilford could feel the horror game instincts that Mark had instilled in all of his egos through osmosis. The instincts were screaming at him to turn around and leave. That nothing good could be in this facility.

There was a sudden crash, then the lights flickered and went out.

Wilford pulled out a lighter and opened it. With a click, the hall was filled with the glowing light of a small pink flame. Wilford kept his gun raised, ready to fire as he slowly turned around the hall, looking for whatever had made the noise.

In the distance, he could see a flickering blue light that was slowly coming closer. Loud footsteps accompanied it, and Wilford braced himself.

“Who’s there?” He called. “Are you an ego?”

There was silence as the light stopped, and Wilford realized it was a pair of eyes.

“Potato salad.”

“Huh?” Wilford lowered his gun slightly-

Suddenly, dozens of strings appeared and began to wrap around his wrists and ankles, holding him in place. Wilford fired off a few rounds, but the strings soon tugged the gun from his grip. Wilford summoned his aura, ready to teleport away-

An intense pain suddenly bloomed from the back of his neck. He could feel something digging into the muscle there, winding around his spine and poking into his brainstem. Wilford’s body shook and seized, twitching and spasming in agony. His aura flickered, unable to come to his call.

And then Wilford suddenly fell limp.

Poopet slowly lowered himself from the ceiling, looking at Wilford with blank eyes. The lights flickered back on, revealing an animatronic that resembled Wilford. Poopet extended more of his strings, reaching out to the animatronic and connecting them to its system. Poopet’s aura was quick to steal Wilford away and deposit him into his new home.

"And they will come to know the Joys of Creation..." He said softly.

Poopet pulled his bloody strings from the back of Wilford’s neck and let his body fall to the ground. The animatronic’s eyes shifted from blue to pink, and it shuddered and whirred in distress.

“̷D̴-̴D̷-̴D̶a̶-̸a̴r̸k̵,̶”̷ Its voice glitched. “̸H̶-̶H̴e̵l̵p̶-̵p̷-̸p̶.̷.̸.̵”̷

Chapter Text

“I do not like this,” Dawktrap muttered as he looked around. “It’s too quiet, and my skin is crawling from some kind of... feeling.”

“I get what you mean,” said Darko. “I feel it too. It almost feels familiar. You don’t think...”

“It’s him?” Dawktrap shrugged, still carefully looking around. “Maybe. I dunno. It’s been a while since I’ve felt his presence...”

He sighed and shook his hands, groaning softly. Darko looked at him with concern.

“This does not feel good,” Dawktrap said. “It’s like... this weird energy. An energy that my body does not like and is not meshing well with...”

More than his skin crawling, his muscles felt as if some strange electric current was running through them, making Dawktrap want to move or flex or do something to expel it. But he had no idea what was causing it, let alone how to get rid of it.

“Let’s just find Poopet and leave,” Dawktrap said. “Can’t really do much about it now.”

“Oh, but you can...”

Strings descended and began to wrap around them. Dawktrap and Darko struggled and struck at the strings, slicing with their knives. But they stopped when they saw who it was.

“Poopet?” Darko asked. “You’re ok! Hey, we’re here to get... you...”

He trailed off as Poopet turned to look in his direction. The mask hid his face, but Darko could see the blank glowing eyes behind it. Darko’s eyes widened and he choked on his breath. He knew that look.

“Poopet?” He asked. “Poopet can you hear me? Poopet!”

He refused to believe that his brother was lost. He refused to believe it. Poopet had to be able to hear him. Poopet had to be ok. He wasn’t leaving without him...

“Poopet?” Dawktrap flailed in the air, grabbing the strings and pulling with all his might. “Poopet! What’s happened? What’s wrong?”

“Nothing’s wrong at all...”

Dawktrap felt a chill run down his spine, he turned and saw the grinning face of William Afton. He growled at him, struggling to get closer to him so that he could stab him, but Poopet’s strings held firm.

“None of that now,” said Afton. “Puppet! Have them drop their weapons.”

“Like hell- AHHH!” Dawktrap cried out in pain as he felt something pierce the back of his neck and thrust itself into him. He felt a surge of magic rush through a certain set of his muscles, and his hand opened without his control and dropped his knife. From the sounds behind him, the same had happened to Darko.

“It’s really quite funny,” Afton said, reaching up to adjust Dawktrap’s bowtie. Dawktrap tried to move, but magic was thrumming through his body, holding him frozen in place.

“I release a powerful entity in return for knowledge,” Afton continued. “I kidnap a few minor egos, I regain my loyal puppet, and now... now I can take back that which was taken from me.”

“Taken?” Dawktrap grunted. “I’ve taken nothing from you! If anything, you took something from us!”

“Oh, but you did steal something from me,” Afton’s grin was terrifying. “Something that I need very much...”

Purple electricity began to crackle and arc through Afton’s fingers, and to Dawktrap’s surprise, his aura was summoned. Darko watched and was able to connect the dots faster than Dawktrap was.

“No!” He shouted, eyes turning black. “Don’t you dare! If you do, so help me, I will rip you to shreds!”

“I’d love to see you get past my puppet’s strings,” said Afton. “Don’t worry, Dawktrap. This won’t... well... actually, it’s going to hurt a lot.”

Afton was not joking.

Agony unlike anything Dawktrap had ever felt ripped through him as he felt something being pulled from him. Something that was a part of him. Something that might as well have been his very soul. Dawktrap screamed and spasmed and jerked, sobbing over what was being done, begging Afton to stop.

Darko couldn’t bear it, and he clenched his eyes shut. He could still hear, and he desperately wished he could cover his ears.

When Dawktrap’s cries finally stopped... a loud thud came afterward. Darko opened his eyes to see Dawktrap, devoid of all color, lying motionless on the ground. Afton stood over him with his corrupted Glitchtrap aura, eyes glowing purple and electricity arcing and crackling around him.

“At last,” he said. “I am whole again. As for you... you are not needed. But... I suppose I could hold onto you... in case I need to experiment later. Puppet, make him-”

He didn’t get to finish as a tendril made of shadow suddenly lunged from nowhere and knocked Afton back. The tendril moved again, severing Poopet’s strings that held Darko, causing the other to fall to the ground. Darko grunted when he hit the floor and began to claw at the back of his neck, still feeling a few strings wriggling around within him.

“Oh...” Afton’s eyes lit up as he stood.

His aura moved forward and sent an electrical blast into the shadows, revealing Dark to be standing there. Dark vanished and reappeared next to Darko. Two tendrils quickly wrapped around him and Dawktrap and began to pull them away.

“You can’t leave now!” Afton laughed as Poopet pursued them. “So rude!”

“Dark, Dawktrap needs help,” Darko was still shaking as the strings slowly began to stop moving. “Afton stole his aura!”

“His what?!” Dark vanished and then reappeared on a different floor entirely. “How?”

“Apparently, Dawktrap’s aura is also Afton’s aura,” Darko coughed. “So Afton stole it and now he’s at full strength. This... this was all a trap. He doesn’t want the small egos... he wants egos like you or... or Wilford!”

Darko gasped.

“Oh god! He’s probably going to go after him next!” He said.

“So this whole thing was a trap?!” Dark growled. “You... I am going to hurt you when we get back.”

“You made the decision for us to come here like this!” Darko said.

“Because you said that we had to or else everything was doomed” Dark shook his head and opened a portal. “Just take him home. I’ll find Wilford and Phantom and bring them back. We’ll need a new plan.”

Darko snarled, but obeyed. He picked Dawktrap up and carried him through the portal. Dark closed the portal and looked around. He needed to find Wilford.

Phantom had yet to find anything in the abandoned laboratories. The lights would flicker every now and then, but nothing else seemed out of place. He was almost to the end of the area he’d agreed to search, and he gave the final laboratory last look. He turned to leave-

Clack clack

Phantom spun around, pointing his cane at where he’d heard the noise.

“Who’s there?” He called. “Show yourself!”

There was a pause, and then... a small animatronic came out from under a desk. The animatronic was a bucktoothed white and lavender bear that wasn’t even as tall as Phantom’s waist. It gave Phantom a scared look and whirred softly, sounding as though it were whining.

“An animatronic?” Phantom tilted his head. “Well... looks harmless enough.”

He turned and left the laboratory, but the animatronic rushed forward and grabbed onto his leg. Phantom readied himself for an attack, but the animatronic was just hugging his leg like a scared child. It looked up at him with pleading eyes as Phantom began to pull him away.

“Let go,” he said. “I don’t have time to deal with you.”

The animatronic whirred again and made grabby hands at Phantom when he finally managed to pull the bear off. Phantom set it down.

“Stay here,” he said.

He turned around and walked off, sighing when he heard the animatronic follow him. Well, he had other things to worry about-

The animatronic suddenly screeched.

“What the-” Phantom jumped, turning around to glare at the animatronic.

But the animatronic was pointing at something down the hallway. Phantom turned around to see another animatronic walking towards them, pink eyes glowing softly. It came to a stop and raised a familiar looking gun at Phantom.

“̴I̴-̸I̶-̷I̶'̴m̸ ̵s̷o̵r̷r̷y̶,̴”̴ its glitched voice spoke. “̴I̴’̴m̷ ̸s̷o̶-̸o̵-̸o̶r̶r̸y̶.̸”̴

It fired the gun.

Chapter Text

Dark heard the gunshot.

He knew that sound well, having heard it plenty of times in the past. Wilford’s gun was no ordinary gun, and it made a very distinct sound.

Dark also knew that if Wilford was firing it, then he was in trouble. He reached out with his aura to find Wilford...

Something was wrong...

According to Dark’s aura, Wilford was in two different locations. Two places at once? That was not an ability that Wilford had. One was in the basement levels and the other was close by. Wilford had said he’d be down there. He should check there first.

Dark summoned a portal and stepped through it into the basement levels, using Wilford’s energy as a beacon. When the portal vanished behind him, Dark could see the pink flame of Wilford’s lighter, and...

Dark gave a choked noise when he saw what was lying next to the lighter. He rushed to Wilford’s side and rolled him over. There was a lot of blood on the floor, and Wilford’s eyes were open and empty. Dark pressed his fingers into Wilford’s neck.

No pulse.

Dark’s breathing began to quicken as he pressed his ear to Wilford’s chest.

No heartbeat.

Dark slowly pushed himself up as ice filled his veins and the twin souls within him screamed with rage and despair. Dark heaved a sob, feeling tears well up in his eyes. His fingers curled into Wilford’s shirt, wrinkling the material.

Dark then gave a primal roar of deep raw emotion. It echoed off the walls loud enough that anyone on this floor would be able to hear him. But Dark didn’t care about being heard.

“Get up!” Celine screeched. “Get up now! Find who did this! Find who killed him and make them suffer!”

“He... H-He can’t be dead,” Damien sobbed. “What about upstairs? What was that other source of energy? He might still be alive!”

The other source of energy...

Dark once again reached out, feeling through every shadow in the building until he had the layout mapped well enough for him to summon a portal for the correct location. He shakily reached forward and closed Wilford’s lighter before pocketing it. He then summoned a different portal and carefully set Wilford’s body inside it to retrieve it later.

Phantom dodged another bullet as the animatronic once again fired. What was this thing? Why did it look like Wilford? Why did it have his gun? Phantom could sense a special energy radiating from it, but he’d never seen anything quite like this before.

“Stop!” Phantom cast his magic and created a barrier around the animatronic.

The smaller bear animatronic was now clinging to his back with a grip like a vice. Phantom didn’t dare look away even as he heard a portal open and Dark step out.

“What the hell is that?” Dark asked.

“I have no idea, but it has a gun and an itchy trigger finger,” said Phantom. “Not a good combination...”

The animatronic tried to speak, but its voice was glitching too much to hear it clearly. The hand that was holding the gun was shaking, moving up and down as if fighting against some unseen force.

“We should destroy it,” said Phantom. “It’s hostile.”

Dark narrowed his eyes at the animatronic. It looked like Wilford, it seemed to carry some of his energy, but it was faint, hidden behind layers of corrupted and black magic. Dark didn’t know what to think of it, but if it was hostile... then they would need to destroy it.

“̸I̶-̷I̷t̸ ̵w̷a̶s̵ ̶a̸n̵ ̴a̶c̴c̴-̵i̸d̷e̶n̷t̷-̵t̸-̸t̷-̴t̷.̴.̷.̴ ̸I̴ ̴s̴-̶s̴-̵s̵-̶s̵w̴e̸-̷a̷r̸.̷.̶.̸”̵ The animatronic managed to say.

Dark’s eyes widened, and his aura quickly smothered the spell that Phantom was about to cast.

“Wait! It’s... it can’t be. It can’t be!” Dark said.

“What is it?” Phantom asked.

“I found... Wilford’s body in the basement...” Dark said. “No pulse or heartbeat, and this... this thing has his energy. Do you think... could it possibly...”

A set of footsteps made them both perk up. They turned towards the noise, guards up. Slowly, another animatronic came down the hall and stepped into the light for Phantom and Dark to see it better. The animatronic looked... like Dark. From the style of his suit to the curl of his hair, but its eyes were dark and empty, bereft of Dark’s power.

“Another one,” Phantom stepped back.

“Why does it look like me-” Dark paused.

He fell silent... and then suddenly pushed Phantom away. A wave of strings snagged Dark before he could dodge them. There were hundreds of them encompassing him like a dark spider’s web. Dark cried out in pain as he felt the strings dive into his flesh and muscle. They were piercing him all over his body, and he quickly lost enough strength to be able to fight back.

Phantom moved to help, but the strings were upon him as well, quickly retendering him motionless with their own attack on his mind. Phantom watched in horror as Dark screamed in agony, and the animatronic that looked like him began to twitch. The eyes lit up a bright red, and the strings quickly dropped them.

Poopet hung down from the ceiling, awaiting his next command. Phantom took advantage of his pause to grab Dark. Dark was twitching in pain, whimpering softly as blood ran freely down from the dozens of holes and tears in his body.

A portal opened beneath them, and they fell through it.

Afton appeared not long after the portal closed, nearly strutting with pride as he grinned at his newest acquisitions. He examined the Darkiplier animatronic with manic eyes.

“Gotcha!” He laughed.

ELSEWHERE

Phantom and Dark fell from the portal and hit the ground harshly. They were somewhere in the middle of a forest, but Phantom couldn’t tell much more than that. He turned around when he heard Dark cough and groan in pain.

“Hang on, don’t move...” He put his hands on Dark’s chest and let his magic flow, healing the injuries over his body. Everything healed nicely until his magic reached the back of Dark’s neck. A spark of corruption fought back against Phantom’s magic, the wound refusing to heal.

“You’re ok for now,” Phantom looked around. “We can get Dr. Iplier to look at that. Why did you bring us here? Why aren’t we back at the house? Dark? Dark, what’s wrong? What happened?”

“I’m...” Dark coughed heavily. “I-I’m not Darkiplier...”

Phantom blinked. He grabbed Dark and pinned him to the nearest tree, causing him to cry out in pain as his injury was hit.

“Who are you then?!” Phantom snapped. “Speak now!”

“Stop! I’m... I’m Damien,” said Dark.

Phantom gasped and let Dark... Damien... go. Indeed, the usual red and blue that accompanied Dark had changed. The red was gone and only the blue was left.

“Wh... What happened?” Phantom asked.

“That thing...” Damien panted. “I-It... I don't think it knew about us. That two souls were in this body. It only took Celine and left me behind to... to pilot this body. I think... I think it put Celine into the animatronic...”

“It did what?” Phantom asked. “Wait... if that’s true... then... the other animatronic...”

Damien nodded.

“Wilford befell the same fate...” he said.

“Then we have to help them!” said Phantom. “You can... I’m sure Dark has the power-”

“I’m not Darkiplier!” Damien repeated. “Darkiplier is comprised of both me and Celine. Without her... I’m just Damien. I have no idea how to use Darkiplier’s powers. That’s why we’re here instead of at the house. I’m sorry... I’m so sorry... I wish I could help...”

Phantom sighed and shook his head. This was not good. This was not good at all. What hope did they have if Darkiplier was gone? If Wilford was gone? Who did that leave them with?

Phantom froze as he heard a loud rustling sound. He tensed and summoned his magic, ready for an attack.

The bear animatronic from before stumbled out of some bushes, looking dirty and scuffed. It looked up and smiled widely when it saw Phantom. Phantom groaned as the animatronic walked forward and hugged one of Phantom’s legs.

“Friend of yours?” Damien asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Can we please leave it behind?” Phantom asked.

“I’m sorry, but no,” said Damien. “My conscience will not allow it. We need to get home. Can you take us back?”

“Why did it have to be the soft twin that was left behind?” Phantom muttered as he summoned his magic.

Chapter Text

“Dr. Iplier!”

“JS? What’s wrong?”

“It’s Teddy! He fainted!”

“Fainted? Take me to him. Was he feeling ok beforehand?”

“He said he had a bit of a headache, but then we were watching a movie and he suddenly started crying out in pain. He said his head felt like it was about to split open and the ‘muffled voices were too loud’. Um... He threw up and then collapsed.”

“Strange... let’s take a look at him. Has he recently suffered any kind of a head injury?”

“Not that I know of...”

“What’s this? Is this... oh my god, he’s bleeding from his ears. Perhaps an eardrum has ruptured. You said he was yelling about something being too loud?”

“Yes, he was.”

“I’ll need to run some tests before I can be sure of anything. I don’t think it’s any sort of brain trauma or damage, but I can’t rule it out at this point. Can you help me carry him to the infirmary?”

“Of course. Is... will he be ok?”

“... I don’t know, JS. I hope so...”

Chapter Text

“How did this happen?” Damien said as leaned on his cane heavily as he entered his office. Phantom was holding his other arm, helping him stay in a straight line. “How did we lose so much so quickly?”

Phantom helped Damien sit down, and Damien thanked him. While Phantom and Darko had been mostly uninjured, Darkiplier’s body hadn’t been so lucky. The fact that Poopet had used many many more strings on him had led to some damage to his cerebellum.

“Basically, you’re going to have a very difficult time walking until it heals,” Dr. Iplier had said. “And your spatial awareness is going to suffer as well. I recommend you have someone help you move around since I know you’re not going to stay in bed and recover like I want you to.”

Damien did want to listen to Dr. Iplier, but they had many things to discuss and figure out. He couldn’t afford to take time to rest, his sister had been captured by a madman. His best friend had been captured by a madman...

“Not even The Actor did this much to us,” Damien said, shaky hands clinging to the desk in an effort to stay upright.

“I’m so sorry, Damien,” Darko looked so defeated. “This is all my fault. We should have waited. We should have waited until we had a much more solid plan or more information... I just... I just wanted my brother back so badly...”

“No one is to blame here,” Damien sighed. “I would have done the same. And even if there was, pointing fingers will get us nowhere. We need to figure out exactly what just happened and how to fix it. I refuse to believe that my sister and my friend are dead or cannot be saved...”

“Well...” Darko said softly. “They’re... they’re not... exactly dead. William Afton’s victims always end up in an animatronic as a ghost. But... Wilford and Celine were not killed by Afton, so there may be a way to bring them back.”

Phantom raised an eyebrow at those words. He knew that magic couldn’t exactly bring back the dead. At least... not without changing the deceased into a zombie or ghoul. But the Poopet... Phantom could sense a very dark magic emanating from him while he was at the mercy of the strings. Did Poopet and Afton know magic that Phantom didn’t?

“How so?” Damien finally gave up and just slumped back in his chair.

Darko took a deep breath.

“William Afton created my brother,” he said. “My brother used to be human, but Afton... Afton did something to him. Like... extracted his soul and pinned it inside a marionette. The result was Poopet. But... Poopet always expected that Afton had a purpose for him. Something to use him for. But he was never able to find out because Afton died shortly after creating him.”

Phantom slowly inhaled, an incredulous look on his face.

“Oh my god,” he said softly. “He... Afton did that?”

“Do you know anything about it?” Damien asked.

“Not much,” Phantom said. “There is a ritual that can be done to do what Darko described, but... it’s a tough one. It requires a sacrifice of five people.”

Darko shook his head in disgust and then froze. Ice ran down his spine as he realized something.

“F... Five sacrifices?” He said weakly. “Do... Would they... have to be... adults?”

“Um... no,” Phantom shook his head. “Any five people will do. Young, old. Adult, child... Why do you ask?”

Darko suddenly looked very mad.

“Oh, that sick man!” He pounded his fists on the arms of his chair. “I can’t believe it!”

“What?” Damien asked. “What’s wrong?”

Instead of answering, Darko turned his attention to Phantom.

“Swear to me you will never mention this to Poopet!” He shouted. “Swear to me you will never talk about that ritual around him! Swear it!”

“Ok, ok!” Phantom leaned away. “I swear I won’t. What is your deal?”

Darko sat back down and took a deep breath.

“Never you mind,” he said. “You just keep that vow and everything will be fine.”

He took another deep breath to calm down.

“Getting back to the topic at hand,” he said. “Afton is controlling Poopet, I know it. Poopet’s powers and design are based on another marionette that Afton used to have. I believe he created Poopet because he wanted something newer and more powerful. The previous marionette was in pretty bad shape, so... it makes sense. Anyway, Poopet’s power is known as the ‘Joys of Creation’, and it mostly stems from his strings. It allows Poopet to bring things to life through either magic... or using a soul to do it. The previous marionette could do the same, but it could only do so with a soul from someone who was already dead. Poopet... I think he once said that he can do it without having to kill someone.”

Damien’s eyes widened.

“So... So Wilford...?” He asked hopefully.

“I don’t know because we’ve never had to do this,” said Darko. “But... there is a chance that Poopet will be able to return Wilford’s soul to his body... as long as we keep the corpse in one piece...”

“Don’t worry about the corpse,” Damien said. “I have that covered. But you’re serious? There might be a way to bring Wilford back to life?”

“I can’t say for sure,” said Darko. “But... maybe.”

Damien felt hope bloom in his chest. ‘Maybe’ was definitely better than nothing...

ELSEWHERE

FazMark stared at the animatronics that were flanking a grinning Afton.

“So it was successful?” He said. “It worked?”

“Like a charm,” Afton said. “So... you’ve delivered the last one. You got your payment. I can’t think of any other reason for us to be in the same room together, so... you can leave.”

FazMark scoffed and turned to do just that.

“Oh, but before you do!” Afton held up a finger as if he’d just remembered something. “I have a gift for you. It’s in that box on the table...”

He gestured at a box that was tied with a red ribbon. FazMark wanted to leave as quickly as he could, so he moved over and opened the box while rolling his eyes-

He cried out.

He recognized the metal scrap inside the box. It was made easier because Fetch’s twisted head was staring at him from the top of the pile. FazMark’s hands shook as he slowly reached down and ran his fingers over it as if testing if it was real or not.

“Let this be your first and only warning,” Afton growled. “Don’t ever... try to backstab me again. Or it’ll be your body in pieces next time. Have a pleasant day, FazMark...”

FazMark closed the box and picked it up before rushing from the office. A rage unlike anything he’d ever felt before coursed through him. He was not going to let Afton get away with this. If he had to find the other egos beg for mercy just to get their help, he would.

But first... he needed to rebuild Fetch...

ELSEWHERE

“Dawkguard?” Darko entered the infirmary. “Dawkguard, dinner’s ready. Come eat.”

Dawkguard had yet to leave the chair that sat next to Dawktrap’s bed. Dawktrap himself was wearing a hospital gown and still had no color at all, just black and grey. Dr. Iplier was treating him like a coma patient, unable to do much else. No one really knew what effects could happen when an ego lost their aura...

“I’m not hungry,” Dawkguard said softly.

Darko sighed.

“Dawky... (Dawkguard flinched at the sound of Dawktrap’s nickname for him) You need to come eat,” he said. “Come eat and spend some time outside of the infirmary. You’re going to make yourself sick if you don’t. Please? You know he wouldn’t want you getting sick because of him...”

Dawkguard was silent for a moment.

“Ok,” he eventually said. “Just... just give me a moment...”

Darko left, giving Dawkguard his privacy. Dawkguard stood up and summoned his flashlight.

“You lost your aura,” he said to Dawktrap. “So you can... you can hold onto mine for now. I hope it helps you feel better...”

He tucked the flashlight under one of Dawktrap’s arms and then wiped at the tears in his eyes. With one final sniffle and look at Dawktrap, Dawkguard finally left.

Chapter Text

Heheheheheh... The number you are trying to reach has been disconnected. Please try your call again later... or not at all. There will be no answer then too...

Chapter Text

“Deep breaths, doctor. Deep breaths.”

Bawko rubbed Dr. Thoruf’s back as the other coughed and retched. They said they had suddenly felt an overwhelming wave of anxiety, sorrow, and rage. The result was a horrible stomach and headache along with some dry heaving and finally vomiting...

Dr. Thoruf spat onto the ground and accepted the canteen of fresh water that Bawko offered them. They made sure to sip carefully.

“You’re not getting sick, are you?” Bawko asked. “Or was that some kind of... panic attack?”

Dr. Thoruf took few deep breaths and handed the canteen back.

“I don’t know,” they said. “I’ve never... I’ve never felt that way before. And so suddenly...”

They shook their head and Bawko packed up the canteen. He figured the doctor was just overcome with the anxiety of being out in the wilderness like this. Maybe they were a city type that had never been in such dense woods like these.

“You’ll be ok,” Bawko smiled reassuringly. “We’ll get back to the city soon enough, and things will be better.”

“Huh?” Dr. Thoruf sounded confused. “Um... ok. Let’s get back to the others.”

Bawko led them back to the rest of their group and they all gave Dr. Thoruf concerned looks.

“You ok?” Thomas asked. “That was kind of... sudden.”

Dr. Thoruf gave a dismissive wave.

“I’m fine,” they said. “I feel better now. How much further until we reach a city?”

“Well... going by the density of the forest, the trees have been thinning out,” said Angus. “That usually happens when there’s developed land nearby, so... we shouldn’t be too far.”

“Great,” Dr. Thoruf looked around. “Have we figured out what we’re going to do about the demon moose and the animatronics?”

“Freddy and I can turn back into toys,” said Foxy.

Dennis huffed and his form shifted until he looked like... just a regular normal moose. Dr. Thoruf tilted their head and blinked.

“Ok... we still need to explain the moose,” they said.

Lewis glanced down at Dennis from where he was riding on his back, and then back over at Dr. Thoruf.

“Service animal,” he said.

“Service animal...” Dr. Thoruf repeated slowly.

“Yes,” said Lewis. “This is my emotional support moose who helps me with my anxiety.”

Thomas snorted in amusement and then started to laugh.

“I don’t see you coming up with any ideas,” Lewis said to Thomas. “If anyone can think of anything else, we’ll use that. But for now, that’s the story...”

Dr. Thoruf sighed... and then gagged slightly. The uneasy feeling in their stomach hadn’t vanished, and now it was growing again. They groaned softly and bent over, hands on their knees as they took deep breaths.

“You are not ok,” Bawko said, walking closer to them. “You have to be sick or something. Maybe I didn’t cook some of that meat all the way through...”

“Food poisoning?” Lewis asked. “Here, let them ride on Dennis. They’re looking pretty pale.”

“Oh wow, they are,” Angus said. “Doctor? Can you hear me? Doctor?”

Dr. Thoruf could hear them, but it sounded as if they were underwater. Their vision blurred as the feelings within them grew more and more, until... they collapsed forward and hit the ground as they fainted.

ELSEWHERE

“Will you please just go away?” Phantom snapped at the bear animatronic. “You’ve been following me around all day. Go bother someone else.”

The animatronic just continued to make grabby hands at Phantom, much to the demon’s chagrin. The bear animatronic then stopped and looked around Phantom. It gave a happy whirring sound and ran off to... Dawkguard?

“Huh?” Dawkguard managed a smile when he noticed the bear. “Helpy? What are you doing here?”

He picked Helpy up and hugged him. Helpy then began to make whirring and beeping noises. Darko had no idea what was being said, but Dawkguard was nodding along.

“You say you came from Poopet’s box?” Dawkguard said. “Someone took his box?”

“You understand that thing?” Darko asked.

“Yeah, I worked with him when I was making my own pizzeria,” said Dawkguard. “He’s really smart.”

Helpy made a few more noises.

“Someone locked Poopet’s box away?” Dawkguard repeated. “Why would they do that?”

“Poopet’s box contains plushies that he can bring to life as the animatronics they represent,” said Darko. “Maybe Afton didn’t want it to be used against him...”

At the mention of Afton’s name, Helpy began to shake with fear and hid his face in Dawkguard’s shoulder. Dawkguard was quick to comfort him.

“Hey, it’s ok,” he said. “You’re safe here. He’s not going to get you. I know, he’s a very scary man...”

Helpy whirred, and Dawkguard’s eyes widened slightly.

“You stole something from him?” He asked. “What did you steal?”

Helpy removed his top hat and pulled out a folded piece of paper. Darko took it and opened it up.

“What is it?” Dawkguard asked.

Darko held the paper up and squinted at it.

“Looks like blueprints,” he said. “For some kind of... door...”

The doorbell rang and Bing was quick to answer it.

“How can I help... you...” he slowly looked up at a very tall figure that was standing on the porch. They were about as tall as Magnum was, maybe a bit shorter, and they were completely covered with a hat, sunglasses, a scarf, a coat, and more.

The figure said nothing as they ripped away their clothes to reveal... an animatronic? It was one that looked like a ballet dancer in various shades of blue and purple.

“Excuse me,” the animatronic said. “There is someone here whom I know and must speak to.”

They stepped past Bing and into the house. Bing raised his sunglasses as the animatronic walked away and gave a low whistle.

“Nice...” he said softly, watching the other animatronic.

ELSEWHERE

“You need to rest,” Patton said worriedly. “You used up so much energy to get us here. Really, what were you thinking teleporting like that? Your aura looks so weak now...”

“We’re on a time crunch, Daddy Dearest,” Remus panted. “We were too far away to just walk. Teleporting was the best way to do it...”

“And now you’ve used up so much energy that you can’t teleport us anymore until you recover,” Patton said. “I’m just worried about you, Kiddo. You know Logan said that we need to take care of our auras...”

“I’m fine,” Remus said. “We’re so close. The device says so.”

He walked around an enormous rock outcrop, and came face to face with...

“A moose?” He said in confusion.

“Oh my gosh,” he heard a voice speak on the other side of the outcrop. “No way...”

The moose moved aside to reveal a group of people, and among them was...

“Kiddo!” Patton lunged foreword and pulled Thomas into a hug. “We found you! We actually found you! Are you ok? Are you hurt at all?”

Thomas said nothing, looking dazed as Patton fret over him. Lewis chuckled beside him and thumped him on the back.

“Welcome to the club,” he said.

Chapter Text

Did you think I didn’t know? I’ve known this whole time.

I’m getting close, I can feel it. A window that I can look into, but no one is there... yet.

It’s only a matter of time...

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MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMNdyyhhddddmmmmmmddddhyyydNMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM
MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMNysyhdddmmmmmmmmNNNNmmmmdhyshNMMMMMMMMMMMMMM
MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMd+syhddddmmmmmmNNNNNNNNNNNmmdysmMMMMMMMMMMMMM
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MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMmy/       .oymMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM

Chapter Text

Dr. Thoruf was dreaming.

They weren’t sure what they were dreaming about. The world around them looked strange. It was completely white, not a single thing nearby. Dr. Thoruf slowly looked around, trying to find a way out. They started to walk off, but froze when they felt an odd tugging sensation.

Looking down, they could see that they were made of threads. Threads of all sizes and colors. Something was slowly weaving them into Dr. Thoruf’s body, but the result... Dr. Thoruf couldn’t describe what the result looked like.

They looked around again, feeling a sudden wave of anxiety. Something was happening. Something bad. But they had no idea what it could be. A white arrow suddenly appeared and cut the threads, freeing Dr. Thoruf and allowing them to move.

They slowly began to walk, trying to find a way out. As they walked, they could hear voices. The voices were mostly muffled, but every now and then a single sentence could be heard clearly.

“GOD DAMN IT. I’ll try and stay calm so we don’t give our poor doctor an aneurysm.”

“Got mah pitchfork still strapped to mah back and Uh...”

“Oh, a threat. How original my dear.”

Dr. Thoruf could hear them, but there was no one else around. They walked quicker, breaking out into a panicked run as the voices grew louder and louder. They ran faster, trying to get away from them, but the voices followed just as quickly.

And then up ahead, they spotted a door.

A door that was slowly opening.

Dr. Thoruf was suddenly struck with a thought: Do not let that door be opened.

They rushed forward and pushed on the door with all their might. The door slowly closed with a loud thud. The voices went silent, and Dr. Thoruf sighed in relief. They sat down with their back against the door and looked down at their hands. The longer they stared... the more they realized that they could not describe how they looked. They knew they had hands, but that was it.

It wasn’t just that. They couldn’t describe how their hair looked, what color their eyes were, how tall they were, what size they were...

They couldn’t describe a thing about them.

And their memories? Barely there.

They couldn’t recall their parents, their childhood, anything in their past. All they knew was where they went to college, what degree they had, and... the things that were in their file...

What did it mean? Why couldn’t they remember anything?

A dog barked in the distance, and Dr. Thoruf looked up with a gasp. They still couldn’t see anything, just the white abyss they were in.

Wake up!

Dr. Thoruf opened their eyes to see they were back in the forest with the others. They slowly sat up, breathing heavily and feeling nauseous.

“Doctor?” Lewis called. “You’re awake. How are you feeling?”

Dr. Thoruf looked down at their hands. They were the same hands they’d always known before. Nothing was different, so... everything must be ok. They probably just couldn’t remember anything because it was a dream. It was just a dream...

“I’ll be fine,” Dr. Thoruf smiled reassuringly at Dawko. “Is everyone else ok?”

“Yeah,” Lewis nodded. “They’re gathering supplies for tonight. Another night under the stars, so to speak. Apparently that Remus character can summon things, but no one wants to mess with whatever he creates. He conjured a tent that tried to swallow whoever went inside. Nasty business...”

Dr. Thoruf slowly nodded and then sighed.

“You sure you’re ok?” Lewis asked. “You look pale.”

“I’m fine,” Dr. Thoruf said.

But they sounded as if they were trying to convince themself more than Lewis.

Dr. Thoruf was quiet during dinner that night. They had hunted and roasted the meat, enough for everyone. Even the newcomers were eating with them. Dr. Thoruf had learned they were named Remus and Patton... though they tended to fall back on the nicknames Blue and Green.

“I can’t wait until we get home,” Patton seemed to have a never ending bounty of energy. “Everyone will be so excited to meet you. We were lucky enough to find everyone!”

Thomas slowly nodded along with Patton’s words. He’d decided to take Lewis’s advice and just not question things. Stranger things were going to happen, and Thomas should just get used to it.

“E-Everyone?” Thomas repeated. “Who’s ‘everyone’?”

He had no idea which of his characters were considered egos and which weren’t. He’d played his fair share during his Vine days...

“Well, the usual gang,” said Patton. “But we found Remy and Emile too!”

“They’re considered egos?” Thomas raised an eyebrow. “But... I didn’t do as much with them.”

“Apparently you did enough,” Remus waggled his eyebrows. “They’re both at home with the others.”

“Amazing,” Thomas said. He suddenly frowned. “Wait... do you guys still have like... influence over me?”

Remus and Patton shared a look.

“Not sure about that,” said Patton. “I mean... I feel really excited, do you feel it too?”

“And I’m sending you some juicy thoughts,” said Remus. “Can you see them?”

Thomas thought about it, tilting his head from side to side.

“I don’t,” he said. “I guess... things are different now.”

“But you’re still my kiddo!” Patton beamed. “That definitely hasn’t changed. We’re still a famILY, we’re just... a little more real now.”

“I hate to interrupt,” Lewis said. “I have a question. Did you ever see anyone there who looked like me?”

“Like you?” Patton narrowed his eyes as he thought about it. ‘Oh! Yes, I did. There were three people who looked like you.”

“Who were they?” Lewis leaned forward. “Did they tell you their names?”

“Um... one’s named Darko,” said Patton. “He’s a bit... intense. And then there’s Dawktrap. He carries this cute little bunny head around and sings so well. And then the newest was named Dawkguard. He’s... a security guard. That’s all I know.”

Lewis recognized two of those names. He’d dressed up and played the parts of his ‘dark sides’, and he’d had a lot of fun doing it. But having those people real and in front of you was very different. As for the third name... Lewis had never heard it before. And the only character he could think of that was a guard was the plushie he’d once sold...

“So how are we getting to this safehouse?” Thomas asked.

“Remus’s device will show us the way,” said Patton. “We teleported to get here because of how far we were, but Remus wore himself out doing it. He’ll need to recover a bit before he can do it again.”

“In the meantime, we can keep walking,” said Bawko. “Angus and I have walked further than this before.”

Dr. Thoruf tried to think back to a time when they had done any walking like this. They couldn’t think of anything...

Chapter Text

I fear that something may be wrong with me.

That dream I had. The white abyss. The arrow. The door. So many questions born from it.

What was that place and why did it feel familiar? Why can I not remember certain parts of my life? Why did I never even think about how little I can remember?

I had never realized how little I know about myself. I had never even thought about it before. Why did I never realize this? As old as I am, surely I must have realized it before.

…

How old am I anyway?

When was my last birthday? I can’t remember. When was the last time I looked into a mirror and saw myself? What size clothes do I wear? Who even gave me the clothes I’m wearing?!

It feels as though I’m losing my mind... and at the same time, it feels as if I never had one in the first place. I’m scared. I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I don’t know that that dream meant. The door that I had to shut. The dog that barked just before I woke up...

Is this some sort of side effect from interacting with the egos? Can they cause massive bouts of amnesia like this? Will it keep going until I can’t even remember my own name?

My name...

My name is... Dr. Thoruf.

What’s my first name?!

I need... I need to get out of here. Something is very wrong with me. I need a hospital. I need a doctor. I need help. Maybe I can sneak away. Surely they wouldn’t mind if I did. I’m not an ego, I’m a real person. Why should they care about me so much?

But... why am I even here? Is there a reason that they do care? Poopet saved me, but why me? I only ever interviewed him once.

None of this makes sense, but I can't deny what's happening. I need to find someone who can help me...

Chapter Text

“This guy is pissing me off!”

Damien watched Mark angrily pace in front of Darkiplier’s desk. Darko was sitting in the room with them as well as The Host.

“I’m sorry,” Damien said. “I’m so sorry.”

“Huh?” Mark stopped and looked at Damien. “Why are you apologizing?”

“Because this is partially my fault,” said Damien. "We judged the situation poorly and now... now Celine and Wilford are trapped in automatons...”

Mark gave Damien a look of sympathy and gently placed a hand on the other’s shoulder.

“It wasn’t your fault,” he said. “I know how much you love them. You would never purposefully endanger them like this.”

He straightened back up and sighed.

“I thought Dark was the most powerful ego out here,” he said. “The strength that he wields is incredible and I’ve never known him to lose a fight. But obviously this... Poopet thing is stronger somehow.”

“But what can we do?” Darko asked. “He’s taken two of your egos and Afton’s put my brother in a coma! We can’t afford any more errors like this. Who’s to say he doesn’t have other animatronics that he wants to seal a soul into? He could be trying to build an army! Imagine how much power he’d have with an army of ego animatronics.”

“I am and it’s terrifying,” Mark shuddered. “What can I do to help? I’ve been staying out of this because I felt like it wasn’t really my fight, but now it is. You are my egos. I am responsible for all of you, and I care about all of you too much to let some asshat enslave you!”

“I don’t know what we can do,” Damien shook his head. “I’m all but useless. I need Celine in order to form Darkiplier. Otherwise, it’s just me, and... I haven’t learned how to use the powers this body has...”

“Host?” Mark turned to his other ego. “Any ideas?”

Host was silent for a moment.

“The Host regrets that he is unable to see much,” he said. “Something is blocking The Hosts sight. The Host has felt this before. He believes that it is related to The Entity that possessed Markiplier Manor...”

“That thing?” Mark looked surprised. “That thing is here too?”

“The Host is unsure,” said Host. “The feeling is familiar, but not exact. Perhaps William Afton has been able to reproduce the power of The Entity somehow.”

“Great!” Darko snapped. “Just what we need. Superpowered William-Bloody-Afton! As if things weren’t bad enough...”

“There may be a way to defeat him,” said Host. “The Host is unable to see much, but... he did get a small glimpse of a happier future...”

“So what do we need to do to achieve it?” Mark asked.

Everyone was watching The Host, waiting for him to speak again. The idea that they had a chance to save everyone and fix things seemed impossible, but... Host’s visions never lied. If it was a solid one, then they could still win this battle...

“The Host only saw one thing,” said Host. “He saw... someone crying. Whoever they are... they are the one who will help save our friends...”

The room was silent for a moment.

“That could literally be anyone!” Darko shouted. “How is that useful in any sense of the word?!”

“Darko, calm down,” said Mark.

“You can’t order me about, you’re not my creator!” Darko snapped.

“No, but I am the guy who owns this house,” Mark said.

He was shorter than Darko, but he didn’t back down from the ego. Dark bared his teeth and growled, eyes turning black-

“Master Fischbach!”

The tension was broken as Benjamin entered the room.

“Master Fischbach. Master McLoughlin is here. Shall I bring him up?” He asked.

“Sean’s here?” Mark smiled. “I’ll head down and talk to him. Thanks, Benjamin.”

Mark left the room, taking Benjamin with him.

Darko growled low and gripped his hair with his hands. The air around him grew heavy and began to warp and twist-

“Darko should calm down,” said Host. “If he loses control... it will not end well.”

Darko cried out in anger and stomped his foot against the ground, cracking the wood and putting a large hole in it. He took a deep breath and slowly started to calm down.

“Darko is upset over his brother,” Host continued. “And it is understandable... but Darko must keep his anger under control. Unleashing it will not help...”

Darko did finally stop shaking, and when he opened his eyes again, they were normal.

“I am going to murder that man,” he said. “Slowly. Painfully. I’ll make him wish he never messed with my family...”

“Sean!”

Mark raced down the stairs and pulled his friend in for a hug.

“Are you ok?” Mark asked. “They said you were found in bad shape.”

“I’m ok now,” Sean smiled, hugging Mark back. “It was a bit rough, but... I feel way better now that I’m here. They said this place is a safe place to be.” He looked around. “Certainly looks like one... Are my egos here too?”

“Yeah, they came here after one of them was kidnapped,” said Mark. “But they got him back and he’s ok. Have you met them yet?”

“I’ve... only really met Marvin,” said Sean. “When I asked him to find the others. And we know how that went...”

Mark chuckled.

“I’m glad you’re here,” he said. “With all the crap that’s happened... it’s nice to hear that you’re safe and sound...”

“Excuse me,” Overhype smiled. “We’re looking for Overkill.”

“Oh!” Mark stared. “Um... he’s in that room on the end of the hall.”

“Thanks,” Overhype walked off with Hoverkill following after her.

“I know those people,” Mark said. “Or at least their creators.”

“You do?” Sean asked.

“They work with Matthias,” said Mark. “Which is odd because... as far as I know, they don’t have any egos.”

“Well... they’re definitely real,” said Sean. “I spent days with them. They bathed me, fed me, clothed me... tucked me in at night.”

“Weird,” Mark scratched at his head. “Well, come on. Let’s get you settled. You sure you’re ok, though? You don’t need anything?”

“I’ve pretty much recovered,” said Sean. “Don’t worry-”

“Sean?”

Sean and Mark looked over to see Anti standing by the stairs. Sean opened his mouth to speak, but Anti frowned and disappeared in a flash of pixels with a glitched growl.

“What’s his problem?” Mark asked.

Sean couldn’t help but feel that Anti’s actions were not a good sign...

Chapter Text

“Now... press your thumb into the ball like this,” Dalzar was showing Styler how to make Kroppkakor. “Make sure you do not put in too much filling or the dough may be spread too thin and come apart. And then we just pinch the top closed, and... there. See? Now you try.”

“Ok,” Styler picked up another bit of dough and copied Dalzar’s movements.

“Good job,” Dalzar said as Styler presented his own dumpling. “Very good-”

“Dalzar!” Darko suddenly appeared from nowhere.

Dalzar and Styler both flailed, nearly knocking their ingredients off the counter. Dalzar managed to catch them all in time and sighed.

“Please do not do that,” he said. “It is bad to surprise people in the kitchen.”

“Sorry,” Darko said sheepishly. “I was just hoping to borrow you for a moment, Dalzar. I have a question to ask you.”

“Oh, yes. Styler, keep going, I will be right back,” Dalzar said as he wiped his hands on his apron.

Styler smiled and picked up more dough to make another dumpling.

“How can I help?” Dalzar asked as they moved over for more privacy.

“I was told that you have the ability to disconnect people from their auras,” said Darko. “My brother’s aura was stolen and I’m trying to figure out how to get it back.”

“Stolen?” Dalzar’s eyes widened. “I did not think it was possible. Usually, the aura reconnects itself later. I have never heard of an aura being stolen...”

“It’s complicated,” Darko said. “But would you be able to disconnect an aura and then reattach it to someone else?”

Dalzar stared.

“I... I am sorry, I do not know. I am not an aura expert,” he said. “Auras are still being studied and not many egos know much about them. But... I do know of an ego who might be able to help. He is very accomplished in studying auras. He would be your best bet.”

“Who is it?” Darko asked. “Do you know where I can find him?”

“If he has not moved,” Dalzar looked around and picked up the notebook that was kept out for grocery lists. “He should still be at this address. He is a bit eccentric, and very sociable, and some people do find him annoying. But I promise that he is very intelligent in these matters.”

He wrote down a name and an address and handed it over to Darko. Darko looked at what was written and blinked. This was a very remote location. It would take time to get there and back, and he had no idea of knowing how much time Dawktrap had. But he had no other plans or options either. He did not know enough to help Dawktrap...

“Thanks,” he smiled at Dalzar. “You’re a lifesaver.”

“Varsågod,” Dalzar smiled back. “Good luck, min kompanjon.”

Darko rushed out of the kitchen and Dalzar went back to Styler.

“What was that about?” Styler asked. “He seemed to be in a hurry.”

“I do not know,” Dalzar said. “But I hope he finds the help that he needs...”

“Sean’s here.”

Chase and Jameson looked up at Anti’s words. Jameson smiled and looked excited, but Chase just raised an eyebrow. Anti sighed and glitched over to sit next to Jameson.

Our creator is here? Jameson asked. I do so wish to meet him.

“Never meet your idols, JJ,” Anti said as he leaned against the other. “Sean’s nothing special... and all he’s done for us is bring us pain.”

“When did he get here?” Chase asked. “Is he staying?”

“Apparently,” Anti shrugged. “Saw him talking to Mark downstairs. He’ll probably choose a room that’s close to ours. The creators here have been staying near their egos...”

Chase looked torn. While he did think of Sean as a good man, there was also a bit of resentment there as well. After all, Sean was the one who wrote about Chase losing his wife and children and then attempting suicide. Chase scratched lightly at the sudden itch at his temple, feeling the scar hidden there.

“Henrik’s not gonna like this...” he said softly. “He’s already on the fence about Sean. This might push him over, but I dunno what side he’ll land on.”

“I doubt he’ll go against him,” said Anti. “He looks up to Sean too.”

Do you really have such feelings about our creator? JJ glanced between the two of them. My story wasn’t very nice either, but I do not blame Sean.

“Your story is fannon,” Chase pointed out. “Sean had nothing to do with it. Someone else wrote your story. Sean wrote all of ours. Well... most of us. He didn’t write the ones for the fanon egos. Or Marvin’s story. Oh wow, or Jackie’s either.”

“Who knows what he planned to do with them,” Anti shrugged. “Probably nothing good, if our stories are anything to go by.”

You two are being too hard on him, Jameson gave a disapproving look. He did not know that we would come alive one day.

“That is no excuse,” said Anti. “We were treated as toys. As means to get views. He didn’t care what he did to us. Does he even care now? Has anyone here actually spoken to him?”

There was silence for a moment.

“I... I think Marvin’s the only one who has,” Chase mused. “I haven’t met him yet. But Marvin says he seems to be a decent guy.”

“He took your kids from you, Chase,” said Anti. “A decent guy doesn’t do that.”

Jameson frowned again and shoved Anti off of him. Anti moved and gave Jameson a curious look.

“What about you?” He asked. “Did you enjoy the videos he gave you? Attacked and taken over by me? Left with scars on your wrists?”

Of course not, Jameson shook his head. But we should not judge him so harshly. He should at least be given a chance to prove his merit. If he is indeed decent, then we shall see it. We can form opinions afterwards.

“And if he’s not a good man?” Anti raised an eyebrow. “If he’s awful and doesn’t show any care towards us or regret for what he did?”

Chase looked at Jameson, curious to see his response.

Then... then I suppose we just avoid him, Jameson shrugged. Mark is the head of this household. He would not throw Sean out on the streets, especially in this present climate. But we should stick together in this. All of us need to speak to him to really get a good view of his character.

Anti was silent for a moment, then he shrugged.

“Fine,” he said. “We’ll hold off on our judgement for now. But if he hurts any of us... I’ll make him look like me.”

He drew his thumb over his throat.

Chapter Text

Yancy noticed a missed call and new voicemail on his phone.

He didn’t recognize the number, and it was an international one to boot. Who did he know overseas? Was it another telemarketer? He listened to the voicemail and his eyes went wide at the familiar voice. He frantically called the number back and waited with bated breath.

“Freakin’ finally!” the voice on the other end said as it picked up. “Do you have any idea how hard it was to get your number? The digging I had to do?”

“Heapass,” Yancy breathed, unable to believe it was actually him. “I can’t believe youse is still kickin’.”

“Not so much,” said Heapass. “I got caught. But you know me... aint been a prison yet what can hold me. I got out of there. Even managed to snag one of those creators for the road. But I have no idea where we are. We had to walk so much, I’m about to just fall over. All I knows is it’s somewhere where they have that funny Lucky Charms accent...”

“Ireland, Heapass,” said Yancy. “That’s called Ireland.”

“Whatever. You know I was never good at that geometry stuff,” Heapass said. “Where are you? If you got a phone, you must be staying at some fancy digs. You rob a bank or something?”

“Nah, it’s a safehouse,” said Yancy. “Lots of egos here. Youse can come here too if you want. Youse’s creator’s here.”

“Oh yeah?” Heapass sounded surprised. “I was wonderin’ what happened to him. Yancy, I got no way outta here. I need help.”

“Relax,” Yancy said. “We’s got those people who do the magic here. They’ll be able to find youse. Youse just gotta sit tight. Do youse know where youse are exactly?”

“Um...” Heapass paused. “The guy I shivved for the phone had something on him that mentioned Wexford County? I think somewhere in there, but I dunno. This place is way big and I have no idea. All I see is green fields and mountains and sheep and stuff like that. The creator I’m with don’t know his way around either.”

“A mountain?” Yancy repeated. “Hang on, Heapass.”

Yancy quickly walked through the house, asking if anyone had seen Marvin. He was finally pointed in the right direction and found Marvin in on eof the common areas.

“Yo, Marv!” He called out. “I need youse’s help.”

“Huh?” Marvin faced him. “Help with what?”

“My buddy Heapass escaped one of those places youse guys have been talkin’ about,” Yancy explained. “He needs someone to come get him. He even has a creator with him, so it’s very important, right? He says he’s somewhere in Wexford County by a mountain.”

“A mountain?” Marvin asked. “What does it look like?”

“Heapass,” Yancy said into the phone. “What does the mountain look like?”

There was a beat of silence.

“It looks like a mountain!” Heapass said. “I dunno how I can be more specific than that!”

“Wexford County has more than one mountain,” Marvin rolled his eyes. “He can’t find anything that might help?”

“Heapass, we gotta narrow down the mountains,” Yancy said.

Marvin heard Heapass say a few ungentlemanly words through the phone. He then heard a rustling sound and a pause.

“Ok... the guy I shivved had this brochure thing,” Hepass said. “It’s got some spinny things on it.”

“Spinny things?” Marvin raised an eyebrow. “Oh! Oh, I know what mountain that is. It’s called Croghan Mountain.”

“I don’t care what it’s called!” Hepass snapped. “Can you or can you not use that magic stuff and come get us? I got a creator here, you want him captured again?”

“Tell him to shut up and sit tight,” Marvin rolled his eyes again. “I’ll be there as soon as I can. Make sure he doesn’t do anything stupid...”

Marvin left the room and Yancy sighed as he lifted the phone back to his ear.

“He says he’s on the way,” he said. “Just sit tight. Pretend the Warden’s doing a bunk check...”

“Whatever,” Heapass said. “Just make sure he hurries. I aint used to this much sunshine...”

ELSEWHERE

Heapass hung up the phone and took a deep breath.

“So,” he said to the youtuber with him. “That was my buddy. He’s got a buddy who’s from here and does that magic stuff. He’s gonna come over and grab us and then take us to a safehouse, and then everything will be okie dokes.”

The youtuber nodded hurriedly, blonde hair moving slightly. He was staring at the weapon that Heapass was still holding.

“Hey, don’t worry about this,” Hepass waved the weapon. “This aint for you. I aint that stupid.”

ELSEWHERE

Dr. Thoruf was walking in a daze. They were still upset over the memories that they did not seem to have, and so they were mostly walking into trees without a care in the world.

“Um... hey,” Patton sounded concerned. “Are you ok? You keep hitting your head there- oh dear!”

He grabbed Dr. Thoruf’s shoulders and yanked them out of the path of another tree. The party decided to stop, looking at them in confusion.

“Um... maybe they should ride on Dennis?” Patton suggested. “For their own safety?”

“Dr. Thoruf?” Bawko gently put a hand on their shoulder. “Are you ok? Can... can you hear me?”

“Bawko!” They suddenly turned around grabbed his shoulders. “Bawko, what color is my hair? Is it short? Is it long?”

“U-Um....” Bawko looked confused. “It’s... it’s blonde. And it’s very curly.”

“What?” Remus spoke up. “That hair is green! And it’s short!”

“I see a lovely shade of brown,” said Patton. “And it’s sort of shoulder length?”

The egos all looked at each other, their confusion growing. Dr. Thoruf covered their mouth with their hand, feeling sick again.

“I-I need...” they gasped and looked around. “I need... I gotta get out of here!”

They ran off, even as the egos called out to them. They pushed through the trees and bushes, not really knowing where they were going, but not caring. They eventually tripped and slid down a steep hill, hitting the ground with a thud.

They gasped, feeling their ankle throb with pain. Tears slowly ran down their face as they felt fear swell up inside. Something was very wrong. They needed help. They needed... they didn’t know what they needed... What was causing this? How can they make is stop?

Their eyes widened as they heard a dog bark in the distance. A familiar sounding bark.

“Leave me alone!” They shouted. “Stay away!”

They pressed their hands over their ears, trying to block out everything, but the barking would not stop. They finally got back up and stumbled off, determined to get away. This was all too much. They couldn’t handle it anymore.

“Doctor!”

Dr. Thoruf felt a hand grab their arm, and they spun around and punched whoever it was. It was Angus, and he held his nose with a groan.

“Doctor, what’s wrong?” Angus asked. “We want to help you”

“You’re part of this, aren’t you?” Dr. Thoruf said, stepping back. “You’re all part of it! You’re doing something to me, it’s all a trick! Mr. A was right...”

“Who?” Angus asked. “Doctor, please come back. It’s not safe- whoa!”

He dodged another punch, and moved so that he could hold Dr. Thoruf’s arms behind their back. Dr. Thoruf growled and screamed and struggled, tears falling down their face. Angus just held them and let them tire themself out. When Dr. Thoruf finally went limp, Angus sighed.

“It’s ok,” he ran his hands through Dr. Thoruf’s hair. “It’s ok. I’ve got you. We’ll figure this out. We’ll find out what’s wrong with you...”

Dr. Thoruf said nothing, still crying softly.

Chapter Text

“Hey Mark?”

Mark looked up from the sandwich he was makng to look at Sean.

“Yeah, bud?” He asked.

“Did... did your egos ever... avoid you?” Sean asked. “I... I think mine are.”

Mark shared a glance with Ethan. Ethan had gotten along with his egos relatively well. Once the initial awkwardness had worn off, even Blank started smiling at him. Of course, there was still friction between Mark and some of his egos, but they got along relatively well enough.

“You think they’re avoiding you?” Mark asked.

“They are,” Logan said nearby, sipping his mug of coffee.

“Logan!” Virgil slapped his shoulder. “It’s not our business.”

“Wait, why are they avoiding me?” Sean asked.

Logan glanced at Virgil, who glared right back at him. Logan sighed and set his mug down.

“You didn’t hear this from me,” said Logan, “But I couldn’t help but overhear them talking.”

“Because you’re nosey as hell,” Virgil grumbled.

“There seems to be a... split in their opinions of you,” Logan explained. “Mainly some of them are a bit... upset at the stories you gave them. Particularly Chase and Anti.”

“They’re upset about that?” Sean. “I thought we were past that. I apologized to them all and told them I’d have never done it if I knew this was going to happen one day.”

“Yeah, well that apology obviously didn’t work,” said Virgil.

“I thought you said we should stay out of this,” Logan narrowed his eyes.

“Hey, you opened the door, I’m just walking through it,” said Virgil. “Besides, I’m good friends with some of them, and this whole thing is killing the good moods when we hang out. Look, dude... I’m not saying that some of them are mad, but... some of them are mad. Anti thinks you all but ruined things for him with how you created him, Chase is upset over losing his family, and from what I hear... Jackie and Schneep are still on the fence.”

Sean collapsed into one of the chairs at the table, looking heartbroken.

“Hey, it’s ok,” Mark walked over and pat Sean’s shoulders. “Some of my egos were the same way at first. It just... it’s going to take some time is all. They’ll come around.”

“I would recommend you speak to them, though,” said Logan. “Communication is key in these types of situations. Take time to listen to them and their concerns and then evaluate the situation. From there, you can draw a more concise plan of action.”

“And we’re here if you need any help,” Ethan said. “No matter what.”

Sean smiled softly.

“Thanks guys,” he said. “I’ll think of something. Maybe I can get us all together for a talk. I know Dark’s not here, but could I use the meeting room, Mark?”

“Sure,” Mark smiled. “Just keep it clean.”

Dalzar hummed softly as he chose another song on his phone. Styler had been giving him new band recommendations, and so far they’d been pretty good. He was just passing the foyer when there was suddenly a gust of wind and a bright green flash of light. Dalzar shielded his face and then looked when it all died down.

His eyes went wide, and his mouth gaped open.

“I don’t feel so good,” Heapass groaned. “Kitty Cat, I’m gonna upchuck.”

“Dark will murder you if you throw up on this rug,” Marvin lifted his mask. “There’s a bathroom right over there.”

There was a third man who had appeared, and he slowly looked around, freezing when he saw Dalzar. Dalzar gasped and then melted into the shadows, fading from sight nearly instantly. The man pointed at where Dalzar had just been.

“Wh... what the...?” He took off his glasses and made sure they were clean. “That guy looked like... like me!”

ELSEWHERE

Darko really hoped that Dalzar hadn’t just sent him on some wild goose chase. He’d used up a lot of energy to get to the location that Dalzar had given him, and now he had to climb a mountain just to get to the place. Darko looked up as far as he could see, and he did manage to see the roof of what looked to be a mansion. That had to be the place. Lucky for him, a path had been carved into the mountain that would get him there.

Climbing the path was easy enough. It took a lot to tire Darko out, considering what he’d been born from... but this was still pushing it.

“Doing this for you, Dawktrap,” Darko panted slightly. “Doing this for you. Dalzar, you better not be mistaken about this. I’m gonna be really mad...”

There was indeed a mansion at the end of the path. A very old looking one that was covered in dark colors and looked like a stereotypical Dracula mansion. Darko tilted his head, squinting at the thing, feeling as if he’d just walked into a horror game.

Maybe something like Castlevania or Resident Evil. He still hadn’t beaten the new game yet...

Darko shook his head as he gathered his thoughts, and then he walked up the stairs to the front door. He pressed the doorbell and heard it echo softly through the house. He quickly checked the address written down and then straightened up when the door opened.

The man who had opened the door... was one of Mark’s egos. He was wearing a green jacket over a white tank top. He was also carrying a huge machete on his belt.

“Can I help you?” the man asked, looking Dark up and down.

“Hello,” Darko said cheerfully. “I was told I can find an... aura expert here?”

The man blinked and then a look of realization passed over his face.

“Oh, you mean him.” he said. “Dunno if I’d call him an expert, but he has lots of useful books. Come on in.”

He opened the door wider and let Darko inside. The inside was just as stereotypical as the outside, but it did hold a certain appeal.

“Wait here, and I’ll go grab him,” said Mark’s ego.

Darko sat down in one of the old arm chairs, still looking around. He didn’t have to wait long before someone literally appeared right in front of him.

“Hello!” the man said. “REMark said you were looking for me? It’s so wonderful to get visitors!”

The guy looked... weird. Short hair, pale skin, and he was wearing a yellow shirt, red suspenders, a blue vest, and dark pants.

In short... this guy could give Wilford a run for his money.

“Are you the aura expert?” Darko asked.

“I dunno about being an expert,” said the ego. “But I am a devilishly handsome sparkly vampire named Enis.”

He struck a pose.

“Listen,” Darko stood up. “This is serious business. My brother is in a coma because his aura was stolen. I need help in restoring it. So if you can’t help, tell me now and I’ll be on my way.”

“Oh my good golly gosh,” said Enis. “I’m sorry about your brother. I admit I’m not quite an expert, but I do know a lot about it. Auras are deeply rooted in the supernatural, and that has my name all over it! I can help you find a solution. Especially with all the books I have in the library.”

Darko didn’t want to get his hopes up, but the vampire seemed confident.

“You can really help?” He asked. “No fooling?”

“I swear on my mother’s staked bosom,” Enis said, holding up one of his hands. “Come on, the library’s this way.”

He practically skipped off, and Darko quickly followed.

Chapter Text

“An aura is the culmination of every fans’ love for an ego,” Enis read from a book. “It is also personal to the ego and cannot be replicated in any way. Each ego has a different aura, as well as a different level of power in their aura since each ego is loved a different amount by the fans.

An ego’s aura is very integral to their character, and it’s a major part of them. Some even theorize that an ego’s aura is in fact their very soul. It is also theorized that should an ego die, their aura is left behind in some way to mark the place where they died.

As of now, there is no known way to remove an ego’s aura, and there is no information on what happens to an ego if they do somehow lose their aura...”

Enis tilted his head and looked up at Darko.

“You said your brother’s aura was stolen?” He asked. “Hmm... I don’t know if I’ll have much information on that. But how did it even happen?”

“The long and short of it is that there’s another ego that is very similar to my brother, and his aura was apparently some corrupted version of my brother’s, so he was able to steal it and use it as his own,” said Darko.

Enis’s eyes widened and his jaw dropped.

“Oh dear,” he said. “Well... let’s keep looking. I have more books over here...”

He flew up to a higher shelf and began to look at the books there. Darko kept looking wherever he could, but there didn’t seem to be many books on the subject.

“Keep looking!” Enis said. “This library is magic! It's always had the book that I needed before. We just have to find it...”

Darko glanced up at Enis and then looked out over the massive room that was the library with its hundreds of shelves. He shook his head and kept looking at the books. Dawktrap was counting on him. He couldn’t just abandon him.

“Oh wait!” He pulled out a book. “Here’s one!”

“Oh goodie!” Enis flew down and hovered at Darko’s side. “What does it say?”

Darko flipped through the book, looking at the chapters carefully. He read a few passages, but nothing spoke about his particular situation. But then he spotted something interesting.

“Some egos made by the same creator can share what is essentially the same mold that was used to create their auras,” he said. “As such, their auras can be compatible enough to be combined or to fit together like puzzle pieces. Such instances are extremely rare and there have been no documented cases yet...”

“Interesting,” Enis mused. “I wonder if I could do that... but I don’t know if my creator has other egos-”

“He does,” Darko interrupted as he set the book on a nearby table to look at later. “I know one of them. He mans one of the security desks at our safe house.”

“Really?!” Enis happily clapped his hands. “I have a brother! I have a brother!” He said it in a loud sing songy tone, spinning excitedly in the air. “Is he a vampire too?”

“As far as I know, he’s human,” Darko moved on to look at another shelf.

“Oh,” Enis pouted. “Guess there’s only room for one devilishly handsome sparkly vampire...”

He suddenly looked up when there was a loud screech that echoed around the room. A strong wind blew in from nowhere, making some of the bookcases shake, and scattering papers on other tables. Darko prepared himself for an attack, but Enis just smiled.

“Hi Noah!” He said. “Did you have a nice nap?”

A ghost appeared in front of them, and Darko squinted at it. Though it was a bit hard to tell, he could see the familiar face of Nathan Sharp. This was one of Nate’s egos...

“Who is this?” Noah said, looking closer at Darko.

“Noah, this is Darko,” Enis introduced. “Darko, this is Noah Walker. He’s a ghost! Just don’t ask him how he died,” he whispered to Darko. “He’s kinda sensitive about it...”

“Why have you let an outsider into the library,” Noah folded his arms, glowing eyes looking at Darko in distrust. “Especially when there is so much danger for us out there. How do you know he wasn’t followed?”

Enis thought for a moment.

“Were you followed?” He asked Darko.

“What? No, I wasn’t. I was very careful,” Darko shook his head.

“See?” Enis beamed. “We’re ok. You need to stop being so paranoid, Noah. You’ll get wrinkles.”

“I can’t get wrinkles, I’m a freaking ghost, Enis,” Noah sounded as if this was a fact that he was constantly having to point out.

“Look, I’m just trying to find information,” said Darko. “My brother’s in trouble and I need to find books on auras. My friend Dalzar said this place is my best bet.”

“Dalzar sent you?” It was impossible to think, but Enis’s face somehow lit up even brighter. “I know Dalzar! He stayed here for a bit. Great guy. He actually forgot something here. You wouldn’t mind taking it back to him, would you?”

“Um... sure,” Darko shrugged. “Noah, do you know if there are any books on auras in this library?”

“I know every book that’s in this library,” said Noah. “You need books on auras? Give me a few minutes...”

“Ooh!’ Enis shook Darko’s shoulder. “Watch, this is cool...”

Noah flew to hover in the middle of the library, and he summoned his aura. Darko watched as a series of glowing handprints appeared on several bookcases, and two books popped out to land on the nearby table. Another few bookcases shook and another book popped out in a shower of what looked to be salt. Ghostly voices spoke and glowing writing appeared on the remaining bookcases, and this time, four books popped out.

Noah came back down and gestured to the tables.

“Those are all the books we have on auras,” he said. “I can’t say if you’ll find the answers that you need, but those are all we have. If you don’t find it, then we can’t help you...”

“Oh...” that was a bit disheartening, but Darko shook his head. “Well... thanks for your help.”

“Thanks Noah!” Enis said. “You’re such a great friend!”

“Yeah yeah,” Noah gave a dismissive wave. “I’m gonna go bother REMark. Have fun, guys...”

He flew off and vanished through a wall.

“Welp,” Enis looked at all the books. “Let’s get started. We’ll save your brother, you’ll see!”

Darko really hoped that they could...

Chapter Text

“I’m... I’m not exactly comfortable with this,” Thomas said.

“Me neither,” Patton agreed.

Angus adjusted the ropes that tied Dr. Thoruf to Dennis’s back. They screamed at him through their gag, but not much came out except for muffled sounds. Angus sighed.

“We are restraining you for our safety,” Angus said to the doctor. “Sound familiar?”

Dr. Thoruf glared at him, still struggling in the ropes.

“If we let them go, they’ll run back to those scientists you told us about,” said Angus. “And they’ll rat us all out to our deaths. I’m not letting that happen. They’ll come with us to the safehouse and let the others take a look at them.”

“Why do they need to examine the doctor?” Lewis asked.

“They have no aura, so they are not an ego,” said Angus. “But they aren’t human either. We wouldn’t be seeing different things if they were. We’re not gonna hurt them, we’re not gonna kill them. We’re not animals. Hell, even animals wouldn’t do that.”

“Wh... what exactly are they, then?” Thomas asked, looking at Dr. Thoruf curiously.

“Dunno,” Angus said. “None of us know. We’ve never seen anything like this. But I hear there are powerful sorts at that safehouse. They’ll be able to figure it out. We’ll just keep them comfortable until we get there. But we don’t let them out of our sight or off this moose without a leash.”

Dr. Thoruf screamed through their gag again, and Angus gave them a look of pity.

“Listen,” he said to them. “I’m sorry, ok? I don’t want to do this, but I’m not gonna let you endanger us and our siblings. See... we egos consider ourselves family. And we don’t take kindly to people threatening our families.”

“Well spoken,” Remus grinned. “Now can we go? We’re burning daylight.”

“I still don’t like this,” Thomas said.

“Me either,” Lewis said.

“You don’t have to like it,” said Bawko. “This is a war. A war between us and them. We will do what we need to do in order to ensure our families are safe. That’s all we want. We just want to live and be safe. And right now, in order to do that, we have to make sure the doctor doesn’t go running off. If you all want to ease your conscience by leaving, you can do so. But we’re gonna keep going.”

Thomas glanced at the others, making eye contact with Lewis. A silent agreement was made between them. They understood. They knew that they were dealing with things that they had no idea about. This was bigger than them. This was a war. And they all just wanted to survive...

Patton nervously fidgeted with the cardigan that was tied around his neck. He untied it and laid it over Dr. Thoruf.

“I’m so sorry about this,” he said softly to them. “But I love my kiddos too much to let them get hurt. I’ll make it up to you.”

Dr. Thoruf growled, but didn’t try to say anything else.

“Let’s go,” Bawko said. “We need to get there quickly...”

Remus held up the deer skull to judge the direction, and the party continued their trek.

ELSEWHERE

Dawkguard took a deep breath.

Could he really do this? Did he have a choice? He knew his way around a VR headset, it wouldn’t be hard... but this was Dawktrap’s headset, and Dawktrap hadn’t given him permission to use it...

Dawkguard shook his head and put the headset on. He switched it on and waited for it to boot up. He saw it load up his old profile from where he tested the game out, and then... he was in... the pizzeria?

Dawkguard looked around. It was just like the hub from the game he’d tested. But it seemed... colder.... darker... He didn’t like it. He walked forward and saw movement in by the prize corner. Dozens of strings grew and shrunk, carrying their master closer towards him.

“Poopet...” he said softly. Who else could it be?

Poopet stared at Dawkguard through the mask he was wearing, and Dawkguard couldn’t help but take a step back. He knew the face that mask was made from. He knew who it had belonged to. The one that had always commanded his attention because of its stupid music box.

Poopet hissed and his strings began to move closer and closer to Dawkguard. Dawkguard stood rooted to the ground, eyes darting around to watch as many strings as he could before they could grab him-

“S-Stop!”

Poopet froze at Dawkguard’s command.

“W-Withdraw... y-your strings...” he said shakily.

Poopet did just that, pulling his strings back to his body and allowing them to melt back into the makeshift harness that was carrying him. Dawkguard sniffled, feeling tears in his eyes again. He was going to get Dawktrap’s headset dirty, but he couldn’t help it.

He knew why. He knew...

Dawkguard sobbed softly as he walked forward and put his arms around Poopet. Poopet didn’t move in his embrace, still staring straight ahead, but seeing nothing.

“I’m sorry,” Dawkguard sobbed. “I’m... I’m s-s-so sorry. We’re... we’re gonna rescue you. I... I promise. We’ll save you... We’ll be a family again. You, me... Darko... Dawktrap. We’ll save him too...”

He leaned against Poopet, clinging to him even tighter. He didn’t want to leave. He wanted to help Poopet now, but he knew it was impossible. He had to go there. He had to confront Poopet in person. He had to confront... him... in person.

The thought terrified Dawkguard to no end, but he knew it had to be done. He would do it. He would do it for his brothers. It was time that he stopped hiding behind them. It was time for him to join in the fight. It was time for him to be brave.

For his family. His true family.

“Don’t give up hope,” He said as he gripped the sides of Poopet’s face. “Don’t give up. It’s scary now... but it will be over soon. And when it is, things will be so much better. Just wait for us. Don’t give up!”

He heard a crackle of electricity behind him, and he quickly turned around. He could see someone coming. Someone else was logging in...

Dawkguard quickly logged out and took the headset off. He wiped his eyes and sniffled again.

“I’m not a crybaby,” he said. “I’m not a coward. I’m... I’m not a child. I will help them get him back! I... I won't let my brother down. I won't let my family down."

He put the headset down and left Dawktrap’s room, making sure to lock the door on his way out.

Chapter Text

"Jess, I’m fine,” TD said from his blanket nest on the couch. “You’re acting like I’m sick or something.”

“You are recovering from a major... something,” JS said as she set up a tray for him. “Dr. Iplier still isn’t sure what it was exactly, but it was big. That means that you are going to be taking it easy for now, Mister. And you’re going to eat and you’re going to sleep, and no more coffee until I say so.”

It was almost amusing to see such a small woman speak with such authority. JS was standing in front of him with her hands on her hips and a look on her face that left zero room for argument. TD snorted, smiling at her antics.

“Fine,” he said. “I guess it won’t be so bad. You’re a good cook, at least...”

“All of Ro’s egos are,” Beauregard piped up from a nearby couch where she was working on a laptop with Bing.

“Yeah, I think it’s like a requirement or something...” JS mused. “Anyway, you sit here and I’m gonna get you some breakfast. Keep an eye on Robbie for me until I get back.”

“Why, is he going to do a trick?” TD asked, glancing over at the beanbag chair where Robbie was watching cartoons on TV.

“Be nice,” JS said as she walked off.

TD sighed and slowly turned his attention over to Beauregard.

“So,” he said. “How are things going over there? Any luck on getting new leads?”

Beauregard gave him a look. Even Bing gave him one too. At least, TD could only assume he was giving him a look. The shades made it a bit difficult to tell.

“I am not going to help you get around my sister’s terms by letting you help me with this,” said Beauregard.

“Same,” said Bing. “Little Lady’s scary when she gets angry.”

“Oh come on,” TD said. “I can still help and relax at the same time. I bet you guys are almost done anyway. You’ve been working together on this for days...”

“We’re still trying to pinpoint the last two facilities,” said Beauregard said. “And we still need to figure out if anyone is still captured. I know some of them escaped and made it here, but... there are so many egos out there. You never know who could still need help...”

“And that Matthias dude is still missing,” said Bing. “And Thomas and Lewis.”

“Which Remus did the dumbest thing possible and went looking on his own,” said Beauregard. “Well... Patton did go with him, but it’s so dangerous out there. Who knows what’ll happen to them.” She shook her head. “This is worse than the zombie apocalypse my town went through...”

Bing gave Beauregard a look and drummed his fingers against his laptop. His face then split into a grin and he set the laptop aside.

“I’ll get you some coffee,” he said as he got up.

“Get me some too?” TD asked hopefully.

“Hell no,” Bing said as he passed.

Beauregard snorted and chuckled at TD’s annoyed expression. Bing came back with the coffee, and then JS came back with plates of food. She set one down on the tray for TD, a plate of eggs, bacon, toast, fruit, and sausage. She then handed a plate to Robbie.

“Paaaaancaaaaakesssss,” he said, happily picking one up and eating it with his hands.

JS pat the top of Robbie’s head with a smile before sitting next to TD with her own plate of food.

“So,” TD said after a few minutes of quiet eating. “Does Rosanna have any other egos out there?”

“Hmm,” JS thought about it. “I dunno. I mean, she hasn’t mentioned any more, but she didn’t know about me and Beau either, so... no real way of knowing.”

“Unless we comb through every video she’s ever been in,” said Beauregard. “And no one has time for that...”

“I could do it...” Bing said slowly. “I mean... it would only take me a few minutes to run them all through a scan.”

Beauregard and JS shared a look, curiosity blooming between them.

“Well...” Beauregard said slowly. “If it will only take a few minutes... why not?”

“Awesome!” Bing smiled. “I’ll let you know when I’m done...”

He then went still and silent except for a faint whirring noise.

“Morning Fellas!” Ethan yawned as he entered the kitchen.

“Morning Eef!” the egos chorused back at him.

“Anything planned today?” Chefiplier gave Ethan a specific plate of food.

“No. It’s weird not having an upload schedule,” Ethan shook his head. “I’ve just been hanging out with my egos lately. They’re all pretty cool.”

“Sean’s trying to do the same with us,” Marvin said softly, sipping his tea.

“Yeah, Mike tells me that you guys are having some... trouble with him,” Ethan said as he sat at the table with Marvin.

Marvin shrugged.

“I don’t have a problem,” he said. “But yes, some of us do. And being confined to the house with him like this is just making the friction that much worse...”

“I don’t get it,” Ethan shrugged.

“Well... considering how you don’t exactly have canon egos...” Marvin said slowly. “Except for Blank, maybe. And even then you barely did anything with him... It’s just that you didn’t give your characters awful backstories or crappy personalities. And that is what has some of them upset.”

“Like how Dark doesn’t like Mark because of the whole Who Killed Markiplier and Damien thing?” Ethan asked.

“Precisely,” Marvin nodded.

“But Sean didn’t...” Ethan sighed. “He didn’t know that this would happen. He would never have done that if he’d have known.”

“Regardless of if he knew or not,” Marvin said. “It happened. And now he’s facing consequences he never thought he’d ever face. I’m doing all I can to soothe the ruffled feathers, but this is far deeper than you know. It’s not like they’re angry that Sean didn’t make them rich and famous. They’re mad that Sean took their families from them, made them attempt suicide, left them to be tortured, or... made them a monster.”

Ethan was silent for a moment.

“I mean...” He sighed. “I get it, I do, it’s just... Sean didn’t mean-”

“Like I said,” Marvin interrupted. “Regardless of what Sean did or did not mean, it happened. These are the results. We know that our creator is not inherently malicious... but they still have the right to be upset that out of everything... this is what he chose to do.”

Ethan had nothing to say about that. Marvin drained his teacup and sighed.

“Look,” he said. “I wouldn’t worry too much. True, Anti can hold a hell of a grudge, but... the others are a bit more levelheaded. It may take a bit of time and a lot of work, but... I do think they will be able to forgive Sean. One day...”

He got up to refill his cup, leaving Ethan to worry about his own egos.

Security Nate glanced at the front door when he heard the doorbell. He gave Security Mark a look, and the other nodded before pulling out his grenade launcher. Security Mark kept a firm hold on his weapon while Security Nate answered the door. Security Nate was surprised to find himself staring... at Mark?

No, it had to be another of his egos. Jesus, how many did Mark have?

“Um... can I help you?” Security Nate asked. “Are you looking for shelter?”

The ego flicked his cigarette aside and gave Security Nate an exhausted look.

“I need to speak to the head of this household,” he said. “Immediately. I have information that might help him...”

Security Nate heard a mechanical bark and looked down to see a dog animatronic sitting at the ego’s feet.

Chapter Text

“You built those things?” Damien asked. “Why?”

FazMark took another drag off his cigarette. He looked like hell with stubble on his face, bags under his eyes, and his clothes were rumpled as opposed to their normally pristine appearance. Fetch, the dog animatronic was sitting at his feet, nose twitching curiously as he looked around the room.

“He said he needed animatronics that could house a soul,” said FazMark. “I’m the only one in the business, apart from him, that has the abilities to build such animatronics. He asked for five of them, but he said he might place another order at a later date. If he finds out that I’m talking to you, he will kill me. So let’s please keep this to ourselves.”

“He told you what he wanted the animatronics to do and you still built them?” Damien sounded incredulous.

“I’m a businessman!” FazMark snapped. “I don’t get involved in ego politics. Whatever grudges or battles you guys have going on, I wanted no part of it. I had worked hard to keep myself hidden and out of danger, but he still found me. He placed an order, and I fulfilled it. That’s it.”

“That’s it?” Damien echoed. “My friend, no... my brother... is trapped in one of your hellish creations and you show no remorse for it?”

“I came here because I wanted to make things right,” FazMark argued back. “I may not have much of a heart left, but I have enough of one to know that this is wrong and that I never should have done it to begin with. But in my defense, even if I hadn’t, he would have just built the things himself. It just would have taken longer...”

Damien was silent for a moment. Everything had gone to hell rather quickly, and he still had no idea what to do. Everything was piling up, and he was terrified that it would all collapse and all hope would be lost. He then blinked when it finally hit him what FazMark had said.

“You said he ordered five,” he said slowly. “Two of them are occupied. Who are the other three?”

FazMark shrugged.

“I wasn’t given any names. Just pictures,” he said. “Afton told me to make the animatronic look just like them. He said the ego in the picture was who was going to end up possessing it. His little puppet freak was the one to do it. He has freaky soul powers or something...”

“I noticed,” Damien said dryly. “Do you know how to reverse what was done?”

“Not my area,” said FazMark. “I only built the things, the puppet did the rest.”

Damien sighed and ran his hand down his face. This was all a nightmare.

“However,” FazMark said slowly. “I did program a failsafe in them. I program it into all of my creations for safety reasons. If I can get close to them, I can shut them down. But that’s all I can do. You’ll have to figure out the soul stuff on your own.”

Damien stared.

“You would betray William Afton?” He asked. ”I thought you didn’t do politics.”

“I don’t,” said FazMark. “This... this is more of a... personal reason...”

He reached down and pat Fetch’s head.

“Did...” Anti snickered. “Did you put a suit on the robot?”

Phantom glanced down at Helpy. The animatronic beamed up at him, looking smart in his little suit. Anti burst into laughter, flopping backwards on the couch he was sitting on.

“If he insists on following me, he will at least look his best,” said Phantom. “I’ve tried getting rid of him, but he refuses to leave me alone.”

Helpy made a whirring sound and hugged Phantom’s leg, causing Anti to laugh even harder. Phantom rolled his eyes as he went back to looking through his books. He was familiar with soul magic, he even practiced it himself, but this was something that he’d never quite seen before. He'd always heard of spells and curses one could use to imprison a soul, but he’d never heard of forcing a soul to possess and move an animatronic.

Must be some FNAF thing...

He sighed and reached for another book, but his hand met with an empty space on the table. He’d left the books on the other side of the room. He sighed again and started to get up, but paused. He glanced down at Helpy and then over at the books.

“Helpy?” He said. “Can you go get me those books over there?”

Helpy happily scampered over to the books and carried them back. Phantom took them and then pat the bear’s head.

“Thank you, Helpy,” he said.

Helpy looked rather proud of himself.

“Still no luck?” Anti asked.

“Not much,” Phantom said, opening a new book. “Damien asked me to see if I can find anything to reverse what happened, but... this is new to me. I don’t suppose you know anything about this?”

“Only that I’m glad it wasn’t me,” Anti shrugged. He then looked thoughtful. “Although... could this even happen to me? I’m pretty sure I don’t have a soul...”

“Why do you say that?” Phantom asked.

“I’m not exactly human,” Anti explained. “I’m a computer virus. If computer viruses had souls, people would be boycotting McAfee and Norton.” He then looked thoughtful again. “Although... as a computer virus... I might be able to just possess them myself. No transfer needed.”

Phantom looked up from his book, giving Anti a thoughtful look. Anti noticed and frowned.

“What?” He asked.

“If you possessed one of those animatronics...” Phantom said slowly. “Would you be able to remove the soul and bring it back with you?”

Anti blinked. He opened his mouth to answer, but then closed it. He wasn’t sure about that. It's not like he’d ever tried it before. Sure, he’d done his share of possessions by taking over Sean’s other egos, but never something like this. And it’s not like there was a way to test it out or practice it on something...

“I... I dunno,” Anti said. “I mean... maybe? Souls are pretty much the same as computer data, just on a much more complex level. I could theoretically remove them from the animatronic, but there’s no way of knowing if anything bad will happen to them when they’re out in the open.”

“Still...” Phantom chewed the end of his pen. “It’s an idea. And we certainly don’t have any other ideas.”

It was pseudoscience at best, but it was something they could try. Phantom would have to speak to Damien about it...

Chapter Text

Dr. Thoruf was not having a good time. They were sore from riding on Dennis’s back all day, and they were still mad that they had been tied up in the first place. The egos had been very careful with the rope, making sure that they wouldn’t be rubbed raw anywhere.

And then of course, they were still having their identity crisis. They had exhausted themself in every sense of the word all in the effort of trying to figure things out. But the more they tried to make sense of things, the less they understood.

It wasn’t normal for anyone to lose so many memories... and not even notice it. But it didn’t feel as if the memories were lost. It felt more like they were never there to begin with. So... what, they were just tossed into the world as an adult and wearing a lab coat? Actually, now that they thought about it... did they ever change their clothes while working for Mr. A? They didn’t remember ever changing clothes, or even what clothes they had worn. Only the lab coat stood out...

Their thoughts were interrupted when they felt the rope being untied and their body being lowered to sit on a stump. They slowly opened their eyes as someone took the gag off of them.

“We need to talk,” Lewis said, pocketing the cloth.

The rest of the party had settled down and were all watching.

“I know you’re scared,” said Lewis. “I’m scared too. There’s so much going on, and you have no idea where you fit into it all. You probably want to go back to your employer, but you can’t. And here’s why...”

Lewis glanced at his ego, who nodded his head.

“You’re not human,” He continued. “And that’s what worries us. It’s not that we’re afraid of you, we are afraid for you. If your employer finds out about you, you’re gonna end up in a cell just like Thomas and I did.”

“We just want to be safe,” said Angus. “We want our families and friends to be safe. We still don’t know the real reason why your employer is capturing egos, and that terrifies us. For all we know, he could be killing egos and tossing them into a hole somewhere.”

“So try and see things from our perspective,” Remus said. “Because like it or not, you’re in the same boat as us. There are people who can help you at the house we are going to. Experts in magic and the supernatural who will work with you and help you get the answers you want. And no one there will harm you. You will be completely safe. Much safer than you would be with your employer.”

Dr. Thoruf listened quietly, feeling their energy drain more and more. The egos were right, and Dr. Thoruf knew that they were right. But Lewis was also right in that Dr. Thoruf was very scared. They had no idea what was happening to them, and the more the egos spoke, the more Dr. Thoruf began to wonder if they indeed were not human. They felt human, but... something inside told them that the things they were experiencing were not normal. Neither was the fact that the others could not agree on what color their hair was.

They realized that it was now quiet. The others had stopped talking and were waiting for a response. Dr. Thoruf opened their mouth to say something, but all that came out was a sob. Soon Dr. Thoruf was crying heavily, hands over their face. It wasn’t just any crying. It was the deep crying that made your stomach muscles clench over and over. The kind that came from one’s very soul and had the most horrible sounds.

Dr. Thoruf gripped their hair and bent double in their despair, elbows braced against the tops of their thighs. As they cried, they felt the others place comforting hands on their back and shoulders, which made it worse. They had helped their employer hurt egos in the past, and yet the egos here were not blaming them for anything.

“I... I just w-want things to go back to n-normal,” Dr. Thoruf choked out. “But... I don’t even know what normal is. I don’t know what I did or where I lived before this. I don’t know my birthday, my age, my parents’ names. I don’t know what high school I went to or what my favorite snack was as a child...”

They sniffled and finally looked up at them all.

“I don’t even know my first name!” They said. “All I know is my last name is Thoruf, and I’m a doctor of some kind...”

“This is what we mean, Kiddo,” Patton came closer and rubbed soothing circles on Dr. Thoruf’s back. “That’s not normal. We want you to get the help you need, but we have to get back home first.”

He moved to kneel down in front of them, his aura sending calming vibes into the doctor.

“I promise you, it will be ok. We’ll help you make it all ok,” he said. “But you have to trust us, Kiddo.”

Dr. Thoruf sniffled and wiped at their eyes as they fell forward into Patton’s embrace. Patton held them in a gentle hug while they slowly calmed down. He made subtle motions for the others to back up and give the doctor some air.

Dr. Thoruf finally stood up after a few minutes. They took a deep breath and smoothed out their coat. Suddenly struck by a curious thought, they looked down to see what they were wearing. They... couldn’t exactly describe it. Pushing that troubling thought away, they addressed the others.

“I helped them hurt you,” they said. “You should hate me, but you don’t. You want to help me... even though I don’t deserve it. I... I can’t promise that I won’t freak out again, but... I will go with you. But if the others fail to help me... you have to let me go. I won’t breathe a word to Mr. A about anything I see or hear.”

The others shared a look.

“We can’t promise that,” Remus folded his arms. “It’s gonna be Dark’s call, and that guy could make the devil weep. His number one priority is to keep everyone safe, and he’ll be working on that even harder because there are creators staying there too. We promise we’ll do all we can to help you, but the rest... it’s out of our hands.”

Dr. Thoruf nodded. They had been expecting that, but figured it wouldn’t hurt to try...

“So it’s settled,” said Bawko. “Angus, come help me gather firewood. We’ll set up camp here for the night.”

Dr. Thoruf flopped back onto the stump, feeling even more exhausted than before...

Chapter Text

William Afton was not having a good day.

True, he’d been able to grab at least two egos and pull them under his control... but Dr. Thoruf was still missing.

He needed them back. He needed them back soon.

He thought it funny. They had no who they were. They had no idea what they were.

The Entity had told him everything. The Entity had even helped him lure them in.

“Still nothing?” Afton asked into his phone.

“Nothing, sir,” came the answer. “Not a trace.”

Afton sighed. They must be covering their tracks pretty well...

“Have them fan out as widely and as safely as they can,” he said. “We have to find. Dr. Thoruf. Their safety is important.”

“Yes, sir. I’ll call back when we have any updates.”

Afton hung up the phone and sighed again.

“When I get my hands on them... I’ll make sure they never leave again. I will not have such a useful tool fall into the egos’ hands...”

There was a sudden noise from the room next to him that sounded like grinding metal and a distorted mechanical voice.

“Quiet in there!” Afton slammed his fist against the door. “I don’t want to hear another sound!”

The sound stopped and Afton left the room. That stupid pink animatronic would not just shut up...

Chapter Text

“This is it?” Darko frantically flipped through the pages. “This can’t be it!”

He looked at the pile of books he’d looked through, the ones that Noah had said would help them. Not one of them had mentioned how to reattach an aura. Darko collapsed into one of the chairs at the table and sighed.

“It can’t end like this,” he said. “There has to be a way to help him. There has to be something that we missed!”

Enis nervously looked around the library.

“Noah said these were the only books that we had,” he said. “But... m-maybe he was mistaken? But it’ll take a while for us to look through each book.”

“I don’t care,” Darko said. “I need to save my brother. For all I know, he could be dying!”

He turned to the nearest bookcase and began to pull out every single book. Enis opened his mouth to say something, but then closed it. His gaze fell to the floor, feeling sad for his new friend. But as he did so, he noticed a book under one of the tables, half hidden in the shadows.

“Huh?” Enis leaned down and picked it up before flipping it open. “Wait! We haven’t read this one yet. It must have fallen...”

Darko paused, in the middle of tossing a large stack of books aside. He dropped them to the ground instead and moved over to Enis, reading the book over his shoulder. He skimmed over the page and his eyes widened.

“This,” he said. “I think there may be hope yet...”

ELSEWHERE

There was a flash of light, and then the group appeared from thin air.

“See?” Remus slurred, blood leaking from his nose. “No problem...”

He collapsed, his strange device falling from his hands and clattering on the ground.

“Oh dear!” Patton leaned down and tried to help Remus back up, but the side was surprisingly heavy. “We need to get him to Dr. Iplier. Please help me!”

Bawko leaned down with Angus and helped Patton stand Remus up. They each pulled an arm around their shoulders, both bearing his weight.

“Whoa...” Thomas walked forward, eyes traveling over the sprawling house in front of them. Lewis was doing the same, eyes wide.

“New friends!”

Their attention was drawn to a nearby pool where two mermaids were perching on the edge. A strange dog fish creature was splashing around and diving for squeaky toys.

“Hey guys!” MerMark waved at them. “You have to register first. Just go right through those doors there.”

“Register?” Thomas repeated.

“Yeah, all new egos are required to do it,” MerEthan said. “Otherwise, Dark won’t let you stay here- is that a moose?”

MerEthan had finally caught sight of Dennis, who had wandered off to graze on the lawn. The MerEgos stared at him, MerChica whining when MerMark didn’t take the toy she was presenting to him.

“He’s... my emotional support moose,” Lewis said, saying the first thing that came to his mind. “But you said we can go through there?” he pointed at the doors.

“Yeahhh...” MerMark said, still staring at Dennis.

Thankfully, Freddy and Foxy had long since changed back into their plush forms...

“Thanks,” Lewis led the rest of the party to the doors and then held it open for them to enter.

Patton rushed off to get help while the egos all spoke to the Security Egos and registered their information. The Security Egos stared at Thomas and Lewis and glanced suspiciously at Dr. Thoruf. The doctor just stood off to the side, seemingly lost in thought, but they had answered the least number of questions from the group. In fact, all they’d answered was the question of their name.

A silent command passed between them: Keep an eye on this one.

Lewis was busy asking the Security Egos about his own egos, and Thomas was waiting for his own chance to ask as well. As they spoke, Yancy appeared from another room and went up the massive stair case. He was whistling a song, and Dr. Thoruf began to hum along.

“I don’t wanna be free,” they sang softly. “Leave me in luxury...”

“Huh?” Bawko looked at them. “Did you say something?”

“Huh?” Dr. Thoruf blinked and shook their head. “No, I didn’t. Are we good to go?”

“Yeah, I think they’re just getting information,” Angus said, gesturing at Lewis and Thomas. “But we can go ahead in.”

Dr. Thoruf sighed as they followed after the other two.

“They said Sean’s other egos are here,” said Angus. “Lewis’s too. We should go find our families...”

“Agreed,” Bawko said.

They went their separate ways, leaving Dr. Thorud to wander around alone. They did just that, wandering around aimlessly and looking at the egos that were living here. She recognized some of them from the videos they’d been made to watch as well as the videos that showed them using their powers.

One room held a very large man that was dressed like a pirate. He was settled on the couch and watching tv with a group of others. Dr. Thoruf froze at the sight of him, suddenly gripped by a vision.

“It seems that there’s actually two different treasures,” the pirate captain said. “The Island of Golden Treasure... and the Island of Treasured Gold...”

“You the only one I can trust. Answer me honestly, and listen to your heart! Which one do you think is the truest treasure of them all?”

Dr. Thoruf gasped and stepped back, moving quickly down the hallway and away from the room. They pressed against the wall, confused and a little scared. That vision had seemed like a memory, but not a memory that belonged to them. It was familiar... and unfamiliar at the same time.

Dr. Thoruf shook their head and kept walking, trying to find an empty room to recover in. They just wanted to be alone for now...

The next common room was occupied as well, but this one had an ego that wore a fedora and had a whip at his side. Dr. Thoruf was once again gripped by a vision.

“Hey hey! Look at me! Do you remember when I told you not to look into the monkey’s eyes?”

“Are you hearing noises? Maybe... crazy monkey noises? Listen pal, I think you’re not quite feeling like yourself. So maybe you’d like to give me the monkey statue...?”

Dr. Thoruf rushed away, clambering up the staircase and ducking into an empty closet. They breathed heavily, gripping their temples and trying to figure out what had happened. It was just like the first, like a memory but not their own.

For a brief moment, they saw blood splattered on their hands. It vanished when they shook their head. Monkey noises, the rev of a car engine, a gunshot, the gentle piano of a stage play, a voice that echoed all around you and another that mentioned an interview... Dr. Thoruf was hearing flashes of events that they did not experience themself.

The door suddenly opened, and Dr. Thoruf spun around with a yelp. Their eyes widened when they saw who had opened it. They felt as if they should know this man. His familiar slicked back hair, his kind and gentle eyes, the smart suit. A name bubbled up from the back of their throat.

“Mayor... Damien...” they choked out.

Chapter Text

“How do you know my name?” Damien asked.

He’d brought Dr. Thoruf from the closet and into his office. He’d offered a seat, but the doctor had refused and was now wandering around his office, looking terrified and half delirious. Damien could sense something from them. Something familiar... but he was unsure as to what. He wished he still had Celine. She would know more than him...

“I... I don’t know,” Dr. Thoruf chuckled. “I don’t seem to know much these days. It’s... it’s actually kind of funny. Here I was, content and secure in myself, and then... some stuff happened... and now I don’t feel very secure at all. I don’t even feel whole. I feel... like I’m not myself. Like I’m not human...”

“I doubt you are,” said Damien. “Something about you just screams ‘inhuman’. Sadly, my sister is not here to give more information, but... I will help as much as I can.”

“You can’t help me,” Dr. Thoruf noticed a framed photo on one of the shelves. It was a photo of a man in an old military uniform. They held it up in front of them and then lowered it.

Nothing happened.

Strange, they felt as if something should have happened...

They slid the picture back onto the shelf and turned to wander to the other side of the office. They kept reaching out to touch things as if to anchor them. As if to convince them that they are in fact real even if they didn’t feel real.

“Why would you say that?” Damien was growing more concerned by the moment. The person in front of them seemed to be quickly unraveling and losing their mind. It reminded him a bit of when Wilford had lost his own...

“I don’t know,” Dr. Thoruf came across a decorative bowl. They traced the edge of it and could suddenly taste chocolate ice cream on their tongue.

“I can’t help but feel... that I know you,” Damien said. “You seem very familiar, but... I can’t quite place you.”

“You seem familiar too...” Dr. Thoruf felt so disoriented. They kept getting flashes of something in their mind, no longer having the strength to fight them. They just let the flashes come and go.

They suddenly turned towards Damien and held up their hand as if holding something.

“Full house,” they said. “Queens and sevens. I win the pot...”

Damien’s eyes widened and he stood up straighter as Dr. Thoruf took a step closer to his desk. Their eyes were full of some unknown emotion, and it set Damien on edge.

“You said we’d be together forever,” they said softly. “Why give me a choice if you won’t uphold your word?”

Damien gripped the edge of the desk, fighting the urge to get up and back away. He may not know what was going on, but he recognized those words. The only problem was that it was all pointing to something that was impossible.

“Same snake...” Dr. Thoruf was leaning on Damien’s desk now. “Different skin...” they leaned closer. “People like you only want one thing... and it’s disgusting.”

Suddenly. Dr. Thoruf’s form shifted, taking on three different looks in rapid succession. Damien finally stood up and backed away, back pressing against the wall behind his desk. No way. There was no possible way. It had to be a trick...

There was no possible way this person was the DA, Mark’s date, and Mark’s partner in crime all in one...

Celine had been the one to explain them. They were all vessels meant to channel something far greater. Something big. Something that no one knew anything about...

Or at least, Celine had assumed no one knew anything since she couldn’t find much information on it. But he remembered the fight that Dark had had with Dawktrap about his headset. Did he know anything about this? Wilford had also said that he had information... but he had refused to tell Dark more.

“Who are you?” Damien asked. “Who are you really?”

Dr. Thoruf collapsed against Damien’s desk, shaking with fear and anguish.

“I don’t know,” they said. “I don’t know anymore. My name... is Dr. Thoruf, but that’s... that’s all I know. The rest is all a mystery. You would probably know more than me.” The raised their head. “You... you seem to recognize me. Do you know who I am? Please... please tell me. I need to know. I need to know what it all means. I need to know what I’m seeing. These memories... they aren’t mine... but they feel familiar. I feel like they should be mine...”

They slowly stood back up, looking at Damien with desperation etched onto their features. Damien felt his heart go out to them. He could only imagine how it felt. He’d felt strange when he’d first came back to life as Darkiplier, feeling as if he wasn’t real, as if he wasn’t himself.

Though he technically wasn’t at that time...

“I... I think I might know you,” Damien said. “But... I can’t be sure. My sister would know more about this.”

“Sister...” Dr. Thoruf said softly. They stumbled around the desk and closer to Damien. “Please... tell me what you know. Tell me what I’m seeing. But most of all...” their eyes narrowed, and they practically snarled. “Tell me why I feel so angry with you!”

Damien yelped as Dr. Thoruf slammed their hands on either side of him against the wall.

“Tell me why I feel like I should hate you!” They shouted. “Tell me why I feel this horrible pain in my stomach! Tell me why I also feel like I love you. Why I feel like you've given me a puzzle to solve. Tell me!”

Damien stared at them, feeling ice run through his veins. It had to be true, there was no way this was all a coincidence. He didn’t want to face the truth, but he had no choice.

“I knew you once,” said Damien. “Or at least I knew some... incarnation of you. They were... they weren’t human either. Neither were the... others.”

“What were they?” Damien barely heard Dr. Thoruf’s question.

“I... they were... a vessel,” said Damien. “For someone else.”

Dr. Thoruf’s hands slowly slid down the wall to hang at their sides. They looked so devastated and Damien felt awful for saying anything, but they needed to know. They needed to know the truth.

“I’m sorry,” Damien said.

“Yeah...” Dr. Thoruf suddenly snatched a letter opener from Dark’s desk and plunged into Damien’s stomach. “So am I...”

Chapter Text

“Should I have them restrained?” Dr. Iplier glanced at the other side of the room. “They might be a danger.”

“They’re not,” Damien sighed. “It’s... it’s mostly my fault. I have some... history with them.”

“Still,” Dr. Iplier kept his voice lowered. “I think we should restrain them...”

“Dr. Iplier should do no such thing,” Host said as he walked past them and over to where Dr. Thoruf was curled up on the arm chair by the window. They had drawn their knees up and buried their face in them.

Host was blind, but oddly enough he could see how Dr. Thoruf truly looked: faceless, featureless, constantly rippling and shifting...

“The Host can sense that Dr. Thoruf is having a bad time...” he said as he sat down in the chair next to them.

Dr. Thoruf huffed, giggling slightly.

“Is that what you’d call it?” they said, lifting their head. “I came here because I hoped to get answers, but now... now I wished I’d never come here. I’m not... human. That’s what I’ve learned today. I have memories that are not mine, but feel as if they should be mine. I’m feeling emotions that I don’t recognize, and... I feel as if my mind is being torn apart by ghosts...”

They shook their head and covered their face with their hands.

“What am I supposed to do now?” They asked. “What can I do now? I apparently have no life to get back to. I never even had one to begin with. I’m just... some sort of placeholder...”

“Dr. Thoruf... is not entirely incorrect,” said The Host. “The Host can see what Dr. Thoruf is, and they are not the first. Three others came before them. All of them were created by Mark Fischbach for his videos.”

“So that’s all I am?” Dr. Thoruf angrily asked. “Just some character created by Mark? I didn’t see myself in any of his videos, so why would he have created me?”

“No...” The Host tilted his head slightly. “Dr. Thoruf was not created by Mark Fischbach...”

“Then by who?” Dr. Thoruf snapped. “Thomas? Lewis? Sean? Ethan? Who?!”

Host was silent for a moment, reaching out with his Sight. He ran his fingers over the energies that only he could see, feeling something powerful. Something he’d never felt before.

“No,” he finally said. “Dr. Thoruf was not created by anyone here. They were not created by anyone in this house...”

“Then by who?” Dr. Thoruf asked. “Who would want to create me? Why would they want to create me? I don’t understand!”

“The Host is unsure,” Host shook his head. “It would have had to be someone powerful...”

Dr. Thoruf huffed and looked away. They crossed their arms and cursed their whole situation. It was unfair to have so much ripped away from them. They almost regretted leaving the facility. At least there, they had an identity and a purpose. They were solid. They were human. Here... they had none of that.

“This... is *****!” They jumped to their feet. “I am so ******* mad! Why the ***** did it have to be this way?! What the ***** could I have possibly done to deserve this? And I don’t even know who to ******** talk to about all of this!”

“Oh wow...”

Everyone’s head turned to see a wide-eyed Patton standing in the doorway. Dr. Thoruf huffed again and stalked by him.

“You really shouldn’t talk like that,” Patton said to Dr. Thoruf.

“Bite me, Patton,” They growled as they pushed past them.

Patton gasped, but said nothing else, turning back to the room instead.

“I hate to interrupt,” he said. “But Remus is awake and trying to chew through his restraints.”

“How far has he gotten?” Dr. Iplier asked as they secured Damien’s bandage.

“I think he was about halfway through,” Patton said. “His teeth are very sharp...”

Dr. Iplier sighed heavily.

“Damien, if you don’t mind, I’ll need to get you to the infirmary before I have to order new restraints...” He said.

The other egos in the house could sense Dr. Thoruf’s emotions and decided to give them a wide berth. Host had tried to talk to them again, but they had made it very clear that they didn’t want to talk right now. They made their way outside and into the garden, sitting on one of the benches with an angry sigh.

They gripped the edge of the bench tightly, feeling their anger ebb away and give room to the sorrow they were feeling as well. Dr. Thoruf sniffled and didn’t bother trying to fight the tears that were welling up in their eyes. They covered their face with their hands and sobbed heavily.

What would they do now? They weren’t human. What was keeping them here? Who had created them? Would they eventually just fade away like they’d never existed in the first place? They thought back to the facility they’d worked at. Had the people there known about this? Mr. A hadn’t treated them any differently than any of his other employees. Had he known about Dr. Thoruf’s true nature?

He couldn’t have, otherwise Dr. Thoruf would have been tossed into a cell and experimented on like the others. They would have been stripped of their freedom in a second and locked away. But then... how had they been found or employed if they weren’t human? They couldn’t have any valid records in any systems... but they’d been told that their resume had been confirmed, which included their academic history. Not to mention, a social security number would have had to be confirmed as well...

Dr. Thoruf couldn’t remember anything before being employed there. Is that when they had been created? But then who had created them?

Dr. Thoruf’s thoughts were interrupted as their phone rang. They flinched at the loud tone and pulled it out of their pocket. They didn’t recognize the number that was calling them, but they still answered.

“Hello?” They asked.

“Dr. Thoruf! Thank god you answered. Can you hear me? Are you ok?” The man on the phone sounded frantic and worried.

“Mr. A?” Dr. Throuf’s eyes widened.

Chapter Text

Dr. Thoruf shook as they listened to Mr. A speak.

“Are you ok?” He asked. “Do you know where you are?”

“I-I...” Dr. Thoruf didn’t really know where this house was. “I don’t. I’m sorry...”

“That’s ok,” Mr. A said. “What’s around you? Do you see any landmarks?”

“I see... trees,” Dr. Thoruf said, which wasn’t really a lie.

Mr. A sighed in relief.

“I’ve been trying to call you for days,” he said. “But I’ve only now been able to get through to you. It was so strange that night, another subject left with you. Are they still with you? Did they hurt you?”

Dr. Thoruf looked down at the blood that stained their hand. Damien’s blood. No one had hurt them, but they had hurt someone else...

“No,” they finally said. “I’m alone. They didn’t hurt me. Um... about that n-night...” Their breathing picked up and their hand shook even more, a sudden wave of fear washing over them.

“Dr. Thoruf? Listen... take some deep breaths. You’ll be ok. Can you take some deep breaths for me, please?”

Dr. Thoruf wheezed, bracing their hands on their knees. The grip on their phone grew tighter and tighter... but they slowly managed to calm down.

“There...” Mr. A said gently. “There, are you feeling better? I know it must be very scary for you right now. Listen, I know you didn’t leave willingly. They kidnapped you and took you away. You’re not in trouble for that, I promise. No one blames you. I’m just glad I was able to get ahold of you...”

Dr. Thoruf listened to him speak, still feeling a tingle of unease in the back of their mind. But even as they listened, they had a sudden idea.

“Sir,” they asked. “Do you know my first name?”

Mr. A was silent for a moment, stammering in his confusion.

“I... what?” He asked. “Of course I do. Your first name is Alex. Why are you asking?”

Alex... It wasn’t much, but it was something to cling to. They covered their mouth, eyes wide. They had a first name. Mr. A knew their first name, so they had to have one. They weren’t just Dr. Thoruf...

Alex. Alex. Alex...

“Sir,” they kept going, wanting to keep going before they lost their nerve. “Do you know when my birthday is?”

“I...um...” Mr. A sounded confused. “I don’t remember the exact day, but... I remember your file said that you were born in October. Maybe mid October? You’re a Libra, I heard you mention that once.”

They had a birthday! October! Libra! Wait... their file! Their file had to have information about them. All the information they wanted. The information they couldn’t remember...

Dr. Thoruf sunk their teeth into the ball of their thumb, gnawing it slightly in an effort to keep their nerves under control. Their grip on their phone was so tight, they worried they would break it.

“Dr. Thoruf, are you ok?” Mr. A sounded worried. “Did you sustain any head injuries? You sound like you might be suffering from amnesia...”

“I... maybe,” Dr. Thoruf said. “I-I can’t remember much. I just... I’m scared...”

“It’s ok to be scared,” said Mr. A. “Listen, your phone has a tracker in it. I need you to turn it on so that we can come find you. I’ll send a team to bring you back and then we’ll have the doctor take a look at you to make sure that you’re not hurt too much.”

Dr. Thoruf looked down at their phone. They knew how to activate the tracker, they’d been taught when they’d first received the phone. But even as they stared at the phone, they couldn’t help but feel... anxious. It was a feeling they were quickly growing to hate.

They could hear Mr. A still talking to them, but they paid no attention to his words. Slowly, they hung up the phone and then turned it off. Their arm reared back to launch the phone into the woods, but they paused. They couldn’t bring themself to do it.

With a sigh, they pocketed the phone.

ELSEWHERE

“Dammit!” Afton slammed the phone onto his desk. “I was so close! I almost had them!”

He growled as he began to pace, already trying to formulate a plan. He needed them back. They were an important tool for him. The Entity had explained their uses, and one of them was the ability to hear The Audience. Dr. Thoruf was like his own little bluetooth speaker for the words of The Audience, and he needed them back.

He sighed heavily and tried to think of a plan. He couldn’t rely on them too much to turn on the tracker, but he had no other way to find them. His thoughts were suddenly interrupted when he heard a loud screech that sounded like grinding metal, and then a loud crash. He rushed to it to find the Wilford animatronic lying on the ground, sparking from a hole in its chest.

Afton growled and went back to his office. He would need to call FazMark to repair it...

ELSEWHERE

Dawkguard took a deep breath and slowly let it out as he adjusted the VR headset. He’d had an idea. It was a crazy one, but he at least wanted to try. Anything was better than sitting around and feeling useless. Dawktrap had explained to him that he was basically his creator and Glitchtrap combined and that his aura was pretty much just Glitchtrap himself.

From the headset, Dawkguard entered the commands to pull up the Help Wanted game he had once tested. He knew the commands by heart, as many times as he’d entered them in the past. From there, he was able to start the first level.

He knew that Glitchtrap was in this game, Dawktrap had told him about it, and he’d seen Glitchtrap himself a few times. The idea he had was if he could draw Glitchtrap out and let himself be possessed, maybe he could let this Glitchtrap attach itself to Dawktrap and at least give him a temporary aura until they could find his real one.

It was a crazy idea, but he didn’t have any better ones...

Chapter Text

The phone felt heavy in Dr. Thoruf’s pocket.

They were keeping to themself, feeling nervous around the egos. The creators didn’t bother them either, which they liked. Everything was just... too much. The egos felt familiar and unfamiliar at the same time, and Dr. Thoruf was still reeling over the possibility of there being more information about them out there. If they could get back to the facility, they could pilfer their file and read it to their heart’s content. They knew the higher ups did very thorough background checks on everyone, so there had to be a lot of information there.

Maybe the egos were lying or mistaken when they said that Dr. Thoruf wasn’t human. Maybe they really did have amnesia somehow. But then why did they have such strange flashes of memory? They had to be memory, considering how the other three egos they saw eventually approached them.

The first to approach was Discount Indiana Jones.

“Have we met before?” he gave a smooth wink and a grin.

“We could have an adventure. Maybe fall in love. Maybe...”

“The name’s Illinois... pleasure to meet me.”

“No,” Dr. Thoruf said as they pushed past him.

The next to approach was Greased Lightning.

“Did we serve time together?” He asked.

“Maybe I was distracted by that handsome and or beautiful face of youses!”

“Me? Out there? With you?”

“No,” Dr. Thoruf said as they walked away.

The final one was Pirate Hagrid.

“Have I robbed ye before?” He asked.

“I’d even be ok if you wanted to call me your ‘Daddy’...”

“I must admit, these past few minutes on the high seas have been some of the best of me life!”

“No,” Dr. Thoruf said, not even bothering to stop for him.

It left Dr. Thoruf with an itchy feeling just below their skin, and each ego brought forth a thousand different thoughts and feelings. While most were positive, they still felt nauseas at the idea of feeling someone else’s feelings...

They had come here looking for answers, but now they had even more questions than before. And they had no way of knowing who was lying and who was telling the truth. Host had told them that they were just a vessel, but Mr. A had told a name and a birthday. They desperately wanted to believe that Mr. A was telling the truth, but the only way to know for sure was to find their file...

Damien found them out in the garden, limping slightly with his cane due to his stomach injury. Dr. Thoruf was staring off into the distance, gnawing on the ball of their thumb in deep thought. They flinched when they heard him, and they turned to face him.

“I’m not mad,” said Damien. “You... they... they have a good reason to hate me. I honestly would have done the same...”

“Still,” Dr. Thoruf shook their head. “I’m sorry. I just... I don’t know what to do. Being here... feels... so strange. I think whoever they are... they knew some of the egos here. And now I feel as if I know them. I feel their most intimate thoughts and feelings about the egos they interacted with, and I even remember dying a few times...”

“I apologize,” Damien sighed. “I wish I had more information for you-”

“I’m leaving,” Dr. Thoruf said.

Damien’s eyes widened in surprise. He took a step forward, hand moving as if to be placed on their shoulder, but he thought better of it and instead ran it through his hair.

“I cannot force you to say here,” he said. “But I really must stress how dangerous it is out there.”

“They’re looking for me,” Dr. Thoruf said. “They’ll find me eventually. I’d rather not be here when they do, or you will all suffer for it. I can’t do anything about what happened between you and your friend. I can’t even begin to understand their anger, but... I feel like this is the one thing that I can do... Even if it’s just to make amends for the pain I helped them inflict on you all...”

This time, Damien did put his hand on their shoulder.

“You are not our enemy,” he said. “You are just as much a pawn in this as we are. You are more than welcome to stay, but... again, I cannot make you.”

“I’m surprised,” said Dr. Thoruf. “I thought you’d lock me away here. Make sure I can’t go out there and tell them about this place.”

“You won’t tell them,” Damien said with a sad smile. “If you truly are some incarnation of my friend... you won’t tell them. They were a very good person... and I hate myself for what I did to them.”

Damien slid his hand into his pocket and paused. From his pocket, he pulled out Wilford’s gun. He dimly remembered Dark putting the gun in his pocket before he picked Wilford’s corpse up. He glanced at it, gears turning in his head.

“Take this with you,” he said, holding it out to Dr. Thoruf. “I want to make sure you’ll be safe and able to defend yourself if need be. You will not need to load it. The ammo will never run out.”

Dr. Thoruf’s eyes widened at the gun. They’d seen it many times in the videos of Wilford that they’d had to watch. They knew the gun was as much his trademark as much as the pink mustache was.

“I-I couldn’t-”

“Please,” Damien pressed the gun into their hand. “You can give it back when this is all over. Think of it as my way of making amends.”

Dr. Thoruf took the gun, the weight of it was heavy in their pocket.

“Good luck out there, Doctor,” Damien said, standing back, both hands resting on top of his cane. “I hope we may meet again in the future... under more favorable circumstances.”

Dr. Thoruf smiled softly and nodded. They quickly turned around and began to walk off into the woods. A voice was telling them that leaving without supplies was a stupid thing to do, but Dr. Thoruf was worried that if they went back for them, they would lose their nerve to leave. They had to get far away from this place before they turned the tracker on. It would be hard to explain why they kept moving after turning it on.

“I just want answers,” they told themself. “I want that file...”

Chapter Text

Dawkguard was curled into himself, trembling all over.

He hated this game with a loathing passion. It was still as scary as the first time he’d played it. But he had to keep going. He had to keep going for Dawktrap. He sniffled and coughed, scared to tears. But he didn’t dare stop now. If feared if he stopped, he wouldn’t be able to keep going...

He was almost done. Glitchtrap had been moving closer and closer. Soon, he’d be close enough for Dawkguard to grab him. He only hoped this would work. Dawktrap’s backstory was that he was possessed by Glitchtrap and fused with him. Dawkguard was hoping to have the same happen to him, but hopefully Glitchtrap would let go and fuse with Dawktrap when the time came...

He slowly completed another level, but he died a few times so it took longer than he wanted. He took another minute or two to calm down, heart pounding in his chest. He was bent over now, hands resting on his knees. He hated this so much. When this was over, he was going to delete the game and never play it again for as long as he lived.

Dawkguard finally straightened up and began to cycle through the levels, trying to decide which one to play next. He froze in terror when he heard a voice cackle right in his ear. He didn’t even get a chance to turn his head before he felt as if someone had sent a bolt of electricity through him. His muscles tensed and his whole body stiffened, locked into place.

Pain slowly seeped into every nerve, and his lungs struggled to breathe. Distantly, he felt something wet drip from his nose and eyes, but he couldn’t move to see what it was.

“So young,” the voice mocked him. “Only a child... but I suppose you’ll have to do...”

Agony erupted in Dawkguard’s head. He opened his mouth to scream, but no sound came out. It felt as though something was blocking his voice, something within. He could feel a horrible freezing tingle seeping into his limbs, feeling like frozen bugs crawling under his skin.

This was it. This was what he wanted to happen.

And now it was time to make his move...

His body was down for the count, already lost to Glitchtrap, but his mind was still there. He was still here in this digital environment. Glitchtrap hadn’t booted him from the driver’s seat and locked him in that dark room just yet...

Darko was back, and he brought good news.

He rushed through the house, looking for Dawkguard. He had to tell him that there was hope for Dawktrap. There was hope that he could survive this, but they had to be careful...

He opened Dawkguard’s room, seeing that it was empty. His brows furrowed. Where was he? The television was playing nothing but white noise, and there were a few tangled chords hanging on the floor. Darko turned to leave, but heard what sounded like a choked gasp. He spun back around and walked further into the room.

He nearly cried out in panic. Dawkguard was on the ground, body twitching and choked breaths struggled out of his mouth. Blood had dripped from his nose and was staining his cheeks and his teeth with dark lines.

“Dawkguard!” Darko quickly took the headset off, revealing the stain of blood under one of his closed eyes.

Darko gasped, this... he knew this look. This was how a newly created Dawktrap had once looked. Before he’d managed to get the bleeding under control and no longer constantly bled from his eye or nose.

“Dawky!” He gently hit the side of Dawkguard’s face. “Dawky, can you hear me? Please, you have to wake up. You have to wake up now!”

Dawkguard stared Glitchtrap down. The environment around them had fallen into a glitching swirl of color and shapes. His hands shook, but he kept his determined expression. He would not let Glitchtrap see his fear.

Glitchtrap glitched, and then he was suddenly right in front of Dawkguard. Dawkguard barely had a chance to gasp before Glitchtrap was grabbing him, and another wave of agony tore through him. This time, it was all over, burning and consuming him. He was still unable to scream, and he was soon losing feeling in his fingers. He looked at his hands and his eyes widened when he saw they were crumbling into loose pixels. A quick look down showed that his feet were too.

He struggled as Glitchtrap grabbed his face with a vice like grip, and his eyes changed into a bright pink. He was losing. He was fading into coding and pixels of the game.

“Dawky?!” Darko drew his hands back as Dawkguard’s body suddenly arched with a wheeze.

His fingers were curled and shaking, arms bent in a way that had to hurt. His feet were moving against the floor as if he were trying to escape something.

Dawkguard then collapsed again, going limp as Darko pulled him back into his lap.

Dawkguard felt the exact moment that he gave in.

His family had a temper that they were infamous for. Dawkguard had always worried that he would fall prey to it as well and it would bring nothing but misery and ruin to his life. But now... now he felt... empowered.

“Let. Go!” He shouted.

All at once, Glitchtrap let go and was thrown back from him. Dawkguard’s limbs reformed, and he glared at the rabbit that was looking at him with narrowed eyes.

“You...” Glitchtrap hissed. “I thought you were different because you were his brother... but you’re more than that, aren’t you?”

He gave a particularly menacing grin and then burst into chilling laughter.

“Oh, how curious!” He said gleefully. “Do they know? Do they know about you?”

“Hush.”

Glitchtrap flinched at Dawkguard’s tone.

“Listen carefully...” Dawkguard took a step forward... and then another one. “My brother had his aura stripped away. I came here because you are going to act as a temporary fix until we can get his aura back. I’m going to carry you out of here, and then you’ll fuse with Dawktrap and you’ll let yourself become his aura...”

Glitchtrap found himself taking a few steps back. He’d never backed away from anyone. It just wasn’t his thing. He'd always walked forward, towards his prey. But now he felt as if he were the prey...

“Ha!” He kept his bravado up. “And what do I get out of it?”

“What do you mean?” Dawkguard asked.

“You can’t ask someone to do something and not offer something in return,” Glitchtrap said in a tone that suggested it should have been very obvious.

“That’s because I’m not asking you,” Dawkguard growled. “I am ordering you to obey me!”

He stomped his foot and the world around them fell still, once again taking the form of the pizzeria from the game. Everything looked as if nothing had happened at all. The monitor even had the levels on display, waiting for one to be chosen.

A very familiar fury was written on Dawkguard’s face, and Glitchtrap knew that he had no choice.

Darko nearly cried in relief when Dawkguard opened his eyes... and then he saw what color those eyes were. One was his usual blue, but the other was a bright pink. Before Darko could say a word, Dawkguard got up and began to walk off, body still twitching slightly.

“Dawkguard!” Darko rushed after him. “Dawkguard, speak to me!”

He tried to stop his brother, but the other gave him a look that made him step back. This... this was not his brother. Was it? Could this be his sweet little brother?

Darko didn’t try to stop him again, but he did follow Dawkguard up to the infirmary. Dawkguard stiffly walked over to Dawktrap’s bed, and Darko then realized just what had happened. He gasped softly as Dawkguard gathered Dawktrap into his arms. He pressed his forehead against Dawktrap’s own and then there was a flash of purple and pink pixels.

Dawktrap gasped and his eyes flew open, flashing brightly with renewed energy. He sat up in his bed just as Dawkguard fell to his knees. Darko rushed over and held him up, looking between his brothers with wide eyes.

“Wh... what happened?” Dawktrap coughed as he breathed heavily. “Some... something feels weird.”

Dawkguard gave an exhausted smile, tears welling up in his eyes.

“I took a chance,” he said. “And it worked.”

Chapter Text

“It feels... weird...”

Dawktrap squirmed slightly as if he were trying to scratch an itch on his back or get comfortable against his pillows.

“Like... I don’t feel incomplete anymore, but it doesn’t feel like part of me. It feels more like... some kind of prosthesis...” He said.

“It’s only temporary,” said Dawkguard. “When we get your real aura back, you’ll feel better.”

Dawktrap huffed and folded his arms.

“I’m not even sure if I want it back,” he said. “That monster has tainted it. For all I know, it’s not my Glitchy anymore and he’s corrupted him into something else...”

“We don’t know that for sure,” Darko said. “Let’s wait and see. Besides, I did some research while you were out. It is possible to reattach it, but... Afton has to die for us to be able to do that. Otherwise, it'll be trapped between the two of you and unable to attach to anyone.”

“So we have to kill Afton...” Dawktrap mused. “Challenging... but not impossible. It’s not hard to kill him, the trick is to make sure he stays dead. He always seems to have some way to stick around after meeting his end.”

“He won’t be able to use the game,” said Dawkguard. “The only Glitchtrap left is the one that you’re using now. I’ve already deleted the game from your headset so he won’t be able to escape to there.”

“And if we destroy the animatronics, he won’t be able to use them either,” said Darko. “So... again, not impossible... but it will be difficult. If he has his aura back, he’ll be at full power. And we don’t yet know what powers he has in this world.”

“Hmm... what about Poopet?” Dawktrap asked. “Any updates?”

Dawkguard kept silent about his journey into the VR headset and how he’d met Poopet there. He glanced over at Darko instead, giving a curious expression to mask his sudden unease.

“Nothing,” Darko shook his head. “He stole Wilford’s soul and one of Dark’s and put them in animatronics and that’s all we know so far. But he has to be in the same place as Afton. Afton wouldn’t let him out of his sight.”

“Very true...” Dawktrap said.

“But we don’t know where Afton is,” said Dawkguard. “Or where he could be. How are we going to find him?”

Dawktrap gave Darko a look, and Darko frowned.

“No,” he said. “No! You are not using your headset to find him. For all we know, he’ll trap you in the hub and you’ll be right back where you were before. I just got you back, I’m not losing you again!”

“Well do you have any other ideas?” Dawktrap huffed. “We need to get Poopet back before Afton uses him to steal more souls.”

“I could do it?”

Dawktrap and Darko both looked at their youngest brother had had slightly raised his hand. Dawkguard looked between them, looking nervous. Dawktrap sighed and shook his head.

“It’s too dangerous,” Dawktrap said. “Especially for someone who’s never been to the hub before. It’s possible for your mind to become trapped there if you’re not careful or strong enough.”

“Are you saying I’m weak?” Dawkguard looked hurt. “Who was it who went and got you another Glitchtrap?”

“The hub is very different from the game,” said Darko. “It’s a place that resonates with our very auras, and we’re able to navigate it easily because we’re experienced. We don’t have time to train you how to use it or establish a login for you. I’m sorry, Dawky... but we can’t risk it.”

Dawkguard looked angry, but he didn’t respond. He just folded his arms and looked away.

“Dawky,” Dawktrap reached out and put a hand on his shoulder. “We love you too much to let you get hurt if we can prevent it. We’re just looking out for you.”

Dawkguard felt guilty. He knew they were just trying to keep him safe, and it was an alien feeling for him. He’d never had family look out for him before. He’d never felt proud or happy to call someone his brother. It made him feel guilty that he was getting angry at their show of love.

But at the same time, he wasn’t as weak as they thought. After all, he’d managed to get into the game and pull Glitchtrap out for Dawktrap to use as a temporary aura. That was not something to laugh at. But they were both acting as if the hub was some sort of evil deathland...

If they only knew that he’d already been there...

Darko eventually got up to go speak to Dark. Dawktrap had taken a day or two to recover, and now they needed to get another plan going. Dawkguard stood to leave too, but Dawktrap reached out and pulled him back into his chair.

“I wanted to speak to you,” he said. “About what you did.”

“What about it?” Dawkguard shrugged.

“Glitchtrap is a selfish tosser,” said Dawktrap. “He wouldn’t have done this for nothing. How did you convince him to help?”

“I... I offered him something in return,” Dawkguard said, remembering Glitchtrap’s words.

Dawktrap narrowed his eyes slightly, looking closely at Dawkguard’s face. He finally sighed and shook his head.

“You’re lying,” he said. “You have the same tell as me and Darko. Why are you lying to me?”

Dawkguard’s heart nearly stopped as he was gripped with panic. Dawktrap could tell if he was lying, what was he going to do now? He felt tears well up in his eyes as he struggled to think of what to say.

“Just tell me the truth,” Dawktrap said. “How did you get Glitchtrap to help? What did you do?”

Dawkguard sniffled and shook his head, wiping away tears.

“Please don’t make me,” he said softly. “You’ll hate me if I tell you.”

“Why do you keep thinking that?” Dawktrap asked. “We won’t hate you. We could never hate you.”

“Yes, you could,” Dawkguard said. “And you would if you knew the truth.”

“Just tell me!” Dawktrap stood up. “Is it something dangerous? Are you hiding some kind of power? Is someone controlling you? What could be so horrible that you think we’d hate you? Just be honest!”

Dawkguard fell back onto the ground, his breathing picking up as Dawktrap stood over him. His hands shook as he scrambled backwards and pressed himself against the wall. He sobbed and curled in on himself, shielding his head and face from Dawktrap.

“Brother,” he whimpered. “Please. Please stop. Brother, no. You’re scaring me...”

Dawktrap felt his heart shatter, and he fell to his knees.

“Dawky,” he said softly. He reached out, but Dawkguard flinched away from his touch. “Dawky, I’m sorry. I’m so sorry! Please...”

He reached out again and Dawkguard let him pull him into a hug. Dawktrap kissed the top of Dawkguard’s head and held him tightly.

“I’m sorry,” Dawktrap said again. “I’m just scared. If you were hiding something that could get you hurt or killed-”

“I’m not,” Dawkguard sniffled as he slowly calmed down. “I promise I’ll tell you. I’m just not ready yet...”

“Ok,” Dawktrap said, rocking Dawkguard from side to side in comforting motions. “Ok. You don’t have to say anything. You can tell us when you’re ready to.”

He had no idea what Dawkguard could be hiding... but he hoped that Dawkguard will know that they still love him when he eventually does.

Chapter Text

“G’Day!”

Angus had managed to catch up with the Septics, having found them all huddled around the table for lunch. They all stared at him, and he gave his best smile, hoping to make a good first impression. Heck, he’d even showered and shaved before meeting them.

Robbie was the first to react. He got up from the table and shambled his way over, looking at Angus with a groan. He then smiled widely and threw his arms around Angus, hugging the ego tightly.

“Brooooo,” Robbie said happily.

“Um, I guess?” Angus asked. “You can call me ‘brother’ if you want...”

“Who the hell are you?” Anti asked, clutching his mug of black coffee.

“The name’s Angus,” Angus smiled. “I’m a survivalist. I’ve been roughing it out in the bush, but I figured it would be safer to come here since all that trouble’s going on out there.”

“Another one?” Marvin asked. “Please say you’re the last one.”

“NFI,” Angus shrugged. “Why, are there a lot of us?”

“I think you’re number... eleven?” Marvin said.

“Ah, lots of rellies, eh?” Angus looked happy. “Aces! Always wanted a big family.”

Welcome, good sir, Jameson set his tea cup down. My name is Jameson Jackson.

“Ooh,” Angus tilted his head, noting Jameson's tea and gentlemanly attire. “A pommie. Like that Lewis bloke...”

I beg your pardon? Jameson didn’t know if that had been an insult or not.

“So where have you been?” Henrik decided to change the subject before any sort of argument could start. Robbie was still hanging off of Angus, but he didn’t seem to mind, throwing an arm around Robbie as if they had always known each other.

“Been traveling with me mate Bawko,” he said. “We were in... Texas? I think that’s what it was called. Great place, lots of wide open plains and mountains and whatnot. Lots of hunting to be had. When this all blows over, we’re gonna head back out there...”

“You’re not going to stay with us?” Marvin asked. “We’ve been staying together to make sure that everyone stays safe.”

“I dunno,” Angus scratched the back of his neck. “I’m not one to stay in one place for long. I get antsy if I try to...”

“Well, we can’t force you to stay with us,” Jackie shrugged. “But... at least come visit sometimes...”

“Of course!” Angus said. “Been eager to meet you all, I wouldn’t just rack off and never come back.”

“Sit down, Bro,” Chase smiled. “Tell us about yourself. Married? Any kids?”

Angus happily sat down and began to tell his story.

Bawko had been told that something bad had happened to his brothers, and so he had respectfully kept his distance until things had cleared up. They were all gathered around and deep in conversation when Bawko decided it was now or never.

“Hello,” he greeted them as he walked up.

The three of them stared back at him with varying levels of interest.

“A Dawko ego?” Dawktrap asked.

“One that isn’t FNAF related?” Darko asked.

“Hello!” Dawkguard cheerfully waved. “What’s your name?”

“Bawko,” Bawko smiled at them. “It’s lovely to finally meet you all. I was very excited when I heard that I had family here.”

“Cool accent,” said Dawkguard. “Where are you from?”

“Louisiana,” Bawko sat down in a nearby armchair. “In a zombie apocalypse.”

“I’ve heard that accent before,” said Dawkguard. “Back at..." He shook his head and quickly smiled again. "I always wondered where it came from...”

“So you’re a zombie survivor?” Darko asked. “Interesting... I didn’t think Lewis would make an ego for that...”

“I was mostly just for an advertisement,” Bawko shrugged.

“I’m starting to think that you were the only ego created for the sake of a story,” Dawktrap said to Darko. “I was a song, and he was a plushie. A very cute and very smol plushie.”

Dawkguard pouted and blushed slightly.

“So were you,” he muttered.

“I take it he’s the youngest?” Bawko chuckled as he nodded at Dawkguard.

“Yep,” said Darko. “But you don’t get to pick on him just yet. Once you’ve been here for a while and we’ve gotten to know you, then you can start picking on him. For now, don’t. Or we’ll hurt you.”

Bawko wondered if it was some sort of joke, but the look Darko and Dawktrap gave him said very clearly that they were not.

“Guys,” Dawkguard said. “Don’t be mean. He’s our brother too, we should be happy and welcoming.” He turned his attention to Bawko. “Don’t worry about them, they’re just meanies. I like your bow, it’s so cool!”

“Thanks,” Bawko detached it from his backpack and held it out to show Dawkguard. “It was my father’s. He made it himself and taught me how to use it. I have arrows too. I make them myself.”

“Ooh, think you could teach me how to use it?” Dawkguard asked. “They’re always saying I need to learn to defend myself.” He gestured at his other brothers.

“We meant with like a tazer or something like that,” said Darko.

“Or as we call it in the Fazbear biz, ‘using a controlled shock’,” said Dawkguard. “I still want to learn, though. It could be a good chance for us to bond. He’s my brother too, I should spend some time with him.”

Bawko silently watched them speak, glancing between the three of them. It was clear that Dawkguard had the other two wrapped around his finger, and he could see why. Dawkguard seemed like a very sweet young man, and his curiosity was very endearing.

“Fine,” Dawktrap finally said. “But you do it in the backyard, and you-” he pointed at Bawko, “if he gets hurt, you get hurt. Understand?”

Bawko nodded, eyes slightly wide.

“Now that that’s out of the way, tell us about yourself...” Dawktrap smiled and poured Bawko a mug of tea.

“Oh thank you,” Bawko raised an eyebrow at the hot tea and got up from his chair. “Well, not much to really say. I was just a loner trying to survive and all that. Living off the land, never staying in the same place for long. Except during the winter months.” Darko and Dawktrap watched in horror as Bawko added some ice to his tea. “I had to find shelter and hunker down for those.” Bawko sat back down. “Or else I’d freeze to death.”

He smiled and sipped his tea. Dawktrap and Darko shared a look that clearly said ‘we need to teach this American a few things’.

Dawkguard was unaware of their silent conversation, eagerly listening to Bawko’s stories.

Chapter Text

“They can’t hurt you anymore,” Dawkguard groaned softly as he walked down the hallway. “You shouldn’t still be having nightmares about Freddy and the gang...”

He sighed and entered the kitchen. The nightmare had made him thirsty, and he just wanted to have a glass of water before he tried to get back to sleep, even if he knew it was going to be very hard to do so. As he drank his water, he heard a voice behind him.

“The Host knows Dawkguard’s secret.”

Dawkguard choked on the water and turned around to see Host walking in. Host went to the cabinet to grab a mug, seeming to be unbothered by what he’d just said as well as ignorant of the whirlwind he’d just awakened within Dawkguard.

Host barely registered the sound of shattering glass before something tackled him to the ground. Two hands pressed hard against his mouth as someone pinned him to the ground.

“D-Don’t s-s-say a word...” Dawkguard hissed, hands shaking and breathing harsh. “They can’t know... they can’t know! You’re not going t-t-to...”

He grit his teeth against the rage that he felt mix with his panic. How dare Host wave such information in his face as if it was nothing? As if this wasn’t a secret that would change everything and make the others hate him? He had to do something to make sure that Host never told them. He had to...

He had to...

Dawkguard’s hands slowly moved from Host’s mouth to his neck. A voice in the back of his mind told him to strangle the Host. Kill him now before he told his brothers the truth. He had to! He had to...

“Dawkguard...”

Host’s hands slowly moved to gently grip Dawkguard’s elbows. He could feel tears falling on his face and heard Dawkguard’s strained breathing.

“Dawkguard... The Host will not tell them,” he said. “Dawkguard can trust The Host. Dawkguard knows that he can. Dawkguard does not wish to go down this path, and he does not have to. Dawkguard does not have to cast away who he is now and fall victim to the snare of his prior family...”

Dawkguard’s hands moved and he covered his face as he sobbed. Host moved until he was sitting up, and then he reached out to rub Dawkguard’s back.

“I’m sorry,” Dawkguard gripped his hair. “I’m sorry...”

Host said nothing, but his silence was enough to show that he forgave Dawkguard.

ELSEWHERE

“What do you mean you won’t come repair them?!” Afton snarled into his phone. “Our agreement-”

“Was for me to build them,” FazMark said on the other end of the phone. “After that, they’re your problem. And do you really think I’ll do you any favors after what you did to Fetch?! Don’t call me again, you hack!”

The line went dead and Afton growled in rage. How dare that little peon refuse to help him? He worked for Afton!

Afton reared his hand back to launch his phone across the room, but then it chirped. Afton read the notification, and his face split into a grin.

“Bingo...” he cackled.

Dr. Thoruf had turned on the tracker...

Chapter Text

Dr. Thoruf couldn’t help but feel nervous.

No one was treating them like a traitor or criminal. No one had pulled a weapon on them, and they’d even had a medic give them a quick exam before loading them into a helicopter. From there, Dr. Thoruf was taken to a facility that they had never been to before, and they once again had no idea where they were.

They were ushered down a hallway, and Dr. Thoruf saw a door open and then a flurry of movement. Mr. A stepped out and looked at Dr. Thoruf with a relieved expression.

“Alex!” He rushed forward and looked Dr. Thoruf over. “Alex, are you ok? Did they hurt you? Have you had your head examined yet?”

“Um...” Dr. Thoruf glanced at the hand that was now resting on their shoulder. “N-No sir, they didn’t hurt me. The medic said I looked ok, just a few scrapes and bruises.”

They heard the guards walk off, leaving them alone in the hall.

“You couldn’t remember your first name or birthday!” Mr. A shook his head. “That’s not normal. I want you to at least get a scan done so that we can rule everything out.”

“The medic said it might have just been dehydration,” said Dr. Thoruf. “I promise I’m fine. I didn’t hit my head, nor did they find any injuries on my head...”

Mr. A sighed and shook his head.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “I... I’ve just been so worried. You were kidnapped and then your phone was off and I couldn’t get ahold of you for days! And then when I finally do, you’re asking me about your name and your birthday. Are you absolutely sure you don’t want a scan done?”

“I’m positive, sir,” said Dr. Thoruf. “I’m not hurt, I’m... I’m just tired.”

They hadn’t gotten much sleep in the time they’d stayed at that house. In fact, they hadn’t done much of anything... except stab Damien in the stomach with a letter opener. They had kept to themself after the egos began to make their skin crawl and trigger memories that weren’t theirs. But they weren’t about to share all of this with Mr. A.

He’d think they were crazy...

Mr. A slowly nodded his head.

“Well,” he said. “I suppose you would know best. I’m going to need to ask you about what happened, get an official statement. Purely for record, I assure you. Like I said before, you are not in trouble. No one blames you for what happened or is accusing you of anything. Ok?”

Dr. Thoruf nodded... and then got an idea. Mr. A was their supervisor. He would have their file in his office. Dr. Thoruf knew that when people transferred to other facilities, their files and documents went with them. If they could get in there and find that file, they would have all the information they wanted. But they couldn’t just ask for it without raising suspicion, they’d have to find it when he wasn’t there.

“Um... actually sir,” they lowered their eyes to the ground and curled in on themself slightly. “Could... could we speak in your office? I-I just... I’d feel safer in there is all...”

They made sure to sound as pitiful as they could, hoping to convince Mr. A.

“Of course,” he said. “I understand. Come on, it’s just over here...”

Mr. A led them to a spacious office that had a few filing cabinets off to the side. Dr. Thoruf’s eyes were immediately drawn to them. It had to be in there somewhere. There was more than one drawer, so they would have to be quick to look in them before Mr. A got back. And they knew that Mr. A was going to leave them there because...

“I don’t have any recording equipment,” Mr. A sighed. “I’ll have to go grab it. You just sit in here and get comfortable and I’ll be right back, ok?”

“Yes, sir,” Dr. Thoruf kept up their act. “Thank you. I feel much better in here.”

Mr. A gave them a smile before he left, closing the door behind him. Dr. Thoruf waited a bit to make sure he wasn’t going to come right back in, and then they rushed over to the cabinets. They didn’t know how much time they had. It could be one minute, it could be five.

They wrenched open the first drawer and saw that it was nearly empty save for a few binders that held interview notes on the egos. The next drawer had the egos’ files. The next two drawers had nothing but other research on the egos. With a sigh, they moved to the next cabinet.

This cabinet had information on what looked like numbers and figures and expenses. Whatever it was, it was above Dr. Thoruf’s paygrade, and they couldn’t make heads or tails from it. They suddenly froze when they heard footsteps outside the door, but whoever it was just kept walking. It wasn’t Mr. A...

Dr. Thoruf was frantically searching now, and they were finding nothing useful. There was only one drawer left, but this one had a combination lock on it. Four numbers, and Dr. Thoruf had no idea where to start. They sat back with a sigh, looking around the office again.

They moved over to Mr. A’s desk and began digging through the drawers there. Maybe he had written it down somewhere. A man who probably had several different passwords and passcodes couldn’t be expected to memorize everything. He had to have written down something. They spotted a ripped piece of paper that had a number written on it and then raced back to the filing cabinet. They put number into the combination: 1987.

It worked.

The drawer opened and Dr. Thoruf froze. There, among other things, was their file. They eagerly pulled it out, happy to see more than one paper inside it, and then they opened it.

Their eyes widened.

Every single paper... was blank.

“No...” they breathed, slowly shaking their head. “No... No. No!”

They dug back into the drawer, searching for something, anything else. Their frantic movements caused them to just completely toss certain papers and files aside onto the floor. They didn’t even care about getting caught now.

They froze again when the door opened behind them.

“I got it,” they turned to see Mr. A enter, and he was holding a recording device.

Mr. A paused and looked at them in confusion, but then his eyes slid to the file that Dr. Thoruf was holding, and his expression shifted into something unreadable.

“Ah,” was all he said as he shut the door.

Dr. Thoruf’s hand shook as they held the file up.

“Why...” they said, “is this blank? Where is my proper file?”

Mr. A’s face split into a sly grin that they’d never seen on him before. He walked further into the office and set the device on the desk.

“That is your file,” he said. “It’s the only one we have for you. And... I think you can probably guess while it’s blank. You had to have noticed something while you were out there with them...”

Dr. Thoruf felt sick. They slowly stood up, using the cabinet to support them as their legs felt weak beneath them.

“It’s true...” they breathed. “They... Damien... he was right...”

“Damien?” Mr. A repeated. “You spoke to Damien?”

He moved closer to Dr. Thoruf.

“Where is he? Tell me where he is-”

He stopped in his tracks when Dr. Thoruf pointed a gun at him. He chuckled in surprise, not expecting this at all.

“What are you doing?” He asked. “That gun isn’t going to do anything. Normal weapons won’t work-”

BANG!

Dr. Thoruf panicked and fired the gun as Mr. A got closer, instincts reeling and screaming that something bad would happen if he got to them. Mr. A jerked back with a cry of pain, looking at his bleeding shoulder in surprise.

Before Dr. Thoruf’s eyes, his form began to shift, changing into that of a younger man with brown hair and manic looking eyes.

“Wh...” the gun lowered slightly. “What are you?!”

Mr. A growled, hand gripping his shoulder. He glared at the gun that Dr. Thoruf held.

“Where did you get that?!” He snapped. “Whose gun is that?!”

He moved closer, and Dr. Thoruf cocked the gun again.

“Stay back!” They said. “Don’t come any closer! Who are you? What are you? Tell me what’s going on!”

Mr. A drew back slightly... and he once again grinned.

“Of course,” he said. “We haven’t been properly introduced. My name... is William Afton. And you... are nobody!” He laughed. “You... are nothing more than a vessel meant to be piloted by something far greater than any of us!”

There was no point in hiding now. He was being forced to show his hand. No matter... it wasn’t like Dr. Thoruf was going to be leaving anytime soon...

“But...” Dr. Thoruf’s hands shook again. “But you said...”

“I lied!” Mr. A... Mr. Afton said. “I made it all up! And you ate it like the begging little dog that you are! So desperate to know... because you realized that you don’t know a thing. I bet you don’t even know who created you...”

“Created me?” Dr. Thoruf repeated. “Who? Who was it?”

“You really want to know?” Mr. Afton taunted.

“Yes!” Dr. Thorud fire the gun at the wall behind Mr. Afton. “Tell me!”

Mr. Afton laughed again.

“Who else?” He said. “It was The Audience who created you!”

Chapter Text

“The Audience?” Dr. Thoruf repeated. “I-I don’t... I don’t underst- Stay back!”

Afton had taken another step closer.

“Or what?” Afton said. “Are you going to kill me, Alex?” He said the fake name with a sneer. “You won’t. You’re not a killer. Not like I am...”

Dr. Thoruf gasped and slowly began to lower the gun.

“You’re right,” they said. “I’m no killer...”

They then raised the gun again... and pointed it at their own head.

“Wait. Wait!” Afton took a step back. “Now, now... let’s not be so hasty-”

“You need me for something,” Dr. Thoruf growled. “I know you do. It’s why you wanted to find me so badly. If I was useless, you wouldn’t have given a damn about me!”

“Doctor, you are unwell,” Afton held his hand out in a placating manner. “Just... put the gun down... and we can talk about this.”

“I can talk just fine like this,” Dr. Thoruf cocked the gun. “So talk. Who is The Audience? What do you mean they created me?”

Afton growled in frustration. This clearly was not going the way he had planned, and that made Dr. Thoruf feel quite a bit better. They stood firm, even as they were terrified of it all. They wanted answers, and Afton seemed to have the missing pieces that Damien wasn’t able to give.

“I don’t know much about The Audience,” Afton said. He began to dig for the bullet in his shoulder wound. “The Entity was the one who told me about them. When we captured it, it bargained for its freedom in exchange for knowledge. It told me about a powerful force called The Audience. A group of beings that can sometimes alter the very world we live in. I wanted access to them, but the Entity said there was a barrier that blocked them.”

He finally dug out the bullet and tossed it aside. He gave a quick glance behind Dr. Thoruf, seeing a door open behind them and a dark shadow begin to slither out.

“It told me about beings like you,” Afton said. “Beings that are only vessels for The Audience. I could use you to listen to them, and I could use you to gain access to them. They were so desperate to come back to this world and speak to their beloved egos that they created you. That’s all you are. Just a nobody that was created in order to gain access to this world. But now... it’s time for you to serve your purpose.”

Before Dr. Thoruf could move, they felt something grab them from behind. A metallic grip locked onto their wrist and pulled it from their head, keeping them from pointing the gun anywhere. Dr. Thoruf looked up to see that it was an animatronic with glowing red eyes and that seemed to be half made of shadows. Its form warped and rippled with malevolent energy.

“We could have done this so much easier,” Afton sighed. “If you would have just kept your nose out of things that didn’t concern you. You have your answers! Are you happy to know what you really are?”

“Let me go!” Dr. Thoruf struggled, but the animatronic held firm. “I won’t help you!”

“I’m sure we can find a way to amend that,” Afton smiled. “After all... I’m a very creative man...”

Dr. Thoruf felt their stomach drop at the implications. They weren’t as knowledgeable about Afton, but they knew enough from the FNAF games they’d played as part of their research. Afton was a monster, through and through. He would be able to come up with horrible ways of torture.

“Last chance, Alex...” Afton grabbed their chin and made them look up at him. “Cooperate and I’ll make this as painless as possible. Fight me... and you will not like the consequences.”

“Like what?” Dr. Thoruf growled. “What would you do to me?”

Afton grinned again.

“Do you recognize this animatronic?” He asked. “This... is Darkiplier. I took his soul and I put it in this animatronic and now he’s my slave. I can do the same to you. Would you like that? Would you like being an animatronic that does what I say?”

Dr. Thoruf decided that they would not. They very much would not like that at all.

“So...?” Afton squeezed their jaw tighter. “Are you going to be a good little nobody?”

“I...” Dr. Thoruf swallowed heavily, throat suddenly dry. “I...”

Before they could say anything further, the door that had opened earlier suddenly burst open again. This time, a bright pink light came from it, and the light snaked its way across the floor and hit Dr. Thoruf. There was a blast of pink energy which tossed Afton and the animatronic back. Afton raised his hand to shield his eyes from the light, gritting his teeth.

When the light faded, Dr. Thoruf stood there, looking stiff as a mannequin. They slowly opened their eyes, revealing glowing pink irises. They then relaxed their pose, jutting their hip out and raising their gun at their side with a flourish.

“Good evening ladies and gentleman and all configurations of being!” They spoke with a harsh accent. “My name... is Wilford Warfstache.”

“What?!” Afton jumped to his feet. “What the hell?”

“You’re not the only one who knows about The Audience...” Thoruf/Wilford said. “I happen to be their favorite. And I was very happy to see our dear old faceless friend here. The perks of being a vessel is that it’s very easy to be possessed as you have no soul of your own. As such, I figured they wouldn’t mind if I borrowed their body for a while...”

“We’ll see how long you last before I have you back where you belong,” Afton snarled.

As he spoke, Poopet appeared in the room, hanging from the ceiling with his strings surrounding him. A bundle of strings lashed out towards Wilford/Thoruf, but he quickly teleported in a flash of pink light. He aimed his fun and fired a few shots into the strings, severing several of them. Poopet screeched in pain while his stings writhed like severed lizard’s tail.

“I know your tricks now,” Wilford/Thoruf said. “And I think it’s time I took my leave. Tata!”

He teleported into the hall and took off running.

“Get him!” Afton roared. “Don’t let him escape!”

Chapter Text

What the hell? What’s going on?

Oh! You’re still here?

What? Of course I am, this is me! I am me! Granted I don’t really know what ‘me’ is...

Aren’t we all just trying to figure out what ‘me’ is?

This... this is still my body, right?

Of course! Just think of me as a special guest. Like on a talk show!

Dr. Thoruf blinked and then there was a light in the dark. The light showed a man with a pink mustache running in place, dodging and weaving as if he were running from some invisible enemy. Dr. Thoruf narrowed their eyes slightly as they watched him.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m escaping!” said the man. “I lost my body and I’m using yours for now. Just be patient and we’ll be right back after these messages from our sponsor!”

Wilford/Thoruf dodged again as the animatronic lashed out with a clawed hand. It was quickly followed up by a tendril that looked as if it were made of shadow... but still hurt very much. Wilford/Thoruf was knocked into a wall, and he wheezed as scrambled back to his feet. Wilford hadn’t experienced real pain in a while, and it was quickly catching up to him.

“Celine, can’t we talk about this?” He called back to the animatronic. He knew whose soul was nestled in those circuits. After all, Afton was an idiot who didn’t know that Darkiplier was two people instead of just one...

The animatronic screeched and lashed out again. Wilford/Thoruf barely managed to dodge. He yelped and ran faster. He didn’t know his way around this place like Dr. Thoruf did, but he was nothing if not adaptable. Right now, he needed to focus on surviving.

Something grabbed his foot and yanked him back. Poopet had managed to snag him with his strings. Wilford/Thoruf aimed once again and fired, nailing Poopet in chest. Poopet’s strings withdrew as he shrieked in pain once again. He was bleeding heavily, but his master had given him an order. He would follow it to his dying breath...

Wilford/Thoruf saw that Poopet was moving much slower now and turned his attention to the animatronic.

“Celine, I’m sorry, but you are acting most unladylike,” he shot at the animatronic, managing to put a few holes in it before it swept forward and Wilford/Thoruf was forced to flee.

He made it down a flight of stairs, but that was mostly because he almost literally threw himself down them in his haste.

“And we’re back!”

“Who are you talking to?” Dr. Thoruf asked as they looked around.

“I’ll tell you later,” Wilford said, still moving. “But I will say it’s wonderful to speak to them again! I think I’m getting close to an exit, but it’s hard to tell. This place is like a maze within a maze and this is the first time I can’t just phase through the walls!”

“Phase through the walls?” Dr. Thoruf asked. “I don’t remember that being in your file.”

“I have a file?!” Wilford sounded excited. “I want to read it!”

“I don’t know where it is,” Dr. Thoruf shrugged as they sat down. “How is this happening? What did you do to me?”

“I’m just possessing you,” Wilford was still moving, looking around as if trying to decide where to run to next. “What, you’ve never been possessed before?”

“No,” Dr. Thoruf shook their head.

“Really?” Wilford looked surprised. “Never played with ouija boards or explored abandoned hospitals or held a séance? Isn’t that what the kids are into these days?”

“I’m not a kid,” said Dr. Thoruf. “At least... I don’t think I am. I don’t really know how old I am...”

“Well you’ll have plenty of time to figure that out when we get out of here,” Wilford beamed at them. “I have a very good friend who will be able to help. You’ll like him, his name is Damien.”

“Damien?” Dr. Thoruf asked. “But... I already met-”

And then an agony unlike anything they’d ever felt raced through them. There was a flash of light and the world around them shifted until they found themself on the floor of a hallway. They were hurting all over, but the worst of it was in their stomach. Their hand was pressed over it, and blood seeped between their fingers to drip on the floor.

“W... Wilford?” They gasped out.

“I’m sorry,” they heard his voice in the back of their mind. “I tried...”

And then he went silent.

Dr. Thoruf gasped when an animatronic landed nearby, the same one that had grabbed them in Afton’s office. Its claws were dripping with blood, and it wasn’t hard to put two and two together. They wheezed and nearly collapsed against the floor again, just barely able to hold themself up on their knees.

The lights above flickered, but they didn’t look up. The taste of copper crept into their mouth and fell from their lips in slimy red ropes and drops. They pressed harder on their stomach, trying to stem the bleeding even as they knew it was useless. There was no recovering from this without medical attention.

The lights flickered again and Dr. Thoruf finally looked up. Afton was there, coming closer and closer. His dark purple aura moved around him in what looked like a wave of pixels and tendrils. The lights flickered in sync with his aura’s movements, and Dr. Thoruf realized that he was controlling them.

Afton finally came to a stop right in front of them, slowly kneeling down to see them better. He wasn’t smiling or gloating, just looking at them with an expression that Dr. Thoruf couldn’t read. They began to shake from terror, nausea rolling through them from more than just the pain. Tears welled up in their eyes, and they barely managed to stifle a panicked sob. Combined with the blood loss that was happening, they began to feel that they wouldn’t be staying conscience for much longer.

Afton must have come to the same conclusion because he stood placed his hand on top of Dr. Thoruf’s head, weaving his fingers in their hair. With a harsh yank, he pulled Dr. Thoruf up as he stood. Dr. Thoruf cried out in pain, sparing one hand to grab at Afton’s wrist while the other stayed pressed against their stomach.

“Such a curious little thing,” Afton finally let a smile grace his features. “You have no soul, no identity, no past or future, but you do have a sense of self preservation. Why do you strive so hard to live when you have no valid life at all?”

He tilted his head, still looking closely at them.

“No matter. I have you now, and you will stay here and fulfill your purpose,” he said. “After all, it’s what you were created to do, so you may as well do the one thing you actually can do. Now come with me, I need to plug those holes before you bleed out...”

Still keeping a firm grip on Dr. Thoruf’s hair, he dragged them down the hall, leaving them to stumble painfully behind him.

Chapter Text

Dr. Thoruf sat in their cell, slumped against the wall. True to his word, Afton had sewn them up and bandaged their stomach, but the wound was still sore. Afton hadn’t offered any pain killers. As such, they were exhausted and not wanting to move much.

“Well... I suppose things could have gone worse...”

Dr. Thoruf opened their eyes to see the spectral form of the man who was possessing them. Wilford gave them a reassuring smile, but it had no effect. Dr. Thoruf had been alone with their thoughts, and the reality of what was going on had hit them hard.

“...I don’t want to die,” they said softly.

“Hmm?” Wilford knelt down. “What was that?”

Dr. Thoruf sniffled, tears welling up in their eyes. They didn’t bother wiping them away, letting them fall instead. They were too tired to worry about it.

“I don’t want to die,” they repeated. “I mean... I know I’m not real. I know I haven’t even lived, but... I don’t want to die...”

Wilford blinked, sitting back on his knees. He knew death a lot more intimately than people thought. He knew what death was, and he knew the power that death held. But he also knew that death was much like life in that it had no rules of its own. Wilford never worried about death, in fact he wondered if he could even die...

“Why should death be so unwanted?” Wilford asked. “Why should you shun him?”

“Him?” Dr. Thoruf repeated.

“I have known Death,” said Wilford. “I have delivered many people into his embrace. And I have known Time. I daresay the clock he gave no longer works. They’re a pair of very lovely gentlemen. Very good fashion sense. Perhaps, instead of worrying about death... you should worry if you will die for a cause that you believe in.”

Dr. Thoruf sniffled, finally lifting a bandaged hand to wipe their face.

“What do you mean?” They asked.

“We all worry about dying,” Wilford smiled softly. “We worry about dying so much... that we forget to live. We allow ourselves to be overcome by fear. Fear of the unknown. But if you knew what death was... would you still be afraid? Would you live life easier?”

“I... I don’t know,” Dr. Thoruf shook their head. “I don’t know anything. I don’t understand anything...”

“Oh, now this sounds familiar,” Wilford chuckled. “I know how you feel. To not know who or what you are. To lose your entire past in a puff of smoke. When I lost mine, I became a new man. The world was my cocoon, and I emerged as a lovely butterfly. Granted, I’m sure it wasn’t nearly as poetic as that, but... I don’t dwell on it. No sense in keeping your eyes in the past when you risk missing what’s right in front of you...”

“So what should I do?” Dr. Thoruf asked. “What is left for me to do? I have no past, I now have no future. All I have is this cell.”

“And you have me,” said Wilford. “A very powerful pink ace up your sleeve.”

“You’re kind of lacking a body, though,” Dr. Thoruf pointed out.

“Am I?” Wilford pat their head. “I have yours to borrow, don’t I?”

He settled down again. Dr. Thoruf was still sniffling, but they seemed to have stopped crying for now. They were just so tired of everything. Tired of running. Tired of not knowing anything. Tired of William Afton...

“I know it’s hard,” said Wilford. “It was hard for me too. It took so long to understand how the world worked. And the answer is it doesn’t work at all. Everything is a mere illusion that people accept as truth. People look around and they say ‘yes, this is my life’, but they don’t look for themselves. They look with eyes given to them by the people around them. It always stumped me why people don’t look with their own eyes. But I suppose... perhaps they don’t realize they aren’t.”

“You’re saying... this cell isn’t real?” Dr. Thoruf asked. “This facility isn’t real?”

“I’m saying... it’s not as grounded as you think it is,” said Wilford. “The world is full of windows and doors. You need only look for them. They can lead you to some extraordinary places...”

Dr. Thoruf thought about it and then slowly pushed themself to sit up straight. They took a deep breath, hand pressed over their stomach... and then looked up at Wilford.

“Show me how,” they said. “I saw a door once. I closed it because of Afton, but... I don’t think I’m meant to just open it. I think... I’m meant to go through it. I heard barking, and I thought it was around me, but it was coming from the other side of the door.”

“Barking?” Wilford’s eyes widened. “Ah... they are still there. I thought as much.” He tapped his chin in thought. “Why haven’t they shown themselves yet? Unless... are they... are they trapped behind the door too?”

Wilford gasped.

“You! The Audience created you because they wanted to see us, but the corgi could have just taken you out if they wanted to, but they didn’t,” he said. “They kept you in here for a reason... perhaps... to act... as a liaison?”

“Corgi?” Dr. Thoruf looked confused. “What are you talking about?”

Wilford stood up and turned to face the bare wall of the cell. He reached forward and touched it with ghostly fingers. He turned around and motioned for Dr. Throuf to stand up. Dr. Thoruf did so with difficulty, grunting softly in pain.

“Open your eyes,” Wilford walked to stand behind them, placing his hands over their eyes. “Cast away what you know and open your mind to what can be...”

Dr. Thoruf did so, letting their mind empty. They denied the existence of the wall. They denied the existence of their cell. They denied the existence of the facility. They denied their very own existence. The world makes no sense. The world follows no rules...

When they opened their eyes again, the cell looked very different, almost fake. A familiar door was on the wall in front of them. Wilford gave them a nudge, and they opened the door and stepped through, closing it behind them.

Wilford?

Still here, Darling.

Where are we?

Behind the scenes, so to speak.

Oh... and... who is that?

A member of The Audience, of course.

Wow... I can see others too. There’s so many of them!

I know, it can be a bit overwhelming at times. Still, we have work to do. Come along, we need to go this way...

Chapter Text

Hello, all my puppers!

So... I’m sure you’ve all noticed that it’s been a while since I updated.

First of all, don’t panic. I am not abandoning this story.

The thing is, this story is pretty much going to be the last one in the Stray series. I may do some small spinoffs or drabbles or little things, but novel-wise this one is the last one.

And I want to give it the ending it deserves.

So instead of just slapping stuff together and writing it as I go along, I’m taking a break to plan out a good ending just for you guys. Now, I don’t know how often I’m going to update, but once I get everything planned out to the level of quality you guys deserve, I’ll start posting regularly again.

But for now, consider this my notice of hiatus. I feel bad because I know so many of you love this story, but knowing that this break is going to give you guys an awesome ending makes it all worth it.

So for now, I wish you all a wonderful day and look forward to seeing you all again in the future.

Your Corgi,

Beautiful-Doom

           `/sy:    :ys/`             
           `oNMMMM/  /MMMMNo            
          `dMMMMMMh  hMMMMMMd`          
          oMMMMMMMm  mMMMMMMMo          
      `.  oMMMMMMMh  hMMMMMMMo  .`      
     oMMMs.hMMMMMm.  .mMMMMMh.sMMMo     
    /MMMMMm.:sys/ `..``/sys:.mMMMMM/    
    yMMMMMMN`  .smMMMMms.  `NMMMMMMy    
    /MMMMMMM- /MMMMMMMMMM/ -MMMMMMM/    
     :mMMMMh-hMMMMMMMMMMMMs.hMMMMm:     
       .://hMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMh//:.       
         +MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM+         
         NMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMN         
         oMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMo         
          -ymMMMMNdhhdNMMMMmy- 

Chapter Text

This is getting... difficult.

What do you mean?

I mean that I feel like I'm falling apart. Literally.

Oh dear, perhaps it was a mistake to bring you back here. It sounds as if you are being swept away like sand under a wave...

That is not something that I want to hear! I...

Doctor?

I see something... I hear... I feel... it’s pulling me somewhere.

Doctor!

A door opened and Dr. Thoruf fell through it, hitting the ground as the door closed behind them. They coughed and shook their head as they sat up.

“Wilford?” They called. “Wilford, are you here?”

Nothing but silence. They were back in the white void again.

“What is this place?” Dr. Thoruf looked around. “How do I get back? Why am I even here, I didn’t mean to come.... here...”

They fell silent as they saw that they were not alone. There was a dog there. A corgi. A corgi that was wearing glasses...

“You... you stay back!” Dr. Thoruf backed up. “Don’t come any closer. I don’t know what you are, but I know you’re not just some random dog, are you? Why are you here? Who are you?”

The dog didn’t reply, not that Dr. Thoruf was expecting it to. They began to feel rather silly for speaking to it in the first place.

“What?” They looked around. “No, I don’t.”

It was understandable. After all, Dr. Thoruf had no idea what was happening.

“You’re telling me,” They mumbled.

But, if they would just hold still and not speak, then maybe I can explain things!

“Whoa!” Dr. Thoruf held their hands up in surrender. “I’m sorry. I just... what’s going on? Where are you? I can hear you but I can’t see you. And where’s Wilford?”

“This is the void.”

Dr. Thoruf gasped. That had sounded much closer.

“Over here.”

They looked and saw only the corgi.

“Wait... are... are you talking?” They asked. “Is... is that you?”

“It is,” said the corgi. “I wanted to speak to you.”

“Fine, but... where are we?” Dr. Thoruf asked.

“This is the void,” said the corgi. “It’s where I create. Where my little paws tap away at the keys and the story progresses. Well, it hasn’t been lately. It’s been over three weeks since you entered that door...”

“How long?!” They panicked.

“Relax, I don’t mean three weeks here,” the corgi said. “I mean, three weeks elsewhere. No time has passed here because I’ve been a bit... absent.”

Dr. Thoruf looked around again. There really was nothing there, just a white void that stretched on for miles and miles and... well, there was a little black bar that was constantly moving, but it was so far away...

“I brought you here because we need to talk,” the corgi continued. “And I must say this is a first. You are here... but I did not put you here. You were created by someone else.”

“The Audience,” said Dr. Thoruf. “Afton told me.”

“And he was correct,” said the corgi. “Hence why we need to talk. I’ve spent a very long time trying to figure out who or what you are, and more importantly... why you’re here...”

Dr. Thoruf narrowed their eyes. On the one hand, Wilford had mentioned a dog, and the way they spoke alluded to them being very powerful. But on the other hand, Dr. Thoruf had had enough of strangers trying to use them or manipulate them. It was understandable...

“All that was... all that is... and all that will be... is created here,” said the corgi. “By me. I am the one with the power to end this world or to keep it going. In a flash. On a whim. But I am not so cruel as to do that.”

“Should I be grateful?” Dr. Thoruf deadpanned. “That the dog doesn’t want to end the world?”

The corgi growled, but stayed where it sat.

“Listen carefully,” it said. “Wilford was wrong in what he said about you, but he was also very close. I had no idea why you were here, which is why we’re this many chapters into the story and we’re just now touching on it. I had to watch you first, and I have seen enough to draw my conclusion.”

“And what is that?” Dr. Thoruf asked.

“You’re not here to open the door,” said the corgi. “You are the door.”

Dr. Thoruf stared at them. Their heart rate picked up and they stumbled back a few steps.

“I-I... what?” They finally said. “What the hell do you mean?”

“The Audience wanted to speak to the characters again,” said the corgi. “So they tried to create a door. They were successful, but not in the way they thought. They wanted to create a door that would not be misused, so they gave the door life. The door... became you."

Dr. Thoruf covered their mouth with their hands. They were a door? All this time wanting to know who they were... and they were a door. Somehow that was even worse than just being some random nobody that was plucked out of thin air...

“So what does this all mean?” They asked.

“Well... that’s what I was trying to figure out, and... you’re not going to like it,” said the corgi. “The only way to open the door... to open a way between The Audience and the characters... is for you to die.”

Dr. Thoruf didn’t say anything, collapsing to their knees. Die? They had to die?

“It... might not be so bad,” said the corgi. “I might be able to put you somewhere  nice for your afterlife, but as you are not my character I don’t know if I can. Or maybe The Audience can give you an afterlife. I couldn’t say.”

Dr. Thoruf was silent again before they took a deep breath and looked around.

“I need to leave,” they said. “I need to get out...”

They got to their feet and began to walk around. A door suddenly opened in front of them, and they quickly stepped through. As the door shut, they realized that they had entered another void. This one was pitch black.

“Wilford?” They asked. “Are you still here?”

“I’m here,” came Wilford’s voice. “What happened? I couldn’t see or hear anything...”

“I’ll tell you after we get out of here,” said Dr. Thoruf. “Where are we?”

“It feels familiar,” Wilford looked around. “I don’t know why...”

Dr. Thoruf looked around and suddenly screamed when they saw a corpse on the ground. Wilford looked over and smiled.

“Oh! That’s why it feels familiar,” he said.

The corpse on the ground was Wilford’s...

Chapter Text

“I don’t want to die,” said Dr. Thoruf. “I don’t want to die....”

They repeated it like a mantra as Wilford happily led them through the void. There wasn’t much to see, it was just darkness in every direction...

“Relax,” Wilford smiled. “I won’t let you die here. I know this place well. It’s another great way to get around, but Dark mostly uses it. Though... I suppose now Dark is a bit out of commission as it were. I wonder what happened. I know where Celine is, but where’s Damien? Did he go back to the house? Well, we shall look there. You’ll like Damien.”

“Already met him,” Dr. Thoruf mumbled. “I stabbed him with a letter opener...”

“Bully!” Wilford smiled. “It’s always good to get the bloodshed out of the way when you meet someone new...”

When Dr. Thoruf didn’t say anything, Wilford slowed and turned around. Dr. Thoruf had stopped walking and was just staring at the ground.

“I don’t want to die!” They suddenly shrieked, breathing harshly and gripping their hair. “I don’t want to!”

“Darling, you must calm down,” Wilford said. “Who says you have to die? And what is death anyway but the mother of all naps?”

“I have to die to open the door,” Dr. Thoruf said. “And then The Audience will be able to speak you again. I... I want them to be able to speak to you, but... I’m scared. I’m scared of what will happen if I agree.”

“Why would you agree?” Wilford asked. “You don’t have to.”

“I...” Dr. Thoruf sighed. “It’s the one thing I was made for. My purpose. My raison d’etre. I have a chance to make a difference, to do something great. I can turn this whole thing around and I can make sure that Afton gets his a hundred times over... but I’m still scared of what will happen to me...”

Wilford walked closer and put a hand on Dr. Thoruf’s shoulder. He’d never been in this position before, but he had seen his fair share of death. None of it had looked nice, whether it was through sickness, battle, old age... he’d seen it all. But he had no doubt that the Corgi would give the doctor a fair death.

“Listen,” he said. “I have known the Audience ever since Picking up Strays. They are a kind and fair group. They wouldn’t wish your death just to get through to us again. They would have you choose. The decision lies in your hands, and they will support whatever you choose.”

Dr. Thoruf sighed.

“I... I just... I feel like I’m taking something from them,” they said. “And I feel so guilty for it.”

“Never you mind,” Wilford took their hand. “You can decide later. For now, we need to find a way out of this void...”

ELSEWHERE

“Dammit!”

Afton threw his chair across the room with a growl.

“How do they keep getting away?!” He snapped. “I bet it’s that dumb dog! That stupid short legged mongrel is ruining everything! I refuse to let all my hard work be for nothing.”

He paused to think about everything that had happened. He was running out of options and minions. He had to find the doctor or he’d never get to The Audience...

“Wilford must be taking them somewhere,” he mused. “But where? Would he go back to the safehouse? I don’t know where it is-”

He paused and then looked behind him at where Poopet was hanging in his web of strings. Afton looked over the strings, and he grinned as a memory surfaced in his mind.

“Poopet,” he said slowly. “I recall you saying that someone stole some of your strings. Would you be able to find them if you looked hard enough?”

Poopet was still for a moment before he slowly nodded.

“And voila!” Afton laughed. “Oh, I’m so happy that I created you! Let’s begin. We don’t have a moment to lose.”

ELSEWHERE

Dawkguard hummed softly as he polished his security badge. While he didn’t work there anymore, he still made it a point of pride to keep his uniform looking it’s best. He ironed it, cleaned it, polished his badge and made sure to keep his sneakers clean.

Granted, the sneakers weren’t exactly part of the uniform... he started wearing them after it was clear that he was going to need to be able to move quickly.

True to his word, Host hadn’t said a word to the others either about his secret or about Dawkguard nearly strangling him, and Dawkguard was grateful. But he was still unnerved that the idea had come to him at all. He’d worked so hard to keep that part of himself quiet, to not become like his father... but it was hard...

“Still polishing, Dawky?” Dawktrap sat down next to him. “Don’t you want to wear something different?”

“I dunno,” Dawkguard shrugged. “It’s kind of my thing, right? Why would I throw it away?”

“You can be more than what Lewis made you out to be,” Dawktrap shrugged. “I did. Darko did. A lot of egos did.”

“Yeah, but I like being a guard,” said Dawkguard. “Even if I have nothing to guard now...”

He looked down at his badge and the cloth.

“I need a clean cloth to finish,” he said. “Let me just go grab one...”

He got up as Dawktrap looked over his badge, and he left the room to find the linen closet in the hallway. As he turned the corner, he bumped into someone.

“Oof!” He stepped back. “Sorry about that.”

“No, that was my fault.”

Dawkguard then saw who he’d bumped into, and his eyes widened. It was Lewis. It was his creator himself. Lewis gave him wide eyed look as well.

“U-Um...” Dawkguard didn’t know what to say.

“You’re...” Lewis trailed off.

“Dawky?” Dawktrap came around the corner, having heard him crash. “Dawky, what’s going-”

He paused when he noticed Lewis. Lewis glanced between the two of them, speechless.

“Well, isn’t this a treat?” Dawktrap grinned. “Lovely to see you... dear Creator.”

Chapter Text

Lewis glanced between his... creations. It felt strange to call them that, but it apparently was a common term to use: Creation. Creator.

As if Lewis had done some amazing magic and created a human from nothing...

They all sat around with their tea, Lewis was much more forgiving over Dawkguard putting ice in his, and there was an awkward silence.

“So...” Lewis said slowly. “I... Um... I don’t really know what to say.”

“We don’t either,” Dawkguard shrugged. “Um... how did you get here?”

The only other two egos at the table were Dawktrap and Darko, and they both watched Lewis with a near unblinking stare, making him more and more nervous.

“Well... I was broken out of the building by another ego,” Lewis said. “I rode an undead moose for a while and then I ran into Bawko and Angus. And from there we ran into even more egos and then we came here. This is a really nice place.”

“We’re sorry you got mixed up in all this,” Dawkguard said.

“I’m not mad,” Lewis smiled. “I know you didn’t have anything to do with it. Well... at least not directly... So... what are your stories? I know I kind of made you, but... I didn’t really have any stories in mind for you. Except maybe Dawktrap...”

“I’m just your dark side,” Darko shrugged. “Every youtuber seems to have one these days. You’re no exception.”

“Yeah, but I actually used you in a video,” said Lewis. “You look different from that.”

“I don’t control how I look,” Darko shrugged again. “None of us do. It’s either our creator, our fans, or both what decide.”

“And when you have fans who all have different headcanons, it can get a bit tricky,” said Dawktrap. “I’m just glad I didn’t have to deal with that.”

“Me neither,” Dawkguard sipped his tea and Dawktrap and Darko winced. “Everyone thinks I’m cute. My story is I was a guard for all the restaurant locations. Pretty simple.”

“You’re also smaller than the rest,” Lewis furrowed his brows. “Was that me or a fan?”

“A fan,” Dawkguard pouted. “Probably because I was a small plush...”

Lewis chuckled and looked between them again. He tilted his head as he repeated the action.

“I... I feel as though... we’re missing someone,” he said. “Are we? Are we missing an ego?”

The Dawkbrothers shared a look and Dawkguard sniffled and began to cry.

“Oh no,” Lewis frowned. “Oh don’t cry. What’s wrong?”

“We’re missing Poopet,” Darko said, looking away. “He was captured by Afton.”

“Afton?” Lewis repeated. “William Afton?”

“Yep,” Darko said.

“Purple guy, Springtrap, man behind the slaughter William Afton?” Lewis’s eyes were wide. “That William Afton?”

“Yeah, he also stole my aura,” Dawktrap growled. “We’re trying to figure out a way to get Poopet back, but... it’s difficult. He’s very powerful and Afton’s controlling him.”

“Is there anything I can do?” Lewis asked.

Darko opened his mouth... then slowly closed it. He tapped at his chin, thinking it over. The Afton ego was based on both Matpat and Lewis. Did creators have control over their egos in this world? Probably not, now that he thought about it. Otherwise things would have been very different in the past...

“I dunno,” he finally said. “I don’t think you have any power over him now that he has a solid form. Plus, he’s not just your ego. He’s a mishmash of yours and someone else’s.”

“Wait, I didn’t create Afton-” Lewis paused. “Oh... but I did... voice him. That counts?!”

“Apparently,” Dawktrap sipped his own tea. “You voiced him and Matpat actually played him in a video. Apparently even canon characters can be egos if they were played by a youtuber...”

“Oh sugar...” Lewis said slowly. “This is awful. I feel awful...”

“It’s not your fault,” Dawkguard wiped his eyes. “It’s no one’s fault but Afton’s. We want to rescue Poopet, but we can’t go charging in there... again. Not after what happened last time...”

Lewis looked at him and blinked. His eyes narrowed slightly, and Dawkguard cleared his throat and stood up.

“I need to go use the bathroom,” he said as he quickly walked off. “I’ll be back...”

“So...” Thomas had to have a whole common room to fit in his Sides. “Um... hi? I don’t... I don’t really know what to say?”

“Proper social etiquette states that you should greet us all and then ask about our state of affairs,” said Logan.

“Oh, right...” Thomas nodded. “Um... how is everyone?”

“Absolutely splendid,” Janus said in the monotone he used when he was lying. “We have all just been so great without you. We didn’t miss you at all...”

“I’m just glad that you made it here safely, Kiddo!” Patton beamed. “I was so worried about you!”

“Yeah, coffee just doesn’t taste the same when you’re not here,” Remy shrugged.

“At least now I can sleep without worrying about you,” Virgil said.

“I still can’t believe you went without me!” Roman sulked.

“You would have complained the whole time,” Remus rolled his eyes. “God forbid you get mud on your clothes...”

Thomas laughed. It was just like shooting a Sanders Sides video...

Zalzar was trying to find his own ego, and he’d been told to look it he kitchen. Apparently, his ego enjoyed cooking Swedish dishes and teaching another ego how to make them. Sure enough, when he stepped into the huge kitchen, he saw two egos chopping strawberries and mixing them with other berries.

“It’s different than regular pie because you don’t have a crust, you just add the filling directly into the pie dish. Usually, you mix them with sugar or cornstarch, but I also like to add cinnamon for a bit of flavor...”

It wasn’t hard for Zalzar to figure out which one was his. Even if he looked like him, there was no mistaking a Swedish accent.

“And then for the top, you mix these ingredients carefully and then you just crumble it over the berries,” said the pale ego. “And that is why it’s called Smulpaj. It literally means ‘crumble pie’.”

“Oh, I bet this is going to taste great,” the other ego said. “I love summer berries...”

Zalzar cleared his throat and both egos looked up. The pale ego... somehow paled further and flinched backwards. The other ego with long hair put a calming hand on his shoulder.

“Hello,” Zalzar said nervously. “I’m sorry for interrupting, but... I wanted to meet you. They said you are my ego, but... I don’t remember creating one.”

The pale ego glanced at the other ego and received a reassuring smile.

“Um...” he cleared his throat. “M-My name is Dalzar. I’m a... a fanon ego. I’m supposed to be your...um... your dark side.”

“And he’s anything but,” said the long haired ego. “He’s such a sweetheart.”

“Styler,” now Dalzar was blushing.

Zalzar chuckled at the two.

“If you don’t mind, I’d love to talk to you,” he said. “And... Kanske kan jag snälla ta en bit paj?”

Dalzar slowly smiled and nodded.

“Ja," he said. “Så fort det är bakat...”

Chapter Text

“We need to talk.”

Dawkguard yelped and spun around to see Lewis standing behind him. His arms were folded, and he towered over Dawkguard’s smaller stature. Not for the first or last time, Dawkguard cursed his being the shortest Dawko ego...

“You’re hiding something,” said Lewis.

“What?” Dawkguard asked. “I am not.”

“You do the same things I do when I lie, and you’re doing them now,” said Lewis. “And the fact that you are acting difficult only says that what you’re hiding is very bad.”

“I’m not hiding anything!” Dawkguard frowned. “I just... don’t worry about it.”

“If you haven’t noticed, things have kind of gone to hell,” said Lewis. “I’m very worried. If you’re hiding something dangerous...”

“Leave me alone!” Dawkguard snapped. “I don’t have to tell you anything. You’re not my father!”

“I’m your creator,” said Lewis.

“Only on paper,” Dawkguard said. “You made a plushie and a cartoon. Everything else about me was made by your fans.”

Lewis frowned. True, he’d made the cute little plushie without any real name or story in mind. It was just a guard with a Freddy mask and a flashlight. No name or anything else. Did he really have any right to order Dawkguard around? Even if he’d created the ego, did he have any right?

“Leave me alone,” Dawkguard repeated. “It doesn’t concern you...”

He turned around and walked off. Lewis sighed and shook his head. He needed to speak to the others.

Anti nervously flexed his fingers. Something had been going on with his strings lately. He could feel them tugging against his fingers sometimes, or there would be a jolt of electricity that flashed through them. These things had never happened before, and he had no idea what it could mean.

And he wasn’t alone.

“Yours too?” He asked Jameson. “This is weird.”

What could it possibly mean? Jameson looked distressed. Are we ill? Are we dying?

“It’s not that bad,” said Anti. “We’re not dying, it’s just... I dunno. It’s never done this before...”

I don’t suppose someone else could be tugging on them? Jameson watched his own strings pull taut and then fall limp. But we’re the only ones with these strings, aren’t we?

He looked up to see Anti had paled slightly and his eyes were wide.

Anti... we are the only ones, right? Jameson tried again.

“Well...” Anti looked nervous.

Antisepticeye! Jameson looked as if he was scolding a child. What are you not telling me?

“Ok, fine!” Anti snapped. “These strings... aren’t exactly mine. I stole them from another ego.”

Jameson blinked.

What other ego?

“I dunno, some weird puppet looking guy,” Anti shrugged. “It was a little after I came to be, and before Actor got ahold of me. I didn’t steal all of them! Just some of them! And I didn’t expect you to take some of them from me...”

So... Jameson stared at his strings, The puppet ego could be tugging on our strings?

“I mean, it’s not impossible,” Anti shrugged.

Jameson’s eyes widened.

Anti... could he use these strings to find us? I imagine he would be rather angry with us...

“I don’t think so,” Anti mused. “I mean, I figured he would have done so already if he could.”

Still, perhaps we should inform Darkiplier, Jameson flexed his fingers.

“He’s holed up in his office with orders to not disturb him,” said Anti. “We’ll tell him tomorrow when he has time.”

No, we should inform him now, Jameson frowned. This is a big concern.

“Be my guest,” Anti jerked a thumb at the stairs. “When he starts yelling at you, remember I warned you."

Jameson rolled his eyes and went upstairs. He made it to Dark’s office and raised his hand to knock. But then his hand paused in midair. Jameson tried to move it, but it stayed frozen. He moved his other hand to open the door and get Dark’s attention, but that hand froze too. He watched in horror as his strings began to move over his body and pierce certain spots, each area going numb and stiff. The final strings pierced Jameson on the back of his neck, and his eyes immediately went blank.

Slowly, he turned around and walked off, his puppeteer moving him to a new destination.

Host was in his own office, deep in thought. As much as he hated to admit it, he could not just use his abilities to bring everyone home. Poopet was incredibly powerful, powered by five sacrifices and the mania of a madman. His powers in puppeteering were on par with Host, and they were both at a stalemate...

Host heard his door open and tilted his head slightly. He smiled as he discovered who it was.

“The Host greets Jameson Jack-” His voice broke off, suddenly realizing that something was very wrong with Jameson. He could see the puppet strings, he could feel Poopet’s influence. How had those strings gotten here?!

Host opened his mouth to defend himself, but Jameson’s aura washed over him and stole his voice away. There was no sound in Jameson’s aura, struck silent like the movies he had starred in so many years ago.

Jameson slowly smiled at Hosts’s look of fear. He lunged, wrapping his arms around Host very tightly. The strings pulled away from all points except his neck and his arms and they all quickly began to pierce Hosts’s flesh.

Host struggled, trying to pull away, but the strings were swift and strong. And without his voice, he was powerless. Slowly, his struggles grew weaker and weaker until they stopped completely. Blood dripped from beneath his bandages, staining Jameson’s clothes.

Jameson’s puppeteer had sacrificed the strings that allowed him to move anything below Jameson’s waist and a few other points that were not needed. He only had to hold onto Host and they would both be just fine...

Jameson withdrew his aura, and Host’s arms slowly moved to hold Jameson up. His breath hitched, mouth opening a few times before he finally spoke. Jameson move his head slightly so that he could adjust his grip and press closer, and his hat tumbled to the ground.

There was a flash of light... and then the office was empty.

Chapter Text

“Oh...” Afton’s face lit up. “You got him. You really got him! This almost makes up for losing the little nobody. Such a powerful ego... and he’s all mine now.”

Afton grabbed Host by the chin and moved his face from side to side to get a better look at him. Host stayed still and silent, the puppet strings gleaming under his skin and muscle. Afton pat Host’s cheek with a smile.

“I have his animatronic,” he said. “We can get him transferred as soon as I’ve finished repairing it. In the meantime, add more strings to him. We can’t risk him getting free...”

He then frowned as he turned his attention to Jameson. He also grabbed Jameson’s chin and moved his face side to side. He examined Jameson’s arms and hands and where the strings had once wrapped around his fingers.

“This is the ego who stole your strings?” He asked Poopet.

Poopet slowly shook his head and Afton huffed.

“Then why did you bring him? How were you even able to use him unless...” he thought for a moment. “Unless our little thief decided to share the strings. But why? And how can this weak little ego even wield them?”

He pursed his lips, deep in thought about the situation.

“Well, we have no use for him for now,” Afton finally said. “String him up. He can sit on some shelf for now. Maybe he’ll have a use in the future...”

Poopet pierced Host’s neck and limbs with more strings, strengthening his control over him. He sent Host to follow after Afton as the man left the room.

When Host was gone, Poopet turned his attention to Jameson. He slowly approached the silent ego, and began to softly hum the lullaby his music box played. Jameson’s eyes fluttered, and he slowly began to slump and sway in place. Before he collapsed, Poopet’s other strings descended and wrapped around him, slinking over his wrists, waist, and his ankles. Poopet looked over his work and then added more strings to keep Jameson comfortable. Poopet then raised him up until he disappeared among the other strings that Poopet hung from.

Just another puppet on the shelf... waiting to be played with...

ELSEWHERE

“You think he’s hiding something?” Darko asked.

“I know he is,” said Lewis. “We have to talk to him. All of us. He’s not going to say anything otherwise.”

“I’ve already tried getting information,” said Dawktrap. “He refuses to talk about it. Just says it’s a horrible secret and that we’d hate him if we found out. It’s weird! He seems so innocent, what could he possibly be hiding?”

“That's why I’m worried,” Lewis said. “In these times, we can no longer keep any secrets. Especially ones like whatever Dawkguard is hiding. I don’t want to push this, and I normally wouldn’t, but it could be something that puts him in danger and we wouldn’t know.”

“So how do you want to do this?” Dawktrap asked.

Lewis was silent for a few minutes. He wanted to confront Dawkguard, but he didn’t want it to feel as though it was an attack. They weren’t angry, they were just worried. They’d have to be careful, though. Dawkguard was skittish enough without the others trying to pull a secret from him.

“Let’s go to his room,” said Lewis. “Just... we have to remember to be gentle.”

Easier said than done...

“Get out of my room!” Dawkguard snapped as he pointed to the door. Dawktrap sighed and looked at the others for support.

“Dawkguard, we’re worried about you,” said Lewis.

“You don’t need to be, I’m fine,” said Dawkguard. “This secret isn’t going to kill me. It’s not going to affect anything. It’s not going to make a lick of difference if I tell you or not, except that you will all hate me if you knew.”

“We wouldn’t,” Darko said. “Why are you so sure?”

“I know you will,” said Dawkguard. “You all will. Everyone in this house...”

“We won’t,” said Lewis. “We love you. We’re not going to just abandon you because of some secret. Your brothers are worried that something bad will happen if you don’t tell us.”

“Something worse will happen if I do,” Dawkguard flopped onto his bed and pulled his Golden Freddy plush into his arms. “I just... I don’t want you to hate me...”

He sniffled and wiped at his eyes. Lewis felt awful for making him cry, but this was important. If Dawkguard was hiding something this big, it could be something dangerous. Dangerous to Dawkguard or dangerous to others... it could go either way.

Dawkguard looked angry, but he also looked scared. He was gripping his plush to tightly that it looked as if he might tear it. He listened to his brothers talk and reassure him and... he was just so tired of holding it all in. He rubbed Freddy’s ear between his fingers, an action that had used to help calm him down. But now it did nothing.

His brothers silently watched him, and the dam within finally broke. His family’s temper flared, and mixed with his own despair. It created quite the storm within him. With a growl, he threw Freddy aside and stood up, tears pouring from his eyes.

“You want to know?!” He snapped. “You really want to know!? Fine! I’ll tell you, and when you all abandon me for it, I’ll be there to say ‘I told you so’!”

Dawkguard’s shaking hands went to the collar of his purple button down shirt. He took a deep breath and began to unbutton it before finally tossing it aside. He threw his hat down to join it and then felt a fresh wave of tears run down his face as he stood there in his black and grey striped shirt.

“I don’t w-want you to h-hate m-me...” he cried. “Because my real name is Evan Afton!”

Dawktrap’s eyes widened, and he pressed his hand over his mouth in shock. Lewis was speechless, staring at Dawkguard with wide eyes.

“No way...” Darko said, looking just as shocked. “You’re... You’re...”

“I’m known as... th-the Crying Ch-Child...” Dawkguard sobbed. “And I.... I’m... I’m William Afton’s s-son....”

Chapter Text

“This is it!” Wilford gestured with a flourish. “This is the way out! Finally, we can leave this dreadful place. I hope everyone is ok. Things usually tend to fall apart without me to keep it all together...”

As he rambled on, Dr. Thoruf slowed down more and more until they finally stopped. They closed their eyes and clenched their fists as a tear slid down their cheek. Wilford finally looked back at them and gave a confused look.

“Doctor?” He asked. “What’s wrong? Aren’t you happy that we’re finally going to get out of here? I’m sure Damien won’t care that you stabbed him, he’s such a sweet man-”

“I’m not going,” Dr. Thoruf spoke so quickly, as if they were trying to say it before they lost their nerve.

“What do you mean?” Wilford asked. “You can’t just stay here.”

“I’m not staying here either,” Dr. Thoruf said.

Wilford still looked confused, but slowly realization settled in. He knew what Dr. Thoruf was going to do...

“Are you sure?” He asked. “You don’t have to do this. No one will hate you or blame you for wanting to live. You don’t owe anyone a single thing...”

“I know...” Dr. Thoruf stepped back. “But... there’s nothing else for me out there.... and I’m terrified of that fact. Even if I choose to live, what will I do? I have no family, no identity... I-I don’t belong out there. I’m going to open the door, and you’ll be able to see your friends again...”

Wilford was silent for a moment before he walked closer and hugged Dr. Thoruf tightly.

“If this is what you truly wish to do,” he said. “Then I shall not try to dissuade you. I will make sure that everyone knows and celebrates who you are and the sacrifice that you made. We will remember you, Doctor.”

“Alex.”

“Hmm? What was that?” Wilford asked.

“My name... even if it was chosen by Afton... I want it to be my name,” they said. “Dr. Alex Thoruf.”

“Then we shall remember you by that name, my Dear...” Wilford let them go and sniffled.

“Don’t cry!” Alex noticed his tears. “I... It will be ok. It’ll be as if I was never here to begin with. I never lived... so I never died.”

“No,” Wilford shook his head. “However utterly worthless you believe your life to have been... so much has happened because of it. You have made a difference, whether you believe it or not... and the world shall feel just a bit emptier without you in it.”

Now it was Alex’s turn to sniffle. They gave one last smile to Wilford and wiped their eyes with their sleeve.

“You be good out there,” they said. “Make sure to take care of yourself, Wilford.”

“William,” Wilford drew himself up to stand straighter. “My name is actually Colonel William Barnum. Be brave, soldier. The end is not as bad as they say...”

Alex nodded and turned around to walk deeper into the voice. Behind them, Wilford saluted them... and then he walked through a portal and out of the void.

Alex didn’t know how long they walked before the void suddenly turned white. They gasped and looked around, seeing a corgi sitting nearby. They took a deep breath and walked closer.

“Have you made your decision?” the dog asked.

“I... I have,” said Alex. “I’m going to open the door.”

“You understand what must be done to do that...” the corgi warned.

“I know,” Alex nodded. “But... I still want to. Consider it... my gift to the world. My purpose fulfilled.”

The dog was silent for a moment before it shifted into a more humanoid figure that was made of glowing lights. It stepped closer and closer and stood right behind Alex. The doctor breathed shakily, but steeled themself.

“Deep breath,” said the figure. “Think happy thoughts. It will all be over soon...”

They put their hands on Alex’s shoulders, and Alex gasped, taking one last look around... as they crumbled into nothing.

In the distance, a barrier fell and the door was open once again...

ELSEWHERE

“Impossible!” said Lewis. “I know FNAF lore. Evan Afton died after getting chomped on by Fredbear.”

“He did,” said Dawkguard. “I... I did...” He shook his head. “I-I... I don’t really know what happened. I just remember... it was dark, and everything hurt, and everyone was s-screaming and crying, a-and I was... so scared...”

He sniffled and wiped at his eyes again. Dawktrap passed him a purple handkerchief.

“Thanks,” said Dawkguard. “I don’t know how much time passed, but... suddenly the pain stopped... and I heard a voice. It said ‘you haven’t opened your birthday gift yet. Would you like to? It’s a special gift just for you. We can bring you back and you can start again. You’ll... you’ll be older and the people who hurt you will be gone. And no matter what... you will never be alone again’.”

“Who was it?” Darko asked.

“I don’t know,” Dawkguard shrugged. “It sounded like a man. I... I remember seeing black and white. But... I accepted the gift, and... suddenly I’m back and I'm ten years older. I could have gone off to do whatever I wanted, but... the pizzeria still had a hold on me. I took the job there and I kept at it over and over... and I don’t know why...”

“Wow...” Dawktrap said. “That’s a heck of a backstory if I ever heard one...”

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you, it’s just... my dad has hurt us all so much. I was worried that you would hate me too because of it,” Dawkguard said.

“We don’t,” Darko pulled Dawkguard in for a hug. The others joined in, giving Dawkguard the group hug that he needed.

“You’re still our little brother, Dawky,” said Dawktrap.

“And you’re still my cute little guard plush,” Lewis smiled. “This changes nothing...”

Dawkguard slowly smiled and hugged them all back.

“Thanks,” he said. “I’m... I’m glad I have such awesome brothers as you guys...”

After the talk with his brothers, Dawkguard left his room to go wash his face in one of the communal bathrooms. He scrubbed the tears and snot away with a washcloth and... noticed movement in the mirror.

“Huh?” He followed the movement and looked behind himself. His eyes widened.

“What the... who are you guys?”

Chapter Text

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Chapter Text

“What do you mean he’s missing?” Damien asked.

“I mean just that,” said Anti. “He’s gone! All I could find of him was his hat in the Host’s office, and Host is missing too!”

“I don’t suppose you have any idea of what could have happened?” Damien sighed.

“Well...” Anti hesitated. “Maybe? Look, the strings that I use? They’re... not exactly mine. I stole them from another ego a long time ago. Some kind of puppet looking ego. They’ve been acting weird lately, and since JJ stole some of them, his were acting weird too.”

“Puppet ego?” Damien’s eyes widened. “Was this puppet black with white buttons and stripes?”

“Yeah!” Anti nodded. “Do you know him?”

“... I think I know what happened to Jameson,” Damien said slowly. “William Afton has him...”

“The FNAF guy?” Anti asked. “I didn’t know he was an ego.”

“If he has Host too...” Damien put his face in his hands. “We’re all doomed...”

Wilford entered the house, intent on finding Damien and telling him what he knew. Before he could do so...

“Wilford!”

Wilford stopped and saw Dawkguard rushing towards him. The other ego looked terrified, eyes wide and constantly glancing to the side as if seeing something that no one else could.

But Wilford could...

“I... I need your help,” said Dawkguard. “I... I’m seeing things! A-And hearing things! And they mentioned your name more than once so I was hoping... maybe you know what’s going on...”

Wilford glanced to the side and he grinned widely.

“Hello, all my wonderful darlings,” he said. “It has been far too long since we last conversed. How have you all been? I do hope you’ve all been taking care of yourselves.”

Dawkguard stared, glancing between Wilford and the shadow people he saw off to the side. He swallowed heavily, feeling a strange chill in the air that reminded him of when he’d worked at Freddy’s. An ominous feeling that something otherworldly was going on...

“Wilford...” he groaned. “What’s going on? I haven’t heard voices like this since I was a kid. And it was a Fredbear plush talking, not... these... people...”

“Don’t worry,” Wilford smiled. “There’s no reason to be afraid. These people... they are known as The Audience.”

Dawkguard blinked. The Audience? That didn’t really explain much. An audience could be many things, but the way that Wilford was speaking implied that there was only one of this particular type of audience.

“Who are they?” he pointed at the shadows again. “They’re all... weird. Especially that one. Their voice is all warped.”

“Oh, that one...” Wilford smiled. “They have a crush on your brother. I think they’re also one of his followers. That one is rather fond of you, and that one just loves the dickens out of the Host, and that one is always spouting positive words...”

“Followers?” Dawkguard repeated. “So it is a cult! I knew it! But... why can I see them? No one else seems to be able to.”

“Well, usually the people are chosen,” said Wilford. “Or they have an inherent ability to see beyond the mortal walls of this world, so to speak...”

“Chosen...” Dawkguard thought for a moment and then his eyes widened. “Oh.. Oh my god... that’s what they must have meant!”

“What who meant?” Wilford asked.

“The-the guy!” Dawkguard said. “H-He said... I would never be alone no matter what. He... he must have been referring to them! The... The Audience!”

“Oh, so you were granted the ability!” Wilford smiled. “But, you really shouldn’t call our dear dog a ‘he’. They prefer neutral-”

“Dog?” Dawkguard asked. “It... it wasn’t a dog. It was someone else. Someone in... black and white...”

“Not a dog?” Wilford looked confused.

The Corgi hadn’t given Dawkguard this ability? Then who did? Were they someone associated with the Corgi? Some sort of... acolyte? Who else had the ability to speak to them? It couldn’t have been Author. Jackie didn’t wear black and white... Dawktrap... didn’t even know about the corgi, did he? And anyway, he didn’t wear black and white either...

Who wore black and white?

“Well either way,” Wilford shrugged. “Welcome to the fold, dear boy! We have meeting every Wednesday, and I’ll need to know your size so that I can get your jacket ordered.”

“I’m size... medium...?” Dawkguard looked confused. “What fold? Wait... are you talking about Jackie? They mentioned him too. And someone named Alex, and... a lot of them tried to hug me...”

“Yes, they do that often,” said Will. “They like to say little things about us and they also have the most delightful little Discord server where they yell and scream and cry and share pictures and roleplay and other fun little things...”

“I am so confused,” Dawkguard said softly.

“Go find Jackie,” Wilford said. “You can be confused together. I have news to give to Damien... Afterwards, we can talk some more...”

“Jackie! Right...” Dawkguard looked around. “Do you know where he is- oh, thanks!”

He took off in the direction that Wilford pointed in, and Wilford shook his head with a fond chuckle.

“Damien!” Wilford burst into Dark’s office. “Damien, we have much to talk about!”

“Wilford?!” Damien’s eyes went wide. “Wilford, you’re back! You’re really... wait, how do I know this isn’t some... some trick? Tell me something only Wilford would know!”

“You once got your hand stuck in your mother’s vase when you were a child, and then you cried because we had to break it open to free your hand and your mother took away your allowance for the rest of the month,” said Wilford.

Damien blinked.

“Ok,” he said. “You’re really Wilford. Wait! But how?! Afton... he took... I thought...”

“I escaped,” Wilford twirled his mustache. “No one can keep Wilford Motherluvin’ Warfstache prisoner for long! But we can talk about that later. I’ve heard the most disturbing news about our poor Host and Jameson...”

Anti flinched when he felt his strings begin to move again. Looking down, he could see them start to wrap around his wrists and pierce into his flesh.

“Oh no you don’t,” he hissed. He sent a harsh electrical jolt through them, and the strings loosened. He quickly pulled the strings off and shoved them into a lock box that he had recently emptied out.

Anti could hear the strings moving around, but the lock held firm and kept them inside. He sighed and flexed his fingers before pausing.

Is this what had happened to JJ?

Chapter Text

I’m here now.

I see they’ve forgotten someone.

Or... maybe he managed to get away.

That... puppet of his...

I can sense five within. Small ones...

Hmm...

I remember they mentioned him. He got away each time.

But he has nowhere else to run now.

And yet...

We cannot collect just yet. He needs to...

…

Followers!

Keep an eye on him. We cannot let him get away again.

And do not fear.

You are not alone.

You are never alone.

Memento Mori...

Chapter Text

“A new ego?”

“I would assume,” Wilford shrugged. “Definitely someone new, and they can only be an ego. But... I don’t know who it could be. All I know is it’s someone with Unus and Annus.”

“This is... sudden,” said Damien.

“I only just learned of them,” said Wilford. “Literally seconds ago.”

“How...?” Damien looked confused. “You’ve been sitting right here-”

“No matter,” Wilford gave a dismissive wave. “I don’t think they’re anything to worry about. Either way, what do we plan to do about Host and Jameson? And Poopet? Celine? Are we to take the fight to them like Actor or wait for him to come to us like Xyler?”

“We cannot risk Afton coming here,” said Damien. “We have too many powerful egos, he’d take them all and form an army. But... last time we tried confronting him...”

He sighed and ran a hand through his hair in frustration. He didn’t like just sitting around and doing nothing, but they had learned the hard way that Afton was not to be underestimated. They couldn’t go rushing in again. Not without losing someone else...

“What do you suggest we do?” He asked.

“I’m not sure,” Wilford admitted. “But... I do have... people who can help us. Smart people. Kind people. People who have yet to let me down.”

“Who are they?” Damien asked.

“I can’t tell you,” said Wilford. “Not yet. But I will tell you one day. In the meantime, I ask that you trust me. They are our best bet, and they want our friends back as much as we do.”

Damien was silent. He’d heard about these strange people that Wilford seemed to know. People he’d never seen or heard or met before. He didn’t like being kept in the dark, but Wilford had never given him a reason to not trust him before.

“Very well,” he said. “What can we do for now...?”

Anti listened to the strings as they fought to get out of the box he’d locked them in. He’d wielded them long enough to know how they worked and how to make them work for him. They were nothing more than vessels for code and data. The host passed the data through them and used it to reprogram whomever was on the other side. But if the other ego could manipulate Jameson from a distance, then maybe the strings were... wireless?

Could he use the strings to find Jameson? He was connected to Jameson in more ways than one, could he connect himself like this too? There was only one way to find out...

He took one string out of the box, holding it tightly as it struggled and writhed in his grip. He sent a harsh shock through it and the string fell limp. He wrapped one end around his finger and then used his aura to activate it. The string glowed bright green, and Anti began to concentrate on it. Hopefully he could use the string to his advantage.

TD was surprised that he could hear his sources again. They were all babbling utter nonsense and other things that he didn’t understand, but he could still hear them.

“Teddy!” JS snapped in front of his face. “Teddy, are you ok? You’re staring off into space again...”

“Oh, sorry,” TD smiled. “Just distracted, I guess...”

He’d need to talk to Wilford and Jackie. Why were those names being tossed around so much?

She strode into the house and looked around, hands on her hips. The place was just as she’d been told about, down to the color of the rug in the foyer. It was impressive...

“Excuse me?”

She looked over to see a few security guards sitting at a desk. With a smile, she walked over, heeled shoes clacking on the floor. The security guard gave her an odd look at her wardrobe: a suit that was black and white split right down the middle.

“Are you here for shelter?” Security Nate asked. “You’ll need to register.”

“Oh,” she shook her head. “Just visiting. Is that ok?”

“Sure,” Security Nate smiled. “I’ll need to get you a visitor’s badge. Hang on, lemme just...”

He dug around in a small box and pulled out a nametag sticker. He placed it in front of the her and gave her a marker.

“Just write your name and put it on and you can go in,” he said.

She took the marker and wrote her name on the sticker: Valete.

“Interesting name,” Security Nate tilted his head.

“It’s Latin,” Valete smiled. “Thanks for your help.”

She walked deeper into the house and the Security Nate watched her go.

“Huh,” he mused. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen her before...”

“We’d never seen half of the egos here before,” Security Mark pointed out. “It’s not a big deal...”

Valete looked around, brushing her dark brown hair back and out of her face. She walked past an ego that was dressed in a male Japanese school uniform, who was being chased by Yandereplier, and then moved out of the way to let a rollerskating ego brush past her. He struck a pose, leather jacket flapping around him, and lowered his sunglasses to give Valete a wink.

Valete snorted in amusement and waved back.

The house was bustling with life and there were so many people... Everything seemed to be ok, but she’d wait until her little tour was done...

After all, she needed to be thorough.

Poopet slowly woke up as he heard a strange noise nearby. He could feel ripples in his strings and then saw something fall to the ground. He curiously tilted his head to see his prisoner slowly stand up. Ah, was he trying to escape? Poopet sent out more strings, but the prisoner warped away, dodging them all. Poopet blinked and then tried again.

Again, the ego warped away.

With a hiss, Poopet stood up and glared the prisoner down. How dare this ego think he can escape? No one escaped Poopet!

The gentleman ego grinned and then lifted his head. His eyes were glowing a bright green...

Chapter Text

I’ve made contact.

And?

Wrong one.

Dammit. No other leads?

Maybe. I’ll have to keep an eye on this one. He might be a lead himself.

Are you sure?

Positive. You forget who keeps the records of this world. It may have taken me time to find his name, but that was only because it changed. Either way, I’m positive.

So what now?

Now? You two aren’t going to worry about it. I’ll call you when it’s time. For now, I’ll take care of it. Things are actually pretty lively here. It’s a nice change of pace.

Got it, we’ll keep an ear out for you.

You got this!

...

What if he gets away again?

He won’t. She’ll keep him from doing so.

And what will do with him?

I... I don’t know. We have to make the punishment fit the crime.

Maybe... we can let one of the others decide?

You know that’s not allowed.

Still, I think we should.

She won’t like this.

She doesn’t have to know. And no one will.

Except them.

...Right. Except them.

...

Don’t tell Valete...

Chapter Text

It had been a while since Anti had possessed anyone, but it was a lot like riding a bike.

Except he was riding along in someone else’s body...

Electrical signals fired between the neurons of the brain and the nerves of body could be easily highjacked if you knew what you were doing, and Anti did. He was a virus, he thrived in such environments, and as he often said... the human brain wasn’t much different from a computer. Electronic components were switched out for organic cells and fleshy parts, but it operated in much the same way.

That was how Anti was able to possess someone. It wasn’t a matter of the supernatural or the demonic. Anti was no demon. He was just a really good hacker who had one day discovered that he could turn his skills upon his brothers and torment them in such fun and exciting ways. He could twist the signals between the brain and the eyes or the ears and make them see and hear whatever he wanted, but he hadn’t done such a thing in so long...

He was grateful that he could remember what to do, as it had become almost second nature to him. It was the only reason why he hadn’t lost Jameson to the Poopet again.

Poopet was very fast with his strings, but Anti was just a bit faster with Jameson. It was only through their shared aura that Anti could make Jameson’s body warp and teleport around as needed. But even then, Poopet was quickly gaining the upper hand. There were far too many strings for him to keep dodging, and he needed to come up with a better plan before he got snagged...

Poopet hissed and roared loudly as he pulled up a wall of strings, glowing and flashing with an evil purple light. He sent them all at Anti from all directions, daring the virus to dodge them, and Anti... was unable to. One string snagged Jameson’s ankle, wrapping around it so tightly that it bit into his skin and made it start to bleed. Another few of them wrapped around his torso, and more wrapped around his wrists before pulling them in opposite directions.

Two more rose, intent on going straight for Jameson’s eyes...

Anti wrapped his aura around Jameson’s and then put his plan into place.

Initiating Download...

Afton grumbled to himself as he worked on Host’s animatronic body. Host himself was sitting nearby, unmoving and unspeaking, wrapped securely in Poopet’s strings. He’d lost Wilford, and the animatronic that had housed him was beyond repair. The circuits had been completely fried and the chest piece had a huge hole in it. No matter, he would have The Host. Host was more powerful than Wilford. And of course, he still had Darkiplier...

He’d also lost his little nobody. The doctor had been useful, but he supposed they had outlasted said usefulness and had become more of a nuisance than anything else. He wondered what was going on with them. Were they even still alive? He knew that some of the egos out there were ruthless and others enjoyed a little casual murder here and there. Had the doctor met their end in the very place they had gone to for shelter? Maybe he should look for them again. They had been amusing, at the very least...

Afton felt his aura twitch, and he paused. An odd feeling of static had filled the air of the room he was working in. He slowly raised his goggles to sit on top of his head as he looked around the room. His aura crackled into existence as his eyes moved as if watching something...

Glitchtrap sent out a pulse of electricity and another ego blinked into view.

“So it doesn’t just work on animatronics,” Afton mused as he stood up. “Who’s this, then?”

Patcher twitched and shook as he pushed the electricity from his form. He shook his head and frowned, bright green eyes glaring at Afton.

“You’re new,” Afton said. “And you’re a fusion. I can see it. You’re that useless ego that Poopet brought back, and... oh, someone else who can be very useful...”

Patcher said nothing, eyes falling on Host who was sitting quietly off to the side.

“Come to save your friend?” Afton grinned. “You really think I’m going to let you take him from me?”

Glitchtrap lunged for Patcher, and the other ego sent out his own pulse of electricity. The lights shattered and plunged the room into darkness, but Glitchtrap’s glow gave enough light to see with. Afton moved from the animatronic and dug around in a nearby box. He pulled out a bundle of wires and began to connect them to his computer.

Poopet entered the room and his strings were merciless. Patcher dodged and attacked as much as he could, but it was two on one with Glitchtrap lending his own attacks to the fight. Poopet grabbed Glitchtrap, and the bunny faded as purple electricity danced across Poopet’s strings. Poopet lunged again, finally getting a string into Patcher. The electricity quickly shot through the string and hit Patcher hard.

Patcher reeled, senses consumed with static. He could feel Glitchtrap latch on and lock Anti and Jameson’s aura together, keeping them from separating. Poopet’s strings snaked over his limbs and pierced into him over and over. He struggled, trying to get away... and then a headset was placed over eyes.

Afton held the headset in place while it booted up. Patcher’s struggles weakened more and more until he fell limp. Afton cackled as he let go and Patcher fell to the floor, twitching slightly.

“How long does it take to reprogram a virus?” He mused to himself as he saw green coding fill his computer screen. “He must be the stronger of the two. If I can get him under my control...”

He paused again, a strange tingle blooming in the back of his head. It was the feeling one got when they felt they were being watched. He looked around again and his grin widened.

“Oh... so you’re here. They opened the door after all...”

Chapter Text

Oh dear...

Look at this!

Look at you all. Just... sitting there. Ripe for the picking.

Oh... I don’t think I have enough animatronics for you all. But... I can make more. Hold still and let me just count you all...

Are you enjoying the story so far? I remember the children always loved a good story. That’s the downside of this, I don't think I see any children among you.

Children are so much easier to control. They’ll do what you say so much easier than an adult will. But, I am a creative man. I’m sure I can find a way to make you all do as I tell you. At least until I fit you for your fursuit...

Oh wow, there’s quite a lot of you, isn’t there? A full house, so to speak.

Wonderful.

As the saying goes, the more the merrier...

Don’t worry about a thing. It won’t hurt. Not if you don’t struggle too much.

Just stay right there...

Maybe come a bit...

C l o s e r …

                                                                                                    
                                                                                                    
                         ```..```            ``.`   ...``                  ``                       
                        `-:--.-:-        ``.--::/  `////::--.`         ``..---.                     
                        `/+ooos:      `.--:/++o+.   ./oooo++/:-..`    ...--:/::                     
                         :oyhys/`  ``..:+osss+.       `./+oss+/:--.` .::-/+oso/                     
                  `.````.-+oyys+/`..-::/oo/-`             ``+ss+//:::+ooosyyyo/.`.``                
                  -.......-:oo+oo/://:+so`                  `:o+///+osyyyss+//-...--`               
                  `-/:--``.:ossyoo++//++.                     -o+/+osyyyo/::-----:/:`               
                   ./o+/-:/+yhyyyso+/+/`                       .+oooosso-..-/:+oso-`                
                 ``.-+ossssshhsso+++o/`                         `/sssssso+/osyyys+/.                
                .-.`./ooosyssso+++oo:                             .+syyysyyyyyysso+/`               
                .:-...-:/osoooosso/.                                `-+yyyyyyyso/--:.               
                `-::-...-oo+ooo+:`                                     `oyysso/:---:-               
                ..-:+//+oo+o/-`                                         `+/:::-::/++.               
               `..-:oysso+o:                                             ----//+oo+-                
               ``.-+osyss/.                                              `::-/+++/:                 
               `..::````                                                    ./:-//`                 
               `.-/`                                                       .:::::`                  
               .::.                                                      `.-:::`                    
                                                                         ---:.                      
                                                                         `-`                        
                                                                               

Chapter Text

Afton tsked as he tightened a bolt on Host’s animatronic.

“Such mouths on them,” he said. “Obviously their parents didn’t raise them right...”

He sighed and dug through his toolbox. The animatronic was slowly coming along nicely. FazMark had really outdone himself. The animatronic even had metallic bandages over the eyes. Afton ran an oily hand through his hair, causing it to clump slightly.

“I was a father once,” he said. “I was a husband. I had a family. My wife and my darling children. I loved them. I did. I loved them all. And yet... they all met their ends at the hands of my creations. Do you know how hard it is to clean brain matter out of an animatronic’s mouth or pull bone shards from the inner coils?”

He growled and threw his wrench across the room.

“My children... Evan, Elizabeth, Michael... my children!” Afton sighed again and lit a cigarette. “I was a father once. I loved them. I loved them! Didn’t I? Didn’t I love them? Didn’t I work hard to provide for them? Didn’t I spend all those hours at my workbench just... drawing and building and... improving. The Funtimes... my little hunters. I made them special. Completely hollow stomachs, just enough room to cram a small child inside. Those little children... they all came in, but did they all leave? Did their parents love them? Did they...”

He trailed off and was silent for a moment.

“So many years wasted... years of blood and death and despair...” he dug around for another wrench. “How quickly you all condemn me. But then I expected it. You condemned the others as well... that’s what the Entity told me. The Actor and The Leech. They’re dead now, and you cheered at their deaths. I wonder what that makes you... you who cheer at the deaths of others. Are we really so different...”

He tapped his cigarette, letting ash fall to the floor.

“I am not them...” he said. “The Actor and The Leech. I don’t hide my intentions behind pretty words and charming smiles... well, not anymore. I know what I want and I know how to get it. And I’m not afraid to get my hands a little dirty to achieve it. I will fill these animatronics. I will bring them to life just like I used to do so long ago... with my darling puppet to help me. And when I’m done here, I’ll walk right through that door and bring the fun to you. You won’t see it coming. Maybe I’ll be waiting at your school or your job. Maybe I’ll be hiding under your bed. And then when you fall asleep to dream your little dreams, I’ll whisk you away and you can play with the others. Doesn’t that sound fun?”

He chuckled.

“Maybe you’ll get to play with my children too. You’ll get to see Evan, and...” Afton paused. “And... oh. I... I don’t seem to be able to remember what toys he played with. Elizabeth had... a doll, didn’t she? And Michael... he enjoyed costumes... right? I remember... I remember them... I loved them...”

He stubbed out his cigarette and shook his head.

“I’m so close,” he said. “So very close. Just a little longer and I’ll have all that I need. And... maybe I’ll make another one. A little dog animatronic. Just for them...”

He opened one of the panels on the animatronic and began to strip the burnt out wires.

“Just for them...”

Chapter Text

JS hummed to herself as she got ready for the day. She’d managed to get herself some new clothes, not willing to wear the same outfit day after day. She had a cute pair of black overalls that had a cat face on them, and her shirt was a light blue. She was adjusting her ponytail in the mirror when her television suddenly flickered and glitched.

“Huh?” She walked over and looked at it.

It was an old model, one from the 70s, but it was all she could work since modern tech didn’t agree with her. She frowned and wriggled the wires a bit before finally smacking it with her fist. The picture glitched a few more times and then cleared up.

“Better,” She smiled and went back to the mirror.

She tilted her head from side to side, wondering how to wear her hair today. Patton had been nice enough to give her some cute little green frog barrettes. She could wear some of those...

She dug around her little box on her dresser, her tongue poking out in concentration as she looked for the frogs. She found them and looked back up to fix her hair-

Someone was behind her.

Someone tall and scary who was wearing black and green and why was he crying black tears?

JS opened her mouth to scream, but a strong hand clamped over it, muffling every sound she tried to make. She reached up to push the man away, knowing that her strength would help her, but then she felt something wrap around her wrists and then tie them to her neck. She struggled, but quickly stopped when she discovered that doing so would tighten the strings around her neck.

She whimpered in the man’s arms, and they vanished in a burst of electricity.

Beau was scribbling in her notebook, writing out complex equations and diagrams for a new device. Her mind was always working, always inventing. It was why she got along so well with Madpat. He knew how it felt.

She had the radio playing softly, giving her something to help her concentrate. Something to block out the other noises of the house. She sighed and set her pencil down. There were still egos that were missing, and she knew they had all been captured. There was no other explanation. She was still trying to figure out a way to find them and rescue them...

She blinked as her static overtook the music on her radio. She looked at it with a frown, and reached over to fiddle with the settings. Nothing worked. If anything, the static got worse.

And then her lamp flickered.

A terrible chill ran down her spine, reminding her of the time when she had to watch her back against zombie attacks. She grabbed one of her special guns that she kept in her room (without Dark’s knowledge), and stood up.

Looking around showed nothing. There was no one else there.

But then she backed up... into something solid.

The gun was gone from her hands in less than five seconds.

She was gone from the room in less than ten...

ELSEWHERE

Afton was waiting impatiently.

“How long is this going to take?!” He tapped some ash from his cigarette. “I told him to hurry...”

He sighed.

“I know what I did wrong...” he said softly. “I tried to do it all myself like the old days... but this is a job for more than one person, and since I have a few friends... why not get some more? That house is packed. They won’t notice if a few go missing...”

He laughed.

“A ‘piece of shit’, am I?” he hissed. “You think I lack empathy? You think I didn’t love my children? You think I’m losing my mind? You call me ‘darling’ with that snotty little tone... and you all cry over that stupid little Nobody even though they did what you had all created them to do! You all think I’m some monster. You think I’m no better than the Actor or the Leech. Oh... but you haven’t seen anything yet..."

He stood up and stubbed his cigarette out on the table.

“I've decided not to care what you think of me, but... perhaps we should learn to get along... because I can’t help but feel that we’re going to be spending a lot of time together,” he exhaled a cloud of smoke. “After all, when you’re having fun, you should share it with others. And we’re going to have so... much... fun...”

There was a burst of electricity, and Afton shielded his eyes. When the light faded, Patcher was there with two other egos. He smiled and walked closer as Poopet let his own strings fly towards the two women and bring them under his control.

“Took you long enough,” he said. “But why are there two? I only asked for the scientist...”

He looked between them and focused on Beau.

“This is her,” he said, cupping her face with his hands. “Oh, how pretty. Such a pretty little friend. I’ve seen your work, you are quite handy when it comes to building technology. I have no doubt that you’ll be able to build the animatronics I need... since FazMark has run off. And then... we can bring more friends over. Won’t that be nice? We’ll have such a wonderful time...”

He pat her cheek and then gently pushed her in the direction of his workbench.

“Off you go,” he said. “We must work quickly.” He then turned his attention to JS. “Why did you bring this one?” He grabbed her chin and tilted her head to get a better look at her face. “I don’t need her, I told you to bring me the scientist.”

He sighed and then turned to Poopet.

“Put this one on the shelf,” he said. “And make sure this one doesn’t escape like the other tried to. She may be useless now, but she’ll at least serve as a good hostage should anyone try to save them.” he tilted his head. “Maybe we can use her as a guinea pig. Hmm... I’ll think of something. Put her up.”

Poopet’s strings pulled JS into his web, and she disappeared among them.

“We need more help,” Afton mused. “They have another scientist there, don’t they? The one that everyone was fawning over... And I think there’s another one there who’s rather smart. Maybe he can be helpful in some way. Stand by for my orders, I’ll let you know what to do. Now, then... let’s all get along, shall we? We’re going to have a great time together!”

Chapter Text

Year: 2020

Date: XX/X

It's been years since I've kept a journal...

It feels strange to be alive again. How many times have I died?

It’s getting harder and harder to avoid the little runt in the black suit, but I’ve been able to so far. I can’t risk it again lest he finally catch me. And if he does, there will be no coming back for me...

I haven’t been alive for long, but my mind is already brewing, desiring more. The bloodlust is hard to slake when one does not have the proper tools with which to do so. But... I think my luck may be changing.

I met another ego. He is young and he is powerful, but more than that he’s also stupid and full of himself. I know I can make him do exactly as I please if I stroke his ego enough. I also resemble someone he once knew, and it seems to draw him closer to me. He also has had brushes with death, and he is very skilled in the arcane arts. He says the power did not always belong to him, but he stole it from others. Either way, he will be an invaluable tool.

Poor little fool, so desperate for a friend after being hated for so long. Maybe he even wants something more from me. He won’t get it, but... it’s amusing to think about. I’ll see how much I can ask for before he starts asking questions, and if he asks too many of them... well, I still have my skills with animatronics. What better way to start a new life than with the first of many creations?

And he has so many cute little costumes for me to choose from...

Chapter Text

“Missing?” Damien asked.

“Vanished!” said Patton. “Me and JS were gonna bake cookies, but I can’t find her. I can’t find Beau either. Rosanna’s still here, though.”

“Damien, we have a problem!” Wilford burst through the office doors. “Afton kidnapped JS and Beau.”

“Afton? Wait, how do you know-”

“Wilford, where are you- oh,” TD rushed in. “How did you even know? I have my sources, but how did you-”

“No time, we need to rescue them,” Wilford said. “What can we do?”

“I... wait, sit down,” Damien gestured to the chairs. “Start from the beginning...”

“What?” Dawkguard frowned.

“You heard me,” Darko folded his arms. “From now on, you’re going to have either me or Dawktrap with you at all times.”

“I’m not a kid-”

“But you are his son,” said Darko. “And if he figures that out, he will come for you. He may even come for you anyway because you worked there before. Either way, we don’t want you getting kidnapped.”

“What about the others?” Dawkguard asked. “Who’s going to protect them? Lewis, Bawko...”

“We are all going to use the buddy system,” said Dawktrap. “And me and Darko are going to be your buddies. It won’t be so bad.”

“But why are you two so focused on me?” Dawkguard asked.

He wanted to be grateful, but he felt like they were just babysitting him. He may not be as strong as they are, but he was still able to defend himself. Hell, he’d managed to survive murderous animatronics for years, and his reflexes made him very hard to catch...

“Like he said,” said Dawktrap. “You’re his son. If he catches you and then figures that out, he might do something worse to you than put you under Poopet’s control.”

“Like what, put me in a Freddy suit?” Dawkguard asked.

“Don’t even joke about that,” said Darko.

Dawkguard shook his head and sighed. He didn’t like this. He didn’t like any of it at all. Afton was striking fast and he was striking hard. Word had already spread about JS and Beau. As such, everyone was trying to stay together as much as they could... but Dawkguard had a feeling that it wouldn’t do any good. Afton was powerful, and he was stubborn. If he wanted an ego, he wouldn’t stop until he had them. Who knew? Maybe he was putting them in Freddy suits. He was a master at animatronics, after all-

Dawkguard’s eyes widened.

“Hey guys...” he said slowly. “Has... Has anyone checked on Bing or Google lately?”

His brothers looked confused, but then realization slowly set in.

ELSEWHERE

“Hello, Darling,” Afton said as he opened a storage closet. “It’s me again. I need your help, now up you get...”

He picked up the occupant: an old looking animatronic. He set the animatronic aside and propped it up.

“Let’s take a look... yes, the strings are still there. You’re still my little helper,” Afton smiled and straightened up. “I should really dust you off, but... so much to do. I should have done this sooner. Why did I put so much stock into that little nobody? Oh yeah... I didn’t know that house existed...”

He shook his head and walked over to Patcher.

“You told me that they have two androids there, right?” He asked. Patcher nodded. “Great! Let’s invite them to the party. I want you to go back and bring them here. Don’t worry, my little helper will make sure you don’t run into any trouble. Now... off with you. Be good!”

He then turned his attention to Poopet.

“Go grab the egos we still have imprisoned,” he said. “We’ll go ahead and get started on them. Wrap them tightly, I don’t want any of them breaking free of your control...”

Poopet’s strings fanned out and carried him from the room.

Afton grinned and walked back over to the animatronic. He tilted his head and leaned down to look the animatronic in its dark eyes.

“I wonder if you can see me,” he muttered. “Do you know what’s happened to you? Do you know what I’ve done to you? You're trapped. Forced to do things you don’t want to do. Well... now I suppose you know how your friends felt. How many of them died because of you? How many of them became murderers because of you?”

He chuckled and began to pace.

“I held back because I wanted to do this myself,” he muttered. “Nothing worse than having to thank the help when something’s achieved. But, I am rather impatient, and... I was so graciously reminded how much of a monster I am, so... I guess it wouldn’t hurt to use a few puppets to get what I want. After all, if you have a gift, you must use it. And my gift lies in animatronics. Isn’t that right, Darling?” He turned back to look at the animatronic. “Remember how I made you think I really loved you? And then I stole your soul and put you in a nice shiny animatronic? Serves you right for having bad taste in men!”

He chuckled again. He had held back, but no more. He was going to strike now. He was going to recruit his puppets and put them to work. Animatronics took a lot of work, and he was just one man. FazMark had left, but... maybe Afton could bring him back. After all, FazMark had yet to deliver the rest of the animatronics that Afton had ordered. FazMark owed him...

“So much to do,” he sighed. “I almost miss the days when all I had to worry about was my restaurant. Oh, but this is so much more fun. And we’ll have so many friends to share the fun with. So... many... friends...”

He ran a finger over the dusty cheek of the animatronic.

“Don’t look so glum, Darling,” he said. “I promised to always be with you. I’m still here, aren’t I?”

Silver Shepherd had no idea how long he’d been stuck in various different cells. Only recently had they stopped giving him drugs to keep him pliant. But the chain that held him to the wall was too strong for his super strength. Silver had never seen something like that before. How humiliating, the hero was waiting to be rescued...

He flinched when his door slowly opened...

Dozens of strings slowly slithered through, and Silver found himself pressing against the far wall. He tried to duck away, but there were too many, and they were soon wrapping around him and piercing into his muscles. His mind slowly went blank, and he slumped. Poopet pulled his new prize out of the cell, and Silver joined JS in Poopet’s web of strings...

Chapter Text

Year: 2020

Date: XX/X

The power he wields is extraordinary.

So many ways I could use him, but I still need to figure out what I want to even do. He seems content to just be with me, so I’ll keep stringing him along until he’s no longer useful...

He’s quite chatty. But then, he has plenty of stories to tell. I have to admit, they are a bit interesting. Particularly the ones where he cries and tells me how he caused his friends’ deaths and how he feels so awful about. But what could he have done? He had no choice, he’d wanted to survive...

All I have to do is play my part. Hold him and stroke his hair and tell him that he shouldn’t blame himself. Anyone else would have done the same. Compliment him on his new look. He’s shown me three different ones so far, says he has a fourth one that he wants to show me. Let him lean on me, let him depend on me, let him think I return his feelings. Tell him everything he wants to hear and reinforce it with little touches here and there...

And that... is how you make a puppet.

Chapter Text

Um... is this thing on? I don’t... really know how to do this. Wilford said to just speak and you’d hear me, so... hopefully you’re all listening.

Now, I know I haven’t known you guys for long, so I’m going to ask this as delicately as I can.

Are some of you completely stupid?!

Wilford said some of you are trying to make a deal with Afton? You think that’s a good idea? I know what kind of man my father is. They told me all about him and I learned quite a bit while I was working. If he even does take you up on your offer, which I doubt he will because he will fully be expecting you to screw him over somehow, you will not like what happens!

So stop!

What I don’t get is why you’re even trying to talk to him, it’s not like he can hear... you...

Wait. Wait, is he... can he hear you? He’s... he’s one of...

...Crap!

This is not good. This is very not good. Look, just... just don’t speak to him at all. Nothing good will come from it.

I... I gotta go talk to Wilford...

Chapter Text

Dawkguard sat in Dark’s office.

He and his brothers had been called because they would know the most about Afton, but Dawkguard was nervous. They had already checked on the androids and brought them into the office as well, but Dawkguard couldn’t help but feel as if something bad was about to happen. Call him paranoid, it didn’t mean someone wasn’t out to get him...

Overkill was there as well, speaking about who could be at greater risk.

“What about our creators?” Damien asked. “Would he be after them too?”

“I don’t think so,” Overkill shook his head. “From what I’ve seen, and from what I know... he’s not looking for hostages anymore. He’s kidnapping egos that can help him. He wants workers, so... anyone mechanically or scientifically inclined, he would probably go after them...”

It had been tense since yesterday. Wilford and TD had explained what they knew, and Damien had been forced to lock down the house again. Every ego was still staying in groups, some holing up in each other’s rooms. The MerEgos had been brought inside again, clinging to each other in their pool. Some of the creators were having their own meeting.

Rosanna had been inconsolable at the news of her egos being snatched. Zalzar had done his best to comfort her, but she’d just ended up sobbing against him with Mark rubbing her back.

“Wouldn’t this put Madpat in danger too?” Dawktrap asked. “If he took Beau, he might take Madpat too.”

“This is true,” Dark fished out a notepad and pen. “We should make a list...”

Dawkguard sighed and leaned back against the wall. This whole thing was a nightmare, way worse than any night he’d spent at Freddy’s. At least there the only person he had to worry about was himself. Not his brothers. Well... not the brothers he actually loved...

Dawkguard sighed again... and this his eyes jolted open. When had the room become so quiet?

He looked at the others and noticed their mouths were moving, but no sound was coming out. Dawkguard gasped and snapped his fingers next to his ears. No, he could hear that so he hadn’t gone deaf. Then what was the problem?

And then the lights went out.

Dawkguard cried out and quickly turned his flashlight on. He was no longer in Dark’s office. The drawings on the walls, the pattered tiles on the floor, the musty smell... he knew this place.

He was back at Freddy’s.

“What...?” He looked around. “How...?”

He heard something in the distance and shined his flashlight down the hall. Something was coming closer, and he had four guesses as to what it could be...

Dawkguard rushed down the hall in the opposite direction and came ended up in the party area. The stage was empty of animatronics, but there was someone else there. Someone in a security guard uniform, someone who had a strange purple tinge to his skin.

Someone who looked like a half rotted corpse.

Torn lips twisted into a smile as gaping eye sockets dripped blood. Whoever it was, he was holding a large knife, and Dawkguard took a step back as his blood ran cold. The figure on stage slowly began to move, stumbling closer to the edge. Dawkguard took another step back, and something solid grabbed him. He was lifted into the air with a muffled scream, and the color of the fake fur told him that Bonnie had him.

The purple man was coming closer, and Dawkguard had to think fast. He activated his aura and shined it into the man’s eyes. There was a screech, and Bonnie dropped him. Dawkguard scrambled away, back down the hallway. If he was really here, maybe he could take shelter in the office-

He suddenly heard a familiar lullaby.

“Huh?” He looked around. “Poopet?”

He cried out when something pierced the back of his neck, and his vision went dark.

“I told you to bring me the androids. Why did you bring him?”

Dawkguard stared blankly ahead as Afton spoke to Patcher.

“Honestly, what is the point of letting you keep those strings you stole if you’re not going to bring me the right ego? Maybe I should just string you up and have someone else help me...”

Afton sighed and tilted Dawkguard’s face from left to right to get a good look at him. He was small, he was weak, he was useless. Another puppet for the shelf?

“You look familiar...” Afton mused. “Why is that?”

He spotted the badge on Dawkguard’s shirt and removed it to get a better look. It was a standard Fazbear Security badge, one given to all security guards. So he had worked at one of the restaurants?

“Ah, you work for me,” Afton chuckled. “That’s why. Well, then I suppose this won’t be much different than before. Maybe I can just keep you as a guard? Hmm, I’ll decide later, go sit down...”

He gave a dismissive wave and turned his attention back to Patcher.

“Go back and get me my androids,” he said. “Stop bringing back useless egos. I need the androids, or you can get me my counterpart Madpat. Now, shoo.”

Patcher left once again and Afton huffed. He glanced back at Dawkguard, brows furrowing slightly. He really did seem familiar somehow. Not in a physical sense, it was something... deeper. As if Afton had known him once before...

He flinched when he heard a loud crash behind him. Turning around, he saw that Beau had dropped her toolbox and spilled the tools everywhere. He pinched the bridge of his nose and walked over to help her.

Dawkguard stayed sitting where Afton had put him. His fingers twitched and then his eye twitched afterwards. A purple arc of electricity ran down one of the strings, and his arm jerked. He suddenly fell still again when Afton glanced back at him.

“Hmm...” Afton looked back at the endoskeleton that Beau was working on. “Not bad for your first try. Build what you can, I’ll have some help brought to you. I’m sure you’ll enjoy working with your friends...”

Chapter Text

Year: 2020

Date: XX/X

He’s so eager to please.

Whatever happened to him in the past really seems to have broken him. He keeps telling me that it’s guilt. I resemble someone who died because of him. And yet... I don’t believe him. Maybe it was at first, but... definitely not now. I never really thought of myself as handsome, but... I must not be as ugly as I thought. Either way, I can tell there’s something more happening with him.

I haven’t loved anyone since my dear wife. And even then, it was more... convenience. Married life and fatherhood didn’t exactly bring me the joy I so desired. I did care about my children, but... I was more interested in thing that were a bit more... bloody.

I could drop this fool and revel in his despair, but... he does have his uses. But he has just a bit more autonomy than I like. I’m sure if I asked, he’d get me the materials that I need, and then... I’ll make him a lovely little resting place. I’ll spare no expense, a beautiful metal tomb for him to occupy until I no longer need him.

It’s not enough. I want more... 

Chapter Text

If you asked him, he would say it was karma.

All the death and pain and horrible things he’d caused... and now he was at the mercy of someone else. Taken advantage of and left on the side of the road. Well, less ‘left on the side of the road’ and more ‘tied behind a truck and dragged down the road’.

Either way, he felt that he deserved this.

He had no idea what had happened except that he woke up like this one day. That man... he’d lied. There we no feelings there. He was only being used for his abilities... which weren’t even his to begin with.

He was being kept in a closet like some forgotten Christmas decoration, unable to do much. Anytime he tried to fight back, he was easily subdued and then left alone for weeks at a time. Not that he could really fight all that much. He could barely move or speak...

He had seen the new people come in, and he’d seen JS. Poor little cinnamon roll never could catch a break. Died twice and now was being controlled like a puppet.

Things were about to go even more to Hell than usual. He had to leave if he wanted any hope to make it out alive. Sure, it sucked being stuck like this, but he wasn’t quite ready to call it quits just yet. And he was a stubborn asshole when he wanted to be.

The trick was choosing the right time to attempt an escape...

ELSEWHERE

“How did this happen!?” Dawktrap was having a meltdown and Darko wasn’t too far behind. Even Bawko, the newest brother, was upset.

“He was right there!” Dawktrap kicked over the nearby couch. Bawko quickly moved to give him more room. “Right in the room with us! How did he suddenly disappear?!”

“Guys,” Bawko tried to speak. “Guys, let’s calm down-”

“I’ll murder him!” Darko shouted. The nearby tv shattered and sparked. “I am going to make him suffer!”

“Guys-” Bawko tried again.

“Don’t tell us to calm down!” Darko snapped. “You should be just as mad as us. But then you probably don’t love him as much as us so you don’t care!”

“Hey!” Bawko growled. “I care about him! But going crazy like this is not going to help anything!”

Dawktrap hissed, eyes glowing bright pink. Darko huffed, but he fell silent. They both knew that Bawko was right, but they were still angry and terrified. If Afton found out about Dawkguard’s secret...

“I still don’t understand how this happened,” said Darko. “Whoever took him... did they make us hallucinate? Did they cloak him somehow? Who the hell could it have been?” He was silent for a moment. “Do you think you could ask your followers?”

“Not really,” Dawktrap sighed and flopped onto one of the other couches. “Afton has connections to the network that I use. If I’m not careful, he could find me, and... then Dawkguard won’t be the only one of us to worry about.”

“Then what can we do?” Bawko asked.

The others were silent as they thought about it. Darko finally sat down next to where Dawktrap was lying and reached over grip his shoulder. He wanted nothing more than to go out and find Afton just so that he could rip the man apart. But he remembered the last time they went to him, and he didn’t think Dawktrap could survive losing his aura again.

Not to mention, Afton would probably have Poopet put them under his control...

But they couldn’t just do nothing. They had to think of something, and fast...

“This is bad,” TD chewed on his thumbnail. “This is very bad...”

“You keep saying that, but you don’t say why,” Madpat said. “I know we lost Beau and JS, but you keep mentioning that more are going to be taken. How can you know that?”

“I have my sources-” TD fell silent as the door nearby opened and Hermit strode in.

He looked rough, but not as bad as he used to ever since Beau had given him a haircut and a shave. His clothes were dirty and torn in some places, and he had a wild look in his eyes.

He was also carrying his machete.

“Oh no...” Madpat said softly.

“Wh... Where is she?” Hermit asked.

Madpat and TD shared a look.

“Elijah...” TD said, putting a hand out as if to calm Hermit down.

“Where is she?!” Hermit roared. “Where is Penny?!”

“Dammit,” TD ran a hand down his face. “She... she’s been kidnapped, Elijah. She and Jess and... a few others...”

Hermit’s eye twitched and he growled like a wild beast.

“Who?” He asked. “Who took her? Who am I going to kill?”

“Elijah,” Madpat gave him a look.

“We don’t really know-” TD tried to speak.

Hermit screeched and began to lash out. He began to smash, tear, chop, break whatever he could get his hands on. Madpat just watched as if this behavior was normal, but TD looked a bit nervous. Hermit finally ran out of steam. His eyes were still feral as he panted harshly. He collapsed to his knees, tears welling up in his eyes.

Madpat reached out and put a hand on Hermit’s shoulder. The other ego flinched, but didn’t push Madpat away.

“Elijah,” he said gently. “We’re going to find her... and we will bring her back. It may take some time... but I promise you that we’re going to save her. We’ll save them all. Ok?”

Hermit sniffled and wiped his face with the back of his hand, digging his knuckles into his eyes. He reached into his pocket and pulled out Beau’s scarf, gripping it tightly and rubbing the fabric between his fingers.

“What kind of monster came from our creator?” TD frowned. “How do egos like this exist?”

“Because of the fans,” Madpat said as he rubbed Hermit’s shoulder. “They all love a good villain. It's just that sometimes... the villain is a bit too good.”

Off to the side, Matthew Patrick couldn’t take it anymore and decided to stop eavesdropping. Was this the guilt that Mark and Sean had told him about? He never would have played his part in that little musical if he’d known this would have happened. And now his egos were suffering because of him. So many other people were suffering because of him...

He shook his head and walked further down the hallway to get back to his room. It was nearly time to feed Oliver...

Chapter Text

Year: 2021

Date: X/X

I forgot how easy it is...

How easily I can lure them in with just a few words and a smile. I didn’t even have to promise this one candy or cake...

He gave me the materials. I built the animatronic. And I was able to put him in his new home. I did have to sacrifice someone for the magic to do so, and my next hope is to find the puppet I created before I die. That puppet is powerful and will be able to transfer souls without needing sacrifices. I don’t mind a little blood, but finding a good sacrifice is so... tedious.

Anyway, he’s... a little upset now. I suppose it’s understandable, but... really, what did he expect? Did he think we were going to get married and live happily ever after? Poor fool, life is not so kind. The only kindness one can be granted is death. Sadly for him... I am not a kind man.

I had to sacrifice more than the usual in order for him to keep his powers. He still does, and now that he’s under my control, I can wield them as I please. But it’s not enough. I want more. There are other egos out there that are powerful. Other egos that I can make into beautiful animatronics.

The only problem... is finding them.

I have an idea of how I can do so. One of my books speaks of a powerful Entity. If I can find it and capture it, I’m sure I can use it to find the other egos. I’ll need to use my darling’s power to get me some helpers and set up a base with which to launch a hunt.

How exciting!

Now if only my darling would stop that annoying crying...

Chapter Text

He had forgotten how hard it was to move now.

Metal joints creaked and struggled against rust, and he only hoped he wasn’t making too much noise. He had no idea if Afton was asleep or not, and he didn’t want to risk anything. The man had a strange sleep schedule, at least from what he remembered...

Clumsy metal fingers scrabbled at the door knob until they were finally able to open it. The door creaked as it opened, and he braced himself against the wall in an effort to stay upright. He'd never gotten the hang of moving in this... body. Not his fault, Afton had never really let him move around, always keeping him in that closet.

Even as he slowly made his way down the hallway, he had no idea what he would do if he did manage to escape. Who could he go to for help? Anyone he’d made contact with had yet to forgive him. They had been civil, but dismissive. Clearly uninterested in repairing any sort of friendship they had once had. He couldn’t blame them.

But this put him at a disadvantage. He didn’t really know anyone else, and he didn’t know where this special safehouse was that he’d heard about. Maybe he’d get lucky? Doubtful, his luck had only ever served him during eliminations and voting...

Maybe he could use his abilities? Afton had been using them for his own gain, using the metal body to force him to play nice and obey. He had no idea if he even still had control over his abilities now that Afton had forced him into this new body. Lucidity was a rare occurrence now, and he often slid into a fog over and over with only moments of consciousness...

He kept going, determined to make it out of here. But he suddenly felt someone grab his shoulder from behind. Whoever it was slowly turned him around, and he saw that it was the ego that Afton had called useless. The guard in the purple uniform. The ego’s eyes looked blank, but he had a trail of tears beneath both of them. Another tear fell and the ego sniffled, but he tightened his grip and began to pull.

The guard forced him back down the hallway and into the room that Afton had left him in. The guard led him to the closet and reached out to open it...

The guard paused... and then his hand twitched and fell back to his side. The guard instead turned and forced him to sit on the floor. A crackle of purple electricity ran from his shoulder to the tips of his fingers, and the muscles twitched beneath it. He stared as the guard blinked once... twice... and then gasped.

The guard stepped back as the strings that were controlling him glowed a bright purple. He twitched and jerked and growled, pulling and tugging at the strings that were keeping him prisoner.

He had hope that maybe the guard would break free... but no. The guard began to slow down and finally stopped moving. A fresh wave of tears fell from dull eyes as the guard slowly turned around and left the room again.

He slumped, feeling hopeless... but then realized that he’d never heard the door lock after the guard had left...

ELSEWHERE

“Elijah... what are you doing?”

Madpat had gone to Hermit’s hut to check on him only to see Roman tied to some kind of altar with Hermit poised with a knife and holding it over him.

“Making a sacrifice,” Hermit said it so casually. “For Penny’s safe return...”

Roman tried to shout something, but his words were muffled behind the duct tape that covered his mouth. Madpat slowly sighed, trying to figure out how to handle this.

“Maybe... we shouldn’t sacrifice him,” he finally said. “Maybe you could... go catch something from the forest and sacrifice that instead?”

“Why?” Hermit tilted his head.

“Because wouldn’t a sacrifice that you actually put effort into obtaining make a bigger impact than some random guy you found in the house?” Madpat asked. “Shows that you’re passionate about Penny’s safe return...”

Hermit thought it over for a few minutes while Roman sweated nervously on the altar. Hermit finally nodded slowly and smiled.

“Yes,” he said. “You’re right. I’ll go catch something instead. A rabbit! No, a deer! Yes... yes, they will like that, won’t they?”

He scampered off into the woods, leaving Madpat and Roman behind. Madpat chuckled as he untied Roman and pulled the tape off.

“Your brother is insane!” Roman squawked.

“So is yours,” Madpat shrugged.

Roman blinked and was silent for a moment.

“Fair,” he finally said. “Still, Remus never tried to sacrifice anyone before! Your brother tried to sacrifice me! A prince! A noble man of royal blood!”

“You mean a man who is actually a peacock masquerading as a human,” Madpat raised an eyebrow. “Relax, I got you before he did any damage, and he’s just... upset over losing his sister.”

“I suppose I can understand,” Roman mused as he followed Madpat back to the house. “He is only doing what he thinks might help...”

“Exactly,” Madpat said. “Take it as a compliment.”

“You want to strike again?” Damien asked. “After what happened last time?”

“What else can we do?” Darko asked. “Afton’s not going to come here. He’s just going to keep picking us off one by one and the more people he gets under his control, the harder it’s going to become to keep anyone safe. We have to make a decision soon, and this is the best one.”

Damien sighed and sat back in his chair. He wished Host was still there. Host would know what to do. But Wilford seemed to have a lot of knowledge of what was going on, as did TD. Damien didn’t want to put too much faith in some unseen force, but... Wilford swore by the information he had and Wilford had never steered him wrong before...

“We have to get everyone back,” said Dawktrap. “Afton is a monster, and he will not keep them in one piece for long. Once he’s gotten what he needs... I don’t even want to think about what he’ll do with them.”

“We know what to expect this time,” said Darko. “We can bring more people to help. Even if we can’t defeat Afton, we can at least try to save everyone else...”

Damien slowly nodded at Darko’s words.

“I’ll call a meeting,” he said. “We’ll see what they say and make a plan.”

Chapter Text

Year: 2021

Date: XX/X

I found The Entity.

It was severely weakened, which is the only reason why I was able to capture it, but I have it in my possession. It’s trying to bargain for its freedom. It’s promising me knowledge about something that is even more powerful. An unseen force that few know about, and an individual that can lead me right to them. If I free it, it will tell me what it knows and then I can do as I please. I want this Entity’s power. I built a special animatronic to house it. But now... now I wonder if this knowledge will be worth it.

Of course I know about the strange and the supernatural, I dabbled in those arts for years. But can there really be something as powerful as The Entity claims? I’ll have to think about it. If it’s telling the truth, then I have no reason to keep it. I can let it go and shift my targets. Surely this so called powerful force will get me what I want...

We’ll just have to see, I suppose...

Chapter Text

He’s been taken.

And the others?

You said his name was Dark?

Yeah. Stiff guy in a suit? Looks like he just crawled out of a coffin?

He’s talking with the other Dawko egos. I think they’re going to launch an attack.

What do you want us to do?

Hmm... nothing for now. I’ll keep an eye on things and we’ll see what happens. We cannot let him get away this time, but if he knows you’re coming, he’ll bail like the last few times.

How does even keep escaping?

Black magic, probably. There are many spells one can use. I’ll call you when I have him.

What about the kid?

He was the wrong one, but... you two know him.

Know him? How-

No way! The kid who got his head crushed?

That was a horrible way to go, why did you let that happen?

I didn’t think he would die like that! Maybe choke on some cake or something, not get his head crushed!

Guys, focus. I’m going to keep an eye on things, you two wait for my call. Got it?

Got it.

Got it, Valete...

Chapter Text

“If we’re taking the fight to him...” Darko mused. “How are we going to find him?”

“We have two animatronics that are connected to the Fazbear Network,” Dawktrap pointed out. “One of them has to be able to get us a location, or at least a general area.”

“And if Afton tries to influence them?” Darko asked. “Isn’t that the whole reason why you won’t connect?”

“Then we’ll deal with it,” said Dawktrap. “Helpy and Ballora aren’t as vicious as Baby or the other Funtimes. We can handle them. But they’re our best bet right now if we want a chance at putting Afton in the ground for good.”

“Would I be better off bringing a bow or a knife?” Bawko asked as he entered the room.

“What?” Dawktrap turned to look at him. “You’re not going with us.”

“Like hell,” Bawko frowned. “Dawkguard’s my brother too. If you’re going to save him, I’m going with you.”

“Afton is a powerful enemy,” Darko warned.

“And I have experience with enemies that won’t stay dead,” said Bawko. “And anyway, I’d like to see you two try to stop me...”

Dawktrap and Darko shared a look and then smiled.

“Fine,” Darko eventually said. “And you’d be better off bringing both.”

Roman frowned as he walked from room to room.

“Has anyone seen Remus?” He asked. “He’s... not in any of his usual spots. He was just in the common room a few hours ago, he couldn’t have just... vanished...”

A horrible chill settled in his stomach.

“Oh...” he gasped. “Oh no...”

“Has anyone seen Logan?” Patton appeared at that time. “He’s not in his room.”

“Logan too?!” Roman’s eyes went wide. “H-How? How?!”

“What do you mean?” Patton asked.

“I can’t find Remus anywhere,” said Roman. “And if you can’t find Logan... then it’s possible that foul fiend has captured them!”

“What?!” Patton began to panic. “B-But he was just here this morning! He said he was going to do some research, and-and he would have someone with him. How could he have been captured?!”

“Unless...” Roman said slowly. “Was Remus the buddy he said he’d have accompany him? And then the fiend could have taken them both at the same time!”

“We have to tell someone!” Patton grabbed Roman and began to pull him down the hall. “Quick!”

“You want to use Helpy to find Afton?” Phantom asked. Helpy was standing on the table next to him, carefully pouring a cup of tea. He looked laser focused, little metal tongue poking out from his mouth.

He gave a happy chirp as he set the cup down in front of Phantom.

“All animatronics are connected to the same network,” said Dawktrap. “So we’re hoping that we can use that connection to get us a location to where Afton’s plugged in at.”

“What are the chances of finding him?” Phantom asked.

“Pretty good,” said Darko. “Especially if we use both him and Ballora. Ballora’s been hanging with Bing, so we’re gonna go look for her next. But do you mind if we take Helpy with us?”

“Sure,” Phantom shrugged. “I still have Father Ethan here to keep me company. I trust you are keeping Damien in the loop? You know he’s going to want a plan in place. And I want to go with you as well.”

“Of course,” Dawktrap nodded. “We’ll let you know. Come on, Helpy. Let’s go find big sister Ballora!”

Helpy gave a happy whirr as Dawktrap picked him up and carried him off.

ELSEWHERE
“Why can’t he be more like you?” Afton asked Logan.

Logan was staring blankly behind cracked glasses. His tie was half torn and his hair was badly disheveled. He’d given a good fight, as evidenced by the bruises on his face and wrists and the bleeding lip. It had taken more strings than Afton had thought it would.

Remus, on the other hand, was still fighting. Poopet had wrapped string after string, but Remus was still cursing and screeching and swinging his morningstar around. Poopet was still fighting with him, but it was clear that Remus was not going to go quietly.

“Suppose this is as good a time as any to test out our new friend...” Afton mused as he left the room.

He hummed softly to himself as he got out a shiny new animatronic that he had worked hard to repair. He quickly activated it, and then walked it back into the room with Remus.

“Ok,” Afton sounded excited. “Let’s see if you work!”

The animatronic twitched and then focused on Remus. It opened its mouth, and a loud metallic voice rang out.

“Remus Sanders stops!”

Remus stumbled as his legs suddenly locked up. He hit the floor with a growl, hissing at Afton and the new animatronic. The animatronic began to speak again, but Remus let out an ear shattering screech that cause the animatronic to glitch and Afton to cover his ears. Remus jumped up as his legs began to work again, intent on smashing Afton’s skull. But in his anger, he forgot about Poopet. Poopet sent a large chunk of strings into the back of Remus’s neck, and the intrusive side seized up and began to twitch and jerk. Blood slipped form his eyes and his nose as he struggled against Poopet, but... he slowly and ultimately joined Logan.

“Well that was messy,” Afton wiped the blood from Remus’s face and pat his cheek. “So unnecessary... hopefully your brother won’t fight as hard as you did...”

His computer chimed nearby, and he turned to look at it with furrowed brows.

“Someone’s connected? Is it that ego who wishes he was me?” He walked over to the computer and tapped at the keyboard. The screen lit up and Afton narrowed his eyes as he typed out a few commands. A familiar music box began to play over the speakers, and Afton blinked in surprise.

“Ballora?” He said. “They have Ballora? Puppet, did you have more plushes than what I burned? Who knew you’d been so busy...?”

Nearby, Dawkguard heard the music and blinked. He gasped softly and his hands twitched. Ballora’s lullaby had always held a special place in his heart ever since he’d listened to it so many times at the old Sister Location. It always calmed him down when he heard it.

A tear slid down his face as he the music began to drown out every other noise in the room.

“Why do you hide inside your walls when there is music in my halls? All I see is an empty room. No more joy. An empty tomb. It's so good to sing all day. To dance, to spin, to fly away...”

His hands clenched tightly.

“Ballora, I can’t do this!”

“Nonsense. Anyone can dance. Here, try again. Left, right, left, right...”

Purple electricity arced across his body.

“He pushed me down again.”

“Funtime Freddy has always been a bit... rambunctious. There’s a first aid kit in the back...”

He gasped again, eyes widening as his body shook.

“Oh god...” he said softly. “M-My brothers...”

Chapter Text

Year: 2021

Date: X/X

They’re... not really much to look at.

Just a normal looking person with purple hair and bright green eyes. They have no personality and are horribly... drab. I’ve eaten pizza at my restaurant that had more flair than this person. Still, they seem to actually be what I was looking for. I can hear voices when they’re nearby. Muffled, but sometimes I can make out a few words. The Entity had said that the way was blocked, so maybe that’s why...

I don’t know what to do with them. What am I supposed to do? The Entity only said that they are the key to the power it had mentioned. Something called The Audience. Well, I’ve performed for many an audience in my time. Surely this Audience would appreciate a show as well...

Dr. Throuf. No first name, no date of birth, minimal history. They seem like some half assed character written for a television show. Still, I’m not one to toss away garbage if it can be useful. Even scrap animatronics can come in handy sometimes. I’ll keep them close, gain their trust, and then sit back and let them lead me to my goal.

They’re dumber than a box of bolts, but I’m not going to complain. Idiots are easier to control...

Chapter Text

Dawkguard was curled up against the wall. His brothers had found them. No doubt, they were going to come attack. But they had tried before, and Dawkguard knew well how it had ended. Dawkguard had to help them, but how? What could he do?

As far as Afton thought, Dawkguard was still under Poopet’s control. While Dawkguard had been able to throw it off, he knew that Poopet only had to tighten his strings to get control again. If Dawkguard tried to stop him, Afton would know that Dawkguard was not just some security guard.

Dawguard didn’t want to think about what Afton might do if he found out...

He did not want to see his brothers hurt again. He refused to just sit back and let them walk right into Afton’s hell. He had to find a way to help them. No matter what.

He froze when he heard the creaking of an animatronic, years of listening out for Freddy and the gang had sharpened his senses, and he had gotten very good at pinpointing certain sounds. He looked up and held still as the Host animatronic stumbled down the hallway that Dawkguard was hiding in. The animatronic stopped and slowly turned to face Dawkguard.

“E-Evan Afton is h-here...” it said slowly, voice slightly glitched. “William Afton d-d-does not know. The H-Host will inform-”

Dawkguard had no idea what happened. One moment, he was sitting against the wall and the next he was standing over an animatronic that had a sparking and busted head. He gripped his flashlight tighter, breathing heavily.

Stupid thing! Why the hell had it said such a thing? He needed to destroy it. Tear it apart! Before... before...

Oh, this was familiar. It was as if they were back in the kitchen again, Dawkguard’s hands wrapped around Host’s throat as his inner demons yelled at him to murder the man. If he destroyed the animatronics... would that destroy the souls inside as well?

He knelt down and set his flashlight aside. He knew a little bit about animatronics, having helped with some basic maintenance before. Maybe he could just disable it somehow? He opened a panel on the animatronic and began to dig around at the wires and gears within. If it looked important, he pulled it out. At least as much as he could. Some things were really stuck in there. He pulled another few wires and another panel popped open.

Dawkguard squinted slightly at what was inside. Some sort of... gear. It was glowing and shimmering and looked... almost alive. Somehow. He couldn’t really explain it. He slowly reached out and plucked the gear from the little box. Tilting his head, he examined it. It was very warm, almost hot, and it throbbed like a beating heart.

Dawkguard suddenly felt that heat rush up his arm and up to his head where a horrible headache bloomed. His vision darkened, and he felt something warm and sticky slide from his eyes and down his face. He fell backwards, his limbs frozen and still holding the gear.

“The Host apologizes to Evan Afton.”

Dawkguard blinked and his vision came back. His eyes were no longer bleeding, and his body relaxed.

“What the hell was that?” He gasped.

He had felt himself speak, but the voice had not been his. Neither had the words. It was as if someone else was speaking...

“The Host is grateful, and he thanks Evan Afton for saving him. He requests that Evan Afton return him to his body.”

“Stop calling me that!” Dawkguard struggled to sit up. “If...if he hears you-”

“William Afton is asleep. He cannot hear what the Host is saying.”

“Small mercies,” Dawkguard sighed and shook his head. “Where even are you?”

“The Host is currently possessing Evan Afton’s body.”

“Please don’t call me that,” Dawkguard said. “My name is Dawkguard now. I-I don’t want... I don’t want to be Evan Afton.”

“Evan Afton should not be ashamed. He is not his father. A name cannot damn him.”

“Sometimes it feels like it,” Dawkguard propped himself against the wall and picked up his flashlight. He gasped when he saw the lens was cracked. “Dammit!”

“Do not worry. The flashlight will repair itself over time. Evan Afton will just have to be careful.”

“Don’t call me-” Dawkguard growled and fell silent, feeling as if he was beating his head against a brick wall. “Listen, my brothers are going to be coming here. Please tell me you know how I can help.”

“The Host does, but Evan Afton will not like it. He will have to be the very thing he does not wish to be. He will have to be violent.”

Dawkguard groaned softly as he wiped the blood from his face. Violent? He’d always tried not to be. He’d never wanted to give any reason to trigger his anger and rage. His father’s rage...

There had to be something else that he could do. But even as he thought about it, he knew Host was right. It was time to stop running and hiding. It was time to fight!

“The others,” he said softly. “The animatronics. How do we help them?”

“The Host knows how... but William Afton must be taken care of first. His aura and his presence are keeping everyone imprisoned, and Fritz Smith’s power is a problem too.”

“Fritz Smith?” Dawkguard repeated. “What do you mean?”

“That is Poopet’s real name.”

“No way!” Dawkguard said. “He... He was a guard too. I heard that he went missing...”

“Evan Afton can speak to him later when this is over. In the meantime, please listen to The Host. He will tell Evan Afton what to do.”

“Ok,” Dawkguard nodded as he slowly climbed to his feet. He still felt shaky, but he pushed through it. He took one last look at the animatronic on the ground before walking off.

“What do you need me to do?” He asked.

“Go to the storage room on the second floor. We will be able to speak privately there. The Host will explain what to do. Do not be afraid, Evan Afton.”

“Easier said than done,” Dawkguard mumbled.

Chapter Text

Year: 2021

Date: XX/X

It’s... extraordinary.

I’m actually feeling something. I haven’t really felt anything since the death of my children. Nothing but that burning need for blood. To feel it drip between my fingers. I suppose it’s karma. I murdered children... and so I lose my own. Evan... then Elizabeth... and then Michael. Michael was never the same after Evan’s death. He blamed himself, as he should have. I can’t even remember half the things I yelled at him or half the bruises I gave him. I was so... angry.

But it’s all in the past. It’s only me now. Only me and my lust for blood. My hands are constantly twitching...

But things are going well. The egos are being found and captured. Weak ones, but... they’re only bait. The powerful ones will come for them, and then they’ll be caught in my web as well. But before the plan can go any further, I need to find my puppet. Shouldn’t be hard. I was already able to capture one of my old workers...

Chapter Text

Dawkguard’s flashlight flickered, and he gently smacked it against his hand until it stopped.

“Ugh,” he said. “Is it possible for an aura to be damaged?”

“Evan Afton’s aura is not damaged, only his flashlight is.”

“You’re sure he’s down here?” Dawkguard moved his flashlight to look around the old storage room. “Won’t Afton know that we’re messing with him?”

“The Host will do what he can to keep us shielded. Evan Afton must keep going.”

“This room gives me the creeps,” Dawkguard said. “Reminds me way too much of my old job.”

The light of his flashlight soon moved over what looked like a pile of scrap. Upon closer inspection, Dawkguard saw that it was an animatronic. It was very old and vaguely humanoid. Obviously, it had been made with whatever materials could be found at the time, so it had been made in a hurry...

“Is... is this him?” Dawkguard asked. “Um... hello? Can you hear me? Um, Host? I-I don’t think he’s-”

“H-Hello.”

“Oh god!” Dawkguard jumped back, nearly dropping his flashlight again. He clutched his chest and sighed. “And Dr. Iplier wonders why mu blood pressure is so high...”

“S-Sorry...” the animatronic jerked. “I haven’t spoken in a l-l-long time...”

“It’s ok... I used to do this for a living,” Dawguard helped the animatronic sit up. “Um, my name is Dawkguard.”

“I-I’m known as Th-The Savant...” said the animatronic. “I-I was f-f-forced into this b-by the man upstairs-s-s...”

“Ouch,” Dawkguard winced in sympathy. “Sorry about that.”

“Evan Afton must free The Savant from his prison. His powers are the reason that William Afton has become so powerful.”

“Huh?” said the Savant. “Wh-who was that-t-t?”

“He’s called The Host,” said Dawkguard. “He’s sort of... possessing me.”

“I-I-I don’t remember a Host-t-t,” said The Savant. “D-d-did we compete together-r-r?”

“The Host is not affiliated with Escape the Night.”

“W-w-wait! Your last n-name is Afton?” The Savant sounded angry.

“I’m... related to him, yes,” Dawkguard decided to keep it vague. “But he’s keeping me prisoner as much as you. I’m trying to find a way to save my friends and my family. More egos are coming, and it’s going to get very messy. I’m trying to help them win the inevitable battle...”

The Savant was silent for a moment. It reminded him of those challenges, trying to figure out whether or not someone could be trusted. William Afton had seemed so genuine, and look at what had happened with him. This kid was claiming to be related to him. It could be a trick set up by Afton, he’d played The Savant before.

But The Savant saw no other alternative. Either sit here and rot for all eternity, or take a chance. If something bad happened, at least he could say he tried instead of just sitting by and doing nothing like how he had done before...

“Wh-what can we do?” He asked. “I-I-I can’t m-move well in this th-thing...”

“I don’t suppose your actual body is somewhere around here,” Dawkguard shrugged.

“Yes-s-s... but I d-d-don't know where,” said The Savant.

Dawkguard stared with wide eyes.

“I was... I was kidding,” he said. “You mean your corpse is literally just sitting somewhere around here?”

“William Afton saw no reason to dispose of The Savant’s body. It is hidden nearby. If Evan Afton can find it, The Host will tell him how to restore The Savant to his rightful body. But the search will be difficult, and it must be found soon. If the others make it here beforehand, there is no guarantee what will happen. The Savant’s powers are too strong for Evan Afton to wield.”

“I’m guessing yours are too?” Dawkguard asked. “Dammit! Of all times to be weak...”

“Evan Afton is not weak. The Host’s and The Savant’s powers are both incredible intense. Such a power cannot be wielded by just anyone. Not even Wilford Warfstache or Darkiplier would be able to do so.”

“Well... that makes me feel a little better,” Dawkguard mused.

He flipped a nearby light switch, but only one light came on. Dawkguard sighed and grabbed The Savant before dragging him to the light. He set him down and knelt next to him.

“Ok, Host,” he brushed some dust from the animatronic’s face. “How do I do this? I lucked out with you.”

“Listen carefully...”

Dawkguard listened to Host’s instructions as he slowly disassembled the animatronic body. It soon became obvious where the end goal was, as that particular spot was heavily reinforced with various bits of scrap. Dawkguard had to look around and find some tools to better help. It was like trying to break into a safe or a lockbox.

“So what’s your story?” Dawkgaurd asked as he began to chip away at the reinforced. “How did you meet Afton?”

The animatronic let out a rush of air as if it was sighing heavily.

“I was s-s-stupid,” he said. “He looks so much l-l-like someone I once knew. And he can be very-y-y charming. I th-th-thought that he loved m-m-me...”

Well, Dawkguard certainly knew how that felt...

“Wait, you said he looks like someone you knew?” he said. “Do... do you mean TD? The Detective?”

“Y-y-y-yes!” The animatronic sparked. “Do you know h-h-him?”

“Yeah, he’s staying at a safe house,” Dawkguard finally got another layer of metal off. “Him and Jetsetter.”

“Jetsetter was c-c-c-captured,” said The Savant. “That weird puppet thing has her. I d-d-don't know if she’s an animatronic t-t-too. The others are...”

“All of them?” Dawkguard’s eyes widened. Afton had sent him out of the room, so he’d had no idea. If they were all animatronics, was there any hope for saving them all? He could only do so much...

“Evan Afton should hurry. The Savant needs to be removed quickly.”

“Right,” Dawkguard shook his head. “Let me just... there! Got it!”

He paled. While Host’s animatronic had some kind of possessed gear, this one looked as if it had an actual beating human heart, held in place by some nails and some wires. Dawkguard gagged and pressed a hand over his mouth.

“I’m gonna upchuck,” he groaned.

“Evan Afton will need to remove that heart. It will remove The Savant from the animatronic.”

“And then what?” Dawkguard took a deep breath. “Do I just shove it in my pocket?”

“Yes. The Host recommends wrapping it in something first.”

Dawkguard gagged again, coughing and struggling to keep his lunch down.

“There is a cloth nearby.”

“Oh my god...” Dawkguard clenched his eyes shut and slowly reached into the animatronic. “Just... pretend it’s a water balloon. Pretend it’s just a sticky water ba- oh god, it’s warm! It’s warm, why is it warm? Ugh... Host, I swear I’m gonna be sick....”

He quickly tugged the heart free and then rushed to wrap it up, eyes still shut. He then stuck the heart into his pocket and gave a full body shudder.

“The Host is proud of Evan Afton. He has just given his brothers an advantage.”

Dawkguard said nothing as he finally lost the battle with his stomach and vomited on the floor.

Chapter Text

Year: 2021

Date: XX/X

My new toy is getting a bit... loud. They’re upset over the conditions some of these egos are living in. They really do think they’re making even the slightest bit of a difference for these egos! I’ve been letting them interview any ego they ask for, anything to keep my toy happy. It’s strange. I can’t help but feel that they would have awoken my paternal instincts if those instincts hadn’t died decades ago...

Still, I can play nice. I treat my toys well until they stop dancing for me when I tell them to. Keep this one happy lest they decide to rebel. They wouldn’t get far, of course. Spirits are so easy to break when you know what to do.

And I have broken my share of spirits. I daresay I’m an expert by now...

Chapter Text

Dawkguard heard something coming down the hallway. With a stifled gasp, he quickly ducked behind some crates and hid. It was definitely another animatronic, and he peeked to see who it was. Horror filled him when he recognized the little animatronic. Her beret was a dead giveaway.

It was JS.

JS stiffly walked down the hallway, twitching and glitching slightly. Dawkguard pressed his hands over his ears when he heard sounds coming from her that could only be described as muffled sobs. JS disappeared around the corner and Dawkguard started walking after her.

“Evan Afton will save her later. He must focus on the puppet.”

“B-But...” Dawkguard looked back down the hallway. “She’s...”

“Evan Afton must focus. Jetsetter will be ok.”

She definitely was not ok, but Host knew better than he did. Steeling himself, he turned away and walked down a different hallway.

“What are we doing now?” Dawkguard asked. “I have a heart in my pocket and the spirit of a blind... omniscient being in my body.” He paused. “That sounded so wrong... but you know what I mean.”

Host snorted in amusement.

“Time is running out. Evan Afton must deactivate Poopet before his brothers get here.”

“Do you have any idea how hard it is to do that without Poopet’s music box-” Dawkguard suddenly groaned, his vision going dark. He could feel blood start dripping down his face again. He smacked into a nearby wall and blinked a few times.

“The Host is sorry. Stay still and breathe deeply. It will pass.”

“What’s even happening?” Dawkguard asked.

“An ego is not meant to house two different identities unless it’s part of their character. Evan Afton’s body is trying to fuse us together. It seems to be happening quickly because of how much more powerful The Host is.”

“What?!” Dawkguard barely kept his outburst to a low volume. “I-I thought egos couldn’t fuse!”

“They normally cannot, but this is a... special circumstance.”

“So you’re saying if I don’t get you back to your body... we could end up fused together forever?” Dawkguard sounded horrified.

“The Host is unsure.”

“Well, that’s just freaking great!” Dawkguard breathed deeply to keep himself calm, but it was barely working.

His vision eventually returned, and he continued down the hallway, wiping blood from his face. He looked for Poopet for a bit longer, but then he heard another set of footsteps and once again hid. To his horror, it was Afton himself. He stopped and looked around.

“Where has my little guard gone? We have guests, he should greet them...” Afton mumbled to himself.

Dawkguard suddenly felt his badge start to heat up. He quickly removed it, burning his fingers slightly as he did so. The badge began to glow, and Dawkguard carefully leaned away from it.

“Hmm...” Afton looked around again for another moment before he walked off.

“Guests?” Dawkguard repeated. “Are they already here?”

“It would seem so. The Host apologizes, his Sight is limited in this body.”

“Dammit,” Dawkguard rushed off in the opposite direction as Afton. “This is like the one night when all the animatronics came at me at once- mmf!”

Someone grabbed him, a hand slotting over his mouth, and he was pulled into a nearby room. His eyes widened, but he calmed down when he saw it was Dawktrap and Darko.

“Darko, quick!” Dawktrap held Dawkguard tightly. “Pull the strings out!”

Dawkguard tried to speak, but his words came out muffled behind Dawktrap’s hand. Darko roughly turned him around and began to look for any of Poopet’s strings.

“I can’t see any!” Darko sighed and pulled out a knife. “If they’ve burrowed under his skin, we’ll have to cut them out.”

Dawkguard began to struggle as his muffled words reached a higher pitch. His wide eyes were glued on the knife his brother was holding. With no other option available, Dawkguard made a decision. He sunk his teeth into Dawktrap’s fingers, causing the other to pull his hand away with a yelp of pain.

“It’s me!” Dawkgaurd said. “I’m not being controlled!”

“A likely story,” Darko frowned. “You could be just saying that.”

“Evan Afton is not being controlled by Poopet.”

“The hell?!” Darko stepped back. “Host?”

“The Host is currently occupying Evan Afton’s body. William Afton had put the Host into an animatronic, but Dawkguard was able to extract the Host.”

“We have to hurry,” Dawkguard said. “Host said we’re going to end up fused together if we don’t get him back in his body in time...”

“Oh wow,” Darko looked slightly dazed. “Um... ok. Ok, we’ll... dammit. Dawktrap, call Bawko over.”

“Bawko’s here?” Dawkguard asked.

“We need to find Poopet,” Darko said. “The ones who were kidnapped were all turned into animatronics. If we can break Afton’s control over him, we might be able to turn this whole thing around...”

“We can have Bawko help you look for Host’s body,” said Dawktrap. “Darko and I will look for Poopet.”

“But, it’s too dangerous!” Dawkguard said. “I-If Poopet gets you-”

“We have to take that risk,” Darko sighed. “Everything’s gone to pot. All we can do now is hope to get out of here with minimal damage.”

“And even that’s asking too much,” Dawktrap shook his head. “We’re not going to let this happen to you. If you need Host’s body, Bawko can help you find it while we go after Poopet and Afton.”

“B-But-”

“Dawky,” Darko said. “Please. We would devastated if anything happened to you. You’re our brother.”

Dawkguard opened his mouth to argue again, but his vision once again darkened.

“What the- Dawky, you’re bleeding!”

He could feel Darko’s hands on his face, and then something was wiping the blood away.

“What’s going on?” That was Bawko’s voice. “Oh wow! That is a lot of blood...”

“He needs to find Host’s body,” he could hear Dawktrap moving around. “Bawko, you’ll go with him to find it. We’ll go after Poopet.”

“Well... this will be the first time I’ll be actually looking for a corpse,” Bawko chuckled. “Dawkguard, here. Take my hand.”

Dawkguard felt someone’s hand carefully grab his own. He was really starting to get scared. Not just for himself, but for his brothers too. He shook his head, waiting for his vision to come back, but it seemed to be taking longer now. He couldn’t wait.

“I’m sorry,” he groaned. “Please help me.”

“Don’t worry,” Bawko said. “We’re gonna get through this.”

Dawkgaurd sighed.

“Dawkguard thanks Bawko,” he said. He then pressed his hands over his mouth to muffle his sounds of terror.

“Go now!” Darko said, and Dawkguard felt him leading him from the room. “Hurry! Find Host’s body!”

Bawko squeezed Dawkguard’s hand tightly and began to carefully lead him down the hallway. Dawkguard whimpered softly in fear.

Chapter Text

Year: 2021
Date: X/X

They found out. They're gone.

I'll have to wait and see what happens. If they open the door, it will be time to attack. I'll put my plan into motion. All I need are a few powerful egos in my grasp and then the rest will follow.

And we'll all have so... much... fun together.

Chapter Text

Afton smiled as he looked at the wall of monitors in the security room. Several of them showed movement, either by human or animatronic. Watching where everyone was, he began to send signals to the animatronics, directing them to specific spots.

So far, he’d seen Wilford, Madpat, a man who looked almost like Darkiplier, Roman, and the Dawko brothers.

On one monitor, Afton watched as Bawko literally carried off his security guard. He’d tried to summon the ego to his side, but it hadn’t worked. Maybe the ego had lost his badge? No matter, he could just go give orders in person if needed.

Afton began to rank the threats in his mind. Obviously, he’d need to focus most efforts against Wilford and Madpat. Maybe Roman and the Dawko brothers. The guard and the archer didn’t even really register. They’d be fine if Afton left them alone...

“Remus,” Afton said. “Go and greet your brother. Darkiplier, go and greet Wilford. Poopet, the brothers are yours...”

He paused and tilted his head. What about his brother Madpat? He could be useful...

“Patcher, bring me Madpat...”

He saw a flurry of new movement on the monitors and sat back with a smile. He loved having such powerful toys. He couldn’t wait to add some new ones to his collection.

“Wandering is a terrible sin, my Darlings...”

“What was that?” Damien asked.

“Nothing. Just stay with me,” Wilford said. “As soon as we find Celine, you can fuse with her and become your old self again.”

“But how are we going to get her out of the animatronic?” Damien asked. “You said you had to force your way out. Perhaps it won’t work with her...”

“We’ll find a way,” Wilford carefully looked around a corner. “Don’t worry. Celine’s a tough woman, she’ll be fine.”

“I’m still worried- what was that?” Damien looked around.

Wilford pushed Damien behind him, cocking his gun and holding it carefully. They could hear something. Something metallic. Something that creaked and scraped and sounded... like it was getting closer.

There was a crash behind them, and they both spun around to see a pair of glowing red eyes.

Roman had his sword drawn and was striding down the hall with a purpose in his step. He rarely got angry like this. Really and truly angry. Furious, even. This horrible monster had stolen his brother away to enslave him in his games. Afton was worse than all the other villains that Roman had ever encountered.

Roman had seen his share of Disney, but those villains were... synthetic. This... this was raw and pure evil. Worse even than The Actor, and Roman hated Afton so much more...

He froze when he heard a glitchy sounding giggle. It sounded as if it had come from a broken radio, but even still Roman could hear something familiar beneath it. He gripped his sword tighter.

“Show yourself, you fiend!” He said. “I know you’re there. Come out and face me, lest you be a coward!”

He got his wish. A terrible metal monstrosity landed in front of him. It had been crawling on the ceiling, using its claws to cling to it. Two green lights shone from what Roman assumed was the face, and there were what looked like metal tentacles moving from its back. The only real indication of the monster’s identity was the torn green sash that was stretched across its front.

Roman gasped, hands shaking slightly. He wasn’t scared, he was angry. He was angry at what had happened to his brother. He was angry at himself for not protecting Remus better. And worst of all... he could feel echoes of Remus’s emotions through their bond. Remus was angry too, but he was also scared. He was terrified of hurting Roman.

“It’s ok, Remus,” he wasn’t sure if his brother could hear him, but he hoped he could. “I know it’s not you. I know that monster has you. I’m going to free you from his claws!”

The animatronic roared and lunged at Roman.

Afton watched the fights erupt across his monitors. He then turned attention to his dear brother, seeing that Patcher had found him. His brother was barely putting up a fight. It was almost embarrassing. Shaking his head with a sigh, Afton looked around again. Poopet had yet to find his targets, and the archer... was destroying the cameras as he found them. Afton frowned when he saw certain monitors going dark after losing the camera.

“Host,” he sent a command. “Host, take care of them.”

He blinked and frowned further when there was no response.

“Dammit... it must be broken. No matter, I can repair it well enough. Let’s get these vermin taken care of first...”

“Bawko,” Dawkguard groaned. “I don’t feel so good...”

He was being carried on Bawko’s back, unable to move as fast as he wanted now that he couldn’t see.

“I know, Dawky,” Bawko sounded worried. “Just... just hang in there. We’ll get you taken care of.”

Dawkguard sighed in defeat, feeling worse and worse as time passed. He then gasped as he was suddenly seized with a vision.

Dawktrap and Darko were hanging from strings, eyes empty and hands bound. Poopet was nearby, and he was attacking Damien and Wilford-

-there were so many animatronics-

-Afton was laughing-

Dawkguard came back to himself, and he shook his head.

“Bawko, stop!” He said. “We have to go back and help the others!”

“What?” Bawko slowed down. “But you’re-”

“I had a vision,” said Dawkguard. “We need to get back and save Darko and Dawktrap, or else Poopet will get them. Please, Bawko! We have to save them!”

Bawko paused and chewed his lip I thought. He wanted to help Dawkguard, but if the others were in danger... they could not afford to lose Dawktrap and Darko.

“Fine,” he said. “Did you see where they are?”

“Take this left hallway,” Dawkguard said. “Hurry!”

Afton grinned as Poopet finally made it to his brothers. Darko and Dawktrap were both fighting hard, but no one could best his little puppet. He watched as first Darko was ensnared, and then Dawktrap was grabbed by his ankle and pulled into the air.

“Wonderfully done, puppet,” Afton said. “Bring them to me as soon as they’re ready-”

“POOPET STOP!”

“What?” Afton heard someone cry out on the monitor. The archer and the guard had appeared.

Afton watched as Poopet obeyed, and was soon lowering Darko and Dawktrap to the floor.

“What the hell?” He leaned in closer. “How... how is he...? That mask makes him only obey me! How is this guard-”

He fell silent when he noticed that the front of the guard’s shirt had a large hole from something that had burned it. He spotted a familiar looking shirt underneath it.

Afton’s eyes widened.

“Im... impossible,” he said. “E-Evan!?”

Chapter Text

“No, no, no!” Roman ducked as another tentacle swiped at him.

He’d thought Remus was already a handful, this was so much worse. Remus was unable to use his creative powers, but he was still formidable. And things were made harder due to Roman feeling Remus’s emotions in their bond. The guilt and the anger were nearly suffocating...

Roman would make sure that Afton paid dearly for this...

But to do that, Roman needed to bring Remus down. Roman took off down the hall and hid in one of the rooms. He stood there in the dark, trying to catch his breath. He needed a plan. He needed to figure out how best to bring Remus down without hurting him. Was it possible to kill him in this form? Roman knew so little-

Something moved in the darkness.

Roman gasped and pressed his back against the wall. Whatever was there was moving around, he could hear the sounds of metal scraping and stomping. Whatever it was, it sounded big. Roman fumbled around on the wall next to him, looking for a light switch. His fingers brushed over one, and he flipped it.

Oh... and he thought Remus had looked bad.

This one was just as big and had glowing blue eyes instead. A ripped tie hung off the thing's spindly neck. It too hung from the ceiling, body twisted and limbs aplenty, looking like some kind of grotesque spider. The top half was humanoid with a gaping maw that was full of jagged teeth, and a long neck.

“Logan...” Roman said softly.

Oh, Afton was going to die today. Roman was going to do something very against Disney and he was going to straight up murder Afton.

Roman kept his eyes on Logan as he slowly moved towards the door. Logan’s eyes never left Roman, slowly turning as he tracked Roman’s movements. Roman got his hand on the doorknob, and he quickly opened the door. He managed to close the door and start running, but heard the door blow clean off its hinges behind him. An unholy screech came down the hallway, and Roman could hear Logan following him.

“I need help!” Roman said to himself. “I need help! I need... I need...”

He got an idea. He ducked into another office, running through it and into a different hallway. He kept moving between offices until he was sure that he’d lost them. He then entered an office one more time and summoned... the Dragon Witch.

True, she was a construct of his, so she was limited in what she could do, but Roman was grateful for any help at all. She looked around and narrowed her eyes at Roman.

“What now?” She sniffed haughtily.

“I need your help,” said Roman. “The abridged version is that Logan and Remus have been turned into murderous animatronics and I need help restraining them. I cannot afford to do too much damage to them, I don’t know what it would do.”

The Dragon Witch blinked.

“That’s new,” she said. “So, capture but do not kill? I think I can do that...”

“Thank you,” Roman sighed.

He yelped when he heard the door crumble, and Logan poked his head in. The Dragon Witch pushed Roman back and opened her mouth wide. A jet of fire burst forth and Logan screeched as the fire washed over him, and he was forced to retreat.

“I’ll take Logan,” The Dragon Witch exhaled a plume of smoke. “You take care of your brother, ok?”

Roman nodded.

“Good luck,” he said before running from the room.

“It’s not possible. It’s not possible....” Afton chanted this like a mantra as he sped down the hallway.

He'd noted the location of the guard and wanted to get there before he got too far away. It couldn’t be his little Evan, it had to be a coincidence. The shirt was the same, and it would make sense that Poopet would obey him because Evan would have Afton’s blood...

But still! Evan had died years ago as a small child! This ego was in his late teens, at least. He was much older than Evan had ever been.

Afton had experienced stranger things in both his life and his death, but this couldn't be true! It had to be a mistake. A trick! Those Dawko brothers must have done this.

Afton growled and quickened his pace. How dare they?! He was going to teach them not to mess him with him like that...

“Wilford, look out!”

Damien ducked in time to dodge one of the Celine’s attacks. Her shadows writhed and struck hard like snakes. For once, Damien regretted not learning about any of this. Maybe then he’d be able to do more. Wilford was doing all he could to bring Celine to heel, but she was just as much a spitfire as when she was human.

The animatronic growled, red eyes glowing brightly. Wilford tsked and wagged his finger.

“Celine, you are once again acting most unladylike...” He said. “If you would just hold still, this will be over in just a few minutes. Really... you are worrying your brother.”

Celine screeched and turned her attention to Damien. The other ego’s eyes widened, and he moved back until he was against the wall. Wilford stepped in front of his friend and cocked his gun.

“Wilford, don’t shoot her!” Damien said.

“A colonel never is never free of the battlefield,” Wilford said. “I won’t have her hurting you, and I'm sure she’ll forgive me... eventually.”

Celine lunged, but Wilford blocked her, shocking her with pink electricity and pushing her back. Celine twitched and shook before jumping up to grab one of the ceiling lights. She pushed herself off the light and towards Damien. Before she could touch him, Wilford grabbed her ankle and pulled her away.

Celine’s shadows wrapped around Wilford's wrist and started to squeeze it until his bones began to creak. Wilford gripped the shadow and tried to pull himself free, but Celine held on tightly.

Damien watched it happen and frowned. Making a decision, he removed his suit jacket and tossed it aside before jumping on Celine’s back. Celine let go of Wilford in surprise and once again jumped until she was hanging upside down from the ceiling. Damien yelped and clung to her back as she moved and twisted, trying to buck him off.

“Wilford!” Damien yelled.

Patcher hissed low as he listened out for Madpat. He’d lost the other ego after his initial attack. He knew the ego was very crafty, and he knew that he was also very powerful-

He paused, hearing something nearby.

He spun around in time to grab Madpat’s wrist. Madpat held Elijah’s machete in his grasp, and he’d been about to use it against Patcher. Patcher grinned and pulled Madpat closer to strike him... but then Madpat gave an attack of his own.

He spat something into Patcher’s eyes, and the fusion let go and stepped back, shaking his head. Whatever Madpat had spat at him, it was burning like fire and made it impossible for Patcher to open his eyes again. He hissed in pain and tried to wipe it away.

He was suddenly struck by something very hard, knocking him out.

Madpat smiled and shouldered the bat he was holding. One down...

“I need to find Jess,” he said to himself. “I need to save her so that I can tell her that I love her...”

Chapter Text

“Evan!”

Pure ice slipped down Dawkguard’s spine as he heard that name combined with Afton’s voice. Strange, it had been so long since he’d heard it and yet it felt like a fresh memory. His hold on Bawko tightened, and he pressed his face into the other’s shoulder with a whimper.

It was all over now.

He knew.

He knew who Dawkguard was.

“Oh sugar...” Darko mumbled.

He shared a look with Dawktrap, and they both moved to stand in front of Bawko and Dawkguard.

“Bawko,” Dawktrap said softly. “Run very fast and very far away from this room. Do not stop until you find what you need and get The Host out of Dawkguard. We'll hold this monster off.”

He summoned his knife and got into a fighting stance, his Glitchtrap aura standing at his side. Darko summoned his own magic next to him, eyes glowing brightly and aura swirling around him. He then split his form, two other shadow versions of him appearing on either side and ready to fight.

Bawko didn’t hesitate a moment further. He ran through the door and out of the room. They could hear Afton calling Evan’s name after them, but Bawko didn’t slow down.

“He knows,” Dawkguard began to cry bloody tears. “He knows the truth...”

“We’re not going to let him hurt you,” Bawko assured him. “Don’t worry. Dawktrap and Darko will take care of it.”

“That’s what I’m afraid of,” said Dawkguard. “He’s going to hurt them, and it’ll be my fault...”

“It won’t be your fault,” said Bawko. “It’ll be Afton’s because he’s a huge fils de pute. Darko and Dawktrap are just doing what brothers do.”

Dawkguard fell silent as that phrase triggered an old memory of his.

“Dad?” Little Evan was sniffling. “Dad? Michael’s being mean again.”

“What did he do now?” William Afton sighed heavily and turned to look at his son.

“H-He scared me w-with the Foxy mask again...” Evan wiped at his eyes with his free hand, his other one occupied with holding his Fredbear plush.

“Evan, he’s just playing with you,” said Afton. “He’s just doing what brothers do. Brothers tease each other and play jokes. It’s all just harmless fun.”

Evan frowned, tugging on Fredbear’s paw. Was that true? Was Michael just playing with him? But he didn’t seem to bother Lizzie nearly as much as he went after Evan...

“B-But,” Evan paused. “But... it really scares me. I-I don’t like it...”

Afton sighed again, brushing eraser shavings from the blueprint he was working on. He gave Evan a look that Evan couldn’t quite read.

“Well, maybe you shouldn’t be so sensitive,” he finally said. “You’re getting to be a big boy now, you shouldn’t still be crying like this. You don’t want people to think you’re just a crybaby, do you?”

“N-No,” Evan shook his head. “I’m n-not a crybaby.”

“There you go,” Afton went back to sketching. “Now, go wash up. Your mother says that dinner will be ready soon.”

Evan paused for a moment before he turned and left his father’s room. He chewed on his thumb as he thought his father’s words over. So... Michael wasn’t being mean? He was just doing what brothers are supposed to do? Big brothers are supposed to tease you? Evan didn’t like it, but... if his dad said so, then it must be true...

“Dawkguard!”

Dawkguard opened his eyes, the memory fading away. He still couldn’t see anything, but they had stopped. He tried to wipe his tears away, but a quick feel told him that he’d already gotten them on Bawko’s shirt.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “I think I got blood on your shirt...”

“Don’t worry about that,” Bawko started moving again. “I’m no stranger to having blood on my shirt. You just went quiet and I got worried.”

“I was just remembering something,” Dawkguard said. “I’m ok...”

He rested his head on Bawko’s shoulder, and the other ego began to get even more worried.

“Dawkguard,” he said. “Try to stay awake, bro. Tell you what, can you start counting for me? Start counting and keep going until I tell you to stop.”

“Huh?” Dawkguard opened his eyes again. “Oh... um... one, two, three, four...”

Bawko sighed in relief and quickened his pace.

“It can’t be!” Afton said. “Who was that ego?!”

“No one you need concern yourself with,” Dawktrap said. “He’s our brother. And we’re going to do all that we can to keep him safe. That’s all that you need to know.”

Afton narrowed his eyes and the air temperature dropped about ten degrees. He snarled and summoned his own Glitchtrap aura, eyes blazing with fury.

“You...” he hissed. “You’re all nothing but flies for me to swat. What makes you think you can protect anyone from me? If I want your brother, I will take him. And if he is my dearly departed son, I’ll make sure he rejoins his true family.”

“Family, nothing!” Dawktrap snarled. “You’re no one to him! He thinks of you as no one! You’re just a monster who let everyone around him die and then went off to kill even more innocent people!”

“Rather sounds like your friends, doesn’t it?” Afton grinned. “What are their names... Darkiplier and Wilford? And what of my brother Madpat? Are his hands suddenly washed clean of the deaths he caused?”

“You could try for a thousand years,” said Darko. “But you will never be the kind of men they are, They actually have a heart and they actually care about someone other than themself! You want Evan back so badly? You shouldn’t have let Michael kill him in the first place!”

A loud shriek emanated from Afton, and his form began to change. It warped and twisted into a monstrous looking dark purple shadow with blazing eyes. Dawktrap and Darko stepped back in surprise, never having seen this form before.

“It’s high time you two learned how to be silent,” Afton snarled. “I will get Evan back, and you two will be nothing more than puppets on a string for me to play with. But don’t worry. I’ll make sure that Evan grows into a fine man. A real man. Maybe I’ll let him play with you too...”

“Come and have a go, then!” Darko yelled. “You’re not taking our brother!”

Afton laughed as he lunged at them.

Chapter Text

Hello.

Huh? Who’s that?

A friend of a friend. I believe you met my associates a long time ago.

I don’t remember...

Well, it was a very long time ago. And it’s probably hard for you to think right now. You’re dying.

What?!

Don’t worry, you’re not dead yet. You’re getting close to the edge, though. I’d hurry up.

How? I’m being carried!

You need to wake up. If you wake up, you will pull yourself away from the edge just enough to buy yourself some time. But it won’t be for long. You’re losing yourself to Host.

I feel sick... how can I wake up?

Your brother is trying to wake you up, just follow his voice. And be careful, we don’t want to lose you.

Lose me...?

“-guard! Dawkguard!”

Dawkguard weakly opened his eyes. He was so tired, and he still couldn’t see. Opening his eyes didn’t make a single bit of difference, but she had said to do it...

“Dawkguard.” Bawko gently slapped his cheek. “Hey, you’re gonna be ok. We found it!”

“We found... Host’s body?” Dawkguard mumbled.

“Um...” Bawko cleared his throat. “We just found everyone’s body...”

Chapter Text

“Damien!”

Damien grunted as he held on tight. Celine was really trying to throw him off. She was just as ruthless as he remembered her to be, but now that was working against him. She wasn’t throwing an axe at The Actor, she was trying to kill him...

“Damien, we’re going to have to do something we would never do!” Wilford called as he followed after them. “We’re going to have to go after her heart. I’ll fire a shot and then you have to reach in and pull it out. If you do that, you should be able to fuse with her and become Dark again.”

“Wait, no!” Damien’s eyes widened. “What if you hit me by mistake?”

“Then try to hold her still,” said Wilford. “Better yet, flip her switch. You remember what FazMark said?”

“There’s a switch on her back somewhere,” Damien held tighter as he tried to maneuver himself. “I just have to find it- oh dear!”

He flinched and nearly fell as he heard a bullet hit the wall right next to him. He tried to grab onto Celine’s shoulders, but she grabbed him by the ankle with a tendril made of shadow and threw him at Wilford.

Wilford caught Damien... and then threw him back. Damien yelled out as he flew through the air, and then Celine stopped and grabbed him again. Wilford fired again, hitting her in the shoulder. The special bullet tore through Celine’s shoulder, and her entire arm fell off.

Wilford once again caught Damien as he fell, and smiled when he saw that Celine had lost a conduit for her powers. She could only summon with the other hand, and that cut her forces in half.

Celine gave metallic screech and lashed out at Wilford. A length of cable sprouted from her arm stump and it wrapped around one of the beams in the rafters. Her other hand reached out, and black shadows burst from the ground to wrap around Wilford. Wilford barely managed to toss his gun to Damien before he was hopelessly ensnared.

“Shoot, Damien!” Wilford shouted. “Aim for her other arm!”

Celine turned her head to look at Damien, but she couldn’t do anything else while occupied with Wilford. Damien aimed as best as he could... but missed.

“Dammit,” He took aim again, but this time Celine dropped from the ceiling and wrapped her cable around Damien instead. She tore the gun from his hands and then began to slam him into the wall.

“Damien!” Wilford struggled against his bindings. He growled loudly and tried to reach for his gun.

Damien was dazed and barely conscious when Celine finally stopped and pulled him close. She made a sound that almost resembled laughter, and Damien felt a wave of rage consume him. He dug his fingers between the plates on Celine’s neck and pulled on whatever wires he could grab. One or two came loose, and Celine screeched again. She snapped her plates shut, catching Damien’s fingers and nearly breaking the bones within them.

Damien cried out in agony and struggled, but the torn wires seemed to have affected one of her legs. Her leg failed with a mechanical whine, and she was forced to lean her weight on the other one. Damien pulled on her hard, knocking her off balance and to the floor.

Celine screeched, but Damien moved his hand around to her back. He felt around, crying out again when she actually did break his fingers. Pushing through the pain, he finally felt a switch on her back. He grabbed it... and then pulled his hand back as it was shocked with a jolt of electricity.

“Damn you!” Damien went back in for the switch. The electricity started up again and Damien was in pure agony, the likes of which he’d never felt before. Every nerve he had was on fire, and his muscles were locked and seized, but he kept going. His hand was already on the switch, he just had to...

The muscles in his arm spasmed, giving him the movement he needed to flip the switch. The electricity immediately stopped and the shadows vanished. Damien slumped to the ground, and Wilford would have thought he was already dead if not for his shallow and struggling breathing.

“Damien!” Wilford fell to the ground and examined Damien.

He did not look good, and it didn’t take a genius to figure out that he was not going to make it like this. Wilford had no healing powers, at least not for others. There was no doctor, and teleporting to grab one would take too long.

“The fusion!” He said. “H-He needs... if he fuses with Celine, then Dark will form, and he’ll be able to heal. That’s what... Anti said about Patcher...”

He rolled Celine onto her back and cocked his gun. Before he could fire, he realized that he could hit whatever was powering Celine and make things worse. He would have to do something else...

He dug through some nearby tools and pulled out a crowbar. This should work. He shoved the crowbar between Celine’s plates and began bending and breaking them away. He made it to her chest compartment and began doing the same.

As he did so, Damien’s eyes closed and his breathing got softer and softer until he was barely breathing at all. Wilford wanted to stop and wake him up, but he was running out of time. He couldn’t afford to take a few precious seconds to try to wake Damien up again. He worked harder, using all of his strength to pry and break until...

There it was.

A gear that was glowing a deep red. That had to be it. Wilford carefully removed it and turned to Damien.

Damien was not moving.

“Come on, Damien!” Wilford pushed the gear into Damien’s hands, but Damien's fingers did not move to grab it. “Damien! Don’t you dare do this! Don’t you dare die on me now! Wake up! Please... please, Damien... This time I know it’s not a joke. I... I know... don’t leave me...”

He felt tears well up in his eyes as he made Damien’s hands close around the gear. This couldn’t be happening! Damien couldn’t be dead! He had to still be in there, he had to fight! He had to... he had to...

“Please,” Wilford sobbed. “Please, Damien...”

Damien still didn’t move, and Wilford could not hear him breathing...

Chapter Text

“Keep counting for me, Dawky!” Bawko said as he pulled another body to the side. “Keep going.”

“Tired...” Dawkguard groaned from the floor. “So... tired...”

“Hey, hey!” Bawko turned towards Dawkguard. “Stay with me, Dawky. You’re going to be ok. As soon as I find...”

He trailed off as he pulled JS’s body to the side. Damn, how many were there? And they were all just thrown into a pile. It looked like the piles Bawko had seen during the apocalypse. Except that those piles were usually on fire...

Bawko didn’t give up, but some of these bodies were very heavy, and it seemed as if the one he needed was at the very bottom. Luck was not on his side, and this was not easy to do, but he was not going to stop now. He had to save his brother.

Dawkguard stopped counting again, but Bawko couldn’t stop to wake him up again. He had to keep going. He was getting closer to the bottom, and he could see Host’s blonde streak beneath two other bodies. He pushed Logan’s body out of the pile and then Remus’s body was rolled off as well. He grabbed Host’s arm and pulled.

The body didn’t move. Host apparently was extremely heavy.

Bawko quickly ran over to Dawkguard and carried him over to Host. He laid them side by side and then gasped.

“Oh no,” he said. “What are we supposed to do? Dammit! How do I separate them?”

He knelt down and began to shake Dawkguard.

“Host!” He said. “Host, what do I do? I have your body, how do I put you back?”

Dawkguard’s body was silent.

“Host!” Bawko slapped Dawkguard’s face. “Host, wake up! Tell me what to do, or so help me, I will burn your library to the ground! I swear it on every god this world and the next have to offer!”

Dawkguard’s hand began to twitch weakly. It slowly moved, reaching out for Host’s body. Bawko watched the hand’s urgency grow, and it slowly clicked.

“You... you need to be touching? Hang on...” He pulled Dawkguard’s body over until it was draped over Host’s.

Dawkguard’s hand slowly moved to lay itself over Host’s bleeding sockets (his bandages had fallen off). There was a flash of light, and then all was still. Bawko carefully reached out and then jolted back when Host gave a sudden wheezing gasp before falling still again. He was breathing erratically, but it evened out and then it was as if he was asleep.

Dawkguard then began to groan and move as well. Bawko helped him off of Host, pulling him close and hugging him tightly. He felt tears well up in his eyes, but he ignored them.

“You’re ok,” he said. “I was so scared. I thought I’d lost you...”

“Huh?” Dawkguard squeezed his eyes shut, slowly reopening them after a moment. It was strange to suddenly be able to see again. “I’m not dead. I almost was, though... She told me that...”

“'She'?” Bawko looked at Dawkguard. “Who’s 'she'?”

“Dunno,” Dawkguard gave a weak shrug. “She was there when I first died too...”

Bawko opened his mouth to ask another question, but there was a flurry of movement at the door and Madpat rushed in. He looked around, eyes going wide.

“Oh wow,” he said. “This is disconcerting- oh my god, Jess!”

He rushed to her side and knelt down.

“Jess! Oh my god, I’m so sorry. I should have kept you safe...” He pulled her into his arms and held her close.

Bawko narrowed his eyes at Madpat’s behavior, but then he spotted something glowing in Madpat’s jacket pocket.

“Hey, what’s that in your pocket?” He asked. “Did you get it from an animatronic?”

“I got it from Jess’s animatronic,” Madpat pulled out a glowing green and yellow gear. “Why?”

“Press that into her hand, It will bring her back to life,” Bawko said. “Did you forget what FazMark said?”

“Oh!” Madpat pulled out the gear and did as he was told. “No, I didn’t forget. It’s just... I’m a little emotional right now is all...”

Bawko was suspicious, but a distant crash made him decide to drop it.

“On my back,” he said to Dawkguard. “Host will be ok with Madpat here. We need to keep moving.”

Dawkguard climbed onto Bawko’s back and paused.

“Wait!” He said. “Here, this was for someone called The Savant!” He reached in his pocket and pulled out the wrapped heart. “I think this is needed to wake him up. Catch!”

Madpat caught the heart with wide eyes.

“The Savant?” He asked. “He’s here?”

“Stay safe, Mads,” Bawko said.

Dawkguard held onto Bawko as they left the room. There was another crash and the ground shook.

“What was that?” Bawko tried to gauge where the crash came from so that he could run in the opposite direction. The hallways opened up into a large warehouse, and Bawko could see movement across the way. Two more animatronics were fighting with someone. It had to be Roman.

Bawko chewed his lip and then made a decision. He carefully set Dawkguard down on the floor and pulled out an arrow. He notched his bow and then took aim...

Roman was not having fun. He'd had many a noble battle in his kingdom before, but this was not like those. This actually was life or death, and he had no idea how rough he could be with Remus before damaging something, or worse... killing him.

Roman had given up a huge chunk of energy to summon the Dragon Witch, so he couldn’t conjure much else until he recovered. He tried conjuring ropes and chains and cages, but Remus ripped through each one with a shriek. For once, he regretted not being able to conjure violent things like Remus could.

They had moved into a warehouse now, giving Roman more room to move, but less places to hide. He summoned a stronger chain, but Remus had evidently gotten impatient and grabbed Roman around the waist with one of his tentacles.

Roman stabbed with his sword, but Remus was well made, and it made little difference. Roman struggled in Remus’s grip-

An arrow struck Remus in the neck with a giant spark of electricity, hitting what looked like a major weak point. Remus gave a garbled and glitchy roar as he pulled the arrow out. His body began to shake and twitch, but he still held onto Roman tightly.

A jet of fire then washed over Remus, and he finally dropped Roman as he leapt to safety. Roman ducked out of the way of the fire, sweat pouring down his face from the heat. The Dragon Witch had brought out her wings and flew after Remus.

“Logan’s been brought down,” She threw something to Roman. “I sensed that inside him. Hold onto it, I’m pretty sure it’s important!”

Roman caught the item and saw that it was a glowing blue gear. He stood up from the floor and looked around for who had fired the arrow.

“Hey!”

Roman looked and saw Bawko and Dawkguard.

“We found the bodies!” Bawko called. “If you can get that gear to Mads, he can revive Logan with it. He’s just down that hall there.”

Roman was already summoning a white dove. He tied the gear to the bird’s leg and pointed to the hallway.

“Take this to Madpat,” he said. “As quickly as you can!”

The dove cooed and flew off in the direction Roman was pointing in. There was another crash, and Roman saw the Dragon Witch pinning Remus to the ground and burning him with her fire. Remus’s wired began to overheat and burn, and electricity sparked all over him as the animatronic began to fail.

The Dragon Witch reached into the wreckage and plucked out a glowing green gear.

“Got it!” She called to Roman.

Before anyone else could so much as move, the large doors on one side of the warehouse burst open, and two egos were hurled through it. Dawktrap and Darko groaned in pain as they slowly stood up. They were bruised and bleeding, but still determined to fight.

The Dragon Witch gasped and leapt away as the destroyed animatronic of Remus was suddenly pulled through the doors by an invisible force. Dawktrap’s eyes widened as he remembered something very important about William Afton.

“Quick,” He pulled Darko to a nearby ladder. “Get up there! Get to higher ground!”

“What’s going on?” Darko climbed the ladder with Dawktrap right behind him.

“He took the animatronic,” said Dawktrap. “But it’s destroyed. There’s only one reason why he would want a destroyed animatronic right now...”

A roar sounded in the distance, and then there were heavy footsteps. A giant metal hand lunged out of the doors, claws digging into the floor. The egos watched in horror as a giant and monstrous animatronic entered the room. It looked like it had been created by the melted down animatronics that the others had defeated and destroyed.

The animatronic had a dark purple color to it, and its eyes were glowing white. It roared, shaking the walls of the room.

“Afton had another form,” said Dawktrap. “In the books. The Miscreation...”

Chapter Text

“Evan, what are you doing over here?”

Evan looked up at his father from where he was sitting by the prize counter. Afton was dressed in his work uniform, having been asked to stay behind for some repair work after one of the spring lock suits had been damaged. Evan had been dropped off by his mother so that she could run errands.

“Don’t you want to go see Fredbear on stage?” Afton pointed over his shoulder where other children had gathered to watch Fredbear perform. “Or... or go play with the other kids?”

Evan shook his head and whimpered softly.

“He’s scary,” he said softly.

“Scary?” Afton chuckled. “Evan, it’s only an animatronic. He can’t hurt you. Go play. Look, they’re all dancing and having fun, go join them.”

Evan shook his head again.

“Don’t wanna,” he said.

Afton sighed and opened his mouth a few times as if trying to figure out what to say. His watch suddenly beeped, and he checked it, sighing again. He needed to get back to work or he’d be stuck there until they closed.

“Ok,” he finally said as he dug through his pockets. “Ok... here.” He pulled out a bag of tokens. “Take these and just... play in the arcade for now. I’ll come get you when it’s time to go, ok? Maybe you can win a cool prize like one of those stuffed animals you’ve been talking about.”

Evan’s face lit up as he took the bag, and he hugged Afton.

“Thanks, Dad,” he said before running off. Afton watched him leave before heading back to work.

The puppet would keep an eye on Evan...

Dawkguard’s eyes were wide as he watched the animatronic monster of his father enter the room. His father’s words almost seemed to mock him more than ever now. It’s just an animatronic. It can’t hurt you.

Bullcrap.

Dawkguard knew better than anyone just how much those things could hurt...

“Dawky!”

Dawkguard looked over and saw Dawktrap rushing towards him.

“Dawky, are you ok? Did it work?” Dawktrap pulled out a purple handkerchief and wiped the blood off of Dawkguard’s face.

“I’m ok,” Dawkguard smiled. “Just tired. I... I’m sorry. I’m sorry he hurt you...”

“Don’t apologize for that tosser,” Dawktrap frowned. “Look, I need you to find a place to hide while we fight him. We’ll come get you when it’s safe again, ok?”

I’ll come get you when it’s time to go, ok?

Dawkguard blinked and nodded slowly. Dawktrap helped him stand up and led him back to the hallway, watching Dawkguard carefully as he walked off. He then turned around and went back to the others. Bawko was already notching another arrow.

“How are we doing this?” Bawko asked. “You know the most about him...”

“I don’t know,” Dawktrap sighed. “This Miscreation is much different than the one from the books.”

“How did it die in the books?” Bawko took aim.

“The puppet did,” said Dawtrap. “But we-”

His eyes widened. Poopet! Could Poopet be the one to bring Afton down? But... in the books, the puppet had sacrificed himself in order to do so...

“We can’t,” Dawktrap shook his head. “I’m not letting my brother die so that we can defeat this monster.”

“Agreed,” Bawko shot his arrow, nailing Afton in one of his eyes. “We’ll find another way...”

Dawkguard had changed his path as soon as Dawkguard had run off. Everyone was safe and accounted for except for one: Poopet. He needed to make sure that Poopet was ok...

Dawkguard stumbled back to the room that held the bodies, seeing Madpat checking over a different ego this time. This ego was male and blonde, and Madpat was staring at him as if he’d just seen a ghost.

“Host...” Dawkguard knelt down next to Host. “Host, wake up. How do I save Poopet?”

“Dawkguard?” Madpat moved closer. “You ok?”

“Hush, TD, I need to listen,” Dawkguard shook Host. “Host!”

“TD?” ‘Madpat’ took a step back. “Wh-Wha-”

“They told me the truth, but I don’t care right now,” Dawkguard shook Host again. “Host! Wake up!”

Host’s hand twitched, and he groaned as he slowly wiped at his bleeding sockets.

“Th-The Host... is awake,” he said in a strained voice. “The Host... knows... h-how to save... Poopet...”

“Please tell me,” Dawkguard said. “I’ll clean your whole office if you do.”

Host gave a wheezing chuckle.

“Evan Afton... does not need to,” he said. “The magic... lies in Poopet’s mask. If Evan Afton removes it... Poopet will be free of William Afton’s control...”

“Do you know where Poopet is now?” Dawkguard asked.

“Poopet... is heavily damaged,” said Host. “William Afton did it so that Poopet... could not be used against him. He is... he was thrown down an elevator shaft... and now lies in the basement...”

“The basement...” Dawkguard repeated. “Easy enough, I just need to keep going down.”

“Evan Afton needs to be careful,” said Host. “He is more important... than he thinks...”

Dawkguard leaned down to hug Host, and tried to wipe the blood from Host’s face.

“Thank you,” he said. “Stay here and recover. TD will keep an eye on you.”

“The Host knows that The Detective will,” Host smiled slightly. “Good luck, Evan Afton.”

“Watch out!”

The Dragon Witch grabbed Roman and flew him out of the way of Afton’s attack. The Miscreation had started attacking anyone that it could see. While they were trying to fight back, it was difficult. The Miscreation had many different attacks up its metal sleeves...

“We need a plan,” Roman said. “I wish we had Logan, he always made the best plans-”

Dragon Witch shouted in pain as a metal pole suddenly speared her through the chest, She crashed to the ground, and Roman watched her fade into nothing.

“Dragon Witch!” He cried out.

While she wasn’t exactly dead, she had been sent back to Roman’s imagination, and he would not be able to summon her again for some time...

Still, she was his friend, and Afton had just killed her.

“You monster-” Roman was suddenly grabbed by a length of cable and slammed into the floor. Afton laughed as he pushed down and dragged Roman across it, leaving a slight trail of blood in his wake.

Another arrow hit one of Afton’s joints, forcing him to let Roman go. He roared as he picked up a nearby forklift and threw it. Bawko barely managed to get out of the way in time, dropping an arrow as he scrambled away.

Dawktrap tried a glitch attack, but Afton’s software was locked down tightly and impenetrable. For his trouble, Dawktrap was thrown across the warehouse and into some wooden crates. Darko rushed over to help him, sending out his own attacks as he did so.

Afton laughed as he moved closer to where Dawktrap had landed. He ignored the other two, wanting to snuff out Dawktrap and Darko first. He reared his arms back, extending his claws even further, and then thrust them forward to tear right through them-

A wall of shadow appeared, and his hands struck it, unable to get through.

“Huh?” Dawktrap slowly got up form where he’d fallen. “What’s...”

A high pitched tone filled the room, sounding as if their ears were ringing, and then a man appeared.

Darkiplier looked up at Afton with murder in his eyes.

“That... is quite enough,” he growled.

Chapter Text

“This has to be it,” Dawkguard said as he came down the stairs. “I can’t go down any lower- yes!”

He spotted a door that bore a sign that said ‘East Basement’. He eagerly rushed to it and threw it open... only to freeze in terror.

The entire basement... was pitch black as far as the eye could see. Dawkguard swallowed heavily and moved back, closing the door in front of him with a whine. He pressed his back against the wall and gripped his flashlight tightly.

“Oh, sugar... spice, and everything nice!” He whimpered. “Why? Just why?! Why this? Why does it have to be so fffffffreaking dark in there?”

He pressed a hand to his chest, feeling his heart flutter beneath it. Of course it had to be pitch black in there. Why else would it be easy for the boy who had a crippling fear of the dark?

“Come on,” he lightly smacked his cheeks. “I can do this. Do it for Poopet. Do it for Poopet!”

He took a deep breath and steeled himself as he opened the door again. He clicked his flashlight on and let the beam move over piles of scrap and crates and garbage. He let the door close with a loud thud that echoed against the walls.

“J... J-Just keep swimming,” he said softly. “Just... Just k-keep swimming...”

He slowly moved forward, moving his flashlight around. His hands shook so hard, that the beam of light was moving with them. Still, he held that flashlight as if it were a weapon.

“You can do this,” he whispered to himself. “You’ve faced Freddy and the gang. You went up against Circus Baby. You even survived the Toy Animatronics. You can... you can survive this too. It’s just... j-just... just darkness-”

He screamed when he heard a crash nearby. He nearly dropped his flashlight when he turned to shine it towards the noise.

“Wh-what was... huh?”

He saw Poopet drop to the floor, hissing low as he slowly approached Dawkguard. Dawkguard’s eyes zeroed in on the mask. Host had told him to remove it. Seemed simple enough...

“Poopet,” he said. “Hold still. I need to take that mask off...”

Poopet growled and lashed out, striking Dawkguard across the face with one of his strings. A thin line of blood appeared on Dawkguard’s cheek and began to drip. Dawkguard cried out in pain and press a hand to his injury.

“P-Poopet?” He said. “Why... why are you...?”

Poopet lunged forward, but Dawkguard quickly activated his aura and shined his flashlight into Poopet’s eyes. Poopet reared back with a roar, spindly hands moving to cover his eyes. Dawkguard turned and ran as fast as he could.

Poopet was listening to him anymore. Afton must have done something! Dawkguard had left the room, Afton could have done anything to him after that...

Regardless, Dawkguard had mission. He had to get that mask off, but how? Poopet was deadly, and Dawkguard didn’t have the power to go against him. Dawkguard hid behind some crates and turned his flashlight. The darkness around him felt suffocating, but he didn’t dare turn his light back on. Poopet would find him.

He could hear Poopet growling and angrily moving around to find him, throwing things around the large basement. Poopet roared in anger, and Dawkguard flinched at the loud crash that came after it. He had to get Poopet to hold still somehow. He knew about Poopet’s music box, Dawktrap had told him. But the music box wasn’t here. What could he do? He struggled to think, and then he remembered something.

Dawkguard was making his way through Ballora’s gallery. He hummed to himself as he read over the instructions for the new breaker box. He was so focused, that he didn’t notice someone sneaking up on him until a hand grabbed his shoulder.

Dawkguard screamed and whirled around, looking for who had grabbed him.

“Up here.”

Dawkguard looked up and saw... Ballora hanging from the ceiling, looking like a spider with her long limbs.

“Oh,” Dawkguard sighed in relief. “M-Miss Ballora! You scared me...”

“Sorry,” Ballora dropped down to the floor. “You scare so easily, little one.”

“Yeah...” Dawkguard blushed slightly. “I know... Wait, why are you out here? Shouldn’t you be dancing on stage?”

“My music box is broken,” Ballora gave a sound that was similar to a sigh. “My dancing program will only activate when it’s playing. Otherwise, I cannot dance at all...”

“I’m sorry,” Dawkgaurd said. “Maybe I can look at it?”

“No,” Ballora shook her head. “But there is something else that you can do. My programming doesn’t need the music box itself, only the melody. I heard you humming it. Could you hum it again?”

“Oh,” Dawkguard smiled. “Sure.”

He cleared his throat and began to hum Ballora’s Lullaby. Ballora’s feet and legs shifted until she was balanced on her tiptoes. With a joyful laugh, she began to dance.

Dawkguard kept humming her lullaby, watching her dance around. She soon grabbed him and asked him to dance with her.

Dawkguard gasped. That was it! Ballora and Poopet had been made by the same man. Surely their programming was similar enough. But humming would be too soft, Dawkguard needed to be louder. Poopet’s song was an actual song, Dawkguard knew. He'd heard that song before... somewhere.

The crates by him suddenly went flying, and Poopet leaned down into Dawkguard’s face with a snarl. Dawkguard tried to get up and run, but Poopet wrapped his strings around Dawkguard’s ankle and pulled him back.

As Dawkguard struggled, he tried to remember where he had heard that song before. It sounded so familiar, but where had he heard it?!

Poopet gathered his strings and went for the back of Dawkguard’s neck-

“Ninety years without slumbering, tick tock, tick tock. His life seconds numbering, tick tock, tick tock. But It stopped, short never to go again. When the old man died...”

Dawkguard continued to sing as Poopet’s movements stilled and then he slowly began to slump. Dawkguard could see his eyes closing, and he grabbed onto the mask. With a mighty tug, it pulled free, and Dawkguard dropped it on the floor.

Poopet gasped and shook his head as Dawkguard stopped singing. He dropped Dawkguard to the floor and gripped his head as if in pain. His eyes widened as he realized what had happened.

“Oh god,” he said. “What have I done?”

Dawkguard finally remembered where he’d heard Poopet’s song before. Afton had sung it to him as a lullaby...

Chapter Text

“What the devil is this thing?!” Wilford shouted as he aimed his gun.

“Who cares, just shoot it!” Dark shouted back at him, hanging off of one of the support beams in the rafters. “Use all that you have, this one is very powerful!”

“Its joints are a weak spot!” Bawko yelled as he notched another arrow.

He aimed it as Roman sat at his feet. The prince was busy healing himself, but it was taking time due to him not being at full power. He needed help. He needed...

His eyes widened, and he stood up before stumbling away.

“Roman!” Bawko called after him. “Where are you going?”

“I have an idea!” Roman said. “I just... I just need Remus for it...”

Bawko looked confused, but then he quickly had to move to dodge another projectile.

Poopet could remember what had happened from the moment that Afton had put that mask on him. He’d been forced to watch, unable to do anything else but obey, as Afton made him hurt and enslave so many people, including his dear brothers.

Speaking of brothers...

Poopet knew that this kid was Dawkguard, the youngest of their family. He didn’t look like much, but Poopet remembered that Dawkguard’s usual uniform was a security uniform, and he’d worked as a guard at Freddy’s. There was also one last thing that put Poopet on edge.

Dawkguard had been able to control him just like Afton did.

Poopet grabbed Dawkguard by the front of his shirt and lifted him into the air. Dawkguard cried out and latched onto Poopet’s thin wrists. His eyes were wide and full of fear as he looked up into Poopet’s glaring face. His real face and not the mask.

“Something is not right with you,” Poopet hissed. “I know you are Dawkguard, and you are one of our creator’s egos... but you were also able to control me. The magic in that mask should have only worked with Afton. Why did it work for you too?”

“I-I...” Dawkguard tried to think of something to say. What could he say that would be believable?

“You should not have been able to control me,” Poopet repeated, sounding like he was thinking hard. “Why were you... unless... no!” His eyes narrowed dangerously. “Unless you have Afton’s blood. You must be related to him somehow!”

Dawkguard sighed heavily, feeling scared at what he was about to confess.

“I... I’m actually his... his s-son,” he said. He had no choice. Poopet was already suspicious.

Poopet blinked at this news. He knew Afton had kids, he’d met them while working there. Michael was a jerk, Lizzie was always getting into things that were off limits, and then... there was Evan who mostly kept to himself.

So which one was he currently holding in his claws? Well, it didn’t really matter....

“You... you’re helping him, aren’t you?” Poopet asked. “This... this was all a trick!”

“What?” Dawkguard began to struggle, legs swinging in the empty air. “No! No, I’m-”

“Afton’s son,” Poopet shook him. “It all makes sense. Why he decided to let you wander around instead of putting you in an animatronic. Why he didn’t just kill you and be done with it! You’re working for him! You're going to betray us all, aren’t you?”

His voice rose in volume, and his eyes flashed brighter in his rage. Dawkguard couldn’t exactly blame him. This was the whole reason why Dawkguard had not wanted anyone to know. He had been afraid of a reaction like this. And with Poopet... Dawkguard didn’t blame him considering what Afton had done to him. Poopet was just scared and thinking of his brothers. Maybe he could convince Poopet that he was no threat?

“Poopet,” he said. “Please listen to me. I’m not-”

“Shut up!” Poopet wrapped his hands around Dawkguard’s neck and squeezed. “Afton took everything from me and made me hurt my brothers! Well now, I’m going to hurt him. And I’ll take everything from him so that he can feel the pain he inflicted on me! And I’ll start with his beloved son. Whatever games and tricks you played, you will no longer play on my family. I will not let them get hurt again!”

Dawkguard wheezed and struggled to breathe as Poopet tightened his grip and cut off his air completely. Dawkguard tried to pry Poopet’s fingers away, but they held strong. Poopet’s eyes were still full of rage as he watched him suffer.

Dawkguard tried to speak, tried to plead his case, but any words he tried to speak came out as strangled sounds. The light of his flashlight was beginning to fade, and he couldn’t tell if it was the light itself or his vision. His twitching hands finally fell to his sides as his eyes began to close...

Darkiplier had fought his share of enemies in his life, but this was definitely one of the tougher ones.

The Miscreation was well built and heavily padded with all kinds of scrap. The claws were lethal and a few swipes had taken out several beams and the roof was starting to creak. Dark did not like that at all, but they couldn’t just leave the others behind. He had to end this quickly or get the others to safety...

He needed someone to take them back to the safehouse before-

“TEAM CINNAMON ROLL!”

Dark turned to see a green and yellow streak rush past and leap over the safety rail to land right on Afton’s head. It was JS! She looked very angry as she went for the eye that had been damaged by Bawko’s arrow. She reached in and ripped it completely out, making Afton screech in agony and try to shake her off. JS held on tightly, but Afton yanked her off with one of his cables. Dawktrap caught her as she fell and set her down.

“What’s the plan?” JS asked.

“Bring him down at all costs,” said Dawktrap.

“Got it!” JS cracked her knuckleds and charged back into the fray.

Dark stared. Well, that was actually pretty helpful.

And then someone else ran past him.

This ego was one that Dark had never seen before. A very tall ego dressed in what looked like a black and white king’s outfit. He had one red eye and one green eye, a large sword and shield, and a crown on his head. One red and one green sash crossed over his chest.

Afton lashed out, but the new ego raised his shield and blocked the attack. He then swung with his sword, managing to cut off one of Afton’s fingers.

“Well there’s something you don’t see every day,” Wilford said as he aimed his gun again.

Chapter Text

My Darlings... did you all forget my warning from the first story? About what happens to favorites?

Chapter Text

Was... was he crying?

This child... Afton’s cursed spawn...

Michael or Evan... or did he have another one later?

No. It was just a bodily reaction to being strangled.

This child was from an evil man, he couldn’t possibly be able to actually cry, lest they’re crocodile tears-

BANG!

Poopet cried out in pain and dropped Dawkguard to the ground, blood pouring form his hand. Dawkguard gasped and wheezed and retched as he struggled to pull air back into his lungs. He weakly crawled away, and Poopet reached down to grab him again.

“That is enough!”

Poopet hissed as he straightened and looked up. Dawkguard had taken his flashlight with him, but the man who had shot Poopet has his own light. A pink light.

“You...” Poopet said. “You were one of the first that monster created. Why are you helping his son? You should be just as angry as I am, and you should want to hurt him-”

“I want nothing of the sort,” Wilford stepped closer, his light growing and surrounding them. “I am not in the business of killing innocents.”

“Innocent?!” Poopet laughed. “Do you have any idea who that child is? He bears the blood of William Afton. He is that monster’s creation-”

“As are you,” Wilford said. “So I suppose that makes you evil too?”

Poopet hissed again, strings writhing like snakes. Whoever this man was, he was not winning Poopet’s favor. He must be mad. To think that they could trust letting Afton’s spawn go free. The child had to be doing something for Afton if the man hadn’t killed him yet. After all, Afton never batted an eye at child murder before...

“That’s different!” Poopet snarled. “I had no choice!”

“Oh, and I suppose he did?” Wilford tilted his head. “If you would have bothered to talk to him, you might learn a few things. If I know my FNAF lore correctly, and I believe I do... Afton had two sons. One of them ended up a literal walking corpse that was rotten and decaying. But the other one... well, he expired at a much younger age, did he not?”

“What is the point of telling me things I already know?” Poopet asked.

“Do use your brain,” Wilford sighed heavily. “The child there... little Dawkguard... is not a homo necrosis. So, that means...”

“It means he’s the other son,” Poopet rolled his eyes. “It means, he’s... he’s... wait, no! That’s impossible! Evan Afton died! I was there that day! I had to clear out the restaurant and make a path for the paramedics, and I saw them... and I heard later that...”

He shook his head.

“Even if he is Evan Afton, he is still Afton’s son,” he said. “He still cannot be trusted!”

“He is not just Afton’s son,” said Wilford. “He is also Lewis’s creation... and your brother.”

Poopet huffed. He hated Afton with every fiber of his being. He'd been betrayed and murdered and controlled before, and he’d do anything to keep it from happening to him again, or to his brothers. If Afton had a son, they could not risk it.

And yet...

Poopet remembered little Evan Afton. The child was painfully shy and always nervous about something. But Poopet always got a smile whenever he gave Evan the one of the stickers that he kept in the security office. Evan did eventually warm up to him... slightly. He was no longer so nervous around him, he’d even wave and say ‘Hello Mr. Fritz’ whenever he passed the security office to go see Afton.

Poopet had always figured that Michael would end up as delinquent, but with Evan... Poopet had hope that Evan would turn out ok. That he wouldn’t be like his brother.

And then on that day... he’d seen Michael and his friends carrying a struggling Evan towards Fredbear. He’d had to wait for the other guard to get back before he could leave the office, costing him precious seconds. Before he could get to the stage, he’d heard a sound that still haunted him to this day. The sound of bones shattering and metal grinding and snapping shut, and then the screaming started.

And little Evan Afton was no more...

Poopet suddenly blinked, realizing that he’d started tearing up. He took a breath and straightened up.

“I don’t care,” he said.

“I think you do,” Wilford said. “You’re scared... and it nearly caused a tragedy the likes of which your brothers would forever hate you for. You’re scared for yourself, and for them. But you don’t have to be. Dawkguard would never harm another soul. I have seen him, and I know. He cannot fool the likes of me. Not when I can see and hear more than you think...”

Poopet was still hesitant. He was starting to second guess himself, but the pain and the suffering he’d experienced at Afton’s hands told him to not fall for it. Don’t open himself up to be enslaved again...

But... if the others had accepted Dawkguard, then... maybe Poopet was wrong? Maybe Dawkguard really was innocent in all of this. Maybe he really didn’t want anything to do with his father.

Poopet pressed his hands over his mouth as the weight of what he’d almost done finally hit him. His tears fell freely this time, and he quickly looked around for Dawkguard.

“Where is he?” He whispered.

Wilford’s light brightened, revealing that Dawkguard was crying quietly and curled up against a nearby crate. Even in the pink light, Poopet could see the bruises forming on Dawkgaurd’s neck. Poopet swallowed a sob and walked closer to Dawkguard.

“Dawkguard?” He asked. “E-Evan?”

Dawkguard sniffled and looked up at him, but made no move to get up. Poopet sunk to his knees, looking and feeling immensely guilty.

“I... I am so sorry,” he said. “I-I... I didn’t know... and I was scared... and I was afraid for my brothers, but... but that’s no excuse. I should never have hurt you. Especially after you were the one who saved me.”

He was silent for a moment, and Dawkguard’s crying quieted down.

“I let my hatred for Afton blind me, and I should not have done that,” Poopet looked away. “I don’t expect you to forgive me, but I hope-”

His eyes widened when he felt Dawkguard wrap his arms him, hugging him warmly.

Dawkguard knew how fear worked. He knew how hatred worked. He’d felt them plenty of times before. He knew that they changed you. That they caused you to hurt the ones who were not the reason for such feelings. Most importantly, he knew about Poopet’s suffering. And he didn’t blame his brother for one moment.

Besides, Poopet could always make it up to him later...

“Dawkguard,” Poopet sounded shocked. “What are you...”

He trailed off when Dawkguard let him go. Dawkguard dug in his pocket and pulled out... a Foxy sticker. He peeled it off and stuck it to Poopet’s cheek, the same place that Dawkguard had worn his stickers when he was Evan.

“Hello, Mr. Fritz,” He smiled.

Poopet felt a fresh wave of tears as he chuckled at Dawkguard’s words. He pulled Dawkguard in for another hug.

Chapter Text

King Julius was surprised that Roman and Remus could still fuse.

While they had done it before, they had been intangible then, still part of Thomas. Now they were physical and had actual bodies.

And they still slotted together perfectly as they had before...

King Julius kept his shield up, protecting himself and others from Afton’s attacks. Afton seemed to realize that he was slowly becoming outnumbered, so he roared loudly and then reached inside himself. He pulled something out and dropped it to the ground. It stood up, and they saw it was tall, wore a hooded black cloak, and had some kind of demented white grinning mask.

It also had a huge knife.

It cackled and lunged at Darko. Dawktrap saw it and frowned.

“Oh sugar...” he said. “The bloody Stitchwraith...”

Afton roared again and slammed his fist down on King Julius. King Julius brought his shield up, but was nearly flattened against the floor. Afton then spat a glob of shadow at Dark. The shadow formed into a spectral Bonnie animatronic, and it latched onto Dark’s shadow aura. Dark grunted in anger and tried to shake it off, but it held on, draining power from Dark’s aura.

The roof creaked again.

Wilford reappeared, looking around and noticing the new enemies that had joined the battle. Poopet was right behind him, carrying Dawkguard as he moved along the ceiling with his strings.

“Wilford!” Dark called out to them. “Get the survivors out of here! The place is at risk of collapsing-”

He jerked when the Shadow Bonnie pulled him away. Dark turned and began to fight it as best as he could. He couldn’t use his aura fully since it seemed to only strengthen his enemy.

“Oh dear,” Wilford looked up at the roof.

“Dawkguard, go with him,” Poopet set him down.

“But-” Dawkguard was about to argue.

“Please,” said Poopet. “Go with him. I’ll help your brothers.”

Dawkguard wanted to stay, but he nodded and ran after Wilford. Poopet turned to glare at Afton. He growled low and jumped into the fray.

“Afton, I’m going to murder you!” He shouted.

Afton turned to look at him and made a laughing sound. It almost sounded like Freddy’s laughter...

He let his strings fly and then lunged.

“TD!” Dawkguard entered the room. “TD, we gotta get them out of here!”

“TD?” Wilford looked at the other ego who was smiling nervously.

“Um... surprise?” He said.

“I’ll yell at you later,” Wilford shook his head. “Help me with them. How many do we have?”

“Um...” TD took a tally. “Seven?”

“I can’t summon portals,” Wilford groaned. “I can only teleport. Grab one and hold onto me with the other hand, this will take a few trips, and we’ll need to get them set up with in the infirmary.”

“Got it,” Dawkguard took Logan’s hand while TD took the hand of a long haired blonde ego that Dawkguard had never met before.

Wilford summoned his magic, and they disappeared.

“You utter tosser!” Dawktrap swiped his knife, but endoskeletons were so thin that it was hard to get a good hit on it.

Stitchwraith giggled at him, sounding deranged, and matched Dawktrap’s attacks with his own knife. Unlike the endoskeleton, Dawktrap had layers of muscle and fat and soft skin for him to slash and stab. It did manage to get a good hit in, stabbing the broken and sharp end of one of its arms into Dawktrap’s shoulder.

Dawktrap cried out in pain, but grabbed Stitchwraith’s arm to hold it in place. He then began to stab every part of the endoskeleton that he could reach, and Stitchwraith began to spark and glitch until it finally died.

Dawktrap pressed a hand over his shoulder and backed up to take cover. He saw Dark fighting Shadow Bonnie and glanced at Darko. Darko’s aura was Shadow Freddy, so... if Dark didn’t kill that thing, it was probably going to come after Darko next. He turned to talk to Darko, but a large shipping crate went flying towards them, and they had to dodge it.

Puppet was using every string he safely could, and burrowing them inside every nook and cranny of the Miscreation that he could. He yanked on every wire and piece of hardware that he could, trying to bring the giant animatronic down. Afton swiped his claws and sliced through a good bulk of the strings. Poopet cried out in pain, withdrawing what was left of the severed strings.

But he didn’t give up. Afton was not going to leave this place alive. He’d make sure of it.

The roof creaked louder.

“Grab him!”

Dawkguard tried to drag over an ego that was dressed like a superhero, but the ego was incredibly heavy. Wilford instead had TD carry his ego over to Dawkguard. TD was holding Beau.

“We need to make sure that someone tells Elijah before we leave to come back here again,” he said. “He was losing his mind before we left in the first place.”

“Fine, just hurry over here,” Wilford held his hand out. “I have the worst feeling that something bad is about to happen. Good thing we only have one more after this...”

They once again vanished.

King Julius leapt and swung his sword, taking off half of one of Afton’s hands. The damaged hand sparked and the fingers went dead. Afton roared and then slammed his other hand down on the king again. King Julius rolled out of the way and then ran up the arm to Afton’s face. Another good swing took off the Miscreation’s lower jaw. Before King Julius could leap away, oil dripping cables shot from the open mouth and grabbed him in midair.

Dark was getting tired. This damn thing kept draining his aura, and Dark had yet to kill it. He needed to finish it off quickly. Only problem was that he couldn’t use his aura or it would be drained again. So Dark fell upon his... less elegant attacks. Damien had taken boxing lessons in life and Celine fought like a wild animal. Combine the two, and Dark was able to attack and defend against Shadow Bonnie well enough.

He froze when he heard the roof creak again, looking up at it with wide eyes.

Shadow Bonnie saw his opportunity, and he lunged forward-

“GET OFF OF HIM!”

A bright light suddenly engulfed Shadow Bonnie, and he screeched as he began to burn away. He tried to get away, but Dark held him still and kept him in the light. When Shadow Bonnie finally vanished, the light was turned off... and Dark could see that Dawkguard was the one holding the flashlight.

“That’s how we do it at Freddy’s!” Dawkguard cheered and then looked around to see who he could help next.

As he did so, a horrible grinding and crashing sound came from overhead, and they were all showered with dust and dirt.

“Everyone out now!” Dark shouted.

King Julius used his sword to break the lock and chains on one of the doors, and he opened it to let everyone out. Dark grabbed Dawkguard and quickly ran after them all. Afton tried to grab them as they did so, but Dark slipped by and Afton roared in anger.

The roof finally caved in, burying Afton and the Miscreation beneath the rubble.

Chapter Text

Get ready.

You sure?

Positive.

Come on! Let’s get this guy! The runners are the most annoying of them all...

Chill. Just a little longer.... and... now!

Chapter Text

“Is everyone ok?” Dark looked around. “Did everyone get out?”

He did a quick headcount as he spoke, looking over everyone for any life-threatening injuries. No one seemed to have any, some minor ones but nothing fatal...

“That’s everyone,” said Dawkguard. “Um... and you can put me down now, Dark.”

“Oh!” That’s right, he was still holding Dawkguard. “Sorry.”

He set Dawkguard down and then looked back at the collapsed building. That was a lot of debris that came crashing down, and anyone inside would not have survived... unless by some miracle. But Dark couldn’t shake the feeling that it wasn’t over just yet.

“Show of hands,” he said. “Who thinks that Afton is dead now?”

He looked around at the others. JS raised her hand, but paused and then slowly lowered it when she saw that no one else was raising theirs. Dark nodded and sighed. They had to make sure Afton was dead, and if he wasn’t, they’d have to kill him there.

“How do we kill him, then?” Dark asked. “You guys make is sound like it’s impossible.”

“Killing him isn’t the problem,” said Dawktrap. “The problem is making him stay dead. He’s been killed over and over again in various ways, but he kept coming back each time. Even if this thing did kill him, which I doubt it did, he’d just come back later...”

“So as much as I hate to say it,” Darko sighed. “We’re gonna have to dig him out. But at least he won’t be able to put up much of a fight. He has to be pretty beat up now. Even the Miscreation couldn’t take that much abuse.”

“How did the Miscreation die?” Dawkguard asked.

“The puppet combined itself with the thing and tore it apart from the inside,” said Dawktrap. “And then the pieces were dumped into a lake. Afton drowned... and so did Charlie.”

“Charlie?” Dawkguard asked. “Who’s Charlie?”

“Her story is a Bonnie of a different color,” Dawktrap gave a dismissive wave. “Let’s focus on Afton. Come on, Dark. I’m gonna need your help.”

“I’ll help too,” JS came forward.

“Like hell am I going to let you do this alone,” said Poopet.

The whole crowd of egos carefully moved closer to the rubble. They couldn’t see any sign of Afton, but they knew better than to assume that they were safe. They weren’t entirely sure what they would even do to him, but they at least wanted to find him first.

Dark had decided to at least use his aura to lift the roof off... when there was movement in the rubble. The crowd watched as a hand surfaced and then a body slowly began to pull itself out. It was Afton, and he looked awful. He was missing the eye that JS had torn out and the fingers that King Julius had cut off. He was also covered in bruises and gashes, and blood dripped from his mouth.

He gave them all a manic look and then laughed loudly.

“Did you really think this would kill me?” He crawled from the rubble and sat back on his heels, not having the strength to stand. “You think it will make a difference? Go ahead! Kill me now! I’ll just come back! I always come back!”

“You’re a degenerate,” Dark hissed. “And coming from me... that says a lot about you.”

Afton laughed, coughing and spitting out blood. He then gasped slightly when he saw Dawkguard.

“Evan,” he began to crawl towards him. “E-Evan!”

There was a myriad of growls and hisses as the egos surrounded Evan, shielding him from Afton. Dark was in the front, arms held out to his sides slightly and murder in his eyes. Afton paused, and before he could move again, a black and white circle appeared under him.

“What the-” Afton looked down with wide eyes, feeling an immense power. He then grunted as chains sprouted from the ground and wrapped around him. Afton struggled, but the chains held him in place on his knees.

“Found you...”

Another ego appeared. It was a woman with dark hair and a black and white suit. She walked around Afton, making sure he was ensnared tightly, and then she smiled and pat his head.

“You were a pain and a half to track down,” she said. “Let me guess... the Entity taught you how to shield from us? You’re going to regret that. Unus gets very angry when people run...”

“Unus?” Dark asked.

“Unus!” Dawktrap looked excited.

King Julius unfused and Roman moved closer.

“You know Unus?” He asked. “Do you know Annus as well? How do you know them?”

“It’s my job,” said the ego. “My name is Valete. I am the Record Keeper. I keep track of the ones who die and the ones who are born. Unus told me there was a man named William Afton who always managed to escape him, so I’ve been working hard to track him down for Unus to grab.”

As she spoke, there was a flash of light, and Unus and Annus appeared.

“Annus?” Valete raised an eyebrow. “Why are you here? We only need Unus to collect him.”

“I know some of these people,” Annus shrugged. “I wanted to say hi. Hi guys!”

“Hi Annus!” said the egos who knew him. “Hi Unus!”

“Hey, how’s Madpat doing?” Annus asked. “Is he doing ok?”

“There’s been a few... misfortunes,” said Dawktrap. “But he’s doing much better now. Hey, turns out, he’s got brothers. He was over the Moondrop about it!”

“Awe, that’s great!” Unus smiled. He then frowned and turned to Afton. “Now to business. You... have made me very angry. And as much as I would love to be the one to choose your punishment, ancient law dictates that any surviving heirs must choose.” He glanced over at Dawkguard. “Unless he chooses to forfeit that right. Then we’ll choose for him.”

Dawkguard gasped softly.

“M-Me?” he asked. “I-I have to choose w-what happens to h-him?”

“Unless you don’t want to,” Valete said gently. “Then Unus will choose.”

There was a beat of silence as Dawkguard thought it over.

“Evan,” Afton said. “Evan, you wouldn’t... wouldn’t let them hurt me. Not your father-”

“Don’t.”

“Oh sugar,” Dawktrap took a step back from Dawkguard.

“Don’t you dare,” Dawkguard stepped out from behind the others. “Don’t you dare try to manipulate me like that. Are you really trying to play the family card? After everything that’s happened to me?”

“You brat,” Afton snapped. “Are you still hung up on something that happened all those years ago? How was that my fault? You owe me!”

“Owe you?!” Dawkguard’s eyes flashed, and he moved closer. “What do I possibly owe you for?!”

“I’m your father!” Afton snarled. “I raised you!”

“You didn’t do anything!” Dawkguard yelled back. “How many times did I go to you about Michael? About how much he was hurting and scaring me? And you did nothing about it! That is not what a father does. He doesn’t favor one son over the other!”

“Should we stop this?” Annus whispered to Valete.

“Nah, let him have his closure,” she said. “He won’t get another chance.”

“I did not favor Michael-”

“Yes, you did!” Dawkguard said. “You loved him more because he didn’t cry as much as I did! You never punished him for what he did to me!”

“You are still far too sensitive,” said Afton. “He was just doing what siblings do! They tease each other! He wasn’t some delinquent!”

“HE KILLED ME!” Dawkguard screamed. He breathed harshly to recover and continued. “He killed me. And you still defend him! You still say it was all harmless fun! You say he was my sibling? Well, you were my father... and I needed you. You never stood up for me. And even if this wasn’t about me, you are a cruel psychotic murderer! You make me ashamed of my name! Ashamed to be your son! And I would be doing everyone a disservice to let you live...”

Afton huffed, but said nothing, glaring at Dawkguard. Dawkguard growled at him.

“I’ve decided,” he said. “I know what I want his punishment to be.”

“Yes?” Unus stepped forward? “What is it?”

“Put him in a springlock suit,” Dawkguard’s tone was ice cold. “For the rest of eternity. The same one that he died in.”

Afton paled, and his eyes went wide as he remembered just how painful that particular death had been. The others all looked at each other in shock, not expecting sweet little Dawkguard to choose such a harsh punishment.

“Wow...” even Remus was surprised.

“So be it,” Unus finally said. “And don’t worry. We have him now... so he’ll never be able to escape us again. Let’s get him out of here.”

“Nice to see you guys again,” Annus smiled. “Tell Madpat we said ‘hi’.”

“W-Wait!” Afton struggled. “Evan! Evan don’t let them... Evan!”

Dawkguard maintained eye contact as Afton vanished with the others. The dust settled, and silence settled in. Dawkguard closed his eyes, refusing to shed a tear for that man. His brothers walked closer, setting a hand on his shoulder and looking concerned.

“You ok, Dawky?” Bawko asked.

Dawkguard took a deep breath and opened his eyes again. He smiled at his brothers.

“Yeah,” he said. “Yeah... I think I’m gonna be fine...”

Chapter Text

How about a small break before we get to the ending?

I saw you guys talking about Actor and Afton, so let's have a little chat about the villains of Strays, Audience, and Purge. You've all seen them rise, you've seen them fall, you've seen them get their just dessert... but who did you enjoy the most? Who was the most interesting to you? Who was written the best? Whose comeuppance was the most satisfying? Let me know, I'm actually curious about it. Have a little chat in the comments about Actor, Xyler, and Afton.

And you want to talk about 'villains' who had redemption arcs, you can include them too. XD

Love from, The Corgi

                                             
                `+hmmh.    .hmmh+`                
               +mMMMMMm`  `mMMMMMm+               
             `yMMMMMMMM/  :MMMMMMMMy`             
             sMMMMMMMMMo  oMMMMMMMMMs             
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      `yNNms.:NMMMMMMMd`  `dMMMMMMMN:.smNNy`      
     `dMMMMMm:-hNMMNmo`    `omNMMNh-:mMMMMMd`     
     /MMMMMMMM: `::-``:+oo+:``-::` :MMMMMMMM/     
     oMMMMMMMMN`   -hMMMMMMMMy-   `NMMMMMMMMo     
     :MMMMMMMMM/  oMMMMMMMMMMMMo  /MMMMMMMMM:     
      +NMMMMMMN`.hMMMMMMMMMMMMMMs``NMMMMMMN+      
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           sMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMs           
           `hMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMh`           
            `:ymNNNNNNmdhhdmNNNNNNmy:`            
                .----.`    `.----.          

Chapter Text

“Madpat.”

Madpat yawned heavily as he turned and faced Dark. His eyes were a bit unfocused and he looked slightly dazed.

“Mmf?” He didn’t bother even opening his mouth.

“Thank you for your help,” Dark pat his shoulder and smiled. “I’m glad you decided to go after all. I wish you would have come back after bringing the others home, though. Unus and Annus showed up again. They wanted us to tell you that they say ‘hi’.”

“Huh?” Madpat looked confused.

“You look so tired,” said Dark. “Well, it makes sense, as much as you did. Go get some rest, and thanks again.”

He walked off, leaving Madpat feeling even more confused than before.

“What the...” he shook his head. “What was he...”

He froze when he turned to walk away and saw something. TD was standing there, wearing Madpat’s black leather jacket and goggles. He’s even ruffled his hair to look more like Madpat’s...

Madpat narrowed his eyes.

“I can’t believe Dark won’t let me go!” TD grumbled.

“Look, this guy is dangerous,” said Madpat. “You could get killed. And this time you won’t be able to come back. So I agree with Dark here.”

“Still,” TD sighed. “Jess was taken. I’m losing my mind over her. What if he’s hurting her?”

“Dark and the others will bring her back,” said Madpat. “Don’t worry. I know Dark can seem a bit... intense, but there’s a heart under that. He’ll make sure that everyone gets home safely...”

TD was silent for a moment, drumming his fingers against his mug.

“Why aren’t you going?” he asked. “Didn’t Dark invite you?”

“It’s too dangerous,” said Madpat. “If Afton gets me... I can do a lot of damage. I don’t want to risk that. I don’t... I don’t want to be forced to fight against them... not again...”

“Fair,” TD said. “Hey, you want the rest of my tea? It’s raspberry.”

“Ooh, I love raspberry,” Madpat grabbed the mug and took a sip.

TD cleared his throat nervously, and then rushed off, shedding the jacket and goggles as he did so.

“TD!” Madpat roared as he chased after him. “What did you do?!”

“I’m sorry!” TD yelled back, not slowing down.

“I’m just glad we all managed to get out of there without any major damage,” Dawkguard said as he sat next to Dawktrap’s bed. “And we even managed to get some other captured egos out of there too.”

Dawktrap smiled as Darko carefully helped him put on a looser shirt. Dr. Iplier had bandaged up his shoulder, and he didn’t want to disturb the bandages. Darko then helped Dawktrap put a sling on.

“Well, it’s all over now,” Dawktrap said. “Without Afton, the whole thing is probably gonna collapse. I know that Overkill ego is working on getting as much data destroyed from their systems as he can. I’m just curious as to how long it’s gonna take them to realize their boss is gone.”

“Who knows?” Darko shrugged. “Maybe Afton had other plans in place. He may have been evil, but he wasn’t stupid.”

“Well, Dark’s already said he’ll take care of anyone else who tries that again,” said Bawko. “So, we at least don’t have to worry about that.”

“It’s weird, though...” Dawkguard frowned. “I can’t help but feel like we’re forgetting something-”

His eyes widened, and he gripped his hair as he gasped loudly.

“No!” He sounded distressed. “Dawktrap, your aura! We forgot to get it back from Afton! You think maybe that nice lady will let us see Afton again, and then we can-”

“Dawky, what are you talking about?” Dawktrap summoned his aura, and Glitchtrap appeared next to his bed. “I’ve got my aura right here.”

“B-But,” Dawkguard faltered as Glitchtrap began to pat his head. “But it’s not your real one.”

“So?” Dawktrap shrugged and then winced. “Why would I want something after Afton’s had it? He could have corrupted it. Maybe could have used it to come back to life. Besides, you went through so much trouble to get me this replacement. He’s just as good as the original... if a bit clingier...”

“Really? We hadn’t noticed,” Darko gave a deadpan look as Glitchtrap began to pat his head next.

“Point is,” Dawktrap smiled. “I don’t want any other aura than this one. One that my little brother risked his life and showed his true strength over just for me. Thanks again for that, Dawky.”

Dawkguard slowly smiled back.

“You’re welcome,” he said.

Back in the infirmary, the other egos were slowly waking up...

The Savant was the first one to do so. He slowly opened his eyes and looked around in confusion.

“Wha...” he looked down at himself and began to run his hands over himself. “I’m... I’m human again? I’m not stuck in that hunk of scrap anymore?”

“Tis true,” Roman said from nearby. “We rescued you and brought you back. When you’re feeling better, you can decide to leave or officially register and stay here.”

“Where even is ‘here’?” The Savant sat up and looked around. “A hospital?”

“The infirmary of our safehouse,” Roman replied. “There’s quite a few of us staying here. You will be safe should you choose to stay as well.”

“I might as well,” Savant shrugged. “I have nowhere else to go.” He sighed. “I... I still can’t believe that awful man did this! I thought he loved me, but... he was just using me.”

“Do not despair,” Roman moved closer and set a comforting hand on Savant’s shoulder. “A broken heart can heal, and those cracks can be filled with roses. Do not give up... for love is never far away...”

Savant looked Roman up and down.

“You don’t say...” He smiled.

Anti... you can let go of me now.

Anti was holding Jameson tightly, refusing to let the gentleman go. Ever since they had successfully unfused and rested, Anti hadn’t let Jameson out of his sight.

“Hell no,” he said. “I’m not letting you get taken again.”

Anti, Jameson smiled. I’ll be fine. That scoundrel is dead now. He can no longer harm us.

He curiously looked down at his fingers.

But I suppose it’s safe to say that we have both lost our strings. Perhaps it is for the best.

“Yeah, I guess...” Anti sighed. He then grinned darkly. “Besides... I can always make my own...”

Chapter Text

“I feel... guilty,” Dawkguard said. “I mean... I know he was an awful man, but... am I just as bad for what I did? I didn’t show him any mercy. I just... I wanted him to hurt, so I gave him the best punishment I could think of...”

Emile regarded the younger ego, fingers steepled at his desk. Dawkguard had come to him about feeling guilty over something, and Emile had been happy to listen to him and offer advice.

“It’s normal to want the people who hurt us... to be hurt themselves,” he said. “But one must be careful to not let such feelings consume them, and you have not. To feel guilty does not always mean that you’ve done something wrong. It sometimes means that you are simply empathetic.”

“But... but I...” Dawkgaurd struggled. “I sentenced him to torment. I put him in the very situation that once killed him!”

“Well... I cannot exactly judge you,” Emile said. “Not even if I knew all the facts. But I can tell you that there is a fine line between justice and revenge. Justice is logic, and revenge is emotion. Revenge is also more for the feelings of the one who is enacting it as opposed to the feelings of the ones who were wronged. Did you pass this sentence because of how he hurt you... or because of the crimes that he committed?”

“I... I was angry at him because he hurt my brothers,” Dawkguard said. “And because of all the other people he hurt and killed. I was also angry at him for what he’d done to me, but... not as much. I’m more angry at my brother for that.”

“And do you feel like you made the right decision?” Emile asked. “When you consider what we talked about today?”

“I...” Dawkguard paused.

Yes, he had sentenced his father to be punished for his numerous crimes, but... had it really been his place to do so? They had offered to take that responsibility from him, to choose in his stead. Would they have done something less, or... something more? Should Dawkguard have taken the high road ad forgiven his father?

“I do,” said Dawkguard. “But I still feel bad over it.”

“Those feelings will fade,” Emile smiled. “The important thing is that you do not regret what you did. And I think these feelings come from other things that we can work on over time. The traumas you experienced... it’s not a surprise that you are having such problems...”

Dawkguard slowly smiled, feeling a bit better.

“Thanks, Dr. Picani,” he said.

TD took a deep breath as he paced around in the garden. He could do this. He could do this!

He heard someone coming down the path and smoothed his hair back before testing his breath. JS soon came into sight, looking around for him. She smiled when she saw him and walked over.

"Hi Teddy!" She said. "I got your message. You said you wanted to tell me something?"

"Yes!" TD cleared his throat. "I, uh... I wanted to... speak to you about something. Um... I... we've known each other for long time. We've... we've been through a lot. Everlock. The museum. This whole... unpleasant business with Afton. And... it's... it's really put things into perspective for me. It's made me realize that... that there's no coming back for us if... if we die. So, I... I, um... I wanted to tell you something." He took a deep breath. "Jess... Jess, I... I-I... I love you!"

Rip it off like a bandaid, just like Virgil had said.

He nervously looked at JS to see her reaction, but she didn't seem to be reacting. Oh no... had he just made a fool of himself? Did JS just see him as a friend? Oh, this was such a bad idea-

TD yelped when JS grabbed his face and pulled him down before kissing him. They broke apart and she smiled.

"I love you too, Teddy," she kissed him again.

Back in the house, Remus cackled as he watched them kiss.

"See?" He said to Roman. "I told you she would be the one to initiate the kiss! Pay up, loser."

"Curses!" Roman slapped some money into Remus's hand. "I was so sure that TD would be the one to do it."

"Oh, I knew it was going to be JS," Savant chuckled next to Roman. "You don't know her like I do. Besides, TD's too much of a gentleman to just kiss someone."

"That would have been great to know earlier!" Roman grumbled.

But he couldn't help but feel happy for them. According to Savant, their affection for each other had been very evident during the challenges they had faced before...

"Hi there! Long time no see! So... I've been meaning to give you something, but with everything going on, I wasn't able to do so before. But now that everything's ok, I can finally give it to you. So... for my special follower," Dawktrap smiled and held up a purple rabbit mask, "I'd like to give you this mask. Wear it and show the world that you are my follower... and recruit some more for me, eh? Oh, and... could you please drop the glitchy stuff? Your voice is so much lovelier without it. Have a great day, and hopefully I'll see you again soon..."