Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Sunny skipped through the forest, down a well trodden path that would lead to a comfortable cottage. A familiar place that was full of warmth and family. A place that was soothing like a good blanket just out of the dryer compared to the chaos of the plex and coldness of their former house. Sure it would be faster to take the portal but she liked the bewitched forest. It never felt threatening or frightening.

Nothing had gone right on opening day. Someone pulled the fire alarm, lots of no shows, things broke down, a trio of teens grabbed a handful of Moony and nearly got tossed through a wall. If it had been her she would have screamed.

But here? The tension of the day had melted away replaced by bubbly energy. It was hard not to be happy when she was surrounded by blooming flowers of every color, tall trees with leaf filled branches that formed a protective green canopy where all kinds of colorful birds sang.

So engrossed with lovely surroundings she didn’t notice she was being followed.

“Well, well what do we have here?”

Sunny spun around with a little scream of surprise. Standing in the shadows was Roxas but not one she recognized. It was clearly his model but this one was a muddy brown and grey and his clothing was…odd. A pair of worn black shorts and equally worn vest. The logo was torn in half

“Who are you?”

“The big bad wolf.”

“You don't look like our Roxas. Did you get lost or something?”

“Something like that.” Oh this was going to be easy. This sun was so native and innocent. “What's a pretty thing like you doing in these big scary woods all alone?” his crimson eyes roamed shamelessly over the lithe body, lingering on the swells of her breasts. That’s not what he was here for but what the Goose Mother didn’t know wouldn't hurt. He was tired of running errands for the bitch. Do that, do this. He wanted a little something for himself.

Feeling a bit uncomfortable under the predator gaze she shifted uncomfortably. “It's not scary. It's pretty and I'm not alone, not really. My sister knows I'm here.”The wolf's eyes glittered with something that made her feel even more uncomfortable. Maybe she was just imagining it? Maybe he didn't know it was rude to stare.

“I wouldn't feel right letting a pretty thing like you wander around these big old woods alone. Why don't I keep you company until you get to where you are going?” He shuffled closer.

Sunny nervously fidgeted with her ribbons. She could easily outrun the wolf if she needed to and knew the forest like the back of her hand. So far he hadn't done anything threatening or mean. He was just a bit…off putting, like he didn't have a good grasp on manners.

“I don't know..it's not that far..”

Putting on his smile he sauntered closer, thick fingers twitching. “Maybe so but I'd feel so much better if I could accompany you.” he purred softly, reaching out and gripping her arm tightly.

“Hey!Let go!” Sunny tried to jerk free, the weird sensation of millions of tiny ants crawling under her casing was extremely unpleasant. “Let go!” she kicked at him while yanking on her trapped arm. “Jerk!”

“You are not going anywhere.” Roxas snarled, tightening his grip. Excitement surged through his circuits.

Sunny yelped and tried to pull away. “I…I r-really need to…go” digging her heels in she threw her weight backwards hoping to throw her kidnapper off balance. It almost worked.

Snarling, the wolf roughly yanked on her arm, far harder than he meant to. Something in her shoulder popped sickeningly. “I haven't had a good fight in a long time. Usually they just give up.” which of course was boring but they still cried and begged. Roughly he flung her to the ground.

Fingers digging into the loamy ground Sunny desperately pulled herself forward, struggling with a semi responsive frame. There was no point in trying to call for help since there was no service but she tried to send an sos anyway.

Roxas tugged the barely resisting sun into the woods, away from prying eyes. “You can go once we are done.”

That didn’t sound sinister at all. The fear trickled in like cold oil. “S-stop..” she stumbled, weakly pawing at the vice grip on her injured arm. Pain blazed through the limb and she renewed her struggles, refusing to give up, sensing if she did something very bad would happen. “Let me go!” She grabbed a rock and flung it with all the strength she had. It impacted with the wolf’s casing, cracking it and causing the animatronic to stumble, his grip loosening. Lashing out she kicked the animatronic solely in the knee causing the joint to buckle and crack then yanked her arm away. Lurching to her feet Sunny ran in a random direction, cradling her arm.

Branches and roots moved out of her way allowing clear passage closing behind a moment later to grab at and trip the intruder, slowing him down.

“Run run as fast as you can, you aint the gingerbread man!” The wolf snarled, limping after his target. If he came back without….he knew what would happen to him. The same thing that had happened to the others except the dam Sun and Moon. Those two had run off the moment they realized what was happening. Abandoned them all.

Left them to deal with her.

“Screw you!”

Servos aching Roxas pushed his ill maintained body to its limits, sprinting across the broken ground. “Come back here you bitch!”

Sunny screamed in pain and surprise as pain burned down her back. Instead of stopping she pelted all the harder down the trail towards the cabin. Something large and dark darted past her and collided with her pursuer. She refused to look behind.

“Kill that son of a bitch!” Moony ran out to meet her sister and usher her inside away from the attacker.

Kill codes jaws closed like a trap around the wolf's midsection, sharp teeth slicing through casing while she whipped her entire upper body violently back and forth. The vertebrae in his lower spine shifted then separated, stretching his spinal cord to the point it snapped in multiple spots. Though she hardly stopped there.

Engulfed by rage at this intruder that dared trespass and attack a family member she continued to whip the wolf around like a terrier with a rat before tearing into him, claws and teeth rending casing and endo to scrap.

“Ow ow ow Moony it hurts..”

“What happened?”

“This…wolf that looked kinda like Roxas attacked me…” Sunny leaned heavily on her sister, still cradling her damaged arm.

“Kill Code is taking care of it…let me see your arm.” Moony assisted her sister over to the couch and sat her down before checking her over, anger simmering. “Doesn’t look like it's a complete dislocation. Should be easy to pop back in but it will hurt.”

Sunny tensed up and nodded. The hands on her arm are gentle as the limb is manipulated until the joint clunks back into the socket. “OW!” Fresh tears formed at the edges of her eyes. She hunches up a bit, clutching at the shoulder.

“I know it sucks-” She was interrupted when an eldritch entity slunk into the house, casing slicked with oil. In one large hand was the wolf’s head.

Sunny shuddered and turned her head.

“I will take this….trash …down to the lab and see what I can get from it.” Kill Code rumbled. The rest of the animatronic had been reduced to ragged scrap so they wouldn't get any info from it.

“Let me know what you find.” The nightmare-inducing animatronic nodded before vanishing down into the hidden lab, silent as a ghost. “Those scratches are pretty shallow but I bet they sting something fierce.”

Sunny nodded.

“Come one, let's get you cleaned up. We’ll see where that bastard came from and make sure no one else comes here.”

Chapter Text

Sunny winced as the large hand gently caressed her bare back, warm tendrils of magic knitting together the shallow stinging lacerations, a blanket wrapped around her hips while she sat on the bed. 

“Did you find where that thing came from?” Moony gently clutched her sister's hands and rubbed her lower arms. 

“It came from an abandoned amusement pack several miles from here. It must have used a portal to get here.” KC carefully fed magic into the wounds, knitting them together. “It stank of dark magic and evil things.” 

“I hope there won’t be more of them.” Sunny sniffled. 

“Any further intruders will be swiftly dealt with the moment they cross the threshold into the forest." KC pulled back, traces of magic glittering on her slender fingers.  "I will make the journey to the park and find the source and deal with it if it's a threat.” She rumbled softly. 

“I don’t want you going alone. I know you are pretty capable of taking care of yourself but I’d feel better if you had backup.” 

“But…what if one of those things comes back here?” Sunny curled up a bit and pulled the blanket closer to her. 

“Eclipse will be here. No one will mess with you while she's around." Moony assured her sister. 

 “You will be safe here Sunny.” The large bot gently rubbed Sunny's back. 

“And someone has to watch the twins while we are gone. Eclipse would spoil them rotten if it's just her.” Moony pointed out. 

“I would prefer to not come back to a torn apart home.” The twins, despite their age, could be destructive if not guided. They so loved to claw things including the furniture. And chew on things. 

“You know if you feel scared or unsafe all you have to do is call and I will drop everything and come back.” Moony assured her sister. The guilt of not being there sooner than the damn wolf was assaulting Sunny chewed at her, a few more moments and poor innocent Sunny would have been severely traumatized rather than shaken up. 

Almost as if they sensed distress, the twins crawled out from underneath the bed and using the bedding, climbed up it like kittens then crawled into Sunny’s lap causing her to squeak softly in delight. 

“Ohmygodtheyaresocute!" 

Moony stared at the glowing portal, nervous. They were about to head into an unknown place where there might be more dangerous animatronics or worse. She wasn’t made for combat but that didn’t mean she wasn’t capable of defending herself. Eclipse would be the better choice to travel to the abandoned park but that would mean there would be no one to guard Sunny other than herself since Sun Droid was all but glued to Eclipse's side. 

Okay Moony, you can do this. It's just a creepy park. KC can use a second set of eyes to watch her back. Just a creepy park. 

She stepped forward into the portal.

Chapter Text

The sign that hung over the entrance of the park was covered in dead creeping vines. KC reached up and pulled the worst of the dry rustling vines off to reveal Enchanted Story Book Land, the letters faded and paint peeling. 

Nature had taken back what was once its own before the park was built. Trees crowded around the cracked path and weeds sprouted in the cracks. In the distance even more nature had overtaken the abandoned park, pushing through the and even encasing some of the rides. 

The old park lacked all the warmth and familiar scents of a place that had once brought so much joy. Long gone was the aroma of corn dogs, warm pretzels, popcorn. The scent of warm oil and metal had long been replaced by cold rust, dust and rot. Only the grey ominous air of long gone memories remained.

It was a relic of a forgotten past that no one cared about. A nameless tombstone left to slowly decay and be reclaimed by nature. 

Moony shivered and rubbed her arms. There was something….darkly ominous about the place. It hung heavy in the air.  “So fairies are real? Why doesn’t anyone ever see them?” 

“They are called the Hidden People for a reason. You will only see them if they want you to. They tend to stay far away from humans and the trouble they bring, content to live in wild places or in this case, an abandoned park.” The large bot slunk past the sign and into the park proper. “There are exceptions of course. Unseelie, dark fey, are known to not only interfere with mortals, but to prey upon them. Mainly children.” 

Moony shuddered. “Do you think that’s what we are dealing with?” 

“Yes. It's safe to assume for the moment there are dark fey, potentially bone thieves, that are controlling the remaining animatronics to lure prey here or kidnap them.” They made their way down what had once been the main street, the road cracked and overgrown with bits of trash scattered here and there. The souvenir shops that once sold cheaply made overpriced souvenirs to masses of sun burnt tourists that were eager to be parted from their hard earned cash lined either side, leaning heavily or completely collapsed in piles of debris. 

The melancholic depressive atmosphere refused to lift, hanging over the corpse of the park like a wet blanket.

“If there are any here…I don't want to leave while they are alive.” 

KC made a sound of agreement. Wretched little creatures. “They will have a nest of sorts somewhere. We destroy that and pick off any that attempt to flee so there will be no more kidnapped children."  Even if she had to burn most the park to ashes and cinders. 

An alcove appeared head, crumbling cement falling away from wire mesh. Standing among the rubble appeared to be an old animatronic. At one time it may have been a goose or duck, the white paint having turned a dirty grey and its casing was cracked or missing revealing long rusted internals. 

“Damn that’s creepy. Glad we don’t have to worry about it chasing us around.” 

“It appears to be a simple animatronic and is well bolted to the ground. It may have advertised areas of the park.” KC barely paid attention to it since it was no threat to them, just a bit unsettling. In the distance she could make out the shadowy shapes of buildings among the landscape of dead trees. 

“There’s a lot of places for this thing to hide. Where do we even start?” 

“The fairy tale castle. It seems like a suitable place for the wicked witch.” KC chuckled darkly. She pointed to the distance where the dark silhouette of the caste was barely visible. The path looked difficult to navigate and might involve going around dense dead falls and rubble. 

“I hope we don’t run into anything unpleasant." 

Turned out unpleasant wasn’t the word for it. The entire park was beyond creepy. It was unnaturally silent, only the creak and groan of old rusted rides and naked skeletal tree branches broke the eerie stillness. If Pyramid Head popped out of a building and started chasing them she wouldn’t have been surprised. 

They passed by a large man made lake that stank of foul water, damp earth and something rotten. An old swan boat sat forelongingly near the shore, leaning heavily to one side. Bits of greenery were growing in the small boat. If it wasn’t for the track it was resting on it would have likely long slipped into the swampy green water. 

An old doll sat on a bench near the entrance to the ride, one eye missing and its once bright clothing faded and torn. She couldn't help but to wonder what happened to the child that once owned it. Did they simply lose the toy or did something happen to them? 

As it turned out reaching the castle wasn’t going to be as straight forward as following the yellow brick road. The cracked pathway often vanished into thick over growth or ended suddenly as if something was manipulating the very fabric of reality. Outright Silent Hill bull shit. 

The rank smell of rancid water slammed into her the closer they got to the castle. 

“That’s rank.” Moony turned her ability to smell off as they approached the castle. The sign that once hung over the entrance was missing and weeds and small trees were everywhere making their passage difficult. The castle itself loomed overhead, the facade cracked and crumbling, windows caked in filth. The entire land around it had been reduced to a stinking fetid swamp.  

“It appears the only way in is the main entrance.” The bridge across the rancid moat leaned heavily, the wooden planks rotten. 

“There must be another way in. There’s no way that bridge will hold our weight.” She for one didn’t want a dunking into that vile green water. “Places like this must have fire exits." 

KC rumbled softly. Her finely attuned occult senses picked up traces of dark magic emitting from the castle. The source of the evil was clearly deep inside of it. But now they needed to find a way in. 

“Lucy! I’m home!” Eclipse announced loudly as she kicked the door open, Sun Droid draped on her back like a limp doll. She marched into the house, the door closing behind her. Sunny was sitting on the bed, holding one of the twins while the other was draped over her legs. 

“Hey ‘clipsy! What’s wrong with Sun Droid?” 

“He wore himself out.” She gently flopped her companion onto the bed. The movement didn't wake him, his eyes strobed faintly behind his closed eyelids. 

Bloody yawned then began to chew on Sunny’s fingers with her soft gums. 

“Ew! That’s so weird!” she tried to jerk her fingers away but the little one had a surprisingly strong grip. 

“She’s hungry. Since you don’t have the ability to feed them like KC does, there must be some bottles in the fridge.” 

Chapter Text

They didn’t get far when something stirred in the foul water of the artificial river. A serpentine thing rose from the muck and foulness, scales covered in algae. They barely had a chance to react when its slender jaw clacked open and a gout of flame poured out. Moony yelped as she was flattened to the ground by the larger bot, the stench of heated metal, rot and damp earth filled her senses. Kill Code hissed at the flash of heat and pain across her back. Summoning her magic she created a shield that protected them from the flames though it wouldn’t last long since shield drained her magic. 

Sitting up she stared at the thing from the safety of the shield. While the thing on the other side was distorted by the shield and flames, it clearly had been a dragon of sorts. One eye was missing, leaving a gapping black socket while the other rolled madly. Eventually the gouts of flame stopped allowing them to see its full horror. Entire chunks of its silicon skin were missing and the rest was dull and cracked. Its long rusted servos creaked and groaned as it tried to turn its neck causing the beast to twitch in a disturbing manner. 

“What the fuck is that!” 

“A dragon. It likely has a track that it travels down. If we stay out of its reach-” Another searing gout of flame. 

"Shouldn't it have run out of propane a long time ago?” Moony winced at the bright flash of light, raising one arm to shield her sensitive eyes. 

“It shouldn’t be capable of moving but there is a vile magic here.” She hissed at the thing. They couldn't just sit there waiting for the machine to get bored. “Be prepared to run.” Moony nodded, getting to her feet. The moment the larger bot gave her the signal she ran, tearing through the thick weeds and undergrowth. Kill Code followed. 

It should be as simple as following the trench to its end or finding a spot where she could easily leap across it. Of course it wasn’t that easy. The dragon followed, lagging behind due to the thick sludge that coated the hidden track, blasting gouts of flames that withered the dying plant life. The damnable trench seemed to stretch on until it came to a large shallow lagoon. Most of the water had long been drained out leaving the track visible along with a few smaller animatronics, sun bleached and ruined. Posts were all that remained of a fence and a sign dangled from a few rusty nails. The words Dragon Lagoon is barely visible through the overgrown plant life. 

“Looks like we have to cross this or walk all the way around it.” Moony pointed towards the lagoon. On the far side was the castle and employee only area. 

It was this or backtrack and find a place to leap over or tempt the rotten bridge. She glanced back the way they had come, the massive animatronic appeared to have gotten stuck or the track had been damaged preventing it from moving.

Moony hesitated since the lagoon’s bottom had a thick layer of slimy foul mud and hidden deep spots where animatronics lay hidden in deep pits full of rain water. She was going to need one hell of scrubbing once they left this place. She jumped off the crumbling concrete ledge and nearly screamed when she landed in the thick slimy cold mud. It seeped into her shoes and the smell…oh god the smell….! 

“Let us not hesitate. The machine may free itself or there may be other unpleasant things awaiting us.” Kill Code followed suit, ignoring the awful feeling of sludge between her toes. Her longer strides made navigating the lagoon easier for her, stepping over the tangle of rusted track and around rotting remains of animatronics standing on fake rocks. 

 As predicted something erupted from a deep pitt the moment they were half away across. Flames erupted from the animatronic, its rotting silicon skin streaked black from leaking hydraulic fluid. Kill Code leapt to the side while white pain seared up her left side. She slammed into the vile mud with a groan while the old animatronic exploded into flames as leaking hydraulic fluid caught alight. Rusted machinery clacked and groaned loudly as the scissor lift it sat on tried to lower it. 

“KC!” Ignoring the sludge Moony slipped and skidded over to the wounded giant. The damage was concentrated across the left side of  her upper body, clothing shared and casing badly seared. “Shit…how bad is it?” If it had been her or Sunny there wouldn't have been that much damage but KC had technorganic components under her casing.  

“My wounds are painful but not dangerous."  KC hissed through clenched teeth. Slowly she managed to stagger to her feet, one hand pressed against her side. She couldn't waste magic tending the wounds or damaged casing. She would need it for the fight ahead. 

“Are you sure? We can go back to the house and come back later.” 

“I am sure.” Kill Code barely glanced at the ruined animatronic. “It's best if we move through the lagoon quickly lest we are caught off guard again.”  

Moony nodded. It was pretty gross and she was concerned there would be more hidden machines. “Its a little odd that they would this large lagoon just for a few animatronics." 

“There used to be boats that moved on the track.” She pointed towards a half sunken boat made to resemble a viking craft in the distance. “When it passed by it likely tripped a sensor to trigger the machines.” She walked quickly toward the castle, watching the areas that might hold a deep pit closely. 

“This must have been one hell of a place when it was open. Shame it closed.” Probably money issues. That always seemed to be the downfall of many theme parks. Keeping close to the large lunar bot she tried to ignore the way the mud squelched with every step. 

“It would have been an interesting place.” The murky water nearby bubbled faintly catching her attention. When the abomination erupted from the deep pit she was ready for it. Snarling she cast a fireball at it, the flames melting the rotten silicon  and setting the hydraulic oil alight. Thick black smoke poured from the ruined machine. 

Eventually they got to the other end of the lagoon and clambered up the shallow maintenance ramp. Like a fussy cat Kill Code shook each paw, flinging the worst of the sludge off. 

“Im just going to burn my clothing when we get back. I'm never going to get the smell out.” Moony wrung the stinky water and mud out of her clothing. 

The back area was bland and full of old sun backed props, crumbling statues and ruined animatronics, scattered among them were signs. Mostly warnings for unsafe conditions. She froze when she spotted something pale sticking out from behind some of the signs. There was no mistaking the human bone for anything else. 

Kill Code turned slightly, following her sister's gaze. “There’s nothing we can do for the unfortunate soul. The body has been there for a long time, no doubt a victim of the evil creatures. We can stop it from happening to others.” 

“Do they really eat….children?” Moony asked softly. Frozen to the spot. If these monsters ever threatened any of the children from the daycare…she tried hard not to think about it. 

The large bot was silent for a moment. “Yes. The Bone Thieves preferred children.” 

She shuddered hard in disgust, hands curling into fists as her gaze settled on the locked doors to the castle. She wanted to burn the whole damn castle down, clean out the infestation. “Those things hurt my sister. And they hurt children.” 

Kill Code made a soft sound of understanding. “We will make sure that these wretched creatures will never harm a child again.” Flush them out of hiding and burn the nest down. “There will be several workers, small and annoying but they can’t do much damage to us. It's the Queen we need to be weary of. She will have magic, deceit and venom on her side.” 

Moony nodded. “What I’d give for a can of Raid and rolled up newspaper right about now.”