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Chapter Text

Chapter 1

Resurrection

Ruin was nothing if not a skilled craftsman...

His wide variety of skills seemed almost endless at times. Few things were beyond his ability to build and fewer things still were beyond his ability to repair. When in doubt, he could jerry-rig the most random of things, taking bits and bobs from completely unrelated items and turning them into whatever he needed in such a way that it would leave even the most brilliant of minds scratching their heads, wondering just how he had accomplished such feats. Contrary to the saying ‘A Jack of all trades is a master of none,’ Ruin was very much a master of them all.

Which had all led to this moment…

Ruin had tapped every single one of his skills in order to complete his most current project… Something that he had been working on for several months at this point. It had been hard to keep it secret; but fortunately… or unfortunately, as the whole situation was an upsetting one… the Celestial Family had absolutely no interest in him or anything that he was doing. He was always by himself, left alone often for days at a time without having another soul to so much as talk too. Sure he was free to wander in and out of the arcade and visit with the other animatronics, but often any conversation they had would end up just devolving into an awkward silence that would only end when Ruin politely excused himself and walked off. The only exception to this was Solar, who at least attempted to hold a proper conversation with him, let alone showed any care about Ruin being as alone as he was. Unfortunately, Solar's responsibilities in the theater, let alone how he was usually busy with whatever issues Sun and Moon were currently dealing with, made it difficult for Ruin to interact with him on a regular basis. Something that only added to the cold solitude Ruin experienced on a daily basis now.

Nevertheless, things were about to change…

It was now time for the grand unveiling.

He had to take a step back and examine his work as he finished attaching the last of the electrical cables to his creation while also moving a large bundle of what looked like dark cloth next to the currently motionless creature… According to Ruins calculations, this was going to take a lot of energy and might even cause the power in the Pizzaplex to flicker for a minute or two. Not to mention that an animatronics first awakening could be rather messy depending on what their primary coding was and given this beings ‘unique’ code, Ruin expected it to be a very messy awakening indeed… He shook his head, forcing those thoughts aside as he looked upon this creation... this creature.

The animatronic was BIG… So big that it took multiple tables lined up end to end just to fit its entire body. If it was standing it would have stood at a towering 9-10 feet give or take a few inches. While large, it was built very lanky and thin. The head bore similarities to that of a Moon animatronic, but not many. The crescent on the one side of its face was a silvery white in color reminiscent of moonlight, while the other half of its face was a dark midnight blue. On either side of its head, it sported a large pair of devil-like horns, with each horn corresponding in color to the sides of the animatronics face. The face itself, currently in a default resting state with its optics closed, sported a large frightening grin full of sharp, sharklike teeth. Its neck, while thicker and more appropriately built than that of any of the main Celestial Family, bore a disturbing resemblance to that of the Cervical Vertebrae of a human skeleton, only far larger. Its arms were long and appeared to look as though the skeletal structure of a human had been assembled in reverse. With a dark blue Radius and Ulna located on the upper section of the arm connecting to the shoulders while the silver-colored Humerus became the lower part of the arm and connected to the hands. Large hands that sported very long bladed fingers that looked as though they could shred through flesh and metal easier than a knife cutting through paper.

Its chest was broad, and was also that same midnight blue in color, while curiously sporting a large hole in the center of where the collarbone would be on a human… a grey, ghastly thin torso connected to the barrel-like chest. Looking upon it invoked the image of a spinal collum attached to a deteriorating corpse. The creatures’ digitigrade legs were long and clothed in deep crimson-colored pants that were held tightly to the hips by three black belts adorned with sharp spikes and the pants flared slightly at the ankles. Tightly bound red cloth covered the remainder of the creatures limb down to its feet. The feet themselves were little more than a pair of large razor sharp two-toed talons that would have allowed this beast to effortlessly climb most surfaces and the soft pads on the bottoms of those feet Ruin knew would allow it to move as silently as a stalking cat.

As Ruin gazed over his work, he couldn’t help but smile very slightly to himself as he admired his handiwork. He also knew that not only was this animatronic imposing and terrifying to look at, but it would be a true horror once it became active. Ruin would know, as he had spent hours upon hours reconstructing its complex lines of code… now that had been a massive undertaking in and of itself. Especially considering he did not have all that much to go on in regards to this… particular coding. As it was unique in its origin, development and structure, not to mention how that translated to impulses, desires and overall functionality. But as with everything he chose to do, in spite of the near impossibility of the task he had started, by the time that he was finished, everything had come together perfectly.

He had recreated Killcode…

Or it was more appropriate to say that he had recreated Killcodes actual ‘viral based code’ not entirely Killcode himself. That would have required Ruin to implant copies of his memories into the newly rebuilt body and that simply was not going to happen. Ruin was not looking to bring back a murderer turned pacifist, no…

Ruin needed a monster…

In a moment that was truly Frankenstein-esqe and paid homage to his own showboating nature, Ruin walked over to the wall of this little makeshift workshop that he had set up in the Fazcade and threw the large oversized lever he’d attached to what looked like a mess of multiple generators that had been rigged not only into this little work area, but seemingly into the Pizzaplex’s power grid itself. The result was the screeching of electricity as it surged through wires and all of the lights and machines in the arcade flaring so brightly that Ruin had to bring his hands up to shield his eyes.

Before the power gave out and everything suddenly went pitch black and became as silent as the grave.

He brought his hands down and blinked slowly, trying to activate his nightvision, only for him to realize it wouldn’t turn on. 'How unfortunate…' Made worse considering that Ruin had not planned on all the power in the building actually going out, let alone his night vision not working essentially leaving him blind in this room… where something quite dangerous was presumably in the process of waking up. He put his hands up and out, trying to feel for the arcade machines that had surrounded his little work space. And with the caution of a mouse that knew it was being watched by a hungry owl; he began to make his way to where he knew that the work tables had been. Deliberately going very slowly, trying to listen to even the faintest of sounds around him. Anything that would give him an indication as to his creations movements. Was it still on the table? Was it standing directly in front of him and he was now walking straight into it? Was it starting his way? Of course, Ruin didn’t get a chance to worry about all these questions for very long; as with a low but resounding hum the lights suddenly clicked back on… only to reveal that, yes, the rebuilt Killcode was in fact no longer on the table. The only thing left on the table were the electrical lines that had clearly been pulled off once it had awakened… and that had been done silently.

“Well… that was fast.” Ruin muttered as he stared at the now empty table and swallowed hard. Much like the power going out, this was not what he had been expecting. He’d expect more of a scene. Maybe a roar of awakening from this monstrosity, like in the show Gargoyles. He had to admit that he did not like this better, he didn’t like how it seemed to have just awakened and left without so much as a sound. Where in the world did it go? The unsettling answer was it could’ve gone anywhere. Ruin began to nervously look around…

Only to have a long, clawed hand slowly reach past his head to pick up the folded mass of fabric that had been laid out next to the table where the missing animatronic had just been…

Ruin whipped around only to stare into the lower part of the animatronics chest and he very slowly looked up, only to stare into a pair of large blood red catlike optics, looking down at him as it picked up the bundle of fabric. The far smaller animatronic began to back up very slowly… his eyes not leaving his creation.

Killcode towered over him, now standing upright on his own it was easy to see that Ruin had achieved success in his intention to have this animatronic be intimidating just by being in its presence. Granted he wasn’t of the damn near ungodly height of his previous iteration, but he was a sight that was beyond frightening to behold and being locked in his piercing gaze was almost like being trapped by the glare of a Gorgon… The colossal animatronics eyes only lingered on Ruin only for a moment before he took a step sideways as he unfurled the garment… but his slight change in stance and the way he was standing also gave Ruin a view of his back, which from where his neck connected to his body it looked as though he had an exposed metallic spine with each section of ‘Vertabrae’ looking to contain a sharp blade. Which Ruin knew all too well that these blades could flare out if Killcode so desired it…

He was everything Ruin had intended, truly monstrous.

“I-It… It seems as though you didn’t have any trouble awakening.” Ruin said, getting over the initial shock of this situation and now was trying to get this entire plan of his back on track. After all he did have a plan for this whole thing out of course… it was just… This wasn’t going even a little bit how he’d anticipated. He’d gone over dozens of scenarios in his head in regards to Killcodes awakening and NONE of them were anything like this. He was being far too restrained… far too quiet…

And he continued to completely ignore Ruin as the he took the garment, now revealed to be a cloak… one that had been tailor made to fit his large frame, and in a single movement he flared it out and wrapped it tightly around himself and then brought the hood up over his head. There was a quick sound of fabric tearing as his horns ripped through the top of the hood and now seemed to complete this picture. Although while the cloak and hood fit him perfectly, there was a tiny gap that seemed to emphasize the strange hole on his chest. Something he even seemed to acknowledge as he looked down at his body.

“A- A small defect of no real importance.” Ruin said, moreso hoping to actually start a conversation rather than offer up any real form of reassurance. “Now um… you are freshly awakened. Brand new to the world! Do you have… questions? Surely you must have some-”

“I know.” Killcode finally spoke, his voice was as cold and dark as a moonless night and so deep that it seemed to reverberate through the air around him. His large ruby, slitted eyes now fixating on Ruin. His gaze was piercing and made Ruin very uncomfortable, although he did his best not to show it. Although in spite of this, he could not stop himself from taking a nervous step backwards away from this creature. “I know… who I am.”

“You do?” Ruin asked. That… that shouldn’t be right. Yes he had implanted some truly basic knowledge of ‘himself’ such as his name, a few mannerisms… a few tidbits about his ‘prior’ bloodlust. Before he went full pacifist. “Well, do you know who I am?

“I know who you are.” Came the blunt and echoing reply. “You would call yourself my creator. Though that is not… completely accurate. Is it?” His eyes narrowed at Ruin, something that made Ruin take another involuntary step away from Killcode again.

“Well, I did build you… rebuild you?” He paused for a second as he tried to find the right words to describe this situation. As he had built this version of Killcode from scratch, but had implanted only the most basic of memories from his prior self. Point being… Ruin knew what he did, and he did not give this Killcode anything which would lead him to acting in this eerily calm and calculated manner.

Reincarnation? Resurrection? What exactly was going on?

It would seem that something else was at play here...

The tall bot turned and looked at himself in an overly-large mirror that Ruin had set up in the corner of his makeshift workshop and began to wordlessly inspect his appearance. This new version of KC now resembled a Grim Reaper. The cloak covered the majority of his body and only stopped a few inches above the ground. Killcode took in his overall appearance, he gave no outward signs of his thoughts until he gave a barely noticeable nod and then he turned on his heel and began to silently walking away. Paying no further attention to Ruin and seemingly content to just leave him there without conversing with him any more.

“Hey!” Ruin called after his creation and abandoning his prior discomfort and hesitation, he ran up next to him, or rather tried to keep pace with him as Killcode just kept walking and never once slowed his stride. “It is most rude of you to just walk off! Don’t you want an explanation? Maybe some information on what you should do?” Now this finally got Killcode to stop… and he once again fixed his large and now very annoyed eyes onto Ruin.

“I do… as I wish.” He stated flatly, his voice a lethal growl, the warning growl of a predator. “I desire to do only one thing... to hunt. To fight and kill whatever stands in my path. To shed blood until the ground is sodden and I shall feed on the hearts of warriors. That is what I am going to do. And I don’t need you to tell me anything.”

…well at least THAT was right...

Ruin wanted a major threat, it would appear that he had at least succeeded in that. Even if the rest of Killcode’s behavior wasn’t making any sense whatsoever.

“Nevertheless, it might be in your benefit to hear me out-” Ruin didn’t get to continue before Killcode made a very noticeable roll of his eyes and he turned and continued to walk away. Actually he seemed to have picked up his pace, undoubtedly seeking to put as much distance between himself and the smaller amalgam as fast as possible. “Now wait one second!” He called again but KC didn’t even look back this time. Ruin growled at the obvious disrespect and also a great deal from his own confusion at everything and he reached for a small panel on his arm and quickly flipped it open, before pressing a small red button concealed there.

The effect was immediate as without warning, KC was suddenly gripped in a powerful electric shock! Bolts of blue electricity danced across his large frame before suddenly ceasing, making him pant as the pain had set every sensor he had ablaze in white-hot pain. It had definitely gotten his attention and he whirled around to face Ruin, his face now contorting with rage and fury.

…

…It would appear that the electrical shock had been a VERY bad decision on Ruins part…

There was a sound that could only be described as an explosion echoing all throughout the Pizzaplex, as the entire front of the Fazcade suddenly exploded outwards! Ruin had been quite literally thrown through the front wall of the arcade, the resounding boom so loud that it actually got Moon and Solar running all the way from Parts and Service to see just what the hell had just happened. Obviously between this and the earlier blackout, the whole building was confused and also …on edge… given the extent of everything else going on in the lives of the other animatronics. There had been an air of tension hanging around this over-glorified mall for days now, like a guillotine waiting to fall. Everyone had been expecting something to happen, but nobody had been quite sure exactly what that... something... would be.

One thing was for certain, the sight of Ruin severely damaged with deep lacerations all over his smaller body, laying upon the ground and screaming in utter agony while an unknown, hulking animatronic was holding him down with one of its clawed feet... an animatronic that had one of Ruins arms in its grasp and was breaking it... snapping the metal as if it was nothing but a brittle twig and then pulling it free of Ruins body and tossing it to the side before repeating the process with his other arm...

That was a nightmare that neither Moon nor Solar had ever wanted or expected to see...

“What the shit?!” Moon yelled; his voice louder than he intended but he was so horrified he couldn’t stop himself.

The giant being paused, before slowly looking over his shoulder at the onlookers and he returned to standing at his full, towering height. His red eyes narrowing as they both stepped back in shock, as Moon suddenly realized that he KNEW this animatronic… or rather he used to know him. The revelation had hit Moon like a sledgehammer because he knew damn well that it was NOT possible for him to be here; no... no he was dead for crying out loud!

“K-Killcode?” He stuttered in horror, his voice conveying the very disbelief he felt. Disbelief laden with fear as it was OBVIOUS by the fact he was quite literally tearing Ruins arms off that this wasn't exactly the same pacifist that had come from the Old Moons head. 

Killcode said nothing in response, rather he began to slowly scan the room which was gradually filling up with more and more people. With Monty and Foxy having just arrived on the scene, along with Earth and Lunar coming from a different direction. He growled lowly, his eyes seeming to glow with his mounting irritation. He went still for a moment before he suddenly turned on his heel, fell to all fours and just tore off! His movements reminiscent of a like a large cat as he ran, jumping and climbing, sinking his nightmarish claws into walls and scaling them as though it was the easiest thing. Like he was barely emitting the slightest effort in his escape. In mere seconds, he had disappeared completely from the sight of the Celestials and he raced straight to the front of the building and not bothering to use the sliding glass doors proper, he just burst through them in an explosion of glass and metal shards.

Killcode didn’t hesitate, nor did he look back…

He just disappeared into the night.

Chapter Text

Chapter 2

Melody of the Dark Stars…

Ruin stood in the center of the daycare, Solar had repaired and re-attached his arms to his body. The only caveat being that he couldn’t repair the shock device that Ruin had made to supposedly have some control over this new version of Killcode. That had been completely damaged beyond repair… although truth be told Ruin had FAR bigger problems to worry about at this moment. As he was surrounded by the entire Celestial Family. Their expressions ranged from confused, to upset… to furious beyond comprehension. Unsurprisingly the fury was coming from Moon, who judging by the look in his eyes, was using every drop of his self-control to not just lunge at Ruin and tear his rays off.

“I never intended for this to happen.” Ruin said meekly. “It was supposed to be… different.”

“Different?!” Moon spat, his voice a lethal growl. “You brought back Killcode, but judging by his actions, this isn’t the pacifist version that he became. So that was what you intended… and if that is the case what the fuck was supposed to be different from that?!”

Ruin visibly flinched at the viciousness of Moons tone, but after a moment he sighed in a very defeated manner. “I did… I did intend for him to be a threat. The entirety of his viral based code was built for combat. And I built a body for him that could reflect that and I refined it to be a… well… practically be a one-man army.”

“But why Ruin?” Earth asked. “Why did you bring him back, let alone…”

“…because I didn’t want to be alone anymore.” Ruin muttered, planting his eyes firmly onto the floor. “Every day all I hear is the endless droning of the arcade machines I have been repairing. It’s very rare that anyone speaks with me, offers a kindly chat. Every day I am alone and I know that you all still hold the actions of my virus infected self against me. I know its deserved… but… this wasn’t meant to be this way.”

“Well then what the fuck was it meant to be?!” Moon snapped. Solar putting a hand on his shoulder to prevent him from lashing out at the small British animatronic.

“I wanted… I wanted…” He was interrupted by Earth whose eyes had lit up as the truth had just dawned upon her.

“You wanted to be the hero and save everyone.” She stated. “You wanted to make a threat… and then you wanted to stop it and ‘save’ everyone. That’s it isn’t it?”

Ruin was silent before a small sad smile formed on his face and he nodded to Earth. “A foolish plan I realize now. Born out of desperation and loneliness… not out of malice I assure you. I thought if I could just take him down before any real damage was done to anyone-”

“You rebuilt Killcode into a murderous freak that you yourself literally just described him as a ‘One Man Army’ how did YOU plan on taking him down?!” Moon seethed although he was visibly more controlled now. “I’m assuming you had a better plan then just your shock system?”

“I made him with a very obvious weak spot, right in the center of his chest. There’s a hole there that leads straight to his core. With the right weapon, just pierce him there and he will go down immediately.” Ruin explained, seemingly unintentionally regaining a bit of himself as he explained what he had done. “I made a collapsible spear, essentially a spike that is literally magnetized to that core. Just get in range and throw it; it literally cannot miss.”

“You’re giving us that.” Solar said as he rubbed his temples.

“And then you’re packing your bags and leaving.” Moon growled. “We can’t trust you anymore Ruin.”

“You didn’t trust me beforehand.” Ruin corrected sadly.

“Clearly that was the right call!” The celestial animatronic snapped right back. “I’m not letting you endanger my family anymore! You give us the spear or whatever the hell it is and then you get out and I literally don’t give a shit what you do or where you go from there.”

“Moon, maybe we should think about this a bit before-” Earth began only to be interrupted by her brother holding up a hand to silence her.

“Anyone have any objections to this?” He said as his eyes scanned all the animatronics currently present… unsurprisingly nobody said anything nor made a motion of protest. Even Earth had to sigh… as she couldn’t deny the situation was as bad as it was. “Good. We’re all in agreement. You’re outta here Ruin.”

“Well, that’s okay.” Ruin muttered dejectedly. “I won’t need the hour. I don’t have any bags to pack.”

The already tense and unpleasant conversation ended on that solemn note. Ruin went back to the makeshift lab where he had rebuilt Killcode and retrieved the weapon in question from where he had concealed it in the back of one of the non-working arcade machines. It was as Ruin described, something akin to a collapsable javelin or spear. Inky black metal that looked and felt more like obsidian than anything else. The weapons oddities aside, Moon snatched it from the smaller British bots hand and then Moon proceeded to grab Ruin by his upper arm and forcefully led him all the way back to the Pizzaplex’s main doors and quite literally threw him out onto the pavement. Before activating the security doors to close up the entrance entirely.

And just like that Ruin was gone…

“Are you sure that was wise?” Solar commented as he started following Moon back towards the daycare.

Moon sighed softly, one that echoed with stress and exhaustion.

“No… Not at all.”

Elsewhere, at an unknown location deep in a frozen waste…

The Stitchwraith’s lair was eerily quiet as it always was. With the only sounds being that of Bloodmoons aggravated skulking around the frigid halls, or maybe FC lingering around some of the rooms fearfully. The small kit-animatronic starting to feel the first true pangs of fear and doubt towards the enigmatic figure it had once viewed as his true father figure rather than Foxy. Stitchwraith himself was where he usually was, in his main laboratory in the heart of his domain. Working on his own personal projects and schemes… and thinking of new ways to torment Foxy of course…

Yet it was as Stitchwraith was working; the two souls contained within his twisted, wiry frame quietly conversing about their work as the various readings and measurements appeared across the multiple screens before them that something happened.

Without warning, the red core suddenly emitted a powerful pulse of dark energy…

It was so quick and so forceful that it not only startled both Jake and Andrew, but it actually scrambled all of the nearby screens and monitors for several minutes as the energy slowly dissipated. Leaving everything in the room shrouded in darkness, before eventually the equipment rebooted and began resuming its normal functions and readouts. The two young souls contained within the animatronic were, understandably, quite shocked and confused as to what the hell had just occurred. Both talking back and forth with mounting agitation as they attempted to deduce not only what that was, but why it had happened at all in the first place.

It was just as they had started to bicker over who had been responsible, that the core began to create another anomaly.The negative star power so deeply contained deep within the red cube began to rapidly fluctuate, as though the energy itself was an animal. Waking up and stretching within the confines of the glowing red box. The sensation deeply alarming as it truly dawned on both boys that neither was responsible for this. Whatever was happening was done strictly at the behest of the core itself. Only this time, it wasn’t another pulse or wave, it suddenly felt different. It felt…

Harmonic…?

They could feel it. It filled their shared body with emotions that were so completely alien and yet understandable. It was as though the energy in the core was anticipating something with great joy… Like all of the energy the cube contained was now somehow singing…

Stitchwraith could hear it loud and clear. It seemed to echo from all around the room in every direction and yet there was no audible sound. The core was just producing this continuous looping harmony without any end in sight.

“You hear it, don’t you?” The soul of Jake asked to Andrew.

“Of course I can hear it.” Andrew growled back, not so much angry at Jake as he was annoyed with the situation and unsure of what to do to stop it. “Why is it doing that?”

“I have no idea! Why are you asking me?” Jake snapped. “It’s never done this before…” Stitchwraith immediately turned his attention back to the various monitors and hastily punched in some commands before standing in the middle of the room and allowing his form to be scanned. A process which only took a few minutes. After which they immediately went back to the computer terminal to see the results.

“Nothings damaged.” Andrew observed. “But it shows the core is definitely emitting some sort of high-pitched frequency.”

“We already KNEW that! But… hey… are you seeing this? What does that mean?” Jake asked as the screen displayed something that he couldn’t quite grasp. But fortunately, his counterpart could.

“The frequency is carrying the cores energy signature.” Andrew stated, actually sounding rather stunned by the new information he was seeing. “Every wave has the cores energy encoded into it. Which would mean…” He paused for a moment. “Get Bloodmoon in here.”

“Why?”

“Just do it. I have to check something.”

Without asking any further questions, Jake summoned the Bloodtwins to the main lab. The murder bot grumbling angrily at his being summoned like some sort of dog until they stood in front of their master.

“What do you want?” They growled irritably.

“Do you hear anything in here?” Stitchwraith questioned.

Bloodmoon blinked once in surprise at the question. Then looked around the room briefly, before back to Stitchwraith. “We hear the computers? And the other machines?” They answered, sounding a bit confused by the seemingly obvious question.

“Nothing else?” Stitchwraith pressed.

“Grrr, what else are we supposed to hear? The only thing we ever hear in this place is the sound of your stupid machines, the wind, and that whelps sniveling whimpers!” Bloodmoon raged angrily jumping up and down a little, almost as though he was having a small tantrum.

Stitchwraith was not in the mood for dealing with his lackeys irritated whining and he wordlessly dismissed him with a wave of his hand as refocused his attention onto his equipment. Bloodmoon growling in anger and making even more angry motions of wanting to maim or strangle the other bot, before eventually just storming out of the room to presumably go and seethe elsewhere. Not that either of the Stitchwraiths personalities took any notice of it. Both were glued to monitor and its readouts.

“So he can’t hear it. I figured as much but I wanted to be sure and if Bloodmoon can’t hear it, I doubt FC is gonna be able to as well.” Andrew surmised.

“But we can hear it.” Jake stated.

“It’s literally our power source. It’s a part of us, it would be more surprising if we couldn’t hear it.” Andrew surmised although with a surprising amount of coldness now present in his voice.

“How far is that frequency reaching?” Jake questioned as he inspected the readings again. “Well outside of our facility, farther than where our sensors can reach… but why?”

“My guess?” Andrew said in that same cold, toneless voice…

…it’s like it’s calling to someone…

Blood was splattered in all directions…

Killcode stood covered in blood in the center of an abandoned warehouse… well… not totally abandoned, judging by the dozens of corpses of both humans and dogs that surrounded him. This place that he had wandered into had been a secret dog fighting club. Where the sewage of humanity had gathered to enjoy and gamble on such a deranged form of entertainment. The tall, reaper themed animatronic had walked into this gathering of depravity and after observing things for a moment…

He just started killing…

The gathering of degenerates had immediately changed into a showcase of futility and nightmarish horror. The human patrons had started screaming and crying out the second that Killcode had grabbed his first victim and just ripped through his body from the behind… His claws exploding out from the mans guts and coating everyone and everything around him in blood and viscera! The screaming was almost immediately mixed with gunfire as some of the more well-armed patrons and guards had opened fire on him; however they soon discovered that even the larger caliber bullets would just bounce off of his body as though it was water off of a ducks feathers… Killcode ripped through them all like they were nothing... Even the dogs, when they had finally turned their attention onto the mechanical demon which had slaughtered their owners, fared no better. The dogs latching on to his arms or legs with their powerful jaws, but were not able to even dent his mechanical hide. And he would simply stab his claws into the dogs heads or necks, killing them near instantly. Their deaths far quicker and less painful than what he inflicted upon their twisted humans.

His gruesome work done, Killcode was now crouched over several of the corpses. His long bladed talons effortlessly sawing through flesh and bone as he cut through the bodies with total focus. Blood and gore was everywhere, surrounding him as though it was some sort of macabre spin art. His every move was precise and calculated. Killcode was working on tearing a piece of bone free from the corpse of every one of his victims. From some individuals he would take a fragment of a radius, some others a tibia… one particular fellow he ripped his spine free and selected one of his vertebrae… with the dogs however, he seemed much more inclined to remove one of their sharpened teeth. Every fragment that he took he would inspect for a moment, before pocketing it into one of the concealed pockets in his long cloak.

Yet as he worked, he would stop on the odd occasion and look around briefly as though he thought he’d heard something. Perhaps believing he might have missed someone amidst his slaughter.

That theory was seemingly confirmed when the audible sound of some debris shifting came from directly behind him. With Killcode immediately rocketing up and scanning the room, where his eyes landed on a young man had been trying to slowly and quietly inch towards the exit. Judging by his attire, he had been one of the dog handlers. Both he and Killcode had stared at each other for a long moment… Before he tore off running as fast as his legs would carry him, with Killcode now racing after his newly located prey, eager for another successful hunt.

The young man was quick, Killcode would give him that. But the second that KC had dropped and started running on all fours, everything was over. Within moments, he’d caught up to the fleeing man who literally had just reached the warehouses exit and stabbed him straight through the chest with his claws. Flaring his fingers out once they came through the other side of his body and then dragged him back into the awaiting darkness of the warehouse… his victim unable to scream, merely gurgle up the blood that flooded up his throat and erupted out of his mouth like a nightmarish volcano.

The mans life came to an abrupt end once Killcode clamped his jaws onto the dying mans throat and ripped it out! Seeming to savor the taste of the warm crimson elixir as the man’s soul was finally freed from this mortal world… that he heard it…

…music?

The reaper paused as the sound now fully captured his attention a sound that had been seemingly dancing right on the edges of his perception for a while now finally making itself more noticeable. At first, he thought it was coming from a neighboring building, or maybe even somewhere a few blocks away. But he soon realized that must be incorrect, it sounded far too faint. Yet strangely he could still perceive every looping note of the melody. Whatever it was, it was clearly coming from somewhere FAR from where he was.

Initially, Killcode ignored it. Finishing the work of removing a piece of bone from his last victim at the warehouse before slipping out of the building and quietly disappearing into the night… but the music never stopped. No matter where he went or what he did, this strange dark song seemed to follow. But oddly enough it wasn’t annoying whereas under normal circumstances a continuous sound with no known origin could easily become grating. This wasn’t. In fact the sound was oddly soothing. Alluring even. And it was seemingly calling to something deep inside of Killcode himself… it was as though an unknown part of himself yearned for whatever it was creating this haunting melody.

It was three days later that Killcode decided that he was going to follow that sound to wherever its source was…And strangely enough, the second that he had consciously decided that he was coming for whatever the source of the song was, it changed. The tune now seemingly filled with a newfound happy anticipation.

The Dark Stars melody, calling out to its champion…

Chapter Text

Chapter 3

Claiming the Crown

It took Killcode about a week to reach the Stitchwraiths lair deep in the frigid waste…

And when he reached the outside of this building he just knew where he was going. What room he would find his target inside. Knowledge he received through the whispers of the song that never left him. Just as it had guided him the entire way here, it now told him where exactly he needed to go to find it. So the lanky reaper themed animatronic approached the side of the building and immediately began to climb it, using his razor sharp talons on both his hands and feet to scale it as easily as a child’s would navigate a small tree to reach a treehouse. Although as he did so, he let his mind wander over the situation he found himself in…

It wasn’t as though Killcode didn’t know how completely bizarre this entire situation was. He couldn’t explain any of it. Not how he heard this song that wasn’t audible, how he knew it was leading him somewhere in order to find it… or why he was even going in the first place. But it was his own feelings that were driving him, more than even the mysterious melody that had made its way into his mind. There was a part of him, separate to everything else… the part of him that was of logic and reason which had also pushed him to follow this song wherever it was guiding him. Something inside of himself that wanted… no… something that needed to see this task through. To find what called to him. And that was the real reason why he was doing this.

He climbed along the wall until, amidst the thick sheets of ice that covered most of the building, he finally found a large window that led into a snow-covered but functional laboratory where a lone cloaked figure stood among various monitors and equipment.

And all at once, the song stopped…

Before Killcode gripped the ice slicked glass with his taloned feet and brought back both of his fists before slamming them into the glass with enough force to shatter it, creating a massive hole that allowed a frigid, icy gust to blow inside like an ill omen… before he jumped inside, landing in a crouched position and then standing up to his full, imposing height. Towering over the Stitchwraith by several feet.

For several long minutes there was silence… a thick, dark tension settling over the area as the two glared at each other. No sounds could be heard except for the ominous howling of the wind as it blew through the facility.

“So… you’re the one that was responsible for the cores… reaction.” Stitchwraith muttered, finally breaking the silence. “How did you do it? Let alone why?”

Killcode said nothing, but the Stitchwraith’s words drew his attention onto the glowing red cube lodged in their chest and his eyes narrowed slightly as he observed a dark shimmer that seemed to dance across the glowing red surface that its owner seemed unaware of.

“It would seem that I have come here to claim that.” The reaper observed, his voice low and calculating as he completely disregarded the Wraiths questions. “Give it to me.”

“Well, that is never going to happen. It’s my power source; my life is tied to it. You’re out of your goddamn mind if you think I’m just gonna hand it over! Or that I even can for that matter!” Stitchwraith hissed, his voice now elevating to that of a lethal growl. Not yelling, but only slightly shy of it.

Killcode seemed to observe the other animatronic for a few moments, his piercing gaze seemed to stare not only at the Stitchwraith, but rather was seemingly looking past the frightening outer shell of his body and was looking directly at the souls of the two young boys that inhabited it. Something that mad both Jake and Andrew very uncomfortable. “If that’s the case, then I will just have to take it from you.” Stitchwraith said nothing more to this… Rather he just charged a blast from the core and unleashed a hellish red beam of Negative Star Power at the reaper…

It was clear that this is where the conversation ended and the fighting began…

And the core began to sing again…

But the song was different this time. Its soundless melody not alluring and inviting, now it sounded akin to war drums. A pounding, looping, heart-racing sound that brought thought the feelings of a life or death battle racing towards a yet unknown conclusion. Both Killcode and Stitchwraith could feel that sound echoing throughout their very beings, making it hard to focus.

There was a sickening knowing that the distracting music of the red core was a test of sorts…

They had to ignore it as they fought…

Killcode dodged the blast easily, he dropped to all fours and raced at Stitchwraith only to have to immediately jump and roll to the side in order to dodge another blast. But he effortlessly regained himself by remaining on all fours and then leaping forward with his arms outstretched and he crashed into Stitchwraiths midsection! This interrupted another blast of energy, resulting in the beam cutting through a portion of the wall and ceiling, causing huge pieces of rubble and debris to rain down only just narrowly avoiding crushing the two warring beings.

Killcode punched the Wraith hard in the face while maintaining a grip on a section of the endoskeleton that made up his midsection, the reapers eyes landing on the red cube once again and he went to grab at it, only for Stitchwraith to retaliate and slam his fist and forearm into the base of Killcode’s neck and shoulder! The force and angle of the blow was strong enough that Killcode had to release his grip on Stitchwraith and back off. And he quickly regained himself and landed a swift kick that further pushed Killcode back again.

With an angry snarl, Killcode dropped once again to all fours and ran as Stitchwraith unleashed a sustained blast from the core again, now the beam followed Killcode as he leapt onto the wall and raced across it, all while the beam followed just behind him by what seemed to be only mere millimeters. It was so close that it actually singed the ends of the reaper animatronics cloak. But as Stitchwraith focused all of his attention onto hitting Killcode with the blast-

He couldn’t stop when his target ran behand one of the icy containment tubes that held one of the other incomplete variants of the Stitchwraith…

And it exploded with the force of a tactical nuke…

The blast could have been seen for miles, certainly rocking the foundation of the entire facility so badly it caused part of the building to collapse! A large portion of the roof and ceiling even falling in the main chamber where the two beings had been fighting; burying both Stitchwraith and Killcode under the rubble…

For a time all was still, as silence fell across the entire facility, at least until there came an agitated growling and cursing as Stitchwraith shifted the rubble he had been buried underneath. It actually taking him several hard-fought minutes to free himself from the snow and ice covered rubble… and when he finally got out he stood up, and looked at the wreckage of his laboratory; internally swearing as he noticed that several of the icy containment tubes had also been cracked and damaged in the aftermath of the fight. Undoubtedly negative star power was beginning to seep out into the surrounding area and that needed to be fixed immediately or else there could be even bigger problems in a very short time... Stitchwraith turned to see what was left of his computer setup- Only to face Killcode who had stood silently behind him… And he wasted no time in shooting out his claws and digging them into Stitchwraiths chest, trying to get a grip on the core!

The Wraiths scream was almost louder than the explosion had been…

He wasted no time attacking Killcode, but the energy now leaking out of the core began to superheat the area, the energy, bleeding strands of noxious gleaming purple energy that was so hot it began to melt not only Stitchwraiths plating, but also Killcodes hand as well! His gripping the core was an agonizing thing for the reaper animatronic, yet still he held fast. Doing his best to ignore the Stitchwraiths panicked attacks and the burning of the core… He kept pulling, even when he was fairly sure that the core was melting his hand to a state he would be unable to use it again-

Yet the core was coming loose-

As a last ditch attempt to stop the reaper, Stitchwraith attempted to charge the core and deliver one final blast at point blank range… but the core didn’t obey… In fact the soundless chorus of war drums returned to its prior singing again. Only now it was a silent song of happiness just as Killcode finally wrenched the core free of Stitchwraith’s body! Which resulted in him falling to the ground in a crumpled heap as the source of his energy had now been abruptly cut.

Killcode staggered for a moment. The assault on his body may have been over, but he had been damaged badly from this entire ordeal. His body sported dozens of tears that oozed globs of oil, hydraulic fluid, and other substances unknown to all accept Ruin. The core was in his hand, which was so wrecked and partially melted that it was only through sheer force of will alone that he was still gripping it at all. His vision started to get hazy with static as he brought the box up to get a better view of it, all while its wiring was sparking bright purple bursts every few seconds. But as he moved the core the sparks seemed to linger in the air, forming more of a glowing purple haze…

Once it was close to the hole in Killcodes chest, the haze suddenly began to flow into it at an alarming speed…

The fight with the Stitchwraith, every injury his adversary inflicted on him… nothing could compare to the white-hot agony that was all of the core’s energy flowing directly into his being! Killcode finally screamed, the sound nearly deafening as it echoed all throughout the nearly destroyed facility… He released the core from his grip, but somehow it remained there suspended in the air while shrouded in that purple haze for several long seconds… before there came an eerie red light that bloomed from where all the energy was pouring into the reaper animatronic and as the energy continued to flow into him, never ceasing, it started to turn a deep scarlet red as the metal of his chest began to visibly melt! Soon all the energy around the core had shifted to a crimson color. The core seemed to turn on itself slightly…

Before being forced hard into the now gaping, molten wound upon Killcodes chest!

There was another explosion and a wave of glowing red energy erupting around the Reapers body and consumed the entire room, killing whatever energy and light had remained after the first blast…For several long moments, everything was eerily still and quiet. Before an eerie red light slowly came to be from amidst the darkness. It grew steadily, until the entire area was illuminated in this oddly warm red glow.

The first thing that this light revealed was that it was coming from Killcodes chest, it showed that he had fallen to the ground, but was slowly getting to his feet and several odd and frightening changes were immediately noticeable… 

For starters, all of Killcodes injuries were gone. Seemingly mended to the point that one would never guess he had suffered any damages in the fight at all. Oddly enough, his cloak, which had received some additional tears, burns and rips during the battle, now looked to be fully restored. In fact while it still had a somewhat grizzled appearance, it now somehow seemed to have become of a higher quality than it originally was. Around the former hole in his chest the cloak seemed to have become magnetized to his torso and was now intricately embellished with a thorn-like pattern that encircled the center of his chest and then spread outwards over his shoulders. Its color was of a red so dark it was nearly black. The color of long dried, coagulated blood… But from the center of his chest, the glow of the red core slowly began to increase in intensity. Showing it was no longer shaped like a cube but had reformed and merged completely into Killcodes chest, now taking the shape of a red diamond.

There was a sudden strange ‘Shheeen’ sound from the core as what could only be described as a slitted pupil suddenly appeared within it. It noticeably looked to the right and then the left before returning to the center and glowed even more intensely as Killcode opened his own now fiercely glowing red eyes. And he locked them on the crumpled form of Stitchwraith that laid at his feet, that against all odds, was somehow still alive… if only just barely.

Killcode stared for a moment, before he knelt down and very carefully laid his clawed hand upon the Stitchwraiths chest… the action bore no malice or cruelty and the look in Killcodes eyes was likewise not that of anger. But of calmness… of sympathy. Even when the grievously injured bot tried to move, to claw weakly at the chest of the larger bot that had defeated them and taken the very heart of their being. That look did not change.

“It’s over now children.” The reaper spoke in a soft, low voice. Something that given the dramatic changes he had just undergone seemed completely out of place. “The fight is over, so is whatever war you were waging against those whom wronged you. It’s time for you to rest now. Both of you.” It would appear by the words he chose, that the core had also transferred some knowledge of its previous owner to him and he was now acting on that new knowledge.

The weak body twitched but failed, however the two souls contained within it did not calm down. They were still raging and Killcode could sense it and he sighed… before the glow of the red core began to seep a soft, red mist that flowed down Killcodes arm and went into that shell of a body through the gaping wound on its chest… the energy was not offensive nor malicious. Whatever section of that broken body that mist touched, it numbed the pain of the injuries completely… spreading all throughout the Stitchwraiiths body until all the two souls could register was that numbness as the pain was slowly ebbed away… then was slowly replaced by a warm comfort.

“Go…” Killcode reiterated. “Go to whatever waits beyond this life. It’s time.” The soft words, coupled with the numbing of the pain and the comfortable, enveloping warmth…

Jake began to feel himself letting go. Feeling the flames of his anger starting to recede as he was enveloped by that numbing comfort that the larger animatronic was creating around them… Andrew fought it more. Not wanting to just go and leave, he didn’t want to abandon all of his unfinished tasks. But that sensation of numbing began to erase even his own rage. He fought for a bit longer. Before he too found himself slipping into the warm comfort.

And Killcode laid both of the boys’ angry spirits to rest…  

Only after he was sure that the two young souls had drifted away from this world, be it to a deep rest or a genuine passing on from the world he wasn’t totally sure… did Killcode stand. He sighed softly, glad that this ordeal… whatever it truly was, was over. He had what it was that had been calling to him. Even now, deep in the back of his mind he could still hear a faint melody. The energy of the core slowly synchronizing itself with his being, not just the mechanics but the part of him that was more than that…

It was slowly becoming one with Killcode down to his very soul…

He knew this and was fine with it. Some part of him, perhaps even his soul itself, was embracing this. As though it was meant to be-

The reaper animatronic was suddenly pulled from his thoughts by the sound of something rapidly approaching his location. The sounds of angered grunts and the shifting away of fallen debris from the now destroyed facility rang through the area. Killcode stayed still as the sound approached and then finally a small figure emerged from one of the damaged hallways… a certain small murderous bot finally entered the room. It had taken him a long time to make his way out of the room that he’d been in when the whole facility started to be blown apart. He had even noticed that scared little ratty fox kit making a break for the compounds main entrance, no doubt seeking to escape from not only the Stitchwraith, but whatever else was currently tearing the place to bits.

Bloodmoon began looking around at the wreckage of the main lab right as his large mismatched spiral eyes finally landed on Killcode… And he stood there completely dumbstruck at what, or more appropriately who it was that they were seeing. As even with the various physical changes, the threatening and imposing Killcode was not something that would be easily mistaken… unlike his prior body which had so poorly suited him and yet he had settled for it.

There was a second of a stunned pause…

But that was a second too long…

Killcode moved at a speed far greater than what he had demonstrated before and within the span of a heartbeat he had knocked Bloodmoon to the ground with a swift kick. He then held him down with one of his taloned feet which made an audible clicking sound as those claws dug into Bloodmoon’s chest as Killcode just loomed over him. He lifted his hands up as red energy spilled from them to form a lethal looking scythe. The long handle made to look as though it was crafted from a seeming dark red wood that resembled the color of dried blood, while the blade itself was as black as obsidian and wherever the faint light caught it, it would reflect back an eerie red glow.

He brought the blade down and pressed it against Bloodmoons mechanical neck as the reaper animatronic looked him over for a brief second… before hefting that blade up and prepared to strike down-

“Father?! You live! Impossible!” The red bot cried out in a mix of surprise and immense confusion… Words that had saved the duos life… as Killcode halted that blade a mere millimeter from burying itself directly in between Bloodmoons eyes.

Killcode had stopped. The word ‘father’ echoing around in his mind and even his soul for a long and confusing minute. Something about it striking a chord with him. As though this was something important to him that he needed to acknowledge. Not to mention… there was something familiar about this smaller animatronic in general…

“Do I know you?” Killcode asked simply. As though he wasn’t holding the other animatronic down and keeping a blade very close to his head.

Bloodmoon growled as he grabbed onto Killcodes leg and foot and tried in vain to remove it from pinning him down. “Yes of course you know us! Once we called you father, then you betrayed us! Became a pacifist and abandoned us! Disowned us! Then we killed you! But how are you back? We didn’t leave anything but dust! How did they rebuild you?!”

Something about Bloodmoons story rang a bell within Killcodes mind. He didn’t doubt that this story was truthful… it was as though he could somehow remember something about it… something about having sons, having given up fighting…

His death…

It was as though he knew that these memories existed but were not with him, mayhaps being lost when his life had ended that first time. Or maybe they were just buried beneath the surface, yet to be fully recovered. Whatever the case was, he lessened his grip and stepped off Bloodmoon. Letting him scramble up and away from the much larger animatronic. He looked around the room, eventually noticing the now deceased form of the Stitchwraith. Let alone how the core was now in Killcodes chest.

“So you killed him? Good! We hated him!” He said with a slight laugh audible in his voice.

“I had no choice. It was a kill that I take no pride in… but it had to be done.” Killcode replied though in harsh contradiction to Bloodmoon he sounded quite saddened by the actions he had taken.

“So you are a killer again? Not a pathetic pacifist like before?”

“I am a hunter.” The reaper animatronic corrected. “I hunt and kill. I relish in the challenge, the fight and then the kill. The hunt itself being just as important as the kill.”

Bloodmoon smile suddenly widened. He was liking what he was hearing. “Then kill more! Slaughter entire towns until the ground is soaked in blood!”

 Killcode however looked down at Bloodmoon with an extremely unamused glare at these words. “I only seek prey that will be a good hunt. That is a challenge… Slaughtering indiscriminately isn’t hunting and I want no part of that.” And with that he turned, the hellish scythe in his hand dissolving back into nothingness as he began to walk away. And Bloodmoon growled, but went to follow him. That damnable part of his coding… the part that rendered him forever a lackey, started to grate on him. Before a thought suddenly raced through both of the Bloody Brothers minds at the same time.

“We know where there is a challenging prey!” They exclaimed practically in tandem. Now this made Killcode pause and look back at them with a raised eyebrow.

“I’m listening.”

“Not strong prey, no. But smart prey! Smart enough to have many things to use to defend themselves! Prey that is fast to run and hide and difficult to catch. Prey that even killed us once before...” The duo explained.

 “And where is this prey that you speak of?”

“We know where.” Bloodmoon said in a very sing song voice. Happy that he was seemingly able to get this situation to turn in his favor. That if he would be damned to be a lackey, it would be to a bot that was every bit the killer that they were… or at least that was how they were currently approaching this situation. “We know all about this smart prey and where to find it.”

There was a moment as Killcode considered this before turning and fully facing Bloodmoon, clearly intrigued and interested in this… intelligent and challenging prey to hunt.

…then show me…

Chapter Text

Chapter 4

The Prey Outwits the Hunters

Bloodmoon took Killcode back to the Pizzaplex…

Killcode gave Bloodmoon a look that was a mix of both curiosity and annoyance. Clearly he remembered this place… as it was the place of his most current creation, but also it seemed to have significance in not only his recent memories, but also the ones he could not explain. The ones he had dubbed to be from ‘His previous life.’ Still, returning here had him narrowing his eyes at Bloodmoon as the smaller animatronic just continued onward, doing his best to keep his laughter under his breath although he wasn’t succeeding. Not to mention that he was seemingly fighting to restrain his overall urge to just go charging into the building and start killing everything in his path. Something that he was well aware that this Killcode would seemingly not approve of.

“Are you deceiving me about this prey?” He growled as he followed Bloodmoon through the atriums grand doors. Fortunately by the time of their arrival there weren’t any unsuspecting customers in their path. In fact, the whole Pizzaplex was in the process of closing down for the evening. Not that this hindered these two in any way… Bloodmoon just continued to lead Killcode towards the daycare, although it was obvious he was growing increasingly frustrated at the far larger animatronics slow pace.

“No! They are right in here!” Bloodmoon said as he turned to face Killcode. Continuing on and telling him that he needed to move faster and that the prey would escape if they didn’t hurry. The murderous bots tone was frantic…

He really wanted to kill these guys apparently…

However, unbeknownst to him, Solar had been only a short ways away from where the duo had entered. Working to repair one of large display screens that an irate father had punched in anger after learning that Sun had put his disobedient child into time out… needless to say, parent and child had been banned for the next month and Solar had to fix the screen. Which turned out to be a blessing in disguise, because as soon as he saw these two horror shows enter the area, he backed up and then ran as silently as he could back to where Sun and Moon were at the computer terminal in the Daycare.

Bloodmoons back had been to him when he’d run, but Killcode had seen him. Even though he made no indication that he did. He just continued listening to Bloodmoons excuses before eventually just pushing past him and continuing on in the same direction that he’d seen Solar run off in. Bloodmoon growled and immediately ran to catch up, as Killcode was so much larger than him that simply walking at a brisk pace could put a lot of distance between the two.

The Reaper animatronic was genuinely starting to wonder if following this Bloodmoon might turn out to be a colossal waste of his time. The only possibility he had seen that indicated there really was a challenge to be had here at all, was with that one bot he’d seen run off in this direction. While Killcode wasn’t sure what he intended to do if this prey truly wasn’t worth his time and energy, contrary to what Bloodmoon was promising. He would be very displeased…

But would he harm Bloodmoon for it?

That thought did cross his mind and it made him pause…

Even though he didn’t know Bloodmoon well, at least not in this lifetime… It was how Bloodmoon had constantly referred to him as his father that made Killcode hesitate answering that question. Along with a piece of knowledge that he truly felt deep within his being, something that he felt was something akin to a pure truth.

A father doesn’t harm his children, he teaches them…

And somewhere in the past he had either failed or given up on this…

Of course these thoughts were interrupted as he and Bloodmoon rounded a bend and went down a set of stairs. The daycare now fully in view, as well as two bots standing right in front of the large double doors.

Killcode raised an eyebrow at this. Suddenly getting the feeling that this was about to get interesting…

Moon had been at the computer terminal in the daycare, running a few updates on all of the defenses programming. A complex but thankfully easy enough task that he’d only just finished when Solar came charging into the Daycare like his ass was on fire… and the moon-themed animatronic felt his proverbial heart drop as Solar whispered in a hushed, but noticeably alarmed tone that not only was Killcode back, but he now had Bloodmoon at his side. Which obviously made everything far worse. Sun had just started walking over to the duo, as he had been needing to get more hand sanitizer from behind the counter for his continued thorough cleaning; but needless to say that he’d stopped dead in his tracks at the mentioning of Bloodmoon being in the building…

His own personal nightmare demon…

“Okay… okay.” Moon said in as calm a tone as he could manage. Opening one of the drawers at the desk and pulling out the spike that Ruin had made specifically to kill Killcode.

“M-Moon?” Sun whispered as his voice trembled. “How do we handle this?”

“You go and hunker down. Find some place to hide and stay there. Solar, you stay right here and you activate the defenses as soon as Killcode goes down. I’d say that it will be a 50/50 chance that once this thing drops KC it should get Bloodmoon to either turn tail and run, or he will just stand still long enough for the defenses to blow him full of holes.” Moon grunted as he stood up from his seat.

“And if Ruins device doesn’t work?” Solar questioned, constantly looking over his shoulder in the direction that the horror duo would undoubtedly be coming from at any second.

“Then we try for Plan B.” Moon explained as he quietly activated the device, causing several cyan lights to illuminate around its center. “You know what to do Solar.” The lanky Eclipse model didn’t say anything, he just nodded. Although, judging by the look both he and Moon shared… they weren’t completely confident in that plan and whatever it entailed.

“What’s Plan B?” Sun asked suddenly feeling completely out of the loop. Although truth be told that has been happening more and more as of late; Moon and Solar often handled coming up with various plans that he would only learn about sometime later. “Moon-”

“Don’t worry about it Sun, you just hide and stay safe.” He muttered as he walked out of the double doors just in time to face the two horrors that had just come down the stairs…

Bloodmoon was laughing, looking at Moon like a hungry jackal would look at an injured rabbit. He started forward about to lunge at him, only for Killcode to grab him by the back of his collar causing him to make a surprised yelping/choking sound. Then immediately look up at the larger animatronic angrily, with the Reaper clearly not wanting him to rush the newfound target.

That was the opening that Moon needed…

He pressed the button on the device again and it immediately unfurled itself into its full spear form and wasting no time at all, Moon threw it at Killcode-

There was a single second between Moon throwing the spear and it colliding with Killcodes chest… but that second was all that was needed…The slitted eye within the now diamond shaped core had somehow become even narrower as the spear halted itself a mere millimeter away from piercing it.

An eerie red glow had now completely enveloped it…

Killcode himself seemed a bit surprised, before his eyes narrowed a bit and he released his grip on Bloodmoon. His eyes seemed to lose focus for a second as the spear floated up to his eye level and began to slowly turn. Allowing him to inspect it fully. The reason that he was so surprised by the spear being halted before it pierced him, was because the core had done it on it’s own accord rather than Killcodes will… This was due to the fact that the core had not yet fully merged with its newfound host, there were still some aspects of it that were separate, even if it was only temporarily. But in this particular instance, that had DEFINATLY worked to his advantage.

It took a second for his mind to catch up to what the core had just done… let alone the knowledge of what the purpose of such a weapon was. But once everything did fully register in his mind, he snapped back to focus and he glared at Moon before smiling wickedly.

“Interesting toy.” The reaper commented. “A weapon forged with a single purpose, but that is not very sporting now is it?” As soon as the words left his mouth, he brought his hand up and gripped the weapon. No sooner had he touched it did all the blue and cyan lights on the spear turn a hellish red and without waiting he hurled the spear at Moon so quickly that he could not react…

It came so close it cut a thin scar onto the side of Moons face before lodging in the doorframe behind him… and immediately melting into a blob of red hot metal that pooled and boiled on the floor.

Bloodmoon started laughing like the little psycho that he was. “Now we can rip and tear and rip you to pieces! Starting with you… Sun…”

Moon felt his proverbial heart fall into his metaphorical stomach. He suddenly realized, much to his complete horror that there was someone behind him… someone who had not listened when he’d told him to hide until this was all over. He didn’t need to turn around to know that Sun was standing silently behind him, growing increasingly more nervous with the passing of every single second being in the gaze of the monster that despised him.

“Moon…” Sun whispered lowly. “What do we do?”

“Sun.” Moon whispered trying to keep his voice steady as his mind began trying to work about a dozen different strategies on what was about to happen and the best way to deal with it… but in the end there was only one thing that they could do right now…

“RUN!!”

No sooner had Sun turned and raced back into the daycare did Bloodmoon tear off after him with a laugh that could have been mistaken for a hyenas cackle! But one thing that Sun had on Bloodmoon was that he was fast; fast enough to put distance from the two as quick as he possibly could. His mind was gripped in a terror that most people would never be able to comprehend… but in spite of that nearly overwhelming fear, Sun did have one single strategy he was hoping he could use to his benefit.

The play structures…

Sun knew every single twist and turn in them like the back of his hand. As was evident how he moved almost bewilderingly easy through even the narrowest sections. Bloodmoon, obviously, did not. And the second that he lost sight of Sun in the brightly colored, plastic tangle of tubes and stairs. He was essentially lost. Angrily trying to find his way to Sun, who always seemed but a few steps away… his anger led him to start ripping into his surroundings with a varying amount of success.

But Moon however was… far less than lucky.

No sooner did Bloodmoon tear off after Sun, did a hellish red haze begin to spill out of Killcodes hands and began to form itself into a vague shape… before there was an abrupt flash of red light and the haze suddenly solidify into an ornate and lethal looking scythe appeared in his hands.

Moon barely managed to dodge just in time to avoid that scythe slicing through the air where his head had been only moments before. He had no options, he turned and ran as fast as he possibly could towards the daycares theater. Of course Killcode watched him run, silently whispering a countdown from 7. Clearly deciding to giving his newest prey the smallest of head starts. The second he hit 1, did he tear off at frightening speed after Moon. In mere seconds managing to catch up and he lashed out with the scythe again. This time it actually caught Moon on the back. Inflicting a deep cut diagonal across his back and severely damaging the hook that was a part of his mechanical spine!

Pain surged through his processor as he banked hard to his left and jumped off the balcony to the small movie theater below. Killcode went to follow and landed a short ways away from him. But before he could advance any further, he suddenly found a bright light from a security S.T.A.F.F Bot in his face. Naturally this irritated the Reaper and he angrily gripped the less sentient bot around the neck and threw it with a scary amount of force into the S.T.A.F.F Bot that was attempting a comedy routine on the stage. With both bots breaking into pieces and starting to spark badly; but that distraction bought Moon precious time to run through the doorway and race as fast as he could to the concealed door that lead to the Daycare Attendants room… With Killcode still hot on his trail! No sooner did Moon slam and lock the door behind him did the blade of the scythe pierce the wood and tear away a large section of the door…

Knowing that wasn’t going to buy him much time, Moon ran up to the balcony and leapt off of it into the ballpit without a second of hesitation.

Luckily after an untold amount of time being at the bottom of the damnable ballpit fixing his portal meant Moon knew exactly where he was going and he attempted to move as fast as he dared… trying not to disturb the balls too much should Killcode be on the ledge while searching for him. But fortunately for Moon, Killcode was still looking around the other rooms to ensure that his target wasn’t hiding from him in there. It allowed the lunar animatronic to slip out unseen from the ballpit and make his way over to one of the castle outcroppings, careful to stay crouched and as low as possible.

But in that same instance, Sun had just gotten on top of the play structure he had been evading Bloodmoon in. He was indeed panicking, looking around frantically. Trying to figure out what else he could do to evade the psychotic killer that was still currently lost in the plastic monstrosity of a structure directly beneath where he stood… yet as he scanned the daycare, his eyes fell on where Moon was-

And their eyes locked…

Moon did not yell anything, didn’t make any sort of noise nor make any dramatic movements that would have given away his position. But he very slowly pointed from the play structure where Sun was and then to the ballpit.

Sun understood what Moon needed him to try and do…

He gave Moon a very quick nod, before he steadied himself; and then jumped down from the top of the structure onto the bridge that joined the two structures together. And he immediately caught Bloodmoons attention; which resulted in him starting to further break through the hard plastic bars in order to get out and attack Sun again. And Sun knew he was only going to have a very small window of opportunity to make this work…

Suddenly there was the sound of something much heavier landing in the ballpit that got Moons attention once again. As Killcode had finished his thorough check of the small rooms and had now jumped down into the pit… but judging by the growling, he was having a little bit of a hard time getting out of the brightly colored plastic filled hell hole that he was in. Moon took advantage of that and moved onto the top of the castle structure just as Killcode had gotten onto the small island in the middle of the ballpit. He emitted another growl as he scanned the area, seemingly looking for where his prey had gotten off too…

But then he stopped as his eyes landed on the castle section where Moon was hiding and he stared. He wasn’t seeing Moon exactly, but something had definitely caught his attention. Something that looked like smoke, rising up from where he already knew Moon was hiding. Killcode didn't know exactly what it was, but he knew that it was overwhelmingly negative...

Smoke from a starting fire in the heart, that may yet scorch this being down to their soul and ruin all that they are...

This was... unusual... something that the reaper, again, knew was another ability or side effect of the core that was still merging into his being. Nevertheless, it was strange to him... and gave him a moment of pause. But that moment proved to be a moment too long. As he didn’t get the chance to do anything else in regards to it… because in that moment, Sun came barreling out from behind one of the play structures with Bloodmoon chasing after him and was only a short ways behind…

Sun finally stood in front of the ballpit, seemingly now cornered by the bloodthirsty killers. They also stopped, only a few feet from their target, lowly laughing and flexing their clawed hands. No doubt imagining ripping Sun limb from limb and tearing his mechanical innards out.

He lunged…

Sun fell onto his back and brought his legs up just in time to contact Bloodmoons chest and then he rolled backwards, flinging  Bloodmoon up, over and into the ballpit.

“TURN ON PORTAL! TURN ON PORTAL! TURN ON PORTAL! TURN ON PORTAL!” Moon screamed so loud he could be heard not only back at the computer terminals where Solar was, but even outside of the Daycare-

Portal Activated..

And just like that, the two nightmares were gone…

And an eerie stillness filled the entire daycare after that…

Both Sun and Moon looked at each other, faces slowly filling with relief…

It was over…

Bloodmoon and Killcode were teleported straight into the middle of a forest…

Killcode was placed on the ground, but for some unknown reason Bloodmoon materialized higher up near the top of some trees and then proceeded to fall and hit every branch on the way down before landing next to Killcode with a dull thud and spitting out leaves that had gotten in his mouth… and several pinecones proceeded to add insult to injury and land right on his head.

The towering reaper animatronic stared blankly down at Bloodmoon for a minute before he started to inspect his surroundings in general. “How… interesting.” He muttered as thanks yet again to the red core in his chest he started to actually ‘feel’ the area he was now in. He could literally feel the difference in this worlds energy when compared to where they had just been.

What an unexpected twist to the hunt…

“What happened? Where are we?!” Bloodmoon demanded angrily as he also looked around in confusion.

“It appears we were sent to a different world.” Killcode replied simply. He was surprisingly calm with this newfound development. “Curious…” He muttered. His posture almost seeming to… relax.

Bloodmoon on the other hand was livid…

He snarled loudly and then just lashed out at the thing closest to him, which happened to be a tree… he raked his sharp claws over it cutting deep groves into the wood and making it look lie it was mauled by a pissed off bear. Only for a few more pinecones to land on his head, making him even angrier. Killcode watched him, seemingly losing a fight to a tree, for another minute before sighing in annoyance.

“If you’re done having a tantrum, I suggest you come with me so we can properly survey our new surroundings.”

“You’re taking this awfully well!” Bloodmoon spat, glaring angrily at Killcode who seemed to be unfazed by the smaller bots growing fury… something that actually was making the Bloodtwins even angrier.

“I find it… amusing.” Killcode replied simply. “The prey I will admit to not taking seriously has turned the hunt on its ear! Ha! I can admit when I’m wrong about things Bloodmoon and the prey you sought out truly were entertaining… and also, what pre-say would getting angry about the situation actually change? Not a damn thing.”

Bloodmoon had to pause a little at these words, surprised by the reapers suddenly lighter tone. He tilted his head to the side. His eternal irritation at whoever ‘held his leash’ seemed to ebb away for a moment, before his hackles raised again and he resumed glaring at Killcode.

At this point Killcode paid him absolutely no mind and he set his eyes on one of the mountains, specifically the tallest one by far that loomed over the trees before them. “Come. Let’s find out more about this area.”

“Are we not going to try and get back?! To finish the hunt we started?!” Bloodmoon growled.

“Do you have any idea how to do that Bloodmoon?” The reaper said with a slight bit of sarcasm and some irritation creeping into his otherwise oddly calm voice. Judging by how quiet the murderous bot suddenly went, Killcode had his answer. And he… chuckled a little at the now oddly silent bot.

“We won’t forget about what happened, obviously. But I fail to see any overwhelming negatives to the situation we now find ourselves in. Presumably this world will have prey to hunt and we can make ourselves comfortable here.” Killcode spoke as he gestured to the forest around them. Seemingly taking it all in and seeming to smile as he looked around.

“Why do you seem to actually LIKE this place already?” Bloodmoon questioned.

Killcode stopped as though he just realized his own feelings and how odd this would undoubtedly seem to anyone around him… “I can feel the energy of this world. There’s something… pleasant about it. Just a feeling. Obviously we need to see how things are for ourselves but…” Killcodes voice trailed off as a low sound suddenly caught his attention.

A growl that didn’t come from Bloodmoon…

One that grew louder and louder as something moved in the foliage around the two animatronics, immediately Bloodmoon got ready for a fight as a very large form emerged from directly in front of the duo.

It was a wolf…

But something far larger than the normal wolves from their native world. This animal stood easily at 5 feet tall on all fours. It was huge and clearly built incredibly strong. It’s sleek body thick with muscle and as it walked further out into the light something else also became visible…

It had the most magnificent looking pelt that Killcode had ever seen…

It looked so beautiful that it almost didn’t look natural. The wolfs fur was predominately black but it’s face was looked to resemble a skull. Namely it’s head was white, but around the eyes it was black, likewise around it’s jaw in spots that further played into the illusion of a skull pattern naturally painted into the fur. Along it’s sides were additional splashes of white… but these additional white spots looked strikingly like different lunar phases. Culminating with a large flawless looking upside-down crescent moon on the wolfs back at the base of its neck.

Bloodmoon was already growling back at this wolf. But his expression quickly turned into a cruel sneer and he started forward, ready to attack the wolf and rip its beautiful hide to ribbons. Only for Killcode to put his arm out and stopping the smaller bot from getting any closer to the wolf. Before Bloodmoon could voice any protest; Killcode extended his other arm and the burning red haze erupted out of his hand and very rapidly covered the wolf, causing it to emit a snarling yelp for a moment as the haze seemed to be absorbed into the animal’s body. Fully disappearing with a final red flash shining in the wolfs eyes as it went completely still...

After a moment, Killcode held out his hand and the wolf came forward and licked his metallic, clawed fingers. Completely tamed, albeit through unconventional means.

Seeing that there wasn’t going to be a slaughter, Bloodmoon pretty much threw his hands up and snarled a loud “Whyyyy!?” in a particularly loud and borderline whiny tone towards the sky. This only resulted in Killcode laughing at his overreaction.

“Every hunter should have a loyal hunting beast at his side.” He said so simply as he pet the wolfs massive head. “Good boy… Muerte.” He said as he settled on the perfect name for his new pet. Bloodmoon went to yell at him again but was stopped as he suddenly noticed that there were more of these wolves nearby seemingly observing what was going on with the first. The wolves all seemed to have the beautiful ‘moon’ patterns on their fur in various colors and shades of blacks, whites, browns, greys and strangely enough even reds, although only the one closest to Killcode bore the skull pattern on its face. These wolves were now tentatively approaching the pair, though were clearly expressing caution.

“It would appear I’ve tamed the Alpha.” Killcode observed. “What beautiful creatures.”

“Who cares about stupid dogs?!”

“They’re wolves Bloodmoon, not dogs.”

“WHATEVER!!!” Bloodmoon shrieked now just full on losing his patience. “We don’t care about any of this! We want to kill! To rip and tear and-” Bloodmoons little rant was interrupted as he felt something tugging on the bottom of his cloak. He wheeled around ready to smack the head off of whatever animals’ head had gotten too close to him. But even Bloodmoon wasn’t prepared for what he saw…

It was one of the strange wolves, albeit smaller and seemingly a lot thinner than the rest. Presumably it was still an adolescent; its fur was a mix of black and the rare red color that several of the wolves displayed. Not red like that of rust, but the red of freshly spilled blood. But that wasn’t what had actually stopped Bloodmoon, no…

What stopped him was the fact that this wolf had two heads…

Well, perhaps that was being overly generous. The wolf didn’t truly have two separate heads, rather it displayed a truly grotesque form of bicephaly. A condition where an animal is born with two heads… or mostly two heads… this animal actually had one main head and a second, not fully formed head sprouting from the side of it. This ugly little monstrosity actually had two mouths, three eyes and four ears. And it seemed to have defied astronomical odds to still be alive, as most creatures born with such conditions usually die shortly after their births.

A true freak of nature…

Killcode noticed how the Bloodtwins had gone oddly quiet and after a moment he turned to see what he was up too. Only to witness Bloodmoon actually petting the heavily mutated animal. Bloodmoon eventually noticing Killcodes eyes upon him and he did his best to ignore that look the taller bot was giving him. Grumbling two words under their breath…

“…Our Puppy…”