Chapter Text
The silent alarms were blaring in their head, disorientating Ruin as they tried to untie the chains that were around Sun’s ankles. They didn’t have much time before Nexus or Dark Sun came to move their hostage, and they would not miss the only chance they had to get the terrified attendant back to his family. They had risked far too much leaving the clues behind in the first place and if he didn’t escape then they wouldn’t get a second chance since they planned to reset the Celestial.
“Of all the blasted things that would be difficult!” The combined animatronic growled as they looked around for anything they could use. There were the torture tools left on the medical table table that could be useful. They had strangely gone unused throughout the time Sunrise had been kidnapped but who were they to complain. The bolt cutters worked wonderfully against the chains and soon the daycare attendant had his legs freed other than lingering cuffs.
With the other free, Ruin made their way to the door to check if anyone was coming. When the halls were shown to be empty they looked back to the other. “Your family is here, so you need to run. Run as fast as you can and don’t stop for anyone other than your family. Do you understand?”
“w-What about you?” Sun asked, seeming to still struggle but the sound of the alarm in their head drew their thoughts away from that.
“I’m going to go and try to distract Nexus and Dark Sun so you can escape. I’ll do my best to follow after but you need to leave. Don’t worry about me and don’t look back. Now run!” They ordered before darting off in the direction of the labs. If they were lucky, their inescapable bosses weren’t too close and they would be able to distract the two long enough for the other to leave.
No matter what, Sun had to escape. Ruin couldn’t be responsible for the death of another in that family.
Getting through the halls was simple enough. Far too simple in fact, but they didn’t have the time to stop and think about why. They were getting closer to a room that held two animatronic signatures and they needed to put on a convincing act. Perhaps they could say they were the one who accidentally tripped the alarm? Or that they had dealt with the intruders themselves? While they themselves were not much for fighting, they did have experience in some hand to hand combat. Enough that had gotten them through pretending to be a psychotic lunatic.
As the combined attendant slowed their pace to catch their breath, they could hear muffled voices behind the door. One was Nexus, but the other they couldn’t hear well. No matter, Dark Sun did tend to have a much quieter demeanor and voice, much different than the corrupted lunar animatronic.
But why wasn’t the usually quick to anger scientist yelling or making demands? They would think the alert would have made him furious. That was when they noticed the alarm in their own head had gone silent. Something was wrong.
When they entered the room, they realized why everything was so wrong. In front of Ruin stood Nexus, and next to him was not Dark Sun, but Sunrise dressed in similar attire to his twisted brother. The solar model didn’t look scared at all, but instead confused with an innocent shine of curiosity in his pale eyes that they hadn’t seen since they themselves had been one freshly awoken in their daycare.
“Nexus, who is that?” The innocent light asked, looking up at their tormentor with the trust of a child.
“No one important, Nova.” The dark Moon said softly, his red eyes softer than they had been in months.
No. No no no no no! If they had already reset Sun, then that meant the one they released had to be-
Ruin tried to turn to run. They had to get away and warn the others that the Sun they had was the wrong one! They had to warn Solar and Moon that it was actually Dark Sun!
“Sit.”
Their body betrayed them as the dark star energy forced them down to their knees, unable to move anymore. They couldn’t get up or move as any attempt brought pain to their systems. The combined animatronic whimpered in fear, knowing that whatever came next would likely involve the unused tools in the previous room.
“Nexus, what’s going on?” The new Sun asked, clearly confused and not understanding any of what was happening. “It sounds like they’re hurt! Please don’t hurt them!”
The dark moon gently shushed his new brother, his tone holding a sense of care that had been absent for a long time. “They were about to do something bad, Nova. I just made them sit down so I could talk to them. Why don’t you go back to our room? I’ll be there soon and then we’ll head home. I promised to show you the flowers there.”
“You promise you won’t hurt them?” Nova asked. He sounded so worried. So fragile. It made Ruin’s chest ache at the thought of such an innocent one having a manipulative, power hungry fool for an older brother.
“I promise. Now off you go. I’ll be there soon.” Nexus promised, keeping his voice soft.
Ruin watched as the innocent light walked past them, hesitating as he looked to the combined attendant with worry before he continued off. Oh how they would miss that worry as they knew for certain the more sinister brother would try to corrupt that gentle mind with their history out of context. It wouldn’t be long before those pearlescent eyes looked at them with fear.
Once the one they had failed to rescue was far enough away to not be disturbed by any rough handling, Nexus let out a growl and grabbed them by the neck pipe. Ruin found themselves finally able to struggle as they were lifted from the ground and made to face the angered night model. His crimson eyes swirled with purple energy as the dark power was forced into the much shorter animatronic’s body, causing them to cry out in pain. “Dark Sun knew you were a traitor, but this is pathetic. Running as soon as you were caught instead of facing the mess you caused? It would be better if I killed you right now.”
Ruin struggled to bring in any artificial breaths as the dark star energy made it feel like they were suffocating. All they could do was pitifully grasp at the clothed arm holding them up as they tried to speak. “Y-you could s-still u-use me!”
“You’re right, I can. Which is why Dark Sun gave me something special to install.” The dark moon growled as he pulled out a small USB. He then slammed the struggling attendant into the wall to pin them down. “Stop moving.”
All they could do was obey, closing their eyes as whatever unknown program was plugged into the back of their head, and a burning code infected their systems. It hurt, but only for a moment. Once it settled, Nexus released them and let their struggling body crumple to the floor. Ruin coughed as they curled up, as if doing so would protect them from whatever was attacking their mind. “w-What did you do to me?”
Nexus kneeled down, grabbing one of their rays to painfully jerk their head up, causing them to cry out in pain. “Oh that? Just a certain virus that Dark Sun modified. If you go anywhere near my old dimension or try to get any more little hints to my old family, your own virus will reactivate. And this time, it will actually affect you. No more playing the psychotic freak. It will be your life, and your first instinct will be to go kill that pathetic family you’re so desperately trying to help. Starting with Dazzle.”
Ruin let out a distressed sob at the idea, not wanting to ever hurt another child. And poor poor Evelyn would be such an easy target. With their unbroken body and promises of games it would be so simple to lure the small deer into a secluded area. She was so trusting and eager for attention. No matter how much they wanted to warn the others, they couldn’t put that darling little girl in danger.
They likely wouldn’t even be able to find Eclipse to have him pass along a warning in their stead without having the code activate. Then there would be a whole other set of issues. Eclipse didn’t have any samples of the Virus’ cure, and would likely either kill them or lock them up somewhere, all while their crazed mind would likely try to go after little FC with them being the only other child around that little travel party.
Nexus practically threw their head down against the floor before he stood up, kicking them in the side for good measure with a laugh. “You better not say anything about this to Nova. I don’t want my little brother to be scared of me. If you do anything to make him think bad about me, I will make you pay. Until then, you’re free to roam over the dimension. It’s more than a disgusting freak like you deserves, but I still need you for things. Maybe if you’re a good boy I’ll actually give you a room.”
They whimpered again and nodded. “y-Yes, Nexus. I’ll be good…”
“Good. Now go to your box or something. I’m going to my new home.” With one last huff, the corrupted animatronic left, leaving Ruin to sob over their new leash. While they could still travel to other dimensions, there was no true way to escape. They were trapped.