(Trigger warning: graphic depictions and bodily harm)

Freddy Fazbear Pizzaplex
Ken's POV
William didn't move or say anything, so I took the time to explore my new body. I held my hands up in front of my eyes and flexed my fingers, admiring how the metal bent with my muscles and skin. When I pressed my fingertips together, they made a clinking sound; same with my toes as I flexed them inside my shoes. My hair sounded like a loud wind chime as I moved my neck from side to side, and my eyelashes made small clanking noises against my cheeks as I blinked. As I ran my fingers down my exposed forearms, the screeching sound of metal against metal followed them. My injuries underneath felt sore, but no longer felt like they were on fire.

My physical body wasn't the only thing that had changed - my senses had also heightened. I could smell every item of metal in the vicinity, from the rusty smell of William's damaged animatronic suit to the steel support beams that made up the Pizzaplex. Every piece of metal present in the room seemed to press against me like a physical force, as if I could reach out and touch EVERYTHING.

It felt... good.

For the first time since I was brought to the Pizzaplex, I felt whole, complete. My entire body felt rock-solid, as if I was a literal being born of metal.

I suppose I am, I thought with a toothy smile.

A furious roar brought my attention back to William, who was glaring at me with a seething expression. "'MaStEr Of MeTaL' mEaNs NoThInG tO mE!" He snarled. "A dEmOn CaNnOt EsCaPe FrOm ThE wRaTh Of A gOd!"

With that, he advanced on me again, swinging his claws. I didn't move to defend myself - I didn't need to. Every swipe he took grazed off of me in a shower or sparks. My transformation also seemed to have helped my stamina, as the strength of his attacks didn't even sway me on my feet. My entire body just felt numb, the impact of his attacks mere afterthoughts.

After a while, William stumbled back from me, heaving up a rattling storm. He stared in disbelief at his claws, which had been worn down to nubs from striking me so much. Sighing, I crossed my arms and dribbled my fingers against my sleeve, making a dull thunking noise against the infused fabric. "Are you done?" I asked him. I tried to sound bored, but I was actually geeking out like a fanboy on the inside. I'm so strong now! I thought proudly.

William did his raspy gasps for a little longer before glancing back over at me and growling. "YoU cAn ObViOuSlY hOlD yOuR oWn AgAiNsT mE," He admitted begrudgingly. A chilling laugh echoed from his hollow chest. "BuT lEt Us SeE hOw WeLl YoU cAn HoLd YoUr OwN aGaINsT THEM!" His neck literally cracked as he whipped around to indicate the others currently in the room. I gasped in horror.

Freddy. Chica. Roxy. Monty. Music Man. Vanessa. Who were all still painfully convulsing under the control of William.

But they were still fighting it, too.

"They're strong!" I assured William, uncrossing my arms and taking a menacing step towards him. My feet made a dull clanking noise against the concrete floor. "They'll keep fighting your control and they'll win!"

William only laughed again. "ThEiR rEsOlVe Is StRoNg, SuRe," He told me contemptuously. "BuT iT iS aLrEaDy WeAkEnInG. NoNe CaN rEsIsT mY cOnTrOl FoR lOnG."

That declaration made me uneasy. I was invincible now, sure, but the others weren't. And they were being attacked through the mind, not the body. The mind could be much weaker than the body, and William had hacked them before. Who was to stop him from doing it again?

If no one else would do it, I could sure try.

"Guys, come on!" I beseeched them, making a racket with my feet as I ran over to them. "You're strong - you're stronger than he is!" I held my shiny arms out to them like I was going to hug them, but still kept my distance. "You can fight it, I know you guys can!"

"ThAt Is QuItE tHe TaLl OrDeR," William said behind me, sounding amused. "ArE yOu SuRe ThAt ThEy WiLl Be AbLe To DeLiVeR?"

His glitching voice was starting to get on my nerves. "Shut up - of course they can!" I told him over my shoulder. "I know these guys, and they'll be able to fight you no problem!"

William smiled devilishly. "ARE YOU SURE ABOUT THAT...?" He hissed.

I was about to shoot back a retort when the animatronics each let out one last painful scream before they slouched forward and rattled to a stop. For a second I thought they had succeeded in beating out William, but then William made a pleased noise that made my cold blood run even colder. "AhHhH... THERE wE gO..."

I did NOT like how he said that. I stepped back nervously as the others jerked to attention, slowly lifting their heads. When they were back in their static standing positions, their eyes closed for about three seconds. Then they snapped open and immediately turned to find me. Even Music Man jumped up from its place on the floor. Vanessa also made it to her feet and looked in my direction.

Their eyes were glowing the same purple as William's.

"NoW dO yOu SeE?" William told me, making me turn to him in trepidation. "It DoEs NoT mAtTeR iF tHeY aRe WeAk Or StRoNg - ThEy WiLl ALWAYS oBeY tHeIr GoD. ThEy ArE nO lOnGeR yOuR aLlIeS wHiLe UnDeR mY cOnTrOl."

I'd just about had it with this man - his voice was nails on a chalkboard in my ears. "SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP!!" I yelled at him. "YOU'RE NOT A GOD, SO SHUT THE HELL UP!"

"YoU sAy ThAt," William said listlessly, shrugging. "BuT wHiCh Of Us Is AbOuT tO dIe By ThE aCtIoNs Of ThE oThEr?"

I stepped back as the others started raising their hands into clawed shapes. "If you're such a mighty god, why don't you man up and face me yourself?" I asked heatedly, though I didn't take my eyes off of the animatronics.

"WhErE wOuLd ThE fUn In ThAt Be?" William asked rhetorically. The bones in his feet make sickening popping noises as he walked briskly over to the opposite wall, then turned around. "I sHaLl SiMpLy WaIt HeRe AnD wAtCh ThE sHoW," He announced before turning to the others. "YoU hAvE yOuR oRdErS - KILL THE BOY."

Having received their orders, the animatronics and Vanessa started to advance towards me at a steady pace - Music Man followed close behind with its tiny legs. All I could do was keep out of their groping hands and walk backwards until my back hit the wall for the second time. Still, they kept coming towards me.

As I watched them, my heart just broke in my armored chest. Their metallic faces could show some levels of emotion before, but now all they seemed placid and lifeless. Like actual robots.

But I had seen them. They could show emotion. They could make their own decisions. And I knew that if William wasn't in their heads, they wouldn't be trying to kill me.

"Come on guys," I begged them as they stalked towards me with their arms raised. "Fight it! I know you're in there, so fight it!"

"ThEy CaNnOt HeAr YoU," William told me from behind them, sounding bored. "AnD iT iS oBvIoUs ThAt YoU wIlL nOt FiGhT tHeM, sO yOu MiGhT As WeLl ShEd ThAt RiDiCuLoUs SkIn Of YoUrS aNd GiVe In To YoUr DeMiSe."

"SHUT THE HELL UP!" I screamed at him.

What he said was true, though. I didn't want to fight them - I couldn't and I wouldn't. But as they grew closer, the presence of the metal that made up their bodies was almost overwhelming. It pressed on me like a physical weight until I was practically suffocating.

Sooner or later, I could possibly die.

"I don't want to fight you guys..." I told them, on the verge of crying - could I cry in this new form? "I can't fight you..." Their metallic presence was nearly touchable now. I clenched my eyes shut. "I can't... I WON'T!"

With that declaration, I flung my arms out and PUSHED. Not against the animatronics themselves, but against their metallic presence. The collective sounds of large bodies being flung across the room followed soon after, along with what I guessed was William's cry of surprise. I waited a beat before cautiously cracking one of my eyes open to check the damage. When I saw what had happened, both eyes flew open.

When I had pushed against the others' metallic presence, I had apparently taken control of the metal of their bodies themselves. They had been pulled across the room and slammed into the opposite wall, not far from William, who had recoiled in shock. Their shells had cracked even further from the impact and they limply slid down the wall; Music Man crumpled into the form of a dead spider.

"Oh my First Spinjitzu Master!" I cried out, covering my mouth with my hands. "I-I'm so sorry - I really didn't think that would happen!"

None of their eyes were glowing purple anymore, though. That was something, at least.

William stared at his broken puppets before cracking his neck back to me. "WHAT DID YOU DO?" He demanded.

I took a deep breath to recover from the shock. "I took control of the metal in their bodies," I told him, standing tall. "Something tells me that you won't be able to take control of them in that state."

"'ToOk CoNtRoL oF tHe MeTaL...?'" William muttered in disbelief. Then his eyes went to someone else standing in the room. I followed his gaze and froze.

Vanessa. She'd stalled in her progress when I'd thrown the others across the room and was currently swaying in place, waiting for further instructions.

I couldn't detect any metal on her.

William seemed to realize it too, as he gave another one of his almost-smiles. "AnD sOmEtHiNg TeLlS ME tHaT YOU wIlL nOt Be AbLe To TaKe CoNtRoL oF HER," He noted smugly. He then rounded on Vanessa. "YoU hEaRd Me, VaNnY - KILL HIM!"

Vanessa twitched as if pulled by strings, lifting her arms in front of her and advancing towards me. I backed away and started circling the room, trying to keep out of her reach. I didn't want to hurt her as much as I hadn't wanted to hurt the others, but without any metal on her person, I couldn't figure out a way to stop her without having to confront her physically. My fingers unconsciously flexed in my grip, reminding me of the strength they now held.

Then the backs of my legs hit something. The makeshift bed that Vanessa may have slept on once or twice.

The makeshift bed with a METAL frame.

I hid my smile. THIS I could work with.

I watched as Vanessa walked towards me with her zombie gait, her hands clawed and her eyes still glowing that awful purple light. My fingers stretched towards the bed frame, feeling its metallic presence as almost a tangible thing I could hold. I waited until she was close enough for me to make out the whites of her eyes around the purple light of her irises. Then I took my hand and thrusted it towards her.

I didn't know what I was expecting to happen. Maybe the bed would only move a few feet across the ground, or it would actually fly up and hit her - either would be amazing.

I didn't expect the bed frame to unravel into thin ribbons of metal and wrap around each of Vanessa's limbs, effectively forbidding her from moving.

No one spoke for a second. Not me, not William, and certainly not Vanessa, who was still swaying in the throngs of the metal ribbons; they made noises that sounded like a rubber band being pulled taunt. It was almost a full minute before I decided to comment, "Huh... that was easier than I expected."

"ThIs... ThIs CaNnOt Be HaPpEnInG..." William's muttering reached my ears, drawing my attention back to him in his timeout corner. He was gripping his head and hyperventilating, taking in the spectacular mess I'd made. "I aM a GoD - a LiViNg DeItY. ThIs ShOuLd NoT bE hApPeNiNg... THIS CANNOT BE HAPPENING TO ME!"

I'd really had it with this man. "Are you done?" I asked him bitterly. I guided the ribbons to gently lead Vanessa out of my way; it gave me a straight path to William. "Are you done calling yourself a god?" I took my time walking over to him, making my footsteps as loud as I could. "Because here's what I've learned about you as a god. You're greedy. You're selfish. You're also sadistic, bloodthirsty, and cruel." I was practically stepping on his bare toes. "But the most important thing I've learned about you as a god is... YOU'RE A COWARD."

William stared at me with his glowing purple eyes, breathing his rancid breath heavily into my face. "I kNeW iT..." He whispered. "I kNeW tHeRe WaS sOmEtHiNg DiFfErEnT aBoUt YoU cOmPaReD tO oUr PrEvIoUs PrEy." He sighed deeply. "NoW I kNoW tHaT I hAvE bItTeN oFf MoRe ThAn I cAn ChEw."

All of a sudden, his knobby hands shot out and forcefully shoved my shoulders. It only pushed me back a step, but it was all William needed to slip past me and make a break for the roll-up door.

I actually had to laugh at the audacity of this man. "And just where do you think you're going?" I asked him, reaching for the metallic presence of the roll-up door. In a blink, I had it closed; I closed the opposite door for good measure. With my other hand, I held onto the metal that held William's body and dragged him back to me. I had him turn around before I told him through bared teeth, "I'm not done with you yet."

He had only that warning before I laid into him. Over and over again, I punched him until he was on the ground. No space on his body was safe from my armored fists. All of the fear, anger, and frustration I'd felt throughout the night went into my attacks. Soon the only thing that could be heard was the sound of his fragile muscles giving as I swung at him. More than anything, I just wanted him to HURT.

But instead, he started to LAUGH.

"WHAT?" I asked him, holding him by his shoulders so we were staring face-to-face. "WHAT'S SO FUNNY?"

"WHAT DO YOU PLAN TO DO?" William howled; my beating had made him unable to move. "KILL ME? MANY HAVE TRIED, BUT I ALWAYS COME BACK! AND WHEN I DIE, ALL THOSE AROUND ME DIE AS WELL! WHAT COULD MAKE YOU THINK YOU CAN SUCCEED WHERE OTHERS HAVE FAILED?! WHAT COULD POSSIBLY MAKE YOU THINK YOU CAN SURVIVE WHERE OTHERS HAVE DIED!?"

That made me pause. A villain that always came back, even after death? That didn't sound promising.

But then something came over me. An idea... or a memory. Without thinking, I straddled William so he lay flat on the ground. My hand shot out and grabbed the underside of his face mask and ripped it off his head with a disgusting popping noise. It revealed a head entirely made of pink muscles and blood vessels, with the purple orbs a permanent feature of his face. An unholy scream erupted from William's lipless mouth; I waited until he was done before revealing my master plan:

"Then I'll make sure that this time, you don't come back."

Before William could ask what I was doing - before I could ask MYSELF what I was doing - I held the thumb of my right hand in front of my face and willed my thumbnail to become as sharp as a knife. Still without full knowledge of what I was doing, I used my thumb-knife to carve a shape into William's fleshy forehead as he screamed. No blood came from the wound, for William was already dead. When I pulled away, I saw what I had created: A circle, though it was more symmetric and perfect than any circle I had ever created.

I thought I was done, but a voice inside me said No - not quite. Almost as if I was being guided by an unseen hand, my left hand lifted and that thumb also sharpened to a knifepoint. With that thumb, I quickly slashed William's forehead and drew a jagged line across the perfect circle.

As I watched, the strange symbol glowed a ghostly green and almost seemed to float off of William's forehead. William himself seemed to still as his eyes turned the same green as the symbol. Then he let loose a stream of wailing "NO... NO... NOOOOO" and waved his knobby hands in the air as if he was trying to physically fight something off. His attempts seemed futile, though, as after a few seconds, the light in his eyes died and he finally fell quiet, hopefully forever.

The sudden absence of sound in the concrete room was nearly deafening. I was still straddling what was most likely a very dead murderer, I was surrounded by broken animatronics, and Vanessa had finally fallen still in my metal ribbons. My thumb-knives shrank back into my hands, leaving me with no explanation for what had just happened.

So I voiced my confusion out loud: "What the HELL just happened?"

I didn't have long to wonder about my actions, though - I suddenly got the instinct that a system of wires had been activated, and a creeping heat spread over my back.

It wasn't a good feeling. I quickly scrambled off of William's dead form and enlarged my senses. To my horror, I discovered that a system of fire-emitting devices had been set off within the basement; the growing burning sensation I felt over my body let me know that the fire was quickly spreading. Sure enough, the scalding scent of smoke filled both the room and my nostrils. When I opened the roll-up doors, I discovered that red and orange flames had appeared at the other end of the hallway, and they were quickly growing in intensity.

I tried pulling my coat over my nose to protect myself from smoke inhalation, but the transformation had fused it to my skin and it wouldn't budge. Starting to panic, I enlarged my senses even further. I realized that the fire system was set up all over the Pizzaplex, and that all were going off at this very second. Within seconds, the entire building would be in flames.

"You bastard!" I exclaimed, kicking the corpse beneath me - I didn't care that he was dead and couldn't feel it, he deserved it either way. "So this is what you meant by everyone around you dies as well!" He must have set up the fire system as a backup plan, then sent a mental signal to set it off as soon as he was positive that he was going to die.

If I go down, you go down with me and all that, I guess was his plan.

I started to hyperventilate, feeling useless down here in the basement. I wanted to do something - I wanted to STOP it. Freddy, Chica, Roxy, Monty, Music Man, and Vanessa were still down here. Then there were still hundreds of animatronics up in the Pizzaplex, good animatronics that were just trying to do the jobs they were programmed to do. Sunny, Moony, DJMM. Heck, even Map Bot and all of the S.T.A.F.F. bots. And the endos, with Bonnie and Foxy somewhere amongst them.

It's not fair, I told myself, covering my face with my hands, both for protection and for grief. All they wanted to do was do their jobs, and they're being punished for it.

I wanted to help, but what could I do? Metal couldn't stop fire, especially a fire of this scale.

But I could try.

I took a deep breath, smoke and all, and stretched my arms straight out to my sides. I enlarged my senses once more, this time to include all of the Pizzaplex. From the animatronics down here and Vanessa in her metallic bindings, to Sunny and DJMM in their respective attractions. From the support beams that magically kept the entirety of the Pizzaplex from falling into the basement, to the support beams that separated the inside of the Pizzaplex from the world outside.

And the weird mass of wires on the floor above. Might as well include it, too.

I took it all in, not missing one single metal being. Then I pictured taking the support beams that held the Pizzaplex together and tearing them apart, exposing all that was inside to the outside world. A world that wasn't perfect, but that could surely offer them some reprieve from the misuse and discrimination they faced in here everyday. And then I pictured taking every single being in this place, animatronic, human, and robot, and lifting them out of this horrible place.

I didn't just want to save them from the fire. I wanted to save them from EVERYTHING.

That one desire added fuel to the light already burning in my chest, tending to it until it was a bonfire even bigger than the one that was currently overtaking the Pizzaplex. It burned until it filled every part of me - until it burned BEYOND me. Until I could feel nothing else besides this burning desire and all those I wished to protect.

I lifted my head to the early morning sky and roared my intent.

—————

Outside Freddy Fazbear Pizzaplex
No One's POV
"I still can't believe it," Wakiya grouched as they stood in front of their destination. "It seems so obvious, yet somehow so mundane at the same time."

"I have to agree with you there," Yugo complied, staring at the neon-lined building with his hands on his hips. "I mean, what self respecting villain kidnaps someone and takes them to a PIZZA PLACE?"

It was true. The exit with the one stop that the infamous black van had taken had led to none other than Freddy Fazbear's Mega Pizzaplex, the mall-sized pizzeria that had newly opened downtown. It was about twenty five miles from the alley Ken had been kidnapped from, and PIXAL had checked with the company website - they were not legally obligated to put their logos on their vans. A glance at the parking lot had revealed that there were several company-licensed black vans, all of the same make and style of the van that had taken Ken.

But why would someone kidnap a boy and then bring them here, of all places?

"Maybe they wanted to give Ken a final meal before they eventually... ya know..." Cuza offered. He slowly drew his thumb across his throat and stuck his tongue out, crossing his golden eyes in the process.

Everyone else groaned loudly. "REALLY, Cuza?" Honcho asked, face palming.

"What?" The acrobat asked, sounding legitimately confused.

"Not now, please," Quon added, giving the smaller boy a serious side eye glare.

"Okay," Shu asked, taking charge and stepping forward towards the building. Dawn was starting to take a firm grip on the surrounding landscape, lighting up the front of the building and making the neon lights seem dim in comparison. "How are we getting in?"

Night stepped forward this time, though she stayed firmly by her adopted son. "I tried calling the Pizzaplex hotline, but no one answered," She informed the others. "The voicemail they'd recorded said that they were all booked for the holidays, so they weren't accepting any more bookings." She growled. "First of all, that WASN'T what I was going to ask, and second of all, who knows how often they use THAT line to get out of picking up the ding-dang phone?"

PIXAL sighed; she'd taken up her Miss Piper disguise in case of early morning birds. "I guess we're just gonna have to do this the hard way," She relented. She approached the locked glass doors and started waving her hands in military fashion. "I'm going to open the door using my implanted laser key - be prepared to fan out and search the facility for any trace of Ken," She informed the others. As they crouched into ready positions, she flicked her right pointer finger, unsheathing it to reveal a small beam of electric blue. Her green eyes scanned the locking mechanisms inside the glass doors, figuring out the right shape for her key, then sidled up to the closest door and slipped her finger into the slats.

A loud cracking noise made her pause. Everyone whipped their heads upwards to find the source. To their shock, the entire stone front of the building was splintering and breaking off in great big chunks.

"Wow, PIXAL," Kit called out nervously. "That's some laser key you've got there!"

"That's not the laser key..." PIXAL responded warningly.

Some of the debris was simple flakes of concrete that dusted their skin and hair while others were large enough to send them running for cover. They all took refuge under buildings in the immediate vicinity, waiting for the madness to stop. Other curious passerby came out of the buildings in various stages of dress to check what the ruckus was about - as soon as they saw the falling Pizzaplex, though, they ran back into the safety of their own homes. "IT'S NINE-ELEVEN ALL OVER AGAIN!!" One man cried hysterically.

When the sounds of cracking concrete lessened, everyone took the opportunity to glance out of their hideouts to check the damage. Most of the concrete had fallen away, revealing several multicolored walls that were also crumbling. Even more concerning then the disintegrating concrete, however, was the large plume of smoke that was released from its absence. If passerby looked close enough, they could large tongues of fire licking the early dawn sky.

But what was truly an anomaly was the metal support beams themselves. They seemed to bend and twist of their own accord, forming a beautiful shape that resembled a flower mid-bloom. Or rather, an egg shape that held a breathtaking, silvery green light from deep within the rubble.

"PIXAL, what's happening?" Valt, who had hidden with the white Nindroid, asked. Keru and Besu were still held tight to his chest, hopeful of seeing their master again.

"I'm not really sure-" PIXAL drew out, but she was cut off by the eruption of a primordial roar. It seemed to come from the green/silver light itself.

Both PIXAL and Valt made expressions of recognition. "What's going on?" Shu asked when he saw their matching expressions.

PIXAL looked at him seriously. "The Dragon of Metal has awoken," She said solemnly.

—————

4524 words.

SURPRISE! NOT ONE AWAKENING, BUT TWO!!