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summerlycoris · 6 months ago

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Is It Really A Birthday Party If You Wake Up In A Hospital Bed?

Chapter 1- And I Lay Under The Smoke And The Falling Debris.

Cassie's learning the hard way- nearly dying in an elevator after being betrayed by her bestie doesn't make for a great thirteenth birthday.

So that's a wash- but Cassie's a forward thinker. She wants her fourteenth birthday to be great- with carrot cake, her dad back, and friends who don't try to kill her.

Shouldn't be too hard, right? All she has to do is make some new friends…

… And maybe figure out what happened with that All Staff Meeting her Dad had talked about before he went missing…

This may be harder than she thinks. Can she really pull this off? Or will that monster in the basement finally finish her off?

Join Cassie as she tries to answer these questions, and more! But most importantly…

Is it really a birthday party if you wake up in a hospital bed?

For a moment, she was floating. But only for a moment. Then she slammed into the roof of the elevator as it careened back down.

Time slowed down to a crawl, but her thoughts only sped up. She must've dropped her Faz-Wrench- It couldn't help her now. She couldn't find her Roxy-Talkie either. The monster's arm was just out of reach.

She wanted something to cling to.

Anything.

Everything was so confusing.

She wanted Roxy to be here. Gregory to be here. Someone to hold her hand. Whisk her away. Mom Dad please-

She'd spent all night falling, and she couldn't stand it. Maybe this was just a bad dream that she'd start awake from, safe in her bed.

I hate heights. I hate heights. I hate heigh-

Those were the last thoughts she could remember.

When she came to, she saw the damage done to the floor first, because her face was lying against it. The boards were sticking up slightly at breaks, or bent weirdly through the middle. She could feel some of them poking into her body. Her head hurt. Even worse than when Monty had tackled her into the sewerage pipe.

She breathed in dust, still hanging in the air as she looked up. Her eyes were blurry, but she could still see. The door was partially opened, the bars looked like they'd been wrenched apart.

She could hear something shuffling nearby. There was a faint creaking and groaning of metal from above her. She couldn't see her Faz-Wrench, V.A.N.N.I mask, or Roxy-Talkie anywhere. Or that monster's arm.

There was a grate sitting on the floor that hadn't been there earlier, though.

…

How long had she been out for?

Everything hurt way too much. Her left arm was stuck underneath her. When she tried to pull it out, it just hurt. A sharp, throbbing pain. She couldn't help but groan.

Her back hurt when she tried to get up. It was a duller pain though. Manageable? But she couldn't get up properly. She tried rolling off her belly, so she could push herself into sitting using her right arm. Her head spun just attempting to roll- so she put paid to that idea.

She couldn't feel anything weird in her legs. So they should be okay? But she couldn't move them. Oh, so they're broken. That makes more sense. She thought.

She lay her head back against the floor, taking some time to breath, and hopefully get her head to stop spinning. This was a really bad time for her vertigo to play up.

If she wanted to get out of this, she needed every advantage she could get.

To get out of here…

Could she even get out of here?

She could hear a faint shuffling noise nearby.

This elevator was… broken now. There was another one that she'd taken down from Roxy Racers. But she'd run away from it when the monster chased her, she thought.

…

Yeah. That one had a metal floor. She could remember because she'd spent too much time staring down at her shoes, crying over Roxy. There were two elevators. This broken one. And the one she'd have to get to to leave.

… Get to it how? She couldn't even roll over? Her legs were broken? Her head was still spinning?

She whimpered, the realization crashing into her. She wasn't getting out of this. Gregory may not have killed her with the fall, but she was still going to die.

It'd just take longer.

She could feel tears prickling at her eyes. Nobody could find her here. Nobody would even think to look here. No one knew where she was. She didn't have a phone- didn't even have her Roxy-Talkie anymore.

She had tried so hard, and this was where it would end? She sobbed, and her heart ached.

The shuffling noises got closer, and she could hear servos whirring. She stopped. That thing… it could still be here. What if it had heard her? She shut her eyes, and tried to play dead.

That noise got closer and closer. She was so tempted to look. Maybe dying to it would be better? Would it kill her quickly? Why was she still trying so hard to live?

"Cassie, are you in here?" She heard a small voice whispering. Roxy's voice. She'd never heard Roxy whisper before.

She squinted her right eye open, and looked out the wrecked door.

And there she was. Cassie couldn't even believe it. It really was her. She looked different though. She was missing most of her left arm, from the elbow down, and seemed to be crawling. Her head was hanging loosely from her neck. She saw Roxy's whole body twitch, and some sparks fly at her neck.

The tears she'd been holding back streamed down, and she sobbed out "Roxy- Roxy I'm so sorry-" her voice was creaky from the dust. She started to cough.

"Cassie, it's okay. You're okay. It's gone now, it can't hurt you any more. I'll get you out of here." Roxy's ears flicked around on her head, trying to pinpoint exactly where to go.

Cassie tried to push herself up with her right arm, and scramble towards her. She at least got her head and chest off the floor, and off her left arm. Her back protested from this movement. She couldn't go anywhere. "Roxy, I think I broke my legs- I can't move."

"That's okay. That's okay." Roxy tried to reassure her as she clambered over, gently as to not knock the loose boards up too much.

When Roxy reached her, Cassie tried to tap her with her left arm. It screamed at her to stop. She couldn't stop. I'm here, I'm here. You found me. Her hand ran over what was left of Roxy's hair- the green forelock, dangling loosely from her head. It felt more like plastic than hair. But it also felt like a lifeline. And Roxy could feel where she was now, too.

Roxy got closer, and kneeled up onto her legs, so she could use her arm. Her legs were damaged in places, and Roxy seemed to be off balance. But she braced herself with her busted arm, and used the right one to wrap around Cassie's chest. "We need to get out of here now. Can I move you? It may hurt."

She nodded, before realizing that was useless. "Yes, please." The creaking from up above reached a crescendo, as Roxy pulled Cassie up against her stomach. Cassie whimpered as her back stung. But she needed to be brave. She could be brave for a bit longer, now that Roxy was here.

Roxy held her firmly against her chest with her right arm crossing over Cassie's back. What was left of Roxy's left arm holding Cassie's head against her chest. Cassie could see the broken wires in her neck by looking up, and could see where that monster had further damaged Roxy's casing. Cassie had to be careful of Roxy's damaged head, hanging loosely just beside her own. She couldn't afford to take a wire to the eye. She clung to Roxys left shoulder with her only good arm.

Roxy stood up and quickly walked out of the elevator, leaning against the bars of the door as she crawled back through the hole.

"Did you open the door before, Roxy?"

"... No. But I think it has left now. What did it do to you?"

Roxy turned around to face the elevator, even if her head was dangling. Even though she was blind.

Cassie had seen the roof of the elevator buckling as they'd left it. Had seen some broken cords and cables next to the elevator. The walls at the back and sides of the elevator were buckled and bent in the fall, almost looking like the crinkly part of an accordion. But way less intended. The beams that should have held everything steady were snapped or bent. It looked like it was going to collapse.

And then it did collapse. Cassie gasped at the noise. Roxy took some frantic steps backwards, nearly tripping over.

"Oh my!"

"Roxy-"

Roxy managed to catch herself and stay upright, before turning around and getting away. The dust that had just been hanging in the elevator before was now everywhere. Cassie held her breath until they were clear of the cloud.

Roxy slumped forwards against the doorframe leading back towards the tunnels. She knelt down, and placed Cassie so she was sitting up against some nearby crates.

She breathed heavily, and made the mistake of looking down at her legs.

…

She looked away quickly, back up to Roxy. It just made her queasy.

"... What did it do to you?" Roxy asked again.

"It? Umm, it chased me through the tunnels… I got away though, I got into the elevator and I got away-" Cassie stalled.

She didn't want to think about a lot of things right now. Like heights. Like what the monster would've done to her if it had caught her. Her right ankle twisted strangely inwards. The cuts on her left leg. The fact her left leg just looked wrong. That her legs should be hurting. Her back-

But most of all she didn't want to think about that.

‘...But we can't let it follow you. I'm sorry.’

I was getting away until Gregory-

Her face felt warm and ashamed, and she started crying again. Maybe she'd just cry forever.

"The elevator fell. I fell. Gregory-" she couldn't continue though the sobs. She couldn't see properly through her tears.

And then Roxy was there. Holding her tight. Hugging her, and running her hand through Cassie's hair soothingly. For being pressed against broken metal and plastic, it was… comforting. They stayed like that for a while, until Cassie was calm enough to explain.

"He dropped the elevator. H-he couldn't risk that thing following me. That's what he'd said…"

Roxy's ears twitched. "That kid again, when I find him…" She growled, then shook her head and refocused. "Don't worry about him right now. You said that you thought your legs were broken earlier. Is there anything else?"

"My left arm really hurts. I think it's busted too? And my back hurts. It's not too bad, though. I think I landed badly?"

Roxy was silent for a moment, and Cassie got to thinking- how were they gonna get out of here?

"... Roxy, there's another elevator that leads back to Roxy Racers. That's how I got here. If we can get back to it, we can leave."

Roxy hummed. "I can do that. But I can't keep carrying you. Not safely. My balance is… off. If I fell forward I'd crush you. But I also can't leave you here to get help, anything could happen…" She trailed off, back to thinking. "Cassie, do you see any rope anywhere?"

She looked around. All she saw was the hallway, the door next to them, and the remains of the elevator. Except- wait. There was rope. Rope netting that was skirting the wall of the hallway just besides her.

"Yes! Just over there- err, to your left, along the wall. There's a long net stuck to it. Why?"

Roxy walked around her and the boxes, feeling her way over to the netting. "If I can't carry you in my arms, I could tie you to my back instead. That could work… you could even help tell me where to go."

Hope filled Cassie's chest. She could get out of here- and even get to help her favorite animatronic at the same time?

Maybe this birthday was still salvageable.

She agreed, and they set to work. Or rather, Roxy set to cutting the netting loose from the wall. Luckily, she still had one set of decently sharp claws. She cut a long length of netting, then pulled it back over to where Cassie sat, laying it on the ground.

"We could also use this to help splint your legs. Though, we may have to splint them against each other- I'm not sure if there's anything we can use here."

"There could be something in the crates? There's some behind me, and some against the other wall, closer to the elevator." Cassie was already taking her role seriously. Roxy went to go check, prying the lids off the crates behind her and feeling around inside the boxes. She rummaged through there for a long while, before speaking up again.

"Doesn't seem to be anything useful, just old party supplies? Everything feels like cardboard…"

Cassie looked over at the crates further away. They were half covered by a tarp, but she could see that they were typical kinds of crates. They had diagonal cleating on the sides for added support. She looked over her shoulder at the crates behind her- they were the same!

"The crates are made of wood. And the cleating shouldn't be too hard to remove. Could the cleats work as a splint?"

Roxy put the lid back on to the crate she was at, and started testing the cleating on its side. "This could work. I need three pieces…"

"Three?"

"Two for your legs" She ripped off one of the cleats, and moved onto the other side. "And one for your arm. Im not sure what to do about your back, though." She ripped off more pieces of cleating. "They taught us basic first aid, how to manage cuts and bruises, even apply splints. But not what to do for suspected spinal injuries. Maybe I should send a formal request for more training, when we get out of here."

Cassie didn't want to think about what that implied. So she didn't, instead focusing on what Roxy was doing.

Roxy got all the pieces together, cut some lengths of rope out of the net, then asked Cassie a question- "I'll need help to do this. I'll need your hand to help tie the ropes properly. And I'll need you to look at what I'm doing, to let me know if things go wrong. Can you do that for me?"

Cassie didn't want to do that. Just glimpsing her legs a few minutes ago had made her feel queasy. But what choice did she have?

I just need to be brave for a little bit longer.

She agreed. And Roxy handed her one end of the rope, before lining up the splint against her left forearm. She held Cassie's arm gently, but it still hurt. Cassie bit her lip as she wrapped the rope around her arm and the splint. When both the splint and forearm were stable against each other, Roxy let go, and grabbed the other end of the rope, feeling along the floor for it. They worked together to tie it up.

And then needed to repeat that for her legs. Which, on one hand, were easier. Cassie didn't need to bite her lip to keep from crying out in pain. But it was also harder. She didn't have much in her stomach- lunch was so long ago- but it was threatening to make a reappearance as Roxy helped straighten her ankle. It just looked wrong.

After that one, they moved onto her left leg. But didn't know where exactly that one had broken, only that she had some nasty looking cuts in her calf and thigh. So while her right leg only needed the ankle and shin splinted, she got her whole left leg laid out straight, and splinted. She was sure it'd feel uncomfortable later.

After finishing with her legs, Roxy and Cassie worked to tie what was left of the netting under Cassie's arms and around her upper back. Then, Roxy put her arms one at a time through the squares of the net. It's almost like she is putting on a button up shirt. Except the shirt is made of rope netting, and there are no buttons. Cassie giggled a little at the thought.

"When we get out of here, I'll make you a proper shirt. One that looks super cool." She whispered, clinging to Roxy's shoulder. She was so, so, tired. It was way past her bedtime. Definitely past midnight. Maybe even past two am. Mum never lets me stay up this late- even on new years eve! She'll definitely be home by now.

"Okay?" Roxy tilted her head in confusion. But it didn't look right because her head lolled forwards, as she walked on her hand and feet. Cassie guessed it was for better balance. She couldn't help but laugh at this situation. Everything just seems a little funnier when you're exhausted.

Roxy slowly continued following the tunnel back towards the monster's… Lair? Prison? It seemed to take eternity for them to get to the first fork in the road. And it seemed to take forever for Cassie to decide which way to go. "I… I think we go right here? Wait, no… He said to go right on the way here… Umm, we go left now?"

"We'll try left first. If it leads us to a dead end, we can just try again after."

So they went, continuing their slow trek back. And Cassie nearly dozed off several times. Despite having metal and plastic pressing into her belly. Despite having rope rubbing up into her shoulder blades. Despite the pain in her arm and back. She was only twelve, after all.

Wait, no. Thirteen now. I'll need to get used to saying that.

"Roxy- Roxy, did you know I'm thirteen now?"

Roxy laughed lightly. "Yes, that's why I wished you a happy birthday earlier. Did you forget?"

"Nuh- uh. Didn't forget it. I was just… distracted earlier."

Distracted running away from Chica, and Monty, and Freddy, and little Music Men. Distracted by a liar lying to me. Distracted because I shut you down. Because I let you down. Because I betrayed you, and he betrayed me-

"Roxy, how did you know I was down here anyway? I shut you down…"

"Shut me down? You rebooted me."

"But I saw you go limp-"

"I should clarify" it felt so weird to hear 'clarify' come out of Roxy's mouth- err, voice box. "You shut down security. But then I could reboot without it draining my resources, back into safe mode."

Cassie nodded, pretending like she understood how that worked. She wished she could ask her dad.

"And how did I find you? I could hear you crying. That led me down the elevator shaft, then to you."

Cassie could feel her eyes get watery. How haven't I run out of tears yet?

She sniffled out "Thank you, thank you sooo much." Into Roxy's back.

"Don't worry about it, kid. I'd do anything for my number one-twice." Roxy couldn't exactly grin- being pretty much all endo now. But she sounded like she was grinning.

That's why Roxy's my favorite.

A gust of cold wind rattled down the tunnel, causing Cassie to shiver. It was so noisy, too. She remembered the weird noises from earlier, and how the door had been torn ajar.

The monster had tried (and succeeded?) At getting into the elevator while she was unconscious. That's terrifying… another shiver ran up her back. This time it was not caused by the cold.

Maybe it just wanted its arm back? Maybe it thought I was already dead?

She shook her head, these thoughts were getting her nowhere.

"It's pretty late- four forty-five by my internal clock. When did you last get any sleep?" Roxy kept walking forward on her three limbs, going over a bumpy part, but trying her best to be gentle with it.

"Umm, a long time ago? I woke up at six yesterday…"

Roxy hummed. "Did you want to take a nap for a while? It seems to be a straight path for now. I should be able to handle this bit."

"No, not yet. Roxy, do you think it's gonna come… back for me? I think I really made it mad earlier."

"It- oh, that one." Roxy stopped walking, and craned her ears around. "I think it found a way out already. If it was still here, I'd be able to hear it. And I doubt it'll come back- it'd be scared of having a second round against me!" Roxy joked.

Cassie laughed at that. "Yeah, I wouldn't want to fight you either…"

"How would you have made it mad, though?" Roxy asked, after a bit. She'd resumed walking, following the tunnel.

"It thought it was Gregory. And I told it that it wasn't him. Probably made it embarrassed."

Roxy laughed. "Maybe so, but I don't think it'll come back just because you embarrassed it. It might never want to see this place again, it was trapped down in that room before?"

"Yeah… until I let it out." I'm the biggest, most foolish girl in the world right now. "I really messed up, huh? I knew something was wrong, but I kept going anyway." Her eyes started to water again. "I just wanted to see him again…"

"Cassie… it's not your fault. Things like that, they like to mess with people and trick them. I've been tricked before too- if they can trick me, that means they can trick anyone."

Cassie waited for Roxy to tell her how she was tricked, but Roxy changed the subject instead.

"You know what the best thing to do is? When someone treats you like dirt?"

"No… What?"

"You keep trying, and you never give up! Then, when you win, you can rub it in their face! 'You tried to tear me down- well look where I am now!' "

That made Cassie feel a little better. Roxy didn't really get why she was upset, but it was nice to hear her attempts to comfort her.

"I'm gonna get you out of here. Then, you can show them up- both Gregory and that thing!"

"...Yeah?"

"Yeah!"

Cassie grinned, and felt determination flow through her. Because they wanted me dead- getting out alive would be enough.

They kept going for a while, down the cold, drafty tunnel. Cassie yawned loudly, and slumped down further into Roxy's back. Today- well yesterday and today- had been such a rollercoaster for her. She was fighting just to stay awake.

Roxy laughed. "Get some sleep, Cassie. I'll wake you if I get lost."

She couldn't fight her heavy eyelids for any longer. So she did just that, curling up as best she could against Roxy's back. The slight swaying of movement rocking her to sleep.

________

Cassie didn't know how long she'd been asleep, just that Roxy had woken her up near the toppled forklift.

She groaned and tried to wipe the sleep from her eyes. "Whu- what time is it?"

"From my internal clock, it is about seven thirty a.m."

"Wow… Mom's gonna kill me when I get home. Do you think I'll miss the school bus?"

"... Cassie, it's still summer break? Are you okay?"

"Umm, yeah. Just tired." Exhausted was probably a better word. She felt like she had less sleep than she did before that nap. "I'm awake though. You need help?"

Cassie looked around. They were near the lair where that monster had been trapped. She could see the upturned forklift next to them. It still had power- though, luckily, the engine had turned off. There was only the faint smell of gasoline filling the space. Though, it must've still had battery. Because the brake lights were still on, shining a dim light to the ceiling. Even if the headlights hadn't been buried in the rubble when the monster threw it down, they'd probably have broken on impact with the wall. She could vaguely see the room where the monster had been stuck, using the scattered faint red light. But there was a problem- it was up higher than the tunnel. She'd had to jump down into the tunnel earlier that morning from the room. Now they'd need to climb back up into that room.

And it was at least six feet off the ground.

"I just… I don't know where to go now. I don't have an internal map of this place. Is this a dead end? I swear I went the right way…" Roxy asked, feeling against the wall underneath the hole with her hand.

"No, there's a hole up in the wall, but it's pretty high up. It's just above you. If you stand up, you should be able to reach it."

Roxy stood up, and felt along with her hand until she felt the wall give way into a hole. The hole was tall- but Roxy was nearly as tall as it. If she'd had eyes, and a head that wasn't lolled forward, she would've been able to see inside the room. But she didn't have eyes. And while she would've been tall enough to see into the room, she was not tall enough to climb back through. At least, not without injuring Cassie further. They both realized this around the same time.

"There has to be another way. We're so close!"

"You can leave me here, if you want. I'll be okay."

Roxy shook her head. "No, there's no way I'm leaving you behind. Not like this."

Cassie sighed. Am I gonna drag Roxy down with me? She can't have endless power… The chill swept through her again. She shivered, and looked around. Maybe Roxy was right, and there was something that could help them.

There was rubble, from when the forklift had broken through the brick wall. But most of it was just… Well, bricks. Some pieces were bigger, but none were both big enough, and stable enough to stand on. The only really solid thing in this tunnel was the forklift.

Hey, wait…

"Maybe the forklift can help? It's to your left, and it's kinda stuck in the rubble. It landed on its bonnet earlier. If it was laying on its side, in front of the wall, could it become a stepping stone?"

"... That could work. Hang on."

Cassie gripped onto Roxy's shoulder pad tighter, as Roxy turned towards the fork lift. She went over, grabbing onto the chassis and testing it for any give. It wriggled a bit when pressure was applied.

Roxy braced herself, and secured her hand a bit higher on the frame, before trying to pull it towards herself. Cassie whimpered, worried it would fall too quickly and crush them. Roxy had already gotten stuck under a forklift earlier that morning- what if it happened again?

These worries turned out to be baseless- it never moved enough to become a crush hazard. And it was clear to Cassie that this was really pissing off Roxy. She started grunting with exertion, and putting her whole body weight into trying to move it. She tried pushing it backwards, then pulling it towards herself, trying to lever its tynes out of the ground. But it just wasn't working. It was stuck too fast. The sudden movements running pain through Cassie's arm and back, with the way Roxy was jolting back and forth. Cassie didn't worry about that though- she could hear Roxy's servos straining, and see the way the loose wires near her neck sparked.

"Roxy- Roxy! Just stop, please- You're going to hurt yourself!" She begged.

And she did stop. Roxy leant against the chassis, still gripping it with her hand. She panted as she stood there, the effects of that effort catching up to her.

Cassie changed her grip, from shoulder pad, to shoulder itself, and laid her head down against Roxy's back. It was the closest she could get to giving her a hug.

"I'm gonna… waste all my battery trying to move this… stupid, useless hunk of metal!" Roxy yelled in frustration, slamming her fist into the paneling of the forklift. Cassie flinched at the sound of metal meeting metal.

A few seconds passed. But it felt like eternity. Roxy eventually stopped panting, and backed away from the stuck fork lift.

"I'm sorry that I scared you just then. I just… I can't lose again. I have to protect you, but I can't even get you to safety like this." The disappointment in her voice was palpable.

"It's okay, it's okay…" Cassie tried to sooth her. "You tried, I'm just glad you didn't get crushed again."

They stayed there in silence for a minute, brain and CPUs wracking for a solution.

"If you went without me, you could get Eclipse for help. They're back in the daycare, but they're in pretty good shape, and they can fly."

"Wait- Eclipse is back? I haven't seen them in years… if I could get closer to the raceway, I could probably send a distress signal to them."

"I'll be fine down here- you said it yourself earlier- it probably never wants to see this place again. It won't be back."

"... But it's my job to protect you. You're a kid, and you need help. I already failed you once- I can't do it twice."

"Wait, you didn't fail me- You saved my life? I don't understand…"

Roxy tensed up. "I lost. To that thing. And it chased you, and he hurt you. I couldn't even do anything. Not anything that mattered."

"But that wasn't your fault! If anyone failed me- it's Gregory! You tried to save me. You still are saving me."

Roxy didn't give any indication that she'd even heard her. Cassie didn't know what to say. But she needed to say something.

"...When we get out of here, I'll fix you. I'll get Andy to help- I'll get Dad to help, too…" if I ever find him. "then you won't have to worry about losing again."

She felt Roxy relax a bit under her- maybe that was the right thing to say?

"...Are you sure? About being okay here, I mean."

"I've gone through a lot worse things than waiting tonight- err, today."

Roxy sighed. She got down, as low as she could get to the ground, trying to smooth out a spot with her hand. Then she started taking off the netting. "Make sure to hold on. I'll be able to grab you- you won't fall- but not until my arms are free."

Cassie agreed.

Slowly, and as gently as she could, Roxy put her down on the ground. It wasn't great- she was laying on rubble, and the netting from before. It was uncomfortable. But she'd be okay.

Roxy hovered over her, and ran her fingers through Cassie's hair. "... I'll be back soon, okay? I'll get Eclipse, and we'll get you home again. Are you sure you'll be okay?"

"Yeah, I'll be okay." She lied. Cassie wanted to be greedy. She wanted to hold Roxy's hand, and never let go. She wanted Roxy to keep running her hand through her hair. She didn't want to be left here alone.

But I have to be brave, for just a little longer. "I'll see you soon."

Roxy drew back, and her hand left Cassie's hair. "I'll see you soon, Cassie." She went back to the wall, looking like she was measuring with her hand how high up the hole was. Cassie wondered how she'd get up there. She was answered quickly- Roxy took a few paces backwards, crouched, then took a flying leap. Straight at the hole.

She nearly nailed the landing- despite not being able to see it. She got most of the way through, and only needed to scramble her legs against the wall to completely get through, knocking a few bricks loose.

Then she was gone. And Cassie was alone again. In a cold, dark tunnel, just laying down. At least this time I'm not stuck on my belly, I guess.

Nothing much happened from there. All Cassie could do was think. Wonder what Eclipse would say when they saw her again. Or what Mom would do when she saw just how many bones Cassie had broken in one sitting.

She'd need to go back to school- would they send her back in a wheelchair? She wasn't sure how to feel about that. Her classmates would probably pick on her for it. But she could probably do some cool tricks in it, as well. And if she was lucky, she could even get a red one, or a purple one. That'd match her outfits well. Even a green one would be okay- as long as it isn't dark green. I don't want to look like I'm dressed for Christmas!

She wished she hadn't gone through the water earlier. Well, she wished she hadn't bothered coming down here at all… but she really regretted going through that water. Her clothes had gotten soaked when Monty pushed her into the sewers, then from when she missed a step while trying to avoid Monty near the log ride. Then soaked again when wading through the weird, underground lake. Despite being hours later, her clothes were still damp and sticking to her.

It hadn't been as annoying earlier, because she'd had better things to worry about. But now, stuck in a drafty tunnel, it was really difficult to deal with. No matter what, she just couldn't get warm. She couldn't stop shivering.

She had no idea what time it was now. Or how long Roxy had been gone for. Cassie just wanted to go home already. Go to bed with her plushie collection, and forget that this had ever happened to her.

But what if Roxy couldn't find Eclipse? Wasn't there a broken set of stairs Cassie had to jump down earlier? If Roxy had problems finding the hole in the wall, would she really be able to get back to the raceway without help? What if she powered down halfway?

Cassie tried not to think about it. She really tried. But there was nothing happening here, and thoughts of home could only go so far in distracting her. She could hear her breaths speed up, and she felt faint. I need to stop panicking. I'm okay, I'm okay…

But even after grounding herself (literally, by grabbing at the loose ground beneath her.) She still felt breathless.

She was so tired.

Just so tired.

After a while, she fell into an uneasy sleep.

~~~~~~~~

Authors note- God I love Ruin, for all the same reasons I love Sister Locations story- concise, clear storytelling. But the elevator ending cliffhanger… that stuck with me. So, using the powers of autism and frantic obsession for… well, not good, but for something at least, I'm writing a story of how Cassie gets out of this mess.

I needed to start with the usual sort of after-elevator-ending chapter though, to set up things for the future. I hope it was interesting, even though it was long.

For anyone worried Gregory cut the cord in this- he didn't. But Cassie doesn't know that. And there will be drama, trust me.

Also- no I'm not including anything from help wanted 2 onwards (unless it already vibes with what I'm doing.) Because. I started writing this monstrosity on *checks date* the 22rd of august. To change it to include anything major from hw2 would be to. Gut 100k words and practically start over I reckon.

#five nights at freddy's #cassie fnaf #fnaf cassie #fnaf #fnaf fanfic #summerly writes #happy ruin day! this is the thing I've been working on for like 11 months!#probably there'll be a chapter every week until i run out of completed (And sequential) chapters #dunno why the links like 'new session' bruh ao3 please. i think the link works but I don't know for sure pls pls pls #is it really a birthday party fanfic

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