A/N: Weekend inspiration does things to you, man.

Pyron hated humans. He really, truly did. He hated the man that did this to him and his friends, he hated Mr. Kiin for what he did to Ember, he hated each and every security guard that entered his domain. He especially hated this new one, the one that had turned his only comrades against him. It was beginning to be easier to name the things he didn't hate. He didn't hate his friends; he didn't hate his family. That was about it.

As the clock struck midnight, the newest security guard walked through the front doors, a scythe on her shoulder. She didn't go to the office, though; she just stood in the dining room, staring at the stage challengingly. Pyron met her eyes, and walked backstage to retrieve his sword.

This would end here.

~0~

If you were to be brave enough to ask Carlos what having his soul trapped in a metallic body was like, he'd only respond with "Painful." Not physically painful, no, but emotionally it could destroy a person. They'd spent almost 30 years trapped inside one building, never able to see the outside world. They were just children, and yet they were forced to see other kids laugh and play, never knowing the grief and the agony their robotic buddies felt. Hell could not be worse.

As the years had passed, their pain turned to anger, then to rage. Unable to move around during the day any longer due to complaints of how creepy they looked, they took their anger out on night guard after night guard. There was a little solace to be found in killing them the same way they'd been killed. It also made Mr. Kiin angry, which was always a plus. However, he didn't want to hurt this one anymore.

He was sure that she'd been told their story, but even then she came back. She'd said she wanted to be their friend. The kids said that stuff, sure, but they were speaking to the characters, not them. He wanted to give her a chance. Pyron, however, didn't see it that way.

He had to do something.

~0~

Newt had the hardest time with being trapped inside the pizzeria, for she'd never had good coping skills. The whole first night of their free-roam, she'd done nothing but pound on the Plexiglas doors and wail, "Let me out, let me out, LET ME OUT!" The others had done nothing but watch her from the show stage, knowing her pain but well aware that there was nothing they could do.

She'd done the same thing for around 2 months. Her cries had been so loud that late-night employees from neighboring buildings had heard her, and the few that dared to investigate ran away right after seeing it was an animatronic, convinced they were hallucinating. She was only silenced when her voice box malfunctioned, leaving her with only an unearthly screech. Though Mr. Kiin knew the problem, he refused to have her fixed, seeing as he'd get less noise complaints that way.

So, that was how she was now. No matter how it hurt, she was unable to cry, unable to frown, unable to even tell her friends she just wanted to leave. She wanted to go outside again, be able to feel grass under her feet, be able to actually eat and sleep like anyone else. But it was far too late for that.

She had been so close to losing herself completely when the lady guard came around. Thirty long, long years of suffering will do that. Though she'd still think to herself, 'I want to go outside,' she'd forgotten what 'outside' even was. She couldn't remember any foods except pizza and cake, unable to recall what grass looked like beyond the green lines the kids would draw. She'd forgotten she had ever been human. However, when the new guard mentioned the janitor and Ember, it had all came back. Their deaths. Ember being taken away, with them stuck on that stage, unable to do a thing. All the guards they'd slaughtered, for some sort of outlet.

'I think this time...I want a hug instead.'

~0~

Indigo had always been the smart one of the group. Even as a child, he could talk to spirits, and through them had learned many things, especially the way ghosts worked. He knew why they were trapped here, but even when asked he'd claim he didn't, in an attempt to spare their hearts. As most know, a spirit is left to wander when it has unfinished business in this plane. Theirs was that the real killer had never been caught. Though he was the only one to know this outright, the others knew it subconsciously, and it kept them all here. With a thirty-year time gap between the crime and now, he doubted their murderer would ever be found, which meant they would never have peace. This new guard, though...she gave him hope.

She seemed to genuinely care about them, even going out of her way to speak to him as well. His attraction had been shut down years ago, due to a technical error that they didn't have the money to fix, and the children had all but forgotten he existed. His friends usually left him alone, assuming he didn't want to be bothered, but in truth he was lonely. Her kindness towards him had touched him, and he swore that he would let this one live.

Gently peeking out of his curtains as the clock struck twelve, he had a perfect view of Ruby standing bravely at the doorway, staring down a very pissed-looking Pyron who was moving to fetch his sword.

He couldn't let this happen.

~0~

Well, this was it. She was going to stare down the 'bots, and let them know who's boss. Now that she had her sweetheart, she knew they wouldn't be much of a problem; yeah, they were bigger than a normal person and were at least 300 pounds of steel each, she could easily outmaneuver them and find their off-switches. Mr. Kiin had requested that she not destroy them, for they didn't have the money to repair them, so turning them off was the next best bet.

The three main attractions were just where they always were, Pyron looking angry and the other two just sad. When she stayed in place, daring them to come at her with her eyes, only Pyron moved from his spot, storming backstage. When she looked over at the others, they stayed put. Pyron must want to take her out himself. 'Well, he could try!'

Not that long after, he reemerged from the curtains, carrying the same sword he'd tried to kill her with yesterday. Why was that thing even here, anyway? "The time has come, human," he growled. "You will fall before me, and we shall shove you kicking and screaming in a suit. Maybe then, you'll know our pain." Whelp, this was gonna suck if she lost. Good thing she wasn't planning on it. With a grin she got into combat position.

"I ain't afraid of no tin can! Bring it!" Snarling, he started to walk towards her, and she was about to move when Carlos and Newt ran forward, each grabbing one of Pyron's arms and holding him still. After a second, she put Crescent Rose back down, confused at their actions. What were they doing?

Apparently Pyron shared her confusion, but was much angrier about it. "Let me go, you two! Have you lost it?"

"No, Pyron, I think you have," an unknown voice echoed. She instinctively brought Crescent Rose back up when Indigo walked out from behind his curtains, but he completely ignored her and went straight to the other 'bots. "The three of us combined have never been as bloodthirsty as you have become."

"I don't understand you three anymore!" he yelled, trying to free his arms from their grasps but failing. "We've always been in this together! Humans are the ones that did this to us, trapped us here, made us suffer! They need to be punished! Why are you protecting this one!?"

"Because..." Indigo muttered, glancing over at Ruby before continuing. "We were humans once, too." At this, Pyron's anger slowly turned to the face a terrified child would make, his eyes staring at the ground reflectively. "We know that they aren't all rotten, but it seems you've forgotten that in light of the man who did this to us." She could swear that his cold tone seemed to be laced with malice at those words. "Understand, killing all humans won't let our souls pass on. We need closure, and this random violence won't give it to us. Just stop this."

Slowly, Pyron lifted his head to look at each of his friends. Indigo was giving him a hard look, Carlos was looking at the floor thoughtfully, and Newt was just glaring at him to give it up. With a long sigh, he let the sword slide from his hand and fall to the ground with a clank. Indigo shoved it to the corner with his foot, and the others let go of his arms.

"So..." Ruby started, and the animatronics looked over at her. "We good now?" Indigo answered her with a nod, as did Carlos, while Newt gave a screech and hurdled towards her. She instinctively moved to block her, but ended up getting hugged instead. Sheepishly she put Crescent Rose down and patted her head. It took around ten seconds or so for her to start getting choked by Newt's death grip, and another twenty to convince her to back off. Carlos and Indigo had walked up to her during this, and she noted that Pyron was sitting on the stage looking huffy.

"Don't mind her," Indigo said, "her voice box broke a while ago. That's the only noise she can make."

"Why don't they fix it? She's a singer, right?"

"No money."

"Oh, right."

For once during that week, she hadn't had to stay locked up in that dingy office out of fear for her life. She's stayed in the dining area with those three, happily chatting away. She found out that yes, they were the souls of those kids, and that they really would have killed her if they'd caught her. It was kind of weird how off-handedly Indigo mentioned this, but she guessed 30 years of living with it would make it just a fact of life for them. She found that any mention of Mr. Kiin's name would bring a sour look to their faces, and she'd quickly apologize. However, it was 5:30 and Pyron was still moping about on the stage. "Is he gonna be alright?"

Indigo gave him a sideways glance, before calmly elbowing Newt. "Go get him." She grinned wickedly and nodded, walking over to him with her arms swinging widely.

"Go away, sis." A sort of low, annoyed skree.

"Sis, I'm not going over there, go away." Another skree, this one much louder and more insistent.

"I'm not going!" A loud thunk of metal-on-metal, followed by a grunt of pain.

"Fine! Geez!" Newt then found it necessary to drag him over by the armpits while he just grumbled in annoyance.

The next half-hour passed with Carlos trying to flirt with her for some reason and Indigo calmly flicking things at him to shut him up. Newt and Pyron, apparently siblings despite there being no resemblance, looked like they were bickering but it was hard to tell when one couldn't speak. As the bell struck six, they all stood up unanimously and went straight back to their spots, unable to move once more.

"Bye bye, guys!" Ruby called to them as she left. "I'll see you all tomorrow!"

A/N: And then it was done. Well, not completely; I'm planning on writing a sort of 'outtake' chapter, where I'll write scenarios that have been requested. If you wanna request something, leave me a review or a PM or something, but after it's posted I won't add more. Ciao.