“The Midnight Delivery” - A FNAF Special Delivery One-Shot
This is the result of @kevciaran bringing up the idea that AR Springtrap might be trying to warn the player about something, though it’s not clear exactly what… And it also being William for good measure, though it’s him haunting a replica here.
I then decided to take a Fazbear Frights/Tales from the Pizzaplex approach and come up with this hypothetical scene at the end of such a story. Or at least right before then.
The basic premise is: “A teen girl named Clarice gets an order from Freddy’s she really doesn’t want. Will she face her fears or will her next ‘gift’ be the death of her?”
—
Clarice stared at her phone. The dusky blue map remained as empty as the streets outside her house. A calm silence blanketed her ears, though it did nothing to stop her drumming heart. The order was placed. Her fate was sealed. Springtrap was coming to her home, whether she liked it or not.
With newfound dexterity, she switched from the map to her provided instructions. “‘If the Replica Springtrap animatronic has white eyes while malfunctioning, then stare at him until he vanishes,’” she read in a rapid-fire mutter. “‘Likewise, the Springtrap animatronic has red eyes, then look away until you can no longer hear its twitching. If it is doing neither (or if it has turning on the standard issue cloaking device), then continue with your usual procedure…’”
Clarice laid back down in her bed. With each new word she skimmed through, the less uneasy she felt. Maybe everything was going to be just fine. Just like Kevin said.
..Unless she forgot the instructions, of course.
With a renewed sense of urgency, she turned her phone back on. She poured over the instructions again, repeating shortened phrases until she felt they were committed to memory. Even the ones Kevin already gave weren’t safe from her frenzied brain-drilling.
“Bright and red means turn your head.”
“Focus on white like a moth towards the light.”
“If they cloak, just listen— Don’t choke.”
“And if he taunts—“
A small dot popped up on the bottom of her screen. The last phrase slipped away as her mind refocused. The screen switched from her guidebook to her in-app inbox. Her eyes skimmed the first few words.
Her blood ran cold. The message was formulaic and simple, much like the ones that came before it— But now it carried a heaviness that made it sound like a harbinger of doom.
“Your animatronic is almost here!”
Her tapping fingers made the screen bounce from the inbox to the map. Sure enough, there was a new symbol on the map. A rabbit’s head with mismatched ears slowly marching towards the house icon. And, judging from the map alone, it would reach that other icon in mere minutes.
Clarice fumbled out of bed and onto the floor. She scrambled onto her feet, then snatched the taser from her nightstand. All was a blur as she made her final preparations. All of the other second floor bedrooms were barred with makeshift barricades like laundry baskets and leftover baby gates. Any “exits” she could use on the lower floor, however, were left unlocked. Frantic texts were sent, be it final goodbyes or unintentionally vague warnings. If she was to be the next in a long lineage of Springtrap’s victims, then she was to make sure that this part of the nightmare ended with her. Death or no death.
After a few more minutes of stillness, Clarice’s phone buzzed to life. Her front door camera had spotted something at the door.
The chime of her doorbell confirmed its suspicions.
Clarice sallowed whatever was left of her pride. She slowly got up from her hiding spot and approached the door. With a trembling hand, she unlocked it.
The doorknob, in kind, was slow to turn. Almost as if it was a pain to turn the wrist enough to pull off this simple maneuver. However, this wasn’t the case for swinging the door wide open— Which Springtrap promptly did.
He stood there, watching as Clarice stifled a piercing shriek. His ears twitched a little at the noise, but nothing else seemed to affect him. He simply straightened his back and took a few steps forward. “Let’s see how many times you can be pulled apart, then put back together again,” he snarled, advancing just enough for him to slam the door with one shove.
Clarice pointed the taser at him. “D-Don’t,” she stammered out, trying to at least sound stupid rather than scared. “Take one more step, and I’ll shock you to the ends of the earth.”
Springtrap sniggered. He put one foot forward, then moved his arms outward.
Blueish sparks lit up the pitch-black room. All of them managed to hit the floor and dash away before their observers’ eyes. She was too far away to really do anything. Of course she was.
As the girl’s heart sank, Springtrap’s sniggering turned into chuckling. He lumbered again, but now his footsteps were much quieter. And, as Clarice quickly noticed, he vanished into thin air. Her heart pounded. “The ‘cloak’,” she thought as she backed away into the kitchen. “He’s… He’s going to use it to kill me!”
That last idea sent her into a frenzy. She scrambled to the back door, blindly fumbling into chairs and countertops along the way. Her hands quickly turned the doorknob.. Only to remember that it had two locks. One on the doorknob and one on some old-fashioned chain. And that chain was not going to unlock in five seconds— Especially with a red-eyed Springtrap looming over her.
She froze. Her rapid breathing slowed to a halt. Servos whirred and twitched in her ears, but she dared not look at the rabbit’s reflection. All she could do was stare and stay still.
The reddish glow soon faded away. Springtrap jolted out of his haywire state. He stared at her for a moment, then leaned forward. “I can taste the fear in your breath,” he seemed to sneer, as if the word ‘fear’ was a repugnant oath to him. He lingered until his victim moved, then disappeared into the shadows once more.
Clarice’s head turned to look back. Her expression shifted from terror to confusion. She listened for an explanation, but she heard nothing. Even as she crept back into the foyer, silence prevailed over the potential conversation. Was that his best attempt at a bluff, or was he just trying to snap her out of it? Whatever the motive, it certainly worked.
Though her posture eased up, her hand still clutched the taser. She took one last look around the area. Nothing to be seen. Nothing to be heard. With this as her cue, she bolted up the stairs… Right before her adversary followed close behind. She whirled around and fired the taser again. Sparks ran through the robot’s tattered body, forcing him to writhe uncontrollably. Clarice took her chance and ran back into her bedroom. She shut the door, locked it, then fell onto her knees. She had done it. She had survived long enough to make it to her bedroom.
Heavy footsteps thumped against the carpet, then gradually slowed to a halt. A guttural sigh rattled the listener to her very core. “Hide if you want,” Springtrap growled quietly. “It did not save the others— It will not save you.” Then the footsteps continued on, as if completely ignoring the obvious hideout.
Clarice wiped her brow. “He’s just bluffing now,” she thought as she leaned against the door. “All I have to do is climb into bed, sleep the rest of the night out, then ambush him in the morning. He’ll be so tired by then; he’ll be begging me to knock out his system.” With her free hand, she dug into her pants pocket.
But her phone wasn’t there.
Her once-assured smile turned into a shaky grimace. “W-Well, I don’t need my alarm,” she reasoned to herself. “I can probably sleep in and catch him whenever I wake up!”
The grimace turned into a trembling wince. “But what about Kevin?” she asked, even as her stomach flipped in endless loops. “Or Mom and Dad? What if… What if he finds them? What if he—?” Feverish imaginations of ‘the others’ cut off her pondering. She hunched over, battling several urges at once.
Outside, Springtrap paused his search. His head tilted to one side. He advanced slowly, taking in these wretched noises. As far as he could tell, these were not cries of some arrogant thrill-seeker regretting their life choices. Nor were they the pleas of someone who knew Fazbear’s horrid past— At least not as much as he was expecting. These sounded… familiar. Like a strange middle ground between the fearful victims of old as well as his own… moments of weakness. Innocence mixed with wrecked nerves and self-reprimands. In short, this coward was nothing like the person he was promised. And, if he was misled here…
Before he could finish his assessment, his entire body jolted on its own. His eyes flickered between red and white, making his body twitch even more. He fought to raise his arms to his head. With great effort, he pulled himself out of his “stupor” with a harsh head-tug. Everything stopped shaking. He was—in his own way—back to normal.
He watched Clarice stumble out of her bedroom. Right on time.
Clarice lingered on the floor. The look on her face switched from a disoriented stare to a disgusted scowl. Her hands still shook, but at least they had a much better grasp on the taser.
Springtrap took a step closer. His eyes gained a bright white glow. “It is not your flesh that sustains me!” he cried out, almost sounding as if his teeth were clenched. “It is your fear.”
They locked eyes. Clarice’s tremor lessened. She slowly got back on her feet, trying her very best to focus on those two glowing circles. It was her turn to take a step forward. “I don’t care about what you ‘consume’— whatever that means,” she said in a somewhat steady tone. “All I’m worried about is you messing with my family. D-Do what you want with me. Just leave them alone.”
Springtrap’s ears raised at this remark. His eyes quickly lost their glow. He vanished under the cloak before any other changes could be noticed.
Clarice shook these off with a shake of her head. She hurried down the stairs, then swerved into the living room. Her hands instinctively snatched the phone and tossed it at nothing. The following thud made her wince. “Probably shouldn’t have done that,” she thought as she carefully picked it up from the carpet.
Her regret sunk in even deeper when she looked back at the stairs. The shadow-covered rabbit rematerialized as he charged down. He swerved in her direction. She shot out her arm and closed her eyes. The buzz of electricity striking metal rang out while she fumbled back onto the ground. When she opened her eyes, he was invisible yet again. No remarks. No standing there and judging her every move. Just him relying on the shadows once again.
She lingered on the floor. Her heart pounded, but her head swam with questions. Why didn’t he just run after her like last time? Did the whole “family” thing aet something off? No, that couldn’t be right. Fazbear’s mini-biography of him said he was heartless— Literally and figuratively. Even if there was someone he cared about, he definitely didn’t invite them to his latest ‘out on the town’ night. So, once again, why did he just stand there?
All was quiet as Clarice climbed onto the couch. She watched for any shadowy rabbits or red eyes, but nothing showed up. Soon her mind started to sift through all that had happened during this twisted “cat and mouse” game. The arrival at the door. Her first attempt at stunning this maniac. That close call at that door. If there was one running thread that she could use as an explanation for that weird delay, it was probably right in front of her. Maybe even… in a literal sense?
Wait a minute.
Was Springtrap… afraid of his own ‘haywire’ state?
Clairice put a hand on her head. It was a dumb idea, yes, but it did make some sense. Anytime he had those red eyes, he’d quit taunting and start rushing to attack her. With or without the white glow? Absolutely in control of his actions. If she didn’t know any better, this was a textbook case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde— That is, if Jekyll took up Hyde’s ‘profession’ and Hyde was a no-thoughts-between-the-eyes kind of person. Well, even more than Hyde already was, if she remembered Kevin’s summary correctly.
Flimsy metaphor aside, the girl decided that this was the right answer. She rose from her spot, readied her taser, and set out to find “Hyde”. Or “Jekyll”. Or any sign of Springtrap, really.
Clarice instinctively walked back into the kitchen. She cauriously made her way to the back door. With her free hand, she investigated the locks. Both were in their same spots from last time. Her eyes fixed on the glass panel. No one behind her. She pried open the chained lock, then went back to the main hallway.
With not much else to inspect, she trudged upstairs. The barricaded doors, miraculously, were not messed with. Neither was the railing or anything in the passageway. “I’m starting to think he just ran out the side door and I didn’t notice,” she thought while she entered into her own room. “Might as well check in here, since it’s open.”
Her tiredness fled as soon as she crossed the threshold. There stood Springtrap, alternating between colors as his entire body contorted violently. Servos whirred as his voice box spewed out nightmarish noises. All while Clarice had to battle the urge to faint.
Mercifully, Springtrap managed to jolt himself out of this horrific middle ground. He hunched over, let his body rest for a moment, then hoisted himself into a decent standing posture. His eyelids lifted at the sight of his opponent, only to lower back down shortly after. “Your fear will consume you!” he snapped, clenching a raised fist in her direction.
“Not if yours takes you down first,” Clarice answered softly, her fingers playing with the taser in her hand.
Before Springtrap could even begin to respond, his eyes glimmered red. He sprinted towards her with renewed energy. His voice box let out a terrifying hiss as he lunged towards her. A final shock ran through his entire system. Whether the red eyes was his doing or not, he still lost control. His body shut down in seconds. His body soon fell onto the floor, as did the sleep-deprived body of Clarice.
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the responses i’ve seen to shiv’s ending seem very quick to write her off as just another sad victim of the cycle, which isn’t without truth BUT!!! that is not even remotely the summation of shiv’s story.
i don’t think she votes yes to “save kendall” or to try to finally set her brothers free. and i don’t think her main concern was that ken was becoming their dad. she absolutely noticed and didn’t love it, but that was not her motivation in betraying him. she was thinking about herself.
it’s tempting to make a martyr out of her as she is the only female child and we see her suffer the onslaught of misogyny that comes with that. but to make her into a saintlike figure who got beat takes away the power and intelligence behind her decision.
at this point she’s stuck between two non ideal choices, but she recognizes that they have accidentally made her the single most important player in the game. because while she can’t have the outcome she’d prefer, she has the power to decide the fates of everyone else. the written off lone woman now holds in her hands the fate of every man in her life.
so she thinks about the long term benefits of both options and realizes that one side leaves her completely without any leverage.
her brothers have proven to her multiple times in the last few days alone that they will cut her out and walk all over her the first chance they get. siding with them leaves her nothing to bargain with. she would just have to hope that ken would actually take care of her. and that level of vulnerability is not only unacceptable to her, it’s stupid. and shiv fuckin roy is not stupid.
so she thinks about the other side and about what she actually wants for her life. and against her better judgment, it’s becomes unfortunately clear that she wants tom. the way she wants him is not altogether loving or even good but it is necessary to her. she sees relationships as having winners and losers and she chose this man specifically so that she could be confident in her ability to win. except now he’s grown some balls and made himself unavailable to her.
she may not like the way her husband is evolving but she already placed her bets on him, so she’s sure as hell not losing to him now. there’s also a part of her that feels intrigued by this new man she’s married to. it’s interesting to have a sparring partner in him instead of having to looking for excitement outside of their marriage.
so for maybe the first time ever, she processes what tom has said to her and thinks about what he actually wants.
he needs her to prove that she cares. he needs to know that she is capable of sacrifice. if she can’t find it within herself to do this for him, then she will lose him, and by extension, she will lose.
siding with tom gives her the opportunity to once and for all make a grand-stand gesture of love, but more importantly, it creates leverage for her. never again will he be able to hold the moral high ground over her head. never again can he say she doesn’t love him. never again can he call her selfish or uncaring. above all, he can never betray her again, because she just removed all of his moral justification for turning on her. he doesn’t realize it yet, but she’s just taken back all the power in their relationship. just in a more subtle way than she’s used to operating.
and just like that, she has the ceo of a multi billion dollar company in her pocket, while situating herself as the only descendant of logan roy to still be playing the game, having removed her brothers from the equation permanently. she may still be far from the top but she’s creating a path for herself to climb.
so yes, she’ll let tom play king for a day, and she’ll have his baby and say “congratulations,” and play the gracious wife, but tomorrow is a new day with lots of room to maneuver. and when her husband puts out his hand, she’ll place her own on top. but she won’t grasp it because she doesn’t need to.
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