The three finally reached the clock entrance after five more minutes of walking. The agony spread throughout the edge of the base, shining in the sunlight.
“Geez… Spreading like some kinda virus.” Springtrap furrowed his brow.
“Whatever it is, that’s our first clue. We have to get into the Clock Tower.” Golden Freddy stared at the two.
Golden Freddy and Springtrap were about to inch out, but Puppet noticed something.
“Guys, guys.” Puppet pointed. The two turned and saw them. The guards patrolling the Clock Tower. It seemed like the town had noticed the weird black ooze, and were keeping it contained, “There’s guards…”
Springtrap glared at them, clearly having his go-to strategy in mind, “Easy kills. I’ll deal with these fuckers while you guys get insi-”
“No. Springtrap. We aren’t killing anybody else!” Golden Freddy hissed, glaring at the rabbit, whose ears drooped slightly.
“Aw, you’re no fun.” Springtrap huffed, in mock disappointment.
“We just have to sneak past them.” Puppet motioned, “The door is over there.”
“Observant, aren’t we?” Springtrap grumbled sarcastically.
Puppet ignored the rabbit, “If we can create a distraction that DOESN’T involve murder, we can just rush in.”
Puppet looked around for anything they could use. He quickly picked up a nearby, discarded tin can, and threw it across the forest area. It landed with a clink. The guards, ears perked, immediately rushed over to it.
“There’s no way that just worked. Who hired these guys!?” Springtrap was baffled, his ears perked. Golden Freddy, in response, just grabbed the rabbit’s paw and ran in with him.
“Just be happy it did!”
Puppet floated it, shutting the door behind them.
–
The three stared around the dimly-lit Clock Tower. Golden Freddy quickly lit up his eyes further, allowing the three to see.
“Nifty.” Springtrap huffed.
The three looked up, and saw a staircase that seemed to go on forever. Springtrap just groaned, his ears dropping. Golden Freddy and Puppet, too, didn’t seem too happy about this. Golden Freddy looked to the edge of the staircase, catching something dark, but very noticeable.
“Careful. There’s agony trailing the walls. Don’t get caught in it,” The bear attempted to highlight the agony using his eyes, only to illuminate part of it, “Follow my lead.”
Puppet and Springtrap quickly hurried after the bear and began to walk up the long staircase.
The trip was mostly in silence, minus Springtrap’s tired heaving after the first few steps (being an old-timer certainly wasn’t helping him here).
“How the hell are you not tired?” Springtrap motioned to Puppet.
“We aren’t old.” Golden Freddy grumbled.
Springtrap just kept his mouth shut, too tired to make any insults without just falling off the stairs in exhaustion.
—
Several long and boring flights of stairs later, the three made it to the top of the Clock Tower, with barely any issue.
Well… atleast Golden Freddy and Puppet.
Springtrap panted as he reached the top of those damn stairs, leaning against a wall and placing his hands on his knees, huffing and gasping for air.
“Jesus motherfuckin’ Christ…” The rabbit panted, “I never want to do that again…”
Golden Freddy just side-eyed the tired Springtrap, then turned back to Puppet, speaking out of earshot, “Are you sure this was the right call… y’know… bringing him along? ”
Puppet sighed, “Look, I know he’s difficult to work with for… very obvious reasons. But he’s really the only one that can help us with this case. He led us through the Flipside, after all.”
Golden Freddy let out a huff, “Yeah… I still don’t trust him as far as I can toss him.”
“I know, but we have bigger things to focus on other than an angry rabbit. And besides, I didn’t even think he was gonna come. So… we just gotta stay optimistic, okay?”
Golden Freddy sighed, “If you say so.”
A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
Truthfully, Golden Freddy did wish they had just done this whole thing without the rabbit. Maybe it would’ve been harder, but, could he really be faulted for not wanting to work with him of all people?
Alas, he settled his rage and turned toward the massive Clock, which boomed with a click every second, making Golden Freddy wonder how they hadn’t noticed the sound coming up.
Springtrap finally trudged up to them, “Damn…”
The rabbit began to slowly maneuver the clock for any clues, Golden Freddy and Puppet doing the same.
It didn’t take them too long to figure out just what the clue was.
Just like the other entrances, the Clock slightly flickered every few seconds, becoming only slightly transparent.
Springtrap, whether out of curiosity or habit, placed his paw forward and felt himself be engulfed by the clock.
—
The rabbit woke up in a dark void. Staring around, he immediately glanced at the flickering figure in the room.
It looked like one of his own creations. It was small, wore a propeller hat, and held up a balloon.
Balloon Boy?
Springtrap let out a pixelated snort. He never really liked this one. Was never really sure why he made it, honestly.
But what was it doing here?
The rabbit continued to stare around, unsure of what to even do.
It was then he saw it. A small box that looked like it could fit the damn thing.
Springtrap, with really no other options, pushed the figure into the box. And like he predicted, it had fit perfectly.
“What a puzzle…” Springtrap grumbled.
—
And before the rabbit knew it, he opened his eyes and found himself standing in front of the clock again, notably no longer flickering.
“What the…?” Springtrap raised a brow.
“You okay? You zoned out for a minute.”
“Yeah, I’m fine. Think I figured out what the fuck we’re supposed to be doing here, though. So that’s a plus.”
Puppet looked down at Springtrap, “What would that be?”
“We keep seeing a lot about these damn clocks, right?”
“Yeah?”
“It looks like we have to solve the puzzles within them… for whatever reason.”
“Are you sure?”
“Wouldn’t be sure if I didn’t have to solve it.” Springtrap rolled his eyes.
“Fair enough…” Puppet sighed.
“Alright, let’s get out of here.” Golden Freddy motioned toward the door.
“Do we even know where we’re going?” Springtrap asked, clearly frustrated.
“No.” Puppet, admittedly, seemed a little embarrassed.
The green rabbit huffed, his tail slightly flicking.
—
After a very long walk down the stairs (which, luckily for Springtrap, proved to be way easier than the walk up), they ended up outside the Clock Tower’s base, quickly heading into some bushes before they were spotted. Finding a good place to stop, the three crouched down, Springtrap brushing up Tracy.
“Okay. Ideas?” Golden Freddy asked the two.
“We go back the way we came, and see if whatever Springtrap did actually did something?” Puppet answered.
Springtrap shrugged, strapping Tracy back onto his back, “I mean, what choice do we have?”
“Fair enough… Okay, we better get going, then.” Golden Freddy stood up, quickly rushing off. Puppet and Springtrap followed suit.
After they ran through the brush, they were able to sneak back into the alleyway they had initially come through. Golden Freddy and Puppet stopped to take a breath. Springtrap, meanwhile, began to smoke a cigarette.
The other two just stared at him.
Springtrap looked back, “What? It’s been a very long day.”
The other two just looked away. However, it was then Puppet noticed something out of the corner of his eye, and panic set in.
“...Guys, guys, we gotta go now.”
Golden Freddy and Springtrap turned.
“Why-?” Golden Freddy started, before they also noticed the commotion.
A crowd had gathered around a hidden part of the alleyway, about a few feet away from where they were hiding off, looking at the leg poking through wood and trashbags.
“...‘No one will find him for a while’, huh?” Golden Freddy turned to face Springtrap, who quickly put out his cigarette.
“Shut up! I, uh, guess one of the trash bags was loose…” Springtrap couldn’t help but be embarrassed by his sloppiness.
“Doesn’t matter, let’s go!!” Puppet hissed.
The three quickly fled in the other direction. Springtrap was cursing silently to himself, while Golden Freddy was making sure nobody else noticed them. After a while of running, they quickly hid behind a building.
“We need to find another way around them.”
“How? It’s on the other side of town!” Springtrap raised his arms, his tail flicking.
“We just need to find a different path to the portal…”
Golden Freddy seemed to be in thought, the other two turned to him.
“What’s your idea, Yellow Bear?” Springtrap raised a brow.
“...I think, maybe, I could possibly use my abilities to allow us to escape easier.” Golden Freddy proposed.
“Could it work?”
“Probably.”
“Well… If it gets us out of here, then we need to.”
“We should try a different way around first. I’ll use my abilities only if we really need them.” Golden Freddy sighed.
“...Alright.”
“...Why are you so hesitant?” The rabbit’s eyes squinted.
“Not important.”
“If you say so.”
With that, the three turned to the long, narrowing alleyways, and got themselves ready.
This was gonna be a long walk.
