What am I?

A Pichu, born not of egg nor gods but rather crafted, formed into life by one who knows not the repercussions of his own actions rather than the paths of nature.

I am not truly a son of Arceus, I am born to a heretic who would create one in his image but not with his power, but I still desire to spread his word. I walk a path of my own, not of light nor dark nor anything in between. I can feel it in my very being that I am not a true creature, rather than a construct of flesh and thunder brought to life by unnatural forces of chaos. I know what I was meant to be as well as the intent behind my existence, but I know not if I should follow it.

Am I true, a follower that seeks to rise form the unnatural murkiness of his birth?

Or am I heathen, a wretched thing meant to falter and sink to darkness in its desire to devour all things?

I know not such things, and that is why I set out. I speak my goodbyes to the one who wrought me of his magic, and take the sword he offered me as I begin my journey.

I know not if I will find myself, but I find my thoughts drawn to the odd creature that bothers my maker so. She who looks human, but is undoubtedly not... That girl who flew the skies in a streak of light but seemed to carry a burden with her, a chain that she wears down to her very being. A sadness... I find myself wondering what could have made such a creature, only to cause such damage to her... And so I set out, a pack of supplies on my back and and a katana taller than myself sheathed on my back with it.

I stand now at the very precipice of this journey, that barrier which divides the world form the lands of Fazbear. I take my first steps, leaving the realm I know and entering that which I do not. I can feel it in the air, the trail left by the child... I am the first of my kind created by Fazbear, but with that I feel myself holding an unintended binding to that force of nature which is mine to control. I feel the static of the clouds and lightning, the voice of thunder in the distance, and even the trail of energy left behind by creatures on the level of Fazbear and the child. I follow it, my goal distant but not beyond reach...

Days pass as I wander, only stopping on occasion to forage for that bounty of nature which is to be found in the forest I find myself in.  A wolf of wood seems to think me prey, but a few strikes of my blade and he decides to find an easier meal. The map I carry in my pack claims I am now in the forest of Everfree, but I care not for such as I follow the trail left in the skies by the child who bothers me so. Then I heard it. A voice, light and sounding of a vaguely forced cheeriness.

"I love the woods. It's a fun place to be, really. I don't get why I don't get to go on the surface... It's not like they're actually looking for me..."

I finally gain a good look at her. She still bears the look of a teenage human but I sense her to be something else... An amalgam. Something formed from bits of other things and bound into a single being... One of her eyes bears an electric royal blue glow, and the other she hides behind a wall of ebony hair. I gain a glance at it as she walks, and see that it has an iris of a gold-green color, with darkness in the white of it. She looks around and turns back, continuing to speak to herself.

"Eheh... I'm outsiii~iiiide! Humm... I know Daddy'll be mad if he finds out... Oh man, I better get back. He was tinkering so I should have time but..."

She shakes her head and starts jogging off. So her father is the source of the burden which binds her spirit? That gave way to a number of bad ideas... I did not know if I was a true knight of Arceus, but I did know that I would not allow for such a thing! I moved and followed the girl, keeping out of sight. Eventually she reached a hidden cave, one bearing a tree crafted of grand crystal and seeming to give me a feeling of peace, one that I shook off immediately. The girl moved her hand a certain way and a rift in reality appeared, a portal to an unknown location. She stepped one foot through before turning her head and seeing me where I stood a few feet away.

"Dyah!  You're one of the Pokke-Man things that Golden Freddy made! Ohmanohmanhoman I c-can't let you tell him about this! Daddy'd dissolve me into nothing for that!"

She lunged and grabbed me under the arms and I gave no resistance. Following her was my goal, and this fit with that.

"Pichu, Pipi chu."

I will not give this place away, child.

"Y...You won't?"

Hmph. So she held the ability which Fazbear possessed, the ability to comprehend the meaning of my 'speaking'.

"Pchu! Pipich-chu."

No. I will keep this secret if it means you are kept from danger.

"W-well.. Sorry little fella, I hate doing this to something so adorable... daw you even have a little backpack... But I'm afraid you may have to stay with me a little while until I can trust you."

I nodded and moved out of her grip, settling on one of her shoulders. I held out a paw to shake.

"Pichupi."

I am known as Picklechu the knight.

She giggled and shook it, giving me a slightly timid look.

"I...I-I'm Crosswire."

"Pipichuchu."

A pleasure to meet you, Crosswire.

She carried me into the rift and it sealed behind us, and I head the sounds of metalworking and a forge nearby. The child snuck us past a doorway and into a small chamber, with a simple bed sparse of bedding other than single pillow.

"This is...U-um this is my room."

I nodded and I heard a voice and something the same size as Fazbear approaching.

"Crosswire! Did you leave your room!?"

She gained a look of fear in her eyes and responded.

"N-no daddy!"

"Good! Still, I'd like to show you the latest alterations I've made with my septima glaive. It now has an Animetal blade, sharpened enough that if effort is put into a swing then it'll cleave through even one of the other animatronics' endoskeletons like any other metal!"

Crosswire seemed to panic as he approached, and I watched her concentrate a moment, after which her right arm seemed to shift, gaining the looks of tree bark and plant matter. She grabbed me with her other arm and used the right one to scoop a hole in the ground, which she placed me in. He right arm extended into roots of some sort which she wrapped me in, creating a small pocket in the ground for me and storing me there. She scooped earth over the hollow pocket but left a slit for me to view from, seeming to try and make herself seem as if she hadn't been doing anything. Then I saw him.

He stood at a height equal to that of Fazbear himself, but with a form of gold seemingly tainted with green. Rather than a bear he seemed to emulate a rabbit of some sort, and through the holes of his costume I could see his metal skeleton, covered in a fleshy material which grew all throughout him, and I could feel the power pouring from it and into he himself. On his right hip was a metal hilt of some sort, without a blade to it. I came to the conclusion that it was a similar blade to the one wielded by the child of Fazbear Bonnie, a lightsaber. In his right hand he held a glaive of an unknown black material, with lines bearing a white glow across it. Bound into it was a white gem, which seemed to focus the power held in the glaive itself. The glaive's edges weren't crafted of the same black material as the base however, rather being the same metal as the animatronics' skeleton and sharpened to a fine edge. He looked at Crosswire with a twisted smile.

"Soon enough we'll be ready to face them, and-"

He lost his grin as he noticed something. Crosswire spoke nervously.

"W-what's wrong?"

He slowly reached out and grasped a leaf that was stuck in her hair. Her eyes widened and she flinched as he delivered a fist across her jaw. I struggled against the roots she had generated to hold me here, to try and defend her from this, only to find myself completely immobilized. I couldn't reach my blade to cut through, and even when my thunder did not seem to affect them. I glared at the rabbit as he stood over the terrified child.

"What did I SAY about going outside!?"

"Th-that I'd lure them back and get us both dead and they'd dissolve me..."

"So WHY exactly were you outside!?"

"I-I just wanted to-"

"Oh okay, you WANTED TO! That just makes it PERFECTLY FINE that you could have KILLED ME! BUT HEY, YOU GOT TO GO OUTSIDE!"

"I-I-"

Another strike. Fury poured through me as I was forced to watch this, and a desire for nothing more than to strike this wretch down and defend the child with all my might. A few minutes passed before the wretch left and brought up a wall of stone to seal the doorway and trap the girl here in her chambers. When he was gone the girl cried to herself for a moment before reaching down and reabsorbing the roots which bound me and releasing me. I was unsure what to do, so when the girl hugged me to her chest as if I were a teddy bear I did nothing to resist her other than turning myself around and hugging her. Neither of us spoke for a few moments as she held me and I did my best to comfort her. She spoke in a small, timid voice.

"Th-thank you..."

I simply nodded. "Pichu. Pichupi."

You are more than welcome...

She set me down and seemed to be upset with herself. "I-I'm sorry...I know it must not be pleasant to be near me..."

"Pichpi?"

What do you mean by that?

"D-daddy says I'm an abomination of different things, and that the only th-thing I'm good for is helping him make destruction..."

I looked at her blankly for a moment before responding. "PICHUCHUPI!?"

What?!

I took her tear-lined face in my paws as she looked down at me. "PIPICHCHU! PIPICHU!"

Child you are no abomination! Neither are you bound to such an awful fate!

"Wh-what do you mean?"

"Pichpi!"

Do you want to be such, or is it the will of the one who struck you?

"D-daddy says it's what he made me for... A-and he'll melt me back into raw components if I don't do as he says and help destroy Golden Freddy..."

"Pichuchupi?"

Does he not threaten the same if you go out of this place? And is that not the threat he claims that Fazbear offers?

"Y-yeah... B-but it wouldn't matter if I melted..."

"Pichupi!?"

And why is that!?

"Golden Freddy hates daddy and he'll hate me too, and Daddy doesn't care..."

I put a paw onto her shoulder and offered a simple phrase that I knew would carry weight with the child

"Pichu."

I care.

Her eyes widened and tears came to them again as she grabbed me and hugged me against her chest again. I heard a rumble from her stomach and she blushed, putting me down. I turned my backpack around and started rummaging to take out some of the food I had with me to give her, only to be stopped by her.

"I-I can take care of it myself..."

Her arm gained the same look of tree bark covered plant matter. I raised an eyebrow at her and she explained.

"I-I'm made of all sorta of things, so I can sorta shapeshift... I can morph small part of myself to have the qualities of different creatures and things, so I can do stuff like this to get stuff to eat."

A small branch grew from her palm, slowly growing into the form of an apple which she plucked off her hand with a wince. She held it out to me and I took it in my paws with uncertainty.

"Pichupi?"

Isn't the purpose of eating to replenish oneself, not slowly degrade oneself?

"W-well daddy says that he wasted too much energy in making me so it doesn't matter if I live off my own energy until I run out... I-I can make apples to make myself feel less hungry when I need to, so it's alright..."

I could tell she had vast power within her, but still... She could only last so long before running out. Her biology might allow her to live that way for weeks, months, years even, but that was still finite... I gave her back the apple she had generated and reached into my bag and took out a small bag of berries that I had with me. I took one out and offered it to her. She took it and raised an eyebrow.

"Um...What's this?"

"Pipichu."

That is a berry.

"What's a b-"

I cut her off by pushing her arm so the berry went into her mouth, and then pushed her jaw to make her chew. I moved away and she chewed it on her own, her eyes widening.

"Mmm! Ish good!"

She took the bag from me and started scarfing it down. I didn't blame her for it, to taste something other than apples produced by oneself for the first time undoubtedly merited such a reaction. When she was halfway through the small baggie she blinked and looked back to me, seeming to get a bit scared

"Um... I-I'm sorryIshould'veaskedbeforetakingthisfromyoupleasedon'tbemadatme!"

When she was done with her outburst almost be reflex flinched and curled up to brace for a blow... The child believed it normal for one with anger to immediately assault her... I felt incalculable sorrow at this, and walked to the child and placed a paw on her shoulder as a way to offer comfort.

"Pichpi."

Even if I was mad, I would never strike you.

She moved so her unblocked eye could see me.

"H-huh? I thought..."

She seemed to quiet herself after that. I patted her.

"Pich?"

Thought what?

"I-it's stupid...Daddy says I shouldn't think... It just makes him get mad..."

I put a paw under her chin and lifted it for her to see me. She seemed to consider me before speaking again.

"W-well... I thought that being mad is when people hit each other... It's how it is with my daddy..."

I crawled onto her shoulder and put a paw on either side of her face and made her look at me.

"Pichu pichu....Pichupi."

Child your creator is unworthy of the title father... Only the worst of beings allow their anger to translate into action, and he is one of them...

She went silent after that and hugged me close to her, considering my words.

Some time passed with the two of us trapped in that chamber, living off of the supplies in my pack and doing our best to pass the time. Occasionally Springtrap would enter and present the latest weapon or item he had crafted and Crosswire would hide me in the ground, though not bound as I was the first time. Crosswire was kept in her chamber so she never had the chance to do anything that could anger him. All the while I did my best to teach her about the world and it workings while she looked to me with awe. Over time I did my best to build confidence in her and show her that she could be her own being, and all the ways her creator was so very wrong. I was trapped there alongside her, but even if I were offered a way out I would not take it if it meant abandoning the child. We came to have a friendship of sorts, and I... I began to find myself trying to act as an older brother to her, being an anchor she could moor herself to. I couldn't stand to see her suffer, and I decided myself to someday deliver her from this fate. All this finally came to an escalated end after some time had passed...

I was still awake, while Crosswire slept, holding me like a safety blanket. I heard the sounds of Springtrap approaching, and I did my best to alert Crosswire so that she could hide me, or at least to get out of her grip and hide myself. Crosswire rolled over, pinning me down. I did my best to alert her as the wall unfolded and I glimpsed Springtrap's silhouette approaching down the hall.

"Pichu! Pipi!"

Crosswire! Awaken!

She blearily opened an eye.

"Hmm? Whazzat Picklechu?"

"I KNEW IT!"

She lurched and flinched back as she looked up to see Springtrap through the opened wall, seething with a manic rage. He slowly walked towards us and Crosswire attempted to calm him.

"I-I can expl-"

"I KNEW THIS WOULD HAPPEN! Allowing you to live was my worst mistake, AND NOW YOU'VE ALLOWED MY WORST ENEMY TO HAVE A CREATION IN MY OWN REALM!"

"He isn't gonna do anyth-"

"YOU MEAN LIKE YOU DIDN'T DO ANYTHING? OTHER THAN ALLOW THIS THING TO GET IN!"

"H-he isn't a thing!"

"And now you even raise your voice to me!?"

Springtrap drew his glaive. "I should have ended you a long time ago!"

Crosswire had put herself between me and him, but I still could see the tears on her face and the terror she felt. Before the blade could even come close to harming her I intervened, drawing my sword and parrying the blow, only to be thrown against a wall in an aura of magic. Crosswire cried out.

"Picklechu!"

She was cut off by Springtrap throwing her to the wall opposite me, after which he seized me by the throat. He turned his head to her slightly.

"I'll finish you in a moment... And YOU...."

He moved a hand and the ground burst apart into a  pit of magma. He held me over it with a violent grin.

"You might not be a normal rat, but I know how to drown you anyway!"

Then I saw her. Crosswire had stood up, and was looking at me and Springtrap with a mixed gaze. Terror. Uncertainty. But then I saw it... The spark. The spark of life, the will to defend what is ones own... The one who had made her and given her hate versus the one who  put her at risk but offered kindness and compassion... She made her choice, surging forward and delivering a fist into his shoulder and sending him careening away and then grabbing me out of the air and into a tight hug. She turned her head to see Springtrap getting up. She set me down and stood in front of me, raising her fists into an uncertain stance, attempting to fight despite her terror. Springtrap approached and a few times Crosswire cut him off with rays of energy from her eyes, to no avail.

I watched him raise a fist to strike her again, and I finally felt my rage towards him and his actions build to a critical point. I rushed forward, a white glow covering me as I went. I blocked his fist and bounced him back, lunging in again and again with my sword, dueling against his glaive. He began to ignite his weapon with a green glow, and I charged myself in an aura of lightning. He roared at me as we fought and I glared at him. Finally he threw me to the side again with his magic and dodged forward to strike Crosswire instead. He roared as his 'septima' ignited and he accessed an ability with it.

"Psycho spiral!!"

A whirlwind of white and green energy tore through the air around his glaive as he brought its full force to bear against her. I did not think of anything but protecting her as the aura of white light engulfed me. This was a light which I now know, a light of evolution. As it came across me, permeating my entire being I found myself wielding a power then unknown to me, and with it a technique which I knew in that instant...

"PIKA-CHUUU!"

Volt Tackle!

Green lightning clashed with gold as our blades were brought to bear against each other in that moment, and the fury of a demon faced that of one protecting his sibling. After a moment we both were repelled by each other, and I landed in front of Crosswire where she stood in fear. Springtrap spoke slowly.

"You want that wretched little thing so badly...? Fine...Y'know what? From those little tokens I've learned how to send things out into the void where they can never find their way out... You want her that badly? You can HAVE her!"

In a single move he lashed out with his claw, tearing a rift to what I could only identify as the void he spoke of... He lunged and grasped both of us by the throats and threw us into the rift with a final scream of rage.

"ENJOY YOURSELVES IN THE VOID!!"

I flailed my limbs as went, no longer in a realm where gravity bound me and unable to steer myself. I struggled there, the breath being sucked from me in the black expanse. A green tendril, seeming to be something between a tentacle and a vine came to me and wrapped around my waist from somewhere out of my sight.. It pulled me and I found that it extended from the palm of Crosswire, who opened her hand into a translucent flower which she planted over my face, instantly forming an airtight seal and giving me air to breathe. She looked terrified as she darted her glowing eyes about the darkness. I patted her and she calmed, bringing me closer to her. It seemed she was capable of dwelling in the depths of space even, without breath nor gravity.  Though... This was not space. There were no stars, no lights to follow other than the blue glow of Crosswire's eye. Neither of us could speak nor hear, and we both looked around in fear at the eternal absence which engulfed us... Tears hung around Crosswire's eye as she brought me close to her, terrified at what had happened to us. I did my best to offer comfort, but even I knew that we had no way out...

"Oh, I wouldn't be so certain."

Both of us flinched back at the voice which seemed to resound throughout our minds, and in front of us a small platform of jagged stone seemed to appear. When we approached it impossibly pulled on us with its own gravity.  Slowly a bridge of further jagged stone extended from it, leading off into the distance to a larger platform where an odd figure stood... Waiting for us...

Springtrap roared with rage as he disposed of the girl, hatred pouring through him. After a moment he steeled himself and rolled his shoulders. He didn't need her anyway... He had others to fight beside him. His own form he had improved upon and reconstructed by this point, integrating all his developments, and finally ready to move... As he looked back he saw his own creations awaken, seven pairs of eyes coming to life with burning lights. The time had come...

All of what Golden Freddy held dear in this world would soon meet an end... Next Chapter: Chapter Twenty Eight: Who Was I, Who Am I, Who Will I Be... Estimated time remaining: 1 Hour, 16 Minutes