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He had only lost consciousness for a moment and was well aware of his pain, although it was all numb. They’re aware of the cold, hard floor beneath him and the fresh, warm blood slowly spreading around it.
The contraption- the scooper?- hit him twice; the first racked his body as it tore into their torso and the second loosened and pulled at his organs, most of which slipped off the metal and fell out of his body, laying mere feet away from their body.
His hearing, despite being poor, is still working; they note, as the door to the room opens.
“Special…man?”
Fuck, it’s Damien. He closes his eyes and sucks in a breath- one that results in a coughing fit.
“Hey, kiddo.” They look over at the kid and smile softly. “What- What happened?” Damien’s voice is soft and broken, his voice shaking. “I’ve been got, bud. I don’t think I’ll be able to get you out of here.” Dylan’s voice is trembling as tears threaten to pour from their eyes. “I- It was her- She did this!”
Damien rushes over to his guts and grabs them as gently as he can, apologizing at each wince that the other releases. “Damien, it won’t work-”
“I still have to try-!” A sob wracks through his body and the robo-kid drops to his knees, the organs splattering across the ground once more. “Damien, c’mere.” Dylan reaches out a hand to the kid- his kid, and Damien crawls closer. “I’m sorry.”
Dylan shakes his head, “Don’t be, kiddo. It’s not your fault-” “It is!-”
“Please, Damien, listen to me. It’s not your fault. I promised you I’d get you out, but I don’t think I can anymore.” He reaches down to their pocket and grabs his Staff Card, placing it in Damien’s hands. “Go to Freddy and get out. Please, kid, be safe.” Dylan can feel his life draining out of them and he doesn’t want Damien to be there when he goes.
“But- Special Man-”
“Please, Damien. Go.”
“But!-”
“Go, Damien!” Dylan’s shout of desperation startles the kid, making him rush out of the room.
Dylan’s hold on his life slips as his heart, detached from his actual body, stops.
“I love you, kiddo.”
Damien ran out of the room, past the confused fox, through the control room, sprinting through the gallery, and into the Breaker Room. “Freddy! Help!”
The older spirit looks at Damien and the kid’s tears- how was he crying?- and rushes over.
“Damien? What’s going on?”
“Is that blood?! Are you okay?”
Damien shakes his head before grabbing Freddy’s hand, rushing back through and to the scooper room, now with Ballora and Foxy in tow.
He didn’t close the door when he left, so rushing up to Dylan’s body is much faster. “Oh, shit.”
The older spirit’s voice doesn’t move Dylan, worrying Damien. Freddy and BonBon rush in, checking the body as Ballora and Foxy enter the room.
“She did it. She actually did it.” Foxy’s voice is neutral. They never really liked Dylan and, in fact, they wanted to kill him- but she got to him first and seeing the candle child’s fear and sorrow racks the fox in a way that they didn’t know they could feel.
Ballora, for once, is silent. Her eyes are closed but a scowl is prominent. She couldn’t see his body, but she knew Dylan was dead. She could hear everything, after all, and Foxy’s statement confirmed her suspicions.
Damien shakes Dylan’s body, unable to form words as sobs course through his body. “Please wake up! Please, don’t leave me!”
Freddy has to grab him and, even then, Damien doesn’t stop screaming.
“Please, dad! Please, wake up! Don’t leave me!”
