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The elevator was falling, quickly picking up momentum as it plummeted back towards the ground, the high pitched sound of screeching metal filling the small space before suddenly the metal box made contact with the ground once more with a loud bang. Cassie hit the floor of the elevator hard, losing consciousness as debris fell on and around her small body.
The sound of groaning metal and her name being called is what eventually woke her to a splitting headache and unfocused vision. She tried to sit up, to move or look around but found that her body wouldn't listen. Panic began to take over her as she began to register the unbearable pain radiating throughout her body. A figure she couldn't quite recognize was leaning over her and moving things around before slowly picking her up. Each inhale of air that only seemed to fill half of her chest and each sob that shook her shoulders sent a jolt of pain through torso. The jostling of her limbs as she was carried away from the wreckage only made the more excruciating and unbearable.
"Cassie, I have you. I've got you." Roxanne assured the kid in her arms. Her fight with the Mimic had only further damaged her casing and partially crushed a hip joint. Each lurching step caused the animatronic to internally cringe as Cassie cried out in pain. "It's going to be okay." She stopped halfway down the hall and sat, laying Cassie against the least damaged part of her outer casing. Even though Roxanne couldn't see, she knew Cassie was critically injured, and despite how much she hated it, she knew that even if she still had her eyes and was able to see what was wrong she wouldn't have been able to help. These were most likely going to be Cassie's last moments.
Cassie's shoulders continued to shake with each sob between panicked gasps of air. "Roxy?" She shifted her eyes, trying to focus on the blurry shape of her favorite animatronic, the double vision making her feel dizzy and sick to her stomach. "Everything hurt, I can't move! Am I... am I going to die?" Roxanne's silence as she failed to come up with something to say was answer a good enough answer to Cassie's question. "I don't want to die!"
Roxanne's ears swiveled, turning towards the girl in her arms, the animatronics voice was staticky from damage and sorrow. "Oh... Cassie." The disks that used to hold her eyes in place twitched as if they would be blinking away tears. "This should have never happened. Why did you even come back here? The Pizzaplex is ruined, it's been closed down."
"That thing pretended to be Gregory. It made me think he was stuck here, that he needed my help. I wanted to help him, he was my only friend, he hung out with me when nobody showed up to my party. But then he betrayed me! Gregory made me think he was leading me to safety but he tricked me! Now I'm going to die here, aren't I? I'm going to die without making any friends."
"Cassie..." Roxanne tried to carefully pet the child's head in a poor attempt to comfort her. The rough, torn metal of the animatronics hand scratched uncomfortably against Cassie's scalp and green, chipped claws briefly got caught in the matted tangles of brown hair. "I am your friend."
"You're only saying that because you were programed to, you're supposed to tell the kids what they want to hear."
"We aren't programed to tell kids we're their friends, and even if I was I mean it. I am your friend."
Fresh tears began to spill from Cassie's eyes, all she ever really wanted was a friend. The pain that had been consuming her had faded to a numb, tingling sensation and a chill was beginning to wash over her. "Roxy, I feel so cold."
Roxanne's ears drooped and her grip on Cassie's small body tightened. "Just go to sleep." Roxanne's voice rattled as she tried to hold back her emotions and remain calm for the young girl. "You need to rest, you had a long and rough night. Don't worry about a thing, I'll be right here with you the whole time."
This was it. Wasn't it? Cassie's body sagged, her head rolled to the side, a slight clunk echoing through that terrible hallway as her head bumped against the animatronics side.
Roxanne tilted her head back, leaning it against the wall as she began powering down her systems. What was the point of being powered on only to endlessly wander around the ruined Mega Pizzaplex as it just continued to crumble around her? If it didn't collapse first then the place was probably going to be torn down. She was damaged, and without her eye she probably wouldn't be able to make it back up to the main levels to try to find the others. Right now she only hoped that wherever Cassie was she was getting all the carrot cake her stomach could hold, and making more friends then she could ever dream of.
And even though Roxanne knew nothing awaited her when she finished powering down, a small part of her still hoped that she would be able to join Cassie and taste a piece of cake that the child loved so much.