Chapter Text
“So where are we going tonight?”
“To find treasure and plunder all that be left unfound. And ye need to call me Captain, Greg. We talked about this.” Captain Foxy the Pirate Fox, treasure hunter and explorer extraordinaire, insisted yet again.
Gregory, his charge and appointed swabbie, winced and nodded. “Sorry, Captain.”
“Arr, don’t ye worry yer head about it. Ye’ll get in the habit soon enough.”
“So… Captain.” Gregory tried again. “Where are we going tonight?”
“Glad ye asked!” Foxy gestured towards the darkened Pizzaplex. “Anywhere our hearts choose! That be the beauty of it bein’ after hours, Greg, we don’t have to bother with crowds or buyin’ tickets or impatient mothers that don’t want ye tellin’ their kids about the finer arts of keelhaulin’ or waitin’ in line, none of that, the world be our oyster!”
“Uh.” The kid took a minute to let the words wash over him. “So… where?”
“I were thinkin’ of doin’ some bowlin’.” Foxy conceded.
It was one of the few entertainment sections of the Pizzaplex Foxy hadn’t been to yet, not since Gregory had discovered him in storage and woke him up. Once he had been brought up to speed, met the new animatronics, and remembered old ones, Foxy had been taken on a carefully guided and curated tour of most of the facilities. The ones he hadn’t been shown were now being explored in the solace of night with Gregory and his trusty flashlight to light the way.
“Oh, I don’t know, Freddy doesn’t like to go there. Captain.”
“Well, it be a good thing the bear ain’t comin’ along then, ain’t it?” Foxy lazily waved his hand in the air as he steered the boy towards Bonnie Bowl.
“I don’t think he wants me going there after hours.”
“What Freddy don’t want don’t matter now, yer with me, and as Captain I be in charge.” Foxy reminded him. “Besides, we’ve been all over this place and ye ain’t complained yet.”
“I’m not complaining, I”m just saying that Freddy says that-”
“What Freddy says don’t matter. Now come along before them security bots try to get us in trouble.” With that Foxy hustled his companion along, leaving no room for arguments.
It was easy to find the bowling alley and even easier to pop open the metal gate that blocked the entrance. With instinctual nonchalance Foxy strolled right in, hand in his pocket and hook gesturing for Gregory to follow.
“Come, lad. Who knows what awaits us behind these doors!”
Silently Gregory followed, hesitating slightly at the threshold. Impatiently Foxy herded him further into the bowling alley, not stopping to look at the image of the rabbit that cheerfully gazed down upon them.
When he had first come to his senses, still dusty from storage, Foxy had asked about Bonnie. Freddy and Chica had done their best to explain the rabbit’s absence. It had been an accident. No one was at fault. They couldn't fix him. There was too much damage. Those were the canned responses Freddy and Chica had said when asked.
One night Bonnie had simply left his recharge station and went towards Gator Golf. Monty remained quiet on what happened next, though after some pestering he admitted he couldn't really remember the details and frankly didn't want to.
Corporate sent out a memo that Bonnie was out of commission and that was that. No explanation given, Monty was promoted to Bonnie's spot in the band, and life moved on.
Foxy had mainly agreed not to speak of it because no one would entertain the subject. But kids still occasionally asked him where his First Mate Bonnie was, wondering when the rabbit would return, and the bowling alley was still open for business. It was hard to move on when reminders were constantly being shoved in his face.
“Now.” Foxy said, shrugging off the unpleasant feeling of a friend long disappeared. “Let’s find some treasure.”
“Well… here are some bowling shoes.” The kid held up a pitiful souvenir.
“Aye, those be shoes. Put ‘em on and see if ye can find any better prizes back there.”
“What are we looking for anyways?”
“Greg, me lad, ye got to have some faith that there be somethin’ good here.” Foxy chided. “Has yer Captain ever steered ye wrong?”
“Well, there was that time in Roxy Raceway with the fire-”
“Hush, we ain’t speakin’ of that no more.” Foxy quickly shushed. “And ye promised ye wouldn’t tell the bear.”
“I didn’t mean to, but Freddy wanted to know why my shorts got scorched and I couldn’t think of a good reason why.”
“Arr, I ain’t mad. We’ll think of a better cover story if we end up with a similar situation here.”
As Foxy headed towards the lanes he heard the kid grumble about unnecessary fires and lies. Soon enough Gregory would learn the fine points of risk and reward and the even finer points of having a good alibi. For now the kid was doing a decent job at keeping him company and that was all he could ask for.
Well, there was something else he could ask for. Foxy lifted up his eye patch, rubbing at his eyes, and peered down the rows of lanes.
“Greg, come here a minute.”
“What is it? Uh, Captain.” The boy joined his side.
“Ye’ve been here before, aye?”
“Yeah. During the day.”
“Ye ever been through that door?”
“What door?”
“That one.” Foxy pointed to the end of the last lane. A door, presumably locked, bore a “Staff Only” sign.
“Oh. No, ‘cause I’m not staff.” Gregory shook his head.
"Y'see, Greg me lad, the sign says 'Staff Only', sure, but that don't mean we can't be havin' a quick peek." Foxy reassured him. "They just slap the sign on anythin' they don't want the kiddies to be messin' around with."
"But I'm a kiddie- er, kid." Gregory's hesitation was waved off.
"Arr, sure, but ye be with Captain Foxy, and Captains get clearance to wherever they please to be, and yer me swabbie so ye get the clearance too. Now help me open this up."
Together they pulled and prodded at the door, Gregory wiggling the handle as Foxy shoved his hook into the gap, and with a sudden BANG it flew open. The two were sent sprawling across the lane, Foxy just barely turning out of the way before he squashed the poor kid.
"Well, let's see what treasures we found." Foxy dusted himself off. "Oh, wait, I lost me eye patch, where'd it go-"
“Hey, there’s a whole nother room back here.” Curiosity won over the boy and drew him in, leaving Foxy alone in his search. “More than just a closet or some staff room.”
“Shout if ye find anythin’!” Foxy called after him, digging around in the gutter for his beloved eye patch. A proper treasure hunt should not involve losing a favorite article of clothing.
"Uh… Foxy…." Gregory's voice wavered through the open door.
“There ye are, ye menace, thought ye could escape ol’ Foxy.” Out of the corner of his eye Foxy could see the light of the flashlight bouncing around. He picked up the eye patch and put it back in place, making sure it was arranged just so, then turned to see what Gregory had found.
"What'd ye find? Somethin' worth all this trouble I hope." Gleefully he entered the room, peering over the top of Gregory's head and following the shaking beam of the flashlight.
The first thing he noticed was how incredibly dusty everything was. The door had been stuck shut, probably unused for quite a while, with no humans entering to keep the place tidy. Several discarded bowling balls were left lying around, broken through shelves and denting the wooden floor. Nothing of interest and certainly nothing to be nervous about.
Then the light of Gregory's flashlight fell upon the floor, revealing a very familiar blue.
Everything else went hazy, as if the peripherals had been plunged underwater, and all Foxy could see was the very friend he had been told over and over had been gone.
But Bonnie wasn't gone. Bonnie was here. Buried right under the feet of liars, of apathetic creatures that couldn't be bothered to hope for a chance of revival.
The light had left. The kid disappeared into the darkness. Foxy let him go. It wasn't the kid that deserved the brunt of his rapidly rising wrath.
Bonnie was in a terrible state. His poor friend had been torn from limb to limb and discarded like trash to fester in the dark. Blank eyes stared up into his own, devoid of the life Foxy desperately searched for. Bonnie was lost, left alone for far too long.
No matter. Foxy would never leave him again.
**********
Freddy had not been keen on letting Gregory wander the Pizzaplex at night, not even after the animatronics had been repaired and restored, but he was practicing restraint. He had personally investigated the Pizzaplex and made sure that the staff had taken care of all of his concerns.
Maybe Gregory could be trusted. After all, he technically wasn't alone. Foxy was with him, and like the others he had been programmed with children's safety in mind. Sure, the pirate was a little… lax with the rules, but he would never hurt a child.
And Freddy had to admit that having an evening to himself was very needed. He loved the crowds of kids that came to visit him daily but at night he enjoyed the calm peace that settled in with the comfortable silence.
Chica had encouraged him to kick back and watch some mindless tv, even going through the trouble of setting him up with some reality shows to start with. The plots were hard to follow but that didn't matter, he was reclined and very comfortable and looking forward to an evening of nothing to do-
"FREDDY!" There was the universe working against him.
Quickly Freddy opened the door to see Gregory about ready to knock it down. He had heard the boy's yell clear through the door.
"What is it Gregory? Are you hurt?"
"No, no, but you have to come help, it's- it's Foxy, he's- he's-"
"Gregory. Calm down. I cannot understand what is wrong." Freddy knelt down and put a comforting hand on Gregory's shoulder, searching for any obvious injuries. "What is happening with Foxy?"
Gregory's hands trembled around the flashlight. "He's… he found- oh, Freddy, he found- he found…."
"Please, you can tell me."
"Bonnie." Gregory blurted. "Foxy found Bonnie and now he's going crazy! You have to help, I can't get near him-"
The words were lost in shock. Freddy slowly stood.
"What did you say?"
"It's Bonnie, we found him."
"Are you… are you certain about that?"
"Yeah, please Freddy, we have to go back, Foxy's lost his mind!"
It felt like a dream. Freddy was aware of Gregory pulling at his arm, getting him to move, and he followed dutifully. It was too much to hope for Bonnie to be found. Better to focus on the reality of Foxy being in trouble. That was far more believable.
His disapproval grew as Gregory led him towards Bonnie Bowling. Foxy was known to roam but Freddy had hoped he would have known not to bring a child past the security gates.
"Gregory, you should not have come here after dark." The disapproval was something he could latch on to, though he dutifully followed the boy to the end of the lanes.
"That's not really important right now Freddy, not when-" Gregory came to an abrupt halt. "He's right over there. I- I don't want to see him."
"You do not have to. Wait here for me." Freddy assured him, making sure the child wasn't about to run off again before heading through the open door.
The air was stagnant in here. Not many came through this way judging by the thick layer of dust, disturbed only by the recent arrival of the fox and boy. Freddy tread carefully. A faint voice met his ears, alerting him to the company waiting around the corner.
“Don’t ye worry Bon, don’t ye worry, I be here, Foxy’s got ye.” The whisper was loud in the otherwise silent room. “Just- just don’t think about bein’ in here no more, I promise ye’ll never be lost again, that be me promise to ye- Foxy never goes back on his word, mark me words-“
Freddy was able to get close enough to get a good view. Immediately he regretted it.
Foxy was huddled on the floor, rocking back and forth over a bundle in his arms. A bundle of wires and metal. A blue bundle. Freddy knew that blue very well.
“Ah, ye’ve missed a lot, me matey, ye have, but now yer here and I’ll be sure to catch ye up to speed….” The fox ceased his babbling and went completely still.
Freddy waited.
“What d’ye want?” Foxy growled, turning to look at Freddy over his shoulder.
“Gregory told me you had- that you had found something.” The words didn’t come out as calm as he intended them to be.
“He ain’t some THING.” Foxy spat, holding the mangled mess closer to his chest. “He’s BONNIE.”
“Yes.” Freddy choked. “Yes- you- you found Bonnie.”
Or what was left of him. With Foxy covering him it was difficult to see just how much of Bonnie he had found, but what was dangling towards the floor between his arms didn’t inspire much hope.
“He’s been here a long time.” Foxy’s eye never left Freddy’s. Every movement was tracked.
“Yes. Too long. I am so-“
"YE DIDN'T EVEN LOOK FER HIM!" The accusation was little more than a guttural scream. “YE LEFT HIM TO ROT ALL ALONE!”
“No, we did not know, we did not-“
“Ye did NOT do ANYTHIN’.” Foxy’s claws dug into the broken seams barely holding what was left of Bonnie’s shell together. “And now ye won’t, ye won’t have him, ye won’t lay a finger on him, not while I live and breathe, I’ll stop ye from losin’ him again-“
With each breath Foxy rose higher and higher until he was standing at his full height, Bonnie clutched in his arms. He wasn’t tall enough to tower over Freddy but he made up for it with such a ferocity it stopped Freddy’s approach.
“I will not take him from you.” The bear assured him, trying to squash the instinct to run forward and take the rabbit from his arms. “But we must take him to parts and services-“
“‘We’ must do nothin’, ‘cause ‘we’ ain’t doin’ anythin’, I ain’t lettin’ ye- ye ain’t touchin’ him- GET BACK-“
Freddy had just enough foresight to step back before he was bitten. A piece of metal fell from Bonnie’s shattered torso and clattered to the floor. In an instant Foxy was crouched again, angling his body over it in case Freddy tried to go for it.
“Please, Foxy, we have to get Bonnie to parts and services. We might be able to help him, but you have to trust me.”
“Oh, like Bon trusted ye to find him? How long did it take before ye decided he weren’t worth lookin’ fer anymore? A week? Less? How long before ye moved that green bastard into his room?” Foxy’s accusations were pointed, aiming directly at Freddy’s guilt. “ANSWER ME YE COWARD!”
“It was not like that. You do not understand-“
“I will NEVER understand.” Foxy hissed.
“We looked for a long time. We looked everywhere. I never forgot Bonnie.”
“Then WHY is he HERE.”
“I do not know. Honestly, Foxy, I truly do not know.” Freddy stepped forward again. “But I do know we can help Bonnie-“
“I SAID GET BACK!” Again with the snap of the teeth, this time making contact with Freddy’s arm and nearly biting through the metal.
Freddy once more retreated, drawing his arm up against himself. Thankfully it was only surface damage but it would need repair.
"Just try." Foxy growled, hackles raised. "Ye won't take him from me, not without losin' yer own limbs."
Freddy didn't doubt that.
"Please." Freddy lowered his voice, keeping his movements slow. "I want to help Bonnie."
"Ye don't, ye left him to rot, yer all liars every last one of ye and if ye so much as think about takin' one step closer I'll rend yer hands from yer limbs."
The words, quiet and flat, were followed by Foxy going completely still again. No longer did he have the amiable sway of an ambling pirate. This was a predator preparing every muscle to spring into action and strike in an instant.
Freddy stopped trying to get to Bonnie. Behind him he could sense Gregory lingering in the doorway, having drawn closer during the confrontation.
"Gregory." Freddy spoke quietly to the boy. "Go get Chica."
"But-"
"Go. Now." He spared a glance at Gregory and tried to look reassuring.
Gregory finally obeyed and ran off, leaving Freddy alone to deal with the present danger. He turned to find that during the conversation Foxy had taken Bonnie further into the room, eye gleaming in the near darkness and fixed entirely on Freddy.
There was no use following him. Bits and pieces of Bonnie littered the floor along the trail Foxy had taken. Any more movement and the only thing left of the rabbit would be a memory.
Instead Freddy leaned against the wall and waited. Foxy had been right: he had given up in his search for Bonnie, believed the staff when they told him there was no use looking for him any more, and left his friend to collect dust right under their noses. Did he have the right to try and bring his friend back after abandoning him?
“It be alright, Bon. We’ll… we’ll get ye back.” Foxy’s muttering picked back up. There was an odd warble to his voice. “And… and we’ll go sailin’, we’ll f-find some treasure, we’ll… we’ll….”
He did not continue that train of thought. There was more shuffling, a clang, and quiet. Freddy leaned forward for a better look.
The single yellow eye in Foxy’s head glowed dim. The fox swayed back and forth, seeming to be rocking Bonnie’s body tenderly, but upon closer look it seemed involuntary.
Freddy was contemplating this when familiar footsteps echoed down the hall. Noticeably there was an absence of smaller footsteps, hopefully indicating that Gregory had found a safer place to stay while the Foxy situation was resolved.
“Freddy?” Chica’s voice was quiet, delicate in the tense air.
“In here.” Freddy inched back towards the doorway so she could see him. “Please be careful.”
“What’s going on? Gregory said- oh, Freddy, it’s not true, is it? Did… did Foxy find…?” She couldn’t bring herself to finish the question.
“It is true.” Freddy pulled her aside out of Foxy’s line of sight. “He has found him.”
Chica gasped, hands flying up to her mouth. “How?”
“I do not know. But we cannot wonder about it right now. Foxy is not… being cooperative. We cannot help with him in this state.” Freddy raised his arm to prove his point.
“Oh, Freddy, that looks awful.” Chica reached out to touch the torn metal.
“It can be repaired.”
“Let me see him. Please.” Chica whispered. Freddy wasn’t sure who she was referring to.
“Stay behind me.”
Together they crept back into the room, Chica behind Freddy, and silently observed the fox. Not much had changed, though his swaying was becoming more erratic and the eye had darkened. The words were an unintelligible mumble.
Chica let out a small noise of distress. Foxy’s eye snapped up, hook waving menacingly in the air.
“Don.. don’t ye think about it. Mean it.” The fox growled, staring past Freddy and Chica entirely. “Kill ye. Dead. Rip ye from bow to stern.”
“Oh Foxy….” Chica whispered.
As soon as they stopped advancing Foxy dropped his gaze back down to Bonnie’s body, forgetting his previous threat to eviscerate them. His hook scraped across the ground as he settled Bonnie across his lap.
Freddy kept himself angled between Foxy and Chica, his torn arm a reminder of what would happen if they tried to take Bonnie by force. Still, as they stood there and stared at the ghost from the past, it took everything Freddy had not to run forward and wrench him from Foxy’s arms.
“I have an idea.” Chica suddenly broke the silence, tugging at Freddy’s intact arm to draw him out of earshot.
“Yes?”
“Foxy’s low on power. If we wait long enough he’ll shut down.”
“How can you tell?”
“His eye’s dim. And the swaying, I’ve seen it before.”
“Can you tell how much longer we will have to wait?”
“Not long. Then… then we can take Bonnie.” Chica hugged herself. “Oh, Freddy, I had no idea-”
“Neither did I. We can discuss it later.” Freddy cut her off before he lost the last of his resolve.
They didn’t have to wait long for Foxy’s power to dwindle. Unfortunately the animatronic seemed to understand their intent, for he had climbed to his feet, dragging Bonnie with him, and attempted to push past them to the exit.
“YE’LL N-N-NOT KE-KP M-ME FROM S-S-S-S-” Foxy’s roar was a stuttered mess, eye flashing on and off, Bonnie trembling in his arms.
“Foxy, please-” Chica reached out to him to steady him.
“NO!” Freddy had a fraction of a second to pull her away, throwing his already injured arm up to block Foxy’s terrible teeth.
The sound of tearing metal and sparking of wire was overshadowed by Chica’s scream. Pain bloomed all throughout Freddy’s sensors as Foxy wrenched his head back and tore a decent chunk of metal and wiring out, the momentum nearly knocking Freddy off his feet.
“Foxy- stop!” Freddy pushed at the fox’s face to get him to let go but it only served to make the teeth bear down even harder.
“Let go!” Chica came up behind Foxy and grabbed at his coat, barely dodging the hook that swung her way. Her interference caused Bonnie to slip in his arm and drag across the ground with a terrible screech of metal.
“Please Foxy, please let us help.” Freddy begged through the pain. It didn’t matter how mangled he was, he had to get Foxy to stop so he could help Bonnie, Bonnie who had gone without help for far too long….
The hateful light in Foxy’s uncovered eye dimmed. The pressure behind the bite lessened. Slowly the pirate swayed on the spot, Bonnie dangling in his arm.
“B… Bon….” The word was muffled in Freddy’s arm.
“Yes. We need to save him.”
Slowly, painfully, Foxy released his hold. WIth a stuttered sigh the pirate collapsed, taking Bonnie down with him. Chica fell to her knees beside them both.
“He’s out.” She confirmed, carefully checking Foxy’s darkened eye.
“Good.” Freddy winced as he carefully pushed the mangled pieces of his arm back together. “We must take Bonnie to parts and services.”
They had to leave Foxy behind in the dark. Thanks to him practically dismantling Freddy’s arm it took both Freddy and Chica working together to carry Bonnie to parts and services. Once Bonnie was securely in the chair, laid out for them to see, did they finally take a moment to truly feel what they had gone through.
Freddy collapsed into a nearby chair, staring solely at Bonnie. Even if he had wanted to look at his arm he couldn’t. The sight of his dearest friend’s corpse hurt too much to look away from.
“Freddy. We need… we need to fix your arm.” Chica’s voice was gentle, her touch on his torn metal even more so.
“Fix Bonnie first.”
“That will take time. I can’t do it alone, I need your help. You’ll need that arm.”
“I am alright-”
“No, you’re not! None of us are!” Chica’s face broke his line of sight, anguish plastered across her features. “We just found the corpse of our friend that we had written off as gone, just look at the state of him Freddy, I can’t believe he was in the bowling alley all this time-”
Her speech broke off into a strangled sob. Carefully Freddy gathered her up into his arms, trying so hard to hold on to his own composure for both their sakes. Bonnie’s vacant face stared back at him.
“You are right.” Freddy said, still staring at Bonnie. “I cannot put Bonnie back together until I am fully functional.”
Slowly, once they had both calmed down enough, Chica and Freddy set about repairing the bear’s arm. Neither commented on the ferocity of Foxy’s bite or the pure hate in his eye as he did so. They would eventually have to retrieve Foxy from Bonnie’s tomb, but for now they had to focus on what they could.