Hey, y'all! Freelancer Josiah here with a quick one-shot followup to Battle of the Pizzeria. This is a quick and clean shot, just to set the scene for after everyone's moved in and life is beginning anew with Alex and the Fazbear gang.
This is ground zero for the beginning of the EU, guys. It all starts here, with a quick glance over the new life of Alex Redding and the others as they start adjusting to the new living conditions, falling into a new 'normal'.
Read and enjoy!
I climbed out of my truck and stretched my legs, working the kink out of my back with a sigh of contentment before closing the door and looking up at my new house. Mr. Faz had kept his word when he said he would take care of us; the new house had come out really well… And after two weeks of working at moving in, it seemed like we were all settled into a reasonable routine. With a chuckle, I heard the TV going as I approached the door; seems like the others were keeping themselves busy. I unlocked it, walked in, hung my jacket up, and looked around, a faint chuckle coming to my lips.
The house was rather comfortable, if a bit on the small side. On one side, we had the living room, library, my workshop, and the stage for the others. A bit further along was the kitchen, with the bathroom right in the middle. On the other side were the bedrooms; two of them, across the hall from each other, as well as a small storage room. I smiled slightly; the front door entered right into the living room. There, lounging on the couch with his feet up on the coffee table, was Freddy Fazbear in the fur, Bonnie leaning up against him as they watched TV. Freddy waved to me, and I returned it before giving him a stern look as I walked by, into the kitchen.
"Feet off the table, Freddy. Don't want to have to repair it again." Although I couldn't see it, I'm positive he rolled his eyes as I heard his heavy metal feet thumping back on the carpet. A few seconds later, I heard a giggle followed by a heavy 'OOF' from within. I didn't even have to turn around before speaking. "Bonnie, that wasn't an excuse for you to sit on his lap." I heard a faint 'awww' sound from within, and looked around the kitchen, sighing. As usual, it was a bit of a mess; pots and pans, knives, forks, measuring spoons… I groaned, looking at the mess of flour and what looked like pizza dough scattered around. Add in spilled cheese and a few smears of pizza sauce, and it was fairly obvious whose work this was. "Chica, I told you; I don't mind you cooking, but clean up after yourself." From down the hall, I heard a faint 'sorry, Alex' and nodded, grabbing a soda from the fridge before heading back out.
It's at that point that I realized one of the group was missing, and looked over to Freddy, who now had one arm around Bonnie's waist. "Guys, where's Foxy?" They shrugged, Bonnie pointing towards my workshop with one paw before resuming her snuggling of the bear. Chica poked her head out as well, before approaching me on her way to the kitchen. "She asked me to tell you to come by your workshop when you got back. Apparently she has a surprise for you." I nodded, and Chica smiled before heading into the kitchen.
As I headed for the workshop, I paused to reflect for a moment. Cripes, it hadn't even been a month since I was worrying about the four of them killing me during my night shift at the now-destroyed Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria. I smiled, shaking my head slightly; it had been quite the interesting situation after I had 'awoken' them by breaking the control Golden Freddy had over them. As it turns out, Gold had been using them as his personal puppets to spread his 'Joy of Creation' by creating a Night of the Living Dead-esque army of biomechanical drones in an attempt to 'convert' – IE kill – people in order to improve what he thought was a terrible world. During the final battle, I'd ended up badly wounded and had woke up a week later, hearing from Mr. Faz himself that the restaurant would be shut down and demolished, and that he wanted me to take care of the animatronics. I said yes, and he provided me with a house and all the essentials to take care of the others in exchange. It had taken us two weeks to gather what we needed for them, and to pack up my now-wrecked apartment and move in. However, we were here now and life was beginning to look up. I had made several new friends during that time, including the animatronic band and Mike Schmidt, a 'legend' from the days of security guard work at the pizzeria.
I'd also gained something else, as I found out shortly after on that same night, when Foxy had taken it upon herself to kiss me, an action that took me off guard at first, but I couldn't deny how perfect it felt with her in my arms. It had taken a bit of time to get used to the stranger parts of dating her; for example, kissing her felt much cooler and more fuzzy, due to her animatronic costume and the lack of blood warming her. However, we had gotten past it together and now were quite happy. I chuckled slightly before opening the door to my workshop and stepping in, wondering what Foxy had been up to. I hadn't been able to organize it yet, a fact that annoyed me. I always had been a tinkerer at heart, and not being able to work on either new projects or upgrades for the others was something that irritated me to no end.
As I walked in, the light was off; however, I could faintly see Foxy's eyes glowing in the darkness. I smiled, reaching over to the light switch. "Hun, I can see you alre-" As I turned the light on, my jaw dropped as I looked around. Foxy was standing there, proud as ever… And she had good reason to be. She had cleaned up and organized my entire workshop, making sure all of my tools and projects were properly sorted. She'd labeled the drawers in my tool chest, and given me two benches; one with my assorted builds, and one with a computer for my designs and schematics. Furthermore, in each corner were what I call the 'combat suits', the outfits I had modified when we'd gone after Golden Freddy's army. I was astonished; everything was clean, well-organized… Everything I wished I could've taken care of over the past few weeks. I remembered that I'd mentioned to her that I had been too busy with a combination of recovering from my injuries and looking for a new job to straighten it out the way I liked. Apparently she had remembered my arrangement back at the old apartment and attempted to set it up for me here, except taking advantage of the new space. Shyly, she looked at me with a smile. "Hey, sweetheart… You like it?"
What could I say? I smiled, rushed over to her and pulled her into a tight hug, my lips meeting hers in a soft kiss. "Hun, this is amazing work. You have no idea how grateful I am that you did this for me…" I softly stroked her fur, causing her to gently lean against me as I looked around, before nuzzling against me. "Well, go ahead and look around! Did I sort everything right?" I nodded, smiling giddily as I checked my drawers; all the parts and assorted pieces for my work were organized, the toolbox was clean and properly labeled, and even the computer was straightened out and working well. I couldn't believe it; Foxy had fixed up my workshop rather incredibly. With a smile, I hugged her again. "It's absolutely perfect. Thank you so much." She smiled, nuzzling into my embrace as we held there for a few long moments.
After a bit, we separated and she left the work room, kissing my cheek on the way out. I followed her with a grin, arm secure around her waist as we returned to the living room. I looked over to Freddy, who – in spite of Bonnie being halfway laying on him – wasn't looking too pleased. As I looked over to the TV, I saw why. Yet another bloody news report discussing both the incident and calling on 'experts' discussing animatronic AI, the 'Joy of Creation', and the dangers of creating that type of high-end sentience. I listened in curiously for a moment.
"But don't you think that scientific advancement alone-"
"Scientific advancement won't bring back the people that were stuffed into those suits and turned into zombies. Scientific advancement WON'T stop this type of issue from happening again. Scientific advancement will NOT repair the damages done to all of us! No, in my opinion any type of so-called 'sentient' AI should be banned, and if a construct shows that level of understanding it should be destroyed!"
"Yes, I freely admit there are dangers. However, in a controlled environment-"
"In what environment was that Golden Freddy controlled? He was constructed by a professional animatronics and artificial intelligence company, and yet was still able to attain sentience without first developing morals. Scientific advancement is doing little except-" The television switched off, followed by a low growl from Freddy. I looked down at him, and he did NOT look amused. I sighed, taking a seat next to him, resting a hand on his shoulder. "Ignore them, Fred. They don't know you… They don't know us. They're afraid; afraid of what may happen as a result of you guys. That's why we're keeping this quiet for the time being." Freddy sighed and nodded, leaning back on the couch.
"I understand, Alex. I just wish we didn't have to worry about being hated just because of what we are… Or being abducted to find out how we became it."
"Hate to break it to ya, but humanity has been struggling with hatred of others just because of physical differences for as long as it's been around. It's a tragic and irritating part of the human condition." At this, he nodded once more, tipping his top hat back. It's at this point that Chica exited the kitchen, holding a freshly-made pizza. I grinned; I knew the others couldn't really eat, so this was very much mine. Foxy giggled as I eyed it, grinning widely the entire time as she set it down. "It's fresh, so it might be hot." I nodded, leaning back for a moment as Bonnie spoke up.
"So, Alex… How goes the job hunt?" I shrugged, finally taking a piece and biting in.
"About as well as usual. The interview with that private investigation firm went well though, so I might be able to join up there. After all, an ex-SWAT officer who also happened to stop Golden Freddy's invasion 'single-handedly' is pretty valuable as an asset." Freddy rolled his eyes as I finished off one slice of pizza and started on a second.
"What, and we don't get any credit?" I smiled, playfully giving the bear a gentle punch in the arm. "I'd gladly introduce you to them, but I get the feeling it wouldn't go over well." He rolled his eyes, chuckling slightly before I became serious again. "Seriously though, if I could I'd give you guys your fair share of the credit for helping out during that mess. You four were the driving fighters… And even though I doubt things will improve to the point of being able to get all four of you medals anytime soon, I still remember what you did. So does Mike, and Adams, and Mr. Faz himself. For what it's worth, we remember what you did."
Freddy's annoyed expression softened, and he shook his head sadly. "Alex, I know you're right… It's just irritating that we've got to keep quiet about our contribution to the fight because people would think we're like Gold. We're not, but that'd be really hard to prove…" I nodded, sighing softly before brightening up. "Hey, at least we're all here, right? One big, happy, somewhat weird family." Freddy rolled his eyes, but I saw him starting to grin at my corny joke. Foxy, however, took this as her chance to drive the point home and nonchalantly climbed into my lap, leaning against my chest. I blushed brightly, and turned just in time to see that big grin on Freddy's face. "Don't say anything." He opened his mouth to do so… And then found himself forced to close it as Bonnie followed Foxy's example, sitting on Freddy's lap once more. Chica just giggled during this little exchange before simply climbing onto where Bonnie was sitting, looking to the TV. "Can we turn something fun on? Alex is home, and it's turning out to be a good day!"
I nodded, and we fired up the set once more, immediately turning it from the news channel to one of several movie networks, and I grinned. "Stop here. I recognize this…" Sure enough, as I saw the opening scene playing out… "This movie's called Kelly's Heroes. It's one of my old favorites." With a nod, Chica set the remote down and we all settled back to watch the fil play out.
A few hours and the last of the pizza later, we all rose and I stretched out, checking the clock. 11:45 already? No wonder I felt so tired… I yawned, an action the others agreed with heartily. Freddy spoke up, a smile on his face. "Alex, you have good taste in movies. That was one heck of a show." I nodded and smiled, Foxy nuzzling my cheek affectionately. With a nod, we headed down the hall, chatting idly a bit before Freddy spoke again. "Hey, Alex?"
"Yeah?"
"Do you think… do you think we'll ever be accepted? And that there'll ever be any more like us?"
I paused for a moment, thinking about the question before speaking. "Freddy, old pal… If people can't get over themselves enough to see you for who you are, not what you are, then they're not worth your time anyway." He nodded, and I gave him a firm handshake. "G'night, Freddy. See you in the morning." He nodded, before leading Bonnie and Chica into the room and closing the door. I did likewise, Foxy still leaning against me somewhat; I could tell by how heavy her movements were that she was just as tired as I was, and she needed a recharge.
My bedroom was fairly common, all things considered; a small bookshelf, my dresser and closet, and a few assorted things like my coin jar sitting on the shelf. In one corner was my bed; a rather comfortable twin-sized. The other corner was somewhat different; it had a support structure built to hold the weight of an animatronic while they were in 'sleep mode' and recharging their batteries. The other 'bedroom' was similar, except it didn't have beds at all; just three of the stands, two of which were right next to each other. I yawned, changing into an old sleep shirt and shorts, watching as Foxy boosted herself into the supports, plugging the cable from the wall into a port on her lower back. I smiled, making myself comfortable in bed as I looked over to her, my eyes meeting her own glowing ones. "G'night, Foxy. Love you, hun…" She smiled at me.
"I love you too, Alex. See you in the morning…" With that, she went limp, her eyes no longer glowing as she entered 'sleep mode'. I knew that she could still hear and comprehend everything and it was still stored, however it was the closest thing she had to sleeping like me. I yawned slightly, before laying back once again, sleep coming to me rather quickly. I chuckled a bit as I dropped off, one last thought going through my head before sleep took me.
Five Lives at Redding's… Four sentient animatronics and one human. What a concept… But we made it work. Something we proved time and time again. Stealing one last loving gaze at Foxy, I allowed myself to fall into sleep with a contented smile on my face.
So here we go, folks. A new beginning for our intrepid heroes as they take on one of the biggest challenges... Life.
...That was corny, wasn't it?
I don't know when I'll continue what I'm now calling the 'Five Lives at Redding's' Extended Universe, but I do promise that I'll come up with ideas soon enough. As always, if you have any suggestions I'd love to hear 'em!
One last thing: I have a poll up on my profile (or at least I should if it worked properly) asking for y'all to give your opinions on where I'm going next with writing Fanfiction. I've got two different ideas in mind, but I want to know which you all prefer. So! Go on my profile and vote! Brief descriptions of both stories are available there as well, so lemme know what you think!
Read and review, all!