However, it was down to the briefest of seconds that the camera stayed there that the plan began to evolve. The fact that the cove could merrily be passed by after a second or two glancing, because either way it would count as a checkup, right? No one would think to look for Freddy there. Freddys pattern was very different to everyone elses, but the idea that Freddy would go to the cove, which was boarded off and off limits to all, was preposterous.
Which is why the idea bloomed in the mechanical bears mind until it blossomed a brilliant plan.
Communications in Fazbears were, undoubtedly, there, because the knowledge of certain animatronics being in certain places gave them a thing that they desperately held onto - teamwork. Bonnie and Chica worked together to thwart the doorways, and if that failed, Freddy could jump in. Foxy was his own animatronic - worked for no one, and worked with no one. Since he'd been put out of business, his communicator had rusted inside the hollow suit skull he wore, which changed his cheery pirate cackles into something that sounded slow and emotionless. Both of which Foxy was not in person.
Freddys plan had its flaw though - he had no way of communicating with Foxy before the nightshift began, so whether it would work was dependant on Foxys cooperation. However, Foxys previous role in the pizzeria had played him as a villainous character, who used the speed he was given to snag up pizza and pretend to steal it like the pirate he was. The same speed he used to run down the west hall nearly every night.
So, this put Freddy and Foxy in an.. interesting sort of relationship. They'd been programmed to be bitter rivals, and despite the haunting spirits inside of them, that was what they were. So the likelyhood of Foxy cooperating was small, but Freddy was a mastermind and could whip up a dozen ways of convincing the old seafox to help out.
So there Freddy was, at two am, alone on the show stage. Bonnie and Chica, per usual, had already made off and begun to work their maze-like pattern around the pizzeria in order to approach the Office. This early on, Freddy was often ignored because the threat was stronger from the animatronic bunny and chick, so Freddys movement was ignored entirely.
In Freddys communicator was a small chip that was programmed to make him laugh everytime he entered a new room. There was a number of steps attached to the chip, meaning that if he walked that number of steps, his hollow head would instantly let out the eerie laugh. It was how the night guard tracked him, or so he was supposed to. What sounded like a chuckle to children was a sinister laugh to anyone there at night.
All the same, Freddy didn't have far to go to get to the Cove, and with his expertees in doors and how to surpass them, it wasn't at all that hard to get into the Cove either. Considering how early it was, the curtains were still shut tight, indicating Foxy was still warming up. A perfect time to get him involved.
The curtains shifted, and parted a little. A small nose, rusted at the tip, poked out, followed by the long, bronze-coloured snout and the hanging open jaw, displaying the slightly blackened teeth. Despite attempts to keep Foxy tidy, the workers had long given up, meaning the stains on his teeth were left to darken. Foxys head was already turned up to the camera, eyes now appearing in a cold glare. And thats when the pirate cove fox caught sight of the animatronic bear.
At first, there was silence. Foxys head was still tilted, so the night guard checking on him wouldn't notice his gaze was elsewhere. The two rival animatronics let the stare last a few seconds, before Foxy made a grunting noise - that was far too mechanical to sound natural due to his rusting communicator - and pulled his face back into his cove.
Not put off by Foxys ignorance, Freddy waited until the light on the camera dimmed before he slid through the curtains after Foxy, making sure they were closed so that he wasn't seen.
Foxy had his back to the bear, hook curled over his arm in a folded-arms gesture and his snout turned up the way a prissy teenager did when protesting. His tail, now almost as bronze at the white tip as it was the rest of the shell, made a mechanical motion that used to be a sweep of his tail, but now was just a small, pause-continous wag. Freddy cleared his throat.
"Foxy."
He got no reply but a small clicking snarl.
"Foxy, I am trying to communicate with you. As well as tolerate your ignorance."
Foxy still kept quiet, until his jaw clicked to the side, making a small desperate attempt to work, but failed. Despite the gaping jaw, Foxy was still capable of using his communicator, because it wasn't dependant on having a realistic mouth. It was how he was still capable of making his horrific screeches.
"Didn't think you'd remember me, Fazbear," came the surly, irritated tone from the endoskeletons teeth, "Ain't nobody remember me. Took me off the fookin' set an' replaced me with your heap a' junk band."
"Foxy, I'm not here to quarrel about the past doings, especially when you're trying to pin the hook on me for your own actions regarding your position. You were taken off because you were irresponsible, short-tempered and highly dangerous to children," Freddy replied with an equally irritated tone. It didn't surprise him that Foxy was bringing this up. He hadn't spoken to anyone in years.
One of Foxys ears twitched. "Don't fuckin' lie to me, you animatronic heathen. You came here like those stupid fuckin' kids wanted to. Point at the fox, oh joy. Its the seafox who bit half of someones fookin' scalp off. Get the fuck out of my cove."
"Foxy-" Freddy began in a tone that would usually send even the owner running for cover. It was a tone akin to the angered temper of a bear, but with all the haunting of a ghost on a rampage. Needless to say, it bounced around the walls and almost burned in words.
Still, Foxy wouldn't subside to the tone of his companion, and turned around, reaching to shove the animatronic bear out.
Only he didn't. And couldn't.
He'd automatically reached to shove with his left hand, which was curved into a hook. And, unfortunately, the hook had caught into Freddys shoulderblade, curling underneath the metal and getting stuck in the wires. Instantly, Freddys left arm shut down from the tampering, and both were officially trapped caught onto one another.
Again, there was an awkward silence, almost in disbelief, before Foxy gave a sharp yank. Freddy made a noise that sounded like a mechanical screech, jerked forward by the motion and instantly shoving Foxy back a bit.
"Would you be careful with my sockets, you overgrown simpering seasnake, I'm not damaged like you and my hardware is not so easily pulled about," Freddy snarled, reaching with his right hand to try and unhook Foxys hook. Freddys fingers were too large to fit into the gap underneath the hook, so he couldn't pull the hook upwards and off. Even Foxys hand, which was flatter on account of his lean figure, couldn't prise the hook up enough to get it off. They were well and truly stuck.
Unlike Freddy, who was tolerating the crisis at the moment, Foxy was clearly getting utterly pissed off, shaking his hook around and trying to unlodge it. And again Freddy protested by pushing the animatronic away so that the other could stop tampering. And in the process, it caught even more onto the wires.
"You son of a seadog, if you hadn't come here and started throwing around your fuckin' accusations, this-" Foxy gave another pull, "Wouldn't-" And again, "- Have happened!"
"If you had just listened to me, you ratty good-for-nothing scoundrel, you wouldn't have started getting your loincloth in a twist," Freddy growled. The two predator-based animatronics stopped to glare each other down, able to tolerate one another less and less. Fortunately for the poor unexpecting nightguard, but unfortunately for the animatronics, they weren't able to take their hatred to a point of actually damaging each other. There'd be no way the nightguard could keep his job. Hell, he probably wouldn't be able to explain it. Two animatronics had a punchout where he couldn't see them, sure they'd believe it.
No, Freddy was not letting the prey go. He was going to work this out manually. Which meant keeping his temper under control. If he lost his temper again, he'd just have to take it out on the night guard. So he turned and backed towards the coves treasure display, settling himself onto the treasure chest prop and reaching up to try and start inching the hook out of his shoulder. Foxy was dragged along, swearing and cursing at the top of his lungs. It got to a point that he was about to screech when Freddy caught him out in time and shoved his hand into the foxes mouth to keep the endoskeletons jaws closed.
"Don't you dare," The bear snarled, "The last thing we need is the night guard seeing this stupidity."
"Why should I give two doubloons about the shitty nightguard?" Foxy responded when Freddy had let his endoskeletons mouth go, flexing his wrist a bit to try and help get the hook out.
"Because thats the whole reason I bothered visiting you, you scurvy-inducing nightmare. I only came in here to see if we could work out a plan of mine," Freddy responded, giving up on moving the hook and instead fumbling to try and unhinge his mechanical arm.
Foxy snorted, "Yer' haven't seen scurvy-inducing until someones given you one of those vomit-worthy kiddy cards. I got one once. Shredded it. I don't want no pissmonkeys greetings in my cove. I have my doubloon mountain and my own island."
"You also have your own restraining order - to keep you-" Freddy clicked the arm so it drooped a little more, opening the socket wider, "-Away from us."
"If I bit one of you animatronic assholes I'd shatter me' teeth."
"Do me a favour and bite your own worthless words with that endoskeleton of yours. If they're so tough, maybe they will break your teeth."
"Dipshit."
"Pleasant. Did you locate an insult generator or a comedy book? Your insults are embarassingly ridiculous. That and your constant swearing."
"Lost me' role, lost me' audience, thought I'd give keeping me' temper a go," Foxy slurred back in deliberately a pirate-esque mocktone, wiggling the hook a little. It was a little more free, but the tip was still caught in the wires, "You swear too much too, tubbybear. Ain't you got kids around?"
"Yes but that doesn't mean a bear has to keep an even temper. I've almost lost my temper with you several times in the past three minutes," Freddy muttered, more focused on shifting his left arm around. There was a catch inside the socket where the arm could easily be taken off - he'd seen it when he was repaired - but finding it with his enormous hand was problematic.
"What are ye' even looking for in there?" Foxy chirped sarcastically, "Yer' soul? Because you ain't got one."
"Its a shame this water backdrop is fake. I'd happily throw you in and watch you rust beyond use. Perhaps the owner would melt you down into a new prop. I've always wanted a cane.."
"Fuck you."
"Language."
"Speak for yerself."
"Can you stop with the slurring? Its getting annoying. I could use your help, you know."
"Why would I want to help you?" Foxy responded instantly, furrowing his mechanical eyebrows until his eyepatch dropped down over his eye. His ear twitched and he looked disgusted at even the thought of helping the animatronic bear. Then again, he was stuck to the other until it was fixed.
"Because otherwise we'll get caught. I'm sure you don't want me in here forever."
"Ergh. Could've used a prisoner. Make you walk the plank - if I had one, mind," Foxy fumbled his wrist again, turning the hook a little, "Tell me what you're looking for, would'ja? This is pissing me off."
"Theres a little switch in my arm socket somewhere that entirely removes the arm. I can't reach it. Perhaps your hook can." Freddy moved his hand away, staring up at Foxy with a threatening expression. Freddy didn't want to be here any longer than Foxy wanted him to be.
Foxy grunted again and began fumbling the hook around, trying to find the little ridge where the switch was. If he found it, all he had to do was push down and it would dislocate. The problem was actually finding it to begin with. They were working in darkness, because the curtains cut out the light and it was almost pitch black save for their eyes illuminating the cove.
"So what was this plan of yours?" Foxy spoke after a few more minutes of finding nothing with his hook, "The plan that you oh-so-desperately came to ME for?"
"I've been watching how the guard handles things," Freddy replied, "He always closes the doors whenever one of us gets close. Undoubtedly if I get close he'll do that to me. So I need something as a diversion. I need you to go down the West Hall when the lights start flickering - the power will be dying then. I'll have moved outside his door that time, so he'll have closed it. All you have to do is run at him, wait for him to close the door, which will drain the power, and when it runs out-"
"In you go," Foxy finished, scratching behind an ear with his free paw, "But whats in it fer me? You ain't got nothing I want, and pizza isn't good enough either."
"I already thought about that. I knew you wouldn't work unless you got something," Freddy smirked, "So I figured, why should I have my brilliant plan work AND get to stuff the guard into his suit? So you'll have the honors of pressing that persistant energywasting buffoon into the suit. You don't get to do that anymore, do you?"
Foxy grumbled under his breath, "Can't remember when I last forced one into their suit. They were too big to fit, started making loadsa noise and all that shit. Had to sever parts of their arms to fit them in. Not a good endoskeleton though. Didn't move at all."
"Well, if the limbs are so useless, perhaps you could sink your teeth into a few to sate your biting need," Freddy rolled his eyes, unwanting to recall the event that claimed half of a childs brain. "Well?"
Foxy scratched under his chin in thought, trying to consider the offer. He'd be doing what he did every night, but he'd have to wait. It sucked because Bonnie and Chica could get there first, but what did he have to lose? "Alright, if I get the guard at the end, I'll do it."
"Excellent," Freddy replied, shaking his shoulder a bit and glancing at the still trapped hook, "Any luck?"
"Nope. Can't find that stainswabbin' switch," Foxy snarled, twisting the hook from side to side, making clawing motions at the insides in the hopes of finding it.
"Were you programmed to have a sailormouth? I'm generally curious."
"Only partly," Foxy snickered, "But I got me'self aquainted with half a' them swanky words the humans spout. The big ones, adults. Heard one of them once when I was performin'. What was it they said.. somethin' like, "That fox looks cool as shit. But why a fox?" Wish I could've told him why a fox. Why a fox? Why a fox? I'm the most scurvious, slyest creature to ever sweep the deck of a ship. I'm the bite and the bark. I'm all the parts of a great captain. Shame they never got me' a crew, though."
Freddy opened his mouth to reply when there was a click, and Freddys arm simply fell off. Foxy stared at the fallen arm for a moment, before inhaling the urge to burst into laughter. Freddy reached down to pick it up and slot it back into place.
"Yer'- Yer' fookin' arm just fell off, Fazbear! Yer' Freddy Fazbare-without-yer-arm!"
"Would you shut up with that so called bark of yours," Freddy replied irritably, standing up and folding his arms. Foxy clearly wasn't listening, ignorant as he had been the first meeting. Freddy didn't have time to waste on waiting for Foxys hysterics to come to an end, so after a moment of waiting for the camera to dim, he slid out of the curtains and towards the door, vanishing into the darkness and shadows, as Foxys laughter bounced around the empty cove.
Freddy still hated Foxy, still saw him as a rival and felt irritated by his entire manner of speaking and acting, but with the knowledge that the seafox was eager to get his hook on a limb, he knew he'd be able to bargain Foxy into helping them with the guards should he ever need the assistance.
He just hoped it wasn't his limb that had the hook on it again.