Concrete. Gray stone looming high over Freddy's head.
The familiar room faded into existence around him, and Freddy could feel every inch of his body come to in sync with him. He blinked, feeling limp. Something was different.
The memories flashed painfully into his head. Dark thoughts clouded his vision, and every sense was numbed as it returned. The animatronic sucked in a shaky breath, gripping the table as he sat up. He'd come crashing down, and everything had gone black. That was why he was here, he'd bet that. But if he had gotten fixed for whatever damage had happened in that hard, harrowing fall, then maybe-!
Freddy leapt to his brown paws, and wildly glanced around. "Goldie? Fredbear? Oh, please, please, big bro, please..." He whispered into the room, but not an echo answered him. He rubbed his handpaws together, but nothing surfaced in any sense.
His joy was drained. Could he even step into the pizzeria again, knowing his brother was gone? It couldn't be a thing he'd do. Not with Goldie gone.
A few men came stepping down, their feet in rhythm on the concrete stairs. They all blinked at Freddy, who had sat back down. Muttering amongst each other in obscure tones, unable to be heard by the onlooking bot, they walked up to him and began guiding him to the stage.
The bear tenderly walked along in slow stomps. He had no reason to fight. What was left down there in that basement other than the most painful memories, when Goldie had brought him up into the world of stage life? Now he was being brought into a bleaker, lonely world.
The stage seemed to extend on for miles, onto an unseen indoor horizon. Where was that yellow bear with the handsome sheen of gold on his coat? The bluish tint to his dark, dapper hat and tie? His crimson eyes that had seen so many amazing things? He never got to share all he wanted to share with me. The thought stabbed him.
He'd never be able to escape the memory of Goldie.
The nights were cold and dark. The new guard was much softer and friendlier- not the loping, suspicious man that had somehow managed to ruin his whole, miniscule life. Freddy didn't care though. He didn't move the whole night.
The dark hallway brought too much pain to him, ringing in his ears those horrible noises, his cries.
When at last he managed to deactivate peacefully, he was haunted by the thought that he'd be alone forever now.
Two weeks. That had been long enough for Freddy to begin to recover. His performances since then had been mediocre, and when the employees went on lunch he would sit and eat pizza alone. He'd ponder Goldie's life, consider his own, think of everyone's life, and eat pizza alone. He sang his own songs, often cheery songs celebrating his brother and friend's life. He made the lyrics as obscure as he could so he wouldn't scare anyone, but the murmurs of a sad life still rang with every low word.
Halfway through week three, suddenly murmuring began to spread amongst the employees. Of a new addition.
The idea of someone new had scared Freddy since that night, when someone new had destroyed him. But this time, it was a different air of "new." People were talking of music, of joy. When at last a clear rumor reached Freddy, he had to admit that joy flooded his mind for the rest of the day.
A new animatronic was entering the pizzeria, and Freddy would be his older brother now.
At first, Freddy had been enraged at how quickly they could just replace his bestest brother. His only friend so far. His only brother he'd ever known! Would it be a new golden bear? Another replacement?
But over the course of a night, his rage had blossomed like a thorned flower with gorgeous petals into an excitement and early brotherly love. The bear had hardly managed to sit still, and his songs had become more vibrant. The pain of Goldie had been pushed away as it healed, and Freddy was distracted with this new notion of a new brother.
Freddy would be able to share with him all that he had ever seen. He would be the Goldie. It was a dreamlike state, full of joy and celebration. And when at last one weekend the manager and a strange yet friendly-faced man waded into that ever-familiar basement to set to work, Freddy couldn't help nor resist but to watch the whole time as his new brother was assembled.
Metal bits, little notches, turning bolts and screws, and the thwacking of nails. Wires intertwined with each other like tender lovers curling about one another on a cold night. Purple eyes blinked on the first test run- they were watching Freddy, staring at him unregistered.
It took till midday for the animatronic to finally be furred. Freddy waded in, realizing he was now seeing as Goldie once did. The pang was sharp and sudden, but short-lived.
An hour passed, and still the heap of fur and metal sat lifeless.
The bear began to doze off, convinced he was alone and wallowing in a new shell of disappointment, when the faintest whirr made his ears twitch. The bear whipped his head upwards, blinking his crystal eyes wide.
The animatronic slowly came to. The violet rabbit stood, synthetic fur moving around his new endoskeleton, silent as a whisper in the night. His head pivoted this way and that, as he scanned the world dully.
A light formed in his eyes suddenly. He turned to stare at Freddy, aware and alert.
Freddy stood slowly, holding in a cold breath. "Hello?" He breathed, awestruck at the astounding model.
The rabbit tilted his head, then flashed a cheeky grin. "Hiya!" His New York accent was sharp, and simulated a lip smack at times that almost made Freddy laugh.
The bear cracked a smile. "Welcome to the world, mister! I'm Freddy Fazbear, I already figured out that you're Bonnie, and welcome to Fred n'-" He paused, shoulders tense and hands trembling. He couldn't possibly mess this up! He continued, correcting himself fluidly. "Welcome to Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria, Bonnie."
A brown paw extended. Bonnie took it, beaming wide with a dazzling bucktooth grin. Freddy froze, watching the violet face light up.
This rabbit most certainly was not his brother- not only was he a rabbit that looked nothing like him or Goldie, but he was far, far too dashing. Freddy and Goldie had been stunning, sure, but this rabbit took his breath away with his handsome good looks and silly accent.
Freddy knew brothers did work differently in this world though. All it took was to belong to the same restaurant. Sure, by animatronic definition, this was his brother. But he was so much more handsome than just a brother of this pizzeria.
"I guess you're my younger brother now." Freddy chuckled.
Bonnie returned the little laugh, his purple bobtail flicking in a little wag. Freddy held his breath for a moment, awestruck at this adorably awkward yet stunning rabbit before him. "How much older are you?" The purple rabbit nestled his chin lightly into his thick nest of neck fur, retracting his paw from the long handshake.
"I'd say a year?" Freddy guessed. He'd not really kept the time, but he'd been made some time in December himself, and it had been a few months.
Bonnie's eyes lightly widened. "That long? What took me so long to get here?"
Freddy halted, gritting his teeth. Bonnie seemed to understand something had been crossed when it shouldn't have been, glancing to the stairway. Murmuring voices were beyond, up the stairs. His long ears perked, twitching in such an astonishingly realistic way. Freddy just watched, enraptured in every bit of this rabbit, forgetting the previous pain.
"So, you gonna show me around?" The violet rabbit extended a long, colorful arm.
"Hmmmm, what'll I get out of it?" Freddy teased. He understood all of Goldie's chattiness now. He wanted to share everything he could with this new, unknowing character.
"A new brother!" Bonnie joked back snarkily. The brown bear interlinked arms with his brother jokingly, though his head felt light as he engaged with the rabbit and led him out. He could feel the quick ticking in his chest from his mechanical 'heart'.
The tour went on for what felt like hours, much to the glee of both animatronics. They had bonded so much by the end of the day, and Bonnie had learned so much, and Freddy had drank in every moment with the rabbit so, so much.
The bear fell asleep carelessly on his back, huddled next to the rabbit, who had insisted on sleeping normally. Brown paw resting atop a purple paw, Freddy had to admit he'd never understood why he'd ever, even for a day, been so enraged about Bonnie's creation. Listening to the steady whirr of Bonnie's sleeping body next to him, Freddy finally settled on one thing he'd been fighting about the whole day.
He was in love with Bonnie.
