(By Guidelines, I am obligated to not use actual songs, if you are interested in what songs I had originally planned on using for the soundtrack later on, please private-message myself, but could anyone check to see if mentioning songs in private chat is ok? Thanks! Enjoy the chapter!)
Chapter 57- Party's Surprise
"What is it now?" Foxy said in a tired voice that carried the subtle hint of anger. The brown bear raised his hands up in mock surprise.
"What? Aren't apologies supposed to come with restitutions to ensure absolute peace between both sides?"
Narrowing his eyes, heavy laden with suspicion notion, the vulpine went the safe way and simply agreed with him, adopting his manner of normal hospitality as he crossed his arms, already familiar with what might happen next. However, before they could then start discussing, there was a commotion to his left, causing him to turn and look with alarm as he heard lots of hooting and shouting, but then settled down when he saw that it was just the entertainers that he had hired. It seems to him that Mikhail's suggestion worked, having hired multiple girls to liven up the place by getting the visitors' attention, however he doubted that it was for a well-meant intention.
A couple feet away, some of the volunteer workers were bringing in long metal poles, affixing them to the dance floor in the sockets between the lighted up tiles, before they then stepped back as a triangle-shaped section of the floor rose. Then, they went to the back of the entire complex, before opening the door nearby that led to the outside, and soon came in a group of animatronic females sporting microphones attached to head sets, where a plastic band wrapped around the ears, holding the mike in front of their mouths without needing any hands. Giggling as they came in, the girls were crowded by guests as many tried to flirt with them, but they eventually shooed them away on their way to the elevated stage, which wasn't more than 6 feet higher than the ground level, climbing up the stairs discretely in the back. Soon enough the music started to change to something more rhythmic, and then the dancers on the stage started to dance along with it walking around the poles in a teasing manner while sending winks or skin – fur – peeks to the crowd, causing a lot of whistling to form.
Turning around and not being amused or interested, as he was already able to control his immediate thoughts thanks to the Angel's Devils being in his current life, the vulpine also saw that the bear was also distracted by this. The ursa paid attention back to the ring leader, who decided to begin the negotiation - which in his opinion, won't last long.
"What is it ye want then?" Foxy said while mentally rolling his eyes.
"First off," Freddy started while Foxy scoffed, already sensing a demand coming up as he fully paid attention to the bargaining, "since we are now at a truce, I would find it most appropriate for both sides to be as comfortable as possible, which means giving in to such demands. We want a large house so that we can accommodate all of our family, we want the best quality stuff that you can provide and is in availability, so we could relax and not fear about having another dispute, and finally…"
Say a big piece of the power that I have in this ring, Thought Foxy.
"Around 49-50% of the power that you currently have in your position, because I truly think that we can become great and profitable business and financial partners."
Close enough. The vulpine growled in his mind when his guess was correct.
A smug smirk stretched across the bear's face. "So, do we have a mutual agreement?" To further show his confidence, he lifted the glass that the waitress had just placed on the table, holding it in his right, chubby hand as he said, "A toast," and started to drink it down.
"No. I don't think so; ye think ye can just walk in here and expect things to be handed to ye and yer group so easily? Yer out of yer mind, especially after I just let you live in peace."
Freddy almost choked on the liquid when he heard the refusal from Foxy, who still sat calmly in his own leather seat, scrutinizing the bear with a keen eye, or both, with the other hiding behind the eye patch, his attitude seeming to be nonchalant as he didn't show interest in his possible reaction. The effect of being drunk still lingered in his mind, and in his anger he spat the liquid in front of Foxy, who didn't budge, but it was obvious that he ticked him off, but then he slowly took one of the napkins that were lying nearby, using it to mop up the table, all the while speaking in a stern voice.
"It wasn't wise of you to do that. Don't push it."
"I want the benefits first, and then I'll stop pushing it." Freddy shot back.
"Even if I said I would, you wouldn't stop, knowing the big idiot that you are, thinking that you have authority, or any kind of it here, while managing to ignore the fact that you are at a complete disadvantage here." The fox snarled, before flicking the now wet cloth onto Freddy, who immediately flung it down onto the ground as he stood up, now placing both of his hands on the table as he brought his face in front of Foxy's, whispering out one word.
"Stupid."
"Imbecile." Returned Foxy, and it was on.
"Moron."
"Dumb-ass."
"Idiot."
Then they broke out into a full on argument, with each side hurtling insults at one another on the wooden battlefield.
Meanwhile…
Three figures were standing in front of the closed door leading to the party, having followed the directions that they were given by Foxy before he left to the party, and were sure of the location when they heard the music inside, however, they didn't go in yet as they then seemed to do a last minute check-up. The one in the middle turned her head towards the left one, who was nervously wringing her hands with the other, causing her profile to almost blend in and out of the nearby shadows nearby.
"You okay? You seem to be pretty nervous." The directed person turned her head in surprise to the speaker as she was anxiously smoothing down the metal chain mail that was covering her chest down to the stomach, making sure that there were no kinks.
"N-No, I'm fine, but I'm just w-worrying about how the people will react to this." Her response plainly showed that she was indeed nervous despite her claim.
The third member of the group on the right chuckled, before she opened up a small pocket mirror, bringing it up to her face using her right hand. Carefully, she used her left to apply something on her face, blinking her eyes in the reflective surface to see if it was satisfactory, and a smile formed on her lips in approval. She closed it and started handing it to the figure on the leftmost side, her voice having a carefree attitude.
"Don't worry, besides, who would care to judge? It's our appearances that we control, not them, and if they say anything else-" She patted the right side of her waist, making a dull clanging sound when grey steel clanged against each other, "we'll deal with it, ok Lana?"
"B-But-"
"Hush, relax, take a deep breath, you look fine enough, so stop fidgeting over your gear." The black and white vixen reluctantly dropped her hands, inhaling and exhaling slowly, but still had a panicked look on her face.
"But I still feel that bit of stage-fright, Dia."
"Ah, relax, you'll get over it when we go inside; we're Angel's Devils, we're used to doing these types of things, and we enjoy it too. Right, Scarlet?"
The crimson vixen nodded to her left and right companions, a confident and assuring manner around her as she started to tap her chin, a mischievous smile working its way onto her face plates.
"Yes, don't you worry, Lana, just look in the mirror and try to say that you look bad." Lana cautiously did so, looking into the mirror, and saw herself, replacing some of the anxiety within her with relief when she saw that she was cutting a good figure indeed. She nodded and handed the mirror back to Diamond.
"Yeah… ok, I guess I can do it… Hey, how come it looks like you're planning something though?"
"Oh, I was thinking about how much Foxy would be unexpectedly delighted when he sees us like this. Wouldn't you say?"
Laughing, Diamond nudged her shoulder.
"Good idea, let's make a grand entrance, shall we?"
Nodding, the crimson vixen went to give a great push onto the double doors, but was then rebounded back when the doors didn't budge, making her furrow her eyebrows.
"What the?"
She pushed again, before realizing that it was blocked from the inside, which was most likely a chair or wooden board by the feel of it, making her growl with annoyance, but then her eyes lit up with a playful gleam, before motioning the two others to step back as she raised her leg. Realizing what she was about to do, Diamond's eyes lit up with a roguish shine, rubbing her hands with glee, while Lana's eyes widened with shock, both of their comments contradicting each other.
'Oh, this is going to be good."
"Oh, nooooo- W-Wait, can't we find a better way?"
"Nope." Said Scarlet. "Otherwise we can't get inside." The black and white vixen groaned, but stopped her protesting and shifted into a suitable look as the leader of the Angel's Devils shot her foot towards the obstacle.
"Get ready!"
Back Inside the Party
The Dj's music continued pumping out loud notes, which ironically went along nicely in the pattern of trading insults and counter-offerings done between Foxy and Freddy, both of them seemingly almost ready to explode into a flurry of anger.
Freddy hadn't expected Foxy to be so stubborn, and vice versa (well, not really surprised), as well as finding the bear to be so thick and undeterred from stopping (again, not much of a shock). They kept running in circles between peace conditions, where the main topic was if Freddy gets a significant part of the power the vulpine controlled, which still didn't get anywhere further from where it originally started.
Slamming his fist on the table, the glass rattled as Foxy growled in a low voice.
"I told ye; no portion or any part of the power here, besides no one in the crowd would listen to ye and yer rambling crew."
"Oh, is that so? Well if I had the power then I would damn make them sure that they would listen and respect me." Smirked Freddy.
"Ye block-'ead! Do ye really think that they'll respect ye if ye treat them like a dick dictator? Harr-Harr! A good pun!"
"It worked in the pizzeria, so yeah why not?"
"Ye know nothing about leading a place right! So how about you go and leave this place in peace."
"Really, really Mr. McSmartyPants? How much better are you at then, you rusted up pirate?"
"A hell lot BETTER than YERSELF I CAN SAY!"
"You're nothing but a worthless leader that no one cares about, just like every other leader that came before you. I can lead and make them care about me. ACCEPT THE OFFER."
"Like I said before, I WILL NEVER, GIVE, UP, ANY AUTHORITY-!"
BOOM!
"Oh, FOXXXYYYYYY!"
The sudden noise caused everyone to pause for a moment, even Foxy and Freddy who were surprised by the sudden intrusion. Following the sound, the vulpine locked his eyes to the entrance, which had some sawdust floating around, making the view to the outside unclear, and saw the remains of a now splintered apart chair lying on the ground. He guessed that someone had blocked the entrance, why or how he didn't know, but he would definitely have to talk to the one who did it, as all guests were welcome regardless of who they were, but then started to sense some movement in the cloud of dust, which was slowly starting to dissipate. Just as quickly as the doors were kicked open, the dust started to settle...
His jaw dropped with shock.
Standing there were the Angel's Devils in their usual fighting gear, with Scarlet brushing aside some strands of her hair, tucking it behind her ear as she stood in between Lana and Diamond, each of them looking around the place with interest from the now open entrance. They weren't noticing the other people gawking at them, and the vulpine couldn't help but to join them too as he could feel as he saw that they had changed their appearances, and even though it was slight, it made a big difference. Their eyelids in a different color, as well as on their lips, which made their face attention-grabbers for all that saw them. Diamond had a Gothic look framed by her dark eyelids and black lips, and it could be seen that she chose the color black to suit her, giving her a fierce expression.
Lana had a similar make up with the color purple, making her appear exotic and alluring as the shade of liner contrasted with her black fur, as well as shy when she seemed to be hesitant in front of all the people looking their way, nervously holding one of her arms. Scarlet, finally, had dark red shading on her eyes and lips, giving her a classy yet elegant look that made her show a little bit of her seriousness, but nonetheless as beautiful as the other two.
I didn't know I was that much of a fashion expert. Foxy thought humorously when he thought of that.
All together, they were probably the biggest highlights of that night as many men either put down their drinks to stare at them, or to quickly swallow it while rubbing their eyes, before raising their eyebrows and started to whistle. Even the women and the dancing girls there had to stop and stare at them with obvious surprise, hints of jealousy running clear on their faces while kicking their corresponding dates in the shins regardless if they were looking or not, causing some loud shouting of pain to be heard.
While this was happening, Diamond turned to look at the black and white vixen, before breaking out into a grin as she saw her a little flustered, before looking at the DJ that was staring at them far away near the back. He was still keeping the music going at the opposite end of the room, as it was his job, and she pointed at him, who pointed at himself, before conversing in a silent language.
Me? The music coordinator phrased by pointing at himself.
Yes, can I pick a song? Diamond moved her mouth slowly so that he could read her lips, before nodding furiously.
Which?
The cheetah then mouthed her pick, causing his mouth to visibly drop, before reddening awkwardly. Scuffling around some record disks he kept in a nearby bin, he picked one out from its paper envelope, and then slid it into the machine as he pressed the play button. Music started to stream out, quiet at first, but it was slowly increasing in volume.
Scarlet didn't seem to notice the change of music as her eyes roved the area, as if she was looking for something, until they locked with Foxy's, before she broke out into a wide grin and winked at him, not seeing the awestruck Freddy and his group who were staring at her and her friends with incredulity.
"There you are!" With that, she started to walk towards him, with Diamond following her, arms crossed against her chest as she placed one foot in front of the other, and Lana trailed behind as she looked timid, but still followed her friends, where the music then started to open up its first line loudly as the DJ turned up the volume knob. Synthesized electronic music started to boom out in a sultry tone, and it was pretty much a very lusty song that brought out some of the most… improper, thoughts to start going into the listeners' minds, which basically made them seem even more tempting.
As the crimson vixen walked, she raised her eyebrows when listening to the music, making her smirk at the feline next to her as she started to strut while swishing back her yellow and black tail, obviously liking the attention from the men, whose ears perked up at the music combined with the females. Quietly, she slipped a few words to her as the music rolled on. It was almost normal for the three females, as they have been used to much more exaggerated circumstances.
"Really, Dia? You just had to."
The cheetah grinned impishly.
"Aww, don't be that way hun, you got to admit even Foxy is interested in this."
Rolling her eyes, Scarlet had to agree when she saw how her love was looking at her, which was a look that almost made her laugh out loud. The vulpine's fur had turned beyond a dark red as he mouth was slightly open as he seemed to freeze mid-sentence, with his eye transfixed on her, which made her feel a little fluttery, unlike the other spectators, who were simply given her sly and perverse looks as they hooted out at them.
"Damn girl! Nice legs!"
"Shake it, that's what I'm talking about!"
"Talk about nice pieces of skin, how about coming over here for a good drink? Or two!"
Snorting, they ignored the rowdy crowd as she only had eyes for Foxy, giving her another idea, so she turned her head to Lana and Diamond, a suggestive tone in her voice.
"How about we give him a good sight to see while he's at the party? I think it would be appropriate as it is his party, after all."
"Oh, you bet! Lana, you better do this too or I swear-"
"Alright alright, fine, but don't you dare criticize, I just feel kind of… exposed."
"You're already exposed, so give it all you got!"
"… Fine." A small smile crept up the black vixen's features. "Shall we?"
"Mmhmm. Bust a move." They moved with the music as they got closer to the music, adding some flirting motions - such as winks or some poses - to their movement to make Foxy really pay attention, who reddened even deeper as he realized that they were purposely doing this to him. This made him stutter, but couldn't help to tear his eyes away from the image he was seeing of the three girls moving towards him. That only made them grin even wider as the music went on, which started to include more and more exact descriptions of particular scenes.
Just as they neared the vulpine, who smiled awkwardly in his seat, appearing to be very stiff and rigid, Scarlet suddenly saw that the bear that Foxy had fought, Freddy she believed his name was, staring at her from afar. She growled inside her mouth, still remembering the insults that he threw at her and her friends. Suddenly, a notion sprouted in her mind in light of the situation, before she then whispered just loud enough for the other two to hear.
"Let's see who can do it better."
"Do what better?" Lana said. "Scarlet?"
It was too late to get an answer as the leader of the Angel's Devils let out a cheerful trill with her voice to greet the dark red fox.
"Hey there Foxy!"
The vulpine gulped as he put on his best smile, which he could feel being a very shaky one as he stared at the three approaching females, with Scarlet in the lead, now about three feet away from him.
"A-Ahoy, Scarlet, Lana, Diamond, 'ow are ye lassies doing this eve'ning? Um… But how did ye get the makeup or whatever is -!"
He struggled to keep a straight face as the crimson vixen bent down next to him until they were about head height, giving him a kiss on the cheek, causing him to freeze and his eye patch to automatically flip up as he blushed, feeling the heat on his face plates crawling to the tips of his ears. Foxy then had even more trouble sustaining his calm attitude as Lana proceeded to do the same thing, giving him a feathery peck next to the same spot, and when it seemed to be Diamond's turn, she looked at the two vixens with a confused look, turning her head to the frozen male fox in front of her, then back to the pair of females, with Scarlet grinning while Lana shrugging her shoulders, indicating that she only did the same thing as the red vixen. She started to wear a smirk.
So it's that type of game, eh? Well, they never said in detail how I can kiss him, so…
Before Foxy could even ask what was going on, the cheetah grabbed him by the shoulders, pulling him towards her, catching the startled fox by surprise as she immediately smashed her lips against his, showing more of her naturally aggressive nature as she pulled in deeper. She then separated, but not until she had her tongue touch his own, and grinned like a deviant as she licked her lips, then walked behind him in his seat, teasingly whispering in his ear as she passed by. Her black-toned lips spelled the words out as smooth as silk.
"Bet you loved that, didn't ya?"
The embarrassed vulpine could only mumble out something inaudible, but it made the cheetah smile. Both crimson and black vixen had their mouths slightly agape, feeling their own face plates heating up as they almost fell backwards from what they just saw.
Damn it! I should have stated rules!
Well, I guess it's obvious who Foxy thought was the best kisser this time. Diamond would have won anyways, I could have never done it in that… way.
"Damn…" Foxy's eyes couldn't help but narrow with sudden distaste as he heard Freddy whisper to Goldie across from him, two pairs of wide eyes rudely viewing what had just happened with a jealous look. Unfortunately he had to put on a serious, but still welcoming attitude as he indicated the brown bear with his hook, while looking at the vixen behind him, who had her arms wrapped around his neck. He guessed that she knew, but wanted to formally introduce each other.
"Dear, I suppose that you have met Freddy here before?"
Raising her eyebrows in question humorously, which in his opinion made her look cute, Scarlet's eyes then slanted with anger firing up in them as she lowered them onto the brown ursa, who unconsciously shifted in his seat as he felt the heat of the glare.
"Why yes, I do. Dia, Lana, pretty sure you remember these two… newcomers, as well?"
"Indeed."
"Yep." Their voices were hard and sharp as they glowered at the two bears, making the atmosphere even more uncomfortable. Scarlet decided to change the topic, but not as much.
"So, where's the rest of your group?"
"Oh, er, you mean my group?" Freddy spluttered out, his eyes constantly slipping towards their chests, each time going back up as quickly.
"Yes, who else could I have been talking about?"
"Ah, um… yeah, Goldie, can you go and..?"
The golden animatronic hesitated, but then stood up, unused to the sudden change of numbers, where instead of a two versus two, it was now a two versus five, and was glad to get the group in order to get the number advantage. Although it obviously wouldn't change the odds, it helped to have more people by your side.
"Don't worry, I'll call them over." With that he momentarily left the table for a while, looking back at his brother frequently with a suspicious glance.
Lana's ears then detected the sound of a low rumbling, before looking down at Mikhail, who was dozing off, his head leaning to one side. She tapped Foxy's shoulder.
"Wake him up?"
Looking to his right, the vulpine saw what she meant, but shook his head.
"Nah, lassie, better for the lad to sleep. Besides if we did, he would insist on attacking Freddy over here."
That caused them all to burst out in laughter, except Freddy himself of course, who grew sweaty at the thought of it, looking warily at the shining weaponry they had, as they were honestly much better suited for such a thing compared to the gear they had, which was basically piles of sharp rust. He sighed in relief when he heard the loud footsteps of the rest of his troupe, knowing that now they had the upper hand, in numbers at least.
Come on Freddy, you KNOW you can do this!
That was in his mind as he shifted to let the others sit, but before they could all sit down, Foxy raised a hand to signal them to stop, causing them to freeze, before he slowly said,
"I only need Freddy, Goldie, Fred, and Bonnie here, the rest of you, go enjoy the rest of the party-"
"Oh hell no, fox. I don't care if you're the big bad-ass leader of the ring, I'm staying with Bonnie!"
Growled Bon-Bon. Her green eyes never flinched when he turned his single golden eye to her, before, to her surprise, he smiled and chuckled deeply.
"Heh, alright lassie, if ye say so. Bonnie, ye might as well make some space for 'er." Unsure, the purple rabbit looked at his light-blue counterpart, who nodded with confidence, before he reluctantly made space for her to sit, which she then took. She tightly held his hand under the table.
The others then decided to leave, which they did, so Chica and Chic got up and went to find another table that was at least close to their friends, which they did, but it only offered them visual contact with them at a distance, so they compromised themselves with that, shooting Foxy and the Angel's Devils warning looks. Mangle was about to stand up and join them until the ring leader's voice stopped her.
"Oh, and Mangle too, she stays here."
Turning around warily, she nearly flinched when she saw that the single golden eye was focused on her with pinpoint accuracy, and also saw that the crimson vixen – Scarlet, was it? – look at her with a predatory and dangerous gaze as she seemed to look straight into her mind, trying to find out what was going on in it. She was barely able to squeak out the next words.
"B-But what about BB..?"
"He can stay." The vulpine replied.
Looking at her adopted child, she could tell that he wanted no part of the fox, as he desperately shook his head, his blank eye socket staring at her with a hollow feeling in it, causing her stomach to knot up in worry. She sighed.
"BB, go to Auntie Chic and Chica."
"But Mommy-"
"BB, please." He looked up at her mother, who suddenly looked stern. He relented.
"Ok…" With that, he went to the pair of chickens, who quickly made him sit as they tried to feed him something, but he was very fussy about it as the thought of what might happen to the white vixen that he called his foster parent gnawed at his mind.
Finally, Foxy seemed content, breaking out into a smile as he looked around the nervous guests of his table.
"So, how do ye all like the party that I 'ad set up?"
"Uh… it's fine, but can we really be serious? What do you want us sitting here for?" Said Bonnie, nervously tapping his fingers against the wood.
"Nothing really, I'm telling you that the slate is clean, and yer now considered to be ordinary fighters of the ring. I'm letting ye off the 'ook with this."
Stunned silence engulfed the four animatronics, Fred, Mangle, Bonnie, and Bon-Bon, as they heard this. Off the hook? Did that mean, that they were free? They were actually free?
"Y-You really mean it?"
"Aye."
"Well, uh, um… thanks, I guess?" Said Fred carefully.
"Yer welcome." Foxy's voice was monotone. "But get out of me hair and go find yerself a place to live in. I already 'ad enough trouble due to you. I should've punished you all much more seriously. " He shot a meaningful glance at Goldie and Freddy. "Now go."
The Fazbear Gang looked at each other for some time, but they then stood out of their chairs, walking away from the four fighter animatronics. He saw Mangle giving him a suspicious glance, before she cut it off quickly as she walked back with her crew, and left the group still sitting in total – five including the sleeping Mikhail. They all sighed in relief.
"Glad that was over." Diamond stated.
"Ye-up." Foxy lamely said. "Want to enjoy the rest of the party, lassies?"
"Sure, let's go and have a great time!" Lana piped up.
Nodding, Foxy then nudged the red and black wolf awake, who lazily blinked his eyes.
"Da, Yes? What is it?" He said sluggishly.
"Come on, ye old landlubber, don't ye want te have a great time in thee party?"
"Nah… No, comrade, this soldier is too tired for such things, meaning he must rest…" He then started to doze off again, causing Diamond to roll her eyes, a smirk on her face before she wrapped her arms around him. Placing her hands on his chest, she quietly spoke into his ear.
"In that case, I know what will make you awake." She then started to glide her hands up and down his stomach, causing Mikhail to immediately open his eyes with alarm as he almost flew from his seat, slapping away the hands of the feline as he placed both of his hands on his hatchet and scythe.
"ARRGH! No! Absolutely no! Get your filthy ruki away from me! I am not by any way going to-!"
"Come on, help us party then!" Shot back Diamond, before she smiled again. "Or do I need to try again?"
The wolf stuttered angrily, pointing a finger at her.
"Vy, You, you - bah, fine! Just keep your perverted self away from me!"
"Awww, thanks for the compliment! Come on guys let's go!" Shouted the cheetah as she took Lana by the hand, before she was stopped by Scarlet.
"Actually Dia, me and Foxy will catch up with you in a moment, you and Lana show Mikhail the way around the place."
"What, something came up?" Inquired the cat.
"Just… one moment, please." Foxy was unsettled by the way she said it, and apparently her glance to Diamond told the feline enough, before she nodded while smiling.
"Sure, sure! Come on… let's go!" With that she whisked by Lana and Mikhail to the nearest table that they could find that wasn't occupied, the other two protesting.
"Wait, Diamond, slow down!"
"ARGH! I agree with the vixen, slow down, you kot- cat! It should be a man leading a zhenshchina- woman to a table, not the other way around!"
"Hurry up then, you slow pokes!" The cheetah's voice could be heard faintly over the din until it faded until, leaving both the ringleader and his partner at the table in awkward silence. Foxy turned towards the vixen, who had both of her hands balled up into each other for some reason, head down. Raising an eyebrow, the vulpine decided to start the conversation off wherever this was supposed to go.
"So, m'dear, what was it that ye wanted to talk about?"
Scarlet seemed to shuffle in her place awkwardly, writhing her hands together, before she raised her head.
"Do you still like her, Foxy?"
This question caught the dark red male by surprise, but he assumed that she was talking about either Lana or Diamond, as they all had been… 'involved' with each other in the past, and still are, so he guessed that she was having issues with it. He could understand, and in fact it made him a little guilty as well, knowing that his conscious couldn't rest easy whenever he thought about how Scarlet was supposed to be his only partner, not just the other two.
"Who do ye mean? Which one, Lana or Diamond-"
"I'm talking about Mangle."
Foxy's mouth froze in mid-reply when she said the last word, before raising his left eyebrow curiously.
"Now what made ye think of that, 'ow come ye would think of such a thing now?"
"Well, you did ask her to sit down last and sent the others away, and, knowing what past relationship you had, I mean, I guess- I mean, I just… when I saw you both looking at each other after you said it, I could tell that she still liked you-"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, hang on there lassie, 'ow would ye know if Mangle still liked meh? After all, t'was more than a couple of years ago when we last met, aye?" Scarlet nodded slightly. "Aye, so why would she like me still?"
Shrugging, Scarlet had difficulty saying the next words as she continued rubbing her hands, as if trying to alleviate the tension that she was feeling right now. She looked down again as she spoke, sitting in the spot next to him, but not leaning into him either.
"You would know, Foxy... you would know that I have knowledge in something like this. After all, I'm an Angel's Devil, and so I know when someone likes someone. Her face I could easily tell that it was so when she stared at you, shining eyes, she seemed to pay her full attention to every word you said, and even though you had an extremely bad relationship in the past, she still likes you."
A moment of quietness passed by until the fox deeply sighed, gently separating her tight, clenched hands, before he gently rubbed them to relax the tightened muscles he felt under her skin. They both unconsciously didn't look at each other, and instead only at his hands comforting hers, but Foxy then decided to speak to make her know what he truly thought.
"Scarlet, I mean this when I say it; I used to have a relationship with her, not anymore, but why would you suspect something from me? Look, we've been together for many years longer than I have been with her, and our relationship is a real one, unlike mine and Mangle's, however, was there something in my face that could have hinted at such of a thing? It's not like I would just dump you off and then go to her, never!"
The crimson vixen was genuinely surprised when she didn't detect any anger in his voice, only sympathy, much different from the one that she imagined with much more dire events. She sighed as well, knowing what he had just said was true, but she didn't want to let him off the topic yet as the suspicion nearly chewed at her inside out. She quickly snatched her own hands away from his grasp, causing his own to back up in surprise as she blurted out,
"Because I saw nothing in your face, no returning of feelings, but no rejection, no sympathy, but no distaste. I didn't see anything in you that would hint at any of your feelings to her, and whenever I can't tell someone like that, it just… it just…"
Scarlet turned her head away as she could feel tears threatening to come out, but mentally reprimanded herself in her mind at the thought of suddenly crying.
Come on, you're an Angel's Devil! You're supposed to be used to things like this, and more! Prove that you're stronger than the average male fighter!
"It just bothers me and makes me lose some trust in them, because I don't know for sure what they feel, whether or not if I can be sure that you're not tricking me, and like you said, the thought that you could simply leave me all alone and go to her..."
Emptiness poured over the wooden table as the dark red vulpine couldn't believe what he had just heard. She lost some trust in him simply because of a suspicion over another girl? But he eventually recovered enough to reply to what she had just said.
"Ah, ok… but Scarlet, you know that I mean this, and what I mean is…" Foxy gently placed his hand on her shoulder, but to his sorrow she shook it off, tilting her face away from him.
"I'm sorry, I just… just please, is it okay if I have some… alone time… for… now..?"
Foxy hesitated.
"Is that what ye currently want right now?"
"Yes, I'm sorry, I just need some time to think it over. But if you do think about something like that, I will literally go to the girl and knock their lights out."
"Fair enough." He smiled sadly, not seeing her grin or show any amusement at all.
How did this just happen? Foxy mentally worried.
Rising up, Foxy looked down at the vixen that he had spent most of his life up until now with, wondering how it suddenly turned this way,all because on the topic of Mangle. He could get it that Scarlet could be jealous, but how much, the fox didn't know. He slowly offered a hand to her, hoping that it would just be temporary and she would get over it quickly. However, she didn't take the invitation right away, and just sat with a blank expression on her face.
"Scarlet, I'm sorry, but Lana and Diamond will be waiting for us, shall we..?"
Nodding, the crimson female then stood up, but still didn't take the hand, to which Foxy then withdrew to himself, and then they walked in sullen silence through the crowd, who didn't seem to notice them in the sheer jubilation of the festivities. They saw Diamond trying to dare Mikhail to drinking more shots, seeing whether she could beat him or not in a drinking game, while Lana nearby was hurriedly counting the slowly growing pile of empty glasses with desperate speed as the bartender hurriedly filled it up just as fast, and quite a crowd sprouted up by them too, all of them pushing against one another as they tried to get a better look. The comical scene couldn't help but bring a smile to Foxy's face, and when he looked at Scarlet, she was smiling too with fondness, but when they both met eye contact, hers started to sadden a little bit as she mumbled out,
"I'm sorry, just let me think it over."
Bobbing his head up and down in a slow manner, Foxy and his partner went up to the table, where they could both see the contest ending very soon, as both Diamond and Mikhail appeared to be deeply intoxicated, until they both groaned out loud, a cup of filled liquid in each hand as they seemed to stretch in their seats, before they simultaneously smashed their glasses onto the ground, slurred and slow speech issuing from their hiccuping voice boxes.
"No more - *hic* - hell that was way, way - *hic* - too much for me."
"Blah, - *hic* - this zhenshchina is driving me nu - *hic* -ts! I've had enough of this p'yanyy - *hic* - drunken, contest. Tie! Tie! It's a f-cking galstuck! *Hic!*"
Eventually the crowd dispersed as the two ring co-leaders partners came up, and Foxy shook his head with wonder when he saw them.
"How many glasses did they drink..?"
Lana was busy counting some final empty containers, before replying promptly.
"Two full barrels of strong alcohol-replicated drinks, making one barrel for each!"
"One barrel, for each?" Scarlet shook her head in wonder, before she cautiously went over to Diamond, who was slumped over the table, muttering out slurred speech, before the vixen shook her firmly by the shoulders. "Dia, come on, a whole barrel?"
"Yeah b-tch! *Hic!* I think it was goooooood to show that *hic* Russian a run for his moneeeyyy *Hic!*"
She definitely looked intoxicated beyond the normal limits of what would be considered sane, as her head rolled to the said lazily, eyes looking glassy, and heavier than usual breathing.
"Urghhhh, never again, chee - *Hic!* - tah, never again."
Rolling his eyes, Foxy supported the wolf up, tucking him over his shoulder as the dark male managed to stand up on his two wobbling feet.
"Ye need help getting home, or yer good?"
"Bah, let me walk on my own, thank you comrade Foxy. I can walk just fine."
With that, the wolf lurched forward away from them, exiting the bar, where he would soon arrive in his home and sleep the painful hangover in his head – in 10 hours after the winding drunken detours he would take by mistake.
Holding his breath deeply at the stench of alcohol, Foxy attempted to lift Diamond up as well - who was still mumbling in a drunken slander - until he saw Freddy coming towards him, surprising the ring leader as he also saw the entertaining girls that were just performing, and it looked like that they were on a break. The brown bear was curious and pointed at the slumped mass of spotted fur on the table.
"What happened to Dia?"
"Drinking contest, didn't turn out so well. And it's Diamond to you." Scarlet replied sharply.
"Hey hey now girl, I thought we were cool. Anyways the reason I came to you was because these girls over here-" He gestured to the entertainers "- seemed that they wanted to find you so that they could challenge you."
"Challenge us, at what, fighting? Sorry girls, we're one short," Scarlet looked over at Diamond, "er, one drunk, so you'll have to try at another time."
The apparent leader of the entertaining girls, a lioness of a golden coat, snorted as she crossed her arms, raising her chin up at them, which successfully raised Scarlet's temper a little.
"That's not what we came here for, what we came for was for the chance to prove which one is sexier and better looking."
"Uh… I don't follow on that, what do you mean?" Lana said as she was helping to support Diamond's left side as Foxy held her up on her right, total confusion scrawled on their features when she lost the meaning at the words 'sexier and better'.
The unfamiliar group chuckled as they saw this, but then started to give a few winks to the leader while the lioness continued her dialogue.
"You three girls are known as the most attractive and beautiful of them all in the ring, so we came here so that we can see – and show - who is better. That's why we were so eager to drop our prices, Foxy."
Raising his eyebrows, the vulpine slowly said,
"No wonder I never heard of a 75% new customer discount…"
Scowling, Scarlet shot him a look that said "You can't be serious", who only shrugged, so she walked right in front of the lioness. Both pairs of eyes faced against one another as the crimson vixen spoke.
"Is that right? Well, how are we even going to prove it then? It's not like we could make everyone hand vote right now, doesn't it?"
"Oh, no, that wouldn't work at all, which is why -" A bared smile from the leader of the entertainers showed her confidence. "- we're going to offer you prove yourself by doing a dance on the poles and see who can be better at it."
Scarlet was immediately stuck for an answer as she couldn't believe what she had just heard.
"Excuse me, you want us to dance, and not just dance, you mean pole dancing in front of the people?!"
"Yeah, we do it, so why not you?" The band of girls was now gossiping more frequently, and seemed to be gutsier by the second as they pushed their boundaries.
Lana and Scarlet looked at each other oddly, and Foxy thought that he could see alarm in their eyes as they then turned to the lioness. "We have a reason for not doing it."
"What, like you're chicken?" The remark stunned the leader of the Angel's Devils.
"You did not just say that, you little-"
"'Ey-Ey *Hic* what's going on there? *Hic!* A party? Those things are great! *Hic!*"
"Ah, so this is the great Diamond. Let's see what she thinks about the proposal…" Walking up to Foxy, the lioness tapped his shoulder to get his attention.
"Let her go, handsome. I want to ask her something."
"No thanks, I'd rather keep her on her feet."
Smiling sweetly, the tan-colored cat fluttered her eyelashes at him.
"Hey, I appreciate you doing your job, but just let me talk with her, OK? You're cute by the way, another reason I dropped the price."
You LITTLE… Scarlet snarled in her mind, flattening the ears onto her head as she made a half formed growl, but dropped it when her partner gave her a warning look.
"Diamond?" Said Foxy, looking at the drunken cheetah, hoping she would say no.
"Yes." Foxy inwardly muttered rebelliously at the response of the feline. "Now *Hic!* what *Hic!* did you challenge them to..? *Hic!*"
"Pole dancing, to see who was better and therefore looked the hottest and best, in case you couldn't hear it through your drunkenness." Was what a member of the entertainer's group deadpanned, who was a medium-sized female dog with chocolate-brown fur that laughed at the insult she made. The cheetah raised her eyebrows at this, still donning a silly smile on her face, but it was drawn tight.
"We don't do that sort of - *hic* - thing anymore."
Anymore? Foxy mentally commented. What did she mean, anymore?
"What, are you getting old?" Taunted the lioness. Some traces of anger were detected in Diamond's eyes. "I'll take that as a yes."
"No, I am not old- *hic* -and I can still kick your ass-s to the moon and not give a sh-t -*hic*- about you because you are doing nothing - *hic* - by insulting my friends." Spat out the spotted cat.
"Oh, I'm sorry then, I guess that means that we win then." With that, the group of entertainer girls started to leave, with Freddy behind them as he whispered back to them, unable to resist an unavoidable jibe at the group.
"Looks like the ring has new beauties to replace the old ones now-!"
CRACK!
Foxy had to jump back as Diamond immediately drove her pikes into the ground to support herself as she was grinding her metal teeth, shooting a glance of pure fury at Scarlet and Lana, not even giving them time to calm her down as she roared.
"We're doing *Hic!* the dances."
"What?!" Remarked Lana.
"Diamond, I don't think you could do it in that condi-" Scarlet started.
"No! Right NOW! And as for you Freddy, *Hic* stick it up your own!"
With drunkenness still showing in his movement, Diamond staggered to the lioness with her weapons as crutches, jabbing her pointer finger into the other cat's chest to punctuate each word as she leaned crazily on her left pike.
"We-are-going-to-kick-your-asses-in-that-game. Under-stand?"
Smirking, the lioness nodded, and then whistled using her fingers in her mouth, making the group walk away. Then she said,
"Good, then my girls will spread the word around; I dearly hope to see it. Oh, and you'll be on in fifteen minutes, so get ready." She laughed at the outraged faces of the three females. "What? You're the best, you can think of something that will impress them quickly. Get to it!" She let out another fit of laughter.
When she was out of earshot, Scarlet was rubbing her temples as she looked at Lana, who was nervously chewing her nails as if they were her last power supply, to a dozing of Diamond that was drunkenly muttering nonsense as she sat down at the table again. And finally, to further increase the knot in her stomach, Foxy, who clearly had no idea what to do, shrugged his shoulders, clueless. She knew that what she would soon be doing with Diamond and Lana at the poles were definitely going to change what was going to happen at the bar if they rejected it and didn't do it, but the cheetah already accepted, so what other choice did they have? Already the snotty girls were going to spread the news around, and obviously lots of people were going to expect it, so they really had no other option, plus she didn't want to be asked why they didn't dance in the future, the thought of having fans with another reason to talk to her again hurting her head.
Burying her face in her hands, the crimson vixen groaned.
"Well… Lana, Diamond… let's get started on it."