Hey, everyone! It's time for the next month, December! Lots of chapters coming up.
To start off, this chapter is random shenanigans, for the most part. It's mostly just another night for the animatronics to play a game and work off the tension from earlier chapters. There's a little Christmas-related content here, but not much. That stuff is being saved for later chapters, because the things the animatronics need to do for Christmas are an entirely different thing from what this chapter focuses on.
It'll still be enjoyable though. So, hope you enjoy!
~December~
~The First Year~
"So, yeah, Gregory has just been laying a lot of eggs recently." Bon-Bon explained, tapping the cage of the friendly chicken.
Foxy was a little surprised to hear this. "Wow, she has? How often?"
"Constantly."
"Huh, interesting! You know, maybe we can make a business out of this. It could be called: 'Egg Sellers Anonymous'! Wait, no, that doesn't sound cool. Uh...'Foxy's Egg Emporium'! Okay, that sounds better."
"We should add a little to that. Like...'Foxy's Excellent Egg Emporium'."
"Ooh, that's a nice name! Good thinking, but maybe we should think of what else we could name it before we just name it that. Hey, Gregory, have you got any ideas?"
Gregory nodded, and Foxy nodded back. The pink-white fox then reached to his desk drawer, pulled a piece of paper out of it, and passed it to Gregory. The chicken placed it on the floor of the cage and began scratching chicken scratch onto it using her feet talons. After a minute, she stopped, and Foxy reached into the cage and took back the piece of paper, then examined it, looking at the name Gregory has suggested.
"What did Gregory write?" Bon-Bon asked.
"His idea is to name the company 'Chicken Coop'!" Foxy answered.
"Chicken Coop, huh? That...actually sounds pretty good."
"Yeah! Good job, Gregory! We can always count on you to come up with best ideas. Seriously, I would have never thought of anything CLOSE to that had you not been here."
Gregory bawked happily, flapping her wings.
"Aw, you're happy, aren't you? Good chicken, always laying eggs! Man, Bon-Bon, Gregory is great. He really is...no, wait, SHE really is great. Ah, that brings back memories. Remember when the time we thought Gregory was boy, but we found out later that she was actually a girl? Otherwise, she wouldn't be able to lay all of these eggs."
"I do remember that, actually. Wasn't that long ago, but it feels like it."
"Yep, it sure does-"
"HI GUYS!"
Foxy and Bon-Bon both jumped; Baby had yelled this excitedly as she had come running into the room. For some reason, she was carrying a jar of candy canes. (And she had discarded her fake valley girl accent entirely at this point)
"Hi." Foxy greeted.
"H-hey there." Bon-Bon said, blushing faintly.
"Nice to see you around here...say...what is that you've got in your hand? Why do you have that?"
Baby seemed startled. "Oh, uh, no reason." She opened her chest cavity and quickly put the jar inside, then closed it back up.
"Oh, okay, then. So, greetings! What brings you to my HUMBLE abode?"
Baby smiled for a moment, then frowned, sighing deeply. "...I'm bored. Really, really, really bored."
Foxy grinned tauntingly. "Oh, so you're BORED? You're BOREEEED?"
"Yeah, I am...because SOMEBODY broke my tv!" She scowled at Foxy.
"Well, I'm SORRY I had to disconnect you from your games so you can come out here for ONCE in your life! I mean, you've got it better than me. My device-" Foxy pointed a thumb at his computer, sitting on his desk right behind him "-doesn't even work. How can you complain?"
"That may be true, but...I'm still bored. SO. INSANELY. BORED!"
"Of course you still are! And...you know what? So am I. Maybe we should...go and talk to Puppet. Maybe he's got something we can do."
"Alright, fine, we can do that. Just hold on a sec." Baby walked over to Gregory's cage and peered down at the chicken. "Hi, Gregory! Okay, now we can go."
They left the back room, heading up the passage and up the trapdoor into Foxy's front room. For some reason, Bon-Bon did so faster than everyone else, looking as if he had no intention of being anywhere near Foxy's room right now.
"Bon-Bon, why are you heading out so fast?" Foxy asked.
"Uh, no reason." Bon-Bon replied.
"Oh, okay."
The group entered the main room, and Foxy found himself startled again.
"Woah!" He said.
Puppet was already inside the room, sitting by himself at one of the tables. One of his spindly fingers was tapping the table as he sat there and stared off at the ground.
"Oh, hey Puppet!" Foxy greeted.
"Hey, buddies. Good to see you guys around." Puppet replied, smiling slightly. Foxy found Puppet's smile weird; the mouth hole in his mask would sort of...bend? He didn't know how that worked, but it did somehow. Seeing Puppet in the main room also made Foxy confused.
"Hey, wait a second." Foxy voiced, and he turned around and looked at Baby. "Baby, Puppet was sitting right here the whole time. Why didn't you talk to him first?"
Baby looked awkward for a second, then spoke up. "Well...I kind of had my face in my candy cane jar while I was walking through the room, so I didn't notice him." She re-opened her chest cavity and finally pulled out the candy cane jar, allowing everyone to see it.
"Really? Candy canes? Now, of all times?"
"Well, yeah, of course! It's December, which means eating candy canes is normal!"
"Fine. Anyways, Puppet, we're bored. I'm bored, Baby's bored, and Bon-Bon...is being oddly quiet, so I suppose he's also bored."
"Sounds great." Puppet sighed unhappily. "Guess what I am."
"What?"
"Bored. I feel as if there's nothing we can do today."
"Join the club."
"I think I'm already in it."
"Yes, you probably are. So...oh, hey! I have an idea. Since we're all so bored and have nothing to do, I say we play another game. It's been quite a few days since we've done any games. Let's all take a seat first." Everyone sat down at different tables in the room and faced each other. Baby closed her chest cavity and began munching on the candy canes while she faced everybody else. "Now, time to brainstorm. Puppet, got any ideas?"
"I do, actually. It's this fun little game that all of the cool kids like to play these days. And we need to stay hip, even if the pizzeria isn't open. Am I right?" Everyone nodded, and Puppet nodded back. "Okay, let me tell you what the game is. It's called: 'Would You Rather?'. It's a game where one person asks another to choose between two scenarios and to decide which one is more preferable. It'll be a good icebreaker to help us get to know each other a little better."
"Oh, that does sound interesting. Can you explain how it works in a bit more detail?"
"Sure thing. See, we start by having one person ask everybody else: 'Would You Rather do this, or that?' and everyone chooses between the two scenarios based on what they think is preferable. Both scenarios can either be really good, or really bad."
"This does sound pretty cool, so I think we'll go with this game. Who's gonna start first?"
"You know what? I'll go first."
"Okay, go on."
"With pleasure. Now, this first one is gonna be a bit mean, so you'd better brace yourselves. Would you rather eat one hundred puppies, or five hundred ants?"
"Ants. I pick ants." Foxy chose. "I actually kind of like puppies, to be honest."
"Wait...are the puppies alive or not?" Baby asked Puppet.
Foxy gasped. "What?! Baby, how is that a question we could be asking? Alive or not, they're still puppies!"
"Yeah, but it's still a factor in this. Are they alive or not, Puppet?"
"They are." Puppet answered.
"Okay, then I'd rather eat the puppies."
Foxy's jaw opened like a trapdoor. How...how could she just say that?
"Alright." Puppet said. "What about you, Bon-Bon."
Bon-Bon contemplated this. "That's a difficult one." He said. "Are the ants roasted, or cooked, or anything?"
"Hmm...tell ya what: you guys can have the ants however you like, but you still have to eat them if you choose them."
"Ants. I can stand to eat chocolate-covered ants."
"Wait, me too! If I can have the ants any way, I'll eat them!" Baby exclaimed.
"Heh, so I did pick the good option after all." Foxy gloated. "Why did you pick the puppies first though, Baby? They're puppies!"
"Yeah, but they can probably slide down better than normal, everyday ants. Imagine hundreds of ants crawling into your throat and venturing around your systems."
"I mean, yes, that's terrible, and I'd rather not have that happen to me, but eating puppies is cruel! As you eat them, you'd hear them yapping with their tiny voices...and...I only just realized just how dark this is. Puppet, why'd you have to pick such an evil topic?"
"Hey, don't say that!" Puppet replied. "It's the point of the game to present scenarios that are either good or bad. Anyways, who wants to go next?"
"Me. I have one, guys, and I think it'll work. Would you rather leave the pizzeria forever, or get five trillion dollars, but you have to stay forever? Also, the money can be used for anything, and it's all brought here, so nobody has to leave to get it. BUT if you get the money, you can't leave ever. You'll be stuck in this place for as long as you live."
Foxy grinned as he let the others think about this. He knew his question would be hard: the animatronics were desperate for freedom and to have a chance to explore the outside world, but they also still liked their new home very much. Besides, having tons of money would be hard to pass up.
Bon-Bon's eyes widened. "Like, forever?"
"Forever. Forever and ever."
"Hmm, this is a difficult one." Puppet said, seemingly thinking about Foxy's question. "Wait, hold on. If we get freedom and can leave the pizzeria, can we come back to visit at any time?"
"No. You can't come back ever again."
"If we leave, do we have any starting money to help us stay afloat?" Bon-Bon asked.
"Nope. You don't start with even a single penny. What you will have is whatever you have in your chest cavity right now."
"Well, uh...I've got cookies!" Bon-Bon tossed a few cookies into the air, catching them all in his mouth and eating them up.
"And I've got candy canes!" Baby added, waving her jar of candy canes.
"I have...a phone." Foxy revealed unenthusiastically, opening his chest cavity and pulling out the phone inside. He was glad to have that: the animatronics had virtually no pockets, and all they could really do was store things inside their chest cavity, which doubled as a storage tank.
"And I have eggs." Puppet sighed, shrugging. He pulled out eggs from...wait, how did he pull eggs out? Foxy knew that unlike him and the others, Puppet didn't have the faceplates or and of the other assorted animatronics parts they had, and definitely not the chest cavity, so...where did he store stuff?
Everyone found Puppet's 'egg' thing funny, and they all chuckled a bit. Then, Bon-Bon spoke back up.
"So, we have pretty much nothing particularly useful." Bon-Bon assessed. "Now to think back on that question. Hmm...it actually is a pretty difficult question."
"Better think hard on this one." Foxy laughed. "And you'd better hurry, too, because we don't have all day."
"Uh...I guess I'll stay."
"Yeah, me too." Puppet agreed.
"I'd also stay." Baby added. "But, it hardly matters, because the way things currently are, we don't have a choice whether we stay or leave. All the exits in this place are locked. So, I'll stay and take the money, and then donate that money or something."
"I mean, we could re-decorate the pizzeria to something else." Foxy suggested. "Maybe even change the name."
Baby took one look around the room, then shook her head. "Donate."
Foxy wasn't surprised; this was Baby's location, of course she didn't want to change it.
"What would we even call the place if we re-named it?" Bon-Bon asked curiously.
"FOXY'S AWESOME PIZZERIA!" Foxy exclaimed at once, grinning weirdly.
"Nope, not happening." Baby refused at once, frowning unapprovingly.
"Well, it definitely sounds better than 'Circus Baby's Pizza World'."
"EXCUSE me, the name of this place sounds really cool the way it is!"
"Bon-Bon's Bakery, then!" Bon-Bon suggested.
"Okay, maybe that works? I dunno, sounds a little plain."
"Eh, I was just trying to throw something out and see if it stuck. Back to the drawing board, then."
"Puppet's Pool Palace." Puppet threw in.
"You want to make this place about WATER?" Foxy responded incredulously. "We're ANIMATRONICS! Even if we have water-proof suits, they could still fail! We don't know if they're completely foolproof."
"I mean, I dunno. You were in the water before, and you seemed just fine afterward. Even when Bob-Bon jumped into the water without his mask that one time, he didn't seem to have suffered any serious damage afterward."
"...okay, good point." Puppet lazily tossed one of his eggs into the air in defeat, and Baby quickly caught it before it could land on the ground. As soon as it settled into her hands, the egg cracked open, and yet another baby chicken peeked its head out.
Foxy watched this and gaped in awe. "Baby...did you just become a mother to yet another baby chicken under the course of ten seconds?"
"Yes! Aw, and it's so cute!" Baby cooed, staring adoringly at the baby chicken. Foxy grinned, then got up and reached out to touch the baby chicken. As he did, his claws accidentally began to retract out. Baby, noticing this, quickly held the baby chicken away so it wouldn't get hurt. "No! Don't hurt Cleopatra II!"
"Cleopatra II?" Foxy stuttered. "What happened to the first?"
"That's...personal information. I can't tell you. And, don't question me on how I name babies. I'm a mother, so I get to name my baby chicken whatever I want."
Just then, the baby chicken, who was gathering strength the whole time, jumped out of Baby's arms and ran away, heading into Foxy's room and disappearing from sight.
"Woah!" Foxy gasped. "Why'd Cleo just run off?"
"She must have heard Gregory from the next room and went to hang out with him." Bon-Bon guessed, smiling. "She'll be fine with Gregory."
"Oh, well...okay." Baby accepted, nodding. "If that's what she wants to do, then I'll let her do her own thing."
Foxy sat back down. "Okay, who's going next?" He asked.
"I'll go next, I guess." Bon-Bon replied. "Here's the one I've got: would you rather confuse a muffin for a baby, or a baby for a muffin?"
"Baby for a muffin." Everyone said at the same time.
Bon-Bon blinked once, bewildered at how quickly everyone has answered, then spoke back up. "That was a quick answer. Why do you guys pick that?"
"Well, I think that if we ate a baby while also thinking it was a muffin and not hearing any of the baby's cries, it might actually be bearable." Foxy said. "That sounds weird, but it works. Besides, it might actually taste really good. Maybe babies taste like baby back ribs."
Foxy, amused at his own answer, sang a song about baby back ribs that he had gotten from a Chili's commercial. Everyone kinda just awkwardly watched as he did so.
"So, yeah, that's my answer." Foxy repeated as he finished the song. Puppet and Baby both nodded as he said this, signaling that they had chosen the same answer for the same reason as Foxy.
"Well, I guess I'm going next, then?" Baby stuttered, and when nobody else objected to this, she continued on. "Um...would you rather eat Freddy's chicken every day for the rest of your life, or eat one rotten fish a day, every day, for the rest of your life?"
"I...don't know how to respond to that one." Foxy said confusedly. "We already eat chicken pretty much every day, which, now that I think about it, is kinda stupid. We're in a pizzeria and we've been eating nothing but chicken every day. I have yet to see a single pizza in this entire building. Anyway, about that question...if we do eat the rotten fish, can we eat whatever else we want afterward?"
"Yeah, but you have to eat a rotten fish at least one time a day, otherwise you'll have to eat Freddy's chicken all of the time."
"The rotten fish." Foxy and Bon-Bon both said. They both had too much experience with Freddy's cooking, and besides, they didn't even have taste buds anyway. They formed opinions on food based on how well their systems reacted to it.
Baby seemed surprised at Foxy and Bon-Bon's answers. "What?! Really?!"
"I mean, we don't have taste buds, so...yeah, the rotten fish. We're going with that." Bon-Bon reasoned simply.
"Puppet, what about you?" Foxy asked the marionette.
"The...the chicken, I guess?" Puppet answered politely. "I suppose that if I ate it, it would make Freddy happy."
Foxy and Baby both 'aww-ed' to this. Bon-Bon shrugged.
"Alright, Puppet, that was a good answer." Foxy said. "It's your turn again."
"It's my turn?"
"Yeah. Go for it."
"Okay. Let's see...would you rather turn all of your friends into one person by taking their parts and smashing them together-"
Puppet paused and glared at Foxy for a moment before continuing. Foxy's eyes widened, but he said nothing.
Inside, Foxy could feel the voice convulsing with...something. Was it interestedness and gleefulness, or something else? He felt concerned. What was it going on about now? And why had Puppet glared at him? Foxy, while he wasn't sure about it, had an odd feeling that while Puppet had been glaring at him, he hadn't been glaring at him.
Meanwhile, Puppet continued.
"-or get a unicorn for free?"
"UNICORN!" Bon-Bon shouted out. "Another animal friend would be great!"
"Well, my choice is, obviously-" Foxy began, but suddenly, he found himself unable to talk. The voice inside him chimed in as Foxy's voice failed.
"To turn my friends into one by taking their parts!"
"-I- what- no!" Foxy shouted out, his speech restored again. "Not that! I choose the unicorn!"
Puppet stared at Foxy oddly, but shrugged. "Good choice, you two. What about you, Baby?"
"Um...uh..." Baby muttered, momentarily stumped. "I guess...the unicorn? This is kind of a difficult choice."
"So, if I were to bring a unicorn here, you guys would be okay with it, right?"
"Hey, wait a minute!" Foxy exclaimed. "This was a trick question, wasn't it?!"
"I have three people here, and all of them approve of me bringing in a unicorn. It's official, I'm gonna try and see if I can bring one in."
Bon-Bon let out a cheer. Baby nodded acceptingly. Meanwhile, Foxy could hear the voice chiming in inside his head.
"We covered that up real nicely, didn't we, Foxy?"
Yeah, it was real subtle. Foxy thought sarcastically, knowing the voice could hear his thoughts if Foxy wanted her to hear them. As subtle as a sledgehammer. But, that's besides the point. You're being way too chatty, and you need to shut up now. You're not going to interrupt me and the others fun on my watch.
"Wait, but, even if we were actually bringing a unicorn in here, where would we get one from?" Bon-Bon asked.
"Good question." Foxy agreed. "Puppet, can you explain that?"
Puppet scratched his head. "Well, it was pretty simple. They're being sold on this one website that Foxy recommended to me the other day. The website said that if I paid it a million dollars, I'd get a unicorn."
Foxy, hearing this, froze up, then sighed deeply. "Puppet, can I tell you something?"
"What?"
"I was joking about that. That website was a scam."
"Huh?! But it seemed so real! The website looked so official, and it even had cool pictures and shiny text!"
"It wasn't real, Puppet. I thought you would have figured that out on your own, but clearly that was giving you too much credit."
"Well, anyone could've failed to figure it out!"
"No, it was pretty obvious. It even said at the bottom of the page: 'This is a scam. If you actually buy this, you're an idiot.'"
Puppet stared off into space, completely silent for a few seconds. Then he facepalmed. "I'm gonna need to find a way to get my money back..."
Baby did a double take. "Wait, what?! You actually had a million dollars?! And it's gone now because you spent on a SCAM?!"
"Yeah, pretty much."
"Wait, is that why we're here?!" Foxy hastily yelled. "Puppet, are you trying to scam us out of our own money so you can possible get SCAMMED even more?!"
"No, no, no." Puppet denied, shaking his head. "It was just that one time with the unicorn that I got scammed. I'm usually smarter than that."
"Well, even so, don't take our money."
"We had money?" Bon-Bon stuttered confusedly.
"I guess so? I dunno. Also, Puppet, how did you get a million dollars?"
"Oh, that?" Puppet said. "I found a gigantic jar somewhere around this area, and it was filled with stacks of one hundred-dollar-bills. I counted it up, and it came up to a million."
"That's it? Wow, that's an incredible coincidence, I bet. Anyway, is it my turn?"
"Yes."
"Okay. So...would you rather have candy that tastes like spoiled milk, but everything else tastes like licorice...or have everything in the world taste exactly the same as chicken?"
"Licorice." Baby answered.
"Really?"
"I love licorice, personally. So, yeah, that's my answer."
"What type of licorice would the licorice be?" Bon-Bon inquired.
"Plain black licorice." Foxy replied.
"I'll take the chicken. I really don't like black licorice."
"Me neither."
"I'm with you guys on this one." Puppet agreed. "I can live without candy, but I do not like licorice at all."
"Yeah, it's bad." Bon-Bon said.
"What? Really? Aww..." Baby sighed.
Bon-Bon looked panicked, then he quickly spoke back up. "Um, I mean, black licorice is the best thing in the world!"
"You think so too? Yay!" Baby cheered.
"Good answers, everyone." Foxy commended the others. "That was a pretty easy one, wasn't it? Also, Baby, you and Bon-Bon should hang out sometime."
"Yeah, you guys have a lot in common." Puppet added.
"Nah, can't." Baby refused. "I'm too busy most of the time. I mean, Bon-Bon can visit me, but chances are that I probably will be so focused into my games that I won't even end up looking at him."
"Oh, that's baloney. Playing video games isn't considered 'busy'."
"Hey! Playing games is a full-time job, and some people out there have got to do it!"
"Yeah, she's right in that department." Foxy confirmed. "Some people get paid to play video games, and through that, they end up busy."
"Man, that's just silly." Puppet scoffed. "Being paid to play video games? That's nonsense."
Baby sighed. "Do you have to make fun of the stuff of my dreams, guys? I mean, come on."
"Sorry, Baby." Foxy apologized. "We all accept that playing games is a legitimate way of earning money."
"How would you get the money if you won, though?" Puppet wondered. "Does the money print out of your console, or...what?"
"It's a complicated process. It's better if I spare you the details." Baby reasoned.
"Bon-Bon, your turn." Foxy said, waving at the bunny hand-puppet.
"Okay, um..." Bon-Bon decided, thinking to himself. "Let me think for a moment. I'm not that good at thinking up scenarios...hmm...would you rather be ten feet tall, or three feet tall?"
"Tall!" Foxy chose. "If I was tall, I could tower over everybody like a giant! No, wait, small! If I was small, I could get through all the small spaces around here with no problems! I chose small!"
"Alright. What about you, Puppet? And you, Baby?"
"I guess I'd be tall." Baby said. "If I was really tall and skinny, I could hide behind light posts and jump out and scare people."
"Actually, that does sound awesome!" Foxy admit. "Too bad that it's too late for me to change my answer..."
"I'd be tall." Puppet answered. "If I were tall, I could pretend to be Slenderman."
Foxy and Baby gasped in awe of what a good idea this was.
"It could work, no denying that!" Foxy said.
"We could get you all decked out in a Slenderman costume sometime!" Baby suggested. "Oh, it's be so fun!"
"I don't get it." Bon-Bon mumbled. "What is this 'Slenderman'?"
"Don't worry, I'll tell you about it later." Foxy assured the bunny hand-puppet. "Probably before we deactivate for the night. Baby, your turn."
Baby giggled. "Oh, gosh, let me see...what to pick...would you rather be stuck in Ballora's room, unable to leave, or would you rather be in a fiery pit of Hell?"
"Fiery pit of hell." Foxy answered, not wanting to ever be trapped in Ballora's room.
"I mean, it depends." Puppet contemplated. "How hot would the fiery pit be?"
"Remember my magma suit from the fashion show?" Baby reminded him. "That hot."
"Huh. Well...can I get air conditioning in the pit?"
"Eh, well, I don't see why not. It is just a pit."
"Yeah, I choose the fiery pit."
"Is Ballora in her room?" Bon-Bon asked.
"Yes, of course. She's always there." Baby responded.
Bon-Bon cringed for a moment before he kept talking. "Is Reggie going to be in there?"
"Yeah, he'd be there. He doesn't really have anywhere else to go as of now."
"Hmm. Ahh, I'll pick Ballora's room. Why not? I'll have Reggie confuse Ballora or something so she doesn't go at me."
"Wow, Bon-Bon, what a choice." Foxy said, still against being in Ballora's room. "You're probably gonna suffer forever if you have to stay in there."
"Come on, guys! Ballora's room isn't that bad." Baby reasoned defensively. "She has comfy couches, for starters!'
"Yeah, but if Ballora is in there, it wouldn't matter. Besides, the fiery pit of hell sounds really cool, so I'm going for it."
"That is true..."
"It is. Imagine telling everybody you lived in a fiery pit of Hell. That, while incredibly excruciating, would also kind of be awesome."
"Okay, yeah, I'm choosing the fiery pit of hell. Sorry, Ballora!"
"Imagine all the adventures someone could have while in that pit." Puppet wondered, staring off in thought of this.
"Um, can I switch my vote?" Bon-Bon asked.
"Nope, too late. You're stuck with Ballora now." Foxy refused, smirking.
"Aww..."
"Well, this has been fun." Foxy stood up from his chair. "I think I'm going back to my room now, 'cause I've got quite a few things I need to do. Gotta brainstorm more game ideas, plan what I'll do on other days, find some money I lost earlier, and, more importantly, to get a certain unicorn-affiliated scam website deleted."
"Wait, what?" Everyone else sputtered confusedly.
"Nevermind, it's not any of your concern! I'd better get going now. Bye, guys! Seeya later!"
Foxy waved goodbye to everybody as he left the room and entered his own room, ready to tackle a few unfinished jobs...
